#its always tunnel vision w this man | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cutegirlmayra · 3 years

Text

Hotsprings - Sonamy

Rated SE, for Shipping for Everyone ;)

prompt:

It was starting to take its small tolls on Amy.

One day, it was “Sorry, Amy! Eggman’s not playing nice today. Really wasn’t expecting this to come up so soon... but hey! There’s always next time!” ...Always, next time.

She didn’t think much of it until he started sprucing up the words every now and then, “Wow! Is it that time, already? You’re probably not gonna like this... but Tails just discovered-” or, “Dang, this bites, but hey! Listen to this!”, and, “Woohoo! I finally found Shadow! Tough job looking for a literal government secret, but I finally think we’re about to hit a breakthrough!”

It was never, “How ya doing?” or, “Let’s reschedule to about this day and time?” and, “Man, really miss ya though!”

So Amy’s heart began to pang, although she did love his goofy messages, knowing they were sincerely sorry... it just felt like he never had the time to be with her.

So, she took the lead and headed out in the dead of night. However, it was chilly, and she found herself hugging her arms close to herself and shivering as she made it over the hill, which was the last location he had mentioned to her.

“Ohh...” she whined, looking around but finding no trace of anyone there. It was full of crevices left from a battle though, craters and carved up rock cliffs... the ground was extremely uneven, but where Amy had trekked up the hill, it was relatively alright.

Realizing she was just too slow, she stomped her foot down on the wet grass, “Hmph! This is the last time I’m being left behind! ...W-whaaa!!!” She had scarcely moved her arms to her sides to bundle up her fists tightly in her frustrations when a sudden sharp and piecing wind rocked her back, and staggering against it, she found her awkward footsteps causing her to slip up over the flattened surface of fresh, sprinkled, and slushie-like snow to slide down the wet grass.

“Ahhh!!!!” she tumbled and slid until hitting the ground harshly with her chin, making her eyes close and their lids quiver at the pain. “Ah-ah-ouch...” she slowly got up, looking back at the field and through the sprinkled, cold wind could imagine Sonic and the gang’s epic showdown... the last adventure still evident in the landscape.

“...They...” she felt her bottom lip quivering, as though the pain was already forming tears, but her heart now wanted to join the pity party as well. “They must have had so much fun.” The struggle of not feeling somewhat envious of the boys was a bit too much on her poor heart.

She laid back down and softly let herself feel the sorrow of always being blown off to go on some--although important, and she knew it--fantastical adventure that they may or may not write her about.

She pulled out the Miles-Electric Tails had gifted her while tensing against the bitter cold.

She turned on her tracker, just in case anyone was wondering... in case... anyone would notice.

“If I stay out here...” she told herself aloud, desiring to hear something besides the quiet of her lonely, softly falling tears... though they were freezing against her cheeks and making her even colder. “I’ll catch a cold for sure.” She looked up at the foggy white sky... wondering if Sonic and her friends were cold too, or celebrating somewhere far away from her... far away from their devices... that would alert them to her beacon being sent out.

She pulled her legs closer to her, letting her head fall back to the stinging cold of the grass... but at least she couldn’t feel dirt or ground.

She’d have to wash up anyway, it’s not like she’d freeze to death...

She felt a sniffle come from her nose as her eyes were beginning to burn.

“Sonic hates crying...” she told herself, but continued to let little tears fall. “Maybe... he’ll just know... and come find me.”

Her hopes pushed through her mind as she continued to call his name, wondering if somewhere, somehow... he’d take a moment to think of her...

Then her Miles-Electric blinked on and she held it closer, desperate to see what was on it.

Another beacon... but not Sonic’s.

“Ohh...” Amy sat up and wiped some of the frosty tears off her cheeks, feeling the wind pick up and trying to face her back towards it, hoping to brace against the cruelty of the seasons of nature just a few more minutes.

She had traveled pretty far, but seeing the beacon, she responded with a message. “I’m out right now, and it’s freezing cold! Who’s out here too?”

The message she received looked a lot like Knuckles’s awful key-pressing, and trying to decode his bad usage of spelling and grammar, she tilted the Miles-Electric to get a better look... when the reflection showed a on-coming blizzard or avalanche sweeping through the forest.

She gasped and looked behind her, seeing the rolling cloud of snow like a large, trumpeting wave that was crashing over everything in sight.

Something so big... would easily cover her in seconds.

Gasping, she got up immediately and clicked on the video, sending the message out with her beacon active. “Help!!!” she cried out, slipping up the hill as she tried to find some traction.

Looking back at the on-coming snow storm, stampeding upon the ground and leaping in a rushed frenzy to spray out at the air, she abandoned the video and simply tried to run.

Finally making it up the slippery slope she gasped as she was covered immediately in pounding cold punches that seemed to topple over one another.

Afraid, she sucked in a breath, knowing she could suffocate if she didn’t.

It was hard though, with all the weight, she could barely feel her stomach want to move.

When the sounds turned muffled and she knew she was buried under feets of snow, she kicked and tried to waved about to loosen the snow but she was pinned...

The next best thing... was to...

Feeling she needed air, she curled up into a ball and spun as best she could. Making her body smaller was the perfect solution, the snow was easily manipulated by her spinning and she created a small hole for herself.

She uncurled and tried to breathe, pushing upwards but the snow only bumped slightly up. “No..!” she felt her breath freeze as though with each breath, icicles formed in her lungs, but she knew that was exaggerating.

It was so cold... she couldn’t feel her feet or hands anymore.

Realizing if she summoned her hammer, she could have the snow compact instead of remaining like flurries, and she knew she couldn’t risk it.

She instead started to burrow, but the snow quickly collapsed over her, “Ah!” and she had to curl and spin again.

Exhausted, not having enough oxygen, and feeling the snow would turn to slush soon and ice over... leaving her in an unpleasant prison or worse... tomb... she patted the edges to find the most grainy or soft falling snow pile she could, and dived.

“Rragh!” she kicked her legs through and started to tunnel, feeling it collapse on her, she held her breath. It already stung to breathe anyway, being extremely uncomfortable and somewhat painful to suck in.

She felt the weight keeping her from moving anywhere and then felt the snow under her collapse as well.

“Ahh!!” she was now with her legs above her and uncomfortably arching her back. Freezing... she wasn’t in her little crude igloo anymore...

As she tried to shift around, more snow fell, and she struggled to even get up.

Her hands were just moving through piles and piles of snow that dropped her further down... she had made a small tunnel pocket and then fell through more of the snow...

She began to panic, curling and spinning but the snow wasn’t strong here, so it just dug her down deeper and she uncurled again, back in an even more uncomfortable position with no way to push herself further up and out.

However... pushing the snow that had compiled at her face, she saw there was a yellow beam of light on the top.

“Ah..!” she knew she couldn’t make it, but at least the exit was somewhat closer than she thought. “Help..! Ah..” More snow tumbled the more noise she made...

Pulling out the Miles-Electric and brushing out the snow from it, she moved her arms to her center and tried to balance her weight on her head and shoulders, using her elbows to give somewhat a stability to her predicament.

If she had a neck, it’d be hurting twice as much too.

The Miles-Electric was still recording... “Someone get over here! I’m trapped!” she had just enough breath and strength to whisper a cry out for help again. The Miles-Electric then read- ‘Succeeded file limit, your recording has ended. Sending the first half.’

She groaned, “Tails...” she was about to complain but put that aside and didn’t record anymore, “Knuckles...” she clicked his beacon and found that it had ended. “...Sonic...” she felt more warm tears threatening, and just to feel the warmth, was tempted to cry. But knowing it would only freeze her faster, she didn’t. Shaking her head, she felt more wet snow fall on her head, and brushing it off, began to be afraid as breathing was harder in this position, her body heat was melting the snow... she would be in a icy prison sooner than she anticipated.

“I just wanted to find you...” she admitted, looking up at the top where she thought the exit was. “I... I’m so lonely... without you.” she hugged the Miles-Electric, a light as the yellow beam began to fade and it turned white with foggy light.

She was breathing irregularly, in shallow breaths due to the cold, her upside-down position, and her panic setting in as her body wanted to struggle but she forced some trained breathing that kept her somewhat warm.

She tried to close her eyes and figure out how to keep herself warm. The more spread out she was, the less she’d fall, but the colder she’d get.

“What’s taking them so long!” she finally blurted out, as more snow sounded out her vibrated echoes and then her vision was taken from her as the tunnel collapsed.

“Ah-!”

She didn’t know how long it had been... since she shut her eyes.

She wondered if when they found her, what would they react like? She didn’t want them to be sad... before coming out, she had thought about wearing something, but figured she’d arrive at the end of their adventure so they’d take her back with them regardless. She thought the worst she’d receive, at most, was a cold.

And then with a cold... at least Sonic wouldn’t feel guilty about canceling so much... she would have a plausible excuse... other than feeling it was making him feel a negative way by constantly having to write her apology texts.

It was so cold... she almost felt herself stop breathing just to avoid more melted snow she was swallowing ice over her insides... when muffled thumping came from above.

She squinted her eyes through the white snow, melting over her bangs... dripping down to her eyes as though she was submerged over water.

She tilted her head and shook it slightly, moving some of the snow as she still hugged the activated Miles-Electric.

More scuffling through the snow as she saw it start being scooped away in fast piles, just vanishing as more and more light came through.

She smiled, ‘Always... in the nick of time.’

She saw a familiar white glove reach down and continue digging.

‘Sonic...’ she felt her consciousness weakening at the growing light. ‘Couldn’t make an excuse this time... could you?’ she morbidly joked to herself as she felt his glove hit against her raised boot.

She could hear her name through the snow, muffled and seeming distant, she shivered and tried to move her foot to show she was alright.

But it was so numb, not even tingles anymore.

She could barely feel the pressure of Sonic’s hands gripping her boot and pulling. However, the snow had compacted, and pulling her out wasn’t much of an option without first cracking through it.

She shivered again, hoping the action served to prove she was alive.

She was too cold to speak out loud, but was so happy to be found.

More scooping through the snow, before finally, Sonic’s head could be seen through the small tunnel that she was looking up from.

“Amy!” she could hear him... she could see him through the blurry white of her vision.

She mumbled, trying to speak but he reached down, putting his whole arm through the snow and into the tunnel till he could feel the resting snow on her. He patted as though making sure he could reach her, before brushing off the snow and seeing her blink. “Can you move?” he called, but she could only shiver, her hands frozen in spot and shaking as she couldn’t even feel if she was gripping the Miles-Electric still or not.

She kept trying to form the words ‘help’ but couldn’t.

It just sounded like sniffling stifles, and Sonic moved out his arm to look in with his eye, seeing her predicament. “Wow, it tumbled you good, didn’t it? Hang on!” he spun through the snow. She wanted to warn him that by doing so, he’d slip into a nasty tomb as well, but it was too late.

She felt herself falling further and Sonic spread himself out after uncurling and realizing why Amy couldn’t move.

His gritted teeth now parted to show his amazement at how bad the situation really was, but she saw his expression change from a ‘rescue’ to a ‘life-threatening predicament’.

As his face turned serious, she was glad to see he was finally absorbing the true depth of the sad tale she was writing.

He bent down and wrapped an arm around her head, “Push me down and get yourself up, I can burrow through the snow.”

He couldn’t even swim...

When his glove touched her, she let out a painful cry, and he flinched away.

“What’s..?” he didn’t finish his question, her skin felt ice. He realized her back was probably frostbitten and that his immediate warmth and pulling on her probably just cracked skin. Now he was glaring at the top of the snow, “...Shoot.” it was like a cuss for him.

“Well, we’ve certainly gotten ourselves into an adventure... huh, Amy?” She knew why he wasn’t showing her his face... he was trying not to frighten her.

She didn’t want to feel anything anymore, but simply watch him, already comforted by the fact that she was found.

He’d get them both out of this... and maybe... when it didn’t hurt so much... give her a warm hug that never parted his arms from around her again.

Her lip trembled as she wanted to also comfort him but couldn’t speak, her lungs already severely damaged from the cold and her breathing even more appalling.

His ears flicked as he tested the snow’s durability and noticed how it became more solid above him and less so below. “Strange.” he look back at Amy, “Ready for a bit of a rushed exit?”

She knew what he was saying.

‘Brace yourself.’.

This was going to hurt a lot.

She mustered a nod, but slipped her balance and he grabbed her.

“AHH!!” she let out a cry and as his fast moving feet piled snow under them, and finally, he was able to manage to tumble the powdery snow away and get to the more crystal blue kind, and gripped the walling of the tunnel.

“Hang on!” he spin dashed her out with a throw. His supersonic feet made their usual sound effect as he got himself out as well, and saw Amy crash into the snow, sinking down. “No..!” he tried to move through the snow like he did last time to reach her and grabbed her before she could be sunken beneath the snow again.

His gloves were sprinkled with pink, flakey particles of skin and he winced at how badly her condition was. “Come on, endure it just a bit longer, I’ve got you.” he picked her up and moved her over his back as he tried to find a way to not touch her exposed back so much, not wanting to cause further damage.

Trekking through the snow, he had to go a lot slower than he liked too, but was continuing to move towards less and less snowbanks, more and more compacted, solid footing and sighed when he finally reached a tree, knowing he was somewhere near the mountain’s forest valley now.

“Phew, how we doing back there?” he looked over his shoulder and froze when he saw her out cold...

He bit his mouth shut and studied her unconscious face, feeling her shallow breathing from her stomach now.

It was a sunny day, but...

He looked to see the mountain had some caves, and knew a good spot for her recovery.

Thinking quickly, he didn’t want her back exposed to the sun if it really was frostbitten, and moved swiftly against the snowy terrain.

The rocks were cold and slippery, but he kept Amy on his shoulders tried to only grab at her arms and legs, keeping her from falling off.

When reaching the cave he had remembered, he was glad to see some fireflies also took shelter here, and watched them glow and descend in their sleep.

There were huge, leafy plants and other large ferns and then... a duel pool with two large mouths that had one wide waterfall from the top of a slit in the mountain.

It was misty... and he was glad he had found it in time.

Lightly setting Amy down near the mounded rocks by the waterfall’s slit, he looked to try and find anything that could warm her up safely.

Taking some of the leaves, he stripped them off the low, fatted tree sprouts and drapped them over her, rubbing her arms first and then her head.

She was wet and hardly breathing... he needed to dry her first.

Working swiftly, he had her dry but dared not to address her back yet.

He closed his eyes, getting a bit upset at the state she was in and trying to remember the locations where herbs for healing were.

Once calmed down enough to focus, he washed his gloves, luckily not stained, in the spring and then waited for them to dry before charging out of the mountain again.

Skidding down the peak with nothing but his red, golden buckled shoes to act as skis, he wobbled his arms for balance a moment and then expertly rode down the mountain. Normally, he’d be doing tricks, but in this case, he just bent his head down and made himself more angular, allowing the icy wind to move right over him.

He rolled into a spinball on his way down and then quickly went to gather the herbs. Each item wasn’t too far away... some for blood clots, disinfecting, encouraging skin healing, and others for the inner-use like to contrast the bitter cold and warm her up a bit.

He kept collecting whatever was useful but close by, and for him, that could be miles and miles away, but it was nothing to what he could do if he had solid ground to dash across.

Arriving back at the cave, he moved over and noticed Amy was finally breathing a bit more normal, the fireflies were attracting around her and a dragonfly went to sit on her ear but Sonic flicked his hand and it flew off.

He tsk’ed at the curious insects and also batted them lightly away, before sitting down beside her and getting the ingredients prepared.

“..Ah..! Ughh... S...Sonic?” Amy slowly came to, and he smiled.

“For a snowy retreat, you sure picked the worst place to be.” he kid, applying the second layer to her back.

“AH!” she tightened against the pain, “W-what is that? Moss?!”

“It’s chewed herbal medicine, for your information.” he lightly rubbed it over the cracking of her skin, and as he pulled his hand away, Amy noticed the red on his gloves...

“...Chewed?” she looked away, disgusted.

Sonic shrugged, half-heartedly pouting his lips a moment as though excusing her distaste. “Had to mix the medicines somehow. Don’t complain if it’s shoddy. I didn’t want to waste any time looking for proper applications at the grocery store.” he teased, and continued to work on her.

She endured, making less noise then before. Squinting her eyes, she moved her hands up to her chin, laying on her stomach and just trying to breath in the warm mist that was around her. “Where... emm... are we?”

“Welcome to Sonic Hotsprings!” he gestured, just playing around and keeping the mood light. “After all the times I couldn’t make it, I tend to pick the lousiest times to take you out, huh, Amy?”

It actually did make her smile, even through the yucky gunk he was putting on her back. It smelled... but she had the right to think it was moss, it was extremely dark green, and looked as though lumps of wetted goop.

“Did you find me..?”

“Through your tracker? Yeah. Didn’t expect the video though. That scared the living daylights out of Knuckles.” He seemed to grow more somber after saying that. “You... didn’t hold back on that shock effect.”

She realized she must have scared him too, but he didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m sorry...” she lightly spoke through the side of her muzzle, looking away as she felt the warm goop start stinging... but at least that meant it was working... somewhat.

“Don’t be,” Sonic’s voice turned tender, and she blushed slightly under hearing it, her ears curling back slightly to secretly hear him better. “I’m glad you made it. Seriously, if it weren’t for that video, we’d just have figured you were cold...”

“Would... would you have still come for me?” she didn’t know if he would really answer that, and with the sudden silence, she figured the video was what saved her life.

“Of course, I would have.” Sonic finally spoke out, but it was quiet... too quiet. “Why would you ask something like that..?”

She didn’t respond right away, but waited a moment. His hands on her back made her feel some form of a peace, and she finally did close her eyes and state, “I don’t know. Nevermind me. I’m just tired... that snow really bites.”

Sonic smiled a moment, his eyes bending as though knowing that was an understatement. “You can rest here, Amy. It’s warm. Though kinda damp, that ‘moss’ on your back will stay a bit wet and heal the better.” She heard him wiping his hands in a clap against each other and getting up.

She turned her head, “Where are you-Ah..!” she moved back into the position she was and felt Sonic kneel by her head, lightly placing a hand on it.

“Don’t move... you’ll crack more if you do.” His touch was more just precaution, and she didn’t feel any real pressure from it. “Your body is still like crumbling ice, give it a bit to thaw out. You’ll be fine overnight.”

“Overnight?” her eyes widened, “Wait-!” she saw him out of the corner of her eye descending the rocks to the hot spring.

He stopped, looking over his shoulder again to show he was listening.

“You’re not leaving me here... all alone... are you, Sonic The Hedgehog!?”

He laughed, “Didn’t realize you were scared of the dark.” He gave her a playful wink, “No, Amy. I’m not going anywhere.” he reassured her, and then pointed to the two pools. “I’m kinda cold myself. You can join me when you feel moving doesn’t bother you anymore.” he went down to the hotsprings as she sighed and grumbled at his inconsiderateness.

“So he heals my back but goes to warm up... typical.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Amy cried out, but continued to grumble off to the side.

“This wouldn’t have even happened if you had just kept your appointments with me..?”

“What?”

“Must be the waterfall!” Amy continued to fib.

“Oh, cause it sounded like the waterfall wasn’t grateful.” Sonic joked, snickering from below as he dipped his hands into the water and washed up. “I was just about to tell the inconsiderate waterfall to quiet down so you could sleep, should I still scold it for being so splashy and loud?” he smirked and leaned his head up, hoping she could hear him over the naturally pleasant sounds of the falling, rushing water.

She remained silent, then he heard fake snoring and nodded his head.

“Okay! Nevermind.” he then moved to the mouth of the cave, “Mr. Waterfall, I expect you to tell Amy upon her next momentary spur of consciousness, that I have momentarily left you to host her as I forage for some food. Now, if she tells me you even so much as grumbled a complaint against me-” He turned back with a lazy point, “I’ll write you a bad review.” he then chuckled to himself and sped off.

When he was gone, Amy attempted to sit up, and trying hard not to bend or angle her back in anyway, finally got herself up to spread out her knees and sit on the rock and look out after him.

Longing... it was the only way to describe the expression on her face.

“He’s got a lot of nerve...” she puffed out, seeing the mist part at her breath. “But that’s my Sonic for you... always trying to brighten a dark cave.” She was amused over her analogy but digressed, moving to try and stretch out her sore limps and rubbed against her cold arms.

“Brr... he could have come sooner.” she argued, then looked to the waterfall. “...You wouldn’t rat me out... a guest... right?” she smiled to it, and then tried to get up. “Ah!” she fell to a knee as the goop was firmly attached to her back, but definitely holding back her bleeding back.

She shook her head, “No good... I really should rest... but... I don’t want to close my eyes again.” She admitted and crawled as well and slowly as she could down the rocks.

She dipped her hand into the water and immediately felt herself relaxing at the warmth it gave. “Awwh~... Now this is the only state of water I’ll ever accept.” she looked over to the large, almost stunted palm trees that were ginormous by the entrance and around the cave. “...Wow, they look prehistoric.” She cautiously stood up, wincing a time or two at her haste to move, but too stubborn to just sleep and wait for food.

She carefully removed her wet and still cold clothes, and tugged the palm tree leaf down.

It was perfect, it wrapped around her and even fell down longer than any towel she ever had, and tucked and tied it securely around her.

“Well, Sonic did say it was a hot springs...” She looked to see the two pools and quickly went to work making a curtain.

“Hmm... didn’t think this through.” she realized there wasn’t anything to hold up the long blanket she was trying to construct, and knowing if Sonic returned, the blanket would only cover the view from the two adjacent pools, not the entrance.

She lifted her head back and sighed, “Ahhh... he’s gonna think badly of me!” she let her head flop down to her chest and groaned at the stretching of her skin that she knew could only mean she was making her condition worse.

“Okay, we’ll cover the waterfall then.”

She tied the large palms to create a self-standing curtain, arching the waterfall, before realizing this trapped her within.

“Augh!” she kicked the curtain down, “Some hotsprings if it doesn’t even allow some form of privacy!”

She froze when the curtain fell and Sonic stared from having sped through the entrance of the cave, blinking as though not expecting Amy to be wrapped in a leaf sitting under the waterfall.

He averted his eyes slowly as they just so happen to come across her clothes sprawled against a branch of a leaf.

Amy, embarrassed, withdrew behind the waterfall and covered her face. “MMMMMMMM...” she groaned, “Nothing’s going my way today, is it?”

It’s not like Sonic could see anything, she was just wearing a long dress almost, but still...

She kicked her feet out from the waterfall, “Don’t just stand there! R-roll me the fruit!”

He thought to himself, ‘If I were a lesser man... this would be pretty bad for her.’ but then jokingly let the idea slide and walked to side, laying down the fruits and rolling them through the waterfall while avoiding looking at her.

“Any reason why you’re not sound asleep and trying to heal yourself?” he kept his eyes averted, but then sat down and began his own plans... taking his shoes and socks off to soak in one of the pools anyway.

She pulled her feet in and caught the fruit, chewing quickly on them.

“Hey! You’ll choke if you don’t-” he leaned his head back, looking over to her now as he heard her start coughing with a mouth full of food.

He sighed, dipping his head back down and walking over to the curtain, shaking his head.

“Not like I couldn’t have done this for you, you know?” he looked back at the blurred pink behind the waterfall, and smiled sweetly at her shyness. “You look like you belong in Hawaii with that dress on.”

She wouldn’t dare call it a towel now.

“I... I really wanted to be in the water...” she pushed her two pointer fingers together, taking more polite, lady-like bites now.

He moved to the water’s edge and dunked his feet in up to his knees, sitting down and sighing at the warmth.

“Yeah, well... I did say we’d be here a while.”

She could hear him judging her and spat out at the falling water.

His ear twitched, and he quietly chuckled at her growing frustration as he lifted one leg out of the water. “Want me to turn away while you get in?”

“No!” she barked, too embarrassed now to even move.

“Ah...” Sonic figured it was something like that, and lowered the raised leg back into the water. “...How’s the back?”

“...It hurts...”

“I told you to sleep it off. Did all the medicine I apply stay on?” he looked over his shoulder, but wasn’t actually looking at anything, just addressing her.

“...Yeah, it’s still on.”

“...I should check to make you an honest guest.” he muttered to himself, leaning over the water and scratching his nose.

“...What?”

“Hmm?” he leaned towards her direction.

“D-did you say something? I couldn’t hear you...”

“Oh, just Mr. Waterfall and me. He just informed me this is a co-ed hotspring. Guess we didn’t need this.” he kicked the blanket and she about had a tissy-fit, throwing some fruit at his head as he ducked and laughed. “Amy, since when have I ever disrespected you?”

“Don’t even joke about that!” she hid herself more behind the waterfall, but shivered since she couldn’t feel the warmth of the water anymore...

Sonic grew a bit bashful then too, realizing she was making this awkward when he was hoping it wouldn’t be.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

She heard the splashing of him leaving and immediately moved through the waterfall, “Wait!” she held a hand to the top of her leaf to make sure the waterfall didn’t sag the covering down, and then sat under the waterfall, blushing and looking away. “Geez, you really have no idea about social norms, do you?”

He didn’t look at her, but smiled and closed his eyes, turning to walk to the waterfall and sat a distance away from her, letting it massage his tired shoulders from digging them out of the snow. “Ahh~ I know the norms. But I didn’t exactly break any rules, now did I?”

“Are you blaming me then!?” Amy puffed up her cheek and he turned his head away, showing her even more so that he was respecting not to stare.

“You’re covered, anyway, but I’m not interested in anything than making sure the medicine stays on your back.” he stretched, showing he was relaxed, although she didn’t realize how uncomfortable he really was.

She blushed and looked away from him, but sighed and agreed that she should trust he only was interested in her recovery...

But that made her somewhat disappointed too...

“You... You saved me. Thank you.” she ducked her head down.

“Anytime!” he let the water slide off his back and kept his eyes closed for her, just so she didn’t have to worry or fret.

Amy watched the pools as Sonic and her’s splashes from the water hitting against them created rippling symphonies out of them...

“...Do you ... Do you know why I was there?”

“Last known location that I sent you.. yeah?”

She dipped her head further down, but moved her legs to let them sink into the warm water of the other pool.

She smiled at finally feeling warm and closed her eyes, looking up and no longer being self-conscious anymore.

“It’s been so long... since I had even heard your voice. For some time now, I wondered if you were just avoiding me again...”

“Again?” Sonic’s voice sounded surprised, but she continued.

“I just... I didn’t know why you would plan something and then let something else come up so frequently... a girl can only accept being told to wait so many times...” she gave a humorous grumble, but with her eyes closed, was glad she didn’t have to look to see Sonic’s reaction.

She tilted her head and bent to let the water flow more directly, and that’s when Sonic piped up.

“Hey, the medicine...”

“This ‘dress’ is locked so tightly that it’s not even touching it.” she argued, “Just trust me on that.”

Silence for a moment...

“Then trust me that I never planned to need to cancel on you so many times...”

She felt her heart, still slightly frosted, begin to melt with a few gentle thumps at his kind words.

She couldn’t help but giggle a second, lifting a leg up from the pool and letting it down again, hearing it’s gentle movement in the spring.

“Why did you cancel? Couldn’t you have rested from your big adventure with me?”

“Heh, guess you have a point.”

“I do, don’t I? Why didn’t you ever suggest alternative days? Or times? Why didn’t ask how I was feeling or how I felt about you canceling all the time... did you... did you just not think about how that might have affected me? After so many times..?”

He could tell by her voice she was getting upset, and took a big breath in.

“No, Amy.” He admitted, “I honestly didn’t think about it.”

She felt her lips tighten, but accepted his ignorance. “You’ve got a one-track mind, alright... But when you’re with Tails or Knuckles..? Compared to me..? Is it... is it somewhat different?”

“The solutions?” Sonic questioned.

“No, no... not their reactions to being blown off-”

“Hey! I never blew you off!” Sonic countered, “I just couldn’t make it! At least give me that.”

Amy rolled her head, stretching it out, “I don’t want to explain it to you...” she admitted, weakly sighing it out in an escalating trill. “Ahh~ You’re so annoying!!!~”

Sonic actually laughed at that, quietly, but she was glad he at least thought her complaining cute.

“...Give it a try?”

His words made her grow weaker... and not being able to resist his charms, she conceded.

“When I see you look at Tails... or Knuckles... it’s like you’re really looking at them.”

The waters sounds seemed to become ambiance as she spoke.

“I can’t remember the last time... you really looked at me. Seeing who I really am.., by looking down into the depths of my soul... and accepting every part of it. You always say how you see the best in people before the worst. You also say you just have this sense of knowing if someone is in the right or the wrong... I’ve been wondering... thinking a lot about it... have you... found something you can’t stand to see in me? That’s why you... you don’t mind being taken away on some amazing adventures with Tails and Knuckles... but you’re perfectly fine leaving me behind?”

When she opened her eyes, she wondered if the warmth was from the waterfall trailing down her form or from her own tears.

She hadn’t been this honest, even with herself for a long time...

“Being in that icy snow... was like being away from your gaze forever...”

When she looked over to see him, she was shocked to see his eyes were opened, staring into her soul, and not looking away.

With red all over her face at his intense but kind eyes, she summoned her hammer and walloped him into the water.

“W-ah-wah-wahhh!!” he fell instantly into the pool.

“Ah! Sonic!” She immediately regretted her action, and getting up, felt the sting in her back but still dived into the water.

Seeing him struggle, his cheeks were puffed with air and he kept trying to ‘run’ through the water, but couldn’t.

Giving up, he folded his arms and let himself sink, but looked up to see Amy wrapping her arms around his head, and getting to the bottom of the pool, kicking off and pulling him up too.

“Pah!” the two took a breath in together and Amy moved his flailing arms around her shoulders, kicking to guide him back to the edge.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t expecting you to be that close!”

He coughed and hacked before looking back to her, “I just... wanted to see your eyes... real badly.” he panted, and then coughed some more.

She couldn’t help but smile, then push him back further onto the land. “Get the curtain, already!”

“Fine... fine...” He hacked at the end and then raced to get his bearings and do as he was told.

The two sat, back to back with the leafy curtain finally strung up between them.

She could feel his heart though, rapidly pacing and scrunched her body inward, hoping it meant something romantic and not just the fact that he was drowning moments before.

“...What did you see?”

“Nothing. Just you in a leaf dress.”

“No! Not that!” she batted the leaf curtain, “Sonic! I meant in my eyes!”

“O-oh, that...” he paused a moment...

In his mind, he had seen her descend through the water with the ends of her leaf dress spread out like miniature wings... Her quills had spread out around her head to flow effortlessly through the water as she reached him.

Her arms wrapped around him and he was pulled up to her, and it was the first time he had felt her so close to him...

He had a goofy grin and kept rubbing his muzzle, knowing his feelings might be all over it by now...

“I saw a girl.” he stated, thinking his words carefully. “Reaching out to me in the only way she knew how.”

Amy blushed and smacked her hands to the side of her cheeks, “A-and? W-wh-what else did you see... was that it?” she puckered her lips as though disappointed again, but he continued.

“Nah, there was more. So much more, in fact, that I couldn’t peel my eyes away... There’s so much more there than I ever knew... Even if it was a brief moment...”

His mind moved to seeing her eyes under the water, the warm heat and her arms around him, her eyes opened wide as she dipped down to embrace him and pull him up out of the depths of the pool.

He suddenly sneezed.

“Sonic!”

He rubbed his nose, “Guess I’ll have to make another appointment to finish, huh?”

“That’s-! Ah...” she was about to complain again before realizing what this meant...

He wanted to spend time with her. He wasn’t trying to push her away or pull himself away with his adventures.

She gripped her leafy towel closer to her and nodded, “Okay... but you better not be late this time! And you better tell me the end of that sentence, you hear me!? Sonic,..! Sonic The Hedgehog!”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear you!” Sonic waved his hand about in the air, and looking back to the curtain, Amy could see his shadow doing the action. “But now, I’m pretty sure that medicine might have polluted the pool a bit...”

“It’s fine. I still feel it. You applied it well.” She looked towards where her clothes were. “S-Son-Sonic?”

“Hmm?” he was finally relaxing, enjoying the warmth, the company... even Amy’s rapidly beating heart.

He lifted a leg up and leaned slightly back against the curtain, hoping beforehand he wouldn’t hurt her by leaning against her back, but seeing as she was recovering well, decided to test it.

She didn’t wince, but instead, fidgeted and decided it was best to not ask for it quite yet.

“Nevermind... Thank you, for everything...”

“Nah, thank you.”

“For what?”

He patted the curtain, “For making this, without it, I might have actually tried to hold your hand.” he teased.

“Ah! Stop teasing me!” she pushed against the curtain, “Don’t you know how much I-! Ah! Sonic!” she realized she pushed him back into the pool, but instead of struggling this time, he waited for her to come in and rescue him.

“Sonnnniicc!!!” she pushed up the leafy curtain and dived in after him.

He was laying on the bottom of the pool’s floor again, eyes closed, hands behind his head and legs crossed slightly.

He looked up to see that same image, and smiled as her form met his at the bottom of the hotspring...

Wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer as she raced to save him, he never took his eyes... off of hers.

#sonamy #sonicxamy #sonic prompt #sonic au #sonic au prompt #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #cutegirlmayra

105 notes · View notes

orangehair · 2 years

Note

💜⛓

hello there with ur signature purple heart and signature obsession with chains djdbjdsj why do I find it cute tho🥺 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY KAREENA 💜

💌 some of my favorite things abt u 💌

💓I think my no1 fave thing abt you is ur tunnel vision, ur ability to be so devoted and loyal to one man (well I know there other things but they don't compare) is just so impressive and honstely its just smthing I really love abt you, bc I've never met someone so loyal (you know I could never)

💞I love how real you are idk if this makes sense but I feel like you're just the least fake person I know, I can trust you to be honest with me and I can trust that when you're being your lovely self you really mean it and you really care🌸

💘which brings me to my next thing, you are SO caring!! I'm for some reason surprised by it every time but the way you take time to answer to everyone msgs and concerns and make sure people feel comfortable and welcomed wherever you are. I'm so thankful for that personally but I see it everyday and it fills my heart

💟ok not to expose you but you are genuinely so crazy and funny, just SO FUNNY, you make me laugh out loud almost every time we interact, your craziness (which usually is accompanied by other people but not always) was one of the first things I got to love abt you and it's made me crazier tbh🙃😉

💗last one will be your talent, I personally have learned sm from you and I'm still in awe by your content and your creativity, seeing ur daily jun on my dash is just. the best tbh. I love you both🍓🍓

mutuals send me a heart and I'll write you a vday card w my fave things abt u

#hi.. hi... thank you for everything i hope you know what i mean but just thank you #my life would be different without u #sappy hours to the max #kareena🍓#♡/asks

3 notes · View notes

pespillo · 3 years

Note

Man same, extra weird when they insist that Jack and rosemary are both cishet and make Felix's crush creepy??? I always thought of it as one sided at best and Jack is bi just never felt that way about Felix. Though I'm trans and bi myself and could like talk about internalized homophobia and Felix thinking his crush internally was gross and pushing that negativity on jack by accident (brushing him off, passive aggressive) but also I only trust myself and a handful of others w complex LGBT narratives,,,

its kinda really weird cuz it comes obvious to me when people dont see jack n rose´s as like, nuanced enough to get narratives that arent pretty run of the mill sweetness or tragedy, but also they are an idealized couple , but they are flat, but if jack n felix were together, they wouldnt be flat, but they are doomed for obvious reasons, like man i just wanna see character analysis of these characters without sidelining Rosemary out of the equation because her character is Brutalized Dead Wife n Mom , even when it comes from lgbt writing these stories so far, these are people that still kinda have tunnel vision and "slash" fandom mentality thats been ingrained out here for decades , where teens see m/m relationships as some sort of forbidden fruit while also being extremely normalized in these spaces to just , fetishize and treat gay men (and women too) as a trope by itself to project a lot of trauma and Thinking they are being subversive , but also , often perpetuating homophobia, misogyny and racism at it, like listen i am not expecting for fic writers to always know what they are doing , but im just saying theres weird correlations i notice in way too many places

#asks

12 notes · View notes

the-god-of-nihon · 3 years

Text

Mettle

Ironwood’s Semblance was basically a non-factor. It didn't make him do anything or change that he's the one making the choice. It's just hyper-focus/determination tunnel-vision; everything aside from that is Ironwood. Plus everything still matches up w/ what is known about Ironwood's character & motivations since his introduction, ultimately whether or not his Semblance was to blame (it wasn't), his character had been internally consistent all the way through.

It wasn’t Mettle, it was James. It was always James, it didn’t force him do anything he wouldn't already do. It just let him push through any & every obstacle to pursue a goal. This is the path Ironwood had been on since V4, if not longer.

Semblances are a reflection of the person, they're indicative of their qualities. Ironwood's decisions and fall weren't due to his Semblance, they were due to his mindset, his attitude, and his existing traits and issues. Even in V2 during his introduction Ironwood was a man motivated by fear & a lack of faith in others. James brought a fleet to a foreign kingdom unannounced, because he didn’t trust Oz to handle the situation in a manner he deemed adequate. In V4 he only feels validated that he was right, despite how his actions contributed to the Fall of Beacon, and grabs more authority and throws around his control of Atlas. We don’t see the red flags at the time because it was in opposition to Jacques, but in any other circumstance, and from the pov of an outsider, a head of government/military leader having unopposed power and using that to make drastic and sudden societal changes without explanation is at the very least, worthy of concern.

Ironwood was Atlas; in every sense. He was the strength, and pride, a literal living testament to its tech, and ideal of always pushing forward through adversity; but was also all the elitism, self-aggrandizement, and the self-righteousness. Valuing order & progress over the lives of others. The belief that he was the hero of the story, the pinnacle of humanity and was the only one that can do "what needs to be done." His unchecked PTSD which the Atlesian mindset would take as an admission of weakness; his inability to trust other bred through yrs of only having faith in a system and hierachy he’s wholly invested in. The entitlement of a man who demands absolute obedience in the place of true loyalty, but isn't willing to truly trust anyone he doesn’t think he can order around.

The lack of personal connections, and the Atlas "we're not friends" mindset only ensuring that Ironwood had no equals that he could confide in, and that could talk him down from bad choices. Which was his own choice, he chose to isolate himself, and only ever surrounded himself by subordinates that couldn't talk back. The shunting of emotions that lead to Mantle attempting to outlaw self-expression in the past; his attempts to shed his humanity believing it to be a weakness. But he could never stop being human. His character song was about somebody constantly affirming themselves a hero despite their actions, regardless of how other people felt or what it cost. The undercurrent of self-aggrandizement and self-righteousness that colors the entire song; and heavily mirrors Lionize. Nobody that has to repeatedly call themselves a hero is truly a hero.

#RWBY #Roosterteeth #James Ironwood

13 notes · View notes

writers-thoughts09 · 4 years

Text

True Mind, True Heart

Act 1 Chapter 1

Title: True Mind, True Heart: Act 1 Chapter 1 Word Count: 9.6k words Pairing: Zuko x Oc (or reader, however you wanna look at it) I zon’t own Avatar Rating: PG, sometimes I’ll sprinkle some 13 to add some spice ;) Warnings: PTSD, a wink of abuse of power (not caused by Zuko, though I am using his season 1 roughness. I won’t make him abusive in this story, we don’t vibe with that). A/N: I’m baaaack, sorry for any grammar errors and taking so long. I really wanted to make sure I was getting what I wanted to get in with purpose. I started it a few weeks before Zuko spots the avatar, but I still go through episode 1. Enjoy please like and comment if you wish. Next chapter is based off episode 2′s plot.

|Prologue| 1 | 2 |

Act 1: Salvation

“Sometimes life is like this tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place.”

- Iroh

Panda Lilies. One of the rarest flowers in the Earth Kingdom. Grows only on the rim of volcanoes, usually found on Mt. Makapu, and holds deep meaning. Although its black and white color is simple, panda lily petals are as soft as velvet. Its stem is such a vibrant green I’m sure it’d rival the Earth King’s jewelry and robes. Even though it may not be the most unique in appearance, for some reason I can’t help but find it enraptures me. So small, rare, fragile even; but enduring…

As a child, I always wondered what panda lilies meant. I’d often see my father come home with it behind his back after a long trip from the northern Earth Kingdom to surprise my mother. He’d present it to her in such a way it reminded me of Chan -the little five-year-old that used to live next door- childishly. My father had such a child-like admiration for my mother. I always found it comical, and sometimes a little embarrassing with the things he’d do for her attention…even though they were already married. Yet my mother would always gasp in delight, smile, take the flower from him, and plant a panda lily of her own on dad’s lips. A kiss. She'd do this every year when he’d bring one home.

Yeah, my dad said let’s set the standards uncharacteristically high for the other people back in our town.

Of course, as I grew a little older, I finally understood the meaning behind panda lilies. It was a symbol of the love my dad held so deeply for my mom. I guess over time, even after they married, my father never lost his passion for her. To me that’s beautiful.

Usually, the flowers are used to win the hearts of those we have affection for. A crush so to speak. So, it was like my dad used the flower’s tradition to tell my mom every year, “Hey, I loved you then, I love you now, and I still want your heart.” Did my mother know this? Yes. She was actually the one who told him about those flowers in the first place way before I was born. Did she play along with my dad’s antics? Of course, because she loved him just as much.

I wish I could go back to when times were simpler, brighter. I wish I could go back to when my mother would teach me about flowers and the other nations. I wish I could go back to when my father would tell me about the different elements of bending. I wish I could go back to before-

Knock

The sound of knuckles rapping on metal echoed around her quaint quarters as a curt voice jarred her from her thoughts.

“Servant girl, where’s the general’s tea? He’s already above deck waiting!”

Two hands scrambled to shove everything away under her mattress. The journal she used to write in, along with the ink and brush that she, borrowed, one night from a crewman’s room while everyone was above deck. With everything hidden, Lila scrambled up from the edge of her bed and rushed to the door with shaky hands. Tanned fingers strained as they jerked the heavy hunk of metal open and came face to face with none other than Lieutenant Jee, a senior officer on this ship. The tall man held nothing but a frown on his face as he looked down at her.

Lila thought back to her first few days aboard, she considered him to be middle-aged by the state of his graying hair. A good few feet taller than her. An accomplished military man he was…and an accomplished singer too. Though she doesn’t dare tell him the last part.

As the lieutenant stared her down, expression unreadable, Lila couldn’t help but curl in on herself. Her good eye staring up at him sheepishly as he huffed out an unimpressed sigh.

“General Iroh’s been waiting for ten minutes now. Hurry it up if you know what’s best for you.” It was meant as a warning, and Lila knew better than to take her time and make the General wait any longer.

Quickly sliding out of her room, the door shutting behind her with a loud slam, and into the dimly lit hallway the girl squeezed out a, “Yes, sir I’ll get to the tea right away”, and hoped her words sounded as firm as the lieutenants. Though the only indication she got was the quirk of an aged brow before he swiftly turned away to walk back up the stairs that led to the main deck. No doubt to tell the General that Lila was on her way with his tea. Once the lieutenant was out of view, Lila spun on her heels and borderline ran through the dingy halls to get to the kitchen. All the while praying her tardiness wouldn’t result in any form of punishment; even though she’s never been on the receiving end of one during her time on this ship.

As she rushed through the halls of the ship's lower deck Lila knew it wasn’t the lieutenant or any of the other crew members that intimidated her. It wasn’t even the General. If anything, General Iroh was the nicest one to her compared to the others here. No, it was the person in command of this ship who truly frightened her. She’s seen the intensity of his rage when directed at his men many times throughout his three-year search for the Avatar.

Although he wasn’t much older than her, he still carried himself in a way that you wouldn’t think of him as someone younger. In Lila’s eyes his mere presence was imposing and domineering enough that she thought he could pass as a Fire Nation General. Maybe even an Admiral. A force to be reckoned with. Although he was exiled, he didn’t look at all like a banished prince.

All Lila knew was that she didn’t want to start slipping up now. From what she experienced firsthand, the Fire Lord’s family and his military were truly terrifying.

When her boots rounded the corner to the kitchen’s entryway a stifled gasp flew from her lips as crewmen, specifically the firebenders, ambled out of the mess hall. The majority of them shoving past her without a second thought, knocking her off balance, their heavy fire nation armor clanking as they passed. Swiftly but awkwardly Lila caught herself from falling. Her back bumping the wall as her hand latched onto the door frame. After the last helmeted soldier left, she righted herself and set off to brewing Iroh’s usual. Jasmine tea. Once she was in the kitchen, she gently set down a pot of water to boil as her good eye ringed with a dark circle glanced about the empty kitchen.

Deeming the area fully empty, broken fingernails ghosted over the cloth covering her other eye. Memories from long ago, ones she didn’t want to remember forced their way to the forefront of her mind.

Visions of fire.

Men in red uniforms.

A burning house invaded her thoughts.

Until the image switched as she remembered the Palace Gardens along with a girl dressed in fire nation clothing and forehead tattoo. She was hurling bursts of flame after flame, cackling as a young Lila ran through the fire lily bushes screaming crying out-

“Stop it.”

The one-eyed girl whispered. Shaking her head, jagged fingernails toyed with the edge of the cloth.

Just like that, like dunking someone in cold water, Lila resurfaced from her haunted daydreams once she heard the boiling water bubble and hiss for her attention.

“Oh my goodness!”

With her seeing eye, Lila snatched the pot of water, grabbed a clean teapot from the dish rack and hastily prepared the rest of Iroh’s afternoon tea all in one motion. This was all routine for her, except today she was late. Now panicking, Lila arranged everything on a serving tray and scurried as fast as her legs would allow without spilling, or worse, dropping anything.

The sound of her baggy uniform pants rubbing together and her dark boots tapping against the metal floor could be heard as she raced through the torch lit corridors. Past her sleeping quarters, and up the main flight of stairs leading to the ship’s main deck.

“Oh spirits, I’m extremely late!” Lila anxiously cried to herself as she slinked up the last few steps, forcing her rushed pace to a normal walk. On this ship she always had to make sure she kept her composure around the others. A habit she developed from her service in the Fire Lord’s Palace.

When she came out into view on deck, the afternoon sun shined brightly over her features. If it were any other place besides the south pole Lila would’ve appreciated the sun’s warmth, but it wasn’t. The subzero temperature seemed to overpower the sun as the cold hugged her through her heavy servant garbs anyway. A slight shiver crawled up her body after a particularly strong gust of southern wind blew past.

With her head bowed Lila made her way toward Iroh and his pai sho table. The old man was seated in the middle of the deck observing both his game and the banished prince’s training. Peeking up to look a few feet past Iroh, Lila caught sight of prince Zuko and the men he trained with. Another shiver traveled down her spine. One of fear.

Judging by his lack of clothing and sweaty face, the prince seemed to have just finished his training session once she walked on deck. Prince Zuko grabbed a towel from his uncle and wiped down his face and chest. Without sparing anyone a second glance prince Zuko marched off toward the command tower, barely brushing Lila’s shoulder as he went. Memories of her tardy punishments given by her last master flashed by. However, when prince Zuko didn’t stop to question or berate her for her late appearance, Lila released a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Once certain that prince Zuko was completely gone and she wasn’t in trouble, Lila continued walking and closed the distance between her and General Iroh. Once she reached the old man’s side, Lila bowed in respect, a few wispy curls tumbling from her bun as she kneeled beside him. As always, every day for the past three years, the chubby man welcomed her with a bright smile and boisterous laugh. Now Iroh was a pale portly man with long grey hair and bright amber eyes to complement. Even though they never properly talked, he was always kind in greeting whenever he saw her around.

“Ah! There you are, I wondered where you were. I was scared you got lost on the ship.”

Knowing that Iroh was joking, Lila cracked a carefully practiced smile as the old man joyfully laughed.

“No, no, I didn’t get lost. Though please accept my deepest apologies, I hope my tardiness didn’t upset you, sir.”

Professional and sweet her words were, but rehearsed in nature. Iroh could tell, but he watched with kind eyes anyway as the young girl placed his tea on the table with steady hands. He was pleased to see she didn’t tremble near him like she did with his nephew. Unbeknownst to the blinded girl, prince Zuko’s uncle always noticed her reactions when it came to the boy. He’s always wanted to know why she’d become so small and nervous every time Zuko was near; but he knew better than to out-right ask.

The retired general quickly took a sip from the cup she placed before him, the wondrous taste of jasmine tea dancing along his taste buds. This girl knew how to make it just how he liked it!

“You know Lila, that is your name, right?” Iroh questioned casually. The young girl stiffened in response as she awaited his next words with bated breath, “after three year of being on this ship together, we have never really sat down and talked over a nice calming glass of your tea.”

Still kneeling, Lila released a breath in relief and couldn’t help but look at him with slight confusion but quickly remembered her place and schooled her expression into poised neutrality. She glanced down before murmuring, “Well, with all due respect sir. I’m a servant placed on this ship by my master. I didn’t think it was expected of me to dine and drink with you and your men.”

Remaining quiet Iroh regarded her as he took another sip. To Lila, it seemed her answer didn’t satisfy him as he shook his head in disagreement. Afraid she spoke out of turn, Lila fidgeted slightly with the empty tray in her hands.

Remember your place.

Mentally shaking the voice from her head, she began to rise from her spot beside the general. Before she could fully stand, Iroh’s voice cut through.

“Of course, it’s expected of you. You are important to this ship, just like how prince Zuko and his men are important to each other. Every person on this ship has a purpose and a duty that benefits us all. Just as you have yours. But before you go, sit. Have some tea with me, you deserve a moments rest.”

Her eye, ladled with exhaustion, widened in surprise at his bold comparison between the prince, the crew, and herself. Especially prince Zuko. All she did was fulfill orders and make sure everything on this ship was clean. Lila was nowhere near as valuable as the Prince of the Fire Nation, banished or not. Years at the Caldera Palace has surely taught her where her place was, and it wasn’t on the pedestal of fire nation royalty.

Even with that reminder, it didn’t stop the dust of pink from tinging Lila’s ears while she adamantly refused his words, “Sir, you mustn’t say such things-”

The retired military general smiled, kindly interrupting the stuttering girl’s babbling, “Please, sit. I’d be graced by your kind presence if you’d give an old man like me some company on this lovely day.”

Seeing that Iroh wasn’t going to relent, Lila let out a small sigh and sat on her knees before him on the other side of the pai sho table. Back straight and hands polieltly placed on her lap. Over the rim of his teacup Iroh peeks at her and couldn’t help but feel pleased. Like a chink in a wall, a little part of her mask breaks without her even noticing.

Once fully situated across The Fire Lord’s brother, Lila couldn’t help but still feel incredibly small and vulnerable. Never in her life has she ever been requested to sit with someone of such high nobility before, as equals, even if they were banished. For a while, they sat in complete silence. An awkward one on Lila’s end and a serene one on Iroh’s. Lila watched as Iroh wordlessly played pai sho and sipped his tea. Crisp south pole air blew past every now and then, gently running through Lila’s dark curls like invisible fingers. Genuinely the girl was at a loss of words so she stayed quiet and waited until Iroh had something to say, chosing to watch the tall walls of glaciers slowly drift by. While Lila was distracted by her captivating surroundings, Iroh threw back the last of his tea like nothing and let out a loud long sigh of satisfaction.

“So,” He chirps, “Where are you from if you don’t mind me asking?”

Remember your place

“Well, I come from a small town near the Fire Nation Capital and served the Fire Lord and his family growing up,” Lila responded without missing a beat. Though she doesn’t miss Iroh’s unconvinced look as he cocks an eyebrow at her. Lifting the teapot, he pours himself a second cup.

“No offense, but if you’re going to lie, at least make it a little more believable. Not laughable…although some good lies are pretty funny…” he quips. An aged hand coming up to stroke his chin.

‘He caught my lie,’ defeat briefly colors her face and Lila wonders if it’s okay to take off her mask, even if it’s just for a moment. Can she trust him?

“General Iroh-”

“Just Iroh or uncle Iroh is fine, I’m retired. You don’t need to keep formalities when you’re with me,” the old man laughs as he pours a cup of tea for Lila. The warm assurance Iroh gives off disarms Lila, even if she didn’t want that to happen, allowing her to relax just a little more. Her mask slipping from her fingers.

“Okay…Just Iroh,” Lila teases.

It came out a bit awkwardly, but she peeked her eye up anyway to gauge his reaction at her failed attempt of a joke.

However, she’s pleasantly surprised when she sees the stale joke earns her a guffawing laugh and she had to fight off the beginnings of a grin that wanted to push past her lips, “why do you want to know?”

“Just curious, but since you asked,” passing Lila her cup Iroh playfully narrows his eyes, “you don’t look or sound like you’re from the Fire Nation capital. Don’t get me wrong you’re a very beautiful girl,” Iroh clarifies, “but your facial features are different from the people in the capital. You also have a slight accent. Not only that but Lila isn’t a name commonly used in the Fire Nation.”

As Iroh spoke, each sentence had Lila’s eye lower, all the way down to her cup on the table. This man figured her out in a matter of seconds! To Lila part of her felt embarrassed for thinking she could out-smart a military leader. Retired, but still. An experiensed military man no less.

Though she knew he didn’t mean any harm by what he said. He claimed to just want her company, and she was trusting that he only wanted to get to know her. No one has done this with her before so this was new territory, and Iroh has never given her a reason to fear or distrust him before during these three years, so she decided why not? And let her mask hit the floor. She looks at Iroh and he catches her good eye soften.

Words roll around her head for a moment before speaking, “My mother was born in the Northern Water Tribe, but she left. In her travels she met my father who lived in a small town not too far from Omashu. They married a few years after meeting. My dad really helped her out when she had nothing and no one to help her.” Iroh’s lips curled up into such a wide and infectious smile at the girl’s words, and funnily enough Lila found herself mirroring him, too.

“Wow, that is wonderful! Two completely different people, from completely different parts of the world meet and fall in love. That’s rare,” Iroh gushed as he teasingly added, “On top of that they made such a soft and gentle spirit too!”

Giggles, that were actually quite loud, erupted from Lila as she flushed at this witty old man and his compliments. “How do you know I’m soft and gentle?” She asks, taking a large gulp of tea, the warm brew filling and puffing her cheeks. Slowly she guzzles it down, cheeks deflating, before adding, “I could be really mean in reality.”

Golden eyes worn with years of life crinkled in amusement at her newly surfacing playfulness, “I have been around for many years. You can tell when someone has a genuine spirit and when someone doesn’t. You, miss Lila,” said girl freezes at the respectful use of her name. No one’s ever used ‘miss,’ or her name, at all when talking to her, “have a very soft and sprightly spirit, when given the chance to bloom,” Iroh declares with satisfied finality. To show he was set on his opinion, Iroh sat with his eyes closed, blocking out any protest Lila might’ve had as he reverently drinks his tea and moves a pai sho tile.

‘Miss Lila’ in turn sits in stunned silence, her brow deeply lined with thought and her mouth agape. Genuinely she couldn’t see what he saw in her but didn’t have the heart to correct him. It’d be futile to argue against him and win. So instead, she shyly thanked him, and awkwardly filled her cheeks again with more tea to distract herself.

For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, as no one seemed to need Lila’s assistance, she got to know her first friend since little Chan from her village. They went back and forth talking about many things. Lila discovered that during his younger years Iroh learned and observed techniques from the waterbenders which in turn helped enhance his firebending. He regaled her with many stories of what he learned and how he learned it. A smile etched deep into Lila’s face as she tried to absorb everything he was saying. It was heart warning for Lila to see someone from another nation appreciate her mother’s culture. She also found out that he’s a decent tsungi hornist and can’t tell the difference between certain tea plants and the poisonous ones.

Iroh learned some things about Lila, too. He discovered that she had vast knowledge about plants and flowers from all over the world. Even the ones about tea! Thanks to a book about flowers her mother gifted her as a child. He also found out that under her pillow she keeps an earth kingdom bracelet her father made and can play the kalimba. They even taught each other songs native to their nations. Both of them found such wholesome companionship with each as other they kept this up every day for a few weeks during Iroh’s afternoon tea.

One day as the two friends sipped on a new tea Lila decided to try her hand in making, ginseng tea, Iroh decided it was time to discuss his nephew. However, the tea was too good for him to just leave it half finished. ‘I’ll begin once I finish this cup,’ he said to himself. So, they sat together in comfortable silence. In the background the rowdy voices of the ship’s crew could be heard, they too took a moment to relax from today’s work. Prince Zuko seemed to be on edge more so than usual so the men were taking in all the peace and quiet they could from their makeshift break.

Back to the main pair though, the clink of Iroh’s teacup being set on the table barely registered in Lila’s ears. She was currently taken by her surroundings as she watched a piece of ice fall from a passing glacier. A chilly breeze brushed and caressed her cheeks. Usually she’d shiver at the winds touch, but it seemed that over the past few weeks of Prince Zuko navigating these waters, the southern climate didn’t seem to bother her as much anymore. It was still cold though.

Feeling ready to talk Iroh clears his throat, “You know, I don’t really think you have much to be afraid of when it comes to my nephew Zuko.”

In an instant Lila’s revere for the beautifully cold landscape is broken as she meets Iroh’s steady gaze in surprise and discomfort. This was definitely a topic she wanted to avoid.

“I know Zuko is a very coarse person and rough around the edges, much like the rocks back home. But he really isn’t as bad as people make him out to be. Though he may be banished, he is still very honorable,” and for a moment Lila sits there taking in his words. She didn’t really know what to make of it. Her perception of the Prince vastly opposed Iroh’s. Although she understood why Iroh would say that about his nephew, he did seem to have a love the boy. Lila tries to muster the courage to say something but again she hears that voice,

Remember your place

Echoing in the back of her mind. After moments of her struggling to gather herself and Iroh waiting patiently, Lila stammers out, “Sir, I assure you I’m fine I do not fear-”

To which uncle Iroh chooses this moment to remind her, “Lila, you don’t need to be so formal with me, nor do you need to hide yourself. You know me. You can tell me how you really feel.”

Again, she hears that same phrase, remember you place, but louder this time attempting to drown her out. She tries to push back a little harder so the voice would go away, but to no avail. Lowering her eye in submission, specks of brown glinting in the sun’s rays, Lila quietly chokes out, “I shouldn’t say anything at all negative…concerning the Fire Lord or his children. Whether they are banished or not,” the rehearsed tone Iroh heard when he first spoke to her returned. The man could clearly see the internal struggle warring within her. The deep line crinkling between her brows, the downturned tilt of her lips, to the flicking of her eye as she couldn’t look at him dead on. It was like he was watching a two headed viper fight itself.

Choosing to divert his attention to his game he allows Lila the time she needs to fight the thoughts that overshadowed her. Once he noticed she’s calmed down a little he quips, “But, I’m not the Fire Lord nor am I the Fire Lord’s child.”

“I know,” Lila squirms a little and averts her gaze to her hands, “but you are the brother of fire lord Ozai and the uncle of prince Zuko. It would be rude of me to say anything negative about anyone from that family…and I don’t want to get in trouble with prince Zuko.”

Taking in the sight of his friend, her fingers fidgeting softly, Iroh gently counters, “I just want to know how such a soft and gentle soul like yours, has become so scared and broken.”

For a while, Lila sits in hesitant contemplation. Many times, and many ways Lila has only tasted pain and hurt her entire life. One of her eyes has complete loss of vision for goodness sake! No one ever bothers to give a passing glace to those seen as lesser than themselves. To peasants like her. No one cares for little servant girls…but Iroh does. Iroh, out of every person she’s ever met in the fire nation, has been the first and only one who’s truly treated her like she’s worth more. Worth more than a servant. Iroh always treated her like a human and a friend. In his eyes, she is a friend. Iroh is, someone she can trust…regardless of his bloodline. With that, her mind was made up. Like a baby bird spreading its wings to jump, Lila opens her mouth to speak – but closes it and freezes once she spots prince Zuko emerge from his quarters. The usual fire nation uniform adoring his body.

Red uniforms.

Just like that, the flower that Iroh saw trying to bloom, closed in on itself once more.

Saddened by the state of his friend, amber eyes close as Iroh shakes his head. Looking at his last pai sho tile he places down the fire symbol. ‘How ironic’, Iroh thought.

Finished with his game Iroh looks toward his nephew, a wide goofy smile now replacing the disheartened look before.

“Hello nephew, nice of you to join us on this lovely day! The sun is out, a nice breeze is blowing. Miss Lila here has even made a new delicious tea for me to try today, you should have some.”

Unphased by Iroh’s excited suggestion, prince Zuko maintains a cold and silent expression. As he makes his way next to his uncle his sharp gaze cuts through everyone on deck. Immediately his crewmates stop what they were doing as Zuko examines each person, silence being the loudest noise on the ship. Once his glare shifts to Lila for a moment her eye darts away, avoiding eye contact.

Prince Zuko then begins barking orders at the crewmen who were idling about. “Lieutenant Jee, care to tell me why all of my men are not where they’re supposed to be?”

Sensing the rapidly brewing eruption that was about to explode, Lila cautiously rose from the little table she and Iroh occupied. Yeah, she fully intended to creep away from the banished prince’s tirade and busy herself with work, until she felt a calloused but tender hand hold hers. Her eye shot to Iroh as he encouragingly motioned for her to sit back down, “If my nephew really needed something from you or felt like you weren’t doing your job right, he would’ve said so already. You’re okay, either way you don’t need to do anything until dinner time…which is in another hour.” He stated smugly. After those weeks of getting to know one another Iroh memorized her schedule like the back in his hand. Lila knew Iroh again wasn’t going to let her win this round, again, so she slowly sat down.

Once prince Zuko was done ordering -well more like yelling- at his men to get back to work he looked at his uncle, completely ignoring Lila, and rigidly mentioned, “If you need me uncle, I’ll be in my room meditating.”

“Good, good! Practice your breathing, it’ll help you with your control.”

Judging by the upturned eyes and smile Iroh gives his nephew, completely disregarding his attitude, Lila could tell he held a deep love for the prince. For her, she didn’t hold any of that. Prince Zuko was part of fire lord Ozai’s family. She just didn’t understand.

Then just before he turned away prince Zuko’s piercing gaze finally caught Lila’s as if finally realizing she was there.

“You. Servant girl”, his voice was hard as stone. His inflection unwavering and clipped, while hers was wavering and small.

“Yes?”

With prince Zuko’s attention fully on her, Lila’s brown eye flitted between his intense stare and her hands. The discomfort of being trapped under his gaze grew too much for Lila as she squirmed and tried to keep the fear from taking hold. He only acknowledged her presence, that’s it. ‘I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong today’, she rambles to herself, prattling off anything she might’ve done for him to call her name in such a way.

Cutting through her mental check list, terse words, “Get. To. Work,” are spat from between the prince’s teeth. His scarred face now inches away from her. Up close Lila could vividly see his raised skin, burnt red and irritated, marring the left side of his pale face. The disfigurement of the scar left his eye squinted in comparison to the other eye. Thoug she had to admit, the eybrow that wasn’t burnt off was perfectly arched. Within his amber gaze, Lila could see the anger that always seemed to linger there. However, she knew better than to test his already thinning patience.

With a breathless, “Yes sir,” Lila clambers to her feet, collects Iroh’s tea set as fast as she could and rushes away from the two. Heart pounding within her chest. Faintly, she could hear Iroh complain to prince Zuko about how he didn’t need to scare off his friend and how he should’ve tried the tea she made. To which Zuko yelled, “I don’t care! She doesn’t get special treatment just because she made you tea!” That, she heard loud and clear.

Lila powers through the corridors below deck and even though it’s an hour early she decided that she might as well help the chef prepare dinner since she did all her work earlier. This time as she rounds the corner, teacups clanking with every footfall, she smoothly side steps any shipmates that may be bustling out of the kitchen. ‘Don’t want a repeat of before,’ she notes to herself.

Upon entering the kitchen, she sees the chef and he raises his knife in greeting before continuing with the meat cutting. Last week prince Zuko docked at a nearby harbor to restock on any necessities the crew might’ve been running low on. Specifically, hygienic items and food supplies. “Servant girl!” the chef calls, keeping his eyes on the task at hand, “You’re just in time. I need you to start on the rice.”

Offering a timid smile, which he didn’t notice, Lila carefully placed the tea set in the sink, rolls up her sleeves and stands beside him to start on the rice. Like clockwork they quickly but efficiently finish dinner for everyone on the ship, with Lila scooping the last bit of rice into bowls to deliver to the prince and his uncle. Soon enough the rest of the men file in for dinner. Lila attempts to give one last smile to the chef, which again falls on blind eyes, before tiptoeing out of the now lively kitchen and right into lieutenant Jee.

“Lieutenant Jee!” Lila gasps in startlement, “I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there!” She bows as best as she could while balancing the two trays of food. Jee waves it off with his hand, “You’re fine, just be careful next time.”

As he starts to make the line for dinner Lila haltingly calls his attention once more, “Um, mister, Lieutenant Jee, sir…” he hums. “Just to be sure, do you know if the prince and his uncle are in their rooms? I don’t want to be late again, especially with prince Zuko.”

“Yeah, last I checked that’s where they were.” Jee dissmisively responds before laughing with the other men at a joke the chef said. Lila’s presence completely ignored.

Laced with a hint of despondency, Lila whispers, “Thank you,” and continues her trek up from the lower decks, up onto the main deck, and to the command tower. All the while balancing the two hefty dinner trays. The tower was where those in charge slept. Reaching her first stop, Lila found herself in front of prince Zuko’s room. She began to feel her hands shake and quickly but carefully placed Iroh’s dinner tray down by the door. No way did she want to drop anything in front of her leader’s door and really risk getting punished for the first time. Reigning in her nerves Lila breathes out deeply and knocks.

No words of entry could be heard.

Trying her luck, she knocked harder one more time but still received no answer. Usually on any other day he’d call for her to enter and she’d place his food on his table, but this is the first time he hasn’t responded. Which leaves Lila at a crossroad. She wasn’t really sure what to do, she didn’t want to leave his food outside, but she didn’t want to just barge into his room. His privacy. And anger him. Then again, standing in front of his door doing nothing wasn’t going to solve anything either.

“I guess we won’t know until we try,” she sighs wearily.

The door squeaks as she apprehensively opens it and cautiously peeks her head in. The room is in its usual state, clean and very minimal. No elaborate decorations, just a few fire nation banners on the wall, a mattress in the corner of the room, a weapons rack, and a rug. The only time Lila would go in the prince’s room was when she’d do her daily cleaning rounds and food deliveries, like now. Then, her eye catches sight of him with his back facing her. Candles sit in front of him on the table, the flames rising and falling with every breath she hears him take.

“Prince Zuko?” Lila slips a foot past the door as she shakily squeaks, “I have brought you your supper, do you want me to place it where I usually-” a loud huff escapes prince Zuko’s mouth, flames shooting up in tandem sharply.

“If you wish I could come back later with-”

“You really seem to have forgotten your manners, haven’t you? I’m meditating.” Prince Zuko drawls, irritation filling his voice as he maintains his meditative position. Lila stares at his back in puzzlement, she didn’t mean any disrespect to her prince, she was only doing what she thought was right in this situation.

Even though Lila knew prince Zuko couldn’t see her she still bowed her head in apology, rushing out, “Please forgive me my prince. You didn’t answer when I knocked, a-and I didn’t want to leave you without food-”

Like a bomb, prince Zuko’s aggravation toward her initial interruption and her rambling explodes, “I don’t care as to why you felt the need to come in my room unannounced! You see I’m in the middle of something, and just because I’m quiet doesn’t mean you can start talking like I gave you permission to, when I didn’t! I’m not my uncle. You’re a servant, remember your place!”

Lila stands in stunned silence at Zuko’s verbal barrage, she was doing so well with her streak of staying on his blind side. Although she knows his words are nothing compared to what he’s said and done to his other men, tears still flood and gloss over her eye. Violent scenes she repressed played through her mind as clear as day. Mocking her.

Remember your place

Remember you place

Tears of pain and anguish flow down her burning cheek. The intensity of the man’s punch could still be felt as she cradles the side of her face. Sobs heave from the little girls mouth as she watches the flames engulf her home. When suddenly a large hand yanks a fistful of her hair. A shrill scream ripping through her busted lips as he drags her closer to the carnage he and his men waged. All dressed in red uniforms. She could hear her parents yelling her name from somewhere afar, and she tries to tear away from his grasp to find their voices. Though the vice like grip in her hair harshly jerks her head back, causing the girl to whimper in pain.

“Ah! Mommy, daddy! Where are you?” She can’t see them, but she could hear them fighting in the background. The sound of the other men in red wrestling with her parents could be heard too and it amps up the fear seizing her heart.

Tiny nails dig into the hand on her head, scratching and hitting the with all her might to escape. Though her attempts failed as she is aggressively thrown in front of the burning house, the heat of the flames licking for a taste of the child. Suddenly a blood curdling wail, that could be heard all around her terrorized village, shreds from her raw throat as searing pain erupts all throughout and within her eye. Vision becoming an all-consuming black.

The words, “Remember your place, you little brat!” Are roared in her face.

Finally, the tears silently bubble over her cheeks like a stream of water. Stifling any noise, Lila bites her lip and bows deeply, even though prince Zuko barely gives a sideway glance over his shoulder.

“I am, so, sorry my prince,” she chokes out hoping to the heavens above that he wouldn’t punish her or hear the strain in her words. She can’t be crying like a fool in front of her leaders, that’s not what she was taught. Serving was what she was there for, nothing else. Her master before made sure she knew that. Swallowing all the sobs she could without a sound, Lila carefully places his food by the door and quickly leaves shutting it with a soft click. All the while a slight frown could be seen on Prince Zuko’s lips. He caught sight of the tears falling from her eye.

Outside Lila takes a few deep breaths and leans against the door, the muscles in her lips twitch as she tries to stop the upcoming torrent of tears; but the dam breaks. Smothering her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt, her other quivering hand covers her face. Lila starts bawling. Muffled sobs and gasps wrack her body as her eye squeezes in grief, hot tears spilling even faster. Now it wasn’t necessarily Zuko’s words that made her react like this, even if they were hurtful. It was what he inadvertently triggered. Memories too painful that she didn’t want but was forced to keep. After a few minutes of her trying to keep her mourning silent, she hears a door creak up ahead at the end of the corridor. With hitched breaths Lila drops her snot and spit stained arm as the hand covering her face quickly retrieves Iroh’s forgotten dinner tray. It was a little cold, but nothing a firebender couldn’t handle. Lila sniffles and schools her features back into a poised appearance and continues to her last stop. A trail of quiet tears streaming in her wake.

Upon reaching Iroh’s room, Lila wipes off any evidence of her crying and knocks on the door. This time around Lila hears a tired, but nice beckon to enter. Opening the door, she sees Iroh sitting on his bed and he beams at the food Lila has in her hands, until he sees her face. As quickly it appeared his smile is gone as he takes in her damp sleeve, tear stained cheeks, runny nose, and wet eyelashes. Iroh had an idea of what might’ve happened.

“Sometimes, life can be like a hurricane. It’s harsh and unforgiving at first, but they always end and the sun shines after. No matter how bleak the storm looks.”

At that, Lila breaks down again. Crying all the while, she fully enters the room and places her friend’s food on his bedside table before rushing to hug him. As she engulfs him, Iroh gently rocks her from side to side, rubbing her back. The motion reminds Lila of her father when he’d rock her to sleep, her arms tightening around Iroh. She missed her dad deeply. Softly her old friend began to sing one of the songs he taught her a few weeks ago.

“Winter spring, summer, and fall. Winter spring, summer and fall. Four seasons four loves, four seasons four loves.”

Although his voice wasn’t perfect, it still pulls Lila to join in, sniffling. Iroh’s voice strong and comforting, while Lila’s was weak and quiet. They sing it a few times until Iroh sees her tears and hiccups slow.

Feeling slightly better, Lila breaks from the hug and sits a few feet from Iroh.

“Thank you. I really needed that,” she croaks and rubs at her teary eye. The patch on her other eye was pretty damp so she knew before bed she’d have to clean it.

“Of course. As your best friend it is my duty to make sure you’re okay and laughing.” To which Lila giggles.

“How about this?” Iroh offers, “I tell you more about what I learned from waterbenders and you teach me more about the flowers you know?” Lila tiredly nods in response; her crying drained all her energy for the day. The two friends share dinner at Iroh’s behest, saying how she shouldn’t skip her meals, and chatted for a few hours. They talked about flowers, tea, and history -mostly Iroh teaching her what he knew- until Iroh noticed how exhausted Lila was and urged her to get some rest.

The next day was like any other day for Lila. In the morning she’d wake up at dawn, do her shower routine, clean her teeth, and tend to her eye. After that she’d set off to make breakfast with the chef for all of the shipmates. Deliver breakfast to Iroh and prince Zuko, and luckily for her today the prince wasn’t in his room. She only found a note that said he wasn’t hungry. Then once all the men were at their usual posts Lila would go ahead and tidy up all their sleeping barracks. By the time she’d be done with cleaning everyone’s rooms she’d have an hour or so to herself, which was filled with journaling or writing all Iroh has told her about waterbending, until she had to help prepare lunch. After she’d finish that, there’d be a fifteen minute window of nothing to do before Lila would make Iroh’s afternoon tea. Which was what she was doing right now.

Again, like before, Lila make her way from the kitchen, through the corridors, past her room, and up the stairs to get to the main deck. However, instead of sitting across from Iroh Lila places herself next to him as he greets her with a joke. Thankfully he doesn’t mention what happened last night as they laughed and talked as they usually do. Today Lila was trying to explain the differences between the white jade bush and the white dragon bush to Iroh. The white jade bush being a poisonous flowering plant. During her explanation, Lila couldn’t help but notice Iroh somewhat dazed off, and she snorted as she thought, ‘I really hope this doesn’t bite him in the butt’ when a question flickered in her. Checking her surroundings to see where prince Zuko was, she saw him a good few feet away facing the front of this ship. The scarred boy looked to be distracted with his own thoughts, so Lila figured it be now or forever hold her peace.

“Hey, uncle Iroh?”

“Hm”, he grunts, liquid gold eyes ever so focused on today’s particularly tricky game of pai sho.

Lila’s already soft-spoken voice lowered to a whisper, “Why did you agree to go with prince-”

Unexpectedly, from far away, a huge ethereal beam of light shoots up into the air, cutting through the sky! The beam cast a blue shadow over everyone and everything in the south pole, blue ripples rippling across the sky. Lila literally falls back in wonder from what she’s witnessing at this moment. No one on prince Zuko’s ship has ever seen anything like this during their three year search. When she looks to see if anyone else is seeing what she’s seeing her eye catches the banished prince’s reaction. Prince Zuko himself is also snapped from his own thoughts by the sight of this strange but amazing light. His jaw dropping in awe, but realization dawns as his features shift to one of aggressive determination.

“Finally,” he growls. Turning to Lila’s companion, who’s surprisingly unphased by what just happened, prince Zuko continues, “Uncle, do you know what this means?” His words seemed to be filled with something akin to…dare Lila say, hope? Desperation?

While keeping his eyes on his pai sho table Iroh asks, “I won’t get to finish my game? And Miss Lila won’t finish telling me about the…what was it called again?” Being in such close proximity to the prince after what happened last night, Lila wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer with him so near.

However, Prince Zuko answers for Lila declaring that the beam of light means his search for the Avatar it about to end. Though not sharing the same optimistic thought as his nephew, Iroh shakes his head and places down another pai sho tile. Still unwilling to relent, Zuko points to the shinning beam and snaps,

“That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!” Looking back, he sees the light disappear, causing the blue shadowing that was cast over everything to disappear as well.

“Or, it’s just the celestial lights,” Uncle Iroh suggests, lifting his arm to the sky with a tile in hand to further prove his point. “We’ve been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don’t want you to get too excited over nothing.” The absent-minded tone is apparent in Iroh’s voice although he means well. He’s just looking out for his nephew. For Lila, well she had a whole cauldron of mixed feelings. If that light really was from the Avatar then they could all finally go home. She should be happy, right? Three years of searching finally over. Except, she has no home, all that’s there waiting for her in the fire nation is a cold and malevolent palace. Nothing good was waiting for her there.

Again, Lila is pulled from her thoughts by Iroh, “please, sit. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea Lila so kindly brewed?”

Like an awkward, and slightly uncomfortable middleman, Lila’s honeyed eye worriedly gauges Prince Zuko’s increasingly riled posture. Her eye slowly shutting to a cringe; she could tell the prince was about to explode from the continuous dismissal of his claims.

She was correct.

Prince Zuko barks in exasperation, “I don’t need any calming tea! I need to capture the avatar!”

As he ordered the helmsman to set a course for the light, Lila withdrew back to her thoughts. In a small way, she kind of understood why he was being so snappy. Though his attitude was usually foul. Still, he’s trying to go home after three years of banishment. Everyone on this ship wants to go home. Even if she had no place to call home, Lila could empathize in a way with why he’s so rude, and somewhat desperate, when speaking to his uncle the way he does. The Avatar is his ticket home.

Suddenly the wind picked up, whipping the dark hairs that fell from Lila’s bun. Turning to Iroh as he puts down his last pai sho piece, an air nomad symbol, Lila can’t help but blurt, “What does this mean?” Her words uneasy as she watches Iroh imploringly. Brown eye dancing over his form.

Iroh turns to her and gives a meaningful smile before laughing out, “It means our days of tea and pai sho together are coming to an end.” Lila looks on in confusion, “It’s almost time for you to help with dinner. Go, and make sure you bring some roasted duck for me tonight!” He jokes.

Later that night Lila finds herself repeating the same delivery process as before, rushing up the main deck and to the command tower. However, when she goes to knock on Iroh’s door she sees him coming from around the corner, “Oh uncle there you are. Where were you?”

“I was just coming down from the observation deck trying to tell Zuko he needs rest. Of course, my brooding nephew wouldn’t listen.” Iroh sighs dramatically as he walks to his door. However, all Lila can think about is the discomfort she feels with the possibility of being alone with prince Zuko again…and the stairs she has to climb to reach him.

“B-but, that’s a lot of stairs though…”

“Ha! How do you think I feel? An old man like me shouldn’t have to do workouts like that anymore!”

Iroh smiles when Lila giggle in response. Opening his door, he turns to his friend and gently takes his dinner tray bidding her goodnight. Left alone Lila continues her walk to find prince Zuko. “Up the stairs I go…”

By the time she reaches the observation deck she’s winded and breathing a little deeper. Her heart felt like a drum about to beat out of her chest, she did climb like four flights of stairs. Leaning against the opening of the door to the observation deck, she sees prince Zuko there with a simple night robe draped over his sleeping attire. He stood alert and focus despite it being dusk. Unlike him everyone else was getting ready to retire for the night. A little hesitant to address her presence in fear of repeating what happened last night, Lila waits for the scarred prince’s permission to let her speak. A few minutes pass and a breeze flows by, stray pieces of curls tickle Lila’s neck as the prince still stands in silence.

“Pardon my intrusion prince Zuko, but it’s dinner time and I have your food ready for you…”

Looking over his shoulder at her for a moment he simply rasps out in a gruff voice, “I’m not hungry…” before continuing to watch the darkening horizon.

“But, you haven’t eaten anything today, are you sure?” Regardless of the fear prince Zuko strikes in her heart, he’s still human and needs to eat.

Again, like yesterday an aggravated and abrupt huff leaves his mouth as he deeply drawls, “What, did I just say?”

Wanting to avoid another outburst tonight Lila timidly stammers, “You’re not hungry…” as the feeling of embarrassment from being talked to like a child washes over her.

“You may leave my presence.”

Lila turns and was about to head back down to the kitchen before a thought struck her. Quickly but silently she takes the bowl of rice and the bowl of roasted duck meat and pours half of it onto the serving tray, before leaving it near the doorway. That way if prince Zuko changes his mind the food will be there. Satisfied with herself, Lila walks down to the now empty kitchen, grabs a pair of eating utensils, and eats what was left in the bowls. “Well I’m not letting the food I made, which I know is good, go to waste,” and the food really was good too.

Once she was done eating, Lila washes the tray and grabs a cup filling it to the brim with water. Double checking the empty kitchen Lila carefully makes her way to her servants quarters. She takes gradual and slow steps in order to keep the water from spilling over.

In the safety of her room, Lila closes the door with her foot and nimble fingers lock it behind her. She sets the cup down in the middle of her room and goes to get the journal she’s been writing in from underneath her mattress. Lila pulls out the journal and returns to where she placed her cup. Sitting down with her legs crossed, she flips to the pages filled with information she wrote from the times Iroh would tell her about waterbending. Lila takes in a deep breath, holds it as if she were underwater, then slowly exhales through her mouth. Closing her eye, her hand reaches up and unwraps the cloth covering the other side of her face.

The cloth falls in Lila’s lap as her hand hovers over the cup of water, beginning to practice her waterbending. Although as she tries lifting the water from the cup Lila feels no connection to the energy inside of her. Her control is weak and shaky as the water spills over. Shutting both eyes Lila tries to concentrate harder, but all she can see are the memories from her past burned deep within her mind.

Fire

Screams

Laughing

Fingers

Eye tattoo

With a shuddering breath Lila drops her hand and sighs in disappointment.

Remember your place.

The next morning Lila is on the main deck with Iroh, Prince Zuko, and some of his men. At Iroh’s invitation Lila watches as the prince does his firebending training, though she didn’t know as to why he wanted her there. The young servant had a very deep fear of fire, every blast of fire prince Zuko or his firebending companions made, memories of that little girl in red would flash by. Screams of her younger self and cackling of the little girl ring through her ears. So, Lila stood by the railing of the ship a few feet behind Iroh, not too close to prince Zuko and his fire but not too far in case they needed anything. With her eye on the ground Lila watched in fascination of the elongated shadows the morning sun created around her, until she heard Iroh begin to lecture prince Zuko on his firebending.

“No. Power and firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles,” Iroh clarifies. It’s clear there’s a tinge of stress in his words as Zuko failed to truly grasp what his uncle was trying to say.

“The breath becomes energy in the body,” Iroh continues and begins to demonstrate each point of his explanation, “the energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!”

Lila gasps at Iroh’s last demonstration. A strong but controlled and precise stream of fire shoots from Iroh’s fist at prince Zuko who stood unflinching. The fire dissipated inches from the prince’s face. At the sound of the small noise Lila made, Zuko’s eyes flicker to hers for a quick second before settling back on Iroh. She could see how the prince’s muscular shoulders began to tense as he walked menacingly toward his uncle, so she tuned out the impending argument and turned to look over the ship's railing. The morning rays glistened over the water lapping at the ship below, creating a lovely twinkle. The shimmering water looked like diamonds to Lila as she mulled over the words Iroh tried explaining to his nephew.

Vaguely she could hear him call his nephew impatient in the background, but Lila’s mind was still committing what uncle Iroh said to memory, “patience,” she softly whispered to no one in particular.

Power comes from the breath…not the muscle.

Lila glanced behind her and saw that prince Zuko was still arguing with his uncle as some of the firebenders looked on. Zeroing in on the sea water once more, she suddenly felt a small beckoning from below…

Breath becomes energy in the body

With her hand extending over the railing, her heartrate picked up and her body tingled with nerves when she realized she’s really going to try this in front of firebenders. The ones who once tried to wipe out her people…but the push and pull of the water was too enticing, its seductive call too strong to ignore…

With a flick of the wrist-

The energy extends past your limbs and becomes-

Water!

Water shoots out in the form of a wave away from the side of the boat. In no way was it a large or impressive wave, it was actually very small. However, it was enough to make Lila laugh and light up in elation. A huge smile decorating her lips. A smile she hid behind her hands. However, when she tried to recreate what she did, nothing happened, the feeling…the connection, was gone. Her smile dissolved and fell, the light in her face dimming as she turned back to the men on deck.

Her honey colored eye widened in surprise at seeing both Iroh and Prince Zuko’s golden gazes pinned on her.

“…Um, hello.” Lila shyly breathed with a small wave of her hand. A twinge of fear twisted in her heart at the off chance of her getting caught waterbending.

“I was just telling my nephew how even you have more discipline and patience, and you’re not even a bender,” Iroh says bellowing a loud laugh. The imaginary weight on Lila’s chest disappeared as she awkwardly forces out a laugh too -in relief- before catching the sneer on prince Zuko’s lips. His hands closing into a fist, Lila was sure he probably didn’t like that comparison.

“I mean, but sir I’m just a servant it doesn’t matter what I have or don’t have,” Lila responds as she lowers her gaze. Iroh opened his mouth to object but the young servant girl beat him to it, “anyway, if you are in no need of assistance,” she casts a look between both Prince Zuko and Iroh, “I must go help with lunch. If you’ll excuse me.” Demurely Lila bows her head and turns to go.

With Prince Zuko was back to sparing with the other firebenders, Iroh took the chance to call out, “Wait.”

Lila turns and regards him curiously as he begins to pour a cup of water, “Here, have this before you go. You might need it if you get thirsty.” He carefully hands her the tin cup. It looked like it was about to overflow. Lila looks at him questioningly but all he gives her is a knowing smile that she couldn’t quite place.

Later, after she finished helping the chef with lunch, Lila made her way back to her room, the cup still in her hands. She only took one sip from it today, either way she was going to meet with Iroh for afternoon tea soon, so she didn’t think much about it. Once inside she sat at the edge of her mattress and placed the cup on the floor in front of her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she folds her hands and places them over her lips as she stares at the water. A thought struck her, debating whether or not she should try bending again.

“I shouldn’t, I can’t even properly control it!” Lila hissed to herself.

Until Iroh’s words about breath and energy filtered through the back of her mind. Then another image appeared. The image of prince Zuko meditating with the candles in his room a few nights ago. Releasing a sigh Lila gave in and sat on the floor in a crisscrossed position, straightening her back like how she saw prince Zuko do it. Like the night before, she untied the cloth covering her face and closed her eyes. The palms of her hands braced on her knees. Deep breath in, she inhaled, and a deep breath out, she exhaled. Slowly a sense of calm and peace crept over her. Concentrating on her breath and the energy inside that she couldn’t really feel yet. Lila repeated the technique over and over, and even though she didn’t see it, with every breath she took the water rippled.

Thank you for reading, let me know what you think in the comments. I hope you enjoyed it.

188 notes · View notes

cupsofsuga · 4 years

Text

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐒 ━ 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 *:·。.

{ ⚠️} WARNING - This is a yandere au, meaning the following may be triggering to some viewers. I am not trying to discriminate the boys in any way, this is for entertainment purposes. Viewer discretion is advised!!!

{ 💐} REQUEST - ❝ how do the boys act with their s/o during the pandemic? ❞

{ ☕️} NOTE - i am not in any way trying to romanticize or glorify this pandemic. this is strictly for entertainment purposes. right below, i provided a link that lists ways you can help with covid-19::

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/21/how-you-can-help-during-coronavirus/?arc404=true

please stay home and stay safe!

━━━ 𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐊𝐉𝐈𝐍

through the fog of yearning for summer, jin has found you, the child of aphrodite in autumn’s oath

oh, the tender sound of flesh… it’s like thunder under earth’s surface

to love y/n is to love the nymphs that dream amongst the fragrance of weeping willows

to love y/n is to long for their sole attention, and much to jin’s benefit, this global pandemic may have given him the opportunity to hog all the stardust held within the deity of his lover

with classes canceled, you both can spend eternity gathering tulips and wildflowers in the safety of your home

jin can taste laughter against his lips and the august rain of your divine infatuation

he can inhale the sun in your hair and the midsummer fruits on your skin

finally, for what seems like infinity in quarantine, he can breathe

now, to keep this daydream within the forest at constant, he’ll rob any potential excuse of yours that involves not having your attention on him

of course, he would forbid you from seeing anyone outside the solace of your own residence

the faint idea of those heathens laying their ruthless hands upon your heavenly form and possibly imperiling you with this virus infuriates him to no end

even during the hours spent on online classes, jin will smother with resentment over the revelation that he’d be required to spend several hours without your love

boredom and envy, two poisons racing like serpents through the maze of his veins

and he can’t seem to sedate this burning jealousy, that is until the session ends and the grandfather clock sings it’s euphoric harmony

oh, and when your attention is finally on him

petals splatter, lambs sing, the sun kisses the moon and the fruit of the earth flourishes

heaven is on earth, and besides, you never needed those classes, anyways

with perfect grades, perfect class, perfect reputation, jin could give you whatever your heart could desire

and he’ll love you until the sun vanishes and the earth is reborn; until all stars fragment and our galaxy dissolves into dust

jin loves you and the blossom of july that follows

he loves you to death.

━━━ 𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐈

oh, how yoongi loves you...

to digest his own organs, to tend to the wounds of his garden

he’d trade in his life for the fleeting chance of bathing in your moonlight

like the crumpled-up paper left on your table with the number of a pretty waitress scribbled on, the scrape of peach fuzz against naked skin under ocherous streetlights

you, y/n l/n, a stranger in the alps holds the dawn-tinted fragments of this young boy’s soul

the resonance of your honeymoon-flavored voice, the liberation of the ocean’s pearls as they sleep in your touch, your superlunary reassurance as you soothe him of his concerns for the world’s condition

yoongi cannot comprehend how sour solitude blossomed into a sultry summer by the acceleration of a global pandemic

he owns the privilege to spend infinite days in quarantine, butterflies and white lace upon his heart as he wakes up to the sight of your face, yet again

he watches as stars and planets melt together as your galaxies collide, relishing in the feverish sensation of eternal divinity

and during this pandemic, yoongi’s tendencies flourish as his dependence, neediness and loyal compliance intensify

he’ll go out of his way and purchase all of the necessities you could ever crave, the revelation of his health at stake left unbothered

it is challenging to find entertainment throughout quarantine, but fortunately for you, your hero (missing his cape) uses his rent money to find you whatever it is you've deemed vital

you’ll go and welcome your lover after he returned to your residence from getting groceries and discover a variety of board games to play, a nintendo switch (with animal crossing, obviously), and an espresso machine that he bought with intentions on teaching you how to make drinks like he does (even though there will never be a day where he won't brew one for you)

despite fear painting every street in the world, yoongi touches aphrodite’s reminiscence as he skates beyond a rainbow’s arch

he has found sunlit honey in the mornings where he can cling onto your form like a lifeline and smother you with his coffee-stained kisses and overwhelming fascination

finally, days are heavenly with you by his side every. waking. second

the bullets have faded, the storms have abolished, the tears have shattered and all that’s left is your french perfume and cherry lips

oh, you should expect suffocating love during this quarantine season because you’ll never escape from yoongi

not now, not ever.

━━━ 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐊

due to covid outbreak, hoseok feels his body tremble with fear beneath his covers as if the virus was a monster underneath his bed

behind the exquisite light of his sanity is winter, where terror sits like snow against naked trees

only then, you waltz into his tunnel of vision, your silver armor glistening under the amber light of his bedroom

finally, with you by his side, he can savor the taste of the sun as it peaks through the leaves of summer

y/n, the sweetest apparition, the aurora of jasmine, stardust in a mason jar

you are the bones of ecstasy and hoseok feels the horror racing through his veins melt into a daze of tulips and passion

and it took him days to recover from the lemon-flavored euphoria that dreams of you in a hallucinatory lucidity

but, even then, the heart of his infatuation still holds cunning ways of creeping up behind him

despite being locked inside, hoseok still relies on you to protect him

you’re his knight in shining armor, his life preserver in an empty sea

he needs you to wrap your wings around his form and shield him from the demons that lurk in the shadows of your home

god, does he need you

but, when the sun is high and both of you are trapped in the walls of your home, his soul ascends as if he had listened to his favorite part of a song for the very first time

your lover then insists on creating a fort, the light of purity heavy in his opalescent irises

that childlike innocence within him, you always adored it

you’ll both make a mess of your living room with couch cushions and chairs, certainly to receive a scolding from your parents

there are fairy lights strung upon quilts with its heavenly glow and tender pillows that are painted with last years midsummer night-dew

and with scarlet ribbons and a huff of contentment, your masterpiece is complete

now, you will lie in the fort that is shielded with a password, lover in your lap as he runs upon his little rants

a disney movie you can’t recall the name of is left abandoned to play on its own as hoseok works you through the timeline of the pixar theory, hope, and exuberance within his expression

he always admired conspiracy theories, but not the ones that are too frightening

you, aphrodite’s rose and summer’s sweet fruits, are there for hoseok to love and to embrace

and he’d swim all the oceans and waltz through the depths hellfire to prove to you just how enamored he truly is

that is until he longs for his childhood stuffed animal that he makes you go into the attic to get because he’s too afraid of the dark.

━━━ 𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍

namjoon will love you until the end of eternity

he’ll love you until the moon swims the seven seas, he’ll love you until fate eradicates into liberty, he’ll love you until white jasmines accelerate into poppies

he’ll love you until our solar system melts into prismatic ash

and this epiphany flourishes as the night sings with you nestled against his chest, your lover refusing to let you go even when the sun is high in the sky

with locks of hair rested upon the crevice of his neck and latin poetry he’s too tired to translate parting his lips, he has found ecstasy in the purple rain that enveloped him

he has found the hidden nymphs of his life nestled under leaves; he has found his light in a sea of dead stars

and namjoon can’t imagine a day where he wouldn’t bleed himself dry to protect the one thing that matters most to him

due to the spread of this virus, let’s just say that his paranoia has gotten the best of him

you’ve never seen so much fear within his eyes from just a simple cough

you’ll be forced to stay within the lavish bedroom of his as all possible necessities are delivered to your door

and any excuse for you to leave, he has another to dismiss it

you’re hungry? great, a full-course gourmet meal made by our personal chefs is on its way!

you’re thirsty? would you like water? tea? wine? we’ll have the housekeeper deliver it in a jiffy!

you’re bored? we have board games, puzzles, movies, video games, whatever your little heart desires!

you feel trapped? ok, fine… well, i guess we can go take a walk in the garden

and you felt such a rush of elation to take sight upon the lustrous tulips possessing a variety of colors and to inhale the fragrance of summer as it stains your consciousness

oh, to feel sunbeams heavy against your longing skin and to trace your fingers down the juts and crevices of your favorite flowers

this is euphoria tied with a silk bow

that is until you were aggressively yanked behind namjoon as he saw the gardener wasn’t 6 feet away from you

he spat out threats to the poor man just trying to water the poppies you infatuated yourself with

but hey, at least you got a taste of the sun though, right?

oh, well, the tiffany and louis in your expensive bedroom will suffice, anyways.

━━━ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐉𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐍

so… this is love

to caress the sugar-scented tulips on the riverside, to taste summer as worries melt like honey against your tongue

to lose yourself in the lustrous daze as camellia flowers fall like pink rain

so… this is love

and god, jimin has never felt so alive

like a dove at dawn, iridescent feathers, and misty eyes

you descended into his field of vision and robbed him of his heart right then and there

and now, as the sun glistens and the moon shimmers, day-by-day, he holds the privilege of calling himself yours

especially being locked within the walls of your home, infatuation seethes like dust in the attic above

it’s far too dangerous for you to leave, anyway

with disease, sorrow, and pain staining the air of the world, it’s only best is you stay indoors… only by his side, for every waking second

and you swear, you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve awoken to the sight of your lover with his chin rested against his palm, hearts swimming in his eyes as he chirps, “good morning, bumblebee!”

but, you have to realize, he just can’t help it

there’s moondust in your lungs, sunbeams bathing within your veins, the rings of saturn enveloping your locks of hair, stars nestled beneath the crevice of your heart

there’s a universe inside of you, and luckily for jimin, it is all his

only his

as the morning is set into motion, your boyfriend has a variety of activities for you to indulge yourself with

days are spent reading you through all several journals he reserved just for you, pages filled with cheesy poems, songs, or your name written obsessively over and over and over and over again

he’ll giggle like a young schoolgirl at your reactions, drown you in butterfly kisses or gaze at you for hours as you read, oblivious to his creepy admiring stare

and god forbid you drink water and it goes down the wrong tube

you’ll cough once and he’ll begin to pamper you as if you were a sick orphan child

that’s who he is, though

dedicating his entire life to the sun itself; dedicating his existence to the child of aphrodite in full bloom

god… he has found love

and nothing is more euphoric than this

and you had absolutely no idea a worldwide pandemic could make this man the happiest boy on planet earth.

━━━ 𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐆

you can’t recall how long it’s been since you were abducted

days have melted into candy, hours turn to honey, seconds are everlasting grace

you’ve been treated like royalty ever since pages of your face with a loud ‘MISSING’ on top had been scattered across town

your kidnapper lover will bake you cherry pies, boxy smile threaded on his face. he’ll draw a bath adorned with rose petals raw from the garden, eyes flickering with hopes and exuberance

taehyung will give you just about every pleasure a human could ask for, all in the name of seeing that candied smile that sedates his mind and turns his knees to jelly

he wouldn’t be shocked if he looked down and saw a puddle of his drool, to be honest

and because of the uproar of the virus, taehyung finds in his best power to simply not tell you

to protect you from your worries, to shield you from this world

he would rather die than risk losing his glimmering evening to the arms of the earth

this revelation strikes coldly as you sit beneath a willow tree, sugary pastries and treats varied around you as your lover sits with his canvas

to blend the opalescent tones of your face, then the loud devotion of your skin and the feverishly irradiated hues of your iris

oh, to sit here and paint his dear… it’s pure bliss!

days spent deprived of the burden of technology, heaven has reached the recesses of this horrid planet

after lunch beneath the sun, you and taehyung will take canoe rides throughout the lake just outside your little cottage on the hillside

and watching as you graze your fingertips upon the lake’s surface like you’re made of something magic and blessing the water with your enigmatic essence was practically holy to see

he’s been puzzled stupid in times like these

where the sun is high and heavy, golden embers kiss upon the land, his lover sat with a goddesses caress

it’s euphoric how you breathe and strip taehyung of every logical thought within his mind

yes, you are captive, but there is simply no denying this man's devotion to you

you shall not worry about the worldwide pandemic and should rather fall into a deep slumber within the faded-red canoe

when it’s only the two of you, a virus is but a speck of dust left upon the highest shelf

no matter what this world comes to, you are safe with taehyung

and nothing will take you away from him.

━━━ 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐊

jungkook thinks of you more often than he should

those fleeting moments where your dulcet laugher reflects and his eyes are practically glued to you; those moments where your “i love you”’s are unadulterated and his entire chest collapses

he’d do anything and everything to keep his light forever home

fortunately for him, this global pandemic may have gifted him that opportunity laced with a velvet bow

but this boy is paranoid, you see. so paranoid that the intensity of his concern comes out in an opalescent pandemonium

it’s as if saltwater swells in his lungs and kisses him with it’s strangling embrace; as if his worst sins have been placed on a silver platter, left for the world to laugh and gape at

but, through the haze of his purgatory, there’s you, joyous and alive

and it’s like a potion mixed with rosewater, vanilla and a dove’s feathers heavy on his tongue whenever he drinks in the sight of you

it’s like the essence of his infatuation dancing like a ballerina beyond the recesses of his mind; his sanity it’s ballroom

to spend days in quarantine bathing within his bewitchment is euphoric, but there are the days of terror that creep upon him

and you don’t think you’ll ever forget the time where you had complained to your lover about your headache and observed as the planets swimming in his irises abruptly fade to utter horror

he always over-exaggerated his worry, which you were used to, but this

you’ve never seen true fear like this

you were given a cold towel to place upon your forehead and kisses to soothe you of your distress

the worry he possessed only snowballed into something much more cynical and evil, though, as the prophecy of the virus taking you away from him shook him to his very core

you eventually fell into a deep slumber by dusk, most likely by the fault of the medicine

though, as the moon was high and the bedside clock read 2:38 AM in it’s fluorescent, neon green hues, you were awoken by the hushed sounds of weeping

blinking your mind back into reality, you found jungkook on the bedside, shoulders shaking violently from the sobs that shook his entire body

you watched as he incoherently wailed into the phone, only to finally decipher the person on the other line was a 911 operator

you then handled the situation safely and maturely, reassuring the poor operator that you were perfectly healthy and safe and thus proceeding to care for your puppy-dog of a boyfriend who worried over every breathe you took for the following several weeks

oh, what a time this quarantine will be

but, hey! you weren’t sick! so…yay!

178 notes · View notes

darlingpetao3 · 4 years

Text

Give Into the Symptoms (EoWells x Reader)

Rating: M (Smut)

Summary: When an unknown substance is accidentally released into the medbay, you find yourself isolated along with Doctor Wells, and both of you start to develop some very interesting symptoms...

A/N: Happy Friday! Here’s some super hot smut to spice up your day! Word count - 3,223

Tag List: @blogforhoes

Team Flash likes to joke that being accident-prone is your superpower. Little did they know, one accident in particular would catapult you into a world of suspicion and realization…

It’s one of those days - a day in between just having caught the latest meta terrorizing the city and having another one pop up. You have forgotten your travel mug, and are searching the Labs for it. Oh, right!

You remember setting it down while visiting Caitlin in the medbay, then got distracted. There it is. You jog into the room, but remember that’s probably not a good idea. What if you trip on absolutely nothing and fall flat on your face? Not if you can help it.

But that doesn’t seem to help you.

When you reach for your mug on the desk, it’s like everything happens in slow motion (later, you find yourself wondering if this is how it feels for Barry) - your arm knocks over a series of test tubes holding different coloured liquids. Some of the substance splashes onto your skin, whereas the rest of the matter falls to the ground. It gives off a pungent aroma. You can practically see the fumes rising from the desk and the floor up into the air. In the shock of the accident, you let out a yell, and find that whatever the hell chemicals just touched your skin feels like it’s burning.

“Miss (Y/L/N)!” comes the familiar voice of your superior (and friend? You’re fairly certain you’re friends… You hope you’re friends...) Doctor Harrison Wells. The scientist zooms in on his motorized chair at the fastest speed it will carry him. “What’s happened?”

His voice is a mixture of surprise, concern and impending protocol.

“Ow, ow, I knocked over chemicals on the desk, ah!” you try to explain while shaking your affected limb. “Some on my arm.”

You shout in wild staccatos while Doctor Wells helps usher you to the emergency wash station to ease the moderately uncomfortable sensation. Even after the cold water sprays on your skin, it’s Harrison’s next few words that shock you even more than the water temperature or the burn.

“You need to remove your shirt. Quickly.”

“I- what?”

Doctor Wells wheels over to one of the cabinets in the room and plucks one of the many overly stocked S.T.A.R. Labs sweaters to toss it at you.

“There will still be remnants of the concoction on your shirt. It will continue to soak through the fabric and reach the rest of your body. It cannot be touching you. Hurry. Unless you want to try to bathe in that sink.”

You have your shirt off faster than you could say “the Flash.”

You remove your shirt so fast, in fact, that Doctor Wells hasn’t even had time yet to turn away or avert his eyes. Instead, he witnesses the entire thing.

“Oh, well…” he utters, possibly embarrassed, turning around too late. His eyes one hundred percent saw you in your bra. And now you will let that tiny factoid harass you for the rest of your life. You shrug on the classic navy sweater with the organization’s logo stretched across your chest. It is not your size, but it will have to do.

“Alright, I’m decent,” you say to the back of his dark-haired head. He makes a small noise in the back of his throat after he faces you again, but you can’t decipher its meaning. But that is the case with many things when it comes to this man.

“We have to self-isolate ourselves.” Harrison’s voice is calm but firmly urgent. “We’ve both been in contact with each other and the substance. Quick, initiate lockdown.” You know just what to do and sprint to the door to the room. You smash the emergency glass and press the Big Red Button. Instantly, metal barriers drop down to seal the doors and windows, locking you in with the secret object of your affections and an unknown substance.

Only time will tell what will happen to the two of you next.

***

Nothing.

Nothing has happened! God, you are so bored.

“How long are we supposed to be stuck in here?” you ask.

“So far, it’s uncertain. This is an unknown substance. But we must stay isolated so as not to pass along the contagion. We both came in contact with the substance particles, so we may eventually show symptoms.” Harrison hums.

“What?” you ask.

“This unforeseen circumstance may be worth taking notes. For posterity. Do you have a pen?”

Naturally, Harrison would find a way to take this unfortunate situation and turn it into a learning experience.

Always a scientist.

Maybe that’s why you admire him so much. Well, more than just admire…

At first, time passes incredibly slowly. You don’t know what to say in the awkward silence between you and Doctor Wells, so you try to keep yourself busy. This proves extremely difficult, however. All there is in this room are Caitlin’s medical journals, test tubes and various other tools, and a medical bed. Yes, there is a computer, but it was set up solely for data entry. No internet. Not even so much as Solitaire!

And the metal barriers seem to have blocked out all signals to your phone.

Even Doctor Wells’ chess set was out in the other room!

This is hopeless.

You hop up on the medical bed and recline a bit. You’re starting to feel a little strange, but you can’t figure out what exactly is wrong with you. Is this one of the symptoms, or have you finally gone mad from being cooped up? You start to mentally examine yourself.

Your skin tingles, but in a good way - not like how it burned earlier. Your entire body feels comfortably warm, and you find that when your eyes fall on Doctor Wells, that’s when you start to feel hotter.

The man sits in the corner of the room, studying one of the journals. Every so often, he’ll lick his finger and turn the page...

You swallow hard, now wholly distracted by his lips. They’re so pink it should be a crime. But the real outrage is the curves of his arms. At first, you were going to ask whether he wears such muscle-defining sweaters like this all the time, but really you know the answer to that is yes. Your eyes take you on a vicious cycle of drinking him in, admiring every piece of perfection that is Harrison Wells.

“Miss (Y/L/N)? Are you feeling alright?” he shakes you from your ogling.

“Huh, what? I think so…”

“Are you developing any symptoms?”

Is horniness one of them?

“I’m not sure.”

“Write down what you’re feeling, anyway,” he suggests. “It could be helpful.”

You do so, taking the pen and paper you’d found earlier and jot down what you’d been feeling. You’re noticing a bit of lightheadedness too, so you add that to the list. But you hear something mid-scrawl.

“Did you know that you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on?”’

You lift your head. Did he just…?

“I’m sorry, w-what?” you stutter. Doctor Wells removes his glasses in one motion, letting one of its arms touch his lips, which bend up into a smirk. He wheels over to you in the bed, the closer he gets, the hotter and unsteadier you become. Your vision seems altered - rosier than usual.

“I believe you heard me correctly,” he answers, “and I mean it. You make me want to…”

“Want to what?” If you don’t settle yourself down now, you’re going to jump the man.

“It isn’t proper what I want to say.”

Oh, now he’s holding back?

Fuck it. You need to know. You slide your legs off the bed and, without much further thought, kneel between his widespread legs on his chair. Your hands gripping the armrests instead of literally anywhere on the man himself like you would prefer. Leaning in close, so much so that you share the same dangerous breath.

“I need you to tell me,” you beg.

Doctor Wells just blinks at you, then frowns.

Wait. Something’s not right here.

You pull back and examine the situation, and then the scariest words come from his mouth:

“Miss (Y/L/N)? What are you doing?”

You try your damndest not to scream. Did you just hallucinate all that? Oh God, I imagined him coming on to me, didn’t I??

Jumping back far away from him, you turn around to hold your head in your hands. Is this all one big fever dream? Is this a symptom? What’s real? What’s not? You sure as hell don’t know anymore. All you do know is that you’re hot and bothered and almost mauled your boss because of it.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” you say. “I’m just…” You’re completely frazzled. “I’m just going to write it down.”

New symptom: horny hallucinations

You try to let the next half an hour pass without feeling this strange woozy sensation. In doing so, you close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing while lying down. But it’s still too hot. You’re still too hot. You remove the sweater, entirely forgetting that you aren’t alone in this room. Doctor Wells has been quiet for far too long. And it would appear he’s been watching you. His elbow rests on his chair, hand covering his mouth as his eyes rake over your body. You look down to his lap, an accident.

Good Lord, he’s got…

The curve of him is all too apparent in his pants. The way he’s sitting only draws attention to it. It’s like you have instantaneous tunnel vision. His growing self is all you see and all you care about. You go to him, no longer wondering or caring if this is all an illusion, it’s not even a thought in your brain. All that remains is this unrestrainable animal lust for his body. Consequences be damned. You kneel in front of him.

“(Y/N)...” he exhales. He doesn’t sound stunned or taken aback by your extreme forwardness. Instead, it sounds like a warning.

“Suddenly not so formal, hm?” you say. “Good, because we’re about to get better acquainted anyway, Harrison.” Doctor Wells doesn’t make any motion for you to stop your advancements, just stares lustful daggers at you while you practically claw at the man’s buckle and zipper. You reach into his pants to wrap your hand around the single thing in this room that you believe can heal you. His sheer hardness is unveiled and in your firm grasp. Doctor Wells’ groan shifts into a growl. Well, hello. His brow furrows but in the sexiest goddamn way.

Heavens above, you’re desperate to taste this man, eat him, swallow him, consume him.

New symptom: salivation

Your tongue darts out for a slow lick. But the slowness doesn’t last because the need is greater than anything you’ve felt. Soon, you surround your lips around his cock and take him further in your mouth. Further, letting the underside of him brush against your flattened tongue. On your way back down, you swirl around him, which makes your colleague, your employer reach a hand into your hair. He grips a handful at the base of your head. Harder. Pull it harder.

Doctor Wells does just that, and perhaps you did say out loud that after all? You aren’t sure of anything anymore other than you feel on fire, and you need more. Your blood hurtles through your veins. A ceaseless throb makes itself known between your legs. More so than before, that is.

Going in for the kill, you return your mouth to him, meanwhile reaching your own hand past the waistband of your jeans to touch yourself. You need to get off just as much as you want him to. You feel like you’ll keel over if you don’t deal with yourself too.

Harrison’s bobbing head stops to stare down at you.

“Are you-? Fuck, (Y/N), are you-?”

You hum around him in affirmation, and just after you do, the scientist pushes you off of him. In any other situation, you might be mortified that a man told you to stop blowing him, but this is no ordinary situation. Your vision blurs for a second in a surge of lust. You’re like an animal that’s just been denied their meal. There’s so much more to eat.

You stand up, chest heaving, and positively do not believe what you witness next.

Doctor Wells’ hands clutch the chair’s armrests again, but then you watch as he moves his foot. He takes a step onto the floor, then stands to a full six feet. It’s a fucking miracle- no. It truly is a hallucination. A dream. It’s a fantasy.

There’s a flash of danger in his eyes, while yours widen, big and round as his prey. The tables have turned. He’s stalking you, walking you back until you hit the metal barrier where the door once was. Captured.

This hallucination is fucking wild and I am here for it.

Might as well give in to the symptoms, right?

Harrison leans down by your ear and inhales your scent. Sweat, desire, desperation.

“I can’t resist you,” he says as if it’s difficult to even speak through the palpable sexual tension.

“I’d always imagined you saying that,” you confess, because why not? This isn’t real anyway. “I can’t resist you either.”

“I’m aware,” he chuckles into your neck, where his mouth quickly attaches. You swallow twice. “You seemed rather hungry back there.” Your pulse is starting to skyrocket again.

“Still am.” Your fingers find the hem of his soft black sweater and begin to lift it up over him. Might as well indulge in this glorious sex dream. Harrison helps you of course. He seems to want this as much as you. You’re both a series of grabbing hands, flexing muscles, and greedy touches as each and every article of clothing finds its rightful place on the floor.

Fucking hell, sex-fantasy Doctor Wells looks like an actual god. Part of your brain wonders how much of his usually-covered appearance is accurate. The rest of your brain (and another part in particular) thinks, Get in me.

The look on his face says it all. He’s going to ravage you.

Harrison, faster than you could ever imagine, spins you so that your exposed breasts press against the metal barrier. Your palms rest flat against the cool metal as well, bracing yourself for whatever the man has planned. Whatever it is, you want it. Now.

His hands run down your arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake despite your entire body feeling hot as all hell. He steps closer, so close that his whole body presses against the back of yours. His still hard cock digs into you from behind. You reach around and take hold of it and start to pump. The scientist rumbles into your neck, where he licks and nips and sucks and fuck- bites. You squeal. By the way his body twitches, you think he rather enjoyed hearing you like that.

If you weren’t already a mess, Harrison’s fingers take over the job you tried to accomplish on yourself earlier. His fingers are greeted by your already sopping desire.

“You really were serious, weren’t you?” he says at the slippery feel of you. “Do I always arouse you like this?”

“God, you don’t even know.” It comes out a bit strangled. “All the time.”

“Are you ready for me?”

“Do you seriously need to ask?”

He doesn’t answer you, but instead takes his length to press it against you from behind. Finallyfinallyfinally. A little more. Just a bit more. More. Further in. With each inch, you whine for all of him. Doctor Wells growls into your shoulder once he’s reached as far as he’s able to sheath himself inside you.

It’s only when he starts a steady pace of thrusts that you almost believe this is all real. The feeling in your gut tells you it’s real, but the rest of you insists it’s a very very heated symptom. His mouth is still attacking your neck, any bit of skin he can get to. The current mark he’s leaving is starting to hurt but in the best way.

“Fuck,” you swear, knowing your climax is just on the horizon. You’re nearly there. “Faster. Faster,” you ask of him with what little ability you have to form words. Doctor Wells chuckles, almost evilly, into your ear.

“That I can do,” he replies. His hips snap repeatedly, a deliciously rapid speed. Skin against skin slaps to quick beat. His fingers circle at the same pace. And with a surprise, sharp smack to your ass, this wicked combination is your undoing.

You come apart like a crumbling mess, crying out as you do as the man repeatedly slams into you, now seemingly for his own gain. It’s like nothing you’ve ever felt before, an orgasm this powerful, is it even possible to have one this...

***

You blink your eyes open.

You’re still in the medbay, but the barriers on the door and windows have been lifted. And you’re definitely still clothed in your S.T.A.R. Labs sweater and jeans. So it was all a crazy dream?

Regardless, you’re never going to be able to look Doctor Wells in the eye ever again.

Speaking of the man…

He rolls in on his chair with a pleasant and calm smile.

“Feeling alright, Miss (Y/L/N)?” he asks, concerned. “You took quite a spill earlier.”

“I did?”

“Yes.”

You don’t remember falling. You remember a whole lot of an X-rated fantasy, though.

“I didn’t, um…” you aren’t sure how to phrase this. “I didn’t do anything embarrassing or potentially fireable, did I?”

Doctor Wells raises an eyebrow in one of his classic moves. “I don’t believe so. Other than the falling, of course. But you needn’t feel embarrassed about that. It could have happened to anyone.”

You nod slowly, relieved that you didn’t blow your boss under the influence and proceed to fuck against a wall. Although… no. No. You are relieved. Yes.

“I see the barriers are up,” you note. “I take it that isolation is no longer required?”

“You would be correct,” Harrison confirms. “Doctor Snow rushed in, with the appropriate hazmat gear and did some tests. You were out long enough for the results to come back. We’re in the clear.”

“Well, that’s good news.”

“Quite.” Harrison smiles at you, but there’s something different this time than previously. You aren’t sure what it is. “I will leave you now. Feel free to take a few days off. I know that was probably a lot to take in.”

“Right. Yes, right, thank you, I will.”

“Take care, (Y/N).” Harrison wheels away out of the room and out to the corridor. You take a breath and step out of the bed, feeling a bit uncomfortable as you walk. And then, in the reflection of one of the mirrors on Caitlin's work desk, you see it.

A deep-purple mark on your neck.

When you press your fingers to it, it hurts a bit. It’s fresh. But how can that be…?

Can that-?

Did he really-?

But then that means…

Oh shit.

Anonymous Request: Hey dear🤗 I want to request a EoWells story. Reader gets exposed to a VERY powerful aphrodisiac at star labs and the reader asks harrison to help her😏. And he gets exposed to it too. And both go totally crazy and do shameless dirty stuff to each other and together (maybe they always had feelings for each other). And Harrison reveals his secret( that's he's not paralyzed) to get more and more from her. Lots of smut!🙈 Plus add whatever you like. can you plz?🙏🏻

#reader insert #anon request #harrison wells x reader #harrison wells imagine #harrison wells fanfiction #eowells x reader #eowells imagine #eobard thawne x reader #eobard thawne imagine #the flash imagine #the flash smut #the flash fanfiction #harrison wells smut

383 notes · View notes

lonelyaligned · 3 years

Text

Hiraeth

So here it is! It's not done, I'll probably work on it for a while, or make a series I'm not sure yet.

But I'm very proud of it, I used to write all the time when I was younger, it really helped me work through trauma and other things. So I am very proud to show you my latest maladaptive daydream that is: What if Somewhere Else really existed, what would happen and why would I make the first few chapters pure angst? OR 'Hiraeth' One of my favourite welsh words to describe a form of homesickness for somewhere that doesn't exist, or you can never go to. Seemed appropriate. Not sure if this is a 'make better' fic or a 'at least it's not as bad' one.

Please go check it out over on my ao3 and check out my tma brain rot tiktok @//lonelyaligned too

or read under the cut <3

disclaimer: I'm a dyslexic chronically ill adhd person, so I may be flakey with the old grammar/spelling etc, do excuse me

Around them the panopticon rumbles, distorting and glitching like an old TV screen, an eerie halo of eyes surrounds Jon, inky black tears streaked his face. Martin had seen this before while he was doing a statement. The other man stood, warm tears streaming down his grubby face.

“I’m not leaving you trapped here killing the world while I watch!” he shouts, gesturing to the crumbling room. Loud painful static sounds from all around them while Jon stares on, eyes an unsettlingly vivid green.

“If you stay, you’ll die!” Jon shouts back, his voice distorting.

“Then I’ll die…” Martin responds, standing defiantly in front of him, he flings his arms out beside him as he speaks.

“No!” Jon quickly responds, losing Martin was one of the worst things he could imagine, but he'll lose him either way possibly. Jon knows he’s a monster, he couldn’t pull Martin down any further than he already has. Jon screams in pain as he feels the Institute ripping apart, tearing him from it.

Part of the ceiling between them cracks and falls, large chunks of Victorian masonry come crashing down. Jon manages to step back in time, his reflexes faster than his partners. Part of a large block catches Martin on the shoulder, blood starts staining his dirty woollen jumper after a few moments. He grabs his shoulder in pain and cries out. He can’t imagine anything worse than losing Jon… again.

Jon closes some of the space between them, “Martin, please! I can’t lose you. Not like this…” he reaches out a hand, going to touch Martin’s uninjured shoulder.

Martin flinches away angrily “Tough! Okay? Where you go, I go!” he winces through gritted teeth, the tears start welling up again, he feels the uncomfortable lump rise in his throat as he chokes back a sob.

The static around them grows louder and angrier, whining at a pitch that makes Martin’s head spin. Jon’s arm falls back to his side and he looks at Martin, taking in his hair, strawberry blonde in a mess of curls, the freckles hidden under the soot and dirt on his face, his glasses which by now have a large fracturing crack through one lens. The bulk and softness of his form, his arms which held Jon through so many nightmares and the hands which held his own through the past gods know how long in the hellscape outside of these walls. He knew he may never see him again.

Jon sighs, “That’s the deal…” the static grows more, swallowing almost every other sound, “Okay” he says, gently nodding.

Martin looks at him, worried and slightly confused, “What?”, he reaches out a hand to Jon, who accepts it on his own. Jon’s hand is warm and feels almost like it’s vibrating with energy, like the feeling of static.

Jon turned his head, looking towards the still figure behind him, “Do it! The knife’s just there. Let them go.” At this Martin pulls him closer, his eyes wide and tearful.

“I’m not going to kill you!” he shouts in anger and surprise, tears falling down his cheeks again.

“Cut the tether. Send them away.” Jon says, his voice strained from the pain, “Maybe we both die. Probably. But maybe not.” He looks Martin in the eye as he talks, “Maybe, maybe everything works out, and we end up somewhere else.” he lets go of his hand, Martin is reluctant to let go, he tries to pull Jon closer again.

“Together?” he sniffs, trying to hold himself together but he feels closer and closer to breaking down and just clinging to Jon as the building collapses. Jon releases his hand and turns around, making his way over to Jonah’s prone body. He scoops up the knife with a clink as it leaves the marble floor. He’s close to crying himself, he takes this moment to try to compose himself for Martin.

“One way or another. Together” Jon says with his back turned to Martin, gripping the knife tighter. Martin walks over to him, being careful not to trip on chunks of stone, trying to not look at the lifeless body of his former boss in front of Jon. He reaches out and touches Jon’s waist, “I don’t think I can…” he says almost defeated, the other man turns around, his eyes flickering a brighter green.

“It has to be you. The Eye won’t let me do it.” Jon says cupping a hand to Martin’s damp cheek, his thumb strokes away a tear as it falls. Martin squeezes his eyes shut and presses his cheek closer and closer to Jon’s hand. He leans his head forward to meet Jon’s forehead, his hand reaching out for the knife.

“Are you sure about this?” Martin sobs, Jon closes his eyes, with both their hands on the knife he guides Martin’s hand up to his chest.

“No.” Jon tries hard to not let his voice quiver, Martin's breath catches in his throat as he tries to calm his breathing down, “But I love you,” Jon says moving his hand to Martin’s chin, tilting his head gently so he’s looking him in the eye. As he says this Martin’s fear starts to melt away, maybe Jon is right and they’ll end up somewhere safer together, maybe he’s wrong but he knows, either way, they will be together.

“I love you too.” Martin chokes out, Jon reaches up and plants a kiss on Martin’s warm but chapped lips. Martin sinks into the kiss and pushes the knife in, guided by Jon. Jon’s lips part from the kiss with a pained gasp as a hot patch of red blossoms under his grey t-shirt. Martin lets go and starts to cry now, Jon’s legs give way from beneath him as his breathing becomes rapid and shallow.

The static hisses and glitches rapidly around the room, pained and angry. The green in Jon’s eyes turns to grey as he watches Martin’s face, he always wants this to be the last thing he sees. Martin gently folds to the ground, letting Jon fall, the knife still protruding out of his chest. The sticky blood on his shirt almost completely changed its colour. Martin cradles his head in his lap, one hand stroking Jon’s scruffy dark brown hair, he watches the glitter of the grey patches which run throughout it. Jon always joked it made people think he was older than he was.

The static becomes deafening as the ominously glowing halo of eyes around his head distorts and disappears. Jon blinks tears from his eyes, his vision goes in and out of darkness, he finds it harder and harder to focus on Martin’s face. His eyes return to their human deep brown as the static crescendos. Around the pair, a blinding white light appears and then suddenly vanishes along with the static. Jon’s eyes close as Martin pulls him even closer, he doesn’t even notice the door swing open as the darkness quickly enveloped the room.

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

10 minutes earlier, the tunnels under the institute

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

Basira opened the last of the gas valves, “That should do it” she says, Georgie absentmindedly nods. She, Melanie and Basira all have t-shirts tied around their faces as makeshift masks.

“I can’t believe him…” she scoffs, looking upwards towards the Panopticon, “W-well actually I can. But I mean seriously? Just leave everyone else to clean up his mess as he galivants off towards certain doom. Classic fucking Jonathan Sims”

“Just be glad Martin already thought of this,” Basira says.

“Are you done now, I really don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to?” Melanie says, she leans against the tunnel wall, it’s cool and firm, Georgie reaches out and grabs the woman’s hand in hers. “We’re done, let’s get out of he-” she’s cut off as the tunnel walls start to rumble and shake, dust pours down from the ceiling. “Oh fuck sake he’s done it already, okay come on” She pulls Melanie towards the exit, Basira follows them, the webbed lighter in her hand. They reached the door to the stairs and she set fire to the book they had with them, the last Leitner.

“Feels almost right that a burning book should bring down this place,” she says as she throws it as far as she can down the corridor before shutting the door and running up the stairs. It only takes a few moments for the gas to ignite and the blast sends the three of them crashing up the stairs. Georgie and Melanie had a head start, Basira got caught on her leg by a falling piece of rubble.

“Just run, I’ll find you” the woman shouts up to them, her voice getting lost in the roar of static around them.

Melanie kept one hand on the wall and the other firmly in Georgies. She felt glad that the steps out of this tunnel were even and uniform, not like some of the others which were uneven and worn over time. The static whirling around her head reminded her of the pain and noise she heard when she ‘quit’. The pained scream of the Eye as it was ripped away from this reality made her grit her teeth and just run harder.

“Come on, we’re almost there I think” Georgie shouted, she wasn’t sure though as she didn’t recognise this part of the staircase. She knew it wasn’t the same one they entered in but it felt like it was going on too long. They were going up too high, they should definitely have been at ground level by now.

They could hear others shouting in the distance, the static grew louder. They could recognise Martin’s voice carrying above the noise, Georgie’s pace slowed slightly, they shouldn’t be up the top of the panopticon, “Wait a sec,” she whispered, pulling Melanie’s arm to get her to stop, “Something wrong?” Melanie asked.

“I.. I don’t know where we are. We should have left the staircase a while back” The floor continued to shake and rumble beneath them, they could feel the heat from the fire making its way up, smoke curled a few steps down, licking at their feet. They couldn’t hear the shouting anymore, but as they ascended what happened to be the last few steps, the screeching static grew until they could almost bear it no longer. Melanie tripped on a step, holding her hands to her ears, tears fell down her face. “Make it stop!” she cried.

“Melanie please, come on, we have to go.” Georgie tugged on her arm, when she turned around she was standing in front of a door, bright white light streamed from around the frame. As Georgie puts a hand on the doorknob, the noise and light suddenly vanish, leaving a deafening silence behind. Melanie gasped, relieved and shocked.

Georgie pushed the door open.

#the magnus archives #jon sims #jonathan sims #tma #martin blackwood #jonmartin #the magnus institute #georgie barker #melanie king #the archivist is chronically ill #make better fic #hiraeth fic

3 notes · View notes

sweater-daddiesdumbdork · 4 years

Text

Life After Snowpiercer: Still Alive

Summery- Curtis (hints of You) makes his way through the cars, and reaches the end to find a surprise waiting for him. Violence.

If you want to read the story Curtis told Nam, read it here- Past Horrors

Word Count- 2967

Chapter 3 / Masterlist

“OPEN IT, OPEN THE FUCKING GATE!”

Curtis stood at the final gate, the final mother fucking gate, his palms slapping at it, his boots ramming into it, and his rage, all that rage from the past 17 years, and more recently the two days it took him to fight his way here, so many lives, gone. His revolution had become a blood bath, Gilliam executed, Grey stabbed, Tonya shot, You… well he couldnt even let himself go there, not yet. Edgar, well fuck Edgar he betrayed, having left him laying among the rest, setting out right after the battle of the tunnel, leaving the majority of people behind to care for the dead and wounded. There was no time to stall.

Hours before in horror he watched the front enders slaughter his people in the television screen,among a car full of children singing praises to the almighty Wilford, the saviour. The armed men entered the gate and were lost from sight. Curtis just felt that all of you were gunned down without a care. No…. He almost broke right then and there, he could see them entering the last car, the one where he supposedly had you kept safe. His breathing picked up, his chest tightened and black stars swarmed in his vision. Then the tv crackled the noises of gunshots and flares of white could be seen coming out of the darkest gateway, all of it so grainy on the screen, but it was picture clear for him. No bodies could be seen, but the way his whole being just shattered into a million biting glass edges, slicing unseen wounds through his mind, he lost you, he couldnt keep you safe after all. Tonya smacked his face. “Curtis snap out of it, you have to lead us”

How can I? Shes gone, they shot her. His mind pieced together an image of your body crumbled in the middle of the aisle, bright red blossoming around you like a opening flower across your back, your hand outreaching for the darkness that might have hid you. Your eyes, the ones hes seen laughing, crying and loving, glassed over sightless, that part that was a persons soul, the spark that brought them life in there eyes, gone. Gone, could it really be? Curtis, she was doomed the day she chose you, and you kept her anyways. Monster. You killed her.

Suddenly Tonya came into his vision again, and beyond her, Minister Mason crumbled on her knees, her rat like face, with those beady eyes and oversized false teeth saying his name “Curtis, I can help you!” The heavy weight of the gun in his palm had a purpose, and it felt FUCKING GOOD just then. Without even a moment in between her words and him registering what the fuck she was pleading for, he marched over and right to her forehead the muzzle settled, her eyes rolling up to look at it in fear, the yellowish whites of her eyes brimming with tears, pupils focused on the muzzle indenting against her forehead. “Curtis pleeease, I beg you!”

His expression, was that of a man who no longer gave a shit what happened to him, his finger squeezed and that bullet, with a little satisfaction for him, drilled through her brain, a splatter of red grazing the entire area. A wipe of his hand across his face, he turned back towards the gate, Nam already working on it. Switching to a new cartridge, he told those still remaining. “We go forward” And just as he came to the gate, Nam got it to swing open, and now this man became the darkest part of himself he could possibly be, the compassion he would show his fellow kind was simply gone. There was no hestitation in his actions. If anyone crossed his path, they were met with cold killing rage.

Now at the final gate, that god damn signature W holding him back from Wilford. Nam tried to stall Curtis, refusing to open that final one for reasons Curtis couldnt understand. His daughter Yona, moaned on a pile of coats, drugged and drunk beyond rational thought, the child was a pitiful sight indeed. “Open the gate Nam, now. Is this what you want?” Curtis emptied his pockets of the kronoles, flinging them at the ex security intel “Take it! Open the fucking gate now!”

In a moment of weariness, Curtis stumbled to the floor, leaning back against the frame work staring at the door. Nam took some pity on the man and tossed him a smoke “Fucker better enjoy it, its the last one.” What the hell, Curtis thought, and he lit it, taking a stale drag of nicotine he hadnt experienced since he was 16 at a party. Finally he started talking, telling Nam all about how the beginning of his life on the train went. Inside his mind though, was a totally different conversation, his way of saying goodbye he supposed although numb at this point to everything, he could still sense the pain it was causing, vibrating in waves from him.

“Hey handsome” Your hands would slide up his chest and circle around his neck. “Almost at the end of the line”

“Appears so Baby” Another drag of smoke escaping from him.

“I guess were lucky we got this far right? I knew you would Curtis” Plucking his smoke from his lips and taking an inhale, washing the two of you in a billowing nicotine haze.

“Leave it to you babygirl to find the bright side here.” He chuckled, seeing you now rise to the balls of your feet to kiss him, hell even imaginary your kisses could score a fire to settle in him. How he wished it was real. That you were here, fuck he missed you it was an ache in his chest.”I dont think Im going to be returning… “ His voice drifted off softly.

“Oh handsome, you know I will find you again, another lifetime. You dont think this is truly the end of us?”

“No? it seems like it”

“Handsome, this is just one of many. I love you and we will see each other again. Now go do what you came to do.” you winked and returned the camel between his lips. Stepping away and leaving him alone once more.

Curtis lifted his gaze, asking one last final time. “Open the gate, please” Nam again shook his head, going off in how they MIGHT survive outside of the train, that the snow was melting, there was no need to stay.

“What are you fucking nuts? go out there and freeze. Leave all these people here, no. Open the GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING DOOR”

Then like the gate just knew, it clicked open and a flash of yellow stepped out, Nam shot backwards and in Claudes hand was a pistol. Composed as ever, she looked at Curtis. “Wilford will see you now.”

He simply spared a glance at Nam, whom Yona was wailing and shaking to bring back to her, and he pushed up, and into the room, all cold steel metal and blue glows, along one wall was a kitchen gallery, all dark masculine looking wood work and at the table in the car, sat an older man with intense blue eyes, staring at Curtis while frying his steak, smirking. “Curtis! Lets take a look at you.” Wilford almost sounded joyful, impressed? “You did a mans work coming all the way up here, did you know its been years since anyones walked the entire length of this train. How about you sit down, lets chat.” Claude nudged him towards the seat. With contempt he obliged, sitting down. “Would you believe Ive never been to the tail section?”

Curtis spat out “why the hell not, we to dirty for you in the tail section?”

“You think the engine isnt without its own complications Curtis?” Wilford turned from frying his steak for half a second, fixing Curtis with a look of disappointment. “It gets awful noisy up here, and not many to talk to.”

Who the fuck does he think he is? Noisy? Trying living with a thousand people in a iron box. “Right, you got steaks, room, and that whore will bring you whatever you want.”

“Curtis, everyone has there preordained position. And everyone is in there place…” Pointing at him with the greasy spatula, the steak starting to smoke and sizzle on the stove top. “Except you.” Turning back he flipped the steaks on a plate.

“Yea, thats what people with the best place say to those in the worst place. There is not one soul who wouldnt willingly trade places with you.” Damn straight Baby, your voice encouraged him.

“Would you?” Wilford questioned, seasoning his steak, how in the hell do seasons still exist? Perhaps you werent always the best voice of reasoning.

“Fuck you” Curtis spat at him with hatred and disgust.

Wilford sighed, as if exasperated with him. “Curtis, were all stuck on this train, and its a enclosed ecosystem with a fragile balance. Med rare?” Breaking his line of thought, Curtis ignored the question entirely, which Wilford paid no heed to. “population must be kept in balance, everything rigidly maintained. Now there are times… we have to take more drastic measures.” Wilford brought the steaks over, setting one perfectly cooked one in front of Curtis. “we simply dont have time to let natural selection take over, we all would be overcrowded on this train, starving. Remember starving Curtis? It took us a while to get the protein blocks going. I am truly sorry about that.” Wilford cut a bite of his steak and chewed between the rest of his words. “So we occasionally stir the pot to speak. Get things moving… The cast out of the seven, The McGregor Riots, and this one… My new favorite. The Great Curtis Revolution. Nice ring to it, right? The kids will love it” He winked one icy blue eye at Curtis as if it was a big joke between them. “I mean who was to expect you to come through with torches through the Yekaterina tunnel? Pure genius, nothing like Gilliam or I expected”

Curtis snapped his head a bit and confusion clouded his face He didnt just say that. “What?”

“Now come on, dont tell me you didnt know, Gilliam and I?” Giving an amused chuckle at Curtis confusion. “Front end and Tail end, we work together Curtis, he was more then a partner, he was my friend.”

“Bullshit, I dont believe you” Curtis stated, there was no way Gilliam was friends with Wilford, the hours the two of them had spent together discussing how to get here.

A grin crossed Wilfords face “well our plan was that the rebellion was to end at the tunnel. Kill off most of you, send the rest back. Curtis, why do you think Gilliam conditioned you to be the leader after McGregor? Sadly, it was supposed to be your hurrah. Your going out like in that old movie…. Braveheart? Going out in a fight. Your name was to give the remaining tail enders hope. So Gilliam gave you everything you could want back there. No one messed with you, got to keep the pretty girl, no one shamed you for keeping both your hands. Wasnt it nice, be able to hold her with both.” Dont you dare listen to him baby, we chose each other, Your voice echoed and stressed. A sickness washed over Curtis as these words, Wilford seemed none the wiser over what his words were doing, or he simply didnt care. “Gilliam said you were smart, but he could control you. Sadly he didnt.” Wilford wiped his mouth and tossed the napkin down, not even eating half the steak. “And why he had to pay the price. Im going to miss my friend, our long nightly chats.”

Still in disbelief over the news, Gilliam had been a mentor to him, a father when he needed advice. All those years, and he just fueled Curtis rage for this moment. No one knew that the traitorous snake was the man they all pledged there allegiance to.

“But your little stunt, well it took out more of the front end then I had hoped, but what fun, right? Its okay, you tail enders throw off brats pretty quickly, we will recover. Theres really just one last thing to do.” Picking up a phone, he pressed a button and waited for an answer. “How many you got left back there?” He listened and looked at Claude “We still at 75 percent?” she gave a nod and he returned to whomever was on the phone “Kill off 75 percent…. actually you know what? In celebration of our 18th year, keep 18 extra alive. Thank you”

Before he hung up, the barely there sound of gunfire blasted from the phone, and Curtis sprang to his feet. “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Claude gave off one warning shot, which ricochet the bullet around the room, causing them all to duck momentarily. “God damn it Claude! Mind the engine.” Turning to Curtis who was straightening himself out and at this point ready to get this fucken over with. “God damn high strung woman, cant do nothing with them when they get to that point.” Wilford muttered to himself, going up the steps to check on the cylinders circling. Curtis followed him up, preparing to end this now. Wilford pulling out his own pistol from his robes, he cocked it at Curtis.”Mind your next move son. I got a proposition for ya, you might want to consider.”

Curtis merely paused cause of the gun pointing at his chest, basic human instinct still riding out his anger. Clenching his jaw, the twitch ticking in tandem, Wilford motioned him forward. “Listen, I like you, you got spunk, You get the job done. I already have a predecessor, but I need someone who can take over Minister Masons place since you disposed of her. About time someone did, I couldnt stand that woman. At the time, she was my finest choice though. You carry out what I need done, I know you have it in you.” Sliding the gun back into his robe when it seemed Curtis was no longer about to attack him. “Once in a while you dispose of some unnecessary lives we no longer have use for, do some intimidation to out of control groups. I will let you stay up front, even bring your girl up here.”

“Shes still alive?” Curtis croaked, the haze of your name clouding his senses, could it be true, was there actually hope?

“What? Of course shes still alive Curtis. First shes a woman, I wouldnt have my men kill off any women her age unless she was unfit to bear children. Even if you werent in the picture I would have her brought up here, resupply the front end. Shes a pretty thing, make someone a good wife. We need to continue the supply after all. Second, shes yours and Gilliam made it clear she was necessary to keep you compliant. Why do you think we allowed you two to play house with those orphans? Her little pet project. Why we never collected those kids, yes I knew all about them all along.” Wilford spoke as if he was doing You and Curtis a major favor. The fucken ass. Curtis could just see you now, the roll of your eyes and arms folding over your chest, Child Bearing Wife? Go Fuck Yourself Wilford.

All this information sunk in, Still alive, You were still alive. He could have you back, it was as simple as saying yes at this point. Sinking to his knees, his hands came to his face, relief watering his eyes and a soft sob broke. Wilford circled the man, whispering to him “Imagine it Curtis, life of luxury up here, have your girl back. You wouldnt ever have to live in a cage per say again. Just follow my orders like a good little soldier. Its really that easy. Minister Everett, sounds fitting right? The tail ender who actually made something of himself. Gilliam would want that for you.” Then he walked away, leaving Curtis all alone, choking on another sob, his hand came to his head and brushed his signature beanie off, rubbing his head. No Curtis, you are here for a reason, echoes of your voice shouted at him. “And if I say no?” Wilford snorted with disdain at Curtis, rolling his eyes with exasperation.

“Im giving you the deal of a life time and you dont want to take it? Fine, I guess I will have her killed Curtis, marched right up here and you can watch her die, or bring her up here and give her away to someone else? You can watch another man have her. Is that a better option. Its either you do this or you die and shes mine.” He gave a shrug. “The choice of your fates is in your hands.” Wilford was no fool, he knew how to work Curtis, already he could see the mans shoulders sink in a sign of defeat. Claude was perched near the gate entrance when it opened, a glance over her shoulder widened her smile, and she stepped aside. “Ahhh, I was wondering where my predecessor had gone off to, its about time you arrived. I was just telling Curtis all about what we set up for him.”

Curtis looked over his shoulder and the familiarity of the man struck him hard, it was like looking at you, your features in this young man was so prominent, he croaked out in disbelief.

“Matt?!”

Yes, your brother was still alive, healthy and alive. Dressed in a fine suit, well groomed, the young man smirked at Curtis. “Long time Curtis, good to see you again.”

@what-is-your-plan-today @jtargaryen18 @curtisbbq @p8tn0lish

#curtis everett x reader #snowpiercer #chris evans #curtis everett #fan fic

175 notes · View notes