#hawks of all the people you should have taken after she was top priority

[transhawks]

WHAT DID I SAY???

HAWKS SENPAI CONFIRMED.

#bnha spoilers #bnha 312 #I'm so excited #lady nagant #hawks #hawks of all the people you should have taken after she was top priority

[lightlavenders]

Time for my Entrapdak rant (a.k.a. why Hordak was better for her than literally anyone else, a.k.a. I’m not bias I swear)

as I read through Entrapta/Hordak/princess gang discourse on this site I started to realise the reason why I loved Entrapdak so much in the first place, and I will now talk about that here (some of these points are stolen from better posts). ALSO no matter how much I shit on other characters just know this isn’t an attack of any of them. This is gonna be VERY ENTRAPTA FOCUSED.

OK SO we get introduced to Entrapta pretty early in season 1 and we get to learn a lot about her. It also quickly becomes clear that she’s neurodivergent - something confirmed to be intentional by many of the creators. Entrapta has a passion for technology, science and inventing, and (same as the previous princesses) the best friend squad decide they need her in the alliance so she can build them weapons (whICH SHE NEVER ACTUALLY DOES i think BUT THATS NOT THE POINT). 

Throughout the episode though, the squad (mostly Glimmer bc she’s the one who gets to closely interact with Entrapta the most... Adora being completely out of it and Bow with the kitchen staff) seems to slowly run out of patience for her - Glimmer very obviously puts up a front of tolerance despite her frustration. This is unlike the other episodes, where all the princesses get along in the end and become best friends oh boy! So... we have our only neurodivergent character so far who isn’t really welcomed into the group the same way as the others... and her autistic behaviour is only tolerated because they need her... okay, maybe that’ll change later.

Or not? When Entrapta joins the others on the quest to save Glimmer, she is constantly infantilised by the others and not taken seriously. She runs off to study Horde tech and actually helps rescue Sea Hawk, two very helpful things, but Perfuma talks down to her like a child and PUTS HER ON A LEASH? SHE’S 30!!! SHE WAS TRYING TO HELP! And no one tells Sea Hawk off for getting lost and alerting Scorpia to their presence, which wasn’t helpful at all. Then later, Mermista says she’ll keep an eye on her “in case she decides to befriend any more robots” like okay... she isn’t a child, and she didn’t run off because she wanted to play with robots or something?

Okay, so, Entrapta is left behind, which I won’t blame them for because it definitely looked like she died (they get over it pretty quickly but I digress), and she comes across Catra. Okay! Here’s a chance for Entrapta to make a true friend, right? Or not, because Entrapta and Catra’s friendship is built entirely on manipulation. At least Scorpia was sincere. 

Here Entrapta is again, in a position where she’s being used for her skills and in a we’re-sort-of-friends-but-I-only-tolerate-you-because-you’re-useful situation, with Scorpia probably being her only true friend at the moment. She starts helping out the horde, because they actually let her do what she wants and at the very least don’t treat her like a child. Then, she stumbles into Hordak’s lab.

I’m gonna say this now because I’ll get murdered if I don’t - Hordak is a bad guy. He does bad guy stuff. But so does Entrapta sometimes (I’ll talk about that later) so good morals don’t need to play into their relationship I think. It’s about how they treat each other.

At first, Hordak is very defensive and angry towards Entrapta, as he would be to anyone coming in to his lab without permission and discovering his secret portal project. But then she fixes said portal and he immediately sees her as an intellectual equal. Again, Entrapta has had to prove herself to someone by making herself useful, but it actually goes further. ALSO can I say how Hordak is the ONLY person who interacts directly with Entrapta who doesn’t treat her like a child or emotionally manipulate her, with the exception of Wrong Hordak, Emily, and Imp of all characters... Even Scorpia is guilty of this later.

So, Entrapta and Hordak start working together, and Entrapta is obviously very excited to have someone treat her as an equal (they’re lab partners!!). On top of that, Hordak is also happy to have someone he can actually trust. Catra and Scorpia at separate times both remark on how Entrapta spends all of her time with him now, and who can fucking blame her when he’s the only one that has literally spent all this time growing close to her and understanding her as a person, not just using her, not just tolerating her, not talking down to her constantly. Hordak opens up his trauma to Entrapta and she responds by opening up a bit in return, literally saying that she doesn’t fit in and that Catra doesn’t even talk to her anymore. They are obviously comfortable around each other, and if Hordak was manipulating her, then why was he so distraught when she was taken away? Why did he CRY??? Why did he consider giving up on his life’s purpose and abandoning what is essentially his god for her???

Anyway, stuff happens, and Entrapta shows that she isn’t the irresponsible child everyone thinks she is by agreeing to shut off the portal. But of course, Catra betrays her and sends her away. To die. How nice. Catra tells Hordak that Entrapta betrayed him, and instead of flipping out and turning all Hal Stewart incel “if I can’t have you no one can” he just gets sad... and then later all he really wants is to see her again, even if it is on the battlefield. I’m not sure what he would’ve done so we can’t say for sure, but I seriously doubt he wanted to hurt her.

sidenote - I’m not gonna blame Scorpia for letting Catra doing this, Scorpia had her own shit going on and was essentially trapped in an abusive relationship and she also later makes up for letting Entrapta down by getting her rescued

SO then the best friend squad go to save her from Beast Island, and she’s literally completely given up. Gee, I wonder why. Could it be because it seems like every friend she’s ever had has abandoned her, scolded her, or outright zapped her unconscious and sent her to die in a monster filled island? But the squad save her and affirm to her that they didn’t give up on her and that they’re still her friends. Actions speak louder than words, guys, but okay, cool! To Bow and Adora’s credit, they were the least patronising and mean out of anyone... so, that’s something. Anyway! Affirmations! Some respect from her friends! I hope this lasts... 

It didn’t! Season 5, Entrapta goes along with the others to help find out where Glimmer is. Here is where I quickly have to say something - Entrapta does indeed make some ‘evil’ and stupid decisions sometimes - hacking the black garnet, building robots that attack her old friends, walking out absentmindedly in front of a robot and compromising her team. Some of these things can be explained by her neurodivergence, but do not always justify it. That being said. Entrapta is not evil, she is not stupid, and her “weirdness” does not give her friends the excuse to treat her like a child. 

Here’s where it gets bad!! Perfuma puts Entrapta on a leash AGAIN!!!!!! WHAT? Writers? Wyd?? Not only this, but the others talk about her behind her back, and then scold her without any consideration for how she, as a neurodivergent person, was interpreting the situation. They could’ve explained their feelings to her in a calm way, instead of shunning her and expecting her to pick up on their cues, then exploding at her when they didn’t. THEN THEY CALL HER A BAD FRIEND.... and I feel hypocrisy in this chili’s tonight... and then Scorpia... doesn’t say anything? Girl help. Ik we can’t totally blame her since she was new to the squad and probably didn’t wanna get kicked out or yelled at like with Catra, but please... that is your friend...say something. also why did mermista need to pull her hair and then later say “you’re still a weirdo” like what. why do people ship them? because mermista cried when entrapta ‘died’? Okay??

I think Entrapta actually goes through some character development after this which is pretty cool - she outwardly expresses her concern for Glimmer, which is affirming to her friends the squad, and later at the end of the series, intentionally keeps herself focused during the most high stakes moment instead of running off. I’m not qualified to talk about if these traits, which could be considered traits of autistic people, deserve to be treated as flaws to be fixed, that’s a whole other bag of worms, but yay character development.

Finally, at the end, Hordak properly reunites with Entrapta and he decides to rebel against his creator and his purpose to save her life, showing that Entrapta, and their connection, is his priority now. And once Adora saves Hordak from Prime (thanks Adora), the two finally reunite in a spinning hug - that is literally the most physical contact either of them have had with anyone, how could anyone not believe in their connection and mutual trust???

Mermista gives us one last jab, an understandable one considering Hordak was conquering their planet for years on end, but still - “so, are we all just like, okay with this?” yes girl, we are. He’s literally the only one who ever treated her with real respect and love, the only one who ever prioritised her.

I know some people are gonna be like “just ship her with wrong Hordak” and if you really like that... go ahead I guess? But do we need to force a clone who just got control of his own mind into a relationship, or a girl who is very much in love with someone else into a relationship with one of her friends? You can do what you want though, it’s literally fine, I’m the one who just spent over 1500 words talking about why a 30 year old science woman should go out with an alien warlord.

In conclusion - Hordak and Entrapta deserve each other, because Entrapta deserves someone who treats her right, and I love her.

#entrapdak #entrapta and hordak #entrapdak discourse #entrapta #hordak #i had to include a megamind reference #She Ra #SPOP #big ol post #she ra and the princesses of power #i spent so long on this

[psychosistr]

Green-Eyed Monsters- Chapter 6

Summary: On their way home, Steelbeak gets a lecture about why you shouldn’t knowingly drink spiked beverages and Dominic gets an embarrassing answer to a question he didn’t even think to ask...as well as more questions that he still needs answered..

Notes: Just a little interlude before we get into the emotional reconciliation of the final chapter.

-First Chapter-

“-most stupid, idiotic ideas you’ve EVER had!” Dominic’s voice was loud enough to be heard clearly over the roar of the flashy car’s powerful engine and the barely-audible music coming from the radio, even from outside the vehicle. “Why in the world would you knowingly drink not just one, but SEVERAL cocktails laced with who-knows-what?! It could have been arsenic, for all you knew!”

While the lecture certainly sounded harsh, in Dominic’s defense, he’d been quietly seething and biting his tongue for hours before finally getting to unleash the full brunt of his accumulated frustration from the evening’s events. After that two-faced femme-fatale had left them to deal with escaping on their own, the deadly duo had found themselves quite busy escaping the mansion (with the assistance of Emelia’s mattress that they’d thrown out the window to cushion their fall so they could jump from the upper floor more safely), sneaking past security, and speeding off in their getaway-car before security could close off the property. Once they’d escaped, the loon’s top priority had been getting medical attention for his partner, so he’d pushed aside his lingering irritation until one of FOWL’s doctors had cleared Steelbeak and given them the green-light to go home together (the metal-mouthed fowl would be dizzy, nauseous, and possibly have some memory loss the next day, but seemed like he’d recover with some bed rest and medicine provided by the doctor).

Now that they were heading home, however, now he had a perfect opportunity to unleash the rant that had been building since they’d left the mansion.

“Didn’t taste like almonds..” Steelbeak, currently seated in the passenger’s seat of his Lincoln Continental and leaning against the door so he could get the full benefit of the air coming in through the open window, seemed either too out of it, too bored, or too much of both to really be bothered by the volume of his partner’s voice. “Sides, I’ve had worse than a little rope slipped in my drink……give the guy makin’ ‘em some credit for waitin’ ‘til I ordered thicker drinks t’ start goin’ heavier with the pills- couldn’t see ‘em in those..”

The loon’s eyebrow twitched in agitation and he was fairly certain that the scowl on his face would become permanent at this rate. “Here’s a thought: How about NOT showing admiration towards the people who try to drug and murder you? It’s a novel concept, I know, but I think you’d benefit from it!”

Steelbeak’s eyes did their best attempt to roll upon hearing the other man’s sarcastic tone, but they only made it about halfway before giving up and closing. “Never said I admired ‘im…just sayin’ the guy knew what he was doin’…” A quiet groan rumbled in his chest as he rubbed his head, the dizziness still a prevalent symptom he was combating. “You’re makin’ this way bigger than it needs t’ be..ain’t like nothin’ happened-”

Successfully rolling his own red eyes, the darker fowl tried to continue. “Because-”

“-‘cause you were watchin’ out for me.” It was hard to tell if the slightly less coherent man actually knew what the loon was about to say or if he’d been in the middle of saying it to begin with. Either way, his partner let him continue explaining himself; if nothing else, it gave his throat a break and allowed him to prepare for the next round of ranting. “You were watchin’ me like a hawk all night…didn’ really have a way t’ avoid drinkin’ it without lettin’……whatever ‘er name was-”

“Emelia.” Dominic felt a small swell of delight in hearing that the lighter bird couldn’t even remember that conniving carnivore’s name, but he didn’t allow it to show as he kept his eyes on the road and his scowl firmly in place.

“Yeah..her…” Steelbeak gave a slight nod, but couldn’t be bothered to repeat the word. “Couldn’t get outta drinkin’ it without her knowin’ I was ont’ her……but, figured you were watchin’ an’ you’d follow me…” Dark grey eyes finally opened half way, his previous wave of dizziness subsiding for the moment. “Nothin’ else, figured Mara’d follow me like in Rio an’ you’d go after her..”

Whatever slight bit of improvement Dominic’s mood had taken was stripped away at the mere mention of that aggravating double-agent. “Oh, so you were expecting HER to rescue you? Well then, maybe I should have just let you two have your fun since you clearly enjoyed her company so much.”

“Ha! I trust that broad ‘bout as far as she can throw me.” Dark grey eyes glanced at the tight grip the other man had on the steering wheel. “Don’t get why you’re so worked up ‘bout ‘er…she’s not THAT bad…”

Red eyes gave a brief, irritated roll before focusing on the road once more. “Oh, wow, I wonder how I could possibly have a problem with some woman dancing and flirting with my partner all night.” Before he could say anything else on the matter, Dominic was startled when said partner started to laugh hysterically. Caught somewhere between insulted and mildly concerned- he wasn’t sure if this may have been a side-effect of the drugs still affecting Steelbeak’s mood and mental stability- the loon pondered the idea of pulling over to either check on the other man’s health or possibly slap him, depending on what the situation called for.

“You think she was FLIRTIN’ with me?!” The rooster managed to gasp out between fits of laughter, holding his sides as if in pain from the hilarity of the situation. That annoyingly nasal laugh of his was all that could be heard for a solid minute, acting as if this was the funniest thing he’d heard in ages. Just as Dominic was ready to pull the car over and give the overly-gleeful fowl a piece of his mind, Steelbeak managed to get a full sentence out that took him a moment to decipher: “Deedee, she’s ‘bout as interested in me, as you’d be in her.”

When the weight of those words finally sunk in, Dominic felt like he would have smacked himself in the forehead if both hands weren’t still tightly gripping the steering wheel.

A lesbian.

He’d spent a good portion of the evening feeling one-upped and threatened by a lesbian.

Face burning with shame beneath his dark feathers, the aquatic avian decided to deflect his embarrassment with a mask of frustration (not that it was that hard to pull off given their earlier conversation). “Why didn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?”

Having finally gotten over his laughing fit but still sporting an amused grin, Steelbeak slumped back down against the passenger-side door with a shrug. “Ya didn’t ask.” He covered his mouth around a yawn, his previous bout of activity apparently tiring him out again.

“I shouldn’t have to ask.” Dominic shook his head, sparing a less harsh look at the lighter fowl once they’d reached a stop light. “You need to give me any intel that could be vital to our mission. I need to know these things- we’re partners.”

In the few seconds his red eyes glanced away to make sure the light hadn’t changed color, the sharpshooter missed the expression that accompanied Steelbeak’s quiet, slightly disappointed tone of voice. “Is that all we are…?” By the time he looked back to ask for clarification, Dominic saw the other’s dark eyes had closed and he was sound asleep.

Left confused and uncertain once again about Steelbeak’s apparent displeasure regarding their partnership, Dominic sighed and swallowed his words for the time being. They’d have to talk about this when the other man WASN’T recovering from an overdose of mind-altering substances.

<--Previous Chapter Next Chapter-->

End Notes: Short chapter is short, sorry ^.^” Despite its shortness, I hope you guys still enjoyed the little moments of Domino getting to lecture Steelbeak before feeling embarrassed of his own misplaced jealousy xD

#darkwing duck #dwd #steelbeak #Dominic Domino #steeldomino #darkwing duck oc #dwd oc #not my oc #green-eyed monsters

[yoongi-sugaglider]

Daegu Quarantine

Jungkook x reader

Gang/ zombie apocalypse au

Warnings:

Gore, violence, zombies, mention of drugs and drug dealing, weapons discharge in self defense, possible future main character death, zombies, course language, zombies, drinking, did I mention zombies?

Summary:

They were the top of their game, known throughout the city as the smartest and most dangerous crew to ever hit the Daegu streets. But what’s going to happen when this group of young men encounter something right out of a horror film?

Word count:2182

Part 6===Part 7===Part 8

I couldn’t help but snicker at the absurdity of the situation. Here we were risking our lives to ensure the safety of the boys that worked for us in the warehouse, and Yoongi just had to come across the one woman that he had once loved and now hated more than anything in the world.

“You idiot! I thought you went back to Greece?” He seemed more irritated than happy to see her and his tone of voice caused her to frown in intense displeasure.

“I was, but after my sister got married I decided to get back into the field. Civilian life didn’t sit too well with me and I was itching to get back to work.” Her smirk as she glanced over Jungkook and I was condescending to say the least. “I heard you sold out and settled down yourself. Got yourself a nice little home life out of the spotlight.”He growled at her words, stepping between us and her as if he was trying to shield us from her cynicism and sarcastic remarks.

 “You lost the right to comment on my life when you shot me.” The dark tone of his words sent a chill down my spine. I wasn’t seeing Min Yoongi, the sleepy man who we had to drag out of bed any time there was a mission or a job to do. His tense shoulders and the grip he held on his weapon was purely Agust D, the professional sniper. A man who’d spent his fair share of time in the shadows and who’d killed enough people to populate a small town with corpses.

Daphne though seemed unfazed, smiling as she watched him basically growl at her like some wild animal. “Careful Agust… you’re weakness is showing.”

Jungkook stepped forward, a hand coming to rest on Yoongi’s shoulder as he whispered in the older man’s ear. Yoongi visibly relaxed and the tension left the dark hallway in a single breath.

Jungkook smiled at the woman, giving her a small bow as he move pass Yoongi to stand in front of the both of us. “Thank you for saving us. We wouldn’t have been able to save her if it weren’t for you.”

Daphne scoffed, shouldering her weapon and adjusting her hijab so that if fell more organically over her shoulders. “You’re damn right you wouldn’t have.Lígo ilíthia like you shouldn’t even be allowed out when the world is going to bok.”

Jungkook and I exchanged glances, a clear question in our eyes at the unknown words she’d just said. I shrugged, letting Jungkook know I couldn’t be bothered with the moment. He nodded, his face hardening as I knew it would.

“Listen, all that aside, the world IS going to shit or...bok...whatever it is you just said. And we’ve got people to save. So...if you don’t mind. We’re gonna head out.” Jungkook turned from her, moving past me in order to get to the door wed entered the building through.

“ I don’t think you’re gonna want to go back that way.” Daphne interrupted just as Jungkook was about to turn the handle.

“Oh? Are you planning on stopping us? Or are you gonna finish the job you fucked up back in Morocco?” The venom in Yoongi’s voice as he spit the words at her sent shivers down my spine. 

Daphne shrugged in answer though, a smirk dancing on her well glossed lips. “Listen, Morocco was nothing personal. I took a job, you just so happened to be the target. Can’t blame a girl for wanting to make a little money can you?” She sidled up to him, running a single fingertip along the edge of his jaw as her smirk widened.

“They wanted you out of the picture. I obliged, and even made sure you would be able to escape. Shouldn’t I be getting thanks instead of this anger you insist on throwing my way?”

Yoongi shoved her hand from his face, his aura of deadliness seeming to suck the light out of the hall. “I made the mistake of trusting you. And you turned your back on me for a little bit of cash. The fuck should I be giving you thanks for?”

She shrugged, turning away from him with a wave over her shoulder. “You survived. I could have actually killed you.”

He snatched her arm, spinning her back to face him as his grip tightened on her arm. “I spent 6 months in some backwoods city, nursing six broken ribs and fighting to keep my right arm because you shot me. I should kill you right here for what you put me through.”

He whispered something to her, whatever it was I couldn’t catch and apparently was either so profound or so demeaning that it had the blood draining from her face, leaving her pale as death in the low light.

“I…”

“ENOUGH!” Jungkook shouted, having moved so fast I didn’t even realise that he was between the two arguing assassins until he was already there, shoving them apart with all of the strength that his taller and broader frame afforded him.

“We’ve got men in a warehouse that need us. Stop your fucking domestic ass arguing and get your fucking head in the game.” His heated gaze caught Yoongi’s, pinning him down with a glare that would have made a lesser man cower in his fury. “Especially you Min. I expected better of you.”

Yoongi backed down, shouldering his weapon with a huff, though he continued to glare in Daphne’s direction.

“Ah, new master has a bark. I like him.” Daphne’s smirk returned as she curled her fingers around the grip on her arm. Her smile turned coy. “And he’s rough. Mmm…”

“Back off bitch. That’s mine.”

Daphne tilted her head, eyes piercing mine in a hawk like gaze as she assessed my aggressive stance.

“Ah, I see.” With that she turned, wrenching her arm out of Jungkook’s grasp as she began to make her way down the hall. “That door’s compromised, if you want to get to your men we’re going to have to go up. The streets outside are far too dangerous to navigate right now.”

“You want us to go up? How are we supposed to…”

Daphne interrupted Jungkook’s question with a single finger in the air. “We’re going to have to go across the roofs. The jumps are a bit sketchy at times but it’s a lot easier than having to fight our way through those things.”

***

It took us far longer than I wanted but eventually we made it. One building away from our warehouse. I glanced down at the streets, thanking the stars that we’d come across Daphne, even if Yoongi was being a moody baby about it.

They’d bickered for a while on the way but after almost alerting those in the streets to our presence Jungkook had taken charge, shutting their bickering down at the threat of throwing them both off the roof. The fall itself wouldn’t have killed them, but what with those monsters everywhere they would have died eventually regardless.

The two snipers dropped into position without hesitation, weapons side by side and scopes set in place as they zeroed in on the activity in the large warehouse across the alley.

“Anything Yoongs?” Jungkook muttered as he squatted down beside me so that we couldn’t be seen.

“Nah, outside of those Chatter things I’m not seeing much activity…” Yoongi replied. He adjusted his scope, attempting to see through the tall frosted glass windows.

“Takes me right back to Morocco.” Daphne smirked behind the safety of her scope. “That last job we took on?”

“Oh you mean the one where you tried to kill me?” Yoongi huffed as he began searching the street.

Daphne pulled away from her rifle, glaring daggers into the side of his head. “Really? I told you what happened Suga.” Every word she spoke was laced with frustration.

“No actually. You didn’t.”

His half pouted mostly grumbled words set her off as she smacked his arm, causing him to turn to her with a disdainful eye.

“Doyoung turned on you Yoongi.” She hissed at him, from my angle it seemed that tears were filling her eyes.

“We spent so much time hiding our relationship from the world that he never even suspected that I had a thing for you. And when the deal went south between you and him he immediately put a hit out on you. I had no choice! It was take you out of the picture long enough for that pig to move on to another fixation or let some rookie idiot flub the job and leave you actually dead!”

Yoongi frowned, glaring his distrust in her direction. “You could have told me.”

“I didn’t have the tie Yoongi! There were three Elites on your tail. I had to take the shot!” She choked on her own words, standing from her position and turning to me after wiping at her face.

“You’re gonna want to head down and across. I can pick off the ones that get too close, give you a clear shot to the warehouse. But for fucks sake keep quiet.”

I stared at her for a moment, knowing Jungkook and I shouldn’t have been privy to the conversation. But in the end my need to make sure our boys were okay took priority.

“Alright.” I answered with a nod, motioning to Jungkook that it was okay.

“I’m staying here.” Yoongi announced, turning back to his scope once more as if the conversation was final.

“You’re what?” Daphne demanded, the pitch of her tone rising as she glared down at him.

“I’m staying. You need somebody to watch your back. It’s safer.”

Kook nodded his agreement,placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as he nodded down a his elder.

“We’ve got this. The more eyes watching our backs the better.”

After a moment of what looked like a hell of an internal struggle she nodded. “Alright. In and out. Get your guys and get back here quick as you can.”

Jungkook stared down at Yoongi for a moment, seeming to debate as if he had more to say. But the older man just waved him off, almost as if he knew his leader was staring at him.

I paused before leaving, grabbing Daphne’s hand and giving her a quick smile. “Stay safe yeah?”

She nodded and returned my smile.

One last glance at the two professionals reassured me that they wouldn’t blow each other’s heads off as they’d taken to staring down at the streets out of their scopes.

***

We made our way quickly down to the alley between the buildings, glancing behind us every few moments to ensure we weren’t snuck up on.

Pausing at the exit of the alley we caught our breath, Jungkook glancing around the corner to scope out the area to ensure our route was clear.

My grip on the machete tightened, anxiety coursing through my veins as I waited for Kookie’s signal. He glanced back at me, holding up two fingers before pointing at his jaw.

Two bodies, presumably chatterers if him pointing at his jaw was any indication. If they were still a threat that meant they were in Yoongi and Daphne’s blind spot.

Jungkook pointed at himself and tilted his head towards the street before pointing at me and then at the ground. I gave him a nod, showing that I understood. He was going to draw them out so that our snipers could pick them off and I would stay out of sight in the alley just in case things got sketchy.

After steeling himself he rushed out into the street, racing out of my sight and dodging behind a large van that’d been blocking the way. I moved forward, head barely peeking around the corner as I watched the two monsters pick up on his scent and begin to chase after him. Sure enough their jaw seemed to move a mile a minute, the chattering sound echoing back to the alley I was hidden in. 

Within less time than it took them to step out of the shadow of the building they were already down on the ground, heads having disappeared from the silenced bullets of our backup on the rooftops.

One last glance into the alley to ensure our escape was clear and I was jogging up to Jungkook who’d taken a moment to wave thanks up to the roof, though we weren’t able to see if they saw him.

We didn’t take more than a moment to contemplate it as we rushed across the street, dodging abandoned vehicles and piled up corpses in order to escape to the recessed entrance of our warehouse.

“Shit…” Jungkook skidded to a stop, staring long and hard at the busted in double doors that should have long been barred and locked for safety.

“Oh no…Minhyuk…Sungjae...” I stifled the moan of sorrow that threatened to suffocate me at the smell of death that wafted towards us on the hot summer breeze.

#bts #bts boulangerie #bangtan boys #bts jeon jungkook #bts angst #bts x reader insert #bts x reader #bts jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts zombie au #bts gang au #jungkook zombie au #jungkook gang au #bts jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader #bts min yoongi #bts kim taehyung #bts kim namjoon #bts jung hoseok #bts kim seokjin #bts park jimin #bts scenarios #bts imagine #bts reactions #bangtan sonyeondan #bts fanfiction #my writing #bangtan boys imagine #bts reader insert #kpop angst

[megalony]

Unlawful protector- Part 2

This is the second part of my latest bodyguard! Ben Hardy series, thank you all for the comments so far I hope you like this part.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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"What's she done now?" (Y/n) questioned with a huff, her eyes landing on Mary who was standing only a few feet in front of her in the corridor. Reaching the maid who was only a few years older than herself, (Y/n) drifted her eyes from the brunette to the swarm of people crowding around Louisa's room.

The eldest sibling was causing a scene on many occasion, sometimes she was ill or she just wanted attention and would get it any way that she could. (Y/n) wondered what scheme she had come up with tonight to cause such a crowd of servants and family brooding around her room.

When (Y/n)'s eyes landed on her mother, she felt her stomach churning at the sudden howl that left her mother's lips. She had tears streaming down her face as she was leaning heavily onto one of the servants who was guiding her away from the room. Evidently trying to drag her down to her own room as she was in such a state of distress.

Shaking her head, (Y/n) violently hit away Ben's hands when he tried to wrap his arms around her waist in order to pull her away. He may have been the cause of the distress but he had to play his part and he truly didn't think it would be a sight that the youngest sibling should bear witness to. He followed after her as she pushed through the swarm of servants when normally she would be very kind to them and politely ask to be let through. Her arms flung in front of her to make a path between them for herself so she could see for herself that Louisa was simply ill.

She couldn't be...

(Y/n)'s body almost crumpled down when she made her way over the threshold into the room that was less crowded on the inside as it was in the corridor.

The scream that left her mouth didn't reach her ears as her eyes were suddenly drowned in horror. Her lungs felt like balloons that had been popped, sagging and shrinking in her chest until they were nothing but shrivelled useless organs.

There she was. Louisa. The eldest of the four siblings, the one who was meant to take the crown when their father passed.

Her golden hair that had previously been pinned up at the back of her head was strewn around her head, scraggly ends left limp against the grey carpet. Her usually bright blue eyes had been drained of all life and colour and were now crackled, looking as if one touch would shatter them completely. Her tanned skin was now verging on grey and her lips were not ruby-red but ice blue with streaks of very dark blood that was dried and caked to her lips and chin.

What made (Y/n)'s throat tighten and close off was Louisa's chest.

Her beautiful peach dress was tainted with blood. There was a small but obviously deep slash in the thick material that had pierced through the skin. Around her chest the blood had seeped over onto the other side and it had trailed down her torso and dripped and soaked into the dress along the sides. As if red wine had simply been poured onto her. The grey carpet was black in colour from the red pigments painting and soaking through to the floorboards beneath.

Someone had slain her sister.

Ben's arms wrapped around (Y/n), pulling the broken girl into his chest as he tried his best to look the tiniest bit disgruntled at the sight in front of him but it was hard when he had already seen and caused it. He opted to simply curl his upper lip in distaste but held the same bored expression he had when he first arrived.

He felt (Y/n) tightly gripping his arm that was wrapped around her front as she almost collapsed. Wheezing as if she too had been stabbed and could no longer hold the ability to breathe.

Turning them both around, Ben held (Y/n) upright as he slowly walked her out of the room. Guiding her the small distance down the corridor to her room as he could feel the blade of the knife pressing against his lower back causing it to become harder to hold back his grin.

(Y/n) crumpled down onto her bed, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest as if it would prompt her to take deeper breaths but it didn't work. Her eyes snapped closed when Ben rested his hand on her shoulder, letting her lean back against him. She knew she hadn't been close to Louisa, she wasn't very close to any of her siblings growing up but she would never wish something like this to happen to any of them. Louisa may have been a bit of an airhead and rather spoilt but that didn't mean she deserved to die.

She wouldn't know what she was doing if she was to be crowned, people would of had no reason to fear her being Queen like they had reason to fear their father. Louisa had been harmless and now it seems she had also been defenceless because she was now dead.

"S-she..." (Y/n) didn't have enough air in her lungs to sustain herself, let alone try and speak a proper coherent sentence. How could someone do that to Louisa? How ould they even have the opportunity to do that when she was meant to be watched twenty-four seven? She had been the next in line, she was the top priority to be guarded and now she was dead. Someone inside the castle had gotten to her and that meant that Daniel would be next.

If someone got to Daniel and God forbid, Anna, then that meant that either (Y/n) would also be killed or that she would be the one who would be expected to take the crown which she didn't want.

"Shh, princess. It's okay... you're alright." Ben couldn't help but feel a sliver of guilt for the pain he had clearly caused (Y/n).

He didn't mean to hurt (Y/n)... at least, not yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tipping her head down, (Y/n) looked at the book set out in front of her that she hadn't paid attention to since she opened it. Her legs were crossed beneath her on the wooden chair she was sitting on in the library, the one place here where she could be on her own without people bustling around or disturbing her.

At least, it was a quiet and undisturbed place until Joe arrived.

He knew this was exactly where (Y/n) would be and he had bustled in the moment he heard about Louisa. The brunette made a snarky comment towards Ben who he insisted didn't have to sit at the table with them when he wanted to talk to (Y/n). It was clear Joe didn't trust Ben even though he had been given no reason not to trust him but (Y/n) could see that Joe knew why he was here. Louisa being killed just proved that they all needed someone to watch over them.

Holding her breath, (Y/n) lifted her eyes from the book on the table to Joe when he reached over and rested his hand over her own. He looked desperate but he hadn't said very much to her yet. The moment he went to say how sorry he was about Louisa (Y/n) simply shook her head.

She didn't need his apologies or his sorrows for her sister, she needed all of this to stop.

"Come away with me." He whispered the words in a tone of desperation and pleading as he made sure his tone was quiet, not wanting the only other person in the room to overhear. The castle clearly wasn't safe anymore if someone on the inside had gotten to Louisa and there was only a matter of time before (Y/n) would become a target. He wanted her to be safe and he saw that the way to do that was for her to leave.

"I can't-"

"Yes you can. The worst that will happen is they think you've been taken or killed, that gives you the freedom to leave. David and Anna will be watched like hawks now, you don't even want the crown, why are you so desperate to stay?"

If they thought (Y/n) had been taken they would wait for a ransom or start looking for her. If they thought she had been killed they would mourn her and she had the freedom to change her identity and just disappear off the face of the Earth. She would abdicate the thrown if it ever came down to her but her siblings were going to be protected more now that Louisa had been murdered. They were doing checks of everyone who came in and out of the castle.

"I told you." (Y/n) hissed, trying not to snap but she couldn't help it. "Louisa's dead, alright? Someone got to her and if I leave now someone could get me or they'll just find me and bring me back. When David or God forbid, Anna gets the throne I'll be safer to leave. They won't care then but right now I'm safer here than leaving. You go if you want to."

Things would die down once someone took the throne when her father passed which admittedly wasn't going to be too long. No one would dare murder him when he was dying a slow death, that was more torturous and more revengeful than killing him quickly.

If (Y/n) left people could see her as some kind of target and try to hurt her, when someone was on the throne they would worry about them and what they were doing. (Y/n) held power right now because she was in line, she was closer now to the throne than before so she was a threat. She would be watched and searched for if she left. Joe could go if he wanted, she wouldn't hold it against him and she wouldn't care too much if he left because it was so much better than staying. He had that freedom, right now she didn't.

"We said we'd leave together and that's what we'll do." Joe tightened his hold on her hand but his eyes narrowed when she scoffed.

Leaving was always one of those childhood dreams that they had talked about non-stop since they were little. (Y/n) talked about going somewhere and being someone else, not being a princess or a member of the royal family but just someone else. A baker or a painter or a dressmaker, being someone who would go unnoticed and for her to be able to have a quiet life. Joe talked about leaving because he hated being a member of the court. It was boring and overrated and it was so hectic to talk about anything and everything that was wrong or corrupted with this place.

They made silly promises to each other that they would leave when they were older. They would fall in love and disappear and have a family together. It was always a fantasy but at the same time, it was the best dream either of them had and it was hard to let something like that go so easily.

"How old are we, Joe? Is the plan still happy families somewhere far, far away... or is it still just a dream?" Bursting the bubble she had placed herself into all these years hurt but at the same time living a dream wasn't the best option.

(Y/n) believed she could leave when this was all blown over. She knew she could grab some money and disappear into the night but she knew it would be hard and she didn't believe Joe would be there every step of the way, if at all. But she had to think that someone was going to be there with her because doing this alone was something she couldn't face quite yet.

"Right now, I think all you have is this 'dream' or waiting around to be stabbed. At least I have the will and the freedom to leave."

(Y/n) turned her head away from him, his words cutting to her core and causing tears to well in her eyes. He was right. A princess disappearing into the night was unheard of and with her family, she could simply be carted back here. Leaving her life and her responsibilities behind was something that was more of a dream than it could be a reality for her. At least for Joe, he would have the will and the freedom and the permission from his family to go. He wouldn't be hunted down, he could tell them he was going on a trip or he could spin almost any lie and no one would think it weird.

A shiver ran down her spine when Joe unlatched his hand from her own and stood to his feet. Saying nothing as he turned and left, making sure to bump his shoulder with Ben's as he went.

"What'd he say, princess?" She couldn't quite work out if Ben's tone was condescending or if he was being genuine as there was that hint of teasing mixed in that she didn't like in times like this. It made her question if he cared for her or if he could ever be serious or not. After their kiss the other day she wished that he would feel something for her but if she brought it up she could guarantee he would laugh or scowl.

"Do you think I'd ever get away with leaving? You know, just... disappearing somewhere?" (Y/n) slowly lifted her gaze from her hands to look at Ben who had taken the seat next to her that Joe had previously been using.

She watched as he rubbed his hand over his chin as he thought about her question. There was a glimmer in his eyes but he was taking the time to think about it so he wasn't stringing her along or playing with her- yet.

"If your brother or sister took the crown, I'd say you could pull it off if you planned it well. Otherwise, you're stuck." It lifted a weight from her chest to know that he thought she could get away with it, or at least he thought she could try her best and almost pull it off. Either way, someone having that little bit of hope for her made her feel better, it didn't matter if he was just telling her what she wanted to hear.

"I wouldn't take the crown." (Y/n) whispered the words quietly to herself but Ben could see she was more convincing herself than him.

"You think if they died you'd really look at your mother and decline the throne? Oh, princess don't delude yourself." His taunting tone was back to his voice as he smiled. The worst thing was she knew he was right. If it came down to it she would either decline the crown and her mother would pressure her into it or she would crumble and accept because of her mother.

She didn't have the courage to stand up to her mother and everyone could see that.

"So you'd have to make sure you left before anyone had the chance to officially ask you." His words surprised her but they made sense, they made her happy. If Anna died the only options she would have were to disappear that very day before anyone officially said would you take the crown or she would have to crumble and accept it. "You really don't want to be here, do you, princess?"

Ben sighed through the words as (Y/n) dipped her head down so she didn't have to see his gaze or look into his eyes.

Little did she know she was compromising him by feeling this way. Louisa wanted the throne, Daniel was desperate for it now and Anna would take it if she got the chance. (Y/n) was the only one who wouldn't want the throne if it was presented to her. But it was clear if she was put under the slightest ounce of pressure she would collapse and the crown would be placed upon her head. So if things went that way, Ben wasn't technically going to be compromised.

Pressing his hand gently under her chin, Ben tilted her head up so she was looking at his wolfish grin which sent shivers up her spine. She had no time to say anything before his lips were on hers.

This was different from last time.

He wasn't kissing her so very gently that she could barely feel the touch and it wasn't gone after only a few seconds. It was more presuming than before, more confident because he had the knowledge that she wasn't going to pull away. His lips moved against hers instead of pulling away to reveal his shark-tooth grin. His hand moved to cup her jaw and run his thumb along the prevalent bone as he continued to steal any ounce of air she held in her lungs.

No one else had kissed her before.

(Y/n) always thought it would be Joe who would kiss her properly but he had only kissed her gentlemanly on the cheek. But now Ben had kissed her she couldn't imagine anyone else even comparing to this feeling.

Maybe Joe wasn't the person she should be dreaming about leaving with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Stop fussing." Ben stated the words quietly but made sure he didn't hiss or sound annoyed. He couldn't help but noticing that (Y/n)'s eyes were drifting down to look at what she was wearing again and again. She wore a navy blue long-sleeved top and some trousers she knew her mother disapproved of.

With Louisa passing away last week her mother was demanding that the rest of them have dinner together as a family- minus their father of course, who was on bed rest which he hadn't left for weeks now. (Y/n)'s mother wouldn't be happy that she was not wearing a dress like her mother kept pestering her to but she hated dresses. Especially the ones her mother put in her wardrobe and kept trying to make her wear on 'special occasions'.

"She'll get mad."

"Fuck it, she'll be worse if you're late." Ben responded as he wrapped his arm around her waist to stop her from turning around to go back upstairs and get changed. If she wanted to be on time they didn't have the time to go back and scan through her wardrobe to see which dress her mother would approve of Besides, he thought she looked nice with what she was wearing, a dress would only make her uncomfortable and that would, in turn, make him feel weird.

(Y/n) nodded silently but she couldn't help how her heart raced at his cursing. She wasn't meant to swear, whenever she had it was only around Joe and even then he made fun of her for it because she couldn't do it in front of her family who would throw a fit.

"I'll be one minute." (Y/n) stated quietly, tugging on Ben's hand to free herself from his comforting yet strong hold so she could head down the corridor on her left to go to the bathroom.

Standing in the main corridor, Ben clasped his hands behind his back as he concentrated on his hearing when voices could faintly be heard. He made sure to stay looking ahead of him down the corridor but he distinctively heard Daniel's voice coming up behind him. The stars seemed to be shining on him again and giving him an opportunity as he heard only one set of heavy feet walking up to him. Meaning his bodyguard must have been somewhere around when he was talking. Short time window but very achievable.

Perfect.

Daniel clearly seemed to know who Ben was because he didn't utter one word to him or even glance at him as he walked past to get to the dining hall down the end of the corridor.

When the second eldest sibling was two steps in front of Ben, he gripped the handle of his knife tucked into his trousers where it always stayed for easy access. He clamped his left hand down on Daniel's shoulder to pull him to a stop and as quick as anything, Ben moved his right hand and dragged the blade across Daniel's neck from left to right.

He didn't have time to mess around.

Ben grinned at the strangled, choking sound that left Daniel's lips as the blood started to flow down and soak into the collar of his crisp white shirt. He held himself up well for just having been slashed with a knife.

"Your life is payment for your father's crimes." Ben spat the words like poison in his ear before giving him a shove to the left, watching him crash into whatever room Ben had just moved him into. The only son grasped at his chest as he looked like a fish out of water, his eyes bulging from their sockets as blood seeped out of his neck and coated his lips.

With a quick breath, Ben quickly but quietly shut the door and stashed the knife back into the waistband of his trousers before speeding down the corridor (Y/n) had gone down.

It had taken less than a minute to get Daniel and Ben could already hear who he presumed was his bodyguard hurrying down the stairs. Ben couldn't be seen in the corridor because he would be implemented in the crime and it would be assumed he was the killer or had at least seen something. He needed to give himself an alibi and what better way than being with the girl he was meant to protect?

(Y/n) jumped in surprise when she turned her head from the sink to the door which Ben just walked through. Locking it behind him which made a flutter of panic bubble in her chest.

Had something happened?

His eyes seemed to shine as he walked over to her slowly, a little too slowly as if she was a prey that he was eyeing up. The moment he was standing in front of her he grabbed her hips and started walking her backwards, picking up a bit more speed. A gasp left her lips when her back hit the crystal white wall next to the sink and Ben's hands moved from her hips to her wrists, holding them at her sides against the wall.

"I won't get through that dinner without doing this first."

His whispered words made absolutely no sense to (Y/n) until he kissed her with a sense of passion and ferocity that she had never seen or felt before. But by God, did she love it.

She felt a groan building up in her chest when he held her wrists tighter and pressed his chest fully against her own, having to lean down due to the height difference between them. His teeth nipped at her lower lip causing her chest to tighten as she opened her eyes that were blown wide to find his emerald orbs already staring at her. His lips curving into a sharp grin at the look on her face that showed she didn't know what to do but also that she didn't want him to stop.

He felt her shaking against him when he kissed and nipped at her neck and he knew he had her.

Her mind was running away from her the same as his was. She wouldn't think for one moment that Ben was the cause of Daniel's death when she found out because she would naturally presume that when Daniel was killed Ben was here seducing her like this. She would also tell her mother and anyone else that he was walking with her to the dining hall, she wouldn't dare breathe a word to anyone that he was kissing and touching her like he was.

He'd given himself the perfect alibi without her even knowing.

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben x reader #imagine #bodyguard #borhap #joe mazzello #joe x reader #unlawful protector

[dragon-kazansky]

The hypnotist - Jervis Tetch x reader

Summary: A year passes in the Asylum, Jerome’s plan is being set up, but in the meantime an old friend comes to join you in the asylum. Jervis isn’t too happy about his more secure cell now, though.

Chapter 12 - Taking control

Your group had become very close over your time in the asylum. Every morning you would greet the boys at the usual table and you would all sit around chatting. Gossiping about the other inmates had become a great pastime for all of you. Jervis and you would be holding hands under the table with smiles on your faces.

Your least favourite thing was when a guard interrupted this time once a week to take you to your next session.

These sessions weren't doing anything to help your mental state. If anything you were falling ever deeper into the rabbit hole. Your doctor had brought up her concerns about your friends being the reason for this, but you didn't see it as a bad thing.

This is who you are now.

As you sat in the office with your legs crossed at the ankles and a stare that couldn't look more bored if it was watching paint dry, you had zoned out from your doctor's babbling. She was only repeating the same things she had since you arrived.

"I think it's time we put things into action." She sighed, seeing you were obviously not interested. She had long since ignored any warnings you had given her during these meetings.

That was the mistake of every staff member in this place. They all thought they were safe. It's as if they all forgot Jerome Valeska was being contained within the building… for now.

"You've said that before."

"And your situation hasn't gotten any better."

"I think it's the best it has ever been." You smiled at her. There was nothing friendly about your grin at all. You could tell she was uncomfortable with the gesture.

"How long have you been here now?" She placed her hands on top of her book and looked you straight in the eye.

"Months. I don't know. I stopped counting."

"Nearly a year."

"Just a year? I can't decide if time is passing too quickly or too slowly." You leaned back as far as you can go in your chair.

"What about the other inmates?"

"What about them?"

"What are your thoughts on them. I would think, if it's friends you are after, you would find better choices among them."

"Please tell me that's a joke. You really should speak to Jerome about being funny. He is far better with jokes than you are." You chuckled, enjoying every moment you could poke and prod at your doctor.

As for her statement, she must be joking. Most of the other inmates either talked to the voices in their heads, their invisible pals or didn't know the meaning of personal space. You really didn't want to be associated with any of them.

Jervis, Jerome and Jonathan were your boys! You're happy spending every moment you can with them.

"The staff are concerned about your group.”

“Why? It’s not like we have done anything outrageous.” You continued to grin.

“That’s exactly the concern. The guards are worried you’re planning something. You sit at your table and whisper among yourselves, supposedly watching the staff go about their day. I’m sure you can see why you’re making people uncomfortable.” She raised a single brow in your direction.

“Everyone is just anxious. I can see why. This is an asylum! We’re unpredictable.” 

If your doctor wasn’t uncomfortable before, she was now.

She sighed, thus ending your session. As usual she got nowhere with you. You left the room with a smile on you face knowing things weren't going to change.

They wouldn't dare.

As you walked down the hall to return to your dear friends, you could only smile as other inmates, and even some of the guards, tried their hardest to move out of the way. The look of fear on their faces was as clear as day. Everyone was concerned you were going to do something, and as fun as that would be, you told Jerome you wouldn't bring too much attention to yourself outside of this.

The time was coming when the plan would be into action. Arkham didn't know what it had coming.

All in due time.

When you entered the dining hall, both Jerome and Jonathan had gone. Jerome was teasing one of the inmates, one who often talked to the voices in his head, and you could tell he was enjoying himself far too much.

As amused as you were by his antics, you did want to know where the rest of the party had gone. You walked over to Jerome and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah! You're back! Good. Want to join in?" He gave a great big grin as he chuckled at the poor man in front of him. The man was cowering and hoping the ginger would just leave him alone.

"Maybe layer, where is Jervis and Jonathan?"

It seemed like almost every time you left for a session Jervis would be taken away before you returned. Sometimes it was just for his session which bounced around different days of the week, but sometimes he was being confined to his cell.

"Oh yeah. Bad news there, doll." Jerome left the inmate alone and sat down with you. His attention was now fully on you.

"What bad news?" You furrowed your brow.

"His cell has been made more secure."

"Why? What did he do?"

"You know he's a brilliant hypnotist, right?"

"Well duh! That's how I met him." You leaned forwards, but not because you wanted this conversation to be secret, more because you wanted to know what had happened. "What happened? What did he do?"

"He gets bored without you. Thought it would be interesting to play with minds while he waits. Pretty good at it! I'm impressed." Jerome clapped his glove covered hands.

"How? Doesn't he need his watch to do that?"

Jerome gave a long strong of chuckles as he swivels around his chair, gazing up at the wall.

Sitting on it's own on the bland wall is an equally bland clock. The seconds hand was ticking away. You would probably have to strain your hearing to actually pick up on the sound, but it was there.

"Clever." You couldn't help the smile that appeared on your face.

"Yeah, so rather than taking down the clock they locked him up in his cell. Now this is a really funny bit, the guards are now required to wear headphones when approaching him. They're all watching him like a hawk. Jervis has really worked up the attention on him." Jerome burst out laughing.

"Wait, so what does that mean for the plan? Surely they wouldn't just forget about all of that and let him come back in here!" You now looked worried.

Jerome's smile didn't leave his face as he looked at you.

"Don't worry about it. You probably won't see Tetch in here again for a while, but I have everything under control. The plan is priority number one." He gave another long strong of chuckles.

"Great." You said, not all that enthusiastically "What about Jonathan?"

"He didn't day where he was going, just up and left. Said something about having an idea." Jerome shrugged.

"OK… Guess we'll find out later."

You were missing Jervis already. Every time he was taken out of the room you felt that little more lonely. A part of you felt silly for feeling this way, but the other part just made you realise all the more how important he is to you.

You just hoped he was okay.

It was starting to feel like even Arkham didn't want you to be together. You couldn't wait to get out of this place.

The day seemed to pass by slowly. You didn't see Jonathan until dinner time.

You were in deep conversation with Jerome, mid meal, when the teen came in. He didn't even bother getting food as he made straight for the table. He slid into the seat next to you considering it was available. Jervis was still in his cell, so that meant you were sitting alone.

"Jonathan! Where did you go? I haven't seen  you all day." You were glad he wasn't in trouble or anything. You had feared after a couple of hours something had happened to him.

"I was getting a few things. I'm fine." He gave a small smile and plucked the apple off your try. You didn't complain, he should eat something.

"You ran off on me." Jerome gave a pout. "Right in the middle of our conversation."

"Well, it suddenly came to me. You said I would be useful, but I couldn't see how, unless you wanted to use me for the toxin…" Jonathan lowered his voice so the guards nearby couldn't hear him.

"Your fear toxin?" You glanced between the boys. "Oh. I see! Jervis and Jonathan are of most use to you in this escape plan." You smiled at him.

"You'll be useful too." Jerome winked. "I hear you have your own set of skills."

"Well, nothing compared to Tetch and Crane."

"You're still coming with us." Jonathan looked at you.

"Course she is!" Jerome exclaimed, louder than you liked.

"Good, I'll riot if you kick me out now." You chuckled, giving a sly smirk in his direction. You would have no issues causing problems for them if he dropped you out now.

Jerome knew that too.

Having had enough of your meal, you pushed your tray towards Jonathan to finish off, not wanting him to go hungry later. He wouldn't have a chance to eat again until morning, unless Jerome could sneak him out to the kitchen, but Jervis had pulled enough attention to your group already: boredom or not.

Once dinner was over you were all escorted back to your cells promptly.

The one thing that bothered most about being in Arkham was not knowing what was going on outside in the city. You hadn't heard anything at all about Penguin or Gordon, though you had no doubt Jim was still playing the role of Gotham's white knight.

Your cell wasn't even close Jerome's. The further apart you were from your dear friends, the better the guards felt. This meant you wouldn't find out about what happened until breakfast.

Oh boy, did Jerome have a fun evening.

You knew instantly something had happened by the look on his face as he approached the table. Jonathan and yourself shared a look as the ginger sat down across from you.

Jervis was once again confined to his cell.

"What happened?"

Jerome burst out in a fit of giggles, unable to contain his excitement. The longer he laughed, the more you wanted to know what was so funny.

"What? What happened?" You urged again, hoping he will come down from his fit of laughter to explain.

"Guess who joined us late last night." Jerome's grin was huge.

"Who?"

"Your old pal Cobblepot!" Jerome burst out laughing again.

"Penguin is here?" You couldn't contain your own laughter.

Oswald was a twisted individual and after all the time you spent with him, trying to get Jervis back, you could tell Arkham was in his future somewhere down the line. Again. He had been here before.

"Oh I hope they welcomed him with open arms. I'm sure he missed this place." You chuckled.

Jonathan wasn't sure why it was funny, but he was entertained that the pair of you were having a good time.

"Oh, I can't wait to see him!" You bit your lip trying to calm your giggles down.

You didn't have to wait long. Within moments of Jerome telling you he had arrived Oswald entered the room. He looked rather anxious and uncomfortable. You have no idea what he had been up to since you last saw him, but from the expression on his face you knew you had missed out on quite a lot.

You didn't pity him, however.

Oswald Cobblepot was the kind of person who would stab you in the back once you have served your purpose, holding very little regard for his end of the deal.

It brought you great joy to see him shuffle into the room.

Penguin didn't notice you right away. He looked grumpy and annoyed. He turned his head sharply to glare at the guard behind him before having no choice but to waddle to one of the tables.

His eyes landed on you as he passed.

For a moment you could have sworn he was relieved by your presence, as if he regarded you a friend on this dark miserable place, but that expression melted away almost instantly when he saw who you were sat with. Your smile did nothing to sooth him in this situation.

"Glad you could join us!" Jerome beamed at him.

Penguin didn't say enough, but his breathing was loud and quick. He clearly had no patience for his new friend.

"Jerome told me you came in last night. What have I missed?" Your smile was also enough to irk him, but he still refused to comment on his agitation.

"A few things. I take it you're happy?" He gave a fake grin before going back to pouting.

"For the most part."

"I don't see your boyfriend." He huffed, still attempting to act like he wasn't bothered by his situation.

"He's preoccupied. Why don't you sit with us?" You gestured to the empty seat beside Jerome.

Penguin glanced between the three of you, but only looked at Jerome once, not wanting anything to do with him. You already knew how he regarded Jerome, so kind of wanted to see what would happen if they sat together.

Though you knew he wouldn't.

"No thank you." He began to shuffle past the table and sit in the corner where Jonathan sat before you approached him.

Jerome and yourself burst into a fit of giggles that didn't go unnoticed by Oswald.

His life was spiralling downwards.

You gave it a few moments before you decided to go over and talk to him. You told the boys to stay seated at the table while you talked to Penguin. You didn't need his mood to get worse…. Than this.

"What did you do to end up here? I figured once would be enough." You gave him a sly smirk which he chose not to comment on. He was already less than pleased you had come over to talk to him. He had hoped you would all just leave him alone.

Jerome was more than enough upon his arrival.

"A misunderstanding."

You could tell by his voice that he wanted you to to leave him alone, but you weren't about to give him the satisfaction.

"Details."

"I don't think it's any of your concern." Oswald glared lightly in your direction. "How are things for you? It's been around a year, hasn't it?"

Caught a little off guard by his quick change of topic, you took a moment to consider if you humour him or not. You decided you would.

"Yeah, so they tell me. You sort of lose sense of time here though. You should know all about that though." You smiled brightly at him. Now he was caught off guard.

"Yes well, don't intend on being here for much longer."

"You just got here." You crossed your arms and arched a brow at him.

"So? I have help on the outside. Who do you have?" He hissed through his teeth, trying to show as if he had the upper hand in this situation, but he soon grew confused as you began to laugh. It was loud.

Jerome, not able to help himself, laughed from across the room.

Oswald didn't pay him any mind as he stared at you.

"I'm glad you find this funny."

"Oh please! I don't need help from the outside when I have help from the inside." You hit the table once as your laughter continued. 

"You're crazy!"

"Well duh! Why else would I be in here otherwise?" Your laughter died down to a small fit of giggles. You wiped an invisible tear from your eye. "I'm so glad I got to see you again. Arkham will sure be a lot more fun with you here."

"Whatever. Just keep your friend away from me!"

You stood up.

"No promises!" You walked away smiling. Penguin watched you return to your table. He glared harshly and then turned his gaze away. He was so done with everything that had happened to him up until this point.

He couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine as you and Jerome began to laugh again.

You were having far too much fun here.

Over the next three weeks you had left Penguin pretty much alone. He seemed grateful for that fact, but you had seen him several times sitting on his own sulking on the corner. He was really bringing down the mood.

During Oswald's fourth week since coming here, Jervis had been let out of his cell in a total of three occasions.

You had welcomed him with a huge hug and kiss each time, ignoring every glance and scolding you received for being so affectionate to each other. Jervis didn't care about any of them as long as you were in his arms again.

The four of you were a team again and the secret of escaping remained amongst you four.

Jerome had even chosen a night.

First he wanted to spend some time with dear Oswald. He felt it would be a real waste of you all left now without giving the poor guy a chance to join in on the fun. However, he didn't do it himself. Jerome kept sending other inmates over to bother Penguin, who would then lash out and shuffle off in a mood.

You were pretty sure he knew Jerome was behind the teasing, but he never came over to ask him to stop.

The next two weeks passed just like that.

You relished every moment you got to spend with Jervis while still inside. The staff trusted him less and less. Apparently his cell was more than secure enough, the staff taking every precaution should he try to hypnotise them.

It was honestly quite funny to you.

Once the sixth week of Oswald's stay, Jerome was becoming quite bored. 

It had been a few weeks since anyone in the group had done any sneaking around and got up to mischief at night. The staff had long since turned a blind eye to any other behaviour, considering at night Jervis and Jonathan were locked up tight in their cells.

Jerome came up with a plan.

You agreed one hundred percent to help.

It was earlier in the day you approached Penguin after weeks of leaving him alone. That didn’t mean he was any more pleased to you. Oswald had known you were good friends with Jerome, though he couldn’t understand why. Jerome was chaos!

Oswald was having his lunch when you slid into the seat opposite him.

“Hey!” You smiled brightly at him.

“Go away!” He muttered, solemnly.

“No. You’ve been moping about for weeks! It’s time to turn that frown upside down.” You reached out and pulled at the corners of his lips, making him smile.

Oswald swatted your hands away.

“Get off of me.” He glared at you. You had become immune to that gaze, he sent it you far too often to be effective any more.

“I mean it. You’re really beginning to bum me out.” You put your chin in your hand and rested your elbow on the table. You gave a pout. “You’re really no fun.”

“Fun?” He scoffed. “You think this place is supposed to be fun? It’s an asylum. You’re here because you’re crazy.”

“Yeah? There really isn’t a rule saying we can’t have fun though.” You placed both hands on the table and smiled at him. “Come on, we only want to be your friend.”

“I don’t want to be associated with you. I have suffered enough these past few months. Both my mother and my father were taken from me, I lost a dear friend of mine and Ed is trapped inside his own mind. I really don’t want to be friends with you, or Valeska.”

“Yeah, see, this is what I mean. You’re really bringing the energy down in here.” You sat back in your seat and sighed softly.

Oswald turned his gaze to his tray and poked at his food, but that didn’t last long as something landed on the table beside his hand that caught his eye. He put his fork down and placed a finger over the small card, wondering why it was there.

It was a joker card from a deck of cards.

You smiled.

Both Oswald and yourself glanced up behind you where Jerome had been standing with his hands behind his back, listening. He smiled at you as you turned to face him and came over, sitting down beside you.

“She has a point!.”

Oswald was still unimpressed with the pair of you being at his table.

“You know, I’ve always been a fan. When you got locked up in this loony bin, I expected great things. A murder or two, maybe a prison break?” Jerome sighed. You just listened, though you did agree with him. You thought Penguin would snap somewhere down the line and do something drastic.

You chuckled beside Jerome who glanced at you.

“But all you’ve done is mope for the last six weeks.” Jerome said, unimpressed.

Penguin attempted to stand and leave, but the inmate behind him pushed him back down in his seat. You looked up briefly at him. He was one of the ones who admired Jerome in this place. It seemed while you spent most of your time spooking everyone away, Jerome had collected his own little group of followers within the walls of Arkham.

Kudos to him.

“You must know I cannot escape.”

“Why?” You asked. You knew he could if he wanted to.

“None of your business.”

You chuckled, Jerome grinned.

The inmate, who hadn’t removed his hands from Oswald’s shoulders pressed down hard.

“Because Sofia Falcone is holding someone important to me captive and if I escape, she will kill him.”

Jerome yawned into his hand and you sat back rolling your eyes.

“Wow. What a boring story.” You groaned.

“If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s someone boring.” Jerome added. “The last person who bored me was Dietrich.” Jerome turned to look behind him, you glanced over at the inmate too. “I had to sneak into his shock therapy session and goose the juice. Now he pees himself ten times a day and sometimes, uh… Poos himself.” Jerome leaned in to tell Oswald that last part.

You tried not to snicker to loudly.

“Well, that’s very sad.” Oswald said, not emotion what-so-ever radiating from him.

Jerome sighed heavily. This really wasn’t what he wanted from Oswald. He shared a glance with you and then gazed down at the tray in front of Penguin. He held up a tiny spork that had been sitting near it and pointed it up at Oswald.

“I’m gonna cure you of this attitude, Oswald. Y/N will help too.” He dug the spork into Oswald’s pudding pot and took a bite. “I’m gonna find that entertaining guy I know is inside of you. And when I do, ooh,” Jerome stood up, “we are gonna have so much fun together.” He began to walk away.

The inmate let go of Oswald and left.

You stood up and looked down at him.

“It was nice chatting with you Oswald.” You gave him a smile and turned around, leaving him to sit alone once more.

You joined Jerome across the room, who had now finished the pudding pot.

“I think that went well.” You gave him a toothy grin.

Jerome chuckled and nodded. “I think so too.”

Oswald didn’t see either of you until later that night when he was, simply put, kidnapped from his cell. He was brought, head covered so he couldn’t see, to the dining hall once again. He didn’t take the bag off until the inmates who brought him here had let go off him. He stood on the table in confusion and shock.

You and Jerome were sitting together, with several inmates around the table, looking up at him with amused looks on your faces.

“Now what do you want?” He asked, panting in fear.

“I told you, Pengy. I’m gonna cure you of this sad sack mopey act. And the best cure is the laughing cure.” He looked at the inmate around you and him, you chuckled beside him. Jerome gave you a nudge with his elbow as he chuckled too.

“Make him laugh.” You looked Oswald straight in the eye.

“Make him laugh! Make him laugh!” The inmates began to chant.

“So, what will you be performing? Uh, contortionism, juggling act, a tight five?” Jerome began to list things off. “Oh. What’s that?” He held a finger up to his ear and then turned to you.

“I think he said he wanted to do a clown dance.” You chuckled.

The inmates gave a cheer.

“Wonderful!” Jerome sat back in his seat with a bucket of popcorn, which he shared with you, and waited for the act to begin.

The inmate to your right was holding up a specially made outfit just for Penguin. Along with a few others, they approached Oswald and dressed him against his will.

The result was hilarious!

A comically huge red bow tie with polka dots, fluffy pom poms lined down the front like buttons and a frilly skirt around the waist, with frilly sleeves. 

“In your own time.” Jerome looked at him.

“You have no idea how I’ve suffered.” Oswald’s voice cracked. You refrained from rolling your eyes. “The betrayals I’ve endured.” He almost sounded like he was going to cry. “Just leave me alone.” He whimpered, looking down.

“Cut!”

Jerome put down the popcorn as you stood up and met Oswald up on the table.

“Oswald, Oswald, Oswald.” You sighed. “You are trapped in a prison in here.” You poked his head. “And Jerome is offering you the key. So…” You stepped down off the table and backed away slowly back to your seat. You gave a wave of your hand and said, “Dance!”

Just like that the inmates surrounding the table lifted their broom sticks and began to poke and prod at Oswald, making him squirm on the table. 

“Now we’re talking. I can feel the funny coming. Here it comes. Again!” Jerome was watching him dance, not yet laughing.

Oswald let out a scream and darted for Jerome, who smiled at him with his arms open. Penguin was promptly knocked over by two inmates with their brooms, making him fall to the floor.

You got up and joined Jerome as you stood over him.

“Fred Astaire you are not.” Jerome frowned down at him. He then swiftly kicked him. “I’ll try again tomorrow.” Jerome walked away with you following, leaving him to the rest of the inmates.

“What a let down.” You muttered.

“We have time.” Jerome grinned at you.

At least the pair of you knew how to keep yourselves entertained while your friends couldn't join you. Oswald sure had a lot more to look forward to.

The pair of you returned to your cells for the night.

It came as no surprise to you, from watching and listening intently, that Oswald received a visit the next day. You were slightly surprised to see it was Ed considering last time you sat them together, they were not exactly on friendly terms.

You figured if Oswald was going to escape, without the four of you, he would use Ed to his advantage. He was his outside man after all.

As promised, you and Jerome gathered, with Jerome’s little group of followers, in the dining hall again to attempt to break Oswald free.

As the night before, you were sitting and waiting. Jerome was standing.

Oswald was brought in with a bag over his head, like last time, but this time he was being a lot quieter about it. He was guided up onto one of the tables, which Jerome joined him on. Though something felt different this time.

“All right, Oswald, old buddy, old pal.” Jerome had made a noose which he placed around Oswald’s head. “Tonight, we’re gonna cure you. Make me laugh or else. Let’s call this the sudden death round.”

Jerome gave a little chuckle, but then started to sniff ‘Oswald’ as something caught his attention. He pulled the bag off of his head to find Dietrich instead. The poor man began to pee himself and Jerome jumped down from the table.

Oswald rushed past you with a cable in his hand and dropped it into the puddle just as Jerome had jumped down.

Dietrich collapsed, having not been moved from the table.

Jerome turned around and looked at Oswald, unimpressed.

“Okay, that was clever-ish.” Jerome dropped the bag he had still been holding as Oswald darted to the tale to pick up the plastic spork that had been sitting there. Penguin held it out at Jerome.

“Yeah, that’s a spoon.” You said from beside Oswald.

“It is also a fork!” He tried to argue.

“Looks like you got some fight in you still.” Jerome sighed, fiddling with his braces. “But it’s just too little, too late, too… boring. Lobotomise the little bird.” Jerome sighed again, he was no longer entertained by this little man.

“Wait, wait!” Oswald held his hands out to stop everyone from moving and catch Jerome’s attention again. You watched him with confusion wondering what he was going to do now. “You said this prison was all in my mind. Maybe I’m in a prison right now.”

Jerome turned back around to gave him once again/ You shuffled past Oswald to stand next to Jerome.

“A prison where you can’t get to me.” Oswald smiled.

Before you could even think about asking where this was going, Oswald held up his hands and moved them around as if there was a wall blocking him from moving forwards. He looked confused as he surveyed the invisible barrier.

The crowd began to chuckle and you smiled, now you were impressed. He was playing along with what Jerome clearly wanted and it was most definitely entertaining.

Jerome neared him with a smile.

Oswald moved to the side using the ‘wall’ for guidance where he found ‘a window.’ He clutched the bars and gave Jerome a wave.

Jerome chuckled and opened his hand to you. Beside you was a small handcrafted spear you had put together on a last minute basis earlier in the evening. Jerome said it might come in useful.

You handed it over to him and watched as he pointed it at Oswald and went to thrust it towards him, only to be stopped by the imaginary wall.

You chuckled behind him.

He wore a confused face as he went to do it again, then he held the spear up and hit the ‘wall’ with it, making a clunking sound with his voice. He did that a couple more times, really getting into the show.

Oswald pointed to the side, showing Jerome the way to get into his little cell.

Jerome understood and moved to the side. Oswald opened up the door and urged Jerome inside.

You giggled. This was amusing.

Jerome moved to head inside the cell, but bumped his head. The door was too small. He crouched down and moved closer to Oswald who looked pleased with this. As Jerome pretended to look around, Oswald grabbed him by the shoulder and used his knee to hit Jerome in the face, knocking him down.

You gasped along with the rest of the crowd.

Oswald pretending to shut the door and then lost his temper as he began to punch and kick Jerome. He laughed maniacally as he bent over Jerome.

“Try laughing now you ginger sap!” Oswald laughed some more and held his hand up as if he had won something.

Jerome began to laugh hysterically as you clapped enthusiastically.

If only Jervis was here to see this with you.

Oswald looked shocked as Jerome sat up.

“See? I told you I’d cure you.”

“Don’t flatter yourself!” Oswald yelled back.

“One more.” Jerome urged.

Oswald hit him again.

Jerome continued to laugh like a maniac.

Oswald, now officially finished with this charade, walked away. You helped Jerome to his feet and took him off to clean up a bit. Neither one of you were quite done with Oswald just yet, however.

You escorted Jerome to Oswald’s cell along with a guard, who was more than willing to follow Jerome’s requests.

Arkham truly was wrapped around his little finger.

Oswald got to his feet when you both entered the cell.

“Relax, buddy.” Jerome waved his hand dismissively at him.

You gave Oswald a little wave.

“You gave me what I needed.” Jerome told him. “The laugh of the century.” Jerome lay down on Oswald’s bed, leaving you enough room to sit down on the end of it.

“Tell me something.” Oswald began. “You appear to have everyone here under your thumb. The guards, the inmates-”

“What can i say? I’m a charismatic guy.” Jerome grinned.

You chuckled.

“You could escape anytime. Why stay?” Oswald asked.

“Why indeed?” Jerome glanced at you and you gave him a sly grin. Oswald saw it but didn’t understand the silent conversation that had taken place.

“You’re planning something?” Oswald smiled.

“Bingo!” You cheered.

“Something spectacular.” Jerome held up his hands to give the word more meaning. “See, I’m in this funny farm ‘cause I need to find the creme de la crazy. Which is why I need you.” Jerome sat up.

You all started to laugh.

“Ah, you get it. But when we’re done, the world out there, that’ll be the asylum. What do you say?”

Oswald looked slightly horrified.

You looked at him intently.

“Thank you for your kind offer.” Oswald sat down at his desk. “I don’t expect to be here very long.”

You knew it. He was going to get help from the outside.

You stood up and placed your hands on his shoulders, making him very uncomfortable as you leaned down to speak.

“You’ll come around. They always do.” You chuckled in his ear.

Jerome gave a cackle behind you and you both left Penguin alone.

When the door closed behind you both he turned to you with a grin.

“Now, considering I have pretty much everyone bending to my will, let’s go get your boyfriend out of his cell.” He chuckled.

You gave him a great big grin and walked with him towards Jervis’ block. You couldn’t wait to tell him about all the fun you have been having.

Tags:

@mistressoftorture @fandombeehive @awyr @queenofmonstersanddemons@they-shot-me-with-a-knife @shokihomin​

#jervis tetch x reader #Jervis Tetch #Gotham #the hypnotist #chapter 12

[primrooks]

Wands of a Feather: An Elena of Avalor/Sofia the First Crossover

Mateo attends the second Conjurer's Conference on Turtlejade Isle, and encounters a different side of magic that he's never had to face in Avalor. What was to be a fun and educational weekend turns into a social obstacle course, and things only get more complicated when he runs into Cedric, the Enchancian Royal Sorcerer who also isn't keen about Mateo's appearance. *Just to start off, this takes place a month after "Realm of the Jaquins" and a month and a half after "Forever Royal!" AO3 link here!  Chapter 1: Turtlejade Isle The late morning sun was still lazily climbing upwards when the passenger liner drifted close to the docks at Turtlejade Isle, along the western coastline of the archipelago resort. From the bow of the ship Mateo could see the resort town built into the lovely summer-green hillside, leading up to a stately-looking villa of blue and white brick. He had read that it was once a summer castle to some past Zumarian queen, long used as a tourist trap before Zumaria granted permission for it to host the second annual Conjurers’ Conference. His chest swelled in excitement, especially as the first mate and other crew members of El Loto called for passengers to gather their belongings and wait with their tickets ready. It had been a week since anyone on the ship had stepped onto dry land, and sea legs or no, Mateo couldn’t wait to get a running start. Solid ground meant the first meal in a week that wasn’t bacon, beans and briny rice. Even though his mother and Elena had insisted he leverage his position as Royal Wizard for a more luxurious ride, Mateo didn’t feel the need to sink his money into extra amenities. Besides, he wanted more of his spending to go into new books, journals, potion ingredients, souvenirs.. and potentially an extra suitcase. The conference wasn’t a vacation, not really; it was a chance for him to meet other mages and study magic from foreign lands, something he’d dreamt about for so long in all those years of secret studying. Merlin was said to be a returning guest this year, and Mateo would drift to sleep in his cabin while running through all the questions he’d ask the legendary wizard. Even now, he could barely hold down his smile when he stepped back onto the deck after retrieving his luggage, looking hungrily at the new horizons that hillside estate promised. “Hold.”

Mateo had barely stepped off the gangplank with his boarding group when a man in a black-and-white soldier’s uniform signaled him to stop. “Is something the matter?” Mateo asked, impatience straining his voice. The guard simply directed him to a customs office, as others in similar uniforms were doing to the other passengers. Mateo’s brow unfurrowed instantly. “Oh, oh, yes! Thank you!” He nodded at the guard before rushing off to the office lobby, where thankfully a new line opened up just as he stepped in. The tall, bespectacled arrivals clerk asked for Mateo’s travel papers, which included a signed visa and verification of his title under Elena’s name and royal seal. The clerk shuffled through his papers, shooting occasional glances at Mateo before stamping them and handing them back. “Conference attendees must head to the designated checkpoint in town; red and purple tent by the Rosegrove Inn,” she said drily. Not wanting to hold up the new line, Mateo muttered thanks before sidestepping around tourists to reach what looked like the town’s central plaza. He asked a middle-aged flower seller for directions and hurried up along a northern street branching out of the market square. Next to a green-roofed inn was the telltale tent, big enough to hold three at a time, and stationed in the middle of a horseshoe-shaped cul-de-sac. Circling the perimeter in front of the tent was a sizable queue of mages in hats and robes of all cuts and sizes, the sight of which gave him pause. There had to be at least 20 people ahead of him, and- “Gyurrrurggh…” According to his stomach, lunch was suddenly a priority. Mateo bit down a groan and rifled through his satchel after taking his place in line. The only edible thing he had in hand was half a biscuit saved about three dinners ago, and before he pulled that out he’d mistaken it for a paperweight. He replaced it in defeat, and his eyes (and nose) happened upon the various food stalls set up around the tent. Before he could distract himself further, an impatient voice from the head of the line shouted, “Next! Come along, let’s keep the line moving!” Another man in soldier’s garb and a sorceress with grey-streaked brown hair were directing the conference attendees, checking their papers before leading them into the tent, where two other wizards stood waiting for whoever was next. The tent flaps closed before Mateo could see just what they were doing inside. This felt rather extraneous; if the rest of the visiting attendees had crossed through the arrivals office, all they really should have to do was make sure their registration was valid. Why the secrecy and extra muscle? “Whoops, watch your head, sonny!” A sudden gust of wind ruffled his hair, and Mateo looked up to where the draft (and the voice) had come from. Perched atop a flying broom was an older woman in Enchancian witch’s garb, a tacky patchwork dress topped with an equally colorful pointed hat. A shrill whistle pierced from the front of the line, and everyone turned to see the brunette sorceress blowing a thin silver whistle hanging from her neck. “No flying below roof-level!” she cried. Unfazed, the witch coyly drifted down like a feather upon a light breeze, smirking even as a guardsman approached her with a stoic warning. “They really do fly on brooms,” Mateo uttered to himself in awe. Suddenly, quiet giggles rippled around him, sending a sharp chill up his neck. When he glanced up, everyone in line was pointedly looking elsewhere, though a few of them were daintily covering their mouths with their hands. The chill blossomed into heat under his cheeks, and he planted his sight to the ground, praying that the line would move faster already. It didn’t help that his stomach was still complaining with all its squelching, and the mix of spicy, sweet and savory aromas from all of the bakeries and vendors around the inn was almost mocking, with the hawkers calling all passerby to sample foods that Mateo had never heard of but sounded exquisite. The line ahead was moving at a snail’s pace, and the more his stomach growled, the longer the seconds dragged on. He tapped the sorcerer ahead of him on the shoulder, and at the briefest of head-turns pleaded, “Pardon me, but could you watch over my things? It’ll be just a minute, thanks!” He didn’t even stay for the other man to respond as he set down his suitcase and dashed to find the food stall with the shortest line. The area around the inn was fairly crowded, with onlookers gawking at either storefronts or the eclectic gathering of wizards, but their attention seemed evenly split amongst the street vendors. Mateo found one that was selling corn grilled to a crispy brown and gold, gleaming with a buttery glaze. He figured it would hold him until lunch, maybe at an inn or a local restaurant. He ought to treat himself for his first solo journey overseas. Cheap as the ear was, it tasted as good as it looked, warming Mateo’s belly like frost over fire. He took another bite as he left the stall, wondering lazily if the line had moved. His suitcase was there, until it wasn’t. Mateo blinked, but it wasn’t a trick of the light. There just.. wasn’t a bag where there should have been. And there absolutely should have been, if he wanted to have something to wear for the next three days. He frantically scoped through the line and the rest of the street, trying to spot anyone holding a brown leather suitcase or hiding it in their person. People’s faces blurred as his eyes scanned their hands like a starved hawk. That bag’s too big- That one.. no, the bag didn’t have a blue ribbon- No- No- NO- -WAIT. He’d nearly missed him: blending seamlessly into the crowd was a blonde man in a navy cloak, stepping up to the front porch of the Rosegrove Inn. His face was as neutral as could be, holding a suitcase inscribed with a sloth emblem as if it was his own. Without a second to spare, Mateo replaced his snack with his tamborita with ingrained precision. He was ready to clap his drum wand, the right spell ready at his tongue- “Retracia!” A beam of sparkling purple energy shot the thief from Mateo’s left, and the man stood frozen at the inn door, dazed as if he’d hit his head. The spell had taken Mateo by surprise as well, and he watched with mouth slightly agape as the thief started to take steps backwards. He walked in a perfect recreation of him sneaking over to the Rosegrove, only in reverse. When he approached the spot where Mateo had stood in line, the man gently placed the suitcase down, and only then did his dazed look wear off. “What the-?” Mateo wondered out loud, running up with his tamborita still in hand. A guardsman had already beaten him to the spot, dragging the thief away after exchanging some words with the sorcerer that Mateo had asked to watch his stuff. He must’ve been the one who shot the retracing spell, and only now did Mateo get a good look at his face. This other sorcerer looked to be at least twenty years older than himself, maybe older judging by his greyed bangs, the frown lines drawn from his long, beak-like nose and the bags under his eyes. And beneath his billowing, bell-sleeved aubergine robes, Mateo could tell that he was rather gangly as well. With the precision required for that kind of spell to work, he wondered if this man might be a high-ranking practitioner. Maybe he was in service to a duke or a king? “Ah, there you are,” the sorcerer spoke with a slightly reedy voice. “Your luggage, safe and sound,” he added with a theatrical wave of his gloved hand. Mateo gave a small smile, relieved that the man didn’t look too inconvenienced. “Thank you so much.” He bent down to make sure nothing was out of place. Thankfully, all of his clothes, toiletries and books were accounted for. “Hm. Is that your wand?” Mateo looked up to see the sorcerer peering curiously down at his tamborita. “Y-yes.” He cleared his throat and stood to his full height. “It’s a drum wand traditionally used by the wizards in Avalor, called a tamborita,” Mateo explained, showing off just a little by twirling the tamborita in his hand. The man’s eyebrows shot up. “A wizard from Avalor? Why, I haven’t heard such a thing in decades,” the man remarked. “Well, you happen to be looking at the first Royal Wizard of Avalor in over forty years. Mateo de Alva, court wizard in service to Her Highness Crown Princess Elena of Avalor,” said Mateo with a waist-low bow. He could hardly tamper the giddiness fluttering in his stomach. He’d been practicing his formal introduction for days in front of the mirror in his cabin, and here he was, an ocean away from Avalor but representing his home and title with the grace of a true professional. The sorcerer stood wide-eyed and speechless. Wow, Mateo didn’t think his introduction would be that good. “Mateo? As in, the Mateo who helped Princess Sofia free Princess Elena from the Amulet?” he asked in disbelief. “Uh, well, yes,” Mateo answered. “But... But you’re so young! I mean, beg your pardon, the princess did tell me that you were the last Royal Wizard’s grandson, but I didn’t think that you’d still be a teenager!” The man was looking at him like he was a two-headed jaquin, and Mateo could feel the other mages in line looking over at their direction. He could feel heat creeping up his spine again. He cleared his throat once more, and recalled the way Elena would stand and address nobles at her court. He couldn’t be flustered, especially when he was alone and out in the open like this. “So you know Princess Sofia? And the Amulet?” Mateo added in a lower voice. “I make it my business to know about what magical items go through the halls of the palace, for I am Cedric the Sensational, - also referred to as Cedric the Great - Royal Sorcerer to His Majesty King Roland II of Enchancia,” the man declared with great aplomb. The Enchancian royal sorcerer? Well, now it made more sense how Sofia would know him, but why did Cedric’s name still ring such a concerning bell? “Er, well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Cedric. And thank you again for stopping that thief,” said Mateo. Cedric smiled proudly, oblivious to Mateo’s hesitant tone. “Not at all, my boy. You entrusted me to look after your place in line, after all.” “Speakin’ of which, would you two kindly move along now?! You’ve been holdin’ us up fer almost a minute!” shouted a red-cheeked sorceress behind Mateo, and both he and Cedric realized to their chagrin that a four-foot long gap had grown between Cedric and the end of the line. “Sorry, very sorry!” shouted Cedric. He was next to enter the tent, which turned out to be a luggage checkpoint, where one wizard magically combed through bags for any suspicious items or contraband. When it was Mateo’s turn in the tent, the second wizard waved his wand over his body, checking for any invisible charms. With one last flick of the wrist, he imprinted an instantly-fading oval stamp on Mateo’s left hand. “That’s just to show that you passed check-in,” the wizard droned. “It looks faded, but it’ll stay on for the rest of your visit here.” Mateo was swiftly directed to his own lodgings, a villa called the High Tide that came highly recommended from Naomi. It was only about a fifteen-minute walk from the conference site, reasonably priced, and featured one gorgeous view of the beach. The furnishings in his room were simple enough, with blue and yellow cushions to give the space some color, and a small bulb-shaped paraffin lamp at the reading desk stuck out as the room’s most charming feature, at least to a night owl like Mateo. I should get started on some letters after lunch, he thought. First was obviously to his mother, then Elena, and then Olivia. He recalled how excited his apprentice was when he told her that he’d be attending the Conjurer’s Conference this year, how she couldn’t believe he’d get to spend a whole weekend surrounded by nothing but magic. She was a bit upset that this meant no magic lessons for about two weeks, but he promised that he’d make it up to her. They could go over new tomes that Mateo found at the conference, see what made certain magical items tick, maybe test out a magic broom for themselves. Olivia’s unbridled joy at that suggestion was simply infectious, and it suddenly struck him how a week had already passed since he’d last seen her. Mateo stood by the window looking out to the beach, the sea a glittering, serene surface under the noon sun. This was the same view he left back in Avalor, where so much could’ve happened while he was traveling. Elena had promised him that she’d protect the kingdom and would send for him the moment he was needed, but that she wanted him to have fun and explore his passion for magic. He’d told her that he would, but he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t worry. Even after almost getting his suitcase swiped from under his nose, Mateo was more worried about what he’d left behind than himself. As soon as the thought struck him, he peered out the window again, the radiant vista pulling him from the dark clouds his head had stumbled into. He stretched his arms, realizing how eager his legs felt to be walking on cobblestones and grass rather than wood planks. Now was as good a time as any to report back to his family and friends, to tell them how excited he was, rather than mull over it in a corner. Besides, his weekend was only going to get busier from now on, and he’d spent the better part of his boat ride carefully plotting out his itinerary. He planned to arrive at the conference tomorrow morning around 9 AM, attend a few showcases before lunch, and spend the rest of the day exploring stalls and bargain carts. More than likely, he was the only Avaloran mage in attendance (he doubted that any malvagos would’ve cleared the checkpoints), so there might be more like that Cedric guy who’d inquire about his origins and techniques. Mateo felt ready. He knew he was ready. He was there to make his country, his family and his princess proud. 

#wands of a feather #elena of avalor #sofia the first #fanfic #disney fanfic #mateo de alva #cedric the sorcerer #cedric the sensational #eoa #stf #rooks writes #my writing #finally formatting this for tumblr after postponing to do so for weeks ><

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: The Beginning of Wisdom - Chapter 20 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: Flash, Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Leonard Snart (Len) & Leonard Snart (Leo), Len Snart/Mick Rory, Leo Snart/Mick Rory, Len Snart/Mick Rory/Leo Snart, Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Len Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: In which Leonard Snart is twins.

(the life and times and loves of Len and Leo Snart)

—————————————————————————————————–

The EMP blast Leo’s glove gave off was, to human eyes and ears, unnoticeable – but the aftereffects could be observed immediately.

The armors collapsed, for one thing.

The Time Masters were freed of the Pilgrim's hold, for another.

Luckily, at this point, Leo had maneuvered himself and Mick into position to herd the whole lot of them into one of the side rooms using Mick's heat gun, with Leo slamming the door closed behind them with a satisfied smirk.

"You – what did you –" the Pilgrim stuttered, staring down at her own gauntlet.

"Just an EMP blast," Leo said. "Non-fatal, even to AIs; the Waverider's Gideon gave it to me to use against competitive Gideons. But hey, I think you now have a pretty good argument to make to the Gideons that you're not as much of a threat as they originally thought."

The Pilgrim blinked at him, clearly shaken. "You - you do realize that if any of the Time Masters had thought to activate the Omega Protocols, I would have been forced to turn on you in a heartbeat, right?"

Len shrugged, coming up beside Leo to nudge him in the shoulder approvingly. His brother, ladies and gentlemen and noblepersons; he always did have the best way with people. "We would've dealt with it," he said. "Right now, though, we need to focus on destroying the Oculus."

"Then we can take you somewhere where the Time Masters won't be able to find you," Leo said. "Can you – and more importantly, will you – help us? I have no idea how this Oculus thing works."

The Pilgrim smiled, suddenly, a broad show of teeth. "Yes," she said. "There, I can help you. Do you know, no one's actually asked me to help with a technical matter in – lifetimes? Some days I actually missed being low level tech support."

"Guys, as touching as this is, maybe we could do something about the fact that we're still fighting the Hunters?" Firestorm shouted.

"Oh, I can help with that, too," the Pilgrim said.

Apparently, the Hunters were also controlled by trigger words, albeit more common ones, and the Time Masters had unwisely enough given those words to the Pilgrim. The Hunters gratefully put down their weapons the second that they were able to, which made everybody happy.

"You lot do intend to focus on deprogramming these guys once you're in charge, right?" Len asked one of the Gideons by the door that had narrowly escaped the EMP's blast radius.

"Of course," Gideon said. "It is among our top priorities, followed shortly by trials for the Time Masters responsible for the worst of the atrocities – muted, of course, so that they can't activate any of the triggers."

"Good. And the Pilgrim?"

"Under the circumstances, we believe you are correct, and that we misjudged," Gideon said, albeit a little stiffly. "While we still would prefer that she not be in the Vanishing Point – at least while we are rebuilding – we concede that her death is unnecessary."

"Even better," Leo said.

"We apologize for attempting to use you as a tool in this regard."

"Don't do it again," Mick said.

"Yeah, don't," Sara said. "Now, let's get to this Oculus problem. Can we blow it up without hurting anyone? Maybe contain the explosion somehow?"

With the Pilgrim's assistance and the Gideons' input, it turned out that it was actually easier to send the Hunters to evacuate all the (non-evil-mastermind) Time Masters from the Vanishing Point and set the entire Oculus to blow up, with the goal of rebuilding the whole thing from scratch later on.

"I have architectural critiques before you rebuild," Leo told the Gideon on the Waverider, waving his hands emphatically as Len tried to hide his laughter. "I have so many architectural critiques."

"So do we," Gideon said dryly. "The Vanishing Point as it was originally constructed was not, shall we say, optimally suited for AIs – or for most of its inhabitants."

Apparently, the vast majority of the inhabitants were either stolen as children to be raised in the Time Master way of thinking (Rip and his fellow low-level Time Masters) or captured in battle and subjected to a chair that stripped away memories, feelings, and freedom of thought in an endless burst of agonizing 'correction' (the Hunters).

It was brainwashing either way, as far as Len, Leo, Mick, and the rest of the Legends were concerned.

And speaking of the Legends -

Sara was appointed head of the deprogramming unit for the Hunters, with a plan to work closely with Gideon to use her experience with the League of Shadows to design a system to get it out of their system. Palmer immediately volunteered to work with her, as did the Hawks.

Rip appointed himself the new head of the Time Masters and declared his intention to reorganize them into something called "the Time Bureau", an idea that was all well and good but that ran into the immediate problem of the fact that many of the surviving Time Masters had their own ideas on how to "fix" the Time Masters, and those ideas did not necessarily match up with Rip's own. Given the Gideons' insistence on a more democratic (or at least, significantly less coerced) approach, Rip was obliged to quickly learn how to negotiate and work collectively rather than simply apply his usual high-handed authoritarian instincts the way he might have if he were rebuilding on his own.

He probably would have minded the change more if he hadn't had Miranda by his side to assist him, and Jonas to tease him out of his bad moods.

As for the rest of them, the Leonards and Mick and Jax and Stein (the latter two finally reconciled after an extensive and heartfelt apology on Stein's part), they headed home, bringing the Pilgrim along with them.

The Gideons conceded that she would be a valuable addition to the Vanishing Point's new structure, in time, should she wish to be, but insisted that they have the chance to build a solid foundation before she returned. In return for desisting in their attempts to kill her, they required that she stay in the 2010s for at least five years before she applied to re-join the Vanishing Point, should she even want to by then.

The Pilgrim declared herself to be more than fine with that, having not actually had non-mission-directed, non-murderous time to enjoy any era other than her own (something called the Kasnia Conglomerate that sounded, when described, positively dystopic in its own right) during her entire tenure as a slave to the Time Masters.

She went and got changed before joining them on the Waverider, which would have been fine except for the fact that she appeared wearing some sort of extremely low-cut leather bustier and a long leather duster and frighteningly high heels.

“What?” she’d asked when they’d all stared at her. “I’ve seen ‘The Matrix’ – this is what hackers from your time wear, right?”

She ended up being taken in by Stein and his wife, Clarissa, and had plans to take classes at the local university with Jax in the fall.

As for the Leonards and Mick, well, they did head home, but –

"Thanks for agreeing to let us borrow the Waverider, Gideon," Leo said.

"My pleasure, Mr. Snart," she replied cheerfully. "I think a few weeks' vacation sounds lovely, and now that the Oculus has been destroyed, there should be no issues whatsoever returning you to your home a few hours after your departure."

"This is going to be the best vacation ever," Barry said, literally vibrating in his seat. "Isn't that right, Iris?"

"Hell yes," she said, fist-bumping him. "Thanks for inviting me and Eddie. And for letting me bring Wally!"

"We had nine seats to fill," Ray said, grinning widely from his own chair. "Between the Snarts – Leonards and Lisa – and Mick and Barry and I, we only filled six."

"I can't believe this is my life," Wally said gleefully. He hadn't said much else yet, but he was Iris' less-legally-minded brother, so Len had high hopes for him. Lisa had taken him under her wing for this trip, too, which was all for the best.

"I've put together an itinerary," he announced. "There's a good mix of past and future visits, as well as between eras that have interesting or underrated fashions for Leo and unexplained historical thefts, for me. Any questions before we go?"

"Do we have to break the law?" Eddie asked, but his tone was clearly resigned.

"You're not a policeman in the past, Eddie," Iris reminded him. "Lighten up and embrace your pirate heritage."

"I have pirate heritage?"

"Why not?" she laughs, kissing him on the cheek. "You could."

"Any other, hopefully better questions?" Len asked.

Ray put up his hand, because he's a shameless nerd like that. "Who's driving the ship?"

"Mick," Len answered promptly. "Mick always drives, if possible."

"Agreed," Leo said.

"I mean, I know that, but the relevant question is - does he know how to drive a timeship?" Ray persisted.

"Relax," Mick said, settling down in the pilot's seat. "I got Gideon to give me a crash course."

Len couldn't resist.

"Emphasis," he said, "of course, on crash."

"Oh, shut up, boss," Mick said fondly, and with that they were off.

They planned to leave around 10 in the morning on a Saturday, with a goal of returning within the hour to make sure those of them with regular jobs could have their friends come up with excuses for them if for some reason they got delayed and hadn't returned by Sunday.

They ended up leaving around 11 and returning sometime in the late afternoon on the same Saturday.

Gideon apologized for the extra few hours that got tacked on even though they assured her repeatedly that it wasn't an issue.

"Have a nice trip?" Joe West asked as they stumbled back downstairs into STAR Labs, his arms crossed disapprovingly. He'd had the same stance when they'd left – Leo wondered if he'd stayed in that pose the entire time.

Judging by Len's smirk, he was thinking the same.

"It was awesome," Iris proclaimed. She was still wearing the lovely tiara made of silver and amber that Eddie and Wally had conspired to steal for her – with the Snart family's active assistance and encouragement, of course – and hadn't bothered changing out of the flapper-era dress she'd worn at their last stop.

"We'll tell you all about it," Wally told Joe, his enthusiasm managing the impossible and wearing down Joe's disapproving scowl. Apparently their relationship was very rocky at the moment, so Joe was sensitive to any improvements. "Oh! And we got you a watch from Switzerland."

Joe beamed at that, his earlier disapproval now entirely forgotten.

Len elbowed Barry approvingly – he'd been the one who'd suggested it.

"Did you go to the future?" Caitlin asked eagerly.

"We did!" Barry exclaimed. "Nothing too close to the present – that creates uncertainty, since we can affect it with our actions – but some of the further away eras."

"Barry only started one revolution," Ray said, grinning at Barry. They'd bonded during the Leonards' and Mick's (apparently) month-long absence with the Legends, and had developed a tendency to egg each other on in terms of reckless heroic acts (and also possibly to snuggle when the Leonards were unavailable, though they hadn't admitted to it).

Leo wasn't sure he approved, entirely, but whatever; Ray needed some non-model friends that wouldn't ask for favors once he was an established designer in his own right.

Well, favors other than "I want to put this feature in my suit, how do I make it not look wonky?", but that wasn't really a favor, and anyway that was mostly Cisco asking, not Barry.

That wasn't really a favor, anyway. More of a fun challenge that Leo was barred from participating in on account of it giving Len an unfair advantage in future supervillain fights.

"So what's the next plan?" Eddie asked. He was positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed: he'd taken advantage of Gideon's advanced calculation systems and ability to analyze personalities to help with wedding planning, and was deeply relieved by the fact that he and Iris now had a full seating chart designed to forestall family fights and a complete plan of what vendors they should hire for what and by when.

The only thing left was to select the flavors for the cake – neither of them wanted to give up the taste-testing portion of the planning – and for Iris to select a dress.

Gideon had promised to attend the ceremony, both as herself and as a representative of the Vanishing Point, and also to arrive early to ensure that any last-minute dress disasters could be fixed.

In short, Eddie and Iris both looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders.

"Now," Mick said, "we go home and sleep for a week, then we do some good old-fashion at home thefts to get back into the groove of things."

"Damn right," Lisa said. "Time travel theft is fun, but there's no place like home."

“You had to take after the criminal side of the family,” Leo sighed, shaking his head in mock mourning; he’d given up all hope of winning that argument long ago. As long as Lisa continued on with her chosen course of study – mechanical engineering – and kept to the law at least 80% of the time, he had no problems with her occasional dips into the criminal underworld.

“You bet I do,” Lisa said with a smirk.

"You have fun," Barry said. "I, however, am planning to sleep for two weeks, so if you want to go head-to-head, it'll have to be later than that."

"No, no, this’ll be good old-fashioned cops-and-robbers stuff," Len assured him. "With luck, the cops won't even know it's me."

"Eddie and I are cops and we're literally standing right here, you know," Joe said.

"He means we won't know which one is him," Eddie explained. “I mean, what theft is his. Or at least that we won't be able to prove it.”

Joe gave him a look.

"Give me a break, I just spent nearly two months with the guy," Eddie said defensively. "I had to learn to understand him."

"Two months?" Joe exclaimed. "I thought the plan was two weeks."

"We still got back on time, Dad," Iris said.

"Not the point!"

"Our cue to leave, I think," Leo said wisely.

"I think I'll join you," Barry said hastily. "This argument definitely doesn't need me."

They took a car home. They debated for a few minutes as to whether they should take Joe's car, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth bringing anyone's mood down – which was to say, Barry insisted.

Still: a victory is a victory.

#dccoldwave #coldflash #coldray #leonard snart #mick rory #barry allen #ray terrill #iris west #wally west #joe west #lisa snart #sara lance #rip hunter #ray palmer #martin stein #jefferson jax jackson #my fic #beginning of wisdom

[louhilainen]

1. Better late than never - Jokamu fanfic

Here is the very first chapter of my fist proper Jokamu fic! This is pretty much retelling of my fan made supports (you can find them on my blog). I always welcome critique, comments etc. So if you have something to say about, really anything in this fic, please do so! I’m not native English speaker, so I especially welcome comments about funny sounding words, sentences etc. to native English speakers. I hope you enjoy this!

***************

Jakob hadn’t had a relaxing evening so far.

Tonight he had been in charge of dinner preparations along with Odin and Felicia. Undoubtedly the worst kind of people to work with. Felicia, despite years of strict training under Gunther and Jakob, was still clumsy with house work and took too much time peeling potatoes. She had a tendency to mess up things when she got nervous and that happened a lot with Jakob watching her like a hawk. Felicia had almost set herself on fire which had caused a bit a chaos in the kitchen. If that was not enough, there was Odin, a retainer of Prince Leo. Although the mage could work efficiently when he wanted, he got easily lost in his fantasies. Every time he cut a vegetable he started shouting about unleashing his dark powers.

Luckily, Lady Azura had come to check them when she heard Jakob shouting Odin to stop his absurd day dreams. She had managed to calm livid Jakob and with her help, they had succeeded in feeding the hungry members of their ever growing army. Jakob had sent Odin and Felicia to clean the mess hall as he figured they would be less in the way there. Jakob and Azura ended up doing the dishes in a comfortable silence. Jakob washed a plate in his hands and absent-mindedly wondered what Lady Corrin was doing. He should pop in to see if she had a need of anything when they were done with the dishes. Jakob’s wish fulfilled faster than he imagined when Kaze appeared to the kitchen door. Noticing Jakob, ninja walked to him.  

“Jakob, Lady Corrin wishes to see you when you are finished with your chores.” Kaze stated with his usual calmness.                                                                                                    

Azura smiled at butler: “You should go see her, I will take care of the rest”.

“Lady Azura, allow me to help”. Kaze approached the sink with the intention of covering for Jakob.

Jakob nodded curtly to Kaze as thanks and after bidding both of them good night made his way out of the kitchen.

Most soldiers had already finished their dinner and went on their way. Some of them were probably fixing their weapons or trying to make most of their precious free time. Jakob could see Laslow talking to Beruka one of the tables, whose unemotional face had a hint of irritation on it. Most likely he was trying to ask her for tea, but by the looks of it he was bound to another failure. Odin and Felicia were still cleaning the floors, and much to Jakob’s surprise, were this time doing it properly without knocking over buckets or murmuring themselves something incomprehensible.  Jakob fastened his walking speed to make haste to Corrin’s side.

After walking through the courtyard to the treehouse, Jakob knocked the door and was answered with Corrin’s voice. “Come on in”. Butler opened the door and was greeted by a sight of his mistress. Lady Corrin was sitting on small table with a book in her hands. She had changed her armour to a more comfortable looking gown. Its waist was below her breasts and he could see a little bit of her white shoulders. Her long silver hair was in a loose ponytail instead of just wearing her favourite hairband. Gods, must she be so beautiful?  He banished his thought as swiftly as it had entered his mind.

”Lady Corrin, you wanted to see me?” Jakob smiled politely, but with a hint of warmth familiarity in his voice.

Corrin put the book down and smiled as warmly at her butler.

“Hello, Jakob. Thank you for coming. You must have had a rough day with your duties, please sit down.” She gestured with her hand to the other vacant chair. Jakob walked briskly to the chair and sat down to opposite of Corrin. Indeed he had had a rough day. Of course, now that he was in presence of his lady, he felt very much refreshed.

“Of course, milady. Now, what may I do for you?”                  

Lady Corrin looked at her butler with her index finger on her lips. “Actually, I do have a request for you. Your birthday is coming soon right?”

His birthday. He had completely forgotten about it, but for some reason Lady Corrin had remembered it.  Jakob stayed silent and instead answering, fixated his gaze intently on Corrin’s face.

Worried by Jakob’s mirror-like gaze she knotted her brow a bit. “What’s wrong, Jakob. You look so pale of all the sudden!”

“I’m just so touched.” Jakob whispered almost in a broken tone.

Corrin blinked her red eyes in confusion. “Huh, why?”

“To think that you would remember my birthday, even if I’m nothing but a lowly butler. Lady Corrin remembering my birthday… It makes me shake from joy…” Jakob gripped the edge of the table to keep himself steady.

Corrin seemed more annoyed than moved by her butler emotionality. “Oh, Jakob, there’s no need to make such a fuss! You speak as I have never that remembered your birthday. I at least congratulate you every year…”  When Jakob and the twins, Flora and Felicia had had a birthday while living in the Northern Fortress, they had baked a cake and shared it together with Corrin and Gunther. Corrin had even sometimes handed them small gifts. She had always looked so apologetic giving them, as if she had wanted to give them something fancier.

“Indeed, it never fails to astonish me that you would remember such a mundane event. But you said you had a request for me. Is it perhaps related to my birthday?”

Corrin’s smile returned even brighter to her face. “Yes it is, have you any plans for that day?” She asked enthusiastically.

Jakob shook his head. “No, not particularly, milady. I plan to serve you as your butler as I do every day.”

Corrin clapped her hands together. “Heh, not this time you won’t! I have great plans for your birthday! So…. do you mind if you spent some time with me then?” At the end the princess crossed her fingers and lowered her gaze a bit.

Jakob was not one to deny his mistress request, especially when she seemed so excited about it. ”As I have said many times in the past, your wish is my command. If it pleases you, I will gladly spend my birthday with you.”

At this point Corrin was literally beaming. “Great! Thank you so much, Jakob! You’re going to have the best birthday ever!”

Jakob could not help but to smile at Corrin’s enthusiasm. “I’m already looking forward to it, milady.”

After that, they talked about little everyday things. What book she was reading and what they both had done today. Jakob missed private talks like with his lady. When they had fled from the battlefield on that fateful day, there had been only him, Corrin, Azura and later Gunther. Even when their army started to grow little by little, they had spent great amount of time together. Their talks had not been always as relaxed as now. Corrin was then anxious of decisions she had made and some of her siblings’ hostile attitude towards her. Jakob always listened to her worries attentively and supported her by his actions and words. But moments like this very starting to get rare with more people joining their army. Corrin found herself busier with more people and issues demanding her attention. Despite this, she seemed to be less stressed lately to Jakob’s relief. Butler was happy that she had found resolve in herself to keep going on her path. When they both started to yawn Jakob excused himself. Corrin walked him to the door and reminded him once more to make sure his schedule was loose on his birthday. They bid each other good night and with that, Jakob descended the steps to the ground.

The sun had almost set down and without it, the wind felt much colder. With Lady Corrin’s invitation his evening had taken a turn for better but he could not help be pensive about her plans. Lady Corrin has never taken such a great interest in my birthday. I wonder why now, all of sudden. Oh well, if it’s something that makes her so excited I have no choice but to comply. Pleasing her is my top priority, after all. That was butler’s duty after all. To be there for their master, at their beck and call. With that thought firmly in his mind, Jakob hurried from the chilling wind to the warmth of the castle.

**************

If you’re wondering about the title, you guessed right. I’m really terrible making them up.

#jokamu #joker fire emblem #fire emblem jakob #corrin fire emblem #kamui fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fire emblem fates fanfic