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skyfallslayer · 2 years

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Maybe I Will (Not) See You Tomorrow

(Part 1 of The Captain, The Soldier, The In Between Series)

SERIES MASTERLIST

Main Masterlist

Summary: An old forgotten photograph leads to some bittersweet memories for Steve and Bucky.

(Post Endgame; Pre FFH and TV Shows, except everyone is alive in this AU)

Rating: Teen and Up

Pairings: Bucky x Rogers!OFC; Platonic Steve x Rogers!OFC; Hints of Steggy & Romanogers

Warning: Angst; Mentions/References to death; Mentions/References to sex; Period Typical Sexism implied; Alcohol; Scenes that could be seen as slight depression.

This also features Soft!Bucky, and he may seem (And Steve too) ooc. Just a heads up.

Author's Note: Let me know if I missed anything. This can also be read as Y/N if you like. I do NOT own anything Marvel related, nor the gifs that are in this picture. Just the story plot and my OC. Enjoy!

The cool spring air wisped through the Captain’s hair as he took in the last bit of the sunset from his room’s balcony. The sky was a beautiful orange and gold, and it reflected off the lake the HQ was right up against. It calms his nerves when times get tough, and it even would sometimes get him a spark of creativity for drawing. But that wasn’t the case for tonight. Tonight was just him wanting to take a deep breath and enjoy the peace.

He was so deep into a trance that he almost missed the sound of someone coming into his room.

Almost.

“I thought you would be out there in the lounge with everyone?” Bucky said, coming in with a six pack.

“Nah, not in the mood to watch a movie tonight.” Steve replies, glancing backwards as his friend stood in the balcony door frame. “How about you? What’s your excuse?”

“Same as yours.” He hands his friend a new beer bottle, seeing that the one Steve grabbed earlier was already empty. “Plus, Clint wants to watch Hunger Games again.”

Steve smirks and takes it. “It’s probably because of the bow and arrow.”

“See! That’s what I keep saying, and everyone looks like I’m crazy.”

He chuckles, holding up his drink. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

They clink their bottles together and take a sip, the beer was only good enough for the taste since neither of them could get drunk (which was a con in their eyes sometimes). The two of them stayed quiet as the sun was finally disappearing over the horizon, and the cool breeze turned colder, and the outside light on the wall turned on brightly, shining on their semi-exhausted faces.

It’s been a long couple months since the reverse snap, and with the base finally rebuilt the team took this time to reconnect and get well deserved rest when they had the chance. Whether it was sleeping in, watching a movie, or relaxing by the lake, they all made sure not to go into overdrive until the next mission.

The breeze blew again, stronger than the last time, making Bucky reach up and brush his newly cut bangs away from his face. He finally made the game changing decision by cutting his hair, similar to his style in the 40s, something he’s secretly proud of doing. Yet another breeze causes his attention to go elsewhere, diverting it to his surroundings.

Soon, his navy eyes catch something on his exploring, then gestures it with his drink. “What’s that?” He asked, pointing to a large box he saw through the transparent sliding door.

Steve followed his gaze, deflating a little. “Oh, that? A government official dropped it off yesterday, saying it was in storage from my time in the war.”

“Really?” He says surprised, while getting a nod. “Then how come you’re getting it now? The last time I checked you didn’t come out of the ice yesterday.”

“Well… I mean when I did come out of the ice they weren’t sure if they could trust me yet. Then there was the whole thing with SHIELD and HYDRA, then there was Ultron and the Sokovian accords, and the-”

“Okay, okay. I think I get it.”

“So… yeah. I haven’t opened it yet.”

“I can see that.” Bucky continues, before getting an idea. “Oooh. What if your old stage uniform is in there?”

Steve gives him a look. “Bucky-”

“Come on, we have nothing else to do. I’m curious.” He raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

The blond pursed his lips, before giving into the mischievous glint of his best friend. “Alright. You win.”

Bucky kept his expression as he set his bottle down and walked inside, all while Steve waited patiently on the outside couch. Soon the box was placed on the table, the lid coming off in a flash. The smirk on the brunette’s face grew a bit more as he snorted at his finding.

“Oh, god. No…” Steve said, wanting to crawl under a rock forever.

“Oh, yes.” Bucky said, pulling out the infamous first suit of America’s hero, the one with the flashy tri-colors. He examines it closely, remembering just like it was on the flyers that hung around town. “Damn, Rogers. I can’t believe you wore this.”

“Neither can I.” He said, before digging inside himself, letting the domino effect happen.

It was definitely a trip down memory lane to say the least. There were metals and awards that he had won over the years for his service. Old newspapers from the day he tested out his newfound abilities, the one in black and white, and he was holding onto a detached car door. The flag he snagged from the top of the pole. Some maps he drew on for war plans and so much more.

There were also photos tucked inside too.

Lots of photos. Which was honestly the most bittersweet part of the journey. The items dug deep and struck all the different cords hidden away. Something that both of them haven’t experienced in a long time.

“We really outlived these people.” Bucky said, after looking over the Howling Commandos photograph. It was one just after Steve had banded them together. All dressed neatly in their uniforms before they headed back out into the field.

Dum Dum. Jim. James. Gabe. Jacques. Happy Sam. Pinky. Junior.

All good men. Now they have fallen either in the war or with age. It was something that saddened both of them very much. Outliving a friend while they still look physically in their late 20s, early 30s hit deeply.

“Well, we are a hundred years old, Buck.” Steve said, sarcasm strong, but there is still a hint of amusement.

“105 and six to be exact. And looking damn good, too.” Bucky says, smiling as he shuffles to the next one. A familiar woman with lips the color of cherries. “Ah, it's the Great-Aunt of the Niece you kissed under the bridge.”

Steve bit his tongue, shaking his head. “You really love torturing me today, huh, Barnes?”

Bucky hums, tilting his head at Peggy next to his friend. A bit of sorrow washed over at him as he glanced away. “I’ll say this again, I’m surprised you didn’t go back to her.”

Steve stares off too, feeling the same way but for a different reason. “I did. For a dance I owed her.” He sighs quietly. “I realize it would be weird if I just stayed knowing what would happen in history, and not being able to do anything about it. Plus-” He looks at the other soldier, lips curling up a little. “I’ve made too many friends to just leave them all behind.”

The brunette returns the expression, pleased that he’s finally got a clear answer after so long. “Til’ the end of the line, right?”

“Til’ the end of the line.” Cap repeats, grabbing his drink again for a sip.

Bucky hums again, the mischievous look returning for a split second. “At least you have that red head you can look forward to.”

That comment made Steve choke on his drink, beer dripping off his chin and bottle as he started coughing. Bucky continues with his look, as the blond man gives his chests a few pats until he’s simmered down the fit.

“Buck, what the hell?” Steve manages to croak, as he wipes his jaw clean with the back of his hand.

He holds his hands up in defense. “Hey, I only speak the truth, pal. I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Bucky replies, earning a glare.

“We’re just friends.”

He rolls his eyes. “Friends? Yeah, right. Friends my ass, Steve.”

Steve waves him off. “Okay, whatever you say, man. Can we just move onto the next picture?”

“Sure, sure. Will do.” The soldier flips to the next one, and this time was a picture of Captain America next to Howard Stark, looking like they were planning something together. “Huh... Another love interest.”

“Alright, Bucky.” Steve says, smacking him with the couch throw pillow, making him burst into a fit of laughter.

“Hang on, Stevie. Let's see the next one.”

“I swear, if it’s another person…”

And it was.

Except this one made them both become like a deer in a headlight.

Their surroundings grew mute, minus the tiny sounds of the crickets below, and the sound of the television down the hall.

It was a bit eerie.

A bit uncomfortable.

This was a person that hasn’t crossed their minds in a while.

Three figures cased in black and white, dressed in uniforms that weren’t quite military, but it was their own style.

Two blonds and a brunette.

One navy colored eyes that could be compared to an ocean view.

A set of eyes like the sky, and even had a dash of everforest green.

And orbs that were a mixture of cocoa and chestnut with a swirl of honey.

Standing in what appeared to be a mechanic’s garage, the person in the middle wore his stars and stripes proudly; On his right with a five o’clock shadow, and button up in blue and with a cocky grin; On his left was a woman in a jumper, copying the Captain’s smile as she leaned against an oversized mechanical leg.

Anyone could see the pure joy radiating off the picture, which is why it made these two friend’s hurt so much inside. Because they certainly weren’t feeling that way right now.

They stayed hushed for a long time, trying to stay strong for one another. But even these super soldiers needed a chance to break down to a certain low level.

“I haven’t thought about her in a while.” Bucky said, just above a whisper. His voice is soft and -tries to be- comforting to ease away the trembling before it even starts.

“Yeah… me neither.” Steve says, slowly holding onto the picture as well, taking her in. There was a spark of happiness in his features. A spark, but it was there. “I remember when this was taken. It was right after we started going after all the HYDRA bases. I think Howard took this one.”

“I think you’re right. See-” He points to a corner of the photo. “He always had at least one figure in front of the lens.”

Steve chuckles dryly. “I remember that now.” He tilts his head, studying it some more. “I think this was in the base’s garage, right?”

“Yep. Stark helped build that giant robot for her.” Bucky points to the metal leg in the picture. “What was it called again? The HYDRA Stomper?”

Steve pinches his eyebrows together. “I thought it was Crusher?”

“No, it was Stomper.”

“I don’t think so.”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to pinch his brows. “What are you talking about? She flew around and stepped on anything that was the enemy. Where are you getting Crusher from?”

“Because, you can-” He makes a smushing motion with his hands. “Crush things with your feet too.”

“Oh my god…” The brunette shakes her head. “You don’t even know your own sister’s name.”

Steve’s grip on the photo immediately tightened, and his eyes fell over with a shadow. This whole conversation just did a 360.

Bucky’s whole face falls. Guilt hitting him like a truck. Regretting the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. His body starts to slack, as he immediately wraps an arm around his friend’s body, pulling him close. He hears the blond man taking a shaky breath, letting the world grow silent again.

The picture finds itself resting on their thighs, like it was too hot to touch and would burn away their flesh if they held onto it for any longer.

Or maybe the memory was just too painful to hold onto?

“Sorry, man.” Bucky finally said, gently, afraid of stepping over a line again. He feels the man leaning into the touch, starving for some warmth. Hungry for some love and solace.

This kind of reminded him of the time after Sarah died. The neediness he needed without saying a single word. A look was all it took for Bucky to be there for him.

He felt Steve shake his head, dismissing his apology that he didn’t owe.

“It’s okay. It’s just-” Steve begins, sighing. “I promised her I would come back.” He felt his friend’s arm give him a pleasant squeeze, telling him it’s all right. “On the race to the plane, she got hurt and hitched a ride with Peggy and Colonel Philps. I remember we took each other's hands, and she asked me to be careful.”

He chuckles quietly, and continues. “I told her I’d come back, and left. If she wasn’t injured, I think she would have gone with me. Probably freeze together. But nothing hurt worse when she came on the radio in those last few moments.”

Bucky’s eyes fall onto the woman again, heart hurting all over again. “Did she cry?” He asked, mouth feeling dry.

Steve’s frowns deepen, his eyes also falling back onto the picture. “Of course she did. You know how she is.”

Blue eyes casted a glance, worriedness building up immensely. “Would you have been okay if she came with you?”

“Maybe…” He fiddles with his hands. “I don’t know.” Cap meets his stare, confliction and confusion on his face. “Is that a horrible thing to say?”

“Steve, she’s your sister. Your twin. It’s okay to have conflicting thoughts. Especially the life with both lived, it’s bound to happen.” Bucky’s face softened a little, but the sadness was still there as he picked the delicate item back up, making a point. “And there’s pros and cons either way. If she stayed back there, and if she came with you-”

He shrugs and continues. “Who knows. She could have been just living her life in the modern day, or become an Avenger with her face plastered around the world. Nobody knows what could have happened.”

Steve lets that sink in, a bit of weight was lifted from his shoulders, only to be weighed down seconds later by underground anger. “Do you think she would’ve been recognized if she had come with me?”

Puzzled by his words, Bucky shifted in his spot to look at the blond better. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shifts too, back resting against the arm rest as his friend sets the photo down again. Bucky listens carefully, picking up the glimpse of bitterness he saw in Steve’s posture.

The blond weighs on how he was going to phrase this, thinking slowly before creeping up on an idea. "Before I found out you were still alive, I went to the Smithsonian, curious about what people had thought of me. It took me about… a few hours to see everything, and… I just remember being so angry at the end."

The hurting tone had returned, and Steve tried to swallow it before speaking, "It was like… she didn't exist. My sister… just gone. Not even her name was mentioned once. I even looked to see if maybe they had put up her fake last name, 'Kingsman', but there was nothing. It was like they didn't want anybody to know that the giant robot was driven by a woman."

Now Bucky understood what he meant. Now he understood the anger his best friend had, which just added to a long list of why Steve Rogers was skeptical at everything government related. It reminded him that they were trying to erase an important part of Captain America’s life. No wonder he always declined trips to the museum when it was suggested by their teammates.

His eyes fall far away again, his mind wandering off too as he starts to regain some hidden emotions buried deep inside.

“You know, I always hated that exhibit too." Bucky begins, getting Steve's attention. "After I pulled you out of the water, I went there trying to remember everything. Even before I got my memories back, I always hated it for some reason, and it took me a long time to know why." He exhales, recalling something else. "It's on display, but do you remember when that film crew took a video of us laughing?"

Steve nods slowly, a tiny smile ghosting his lips. "Of course. You made some corny joke about sleeping on the ground again. You had us all dying from it."

Bucky copies his expression with a small chuckle. "Yeah, that day." Then it falls flat again. "When I was in Romania it just hit me when I was roaming around. I realized… they edited her out." A knife to the heart for the both of them. "I think… that was the first time I cried since our fight on the helicarrier."

Steve hums at his tale, taking in each and every word he spoke. "That war really fucked everything up for us, hasn't it?"

"Sure fucking did."

Silence overtook again, a very long one this time as they zoned out to be trapped in their own minds. But as the alarm clock inside glowed a late hour, and the crickets seemed to start to grow quieter, Bucky couldn't have missed the whisper of laughter and smile from his friend.

Cocking his head, amuse by the sight change, he asked, "What? Did you remember something happy?"

Still smiling, he nods for the millionth time tonight. "I did." Steve begins, meeting his eyes once more. "We were on a tour for the musical, and I remember about the third time I put the stupid costume on, she said 'You should've stayed home, Stevie. This get-up is probably not what you imagine you'd be wearing for war'."

This made Bucky burst out laughing at Steve's poor attempt at sounding like a girl.

"R-Really?" Bucky said, trying to calm himself. "J-Just like that? And in that voice?"

"Of course! How else is it supposed to sound like?"

"Uh… not like you're strangling a cat? Geez…" He scratches his stubble, before snapping his fingers at a memory. "Oh! You remember in the fifth grade, and that punk Tommy Scotts tugged on her pigtails, and before you could confront him she turned around and gave him a shift kick between the legs?"

Steve snorted, that image was still fresh in his mind. "I remember. She was worshipped like a God for the rest of the school year. Kids were bending over backwards for her."

"Oh, yeah. Some were willing to do her homework if it meant she kept Scotts away."

Bucky reaches for his half drunk beer, with a dorky look on his face. It kind of reminded Steve of a love struck puppy. It was a look he hasn’t seen since the army.

"Can I ask you something that's been on my mind for a long time?" Steve asked, watching him shake his head 'yes' as he brought the bottle to his lips. Like the troll the blond could be sometimes, he says, "Did you sleep with her?"

Karma was definitely a bitch, and this time Bucky was the one choking on amber liquid, the contents making a waterfall to the deck's flooring.

It took the man a second for it to fully register again, and finally, with a look of betrayal, he replies with, "You ass. You waited until I took a sip."

The Captain shrugs. "Maybe."

Bucky sighs. "Steve, why would you-"

"Buck, I don't care if you did, I just wanted to hear it from you. Was it a one time thing?"

His face got hot, and his ears started to burn which made his words slur next. "Well… n-no. It was… I mean w-we did it more th-than once… I mean…” He shakes his head, debating on if he should just jump off the balcony and make a run for it. “W-Why are you asking?"

“Because you loved her.” Steve gave him the most obvious look ever after he tried to deny it. "Bucky, I saw how you looked at her. That was not a look a friend gives another."

Bucky purses his lips, trying to hide his red face (He’ll just keep lying to himself and say it’s the alcohol). “You’re just twisting my words from earlier…”

“Maybe…”

He raises an eyebrow, noticing the look. “Wait… did you know?” Bucky gets a nod as confirmation. “Since when?”

“I started to really notice around highschool.” Steve said, nonchalantly.

“And you never said anything?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t my place.”

Bucky’s tensed shoulders fall, a bit worried though. What if he disapproves? “Steve-”

“She told me everything after you fell from the train.” Steve begins, and makes sure he’s listening before continuing on. “She cried for you and it wasn’t like the time a friend of hers died in highschool from pneumonia, it was different.”

Steve could still picture it till this day, and it both hurts yet brings a bit of joy to it all (in a non-morbid way of course). He finishes it with, “She said she loved you, but I already knew that.”

Bucky went quiet, both hands clasped around the bottle as he weighed in his thoughts. They never actually got the chance to say it to one another, especially during their time in the army, so hearing what she actually said indirectly strikes a lot of different places.

He shifts in his seat, deciding to reveal a bit of a secret.

“I was going to marry her, Steve.” He replies, the knot in his stomach loosening and tightening. He felt his friend’s eyes on him again, gentle like last time. “I had a ring picked out, it was.... Small and gold with a… a butterfly. When I scrunched up enough cash, I bought it. Left it with my older sister at home until the time was right. Originally it was going to be the night I’d left, but I couldn’t do it. Too scared of making an empty promise. Too scared to… ‘widow’ her before we even got married. It’s stupid… isn’t it?”

“No. Not even close, Buck.” Steve said, patting him on the back. His hand lingered on his shoulder afterwards for comfort. “I think it was smart to think about the situation beforehand. You did good on that part.” He smiles. “And she would have loved that ring. You even remembered she likes butterflies like a good ‘husband’ you could’ve been.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Nah. Anybody close to her could remember that.”

“That’s the thing, Bucky. She had a lot of friends, and besides me, you were the only one that remembers the small details. That’s why I consider you my best friend, and I think she would too. Trust me on that.”

He hums, finally glancing back over. “Would’ve you given me your blessing?”

Steve looks a bit taken back, but he shouldn’t be surprised how considerate he was being. “Of course. You’d be the one person I know that’ll take good care of her.” He grins, patting him on the back again. “Plus, having my best friend as my brother-in-law would be pretty great.”

That got Bucky to copy the grin. “Yeah, that would be.” He said, shifting the bottle into one hand, raising it slightly. “To a sister.”

Bittersweetness came back, but the Captain still reached over to pick up his drink again, doing the same. “To a lover.”

“To Jayden Rogers.”

They clinked their bottles for a second time tonight, the beer tasting a little flat but they didn't mind as they took in the warm and cold atmosphere. Time went by smoothly, silently, but that was alright with them.

The gentle breeze brushed against the photos, and Bucky’s attention went back to the garage one, recalling another distant memory that makes him want to relive it all over again.

“Hey.” He says, getting Steve to look over, a smile plastered onto his face. “Do you remember when we first met?”

(Part 2 )

Taglist: @fangirllife98 @ginger-swag-rapunzel

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alia-turin · 3 years

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Finally chapter 3 after I struggled for a bit. If you have read the answer to that ask here you have seen like part of this chapter because I wrote it some time ago.

I hope you guys enjoy ^_^

Fic Title: Somewhere in Time (Chapter 3) Previous Chapters: 1, 2 Fandom: The Witcher (Aen Elle) Pairing: Caranthir/F/OC Warning: Canon typical violence for this chapter, mention of scars, angst AO3 Link

The next morning Caranthir walked to her room surprisingly excited. He did not believe even for a moment that reading Avallac’h extremely boring book would teach her anything, but it was going to at least help her understand. He had brought a few other books with himself, all of them by Avallac’h, the man had spent an awful lot of time writing it seemed. Even he had to admit his teacher knew magic if nothing else.

When he walked in her room she was sitting on the table much like yesterday after he left. If it wasn’t for the fresh set of clothes he would think she never moved. His ring was still on the table where he placed it but Avallac’h’s book was also there. He placed the books he brought on the table, next to the ring, but didn’t sit down.She was studying every move he made her head tuning slightly in curiosity as she saw what he brought.

“As boring as I remember?” she just looked at him as he said that and nodded in fear. That bothered him, the terror in her eyes disturbed him. For first time in his life he felt weird about someone being afraid of him.

“If I move it...can I leave?” her words came out of her mouth as if practiced. Did that mean she actually moved the ring? No matter, the answer was no even if she managed to disintegrate it to dust.

“How did you end up in the forest?” he knew she didn’t expect him to ask something unrelated to the task at hand because of the surprise written on her face.

“I...lived there after I left my father’s house.” her words were measured, the fear of him was somewhat tuned down or at least in the way she acted, but judging how carefully she spoke he wondered if she was worried that her words might offend him. Caranthir didn’t think there was anything she could say that could in any way hurt him. He waited. He was not going to ask her to elaborate, he would just wait, either for her to continue or to ask him something. Either way was fine even if he didn’t really like talking about himself. What was the point? Everyone knew about Avallac’h’s experiment.

“I...didn’t really have anywhere else to go.” she finally continued after the silence between the two of them grew for far too long. “I’m not a human...but I’m not Aen Elle either. Couldn’t live like one or the other, I knew about the old hunting lodge and decided that is a good way to avoid everyone.”

“Never felt lonely?” he narrowed his eyes as he asked that. If he could, he would probably do the same. Go to the Winter Tower and lock himself there for the rest of his life or at least most of it.

“I’m used to it. I never truly had a place, so it didn’t really matter if I was in a house with tens of Aen Elle and their servants or on my own in the woods. It made no difference.” As she said that Caranthir could do nothing but stare. She didn’t seem sad, she said it as if that was the most normal thing in the world. He would have been angry at his parents if he was in her place, let his hate stew over the years and one day just pour it all out. He wondered which one of them was stronger in this situation. Her for being able to get through whatever pain there was and live past it, or him who would just destroy everything and turn it into ruins as he usually did. “How about you? Your family?” she asked after another very long silence between the two of them.

Caranthir was caught off guard. Everyone knew about his parents and Avallac’h...almost everything related to him. But her question was so genuine and these doe eyes looked at him...she had no idea. He had never told anyone about himself, mostly because there was no need to. He was a Navigator of the Red Riders, everyone knew Avallac’h literally made him.

“The man who wrote that book raised me.” He pointed at the book that was in front of her. She didn’t need to know the rest of that ugliness. Caranthir grabbed the ring and tossed it on the bed. “Come on. Do it.”

Aine shook her head and sighed. She looked at the ring and he could see her concentrating as he did as well. He spent all night trying to research how it was possible for a mage not to know they had power for so many years. Also nobody around her knew...how did that even happen? He read every text he could find, even some absolute nonsense that had been written by people who have not been closer than ten feet from actual magic. It even crossed his mind to ask Avallac’h, but he was not that desperate.

Aine was focused, he could see the power in her building, he was not mistaken, but for some reason it didn’t connect. He was three or four years old when Avallac’h made him do that, took Caranthir a total of two attempts his teacher just nodded and they moved on to the next task.

“I can’t.” she finally said. “It is not possible.” he didn’t respond, just opened his hand and the ring flew in it like an arrow. He grabbed it between his index finger and his thumb and showed it to her. “Impossible for me.” she corrected herself.

No. he was right, he couldn’t be wrong. He tossed the ring back on the bed.

“Concentrate.” he needed to motivate her. “Your life depends on it. You can’t move it, you are useless to me.” It was a lie, he wasn’t going to hurt her, but she did not know that. He saw the panic in her eyes. While she was concentrating he cursed himself for being such an idiot. Had really all the kindness in him died somewhere along the years? Maybe he never had it, Avallac’h forgot the kindness genes somewhere.

While he was debating on his one inability to feel emotions he saw the ring move with the corner of his eyes, but he also sensed something else.

“No, stop!” he shouted at her and jumped over the table.

Aine felt a jolt of pain somewhere deep inside her which was worse than anything else she had experienced. She had never been stabbed, but she imagined that was how a knife in the gut felt. She saw the stupid ring move and then there was that terrible feeling somewhere in her. Next thing she knew she fell off the chair straight on her hands and knees. Someone shouted at her but her mind was a fog. She had no idea where she was or what was going on around her.

Aine felt someone or something lift her head and make her look forward. The world was blurry as if she was drunk or high but slowly shapes started appearing. Far away the light from the window was blinding, then there was the shape of the bed and...him. Caranthir was kneeling in front of her, his hand holding her jaw much like he had done yesterday, but there was no force in his grip, it even felt...gentle. This was the first time she looked him straight in the eyes from such a close distance, even yesterday her face had been mostly turned so she couldn’t look at him. Despite the terror he invoked in her, he was handsome, but she could also see the right side of his face, the one that had been always covered by hair. It was still covered but that close the scars were difficult to hide. Broken and cracked skin starting from his forehead and going all the way to his chin, hiding under the tattoos on his neck.

“Aine!” he shouted her name and she suddenly came back to her senses realizing he was alarmingly close. “Don’t do that again.”

“I don’t know what I did…” she admitted, the strange pain she felt somewhat disappearing but she still felt dizzy. She looked around herself as best as she could given he was still holding her chin. Everything that had been on the table was now on the floor broken. “What…”

“You used yourself as a source. Don’t do that.” She read about that yesterday. The book said the same, don’t do that it’s dangerous, but she had no idea how she did it. That was not her goal. Also his voice...he sounded...concerned. A moment ago he told her he would kill her if she didn’t do that now he was...concerned? “Come.” Caranthir got up and helped her stand guiding her in front of himself and making her turn her back toward him. That was a strange feeling, almost like allowing a wolf to sneak behind you. “Kneel.” as he spoke the words the breath hitched in her throat but she followed. Last time she tried to fight him it didn’t go very well.

She knelt down, sitting on her heels. She turned her head trying to see what he was doing but her neck was still too painful. She didn’t need to see it as she felt it. He knelt as well but his legs pressed on the outside of her tights, his chest pressing against her back. Aine panicked and tried to get up, but his knees pressed against her tights and he placed his hand over hers.

“Don’t move.” he could feel his warmth on her skin as whispered. He was too close, way too close. Her mind started running million miles per second, she remembered that other man who had dragged her out of her house and pushed her on the ground, his weight on her, almost crushing. “I’m not trying to hurt you.” Caranthir added but in her head that looked awfully much like about to be hurt. “I need you to focus.”

“You are too close.” she finally managed to say, but he must have thought otherwise as he didn’t react in any way. Aine could probably scream, but what point was there to it? One he wasn’t really hurting her. Two who will hear her? The servants? She had seen three sets of those and based on the way they looked at her they would probably hope he killed her at the end.

“Focus.” was the only thing he said as he grabbed her arm and made her extend it as if she was begging.

Caranthr was doing his best to follow his one instruction and focus, but that turned out harder that he thought. Judging by how ridgid her body was against his he could guess she was terrified and the horrifying thoughts crossing her brain. The physical contact was distracting him and to his surprise it wasn’t lust. At least not only. He tried to remember the last time he held someone in his arms and his memory failed him. The thought was terrifying but he also never needed it. Sex had alwasy been sex, no strings attached and certainly he never had the need to hold someone. He took a deep breath. His brain couldn’t decide if he wanted to grab her, throw her on the bed or just hug her. Was he even capable of showing affection without inflicting pain?

“I need you to concentrate.” he wasn’t sure if he said that to her or himself. He was supporting her arm in his and made her open her hand. “Do the same thing you did a moment ago, but don’t use yourself as a source.” Part of his thing was he needed to be as close as possible to stop her from doing it again. Mages had died doing that and most of them have done that by accident. The thought of seeing her hurt drove something primal in him, something he had not felt in years. “I will guide you.” He felt her body relax a bit against his and sensed the power in her building very slowly, weak but it was there. She was trying but his mind was somewhere completely different. He couldn’t let her go. Danger or no, after what he just felt he couldn’t let her go. It was selfish but that was who he was.

“I did it!” her exclamation snapped him out of his thoughts. The ring was in her hand and he knew he did not help her to do that. Caranthir forced himself to get up as quickly as he could before he did something stupid. “You were right!” She was still kneeling on the ground but for the first time he saw some sort of joy in her eyes. “I didn’t think I could do it.”

Caranthir didn’t say anything, he just turned around and walked out. He was angry and he didn’t even know why. Whatever just happened there made him feel something he did not think was possible. Hate, violence, need to hurt, that came easy to him. Need to be close to someone? Need to hold someone or be held? What even was that?

Aine watched as he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind himself. She wasn’t sure what just happened, but she was also too excited at the moment. She did it. She never believed him when he said she had power, all day spent reading that book and she understood the words but the idea didn’t make sense. Until now. She looked at the ring in her hand still not fully believing it.

The strangest part was she was not excited about the ability to do magic, sure that was thrilling. It was a skill that was hers and hers alone and nobody could take it from her. All her life she didn’t really have a place. She wasn’t human, she wasn’t an elf. She wasn’t a nobleman’s daughter, but she wasn’t a servant either. There were all these roles and tasks assigned to people and she could not fit any of them. When she was just a child she was proud of that - who needed their boxes - but the more time passed she realized it wasn’t just about the boxes, it was about belonging and that was missing.

The cold air in her back reminded her that she was alone now in the room, Caranthir had walked out abruptly, not even saying a word. Some strange concern creeped down her neck, as scary as when she had felt his breath on her skin - what now? He did tell her he would kill her if she did not move the ring, but he never said he would keep her alive or let her go if she managed.

Caranthir walked in his apartments in the castle and the servant who was cleaning froze on place.

“Fill the tub.” he pointed at the bathtub. The servant bowed and started walking away but his voice stopped him. “Cold water.”

“My lord?”

“Did I stutter?” Caranthir barked at him, the man bowed and walked out as fast as he could.

He started pacing around the room as the man filled the tub and then left again as fast as he could. Caranthir started undressing, pulling clothes off himself in anger as if the fabric had done something to him. As he stepped in the tub his skin screamed in pain, but he ignored it, slowly sinking his whole body. The cold was good, it made him calm and focus his thoughts somewhere else.

He endured that for a moment and then warmed the water with magic, his body grateful for stopping the torture, his mind not so.

He closed his eyes and all he could see was her face, the way she had looked at him with excitement after she got the ring. He preferred that to the fear, but...he clenched his fingers in a fist. He had to admit to himself he was attracted. Not just physically he was a bit past that. Physical need he knew how to resolve, but the way his heart skipped a beat when she looked at him, that he had no idea what to do with. He had experienced that once before and it did not end well. He felt connected to her in so many ways, but at the same time she was so different than him, his absolute opposite. Where he was rage and impatience she was calm and reasonable. She had endured whatever difficulties she might have been subject to and still remained decent unlike him. Even her not knowing who he truly was, excited him. She was afraid of him, sure but that was because of what he did not because he was Eredin’s navigator. That didn’t matter, it was all based on his treatment to her which he had to admit had been terrible so far. He shouldn’t have darted out of the room. Idiot.

He got out of the bathtub, water had already gone cold again. Chasing the thoughts away from his brain had turned into an impossible task. Avallac’h once told him that behind all that arrogance there was a fragile scared boy. How old was he when his teacher said that...sixteen...maybe even younger.

He was torn. He didn’t need that. He was perfectly fine the way he was, alone.

But was he? It wasn’t a fragile boy that was under the arrogance, at least not anymore. It was fear. No other person would have the power to hurt him the way he had been hurt. Twice.

It didn’t bother him, usually, he had more serious things to worry about. In fact he had not felt that piercing and self inflicted loneliness in years. His mind had been going through ‘what if’ scenarios for hours now. That hurt in a way he had not experienced recently.

He walked toward the bed, his feet leaving a wet trail after him. His towel had been nicely folded there but his eyes caught the mirror across. All the mirrors in his rooms had been removed or covered, the servants must have pulled the cover when cleaning.

Caranthir looked at the man in the mirror and winced. His wet hair was pushed back revealing his face, water was still running down his chest and legs. If someone was watching him now they would probably think he had never seen himself in a mirror. He wished that was the case. He walked slowly toward his reflection, head tilted studying what he was seeing.

His tattoos were covering his muscular body, black ink and spells intertwined with ugly scars. Then his gaze moved to the face, his tattoos were ending under his chin, there was nothing to cover the disaster above. In his arrogance he could admit he was handsome, even beautiful if it wasn’t for the right side of his face. Caranthir ran a finger through his damaged skin, ugly and dry, even grotesque in his opinion. Somehow he couldn’t have it all. He was perfect in every way but this. He placed his hand over the damaged part of his face covering it completely. He wanted to rip the skin and he probably would have done it if he didn’t know that this won’t really improve anything. He moved his palm to the healthy part of his face, covering the bright skin, now he could see only the ugly half staring at him like a demon. He could barely look at himself, why would she do that? He already knew she was terrified of him, which was his fault of course, but he just couldn’t bear seeing the disgust in her eyes if she was to see him like that, completely naked, nothing to hide the scars over his body and hair pushed back to uncover his face in all its deformation.

“Fuck!” he screamed and sent his fist flying into the mirror. It broke into small pieces, one getting stuck in his hand. He winced as he pulled it, red blood started pooling on his skin.

#my writing

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liquid-reign · 3 years

Text

Devil's Advocate

Tommy x Arabella

Word count- 1.8k

Trigger Warnings- None as such

A/N- It is kind of a rebuilt of a scene in S5 E1 when they all have a family meeting in The Garrison. I've included it just in the starting to form a base for writing the rest of it. I wanted to accommodate my OC in there because it felt right. And yes I always want Tommy to get some sleep. God knows he needs it.

The title is from "Devil's Advocate" by The Neighborhood. Felt good for a title to this. Though I wouldn't say the song itself fits in this scenario.

All settled in the old area of the Garrison when Lizzie spoke up "Can I begin this family meeting with a proposal? From now on we find somewhere else to meet?"

"Your boss believes that being seen mixing with the common people is good politics" said Ada

"Well if it's our campaign for socialism, perhaps next time, Polly, you won't wear earrings worth more than the pub" retorted Roslyn who found a place beside Polly to sit

Arthur occupied a table as well and Tommy took his place standing with a pillar, lighting a cigarette

"Right. Family meeting. First Item. This" Ada slammed a spent bullet on the table "Dug out of our Finn's arm yesterday by Aberama Gold, using your Gin and a razor blade"

"Finn?" asked Lizzie

"He says they were sent to Limehouse, Chinatown" Ada continued

"Sent by fucking who?" asked Lizzie, again.

"Sent by me" Tommy answered "I told Finn to stay outta this. He obviously didn't listen"

He was clearly annoyed

Roslyn just sat there and listened. It wasn't too surprising for her to see that her husband had sent his little brother to do something like that. But she hadn't known about this "What's in Chinatown, Tommy? What is going on?" she asked calmly.

Tommy sighed a little and answered "50,000 pounds, in cash"

"He said they were sent to Chinatown to kill somebody" Ada said

"The kid needs education Tommy, he really does" Arthur was irritated by his kid brother's inability to keep things confidential, ofcourse.

"It was a particular opportunity" Polly started

"A particular opportunity presented to me in confidence, I dealt with it in confidence" Tommy said as a matter of fact.

"How important was it?" Roslyn asked, her voice levelled

"Tommy told me there was a pimp in east London who sold kids" Polly defended

"Fucking kids, right?" Arthur came in

"This pimp was blackmailing a senior member of the house of Lords, a very wealthy man" Tommy tied to explain

"Now this pimp is lying in a ditch, covered in flies. The world is a better place" Arthur supported him, opening a bottle of whiskey

"Holy fuck so now your business is improving the world?" Ada scolded them, very mad that they had sent their little brother to do Blinder business.

"The man we did the job for is a high court judge. We received intelligence from a senior police officer in Scotland yard. I've made lots of friends in London, Men with influence. The Police felt the same way about this pimp as we did" he explained further, again, as a matter of fact "He wasn't worth a trial. The coppers cleared the streets for us. This work was commissioned by a High Court judge, by Scotland Yard and by the House Of Lords"

"It's a particular opportunity. It's not to be repeated" Polly defended him

"And it was the right thing to do" Tommy tried again

"Fucking right" Arthur joined him

"I can't be bothered with this shit" Lizzie muttered, irritated and mad, and left.

Roslyn was mad too, that they had been careless enough to send Finn for this job. But she knew this wasn't to be dealt with that easily "They're right, Ada" she glanced at Ada and then to everybody else as she spoke "If Finn is to take care of that side of the business he'll have to go out, witness and experience how it's done. Dangers and Bullets included, Isn't it?" she gave Tommy a side eye, talking in a dangerously calm tone "Anyway, he's a Shelby. Being afraid of bullets shouldn't be in him. It's only practical"

Tommy, Polly and Ada looked at Roslyn like she'd read verses from Satan's own holy book. Arthur nodded.

Roslyn got up "Now if you'll please excuse me, I am getting late for my train to London", she nodded once at Arthur and Tommy before leaving.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Polly, still a little in shock

The meeting went on till Tommy and Arthur were the only ones remaining, discussing bullets and Chinese

Tommy came home tired, straight from Westminster. The strange interaction with his son left him a bit more drained. Arthur had told Charlie it was in God's hands, the death of his favourite horse. If Tommy believed in God then maybe he would agree with this someday. But he didn't. Couldn't.

He asked for Roslyn the moment he came back inside. He wanted to talk to her about what she'd said in the meeting. It had left him angry and called-out.

He knocked on the door of her study. Walking in before she permitted him to, clearing his throat, found himself a place on the opposite side of the desk.

"Good evening, Tommy. How was your day?" she greeted him, without looking up from her papers.

"Why'd you say that in the meeting?" he asked, totally ignoring the greeting.

"Coming straight to the point, are we?" she said, still not looking up.

He just waited for her to answer.

Roslyn knew what he was here for and there was no use going around in circles.

Looking up, she started to speak, but for a second she noticed how tired he looked and almost wanted to take him to bed to just let him sleep comfortably in her arms. Oh how she wished, she could but they didn't work that way, did they?

"I meant every word I said in the meeting, Tom" she paused in case he wanted to react, but carried on when he didn't "If Finn is to handle that side of the business he will have to face the dangers. He can't sit here protected. No one comes out in one piece handling that side of affairs. You and Arthur, of all people, understand that don't you?"

He just stared at her. She shifted in her seat, leaning in, arms on the desk "Tommy, you and your brothers had to get into dirty business because you didn't have a choice. But Finn has a choice. He is very young and now his family is more than capable of giving him a better life than any one of us has had" she wanted to let it all out "I know you do not want him to get hurt, but if you keep pushing him he will get hurt it's inevitable. He's not like you or Arthur or John"

"What do you imply?" he asked, voice deep and low. Calm.

"I say we send him off to a good university. That's the only way to get him away from the bad side. I'm not saying we send him somewhere far away like America. I say we keep him in Britain. Oxford, Cambridge, London"

He hardly spoke but she could sense the gears of his mind working

"He will mingle with intelligent, brilliant and decent people there. See the world for what it really is. Away from all this dirt. He will take up Law or Commerce. Come back as an asset to the company. Tommy, it's not such a bad idea you know that" she knew he understood the language of profits better, so if she had to use that she would.

Now he nodded, his gaze had shifted down to the desk where her hands lay. He was thinking, gone in his mind.

"Think of him as an elder son of yours"

He looked up at her, hints of sudden anger but an overall understanding

She sat back. Roslyn had said everything she had wanted to. Now it was up to her husband to decide.

"We want people here" he quietly said "To keep the cash coming in"

"I know. But we have Mr. Gold and Isiah for that and we can hire more people. I can give you more of my business. We have alternatives" she said

He ran hand through his hair and face, fingers landing on his eyes. He was exhausted. Spent. From all the thinking.

"You're tired. Go get some rest we can talk about this some other day" she felt like she was talking too much anyway

He laid back in the chair, eyes closed, head resting on the back. Stayed there for a few seconds before getting up.

"I will consider this, Arabella" he said before leaving

"Mrs. Shelby, you could've called me if you needed anything" Frances said, a little worried, when she found Roslyn in the kitchen

"It's okay, Frances. You and the staff can retire for the day. Goodnight" She said with a polite smile. She liked Frances but also disliked her a tad bit because of how nosy she was sometimes. She was Tommy's personal informant in the house.

She nodded "Yes. Goodnight, Mrs. Shelby"

Roslyn had decided to make a calming tea for Tommy. She had it sometimes when she was too tired to sleep. The tea made her relax. She was hoping it would have the same effect on Tommy, though it was questionable.

She put in tea, some herbs she used, lavender and a dash of rum. She even made this tea for Alfie once and he slept like a baby for atleast two hours. A smile played on her lips when she thought of it.

She checked the library first. That was Tommy's sanctuary. She knocked before entering with the tray.

He looked up from his desk, confused, watching her as she kept the tray on the table in front of the couch.

"I made tea" she said, inviting him to the couch with a tilt of her head, while pouring the drink into her favourite cups.

Surprisingly he obeyed. He was a little taken aback because he didn't know she could make tea. Or be that homely. Or maybe he had completely ignored it till now.

He sat to her right. She shifted to the far left of the couch so they weren't too, at all, close.

"Here" she bent to hand him the cup.

They drank the tea in silence.

When they finished, she softly said, while getting up "I drink this tea to help me calm down. If you feel sleepy in a few minutes, just sleep, okay?"

Tommy looked at her get up, laying back on the couch.

She left, hoping Tommy would sleep a few hours atleast. Made a mental note to come check in an hour,

She immersed herself in work because she didn't want to sleep just yet. After fighting sleep for an hour, she finally made her way to the library, praying in her head for him to be asleep.

Much to her shock and relief, he had dozed off. He was sleeping, lying fully down on the couch. She was proud of her tea today because if it could make Tommy sleep, it could make anyone sleep.

She quietly left. Content that he'd atleast get some, if not much, sleep tonight.

#thomas shelby #tommy shelby #finn shelby #peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #tommy x oc #arabella roslyn asheton

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terry-perry · 4 years

Text

To the Moon and Back

Pairing: Dad!Bucky Barnes x Mom!Reader

Child OC: James Jackson “Jack” Barnes

A/N: Something I made based off Sebastian’s adorable Instagram post. You can take a look at it yourself HERE!

Enjoy the read!

After drying yourself off and slipping into your pajamas, you walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway. You went on your way to Jack’s room where you had left him with Bucky so he could get him ready for bedtime. As you got closer, the sound of your husband’s hushed voice became more distinct. Joining it was the light rocking of the wooden chair that you hardly used anymore unless Jack was being especially restless. You stopped at the doorway of the room and peeked in, taking in the heartfelt scene before you.

Jack was tucked securely under Bucky’s arm with a blanket wrapped around his small form. His eyes bounced around the pages of the book his papa was reading in order to look at every detail each picture had to offer.

“Our love is always with us, and it never, ever ends,” Bucky recited the last several words of the book in a calm, soothing voice that always did the trick to putting your son at ease. “So snuggle safely in my arms; our day is nearly done...”

With his eyes starting to droop, Jack groggily inserted his thumb into his mouth and did just what he was said to do as he sucked away. Bucky glanced up at you to share the same big smile on your face when he did.

Still beaming, he looked down at his now snoozing baby, kissing the top of his head before saying the final line. “I love you to the moon and stars, my precious little one.”

Once finished, he carefully lifted himself up from the rocking chair with the wrapped up toddler in his arms. He put him in his bed and watched him for several seconds to make sure he was content enough to fully fall asleep. You approached them and quietly bent down to press a kiss to Jack’s forehead, having Bucky wrap his arms around you once you stood back up and have his own kiss with you.

You loved seeing your husband like this. He had become so dedicated to and caring of you and Jack; always so at peace whenever it was just the three of you. Sure, like with most things that came his way, becoming a first time father had come with a good amount of anxiety. But he had been able to get the hang of it in no time like you knew he would. Giving you another reason to love the man so much.

“You don’t think he’s getting too old to still be doing that, do you?” You wondered, observing the way Jack kept his thumb in his mouth while he slept.

“Leave him alone,” Bucky defended him. “He’s still a baby.”

You sighed and leaned your head back against his broad chest. “Oh, honey. We both know that’s not true.”

“I know,” he said with an equally sad sigh. “It’s a cheesy thing to say, but it feels like only yesterday he was barely learning how to walk.”

It was true. With the kind of lives the two of you led, every moment spent with him was precious. Especially when being away on too long missions that made you feel like you were missing out on a good chunk of his childhood. The two of you always did your best to assure yourselves that it was all for the greater good and to keep him safe. And although he was only 4 years old, Jack was able to understand and even show the sense of pride a kid can contain whenever they know how cool their parents were.

“You know, now that we brought it up,” Bucky decided to bring more of his thoughts out. “There’s something that’s been on my mind for the past couple of days.”

Before you could say something to that, he led you both to your bedroom where you could talk more openly. He sat on the edge of the bed and brought you to stand between his legs so he could hold you while he kept talking:

“Things have been going really well for us. I think now’s the best time to make use of the good life we’ve made for ourselves. That we’ve made for Jack.”

He pursed his lips together, suddenly nervous. You had a feeling where this was going, but you decided to patiently wait for him to say it himself.

“I want to have another baby,” he finally came out with it.

If it was possible, your smile managed to stretch out some more.

“You do?”

He brought out that cute half-smile that was usually shown whenever he was feeling sheepish or shy. The one that had been visible on his face when the two of you first met, and also when you began to pursue each other.

“I know we’d have to make a few adjustments like when we had Jack, but I think we could really do it. But only if you want to too, of course.”

You wrapped you arms around his neck and kept on grinning.

“I want to,” you affirmed.

The small smile grew as he gave you a look of surprised excitement. Almost like he couldn’t believe that you would be completely on board with the idea.

“You do?”

You nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you as happy and relaxed as you are with our baby. Even when we’re dealing with the stressful stuff like late nights and time-outs. I want us to hold on to every innocent moment we have with him. And with any other mini versions of us that come our way.”

His eyes instantly lit up at your words. He had no choice but to crash his lips against yours in a heated, passionate kiss. You leaned forward as you reciprocated and soon had him on his back. His hands were all over your body, encouraging you to grind against him and feel his hardening member through his shorts. Suddenly as it started, it stopped when he pulled away to gaze up at you.

You were worried for a second that he might’ve changed his mind, but his smile and comforting rubs to your sides made that thought vanish.

“I know we can’t really have a say in the matter,” he began with. “But let’s try for a girl, this time.”

You chuckled and caressed his bearded cheek. “Let’s see what we can do about that,”

The two of you didn’t say much else after that. And in the midst of your lovemaking that night, he couldn’t help but be in disbelief once again. Because no matter his past mistakes and the emotional trauma he had endured because of it all, he was still able to have people to love to the moon and back.

#dad!bucky #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #Marvel MCU #marvel imagine #oneshot #Avengers #avengers imagine #MCU #MCU fanfiction #fanfiction #fandom #fanfic #child oc #Jack Barnes

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janedrakey131 · 4 years

Text

zukka hp au part 6

Thank you so much, everyone! I hope you continue to enjoy this au. I had a few minutes last night, so I wrote up a couple scenes for all of you.

I haven’t written anything in so long though, so I’m sorry about the quality. Also, if someone is OOC, I’m sorry, I really tried. I need to rewatch atla at this rate. But feedback is always appreciated! I’m tagging anyone currently on the tag list, but if you missed it or just saw it, please let me know on the tag list post and I’ll add you in for future posts. (If you’d like me to reblog and tag you on this one, that’s also an option, but please comment or DM me so I know exactly who would like that.)

Also, if you couldn’t tell, I have no idea what I’m doing. So if I left someone off the tag list by accident or put it in a weird spot, I’m sorry! It’s possibly because I had to google how to make one yesterday XD But if I missed you, please tell me! I swear it wasn’t intentional. If you have any other suggestions or questions, let me know!

If you’d like to catch up:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13

If you would like to join the tag list

And with that, hope you enjoy :)

October 31 1981

There’s a suspicious bump.

The minister really does not like suspicious bumps.

But working in the Ministry of Magic for as long as he has, eventually he stopped jumping at every single one. He calls that progress. His wife says he’s finally lost whatever survival instincts he used to possess.

The minister doesn’t care overly much though. Today’s a happy day! The Avatar defeated Lord Sozin! He should be drafting congratulatory letters for the poor kid. Speaking of the child, he needs to find out where they are. And also who they are. There’s an astounding lack of information on this baby.

There’s a suspicious fwoosh and two masked wizards stand before him.

The minister is a calm and collected man. So, of course, he screams.

“None of that now,” says the older man with absolutely wild grey hair. “Stop screaming, Minister. We’re not here to hurt you.”

The minister wasn’t born yesterday, and his mother has reliably informed him that he isn’t a complete imbecile. He continues screaming.

The other intruder nudges the other and sighs. “You’re scaring him.”

“No, really?” Lunatic One groans. “I didn’t notice over all the screaming. Silencio. Honestly, he supposedly went toe to toe with Sozin in the Wizengamot for years. You’d think he’d have more guts than this.”

The nicer interloper (but still Lunatic Two) sighs again. “One who knows when to retreat will live longer than those who stay to fight past their abilities.”

“No, no, nope, we are not having your little philosophical riddles today. They just make my head hurt. You’re only here to make sure I don’t get bored and decide I want to wear his spine as a necklace.”

The minister’s eyes must pop out of his skull a bit.

“Just get to the point, my friend, so we can let this nice man enjoy his evening.”

“Nice man? He’s a politician. They’re all crackpots,” necklace man says.

The minister privately wonders why his friend bothers to sigh again when he clearly isn’t surprised.

“You’re a politician, too.”

“Yes,” the crazy one replies sagely. “I’m a crackpot. It means I wear the stench of insanity with pride and can identify it elsewhere.”

“Anyway,” the same man continues, but this time clearly directed towards the minister. “Simple request. Don’t look for the Avatar. No, no, no, I see you shaking your head at me. Just don’t look for them, or I’ll be back for my new bony accessories.”

His calmer friend looks the minister in the eyes. “We will keep the Avatar safe. But if Sozin’s followers find out where the child is, they’ll be dead before their next birthday. Do you understand, Minister?”

The minister likes to think he’s good at reading the room, so he nods a bit frantically. With them taking care of the child, that’s one less thing for him to worry about. And he gets to keep his spine. He’s rather partial to it now that he thinks about it. Anyway, it’s a win for everyone.

“Excellent.”

And then the two men are gone.

Hurray for delegating responsibilities.

Today was enitrely too exciting for his delicate sensibilites. The minister pulls out the biggest bottle of Firewhiskey he owns and Floos home. Maybe he’ll get that takeout his wife likes today. She always deserves nice things, but especially today in exchange for all the blubbering he’s about to do.

oOo

“Did you really have to scare him so thoroughly, Headmaster?” Iroh asks once they’re safely back in the Headmaster’s office.

Headmaster Bumi throws his head back and laughs. “Fear is healthy! It keeps the blood pumping. The masks just added to the overall effect. And it’s not like I’d actually follow through. He just needs some character building. But at least that’s done. The kid’s with a friend of mine tonight. You’ll take the child to the orphanage tomorrow then?”

Iroh nods. “We’ll check in on him sometimes?”

“Of course,” Bumi says, looking scandalized. “What do you take me for? If he isn’t being treated well, prophecy or no prophecy, I’ll raise him myself. We don’t tolerate child abuse in this house.”

Iroh is extremely alarmed by the idea of Bumi raising any child, let alone the Avatar. But he is relieved they’re on the same page. At least now he doesn’t have to plan a kidnapping. Finally, after a long, but successful, night, Iroh leans back and enjoys his freshly brewed tea in peace.

Bumi’s chewing breaks the comfortable silence.

“Want a biscuit? They’re lemon poppy seed.”

Moderate peace then, but he thanks the Headmaster and enjoys his biscuit.

oOo

September 1, 1990

Sokka kind of assumes that he’ll be extremely bored during his first year of Hogwarts. He isn’t friends with anyone in his year yet, and Katara is a year younger.

Out of the limited number of other wizarding families he’s met, he hasn’t gotten along with many of the other kids. They were all either too dull, too old, or too annoying.

So Sokka has to admit he didn’t see this coming.

The boy in front of him is cool.

He’s already changed into pressed black Hogwarts robes with a red tie, so Sokka assumes the boy is maybe a second year Gryffindor. His black hair is neatly pulled out of his face, and there’s just a hint of the hair piece holding it up. Sokka’s busy staring at the rings on the boy’s fingers, a clear sign of an elemental magic user. But he’s too far away to figure out which element.

Sokka doesn’t really care though. People are people. It can’t hurt to ask if he can sit there.

So he screws up his courage and opens the door to the train compartment.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Sokka blinks. This boy isn’t very friendly, but he presses on.

“Everywhere else is full,” he says, lying through his teeth. “Mind if I join you?”

Five full compartments can be rounded up to all of them. Sokka’s a man of science. He would know.

The boy doesn’t answer for a beat, looking him up and down. Then he sneers. “Wolf’s tail, all that blue? You must be another Water Tribe peasant.”

Sokka can feel the blood rushing in his ears. Of all the compartments he had to walk into, it had to be a Fire Nation one.

“And you must be half troll with manners like that,” he bites out, before slamming the compartment door shut and walking away.

That was terrible. But it’s too late to go back and properly insult the other boy, so Sokka angrily walks away.

oOo

That’s all for now!

A few more things:

I’m trying to make my life easier with dates for this au, so Halloween 1981 is when Sozin tried to kill the Avatar. Aang’s birthday is just going to be so late in the year that he got bumped to the year below. So we’re going based on Sokka’s years in school, first year starting in 1990. If something I’m doing doesn’t make sense or I’m completely contraindicating something, please ask! There’s a really good chance I’ve missed something.

Also, any and all commentary or jokes made by characters about being insane and so on will not extend to actually poking fun at a character’s mental health. If they’ve got an issue that’s bothering them, that’s that. In this case, I think random people appearing in your office would scare you. And Bumi just sounds like someone who assumes everyone is as sane as he is.

Lastly, say hello to one of the few straight characters we have. The minister was just a fun OC I made up, so I don’t have any corresponding atla character in mind for him. I was going to give him a name, but it just felt better having him be this random competent leader with a badass wife.

If you’d like to catch up:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13

If you would like to join the tag list

@delievia @assyouwishh @aphrcditeee @theoneandonlyredrobin @dongdingheresthething @bring-back-wally @zuko-just-wants-his-honor @youcant-escapefate @iwillgodownwiththisship27 @animegeneral17 @uglybutuwu @cocoa-hooves @errvaaa

#zukka #hp au #part 6 #atla au #atla #zuko #sokka #katara #toph #suki #iroh #sozin #ozai

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dear-yandere · 3 years

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—ask collection!

a collection of mostly very old chats and sweet asks that i never got around to answering! thanks for the patience and love!!

beware, fairly long post... woops....

chat asks.

darling: Eu-jin is best boy. Change my mind.

vanya: i am physically incapable of fulfilling that request, how dare you do that to me... i’m biased since he’s my own oc, but i would die for my (very best) boy eu-jin... who can resist such a gentle yandere that loves you so whole-heartedly?

that reminds me! he’s actually based off of kuroyuki and gekkamaru from the otome nightshade, so if you want similar characters by any chance, do check them and the game out ♡

darling: I was watching the dub for Part 5 of JoJo's Bizarre adventure yesterday...Mista called himself Daddy and I like- sdfghjfgsdhnhnmj!! My heart can't take this--

vanya: WAIT HE DID???? i’m not even big on daddy kink and reading that made me go 😳 this is vital information to know... what episode was this??? for research purposes, of course. gotta perfect my yan! mista, after all~...

darling: for yandere songs, have you heard of the major to minor covers by chase holfelder :O? the way he delivers the lyrics in some songs (betty, all i want for christmas), added with the key changes to minor, is really fantastic, and gives a stalker-ish vibe imo! and he's a really good singer in general

vanya: i have!! a good chunk of them are actually on my personal yandere playlist, so i end up hearing them frequently when i’m writing!! i haven’t been keeping up with his uploads recently, so ‘betty’ is completely new to me and just, wow???????????? this man is an absolute god send for us “romantic” horror fans... ♡

this ask gave me such a lovely idea, though, darling: assigning yandere types/mbti based off each of chase’s minor key covers. i think i’ll do that just for you. ♡

darling @blossomiich: I reread some of your old character interaction asks and saw the one with Jotaro hugging his Darling after a panic attack and the elephant seal plush reminded me of the iconic C H O N K Y ringed seal plushie that was kinda trending and I can totally imagine Jotaro having one of those >w< that's so adorable!

vanya: i honestly don’t remember that interaction, but then again i don’t remember most things hmghng so i looked it up and

j...just imagine star plat hogging it and not letting joot cuddle with it 🥺 the duality of man...thank you for this cute image...

darling: Umm, sorry for asking this. I'm just curious because of your bio language in your header. Are you Chinese too, perhaps?

vanya: no worries!! i’m mixed guyanese (indian, chinese, & possibly black and/or portuguese), but my family only celebrates (or rather, acknowledges?) our indian descent, since the majority of our family is predominantly east indian.

my header is actually a quote from a danmei novel (and one of my all-time favorite fandoms), tiān guān cì fú (heaven’s official blessing)!

darling genki stan anon: Omg you're writing for free now, i didn't expect that one lol. It's a cute show innit? Not a nagi stan but I feel like nagisa has that kinda unsnapped personality that would make him peak delusional yandere material lolol like oikawa but less threatening and without his head being up his own ass 😂. Hope you're doing well!! -gsa

Gdjsjs im such a fool, i think my last ask said something about not thinking you'd write for free when i literally just pointed out kisumi on your sideblog LMAO my bad 😅 😂 also ill hold back on the gen chan requests because ive already asked so many in the past! Thank you though 🥺. Also feel free not to post this, it can just dip into my onesided chats with my lil flower 💐 so long as you receive them im fine 😌 -genki stan anon

vanya: nagisa isn’t my favorite (kisumi is), but gods if he wouldn’t make a great yandere. honestly, out of the iwatobi boys, nagi is probably the most unhinged. i wouldn’t peg him as delusional, at least not at first; i think he’s very lucid and knows exactly what he wants and how to manipulate people in order to get it!!! kisumi is fairly similar now that i think about it... i might... have a type...

please feel free to send in gen-chan requests whenever you want!!!! i’m kinda super asocial, so it’ll take me a while to answer, but i love getting asks from you since you’re so sweet and excitable!!! your little flower reads and cherishes them all!! 🥺

also darling genki stan anon: Sorry for spamming you with asks hdjkdks, u dont even need to reply im just kinda brain empty venting here whether you recieve them or not 😂 i just needed to confess that while yes i am #1 gen simp, and he is undoubtedly my fave oc of yours but that Ilya tentacle smut had me very much so highkey kinda 👀, had to re read the genki oral style drabble to bring my head back. He dont even need to worry about luca bc that man a thot. I think therin is a thot too but like lowkey, a classy thót -gsa

vanya: omg i’ve kept this one for forever mnmghngh i might’ve even answered at some other point, now that i think about it... but i just 🥺 gosh i hope i find my muse soon, because i really wanna write you a genki fic 🥺 hhhh

the ilya tentacle smut was so in character for that boy... i have no clue how to write monsters, much less tentacles, but i’d honestly do anything for him 🙏 kinky russian boy...

therin is definitely a classy thot, the kind that only bangs the finest concubines then turns around and slut shames you for banging the very same prostitutes gbfmngnfg rules don’t apply to him, in his kingdom...wish that were me tbh ✊😔

sweet asks.

darling one: i've read almost all of your dazai and chuuya fics and i love them so much!! your formatting is also super aesthetic just a question, i saw on your kofi that you also draw so i was wondering if you drew all the header arts?? bc they're all super pretty :) have a great day!

darling two: Just wanted to say love the writing and the way your format your posts is so aesthetically pleasing. One day I hope my posts looks half as good as yours because I legit can't get over how pretty and organized it looks.

vanya: omg thank you so much!!!! one of my bffs, yue, is to thank for the formatting and aesthetic choices, really! if you wanna see more of her aesthetic formats and posts, she actually runs a few blogs! you may know her as @milkscafe, formally @milkaaton! i adore her and her aes choices so much 🥺

as for the headers, i don’t draw 99.98% of them! i have drawn a couple, but they’re so few and far in between since i almost never finish my art wips haha... my older posts are lacking proper credits because i’m an absolute idiot, but i’m slowly working my way backwards to credit them all where possible! they’re all indeed super pretty!!!

have a great day yourself, my love!!

darling: THEY’RE NOT BAD CONTENT, I LOVE THEM ALL

vanya: this was in response to a now-deleted lil blurb but i kept it in my inbox because i wanted to say i love u very much and seeing this ask each time i open my inbox makes my heart skip a beat ♡

darling: Listen I love your writing, you inspired me to start it myself! I've always loved to write, and read of course but your style and concepts just stick with me. If you where to write something besides Yandere content/fandom content and started your own series? I would read the shit, out of it. I'm always nervous to interact with my favorite writers because you know, I'm afraid of the impression I'd leave but I just wanted to say this anyway! 💞💞💞🔫😳

vanya: wowowow fgfnmgnfmngfg that’s such a high compliment my brain just gmfnbgmnf go boom fogjfngnfg and thank you for the interaction, us writers truly appreciate it no matter how awkward or nervous you think you may be / come off!!!

darling one: As a writer, your post struck a nerve with me. I don’t send feedback to writers I like nearly as much as I should (and certainly not as much as I’d like in return as a writer). So, as such, I’m going to start doing that when I can, starting with you.

You are an incredible writer. You were one of the first yandere writing blogs I found and you’re still one I check in on regularly to see what you have been working on. You can portray a sense of suspense and intrigue in a natural way that many other writers - published ones included - struggle with. You delve into the darkness without it feeling forced, and you have an amazing grasp on the psyches of the characters you write for (which is a quality I adore in writing and strive toward myself).

I’m not great at ending these things so I guess.. you keep doing you? Because the you is great and I appreciate it.

darling two: hey. i'm here to tell you that from the bottom of my heart i love you and your writings. i really admire your writing skills. you inspire me. one of your posts once saved me from a nervous breakdown. thank you for everything you do. you're a wonderful person. good luck!

darling three: I wanted to tell you that thank you for writing such wonderful beautiful writings and that you take time to edit and write I hope you are taking care of yourself 💖❤

darling four: Thanks. I was having a hard time and deleted all my apps, but as soon as i opened my phone my first instinct was to look at your blog and i got my motivation back. Thanks (:

darling five: Hi ! I just wanted to say I really enjoy the stories you write and how they are detailed so well ! Stay safe and I hope you have a good day/night ! ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

vanya: ahhhh, these are very old asks mostly dating back to my “tumblr writing community is dying” post, and i’ve kept them this entire time because i’m just so starstruck. i have no clue how to reply to compliments, so i’m not sure what else to say besides that these asks made me very happy and got me through a few insecure moments!!! i’ve actually been feeling a little down about my writing recently, mostly because of lack of motivation / inspiration, so revisiting these really warmed my heart, so thank you truly ♡ i’m certainly keeping the originals in my inbox until the end of time!!

darling @monstrously-obsessed: psst, this local cryptic mom thing send all of their love for you 💕

vanya: your local herbo says she loves you very much momster 🥺 mwah

also, to the anon worried about my safety:

thank you so much for pointing that out!!! it hadn’t even crossed my mind when i made those ocs, so i appreciate your concern! i was contemplating revamping those two as is, so this is a great place to start! thank you again!!

#asks collection #not a fic #vanya rambles #[ vanya LITERALLY rambles ]#[ life's hard when you're this asocial i swear fgmnfgnmfg ]#[ now to answer concept asks ]

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jaygrl22 · 4 years

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OCtober Day 10: silence

so I took a break yesterday cuz i needed it💕 so I’m doing yesterday’s and today’s prompts today. Here’s yesterday’s. This is eventually gonna get put in my actual fic I think!! (or something like it idk)

From Cullen’s POV this time. (canon character)

@oc-growth-and-development

---

The return trip from Redcliff was… not what Cullen expected. There should’ve been some joy in the air, some kind of relief. The Inquisition had just saved the rebel mages from being shipped off to Tevinter to endure Maker knows what. The Lady Sooth— Lady Herald brought down the magister serving this Elder One and the Inquisition now had enough magic to, hopefully, seal the Breach.

There should’ve been some celebrating. Some joyous chatter. Maybe even a little singing. Instead, the march back to Haven was deathly silent.

It was the Herald. After… whatever it was that had happened in the throne room, she wasn’t… doing well. And that had everyone on edge. Including Cullen.

As Commander he elected to ride at the front of his troops, giving him a front row seat to the Herald’s behavior.

The grip on her reins was far too tense, her hands trembling. Her breathing short and fast. The clenched muscles in her jaw barely loosened when she opened her mouth to pull in more air. Her large, ice colored eyes were glazed, staring into nothingness at the base of her mount’s neck.

Twice already Cullen had had to call out to her, breaking the eerie silence, so she could right her course. She didn’t respond to Herald, nor to her former title, so he had to break their old rule and call her by name to catch her attention. Each time he did, she jolted out of her stupor so violently it frightened her horse.

She would blink at him, her eyes full of horror and welling up with tears, then quickly turn to her horse. A stiff hand would run along the creature’s mane, soft assurances and apologies falling from her lips to calm it. The horse would regain its composure. The Herald would sigh. She’d turn her attention to the road, steal a glance at him, then slowly fall back into her previous state.

The third time she started going off track, Cullen broke another of their rules. Instead of calling out to her, he – rather unskillfully – maneuvered his horse beside hers and gently tugged at the reins himself. Her lost eyes shifted toward his hand and followed it as he brought it back to himself. She jumped slightly when she finally realized he was next to her.

Knowing he was far too close, Cullen had his horse move aside a few paces. “Sorry.”

She shook her head with surprising fierceness. Her mouth opened then closed again as her eyes started to shimmer. She turned her head, pulling at her sleeve as she sniffed loudly, and wiped at her face.

Cullen rubbed at his neck awkwardly and focused his attention on the road. Whatever was troubling Elia— Whatever was troubling the Herald, he knew she would confide in someone else about it. Leliana, perhaps, or Lady Cassandra. Maybe even Josephine or Varric… But not him. He’d lost that privilege a long time ago.

All he could do for her now was ensure she not drift off the road. He would deliver her to Haven safely, ensure one of the others check on her, and then…

Then what? Just be done with it? He frowned at the idea.

No, no, he would… He would check on her, too. They’d have a meeting about what happened, surely. He could ask her there if she was alright. He doubted she would give more than a polite answer, but… Well, they both knew what it was like to go through awful things. Perhaps if he reminded her of that, she’d feel comfortable speaking to him about it. But that could also bring back old memories and just make things worse.

Cullen sighed, not knowing what to do.

The silence stretched on. Her horse occasionally veered off course and he righted it. She looked at him, then looked away. He sighed. The soldiers watched nervously from behind. More silence.

When they finally reached Haven, he stayed closer than he should have until she handed her horse off to Master Dennet. Cullen relinquished his mount as well, surprised to find her looking at him.

“Thank you, Cullen.”

He stared at her, taken aback. She hadn’t called him by name in years. It was one of their rules; one she’d insisted upon.

He stumbled over his words a moment before giving her a proper response. “You’re welcome. Are you… alright?”

Her gaze fell to the snow beneath them. She shrugged. “No. Not really.” She lifted her eyes to his. “Are you? Alright, I mean. You’re not… hurt or anything... Right?”

“Me?” he asked in disbelief. “I’m fine.”

“Good,” she breathed. She closed her eyes. “Good.”

She walked away then, leaving Cullen more confused than before.

#oc-tober #cullen rutherford #dragon age #oc: Elia Winters-Desrochers #cullen x oc #kinda?#they aren't together yet #but meh #my writing

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galadrieljones · 4 years

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As You Were (Chapter 4)

Fandom: The Last of Us | Pairing: Joel x OC | Content: Fix-it | Rating: Mature

Masterpost

When Joel and Ellie take a wrong turn on their journey from Pittsburgh to Wyoming, they find themselves lost in, what feels like a time warp: a beautiful place with a dark and dangerous secret. While there, they meet Cici and Noah, a mother and son fighting tirelessly for survival, and who have recently endured a terrible tragedy on their family farm. Amidst their joint desire to find hope for the future, the two groups decide set out west together, changing the course of the story (as we know it), and the very course of their lives.

This is an AU, starting after the events of the Summer chapter in the first game, and extending into the timeline of the second game. Joel lives.

Chapter 4: The Trench (Pt. 1 and 2)

“I’m scared of ending up alone.”

She walked along the river, and she found him sitting on the grassy bank, with his feet in. He still had his boots on. “Don’t,” she said, crouching beside him. “You need to take off your boots first.”

“No you don’t,” he said. He smiled. “Come try it out.”

She sat down, but she didn’t put her feet in the water. The river bank was wet anyway. It was getting her jeans damp. She didn’t feel like taking off her boots. “I thought the whole point was to be free,” she said.

“You can be free any way you like,” he said. “That’s the definition of freedom.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said.

The big blue sky cast out above them as opals. There were no clouds. No anxious metal sounds. There were no fears.

“I know you’re pregnant,” he said. He was staring at his boots in the water. “I saw the test.”

She looked down at her hands. Everybody was always doing that. “You saw it?”

“I didn’t mean to. You left it in the trash. Where did you even find one?”

“Amy,” she said. “She had some, from the Wal-mart. I had to pay her with two chickens.”

“Pretty good deal, considering.”

“Are you mad?” she said.

He looked at her with his brown eyes. Sometimes they could be hard as bolts. Today, they were soft. “Why would I be mad?”

“Because we didn’t mean it,” she said. “My dad is gonna kill me.”

“No he won’t,” said Will. He took her hand and pressed his thumb against her knuckles. “Nobody is gonna die.”

Mom. Don’t go back.

“Cici?”

She opened her eyes. When she looked around, she realized it was morning, well past the break of dawn. She had fallen asleep on the couch. She was looking at Joel now. He was standing in the middle of the living room, wearing a new tee-shirt but the same jeans. He had a rifle on his back, and a shotgun. He was looking confused. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry. Hi.”

“You sleep down here last night?”

“Yeah,” she said. She put her feet on the ground, her face in her palms. “I was just reading, pretty late. I guess I must have been so tired. I slept through the night.”

“Well that ain’t so bad,” said Joel. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “I was just, uh. I was gonna head out, with Noah. He’s gonna show me the work that needs doing on the perimeter. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “You said you’re going with Noah now?”

“Yes, ma’am. He says it shouldn’t take past lunch.”

“I’ll have something ready,” she said. Then, she looked around. “Is Ellie still asleep?”

“No,” said Joel. “She’s out, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs.”

“Oh. Okay, well, good.”

“I think she likes it here,” said Joel, glancing out the window. “She ain’t never spent time outdoors like this before. It’s good for her.”

“I’m glad,” said Cici. She was still sort of out of it. She got up and started walking to the kitchen. “Did Noah make any coffee this morning?”

Joel kind of paused. He seemed taken off-guard but he hid it well. “Noah didn’t mention any coffee,” he said.

“He probably just forgot,” she said, putting a kettle on the stove. “We scavenged a couple big bags from the roastery in town, a couple months ago. I mean, it ain’t fresh, but it does the trick. I can make you some, if you like. It’ll just be a minute.”

Joel walked over to the table. He leaned against one of the chairs. “Uh, sure,” he said. “Sure, that’d be fine.”

“You look dumbfounded,” she said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” said Joel. “Everything’s, uh, just fine. I just—I ain’t had coffee in a while.”

“How long?”

He glanced down at his watch, which she had noticed early on. It was broken, but she figured there was a good reason he must have kept wearing it, or else it could have just been habit. Grown men were like that, she knew. They just got to doing things for so long sometimes, they forgot why or how. They just kept doing it till they died. “Years,” he said.

“Well, you’re in luck then,” she said. “Would Ellie want some, or is she too young?”

“I don’t think she’d like the stuff,” said Joel.

“Noah doesn’t either,” she said.

Ellie came inside a moment later then, as Cici was boiling the water. She was holding a whole basket full of eggs and looking very pleased with herself. Noah followed behind her with his familiar shotgun set on his shoulder.

“Look at all these eggs,” said Ellie, holding up the basket. “Joel, do you see this?”

"I do.”

“Very good haul,” said Cici. The kettle was whistling. She started pouring the water over the grounds, through a cone, into a mug for Joel. “I’m just making Joel a quick cup of coffee, before you boys head down to the perimeter.”

“You guys got coffee?” said Ellie, sitting down at the table. “Holy shit, Joel. You must be freaking out.”

Joel then gave her a little bit of a side-eye. “I am not freaking out. Though I will admit, it’s a treat.”

Ellie started counting the eggs, one by one. "Anyway," she said. "What do you guys think you’ll see when you go down there? Is it pretty gnarly?"

“Hopefully we'll see nothing,” said Noah. He picked up an apple, from a blue porcelain bowl on the counter. “Hopefully we’ll just finish the trench, reset the mines, and be done.” He took a bite.

"Good," said Ellie.

“I’m just happy to see the two of you out of danger,” said Joel, sitting back in his chair. “Whatever I can do. This place deserves a second chance.”

Cici just focused on the coffee. She wanted it to be good.

When they got outside, Noah took Joel out to the crow’s nest where he wanted to pick up a small canister of gasoline and a lighter and some other stuff, including the replacement mines, and a true blue improved explosive. That one, said Noah, was more or less just some parts his mom had made for a fancy pipe bomb, plus a proximity sensor. He had them up there stored in a backpack. When they got up to the top of the ladder, Joel notice the Pearl Jam poster and did a double-take. In some ways, being on that farm in the middle of nowhere, it felt like he had stepped through some sort of time warp.

“My dad liked them,” said Noah, reading his mind, pocketing a book of matches and loading his 9mm, which he then holstered in the waist of his jeans. “That was his.”

“That’s a blast from the past,” said Joel.

“What year were you born?” said Noah.

The question was surprising, and direct. Both Noah and Cici had these unfiltered ways about them in which they could sit in complete silence for multiple moments at a time, but then, out of nowhere, abruptly come to the truth, simply asking and saying the things they meant with very little pretense or warning. “Uh, 1984,” said Joel.

“Dang,” said Noah. “You’re as old as my Uncle Nick.”

“Who's Uncle Nick."

“My mom’s step-brother," said Noah. "He was old enough that he was in Iraq.”

“What year?”

“2004, I think, was the start of his first tour."

Joel took a deep breath. He had his hands on his hips as he was nodding his head to the memory. “Yeah, I knew a lot of guys that enlisted,” he said, “after 9/11, in 2003. At the time, it seemed like there was something to fight for. It wasn’t that uncommon where I grew up.”

“Did you enlist?” said Noah.

“No,” said Joel, glancing back to the poster. It was a silkscreen, from a concert in Madison, probably back in like 1996.

“Why not?”

“I thought about it, but I had—well, I had other responsibilities at the time.”

Noah just stared at him, unclear.

“Let’s get a move on,” said Joel.

It took them about twenty minutes to get all the way to the section of the perimeter that needed maintenance. Noah said this was an especially vulnerable spot, as it pushed right up against the woods, with a wide frontage to the Kickapoo River just a few miles away on the other side. To get there, they had to follow the creek, which was overgrown in some parts with a great deal of bramble. At some point, they emerged and then had to walk through about five acres of arable land that had gone to seed. There was also a fairly overgrown apple orchard, and a field of actual, farmed corn, plus a stable, in the distance. Most of the trek was downhill, but the sun was hot that day. They were cooking.

Noah didn’t talk much. Joel was getting a little apprehensive about what, exactly, it was they were going to run into out there. He knew they were going to finish digging a trench, and he knew they would have to navigate their way through a live minefield, using the map that Noah had stuffed in his back pocket. He trusted the kid, and he trusted Cici, but he still had no idea what the hell he was doing. Part of him was worried about getting a leg blown off. The other part was amped up, just in case they were set to run into a horde. There were a lot of trees out there, and he didn’t really understand how it was they had kept this place fully booby-trapped in such an organized fashion for so long all by themselves. But then he thought about Bill, back in Massachusetts and suddenly, based on his most recent memories of a life lived with Tess, in which the two of them survived mainly by navigating the loopholes of a fully-fledged but decaying QZ, he began to realize that perhaps the kind of hard work he was used to, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t that difficult at all.

“You know, I asked your mom yesterday,” said Joel as they scaled down a shallow ridge overgrown with prickly shrubs, “about whether y’all had some idea of what’s been causing the increase in activity out here, with Infected.”

“What did she tell you?” said Noah.

“She told me to talk to you.”

When they got to the bottom of the ridge, they walked a little further out, through a meadow with a dry well. Up ahead, finally, they saw it—the minefield. It was on the other side of an electric fence, about ten feel high. The fence had barbed wire spooled along the top, but it didn’t seem to be properly electric anymore, as there was a huge hole cut in the links, which they took turns squeezing through.

“You know how I told you, the water, coming in from the Kickapoo, the Bad Axe, some other major tributaries off the Mississippi, it’s ain’t safe?” said Noah.

“Yeah,” said Joel.

“Well, one day,” said Noah—he had a machete, which he was now using to hack through some of bramble on the other side of the fence, “about a year and a half ago, we heard a distress call from the Amish. There used to be a whole huge family of them on the other side of them woods, over north. They didn’t use the radio, but they had a hand-powered siren, which they would use to signal any threats in the area.”

“These the Amish that got the scrapyard?”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “They were called the Lapps, before. Anyway, when the siren went off, my dad and my uncle went over there, and some of the other guys in the area that we knew. They thought they were gonna find maybe some reavers, or a small horde, wandering in from the town. But when they got there, it was like, the whole entire family was turning. Every single one of them, like dozens of people, infected, at the same time. It was insane, my dad said. It was starting to rain, so my dad and my uncle, they just herded them all into the barn and locked them in, and then they came home. They said it was bizarre. If one person gets infected and starts turning other people, why did the distress call come in so late? Why weren’t there more dead? Everybody was just sick, they said. All at once, as if they'd all been infected at the same time.”

Joel was focused on his footing, stepping through the tall grasses. There were so many grasshoppers, you couldn’t count. “Did you figure out what caused it?"

“Eventually,” said Noah. “We were used to using a well, which draws on a aquifer, under the ground, for our water. But the Amish, after the Outbreak in 2013, they apparently started hauling their water in straight from the river, fished it all the time.”

“Spores in the river?”

“In all the rivers,” said Noah.

“How?”

“All the tributaries coming into the floodplain, they’re all contaminated. A couple of travelers came through not long after the outbreak at the Lapp farm. They said that every city up and down the Mississippi, and on a major tributary, everywhere is going nuts with Infected. They said that, in LaCrosse, you could see the Cordyceps, growing right off the banks. There was something going on.”

“Jesus.”

“So like a year ago,” Noah continued, “all of us—me, my mom, my dad, and my uncle, we went up to LaCrosse.” He stopped in his tracks then, took a long drink of water from a canteen in his backpack.

“What happened?” said Joel.

“We got cornered by a horde before we could make it into the city,” he said, “in a church just south of Shelby. There was a fire. My mom and me got out, barely. My dad and my uncle didn’t. By the time the two of us got back to Viroqua, the rest of the Amish in the area had either abandoned their farms, or turned. The whole town, anybody left in this part of the Driftless, they were almost all of them gone. Dead, turned, or gone.”

Joel felt heavy, blindsided. He looked at his boots in the tall grass, getting wet from the river marsh. When he looked up now, he could see it there, in its glory: the minefield. Just like a long, flat expanse of grass that spread out, stretching around the property, maybe about twenty yards deep. On the other side of the minefield was the trench, and then a whole lot of trees, growing up the side of a wooded ridge. “Everything you just told me, that’s all true?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Jesus Christ, kid.”

“I know.”

“You said there are others in the area. The Amish who got the scrapyard. Some of them survived?”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “One of the families had been on a supply run, eastward, during the outbreak. They came back, and they stayed. They still live over the hill. There are a few others, a couple families here and there. My Aunt Amy, she was married to my Uncle Nick, she left a little bit after we got back from LaCrosse, went down to the Quad Cities with her daughter. They had family down there, on Amy’s side, in Moline. We’ve tried to keep tabs on what’s going on down there, but it all went dark a while ago. I have no idea if they made it.”

“So you think the Infected, they’re coming down the river, with the spores.”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know why, or how, the water became like it is? Because it ain’t like that in the northeast. Spores infecting people through the water supply is news to me.”

“We don’t know what’s causing it,” said Noah. “We know there’s something going on in LaCrosse, but we’ve never gone back.”

Joel took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry, son,” he said. “I am. That’s a tough hand.”

“Thanks,” said Noah, shaking his head. “But I doubt it’s any worse than your sob story, or Ellie’s, or any of the other sob stories you must hear traveling around these days.”

“That don’t matter,” said Joel. He regarded Noah, whose cynicism was familiar to his own. “In the grand scheme of things, one loss might seem meaningless, but just because a lot of people are dying that don’t mean the people that you lose, that their lives held any less significance to you when they were still alive. You get that?”

Noah was just staring at him, as if the words he was hearing were foreign, or new. He did, however, nod stiffly, and then he looked away. Joel didn’t know if it had gotten through. He just felt for the boy.

“All the shit we need to do, it’s up there,” said Noah.

Joel squinted past the minefield toward the trench. “It looks like it’s nearly finished.”

“It is,” he said. “The Infected tripped two mines and one bomb yesterday. We’ll clean up the trench, and then we'll replace the explosives. With you here, it’ll be fast.”

“What are the odds we’re gonna run into Infected out there at that trench?” said Joel. “There’s a lot of trees.”

“I don’t know,” said Noah. He took the map out of his back pocket, unfolded it. It was hand-drawn in blue pen. “They hang out in there sometimes, because it’s cool. They get lost, and then they freak out if they hear you. Just like, stay alert. And while we’re in the minefield, follow in my footsteps exactly so that you don’t blow up. We’ll go slow.”

Joel sighed profoundly. He closed his eyes, gathered his courage, prayed to the good lord nothing would happen, knowing it was fruitless, but doing it anyway. “Alright then," he said.

By noon, they had finished the trench. The sun was high, and they were both sweating and starving, ready for some respite. Joel watched Noah assemble the pipe bomb while leaning against a shovel in the shade of a lavish white oak. Noah had about him a sense of precision that suggested he had been doing this sort of thing from a very young age.

“Where the hell did y’all learn to do all this?” said Joel. His gray tee-shirt was almost soaked through with sweat. He was dirty and he could feel the sunburn on the back of his neck.

“My Uncle Nick,” he said. “The one who was in Iraq.”

“That what he did over there?” said Joel.

“Yeah,” said Noah. “It was basically his whole job to disarm these things. He also went to some African countries after his initial tours for demining operations.”

“Goddam. That’s some brave business.”

“Still took a zombie apocalypse and a church fire to kill him,” said Noah, digging out an impression in the dirt with his bare hands. “Fucking clown world.”

“You’re telling me,” said Joel. “You almost done?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m gonna go take a leak,” said Joel, looking around. “You good?”

Noah nodded, working carefully. “Just be careful.”

“I will,” said Joel.

After showing her how to sheer a sheep that morning, Cici showed Ellie all the different, easy parts you need to make a perfectly compact pipe bomb. “You can take it with you anywhere,” she said. “You can make them fancy, but they don’t need to be fancy. This gets the job done.”

They were out in the shed, which was more or less a workspace. It was all full of guns, assembled and in pieces, hanging on the wall, and in piles. There were axes, machetes, and two grindstones. There were shelves and shelves of different sized containers and wires, all colors and lengths, lining the walls. As Cici worked, Ellie sat on the tool bench, watching, rapt, by the good light coming through the window. “Where did you learn to do all this?” she said eventually.

“From my step-brother,” said Cici. “He was an EOD specialist in the Army.”

“What’s that stand for?”

“Explosive Ordnance Disposal.”

"That’s insane,” said Ellie. “Back in Boston, we had some demolition training, but it was basically just like, how to make five different versions of a Molotov cocktail.”

“Those work pretty well, too,” said Cici.

“Later, I met this guy, Bill—he knows Joel—and he had basically trip-wired this entire little town where he lived. He showed Joel how to make nail bombs, too.”

“Nail bombs are not that much different than what we’re doing here,” said Cici. “Maybe a little cruder.”

“Seems a lot cruder.”

“So how do you like it?” said Cici. “Traveling with him? With Joel.”

“It’s okay,” said Ellie. She rested her chin on her knees. “He’s kind of...terse. Just sometimes though. He doesn’t talk much. When he does, I don't know. It’s okay. He seems a little stern, I know, but he's really not that bad.”

“He said you lost some people, back east. In Boston. And in Pittsburgh. I just—I wanted to say I’m sorry. That must have been really hard, and really scary.”

Ellie looked down at her Converse. One of them had come untied. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s not really...easy. I guess.”

“No, it isn’t.” Cici completed the pipe bomb, set it neatly on the workbench between them, like a cake. She didn’t press for details, on Boston, or Pittsburgh. “Voilà,” she said.

Ellie was oddly comforted. “That’s so freakin cool,” she said.

Back at the house, Cici got Ellie started on making a new loaf of bread. Meanwhile, she sliced up a fresh loaf from the pantry and set about making sandwiches.

“So, you go from making bombs to making sandwiches, huh?” said Ellie. She was standing at the counter kneading the dough. It was squishy, she thought. Weirdly satisfying.

“Pretty much,” said Cici. She had prepared four tall ham and cheese sandwiches, on sourdough. Simple fare. For the them, and for Joel and Noah. “Sometimes, we watch movies. Maybe we can watch one tonight.”

“This is my kind of living,” said Ellie.

They smiled at each other.

But then.

“What the fuck was that?” said Ellie.

They heard the mines going off, one by one, well into the distance. A rapid succession. Too many.

"Cici?"

“Shit."

"Was that the mines?" said Ellie. "Are they okay? What the fuck?"

In the trees, Joel zipped up and resituated himself. The thicket out there beyond the trench was quite beautiful. The nature sounds were almost deafening but in a way that suggested an earthly innocence. Joel was used to wearing a backpack, but with a home nearby, he didn’t really need one that day, so he felt light, despite the sweat and the physical exhaustion. Oddly enough, it had felt good to dig and to use his strength for something productive. Rather than killing, he was building for once. It had been a long time. He took the shotgun off his shoulder and checked the rounds. The sound it made was metal and ran in cacophony to the ongoing symphony of the trees.

He’d gone out maybe only ten yards or so, from Noah, who he could no longer hear but he could still see, through a crack in the foliage. He had made sure not to get beyond sight. Ready to head back, he put the gun strap back over his shoulder and took a step, breaking a twig beneath his boot, and the sound should have been innocuous, but instead, it seemed to trigger a familiar, inhuman noise nearby, and then that seemed to trigger another.

Joel swore under his breath, pumped the shotgun, and waited. He stood very still and listened to the cicadas clicking off in the trees in that ongoing rhythm, and out the corner of his eye he then saw something woman-shaped dart between a break in the foliage. If he truly parsed the noise of the thicket he could hear their heavy, frantic breathing. It was stalkers.

In slow silence he backed out of the thicket and made his way back to Noah at the trench. Noah was finishing up his wiring of the pipe bomb to the motion sensor and said something about how they were pretty much all set to go, whenever Joel was ready. Joel shushed him.

“Fuck,” said Noah, in a whisper. He picked up his shotgun off the earth. “What is it?”

“Stalkers,” said Joel. “I caught sight of one, but there’s more.”

"If we stay quiet, we can—”

But it was too late. They heard unsteady footsteps coming up the thicket. Raising their guns, they waited. A runner, looked to be a man, dressed in fishing gear stumbled out of the trees, bloodied up, shivering and afraid. Joel and Noah tried to stand perfectly still, but it saw them, and they were backed against the minefield, and it was no choice. Joel blew the thing’s jaw clean off. It dropped to the soil in silence, but the sound of the gun brought the stalkers out of the trees.

“Follow as close as you can,” said Noah.

“I will. Now go.”

It happened fast. As they navigated the mines, the sounds of the Infected in the woods rose up behind them in a maelstrom. There were way too many, maybe two dozen, must have been dormant in there, fucking lulled under the shade. When they got to the fence, Joel and Noah slipped back through the other side, turning around to watch a whole shitload, gnashing through the trees and descending upon the perimeter in total disorganization. Several fell into the trench, and the rest tripped the mines, plus the brand new pipe bomb, causing loud explosions that shrouded the whole field in a cloud of dust and smoke.

Joel and Noah hit the earth. It was so loud, Joel could feel the ringing in his ears vibrating in his teeth, and when, as he caught his bearings, he finally looked up, realizing it wasn’t over, Noah was dragging him to his feet, shouting something incomprehensible. Then, GET BACK. Scrambling into the tall grass, Joel watched as Noah lit up the canister of gasoline with a couple rags and chucked it as far and hard as he could past the barbed wire spools over the fence. When it landed, it blew to high heaven and in its wake, the sounds of all the Infected leftover from the mines turned to chaotic agony. There were birds dismounting from the trees in all directions, squawking. Then, a deadly quiet.

“Fucking shit,” said Noah, stumbling backward. He fell to his hands and knees, coughing from the dust.

As the ringing died down in his ears and in his molars, the afternoon seemed to crack wide open. Joel was on his back, staring up at the clear blue sky. “You okay?” he said.

Noah was heaving now, out of breath, covered in the detritus from head to toe. He walked over, held out his hand, hauled Joel back to his feet. “Yeah,” he said. “You?”

“I’m okay,” said Joel. He dusted himself off, still coughing and waving his way through the dust. He tripped forward to the fence and pressed into it, trying to make anything out at at all in the minefield. He could see some of the blistering bodies, smell the explosive energy, the roasting, human carnage. It was horrific. Then, he saw the trench. “Goddammit,” he said. “The whole thing is pulled up again.

Noah was keeled over, squinting out at the trees. “This place is fucked,” he said, more to himself than anything. “Lets get the fuck out of here.”

Cici took the walkie out of her back pocket. She shouted into it for a while, but nobody answered. She then rushed them out of the house.

"Where are we going?" said Ellie.

"Crow’s nest.”

Up the ladder, Ellie felt like she was just blowing in the wind, no direction. But Cici had kicked into some sort of military high gear. She was holding a sniper rifle, which Ellie did not remember seeing her grab. She then handed Ellie a loaded rifle of her own, which had been hanging on a hook by the door. It felt heavy and wooden, but Ellie understood it. Cici asked if Ellie knew what to do.

“Yeah,” said Ellie, shaken. “Joel showed me. In Pittsburgh."

She then handed Ellie a pair of binoculars, told her to watch the horizon, westerly. Ellie did as she was told.

The sun was hot. There were no clouds. The sky was big and blue, as a gem. She spotted a few plumes of smoke at the perimeter, but she didn't see Noah or Joel. If she couldn't see Joel, she didn’t know what she was supposed to be looking for. All those explosions had sent her into an adrenaline-baked sort of panic, so that when Cici finally got Noah on the walkie, Ellie was so fucking relieved, she let go of the binoculars so that they thudded to the floor. She felt stupid, picked them up immediately, but then closed her eyes and felt an unexpected flood, again. Like she wanted to go home. Whatever that meant. But it was really powerful. She thought she might puke. She held it inside. “Holy shit,” she said.

“We’re okay,” said Noah over the walkie. “Infected ambushed us at the trench. But it’s done. Over.”

“Thank fucking god,” said Cici. “Me and Ellie got the scope on your location, just in case. Over.”

“Thanks,” said Noah. “I’m pretty sure they’re all fried. But they took the trench with them, and a bunch of the mines. We had to light up the rest with gasoline. The whole section is fucked up, even worse than before. Over.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Cici, hanging her head. “Okay. You boys just get back here. Over.”

“Okay."

Over.

Ellie watched then as Cici set down the walkie and leaned, slowly, against the rifle, almost struggling to keep her balance. She had her eyes pressed shut, as if praying. Her blond hair was braided over her shoulder, but the plaits were all loose now. “Fuck,” she said, in a whisper.

"They're okay," said Ellie.

But Cici was talking to herself then. Not in a crazy way, just a stressed way, almost like she had forgotten that Ellie was in the room. “I can’t do this anymore,” she was saying.

"That’s my fucking brother," he said.

She was not okay, in the radio tower.

"Screw it."

Ellie went over to Cici and placed her hand on Cici’s shoulder. She didn’t want to be standing there alone anymore, and the smell of the smoke was starting to waft in with the breeze.

#the last of us #tlou #the last of us part 2 #tlou2 #tlou fanfic #ellie tlou #joel tlou #as you were #cw:#violence #new banner!!#pirated that font good and plenty #<3

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seoulsister98 · 4 years

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Dissonance (Ch.1) | jjk (m)

⭄ Pairing: Jungkook x OC

⭄ Genre: Superhero!au / Enemies-to-lovers

⭄ Warnings: explicit language, minor character death, mentions of blood, mentions of violence

⭄ Word Count: 2,955

⭄ Disclaimer: Hi, everyone! This is my first ever attempt at writing a BTS fanfic so please be nice. I’ll probably continue the series even if this doesn’t get many likes. I wrote this based off a dream I had, but it is also inspired by X-Men and the show The Boys. Enjoy! :)

Mutants have been living among humans since the dawn of time. Across all cultures, religions and legends, mutants were seen as gods and miracle-workers. Overall mutants were viewed as benign, altruistic beings, gifted with special abilities. However, in this modern social and political climate, the world now perceives mutants in conflicting ways. Some people feel entitled to their gifts, given to mutants through the alterations in their DNA. They expect mutants to use their powers for good and to protect human-kind from the dangers of the world. However, others consider mutants freaks of nature and even menaces to society. Political leaders spew mutant versus human rhetoric, only fueling the hatred that humans feel towards mutant-kind. This ideology is derived from fear of the unknown. Although most mutants are capable of killing humans, most of them wish to pursue normal lives. Like getting an education, finding a career, blending into the crowd. Most of them. Until recently…

Mutants often face discrimination and even violence from humans because of their fear-derived convictions. This has led to the formation of radical mutant groups, rallying up their bloody masses and promoting the belief that mutants are far superior to humans and should be treated as such. The government has deemed these groups as terrorists and a threat to the general public. Because of the immeasurable powers some mutants possess, human strength nor human weaponry stand a chance to eliminate this threat. With this in mind, the government has initiated a military-trained task force called the Mutant Special-Ops (MSO). They are given mutant-related assignments that would otherwise go unchecked. Government collaboration with mutants is very controversial in the media. Some believe mutants have a duty to fight the bad guys while some think all mutants are inherently evil, and will turn against mankind.

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☽ Bangtan City. District 7 Railway. 1:42a.m.☾

Nara. ID number 5407. Telekinesis. These were the only three things listed on her MSO portfolio along with the red letter ‘M’ in the corner, signifying her mutant status. She never understood the need for this distinction, as if the word ‘telekinesis’ didn’t give away what she was. She also couldn’t wrap her mind around what had become of her life. It felt like yesterday that she was just 17 years old, disowned by her family, homeless, with no prospects when a government official had approached her. A sleek, black car pulled up beside her as she walked along the sidewalk. The back, tinted window was rolled down. A man wearing a suit peered at her over his sunglasses. “Get in,” he had said. Wanting no trouble with the law, Nara cautiously entered the vehicle. She pressed herself against the leather seat across from him, attempting to put as much space between her and the man, and stared at him warily. “Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble,” he said with a slight smile. Knowing how mutants were systematically killed by law enforcement, Nara still felt doubtful about the man’s intentions. “What is it that you want from me then?” she asked. The man’s smile grew wider, “I have a proposition for you.”

That day had changed Nara’s life for the better. Along with the rigorous 4-year military training and the scientific experiments she had undergone, she had also been given a home, a family, and a purpose in life. Now she sat beside two of her fellow teammates, Jimin and Taehyung, several feet away from the city’s train tracks. It was very dark out sans the lights illuminating the track. Nara looked up at the starless sky; the city lights swallowing up their light. A cool breeze lifted Nara’s midnight hair off her shoulders and she relished in the feeling. Although she had been assigned missions countless times, she still felt on edge.

Taehyung sighed and glanced at his cellphone again for the nth time that evening. “My patience is wearing thin. This train was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago,” he said in annoyance and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared off towards the tracks in the direction the train was supposedly arriving from. Jimin placed a hat over his head in order to cover his silver blue hair, a phenotypic mutation that came along with his powers. Although it wasn’t too strange to see a younger man with unnaturally colored hair in the city, the team was required to look as ordinary as possible. “Complaining about it isn’t going to make the train come any faster, Tae. Besides, where do any of us have to be right now?” Jimin asked. Taehyung shrugged and smirked, “I was hoping we could grab drinks after our mission. Maybe enjoy a night for once.” They were about to kill a man, a fellow mutant, and Taehyung was thinking about grabbing drinks as if they worked in some stuffy office all day. With each completed task, these things became easier and easier to do. The only solace they shared was that all of this was for the good of humanity and the rest of the mutants who didn’t want a bad rep because of a few sour apples.

Nara placed her brown color contacts over her violet eyes. She glanced over at Taehyung who was sporting his signature pedestrian garb, all black clothes topped off with a leather jacket. Mutants often exhibit physical abnormalities like Jimin with his natural blue hair and Nara’s violet eyes. Taehyung, however, was blessed with black hair and brown eyes, making it easy for him to pass as human. He never needed a disguise while on missions or in life for that matter. “Let’s go over the mission one more time,” said Jimin, pulling up the file on his phone. “Target is on board a District 7 high-speed train heading east-bound towards Bangtan City to meet with the mutant terrorist group: Supremus. Target is mutant, but powers are unknown so execute the mission with caution. Target is in possession of top-secret information disclosed in a briefcase. Assassinate the target and retrieve the briefcase without any human casualties. Dispose of the body.” Jimin slips his phone back into his pocket. “Easy enough,” Taehyung said nonchalantly.

The rumble of the approaching train pulled them out of their thoughts, “It’s here.” Taehyung groaned as he stood, “About time.” Jimin and Nara stood as well and they stealthily made their way towards the train. As they approached, the wind from the speed of the train whipped their hair and clothes, making Nara wince. “Which car is he in?” Jimin asked nonchalantly as he began to stretch his limbs. “According to Namjoon, he should be in car sixteen,” Nara replied. Taehyung groaned again, “When is Yoongi gonna stop this train?” Yoongi, the MSO’s hacker and shapeshifter, was tasked to hack the high-speed train’s operating system in order to stop the train instead of letting it take its intended route. A few seconds later the train came to a gradual halt. “We shouldn’t enter car sixteen immediately. We should enter from the back, it’ll give us enough time for a distraction,” Nara said. Jimin nodded in agreement. Taehyung sighed, “We’re just wasting more time by doing this! Why can’t we just kill this guy and get it over with?” Jimin nudged him and gave him a look which seemed to silence him.

Nara approached one of the back cars, most likely empty due to the time of night. She raised her hand towards the train door. Using her power of telekinesis, she forced the door open and stepped inside. Jimin and Taehyung followed closely behind. “How’d you three get on here?” The three whipped their heads around to face a man in a uniform, most likely someone who worked on the train. Dammit, Nara thought to herself. She only considered the possibility of passengers seeing them, not an employee. However, slip ups such as this were easily fixed by Taehyung, possessing the power of memory manipulation. He approached the man and waved his hand in front of the man’s eyes, in a calm voice he said, “You never saw us here. Continue with what you were doing.” The man’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he nodded and turned away from us. Taehyung turned around and smirked at us, “Still got it.” Nara rolled her eyes, “Get serious, Tae. That could’ve blown this whole operation.” Taehyun tsked at her and shook his head, “You have such little faith in me.” Rather than contributing to their bickering, Jimin began making his way towards the sliding doors, separating them from the other cars. Nara and Taehyung followed behind as they all made their way towards car sixteen.

The team finally came upon several confused passengers. Jimin, feigning concern, asked a couple why the train had suddenly stopped. “I don’t know, but someone came back here and told us it would start running again shortly.” They’re window of opportunity was narrowing. “We need a distraction,” Nara whispered to the others. “I have an idea,” Jimin replied, “but let’s get closer to our target.” They continued walking and slipped into car sixteen. Nara scanned the area and noticed a man, sitting by himself, holding a briefcase. He seemed inconspicuous enough, passed as human, except for the gills he was attempting to hide under his shirt collar. He could have the ability to manipulate water or even the ability to swim at inhuman speeds. Either way, he was potentially dangerous and the team needed to execute this perfectly. “Get on with this grand plan of yours Jimin, we don’t have much time,” Taehyung urged. Jimin glanced at Nara, “You got this?” She nodded. Jimin sat down close to a window and the others sat beside him. Jimin placed his hand against the side of the train, shooting volts of electricity from his fingertips. All of the lights on the train sparked and busted, encasing everyone in complete darkness. Passengers screamed and ducked for cover. This was their chance. The man with the briefcase, seeming to know something was off, shuffled out of his seat quickly. Taehyung and Nara followed after him. The man sprayed water from his hand onto the floor, causing Taehyung to slip and fall. Nara easily avoided the water and jumped over Taehyung. “Dammit! Get him, Nara.” The man clutched his briefcase to his chest and ran to the next car. Nara chased after him, shoving away distressed passengers trying to run the opposite direction. Outstretching her hand, she forced him in place. He grunted and struggled in her telekinetic grasp. She approached the man and withdrew her knife from her boot. The man’s eyes widened as if she was squeezing them out of his head. His gills seemed to be gasping for air and sweat dripped down his temple, “P-Please don’t do this. I’m one of you!” Nara felt her stomach churn at his words and grimaced, “You are not one of us,” she said and slit his throat. He made a gurgled sound as blood spurted on her face and chest. Losing her concentration, she released the man from her hold and he fell to the floor with a thump. She wiped her face and looked down at her hands. It was dark on the train, but she could still see the man’s blood on her hands. She felt sick to her stomach from the sight. Taehyung and Jimin finally reached her and lifted his lifeless body. “Let’s go.”

In their hysterics, the passengers had run to the opposite end of the train so thankfully no one had witnessed the man being killed. Nara pried the door open with her power and helped the other two drag the man’s body out. “What should we do with the body?” Nara asked. “Let the train run over him. That should be sufficient enough for disposal,” Taehyung said and shrugged. Jimin grabbed the suitcase, “This is all we need. Let’s get out of here.” As the train began to move again, the team ran away from the tracks and into the city.

---

“Thank god this bar stays open late!” Taehyung exclaimed as he downed his drink. After the mission was completed, the team reported to their leader, Namjoon, and delivered the briefcase they were asked to retrieve. Getting the thumbs up from Namjoon, Tae believed celebratory drinks were in order. Nara glanced at her phone, it was 3 am. Most human bars were closed by then, but mutant nightlife lasted much longer, sometimes into the early hours of the morning. Mutationem, a popular mutant-only bar in the city, was a place the team would frequent after missions. Nara sipped her beer and chuckled as she watched Tae flirt with the bartender. She turned to her left and noticed a fluffy grey cat sitting beside her on one of the barstools. “Hi, Yoongi” In a blink of an eye, he shifted back to his human form, clothes somehow intact, “Hey.” Yoongi preferred walking around as a cat, little chance for any verbal interaction but a lot of chances for petting. “That hacking thing you did was pretty convenient. I thought we might have had to jump on top of the train to get in,” she said with a laugh. Yoongi shrugged, “It wasn’t too hard for a genius like myself. Run into any other problems?” Nara shook her head, “Other than having to listen to Tae complain, it went fine.” Yoongi scoffed, “Figures.” Nara watched as she swirled the contents of her bottle around, curiosity consuming her, “So what was in the suitcase?” Yoongi shrugged, “I don’t know. Namjoon didn’t tell me and I didn’t really care to ask.” Nara thought this was strange; it wasn’t like Namjoon to keep things hush hush from the team. As if Yoongi could read the concern on her face, he said, “I’m sure it’s nothing too important. Probably just some info on their next move.” She nodded. “Anyway, I think I’m gonna go back to the base. I’ll see you later.” And with that, Yoongi transformed back into a cat and jumped down from the barstool. Before leaving, he rubbed his head against her leg, making her smile. Nara looked back at her bottle which was still almost full. Deciding it was time for her to go back to base as well, she chugged it and exited the bar.

She regretted her decision to down her drink so quickly, feeling her head buzzing from the alcohol. Base was only a few minutes away so she decided to walk instead of calling for a government vehicle to pick her up. She shivered as the cold, night air whisked her hair around. Wrapping her arms around herself, she began walking in the direction of the base. As she walked along the sidewalk, Nara could sense someone trailing her. She couldn’t tell if they were actually following her or if her tipsiness was making her paranoid. Deciding to take a shortcut home, she made a b-line to an alley. As soon as she turned the corner, the man following her grabbed her around the waist from behind. Thanks to her military training, Nara easily broke free from his grasp and used her telekinesis to push him back several feet. Stunned, the man fell to the ground and stared at her as if he saw a ghost. “Fucking freak!” he yelled as he scrambled to his feet and ran off. She winced at his words as she watched the man run away. She knew she should be used to this kind of treatment by now, but interactions like that always left a bad taste in her mouth. And these were the people she had sworn to protect, she thought to herself and continued walking back to base.

---

☽ Bangtan City. Supremus HQ. 3a.m.☾

The small room was dark except for the lamp that illuminated the desk. The mastermind behind Supremus, Bang Si-hyuk, sat broodingly behind the desk, a scowl on his face. Jungkook lounged across the leather couch situated in the shadowy corner of the room, watching the other man that just entered the room.

“Intel has just informed us that our assailant from the group outside of the city is dead,” he said to Si-hyuk. “Fish boy?”

“Yes, sir.” The man behind the desk scoffed. “Of course he got himself killed. He was one of the weakest among us. I can’t believe they trusted him with such an important task,” Si-hyuk rubbed his face in exasperation. “What about the supplies?”

“Gone, sir.” Si-hyuk slammed his fist on the desk. Jungkook closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “God dammit! MSO?”

“Yes, sir. Three of them.” Jungkook sneered at the mention of the MSO. He couldn’t comprehend why any mutant would risk their life for the sake of humans. Humans all had unwarranted arrogance about them even though mutants were obviously the more powerful beings. They exploited these mutants for their own personal gain and still treated them like dirt. Jungkook didn’t understand and he never would. That’s why he had decided to join Supremus. They were considered terrorists by the state, but he didn’t see it that way. It wasn’t a question to him who was more superior.

“We need the supplies back. If they figure out exactly what we’re doing, the government is going to crack down on us even harder.”

“What do you suppose we do, sir?” Jungkook stood from his position, “I can get them back.” Si-hyuk eyed Jungkook and shook his head, “No, you’re too valuable of an asset.” Jungkook smirked at him, “You underestimate me.” Si-hyuk considered Jungkook’s words carefully, “I trust you, Jungkook. Do what needs to be done.”

“Yes, sir.”

#BTS #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #bts smut #bts fluff #superhero!au #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts x oc #networkbangtan #series

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vertanimeni · 4 years

Text

the ice will start to break, the day will fade away (6/18)

Summary:

“Have you heard? The Elephant of Caocin has committed high treason!”

From Trikru’s most reputable war hero to Trikru’s most wanted traitor, Kova found themselves stripped of their titles and trapped between a clan that wants them dead and a camp of invaders - the same ones who kidnapped and tortured their brother.

But Kova was willing to do anything to stay alive and keep their family together.

Pairing: Bellamy/Grounder OC

Word Count: 5,428

TW: Canon typical violence, violent flashback, healing/medicine.

A/N: Hi hi! After some convincing from my friends, I decided to post this series here :D I’ve already finished with season 1 and half of season 2, I’m just in the middle of re-writing and editing. If you’re reading through my blog, the read more does not show up due to Tumblr’s new formatting, so please click on the post itself. I’ll be updating every other day at 12pm EST. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

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⟻ Previous Chapter || Masterlist || Next Chapter ⟼

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vi. irreconcilable.

“Everyone gather around!" Clarke summoned the camp to the platform where she and Bellamy stood. He prepared to explain the events leading up to the situation of having a grounder as a neighbor until Clarke spoke first. “With the help of two grounders, Lincoln and Kova, we attempted to make peace with one of their leaders.” Her words started low rumbles of whispers throughout the group. Clarke paused. Unsure of what to say next, she needed to come up with a reason for Kova’s stay without alarming them.

As if on cue, Bellamy spoke up. “Due to miscommunication, the meeting didn’t work out as we had hoped. I know this is difficult and, trust me, I understand why you’re all angry. We have a lot to talk about, especially after last night."

“But since Kova helped us, the grounders consider them as a traitor.” Clarke surprised herself with how flawlessly she came up with that excuse. “They were injured in the process and had no other place to go, so we brought them here.” The murmuring in the crowd increased and some people grew agitated. "Think of it this way." Clarke raised her hands up. "They could help us find a better water source and food, maybe even teach us about the land."

"How do we know this grounder won’t try to kill us while we’re asleep?” One shouted out, adding gas to the flaming panic within the group.

“Because they were injured. They can’t do much.”

“But if you all feel unsafe, we can have them hand over all their weapons and stash them away. By having them around, we can get valuable information in order to survive. And if the grounders come, we’ll have the upper hand with them. Are we good?”

The whispers cooled down after Bellamy’s reassurance. After all, he hated the grounders more so than anyone else in camp. If he had agreed to this, then there must have been a good reason. The muttering stopped and most of the camp were nodding their heads in agreement. There were a few who still despised the idea, but none objected.

“Great.” Clarke clapped her hands. “Now let's talk about the ship from last night.”

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Red bathed Mount Caocin. Kova found themselves in the middle of a mountain path, dried trees and leafless bushes lining the edges. They felt fabric rustle at the top of their head. They realized it was an all too familiar hooded cape tied securely across their shoulders. Panicking, they tried pulling at the end of the strings to no avail. They tried pulling the cape over their head but the string tightened underneath their jaw.

They gave up and took note of their surroundings. Other warriors ran up the path, paying no mind to Kova even when they stepped in their way. Yet deep in their gut, they knew these weren’t their warriors. Sloppy foot work, unbecoming of a warrior of Trikru, capes similar to Kova’s covered their entire faces and bodies, denying Kova even a glimpse of who they could be.

But the warriors had the Trikru insignia stitched into their capes. Who else could they belong to?

Thus, Kova followed their fellow warrios up to the edge of the path.

The Azgeda army stood at the foot of the mountain, holding their flag on a pole, a symbol of war, but none of them had any visible weapons. 'Why haven't they followed us up here yet?' Kova found themselves asking.

Strange clicking noises came from behind. They turned around to face their fellow warriors, only to find the wind blowing their capes to reveal the forbidden ancient weapons. Guns.

Shots rang out. Kova flinched and squeezed their eyes shut, bending over to protect themselves. But no pain arrived, and neither did the bone crunching bullets.

The Trikru warriors they had fought along with for years disappeared, and now there was only one person in front of them. The brother they love fell to his knees in front of them, collapsing into a puddle of rainwater and mud, his blood mixing with the elements below him.

Their arm hung in front of them, jaggedly, inhumanly, like a puppet on strings, with the pointer finger pressed against the trigger of the gun in their hand.

///

Eyes snapped open, only to flinch away with the afternoon sun streaking sunlight through the crack of the tent’s entrance. Kova recoiled, back pressing against a mattress, and rubbed their eyes with the back of their hands. Their heart pounded in their chest, body alight with adrenaline, yet they couldn’t recall the nightmare that had woken them up.

Maybe that was for the best.

Instead, they tried to remember how exactly they fell asleep in this unfamiliar, orange tent. From what they could recall, they didn’t necessarily “fall asleep,” rather they passed out from the pain shooting up their leg.

Ah. The recollection of last night brought a dull ache from their injury. The ache also returned a hazy memory of the invaders’ leader visiting in the middle of the night with Octavia to disinfect their wound. Slowly turning to lay on their side, they peered under the thin blanket to find bandages wrapped around their calf.

As well as bare skin. Someone had taken off their leather armor, boots, socks, pants, long sleeve shirt, and jacket, folding them neatly to the side, the mask on top. They had been left with their underclothes — a pair of biker shorts and an off-white tank top. “I’ll have to thank whoever did that later. It’s exhausting to take all of that off, even for me.”

They noticed there were important pieces missing from their collection. "Surprise surprise," Kova grumbled to themselves, sitting up on their elbows. "They took away my weapons. Did they have to take the holsters, though?"

They tossed the blanket off and hooked a foot against the side of the mattress to sit up. Grimacing at the new spark of pain, they swung their healthy leg over the bed, then carefully guided the other one to follow. They took a deep breath, preparing themselves to try to stand until—

"Kova?" The tent shifted as someone poked their head in. "You alright?"

They didn’t need to turn to know who it was. They kept their back towards the entrance. “Mn. You can come in if you’d like, Clarke.”

Last night, Clarke had only been focused on disinfecting their wound while Octavia and Raven undressed them. She hadn’t seen anything other than their leg, not even their face.

Which was why her breath hitched at the sight of their tattoos. She had heard of tattoos before, but the tradition was lost on the Ark. An intricate armband circled around just above their elbow. Above the band, there was a thin line of blank skin before a new tattoo began — the ink became trees of a forest, with mountains and valleys ascending up their biceps, and a sun peaked out between two peaks of a mountain.

It wasn’t just the tattoos that surprised her, either. Circular scars took up the skin of Kova’s shoulder blade, too numerous to count. Kova twisted from their seat in bed, their shirt shifting along with them, revealing even more circular scars, as well as five circular tattoos following down their cheek bone. At the base of their neck, they had another tattoo, the exact same one that Lincoln had on his chest.

Clarke only snapped out of her stare when she accidentally made eye contact. “Sorry. Got lost in my thoughts.” She felt her ears and cheeks heat up. “We brought you here two nights ago — you were knocked out the whole day yesterday.”

“Mn. Makes sense. I feel like I slept for a whole day.” Their voice came out in a low, raspy murmur.

“I need to check up on the cut.” She said, raising a medical kit up.

“Go ahead.”

She went around the bed and knelt in front of them, opening up the med kit. Clarke drew the old bandage off the skin and inspected the wound. She felt eyes following every move she made. “It doesn’t look infected.” She looked up at Kova, whose gaze had solely been focused on her face.

“You look tired.” Kova answered her questioning look. “I’m guessing you’ve told your camp about me?”

The heavy sigh Clarke released made her shoulders slump. She started wrapping a fresh bandage over their calf. “Yeah. Some weren’t happy, but I doubt there’ll be any problems. We had to lie, just so you know. I told them that because you helped us, your people marked you as a traitor and you couldn’t return home.”

A bitter laugh filled the tent. “Not a lie.”

Confused, Clarke looked back up at them.

Unaware of the blue eyes fixed on them, Kova leaned back against their arms, their distant gaze boring into the fabric of the tent. “By now, my clan will have raided my tent, my home, everything. Once they know I’m not there, they’ll ask around if anyone has seen me in the past few days. I’ll be marked as a traitor by the time the sun rises tomorrow.”

Her throat felt tight. She swallowed thickly. “Why did you do it, then?”

“Hmm?”

“If you knew your people would outcast you,” Clarke began packing her med kit. “why did you help us?”

“I hope you’re not expecting my answer to be, ‘because it was the right thing to do.’” One glance towards the sky leader proved Kova’s suspicions right, judging by the way she looked away from them. They shook their head, a breathy laugh tumbling out of their mouth. “No, no, my reasoning is selfish. I already had issues with my clan long before you came down, but once you arrived, our relationship snapped. It was a matter of time, I suppose. I needed to get away from them.”

There were no pros to telling Clarke the full story. After all, she was the invaders’ leader first, Clarke second. If she knew Trikru would be after their head soon, she might try to trade Kova in for a peace treaty or something. At least this way, Clarke might feel guilt over Kova losing their clan and allow them to stay permanently, and Kova can help around camp or whatever. It’s a win-win.

“But,” Kova continued, “I would like to be clear about one thing. I may no longer be loyal to my clan, but that does not mean I will be loyal to you.”

“Then, where does your loyalty lie?”

“My brother. And in conjunction, Octavia.”

“Octavia?”

“Mn. She’s my brother’s interest.”

Silence took over the tent.

“…interest?”

“Long story. Ask Octavia if you want to know. You don’t have to worry, though.”

“About what?”

“About me. Seeing as Octavia is part of your clan, my loyalty is as good as yours, even if it isn’t directly. I will not harm anyone here as long as they do not try to harm me. I can help with whatever you want me to help with.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind. And thank you.”

“For what?”

“You saved my life twice. Thank you.”

“…mn.” ‘I took responsibility.’

With that, Clarke made her way to exit the tent. Just as she placed her hand on the flap of the tent, Wells drew it open. They made eye contact but before he could say anything, she smiled ever so slightly and walked passed him. Ever since the incident with Charlotte, their relationship had gotten a lot better — Clarke apologized for how she treated him and blaming him for her father's death, and he forgave her immediately. But they still hadn't talked much. His eyes followed her until she left his sight, and he couldn’t stop the soft sigh that left his lips.

“You alright?” Came Kova’s voice from the inside of the tent.

Wells snapped out of his thoughts. He peeked into the tent and was greeted by Kova’s hunched back. “I should be asking you that.”

Ah. Truthfully, Kova though it was Clarke who sighed. They hadn’t expected this voice. “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking.” They responded, elbows on top of their knees, the palm of their hand against their forehead. “What do you want?”

“I have water. You want?”

“…mn. Come in.”

Wells stepped around the bed and held the cup of water out. “I figured you might get thirsty.”

Kova skeptically glanced between him and the metal cup in his hand. They didn’t know if anyone might have tampered with the drink. Bringing the cup up to their mouth, they sniffed around it for a moment before taking a small sip. It tasted simply like water and had no type of fragrance. Once Kova felt like it was in the clear, they chugged the drink down.

“Thank you for saving Clarke.” Wells’ voice was gentle.

As they returned the cup with a thanks, they caught a glimpse of his bandaged right hand. The pointer and middle fingers were missing just below the second knuckle. ‘Hmm. Interesting. What kind of camp is this?’ Instead of asking, Kova sent Wells a kinder look, one people rarely saw. “No problem.”

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Wells left not too long after, giving Kova some privacy to change into their clothes. They could hear the bustling of the camp outside their safe little tent, of people talking and laughing with one another, of branches colliding into a pile together, of thick trunks creaking together to form a wall, of water boiling above a crackling fire.

If Kova closed their eyes and ignored the pain in their leg, ignored the tired ache of their muscles, and pretended like the invaders’ were speaking Trigedasleng—

Mn. It felt like they were back at TonDC’s training camp.

They would even bet that the moment they stepped out of the tent, all eyes would be on them, and the invaders would start talking, just as the Trikruvians did back at camp.

Well. At least they wouldn’t talk about Mount Caocin.

(Jump out of the frying pan, fall into the fire.)

They relished in the feeling for just a moment before taking a deep breath and opening their eyes. There was no point in feeling homesick — Trikru was never their home, it hadn’t been in three years.

(Was it ever?)

They secured their clothes, tied their dreads back and the mask on (better safe than sorry) and stood at the flaps of the tent. Neither Wells nor Clarke mentioned anything about allowing them to leave their tent. Hell, stepping outside would be a whole lot easier if they had been told they were a prisoner. But they were neither prisoner nor guest.

Kova dealt with this before. They handled the side looks of warriors and civilians alike. They had knives shoved in their back by the same warriors they considered friends and kept walking. They handled the glare of the Chief and the interrogation of the General.

They could handle a couple of kids watching them.

Taking a deep breath, they let their hand push through the curtain and ease it open. Rays of sunlight attacked their eyes. They shielded themselves from the light with the other hand and stepped across the threshold.

Only a few delinquents glanced at them, and from that group an even a lesser amount of them outright stared before they went back to work.

…huh. Alright. Kova had been expecting more backlash—

Something crashed into their right thigh. Startled, they looked down only to find a young girl stumbling back, eyes shut, rubbing her forehead. If Kova hadn’t been wearing the mask, the young girl would have seen the worried look they had.

Instead, the young girl looked back up to apologize only to make eye contact with a very tall stranger wearing an absolutely terrifying mask. She gasped, eyes widening in fear as she stepped back and tripped over her tiny feet. She squeezed her eyes tight as her world went sideways, thinking ‘oh no, Fox just washed my clothes yesterday!’ and prepared for the crash—

One warm hand delicately wrapped around her wrist while another pressed against her back, helping the young girl steady herself. The moment the stranger’s hands retreated, she hid her face behind her hands, both in embarrassment and fear. But then she heard a soft laugh, not of mockery, but of fondness, affection, warmth, and she couldn’t help but peek through her fingers, watching as the now crouched stranger tipped the mask over their head, away from her view.

“You alright?” The stranger tilted their head questioningly before reaching up and picking a few leaves caught up in the young girl’s curly locks. “Make sure to watch where you’re going. You bumped your head quite hard.” They smoothed the back of their finger across her forehead.

“I’m okay, it didn’t hurt me that much. Sorry.” She mumbled, looking down at her worn shoes.

“Apology accepted. I’m sorry, too.”

“For what?”

“I scared you.” They reached back and untied the mask, letting it drop into their hand, making sure to keep the face away from her. “If I had known there were children here, I wouldn’t have worn it.”

“I’m not a child!”

“Is that so? How old are you then?”

“I’m seven.”

“Oh, I see, you grown grown. My apologies for calling you a child.” Kova looked down at their mask before offering it to the girl. “It’s pretty scary, right?”

Hesitantly, the young girl nodded, a small smile forming. “I’ve- I’ve never seen a mask like that before.”

“Mn. It’s my brothers. Do you want to see it? It’s less scary when there’s no one behind it.”

“Sure—!”

“Emmie!”

The young girl (’Emmie?’) snatched her hands back, startled, and whipped around.

Now that their little bubble had been popped, Kova realized the entire camp had been watching their every move like a hawk, as if they would hurt the child. Their set their jaw a little tighter than usual.

A pair of legs appeared at the corner of their eye, Emmie unwillingly behind them. Kova raised their gaze. The pair of legs belonged to a man, a familiar one at that. Ah. He had been there at the bridge, as back up—

Their eyes landed on a bandage plastered against his cheek. They were hit with an influx of memories and realized a lot more happened yesterday. Kova stood from their crouched position, face suddenly very serious.

Emmie didn’t like it. But before she could say anything, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her away. She looked up and found the hand belonged to Fox. Just before Fox pulled her around the corner, Emmie yelled, “Pretty stranger, see you later!”

Kova didn’t have low self esteem, but while they didn’t see themselves as ugly, they wouldn’t have used the term ‘pretty,’ either. They were caught off guard for just a moment, but before Emmie was dragged around the corner, they managed to respond with, “Mn, see you.”

They turned their attention back to the man. Their eyes unconsciously landed on the bandage once more before darting away in guilt. “My apologies for yesterday. I—”

“Whatever.” The man cut them off, leaving them in shock. He continued, “Clarke wants a word with you. Go to the dropship. I heard you already know where it is, right Kova?”

Still in shock at being cut off and his foul tone, his implication went over their head. Their jaw tensed, forehead creasing. “I was trying to apologize.”

“Don’t care. Go to the dropship.”

Kova opened their mouth, but before they could get a word out, the man turned away, heading to the location in question. They had to take a deep breath, silently begging the Gods to provide them with all the patience possible. Just before they could take a single step, Bellamy spoke over his shoulder. “And from now on, keep the mask on and stay away from the kids.”

The mask, they can understand, but something malicious settled in their stomach at the last half of his sentence. Their hands clenched at their sides. “I would rather die than hurt a child.”

Bellamy stopped in his tracks. “Good thing you won’t have to do either, since you’ll be staying away from the children.”

He kept walking.

Instead of arguing, they followed his footsteps, tying the mask back on. They were more angry at the implication of what they would do to the children rather than the order itself. But then again, they would never let Lykrian, Artigas, or any of the other TonDC children near an invader.

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Once the two arrived, Kova couldn’t help but take note of the dropship’s design. After all, the last time they had been here, they were too busy with saving their brother to notice the harsh lighting, the seats along the walls, most taken out of place and leaving behind an imprint. Boxes were now stacked neatly in one of the corners, rather than haphazardly like they had been last time. Kova followed Bellamy to the back and found Clarke sitting at a table with six empty seats and a cup of what seemed to be tea.

While Kova stood by the entrance and bowed their head, waiting to be invited, Bellamy simply sauntered in and plopped himself in the chair across Clarke’s.

“Come in, sit.” Clarke patted the chair next to her.

“Mn.” Hesitantly, they pulled out the chair between her and Bellamy. She nodded, and they sat down, back rigid. “I was told you wanted to see me.”

“I wanted to go over what happened at the meeting before the grounders attacked.”

Before Clarke could say anything further, Kova interrupted. “I believe you have it the wrong way — Trikru did not attack first.”

“Jasper said they were ready to shoot Clarke down.” Bellamy said, crossing his arms, sending him his best glare. “We were protecting ourselves.”

“Did you not have your sights set on the Lieutenant?” Kova questioned without sparing a glance towards him, preferring to stare straight at the wall. “Just as your back up had their finger on the trigger, Trikru, too, notched their arrows in preparation. That does not mean they would have attacked without prompt. I told you on the bridge that guns weren’t allowed,” they directed their words to Clarke, “the causalities on Trikru’s side far outweigh what you have here.”

Standing from his chair, Bellamy scoffed and walked away from the table to pace around the tent. Kova wondered if he did that a lot. By the way Clarke sent him a worried glance every minute or two, it seemed so.

“Speaking of unprovoked,” Clarke continued. “Anya said something along the lines that we had attacked Trikru unprovoked too many times to be considered unintentional. Do you know what she was talking about?”

“…A few come to mind.”

“A few?” Bellamy let out a bitter laugh. “A few? What kind of bullshit — we’ve been here for less than two weeks, what could we have possibly done to them—?”

“Shall we start from the beginning?” Kova’s sharp tone interrupted him with a chill he hadn’t felt by anyone before. With every point, they counted off a finger. “Crossing the forbidden river, almost alerting the Mountain’s fog, risking the lives of many hunters and living animals, and then—”

“When was that?”

“When you first landed. I believe you had sent out a scavenger team. You were there too, now that I recall.”

It took the two invaders to realize what they talked about.

“What, Jasper? When he swung over the river?”

“Mn. Across the river is a no access zone. We’re not sure why, but that area around Mount Weather triggers an acid fog from the forest and passes a good kilometer or two past the river. The day Jasper crossed was when the hunters and gatherers were out.”

Bellamy seemed to have pieced whatever pieces he had together, and his face contorted in anger. "Then were you the one who speared him?!”

Immediately, Kova shook their head. “I heard of the incident, but it was not me.”

Noting Bellamy’s face, Clarke diverted the subject. “What else did we do?”

“After you landed, you destroyed large portions of the forest, burned down the Srathme Springs and the village with it—”

“Anya mentioned that. I already explained that was an accident. We had to send fireworks up to save our people still stuck on the Ark.” There were not many ways of excusing yourself from a mass murder, intentional or not, and this was not one of them. It sounded more of an excuse than a reason. “Our people in space — on the Ark — were running out of oxygen. 300 people volunteered to sacrifice themselves so the others can have more time. We had a radio to contact them so they didn’t have to lower the population, but it, uh…” She sent another look near Bellamy's direction, one he didn't notice. “It didn’t work.”

Truthfully, Kova hadn’t been paying attention to her excuse, but the way her tone faltered and how Bellamy tensed caught their attention. “Oh? And why do you keep looking at him for?”

Bellamy snapped his head towards the two. Clarke looked away guiltily. Kova kept their face as neutral as possible as if they hadn't exposed the invaders' leader. "What, did you mess with the radio or something?”

Clarke stiffened. Bellamy looked away. Neither responded.

“Hmm. Interesting. Well. Either way, your radio would have been useless.”

That caught the invaders' attention. “Why?” Clarke asked.

Kova looked down, picking the dirt from under their nail casually. “I'm not sure what the exact science is behind it, but radios don’t work around these parts, specifically Trikru, Azgeda, and Sangedakru, but I think parts of Podakru, Ouskejonkru, and Boudalankru that are closer to us also have the same issue. Something about the lingering radiation.

“Regardless, people died at the Srathme Springs. The remaining villagers were relocated.” Kova continued. “The Springs had also been heavily damaged, which means no mining or mineral collection. With one move, you managed to kill both Trikru’s people and its economy, especially in its sword making and arts. Congrats.”

Bellamy placed both hands on the back of his head, restraining a groan.

Clarke swallowed thickly. “Anya also said something else. Something about the library?”

Kova stilled completely. They turned their head towards Clarke, blinking a few times with wide eyes. “What?”

“What?”

“What happened to the library?” Their fingers tensed against the wood of the table.

“She didn’t say it completely burned down, but it had been heavily damaged from the fire. Why?”

Kova leaned over the table, dropping their head into their hands. “I didn’t hear about that. Fuck.”

“Watch your fucking language.” Bellamy snapped.

Clarke ignored him, inching closer towards the grounder. “Why, is it important?”

They couldn’t bare to look at dead people walking. They let out a heavy sigh. “How badly did you need the peace treaty?”

Well. If that wasn't ominous, Clarke didn't know what was. “Pretty badly, we didn’t know there were people alive here. If we did, we would have been more careful.”

“Too late for that.” Kova muttered.

“Will you just tell us what’s going on?” Bellamy snapped again, fists clenching.

“The damaging of a major library, like the one at Srathme’s village, is considered as one of, if not the most heinous way of declaring war.” Kova shook their head, scrubbing their face with their hands. “I should have known. No wonder the Lieutenant and the General had been planning for war since. I though they were just preparing for the worst case scenario.”

“War? Over a library? Why is it so important?” Clarke asked.

“When the Foresakening happened, naturally most books perished from both radiation and age. The previous commander, Rha, tried to destroy the little remaining knowledge we had left under the guise of ‘moving on from our past.’ We all knew he wanted to paint his version of history instead of what really happened, and the elders wouldn’t have it. After his downfall, all books were ordered to be preserved and copied, but minor libraries simply carry the copies of the preserved books. Major libraries hold both the copies and the original texts. They are also the epicenters of the copiers.” Kova pulled away from their hands, leaning back in their chair. “Meaning, you messed up real bad.”

“What should we do?” Clarke asked.

“Fuck if I know.” Kova threw their hands in the air in frustration. “You won’t get whatever treaty you want — hell, I’m shocked they didn’t shoot you on site back at the bridge.”

“Clarke!”

The group turned in their seats. One of the invaders had interrupted, calling for the leader from outside the dropship. “Myles keeps vomiting, can you check in on him?”

“Yes, I’ll be out in a minute!” She called back. She stood, but just before she left, she tapped Bellamy’s shoulder. “You two talk. I’ll be back in a second.”

While the two nodded, the moment Clarke left, they fell into silence. Bellamy had sat back down, but refused to even acknowledge their presence.

“Name.”

Bellamy faced them with a confused look. “What?”

“You never told me your name.”

“…Bellamy. Octavia’s brother.”

“…mn.”

“…”

They fell back in silence.

Bellamy grew frustrated. “Well?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me your name?”

“You know my name already. You said it before.”

They weren’t wrong, but wasn’t it polite to introduce yourself? Ooh, Bellamy almost cursed them out on the spot.

Suddenly, Kova started talking again. “Our current commander, Lexa. Her campaign was almost solely based on restoring the libraries. If she knows what happened, she won’t let you get off free.”

“We have guns, I’d like to see her try.” His tone full of arrogance, he couldn’t help but lean back comfortable in his chair.

“Do you think this is a joke?” Their words were almost as sharp as their glare. “Are you willing to kill more people than you already have?”

Bellamy stood up, knocking his chair back. Kova followed his actions, hands tensing by their sides.

“Hey.” His tone deepened in warning. He stepped closer to the grounder, although he couldn’t help but hesitate when they didn’t move back like he expected. “Watch your mouth.”

“You know, I don’t think I will.” That hesitation was all it took for Kova to take up the rest of the space between them, pressing the tip of their finger against his chest to push him back lightly. It was only when he forcibly took a small step back did Kova realize that they were a good few centimeters taller than him. Good. They could practically tower over him with the way they were acting. "At the bridge, you and your friends had the same job as those scouts did. Trikru’s scouts didn’t shoot first. But why are you and yours so adamant on villainizing my people?” They leaned in, anger flashing in their eyes. “They aren’t the ones who killed over — What did Clarke say before? 300 people?”

A hand wrapped around their wrist, and Kova found themselves being back into a table, the edge pressing against the back of their thighs. Their nostrils flared in anger, but before they could growl out a warning they suddenly found themselves far too close to his face, their breaths mingling with his. But that wasn't what shocked them.

No, what shocked them was his pale freckled face, one of malnutrition and stress than the lack of sun, his dark, hooded eyes, prominent bags and lines underneath that screamed exhaustion.

It was Kova's own face looking back at them.

One of grief, of remorse and regret.

Unconsciously, they backed up, nudging the table askew.

“I already know what I’ve done. I have to live with it now, and I don’t need someone like you to remind me.” As much as Bellamy tried to seem threatening, he felt on the edge of falling apart.

Kova rarely stuttered, and while this wasn't a stutter, the hesitation behind their words made them uncomfortable. “You…feel guilt?”

His hand subtly relaxed around their wrist, loose fingers curling around their pulse point. Bellamy opened his mouth, but before he could answer, the sounds of footsteps entered the main area of the dropship. Bellamy stepped back and sniffed, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand, and turned away.

The curtain's cutting off the main area to the small corner shifted. Kova attempted to lean casually against the table, crossing their arms. The area where his hand had been felt hot to the touch.

Clarke appeared. “Everything okay? I was worried you two would bite each others heads off.” She joked before returning to her place next to the table. While she continued to talk about the meeting, Kova was still reeling over what just happened. They absentmindedly rubbed their wrist a few times before snapping out of their stupor and joining the conversation.

When Kova glanced at Bellamy, he turned away.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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#bellamy x oc #bellamy blake #bellamy x reader #bellamy blake imagine #bellamy blake imagines #bellamy blake x oc #bellamy blake x reader #the 100 #the 100 imagines #the night our stars aligned (and our breaths touched)#my writing #writeblr #wip fanfic

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the-family-fortune · 4 years

Text

So last night I asked my server for suggestions on the Galochio fic I’m working on. They were very helpful.

DaisyYesterday at 11:38 PM

how do u get rid of the main villain of a story............ without actually getting rid of them in any effective way?? like i dont want to be "and then he walked away and was never a problem again" because. thats dumb. but i need something to that effect.

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:38 PM

u could kill him off

Sabrina || chasergirlYesterday at 11:40 PM

I need a little bit more information regarding plot before I can be of any help I think

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:42 PM

distract him with something else entirely?

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:42 PM

family emergency

turtleYesterday at 11:42 PM

Had a doctor’s appointment

SJ || gay theatre kidYesterday at 11:42 PM

eat him

sorry

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:42 PM

he gets sick and has to take a break

turtleYesterday at 11:42 PM

His magic fucked up and went to another dimension

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:43 PM

job pulls him to the complete opposite side of the world

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:43 PM

he took a cruise

turtleYesterday at 11:43 PM

He wanted a vacation

SJ || gay theatre kidYesterday at 11:43 PM

send him to brazil

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:43 PM

got a new phone and lost the protag's cell number

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:43 PM

he broke his teeth and needs to get that shit fixed cuz goddamn

DaisyYesterday at 11:44 PM

im SO glad i didnt give enough context in the first one these are all SUPERB. i did think abt killing him off in the final confrontation but i really dont want this 9 year old murdering her grandpa gjkfds. it COULD be an accident because his powers are big and unstable.

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:44 PM

mild heart attack puts him out of commission for a while

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:44 PM

goes to antarctica

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:44 PM

coma

DaisyYesterday at 11:44 PM

FUCK

GOES TO ANTARCTICA WINS. I HATE THAT, THANK YOU.

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:45 PM

electrocution fucks up

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:45 PM

fjsjfjjs

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:45 PM

he gets killed

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:45 PM

but he gets better

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:45 PM

no?

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:45 PM

maybe the electrocution backfires and makes him bedridden for the rest of his life

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:45 PM

yeah

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:45 PM

if he wants

DaisyYesterday at 11:45 PM

he gets killed, but he gets better.........

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:45 PM

it happens

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:45 PM

"better" means "more haunted"

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:46 PM

thank you

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:46 PM

ye I gotchu

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:46 PM

grandpa piss ghost

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:46 PM

send him to the moon

DaisyYesterday at 11:46 PM

he IS Like. ancient. he's ALREADY missing one leg. it would not take much to put him out of commission, but also he's a cockroach.

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:47 PM

dont send him to the moon....

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:47 PM

honestly the first thing that came to mind was despicable me

when they sent fucking vector to the moon

DaisyYesterday at 11:47 PM

portal 2 for me

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:47 PM

moons getting crowded

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:47 PM

how many antagonists have gotten stuck on the moon? holy shit?

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:48 PM

Usagi the moon bunny has a prison for antagonists

SmolMuffinYesterday at 11:48 PM

Alright gonna write a massive crossover of villains on the moon/j

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:48 PM

maybe just... make him cry and have a breakdown or something idk

he cant do shit if he's in bed all day like me

SmolMuffinYesterday at 11:49 PM

Also for a idea im not too sure

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:49 PM

he can cry on moontarctica

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:49 PM

Daisy if this is your psy oc I think you can get pretty absurd with it

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:49 PM

the moon: now with snow

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:49 PM

cold moon.....

that's how they keep the cheese fresh

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:50 PM

maybe just smack him with a newspaper

or pour concrete on him just leave his head above the surface or smth

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:50 PM

y'all are on the moon, meanwhile I've got him forever bedridden like Charlie Bucket's grandparents

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:50 PM

mood

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:51 PM

except grandpa Joe I mean

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:51 PM

dude what if like some sort of freak accident happens that just fucking snipes him and makes him useless

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:51 PM

that bed? It's on the moon now

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:51 PM

oh to be an old lady and sleep on the moon...

DaisyYesterday at 11:51 PM

it is the psy OC!!! her grandpa SUCKS and he's genuinely the worst person ive ever written and he wont!! DIE!!!

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:52 PM

oh.... oh my god..... to be Wallace from the Wallace and gromit go to the moon and have cheese and crackers.

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:52 PM

ghagfdka;gh

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:53 PM

maybe you can send him on a wild goose chase

for forever

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:53 PM

daisy heres what you do ok. you uhhhhh wait for him to die of old age naturally and see what his will says in an exciting will-reading scene

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:53 PM

just continuously give him red herrings

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:53 PM

imagine I put quotes around exciting

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:53 PM

give this man a macguffin, slap him on the back and say "go get em"

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:53 PM

red herrings? Why not a very fun destination???

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:54 PM

dude sell his soul to whatever sort of dark power there is for a single corn chip

bonk him on the head so hard he becomes a toddler again

uhhh

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:54 PM

what's that app that sends you on adventures based on what you wanna find?

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:54 PM

geocache?

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:54 PM

bonk him on the head in general

aye i've done those before those are fun

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:55 PM

Pokemon go??

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:55 PM

not geocache but close

hang on I saw a vid of it recently

Randonautica

Sabrina || chasergirlYesterday at 11:55 PM

I mean... if you just have them be fidgety about it for a while... there doesn’t necessarily need to be an explanation now that I think about it

A lot of things could happen to him once he’s out of their sight that they might not end up hearing about

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:56 PM

send him to the mariana trench

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:56 PM

he steps away and gets hit by a bus a la Mean Girls

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:56 PM

all of the above

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:57 PM

theres a bus in the mariana trench?

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:57 PM

theres about to be

Sabrina || chasergirlYesterday at 11:57 PM

Pfft... he starts to walk away and quartermaster shows up, hitting him with the bus, and just turns to the kids and goes “bus is here”

DaisyYesterday at 11:57 PM

the most ambitious crossover of all time....

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:57 PM

snipe him so fucking hard that theres a crossover

dude just take his knees

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:57 PM

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:57 PM

like just take them off

un-velcro his knees

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:58 PM

FUCK

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:58 PM

GOD

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:58 PM

bus in the trench

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:58 PM

THERES THE FUCKING BUS

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:58 PM

DAMMIT

BUS IN THE TRENCH

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:58 PM

TRENCHBUS GOTTEM

DaisyYesterday at 11:58 PM

well "bus in the mariana trench'' has clearly already been done >:T

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:58 PM

damn yeah

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:58 PM

make it a mack truck

DaisyYesterday at 11:58 PM

nothings original these days

Lays || trenchbus driverYesterday at 11:59 PM

original trench vehicle do not steal

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaYesterday at 11:59 PM

give him a "mid-life" crisis and make him go soul searching or something

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Yesterday at 11:59 PM

exactly! you can use mariana trench bus

Sabrina || chasergirlYesterday at 11:59 PM

Ok, but back to serious answers: they could possibly read in the newspaper about him being arrested for something seemingly unrelated but that they and the readers may be able to connect the dots to some sinister thing he was attempting to do to them somehow?

Theo || teddy assigned mormonYesterday at 11:59 PM

he gets sniped byh miss frizzle eastAugust 17, 2020

DaisyToday at 12:00 AM

OH WAIT FUCK UR RIGHT

THE WHOLE

yall.

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:00 AM

let him realize that the most important lesson here is friendship

DaisyToday at 12:00 AM

im so fucking stupid

the WHOLE STORY. IS ABOUT HOW HES BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE PSYCHIC FBI

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:00 AM

friendship saves the day....

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaToday at 12:00 AM

theres only one braincell in this server its okay we're all just taking turns with it

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:00 AM

GHHGHAHG;GHRR

Sabrina || chasergirlToday at 12:00 AM

LMFAO

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:00 AM

THEY GOTTEM

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:01 AM

FBI stands for Friendship Bureau of Investigation

DaisyToday at 12:01 AM

i was SO FOCUSED ON THE END SCENE I FORGOT IT WAS CONNECTED TO A STORY........

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:01 AM

LAYS IS THE TRENCHBUS DRIVER

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:01 AM

uwu

Sabrina || chasergirlToday at 12:01 AM

“How do I eliminate this character being pursued by the fbi?” “My first option is to have him be murdered by children but I’d prefer not to have to resort to that”

I love it

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:01 AM

ngfdk;sgkfag;f

we all out here trying to play cabin in the woods with this old man

DaisyToday at 12:02 AM

never once did i claim to be clever

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:02 AM

and he would've gotten away with it too if it wasnt for this meddling government agency

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:03 AM

thus ends the saga of grandpa piss

DaisyToday at 12:03 AM

i am going to CRY this has been an adventure holy SHIT

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:04 AM

he sure did go a lot of places

spry old fucker

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:04 AM

I wonder how many trench buses he had to wait for

DaisyToday at 12:04 AM

you'd think at like 89 with one good leg he wouldn't get around as much but here we are

Laamb || campkeeper 👻Today at 12:05 AM

he was probably rolling around in that bed 8T

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:05 AM

you can go anywhere with a bus pass and a sense of adventure

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaToday at 12:05 AM

can we make that zero good legs? i have a nice crowbar right here i can use

DaisyToday at 12:05 AM

BE MY GUEST

Blaze || not-quite-cocoaToday at 12:05 AM

im gonna put this man in a walmart scooter

kiss your knees goodbye

Lays || trenchbus driverToday at 12:06 AM

(dont stop tho he has more trenchbuses to get hit by)

Theo || teddy assigned mormonToday at 12:08 AM

#ooc #long post #this is........... amazing!!!! truly amazing. The power of teamwork.

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messymagician · 4 years

Text

The Devil’s due

Sarah (Arcana OC) X Julian (Arcana) Follows the main plot story, with changes. Just shy of 4k words. ________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5 : Salty and bitter.

A gentle touch to the shoulder made the rather scruffy-looking magician grumble and gripe from her sleep. Scrunching up her little round nose as quiet chuckles roused her awake. "Mrrrrrmmmm…. What year is it?" She sighed sarcastically while lifting both palms to her face to squish the sleepiness from her eyes. Yikes she felt awful. Not mentally, just physically. Her knees were stiff and it felt as though both of her eyes had been left dry all night.

"I'm going to be heading out, I wanted to give you something before I leave." Asra soothed quietly, enjoying the sight of Sarah's almost childlike waking grumpiness.

It had been longer than he could remember since he'd had such a sudden connection to someone. But something about her… it was familiar. In the best possible way. Like being wrapped in a warm blanket that reminded oneself of home; watching her little mannerisms felt like a long lost pass-time.

Her drowsiness setting aside eased him back into the present, taking her hand to deposit something small but sturdy into her palm. Standing up and throwing a long shawl over his shoulder. "For the shop. You're welcome to stay whenever you need to."

She didn't have much time to both process his words, investigate the item, and thank him so the latter fell to the wayside temporarily. Flipping the chunk of metal over in her hand before the light morning blindness set aside and she could clearly see what it was. A key. Chunky and unpolished.

Oh wait, this is a key to here?! Her mouth opens to object but the front door clicks downstairs and as she quickly scans the room for Asra it seems he's already outside. Leaving her sitting with her legs dangling off of the spare bed for a moment. A key to the shop. Wow. Her meltdown yesterday must've really had some kind of impression huh. She huffed through her nose, struggling out from under the covers.

It looked like it was just past dawn. Not quite midday yet, the sun still hanging low in the morning position. A few flocks of pigeons sat softly cooing to one another on the opposing roofs outside. She stretches out, feeling her shoulders pop, before getting up and immediately going to explore the shop. There are so many cool things to look at, most of which totally blew over her head last night. She fumbled down the steep staircase and dropped the last two steps in one jump, feeling the last of her dopey waking-up brain finally turn its lights on.

The sweet smell of tea and cinnamon from last night has faded. Leaving a colder, but much fresher, air in the room. Her stomach rumbled hungrily but it was eclipsed by eager out-loud reading of ingredient bottles stored behind the front desk. "Ground amethyst, acorn tops, charmed writing quill ink, powdered pearls… Asra must have collected these himself." She mumbled to nobody in particular while turning a vial of melted lavender buds over in her hands.

An indeterminate amount of time had passed. Sarah, totally lost to the exploration of the shop's inventory, was startled by a loud knocking at the front door that made her jolt upright directly into the shelf above. Smoothing down her hair shortly after with a grumble. A customer? But she's not the store owner. Should she let-

"Sarah? Are you here? It's Portia- milady said that the other magician had you here last night-" a wave of relief made her eyes almost roll at Portia's little voice coming from behind the door. Briskly jogging over to pull it open, seemingly to the curvy woman's only brief surprise. "So you are here, I owe that new guy some money." She sweetly sings with a bright look to her rosy face. Portia was a lovely little hard worker, around Sarah's height but with just an absolute mountain of messy constantly curly hair tied back behind her head. If she didn't know her and Julian were siblings she probably could've guessed based on their hair alone. "We need to talk…"

"God, don't remind me. Julian was saying that all day yesterday." She cringed, stepping aside to let them in. Her words seemingly slipping Portia's mind as her little eyes got temporarily distracted by the sights inside.

"Wow, this is what the shop looks like? He wasn't lying huh, it really is a place for magical doo-hickeys." Her hands brushed along a crystal ball before she shook her head quickly and moved onto a long cabinet of herbs.

"...You said we needed to talk?"

"Oh! Sorry, Sarah. You're right." She swallows, placing a hand at her hip and cocking her head. "Milady wanted me to come check up on you. Um, see how you were doing on the investigation. You know with Ily- ...Julian." her cheery demeanour seems to diminish. Melting at the heavy weight of her love for her brother and her duty to Countess Nadia.

Sarah felt a sting of guilt and pity. This poor girl has Julian of all people as a brother. Being hunted down must be rough on her just as much as him. "Do you want me to catch him?" She asks gently, watching Portia's expression widen after being caught off guard.

"Me? Why would that matter?"

"He's your brother. And if Nadia catches him she'll…" The words struggle to come out. The both of them feeling sickly at what they already know is coming. "...He'll be hanged. Portia, are you really ok with that?"

"I-.... No. Are you?" She asks back innocently. As of trying to gauge Sarah's affinity toward her brother and her job.

But the answer was clear even to a blind man. Her brows pinching and turning up in mild worry. "No."

The previous unease in Portia's shoulders evaporates along with a long low breath. Like the concern never existed, a bright smile pierces her freckled cheeks. "Great! So we're partners then." She winks mischievously. Putting a smile back on Sarah's face too.

"Partners?" She echoes back as Portia's hair flops to one side over her shoulder

"Well, we both want the same thing. Right? You don't want my brother to die. I don't want my brother to die." Hmm. That is certainly a way of putting it. Though Portia quickly rolls her eyes and looks fed up. "Now we just have to make sure my brother doesn't want my brother to die."

"We need to get him out of the city." The little Devorak starts, placing both hands comfortably in front of her in a streamlined way. "As long as he's in Vesuvia, he's in danger." And as much as the plan sounded good something gnawed irritably at Sarah's ankles.

"Is he really going to let us help?" She asked uncertainty, watching Portia pout enough to give her an answer without words. If last night was any clue, Julian wasn't easy to just 'help' without getting some fussy kickback.

"Sounds like you're talking from experience." She griped, watching Sarah's chest heave in a long sigh.

"I am… last night-"

"Last night?" Portia quickly interjects, shushing her own surprise with pursed lips. It seems both siblings have a knack for trying to carry the conversation. It made Sarah smile a little despite the topic's contents.

"Yes. He… kept distancing himself. Trying to get me to go away, saying he needed to do things alone…"

Portia nodded firmly, rolling her eyes and flipping a small curl of fiery hair out of her face. "That sounds like Ilya, alright. Let me guess, he said it was to keep you safe?" Was he like this to everyone? Both his sister and the mysterious wizard, Asra, seemed to already know what would have transpired during last night's outing. It only made her more irritated that she fell for it and didn't fight harder.

A soft look of recognition passes Portia's blue eyes. "He used to do that to me all the time when we were younger. Never let me handle anything… Always shouldering someone else's burdens, while lamenting how heavy the load is." A short pause let Sarah giggle at Portia's dramatic body language when pretending to be 'faint' from dragging the world's problems around. "I mean, it's nice to hear he's still my same brother. And now that I'm older, maybe I can finally help carry that weight. Ilya needs people he can rely on…"

A spark intertwined between the two as they locked eyes. Some form of eager anticipation almost palpable in the fabric-scented air as Sarah pulled up the key to the shop and Portia grinned firmly. "He might need you. So let's go find him."

"Do you know where he went?" The obvious tone of both quiet challenge and mild intrigue made Portia head for the door. Already knowing that seeking out this Magician was a very good idea… for everyone's sake.

"I think I might know where he is. Follow me."

___________________________________

A heavy scent of booze and old wood filled Sarah's lungs as the tavern door swung open with little resistance. Inside was well lit with candles that hung in old bird cages from greying ropes. Several very plain and very old looking metal tankards clapped against grainy wooden tables. The atmosphere seemingly inviting them in, a little prepared for trouble.

Low-grumbling murmurs and hushed conversations made the air feel alive. A big, almost stereotypically, burly man behind the bar stood cleaning his mugs. Only stopping for a moment to nod their way before going back to his work. Oh yeah. This is absolutely the place.

Portia also seemed sure Julian would be hiding out here. A firm and unshakable look of certainty to her blue eyes. "Trust me. I know my brother. He'd definitely hang at a place called The Rowdy Raven." Her round elbow jabs playfully into Sarah's side, which she returns with a small nudge while their eyes scan the room in opposing directions. A semi-hidden spark of auburn forcing Sarah to double-take in it's seat. Sighing as she puts a hand on Portia's shoulder to get her attention.

Julian. Slumped drearily over a table with his face obscured by a thick tangle of indescribably frazzled hair. A tall glass mug in one hand and several more littering the table. All but the one he's loosely holding onto are empty. "Oh boy." Grumbles Portia from behind Sarah's arm. "There he is. Listen, when he gets like this, what he really needs is a good boot to the ass. You want to deliver it or should I?"

"A boot to the ass." Sarah repeats, with an almost cute scrunched up expression. As if she was trying her damnedest to look angry. Oh boy did she have the boot, she just had to stop feeling sorry for him first. He did this to himself and now they were going to drag his sorry boney butt out of it!

"Alright, you're up then." With a final pat to the back Portia let Sarah approach first. Clearing her throat as loudly as she could manage while crossing her arms to look bigger.

"Julian."

The semi-wasted man seems to jump a tad at the sound of his name being addressed so clearly. Almost dropping the slightly swaying cup in his hand while hauling his forehead away from the table. Looking up with an obviously not quite focused eye. Dazed for a moment before it shot wide open. "Sarah!" His speech was a little fumbled. But then again…. When wasn't it? "You uhhh- you're here. In the Raven. In front of me." There was a note of unprepared disbelief before he could straighten a little more. The collar of his white flowing shirt crooked on one side. "What, uh. What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here. It's the middle of the day!" Portia barks from behind her now taking point to Sarah's right.

"It's never too early for a glass of Salty Bitters. Bartholomew makes a grand one. Barth! Hey, Barth!" Julian yells over the barely talking crowd, making Sarah's cheeks go red with embarrassment. "Two more bitters, would you?"

"Julian!" She whines, quickly re-centring his attention on her. "This is stupid, you're liable to be caught, acting like this."

He sneers cockily, only making her frown. "Caught? Me, caught?" Though within a matter of seconds it dissolves. Leaving only a sad mope. "Mmmm. Good. I deserve it." Just as fast as his mood changed before, it swiftly changed again. Clearly influenced heavily by the bitters. Throwing his arms out in a dramatic fashion. Backhanding a chair on accident that wobbles precariously before settling back down. "You must be relieved. Even if you weren't last night, well. Just look at me now, hmm? I'm all…. I'm all washed up. You'd better get out of here, before I drag you both down too."

Armed with the hindsight of last time, and both Portia and Asra's unsurprised reaction to the story, Sarah feels her crossed arms tighten. Not this time you sad sack of fermented leech juice, she's not going anywhere. Sarah wasn't about to walk out on him drowning himself in drink and dramatic sorrows while he gets arrested. "No."

"I- er, what?" He spluttered, having almost put the mug back in his mouth to drink. Staring at her in disbelief.

"We aren't leaving." She reiterated firmly, glancing over to Portia who gave a small hidden thumbs up to relieve her tension.

Julian looked positively stunned. Sitting in confused silence for a while before groaning and flopping his head noisily back down onto the table. Pressing his cheek into the wood grooves while his eye closed. His voice now partially muffled and very quiet. A reluctant retry at the same shtick. "I don't want either of you two tangled up in this mess. I can't be the reason you get hurt."

"Oh drop it already." Sarah lowered her crossed arms, knocking Portia's shoulder as a signal to chime in.

"We get to decide that, Ilya, not you! Stop trying to push us away."

"I-" His cheeks flushed red beneath the mop of hair where his face was. Lifting back up to look at them both in a dry-mouthed stupor. "Well, you both came all this way…" turning the charming less serious act back on with a mild smile. "Why don't you pull up a seat? Take a load off. Have a Salty Bitters. They're disgusting………. I've had five."

His admission of guilty drinking was almost funny. Given any other situation, Sarah would have likely found that statement hilarious and joined him. This, however, was not the time to sit and wait. "Well… we have two options. We can either spend all day here, crying into our drinks-" She gestures down at his mug with her head, raising her brows a little despite the half-lidded glare underneath them. A quiet 'you should they're delicious-' mumbling from Julian as she continued. "Or we can find out the truth, and discover what really happened."

Before any answer could be made Portia jumped in with her own. "Or, third option, we get Julian out of town and figure the rest out later!" She squeaked in mild distress. Obviously not trusting either of them to keep Julian out of trouble enough to make sure he's not caught.

He sighs, running a glove up through his mess of hair. "I can't just run away, Pasha. I tried it before, didn't turn out so well. It's time to face the music.

Looking exasperated, Portia rolls up her sleeves. "Fine, fine. So, if you didn't kill the count. Someone else must have, right?"

Julian's already red face seems to only get redder before he settles down. Trying to think through the hazy fog of one too many Salty Bitters. "I'm, I… didn't actually think about that. Either I did, or there's another killer on the loose." His charmed smile comes back after a moment. Considering the two little dumpling women in front of him with a silent hum. "Which is…. Bad. It's bad, if there's another murderer out there who isn't me." Catching his slowly rising concern with a side of sarcasm. "Though let's, uh. Let's be clear here. All signs point to me."

"If you mean signs as in; the fact you confessed, then yes. But other than that…. There …. Isn't really much evidence at all when you think about it." Sarah's hands lower from their crossed guard, landing squarely at her hips. The candle lanterns above, and quiet Rowdy Raven style music coming from a small band in the corner, threatening to unravel her seriousness with it's bubbly attitude.

Portia jumping back in as she leans over the table. "We still don't know that, Ilya! Shouldn't we find out for sure?"

He sits in relative silence for a moment. Eyeing the two troublesome pains in his ass. "I suppose we should. But …" finally the tenderness in his shoulders. A sparkle of victory lighting up his verbal assailants eyes. "...I don't think I can do this on my own."

Yes! Finally! If only she'd tried this last night. Though, Portia was a huge help too in getting him to back down. Both of their satisfied blue eyes met for a minute before they were grinning from ear to ear. "It's a good thing you don't have to, then! We can all figure it out together." Sarah's voice was restrained from being a shout, but she was clearly very excited.

Portia interrupts once more, a hand to her lips in thought. "So, if we can't get Julian out of the city yet, what's the next step?" She asked with a little shrug. The loose shirt she wore slipping off of one of her shoulders.

Oh. Yeah. The plan was to get him out of town. They'd discussed it on the way here… but it seems that plan has quickly changed course. Sarah mulled over their options in silence, running through a few scenarios before nodding firmly. Julian's life and freedom was now hanging from a rope, like before, only now there were steps underneath to get him out safely. But how to reach them… what would be the first action to take in proving his innocence. A frustration settled in the pit of her stomach, realising that every which way this happened they would need both Julian's lost memories as well as him being in the palace. A place not easy to get into if you're well known for murdering the count.

With a reluctant wave of her dainty hand Sarah curled the nearby lantern smoke into a quick visualisation of the palace. Much to Portia's poorly hidden delight at the sight of magic but underlying worry on realising where it was. "We should start at the scene of the crime." She roughly pointed to the palace's smoky form. Her ocean eyes narrowing on where she knew Lucio's wing to be. "It might help jog Julian's memory."

Julian opened his mouth ready to point out the glaring flaw in that plan but Portia beat him to it. "It won't be a problem for us, but how will Ilya get into the palace undetected?" She whines, thinking Sarah hadn't planned that far ahead yet. "If someone sees him it's all over."

Admittedly the how of this goal was still slipping her mind. She tried to look reassuring while searching the wood train a in the table for clues before a little candle lit up in her head. If they saw Julian he's as good as toast. But what if…. They didn't see him specifically? What if he… didn't look like himself. Her brow creased with uncertainty. It was a risky spell to perform but she knew she could do it. She had used the spell a few times before… but couldn't quite remember when. "I know some magic…. That might help with that." She squinted, mulling it over before feeling a front confidence pickle at her sides. "A spell to disguise him, make it so that we can walk in without him being recognised."

"What, you mean I'd become another person?" Julian's hair bobbed with his dramatic head movement. Looking up at Sarah and finally letting go of his mug of leftover bitters. "But who would I become?" The question was a dreaded one. She needed someone relatively unknown but in her memory strong enough to look right. Not only that, but they needed to have a logical reason to be travelling with Portia and herself.

A single person came to mind. As much as she didn't want to betray the kind strangers trust so soon after meeting them it's the only conclusion that made sense after several mental retakes. She bites her lip uncomfortably, looking discreetly at Julian's sleeve while debating whether she should tell him who she had in mind. They seemed to know each other, he had guessed Julian's entire talk with her last night… "I can only think of one person but… let's change you outside. Out of sight." Sarah cringed, already feeling her fingertips tingle.

Moving the off-kilter doctor proved to be a hassle as he tried quite valiantly to stay upright. Swaying this way and that, occasionally tripping over his own long boots as they all went outside. The crisp air was clean and cold compared to in the Rowdy Raven but it was a very welcome breath of fresh air. The sky was nice and blue now that it had hit midday. The tumbling trio scuttled away to a damp corner. Dark and out of sight, exactly as they had been looking for.

Sarah felt her nerves knot and twist as the disguise spell came to mind. Taking a deep breath to centre herself and closing her eyes. She just needed to see him… the cloud like fluffy white hair. His shining purple gaze. The ever so slight golden tint to his skin. She could almost smell the shop again, hanging from his shawl. Not wanting the vision to fade she quickly fumbled into her pocket for a handful of indescribable powder. Grey and unassuming. Before blowing it directly at Julian.

The powder shifted in the before shimmering like glitter and fading. Settling onto his scrunched up face as he avoided inhaling for a second. It…. Worked. He didn't look like himself any more. No blood red hair, no silver moon eye…

Portia seemed staggered by the sudden change for a second, staring with vague familiarity. "Ohh, who's that? He's handsome!" She gasps, watching her tall brother twist and turn to try to see himself. Though it seemed to him nothing looked different. Only to them… "What, what? What do I look like?" After fruitlessly trying to spot the change he scuttled deer-legged over to a nearby puddle. Dropping to his knees and peering in with wide eyes. "Oh my god." He stares, stiff, at the image reflected back at him. Asra. Looking exactly as Sarah had seen him this morning. "I'm definitely too drunk for this."

Sarah had to hold her face on seeing his wide and very unwittingly dumb grin on Asra's pretty face. Only managing one surprised snort before shutting herself up to prevent giggles.

#Arcana #Arcana oc #Arcana Portia #Arcana Asra #Arcana Julian #The Devil's due #arcana fanfic

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franeridart · 5 years

Note

Merry Christmas!! I hope you are happy, and have a good New Year! 😁

Thank you!!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year too!!

Anon said:aaaaawwwnnn the good ol' platonic (or not, depending on the interpretation) bak*deku

I’m not anti anything anon, so you never gotta worry about that! I have ships I like and ships I don’t and ships I’m indifferent about, but I’m a firm believer in the ship and let ship principle~ sadly bkdk is strictly platonic for me (I see them too much as sibs for it to work in a romantic way, at this point), but I do adore their relationship and the way Horikoshi is writing it TT^TT it’s def one of my favorite Bakugou relationships, such a wonderfully complex story 💕

Anon said:Have you ever thought about drawing Bakushima as different ships? Like, from different shows. Put them in their outfits and such? I thought that wouls be pretty cool. Sorry if someone has already suggested this! I thought maybe Black Butler style ? Fruits basket, Death note, ect. ❤

I have in the past drawn them in AUs inspired by characters from other fandoms, if that’s what you’re asking! At the top of my head I can remember drawing them as Black⭐Star and Tsubaki from Soul Eater, Doumeki and Watanuki from xxxHolic and Jacuzzi and Nice from Baccano!, but I’m sure those are not the only ones... I’m never against that sort of AUs, if you have anything you’d like to see ask and I’ll see if I know the fandom you’re thinking about! :D

Anon said://squints// did your.... Did your lineart imPROVE??? holy maples Fran ur killing me with ur art I wanna survive my last 7 months of high school--

If you think so, then I’m seriously happy and glad to hear it! Thank you so much!! I feel like I’ve been getting sloppier actually, ngl, but I have been trying new tools for the line, so maybe that’s the difference you’re seeing!

Anon said:Gonna say anonymously caz' i'm too embarrassed to reveal myself for now, but I love your blog and art so damn much!!! Been following you for two years and you really inspired me to draw and really to stay in touch with bnha. Again, love you so much and hope you a merry Christmas!!!

Ahhhhh anon thank you so much!!! I’m happy I can make you keep up with bnha, ngl!! And I hope you’ve had a wonderful amazing christmas too!!!

Anon said:Sero with the long hair can murder me

He wouldn’t!

Anon said:what do you think of bakukamijirou 👀

I don’t ship it, sorry :( as far as shipping Bakugou goes, I only ship him around if Kirishima is involved - I do have a few Baku ships I like just for the aesthetics (like with Jirou, or Todoroki!) but I wouldn’t really call it “shipping”, I just like to see them next to each other cause their designs work well together haha

Anon said:Hello? Yes. Hi. Dave I love. Thank you.

I’m so happy to hear that!!! TT^TT thank you so much!!!

Anon said:Kamijirou cures my depression :3

WELL IF THAT ISN’T A MOOD!!

Anon said:Have you every considered a voltron au for your ocs? I know youve made a voltron au befores so i was wondering if you ever did it for anything else (i really love all your art have a lovely day

I’ve never, actually :thinking: the vld fandom is very scary to me so I try to keep away from it, ngl! I’ve also not watched past the first season of the cartoon itself so by now I don’t think I have the necessary information to make AUs based on that fandom, but the concept of my kids in space or piloting mechas is a wonderful one nonetheless haha

Anon said:Ah man I love dav so much. It makes me so happy when you post your sweet green haired boy. Day: brightened.

:sob: thank you SO MUCH!!!! TT^TT it makes me so happy to hear you like my boy!!

Anon said:I love and appreciate every variety of your ocs

THANK YOU!!!💕💕

Anon said:You: This is my boy. | Me: I love him so much and his hair and his shirt- 👌

Thank you so much!! His hair and clothes make less sense every time I draw him, but I have fun with it so I’m glad you like them anyway hahaha

Anon said:Hey! Who is he? He looks cool

Thank you so muuuccchhhh!!! His name is Dave!! He doesn’t really have much of a story, but he’s a uni student and likes music, philosophy and cats! He has a bunch of friends I draw him with now and again, and they mostly spend their time avoiding studying and being generally ridiculous :D

Anon said:Just wanted to let you know your art style is GORGEOUS. You're one of the few people on this site whose art always makes me excited to see it. I'm a huge Bakushima fan to begin with but your Bakugou is just...oof. lol I don't know if it's the hooded eyes or the undercut but you make him HAVE it!

That’s such high praise oh my god! TTOTT I’m glad you like how I draw my boy, he makes me so happy to doodle !!!!! 💞💞💞

Anon said:The two art post with "An unexpected sappy thought" and "Bunch of stuff from yesterday I finally managed to finish" were both flagged. i tried to send them to u, but couldn't. Just thought you should know if you haven't been notified yet! sorry that i cant be much help. (also the protest starts in like 10 min for me, so youre probably off already if youre doing it) sorry for bothering!

Anon said:hey your post (a colored fanart) of kirishima and bakugou cuddling w/ song lyrics as the caption got flagged, just thought i’d let you know if you didn’t see it :( stupid tumblr

These are pretty old asks at this point but I wanted to thank you for the heads up anyway! I have gone through my posts twice already and new flagged things always pop up, so the fact that you took the time to let me know was seriously huge help! Thank you so much!!

Anon said:hi i just saw your year summery-thingy and i just realized that i have followed you for more than a year now and i just want to say thank you for all the beutiful art i have seen !! you are truly one of my favorite artist i hope that you are well

Ah man thank you so much!!! I’m so so happy to hear you’ve been following me that long, it’s incredible to me!! I hope I’ll manage to get out of the slump I’ve fallen into soon enough orz meanwhile thank you for sticking around!! 💕

Anon said:Seeing your art summary makes my soul feel the urge to have your beautiful kiribaku art in a book. Have you ever thought about making a little zine with some of your illustrations? Or selling prints ;___; You're absolutely amazing!

Oh heck thank you so much for being interested in something like that! I’ve actually thought about something of the like, but if I ever did it would be a small zine with pieces made specifically for it! I have to research the whole thing a bit more, but in case I’ll reach a point where it’s a concrete possibility I’d first post something to check the actual interest in it between everyone! ;^;

Anon said:... Why BakuJiro tho?

Why not! They are good friends, have a nice dynamic, and their styles match together well! And Jirou’s so tiny next to him, I like the idea of Baku hugging her a whole lot as it might have become obvious by this point haha

Anon said:7w7r I see you there

I dunno what this is about but !!! neat!!

Anon said:Soooo,,, DabiHawks or Hawks single? I have curious for how would a drawing of them be made by you

I’ve said this a couple of times before, but I’m really only interested in dabihawks if Dabi is Touya at this point! I might change my mind if Hori develops their relationship more, but right now that’s how it is... and until I have more concrete proofs of Touya and Dabi being the same person I don’t wanna get too involved with the ship, in case I end up disappointed haha

Anon said:Fran, have you ever posted a selfie before? For some reason, I imagine you looking a little more like Kuroo from Haikyuu!! Haha.

I haven’t! I prefer being behind the camera instead of before it hahaha a couple years ago you would have been right! By now I have too much hair for it, tho lol also, I wear glasses and have a bunch of piercings and earrings that Kuroo doesn’t have (but should have, cause it’d be hot 👀👀👀)

#fran answers #i wanted to post something colored today but my health said no #*sad*#instead i finally got around to answering the asks #a lil bit of productivity is always better than none at all haha #anonymous

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harveywritings92 · 5 years

Text

Bedfellows ch 2

The following is a non profit fan based story, Overwatch belongs to Blizzard Entertainment .

please support the official release.

I gain no profit from this nor do I own anything other then OCs and whatever sprouts from my imagination. Thanks for reading!

That morning Vex was awoken the to sound of someone banging on her door, She looked around groggily Genji was gone she did have to checked the feeds on her computer to know so was the car he must went back to base. She cleared her sore throat as her body woke up "Just a sec." She called out was feeling not as shitty then she was yesterday.

the joints in her legs popped in protest as Vex got up from her futon and went to her frontdoor only to find it locked...Vex cocked a brow she was seriously impressed, Genji didn't even trip the alarm! She's gotta ask the cyborg how he does that! she unfastened the locks and found a police officer standing there. "Yes?" the brunette said eyeing the cop nervously wondering why they were here for?

"Ma'am are you the owner the residence?"

"Yes, what's this about?"

"Well, Maybe you can answer that, considering there are three injured men that claimed a "demon" attacked them on your property."

"....I'm sorry?"

Vex said bemused as she looked at the cop like he just said the sky had turn green and grass was blue, pretty much said that she had no idea what he was talking about! she went on to explain that she was sick last night and still was today, and there was no way she would attack anyone for no reason... then she went cold and a curdling feeling settled in her stomach when she recalled when Genji had disappeared and the screaming... Could he have? The cop seem notice her inner turmoil. but before he could interrogate her farther his omnic partner came from Vex's backyard.

"Ey, Roy think I found the Demon." they said sarcastically the human cop or Roy and Vex look at each other as they followed after it, What the silver eyed girl saw in that backyard could only be described as a war zone it was a literal bloody mess and more confusing to the short woman was the alarming amount of power tools scattered around the yard.

"Those aren't mine..." She said warily as the omnic held up an rusted old TV antenna with a black shredded tarp stuck to it, then pointed at a dead raccoon. "I think our 'Victims" were actually the bad guys, they must've tried to break in." they pointed at the broken fence and the scratches on Vex's back door. "Then this fell off the roof startling the men who startled family of raccoons, which caused all this..."

The bot explained then found a switch blade in the grass which also, matched the injuries on the men, the human cop seem skeptical until Vex spoke up "Out of curiosity, was one of these men obese with greasy blond hair, wearing a sweat stained blue tracksuit, and smelled like stale beer and rotten milk?" The brunette asked with a sniffle the cops didn't even need to answer; the look of disdain on the human officer's face pretty said enough.

"That sicko has been stalking and sexually harassing me since I first moved here!" she huffed obviously disgusted and borderline freaking out that Derek had tried to break into her home; planning to to do god knows to her! she remembered the way the way he looked at the night before and felt bile rise from her throat. Vex went pale broke out into a cold sweat her body felt like it was on fire all of the sudden, before either cop asked if she was okay she threw up into her miserable excuse of vegetable garden, the omnic officer tossed the antenna aside and started rubbing the sick girl's back. "He tried approaching me last night.." the sick girl croaked. "My friend scared him off, I thought that was the end of it.." she wince feeling a headache coming on, the officers could tell this woman was in no way a threat a breeze could knock her over right now.

The cops then asked Vex if she wanted to press charges but, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself refused, Besides just by looking at the carnage in her backyard told her Genji did enough damage to teach that drunken pervert not to bother her again, The cops finally left letting Vex go back to bed. she spent most of the day taking cough medicine, sleeping and watching internet videos...and worrying how Genji was coping without her, hopefully they had mission to keep him occupied so he didn't have to be alone.

At the OW base

Unbeknownst the silver eyed brunette; Genji had stolen one of her hoodies and was using it like a pillow case, it helped that it smelled like his friend, but it wasn't the same. Over the past two months he'd grown accustomed to the feel of warmth and the security of a second heartbeat next to him, Genji sighed he felt lonely without hearing the breathing soft and little mumbles Vex made when she was in a deep sleep.

It gave the black haired cyborg assurance that he had someone there cling to when the dread of deafening solitude was too much to handle, But alas he can't control how the human body works. so, he'd have to make due until Vex was better... Needless to say, Genji did not have a good night, he'd sleep for a few minutes than wake up, rinse and repeat.

The next week he was standoffish and cranky, everyone could sense it and avoided the cyborg more so then usual, except for that annoying group of his 'admirers' they tried pushing themselves on him and offering to keep him warmer better then Vex could, He'd turn them off by having Mcree read off a list of ridiculous demands he and Vex had written.

It was around 10 am on Tuesday when Genji was the middle of training when he heard commander Reyes walk into the training room with a familiar short figure wandering behind him talking to the intimidating commander. "So, I have to saturate the soil twice a day?" She asked Reyes nodded taking a sip of his coffee, The short woman paused and thought this over " Huh,That's why my tomatoes haven't been coming in." the brunette muttered before locking eyes with a certain cyborg.

Vex, her sudden presence nearly caused Genji to take a couple bullets to the face! they were rubber bullets. but still... Ouch! He manage to snap back into focus to deflect the rest with his sword before, dashing forward flipping over obstacles and pining his opponent down, He then sheathed his weapon and bowed to a very unimpressed Mcree, much to Vex's astonishment the brunette has meditated and done yoga with her edgy sleep buddy, but Vex has never actually seen Genji train before.

She stared at the scene both impressed and incredulously as Mcree teased and accused the ninja about showing off in front of his girlfriend" the cyborg ignored him and approached the short brunette, he silently rested his palm against her forehead feeling her temperature his bionics let out steam the intense glare in his eyes softened a little "You look better..." he said somewhat briskly very aware that Reyes and Jesse were watching, "I feel better..." Vex said curtly as her lips formed a thin line she seemed angry.

Genji felt his artificial stomach sink wondering if he had done something to upset her? He turned to commander Reyes who just gave him a little nod as he chatted with Jesse over his strategies, at that the ninja grabbed Vex's arm and escorted her out of the training room. While Mcree shook his head at the twosome in disbelief. "I just don't get em' Boss, how does Shimada sleep next to that almost every night and not tap it?" The cowboy bellowed envy lacing his tone "I know he has the equipment for it!" *And it's bigger than mine...*

He hissed throwing his hands in the air in exasperation Commander Reyes shook his head at the younger man's antics. "Jesse, men can be friends with women without adding benefits to the mix." the Latin man said matter-o-factly just as Mcree pointed a finger at the commander's face and yelled "Blasphemy" in a demonic voice before Reyes threatened to break his hand if he ever pointed at him again! then ordered the cowboy to drop and give him twenty!

Meanwhile

Genji had led Vex to small secluded part of the base where they could talk in private. Before the cyborg could even get a word out the brunette blurted out "You got the cops called on me!" he gawked at her bemused before recalling the incident in the backyard. "oh..S-sorry." he stammered out the words felt foreign to him it had been a while since the cyborg had to apologize to someone. Then he asked what happened Vex pretty gave him the sum up, cops showed up took her out back showed her the war zone that was her backyard."

The Omnic deputy theorized Derek and his buddies were hopped up on alcohol and drugs, got spooked by an old TV antenna falling off her roof which woke up a family of raccoons; chaos broke out and they put themselves in the hospital. She asked if it was Derek and had panic attack and threw up then, then the human cop explained how the perv kept making passes and jeering at female hospital staff and tried to grope a female officer who was sent to take their statement, so he wasn't going to be a problem for a while.

Genji grimaced behind his mask he wanted to ask why didn't she pressed charges or ask for protection, then he recalled why they called her neighborhood the Gallows; It was run by the Scarecrow Kings a gang with old saying 'Get caught squealing and you get hanged' It didn't even have to involve the the gang in anyway; they heard you went to the police for some reason or another? suddenly accidents happen and outsiders were no exception.

Vex knew this, and the last thing she wanted to do was piss off the SCK. They've been a thorn in Over/Blackwatch's side for while now too...There have actually been rumors of mole working in BW feeding info to the gang, But so far any leads of said mole have come up empty...

"Have there been any other problems?"

"Aside from your creepy fan club giving me the stink eye?"

"..." he gave her stern look clearly not in tolerating mood today, the brunette resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"No."

Vex huffed Genji seemed to relax before gesturing for the silver eyed woman to follow him, she complied the cyborg led her to an elevator causing the woman to cock a brow. "So, where are you taking me exactly?" She asked warily as she stepped inside the elevator with Genji who shifted awkwardly on his feet as it started up. "Dr. Ziegler has asking about you, won't stop badgering me bring you around." He huffed Vex didn't missed how tired he sounded or the bags under his eyes. Maybe after meeting miss Ziegler she'll see if Genji is up for a power nap?

Needless to say the duo certainly turned a lot a heads anyone who was wandering or just in the hallway stopped what they were doing and stared a the abnormal twosome, Blackwatch's homicidal 'Tin-man' toddling around with the rumored silver-eyed janitor! now that was something to gawked at! some started whispering amongst themselves, It took one icy red glare shot by said cyborg caused their unwanted audience to disperse and go back to what they were doing.

When they reached the med-bay Angela was just finishing up a setting up a large machine Vex assumed was used to examine Genji her assumptions were proven correct as a holographic model and graph of said cyborg started up in a T-pose while the blonde doctor was busy. looking down at a chart unaware of the tag-along the ninja had brought in with him. "Alright Genji everything's set up you can ju-" her blue eyes finally looked up from the chart and locked on to a person who certainly wasn't Genji, it took a moment for Angela to realize who she was staring at before noticing her original patient, the blond just pointed at Vex then at Genji as if having mental conversation with the ninja who face-palmed and sighed loudly. "Yes." Confirming that he had brought the friend he had told her about.

"Oh, It's so nice to finally meet you..."

"Vex."

"Vex...you have silver eyes."

"So I've been told..."

After a few minutes of watching Angela hook Genji up to the machine waiting for it to finish scanning him, Vex started having an inkling that this wasn't just a courtesy call, and may have been a double check-up set by a certain ninja, considering Dr. Ziegler would try to subtly ask how she was feeling, shining a small light in her eyes, after few of this Vex gave the the OK for the medic to just do check to cause this was just embarrassing them both. "So, those are your natural eyes?" Angel still hung up on the short brunettes eye color. "Yeah, mutation I inherited from...[sigh] my father." she hissed out the word venomously, malice for the man wasn't lost on Genji and Angela.

The doctor cleared her throat pick up a small syringe"I'm going to draw a blood sample if that alright?" Vex shrugged pulling her sleeve up. "I don't mind, but you may need a tougher needle then that." the blond looked confused but shrugged and used the one in her hand, brought it up to Vex's arm and it wouldn't go in, Angela pressed down a bit and the needle seem to go in this time; she pulled the piston back, but nothing came out...the blond's brow furrowed and she pulled the syringe away and blanched the needle was bent! as Vex let out a sigh.

"Told ya, you'd need a tougher needle." When she said this Genji's heart-rate spike up wondering what was going on? as Angela was blocking his view she moved giving him a view of the bent needle as the blond grabbed another larger syringe, this time it did it's job Angela drew a blood sample and brought up another machined she explain it was used to make sure there were no diseases or problems with Vex's blood. it should be done analyzing in a couple minutes, then turned her attention back to Genji the sync-unit had finished the body scan.

"Okay, Genji everything thing seems to be functioning alright, you limbs are responding and your reaction time is getting quicker ...by the way your heart spiked a moment, were you worried about Vex just now?" the cyborg glared at her then averted eyes to the wall, Angela snicker he must've forgot he was still hooked up to the scanner because his temperature spiked too.

As she was unhooking Genji from his restraints and the Sync-unitm Vex's blood work came back, Angela nearly fainted when she saw the results that was impossible! according to these Vex's health states were abnormal, almost enhanced was like Morrison and Reyes, but then she checked again realized this wasn't science, there was no trace of surgical implants or biochemical-reinforcements. Her near superhuman abilities were all natural born traits.

She briefly glanced Vex out of the corner of her, the silver eyed girl smirked and winked at the flabbergasted doctor, Before Genji's voice brought her back to earth "Is there something wrong?" Genji asked gruffly his red eyes were looking up at Vex's lab work bemused then at Angela.

the medic composed herself quickly then finished un hooking the cyborg. "Nothing in fact she's in perfect health!" She chirped leaving the ninja skeptical, until Vex interjected. "It's fine Gen, if I was sick it'd be hard to miss trust me." she hopped off the examination table, As the ninja still gave Angela a suspicious glance before leaving with Vex, Angela calmly reminded him of his next check-up and wave them off and as soon as the door shut the medic's smile dropped as she calmly turned her comm on and called. "Commander Morrison, is there something you'd like to tell me?" she inquired sternly.

later

Vex was mopping the floors she hummed a tune, knowing exactly what Angela was doing right now, calling Morrison demanding an explanation why someone with Vex's abilities was working as janitor of all things?! It sucked she wanted to out right tell somebody why she was really working for Blackwatch, but if she wanted to catch who's leaking info the Scarcrows she gonna have to be as cunning as them, She'll admit it was impressive how the mole was able get in so easily, she or he must've hacked or used enhancement to boost their stats a tad enough to give them leverage in the recruitment program...

Vex was brought out of her thoughts by someone dumping their soda and yogurt on her nice clean floor! She looked up and saw Blondie and her gaggle of turkey necks giggling at her. "Whoops better clean that up toilet-scrubber." the Cheeto sneered before walking off laughing along with her group, Vex let out a frustrated grumble she could not wait for this job to be over! Just so she can punch that bitch in her fake plastic fucking nose.

The brunette sighed and got to clean the mess up when she noticed something unusual, the door to the tactical server room was open! Vex swallowed as she quietly pushed her cart and mop to the side, started walking towards the open door as she got closer she reached for one of her throwing knives, only someone to call out to her, She saw Jesse walking up to her causing the short woman to backtrack. "Oh, uh.. Jesse what do you need?" the cowboy scratched the back of his head kind of uncomfortable.

"I heard Shimada took you to see Mercy, I thought you was still sick or something?" now any normal girl would giggle knowing a cute guy like Jesse was worried about them, unfortunately he's really not her type. "Genji was just being concerned, wanted to make sure I wasn't coming in cos' I was bored." she explained to Mcree who seemed genuinely surprised that Shimada actually showed an emotion other than anger. "So, what are you doing now?" the cowboy asked the silver eyed woman gave him a blank stare and slowly looked down.

He followed her and blanched seeing muddy foot prints trailing behind him along with the soda/yogurt puddle she still had yet to clean...Mcree swallowed and look back at Vex to see her smiling very sweetly and she said. "Trying to control my bloodlust.~" She beamed causing Mcree to shudder as he muttered an apology and scurried away.

Vex's smile was gone as soon as Mcree left she looked back to the TS room to see it now closed, the silver eyed woman cussed under her breath, She missed them! Vex took a deep breath and returned to her original task and got to mopping the hall....Again.

#Overwatch #blackwatch #blackwatch genji #Genji x OC #fanfiction #Gabriel Reyes #Jesse Mcree #angela ziegler #fanfic

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