#but everyone wants to IGNORE that so that she can be the competant and cautious Archivist who does everything Right

[sparky-is-spiders]

I want Jon and Sasha to both be the archivist and to drag each other down through a corruption arc.

#they’re dating btw #not maintagging this but please know that the Jonsasha Eye Corruption Arc is constantly being rotated in my brain #I think Sasha is very smart and capable but wants to Know so badly that she gets really reckless and is willing to jump right over personal #boundaries. I think she’d make a great beholder and I lover her #but I hate fandomized hyper-competant Sasha #like sure there’s a lot of gaps in her characterization that could be filled #but I swear to god just about everyone who writes about her COMPLETELY glosses over the characterization #that we DO have #she makes the same risky and dangerous decisions as Jon in pursuit of knowledge #under much less dire circumstances #(talking about Michael specifically here. meeting the Creepy Monster that was hanging around who invited you to a cemetary after dark #and told you to come ALONE. is really suspicious?? but not only did she meet with it as asked she didn’t even tell anyone????) #don’t get me wrong I love sasha sosososososo much #but I think it’s really annoying (and kinda weird tbh?) #that most of the fandom seems to have sanded down everything we DO know about her #cuz she’d make a genuinly good Archivist?? she’s got the hunger for knowledge down and racks up two marks back to back (corruption and #spiral) #but everyone wants to IGNORE that so that she can be the competant and cautious Archivist who does everything Right #she HACKED. the employee records. of her coworkers/work friends. for FUN #and I love her so much for that???? #but that just makes me think a paranoid s2 Sasha would be a terrifyingly effective stalker #and that her and Jon should be paranoid messes together and bond over late nights spent spying on other institute employees #they have a romantic picnic in a park while Jon painstakingly explains how Elias spent his entire evening last night #and Sasha considers this before launching into her own analysis of Tim’s browser history #just. just think about it. okay? #I’m very sorry if my ramblings show up in the js tag #I’m not sure how frequently it’s used #but enjoy my lengthy hot take about my two favoritest characters

[commonwealthoccurences]

Companions React: Sole Breaks Down

Request: “Could I ask for companions comforting a sole that’s usually an emotional rock, that they hadn’t seen this vulnerable ever? Like they come back from being away and just crumble into a sobbing mess. Pretty please?”

Note: *bangs spoon against pot* come get the hurt/comfort. CW: Mentions of unnamed characters deaths.

The setting:

Upon Preston’s request, Sole took off to a distant settlement to reorganize their resources, set up defenses, and bring them into the trade route. These excursions usually took about a week or two, so Sole could make sure they were fully stable before returning to Sanctuary to attend to their other duties. With this trip, however, they requested their companion stay in Sanctuary; they could handle this on their own, and the companion deserved a break.

Two weeks later, Sole returns, shoulders weighed down by their pack, ladened with goods the settlers had insisted they take with them. It had been a tough week, though that wasn’t really a new thing in Sole’s book, or anyone’s, really. Unfortunately, Sole hadn’t been able to predict the fact that some sort of disease would run through the tiny settlement while they were there, taking several of the members with it as it left.

They scrubbed at their skin in a nearby body of water every morning of those two weeks, rubbed raw and pink as a result of Sole’s quietly hysterical distress. They wanted no trace of settlement on them. There were elements of guilt in their relief to return home, but with returning home came the fact that they were safe enough to reflect on their weeks away from Sanctuary. There seemed to be no hiding from what had happened.

Sole got through the main street of Sanctuary well enough, sending nods to passing settlers, with a brief stop to drop off some of the food they had brought back with them with their local merchant; he would give it away to those that dropped in throughout the day. Once they made it down the road and to the entrance of their home, they felt the dam break. Their hands shook as they pulled the door open and moved inside, doing their best to ignore the tears that began to trickle down their face.

(*Gage’s scenario takes place upon their return to Nuka World’s Fizztop Grille)

Cait:

Cait was waiting just inside, having taken up residence in Sole’s living room with Dogmeat.

She went to make a joke about Sole being late, but when she looked up, she lost the words quite quickly

Sole’s shoulders were shaking, and it was quite obvious that they were trying to hide that they were crying, but it was impossible to not see

She practically tripped over herself to get to Sole, who was acting casual by rearranging the items in their back they had set on the floor

Her desire to comfort and protect Sole overrode her hesitance for physical affection and she found herself hugging Sole far too tightly than she should’ve

But it was partially panic on her end that caused her to grip them so tight

“Christ, what’s a matter?”

The only sound Sole made was a choking whimper and Cait gripped them even tighter

Curie:

She reads the distress in their stance the moment they cross the threshold into their home

Similarly to Cait, she gets up from where she’s sitting immediately, but stops short of Sole

“Oh, goodness. Are you alright?” She reaches out but doesn’t quite touch them, not wanting to intrude

Sole shakes their head, unable to disguise their very obvious distress

“Physical or emotional?”

Sole opens their mouth to say emotional and gets out about half the word before choking on their own breath and curling forward into themself

“Would you like a hug?” Her voice is quieter this time.

Sole nods and she brings them in for a soft hug, rubbing their back

Danse:

Danse is far more emotionally intelligent when it comes to other people’s feelings than people give him credit for

He’s seen it happen before; soldiers compartmentalize their emotions as much as they can, for years even, but everyone has a breaking point

And sometimes it’s over something one might consider small, like breaking a dish, or sometimes it’s loss that brings them to their knees, as it would anyone

Regardless, he’s known all along that one day Sole won’t be able to suppress their emotions anymore

When they come in crying and shaking, looking defeated, he’s unsurprised. Sad in an inevitably knowing sort of way

He gets up and walks over, taking their pack from their hands and helping them shed the heavy jacket that was weighing them down

He requests they sit and takes off their boots before going to get them a glass of water

He doesn’t say much, considering he doesn’t have much to say, but he’d much rather show how he cares via actions rather than words, anyway

Deacon:

He’s somewhat similar to Danse in the fact that he knows Sole’s going to need to break at some point, however it’s in less of a “I’ve seen this before” attitude and more in the fact that he can relate

But Sole has an easier time trusting than he does, so he knows their break is coming at some point, whereas he knows that there’s never going to be a point where he allows someone else to see what Sole is allowing him to witness

So when they stand there, defeated, looking over at him like a lost child, he simply opens his arms

He’s not one for hugs, but he makes exceptions, and it seems this is one of those situations that calls for an exception

When they sob into his shoulder, he pats them on the back and replies with a simple, “I know, Boss. I know.”

Gage:

Gage is chewing at a piece of dried Mirelurk, grimacing at the salty taste.

Sole makes their way across Fizztop Grille, dropping their pack carelessly next to one of the couches.

Similarly, they drop down next to Gage where he’s sitting overlooking the rest of Nuka World, not saying a word.

After a moment, punctuated by a very obvious sigh, Gage looks over at Sole. He chews contemplatively for a moment, “You and me both. Wanna talk about it?”

Sole shakes their head and Gage responds, “Cool.”

He pats them on the back, admittedly, awkwardly and a bit too harsh to be comforting, but it’s Gage

He’s doing his best

Haylen:

Haylen has Dogmeat in her lap chewing at a Radstag bone, her hand running mindlessly over his fur

She doesn’t jump up when Sole comes in, cautious at the idea of spooking them

“Sole,” She calls out, shifting to move her feet flat on the floor

When they don’t respond and instead sniffle, she’s motioning Dogmeat off her lap and stepping towards them

“Everything alright?”

Sole shakes their head and she presses her lips together in worry, “Anything I can help with?” another shake of Sole’s head

She brushes their hair away from their face with a soft, “Oh, Sole.” and brings them into a light side-hug

Hancock:

He really does like to think he keeps his cool easily, but he really doesn’t in this case

Sole’s crying and that’s not something he thought would ever happen

“Whoa, whoa. Talk to me, what’s going on, Sunshine?”

“Bad day.” Sole chokes out

He suppresses nervous laughter, knowing it can’t just be that, but lets it go and instead puts an arm around their shoulders to pull them in for a tight hug, snug and reassuring, with his other arm finding their waist

MacCready:

He’s alert immediately, thoughts jumping to them being hurt, and potentially fatally so

Considering he thinks its an emergency, he’s in front of them and examining them for injuries within seconds

Sole doesn’t protest for the longest time, but eventually they grab ahold of his wrists and shake their head

He stops for a moment and looks them over again before sighing; this is something he doesn’t know what to do about

“Sit. You’re going to collapse if you’re not careful.”

When they’re seated he helps them shrug off their coat and sits nearby, not pressuring, but available if they want to talk

Nick:

Nick’s view is similar to Danse’s, and he isn’t quite surprised when they come in crying

He sets the pen he was writing with down and shifts back in his chair, opening his arms for a hug if they want

When they cross the room he wraps them in a hug and rubs their lower back, trying his best with the awkward angle him sitting provides

“You need to take time for yourself.” He recommends, but other than that, he remains mostly silent

Piper:

The queen of panic, despite her best efforts

She’s used to tears because of her experiences with Nat, but not from Sole of all people

She does something similar to Mac, where she checks them over briefly, before she realizes this isn’t a physical injury that’s hurting them

She’s competing with Cait when it comes to tight hugs, wishing she could protect them from whatever’s bothering them so

A sympathy crier, she has to blink away her own tears

“Let it out, Blue. We can talk about it later, okay? Everything’s gonna be just fine. I swear.”

Preston:

Preston’s not sure how to handle things, considering how used to Sole being a rock he is

He knows it’s not quite right, considering he knows other people view him the same way, and it’s incredibly difficult being the one holding it together all the time, but he’s still genuinely surprised when he sees they’re crying

He knows what to do when he realizes what’s going on, though; exactly what he wishes he could request from someone else

He brings them into a hug and mumbles reassurances; that they don’t have to be the tough one all the time, that their emotions aren’t weakness, and that everything’s going to be okay

X6-88:

A fan of mutual silence, X6 helps them get comfortable and brings them into their room; he’s always viewed quarters as the safest place to be, both in the Institute and when Sole gave him his own quarters afterwards

He helps them into bed, making sure they’re comfortable, before asking if they have any small injuries they need addressed before settling in

If they say yes he cleans and dresses their wounds as gently as possible before settling into bed near them, a respectable distance away, but within reach if they need, and begins reading a book Sole left on their nightstand

He knows it’s hard to be alone when you’re being attacked by emotions, but they don’t seem to want to talk about what’s going through their head quite yet; instead, he rubs their back and encourages them to cry it out

#Fallout 4 #Fo4 #Companions react #headcanons #hcs #hurt comfort #fanfiction #mild angst #Cait #Curie #Deacon #Paladin Danse #Gage #Mayor Hancock #Nick Valentine #RJ MacCready #Preston Garvey #X6-88 #Scribe Haylen

[captainkurosolaire]

Prompt #1 ~ Aftermath

Previous - ♫Something Better♫ - Mentions: (@lordshiroelune)

Bitter cold took presence as often they attend to go from a harrowing Summer, or within this situation; a treacherous battle. Rarely often the roguish in clad-black took dawn in a mournful suit. A makeshift headstone laid at his sole's wake. He was attending a funeral burial, to his worst prominent enemy. An opponent in which they catapulted a historical rivalry it felt they were Destined Forever to contest... However, you can never truly engage a character of a person often with the whole life they live, but often it's what they do at their final notes, that's what really spells out was colorfully represented. An ashamed head was tilted, this was unholy sight. His rival, slaughtered and massacred his first crew, dissected and single-handedly malfunctioned his second with their wit alone. The Noble of once, shattered dreams, crushed his livelihood. At worst, brought instilled doubt, to someone who was so once staggering confident in his abilities, as if untouchable in brash young. Those losses racked up, the death toll's grip of reality, was clenched around the Seeker like a noose. He loosened his buttoned shirt to expose his collar to expose a gnarly rapier scar and wound. Ashamed so hid it and confiscated it was better to ignore things, such effortlessness, easy. The token failure's could unrelentingly haunt by sight alone. Although caressing it purposefully trying to recall that wound's terrible story. Forth came his nerves finally conveying a solo-speech to his departed advisor. "Shiro... Shiro... Why'd ye have t' die?" He quaked and trembled, his worst hatred and self-loathing came from his compassion always ridiculed for, it was a distinct thing he rejected, because he was foretold it would be his demise, or it couldn't measure up to giant's he began mustering against. "I am surrounded in a realm, where everyone is better put together, or they just haven't gotten there yet, they're all beyond me... You were the only one, I felt, I could be equal or had. We were both atrocious, stupid, naive men, arrogant, prideful was our downfall. We did heinous thing's simplistically, to survive, or in fret, it was required. We came from diversity. Yet somehow, we were alike." It made no-sense to his intuit, he was spilling from guts. Dropping on his knees and quivering a scabbard rapier, infamously used to pierce through him. It cultivated this entire Tale. Where would he stand, if Shiro wasn't there as his obstacle, challenge? He surmised, buried underneath instead. You see failures, losses are necessities in ensuring that feeling doesn't reoccur, one with tenacity and a rebel-soul, thrives under this conditional warfare, although, at-first, vices were the only thing he tried to drown guilt, overtime... He began stepping more bravely. Molding from cruelty becoming larger than ever prelude to his rags.

"But... You defeated me royally for the last time. I cannot compete with you. Ye won. I thought you were the most vile, yer shade of dishonor, the fact you perceived yourself so above, but yet you were losing mental-games, dealing with even worse Father's, under all that ice, stooping to all time lows, just... to protect. You had something I never imagined a Noble to have, integrity. Th' evil man, who I wanted to mindlessly kill on vengeance soil, but was held back by a common star we shared, I spared. A man who I fought in a War of Depths with, who safeguarded my Crew to ensure the victory was met, in which, I thought, was doing only for their selfish-hide... You always did it for others, pushing away, preventing many to get through, you were authentic. I get it, that was your weakness, yer secret card, if showed that vulnerability you would've perished a lot sooner. I... am glad, I was wrong." Sighing allowing himself to spill it all out, gives clarity. The pain he felt was for the unexpected. This felt like watching a part of himself die. It hurt maybe even above putting rest of his own Founding Captain. Prying out a matched lighter and reaching in his tuxedo's folds he gathered out a dusty tome containing the memoirs of horrific secrets, the Noble was cautious to reveal, he hadn't even pried to read which often a pirate's behave would, but there wasn't any need after the battle they endured and shared, all was exposed. He gave aflame to the booklet and allowed it to be destroyed, within a final request before the departed fell. "I will b' who fosters yer cares now. Yer Estate will be under me with my remaining plunders. I hate this sappy-shite, I don't want ta' think ye perished on me but I saw what happened. Th' stages of denial never really fade. Mayhaps my estranged daughter is having an impact on me, she's shown me unmatched hope, even gives it to me as much I didn't want that either. As if adamantly showing I can do...become, better. Can't believe a bastard like me, could, but I feel it... emerging like a Sun trying t' rise within." Standing up and sweeping himself up and trying to recompose and whack his cheek to sting out the watery-urge his eye was trying to admit. "...I'll see you soon. My devil friend. Death only happens when we're forgotten, I assure ye, no one will not hear of this story ov' you, my matey bard is traveling sharing words that convey. Ye aspired, saved my entire current Crew, where you were th' worst, now you're seen as the hero basked in dark-light who hoisted them, to overcome the pasts. Especially me. I have a lot t' prove even more now. T' myself, I cannot let ye go in vain either, I'll confront my fears." He trailed strapping the rapier to him a treasure beyond all the relic's acquired of before, the grave held emptied no body to prove of demise, but symbolism was valued, it meant everything to embrace a moment's of life. It's how spirit's found rest with a double-edge slay. Walking with a new chapter to uncharted perils. Resolve, reawakened.

#FFxivWrite2021 #FFxivWrite #FFxiv #Tales of the Goldbrand #-Captain Kuro Solaire #Creative Writing #Prompt - Foster #This challenge is massive for me #In Tribute and Memory: WB #To try FFXIVWrite this year and Daily Practice and then some #Always with me. #Going to risk everything #I overcame a month of function #I will remain #I'll be utilizing every character #Every writing style #All forms to overcome #Lord Shiro Elune

[mggpleasedontlookhere]

it should’ve been you pt. 2

summary: after getting suspended after the incident on the jet, y/n has a hard time dealing with the aftermath of the situation, only then she realizes that her and spencer are one and the same

word count: 3,825                                                                                     reading time aprox: 14 mins

masterlist

part 1

3 months.

It has been 3 months since Spencer had been charged with suspension in participating in any cases. In regards to the reprimands brought upon me by Hotch, I had received a mere 1 month of suspension for my violent act on the jet. 

Truth be told, the 1 month was worth it 

The words that ardently escaped Spencer’s lips that day sat perpetually ingrained on my mind, next to the lingering memory of his belligerent eyes. Despite my indignation of Spencer’s behavior, his words added to the ever growing grief of Ryler’s death, self reproach fueling my mind. 

But at the end of the day, some of the blame could be brought on Spencer. He should’ve spoke up sooner if he had clue that I wasn’t efficient in the field. He should’ve done something to prevent Ryler’s death. 

Right?

I had just gotten back from my suspension, completing the final reports of a case and handling the tedious paper work that nobody wanted to deal with. I wasn’t permitted to investigate any cases with the team yet considering that I was still under surveillance. But I kept my distance from them, especially Hotch, knowing his attention would linger on me slightly longer than the other agents. 

I sighed, finishing up the latter of reports and standing up to submit the files to Hotch. As I ventured through the lively commotion of agents and supervisors, I spotted the team near the kitchenette of the bullpen. They were all in a fit of laughter, a sight that was infrequent with the career we possessed. A bubbling sensation burned in my stomach as I watched their faces contort in bliss. I clenched my fingers around the reports, creating small indents on the corners of the files, while a grimace replaced the once nonchalant expression I displayed. I shook my head in disapproval, then trudged off to get my task over with. 

They should be working, not fucking around. If only I were there, maybe things would get done faster 

Barging into Hotch’s office, I discarded the work at the front of his desk, muttering a small sentence that indicated I was finished. I didn’t dare to entertain his unrelenting scrutiny, knowing well that he was already halfway into profiling my demeanor. “If that’s all, I can go back to my desk...” I said, the tone of my voice monotonous and lifeless. “Sir” I nodded, using his silent response as a signal to leave. 

“Agent Y/L/N” He interrupted, setting the paper work I finished aside along with other files that camouflaged the surface of his oak desk. “Take a seat please” He suggested, gesturing to the two office chairs that faced him. I complied still not meeting his gaze, settling down in front of him, as I fiddled with the threads at the ends of my blazer. 

“Y/L/N” He repeated, only this time I looked straight into his eyes. “We’re happy to have you back in our unit” He began, a sense of sternness in his voice, similar to one a parent would use to scold their child. “I hope you took this opportunity as a break away from all the chaos we deal with” He lightheartedly joked, an amiable smile apparent of his face. 

Despite his change in demeanor, my feelings of resentment coexisted beside his expressions of colloquialism. “Me, taking a break from work or was it so the team can take a break from me and Dr. Reid?” I challenged, folding my hands on my lap. 

“Y/L/N” He disrupted lifting an apprehensive hand. “I’m aware of the tension between you and Reid ever since what happened back in New York, so I made the decision to give you and him the opportunity to-” He justified. 

“No sir, with all due respect, your agents are out there laughing their asses off instead of working. Yet I’m the one who’s being put under scrutiny for being human?” I asserted, standing up from where I sat. “Yes I made a mistake. But for months Reid has done nothing but bludgeon everything I work for in the bureau and none of you have ever done anything about it” I scoffed as I paced in front of his desk.

“Y/L/N I’d have you know that me and the team have had numerous conversations with Reid about what hap-” 

“YES THAT’S MY POINT!” I exclaimed, raising my voice slightly, although that didn’t last long due to the cautious stare I received from Hotch. “You’ve always checked up on Reid, but what about me?” I spit, narrowing my eyes at Hotch, noticing the discernible silence I received as a response. “Aren’t I part of this team? Because frankly ever since that case in Manhattan it seems like everyone can’t decide whether to blame me or pity me” I admitted, looking over to the window where I had a clear view of the people of my unit. 

“Y/L/N please take a seat” He commanded, but I declined standing my ground. He sighed, tucking in his blazer as he stared at me in disbelief. “Y/L/N I’m sorry if you’ve ever felt like that but you’re on this team as much as Reid is” He claimed, an empathetic tone surrounding each word that emitted from his lips. “You’ve made a mistake and yes, it’s affected a majority of the team, but take this opportunity to grow from that mistake” He consoled, his eyes softening back into a lamentable gaze. “Use this to be a better agent” He stood up, walking over to where I was positioned and placed an affable palm to my shoulder. 

Vulnerability is often used as a bridge between the connection of others. It’s used to initiate an understanding bond, to break people down to their foundations, and to help one to recognize that people aren’t alone when it comes to implications in life. Although vulnerability wasn’t the theme of mine and Hotch’s interaction. 

It was pity

“Is that what you think will make me feel better? T-to make me feel accepted into this team?” I ridiculed, snatching my shoulder away from his overbearing touch. Incredulity seemed to fuel the words leaving my mouth as my glare advertised bitterness. “Do you think I’m that incompetent? That a few appraising and heartfelt words are going to make me fall in line?” I challenged. 

“Y/N, please don’t make this diff-” 

“DON’T ‘Y/N’ ME, HOTCH” I warned, knowing I set off an alarm inside of him as he backed off in reluctance. I knew I had attracted a few curious ears from outside of the office, but I was too blinded by my oncoming emotions to act with clarity and reason. 

“YOU K-KNEW” I stuttered, my hands beginning to tremble at my sides as I wiped the sweat accumulating on them. “You knew that I wasn’t r-ready. I WASN’T READY!”. 

My mind had accelerated to a thousand miles per hour, I felt numb at every word I had verbalized as if my cerebrum had malfunctioned. I hadn’t even noticed the tears that had dampened the apples of my cheeks. “Y-you knew I-i wasn’t ready, a-and you...let me go in” I sucked in a staggered breath, feeling my esophagus cinch up at the sudden inhale. “You k-killed him” I whispered through my gritted teeth, feeling all loss of competence. At this point my hormones were driving my actions, “You KILLED him” I accused, flailing my hands at his direction. 

“Y/L/N go home, you’re not stable enough to be back here yet” He stated monotonously, striding back to his chair in a collected manner. 

“What?” I spewed.

“Y/L/N it’s obvious that you need more time. I’m giving you a 2-weeks-leave, and I suggest you take it” He replied, taking a moment to look up at me. “I can assign you the bureau’s therapist, Dr. Montgomery, if you would like”

“N-no Hotch, are you kidding me?” I scoffed in defiance. 

“Y/L/N I will have you escorted out of the building if you don’t follow my direct orders, understood?” He threatened, peering into my eyes. “Now go home” He sighed, looking over some files without giving me a second glance. 

I huffed in disbelief, pulling open his office door to make an exit, ready to dash out of the room, until his words broke my stride. “Oh and Y/L/N” He spoke up, making me spin around to look at him one last time. 

“While you’re on that break...learn to forgive yourself too” 

-

From the time that phrase came out of his mouth to where I stood now seemed like a blur. The autumn drizzle trickled from my forehead to the base of my chin as the sky darkened; an omen to the place where my feet had lead me. 

Spencer’s apartment

Stepping a foot into the complex, the coldness of the water droplets on my skin masked the fear that hid behind the many layers of antipathy, turbulence, and helplessness. 

I felt paralyzed, contrary to my feet that continued to venture through the halls to find Spencer’s residence, my unconscious mind remembering the very dinner party the team organized months ago to celebrate the new addition to the BAU: me. 

My range of emotions had thrown me into a downward spiral, feeling everything then feeling nothing simultaneously. It was as if I was drowning then pulled up to be given air, only to repeat the process continuously. I knew to blame myself, but I couldn’t help but bear to place the accountability to the members of my team because the weight was too heavy for me to hoist. 

I am selfish, I am weak, and I hate every part of that. 

My anger became the device to alienate myself from others. My loss of control lead my impulsivity to fester and lash out on the ones who only wanted to help. Finally, my ignorance costed me my impartial and sensible mind. It allowed me to turn a blind eye to any impurities that didn’t corroborate with my narrative. 

I twisted the facts to match the theories, rather than twist the theories to the facts. 

At the foundation of it all, the matter derived from my inability to conquer my grief in a sufficient approach. Although at that affair, I remained alone...almost. The only other creature who had endured more than they can handle was Spencer. 

Despite out disagreements, we held one thing in common: the event that defined our declarations of hate towards one another. 

So here I have my feet planted complementary to his front door, my arms glued to my side, and my head hanging low as I raised a skeptical fist to knock. 

With the first attempt to gather his attention, the was no response except the buzzing of the radiators that hummed throughout the building’s halls. With another set of knocks, scuffling feet could be heard coming closer to the entrance and every thud against the floor, elevated my heart rate. When the door had flung open, it wasn’t Spencer that I had witnessed. 

It was a ghost of him. 

At least that’s what it had looked like to me. Spencer sported his head of hair like a bird’s nest, his clothes looked besmirched, his silhouette appeared scraggy, but most of all his face looked inert and lacked pigment. 

In spite of my initial impression, his emotion ridden expression gained it’s flare back at the acknowledgment of my appearance. He was about to turn away, pushing the door closed when I stuck a foot in the crevice of the door frame, causing me to wince in agony. 

This caused Spencer to return his focus onto me, fixating at my foot that obstructed the door. “If you think that hurts, try getting stabbed” He mentioned maliciously, referring to the death of his comrade. I ignored his snarky comment, pushing the door ajar to face him. “What do you want Y/L/N?” He deadpanned, holding an emphatic countenance. 

I composed myself, sighing as I explained that I wanted the opportunity to discuss the latter with him, and to my surprise he obliged, diffident to let me enter. 

I took in the unveiling of his home. The walls were lined with bookshelves that contained a copious assortment of books that ranged from education to recreational. Renaissance art was found in between some of the shelving units, but the one thing that caught my attention were the various frames that surrounded Spencer’s childhood pictures. Although, the majority of the portraits were only of him and his mother; his father only making a debut in earlier pictures. 

“I thought you were here to talk, not profile where I live” Spencer commented, interrupting the inquisitive observations I’ve made of his place. I mumbled a quaint apology, finding myself a chair to sit on as Spencer did the same. 

Apprehension preoccupied the silence that followed after we took our seats. I fiddled with my hands, running over my lines and organizing my thoughts as I thought twice about my presentation. 

“It wasn’t my fault”

“What?” Spencer spoke, tilting his head at me in bewilderment. 

“It wasn’t my fault that Ryler died...It was my choice” I began, pushing the loose hairs behind my ears as I sat up straight. “I made that choice to follow through and go in, knowing I was going against Hotch’s warnings and that-” I paused, gazing into his emotionless stare. 

“Killed Ryler” Spencer deadpanned, continuing off where I couldn’t finish. I nodded in compliance, the same feeling of dread creeping up my stomach, similar to how I felt on the crime scene. 

“There’s no amount of ‘sorrys’ I can say that will ever fill that void that’s in-bedded in the team...but at the same time, th-there’s nothing I can do to bring him back, Reid” I declared. 

He wore a tight-lipped grimace, staring at the wall behind me coldly. “Yeah, there’s nothing you can do to bring him back” He scoffed. “You’re wasting your time being here” He professed, shaking his head with hostility. 

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I bent over to place my head on my hands, feeling the overbearing sensation of frustration bubble over the sentiment. “Yes I know Reid” I disclosed, animosity slowing slipping into the enunciation of my words. “I just- I don’t always want to be in quarrel with you whenever we’re at work” I confessed. “I just need you to-” 

“To what?” Spencer cut me off mid sentence. “To forgive you?” He jeered, narrowing his eyes at me in vengeful amazement. 

“Spencer-” 

“You want me to FORGIVE you?” He stood up from his seat, walking over one of the bookshelves adjacent to the window. The faint sunset beamed an orange tinted glare through the drizzle and into the living room, giving pigment to Spencer’s skin as his back faced me. “Am I just supposed to forget about him like everyone has already, am I supposed to pretend that everything’s back to normal without him?” He questioned, running his finger along the spines of a select novels. 

“I’m not telling you to forget Ryler, and it’s not like the team doesn’t honor-” I began, but was cut off abruptly by Spencer’s spiteful words. 

“Are you fucking kidding me Y/N?!” He exclaimed, turning around to glare at me. “For the past couple of months, no one- and I mean NO ONE has mentioned Ryler. I-it’s as if NOBODY CARES” He shook his head in frustration, running his hand through his curls. 

“That-s not tru-” 

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” He blurted out, an incredulous expression planted on his face. “Name one person, aside from me that had thought about Ryler in the past month” He challenged, making determined strides towards where I sat. 

Veins began protruding on his forehead as he came closer, the wrinkles on his forehead became indistinguishable, despite the sun masking his face in an angelic light. “I- um” I gulped, unable to recall any mentions of the agent. 

“Exactly” Spencer deadpanned, walking back over to the shelves. 

“But that doesn’t give you an excuse to berate me” I uttered quietly, feigning a collected composure where the confidence lacked. I pushed myself up from my seat, promenading up to where he stood. “You can’t assume the future of my career based on a mistake I made” I stood parallel to his back, reaching a hand up to place on his shoulder, but proceeded to hesitate, leaving them at my sides. “You don’t have to forgive me Reid, but at least forgive yourself” I spoke, reiterating the same words Hotch passed onto me before leaving the office. 

I saw his shoulders lose tension as he sucked in a breath, his fingers unraveled from his balled fists while he hung his head low. On the cue of his sedated composure, I placed a decided grasp on his shoulder in attempt to soothe the rigid atmosphere. 

Unbeknownst to my perception of the situation, Spencer suddenly grabbed a hold of my wrist, flipping me over to where my back hit the bookshelves with immense force, sending a painful chill down my spine. I winced as the rivets of the metal screws scratched the soft skin of my lower back. Although this didn’t prevent Spencer from further pinning my body into the shelves while his firm fingers dug into my wrists. “What makes you think you can tell me what to do or what to feel” He whispered darkly, a menacing grimace taking it’s form on his mouth.

I resisted against his grip, but his strength proceeded to show itself through my inability to overpower him. Fueled with frustration, I bore at him with a vindictive sneer. “Reid, fucking let me go” I muttered through gritted teeth. “I swear to fucking god Reid, let me the FUCK GO!” I challenged, pushing harder against his tall frame. 

He responded to my catty reactions with an arrogant smirk. “Look at you writhing under me” He patronized, his face shadowing over mine as his breath fanned over my own. “You’re a weak bitch Y/N” He continued, his eyes lingering on my bottom lip. “You’re an even worse agent” He inched closer at an achingly sluggish pace. I felt my lips twitch in anticipation as his mouth hovered over my own. 

So, I took the opportunity to spit at him.

He stumbled back in surprise, wiping my saliva that landed inches away from the bridge of his nose. “What the fu-” He spewed, looking at me incredulously. But I took no hesitation to make determined strides at him. 

“You have no right to call me a bad agent. You have no right to call me weak” I heaved, shoving him at his shoulders. “Especially when you can’t even face your own feelings” I verbalized, glaring at him. “You’re a coward” I muttered, glaring up at him as we were chest to chest. 

Both of us stood in our own heated ambiance, the silence amplifying the intensity of the circumstances. I could feel the sweat dripping off of my forehead as I witnessed a crack in his arrogant countenance. His hard features relaxed into a woeful expression as the fight of reason in his mind intensified. But I didn’t have the time to wait on his judgement. So with a novel sanguine air, I began marching right up to his front door with the persistence to leave all the negative energy behind me. 

That was until he spoke up

“Y/N I-” 

I shook my head, resting my hand on his doorknob. “No Spencer, you listen” I turned around to face him, leaning my back on the oak surface of the door. “You don’t get to defame my career, I’ve worked too hard for this and out of all the people in the world, I thought you’d understand” I stated, pushing myself up the door so I was no longer leaning on it. 

“Y/N-” 

“I made a mistake, but that mistake’s going to make me a better agent. I can’t take back his death and I can’t make it up to you, but all I can do is make his death count” I persisted, my legs venturing back to where we stood prior to my attempted exit. He stared back at me with an afflicted gaze that hid behind a feigned emotionless expression. “I’ve spent months blaming myself for his death...” I positioned myself across from him, reciprocating a compassionate expression that contrasted from his own visage. “And I think you do the same too” I remarked, taking my bottom lip between my teeth as I expressed my concerns. 

For the first time, Spencer didn’t know what to say. Not statistical fact or analytical approach would resolve the woman that stood confidently before him. 

“You’re right” He admitted, sighing as he combed the back of his head. His eyes flickered to the prominent features of my face, then back to the apparently interesting view of the floor. He shut his eyes in defeat, dragging both of his hands over his face as if it was to bring clarity and closure swiftly to him. “I-i didn’t how to...th-then everyone started forgetting- and I couldn’t” He desperately was at a loss of words. “I’m sorry Y/N” He repented, laying a hesitant yet tender hand on the side of my arm. 

“As much as I appreciate you apologizing to me Spencer-” I laid my hand over his own, clutching onto it in a solacing grasp. “You seriously need to figure yourself out first” I sighed, using my fingers to tilt his chin up to disrupt his forlorn expression. “You need to learn how to forgive yourself Spencer, and I’m not the one to say because I’m still figuring that out myself, but that’s the only way you’re ever going truly move forward”

He cringed at my mention of the future. I noticed the cogs running in that brain of his, unable to process his grief. I could tell he was still holding onto a lot of baggage, the pained look he wore revealing it all. “I shouldn’t have told you that it should’ve been you back there” He apologized, referring to the whole conflict that unfolded on the jet. “I don’t know how to do it Y/N” He confessed. “I c-can’t just move on like that”

“Nobody’s asking you to Spencer” I consoled. “We can never really be able to move on completely. But that’s a part of living, it’s remembering that gives our life meaning” 

“Well actually, traumatic occurrences can actually be repressed by the unconscious mind in order to dissociate th-” He rambled, a faint smile tugging on the corners of his lips. 

“Don’t ruin the sentiment Reid” I laughed, nudging him playfully. He reciprocated the same gesture, reverting back to a more relaxed visage. 

“Thank you...Y/N” He spoke passionately, pulling me into an amicable embrace. I breathed into his shoulder, taking in the seldom occasion as all the hatred that existed in the room previously, dissipated. 

“You’re always welcome...Spence” 

-

A/N:

that’s a wrap, im actually really proud of this so i hope you all enjoy it. tell me whatcha think about it after :)

i honestly was struggling with how to end the whole thing, so i compromised on an angsty-fluff/platonic but not really ending, if that at all makes sense lmao, anyways have an amazing day

-

taglist: @a-dorky-book-keeper @ilovespencereid @fancystarlightpirate @aperrywilliams @liaabsurd @thatsonezesty13 @ashwarren32  @ithinkilovetruecrimetoomuch @yoongi-holland @guessthatswhyiliveinhell @peterspickledpepper @tiktokslut @britishspidey​ @marciscaspar​ @ tteessaa13 @marylanddgirly @todaynotseen 

[howtosingit]

I haven't had a chance to fully dive into all the goodies last nights video has produced.. nor have I had a chance to read all your thoughts which you know I crave love . I was dumb and watched 3 911 episodes last night ignoring my ig notification that ronen had shared anything so then I had to go to bed bc of work and work has been crqzy. But anyways I just wanted to hear some of your thoughts and say Tarlos officially fried my brain and I really want to write in the spare time I don't have bc of work 🙈🙊 their soft smiles, kisses, possibly meeting the fam, their date (and let's be honest Carlos was hot as fuck sauntering up to the bar announcing he was tks boyfriend... you know someone got laid that night) sorry not sorry 🙈

Anyways hit me with your thoughts when you're free if you want ❤

LISTEN, LAUREN. I am always up to share my thoughts because they never end and they just keep coming and I have to unleash them somehow or I will definitely explode.

My brain was just like, ALL CAPS SCREAMING, for about 7 hours yesterday, so I’ll leave you to explore that hot mess on my blog if you want. 😅 But, in the time since, I’ve seen a lot of discourse and stuff about the moments that we’ve seen, so I’m going to use this ask as an opportunity to weigh in on everything under the cut...

FIRST, CAN I JUST SAY that at the moment that I am writing this post, we are still trending at #5 and we’ve been in the 4-7 range for at least the past, like, IDK, 18-20 hours maybe?! I LOVE THIS FANDOM AND HOW WE LOSE OUR SHIT AT THE SMALLEST THINGS

Okay, so let me go through this thing and comment on the parts, and then give some general thoughts below:

LOVE that this is a promo entirely about the LGBTQIA+ characters and characters of color. Not exactly surprised that they still tried to put as much Rob Lowe in it as possible (that’s Fox/the writers’ M.O. it seems - to squeeze Rob/Owen in whether he fits or not). Some of his comments were a little awkward, I thought (referring to Paul’s trans storyline as “stuff” makes me go 😬), but whatever. He’s not the point of all of this, so that’s the last I’m going to talk about him.

TOMMY VEGA. I AM READY TO STAN. I love Gina Torres, I already love how much heart and soul she is giving just in these quick peeks, I cannot wait to see her in action!

Also let me use this moment to say that while it’s obvious I’m not getting my Grace + Carlos friendship (that’s fine if it stays in fandom, I’ll live), I’m SO GLAD that her and Tommy are gonna be friends! One promo mentioned that Judd has known Tommy before, so it would not surprise me if they’ve been friends for awhile. LOVE THAT.

SPECULATION: This gives me a good time to just throw out a theory that I’ve been thinking about... We know Owen and Gwen are hosting Tommy at their place for a backyard dinner. I assume her husband may be there as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Judd and Grace are there too. 

I ALSO would not be surprised if this is when one of the nights at Carlos’s place happens, like a parallel of the two dinner parties. That at least keeps every main character involved in both locations. We shall see though.

So this gathering at the firehouse seems like it’s going to be a pretty big scene, probably for episode 1. I think everyone’s gathered so that Owen can announce he’s in remission (we’ll hear him tell TK first, which is the hug that they share earlier in the trailer, I think). 

But this gathering also includes a Tommy/Grace moment, a Tarlos moment, the others doing other things kind of moments. It’ll serve the same purpose as a lot of the season 1 bar scenes, and I’m so glad they’ve moved those to the firehouse. I want that place to really start feeling like a home this year. 

(I want all of the locations to feel a little more grounded and special, if I’m being honest. Like, I’m SO GLAD that Carlos’s place is going to be a key location this season.)

There are now two instances of Carlos being next to Gwen (standing next to her while Owen makes an announcement and now sitting next to her at the table), so we better get some dialogue between them or I WILL BE SO UPSET. I WANT GWEN TO STAN CARLOS AS MUCH AS I DO.

EVERYONE IS SO CUTE IN THIS SCENE OKAY

TARLOS TARLOS TARLOS TARLOS

Like, WTF is TK’s face in this moment?! He looks so shy and bashful but also so happy and mushy and soft and in love. And then the way that Carlos softens because of how soft TK look?!?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!?! WHY AM I CRYING.

Seriously, I have to know what they’re talking about though to make TK fucking melt like that. 

Emergency stuff blah blah blah

TARLOS KISS TARLOS KISS TARLOS KISS TARLOS KISS

IT’S SO FUCKING CASUAL AND PERFECT AND NATURAL AND LITERALLY JUST LIKE A “I came over to grab this food from you but since I’m here I might as well grab a kiss because I can’t help myself”

AND LIKE... Carlos just leans right into it?!?!?!? like it’s something that they do all the time?!?!?! WTF I LOVE THEM

Mateo watches this kiss and kind of looks like he was talking to Carlos, TK, or both of them, so I love that they’re like in the middle of conversation but still like “wait let me kiss my bf because he’s close by and so hot and I love him” SCREAMING

ALSO LET ME BE THIRSTY BUT CARLOS’S SHOULDERS AND BACK?!?!?! TK’S FUCKING ARMS?!?! I’M SO DAMN GAY

Speaking of arms: this rando bartender at the wrestling match (so Covid doesn’t last long on Lone Star, I’m assuming like 2 episodes maybe?) -- I love that they tried to put him in a tight shirt and make him look like a possible threat or something and I’m just like 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

IT’S LIKE THEY’VE NEVER SEEN CARLOS REYES BEFORE

AND THEN THE FUCKING GREEK GOD HIMSELF SAUNTERS UP WEARING A TIGHT FUCKING POLO - CHEST OUT, ARMS JACKED, HANDS IN HIS POCKETS TO DRAW ATTENTION TO HIS DICK AND I’M JUST SCREAMING AT THIS POINT

BOYFRIEND 

BOYFRIEND

BOYFRIEND

But, like, seriously, there is no comparison. Carlos is fucking Hercules over here and this no-name wannabe boyband member could be a sand-colored rock for all I care. 

YOU CANNOT COMPETE WITH CARLOS REYES, DON’T EVEN TRY IT

I do feel like these two clips (the calendar line and then Carlos’s line) are spliced together but they might not be back-to-back, and I would love to see how TK responds to the flirting before Carlos comes over

HIS FACE IS KILLING ME THOUGH WHEN CARLOS COMES UP

BLESS RONEN

I feel like I *think* I know what he’s thinking, but I also feel like I don’t. Certainly, the scene seems to end with them both smiling and happy, but I wonder if there will be a conversation about jealousy or something?! IDK BUT THEY’RE DEFINITELY GONNA TALK. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THEY SAY.

Someone posted how happy TK is going to be to have a boyfriend who is committed enough to him to be jealous, unlike Alex who didn’t care and cheated on him. I certainly think this could be a great moment for them to establish what this new relationship means for them, and I’m excited to see what they writers have planned.

I JUST LOVE CARLOS REYES THOUGH OKAY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

How many times is Fox gonna use that clip of him holding his gun though? We get it, he raises his gun. I’ve seen it like 7 times at this point. 

I’m not complaining, really. I’ll take his face where I can get it.

LOVING the Marjan clips

LOVING the Grace/Judd clips

LOVING the Paul clips

I LOVE ALL OF MY FAVES

CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THEM DEVELOP THIS YEAR

Hearing Rafa talk about using his voice and speaking for his community just slaughters my heart, I love this man so fucking much and I’m so happy to be discovering him at the start of his career because he is going to go on to do big things and make the world a better place with his positivity and light and love and I’m so excited to follow him on that journey I just love him okay

ALSO THE MAN LOOKS SO FUCKING GOOD WHAT ARE THOSE ARMS I WANT TO DIE

THE FARMER’S MARKET SCENE

Are they shopping for food for the dinner party they’re hosting?! Maybe!

WE MEET SOME OF CARLOS’S PEOPLE

There is so much speculation surrounding who these two people could be, and I’ve heard some super interesting theories about Carlos’s backstory.

I’m gonna be basic though and stick with the fact that I think they’re his parents.

AND IF THEY ARE HIS PARENTS, THEY SEEM SO HAPPY TO MEET TK.

His dad/the man, like, shakes TK’s hand with so much gusto, a giant smile on his face

And Carlos smiles as he hugs his mom/the woman, and she’s smiling too

THEY ALL JUST SEEM SO HAPPY

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE AVOIDING THE HOMOPHOBIC PARENTS STORYLINE COMPLETELY

Y’ALL DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT TRAUMA

I mean, I don’t know for sure, we’re going to have to wait for the episode. But god, do I hope for it with every fiber of my being. I want their trauma, if they have to have it, to be separate from their sexuality. They’ve done so well with TK so far, I want the same for Carlos. Let the story be fresh, let it be different, LET US HAVE DIVERSE GAY STORYLINES.

Y’ALL THE TEAM HANGING OUT AT CARLOS’S PLACE

I CANNOT

I’LL NEVER BE OVER IT

HE’S PART OF THE CREW. HE’S PART OF THE FAMILY.

IT’S EVERYTHING THAT I COULD EVER WANT FOR HIM OKAY

I’M SO FUCKING HAPPY

THEY ARE SO HAPPY

WE ARE ALL SO HAPPY

I’M CRYING

I’M DEAD

LOL that was a lot but so was this promo.

Now, some somewhat sobering thoughts...

We all know season 1 had a real diversity and inclusion problem, we’ve seen the numbers. We also know that during the promotion for season 1, we ALSO got a diversity promo focusing on the LGBTQIA+ characters and the characters of color. I love that Fox wants to highlight the incredibly talented actors and characters that they have, but all of it means nothing if they are still tokens on the show. 

I have full faith that season 2 will be better, that some of the justified anger and frustration made it back to the writers and they internalized it and then make some real changes. However, because we did get a diversity promo last year, I have to remain a little cautious. This promo doesn’t really mean anything and if, somehow, season 2 goes the way season 1 did, it will be another instance of Fox using the characters of color to draw people in without actually giving them screentime and development. Which is a HUGE PROBLEM. So... I’m very excited and very hopeful, but also slightly wary.

Similarly, I’ve seen people say that they’re worried that, while there is so much Tarlos in this promo, this might be all the Tarlos we get this season. I don’t share the same concern, but like the diversity issue, I understand where that comes from. There was a lot of Tarlos in season 1′s promos and, as we now know, they got screentime in episodes 1-3 and then virtually nothing until episode 10. 

I kind of lost track of the filming schedule, but I think before they went on the holiday/extended hiatus, they filmed the first 5-6 episodes? Maybe? And we know that we’re getting 14 total this season, which means it’s possible that they haven’t even filmed half of them. 

I think the footage that we got in this promo is from, like, 3 or 4 episodes max. Definitely episodes 1 and 2, maybe 4, possibly 5. The crossover is episode 3 and I am still expecting to barely see Carlos in it - I just think it’s going to be very fire heavy one, especially with the members of the 118 coming in to steal screentime. He could be in one scene, maybe? Idk, I’m just not expecting a lot from that episode. 

And sure, we could get a lot of Tarlos at the beginning and then nothing for a whole string of episodes, but that also just doesn’t seem possible with the way they’ve restructured the relationship dynamics. Like, it really does seem like Carlos is going to be a part of the family this year, so I think it will be easier to include him and harder to delete him entirely. (Please let him at least appear in every single episode, I don’t want to be so fucking angry like last year.)

Also, if all of these scenes stay in the episodes, we are getting AT LEAST 4 Tarlos conversations - the firehouse, the wrestling match, the farmer’s market, the flirting by the truck - and other scenes of them being in the same space as part of a group. I’m sure there will be even more that we’re just not seeing. I’m very optimistic for this season and for the Tarlos content, and I really don’t think we’ll see the front-loaded imbalance that we saw last season. I think when they get back to filming the later episodes, there will be a good amount of Tarlos content in those, too!

I will say, though, that I am worried we’ve just seen the only kiss that they’ll share in the first 5 or so episodes. I’m just so used to network TV placing a limit on gay kisses, and Idk how much that has really changed in recent years. I truly love this kiss, and I hope there are more, but I would not be surprised if we end the season having only gotten like 2-3. (PLEASE LET ME BE WRONG.)

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS UNTIL WE FIND OUT FOR SURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#911 lone star #ls spoilers #ls speculation #tarlos #this is like EVERYTHING that is taking up space in my brain okay #mtnofgrace #asks

[fanfic-of-fables-of-kitkat]

Naruto OC ship week

Prompt: Hair

@narutoocshipweek

Synopsis: Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were adopted by the well reknowned couple Hatsue (OC) & Sasori, a few decades when the siblings had long been adults, they reunite and reminisce their childhood

[This prompt will become a future chapter to my existing fanfic at FF.net ]

"You know what, our parents are jerks." Kankuro grimaced and then downed his cup. With a tap, he set it down and his younger brother moved to pour more for him.

Temari, the eldest of the Sand Siblings, giggled in her drunkenness, letting out hiccups afterwards, her eyes half-lidded as the alcohol kicks in. "No kidding."

Gaara couldn't help but snort at that, an action he wouldn't be caught doing in a sober state.

"I mean first, there's our birth mother who couldn't keep herself alive." Kankuro complained. "Don't worry, Gaara, I'll say this again and again: you didn't have to anything to do with her death. Mother protested against Father from making you a jinchuriki and strained herself, risking you to be prematurely born."

The red head sipped generously from his cup. "Then there's our birth Father, who tried to have me killed multiple times for the sake of testing my control over Shukaku."

"Which was real shitty of him." Temari concluded. "He was a stellar father... in another life, probably. Kami, he was terrible."

"He was indifferent to me." Kankuro huffed, downing his shot in one go.

"I could never get a single praise out of him, no matter how well i perform my jutsu." The eldest of the three complained, wiping her face with her hand.

"He tried to have me killed. Multiple times."

The three looked at each other and barked a laugh.

"Oh gosh, are we competing on who among us siblings he treated the worst? Gaara wins that contest hands down." Temari grabs the bottle of sake to herself and orders a new one for her brothers.

"Hey, you should slow down, if you drink too much, we'll get your husband and we'll be cutting our reunion short." Kankuro nagged, squinting his eyes at her.

"I can hold my liquor, Kankuro, besides I know my limits, after this one I'll try to sober up before Shikamaru arrives." Temari assures her brothers, and then takes a swig out of the bottle. She looked... solemn now. "Sorry, I couldn't be here for their burial."

Kankuro gave her a sad smile and Gaara nods at her. Burials here at Suna, when a person dies, the body is buried at the same day because of the heat. The hot weather makes a dead body permeate a strong foul odor so funerals are held almost immediately.

"Hatsue-kaa-san was a damn jerk too." Temari says this without bite, her eyes dulled as she remembers memories of their adoptive mother.

"Yep, mom was a jerk." The middle child agrees, snorting in his drink.

"Agreed." The red head nods, not only to affirm his elder siblings' statements but because the room starts to sway.

"She was so disgustingly kind."

"She was. She had no business on what happens to us and yet she goes ahead and adopts us. Strangers. We would have been orphans if it weren't for her."

"In a way, we already were. Mother died early. Father was negligent."

"She let me use her paints, her paint brushes and... she would paint on my face too.", Kankuro reminisced, a nostalgic smile graced his lips. "She used to tell me I was handsome-

"it's either I'm biased to say you're handsome because you're my son or you're really handsome", the three simultaneously quoted.

"Such a jerk, blowing up my confidence like that."

"Yeah, I remember her combing my hair, hated my hair because-" She looks at her brothers alternately then her eyes went back to her bottle. "Kankuro looked like he got his genes from Hatsue-kaa-san, Gaara looked like he got his from Sasori while I look like neither of them. I look like Uncle Yashamaru. that bastard."

"Everyone here in Suna, knows what's the deal with us. It doesn't matter."

Temari shrugged nonchantly "When we would all travel for Sasori's spy network... It was nice to pretend that we were their real children."

"Yeah."

"... The people would give us scandalous looks, doing the math, it would seem they conceived Temari at 16, Kankuro at 17 and I at 18."

The blonde and the raven head guffawed hysterically, remembering the instances conservative people coming up to their mom and passing down unwanted advices. Sasori would hide a smile and Hatsue-kaa-san would turn as red as her husband's hair.

"Hatsue-kaa-san would tell me she loved my hair. She said every time she brushes my hair it's like she's spinning threads of gold."

Kankuro made a vomiting sound. "She was such a... sap."

"... i miss- ... She would hug me the longest."

"She taught me how to care for myself... and I loved it every time she would do her skincare with me." The memories brought the distinct smell of rose scented lotions and citrus moisturizers.

"She would hover around whenever I would get ready to paint my face." Kankuro chuckled fondly.

"You were their favorite." Temari says, a hint of envy was there and there was also acceptance with the way she shrugged her shoulders.

"Me? No way-" The puppeteer tried to deny it; he didn't believe it anyway since there was this saying about middle children often are ignored.

"You are. Hatsue-kaa-san loved that you were interested in painting and Sasori .. bonded with you through puppet making." The red head gave Kankuro a slow nod.

"You don't need to feel bad, our birth mother, Karura's favorite would be Gaara and Rasa's favorite was me, being the first born and all... before he got into the council."

"You were Uncle Komushi's favorite too, Temari, not just father's."

She laughed at that. "Oh, I miss that old man. I think I only became his favorite because of the fact that I was the eldest. He used to say I was what Sasori owed him."

"And Chiyo-baa-san favored Gaara the most."

They had grins on their faces and it slipped quietly to sad smiles. Memories flooded them, brought them happiness and warmth more than they could ever hold, thus it was no wonder if their eyes were a little misty. They blame it on the alcohol.

"I should've spend more time with them." Kankuro opens up, sake really did have a way in making an honest man out of him.

"I should've brough Shikadai more for a visit." Temari regrets

"I should've called him otou-san, at least once."

The three shared a look and couldn't help but be immersed in their shared regrets.

"We should've."

"But Sasori was an asshole."

"Agreed. He made it hard to call him so."

"His guard was up."

"He was stern."

"He threatened to kill me." Gaara paused, and then added. "Understandable since at that time, I recently attempted to kill his wife."

The older siblings froze and stared at the youngest.

"That happened?"

"You never told us."

The red head shrugged.

"But... he was a father to us. In his way. He would find wind technique scrolls for me to learn. When we were younger, I remember him tying my hair up, although Hatsue-kaa-san made him do it but still..." Sasori had a stoic expression the whole time but the slow, barely there tugs as he gently brushes her hair, belies that he cared despite his seeming indifference. Temari remembers catching an almost imperceptible smile he gives her when he was done, and patted her head.

"He told me, after developing my Red Secret Technique... that it was impressive. It was stupid, I admired him and respected him, idolized him even. He was an example to follow as a Puppet shinobi. It was stupid that I-.. I wanted to hear him say he was proud of me." The middle child confessed, whispered his words, one of his vulnerabilities. "But he was such an asshole, he made us look up to him as father figure but we always felt like we weren't allowed to call him that."

"Shukaku was always loud in my head but Sasori- After defeating me, Shukaku was... cautious of him. He'd grumble alot in my head. But he quiets down when I'm near... Sasori made me feel like... everyone was safe because he was there to stop me. That's why I always asked you to go with me and sleep in their room."

"I think we interrupted them a whole lot." Temari snorted.

The three siblings burst a laugh. They remember Sasori opening the door, breathless and Hatsue-kaa-san disheveled, her pajamas looking suspiciously crumpled. Their laughter faded after a few minutes and they sat there for awhile, wondering about their parents. They didn't doubt that their parents loved them but... they wondered if their parents knew they reciprocated.

"I used to think Sasori tolerated us, you know?" Temari waved the bottle, her head was resting on the table. "That us being his kids was only an extension of his love to Hatsue-kaa-san."

"Not gonna lie but I think that's how it was for him in the beginning. Just a bunch of brats he tolerated for mom." Kankuro says, shaking his head a little. "He was a damn good father, though."

"Except... he just didn't make it known that we were allowed to call him that." Gaara stares blankly into his cup.

"Everyone said we could, if we wanted. But I wanted him to say it."

"We were stubborn. And so was he."

"Yet we follow after them. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Because we love them more."

"More than our birthparents."

"That's why..."

"Our parents.." Temari hiccuped, cheeks red.

"They're..." Kankuro was swaying his head, as if he was hearing a lullaby.

" All..." Gaara rubbed his eyes, trying to keep the drowsiness at bay.

"..jerks!" The siblings all said simultaneously, clinking bottles and glasses.

#sasorixoc #temari #kankuro #gaara #fanfic #naruto fanfiction

[coldshrugs]

thank you for this blessed template, @possumsunshine. this was so fun and cute, i couldn't resist after seeing it on my dash 💗

pulled a couple of answers from oc asks i've done recently because oof this got long.

QUICK READ OF YOUR DETECTIVE

Name: alma greene

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bisexual

Love interest: mason

Best friend: felix but also nate

Main skill: science/tech

Secondary skill: people/psychology

Main personality trait: tied for impulsive and sarcastic

Secondary personality trait: stubborn

Why did they join the Wayhaven PD?: she’s not a detective, but science skills

Relationship with Rebecca: very close, even with absences, but waning

Relationship with Bobby: college friend, currently hates him

Verda or Tina?: both

Murphy bite?: wrist

Murphy’s fate?: at large, babyyy

Rescue LI or Rescue Sanja?: sanja

GENERAL

Name: alma eloise greene

Nickname: sweetheart/space girl by mason; sweetie by rebecca

Birthday: june 12th

Age: 29

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bisexual (demiromantic??)

Hair color: dark brown

Eye color: dark brown, nearly black

Height: 5’1”

Piercings: ears, former nostril piercings

Tattoos: a small snail on her right arm, super cartoony spaceship and tractor beam over the words “i want to believe” on the back of her left calf

Clothing Style: “modern” i guess, according to the game. tbh i usually describe it as “too old to be an e-girl but too cute to care.” bleached denim, dark plaid, graphic crop tops, black vans or converse, thigh-high tights, etc etc

Apartment Style: cozy. did she find it on the side of the road or goodwill or an estate sale? if not, it’s probably not in her apartment.

STATS

Personality:

Charming | Intimidating

Impulsive | Cautious

Sarcastic | Genuine

Friendly | Stoic

Easygoing | Stubborn

Traits:

Heart | Mind

Optimist | Pessimist

Team Player | Independent

Skills:

Main Skill: science/tech

Second Skill: people/psychology

By the Book | Bend the Rules

KEY DECISIONS

Reason for joining the Wayhaven PD: alma is wayhaven’s only forensic analyst because i refuse to let my black oc be a cop

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in-game, she’s 100% there for her scientific prowess.

Murphy bite: Wrist | Neck | None

Murphy’s Fate: Captured | Escaped

Rescued: Love Interest | Sanja

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

Love Interest: mason

Why them?: on a meta level: oh no he’s hot

but alma’s reasoning is that he’s very upfront about what he wants in the beginning and she’s never been pursued in such a way. It’s a bit of a rush and an ego boost for her at first. but mason’s loyalty very quickly becomes the steadiness alma’s been missing for most of her life and she latches on to that. she’s not had someone so dependable around in… well, ever. and her physical attraction becomes emotional VERY quickly.

Bold, shy, or mixed?: shy until they sleep together, then a mix of bold and genuine afterward.

What were their first impressions of each other?:

alma on mason: thought he was super attractive but that was quickly pushed aside by “holy shit, this guy’s an ass.” she thinks he’s an uncooperative jerk that only cares about himself for quite a while, honestly. she asks him along for things she wants to do alone precisely because she thinks he’ll be the most likely to just stay out of her way. she’s surprised by his attitudes and opinions, and her incorrect assumptions about them, during those times.

mason on alma: would never, ever, ever admit that his first thought upon meeting Alma was simply “cute.” he quickly found parts of her to assess individually. those first few days were mostly spent appraising her physical attributes and watching her back when she needed it. mason did find her funny right away, but he wasn’t willing to trust someone new, regardless of that person being their handler’s daughter or not.

What do they find attractive about each other, mentally or physically?:

alma on mason: his eyes, freckles, and every single version of his smile. his decisiveness, differentially, and willingness to stab as a warning.

mason on alma: her hair tbh, there’s just… a lot of it. her hips, her eyelashes. He also likes her adaptability, sense of humor, and the warmth she gives with no expectation of reciprocation.

What do they do to spend time together?: lots of stargazing, lots of watching tv very quietly and making fun of the storylines they don’t understand until they get bored and make out instead, walking around the quieter parts of wayhaven or taking late-night drives.

What is their favorite memory together?: i like to think mason finds the carnival photo of them after the place has been sacked and gives it to alma sometime later. both the taking of the photo and the giving of it are very fond memories for both of them.

What are their love languages?: touch, quality time.

How do they handle being apart from one another?: badly. mason absolutely hates it after a time. if alma’s out of town, he’s in her apartment with the excuse of feeding her cat, but it’s 100% just to sleep in her bed and be around all the things that make her, her. alma does a little better. she’s used to having folks sort of come and go and come again, but she gets almost hyper-insecure?? it’s nothing she’d admit openly, but she’s second-guessing herself in totally unrelated aspects of her life until they’re reunited.

Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: they don’t necessarily argue, but they disagree with the intent to problem solve. alma is pretty flexible and as long as she can understand why someone might feel the way they feel, she’s willing to hear them out or go along with their plan. if an argument does get out of hand, they need space from it for a while. they each have places to retreat for those times, and they wait for the “hey” text to come through to know it’s time to talk about it.

What does their future look like?: alma becomes a vampire two years into their relationship. they move into a quiet, old house on the edge of town until the whole team moves elsewhere. mason has to get used to having a cat because october has several years left in him. they don’t get married, but they’re inseparable.

Anything else you’d like to share: in the time before alma turns, mason learns to perfect making grilled cheese because it’s what alma craves when she’s not feeling well. He makes the grilled cheese then he immediately showers to get the smell off him but he makes it regardless.

BEST FRIEND RELATIONSHIP

Best friend: depending on the playthrough it swaps between felix and nate, but felix feels more in character

Why them?: alma loves felix’s sense of adventure and nosiness. Most of all she loves that he won’t judge her for pulling the same shit every now and then.

What were their first impressions of each other?: alma was super thrown off by that hand kiss. “who the fuck is this mischief-maker?” while nate was very kind and warm, felix (surprisingly) was the UB teammate that really humanized the rest of the team for alma. he’s fun and genuine and wants everyone else to be happy together. felix was incredibly interested to learn more about alma, as a human, as his boss’s daughter, and then as a friend when she readily accepted the supernatural and, by extension, him as a vampire. The fact that she’s easily flustered or surprised really works in his favor because he lives for being the most shocking person in the room.

What do they do to spend time together?: they share music, they dance, and they text A LOT. lots of memes, lots of “what does [x] mean?” “oh nice” “[proceeds to use the thing they just learned incorrectly]”. they also compare and share hair products.

Anything else you’d like to share: they each have a tamagotchi named after the other (baby felix and baby alma) and they compete to see who can keep theirs alive the longest. everyone loses.

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in-depth!)

Relationship with Rebecca: oof okay. alma seeks rebecca’s approval and depends on her for a sense of safety and “stability.” in some ways, she wants to be exactly like her mom: strong, independent, unbothered, worldly. but a lot of that shatters the longer alma works professionally with rebecca and with the revelations surrounding rook. alma sees how much rebecca uses her as a crutch, projects her perceived failures onto alma’s life, and over-shelters her.

Relationship with Rook: alma doesn’t remember him and tries not to think of him often or fondly or at all BUT she has so many of his things. his flannels, his detective badge, his ancient comic book collection (which is the only reason she has her own). she has his eyes and his impulsive streak, his care for people of all varieties. she IS rook’s daughter and she ignores that fact so it doesn’t hurt her.

Relationship with Bobby: they used to be very close, slightly flirty friends but there’s no way in hell alma can trust him now. (i originally had bobby as alma’s ex but it was all getting a little too Bella Swan for me. like bobby, douglas, the werewolves, falk, and mason like????? it was a bit much so bobby’s just an old ex-friend)

Relationship with Verda: alma fucking loves verda. that’s her mentor, that’s her dad friend. she feels a sense of Pride and Accomplishment when she can make verda laugh or impress him in the lab, or both. alma’s fond of spending evenings over his place with eric and the kids, making dinner, or just hanging out.

Relationship with Tina: tina was alma’s first friend as a kid. they lost touch in high school because tina was bubbly and cute and popular, while alma was… not. but the summer before they left for college they ran into each other at a house party and since that reconnection, they’ve been thick as thieves. it was like nothing had changed. tina is a light in alma’s life, and alma lets tina lean into the stranger parts of herself without judgment.

Relationship with the Mayor: thinks he’s a creep and a bad parent.

Relationship with Capt. Sung: appreciates how he prioritizes the town and its people, but thinks he could loosen up a bit.

Relationship with Haley: haley is a couple of years older than alma but they’ve known each other forever. alma admires haley’s work ethic and cheery attitude.

Relationship with Elidor: oh man, alma is absolutely stunned by elidor. he’s beautiful, kind, and knowledgeable. in those early days, elidor is responsible for quite a bit of her supernatural education. alma grills him while he nurses her back to health. her curiosity is refreshing to him.

Relationship with Tapeesa/Vieno: alma thinks vieno is cute and funny, says hi when she sees them around, but they’re not best friends or anything. she can’t shake the thought that they’re basically a fae version of danny devito.

Relationship with Unit Alpha: absolutely smitten with lesedi. she’s never seen a more beautiful woman. tamiko ends up being a pretty good friend. the twins are on her social periphery but alma’s not close with them.

Relationship with the Maa-alused: alma sincerely wants to help them adjust to life in this world and takes that goal very seriously. at the same time she really really wishes falk hadn’t developed this weird attachment to her.

Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): YES. i’ve thrown another oc in wayhaven for the express purpose of being The Detective. His name is javi. alma met him in college and they were fast friends. alma convinced him to try out wayhaven after graduation. They lived together for a while and now they, along with tina, can often be seen in the corner booth of chen’s pub.

she was also very close with her maternal grandmother before she died. she was raised by her while rebecca was absent, but i need to develop this more.

her cat, october, whom she’s had for five years. he’s a sweet, mostly black tortie that can hardly meow. alma adopted him as an adult when she got her own place.

PERSONAL BIO

Describe their personality: alma is so open and ready to accept new possibilities. she’s the sort of person that embraces what scares her, finds beauty in it, and loves it intensely. she’s sharp and resourceful. i wouldn’t exactly describe her as hard-working, but she’s knowledgeable about her field and tries to be helpful when she has a goal in mind.

she’s quite tactile. touchy with other people. likes to use her hands for work or hobbies. she doesn’t really mind being alone for long stretches of time but would prefer not to be. she wants others to want to be around her.

she’s also terrible at being honest about her trauma. everything is fine, she’s fine, she doesn’t need to talk about this :) :) :) she will handle the breakdown when it happens and not one second before. also, with quick wit comes uncontrollable sarcasm and it does not always hit well.

Strengths: the only person in unit bravo that knows how to use google

Weaknesses: squishy

Where in the world is their Wayhaven?: super torn here because wayhaven feels inland to me, but i think i’ve finally settled on the north carolina coast but not like the outer banks area. If not there, then maybe virginia, closer to the chesapeake bay.

What is their personal history?: alma is born to rook and rebecca in wayhaven. spends her childhood being raised mostly by her grandmother, idolizes rebecca. academic success comes easily for her; a heavy interest in science leads to a scholarship at a university just far away enough to feel like she’s Leaving The Nest. alma dates a bit in college but she’s the type to end up becoming friends with everyone she sleeps with and romance is difficult for her to cultivate. when she does date, the relationships are short-lived. she returns to wayhaven after school and puts her degree to work in wayhaven’s police department. she wishes she’d applied for a position in the city but craves the comfort (and tbh, the low stakes) of home.

If they weren’t a detective, what would their dream job be?: she’s a forensic analyst and honestly?? it’s a pretty dreamy job for her. she loves being a scientist, loves helping people, and isn’t easily grossed out.

Anything else you’d like to share: has tried to stay overnight in an ikea. did not succeed.

RANDOM FACTS

Zodiac sign: gemini

Hobbies: reading peer-reviewed journals, watching terrible sci-fi, collecting comic books and mugs, thrift shopping

Likes: good hair days, denim jackets, vanilla candles, halloween, unflavored lipbalm, driving at night, that warm “surrounded by love” feeling, snails, fuzzy socks

Dislikes: the lights while driving at night, winter, dry skin, minimalist decor, smudged glasses, being overwhelmed with choices

Drink of choice: white wine usually, white russians if she’s out at chen’s, or shots of jaeger if she’s feeling trashy

Starbucks order: grande flat white with 3 pumps of toffee nut syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon

Favorite food: a simple, fresh spaghetti pomodoro OR lemon meringue pie

Favorite color: golden mustard yellow

Favorite music: she loves just about everything and it’s heavily dependant on her mood. (this is actually really difficult to think about without feeling like i'm giving her my exact taste in music but here's a little playlist that fits her vibe)

Favorite genre (and favorite movie/book/etc): science fiction or psychological thrillers, but her favorite movie is oliver and company.

Favorite season: fall

Anything else you’d like to share: has a stupid amount of blankets stashed around her apartment. she really does not like being cold.

#alma greene #twc #i uhhh i spent a very long time on this and i'm still like #who is this person #but it's fine it's fine #i can rest

[verannaca]

Frozen  apologies that never happened, but should’ve

(plus examples because I’m not lazy)

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about the apologies that never happened, and wanted to compile a list + examples. Probably missed a few, but tbh, this was long enough lmao

And no, I don’t care if this list makes anyone look bad. It’s lowkey just my opinions tbh; what I personally think could’ve been said/done. As someone who has been as neglected and abused as Anna by my own older sister (and other family members), communication and language is very important. This is my take:

We’ll start with Elsa. (scroll for Anna)

1. Endangering Anna’s life by aggressively shoving her down a hill.

 What she could’ve said:   “I’m truly sorry for how I acted, and what I put you through. I was so desperate to protect you, and thought I was doing the right thing. I see the pain I caused you, and I understand why you’re upset with me. I promise it won’t happen again. I just couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. I’m so sorry.”

2. Not being openly honest with her about why she ignored her for so long.

  What she could’ve said:   ”I’m sorry I couldn’t offer you an explanation sooner. I know you were left in the dark for a long time. I was afraid, and didn’t know how to properly handle the situation. We both deserved better than what we got, but we should be grateful for what we have now. I thank you for never giving up on me. I’m glad we’re still best friends. Thank you. I love you.” 

3. Fleeing from the coronation and kingdom.

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry I left you behind. I was scared beyond words, and needed to flee. I know you understand, but I still need you to understand that I am sorry for any distress I caused you. I needed to take care of me, and perhaps wasn’t thinking clearly in the moment. I know I could’ve handled things differently, but I made the best decision I could’ve made at the time.”

4. Leaving Anna behind, (boat scene F2).

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry I didn’t put more trust into you. I was afraid of losing you; of you getting hurt. I should’ve communicated more clearly. I should’ve told you how I felt. I should’ve trusted you with my feelings. I’m so sorry. I’m still learning. Thank you for being patient with me. I’ll do my best to be better.”

5. The fire scene. 

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m so sorry I frightened you. Everything happened so fast, and I wanted to help the people. I understand why you followed; please understand why you scared me. I cannot lose you, Anna. And I know you feel the same. I will be more cautious from now on. Is there anything I can do to help make you feel more at ease? You seem distraught.”

6. Shutting doors, OFA. 

  What she could’ve said:   “Anna, I’m so sorry for how I acted earlier. For leaving her behind again. I’m still learning. I still get anxious about things; communication is difficult sometimes. I’m trying, though. I promise, I’m trying. Thank you for being patient with me. Let’s go find a tradition, together.”

7. Frozen Heart.

  What she could’ve said:   “I cannot put to words how I feel in regards to this situation. I feel like we failed to connect that afternoon. I can only speak for me, and I am truly sorry, Anna. I wish I had put more trust in you. I was afraid, and I proved my fears right when I hurt you. I still can’t believe it happened. And I’m sorry for pushing you away immediately after; I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t cope. I needed to be alone. I     understand I handled it poorly; I was simply panicked. I’m sorry if I frightened you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

8. Birthday apology, FF.

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry, Anna. I wanted to make sure you’re special day was perfect. I hope you enjoyed it, even if it wasn’t ideal. I promise I’ll make it up to you; we’ll celebrate properly once I’m feeling better. Thank you for being so understanding.”

Some apologies Anna could’ve made:

1. The fire scene.

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry I followed you; it was careless, and I understand why it frightened you. I just wanted to protect you. Can we both agree to be more careful next time?”

2. Coronation scene. EDIT: someone pointed out that she already attempted to apologise for this, and Elsa interrupted her. wtf does Elsa have against apologies? lol

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry I pushed you too far. I should’ve been more aware of your feelings. I was just so desperate to be heard. I’m sorry for the pain and fear I caused. I shouldn’t have made a scene in front of everyone. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. I promise it won’t happen again. I’ve learned now, and will be more responsible with your feelings.”

3. Frozen Heart.

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m so sorry I pushed you again. I didn’t realise at the time that I was pressuring you. I should’ve slowed down and let you breathe. I’m sorry for the panic I caused you. I’m still learning, too.”

4. Isolation.

  What she could’ve said:   “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel guilty for not speaking to me. I understand now. I didn’t understand then. I’m sorry that you had to endure what you did. I’m always here if you need to talk. You know I’ll listen. I’m glad we’re together now.”

Just a few ideas (:

I think viewing Anna as entirely innocent isn’t fair; she acted the way she did because of how she was treated, but actions have consequences nonetheless. I think she actually would apologise for, own-up to, and learn from her mistakes and wrong-doings (if the writers were competent...)

Please don’t @ me with the “these are too long for a-” I don’t care. we all know [elsa] would never apologise anyway. this is all in good fun :’)

#Frozen critical #Frozen #shitpost #thought dumb #e*sa stans don't interact #y'all can't handle any kind of criticism #lol #anna deserves better #annasource

[mytsukkishine]

udgdh maybe long request? so damien haas x reader where when ver the smosh gang go out to drink, damien and y/n are the sober ones that'll keep each other company but recently y/n has been drifting away bc she's in love with him. and one day damien gets hella drunk so y/n has to take him to her apt (which is roommates with Courtney) -maybe some drunk damien singing and giving y/n little kisses and he gets super hungover?? as well as angst/soft shiz?? sorry for the long request!! love yur fics!

A/n: whoa okay anon, I enjoyed myself too much in writing this and I hope this will be to your expectation. *wink wonk* u can anon me again if u liked it pls hahaha enjoy! Though I’m sorry because reader and Courtney aren’t roommates here sorrryyy!!!

summary: Drunk you accidentally kissed Damien. Then you avoid him for days until Courtney invited you out for a drink again. Feelings, kisses and drunk singing. What could go wrong?

a/n2: fluff and angstyy. ya’ll like hurting huh? haha

a/n3: hello, i made a Kofi account and I hope you would support me! I needed a little help with my financial shits and I hope my fanfics can be a little help. 

buy me coffee please, senpais

words: 2.4k

Also a little mature because of alcohol and kissing? lmao can u all guess the songs? it’s only two (I chose those songs because their voices suit Damien soooo much)

You sighed, empty beer bottle in hand as you looked aroundyou. Everyone was drunk. You saw Keith laying on top of Noah on the couch, bothguys in deep slumber. Courtney, Olivia, and Sarah were nowhere to be found, youjust assumed they had taken control over Shayne’s bed right now.

Oh right, the squad was at Shayne’s apartment. They had alittle drinking session, celebrated Shayne’s graduation. Speaking of Shayne,you saw him already fast asleep on the bean bag, empty drinks on the floor andhis Switch console in hand.

You slowly stood up, your head spinning a little and youstopped for a moment, eyes adjusting to the light that came from the kitchen.

You thought about turning the TV off but you scoffed, notwanting to step on Shayne because you knew your balance right now was not atits best.

As soon as you stepped on the kitchen- “Jesus!” You said alittle too loud, hand on your chest as you saw Damien on the floor, completelyhidden by the counters.

He smiled and waved, his cheeks pink and in his hand was abottle of beer.

You groaned, frowned at him but walked towards him. You tooka sit beside him, sliding down on the floor slowly as you cursed your back forhurting a little.

“Hey,”

“Hey,” You rested your head on his shoulder and took thedrink from his hand and chugged down its contents.

You felt the warmth radiating through Damien and you can’thelp but to get emotional. Was it from the alcohol? Might as well blame it ifgiven the chance.

You have liked Damien since the first time he told you hewatches anime. You were smitten, you were pulled towards his radiance that noone can escape.

Damien was the light that managed to blind you.

And now, seated side by side, with your feelings jumbled up.You can’t help but to want to hug him and maybe confess your feelings so theitching in your heart can stop.

He was a dream. Really. He’s a gentleman, loves anime,gaming, a very nice person, and funny. Ever since he became part of the Smoshfam, many people adored him. And you thought to yourself, you were lucky enoughto be his friend, might as well stay as friends than confessing your feelingsand turning into strangers.

Damien may be kind but you don’t know if he was the type ofperson that would avoid you if you confess.

“Y/N,”

“What?” You didn’t realize that you spaced out for a momentbecause Damien was chuckling as he took the bottle away from you.

Another thing that was stopping you from confessing wasbecause you heard something going on between Damien and his friend outsidework.

Of course, who were you to compete against a long-timefriend? One time you have seen Damien with this girl, she was pretty. Longblack hair and thin waist. They were talking animatedly as they walked towardsthe mall—and that pretty much hurt you.

They look so perfect.

“Hey are you okay?” Damien suddenly, his hands on yourcheeks. You realized you were looking at him with tears pooling in your eyes.You felt our insides churn as Damien wiped your tears away.

Your head was slowly spinning but you kept your focus onhim.

“Dames,” You murmured and Damien’s pink cheeks looked likethey were glowing. Maybe because of the alcohol. Yeah, the alcohol.

“I want a drink,”

Damien chuckled, tapping your forehead in the process. “Silly,you’re drunk.”

“No. I can still drink, hell I can even recite the company’smission and vision.”

“Really? Damien raised his brow as he looked down at you,then that’s when you realized your faces were to close. You were resting yourchin on his shoulder as you looked up at him with wide eyes, your noses almosttouching.

You were used to this. The closure. You were known for beingthe clingy, cuddly friend. You always hug your friends or cuddle with them.Whether it was Keith or Courtney, Shayne or Wes. Of course, Damien received themost cuddles from you.

“Damien,”

Your eyes were getting blurry, the spinning in your headintensified as you glanced down at Damien’s lips.

Blame the alcohol.

Your lips landed on his and it was so soft and—his lips werestill, you pulled back only to land a peck on his lips again.

You felt his hand on your cheeks and you wanted to kiss himagain but your eyes failed you as you closed them and drifted to sleep.

~

You groaned, the sunglasses you wore were not doing its jobbecause the sun was still blaring down on you, shaming you from what you havedone last night. After you woke up by 5AM, you found yourself on the couch,Noah and Keith on the floor sleeping soundly and no Damien to be found. Thenyou remembered what you have done and you immediately went home to find thenearest Starbucks.

You threw your empty cup in the trash nearby and sighed.

You have kissed Damien. Your friend.

Now he knew how you felt.

You felt a bile building up your throat but ignored it, theitching in your heart was worse. Maybe this was it, you thought, you hadpracticed what it would be like if you ended your friendship with Damien andthe time has come where your practice won’t go to waste.

Even though you were sobered up, your head still hurts. Andyou’re freaking nervous. It was a Sunday today, and tomorrow you will have togo to work and face Damien.

“Ugh!” You cursed up at the sun, wishing the ground belowwould just swallow you up.

~

The whole afternoon you managed to stay in your cubicle.With some short trips to the bathroom and pantry, you achieved to avoid anySmosh Squad.

It was going all too well when—

“Y/N!”

You squeaked as you looked up from your computer, only tosee Olivia, Courtney and of course Damien. You immediately avoided eye-contactto Damien.

“You startled me, Olivia,”

“Sorry! Just wanted to make sure how you were,”

“Sobered up.” You answered truthfully, eyes now back to thecomputer. You were glad you were wearing your hoodie over so they weren’t ableto see your blushing cheeks.

“You left before we all woke up,” Olivia whined followed byCourtney. “I’m sorry, I was in a hurry,”

“For what?” You just grinned at them. You all chatted for awhile, Damien remained quiet at the side before Courtney said goodbye andwalked away together with Olivia.

Now it was you and Damien.

You sink in your chair as you looked up at Damien.

“Can we talk—”

“I—”

“Y/N, can you come to my office for a while?” One of theproducers asked you, looking up at the file he was holding and gave a smallgreeting to Damien.

“Ah sure…” You gave Damien an apologetic look then left.

Not yet. You can’t handle the rejection yet.

~

It has been three days since you have hanged out with thesquad, and it has been three days since you have seen Damien. The first day wasyou plainly avoiding him and now it seemed that fate was on your side becauseyou haven’t really seen him.

It was a Friday, and the office was buzzing out of peoplewhen Courtney stopped you from leaving your cubicle.

“Hey pretty lady, care to have a night out with us?” She wasgrinning slyly and you rolled your eyes. “What’s in it for me?” You playedalong and Courtney wrapped her arm around your shoulder. “A very good time,”Both of you laughed out loud but you agreed anyway.

Even though you were cautious around Damien, it doesn’t meanyou would stop hanging out with the squad. They are also a friend of yours andyou kind of miss them.

When Courtney said that Olivia and the rest were already atIan’s place, you immediately raised your brow. “We’re not going to a bar?”

“Silly Y/N. Ian has offered free drinks!” She exclaimedexcitedly and you just shook your head, heading to the parking lot and in toCourtney’s car.

~

Three drinks in and the rest of the squad were singing alongthe karaoke Ian has set up in his living room. It was a mess, Shayne wassinging loudly with Olivia and Keith—he was using his CFM voice, Ian was alreadyhalf-drunk and Damien—Damien was on the loveseat, just drinking.

You sighed. When you and Courtney had arrived, you didn’tgreet each other and it honestly killed you. Courtney seemed to have noticedthe atmosphere and asked you what’s up, but being the introvert you were, youjust reasoned out that you were kind of tired.

It was this again. Alcohol.

You guessed since alcohol was involved right now, it wasthe right time for you and Damien to have that talk.

However, being the stubborn you, it was now past midnightand the squad was asleep, all through the night you didn’t get the chance totalk to him.

Courtney and Shayne were on separate bean bags, bothasleep next to each other, the TV still on. Ian was nowhere to be found, youguessed he was in his room. Keith was on the couch, drooling.

It was like déjà vu. Except you weren’t that drunk. You onlyhad three drinks and stopped as soon as you saw Damien drinking alone. Speakingof Damien, you looked at the seat where he was previously in and saw it wasempty.

You sighed.

Maybe he left.

You decided to maybe grab some water from Ian’s kitchen, andthen maybe sleep on the guestroom Ian mentioned to you earlier that that wasvacant.

You slowly stood up and stretch. You sluggishly walkedtowards the kitchen and gasped a little as you saw Damien hunched over thesink.

“Goddamnit Dames, you scared me,” He didn’t answer but youcan see that the tip of his ears was red. You walked up to him and tapped hisshoulders lightly, “Damien?”

“Hm?” He was obviously drunk because when he looked at you,he was sporting a wide smile, cheeks red and eyes squinted together. “Oh hey,Y/N,” He waved but lost his balance. You quickly took hold of his arm andpulled him towards you.

“Dames, how much did ya drink huh?” You got no reply asDamien draped his arm around your shoulder, “We should—sing!” He hiccupped andyou can smell the alcohol off of him. You decided that since you have been abad friend to Damien these past few days, you’ll settle him down on Ian’s spareroom.

“Come on big boy, let’s get you to bed,” You looked at thesink and saw it was clean, meaning Damien didn’t throw up. His hair was wet somaybe he washed his face.

“Whaaat? But we’re singing,” You just shook your head andguided him, thankful that he wasn’t putting all his weight on you. When youreached the spare room, you gently laid him to sit down but he fell on his backcausing you to lose your own balance, and you found yourself in Damien’s arms.

“Y/N,” He called out softly, his eyes closed and youremained still.

“Called her for thefirst time yesterday~” Damien started, even though he’s drunk, he was stillsinging beautifully. “Finally found themissing…. Part of me,” he stopped in the middle but he continued, he hashis other hand in the air, swinging with the song he was singing.

“Felt so close but youwere far away~ Left me without anything to say~~”

With hands on his chest, you pushed yourself up gently untilhis other hand stopped you.

“Y/N,” He called softly.

“Have you been avoiding me?”

Okay, the million-dollar question you weren’t expectingright now.

You were about to answer when Damien released a chuckle.

He released a sighed as he now sang another song, “To be drunk~” Damien started, eyesclosed but he pressed his forehead against yours. “And in love in New York City~” He sang, missing some notes butyou knew that song very well.

“Mmm into morningcoffee,” He murmured but still in tune, “Burning mmhm the hours talking,” he stopped and he opened his eyes.

You both stared at each other.

“Damn…” Hewhispered before leaning in and capturing your lips in a sweet, short kiss.

You instantly closed your eyes and savored the kiss.Damien’s lips were as soft as what you remembered and you want to cry.

Damien’s drunk and you shouldn’t—Damien pulled back, a shysmile etched on his lips as he continued to stare at you.

“Please don’t avoid me… I like you,” Your heart fluttered fora moment, fat tears pouring down your eyes as Damien pulled you in closer for ahug.

You stayed there, both of your feet still on the edge of thebed and you were sure it would hurt in the morning but you don’t care.

Damien likes you. And was hurting because of you.

Boy, you two have a lot to talk about tomorrow morning.

~

You heard a groan beside you and you squinted your eyes, themorning light through the window greeted you so harshly that caused you to buryyour face in a strong, warm chest.

“Y/N…” A surprised voice of Damien welcomed you, and youremembered that both of you fell asleep hugging each other. “Hey,” Yougreeted with a smile and Damien was confused. Confused because he woke up withyou in his arms.

“H-how? I’m s-sorry,” He stuttered but you just hugged him.

“No, it’s okay. I-…” You started, Damien visibly relaxing inyour hug.

“I’m sorry for avoiding you, Damien. After that kiss… I… Iwas a coward,”

“No, Y/N,”

“And I like you…”

Silence. You buried your face on his chest and you heard himsigh.

“If only we talked sooner, we would’ve been kissing,” Damiencommented and you laughed, hitting his stomach softly.

Silence covered the both of you before Damien cleared histhroat, “I… I remember singing last night,” You laughed out loud, hugging himtighter. “Yeah, drunk singing. It was adorable,”

Damien grinned, “Would you allow me to sing to you in thefuture?” You felt your cheeks heating up and you just nodded. You felt Damien’slips on your head.

Now, this wasn’t what you practiced for but you ain’tcomplaining.

#damien haas #damien haas x reader #smosh damien #damien haas imagine #damien #damien haas imagines #smosh fam #smosh #smosh games #smosh shayne #smosh courtney #smosh fandom #smosh fanfiction #smosh fic

[so-langdon]

Love Games - Michael Langdon x Fem! Reader (Requested)

Summary: After endless flirting and teasing all day from Y/N, Michael gives her what she’s been wanting. But when it becomes too much for Y/N, she uses the safe word for the first time.

Warnings: Teasing, flirting, rough smut, Dom! Michael, some mean! Michael, angst, oral (female receiving), edging/orgasm denial, cock-warming, use of objects (belt), choking, light degradation, strong language, soft! dom! Michael too, fluff

A/N: A lovely anon requested a fic with Michael Langdon similar to the fic I wrote of Duncan, called Safe Word. Hope this does the anon justice, and thank you for the request! I enjoyed writing this! <3

**This could be considered a Part 2 to Claiming Control or taking place in the same universe as that fic 💕

Tagged!: @hecohansen31 , @sarahandthejets , @michaelsapostle , @rocketgirl2410 , @saltyshaggymeme , @blakewaterxx , @1-800-bitchcraft

“I know what you’re doing,” Michael speaks elusively from where he sits, his voice husky and scheming, sending a noticeable visible shiver through Y/N as she turns around from changing and slipping on a black silk night-slip for the evening. Her curious eyes meet Michael’s, his expression almost agitated, but clearly amused, his blue eyes deep and intensely focused on hers.

He leans back in his chair, relaxed, a leg crossed over his knee, eyes never leaving Y/N’s form as she crosses her arms from where she stands, narrowing her eyes, showing prominent confusion on her face. 

“What?” Y/N says as she looks at him, her voice perplexed to implicate she doesn’t understand what Michael is referring to, even though she does. “What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, sweetheart,” Michael says smoothly, uncrossing his leg from over the knee and pushing himself to stand up.

Y/N knew what she had signed up for when she and Michael got together and had devoted their lives to one another. She knew of Michael’s past, his powers, the kind of plans and ideas he had, the types of traps he was going to be setting, the certain measures Michael would have to be going through in order for this new world to begin.

But it didn’t matter to Y/N as long as she had Michael. Her life didn’t make sense without him, and she didn’t want to live any kind of life where he wasn’t a part of it, even if he was the apparent antichrist. She understood how cynical and dreadful his plans were, and she hated that aspect of his so called “prophecy.” But love is crazy, illogical, and she couldn’t help but stay by his side anyway, no matter how bleak and appalling his plans were.

With all they had been through in the last few years at this point, she knew there was nothing Michael could say or do to make her leave him or stop loving him. Her soul had long since merged with his, Michael setting his claws deep into her heart, as Y/N flowed through Michael’s own veins with how enamored and in love he was with her too.

This didn’t mean Y/N didn’t get annoyed or frustrated with Michael sometimes, and vice versa, including the current situation between them. With Michael’s particular and rigorous questioning techniques for the members of the Outpost, he hadn’t really been present as of late, physically or emotionally. Being so busy with the interviews all week, Michael’s cunning plans, and so called sanctuary selections, it’s understandable that Michael and Y/N haven’t had much time together.

She wasn’t upset or angry with him for it, she understood his work ethic, but she still missed him, and was going to take advantage of every opportunity she had to break him down and get him to spend time with her one way or another.

And though she could just communicate her frustration and explain how she misses him and wishes he’d take longer breaks, or spend a little extra time with her in the morning or something, she’d rather make it a game and give them some fun.

It all started when she tried breaking his focus away from his laptop the day before, trying to seduce him and convince him to take a break, spend some time with her. Michael was into it, but far too busy and occupied with work. But he reacted in an alluring way that made Y/N know he was missing her too. He just wanted to get his plans at the Outpost taken care of first, and it unfortunately was taking up a lot of his time in the process.

Knowing how busy Michael would be, how he’d be focused on the Outpost occupants, and paying more attention to everyone’s darkness, Y/N knew that taking every opportunity possible to taunt and tease and distract Michael would result in an exhilarating aftermath. And it seemed to be working itself out for her at the moment as after she came back into the room from the library, she found Michael seemingly waiting for her as he sat in one of the black leather chairs in their room. 

But she promptly ignored him, as it was all part of her plan and carried on with her normal nighttime routine. Except, instead of changing in the bathroom after her shower, she changed in the bedroom, where Michael could see every bare inch of her, but wouldn’t allow him to touch as she continued to obviously ignore him.

She could see the faint smirk on his face as she changed in front of him and ignored his presence except a few glances here and there. She knew that he knew she was playing a game. And when Michael becomes a part of a game, he plays to win -- and not always fair, but always dirty.

Michael fluidly struts across the room to meet Y/N, her remaining with crossed arms and a confused expression as she continues to play off her oblivious persona. Michael walks until he’s just a few inches away from her and crosses his arms behind his back.

“You’ve been taunting me, trying to get my attention all day. Don’t act like you haven’t,” Michael begins.

“Oh please,” she rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so narcissistic,” she uncrosses her arms and waves a hand off. “It’s not always about you, Michael. I do more than compete for your attention. I understand you’re busy, and that’s okay. You know I understand that.”

Michael raises his eyes, finding her reply amusing.

“Maybe you feel a bit guilty about your constant working and now you’re just projecting onto me,” she crosses her arms again, shrugging. “It would make sense.”

Michael gives a soft laugh. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Y/N. You’re been playing this game for days, practically begging me on your knees for a second of my attention.”

“No I haven’t,” she glares a bit. “Sure, I’ve missed spending some time with you,” she admits, “but like I said, I understand your plans and what you have to do and know better than to get in the way.”

“Then care to explain your recent behavior?” Michael asks immersed.

“There’s nothing to explain. I’ve done nothing different than I usually do. I mean, sure, I’ve been wanting to spend time with you lately because of course I miss you,” she steps forward, purring as she speaks her words. “But who can blame me? You’ve been so caught up with work recently,” she continues, raising her hand to his chest and trailing her index finger down the front of torso, her eyes gazing over his body before reaching back up to his face.

Michael raises his head, looking down at her with an inquiring expression.

“If you’d rather be one of those guys that lets work grab you by the balls,” she adds, her finger still trailing down until brushing her hand over his cock, rubbing him over and feeling him beginning to harden, hearing his breath hitch.

She drops her hand again, “rather than spend time with your loving partner,” she raises her arms and wraps them around his neck loosely. “Then that’s your choice, darling,” she smiles sarcastically, dropping her hands to his collar to straighten it out before clasping her hands in front of her and stepping back.

Michael gives a slight glare, fed up with her attitude and teasing behavior. He knew what she was doing -- playing this game of sorts, seeing how far she could push him until he broke down and gave in. 

If this was how Y/N was going to be acting, taunting and tempting, then, he would be returning the same energy back to her.

Michael takes a step forward, closing the space between them, which causes Y/N to step backward until she reaches the bed. She looks behind her from instinct before looking back at Michael. He pushes her to fall and lay back, crawling onto the bed over her, grabbing her throat with a hand, all in one swift motion, holding her down with his grip on her.

“I’m sick and tired of this childish behavior, Y/N. If you’re going to be immature and behave like some kind of needy whore, then I’m going to treat you like one,” Michael hisses.

She glares over his words, “Fuck you, Michael.”

Michael grips her throat a bit more harsher. “Don’t beg me to unless I implicitly ask you to,” Michael states to her.

Y/N grabs his hand around her throat, gasping out a breath to try and trying to speak. But Michael tightens his hold enough to where she can’t.

“Did I say you could speak?” Michael asks rhetorically, tilting his head slightly. “I thought you’d have learned better by now.”

Y/N pulls on his hand, wanting him to let go so she can talk. So he loosens his hold, letting Y/N breathe out for a second before she talks. “Where did this kind of energy come from? I thought work had emotionally castrated you?”

Michael chuckles a bit, “Oh baby, you’re playing with fire right now. I’d be cautious if I were you.”

“Try me,” she rolls her eyes. “I’m not scared of you, Michael.”

“Maybe you should be,” he leans in, whispering lowly, his eyes clouding with lust. 

Y/N swallows, her stomach jumping over Michael’s actions and low voice. He lets go of her throat, his fingers brushing softly over her neck after, fluttering his fingers so lightly. The gentle touch causes an uproar of butterflies to flood through Y/N/s entire being, causing her breath to leave her body. Michael’s hand brushes against her jaw, moving his hand to where his thumb grazes over Y/N’s bottom lip.

Michael half-grins, a pleased expression showing on his face as Y/N parts her mouth without hesitation as Michael’s thumb pushes forward slightly. Michael drops his hand slowly, pulling Y/N’s bottom lip down a bit before he drops his hand.

Michael can sense the eagerness and excitement growing inside of Y/N, along with his own desire and hunger for her. He has been incredibly busy, and missing her the very same. But they each handled their self-control differently.

Y/N made it into a game, while Michael repressed it while focusing on the Outpost tasks instead, even if he didn’t want to and would rather spend time with Y/N. But now, a fire was growing rapidly between the two of them simultaneously and it wasn’t going to be contained for much longer.

He cups her cheek in the next second, Y/N’s body practically melting against his hold, leaning her head into his hand as his simple touch pulls her under and she focuses on Michael, his touch, the feeling, and what his next actions could be as she waits in excitement.

Suddenly, Michael’s hands grab at the top of her slip, gripping tightly and pulling, ripping it down the middle to expose her bare body to him. He rips it all apart until he can remove the entire slip from her body, tossing the shredded fabric to the ground.

Y/N’s eyes are wide from his actions, but she forgets about her slip and his actions quickly when Michael leans in, crashing his lips against hers deeply, capturing her in an array of intense, passionate feelings that overtake their beings.

Their kissing seems as if they’re desperate for air and this was the only way to breathe. With Michael’s hand trailing down the side of her body, brushing along her soft curves, his other hand grasping her cheek to keep her in place, Y/N ruts her lower body up towards him, trying to create some friction and relief for them.

Y/N moans into Michael’s mouth when she feels the hardness of his cock straining his pants between her legs as she ruts her hips towards him. She drops a hand between their bodies to rub him against the fabric, but Michael pulls away, maneuvering down between her legs before she can touch him.

Y/N’s eyes follow Michael, almost pouting from not being able to touch him. But Michael takes her knees and lifts them over his shoulders and lowers his face, burying his face between her thighs without hesitation, distracting her from her current thoughts.

Y/N’s eyes flutter closed, feeling the way Michael’s mouth begins to kiss and lick over her heat. He licks carefully through her slit and to her folds and around, letting the anticipation build. He builds her up, circling his tongue over her clit lightly every so often as he focuses on getting her wet and more aroused for him.

Her breathing begins to get more shallow, her chest rising and falling with every pleasured lick and nip of Michael’s lips around her core. Her hand falls to his head, grabbing at his locks when Michael begins swiping his tongue over her clit more often, causing the sensitivity to enhance.

Michael encloses his lips over her clit, sucking on the bundle of nerves harshly as his tongue flicks back and forth over her. Y/N cries out in gratified whimpers, arching her back lightly, her breathing getting heavier with every passing minute.

Knowing Y/N’s body so well, Michael knows when she’s close, and when he feels her legs starting to shake around his head and shoulders, he sucks harder, bringing her closer to the edge.

As he feels her gripping his hair harder, sensing the way her body is beginning to tense and shake, Michael stops, lifting his head and licking his lips, a smirk growing on his face as Y/N gasps and lifts her head, looking down at him with a confused expression.

“Why’d you stop?” Y/N asks breathlessly, frustrated and perplexed of his halted actions.

“Because I can,” Michael grins, a plan forming in the back of his mind as payback from all of her teasing behavior.

“Are you serious?” She narrows her eyes. “You’re going to--”

Michael lowers his face back down to her center again, enclosing his lips around her clit once more, beginning to suck again. Y/N lets a moan out as her back arches again, leaning her head back once more as she feels the same pleasure as before overtake her.

Michael brings his hand up this time, pushing his index finger into her slick, pulsing entrance with ease as he pumps into her, continuing to suck at her clit, alternating with swiping his tongue around her folds and down her slit before focusing back on her clit.

When Y/N feels the same pressure building up inside her, feeling the way the softness of Michael’s tongue presses and rubs against her, the way his tongue and lips suck unrelenting at her clit, his finger pushing in and out of her, she bites on her lip, letting out a series of consistent moans.

Her body begins to shake again, her lower body tensing and contracting against Michael’s mouth. But Michael stops again, just before she can cum, making Y/N whimper and look down at Michael with confusion at why he stopped again just before she was going to finish.

Michael repeats this a few more times, adding a new sense of pleasure each time. With either the way he moves his tongue against her, adding a second finger to pump into her, pulling Y/N closer to him so his mouth can attach and suck at her clit further, curling his fingers inside her.

It was a constant pleasure, feeling so good and needed and incredible. But each time, Michael stopped just before she was going to finish, causing Y/N's frustration to grow more as he edged her and denied her of her release. 

Michael seemed to be getting off on her torture, teasing and taunting her just like she had been doing to him all day.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart? Isn’t this what you wanted? All of my devoted attention on you?” He smirked at her.

“You really know how to be a fucking asshole, don’t you,” she glares at him.

“Be careful before I bind and gag you, darling,” he grins.

“Maybe I’d actually get off then, since clearly you can’t do it yourself,” Y/N smirks a bit, her words being a form of payback for him edging her.

Michael glares, knowing she was taunting him about him denying her an orgasm. He knew he could give her one, he was always able to, and though this time he purposely made sure she didn’t get one -- yet -- her words still rile him up. This causes him to kneel up before her and grabbing and gripping her hips, flipping her over on the bed to where she’s laying on her stomach.

Y/N grins to herself, knowing that would provoke and infuriate Michael, even though it wasn’t true since she knows he can get her off, as he always has. He just had to torture her this time for her behavior rightfully so and edge and deny her.

Michael removes his own clothing, adding the discarded fabric to the floor with Y/N’s ripped slip. Michael tells Y/N to stand up on her hands and knees as he gets back on the bed, gripping her hips as she complies to his order.

Michael reaches a hand around her to her heat, fingers circling over her clit as he rubs her, making her moan out as he uses his other hand to grab his fully hard cock and pumps his length a few times. Getting closer behind Y/N, he grabs her hips as he presses the tip of his cock into her entrance.

He grips her hips tightly when he thrusts his cock into her, causing Y/N to jolt forward a bit from the momentum and moans out loudly. Michael starts out hard and fast already, not allowing Y/N any time to stretch or get used to Michael’s large size. It still felt incredible, and wasn’t the first time Michael had been aggressive with her like this. But as long as it didn’t get any harsher, it was really good, especially as Michael reaches a hand back to her clit and rubs quick circles over her to add to the pleasure.

Feeling how wet Y/N is around him, hearing her heavy breathing and consistent moaning, feeling her contract around him, he begins getting consumed with the pleasure, with the dominance and total control he has over her, letting out a series of soft groans himself.

He begins picking up pace, thrusting harder against her, the sound of skin slapping vulgarly. The gratification he feels from fucking Y/N, the thrill of power he has over her, holding her in place with his grip, making her feel the pleasure she’s feeling, controlling her orgasms from earlier and now, he starts getting lost in the darkness of it too.

As Michael’s pace, grip and thrusting gets even more faster and more harsh, Y/N becomes a bit concerned and cautious over the roughness. Michael hadn’t fucked her at this fast of a pace or strength before, it feeling like she could barely catch her breath now. 

“Michael, slow down a bit, please,” Y/N breathes out, wincing slightly at the pace and fullness of him. It still felt good, but an apprehension was growing in her too. The faster the pace got, and the rougher the fullness became, a slight strain began growing.

But Michael is so lost in the feeling of everything, he doesn’t notice the uneasiness in her voice. “What, you don’t like this?” He laughs at her plea condescendingly, his grip on her digging into her skin. “You sure about that? Because your dripping cunt seems to think otherwise,” he adds, letting out a pleasured groan after.

Again, Y/N was into it. Tender and slow, or rough and fast, Michael always made her feel good. But there was a fine line between pain and pleasure, and the way Michael’s movements were increasing were worrying her and she just wanted him to ease up a bit. 

But the concern in Y/N’s tone edges Michael further, her so called weakness tipping him off more, him not realizing how harsh he was becoming with her as he continues to fuck her.

“You don’t like the way I’m fucking you even though you’re fucking leaking all over my cock?” He laughs lowly. “You've been begging me to fuck you for days and now you’re complaining?” He chuckles. “I’ll give you something to complain about.”

He stops suddenly, removing himself from Y/N as a soft gasp leaves her lips and he kneels off the bed. Y/N narrows her eyes confused as she wonders what he’s going to do now but lets out a small deep exhale, taking the moment to catch her breath.

Michael reaches down for his discarded clothes, grabbing the belt from his pants and folding it in his hand as he turns back to Y/N, looking over at her as she remains on her hands and knees for him. He grins, stepping over and kneels back onto the bed.

Aligning himself back behind her, he pushes his still fully hard erection back into her, making Y/N gasp again, transitioning to a moan as she feels his cock seated so deeply into her. Michael uses his free hand to pull back Y/N’s hair from the side all to the other, wanting to see more of her face.

“You’ve been so needy and clingy for my attention all week,” he says seductively, trailing a hand down her back, into the curvature of her spine, “and now that you’ve got it, you’re whining?” He trails his hand down until brushing over her bare ass. “You better thank me for my attention and show how truly grateful you are to have my cock instead,” Michael snaps.

As a hand holds her hip in place, he takes the belt in his other hand and pulls back, whipping it against her ass in the next second, the smack of impact echoing through the room.

Y/N yelps out, eyes widening with pain as her mouth drops open and she calls out, “Ow! What the fuck Michael. What is that?” Her tone is urgent and scared, the pain radiating through her.

“Giving you all the attention you wanted,” Michael hisses, pulling back and whipping her with the belt again just as hard as before.

Y/N cries out again from the sharp pain, wincing as her eyes blur with tears. Michael hums satisfied, feeling the way she clenches and contracts around from the impact, not realizing it’s from pain rather than pleasure.

Y/N pulls away from Michael, turning back over onto her bottom as she scoots back and away from him, holding herself up with her hands as she looks over at him with upset, teary eyes.

“Did I say you could move,” Michael glares, reaching over for her, grabbing her ankle and pulling her back towards him, causing her to grimace from her bottom rubbing against the bed as she’s pulled. “You don’t move, you don’t speak, you don’t even fucking breathe without my permission,” Michael adds, as he flips her back onto her stomach, raising the belt and whipping her yet again, the slap of the leather belt clapping loudly just as before, if not louder.

“No, Michael, stop!” She cries out, looking down and sobbing into the bed. “Mercy! Mercy!” She calls out their safe word, still tightening her eyes as her body tenses from the potential impact.

Upon hearing the safe word, Michael’s expression immediately softens, registering confusion. He drops the belt, crawling over to beside Y/N, asking, “Baby, are you okay?” Michael asks, moving a hand towards her face.

She turns her head towards him and pushes Michael’s hand away before he can touch her, blinking back tears as she pushes herself to sit up and turns over to sit on her bottom. Her eyes water more, tears falling down her cheek as she winces from the pressure of sitting down.

"Do I look okay,” she looks at him, eyes shiny and becoming more wet with tears. She holds back her sobs as her chest hyperventilates a bit, sniffling a bit and her eyes welling up with more tears after more fall down her face. “You hurt me, Michael,” she sniffs. “You were too rough, and that belt, especially, it.. why would you...” she trails off, unable to form a coherent response.

Michael shakes his head a bit, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was becoming too much.”

“I told you to slow down,” Y/N bites her lip, looking at him with a hurt expression, shining with more tears. 

Y/N doesn’t mean to, but she breaks down crying then, looking down, tears constantly streaming down her face as the sobs escape her, feeling too vulnerable and exposed in front of Michael right now as she’s become suddenly fearful of him.

Michael’s face softens more, looking at her with a pained expression as she cries. Seeing the way her eyes constantly water, her chest rising and falling heavily as she bawls, the way she hugs her knees to herself as a form of protection and comfort. Michael hates the way he’s made her cry now, clearly hurting her so much to this point.

He leans over, raising a hand toward her, but Y/N flinches, scared of his actions and what he’ll do to her. She’s unknowing if her crying will provoke him to do something else, like when she told him to slow down, and instead of listening, he got the belt.

Y/N scoots away from him timidly, and Michael’s heart seems to break over her reaction, realizing how much he’s actually hurt her, and sensing the hesitation and pain in her. 

“Y/N, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Michael starts sorrowfully. “I didn’t mean to get carried away with everything. But you know I’m not going to hurt you; I would never hurt you,” he states gently.

“But you already did,” Y/N sniffs, wiping her eyes, though more tears stream down anyway, a few more sobs escaping her.

Michael’s heart breaks into more pieces upon hearing her response. He didn’t realize his actions, didn’t comprehend her feelings or take her previous reactions into consideration as he was so overcome with control and pleasure. And now it’s led to this, and he’s unsure of what he can do about it.

He looks away, diverting his eyes from her, processing her words. Michael would never hurt Y/N, would never want to hurt her willingly, but she was right. He did hurt her, even as an accident, he still did, and he’s not handling it very well considering Y/N is the only person he would never want to bring pain to.

Looking back at her, he scoots closer to her, but Y/N recoils away from him once more out of fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you, okay baby, I’m not going to do anything, I promise,” Michael states as he reaches his hand towards her face and wipes away a few of her tears with his thumb.

Y/N blinks at him sadly, Michael brushing the back of his fingers against her wet cheek softly as he looks at her.

Michael reaches over to her again and grabs her waist, pulling her carefully towards his body. Y/N doesn’t make eye contact with him as her behavior is still a bit shy around him as her nerves just begin to settle down now.

But she allows Michael to wrap his arms around her, cradling her in his hold as she rests her head a bit hesitantly at first, then gently down against his chest, over where his heart is, hearing the soft beating of his heart. Michael’s fingers brush soothingly against her head, her still a bit weary, but beginning to relax again around him.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” Michael whispers, pressing his lips to the top of her head on him, his other hand grabbing one of her hands. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Y/N pauses a moment, biting her lip. “I was just trying to have some fun with all the teasing. You’ve been so busy, I, I thought it would be fun to--”

“I know, I know,” Michael coos, understanding. “I was playing along too, but I got carried away unfortunately. I’m sorry.”

“I can’t believe that you,” she trails off, her eyes watering, Michael feeling her tears drop to his chest.

Michael sighs, “I know. I wasn’t thinking.”

“You’ve never hit me like that before,” she sniffs. “And been so rough, and fast, and,” she swallows, closing her eyes, letting out a shaky breath before opening her eyes again and biting her lip again. “I didn’t mean for everything to get so out of control.”

“Hey, no, it’s not your fault,” he looks down at her, “don’t you dare say it’s your fault. It was just all fun and teasing, and I took it too far. It was my fault. Don’t undermine your feelings. I’m the one in the wrong, not you,” Michael explains.

“But if I hadn’t been teasing you so much and giving you such a hard time for working, then this--”

“Stop, no,” Michael interjects, holding her in his arms more tightly but tenderly as he rests his head against hers. “This wasn’t your doing. Don’t say that again. It was me, not you. You warned me, had asked me to slow down, but I didn’t listen.”

Y/N’s eyes water again and she turns her head into Michael’s chest, trying to hide away in him. Michael’s hand falls to her shoulder, brushing against her skin.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Michael whispers, “I’m so sorry. I’ll never hurt you like that again; never hurt you in any way again. I promise you.”

"I know you didn’t really mean it,” she sniffs. “It just, it hurt so much, and I couldn’t take it--”

“Shh,” he murmurs softly. “I know. You don’t need to explain yourself. I fucked up, not you,” he reiterates, sighing out. “Let me make it up to you, alright,” Michael says, kissing her head again and looking down at her.

Y/N pauses a second before looking up at him, her eyes still wet, but looking at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s take a shower. Get cleaned up and relax a bit?” He offers. “Hmm,” Michael smiles lightly, a bit sorrowful, but hopeful.

“Can we take a bath instead,” Y/N asks hesitantly, raising her eyes.

“Of course,” Michael smiles more. “That’s probably a better idea considering -- everything,” his tone falters a bit. “Come on,” he nods towards the bathroom as he lets up on his hold around Y/N.

But not before he places a sweet kiss against her lips lovingly.

~

Once in the bathroom, the room steamy, warm and toasty, feeling relaxing and safe, Michael eases Y/N into the bathtub, him following behind. An array of sweet-smelling bubbles fill the air, the lights dimmed to a tranquil vibe as Y/N sits between Michael’s legs in the tub.

Michael’s hold is protective around her as she leans back against him, him kissing the back of her shoulder periodically, wanting to soothe and calm her down from everything. He knows Y/N’s in some pain, considering the whips from the belt left some angry, red welts against the skin of her bottom.

The way Y/N pouted over seeing the raised marks on her in the mirror made Michael want to cuddle her endlessly, while also apologizing infinitely, too. But Y/N pulling him to the bathtub and in the water with her was what she wanted from him at the moment and Michael was more willing to be there for her in whatever way she needed. 

After relaxing in the hot, calming water for a bit, Michael begins to trail his hands and fingers down her arms, collarbones and center of her body gently, kissing along her shoulder again and neck too. Y/N unwinds against him, laying slack against his chest, especially with his touch on her.

“So, about me making it up to you,” Michael begins, lingering his lips against her neck where it meets her shoulder.

Y/N lifts her head, looking back at him puzzled.

“I’m gonna cancel the interviews I have scheduled for tomorrow so I can spend the day with you instead,” Michael states, grazing his fingers against the side of her face.

Y/N raises her eyes happily, smiling a bit, “Really? Are you sure? You don’t have to, I know you have your plans and a schedule to be following through.”

“One day off won’t ruin my schemes,” he grins. “Besides, you’re right about me missing you. I shouldn’t have gotten so caught up in my work anyway. There’s no rush to all my deception and enticing of everyone to dirty deeds.”

“Cunning as ever,” Y/N teases.

Michael smiles a bit, leaning in and pressing his lips to her softly. “I love you.”

Y/N smiles, “I love you, too.” She turns her head around, resting back against him.

“As for making it up to you now,” Michael continues, causing Y/N to look back at him again bemused. “Let me show you how truly sorry I am,” his tone shifting from sweet and tenderhearted, to husky and sensual.

Y/N narrows her eyes a bit but grins, biting her lip.

“Let me take care of my baby,” Michael smirks, his hand trailing down her body, reaching to her clit and rubbing a soft circle against her, making Y/N’s eyes close and hum contently. “Let me love you, how you deserve,” Michael adds, continuing his movements on her as he leans in, kissing her, Y/N knowing he will make it up to her ten times over.

~

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think if you’d like, please! <3

#Michael Langdon #AHS #American Horror Story #American Horror Story Apocalypse #Michael Langdon story #michael langdon imagine #Michael Langdon fanfic #Michael Langdon oneshot #michael langdon one shot #Michael Langdon fan fic #Michael Langdon writing #Michael Langdon x reader #Michael Langdon x fem reader #Michael Langdon x fem! reader #AHS imagine #AHS story #duncan shepherd imagine #Michael Langdon smut #Duncan Shepherd writing

[sizzlingpenguincollector]

Tori Vega: TDI Headcanon

I hope you all enjoy this headcannon I did of Tori Vega for my TDI rewrite. 

Tori is the type of person who relishes in her own company, enjoying solitude and working alone. It allows her to think and focus on her ideas without the judgement of other people. She is viewed by many others as both charming and very attractive, and is very social when needed to – this enthusiasm is shown clearly when she performs on stage. Her ability to set herself goals and figure out the best ways to achieve them is very effective and proves how strategic of a person she is. She has a talent at maintaining her social image when around others but can be quite impatient and have quite a temper in situations she would find stressful and irritating. Her optimistic and bubbly attitude is loved by others, and she is one of the most popular people at her school because of it. When faced with misfortune and trouble she keeps her cool, standing by her family and friends all the while. She’s willing to do essentially anything to make those she loves and cares for feel better, including embarrassing herself.

When competing with others she can come across as quite overzealous and energetic, which is due to her competitive nature. This developed more as she spent more time near her classmate, Jade, and eventually she became subconsciously competitive in nature. When doing challenges on the island she would be quite the leader type, instructing others in a very kind yet informative way; she would know what to do in a lot of different situations, being able to think up unique and interesting plans on how to complete the challenges that are set. While Tori can work individually, she much prefers to work with others on some things – the positivity that she can give others gives them a boost of motivation when working toward a set goal. She also behaves in a very ‘hands-on’ manner, liking to be involved in the process of making or doing challenges, instead of standing by in the side-lines. By nature, Tori is a very supportive person, liking to encourage and get people to be their best selves anyway she can. Throughout most of her time at the island she will be viewed by most competitors as both a friendly and kind person, but with enough intelligence to constantly be chipping in with ideas and suggestions for everything and anything that she thinks others would need help with. Because of this, Heather will dislike her from the very beginning, viewing her as a rival and an obstacle that will need passing in order for her to win the show. Tori will also dislike Heather because of how manipulative of a person she is – it’s something she can recognise from how she carries herself, and Tori immediately keeps an eye on Heather. Courtney will instantly love her but will begin weary, as they are from different teams. Of course, ignoring Courtney’s bossier and self-loving personality, Tori will gradually learn to like her as a friend, and they will become very close with their friendship. Leshawna won’t be as close with Tori as Courtney will be, however she will have a sense of respect for the brunette because of how caring Tori is toward complete strangers; she will comfort and persuade people to do things that they might not originally be comfortable doing, but once they complete it they thank her for giving her that little push. Because of how forward and boisterous Leshawna is, Tori will not become very close friends with her, but will respect her even if her loudness makes her slightly irritated. Bridgette’s cool-headedness will cause Tori to gravitate toward her as a friend, starting off as very close and talkative but ending up as relaxed and civil with each other. Due to the separate teams it would be hard to be close to her, and so they would gradually become less friends and more acquaintances. Gwen would be interested in Tori, finding her personality very similar yet different to her own and being drawn to it out of curiosity. They would get along well, sticking with each other through all the challenges and supporting one another when they can. When Heather reads out Gwen’s diary Tori will become very aggressive and irritated, making sure she talks to Heather after the end of the challenge. After she proceeds to then read out her diary as well as Kim’s diary she almost let her short temper get the better of her, but after some reassuring conversations with both Gwen and Kim she calmed down and spoke to Heather civilly (with hints of annoyance and venom, of course). Because of Tori’s closeness with Gwen she will also grow quite close with Trent – their similar interest in music will be cause for some jealousy from Gwen, however after reassuring her that there were no foul intentions from Tori, things will go back to usual. Tori and Trent would duet a lot in the evening for others to listen to, like singing campfire songs after a long day of challenges. Beth will look up to Tori in admiration because of how much she would want to be like her. She recognises her from a show from TV and loves how well she could sing and would do anything she could to become as successful as her in the future. Tori will be kind toward Beth, but won’t be interested in becoming her friends because of how focused Beth would be on her. Duncan wouldn’t be interested in her at first, but when seeing her and Courtney’s similarities will be curious. He won’t be friendly with her, but will be nosy and ask her questions about herself. As for Owen, he would behave in a very friendly and kind manner toward Tori, which she will appreciate and find sweet. They will become friends and have each other’s backs during a lot of the challenges, Tori will even sometimes try to take away some of the embarrassment Owen would feel when embarrassing himself by purposefully doing something to embarrass herself. As for the X Over characters, Tori will have a close relationship with Beck, Cat and Robbie because of her past with them before the show. She would feel a sense of interest and respect for Kim because of how agile and strong she is – they would be good friends and an even better team, and would focus on doing their best in the challenges. Similar to Heather, Tori would be cautious around Bonnie because of how she treats Kim as well as others. After being stuck in many, many awkward and dangerous challenges with each other though, the two eventually become friends, though not super close ones. Due to Sam’s very energetic and aggressive demeanour, Tori wouldn’t get along well with her. She would find her rude and dismissive, while Sam would think of Tori as a pompous goody-two-shoes. The two of them wouldn’t get along very well; however their relationship would be more civil and less destructive than that with Heather. Tori would be friendly with almost everyone who comes on to the island, but not with a select few. Heather would be one of them, as well as Ezekiel, Bart, Buford and of course Jade. These four would come across as too negative and aggressive, and so she would attempt to steer clear of them as much as she could. When being forced to interact with Heather, Tori would be very nonchalant and blunt, saying things for what they are instead of attempting to sugar coat them. After all, it’s not as if Heather really deserved that much. She would purposefully try to ignore her when she could, but would never go out of her way to hurt Heather, whether it be physically or emotionally. As for Ezekiel, Tori would behave the same around him as most other people. She’d dismiss most of what he says and ignore his rude and sexist comments. Bart would be seen as an irritating child with no ideas of boundaries or the difference between funny and dangerous. He would constantly get on her nerves, like he would be sure to for more people; however because of his young age she will just brush it off and ignore him. While he is only 10 years old, she still wouldn’t actively help him because of how aggravating he is, however his sister Lisa would be one of the people she is interested in most. Her intelligence and musical prowess would cause Tori to instantly gravitate toward her due to their similar interests. Buford would be more irritating than outright disrespectful, as his loud-mouth and over the top behaviour would easily get on Tori’s nerves. Lastly, with Tori’s history with Jade, she would hate to be on the same team as her. Jade constantly has it out for Tori, and so the brunette wouldn’t come anywhere near Jade if she could help it. Whenever something involved the black-haired girl things always went badly, or something awful would happen.

#total drama #victorious #tori vega #headcanon #crossover

[orlha]

Kakashi/Sakura - Romantic ♡ 3. Where character B is their soulmate Please♡♡♡

Notes: SOOOO This is supposed to be a drabble. But heeeey SURPRISE it’s not? Hope you like it anyway, I might add that it’s not terribly fluffy either.

—

Civiliansconsidered themselves adults when they received their soulmarks at eighteen.Shinobis didn’t care too much about their soulmarks or tried not to at least.Not all soulmates meet, and if they do, not all of them meet on friendlyterms.  

Kakashiknew that the chance of having an out-village soulmate was rare, yet he hadseen how Rin had reacted when Obito died, seen how his father had chosen deathover him, seen Sensei picked death over living without Kushina. His soulmarkappears, “No, you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” curvingdown his palm. Cursive and almost unreadable words. 

Inanother world without shinobis, without pain and the ever-hanging death,Kakashi thinks he might have been loved and loved back. But he’s not in anotherworld. He’s here, where the people closest to him have chosen to die, wherethey had died leaving him alone. 

Gaiassures him that soulmates always meet each other. It’s fate and no matter howfar he runs, he’ll always come back to the same fork. It leaves a bitter tastein Kakashi’s mouth. He doesn’t someone, doesn’t want someone else to die onhim. Gai… Gai is the only one he trusts not to die on him. Too much energy andoptimism, too much youth. 

So hedistances himself. 

FromTenzo who pursued his friendship, from Asuma who tried to rekindle their‘broship’ after his long absence, from Team seven who was a mockery of what hisown team had been. 

Hebarely trains his genin, barely cares when Naruto was apprenticed to Jiraiya orwhen Sakura is apprenticed to Tsunade. They were barely his students. 

Yethere they are again. Tsunade refusing to let him fade into anbu, forcing him toreform his team. 

Hehates it, hates how people push him, with supposedly comforting words that hissoulmate was out there somewhere.  

Hedoesn’t care. He tells himself that every time. His soulmate is probably dead,or out-village and he doesn’t care. 

Theyare all lies. 

Becausehe does. 

He’sjust abandoned. 

—  

Inspite of people’s popular beliefs, Sakura worked hard to get top kunoichi. Sheknew it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Academy scores didn’t matter in thereal world, but that was all she had to prove to her next superiors that shewas competent. Never mind that she didn’t have a senior shinobi to train herlike all the clan kinds, never mind that some days her parents ‘forgot’ to feedher.  

Sakurais good. 

She hasto be. 

She’snot like Ino who had parents to fall back on after graduating. Sakura had neverhad that kind of affection. She imagines that when she gets her soulmark, meetsher soulmate that they would fall passionately in love. She’d be tucked intohis arms, she would be loved. 

It’sthese thoughts that keep Sakura going even when her jounin sensei turns out tobe a distant and barely teaching them anything beyond referencing books to readon.  

Sakurareads these books voraciously. No one is going to help her if she doesn’t helpherself. She summons her own courage to request for an apprenticeship with Tsunadeand spends her next few years proving herself that she is competent, that sheis worth teaching. 

Becauseno one else cares if she doesn’t.  

—  

Shishousends her on a mission with her former Team Seven just near her birthday. Anddespite it being a fairly low ranked mission for shinobis of their status,Sakura thinks that Shishou hadn’t counted for the Team Seven luck. 

Whatshould have been an almost idyllic mission turns into a shitfest. Turns out theperson they were escorting was some long-lost prince who now inherited thekingdom and by mandate was returning to ascend the throne and the councillorwho had looked after the kingdom for twenty years was disgruntled enough tosend Iwa-nins to kill him.

That’s not important. 

Sakurawas busy fighting off Iwa-nins and their stupid explosive jutsu when Kakashitakes an almost fatal hit for Yamato. Quickly, with Sai’s help, she disengagesand flickers to Kakashi, hauling him to the side where Naruto’s clonessurrounded them in a protective circle. 

“No,just leave me,” Kakashi says even as she fights to manually pump his blood andheal that hole in his torso.  

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” she snarls. She presses on,leaving Naruto to deal with anyone attempting to interrupt her and divesin.  

It’smaybe minutes or hours later when she wakes from her healing trance,disoriented by the lack of veins and cells in her vision. A hand helps her up. 

“Kaka-senseiwill be fine.” Hands press food into her hands as soon as she’s seated by thefire. 

She blinks.  

Thestars above have bloomed across the dark twilight sky, the Iaw-nin bodies hadbeen burnt or sealed away, a small smokeless campfire had already been startedand Kakashi was tucked under a blanket next to Yamato, his half-lidded eyewatching her. 

Shedoesn’t care if she saved Kakashi against his will. Only stupid man does stupidthings like that. He can hate her for all she cares. He wouldn’t be the firstor the last to do so. Sakura forces herself to eat the stew Sai had given her.Tomorrow she’ll need to check on him and considering how he chose to dieinstead of being healed, she already knows it’d be a fight. 

To hersurprise, Kakashi doesn’t put up a fight the next day. He lets her press hermedical chakra in, check his torso and even his eyes.  

Andwhen everything checks out, Naruto heaves their long-lost prince onto his backand starts the trip to the Kingdom of Stars. Now that they’re aware of actualthreats, they’re more cautious about leaving traces behind.  

Sakuratries not to recall the way Kakashi refused to let her heal him. So it seemsthat her choice of people to have crushes on always are people who areemotionally unavailable. She’s been down that way once, abandoned at thevillage gates. It wouldn’t surprise her if her soulmate would be equallyuninterested in her.  

Themission ends successfully, and they’re invited to stay in the palace for a fewdays. The Kingdom of Stars is gorgeous. Unlike the Kingdom of Moon, the mostpicturesque thing about the Kingdom of Stars is their sky. The trail ofnorthern lights dancing across the sky, beset with shimmering stars.  

Sakurastares out into the sky, the light wisp of smoke escaping her mouth as shebreathes. It’s a place she wouldn’t mind retiring to. The placid lifestyle ofthe people here, their earnest laughter.  She thinks she could be happyhere. 

Probablynot.  

She hadfinally gotten her soulmark during the mission. It’s across her hip and shedoesn’t care what it says anymore. It’s stupid yearning for something she’llnever get or even brooding over it. When this mission is over, she’ll go backto the hospital where no one cares, back to her one room apartment.  

Sakuraisn’t meant for happiness or love. 

“Sakura?” 

She’sso lost in her thoughts that his voice almost startles her off the roof.Kakashi grabs her, his hand lingers on her arm before he sticks it back intohis pockets. His shoulders are slumped, radiating the feeling of exhaustion. 

“Areyou okay?” The weapons that the Iwa-nin weren’t likely to be poisoned. She wouldhave noticed if it were, but there’s always the chance for human error. Sheputs a hand on his, double checking his system for any infection or poison. 

That’sweird, his hands are bare. Kakashi always wears his gloves. 

Sheturns his hand and gasps. There are thick calluses across his palm, especiallyon the fingertips and across the palm, almost down to his wrist is undeniablyher handwriting.  

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” it says.  

Sheslowly looks up at him. His mismatched eyes look back at her nervously.  

“Ibelieve these are your words,” he says carefully.  

Sakuracan hear her blood pounding in her ears, the colour in her face bleeding out asshe processed the situation. She pulls her shirt up, wrenching part of herpants down. Splayed across her hip, the narrow but neat writing are the words “no,just leave me.” 

“Those…are definitely my words and handwriting.” His hand curls up to grip hers.  

Shebarks a mirthless laugh and shakes his hand off, stepping back several steps.“So…” she starts in a quivering voice and hates herself for the weakness. “…I’m marked with your suicidal words.” 

Sheturns away and the frustration of the entire situation, the helplessness feltso overwhelming that she couldn’t stop tears from gathering in her eyes. 

She wasright.  

Thepeople always had crushes on were emotionally unavailable and that apparentlyincluded her soulmate, the man she had a crush on for the last two years. Also,the man who is suicidal and had such a blatant disregard that shishou forcedthem to have a medic at all times. 

Underall her doubts and sarcasm, Sakura had hoped that her soulmate would be someonewho loved her, where she could finally be love and be loved in return. 

“I’mnot…” he murmurs behind her. “…suicidal…” 

Hereaches out to clasp her shoulder.  “Sakura…” 

“Don’tworry, I’ll be fine even if you leave,” she tells him. She had seen shinobislike Kakashi. She knows what would happen. She won’t cry over this, or so shetells herself as she ignores the tight clenching in her chest.  

Becauseno one would care if she isn’t alright and her parents would be smug in theknowledge that they were right; that even her soulmate didn’t want her. 

“Let metry, please.” His fingers tightened and she looks up at him. Hissharingan still spinning slowly, his hair almost fey in the dimmoonlight.  

Shepulls a shuddering breath from her lungs, schooling the trembling in herhands.  

“Youdidn’t care to teach any of us anything. Didn’t care who I went to or if I hadto go to genin corps. Why? Why should I?” 

“I’mnot suicidal. I just… There’s a point where you don’t care because you’ve beenabandoned by everyone that loved you and I know I fucked up, but please.”His eyes are desperate. 

“Atleast you’ve been loved,” she says, scrubbing the tears furiously away with hersleeve. “I’ve never even once!” 

“Thenlet us try. We’re soulmates right? There has to be a reason for it…” he says.His tone full of self-deprecation. “Gai said that its fate and that no matterhow far we try to run from it, if it’s fate, we’ll come back to the same fork.So since we’re at the fork now. It’s better to try. I… I am still terrified ofmaking have new people join my ring of important people…” 

Herlips twist and Sakura laughs a wet laugh.  

“Andprove them wrong?” she asks. “All the people who said that no one would loveyou.” 

“I’ll standback and watch you crush them?” He thumbs her tears away. 

“Okay.”She presses her face into his palm, his eyes softening. 

—  

Andperhaps no one believed it would last. Some soulmates die young together, somesoulmates never quite work out. 

Betweentheir multitude of issues and age gap, no one believed Kakashi and Sakurawould.  

Butthey did. 

Curledup in each other’s arms, under the tall Sakura tree, watching the petals fallaround them, they finally found the happiness, peace and love they had longedfor.  

Untilthey were old and wrinkled, grey and aged.  

Kakashipresses a kiss into her greying hair and thinks of the northern lightsreflected in her pink hair then and he would have it no other way.

—

Prompts are still open all the way until New Year’s Eve if you want to send any in :)

Tumblr prompts list: here

#tumblr prompts #ficlet #Haruno Sakura #Hatake Kakashi #Kakasaku #Anonymous

[little-purple-thundercloud]

A bit about L’yhta Mahre

PLACE IN SOCIETY

✖ FINANCIAL – wealthy  / moderate / poor / in poverty

L’yhta is quite well-off thanks to her inheritance from her mentors, the sale of items she finds during adventures, and the rewards from levequests. That said, she has essentially no control over her finances, which are handled by the Tower’s majordomo, Volkido, nor does she particularly desire grand luxury. As such, she doesn’t typically have access to, nor employs, these assets, and instead lives a lifestyle of moderate means.

✖ MEDICAL – fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / deceased

L’yhta naturally has a very fast metabolism, and she’s also a professional adventurer; as such, she gets a lot of exercise that keeps her quite fit. She also tends to run around a lot, even when she could just as easily walk.

✖ CLASS OR CASTE – upper / lower / middle / working / unsure

“I’m used to being feared and. Having people keep away from me.” Powerful practicing thaumaturges can parley their status into considerable class if they want to do; she has no interest in such things (and indeed tends to find class structures abhorrent due to what they’ve done to people she cares about), so in practice, she ends up being an anomaly that those who care about social class aren’t quite sure what to do about.

✖ EDUCATION – qualified / unqualified / studying

An arguably abusive training regimen, followed by the fact that magic is effectively her entire life, has given this woman broad-spanning knowledge across a variety of topics.

FAMILY

✖ MARITAL STATUS – married, happily / married, unhappily / engaged  / partnered / divorced / widow or widower / separated / single / it’s complicated

"My personal life is a, what do they call it? A trash fire, you know?” L’yhta’s current romantic situation is as a member of a poly pod, though she isn’t romantically involved with everyone in it. However, she also holds a flame for the auri girlfriend she rarely sees and the miqo’te bard that she’s not entirely sure how she feels about (and never has been). She was also briefly married, but that relationship fell apart due to disputes over her polyamorous inclinations.

✖ CHILDREN – has children / no children / wants children / adopted children

L’yhta doesn’t currently want children. Beyond the fact that she feels awkward around them, she feels children are incompatible with the life of an adventurer. She is also increasingly of the opinion that she’s incapable of having children at all, due to an ill-advised experiment in magic years ago.

✖ FAMILY – close with sibling / not close with siblings / has no siblings / siblings are deceased / it’s complicated

As she came from a tribal background, she has several siblings -- five sisters and a brother. Her brother is currently the nunh of that tribe; her sisters view her with anything from naked contempt for abandoning the tribe to benign distaste for "not being useful.” That her skill in magic obviates the need to be skilled at hunting with a bow or chopping down trees is lost on them, or perhaps they’re just jealous.

✖ AFFILIATION – orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by both parents / other

L’yhta was raised within a tribe, and she looked up her father with considerable hero worship. Unfortunately, he died shortly after the Calamity (at the hands of her older brother, no less), and her mother perished a few years later. She’s collected father figures since then -- most notably her mentor in magic, Robert Fletcher, and the Voice of the Tower, Eamont Desormaux.

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

✖ disorganized / organised / in between

Her lab area and notes, and indeed anything involving magic, are meticulously organized. As for the rest of her world -- well, there’s a reason Volkido has a maid clean her apartment daily, and as of yet her partners have yet to complain too vociferously about smallclothes and plates lying in random places around the house.

✖ close-minded / open-minded / in between

L’yhta can be extremely close-minded about certain things (religious zealotry, nobility, class structures, and harming others), but outside of those areas, she’s quite open-minded and accepting of other approaches and ways of life.

✖ cautious / reckless / in between

If there’s a ruin to be scaled or a cave to be plumbed, she’ll already be up or down it before anyone can voice opposition. She does show caution in some instances, in which case you know she’s pretty scared.

✖ patient / impatient / in between

The longer she has to wait for people to plan a course of action, the more fidgety she gets. This is a mage who thrives on action and doesn’t want to wait! She can be patient when it comes to things that require patience (such as alchemy), but she’ll be jumping to something else to stay occupied while the time passes.

✖ outspoken / reserved / in between

While she’s gotten better at holding her tongue over the years, L’yhta is a Big, Open Personality who largely isn’t afraid to speak her mind (unless she’s afraid it’ll wreck one of her relationships).

✖ leader / follower / in between

As much as she proclaims that she’s a terrible leader and she should never be followed, her knowledge combined with her personality put her at the forefront of most situations, and she’s always ready to take charge.

✖ sympathetic / unsympathetic / in between

“Ever since I have known you, you have never lived for yourself.” One could say that L’yhta suffers the Curse of Empathy -- she cares deeply about everyone’s feelings, even that of the world as a whole, and will readily shove any issues she has aside to take care of others.

✖ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

L’yhta is optimistic about the world as a whole; she truly believes that Good will ultimately triumph over Evil, that there will always be Lights in the Darkness, and that Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love will win the day. That said, she’s deeply pessimistic about herself and her life, largely feeling like she’s a walking disaster that ruins everything she’s near and that she’s never strong enough, never smart enough, never fast enough, and never wise enough to be a positive in others’ lives.

✖ hardworking / lazy / in between

Throwing herself into her work is one of L’yhta’s primary coping mechanisms for stress and her constant depression and inferiority complex, but even outside of that, she’s driven to improve the state of the Art.

✖ cultured / uncultured / in between

"Oh! And I’m her uncultured ijin girlfriend, you know? It’s great to meet you!” L’yhta has never found much value in “high culture.” This is not the miqo’te to ask about which spoon to use or how best to greet a Hingan noble.

✖ loyal / disloyal / in between

When she feels she has let someone down, L’yhta beats herself up about it. She’s tremendously loyal to everyone she knows, or at least tries to be; when she fails to live up to that ideal in any way, she tends to spiral into self-hatred.

✖ faithful / unfaithful / in between

Romantically, L’yhta has been unfaithful before, and it’s a sore spot that she flagellates herself now and then. She takes great pains now to be exceedingly careful about anything that might even be perceived as being unfaithful, to the extent that her partners sometimes think she’s too cautious.

Religiously, she has a deep devotion to her conception of the Mothercrystal, which to her represents the source of the Lifestream and all aether in the world. For her, protecting the children of the Crystal is a duty -- one she takes on gladly.

SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION

✖ SEXUALITY – heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / omnisexual / demisexual

L’yhta identifies as bisexual, but in reality, she’s closer to polysexual.

✖ SEX – sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable

✖ ROMANCE – romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable

✖ SEXUALLY – sexually adventurous / sex experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious / uninterested

L’yhta really enjoys sex, yes, but she also heavily compartmentalizes. As such, if her mind isn’t on fooling around, she typically will appear entirely uninterested and not even pick up on innuendo. More than once she’s been talking about magic theory and entirely ignoring the obvious Fuck Me Eyes she’s getting.

ABILITIES

✖ COMBAT SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

While she’s not especially dangerous in melee, L’yhta is an extremely talented and experienced combat mage and adventurer with a keen eye for small group tactics.

✖ LITERACY SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

L’yhta will be the first to say that she’s not especially talented at linguistics, despite being conversationally capable in Hingan, Doman, Belah’dian, and Mhachi; being able to read Nymian and Amdaporian; and being marginally skilled at translating Allagan. It’s probably more fair to say that outside of learning languages well enough to be able to use them for magic or singing, her linguistic skills are iffy at best, and that’s mostly because she’s easily distracted from exercising them.

✖ ARTISTIC SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

L’yhta can sing and dance (ballet and ballroom) with reasonable amateur competency. She can also draw circles and other arcane geometries freehand, though she doesn’t consider this an artistic skill so much as a magickal one that every arcanist or esoterica researcher must be able to do.

✖ TECHNICAL SKILLS – excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Within the area of magic, L’yhta has incredibly advanced technical skills that enable her to create new spells and cheat reality (and the Reaper). Outside of that area, her skills are laughably poor. She can barely turn on magitek devices, can only cook a few simple dishes, and doesn’t really understand the principles of teknology.

Tagged by: @mercermachines​, thank you! :)

Tagging: Anyone who wants to do it! I’m late to this particular party, I know.

#ooc #meme #character bio

[clownsgobeepbeep]

Tender and Culinary Herbs

I...I have no words nor excuses for this being...extremely late...

Anyways, I was once again too excited to post this, so if it sucks it’s either ‘cause it sucks or because I rushed+didn’t bother editing uwu Somehow...this still ended up super long...sorry

I’ll be tagging @grotesquegabby and @post-itpenny because some of yours are in this

Part Thirteen

“How...how did she…” Cantarella blinked several times before eyeing the crowd around her, eyes now wide before she shifted into her shadow self.

Before anybody could react, she made sure to vanish away, going as far away as she could from the circus grounds.

Once she had reached what she deemed was far enough, Cantarella set herself down on the ground, realizing that she stood near the beach.

“I can’t believe it.” she whispered to herself in disbelief, reaching behind to soothe her back as she surprisingly still felt the pain of her back ripping open. “I can’t fucking believe it. What will Risus think…”

“Quite strange seeing you this way.”

In an instant, Cantarella whipped around to defend herself from whoever it was had now found her, but her guard was dropped down in the slightest bit once she laid eyes on none other than ‘James’.

“What are you doing here?” Cantarella sighed in relief before placing a hand on her chest.

“The real question is, what are you doing here?” the man asked as he approached her, eyeing her entire self. “Last I remembered, you were 4’6 in heels and blonde with hazel eyes.”

“Well, I’m not anymore.” Cantarella forced a fake grin. “You don’t mind, do you? Having a daughter with blue hair and pink eyes?”

“Pink eyes look so much better than hazel ones.” Ryder booped the girl’s nose, making her blink in surprise before watching as he made his way towards the beach now. “So, tell me. What happened?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does, actually.”

Cantarella stared at her father for a moment before averting her gaze.

“She...she found a way out.”

“Did she now?” Ryder peered over at Cantarella who still did not dare look his way. “How disappointing.”

Finally, Cantarella looked up and at Ryder who was now the one that could not bring himself to look at her.

“That mouse is nothing but a pathetic excuse for life, a waste of stardust, yet she managed to find a way to take you out of her body.” Ryder posited as his usual expression disappeared, now something much more stern replacing it, something quite unlike his character. “How are you mine again?”

“It wasn’t my fault.” Cantarella finally spoke up. “She couldn’t have done it alone...she, she must have had some kind of help.”

“Help or not, you’re here and she’s with her family who is no doubt nursing her back to health at this very moment.” Ryder spat out before turning to look at Cantarella with a deep frown. “She was meant to be asleep while we did as Risus asked, but once she’s back in health-”

“You’re not afraid of her, are you?” Cantarella interrupted. “Because, if you really think we’re these powerful beings, and Risus can do anything, why are you guys so afraid of her? She’s just some pipsqueak who can’t even decide what guy to hook up with.”

“We are not afraid of her, or the others.” Ryder claimed. “We are only being...cautious.”

“Cautious my ass.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“I mean, seriously! You guys can’t continue with your plan with her still awake? What’s so wrong about-”

“This is exactly the reason why I told Risus you would only be harming our plans!” Ryder shouted over Cantarella’s voice, making her back away the slightest bit. “You’re but a child who’ll never understand. Can’t even do a single task right.”

“But I can-”

“I should have saved some other sibling of yours, one with potential.”

Cantarella’s eyes widened at that statement, right before she furrowed her eyebrows and stepped towards Ryder.

“I have potential,” she started with a deep frown that matched his. “And more. I’ll fucking show you.”

“I highly doubt you can.” Ryder lifted one of his hands, admiring it as if it held more importance. “But fine, do as you want. I have other business to attend to, such as making sure things don’t get even further out of hand.”

“I will.” Cantarella clenched her fists. “Hope you’re not further disappointed when I prove I can do even more than you ever have.”

Finally, Ryder turned with a scowl meant for Cantarella, but he found that she was already gone.

_____________

“He’ll fucking see. He’ll fucking see what I’m capable of.” Cantarella grumbled to herself after having left her father, now making her way through the pier  that she realized was not as crowded as usual. “I’ll fucking show him just how better than him I can be.”

Her fists were tightly clenched at her sides as she stormed down the path, ignoring the few glances she got every now and then. She then, however, stopped walking at the sound of a laugh, this making her look up and towards the front where she saw the arcade.

Cantarella blinked her eyes for a moment, then squinting them to take a better look at who she now recognized.

That crazy hair of red could be recognized from everywhere.

She saw the male laughing to himself as he played on one of the large games, clearly beating the stranger he was competing against.

And with this, a smirk crept onto Cantarella’s face.

_____________

“Where did you go!? Did you actually go on a trip!? Are you okay!?”

“Cordie,” Jelly gave a bit of a laugh, rubbing her daughter’s back as the latter tightly held onto her. “I’m alright. I’m right here, aren’t I?”

“Yes.” the girl gave a nod with a pout, then rubbing her cheek into Jelly’s side. “But! But! We thought Ula was okay! And it turns out she was this evil mime!”

“I know, I know.” Jelly ruffled Cordelia’s pigtails, then kissing the top of her head. “But Ula is now resting, as should you.”

“B-but-!”

“Cordie.” Jelly caressed her face. “I’ll take you to the tent where Davey and your dad are at so you can rest. Okay?”

“Okay…”Cordelia nodded again, then clinging onto Jelly who stood up with the girl in her arms.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, mommy’s here.” Jelly whispered to her, now walking away from the circus bench she had been sitting on before making her way out of the tent.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re actually here!”

“Maggie!” Jelly exclaimed before she and Cordelia were embraced by her friend, the two then pulling away to make sure the other really was the other.

“What happened to you!? I thought you had gone on some trip or whatever!”

“I’ll explain later.” Jelly told her as they walked through the circus grounds. “I’m just going to be taking Cordelia with Lennie and Davey, then I’m gonna go check on Ula.”

“Okay, sure.” Maggie nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. I’ll talk to you in a bit, I need to go over with Vespers right now.”

“Vespers is also here?”

“Yeah. Some things happened and Atlas needed support.”

“Oh, I see.” Jelly cleared her throat before giving a sigh. “See you in a bit.”

She once again continued her way through the circus grounds, momentarily glancing over at the tent where she knew Ula was currently resting. Jelly finally reached the tent where her husband and son would be, walking in to stop and find a surprise.

“Schrader!?” Jelly exclaimed in a whisper once she saw Davey fast asleep, and he was slumbering on the chest belonging to Schrader who gave a small wave. “How...how...But I-”

“Schrader!?” Cordelia immediately lifted her head, then turning to give a gasp once her eyes landed on Schrader. “Schrader!”

“Okay, okay, relax Cordie.” Jelly quietly chuckled before setting Cordelia down, the latter running over to Schrader before giving him a big hug, yet one that was careful so that she wouldn’t awaken her brother.

“Boy, where were you!?” Cordelia whispered while hugging him tightly. “I missed you! What’s been heckin’ going on with you!?”

“Schrader?” Jelly called out to him, having Cordelia quiet down for a moment. “Do you know where Lennie left off to?”

“He said he was gonna go check on Ula and you.” Schrader whispered as he hugged Davey and Cordelia, making sure to rub her back in a soothing manner. “I’m guessing he went with Ula first.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Jelly nodded as she looked at the trio who all snuggled with each other. “Well, I’ll be going now. I’ll make sure to drop by, I just need-”

“Don’t worry.” Schrader gave a bit of a smile. “I’ll be staying here for now, I’ll watch the kids. Besides, I’m not exactly allowed to go out.”

“Why is that?”

“Everyone suggested I rest up for now,” Schrader slightly shrugged. “And uh, they don’t want Ula hearing or seeing me right now.”

“What?” Jelly blinked with furrowed eyebrows. “Why?”

“Um, Mrs. D’Vitt...maybe you should go talk to Maggie and the others first.” Schrader cleared his throat, appearing to be somewhat uncomfortable….or just unsure, nervous. “You’ve...missed out on a few things that I think would sound better coming from them.”

For a moment, Jelly remained silent as she stared at Schrader and then her children. She pondered at the thought of her missing out on events that could have harmed them, harmed the rest of her loved ones. The thought of...the blue thing nearing them...

“Okay. You just…” she started. “You just call me if anything happens. I’m gonna go get updated on things, even though I can kind of assume what’s been going on.”

“Sure. You be careful.”

“Of course.” Jelly nodded, finally turning to walk out of the tent before finally making her way over to where she imagined Zeta was. _____________

It was clear to everybody but, nearly everybody was quite shaken up after what was witnessed.

Vespers, he was no doubt part of this group. He was concerned for his cousin after he was hit where it hurt, he was concerned about his niece who was possessed or whatever by a girl everybody thought they knew, he was concerned about his family.

“They’re with your parents right now, remember?”

“Right, right. Sorry about that, I just am so worried right now. But also damn confused.”

“About what?”

Vespers had decided to call his husband as soon as possible, warn him of all possibilities after what went on and was no doubt going to continue.

“Cozzy, the things I just explained!”

“Vesp, you’re not making-” “Ryder and the spider bitch are out!” Vespers shouted into his phone, soon being met with the sound of silence coming from Cosmos’ end of the line. “Coz...they’re out. We don’t know how it happened, I mean, we know who? I, it’s just...Cosmos, the kids.

“I’m taking Phoebe out of class early.” Cosmos finally spoke. “Do you think you could call your parents or should I?”

“Um...you should call them. I need to be with Atlas right now.”

“Why? Is he okay? Is anyone hurt?”

“I’ll explain everything when you get here.” Vespers held his breath for a moment, right before looking to the side once he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his location. “Just keep the kids and yourself safe.  Zeta, Maggie and some...person named Logium are trying to handle things right now. I assume they’re another one of those elders.”

“Alright. I’ll call you once I have Phoebe.”

“Okay.”

“Just sit tight for now. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Talking with Cosmos, huh?”

Vespers ended his call before putting his phone back into his pocket as he now looked at the person who had decided to come to him.

“Yeah.” Vespers nodded as he looked at his cousin. “Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah.” Atlas nodded with a sigh, leaning against a nearby tree. “There’s just a lot to process right now.”

“Agreed.” Vespers nodded. “How’s Ula?”

“I haven’t gone back just yet. Especially after...Schrader.” Atlas glanced down at the ground, slightly shuffling his feet. “And then Bubbles is back…”

“Yeah.”

“And then Ula told me that Basil and Flora are actually her and Schrader’s future kids.” Atlas stated without missing a beat, never noticing his cousins’ eyes widen before he abruptly turned his head to look at Atlas. “It’s really eating me up inside, I don’t wanna be the reason they don’t exist. If they exist, are me and Ula not meant to be together? Or-”

“How, about,” Vespers interrupted Atlas, placing a hand on Atlas’ shoulder. “You go and talk to Ula? I think it’s best you guys have a conversation, again.”

“I mean, I guess I could-”

“Great! Now go, I’m pretty sure she needs you.” Vespers pat Atlas’ back. “Seriously. Meanwhile, I’m going to the kitchen.”

“Kitchen? What for?”

“I need a damn coffee.” Vespers finalized before walking away, leaving Atlas alone.

Atlas watched his cousin go, right before he turned to look at the pink tent where he had been much earlier. Now that he looked at it once again, he noticed that there was a new addition: a single chair with a child sitting on it. An all too familiar child who no longer smiled but instead sadly looked down at her feet that she slowly swung, almost in an attempt to appear fine. Atlas knew she wasn’t alright, not in the slightest, not after he saw the condition her brother was in again.

“Hey there.” Atlas quietly greeted once he made his way over to the tent, standing beside the child who barely looked up at him with her head that she raised just a bit. “Um...How, uh...how’s, Twoey?”

“Okay.” the girl replied with a shrug, her head still bowed down as Atlas fiddled with his fingers.

“You uh, eaten anything yet?”

“No.”

“Is it okay for me to ask...where you brother is?”

He was soon met with the sound of silence, no kind of response coming from the girl who only ceased the movement of her legs.

“He’s with Ula.”

“In...inside?”

“Well where else is Ula?” Flora replied in a sarcastic tone that dripped with a lack of expression.

Atlas gave a soft nod, clearing his throat and even tugged at his collar, right before speaking again.

“I hope you don’t mind...but I’ll be going in.”

“Why would I?” Flora finally lifted her head to look up at Atlas, this sending a shiver down his spine as he noticed how dead her eyes looked. Even her colors were starting to fade away like they did with Basil.

Atlas didn’t know what to say next, deciding to now walk into the tent but stopping before he was seen by those inside. Peeking out of the “wall” situated by the tent’s entrance, his eyes caught the sight of Ula still laying in bed, stitched up back his way as she softly sang to the other person inside.

“As the pain sweeps through, makes no sense for you . Every thrill has gone, wasn’t too much fun at all.”Ula cleared her throat, never realizing that Atlas slowly made his way over to her bed. “But I’ll be there for you, as the world falls down.”

He heard Ula sing just up to that line, a sigh now escaping her as he could tell that she caressed Basil’s greying features. Now that Atlas was much closer, he could see how terrible Basil looked, how Ula protectively kept her an arm wrapped around him while the other moved his now brown locks out of his face.

“I'll paint you mornings of gold, I'll spin you Valentine evenings, though we're strangers 'til now-”

“Is that how you’re gonna sing to our kids?”

Ula stopped singing before her hand that caressed Basil instead wrapped itself around him, bringing his frail body closer to hers as she turned her head to look behind. Once she realized who it was, Ula’s hold on Basil loosened.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah.” Atlas nodded before walking around the bed, sitting down right beside where he now had Basil’s back face him. “You’re not disappointed, are you?”

“Of course not.” Ula softly shook her head. “I just thought, after…”

“No, I wanna be with you.” Atlas reached over, hesitating when remembering that Ula’s hands were busy with Basil. “I just...kinda think we should talk.”

At this, Ula shut her eyes with a bit of a sigh.

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” Ula finally opened her eyes, glancing up at Atlas.  “It’s not that I’m...avoiding a talk. I just...I don’t know.”

“Ula.” Atlas finally grabbed her hand, holding it with both of his. “If you’re not up to it, I can...leave, or sit here quietly.”

“No, we do need to talk. We’ve been needing to talk.” Ula gave another sigh. “I can’t keep pushing you away. I tell myself that I’m not, but I am, and I’m so sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Atlas gave her a heartfelt smile. “There’s some things I need to tell you Ula, especially after your honesty.”

“Oh, Atlas-”

“I need you to know that I forgive you for what happened between you and Schrader.” Atlas squeezed Ula’s hand. “It...it obviously hurts that you kissed him-”

“I didn’t kiss him.” Ula interrupted. “I stopped myself before I could, because I would never do that to you.”

“Ula, look. The point is, the point is that I forgive you.” Atlas held his breath for a moment, his eyes peering down at Basil who he somehow has just remembered was still between them. “And...that I know you still…”

“Atlas.”

“I know you still have feelings for Schrader.”

“Atlas-!”

“No, Ula.” Atlas cut her off as he shook her head. “There is no point in you denying that and frankly...I don’t want to hear any of it.”

“Atlas, I only-”

“You’re fawning all over Basil.”

“I’m like this because he’s dying, Atlas.” Ula claimed as she took her hand back, coddling Basil once more as he coughed.  “He’s dying because I’m not going to be with Schrader.”

“Ula-”

“I’m not going to see Schrader. I’m not going to talk to Schrader. I’m not sure if you heard, but Schrader is fucking dead.” Ula slightly sniffed, blinking her eyes a few times. “And even if he was alive, Schrader would be out of our lives for good. Before he was killed in front of me, he told me he planned on going back to Australia because there was nothing for him to do here.”

Atlas remained silent, staring at Ula who had shut her eyes. For a moment, Atlas thought that what was best was for him to leave, give her some time...again.

“Ula.” Atlas spoke up. “How many?”

“What?” Ula opened her eyes, staring at him with eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“How many...how many kids do you want?” Atlas questioned, his cheeks flaring up as he avoided Ula’s gaze that slowly became as flustered.

“Atlas, you-”

“Three?” Atlas told her. “I-I could settle for three.”

“Three?” Ula now joined in. “You sure you could deal with that much?”

“I mean, maybe have...breaks in between each one.” Atlas slightly chuckled to himself, relieved as Ula now gave him a tiny smile.

“Well...do you have any name preferences?” Ula quietly giggled to herself, eyes sadly looking over at Basil.

“I...Huh…”Atlas brought a hand up to the back of his neck.

That’s when Ula felt a shift in her bed, slow but it was still felt as she realized that it was Basil attempting to roll onto his back. With the only amount of strength he had, Basil ignored his pain and tried to lift a hand, feeling as Ula grabbed it in an attempt to lower it.

“Basil, pumpkin-” she began, Basil somehow ripping his arm away from hers so that he could hold it close to Atlas’ face. “Basil please-”

“Just, just let him.” Atlas grabbed Basil’s wrist, knowing very well that he needed the support. In that moment he felt Basil go limp, grateful that he didn’t have to hold his arm up alone.

Basil’s fingers quivered in pain, but that didn’t stop him from closing all of his fingers but the middle and pointer, these being crossed together as Ula recognized what he was doing.

“R.” Ula said. “He’s signing.”

Basil’s fingers now moved down with the rest, the pointer and thumb touching.

“O.”

His three middle fingers were now lifted together.

“W.”

“Rowan.”

“Huh?”

“He’s spelling out Rowan.” Atlas posited, gently placing Basil’s arm down, patting him in a comforting manner after making sure it was alright.

“Rowan.” Ula repeated. “Rowan...I like it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Ula nodded, a much wider smile now gracing her pink cheeks. “A little fawn named Rowan sounds nice.”

“Boy or girls?”

“I’d want at least one boy.” Ula gave a content hum. “A boy that looks just like you. Freckles and all.”

Atlas smiled at this, locking eyes with Ula who looked at ease.

“My mom would be so pissed if we made her a grandmother.” Ula now laughed. “She says grandkids make her feel old. She can sometimes be as vain as Mama Carol.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I even imagine that at our wedding-” Ula then stopped herself, somehow the thought of her walking down the aisle to marry Atlas was what made her really blush, and not the thought of them having children together.

“Why’d you stop? Go on.” Atlas grinned.

“Um, well...I know that when an engagement happens, she’s gonna be mad. She’s gonna feel like you’re taking me away from her.” Ula chuckled to herself, her bottom lip being bit for a brief moment. “But she’s gonna be the first one in line for everything. Wedding theme, invitations, cocktail hour, ceremony, flowers, dress, rings.”

Atlas then noticed Ula’s eyes become watery, so she shut them in order to prevent any tears from spilling out.

“Hey, hey don’t cry.”

“I’m fine.” Ula grabbed the hand that Atlas brought to her face, wiping the corners of her eyes. “I’m just...emotional. I’m here laying on my side unable to move yet again, with a boy who won’t exist and my boyfriend who I dream of marrying one day.”

Ula then wiped her own tears.

“I sound like a stupid school girl.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Atlas whispered. “I like hearing you talk like this.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah.” Atlas reassured her, his face soon becoming softer. “Ula.”

“Yeah?”

“Trust me when I say that I’m not going anywhere.” Atlas stated, fingers running through his own hair as he readied himself while trying to discreetly ready Ula. “I’m sticking with you through all of this, even if you don’t like it.”

“Even when I’m being a bitch?”

“You’re not…”Atlas quietly laughed to himself before nodding. “No matter what, we’re in this together. Okay?”

“Okay.” Ula nodded back. “But, if you grow a beard like your dad’s we’re through.”

“Ula!”

“Kidding!” Ula exclaimed. “I at least will just never kiss you.”

“That’s mean.”

“Whatever.” Ula laughed, right before taking notice of how the corners of Atlas’ lips slightly drooped. “Is there something wrong?”

“Ula.” Atlas took in a gulp, taking Ula’s hand into his. “There’s something I need to tell you about. I would have waited until things were over for sure, but it’s...a little urgent.”

“Okay.” Ula somewhat gulped, nodding in response. “Go ahead.” _____________

Now that Jelly had arrived to where she was told was Zeta’s tent, after some wandering around of course, she released a deep breath while her hands tugged at her skirt, unconsciously wrinkling the material.

“Are you sure you don’t want tea? Something to eat maybe?”

“I don’t want to eat anything.” Jelly plainly spoke, eyes staring emptily into the distance that was merely a side of the tent she resided in. “Jells-Bells,”

Jelly felt a hand be placed on hers, prompting her to release her skirt and look to the side where she locked eyes with Maggie.

“When’s the last time you ate something?”

“When’s the last time I was here?” was Jelly’s way of replying. “How long was I in that void? While Ula was, what, being…”

“All that matters,” Maggie now took Jelly’s hand, squeezing it before giving her a heartfelt smile. “Is that all of you are back here, and Ula...Ula is recovering.”

“Recovering. Right.” Jelly took her hand away from Maggie, using it to go back to grasping her skirt in a concerned manner. “Where even is Lennie?”

“Whether you like it or not, he’s been in the kitchen making you a peanut  butter sandwich.” Maggie sighed as she saw Jelly turn her attention back into the nothing. “Jelly.”

“What?”

“She’s going to be alright.” Maggie placed her hand on Jelly’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

“Maggie.” Jelly’s breath hitched as she was deep in thought. “I nearly lost Ula twice. I’d rather this third time not be the charm.”

“You’re not losing her. I know that all of these things have someone not been available for me to see, but I just know Ula’s going to be okay. She’s in bed, probably still with Ama, possibly even Atlas. When the time comes, she’s gonna get a visit from Schrader who’s so desperate to see her, that poor boy.”

“As concerned as I am about Schrader and the fact that I was told he had been killed,” Jelly laughed to herself, eyes still looking rather disturbed. “There’s still that kid out there, probably lurking around to see how to get one of of us. Ryder is doing who knows what, as well as Missy.”

“And Risus.”

“What?”

“Risus.” Maggie repeated, somewhat hesitating to tell Jelly more. “It’s another one of the elders.”

“And who the fuck is Risus?” Jelly turned to Maggie again, eyebrows furrowed. “Maggie…”

“Oh look, Lennie’s here.” Maggie cleared her throat, standing up before she forced a smile at the clown who walked into the tent with a tray containing tea and sandwiches for Jelly.

“How’s my Jelly-Bean?” Lennie asked as he turned to his wife, a feeling of hurt in his chest once he noticed how melancholic she looked. “I see…”

“Um, how about...I give you guys some time alone?” Maggie took a step away from Jelly so that Lennie could place his tray on the table between the two’s seats. “I need to go talk to Logium.

“Logium? Is that another of those elders?” Jelly sighed. “You didn’t sound too happy when mentioning that Risus one.”

“Logium is the one who brought Schrader back.” Lennie replied, taking her hand in both of his. “They’re a good one.”

Jelly looked at Lennie with sad eyes, then glancing over at Maggie.

“Go ahead, I’ll be alright.” Jelly made a ‘shoo’ motion towards Maggie. “Go with Logium, or Zeta, or whatever.

“I’ll come back in a bit.” Maggie told Lennie who nodded at her, soon making her way out of the tent as Lennie sat on the chair nearest to Jelly.

“You’re looking blue.” Lennie quietly chuckle in an attempt to make Jelly laugh, seeing how her face had turned the slightest bit blue due to her emotions. “How about you have some tea to calm you? It’s valerian root, Ula’s told me it’s good for situations like this one.”

Jelly gave no response, except for turning to Lennie with another sigh.

“I know you won’t want to eat the sandwiches I made, but please, at least have the tea.” Lennie reached over to hold Jelly’s hand again, finally feeling as she squeezed his hand. “I’m also worried about her and everything else, but, let’s just be glad that she’s her and that we haven’t heard of the other asses.”

“I wouldn’t be glad about not having heard of Ryder.” Jelly muttered out before letting go of Lennie’s hand, grabbing the teacup that Lennie poured tea into. “That bastard has all kinds of tricks. I worry about Davey and Cordie, my mother was already hurt badly by him as was Ula.”

“I would not be interrupting anything, now would I?” a new voice was heard, making Jelly and Lennie turn around to face the new person that made their way into the tent.

“Zeta, hi.” Lennie greeted as he watched the woman approach them, pulling a seat so that she could stand in front of them. “What brings you here?”

“If it is alright with the two of you, I believe there are some things we must discuss.” Zeta posited before her eyes landed on Jelly specifically. “But, I can wait for some other time. It is important, but knowing or not knowing will n-”

“Just...just say it.” Jelly interrupted her after having taken a sip of her tea. “Just rip off the band-aid so we can get it over with. I doubt things could get any worse than they already are.”

“First off, I received word from Ferry and Ace sometime after the party held for Ula.” Zeta started. “Their triplets are nowhere to be found. There is no trace of them anywhere.”

“Oh my god,” Lennie frowned. “Do you think it could have been…?”

“We suspect so, yes.” Zeta nodded, and even though he expression remained as its usual stoic one, there was still a hint of sorrow. “But ever since the presumed time of arrival, we have had no idea where she has gone off to.”

“Who exactly is we?” Jelly questioned, setting her teacup down to now run a hand through her hair.

“We, the elders. With the exception of Risus.”

“So, of course, Risus is the bad one of the batch.” Jelly grabbed a bunch of her hair, struggling to not pull it right out. “I don’t want to hear more about them until they’re dead.”

“Then should I stop?” Zeta held her breath for a moment, now reaching out to take Jelly’s hand out from her hair, now holding it. “Jelly, Risus’ attention is mainly on Ula because of what she is.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” now Lennie spoke up with a frown. “Is there something wrong, or, what’s there about Ula that Risus is interested in?”

“First off, I need to explain that Ula, is something referred to as a fixed point in time. No matter the timeline, Ula is meant to exist.”

“Does this mean Ula is not meant to die?”Jelly immediately blurted out, receiving a slight shake of Zeta’s head.

“Not necessarily, but one could say so. It is why those such as Ryder have been so keen on killing her.” Zeta squeezed Jelly’s hand, no doubt attempting to prepare her for more. “Ula has been birthed from you, a being with power that you have not yet reached.”

“Power? What-”

“Jelly,” Lennie interrupted his wife, not meaning to be rude but knowing that she was worrying too much. “Let her talk.”

“As I was saying, Ula has something and has only been gaining more and more. Especially after...after the time Ryder injured her. Would you like me to stop?”

“No. Keep going.”

“Ryder had his hand injured at one point, and as you know he then tried to...rip Ula. In that moment, his blood entered her wound, and since it was James’ body he was in during the time, it was a mix of their blood that entered.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Jelly forced herself to smile, free hand once again clawing into her skirt as she felt Zeta’s emotions. “Ha...you’re...not done.”

“Jelly, there was a timeline that existed before you and James ended your relationship.” Zeta bit the inside of her cheek for a moment. “In it, your relationship merely thrived before the two of you married and had children of your own. The first one…”

“Was…” Jelly attempted to finish for Zeta, eyes widening as she shook her head. “No...that can’t be.”

“Ula was originally your and James’ child, which is why she now has small features resembling his.”

“No, no, no. That’s not possible, there is no James in-”

“The night Ula disappeared after having an argument with Schrader, after what Davey did, she went to the pier and had a run in with Cantarella. Prior to this, Cantarella met up with James and stole a good amount of his blood. This was then forced into Ula’s body, thus making it as if he has been her father all along.”

“Why the fuck would she do something like that!?”

“Jelly.” Lennie once again took her hand, holding her down as he felt how she was starting to act up.

“Ula having blood that is similar to both related to Ryder and James gave Cantarella easier access to entering Ula’s body. As well as completing this so-called ‘prophecy’ Risus has got his descendants so stuck on.” Zeta shook her head to dismiss the last part. “From what I understand, they do not want to kill Ula yet, but Risus will not let her out of their sight. And somehow...I feel that another elder is involved in this, but Logium nor Maggie have been able to figure out which.”

The three now remained silent as Zeta looked between Jelly and Lennie, seeing each of their reactions. Even with Jelly looking in complete disbelief, it was clear to Zeta and Lennie that she was livid on the inside. Meanwhile, Lennie had moved the table and his chair so that he was now sitting beside her so that he could soothe her as best as possible.

“There is one other detail you must know, which furthers Risus’ obsession with Ula.” Zeta quietly sighed, feeling the couple’s eyes on her once more. “It’s your possible grandchildren.” _____________ “I just thought, we’re trying to be more honest with each other and it was something that couldn’t wait.”

“I see.”

“And like I said, I’m pretty sure-”

“Atlas.” Ula removed her hand from Atlas’, instead reaching up to hold his cheek. “It’s okay. Maybe, I’m...a tiny bit jealous, but...I’m just being a hypocrite.”

“No, Ula-”

“Atlas.” Ula rubbed her thumb over his cheek, smiling up at him in a reassuring manner. “Thank you for your honesty. I really do appreciate it.”

Atlas stared down at Ula, sighing before eventually returning the smile and leaning into her hand.

“Like I said, I am a teeny bit jealous, but it’s all good. It’s nice to know that you’ll be happy in some other timeline.” Ula chuckled before her hold then turned into a squeeze on Atlas’ cheek. “But you’re screwed because your ass is mine!”

“Hey.” Atlas laughed before shooing Ula’s hand away, his laughter soon dying down as his eyes landed on Basil who he remembered once again was still there. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“I’m honestly not sure if I can have anything right now.” Ula released a deep breath before bringing her hand down to Basil, stroking his hair as he let out a series of coughs. “Do you think you could...maybe check on Flora? See how she’s doing?”

“Sure, I think I could do that.” Atlas gave a small nod, hand hesitantly coming down to be placed on Basil’s shoulder.

Basil strained to open his eyes, but after a while he was able to open them to reveal eyes that no longer looked blue nor green. His eyes darted to the side where Atlas’ hand was, now looking at his own shoulder that was gently squeezed by Atlas.

“Pardon me,”

Basil’s eyes painfully glanced over to the entrance of the tent where Atlas turned to look, Ula making an attempt to do the same.

“Would it be alright if I joined in?”

“Oh, um...of course…?” Atlas saw a hooded figure walk in, somebody who somehow appeared to be familiar. “You are…?”

“Ah yes, please do pardon my intrusion.” the person gave a chuckle, Atlas realizing that their voice was nearly identical to a certain ringleader’s, even their mannerisms and the way they spoke. “Excluding Basil, I do not believe we have ever met. I go by the name Logium.”

“L-Logium?” Atlas ever so slightly perked up, excitement arising in him as he never realized that Ula looked up at him. “As in, the elder of time and all that comes with it?”

“Ah, I see you have at least heard of me.” Logium gave a bit of a chuckle as they now approached the group.

“Well, yes! My elder Canis has spoken of you.” Atlas smiled before seeing as Logium extended a hand, the former immediately accepting it. “It is so very nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Atlas.”

“Right! I haven’t, wait, ha. You know my name and who I am basically.”

“I do.”

“And, and-”

“Hey fanboy.” Ula interrupted with a bit of a chuckle. “How about you let the elder talk?”

“Right, right.” Atlas nodded after releasing Logium’s hand, hearing them give their own chuckle.

“Thank you, Ula.” they nodded at her, Ula somehow knowing that they directed a smile at her despite their features being hidden. “Now, I come here bringing a sort of invitation for you.”

“Invitation?” Ula looked at the elder who stood between her and Atlas. “I don’t think now is the time for parties or any of those events.”

“Ah,” Logium shook their head at Ula’s joke. “There is another who wishes to speak to you, and it requires you to sleep to perform said interaction.”

“Whoa, wait, sleep?” Ula blinked up at Logium before shaking her head. “I’m sorry elder Logium, but I can’t. Not again, not until this whole mess is over with.”

“Pardon me?”

“If I go to sleep...I might go to that dreamland again, and I-I can’t have that.” Ula continued to shake her head. “I’m afraid going there again will result in me not waking up. And I’m not sure if I’ll have help who’ll tell me that I’m in a dream again.”

“Oh, but Ula,” Logium placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can assure you that in no way will you go to such a place again.” “But-”

“Hey, Ula.” now Atlas spoke, stepping forward just a bit. “I doubt you’ll go to another of those places again, but if you for some reason do...I’ll make sure to get you out of there, okay?”

“That...that…” Ula gave a nervous laugh. “That’s not exactly reassuring…”

Atlas then made a weird face at her.

“But...okay, I guess I-I’ll do it.” Ula cleared her throat before turning to look at Logium, giving them a nod. “I’ll do it.”

“Ula, I can reassure you that all is well. It is a mere conversation with somebody quite important who would never harm you.” Logium stated as Ula glanced over at Atlas, seeing as he smiled at her.

“I’ll be here when you wake up. I told you I’m not leaving you.” Atlas whispered before Logium placed a hand on Ula’s forehead.

“Despite being occupied, Elder Sionis has made it so that nobody interrupts this interaction.” Logium finalized as Ula’s eyes felt heavy, vision becoming blurry before she wasn’t able to contain a yawn. “Now, rest.” _____________

She came awake in the brightness and stood there, eyes fluttered open as she scanned the area around her.

Ula reached up to touch her forehead, and then her body, making sure that everything was  alright.

She gave a sigh of relief as she felt that everything was perfectly intact, shutting her eyes for a moment while basking in the moment.

Ula was safe, no traces of harm were on her as she hugged herself and felt that all was alright.

She wasn’t in some version of her bedroom nor her home, and it definitely wasn’t anywhere near her home.

Ula blinked at what she was surrounded by: a garden almost so ethereal, it was far too beautiful to believe was real. Her attention was brought down to her feet as she felt something cold, now realizing that not only was she barefoot, but she wore a beautiful dress that flowed with the soft breeze she felt; it was almost fairy like with the airy and flowery vibe it had. However, what she deemed quite important was the cold on her feet, noticing that it came from the shallow water surrounding her.

Beneath the water was a floor made of smooth stones that created the shape of a swirl she stood right in the center of. Eyes followed the swirls’ line which then lead to Ula seeing a stairway surrounded by all kinds of flora and some fauna. Looking up, Ula could see all kinds of flowers hanging from above, from a ceiling that most likely did not exist or was far too high to see. All around were petals flowing and floating down, as twinkling lights shone up above with the birch that also hung above.

The sounds were quite soothing, water trickling all around and if it wasn’t pure imagination...the flowers were somehow...singing. Of course, that was but a metaphor or whatever, was what Ula told herself.

“Where to…” Ula cleared her throat as she turned around, still examining whatever she could before seeing that the body of water she was in came from a stream, this one connecting to a series of waterfalls that came up from where the stairs lead to.

Before Ula could say or do anything else, she was startled when a sign popped up from the soil, pointing at the stairs and reading “This Way”.

“Alright, this way I go.” she blinked at the sign before glancing at the stairs, that she made her way towards them, now walking up as she heard whispers all around.

Ula turned to look in every direction, never finding faces that spoke whispers, so she decided to ignore them and continue her way up the steps that trickled with their own waterfall. However, it was soon clear to her that no matter the amount of water falling, one could never slip.

She looked up at the top of the stairway, believing for a moment that she would never reach the end that was greatly illuminated by bright lights that shone in a heavenly manner.And after a while, Ula eventually found herself at the top, then turning to look at the bottom that was no longer visible.

“Welcome, dear child.” a voice so calming spoke to Ula, making her turn back to the front where she now found herself in the presence of a whole new garden, one much more ethereal than the one below.

“Hi there, um…” Ula tugged at the dress she wore, taking a step forward as she was once again surrounded by water. This time, however, she realized there was a plethora of tiny fish-like creatures that curiously swam around her.

“Conllium.” the voice told her, something making Ula step deeper into the garden where she found a grand structure similar to a gazebo. On its center was pure soil from where a twig emerged, this eventually growing into a tree that grew and grew until becoming a figure with limbs and a comforting face that looked down at Ula.

“You have grown so much, my tiny one.”

“Uh...considering how Logium is the one who kinda brought me here, and they’re an elder.” Ula once again cleared her throat, feeling as the figure loomed over her much, much smaller figure. “I assume you’re another elder…?” “You are correct.” the being eventually shrunk down to a much shorter size, yet they still remained tall. “Can you guess which of them all?”

“If you mean what of, I don’t know. Life, maybe? Flowers?” Ula gave a nervous laugh before gulping. “But if you mean, bloodline-wise...the flowers and such kind of give it away, and also you calling me your tiny one.”

“My descendants are all my children.” one of the elder’s ‘hands’ came down, taking a lock of Ula’s hair that was ruffled. “But you, you are one of the many special ones child.”

“Special?” Ula clasped her hands together, thumbs twiddling as she stared up at Conllium .

“I would ask how things are progressing back in your homeland, but I am awake which means that there is no good being done.” Conllium dismissed their previous comment, their bottom half now parting to create legs that they used to walk away from the gazebo. “And of course, all this chaos has been brought upon you by none other than that despicable smog.”

“Um, wh-who are you talking about?” Ula now followed after the elder who casually strolled through their realm, only stopping to reach down towards a bush. “Logium said you wanted to talk to me, and-”

“My roses have withered.” Conllium interrupted, reaching forward towards the bush where Ula saw three withered, what she presumed were, very large roses.

One of them still had some color to it, not as faded as the other two. Especially the one at the top of the “triangle” that one extremely close to death.

“Would you care to tend for them?”

“Elder-” Ula called out to Conllium, sighing as she realized they were not going to reply until she did as she was asked.

Ula walked towards the push, realizing that every flower was larger than her head. She soon lifted her hands, making them hover over to bring life back into the flowers. But...she realized that nothing happened.

“I...I can’t.” she frowned, practically glaring down at her hands. “I don’t know why that didn’t work.”

“Hm.” Conllium hummed to themselves, then continuing on their way as Ula once again followed.

“Elder Conllium,” Ula managed to keep up with their pace, walking at their side while looking up at the elder. “Why have I come here?”

“Despite it being autumn, I decided to keep my garden in its spring time look. What do you think of it?” Conllium once again ignored Ula’s question. “I initially believed you would dislike it, but I do know how much you appreciate such a look. You are quite the fan of Alice in Wonderland after all. The Mad One is an interesting fellow-”

“Elder!” Ula now shouted up at Conllium who ceased their walking, turning to look down at Ula in a calm manner which read more as intimidating. “Um...why am I here? There are other things I-I need to deal with...not that, I don’t have time-”

“Time does not exist in this realm.” Conllium stated before bringing a hand towards Ula, gently patting her head to then ruffle her hair once more. “I mean no emotional harm, but do you remember the night that mime injured and forced a substance into you?”

“Yeah...I do…”

“What happened to you before you were found by your beloved and cousin?”

“B-beloved!?” Ula exclaimed with reddened cheeks. “Schrader is not-!”

“You were foolishly dropped into the sea, before you were engulfed in the embrace of vines.” Conllium continued. “Have you ever wondered how those came to be?”

“I, well...yeah.” Ula nodded, frowning in confusion. “I mean, I went from being on the seafloor to my rabbit hole. How does that even happen?”

Ula stared at Conllium who stared back, right before her eyes widened upon a realization.

“That was you!”

“Indeed.” Conllium gave a single nod as they now looked forwards. “I could never leave you laying there, especially after everything.”

“After...what, exactly?”

“You are Mecor’s child, and Mecor a descendant of mine.”

“I’m sorry, Mecor-what now?”

“Mecor, elder of the state of being.” Conllium posited before waving their hand in the air, an image appearing in the area to reveal none other than Ula’s mother.

“Wait, wait, wait...what? What are you saying?”

“My dear Ula,” Conllium chuckled while staring at the image of Jelly. “Your mother was birthed as a powerful being, and she grows more powerful day by day. Fortunate for you, you have inherited such power.”

“You’re telling me...that my mom’s...another one of you guys?” Ula blinked in complete disbelief. “And...she hasn’t told us? Me? My dad? Maggie? Wait, she probably doesn’t even know herself...right? I-...hold up, did you say something about inheriting?”

“My, my. Always such a curious one.” Conllium sighed in a good way, then waving their hand so that the image of Jelly was whooshed away, now being replaced by images of two silhouettes. “Besides being a child of Mecor, you are a child who has received more than meant to. You are one who is meant to exist in every timeline, no matter the manner in which you are birthed. But, what never changes is who you are, or choose to be.”

“What do you mean?” Ula stared at the silhouettes, one who appeared to look quite familiar.

“Has there been any mention of Cundolili to you?”

“I don’t believe so.” Ula shook her head while Conllium waved their hand again, now three more silhouettes appearing above the bottom two before the one in the center turned into an image of Ula.

“Cundolili is the name of the elder of cycles. The elder of life and death, which is what I am the elder of.”

“So there’s...two elders, for that?”

“No my child.” Conllium shook their head before the two silhouettes besides Ula’s image turned into one of Atlas, and the other of Schrader. “Cundolili is my successor.”

“A-and they are…?”

“Ula,” Conllium stared at the three images for a while, Ula watching them. “May I ask what your relationship with each of these young men is?”

“W-well Atlas is my boyfriend, who...I hope to marry some day.” Ula stuttered before her eyes landed on Schrader’s image. “And Schrader...is my ex...who’s...dead.”

“I see.”

“What does any of that matter?” Ula made sure to loudly clear her throat.

“Would you hope to marry Schrader?”

“Excuse me?” Ula’s eyes widened at the sound of that, face turning away to hide how flushed it was. “Schrader’s dead!”

“Hm.”

“A-and even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t be with him because I-I-I already have a boyfriend!”

“Ah.”

“So, you know, my future with him is also dead! E-Even if our possible son and daughter are somehow s-still existing!”

“Hm, future.” Conllium nodded. “I have always found that concept ever so interesting.”

They then looked down at Ula, seeing her flustered expression that was oly furthered by her pout.

“The future can always be altered, Ula. No matter how definite it seems.”

“I...I know.” Ula’s head now hung low, eyes looking down at the water once again as she bit her lip. “But...this future is set.”

“Ah, but the future is a never-ending book whose pencil never ceases to scribble tales.” Conllium placed a ‘finger’ under Ula’s chin, lifting her head up as they chuckled to themselves. “And just like every book, edits are always made. That is why we use a pencil, for no pen is ever required.”

“I...what does any of this even have to do with this so-called Cundolili?” Ula practically whined before she and the elder turned back to the images in the air.

“You have been born with a power that deems you worthy of being an elder.” Conllium closed their hand for a moment, then opening it to reveal a simple yet lovely flower crown that was placed upon Ula’s head. “You are a candidate for the position of Cundolili.”

With her mouth agape, Ula was at a loss for words before she eventually shook her head.

“I...how-”

“However, I am in no way a forceful elder.” Conllium went back to the images in the air, one of the silhouettes now turning into a picture of none other than Basil. “Your possible first born with Schrader is another candidate for that title.”

“Another? Wow….um…”

“And the third would be your firstborn with Atlas.”

“What?” Ula instantly replied, waiting for the image of the other child to be revealed. It however never appeared.

“I am not asking for a decision now, nor tomorrow, nor next month, nor year.” Conllium placed a hand over Ula’s shoulder. “But I must tell you, that you are to make a decision.”

“Decision…” “Now that you know who you could be in some future, you must know that you may answer yes or no. You must decide whether or not you wish to be the next elder of life and death, and cycles.” Conllium gave Ula a comforting squeeze. “If you decide to be so, I can tell you more when the time comes. If you decide against it...the ‘offer’ will move onto your twins.”

“Twins?” Ula’s eyes widened again. “What do you mean, twins? I thought you said firstborn child!”

“Are you willing to hear my words and be flustered once again? Or shall I keep quiet instead?” Conllium now gave a laugh, making Ula gulp before shrugging.

“I...I guess I need to hear it.”

“There is a timeline in which you remain in a living relationship with Atlas, but Schrader eventually joins in.”

“J-Joins?”

“The two of them are your mates in said timeline, just as your dear sister Cordelia desires it to be.” Conllium’s gaze darted down to Ula who had already turned red. “In these timelines, you tend to give birth to twins, each one being fathered by each mate.”

“Oh my stars.”

“Not accepting the role of elder results in your powers moving onto these newborns. The one fathered by Atlas is the one with the higher possibility of becoming Cundolili, whilst the one fathered by Schrader has a chance of replacing another elder.” Cundolili explained  while staring at the remaining silhouette in the air. “You remain powerful, but not as powerful as an elder, for it is then your sons.”

“Sons?” Ula finally glanced up at Conllium. “I have a son with Atlas?”

“Yes.”

“And that,” Ula pointed at the silhouette. “Is that how he looks?”

“Yes.” Conllium answered with a nod. “Would you like to see him?”

“I...I would.” Ula nodded before watching Conllium wave their hand, now revealing a brown-haired boy who was the spitting image of Atlas, with the exception of flower-shaped freckles, a lack of glasses, and hair a much lighter color. “Oh my stars...it’s...Rowan.”

“As I mentioned, that boy will most likely accept his role as an elder.” Conllium then glanced over at the image of Basil. “And Basil will do the same when his time comes. Both of those boys are to be born with such power, they shall only ever make you and their fathers proud.”

“Basil’s time...Basil won’t-” Ula soon stopped herself, somewhat of a realization coming to her before she looked at Conllium again. “You keep talking about Basil as if he’s going to exist, just like this other son. But, that can’t be possible because...because his father’s dead, and, and…”

“Ula.” Conllium’s hand came to the top of Ula’s head once again, soothing her while her thoughts raced all over the place.

“Oh my stars...oh my stars!” Ula gasped. “Basil hasn’t perished away because...because…!

“Schrader is alive.” Conllium nodded as Ula gave another gasp.

“And you’re telling me that I could end up with him again! While also being with Atlas! Wait, no! That’s crazy, that’s...no!”

As Ula had a crisis of her own, Conllium sensed something...off...very off...it reeked of…

“Risus.” Conllium muttered to themselves, turning around to hide a new image he created in the water.

They stared down, seeing the sight that was another one of their descendants. It was Pepper, now changed into something like Ula had been...and he was making his way towards his brother.

Conllium, frowned at the sight, seeing that ‘Pepper’ was up to no good.

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 037 [Awards Ceremony]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 3,710

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“I wanna go to the other side; they have a club where the legends never die. ‘Cause I want everyone to know my name, And I’m ready to do what it takes to live forever in the hall of fame.” Smash Into Pieces, “Hall of Fame”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

I stifled a yawn as I returned to class A’s seating area. Katsuki was missing, thankfully, probably getting ready for his next match. To be honest, I don’t feel like listening to him bitch about how I was disqualified. I’m already kicking myself because I want to fight Todoroki now. I fell into his empty seat with a sigh. Tsu was beside me, followed by Mineta, Sero, and Sparky.

“W-Winchester,” Sparky shifted his weight, cheeks darkening a bit. “Bakugo was looking for you.”

I grunted, resting my cheek against my palm. “I know.” He shifted again, asking if Tsu would switch seats with him. She tilted her head, looking at me for confirmation and I shrugged. He settled down beside me but he kept looking at me and then snapping his gaze away. I tried to ignore it, but it was hella annoying. “What is your damn problem?”

“I thought you hated us,” he responded softly, running his hand over his pants. “But you defended me and… and the rest of the class. That really meant a lot to me… what you said. Thank you, Winchester.” He smiled brightly, eyes closed as he tilted his head to the side, blonde hair shifting from the movement.

Huh, that’s actually kinda cute. I smiled, ruffling his hair. “You’re welcome, Sparky.”

“My name isn’t Sparky,” he pouted. “It’s Denki Kaminari.”

I chuckled, pushing his head down a bit as my smile turned sadistic. “After all, only me and Katsuki are allowed to terrorize class A~!”

He sweatdropped, pulling away from my hand. “You can be really terrifying sometimes…”

“Welcome to the final battle at U.A. High School’s sports festival! In just a moment here, we’ll see which first-year comes out on top! Yes, it all comes down to this folks! From the hero course, Shoto Todoroki! Versus! His classmate, Katsuki Bakugo! Now… Begin!!”

Todoroki wasted no time sending a huge wave of ice toward Katsuki, but the blonde went into overdrive, exploding the ice at an incredible speed. Despite this, he was soon encased in an icy prison.

“Todoroki starts with a crazy ice blast! Bakugo seems to have been completely buried! Is it possible we’ve already got a winner down there?!”

“This isn’t like when he attacked Sero,” Zuku commented from in front of Mineta. “That ice just now was more controlled. He’s being cautious.”

“Can ya blame ’em?” I hummed as muffled explosions reached my ears. I grinned, leaning forward to rest my arms on my knees. Sorry, Todo, but that chihuahua ain’t that damn easy!

“What’s that terrifying sound?” Mineta cried out in fear, making me roll my eyes. Fuckin’ twat is scared of his own shadow.

“It’s gotta be Bakugo’s doing,” Tsu answered. Sure enough, the explosions became louder until the ice finally shattered, opening up a hole to reveal a pissed off looking blonde.

“He used his explosions to tunnel through the ice like some kind of mole man!” Sero exclaimed in surprise.

“These two are insane,” Kaminari muttered, leaning back in his chair.

The two boys rushed at each other and Bakugo used a small explosion to propel himself to the side, catching Todoroki off guard as he grabbed the top of his head and left shoulder.

“He dodged his right side with a blast!” Zuku said in awe.

“Awesome…” Ochaco added.

Hmm, he’s trying to make Todoroki use his fire like he did on Zuku, ain’t he? Pushing off the ground, Bakugo sent him flying across the arena with an explosion, but Todoroki used his ice to curve around the inside, sliding across the ice to remain in bounds.

“Todoroki surfs an ice wave to avoid going out of bounds! Looks like fun!”

For once, we agree, Mic. That does look like fun. This kid should be hired to entertain kids parties, he’d make a fucking killing.

Bakugo launched at him and Todoroki grabbed him with his left arm.

“Do it, Shoto!” Endeavor commanded.

I scowled, falling back into my seat. The sound of his voice ruined my mood and now all I can think about is punching dicks.

Todoroki refused the demand, throwing Bakugo away from him without using his fire.

“Stop screwing around!” Bakugo growled angrily. “What, do you think I’m not worthy of your fire?!”

“Bakugo timed his explosions to grab Todoroki’s left side on purpose,” Aizawa commentated. “He’s done his research. His aptitude for this becomes more apparent with every fight.”

“Interesting!”

“Todoroki’s doing well so far, but his attacks are too simple. It almost seems like he lost his spark after the match with Midoriya.”

Of course he fucking did. I ran my hand down my face in frustration before lowering my head. That damned chihuahua doesn’t care about why people do the things that they do. He’s smart as fuck, true, and he even heard Todoroki’s story, but he believes that it doesn’t matter, that it’s not important. He hasn’t stopped to think about why Todoroki is so damn reluctant to use those flames of his. All he cares about is that he used his flames on Izuku. Why, Katsuki? Why do you feel inferior next to Zuku?

“You bastard! I’ll tell you what’ll happen if you make a fool out of me! I’ll kill you!!” Bakugo cried angrily. “I don’t want there to be any doubt that I’m the best student at the festival! That’s only possible if you come at me as hard as you can! There’s no point if you don’t fight me with the same power you used against Deku! If you don’t want to win this, then why are you even here?! Show everyone that’s you’re trying to destroy me!”

Zuku shot up from his seat, approaching the railing. “Come on, Todoroki! Don’t give up! Do your best!”

I grinned at him and stood up, resting on the railing. “Oi~ Todoroki! If you win this, I’ll punch that flame fuck for you! Right in the nuts!”

“W-Winchester, you’re too brutal!” Kirishima cried, his hands over his lap.

I smirked at him over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kiri, you can harden your balls can’t cha? I doubt I could damage ’em.”

He sweatdropped, his cheeks darkening. “T-That’s not the point!”

Bakugo rushed him and Todoroki’s ice started to melt as his fire raged up. Crossing his arms and holding his palms out on either side of his body, Bakugo started to release an explosion from one palm then the other until his body started to spin like a goddamn ninja blender. Todoroki lifted his flaming arm, ready to depend, but then his power dropped and the flames died away. Meanwhile, Katsuki’s power is steadily fucking rising.

“Howitzer… IMPACT!!”

The ice shattered as Bakugo released a massive explosion, filling the arena with thick, black smoke.

“Wohoho! Bakugo combined speed and rotation with a huge blast like he used again Uraraka! He turned himself into a human missile! Todoroki didn’t fire off the flame attack that wowed us in his match against Midoriya! So what has become of our top two competitors?!”

My hands clenched around the railing as a bead of sweat rolled down my cheek. Katsuki is gonna be so~ fucking pissed that Todo didn’t use his fire.

The smoke finally started to clear.

Todoroki was out of bounds, his body unmoving against a huge chunk of cracked ice. Bakugo shakily got to his feet, taking a step forward. “Hey… Hey!” He suddenly rushed forward, grabbing the collar of Todoroki’s shirt and shaking him. “Stop messing around! This isn’t a real win for me unless you try harder! It can’t end this way! Now get up!”

Pink powder filled the arena as Midnight activated her quirk, putting Bakugo to sleep. She raised her arm. “Todoroki is out of bounds! That means… Bakugo is the winner!”

“And~ with that, the final match is officially over! The first-year champion of the U.A. sports festival is… Katsuki Bakugo from class 1-A!!”

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

I stepped into Gran’s temporary office, sliding the door closed behind me.

“Hello, deary.” She smiled. “What have you done now?”

I sweatdropped. “Have you no faith in me, Gran?”

She hummed, thoughtfully tapping her chin with her finger. “Let’s say that’s up for debate.”

I laughed. “I’m innocent this time, I promise. How’s Todoroki doing?”

“Only a few minor scrapes and bruises. I’ve healed him and he’s resting up.”

I nodded, grabbing a stool and setting it beside his bed. He looks so peaceful when he’s sleeping. I reached out, my fingertips brushing the two-tone bangs from his forehead. His eyes slowly slid open, looking up at me with confusion. “How ya feelin’, bro?”

“I’m… okay.” He responded, softly.

I ruffled his hair lightly, giving him a smile. “You did really good out there, I’m proud of you, Todo. Congrats on getting second place.”

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, his lips parting but no sound escaped him.

The door slid open roughly and Midnight waltzed into the room, her eyes landing on me. “Oh, Winchester, I was looking for you!”

I stared at her blankly. “I didn’t punch anyone else, leave me alone.”

She smirked, putting her hand on her hip and cocking a brow. “Oh? So you didn’t threaten to punch the number two hero in the dick in front of thousands of witnesses?”

“Woah woah woah,” I stood up, turning around to face her with a scowl. “First off, I threatened to punch him in the nuts, not the dick. Get your fuckin’ facts straight, Midnight. Plus, I said I would punch him if Todoroki won the match which I’m sure you are clearly aware, he did not. That makes the threat null and void.”

“That’s not how that works, Winchester. You’re such a pain!” She sighed dramatically, putting the back of her hand to her temple before smiling at me. “Officially, you and Tokoyami are tied for third place. We were considering having the two of you compete in a side game -”

“It’s not chess, is it? You know I ain’t smart enough to win in chess, Midnight, especially not against Tokoyami.”

She ignored me. “However, since you like to make questionable choices and give your teachers a constant migraine, you have forfeited the right to fight for third place and will settle for fourth place. Clear?”

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” I waved my hand. “Cool, does that mean I can go home now?”

“Of course,” she smiled, licking her lips. Even though she had a kind expression on her face, her eyes were burning with sadistic intent. “Not. We still have the award ceremony to do and you will be there. Plus, you need to apologize to Monoma and class B for your behavior.”

“I already did that, chief.”

“Do it again.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Do it again or else.”

“You can’t just say ‘or else’, Midnight. You gotta follow through with a threat. No one is gonna take you seriously like that.”

Her eye twitched and she was about to yell at me, but she suddenly paused and slowly approached, an evil grin on her face. Her finger ran down my cheek, making me shudder in disgust. “Or else, I will have Shimatsu Tacos fined for using a student to advertise their business during a school event.”

My eyes narrowed. “You fuckin’ wouldn’t.”

She leaned in her closer, her eyes begging me to challenge her. “Oh please, Winchester, do test me.”

I shuddered again, shoving her face away. “Alright, fuck! Just keep yo ugly ass face out of my space, man.”

She humphed in triumph before turning to Todoroki, whose eyes were still wide as he watched us. “Can you stand, Todoroki? We need you there to start the ceremony.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, slipping his shoes on before standing up. He hesitated, glancing over at me. I raised a brow and he seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head and following Midnight out of the room.

What a strange edgelord, he is.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“The first-year students have completed all of the events for the U.A. sports festival!” Midnight announced as she stood in front of the gathered students. A group of reporters are gathered behind a barricade nearby so they can get pictures of the winners. “Now, it’s time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony!”

Loud music started to blast through the stadium as fireworks exploded across the sky in a wide array of colors. I stifled a yawn as a stream of sparklers shot up behind Midnight, covering the area in smoke. The winner’s pedestal started to raise from the ground.

“Woah…”

“What the heck…”

“He’s been going nuts ever since he woke up,” Kirishima explained from beside me, giving me a look. Katsuki was quite literally chained up to the fucking slab of concrete, his hands bound so he couldn’t use his quirk and a metal mask over his mouth so he couldn’t speak. He’s growling and struggling against his bonds, clearly not happy about the outcome of his match. His eyes met mine and I smirked, making him struggle harder.

“Man, Bakugo, pull yourself together.” Kiri sighed, rubbing the back of his head. I patted his shoulder.

Midnight cleared her throat. “Jen Winchester and Fumikage Tokoyami were meant to battle it out for the third place, but because of a technicality that has arisen, she will automatically take fourth place.” She winked at the cameras, putting her finger to her glossy lip.

I felt eyes on me and glanced around, spotting Monoma staring at me. He was chewing on his lip, face blank and pale blue eyes looking conflicted. As soon as he realized I was looking at him, he turned his face away.

“Too bad Iida couldn’t be here,” Tsu commented. Now that she brought it up, where is that engine freak? I haven’t seen him since the spat after Zuku’s surgery. I had just assumed he was avoiding me.

“Yeah…” Zuku’s eyes were shining with worry and sadness as he turned his gaze to the ground. I scratched my cheek, not liking that expression on his face. Just what the fuck did I miss exactly?

“Now, let’s break out the hardware!” Midnight held out her arm with a smirk. “Of course, there’s only one person worthy of distributing the awards!”

A familiar laugh rang out across the stadium and the crowd went wild when All Might appeared, jumping toward the podium.

“Citizens, I am” “All Might is the” “here!!” “number one hero!!”

I sweatdropped as his and Midnight’s voices overlapped one another. Clearly, they should have fucking rehearsed before trying that because that performance was total ass, bro.

“I ruined that, didn’t I?” Midnight put her hands together in apology before acting as if nothing had even happened. “So now that you’re here, All Might, why don’t you start the presentation?”

Toshi took the third-place medal and stepped up to Fumi. “Young Tokoyami, congratulations.” He placed the medal around his neck. “You showed great strength out there!”

“Your words humble me, sir.”

“However,” Toshi pulled him into a gentle hug, patting his back. “You’ve got more training to do if you’re going to be able to fight against different kinds of villains. You’re not going to be able to rely on your quirk in every battle you face.”

I started to laugh, earning a glare from Midnight and strange looks from my classmates. I couldn’t control it so I turned around and stuffed my face into Kiri’s shoulder. Bro, Fumi’s fucking beak is literally pressed into Toshi’s fucking armpit and I know from fucking experience that it smells like hopes and the laughter of children. Bro, someone fucking save him, please.

“Are you okay, Winchester?” Kiri asked with worry, patting my back as I laughed into his shoulder. “Midnight is really glaring at you… god, she’s terrifying.”

I pulled myself away and coughed a few times, slapping both of my cheeks at the same time to compose myself. I gave him a thumbs up and turned back around. Holy shit, Midnight looks like she’s about to fucking sprout snakes from her hair. I didn’t know laughing was a fucking crime, chief.

Toshi took the second place medal and stepped up to Todoroki, whose gaze remained lowered. “Young Todoroki, congratulations. I’m assuming there’s a reason you didn’t use your left side, though it cost you the final.”

“Midoriya opened my eyes during our match, but then I started to doubt myself. I think I now understand a little about why you’re so interested in him. I want to be the kind of hero you are, but my path… isn’t as clear as I thought it was. I have a lot to think about… and I still need to settle things with someone, very soon.”

I threw my arm around Zuku’s shoulder, careful of his injuries. “See what you did, kid? Todoroki was lost in a tunnel of darkness, and you shined the light that got him running in the right direction. Be proud of yourself.”

He nodded, sending me a bright smile as his eyes teared up. “Thank you, Jen…”

“If you keep this up, you’re gonna be called the crying hero, Zuku.”

“Sorry…”

Toshi continued, pulling the boy into his arms. “Hmm, I’ve never seen this sort of look on your face before. I won’t ask for details, but trust yourself. I’m sure you’ll work things out.”

“Right…”

“And now, young Bakugo.” Toshi took the first place medal and stepped up to him. “Huh, this is a little much. Well, you did what you said you’d do in the pledge.” He unlocked the metal mouth guard, tossing it back to Midnight, who held it up in disgust, spit dripping from the inside. “You’re true to your word!”

“All Might,” Katsuki growled angrily. “Winning first place this way… doesn’t prove that I’m the best one here!! Even if the world considers me the winner, I refuse to accept it like this!!”

Zuku sweatdropped. “Kacchan is so angry…”

“Yep,” I responded. “But that’s nothin’ new is it?”

He bit his lip. “No, but…”

“Worried that everyone will look at him poorly?”

He nodded.

“Probably, but that’s fine. Not everyone has to understand that idiot, as long as we do.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m a woman, Zuku, I’m always right.” I grinned, ruffling his hair.

“In a world where we’re constantly being compared to one another, there are very few who can keep their eyes focused on the top spot,” Toshi spoke up, forcing his gaze back to the blonde, which he was clearly unnerved by. “You’re one of them. Please accept this medal, even if you have to think of it as a scar, something you’ll never forget.”

“I don’t want that piece of garbage!!”

“Come on, now.” Toshi tried to put it around his neck but he slammed his head back and the strap went over the bridge of his nose instead.

“Get that trash off of me, you idiot!!”

Toshi tugged it down hard and the strap fell between Katsuki’s teeth. “Here they are, the winners of this year’s sports festival! But listen closely,” he turned toward the crowd of students. “Any of you first-years could have ended up standing on these podiums! Think about what you’ve done today! You’ve challenged each other, learned, and climbed even closer to your goals of being pros! I think the next generation of heroes is proving to be our most promising one yet! So, I have one more thing to say – I want to hear everyone yell it with me!”

While that idiot screamed ‘thanks for your hard work!’, the crowd screamed, ‘plus ultra!’. A couple seconds of stunned silence passed before the crowd and students started to boo him, much to his displeasure.

“What?! That was the perfect time to say ‘plus ultra’, All Might!”

“Oh, well, yeah, I guess, but… everyone did such a good job!” He cried in protest.

What a complete fucking dork. Me and Zuku exchanged a look before we started laughing.

それ以上に上昇 ☆ Third Person

Felix grunted as he watched the awards ceremony taking place at U.A. High School. The camera panned across the first, second, and third place students, but the man had no interest in them. His knee bounced impatiently as he waited for the camera to pan toward the other students.

“Look, there she is.” Ryan pointed his finger, leaning forward. Two sets of lime green eyes stared at Jen Winchester as she had her arm around Izuku Midoriya, the two of them laughing together. And then the angle changed again, capturing the filled stadium as people cheered and laughed.

“A technicality,” Felix muttered under his breath, his large hand resting on his bearded chin. “What do you think it could be?”

Ryan tilted his head, orange-tipped bangs sliding across his eyes. “I’m not sure. Perhaps they didn’t want to bring too much attention to her given who her mother is.”

“That makes no sense!” He huffed, folding his arms over his broad chest. His Irish accent became more pronounced in his frustration. “If they didn’t want to display her, they shouldn’t have allowed her to compete!”

“It’s possible that they are punishing her for the sins of her mother,” Ryan hummed, crossing one leg over the other. “But that hardly seems like a thing U.A. would do.”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Felix jumped up, heading for the door. When Ryan didn’t move, he stopped and tilted his head expectantly. “Well, what are you waitin’ for, boyo?”

“Stall the ball for a minute, pops.” Ryan sighed, brushing his bangs aside before standing up and motioning toward the desk to his left. “You can’t just up and leave to another country. You are the number five hero of Ireland.”

The man’s eye twitched in annoyance, but he knew his young son was right. He was a pro hero and he had responsibilities to attend to before he could leave. “Fine!” He grinned brightly, rolling back the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt. “Let’s get to work, then!”

Ryan chuckled, shaking his head at his father. He glanced back at the TV, now showing highlights from the festival. ‘We’ll see you soon… Jen Winchester.’

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

▸ Forward

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[ranjxtul]

Fire and Reign: Necromancy

Finally, we have witches au chapter four! I am so sorry for the delay here, and for the length. It’s a bit shorter than usual, but the next chapter will be action packed! I don’t think there are TWs for this chapter, so enjoy loves

Ao3 Link https://archiveofourown.org/works/19249039/chapters/47313391

“Find anything else since we last talked?” Called Aragon as she made her way into the greenhouse with a mug of coffee in her hand, eyes still bleary from sleep.

A sleep deprived, but alert Catherine Parr glanced up to her godmother worriedly, it was abnormal for her to be up this early. She glanced at the clock. It was only eight. Usually Aragon awoke around an hour later, looking much less frazzled. Stray curls stuck out at angles and she still wore her pajamas.

Catherine frowned then, at the question asked. In reality, she hadn’t been able to uncover anything new, even with the help of the American Supreme. “You’re up earlier than usual,” she nodded, completely avoiding the subject as a whole.  

“Didn’t want to sleep in,” Aragon shrugged, quickly dispelling any further discussion on the topic. Parr nodded, knowing when she didn’t want to broach a topic.

“What about Henry? I need to know if we have anything new,”  An unspoken, ‘I have to do something,’ stayed in her head. Aragon tried again. Since Anne’s sighting the previous night, she’d practically been on hyperdrive. Sleep had been fitful and erratic because all she could do was contemplate possible avenues, and who his next victim might be.

Realistically, it could be anyone in London. The lack of knowledge concerning witches and the secrecy put blinders on most people, including young witches themselves. As a result, Henry’s scope of possible victims had much greater magnitude than she would have liked.

Finding witches and protecting them would be ideal; however, Catherine knew the semantics of that plan were much more complex in practice. Finding young witches was about as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, unless of course you were finding their mangled corpses, she thought bitterly to herself.

Parr observed the other woman, the clipped question’s brittle tone bounced off of her. She could only imagine what it would be like to be in the Supreme’s shoes. As a child, she’d dreamt about the idea of being the Supreme and being trusted to lead, but as she’d grown to understand what the job entailed, she realized she didn’t want that. She wanted to care for her coven, but her decisions couldn’t be the difference between life or death. She understood Catherine’s stress, and if she was honest, everyone in the house now felt it.

Shockwaves of the harsh reality that Henry was ready to kill, hadn’t settled easily among any of the queens. All of them had known in a certain capacity it was true, but there was something about the casual encounter that reminded everyone of the immanence in the situation.

“No,” Parr finally answered. “I’ve done just about everything I can, and contacted the Supremes in Spain, France, and Germany. They never linked the killings even. It seems like whoever’s employing him was moving him around or giving him spot kills there, but of course I have no evidence to back that up. It’s purely assumption, and he’s smart. He doesn’t leave a paper trail or physical evidence. If we knew a last name it could be helpful, but even then I'm not sure we’d have anything concrete,” she admitted with a regretful shrug.

“So we’re stuck?” Aragon asked, her mouth falling into a thin line as she wracked her brain for anything helpful. Nothing. Then it hit her, his victims were the key. “Do you think that he’s killed everyone here in the same location? Or at least remotely so,” she added.

Parr tilted her head, “Probably, he seems consistent in London.”

“Great. That’s all I needed to know,” Aragon nodded, a small smile replacing the frustration, a bit self satisfied with her own idea. “I’ll talk to you later, love, but I think I might have an idea of something we can do.”

Catherine raised an eyebrow in shock but nodded, “See you later then.” Aragon turned to exit the greenhouse and return to her office. First things first, she had to do some research of her own, then she needed to speak to the council.

She wasn’t sure she had the proper books in her office, Most likely, she’d have to search the attic.. Necromancy as a whole was risky business, and when done wrong, things could go south in the blink of an eye. Of course Aragon was competent enough to perform the type of magic properly, but not without proper research. The last Supreme, her mother, coincidentally, had always had a bit of an interest in the darker aspects of magic and the more ‘forbidden’ things.

For example, Catherine vividly remembered her mother practicing descensum frequently. She’d later explained she’d only done so in an attempt to understand hell and understand who and what lived down there. Aragon herself had never had much of an interest as a result.

She understood the consequences of failing descensum. One would be trapped in hell and their body would disintegrate. No matter if they beat their personal hell, if they didn’t bring themselves back in time they’d be gone. She hated that her mother ran that risk so often, and for what? As far as Aragon was concerned there were no practical purposes, as understanding hell was futile.

Catherine’s own experience with descensum had been as she’d expected: hellish. Her hell consisted of the coven disowning her and her being thrown to the streets only to have Henry and his manipulative, vindictive ways waiting for her outside the doors. No one thought she’d make it back in time, and truthfully she’d only just made it back before dawn, panting and panicked she’d bolted up. How did anyone get used to beating their hell and how did anyone do it regularly? The concept baffled her.  

Her mother had fittingly also been interested in learning about necromancy, which granted was a lot less dangerous than casually practicing descensum. It couldn’t directly destroy the caster, but any number of bad outcomes could occur without understanding how to properly control such magic and without knowing exactly whom one was contacting. At one point, Catherine had a mild interest in the basics, but quickly strayed away from it once she began to understand the negative consequences: it could put those she cared about in danger.

Now it seemed she’d have to return to her old interest and ignore the overly analytical and cautious voices in her head that told her necromancy was a bad idea. Upon a small browsing of her office shelves, unsurprisingly, she found nothing of use. With a short sigh of impatience, she turned to traipse her way up the stairs to the attic.

Upon pushing the door open, she observed Jane’s workspace. Books sat strewn on the table’s surface and pages of notes sat stacked in one corner. Her stones sat atop one open book and a separate sheet of notes sat beside the stones. Part of Aragon felt inclined to see what Jane had been working on, but she stopped, reminding herself that Jane would let her know when the time was right.

Instead, she made her way toward the dust covered boxes containing her mother’s old books. She went through two boxes before she found what she needed: books on the foundations and extended applications of necromancy. Now that she had the books she could hopefully find what she needed. And once the adequate research was done she could call the council and see if they approved of her plan. Back to her office to read, it seemed.

By the time she finished relaying the cornerstones of her reading and in detail her plan, Anna and Jane each had their own looks of shock and intrigue on their face.

“Do you think that’ll work?” Asked Jane.

“The magic or the plan?” Anne countered the blonde as if Jane’s question hadn’t been directed at Catherine. She was caught up in the semantics and possible dangers of what Aragon her proposed to even question effectiveness yet.

Jane glanced at the short haired woman beside her, “I was addressing both actually. Messing with necromancy can be dangerous, and in practice this plan is basically built on assumptions.”

Aragon cut in, “I know the dangers, but we’re at a practical roadblock on learning anything else. We haven’t been able to ID any of his victims easily, and I’ve had Cathy doing some research for me. She’s also been unable to find anything else. If my hunch is right, then this could get us somewhere,” she insisted.

“But if something were to go horribly wrong, for example, you could contact the wrong spirit, and set something free or be unable to contain it. There’s also physical safety to take into account when you think of this. What if someone happened upon you?”

“I’m planning to take Anne with me. You know she’s not easily scared off by a task, and should something happen she knows how to fight,” Catherine raised a brow. She understood Anna and Jane’s concern, she needed to do something. “As for what we talk to, I should be able to contain it. I’m no novice,” she added with a hint of mirth in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The other two women shared a weary look, ultimately Aragon did have a final say in what she did. They hadn’t had to have been called in, which meant she most likely wanted their support and help ironing out details of the plan. “So, when do you want to leave?” Jane asked after a moment’s silence. She could feel waves of urgency and underlying anxiety radiating off the Supreme potently.

“I’d like to go tonight. The sooner the better, and around ten. There’s no need to cause more disruption than normal,” she shrugged, a bit relieved the two relented in the doubts at least verbally. When she listened to their thoughts, she could hear the doubts screaming loudly. That was a confidence boost for sure.

“I’d suggest later. If your location’s right, you could have a chance of running into him if he’s found a victim,” Jane pointed out tilting her head.

“Go after midnight,” Anna suggested directly after Jane spoke.

The other two were right, an earlier time was a gamble. Well, in reality, this whole trip was a gamble. She only nodded though, “Brilliant idea.”

The girls were absolutely correct. This could be fatal, useless, too much of a risk or all of the above. Catherine did her best to suppress the whirling thoughts of what that failure could be though. She had to do something about Henry, and in her mind, knowing the enemy was the first step to beating the enemy.

If they could gain the upperhand by learning more information about Henry Tudor before he gained more intel on them, they’d have the upperhand. So far, nonmagic routes hadn’t gleaned enough information. If she wasn’t desperate, she wouldn’t push less ‘safe’ options for informational purposes.

Truth be told, she was still shaken from the night before, and she was waiting on news from Maria that there’d been another victim. Realizing she’d spaced out for a moment, she shook her head in an attempt to play it off, “I’m going to find Anne. Make sure when we’re gone to hold down the fort, yeah?” she joked with a quiet laugh.

“Yes ma’am,” Anna jested back, accompanied by a nod and smile from Jane. With one final nod, Aragon slipped out of her office to search for Anne. The brunette would most likely be in her room or roaming about the house, considering it was nearing dinner. Luck seemed to be on Catherine’s side when she peeked into Anne’s room to see the other with a book open on her bed.

“Anne?” Catherine called quietly, so as not to startle Anne from her reading.

The brunette glanced up, her eyes wide for a second, until she recognized Catherine in the doorway. “Hm?” she hummed in response closing the book and pulling herself up.

“Mind if I come in first of all?”

“Be my guest,” Anne shrugged with a vague gesture to the room. With a nod, Aragon stepped into the messy room, maneuvering small piles of clothes or the several fallen objects on the floor. “What’s up?” Anne asked as Aragon made her way to sit down at the desk chair.

“I need a favor,” Aragon started with a deep breath.

“Oh?” Anne leaned forward curiously.

Simultaneously, in a pub in the city, two men sat at a corner booth. One had an angular jaw and sandy stubble dotting that same jaw. His grim face, contained smile lines only shown in malice. His accomplice sat across from him. This man’s features were polar the first man’s. His dark hair, dark eyes, and complimenting five o’clock shadow contrasted the light blonde man’s features. The similarities though, sat in the stone cold hollow eyes and in the understated intimidation of his muscular stature.

“You know,” the dark headed man started, “You can’t just keep waiting for them to do something. This wasn’t supposed to take as long as it has. I mean, three years? That’s excessive, even if they’re being wise Henry.”

The newly named Henry shook his head, “They’ll stop being careful soon enough, and that’s when I’ll catch them.”

“You were supposed to get in and take them out,” the second man persisted.

“I know, Thomas, but they were smarter than I anticipated!” his nostrils flared in a flash of irritation. “That’s completely on me though, I will admit. I shouldn’t have underestimated them.”

“At least we know what we know, and we have our inside contact, well if that’s what you call her,” Thomas shrugged, appraising his own words.

“She’s served her purpose, and continues to. She keeps up my wards and gives me information and I don’t kill her,” he shrugged in return as if what he said were the simplest agreement ever.

“Speaking of which, has she turned up anything new?” Thomas asked in curiosity.

“Katherine Howard,  the one about a week ago is alive. Anne got her out of there apparently.”

The other man’s eyes lit up in recognition, “Howard?”

Henry narrowed his eyes, “Yeah, you know her?”

Quickly, realizing his sudden interest hadn’t been inconspicuous, Thomas forced himself to sit back, “Heard the name before.”

An obvious lie, but Henry didn’t care to push it. Instead he pushed forward, “Last night was an easy one. She was young, sixteen, and out too late for her own good. If only the others were as easy. God, it still baffles me that Catherine is the leader, and that Anne is alive. Of course now it all makes sense, knowing Jane’s a healer. If only I’d gotten that much out of her that night. I was so close to nipping the problem in the bud with her,” he shook his head, thinking of the drunken night Jane had begun to divulge the London coven’s secrets when he’d been with her.

“And now you have baggage now. What’ll you do with the son once you deal with everyone else?” Thomas asked.

“Eh, haven’t really thought about it. There are merits to getting rid of him with his mother or keeping him. We’ll see how everything pans out, then I’ll deal with it all.” In one statement, Henry Tudor had revealed truly how little he cared for life. He cared for manipulation, ease, and power above all else.

While Thomas definitely was unbothered by murder, the idea of murdering a baby didn’t settle well with him. The kid hadn’t had much of a chance to live. It must have shown on his face because Henry’s face hardened, “You got a problem with that?” he asked carefully, his brow raised.

Forcing his expression back to neutral, Culpeper shook his head. He had more interest in Katherine Howard, even if murdering an infant didn’t sit well. He wouldn’t have a part of it bothered him so much. All he cared about was seeing Katherine again.

“Good. Can you go take care of the body from last night sometime tonight?” Henry continued.

“Always sending me to do your dirty work, eh?” Thomas scoffed. “Yeah, sure.”  

#catherine of aragon #six the musical #catherine parr #anne boleyn #anne of cleves #jane seymour #katherine howard