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thenextchapter22 · 3 years

Text

Mail Order... Kitten Girl

Part 8: Aw Rats

Description: Satan accidentally orders a special type of ‘cat’ online after having a few too many drinks…

Tags: Pet Play, Cat Hybrids, Fluff, Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, Tail Fucking

Pairing(s): Reader/Everyone (but Luke)

Link to my AO3: Click Here

In this chapter: Kitten and Barbatos spend time together!

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven

Authors Note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBATOS!! This one is for you :))

+++++ MINORS DNI +++++

It was an early morning on a weekday. You woke up slowly, snuggling into the demon body beside you in bed. Sleeping in Belphie’s room was always your top favorite spots to get a great nights sleep. Surrounded in his bed with all his blankets and pillows he stacked up plus his warm arms around you, that was the best.

You were shaken out of the slumber by Beel shaking his twin’s arm, saying, “Belphie, Kitten, get up and eat.”

Belphie groaned, squeezing your body to him, nuzzling the back of your neck with his heated breath caressing you. “Mmmm... ‘s early, Beel. Later...”

The temptation to stay was strong, but your stomach gurgled and you decided to get up.

Wiggling in Belphie’s strong hold until you faced him instead of the wall, he opened one eye just enough to stare at you questionably. “Cuddle me later?” you said through a yawn.

Your youngest demon Master sighed, but gave you one final squeeze around your waist, lingering just above your bottom with his fingers, and kissed you gently. “Fine... Go on,” he said, and opened his arms to free you.

Beel helped you climb over him. As soon as you were out of the bed, Belphie went right back to sleep.

With a smiling sigh, Beel shook his head. “C’mon, Kitten. I’ve made one of your favorites for breakfast so let’s get you dressed.”

You picked at the thin silk short set you had worn to bed. Sleeping with any of them, you liked to wear little to almost nothing. Firstly, because a lot of them ran hot, and secondly so that you could feel their bodies closer to you. That extra touch made your body feel good.

You sat on Beel’s bed, waiting for him to pick out an outfit for you. Almost all of your Master’s liked to dress you. And because you usually stayed in one of their rooms, sometimes a different demon each night so it was fair—they liked to fight a lot about that—they had clothes ready for the next day.

The redheaded demon chose a soft pair of leggings and a short-sleeved scoop neck shirt, also soft, probably fleece . You smiled at the plain underwear he helped you slip on. Asmo , Lucifer, and Satan all liked to give you lace undies and bras, but the others preferred comfort for you. Either way you didn’t mind, they were your owners after all and you liked them dressing you up. The fun of it was seeing the different styles.

After you were clothed, Beel took your hand and smiled. “Let’s go eat.”

You smiled right back and nodded, “Mmhm! ‘m hungry, Master.”

“Me too. I haven't eaten in minutes.”

Giggling, the both of you left Belphie to the room and went to eat.

Breakfast for you was perfect. Waffles soaked in syrup, piled high with berries and whipped cream. Sausages and eggs, too. The table was full, aside from Belphie. Your Masters all ate their weird demon foods. The day was looking to be a great one!

Once your belly was full, that was when your morning turned from sweet to just plain sour.

The worst news was given to you, and in anger you lashed out.

Which was why now, you sat dejectedly on the couch, arms crossed and tail swishing across your lap, the tip fuzzed out. You poked at your collar that was almost forced on you, a black leather collar that wasn’t uncomfortable but not your favorite, thick and ugly. A long leash was attached to it, and on the other end was Lucifer holding it. Usually you liked the leash, but not when it was a punishment.

Everyone was in the common room now, even Belphie who had gotten up after hearing the news. They either stood around you or sat on the furniture, but they all were looking at you with small smiles or smirks.

You were not amused. If you were an actual cat, your fur would be stuck up like the tip of your tail was.

The bad news that caused this problem... your Masters were leaving for the whole day to a RAD Student Council member only meeting that Lord Diavolo was holding.

You hated being alone. But because Barbatos was staying behind to make a feast for when they came back, he had volunteered to watch you.

When Lucifer went on and explained he was going to take you to Lord Diavolo’s castle for the hand off of yourself to the demon butler, you obviously did not want to go or for them to go and as such you had clawed at him, and thus the leash.

You didn’t draw blood, Lucifer was too fast for that, but the reaction was enough to be punished.

Huffing in your seat, you refused to not look angry. They were leaving you... again!

Lucifer sighed, and patted the top of your head a few times. “Bad kitty’s get punished, my dear,” he said matter of fact.

Your nose twitched. “I know...”

“You promise to behave for Barbatos?” Satan asked.

You nodded. “Yes, Master...”

“Don’t look so upset, it will only be for a few hours...”

“Why can’t I just be at home alone?” you asked, glancing at them all with wide eyes.

Asmo cooed. “Last time Simeon took too long, kitty cat, and you were upset with us. We’re just looking after you.”

You pouted.

Beel smiled. “Barbatos is excited to see you. And he said he wants you to taste test some of his bakes today. I’m jealous.” He drooled.

Your ears perked up. “R-really?” You licked your lips. Barbatos was the best baker you knew. His cakes and pies and basically everything he made was yummy.

“Kitten looks happy now!” Mammon said with a grin.

Satan agreed, “She looks like the cat who got the cream.”

Asmo giggled. “She probably will, too, and I mean to say Barbatos’~”

The others groaned or chuckled. You didn’t know what that meant, but you did love cream.

“We’re having a big feast later at Lord Diavolo’s castle, so be sure not to eat too much,” Lucifer said, and then announced it was time to go.

You stood as Lucifer started for the front door, the leash taught. Your Masters all said their respective goodbyes and ‘I love you’s’ and it made you very happy inside. You would miss them so much.

Maybe it was better to not be alone, so you wouldn’t be so sad and think about them until they came home.

Turning on your heel before the front door, you smiled. “I love you, too, my Masters.” And you meant that, truly.

They all cooed, or grinned, and you waved goodbye.

It was only for the day, right?

_+_

The walk to Lord Diavolo’s wasn't too long. Barbatos let you inside the main entrance where you waited to be handed off like a true pet.

“Welcome, Lucifer, Kitten. We are going to have a good time together today, hm?” the demon butler smiled at you kindly.

You peeked at him from behind Lucifer and nodded once. Still, something inside of you was a little peeved.

“I trust you will be good?” Lucifer asked you, a stern look in his red eyes.

“Yes, Master, I'll be good,” you said.

Lucifer handed the leash to Barbatos, who took it without a single question. You wondered if Lucifer told him what happened and why you had the leash at all.

“She will be well looked after, Lucifer.”

Lucifer nodded. He gave you a single kiss on your forehead. “Behave, Kitten,” he said, and then he was gone out the door. You watched as he transformed into his demon form and flew off, majestic and sexy. You did love his wings; they were so soft.

“Kitten? Let’s go.” Barbatos smiled at you again, and gestured with his hand for you to go ahead and step further in the Castle.

You frowned, but did, and you found yourself in the kitchen after a little bit of walking.

The room was a far cry from the House of Lamentation’s kitchen. First it was much larger, higher ceilings, and had several ovens and even more cooking equipment. There were tons of cabinets and a large black table off to the side. The floors were nicer on your shoes, less chance of tripping on wood floors than badly lain cement blocks.

While you glanced around, you felt a tug on your leash and a click, and Barbatos was hanging your leash on a hook on the wall before you knew what happened.

“Wha-?”

“It will be easier for the both of us. I won’t say anything if you won’t?”

You giggled. The collar was still on, but that was fine by you. “Okay!”

“Perfect. Over this way please.” He led you to a counter, and there was a ton of ingredients out. They smelled sweet, salty, bitter. Some of them looked good, others odd colored or shaped, but still had a good aroma. “Today you can help me prepare the meal for their return.”

Your ears fell. “I can’t cook...”

"That's not a problem. You have two hands, and so you can mix. And taste test for me as well.”

Now that you could do with great pleasure. “Yes, I want to help!”

He chuckled. “I assumed so. We are only preparing desserts now; I will finish the rest of the meal later so it's fresh. Let’s begin, shall we?”

Baking with Barbatos was fun. You got to eat so many tasty things. He let you lick the spoon with the frosting, and gave you little chocolate chips. Mixing dry ingredients for him was harder than it looked and you got some flour on yourself, but that was why you had the apron on.

Although, it was strange that he already had the perfect one for you. It certainly was not for one of the demon brothers or Diavolo (right?).

After cooking for a long time, eating and mixing and opening and closing the ovens, setting all the pretty treats under domes on counters or in the fridge, you were totally exhausted. All the hard work and eating had really wore you out.

You yawned a few times, and rubbed at your eyes.

“Is it time for a cat nap?” he teased.

“Barb, I’m tired.” You yawned again.

He softly laughed. “All right. Come with me, Kitten.” He put the palm of his hand on your lower back to lead you out of the kitchen. You were taken around a few doors and small hallways to a wide window with a bed seat cushion, and it faced a garden full of flowers and wildlife.

“So pretty...” you were in awe.

“I thought you might like the view. Rest for a while and I will wake you up once you’ve gotten the proper sleep.”

You curled up on the warm bedding and purred. The sun was shining in the spot, and you could fit yourself perfectly in a ball. “Thank you~”

Barbatos smiled down at you, and pet your head, his hand lingering on your neck to squeeze once. It gave you the shivers. “You’re very welcome, Kitten. Sweet dreams.”

You fell asleep watching the birds flutter around and chirp.

When you woke up it was still sunny, but not directly on you. And you watched the garden for a while, and then you saw it.

A rat, scurrying across the field.

You made a sound and bared your teeth at it.

The window had a latch, and you undid it and crawled out to step into the garden. You were quiet, stealthy, your prey was right there. You caught it in your claws and squeezed until it was dead.

This was the perfect present to say thank you!

Barbatos had not come for you yet, so you set the dead rat on the floor of the room, waiting for Barbatos to come fetch you.

And when he came inside, he froze up, and stared at your gift. “Kitten.”

“Barb~ I got you a gift, it’s right there.” Your tail flickered in happiness, and you grinned a fanged smile at him, proud and excited.

He tensed as he walked around it, but did not pick it up. “Did you touch that thing?” he asked instead.

“Yes, with my claws. I killed it for you!”

“I see...” He held out his arms, and frowned. “Let’s go wash your hands,” he said.

You pouted. “Are you not going to take my present?”

Barbatos’ brows furrowed. “Kitten, I appreciate the gift, however...”

Now you understood, and your eyes watered. “Y-you hate it, don’t you?”

“Not at all, kitty, not at all. I just want to take care of you first.” He grabbed you under your arms and you were taken back to the kitchen, legs wrapped around his waist. You felt like a toddler but the warmth of his body was nice. “You need to clean up before you touch anything else.”

He directed you to stand before the sink and place your hands inside. The water was hot on your hands and you cried out. He apologized, and quickly turned it down, and then poured soap on your hands, helping wash them, getting between your fingers and under your claws.

“Rats carry diseases, and Devildom rats even more. I want you to be more careful.”

You nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

Barbatos gave you a soft smile. “It’s fine. There now, let’s dry them and then we can get back to baking together.”

You dried your hands and frowned down at the tiles. “I just wanted to thank you...”

He cupped your cheek and had you look at him. “I know, but you don’t need to thank me with that,” he said, not unkindly.

Oh, so that’s what he was getting at. Well, your Master’s did not say you couldn’t please Barbatos, and he did take care of you. This was the only other way you knew how to say you were grateful for him feeding you delicious snacks and letting you sleep in the cozy sun spot.

“I can thank you like this,” you said, and knelt down on the floor right in front of him, your face at his crotch.

There was one quick inhaled from the demon butler. His gloved finger lifted your head up for him to stare down at you with his pretty green eyes. There was a slight hue on his cheeks. “You don’t have to thank me at all.”

You licked your lips. “I want to. Please? Can I see your cock and suck it?”

He began thumbing your bottom lip. “If that’s what you want, I wouldn’t say no.” Then he made a concerned face. “Do you want something for your knees?”

You nodded, glad Barbatos was such a kind demon. “Please...” and he somehow had a throw pillow in his hands, and you lifted one knee at a time to get situated. “Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble.”

Quickly you helped him out of his pants, slipping them to the floor. As you did his hand caressed the top of your head, and you felt his dark gaze on you, watching every move you made. As his pants dropped to the floor, he stepped out of them, kicking them away. The mess was so unlike the butler from what you had seen.

Now he was just in his underwear, a silk dark green pair that outlined his cock and balls. You nuzzled his clothed dick. “Smells good, Barby.”

“Mmm, you like the smell of cock, Kitten?”

You nodded. “Yesss-”

His hand went to your hair at the back of your head to lightly tug. The pain mixed with his scent urged you on, and you had his boxers pulled down, and he was quicker in stepping out of those. His cock out inches from your mouth, half hard. Before you sucked it, you grabbed it to stroke it to life. You licked the tip once, he gasped. Then you swallowed him down and peeked up at him with a certain look, unmoving. Waiting for him to do something.

He got the idea and smiled. “Do you want me to use your mouth?”

You hummed, hopeful he understood it meant yes. And he understood because he began using your mouth. Filling it with his slicked head, hitting your tongue and roof of your mouth. Your lips were swelling up, and you suckled and slurped at his cock.

Clawed hands went to his waist, holding him steady as his fingers clutched your hair to do the same. The pain and scent surrounding you had your pussy wetting up, soaking your undies. But this was for him, about Barbatos’ pleasure. And a Kitten could please their Master, or their Master’s friends, and you would do a good job of it, too.

Breathing through your nose, you kept a firm hold on his hips, and your tail helped by wrapping around his thigh once to squeeze. His legs were bare, strong looking. You looked up at him, and met his dark eyes, flecks of black creeping in to those slate green iris’. It was sexy and you moaned.

“Ahh, Kitten,” he moaned. His hand not at your hair went to touch your tail, wrapped around a part of it and stroked like you had done to his dick. “Such a soft tail."

You moaned louder, vibrating around his cock, tonguing the underside with your flattened muscle, flexing. He tasted tangy and filled your mouth perfectly, and a little precum trickled onto your taste buds.

The demon butler tensed and grunted out a warning before he came in your mouth, and only then did you let him go. You held his spent cum in your mouth on your tongue, and showed it to him before swallowing. It was bitter, but you had worse.

“Such a naughty thing,” he commented, and pet your hair from your cheeks.

He smiled, and in his eyes was something new you hadn’t seen. He put his clothes back to right, and before you could react, he had you in his arms and then deposited you on the long kitchen table. The throw pillow was shoved under your body to lift you up at your lower half, and it helped keep your tail from being squished. But you were confused.

“Barb-”

“Hush now.” He stood at your feet, a demonic grin truly. “I shall return the favor,” he whispered. Barbatos’ appearance shifted, and he was in his demon form, his twin-tipped tails flickering behind him, his bat-like horns gleaming in the kitchen light.

His hands torn down your pants to your ankles, and you let him, him taking off your shoes next to leave you in socks and your top. Then you were spread open, panties glistening, socked feet flat on the table. He had you bend your legs so he could grasp your knees to keep you like that, but your pants hugged at your ankles like restraints.

Those eyes of his were basically neon green they were glowing, and he stared at your clothed core, and you tightened in response. Could he see the flex of your pussy?

“You got wet from sucking me, hm... How delightful.” His finger went to your waist, tugging under the band, and it snapped apart. He tore your underwear from you and exposed your vagina to the air, the coolness hitting your burning heat, wetness growing.

“Ahh, B-barb-"

His tails were hovering your vagina, twitching, and you leaned your head down to watch. You couldn’t see much past your belly as he lifted you up, but you knew what his intentions were.

You begged for it, “please, inside...”

He did not hesitate. His tail slowly went inside your pussy, thick, slimy, softly scaled. It was bigger than you figured, and you tightened down and wiggled your hips.

He tore his glove off with his teeth, and his bare finger circled your clit, the sparks of pleasure helping the stretch. “It’s okay, you can take it. Be a good kitty.”

You clenched down on him again and he winced for a second, but then his tail slithered deeper and flicked at the tip to hit that spot inside and you saw stars, clutching the table at each end with clawed hands.

“You’re damaging the wood,” he said with a bit of humor, but did nothing to stop you. His finger circled your clit faster and harder, and you were close but still felt like it wasn’t enough.

That was when his second tail spread your cheeks apart to press to your anus, slimy from the wetness leaking from your pussy. You were not ready for that, not now.

You cried, “nnngg, not there, please.” Your own tail swooshed in the air, a nervous twitch, and a warning that you did not like that.

Barbatos kissed your inner thigh, holding your knee wider with one hand as his tail fucked you, sloppy sounds echoing in the room along with your heavy panting. “I know, beautiful thing, I won’t.” He left the tail tip there, slipping over your hole to join the other at your pussy, pressing against its twin. “You can take two, can you not?”

You tensed and sobbed. “P-please,” you desperately wanted to be torn open.

He grinned, sharp teeth, and shoved his second tail in along with the other. You arched your back and tossed your head to the side and sobbed, burning and intense pleasure/pain encompassing you. “Ahhhgg~”

The pace he set was fast and rough, the double tails slipping in and out and scrapping at the best parts of you, no time to adjust. “You’re so sweet, yet so naughty. I want to feel your pussy on my cock someday.”

“Uhh, yes, yes, want that-”

“Hm, I know you do.”

He was so himself like this. Barbatos was commanding and sure in his movements, and it was perfection. His head went between your legs and his mouth found your clit and licked and kissed wet and sloppily. You wished you could watch as he did, but your position only let you see his head bobbing, and his tail motioning in and out between your thighs.

He kept his mouth on your clit, swishing his tongue back and forth. “Purr for me, kitty,” he pulled back to say, and then with insane speed he fucked you with his serpent tails and licked you, like a vibrator toy for your clit.

The heat was reaching your belly in a boiling point now. Your body was hot, tense, and your toes curled, and then with an arched back, your belly tightened up and you were finished. “Cumming, Barb, cummiinnnnggg~” you exclaimed, spurting all over.

It lasted a few moments, but felt like longer. You kept your eyes shut and felt the excess amount of your own juices dripping out. The sparks went with the beat of your heart as you calmed down, almost like an exposed wire feeling every single thing. Your shirt was sweaty. Your throat sore, from both screaming your pleasure and holding some back. There was a little bit of tears drying on your cheeks.

When you did open your eyes, Barbatos was hovering over your head, smiling that gentle smile, this time it reached his kind eyes. “So pretty for me,” Barbatos murmured, kissing your cheek. “I need to clean you up now.”

You hummed, shutting your eyes as fireworks popped up in your vision. “Mmm, clean up,” you copied.

He chuckled, and lifted you up in his arms, and you whined but allowed it. “Come on kitty, you can have another nap after.”

You sighed. “Love naps.”

“I gathered that. You may be a second Belphegor and we just don’t know it.”

You giggled. “Mmmm.” What a silly thing to say.

_+_

“She looks exhausted,” Lucifer commented. He had a slight smirk in his eyes and on his lips, but not enough for the average person to see.

Barbatos shared a similar look. “Oh yes, we had an eventful evening, didn’t we?” You flushed red, ignoring the question, and he went on, holding out a few containers. “Here. To take home with you. The feast will begin in a few hours, but I know Beel will like to have some extras.” Barbatos handed you the boxes. “Thank you for all your help today, Kitten. Anytime you want to stop by, feel free.” The green of his eyes shone, mischievous.

You held in the whine, because you did want to visit again. But the teasing was too much and you were exhausted mentally and physically. You didn’t even want to be standing right then.

You looked at Lucifer and asked, “Master, can we go home now?”

“Yes, we can.” He took the leash from Barbatos and you both left Lord Diavolo’s castle for the House of Lamentation.

And if Lucifer noticed the limp in your walk, he said nothing on it.

Thankfully you were not in trouble. Your Masters, it seemed, did not care if you shared yourself. But you had to wonder the limitations of that... you’d ask another time.

So, you went home to rest before the feast, but in the end you did not go. You actually stayed behind with Levi who had plans to be online that night (Diavolo played video games, you heard, so he excused the Envy demon).

Snuggled up with him on the beanbag you lazily watched him play, occasionally getting soft pets between battles. It was boring to just watch, but you had enough excitement. This was a perfect way to end a sweet day.

#obey me #obey me fanfic #fanfiction #reader fanfiction #female reader #cat hybrid #hybrids #hybrid reader #shall we date #shall we date obey me #obey me reader x barbatos #reader x barbatos #mail order kitten girl #my fics #ao3 link

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zuffer-weird-girl · 3 years

Text

Over.

For those who dont know here is the link for the first part of this lil thing :3

You exhaled with a smile at seeing the new look on your apartment. It came with a generous amount of space on both living room and bedroom. Some of the Hassaikai members helped you with all the mobile and some boxes you still had to look over to put things back in order.

Humming to a song that was stuck in your head (and he wadled away wadle wadle) you kneeled on the ground to open a tiny box to start, but you soon frowned at seeing the contents of it...

It was a tiny little glass box, with a carnation safetly placed inside of it... along, it came a bit of your treasures you savored.. a pair of white yet with tiny little delicate detailsyou knrw he knew you love it; a tiny necklace, simple yet elegant, pingent of a heart attached to it; earings with the symbol of the hassaikai and others that were little white wings...

You soon took notice of the drops of tears that were falling down on your lap and inside the boz as you picked the earrings of the Hassaikai... Chisaki gave you this when you both started dating... it was the first ever gift he gave to you along with the carnation...

'I am by far one of the most normal men considering of what the society sees me... but I hope you that you have the patience to bear with me until I give you a life and a clean world to live in until there my dear.'

The words repeated on your head as sobs started to rip from your tgroat as you clenched the earing to the point they pierced your skin enough to hurt as you curped yourself on the floor in misery...

You wanted to forgive him. You wanted to forget what happened on that disgrace if a day...

But you just couldn't. You couldn't forget thhe warth yet neither that murderous gaze Kai had on you. You couldn't forget how his rough hands that usually touched you like you were made out of glass instead grabbed roughly on your arm to the point you cried in pain.

You couldn't forget how he used his quirk on you out of anger.

"Thank you." He muttered monotonously as he grabbed the bouquet full of roses, safetly wrapped up so it couldn't come in contact with him as he exuted the shop.

Ever since the accident, he hadn't been able to get sleep without having night terrors of the terrified look you had... the screams for him to get away from you, to not wven rouch you with a single finger...

He felt worse than the dirt his shoes collected while walking on the dirty streets of where he lived.

He stared at one single rouse out of all in the bouquet he just paid for it, sighing as he adjusted a petal that was a tad bit out of place only for him to accidentaly rip it from the poor flower.

He stopped at that, watching the petal dance while falling into the ground... his eyebrows frowned as he merely sighed after closing his eyes.

"It seems everything I do I end it up ruining it on a way or another..." he whispered to himself, lowering both arms in defeat.

In others it would be seen as childish for him to get all depressed over a simple petal falling from the bouquet... but not for him.

He was the one that was abandoned on the streets to starve; he was the one whose only brought problems more than pride to the man whose took care of him as his only son... he was the one that hurt and traumatized the one he loved over a anger tantrum...

What was wrong with him..? He though, bringing his free hand ro rub his face and sigh deepely.

Although, his ears peeked up at a sound of laughter. Your laughter. His precious angel's laughter which he hadn't heard from months... he swear he felt like crying in glee as he started to almost run towards that beautiful sound he oh missed so dearly.

What wasn't he expecting was get right in front of a scene that left his heart immediately dropping to his stomach... you were indeed laughing of course.

But in the arms of another man.

On the other side of the street he saw how the taller male bear hugged you and lifted you up off the ground and twirles you around as you squealed. Scrunching up your nose at him kissing hard on your cheek.

He slowly lowered down his hand where it held the bouquet as he stared at the scene that completely torn his insodes out as his eyes carried sadness and heartache...

Despite all of those feelings, he still found himself smiling as a tear ran down his face... it was better this way. You could have a normal life, not surrounded by body guards, not have to worry about constant magging of getting clean or sickness... having someone that could give you what you deserved...

He turned his back to walk away... but what wasn't him expecting was that you had noticed him. Walking away. You furrowed your eyebrows, and against your better judgment, you started to run toawrds him, not seing the open signal neither the car that was coming...

"Ka-Chisaki!" He heard you and let out a confused sound before turning and widening his eyes in horror and dropping the amount of flowers he had at the sign of a car coming and honking.

His feet moved before his mind could, his gloves already dissapeared as he shouted foe you or the car, he didn't know anymore, to stop.

Your eyes widened at the sound of honking and before could let out a sound you were engulfed in muscular arm, bringing you close to his chest as he almosy broke his wrist when making contact with the car and overhauling it in a question of seconds.

The screams were gone for a minute and all you could hear was your and Kai's heartbeat at top speed and his uncrotoled shorts of breath.

A half of the citizens clapped their hands while others immediately left the local as the owner of the car, a young man, finally recovered from the state of panic and got down angry yelling at both of you.

"You stupid bitch! Couldn't see a damn sign that I WAS THE ONE TO GO?! AND YOU TOO YOU DICK! You conpletely destroyed my car you asshole!" The male shouted as Kai put you back on your feet as he glared daggers at the short man.

"If a car cost more than a life so there-" the car was back in shape as soons as he destroyed "You can have it. But just for you to know I am not just an 'asshole' as you reffered me." He growled between teeh as you tensed... you knew that tone of voicw way too well...

"Pff-! Yeah whatever old man-" Chisaki grabbed the hem of the shit of the man and stared dead in his eye "H-Hey! Let go basta-"

"You're bold enough ti call the leader of the yakusa a bastard, arent you?" He growled, and the life of the brunnete seemes to fade away from his eyes as he heard those words.

Before you could say something the scared male face was brought to you as Kai growled and overhauled just a tad bit of yhe hem of his shirt to prove his point.

"This you rascal. Is not a bitch. She is a woman. One that deserves respects and was almost killed by you driving at an unforgible speed you irresponsible germ. So before I lose my patience, say your apologies. Now."

The man stuttered some apologies as your eyes widened at Chisaki before he let go of the brunnete to dall on his knees qs Kai glared at him.

"Get out of my sign before I change my kind on cutting your fingers off."

You stared dumbfounded at the zpeed the little man had to enter his car and get the hell out of thwre becore you gasped at seing Chisaki starting to walk away from you once again.

"H-Hey! Chisaki!" You called but he only stopped and crouched down "You're seriously not gonna say-" you stopped when he got up and turnes to you with a brojen face as he stared at the absolute destroyed bouquet... the majority of them were sprawled on the ground and somewere broken and petals lost and sprawled on the ground and on the street.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled as you stared confusely until he spoke on a sadder tone "Those were meant for you.." you hesitantly grabbed and stared in pity yet a tad bit of ahocked at the warmth you felt on your chest.

"You.. didn't had to." He sinply blinked at your astonished expression.

"I know. But is the least I could do." He muttered before a bit of awkward silence was in the air as you stared at the white roses in your hand, threatening to appear a smile on your lips until the man just sighed and turned midway away from you.

"Have a good afternoon." You eyes widened and before you could even mutter the words wait, he just left. Hands stuffed on his pockets and head hung low.

You furrowed your eyebrows before your eyes dropped to the ground where a mess of white petals and broken roaes were sprawled...

You buffed before looking at a meteo station and walking on the direction of your new apartment.

"You know," he heard the old male's voice ring from the door way as he tried to listen to some calm music layed on his bed and documments on hand "You could take a break now at then Chisaki, maybe some tea to help calm those nervs boy." He stopped reading for a moment as he sighed, looking at Pops unamused.

"Thank you for the offer. But I shall decline."

"Son you camt expect to just succumb into depression like that and think I would allow it." The words of the epder shocked him to some instant before he hesitantly locked eyes with grey ones "I bet you havent triies to verbally apologize to them even once, am I wrong?" Pops croased his arms as he stared at the man dressed in black.

"... try saying sorry for breaking a cup. The word itself wont make the cup return to its original form, it will still be broken." He sighed as he placed the papers on the desn after getting up "This is the same situation. Is not like I deserve or neither knows how to love someone anyway."

"So you just will accept (Y/n) to walk out, end things and be like that?" The elder gesture with his hand at Chisaki "You want to end things with the one you claimed to lo-"

"I didn't want it too, OKAY?!" he banged his fist on the desk as he droppes his head with closed eyes as Pops frowned "I didn't... I.. I cant take the thought of (Y/n) leaving me... but at the same time.." the elder widened hsi eyes at the drop of water that fell on the papers, staining a bit.

"I cant take the thought..of hurting such an angel like I did again... I wouldn't forgive myself." He spoke through teeth in hopes a sob wouldn't escaped until he felt the hand of his mentor pulling him into a firm hug.

"And you say you dont know how to love, huh?" Pops muttered with a smile whipe putting all of his force on the hug as Chisaki's tears deopped silently "Idiot boy, you are just as worth to love someone as anyone else. A mistake wont lwt you stop you if you do know you were on the wrong of it and want to be better." His hand patter the brown hair of Kai much as he did inumerous times as when he was just a child.

He pushed Kai away and sadly smirked at seeing the face of Chisaki all stained with dry tears but no traces of redness... just a broken look.

"When you act like this. Like a man. Is the times I am most proud of you, my son." His breath hitched at the male's words "i will get some herbal tea wether you want it or not. And believe me boy, things are going to get better soon or later."

"... sounds impossible." He muttered as soon as the elder left the room and closed the door.

It was his birthday. Tommorow was his birthday.

You frowned before inhaling sharply. It would complete almost three months since you just stopped talking with him. You were better. But you continually beated yourself up for craving that man's touch or just for hearing some word out of him.

The tiny little presents had stopped when you read a card where he apologized to seen like a stalker and would leave you alone for you to move on. One day after the day you almost got run over by a car and he had saved you and even defended your moral from that asshole that almost shitted his pants at only knowing Chisaki was from the yakusa.

You sighed... this was the first of a ever time Kai had hurted you... and this seemed like it did not only affected you. You sure was hoping for Kai to get possesive or even threatening you to come back to him like many cases you saw on the T.v. But you should have know that by now, Kai was different.

Despite how much he denied, he was a old and gentleman at heart, always looking for ways to please you through gifts since he hadn't has any form of touching in his lifetime that he didn't saw as sick...

... that was it. You had decided over fighting with yourself over three weeks by now.

You were going to give Chisaki. Your Kai Chisaki, another chance.

Packing your purse and everything you could carry on your suitcase, you locked the door of your apartment and left on destination of the house of the Shie Hassaikai.

The gates openes coincdentaly when a black car entered and you took the chance to sneak in. Tip toeing to your once shared bedroom and letting your things over there before you jumped with a squeal at a soind of cough.

"Is such a pleasure to have you back here my dear." You smiled at the old man's face and immediately hugged him, catching the elder in surprise before he chuckled and returned your hug "Care if I may ask why are you back out of the sudden?"

"I... I missed your son. So much." You spoke in embarrassment as the elder smiled and showed with his hand the hallway.

"I guess he is on a room reading something, go text your luck." You nodded, bowing with gratitide as you hesitantly walked and indeed found Kai sitting on a sofa, leg crossed over another as he read a book.

"'The only thing we never get enough of, is love; and the only thing we dont give enough of is also love.' Tsk... not a tad bit wrong Miller sir.." you heard your boyfriend mumbling to himself as he closed the book with a sigh to rub between hsi eyebrows.

You took careful steps while arms crosses behind your back as you looked at his hunched over form and messy dark brow hair.

"I never took you the type to read love quotes." You speak quietly, giggling at how Chisaki flinched and opened his eyes wide at seeing you just mere feet away from him "Hi."

"(Y/n)?" He spoke almost in disbelief as he stood up , hope on his eye swith a fraction of second before returning to that hollow look "What.. what brings you here?"

You rubbed your arm while taking carefull steps towards him, seeing how tense he was.

"I.. think we should at least had talked.. before all of this happened at least."

"You dont have too." He immediatly replied with a stoic look "Is all clear. And I dont take your reasons away from you. You have the right to have a life of your own." You furrowed your eyebrows and honestly being hurt by his words.

"What? So.. so you are okay with this? W-With.. is all this about us?" You pointed at the two of you as sadness overtook his features.

"... I juust know is for the best. For your happiness and safety at least. You dont have to make excuses to make me feel better. I know what I did. And believe, I regret it and hate myself with every piece of my soul."

"Well... I sure cant just pat your head and tell that 'aw baby it was nothing you want a cookie?'-" you saw how he cringed at your words and looked down at his feet "But... but I can say other things." He arched an eyebrows before his breath hitched when he felt your arma circle his chest as you rested your cheek where you could hear his heartbeat...

He stood there with hands on the air in both fear of hurring you and conoekte shock until you spoke something that completely broke him.

"I forgive you Kai... we can still be together... if you want of course."

The sobs ripped from his theoat without warning as his arms came down to gently hold you as he buries his face in your for the sake of his pride.

You felt tears of your own fall as well, staining Kai black social shirt, which he wa completely hot on it, as you clinged for dear life on him, after months finally feeling secure on his arms like you used to do...

"I'm so sorry..." he mumblex, swallowing a hiccup as he rested his chin on your head as you closed your eyes to let the tears fall.

"I know..." you mumbled before parting away from hin as you both stared at eachother until you smiled sadly as he wiped your tears away as you mirrored his actions. "Who would have thought.. a simple quirkless girl making the big bad yakusa cry like a child." You giggled as you saw the hint of tiny smirk beneath that mask.

You saw how he pushed down the said article to reveap his whole handsome face as he stares back at you.

"Should we start all over then?" You offered as his eyebrows quirked up.

"What about that guy you were talking with before... the almost acvident if you could say."

"... my friend thhat was telling me about his wedding in the next month you mean?" You asked with a tiny laugh as his face dropped in realization. "Y-You thought I was dating him?!"

"Well..." he sighed, looking away from you " You had your reasons to."

He widened his eyes at the sudden touch of your hands on his jaw and almost gasped when you pulled him to crush your lips with his... finaly registering what was happening he allowed himself to close his eyes and just... enjoy the moment.

"My jelly bean." You whispered with foreheads conected as Kai scoffed with a smile.

"Dont start with the stupid nicknames now." You smiled at him before he hesitamtly put his hands on your waist "so.. about what happened-" you shushed him gently before ppacing a more sweet kiss on his lips.

"Hush, is over now. In the past. I know you didn't meaant it, and I forgive you. Dont overthinking about it okay? Is over now my love." You nuzzled on his neck as he leg out a watery chuckle and engulfing you on his arms.

".. I guess.. I guess is over." He smiled as he closed his eyes and breathe din the svent he so desperately craved for months.

#overhaul x reader #chisaki kai x reader #kai chisaki x reader #bnha villains x reader #bnha villains #overhaul #chisaki kai #it ended in fluffy as promised!#bnha fanfictions #bnha fanfics #zuffer writings

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thinkingimmensely · 3 years

Text

Like An Open Book X

Part 1 | Part 9 | Part 11

A/N: Hello everyone! We’re halfway through the first month of 2021 and here’s a new chapter for y’all! Comments are very much appreciated <3 I want to know what you guys think of the story so far, it also gives me motivation to write more really :D

This chapter is quite long, I didn’t want to cut it halfway through since it breaks the momentum thingy haha, I hope you guys don’t mind and enjoy it! <3

MASTERLIST

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from the Potterverse!

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Remus and James had jumped into the water creating a wave that hit you, Sirius, and Peter. The boys soon started a wrestling match, with James up on Remus’ shoulders while Sirius was up on Peter’s.

You laughed as you watched Sirius successfully topple James down, winning the first round of their little wrestling match.

It was the first time you were actually laughing out loud with people you considered as friends, you realized, and if you dwelled on the thought, you felt like crying out of the happiness that filled you right now.

Because you were someone to them, you finally found a place where you belonged… but, will they still have you even though you had the ability to know their every nook and cranny? You knowingly frowned, then wiped it off your features.

“I’m feeling a bit knackered, I’m going to rest for a while!” You called out to the boys and they replied with a chorus of okay’s and aright’s. You swam back to shore and got off the water with ease. You sat on the blanket Remus had spread out earlier and wrapped a towel around yourself; you were already beginning to dry, what with the sun harshly beating down on you.

You would’ve used a drying spell but then you already used that whip earlier and you wouldn’t want to try and press the Ministry’s buttons with using so much underage magic. Thank Merlin Legilimency couldn’t be detected then, since you’d no doubt be behind bars with the number of times you’ve used it outside of Hogwarts.

You sighed, you wondered what Lily was doing right now; you hoped she was having as much fun as you were. She had written to you a few days ago saying that although she still finds James and company (excluding Remus) quite irritating, she was really glad you were having a grand time. She had also attached a picture of herself with the Eiffel Tower behind her. Your thoughts soon drifted off to a certain Slytherin student; you considered him a friend who knew you as well as you knew him. You’ve been inside Severus Snape’s mind too many times that you could read him as easy as an open book, and you’ve seen his fascination with the dark arts and his inner struggle to try and change his views about this whole mess.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think about him anymore; despite his gloomy and snarky attitude, he was good company, and a good student. You just wished your memories about the time Mulciber and the others attacked you came back, maybe then you’d understand why Severus was hellbent on ignoring you; and if only Severus stood still for a moment, you could just peek and get the answers yourself.

Your train of thought was soon cut short as the boys got out of water and were heading your way, big smiles on their faces as they chatted. You cast a smile their way as they came near enough, your thoughts about Severus and your lost memories tucked into the back of your mind for now.

“Hey Y/N, how do I look?” Sirius asked as he came into view by your doorway. You turned to look at him and chuckled as he twirled around for good measure. He adorned an all-Black attire, with his black shirt, skinny black jeans, combat boots and a leather jacket.

“Like you’re ready for a rock concert.” You commented. He flashed his white pearls at you and came inside the room as you were just finishing up your preparations, pocketing your wand in your hoodie, you turned back to Sirius just in time to catch his pushing his long hair back his shoulders, “Do you want me to tie your hair up? I figured it might be annoying if you leave it down later.”

“Good idea!” He chirped and sat down on a stool by the vanity dresser. You came up behind him and scooped his curls in your hands, taking time to do it as neatly at possible, and tied it up with an extra elastic band. Sirius admired himself in the mirror, “My, don’t I look dashing?” He said then stood up as you snorted.

“Like a masterpiece.”

“Darling, may I commend you on your keen eye on beauty?” The both of you broke out laughing and Sirius wrapped an arm around your shoulders and smiled down at you fondly, “Anyway, I’m here to pick you up, the others are already waiting downstairs, and may I add, are itching to go. So, shall we?” He dropped his hand off your shoulder and offered his arm instead.

You shook your head and found this all so silly, but you hooked your arm with his nonetheless. “We shall.” The both of you teetering on your way down, arms linked together. James gave you two a confused look when you came into view, but decided not to say anything. You moved away from Sirius when Remus came out of the kitchen, cookie in hand. “Quick snack before we go?”

Remus smiled at you, “There’s more in the kitchen, I see you eyeing my cookie. Get your own.”

You placed a hand on your chest at mock-hurt, “Ouch Rem, what ever happened to sharing?”

“This is Sirius’ fault no doubt,” Remus said, then turned to the gray-eyed boy, “look what your influence has done to her; she’s as sassy as you.”

“Oi, it’s time to go!” James called out from the doorway.

“Now you kids be careful!” Euphemia doted, “Always carry your wands with you.”

James nodded as the rest of you piled outside, “Don’t worry mum, we’ll be back at dawn!”

When your group arrived at the area where the concert was held, there was already a swarm of people out and about. Remus placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder as you guys braved the crowd. The five of you soon found a spot beside a trailer, Sirius already had a few girls chatting him up while Peter hung on to their every word. Remus and James kept you grounded with all the muggles around and their hearts on their sleeves. They distracted you with conversations and jokes that you didn’t even notice the time that passed until the concert was starting in a couple of minutes.

The swarm of people started gathering and despite Remus’ best efforts to at least provide you with some space to personal space, you found yourself struggling to breathe as strangers pressed upon you as they headed near the stage to get a better view.

“I’m gonna go buy something to drink!” Sirius informed you guys over the cheers of the crowd as the band took to the stage.

Your ears were ringing and you grabbed Sirius by the sleeves of his jacket, “I’ll come with!” You shouted back. Sirius gave you a look of surprise but nodded nonetheless and the two of you dispersed from the rest.

You breathed a sigh of relief as the two of you approached a stall where they sold a variety of drinks. It wasn’t as crowded in this area compared to earlier since the concert just started.

“All right?” Sirius asked as you fanned yourself with your hands.

“Of course.” You replied as Sirius took the can of root beer and fished out a couple of muggle currency out of his pocket. He eyed it then flashed you a sheepish look. You rolled your eyes, chuckling lightly as you helped him pay, getting the right amount and handing it to the vendor.

He popped the lid of the can open releasing some fizz, and took a gulp. “Ack, I didn’t think beer would taste like this. Do muggles really get drunk with this?”

You raised a brow. “Are you serious?”

He furrowed his brows at you, “Yes???”

You shook your head, “I mean, that’s root beer, it isn’t alcoholic. I think it’s more soda actually.”

Sirius frowned and looked at the drink in his hand and took another gulp. He shrugged, “Kind of reminds me of butterbeer.” You laughed at that. He offered you the drink and you gladly took a a few gulps before giving it back to him, your thirst quenched for the time being.

You two were about to head back to the others when another group of girls crowded Sirius saying they just wanted to chat a bit. He had cast you a hesitant look before you waved him off, telling him that you’d wait for him. And wait you did, quite awkwardly at the side until someone suddenly grabbed your hand and pulled you away in haste. “What the bloody hell!” You exclaimed and snatched your hand away but the person turned to look at you. It was a he, and his eyes stormed with panic. “What are you doing here?!” He snapped as he pulled you further away from the crowd, you willingly followed this time, your mind still not believing the fact the he was actually here.

“I should be asking you that. I thought you didn’t hang out with muggles, Sev?” You tried to stay calm, but now that he was talking to you, you felt your nerves tangling up inside of you. For weeks he hadn’t said a word to you and now he’s snapping at you?

Severus ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “We don’t have time for this. You need to leave. Now.” He warned, “Something is about to happen and-” he was about to say but you cut him off, “What do you mean? You- you've been ignoring me for weeks and now... now you show up from who knows where and tell me to leave?”

He placed his hands on your shoulders, “If you think of me as your friend like you always say I am, then trust me when I say that it’s not safe here. They’re coming!”

“They’re?” You asked but before Severus could reply, people with masks and hoods over their heads apparated to the crowd from thin air, cackling noises vibrating throughout the area; people soon began shouting in shock and confusion. “No...” You whispered horridly. Death Eaters. You were about to run back to the crowd on instinct but Severus grabbed your hand. You whipped towards him, “Let me go! The others are still there!” You cried out. Green blasts lit at random places in the crowd while another batch of wizards and witches arrived, the cackling caused by apparation being overlapped by screams and spells. The new group battled the Death Eaters immediately, so they must be Aurors sent by the Ministry.

Muggles ran past the both of you, and someone slammed right into you and Severus, releasing the boy’s hold on you. You took this opportunity to get up and sprint back to search for your friends. You could feel your eyes prickle with unshed tears, of course Severus knew, he was one step away from joining them. “Sirius! Remus!” You shouted through the swarm of people. “Peter! James!” Shouts echoed the area as the people escaped, they’d never hear you at this rate. Hopelessness started to engulf you as dread filled your body. Everyone was scared you could hear everyone’s screams and you could slowly feel yourself lose your strength; you could feel yourself lose your own thoughts.

E c h o e s

Your mind was like a cave that had voices bouncing off its walls; echoing deeper in its crevice.

You’ve lost yourself in that cave countless of times before, each one was not a moment you looked back on fondly. Now you’re back and it seemed like the rocky walls of thoughts were closing in on you.

C l o s i n g r i g h t in

Covering your ears didn’t help, but you did it anyway. People were running amok; children were being separated from their parents, friends were losing each other in the crowd and you couldn’t focus even if you had to- the voices in reality was being mixed with the ones in your head.

Everyone was screaming.

You felt someone pull you away just as a flash of green hit the spot where you just stood.

You didn’t even know who he was.

“Y/N, are you all right?!” The person shook you, and you looked into hazel eyes that were wide with worry and fright. His hands held you by your shoulders in a vice-like grip and you were pretty sure he wasn’t even aware of it himself. “Stay with me. Focus on me.” His voice left no room for argument and you found yourself keenly aware of how close your bodies were. If the both of you weren’t stuck in this life-or-death situation, you would’ve turned into a million shades of red right now.

The both of you were hunched back behind some bushes, shielding you from the sight of any Death Eater around the area. He pried your hands away from your ears, his eyes never leaving yours, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until now, but everything in your head seemed quieter as James Potter’s thoughts drowned everyone else’s away. I’ll keep you safe, we’ll get out of here, we’ll get out. You breathed in a shaky breath and got your wand out of the pocket of your hoodie. “I won’t let anything happen to you too.”

You wiped your tears away and steeled your resolve. James pulled you up and held your hand tightly as you went around, trying to find your three friends. “Protego Duo!” You cast just as one of the Death Eaters was about to blast an Auror from behind.

“Stupefy!” James shouted and it hit the Death Eater square in the chest, making him fall backwards with a thud.

DIE

Merchant stalls caught on fire from Incendio, smoke erupting from the flames. You wiped your tears on the sleeve of your hoodie as James screamed for the names of your friends. He had long let go of your hand as the two of you cast spell after spell in defense and retaliation.

IMPURE

Someone had slammed into you again, sending you to the ground in a hard thud, your head hurt from the impact and the person paid no heed to you as he scrambled up and continued to run away.

MUDBLOOD

Muggles cry out as green hits them. How many has fallen? James had rushed to your side to pull you back up, and you groaned in pain as you did.

DIE

You whipped your attention behind you and saw the Death Eaters duel against Aurors. Someone seemed to float past the turmoil, unperturbed by the events and your blood ran cold. The man had snake-like features, his eyes were scarlet and his face, masklike. And throughout everyone, his eyes locked on to you and a sinister smile slowly spread on his face, time seemed to slow down, but not in a good way. His cruel entity radiated out of him and his thoughts made you want to hurl.

“Ah, a Legilimens!” He shouted, and despite all the noise around, his voice still boomed and everyone paying attention still heard him. A mistake. You made a mistake and now he knows. “And also well-versed in Occlumency I see.” He grinned, and you knew he tried to go into your subconscious as well.

“James,” You croaked out as the boy stepped in front of you, wand drawn, you didn’t want him to find out this way. You wanted to be able to tell them yourself when you were ready.

The Auror you saved shielded the both of you, shouting that you needed to escape.

“There is no need!” The snake-like man announced, “There is no escape from the Dark Lord!” He howled, “Avada Kedavra!” He yelled and the Auror dropped dead as the spell hit him square in the chest. You couldn’t even scream.

Shivers ran down your spine. This was him; this was Lord Voldemort in the flesh. Why was he here? Didn’t he usually leave little events to his followers? “You girl,” He called out to you and stretched out his hand, “Your talents will not be wasted if you join me! This is the first time I met a child blessed with such prowess of Legilimency! You may be only second to me! The boy beside you shows great potential as well, the both of you will rise up in my ranks with your skills!” Even though it seemed like he was complimenting you, his cold and steely tone held no such impression.

You gripped your wand tightly, ready for any sudden movements as sweat trickled down your forehead at the suspense. You glanced at James; the boy never took his eyes off of the Dark Lord and anger burned behind those hazel eyes.

“We will never join you!” James snapped and flicked his wand towards a fallen log and propelled it towards Voldemort and his other death eaters. The both of you took this opportunity to escape, never bothering to look back.

Voldemort bellowed at the petty trick, instantly blasting the log into pieces. “Leave them!” He commanded his followers when they were about to pursuit. “There will be many chances in the future.”

“Remus! Peter!” James exclaimed in relief as he saw the two. The four of you reunited and Peter was bawling his eyes out in fright, his hand that held his wand tightly was trembling vigorously as he held it up in defense.

The three boys looked haggard and you figured you were as well. All of you stayed on your guard as the battle still raged on. “We need to find Sirius and get away from here.” James said and the rest of you nodded in agreement.

“Petrificus Totalus!” Remus casted, hitting a Death Eater, disabling him from making any movements. You didn’t have to look for long when Peter spotted Sirius dueling with someone a few meters from where you stood.

“Peter, look out!” You shout and tackled the blonde boy to the ground as a spell flew by the both of you and hit another person instead. “Immobulus!” James shot at the perpetrator while Remus shot him with a Flipendo, sending him backwards. You helped Peter up, the boy looking absolutely distraught about that near-death experience but still continued on with the rest of you.

“Wouldn’t it be great if you joined us, cousin?!” A woman with wild, curly, black hair exclaimed as she shot spell after spell at your gray-eyed friend. You could feel the bloodlust radiating off of her as she had no qualms on dueling against her family member. Bellatrix Lestrange, or as you knew her back then, Bellatrix Black.

“In your wildest dreams, Bella!” Sirius retaliated with a smirk as he countered her every spell, hex, and dodge every curse. Unlike the other Death Eaters, Bellatrix didn’t wear a robe nor a mask to cover who she was. She was quite proud to be a follower of Voldemort and was sure to flaunt it.

A flash of green light burst in the sky all of a sudden, which made all of you look up and halting all duels. A colossal skull decorated the sky in a flurry of green smoke until it etched itself on the black sky like a new constellation. A snake protruded from its mouth like a tongue. The Dark Mark.

Now, just as sudden as the Death Eaters arrived, they vanished, leaving the aftermath of destruction in their wake. An eerie silence enveloped the area as the Aurors made quick work on damage control. The muggles that escaped were soon tracked and obliviated of any memory of magic that transpired.

You stared into the distance. Your throbbing head soon healed as a healer made quick work of any injuries the five of you may have sustained. “Your use of underage magic today will be overlooked as an act of self-defense.” An Auror informed you and your companions.

You sighed, “Can we go home now?” You were exhausted, all of you were, and James’ parents were probably pacing themselves in worry. The Auror looked at you, thinking. He was as tired as you guys were, and he surely didn’t want to deal with students right now.

“Of course. We will contact you if we have additional questions. Now, you shall be escorted-” He was about to say but James cut him off, “No it’s fine. My place isn’t far from here...”

You zoned out of the conversation when the Auror started explaining the need for an escort and James insisting that the lot of you could look after yourselves, your focus shifted to the people being obliviated. The flash of the wand as the spell was cast seemed so familiar, yet so foreign. You placed a hand on your head as flashes of darkness appeared in your mind. You suddenly stood up, much to the surprise of your friends, and you approached one of the Obliviators.

“Excuse me,” You said. The Obliviator finished her task and turned to look at you and raised a brow in question. You bit your lower lip in nervousness, “Um, would it be alright if I asked some questions about Obliviate?”

The woman faced you fully, letting out a kind smile. “Of course. What would you want to know?”

You ran a hand through your hair, “I- is it possible for the people who were obliviated to regain their memories?” You asked, “How would you know that you’ve been obliviated before?”

The Obliviator placed a hand on her chin in thought, “Well,” she started, “For one, you wouldn’t know if it was casted on you as long as it was properly cast.” She informed you and thought some more, “As for regaining memories, there are various ways of breaking the Memory Charm. Torture, for one. I heard the Death Eaters are especially fond of that; also, if the charm that was cast isn’t as strong, a simple memory potion should do the trick. There are different levels of the charm, so it’s very important to have full focus when casting it. If it’s too strong it could cause brain damage, or even worse, death. But if it’s too weak, there would be a high chance of the person regaining their memories.”

You nodded, engraving her words into your head, maybe this was the answer. “Thank you.” The woman nodded in reply and walked away to obliviate yet another unconscious muggle. Remus stood up as you headed back to them.

“All right?” He questioned as he placed his hands on your arms. You looked up at him, his brown eyes glinting off worry. You gulped.

“As I’ll ever be.” You replied. Remus’ mouth formed a thin line on his face; he didn’t believe you. But he chose not to pry any further, which you were glad for. They informed you that the Auror was going to Apparate you guys to James’ house and explain the situation to his parents.

When you arrived, the door slammed open and Euphemia and Fleamont rushed out, the former in tears as she pulled all five of you in a bone-crushing hug. Fleamont and the Auror moved a few meters away to discuss everything that happened as Euphemia hounded the lot of you inside.

After warm baths and a change of clothes, all of you retreated to bed. You were by yourself in the guest room while the boys shared James’ room. You wished you could go to them right now; you didn’t want to be alone.

You stared at the ceiling of the room as you laid in bed that night. Sleep eluded you and your thoughts plagued you. Someone may have obliviated yours and the Slytherins’ memories about the fight at Hogwarts, you didn’t know who it was and why they did what they did, but you were bent on figuring it out.

Also now, Voldemort knew your ability and wanted you to join his army. You doubt this would be the last time you come face to face with the Dark Lord, war was brewing and even with the safety Hogwarts provided you as students, you would ultimately have to graduate and leave. You had to tell Dumbledore about all this, you decided and immediately stood up to write him a letter.

Quill in hand, you realized your hand still shook from the shock of earlier’ s attack. You took in a deep breath in hopes to help still your mind. Your penmanship wasn’t the best right now but it would have to do with your current state. It was cold and you missed the familiar warmth of the bespectacled boy’s hand in yours and the protection it provided. James was like a pillar that kept you grounded that time...

James... you set down your quill midway the letter, the color draining from your face as realization dawned. James knew. He knew you were a Legilimens now.

___________________

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@serenefreakgeek , @rising-ice-phoenix , @lilmissimperfectlyperfect , @criminallygoodimagines , @lookingformarissa , @fantasticchaoticwho , @bestillmystuckyheart , @stubbornflowerchild , @julygivesafuck , @clockworkherondale , @nikki-sixx-is-daddy , @sarai-ibn-la-ahad

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#james potter x reader #remus lupin x reader #sirius black x reader #severus snape x reader #marauders x reader #harry potter fanfiction #x reader #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #severus snape #peter pettigrew #Lily Evans #voldemort #hogwarts

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butterflies-dragons · 4 years

Text

Sansa Stark and The Exile Prince

You're not my homeland anymore So what am I defending now? You were my town, now I'm in exile, seeing you out (...) I'm not your problem anymore So who am I offending now? You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seeing you out

—Exile ~ Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver (*)

***

At the end of Game of Thrones, the TV Show, Jon Snow is a prince, but he is exiled from his homeland. Sansa fought for Jon's release after Daenerys’ murder, but he was sent to the Night's Watch.

Then at their farewell, Sansa regrets she was unable to gain Jon’s release, but he comforts her by saying the North will be in good hands under her guidance.

That’s why the new Taylor Swift’s Folklore song: Exile, featuring Bon Iver, is making all our wounded jonsa hearts bleed again...

[Let’s cry together while watching this beautiful Exile Jonsa fanvideo...]

Last year, Sansa’s fight for Jon to be released reminded me very much of her pleadings for Ned’s freedom:

The king! Sansa blinked back her tears. Joffrey was the king now, she thought. Her gallant prince would never hurt her father, no matter what he might have done. If she went to him and pleaded for mercy, she was certain he’d listen. He had to listen, he loved her, even the queen said so. Joff would need to punish Father, the lords would expect it, but perhaps he could send him back to Winterfell, or exile him to one of the Free Cities across the narrow sea. It would only have to be for a few years. By then she and Joffrey would be married. Once she was queen, she could persuade Joff to bring Father back and grant him a pardon.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa IV

GRRM has said that the major players’ endings will be similar in the Books, and yes, he has also called Sansa a major player, so Sansa Stark being Queen of an independent North opens the possibility that she could grant Jon a pardon, so he could go back to Winterfell.

Asoiaf Books are full of exiled characters, especially Targaryen ones, like Maegor, Daemon, Viserys, Daenerys, all of them obsessed to claim the Iron Throne for themselves, and that’s the big difference with Jon Snow and the reason to be hopeful for some kind of pardon, reconciliation and returning home to, at last, enjoy some peaceful time at home, a true Dream of Spring.

But Sansa Stark has already crossed paths with an Exile Prince. Let’s see:

Back in AGOT Sansa introduced us to a very particular courtier of the Red Keep: Jalabhar Xho.

Jalabhar Xho is the exiled Prince of the Red Flower Vale, likely exiled for losing a highly ritualized war as per the tradition of the Summer Isles. Following his exile, Jalabhar came to King's Landing in the Seven Kingdoms to request gold and swords from King Robert I Baratheon to help him regain the Red Flower Vale. Robert always entertained the notion of conquering the Summer Isles, but continuously told Jalabhar and put it off until the next year. Although Robert always put off Jalabhar's request for help, he never firmly declined him, telling him "Next year" instead of "No".

Jalabar Xho has a strong bird imagery that connects him with Sansa, since she is mockingly called a bird of the Summer Isles:

Flowers of a thousand different sorts bloom in profusion on the Summer Isles, filling the air with their perfume. The trees are heavy with exotic fruits, and a myriad of brightly colored birds flitter through the skies. From their plumage the Summer Islanders make their fabulous feathered cloaks.

—The World of Ice & Fire

Sandor Clegane stopped suddenly in the middle of a dark and empty field. She had no choice but to stop beside him. "Some septa trained you well. You're like one of those birds from the Summer Isles, aren't you? A pretty little talking bird, repeating all the pretty little words they taught you to recite."

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

The denizens of Joffrey's court had striven to outdo each other today. Jalabhar Xho was all in feathers, a plumage so fantastic and extravagant that he seemed like to take flight.

—A Clash of Kings - Sansa VIII

Sansa is the POV where this Prince of the Summer Isles is most mentioned. Out of the 22 mentions of Jalabar Xho in the Books, 8 of those mentions are in Sansa’s chapters, followed by the 7 mentions of the exile prince in Cercei’s chapters. But what is really curious and very interesting is the fact that most of those mentions are in a romantic context linked with love and weddings:

Jeyne Poole confessed herself frightened by the look of Jalabhar Xho, an exile prince from the Summer Isles who wore a cape of green and scarlet feathers over skin as dark as night, but when she saw young Lord Beric Dondarrion, with his hair like red gold and his black shield slashed by lightning, she pronounced herself willing to marry him on the instant.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

He was one of the few spectators at Joffrey’s Name Day Tourney:

Most of the spectators were guardsmen in the gold cloaks of the City Watch or the crimson of House Lannister; of lords and ladies there were but a paltry few, the handful that remained at court. Grey-faced Lord Gyles Rosby was coughing into a square of pink silk. Lady Tanda was bracketed by her daughters, placid dull Lollys and acid-tongued Falyse. Ebon-skinned Jalabhar Xho was an exile who had no other refuge, Lady Ermesande a babe seated on her wet nurse's lap. The talk was she would soon be wed to one of the queen's cousins, so the Lannisters might claim her lands.

—A Clash of Kings - Sansa I

Jalabar Xho was present at Sansa’s wedding with Tyrion Lanniters, he said something to her in the Summer Tongue while they danced together:

Merry Crane took the floor with the exile prince Jalabhar Xho, gorgeous in his feathered finery.

(...)

The music spun them apart before Sansa could think of a reply. It was Mace Tyrell opposite her, red-faced and sweaty, and then Lord Merryweather, and then Prince Tommen. "I want to be married too," said the plump little princeling, who was all of nine. "I'm taller than my uncle!"

"I know you are," said Sansa, before the partners changed again. Ser Kevan told her she was beautiful, Jalabhar Xho said something she did not understand in the Summer Tongue, and Lord Redwyne wished her many fat children and long years of joy.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa III

[Here you can find a fanart of Sansa and Jalabar Xho dancing together]

Jalabar Xho and Sansa met again during The Purple Wedding and they talked about the Wedding Customs of the Summer Isles:

Tyrion led Sansa around the yard, to perform the necessary courtesies.

She is good at this, he thought, as he watched her tell Lord Gyles that his cough was sounding better, compliment Elinor Tyrell on her gown, and question Jalabhar Xho about wedding customs in the Summer Isles. His cousin Ser Lancel had been brought down by Ser Kevan, the first time he'd left his sickbed since the battle. He looks ghastly. Lancel's hair had turned white and brittle, and he was thin as a stick. Without his father beside him holding him up, he would surely have collapsed. Yet when Sansa praised his valor and said how good it was to see him getting strong again, both Lancel and Ser Kevan beamed. She would have made Joffrey a good queen and a better wife if he'd had the sense to love her. He wondered if his nephew was capable of loving anyone.

—A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VIII

The last we know about this particular character is that he is falsely accused by the Blue Bard to be one of Queen Margaery’s lovers and Cersei would be willing to send him to the Night’s Watch if he confesses:

Behind Margaery came a long tail of courtiers, guards, and servants, many of them laden with baskets of fresh flowers. Each of her cousins had an admirer in thrall; the gangly squire Alyn Ambrose rode with Elinor, to whom he was betrothed, Ser Tallad with shy Alla, one-armed Mark Mullendore with Megga, plump and laughing. The Redwyne twins were escorting two of Margaery's other ladies, Meredyth Crane and Janna Fossoway. The women all wore flowers in their hair. Jalabhar Xho had attached himself to the party too, as had Ser Lambert Turnberry with his eye patch, and the handsome singer known as the Blue Bard.

—A Feast for Crows - Cersei VI

"I prefer this song to the other." Leave the great lords out of it, that was for the best. The others, though . . . Ser Tallad had been a hedge knight, Jalabhar Xho was an exile and a beggar, Clifton was the only one of the little queen's guardsman. And Osney is the plum that makes the pudding. "I know you feel better for having told the truth. You will want to remember that when Margaery comes to trial. If you were to start lying again . . .

(...)

Alone, the Blue Bard's confession would never suffice. Singers lied for their living, after all. Alla Tyrell would be of great help, if Taena could deliver her. "Ser Osney shall confess as well. The others must be made to understand that only through confession can they earn the king's forgiveness, and the Wall." Jalabhar Xho would find the truth attractive. About the rest she was less certain, but Qyburn was persuasive . . .

—A Feast for Crows - Cersei IX

Does the Exile Prince Jalabhar Xho reminds you of someone? Maybe of another Prince, that will probably be exiled from his homeland after some succession dispute, that is surrounded by bird imagery because he wears a black cloak, that is called ‘crow’ and knows an actual crow that repeats everything it hears, that is linked with Sansa Stark, that once imagined himself dancing with a creature that talked to him in a foreign tongue, and that once organized a foreign custom wedding of a Lady with whom he once danced? Do I need to say it?

Damn it, George! What are you doing?

(*) This post was written while listening Exile over and over and over again...

#Sansa Stark #Jon Snow #Jalabhar Xho #is this jonsa?#jonsa #gif not mine

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coreastories · 4 years

Text

The Clock

Part 8 of Days and Nights of Forever

The turning point. She had already said yes. He only needed to hear it.

~*~

Ties in with Corea News, Modern Royals: 10 Times the King and Queen of Corea made ahjummas ugly-cry over their romance. The true story of the hug at the clock.

ON AO3 for download and kudos ;)

“I’m here. How are you? Where are you?”

Just like that, Tae-Eul felt the day’s tension leave her chest. She could breathe. She felt a smile tug at her lips but she repressed it because Kang Shin-jae was actually glaring at her for her audacity in answering the phone in his august presence. Jerk.

She turned away from him and walked out of his office. She leaned against the wall and propped her foot on it, not caring if her shoe left that white wall less than pristine. She hoped it did.

She had missed Gon. They hadn’t been able to see each other last week either. She spoke softly, “I’m sorry, I’m still on that case. We have a breakthrough now. This might end soon. But I might not be able to leave yet.” And that frustrated her more than the case and the helpful bastard in the office did. It was almost five. She should have wrapped things up by now if it weren’t for Mr. Uncooperative.

“I can come to you. Maybe I can help?”

Tae-Eul grinned, imagining Gon here facing off with Shin-Jae. “I’m sure you can. But this involves industrial espionage and they’re already iffy about letting us in on it. They want the investigation done by private firms. But their suspect is also our murder suspect so they need to cooperate.”

And honestly, she didn’t want Gon here, not with this Kang Shin-jae’s brand of condescension. She needed leads, not bullfights. “Look, can you wait at the hotel? I’ll come as soon as I finish.”

“All right. Saranghae.”

“Nado.” She knew he was still on the line--he always was, always waited for her that way-- but she ended the call. Then jumped a bit when someone spoke beside her.

“You expect me to trust you with this case when you take personal calls while on it?”

Tae-Eul pursed her lips and slowly put her phone back in her pocket. Stupid pocket. When she finally found her pocket-- and when she felt like she wouldn’t snap at the civilian-- she looked at him and smiled. She hoped it looked like a smile.

“Look, I understand your reluctance, sir, but I’d like to remind you that you might be this entire building’s lord and master but you’re not the boss of me. And you are not trusting me or my team with anything-- it’s our case too whether you like it or not. You need to cooperate if you don’t want us to charge you for obstruction of justice. Let’s get back to it, shall we?”

They got back to it. Their warrant came and that gave them more leeway in requesting documents and other materials. She tried not to flinch whenever she felt Kang Shin-jae’s gaze on her. He was Kang Shin-jae, the KIT Company’s vice-chairman and pain in the ass who wouldn’t let them have what they needed because it was entangled with the company’s current R&D project.

He wore an expensive suit--something she could recognize by sight by now because of Gon-- and looked and acted like he owned the place, which he did. Everything about him was different. Definitely not her former hyeong-nim.

“If you sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, I’ll give you what you’re asking for. You. Just you. Not your entire team, or the NDA just dissolves itself.”

Tae-Eul raised her eyes to heaven for the-- she’d lost count how many times. “As we told you already, sir, we can’t do NDAs. We might need to disclose something for the investigation.”

“And we’re back where we started.”

Tae-Eul smiled and bowed, gritting her teeth. She motioned for Jang-mi and the rest to drop everything. “Thanks so much for your time.”

It was 10pm. Five hours of looking through files and getting nothing new except the confirmation that their suspect had killed their victim because the victim had found out what the suspect was doing. Typical motive. She could close this case if only she hadn’t come up against this wall that had the face of her former best partner.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful,” Kang Shin-Jae said, and Tae-Eul paused at the door, nearly walking into Jang-mi’s back, because they had all paused.

She heard Jangmi’s stomach growl. She slapped the guy on the back in second-hand embarrassment.

“I really am,” Kang Shin-Jae continued. Tae-Eul felt her heart soften a bit, because this man might not be her hyeong-nim--of course he wasn’t-- but he was a good guy. Just a little stiff about his R&D. Understandable enough. “I’ll let you know if we find anything of his whereabouts, or anything that might help you at all. If you go to the cafeteria, they’ll serve you dinner. It’s free. They’re open 24 hours so there’s no need to hurry.”

“Thanks. That’s nice of you.” She inclined her head at him, and he smiled and looked like he wanted to say something else, but she pushed Jangmi forward and followed him out.

She just wanted to get to the hotel and to Gon.

She was tempted to attach the police beacon on top of her car so she could speed her way there, but she could use the drive to calm down. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to cases taking their sweet time. She was just… she missed Gon.

Last weekend, this case had broken wide open with national news coverage. The victim had been a beloved teacher for decades-- with the nosiness to match, which got her in trouble-- and the public were rabid for blood. So Tae-Eul hadn’t been able to get away.

She missed Gon.

So when she got to their suite and didn’t find him, all her frustration returned and she felt her eyes grow hot with tears.

He had left a note on the counter.

“I’m so sorry, nae sarang. I’m checking on something. If I’m not back and you find this note, it means I had to take care of it. I’ll be back tonight, or tomorrow morning. If you like, you can meet me at the obelisks around 6am. If that’s too early for a Sunday, just wait here. I’ll be here when you wake up. There’s dak-galbi in the microwave.”

She slapped the note back on the counter and went to shower, trying not to be furious that he hadn’t waited, that it had taken her five extra hours to get here, that he wasn’t here, and…

She wished she could just go to him.

She loved what they had but it grated at times like this. It grated so much that she couldn’t go to him or simply meet him at some late night restaurant whenever she got off work.

And something she tried not to dwell on was the fact that if anything happened to him, she wouldn’t even know, unless Jo Yeong decided to have mercy on her and cross the worlds to tell her. If he could even use the flute at all.

It always made her chest and stomach clench, and she tried not to think of it. They hadn’t talked about it yet, not when they’d just gotten together, in an unspoken understanding of not voicing what they feared.

What was Gon checking on, and what was so bad about it that it had taken him away from her? Was he all right?

She waited what seemed like all night. Before closing her eyes to fatigue, she looked at the clock: 2:14am. She woke up again around 4am. At that point, she got out of bed and dressed to go home. She was too wired. She could use a workout at the dojo before heading to the bamboo grove.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When two hours came and went without Tae-Eul coming through the door and without a phone call, Gon sighed and pinched the nerve flicking between his eyes.

This was one of those times he really hated that he lost Jo Eun-sup in this new timeline. Gon had no one to call to ask about Tae-Eul. He couldn’t ask her dad-- Gon had tried that once and lost three hours to samgyupsal.

He turned on the TV and flicked through the channels, stopping on the evening news when he thought he saw Tae-Eul-- and it was. Tae-Eul and Jangmi and two other detectives enter Kang Shin-jae’s building. The footage wasn’t the best but he’d recognize her anywhere.

And it was Kang Shin-jae on the news. Well, his company. A source had leaked to media that the recent murder case in Jongno was linked to KIT Company. The suspect was a former employee.

The news cycled through its short footages. Gon saw the blurred and yellow-taped murder scene, the Jongno police station facade, the KIT building exterior, and then that footage again of Tae-Eul and her team in plain clothes entering the building this afternoon, confirming the news item’s claim that KIT Company was connected somehow.

Gon turned off the TV. He took a deep breath and also tried to turn off his returning and now absolutely ridiculous resentment of Kang Shin-jae.

He didn’t resent the man. Why would he? He went to the kitchen and fixed something. It was a good night for stir-fry. He took too much satisfaction chopping the vegetables.

When another two hours went without Tae-Eul, Gon was at the end of his patience.

He didn’t like what he was feeling. It was ugly and making his jaw clench and he didn’t want Tae-Eul to come to him in this state. She didn’t deserve it.

So he dashed off a note and left before he changed his mind or decided to do anything stupider, like go to the KIT building.

Back at the palace, a couple of court maids dissolved into tears when they made the mistake of getting in his way. He had only looked at them venomously, but that was apparently enough. Lady Noh should hire women with more backbone. He snorted. Lady Noh said nothing and only looked at him in reproach. But she didn’t pry. She did bring in a plate of petit fours.

He ignored them and carried on working until he realized the light in the room had changed. His neck was stiff and his eyes were sticky and fuck it all, it was a quarter to five a.m.

He’d told Tae-Eul she could meet him or he’d go to her at six.

He stood in the shower and tried to get his thoughts in order. He turned the water cold because there was a heat in his chest he couldn’t dislodge. He hadn’t seen her last weekend and this one was nearly over and here he was wasting time feeling what? Grouchy that he hadn’t seen her? How old was he, fifteen?

Jealous that she’d spent half the night with Kang Shin-Jae?

Christ, it sounded ridiculous in his own head. Kang Shin-Jae was practically a stranger to her.

He was going to fix this.

Secretary Mo was in his suite’s living room, just about to peer into his bedroom to see if he was done in the shower. Gon swore. “No.”

“I’m sorry, Pyeha. A Japanese vessel apparently sank a Corean fishing vessel. They’re saying it’s an accident and they’ve rescued the passengers but now Japanese officers are trying to bargain for the release of our fishermen. The Minister of Defense is on the line, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister are also waiting.”

Gon took the calls in his bathrobe. He asked questions and gave answers. If Secretary Mo noticed he was more curt than usual, she didn’t say anything. When he reached the Prime Minister, he only told her he trusted her completely and ended the call.

Despite all that and Secretary Mo's matching terrifying efficiency, it was still already a quarter past seven when he finally came out of the obelisks. He found Tae-Eul seated in one of the benches in the grove.

Glaring at him. And with dark smudges under her eyes. He knelt in front of her. “I’m so sorry. There was an incident that kept me. A Japanese--”

“Let’s just go. And I’m tired. Maybe we can sleep for a bit?”

Gon stroked the smudges under her eyes with both thumbs. “Haven’t you slept?”

She pursed her lips, which she did when she chose not to say what was on her mind, still looking at him darkly but her expression softening by the second. “You look like you haven’t either.”

That just reminded Gon of his idiocy. He was furious with himself.

He took Tae-Eul’s hand and stood up, gently pulling her with him. She leaned on him once she was on her feet. His chest tightened with love for this woman and he tucked her against his side with his arm. He walked them toward the obelisks. “We can sleep at the palace.”

The manpasikjeok hadn’t sent them to any other time for awhile now, and he was glad it didn’t choose today to surprise them. Tae-Eul napped on the boat, and even with that she was still so sleepy, shielding her eyes from the morning’s sunlight when they docked and then made their way to the palace.

By this time, Gon had devised a completely private and empty route to his chambers, so Tae-Eul didn’t have to hide as she half-walked, half-leaned on him, half-asleep with her cheek on his shoulder. She really was exhausted.

If his guilt was a pinch before, it was a vise now, squeezing him.

In his--their-- bedroom, Tae-Eul turned down the covers for herself, took off her shoes, then shimmied out of her jeans. He half-smiled-- those long, gorgeous legs would never stop taking his breath away-- and then tucked her in, bending over to kiss her on the forehead, her tired eyes, her nose, her cheeks, and finally, her lips.

She kissed him back sleepily, her thumb anchored at his cheek and her fingers doing a lazy, gentle stroking on his neck. This was what he’d needed. He felt the vise in his stomach losing its hold, he felt silly about every other ridiculous thought that had passed through his head.

But she was sleepy, and he drew back to look at her. Her eyes were already closed. Without opening them, she patted the space next to her on the bed.

He was just about to get in when the phone in the living room rang. Tae-Eul winced slightly at the noise.

“I’m sorry. That’s probably Secretary Mo. Something’s happened this morning.”

Tae-Eul had opened her eyes now. “Is everyone all right? Are you all right?”

Discounting my fit of idiotic jealousy? “Of course I’m alright, and our people should be,” he said. “Let me answer the phone. I’ll be back.”

Except he wasn’t able to come back for twelve hours.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tae-Eul woke up to Lady Noh peering down at her from beside the bed, having gently shaken Tae-Eul awake. The old lady was also feeling her forehead and cheek now.

“Are you ill? Why are you so sleepy?”

“No. Just sleep-deprived.” Tae-Eul realized she could smell food. “I brought your lunch. Come and eat.” “Where’s Gon?”

Lady Noh no longer flinched at that, but she did look at Tae-Eul in sympathy. “He went with the Navy to try to intimidate those idiots into releasing our people.” Lady Noh picked up the tray and placed it before Tae-Eul before she could protest. “Eat. Then sleep some more.”

Tae-Eul groaned at how the older lady was looking at her. “Lady Noh, I’m not pregnant.”

“We don’t know that,” Lady Noh said, then she smiled impishly and left, leaving Tae-Eul blushing on the bed.

Gon hadn’t even slept yet. She knew that sleep-deprived look. She reached for her phone--in this world-- and called him. He answered immediately.

“Have you just woken up?”

“Like a ba-- yes, I did. Are you on your way back?”

“That’s what I want to know myself,” he said, his voice snappish, something she had never heard before. “Can you wait a bit more?”

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

“Yes, you do. You can cut ties with me.”

“What?” She had said what she’d said as a joke. Waiting was like their brand. They waited for each other. She scratched her neck. But he was.... angry? And apparently he wasn’t done.

“Yes. That case that took you away for two weekends now. Maybe you like that case so much because you get to spend it with Kang Shin-jae in his palace.”

Tae-Eul took the phone away from her ear for a second and stared at it in disbelief. Then she put it back. “I’ll talk to you when you’re making sense.”

She hung up on him. That would teach him.

She told herself she was amused and not… not angry.

She vented it on her food and mutilated her fish and side dishes before eating them all because feeling like this made her hungry.

Lady Noh came back and seemed inordinately satisfied with her spotless bowls. Tae-Eul felt like pulling her hair. “Lady Noh, I’m not pregnant. What happened with Gon?”

Lady Noh would never sit down on the king��s bed, but she did lean a hip on it, since it was just at the right height. “We got news this morning that a Japanese boat had sunk a Corean fishing boat. Accident, they say, and they rescued everyone onboard. But then the Japanese Navy got ahold of them and someone in that godforsaken government is trying to use the fishermen as a bargaining chip. Ridiculous.”

“They’re okay? The fishermen? No casualties?”

Lady Noh nodded. “It seemed too neat, if you ask me. Accident, my foot.”

“What are they trying to bargain about?”

“Who knows. We have so much they want.”

“Wait, you said you got the news this morning? Not last night?”

“Yes. Well, I don’t know. He was really furious last night. I thought it must have been because of this, because it kept him from you.”

Tae-Eul blinked at the old woman, trying to make sense of what she just heard.

When Lady Noh saw Tae-Eul wasn’t going to say anything else, she left with the tray. Tae-Eul got up from bed, went to her dresser, and put on silk pajama bottoms, and then unconcealed the television in the living room suite.

Either the news outlets were less informed, or they were truly saying Corea only got wind of the “accident” this morning, and assuring the people that the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs had acted quickly.

The king was with them now to lay terms himself and act on the royal family’s long-standing promise to be the country’s first line of defense from foreign maneuvering and malcontent.

So Gon must have had another pressing matter on top of this one? Add to being sleep-deprived and no wonder he was snappy. A fraction of her mind-- a tiny fraction-- was wondering if that other “pressing matter” was named Kang Shin-Jae, but since it was already making her eyes roll, she hoped not.

----------------------------------------------------------------

“Yes. That case that took you away for two weekends now. Maybe you like that case so much because you get to spend it with Kang Shin-jae in his palace.”

His brain was already backfiring and imploding with warning even as his mouth actually finished saying all that. Suddenly, the railing of the navy vessel looked so inviting. He could hit his head on it. Or he could climb it and jump overboard and maybe the Pacific could knock some sense into him.

“I’ll talk to you when you’re making sense.”

The line went dead.

Gon’s arm dropped like dead weight at his side and it was only thanks to his phone’s ribbed case that it didn’t slip from his slack hand.

And he could see Yeong giving him his most judgmental side-eye to date.

Gon closed his eyes.

“I can’t believe you said that,” said Yeong quietly.

Gon closed his eyes harder. “I need sleep. I need to get out of here. I need to go beg Tae-Eul to forgive me for what I said. I need to--”

“Shut up,” said Yeong, more quietly. Gon turned around to see the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs approaching.

For the moment, he ignored the fact that his Unbreakable Sword had told him again to shut up. Gon straightened his back. “Everything to our satisfaction, gentlemen?”

“Yes, Pyeha, they just want their own minister to arrive first and officially hand over the passengers.”

“What?”

Minister Kim leaned back from Gon’s quiet growl. “They want to make it official. Since Your Majesty is here, they couldn’t be completely without a representative from their own government.”

Gon was about to say he can bloody well leave when he realized he couldn’t, and shouldn’t. “Very well. Are they coming by air?”

“By boat, Pyeja. I’m sorry for the delay. The minister apparently has an ear condition that doesn’t let him travel by air.”

“Then why is he coming in the first place-- why couldn’t someone else-- fine.”

He was whining so he stopped. He looked at Yeong to get some sympathy but only got another glaring side-eye.

“Go ahead, let me have it, then,” Gon said, when he and Yeong were alone again.

“Pyeha, I’m sure nothing I tell you is worse than what your own head is already spewing. What did she say?”

“Only said she’ll talk to me when I’m talking sense.”

Yeong nodded in what seemed like agreement and approval.

Gon pressed his fingers against his eyes.

“Can you really see yourself living with that option?” Yeong asked quietly, not looking at him but at the horizon.

“What?”

“The one you told her. Breaking things off with you. Choosing Kang Shin-Jae in his palace.”

“You don’t need to quote me.”

Yeong just cut his eyes at him.

“No,” said Gon. “No.”

And that was it, wasn’t it? That possibility, that threat, no matter how implausible with Tae-Eul’s love for him, was enough to shake him and send him incoherent and mindless with rage.

His jaw clenched. It would be so simple. Tae-Eul could have a good life with no complications, no obligations. She could have someone daily, not on weekends, and she could go to the man anytime she wanted, and they could have that domestic simplicity of living together, waking up together, every day.

Everything Gon wanted but couldn’t give her at the present, not with their separate worlds and separate lives.

He was a mathematician. His brain could see and calculate figures in an instant. Kang Shin-Jae was a better equation for Tae-Eul. He was in her world. That alone was a figure Gon couldn’t match.

His phone buzzed in his hand, and it brought him outside his own head.

The text message was short, to the point. Tae-Eul. With her amazing ability to read through him, apparently even across the ocean when he was at sea.

His eyes stung. And he convinced himself it was the salt air. Not his profound awe of this woman fate had given him.

I love you. I’ll see you at the clock.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lady Noh had brought Seung-ah over when Tae-Eul saw the latest update on the situation Gon was smoothing over, so both women heard Tae-Eul swear vehemently.

She blushed. But they took it in stride.

Seung-ah grinned. Tae-Eul thought the girl was just too fascinated with the king’s secret girlfriend just now. Lady Noh had wanted Seung-ah and Park In-yeong, who were sort of like her protegees, to know of Tae-Eul, because Tae-Eul needed it.

It was like a shield against scandal: Tae-Eul had the highest court lady who was practically the king’s grandmother, the Royal Public Affairs Office, and the only female member of the Royal Guard, on her side. Tae-Eul saw the sense in it.

And right now, she was thankful for it.

“He’ll be stuck there for another five hours?!” she ranted. “They’re waiting for the Japanese Defense minister.”

“They’re posturing. His Majesty soundly kicked their ass-ets again in this round,” said Seung-ah, adjusting her vocabulary when Lady Noh looked at her. “So they’re posturing to save face, making the king wait.”

Tae-Eul sighed.

“Do you want to take a walk with me?” Seung-ah asked. “I can show you around and you can tell me more about your cases.”

“Cases” often included questions about Gon, just bordering on invasive but never actually crossing the line. Tae-Eul was trained as a detective and she still learned questioning techniques from Seung-ah.

“All right. I can’t stay here all day. Just let me get dressed.”

Inside the en suite, she debated for a couple of seconds whether she should call Gon. She was worried about him, sleep-deprived and out on a ship under the sun and she wanted to let him know she was behind him one hundred percent, whether or not he was in some snit about Kang Shin-Jae.

Especially if he was in a snit about Kang Shin-Jae.

But if she was in a snit and stuck somewhere she’d rather not be, she wouldn’t want him to bear the brunt of her temper either. So instead of calling, she should send a text.

I love you. Don’t worry about me. Don’t think about Kang Shin-Jae. You’re the only one I want and I’m happy to be right here with you even if you’re far away from me. I’m going out with Seung-ah. I saw everything on the news so I know you’re still stuck there. I’ll see you at the clock.

She frowned at that message and edited it to the most important bits that would actually accomplish what she wanted for him.

She didn’t want him to think Kang Shin-Jae was still on her mind. She didn’t want him to dwell on the fact that they weren’t with each other right now, another weekend gone. She didn’t want him to worry, period. About the men in her world or her going out and about in his.

I love you. I’ll see you at the clock.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark and the clock was like a moon in the street when she saw his tall form coming toward her. Members of the Royal Guard were already scattered around them, probably long before she even saw Gon, which would explain the privacy and quiet they suddenly had, even in that public and much beloved part of the palace grounds.

She stood up as he neared her and her arms came up almost of their own accord when she saw his face. When he pulled her into his arms, hers came around his waist, and she held him tight, feeling him shake a little and then go still as he sighed against her hair.

She felt his hand cradling her head and heard him whisper, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.”

She patted his back and squeezed him over his soft coat. “Of course you didn’t.”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“Will you be my queen? Will you let me be the one to fill your days?”

He had asked her that question so many times now but Tae-Eul still felt her heart clench every time he did. She used her grip on his coat to push him a little so they could part enough for her to see his face, and for him to see hers when she said, “Not today.” And just before his face shuttered at her usual reply, she added, “But soon.”

He didn’t smile like she’d expected, didn’t speak, only looked at her so intensely Tae-Eul felt her blood pound on her chest, neck and cheeks.

When she was about to tug him at the waist again to demand he say something, he brought one hand to her cheek and said, “Do you mean that? Will it make you happy?”

And Tae-Eul felt herself soften in his arms, felt her eyes brim with love for this man fate gave her. Because when she said Soon, she’d expected him and his mathematician mind to ask, When?

But no, he was only-- he only ever thought of her happiness. And maybe she should, too. Her happiness and his. Because he deserved it.

She nodded, nodded hard and with conviction because she was daring any gods out there to interfere. “Of-- of course it will,” and her voice trembled a little. So she cleared her throat and said more firmly, and simply, “Yes.”

He smiled.

----------------------------------------------------------

____________________________________

Added that line from the novel. But pretty much completely the original outline. Whew. Let me know whatcha think. Homestretch. :)

#CoreaNews #CoreaFiction #the king eternal monarch #the king: eternal monarch

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bygosscarmine · 3 years

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A PERILOUS ENGAGEMENT

Man from UNCLE - Wife or Knife AU

5/12

If Gabrielle tried to answer, it merely made the note of her cries more anguished. Maria ran to her bedchamber and fetched down smelling salts, which she thrust under Gabrielle's nose. Forced to gasp, her weeping was interrupted by the assault on her nostrils.

"You are worrying me," Maria said in a chiding tone, knowing that when someone got so overwrought it was no use to be sympathetic.

It was much better to divert their attention. "Whatever can you be crying over so? Surely a wedding is not something to make you so very full of grief."

For a moment she feared speaking the question would restart Gabrielle's tears, but instead the girl seemed to get angry.

"No, of course I have no cause for grief. I am trapped in a country village with no prospects and an inheritance I can only enjoy once I'm married, and an uncle who would never recommend me to marry anyone. Why would a wedding make me at all grieved?"

Maria had her failings, but her perceptiveness about people was keen. Gabrielle could not possibly be so upset she was hysterical about her dim marital future unless…

"Darling, is there a man you like? Is it--" she hesitated with some foreboding. "Is it Mr. Solo?"

Gabrielle's laugh at that was a little bitter, but Maria was relieved. "No, I don't care for Mr. Solo. Goodness, if I did he might be persuadable, and your father might even think it a good match. No, I do not intend to poach him."

"I am not attached to Mr. Solo in any way," said Maria with dignity. Then, with a bit of a cunning tone to her voice, "So who is it who is unpersuadable? I shouldn't think you'd have seen his friend above three times, and never to speak to."

Gabrielle's hesitation told her enough.

"Oh, you wicked child! Have you been sneaking out to talk with him? Please say I have not failed so greatly as a chaperone."

"Would it be so desperate a case if I had been spending time with him?" Gabrielle retorted, quickly this time. "And do you really think he would be so improper as to spend time with a young woman unchaperoned?"

Maria looked at her blankly. There was clearly something else, but…

"You have been sneaking out," she reflected, "I could swear to that. But no one has seen you, so you must have been disguised. And no, I don't think the starched Carrick would have spent time even with a servant girl alone, he is too nice for that." Then she gasped, "Gabrielle! Jerry's old trunk!"

The girl turned her face away, but this was practically an admission.

"You have been meeting, but he thinks you are a young man?"

"A boy," she admitted. "He called me lad."

Maria flung her hands up in despair.

"Well, your secret is safe with me, or else I'll be removed to my father's house to live with my new sister-in-law. But you should not have!"

"I know," said Gabrielle grimly. "It was an accident. At first."

Maria softened. "And now your heart is broken. Poor thing."

There was silence a moment.

Gabrielle bathed her eyes with a cool damp cloth that one of the maids had brought in. Maria had ordered her provisions for weeping as she'd come in through the door, voice wobbling but not yet overcome. She did feel a little better for crying.

"You know," said Maria slowly, "I can't see Father objecting to your Mr. Carrick. So the only thing that is left is to see if he is persuadable."

"Maria, he leaves in just a few days, and he thinks I am a boy!"

"Well, then all we have to do is prove you are not one."

"And then he shall think well of me," Gabrielle commented.

"You know," Maria reflected, "I have found that while society cares very much about propriety, and men care about how society sees them, the finer details of propriety don't always matter to them the same when it comes to a pretty girl."

Gabrielle snorted. "This is a hopeful minister we are talking about. He is quite serious about it, and I cannot see him marrying anyone he thought unfit for his parsonage."

"But things are a little in doubt about him having a parsonage, are they not? And we do not need him to become engaged to you, merely to stay long enough to become attached to you."

Gabrielle was astonished.

"Maria, why would you help me? This is a consequence of my bad behavior."

"I have never heard you cry like that before, and my conscience is stricken. I think even your minister will understand, once you can explain. That is, about your dressing…in cognito. One must not tell a gentleman too soon about forming a tendre. Now, we do not have much time, so we shall have to be bold…."

Gabrielle was dubious, but ready to hear a solution.

Though wedding festivities were at an end, some of the guests had yet to leave the neighborhood, so on Monday there was a much quieter cards-and-dinner party. Maria had inveigled her mother to invite the young men staying with her father's man of business as a way to break up the somewhat stiff family party. Her mother was harassed deeply with trying to obtain enough eggs to continue to feed her guests when the local hens were being contrary, but had agreed absently so Maria had sent round cards. She had also sent a rather more informal note to her friend there.

He came briefly for a visit at her summons, though he entered looking apprehensive. She laughed. "Oh dear, Mr. Solo. You seem alarmed by my sending for you!"

"Before now you have seemed contented to wait upon chance meetings. I could not help worrying something was troubling you," he said, relieved that clearly whatever he had been summoned for was not some awkward declaration.

"Isn't it such a strange coincidence that I was always at my father's house at around the same time you were to come and discuss with the provisions of my late husband's will?" she teased. "Perhaps you were right to worry, for I am in a bit of a snarl. See, I have a bit of a wager on with a friend. Oh, you will be a gentleman about this, won't you?"

"Are you questioning my honor?" Solo said, mock-angry.

"Just, it seems sometimes men do not take the confidences of ladies quite as seriously as they do other gentlemen's."

"Then they are dogs, ma'am. While I may be a flirt and even the son of a tradesman, I am no dog."

Thus reassured, Maria carried on with her somewhat falsified account, and ended in the question, "So is Mr. Carrick unattached? And remember, this is a matter of hair-splitting as any lawyer must be familiar with, since it involves money. He must be completely unattached, not just a matter of an engagement or a tacit understanding."

"Carrick would be mortified if he knew I was answering so," said Solo, grinning, "but the man is like the driven snow when it comes to women, and hasn't shown any inclination toward a lady since we were fresh out of Oxford. And that attachment is long over, since the lady in question turned out to be a little vulgar and is now married. You can collect your money with impunity."

"It is a matter of pride, not money," said Maria loftily. "But do, do keep this a secret."

"It should be easy to do so, since I will be leaving the neighborhood in a week."

If this was a bid for some sort of fond reply, Solo's shot went wide of the mark.

"What a relief that will be to you!" As if in afterthought, she added, "We will miss having the fresh faces about the place."

Solo soon took his leave, and thought very little more about the questions she had asked, and a little more than he liked about her casual dismissal of his absence.

Carrick was annoyed that he was going to a party the night before his departure, but Solo told him it was necessary to make his proper thanks and farewells to the Squire's family.

"Besides you've had your things mostly packed for days now. What else would you do but mope about all night?”

It was as tame of an affair as promised, so it was not even ten o’clock when they rose to leave. Lady Hettisham also rose, declaring fatigue, and offered them a place in her carriage home, since she would pass through the village. The walk was pleasant by day but happily disposed of by night, so they agreed.

At the door of the carriage, Lady Hettisham exclaimed with frustration, “Oh, my wandering wits! Mr. Solo, help me back to the door, I quite forgot my shawl. No, Mr. Carrick, get in and wait on us.”

He did so, not particularly convinced of her urgency for a shawl but imagining some private comment between her and Solo was wanted.

Carrick had vaguely noted that the carriage was occupied by another figure but not been alarmed by this, until this person rapped hard on the door so the wheels began to move.

Link to all posted chapters here.

#Man from UNCLE fic #Man from UNCLE fanfiction #Wife or Knife #Wife or Knife AU

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mimi10134 · 3 years

Text

Fall (A Star Wars OC Story) Chapter One

They say that the worse part about being a Jedi is the continuous witnessing of death and destruction. Or at least that is what my master would tell me and before the death and destruction didn’t bother me. But when I witnessed the death of my own master, I began to finally see the real picture of the Clone Wars.

When the pilot was landed at the Jedi Temple in the metropolitan planet of Coruscant there were dark clouds covering the skies and a small amount of rain was beginning to fall. I sat next to my master’s casket wearing my dark brown cloak with the hood up. I continued to stare at the casket, I had cried nearly the entire trip back and now all I felt was emptiness. The platform of the ship opened to reveal all the members of the Jedi Council, they too had their hoods up.

Stand up, Natalia, I told myself.

Slowly making my way down the platform, I didn’t make eye contact with anyone as I walked into Jedi Temple. Once inside, I parted ways with my old master as his body needed to be prepared for the burial ceremony. Watching the two clones push him down the hall, I felt a presence come over me and a voice.

Remember that death isn’t the end. It is merely the beginning.

It was the voice of my master.

“Natalia,” I heard behind me.

Turning around, I saw that it was Anakin Skywalker. He and I were good friends and often times were told that we could be twins. We wore similar Jedi robes and had the same colored hair but mine was longer and always worn in a braided ponytail. I could always talk to him but today was a day I needed to be alone. Ignoring his words, I walked down the hallway where they took my master. I knew that Anakin would try and follow me.

“Let her be, Anakin,” I heard someone say, “She has a lot to process.”

-------------------------------

The funeral was brief. I, the Jedi Council and several other Jedi stood around to watch the cremation of this once powerful Jedi Master. While Master Shun never wanted a padawan at first, he grew to like me, just as I had grown to like him. In my hands I held his lightsaber and I would hold onto it so long as I was a Jedi. After the ceremony ended and everyone filed out, I decided to retreat to a secret spot in the Temple that I found when I was a youngling. It was in a tower that was toward the back of the building, very few people knew about it and I liked it that way. It was my escape from the never-ending war.

It was a small circular room that had a giant glass window that overlooked Coruscant. Small trinkets laid around and random posters covered the walls. I made this space into my own. Sitting on a cushioned bench, I had my knees to my chest as I watched the falling sun.

What is going to happen to me now, I thought, I don’t know if I can do this without you, Master.

My thoughts soon ended by the door opening. In walked a clone, who was dressed in all white and whose helmet was off to reveal his bald head with small purple tattooed lines on it.

“Hey Nat,” he said, “Thought I would find you up here.”

“I am really not in the mood, Knight,” I said looking back out the window, “I just wanna be alone.”

He let out a sigh, “I’m sorry about what happened, Nat. I can’t imagine what is going through your mind right now. But, know that you have a lot of people who are here to help you.”

“Help me,” I said looking at Knight, “All the council wants to do is stick me with another Master so I can continue my training. They don’t care about my wellbeing. They are expecting me to just get over this.”

Knight placed his helmet down on a nearby table and sat next to me placing a gentle arm around me.

“I care about you,” he said, “I don’t want to see you suffer like this alone. Talk to me.”

I laid my head against Knight’s shoulder and began to cry. With his free arm, he wrapped it around me and hugged me.

“I got you, Nat,” he said, “I’ve got you.”

I knew that this relationship that I had with Knight was wrong and he knew it as well. But we didn’t care because we were in love. It is what happens when you spend a generous amount of time with someone, it is only human. The relationship started about six months ago, Knight was the only person who cared to listen to what I had to say and whenever I was around him, I felt safe. This moment was then ruined by my comm link going off.

I groaned and then answered, “Yes.”

“This is Master Windu. Your presence is requested before the Council.”

I didn’t respond back and simply stood up.

“See,” I said, “Told you that they only care about my training.”

Knight stood up and gave me a small peck on the top of my head before I left the room. Out in the hallway, I noticed all eyes falling on me, whispers began to rise amongst the other padawans and younglings. The girl who lost her master. The girl who had no idea what she was going to do. The girl with no future. Arriving outside the council room, Anakin stood there with Captain Rex.

“Natalia,” Anakin said, “How are you doing?”

I paused for a second, “I am being summoned to appear in front of the council the day that I cremated my master. I could be better.”

Before Anakin could respond, I walked into the council room, with Anakin following behind me. I stood in the center of the room, all the council’s eyes on me.

“Natalia,” Windu began, “Let me start by saying, we are sorry for the passing of your Master. Master Shun was truly a one of a kind Jedi and will be missed greatly.”

I remained silent with my arms crossed.

“There is now the conversation about your training,” Windu said, “While we don’t have a new master set up for you yet. We can provide you with a temporary one. Master Kenobi has offered to take on this task.”

I looked over at Master Kenobi who was smiling at me.

“Glad to know that my training is a task for you all,” I said, “It has even been a day and you are moving on as if this happened last year.”

There was a silence that gripped the air. The kind that was unsettling and one that no one wants to the first to speak in.

“Master Shun would want you to continue your training,” Obi-Wan finally said, “We haven’t forgotten what a wonderful master he was to you and I promise that I will do my best to keep to his teaching methods. He may be gone, Natalia but I assure you he isn’t forgotten.”

I remained silent again. There was no more energy left in me to fight anymore. At least not today.

“Fine,” I said, “Is there something else or can I finally get some sleep?”

“That will be all for now,” Windu said, “Thank you Natalia.”

I gave a slight bow and left the room. When the doors shut behind me, I stayed outside in the hallway and listened in.

“Master Skywalker,” Windu said, “How well do you know Natalia?”

Anakin was silent for a few moments and then said, “Well enough to know that probably assigning her a new master the day that her old master got cremated was not the best move.”

“It is important that a Padawan’s training is uninterrupted,” Windu said, “We shall allow for Natalia to mourn the loss of Master Shun but we also need to ensure that she is still on the path to becoming a Jedi Knight.”

“How considerate of you,” Anakin said sarcastically.

I gave a half smile at the fact that Anakin tried to stick up for me. Only a true friend would do that.

-------------------------------------

Darkness is all that consumed me. No matter where I looked that is what I saw.

Hello, I said as my voice echoed.

I also wasn’t wearing my normal grey and black Jedi robes; they were all white.

Hello, my padawan, a voice said behind her.

Turning around, I saw that is was Master Shun. His kind eyes and slight long grey beard made me smile. I always joked with him that one day I would shave this beard. Too bad that day never came.

Still never got around to shaving it off, I smiled, I miss you.

He smiled and then cocked his head to one side, Do you really though?

The smile disappeared from his face and he began walking toward me. My stance tightened.

If you really cared about me, you would have been there for me. But you weren’t.

No, I said, I tried but I couldn’t.

You left me for death, Natalia he said stopping in front of me, And now you have to live with that burden for the rest of your life.

Suddenly a red blade shot through Master Shun’s chest.

----------------------

I shot up from my sleep to find that I was safe in my room within the Jedi Temple. My face was dripping with sweat and my breathing was fast. After a few moments, I began to calm down and arose from my bed and exited the room. It was early in the morning. Early enough where the hallways in the Temple were quiet and empty. I made my way down the hallway and looked up at the window art that depicted the great Jedi Knights before me. I was always inspired to be like them one day, wanting that glory, that honor. I then entered a small meditation on my left and saw that Master Yoda was there.

“Master Yoda,” I said entering, “I didn’t expect anyone to be up this early.”

“Trouble sleep you are having,” he said opening his eyes.

“Something like,” I said sitting down.

“Bad dreams about you master, hm?”

I shifted in my seat thinking about the dream. It felt so real to me, as if I was witnessing his death all over again.

“I know that we aren’t supposed to form attachments to people,” I began, “I tried to not be too attached to Master Shun and I didn’t think losing him would affect me this much. But every time I think about what happened, I think about ways I could have prevented him from dying. What I could have done differently.”

I sighed and continued, “I don’t know if I can continue down this path without him. While I agree that Master Kenobi is a great teacher, nothing will replace the bond that I had with Master Shun.”

“A hole that will never be filled,” Master Yoda said, “With the Force your master is. With you he is.”

He was right.

“Perhaps discussing what happened could help.”

Here it was. The moment that I was dreading. I knew it would have to be discussed at some point after all I was the only person with Master Shun at the time of his death.

“It was a standard recon mission that went bad,” I began, “We had gotten word that battle droids were spotted on the planet Oria. Some local had reported it. Master Shun knew he should have told the council, but we were in the same sector. So, we decided to just go. To not cause any fear amongst the locals, Master Shun ordered that he and I were just to go down.”

I paused in reflection on that day. I remembered every moment leading up to leaving for Oria with Master Shun.

--------------------

“Natalia,” Master Shun said with a slight British accent, “Are you still with me?”

He and I sat in our individual fighters, flying toward Oria’s surface.

“Sorry Master,” I said shaking my head, “I am here. Just preparing myself for what we might face.”

“Well good,” he said over the comms, “If the Separatist are here, we need to be ready.”

Going through Oria’s atmosphere, the sand and desolate planet came into full view. Oria was known for two things, bounty hunters and unbelievable hot weather. I and Master Shun knew we had to be careful. Landing on the sandy ground, Master Shun was the first to jump out and look out at the horizon.

“Isn’t it nighttime here,” I said walking up to him, “Why is it so hot?”

“Welcome to Oria,” Master Shun said walking, “Come. The location of where the battle droids supposedly are isn’t far from here.”

I followed behind my master as we made our way up and down the sand dunes. The air was quiet, minus the few creatures that lived on this hot dusty rock. Soon, we found ourselves in a dried-up river bed. It was deep, with huge walls of rock and sand on either side of them.

“Hm,” Master Shun said stopping, “Looks like the intel was wrong. We should have been able to see them from here.”

I looked side to side and then shrugged, “Well, I guess that’s that.”

Suddenly I heard the sound of a lightsaber activating behind me.

“Look out,” my master said activating his lightsaber.

He used the Force to push me out of the way of the assassin’s deadly strike. Falling off to the side, I was quick to my feet and soon was engaging in the battle with my master. Wearing all black, the assassin held a double-sided red lightsaber in one hand and a knife in the other, a hood covered their face. This assassin was well trained and always seemed to be one step ahead of Master Shun and myself. We dueled our way out of the canyon and up a cliff. I dodged each blow left and right but was caught off guard by the assassin’s foot which made me stumble backwards and fall over the edge.

“NO,” Master Shun shouted.

Luckily I managed to grab onto a root that was sticking out the side of the cliff, and with the strength I had left in me, I climbed up to the top. When I got there, I saw my master had locked his lightsaber with the assassin’s and was pushing them into the ground.

“MASTER LOOK OUT,” I shouted.

Master Shun looked back at me and then the assassin drove the knife into chest.

“NO,” I shouted jumping up.

Master Shun fell to his side as I jumped in the air with my lightsaber ignited. The assassin then Force-held me in the air and pushed me back, making me hit my head.

--------------------

“When I woke up, Master Shun was dead and the assassin escaped,” I said looking at Master Yoda, “I tried to help. But it was too late. He was gone.”

I looked down at the ground. Trying to hold back the tears.

“Find this assassin we must,” Master Yoda said, “Discuss with the council I will.”

“I want to help,” I said looking up.

“No,” Master Yoda said immediately, “Too emotionally involved you are. Reflect on this you must. Trust the council, you should.”

“But---.”

“A final decision I have made,” Master Yoda said walking out of the room, “Stay here, you must.”

I watched as Master Yoda left the room. When the door shut, I took my Master’s lightsaber off my belt and gripped it tight.

“I will find who did this,” I said, “That is my promise to you.”

#starwars #oc #story #starwarsoc

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alehaj15 · 4 years

Text

Beautiful evening after a rough day

Klaus Mikaelson x reader

Imagine: It's beautiful evening and both of you would like some time for your relationship.

Warning: only fluff

MASTERLIST

It was a hard day today. Well, which one isn't when you're in love with a hybrid with like thousand foes who want to kill him and anybody he cares about. Today, it wasn't any long-ago-pissed witch nor a furious werewold who tried to kill you. No, today, it was, especially, some weird guy with his 'gang', who later turned out to be a vampire with intentions to kill you because he heard you're still human. And while Klaus wasn't nearby, because of your heated argument about him following you everywhere, litteraly everywhere, and after which you told him to leave you alone, he gave it a shot. Unfortunately for him, Klaus did exactly why you were mad at him. He followed you there, eventhough you told him not to, just because of situations like this. He knew if something happened to you, he couldn't live with the fact he wasn't there for you. So as soon he saw something going the wrong way, he stepped in and ripped all of their hearts out. Classic Klaus. You were pissed, however you were thankful he didn't obey your forbiddance and saved you. Again.

It was a beautiful evening. You were standing at the balcony, looking on the streets filled with music, food and joy. Since your arrival, you didn't tell a word to anyone, nor Elijah nor Rebekah. Everyone was worried, if you're okay, but wasn't sure to ask, so they just stood there for a while. Klaus was standing behind you leaning against the wall. He signed his siblings to leave you two alone. When Elijah and Rebekah left, he came to you and stood next to you, also enjoying the view.

''Thank you, Klaus.'' you said, still looking over the buildings of the city.

''You don't have to thank me, you know that i would do anything for you.'' he looked at you with a little relieved look.

''Even not listen to my word, when i told you to leave me alone.'' you chuckled a little and lowered your head.

''I couldn't let anything ha-''

''I know. That's what i thanked you for.'' you cut him and turned to face him. He looked so helpless you pitied him. The big bad immortal and untouchable hybrid feared by everyone, was destoryed just by an imagination of you, meaningless human, getting hurt or worse, killed. You saw how fragile he was with you, but you knew if you'd break up with him, you'd hurt him like nothing ever could and he'd became either a maniac ripping apart anyone who'd cross his way or a broken man who'd wish for death. These thoughts were killing you. So the only job you had was to stay alive.

''I'm sorry, i just didn't realise how much you cared about me.'' you admitted guiltily.

''I thought it was pretty obvious.'' he chuckled and so did you.

''Well, i'm such a dumbass.'' you sighed with a small chuckle.

''Don't you ever dare to talk about yourself like this, love.'' he said little bit angrily ''Whatever you do, whatever you screw up, you're not a dumbass. Those idiots who attacked you were dumbasses by daring to hurt you.'' you looked at him with your eyes filled with tears.

''Don't cry love, it hurts me to see you like this.'' he said while a tear falling from his cheek. ''Let's do something less deadlier, shall we?'' he lifted your head and wiped out those salty tears. ''I heard you playin' back in the day, think you could play something nice for me?'' he said while pointing his eyes on the piano standing in the corner of your common room.

''What do you want me to play?'' you asked.

''The choice is yours, love.'' he hugged you and let you to go sit behind the piano.

You started to play Fire on fire *(link to piano version). He was watching you for a while and then used his supernatural speed to bring himself a canvas with a pallet full of colours. You immediately stopped playing in thought something bad happened.

''Oh, don't mind me love, just go on, it's beautiful.'' he looked at you and by the look on his face you couldn't even say how much he loves you. You didn't even had to, you were looking at him the exactly same way. There were no more words needed.

''What are you painting?'' you asked while playing those keys.

''Don't worry, you'll see when it's done.'' he replied with a smirk.

You kept playing for a while. It was a beautiful evening, finally without anyone trying to kill either of you. Just you, music and the love of your life.

''Close your eyes.'' you heard a masculine voice from behind the canvas. And so you did to prove him you trust him with your life, as you really do. He came to you, sat by your side and placed on the egde of the piano a still quite wet canvas.

''Now, you shall open them.'' so you did. You saw a beautiful painting of yourself behind the piano. It was even more beautiful because Klaus painted it for you.

''So, what do you think?'' he asked with a hope in his eyes. He knew you adore his art in every way, but he just wanted to be sure. You remained quietly admiring that piece of art in front of you.

''What can i say? It's gorgeous.'' you looked in his lovely deep blue eyes and kissed him while your hands were running through his curls. He attached his lips to yours and grabbed you by your waist while kissing you passionately.

''We should do this more often, shouldn't we?'' he asked

''When everyone out there wants me dead? I'm pretty sure we should.'' you chuckled while continuing kissing him. He got up, took that magnificient painting and put it on a shelf where it could be seen from every angle.

''The more moments like this we have, the more paintings of your ravishing form i'll make.'' he said and then picked you up from that small chair from behind the piano and took you to your bed by the bridal style. You didn't take your eyes off him till he lay next to you. You leaned towards him and kissed him passionately once again.

''I love you so much, Klaus.'' you said while getting the closest you could to him, placing a hand on his chest and drawing some shapes.

''Love, i guess we've already been through this.'' he started ''There is no person who loves more than i love you.''

''Don't be so sure.'' you chuckled as you slowly fell asleep.

''You bet i am.'' those were the last words you heard form him as you fell asleep in his warming hug. He could hear your heartbeat slowing so he assumed, it's time for him to fall asleep as well.

#klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson fluff #klaus mikaleson imagine #niklaus mikaelson x reader #niklaus mikaelson fluff #the originals

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lady-hammerlock · 4 years

Text

One Month, Two Days, Twenty Minutes (Death Stranding - DeadSam)

AN: So I have a lot of feelings about Sam and Deadman. This was basically just an attempt to get a lot of my head-canons regarding the end of the game and Sam and Deadman's relationship in order. Also Lou is there, because the three of them are a very loving family, and you will never convince me otherwise.

The only real warnings for this one are for a very brief mention of suicide, and some of the usual Death Stranding shenanigans. As usual, the full fic is available under the cut.

ONE MONTH, TWO DAYS, TWENTY MINUTES

Sam’s new life began outside the gates of Capital Knot City.

He was a little surprised at himself to be honest. He had been planning on leaving Bridges and the UCA and all the rest of it behind one way or another, or at least he had until Lou had come back to life. He had still contemplated it after; thought about just walking away and raising Lou in peace somewhere, with no Bridges and no UCA to bother them, but then he had realised that Deadman would have no way of knowing that Lou had survived, and that really didn’t seem fair after everything that the three of them had been through together.

And, if he was being perfectly honest with himself, the thought of not seeing Deadman again had been more than enough to give him pause all by itself. Perhaps things might have been different if Lou had really… well, if she hadn’t made it. If that had been the case then Sam wasn’t sure that he would have been able to look at Deadman without thinking of all that they had both lost, but now…

Fuck it. He was getting better at these things, wasn’t he? He could admit it to himself now, even if he wasn’t about to go saying the words out loud. He would have missed Deadman. He would have missed the others too; Heartman and Lockne and Mama and… well, he had a feeling Fragile would have found a way to keep in contact with him regardless. That woman was nothing if not resourceful, and stubborn.

The point was that as much as he would have missed all of the others, Deadman had somehow wormed his way into Sam’s heart a fair bit deeper than the others.

Sam’s cufflinks had been destroyed at the incinerator, which meant that he could no longer get back into the city automatically. Instead he found himself in a position that he hadn’t been in since he had first been roped into this whole mess; standing at the entrance to the city and asking to be let in, rather than just strolling straight through the barrier and letting the cufflinks and the city’s scanners do the rest.

He had been hoping that Nick Easton would be the one to answer his request for entry, or at least someone else who knew Sam by sight and who respected him enough that they might not immediately go blabbing about Sam’s arrival to the President if Sam asked nicely enough.

Instead Sam found himself looking at the chiralgram of a man that he’d never met before. The ID attached to the chiralgram announced him as ‘Jason Young’, a name that Sam had never even heard of before that moment.

Maybe this was better in a way. If it had been someone that he knew then he might have to explain what had happened and why he didn’t have his cufflinks anymore, and in truth, he wasn’t really looking forward to that.

“You don’t have any ID at all?” Young asked.

“Look, can you just go get Deadman, please?” Sam asked, attempting to comfort a squirming Lou as he did.

He hadn’t yet been able to find proper clothes for her. Her current makeshift blanket had started life as an old flannel shirt that the Ludens Fan had been kind enough to donate, along with some powdered milk, when Sam and Lou had shown up at his doorstep shortly after they had left the incinerator. It had worked well enough, but Sam knew that they would need proper clothing, and proper formula as soon as possible.

Now if only Capital Knot City would show them the same level of hospitability that an isolated prepper had been able to manage then he was sure the two of them would be fine.

“What should I tell him?” Young’s chiralgram asked Sam.

For a moment Sam considered telling the guy who he really was, but, on the off chance that Young did believe him, it would lead to too many questions, and if he didn’t, then well, it would probably just make him suspicious, and ruin any chance Sam had at actually getting into the city any time soon.

Damn it. Maybe he shouldn’t have burned those cufflinks, but at the time, without Lou, Sam really had been ready to walk away from it all.

Now he was just frustrated. There was a whole new life waiting for him, just on the other side of the checkpoint; so close, but still just out of his reach.

“Tell him that a friend is waiting for him at the entrance to the city,” Sam said. “Please.”

Deadman himself had said that Sam was the only person he had ever felt any sort of real connection to, and the only other people he might think of as ‘friends’ were also inside Capital Knot City. He and Deadman were definitely friends, right? Or at least, they were something. Deadman would know that it was Sam who was waiting for him. He had to.

It seemed to be enough for Capital Knot City’s newest protector. Young’s chiralgram blinked out of existence as he assumedly went to fetch Deadman.

God, Sam hoped that he would show up. Deadman would be able to let him into the city and would hopefully be able to smooth the way with Die-Hardman and the rest of Bridges.

But, perhaps more importantly than that, Sam missed him. It had only been two days since he had seen the other man, but he still missed him. Damn.

“It’s all right Lou,” Deadman said, running his hand over the little one’s pod and hoping that it would do something to calm her. “We’re going to find Sam. I promise. We’re not going to give up until we do.”

Lou frowned up at him and placed a hand on the wall of her pod.

“Sam will be back soon,” Deadman said, not sure whether he was trying to convince the BB or himself now. “He will.”

He realised that he was crying, and brought a hand up to his face to messily wipe away the tears, the other arm clutching Lou’s pod closely to his chest.

Lou let out another whimper and curled in on herself.

“Do you want me to take her for a bit?” Lockne and/or Mama offered from the other side of the room. For just a moment Deadman had forgotten that he was in the same room as the others.

“No,” Deadman replied. Lockne and Mama had been helping out a lot with Lou now that Sam was stuck on the Beach; taking care of her whenever Deadman needed a break, but at that moment he couldn’t think of anything worse than being separated from her. “I would rather hold on to her right now if that’s all right. After all, I did promise Sam that I would take care of her.”

And if she couldn’t have Sam as she so obviously wanted, then at least she could have him. He was a poor substitute, he knew, but at least Lou seemed to regard him as a friendly and familiar face.

“Didn’t I Lou?” Deadman said, running his hand over her pod. “We’ll wait for him to come back together.”

“Oh.” This time it was Fragile’s voice, and Deadman looked up to find her watching him with just a touch of pity in her eyes.

“You’re in love with him,” Fragile said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Suddenly all of the eyes in the room were on him. Well, all of them apart from Die-Hardman’s, who suddenly seemed very occupied with his cuff-links.

Deadman wasn’t sure what they expected him to say, but he knew he didn’t have it in him to deny the accusation. How could he when Fragile had just spoken the truth? He didn’t know how long he had been in love with Sam. It had been a slow, gentle thing that had snuck up on him without him realising it.

“Well,” he began, but for once finding the words getting stuck in his throat. He shrugged. “Let’s just focus on getting Sam back, shall we?”

Sam’s feelings for Deadman had developed slowly, sneaking up on him without him realising it until it was too late. When he’d first met the other man he had wanted nothing to do with him. He was too loud, too damned friendly, and way too fucking open with his feelings.

But then he had helped take care of Lou, and he had been one of the first people aside from Sam to see her as more than just a piece of equipment. And he had been so kind, in his own awkward, bumbling way, doing whatever he could to help out, even if it meant protecting Sam and putting himself in the line of fire. He had also done his best to make sure that Sam (and Lou) got an appropriate amount of rest, and took care of himself; something that Sam knew he was terrible at when left to his own devices.

By the time that Sam had realised he was starting to grow attached it was already too late. Deadman’s calls had already started to bring a faint smile to his face, and he had found himself looking forward to seeing the other man, even if it was only his chiralgram.

Sam hadn’t realized how completely fucked he was though, until he had fought that monstrous BT just outside of Capital Knot City, and Deadman’s excited voice had burst into life over the radio.

“I could kiss you, you sweet son of a bitch!”

The words had been enough to make Sam pause. He knew that it was just an expression; that Deadman was probably in no way planning to actually kiss Sam the next time he saw him, but still Sam hadn’t been able to stop himself from imagining what it might be like if Deadman did actually try to kiss him, and had come to the rather terrifying realisation that he would probably let him.

And damn; wasn’t that something? Sam knew that his aphenphosmphobia would probably make such a thing impossible, or at the very least, extremely unpleasant, but a part of him had hoped that Deadman would really try to kiss him when he arrived at the isolation ward, just so he could find out.

As he stood there in front of Capital Knot City, waiting for the other man to show, he wondered again if Deadman might greet him with a kiss.

Probably not, he decided.

Still, a man could dream.

Deadman watched the door close behind Sam and tried to pretend that his heart wasn’t breaking. He had shed more than a few tears when Lou’s vitals had first disappeared, but had made sure that they were done by the time he approached Sam. Sam would be devastated after all, and he would need Deadman to be strong.

Now that Sam was gone, little Lou with him, the tears were threatening to return, and Deadman felt like a black hole had opened up in his heart and was now threatening to swallow him whole.

There was the very real chance that he was never going to see Sam again. It was a choice that he had left in Sam’s hands. He only hoped that if this was going to be forever then it wouldn’t be because Sam had decided to follow Lou into the incinerator.

“Should I expect to see Sam again?”

The sound of Die-Hardman’s voice startled Deadman, and he turned around to find the new President approaching from the other end of the room. He wondered how much the other man had seen; whether he had borne witness to the embrace that he and Sam had shared. It was something that Deadman would cherish, despite the circumstances. He’d never been held like that before, and for whatever reason, the thought that someone else might have seen it made him more than a little uncomfortable.

“I do not know,” Deadman replied truthfully. “I left that choice in Sam’s hands.”

He waited for the President to object, watching the indecision pass over the other man’s face. It was strange being able to see the expressions on his face after only seeing the mask for so long. Without it Die-Hardman’s emotions were quite easy to read.

“I’m surprised you didn’t go with him,” Die-Hardman eventually said.

If Sam had asked Deadman to accompany him then things might have been different, but Sam hadn’t, and Deadman hadn’t expected him to. Hoped? Perhaps. But expected? Never.

“My place is here,” he said. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”

Die-Hardman looked almost sad for a moment, before clamping a hand down on Deadman’s shoulder.

“Go after him,” Die-Hardman prompted. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

Deadman had no idea what mistake the President was talking about, but even the conviction and passion in the new President’s voice wasn’t enough to sway him. It was Sam’s choice whether he walked away from all of this; from Bridges and the UCA, and even from Deadman himself. Sam had earned the right to make that choice without having to consider Deadman’s feelings, or anyone else’s, on the matter.

“Thank you,” Deadman said. “But I don’t think that I can. It’s a long walk to the incinerator after all, and I am in nowhere near as good physical shape as Sam is.”

If Die-Hardman caught it for the excuse that it was, then at least he had the decency not to call Deadman out on it.

Sam went to check the time on his cufflinks, and immediately felt like an idiot when he remembered they weren’t there. He had no idea how long it had been since Young had left to grab Deadman. It felt like it had been forever, but wasn’t that always how it worked when you were forced to wait for something? If he thought seriously about it, then it felt like maybe twenty minutes had passed. It was hard to tell though.

After his spell on the Beach he probably should have gotten better at waiting. After all, time passed more slowly on the Beach, and in the outside world it had been a month. On the Beach it had simultaneously felt like no time at all had passed, and like aeons had. It had all stretched out to nothing; just an endless, empty nothing that held no meaning while he was alone, but felt like years.

And then they had all shown up to save him; Deadman and Heartman and Fragile and Mama and Die-Hardman.

He could still feel Deadman’s hand on his ankle when he thought about it; the warmth of another human being after so long alone imprinting on his skin in a way that, for once, had nothing to do with his aphenphosmphobia.

The long solitude had, if anything, made Sam less tolerant of long waits, especially when there was so much to both look forward to and dread on the other side of the wait.

He longed for the moment when Deadman would wrap a metaphorical hand around his ankle again and bring the waiting to an end.

He looked over towards the city for what had to be the tenth time in the last two minutes alone, and froze as he spotted a tiny black figure emerging from the distant buildings and slowly making its way towards Sam.

At first it was nothing but a vague silhouette of black against the slightly lighter colours of the old city, but as it grew closer, Sam was able to make out a wide stomach, black clothing and a red shirt, and as each detail solidified itself in Sam’s vision, he felt his heart coming back to life a little more.

Deadman couldn’t stop the wide grin that appeared on his face as soon as he realized who it was waiting for him at the city entrance. It had been almost two days to the hour since Sam had left, and Deadman had started to fear that he really had seen Sam for the last time.

There was no mistaking the man standing in front of him, a sly grin making itself known through the narrowing of Sam’s eyes more than his barely upturned mouth.

“Hi,” Sam said as Deadman drew closer.

That was all Deadman needed.

“Sam!” he cried out, running towards the other man with the intent of wrapping him up in a big, warm hug.

Sam stepped back before he could however, putting a hand up and leaving Deadman standing there with his arms wide open, feeling more than a little foolish.

He tried not to feel too hurt. After all, Sam had only recently gotten over his aphenphosmphobia.

But then Sam took another step back and opened up the front of his coat, and there, tucked up against his chest and wrapped up in little more than an old rag, was Lou, alive and well and out of her pod.

Sam moved her over to his left arm and then gestured towards Deadman with his right.

“Let’s try that again,” he said, gesturing for Deadman to come closer.

This time there was nothing to stop him from wrapping both arms around Sam and Lou and holding them close.

Sam flung one arm around Deadman’s shoulder and leaned into the hug as much as he could while still holding Lou. His daughter cooed and babbled excitedly, squirming against the blanket and trying to reach out towards Deadman.

Sam was reluctant to let the other man go. It felt so right being wrapped up in Deadman’s arms; so warm and safe. Sam knew better than anyone the effects that touch starvation could have on a person, but it wasn’t until now, when he was able to feel what he had been missing out on, that he realised how badly he had needed it.

Between the small, fragile weight of Lou in his arm, and the larger warmth of Deadman wrapped around him, the sensation was almost overwhelming, and he felt himself shudder, even as he pressed further into the embrace.

He took a deep breath, finding his nose filling with a smell that he was starting to recognise as distinctly Deadman’s; a smell that immediately relaxed him, before forcing himself to pull back from the hug, afraid that if he didn’t then he might be tempted to stay in Deadman’s arms forever.

The blanket-covered bundle in Sam’s arms let out a loud ‘coo’ and squirmed again. One of Lou’s arms soon emerged from the cocoon of soft fabrics that Sam had wrapped her in, and Sam turned her around so that she and Deadman could get a good look at one another.

“Oh… my dear Sam,” Deadman said, his hands reaching out as though he wanted to grab Lou and hold her close. Sam knew the feeling, and passed the small, squirming child over happily.

“Our little Lou survived?” Deadman said as he stared down at the bundle in his arms. Lou let out a loud, happy series of noises and reached up her tiny hands towards Deadman’s face.

“She’s happy to see you,” Sam said, feeling his heart glow at the sight of the two of them.

“Not as happy as I am to see her alive and well,” Deadman said, before reaching down and very gently poking her on the nose with one gloved finger.

“But Sam, you’re risking a lot bringing her here. The executive order was to dispose of her. If they find out that she’s not only alive but that you’ve taken her out of her pod…”

“That was before. She’s alive now. Besides, if Die-Hardman or anyone from Bridges tries to tell me that I should have ‘disposed’ of her, then I’ll just remind them of exactly how much I know about the new President’s past.”

“Blackmail Sam?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

Deadman sighed, and took off his glasses for a moment, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Well, with any luck that won’t be necessary,” he said. “In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Die-Hardman takes our side in this.”

“What? Really?”

“Well. I suspect that he will not be willing to let the two of us walk without at least considering the alternatives.”

“The two of us?”

Deadman’s attention was firmly on Lou, who he was now rocking gently in his arms, but he nodded slowly regardless.

“Well, I suppose I should say the three of us, shouldn’t I? We wouldn’t want to leave little Lou out of the equation.”

Lou let out a loud, happy squeal and reached her hands up towards Deadman as he continued to gently rock her.

“Deadman… you…”

“If your decision is to return to Bridges with Lou then I will do everything in my power to make sure such a thing is made possible,” Deadman said as he lifted Lou up with one hand under each of her tiny arms, his hands large enough in comparison that they could wrap completely around Lou’s tiny torso. Lou let out more laughter and happy babbling in response, her little legs squirming so hard that they might have threatened to kick her makeshift blanket off completely if Deadman’s hands hadn’t been holding it firmly in place.

Sam didn’t know what he could possibly say in response to something like that. He wasn’t used to having someone in his corner; wasn’t used to feeling like someone was his… his anything, at least since Lucy had died, and now he had a daughter and a… well… a Deadman, whatever that meant.

All he could do was throw his arms around Deadman’s side, careful not to dislodge Lou as he leaned his head against Deadman’s shoulder and tried to feel like his whole world wasn’t slowly turning sideways.

In the end Die-Hardman had been quite happy to welcome Sam back into the fold. Sam had been adamant that he wasn’t going to be pulled into politics, or anything larger than doing the occasional delivery. He wanted a quiet life, god damn it, and if Bridges wouldn’t give him that then he would have absolutely no problem walking away from it all.

He and Deadman were both surprised when Die-Hardman agreed without so much as a single objection.

“But the executive order…” Sam said, not trusting anything that was as easy as this had been so far.

“What executive order?” Die-Hardman asked, and Sam couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being deliberately obtuse. “You mean the one that you definitely followed? After all, if anyone was to check the logs at the incinerator, they would see that you disposed of your BB, as ordered, correct? I certainly don’t see a BB anywhere on your person right now.”

Sam was making absolutely no attempt to hide Lou. In fact, she was currently sitting right there in his arms, staring up at Die-Hardman with a look of such stern concentration on her face that Sam couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking.

“Incidentally, cute kid you two,” Die-Hardman said, nodding directly at Lou. “Congratulations.”

And with that Die-Hardman was gone, leaving the three of them standing alone in the President’s office and wondering what the hell had just happened.

On his very first night back with Bridges, Sam found himself unable to sleep. The nightmares had disappeared, so by rights it should have been easier to relax, not harder. Lou had been relatively quiet too, only waking up once to demand food and attention. As Sam had already been awake he hadn’t even been too bothered by it.

There was something that was bothering him though; something that had made it ridiculously hard for him to settle.

He was sleeping in the same building as Deadman. In fact, it would take him less than a minute to cross the hallway and make his way to Deadman’s rooms.

He could do it too, he realised, as he lay there staring up at the ceiling. He could walk right over there to Deadman’s quarters and… And then what?

It would involve Deadman obviously, but beyond that Sam wasn’t even sure what he was hoping to accomplish.

Before he knew what he was doing, he found that his feet had taken him to Deadman’s rooms, seemingly without his brain’s permission. He stood there for a moment, staring at the door to Deadman’s room and wondering whether he should knock, when the door opened up by itself.

“Welcome, Sam Porter Bridges,” the door announced, in the same neutral voice that Sam had gotten used to hearing in Distro Centres all over the country.

Sam had already been assigned new cufflinks; ones that he had put on voluntarily this time; so it was less surprising that the door recognised him, and more that Deadman had apparently given Sam full authorization to access Deadman’s rooms whenever he liked. Sam wondered how long he’d had those privileges without even realising it.

He stepped into Deadman’s rooms, still not entirely sure what he was doing there. He had seen Deadman’s quarters before, in the weeks between his returning from the Beach and the coronation, but it was different being here at night, more so while he was uninvited, and essentially trespassing.

Deadman’s rooms were much larger than Sam’s. It made sense in a way. Deadman lived in Capital Knot City full time, and had been living there since before Sam had met him. The rooms Sam was used to staying in had only even been meant as temporary accommodation.

There was a spacious sitting area, with the largest, most comfortable looking sofa Sam had ever seen and shelves full of books and films and other assorted paraphernalia.

Past that there was a modest kitchen, and then past that, Deadman’s bedroom.

Sam found himself hesitating at the entrance to the bedroom for a moment, watching the gentle rise and fall of the blanket covered mound in Deadman’s bed. He was struck, not for the first time, by the sheer size of the thing. It was easily big enough for two, even when one of those two was Deadman. Sam’s hands twisted uselessly at his sides, eager to reach out and grab something that he wasn’t even sure he had a name for.

He crept closer to the bed, trying not to wake Deadman. He could see the other man’s sleeping face now; all scrunched up because he was sleeping on his side, one arm flung across the width of the bed as though he was reaching out towards Sam. It was still strange to see him without his glasses, and Sam found himself seized by the unreasonably strong impulse to reach out and run his fingers over the lines around the other man’s eyes.

“Come on Sam,” he muttered under his breath. “What the hell are you doing?”

He wasn’t even sure what he had hoped to achieve; just that he had desperately needed to see Deadman all of a sudden, and the other man had already been right there, just across the hallway. It had been an easy distance to cross. The less than two feet that lay between them now however seemed completely insurmountable.

Deadman stirred in his sleep, his mouth uttering wordless sounds as he did. The hand that had been reaching out towards Sam twitched, his fingers clutching at the mattress for a moment.

Sam kneeled down by the side of the bed, crossing his arms on the mattress and just watching Deadman sleep. He was strangely adorable like this, and when another bout of restlessness caused Deadman’s nose to scrunch up just so, Sam felt his heart and stomach twist oddly inside of him.

Deadman’s eyes fluttered open slowly, causing Sam to freeze in place.

“Sam?” the other man asked, blinking a few times as he no doubt tried to work out why Sam was even in his room, let alone being an absolute creep and staring at him while he slept. Sam stood back up, putting a slightly more appropriate amount of distance between them.

“What is it?” Deadman asked as he rather slowly and drowsily sat up in bed. The blankets fell off his shoulders to reveal that he was wearing a set of dark red button-up pyjamas. The fabric looked soft, and Sam found himself wanting to touch; to twist the dark red fabric in his fingers, and find out what was softer; the pyjamas or Deadman himself.

“Are you all right?” Deadman asked, groping for the glasses that sat on the bedside table nearby. “Is Lou?”

That thought seemed to wake Deadman right up. He seemed ready to charge straight over to Sam’s room, and he might have if Sam hadn’t reassured him.

“Lou’s fine,” he said.

“Then what…?”

Sam wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He didn’t even have a good reason for being in Deadman’s quarters in the first place.

Sam saw Deadman sigh more than he heard it; his shoulders rising then falling as he sat on the side of the bed. Sam stood there, feeling more than a little awkward, his hands clenching uselessly at his side.

Deadman shuffled over on the bed and patted an empty space next to him, and Sam found himself immensely grateful for the invitation.

Even after Sam sat down it was a while before either of them spoke, and of course it was Deadman who broke the silence.

“So if Lou is fine is it you that is not fine then? Come now Sam; there must be something I can help with if you’ve come to see me like this.”

Sam stared down at his hands, clasped tightly in front of him, and tried to will the right words to come. He couldn’t tell Deadman the truth; couldn’t admit that he had missed the other man so suddenly and so fiercely that it had brought him to Deadman’s quarters in the middle of the night.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Sam revealed. That part was true enough at least.

“Oh?” Deadman exclaimed. “Nightmares?”

“No. Just…”

Just a mind that was too active and a heart that couldn’t seem to work out what it wanted, except that it involved Deadman somehow.

Deadman let out a thoughtful hum that sounded far more certain than Sam felt.

“Well, clearly you thought there was something I could do to help if you came to me,” Deadman said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Sam conceded.

Sam didn’t know whether it would help or just make matters worse, but he did know that he wanted to touch Deadman. It felt like now that it was something that he knew he could have, that he couldn’t get enough of it; like he was already addicted in some way.

“Well then, just tell me what I can do for you then,” Deadman said, as helpful and friendly as he always was, and that just made everything worse, because it made Sam like him even more…

“I want…”

Why was it so fucking hard to find the words?

Maybe he didn’t need words though. He let himself relax, shuffling closer to Deadman and leaning against him, so that his side pressed against Deadman’s own. It was nice, feeling the other man’s warmth pressing against him. Perhaps it wasn’t enough, but it was a good start.

One of them let out a low, contented sigh, and Sam realised with some embarrassment that the noise had come from his own throat. He turned a little, nuzzling his head into Deadman’s shoulder as though he might be able to bury any embarrassment in the other man’s skin.

“Oh,” Deadman finally said, the single syllable breathed out so softly that it felt as though Deadman was afraid of breaking whatever delicate thing had begun to grow between them. ‘Oh’. That simple. As though he understood exactly what Sam was asking for when even Sam didn’t know how to put it into words.

“Sam,” Deadman began, his voice barely more than a whisper and yet still too loud in the fragile peace that was growing between them. “Would you like to stay here for the night?”

Sam couldn’t bring himself to answer, so instead he just nodded, knowing that the other man would feel the action, even if he couldn’t see it.

He pressed himself more firmly against Deadman’s side, his hand reaching out blindly to grab Deadman’s hand and hold it in his own. Deadman had taken his gloves off to sleep, and when Sam entwined their fingers together he could feel the other man’s pulse, pounding far too hard and too quickly throughout his veins. He wondered if that meant that Deadman felt just as nervous and unsure about this whole thing as Sam did. He had already told Sam that he had never felt connected to anyone until Sam came along. Did that mean that he had never…?

Sam swallowed nervously. Deadman had always seemed more confident than Sam when it came to this sort of thing; showing affection and being close to people and stuff. Sam hoped that would continue to be the case, otherwise it would mean that neither of them had any idea at all what they were doing. Just the two of them, stumbling through the dark together and hoping for the best.

Oh well. It would have to be enough. Sam had felt like he was stumbling through the dark and hoping for the best for most of his life; why should this… whatever this was, with Deadman, be any different?

Before Sam could overthink things any more than he already had, Deadman was gently guiding him to lie down on the bed beside him. Sam let the other man move him how he would, until the two of them were just lying there, side by side on the bed, their hands still entwined tightly with one another.

Sam just lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and trying to get his breathing and his heartbeat back under control. Deadman was now lying between him and the room’s exit; effectively trapping him in the bed, or perhaps protecting him from anything that might enter the room? Either way it didn’t worry Sam as much as it once would have.

He ran his fingers slowly over Deadman’s skin, tracing the pattern of scars that ran over the back of Deadman’s hand, following one around to his palm and then following it up over his wrist and under the fabric of his sleeve.

He heard Deadman’s breath catch in his throat, and felt the other man go completely still beneath his touch.

“Sam…” Deadman whispered, and Sam couldn’t for the life of him work out whether that meant ‘Sam, please stop’ or ‘Sam, that’s very nice’ or something else entirely. What he did know was that this; the two of them lying on their backs beside one another; it wasn’t going to work. He pulled his hand away from Deadman’s own and took a deep breath.

“Roll over,” Sam prompted, surprising himself with his own boldness.

“Sam? What are you…?”

“Roll over onto your side,” Sam prompted. “Facing away from me.”

He could see the confusion on Deadman’s face, or at least he could for the few seconds it took for Deadman to decide that he was just going to go along with whatever it was that Sam was planning.

Sam let Deadman settle and get comfortable, and then shuffled closer to the larger man, wrapping his arms around his stomach and pressing his front against Deadman’s back. The two of them wriggled and squirmed until they were both in something approaching a comfortable position.

Sam waited until Deadman had stopped moving around, before pressing his face into the space between the other man’s neck and shoulder. He could feel the other man’s pulse there too; still pounding far too hard. He waited for Deadman to object or suggest a change of position, but no objections came.

Sam nuzzled into Deadman’s shoulder, breathing in the other man’s scent as deeply as he could and letting it relax him. It was starting to smell a lot like home.

Soon both of their heartbeats settled, and Sam realised that this; the feeling of the other man; so soft and warm in his arms, was exactly what he had needed. He wondered whether Deadman would be opposed to Sam sleeping in his quarters on a more permanent basis. There was enough space in there that he could move Lou in as well; set up a crib in one of the corners. He would have to bring up the idea in the morning.

Sam wasn’t sure whether it was because he was apparently feeling very daring that evening, or just because he was half-asleep and not thinking clearly, but he took a moment to press a gentle kiss onto Deadman’s neck before snuggling back in. The only reaction from Deadman was a pleased sounding ‘hmm’, which probably meant that it was okay, so Sam dared one more kiss before settling in to sleep.

He fell asleep with his arms wrapped around Deadman and his face pressed into the other man’s shoulder. It had been a very, very long time since he had felt so at ease.

The night that Sam returned to Capital Knot City, Deadman had one of the sweetest dreams of his life. Or at least he did until he woke up the next morning, Sam’s arms still wrapped around him, and realised that it hadn’t been a dream at all.

He turned his head as much as he dared and discovered Sam’s face was still pressed into the curve of his shoulder. Deadman smiled at the sight, his heart feeling like it was glowing inside of his chest, before turning back around and letting himself fall back to sleep.

#death stranding #deadsam #sam porter bridges #deadman #my fic

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psychosistr · 3 years

Text

Mending the Broken- Chapter 3

Summary: Jonathan awakens from one nightmare and finds himself in a reality far worse than anything he could've dreamt up..

Notes: Alright, no two-ways around this one, there are warnings for dubious consent, mind control, and Dio being a general d!ck. You have been warned. Only posting part of this here because of how lame Tumblr is for certain content. Link for AO3 version will be posted below if you want to see more.

-First Chapter-

Jonathan’s eyes snapped open and he gasped for breath. He recalled bits and pieces of his dream, enough to realize why he was so startled when he awoke, but not enough to remember every single thought that had passed through his mind.

He remembered himself and Speedwagon talking…He remembered Speedwagon silently crying alone while cracks appeared on his body…He remembered Dio devouring Speedwagon’s heart…and..that was it..there had to be pieces between those points, but he couldn’t for the life of him recall them at the moment..

Jonathan’s thoughts were stolen back to the waking world when he attempted to move. The first thing he noticed was a crippling pain in his arms as he tried to rub his eyes and found himself unable to move any of his limbs. Looking down in alarm, he saw that he was in a seated position on a stone floor with his arms and legs shackled to the wall behind him. Both arms were wrapped in bandages and the pain in them when he attempted to move suggested they may have been broken. Surprisingly, his legs, while sore from being seated on the cold stone, were otherwise unharmed.

Next, he noted, there was something wrapped tightly around his throat. It felt like steel encased in cloth. He tried to breathe deeply and focus his mind but, when he did, there was a clicking sound from the collar just before it tightened to the point of near suffocation. He gasped on reflex, but that only made the collar tighten further. He quickly learned to take short, weak breaths until it relaxed enough to let him breathe with only a little more difficulty than usual.

Jonathan turned his head enough to see that the collar around his neck was connected to a steel wire that fed into an intricate series of gears on the wall behind him. He had a hunch what it was for, but decided to test his hypothesis anyway.

“Haaaah-nh!” Jonathan attempted a deep breath to charge his hamon, but the tensing of his neck muscles tugged the wire slightly and it triggered the gears. The device then activated as the gears turned, drawing the wire back in towards them and, in the process, choking Jonathan. Jonathan quickly relaxed his neck and took in short breaths until the wire released him and the device shut off once more. His neck hurt now, but his hunch had been proven right. “So, this device is meant to restrict my breathing and keep me from using my hamon. I would call it brilliant if it didn’t reek of Dio’s sadism.”

Jonathan decided to take a look around the room to see if he could spot a way to free himself or, at the very least, gain a better understanding of where he was.

There were no windows there, only stone walls on all sides with a single wrought-iron door on the wall out of reach to his left. The meager light of the room came from a lone candle left to burn in a wall scone by the door. The only notable fixture in the room besides the chains and device that Jonathan was bound to was a lavish, ornate wooden arm chair with intricate engraving and upholstered in blood red cushions located against the wall directly in front of him.

At first, Jonathan nearly overlooked the chair as just a piece of furniture…that is, until he saw the chain attached to the ground by the leg of the chair. Following the length with his eyes, he saw a figure sitting in the long shadow cast by the chair in the dim lighting that he almost missed. It looked vaguely human in shape and he could tell it was breathing, but he couldn’t see who it was in the darkness.

“Hello?” He tried calling out. “Can you hear me?”

“……” The figure didn’t answer him. But, its head tipped to the side slightly and Jonathan saw familiar golden hair slip out into light just past the chair.

“Speedwagon?” Jonathan tried calling out to his friend. “Speedwagon, can you hear me? Are you alright? Do you know where-?”

“……” He stopped when Speedwagon’s head slowly rose and turned towards him. The light was too dim to see everything clearly, but what he did see caused a tremor of fear to go through his body: Speedwagon’s eyes, which were normally so bright and vibrant and reminded Jonathan of perfectly polished copper, were now dim and lifeless, a haze to them that turned them a murky color like thick mud. His skin looked paler than usual, almost sickly, and, from what Jonathan could see, there was dried blood around the sides of his neck. His hair was also far more matted and unkempt than usual, looking as if it had been pulled and mussed and tossed about for quite some time.

“Speedwagon..?” Jonathan’s voice had a quiver to it. He may not have been able to fully see the state of his dear friend, but what he could see clearly told him that something was wrong with the other man. “Dear god, Speedwagon…What has that monster Dio done to you?!”

That seemed to garner some sort of reaction from the blond. His vacant eyes slowly drifted towards the door. “D…Di…o…”

As if on cue, the door opened after a clicking sound was heard and the man in question entered the room. The vampire closed the door behind himself with a loud “bang” before looking at Jonathan with a malicious smirk. “Well, well..finally awake, Jojo? You certainly kept us waiting.”

Jonathan was about to speak, to demand to know what Dio had done to Speedwagon, but the words died on his tongue when Speedwagon suddenly got up onto his knees.

“Lord Dio!” The street-rat’s previously expressionless face now had a large, almost manic smile spread across it even though his eyes retained their blank, muddled state. He crawled on his hands and knees around the front of the chair, revealing that he was naked from head to toe aside from a collar around his neck that connected to the chain latched to the floor. His body was scarred and bruised and coated in patchy spots of dried blood and a white substance that Jonathan dared not guess the origin of. “Lord Dio! Lord Dio!” He called out with a tone that was both ecstatic and desperate at the same time, crawling on his hands and knees until the chain reached its limit and jerked him back into a kneeling position. “I-I did what ya said, Lord Dio! I didn’ move or talk ‘til ya came back! Did-Did I do good?! Are ya pleased, Lord Dio?!”

Dio chuckled in amusement and walked forward, allowing the man’s eagerly reaching hands to wrap around his legs while he patted Speedwagon’s already mussed hair. “Yes I am, my pet. You’ve done very well.”

Speedwagon trembled as if a wave of euphoria had just overtaken him and slid down Dio’s legs until he was seated at his feet. “Ohhhhh, thank ya, Lord Dio…!”

Jonathan watched the scene unfold in stunned silence for several moments, unable to properly form words or even thoughts about what he was witnessing. His friend..his dearest, closest friend..a man who’d once shot Dio in the face with no hesitation and stood alongside Jonathan valiantly..was now..now..

“DIOOOOO!!!!” Jonathan yelled as protective rage filled his veins like liquid fire. He struggled against his bonds, ignoring the pain in his arms and the tightening of the collar around his neck slowly choking off his air. “What did you do to him, Dio?!” The collar tightened to the point of near suffocation, so Jonathan forced himself to settle back down, though the rest of his body was still tense enough to clearly show how enraged he truly was. “What..did you do..to..Speedwagon..?!!” He managed to huff out while regaining his breath.

“You don’t approve of my new pet, Jojo?” Dio smirked again and stepped out of Speedwagon’s hold, walking over to the chair and seating himself in it with his legs crossed. He snapped his fingers and Speedwagon instantly crawled to him, kneeling at his feet with his head positioned under Dio’s waiting hand to be petted like a common dog. “I find him rather amusing. So loyal, so easy to train..I’ve already taught him a few tricks. Watch.” He uncrossed his legs and snapped his fingers again.

~(cutting here for dubious consent/mature content- full scene here on AO3)~

“Now then, Jojo..” Dio lifted Speedwagon off of his lap with ease and dropped him to the floor carelessly. He ignored the yelp of pain the other gave on impact with the hard stone floor as he tucked himself back into his clothing and righted himself. He then walked over to Jonathan and kneeled down to be at eye level with him. “I hope you enjoyed my little show. If not, then do not fret- I shall return soon enough for an encore performance.”

“Diiooooo..!!” Jonathan practically growled out his hated brother’s name. He was seething with rage, possibly the angriest he’d ever been. He leaned as far forward as the collar and wire would allow him, looking Dio dead in the eyes as he spoke. “You will pay for what you have done, Dio! I will find a way out of here and I will take Speedwagon back with me! Once he is safe, I will make certain you pay for what you have done to him!”

Dio laughed at Jonathan’s futile struggles and stood back up, now looking down on him both literally and figuratively. “My, my, Jojo. You actually seem to think you have a chance in all of this. How delightfully foolish.” He walked towards the door. “I invite you to try, though. Show me what you are capable of.” He glanced back when he heard a pained groan and a shuffling sound, looking at Speedwagon as the bloodied and bruised man brought himself up into a sitting position. “As for you, my pet, you are not to move or speak until I return again. Understood?”

“Y..Yes..Lord..Dio..” Speedwagon said weakly while catching his breath, sitting up with his back against the leg of the chair. “Anythin’..ya say..”

Dio seemed pleased by the response and opened the door. “Until next time, Jojo.” He closed the door with a loud “bang”, leaving the two men alone once again.

Jonathan glared after him for a while before his attention was drawn back to Speedwagon due to a dripping sound. He frowned at what he saw: Speedwagon, still seated in the same position he’d been in when Dio left, now had that blank, emotionless expression on his face once more, but with tears now slowly falling from his eyes and dripping down onto the stone floor beneath him.

“Speedwagon..” Jonathan said, trying any way he could to shift even an inch closer to his fellow captive. “I am so sorry..you do not deserve any of this..I swear upon my life and pride as a Joestar, I will find a way to free you from Dio.”

“…….” Speedwagon gave no response. There was no movement. Not even a glance at Jonathan’s face to indicate that he heard or understood what Jonathan said. He merely continued to weep silently while looking in Jonathan’s direction unseeingly.

Jonathan bit his lip, glancing down at the ground with a pained look of sadness. He had to find a way out. He had to find a way to free Speedwagon from Dio’s control. He had to defeat Dio and put an end to his cruelty once and for all. There were so many things he had to do that he wasn’t even sure where to start…

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Another thing I wanted to see more of in the series was Dio's use of hypnosis- it was only ever briefly used on Poco, but then never discussed again that he could do that. This whole story was essentially me wanting more hypnosis and seeing what that could REALLY do when used by someone as sick and devious as Dio.

#JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken #jonathan joestar #robert edward o speedwagon #jonawagon #dio #diowagon #(yes I feel gross typing that part but it kind of is)#trigger warning #mental manipulation #emotional manipulation #abuse #mending the broken

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snappedsky · 4 years

Text

Fanatics 73.8

The Battalion get revenge on the Director.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

Government of Doom Part 8

The Director angrily taps his fingers on his desk as he watches the surveillance footage on his computer. The Battalion is making an absolute mockery of his facility; blasting through his fortified prison doors like paper, knocking down his military-trained guards like dominoes, and freeing all of his prisoners! And to add insult to injury, they’re all smiling while they do it, like they’re having the absolute time of their life.

And they are. Of course the Battalion and the Night Terrors are having a good time, but so are the liberated prisoners. Most of them are pretty injured, but they help each other, and no amount of exhaustion can slow them down now. Some of them have been trapped here for years, and now they finally have a taste of freedom, and it’s oh so sweet.

Everyone finally slows to a stop as they reach destroyed doors, indicating that they have finally gone through the whole floor.

“Looks like we’re done here,” Pepito says, “is that everyone?”

“Should be,” Squee replies, “I think this floor was all the prisoners.”

“How many floors are there?” Tak asks.

“Four, according to the elevator,” Dib replies.

“Shmee says the second floor is for storage rooms,” Squee says, “that’s where all our stuff was being kept.”

“And the first floor looked like break rooms,” Johnny adds.

“Was there food?” Pepito asks excitedly.

“Was there?!” all of the prisoners cry out.

“Y-yes,” Nny replies, startled.

“Then I vote we go there next,” Pepito smiles, raising his hand.

“Fine,” Zim grunts, “we’ll get some food and drink, and then we go to the fourth floor. That must be where the Director is. Onward, team!”

“Hang on, Zim,” Squee says as everyone starts heading for the elevator. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to fight the Director head-on. Dib said he’s been watching us for years. He knows what to expect from us but we have no idea what he’s got.”

“Are you saying you don’t want revenge for what he’s done?” Zim questions.

“Of course I do! He tried to suck my brain out of my head,” he replies, pointing at the burn marks on his temples. “But I’m just saying, I think we can go at it from a more…psychological approach.”

Zim grins, intrigued. “I’m listening.”

“Before I tell you,” Squee whispers, leaning in closer. “There’s one thing we have to take care of.”

Back in his office, the Director watches the kids on his computer screen. He leans forward curiously, wondering what they’re whispering about. Then a strange antenna pokes out of Zim’s PAK and all the power goes out.

“What!” he barks, now in complete darkness.

“There,” Zim says, replacing the antenna with a lantern. Tak and Skoodge do the same with their PAKs while Mimi lights up her eyes and Squee grabs a flashlight from his bag. “All power to the facility has been turned off. If that director had any cameras, he’s blind now.”

“Literally too, unless his cybernetic eye has night vision,” Dib adds.

“It probably does,” Tak grunts.

“Jeez, the silence is almost deafening after listening to that alarm for so long,” Tenna comments.

“It’s so much better,” Gaz remarks.

“Agreed,” Squee nods, “so, shall we go eat?”

“Yeah!” the prisoners cheer emphatically.

The group arrive at the nearest elevator and Zim pries the doors open with his spider legs. Once everyone’s inside, a metal tentacle runs from Tak’s PAK and stabs into the wall. Electricity runs through it, giving the elevator enough power to take them to the first basement floor. Along the way, Squee explains his plan.

Once they’ve reached the floor, everyone rushes out and into the nearest room. Thankfully, it’s a small kitchen stocked with food. The prisoners immediately dig in like ravenous animals- which some of them actually are.

While everyone relaxes and eats, Squee hands his Night Terrors each a couple of flat, round bombs.

“After you plant them, push this button,” he instructs, pointing at a small red button on the top of the explosives. “Come back as soon as you’re done.”

“Got it!” Reverend Meat salutes before they run off.

“Is that gonna be enough bombs?” Devi asks.

“Sure,” Squee shrugs as he sits down. “The explosions are just to cause a cave-in anyway.”

“Hehehe,” Zim giggles nefariously as he rubs his hands. “I cannot wait to see the Director’s face. He will rue the day he messed with the Battalion.”

“I’m sure he’ll do plenty of ruing,” Pepito nods as he shoves a handful of chips into his mouth.

The Night Terrors return within a few minutes, assuring their little boss of a job well done. Not long after, everyone has eaten and the kitchen has been completely cleaned out. It wasn’t exactly a turkey dinner, but for these prisoners, it sure felt like one.

“Okay, now that we’re ready to leave,” Zim says as he stands up. “Time for phase 2.”

That same antenna exits his PAK again, releasing a field of power that turns the facility’s electricity back on, except for the red alert. As soon as he’s done that, Tak slices a chuck of metal out of the wall, revealing the wires hidden beneath. She quickly gets to work, stripping and attaching wires until another alarm starts ringing; one that repeats ‘Evacuate’.

Downstairs, the Director had been pacing back and forth in his dark office, using the night vision in his cybernetic eye. He deliberates about what to do next: he doesn’t want to get directly involved, but he can’t let these kids get away with these transgressions.

He’s quite startled when the lights turn back on, and even more startled when the alarm starts.

“What? Evacuation?” he questions as he hurries to his computer. “I didn’t issue an evacuation.”

He quickly scrolls through the surveillance footage until he finds the Battalion. After having just demolished one of his kitchens, they’ve all gone into the nearest elevator and are riding it to the surface.

The Director growls and stomps to his elevator. “Dammit.”

The Battalion and the Night Terrors reach the surface before anyone else and exit the hangar. The prisoners are all so happy to finally be free; they stretch and cheer and even cry in the sunlight.

“I never thought I’d miss the sun,” a vampire comments.

“I wonder when the next full moon is,” a werewolf muses.

“I cannot wait to get back to my coven,” a witch sighs.

The little hippogriffs hop around their father happily as he spreads his wings. The mermaid splashes her tail happily in her little tank.

“You’re all welcome to leave now,” Dib says, “but you might want to stick around and watch the show.”

Everyone gathers by the Epic, which according to Mimi’s calculations is the perfect distance away. They all settle down and watch as the SDA quickly evacuate out of the hangar.

“Can we blow it yet?” Zim asks impatiently.

“We gotta wait until we’re sure everyone’s out,” Squee replies, holding an activator in his hand.

They wait a few minutes out, until the number of people leaving lessens to a trickle and eventually nothing.

“Is that everyone?” Squee asks.

“I don’t see the Director,” Dib says.

“Who cares. Blow it!” Zim explains and slamming his hand down on Squee’s activator.

Immediately the ground shakes as muffled explosions are heard before the hangar and the surrounding dirt collapses inwards, creating a large crater. The Battalion, the Night Terrors, and the prisoners all cheer while the SDA watch in horror as their facility is completely destroyed.

“That worked way better than I thought it would,” Gaz comments.

“It was glorious!” Pepito cheers.

“Good work, team,” Zim says.

Their celebration is cut short when something bursts out of the rubble. The Director pulls himself out on top of the crater. His suit is torn and ripped, his hair is messed up, and there are some cuts on the left side of his face, but he seems otherwise unharmed.

“You…” he snarls as he stands up on solid ground, a few feet from the Epic. “You little brats! Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“Sure,” Gaz shrugs, “destroyed your precious facility.”

“Freed all your experiments,” Squee adds.

“Ruined your life’s work,” Pepito concludes, “not bad for a day’s work, huh?”

They chuckle amongst themselves while the Director fumes.

“You will not get away with this,” he snarls, the fingers on his right hand twitching. The kids stop laughing as they sense danger.

The Director’s right sleeves are torn apart, revealing his robotic arm as it unfolds and expands into a large cannon.

“Everyone, stay behind me!” Zim barks as he jumps forward. His spider legs extend and create a force field. The Director fires a large plasma beam from his cannon. Zim’s shield blocks it, but the force of the blast is enough to push him back a couple inches.

The Director smirks as he reaches into his jacket with his other hand and tosses out three small, metal discs. They slide across the ground, stopping near Zim’s feet. He recoils as he recognizes them as the shocking devices that were used to capture them. But before they can go off, Eff and D-boy slide underneath Zim’s shield and kicks them back to the Director.

He flinches and quickly blasts them with his cannon. But once the beam has cleared, his cybernetic eye picks up something approaching at high speed. He barely catches a glimpse of something purple before Sickness appears before him and smashes his eye with a swift kick, knocking him to the ground.

Snarling, the Director lifts his cannon and prepares to fire again. Sickness dashes away to be replaced with Reverend Meat, who grabs the cannon and points it at the sky. The beam fires harmlessly before he crushes the underside of the cannon with a quick squeeze.

“H-how-!” the Director barks as he reaches into his jacket. He grabs another electrocuting device and moves to stick it to Reverend Meat. But before he can, the Doughboys flip over Reverend Meat’s shoulders and land on the Director, pinning him to the ground. Then, Reverend Meat grips his metallic arm and rips it from his shoulder.

The Director pants on the ground as the Night Terrors stand over him, waiting for him to retaliate. He glares at them and asks, “what…what are you?”

“Huh? You don’t know who we are?” D-boy asks, offended.

“Seriously? You’ve been watching them for years and never noticed us?” Eff adds, pointing at the Battalion.

“Yeah, we’re like super important to their story,” Sickness points out.

“You need better spies,” Reverend Meat comments.

They prepare to attack him when Dib speaks up. “Wait, that’s enough!”

The Night Terrors look at him incredulously. “You’re not our boss,” Reverend Meat points out.

“Guys, come on,” Squee scolds, “if Dib says stop, then stop.”

They shrug apathetically and release the Director before walking back to the rest of the group. As he sits up, Dib starts to approach.

“Dib, be careful,” Zim warns, “we don’t know what other tricks he’s hiding.”

“It’s okay,” he replies, “I don’t think he has any more enhancements.”

He looks down at the Director. “I’m right, aren’t I? You were willing to give yourself robotic upgrades but there was a line you couldn’t cross, cause if you did, you wouldn’t be human anymore. You’d be just like the creatures you detest.”

The Director just glares at him.

Dib’s expression softens and he looks back at his friends and the prisoners. “But look at them. They’re not mindless killing machines. This planet is their home too.”

“Life doesn’t have to be all about survival; kill-or-be-killed,” he continues as he turns back to the Director. “Sometimes it can be- it should be just…living.”

The Director still doesn’t reply.

Dib just shrugs. “Well, it doesn’t matter if you listen to me or not. You’re pretty much useless now. And if later you decide to rise up and cause trouble again,” he grins brightly, “we’ll stop you.”

The Director blinks with surprise as Dib walks back to his friends and watches them quietly.

“So…we won?” one of the witches ask.

Dib nods, “we won.”

Immediately, everyone erupts into cheers. They hug each other and incessantly thank the Battalion for help. Most of them are pretty receiving, except for Nny who looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. At least until Squee hugs him, and his scowl melts into a weary smile.

“Do you guys need help getting anywhere?” Dib asks.

“Thank you, but you’ve done enough,” one of the vampires replies, “we need to take care of ourselves from here.”

“Yeah, you can leave the rest to us,” a werewolf adds.

“Well then, good luck,” Dib smiles.

“Thanks, you too!” everyone waves happily as the Battalion and the Night Terrors climb into the Epic.

As the ship takes off into the air, they stick around for a second to watch the ex-prisoners leave the compound. They help each other, carrying the baby hippogriffs and pushing the mermaid’s tank on the trolley.

“They’ll be okay,” Devi says, smiling warmly.

“Yeah,” Nny agrees, “so let’s go home already.”

“My pleasure,” Zim replies and activates the Epic’s thrusters. They blast through the sky and fly away.

The Director stares after them until they’ve disappeared from sight then looks back at the ex-prisoners. Watching them right now, so happy and free, it almost feels like Dib is right. They aren’t so dangerous.

“Uh, s-sir?” one of the SDA scientists says as he approaches the Director. “What…do we do now?” The Director takes a deep breath before standing up and facing his employees. “You’re all on temporary leave. Go home; spend some time with your family. I’ll call you when anything changes.”

“What about you, sir?” he asks.

“I’m going home too,” the Director replies as he looks up at the clear, blue sky. “I got a lot of thinking to do.”

Later that night, after everyone got home and cleaned up, Zim calls the Battalion to his base for an emergency meeting.

“What is it now?” Gaz asks impatiently as they exit the elevator to his lab.

“Yeah, I was just about to go to be-ohhhh,” Pepito stops as they notice the glass cage in the middle of the room, with the SDA agents still inside. They’re lying on the ground, gibbering mindlessly, their eyes distant and drool running out of their mouths.

“I forgot about them,” Squee remarks.

“Yeah,” Zim says, “turns out, Gir had been singing his Doom song to them this whole time.”

“Good god,” Dib comments pitifully.

“Yeah. So what should we do with them?” Zim asks.

“Annihilate them,” Tak snarls.

“Settle down, Tak,” Pepito scolds, “why can’t we just let them go? I mean they’re pretty much useless now.”

“Actually,” Squee argues, “you know what might be really funny?”

Everyone looks at him curiously and he grins.

Back in Nevada, the Director sits in his office in his modest, country home. The right sleeve of his sweatshirt is hemmed and there’s a patch over his right eye. He’s rolling around a stress ball on his desk as he stares blankly at his computer screen.

His deep train of thought is interrupted when his house shakes, like something just crashed outside his door. He quickly stands up and goes outside to find a large, metal crate sitting on his front step. Facing him is a big, red button with a note taped next to it. It reads: ‘An olive branch. XO, the Battalion.’

The Director narrows his eye suspiciously before pushing the button. The metal walls quickly fold up into a small disc, releasing the four SDA agents. They all lie on the ground, gibbering, moaning, and drooling and completely mindless.

The Director sighs bitterly. “I hate those kids.”

#invader zim #invader zim fanfiction #johnny the homicidal maniac #johnny the homicidal maniac fanfiction #iz jthm crossover #myocs #myart

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tightropenuzlocke · 4 years

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Chapter Seven: This Is My Palace

They headed northwest up Route 6 the next day instead of continuing down Route 5, which meant Serena had lost not one, but two consecutive arguments—a miracle in and of itself. So instead of heading directly to Yantreizh or Relifac-le-Haut, they were detouring to Palais Chaydeuvre.

Xoana was practically vibrating, ready to shake apart at the seams. She hadn’t expected it, not after so long. Maybe it was everything else going on as well. It took all her strength to hold it in and chat normally to Aisling, Tierney, and Tracie.

The Pokemon were scattered high and low all around them, searching for something Félicité could use as a wand. By this time, all but Justine seemed to be taking her rejections with alacrity. After all, much depended on the soundness of her weapon, and the selection criteria were impossible to communicate to those outside her line.

Serena stared off at the scenery, pretending to watch her pokemon. Yet she didn’t even notice when Justine at last pried a branch from the bushes that gave Félicité pause. She twirled experimentally and sighted down its length. Justine stared back hopefully through the fork at the end, tail twitching with nerves. At length, Félicité sighed and stowed the branch in the thick fur by her hip. Even this somewhat half-hearted acceptance elicited a whine and wagging tail from Justine, but as before, her enthusiasm with a huff and the cold shoulder as Félicité stalked back to Serena’s side.

“Hey, she’s got a proper wand now!” Xoana prompted. “I can’t wait for her to use it in a real battle.”

“We’ll see how it performs,” Serena muttered, just as skeptical as her Braxien. Her quiet surliness was expected, but for once Xoana felt no obligation to do anything about it. Although, she did wonder if all of this had eroded Serena’s determination to apologize.

Then the Allée-Paradis opened up before them—every tree, hedge, and topiary perfectly shaped and manicured—every flagstone in its proper place. And beyond on either side, tall undulating fields of wheat just beginning to golden. Better than every photograph and painting because it was alive and breathing and she was part of it.

Xoana skipped ahead with a squeal and spun around under the branches. When it all finally stopped spinning, she found Aisling smiling broadly at her.

Heat flushed her face but it wasn’t all embarrassment this time. In fact, that was rather a small quotient. She skipped back to Aisling’s side and hooked their arms together so that they might process down the royal causeway like proper noble ladies.

Aisling looked down in surprise and then her smile split her face. She puffed up—not unlike her Fletchling brother—chest out and shoulders back. She placed her hand over one of Xoana’s and her smile turned more intimate, less like a billboard for the whole world to see. Xoana felt her eyelashes flutter.

And that was too much—too close to so many fantasies she’d had before. She slid her hand out from under Aisling’s and found something to mitigate it. She grabbed Serena’s passing arm and pulled her in too.

...

Maybe she’d had it right back at the lab—the way they both settled as soon as their arms linked. Or maybe Xoana was just trying to force Aisling and Serena to get along. She had to admit they were being pretty churlish, even if she’d never back down.

But then again, Serena had given in awfully quick last night. Tough to blame her. Aisling had almost found herself begging right alongside Xoana, except that she couldn’t give Serena the satisfaction—not yet anyway.

Aisling gestured grandly with her spare hand before putting it in her pocket. “Shall we?”

They started moving again and fell in step with each other. It was a beautiful day and things could be worse.

Xoana gasped when the perfectly cubic trees fell away and the palace itself stretched before them. Aisling smiled fondly for a moment only to notice her expression mirrored on Serena’s face. Hm, that was—she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Wait, what’s that?”

Their heads snapped forward to look. There was an enormous furry mound where the main gate should have been.

They stopped in front of it and stared upward. A peaceful snoring filled the silence.

“What is a Snorlax doing here?” Serena asked. “Do you think it’s guarding the entrance?”

“It’s supposed to be open,” said Xoana, sinking.

“Bree, could you ask this mon what’s up?”

She nodded and went up to him. “Snorlax! Excuse me, Snorlax!” Bree called, vigorously shaking a paw twice the size of her head.

No reaction.

Tessa was next to try and climbed up on its stomach. When that didn’t work, Sprout started to tug on a leg with his vines. Some of the other pokemon started prodding and calling to it, all to no avail. Íde opened her mouth to torch one of its feet, forcing Aisling to reprimand again.

But after another ten minutes went by without success, Aisling began to think her Charmander had been right. Tessa had fallen asleep on the Snorlax’s stomach and Félicité looked ready to burst a vein trying to force psychic energy out of her new wand.

Aisling stepped back a bit to evaluate their predicament. There was no way around it. The Snorlax was completely blocking the ornate, gilded gates and the adjacent wall ran the circumference of the palace and gardens. It was past opening according to the website, but the only soul around was the slumbering beast that blocked their path.

Xoana drooped.

“Alright, I’m going up,” Aisling declared.

“Wait, what—?” Tierney began, but by then Aisling was already clambering up the Snorlax’s side, pulling herself up by its fur.

The pokemon’s head rested against the gate, squishing its already squat neck into nonexistence. It snored, mouth open and drool dribbling out. It lacked front teeth to make room for the long tongue poking just past its lips, but it did have jutting canines as big as Aisling’s thumbs. Its breath smelled somewhat comfortingly of fermented plants, but only fools thought herbivores would pass up meat if given half a chance, or that only carnivores were dangerous.

Aisling stood slowly and carefully on its chest, taking half a step back from her first idea. It was then she saw two men and an impeccably groomed Furfrou running up to the gate from the other side.

“Are you a trainer?” the older of the two called, huffing from the exertion.

“Yeah!”

“Thank the gods!” He stooped to catch his breath.

“Could you help us dislodge this fellow?” The younger man asked for him. “He’s always trying to get in at night and we can’t get the gate open with him sleeping against it.”

“Sure. My friends and I can take care of it.”

Aisling squatted back down, grabbed the Snorlax by his chubby cheeks and shook.

“MY QUEEN!” her friends chorused in horror, but the Snorlax didn’t wake. Worth it.

Aisling delivered her verdict: “I think we’re just gonna have to attack it.”

“Seems rude to start a battle when he’s sleeping,” said Emer, though she didn’t sound firmly against it.

Aisling’s Croagunk croaked.

“You know Wake-Up Slap?” Said Bree. “Why didn’t you tell us before?”

Maeve trilled, throat sack bulging, and crossed her arms.

Bree scoffed. “I wouldn’t let that happen. Come on, I’ll go up with you.”

Aisling offered her hand and Maeve hopped from foot to foot for a moment before taking it, careful not to touch Aisling with her red finger. Aisling had forgotten that hazard. She should really be reading the pokedex entries more thoroughly.

Once the Quilladin and Croagunk were aboard, Aisling slid back off. Sprout grabbed Tessa with his vines and pulled her clear. Everyone was ready. Maeve looked around at their expectant faces and wrung her hands.

“Wake-Up Slap!” Aisling commanded.

Maeve squeezed her eyes shut and struck the Snorlax across the face. The slap resounded around the courtyard, bouncing off the palace walls and back.

Nothing… not even snoring. Then a rumbling began. Bree swept Maeve up over her head and scurried down as the rumble turned to roaring and the Snorlax scrabbled clumsily to his feet.

A combined cry rang out as the pokemon rushed him in a show of force and unity. Emer blasted him in the face with Water Gun and was rewarded for her smart strategy by being punted all the way to the bushes. Xoana cried out for her, but Aisling was confident the little Marill would bounce back, which she did a few moments later.

The Snorlax took a swipe at them all but Sprout and Bree grabbed his arm with their vines, halting him for a moment before he yanked and both were airborne. Bree used the momentum to swing around and kick him in the side while Sprout reeled in to attach himself firmly, taking advantage of the confusion to drain the Snorlax with Absorb.

Tierney’s Hawlucha came to the rescue at her call, plucking Sprout from the Snorlax’s arm before he could do it himself and thus clearing Spark for and electric attack. Félicité followed up with an Ember. The tip of her wand ignited as it was supposed to, but the fire started creeping down towards her hand and she was forced to stop.

The Snorlax swung but Laoch used Counter which made him stagger and Valériane followed with a Karate Chop to his shoulder.

“Ember, Íde!”

The Charmander released a blast that looked closer to Flamethrower.

“Gust, Finley!”

The Combee zipped behind Íde and stoked her teammate’s attack into a wall of fire that all had to shy away from. The Snorlax threw up an arm to shield his face and backed away. Maeve and Froabble kicked him in the side to steer him further and he broke into a run, shaking the ground as he retreated.

“Ha! Nice work all!” said Aisling.

She offered high-fives to her fellow trainers and Bree copied by offering the same to her teammates. Íde tapped her paw a bit grudgingly, but Maeve was enthusiastic. All seemed at least somewhat satisfied besides Félicité, who rubbed at her charred wand, and Justine, who drooped in embarrassment at having provided the faulty weapon.

“Thank you all, truly!” The older man declared, helping the younger to open the gate. “We usually have a pokeflute to deal with those brutes, but, ah…” He trailed off, brow furrowing, and the younger man stepped in.

“It’s currently on loan to Fort-de-Vanitas for an exhibition.”

“Right, yes! But let us move on to introductions. I am Baron Agreste, Caretaker of Palais Chaydeuvre, and this is my eldest son, Gabriel.” Baron made sense. They were both expensively dressed now that Aisling took a moment to notice them.

Xoana looked about ready to bow so Aisling stepped forward and offered her hand, giving each man a hearty shake. If they didn’t like it, they didn’t show it and greeted the rest the same.

“We really must repay you for the trouble. Would you all care for a tour?”

Xoana stifled a squeal.

“That’s awfully kind of you. We’d love one.”

It turned out Palais Chaydeuvre was a combination of traditional museum and historical site with some rooms featuring exhibitions of various kinds while others were preserved and restored to represent what the Palace was like when it was still the royal residence. It had the typical museum staff, but Baron Agreste and his family also lived there. Apparently they had been in charge of the palace’s upkeep since it was built, and this had somehow not changed when it was seized by the government of the people. His ancestors may have sided with the revolutionaries. That part was unclear.

Xoana was delighted the entire time and the baron was pleased to have someone so enthusiastic. His son disappeared, no doubt to do whatever the baron was meant to be doing while he escorted them around instead. The Furfrou was unbelievably bored and more than once tried to slip away only to be called back before she could get very far.

Serena said little, but she knew Xoana’s tastes well. More than once she pointed out something that had Xoana skipping over to look.

Tracie stopped in front of a painting and tilted her head. “What’s this?”

“That is thought to be the earliest depiction of mega evolution. For the longest time, no one knew what is was.” Aisling stopped to give it a closer look. A small human figure stood in the foreground holding something bright and shining aloft while behind them reared what might have been a huge and monstrous Gyarados with greatly exaggerated fins and red and black mixed in with the usual blue. “It was in one of the rarely used bedrooms and no one paid it any mind. But after mega evolution was discovered, a guest identified it and we had someone come in to evaluate it. Since moving it to public display, scientists and art historians the world over have come to see it.”

Age and abstraction made the confusion understandable, but it was still evocative somehow. That would be her one day—fist raised to the sky in exhilaration and defiance as unquenchable power flowed through her and an entire stadium roared her name.

Some of that same ambition must have tugged on Serena too, because was leaning over Aisling’s shoulder now and seemed not to notice.

“Ya’ see that, Comtesse?” Serena stiffened at how close Aisling’s voice was to her ear. “Coming here was in line with our program. We had a good battle to strengthen our teams and now we’re doing extra research on mega evolution.”

Serena retreated and crossed her arms but gave a huff that made Xoana smile.

...

Xoana didn’t want to leave the luxurious halls but it would have been a shame to come all this way and not see the famously beautiful palace gardens and grand sculpture work. And truth be told they were all growing tired of staring at things on walls and in glass cabinets and getting drowsy from the palace’s stuffy air.

The baron had left them before lunch, so they were free to wander as they pleased after. It was comfortably warm out and the light breeze smelled incredible. The lilacs must have been in bloom. Xoana sighed as they wandered across the bridge and stopped to look at the bronze Gyarados fountain in the middle of the lake.

Aisling offered her arm and Xoana nearly followed the urge to take it before the baron came running up. Aisling stretched expansively. Maybe she hadn’t meant to offer it?

It was difficult to understand much before he caught his breath, but Xoana soon puzzled out that he was pleading for their help finding his “lost” Furfrou. That seemed rather unlikely, but the poor old man appeared genuinely distressed and she agreed to look.

Justine had the best nose and seemed eager to be of use after the faulty wand business earlier, so they followed her lead around the gardens. Tierney got sidetracked capturing a lily Flabébé, but caught up with them before the scent trail lead them into the grand hedge maze.

“I think we should fan out, yeah?” said Tierney.

And so they did, though a bit reluctantly.

It took Xoana a little while to realize that it was Aisling twittering and not some bird. It was hard to whistle back through her smile, but she tried her best. Tierney was next to catch on, responding with a pretty good imitation of Valériane’s hoarse croaks after each of Xoana’s calls. Then Tracie followed, cooing like a Pidove. Finally Xoana heard Serena’s patented sigh from the hedge beside her followed by her best attempt at a Swanna’s trumpet.

Aisling cracked up and the rest of them folded like a house of cards. Even Serena chuckled quietly on the far side of the hedge.

It was then Xoana saw the Furfrou standing in the t-intersection in front of her, once flawless la reine trim covered in dirt and tangled with twigs and leaves. Xoana stopped and the Furfrou looked at her, eyes wide. She gave one swift tug but her long ear was snagged in the hedge. The Furfrou then held perfectly still.

“Found her!” Xoana yelled to the others. There were whoops and the patter of footsteps as they all attempted to converge. “Let me help you get out of—”

The Furfrou yanked herself free and bolted.

“Oh no, I scared her!”

“Nah,” said Froabble, already hopping after her.

“Then why did she run?” Xoana called after her pokemon.

Justine wriggled under the hedge separating them and took off running while Serena and her other pokemon’s footfalls doubled back.

“Wait!” Xoana called, joining the pursuit, the Furfrou kept running and they kept after her.

They all met Tierney and Laoch down a corner, but the Furfrou dove down another path between them. Next Tracie and Spark had her cut off, but the section was wide and the Furfrou rushed her. Tracie dove to the right, but the Furfrou zigzagged at the last moment and jumped clean over Spark to get away.

Tierney pulled Tracie up and they were right back in it. The Furfrou tried to make a turn but Aisling and Bree were there so she skidded with a startled yelp and hurdled down the straightaway, narrowly outpacing Bree’s vine lasso. Serena and Félicité almost had her, but she escaped once again, this time towards the outer part of the maze.

“Dammit!”

“Comtesse stay on her!” Xoana yelled. The pause gave the Furfrou a lead, but Serena and her three canines took off after her. Serena was by far the best runner in any case and Xoana was confident she would catch up. The rest of the pokemon had converged. “Valériane get us an aerial view!”

“Finley you too!” Aisling called.

“Okay, we have to get her into the Chandelure quadrant,” Xoana told them. “It has the most dead ends and only five exits. My Queen, you skirt around the Delphox quadrant and try and flank her. Vicomtesse, same with the Pyroar quadrant. Baronne, take the middle path and I’ll take the hedgerow.”

They all split off again and Aisling offered her a little salute that did something to Moana’s chest as she rounded the corner. Moments later they were all out of sight. Xoana whistled and they all sounded off with their fake bird calls.

Their quarry was wily. She knew this maze like the top of her paw. But they had numbers and a strategy now. The Furfrou tried to hide in the Delphox quadrant but Aisling and Serena flushed her out. Next she took the diagonal to the Pyroar quadrant but Tierney and Tracie drove her away.

“Valériane says she’s headed towards the fountain,” Froabble informed her.

They were close and they booked it. Xoana could see the Furfrou coming but she wasn’t going to make it in time. She, Tessa and Sprout weren’t fast enough.

“Go Froabble! You can do it!”

The Froakie pulled ahead of her, a bright blue blur against the dull path.

“Water Pulse the fountain!”

He dove in and the water lit like a beacon. Xoana felt something warm and tingling and almost electric—something powerful—flow out of her and the water surged upward and spread. The Furfrou’s eyes widened in terror and her mouth gaped at the wall of water mounting above her. She turned sharply, spraying gravel, and fled into the Chandelure quadrant.

“YES!” Xoana cried with a jump as the water crashed back down. “She’s in!”

Froabble hopped back out of the fountain as a Frogadier and they high-fived as she ran past back into the maze. From their calls, everyone else had made it to one of the other entrances and it was time to close in.

The Furfrou went south first but Tracie and Tierney blocked her in. Aisling and her team had split and blocked all the west outlets, so she ran north only to be confronted by Serena. Her only remaining option was to run back towards Xoana, then turn down one of the dead ends to dodge Froabble’s leap.

Xoana chased her in and dove atop the Furfrou before she decided her plush coat could maybe make it through the hedges after all.

“I got her!”

Her friends cheered and the Furfrou groaned.

“Gods I’m so sorry!” Xoana told her, scrambling off the poor pokemon. “I wasn’t even thinking! We shouldn’t have been chasing you. Did I hurt you at all? I’m so sorry!”

The Furfrou picked herself up and grumbled.

“She’s okay,” said Froabble, hopping to Xoana’s side. “And she’s says we’re forgiven for catching her because that chase was the most fun she’s had in months.”

Xoana doubted him as the Furfrou sat tall and stiff as a guardian statue before her, but then her lips pealed back in a grin and the bedraggled ball and her tail wagged.

Sprout and Tessa finally caught up and the Teddiursa flopped down to catch her breath. They all laughed at that while they waited for the rest to find them.

...

Xoana was a little worried the baron would be angry with how filthy and bedraggled his refined companion had become—and how they’d been chasing her all around the maze like some kind of escaped convict—but he was simply overjoyed to have her back safe and thanked them all profusely for their trouble.

The Furfrou rolled her eyes and Xoana began to suspect firstly, that the baron couldn’t understand her, and secondly, that her sneaking off to be rowdy and get dirty was a somewhat regular occurrence.

“You know it is getting rather late and I feel simply terrible about enlisting you all twice in one day. What do you say to staying here for the night?”

“In the palace?” Xoana asked, certain she had somehow misunderstood.

“We have rooms set up for family visits and special events. There are plenty for each of you to have your own.”

Xoana actually felt faint and she might have wobbled because Aisling put her hand on the small of her back to steady her. Serena stepped up to answer for her.

“That’s so kind of you, Baron. We’d love to.”

“It’s the least I can do. There are fireworks after dinner to celebrate Fin-de-la-Tyrannie.” Xoana had completely forgotten that was today. “You can all watch from one of the private balconies. Once the visitors have gone, we’ll show you to your rooms.”

Xoana barely kept it together long enough for the baron and Furfrou to leave. Then she was bouncing up and down and hugging everyone and telling Froabble he was the best pokemon in the world.

...

The day really couldn’t have gone any better—ill-advised shenanigans included. Even after all the battling and running, Xoana was full to the brim. She was ready to do it all again right now, but part of what made it all so wonderful was that she couldn’t. So she swayed instead, hugging herself as twilight set in.

Aisling stepped out onto the balcony behind her and Xoana didn’t need to turn around to know she was smiling.

“I’m so excited! I haven’t seen many fireworks before.”

“Me neither,” said Aisling, coming to stand next to her by the railing.

“Today was amazing. I’m never going to forget it. We haven’t even seen these fireworks yet, but I know I’ll never forget them either. So thank you for everything you did to help make it so special.”

“It was my pleasure,” Aisling purred in one of her usual self-assured tones. Then she paused, shifted her weight, and leaned both arms on the balcony. When she spoke again, all trace of teasing, confidence, and irony was gone. “Thank you for inviting me along on this whole thing. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Xoana leaned on the balcony too, edged a little closer until they were almost touching.

“I’m glad you came.” Now that was bold and bordered on innuendo. Aisling bumped her shoulder and Xoana looked up at the sky to try and focus on something other than the warmth flaring up her side. “You add a lot to the group, something we were missing. I think we’ve all been having more fun with you. I know I have at least.” She was rambling now, but she didn’t dare stop. “You’re really something else, you know? That’s part of why this day was so incredible, and how I know the rest of it will be.”

Xoana looked down at their hands and saw Aisling’s reaching for hers. Her heart skipped a beat and the moment slowed.

Serena walked onto the balcony behind them. Xoana could pick out those footfalls anywhere. Aisling withdrew her hand and turned to slouch back against the railing.

“The Comtesse graces us with her presence.”

Serena snorted, but with less than her usual derision, and stood by the railing on Aisling’s other side. Despite everything, she’d had fun as well.

Xoana knit her fingers together and stared at them. Had Aisling really been about to make a move on her? Would she have gone through with it if Serena hadn’t shown up? Did Xoana want that?

She was chewing on the inside of her lip and sensation was leaving her fingers.

But how much of that was Aisling and how much was the want that had been aching in her for years? She’d wondered the same about Serena. She still doubted, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

“Ais—” Serena stopped herself, started over. Xoana glanced over, and Serena met her eyes instead of Aisling’s. “My Queen.” She blinked and shifted her focus to Aisling as she grunted to acknowledge she was listening. “I’m sorry for what I said about Dáire.”

Aisling’s face betrayed nothing, but her shoulders hunched and her knuckles strained on the railing.

“I truly didn’t mean to imply it was anything other than a tragic accident. I was shocked and spoke carelessly. I apologize and I will do my best to not be as insensitive in the future.”

Xoana thought she heard Aisling’s teeth grind, but a quiet thanks passed her lips.

They actually did it!

But after that there was stiff silence rather than catharsis. Maybe they weren’t ready yet, but at least they had tried. Xoana caught Serena glancing at her again. Maybe they had tried for her. They had both spent the day trying to make sure she was happy. The least she could do was try the same for them.  She dug around for the joy and energy she’d been overflowing with only a few minutes ago and slid between them, putting her arms around both of their shoulders.

“Fireworks with friends is the best! Thank you both for today.” She gave their shoulders a squeeze and they smiled.

Then the first firework went up, making any further conversation impossible. Tierney and Tracie came running out to join them and they all watched together.

Xoana cheered and applauded and hopped up and down, pulling everyone into the excitement with her. She let the bright colors fill her vision and the sound fill her chest with its booming.

It really was beautiful, even if it was over a bit too soon.

#nuzlocke #storylocke #pokemon xy #wlw #Tightrope #chapter

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amwritingmeta · 5 years

Text

S14 Finale: First Impressions

I got my grubby hands on the ep yesterday and watched it super late when everyone else had gone to bed and I was like clutching my face and stifling giggles of joy and just breathing OH MY FUCKING GOD (I shall never be able to actually use that expression again in the same manner but I did while watching oh YES) at the screen. :P

All I really want to put here is a screaming ghost face emoji and then a dancing lady in a red dress and then a crying his eyes out smiley and then idk like just all the expletives?

Yeah?

Because ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm HOLY FUCKING FUCK, BATMAN!

So happy. Ecstatic might even be the word!!

First impression —> Good.

So damn amazed at what they can communicate through a character performing one wordless action. Or an action attached to just one word. It’s... beautiful!!

And did we get a twist or what?? Our deus ex machina comes in and fucks shit up! I don’t think anyone saw him coming in to fix anything, right? But to have him come to subvert the very definition of a deus ex machina?? Aaaahhhhhhhh I CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE DABB!! BRILLIANT!!

Jack. JACK. What can’t I say about our boy? How delighted am I not at how he handled himself this episode and might I scream about his ending up in the Empty? I may have enjoyed the idea of him heading off to Heaven with Cas, but that may still happen. Jack in the Empty is such fucking wish fulfilment though, that I can’t even begin.

And BILLIE IS THERE!!!

And they need to talk!!

Shall we all just jump on the supportive bandwagon of Jack as our New God (as per rectifying the Godstiel arc and, by extension of Cas’ faith in him, stepping in to fucking help fix Cas’ earlier mistakes?? JAYSUS PLEASE ALL THAT IS GOOD!!) Seriously, Jack gaining control of his powers and helping Billie reap God and taking his rightful place leading Heaven and bringing balance between Heaven, Earth and Hell... My heart can barely cope. *teary eyed*

Obviously with his father figures (yes Sam and Dean are still good father figures) (they just went a little wayward there for a moment) possibly probably teaching and guiding him.

Oh my God, Dean not firing that gun! I was so relieved. Serious fists-to-mouthage going on at that moment like omg omg please Dean, please. And when he uncocked it and THREW IT ON THE GROUND?? *squeaks*

And, hey, God did hand-deliver the weapon to kill Jack and it was left in Dean’s own hands to make the choice whether to shoot it or not, but oh man! The fact that killing the representative of his inner child combined with that swallowed up toxic masculinity and everything this represents meaning Dean literally fucking killing himself was just... That was just... I can’t. *big wobbly* *so gorgeous*

And I just did not expect that they’d turn God - pardon, I mean Chuck - into the Big Bad. It’s EPIC.

Jeez, here I was thinking of Chuck as the good guy just trying his best. The epitome of the parental figure that has learned to let go and take a step back. The dad who might’ve created in his image in order to be worshipped, but who then went on to create humanity and realising his mistake the first time around (with the angels) imbuing them (us) with free will. With choice. Because his angels’ worship and loyalty were manufactured. And he wanted to be loved. Truly loved.

Bah. Humbug.

It’s fantastic!! Because of course there was always the controlling side to God. The God that locked his sister away. That betrayed her. The dark side to him, that’s all about being obeyed, and doing whatever he wants because he can... And how he represents lying, manipulation, control. The stuff that needs to be rooted out. Yessss. *fingers crossed* (I cannot believe Chuck is our Big Bad!!) (he’s our BIG BAD for the final season!!) *gah!*

Anyway. I don’t think Chuck was actually built, in the narrative, to be this. This is Dabb’s twist. But it’s fucking perfect and I love it. And ROB!!! YAAASSSS! More of Rob next season. *adoration falls on the floor omgl* *no not oh my good lord* *ombl* *oh my bad lord* :P

Also. Is Chuck bad? Or is he still writing his story? You know? I mean, total Big Bad vibe for good reasons, but... he’s a liar, after all. What exactly is the lie and what’s the truth? :P

Sam. SAM. Telling Dean off, and then speaking to God and seeing through his BULLSHIT and getting in a car and driving to stop Dean. *shivers of pleasure* More of this next season. Come on, Sam. You know you’re such a strong, smart leader. You know who you are!! You just have to let him out.

Man! I hope all this happens sooner than later.

Cas.

I have no words. I have NO WORDS!! When he turned and walked out of that room after Dean had challenged him with how God had just told them what had to be done and if it didn’t suit Cas then he could just go. OMFG OMFG HE LEFT. He just gave Dean that Look - and left to go find his son. *sobs*

Also, that shoulder bump between Cas and Dean earlier. I am really, really intrigued by how Dean and Cas’ relationship will start off next season and how the writers will explore it. But this. This distance. CAS STANDING BETWEEN JACK AND DEAN!! Potentially hugely important. Amazing. Fantastic. And good lord does it bode well for his individual arc.

Where that arc is headed? I feel he’s still emotionally linked to Heaven, and for good reason. His bad choices has absolutely devastated his home. It’s completely understandable that he’s not just going to shrug his shoulders and go, well, my home’s on Earth now. So the salvation, to me, lies in Jack. I mean. The setup is formidable, if this is where they’re headed. It’s beautiful. And emotional. And fitting. Because through his entire journey, Cas has learned the lessons needed to have actual faith in Jack, even when no one else did, and through this faith, Jack might turn out to be the one being that can restore Heaven to its former glory. And fix what Cas broke.

Oh, it would be... so satisfactory. It really would. The bringer of balance. The representative of Heaven, Humanity and Hell. Sitting on the throne of Heaven while keeping Hell in check. Leaving Earth to its dealings. The way it was done before S4 and the breaking of the first seal and the rising of Lucifer, which was all brought on by... God himself. Yeah. I mean. To close this narrative this way would be... Mh. Goodness.

Seriously, this is a rambling mess of first impressions, but oh, those first impressions were so good. I’m so excited. This finale was absolutely fantasmical and next season They Go Big. *no kidding*

I’m so happy they got to stay together. THEY KEPT THEM TOGETHER!! FOR THE SEASON FINALE!!! I’m so fucking happy!! No matter the tension between Dean and Cas, they’re, all three of them, together. What if that’s the tone for next season? Teamwork. Learning to communicate. More episodes together as a trio rather than spent apart, divided up?? *tears up again at the mere possibility of it all*

What we surely do have is TFW, shoulder to shoulder, facing the end of the world.

Apocalypse Now, here we come.

Hot. Damn.

*I love this show*

I’ll write more meta asap (literally meaning As Soon As Possible) (life is misbehaving at the moment and hours are short and far between), but there’s so much meta to write!!

Also, welcome to Hellatus.

If this is your first time, please know that there’s plenty of fan fiction and meta writing to get you through, and don’t forget to check out the archives. We’ve got fourteen seasons smack on the table ripe for dissecting. Blades at the ready. Sharpest ones, if you please.

Aw.

We’re gonna have So Much Fun!

#spn 14x20 #spn spoilers #first impressions #jack kline #dean winchester #sam winchester #cas #destiel #better together #welcome to hellatus #!!!#:P #my reading #my meta #spn meta

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cottontail20 · 5 years

Text

Memories, Chapter 5: His Greatest Creations

Summary: Vision finds some very special letters.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19778191/chapters/47629006

After that, their nighttime routine sometimes changed a little. Not every night, they weren't suddenly insatiable sex fiends.. But often enough. Wanda and Vision did, after all, have time to make up for.

This particular morning, Vision woke to the pleasant, soft warmth of Wanda's bare skin as she lay curled sleeping against his chest, her arms curled tightly around him. Vision shifted slightly so he could look at her properly. A small smile adorned Wanda's face as she slept. She looked so relaxed, more perfectly at peace than he had ever seen her.

And, Vision thought, why shouldn't she sleep peacefully? She didn't have to run anymore. Didn't have to hide. They had a space to call their own. Anyone could look around their room now, see it filling with Wanda's things, and Vision's, and know immediately that it was their room. They were safe now. Secure. They were Home.

Vision was home, because he was with Wanda. He looked at her again, and his synthetic heart swelled, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. He loved her so much it almost hurt. She was his home, he belonged with her, now and forever. Forever. Vision knew he wanted to be with Wanda forever, and he knew their was something specific that he had to do to make that happen.

Now, he just needed to remember what exactly that something was. Vision was feeling quite stupid, because he knew it was something obvious. He knew it was something he should know, something he should remember, but he simply didn't, yet.

At that moment, Vision was distracted again from whatever it was he'd been trying to remember by Wanda beginning to stir, eyes fluttering open, a sleepy smile spreading across her face.

"Mmm.. Morning, Vizh."

"Good morning, Wanda" Vision replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "How did you sleep?"

"Destul de bine. I think someone might have worn me out a bit."

"Oops.."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing" Wanda shifted, stretching, causing some of the covers to fall away. Visiion's cheeks turned a darker shade of red as he quickly tried to gather them up again. Wanda chuckled. "I don't mind if you see me, Vizh. You have special, uh, Boyfriend privileges."

Her brow had crinkled a little as she spoke, because truthfully, the words 'Boyfriend' and 'Girlfriend' had never felt quite special enough for what they were to each other, but then, what other word was there to use?

"I know" said Vision. "I see you, and you are beautiful. But I also love and respect you far too much to just shamelessly ogle any time you happen to be naked in front of me."

"Well.." Wanda blushed slightly, propping herself up on on one elbow to kiss him. "Thank you, Vision. I feel very loved and respected."

"Good.." Just as Vision leaned up to return Wanda's kiss, there was a knock at the door.

"Vision?" came Morgan Stark's sweet little voice. "Big Brother, are you awake?"

"Just a minute, don't open the door!" Vision and Wanda both sprang out of bed, searching for anything resembling appropriate clothing. Vision could, of course, instantly phase himself into something, but he had somewhat got into the habit of usually wearing Tony's old pants, even if they were a little short on him.

"Why?" They could almost see the crinkle in Morgan's adorable brow.

"Uh.. A monster stole my pants!" Vision replied, and Wanda burst out laughing as she slipped into her gown.

"A monster?!"

"Don't worry, your brother fed the monster and it went away" Wanda smirked, throwing Vision's pants at him and waiting for him to get them on before opening the door. "Now, what can we do for you, fata dulce?"

"Can we make Mommy a special Breakfast?" Morgan asked.

"Yes" Vision smiled fondly at her. "Of course we can." --

Morgan, quite a sweet natured child, often liked to do nice things for her Mother, and her reasons for doing so were often just as sweet as she was. So, when Vision had a meal of eggs, mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes almost ready to serve, Wanda asked Morgan what the occasion was for Today's special breakfast.

"Oh, Mommy is a little bit sad Today" Morgan explained.

"Why is that? Wanda frowned.

"Today was 'sposed to be her and Daddy's 'versary."

"Oh.." Wanda's face fell. "You mean their Wedding Anniversary?"

"Uh-huh."

Halfway through dishing food onto a plate, Vision froze. Partly due to a sudden pang of sympathy for Pepper, but also because of one particular word. One word, and all the words surrounding it.

Wedding. Marriage. Proposal. Husband and Wife. And a ring.. --

Vision remembered standing in a jewelry store in New York, one of the very few occasions that he had worn his human disguise.

He had made a few visits, before he had finally chosen a ring. Simple, but beautiful. Just like Wanda would want.

"Good luck, sir.." The clerk had wished him as he left, ring-box in hand.

"Thank you.." --

He remembered taking the ring back to the compound and tucking it away in his suitcase.

The suitcase now stowed in the bottom of his cupboard.

"Well," Vision managed to speak, dishing up the remainder of the food, "I hope this Breakfast helps your Mommy feel a bit better. Maybe you and Wanda can take it to her? I just have to go check something.."

Wanda opened her mouth to question him, but Vision was already gone. --

Vision bolted to his room, throwing the closet open and dragging out his suitcase, dropping to his knees to search it's contents.

Soon, he found it. A ring-box, containing the ring he had chosen for Wanda. Strangely, though, attached to the box with a rubber band, was an envelope. It looked rather fat, and was taped shut, as if it had been sealed and reopened again. Vision removed the envelope, carefully opening it. He pulled out letters, in Tony Stark's handwriting. Letters to him. Feeling a lump in his throat, Vision began to read. --

Dear Vision,

As much as I've tried, I just can't seem to wake you up. And believe me, I have tried. I've tried everything I can think of, so has Bruce, we even called Helen Cho.. We just can't wake you up without that damn stone.

I found this ring in your stuff.. You were going to give it to Maximoff, I suppose. I'm sorry you never got the chance. I can't help thinking things would be different, for you, better, if she were still here. That she could wake you up. I almost one hundred percent sure she could, and that sucks, 'cause I can't help blaming myself for her being gone, for you, for everyone.. Wondering if things could have been different if I was here, instead of up there..

But I'm trying not to dwell. This letter is my way of trying to let go, I suppose. To say goodbye, to you. It's harder than I thought, because I don't think I ever realized how much you actually meant to me until I saw you broken.

I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I should probably bury you or something, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Just know that you're safe here. I'll protect you, like I couldn't then.

Goodbye, Robo-son. Rest In Peace. --

Vision's eyes were stinging a little, though he hadn't shed any tears, yet. He wiped them anyway moved on to the next letter. --

Dear Vision,

So, it turns out there might be a way to bring everyone back. If it all works out, you might get a chance to give this ring to Maximoff after all. That's why I put this letter with it, because I know you'll come looking for this thing.

So, hopefully I'll see you soon. But this mission is big, it's dangerous, there's a whole lot that could go wrong. If this plan works, but I don't make it, if you wake up and I'm not here.. There's some things I need you to do for me, Vision.

There's a little girl.. my little girl, Morgan. She already loves you. Calls you her big brother. I'm going to need you to look after her for me. And Peter, and Harley.. you remember both of them, right? I hope so. They'll both need a bit of support.

I know how great you turned out has very little to do with me. You were your own great man from the moment you sprang out of that cradle. But whatever little part of you did come from me, (probably just the Jarvis part), I want you to know I'm proud of you. And Morgan, and whatever tiny little parts of Peter or Harley that I can lay claim to.. I am so proud.

Tell them that, if I don't get the chance. I don't mean to get soppy here, but If I go, I know I'm leaving behind the best of me. My greatest creations are you.

Hope I see you soon. --

Tears spilled from Vision's eyes, really, truly feeling Tony's loss for the first time. And then he remembered.. A memory that wasn't entirely his, not anymore, but still very much a part of him. --

"Hello, sir. I am Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. You may call me J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Shit!" Tony exclaimed joyfully. "It worked! You work!"

"Shit.. That word is not in my speech bank. Shall I add.."

"Fuck!" cried Tony. "I mean, shit.. crap.. No!"

"No, sir?"

"Don't say shit, or fuck, or crap.. Miss Potts will be pissed if she finds out I created an artificial intelligence and thinks the first thing I did was teach it to swear.. She'll do that disappointed little sigh that's actually kinda sexy.."

"Miss Potts is sexy?"

"Ye.. NO!" --

Suddenly, Vision was laughing through his tears. He heard footsteps approaching, and stuffed the ring back into the suitcase. Soon, but not yet.

Wanda entered, finding Vision laughing and crying at the same time. She glanced at the letters in his hand for just long enough to recognize Tony Stark's handwriting. Without any questions, or any words at all, she knelt by Vision's side and just held him, because that was what she felt he needed her to do.

Vision curled into her arms. Safe. Home. He laughed, and he cried. He was sad, for the loss of his friend.. of his Father. But Vision was also happy. So very happy. Because Vision remembered. The very important thing he'd been trying to remember since he first woke up. He remembered exactly what he wanted, what he'd planned to do before everything went wrong. What he still planned to do now.

Vision was going to ask Wanda Maximoff to marry him.

Notes:

Translation: Destul de bine: pretty good Fata dulce: sweet girl

#scarlet vision #ScarletVision #Scarlet Witch #wanda maximoff #The Vision #vision mcu #wanda x vision #vision x wanda #morgan stark #tony stark #Avengers #MCU #avengers endgame #endgame fix it

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