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thexsilentxwordsmith · 7 months

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A comprehensive list of all my fics in order from most recent to oldest with summary descriptions for each.

18+

Meetings and Temptations

Summary: A new relationship means excitement, an uncontrollable craving for each other. When an early morning romp is interrupted with a scheduled weekly meeting, will you be able to keep your hands to yourself when Price begins to drone on? And if you can't, what will your lieutenant lover do once the meeting is over after you've tempted him for far too long?

A Risk Worth Taking

Summary: You and Simon can't keep your hands off one another as you come home one night, but a slight problem has you in a pickle: your birth control has just run out and you are all out of condoms. Not to worry, Simon assures you that he will pull out. But as you ride him you begin to question if you really want him to. Will he stick to his promise or will he give in to your need?

Can't Let You Go

Summary: Two personalities that clash, you and your lieutenant rarely get along, but when it comes to light that Lt. Riley has been messing with things behind the scenes of your life, what will happen when you confront him? Is it really hate that makes you stay in the argument the ensues...or is the tension a little too heavy to ignore?

A Ride You'll Never Forget

Summary: Seeing Simon on his motorcycle is something that awakens a new yearning inside you, but when you get your own bike and start riding alongside him, the way he gets you hot and bothered makes it worse. You need him to fuck you on his bike and you hope your plan will make it happen.

A New Form of Pleasure

Summary: Simon is struggling, he can't get off and he doesn't know what to do. As his sergeant you are one of the closest to him and can see something is up. An impromptu visit late one night might just be what he needs... And the way you are suddenly making him bow to your authority and turning his brain off might actually make him come.

Breakfast in Bed

Summary: Only a few more days are left of his short leave and Simon is determined to make every last second count with you. What better way to start the day than buried in between your thighs, helping you wake up by the feeling of his tongue alone and then overstimming you.

Truth or Dare

Summary: During a game of Truth or Dare, your lieutenant is dared into giving you a kiss, but something about the way he has been acting lately may mean this is going to be more than a quick ordeal. And the way you have been feeling towards him won't be helping.

Truth or Dare 2: Dare To Tell the Truth

Summary: After a game of Truth or Dare leaves you and your lieutenant breathless and yearning for more, will you both be able to leave things alone or will one of you not be able to hold out? And what happens when you meet again?

Truth or Dare 3: How Truly Do You Need Me

Summary: After being so rudely interrupted in the middle of you and your lieutenant's tryst, but he made a promise. "This isn't over." You hope that he plans to keep it, but when? Things might have to wait as you are assigned to a mission with him. But when being close proves to much, will both of you be able to hold off on your lust or will you succumb to all that tension?

Truth or Dare 4: Dare to Take It Further

Summary: Something has changed; no, actually everything has changed as you and Simon forget the world a moment finally let that passion run its course. The thought was that once you both had each other it would make things calm, but now you're not so sure. Maybe he is willing to risk more and maybe you are too. Having to sneak around isn't so bad, right? Maybe it could all work out... At least you hope so. But things don't always go according to plan.

Truth or Dare 5: No More Games

Summary: Things are getting complicated, truths are being revealed, and a decisions are going to have to be made regarding the future. So much hangs in the balance and emotions are high as reality makes this about no more games.

A Special Dinner for Two

Summary: Such a good little wife you are to your military husband, ready to welcome him back home after he returns from deployment. This time you've even prepared a meal of all his favorites, but when Simon gets back early than expected and catches you flitting about the kitchen in nothing but his t-shirt, it isn't food that he wants.

I'll Crawl Home To Her

Summary: Simon is away on a mission and you are on his mind. Having to extend his stay, he is going to miss Valentine's day, but coming across a recent trend on TikTok, he may have a way to say just how much you mean to him.

Don't Touch What He's Claimed

Summary: A night out at your favorite local hangout is what he promised you after being away on deployment for so long, but one small incident throws him over the edge into full on possessive episode. Something about the way he is pulling off to the side of the road might mean he can't make it home before reclaiming his prize.

Simon Riley: Girl Dad Extraordinaire

Summary: From a request about Simon being more hands on with his 3 m.o. daughter.

You Are Beautiful

Summary: When a movie night has you questioning your bodies worth, Simon catches you in the shower to show you that your body is perfect just the way that it is.

Simon fingering you under the table during a night out at the bar with the Taskforce

Summary: With the drink flowing and the atmosphere right, Simon cannot seem to keep his hands off of you. There is a need, a need to touch and to play.

Let Me Talk You Through It

Summary: While on deployment far away, Simon takes a little time one night to video call you and talk you through you touching yourself to the sound of his voice.

Simon needing to hold you after a bad day

Summary: After a day where nothing goes right, Simon only wants to come home to the one person he trusts- you.

Cockwarming Simon as you two make out in his office

Summary: From a request for Simon getting so worked up during a cockwarming session that he ends up having to pull out because he is going to come.

Drunk on You

Summary: Simon comes home from deployment, hungry to have his pretty girl all to himself. Things get heated quick and before long you are both drunk off the feeling of the other.

Bringing in the New Year with Simon

Summary: Short one-shot about how it would be spending NYE with Simon at the stroke of midnight.

Simon waking up in the middle of the night horny and unable to get back to sleep. There's only one thing he wants to fix it.

Summary: A little sleepy cuddle-fucking to get Simon back to sleep.

Wanna Make You Mine

Summary: Simon is out at a stag party for Prices upcoming wedding when he comes how early with something important on his mind that he needs to see you to say. Is he just drunk or is it something more?

Simon making it clear that you are the only one he wants

Summary: An incident with a new recruit has you questioning things, but not to worry as Simon is here to show you that you are the only one he could ever want.

Simon is so worked up all day that he rushes home, telling you to meet him at the door because he cannot wait to have you

Summary: He has been needing you all day and as soon as he gets home he wants you waiting ready for him so that he can fix that ache that has been driving him insane.

I'll Take You Filthy

Summary: Being the leader of your platoon and fucking you at the same time isn't something Simon wants paraded around, for both of your benefit as trouble could come from such a relationship. But keeping it a secret has become a problem as you've been out on a mission for a couple months with no physical contact to be had. The moment you return Simon has to have you...even though you are both filthy as fuck.

His Heart, His Light, His World- Dad!Simon

Summary: The birth of his first child changes everything for the rough around the edges military man. A small glimpse into his life now as a father.

A Bit of Fun At the World's End

Summary: Being on the run from the undead doesn't leave much time for more intimate things, but once things start to settle a little an ache begins to form that you haven't felt in a long time. What will you do when the only other person you are with is your former lover turned zombie.

Joining the 141 had one hard rule: no relationships of any kind between members, but that is something proving to be too much the closer you and Simon get

Summary: Simon cannot help but break the rules when it comes to you.

Body worship with Simon

Summary: Simon taking the time to make sure you feel like the goddess he thinks you are.

Simon desperately eating you out after a rough day

Summary: It has been a terrible, no good, rotten ass day. There is only one cure for it and that is for that hulking military man to find his way between your legs to eat you out until he can't breathe.

Getting so worked up during a celebration for Price's birthday that Simon has to take you in the bathroom of the bar

Summary: You just couldn't wait until you both got back, could you? No, not when you and Simon are screwing like bunnies every chance you get. So what's Simon to do? That's easy, take you in the bathroom and fix the problem of course.

Think of Me When You Cum Later (Part 1)

Summary: Simon is missing you like crazy while being away on a mission, but he has a clever plan to make sure you miss him too. So, perhaps a little video of him stroking himself will do the trick.

Something to Make it Worse (Part 2)

Summary: You get Simon's video and it leaves you wanting him something bad. Well, two can play at this game, so why not send him back a video of your own?

Something to Break the Tension (Part 3)

Summary: All the buildup, all the teasing, finally leads to this: Simon is back and ready to act on all those filthy things you two had been teasing each other with. Will you make it home before you both explode? Or will the car have to do to break the tension?

Late Night Texts (Part 1)

Summary: Nothing good ever comes from a text after dark... or does it? Guess it depends on who it is and what they need. If it's a certain Lieutenant, then it's bound to be something worth your while.

Mid-day Texts (Part 2)

Summary: Simon is getting more and more obsessed with his little friend who constantly finds herself in his bed. But when you are off on a quick mission for a few weeks, Simon begins to grow restless and this no strings attached messing around finds itself being turned on its head. What happens when you get a text from him the day you get back, in the middle of the day?

Life Changing Texts (Part 3)

Summary: After your explosive homecoming where everything seemed to fall right into place, Simon begins to get cold feet about his feelings and what they could mean for the both of you. All seems bleak until a text about someone harassing you while you're on a night out makes him come to your aid and solidifies a decision he has already made.

Spending the night at Simon's for the first time and him waking up to you in nothing but his oversized shirt

Summary: From a request about Simon seeing reader in his shirt for the first time.

Simon and you screwing in the shower

Summary: What's better than sex with Simon? Add some steam, some hot water, and some solitude and you have the recipe for a very good time.

Having Simon pick out lingerie for you

Summary: Coming up with the idea to take Simon out so that he can pick out a couple pieces of lingerie he wants to see you in, his choices really surprise you.

Simon has a favorite item of clothing you wear and you wear it since he's having a bad day

Summary: Simon has one favorite piece of clothing you wear and of course when he's having a rough day, you just have to wear it for him.

Simon fucking you brainless and then rubbing your head as you pass out beside him

Summary: Simon is not shy when it comes to sex, it's the more intimate things that he has a problem with. But after a round of rigorous screwing, he wants to show you a bit of extra care.

Desperate Times Call for Filthy Fantasies (Part 1)

Summary: As a new recruit, you should not have the gall to talk back to your superior officer like you do. He's tried it all, trying to work the insubordination out of you, but to no avail. Your antics have really gotten under his skin lately, but is it really because you won't listen and follow orders...or is there something more to it that he can't admit? The way his cock throbs might indicate the latter and what he thinks about as he touches himself might just speak to that as well.

The Brat and Her Beast (Part 2)

Summary: After a certain Lieutenant allowed his fantasies to run wild, there was only one thing left to do: make them a reality. Opportunity presents itself one day as your brattiness has reached new highs and he follows you into the communal bathroom and locks the door behind you both. You're all alone and now what? Seems you've bitten off more than you can chew, but you both know now that was your plan all along.

Silence on the Line

Summary: You and Ghost have always gotten through missions by keeping in constant radio contact when possible. On one fateful mission, he sends out the call but there is no reply. Only silence. As time goes on his greatest fear is realized and all that he knew is now turned on it's head. What happens when reality hits all at once? And what does it do to the once stoic man who is no stranger to death?

The Lieutenant's Whore (Part 1)

Summary: When a one time sexual encounter leaves you wanting more, but the rules were set the moment he entered you and now he does his best to avoid you, what is a girl to do to get what she wants? That's right, make him jealous. And if it works a little too well maybe he will give you the night of your life. Good thing you have a flirty Scotsman to mess with, perhaps if you can't get your way, you can still have fun. Only time and a bit of effort on your part will tell what goes down.

What's Mine You'll Never Have (Part 2)

Summary: Hearing what he shouldn't have, Johnny is rightfully angry and what does he let that anger lead to? A bad attitude that leads to even worse decisions. As you confront him about this sudden change in demeanor, things start to heat up. What happens when Simon finds out? Actions have consequences and Johnny is about to learn that you will only ever belong to the man behind the mask.

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ataviisms · 2 years

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comprehensive list of nsfw headcanons below the cut

i’ve touched on this previously in my anatomy/physiology headcanon, but waylon no external genitalia. this means that outwardly he lacks nipples and has no visible sex organs. both his testes and his penis are internalized. if you were to look at him naked, the only thing you would notice would be a sort of pouch between his legs with a visible slit where his genitalia is located.

that being said, his penis looks much more like a male alligator’s than a human male’s does. (there’s a picture linked in my original anatomy headcanon, but feel free to google it instead if you want.) also, because his penis is internalized, he’s always erect and able to protrude and retract it at will. this also means he is capable of coming multiple times with little to no refractory period in between.

his body temperature is also lower than a human’s, so his entire body feels cool to the touch at first. he does warm up slightly when engaging in sex due to his partner’s body heat.

waylon prefers to be dominant in the bedroom. (sometimes a little too dominant.) he doesn’t typically engage in the true dom/sub lifestyle wherein he controls every aspect of his partner’s life, unless of course they asked him to do so. in which case he would probably enjoy it because it also makes his partner happy and leaves him in control.

hook ups are an absolute no for him. any form of physical intimacy with him requires immense trust on his end, and he’s extremely unlikely to engage in any sort of intimate or sexual behavior with someone he doesn’t know well first. friends with benefits is a different story.

he’s bisexual and biromantic, though he tends to lean a little more towards women and/or men who are not extremely masculine in presentation.

yes, his size does make sex difficult at times. he prefers positions that make it easier to work around that issue, such as bending his partner over, sitting them on a counter or table, holding them up against the wall, or letting them ride him. missionary is doable, but not very practical unless his partner really wants to have their face in the center of his torso when he’s on top of them.

he will also use modified wrestling holds as sex positions as long as his partner is physically capable of enduring it.

aftercare is extremely important to him, and so is communication. he knows it would be easy for him to hurt his partner on accident so he constantly checks in with them while having sex to make sure they’re doing okay. afterwards he tries to make sure that his partner isn’t hurt and will offer to clean them up if desired. if not, he really just likes to hold them for a while.

biting is an absolute no unless his partner has made it extremely clear that they’re okay with being seriously injured and the scars that follow. he’s not physically capable of biting gently enough to leave hickeys or light marks. you’re going to bleed a lot, you’re going to need stitches, and it is going to hurt like hell. usually in lieu of biting, he’ll snap his jaws close to his partner’s skin or open his jaws just enough to scrape them with the edge of a tooth. scratching, on the other hand, is something he’s more than willing to do.

he’s very vocal during sex, including but not limited to: growling, snarling, hissing, panting, and “bellowing” (the low vibrating rumble that he makes). he will also slap the floor/ground/bed with the flat of his tail.

his kinks include: giving/receiving oral, domination, light sadism, dirty talk, public/semi-public sex (with risk of getting caught), mutual masturbation, partially clothed sex, fingering/handjobs, grinding/frottage, some bondage, and temperature/sensation play. he also likes it when his tail is touched during sex, although this is less of a kink and more of a reassurance that his partner isn’t bothered by the fact that he has a tail.

that being said, touch his tail. grind on his tail (the underside, not the spines along the top of it). have sex with him while partially submerged in the water. he can hold his breath for 2 hours and give you oral at the same time if that’s what you’re into.

and yes, he can smell it when his partner is aroused. thanks for asking.

#HEADCANON.#look i put it under a read more for your poor innocent eyes #mostly because i talk about alligator d**k right off the bat #NSFW.

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ladyevol · 2 years

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[This Fanfic takes place in my Dungeoncraft AU that reimagines minecraft SMPs as Dungeon and Dragons Settings. In this universe, Double Life.]

When Grian started his relationship with Bigb, it was for strategic reasons, or so he told himself. It was logical, after all, by allying himself with someone other than soulmates, they had more life bars to burn through. It was all just a game after all. It wasn't like him and Scar were in an actual relationship, right? In fact, Scar would probably agree with him! It made perfect sense. The weird tightness in his chest whenever he saw the other man had nothing to do with guilt or real feelings. He certainly wasn't jealous of the Giant Beasts he insisted were giant Jellies! This wasn't an attempt to get his attention.

That was what the entire competition was about though, wasn't it? A way for Grian's own to keep their subjects entertained enough so they wouldn't try to revolt. It was all just a farce. Just lights and smoke. Of course it felt real, that was what it was meant to feel like. They were all actors. Nothing more. Sure, there was a small chance that, when someone died, they wouldn't come back, that their soul would be forever trapped wandering the Astral Plane or end up in the Abyss, but it was a risk the Celestials were willing to take if it meant maintaining order and law.

Others in the game had a choice. They had been offered large amounts of gold and diamond or magic beyond their comprehension to join. Some were hunters, people who enjoyed the thrill of the kill. Some were performers, they revered the attention and love they got from the audience. Grian was a slave. He didn't have a choice or a chance to reject, his masters demanded that he became one of their glorified sacrifices. He had no intention of being just a lamb brought to slaughter though. He was being forced to play these games, so he was playing to win.

The only problem was, even the best plans didn't always go as expected. After an unfortunate encounter with one of the many monstrosities lurking in the woods, BigB's life was cut short and so he was in his first life which meant the Wood's Curse look effect. The curse twisted the target in a similar way to Lycanthropy, by changing their alignment to Chaotic Evil and turning them into vicious murderers out for blood. Grian hoped he would never have to experience it again, but deep down he knew it would be just a matter of time.

Now Grian had a choice: He could either sever ties with his secret conspirator or continue the unlikely alliance in the hopes it meant his life got spared. In the first case, he could end up unleashing his secret soulmate's wrath upon himself and Scar, while in the second, it could lead to a betrayal that would cost them their lives.

It was a bet. Hopefully lady Luck would be on their side.

Out of all the places he expected to meet BigB, Bdubs and Impulse's base was not on top of his list, although it made sense. From what he heard, it was Bdubs fault that BigB had died, so of course he wanted revenge. Perhaps Grian could even do some good and distract the Cursed One long enough to allow them to escape? That would get him some good points with the pair for sure. "BigB!" Grian called, his red wings flapping excitedly behind him. They were normally too small to allow him to fly, so they were mostly just there to be a nuance.

BigB looked back at the aasimar from behind his goggles and grinned. Grian could perfectly see his sharp canines, similar to that of a wolf. Clearly being Ren's soulmate had led to a few changes. "Grian! How are you?" He jumped down from his horse and put away his greatsword to approach Grian. Sometimes the aasimar really hated how small he was. Everyone seemed to be taller than he was. "Yeah, uh, do you think we can talk somewhere more," he glanced at the house, "private?"

BigB looked over his shoulders, "you know what?" He turned back to Grian, "that is very fair. C'mon, let's go on a walk." He led the way.

Grian used to think it was cute how both of them used sweaters, BigB's a baby blue and his one a deep shade of red. It was nice how they matched. Now, he noticed, the blue sweater was covered in stitches and cuts. It was also covered in dog fur. Was this his fate? To be the second choice? To be always competing with some type of furry creature? Why didn't people like feathers?! No, all of that was silly. He shouldn't care, it wasn't real. None of it was real. It was just a game.

"So, what did you want to talk about? I imagine it was something important considering that it needed to be private." Grian flinched when he felt an arm over his shoulders, but he quickly forced himself to relax. It was ok, he was just being romantic. Touching others were things soulmates were meant to do to each other. It was fine. All was fine.

"I just wanted to know how we are now. I mean, you are cursed, so I didn't know. Are we… still secret soulmates?"

"Of course, man. You haven't done me no wrong and I like your company. As long as you don't get in our way as we take our revenge and burn the rest of this island to the ground, we're a-okay, but I will need some favors from you, you know, as a display of trust."

Grian swallowed. He should be happy, his plan was still working, so why was he disappointed? Why had he hoped BigB would have called it quits? "Nice. I mean, great! I'm super happy to be your soulmate man. O-oh, yeah, I brought you some gifts! You know, like a good soulmate would."

BigB scoffed, "c'mon, don't say that. Ren isn't bad, ok? In fact, we made up. Things are amazing between us."

"Right," Grian said bitterly, "but you're still here, with me."

Silence befell between them. The only sound that could be heard was the wind and Grian could feel BigB grip his shoulder a little more tightly than he liked. "Don't."

"S-sorry, sorry, I just don't have great memories regarding Ren. I'm sure that if I got to know him a little better, I would like him too. Do you want the grenades?"

"That 's the spirit!" BigB's demeanor did an 180 and he laughed while he slapped Grian's back. "Let me know when you have Scar in that box so you can join us, huh? Ah, this is good stuff!" He pocketed the grenades.

That would be the smartest play wouldn't it? Scar was too much of a variable. Placing him somewhere he couldn't potentially kill them was the smart thing to do, so why did that thought make Grian sick to his stomach?

"Oh, I think I ran into something I wasn't meant to see." Grian's heart skipped a beat. He slowly turned to see Scar on top of his horse. As a shark merman, he was quite the tall man, even without counting his tail, so it was surprising that he had managed to sneak up on them. "I'm just going to back away… slowly." The horse took a few steps back.

How much had he heard? This couldn't be happening.

"Wait, no! S-scar, it's not what you're thinking!"

"Not what you're thinking? You two walking awfully close to each other, all alone in the middle of this forest with a romantic sunset behind you while you talk about putting me in a box?!"

Oh no.

"Well- I'm allowed to talk to other people, Scar!" He stepped closer, lashing out. He could feel the tears burning in his eyes, but he wouldn't cry. There was nothing logical in crying.

He noticed the change in BigB's stance as he reached for his sword.

"Wait!" Grian grabbed BigB's hand to stop him, he knew he was trying to be protective, but he couldn't let him kill Scar.

"You- you are holding his hand." Scar looked like a kicked puppy, "you never let me touch you." He could see the other man's eyes had tears in them. A part of him expected Scar to try to burn BigB, he was known for using his fire magic whenever he was upset, but he didn't. He just turned his horse around and galloped.

"Scar, wait!" He tried to run after him, but the horse was far faster.

Grian fell to his knees unable to hold his tears any longer.

"Hey, Grian, he had to learn sooner or later. It's better this way," he could tell BigB was trying to make him feel better. It wasn't working.

"Please, just- just leave me alone right now. I will find you later."

He thought BigB would refuse. He didn't. Without another word, he turned around and returned to his base where his soulmate was undoubtedly waiting for him while Grian was left in the woods to weep in the rising night.

This wasn't part of the plan.

#mcyt #double life smp #desert duo #gtws #grian #hermitshipping #trafficblr #scarian #angst #double life shipping #double life spoilers

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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JC adopts stray/rouge cultivators after the war au to cope with the destruction of lotus pier. also i love your writing so much!!

Gratuitously Acquired - ao3

At first, he took anyone who would join, needing numbers – needing people. There were plenty of cultivators that wanted to be associated with a great sect. Plenty, too, that were barely more than criminals, wanting to use the smoke and ash of war to obscure the past, to cover up old crimes and wash themselves clean.

Jiang Cheng wasn’t in any position to refuse them. Soldiers were soldiers.

After the war ended, though…

Some he cast out. Others, even more despicable, he slaughtered for what they’d done.

A few –

“Yan Qiao.”

The female cultivator in question, who had been sneaking out of the still mostly ruined Lotus Pier at night in flagrant violation of curfew, froze in her tracks.

“Uh,” she said. “Sect Leader Jiang. Fancy finding you…here…now…at this time…”

Jiang Cheng looked at the basket of buns in her hands. “You’re stealing leftovers from our kitchens to feed orphans among the common people,” he said. “Again.”

She blushed. “No one wants them now that there’s better available, Sect Leader! Really, they’ll only go stale, and then rot – and I never stole when it was the army eating them!”

“That’s not the point,” Jiang Cheng said irritably. “Tell me, how in the name of heavens did you really get branded as a criminal? Distributed too many alms? Did too much charity?”

Yan Qiao coughed, turning red. “I told you before, Sect Leader. I killed a man.”

“He must have done something particularly heinous, then. You’re shitat killing.”

“Now I am. Sect Leader, if you don’t mind…”

“You’re one of the ones who wants my surname, right?” he interrupted. “Consider it granted.”

Yan Qiao – no, he supposed he’d better start thinking of her as Jiang Qiao – gaped at him. “But…Sect Leader!”

“I’ve barely granted it to anyone, so you’d better live up to it, you hear me?” Jiang Cheng said in his best threatening voice. He’d been assured by several people that it was really quite threatening, anyway. “I don’t want any excuses. Now go feed your damn orphans, and in the morning I want a report on how you think we can do it in a more structured manner. I can’t have you sneaking off every night anymore! Now that you’re a Jiang, you’re going to have work.”

When they were done with war and started firmly on rebuilding, the Jiang sect’s name was firmly reestablished as a Great Sect once more, it was the opportunists that came.

Smiling faces, sycophantic voices, cowards one and all – like beetles crawling out of the woodwork, not willing to risk their lives, but willing enough to beg for scraps and advantages later on when it seemed safe enough to do so.

Jiang Cheng wanted to chase them all away, but his sect was still weaker than he wanted to admit, still rebuilding, still more army than civilian operation. They had valiant soldiers by the dozen, but they needed more than that. They needed administrators, supervisors, artisans, smiths, merchants, laundry-women…

They needed workers. The ones they got – well, cowards they might be, but skills they had.

He still rejected most of the worst of them.

Most.

“Bo Zhou,” he said, inspecting the surprisingly flush list of taxes they’d collected that quarter, and the man in question turned to grin unrepentantly at him. “You’d tell me if you were a con artist in a previous life, right?”

“A previous life, Sect Leader?” Bo Zhou said. He was still grinning, but then, he was always grinning. He had a crooked leg and an even more crooked heart, and he’d probably steal candy from little children if he happened to have a hankering, but he was amazing at getting people to do what he wanted. Too amazing, really. “Why limit yourself? What about thislife?”

“…Bo Zhou. Tell me you aren’t a former con artist.”

“I may or may not have had a sideline selling snake oil and protective talismans before I became a cultivator,” Bo Zhou admitted cheerfully, and Jiang Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose – less out of actual irritation and more to keep from actually laughing. The only person he knew that was more shameless than Bo Zhou was Wei Wuxian; he couldn’t wait to introduce them once Wei Wuxian stopped skulking around in wine shops long enough to get back to doing his job as Jiang Cheng’s head disciple and right hand. “Who would’ve known that making all those fake talismans ended up making me pretty good at making actual talismans when I became a cultivator? Really, who could have called that?”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Who taught you how to cultivate, anyway? Can I – I don’t know – seek vengeance on behalf of the rest of the world or something?”

Bo Zhou rolled his eyes right back at him. Shameless! “Is this about the taxes? Just be happy I got them all!”

“I can’t just be happy! What if this money is stolen property?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sect Leader. They’re what we shouldbe getting, and from all the right people. You told me this was the right amount yourself!”

“Yes, but no one ever actually pays the full amount!” Jiang Cheng enjoyed the way Bo Zhou’s jaw dropped. “I just wanted to see if you could actually do it.”

“I’m hurt at your lack of trust.” Bo Zhou paused, considering. “Also a little impressed at you for keeping a straight enough face to trick me. Well done, Sect Leader.”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said. “You too, Jiang Zhou.”

“It’s Bo…” He trailed off, comprehension arriving and speech departing, and this time he didn’t have a quick retort. He’d been nagging Jiang Cheng on and off for the Jiang surname for the last few weeks, more joking than anything else – he knew that Jiang Cheng hadn’t given his surname to the vast majority of the new people in his sect, only the very few he thought were worth it.

Jiang Cheng enjoyed the newly dubbed Jiang Zhou’s moment of speechlessness thoroughly, since he was moderately sure he wasn’t going to get another one anytime in the next – ever, possibly.

“You proved your worth and your trustworthiness,” he said, patting Jiang Zhou on the shoulder. It occurred to him that he should probably come up with a courtesy name for the man, although he wasn’t sure the man would want one. “Also, congratulations, you’re now the person in charge of tax collection. See if you can think up some new thoughts about supplementing our income, will you? We have so many costs, and I don’t want to rely on Lanling Jin more than I can help it, not like Gusu Lan…”

“Oh, really?” Jiang Zhou interrupted, abruptly excited. “I have so many ideas! How ethical do you want to be about this?”

Jiang Cheng paused. “…very?”

“Be reasonable, Sect Leader!”

“…moderately?” he tried, a little more desperately.

“I can work with moderately. I don’t suppose you’d accept ‘thin and barely plausible veneer’?”

“No.”

“Oh well. Moderately ethical it is!”

Most of the Jiang sect was slaughtered during the attack on the Lotus Pier. Disciples Jiang Cheng had grown up with his whole life, had expected to see by his side in the future, his friends, his family, even his petty childhood enemies – all gone.

Well, not all gone. There were some Jiang disciples that had been away from Lotus Pier at the time, whether on some errand or a night-hunt or other reasons; they rushed back to his side as soon as they could, of course, and formed the core of Jiang Cheng’s new Jiang sect. When he’d felt utterly alone, when even Wei Wuxian was missing, they had been there for him. They’d preserved their lives and then they’d promised them to him, and it wasn’t until they knelt before him that he really felt like a Sect Leader.

There was no way he could give any of them up now.

“Jiang Meimei, you can’t go,” he said, having completely abandoned all shame in favor of clutching at her robes as if he were a child. “I need you!”

“I’m not even a proper Jiang disciple!” she exclaimed, exasperated – or possibly just annoyed that her grand plan to sneak out in the middle of the night had been stymied by his ambush. “Just because my surname is still Jiang doesn’t mean I didn’t get kicked out, remember?”

“I thought you just left,” Jiang Cheng said, temporarily distracted. “No one ever really talked much about it, actually, but to the extent anyone did, they said that you’d decided that your inclinations were more suited to being a rogue cultivator. That you didn’t want to be weighed down by sect expectations –”

“Hah!” Jiang Meimei tossed her head. “As if it wouldn’t be better to be a roving sect cultivator than a rogue cultivator! I won’t deny that I had a fair bit of wanderlust in my youth –”

“You’re only ten years older than me, you’re not that old.”

“Shut up, brat.”

“You can’t tell me to shut up, I’m your sect leader.”

“You’re my baby cousin is what you are, and, again, I’m actually not part of the Jiang sect!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jiang Cheng argued. “You’ve been at my side during the entire Sunshot Campaign.”

“I wasn’t going to let my baby cousin get himself murdered, now was I?” Jiang Meimei sniffed. “But I’m still a rogue cultivator. They kicked me out when I wouldn’t accept a marriage, and I’m still firm on that.”

Jiang Cheng blinked. “Wait, you don’t want to be married? Really?” he asked, concerned. “But what about poor Liu Lingling? You shouldn’t be sleeping with her if you don’t intend to be serious about it! I’m pretty sure she’s just waiting for the current project you’re working on to finish to find a matchmaker to exchange birth characters –”

“They wanted me to marry a man,” Jiang Meimei clarified, but her habitual frown had eased considerably; she looked almost on the verge of a smile. “A-Cheng, you’re being dense again. You’re the Sect Leader of a Great Sect now. You know that that means you need to have alliances, marriage contacts with other sects, and that means using your subsidiary branches.”

“Jiang Meimei, you’re the one being dense,” Jiang Cheng said. “You think I’d force you into a marriage? I don’t have subsidiary branches. I barely have a sect, even after all this time. I’m not Wen Ruohan, handing out my surname to anyone who wants it – I only give it to the ones that matter, the ones I want to keep, and those of you that actually share my blood are even rarer, even more precious. How could I give you away?”

Jiang Meimei pursed her lips.

“I really do need you,” Jiang Cheng said quietly. “You weren’t part of the Jiang sect at all, not really, but you still came to help me – you were there from the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign, and you’ve never strayed, never left. You’re my right hand. I can’t do without you.”

Jiang Meimei turned her head away. “It’s not that I want to leave you,” she said. “But becoming a rogue cultivator was hard enough the first time. I couldn’t rely on any of the things that I had always had, everything always changing. I was young and angry then, I could handle it, but things are different now. I’m less flexible, less compromising, older, more tired – I can’t just walk out on a whim and just rough it anymore. I have a girl who, yes, I want to eventually marry; I want to have children. I need certainty. Are you going to give it to me?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at his hands. He’d known it was going to have to come to this, but he’d been dragging his feet, not wanting to succumb to a reality that already existed. Had existed for longer than he wanted to admit, as if simply denying it would mean that it wasn’t the truth.

Like a child.

“Yes,” he said, though it tore his heart out of his chest to do it. “I will. Jiang Meimei…will you take the position of Head Disciple?”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t coming back. Jiang Cheng had already cast him out of the sect, just like Jiang Meimei had been, except in Wei Wuxian’s case it had been something that Wei Wuxian himself had demanded. He was living in Yiling now, and by all reports was quite happy there with his little Wen sect family that he’d picked over Jiang Cheng and all his family.

He was never coming back.

It was time to move on.

“Yes,” she said, and shoved her pack into his chest. “Now go unpack that for me. Consider it payment for driving me to extreme measures!”

“I’m your sect leader, you know,” he grumbled. “Officially, now. You could show me some respect.”

“Would you rather pay for my wedding down the line?”

“I’m going, I’m going!” And then, as he scurried over away, he shouted over his shoulder: “As if I wouldn’t be paying for it anyway! You think my Head Disciple’s going to be married in anything other than top style? Better start planning…”

“Don’t rush me! Brat!”

Jin Ling wasn’t surnamed Jiang, but he was the most important person in all of the Lotus Pier – and Jiang Cheng wanted to make sure everyone knew it. It hadn’t been easy for him to get the chance to help care for Jin Ling, especially here, so far away from home; Jiang Cheng had expected to barely be allowed to visit, to have to cool his heels outside of Lanling City begging just for a glimpse of him. Being able to take him home to raise for half the year, even if it was due to the dangerous infighting amongst Lanling Jin, was more than he’d ever dreamed.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear that Jin Ling himself agreed.

“He’s still crying,” Jiang Cheng muttered, rubbing his eyes. “Surely he’s got to stop sometime? I mean, just – physically?”

“They say a boy resembles his mother’s brother,” Jiang Meimei said, echoing the gesture. “If he’s got your lungs and stamina, Sect Leader, we’re doomed.”

“I’m rethinking the whole having children thing,” Liu Lingling said blearily, having fallen asleep on her soon-to-be wife’s shoulder several times, only to be woken up by the next round of crying. “I need sleep.”

“Go get some, both of you,” Jiang Cheng ordered. When his cousin scowled at him, he scowled back. “I’m serious. If he keeps this up, we’re going to need to go into shifts. I can last a bit longer.”

“That’s a filthy lie.”

“It is not. Your sect leader has given you an order – get to it!”

It was a filthy lie.

Jiang Cheng opened his eyes when the crink in his neck grew too irritating to ignore, at which point he realized he’d been asleep – and, more importantly, that Jin Ling was somehow not crying.

He sat up with a start, suddenly terrified: had something happened to him? Had he been silenced forever? Had Jiang Cheng failed this one last duty he had to his sister?

“Shhh, little one,” someone was whispering, not far away. “Let me tell you the one about the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, yeah? You seem like someone who’d appreciate stars. It all started –”

Jiang Cheng went to go look.

A teenage girl was rocking Jin Ling in her arms and telling him a story in murmured tones, and Jin Ling was yawning and trying to gnaw on her shirt. She wasn’t even a cultivator, as far as Jiang Cheng could tell. Her clothing suggested some level of poverty, her accent the countryside – how’d she even end up here?

He wasn’t sure he cared.

Jiang Cheng didn’t want to disturb her, but he did anyway; a shift of his weight, a scuffling of his feet, and the floor creaked. The girl jumped, startled, but luckily Jin Ling was already most of the way asleep and just grumbled a little instead of starting to screech.

“How’d you do that?” Jiang Cheng asked, nodding at Jin Ling. “Make him stop crying.”

“My mother had seven kids after me,” the girl said, answering automatically. “And her sister had six. Someone had to learn to deal with all those babies, and it ended up being me. Think it’s just habit after this long.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t handle one baby. He couldn’t even imagine.

That’s when the girl seemed to remember herself, and bit her lip. “Uh, sorry,” she said, hanging her head. “I heard him crying and I couldn’t resist...I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to be here. It was an accident.”

“How did you get here?” Jiang Cheng asked, because accidental or not, a security breach was still a security breach. “And who are you, anyway?”

“My name’s A-Hua. I’m here to work in the kitchens, just got hired this morning; the fourth cook is my uncle’s wife’s cousin, she got me a job, said it was a good place to start – I was trying to find my way out so I could go to the servant’s quarters to get some sleep, but then I got lost…”

More likely she’d decided it was better to try to stay somewhere indoors than go out in the pouring rain to try to find her way to the right set of quarters, Jiang Cheng thought to himself. “Give me your hand.”

“Uh. What?”

He ignored her stare, took her hand and felt her pulse. There was a little bit of natural talent there, though not much; she might, if she tried hard enough, become a cultivator, but she’d never be more than a servant.

Unless, of course, she did something unusual to impress someone.

“Forget the kitchens,” Jiang Cheng told her. “You’re hired on a provisional basis to keep an eye on Jin Ling.”

The girl nodded, eyes wide as saucers. “Can you – do that?”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can. What’s your surname? You can’t go around being called A-Hua, we have at least seven people that I know of that go by that name.”

The girl looked distressed.

She probably didn’t have a proper surname. Some people in the countryside didn’t.

But they really couldn’t go around shouting “A-Hua” every time Jin Ling was crying, which was basically all the time.

“Fine,” he said, giving in. “Do well, and I’ll consider letting you use mine. But only if you do well!”

Jiang Cheng was covered in mud thanks to a successful-but-at-what-cost night hunt and angry about it, stomping around the lotus pools on his way back to town, when he heard the familiar sounds of someone having a panic attack.

He slowed, involuntarily, and took a look: it was some teenager dressed in black, heaving miserably by a tree.

Jiang Meimei had once said that Jiang Cheng was a bit weak when it came to teenagers.

Jiang Cheng said that was nonsense.

Jiang Hua chimed in, quite loyally (if perhaps not with the best timing), and said he wasn’t.

Jiang Cheng yielded the argument at once to keep Jiang Meimei from laughing herself sick.

In view of that, he was better off ignoring the kid. After all, what was it to him that some kid was having a fit of anxiety right next the same old lotus pool that he used to have his own teenage fits of anxiety next to, under the shade of the same old tree that had sheltered him – one of the few places that remained untouched by the Wen sect’s aggression, one of the few places that was exactly the same?

Jiang Cheng groaned and walked over. “Okay, fine. What’s your problem?”

The kid looked up at him. He had dark circles under his eyes. “I think my heart’s about to explode.”

“That’s just the anxiety,” Jiang Cheng said, and sat down next to him. “What’s causing the anxiety? Don’t say that someone is better than you and your parents are disappointed in you.”

“What?” the kid blinked. “No, it’s not – it’s not that. I’m about to screw up the very first job I ever got.”

Jiang Cheng considered that. It was just different enough from his own issues that he didn’t suspect a plot, and yet close enough that he might actually be able to offer some expertise.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked reluctantly.

“Not to some mud-man,” the kid said, and – hey! It wasn’t that bad. He thought, anyway. Actually, it probably was that bad. “I just…I’m the only one left. I have to make something of myself!”

Jiang Cheng’s eye twitched. “What do you mean, you’re the only one left?”

The kid stuttered through his story. It wasn’t as bad as Jiang Cheng had initially feared, but it was still pretty bad – his small village had had bad harvests, and there had been starvation, a bad winter; the kid had been sent out to get help, but it had taken too long and he’d arrived back to find them all already gone. He’d been lost, but some traveling cultivator had agreed to take him on as a disciple provided he proved himself, had taught him all sorts of skills, cultivation and talisman-writing and music –

“Music?” Jiang Cheng asked. “Not the sword?”

“There was only the one,” the kid explained. “Obviously he kept it for himself.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t think much of that – surely this cultivator, whoever he ws, could have shared, just long enough to teach? – but he didn’t comment. It seemed fairly clear that the kid didn’t actually think very highly of his teacher, although he was very earnestly trying to be appropriately filial.

It was a little cute.

“…and I was supposed to wait here for someone when they came by here, some fancy rich person, and then get them to follow me, but it’s been ages and no one’s come by at all!” the kid wailed. “I’m such a screw up!”

“You don’t even know who you’re waiting for?” Jiang Cheng asked, and the kid shook his head. “How were you supposed to get them to follow you, then?”

The kid scratched his nose. “My master said that if I showed off some of my cultivation, they’d follow me right away.”

Jiang Cheng suppressed a smirk. “It must be very impressive cultivation, then.”

“…not really. I only know one trick,” the kid admitted. “But it’s not that hard, and it looks impressive – here, see, wait; give me a second, I just need to whistle –”

Zidian crackled to life on Jiang Cheng’s finger before the kid finished the first stanza.

“Stop that!” he cried out, leaping to his feet, and – startled – the kid stopped, blinking owlishly at him. “Is that what your master taught you?!”

“Yes?” the kid said. “Did I do it wrong?”

Jiang Cheng gnashed his teeth. “That’s demonic cultivation. Never do that, okay? Ever.”

“But then how am I supposed to get the fancy rich person to follow me, assuming he ever showed?”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed. If he hadn’t tripped over that branch and fallen into the mud – if he hadn’t taken an extra half-shichen to struggle out of the mire – if he’d walked by in all his usual finery, rich person that he was, and seen some kid practicing demonic cultivation…

He’d have given chase in a heartbeat.

More to the point, everyone knew he would. His reputation had been pretty much set in stone by this point.

“Let’s go find that master of yours,” he said. “Right now.”

Of course, that ended up leading Jiang Cheng straight into the bastard’s trap, which would have been a problem except that he’d taken the time to send someone to tell Jiang Qiao, who’d been waiting for him back in town, that he’d be a bit late and not to worry, just wait where she was.

She’d ignored his instructions and arrived just in time to knife the demonic cultivator – a human trafficker whose operations Jiang Cheng had shut down with extreme viciousness only a few months before – right in the belly, gutting him like a fish in a swift easy motion.

“I think I’m getting the hang of it again,” she said, smiling at the knife, and Jiang Cheng made a mental note to ask exactly how manymen she’d killed to get that criminal brand of hers, except the poor kid was sinking down to his knees with a horrified look and, shit, that horrible bastard, evil as he might have been, was probably the last person the kid had in this whole rotten world, wasn’t he?

“Does Jiang Hua still have those beginner manuals we dug up for her?” Jiang Cheng asked, and Jiang Qiao nodded. “Good. Tell her that starting today, Jiang Jianwen here’s her little brother. She’s been pining over raising someone ever since Jin Ling got to be too old to snuggle.”

The kid looked up with wide eyes.

“No, you don’t get a choice on the name,” Jiang Cheng told him. “Whatever name this piece of crap gave you, just forget it, you hear me? You can do better than him. But no more demonic cultivation!”

“I wish I could visit the Lotus Pier,” Wei Wuxian mumbled, looking wistfully downriver. They were very close by, but he still didn’t dare, even though Jiang Cheng had grumpily extended an invitation through Jin Ling. So much had happened – he just didn’t know where to even start.

He didn’t want to get into all that messy history with Jiang Cheng.

He just wanted to visit, that’s all.

He missed Jiang Cheng, but he missed the Lotus Pier, too. The food, the places, the air…

“I just need a secret way in that even the sect leader doesn’t know about,” he sighed. He’d once known them all – but there was a different sect leader now, and a different Lotus Pier. He couldn’t risk it: Jiang Cheng might find out that he’d snuck in and feel hurt, thinking that Wei Wuxian was avoiding him, when he was just avoiding the conversation; that would just make everything worse.

Lan Wangji would have distracted him, but Lan Wangji himself had been distracted – some man in Jiang sect colors with a heavy limp and an excited sort of air had rushed over, shouting something about wanting to talk about tax policy and possibly also games of chance, and Lan Wangji had all but fled. It had been so funny that Wei Wuxian had nearly laughed himself sick.

“I know one,” someone said, and Wei Wuxian glanced over: it was a young man in Jiang sect disciple robes, little more than a teenager – only a few years older than Jin Ling, if he had to guess. He was smiling, ducking his head a little; he looked proud of himself. “I mean, if you really want. But only if you don’t mean any harm!”

How adorable, Wei Wuxian thought, and grinned at him. “I just want something spicy without having to go through the whole process of greeting people, is that a crime?”

“Not at all!” the kid exclaimed, beaming, and Wei Wuxian almost felt bad for conning him. Almost.

“Do you really know a secret way in?” he asked, pretending to be doubtful. “Really?”

Sure enough, the kid – Jiang Jianwen, apparently, he must be the kid of one of the ones that survived the massacre – was easily lured into insisting that he did know, and then to agreeing to act as guide.

And, moreover, it turned out he really did know his way inside, which made this the easiest infiltration ever.

Or so Wei Wuxian thought right up until he felt a knife point touch his ribs.

“Well done, Jianwen!” a young woman – also in Jiang colors – said, reaching out and ruffling Jiang Jianwen’s hair.

“Aw, it was nothing,” he said, just as bashful as he was when he’d been talking to Wei Wuxian. “I couldn’t have done it without shixiong luring off Lan-er-gongzi.”

Wait, that’d been part of this, too?

That was worrisome.

“Hardly nothing,” the older woman standing behind Wei Wuxian said. She had a certain sort of rock-hard steadiness that was more worrying than the knife she was holding on him – she was a powerful cultivator, familiar with killing and scarred with a criminal’s brand, and yet she seemed entirely at ease in a way that suggested a strong sense of righteousness, with no guilt or weak points he might exploit to make an easy out. “You successfully conned the Yiling Patriarch into following you right into a trap.”

Wei Wuxian wondered if he could deny it.

“I don’t know, shijie, that doesn’t seem that hard,” the first woman said. “Isn’t he the kind of person to run head-first into danger at the first instance?”

“Head-first into danger, and like his tail’s on fire away from dogs,” the older woman agreed, and – damnit. There was clearly no denying it; they actually knew him. Though from where, he had no idea. “A-Hua, Jiangwen, let’s go – we don’t want to be late for our meeting.”

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to tell me who we’re going to go see?” Wei Wuxian tried, putting on his most charming smile. “Or, perhaps, who you are, and what you have against me…?”

“Jiang Jianwen you know,” the woman said, rather unexpectedly. “I’m Jiang Qiao, and this is Jiang Hua. Our shixiong is Jiang Zhou – he’s the one that makes Lan-er-gongzi lose his wallet every time he’s forced to visit Yunmeng.”

Wei Wuxian was almost distracted with the tantalizing prospects of stories about Lan Wangji. Almost.

“You’re all surnamed Jiang?” he asked, surprised: he might have believed it for Jiang Jianwen, maybe, he was young enough to be the son of someone in the last generation. But Jiang Hua and Jiang Qiao looked absolutely nothing alike either to each other or to Jiang Cheng, and at least Jiang Qiao was old enough that he should’ve recognized her if she’d been a Jiang. There’d been a lot of people in the old Jiang sect, even if you limited it to those surnamed Jiang, but he’d been Head Disciple back then – he’d known almost all of them.

“We’re adopted,” Jiang Jianwen said. He looked very proud. “Sect Leader Jiang took us into the family as part of the branch lines.”

Wei Wuxian had never once in his life wanted to have the surname Jiang, not even when he’d been mocked for not having it. He’d never even thought about it. Not ever.

He felt a stab of envy at the word family, though.

“He gave you his surname?” he asked, and tried not to feel jealous when they all nodded. “Oh.”

It made sense, he tried to tell himself as they walked through the back streets of the Lotus Pier. The Jiang sect had been demolished, and Jiang Cheng practically the only survivor but for whoever happened by coincidence to not be at home – the Jiang sect would need branch family members, and adoption made sense. There was no reason to resent the idea of Jiang Cheng giving the name he had always treated as being so precious to a branded former criminal, to a con man, to a commoner from the countryside, to a –

“You were a what?” Wei Wuxian exclaimed.

“A demonic cultivator,” Jiang Jianwen said bashfully. “Not a very a good one, though.”

Wei Wuxian wanted to say something to that. He didn’t know what, but something.

“Enough chatter,” Jiang Qiao said. “We’re here.”

Jiang Hua opened the door and Wei Wuxian stepped inside.

Then he tried to step back out, only to be crowded in by the others.

“No, no, no,” he said. “No, I was willing to play along until now, but this is a step too far. You don’t understand! She’s going to eviscerate me!”

Jiang Meimei – older than the teenager he remembered her being when she left the sect, but still unmistakable – grinned with her teeth bared.

“Oh good,” she said. “At least your brain is still working. Now come on and have a seat, and we’re going to talk about how you’ve been treating my baby cousin recently…”

#mdzs #jiang cheng #original characters #wei wuxian #my fic #my fics #gratuitously acquired

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mcdonaldsnumberone · 3 years

Text

my love and my controller

dogboy headcanons ig

gender neutral reader

Dog is a man’s best friend, but fae are far from being a man’s best friend. But the juxtaposition of a dangerous being of the night, a creature that could drain you of your life or enchant you to a madness so sickening that you would have no choice to surrender, and that of a beast that wants nothing more than to lay at your feet and place his head in your lap is one that delights you all the same. There is no reward without risk, no pleasure without pain, and in love, there is no adoration without some variation of war.

Malleus is far from a docile and gentle dog; he demands your respect, and it’s only when he knows he has it that he dares bow his head to you. He’s a prince, and as naïve as he can be at times, he acknowledges his duty before he acknowledges his heart, so this pretense is merely a show for him to soothe over the guilt resting in his heart before he carves the sensation of your hand deep into his skin.

Your faintest hint of domestication is when it’s late at night. If you sit by the edge of your bed and open up your arms to him, tempting him with honeyed eyes and even more honeyed words, he’ll naturally fall into place with you. You can’t even fathom the power you have over him: the prince of the night kneeling in front of you, groveling for your attention like the touch-starved mutt he is, willing to conquer the world seven times over if it means he can feel your lips touch his forehead.

The final sign of surrender comes when something clicks against his neck and his breathing grows shallow. What sort of spell did you cast on him, dearest child of man? How far did he fall in his degeneracy, to let his guard down enough to let you place a collar on him? The fae heir dares to question you momentarily before the possessive gleam in your eyes has him backing down, swapping his dignity for one more warm touch that melts him away completely, transforming the dragon of legend into nothing more than a lapdog for you to entertain yourself with.

“A prince? This is not what a prince should do, child of man. Yet you make me submit to this carnage over and over again, and despite knowing it’s wrong, no complaint rises to my lips.”

You’ve never met someone so capricious before, and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for you to believe him to be a cat before he was a dog. But the magic of the supernatural exists in a realm beyond your comprehension, and you know all too well that to venture too deep into a place where you weren’t permitted would leave you in the position of the conquered rather than the conqueror. So it was best to take Lilia as he was: mischief and all, secrets and all, mysteries and all.

Lilia loves to tease the boundary, wondering how far he can go under the guise that he’s nothing more than an innocent puppy that doesn’t know right from wrong. Whether that means waking up tangled in your sheets or stealing you away as he must have done with countless other hearts before you were even brought into conception depended on the day, but regardless, like a dog unleashed, he dragged you around to and fro, taking and giving whatever he pleased.

A dog is still a primal animal at the end of the day, bred from hunters that knew danger as if it were the back of their paw, and that combined with his past avarice for the glory of his crown means a nature so monstrous at times that you’re left reeling. The stifling kisses and the carnal taste of a blood-tainted love are testimonies to the darkness swirling hidden by a softer facade, which you accepted without a second thought.

His collar is worn with pride, a means to an end that’ll surely leave you with either the highest of paradise or cast down like humanity thrown out of the blessed garden. You don’t care; Lilia is the best thing you’ve ever known. The way his tail wags, the way he begs for you, the way he stakes his claim on you are all part of the poison that you willingly drank, and it’s only a matter of time before the insignia of ownership that he has on his body transfers from his neck to yours.

“Am I yours, or are you mine? Are you asking because you’re curious or because you want to reaffirm your position? Fufu, you already know the answer to that, don’t you, Master?”

Vigilant, the essence of the moon, filled with aspirations, Silver is all you could ever ask for. He works quietly, swiftly, with a dedication that’s unmatched by anyone else, so long as he can fight off the curse that kisses his eyelids and lulls him into wandering back to the safety and warmth of your presence. How could you rebuke him? He slots himself into your arms, plunging himself into the depths of dreams until you would lure him back into the world of the living with a quiet coo and white promises.

Oblivious to his destiny yet hyperaware of his duties, the living metaphor that Silver is amuses you to no end. You watch him as he stands guard by your bed rather than his liege’s, you laugh at him as he looks to you for validation rather than his father, and you justify yourself with him as he pledges something more than simple servitude towards you. Love is such a difficult, fickle thing; it’s almost like he doesn’t recognize how deeply he’s fallen for you.

But when you pat his ears and whisper about how much of a dearly good boy he is, that’s when he acknowledges that he may be more animal than human. After all, no human would respond to such a demeaning hint of praise with flushed cheeks and wide eyes, lips parted as if to beg you for more, fingers curling around their own flesh in a futile attempt to cling to his pride and humanity, that he remain more of a lover than a pet in your eyes.

When he hears the ‘click’ of the collar around his neck and the feeling of your pointer finger pressing against his lips to shush him, Silver finally recognizes the gravity of his fall. Truly the shining star cast out of Heaven for failing to recognize the slice of bliss he had tasted, the once-noble knight faces his sin and readily gives himself up to you, bowing his head away from the crown and towards the image of you smirking above him, enjoying the spoils of the ruin he had made of himself and presented at your feet as both a sacrifice and a reward.

“I dedicate myself to you, to your safety, to your glory, to your happiness. Use me as you will, Master, for I exist as nothing more than a pet and a tool to carry out your will.”

The line between love and loyalty is a thin one. Sebek’s nothing more than a pup still stumbling over his own feet, let alone know what it means to throw himself into such a tumultuous battlefield like love and expect to escape unscathed. Lucky for him, you’re more than willing to show him the ropes, enticing him into a willing desperation with the promise of true love and an obsession so sweet that he would never come to his senses again.

He keeps his pride, piecing back together what you allow him to have, and you flip the title of soldier and knight and lover between your fingertips whenever you run your fingers through his hair and press your head against his chest, to hear his heartbeat and murmur about how much you love him. He has no choice but to love you with abandon, to cast aside his fae blood and his brilliant humanity to become a dog at your beck and call.

He guards you and protects you like it’s his life duty to do so, watching over you as you sleep and staying by your side in the day and warding off anything. Each hair on your head is precious, and each drop of blood you spill is the equivalent of his own body being harmed. He exists for you, and Great Seven be damned if this is where he fails. But Sebek doesn’t know failure, and he’s not going to change that anytime soon.

The collar is a vow he made to you, a vow that casts a shadow on the once bright light of his determination and tricked him away from the flowery path to the one filled with thorns. It doesn’t matter to him anyway; all he knows and soon, all he’ll ever know, is you. The tug of leather on his neck, right next to his pulse, is living proof of that, and whenever you yank on it to pull him close, he’s more than happy to oblige and take all of the traps and brambles that you’ve strewn around him in a show of both twisted love and tainted loyalty.

“Don’t cast me away, Master. I can do anything you want me to do. I can do so much more than what I’m doing right now for you. Have faith in me, just like you did at the beginning.”

#twisted wonderland #twst x reader #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #silver #sebek zigvolt #x reader #my writing #um !! weirdos dni or ill fucking kill you #shoutout to vixx's chained up... yall r the realest ones for opening my eyes to how sexcee collars are #points my kemonomimi-fication beam at diasomnia) bark harder #no cuz why did this turn out a lot darker than i thought :hahafuck: this was supposed to be cute and then ig lord baron possessed me or smth #society if i cld just be normal and write normal things?#i promise im not a furry aha #everyone starts throwing bricks at me)

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siswritesyanderes · 3 years

Note

If it had been Jasper-Sadie or Alice-Sadie as the vampires and finding their third later, how if at all would any of the “prior” story (the Twilght saga proper) have changed?

This turns the timeline inside out, but Meyer was never great at those anyway.

(Hi, if you're from the Twilight fandom stumbling across this post without context, Sadie is my OC in a yandere Alice/yandere Jasper/OC fic that you can read here.)

Ohhh, so much potential there! I can't answer that in full, because doing so would spoil what Sadie's potential vampire ability is. (Super sorry about that. Feel free to ask again after that information has come up in Rule One!)

I can say that both Bella and Edward would take to confiding in her and seeking her counsel with regards to their relationship. Especially if it's a Sadie-Alice duo; Edward would be super close with both Sadie and Alice (like he's close with Alice in canon), and while he sometimes gets frustrated with Alice, he pretty much always respects Sadie. It's like, Alice would be Bella's best friend and Edward's partner in crime (since she's still the one who would agree to kidnap Bella, whereas Sadie would never), and Sadie would be Bella's confidante and Edward's moral compass. Both Bella and Edward would go to Sadie for advice about each other, and Sadie, though startled by their neediness, would always have something valuable to say.

(Picture Bella or Edward bursting into Sadie's room with a question, and Sadie, wide-eyed, putting down whatever she's doing and saying, "Alrighty then, have a seat.)

Edward trusts that Sadie wouldn't lie to him, so the urgency in having Bella run to him in Italy before he sparkles in front of people (lest he read Alice's thoughts and assume she's lying to him) wouldn't be a thing; Sadie just runs Bella to Edward with vampire speed and is subjected to that whole reunion as an awkward third wheel while Alice parks the stolen car.

Also, Sadie would tip every fight slightly more in favor of the Cullens, but she would also have a habit of really wanting to talk to the enemies instead of attacking them. This is good/useful with the Volturi but not so good/useful with Victoria and Riley.

Oh! Also, Sadie would realize that Victoria will probably follow Edward's scent, in Eclipse, and Sadie would accompany him and Bella in sitting the battle out, so that they have more backup against Victoria. Jasper and Alice wouldn't be privy to the fact that Victoria is coming; this is just a realization that Sadie has that Edward hears in her mind. (As far as Jasper and Alice are concerned, Sadie is sitting the battle out just to be safe, and they're happy that she won't be in harm's way.) This is where Sadie's need to talk to enemies would become a problem, because both Victoria and Riley are too far gone to listen to reason, but Sadie really believes in them and wants to convince them they don't have to die today. It still turns out fine, though. Sadie gets a little hurt, but she's fine. Alice and Jasper would be absolutely smothering, after. Victoria is lucky she's already dead, because they would make her suffer.

And Sadie would think to explain things to Irina before Alice realizes that Irina is going to the Volturi, so that whole misunderstanding never happens.

All of that being said, the thought of "Yandere Alice meets Sadie first" and "Yandere Jasper meets Sadie first" got really interesting to me. So I have to talk about those scenarios immediately.

I'm going to place Sadie sometime in the twentieth century in both cases, and I'm going to try to let the time period matter as little as possible, but feel free to imagine them in 50s or 60s attire, lol. (Or 70s or 80s; again, it doesn't matter that much; I'm just placing her in the twentieth century to keep the rough order of events the same, kind of.) I'm approaching this with the assumption that Alice and Jasper still become vampires in the same way/at the same time as they do in canon; they just meet at different times. I'm not dealing with the Confederate thing here, though, because I'll be dealing with it in Rule One.

I'm gonna go ahead and put it all under the cut. (And if your experience of Rule One is more invested in the potential for wholesome romance than the yandere aspect, maybe the rest of this isn't for you, because this is definitely more yandere-leaning, lol.)

Alice-Sadie

Alice knows three things: 1. Her own name. 2. That she is going to join the Cullens. 3. That Sadie, whom she has not yet met, is her soulmate.

Though she slips up every now and then, Alice does her best not to eat humans. She wants to fit in with the Cullens by the time she finds them, so she's accustoming herself to the animal diet. Anyway, she has a mate out there whom she will meet as a human, and she has to get herself under control before she can risk being around her.

The thing is, Alice knows about Sadie before Sadie is actually an option, so she has to kill time so that she doesn't meet Sadie too early. And Alice hates waiting, so she goes ahead and introduces herself to the Cullens before Sadie. She tells them all about how she'll have a soulmate soon, and how it's killing her to keep her distance but she knows things will be way better if she never meets Sadie as a child. She decorates her room with things that Sadie likes, anticipating that one day she'll be sharing the room with Sadie. Honestly, if it weren't for Edward's mind reading, the rest of the Cullens might think Sadie was an imaginary friend or something.

(Rosalie would normally take issue with Alice's plans to intrude on the life of a human she's never met just because of a potential future where they're in love, but she doesn't really take Alice's fantasizing seriously until it's too late.)

One day, Alice just sort of disappears from the Cullen house, and only Edward knows where she's gone.

Sadie is finally at the right age; it's time.

Alice appears in Sadie's life, and everything she says and does is perfect. She rockets from stranger to friend to best friend at an impressive rate, her precognition easily compensating for Sadie's hesitancy (and Sadie would start off more wary than she is in Rule One, due to the time period). Having left the rest of the Cullens, for the time being, there is nothing (read: no one) holding Alice back from being absolutely surgical about making herself important in Sadie's life and subtly isolating her. She gives expensive gifts, and comprehensive compliments, and she always knows what to say to make Sadie like and trust her more.

When Sadie starts to become suspicious about the evolution of their friendship, Alice drops the vampire bomb and the soulmate bomb all at once, showing Sadie her speed and strength and sparkles. There was no better way to do it. Alice checked; this was the absolute best set of circumstances for the reveal.

Sadie asks for time to process the information. She asks for space. Alice graciously allows it; she's practically living with Sadie at this point, anyway. (Not that Sadie knows it. But yeah, she's in Sadie's house pretty much 24/7 (minus her hunting trips), dodging notice with stealth and psychic powers.)

When Sadie is ready to talk again, Alice pours out every reassurance: how she will never stop loving her; how she would never hurt her; how she thinks about her all the time and loves her so much. Sadie isn't fully won over by the whole vampire lover concept, but Alice does convince her to come meet her family.

They go to the Cullen house. Alice shows her off to everyone, and Rosalie is stunned, and Emmett laughs incredulously. Edward and Carlisle make polite introductions, and Esme hugs her, just glad to see Alice so happy. (Esme has been so worried about her newest daughter, so flighty and constantly pining for someone who wasn't there. And then she disappeared, and anything could have happened to her! But now she's back, and she's brought someone lovely, and she looks happier than Esme has ever seen her.) Carlisle and Edward give Sadie a more in-depth explanation of how vampires operate and why the bond between mates is a big deal. Esme cooks her a huge meal. Before they know it, nighttime has come, and Sadie falls asleep in Alice's room.

She wasn't drugged or anything; Alice just perfectly orchestrated a set of circumstances in which she would be tired by this exact time.

When she wakes up, Alice is an utter angel, offering her breakfast and a bath and telling her that there's more to see, around the house. She hasn't seen Rosalie's garage, yet! She hasn't seen Esme's garden. And soon enough she's sleeping over again.

On that third day at the house, Rosalie pulls Sadie aside to say that she'll drive Sadie home, if Sadie needs her to. But Alice has done her job well; Sadie likes Alice, and she likes the Cullens, and most of all, she's so curious about vampires and the world thereof. She's willing to stay and learn, provided she can visit her friends and family, and provided Alice doesn't try to change her. She fills several journals with what she learns about vampires, all in the span of a single year. She learns so much, and she's never satisfied that she's learned enough.

When Alice asks her to let Carlisle change her, she chooses exactly the right conversation, exactly the right approach, and exactly the right time. Sadie agrees and becomes a vampire. (She kind of has to, for this prompt, lol.) Rosalie is annoyed, but she knows that Sadie thought the matter over thoroughly.

When the day comes that Alice sees Jasper in their future, she drags Sadie off to meet him, barely explaining herself beyond "We have another mate!". Sadie goes along with it because she's used to Alice's antics.

They meet this crimson-eyed, roguishly handsome vampire, and Jasper is pretty instantly enthralled with them both. He's curious about their golden eyes, charmed by Alice's forwardness, and amused by Sadie's mix of intrigue and wariness. The emotional flavor of Alice's joy and cheerfulness, and of Sadie's curiosity and uncertainty, are enough to pretty much have him wrapped around their fingers right away.

Sadie's reaction is more "Ohhhh, Alice, this guy eats people..."

Alice just goes, "It's okay. Jasper will be willing to change his diet if we ask him to. Won't you, Jasper?"

And it's so presumptuous, but also he's into it, because Sadie has already made it clear that eating humans is a deal-breaker for her, and he doesn't want this meeting to end.

He joins the family, and it feels like the best thing ever; he has two amazing soulmates, and he belongs to a large coven that will always be safe from strangers. The animal-eating thing is a downside, but there's no help for that.

The dynamic for the next little while is that Alice is already in love with both Jasper and Sadie, Jasper is already in love with Alice and Sadie, and Sadie is in love with Alice and polite to Jasper but isn't quite sure about him. Like, she's in a peculiar place of "We are soulmates, and I do like you and feel an attraction to you, and I understand how our personalities are good together, but I don't know how long it'll take me to become comfortable with your past", and Jasper is just falling over himself to earn her approval, but she's comfortable with allowing it to take time.

(Rosalie is secretly very entertained by the whole thing, and Emmett is not-so-secretly entertained.)

Unlike in canon, Jasper would never suggest eating any human ever again; even once Sadie is comfortable with him, he never wants to risk making her doubt him the way she did in the beginning.

Jasper-Sadie

So at this point in his life, Jasper is eating people. His eyes are bright red, and he is ruthless, and Alice isn't around to temper that side of him.

This is absolutely a kidnapping situation.

When he runs into Sadie (entirely by happenstance), he doesn't know immediately that he is in love with her; he just knows that he wants to follow her, so he does. He stalks after her like he has stalked lots of prey in the past. Her blood doesn't sing to him, though; after several hours of just tailing her, he realizes that he just likes to hear her breathe and speak and laugh. He likes to look at her. He likes to taste her emotions on the air. He likes this human.

Then he realizes that he's in love with her, as much as Peter is in love with Charlotte.

He never wants to stop looking at her, listening to her talk...

He manages to get her alone, and he introduces himself in a charismatic, gentlemanly fashion. He kisses the back of her hand (managing to ignore the feel and sound of her pulse so close; he shouldn't take a risk like that again) and says, "Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Jasper Whitlock. May I ask what your name is?"

She notices the coldness of his skin and the redness of his eyes (and again, time-period-wise, this interaction is very weird), but he is sending her the most powerful waves of comfort and calm that he can. She is dazed and perplexed, but not afraid, as she answers, "I'm Sadie Gilder."

It's the most beautiful name he has ever heard.

He abducts her pretty much then and there; he leads her away with a request that she accompany him and a heavy layer of mood control. Sadie is able to break out of the daze (through sheer overthinking) after they've walked together awhile; by the time she asks, "Wait, where are we?", they've reached the secluded mansion of an old widow.

(Jasper doesn't need a place to sleep, but his Sadie does, so he quickly identified this place as the best option.)

The order in which Jasper eats the occupants of the house and brings Sadie inside the house is up to your imagination, as is whether or not Sadie ends up seeing any bodies or seeing him with blood on his face and clothes. Either way, just the kidnapping itself is enough to have Sadie panicking, and he hates to feel her fear.

He holds her, gives her calming energy, and whispers to her. "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you, Perfect Sadie. I won't eat you. You're too special. Just gonna keep you right here." (He's just eaten a lot of people, so he's okay with breathing right next to her, so that he can keep whispering to her.) She falls asleep in his arms. He doesn't stop holding her, and he doesn't stop whispering. (Also, remember how the first thing he says to Sadie in Rule One is that she's warm and soft? Yeah, he still says that, pretty much verbatim, in this scenario. I'm not putting it in quotes, because it sounds dirty in a kidnapping context, but he for sure says it.)

The next day, since he's keeping up the comforting vibes to keep her from being afraid, Sadie asks Jasper a lot of questions. He tells her everything he knows about vampires. He isn't fully versed in vampire mating, so he isn't able to really inform her that his obsession with her is, to some degree, an inherent vampire trait, but he is very good at conveying to her that he is obsessed.

With no one to tell him to cool it with his power, and with his diet of human blood making his power more potent than it would be on animal blood, Jasper uses it at pretty much full capacity every time, instead of subtle shifts in emotion. So, while Sadie does notice that it's happening, she can't keep herself from the effects of his power by self-awareness alone.

He generally doses her with the same kind of peaceful calm he uses when he meets strange vampires for the first time, instead of the lethargic calm he uses to keep prey docile. He uses the latter when he wants her to sleep, but for the most part he just wants her to be unfearful and communicative.

She eats the food that's in the house. When he's able to convince himself to leave her unattended (usually after he's put her to sleep), he picks up more groceries and abducts some humans for himself. He keeps them in the cellar, far enough away from Sadie that she needn't know they're there but close enough that he can still hear her when he goes down to eat them. It's actually very convenient, not to have to hunt often; he just has to pop down to the cellar and enjoy a few of the already-injured occupants. Having a steady home has its upside. It's a shame someone will eventually notice the widow missing and he'll have to move with Sadie. But there will always be another empty mansion, or a mansion that can be easily made empty.

(When it's time to change homes, Jasper carries Sadie to the new destination while she's sleeping.)

Partially due to the mood control and partially due to the upfront-ness of everything, there's honestly very little tension between them. There's fear, sometimes (The one time Sadie tries to leave the mansion while Jasper is eating, he runs up from the cellar to stop her, and he's still covered in blood, and she's terrified, and it takes him a lot of soothing to get her calm again. It upsets him when she's scared.), but no tension. Sadie would like to leave, but she gathers that she can't, so all there is to do is maneuver within the new situation and learn more about her captor.

And neither of them is inherently a romantic. Jasper loves her, but even he isn't under the impression that they're dating or something. As far as he's concerned, he's keeping her; as far as she's concerned, she's studying him. Jasper is ecstatic with the arrangement, and Sadie is as comfortable as the situation allows.

Peter and Charlotte follow Jasper's scent at some point, wanting to hang out, and Jasper socializes with them outside the mansion, explaining that they can't go in because there's a human inside whom he is invested in keeping alive, and he can't risk them eating her. When they learn that he's in love, they ask if he plans on changing her, but he says that he can't yet. His control isn't good enough.

One day, Alice shows up.

She meets Jasper while he's in town, gathering food for Sadie and himself. They still have the little "You kept me waiting" "My apologies" flirtation, but he's a little more guarded, because he has to get back to Sadie, and as much as he is already beguiled by this weird-eyed stranger, he doesn't want her following him home. She's a vampire, and no vampires are allowed near his Sadie.

Alice really wants to skip the wooing; she's already seen herself with Jasper and Sadie. But she knows that mentioning Sadie too soon could make Jasper defensive, so she has to sprinkle herself slowly into Jasper's life, meeting him when he comes to town and letting his instinctive attraction and fondness for her grow into trust over a span of months (even moving towns when he does). She doesn't say anything about him switching to an animal diet, either; she tells him that she eats animals, but trying to influence him at this stage could alter her chances of seeing Sadie. Better to just let him murder.

Once they're at the right place, trust-wise, she tells him that she is already as in love with Sadie as she is with him, due to her psychic visions, and she asks to meet her. At first, Jasper isn't ready, but after she's asked a few more times, he allows it.

Alice has to be extra careful, because she wants to just run and hug Sadie as soon as she sees her, but if she makes a sudden move, Jasper will react badly. (Especially since the speed that comes with her small frame makes her a genuine threat to Sadie, even with Jasper there.) Not to mention, she has to endear herself to Sadie, whose only experience with vampires has been abduction.

"Sadie Lily Gilder," Alice says, barely restraining her excitement. "I am Alice Cullen. I'm your other soulmate."

Sadie is mostly perplexed and a little exasperated, but Jasper feels suddenly as if the sun has broken through the clouds. (Which means a lot, since he was already happy before.) Alice's joy at finally getting to see Sadie seems to fill the room, and this is his first time hearing Sadie's middle name, and...

"I like seeing you together," he realizes.

For the next few months, Alice is allowed to visit Sadie every now and then, under full supervision from Jasper. He can feel that she loves Sadie as much as he does, but he's still got to be careful. Humans are so fragile, and he's used to only trusting himself. When she comes, Alice brings Sadie little gifts that she never thought to ask Jasper before. She brings a new spritely energy to the house that Sadie comes to enjoy.

The following few months, (and after Jasper has watched her hunt animals) she's allowed to stay over full-time. They watch Sadie sleep, together. She's able to answer more of Sadie's questions.

Alice introduces Jasper to the idea of joining a family she's seen in their future. He doesn't want that many vampires around their Sadie, but as always, Alice says just the right things: they're all animal eaters; she hasn't seen a single future where any of them hurt Sadie; and the eldest of them could change Sadie for them.

(She also has to convince Sadie to want to become immortal with them, since she knows that Carlisle and Edward would be against turning her against her will. It helps that Sadie has been captured by a vampire for a while, now, and being a vampire herself would give her a chance of exerting some control over her future.)

When they meet the Cullens, Alice acts like they're already best friends. Jasper is more formal in asking the patriarch if he can change Sadie for them.

Edward calls them out on kidnapping Sadie, but Sadie points out that, unless things come to blows between the Cullens and Alice and Jasper, the only way for her to no longer be kidnapped is by becoming a vampire.

So Carlisle changes her, and she stays with the Cullens so that she can have someone to help her overcome her thirst during her newborn years without slipping up and hurting someone. Alice and Jasper stay with the Cullens, too (and the Cullens tell Jasper that he has to switch to the animal diet if he wants to stay). Eventually, all three of them are close enough to various members of the Cullen family that they just sort of become part of it.

Having been kidnapped at the start of all this, though, Sadie exerts her autonomy in pretty much every way. In her newborn years, in which she is more temperamental (though that isn't saying much; she's still pretty mellow by newborn vampire standards), she confronts Jasper for what he did, and he pretty much just takes it; things have worked out pretty great for him, so it's only fair to let her get it off her chest. Sadie can feel the bond between her and Alice and Jasper, but she can also feel that he didn't have to do what he did. She goes to visit her human family, once she knows that she won't eat them; she and Rosalie go on lengthy road trips; she and Emmett go to football games; she goes volunteering and home renovating with Esme; she learns languages and musical instruments from Edward; she learns vampire history from Carlisle and even joins him on a trip to Volterra.

She lets Alice buy her clothes but overall gives Jasper a wide berth.

Alice, having gained full trust from Jasper, is able to convince him to allow Sadie her space for a while, as she comes to terms with everything that happened. Jasper agrees, since Sadie isn't so fragile anymore and he knows that Alice is keeping an eye on her. So long as they know where Sadie is at all times, and so long as she is accompanied by at least one of the Cullens, he can bear to spend uninterrupted one-on-one time with his newest mate, especially if doing so will help Sadie to forgive him.

The diet of animal blood makes him less wild (but more tense, as he can feel that he is weaker), and the newness of everything in Sadie's life raises her spirits. Maybe eventually she'll be willing to hang out with him again, but it'll take a few years.

#rule one sadie #sadie lily gilder #yandere jasper hale #yandere alice cullen #male yandere #female yandere #yandere twilight #yandere poly #kidnapping #obsession #possessive #yandere/oc #black oc

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shurisneakers · 3 years

Text

shut in [2]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Gender Neutral Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, implied violence, drama kings, and stupid tv show references

Word count: 3.4k

A/N: ayeeee, we’re back for part two. i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

Hours were spent on the road in thick silence.

The both of you had been driving around for a while now. You were a considerable distance away from the mansion and Pierce, but you didn’t dare to stop.

Initially you had only put the pedal to the metal without solid plan. Get the fuck away from there was the only objective you cared about.

Hours later a signboard registered in your frantic thoughts. Familiarity struck a chord, and all of a sudden you had a vague idea of where you could go. You were unsure if it still existed, but it was a risk you were willing to take.

Darkness still coloured the sky, but the roads were deserted. No cameras along the highway was a welcomed feature. You eased your foot off the accelerator, carefully assessing the path you were taking for your exit.

You saw a small clearing near the highway, taking a deep breath before pulling the car into a sharp turn off the road and into the woods.

“Where are you going?” your companion jolted up when the car swerved abruptly.

You didn’t answer; just kept your eyes peeled for the structure. You didn’t have a backup plan if this didn’t go right.

It took much longer than you anticipated before you found it, pulling the car to a stop. You were deeper into the woods than you would have liked.

You stuck your head out of the window to confirm you were at the right place. It looked like you were.

“Where the hell are we?”

“My summer vacation house,” you murmured, unbuckling your seatbelt. You stepped out of the car to assess the damage. .

Another door opening and closing told you that he had gotten out of the car as well. However, he trudged ahead, leaving you behind.

The car was pretty beaten up. The metal gates hadn’t done it any favours.The question was whether it would still work if you needed it to.

Probably would, but not for too long.

You looked to the side to see where he went. He was standing in front of the house, arms crossed over his chest as he ran his eyes all over the building.

You trekked past him, walking up the two steps to the door. Pulling at what looked like a doorbell in any other scenario, you tugged off the outer shell to reveal a small scanner underneath.

You pressed your thumb to it, tapping your foot impatiently as it gave a beep of approval. The door gave a soft click. You let out a breath you didn’t realise you were holding, twisting the handle to let yourself in.

“You’re kidding right?” he asked incredulously from a distance behind you.

“Hey, man, stay outside if you want. Suit yourself.” You were sure he could fashion a bed out of leaves and twigs if he was that desperate.

Fumbling for the light switch, you sigh in relief when the room is illuminated.

“Whose safehouse is this?”

“Ransone’s.” You shrugged nonchalantly, moving ahead to inspect the place.

“I have every single one of his safehouses committed to memory.” His voice was becoming fainter as he planted his feet firmly at the doorway, refusing to move. “This ain’t one of them.”

“He’s sneaky. Once watched the next episode of Desperate Housewives without telling me.” The house wasn’t as dusty as you thought it would be, clearly being maintained once in a while although not regularly. “Broke my whole heart, he did.”

“Whose house is this?” he asked once again, tone hard as steel.

“Best that you don’t ask questions, buddy.” You looked at him wearily, a slo warning in itself, ending the conversation there. “Or else you’re welcome to leave.”

The entrance opened directly into what you assumed was the living room, or a sorry excuse for one. It had a couch facing an old cable television set, mounted on a small cupboard.

In the same space was the kitchen, with a microwave, a sink, and shelves lining the wall. A small mini fridge sat atop the counter. There was a dining table with six chairs for a family, almost like a sick joke. You found yourself letting out a short exhale at it, moving onto the next room.

It was bare except for a shelf pressed against a well. Opening it, you found yourself looking at multitudes of what looked like burner phones, microphones, cameras, some as small as a button. Regular security cameras and monitors to go with it, trackers, anything you needed was available in those four drawers.

You pocketed a burner cell to use for later, moving to the room on the opposite side of the hall.

However, unlike the rest of the rooms you had seen so far, this one was empty. Not even a shelf decorating it.

The next door you opened was a bathroom, the final being a bedroom with one bed in the centre pushed up against the wall. A wardrobe in the corner contained numerous t-shirts of black and grey of every size, tactical pants and other necessary items of clothing.

You eyed the last door at the end of the hall before finally deciding to pursue it.

It opened to the patio in the back, two steps leading down from the house into the wooded area. Pillars held up the corners of the roof. It all looked picturesque, meant to blend in as a normal house.

You stood there for a second, taking in the silence around you. Nothing could be heard for miles, so if something were to happen-

You shook your head, forcing your imagination to stop running wild. You shut the door behind you, steadily making your way back to where the guy was.

It appeared that he had caved. He had moved from the doorway, instead taking a seat on one of the dining chairs. He was observing you, eyes keen as you took a seat opposite to him.

Dropping the burner phone on the table, you looked at him expectantly. Silence ensued until it dawned on him what you were implying.

“I’m not calling him,” the guy said, leaning on his palm. Coward.

“Fine.” You pulled it back, snapping it open to dial the number.

You let it ring all the way until the very last second.

“Hello?” the low voice resonated from the other end.

“Ransone.” You rolled your eyes at his tone, somehow letting your exhaustion tear down any kind of filter you usually had while in conversation with him.

“Y/N?” His voice jumped two octaves higher to his usual pitch, dropping the facade immediately.

“Did you set us up?” You ignored the small glance you got from the guy at your name.

“What?”

“Did you set us up?” you repeated brazenly.

“What?”

“Oh, cut the shit Ransone, was this a trap?” The guy next to you exploded impatiently.

“Wilson?” Great. A name to the face.

“Answer the fuckin’ question, Vincent.” The mention of Ranone’s first name had you surprised. No one dared to call him that.

“No, Sam,” came his response almost mockingly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sam Wilson. It sounded familiar. You’d heard it tossed around a few times at the organisation.

“Why were both of us on the same assignment?”

“I told you, I wasn’t sure if Wilson was going to show up.” You could hear his chair faintly creak in the background. “This was his mission first.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” you interjected. Faint memories of a passing comment he made during your briefing were beginning to surface.

“It means,” Ransone emphasised. “I called him first. He was being a bit… difficult. So I sent you as a backup.”

You looked at Sam. He dismissed you with a wave of his hand, as if to say to ignore what he was saying.

“And you didn’t think it was important to tell me that you were sending someone else?” If Ransone had told you, he should have mentioned it to him too.

“Oh, grow up.” Ransone sounded irritated, a tone that he seemed to reserve for Sam specifically. “You’re not children anymore. You can handle a few miscommunications.”

“Bullshit. You and I both know this isn’t an accident,” Sam retorted, dangerously good at not giving a shit.

“You better watch yourself, agent.” Ransone snarled. “I don’t like being questioned.”

“Like I give a shit about what you like or not. We were outnumbered 8 to 2. You tellin’ me you had nothing to do with this? That the stars just aligned to royally fuck with us?”

“Yes, I waited until Mercury was in retrograde to plan this hit,” he drawled sarcastically. “Don’t you for a second forget what you owe me, Wilson. You’d be stupid to believe I’d let it go so easily by having you killed.”

His voice was ice by the end. Sam’s eyebrow furrowed as he leaned back, crossing his arm over his chest.

“Then what about me?”

“Y/N,” he sighed, instantly sounding softer. “I didn’t think he would show. That’s it.”

“You’ve never been unsure of anything.”

“Which is why I sent you in. Pierce had to die one way or the other. Don’t care how.” It wasn’t what you were talking about, but it brought up something else.

You looked at Sam. Should you tell him that Pierce was dead before you got there?

You decided against it, not knowing what his reaction would be and too tired to gauge it over the phone. If someone else had gotten to Pierce before you, it meant that Ransone didn’t get a chance to deliver a dramatic end to his life, which would tick him off endlessly.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Sam broke the momentary pause.

“You don’t.” He paused. “Distrusting me is the wisest thing you could do.”

You scoffed at his stupid Game of Thrones quote. How he was this obnoxious at a time like this was beyond comprehension.

“Give me your location.” He couldn’t sound less interested, like a parent forced to pick up their child. “I’ll send someone to come pick you up.”

Sam’s finger tapped at the table, drawing your attention to him.

He slowly shook his head, mentioning to his ear then drawing his finger in a circle indicating his surroundings.

Disclosing confidential information over the phone wasn’t the wisest idea. You had no idea if anyone was tapping into Ransone’s calls, listening for sensitive information. For all you knew that’s how they got to the mansion before you.

“Forget it. We’ll figure it out,” you told Ransone, eyes still locked on Sam.

“All right, stay low for a while. Keep me updated.”

You cut the call without another word, removing the battery and tossing the phone onto the table.

“What now?”

Neither of you said anything for a while. The silence rested uncomfortably between you as you stewed over what to bring up.

“Did you kill Pierce?”

“Christ, we still on this?” he scoffed.

“It’s a yes or no question.”

“No,” he stared at you. “I didn’t.”

“Did Ransone send you to spy on me?” It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened, although you thought he had moved past the need for that years ago.

“No, I was there for a mission.”

“You got any proof?”

He rolled his eyes. “Scout’s honour.”

He lifted his hand up in a mock-salute. A wince flashed across his face; barely, but enough for you to catch it. His arm dropped back down again.

You examined him silently, searching for any hint of a lie or bluff. You found nothing, only an adamant set of eyes staring right back at you.

Your chair creaked as you pushed yourself away from the table. You could feel his gaze following you as you walked down the hall to the bathroom. Shuffling through the shelves for something you were sure was there, you soon stepped back out.

You had no idea why you were doing this. You didn’t even know the guy.

He had his sleeve pulled up to his shoulder, examining the wound from the bullet graze. Dried blood streaked his forearm, partially covering his tattoo.

You tossed the first aid kit onto the table, watching it slide across to where he was sitting. Sam glanced at the box, then up at you.

You just turned around silently, walking back down the hall and towards the bedroom, shutting the door behind you.

__________

Sleep didn’t come that night, and predictably so.

Whether it was the survival instinct guarding you from the stranger in the house, the adrenaline from the mission or even the anxiety of not knowing what exactly was going on, you were sure that you didn’t catch even a bit of shut eye.

Morning came around after what seemed like days rather than hours. You still stayed in bed well past the sunrise, pulling at the hem of your pillow. Your knife was still strapped to your thigh and your gun found a place on the nightstand, just in case.

When you heard the opening and shut of cabinets down the hall, you finally pulled yourself up, stretching to get rid of the weariness in your muscles. You decided against the gun but left the knife strapped to your thigh as you shifted off the bed.

You paused at the doorway, hand on the knob. Shoving aside your hesitation, you opened the door quietly. You could handle it, easily.

Walking towards the kitchen, the volume of his ruffling and filing through the kitchen only became louder. You stopped at the entrance, watching as Sam slammed a cabinet door shut.

“C’mon man,” he groaned before turning around to lean his body weight against the counter. There was a small bump under the sleeve of his arm, different from the curve of his muscle. You assumed he had bandaged the bullet graze the night before.

He was still wearing the same thing as yesterday. Dust was slightly settled on his shirt and one knee of his pants was ripped slightly.

“Mornin’.” You quickly looked back up at him, not realising when he had seen you. “Get any sleep last night?”

You wordlessly shook your head and he shrugged in understanding.

“Did you?”

“Oh yeah. Out like a light.” He pushed himself off the counter.

“Really?” You watched as he pulled out a chair for himself, taking a place at the dining table, same place he was sitting the night before.

“Sounded like the reasonable thing to do.” He had an unnatural amount of faith in the fact that you wouldn’t murder him. Although you couldn’t judge if he was simply putting on a show, having stayed awake just as you had.

“I'm stuck in a safehouse with a stranger, forgive me for being a little careful,” you muttered defensively, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Hey, never said you were wrong.” He lifted his hands up. “But just to make sure; are you going to kill me?”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “No?”

“And I’m not going to kill you. I’d say that’s enough reassurance to get at least a nap in.”

“Give me one good reason to believe you.”

“If you killed me, Ransone would blow the roof of this place with you still in it. I’m one of the best he’s got.”

“Bullshit.” You scoffed, walking around the table to go see what you could find to eat. Ransone wouldn’t do that for anyone, and he knew that.

He didn’t bother responding but you could sense him tracking your movement.

The first cabinet you opened consisted purely of jars of peanut butter, stacked together neatly. The one beside it had jelly arranged in a similar fashion, jar to jar and taking up the entire space. Adjacent cupboard had loaves of bread, probably the most you’d seen together in a house ever.

The next cupboard was... empty.

“You have got to be fuckin’ with me,” you cursed under your breath. “Is there nothing else here?”

Save for a few plates and cutlery, every other shelf was empty. Your frustration only grew with each drawer you opened and shut, finding nothing but the same three components over and over again.

“There’s some soup on the top right, behind the bread.” His voice came from behind you. You checked where he mentioned, finding multiple cans of tomato soup. “I hope PB&J is your favourite, ‘cause that’s really all we got. I checked twice.”

“We won’t be here long anyway. It’s fine.” You walked a few steps towards where the TV was, sitting atop a small cupboard. If you weren’t getting gourmet meals, hopefully it would be compensated with some entertainment.

Rummaging through it didn’t prove to be a major hassle since there were only three DVDs; Die Hard, Notting Hill and Megamind. Beside it sat two books, American Gods, and Pride and Prejudice. That’s all.

“Really made sure to cover all demographics with those movies. There’s only one local news channel, everything else is static,” Sam informed you, unmoving from his position. You sighed, tossing the DVDs back and shutting the door.

“There’s a room over there with some basic shit. Burners, mics, cameras. Clothes are in the bedroom drawer. Should probably take a shower while you’re at it, I can smell you from a mile away and it’s giving me a migraine.” You pushed yourself off the ground, pointing towards the rooms as you walked down the hall. “Backyard’s all heavily wooded. If we try hard enough, I’m sure there are a few trap doors or crawl spaces or whatever around here.”

You could hear him follow you as you gave him the tour of a place you were sure he already had examined thoroughly before you greeted him this morning.

Pushing open the door to the suspiciously empty room, you stepped to the side, allowing him to observe. The both of you had the same thought process as you split up, sticking close to the walls, running your fingers across the plaster to look for any major differences.

“Got it,” he called out. You spun on your heel to face where he was standing. A small chunk of the wall was missing, a small button in the centre of the cavity he had created.

Pressing it lightly, the mechanical sound of sliding doors filled the air as the entire side of the room gave way to shelves upon shelves of weapons. Guns, knives, ammunition, bulletproof vests; enough material to last you years.

The doors slid shut when you pressed the button again, not until you had a mental note of what was available in case you found yourself in a situation where you required them.

“That about covers it. Don’t think we’ll be here long so just think of it as your three day long staycation.”

“I’ve had a better time at funerals than I’ll ever have in this shithole.”

________

“What do you mean they escaped?” Their voice was booming, dripping with slow rising anger. “Someone explain to me how the fuck that’s possible.”

“They took the car and left.”

“They took the car and left,” they said mockingly in a high pitch. “I know that, you fucking imbecile. I’m asking how they were alive long enough to do it?”

“They teamed up. Took out nearly everyone,” the agent was monotone. His arm was in a sling and his partner stood beside him, thick bandages around his midsection.

“They shouldn’t have been there together. They shouldn’t have been sent together.”

No one said a word, not even daring to breathe loudly.

“This wasn’t supposed to fucking happen. We killed Pierce. Everything was perfect,” their voice dropped as they spat out the last word. “So then how did this fucking happen?”

“Boss, we’ll-”

“I want them dead.” They interrupted, casting silence in the room. “I don’t care how you fucking do it. I want you to find them and rip them to shreds. Both of them.”

“Yes, boss.”

“And if you even fucking think of coming back without a proper update-” they brought their hand down harshly on the table. “-I’ll make you wish you were never born.”

The agents just nodded, faces pale as they shuffled out of the room silently.

“Fucking idiots.” They nursed their forehead on their palm, calming the nerve that was menacingly visible on their temple. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Part 3

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mrsjadecurtiss · 3 years

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What do you think of Robert? What are your opinions on him, do you think that if the war never happened that he'd still go down this self destructive path?

I think Robert was fundamentally not made to be a king - He has the charisma and the looks and is an able warrior, but his negative character traits are indulged and enhanced by his position and led him down an almost unavoidable path.

Robert is someone who above all wants to enjoy and live an easy life:

"You need to come south," Robert told him. "You need a taste of summer before it flees. [...] Flowers everywhere, the markets bursting with food, the summerwines so cheap and so good that you can get drunk just breathing the air. Everyone is fat and drunk and rich." He laughed and slapped his own ample stomach a thump. "And the girls, Ned!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. "I swear, women lose all modesty in the heat.[...]" The king laughed happily. Robert Baratheon had always been a man of huge appetites, a man who knew how to take his pleasures. - Eddard I, aGoT

"Robert wanted smiles and cheers, always, so he went where he found them, to his friends and his whores. Robert wanted to be loved." - Sansa IV, aCoK

He has just enough of a moral understanding to at least know when he is doing wrong and to even feel bad about it at times, but not enough to actually change anything about himself.

The rage was gone from him now; in his eyes Ned saw something sad and scared. "I should not have hit [Cersei]. That was not … that was not kingly." He stared down at his hands, as if he did not quite know what they were. - Eddard X, aGoT

Robert desires to have an easy life, he wants to be loved, he wants to have fun, but he does not want to deal with the hard and unpleasant things. In times of crisis, he wants to take the easy way out, and he prefers to avoid uncomfortable truths.

Lord Tywin stared at him as if he had lost his wits. "[...] When I laid those bodies before the throne, no man could doubt that we had forsaken House Targaryen forever. And Robert's relief was palpable. As stupid as he was, even he knew that Rhaegar's children had to die if his throne was ever to be secure. Yet he saw himself as a hero, and heroes do not kill children." - Tyrion VI, aSoS

"Well, now I know Jaime's dark sin, and the matter can be forgotten. I am heartily sick of secrets and squabbles and matters of state, Ned." - Eddard II, aGoT

"Most likely the king did not know," Littlefinger said. "It would not be the first time. Our good Robert is practiced at closing his eyes to things he would rather not see." - Eddard IV, aGoT

He feels most comfortable when he is surrounded by people who love him and know how to handle him/want the best for him, and steer him onto the right path in a way where he can still feel good about himself.

"These are difficult times. I need good men about me. Men like Jon Arryn. He served as Lord of the Eyrie, as Warden of the East, as the Hand of the King. He will not be easy to replace." - Eddard I, aGoT

In an environment that works against him, or goes against his wishes even if it is for the better, it creates a destructive energy in him. He cannot stand dissent to his wishes because it robs him of a pleasure he desires, and creates unwanted conflict. He also cannot handle constructive criticism because it makes him confront unpleasant truths - he always wants the easiest path with the least tension. If he is presented with a situation that strains his limits as there is no amiable solution to a difficult/disturbing problem, his reaction is a toxic one; turning to rage and violence even towards his own child.

Not for the first time, he wondered what he was doing here and why he had come. He was no Jon Arryn, to curb the wildness of his king and teach him wisdom. Robert would do what he pleased, as he always had, and nothing Ned could say or do would change that. - Eddard II, aGoT

He may act against what he knows is right, because it is the easiest route; like when he has the wolf Lady killed to please Cersei:

“A costly pelt,” Robert grumbled. “I want no part of this, woman. You can damn well buy your furs with Lannister gold.” [...] "We have a wolf," Cersei Lannister said. Her voice was very quiet, but her green eyes shone with triumph. It took them all a moment to comprehend her words, but when they did, the king shrugged irritably. "As you will. Have Ser Ilyn see to it." - “Robert, you cannot mean this,” Ned protested. The king was in no mood for more argument. “Enough, Ned, I will hear no more." - Eddard III, aGoT

"I am sorry for your girl, Ned. Truly. About the wolf, I mean. My son was lying, I'd stake my soul on it." - Eddard VII, aGoT

And when Ned reprimands him about Daenerys he will not hear dissent, even though he knows deep down that it is wrong:

He gave the king a long cool look. “Would [the man who spared Barristan] were here today.” Robert had shame enough to blush. “It was not the same,” he complained. “Ser Barristan was a knight of the Kingsguard.” - “Whereas Daenerys is a fourteen-year-old girl.”

[...] “Not another word. Have you forgotten who is king here?” - “No, Your Grace,” Ned replied. “Have you?” - “Enough!” the king bellowed. “I am sick of talk. I’ll be done with this, or be damned."

[...] “I will not be part of murder, Robert. Do as you will, but do not ask me to fix my seal to it.” For a moment Robert did not seem to understand what Ned was saying. Defiance was not a dish he tasted often. Slowly his face changed as comprehension came. [...] “You are the King’s Hand, Lord Stark. You will do as I command you, or I’ll find me a Hand who will.” - “I wish him every success.” Ned [...] laid [his badge of office] on the table in front of the king, saddened by the memory of the man who had pinned it on him, the friend he had loved. “I thought you a better man than this, Robert. I thought we had made a nobler king.” Robert’s face was purple. “Out,” he croaked, choking on his rage. “[...] Go, run back to Winterfell. And make certain I never look on your face again, or I swear, I’ll have your head on a spike!” - Eddard VIII, aGoT

“Gods have mercy,” he muttered, swallowing his agony. “The girl. Daenerys. Only a child, you were right . . . that’s why, the girl . . . the gods sent the boar . . . sent to punish me . . .” - Eddard XIII, aGoT

Robert is a man who always wants it easy, he wants his demands to always be fulfilled, to be loved and have fun without dealing with the bad things; but an important theme that is repeated over and over in asoiaf is that you can only act good if you are willing to face the bad that may come with it, and if you cannot live with the consequences, your action might not be justified.*

Bran thought about it. "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" - "That is the only time a man can be brave." - Bran I, aGoT

"Sacrifice . . . is never easy, Davos. Or it is no true sacrifice." - Davos VI, aSoS

"The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die." - Bran I, aGoT

Ned stood, gently disengaging himself from Sansa's grasp. All the weariness of the past four days had returned to him. "Do it yourself then, Robert," he said in a voice cold and sharp as steel. "At least have the courage to do it yourself." - Robert looked at Ned with flat, dead eyes and left without a word, his footsteps heavy as lead. Silence filled the hall. - Eddard III, aGoT

This is why putting him on the throne was poison - all the power in the world, and noone who would dare go against his wishes. It indulges all of Robert's worst traits, and buries anything he had inside him that was salvageable.

Ser Barristan Selmy spoke up. "Your Grace," he said, "it is not seemly that the king should ride into the melee. It would not be a fair contest. Who would dare strike you?" - "Ser Barristan is right. There's not a man in the Seven Kingdoms who would dare risk your displeasure by hurting you." - Eddard VII, aGoT

I am surrounded by flatterers and fools, the king had insisted. Ned looked down the council table and wondered which were the flatterers and which the fools. He thought he knew already. - Eddard IV, aGoT

And Robert knows it - he knows being a king isn't for him, that he doesn't enjoy the actual work that goes into governing, that he doesn't have the personality for such politics or to deal with the people involved, and that he would much rather spend his time enjoying life and doing what he loves...

"Look at what kinging has done to me. Gods, too fat for my armor, how did it ever come to this? [...] I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I’ve won it." - Eddard VII, aGoT

"I swear to you, sitting a throne is a thousand times harder than winning one. Laws are a tedious business and counting coppers is worse. And the people … there is no end of them. I sit on that damnable iron chair and listen to them complain until my mind is numb and my ass is raw. They all want something, money or land or justice. The lies they tell … and my lords and ladies are no better. I am surrounded by flatterers and fools. It can drive a man to madness, Ned. Half of them don't dare tell me the truth, and the other half can't find it. There are nights I wish we had lost at the Trident. Ah, no, not truly, but …" - Eddard I, aGoT

Robert groaned with good-humored impatience. "If I wanted to honor you, I'd let you retire. I am planning to make you run the kingdom and fight the wars while I eat and drink and wench myself into an early grave." - Eddard I, aGoT

"Let me tell you a secret, Ned. More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that's what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me." - Eddard VII, aGoT

And yet he doesn't do anything about it and keeps staying at the position he hates - he does not want to deal with the uncomfortable consequences that would come with upsetting the status quo, or making changes to his own personality and going through growth, or confronting ugly truths about himself in a productive way, etc etc.

He does make a talk of changes at times during aGoT, and seems to have a sense of responsibility about his Job, but as it is his desire for changes came too late, and what responsibility he felt mostly served to paralyze him in place.

"The sellsword king, how the singers would love me. You know what stops me? The thought of Joffrey on the throne, with Cersei standing behind him whispering in his ear. My son. How could I have made a son like that, Ned?" - Eddard VII, aGoT

"I'm still young, and now that you're here with me, things will be different. We'll make this a reign to sing of, and damn the Lannisters to seven hells." - Eddard VII, aGoT

In a way Joffrey is to Robert what Ramsay is to Roose: an exploration of the inherent flaw in their way of life, demonstrated in the most extreme case. In Joffrey's case, it shows what happens to give someone unlimited power with noone daring to oppose them.

Do you think that if the war never happened that he'd still go down this self destructive path?

It's a little unclear which war you mean, so I will briefly touch on several points:

There could have been ideal circumstances where he might have worked out as a king, if he was surrounded by people who know the perfect way to deal with him and make him work past his flaws (intuitively doing the work of a modern therapist), but the average life is not ideal and grrm shows the realistic fate of a man like Robert.

I think by the time Ned arrived it was sadly too late to change - maybe if the Lannisters didn't exist, or this or that event hadn't happened, but Grrm shows that most of what lead to Robert's downfall was in the end caused by himself. Cersei kills him because she came to despise the man he was, and for good reason as he abused her during all her marriage - and while he has some scenes of feeling bad or even apologizing for it, he never made any attempts to actually change the terrible way he was treating her.

If Robert's Rebellion never happened, he would have probably made an able enough Lord of Storm's End; delegating his "boring" administrative duties to his advisors and maester, enjoying the privileges of highborn life, and having just enough responsibility to feel like the alpha male of his society yet not enough to do as lasting damage as he did for the throne. He would not have been the best Lord, but sadly there are many worse in Westeros, since the entire dynastic ruling system is inherently flawed. If he would have been a better person depends on who he is surrounded with, if circumstances would have motivated him to change, or if perhaps his position of power and outward influences would still just have indulged him into the man he was in aGoT. Ultimately, there are a lot of butterfly effects leading to different results that i’m sure have been explored in many fics.

"Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature." - Eddard IX, aGoT

This was the boy he had grown up with, he thought; this was the Robert Baratheon he'd known and loved. If he could prove that the Lannisters were behind the attack on Bran, prove that they had murdered Jon Arryn, this man would listen. Then Cersei would fall, and the Kingslayer with her, and if Lord Tywin dared to rouse the west, Robert would smash him as he had smashed Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident. He could see it all so clearly. - Eddard VII, aGoT

What do you think of Robert?

Since i am someone who frequently enjoys morally grey and villainous characters, despite his many negative traits i have a fondness of Robert; I think he is an interesting character and very human in his flaws, and there is a lot of melancholy to his story that makes me somber about him even if it obviously does not excuse his bad actions. I also think he has a great character design that's fun to draw and some fun boisterous scenes, and some of his positive qualities remind me of people i know.

*Stannis is an interesting character as Robert’s brother, as he is the opposite to him in this regard, as well as in many aspects of their personality and even their outward presentation (like how Stannis crops his beard short to contrast Robert’s wild one)

#asoiaf #robert baratheon #asoiaf meta #my posts #asks #anonymous #of course this is not an extensive analysis and there are more facettes to his character #these are the ones i focused on for this ask as they came to my mind when i reread his scenes #he kinda reminds me of roose in places lol might be why it inspired me to analyze him #Anonymous

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captnjacksparrow · 3 years

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Hello. Really like your content.

Everyone thinks Sasuke sacrificed him life for Naruto once, during the land of waves arc. I think it's twice. There are still some homophobes out there who think Sasuke didn't kill Naruto because he wanted power but not the way Itachi wanted. Man, his excuse (on a whim) is sooo flimsy, a blind person can see it.

I can't imagine how they can come to this conclusion. The fact that killing Naruto would have upgraded his sharingan to Mangekyou, just as Itachi has advised, would have made him so much more powerful. Going to Orochimaru definitely meant one thing. Sasuke would have to 'die' in order for Orochimaru to take over his body. He would rather do that, but not kill Naruto. Even though he had a solid opportunity. And Naruto was the only one that could have caused Sasuke to achieve Mangekyo.

He looks absolutely broken and spent after vote1, as he is walking away. Because he realises that he would rather die a slow death than kill Naruto.

Thanks for the ask Anon ❤️❤️

There are still some homophobes out there who think Sasuke didn't kill Naruto because he wanted power but not the way Itachi wanted.

Hmmm, Let’s see.

Sasuke reawakened his Sharingan for Naruto in Land of the Waves arc, matured his sharingan in the VoTE1 for Naruto. He was willing to kill Naruto for Mangekyo Sharingan by piercing Chidori. This love doujutsu never served Sakura.

If Sasuke managed to kill Naruto just like Itachi wanted, and he got his Mangekyo Sharingan, This undeniably still proves that Naruto is the most important person than anyone in Team 7 for Sasuke to awake such a great power.

But Sasuke had many chances to kill Naruto in VoTE1. It’s not because of Itachi that he did not kill Naruto. Itachi was more of an afterthought. It’s just that Sasuke simply couldn’t because he loves Naruto more than his Goal. He proved this many times in this series.

If Sasuke considered Sakura to be the important person or great love, he should have evolved his sharingan when Gaara pinned Sakura with his sand.

Sasuke is a person who always does something first subconsciously. And then gives a reason later to convince himself and others that he did it purely for a self-serving purpose.

Proof?

He saw Naruto was hungry. He immediately gave his food knowing full well about the consequences if he gave him. When asked about why he did what he did?

Here you go. He gave you the reason. But only after taking the risk.

Sasuke has every reason to not offer food. And yet he did. Because towards Naruto, he always acted subconsciously. In other words, his body always moved on its own.

Alright let’s move on to the real deal.

I LEFT YOU ON A WHIM...

Let’s see.

What is a whim?

So, it means, you decided to do something for sure but your mind changed at the last moment.

So far, so good.

But, do you call it as a whim if your mind always changes when the moment occurs more than once?

Well, I call it as a plan.

Moment 1

Sasuke could have rammed his chidori into Naruto. Instead, he balled up his fist and never even aimed for his vital spot just shows Sasuke’s whim here. Moments later...

Moment 2

Alright, Sasuke could have stuck a kunai into the unconscious Naruto here. Instead Sasuke is embracing ‘his weakness’ and Naruto’s warmth for one final time from a mere centimeters away.

Yeah, this is another one of Sasuke’s ‘whim’ to leave him alive.

Moment 3

Here, I am seeing million possibilities of how Sasuke could have killed Naruto.

For a starter,

This is a perfect jutsu, Sasuke developed to pierce through the enemies at a long range. He used this same jutsu to fight Orochimaru, Itachi and even killed Danzo. Why didn’t he use this against Naruto who is within that range and be done with it?

Instead Sasuke came extremely close to Naruto and try to draw a sword which he cannot even draw quickly. And FYI, to stab someone with a sword, you need a certain distance, and with that close proximity, Sasuke has zero chance to stab Naruto.

And since there are no thunder clouds at that moment, he possibly couldn’t have summoned ‘Kirin’, when he raised his hands. So, It’s all an elaborate joke, in my opinion.

It’s just like you said, anon,

Going to Orochimaru definitely meant one thing. Sasuke would have to 'die' in order for Orochimaru to take over his body. He would rather do that, but not kill Naruto. Even though he had a solid opportunity.

He was ready to give his body to Orochimaru rather than killing Naruto for so called ‘whim’ and power. The power he so much desired was brimming right before his eyes in the hideout in the form of Naruto. But he can’t kill him. He was simply begging for everyone to stop his tantrum.

This time, Sasuke never gave the reason, why he left him alive, like in VoTE1. But he indirectly hinted us that he simply couldn’t, after 50 or so episodes later.

So, are you telling me that he was smiling peacefully at the name of a person whom he left alive on a whim but not because of the good memories he shared with that person??

Well, Keep joking.

All these scenes I cited above doesn’t need shipping lens at all. You simply need some comprehensive reading/viewing skills and common sense. I think those homophobes don’t have any.

In short, Sasuke always acts without thinking and search for an excuse later when it comes to Naruto. While the excuse he comes up with may show his stronger persona but in reality, the things he does subconsciously shows with whom his weakness lies. That person is clearly Naruto and no one else. That’s exactly why Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto and fails invariably.

#naruto #naruto analysis #sasuke #ask #sasunaru #sasunarusasu #narusasu

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myelocin · 4 years

Text

heart | iwaizumi hajime

synopsis: all his life, he lived for the thrill of the fall, and the high that life brought him as he lets gravity catapult him back to the earth. then enters you, who easily becomes his life, his life--his home.

how hajime realizes all of this, at 12 midnight; standing at a half empty parking lot, sharing an umbrella with you under the rain.

characters: iwaizumi hajime, you

genre: fluff, domestic!flulff, slice of life

wc: 1500+

a/n: part of series: in the midst of creation

iwaizumi hajime likes to think that he’s lived life always with a parachute.

failure didn’t scare him, nor did the notion of taking risks. uncertainty, on the other hand, was just something hajime deemed to be an avoidable factor you could live without.

if you were to ask him if he wanted to jump off a plane or lean a little bit more towards the edge of the cliff just to feel that rush, he would say yes within a heartbeat. life, he thinks, is better lived with the thrill of the fall. where the height that was measured with the fall was only a number. calculated, measured, comprehensible to the human mind where numbers would be enough to reel it in.

for as long as he’s known life, the jump, the thrill, and the fall, he knows that he doesn’t have anything to fear.

risk, hajime thinks, as present as it was, was only a figment of his imagination at best. when he leaped past the edge, he knew he could always afford to spread his wings and soar because before he could hit the ground, the parachute he always had would be the very thing that kept him above ground just for moments longer.

and the horizon, hajime smiles, has always been the grandest sight for him. the earth, as big and beautiful as it always is from just the window of his car or at the top of the summit could never look as vast as it does when he’s freefalling from the air.

a rush of just the right amount of wind that feel like kisses instead of blades against his skin, a sky so big and so blue that contrasts with the hue of earth that have always been trapped in hajime’s eyes. it’s like diving into the unknown, but even with the darkness and the depth that loomed under his feet and with the fall, he knew where he would land each and every time.

hajime knew he would land home.

home, that sometimes is just the one bedroom apartment in shibuya that you found on an ad two weeks after the both of you decided to move in together. where the sky and the grand world meant the sight of you; golden like the sun, and blossoming like the life of the earth that steals hajime’s breath away every time.

the genkan with the mismatched pair of slippers tossed to the side rather than placed in the cabinet he knew you bought to try to keep organized. a potted plant by the windowsill; leaves green and the petals he found himself counting every time he stood to water it the hue of a pastel yellow. your mug, next to his, sometimes on the corner of the table or in the sink after a meal.

the noodle packets with the kind of flavoring he never really bought for himself all those years ago, but now finds himself lining up at the cash register for all because of a text from you.

home, where a good morning was said with a cup of coffee and two sizes too big of a sweater on you that smell like him more than they did you.

though at times, hajime thinks, home can also be both anywhere and everywhere. home in the little moments.

like this, hajime smiles, watching you as you shake a closed umbrella free of its raindrops, the expression on your face happy despite the stray drops of rain on your shoulder. he knows he’s at the new supermarket a few miles over the usual one at eleven pm, but even if the street names on the lamp posts around are unfamiliar, he still feels a sense of home.

home, in the little moments such as this because the smile you wear is familiar just like the scent of the perfume he knows you’ve worn for years now.

a sense of belongingness that grounds him right back down to earth at the sound of your voice, even as you’re calling him over from one end of the produce section to another, asking him if you should get some spinach for tonight’s dinner. the quick ok, you tell him, coupled by the kind of smile hajime knows is for him has always been enough to have his heart racing.

he thinks that it’s sometime around twelve, where he’s standing next to you at the cash register, where the greatest epiphany in life finally hits him.

it comes to him slowly too, where he knows that when he thinks back on it later on, he’ll smile to himself because the memories will trickle in instead of crash into him all together.

“haji?” he hears, and when he looks at you, your hands are carrying the groceries he realizes the two of you picked together to take home.

he thinks of the raindrops that are waiting to be met with your smile outside, the puddles that look clear against the pavement that are keeping their form for you to skip on with a giggle, and hajime bites his lip.

life, he thinks in the moment is this. it’s the address that’s keyed in the gps labeled home, and the adjusted seat on the passenger seat of his car adjusted to the way he knows you’re the most comfortable in.

and love, on the other hand, hajime awakens to, is you.

It really is this, because when he watches you first smile at the slow drops of rain, second giggle at the puddles saying hello on the pavement, then third press your shoulder closer to his as you walk slow steps with him under the umbrella, hajime knows that in the moment—he’s soaring.

he fears, that in the moment perhaps you would be able to hear just how hard his heart is beating. so with cheeks flushed, eyes a little watery, and fingers trembling ever so slightly, hajime turns and faces the left, focusing his eyes towards the streetlights in the distance. the sound of raindrops on the umbrella, blending with the soft lull of your voice as he listens to you talk about how you’d go about and make dinner for two later has his head spinning.

for two, hajime thinks, his heart bursting in his chest. dinner for two.

and even if he’s probably eaten at least a few thousand meals with you by now, he swears to every deity above that cares to listen to a man in love, that every moment with you still fills him with the same high everyone talks about.

love really is you, hajime smiles, exhaling softly as he wills his heart to still before turning to his left and facing you, who stares at the half empty parking lot in front, a smile on your face.

he’s struck with the realization that he wants to cry. he wants to run to the next ledge and jump, because gravity in the moment feels as if it doesn’t exist. a light covers the both of you as you walk past a street light, and as hajime turns to stare at your profile, he’s rendered speechless because he sees the world—his world—in front of his eyes.

then like always, before he plunges into the raging seas, it’s suddenly clear to him that this whole time it’s you who is the parachute that kept him soaring above the water his whole life.

“let’s go home?” he hears you say, voice light like the sound of raindrops tapping on wind chimes.

hajime inhales, and for a moment just allows the silence to still time as he stares at you, the blur of raindrops falling before it suddenly pauses, looking like a scene straight out of a movie.

“haji,” you laugh, and at the sound of your voice, the world is in motion again.

because more than love, it’s you, he thinks again.

the sight of life beyond the ledge; beautiful, grand, and vast. then at the same time, the love that grounds him back to earth and reminds him to feel the roots of the very soil that molded his limbs before he could take flight.

but in the midst of it all, it’s you—his parachute that reminds him to be fearless against the unknown.

“let’s go home,” he says, and you smile, thinking that his voice fits with the sound of raindrops on glass.

taglist: @boosyboo9206, @wisepandaslimeland, @haiikyuuns, @flavostella02 , @pen-observing, @geekynicki, @shinhiromi , @volleybloop, @momoinot, @tsumtsumland @glassykaashi @orchid-tea-party

if you want to be added/removed just let me know! :)

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danijimenezv · 3 years

Text

Jill Valentine: What the Future Holds

For @openheartfanfics Meet My MC Event ☺💕

Career

After her residency ends, Jill takes over the Diagnostics Team, after the three other team members vote for her.

When Ethan steps down, Jill immediately jumps into action and starts interviewing possible candidates to fill the fourth spot of the team.

Finally, she decides to appoint Jackie. She’s proved herself time and time again, and she’s an exceptional doctor, so it made sense. And Jackie fits right in with their dynamics.

The team, and the hospital with it, thrives under Jill’s lead. They help a lot of people and earn a lot of worldwide renown.

The team was already known because of Naveen and Ethan, but there were doubts flying around when Ethan stepped down to become Chief of Medicine. Those doubts were quickly put to rest.

Jill is stubborn and determinate, and she works her hardest to make her team succeed. And the team succeeds more than ever because of her idea to work along with other departments at the hospital, creating a huge teamwork effort.

Harper is often busy, so Bryce and Ivy are her surgeons on call, and both of them give Harper a second and third opinion, so they consider every possibility out there. Rafael is the one she consults when physical therapy is on the table. Elijah, Baz and Zaid also help from time to time when they contemplate experimental treatments or when they need to research a new alternative, and Baz’s input is invaluable when it comes to immunology. Sienna is her pediatrician of choice. Even Esme and Gary come in handy from time to time. And even in retirement, Naveen is more than happy to help and give his input when the team hits a particularly hard slope. That applies for Ethan too; though, as much as he loves diagnostics, he tries to get involved the minimum, instead he lets Jill do her thing, and she’s damn good at it.

Jill’s management of the team also meant a new project she had been working on with Aurora. As soon as Aurora takes over Mass Kenmore’s Diagnostics Team, the two of them collaborate on projects and cases. And even if Kenmore’s renown isn’t as big as Edenbrook’s team, each group has something to contribute. They even collaborate on publishing articles and case studies. They work as well on their own as they do together. They help twice the amount of patients working alongside instead of competing with each other.

With Ethan as Chief of Medicine, she works perfectly with administration. They constantly help each other. He has the power to approve her projects and budget requests, but he only does it after hearing her pitch, just like other doctor, and he recognizes the true potential she shows.

She implements a program that gives third-year residents the opportunity to work with the diagnostics team. They are assessed and evaluated since their intern year, and when their third year comes by, Jill picks the two best residents. They’re not a part of the team per se, but they do a two-month internship with the team, work with them and learn from the experience.

Jill also dedicates part of her time to researching and working on zoonotic diseases. With her family of veterinarians, she’s more than qualified to do this, and after the maitotoxin incident, she knows there’s a lot of work to be done in that area.

Jill quickly becomes one of the most respected doctors and earned world-renown. She even becomes a published author.

Her books: “From Animals to Humans: Understanding Zoonotic Diseases”; “Diagnostics: A Comprehensive Science”; “The Challenges of Diagnosing”; “Solving Medical Mysteries: A Team Effort” (co-written with Aurora Emery) & “A Guide to Zoonoses” (co-written with Lucas Valentine).

A few years later, when Tobias decides to move to New York to marry Katherine, and inevitably has to leave the team, Jill is once again left with the task of looking at prospects for team member.

When that happens, Ethan is more than ready to step down as Chief of Medicine, after his fair share of working with administration, and he presents his curriculum to Jill, as if he was any other doctor.

Of course, Jill doesn’t have to think twice. She knows the kind of diagnostician he is, and she’s missed working with his brilliant mind.

Jill doesn’t just accept him into the team. She announces they’re both gonna be Co-Heads of the Diagnostics Team. After all, they’re better together than apart. Ethan tries to fight it at first but, well, he has never been particularly adept at denying Jill, and that was a matter she wasn’t willing to change her mind.

Though, as years working well with administration, both Ethan and Jill have earned other administratives favors, and working with them goes without a hitch as well. There are no more problems with the board like there were when Jill was a resident, and Ethan has learned to work with them, so the fights are almost non-existent.

Still, Tobias quickly earns his place as diagnostician in New York Presbyterian Hospital, and he continues to work along with Jill and Ethan.

Relationship with Ethan

Since confessing his love for Jill, Ethan was completely sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

The idea of proposing hadn’t made it to his mind yet, but he knew he was ready for them to move in together.

Even if the question had been at the tip of his tongue every time they were together, Ethan held back. Jill was already trying to adjust to the transition from resident to attending, and to Head of the Diagnostics Team. He didn’t want to add to it by having her move to his place.

But he had his mind made up, and he would ask her to move in with him as soon as things settled back. He wasn’t going to be deterred.

Except he hadn’t contemplated something, and that something made him stop in his tracks and reconsider asking her.

Because Jill, as Head of the Diagnostics Team, had a new salary. And with that new salary, the first thing Jill had done was get a puppy.

And no, not a little Yorkie or a Chihuahua. No. It was a damn Bernese Mountain Dog, that was going to grow into a seriously large dog.

Ethan already had Jenner, and even Jenner spent more than half of the time at his dad’s place in Providence. He didn’t think his penthouse could take a hyperactive Bernese Mountain puppy.

But he also knew his girlfriend. Coming from a family of veterinarians, Jill wasn’t going to leave the damn dog behind. From the moment she got him (“Satchmo”), Ethan knew they were a package deal. If he wanted to live with Jill, he also had to live with the dog.

He didn’t know how that could work with Jenner and in his penthouse, but he was willing to risk it. He knew he wanted to wake up every day by her side and go to sleep with her.

So, in September, just a couple of months after settling in their new positions, Ethan and Jill moved in together. Unsurprisingly, Jill knew how to handle the transition for both dogs, and made the move easy for all of them.

And just a few months after moving together, in December, Ethan popped the question. Jill cried through his whole proposal speech and couldn’t say yes, but she nodded fiercely and kissed him.

They had a relatively long engagement, until finally, they got married the following year, on October 16th, 2022.

The reception was huge, hundreds of people invited (because of the Valentine’s connections), though neither of them seemed to mind too much. They were just happy to be marrying each other. According to the media and tabloids, it was the wedding of the century.

Naveen was Ethan’s best man, and Luke (Jill’s older brother) and Tobias were his groomsmen, while Sienna was Jill’s maid of honor, and Kat and Ivy (her two sisters) were her bridesmaids.

About six months into their marriage, they decided to move to an actual house, and started looking.

Funnily enough, Jill’s childhood best friend, Hunter, told them he was currently working on a few construction and design projects in the area of Boston. He was the one who hooked them with a house and was their architect, helping them design their dream house.

A few months later, they were moving into a bigger house in suburban Boston, along with Jenner, Satchmo and Vienna (the roomies figured Jill had more space than them and could take care of the fennec fox better than them).

Starting their own family

It was about a year after their wedding that they sat down and talked about having children. Ethan had already worked through his trauma, and his past with Louise no longer held him back. Jill stopped her birth-control, and they started trying to get pregnant.

It took Jill a couple of months, and deep down she was terrified to let Ethan down and not be able to give him children, now that he had decided he wanted them. Ethan obviously eased her worries and told her the only thing he needed in life was her; children would be nice, but he really only needed her.

Still, Jill anxiously took a fertility test, and once it came out that she could have children, she tried to brush it off as stress, but still worried inside.

A few months later, Ethan surprised Jill by taking her on vacation, to ease her worrying and stress. He took her to a wolf sanctuary in Alaska she had mentioned she wanted to visit a few times.

Jill and Ethan found out Jill was pregnant by accident, and it definitely took them by surprise, but the news were very welcomed. At the wolf sanctuary, the wolves changed their whole demeanor and body language around Jill, and the keeper congratulated Jill on her pregnancy. Turns out, wolves are excellent at telling when a woman is pregnant even if she doesn’t know it yet; the animals get all odd and careful around the pregnant woman and take defensive postures around her. It was definitely a reveal worth telling.

Her first pregnancy, thankfully went without a hitch, and soon, their first-born came into the world, through natural birth.

Their son, Nicholas Jonah Ramsey, was born on August 24th, 2024.

Everyone was enamored with the little baby, with his dark hair and intense blue eyes, the spitting image of his father.

Ethan and Jill decided to appoint Rafael and Jackie as Nick’s godparents.

Six years later, their second child came along, also through natural birth.

Their daughter, Brooklyn Marie Ramsey, was born on November 8th, 2030.

She has her mother’s distinctive ginger-bronze hair color, but her father’s blue eyes.

Brooke’s godparents are Hunter and Sienna.

After little Brooklyn was born, though, Jill was informed that a third pregnancy could be fatal for her, that her body wouldn’t be able to sustain another pregnancy. And, after much deliberation and talking it out as spouses, Jill went under a hysterectomy procedure, which meant no more children for them, but they were beyond happy with their two little blessings.

Family and Friends

The gang remained tight-knit close, to the point where their children called the others aunts and uncles.

Even when they no longer lived together, they promised to hang out constantly and see each other. It also helped that they kept working together.

Eventually, Elijah and Phoebe eloped, and Sienna moved in with Raf. Bryce and Ivy already lived together. Aurora and Jackie were the last remaining ones, and they got a smaller apartment for the two of them for a while.

Then Aurora moved in with Hunter (once he fully moved to Boston) and Jackie got a place for herself and her new boyfriend, which she keeps a secret from the roomies until she’s completely sure the relationship is the real deal, because it’s the least expected pairing in the world. (Spoiler alert: it’s Baz 😂)

Even paired off and building their own lives, the gang kept up some of their traditions and kept in touch.

They even celebrate a few milestones and holidays together.

It tends to get a bit chaotic, given that it’s double the people, counting the spouses, but they all get along great and enjoy spending time together.

Tobias moved to New York once he married Katherine, but both of them still visit from time to time.

After traveling the world, Kyra moved to New York as well, where she met and married Jill’s older brother, Luke. Just like Tobias and Kat, they visit constantly.

Jill remains close with her family. She’s always been close with her siblings, and even more when they married some of their friends. And she grew closer to her parents once her own kids were born. Haley and Matthew Valentine definitely spoil their grandchildren rotten.

Jill and Ethan, along with Ivy and Bryce, make the trip to New York once every other month, to visit Jill’s parents, Kat and Tobias, and Luke and Kyra.

And once every other month, alternating with them, Kat and Tobias, and Luke and Kyra make the trip to Boston.

Jill and Ethan also drive down to Providence to visit Alan every few weeks.

All in all, they’re a big, happy, messy and extended family.

Tags: @jamespotterthefirst, @takeharryandgo, @aestheticartsx, @choicesfanaf, @fireycookie, @liaromancewriter, @trappedinfanfiction, @tsrookie, @genevievemd, @lucy-268, @writinghereandthere, @queencarb, @gryffindordaughterofathena, @ohchoices, @anntoldst0ries, @bluebellot, @schnitzelbutterfingers, @mysticaurathings, @iemcpbchoices, @itsjustamesshonestly, @shanzay44, @lsvdw-blog, @heauxplesslydevoted, @starryeyedrookie, @casey-v, @mercury84choices, @chaoticchopshopheart, @quixoticdreamer16, @a-crepusculo, @peonierose

#open heart #my oh mc #my open heart mc #jillian valentine

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tokimihyachi · 3 years

Text

Love Is War [ AU ]

Pairing: Nacht Faust X Reader

Warning/s: None

Includes: Kaguya-sama references </333

The prestigious school of Clover Academy with its ancient and noble origin, was founded to educate its students born in the crusts of upper society. Despite its nobility class system being abolished due to the efforts of a certain man, distinguished families from all over the land, who will one day take lead continue to enroll in the said academy.

But of course, they would not let anyone rule the school in its grounds of education.

'LOOK!'

'It's the members of the Student Council!'

Proud, conserved, and prudent. These where the characteritics of [Y/N] that allured all the rest of their dignified school's students, staff, and even members of the council.

She was viewed as the powerful Vice-President who's connections are far more vast than the ocean's wideness itself, her intelligence beyond comprehension, and above all else, her beauty exulding nothing but that worthy of a regal woman who's shares with their own company is far superior than anyone else that attended the school. (yes we ain't broke here)

And the man who she supports dedicatedly; Nacht Faust. Unlike [Y/N] [L/N] , the student council president is well respected as he is first in every academic-related contest, event and affairs, earning the high and fear of his peers. And of course, would could not let slide how charming this man is.

'They're like gods walking around!'

'Do you think they're dating?'

'Why don't you ask them?'

'No! That would be too embarassing!'

Joining the power duo is Mimosa Vermillion, the student council secretary, Asta, the treasurer and Noelle Silva, their trusted auditor and also the public morale committee head.

These five students make the strongest foundation an institute could ever ask for, but even the strongest of pillars have its weaknesses...

Pouring in a sum of coffee, deliciously brewed by the Vice-President herself, [Y/N] smiles gently, holding the kettle with its contents streaming into the porcelain cup of the President, who looks over the book he held with his right arm to thank the girl for her unwavering kindness.

"So it seems that the students have been gossiping about us lately, President." Nacht hums at her statement, delicately raising the cup to his lips and drinking the pleasant morning coffee, "They're wondering if we're a couple or not." the girl giggle softly, trailing back to the cabinet of ceramic plates and dishes.

Nacht closed both of his eyes, and responded with a furtive grin, "They're probably at that age of curiousity. It is best to ignore them, if it bothers you." the last sentence he uttered was hesitant in his perspective, but to her, it was filled with much confidence.

Despite the thick tension in the air, [Y/N] maintained her composure, "Oh? But it does not mind me at all." the President was surprised at her boldness, was this perhaps... a sign that he should take initiative?

Feeling a surge of new found bravery, he opens his mouth to commend them and undobtedly push the woman to her limits when the door opens, and Noelle, Asta and Mimosa walk through the doors.

'Curse them/!' the two thought simultaneously

Asta, the energetic boy that he is, loudly entered the room and jumped onto the sofa next to Nacht, while the two girls were giggling to themselves and went to the direction of the Vice-President. Mimosa shyly tugs [Y/N]'s uniform and hands her a letter.

"Is this next month's budget for the activites?" she inquired, slowly opening the letter.

"NOPE! I THINK IT'S A LOVE LETTER!" Asta yelled from the sofa, causing Nacht's eyes to open. His calm and serene eyes looking at their course with an amused complexion painting his face.

[Y/N] opened it, and was surprised with the contents of the letter: It was a confession, a very passionate one from a boy named bokuto, "It is." the girl thoroughly read every bit of it, as it clearly stated that he wanted to meet up with her at the cafeteria during lunch.

Noelle, clearly irritated that it wasn't who she was shipping with her senpai, flipped her hair and scoffed, "It's not like you're going. Am I right, [Y/N]-chan?" the silence that followed such question, echoed in Nacht's mind.

The President always knew that [Y/N] was, and is a woman of class and dignity. He felt that whoever confessed to him, must've been an over-achiever, or a big ball of pure dumbness, as they confessed to a woman who spent most of her time staring at him lovingly.

"Of course I am." her simple reply shook them to the bones. Miss [L/N] who's standards were well-known all over the school for being completely high and too out of reach for anyone to even qualify for, decided that she wanted to hear the boy confess? She has never done that, as far as any student can remember.

The silver-haired girl shakes her head as if she's heard the most absurd thing in her life— No, this is by far, the most ridiculous thing she's heard her say. Who was it that confessed to her that even made her change her strong belief!?

The Vermillion beside her, squealed in delight and clinged herself to [Y/N] who uncomfortably felt her 'mountainous' chest pressed against her arm, as the girl's throughts suddenly drift to how flat-chested she actually is.

[Y/N] gulped before kindly detaching Mimosa to herself, "They clearly poured all of their own to the letter, it would be rather unfair of me to not even show myself up." Nact sighed in relief, as his mind sat on the edge, thinking of every possible way to stop her.

"OHHHHH! Finally! [Y/N]-chan is going to have a boyfriend—"

Asta's enthusiasm however, was cut off by the President, "I will not allow it." the black-haired boy tensed at his own words feeling how resolute he seemed, "As the student council president, I will not allow such illicit sexual affair in this academe." the smile dancing on [Y/N]'s lips widen, as she tried to surpress her mirth.

"Illicit? sexual? affair? Whoever said it would come to that?" she grinned at her reposte, biting her inner lip to prevent herself from laughing at how hilarious and discomposed the President looked like.

"Then I'm not sorry to inform you that I will tell of the teachers about this then. You may be suspended over this." Nacht's demeanor slowly returned as he believed his statement should be enough to silence her.

But she was not willing to back down so easily, unless the President would beg obediently for her to not meet him.

"And I, am not sorry to inform you as well that if it comes to such love as this, then I am prepared for suspension. I don't even mind if I am faced with expulsion." other members of the student council held their gasp from her choice of words. 'E-E-Expulsion!? What kind of man would confess to [Y/N]-chan that would even make her go as far as that!?' Noelle thought as she looked at the letter the girl pressed against her chest with a look of love emitted from her presence.

'What? Huh, I wonder which weed I have to pluck out...' Nacht's intelligence was put to test.

The satisfaction flowing vividly inside of [Y/N] with her imagination running wildly at how the President may actually bow down to his knees for her was enough of a thought to make her blush in place, which the others misinterpreted. 'She's serious!'

The school bell rang, signifying that it was lunch time. The moment of judgement has finally presented itself, and [Y/N], despite knowing that no lowly normal person was worthy of her except Nacht, is fully commited in pushing through with her plans.

"WELL! I HAVE TO GO SEE YUNO NOW AND ASK WHAT'S HIS SCORE ON THE SCIENCE EXAM! SEE YOU AT AT THE CAFETERIA [Y/N]-CHAN! I'LL SAVE A SEAT FOR YOU TWO— MIMOSA! NOELLE!" the ash-blonde boy yelled, passing through the corridors to run off to his rival.

The darkening presence of Nacht as though being surrounded by a scad of shadows, frigthening both Noelle and Mimosa who, from the look on their President's face, knew that he wanted to be alone with her, "H-Hey [Y/N]-senpai! Mimosa and I will be going now!"

"What? We will? But I thought—"

"See you laterrr~!"

[Y/N] merely chuckled at the two who, presumably, went to look for Asta. But as the door of the room clicked, it dawned to her that she is to face whoever this 'bokuto' of a simpleton he may be if the President does not act in a few minutes. This was a risk she was willing to do and make, but it may as well be a chance of meeting and casting her eyes away from the President who has shown very little interest in her.

The girl has taken into account all of the words which their President spoke to other people; on normal conversations, a lengthy half an hour, but with her, Nacht seems to have upset his stomach and would only converse for a few minutes. When it came to eye contact, he would not, and one would even say, he dared not to look at her for more than a minute as well. And yet did not break it with any others.

With all these thoughts in mind, [Y/N] realized she may have been fooled by the appeal of the President, falling into their trap like a mindless stray dog, "Well," she sighed, "Lunch time. I-I, I should go." the lump in her throat was unbearable, and to make matters worst, Nacht seemed like he didn't care at all.

She smiled wistfully to herself, taking her things that were next to the President himself and prepared to leave, but was stopped when asked a question, "If I confessed, would you still go?" [Y/N] looked at him, shock evident on her face, "Hypothetically speaking, If I did, would you." he added, further saddening the girl.

"Well, it's only a hypothetical question...So, I would not have an answer. See you this afternoon then, President." with a heavy heart, [Y/N] slowly marched towards the doors, her hold on the door knob trembled, as if waiting for him to stop her, but how delusional she was as he did nothing but stare at her back.

And so she went outside, and carefully closed the door. Every step she took was like a burden since the farther she went, their distance would be forever tainted in her heart.

After a couple of steps, a hand made its way to her wrist, and was surprisingly, unexpectedly faced with the President himself, "[Y/N]" he breathed out, his hand cold and shaking lightly.

"Hm?"

"Don't go."

The girl sighed, removing her hand from his grasp, "I will, if there is no reason to stay. You should go and eat lunch, President. There may nothing be—

"I like you."

The girl chuckled, "Of course you do— wait, what?" 'Does he really? Did he just...? Or was that a fraction of my imagination yet again? Can, can you repeat it, just to be sure?'

"If it means that I get to be with you, then I will gladly concede,[Y/N]. To hell with this little competition. As long as you tell me you'd like the same..." Nacht's voice was almost pleading, wailing for her to stay, to say that she felt the same as he did, despite such being unnecessary.

"I thought you'd never ask. Of course, I like you—" Nacht closed the distance between them, and claimed her lips which he always dreamt of placing his against, "Are you not ashamed o-others are watching!" she yelled at him, a deep blushing forming on her cheeks as Nacht held her face with such gentleness and love. His eyes piercing her soul as its coldness was no longer traceable with his features softening while looking at her.

As if not listening to the girl, he placed his hand behind her neck and connected their lips again for another kiss, not willing to give a care for the students who were happily eyeing them with much anticipation as they've always wanted to see such scene happen, "Then let them watch so they know what is mine."

#black clover #mimosa vermillion #noelle silva #asta #nacht #nacht faust #nacht x reader #one shot #fluff #mimosa #noelle

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biaswreckingfics · 4 years

Text

No Limits: Part 6

Author: biaswreckingfics

Genre: Mafia AU - Warnings? Everything that goes on in a mafia AU

Word Count: 3.3k

Previous Chapter

For some reason, you had never expected Baekhyun to turn you down, and for the life of you, you couldn't figure out why. Just because he kissed you? Because he held and comforted you when you needed it over the past few months? When did you become so sure that he even liked you?

His words come back to you as you drop face down onto your bed in an attempt to silence your cries. "I know I'd be the luckiest man on Earth to have you, but we can't be together." You couldn't be together because you wanted to be involved in the same world as him? Deep down, way deep down, you knew a part of what he said made sense. What he witnessed happen to his sister and Minhyuk was horrible and you completely understood why he wouldn't ever want to experience that, but that didn't mean you liked it.

After you felt like you had emptied your body of tears, a knock sounded on your door. You had every intention of ignoring it because there wasn't a single person you wanted to talk to right now, but whoever it was, they were adamant to see you.

Once the fifth round of knocks comes, you push yourself onto your side and loudly say, "What? What do you want?"

You didn't care how it came off or if you sounded like a bitch. All you wanted was to be alone. Once you spot your doorknob starting to twist, anger quickly begins to stir in you, but once you see Yixing's concerned face, it melts away entirely.

He quietly walks into the room while surveying you, and you knew right away what he would see. A splotchy, flushed face still slightly wet and stained with tear tracks and swollen eyes, but you didn't care. You look at him with a blank stare and blink, causing him to quickly shut your bedroom door and come over to you on your bed.

He tries to hide the worried look on his face as he sits on the edge of your bed, but you see it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I told Baekhyun I liked him." You answer blandly.

Yixing jolts at your sudden confession before confusion slides onto his face. "But why are you crying?"

"Because he turned me down."

Yixing's mouth falls open, and he blinks a couple times before he shakes his head. "I'm sorry... What?"

Even though everything in you wanted to forget what happened, you give Yixing a recap of your conversation with Baekhyun and watch as Yixing's facial expressions go from confused to bewildered to pity. After you finish, he silently sits there and processes everything you had told him. A minute passes by before he nods and turns to you.

"He's terrified of the past repeating itself. After everything happened with his sister and Minhyuk, Baekhyun was such a mess, and that's putting it politely. Actually, he was a completely different person than he is now. Imagine Chanyeol, but with a death wish. Baekhyun pushed every limit that he could to the point where Junmyeon lost hope of ever getting the old Baekhyun back. For a while, the only reason he stayed alive was for his mom. Even though they rarely saw each other, they were all the other one had left..." Yixing trails off, pausing in thought.

"That was around the time I joined EXO. I had never known Baekhyun before his sister's death, but I hated who he was then. Over time, he found ways of healing and eventually came to be who he is now, but it wasn't pretty."

You were enraptured with Yixing's words. Baekhyun had once told you his story and about Jisoo and Minhyuk, but hearing it from another perspective was truly eye-opening. Your heart ached for him and imagining Baekhyun like Chanyeol was something that was almost out of your realm of comprehension.

Yixing looks down and grabs one of your hands, giving it a squeeze. "I'm not saying I agree with him, but I want you to know where he's coming from... Imagining him back in that position or you there yourself terrifies me. I can't even begin to think about how much it terrifies him."

You're quiet for a moment as you search for your voice, but then you lick your lips and say, "I understand where he's coming from... Everything you've said... God, I can't imagine... but what's his plan then? To be alone forever? Isn't it better to have loved and lost than never loved at all? There's a reason that's a famous quote."

Yixing gives you a small smile. "I don't know what his thoughts are... but if you're asking me... I don't think you should give up on him. He cares about you. Any idiot with eyes can see that."

You nod your head and look down at your lap. You had no idea where to go from here. Yixing lets you sit with your thoughts for a moment before he squeezes your hand again to get your attention.

"I wanted to thank you."

When he notices your visible confusion, he smiles. "Minseok came and talked to me. It seems a little birdy told him how I was feeling."

"I'm sorry if I broke your trust, Xing, but they needed to know how you were feeling, and I didn't know what else to do to help..."

He shakes his head at your words. "I'm not mad at you. I'm grateful for what you did. Talking to Minseok helped a lot, and I think I was able to help him a little too."

A genuine smile breaks out on your face. "Well, good, I'm glad. In fact, this is the best news I've heard in a while."

"Jongin also came and talked to me. Very passionately. And loudly."

The grimace on his face was enough to pull a laugh out of you, and in that moment, you knew everything would be okay."

Sehun's POV

Sehun knew what he was doing was possibly very stupid and definitely incredibly dangerous, but it was something he felt he had to do. He couldn't explain it.

He couldn't help but think about how wrong he felt with the Baem. It didn't feel natural, and he felt like he always had to watch his back. Not to mention, the Baem somehow knew he wouldn't cooperate with them, and they were willing to kill him.

Then, there was the fact that he knew he was somehow connected to EXO. He didn't know how or why, but it was a bone-deep feeling he had, which is what had led him to do something that would most definitely get him killed.

He was going to help EXO out.

He didn't know how much help he was going to be or if EXO already knew the information he had gathered, but that wasn't going to stop him. He knew it was a risk and that EXO could kill him on the spot instead, but it sounded like he was a dead man either way.

Sehun had spent the past week learning all of the Baem's shipment routes, what they had in their inventory, and as many of their warehouse locations that he could find, and now, he just had to get the information to EXO. Which is what he was currently trying to do.

The Baem thought it was time to send him on a "solo" mission into the city. "Solo" because he knew the leaders had someone tailing him. This was just another one of their stupid tests, but Sehun jumped on the opportunity to get the hell out of that garbage compound they lived in.

They had sent him to a neutral ground auto shop to pick up some smuggled parts the Baem had requested from the crooked owner; however, Sehun had heard rumors that maybe the shop wasn't as neutral as they thought. Jaesuk, the one human being Sehun would consider to be his friend right now, had warned him that the auto shop may appear to be neutral but was actually EXO controlled, or so he heard.

That was when Sehun saw his opening. If the owner was EXO controlled, then that was how he was going to get the information to them. If Jaesuk was wrong, however, Sehun would be dead by the end of the night. It was still a chance he was willing to take.

Sehun didn't have much of a plan. All he had was an old ass map that he found at the compound, and he had to hope it was somewhat up-to-date. He had circled the locations that were Baem warehouses and drew a symbol next to each one signifying what they held. He highlighted their truck routes with arrows and wrote time blocks of when their vehicles would drive through. Lastly, for some unknown reason, he wrote the number 1485 in the bottom right corner of the map.

He didn't know what the numbers were for, but he knew they were important, and they weren't the only ones or things he was remembering. Locations, phrases, codes, they were all slowly coming back to him. He just had to figure out what they all meant.

Sehun came to stop outside of the address he was given and looked around. It was like every other auto shop he had seen, but in better shape than what he had been expecting for some reason. The giant garage doors were wide open to let in the gentle breeze from outside, and he could see workers tinkering under and around the vehicles on the lifts.

Sehun was looking down both directions of the street when he felt eyes boring into his back. His follower was, unfortunately, still there. He just hoped whoever it was wouldn't come inside behind him.

Taking a deep breath, he opens the door to the office and walks in. The smell of oil seeping in from the garage hits him as he looks around.

"Just a minute!" A deep voice comes from the back.

Sehun doesn't respond but walks up to the counter and leans on it. He nervously taps his fingers on the hard surface while he waits and tries to stay as calm as possible. This situation could go a hundred different ways, and he had to be ready for anything.

An older gentleman pops out from the back and looks at Sehun with a smile. If he had to guess, he would say the man was in his late 50's and physically not a huge threat, which allowed Sehun to feel some relief. He would be able to take him if necessary.

"Oh Sehun!"

The man greets him as he walks up to the counter. Sehun eyes him suspiciously before assuming the Baem sent information to the owner on who to look for. Oh, but he was very wrong.

"How's Chanyeol doing?" The owner asks him in a friendly voice.

Sehun freezes at the question. The only person named Chanyeol he's ever come across was Park Chanyeol, of EXO. Why would this man be asking him how Chanyeol was doing?

Sehun tries to hide his confusion as he looks the owner up and down. Apparently, Jaesuk's rumors were true. This man was friendly with EXO.

Instead of answering him, he pulls the papers that Minho gave him out of the pocket inside of his jacket and slowly hands them over to the owner. He waits for a reaction, and it doesn't take long.

As soon as the owner took the papers and looked down at them, his entire demeanor changed. He could see the caution that entered the man's face as he took in the Baem's business emblems on the paper.

The owner's eyes slowly leave the papers and travel up to Sehun's face. He searches his gaze for a moment, and it was clear both men were cautious and confused.

When the owner stays frozen in his spot, Sehun subtly looks over his shoulder to try to let the owner know that they were being watched and he hopes with everything in him that the owner understands what he's telling him. As Sehun looks back at him, he snaps out of his frozen state and takes off to the back.

Sehun was slightly bewildered for a moment, wondering if all hell was about to break loose, but then the owner comes back out with a couple of boxes in hand.

"This is half of it. You'll have to come back tomorrow for the rest." The owner tells him gruffly, the friendliness from earlier gone.

When the owner starts shoving the boxes over the counter towards Sehun, he knows this is his only chance to give the man the information he's gathered. As stealthily as he can, he slowly pulls out an envelope from his jacket and places it on the counter. He pushes it towards the owner while reaching for one of the boxes.

When the owner sees it, he freezes for a moment before quickly swiping it from view and putting it behind the counter. Sehun grabs the other box at the same time, hoping to hide the encounter from whoever was watching him outside.

"Is this going where I think it's going?" The owner asks quietly.

He didn't know how, but he knew the owner was talking about EXO.

"Yes, but without attachments."

The owner furrows his eyebrows at Sehun's request to send the information anonymously but eventually nods.

"Consider it done."

Relief floods through Sehun, confusing him even more. It was like his body knew what was right and was ten steps ahead of him, but his brain was a foggy mess. Either way, he's relieved to know the owner will pass it on anonymously because if he's wrong, he doesn't need EXO hunting him down too. One group of killers was enough.

Later that night, Sehun laid in his bed and pondered over what 1485 could be. A date? An address? Why did he feel compelled to write it down? How was EXO supposed to know what it was?

Another set of numbers flash through his mind after those and it was like his brain was screaming at him again. 1248-94. Those were important numbers, and for some reason, the 94 felt extremely significant to him. The number's kept repeating over and over in his mind until finally, it hit him.

1485 was a P.O. box number.

With this realization, he knew exactly what to do when he went back for the rest of the shipment, he would find the P.O. boxes burned into his mind, and he would leave whoever was on the other side a message.

Baekhyun's POV

You had been avoiding him for the past couple of days, and he hated it. He was miserable without you by his side, and he wished, more than anything, that he could take back what he said, but nothing had changed. All of his reasons for saying no to you were still valid. Unfortunately.

As Baekhyun lousily makes his way up the stairs to his room, he spots Jongdae knocking on his bedroom door.

"What's up?"

Jongdae turns at Baekhyun's voice and opens his mouth to speak, but pauses as he takes in Baekhyun's appearance.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy. What's going on?"

He could tell Jongdae was tempted to ask more questions but was thankful when he let it go.

"That shipment from the auto parts store is coming in 1 hour... You're supposed to be the point of contact, but..." Jongdae trails off while looking him up and down. "You don't look that good right now..."

Baekhyun gives him a look. "Thanks, Dae."

"I'll go in your place. Why don't you... sleep or something."

Before Baekhyun can reply, the two hear feminine giggling coming from the stairs, and they both look over in confusion. You were the only girl here, and you definitely didn't sound like that.

Finally, Chanyeol's head emerges up the steps. A goofy grin was present on his face, and his clothes were a mess. Accompanying him were two females, one hanging off of each arm, and they looked just as much of a mess as he did. Their clothes were barely there, and the best way to describe their messy hair was "sex hair". Baekhyun watched the three struggle up the stairs in disgust. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

"Jesus christ." Jongdae mutters as he leaves Baekhyun to fend for himself, throwing "good luck" over his shoulder.

Baekhyun suddenly very much wanted to go to that meeting now as he watched the trainwreck make their way towards him. Instead, he attempts to make an escape into his bedroom. Ignoring Chanyeol's calls to him, he walks into his bedroom and starts to close the door when a heavy weight pushes from the other side.

Knowing it was Chanyeol, and realizing the intentions he had in bringing the women here, he uses more force to push at his door, but attempting to move Chanyeol was like trying to move a building.

Chanyeol gives one final shove causing Baekhyun to stumble backward and let go of the door. Chanyeol smiles at Baekhyun as he walks the girls in.

"Ladies! This is my rude best friend, Baekhyun. Baek, these are our new friends Ashley and Julia."

One of the girls pauses and gives Chanyeol a pout. "My name is Jaehwa."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter." He waves her off and turns to Baekhyun. "I've brought them here for you. They're going to help you loosen up and forget about Y/N."

One of the girls walks up to Baekhyun and puts her hand on his arm. "Yeah, we'll make you forget all about whats-her-name."

Intense anger washes over him, and he pushes her hands off him with a scoff. "What you're going to do is leave. Now."

"Oh, lighten up!" Chanyeol sighs as he walks past him and collapses on his bed. "Y/N isn't gonna give it up to you, so you might as well use them."

Baekhyun looks over at Chanyeol in disbelief. This was not his best friend. This was a stranger he hated.

"Who the fuck are you anymore?!"

He watches as Chanyeol shrugs his shoulders before proceeding to pass out. Moments later, he feels two sets of hands touching and rubbing his body, and there are about three seconds left before he loses his shit. He throws his hands up in the air and moves towards the door, out of reach of the two girls. Before they can process what he's doing, he's opening the bedroom door and moving behind them to push/escort them out.

He lets out a sigh of relief once they're in the hallway, but the girls were still determined to stay with him.

"Come on, Baekhyun. Let's have some fun." The girl, apparently named Jaehwa says, while turning towards him and grabbing his shirt. The other girl giggles and pulls at his arm to wrap it around herself.

Baekhyun wasn't a weak man, and he could definitely shake two girls off of himself, but they appeared to be really fucking persistent, and he didn't want to end up hurting them without reason to.

He looks up to the ceiling and tries to gather some patience when a scoff interrupts his thought process.

"Fucking really, dude?"

He feels his entire body go stiff at Jongin's voice and slowly looks down the hallway towards it. Jongin stood there with an irritated expression on his face as he shook his head, but it wasn't Jongin that Baekhyun's eyes landed on.

It was you.

Tagging: @knjkitten @kpopserene @multifandombxxch @tashaxvamp @kpop---scenarios @bhyunni @chanyeolismybaby @flaming-laboob @taetaeeyong @lilbitoflyssa @misstressporkchoppp @hoseok-wang @spiltkpop @isha454 @depuis2mille @marovekian1 @ladylynae @abby8451 @lynniev @insta1010 @sawadabegum @avxngxrrogxrs @equesasprokishi @imstuckinafictionaluniverse @layisanangel @mongryong-the-corgi @overthelamebowz @lizbether01 @thatanonymousgirl-as14 @nothingbutadeadesceane @kim-ji-hyeons-world @suhappysuho @futuremrspcy @lovebuginlove @skylions-den @precious-seungwooya @softysuho @kuppyjiminie @blushinyouth @bat-shark-repellant @vickylamore @heartshapedenchiladas @cardtak @tanithrea

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infinite-xerath · 3 years

Text

Runeterra Retcons 4: Varus

Unlike the other Champions I’ve covered, Varus’s history is surprisingly straightforward. He was released all the way back in 2012 and, as far as I can recall, was the first Champion to ever receive any sort of major promotional material in the form of a short comic. He’s very straight-forward in both concept and design: a man willing to sell his soul, his very humanity, for revenge on the people who took everything from him. Given that this was before Kalista was added to the game, Varus had little choice but take matters into his own hands by bargaining with a vaguely-defined Eldritch being who would give him the power he needed in exchanged for taking over his body.

Original lore here

Varus’s lore is a very traditional revenge story, albeit with a slightly interesting twist in that he is the maker of his own tragedy. Varus opted to place his duty over the well-being of family and, in the process, was unable to even TRY to protect them while his village was being reduced to burning rubble. Out of grief and rage Varus turned to bargaining with the very entity he fought so hard to keep confined now that he no longer has anything to lose.

I and many others liked Varus’s story, and to be honest, Riot could have honestly just kept him more-or-less the same when they updated him post-retcon. Just remove the mention of the League and maybe better-define what the black flames were, and you’d be good. In fact, Riot technically did the former, as his second lore is basically identical save for removing any mention of the League of Legends.

Now, it’s at this point that things start to get a little more complicated. Now, if you want a more comprehensive breakdown of the Darkin and their history, I advise you go check out the part centered around Aatrox and his long and convoluted history, but tldr: the Darkin were a race of beings of whom only five remained, and it was later confirmed with Rhaast that they’re specifically a race of living weapons with the ability to possess whoever wields them. Now, while Varus was specifically possessed by an ominous black flame called Pallas, many drew parallels between him and the other Darkin characters, especially since Varus’s also seemed to be alive.

Given that the flames were never really elaborated on or given a proper origin story, Riot decided that it would probably be best to just go ahead and retcon Varus into being a Darkin as well, and nobody had any real qualms with this. It was a common fan theory for years, so why not? Just change the story a bit so that the flames were actually just a Darkin bow all along and boom, you’ve pretty-much done all you needed to properly fit Varus into the new post-reboot Runeterra.

Well, apparently Riot did not feel this way, as it was with Varus’s 2017 retcon that they decided to finally give fans a proper origin story for who and what the Darkin were. That origin story goes a little something like this.

Alright, so Varus is now an alien. They decided to make Varus himself the Darkin, rather than the man who would later claim the bow. OK, that’s fine. I mean, the whole alien thing is kinda weird and still very vaguely explained, but again, my full thoughts on the history of the Darkin as a whole can be seen in the Aatrox analysis. What I think is most important here is that Riot made an attempt, however sloppy, to explain who and what the Darkin were and finally give context to why Aatrox and Rhaast are such big threats to the world.

Now, it’s the next change that got a lot of controversy around it. Rather than just change the name of the Ionian guard who let Varus possess him, the guy who lost his family to the Noxian invasion, Riot decided to replace him with a pair of entirely new characters: Valmar and Kai, a duo of gay Ionian hunters.

Now, I’m just gonna get this out of the way: I’ve got no real qualms about gay relationships in media. Hell, we have a few LGBT Champions in the game already, and even some in the broader expanse of the world. My main gripe comes from the introduction of Valmar and Kai themselves, and how they’re just sort of these… Nothing characters. I mean, in the first lore, we knew who Varus was. We may not have known him well, but we could at least get a general sense of his character: he was proud of his skill, committed to the duty given to him even at the risk of his family, but ultimately succumbed to grief and rage when his decision caused him to lose everything he held dear. Varus was a good man warped by the loss of his home and loved ones, and that made him a fairly compelling character.

Valmar and Kai are… Two gay hunters. That’s it. That’s literally all we know about them from the bio alone. I mean, yes, Riot released a comic to further expand on these characters, but if your answer to the questions raised in your story are “go and read this extra supplementary material for context,” that’s… A problem.

On the topic of supplementary material, Riot also released a music video about Varus. It’s… OK. I personally don’t care much for the song but the visuals alone are really well-done. It’s supposed to detail the conflict between Valmar, Kai and Varus, but most of the context behind it is explained in the comic and short story.

Honestly, Varus’s retcon is kind of baffling. I mean, he didn’t receive a visual rework, his kit remained pretty-much the same as it’s always been, and he doesn’t even have any new voice lines in-game to indicate that he’s three different guys all stuck in one body. In fact, people who play him in-game without reading the lore probably wouldn’t ever be able to guess as much. Riot went to so much effort promoting Varus’s lore update with a music video, a new bio, a new color story, and a three-part comic, but they really haven’t changed anything about him in the game itself. They put more effort into him than they do for most ACTUAL Champion VGU’s. So… Why?

Admittedly, this is where I’m going to delve a bit into conspiracy theory territory, but I genuinely believe this is a case of Riot trying to push League’s first openly queer relationship. Seriously, Valmar and Kai are the first time a character in League has been confirmed gay IN THE LORE ITSELF and not just through a random tweet. Now, the word “pandering” gets thrown around a lot these days, and I don’t really like to use it, but it really does feel like Valmar and Kai were added JUST to have a confirmed gay couple in the lore.

The fact that they’re not even acknowledged IN THE GAME ITSELF really makes the whole thing feel like an attempt to just appeal to the LGBT crowd, though I’ve seen plenty of people in that community react… Less than positively to the portrayal. I mean, two gay guys are literally trying to hold back a corruptive, even influence with the power of love. I don’t wanna delve too much into the political side of things here, but that’s honestly about as cliché and stereotypical as you can get. Fans in general were extremely displeased that the man they knew as Varus, this genuinely tragic figure from the original lore, was replaced by two guys who’s only defining character trait is how much they apparently love each other.

Apparently, these complaints came through loud and clear, as Riot would update Varus one final time after deciding to retcon the whole alien plotline. So, let’s have a look at how his current, canon bio handles him.

Alright, well… Riot heard the complaints, but whether or not they fixed him is another matter. It seems like they tried to give Varus back his original origin story, basically making the archer we new from his first bio Shuriman. The problem is that there’s significantly less context for him now; we don’t know anything about his family, we don’t know why the temple he’s guarding is so important, and the story never even explicitly states that his family died!

I guess it’s implied because the Ascended acknowledged his “sacrifice,” though him being rewarded by becoming a demigod doesn’t quite have the same impact as exchanging his life and soul for a shot at revenge. On top of that, Varus seems pretty quick to give up on the whole “sacred duty” thing, despite the story claiming that being the thing he “he held above all else.” It all feels like a botched effort to mix his original bio with the new Ascended lore that Riot tied in with the Darkin.

Then, of course, there’s Valmar and Kai, who are… Still just gay hunters. They haven’t been expanded on at all. They helped drive the Noxians off from their home, Kai was apparently wounded, and Valmar decides that dipping his lover in an ominous pool of evil to save his life is a bad idea. Seriously, the bio states that they “inadvertently” freed Varus, but there was nothing accidental about it! There was no bargain, they weren’t tricked, it was literally just one guy making a stupid decision that got him fused with his lover and an ancient evil being.

Also, can we address the fact that Varus still wants to avenge the destruction of his race? Who does he want to avenge? The other Ascended? The Ascended who literally warred with each other for centuries? The same Ascended that HE FOUGHT AGAINST during the civil war for control of Shurima? Did Riot just… Forget that he’s not an alien anymore in that brief paragraph? They stated earlier that he was a cruel, merciless killer who just went to slaughter whoever he was told to slaughter, so for some reason I don’t feel like he’d care all that much about his “race” being felled. Oh, and there’s also still the unnamed warrior queen, who I THINK is meant to be a precious Aspect of the Sun? It’s never really stated in the bio itself.

Alright, enough ranting. Varus’s current lore suffers from one major fault: it is trying way too hard to tell several stories all at once. It tells the story of Varus as a human, Varus as an Ascended, Varus as a Darkin, the “story” of Valmar and Kai, and how they got fused with Varus. The writers tried way too hard to cram everything into a single bio and, as a result, nothing is elaborated on. Nothing is really explained, we don’t get to know the characters who are involved in the gestalt entities now known as Varus, and reason for his current existence AS a gestalt entity are just kinda silly, if we’re being honest.

So, how can we fix this? I admit: this was a tough one. There were a lot of different directions I could go when rewriting Varus’s lore, but I decided to take the Kayn approach, where the human host in the focus of the bio. Originally, I did have a whole bio written out for Varus and how he became an Ascendant, but I ultimately realized that I was going to run into the same issue Riot did: trying to cram way too much into a single character overview. So, instead, I chose to focus in more on the story of Valmar and Kai, and how the Darkin Bow was freed after ages of confinement. Without any further ado, please enjoy.

For years, the Darkin Bow has remained confined within the Ionian city of Pallas. The bow’s true nature has long been lost to time, though legends say it holds the spirit of an ancient god from a vast desert land. Others claim that the bow itself is something much older and viler than history itself dares to remember. Whatever the truth may be, the people have Pallas have guarded the bow for generations, choosing only their most skilled warriors from the task. Among them, none seemed better-suited for the task than Kai and Valmar.

Kai and Valmar were inseparable since they were children. Kai, a prodigy marksman, was known for his sense of humor and fierce resolve. Though infamous for his pranks, Kai would never hesitate to step in and defend someone in need, no matter how poorly the odds stood in his favor. By contrast, Valmar had trained in the ways of swordsmanship since he was old enough to grip a blade. Diligent and studious, Valmar was what many considered a model samurai in the making, yet he was also unendingly curious about the world and the many wonders it held.

At a glance, Kai and Valmar seemed near-total opposites, yet the two formed an unbreakable bond from the day they met. Kai would often accompany Valmar to explore the surrounding wilderness, only for Valmar to shelter Kai whenever one of his pranks went awry. As each boy matured, mastering the bow and blade respectively, their bond became something deeper than simple friendship. Valmar was a part of Kai, and Kai a part of Valmar. Neither was complete without the other, and so it came as little surprise that when Valmar was chosen to guard the Temple of the Bow, Kai soon followed.

Together, Valmar and Kai drove off many would-be thieves seeking to claim the cursed weapon’s power as their own. The two fought as one, each arrow from Kai’s bow in perfect sync with every swing of Valmar’s blade. Eventually, they came to be known as the Locust and Mantis, for the whirring of Kai’s arrows and the elegance of Valmar’s blade. It was believed that none could stand up to their combined might… Until the Noxians came.

From their post at the temple, Valmar and Kai watched in horror as the invaders stormed their home, setting fires and killing anyone who dared to stand in their way. For the first time, two warriors found themselves at odds; Kai wished to help defend the people of Pallas, but Valmar insisted on protecting the temple. In the end, neither had much choice in the matter, for the Noxians soon had them cornered on the temple steps.

Valmar and Kai fought for hours, their combined might slowly waning against the invaders’ onslaught. Kai’s strength was the first to give out, yet before death could reach him, Valmar stepped in the way to shield his partner from the blow of a Noxian axe. Kai watched in horror as Valmar fell to the ground, lifeless. Enraged, Kai fired all the arrows he had left before taking up Valmar’s sword, slaying the Noxian forces assaulting the temple. Even still, he knew it would not be long before more came, seeking to claim the forbidden bow.

In that moment, Kai heard a voice calling to him from within the temple. It promised him vengeance and the strength to fight back. Driven by rage and grief, the wounded archer let the voice guide him inside, just as more Noxian invaders began their ascent up the temple’s stairs. It was there, in the darkness, that Kai at last set eyes upon the cursed weapon he and Valmar spent years protecting: a bow thrumming with unearthly power. Kai hesitated for only a moment before grasping the bow, letting its power wash over him.

Kai’s mind was filled with images and thoughts not his own: a vast desert empire, a man made a god, betrayal, war, and finally, imprisonment. These were the memories of Varus, an Ascended being who devoted his life to serving Shurima, only to be abandoned in his time of need. His bitterness and hatred had summoned the Darkin Bow, granting Varus the opportunity to seek revenge on those who had wronged him. In the end, Varus was sealed within the bow, becoming one with it… And now, he would become one with Kai as well.

As Varus’s memories filled Kai’s mind, the Darkin’s power corrupted his body. Varus prepared to usurp Kai’s form entirely, but to his surprise, the Ionian’s drive for vengeance matched his own. Kai was prepared to give anything to avenge Valmar, his fallen half, yet he would do so with his own hands rather than entrust the task to a fallen god.

Even as their minds fought, the archers’ new, fused body moved on pure instinct. One by one, the Noxian forces in Pallas were felled by crimson arrows born of pure malice. Seeing the corpses of his kinsmen and the ruins of his home only fueled Kai’s rage, which in-turn empowered the Darkin in his grasp. Finally, the two archers came to an agreement as the Noxians fled: Varus would lend Kai his strength, in exchange for the Ionian’s body once Kai’s vengeance was complete.

Now on borrowed time, Kai has but one objective: to find and kill everyone he holds responsible for the destruction of his home and the death of his partner. To Varus, however, the destruction of Noxus is but the first step toward a much larger goal: revenge against the gods who betrayed him, and the world that sealed him away…

So, that’s my take on Varus’s lore. Now, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that I only have one of the lovers being possessed. Frankly, I felt that this was probably the best direction to go with; Riot still hasn’t updated Varus in any meaningful way to include Valmar and Kai in any of his voice lines, and something tells me that, being owned by a certain Chinese company, they probably never will. Given the circumstances, I figured it was probably best to give him a backstory more befitting of his in-game voice lines, which still portray Varus as a man on borrowed time who’s giving what little he has left in pursuit of vengeance.

Even so, I decided to try my hand at fleshing out Valmar and Kai. The first thing I did was change them from random hunters to trained soldiers tasked with guarding the temple. This not only harkens back to Varus’s original lore, but it also gives them more of a reason to stand their ground against the Noxian invaders. I also wanted to flesh out their personalities a little more, because I’ll be completely honest: I legitimately couldn’t remember which one was which even after skimming back through the comic. I forgot that Kai was the one who was injured in the original story, not Valmar, but quite frankly it matters so little given how poorly their characters are fleshed out.

Now, as for Varus himself… Well, like I said: I did have a whole bio written out for him that ties into the new Darkin lore I introduced in my Aatrox analysis, but I decided to focus the story more on Valmar and Kai and only have that backstory briefly alluded to. A tad disappointing, I know, but hey, it’s still more than what we learned about Rhaast from Kayn’s bio.

So, that was Varus, the Arrow of Retribution, otherwise known as Riot’s botched attempt at LGBT representation. He’s a far cry from what he started out as, and yet, hilariously, he’s really not on account of them still not updating anything about him in-game. In that respect, the Varus you play as in League isn’t really even the same character(s) presented in the lore. While I still firmly believe that his backstory never needed to be changed so drastically in the first place, I least wanted to present the potential that this direction held, and how badly the opportunity was squandered.

Oh well. At least the music video still looks nice.

#Runeterra Retcons #Varus #League of Legends

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ad1thi · 4 years

Text

frequent (emergency room) flyer | AU-gust Day 6: Hospital AU

AU-gust masterlist

i wrote this a while back, and a couple of people seemed interested in more, so here is another piece in that AU. tagging @m-e-i-c-h-a-n, @severelytinyeagle and @warmachinesocks (who was the original prompter) and im sorry if you asked for a continuation and didn’t get tagged. note: this can be read a stand-alone fic (but reading the original ficlet will help)

I’m begging you, please help me out here and get me something edible, I’m so tired of hospital food (from this prompt list)

After his first visit, Bucky isn't expecting to see Tony again. Despite how garish the burns had looked on his arms, the actual injury itself had thankfully not been that bad - and Tony only needed to come in one more time for a check in, just to make sure everything was healing well. It was a short visit, nothing to write home about and Bucky privately wished that the injuries had been a bit more severe.

Not too severe, because he didn't want Tony hurting himself, but severe enough that it warranted a couple more visits. Of course he kept that particular inclination to himself, because it wasn't normal to want your crush to be hurt and it was unbecoming for a doctor to want an injured patient, but it was there - in the back of his mind.

When Steve pages him a month later and tells him that he's got a repeat customer, and he ducks into A&E to see a familiar mop of hair; he's secretly pleased.

"What are we looking at?" he asks Steve, holding his hand out for the chart. Steve passes it over with a grim face, "His roommate brought him in. He was unconscious. Apparently he's been locked up in his lab for the past week, and when his roommate went to check on it - he was slumped against his desk. We managed to get him conscious again, and it looks like a case of a lack of food and drink."

Instantly, Bucky regrets the way he felt when he first found out that Tony was back in A&E. He nods sharply at Steve, and pulls back the curtain to see a pale Tony on the bed, and a black kid who can't be more than a few years older than Tony standing near the side of the bed.

"Bucky!" he croaks when he looks up, lips stretching out into a wide smile. He pulls at the black kid's sweater, "Rhodey look - it’s Bucky!"

"I can see that Tones," Rhodey says in a wry tone, and holds his hand out for Bucky to shake. "James Rhodes, but this punk likes to call me Rhodey."

"Doctor James Barnes," he says back, "also cursed with a bestfriend who gives out terrible nicknames. You must be James the original."

Tony gives him an indecipherable look, "You remembered."

Bucky can't tell him that he's played the weekend that Tony was in the hospital in his mind on repeat, revisiting the memories like they’re treasure, so instead he clears his throat and asks, "So what brings you to my neck of the woods this time?"

Tony opens his mouth to reply, but Rhodey beats him, "He doesn't know how to eat. Don't even start with me Tones you know it's true. Doctor," he turns to Bucky with pleading eyes, "maybe you can knock some sense into him. Explain to him that human beings need sustenance three times a day and they can't survive on coffee and ramen."

Bucky frowns, "You've only been having ramen and coffee? Tony you need vitamins, you need protein. While it's possible that you just fainted because of hunger, I'm going to keep you around for a couple of days. Run some tests to make sure you haven't given yourself scurvy."

His lips twist into a pout, and Bucky has to tamp down the urge to lean down and kiss it off his face. "This is all your fault," he glares at Rhodey mulishly, "I'm stuck in a hospital instead of at my lab like I should be. All you had to do was splash some water on me and this whole thing could've been avoided."

"I did, you didn't wake up" Rhodey says, obviously not rising to Tony's bait. He oddly reminds Bucky of himself, back when Steve wasn't a hunkering man made of muscles and Bucky had to wrestle his four foot ass in bed because he couldn't go five steps without dissolving into a coughing fit. "Besides, what're you complaining about? Now you've got all this free time to ogle at the doctor you've been talking my ear off about for a month."

Tony's cheeks pink, and Bucky excuses himself before he does something he's going to regret.

(Like find out exactly what Tony's been saying about him to his bestfriend)

Thankfully, Tony doesn't seem to have any serious illnesses apart from a mild case of dehydration and malnutrition; but Bucky keeps him under observation to be sure just in case. He's heard horror stories of students cracking under the pressure at MIT and almost starving themselves to death, and he's got a special interest in making sure that Tony doesn't become one of those horror stories.

Besides, he's fairly certain that Tony can afford the medical bills.

The downside of Tony not being at high risk of death is that Bucky can't justify visiting him often. So he does the next best thing, he assigns Steve to Tony. It's standard hospital procedure to have a nurse dedicated to their VIP patients, and it soothes something inside Bucky to know that Stevie is looking out for him.

What he fails to take into account, is the fact that Steve and Tony are remarkably similar people, and are therefore bound to clash.

"I can't take it anymore!" Steve bursts into his office, interrupting what was promising to be an extremely rewarding fifteen minutes of sleep at his desk, "He's so - UGH!"

Steve tugs at his hair, and Bucky gestures at the couch in his office, wincing when Steve slumps against it face-first.

"Use your big boy words Stevie," he says in what he hopes is a calming tone, "Who's got you so worked out?"

"Your ickle Tony," Steve props his head up and says in a scathing voice, "Is the most infuriating person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. It's like he wants to die. I don't know what you see in him Buck, honest to god, he drives me crazy."

"What did he do?"

"He refuses to eat!" Steve moans, but when he notices the expression on Bucky's face he backtracks a little, "He eats, but like ridiculously small amounts. His tray is never empty, and one time - I even caught him shovelling food under his plate to make it look like he'd eaten it. The kid is going to kill himself if he goes on like this."

Bucky wants to go over there right now, but he's got patients that can't wait. "I'll visit him after my rounds today," he promises, "find out what's going on."

When he enters the suite that they've put Tony in, he's in the middle of a very heated conversation on his phone. His skin is no longer pale, flushed full with colour, but he's still too skinny for Bucky's comfort.

"No Pep I -" he looks over when the door slides open, and his face transforms into a smile, "Bucky! Pep, let me call you right back."

Whoever it is on the other line is clearly not happy about Tony cutting the line on them because he hears the beginning of what sounds like yelling - but Tony ends the call before they can get anywhere. He cocks his head and bats his eyes at Bucky, "What can I do for my favourite doctor?'

"I'm your only doctor Tony," Bucky says with a chuckle, "Nobody else is willing to treat you." It isn't a lie, but it isn't the complete truth either. Bucky is Tony's only doctor, but only because he put dibs on any future Tony related visits. So it wasn't that nobody else was willing to treat Tony, it was more that Bucky wasn't willing to let anyone else treat Tony.

"So, what's this I hear about you not eating food? Keeping you under observation for malnutrition is counter-productive if you're not eating Tony." Tony frowns at that, his face twisting like he's had something sour.

He hears out and clasps Bucky's hands, looking up at him with wide eyes, "You have to help me. You gotta get me out of here. They keep trying to make me eat hospital food," he says 'hospital food' in a hushed tone, like he's worried Stevie is going to jump out with a tray and shove it down his throat.

(Knowing Stevie, it was completely possible)

"Tony," he says gently, "You have to eat. It's for your own good. You're dangerously low on vitamins and protein, and if we don't get that stuff in your system you could be running the risk of serious illness. Then you'll be shackled to a hospital room for the rest of your life, with no choice but to eat hospital food."

Tony contemplates that for a second, brows furrowing in concentration. "Okay, how about a compromise? I'll eat hospital food, two times out of the day, if you smuggle me in a cheeseburger for lunch."

"How about this? You eat hospital food all times of the day, and I'll buy you a cheeseburger when we discharge you?"

"You mean like a date?" Bucky suddenly becomes intimately aware that Tony is still holding his hand, "You asking me out on a date Doc?"

Bucky wants to say no, he knows that he's supposed to say no, but what comes out is, "Not yet."

Tony's face twists at that, before smoothening out in comprehension, "It's because I'm your patient isn't it. There's rules about this stuff, ethics or whatever."

"I could lose my license over it," Bucky admits, "not to mention that you're still in college."

"I'm a master's student," Tony says breezily, "I'm older than I look. I turn 22 this May. So how long?" Bucky makes a quizzical noise at him and he explains, "How long until it's okay for you to date a patient?"

"6 months," Bucky rubs the back of his neck with his free hand, "There's a bit of debate on it, but six months is pretty standard."

Tony nods, "I can do six months. I can wait six months."

"You have to stay out of the hospital for six months," Bucky says weakly, "No malnourishment, no lab accidents, you can't even get a scrape on your elbow, otherwise I could get written up."

"I can do that," Tony says confidently, and Bucky knows that he should talk him out of it, but he smiles toothily at Bucky, and he's gone, "I can wait six months for you. Can you?"

"Six months," Bucky says back, and it feels like a promise.

Fin

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