#lady manticore

[camelidae]

New originals in my shop! Silly tweens, cozy wyrms, and lady knights are up for grabs, if you’re looking for some whimsy for your walls

#manticore #dragon #lady knights #horses #fantasy illustration #mythical creatures #traditional art #watercolor #colored pencil

[persevereforahappyending]

Maybe in Another Life |1|

Pairing: Clarisse La Rue x Hunter of Artemis!Reader

Summary: You are a Hunter of Artemis, but you start to question what you truly want when you meet Clarisse and get to know her.

Warnings: Slight Titans Curse Spoilers

Word Count: 3.7k

Note: This will be following more of the book plot specifically 3-5 so there will be slight spoilers as this goes on. If you've read the books, it will be obvious that I've shifted the timeline slightly.

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

ch. 1 | ch. 2 | ch. 3 | ch. 4 | ch. 5 | ch. 6

You were in position, arrow at the ready as you waited in the trees. Your sisters were around you, scattered throughout the woods as they awaited orders just like you. You watched as a couple kids fought the manticore, fought was being generous, they seemed to be losing. They were trying to protect some kids but ended up finding themselves caught between the monster and a helicopter, humans never knew when to mind their own business.

Finally, the horn sounded, your goddess gave the order and you and your sisters let your arrows fly. Every single one of your arrows pierced into the monster, into his arms, his legs, and yours found a home in his neck. You couldn’t help but smirk as you watched him stumble back.

The manticore roared, eyeing the woods, he didn’t need to see you to know you were there. He fired his spikes aimlessly into the woods, hoping to hit at least one of you. You smirked at seeing the spikes coming directly at you before notching another arrow and letting it fly. You and your sisters’ arrows intercepted every single one of the monsters’ spikes perfectly, disintegrating them in the air.

All the kids looked around confused, trying to see through the darkness of the trees. You and your sisters were never seen though, not unless you wanted to be seen. Your goddess signaled for you to show yourselves, you all rushed forward, ready to end the monster. Zoe was given the order to take the shot but one of the girls that had been originally fighting it jumped on its back, compromising Zoe’s shot.

You all waited, bows at the ready to get a kill shot of the monster, then Zoe finally gave the order. Once again you and your sisters let your arrows fly, each one nailing the monster in the chest and neck. The monster staggered back but he wasn’t down yet, he let out another roar before quickly jumping over the cliff, the girl still on his back.

“Annabeth!” one of the boys yelled, running forward as if he was going to follow her over the edge.

Your goddess mumbled something about mortals not being allowed to witness her hunt, then she raised her hand and the helicopter that had been hovering over them turned into a flock of birds. You smiled, shaking your head as you looked up where the helicopter had been, oh how you loved it when she turned people and things into animals.

“Zoe Nightshade,” someone said. You turned to see Zoe standing toe to toe with one of the kids you all had saved. When you got closer you couldn’t help but smirk, recognizing the girl.

“Thalia Grace,” Zoe said with an eyeroll.

“Well, well, well,” you said, slinging an arm around Zoe as you approached the group. “Look who’s no longer a tree.”

“Y/N,” Thalia said with an eyeroll.

You smiled; Thalia wasn’t your biggest fan, but she hated you a lot less than she did Zoe. Unlike Zoe you hadn’t done anything to directly make enemies with Thalia, she wasn’t the biggest fan of Hunters after her last encounter with all of you, but you also just tended to rub people the wrong way. Most people found you too intense and arrogant.

“Four half-bloods and a satyr my lady,” Zoe said, informing Artemis of the kids you just saved. You rolled your eyes, Zoe, always being so formal.

“Some of Chiron’s campers, I see,” Artemis said, approaching the group.

“Annabeth!” the boy screamed again. You furrowed your brow, that name sounded familiar. Your eyes flitted back to Thalia, that’s when it clicked, Annabeth had been the little girl traveling with Thalia and that boy from a few years ago. “You have to let us go after her!”

“I’m sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help.” You tilted her head at Artemis, she was great at recruiting young girls to the Hunt, but she really wasn’t the best with people, which was saying something because her and her brother were the most ingrained in the mortal realm, walking amongst humans more than any of the other gods.

Your ears perked up at the boy’s name, tilting your head at the one you now knew as Percy Jackson. You had heard of him, everyone had heard about him, son of Poseidon, another child of the prophecy. You looked from him to Thalia, realizing a child of Zeus and Poseidon now walked the earth again, either one of them could be the one from the great prophecy.

“Who do you think you are?” Percy questioned. You raised an eyebrow at the boys’ guts, he clearly had no idea who he was talking to.

“Watch your tone,” Zoe snapped, shaking your arm off her, quickly throwing a glare over her shoulder at you as she approached the boy.

You shook your head with a smirk. Zoe was your goddesses second and she was technically older than you, born a whole thousand years before you even. Physically though, she looked younger, she was stuck at the young age of fourteen whereas you were frozen at seventeen, meaning, you loved to treat her like a little sister.

“It’s okay,” Artemis said. “I sense no disrespect, Zoe.” She stepped forward so she could stare Percy in the eyes, but she never offered him a hand. “I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt.”

“You’re a goddess, why can’t you go after Annabeth?” Percy asked once again, clearly having a one-track mind.

“She is gone, can’t you sense it?” You sighed, it was obvious the boy couldn’t sense it, he probably had no idea what he’d even be trying to sense.

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“Some sort of magic,” Artemis looked around, confused as to what kind of magic could make the girl disappear. “She’s vanished. But trust, if she can be found, I will find her.”

Percy didn’t seem happy about her answer, but he grumbled, having to accept that there was no way he’d be able to go after his friend. The conversation quickly turned to the two kids the half-bloods had been protecting, Nico and Bianca, orphans, demigods, their parent unknown. Nico seemed very into the idea of being related to a Greek god, it was a little concerning how excited he was. Bianca on the other hand had a more reasonable reaction, it was hard for her to deny the truth though after being attacked by a Manticore.

Artemis ordered for camp to be set up while she talked to Bianca. Zoe smirked as soon as Bianca agreed to the conversation while Thalia glared at her. You knew Thalia’s feelings on what was about to be discussed but at least she had the decency to hold her tongue this time. When Nico asked if he could join, Artemis had the decency to redirect his attention to the satyr friend of the demigods, Nico didn’t seem to realize he was being pawned off, all too happy to talk about his little figures and game with the satyr.

You made yourself scarce, moving as far away from the others as you helped set up camp. As you walked away you could already hear the bickering between Percy and Thalia starting, it seemed the friend they lost had been their mediator, it was only a matter of time before they tried to kill each other without her. You and your sisters worked effortlessly, the motions of setting up camp having become second nature, even without any sort of magic you had the whole campsite set up in minutes. One of your sisters blew the whistle, signaling for the wolves to come out. You glanced up to see Thalia and Zoe now bickering, you shook your head then went back to more important matters, giving treats to the wolves.

You watched as Zoe approached Percy then led him into the tent you knew Artemis was residing in. Zoe gave you a nod as they passed, you gave one in return before giving the rest of the treats to the wolf. You quickly brushed off your hands and followed behind Zoe and Percy. Once in the tent Percy took a seat next to Bianca, Zoe took a seat on Artemi’s right and you stood behind your goddess on the left. You eyed your guests, Bianca looking deep in thought, barely registering that Percy had sat next to her, her mind most likely playing over all the benefits of Artemis’s offer.

You stood dutifully to the side as Artemis explained her whole deal to Percy, he seemed confused by the whole ‘rejecting romantic love’ thing, he couldn’t fathom the idea of why someone would ever accept that. He wasn’t disrespectful about it though, you would give him that, most men when they stumbled upon Artemis or the Hunters they didn’t understand, didn’t try to understand, and it always cost them, Artemis made sure of that. You couldn’t help but smirk when Percy’s eyes widened when Artemis and Zoe started talking about the last boy to have seen your camp and how Artemis had turned him into a jackelope. Her turning boys into jackelopes was secretly one of your favorite things, there was a part of you that always hoped a boy would stumble upon your camp and she’d turn him into an animal.

You zoned out a bit, making sure you could still hear the conversation around you. Percy was filling in Artemis on the manticore and what he had said before you and your sisters arrived. Percy’s details were vague and confusing, but Bianca clearly had the better memory and helped fill in the gaps or correct Percy on wording if he got it wrong. You didn’t fully tune back into the conversation until Artemis said she must hunt this new monster.

“We’ll leave right away, my lady,” Zoe said. You stood at attention ready to follow them into the next hunt.

“No, Zoe. I must do this alone,” Artemis said. She glanced back at you to make sure you knew she was serious. You frowned, Artemis may have been a goddess but the idea of her going off and hunting this unknown monster didn’t settle right with you. Despite your reservations you honored your goddesses’ wishes and kept your mouth shut.

“But, Artemis-” Zoe did not keep her mouth shut.

“This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me.”

“As… as you wish, my lady.”

Zoe also having reservations about Artemis going off on her own didn’t settle your uneasiness. Zoe was a rule follower, she was the type of kid you hated because she’d rather follow rules than do something fun. You always followed your goddesses’ orders but that didn’t mean you didn’t like to have fun. Usually, you were the one arguing with Artemis, respectfully, and Zoe would snap at you.

You continued to remain silent through the following conversation until Artemis asked Percy to escort the Hunters to camp Half-Blood. While once again Zoe went to argue with Artemis, you could only groan. You knew there would be no swaying Artemis on this decision, with her going off on a mission so dangerous that she didn’t even want her Hunters by her side, there was no question that she’d want to know you were all safe. As much as you hated camp half-blood, one of the only things Zoe and you ever agreed on, you had to admit it was the safest place for all of you.

You smirked when Artemis mentioned them having rebuilt the cabins that got burnt down last time because of the Hunters. “That was a fun time,” you mumbled. Artemis flicked you a glare and you raised your hands, silently agreeing to not set cabins on fire this time, at least you’d try to. You couldn’t make that promise and she knew that, the campers just had a way of irritating the Hunters, it wasn’t your fault with how you and your sisters reacted.

“Have you made up your mind, my girl?” Artemis asked, looking at Bianca.

Your eyes shifted to the younger girl, you knew before you all came into the tent that Artemis had been informing the girl of what it meant to be a Hunter and offering her a place. Percy’s eyes widened in shock, and he instantly tried to convince Bianca joining the Hunters wasn’t the answer by telling her how much fun camp was. Zoe was quick to shut that down by telling him being a Hunter can offer much more than camp ever could, such as immortality, and they’d be immortal unless they fell in battle, or they broke their oath.

“What oath?”

“To foreswear romantic love forever,” Artemis answered. “To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally.”

Percy’s mouth hung open as he seemed unable to process why anyone would choose that. You continued to remain silent while Zoe snapped at him telling him Artemis didn’t discriminate by birth and you all weren’t demigods. Which was true, Artemis accepted any girl into the Hunters, demigods, nymphs, mortals, literally anyone as long as they were willing to take and honor the oath. For those that broke the oath though… Artemis might have been one of the kindest gods around, but she was also one of the most unforgiveable, you had personally seen what could happen if a Hunter broke their oath.

Percy tried a new tactic, telling Bianca how Nico wouldn’t be able to become a Hunter. Artemis agreed with that but mentioned how Bianca could still see him every now and then. Bianca looked down at her hands, going over everything. Taking the oath and choosing to follow Artemis wasn’t an easy decision, especially to someone so young, you had seen many girls take it out of impulse and then fail to honor the oath later on. Artemis would accept any girl willing to take the oath at any age, she tended to like them younger though, before they could fall for boys and fall in love with someone. You were a rare case in that regard, you took the oath at seventeen and though some closer to the same age or even older than you had taken the oath before they never ended up keeping it.

You could understand Bianca’s predicament, you hadn’t had any siblings, at least you didn’t think you did. You had been with Artemis for a thousand years and you didn’t have many memories of your life before then, everything from that time slowly fading. You had seen girls with siblings take the oath before, it always took its toll on them. Artemis would allow the girls to visit their siblings from time to time, but time was always scarce, it could be a visit every few years and not last more than a day and while the girls would remain the same age forever, their siblings would age and eventually die.

“Is it worth it?” Bianca finally spoke up, looking at Zoe.

“It is,” Zoe answered. No one was more proud to be a Hunter than Zoe, it was why she had been with Artemis so long, it was why your goddess chose her as her second.

Bianca shifted her gaze to you. This happened almost every time, before a girl agreed she’d look to Zoe and you, you were physically the oldest and Bianca had been at Artemis’s side the longest, with you following right after. If anyone clearly thought this life was worth it, then it was the two of you.

“It might get weird hanging out with a bunch of people at least three years younger than me,” you joked, earning you a glare from Zoe. “But I have never regretted my decision.”

Bianca nodded, taking in both your and Zoe’s answers. “What do I have to do?” she asked, looking at your goddess.

“Say this,” Zoe said. “ ‘I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.’ ”

“I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis,” Bianca repeated.

“ ‘I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.’ ”

“I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.”

“Now, once lady Artemis accepts the pledge it will be binding.”

“I accept,” Artemis said.

You smiled at your new sister as Artemis and Zoe welcomed her. It was a big decision to make but the second Artemis accepted the pledge you could see Bianca physically relax. Bianca loved her brother, you gathered that much but not knowing their godly parent and growing up orphans for so long meant Bianca had to grow up fast, she spent her life making sure her brother was okay and doing what was best for him, never getting to choose something solely for herself.

You had to hold in another groan when Percy asked how all of you were getting to camp when Artemis informed him, she was going to ask Apollo. Zoe once again didn’t hide her distaste for the situation and did groan, thankfully she didn’t try and argue with Artemis about this. When you all left the tent and packed up camp, Zoe stood on Artemis’s right, her arms crossed as she glared up at the dark sky, just waiting for the sun god to show himself. You couldn’t help but silently chuckle at her.

You laughed at Artemis’s complaints about her brother always being lazy. When the sunrise eventually came a sports car came speeding down from the sky, parking not too far from your group. Apollo jumped out of his car happily greeting his sister, much to her annoyance, before waving a flirtation grin at all of you, like usual. Zoe glared at him, you rolled your eyes, and the other Hunters took a few steps back, getting as far away from him as possible.

You waited as Artemis asked her brother to take all of you to camp, watching as he quickly turned his sports car into a large bus. He smiled widely, gesturing at the giant bus. The Hunters quickly shuffled forward, throwing all their gear into the bus before making their way on it and all the way to the back.

“Here, sweetheart. Let me get that,” Apollo said, smirking at Zoe as he tried to help her with her gear. Zoe quickly ripped her bag away from him, clenching a fist.

“Brother,” Artemis chided, preventing Zoe from decking the sun god in the face. “You do not help my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart.”

Apollo sighed dramatically, holding up his arms as Zoe passed by, making sure to bump him in the shoulder on the way. Zoe followed the other Hunters, making her way straight to the back of the bus.

Apollo smiled widely when his eyes landed on you. You had your bag slung over your shoulder with one hand, looking unamused as he approached you. “Hello gorgeous,” he said, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “how’s my favorite Hunter doing?” Apollo smirked. You scoffed, rolling your eyes before elbowing him in the gut. He groaned but quickly recovered and threw his arm back around you, leading you onto the bus.

You were the only Hunter to not have complete disdain for him. Despite finding him annoying you were also the only one to entertain him. At first Artemis would always chastise him when he would flirt with you but after a few hundred years of never being swayed and only seeming amused by his failed attempts she eventually let it slide, she knew you’d never break your oath for her brother or any guy. Apollo also took the form of someone around your age, and you had to admit it was nice having that around sometimes.

“Okay, so who’s driving?” Apollo asked once you were all on the bus. He looked back at your sisters, you followed his gaze to see them all pressed together on the back bench, practically sitting on top of each other to get as far away from him and Percy as possible. You decided to humor him and take a seat up front with him, Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Nico.

Percy mumbled he was only fourteen when Apollo looked at him. He then looked at you, wiggling his eyebrows as he smirked. You answered him by scoffing, crossing your arms and turning your attention out the window. He then turned to Thalia who reluctantly took a seat behind the wheel.

After getting off to a rough start you had a death grip on the seat, glaring at Apollo as he casually shouted directions at Thalia. Percy was gripping the back of Thalia’s seat as he yelled directions at her as well, for someone who couldn’t drive he sure had a lot of opinions on what she should do. You weren’t sure what was worse, the fourteen-year-old yelling directions or the fifteen-year-old driving who had been a tree less than six months ago.

Thalia turned the wheel sharply, crashing you all right into the lake at camp half-blood. Everyone flung forward with a groan. You looked up to see Thalia gripping the steering wheel as she stared unblinking out the windshield. Apollo, completely unbothered by the rough landing, applauded Thalia on the back, singing her praises.

All of you quickly piled out of the bus, watching as Apollo took off, switching back to a sports car as soon as the last of your feet stepped off the bus. Percy and Thalia took Nico to go meet Chiron and inform him of everything that happened. You watched as Zoe led the rest of the Hunters off to cabin eight. With your bag slung over your shoulder you looked around at the camp, most of the campers not even awake yet or the few that were were sleepily making their way to get breakfast. With one final eyeroll you sighed and made to follow your sisters. You could only hope your goddesses’ hunt would be swift because you couldn’t imagine wanting to be at this place for more than a day.

#clarisse la rue #clarisse la rue x reader #clarisse la rue x you #clarisse x reader #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #maybe in another life

[zepskies]

Being Human – Part 2

Pairing: Alec McDowell x F. Reader

Summary: Your life made sense before Alec slipped his way in. He unravels your threads without even trying. He frustrates you as easily as he weasels back into your good graces. But you soon realize that this man is worth the challenge.

AN: Thank you for your lovely responses on Part 1!! I'm very excited to bring you the next chapter of Being Human.

Chapter Summary: You know that Alec is hiding something, and it’s more than the fact that he’s been dating another girl behind your back. [Set during 2.11]

Song Inspo: “Sailing” by Avant

Word Count: 6,200

Tags/Warnings: 18+ only. Angst, two-timing (don’t worry), mentions of Manticore’s training (torture), hurt/comfort, mega feels, smuttishness.

💜 Series Masterlist

Part 2: The Only Place

Alec showing up at your door unannounced isn’t anything new.

This time, however, he comes bearing a raw chicken in a plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. Your eyes go wide as you let him into your apartment.

“Where the hell did you find that,” you gesture at the chicken. In this economy, it might as well have been a five-pound lobster with a side of caviar.

Alec waggles his brows at you and flashes his familiar grin.

“Farmer’s market,” he says. “I fought some rich lady and her Pomeranian for this.”

You extend “gimme gimme” fingers at the bag as you lick your lips. You two are going to eat good tonight. You can even use the bones to make soup for the rest of the week.

Still, something niggles at the back of your mind.

“But this must’ve been so expensive. You didn’t have to do this,” you say, looking up from the bag of goods to your boyfriend’s face. He gives you an easy smile as his arm hooks around your waist.

“Don’t worry about it. I won a few pool game bets off Sketchy. Not to mention a couple of his paychecks,” Alec says.

His smirk makes you shake your head, but you wonder if he’s telling you the truth. He always seems to have cash to spare, despite the fact that he’s only been working at Jam Pony for a few months—barely making minimum wage.

Regardless, you start to prepare the chicken with what seasonings you have in your pantry while Alec peels the potatoes for you. You glance at him out of the corner of your eye.

Not for the first time, you wonder how he really lives. You’ve never been to his apartment before. Despite being friends with Max (there seems to be history there), he just got to Seattle a few months ago. And as for family, he claimed he had to leave home.

“It was what you’d call…an unstable environment,” he’d said. 

That, you could understand. Your own father had died when you were fairly young. After the Pulse, a virus had swept through and ravaged your hometown in rural Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, a shortage of antibiotics at the local hospitals left your mom without much help to fight off what ailed her body. You’d spread her ashes in the Charles River, where she used to love to paddleboat with you when you were a kid.

Then, you’d packed up what little you had and left the East Coast to make a life for yourself out here, alone. The city had been a challenge for you at first, being a smalltown girl at heart, but the hustle and bustle distracted you in a way you’d needed.

Now, Seattle has become your home, for better or worse. 

Alec knows all of this about you. He knows about your guilty pleasure of fried eggs, rice, and Vienna sausages: one of the ultimate struggle meals. He knows you love ice cream so much, you’d eat it for breakfast if you could.

He also knows you wanted to be a veterinarian, of all things, before the pulse. Now you have no hope or prayer of ever affording college, even if you tried.

But Alec…he still largely remains a mystery to you, no matter how deep he’s wedged himself under your skin.

“You’re really concentrating on that chicken,” Alec says, but his voice startles you, as it’s suddenly very close to your ear. You jump slightly as his arms wrap around your frame from behind.

You giggle a little, but you tilt your head to allow him access when his lips find your neck.

“Have I thanked you for this yet?” you ask. “I can’t remember the last time I had honest to God poultry…that also didn’thave a 50% chance of being radioactive.”

You feel the shape of Alec’s smile against your skin.

“No, as a matter of fact, but feel free to express your gratitude sexually,” he rejoins.

You have to laugh in earnest at that. You wash your hands in the sink before you turn in his arms and take his face gently in your hands. You bring him down to you for a sweeter kiss than he expected.

“Thank you,” you whisper against his lips. “It’s nice, having someone who thinks about me.”

His brows furrow a bit at that. He didn’t think bringing you an unexpected meal would be all that impressive, but…he also knows how long you’ve been alone.

For reasons he can’t tell you, it makes a twinge of guilt hit him behind the ribs.

All throughout dinner, and afterwards, Alec is hooked on the familiar soap opera playing on the TV in the living room. You both are sitting on the couch, but you’re half watching him, amused by his reactions. He’s absolutely glued to an episode you’ve already seen.

“You’re even more obsessed than I am,” you tease.

Alec spares you a wan look. “I just wanna know whose baby it is.”

A teasing smile forms across your face as you shift onto your knees and lean over to him, as if whispering a secret in his ear.

“And it’s actually twins,” you tease.

His expression of enrapture shifts with a wry edge. 

“Twins, huh?”

That seems to take him out of his enjoyment, somehow.

You frown a little. “You okay?”

“Always,” he responds, glancing at you. He visibly lightens up, pulling you into his lap with a muttered, Come ‘ere.

You giggle at his manhandling and oblige him with a few stolen kisses.

You feel bold enough to push him back to lie on the couch, and he actually lets you. His hands find your hips while you move to straddle his. Your fingertips drift down his chest as you consider him with a tilt of your head.

“Why haven’t I ever been to your place?” you ask. You draw an imaginary pattern across his chest, grazing him with your nails. His skin prickles under his clothes, but he stares up at you and shrugs without giving into your distraction.

“What, do you live above a strip club or something?” you add, smirking.

Alec’s expression matches yours as he squeezes your hips. “I like coming to you.”

Letting out a breath through your nose, you lean down and try plying him with slow, nipping kisses down his jawline, then his neck.

“Hmm, I still think you’re evading,” you say between kisses. “Tell me. Why haven’t you invited me back to your apartment?”

“Aren’t you getting demanding,” he teases back, even though his breath hitches when you nip a bit harder, just under his ear. Your deft hands run over his chest, toying with his senses. Already the scent of the soap you use has invaded his nose, like it always does. Jasmine.

“You knew this about me,” you say against his skin. He feels the movements of your lips like an added tease.

“Yeah,” he acknowledges. His smirk deepens. “Not gonna lie, I kinda like it.”

You smile. “So answer the question. Or do I have to punish you?”

Fuck, sweetheart, be my guest, Alec thinks. But he forces himself to focus on your words, reading between the lines of what you’re really fishing for.

“My place isn’t all that safe,” he says.

You snort. “Safe is relative in this city. Besides, I thought you said my apartment was questionable at best.”

“I said you needed better security.”

“You’re my security.”

Alec’s smirk returns at that. “Is that all I’m good for?”

“Better than a doorman,” you joke, leaning down to him again. “You deliver right to my door.”

“You think you’re so clever,” Alec says. Your lips find his in a kiss, and they lure him back into the pull of you. How easy it would be, just to let you “catch” him. Every night. Every day. 

Your arms cage his head as you finally lay down on top of him, slowly rolling your hips against his. Both of you feel his hardness twitch against your thigh. You smirk against his lips. 

“And right on time,” you quip. 

“All right, that’s enough outta you,” Alec says, and he claims you with a more demanding kiss. His fingers sink into your hair tightly.  

But you press your hand to his cheek, making him pause for a moment. The amusement fades from his eyes the longer he stares into yours. You’re not teasing or joking anymore. 

You lower down and kiss him with meaning. With tenderness. 

You don’t know how it makes that coil of guilt grip him like a vice.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” you mutter.

Your exasperation has reached an all-time high.

You’re really trying not to clock this bitch in the throat. When she grabs you by the hair, however, you have no choice.

Your punch lands squarely up the bridge of Marina’s nose with a crack that makes even Original Cindy wince.

You feel sick to your stomach.

Not just because your coworker and former friend Marina has stumbled to the floor, looking up at you with ire and a bloody nose. But because you just found out that you and Marina have somehow been dating the same man.

Alec had been standing off to the side with a semblance of concern behind his eyes (but mostly shock). You turn to him next, and he freezes. All the nearby Jam Pony employees watch the scene as you grasp Alec’s arm and warn him with only your eyes—it’s in his best interest to follow you to the lockers.

He acquiesces, even though his shifty eyes say he wants to bolt. Cindy’s shaking her head with a flat expression. Max is outright glaring at him. Sketchy is grinning, shoots him a thumbs up as the two of you pass by.

Alec heeds your unspoken demand, but he crosses his arms once you let go of him.

“Apparently, Marina claims you’re her boyfriend,” you accuse. You press two fingers into his chest. “Despite the fact that you’ve only been dating her for what, two weeks tops? A relief to me, since I thought we’d been dating for almost two months.”

Alec laughs nervously and rubs the back of his head. “Well, you know, we never did say that we were exclusive—”

“Did you sleep with her?” you ask.

He falters at the look on your face. So incredibly hurt, but still holding out a sliver of hope.

The longer he stays quiet, the more that too starts to dim.

You can’t help yourself. You slap him across the face.

Alec takes the hit, making it look like it actually hurt him in the way he snaps his face to the side. He’s more shocked than anything, though he knows he doesn’t have a right to be.

Your lower lip trembles, but you also gasp with a wince and hold your hand, because somehow his face felt like a slab of iron. Shit! Does he have a metal plate in his head or something?

Alec sighs. “You okay there?”

He reaches for your hand, but you back away from him.

“Don’t touch me. Never touch me again,” you say shakily, through tears.

You don’t want to admit that your heart is breaking. You fucking idiot. You should’ve known your instincts would be right about Alec McDowell.

You grab your clipboard and your forgotten backpack from the floor by your locker, and you walk away from him before your tears start to fall.

In the aftermath of the fight, Normal raises hell about the fact that Marina’s quitting. You can’t really give a shit, but you’re not about to follow suit. You’ve never, and will never let a man get between you and your money.

You take your deliveries for the morning and start on your route.

And if you have to park your bike in an alleyway to cry without the prying eyes of your coworkers, then that’s your right as a woman.

Alec hides it well, but inside, his chest aches the way his face should. He doesn’t altogether know or want to think about why.

So he worms his way into a delivery run with Max to distract himself (and to escape Jam Pony HQ). Max gives him hell, as expected, but he tries to ignore her and get this job over with so he can drink himself into a stupor at Crash tonight.

…Or try to. Getting drunk is a difficult feat with his genetics, not to mention a very expensive pastime.

Right now, he and Max are riding their bikes through the richey rich side of town, so at least it’s cleaner. Manicured hedges and tall gates surround every house here. It’s almost kind of familiar, though he’s too focused on following Max to care much.

“I mean, it’s not like I intended to date ‘em both at the same time,” he defends himself. “And then when it turned out I was dating them both at the same time, it’s not like I didn’t intend to tell both girls about the other one. …You know, eventually.”

It’s like the universe itself calls himself out on his lie when the front tire of his bike skids. He pulls to a sharp stop in front of an iron gate and falls over onto the asphalt, but his reflexes are quick, and he picks himself up with a forced spring in his step.

“But let’s be real for a moment, shall we?” he says. “I mean, suppose I did tell them. What would happen, huh? Same thing. Big fight. Lots of anger and resentment and recriminations, and then who wins? Nobody.”

Max continues to watch him with a deadpan frown. “Well, at least in this case, you won.”

“Exactly,” Alec smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. His expression falls anyway. “Well, no. Seeing as though neither of them will be likely to speak to me, which makes any kind of sex a virtual impossibility…at least for a couple of days.”

Max rolls her eyes. “Clearly both of them lost their damn minds to even give you the time of day.”

Alec has a witty retort on the tip of his tongue, but it’s waylaid by a memory that used to make him smile. It now just settles heavily in his chest.

Two Months Ago...

Just then, the bartender slides you a beer you’ve already ordered. You thank him and give Alec a smile.

“Got it covered, thanks,” you reply, sipping the froth off your drink.

Alec sighs and crosses his arms. “When are you gonna stop putting the freeze on me?”

“When I’m not part of your internal checklist of Breasts on Legs,” you answer.

Alec scoffs and holds his chest.

“That’s hurtful,” he claims. “It really is.”

But he shifts toward you in his seat, cutting off your smile. You tense up and blush at his proximity, making his grin deepen.

Damn, she smells good, he thinks.

“Besides,” he says, “I always save the best for last.”

He knows he’s making you nervous in a good way. He can sense it, though you eye him wryly. He means to go in for the kill, but he’s thwarted when Original Cindy slides into the seat on your other side. She tosses you a wink, the way women do when they have their own unspoken language.

You then smirk in Alec’s face.

“Keep trying. Maybe someday I’ll lose my mind,” you say, with a teasing raise of brows.

He’s still amused as he shakes his head. “You’re unbelievable. Insulting, yet, still somehow endearing.”

He means it. Every time you turn him down, he’s genuinely disappointed.

But if you ever change your mind, he’ll be right here waiting.

That memory falters as Alec stares up at the familiar mansion. He just doesn’t remember that he’s been here before—not until he rings the doorbell. That sound dislodges a fragment in his mind.

One that makes him hide from the surveillance cameras on instinct. It has him throwing the package over the gate and grabbing Max to guide her away from the house before they’ve been able to get a signature.

And a name rings through all the clutter. A name that was once seared into his mind is wrenched open like a badly sewn wound.

Rachel.

You don’t see Alec for a few days. Which is good, because you’ve been avoiding him. 

Until he finally shows up for work, and somehow, he looks off. He lacks the jovial, devil-may-care attitude he wears like a second skin. 

He glances at you down the line at your locker, catching your gaze.  

You still can’t bear it. You turn your head away, feeling like a coward. You hear his locker door slam loudly and he leaves without even getting his schedule from Normal. 

You rest your head against the cool metal of your locker.

“Where the hell’re you going, mister!” Normal calls after his former favorite employee.

Despite your better judgment, you sigh and push away from your locker to face your boss.

“He’s got a stomach bug. Real nasty,” you call out.

Normal’s frown deepens, but his expression softens from his hardened edge.

“Oh. Well…that’s all he needed to say,” he sniffs. He hands what would’ve been Alec’s load of packages onto Sketchy, who gives him a flat look.

“Go, get to work. Bip, bip!” Normal points a finger at him, then dismissively at the door.

Sketchy rolls his eyes, but he makes sure to send you a “thankful” look before he heads out. You give him a sardonic smile. Serves him right for taking Alec’s side in this whole messy situation, like the man children they both are.

Original Cindy comes to your side and lightly bumps your hip. She’s a strong support as always, and you give her a small smile.

“Come on, boo. I’m buyin’ your drinks at Crash tonight,” she says. You loop your arm through hers.

“Thank God for you, OC,” you breathe, though with a smile that feels a little more like yourself.

“Ladies night, it is,” she snaps playfully.  

And if that’s what tonight is, then you’re going to look good. No ratty jeans and boots meant for walking. After work, you dive into the depths of your closet and find an old favorite of yours: a black leather skirt and a lacey top, open-backed and a sweetheart neckline. You complete the look with a pair of heeled ankle boots and the only shade of red lipstick you own.

You just don’t count on Alec wanting a night out too.

He hangs out at Crash all the time. You can’t be surprised, you remind yourself, when you spot him at the bar. Except he doesn’t wear his usual suave confidence. No, he’s hunched over a glass of whiskey as he sits alone in front of the bartender. He doesn’t even notice you, Max, and Cindy as you guys claim your usual table in the back.

You can’t help it though. Your eyes keep drifting back to him.

Both Max and Cindy catch you, with something like sympathy on the latter’s face.

“I’ve never seen him like this before,” Cindy remarks. “Anguished, and all Heathcliff-like.”

She’s right, you think. He’s been like this for days.

Max seems to know him better than anyone. You turn to her in askance.

“This isn’t just because of…what happened, is it?” you say.

Max sighs and shakes her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

But she’s either unable, or unwilling to give you any more to go on.

…Goddamn it, you think, as you contemplate doing something stupid, like going over there to talk to him. You know you shouldn’t give him the time of day, but God help you, you still care about this asshole.

You heave a sigh. “I’ll be back in a few. And if not, I give you full permission to haul my ass out of this bar.”

“Don’t do it,” Cindy advises, with the tone of someone who knows you’re not going to listen.

You get up from the table and give your friends a placating hand. You roll your shoulders and force your feet to move—towards the bar.

The seat to Alec’s left is empty, and you take it. His gaze slides toward you, and he’s forced to do a double take. His familiar once-over has you almost smirking, but even that is missing something. It’s like something sucked the life right out of him.

He gives you a haphazard smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Thought you weren’t talking to me,” he says.

“How many of those are you going to drink?” you ask, gesturing at the third glass of whiskey in his hand. He glances down at it, then at nothing as his gaze travels away from you.

“Until I can’t feel the burn anymore,” he replies. Even his voice isn’t like him, dull and wry.

You hesitate, but you surprise even yourself by offering an olive branch.

“Look, if you want to talk about what happened…or anything else—” you try, but he cuts you off.

“I’m sorry,” he says, finally looking at you again. “I should’ve made it clear from the beginning that I wasn’t looking for anything serious.”

Your heart plummets. Your mouth works past shock and fresh hurt. You fight the sting in your eyes as your mouth flattens.

“So, you and I were just casual,” you confirm. “None of it meant anything to you?”

He looks over at you and pins you there. There’s a glimmer of something behind the cool green of his eyes. Like maybe part of him wants to rebel and give you hope. 

He stays quiet. 

So with tears in your eyes, you close out your tab, and you leave the bar to go home. You can’t even bring yourself to look over at your friends. You’re too embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Alec focuses on the contents of his glass, even though he knows nothing will ever be enough to numb him. 

Now that Manticore’s psychological reprogramming has crumbled, now that he remembers what happened two years ago—and what he did—nothing will make his fractured, bloody insides feel like nothing ever again.

Max and Original Cindy see the entire scene play out from across the bar. Cindy shakes her head with a hum of disappointment that black women have perfected.

Max’s answer is to get up, with much the same reluctance as you had, albeit for different reasons.

“I know I’m gonna regret this,” she sighs.

“Take your time,” Cindy says. She already has her flirtatious eye on another woman by the pool table.

Max smiles in amusement and leaves her friend to her business. She goes to her fellow transgenic and slips into the same seat you occupied moments before. Alec barely looks up at her.

“Call me crazy but I get the feeling you’re in some kind of jam,” she says. “More than just about your messy ex situation, though that was a nice cold shoulder you gave her.”

“Okay, you’re crazy,” he replies, raising his glass back to his lips.

Max presses her luck, asking about the locket Alec has always kept. At Manticore, he’d kept it in his shoe. He’d pull it out at night and try to remember why it was important, but he never could. All he knew was that it made him feel better, and he’d go to sleep easier.

Max saw it on him days ago. And now they both know it had belonged to Rachel Barrister, daughter of Robert Barrister. The man Alec was once sent to kill.

He’d both failed and succeeded.

“Curiosity killed the cat, Max,” Alec says snidely. “Stay out of my business.”

“Fine,” she says, but part of her still worries about him. And she worries about you. “Look, I know we don’t always get along—”

“Nicely understated,” he cuts, and sets down his glass a bit too hard on the counter. The bottom of it fractures. “Barkeep!”

“But if you’re in some kind of trouble and you need my help, then you should ask now, and not when it’s too late and everything’s all messed up, like you usually do,” she says.

“Well, I appreciate the offer, Max. I really do,” he says dryly, “but you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“You know, I would, see, but…you wouldn’t understand,” Alec says. He points out that Max and the rest of her little X5 friends left Manticore (escaped) when they were kids. The truth is, she has no idea what he’s endured ever since.

Manticore cracked down on the next series of X5s like him, and every series afterwards—they all paid the price for what Manticore saw as the failure of Max’s unit. Lax training. Traitors. Deserters. 

Alec didn’t see it at the time, not completely. He now knows just how deeply fucked up he was.

And is.

There’s no fixing it, like there’s no use trying to fix a broken toy.

So Max eventually walks away from him, just like you did. Just like he should have done for Rachel.

He knows he hurt you, but he also thinks it’s working out better this way. Better that you walk away from him, before he gets you hurt even worse.

It happens in stages, the way Alec’s memory unlocks. 

It sorts through the psychological methods of torture and erasure Manticore used to try and scrape the Barrister assignment from his mind. Not only did it not work, but Manticore still won. No matter what he does, he can’t block out the pain or the rush of memories. He can’t not feel. 

It’s a frustrating state of being for a soldier. 

Alec’s laissez faire way of coasting through life after Manticore burned down was his version of stoicism, of surviving. 

But if this is living, then he doesn’t want it. 

That’s why he loses focus. He runs headlong into the trap his rational mind is warning him of—into that mansion, where Robert Barrister has led him with the torturous siren song of Rachel’s favorite piano sonata. The very same one he taught her, just two years ago.

Alec wants to rip the notes out of his head, but he still goes to the house.

Somehow, a fifty-five-year-old man gets the drop on Alec, a soldier. A transgenic. 

Barrister knows who and what he is. He’s been in the game long enough against Manticore to know who he used to sell his products to, but he can’t quite pull the trigger on that gun, even though Alec goads him on. Shouting at him to do it. End his misery. 

Rachel. 

Max saves his ass again. It’s a frankly embarrassing number she’s racked up on that count, as she stuns Barrister and knocks him out before he can deliver the kill shot directly into Alec’s temporal lobe. 

Alec doesn’t care. 

He doesn’t care.

He doesn’t care, until Robert tells him where she is, upstairs in her room. Alec travels down the familiar corridor, and he sees her again. 

Rachel. Oh God…

She’s wrapped up in wires because of him; in a coma, slowly dying for the past two years. She pulled her father from the car that was meant to explode and end his life. Rachel fell. 

Alec sinks down into a chair beside her bed. For a moment all he can do is stare at her pale face.

Because of him. His job. His mission, that he couldn’t complete, because he tried to save her. It was too late, she paid the price, and it was all because of him.

Because he couldn’t fight the training drilled deep into his mind. He couldn’t fight his captors, not hard enough.

She paid the price. 

Alec sits at her bedside for as long as he can. He slips her locket back into her cold hand. He holds her as close as he dares, and begs for forgiveness through near-silent tears. 

“I didn’t understand,” he whispers brokenly. “I didn’t understand…how much I loved you.”

Alec attends Rachel’s funeral, a few weeks later. He stands almost a quarter of a mile away, but he can still hear the service. He goes to her grave, and he accepts the caustic words from her father. 

“Never come back here,” Robert hisses. “I wanted to kill you. I hated you that much. But I’m still her father. I want her to be proud of me…and I don’t want to be like you.”

Alec silently accepts this. He knows what he is. Now, he knows what he’s done is unforgivable. 

He also knows it’s time to let her go. 

So he says a silent goodbye before he walks away from the grave and the cemetery. He intends to go home… 

He doesn’t quite make it there.

Alec is forced to walk through a torrent of rain. He barely feels it beating down on his head, back, and shoulders. 

Somehow, he ends up dripping wet at your apartment. His tall frame takes up your doorway when you open it to him. 

This feels familiar, you think, as you take him in. Once again, you’re dressed in just your pajamas of choice: a loose shirt over a pair of shorts. Your hair is tossed into a bun. 

You aren’t sure if it’s rain or tears dripping down his wet cheeks. His eyes are red enough to convince you of the latter. 

“What’re you—”

“I’m sorry,” he says. His voice is a hint unsteady.

Your mouth falls open the slightest bit, but eventually, you sigh.

“Alec,” is all you can say. Go away, are words you can’t force past your lips, even if you have every right to say them.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I uh…I don’t know why I’m here.”

“You don’t know?” you repeat, your eyes widening incredulously. 

He shakes his head, but he aims to leave. This was a mistake, he thinks.

You don’t know what to make of him right now. Hasn’t he hurt you enough?

He seems different though. He looks like he’s one step shy of falling apart, and you’ve never seen such rawness in his eyes.

Something inside you breaks, and you grab his wet hand before he can escape down the hall. You’re persistent in leading him inside your apartment, where it’s warm. You offer him some dry clothes he left behind last month.

After he gets changed, he sits on your couch with you. His silence is so confusing, you’re not sure what to do. 

“What’s wrong?” you ask.

“Me,” he says, chuckling humorlessly. “I’m what’s wrong. I uh…I should go.”

He gets to his feet, all twitching nervous energy, and again he tries to leave. You feel compelled to stand with him and follow him to the door.

“Wait,” you say, holding the door closed. Your hand lands on his arm, imploring with everything you have. “Alec, just tell me what the hell is going on. You’re scaring me.”

His eyes drag up your body, and slowly meet yours.

I didn’t understand…

Alec can’t help it; he raises a gentle hand to touch your cheek. You don’t deserve someone like him wrecking your life. He can’t be fixed, and he doesn’t want to break you too. 

You hold his hand to your face. “Alec. Talk to me, please.”

In your face, he finds concern and the threat of tears, and his heart continues to hemorrhage. 

There’s still room for you there. You’ve carved out a place in what’s left of it, without him realizing. He’s getting better at seeing the warning signs. 

You let out a shaky breath. “Just tell me the truth. Are you in trouble? Are you here because you have nowhere else to go, or—”

“Honestly, yeah,” he finally admits.

You deflate in response. What the hell?! 

Now you’re just about ready to push him out of your apartment and warn him that he better not come back. His grip on your arms stops you.

“This is the only place…” he continues, his jaw working. “Can’t seem to move my feet anywhere else.”

He means what he says, even if it’s not coming out right. After seeing Rachel’s prone body in her bed, coming back to face you is one of the hardest things he’s ever done. And yet, there's nowhere else he could go that felt right. He meets your eyes and notices the way you’re holding your breath.

“Uh, I kinda lied to you before,” he confesses. Your brows raise at that. 

“When?” you challenge.

He licks his dry lips. “At the bar. Last time we met.”

“So when you said,” you struggle to articulate it, because just the thought of it still hurts. “What you and I had…that it didn’t mean anything…”

His hands slide down from your arms, to hold your hands in his.

“I was an idiot. I didn’t know what it meant,” Alec says. “I do now.”

Your eyes flood with tears as you let go of a heavy breath. Alec releases your hands to hold your face with shaking hands. In turn, you hold his wrists steady. 

"You really hurt me, you know," you say. Your voice is a near whisper, but your words cut into him all the same.

"I know," he replies, as his thumbs caress your skin. "I'm sorry about that. About everything...which is why we probably shouldn't do this."

He really says that, even as his hands drift down to your neck, where he can feel your pulse beating and picking up speed. Alive.

“What?” you ask, with genuine confusion. You pull away from him a little, frowning up at him. "Then what are we doing right now? Either you want to be with me, or you don't, Alec."

His eyes meet yours.

You’re so real, so honest. Alec starts to think, to understand that this is what lured him in. It had him coming back to you every time you turned him down. It kept him coming back to you when you were his. 

She can still be yours, he thinks. It’s a selfish thought, but here he is.   

So he draws you in and kisses you deeply.

He doesn’t know how this can still feel right, even though his chest pulses with pain. But maybe, being with you is a different kind of pain. Maybe it’s not pain at all. 

You asked him for the truth though. He can’t give you everything, but he can give you one piece of the puzzle; perhaps the only one that matters. He parts from you, opening his eyes to find your face. Your eyes are still closed, and when you open them, you start to blush. 

It almost makes him smile, but his brain is still warring with his heart.

“I’ve only ever cared about one person in my life…and I lost her,” he says. “I’m not good at this.”

“How,” you ask, a bit hesitantly. “How did you lose her?”

His throat is tight. It’s all so fresh, he doesn’t even know how he gets out the words.

“She died,” he admits.

Your expression falls, and you shake your head.

“I’m sorry,” you reply, holding onto his shirt. “I’ve lost people too.”

He thumbs at your cheek. He sees your sympathy so clearly across your face, though he doesn’t know how you can still give that to him. It goes against everything he’s ever been taught, and everything he’s learned in order to survive. 

He can’t help but let you back in, just like you’re about to do for him.  

“It’s really this simple. If you want me to forgive you, if you really want to be here, with me, exclusively…then all you have to do is stay,” you say at last. Your lips press together for a moment. “But if you play me again, Alec, I swear to God—”

“No. No swearing’s necessary,” he says, and kisses you again. He’s surprised he’s able to smile, just a little, and he does so against your lips. 

You break from him to grip his shirt and glare up at him. “You understand me?”

Alec’s smile deepens a fraction. He brushes your hair away from your face. 

“Indeed, I do, Miss Ma’am.”

It takes you a beat, but you roll your eyes, despite a lingering blush.

“Ugh, don’t call me that.”

“Why not?” he starts to tease. “You seem to like giving out orders, I just thought you’d like a title change to go with it.”

You slap his chest half-heartedly. “Shut up.” 

“See? More demands,” he quips. “I don’t know if I can work in this environment—”

You pull him down for a kiss to shut him up indefinitely. 

And like it so often has, it leads into your room with the two of you falling haphazardly into your bed. He situates himself between your legs and traps you underneath him as he kisses a wet path up your neck. You arch against him and your hands dive under his shirt to help him wrench it off. 

It’s all very fast, and a bit frantic until he has you naked underneath him. 

His hand finds your cheek, touching softly, like he’s afraid to break you. There’s pain in his eyes that you’ve never seen before. Your brows furrow, though you caress a hand up the back his neck. He shudders when you unintentionally brush his barcode. 

“Alec, what happened?” you ask.

He shakes his head. He wishes he could tell you. He wants to tell you…everything. It scares him, because he also wants to run out of here, putting as much distance between himself and you as possible. 

But again, he’s selfish. This time, he understands why his heart is pulsing with both pain and longing when he stares into your eyes for too long.

“I can’t,” he says. “Not tonight… Can we just focus on the good part here?”

Despite yourself, you smile with a small huff. You take his face in your hands and bring him down to meet your searing kiss. 

The good part, indeed.

AN: And here's an angsty Part 2! lol Let me know what you think! 💜

You might want to buckle up for where we're going next...

Next Time:

He takes one corner of your towel and peels it off you slowly, until your body is bare for his gaze. His eyes take in every inch of you before they make it back to your face.

He smiles, taking down the messy bun from your head to have your hair fanning wildly across his pillows. Your hands move across his chest and further down, but he puts a stop to your exploration. He grasps your wrists and pins them down to the bed with a strength you can’t escape.

You raise your brows. “Alec?”

“Trust me,” he says, dipping down to kiss your neck. “Let me take care of you tonight.”

You suck in a breath. Far be it from you to argue with that.

“Is this one of those sexual favors?” you tease. He laughs against your skin.

“You’re about to find out.”

Keep Reading: Part 3

Series Masterlist

Alec McDowell Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Ko-Fi Me ☕

Alec M. Tag List:

@kazsrm67 @letheatheodore @agothwithheavysetmakeup @jacklesbrainworms @foxyjwls007 @wincastifer @ades106 @iamsapphine @simpforbuckyb @vanillawhiskeyflavoredkisses @roseblue373 @brianochka @branj19 @hazel-eye-coffee-shop-girl-blog

@globetrotter28 @charmed-asylum @waywardxwords @deanwinchestersgirl87 @this-is-me19 @rachiem4-blog @sweettimelady @leigh70 @clinicallydepresso @emily-winchester @xiphoidbones @skoveu @nyotamalfoy @kmc1989

@waters-2567 @iwishiwas-sleeping @jessjad @pieandmonsters @akshi8278 @honeybabycherry @deans-spinster-witch @angelbabyyy99 @jackles010378 @nancymcl @idiotdyslexic @heartlessdelusions

#The Only Place #Being Human #Part 2 #alec mcdowell #alec mcdowell x reader #alec mcdowell x you #alec mcdowell x female reader #smuttish #max guevara #original cindy #DA 2.11 #the barrisford agenda #Dark Angel #Jensen Ackles characters #Jensen Ackles #zepskies writes

[thebiggerbear]

Alec McDowell x Reader - Prompt Response - "I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Summary: You're looking for a way to set yourself up and blend in after breaking out of Manticore. Having heard the rumors, you seek out Max for help. In doing so, you come across someone you had never thought you'd see again.

Pairing: Alec McDowell x Female!Reader; Alec McDowell x Female!Transgenic Reader

A/N: Prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting (#941). I have been in love with the world of Dark Angel and Alec ever since the show aired. To me, it's completely fascinating, and I really wish it had continued. (I was a big Malec fan back then btw; Lomax just wasn't my thing) There's so much to explore, especially with Max herself and how the transgenic community was going to move forward now that the public was aware of them. And of course, Joshua, OC, and Alec. Great stuff. Originally, I wasn't sure what scenario would best suit Alec based on this prompt line but I knew it would definitely be something that would apply to him. As far as It's A Wonderful Life, I was listening to the Christmas radio show they aired back in the 40's as I was outlining this one and the idea sort of came to life on its own. Hope this one's alright.

This is meant to take place mid-s2 and I did use events from the Berrisford Agenda episode (2x11) as inspiration for the beginning. 😉

Thanks to my beta Em for her services. You rock, girl!

Warnings: implied violence; implied murder; mention of fatal injury; implied sex

Word Count: 8419

Alec Taglist: @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Soldier Boy version | Beau version | Dean version | Jenny version | Jason version | Tom version | CJ version | Rachel version | Anael version | SDV Leah version

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You made your way into the bike messenger shop, glancing around despite the busy, distracting din. Rumor had it that a transgenic named Max had a sweet hookup here, something a fellow transgenic like yourself could use, being on the run and all. You could get a job, make money, and more importantly: blend in; not to mention it would teach you the layout of the city, the ins and outs, and provide you with legal documentation to let you past checkpoints in case Manticore ever came looking. 

So far, you hadn’t spotted the dark brunette you had been told about, and you didn’t sense any of your kind here. While a few people either walked past you, giving you a once-over as they did or stood there staring, all of them appeared to be human. Everyone else was milling to and fro, and you wondered if perhaps you’d been given wrong information. It had happened before so you were used to it, but this one you had really been hoping would turn out to be true. You could use a lucky break.

A man was barking out orders to a group of messengers before they dispersed, and his eye landed on you once they did. “You need something, Missy-Miss?”

You assumed the crankpot was the boss so you carefully approached him. “Uh, yeah, I was looking for—”

You were interrupted by yells coming from your far left. Your head snapped in the direction of the sounds and your eyes widened at what you saw.

There was the transgenic X5-494 backed up against the lockers, holding his hands out in a ‘whoa’ manner and giving the women in front of him his most charming grin; by the looks of their faces, it wasn’t working. “Ladies, ladies. No need to fight.”

“You didn’t tell me you were already seeing Lena when you asked me out!” One woman seethed.

“He asked you out?” Another woman, who you assumed was Lena, demanded. “I bet it happened right after we slept together, didn’t it?”

“He slept with you?” A third woman blanched.

“Tell me you haven't been making the rounds through the entire company,” another woman scoffed in disgust.

You shook your head, watching the show. Typical 494. Even out here he was still getting himself into trouble. By the sounds of it, he more than deserved the wrath of the women he was currently faced with, but you were still taken aback by his sudden appearance. Just when you thought you’d never see him again…

Before you knew it, the older man you had been talking to made his way over. “Alright, break it up! Break it up!” He forced his way next to 494 and glared at the ladies. “Shouldn’t you be working? You want your paychecks? Packages need to be delivered on time. Get going.”

The women grumbled and began to disperse, glaring in both men’s direction. “You just wait until later, Alec! This isn’t over!” 494 gave them all a sheepish smile while the other man scowled. 

“Okay, okay! You’ve got deliveries to make. Packages don’t deliver themselves so let’s go, keep it moving!” 

By the time they had all left, 494’s smile dropped and he seemed to deflate, gratefully clapping the man’s shoulder. “Thanks. I think they were about to eat me alive,” he laughed.

“Not on my watch,” the other man promised. “How’re you feeling, champ? You okay?”

“Yeah, no, I’m good. Just, you know…” He gestured to where the women had disappeared and bugged his eyes before letting out a nervous chuckle.

“You should’ve let them take a swing at him,” a brunette woman suddenly threw at them as she approached her locker, which was near the two men. “It’s not like he didn’t deserve it.”

494 let out a huff. “Thanks, Max,” he mumbled.

That name caught your attention—so this was Max. It had surprised you to see 494 here of all places, but it made sense considering what X5-452 had set up here.

“Don’t be like that, Missy-Miss,” the older man warned the woman. “There’s no reason to have that kind of attitude.”

Max shook her head and discreetly rolled her eyes, zipping up her backpack. “So what have you got for me today, Normal?”

Normal held out two packages for her to take. “They need these by noon, not one second later.”

Max snatched the packages and nodded. 494 stepped closer to her. “I’ll come with you,” he insisted, still seeing some of the dirty looks he was receiving from girls coming to and fro. 

She made a face at him which clearly said that wasn’t going to happen, and before she could voice that, Normal cleared his throat. “Not a bad idea. You could show him the ropes on that side of town and keep him from the estrogen mob looking to burn him at the stake. He’s got that raw animal charisma working and it’s causing trouble.” This time you made your own face of disgust. And this guy’s name was Normal? Far from it.

“Whatever,” Max snapped and shoved a package into 494’s chest, hard. She turned and was about to leave when you stepped forward.

“Max?” You called.

Her eyes snapped towards you as did 494’s and Normal’s. “Yeah?” She asked, seeming unsure. 

You knew she was sensing who you really were just like you could sense her and 494 across the way, even if you hadn’t just been watching them. You ignored 494’s eyes widening at the sight of you and the sudden tension in his body, making your way closer. “I was wondering if we could have a word.”

Max’s brows furrowed and Normal glanced between you, holding up a finger. “No visitors at work, Miss. You know the rule: packages need to be there by noon. Make it quick.” He turned and walked away, completely uninterested in whatever conversation you two were about to have.

Max stepped over to you, studying you intently. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours. What do you want?”

494 was standing right next to her, his eyes never leaving you. The surprise was still evident in his expression along with something else you couldn’t quite put a name to.

You glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to you, before turning and lifting your ponytail from your neck, letting her see the barcode tattoo you had. After a moment, you spun on your heel to find her appearing a little more receptive to what you had to say. “So, you got somewhere we can talk?”

She nodded and glanced over at 494 before inclining her head in a direction she expected you to follow her in. You obliged, your eyes briefly flickering to 494’s, before he followed both of you.

Once you were outside in a semi-private spot, Max turned to you, her arms crossed. “So, who are you really?”

“X5-498,” you answered. 

Max glanced over at 494 before addressing you once again. “How long have you been on the run?”

“Since you destroyed the base and helped 494 escape.” You nodded in his direction. Yeah, maybe you were still a little bitter about that. 494 looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“I didn’t help him do anything,” Max insisted, her nose scrunching up in what appeared to be repulsion at the very idea. 

494 ignored her and trained his gaze on you. “I thought you were dead.”

You smirked over at him and crossed your arms. “Sorry to disappoint.” You noticed his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow at the jab.

“You two know each other?” Max was looking between you but neither of you looked away from the other. 

“She was my breeding partner,” 494 informed her. 

Max’s eyes widened and turned on you. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “He wouldn’t have been my first choice, either.”

He snorted and the amused smirk you were more than familiar with began to appear on his face, yet he didn’t say a word. 

“Oh-kay. That’s not super weird or anything.” She turned to 494. “You had more than one breeding partner? Were you Manticore’s stud horse or something?” She looked grossed out at the thought.

494’s eyes briefly flickered over to her. “498 and I were paired off long before you got there.”

“But then, if you were already paired off, why were you paired off with me, too?” Your gaze snapped to Max who looked genuinely confused for a moment before realization hit her. “Oh, right. It was all part of your big plan to get me to trust you so I could accidentally kill Logan. Got it.”

494 shrugged unapologetically. “Pretty much.” He turned back to you. “Renfro gave me the mission and told me if I didn’t succeed, then that’d be it for me. I was already on thin ice with them. So, she assigned me to you, Max, and I did what I had to do.”

“And he left me to die,” you supplied, gracing her with your smirk. 

His jaw dropped before he closed his mouth and pressed his lips into a thin line. “I didn’t leave you there to die,” he protested. 

“Leaving me there to burn to death constitutes as leaving me to die,” you countered. He glared at you but you ignored it. You noticed Max’s eyes constantly moving between the two of you and you decided you’d get to the point of why you were here. “452, I’m here because word on the street is that you have a way of helping fellow transgenics like yourself.” You motioned towards 494. “I was hoping you might be able to help me as well.”

She looked taken aback. “I don’t have anything set up like that. As a matter of fact, Alec here only got the job because of Normal’s weird worship of him.” 494 gave her a smug smile which made her roll her eyes. “But as far as other transgenics go, I don’t really have anything in place to help like you’re thinking. Sorry.”

You nodded, figuring as much. You thought it had been unlikely but you had hoped anyway. All you could do now was remain on the run until you could find a place where you could seamlessly blend in. “Thank you for your time.”

“Just hold up a sec,” 494 entreated you, but you ignored him.

You turned to leave when Max’s voice stopped you. “Wait.” You glanced back and found her watching you, compassion twinkling in her eyes. “Maybe there’s something we can do.” She quickly glanced at 494 who was giving her a look. Max rolled her eyes at him but lifted her chin when addressing you. “I wouldn’t put you with this one because it sounds like you’ve been punished enough already.”

494 shot her a glare to which she only smirked. You couldn’t help but smile yourself; perhaps you would like this 452 after all. 

“But I think I have an idea of where you can stay. It’s temporary and you’d have a roommate, but we can see about getting you a job and getting you set up properly. Logan can help, too, with papers. If you’re serious and you plan to stay, that is.”

494 watched you intently. You thought it over for a moment. This proposal was better than anything you had going for you right now. Hell, you would have even stuck yourself with 494 again if it meant you’d have a place to sleep and something to eat, safe from Manticore for a while. You gave Max a nod. “Thank you.” To your surprise, 494 seemed to relax a bit at your response.

She smiled and turned, indicating you should follow. “You’ll be with Joshua for the time being. He’s pretty easy to get along with,” she assured you, her tone softening a bit. You could tell she was fond of the guy she was mentioning.

“Joshua?” You questioned, looking from her to 494.

494 stayed in step with you as you all made your way out onto the street. He shot you a smile as Max retrieved her bike. “You like dogs?”

<-->

Joshua did indeed turn out to be a decent roommate. He was kind and thoughtful and actually a little funny. Truthfully, you hadn’t been prepared to find a dogman as your new temporary roommate, but once you found out about his history, you found yourself feeling compassion for his situation. You were glad he had managed to escape the destruction of the base that night. 

Max kept her word and set you up with a job as a bike messenger at Jam Pony (apparently a couple of the girls 494 had been involved with decided to up and quit for some strange reason), which gave you access to all of the legal documentation you’d need to get past certain checkpoints in the city. She’d introduced you to her friends Original Cyndi and Sketchy, who would also turn out to be your coworkers. Normal viewed you as another hooligan he was forced to pay for standing around and not doing your job just like the rest, though despite his warped assertions, you actually did get your work done. You ended up going on runs with 494 and Max to get to know the ins and outs of the job. Outside of work, you kept your distance unless your help was needed. Max and OC had invited you to Crash a couple of times, but you bowed out, especially when Sketch seemed a little too invested in your joining them. You also met Logan and Asha, neither of whom you cared for very much; still, they were important to your fellow transgenics and Logan was helping you, so you kept your thoughts to yourself. All in all, you were settling into life in Seattle and beginning to blend in. And you avoided 494 like the Plague despite his couple of attempts to approach you and strike up a conversation, so everything was going pretty swell. 

You had even found a new place you liked to escape to every now and then. You knew the Space Needle was also Max’s favorite spot—she had told you as much—but after a long day, you liked to get to the highest point and look out over the city you now were beginning to call home. 

It was one such peaceful night when 494 found you.

“Thought I’d find you here.” He carefully lowered himself down next to you.

You didn’t respond and instead focused on the feel of the cool breeze gently blowing through your hair.

“I’m glad you made it out,” he admitted.

You shot him a look before returning your attention to the city. 

“I am.” He rested his forearms on his knees and looked out towards the city skyline. “I know what we had wasn’t of our making, but it wasn’t all horrible, was it?”

You let his question hang in the air. No, it hadn’t been all horrible, but it was still a messed up situation you both had been thrust into. Based on what you’d learned about his sessions with Max, copulation hadn’t needed to happen due to the background plan. You and 494 weren’t so lucky after a while, just like every other pair of breeding partners in the facility. By the time Max was recaptured and brought to the base, Renfro and company were already starting to side-eye the two of you and wanted to know how you hadn’t gotten pregnant yet. Almost every other pairing had been successful or reassigned if they weren’t; you were arousing too much suspicion by your constant failure to report an impregnation despite your successful copulations. The truth was that you and 494 did what you could to prevent it from happening. You had no desire to add to the ranks of Manticore transgenics and neither did he, something you both had been on the same page about since the first night you’d been thrown into a cell together.

You hadn’t fooled yourselves. This wasn’t about love or any attraction you had for one another, nor was it even a fun roll in the sheets; you both would not have chosen each other if you’d had a say in any of it. This was all about science and genetics, and it was purely clinical. That didn’t mean that there weren’t a few moments here and there that you snatched for yourselves: a laugh here, a tender moment there, a camaraderie forged between you in flipping off the organization that had created you and controlled you since your first breaths. So no, it wasn’t all horrible.

Which is why you didn’t protest or move away when you felt him subtly shift a little closer to you. You nearly smiled at the action; 494 had always sought a connection between you, something that superseded the physical. You couldn’t count the amount of times after your sessions that you had both held onto each other: you still remembered how he would wrap his arms around you and pull you close, letting out a content sigh as you ran your fingers through his sweaty hair, scratching at his scalp in the way you knew he liked. And he would make sure every inch of him was still touching you on the uncomfortable cot suspended from the wall, before the guards were due to come back and retrieve him. How he would chatter away about different subjects, doing his best to engage you.

“I went back for you,” he murmured.

Surprise ran through you as you turned wide eyes on him. 

“Once they revealed the base’s location and I was able to get free, I went back for you.” He stared at you, swallowing compulsively. “But by the time I got there, it was too late. I thought you were gone.”

You could see the truth of what he was saying in his green eyes, but you refused to give in that easily. You huffed out a snort and turned back to the view. “More like you were hoping.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him shaking his head. “I never wanted you gone.”

You ignored him and continued your ritual of observing the city, allowing silence to fall between you. Only when he slowly took your hand into his did you turn a glare on him and finally speak:  “I hate you, you realize that, right?”

“You have a weird way of showing that.” He nodded his head towards your intertwined fingers. 

You rolled your eyes but you didn’t pull away. “Don’t you have a harem to get back to? Or what’s her name…Asha? Now that you’re free to choose who you want to copulate with. You didn’t seem to have any issue finding willing partners before I showed up.”

This time, he was the one who snorted. “Just passing time.”

You finally did pull away, grimacing. “Ew.”

He let out a nervous-sounding laugh. “I just meant it’s all been casual. Nothing serious.”

You side-eyed him. “Good luck with that.” You got to your feet and were about to leave when he grabbed your hand to stop you, forcing you to look down at him.

“Y/N,” he murmured, using the name Max had picked out for you. It wasn’t your favorite, but you needed something to go on the paperwork for Jam Pony and the papers Logan was acquiring for you, so you figured it would do. Perhaps you’d even grow into it and it could be a decent identity for you.

“494?”

He shot you a glare. “Alec.”

Right. Max had named him, too. That was something he’d mentioned on one of the runs you, he, and Max had gone on. You had smirked at Max’s explanation of that choice while 494 had rolled his eyes.

“Okay then. Alec?” It felt weird to call him that yet at the same time…it felt like a good fit.

His thumb tenderly stroked against your skin and he watched you. “Just wanted to see how it sounded. Using our names instead.”

You nodded. You could understand that. All of this was new and…fragile in a way. Any moment you could be found, you could either be killed or worse — brought back to another base. However, from what you’d heard, the former was more likely to happen these days. Max had encouraged you to start thinking about what you wanted out of life, and so far, freedom was certainly at the top of your list. You might be free right now, but you weren’t really free, not with your captors still out there who viewed you as their property, to apprehend or destroy at will. You had a feeling that Alec knew that just as well as you did, no matter the optimistic picture Max tried to paint for Joshua or any other transgenics she might come across.

He tugged on your hand to urge you to sit back down next to him. You resisted for a moment but then decided to oblige. What did a few minutes more matter in the scheme of things? He snuck an arm around your shoulders and pulled you closer. Had it been anyone else, that arm would have been ripped from its socket by now. 

Alec gave you a small smile and leaned down to press a kiss to your hair, flooding you with memories of every time he’d done just that. Other memories made appearances, too: his sharing with you about his side hustle of trading things with guards for certain comforts, something he actually used on your behalf a few times; his laugh and kiss to your head when both of you had gotten a little too much into one copulating session, almost making the two of you forget to take your usual precautions; his promise of getting you both out of there together if you could hold out just a little longer; his expression when he told you that he thought Renfro had a mission for him that would keep him out of your barracks for the next few nights but that he’d do his best to see it through quickly and return; the last time you’d seen him when he’d exchanged a look with you across the yard before you and your unit were led away for more drills and testing, you thinking back to the worry you’d seen in his expression and since you didn’t know the cause, it created your own set of worries — 494 never let it show if he was ever worried or scared. 

You weren’t sure how to feel about any of this. Yes, you and Alec had history but it had been forced upon you. Although you had forged some sort of connection during it all, it didn't mean that either of you were looking to continue that or see where it went on the outside—especially now that you were able to choose for yourselves. Still, that connection hadn’t simply ceased to exist just because you wished it would… Especially not when he was trying his damndest to restore some piece of it, right here and right now.

He lowered his head to meet your eyes and you could feel something familiar inside your chest squeezing a little bit. You told yourself that it had to be heartburn from the chicken stew you’d eaten for dinner earlier, and not anything to do with him at all. “I’ve missed this,” he quietly admitted. “Just talking and being together. Didn’t you?”

You gave him a look of disbelief mixed with amusement. “I don’t really think we did all that much talking as I remember it.”

That cocky smirk of his was back. “True.” 

You rolled your eyes and he laughed. You enjoyed the familiar sound that caused more memories to wash over you. You would never admit it but the bond you’d shared had actually been the only good thing to sustain you when you were running after the explosion. You’d hoped that wherever he was, he had gotten away and was safe. You knew he hadn’t been in his barracks; you’d checked amidst the chaos. 

Thinking back to that night, you rested your head back against his shoulder and stared out into the night. His lips tipped up in a small smile and he laid his head up against yours, following your gaze. You both stayed like that for the next hour until he murmured to you, “Come back with me?”

You turned to frown up at him. Was he for real? “Really?”

“No, not that, I just meant…” He ran his free hand over his hair. “I didn’t think I’d see you again and now you’re here. I didn’t really know how to ask you before without it sounding like that. But I want to show you my place.” He gave you a bit of a proud smile.

You considered it. It would be interesting to see what kind of setup he had going for himself. That had been something you had talked about back in your bunk at the base as he held you to him, his hands roaming your bare back. “You sure Alec’s groupies won’t mind?”

Alec smirked and shook his head. “I don’t have any roommates or regular visitors if that’s what you’re asking.”

You smirked right back and leaned in, making his eyes drop to your lips. “I wasn’t,” you whispered before dropping his hand and getting to your feet. 

He got up as well, grinning over at you, that familiar fire lighting those sharp green eyes. “Just think: no guards to bribe, no need to keep it down, no time limit, no metal cot we both have to try to fit on…”

You snorted. “So you really are asking me to go back with you for that reason.”

“No, I really do want to show you the sweet setup I have.” His smile then turned wicked. “But if that were to happen, I wouldn’t exactly be against it.”

“Uh-huh.” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, looking away from him. You did your best to hide your own smile when he wrapped his arms around you from behind, resting his lips near your ear.

“So what do you say? Let me show you my apartment. I got a couch, a bed, a tub…”  

“Ooh, a tub?” You pretended to be impressed though you weren’t pretending too much. If a tub was considered a luxury before the world went to hell, then it was an even rarer commodity now. 

“Yep,” he huskily whispered as he brushed a kiss to your ear lobe. “All the hot water and soap you could want.” He trailed his lips down your neck, making your eyes shut halfway. “And I’ve got glasses, plates, a coffee table… I even have a stereo.”

You dug your teeth into your bottom lip when he found that spot on your neck that he knew you loved. “A stereo?”

“For music,” he explained, pressing a kiss to your jawline. “And I even managed to score some whiskey from years back, pre-pulse. You’ll love it,” he promised before nuzzling your cheek. “Come home with me.”   

You stared out over the horizon, unsure if you should give in to what he was tempting you with. Before, at Manticore, the sex had been clinical and while there was a connection between you, given the circumstances, it made sense to stick together like glue. But now… “I don’t know if I should. We’re out now and everything’s changed.”

He spun you in his arms, his brows furrowed as he cupped your face with his hands. “Not for me. I meant what I said to you in there, we were gonna get out together, find some place to blend in, and make it work.”

“But we didn’t get out together,” you whispered, gently removing his hands from you before stepping around him towards the door. 

He grabbed your hand. “Y/N.” You glanced back at his earnest expression. “I did come back for you. When everything exploded and I didn’t hear or see any trace of you, I thought—”

“I know. I went to look for you, too, once I managed to get out of my barracks.” His eyes widened slightly in surprise. “That guard, Hayes, he let me out. He said something about a deal you had in place with him if things went wrong while you were away on your mission.” You dropped your gaze. “It must’ve really cost you, so… Thanks for that.” You squeezed his hand before letting it go and making your way inside the abandoned building.   

You didn’t look back; there was no point. When you thought back to that night, you remembered Hayes sneering at you as he opened your cell door, spitting something about telling 494 that he owed him something better than cigars and the usual contraband this time. You didn’t bother thanking the man who treated you and every other transgenic on the base as nothing more than freak science experiments that were less than human, and you booked it towards the male barracks, fighting your way through when you needed to. You would never forget the relief you felt finding the specific bunk you were looking for empty, that was then followed by the feeling of betrayal, which quickly shifted into acceptance. You hoped he was alive out there somewhere, whether he had made it out before you got there or he had already been out in the world on his mission. You had chalked up your time together as a weird yet not so bad interaction and kept running. You’d even seen Hayes’ dead body on your way out, his throat torn apart, almost as if that too was closing the book on this messed up chapter of your life.

And that’s what you’d done: closed that chapter of your life and attempted to move on, to do what you could to figure out your own life. You never expected to see 494 again, let alone find him living his life, a harem of women around him. It had stuck a finger into that particular wound for a moment before the blanket acceptance was back in place. Your relationship was exactly as you’d thought it had been for both of you: something that had been forced upon you by your creators and you both had tried to make something good out of it (just not the child Manticore had wanted). And now, it was over. You both were on the outside and it was time for you both to go your separate ways, figuratively if not literally. He’d done right by you in that last moment and you’d escaped, gotten free, and lived. What more could you ask for?

You were just about to scale down to the next level when his hand landed on your shoulder, making you look back at him.

“Y/N, come back with me to my place. I want to show you something.”

You gave him a look. “494—”

“Alec,” he corrected. “I’m not talking about sex, though if you wanted that at some point, like I said, I’m more than willing.” He lifted his hand to cup your cheek and he stared into your eyes, willing you to agree. “I really want to show you something.” 

His thumb tenderly ran along your bottom lip in a familiar gesture that had always preceded a kiss before he left you for the night. A part of you hoped he would repeat the action but when he didn’t, you were more relieved than anything. Your body yearned for his—the familiarity, the comfort—but you still didn’t think you should fall back into old habits—it could only end badly, whether he ended up getting bored or one of you (or both) were found by your enemies. You felt incredibly torn. Truthfully, you weren’t quite sure what you wanted when it came to him. 

“Please,” he added. “Come over.”

He looked so determined, so earnest, that you found yourself slowly nodding in agreement. 

His handsome face lit up with a bright smile. “I promise, you’re really gonna like it.” He urged you to follow him, scaling to the next level down with you right behind him. You hoped he was right, and you also hoped you would finally get some sort of answer for yourself on whether to explore this new great unknown with him with the former Emerald City as the backdrop in contrast to your cramped cell or to close the book on him for good.

<-->

You had to admit, Alec had a nice apartment. It was bigger than you’d imagined and he had told you the truth: he had glasses, plates, a coffee table, a couch, a bed, a tub, the so-called stereo (which he turned on for a minute to show you how it worked), and the whiskey he’d promised. As you drank from your glass, marveling at the taste, you glanced around, nodding.

“Nice,” you complimented.

“Thanks.” He took your hand and led you to a corner of the living room where a box sat tall on some sort of stand. He released you to go over and stand next to it, turning to beam over at you. “What do you think?”

Your eyes roved over the box with a glass front, confused. “It’s…great?”

He gave you a look as if you should know what it was before smiling wide again. “It’s a TV,” he crowed. 

Your brows furrowed in confusion. “TV?”

“Yeah, you know, to watch movies and TV shows, that kind of thing.” 

You peered at it, wondering just how it worked. You’d heard of movies of course, but you’d never seen one. Did the images just appear on the glass when you turned it on? Was there something that needed to be selected or perhaps inserted somewhere?

He proudly laid a hand on top of it. “I managed to get ahold of it after one of my customers I’ve been selling synthetics to heard about some old lady dying nearby who had one. I headed right over to her place and got this beauty.” He smiled down at it. 

“You’ve been selling synthetics?” Of course he was still hustling, even out here. In Manticore, it had been a necessity; out here, if it helped him get nice digs like this and set him up, you had to give him credit for keeping it going and getting creative.

“Among other things. Oh, and look.” He gestured down to another smaller box sitting in front of it. “I was also able to get a VCR. It took me a few months to get a lead on one of these, but I got it.” He chuckled and turned a wide smile on you. 

You returned the smile, still unsure of what a VCR was.

“And the best part,” He took your glass from you and placed it on top of the TV before he grabbed something from behind it and shoved it into your hands. You looked down at the rectangular object and spied a familiar image you had only seen once before, when you were on the run from Manticore the first time. Your eyes widened; something you had told Alec about one night after copulating a few times and he was falling asleep, him tiredly rubbing your shoulder as you laid your head on his chest, one of the nights he’d bought more time for you both… The sight made the corners of your eyes sting, yet you forced yourself to keep the tears at bay. He had heard you that night even while nodding off and he’d— he’d managed to get his hands on it. “It’s that movie you told me about,” he began. “It’s—”

“--A Wonderful Life,” you finished in an awed whisper. You reverently traced the picture you’d seen a hundred times before Manticore caught you. You ignored the rips and stains surrounding the rim of the image and focused on the man who’d caught your interest in the first place. He looked happy, staring down at his wife, the two of them surrounded by their children, one hoisted up behind him and holding onto him for dear life. They all looked happy, which was something you’d never had or known. You’d never had a father, never knew your mother, and you’d never had a family, not like the one portrayed in the picture. Sure, you had dozens of brothers and sisters, but you weren’t a family. Manticore would punish you if any of you had even uttered the word. You were soldiers in training and that was it.

Still, this image piqued your interest and many nights, you found that you couldn’t stop staring at it. It was in an old theater, a place you’d managed to find while running the first time—the same place you took shelter in and eventually turned it into your own setup. There were other people throughout the theater who’d had the same idea, but they pretty much left you alone once you’d fought off the biggest guy in the group who had stupidly tried to take your food from you. Once you’d seen that poster, it created a yearning in you for something you had never known, something you never imagined wanting. You didn’t need parents and you didn’t need siblings, but you did crave family… Something that became more and more apparent the more you studied the image, imagining what that life would be like. 

Which is why it was so cruel when Manticore recaptured you and immediately thrust you into its breeding program. Not only had they taken your life from you since conception, viewed you as their property that they were determined to see some sort of return of their investment on—now they wanted to take whatever life you could create from you and control it, too. You weren’t going to let that happen. As a matter of fact, you’d fought 494 off the first night they sent him into your cell. It had taken him by surprise because he’d thought you both were on the same page: you had orders. But he’d quickly learned that you’d rather die than follow those particular ones. He’d maintained his distance until a guard came to retrieve him, and as he’d glanced back at you one last time as he stepped across the threshold, you knew then that you were marked for death. A soldier refusing to obey and follow orders was no good to the organization and more importantly, of no use. Thus, it took you by surprise the next day when 494 confirmed the success of your copulation the previous night to your superiors which led to him being brought back to your cell later that night to continue.

From there, even though it took a little bit, you’d both talked and began getting to know one another. You’d learned that he didn’t want to spawn any kids for Manticore anymore than you did. Eventually, a bond began to form between you and of course, so did an attraction. The night you got hit with your first heat since being recaptured—thanks to a splash of feline DNA in your system, something you’d always been able to manage on the outside before—things had changed between you, and 494 no longer had to lie when reporting that copulation had been successful. Nonetheless, the entire time you’d been back in Manticore’s hands, you’d never forgotten about that picture and what you truly wanted: your freedom, a life, and eventually, family—happiness. You wanted to be happy just like the people in the poster.

And now here you were: on the outside, free for the moment, attempting to build a life, and this picture had somehow made its way back to you, right into your very hands, real enough to literally touch. “How did you get it?”

“One of Max’s fences gave me a line on where I could find one.”

You glanced up to find him watching you intently. You gave him a small grateful smile and you could see relief flood through his expression before he covered it with a smile of his own.

He cleared his throat. “I got it before you showed up, but…I never watched it. I couldn’t bring myself to. It felt wrong to watch it without you, especially after how you talked about it, so it’s been sitting in that case for months. I hope it still works.” He let out in a quiet chuckle.

You placed the box down on top of the TV and approached him. He watched as you cupped his face with your hands and pulled him down to you, your lips meeting for the first time since seeing him again. That all-too familiar feeling flooded you and this time, you didn’t fight the smile that made its way to your face. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” This time, he was the one initiating a kiss, and he snaked his arms around your waist, pulling you into him.

Only when you both needed air and he pulled away to trail kisses down to your neck did you tease into his ear, “So exactly how many girls have you shown this movie to?”

“None,” he breathed, nibbling on your earlobe. “I told you, I didn’t want to watch it without you.”

“You expect me to believe that you haven’t shown the TV or the VCR to any other girls?” You chuckled.

He pulled back to meet your eyes. “Okay, yeah, fair enough, I’ve shown them both of those, but not that movie, I swear. That was always yours.”

You knew you should be disgusted—not only that he had been such a callous player in your absence but also because he had used similar moves on you—but right then, you decided to throw all caution to the wind, even if just for one night. Seeing the movie picture again had reminded you that you needed to take happiness wherever you could find it, because thanks to your life, who knew how much longer you had? 

“So,” you whispered huskily as you ran your fingers through his hair. “What were you saying about a bed and no time limit…?”

His eyes lit up with that familiar fire and he smirked. “Oh, hell yes.” He kissed you harder than before and picked you up, making you laugh into his mouth, as he used his transgenic speed to get you to the bedroom. 

<-->

You watched the images on the screen in awe. You and Alec were sharing a blanket to keep your nude bodies warm as you sat in his embrace, the only light in the place coming from the TV. He had his chin resting on your bare shoulder, watching the movie intently with you. The man from the movie poster, George, was telling the woman, Mary, how he was going to travel the world and he was listing off his dreams right before she threw a rock at the abandoned house they were facing. When they started singing, Alec began to frown, but you? You were completely enraptured. You’d never seen or heard anything like this before. 

In the beginning, the tape had seemed like it didn’t want to work, black and white tears in the image as it played, but thankfully Alec knew what he was doing with the equipment and how to get it working. Ever since then, your eyes hadn’t strayed from the screen once, even when Alec had tried to get a second round going, promising you he could pause the film and you could finish watching it later. When he’d failed to garner your attention, he’d pressed a kiss to the back of your head and settled behind you, letting out a quiet sigh of contentment as he’d burrowed into your neck before rejoining you in watching the movie.

When George told Mary that he’d give her the moon, Alec rolled his eyes and dropped a kiss onto your skin. “That’s lame,” he muttered.

You turned to look at him. “Why? Because he wants to give her anything she wants?”

“No. Because he’s going to lasso the moon. Lasso the moon? Really?”

You laughed and he smiled, leaning in to kiss your cheek. “Alright, sure, it’s cheesy, but the message isn’t.”

“It’s not?” Alec moved to kiss your ear.

“No. He likes her that much, he’d do anything for her. Kind of nice actually,” you ended in a whisper as you turned back to the screen. You let out a soft chuckle when the old man interrupted the couple and told George that he talked too much and he should kiss Mary already.

Alec, who had glanced back at the screen to watch that part of the scene, turned an affectionate smile on you before leaning in to nuzzle your cheek. “Stay here tonight,” he urged.

Your eyelids dropped halfway when he moved his lips to your neck and you dug your teeth into your bottom lip. “I can’t. Joshua will be worried.”

“The big guy will be just fine, trust me,” he promised, his lips gliding back to your shoulder. “I want you to stay.”

You thought it over. You both had reacquainted yourselves earlier quite nicely so that wasn’t an issue. Just like Alec had said, it had been amazing to be in a bed for once, not under the pressure of a timeclock or having to worry about prying eyes and listening ears milling around. You didn’t have to separate soon after you were finished if the guards Alec usually bribed weren’t on shift that night. Here, you were free to just be and let things take their own course and that had been a phenomenal feeling. As for what came next… you weren’t too sure about that. You hadn’t done a lot of talking since Alec carried you into his bedroom and playfully dropped you on the bed, knowing it wouldn’t hurt you. You had let out an incredulous laugh and he mirrored your grin before he’d been all over you.

You watched as he pressed tender kisses to your bare skin before glancing up at you hopefully. You took his face into your hand and he leaned into your touch. Seeing that, you decided to state your one condition if he truly wanted you to stay. “No more girls.” You refused to look away as you threw down that gauntlet. While he never said he wanted anything more than tonight with you, you needed him to know that if this did somehow go past that, you wouldn’t be wondering just who he had in his bed or on his couch a few hours before you would arrive at his front door. Or who he might bring back to this apartment to show his TV and VCR to. 

He stared at you for a moment until the corner of his lips tipped up into a bit of a smug smile. “No more girls,” he agreed.

You tilted your head at him, studying his expression.

“What?” He laughed. 

“Just like that?”

Alec’s smile grew and he leaned in to place a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “Just like that.” You weren’t the least bit surprised when he suddenly turned you around in his arms to face him, one hand keeping the blanket over you, cocooning you both. He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at you before covering both of your heads with the blanket and leaning in for the kill.

“What about the movie?” You laughed as he began to kiss your neck.

“That’s the great thing about tapes. We can watch it again anytime we want,” he murmured, his hands starting to roam your body insistently.

“So we can watch the lasso the moon part again?” You teased.

He groaned into your neck, making you laugh. “Yeah, we can, if that’s what you want,” he grumbled, sounding like he was going to majorly suffer when you watched it again.

You pulled back, smiling, and cupped his face. “I want you,” you told him earnestly. And you did. You wanted more nights with him like this, you wanted what you two had managed to create back in your cell. Studying him now, you could see the man who had become almost everything to you back then, who’d kept you going during the rough moments, who ended up looking out for you even though he usually lived by the unwritten rule of only ever looking out for himself.  

His eyes stared into yours and a small smile began to form on his face. “Then stay,” he urged.

You pretended to think over it for a minute and when you grinned over at him, his smile was already mirroring yours. “Okay,” you answered playfully, as if he had only posed a simple question like asking you if you wanted a drink or not. You moved up to kiss him and bury your fingers in his disheveled hair. “No lassoing the moon required,” you murmured to his lips.

He rolled his eyes and quickly maneuvered you onto your back with him right on top of you. He smirked down at you, leaning in to kiss you. “I’ll give you something better than the damn moon,” he mumbled into your mouth, making you laugh. 

You didn’t want the moon or the stars (except the ones Alec made you see exploding behind your eyelids from time to time) or anything else that grand. What you wanted was simple: everything right here in front of you at this moment. A life that was your own, a job that helped keep money coming in, a roof over your head that offered protection from the cold, the wet, and intruders, while offering you a safe space to rest your head at night; food in your stomach, clothes that fit, and the feelings that coursed through you every time Alec kissed you.

Post-pulse Seattle might not be Bedford Falls and you might not be George Bailey or even Mary for that matter, but you were free, you were building a life, and you were happy. And someday, if you lived long enough, you might even get that family you’d been yearning for. From the look of things, between Joshua, Max, and now Alec, you were hopefully already starting to form something akin to the idea. And really, what more could you ask for?

#alec mcdowell x reader #alec mcdowell x female reader #alec mcdowell x female!transgenic reader #alec mcdowell x you #alec mcdowell x y/n #alec mcdowell #dark angel fanfiction #dark angel #prompt response #dark angel fandom #female!transgenic!reader #jensen ackles #jensen ackles character #alec mcdowell fanfiction #thebiggerbear

[poseidonsdaughterthesiren]

You're Losing–You Lost Me

A/N: So uhhh this experiemental. I'm trying to create Della and Luke's past. So obviously for my nonbooker readers...Spoilers. Ummm So we drift from Della to Percy to Luke's POVS and they're not all linear. Think of them as if you're sporadically going through memories.

Della sits by the lake as fireworks and torches flicker across the waves. In the distance, she hears a splash of water. Clarisse and a bunch of other campers toss her brother and her best friend into the lake. 

It’s about dam time he told her. 

Della smiles but it crumbles when she thinks about what she’s been through the last year and a half.  Her memories had recently all been fixed thanks to the Hypnos kid Clovis. She takes a deep breath…and meditates for a moment

⬳

Della opened her eyes to a dimly lit room. She tried to yell for help but realized her mouth was gagged.

Where is she? How did–the battle with the manticore, Dr. Thorn came rushing back to her. She and Annabeth tackled the beast as it fell over the cliff. Shit, Percy was going to kill her–if whoever captured her didn’t first.

“Well, well if it isn’t Della Jackson,” a voice called

Della stilled at the voice. She knew that voice. Luke. 

Luke creeped out of the shadows into the light. He smiled but it made Della flinch in terror. 

He looked pretty beat up. Good. 

Luke crouched down in front of Della. 

Della tried to scoot back from him but didn’t get very far. The rope around her ankles and wrists was also bound to a pillar. 

“Hey,” he whispered, I won’t hurt you. Trust me.” 

Della narrowed her eyes at him. 

Luke moved forward and reached behind her head. He undid the knot holding her gag and removed it. 

Della tried to scream but Luke placed a hand over her mouth. 

“Hey, no, come on now, none of that,” he whispered, “Besides no one will be able to hear you.” 

Della leaned back and glared at him. 

“Where am I?”

“Safe,” Luke said.

“Pfft, not with you I’m not.” 

“Del–”

“No, only my friends call me Del.”

“We are friends–”

“We were, past tense.”

Luke grinned at her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“My offer still stands Del, you can be more–”

“No, no this isn’t you.” 

“Still don’t have your own opinion, still emersed in everything Percy believes.”

Luke leaned over maneuvered her ropes and pulled her towards him. He lifted her up and led her towards the darkness he emerged from.

“Come on,” he whispered in her ear, “time to see what we’ve been working on.”

Della felt shivers run down her spine. She hoped Percy would find her soon. 

⬳

Della and Annabeth were gone. They fell with the manticore–the only thing left of Della was Leda. Mom is going to kill him. 

Percy paced around as his thoughts tortured him. It had always been his job to protect her, and he failed. 

“Percy,” Grover said. He placed a hand on Percy’s shoulder. 

Percy shrugged the hand off. 

Thalia was pissed. She white-knuckled Annabeth’s Yankees cap.

“Percy, I’m sorry–” 

“No,” he snapped, “Don’t say you’re sorry for my loss. They’re not–She’s not dead.” 

“Percy,”  Grover said. There were tears in his eyes. “There’s no way they survived that and if they did, Luke–”

“No, they’re alive, I can feel it! They…can’t…she can’t be gone.” A tear escaped from his eye. 

No Della was alive. He couldn’t explain it–but he could feel it like a thread connecting them. And if Del was alive so was Annabeth.

“Percy Jackson,” Zoe Nightshade called, “Come with me Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee.” 

⬳

Luke leads Della up a dark hill. There was little to no light. It was black but there were whisps of blue light. Black charred ruins are scattered almost as if there had once been a battle here. 

Della felt like she was in a demonic episode of Scooby Doo. Doesn’t help that Luke led her on a rope like a dog. Bet Scooby never used a leash. 

Luke paused near the crest of the hill. He turned toward her. 

“What I am about to show you,” he said, “Is your fate if you don’t cooperate.” 

His face twitched and sniffed almost as if he were about to cry but he stopped himself. He turned back toward the hill and pulled her rope hard. 

Della glanced around when she felt the air leave her lungs–at the top of the hill was Annabeth holding up what appeared to be an invisible ceiling. 

“Annabeth!” Della screamed. 

Luke yanked her rope and pulled her against him. He used his free hand to angle her head at the sight. 

Della closed her eyes as Annabeth screamed for her. 

“See that could be you,” he whispered, “but I think I have better use for you.”

Della choked back a sob refusing to open her eyes. 

“Della,” Annabeth groaned, “No let her…go” 

“Say bye to Annabeth, Del,” Luke said, “We’ll see her later.” 

“NO! ANNABETH!” Della yelled. She struggled against Luke. 

“Aww,” Luke cooed, “come on Siren, we have more work to do.”

Della screamed as he picked her up and led her away from Annabeth. 

“LUKE! LUKE!” Annabeth shrieked. 

Della sobbed as Luke dragged her away from her best friend. She felt spots flood her vision before everything went dark.

⬳

` Percy sulked into his cabin and threw himself on his bed. He rolled onto his side to stare at Della’s empty bunk. Nestled in her blankets was a plush blue whale who’d seen better days. Mr. Finn. Della’s favorite stuffed animal. 

How could Mr. D refuse to search for her or Annabeth? 

Percy sighed slipped out of his bunk and grabbed ahold of the whale. Its big black button eyes stared up at Percy. He pulled it close to his chest and squeezed. After a moment he placed him in his bunk. 

He heard water running. He looked around before in the back of the cabin he spotted a new item. A fountain–obviously a gift from Poseidon. 

Percy made his way to it and noticed it was heated as it created a mist with tiny little rainbows. He looked at the bottom to see it was full of drachmas. He realized what this was for. It was a reminder to keep in touch with his family. 

Percy scooped a coin out and ran his fingers along it. 

“Iris, oh Goddess of the Rainbow,” he said, “please accept my offering.” 

He knew he should call mom and tell her what happened, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. Until he knew more about where she was he was going to hold off telling Mom. 

He could call Dad, he hadn’t talked to him in two years. But could you call a god or would that be an insult? Besides, he had a feeling Poseidon knew about what had occurred only a few hours ago. Hopefully, if she asked for help Dad would be there.

He suddenly knew exactly who to call. 

“Show me Tyson,” Percy said, “At the forges of the Cyclops.” 

The mist shimmered to show his half-brother Tyson surrounded by fire. Tyson was bent on an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water–the bottom of the ocean.

“Tyson,” Percy yelled. 

He didn’t hear Percy at first due to the hammering and roar of the flames. 

“TYSON!” Percy yelled again. 

He turned his one enormous eye brightened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. “Percy!” 

He dropped the sword blade and barrelled at Percy trying to hug him. Percy lurched back. “Hey, Big Guy, this is an Iris message, I’m not really there.” 

“Oh, yes I knew that,” Tyson said. He seemed embarrassed for a moment. He then looked around Percy. “Where’s Della?” 

Percy’s smile faded. “She’s not here right now buddy.” 

“Oh, tell her I say hi! Tell Annabeth I say hi!” 

“Okay, Buddy will do,” Percy swallows the lump in his throat. “Hey Tyson, do you hear from Dad?” 

Tyson’s smile fell a bit. “Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war.”

“What do you mean?” 

Tyson sighed and placed the sword out the window, where it erupted in a swirl of bubbles. When he brought the blade back in the metal was cool and silver. 

“Old Sea Spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys. They’re protecting the bad boat.” 

“The Princess Andromeda? Luke’s boat?” Percy asked. 

“Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy’s storms. Otherwise, he would smash it.” 

“Smashing it would be good,” Percy agree. 

Just not with Della or Annabeth on board. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry about bad boat. It is going away.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Panama Canal. Very far away.” 

Why was Luke all the way down there? Last theyd seen he’d been near the East Coast recruiting demigods with grievances against their godly parents. 

“Well that’s good I guess. Hey tell Dad I–” 

Before he could finish the message dissolved leaving him alone in the cabin again. Percy sighed and shuffled back to his bunk. 

He slipped under the covers and held Mr. Finn close. 

“Where are you Del?” He whispered before drifting off. 

⬳

Della opened her eyes to see she was nestled in a makeshift cot. She was wrapped in a thick blanket. She glanced around to see she was in a dimly lit room. Not like the apocalypse she’d been in earlier. 

There was the cot she was in. A small chestnut drawer, a desk, and the door. Whoever’s room this was they were a very extreme minimalist. 

She sat up and stretched when she realized her hands were untied. She froze–where’s Luke?

The handle of the door jiggled and opened into the room. Revealing the man in question. 

Luke closes the door behind him. And tosses a map on the desk before he turns to Della. 

“Oh, good,” he said, “You’re awake.” He sat at the end of the bed. 

Della examined his face. He looked like he’d aged ten years since the last time they’d seen each other. There were heavy streaks of grey Della could hardly see his black hair. 

Luke’s eyes were examining her.. 

“What happened?” She asked. She glanced down at the floor. 

“You blacked out,” he said as if it were obvious.

“Doesn’t explain why I’m in your room.” 

“You really don’t get it?”

Della glanced up at him. Her eyes narrowed. 

“You’re here,” Luke said, “Because you’re the key to winning this damn thing!”

“What do mean I’m the key?” Della yelled at him. “I thought Percy was your Golden Boy.” 

“It has become quite clear your brother will not join me, but you,” Luke said. He reached out to touch her cheek. “You could counter the prophecy. You could be mine.”

Della flinched at the contact. 

“A half-blood of the eldest gods

Shall reach sixteen against all odds

And see the world in endless sleep

The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap–” 

“A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze,” Della finished. “I know but what that’s between you and Percy–”

“It would seem the fates have made it so, but with you by my side, it’d be an equal fight. Come on Del, I’ve seen how Percy treats you on quests.” 

“First,” Della said, “Quit calling me Del. Second, I’d never betray my brother. And Third, my brother loves me.” 

“Does he Della? I remember the last time I saw you two he treated you worse than the Cyclops.” 

Della looked down at her shoes. He had a point even on this last mission Percy had been a dick to her. 

Luke tucks a finger under her chin and makes her look at him. 

“It’d be you and I against the world.” 

Della doesn’t pull away this time. She’d always been attracted to Luke. The two of them against the world didn’t sound too bad. 

A loud ruckus stomped above them. Luke pulled back and growled in frustration. He then looks back at Della. “I’ll be back. There’s tea on the desk. He moved towards the door which clicked shut behind him.

Della sat up and on shaky feet grabbed the tea cup. She hobbled back into the cot pulled the blankets up to her chest and sipped her tea. 

What if she stayed? Switched teams. Maybe then people wouldn't doubt her ability. They’d always compare her to Percy she’d always known that. She’d finally get to be with Luke–then she thought about Annabeth in the invisible cavern–no she would never stay with him. 

The door opened again to reveal Luke. He didn’t look as pissed, but he certainly wasn’t pleased. “Change of plans I have a meeting to attend. But I’ll be back soon.” 

“Where–” 

“Doesn’t matter, but you’re going to stay here aboard the ship.” 

So she’s on the Princess Andromeda….her mind went fuzzy fast. Luke was just a blur when he left. 

“I’ll be back I promise Del.” 

⬳

“I should throw you in the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence,” the General said, “I told you to bring me the boy, not the scrawny Athena girl.” 

“But,” Thorn sputtered, “I brought you one of the Big Three’s children! I brought you the Daughter of Poseidon!”

“Hmmm,” the General nodded, “She may be useful…but right now she’s a prize to you Boy.” He looked straight at Luke. 

Percy felt his heart thrum in his chest. The girls were alive. What did he mean Della was a prize to Luke? 

He’d missed bits of the conversation when–

“Della will serve her purpose in time,” Luke said, “It just needs some pushing.” 

What the hell? I mean yeah Della was his twin but the prophecy referred to him–or at least they’d always assumed it was him–what was Luke doing to her? 

⬳

“Della, hey come on now Del,” a voice sighed. 

Della is met with the sight of Luke bending over worry evident on his face. 

He smiled a bit at her. “Hey Sleeping Beauty,” he cooed. 

Della grinned in response but then realized she didn’t remember falling asleep. “What time is it? I thought you just left–wait I’ve been asleep–what’ve you–” 

Luke’s face fell a bit as he tried to calm her. He pulled into him, 

“It’s okay, Della–hey it’s okay–”

“No!” she yelled. She pushed against him.  “What have you been doing–” 

Luke sighed he grabbed a bowl and passed it to her. 

“What is this?” 

“Oatmeal.”

“Is this magic oatmeal?”

“It’s apple-cinnamon.”

Della sniffed it and indeed it was apple-cinnamon oatmeal. She takes the spoon from Luke and eats a couple of spoonfuls. 

“There you go,” Luke said. He ran a hand through her hair. 

Whatever anger Della felt vanished. She couldn’t even remember why she was mad. She set the bowl down. 

“There you go Della,” Luke whispered. He took the bowl placed it on the floor and tugged her close to his chest. “I love you,” he murmured. 

⬳

“Ah, how touching,” A voice said. 

The group turned to see the General standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side was Luke and half a dozen dracaene bearing the sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke’s side. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, Luke held the point of his sword to her throat. 

Percy met her eyes seeking answers. The only message was clear RUN!

“Luke let her go,” Thalia growled. 

“That’s for the General to decide,” Luke smirked, “But it is good to see you again though Thalia.” 

Thalia spat at him.

Percy whipped his around and realized someone was missing. 

“Where’s Della? Where is my sister?” He yelled. 

A tear escaped Annabeth’s eye. 

“Where is she?!” 

Luke’s smirk disappeared a single tear dripped down his cheek. 

The General however laughed. “She’s alive Son of Poseidon, for now. 

More tears sprung from Annabeth’s eyes she shook in Luke’s grip. 

Anger bubbled in Percy’s veins and he unleashed Riptide. 

⬳

Luke looked over the railing at the sea. They were just a bit away from the camp’s borders. He stretched and felt his back protest. He sighed, fighting Thalia was not easy to come back from. But the plan had to go. The concoction of poppy seeds and a drip of Lethe to keep Della here worked too well. He knew she liked him but–he didn’t think he’d catch feelings for her. He has to get her out of here before Kronos makes him do something awful–or even worse kill her. 

He went below deck and opened the door to his room to see her asleep just as he’d left her. Luke picks her up bridal-style. He carries her up to the deck. 

He drops her into the water and watches as she sinks. The Old Sea Gods push her back into Poseidon’s territory. 

⬳

When Della came to she was no longer in Luke’s room, no instead she was–well–she had no idea where she was. 

She was situated in an actual bed, not a cot. The room reminded her of the cabin her mom rented every year. The room was in natural beach tones. She could see a window encrusted with sea glass that looked out into blue water–wait blue water? 

Della sat up and slid out of the bed. The floor was freezing but she didn’t care. She was almost positive she was close to her Dad or at the very least Percy. She stumbled for a moment not used to being on her feet. 

There were two double doors a few feet away. Della grabbed a handle and bolted from the room. 

The hallway was fancier than her room, but the architecture told her all she needed to know–she was at her Dad’s place.

Two mermaids spotted her and gasped. 

“Miss Della you should be in bed,” one of them chastised. She had a shimmering pink tail. 

“I’ll go inform Poseidon,” the other said. Her tail was multicolored like the rainbow fish book. 

Rainbow Fish swished back down the hall they’d come from. 

Pink Tail swam towards Della and placed a hand on her forehead. 

“Well, you definitely look better,” she said. “You looked like death when the patrol found you.” 

“What do you–”

“DELLA!” a familiar voice boomed. 

“Tyson?” Della asked. 

The Cyclops tackled her in a giant bear hug. 

“Wait till Percy hears you’re okay! He’s been worried.”

Della hugs her half-brother back.

Percy’s been worried about her? 

“He was so sad when they didn’t find you!” 

“Alright Tyson,” Let her breathe there Kiddo.” A masculine voice laughed. 

“Dad?” Della breathed. 

Tyson let go of her. And moved out of the way. 

At the end of the hallways stood her father Poseidon. He looked similar to the last time she’d seen him. Same fisherman’s getup, the same beard, the same everything really–except now he looked incredibly exhausted. 

She moved towards him but stopped just a few feet in front of him. She didn’t really know what to say to him. 

“Hello, Della,” He smiled. He and Percy shared the same smile. “You’ve been so brave.” 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you but why am I here? I don’t remember–”

Poseidon’s smile fell. “There is much to discuss but you need to get home to your mother and brother.” 

“But–”

“I am very proud of you Della,” Poseidon said. He pulled her into a hug. This was the first hug she’d ever had with her dad. He held her similar to Mom–a hand at the back of her head and the other between her shoulder blades. 

“Never forget little Siren, you are my daughter, not just Percy’s sister.” 

⬳

“The sword, Della,” Annabeth muttered, “Your sword…Hero…cursed blade…” 

Della and Percy looked at each other. Percy nodded at her. 

Della looked at Luke his lip trembled. 

“Del…please…I’ll be good I promise…” 

Della felt tears stream down her face. 

She raised her sword but then she looked back at Percy. 

“Together,” she said. 

“Together,” he said. 

They passed the blade to Luke together. 

Luke without hesitation snatched Leda and he undid his chest plate. He aimed Della’s sword under his left arm and he stabbed himself. 

Leda, Della’s sword clattered to the ground as Luke fell backward. 

Della caught him before his head could hit the hearth. She cradled his head in her lap. 

“Del…” 

“Hey, no none of that,” Della whispered.

Annabeth, Grover, and Percy surround them. They crouch over the pair. 

“I–I’m sorry Beth…” 

“Shh, you were a hero at the end, you’ll go to Elysium.” 

“Did you love me?” he asked looking at Annabeth. 

“At one time but…you were always a brother to me.” 

He nodded and coughed red painted his lips. His eyes gazed up at Della. 

“Del, no matter how much I hurt you…I want you to know I meant it when I said…I love you.” 

Della’s tears cascaded on his brow. She leaned over and kissed his brow. 

“It’s okay…” he said, “it doesn’t hurt.” 

“Luke I love you.” 

He smiled up at her. His eyes went to Percy. Luke brought himself up a smidge and gripped Percy’s sleeve. 

“Ethan. Me. The other unclaimed, don’t let it happen again.” 

“I won’t I promise,” Percy said. 

“Good,” Luke breathed. He fell back into Della’s lap and his hand went slack. 

Della choked on a sob. Grover closed Luke’s unseeing eyes. Annabeth clutched onto Percy’s shoulder. 

“Percy…Della,” Their dad called, awe in his voice, “what…what is this?” 

Percy turned and faced the Olympians. 

“We need a shroud,” he announced, his voice cracked. “We need a shroud for the Son of Hermes.” 

Della tried not to scream. 

#oc character #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percyjacksonxsister!reader #fanfic #heroes of olympus #percy and annabeth #luke castellan x reader #della jackson

[cerastes]

I love that unless you are Doctor, Platinum is so utterly uncooperative that her Files mention that Kal’tsit herself took over making her internal RI profile,

and even then she couldn’t get her to actually say anything.

This is funny in and of itself, but it becomes doubly hilarious when you consider that Kal’tsit IS incredibly charismatic and persuasive. She has the tacit respect of Gladiia, Ascalon, and numerous other very proud, very imposing figures. Even the members of Alive Until Sunset seek her out specifically to have Incredibly Important Conversations Regarding Lore. We see various characters, playable and otherwise, be smitten by her charisma or at the very least have nothing but respect for her. Even Lucid!Specter/Laurentina, known troublemaker and rowdy swashbuckler, will graciously comply if it’s Kal’tsit asking.

But what is a god, or a supersoldier, or a veteran Sarkazian general, to a very tired office lady-slash-assassin who hasn’t had a day off in months and who hates her job and her superiors?

Try as she might, Kal’tsit could not get a single truth out of Platinum. 

And what’s Platinum’s next move, after Kal’tsit tries and fails to get ANYTHING out of her, even mundane info like weight or other such sundry morsel of information?

Platinum opts to work closely with Kal’tsit after giving her this much trouble. The absolute balls on this horse.

Kal’tsit put it down on paper: “I have no fucking clue how to reign this horse in the long term besides to bank on her being besties with Doctor, because she sure as shit doesn’t really care about Rhodes Island in general”. And, should it surprise anyone? By chance, Platinum, who had been running like two or three days nonstop from the assassins sent to kill her, comes across Doc and company, bracing herself for a really, really unfortunate end, and Doctor, who did end up not only having dealings with the Armorless Union but also having some tea with Platinum prior to this, instead says “alright team, impromptu overtime, but we’re getting this horse OUT of here and to RI” and this was pretty much the first time in forever since anyone treated her in any way more dignified than “disposable tissue” plus so of course she’s gonna put her trust on the hooded hero that saved her life twice over instead of anyone else, let alone the weird green cat that hates their guts. Platinum’s Operator Files even confirms that she really wants to go on a vacation with Doc somewhere, and also to get paid leave, and her Potential tokens are tickets for the amusement park for herself and Doc.

I don’t know about you, mate, but Platinum and Doc being super besties not only makes sense, it’s about the only way I can see them. Putting aside the fact that Doc has an incredible talent to earn the trust and friendship of assassins (Phantom, Schwarz, Manticore, Gravel), it’s funny that Doctor went to Kazimierz this one time for Actual Rhodes Island Business and to support their pal Margaret Nearl with her things, and came back home with one retired decorated knight (Whislash), one very enthusiastic mechanic (Blemishine), and two assassins that REALLY like him (Platinum and Gravel).

#arknights #look man I love the Kazimierz arcs the Kazimierz events are the vitamins that keep my blood running alongside the Abyssal Hunter stuff #platinum

[birdribs-art]

Manticore lady 🦂

#art #doodles #manticore #monsters

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

hey which arknights character would you want to be best friends with

This is a hard question because there’s so many good answers, especially depending on whether I want to get something out of it besides a cool friend. My thoughts below:

Firstly, Asbestos is my favorite arknights girl. However she’s also extremely noteworthy for being a huge asshole who has few friends and doesn’t want many. She’s also an explorer who spends months on end adventuring on expeditions, she would barely be around and when she is she would be insulting me constantly. She’s also 5’1” so it would be very funny to watch her try and bully me when I’m over a foot taller than her scrawny ass. I love her but in terms of what makes a good friend I think she’s a very bad pick, but that’s okay honestly

Here are some of the other operators that came to mind and why

Gravel would give you kissies even as a friend and would probably cuddle too

Whislash would get drunk a lot when we hang out and probably get all handsy. She’s an alcoholic wine aunt but shes very hot so I would enjoy being around her and helping her when she drinks too much I think

Ptilopsis seems like a lovely lady who I would really like to talk to and be friends with even though most people think she’s weird

Catapult would be fun to hang out with, she loves skipping out on responsibilities and having fun but she also has a good heart

If I’m a friend with a member of Pinus Sylvestris can I be friends with all of them? That would be ideal

I would love to get to know Margaret Nearl but I probably wouldn’t be able to help myself from falling for her like every other woman in the world

Lappland might stab me. This is not a downside it’s actually a bit of a plus

Tomimi is totally a himejoshi and I want to talk yuri with her. Also I hope she lets me touch her huge tail

I want to play Minecraft with Jessica

Utage would help me with clothes shopping and her knowledge of fashion and stuff would be very helpful to have for someone as ignorant about style as me. Also she seems fun to hang out with

Manticore has trouble making friends and that makes me pity her. I also love her and think she would be a fun person to be around even if she turns invisible if she stands still for 5 seconds. Autistic to autistic communication

Blue poison makes tasty treats but people don’t want to try them bc she has skin that secretes poison. I’d eat them I trust her

But if I really had to give an answer in terms of purely who would be a good friend to have, it would have to be either Blemishine or Cement. They’re both so positive and nice and also helpful. Their personalities are great and I want to be friends with them. Blem could also help you with her engineering skills and Cement could help you build stuff if you needed a hand, but that’s less important than them simply being kind people

#arknights #anon ask

[11queensupreme11]

Im sorry but WHAT are these ancient fucking laws I keep reading about in so many percy jackson fics 😭😭 I read the books a long time ago, so I don't remember it, but I thought it was just a fanon thing to explain why the gods are neglectful?

OKAY IM REALLY GLAD YOU ASKED THIS CUZ YOU'RE NOT ALONE

ive seen so many comments in arsenic blues from ppl who believe that ALL the gods are being WILLINGLY neglectful towards their kids, and that is NOT true.

the ancient laws are a canon thing in pjo. it's been mentioned many many times, but through scattered discussion. here's a list of dialogues that talk/mention it (the quotes were taken from this helpful reddit post btw)

example 1:

"Do not judge the Lord of the Sea too harshly," the Nereid told me. “He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favouritism.” “Even to their own children?” “Especially to them. The gods can work by indirect influence only. That is why I give you a warning, and a gift.”

example 2:

“Permission to kill, my lady?” I couldn’t tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore. The monster wailed. ‘This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws.”

example 3:

"Why show yourself now?" Luke demanded. His shoulders were tense, as if he expected a fight. "All these years I've been calling to you, praying you'd show up, and nothing. You left me with her." He pointed toward the kitchen like he couldn't bear to look at his mother, much less say her name. "Luke, do not dishonor her," Hermes warned. "Your mother did the best she could. As for me, I could not interfere with your path. The children of the gods must find their own way."

example 4:

“Luke, I care very much,’ Hermes said slowly, ‘but gods must not interfere directly in mortal affairs. It is one of our Ancient Laws. Especially when your destiny ...” His voice trailed off.

example 5:

My heart sank. Chiron was right, but it was all we could muster. For once I wished Dionysus were here, but even if he had been, I didn’t know if he could have done anything. When it came to war, gods were forbidden to interfere directly. Apparently, the Titans didn’t believe in restrictions like that.

example 6:

Hermes readjusted the mailbag on his shoulder. ‘Percy, the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly, especially when it comes to your own children. If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem ... well, that would only create more problems and more resentment.

example 7:

“Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades – and I imagine Poseidon does – they couldn’t retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other’s territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they’re bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero’s actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?”

example 8:

"Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly-that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

don't get me wrong, there are gods who couldn't care less about their kids and willingly neglect them, but it's veeeery wrong to believe that ALL the gods are like this. it's canon that gods cannot interfere in their children's lives, even if they want to. they don't neglect their kids because they don't care about them, they do it because they don't have a choice.

hermes and luke's relationship shows this perfectly. hermes IS a good dad (he's actually one of the best imo). he knew what luke's fate would be and TRIED to change it even though everyone knew it would be impossible, but he was desperate anyway because he loved his son and wanted to try and save him.

unfortunately, every attempt to change his fate always failed (because duh, can't change fate): he sent luke on a quest to "build him up as a hero" only for luke to fail and get a scar, asked percy and annabeth to save him, but they failed too (he even snapped at annabeth for failing to go with his son).

sooo yeah! like i said, there are some godly parents that willingly neglect their kids because they don't care about them, but that's not the case for every single god. there ARE gods who care about their kids, they're just forbidden to interact with them, and that means they can't raise them either.

#👸🏻| asks #👸🏻| arsenic blues

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Still Subject to Change Chapter 1 (NEW)

——————————————————————————-

Hello everyone! i decided to repost arc 1 of SSTC

(the chapters were way too long and had a bunch of typos but hopefully this will make reading easier)

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

if there are still any grammatical errors i'm sorry.

——————————————————————————

Hiding in an alley between two buildings I could look over the Market pretty well, and considering the clear spring weather it was possible to see all the way up to the Castle.

Fuck that place, I hoped it would burn to the ground and take the Racist King down with it!

Ohh how I hated being a hybrid of a human and one of the Fae beings that were definitely NOT human as was clearly seen in my way too blue eyes, very pointy ears, sharper teeth and the fact that some of my organs were doubled even if I didn’t need them.

Like, who even needed four kidneys? or two hearts? The second one wasn’t even beating

At least the second stomach was useful for holding my coins as for whatever reason it did not work like my normal one, probably also the result of my Bastard Status.

Back to the situation at hand, I needed food as I could not find anyone who would take in a bastard like me or even give me a job as per the King’s orders all Fae and even Woodfolk were to be banished.

I didn’t know how to survive in the woods since I was raised as the Human Donovan Verney and not as some wild magic creature like most Fae were so my only option to survive in this place was to steal.

I was not proud of it but I never took more than I needed and if possible left some of the coins that I had painstakingly collected from the ground as people lost them quite frequently.

Looking around I saw that one of the stands selling Pastries was currently not being tended to and decided to try and get some bread to at least last this week.

Dashing out between the buildings I aimed to just run past and grab whatever I could reach first and just book it out of here. 

but as I got close enough to grab a still steaming fresh Bun a Lady stood up from under the table the Pastries laid.

well too late to change course now, she’d be able to excuse one bread i was sure, running by i grabbed the Bun and Darted through the crowd just as the lady began screaming.

“THIEF!!! THIEF!!! SOMEONE GET HIM! ARREST HIM! THERE’S A STEALING FAE HERE I SAW HIS EARS!!!! SOMEONE HELP”

Man, this lady could scream loud! She acted like I had stolen her entire heritage instead of one measly bun, and even worse was that she had noticed my bastard status…

So it wouldn’t be long until the guards showed up.

As a matter of fact i could hear the telltale rattling of armor clanking against itself as the owners ran after me seemingly coming out of nowhere, fuck! 

They must have been patrolling nearby, today really wasn’t my lucky day.

Hearing them get closer I decided to Run towards the Silvervale forest as nobody in their right mind would go in there of their own free will seeing as it was infested with various Monsters.

Sprinting between some houses I arrived at a small field that led to the woods and decided to just run straight across it, hoping that as soon as I got to the edge of the woods they would stop following me.

Nobody in their right mind would follow me into there as the place was known to be teeming with monsters. 

Just last week a man that wandered too close got snatched and mauled by a Manticore and was never seen again.

I knew it was also dangerous for myself because I could very well be killed by one of the forest inhabitants as well.

But so far I’ve gotten lucky as my pursuers usually turned tail as soon as they saw that I went into the woods deeming them too dangerous and everyone that entered it immediately dead.

Reaching the Treeline and starting to run a bit slower i looked back and saw that the Guards that were after me weren’t even full guards, Just some apprentices wearing the standard kingdom issued training armor Consisting of a belly free breastplate and some Chainmail over Leather as well as sturdy boots and a standard shortsword.

That in itself would not have been so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that neither of them slowed down and instead just continued sprinting after me into the woods causing me to bolt away from them even faster to make up for the distance i had already lost while looking back.

I tried to get them off my trail by weaving between trees hoping they would lose sight of me but the Blonde one, who I assumed was the leader of the two as he was sort of dragging the rusthead behind him sometimes, was on my track like a Bloodhound.

I started to wonder if maybe they had a death wish following me in here seeing as I didn’t even know where I was anymore and I doubted they knew either, but this was a race for Survival MY Survival and I was not about to lose it.

I dared to look behind me one more time and saw that I had gained a bit of distance between us and I hoped that would only grow from here on out.

But as it turns out, looking behind yourself while running is not a good idea as I learned the hard way after a misstep led to me falling into a sinkhole that I didn’t see and tumbling down only served to scrape my knees and elbows.

The disorienting slide came to a stop at the bottom of a small cave where I face planted into the ground landing on some branches and dirt.

As I tried to stand up I noticed that my ragged shirt had caught onto something, and looking down I saw a Skeleton! 

Biting back a scream at this sudden development I tried to get off of it in a panic only to realize that the skeleton’s arm was sticking to my own as it appeared that a bracelet it had worn slipped over my own wrist as I fell on top of it.

Yanking the bones away and intending to just throw the Trinket next to it as it suddenly shrunk around my arm fitting perfectly like a second skin with inlaid gems I had never seen before, and now impossible to take off.

oh great some magic shit on top of this already bad day i mused in grimm irony as i tried to strip the thing off with no results.

Deciding to deal with this later and focus on escaping my entourage for now i climbed some roots that led me out of the hole i had initially fallen in.

Looking around for a second I saw that the men hunting me like Wildshot were way closer than before, so turning around I just booked it into the opposite direction towards a clearing I could see in the distance.

While stumbling exhaustedly over branches and stones I did not notice that I had started to grow until I stumbled once again and fell down.

getting up and looking back to the two that had followed me suddenly noticed that i was about five times their size now and they both stared at me, the Rusthead in unabashed Horror and the blonde in a sort of grimm shock.

I was stunned by this development. 

How did I grow? 

Then my mind and eyes snapped back to the Bracelet with the inlaid gems and I figured that the thing had to be actually cursed to do this to me.

Looking at the two guards in training, the blonde one who was ready to just stab me with his shortsword, now a mere toy to me, simply kept staring for a moment frozen in place.

I acted without thinking and grabbed the Rusthead next to him in a fist and plucked his weapon away from him as he squirmed in my grip.

“HEY!! LET HIM GO YOU BEAST!” 

commanded the blonde as he yelled at me.

“or what?” 

I growled at him in the deepest voice I could muster which, considering my newfound size was a lot deeper than I anticipated and ended up shaking the rusthead in my grip to the core as he tried to wiggle free from my grasp or at least get one of his arms free.

“I- i don’t know but please don’t hurt him! he’s only here because i told him to” 

the Blonde seemed a lot more jittery all of a sudden without his sword as he stared at my hand that had trapped his friend? brother? 

Whatever the Rusthead might be to him it was apparently rather important for him that he stayed alive and unhurt.

I realized I could use this to my advantage and began thinking up a plan on the spot.

“i’ll make you a deal”

I offered him.

“I know you’ll get as many guards as soon as possible the moment i let the little guy go so i will take him with me”

As he began to protest I cut him off saying.

“not forever of course, just for a week and then i send him on his way to skitter back to you”.

The guy in question apparently didn’t like that as he began shouting at me but I ignored it and instead put one of my fingers over his mouth to silence him.

The Blonde looked distrustingly at me and seemed to consider the pros and cons of this. 

He was probably fully aware that at this size I could very easily kill him and the Rusthead.

his eyes kept darting between my face and my hand which still held the other boy in an inescapable grip and finally sighed regretfully.

“if you PROMISE that you wont hurt him then i’ll agree to this just please don’t hurt him it’s my fault that he’s here”

He pleaded and started to take of his bag that he previously carried on his back

“I know that you’ll be far away by the time you’ll let him go. 

Can you take this with you? 

it contains some supplies so he can find his way back home”

I used my unoccupied hand to inspect the bag and saw that it contained a rope, a waterskin, a knife and some other useful tools.

While I inspected the bag the Blonde and the rusthead kept looking at each other desperately trying to figure a way out of this.

Stashing the bag in the front pocket of my pants I took my finger off of the Rustheads mouth so he could talk again which he immediately did.

“ARTHUR!” He wailed and tried once again to fruitlessly squirm free.

oh so the Blonde guy was named Arthur? 

“well say bye, you’ll see each other again in about a week” 

I held the wiggling Rusthead closer to the guy that apparently was named Arthur and let them say a few words to each other before standing up for the first time since I’ve grown into a giant and immediately getting a bit dizzy from the height I was looking down at Arthur.

Calculating a bit and using the Rusthead in my fist as a reference point I concluded that I was at least thirty feet tall now, if not bigger.

That was a lot larger than anything else I’ve ever seen and I was surprised that I didn’t just straight up put dents in the ground where I was standing.

Collecting myself and Holding the Rusthead, who at this point had given up trying to get free, closer to my chest i began walking in a random direction, now that i was a giant i could absolutely not go back to a city ever again i realized dejectedly, as i would immediately be killed on sight.

Fuck the King and his stupid policies that no Nonhuman is allowed within the Kingdom walls.

Deciding to shove my bitterness towards a man who I had never met away from me for some other time and trying to be at least a little friendly, I decided to try and reassure the little guy in my hand…

Oh Fuck i was holding an entire Person in my hand, that was insane!

Why did my brain only catch up with the fact that I was a giant now?

Making decisions on a whim when your life is in danger was apparently not my strong suit as I was now stuck with a person barely a fifth of my size for a week.

Shifting my grip on the guard in my hand I ripped his armor plate off and put it in my pocket to the rest of the stuff so I could hold him better.

He still had the chainmail and leather on him, And I had currently no Intention in taking that from him, as I promised that he wouldn’t be hurt, I deemed it best to leave him a majority of his armor.

Besides without a weapon there was no feasible way that he could hurt me.

But it still was extremely weird that I could fit an entire Person in my hand.

The guard in my Hands was still visibly shaken from the whole ordeal and fidgeting nervously with his Arms.

“Calm down Rusthead you’re fine i’m not going to hurt you" 

I tried to reassure him.

He however just mumbled

"don’t call me Rusthead”

and was honestly pouting about it.

“What do you want me to call you then?”

I asked him which seemed to catch him off guard a little as he looked at me surprised.

“ Oh uh…i… well my Name is Robin so call me that?" 

He jumbled out awkwardly.

"Alright I’ll do that, just cause we’re Stuck together for a week doesn’t mean we have to be mean to each other”

I replied while ducking under some branches making him flinch from the sudden shift in gravity and cling to my Fingers.

"So uh what’s your Name?”

Robin tried awkwardly to make smalltalk.

“Im Donovan and, well i’m not usually this tall”

I told him while trying to find another clearing.

“Yeah i can believe that you seemed just as surprised and confused as we did” 

he confessed.

“Also, can I ask where we are going?” 

he added meekly.

“Well frankly i have no idea so i think i’m going to go towards the Wyrmhurst Mountain and See if i can climb it"  

A Look of Horror crossed Robin’s Face at the mention of the highest peak in the direct vicinity of Kamerasca.

“Are you insane??? That’s like the most dangerous place here!! why would you even WANT to go there?!?”

“well im Giant now so i don’t know what would want to mess with me, besides i only want to go up there because i think i could see really far away”

Looking around I saw that the sun stood way lower than before and decided to start seeking for a shelter before the night fell.

“Besides i can just let you run back to Tunstead when i’m at the base of the mountain i’m not going to Climb that thing with you in my hands”

“So I don’t have to go up there? at least that’s a positive for now”

I nodded at him and continued striding through the forest even if my legs needed a rest soon. 

I had been up and about since yesterday morning after all.

Coming into a small clearing and deciding to just use the spot as a temporary camp for tonight, I asked the guy that currently just hung limply in my hand.

“Hey, are you tired? i think this place will do okay as a campsite for tonight”

“im fine with anything really” 

he conceded.

“as long as you don’t snore i guess” 

he added a lot more quiet.

“i’m pretty sure i don’t snore otherwise the actual guards in Tunstead would have found me sleeping in the alleys”

I reached my hand out and grabbed at the leaves of a nearby tree to try and to make it into a nest for Robin to sleep in.

the leaves felt flakey and almost fake in my now giant hands.

I realized halfway through my foraging that if I left Robin to sleep by himself without something to keep him from running away he would do exactly that.

Remembering the bag the other one gave me, I fished it out of my pocket and took the rope out that it contained.

“What are you…? uh what are you gonna do with that?”

the smaller asked nervously, staring at the rope in my hand.

“Well I know if i go to sleep you will just run away so i have to tie you up so you don’t escape”

I explained to him trying to figure out the best way to do this.

“WAIT wait can we talk about this? I’m not keen on sleeping on the ground while tied up like a wild horse!” 

He had started squirming again to get free, but like the last time it did not do anything other than tire himself out even more.

“You’ll be fine, it’s just rope not the end of the world” 

I rolled my eyes at him and started binding his legs together.

“ah what about ummm rope burn?! I don’t want rope burns that’s nasty and could get infected?”

He had started rambling at me to get me to reconsider tying him up, but he did have a point with the rope burns so, reaching into the bag once again, I took out what appeared to be a spare undershirt and started wrapping it around his bare arms.

“There, that should solve the rope burn problem” 

I told him as I tied his arms to his front.

“But what if one of the monsters of this forest shows up? or worse!”

He tried once more to get out of this by talking.

“if something does show up just scream and i’ll kick it as far as i can”

I told him while setting him onto the leaves I had prepared earlier and lying down next to it myself, sticking close in case he decided to somehow rob away while bound.

“At least i get a bed” 

he grumbled and fell over onto his side facing away from me.

“Whatever Goodnight, And if somethings wrong just yell for me” 

I said in his general direction, the entire day of walking had made me tired and now that the sun was gone I could barely keep my eyes open.

shuffling around a bit to get comfortable I closed my eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I was awoken later by someone saying my name, which in itself was unusual, as I rarely had any reason to tell it to anyone.

It took me a few seconds to recognize who was talking to me and at first I tried just going back to sleep before my name was said again.

Opening my eyes to look at Robin I saw that it was still night judging by the darkness around us.

“What’s the Problem?” I asked him sleepily and wished that it was nothing so I could go back to bed. 

I felt heavier than ever before and really just wanted to keep sleeping.

“It’s very cold. Can you make a fire?” he asked with chattering teeth.

Opening my eyes completely I saw my breath come out in little clouds and looking over to Robin I could just about make out frost on the leaf bed I had made and him lying pitifully shaking inside of it.

It was weird that the cold did not seem to bother me at all but i shoved that away for the next morning

“It’s too dark to make a fire and I don’t have firewood” 

I Informed him.

“Do you have any other ideas to warm me up?” 

His teeth chattering worse with each word he said.

Not knowing what else to do I rolled completely on my side, facing him and taking him into my hands once again, while also fishing out a handkerchief that I had in my other pocket intending to let the tiny Guard use it as a Blanket. 

I was glad that I had washed it before this madness happened.

Curling around Robin and laying the cloth over him like a blanket. 

I hoped that this was enough so I could go back to sleep already.

“thank you” 

I heard the softly spoken words that just barely reached my ears shortly before I fell back asleep.

The next time I awoke it was thankfully morning and i was not tired anymore, opening my eyes and looking around without moving beyond that as i remembered what had transpired last night and not wanting to roll over the small Guard i simply continued lying there.

glancing down to see if he was also awake I found him staring intently at a dandelion where a Bee currently tried to get nectar, not caring at all that it was stared at.

Shifting around a bit, I decided to at least wish him a good morning after he had to sleep in the cold for a few hours.

“Good morning” 

I politely greeted him.

He however, Flinched like a Wyvern had snuck up on him and whipped his head around to stare at me with wide pupils, Brown eyes wide before blinking and going back to normal.

“Hey you good?” 

I inquired about his weird reaction.

“ah i’m sorry i just had my mind somewhere else” 

He explained and then added sheepishly.

“i’m afraid it happens a lot that i just zone out”

“So I noticed” 

I replied dryly and started to get intending to stretch my muscles.

“So uh Donovan right?” 

I heard him ask from the Ground where he looked up at me.

“Yeah what is it?” 

I responded and bent down again to scoop his still rope bound form up from the ground while also pocketing my Handkerchief again.

“Can you unbind me now? Night is over and i want to be able to move again”

He seemed nervous asking me for anything at all which, considering the happenings of the past twenty four hours, I could not blame him.

Still I had not eaten since yesterday Morning as I was rudely interrupted by the entire madness that led to my current Situation and would have to get something today.

And having a small Person in my Hands while trying to find something would not be helpful.

“Not yet, i need to find something to eat first and dragging you around with me is not gonna do me any favors in that regard”

“Wait, you’re not gonna leave me tied up on the ground are you???”

He blurted out worriedly.

He HAD a fair point in that actually, i could not leave him in case one of the less friendly residents of this Forest showed up.

Having him sit on the floor would only be dangerous so thinking about it for a second I got another idea.

“I’m not gonna leave you on the floor don’t worry i’ll just put you in a tree most things can’t climb anyways so you should be safe” 

I explained to him and started looking for some suitable Greenery.

“That’s not any better?!?” 

He exclaimed bewildered and tried to chew on the part of the rope that went over his shoulder but couldn’t quite reach it.

“it’ll be fine i’ll just hunt some wildgame or something and i’ll share so you get something too”

I tried to placate him but he still looked grumpy about it as I put him in a tree somewhere above my head and left him dangling from a piece of rope.

“I’ll be right back with something to eat, okay? you’ll be fine in the meantime”

he did not respond and instead just pouted at me as I slowly went to look for anything edible.

Trying to navigate through the underbrush quietly proved to be difficult with my new size, as I kept stepping on branches and twigs and even entire logs as well as hitting my head on the overgrowth, sometimes alerting a few Birds.

After a few minutes however I got the hang of it and started to silently creep along between the trees until I spotted a Deer that was eating some lichen off a tree.

#sstc #lizards writing #vore story #giant/tiny #g/t story #extreme cuddling #Barmea #still subject to change

[tropes-and-tales]

Of Vipers and Direwolves, Part 1

Oberyn Martell x Stark!Reader

CW:  None that I can think of.  A bit of minor violence, a bit of blood.  There’s an age gap of nine (9) years, but nothing underaged will happen.

Word Count:  2758

AN: Per la bellissima @nuvoleincielo​ 🌻

AN2:  This was supposed to be a one-shot, but I’m breaking it up into a miniseries.

AN3:  This will not have Ellaria in it—either in this part or in future parts.  This is pre-Ellaria, timeline-wise.  Give it a pass if you feel a certain way about that.

When Oberyn Martell was sixteen years old, and when his sister Elia was seventeen years old, their mother, Princess Meria Martell, took them on a tour of Westeros.  The objective was to find Elia a suitable match. Meria hoped for a match that would marry off her beloved, delicate daughter to a man who would cherish her…and strengthen Dorne’s alliances.  An impossible task, perhaps.

There was a secondary objective to find Oberyn a similar match, but Meria despaired at her wild, hot-blooded, hot-tempered son.  He wasn’t quite a man yet, still a slim-built, fresh-faced boy, but he seemed to find himself in dangerous and indelicate situations all the same.  A more impossible task, then:  finding a match for her youngest son.

Still, it was a once-in-a-lifetime journey.  Meria visited old friends, allies.  They traveled across Dorne, to Starfall, then out of Dorne.  To the Arbor, to Oldtown.  A stop at the Shield Islands.  

They traveled north.  They stopped in Casterly Rock which was in mourning for the recent death of the much-beloved Joanna.  It was suggested that perhaps the golden-haired Cersei, a young beauty in the very flush of youth, could be a suitable match for Oberyn…until Lord Tywin sniffed at the suggestion and claimed that his daughter was destined to marry the Targaryen heir.

Northward then to Riverrun, Oldstones.  Moat Caitlin, then all the way to Winterfell.  Princess Meria and Lady Lyarra Stark had only met a few times, but they had been fast friends.  They exchanged ravens all the time, sent each other gifts and tokens of a friendship centered around their mutual love of history.

Winterfell was not as ornate as other castles.  It was built for utility, a grey fortress at the edge of the kingdom.  Still, the welcome was warm:  Lady Lyarra was there to greet the Martell party, along with her three youngest children.  Her eldest two boys were being fostered with bannermen, but her other three remained in Winterfell.  They stood beside their mother as the Martell family arrived.

There was Lyanna Stark, nine years old, a pale, slim girl with dark brown hair who curtseyed nicely and eyed Elia’s gown and diadem.  Eight-year old Benjen, a sharp-featured boy with a hawkish nose that, if he grew into it, could perhaps be striking when he reached manhood.

And you, the youngest Stark.  You were only seven years of age, pale like most Starks with the same cool grey-blue eyes.  You gazed at the Martells in wide-eyed wonder, fascinated by visitors from so far away.  You didn’t curtsey until your brother gave you a sharp elbow to the side, and then it was just a quick bob.

You were not shy.  You peered up at Princess Meria and asked, “did you bring a manticore with you?”

It earned you another sharp elbow to the side, and a slight frown from your mother.  Lyarra reached out a gentle hand, placed it on your head, and Meria smiled to see how you tried to duck away, a scowl on your little face.

“Forgive my youngest, Princess,” she said with a rueful sigh.  “Her septa allows her too much time with the fairy stories and not nearly enough time with her embroidery.”

Meria laughed at how your scowl deepened at that, and even Elia smiled a little.  Oberyn, for his part, had already wandered away, distracted by the bustle of activity in the courtyard.

“There’s time enough for embroidery, little Lady Stark,” Meria said kindly, stooping a bit to look you in your eyes.  Studying you closer, she could see that you were likely a handful for your mother:  there was a constellation of small scrapes along your neck, as if you’d been climbing trees.  Which seemed likely:  your braids were askew, and Meria saw a twig snarled in one.

“I really wanted to see a manticore,” you told her, and you looked so dejected that Meria chuckled again.

*****

You were disappointed by the Martell family.  Yes, they wore bright clothing, yellow like the sun and orange like fire, but you had never met anyone from Dorne before.  You thought they’d be more interesting.  You thought, perhaps, they would have brought something from Dorne, that faraway place so warm and sunny you could barely imagine it.

That afternoon, as they settled into their rooms, you went searching for Maester Walys.  Winterfell’s maester didn’t like you much, was usually irritated by your endless questions, but who else could you even ask?  He had forged almost a full chain at the Citadel and knew everything.

“The Martells didn’t bring a manicore,” you told him once you found him in his study.  “Even though I told mama to ask them for one.”

“Your Lady Mother did no such thing,” Walys replied with his usual heavy sigh.  “A gracious hostess doesn’t ask her guests to bring gifts.”

You hooked your chin on his worktable, poked a finger at the small pile of paper there.  “Do you think maybe they just couldn’t catch one in time?”

Another sigh.  “Manticores aren’t native to Dorne.  If you focused on your lessons with your septa, you would know this.”

You pulled a face at him.  “Her lessons are in sewing and singing, not creatures.”

“A young lady doesn’t need an education in creatures,” Walys pointed out.  “And the Martells aren’t here to bring you gifts of beasts and monsters.”

“I know,” you said.  You hated how much like a baby you sound, how whiny, but you hated it when Walys (or your septa or your father or your elder brothers or sometimes even your mother) acted like you were simple just because you were young.

“The Princess of Dorne and mama are friends,” you continued.  “So that’s why they are here.”

The maester snorted and shook his head at you.  “The Princess wouldn’t travel just for an idle visit, girl.  She’s looking to marry off her two youngest kids, and Winterfell is just the last stop on their tour.”

-----

You knew that marriage was a tool of the great houses of Westeros.  Your father was already plotting betrothals for your two older brothers.  You were a good spy, always sneaking around Winterfell, and so you heard all the gossip from the servants.  Your father had “southron” ambitions, according to some of the servants, and what was the most southern part of Westeros but Dorne?

The Martell girl, Elia, seemed sweet.  She had a shy smile, but she had answered all of your questions about Dorne during their welcome feast.  You had asked so many—so many that your mother tried to stop your mouth, but Elia had only smiled and said that you were no bother at all.

Would Elia marry one of your brothers?  Brandon, maybe, or Ned?  You couldn’t picture the sweet Dornish girl as the Lady of Winterfell.  She seemed like she wouldn’t survive a winter, really.

The Martell boy, Oberyn, seemed just like your older brothers.  Bored and boring.  He had only seemed interested in the Wall to the north, and the land that lay beyond it, but when you tried to talk to him (you were fascinated by the burning-ghosts of Hardhome, and the giants, and the ice-river clans that lived at the foot of the Frostfangs), Benjen had poked you hard in your side and told you to stop talking so much.

If Princess Meria was trying to marry off both of her children, did that mean that Oberyn was intended for Lyanna or you?

The thought made you lose your appetite, and you had a hard time falling asleep that night.

*****

The north had a wild sort of beauty that Oberyn Martell would come to appreciate when he was older and more mature.  Now, though?

He missed Dorne.  He missed the sun and the heat.  The journey had been a long one, and he half-guessed that his mother made him come along to break the romance he had been cultivating with the daughter of Sunspear’s castellan.

Winterfell was worth exploring, at least.  The fortress was warm, and the maester explained the natural hot springs underneath the castle.  Once he got his bearings, Oberyn explored with Elia.  The two visited the glass garden where plants could be coaxed to life despite the cooler climate.  They explored the broken tower that had partially burned down and had never been rebuilt.

The day after their arrival and welcoming feast, they explored the godswood in Winterfell.  It was a serene spot, but Elia shivered beside her brother at the quiet.  The great weirwood stood over a black pool, and the two approached it, studying the ancient face carved into the bone-white trunk.

“It’s spooky,” Elia said as she shivered again, and Oberyn was just opening his mouth to respond when something dropped out of the tree in front of them.

Elia shrieked, and even Oberyn put his hand on the pommel of his dagger.  He almost had unsheathed it before he realized that the something that had fallen out of the tree wasn’t a something.

It was a someone.

And it hadn’t fallen, judging by the spry way it regained it’s feet.  Your feet.  The youngest Stark girl, nimble as a cat, and when you stood up in front of them, you gave them a toothy grin.

“Do you always jump out at your guests?” Elia asked, and though her voice was still shaky, she was smiling too.  Oberyn knew his sister had been charmed by all of your questions the night before, and he had noticed the worshipful way you had gazed at his sister.

“Sorry,” you said.  “Don’t tell mama.”  A pause.  “Or Maester Walys.  I’m not supposed to climb anymore.”

“Why not?” asked Elia.

“I fell off of the broken tower last year.”  You held up an arm, added, “I broke my wrist.”

“Then perhaps you should take your mother’s advice,” Elia said.  She reached out and plucked a weirwood leaf from where it was tangled in your hair.

“But then I wouldn’t get any better at climbing,” you pointed out, and Oberyn couldn’t help but smile at your simple wisdom.

“Why do you like climbing?” Oberyn asked, but his question made your countenance change completely.  No longer smiling at his sister, you turned and scowled at him.

“I just like it,” you muttered.

Oberyn glanced at Elia at the sudden change in your mood.  She shrugged at him, and she tried to gently turn you back into good humor.

“We wanted to see the godswood,” she told you.  “We had never seen one before.”

It seemed to turn your mood—you took Elia’s hand and pulled her closer to the strange tree.  The carved face looked like a grimace from one angle, like a smile from another, but you seemed immune to the strangeness of it.  You only chattered about the tree, about greenseers and green-singers.

“I’ve been told that the Starks take their oaths in front of their weirwood,” Oberyn said, and again your mood seemed to sour, a frown on your face as he spoke.  

“Because one cannot lie in front of such an ancient tree,” Elia added.  “That they marry in front of it, take their vows in front of it.  Is that right, little Lady Stark?”

You narrowed your eyes as you looked at Elia, then Oberyn.  “I’m not going to marry.  I’m going to take an oath to never marry.  Then I won’t have to.  Then no one can make me.”

Both of the Martell siblings laughed at your vehemence.  

“I think you have some time before you have to worry about that,” Elia said gently.

That made you narrow your eyes even more, and you frowned so deeply that you hardly seemed a little girl. You looked like a stern old septa, and Oberyn laughed again.  

Which pulled your fierce glare directly to him.

“That’s why you’re here though.  Your mother wants to marry you off.  Maester Walys says so,” you said.

“We’ve visited many houses,” Elia offered, but your eyes were steady on Oberyn.  If you weren’t a little girl, it might be unsettling:  those grey-blue eyes boring into his face like cold fire.

“I’m not going to marry you,” you finally told him, your hands clenched into fists at your side.  “I’m not going to marry anyone, but definitely not you.”

Oberyn held out his hands in a gesture of peace, even if his pride was a little hurt that a girl who didn’t know him was so intent on not liking him.  He opened his mouth to tell you that it was fine, he didn’t want to marry anyone either, but you were in a high state of emotion.  Twin spots burned high on your face as you got steadily angrier, your face in a furious flush.

“And you shouldn’t marry my sister either.  You should leave Winterfell and go back to Dorne, which is a stupid place to not even have manticores—”

“Little Lady Stark,” Elia tried to interject, but you didn’t hear her.

“—you should leave my sister and I alone, we don’t want to marry you, we don’t want to marry anybody—”

“I never said—” Oberyn tried.

“—because neither of us want to marry because we are going to get a ship in White Harbor once we are grown, and we are going to travel south to the ruins of Valaryia—”

“No one—” Elia started to say.

“—and neither of us will need husbands because we will be explorers, and it doesn’t matter if father has southron ambitions!”  You said that last bit in a shout, breathless with a rage that even Oberyn could see had nothing to do with him.

But Oberyn was still a boy in many ways.  He had no understanding of the passion of a spirited girl who was savvy enough to see how limited her future could be.  He only meant to break the tension of the moment, only meant to cool your temper with a joke.

“Don’t worry, little Lady Stark,” he tried to joke.  “You can explore Sunspear when we marry.  I’ll allow you that much.”

The next part happened so quick that Oberyn would later admire your quickness.  The moment his words registered with you, you pounced on him.  With a snarl, with your teeth bared, you grabbed ahold of Oberyn’s wrist and sank your teeth into him.

It happened so fast that he had no time to react.  He felt the sudden throb of pain, but you had already released him.  Were already running out of the godswood, sobbing, as he looked down at where your teeth had broken his skin.

“Oh, Oberyn,” Elia said.  She took his hand in hers and inspected the wound.  She sighed and pulled the thin scarf from around her neck and wrapped his wrist to stop the slow trickle of blood.  “You shouldn’t have teased her.”

“I was trying to make her laugh.”

“She’s a girl, not one of your sweethearts,” Elia chided gently.  “It would have been wiser to say nothing.”

“No one ever accused me of being wise, sister.”

“No,” she agreed with a smile.  “Which is why you’ve been bitten and are now bleeding.”

“An important lesson,” he said, smiling back at his sister.  “Never tease a wolf-cub lest you want to feel it’s fangs.”

-----

Oberyn only saw you once more, that trip.  Northern justice, even against little ladies like you, was severe:  you had clearly been striped with a birch branch, judging by the stiff way you moved when your mother marched you into the guest quarters.  He would have felt bad for you if it weren’t for his own bandaged wrist, throbbing from where your sharp little teeth had pieced him.

“My daughter has something to say to you, Prince Oberyn,” Lady Lyarra said, and she pushed you forward gently.

You had been crying.  Your eyes were red and swollen, and you sniffled dramatically as you stared at the stone floor in front of you.

“I’m sorry for biting you,” you muttered.

Another gentle shove from your mother.  “And?”

You only scowled at the floor and said nothing.

“Must I send another raven to your father?” you mother asked, and your scowl deepened.  But any threats of further chastisement from Lord Stark didn’t make you speak.  You pressed your lips into a thin line and glared at your feet, your breath huffing out in angry little pants, but you didn’t say another word.  Oberyn couldn’t help but smile at your fierce stubbornness.

~~~Tag List~~~ @bananas-pajamas  @massivecolorspygiant​   @imspillingcoffee​   @amneris21​   @paintballkid711​   @mad-girl-without-a-box​   @bestattempt   @rosiefridayrogersunday​   @strawberrydragon​   @hoeforthefictional​   @greeneyedblondie44​  @leannawithacapitala​   @stardust-galaxies​  @buckybarneshairpullingkink​   @isvvc-pvscvl​   @mrschiltoncat​  @stillshelbs​   @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics​    @tobealostwanderer​   @nuvoleincielo​  @knivesareout​  @frankie-catfish-morales​    @prostitute-robot-from-the-future  

#Oberyn Martell #oberyn martell x reader #oberyn martell imagine #game of thrones

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

The Betty Issue is so.

I desperately need answers there - or an expansion? Not the whole Golb thing - that's plot. I'm talking about themes! I'm talking about framing devices!!

Why was she treated as crazy when she was *supposedly* doing the right thing? Why was she the *only* one trying? Why was she treated like a madwoman for going the distance? Marcy, Finn, and Jake stood aside and let her charge off after Bella Noche, but then during the Mars episode, they flip and tell her to stop?? Even earlier with tiny Manticore

That's not how you frame a hero - And I'm supposed to root for this lady? And her ideas about Ice King? When the framing around her is so twisted? No one was fucking helping her!!!

This isn't a question of "what is good for the character" - this is a question of writing - What is the writing trying to say? How? Why? Why?? Why????

#betty grof #simon petrikov #adventure time #fionna and cake #people are saying it would have been better if simon stayed as ice king #that idea came from somewhere #its not just them being WEIRD #the narrative is doing some FUNKY framing around the issue #if Betty good #why GOLB?!?! #if anyone can show an example of the narrative being on BETTY'S SIDE #beyond punching out Bella Noche #I will take it

[nighttimeebony]

My reactions, thoughts, and predictions that I had while reading Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse. At least the ones I bothered to write down. Spoilers below the cut. Also, fair warning, this one is way longer than either of my previous reaction posts. I had a lot of thoughts.

EDIT: part 1, part 2, part 4, part 5

I feel I should mention that the Percy Jackson books have objectively the best chapter titles

The mental image of Sally driving Percy and his friends to get their ass beat like it's just an after-school sports club is hilarious to me

Ooh, Thalia has hypnosis wind

So Thalia didn't age while she was in that tree? Because I remember she was much older than Annabeth at the time of her death, but now she, Annabeth and Percy are all the same age. Huh. Okay then.

NICO DI ANGELO!!! I've heard about you! You're gay! And he has a sister! Oh I am delighted and ready to love them!

Thalia insulting Grover's music taste.

ANNABETH IS TALLER THAN PERCY

Aww, Nico defending his sister.

OH SHIT, IS THORN A MANTICORE??!???!!

"They're not dolls! They're figurines!" Sure, sweetie.

CALLED IT

Bianca is great.

Oh my God, Nico, you beautiful nerd! XD

HUNTING HORN?!!?!!! SILVERY ARROWS?!!?!??? IS IT ARTEMIS?!!!! PLEASE TELL ME ITS ARTEMIS!!!!!

HOLY FUCK, ARTEMIS'S HUNTERS!!!!!!!

Zoë Nightshade is easily the most badass name I've ever heard in my life.

ARTEMIS!!!!!!!

Please tell me Annabeth is okay. I will not be okay until I know that she is

Oh my God, Nico! XD Also, chill, Percy, he's just a baby.

"Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down." Excuse me, what?!

Percy, leave Bianca be! Besides, you don't even know her! She can be a badass warrior hunter lady if she wants. What even are your hang-ups about Artemis's hunters? They saved your life.

Oh, wait, that's right. Camp Half-Blood needs more people to keep it protected. That's right.

Good for you, Bianca, but I can't say that I would ever leave my little brother to become an immortal virgin. No offense to them, but girl, your brother needs you. You may have a new family, but you're all he's got.

Oh, I love Artemis calling Apollo her annoying brother. Do we get to see them interact? I pray that we do.

Grover simping for Artemis is so valid.

Thalia thinking Apollo’s hot is so valid.

Apollo being an obnoxious kind-of hippy going through an anime phase is the greatest idea anyone has ever had. He's so stupid, I love him.

Apollo's comment about pretty girls turning into plants reminded me of the myth about the time where one of his boyfriends turned into a flower after he died. Hyacinthus. Because we cannot forget that Apollo is canonically bisexual. If Rick Riordan doesn't (at some point) acknowledge how gay ancient Greek mythology is, I'm going to riot.

Dating must be really weird at Camp Half-Blood. And between demi-gods in general, right? Because, technically speaking, they're all kind of related to each other. I guess it just works differently since the gods aren't human, so there's not the same case to be made about genetics and the potential for incest. Or maybe that only applies to kids who have the same god parent. Like how Percy sees Tyson as his brother. I’m wondering if the kids from other cabins feel the same way. Like, do kids from different cabins consider themselves siblings? Does Annabeth see the other kids from Athena’s cabin as her siblings? What does the dating scene even look like at Camp Half-Blood? Is it considered scandalous to date other members of your own cabin? Or do some people think it’s taboo or whatever to date other demigods in general? I don’t need sleep, I need answers!

Ohhh. Okay. So apparently Thalia has aged while she was in the tree, just very slowly. So if Percy is 14 and Thalia can pass as an 8th grader like him, and she should be somewhere between 12 and 19, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she's about 15 or 16.

Oh, hey, I was right. Thanks, Apollo.

Aww, poor Thalia. Lol. I was the exact same way when I drove for the first time. Literally had a panic attack on the spot, and I wasn't even controlling the Earth's temperature.

Yay, Tyson! I was worried we wouldn’t see him again until, like, the last book or something.

Aww, it’s so sweet that Tyson wants to see Annabeth. And it’s adorable how cool he thinks she is.

Wow, Luke really is an unbelievable bastard. Annabeth is smart, she was smart to question him, but when the rocks started to fall, her instincts drove her to protect Luke, because even though he’s an unbelievable bastard, Annabeth still can’t help but harbor positive feelings for her. For the longest time, he was family to her and she loved him, so of course those feelings are still there, even if she knows it’s illogical.

Wait. Annabeth is holding up the ceiling of a cave, which Percy acknowledges that she shouldn’t be able to do. So… is the cave ceiling actually the sky? Like how, in Greek mythology, the sky is held up by the titan Atlas? In the mythology, Heracles trades places with Atlas holding up the sky while Atlas helps Heracles complete one of his twelve labors, and when Atlas is about to leave, Heracles tricks Atlas into taking back the sky before bolting. Like how Luke tricked Annabeth into holding up the cave ceiling before leaving her alone to hold it by herself.

Okay, Grover, chill out with the stalking, bud.

I guess Grover and Annabeth take turns getting damsel-ed. Last book was Grover’s turn and this book is Annabeth’s turn.

Don’t worry, Percy, I forgot about that scarf too.

Okay, not liking how the Hunters are portrayed. Because when Artemis says to give up love, she only means romantic love, which is clearly not the only kind of love. Greek mythology practically invented the concept of differentiating and identifying different kinds of love. The Hunters should know that, but the way they act towards the other campers is really… I dunno, gross? They act like their way of life is the only way that matters, which is super fucked up coming from the people that follow Artemis.

“I wondered if there was any way I’d looked that ridiculous when I’d first arrived.” Percy, that was literally only two years ago, get off your high fucking horse. XD

Thalia static-shocking people when she’s annoyed is golden and I love her.

Oh, fuck.

OH, FUCK!

Oh, we love the prophecies… Yayyyy.

Okay, guessing time. Artemis is chained to a rock, which immediately made me think of Prometheus, the titan that gifted fire to humanity and was punished by Zeus to be chained to a rock and have an eagle eat his liver every day for eternity. But then the Oracle mentioned that one must withstand “The Titan’s Curse,” which could be another reference to Prometheus, but I don’t think so. Because in the myth, Heracles killed the eagle and freed Prometheus from his punishment, so I’m pretty sure it’s not that, but you never know. Then I remembered Annabeth and my prediction that she’s currently holding up the sky like the titan Atlas, and the Oracle said that “one must withstand.” Admittedly, my knowledge of Atlas and his mythos is shaky at best, and I don't remember him ever having a "curse", but I guess holding up the entire sky is about as "cursed" as it's possible to be. And the Oracle saying that “one must withstand” makes me think that something happened to Atlas, so now someone needs to hold the sky in his place or else the sky will collapse to the earth and the world will end, or something like that. So that’s my prediction, that someone will need to hold up the sky in Atlas’s place for the rest of, well, forever. I don’t have a guess as to who it could be, though.

Also, someone is apparently going to die. And be killed by their god parent. Awesome… Super looking forward to that inevitable heartbreak… I hope it’s not either of the di Angelo kids, but they’re both new characters, and I know Nico becomes more important later (purely by accident and through pop culture osmosis), and since I had no idea that Biance even existed until I started reading this book, I am terrified that that means Bianca is going to die. I pray that I am wrong.

Wow, Thalia is petty and I’m kind of living for it.

I love that the Stoll brothers are basically Greek Fred and George Weasley.

Wow, Zoë’s kind of a bitch. She won’t travel with Percy because he’s a boy, and apparently Grover doesn’t count as a boy because he’s a satyr. Super fucked up.

You know, Artemis did have male Hunters. It didn’t happen often in the mythology, but there was a pretty famous male Hunter of Artemis named Hippolytus. The thing about Artemis’s Hunters isn’t that men weren’t allowed to be Hunters, it’s just that men typically didn’t choose to be Hunters, because one of the reasons why Artemis’s Hunters joined her in the first place is because Artemis protected the women in her care from the sexist constraints placed on them by Greek society at the time. The reason why men didn’t typically become Hunters is because they didn’t need the same kind of protection and escape from Greek society that women did. And Artemis didn’t hate men on principal, she hated the fact that men were the ones who used their positions of power to discriminate against and abuse the women in their society.

Aww. Grover’s such a sweetheart.

I love Sally.

Percy has so many damn Dreams™ and nightmares I have to wonder if this kid ever sleeps.

Apparently Percy knows the names of the pegasi, which is adorable to me. And this one is apparently Blackjack, which is a great name for a horse.

Aww, I want a baby serpent cow.

Aww, Nico. He's precious and I love him. Protect this child at all costs

Oh, I know about Ariadne. Theseus ditched her on an island after she helped him navigate the labyrinth and kill the minotaur. That's how she met Dionysus. I'm pretty sure they got married not too long after.

Aww, Dionysus and Ariadne are still married. That'd be kind of sweet if Dionysus wasn't such an asshole.

Yup, I know about Medea too.

Did they really just give Dionysus the Snape treatment? He hates all heroes on principle because one of them was cruel to his wife? He thinks he’s justified in harassing children because they’re training to be heroes, and he thinks that all heroes suck? Wow, dude. Get a life.

Oh, cool, Bianca’s forgetting things now. Nothing sketchy or sinister about that, I’m sure.

Is the General the titan Atlas? If my earlier theory was right, then he's gotta be.

Excuse me, teeth?! Plant them?!

Oh, wait! I think I know what that’s talking about. In Jason’s myth, he had to yoke a field with the teeth of (if memory serves) fire-breathing oxen. I don’t remember what planting the teeth did, but I’m guessing it wasn’t anything good.

HAH! Saber-toothed tiger kitties popped out

The General talks about mortals the same way I talk about fanfiction and anime

OH FUCK THE NEMEAN LION

“Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters.” Truth.

Wait… what’s going on with Bianca? There’s something fucky going on with her memory.

“‘Bianca,’ Zoë said. ‘How long ago…’ Her voice faltered.” FOR FUCK’S SAKE, RICK!

Ain’t no way this friendly homeless guy isn’t some kind of hell monster.

Oh. I stand corrected. Not a hell monster. Probably a god. The gods love disguising themselves as old people to test mortals

The Mountain of Despair. Sounds fun. I wonder if this is the mountain Prometheus was chained to, since it’s powered by titan magic and all that.

Ladon… I know that name. I recognize that, but I can’t for the life of me remember his myth or anything about him.

*in reference to one of Percy's dreams* Oh, wait. Is this Jason and Medea?

Oh, nope. It was Zoë. I figured she had some kind of bad break with a boyfriend or something, but I dismissed it at first because I figured she was too young. But I guess if she was around during ancient Greek times, that sort of thing doesn’t matter.

Oh, hey! I once visited Cloudcroft, New Mexico! It was a nice little place.

“I was never very comfortable talking one-on-one with girls anyway…” Okay, Percy, you and I both know that is a lie. Annabeth is, like, your best friend.

"'Bianca,' I said. 'That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?'" Oh no.

Seventy years?!

Oh, fuck.

99% sure Aphrodite is the one in the car.

WAIT, HOLD UP! IF BIANCA AND NICO WERE BORN MORE THAN 70 YEARS AGO, THAT MEANS THEY WERE BORN BEFORE THE BIG 3'S OATH, RIGHT?! SO DOES THAT MEAN MY THEORY ABOUT HADES BEING THEIR GOD PARENT IS RIGHT?!?!??!! OHHHHHHH, SHIIIIIITTTTT

"When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth." AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Aphrodite is the patron goddess of shippers.

What the hell, Aphrodite, chill, lady.

"You act like it was real." Percy, this is Greek mythology. Every single star/constellation was either a person or an animal before this whole mess.

"It... it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have." OH MY GOD!! ToT

"If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry." WHY??!!?!?? LITERALLY DON'T!!!!!

"Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di Angelo was gone." WHAT THE FUCK?!!??!!! WHY DO YOU HATE ME!???!!??

No, but please tell me she's not dead. The prophecy just said "lost", not dead. And there's no body, so she could still be alive. Rick hasn't killed anybody yet, Bianca cannot be the first. I refuse.

The Hesperides! That's why Ladon sounded so familiar! He was the dragon!

"'But--' Gurgle, gurgle, the naiad spoke in my mind." RICK!!!!!! FINISH YOUR GODDAMN SCENES FOR ONCE!!!!! THIS IS THE KIND OF STRESS AND ANTICIPATION THAT MAKES PEOPLE LOSE HAIR!!!!

I like that Grover, Percy and Thalia actually listened to Annabeth ramble about her special interest enough that they can just recall random facts like that. It's an adorable little friendship detail, but also fucking sad. I miss Annabeth.

Hah. "Dam". Let these kids swear. They deserve it.

"'Nah,' I said. 'Not that high.'" Aww, Percy's a good friend.

Hah. Statue fucking.

Oh no! Is Bessie the monster! No! But she's so cute!

PLEASE DON'T KILL THE BABY COW SNAKE

"'This is Atlas's mountain,' Zoë said." LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOO

"'Yes,' Zoë said bleakly. 'Atlas is my father.'" THE GAME JUST FUCKING CHANGED

*after finishing chapter 18* ......... Fuck, man.

Wait, why isn't Hades a part of the Twelve Olympians? And why haven't we heard any mention of Demeter's demigod children? I can't remember the last time the Demeter Cabin was even mentioned, if it ever was.

Well, I guess Thalia joining the Hunters is a pretty roundabout way to have the prophecy be about Percy.

"But I will be watching, Percy Jackson. I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter." Well, then you're gonna hate what happens later.

Aww. Percy and Annabeth have matching battle scars. Sort of. Still sweet.

Oh, no, Nico.... Baby.....

"It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead." OH FUCKING SHIT

"A son of Hades." OH FUCKING SHIT

HOLY SHIT, PAN HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

#pjo #pjo the titan's curse #the titan's curse #percy jackson spoilers #pjo spoilers #percy jackson and the titan's curse #percy jackson #nico di angelo #pjo thalia #bianca di angelo #zoe nightshade #grover underwood #annabeth chase #percy jackson the titan's curse

[imthepunchlord]

Ok since you were discussing the kwami's true forms, I finally feel comfortable sharing the ideas I had. Ok so keep in mind I wrote these ideas ages ago so some of them the ones that got cut might still be here and I just left out the of seven since they were at the top.

Dragonfly - Western Dragon Grasshopper/Cricket - Fossegrim Mantis - Mantis Man (or woman since they seem very tied to Femininity) Mouse/Rodent (includes rats, squirrels, and bats) - Matagot Rabbit - Moon Rabbit Snake - Naga Horse - Pegasus or Longma Monkey - one of the Celestial Primates (probably the red-butted baboon or long-armed gibbon) (I felt those two would be the best since, from what I remember, they are are only mentioned and never actually appear) (though the six earred macaque could work since he doesn't appear after his debut since Sun Wukong apparently kills him) Lion - Nemean lion or Manticore Tiger - Shuihu Dog - Laelaps Wolf - Fenrir Rooster - Phoenix Deer - Eikþyrnir Goat/Sheep - Satyrs Pig/Boar - Crommyonian Sow Ox/Bull - Minotaur Bear - Torngarsuk Fish - sea dragon Spider - Jorogumo Frog/Toad - Loveland frog or Money Toad Eagle - Thunderbird Owl - Strix Songbird - Siren Crane/Heron - Crane Maiden or the lady of the lake Swan (Duck and Goose) - Swan Maiden Raven (Crow and Magpie) - Augury Dove - Caladrius

Thank you for the list and suggestions.

#ask Punchie #kwamis #kwami true forms

[msweebyness]

Miraculous Second Gen- School for Monstrous Youths (My Characters)

Hey, ya’ll! These are the first set of kids from the Monstrous Youths AU! I figured I’d let Artzy post the kids for their OC couples on their own time! Enjoy! @artzychic27 @imsparky2002

Polycule:

Emma:

Voodoo Doll/Human Hybrid, Adrinette

She/Her

Age 15

As clumsy as her (bio) mom

Still has a ton of energy, but must be more careful due to voodoo powers

Struggles with some OCD

Influencer for monster-made products

Louie:

Vampire/Dragon Hybrid, Lukagami

He/Him

Age 14

Can see people’s auras

Musician like his (bio) dad, super mellow

Struggles with hoarding like his bio mom

Kinda the family therapist

Hugo:

Voodoo Doll/Vampire Hybrid, Lukanette

He/Him

Age 10

Emerging Himbo still

Wants to play sports, but can’t do contact due to voodoo powers

Sometimes forgets about said powers

Loves going bat mode

Best friends with Hector

Alison:

Dragon/Human Hybrid, Adrigami

She/Her

Age 6

Only hoards items that symbolize significant memories

As stoic as Kagami

Intelligent for her age but doesn’t talk much

Scariest dragon glare ever

Alyno:

Cecily “CeCe”:

Ghost/Stein Hybrid

She/Her

Age 16

Super driven, like her mom

Has a bit of a problem with remembering to knock before phasing through a door

Runs a monster activism news site

Always arguing with her brother

Loses track of her limbs often

Cody:

Ghost/Stein Hybrid

He/Him

Age 16

Gives off ectoplasmic static when excited

Really chill, but does meditation to help with anxiety

Plays the keyboard, and writes a comic series about a group of hybrid monster spies

Really wants to ask June out

Julerose:

Marek:

Vampire/Angel Hybrid, Bio Mom Juleka with a donor

He/They

Age 17

Incredibly shy like Jules, but has a love for all things cute

Flying helps him calm down

Learning guitar from his uncle

Will stab someone who threatens their loved ones

Dating Vicki

Myvan:

Juniper “June”:

Plant Monster/Yeti Hybrid

She/Her

Age 16

Mega blunt like her father, but with her mom’s caring demeanor

Has a fierce yeti temper and WILL throw rocks

RBF for days

Activist for the environment and monster rights

Gets tangled in her vines

Wants to ask Cody out but nerves are a thing

Hector:

Plant Monster/Yeti Hybrid

He/Him

Age 10

Gentle giant like his dad

Speaks too quiet to hear most of the time

Loves working with plants and animals

Fidgets with his vines when nervous

Best friends with Hugo

NathMarc:

Elicia:

Moth Creature/Werecat Hybrid, Bio Dad Marc with a surrogate

She/Her

Age 17

Sassiest lil missy, must be the werecat genes

A very talented sculptor

High-functioning autism, limited emotional expression

Spooks at loud noises, like Marc

Has a crush on Destiny

Kimdine:

Victoria “Vicki”:

Aquatic Monster/Werewolf Hybrid

She/Her

Age 17

Has the energy of three people

Fastest swimmer in the region, and a track and field star

Models for Mari’s fashion label, has a good number of fans

Herbo, but like, book-smart

Dating Marek

Nicolette “Nikki”:

Aquatic Monster/Werewolf Hybrid

She/Her

Age 13

Much more subdued and reserved than her fam

Voice of reason mixed with deadpan snarker

Really tech savvy, makes her own software

Really fast swimmer like her sister, and super agile

Besties with River

Alix:

River:

Manticore, Adopted at 1

They/Them

Age 13

Snarkiest lil shit, it’s why they and Nikki get along

Daredevil like their mama, they do extreme sports together

Really smart, makes top grades

Wonders about their birth parents sometimes, but loves Alix and wouldn’t trade being with her

Has to be careful with their tail spines

Breckvie:

Destiny:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

She/Her

Age 17

Only one of the three with the power of siren song

Loves to sing but has to be careful with her powers

Proper lady like her mama, manners are impeccable

Sweetest girl alive, takes care of people out of instinct

Has a crush on Elicia

Reagan:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

She/Her

Age 12

Only one with the full lower body of a horse

School’s sprinting champ

Herbo™️

Crazy good cook, big Kronk vibes

Daddy’s Girl

Milo:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

He/Him

Age 9

Wants to be a vet, adopts random animals

Ray of sunshine 24/7

Has hooves and wings, and a good singer

Very perceptive for his age

Jessthony:

Warren:

Daemon, Adopted at 3

He/They

Age 15

Super shy, but has a quiet snarkiness

Mari’s design protégé, fashion sense is on point

Always fidgeting, usually has stim toys

Starting a foundation for abandoned daemon kids like himself and his Dad

Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs! Enjoy the monster kiddies!

#miraculous ladybug #school for monstrous youths #monster high au #future kids #mlb ocs #mlb AU

[darkcerbshaun]

OC ART

Time to show off some wonderful art I got from @akira-raikou (akira_raikou on twitter) of my OC's Elara the kitsune and Vex the manticore lady with Etheryn from the erotic video game corruption of champions 2!

#oc artwork #corruption of champions 2 #coc2