#let alone how to do it horizontally ^^; so this was an attempt at learning more than one thing i guess lmao. whoops

[bantucola]

Why study Black history? Slavery ended a long time ago. Do we still need a Black History Month? Is Black History Month racist? If not, then why don't we study white history or have a White History Month? We hear these questions often from friends, family, and foes. We see them discussed on social media, television, radio, and podcasts. When writing or speaking about Black history, people have mixed reactions.  Some are very excited to learn about rarely taught parts of history, especially if it is specifically relevant to their lineage. Others become irritated at any mention of the topic, finding it both unhelpful and divisive. Regardless of their opinion about the subject, if we are talking to well-intentioned Christians, whether Black or white, the answers to the above questions are very simple. God commands us to love Him and our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-40).  Below are some thoughts on why we believe American Christians should study Black history. In Matthew 22, someone asked the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”. Jesus responded by combining Deuteronomy 6:5 (“...thou shalt love the LORD thy God…”) and  Leviticus 19:18 (“...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…”). Many people have noted that the Ten Commandments can be divided into two categories. The first four are “vertical” commands that inform how we should love God, then there are six “horizontal” commands that show how we should love our neighbors. Love Your Neighbor by Honoring Your Forefathers So let’s begin with what may be more visible for people, their neighbors. The first of the commands to love our neighbors is the fifth commandment, to “honor your father and your mother”. Throughout the Bible, there are many examples of how to honor your parents. However, the Jews also honored their forefathers with the same respect as their father. There are examples of giving honor to and learning lessons from Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Ruth. Therefore, as American Christians, anyone who is a descendant of African slaves is born with a specific duty to honor the memory and history of their forefathers as well as their parents. There are many lessons that we can learn from those who overcame great struggles, not only to help themselves but also to uplift their race, all the while pointing others to the source of their strength, which is God. Love Your Neighbor by Understanding Your Neighbor Many wonderful American missionaries travel to distant lands with a drive to make disciples of “every nation” or “people group”.  When they embark on these journeys, they often take time to learn the language, customs, and history of the people that they intend to reach.  Oddly, within their own nation, such efforts become rare or are deemed unnecessary. People who are not descended from African slaves have a tendency to discount or entirely skip the history of their Black neighbors.  Frustration sets in as many Churches remain segregated. Anger sometimes disrupts integrated congregations as bits and pieces of troublesome history are unearthed. Churches need to be educated, open, and honest about their history, whether it is complimentary or unflattering. After all, how can you love your neighbor or reach them with the gospel if you don’t attempt to understand how the history of this nation impacted their ancestors and affects their daily lives? Love God by Recognizing His Control As self-professed nerds, we love history because it is God’s story, and has therefore been called His Story.  From the Old Testament to the Roman Empire, and from the Transatlantic Slave trade to the Civil Rights Movement, all history tells of God’s power, love, and sovereignty in the affairs of men.  His ways are not our ways. He alone declares the beginning from the end. So we must trust in Him and trust His plan. Trusting His plan is important for reconciling God’s sovereignty with the egregious wro

ngs and oppression found in history. For example, where was God when the Children of Israel were crushed with Egyptian slavery?  He was establishing the foundation of a powerful nation that would rule from Joshua to Jeconiah. Where was God when Christians were murdered and destroyed by Roman slavery?  He was building a powerful church that would outlast their Roman persecutors. The history of African Americans, who are the descendants of Black American slaves and freedmen, is the story of God’s Sovereignty in the history of the persecuted Africans destined to live on Western shores. Many people, books, and museums ignore this history due to ignorance, embarrassment, or hatred.  To ignore this history, in either its exalted beauty or its gory details, is to deny the work of the Holy Spirit in the affairs of men. If we are to love the God that wrote this history, then we must read and study this history and properly praise Him for it.

[doodleodds]

it’s technically not retreating if you’re still shooting!

#does it count as akeshu if I was thinking about it while drawing this #akira kurusu #goro akechi #persona 5 #GUESS WHO WAS GRINDING FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS IN MEMENTOS AND PROCRASTINATING ON SAE'S PALACE #AND THEN FORGOT THAT I PUT MY GAME IN MERCILESS TO BEAT OKUMURA AND FORGOT TO CHANGE IT BACK #AND D I E D BECAUSE I DIDN'T USE TECHNICAL DAMAGE IN ONE BATTLE #SO I GOT WIPED IN ONE ENEMY PHASE TURN BY ACCIDENT!!! #AND THEN WAS SENT BACK TO THE TITLE SCREEN. WHEREUPON I DISCOVERED THAT I HAD SOMEHOW MIRACULOUSLY NOT. SAVED. FOR THREE HOURS #i. am not ok right now #three hours. three...hours..........and like 3 requests and 10 floors in mementos. god #sigh. so here's one of my latest attempts at teaching myself how to color! yee haw #...i dont. know how to draw people in profile #let alone how to do it horizontally ^^; so this was an attempt at learning more than one thing i guess lmao. whoops #BUT! I did find a brush i like! it's a little rough but i like the way it looks. i go back and forth between liking only smooth brushes #and liking pixel-y brushes. i am currently in my pixel-y phase #probably more art coming soon! have had a few ideas for comics recently. but maybe dont hold your breath #bc im still devoting a lot of my time to actually playing the game lmao #but yeah! ok rant's over. you all can go home. you're free! #thanks for reading my long ass tags umu

[linwritesif]

writing prompts

mostly angst, hurt/comfort, some rivalry/enemies-to-lovers banter, some intense romance, just a mix. Those quotes were in my head for just too long. Enjoy writing if you want to use them, I suppose?

“I will make you wish you could feel such a thing like love.”

“Your lies used to be more believable.”

“Will you give up? If you won’t be able to break down my walls?”

“You know better than to ask me this.”

“I would ask you what is your reason for this, but I fear the answer would be more disturbing than the lack of it.”

“Whether I tried to have you killed or not is of no relevance to our current situation.”

“I’m no fool, [Name]. Everyone has a limit, and when you reach yours — whatever we had will end.”

“Is there any authority you respect?”

“Your voice would make even the guardian of Hell bend to your will.”

“Desperation kills morality, even in the strongest of us.”

“Accepting help doesn’t make you weak.”

“I would burn all that is sacred and pure just to keep you safe.”

“Do not presume to know me — you don’t.”

“You’re bleeding — why are you bleeding?”

“Is your learning curve a horizontal line?”

“I’d rather make you scream a bit differently, but this will do.”

“I will never say these words to you, I told you that before.”

“Please, speak modernly, I feel like a mob of Puritans will jump me at any moment.”

“I had a nightmare, you were in it.”

“Why do so many people dislike you? I mean I know why they dislike you, I’m curious why so many.”

“Every time you open your mouth, a lie follows.”

“I have known you your entire life — did I ever turn you away when you needed help?”

“Your mind must be a very scary place.”

“You never had the time to really stop and care for yourself, have you?”

“Would you say you have difficulty at following orders?”

“I’d make a deal with the Devil himself if that would’ve saved you.”

“I can see the cracks in your mask, every time you say you don’t love me.”

“I do not need sight to know someone’s beauty.”

“The day I realised I love you, was the day I first feared death.”

“Leave you alone? Perish the thought, you’d die without me.”

“Acting tough will not make it hurt any less, you know this, yes?”

“How do we keep getting into these situations? Oh yes, because of you.”

“Your morals are like a legend — rumoured to exist but no proof to back it up.”

“Loving you is more time consuming than I thought.”

“I barely know you, and yet I already regret it.”

“I guess it would be fitting — for such a cruel being to have such a beautiful mask.”

“Protecting you will get me bald before I reach my 40s. I already have grey hair!”

“I could never leave you, not that I’d tried.”

“When I said „pick your battles” you’re aware I did not mean „pick all the battles”, yes?”

“I know it hurts, but it will stop soon.”

“I’d never guess that I’d end up here with you.”

“You look red — is there a reason for it?”

“This was… an attempt.”

“Bold words for someone who can be defeated by a bit of sunshine.”

“I am not angry that you assumed the worst — I am angry because despite everything I’ve done you still do not trust me enough to believe when I say I would never abandon you.”

“Neither Heaven nor Hell will keep me from you, [Name].”

“Normally it is the thought that counts but what on earth was going through your head when you tried to do this?”

“Your hands are so cold, let me help.”

“Why do you never give up?”

“Will we be okay?”

“Look at us, getting along. Who would’ve thought?”

“I promise, this is the last time I drag us into a situation like this.”

“You are ridiculous when you’re jealous.”

“We are not alone.”

“Will you tell me when you’re ready?”

“Have you no soul?”

“Are you capable of cutting back the snarky comments for one minute?”

“The dramatic mannerism — is it an aesthetic or books were your only friend when you were a child?”

“I want to strangle you majority of the time, why are you so shocked?”

“This escalated rather quickly.”

“If you keep being so loud, we will have an audience soon.”

“I stare into your eyes and I see nothing.”

“Admitting defeat takes strength.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d ask if you knew what you’re doing.”

“[Deity], why must I love an idiot? Why this idiot in particular?”

“Reminder to self — never let [Name] have the final say.”

“I could’ve been drinking mimosas right now — instead I’m stuck here with you.”

“If I wanted you, you’d know.”

“Stay still or this will hurt much worse.”

“You really do have low standards, huh.”

“Well, you look rather dashing.”

“My expectations for you were low, but somehow you still failed to meet them.”

“If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask.”

“You’re a complete brute.”

“I want to regret knowing you. I want to, but I can’t.”

“Were you crawling the sewers for the past six days? You look like you did.”

“You test my patience every single day.”

“Be honest — was this a part of your plan?”

“How am I supposed to breathe when you are so close?”

“It would be better for all of us if you were a better liar.”

“Tell me, do you really think I’m stupid?”

“If you keep doing this, you’ll get us killed.”

“Your eyes… they look different now.”

“Could you truly feel the love of another, if you have no soul?”

“You never should’ve kissed me.”

“Have you no shame?”

“Not to ruin the mood, but I think you broke my rib.”

“Did you ever truly care?”

“Do you ever stop to think about other people?”

“Whatever makes you think I care for you?”

“Stop lying to me.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“Keep assuming things about me, see how well it will go.”

“You will have no ally in me, but I won’t be your enemy either.”

“It must be cruel, to suffer immortality when you hate yourself so much.”

“Life without companions is a dull one. Still, I wish you had a stronger survival instinct.”

“Please, tell me you did not try to pet a wild beast again.”

“You’re insufferable. Sit down, stop wincing, you did this to yourself in the first place.”

“I’m glad I didn’t kill you.”

“Once you said you’d never love another, would you say that again, now?”

#writing prompts #I was bored and had random quotes stuck in my head #this is the result #also this sat in my drafts for like #2 weeks #whoops #writing #sentence starters #angst #hurt/comfort #enemies to lovers #rivals to lovers #idiots to lovers #prompts #reluctant lovers #wip #could also be platonic #bcs who can stop you #go wild yall

[nobodyfamousposts]

Akuma-ed: Littlebug

Because Littlebug deserves some love.

...and fun.

_____________

The world, Littlebug was coming to discover, was full of "things".

That tall flat "thing" was a "bed".

That other long cushy "thing" was a "couch".

The white odd-shaped "thing" her boy wore on his back was a "shirt". And so was the black "thing" with colored stripes beneath it.

The "Dark One" himself was a "thing".

"Hey, you're more of a 'thing' than I am, Spots."

...though he did not like to be called such.

Still, the world was full of so many "things". Each with many parts that made them up. Each with different functions.

She wanted to know the "things".

She wanted to know ALL the "things"!

So she would do whatever she could to learn about all the "things" she could.

Her Boy was a big help with that.

That big round orange "thing" was a "ball". But so was the smaller white "thing". And the bigger green but not as big as the orange other "thing". Which was confusing, but they were all for bouncing, throwing, kicking, and rolling.

The large flat thing that rested on the stand was a "T.V." Its function was to display images of things that were happening elsewhere or things that her Boy wanted to see.

The Dark One himself had the function of eating cheese.

"I like her! She knows me well!"

Her Boy wouldn't let her see the multitude of red and black spotted "things" he kept in his closet for unknown reasons, but they certainly must have functions as well.

Littlebug knew her own function was to protect her Boy and make him happy. But for her to do that, she needed to understand the world and the "things" in it.

Her Boy was helpful with that. When she would point t or bring him the "thing" she was confused about, he would explain it to her.

"That's a book. When you open them, you can read about stories or gain information. Oh wait, I need to teach you how to read, don't I?"

...

"That's my cell phone. When I push this button, it lets me talk to my friends whenever I feel alone or like talki—wait, Littlebug! Not right now—hi, Nino!"

...

"That's a fork. It's used to—no, it's not for your hair! I know the Little Mermaid movie did it, but no!"

...

But sometimes, her Boy was not available to explain to her. So Littlebug had to try to determine the "things" for herself. What “things” were good. What “things” were dangerous. What “things” were just things…or something more.

There was a rectangular "thing" in which the Dark One kept his cheese. It was cold inside and no matter what time of day or night, the Dark One removed cheese from it to enjoy. A magical cheese-making box? But how? Why was it always cold? Her Boy sometimes put things in there...were they transformed into cheese? She should avoid it to be safe...

There was the big loud "thing" with three poles for legs and one wing that always stood up. A monster of some sort. It never moved, but it made noise when she pushed the white and black horizontal teeth. It didn't try to eat her or her Boy when they got near it. It just rumbled and vibrated at different frequencies depending on which of the teeth she pressed. Her Boy pressed these teeth often. Perhaps to appease the monster? He did it almost every day at a certain time as if some sort of ritual. Maybe it was a spell to keep the monster asleep?

She would keep an eye on it...

Most of the “things” seemed concerning, but that was why she was there! To protect her Boy and deal with the "things" that would cause problems. She just needed to know which "things" were okay and which were problem-causers.

Like with the little black flapping "thing" in the room now.

It was small. As small as the Black One. But where the Black One could fly on his own, this thing had wings that flapped and made it stay in the air.

She had seen these little fluttering things before, but not one like this. It was dark. And purple. And seemed covered in ick.

…and didn’t fluttering things usually stay outside? How did it get in here? And why?

Was it intruding?

Intruder?

Threat?

Littlebug watched the strange dark flapping thing. It seemed aware of her presence as it started to come towards her.

She marveled at the newest “thing”.

What was it?

What was its function?

There was only one way to determine for sure.

Experimentation!

For science!

________

“Hey, Littlebug! I’m back!”

He stopped at the sight of his little doll peering over an activated plasma sphere. That wasn’t an oddity in itself, no. Littlebug always seemed interested in playing with the random things in his room and testing how they work. Most recently, the piano had been the focus of her attentions lately, so he had wondered if she hadn’t been getting an interest in music considering how resolutely she would stare at the keys.

Littlebug was so curious. And of course he wanted to encourage her exploration, so he didn’t find the setup odd.

No, the only odd thing was how she was dressed in a little lab coat and goggles covering her button eyes.

A long pause.

“Aww, are you being a little scientist today?”

Littlebug nodded.

Adrien cooed.

It was so cute!

Where was his camera? He should take photos!

“Well, you have fun!” He told her. “And don’t let any lightning loose inside the house.”

He said it as a joke of course. It wasn’t like Littlebug could take the electronic apart or do anything with it if she did.

Littlebug nodded and returned to her ‘experiment’.

Adrien chuckled to himself and turned away, leaving her to her work.

…never noticing the incredibly distressed black butterfly that desperately attempted to reach the edge of the device only to be zapped once more.

#ml fic #dolls au #adrien agreste #plagg #littlebug #littlebug protects

[cinnamonrusts]

sparda twins -- reactions

The Sparda twins reactions that you're pregnant with not just one, but two of their children.

DANTE-

You paced the bathroom several times as you gnawed on your thumbnail. Your eyes did not leave the plastic stick that was sitting on the edge of the sink near the toilet. The packaging read that results would be ready in five minutes, but the wait had it feeling like five hours.

Dante had left on a run for some take out and you knew that it was all the way across town, so it left you some free time to figure out your "little" situation. You hadn't told him anything. How could you? The two of you were not in an exactly "family friendly" business. Last thing Dante would need to worry about was a mini Sparda.

You had enough of waiting and snatched the test from the counter. Your eyes narrowed as they fixated on the single horizontal pink line, but widened when it turned into a plus. The blood in your body ran cold and your throat grew dry. It was as if the + sign mocked you and your stomach felt sick. You knew it would happen, Dante called himself the pull out king. Yeah - fucking - right, and this proved him to be very wrong.

The evidence needed to be disposed of, so you wrapped it several times in some toilet paper and shoved it in the trash can. Dante hardly took the trash out and it would be unlikely that he would decide to scour the garbage, so you felt safe. Now all you would have to do is just keep it a secret until you decided how to approach it.

It didn't last long and soon Nico was on the other end of the phone. She let out a happy, "'Eller!" but was greeted by a loud sob along with unintelligible babble. "Woah! Woah! [Y/N], you gotta repeat yourself. I couldn't make out a damn thing! You okay?" the brunette asked, concerned. "I'M PREGNANT!" your sobs now made sense. "Oh, shit," she replied. "Yeah, oh shit is right."

"Did you tell Dante yet?"

You scoffed, "No. I don't think I can," as you spoke on the phone in the kitchen, your eyes fixed on a photo on the fridge of you and your devil hunter boyfriend. The two of you looked so happy and Dante's smile was so bright, the vibes that radiated from the picture kind of gave you some assurance. Maybe Dante would react well to the news and maybe he'd give the same smile of glee at the idea of being a father.

"But you're going to have to at some point. How you goin' to explain a giant belly here in a few months?" Nico was right, there was no way around it. You pinched the bridge of your nose and closed your eyes tight, "Could you maybe -- I dunno, take me to the doctor?" Nico replied, "I'll be there in a jiff!"

Just as you hung up, Dante walked in with two large bags that smelled of Chinese food. "Food is here and beer is in the fridge!" he waddled into the kitchen and his happy expression turned to one of concern when he noticed you looked upset. "Hey, darlin', you alright?" he set the bags down on the floor and slid to your side, his arms around your waist. His musk along with the heavy smell of greasy Chinese food almost threw you over the edge and caused you to gag. You placed your hand on his chest to prevent him from getting closer. His brows furrowed as he tried to understand what was wrong but the loud horn of Nico's van interrupted. "I'm going out with Nico. I'll be back," you brushed past him, grabbed your coat, and dashed out the door.

You were able to take a breath once you jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. Your head rested on the back of the seat and your eyes closed, "Thanks for the ride." Nico placed a hand on your thigh and nodded, "No problem, girlfriend."

Several hours passed and you weren't home yet. Dante's mind raced with different things he could've done to make you so upset. Was it because he hadn't taken the trash out? He would do that soon. Was it because he hadn't shown his appreciation for you relationship lately? He would go tonight to get you some flowers. So, the man did just that. Dante took the overflowed trash out. Then he made sure to hurry, so, that he would be home before you. Dante chose a bouquet of white roses and a goofy card. The card had two hot dogs on the front who held hands with smiles on their faces. It read, "Hot dog! You make me happy!" Dante got a kick out of it and figured you would too. The devil hunter wrote a quick, cheesy blurb in a scribbled mess and signed with his name plus a heart.

He opened the door and was surprised to see you in a chair near the entrance. You seemed to be in a trance and were startled by Dante’s sudden appearance. “I got you these!” he handed his gifts over but his happiness was dropped when you didn’t seem very happy to receive them.

“Dante, I have something I need to tell you.” you found it hard to keep your eyes on his. “Well, here it goes---,” your nose inhaled, then exhaled deeply, “I’m pregnant.”

Dante’s face was void of emotion before he burst into laughter. You grew angry and your facial expressions matched it. “That’s a good one, babe. Whew!,” he clapped his hands and winced a bit with his hand on his side, “Ow! That laugh made me pull a muscle.”

“I’m serious, Dante. I’m pregnant.” you reiterated. “With --- emotion?” he asked as his eyes shifted side to side.

“What? No! With a baby!”

Once Dante heard it for the third time, he realized it all. He was going to be a father and you were going to be the one who would usher in another lineage of the Sparda bloodline. Dante rushed to your side and took a knee as he kneeled beside you. His palm immediately made its way to your stomach as he pictured the life that was within. “Hey there, little buddy.” You cleared your throat into a closed fist which drew his attention to your face. Your right hand raised slowly and you twiddled your two first fingers in the air with a small smile.

That same grin that shined in the photo on your fridge grew across his lips. Both of his hands grabbed either side of your lower torso and he stared at your stomach. “You mean, there’s two of me in there?!” His expressions were warm and overjoyed, relief crashed over you as this situation turned out better than you thought. 

“I’m gonna really need to get outta debt.”

VERGIL-

Your body spoke to you and told you that something was going on. Every morning you felt ill and you could devour anything in sight until nausea overtook you. Lady asked if there was any possibility that you could be pregnant. A snort left your nostrils, “Impossible. Vergil and I don’t have sex enough for that to happen.” your mate was normally not home, you often slept in an empty bed more than one occupied by his strong body. But anytime he was, the act of intimacy could tear the walls down of his brother’s building. He was a focused and controlled man, he knew what he needed to do to prevent another child in his life. You were okay with that, your job was not one that was prime for being a parent. So, there was no doubt in your mind that this was nothing but a simple stomach bug.

“I don’t know, all your symptoms point to it, [Y/N]. Maybe you should take a test,” she attempted to reason with you and you eventually gave in.

The entire time you played it off as just something you did for Lady so that she would get off your back about it. You sat on the closed toilet lid and held the test loosely in between your fingers. The box read that it would take about ten minutes for a result, so you avoided looking at it until roughly around that. But your heart dropped into your stomach when the test did not read negative, but positive. “Shit --- Lady was right.” your cursed and your head dropped between your knees as your mind raced.

Vergil just found out that he had a son, Nero, and now you would throw him the information that he would have now an infant on the way. It was a conversation that you did not want to have. Vergil was a reserved man who did not show you his emotions often or expressed them publicly. You knew he loved you but it took quite sometime for him to open up to you about the fact. He put back his one track set mind toward power and made you a priority in his life. However, he had issues with being around his brother, son, and the other’s -- so he often went off on his own. You learned that this was something he wanted and you did not want to force yourself to go with him always. 

So, this news would not be easy to break to him when he would return in about a week. With the test clenched in your hand, you opened the door to leave the bathroom to only be greeted by Lady who was leaned against the walls with arms crossed. “So, what’s the prognosis?” she pushed herself from the wall and followed you as you pushed past her. You tossed the test into the air with your fingers and she caught it, “What do you think?” you answered before she was able to see for herself. The female was shocked to see that she was correct but didn’t want to say that she told you so.

You were about to slam your room door shut but her boot stopped it, “What’re you going to tell Vergil?” Your back was turned toward her and you faced the window as you observed the rain that pattered against the window. “Fuck if I know. How do you tell someone like him that he’s going to be a father... again.” Lady was silent, you turned on your heels to face her, “Exactly.”

Lady took your hand in hers and gave you a comforting smile, “Hey, he won’t be home for like what-- another week? Let’s get you to the doctor, we’ll figure something out.” You smiled faintly in return, “You’re a hell of a lady, Lady,” she batted her eyelashes, “Oh, I know.~”

A Week Later --

Lady was in your room with you and the door was closed, the two of you spoke of your plan of how you would drop the bomb on your half demon boyfriend.

“Do you really think Vergil will accept it?” you asked just as the white haired man opened the door, “Accept what?” he asked coolly. Lady closed her mouth and first looked at Vergil, then to you, “I’ll just let you guys have some alone time,” she slinked past the Sparda man and closed the door behind her. His gaze never left you and his strong features were unmoved.

You attempted to embrace him as you wrapped your arms around his neck but he gave you a slight push away before you could place a kiss on his cheek. “Will you tell me what you were talking about?” You bit your lower lip and hesitated to confess to him. Vergil took hold of your chin with his fingertips, “Speak.”

You swallowed hard, his blue eyes did not waver and they were just so beautiful that you couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’m --- pregnant,” you whispered. It was like time moved to slow motion, Vergil observed each syllable that came from your lips. Pregnant? Pregnant. Pregnant.

 A twitch in Vergil’s furrowed brows caught your attention, it proceeded to twitch several times before he closed his eyes and released his grip on your chin. “How?” You shrugged, “I thought we were careful every time, even with our more adventurous hookups.” He didn’t speak and just listened, “Why?”

“Why?” you repeated, “That’s what happens, Vergil. I can’t really make it anymore clear.” As per usual, you couldn’t read him and his thoughts were a mystery to you.

“So, I’ll be a father once again. At least I’m currently aware of this one.” he sighed.

“Two,” you interjected. It was as if you could see his ears perk up when you mentioned a number higher than he assumed. “Two? Another set of Sparda twins...” he was quiet before you could see a small smile on his lips. Vergil called for you to come to him, which you obeyed.

He wrapped his right arm around your upper half. His left hand rested on your stomach with a loved filled touch. His chin rested on top of your head as he imagined what they looked like and what life would be like in several months.

He thought to himself, maybe -- just maybe -- he truly deserved a happy life, despite all the things he had done. He now felt a stronger urge to want to be around you, the babies, and even Dante more. 

“Do I deserve this happiness, [Y/N]?” 

Your hand rested on his that was still on your stomach, “Of course. You always have.”

#devil may cry #dmc #dante sparda x reader #dante x reader #dante sparda #vergil sparda x reader #vergil x reader #vergil sparda #devil may cry x reader #devil may cry imagine #dante imagine #vergil imagine #pregnant!reader #did you catch my knocked up reference #lmao my fave part

[chockfullofsecrets]

Critical Role: The Importance of Timing, Ch 1

<<chapter navigation TBA>>

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary: Jester sobers quickly, though, pouting insistently down at them.“Four is pret-ty bad, you guys.”

Kingsley nods seriously. Thus validated, she starts bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. “I think we need to punish them, Fjord!”

Caleb and Essek make the mistake of overworking themselves right before the Mighty Nein are scheduled for a reunion. Lessons are learned.

Wordcount: 3.6k (yeah, this one’s going to take a while)

A/N: making some more progress on my backlog of prompts (this one happens to be both from the most recent vote and this lovely anon prompt)! cross your fingers that this is going to be my first finished chapter fic lol

---

Caleb hardly remembers it, later.

It was evening - not particularly late, but after three near-sleepless nights time stretched into its own kind of viscous liquidity. Like a soup.

He laughed to himself at the absurdity of it, too tired for more than the barest expense of breath. Essek would know better than he, of course - he turned to him, intending to share the thought, and found a sheaf of notes thrust mere inches from his face.

“Here,” Essek said brusquely. Exhaustion did not lend itself to the usual smoothness of his speech. “I think I have it, finally - if we engrave it this way, the spell will replenish itself without interrupting conversation, yes?”

“Oh.” He took the papers, looking them over blearily - his eyes widened, a brief rush of vigor returning. “Oh, this is - oh, this is good! Let me just fabricate the surface smooth again and we can try-”

There was a crash from a location beyond the lab and therefore currently unimportant. Neither of them looked up.

The interruption, then, arrived unexpectedly.

“Hel-loooo!”came a lilting Nicodranian accent from the hall. “We got here early and you didn’t answer your door so we used our super cool magic powers to come in, and we should to-tally make a hammock themed room in the mansion tonight because I think Fjord is kind of land sick - Caleb, look at me, why do you look so terrible?”

Caleb knew the consequences of ignoring that voice. He looked up.

After hours of gazing at runes, his eyes refused to fully adjust and take in the three figures in the doorway. He squinted and managed to make out a bit of blue. “Jester?”

“They look tired right out, the poor things,” a purple blob pronounced from Jester’s right. “We haven’t missed out on an adventure, have we?”

“No,” Jester said, “Essek would never go out with his hair looking like that. Right, Essek? Aren’t you, like, super embarrassed that your hair’s all floppy right now?”

Sitting shoulder to shoulder with the floppy-haired drow in question, Caleb could just barely hear him hiss in protest at the interruption. “Leave, then, if it disturbs you so.”

Caleb blinked, starting to fumble together a sentence to dull the reprimand, and suddenly the remaining green blob resolved into Fjord as he put a hand on Caleb’s forehead and crouched to look into his eyes. “All right, it’s bedtime for you two. Jes, can you get Essek?”

“Wait-” Caleb grabbed weakly for the table, for his notes at least, but he was already being swept up in Fjord’s arms and carried bodily from the room. Essek sounded much more awake - and irate, frankly - behind him, trying to explain something, but it had been far too long since he had been anywhere near horizontal - with his head pillowed against Fjord’s bicep, he was asleep before they reached the stairs.

---

Waking is a slow process.

He is not alone - there’s a weight to being tangled up in someone else, the warm scent of closeness, and even without his eidetic memory he does not think he can ever forget the stony, moon-soaked smell of having his face buried in the crook of Essek’s shoulder.

He yawns lazily. Essek must be very tired, if Caleb is awake and he is not, and he is the better cook of the two of them anyway - although of course neither of them have any comparison to Caduceus, or Yasha now that it’s been several months since her last poisoning incident. He presses a gentle kiss to Essek’s jaw and rolls out of bed to get started with breakfast.

Or tries to, at least. His top half makes it out of bed easily enough, but the rest of him does not seem inclined to follow.

Something clanks at the foot of the bed as he narrowly hauls himself up from a quick trip to the floor. He props himself up on an elbow, halfway through another yawn, and finds himself staring down a pair of manacles hooked around his ankles.

He kicks cautiously. The chain threaded through his bed posts clanks again.

Panic begins to stir low in his gut. “Essek!”

There’s a sleepy murmur next to him. He twists to find Essek blinking awake - there’s not much else he can do, with his arms shackled above his head and his legs chained below in similar fashion. The cuffs are padded at least, stuffed with what looks to be worn handkerchiefs, and they’re both fully dressed in sleep clothes - their captors don’t want to hurt them, then, not yet.

Caleb scans the room frantically. The book he has been reading is still propped open on the bedside table, the door knob Essek had pried from an Aeorian ruin after Caleb had commented on its sparkle still proudly adorns the bathroom door, Kingsley is still leaning against the window-

He grins smugly as Caleb’s gaze snaps back to him. “Oh, good, you’re both awake. Comfy watch, but it’s ever so much more boring without the-” He pulls his hands from his pockets and rocks them back and forth. “Oh, and also the fish folk trying to kill us, those are great.”

“Kingsley?” Caleb demands. Next to him, Essek makes a shocked sound as he presumably recognizes that he cannot move any of his limbs. “What is this?”

“Oh, I can’t rightly say.” Kingsley saunters over and swings himself neatly up onto the mattress, worming between him and Essek to sit cross-legged at the center of the bed. “Wasn’t my idea, at any rate-”

“Jester and Fjord were here too,” Essek interrupts. “Is this - this is a prank, is it not?”

“Hush, you,” Kingsley smirks. “All I’ve got is that I’m to ensure you don’t make your way free with any spellcasting before Fjord and Jester get back. And to that end…”

He breaks the pause with a dramatic flourish of his arms, spreading them wide before laying a palm down lightly on each of their bellies. “I’m told this should do just fine, if the two of you care to demonstrate?”

Caleb connects the dots just a moment too late to throw himself back off the edge of the bed. “Kingsley - wait - ah!”

There was a time when it would take minutes for his mind to link the intruding sensation of touch to anything but wariness. Now, the instant Kingsley’s fingers start scribbling he’s flat on his back, pushing weakly at the offending limb and doing his best not to collapse into hysterical snickering at how much it - it -

“Tickle, tickle, magic man,” Kingsley teases, pupilless eyes aflame with mischief. “No, no, don’t bother fighting it. I’ve heard tales about those ribs of yours, you know. Especially how much you love letting Jester play with them, hm?”

“N-nein, that’s not-” Caleb tries to protest, but he’s already giggling just at the thought - Fjord and Jester are here, and he’s stuck, and Kingsley won’t stop tickling him-

Kingsley’s grin grows another satisfied inch as he turns back to Essek. “And you, stubborn - oh, are you trying to cast something? Is that what that face means?”

Essek is struggling, jaw working and face scrunched as his entire body trembles in time with the claw vibrating its way into his belly. Caleb can practically see the Misty Step brewing on his tongue, just a few short words between him and freedom if only he can get them out without laughing.

Until Jester tracks him down, that is. He hasn’t - they’ve been apart, and then in Aeor, and then working on their big project for the past few weeks, and Caleb hasn’t exactly gotten around to admitting that he might like Essek to - admitting anything, really. Or telling Essek that now that Jester knows he’s ticklish and doesn’t entirely mind it, any attempt to escape will only end in more retribution.

An oversight, in retrospect.

Kingsley purrs, apparently entirely delighted with his victim’s predicament. “Oh, come on now, you can do it! It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good magic show.” Essek shakes his head frantically, lips pressed together even as his cheeks puff with repressed giggles, and Kingsley grins all the wider. “No? Let’s see how long you last when I really start pressing your buttons, then.”

On his side and snickering helplessly, Caleb cannot help but feel a little jealous as he watches Kingsley tug up Essek’s shirt and wait for his eyes to widen in terrible anticipation. “One last chance, then? Cause I think this is really going to tickle.”

Caleb wants him to succeed, really, he does - but watching Essek try as hard as he can to curl in on himself as a single fingertip starts to rub at his navel, squirming and squeezing his eyes shut and finally barking out the first two syllables of his incantation before the third succumbs to high, squeaking laughter holds its own considerable charm. “Ahahaaaa - nooo, hehe! - wh -” He laughs a little more, shoulders shaking, and barely manages to gasp out the words. “Fjord - Jester - where -”

“Couldn’t take it? Oh, you are a ticklish thing,” Kingsley tells him, laughing when Essek’s attempt at protesting collapses into a breathless snort. “You’re wondering where they are? Really, I couldn’t say. Maybe they’ll be gone for hours, and I’ll just have to keep tickling and tickling-”

He’s focused in on Essek now, taking his other hand off Caleb to wiggle it menacingly over a defenseless armpit - Essek takes one look at the new threat and screams. “Caleb!”

Kingsley’s replaced his hand with his tail squeezing around Caleb’s thigh, and it tickles so badly and unexpectedly that Caleb would like to curl up in a ball and do some screaming of his own, but with Essek pleading for his help there’s no other choice.

He pulls himself back onto his elbows and flops into Kingsley’s lap as best he can with his legs chained, reaching blindly for ticklish spots that used to belong to Mollymauk - gasping through a new wave of laughter as the spade of Kingsley’s tail starts to poke at the soft back of his knee, he crowds his fingernails against the small of Kingsley’s back and yelps in preemptive terror as Kingsley starts to laugh and reaches for him instead. “Fjord! Jester!” he shouts. “Help!”

“Gah - oh, fuck, thahat’s - haaaa-” Kingsley flails for a moment, legs kicking out as he tries to shimmy away, but in the next moment his fingers are tickling mercilessly under Caleb’s arms and Caleb can hardly breathe, let alone keep tickling him. He flails to escape, trying to wrap his arms around himself and use them to drag himself away at the same time, but really that just means that Kingsley’s hands are stuck in his armpits now and he’s going to die-

“Right, right, I’ve learned my lesson, no ganging up on our little star,” Kingsley grumbles. Caleb gasps in breathless relief as Kingsley works his hands free - he’s facedown on the mattress, but he hears Essek shout for Fjord and Jester too before dissolving into another fit of giggles. Presumably Kingsley’s putting his tail to good use somewhere.

A hand grabs his shoulder, and he’s rolled over onto his back with his legs untwisting beneath him. He blinks up into Kingsley’s gaze, eyebrows raised in apparent dudgeon. “You, on the other hand,” Kingsley growls, as if his lips weren’t curving up into a fanged smile already, “I am absolutely going to need both hands for what I’m about to do to your ribs.”

“Mist,” Caleb sputters reflexively, and then, louder, “Fjord! Jester! FJORD!”

Kingsley’s eyebrows rise even higher. “Oh, it’s sweet that you think they’re going to help you. Unless - oh, did you want more hands?”

Caleb hardly hears the approaching footsteps over his own anticipatory squeal as he watches Kingsley’s fingers start to wander back down towards his ribs. “Nein! - eheeheh, oh gods, nein-”

But then, suddenly, blessedly, the fingers ghost lightly over his ribs and settle for spidering across his tummy instead. He wheezes in relief - half of it comes out as giggles, his nerves still on high alert, but he fully intends to enjoy breathing while he can.

He flops tiredly back, eyes tracking to the doorway as Fjord and Jester stroll in. “Sorry for the wait,” Fjord says politely. “Jester and I were just finishing up lunch. Because it’s lunchtime.”

“No rush, Captain!” Kingsley practically chirps. “We’re having a wonderful time, aren’t we, boys?”

Fjord looks completely unsurprised to find the two of them in chains. Jester is practically bouncing beside him. Caleb imagines this does not bode well for them.

Essek pipes up from behind him, metal clanking as he tries to move to see around Kingsley. “Did - heh - did we oversleep? I think the shackles are a bit uncalled for-”

“Oh,” Fjord says, low and dangerous. He’s not smiling, not yet, but Caleb can see it in his eyes and that is even worse. “Don’t mind those. It would be a shame to let the two of you leave your bedroom so soon when you haven’t seen it in days and days, wouldn’t it?”

With Kingsley still tickling at his waist, Caleb can’t even begin to coax his stomach muscles to let him sit up as Fjord and Jester cross to the bed and loom over the both of them. Jester claps her hands together, looking dangerously pleased with herself. “Do you like them?” she enthuses. “We got them from a pirate raid, because someone put our other set on a fish person that jumped right back into the ocean.”

“They were getting rusted anyway - I don’t think we collected a single one of those at sea, they’re not even waterproofed.” Fjord grumbles amiably. “These, though-”

He hooks one finger delicately through the chain connecting Caleb’s ankles to the bedpost and tugs, dragging one helpless foot just close enough to scoop up in a waiting hand. “Now these are made for some real seafaring shit. Could hold a body for as long as you want, as long as they aren’t inclined to use any magic tricks.”

Caleb tries to yank his foot back. Fjord just chuckles and leans over to stare him down, his yellow eyes warm and amused. “Isn’t that right, Caleb.”

“No magic tricks,” he gasps out through another fit of giggles as Fjord rubs a warning thumb over his sole. It’s hardly a concession - between that and Kingsley, he hardly has the breath to try anything.

“Good,” Fjord says encouragingly. He puts Caleb’s foot gently down and turns to Essek. “Now you.”

Caleb turns to look at him - from what little of Essek’s body language he can read, he looks wholly confused. “You’re not going to let us go?”

Fjord crosses his arms. “Oh, I’m sure we can come to some kind of agreement. Just consider this a friendly reminder that Jester, Kingsley and I are quite capable of following any… magical exits.”

Essek visibly rallies at the mention of magic, quirking an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware you had learned how to Teleport.”

“Essek,” Caleb hisses. Fjord shushes him and stalks a single step forward, just close enough to start tickling lightly at the bottom of one purple foot.

Essek’s superior expression lasts all of a moment before his entire body starts flailing to escape the single point of contact. “Ah! No, nohoho, wahahait, I didn’t - ahaha, stop that!”

“You’re right, I can’t Teleport,” Fjord says conversationally. “Good catch, I’d kind of forgotten about that one. Jes, we’ve got some antimagic stuff on the ship, right?”

Jester interrupts herself from making increasingly dramatic faces at Essek to answer. “I think so? You know, just in case if we meet someone icky like you know who.”

“Perfect. Maybe you and Kingsley can keep Essek busy, and I’ll head back to the ship and root around for it?” He looks calmly down at Essek, kicking as frantically as he can with the few inches of leeway the shackles afford him and still completely unable to avoid Fjord’s fingers. “It’ll take a while, mind you.”

Jester perks up, dancing over and reaching for Essek’s other foot. “Yes! Kingsley, did you try his ears yet? They get all flappy and it’s really really-”

“No!” Essek rushes out, squeaking in harried protest when they still don’t stop tickling up his arches. “I - wait,” he pleads. “No! I won’t cast, I won’t!”

Fjord grins. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Alright, Kingsley, can we give them a moment?”

Kingsley removes his hands from both of them rather reluctantly. Fjord claps his shoulder in silent thanks. “Now, would either of you like to explain why we found the two of you half-dead from sleep deprivation?”

“Yeah, you guys, we were so worried!” Jester adds. “You can’t do that when we’re not around to take care of you! You guys haven’t been doing this all year, have you?”

“We’ve only met up in the last few months,” Caleb adds, wincing a little as their eyes turn to him. He sits up slowly, wincing apologetically in the direction of Essek’s wrist shackles. “But no, we have not, we are just working on this project - it is a real ficker, there are so many moving pieces - and we are nearly done, we meant to sleep last night.”

“How many days?” Fjord asks. “One? Two?”

When neither of them answer, sharing a silent look, he hovers a hand threateningly over each of their trapped feet. “Believe me, you really don’t want us to pick a number.”

“Four,” Essek says warily. “But Caleb slept for at least an hour each night, and I don’t need to-”

“Oh, four’s a lot,” Kingsley cuts in. “Did you not learn how to sleep in shifts, not being on the ocean, or do you just enjoy each other’s company that much?”

Essek turns bright red. Caleb’s pretty sure he turns even redder. Even Fjord looks a little embarrassed as Jester and Kingsley collapse into laughter.

Jester sobers quickly, though, pouting insistently down at them.“Four is pret-ty bad, you guys.”

Kingsley nods seriously. Thus validated, she starts bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. “I think we need to punish them, Fjord!”

Caleb can easily guess what this punishment will entail. “Wait a moment,” he says hastily, “we have not even told you about this project-”

“It will be worth it,” Essek adds. “If you would just let us-”

Fjord nods thoughtfully, ignoring their protests. “What do you say, a minute for each hour they should have been sleeping?”

“No-” Caleb starts.

“So that’s sixteen for Essek, and - Caleb’s been napping on and off, sounds like, so we’ll round it down to a neat half hour for him.”

Caleb gapes fearfully. A half hour of tickling, after months and months - he can admit to himself that he missed it a little, but- “That’s too much,” he blurts. “Bitte, you’ll kill me-”

“Really, this is unnecessary,” Essek adds, surprisingly dignified for the way he’s trying helplessly to press his feet against the bed. “Just - we are well rested now, we only need a few hours more to finish the project, there is no need!”

Jester pouts. “Oh, Essek, don’t you want to hang out with us?”

Essek flounders at that, and Caleb can’t help the soft smile that slips out of him. “I would like nothing more,” he assures her, “but being chained up and - and tortured - was not quite on my mind-”

“Well then, you shouldn’t have been so dumb, Essek,” she says cheerily. “Caleb, do you want me or Fjord to tickle you?”

His mouth goes dry. Jester will be - Fjord teases, but he is gentle at least, and Jester is - Jester-

He looks over at Essek, wide-eyed and eyes flicking between all of them in some strange combination of bewilderment and anticipation, and braces himself. “Jester.”

Kingsley laughs, delighted. “Oh, he must really love you,” he tells Essek. “He’s gone and given you the better option by far.”

Essek looks at Caleb, gaze softening. “Really?”

Caleb grimaces back at him, a little embarrassed by himself. “He’s exaggerating. And besides, I am not the one laid flat out here.”

Essek frowns. “Yes, about that.”

“Caleb doesn’t like having his wrists pinned down,” Jester says easily, scrambling up onto the bed and into Caleb’s lap. “Though you should know that already if you two are boning-”

“Jester,” Caleb pleads. Kingsley starts to laugh again.

She beams at him, darting in to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Hi, Caleb!”

It’s impossible not to smile back. “Hallo, blueberry.”

He looks around her to see Fjord walk over and settle on Essek’s side of the bed, patting his shoulder companionably. “It’s good to see you two, really.”

Essek just sighs.

Kingsley prods at his belly, earning a hasty yelp. “He’s in a mood, it seems. You want some help with him?”

His stomach grumbles, just then, and Fjord laughs. “Why don’t you get some lunch instead,” he suggests. “We’d have brought something up, but the screaming sounded rather urgent.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Kingsley cocks a loose salute and swings back off the bed with one more tickle under each of their arms, snorting in amusement as Caleb and Essek both squirm and protest. “The others should be arriving soon, I’ll keep a weather eye on the door.”

“Yes, do that,” Fjord says, waiting for him to round the corner and start down the stairs. “That guy is really into sea lingo.”

“Kingsley is great,” Jester enthuses. “Don’t you guys think he looks so much prettier now that he’s all tan?”

She’s not wrong. “Ja, sure.” Caleb says. “By the way, what exactly did the two of you tell him about-” He flushes. “About my ribs?”

“Oh, you know, just some stuff!” Jester says cheerfully. “Most of it is definitely not true by now, probably, since it’s been a super long time since we’ve seen you.”

She puts both of her hands on Caleb’s shoulders and presses, sending him flat on his back and leaning over with a mischievous smile. “Good thing we have a whole half hour to catch up, huh?”

Caleb gulps.

#tickling #critical role #shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #kingsley tealeaf #fjord #jester lavorre #chocfic

[sunstar-of-the-north]

A Date With A Plumber

Bowser gently laid white cloths on the steaming bowls of food. While doing so he noticed that a fork was crooked. Alarmed, he quickly adjusted the utensil so it matched the rest of the dishes. The koopa then took a step back to analyze the table. It was set for two, one dish adjacent to the other at the end of the table. Bowser would have liked it if they were positioned across from each other but talking would be proven difficult with how long the table was.

He took a nervous sigh and moved to the mirror on the wall. His hair was a complete mess. Bowser smoothed it to the side with his clawed hands. Once he finished, he smiled proudly in the reflection. A second later though it reverted to its default look.

He growled in annoyance. The turtle then started to fix his silver cravat. He was wearing a maroon dinner tuxedo with a double lapel. He ditched most of his typical accessories, save for his bracelets. It was the compromise Bowser made with Kamek. He glared when he remembered the overwhelming amount of advice the old wizard gave him. “Don’t slouch over the table. Don’t talk with your mouth full. And DON’T for the love of the stars lose your temper!” He began to realize that instead of fixing his neckpiece, he was gripping it for dear life. Bowser let go of it in alarm. He groaned, lightly slapping his cheeks. “Pull yourself together Bowser,” he said in aggravation. “You’re the King of the Koopas! You have no reason to be all shaken up over one silly date!”

No matter how much he tried to convince himself, Bowser still felt like there were fighter flies in his stomach. Even though this was their third date, he was still a nervous wreck. Besides this one was different. Unlike the first two, which were at her house, this date was on his turf. Not to mention there would be a chaperon. “It’ll probably be that tomato colored Mario,” Bowser grumbled. That was a part of the agreement between the three of them. Whenever they would go out, there had to be someone—which was always picked for them by Mario—to keep an eye on the two. Panic hit him like a train when he realized he didn’t make a bowl for the red suited plumber. Before the turtle had time to think, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned; smoke escaping from the sides of his mouth. “WHAT?” The koopa troopa swallowed nervously.

“S-Sir? S-She’s here.”

Like a Bullet Bill out of a canon, Bowser charged passed the troopa, sending the poor thing flying. Thankfully his other minions were able to get out of their king’s way as he ran down the halls. In moments the twin doors were in sight. He slid to a halt, nearly blasting through them. Bowser took a moment to steady his breathing before opening them. His breath was cut short when the koopa saw who was standing on the steps. It was Luciana, adorned with a simple dark green dress with see-through lace sleeves. Her brunette hair, which was normally straight, was curled. When her blue eyes met Bowser’s, he felt like time stopped.

“Hellooooo? Earth to Bowser!”

Bowser snapped out of his daze when he noticed a hand waving near his face. He shook his head and looked back at Luciana. She seemed to be worried. “Is—everything alright?” He nodded rapidly. “Yeah! Yeah, everything is g-great!” She grinned in relief, causing Bowser’s heart to pound like a drum. “Buona!” There was an awkward silence between the two. The koopa then noticed the shorter woman was staring at him. “What? Is there something on my tux?” Luciana blushed in embarrassment. “N-No! I uh—your scarf thingy is all…” She motioned to his neck. He looked down and saw his cravat was still a mess. Bowser wanted to retreat back into his shell. The plumber inched closer to him, hand slightly raised. “Um—may I?”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise but squatted down at her request. She then tidied the cravat. “There! All better! Looks like all those years helping Mario with his ties came in handy!” She said with a chuckle. Bowser winced at the mention of her brother. Luciana picked up on his shift in mood, facing falling a bit. “O-Oh uh—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—“

“No, no! It’s ok…” Bowser realized that something was missing. “Speaking of, where is your chaperon? I was expecting him to be with you.” She gave him a playful smirk. “I was able to talk him out of it!” He was shocked and somewhat impressed. “How?”

“Well I told Mario that I’m a grown woman and he shouldn’t be treating me like a little kid. Besides I can handle myself!” She then flexed her arms with a semi-serious look on her face. Bowser cracked a smile, finding her display adorable. “After a long talk we came to an understanding.” She horizontally put her finger below her nose and spoke in a deeper tone. “Alright Luciana! You can go on your date alone. But you gotta come home at midnight! Even if you’re a minute late, I’ll break down those castle doors faster than you can say ravioli! And if that slime faced koopa tries anything funny, you take care of him like I showed ya. Got it?” Bowser chuckled, clapping his hands. “Perfect impression. 10 out of 10.”

She did a little curtsy in response. “Grazie!” Bowser leaned against the door frame, feeling a sense of relief knowing it was just the two of them now. “Man, who knew the String Bean could stand up to her brother like that. She keeps throwing surprises at me.”

Luciana started rocking back and forth on her heels. The king koopa realized that she was still outside. He nearly jumped out of her way, bowing deeply. “Pl-Please! Come in!” His sudden movement made the plumber flinch but relaxed once she passed the doors. Bowser followed her in.

Soon the two were in the dining hall. Bowser sped walk toward the table. He quickly pulled Luciana’s chair out for her, causing a loud squeak as he did. He winced at the sound but still gave her a smile. She smiled back and sat down after thanking him. Bowser scooted her chair toward the table and clapped his hands. The lights were turned down low. He then lit the table candle with his fire breath. “Che meraviglia!” Luciana whispered under her breath. “Hopefully that means something good,” he thought to himself. The turtle then brought his attention to the bowls. He gingerly took the white cloths off, steam pooling out from them. “Bon appétit!”

Luciana’s eyes grew to the size of moons. The bowls were filled with cooked rice and beef, a variety of different vegetables, and a fried egg to top it all off. Bowser couldn’t help but be smug with her reaction. She turned to him, eyes sparkling. “What is this?!” He sat down, resting his hands on the wooden table. “It’s called bibimbap.” Luigi scrunched her face as she tried to say the name. “Bimbi—bimbipab.” Bowser let out a hearty laugh at her attempt to pronounce the word. The plumber’s face turned a bright red. “Say it with me. Bi-bim-bap.” She repeated after the turtle, saying it correctly this time. “There ya go!” He gave her a toothy grin. She smiled back, twirling her hair with a finger. Bowser looked to the side with a bashful smile. “This—is one of my favorite dishes. I wanted to share it with you since you shared one of your favorites with me.”

He looked at the corner of his eye to see Luciana staring at him. He blushed, coughing into his hand. “What w-was that called again? Tor-tortilla gardinata?” Now it was Luciana’s turn to laugh. “Tortellini gratinati.” Bowser chuckled, scratching his head. “Yeah, that. Oh before I forget, here’s Gochujang if you want some.” He passed her a small bowl of red paste. The woman cocked her head at the little dish. “Gochujang?” Bowser nodded. “Yeah. It’s a red pepper paste. It gives the bibimbap an extra kick!” Her face lit up after hearing that. He gave her a wink. “I know how you like things a little spicy so I thought I would oblige.”

She giggled, sending a flurry of warmth to Bowser’s chest. “Grazie, grazie!” She at first picked up a fork but then eyed the chop sticks. “You can eat it with those?” Bowser raised an eye brow at her. “Uh yeah. That’s how you’re supposed to eat it.” She let out a soft oh in response. The koopa realized how harsh his tone was. He reprimanded himself in his head. “Um—I can—show you how to use them, if you want that is.” Luciana blinked at him and then smiled. “Sì! I always wanted to learn how to use them!” Bowser got up and moved to her side. He gently guided Luciana how to hold the utensil. The turtle noticed just how small her hand was compared to his. “They’re so tiny—so—delicate.” He looked at the woman, who was staring at their hands. She brought her gaze to him. When their eyes locked, they both blushed crimson. Bowser removed his hand and they both looked away from each other.

He stiffly walked back to his chair, sat down, and proceeded to stuff his face to hide his blushing. After a while he turned his eyes to the green dressed plumber. She was able to pick up a bit of vegetables and rice. Luigi dipped the food in the Gochujang and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up as she chewed more. She looked at Bowser with a big grin. “This is amazing! Please give my compliments to the chief!” Bowser glowed by her praise. “Thanks! I was worried that I might have over-cooked the carrots.” The woman raised her eye brows in surprise. “You made this?”

“Yeah! Cooking is one of the few things I like to do.”

“Don’t…you have cooks to make your meals?” Bowser shrugged. “Yeah, but sometimes I do the cooking, especially if it’s for one of my kids’ birthdays.” Luciana stared at him. “You…made this specially…for me?” Bowser was confused by her statement. “Of course! You’re my girlfriend! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t make food for you?” Luciana’s face was red once more. Realization hit Bowser like a blue shell to the kart once the words left his mouth. This was the first time Bowser ever called her his girlfriend or referred himself as her boyfriend. “I—um—.” He took a sip of his wine, not wanting to speak anymore. He felt a hand rest on his. The turtle looked to see Luciana, giving him a sheepish smile, cheeks pink. The king gazed at her for a moment and returned the look, intertwining his fingers with hers. Soon the two were enjoying the rest of their meal, having small talk and telling stories to pass the time.

The bowls were empty while the room was filled with laughter. Both human and koopa were smiling ear to ear. Bowser then got up and moved toward Luciana. He offered a clawed hand to the woman. She gladly took it, Bowser helping her out of the cushioned chair. “I wanna show you something.” Luciana cocked her head. “Oh? What is it?” He winked at her. “It’s a surprise!” He led her out of the room and further down the hall. A few moments later they were in front of two glass doors. Bowser opened them for Luciana, trying hard to contain his excitement. She stepped through them and gasped. The room was filled to the brim with beautiful flowers and plants, some of them the plumber had never seen before. “Oh Bowser—they’re gorgeous!”

“The ash from the volcanos makes for great fertilizer. All of our vegetables are grown here too.” Luciana turned to the koopa with sparkling eyes. He couldn’t help but crack a grin as he brought her further in the garden. They soon stopped at an elaborate stone bench. Bowser sat down, patting the spot next to him. Luciana took a seat, smoothing out her dress. She looked around, taking in all the scenery. She wasn’t the only one taking in the view. Bowser watched her, feeling lighter than air. He couldn’t explain why though. He then remembered why they were here in the first place.

“L-Luciana,” he asked softly. She turned to him, the same warm feeling from earlier hitting him harder. “Yes Bowser?” The king felt his cheeks get hotter when she said his name. Swallowing, he took something from his coat pocket. “I—I wanted to give you these.” He opened his fist to reveal a pouch of seeds. “They’re green cymbidium orchids.” Luciana gaped at the seeds. She then turned to him, bewildered. “That’s my favorite flower! How—how did you get them?! They’re so hard to find!” Bowser proudly smiled, tapping his snout. “I have my ways.” Luciana rolled her eyes playfully. Her expression grew softer as she gingerly took the pouch from his hand. “Grazie Bowser. I’ll make sure they grow big and strong.” He gave the woman a tender look. “I know you will.”

The human and koopa gazed at one another. They both felt a pull, slowly closing the distance between them as they inched closer. Luciana rested a free hand on Bowser’s cheek, making his spiked tail wag steadily. Suddenly, she had an alarmed expression on her face and placed her hand over the king’s mouth. “Aspettare! What’s the time?!” Bowser had to take a minute to process what she just asked. He then took out his pocket watch. “It’s 11:50.” They stared at each other in utter fear. The duo then sprinted out of the room and down the halls. The minions that were still awake never saw their boss run so fast before, unless it was to escape from a fight or for food. Before they knew it, they were both in a lakitu cloud and booking it to Mario and Luciana’s house.

Once the cloud stopped, the king and plumber quickly jumped out of it. Bowser whipped out his watch. Luigi watched on in anticipation. He showed her the clock. “11:58,” she gasped out in relief. Bowser wiped his forehead, feeling ready to collapse. They walked to the front door, slowly catching their breath. Bowser leaned against the wall while Luciana fixed her hair. Bowser loosened his cravat, clearing his throat. “…I hope you had a good time.” The woman nodded happily. “I did! The bi-bim-bap was excellent!” She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear with a small blush. “It was nice—to be alone together.” He agreed in silence with a small grin. He licked his lips nervously. “Also—you can visit the garden whenever you come to the castle. That way we can spend more time—alone.” The plumber was surprised but giddily replied, “I would love that.”

Without thinking, Bowser leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Good night, Luciana.” The human blushed profusely, touching where he kissed her. She looked up at him in surprise. Bowser started to sweat bullets. “Oh no. Did I go too far?! I-I didn’t mean-“ Suddenly, Luciana gave him a warm kiss on the cheek as well. He felt like his whole body was on fire. “G-Good night, Bowser,” she said with a bashful grin. The koopa watched Luciana as she opened the door to her home. Before she closed it, the woman gave him a dreamy expression. Bowser swore he heard music as she gazed at him with those beautiful eyes. He gave her a blissful grin, waving good bye. She waved back, leisurely shutting the door.

Bowser jumped onto the cloud, gushing so hard that fire was peeking out of his mouth. Once he returned to his castle, the koopa’s heart was racing. He was astonished that he was even tired that night. Regardless, Bowser got ready for bed. After he put a pair of pajamas on, the king then climbed into a large bed, pulling the blanket over his chest. He let out a happy sigh, his last thought before falling asleep being his girlfriend’s pure smile.

I wrote this like--last year. Sorry it took so long to submit. Characters (c) Nintendo

#bowuigi #bowser x luigi #bowser x femluigi #gender bend #otp #nintendo #Bowser #Mario Bowser #luigi #nintendo luigi #video games #text #monster x human #monster boyfriend #bowser x luciana #My writing

[thatsgay-writes]

Hey same anon as the other day, would you consider doing a Leah x reader where the reader is kinda like a therapist for everyone on the island/everyone confides in her and she’s also helping Leah piece things together about the experiment?

Warning: Some Language

(I am doing like snippets of when the reader is like a therapist, so it might not be in chronological order.)

You stood with the other girls around what use to be Jeanette’s grave. The grave and indentation in the sand was still there but Jeanette’s body... It was gone. You look away from the grave... Could you even call it that any more? You look up from the hole in the sand and make eye contact with Leah. You both hold eye contact for a few seconds, both of you understanding that you both think this is suspicious. “Maybe she just got taken out by the tide?” Someone says, causing you and Leah to break eye contact as you look back to the group. “The sand is uneven and wet... That seems like a good explanation.” Dot responds trying to keep calm. You look back at Leah right as she opens her mouth to say something. You quickly shake your head wanting whatever she was about to say be saved till later.

You stay behind as the girls slowly leave the ex-grave, just you and Leah are left. “You don’t believe that either do you?” Leah asks as she clenches her hand into a fist in frustration. You walk around the grave towards Leah and stand next to her facing the ocean. “No... I don’t think even the tide could do that... And for the sand to still fill the whole like that... It doesn’t make sense.” “Does no one else see that?!” Leah says starting to get frustrated. “There is something obviously going on! And when I think I get one question answered something else happens and adds twenty more question.” You see Leah start to clench her fists tighter. “Leah...” You grab one of her hands and slowly try to relax and unclench it before doing the same to the other one. You hold both her hands as you face each other. “I just... I feel like everyone thinks I’m going crazy...Maybe I am.” Leah confesses as she lets tears fall from her eyes. On instinct you pull her into a hug, resting your head on top of hers as she only reaches up to your chest. “You’re not going crazy...” You say and lean back enough to fully see Leah’s face as she looks up at you. You caress her cheek with one hand and wipe her tears with your thumb. “We are going to figure out what is going on.”

---

You sit at the entrance/exit of the shelter that had been built by Dot’s team. Today had definitely started as a fun day until whatever happened with Toni’s team went down, Toni still hadn’t returned to camp yet and you were worried. Exhaustion ends up taking over and you fall asleep, only to be woken up and unknown time later to see Fatin stealing some diet cokes. “You know they’re gonna be mad if you take theirs.” Fatin freezes at your whispering voice and looks up at you with a guilty and worried expression. You scoot out of the shelter, making sure to not wake Leah who had been leaning against you. “Grab mine, let’s go for a walk.” You say as you brush the sand off the back of your legs. “Y/n, you look tired you don’t have to--” You wave Fatin off. “It’s fine.”

You walk through the forest in relative silence as you follow Fatin in a random direction. “So... what are we gonna do?” Fatin looks back at you for a second before looking forwards again. “I was gonna find something and prove the girls wrong.” Fatin replies in a  confident tone. You nod in response, even though she wasn’t looking at you. “So why did you get sent on this retreat?” You ask as you duck under a branch. “I would rather not talk about it... What do you mean sent? How do you know I didn’t want to come?” You let out a small chuckle, “No one here wanted to be come... Everyone was sent here for one reason or another.” “How do you know that?” “They told me.” You and Fatin walk in silence again before she speaks up. “I found out my dad was cheating on my mom...” Fatin’s story was surprising but at the same time so... Fatin. “What would you have done?” She asks as you both step away from the hug you had given her when she started crying. “Well I definitely wouldn’t have blasted it out to everyone before you even told your mom, the one who would be the most affected by it. But at the same time... I don’t think sending you away was the best response. I mean you definitely should have gotten in trouble... I don’t know.” Fatin nods her head, “Yeah me neither.”

---

“Toni...” “What?” “We need to talk.” “No way, your not about to do that therapist shit you do on everyone else.” She says as she crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s fine, I’ll just sit here and keep you company in case you change your mind.” You say as you sit next to Toni and stare out into the ocean. You sit in silence for a few minutes before Toni breaks the silence. “You won’t leave me alone will you?” You shake your head, “After that last outburst, I think you need someone to talk to.” Toni groans and lets her head drop. “I didn’t even say anything that bad though.” You give Toni a deadpanned look. “I think saying, I don’t fucking matter and basically yelling at us for saving your life is a pretty bad thing.” Toni lets out a sigh, “Marty is my best friend and the closest thing I have to family. She is way too pure for the world.”

You slide closer to Toni to try and give her a sense of comfort and to show that you were listening, you had a feeling she didn’t like to be touched when explaining things or talking about her feelings. “The last conversation we had was her yelling at me and practically ending our friendship! I... If... If that had been our last conversation... I don’t know what’d I do. Yeah, maybe yelling out I don’t fucking matter isn’t the best thing to say after almost dying but compared to Martha, I think it’s obvious who matters more.” You sit for a while letting her words sink in. “Toni, you were dying---” Toni rolls her eyes and interrupts you, “I know everyone keeps saying that!” You give her a look before continuing, “Let me finish. You were dying, way worse than Martha was at that moment in time. Now put yourself in her shoes, yeah she felt bad but Toni you were practically unresponsive. What if we gave Martha that pill and you died? Imagine how that would affect Martha... You might not think you matter Toni but you have a girl over there, who may be mad at you right now, who is your best friend and loves you.”

---

“Shelby?” You ask as you walk around the rock and away from the others. You shake your head as you watch the girl drink straight out the bottle of alcohol. You walk closer and snatch the bottle from her before she can get another drink. “Alcohol is definitely not the answer.” You say as you set down the bottle in the sand. “But it helps me forget.” You sigh, “Okay maybe it’s a temporary, like one day, answer but you are still going to have to deal with everything once that bottle is empty.” Shelby doesn’t respond and rests her head in her hands. “What happened? I notices that Toni was chasing you out of the woods.” “Aren’t you mad at me or something? Why are you talking to me?” You cross your arms over your chest and let out a breath. “I definitely don’t agree with your views and am very hurt about what you said and had this been in any other setting... I definitely wouldn’t be talking to you.” You say with a unhumorous chuckle, “But we’re stuck on an island for who knows how long and it’s miserable enough with other people but alone, I don’t think anyone can handle that.”

Shelby almost immediately starts crying after you finish your sentence. You stand there for a second before moving closer to her, “Can I hug you?” You ask, making sure it was okay because Shelby was vulnerable right now. She nods her head and you wrap your arms around her shoulders and let her cry into your shoulder. “I kissed Toni.” Shelby whispers out and you almost miss it. “Wow... I was not expecting that.” You say calmly to not freak Shelby out. “Do you want to talk about it?” Shelby shakes her head while it was against your shoulder. “Not now, maybe later though.” You nod your head and squeeze her a little tighter as the two of you relax against the rocks, the alcohol bottle being used again.

---

“I won’t say anything else until I get to see one of the girls.” You say, faking the calmness in your voice and face. The two men in front of you could barely look you in the face, which causes you to scoff. “What? You’ve never seen a scar before?” You ask as put the eye patch back on that covered a majority of the scar that ran horizontally across your face and your now empty eye socket. “Pussies.” You mumble as the men seem to relax as you cover it back up. “I guess we can make an exception...” The white guy said making eye contact with the black one. You hadn’t attempted to learn their names, knowing that you wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible. “Let me guess you wanna see Leah, right?” The white guy asks and you roll your eyes. “Of course I would like to see my girlfriend.” You respond trying not to buck at the therapist in front of you. You didn’t like him at all.

You walked in silence in between the two men, trying to memorize all the turns to get to the room. “You have 5 minutes.” The agent said as he opened the door and held it open for you. You immediately smile when you see Leah standing in the middle of the room, her smile matching yours. You both meet in the middle of the room giving each other a tight hug. You look behind you at the men still standing in the door. “Can we have a second, I want to kiss my girlfriend and it’s kind of weird to have two middle age men watch while I do that... Unless you two get off on it or something?” You ask the men behind you, the agent looks embarrassed and backs out of the doorway. The therapist gives you a hard look before doing the same. You smirk and turn around to say something when Leah grabs the back of your head and pulls you into a heated kiss. As the two of you kiss, you sneakily slide a piece of paper under Leah’s bra strap. The two of you kiss before the door opens again and you get pulled away from Leah by the agent who wants to leave fast, still embarrassed by what you had said earlier. “I love you!” You yell as you yell as you get walked down the hallway by the agent, the therapist talking to Leah with the door open. “Love you too!” You hear her yell back and smirk as you make your way to your room.

After seeing you again and talking to the therapist, Leah stands over the sink, out of view of the camera and opened your note.

“We aren’t the only ones.”

#the wilds x reader #the wilds #leah x reader #x reader #female character #female reader #leah rilke x reader #request #ask

[trashyswitch]

Fluff Rarely Sleeps When There's Weight: Part 2

Logan decides to get himself something to eat, and winds up seeing a blanket on the couch. Not only does Logan learn of how fluffy and comfortable it is, but Logan learns that he's VERY sensitive to blanket fluff!

For @kanene-yaaay

So an update on life: I GOT HIRED FOR A JOB! I'm gonna be working in a retirement home! It's like a dream job for me! WOO HOO! But this means, my fanfic writing is going to lessen a little when I start working. I'm gonna be hit with 12 hour shifts, and a couple days as a sleep/spare time break in between. It's gonna be weird and hard to get used to, but I'm gonna try and get lots of writing in on my breaks to make up for it.

Logan was reading a book and determining some new activities to put into Thomas’s routine. He had heard the commotion upstairs, and giggled to himself at the silly tickle fight that had started up between Roman and Virgil. It’s rare to hear (let alone see) the two of them getting along. So hearing that happen, made a few ideas flow through his head.

A while later, Logan began to feel hungry. So he closed his books, headed downstairs and walked to the kitchen. There were many food items he could eat, but a specific list of foods came to his mind: studying foods.

Logan decided to make himself a peanut butter and Crofters sandwich. Peanut butter was supposed to help your brain study, and fruit has always been a brain food. And as everyone knows, Crofters is one of the healthiest fruit jams there is! And of course, whole grain bread is good for you in general. So: PB & J is the perfect lunch option for Logan.

Logan brought his food out to the living room and placed it onto the table. Sitting onto the couch, Logan sighed in content and grabbed and started eating his sandwich. Behind him, Logan felt a purple fluffy blanket that was folded up and sitting there against the back of the couch. “Hmm.” Logan hummed before returning to his sandwich. He managed to get halfway through the sandwich when the fluffy blanket fell down against his lower back. Logan turned to look at the blanket, and decided to return it to its rightful throne on the couch. With the blanket back on its special spot, Logan returned to his sandwich.

But the blanket didn’t stay there for long. Logan had a bit more of the sandwich down when the blanket fell. But this time, it landed right onto Logan’s shoulders. Logan blinked in confusion as his inner thoughts told him he wasn’t leaning against the couch. So...how did the blanket manage to plop itself onto his shoulders? Logan sighed and grabbed his napkin. While he wiped his hands off, he let the blanket fall against his lower back again and put it right back where he found it beforehand. Finally, Logan got up, picked up his plate and headed to the kitchen.

When the plate was washed and placed aside for washing later, Logan came back to the living room to see the purple blanket no longer on the couch, but laying right on the floor. Logan lifted an eyebrow in confusion. Does this blanket not like being propped up on the couch or something? Logan sighed as he sat down onto the couch, and chose to pick up the blanket and plop it beside him.

A few minutes later, Logan felt something against his leg. He looked over, and lifted an eyebrow: the corner of the blanket had jumped and was now sitting on his leg. How did that happen? Logan stood up, lifted up the blanket and stretched it out so he could see the whole thing. It couldn’t have moved. But, he could admit that it does look comfy. Logan decided to wrap it around himself.

The fur was so nice against his neck! And his arms! The fur felt nice on pretty much everything. So, Logan laid himself onto the couch and enjoyed the security hug that the blanket gave him. It felt so warm and cozy as well. He could easily assume this was Virgil’s blanket thanks to the color, but boy did Logan love it as well! A smile started showing up on his face as he processed the softness and comfort he got from the blanket.

The blanket seemed to be hugging him more, the longer he laid there on his belly. The bottom corners had soon found a way around Logan’s legs and were now hugging them. Logan didn’t think much of this though, due to his growing exhaustion from the blanket and his writing from earlier. Logan soon fell into a deep sleep for about 45 minutes. It felt nice and long though, like he wasn’t being cheated out of genuine sleep.

When Logan woke up, the blanket seemed to have tucked itself under his shirt. But Logan didn’t really realize this thanks to his dozy state. But things started to click into place when the blanket’s fluff started to move and lightly tickle his sides from under the shirt. Logan squeezed his eyes a little and moaned in slight irritation.

“Mmmm-wha?” Logan moved his hand to his belly and felt the bits of fuzz on his sides. Thinking it was nothing, Logan ignored it and closed his eyes.

But the fuzzy blanket decided to go full force, and rub its blanket corners against his sides. Logan’s eyes widened as his lips perked into a big smile. Logan quickly shoved his face into his pillow and started giggling while he struggled to get the blanket off his sides. The blanket started moving around a little, never giving Logan a chance to actually grab the corners.

To make things worse, the upper middle of the blanket had scooted itself up to his neck and started tickling there too! Logan squeaked and actually started laughing in a higher-pitched tone! He tried to scrunch up his shoulders, but that didn’t do jack for the back of his neck. The blanket quickly started to wrap itself around Logan’s neck, and torment the sides of his neck too. And on top of THAT, the upper corners of the blanket had moved itself up to his ears and started tickling there!

Then Logan made the big mistake of reaching behind his neck to grab the blanket…

Quickly, the blanket’s upper corners moved from his ears right to his armpits and scrubbed vigorously. Logan shrieked and clamped his arms right down to his sides as endless laughter came out. “HAHAHAHAHAHA! HOHOHOW IHIHIHIHIS THIHIHIS EHEHEVEHEN HAHAHAPPEHENIHIHIHING?!” Logan asked the air in pure confusion. The stimulation was just too much for him! The poor logical man couldn’t even think while he was worn down to nothing but a giggly puddle. “HOHOHOHOW AHAHARE YOHOHOHOU TIHIHIHICKLIHIHING MEHEHE RIHIHIHIGHT NOHOHOHOW?!” Logan asked the blanket.

Gosh...If even one person could see him like this, they would question his sanity. What kind of person yells questions to a BLANKET of all things?! Not a logical person, that’s for sure. Despite how weird the circumstances were, the blanket seemed to be enjoying itself! To further show its love, the blanket turned itself horizontally (in contrast to his vertical body) and hugged Logan right around his arms. His arms were now stuck against his chest and his lower shoulders to his upper legs were being covered in furry blanket softness. Though part of Logan’s brain was enjoying the feeling of being hugged, the other half of his brain was telling him ‘GET OUT! THE BLANKET’S GONNA TICKLE YOU AGAIN!’

In an attempt to earn his trust, the blanket didn’t tickle him again. It just hugged Logan comfortably. Logan’s rocking and attempts to get out, soon subsided as exhaustion and a surprising amount of trust started to take over. Logan looked at the blanket in confusion and decided to feel the fluff against his fingers. As he felt the fluff however, Logan started smiling and giggling as he learned something new about himself: his palms and his inner fingers were somewhat ticklish as well! Ticklish enough to make him giggle, no less.

When the blanket wanted to keep going, it started tickling Logan’s lower ribs. Logan guffawed in pure surprise and practically lost all his composure. Logan was kicking his feet, cackling, shaking his glasses off his head, and soon started pounding the couch! You would think that removing the corners of the blanket would help your situation. But Logan had found out earlier on that he CAN’T. The blanket was weakening him and would go for his armpits every time he tried. So, he eventually gave up and laughed all his frustrations out.

The blanket paused, and grabbed Logan’s glasses. Placing them onto the side table, the blanket continued its tickle attack on Logan with no worry of anything broken. Eager to tickle him a lot more, the blanket lifted up Logan’s shirt and shoved most of its blanket body through the bottom of the shirt and fed the corners out the shirt sleeves! Then, it started fluffing and wiggling itself to tickle him vigorously with the blanket fluff. Logan was wiggling and rocking all over the place, squealing and cackling hysterically, and was super overwhelmed by the tickles he was experiencing. It was just too much for the man! Logan was used to not being touched very much. So going from barely touched to tickle attacked all over, Logan grew overwhelmed rather quickly.

It didn’t help matters either that his serotonin levels were soaring. His brain was being fed so much happiness, that he was being put into dazes filled with all the giggle fits. It was such a strange and foreign feeling for him. He’s often warned Thomas of not doing drugs or drinking too much. But Logan was now learning of a new hormone-inducing drug mixture: dopamine and serotonin. The good news was, it doesn’t harm the body but rather helps the body. The bad news was: It was making his body feel weak and tired, while also fogging up his brain. He knew he would never be able to think straight no matter what. But this was ten times worse!

The blanket decided to give Logan another break and unravelled itself from Logan’s upper body. Logan giggled and wiggled around as it dislodged itself from under the shirt, but soon began calming down when it was out. The blanket wrapped itself around Logan’s legs and waist to hug him once again.

Logan didn’t know how he felt about being tickled so much. He loved it on one hand, but another part of him was telling him to get away from the blanket because it was tickling him too much. But the dopamine rush from the tickle attack felt amazing to him! It was like getting an overdose of happiness at disneyland. But...it was just tickling. How could tickling have such a big effect on him that he’s literally fighting with himself on whether he likes it or hates it?

Meanwhile, the blanket could sense his overthinking brain yet again. When will this man ever learn? The blanket decided to see if his legs or knees were ticklish as well. By doing this, the blanket travelled itself down to the bottom of his dress pants and slid each corner right in and up the pant sleeves. Finding the vulnerable knee pits, the blanket fluffed up its fluff a little more and started rubbing the corners against the knee pits.

“Uhuhuh ohohohohoh! HAHAHAhahahahaha! Cohohohome ohohohon blahahankehehehet! Knohohohock ihihihit ohohohoff!” Logan finally begged for the first time.

The blanket, enjoying the giggles, decided to rub just a little faster behind the knee pits. Logan’s laughter quickened quite a bit. “OhohoHOHOHO BOHOHOHOYHY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan laughed more and more.

There was the happy sound! That kind of laughter gave the blanket extra fluffs of excitement! The blanket declared then and there, that Logan would be tickled for a little longer. But Logan didn’t know how he felt about its plans. Logan was kicking his feet, rolling all over the couch and laughing his heart out! And to make things better? Logan had started snorting! And everytime Logan would snort, he would cover up his mouth and muffle his own cackles! It was SUPER adorable!

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE! IHIHIHIHI CAHAHAHAN’T BREHEHEHEHEHEATHE!” Logan pleaded as tears of mirth started to well up in his eyes bit by bit.

The blanket was starting to realize that Logan was gonna need a break very soon. So, it tried one more spot: the back of his calves.

And HOLY CRAP! Logan threw his head back and SCREAMED like his body was on FIRE! His scream quickly turned into hysterical, almost insane kind of laughter! And just as quickly, the laughter went silent. That was when the blanket gave him a break. The blanket removed itself from his pant sleeves very gently and laid itself in a pile in front of Logan’s feet.

Logan took a while to calm down, and soon sat himself up. “You gonna make yourself known, Mr. Blanket?” Logan asked.

The blanket stayed still at first.

“Hello?” Logan asked, poking the blanket.

But the blanket refused to move.

Logan narrowed his eyes and picked up the blanket in curiosity.

But suddenly, the blanket wrapped itself around Logan’s shoulders again! Logan giggled and hugged the blanket back. “I knew you were just playing!” Logan reacted. “I’m Logan.” he greeted, holding out his hand.

The blanket shook his hand with a corner and wrapped itself around Logan’s head and shoulders. Logan giggled and snuggled himself into the blanket for a bit. “You’re very soft.” Logan admitted.

The blanket snuggled itself in more. Logan giggled at the snuggles he was getting, and smiled as he closed his eyes.

“I see you found my blanket.” someone said to him. Logan opened his eyes and smiled. It was Virgil. “Not a bad blanket, huh?” He asked.

Logan smiled. “Very cuddly.” Logan replied. “And playful.” Logan added.

Virgil’s smile widened. “His neck is really bad too.” Virgil let it know.

Logan’s eyes widened as he realized what Virgil just told the blanket. Logan quickly struggled to get the blanket off, but ultimately curled up and bursted out laughing. “Wahahait! VIHIHIHIRGAHAHAHAHAHA! YOHOHOHOHOU EHEHEHEVIHIHIL- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan started kicking his feet and rolling around on the couch once again.

But for Virgil, this was the first tickle attack he’d seen. And BOY, was it MAGICAL! Logan was a laughing, blushing mess, which was usually a rare sight. The only person who’s been able to enjoy this new sight of Logan, was Patton and this blanket! And he could see why Patton wouldn’t stop talking about it: it was so fun to see!

“STAHAHAHAHAHAP! IHIHIHIHIT TIHIHIHICKLEHEHEHES TOHOHOHO MUHUHUHUHUCH!” Logan begged.

“Does it really tickle that badly?” Virgil asked.

“YEHEHEHEHES! IHIHIHIHIT REHEHEHEALLY TIHIHIHIHICKLEHEHES!” Logan replied.

“Do you want it to stop though?” Virgil asked.

“KIHIHIHIHINDAHAHAHA.” Logan replied.

Virgil smirked. “So...is that a yes? Or a no?” Virgil asked curiously.

Logan finally worked up the courage to shake his head no. Virgil smiled and watched the rest of the ticklish situation play out from just a few feet away. Since the man didn’t want him to stop the blanket, Virgil was gonna let the blanket tickle him for a while till either Logan would tap out, or the blanket would stop for him.

The blanket slithered itself around from Logan’s neck, to his back, to his sides and ribs again. The blanket did spend some extra time on his back though, because as it turns out: his back was a giggle spot! Logan was arching his back and giggling all cutesy and childish! It was so cute! Someone call Patton and let him know about this secret fact!

Virgil smirked as he looked over at the hiding spot behind the kitchen counter. There was a slightly visible glow of red coming from the side of the counter. Virgil knew exactly who that was: Roman.

Virgil was fully aware that it was really Roman controlling the blanket the entire time. How did he know? Well, apart from the time Roman blew his own cover when he used the blanket on me...the red glow also proved it. The color red, always matched up with the prince. Roman, amidst his blanket controlling, sent Virgil an ‘Okay’ sign for a few seconds before returning to his fun little activity.

The blanket eventually stopped for Logan and gave him a big hug. Logan was still a giggly mess from the tickle attack, but also felt heartwarmed to have yet ANOTHER hug from the loving blanket.

“Awwww! It looks like Mr. Blanket really likes you!” Virgil teased.

“Ihihihi...Ihihi doho tohohoho, blahahankehehet.” Logan replied, patting it nicely. The blanket snuggled into Logan a little more and started to calm down. With all that time spent tickling, the blanket seemed to be getting quite tired. Talk about irony! But Logan didn’t mind. As long as the blanket didn’t develop any more cravings for tickles during his nap, Logan was perfectly okay with the blanket hugging him.

The reality is, he really needed this. Logan probably needed this more than any of the sides did. So to finally get some love without having to gain the courage to ask for it? Literally the best thing anyone could ask for.

...It didn’t take long for Logan to start up another tickle fight…

Let it be known that Logan officially loves tickle fights!

#fluff #ticklefic #ler!roman #lee!logan #ler!blanket #adorable logan

[flowers-of-io]

Shockwave

Read it on AO3 here.

It is thirty-six hours later when the shockwave hits.

The Stranger—Elisabeth—let them stay in her camp out in the frigid nowhere, just a tiny round cabin with a bed and a table. She has driven off into the blizzard for supplies, and Eris quietly notes the subtle sign of trust that was leaving her and the Drifter alone in her personal space. It is cosily warm inside, well-insulated Braytech door keeping the cold out. She can see the snowstorm raging on the other side of the glass, white and blue and violent like the power crackling in her fingertips.

They sit on the opposite sides of the table, an old radio between them fighting through the snow to catch any signal that might slip through. Between the cracks of static and scraps of broadcast, there is silence.

This is the first time Eris has really sat down, stretching her back and legs aching from the hike. Between her mad escape from Io and what happened in the City, and persuading Zavala and the flight to the Jovians, she did not have time for as much as think. Head spinning as she danced from one purpose to the next, time slipping past her, reality squirming and bending. She has not slept in a long time.

The radio hums and Zavala’s voice pierces through, cracking and out of context. “…confirmed that Io, Mars, Titan, and Mercury have disappeared. We don't know why. We have lost contact with Deputy Commander Sloane and Gensym Scribe Asher Mir. We are deploying…”

She cannot hear him anymore.

Realisation hits her like a train at full speed. The assailed planets are gone. Her beloved, sacred Cradle, the Tree of Silver Wings – they are gone.

Sloane is dead. Asher is…

She has known. Since he squeezed her hand goodbye, and his red shadow began to darken her door every night, she has known what choice he would make and struggled to respect it. But it was too calm of a sorrow, she realises now, like leaves falling upon a grave, and she did not wail or claw her fingernails against the sandstone. There was still a thread of stupid hope, one that she hung upon by the little finger and refused to admit it, refused to acknowledge she believed there was still a chance, an unfinality of loss possible to revert. That threat is strangling her now, sharp and merciless, and Eris struggles to suck in a breath.

Drifter moves, his heavy coat rustling as he slouches forward towards the radio. He stares at it intently, silent, until Zavala’s voice is drowned in static again.

“Guess our pals kicked the bucket,” he says with such tremor in his voice Eris is not even angry.

She turns the realisation around like a bitter pill in her mouth, sticking fingers into the wound to get used to the pain. It is best constant, she has learned long ago, rather than the sudden spikes when she would touch the hurting place inadvertently. She digs deep to find some visceral core of horror; she imagines Asher dead in a hundred atrocious ways, his body broken and dismembered, crushed into red pulp, blew apart from the inside in an eruption of sizzling radiolaria. The deeper she reaches now, the safer it will be to sleep – the images familiar and predictable, horrent with spikes she already knows the placement of.

Skittish thoughts propel her to run off into the storm, let the blizzard lash her skin with an icy whip and scream until her larynx bleeds, until she cannot hear the din in her mind anymore. But she will not lose her composure. The days of punching walls and hollering into the night are long past her, shed along with the skin of chitin and blood she had been wearing for too long. She has only just started to bloom again—she will not allow it to trample the gentle scaffolding she has so arduously put up to hold her. She will not break.

Somewhat absently, she can see Drifter staring at her from across the table but her brain is screaming too loud to process it. He must have noticed some change on her face, or maybe how her hands started to shake and fiddle with the beads hanging by her belt, because he keeps his eyes on her—cautious, searching. As if looking for a handhold to grab and drag her out of the pit of horror she is thrusting herself into over and over.

“You saw it coming?” His voice seems to echo from far away.

“I should have,” Eris murmurs, nausea swelling up in her throat. “I should have persuaded them… I should have been there.”

In a desperate attempt to chase off the fuzz of thoughts hurtling through her mind at lightspeed, she stands up and regrets it immediately; the horizontal axis of her vision rotates by thirty degrees and she leans on the table with her full weight for support. Drifter stirs, then reaches out but she waves him off.

She can manage. She has been worse. It’s just another arrow to the same knee—does it make any difference?

She thinks about how her bloodied fingers traced the letters she had never sent to the people she would never see again. Piles of ink-stained paper, trembling sentences seeking comfort and asking forgiveness of the shadows she projected in her mind instead of the real flesh and bone. Real was too frightening, real could judge and shun her, real required a vulnerability she was terrified to reveal. She dreamed of a day when she would be steadier, braver—her hands no longer flinching away from touch, her words bold and sure of themselves—when she would send the letters out, confident of the fearful affection they disclosed. The correspondence she had truly written to herself.

Scrap-sentences circle in her head, squirming into her ears and eyes and mouth slithering between her teeth bitter like poison. Everything she will never tell him, one more thing the paranoia took from her, all the honest words and quivering confessions she feared to account for and how he will never know how she loved loved loved—

Staggering, she slumps onto the cot. Guilt is burning acidic in her chest and she cannot keep from shuddering any longer, burying her face in hands and smearing the ichor all over her cheeks. These eyes cannot cry and oh how she wishes they could, remembering the warm release of tears streaming down and tasting salt on her lips. There is only the black ooze now, seeping into her mouth and ears as she sleeps, drying on her eyelids and sticking them shut with a black wax seal. She is shaking so wildly her back hurts and tries to stifle the wail that creeps upon her lips, threatening to escape instinctively like a held-back breath.

The letters she never sent; alas, the promise had been made. She should have been there.

She had sworn.

The mattress dips down beside her, a movement she hardly registers. Only when an arm wraps itself around her loosely, a tentative loop for her to lean into or move away from, do the floodgates truly break. She curls up against Drifter’s chest and starts sobbing, dry and ugly sobs like frantic gasps for air above water.

He caresses her back, slow and soothing movements of a warm hand against the fabric of her cloak. Eris can hear her own wailing resonating through his ribcage.

“I should’ve been there,” she mumbles, her jaw trembling so hard it is difficult to push the words out.

“I know you were close,” Drifter hums, “but what use would be for you to die there? It’s not like you could’ve done anything.”

“He would comfort me in my darkness… and dying… I could not.”

He shifts and Eris feels his other hand gently press against her head. It is soft and warm and comforting, enclosing her in this tight dark space like in a blanket fort. It helps her slowly calm down until she is not heaving anymore, shivering only from time to time with leftover sobs.

“There was a kid in Eaton. A place I used to live,” Drifter says when her breathing is almost steady, “Taught her to fly a kite. Once it got stuck in a tree, almost at the top, and she climbed all the way up to get it. I asked her if she wasn’t afraid of falling.” There’s gentleness in his voice, one she has never heard there before. “And she said she wasn’t, ‘cause she knew I’d catch her if she did. Knew I’d save her.”

His thumb rubs gentle circles against her temple, lulling her, and Eris struggles to stay focused. She is too exhausted to think, and a terrible headache has begun to settle in, hammering against her sinuses, and Drifter’s tone is deep and calming, as if he was telling a bedtime story.

“When Eaton burned… when she took a bullet and stumbled and fell… I caught her. But I couldn’t save her.”

“At least you were able to offer comfort… One last time.”

“And did it change anything? She’s dead anyway.” Drifter shakes his head, a rustle of cloth sounding so odd with her ear partially covered. “You did what you could, sister. Don’t beat yourself up for it.”

The guilt will not subside until many, many moons later, and it is still gnawing at Eris’ bones in this moment, but the sharp, blinding fear has somewhat subsided into a dull ache. Maybe it is the catharsis of crying, or the initial shock having tumbled past, but an odd haziness overcomes her and her strained muscles begin to ease. The terrible weight of the loss is still dark and grim – she dreads to acknowledge it, fears the moment she will have to look under the cover and face it in all its irrevocable finality, yet for now it sits tucked away somewhere in the corner of her vision, present but bearably distant. For now she is warm and safe and breathing.

They do not speak more, just sit in hazy silence as the storm rages outside.

#bring tissues this is sad #am i over asher's death four months later? nope #character death tw #destiny 2 #my fics #eris morn #the drifter #asher mir #bad coworkers #cousins #gensym scribe #eris morning #sad man from the basement #destiny 2 fics

[kareofbears]

asymmetric styling

“I like the way you dress.”

Akechi looks up from his crossword (one word left, ten letters horizontally) to see Ann waiting for a response.

“What?”

—

read on ao3 or below the cut :) 

“I like the way you dress.”

Akechi looks up from his crossword (one word left, ten letters horizontally) to see Ann waiting for a response.

“What?”

“Your outfits are nice,” she clarifies, nodding at his winter attire. “I like how you present yourself, and the colors you pick. You have a knack for clothes, I think.”

“Okay,” he says for lack of a better response. “Why are you telling me that?”

“Because I want to?”

He sets down his crossword. “Why would you want to?”

Ann stares at him. “Because you have good outfits?”

“Yes, we’ve been over that, but you hate me, so why would you want to compliment me?” If this useless back and forth goes on any further, Akechi’s going to pop a vein.

“I can still hate people and compliment them,” she replies, rolling her eyes. “That’s called high school.”

“This,” he gesticulates at the empty interior of Leblanc. “Is us waiting for the rest of the halfwits and Sumire to show up, and that I’ve apparently been granted the unfortunate lottery ticket of spending alone time with you.”

“I think it’s called a blessing, actually,” she grins. “I’m something of a hoot. A rockstar. A Hollywood badass.”

“A nuisance?” he offers, smiling thinly in return.

“Are you always like this or is it because I’m just too pretty?”

“I feel like this is a trick question from how stupid it sounds, but it’s most definitely not the second one, I promise.” Akechi shrugs off his jacket, and moves to grab his crossword puzzle again. “How about you go back to your phone, and we can go back to the delightful silence we had before?”

Her hand slams down on the newspaper. “I knew it.”

Raising an eyebrow, “Are you about to tell me the final answer to this crossword? Because not only do I legally have to say that you seem like you’ve never attempted a mental aptitude test in your life, but because I’m generally against spoilers.”

“You do like fashion!”

Akechi represses a sigh. “What are you on about?”

“Your jacket,” she points at his brown peacoat. “That was on page thirteen of Vague, the July edition predicting sales on which winter apparel for men will take off later that year. That peacoat was rated number one in Japan and ended up being something like a self-fulfilling prophecy by using their earlier predictions and turned it into sales.”

He scoffs. “Okay, sure. Let’s say that I’m an avid follower of fashion.” Akechi leans forward, and his head tilts in mock-concern. “But doesn’t that mean that you rebuked your own statement? Since this was…what was that? ‘Rated number one in Japan?’ Won’t that mean that everyone would be trying to sell this coat? And it could be a complete coincidence that I have this jacket because it can be replicated in every fast-fashion store in downtown Shibuya?” He gasps. “Oh no, looks like you’re wrong about the very field you think you know the most in! How humiliating.”

Ann leans forward, her smile is wide but her eyes are sharp. “Silly me. I guess I forgot to mention a fact about this specific brand, color, and fabric on the very first day of release: it’s near impossible for manufacturers to try and replicate it.” She tilts her head to mimic him. “Humiliation’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

“Maybe, if I had ever experienced it the way you just did,” he replies pleasantly. “‘Near impossible,’ means statistically difficult, but not quite impossible.”

“Very true, but since that brand is on such high demand, they actually have a foolproof method to fight against fake brands. Perhaps they thought it was a good idea to have a small symbol that can be easily overlooked. Let’s say—” she reaches forward and grabs his coat, grin stretching even further when she points at one of the big brown buttons. “Something like a rabbit engraved on top of the first button?”

Akechi raps his fingers on the table. “Perhaps, but if you had done your research, this brand has two foolproof methods: the rabbit, as you annoyingly mentioned, and the code that you can enter in the website to prove its legitimacy. However, as you may have noticed—” he pinches the label near the collar of the peacoat. “No code. Sorry.”

Ann groans, throwing her hands over her face. “Dammit!”

Letting himself cheer internally, he makes sure the condescension is layered thick in his voice. “Not your fault. You tried your best.”

“Yeah…I’m sure you did.” Blue eyes peek from between her fingers. “Too bad you forgot the cute little fact that four years ago they actually put the code inside of the label.”

His shoulders tense.

“Do you mind flipping it for me, Akechi? Actually, no need,” propping her chin on her palm, he probably could have felt her smugness from three blocks away. “Even if there isn’t, I know that you live and breathe fashion as much as I do.” Her expression turns cheery. “Well, almost as much.”

“Congratulations, you beat me in a game you know you’re more knowledgeable in than I am,” he deadpans. “An outstanding feat. Can you let me finish my puzzle now?”

“I should’ve guessed you were a sore loser,” Ann says, ignoring him. “I still remember when Akira beat you in a round of Tycoon. Your face was stuck like—” she scrunches her eyebrows together and morphs her features into a menacing scowl. “For like four hours afterwards, it was great.”

“He only won because his cards were better than mine.”

“Actually, if I’m not mistaken, the cards you drew were basically as good as his, and you still lost.”

“Oh, I see, you’re trying to be funny. Hilarious. I can hardly breathe, please call an ambulance.” He rubs his temples. “I yield. I’m going to ask you this one last time: What do you want? And no games, I beg of you, you’re going to make my head burst.”

“Killjoy,” she sighs, before straightening up. “You know that we hate you.”

“I think I’m aware, yes.”

“And you hate us—”

“But Sumire doesn’t count,” they both say in unison.

“But you not only hate us, but I’m pretty sure you hate, like, everyone else,” she continues, gesticulating with her hands. “Japan, Asia, the world. I’m sure you have some random vendetta with some guy across the Pacific Ocean. He probably breathed too hard and made one of your hairs move two weeks later.”

“Is there a point to your prattling, or…?”

“I’m getting there,” she gives him an accusing look. “So with all that in mind, why does a guy like you, who would get in a boxing ring with just about anyone on the planet, know so much about something like the fashion industry?” Smoothing down his jacket, “Why do you put so much effort in how you dress when it’s so clear that you don’t care what other people think about you?”

“Is that what you think?”

Ann pauses at his tone. “Am I wrong?”

“No. Not necessarily.” She continues to stare at him, unblinking. “Do you ever learn to back down?”

That makes her grin. “Not in this line of work. If you think I’m bad, you should go a few rounds with Ryuji.”

“Sounds like a nightmare.” If information is the price for temporary silence, then he’s willing to pay the price. Even at the cost of prolonging his crossword. “I didn’t care what other people think about me, but I wanted them to see me in a certain light.”

She squints. “What?”

He finds himself fiddling with the edge of his newspaper. “The very first thing people notice about a person is how they present themself. In their hair, their expression, their posture. But above all that, is the clothes that they wear. The shoes on their feet, the jacket on their back, how expensive their watch is. All that information is melded together in an instant. That split second—” he snaps his fingers. “Is all they need to form an opinion of you. To define you, before you can even open your mouth.”

“I don’t care about fashion,” Akechi admits. “But I cared about what it could do for me. I got to have a say in who I am.” His eyes flicker to her. “Done?”

The look Ann gives him is unreadable. “You’re a liar.”

Akechi leans away, taken aback. “Well, yes, of course. I thought we all knew that by now.”

“You do care about what other people think about you, Akechi,” she accuses, realization dawning on her. “‘Want to see you in a certain light,’ my ass—all you’re doing is shuffling around what your words mean to justify your actions through your thick, annoyingly soft-haired skull. You’re right, you don’t care about fashion, because at the end of the day…” Ann shrugs helplessly, and her words are spoken with something like awe and dismay. “All you care about is how people see you.”

A beat passes. “Wanted.”

“Huh?”

“It’s ‘wanted,’” he corrects, unfazed. “Past tense.”

Ann gives him a hard look. “Correcting me on my grammar, now? Real mature.”

“Only because it changes the meaning of everything you just said.” Akechi reaches over to his jacket’s collar, and flips the label to reveal the code. “Thanks to your reminder, you helped me recall something.” He taps at the seemingly randomized set of numbers in front of him. “This lets you know when you bought the coat. What number is this?”

Reluctantly, she peers at what he’s pointing at. “‘10?’” she says quietly. “October?”

“I bought this about a week before my well-deserved beatdown in Shido’s ship,” he clarifies. “So about four months ago from today.”

“Okay? And?” she urges, still confused.

“And this coat is the newest thing I own.”

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning…” how strange it was, saying this out loud to another person. “That something between Shido’s ship and now, I stopped caring. About up-to-date fashion, about appearances, and especially stopped giving a damn about other people’s perception of me.”

Ann is silent for a moment. “Was it because of what happened in Shido’s ship?” she asks. There’s no trace of superiority or teasing in her tone—only curiosity.

“Could be,” he answers honestly. “Perhaps I realized that there was no need to uphold a specific personality anymore. Perhaps I was just tired after playing that song and dance for as long as I can remember. Bottom line is: I don’t give a single shit about fashion anymore.”

Her lips quirk up, “Even though you got into a fashion pissing contest not five minutes ago?”

“That’s different. I love to win.”

“I can tell,” she breathes out a laugh. After a moment, a thoughtful expression clouds her features. “Can I say something?”

“If I actually had a say in that, we wouldn’t have had this conversation at all.”

“How would you, Akechi Goro, feel about trying to get back into fashion?”

For once, Akechi looks surprised. “Did you not listen to anything I just said?”

Her hands drum on the table eagerly. “Just hear me out. You don’t care about fashion because it sort of, kind of, maybe represents how much you tried to be someone you’re not, which hey, I get that, super relatable, and it’s great that you don’t care about that anymore. But—and give me a chance here—” Ann grins. “Wouldn’t it be more interesting if you wore clothes that you wanted to wear?”

She shifts in her seat, excitement radiating off of her. It’s difficult to watch. “I’ve been studying fashion ever since I could understand the color wheel, and if there’s one thing I learned is that fashion is power. If you make it your own, then,” Ann shrugs. “All the more power to you, right?”

Akechi is struck with silence, and is saved from having to reply when the door to Leblanc swings wide open. An entourage of loud teenagers steamroll into the cafe, all brushing off various amounts of snow from themselves.

“Took you long enough!” Ann yells over her shoulder.

“Sorry for the delay,” Haru answers. She raises her hand to reveal a full plastic bag. “But we got snacks!”

“Takoyaki?”

“Pork kebab.”

She makes a face. “Stop indulging Ryuji!”

“Mm, literally impossible,” Akira replies, combing the snow out of Futaba’s hair.

Akechi sinks back into the booth, waiting for Sumire to walk in and prance by his side, when Ann turns back to him. “By the way, I think it’s ‘asymmetrical.’”

“What is?”

“The last word on your puzzle,” she nods down at his crossword. “‘With two halves, sides, or parts that are not exactly the same in shape or size.’ I read it while I was grabbing your coat.”

“Oh.” He reluctantly scribbles down the answer, lacking the usual enjoyment he gets from finishing a crossword. “…Thanks.”

Somehow, she’s still not done talking. “I heard Akira went shopping with Sumire last week. She came back with the cutest dress I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I’m aware.” He’s pretty sure he’s compiled enough for a slideshow of it by now, given how many pictures of it Sumire’s sent to him.

She hesitates, before seeming to steel herself. “Wanna go shopping tomorrow?”

Akechi blinks. Twice. He’s about to open his mouth to say no as rudely as possible, when he lets his eyes wander the cramped coffee shop. All of them are in clothes that scream their personality, even if it clashes or has horrible style (he can barely look at Ryuji’s winter outfit without cringing).

But, as terrible as some of them may look, all of them seem content to be in the clothes that they chose.

“Maybe.”

Ann’s smile is bright and genuine. “I can work with a maybe.”

#platonic anngoro #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #ann takamaki #goro akechi #fic #mine #fic tag #p5 #this is such a niche fic #i feel like the more fic i write for persona 5 #the more niche it is #i think i wrote this fic out of spite but thats usually how i write my fics anyway hehe #asymmetric styling #ann goro

[suxian]

it’s the teddy bear! Nix and Dick’s quite unusual life in Pennsylvania.

I know this chapter was wrote quite awful, so if you don't like it, please just ignore it

1 2 3

Nix hid his face in Dick's chest. He remained silent for a long time, during which Dick did not speak. He only gently stroked the back of Nix's hairy head, listening to Nix's breathing. As if a heavy rain after the bleak grass, the breeze slowly blowing, stirring up the refreshing aroma of grass.

After a long time, Nix finally spoke up.

"I've never wanted to be human again as much as I do now." His voice was muffled, mixed with a rare embarrassment and a touch of gnashed irritation, "At least I can take my clothes off and have sex with you and fuck my fucking brains out instead of being so embarrassed that I have no words to talk to."

Hearing Nix's angry speech, Dick couldn't help but raised the corner of his mouth. But at the same time he felt a secret bitterness and heaviness in his heart. He and Nix have been tacitly aware of Nix's behavior and have avoided talking about it. Whenever Nix wants to escape some topics from Dick, or abandon himself and hide his fragmented emotions, he will make love with Dick. He will madly try to drag Dick into the confusion and joy of his body, and will cover up his true feelings with deep kisses, dirty strokes, colorful seductions and licentious behaviors.

Dick didn't notice it until Blanche committed suicide because of depression. After the funeral dust is settled, Dick and Nix return to the apartment where Nix and Blanche used to live together. Dick is reluctant to let Nix stay alone in the apartment full of memories. No matter how good the memory is, it will only be like a nightmare at this time. Nix, however, locks himself into the room as soon as he gets home, leaving Dick no chance to make any other suggestions.

After pacing back and forth in the living room, eventually, Dick made a quick decision. He first told the housekeeper to prepare the meal and not to indulge Nix in drinking too much wine. He went back to the apartment to clean up his clothes and would come back immediately.

By the time Dick got back to Nix's apartment, it was past noon. Nix didn’t have lunch, and he also skipped over dinner. Dick did not try to disturb him. He waited until nearly midnight, and the housekeeper prepared supper just in case, but Nix's door was never opened again. He didn't even ask the housekeeper to deliver the wine. Eventually, Dick returned to the apartment's guest room, with no clue how long it will take Nix to recover from another death. He closed the door, took off and folded his coat, and sat for a long time with his eyes looked at the front horizontally, his legs together, his hands on his knees, and his back straight in silence. And then, he turned off the light.

Dick's keenness cultivated in the front line for many years made him turn over and roll out of bed on guard, putting on a defensive posture even before he woke up when he felt that someone was approaching him. The next second, however, Dick was completely awakened because of the extremely familiar voice and the other person's fuzzy figure in the dark. He was surprised and asked, "Nix?"

"I don't want to disturb the rest of the house at this time, so" Nix shook his hand in the darkness, and Dick saw by the dim moonlight that it was a key. "Sorry." Nix said unapologetically and threw the key down beside Dick's pillow.

"It doesn't matter," said Dick subconsciously. He was only concerned about Nix now. "What happened?"

"Good question, guessing what? The truth is I decided not to get fucking drunk and wake up the next day, or the next morning, on the vomit-covered floor to escape from --" Nix paused, tilted his head and didn’t go on. He then walked two steps closer to Dick and suddenly asked, "Do you need me to turn on the light to make sure I'm not drunk at this time?"

Dick didn't understand what Nix was trying to do, but he shook his head, "No." He said, "I know you're sober."

"Good," Nix said, "I'm going to do one thing. If you feel any discomfort during this period, say stop, I'll stop right away and leave."

"What? "Dick frowned, and his heart became alert. He had never seen Nix so wearily, even the heavy night couldn’t conceal his pallor. "What are you going to --"

"I like-- hell, I love you. "

Nix saw Dick's lips suddenly closed and his face strangely turned. It was as if this amused him, as if he had expected Dick to show this particular reaction. "I'm tired of pretending that I don't have feelings other than you are just my best friend." He then regained his expressionless face and said calmly, "I also don't want to be carefully suppress, cover up these feelings."

With that, Nix shrugged.

Dick was shocked by these sudden words, feeling dizzy, accompanying by an unadulterated joy. His heart rate soared, blood all poured into the face, and ears were crazy with the huge flow of blood vessels.

Dick opened his mouth. His spirit and limbs, which had been solid as a rock in the midst of the fire and the danger of the battlefield, trembled. He was eager to say something --

The next second, Nix kissed him.

It started as a gentle kiss, Nix brushing Dick's teeth with the tip of her tongue, feathery soft. But to his surprise, Dick opened his teeth and took Nix's cheek in his hand. His breath stung Nix's lips, jaw, and nose like a burning fire and boiling water. Nix was stunned for a few seconds, feeling Dick's tongue itch across the palate, and then suddenly, his senses came back. He desperately sucked on the tip of Dick's tongue until it was tingling, itchy, and painful, saliva spilling from the corners of both their mouths with this intense movement.

There was a long struggle, until Nix laughed and put his hand between them and felt between Dick's legs. "You got me, Major." He said in a low, obscene voice, bending his knees and deliberately grinding the delicate spot. Dick, without surprise, let out a groan and gasped uncontrollably. It had been less than a day after Blanche's funeral, he thought with great difficulty, they were in Nix's apartment, a door away from the housekeeper, the cook, and the maid. Any reason should calm him down and refuse to continue his folly. He bit his lip, trying to catch Nix's hand.

Nix dodged deftly, then fell to his knees and jerked off Dick's shorts. The half-hard penis jumped out. Nix looked at Dick, who frozen in place by his audacity, blushing and bewildered. "So, I guess I'm the first one to say hello to this soldier?" He smiled, bent his head, and put Dick's cock in his mouth without any hesitation.

Dick closed his eyes in despair. Nix was not familiar with the movements at first, but he was apparently incredibly clever. After a few attempts, he had figured out how to swallow Dick's penis as deep as possible, and had learned to squeeze the glans with his throat while fondling the frenulum. Watching Nix skillfully swallow his penis, lick it, kiss the tip of his cock does nothing to extinguish lust. And even though Dick closed his eyes, Nix's puffy cheeks, swollen lips and tearful corners of his eyes, and in between the puffs he muttered vaguely, "Dick, you're hard enough to hurt me."

Dick almost lost his reason. He just wanted to abandon all his faith. He wanted to hold Nix's neck and slammed into his mouth and throat so that he could not say a teasing or outrageous word any more.

In the meanwhile, Nix watched Dick bit his lip with stiff self-discipline, clench his hand into a fist with all his might of restraint and hold it against his thigh, wrinkling his eyebrows, veins on his neck, throbbing forbearing and erotically. He couldn't help but smirked, knowing that the only reason Dick didn't stop him was because he knew that Nix wouldn't stop, and that any extra noise they made would attract and alarm outsiders. Dick tried to stop Nix silently with his eyes, but it was obvious that this oral job could not be stopped.

Nix, of course, selfishly ignored this signal. He put his hand on Dick's hip, involuntarily kneaded Dick's firm tight butt, and then opened his mouth harder, forcing Dick to feel the pleasure squeezed out every time his cock hit Nix's throat.

The sensation builds up so quickly that it seems like a wall of waves is falling over one's head. After another deep throat from Nix, Dick suddenly let out a thick, muffled grunt, and the muscles in his thighs and lower abdomen tightened -- he was submerged in a sea of desire, caught in the whirlpool of orgasm, and shot out violently.

Before Nix could step back, Dick's semen filled his throat, more on his red lips that seemed to be bleeding, his jaw, and trickled down into the small indentations made by his collarbone. He coughed uncontrollably, and his tears made his face more salacious.

When Dick recovered from the orgasm, satisfaction and possessive desire finally disappeared from his body like a tidal wave. Dick saw Nix, who had already returned to normal at this moment, staring at him with amusement. His penis was still standing upright and his pants were stained with a dark mark.

"Nix, I --" Dick suddenly resenting himself for being so absorbed in the pleasure that he had forgotten Nix’s feeling.

"Stop, just don't apologize," Nix stopped him, shaking his head. "In fact, you can make it up to me. The night is still long."

Dick held his tongue, and waited.

"Fuck me, hard." Said Nix, raising his eyebrows. Dick's semen hung from his pretty, flawless cheek. Dick stared at the liquid that had made Nix unclean, and for a moment, uncontrollably, he wished it were hanging from Nix's eyelashes.

-- this shouldn't be right, they shouldn't have done it, Nix should have had a sweet wife, Dick should have got a girlfriend, they could have been close, and their kids could have been close, but they shouldn't have been as close as they are now, having sex, having fun, two men together.

But Nix was looking at him, recklessly, looking at Dick with a kind of contempt, and at the same time with an incomparable charm and dashing grace.

Fuck it, Dick thought, he had made a choice at this moment. He chose to go against the public order and good custom and abandon the so-called moral standards. He thought that if the world and Jesus only allowed a man and a woman to love and make love, then he would like to be Nix’s woman, and he believed that Nix would also like to be his woman.

"Tell me what I need to do." Dick heard himself say.

Nix laughed.

/

When they awoke in the early morning, Dick found Nix's head buried in his neck, trying to hide from the annoying sun. His black hair looked golden in the sun.

"Fuck you". Nix then woke up, groaned hoarsely.

"Good morning." Dick laughed uncontrollably, turned his head and kissed Nix's earlobe reassuringly, as if he had done it a hundred and a thousand times before.

"You're an animal." Nix complained.

"Feeling better?" Dick didn't care about Nix's offensive language. He just asked the question. He knew why Nix had come to him yesterday.

"For now, good." Nix replied scoundrelly, "for good? Have no clue. "

After a moment's silence, said Dick, "You looked awful yesterday."

"Well, when you don't know how something is going to turn out, it's like in Bastogne, you don't know where the German bombs are going to come from and go off," Nix said disagreingly. "But the worst thing that could happen is that you turn me down, you resign, and we don't interact. How could things be worse?"

Dick's heart shrank sharply. "I won't leave you."

"That sounds like a relief." Nix said in his usual joking tone, but Dick knew it was just a mask.

"I don't --" Dick tried to say that again, but Nix flipped over quickly and covered Dick's body with his own. He then put his fingers into Dick's red hair, which was just like the hot and burning and never extinguished sun.

Nix licked his lips and said, "Proved it."

Dick surrendered.

He admits, willingly, he is Nix's captive.

#winnix #dick winters #lewis nixon #band of brothers

[im-a-star-boy]

Forest Guardian

Parksbang 2020 bitches im tired ily **reposting this because it wouldn’t let anyone reblog at first lets hope this works lol

@sparrowsynopia @nalanoola

TW: Character Death

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Summary: Harry gets sent to stay in a cabin in the woods for the summer by his father and is less than pleased. He quickly comes to learn he’s not as alone in the forest as he thought he was.

Word Count: 25,684

Date of Completion: Wednesday, September 9th, 2020

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry stared at the water moving across the surface of the lake. He watched quietly as a stork leaned down, it's beak breaching the still, mirror-like surface, and resurfaced with a small fish. His father had brought him here for a retreat, a break from the chaotic world of New York City. "It's a safe, quiet place. You'll be staying there for the summer." He had said. "I did the same thing when I was your age, as well as my father before me, and his father before him."

A part of Harry felt like his father had made the whole thing up to get him out of the house. It was just him and an elderly woman in another house about a 20-minute walk away. It took about an hour to get to the nearest bus stop, to get to a nearby town where he could buy food, then a bus, and a subway to return to the city. But he knew if he tried to return, his father would be furious. He sighed and stared at the lake. 

The golden rays of light from the sunrise reflected off the surface, as the crickets began to quiet and birds began chirping loudly. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, he was angry that his father had just up and left him here. How could he? How could he just take me, his son, his own flesh and blood, and just leave me here?! Was it something I did? He closed his eyes and shook off the thought. Sitting there wouldn't help anyone. He turned back inside the house and began exploring quietly. 

The cabin was small and wooden. A small cobblestone fireplace sat comfortably in the living room. There was an intricate rug in front of the comfortable, dark brown couch. He trailed his hand over the fabric as he made his way to the kitchen, his shoes echoing against the auburn floor. 

The kitchen was simple, a fridge, a stove, and sink. There was no dishwasher, he had to wash his dishes by hand, which was easy enough. There was a small table and four chairs just off of the kitchen that made up the dining room. A lackluster chandelier hung above the table and there was a sliding glass door that led to a back porch that looked more than a bit unsettling at night. He always felt like someone was watching him through the doors as he moved through his kitchen. 

He shook his mind clear of the thought, not wanting to remember the unease he had the night prior. He began making his way back to the living room, which had a hallway leading to three rooms. Two bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom was fairly comfortable, a granite bath large enough to submerge yourself underwater. However, much to his displeasure, there was no shower. There was a washer and dryer in the corner. 

The bedrooms were similar, almost the same. The beds were comfortable, twin sized, with black sheets and light grey duvets with soft plaid blankets folded neatly at the end of the bed. There were chests at the end of the bed with extra blankets and pillows stuffed in. There was a nightstand with a lamp, tissues, and an old fashioned alarm clock. 

There wasn't much else to the cabin, no TV, no phone service, no computer, nothing. There was barely any electricity, aside from some plugs that were installed recently that gave Harry a bit of anxiety. The cords were exposed around them and they barely looked like they were stable. 

He let out a frustrated sigh as he grabbed a bottle of water. Two months of solitude in the forest with no connection to anyone, just what every child needs. He looked at the countertops before sighing and walking back out onto the porch. At least there’s a nice view…

He sat there for a long time, he wasn't sure how long, maybe an hour. He just sat there and watched the animals move around the lake. Finally, his anger became too much and he stood up. He leaped over the railing on the porch and began walking his way up the trail. Sitting and letting his anger fester wouldn't do him any good, and the solitude wouldn't help either. He began walking down one of the paths towards the older woman's house. Norman had introduced them, but he hadn't quite remembered her name. He was too busy being angry to process what they had been saying.

The path was long and winding, leading up a steep cliff face. He remembered his fathers' words. "Just stay on the path and you'll be fine. Don't stray or you'll get lost. I don't need to be sending out a search party for you." He had sounded cold, uncaring when he spoke. He wanted to get rid of me as fast as he could, He thought angrily. He continued up the path, trying to stay pressed against the wall. The fall wasn't far enough to kill him, at least he didn't think so. That didn't mean he was willing to risk it though. 

He absentmindedly kicked rocks ahead of him. Most just fell off the side, but one stayed on the path. He kicked it hard and froze up when he heard a small yelp of pain. He looked ahead, expecting to see an animal or maybe even another person, but nobody was there. He stopped and looked behind him, once again to be met with nobody. "Hello?" He called anxiously. He was met with silence. 

His gaze traveled across the thick vegetation of trees and the clear sky above them. He swallowed thickly and continued on the path, his pace quickening. As he nearly reached the peak, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He let out a cry of alarm and turned around to see a small pebble hit the ground. He leaned down and picked up the rock, before touching the back of his head. There was no blood, a good sign. "Okay, who's there?!" He shouted, his anxiety growing. 

When he once again received no reply, he turned and began making his way to the peak once again. He was almost running as he attempted to get there. I'm being stupid- there's nobody here! I would've seen them. There's only one path, they'd have to be directly behind me to hit me with a rock, it just fell from above me, it just fell from above me, it just- He turned the corner to the peak and immediately ran into a boy, letting out a startled cry. 

He took gasping breaths for air as the boy raised an eyebrow. He was shorter than him by a few inches, dark-skinned, and had reddish-brown eyes. "Watch your step," He warned, stepping past him.

Harry stared after him as he went around the corner. "Wait, wait who are you-" He shouted, running around the corner to see him. The pathway was empty, making him freeze up in confusion. "Wh..."

He swallowed thickly and ran his fingers through his hair. Am I losing my mind? He turned hesitantly around and began walking to the house just down the path. 

When he finally arrived at the familiar flower-covered cottage, he knocked on the door anxiously. After a moment, the door opened, revealing the elderly woman. "Oh, hello, Harry." She greeted, seeming surprised. She opened the door wider. "Come in, come in, you're pale."

Harry nodded and stepped in, trying to quell his shaking. The woman sat him down on the couch and went to her kitchen. "Are you alright?"

"I just... I thought I saw a boy on the way here and... I guess I didn't..." 

The woman stared at him for a moment. "Well, the trees can play tricks on your eyes," 

Harry swallowed thickly and nodded slowly. "Yeah, the... trees."

The woman offered him a smile. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please," He sighed, feeling exhausted. 

He sat quietly as she made the tea. He swallowed thickly. "I-I'm sorry, I forgot your name." He finally spoke.

The woman looked up and smiled kindly. "My name is May."

Harry nodded. "It's nice to meet you, May. Well, meet you again. I'm sorry if I was rude the other day when we first met." 

"Oh no, it's alright. Not to offend you or anything, but I've never been fond of Norman. Always so crude, never able to give something other than science a chance." She chuckled.

Harry stopped for a moment, before smiling. "Yeah, that's about right."

May smiled back. "What kind would you like?"

"Hm?" 

"Tea, I have several flavors. What kind would you like?"

"Do you have black tea?"

"Yes," She hummed, pouring two cups as the kettle began to whistle.

Harry smiled as she handed him the mug. "Give it a minute for the tea to finish steeping," She hummed.

Harry nodded and used the spoon to stir it slowly. "Do you want any milk, sugar, or honey?" May offered.

"No thank you," He replied kindly.

May nodded and seated herself beside Harry. "So, why are you up here? Do you just want some company?" 

Harry hesitated, before nodding. "Yeah, I didn't want to be alone." 

May smiled and chuckled. "I understand, the forest can get lonely."

Harry nodded quietly and sipped the tea. It was bitter, but he could manage. May offered him a reassuring smile. "You can stay as long as you need,"

Harry smiled quietly. "Thank you..."

He stayed there for the majority of the day, helping May tend to her garden and perform daily chores. It was comforting to not be alone. As dawn began to break, Harry had to return to his cabin. He bid her goodnight, promising to visit the next day as he made his way down the cliff face. 

With each step, he didn't feel the same unease he had earlier that day. 

As he walked, he felt at ease, before feeling something flick the back of his head. He quickly turned around. "Huh?" 

There was nobody behind him.

Any ease and comfort he had immediately drained out of him as he looked around. "Hello?"

"Hi," He heard a voice. 

He looked up and saw the dark-skinned boy from earlier staring down on him with a smile. Harry stared slack-jawed. "Y-you're-you're standing- you're sitting on-"

The boy stood up, standing horizontally on the rough rock. "Surprised? Sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier. I'm-" 

Harry gasped and took a step back. "How- how are- am I-"

The boy's eyes widened. "Hey- hey look out-!" 

The ground disappeared beneath him and he began tumbling downhill, letting out a panicked cry. Before he could call for help, his head smashed against a rock and his vision faded to black.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

"PETER! PETER- I MESSED UP!" 

Peter looked up from the small spider in his hands. He set his hand down on the side of the tree and the spider crawled off, almost invisible thanks to it's camouflaged exoskeleton. Peter turned to the familiar voice as he leaped off the tree. "What'd you do this time, Miles?"

"There- there was a kid. I think I killed him." The red-eyed boy wailed as he skidded to a halt in front of him. 

Peter stopped. "What?"

"I- he was on the cliff-face- I was- I was up there and- he was- he kicked a rock and it hit me- and I was being petty so I threw it back at him and he got all scared and I thought it was funny and-"

"Miles slow down I can't understand you," Peter said, putting his hands up.

Miles took a deep breath, a pair of sharp fangs visible in his mouth. "There was a guy on the cliff-face and he accidentally kicked a rock at me, I think it was on accident at least, he couldn't see me, I was camouflaged, but he kicked a rock at me and I was being petty and I threw it back at him and he got scared so I thought it would be funny if I scared him again so I got in front of him and scared him earlier and then I tried to scare him again when he was going down the cliff path and he tripped and fell off, he isn't moving but he's alive but I think he's dying," Miles wailed breathlessly.

Peter stared at him for a moment. "Oh for the love of-" He took a sharp breath. "Where is he now?"

"Oh, the edge of the forest by the cliff face- where the lamb's ear grows," 

Peter nodded. "Go get the Dryads, I'll go check on him." He ordered as he quickly ran to where the boy had fallen. 

Miles nodded. "O-Okay!" 

Peter turned and made his way through the forest, finding the boy with ease. He narrowed his eyes at his injured figure. He was laying on his back, dark red blood staining his shirt on the side and arms, as he laid motionless. Peter leaned down and touched his neck, wondering silently if he was already too late. His questions were answered when the boy let out a pain-filled moan. He jerked his hand away, before moving to his side. "Okay, this is gonna hurt a lot... I'm sorry." 

He carefully slid his arms under the boy and ignored the pained cries that escaped his lips. He picked him up, careful to not let his head sag, and began carrying him back into the forest. The boys' sobs and pained cries filled the air as he began carrying him to the forest. He made it to a small hollow that opened up into a cave that Peter called home. He carefully let the boy down, attempting to ignore the boys' screams. Peter rested his hand over his eyes when he tried to look at him. "Keep your eyes closed and go to sleep. I won't let you die."

The boys' tears made Peter's bloodied hands slick as he used his powers to put the boy to sleep. He moved his hand away and looked at his wounds. His legs were injured, one was fractured and the other was cut up, and his arms had several nasty cuts. Though his back was thankfully intact besides cuts and bruises and his ribs were safe. Peter took a deep breath and looked up as one of the Dryads entered the room. She had mid-length, curly brown hair and vibrant green eyes. "What happened?" She asked, quickly moving his side. 

"He fell down the cliff face to May's house. He's cut up pretty bad. Do you think you can help?" He questioned, not turning his gaze away from the injured boy's face.

The Dryad, named Ygeía, nodded. "Yeah, I can see what I can do. Leave me alone with him."

Peter turned away. "Make it as painless as possible if you could."

She smiled and nodded. "I will. Now go, you're only gonna be a worrywart. Go." She chided, pointing to the door. 

Peter made a face. "Fine, fine. I'll go." 

He left the cave, leaving Ygeía to work her magic. Not in a metaphorical sense, he was leaving her to perform magic. He looked up when he felt Miles' presence. "Is... is he okay?" 

"Miles, he's mortal. You need to remember that they're fragile." Peter reminded softly. 

Miles nodded. "I know I know. I didn't think that he'd walk off the side." He defended, looking embarrassed. 

"It's okay. He's in good hands now, I know it wasn't on purpose. You aren't a malicious spirit, Miles. You just gotta be more careful next time." He reminded.

Miles nodded. "God I really messed up, didn't I?" He asked, looking guilty. 

Peter touched his shoulder. "Miles, it's okay. You gotta forgive yourself, he's fine, he's gonna be fine, it'll all be fine. "

Miles searched his gaze questioningly, before nodding when he saw no hesitation in his eyes. "Alright. Thank you, Peter." 

He smiled. "You're welcome, Miles. Now go on, everything will be fine here. " 

Miles forced a grin before he nodded and turned away. "Thank you, Peter!" He called, before disappearing behind the trees.

Peter chuckled and turned back to the cave, waiting for Ygeía to exit.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Pain exploded through his body as he was brought back to consciousness. He let out a pained cry as he tried to adjust. "Ah, someone, help I'm- I can't- someone PLEASE-" 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a shushing noise. "It's okay, I'm here, just relax, everything's alright."

He hesitated, before opening his eyes. A young boy around his age was sitting above him. He had large bright green eyes, brown hair, a green patchwork shirt that was torn at the edges, a black vest-like overcoat, and soft, dark tan, stained, loose leather pants. The attractive boy moved the hair out of his face. "You're gonna be fine." He promised.

Harry felt his breath leave his body as he stared at the boy. "God?"

The boy jerked back. "What? No. No, don't do that. That's like calling me your dad, which I'm not." He replied flatly.

Harry groaned as the boy pulled away. "Where... where am I? Am I dead?"

"No, you're not dead. And you're not going to die. But you'll open your wounds if you keep moving, so stop that." The boy hissed when he saw him attempting to sit up.

Harry didn't let that stop him and finished sitting up as he hissed in pain. "Shit shit shit that hurts shit." He cursed.

The boy scowled. "Well, no shit sherlock- stop moving for the gods' sake!" He snapped loudly, as Harry leaned against the cold stone wall. 

"Where am I?" Harry questioned again.

"You're in my forest." The boy replied calmly as he searched through small shelf-like indents in the walls. "Here." He pulled out an apple and handed it to Harry.

Harry looked surprised for a moment before hesitantly taking a bite into it. It was sweet and juicy. He felt a smile cross his face and he looked up. "Thank you, it's really good." 

The boy nodded. "Of course it is. What's your name?" 

Harry smiled. "Harry Osborn. What's your name?" He asked through a mouthful of apple.

The boy shifted. "You can call me Peter."

Harry smiled. "Nice to meet you, Peter." 

Now that he could see the boy clearly, he could see that the overcoat he was wearing was embroidered with small clear gemstones that reflected off the fabric. His green outfit had darker green details decorating it as well as thin gold-woven trims around the droplet-shaped details. His dark tan pants had small details woven into them but otherwise remained plain. The boy had pointed ears, like elf ears, and four small piercings. The largest was a green stud, which was followed by a red, blue, then yellow studs in that order, the yellow stud being the smallest. He watched as Harry finished the apple. "Are you able to walk?" He asked, seeing him beginning to test his limits.

Harry looked up hesitantly. "Uh, yeah, I think so." He mused as he began pushing himself up carefully.

Surprisingly enough, the pain was much milder than he expected. He looked at his injured legs and walked in a tight circle. "How the hell..." He whispered.

"What's that?" Peter asked from the exit of the cave.

"My- my legs, when I woke up, they were practically killing me but now, they're fine. Well, they're sore, but they don't hurt nearly as much."

Peter nodded. "Well yeah, Ygeía, one of our Dryads, healed you."

"What?" Harry faltered.

Peter stared at him. "You... you really don't know where you are, do you?"

Harry gazed back. "No? Should I?" He stammered out.

Peter sighed loudly. "We really have faded... haven't we?" He murmured aloud.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just- just come on."

Harry watched his saddened expression, before nodding. "Okay, I'm coming."

He followed Peter out of the cave into the light. It was about noon as Peter led him expertly through the trees, the sunrays dappling the ground as Peter hummed an unfamiliar tune. Harry followed him slowly, looking around. Fruit-covered bushes dotted the thick overgrowth of plants. Mossy trees growing over rocks and into other trees formed a beautiful archway that Peter was leading him out of. "Peter, this place is beautiful." He managed out. 

Peter laughed. "You should see it in the winter. Everything freezes over, that's when it really gets beautiful." 

Harry smiled. "Well, I'll have to visit then." 

Immediately at that, Peter's body went rigid. "Oh no, don't bother. I don't want guests." 

Harry glanced up. "Huh? Why not?"

"Look. Finding you was a fluke. You were hurt and I wasn't just gonna leave you there dying. That doesn't give you an all-exclusive pass here. Once you're out, stay out." He ordered. 

Harry felt a rush of irritation at his hostility. "Well hey, if you're gonna kick me out at least tell me about what you were talking about earlier. Ygeía? Healing me? What are you guys magic or something?" He demanded.

Peter scoffed. "Okay, if I answer your questions will you leave?" 

Harry thought for a moment. "I can't if I wanted to, but I won't go looking for you if that's what you want."

Peter tilted his head lightly before sighing. "Good enough for me. Yes, we're magic. Miles, my friend who accidentally scared you off the side of the cliff, is also magic. So is just about everyone in this forest, there's a lot of spirits, nymphs, dryads, and demons here. You name it, we've probably got one."

"Unicorn?"

"Not that fantastical, those are in Europe."

"They're real?!"

"Yes, now go."

Harry stood his ground. "Wait, wait I have more questions!"

Peter huffed. "I agreed to answer one question, now go."

His final statement was much more aggressive and firm than before. Harry took that as a sign that his patience was running thin. He still didn't budge. "Come on, one more question."

"Then it'll turn into two, then five, then fifty."

Harry opened his mouth to argue before realizing he was probably right. "Two more questions then I'll go, pinky promise."

Peter faltered for a moment before sighing. "Fine, but I mean it. If you don't go after these last two questions, I'm kicking you out, through force if I have to."

Harry felt a rush of satisfying victory. "Alright! Lemme think I gotta make these questions good."

Peter nodded. "Let's keep walking while you think."

Harry's mind raced through questions as he tried to pick out the biggest ones. "What's going on with this forest? I mean, why are there so many spirits and stuff here?"

Peter made a small noise. "It's safe,"

Harry tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want that to be your second question?"

Harry hesitated, stopping in his tracks. "Come on, that isn't cool." He complained. 

"Do you want that to be your second question or not?" Peter questioned, not bothering to stop. 

Harry huffed and jogged to keep up. "Fine, sure."

"There aren't a lot of places where mythical creatures are safe anymore. But this place is. That elderly woman you were with, May, she owns this forest and helps keep us alive. She's one of the good humans."

"One of the good humans?"

"You people are destroying this earth." Peter scowled, seeming annoyed. "You may not realize it, but you're killing us. One day, your greed will extend to this forest, and that day is coming. May has no next of kin, once she passes, it's all over for us. This forest will be ripped to shreds and you'll market it off for profit, and we'll all die. But you won't care, you won't even know what you did, all you'll know is that you have more money in your pocket." 

Harry stared after him. "Not every human is like that,"

"No, not all of you are, but the vast majority are. You say you're on our side, you hold protests to help us, but then you turn around and do the exact same things that kill us. You're hypocritical, there are very few of you that make an effort and sacrifice your lavish lifestyle to try and help us, and since there are so few, your contribution barely makes a difference."

Harry wasn't sure what to say as he followed Peter to the clearing of where the cabin he was staying in was. Peter turned back to the forest. "Now go. And if you come back, I won't be as nice while leading you out."

Harry was silent as he walked towards the cabin, processing what he had learned. He stepped up the porch and turned to where Peter was. He was gone. He felt the chill of night run up his spine and quickly turned into the cabin. It was warm, as usual. He closed and locked the door behind him and walked into the kitchen to make a meal, which turned out to be a ham and cheese sandwich. He sat on the couch, feeling tired. 

As he had the night before, he couldn’t shake off the notion that he was being watched. He glanced out the windows, half expecting to see Peter or the other boy, Miles was his name? Of course, there was nobody there. He paced quietly as he finished the last of his sandwich, before the feeling of being watched became too much. 

He moved to his bedroom and grabbed some of his pajamas from his still unpacked suitcase. He brought them to the bathroom and began to fill the tub, pulling a towel out from one of the cabinets. He set them down and waited for the tub to fill, giving the room a slight steamy haze that he enjoyed. 

The water was a bit too hot for his comfort, but he still found himself relaxing against the granite tub. He laid there for a long time, processing everything he had learned until the water began to chill around him. Once he got up, he drained the tub and dried off. He dressed in his pajamas and walked to his bedroom, closing the curtains as he got in. He closed the door to his room and slumped against the bed. He may not like the cabin and being stranded, but he couldn’t lie, the bed was comfortable. He threw the duvets over him and nestled down, the silk sheets comforting him as he quickly found himself falling asleep.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

He woke up early the next day. He glanced over at the alarm clock to find it was 7:30 am. He huffed softly and pushed himself out of bed and opened the curtains. It was bright, the sun already above the skyline. He quickly made his way out of the cabin and onto the porch, smiling at the sound of all the frogs. This was a luxury he didn't and would never get in New York City. The crisp, clean air filled his nostrils as he smiled, finding himself relaxing against the railing of the porch. He turned back inside to change and get ready for the day. 

The anger of his father leaving him there hadn't quite faded but he could at least appreciate the place for what it was. As he finished getting dressed, he made his way to the kitchen to get some food. He looked through the cupboards and found some oatmeal and a box of raisins. He grabbed two packets and a box of raisins and made himself a bowl, dumping the raisins in before microwaving it for two minutes. The ravenet made his way around the room, opening the windows slightly to get some fresh air in. He wandered over to the living room and sat on the couch until the microwave beeped. Once it did, he stood up and walked to the kitchen. He pulled the oatmeal out and poured a bit of milk in and stirred it as he walked back out front to eat. 

There were a few times where he'd be bothered by bugs, but other than that nothing of note happened. It was uncomfortably quiet. He didn't like how alone he felt, nobody was around, the nearest town was miles away, and the nearest house was a 40-minute walk. Despite the serenity of the area, he couldn't help but wonder what if someone tried to attack him? Where would he go? Would anyone help him? Again, he tried to shake away the thought, feeling a general sense of unease growing in his stomach. 

A bug flew closer to his bowl and Harry was quick to swat it away and scarf down what was left of the oatmeal before turning inside and closing the door. He walked to the kitchen and got hot water running before soaking the bowl and a rag, putting soap on the rag, and washing out the bowl. Once all traces of oatmeal were gone and replaced with suds, he rinsed off the bowl and dried it with a clean rag. Once it was dry, he set it back in the cupboard and decided to go see May. 

He put on the durable shoes his father had bought him and closed the door behind him, making his way down the path. As he walked, he could hear frogs and bugs up ahead grow quiet as he passed, only to resume their noises once he was a safe enough distance. 

The walk was uneventful, as it had been the first time, and after 40 minutes he found himself in front of May's humble little cabin. He walked up and knocked politely. After a few seconds, May opened and greeted him with a smile. "Hello, Harry. Here to help with the chores again?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied happily. 

May chuckled. "You'll be having help today, come in, I'll get you a cup of tea."

Harry raised an eyebrow as she opened the door wider for him. "Help?"

He walked in and looked over to see none other than Peter sitting on the couch, sipping from a mug of his own. Peter startled at the sight of him, gasping and coughing suddenly before straightening and glaring. "What are you doing here?" He demanded angrily.

May gave him a pointed look. "Be nice, Peter."

"May-!"

"He's here to help."

Peter looked between the two before sighing. "You know what? Fine. Whatever."

May seemed confused, yet satisfied with that answer as she turned to the kitchen. Harry shifted awkwardly and looked away as she disappeared into the kitchen, biting his lip anxiously before meeting Peter's gaze. "Look, if I did something to offend you then I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But please, at least give me a fighting chance here,"

Peter examined his expression wordlessly as if trying to find a reason not to believe him. He let out a heavy sigh. "Give me a reason to trust you and I'll consider it."

Harry smiled. "And what do I need to get you to trust me?"

Peter gave him a firm glare. "I'm not giving you tasks to do, that's not how trust works." 

Harry put his hands up. "I'm just trying, you've gotta at least give me something to start with!" 

"I don't have to give you anything!" Peter snapped, obviously irritated.

May stepped in. "Boys, please, could you get along? Just for a moment?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Peter. "I don't like him, May."

May gave him another pointed glare as Harry scoffed. "What did I do to you?"

"You nearly died in my forest."

May turned her gaze on Harry. "You what?!"

Peter continued to answer for him. "Miles scared him and he slipped off the cliffside."

With that, May set down the mug she had brought out for Harry and immediately began inspecting him for wounds and injuries. "Relax, Aunt May, Ygeía took care of any injuries he had. Anything that was doing any harm is gone now."

May glanced at him before returning her gaze to Harry. "Just to be safe,"

"It's okay, Mrs. Parker, nothing hurts," Harry reassured.

May glanced over him for a long few moments, before pulling away and nodding. "Alright, if you're sure." She said hesitantly, standing up and handing him his tea.

Harry gave her a grateful smile and took a small sip as Peter shuffled over to give Harry room to sit. Harry did so as May sat on her rocking chair and smiled. "Alright then you two, Peter, you work in the gardens with me. Harry, do you think you could rip up the walkway?"

Harry sat up, surprised. There was a lovely wooden walkway that went along the garden around the side of the house that led to both the front and back porch. "Well, I can, but can I ask why?"

May gave him a kind smile. "Some of the wood is starting to rot, I need to get it out and rebuild it with something more sturdy and then paint over it again." She explained. "I was planning on going into town today to buy some wood to replace it."

Harry thought quietly before remembering the credit card his father had left with him in case he ran out of food. He sat up slightly. "I can buy it," He offered. "Obviously, I can't bring it back on my own, but I've got more than enough money to pay for it."

May scoffed at him. "Absolutely not, young man. I've been saving up money for this anyway."

Harry shook his head. "No, ma'am, I mean it. My dad just left me here for the summer, and I'll probably be here very often. It's the least I can do for all the hospitality you've already shown me and continue to show me. Plus I wanted to go check out the town anyway,"

May was still hesitant. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. My dad's a multimillionaire, he won't notice a few hundred missing from the bank to replace the walkway." He reassured.

May watched him before smiling. "Well, if you insist, who am I to deny a gift?"

Harry smiled happily. "I'll just need a way to bring it back,"

"I was going to have a friend of mine deliver it here anyway, just put it under my name, alright?"

Harry nodded. "Alright, they'll have to call you, won't they?"

"Maybe, I doubt it. Around town, everyone knows each other, though they aren't my biggest fans. Most of the teenagers around there have created some pretty nasty rumors about me."

Harry tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Peter snorted. "They've been calling her, 'The Witch of the Woods.' Pretty stupid, isn't it?"

Harry snickered along. "God that's stupid."

May laughed softly and nodded. "It is, isn't it?"

Harry offered her a happy smile before standing up. "So you want me to rip up the walkway?"

"Yep, Peter and I will take care of the gardening. But first, finish your tea."

Harry looked to his still mostly full mug before chucking to himself. "Alright, sorry." 

May simply smiled at him as he sat back down to sip. As he brought the mug to his lips, he glanced up at Peter and startled, choking on the tea he had barely started to sip. There was some- some kind of goo on his shoulder. May and Peter both gave him surprised looks as he coughed and regained himself. "Peter- there's something on your shoulder," He choked out.

Peter glanced to his shoulder, seeing the goop before chuckling. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

Harry wiped his mouth and stared at him. "It wasn't there before though!"

Peter smiled and lifted his hand. As if he was controlling it, the goo moved up his arm and wrapped around his hand before extending out and forming small, teardrop-shaped white eyes. Harry gawked for a minute as Peter smiled. "Meet Venom. He's a relatively harmless demon we found a few weeks back." 

Harry stared at it for a moment. "Its- it's just goo though,"

Peter chuckled. "That's what I thought at first, then it started moving."

Harry looked up at Peter then back to Venom. "So... it's harmless?"

"Yes, it can't do any damage without a catalyst, me in this case, but I'm much stronger than it and it can't overpower me if it tried. Plus, it's a sweetheart, I don't think it'd try to overpower me either way."

Harry stared at the goop consideringly. "So it can't do anything without overtaking you, and you're too strong for it to do that?"

"Exactly. Despite what you may think, I'm not weak."

Harry swallowed. "I-I never said you were!" He quickly replied, trying not to offend Peter any more than he already had.

"I can tell you're thinking it."

"I-"

"I'll meet you outside, Aunt May. Thank you for the tea." He interrupted, setting his empty mug down and turning to the door.

Despite what Peter had said, when Venom turned to look at him as he shut the door, Harry couldn't help but feel a cold chill run up his spine.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

"So are you and Peter related?"

May looked up, surprised. "What?"

"Peter calls you Aunt May, is he your nephew?"

May chuckled. "No, no no, he isn't. He's been here far longer than I have. He just calls me that."

Harry tilted his head. "How long has he been here?" 

May thought for a while. "I don't know, he's never told me."

"Have you asked?"

"I guess I just assumed he's been here as long as this forest has."

"Has he ever left?"

"Oh heavens no. If he ever left, it'd kill him."

Harry stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he can't go. His life is connected to the forest. If he leaves, he dies. If the forest dies, so does he."

Harry thought about that. "That's gotta be horrible, no wonder he doesn't like anyone outside of the forest. I couldn't stay in one place for so long."

May nodded and smiled. "You did say you're gonna be here all summer, correct?"

"Yeah, until school. Why?"

"While you're down in the town, buy some chocolate."

Harry chuckled and smiled. "What? Why?"

"Peter loves chocolate. Bringing him some is the best way to get him to ease up to you."

A smile crossed Harry's face and he nodded. "Alright then, any specific type of chocolate he likes?"

"Avoid almonds, try to get some with toffee in it. Stick with milk chocolate,"

Harry nodded determinedly. "Alright, I can do that!"

May chuckled as Harry chugged the rest of his tea, set the mug down, and stood up. "I'll start ripping up the wood, got a place you want me to put it?"

"In the garage, I have a wheelbarrow, some gloves, and a hammer. You can use those to get the wood up and out. Once you've got it, take it around the back and follow the path downhill. I have a burn pile down there."

Harry nodded. "Alright, thank you!"

May waved him off as he stood up and left the cabin to the detached garage. It was a small, dark green and grey, one-car garage. The door was open as he walked in, stepping around May's truck. He found the wheelbarrow easily and searched for a minute to find the hammer and gloves. He pulled the thick gloves on and grabbed the hammer and pulled the wheelbarrow out and maneuvered around the truck. He made his way to the garden and found Peter on his hands and knees pulling out weeds. He offered him a smile, which received nothing more than a grunt of acknowledgment. 

He tried to not let it get to him as he pulled the gloves on and began working with the wooden walkway. He first pulled out the nails on the plank before dumping it into the wheelbarrow. It was tedious work as Harry worked his way down the long path. Many of the planks were splintering and he had to take a minute to pick up small pieces that had been dropped. 

When May joined them she was carrying a watering can. She smiled and greeted them happily and watered the shrubs and flowers. 

As noon steadily approached, it got hotter and hotter, and Harry was beginning to feel like he was cooking in the heat. He pulled out the last plank and smiled victoriously. "Done, May!" He called gleefully.

May looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Harry! Could you get the beams that were under them out?" 

Harry looked down at the wooden beams the nails were connected to. He nodded, replying, "Yeah, I can do that. Should I just take them to the burn pile too or do you want to keep them?"

"Burn them, they're rotting too."

Harry nodded and looked at them, humming softly. They were heavier than Harry could carry, so he'd have to bring them on the wheelbarrow, but they were also attached to the porch that wrapped around the front of the house and to the back. "How should I get them out?" He questioned.

May looked up and examined the nearest one to her for a moment. "I have a hand saw in the garage. That should work,"

Harry nodded and turned. "Alright, I'll go grab it!"

May nodded and resumed weeding and watering the plants with Peter. Harry returned to the garage and found the saw hanging on a few nails on the side of the wall. He grabbed it carefully and pulled it off the wall, bringing it to the walkway. It took a few minutes, but he managed to saw the wood off of the others and pull them out. They were long, heavy pieces, and he had to separate them. The walkway was about 15 feet long and he sawed each plank into three 5-foot sections. He set them on top of the wheelbarrow and began wheeling them to where May had said the burn pile was. 

He had dropped them a few times on the way, but he managed to get them there with little issue. He dumped the wood onto the pile and began making his way back up the hill. As he got back, he was surprised to see May was alone. He walked over, feeling slightly upset. "Where'd Peter go?"

May looked up. "He's got responsibilities to take care of,"

Harry frowned. "Responsibilities? He's just a forest spirit, what kind of responsibilities could he possibly have?"

May hummed. "I don't know too much about how it works in there, but there are four main spirits that sort of run the forest. Peter is one of those four. They each have sections that they are in charge of, but they all take care of the forest together. For each section they're in charge of, they settle disputes, take care of the plant life, and generally take care of those who inhabit that section of the forest."

Harry hummed curiously. "That's cool, I wonder what it's like."

May chuckled. "Maybe you can pry more information out of him."

Harry chuckled along and sat back. "Should I head to town now or wait a bit?"

May stopped and thought for a long moment. "If you do, I'd like to go with you. Just for safety."

"Alright, should I be worried about getting kidnapped?" Harry joked.

"No, most of the people in town are kind enough. It's just a precaution."

Harry nodded again. "Okay, that's cool. So I'll get my stuff and you can get your wood."

May chuckled and nodded in agreement. "That would be the plan,"

"What wood are you getting?"

May hummed thoughtfully. "Ceder would be good, we can get your things first. The wood will be heavy and we'll have to load it into the truck."

Harry nodded. "I can do that, I'm still paying for it though."

May rolled her eyes. "Alright alright, let's go buy Peter chocolate." She stood up and wiped her hands off on her jeans as she made her way to the car.

Harry laughed and followed her. "How should I find him when I get back?"

"Just start wandering around the forest. You'll run into someone eventually,"

"Peter doesn't exactly like me," Harry frowned, "last time I was in there he told me not to come back."

"Don't worry, he won't do anything. He might get upset, but the chocolate is a good middle man. It'll at least get you two to talk." She reassured.

Harry hesitated before nodding. "Alright, you sure he won't hurt me?"

"So long as you don't do anything to hurt the forest, he won't do anything." 

Harry hummed and stood still for a long moment. "Okay, alright."

May gave him a kind smile as she opened the door to the truck and got in. Harry entered through the passenger seat and buckled up as May turned the key. The engine revved and May began driving. 

The drive to town was a long one, almost an hour. They went to the wood store first, buying the lumber that was needed and loading it into the truck. Once that was taken care of, they went to the store and May stayed in the car as Harry shopped. 

The store was small as Harry began to look around. Sure, it was small, but it had all the necessities. He bought a half-gallon of milk, lunchmeat, more oatmeal, bread, cereal, bottled water, graham crackers, marshmallows, and several different types of chocolate. He bought it all and returned to May's truck where she sat in wait for him. He slid in with a few bags. "Back,"

May greeted him and began to drive off. The drive back was relatively quiet and uneventful. 

They stopped about halfway back at a large, white, and blue house. The walls were stained with dirt and algae and there was a wood log fence going around the house. May pulled in and parked. Harry looked around curiously. "Where are we?"

"This is the guy who sells the wood, he's got good quality and it's cheap. This place is closer than any hardware store,"

Harry nodded. "Alright,"

May unbuckled and got out of the truck. "I'll get the wood, we have to pay in cash and I can't imagine you have the cash on hand. You can just pay me back later if you really want to pay for it."

Harry nodded hesitantly. "Alright, I'll make sure you get paid before I leave." He promised

May chuckled. "You don't have to!" She called before going to the door. 

Harry watched uninterestedly as May knocked. After a few moments, an older man opened the door. He greeted her politely and they chatted for a long while before the man led May on. After about 5 minutes, the man came out on a riding lawn mower with a barrow attached. It was full of the wood May had bought. Harry unbuckled and hopped out of the truck. "Do you need any help loading that up?" He called.

The man on the mower stopped and smiled. "Sure do!"

Harry smiled as the man parked the mower. He began lifting some of the wood out and Harry started by grabbing some of the smaller planks. He helped tie them down as May followed over with an amused smile. They managed to load the wood up fairly quickly. Harry finished loading it up as May pulled the man aside to pay. 

May wished him farewell as they double-checked it was tied down tight, before they got back into the truck, buckled up, and drove off. Harry hummed. "He seemed nice,"

"He's one of the few people in this town who doesn't think I'm a witch."

Harry chuckled. "Well, at least some people aren't jerks." 

May chuckled in agreement. "Alright, let's get home then. Ready to talk to Peter?"

Harry paused for a long moment. "I don't know, he really didn't want me to come back,"

May snorted softly. "Well, chocolate will solve that problem."

"You sure?"

"Positive, just trust me."

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry stepped into the forest, his heart thudding in his ears as he searched for Peter. He knew May had said that Peter wouldn't hurt him, but his words were sticking.

"Now go. And if you come back, I won't be as nice while leading you out."

It made him feel anxious. He knew Peter didn't like him and here he was, strolling in like he owned the place. He began walking, trying to figure out where to go. There was no clear cut path, just forest ground. Real forests weren't like anything in the movies or books, the ground was littered with rocks and twigs, the forest was alive with sounds. Frogs from the creeks and ponds, birds in their nests above, vultures cawing nearby, just sound everywhere. The trees weren't as tall as Harry expected either, very few of them seemed to be able to hold his weight if he had to climb them.

He wandered for what felt like hours, his footsteps noisy beneath him as he walked, before hearing a voice. "What are you doing out here?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin before turning around to come face-to-face with a blond-haired girl. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she had bright blue eyes and pointed ears, much like Peter's. The sequence in her's was blue, yellow, green, red. She wore a long, ombre, light blue, asymmetrical hem dress. The bottom was a lighter color than the top and there were no shoulders to her dress, though there were sleeves that went just past her elbows before turning to lace. Along the top of the corset and above the shoulders, she had gold embroidery vines that got thinner the further down they went before disappearing just above the waistline. She had a dark magenta hooded cape around her shoulders that ended just above her tailbone.

Harry stumbled over his words for a moment before managing to get out, "I'm looking for Peter."

She stared at him for a long moment before smiling and nodding. "Come on, I'll lead you to him."

Harry swallowed before nodding. "Okay," 

The girl turned and began leading him away. Harry followed quietly for a while before looking up. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled. "I'm, Gwen. And you are?"

"Harry,"

She smiled. "Ah, the one renting out the cabin in Peter's section, right?"

"Uh, I guess?"

"How is he?"

Harry made a small noise. "Honestly? Kind of crabby."

Gwen chuckled before sighing. "He's been like that for a while..."

Harry looked up. "What do you mean?"

Gwen was quiet for a long moment before sighing. "See, it's a little complicated. There was an... event. He isn't exactly a fan favorite around here, and since then, well... He's been in a bad mood. I don't blame him, when people are cruel to you, you tend to be cruel back."

Harry stared at her quietly. What did she mean, was Peter being hurt? 

Before he could open his mouth to question her, she stopped. "Stay here, Peter will find you."

"What?"

"I'll see you later,"

"Wait, wait wait wait, what?!"

He turned to argue, but she was already walking away. "Wait- where are you going?! Are you just gonna leave me here?!"

"Yep, you'll be fine!"

He gaped as she left. Before he could think about it too much, he heard footsteps behind him and whirled around. Peter stood there, looking more than a little irritated. "What are you doing here? I told you to go."

Harry held up the bag, fighting back a rush of fear. "I just wanted to chat,"

Peter scowled at the bag. "What's in there?

Harry reached in and Peter flinched back. He began slowing his movements to prove he wasn't a danger, before pulling out some of the chocolate. "I just want to be friends,"

Peter stared at him and the chocolate for a long time before letting out an irritated huff and covering his face. "May told you, didn't she?"

"Tell me...?"

"That I'm a sucker for chocolate."

"Yeah, she did."

Peter sighed heavily and put his hand out expectantly. Harry tossed the chocolate to him and he caught it. He opened the wrapper and took a bite before walking. "Come on, you wanted to chat so badly, let's chat."

Harry smiled gleefully and began following him. It was a long walk, too long for Harry's liking, but they soon arrived at the cave where he had first woken up. Now that he was more awake than he was before, he took in the surroundings. There was a hollow that gave way to a cave near the bottom. Large tree roots created an overhang over the hollow. As Peter led him in, he saw the majority of the inside of the cave had a wall of tree roots around it making a nice looking interior as moss grew along the walls. He sat down on the stone floor and shifted for a moment as Peter sat down across from him, finishing the chocolate bar. "Was there a specific thing you wanted to talk about?" He questioned, handing him the now-empty wrapper.

Harry shoved it in the bag and handed Peter another chocolate bar, smiling at how Peter's eyes lit up as he grabbed it. "Not really, I just wanted to chat," Harry replied.

Peter hummed and took another bite. "Okay, what do you want to chat about?"

"What's it like living here?"

Peter stopped as the chocolate bar was halfway in his mouth, before pulling away and smiling softly. "It's pretty good. I've got friends and family here,"

"Family?"

Peter nodded. "See, it's a little complicated to explain. There are four guardian spirits, Me in the East, Anya in the West, Miles in the South, and Gwen in the North. The area we're in we take care of, we solve disputes and make sure things are good here." He explained.

Harry nodded curiously. "And I'm assuming the rest of them are like a family to you?"

"Yeah, they are my family."

Harry smiled. "That's cool,"

Peter nodded and took another bite of his chocolate. "It is."

He opened his mouth to speak again when Venom appeared out of his shoulder with a curious look. Peter smiled and offered him a small piece of chocolate. "Want a bite? It's good,"

Harry tried to ignore the chill that ran up his spine when he saw the back and white demon. It sniffed the chocolate before opening its mouth and taking a bite and Harry tried to ignore the feeling of sickness in his stomach when he saw the rows of sharp teeth in its mouth. The demon seemed pleased as Peter offered it another piece. It ate it before recoiling back into Peter's skin. Harry swallowed as it disappeared. "So you said that Venom was a demon, aren't demons, you know... bad?"

Peter looked up and hummed. "Yes and no. They're kind of like Pitbulls for you, they have a reputation of being evil, but that's not entirely true. Sure there are some bad apples, and those ones typically are really bad, but those are the only ones ever talked about. There are good demons who are just trying to survive like the rest of us."

Harry nodded for a moment. "That's weird to think about. We aren't exactly religious in my house but... good demons?"

Peter nodded before looking down at his hands, looking anxious. "I'm not gonna lie but... a lot of spirits in this forest don't like that we allow demons here. Sure, the good demons are great allies and even better friends, but the demons that aren't good are a major threat." 

Harry tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You see, demons can take root in two ways. They can force themselves in, that way is impossible here, there's too many of us protecting this place and we can hold them off. The other way is that they can come in on neutral terms of agreement. Making a deal with the devil per se. If they come in on agreement, that's when they're very dangerous because they're stronger that way. They don't have to exert effort into keeping someone restrained because they can gain power under your nose. And they're extra dangerous because demons, unlike most spirits, can hide their strength."

"What do you mean?"

"Every spirit has magic. The more magic a spirit has, the more powerful they are, the stronger aura they have. Other spirits and even some animals can sense that aura and gauge how strong a spirit is based on that, but demons can contain their aura, which means we can't figure out how strong they are. We know it's there, but it's not enough."

Harry nodded slowly before thinking. "So what about Venom? How do you know he isn't dangerous if you can't... feel it?"

"I never said he wasn't a threat. You see, Venom's a type of demon that requires a catalyst, he's a Symbiote. A parasitic demon, he needs a host to do anything. And sure, parasitic demons can take over their host, but I'm too strong for him to." 

Harry made a noise. "Alright, okay that makes sense. But back to point, why don't the other spirits like demons?" 

"Well, there aren't very many safe places anymore, this forest here is the only place we can hide for miles around. Sure, we might be able to find a place that's suitable for one or two, but not enough for all of us. If we lose this place, we lose everything. Very few of us will be able to relocate to another safe haven, the risk is just too high."

Harry nodded understandingly. "But if the threat is so high, then why accept them?"

"Because if we don't then we're stranding potentially innocent spirits. Sure, there's a risk, but put yourself in their shoes."

Harry nodded again. "Yeah, being in that position would suck."

Peter nodded in agreement before looking down and picking at his shirt. Harry could feel the tension in the air as he swallowed. "Well, I'm glad you all are kind enough to share the forest, even if it is dangerous."

Peter glanced up and smiled. "Yeah... thanks, I guess."

Harry hummed for a moment before speaking again. "Out of curiosity, why don't the other spirits like you?" He asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," He quickly followed up.

Peter laughed wetly. "That's complicated."

Harry hummed softly. "I'm willing to listen."

Peter stared at him for a long time before nodding. "Okay, well... here we go. You see, it's going back to the whole demon thing, how the spirits in this forest don't exactly like them. The four guardians, Me, Miles, Gwen, and Anya, we met up after a demon came to us, begging for help and a place to stay. We couldn't just leave her- she was terrified!

"So we met up to discuss what to do and Miles brought up the idea of letting demons in. We were all a bit hesitant, sure, but Miles was persistent. He really wanted the demons to be happy too, despite their reputation. We eventually agreed that we should let them in."

"But why do the spirits hate you?" Harry pressed.

"The decision was... complicated. See, Miles is sort of a fan favorite around here, a lot of spirits like him. He's kind of... sensitive? He gets his feelings hurt easily." He sighed. "The thing is, if we told everyone he was the one to advocate for the idea, their opinions would change, they'd get angry about it. Miles doesn't deserve that, so I took credit for the idea and I'm dealing with the fallout."

Harry watched him for a long moment. "You don't deserve that either,"

Peter shrugged. "I can take it, Miles can't. I'm fine with dealing with the fallout, I agreed to it. And either way, there's nothing we can do now."

Harry watched him for a long time before scooting closer. "Well, now you've got me, I'm your friend." He hummed, a smile crossing his face.

Peter stared at him before smiling. "Thanks, Harry."

He looked back down as Venom came from his shoulder. "Me too," It spoke, headbutting him lightly.

Peter chuckled. "Yep, you're my friend too."

Harry smiled at the two and dug into his bag. "Last chocolate bar, want it?"

Peter nodded eagerly. "Yes please,"

Harry handed it over and smiled as Peter happily unwrapped it, taking a cheerful bite. Harry smiled softly as Peter took a bite. 

The two sat there for a lot longer than Harry had realized and it was getting dark by the time the two realized the time. Harry cursed softly. "I should probably get to heading home." 

"Do you want me to walk with you?"

Harry looked up. "Do you want to?"

Peter smiled and stood up, offering his hand. "Yeah, let's go."

Harry smiled and took it. The two were up quickly and made their way back, still talking. The two didn't stop when they got back, Harry was putting the plastic wrap in the recycling bin before grinning. "Do you wanna make s'mores? I got stuff for them earlier,"

Peter straightened curiously. "S'mores?"

Harry's jaw dropped. "Graham crackers, sandwiching a roasted marshmallow and some chocolate?"

Peter gave him a confused look. "Oh my god, you need to stay for s'mores."

Peter snorted softly. "Alright then, let's see."

Harry grabbed the things and the bug repellant candle. "Come on, there's a fire pit out back."

Peter nodded as Harry grabbed a match and some firestarters. He followed Harry out and watched him pile a few logs of firewood into the pit, before lighting a match, lighting the firestarter, and tucking it under a few logs. After a moment, it caught aflame and Harry gave it a few moments to kindle. After that, Harry pulled out a few sticks and stuck marshmallows on them, handing Peter one. The brunet took it curiously as Harry put his between his legs for a moment to get out some graham crackers and some chocolate. Peter stared at the stick, unsure what to do, as Harry lit the bug repellant candle and readied himself, setting the marshmallow over the flame.

Peter stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"Roasting marshmallows, come on," He moved the stick representatively. "You put it over the fire or in the fire depending on how roasted you like it."

As he continued explaining, his stick descended further and further into the flame. Peter coughed. "Uh- Harry,"

Harry hummed. "Yes?"

"Your- your stick,"

Harry glanced over and immediately panicked, pulling the stick out and blowing out the flaming marshmallow. He sighed and grabbed a graham cracker, splitting it in half with chocolate. He used the graham cracker to scrape off the marshmallow before sandwiching the chocolate in there. He gave it a moment to cool down before taking a bite and making a pleasured noise at the taste. "In the city, we can't just light a fire to make these so I just have to make them in the oven, or if I'm lazy, in the microwave. They never compare to over-the-fire s'mores."

Peter started at him before turning before following his example. After it was golden brown, he got the graham crackers and the chocolate and sandwiched it. He stared at it for a long moment, looking back to Harry one final time for confirmation, when Harry smiled at him and took another bite, Peter swallowed and took a small bite.

He chewed for a while when the flavor set in and he immediately took another bite. Harry grinned when he saw the happy look cross Peter's face. "This is really good!" He yelped, finishing it and reaching for another marshmallow. He hesitated halfway there, looking to Harry for confirmation.

"You can get another," Harry chuckled. "You can get however many you want."

Peter grinned madly before getting another. "I'm gonna clear out your entire stock."

Harry laughed gleefully. "Go right ahead."

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

After that day, Harry went to the store again and bought several things for s'mores. Each day he'd go find Peter, and they'd talk, they'd laugh, and at the end of the day, they'd make s'mores. It went like that for a little more than a week. Harry almost forgot to visit May, he'd gotten so caught up.

One day, Peter came over as usual. He was cheerful, it almost seemed like nothing was wrong. Almost. There was something off. His first clue was when Peter first arrived.

The door opened while he was making eggs. Harry glanced up and smiled as Peter walked in. "Hey, Peter!"

Peter smiled. "Hey, Har. what'cha making?"

"Omelette, you want one?"

Peter shook his head. "Nah, I'm not hungry."

Harry tilted his head and laughed playfully. "Really? You're always hungry, are you sure?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Thank you though."

Harry's laughter died out as he stared at him. "Are you okay?"

Peter hummed and looked up. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Harry flipped the omelette. "I don't know, it just feels like something's off. Are you sure you're okay?"

Peter chuckled and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, Harry."

Harry stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Alright, if you're sure."

The second thing to tip Harry off was when they were out swimming in the lake. Peter was sitting ashore talking to Venom as Harry stood in the knee-deep water trying, and failing, to catch a fish with his hands. When he had done this before, Peter always laughed at him, especially the one time he had actually managed to catch a fish and he started screaming because he didn't know what to do with it. Peter had teased the hell out of him, but he seemed cheerful.

Now, he was struggling to catch fish, and Peter barely even seemed to notice. He didn't know why it upset him so much, but it did. In an attempt to cheer Peter up, he dove for one just out of reach, causing him to slip. He let out a startled cry as he sat up and shook the water out of his hair. "Fuck that's cold!"

Trembling, he stumbled out of the water and reached for his towel. He cast a glance over to Peter and saw he hadn't even looked up. He pouted slightly and dried off before walking over to Peter and sitting down. "What's wrong?"

Peter looked up and Venom disappeared between his skin. "Wha?"

"Something's wrong, Peter. I can tell."

"Nothing's wrong-"

"You're an awful liar."

Peter sighed and looked down. "I just... didn't get enough sleep."

"You told me you don't need sleep."

He was quiet for a long moment before curling up into himself. "I... I'm just a little bit frustrated I guess..."

Harry tilted his head. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked gently.

Peter made a small noise before looking down, a scowl crossing his face. "The spirits in the forest just... they hate me."

Harry instinctively went to argue before remembering the conversation they had the week before. He hesitated for a moment before resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They'll come around,"

Peter shook his hand off and stood up in frustration. "It's been years and they haven't come around! I'm tired of waiting- I just don't wanna be ridiculed for a decision I- I want people to see me for- for me and I just.." Peter paced back and forth, his voice breaking. "I hate this!"

Harry stood up. "I know, I know you do. They'll come around, they will."

Peter whipped around and faced him. "Harry, it's been 4 years since we made the decision, and they still hate me! Do you honestly think they'll change?"

"Yes, I do."

"When?"

"I don't know,"

Peter turned around again. "I can't wait until then, this sucks, Harry. I hate this, I hate this so much." His voice broke again.

Harry stood up and turned Peter to face him. "I know, but it'll get better." He promised, pulling him into a hug.

Peter stiffened up and Harry felt his stomach turn. Crap I should NOT have done that without asking- Before he could pull away, Peter slowly wrapped his arms around him, hiccuping softly before bursting into tears. Harry rubbed his back as he cried.

After a few minutes, Peter pulled away, wiping his face quickly. "Shoot- I'm sorry, I'm sorry for crying on you like that,"

"It's okay, you were upset. Do you feel better now?"

Peter smiled weakly. "Yeah, a little bit,"

Harry smiled. "That's good, wanna go get some snacks and help May with her garden?"

"Yes please,"

Harry smiled and stood up. "Come on, I think I have some granola bars with chocolate chunks at the cabin,"

Peter's eyes lit up at the mention of chocolate and he nodded, following Harry along.

The two walked up the path, the previous stress beginning to melt away. They got to his porch and Harry held the door for him. Peter thanked him quietly and walked in, Harry close behind. He stepped into the kitchen and opened the cupboards and pulled out two granola bars for Peter. "Do you want anything to drink?" He offered.

Peter hummed. "Water please,"

Harry nodded and handed Peter the snacks before going to the fridge and pulling out the water pitcher, pouring himself and Peter a glass. Peter thanked him through a mouthful of the granola bar as he set his drink down. "You're welcome." Harry hummed back, taking a quick drink.

Peter smiled as he finished the first granola bar and quickly moved on to the second. Harry finished his water, feeling extra thirsty. "You wanna head up to May's after this and finish the walkway?"

Peter chewed and nodded. "Sure,"

Harry stood up and stretched before pouring himself another glass and chugging it down and setting the empty glass in the sink. "Well, I'm ready when you are."

Peter picked up the second granola bar and unwrapped it, putting the wrappers in the trash, and drank his water. "Let's go then, I'll eat this on the way." He yawned.

Harry nodded and pushed the door open for Peter once again, letting him out first. Peter thanked him quietly and the two were off on their way to May's house.

The walk was quiet and calm, the two just enjoying each other's presence. The peace was however interrupted when a foul smell hit Harry's nose and he cringed slightly. He tried to ignore it as they walked, but the smell became worse and worse as they moved along.

Finally, the two came across the source of the smell. A deer carcass lay on the ground near the path. Harry recoiled slightly at the sight. "Oh,"

Peter's gaze softened at the sight and he moved Harry to step around the deer. "Leave it be, the animals in the forest will clear it later."

Harry plugged his nose. "God- that stinks."

"It's rotting, it's probably been here for a few days."

Harry gagged lightly as the two speed-walked past. As they walked, Peter looked over his shoulder towards the fallen deer and smiled softly. "Harry, look."

Harry looked up, still covering his nose, and turned around. Above the deer carcass stood a white translucent deer, trotting slowly and carefully around the body.

"Anything that dies in this forest can live on as a spirit." Peter murmured as the deer nosed its former body, its muzzle passing through it. The deer seemed undisturbed by this, however, before it straightened up again and began back into the forest.

Harry watched it go and smiled softly. "That's... nice,"

Peter nodded quietly. "This place is sacred, that's why we have to protect it."

Harry nodded slowly. "I'll do whatever I can to help,"

Peter smiled up softly. "Thank you,"

"It's no problem,"

The two walked the rest of the way back in an even more comfortable silence.

They finally arrived at May's house after a while and were quick to greet her. May seemed pleased that they were getting along, even more so that they were willing to work together to finish the walkway.

It was a relatively simple build, lay the long planks parallel to one another, fill the space between them with gravel, and lay the shorter planks on top of the long planks, and nail them down. It was tedious and the bags of gravel were heavy, but Peter didn't seem to have an issue with it.

As Harry hammered a nail into one of the shorter planks, Peter stood up. "Boletus? What's up?"

Harry sat up to see a tan-skinned man approach. "Hey, Peter. I've got the daily report,"

Peter straightened curiously. "Doesn't Nuntius usually give the reports? Where is he?"

"I offered to do them today because I also wanted to ask you something."

Boletus cast a glance at Harry and back to Peter. Peter noticed this and hummed. "Boletus, this is Harry, you can trust him. Harry, this is Boletus, he's our local fun guy,"

Boletus snickered as Harry tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"I'm a fungus spirit," Boletus clarified as Peter snickered, "it's nice to meet you."

Harry snorted as he got the joke. "It's nice to meet you too,"

Boletus returned his gaze to Peter. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you a question after the report."

Peter nodded and smiled. "Go on then,"

Boletus cleared his throat before speaking. "So in our section of the forest, things seem clear. The rains last week caused a bit of root rot towards the edges near the lake, but one of the naiads and I were able to prevent it. Other than that, things seem peaceful."

Peter nodded with a smile. "That's good, so what did you want to ask me?"

"Near the southeast section of the forest by the astilbes, a lot of weeds are starting to overcrowd the area. I wanted permission to use the fungi to clear them?"

Peter smiled brightly. "Go ahead,"

Boletus grinned excitedly and straightened. "Thank you!"

Before Peter could even say goodbye, he was off. Harry chuckled. "Well, he sure is excited,"

"He's the only fungi spirit in the forest so he has a lot of responsibility. Fungi play a huge part in a forest's ecosystem and we rely on him to keep our forest healthy. Without him, the forest would be vulnerable to diseases, I'm not even sure we'd survive."

Harry nodded. "Interesting,"

Peter cast him an amused glance. "Let's get back to working," He hummed.

Harry returned his gaze to Peter and smiled. "Alright."

That night, the two finished the walkway.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry shifted. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Don't worry, they'll love you," Peter promised, leading him down a trail.

Harry glanced over his shoulder, feeling uneasy. "Peter, you're literally taking me to meet the other gods of this forest."

Peter giggled. "If they're gods then I am too,"

"Yes! You are! You're a god of this forest! And you're taking me to meet three other gods!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Oh hush. You're giving me too much credit."

"Peter, you are literally one of four spirits who protect this forest with their lives. You're a god."

Peter shoved him playfully. "Shut,"

Harry snickered softly and continued to walk beside him. After a long while, they arrived at a large clearing. In the center was a massive tree that looked akin to a sequoia tree. Harry gaped at it for a long moment when Peter stepped forward. "Come on,"

Harry looked between Peter and the tree before following. "O-okay,"

Peter climbed onto the roots and sat. "Come on,"

Harry hesitated before nodding and climbing up. "Jesus, how tall is this thing?"

"150 feet at the top. It's about 400 years old, but it can live to be up to 2,000."

Harry stared at him wide-eyed. "You're kidding! 2,000 years old?!"

Peter grinned and nodded. "I know, cool, right?"

"That's insane!"

"For the past 400 years, me, Anya, Gwen, and Miles have been meeting here and watching it grow. We've taken pretty good care of it if I do say so myself."

Harry nodded. "I've heard sequoias are hard to grow."

Peter nodded. "Really hard. But we grew it, and it's going strong!"

Harry grinned and settled into the roots. They were strangely comfortable for a tree. "So how long are we gonna wait for them?"

"They shouldn't take too long," Peter hummed. "Give them a few minutes."

As if on cue, a familiar face strolled in. Harry perked up slightly as Gwen approached. "Hello there," She greeted.

Peter smiled. "Hey, Gwen."

Gwen sat on a nearby root that was slightly lower than the others. "How have you been?"

"I've been good," Peter turned to Harry expectantly.

"I-I've been alright?"

Gwen chuckled. "That's good."

"How about you?" Peter hummed.

Gwen smiled cheerfully. "I've been alright, thank you for asking."

"Anything new going on in your part of the forest?"

"We've had a few lilies blooming around the edges. I don't know who or what spread the seeds, but they're beautiful. Orange and white,"

Peter smiled. "That's good, lilies aren't really growing in my area."

"Yeah well, you have all the roses."

Peter giggled. "You know you can come by and take them if you ever want to. The nymphs don't mind, they love sharing the flowers as long as you don't take too many."

Gwen smiled. "I might just take you up on that."

Harry glanced up to more footsteps. Another girl was walking in, she wore a dark red dress that was a stark contrast to the greenery. She had long white lace sleeves going down her arms that doubled as finger loop gloves. He straightened slightly as Peter smiled. "Hey, Anya!" He waved cheerfully.

Anya looked up and rolled her eyes playfully, walking over. "Hey, Peter. Hi, Gwen,"

The girls smiled at each other as Anya walked over, hopping on the root beside Gwen. Peter grinned at them as Harry tilted his head. Peter saw his confused look and elbowed him playfully. "They're lesbians, Harold."

Harry choked for a moment. "You know what a lesbian is?"

"Of course, we're not stupid. We never really had a word for it before since, well, if you love someone you love them. No point in labeling it here. May explained to us how you all label everything, dumb in my opinion"

Harry smiled softly. "That's cool,"

Peter nodded with a smile before turning to the girls who were holding hands and giggling softly. Harry felt his smile grow as he turned to Anya. "I haven't met you yet, I'm Harry," He managed to say without stuttering.

A grin crossed her face. "I'm Anya, nice to meet you, Harry."

Harry smiled cheerfully back when bushes rustled once more. A familiar face came out, making his mind stutter for a moment. "You're that one kid!"

Peter glanced up. "Hm?"

"That kid! The one who knocked me off a cliff!"

Anya barked out a laugh. "Miles!"

"I'm sorry!"

Harry felt a rush of irritation as Miles looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry,"

He let out a heavy sigh. "It's okay I guess, no permanent damage done..."

Peter patted his shoulder. "Miles didn't mean to, he came to me crying his eyes out after the fact."

Harry's lips quirked up in a smile. "Then I guess I've gotta forgive you then."

Miles glanced up with an embarrassed smile on his face. He had a black and red robin hood-esque outfit, minus the hat. He looked sheepish but cheerful. After a moment of embarrassed shifting, Miles moved to join them. He sat on a tall root that had him towering over the others. He curled up into himself and waved at Harry. "I- uh, I'm Miles."

Harry forced a small chuckle. "I'm Harry, nice to meet you?"

"Nice to meet you too,"

Peter smiled between the two. "I just wanted to make sure you all got to meet Harry, we've kinda been sticking around each other."

Gwen chuckled. "That's fine, how long will you be staying, Harry?"

"Until the end of the summer. Hopefully, I can come back up next summer."

Peter perked up. "You should come up during winter! Most of the flowers aren't blooming, but it's beautiful!"

Harry grinned. "I'll see what I can do, I have school so I'm pretty busy during the winters."

"Well, we'll be happy to see you if you do come." Gwen chuckled

Peter nodded eagerly in agreement. "You should,"

Harry nodded back. "I'll see what I can do,"

Peter grinned and pushed him playfully. "Well, see what you can do faster."

Harry opened his mouth to spit out a playful retort, when a young boy ran in, looking breathless. Peter sat up. "Ameinias? What's going on?"

The boy panted before sitting up. "Theo and Roz are fighting over the lilacs, again."

Peter sighed. "Really? Again?"

"Yeah,"

Peter stood up and jumped off the root. "I'll be back, those two just can't learn to share." He sighed to himself.

Harry chuckled awkwardly as Peter slid out of the clearing with Ameinias. Miles smiled sheepishly over to Harry before fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "Uh, hi."

Harry smiled back. "Hi,"

They all sat in awkward silence for a moment before Gwen cleared her throat. "So you're staying here in the forest? I'm amazed you managed to win Peter over, he's pretty stickler when it comes to who's allowed here and who isn't."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, I bribed him over to my side."

"Chocolate?" Anya deadpanned.

"Chocolate," Harry confirmed.

Miles barked out a laugh as Gwen shook her head in amusement. "Oh by the gods, Peter's gonna get us killed one day."

Harry laughed and put his hands up. "I swear, I don't have any evil plans or anything. This place is nice,"

Anya grinned. "You better not have any evil plans, we'll fight to keep this forest going."

"Well, I'm willing to help however I can."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. We've protected this forest for 700 years, we'll be okay."

"700 years?! God- that's forever!"

"Yeah, it's a long time. Not as long as you'd think though,"

"How old are you?"

"You aren't getting the info out of us." Gwen deadpanned.

Harry pouted and smiled slightly. "I tried."

"If that's your definition of trying, you aren't gonna get very far in life."

"I said I tried, not that I put 100% effort in."

The Guardians shared a laugh as Harry grinned. "You guys are cool,"

"Thank you, I've spent years perfecting it!" Miles chirped.

Harry smiled happily at them. "Well, you've done a good job." 

"YAY!" Miles shouted, earning a laugh from the others.

Harry felt at ease as the conversations continued. The other guardians were pleasant and Harry almost felt like he fit in with them, despite only having known them for half an hour.

"You know, Peter's seemed a bit calmer since you came around," Miles pointed out.

Harry straightened slightly, his face flushing. "O-oh?"

"Yeah! For the past couple years he's been a bit snippy, I can't say I blame him though. If I was in the same position, I would be too."

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah, he's told me about it." 

Miles was a bit quiet, looking guilty and Harry quickly caught himself. "You know he isn't mad- right?"

"I know it's just... I still feel bad. Yeah, most of the spirits in his section of the forest trust him, but not all of them. Especially after he took in Venom,"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he was the scapegoat for why Demons were in the forest in the first place, and then immediately after he bonded with a Demon. To a lot of spirits here, that seems a bit like foul play. A lot of people don't trust parasitic demons, and for good reason too."

Harry nodded slowly. "Well, Venom hasn't given you any reason not to trust him, right?"

"Well no, other than just being a bit intimidating, he's done nothing wrong. I don't entirely trust him, but he hasn't given us a reason not to trust him," Anya spoke up.

Harry nodded and hummed. "Well, I'm glad things seem to be going relatively well at least."

"Things are pretty great if I'm being honest." Gwen chuckled.

Harry smiled. "That's good. You guys make sure to keep this forest as safe as possible, I'll do what I can to help too."

Gwen smiled. "Well, we're happy to take your help."

Harry looked up at the sky. "Well, it's getting pretty late. I should probably head home now." He sighed when he saw it was darkening.

Miles nodded. "We'll let Peter know you had to leave, it was nice to meet you!"

"It was nice to meet you all too!"

"We'll be seeing you, Harry!"

"Right back at you!"

And with that, Harry left.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

"What's taking Peter so long? He should've been here by now." Miles groaned, laying upside down from the roots of the sequoia tree.

Anya flicked a pebble at him. "Be patient, he might've gotten held up solving an argument or something."

Miles pouted. "I just wanna get this meeting over with, these are lame and take forever. I like taking care of my flowers."

Gwen snorted. "We all like taking care of our flowers, Miles. We just gotta make sure there aren't any big conflicts going on, this only happens once a fortnight, it's okay."

Miles groaned. "We can just call a meeting if something bad happens,"

"Sometimes we don't realize something bad is happening until we talk about it with someone else."

Miles sat up to continue arguing when footsteps filled the clearing. They all looked up, expecting to see Peter when an unfamiliar face entered the clearing. "That's one of Peter's nymphs," Anya said, sitting up quickly.

The girl approached, her breath short. "Peter- Venom- he- I-"

Anya jumped down. "Hey, take a breath, what happened?"

"That- that demon- Venom- he- he-"

Miles felt his stomach sink as he jumped off his root. "What happened?" He pressed fearfully.

"Peter- he- he got taken over!"

Gwen froze up. "What?"

"The demon, Venom, he took over Peter! I-I saw it happen- I swear- I- I think he saw me- I-"

Anya squeezed her shoulders. "Take a deep breath, what's your name?"

She swallowed. "A-Astelle,"

"Take a deep breath, Astelle. It'll be okay, we'll investigate. Where did you see him?"

"T-towards the creek, on the edge of Miles' territory."

Gwen nodded. "We'll go look at it, you can stay in Anya's territory until the situation is cleared up if you'd like."

Anya snorted playfully. "Way to offer my place up."

Gwen gave her a playful glare and the two giggled before turning back to Astelle, who smiled weakly. "T-thank you for the offer, c-could I?"

"Of course. I'll take you there now, Gwen, Miles, you two chat. I'll be back in a minute."

As Anya disappeared behind the tree with Astelle in tow, Gwen turned to Miles, who turned anxiously back to Gwen. "You... you don't think she's telling the truth, do you?" Miles choked.

Gwen made a small noise. "I don't think she's lying, but I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Peter's too strong to just lose control of Venom like that, even if Venom is a powerful demon. Peter isn't dumb, he'll be able to keep Venom in line."

Miles shook his head. "I don't know, Gwen. He's been in a bad place recently, you know he has. It's... this is different. He's vulnerable, if Venom really is evil, he could be exploiting that."

Gwen gave him a look. "Miles, Peter's probably the strongest out of all of us. He would be the worst target for Venom to go for."

"Gwen-" There was a fiery look in Miles' eyes that was interrupted by Anya returning. "Quiet you two, let's go talk to Peter." She said curtly.

The two exchanged looks before nodding and following Anya through the foliage.

The walk was a short one, but it felt so much longer than it should've. The entire time, Miles couldn't shake the growing pit in his stomach. What if they got there and it was too late?

They entered the clearing Peter usually stayed. They got to the shaped oak and Anya kicked at the root. "Peter!" She shouted, sounding angry. "Out, now!"

There was a startled noise from under the tree and Peter poked his head out, looking surprised. "What's up?"

He saw all of them looking a mix of concerned and angry and shrunk slightly. "There was a meeting today, wasn't there..."

"Get out, we need to talk." Anya hissed.

Peter obeyed and Miles looked him up and down anxiously. He didn't look any different, nothing seemed wrong. "We've got questions and you better answer." Anya spat, grabbing his arm and tugging him out the rest of the way.

Peter made a startled noise and nearly fell but didn't argue. "Okay- okay okay! What's wrong? You're never this mad when I forget meetings."

"One of your Nymphs just came to the clearing sobbing that you got taken over by that demon, Venom."

A confused look crossed Peter's face. "What? No, I've been here organizing the herbs for Ygeía for the past few hours."

Anya looked over him. "I want to talk to Venom,"

Peter nodded wordlessly and shook his shoulder as Venom came out of his shoulder. Anya scowled at the sight of him. "I want a charm on him,"

Peter startled. "Anya!"

"It's a valid concern!"

"Anya, Venom's never done anything to hurt us! You know putting a charm on him will hurt him!"

"So? He's a threat!"

Peter bristled angrily. "That's not fair to him, it'll hurt him! He hasn't done anything! At all!"

"Peter, it's just a precaution! One that we frankly should've taken the moment he arrived here." Anya hissed.

Peter narrowed his eyes and straightened, setting a protective hand on the side of Venom's head. "I'm not putting a charm on him, end of story."

Miles swallowed. "Peter, I'm not saying we should put a charm on him, but, well, maybe you two should... I don't know, separate for a little?"

Peter turned to Miles. "Excuse me? Miles- are you kidding me?!"

"I-"

Peter looked physically hurt as Miles struggled to backtrack. "Miles, you were the one who wanted demons like him to be able to live in this forest in peace! Hell- I took the blame for you!" He shouted, his voice breaking.

"I-I'm not saying that- I just- I-"

"How do you know she isn't lying?" Peter demanded, returning his gaze to Anya, who still looked firm.

"Astelle wouldn't lie."

"God- do you even know her?!"

"I can't believe you're accusing one of your very own Nymphs of lying about you! Peter- it's literally a Nymph's job to serve!"

"Well in case you haven't missed, it's not like I'm much of a fan favorite around here." Peter hissed.

Gwen stepped forward. "What are you talking about?"

Peter scoffed. "Oh come on, you all aren't stupid."

They all exchanged hesitant glances before Peter shook his head and looked down, his eyes beginning to water. "Wow, such friends you all are."

"Peter-"

"Go."

"Peter- just-"

"I said go." His voice broke again as he spoke and Venom turned to him, with a pained look on his face.

Gwen reached out and Anya stepped in front of her. "Leave him. I want a charm on that thing before the next meeting," She warned.

"No."

Anya glanced up. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," Peter repeated, turning away from them as Venom disappeared beneath his skin.

"Peter, I want it-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT!" Peter shouted, whipping around suddenly. His eyes were glowing a vibrant and dangerous green, warning them that he was becoming aggressive.

Anya straightened and took a threatening step forward. "Peter,"

"Stop."

"Peter you need to calm down."

"Stop it,"

"This isn't an argument,"

"Peter, it's just for a few days until we can figure out its intentions," Gwen spoke up.

"It's only for a little while, Pete," Miles begged.

Peter cupped his ears as they continued speaking, trying to get him to cave. Their voices filled his ears as the ringing in the back of his head became louder and louder. Protect yourself, they're enemies, they're trying to hurt Venom, they're trying to hurt you,

"Peter, just put a charm on him,"

Protect Venom,

"It'll only be for a few days,"

Defend yourself,

"This isn't an argument, do it."

You have to protect yourself at all costs,

"Now, Peter."

Now do it.

"Shut UP!"

Peter lashed around suddenly, as needles manifested themselves at his fingertips, launching out and hitting Gwen in the abdomen and hitting Miles in the stomach and arm.

The two let out pained cries and immediately cupped their wounds, as Peter struggled to control his breathing. His vision cleared as he looked up. He stared blankly for a moment as Anya ran to Gwen's side, immediately looking over her wound, and quickly glanced over Miles', before turning to Peter. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, PETER?!" She cried out, enraged and horrified.

Peter choked up as he realized what he had done. "I-I'm-"

"GET OUT," Anya screamed.

"Anya- please, I-"

"GO!"

Peter choked for a moment before quickly turning and fleeing into the underbrush.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry slouched, impatiently playing a game of solitaire as he waited for Peter to show up. He never was very good at the game.

He looked up excitedly as he heard the door knock and laughed to himself before standing up to go let Peter in. "Peter- you know you don't have to kno-"

He froze up as he opened the door. Miles was standing there, rubbing his arm anxiously. "Miles?" He greeted, surprised.

Miles looked up. "Uh, hey, Harry. Uhmm... can we talk?"

Harry shifted uncertainly for a moment before opening the door wider. "Uhmm... sure? Yeah, uh, just- come in."

Miles nodded thankfully as Harry closed the screen, leaving the door open behind them. "Um, do you want anything? Water? Tea? Uh, milk?"

Miles laughed softly. "No thank you, look, I don't wanna take up much of your time so I'm just gonna, you know, get straight to it I guess."

Harry nodded and unconsciously crossed his arms. "Go ahead,"

"So, we need you to talk to Peter. We as in Gwen, Anya, and I."

Harry shifted. "Is something wrong with him?"

"He's just... he's been acting weird recently. Not as in since you came here- like, the past year or two I guess."

Harry's eyes widened. "You consider two years recent?"

"When you're alive for centuries, years seem smaller and smaller, you know?"

Harry hummed uncomfortably. "Yeah, I uhh... I guess that makes sense. God- how old are you guys?"

Miles shrugged before putting his hands in front of him. "Look- that's not the point. Peter's been acting weird recently,"

"If you wanna know where he is, he hasn't been here all day." Harry cut in. "We were supposed to hang out but he never showed."

Miles' frown deepened. "Earlier today we were supposed to have a meeting, like the other week when you were there. We were supposed to meet up like usual but he was late. And you know- Peter's late to everything, he always has been, so we didn't think about it too hard, but then..."

Miles quickly recounted what had happened earlier that day as Harry listened intensely, looking more and more worried as he continued.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like him..." Harry bit his lip and looked away as he thought. "So he just attacked you guys? For no reason?"

"In his defense, we were kind of antagonizing him," Miles mumbled.

Harry continued to think. "So you want me to talk to him and..?"

"We just want him to put a charm on Venom, at least until we can figure out if he's safe enough to leave alone."

"And will the charm hurt Venom at all?"

"Not unless it's used. What it'll do is it'll latch onto him, probably stick to the back of Peter's neck when Venom isn't out, and if it's used it'll burn him. But it'll only be used if Venom does something and we need to stop him."

Harry's mind went back to the conversation he and Peter had had in the weeks prior about demons.

"Every spirit has magic. The more magic a spirit has, the more powerful they are, and the more powerful they are, the stronger aura they have. Other spirits and some animals can sense that aura and gauge how strong a spirit is based on that, but demons can contain their aura, which means we can't figure out how strong they are."

"If you guys had no idea how strong Venom was when he bonded to Peter, why wasn't that the first thing you did when he bonded? If it doesn't hurt him unless it's used, I don't see a point not having that extra precaution."

Miles took a few moments to answer. "That's... complicated. See- we had no reason to believe Venom was dangerous and if he wasn't bonded to someone immediately when we met him, he would've died. He's entirely reliant on someone else to keep him alive. Sure- he can survive without someone else, but not for long. A week or two max, and he was at his limit when we found him. The plan was to have him rebond with something else later, an animal or something, but he and Peter got close and Peter decided to keep him as a familiar. So he just kept him."

Harry nodded quietly. "And there was no reason to suspect he was any kind of threat so there wasn't a point. And Peter can reject him whenever he wants to?"

"Well, sort of. If Venom's strong enough, he might not be able to, and if Astelle was right that Venom was forcing control on Peter, then he definitely won't be able to. Most demons like Venom usually aren't strong enough to do things like that though, which means Venom's more powerful than we thought, which scares me."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this is uh... this is kind of scary. So you want me to talk to him and try to convince him to use a charm?"

"If you could, you don't need to though. He might get mad at you."

Harry snorted. "I can live with him getting mad, I think I can get him to listen. Try coming on over in a few hours, I'll let you know how it went."

Miles nodded. "Thank you, Harry. This really means a lot."

"It's no problem, I'll go look for him. I have a few ideas about where he could be."

"Alright, if you need any help, we'll do what we can."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, but I think I've got this. I'll see you,"

"See you, be safe."

Harry promised he would as Miles left. He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face before standing up. "Alright, let's go find Peter." He mumbled to himself.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry finally managed to find Peter in a clearing with a large rock overhang. He was curled up with a large spider crawling over his hand.

"Hey, Peter!" He called, skipping over and trying to keep up a cheerful facade.

Peter jumped and looked up and Harry managed to catch sight of Venom, who had been hidden by Peter's head. He restrained himself from making a face when he saw him and slid over to the brunet’s side confidently.

Peter was stiff as Harry sat down. "I was waiting for you and you never showed, so I came to come find you."

Peter looked down and quietly replied, "I'm sorry."

Harry softened his expression. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now, wanna go help May with her garden?"

Peter glanced up hesitantly as Venom disappeared into his neck and left arm. "No, not today."

Harry frowned slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"No-nothing's wrong."

"You're a terrible liar."

Peter laughed softly before looking down. "I just... I messed up... big time."

Harry bumped him lightly with his shoulder. "What happened?"

Peter rubbed his eyes, seeming to try and stop tears before they formed. "I just... I..."

Harry almost wanted to reassure Peter that he already knew what happened so he didn't have to talk about it, but he knew Peter had to say it himself.

"I... I hurt them.." His voice got small as he spoke, breaking slightly.

Harry felt a pang in his chest as Peter practically whimpered out the next sentence. "I attacked them and I..."

Harry gave him a gentle look, egging him on silently. Peter glanced up at him, not turning his head, before swallowing thickly. "They wanted to put a charm on Venom and I just... I got so... angry- I don't know why, it's a reasonable concern and I just- I-"

Peter covered his mouth as the spider crawled off his hands and onto the stone of the overhang. Peter let out a small, choked sob, and Harry hesitantly touched his shoulder. "Hey- hey hey, come here, come on,"

Peter immediately leaned into Harry's awkward embrace. He sat with his hands in the air, unsure what to do for a moment, before slowly wrapping them around Peter's torso as Peter clung to him and cried.

The two sat there for a long time before Peter pulled away, wiping away snot and tears as he tried to regain himself. Harry gave him a gentle look as the brunet hiccuped and sniffed. After a minute, Peter seemed in control of his emotions again as he looked down. "I don't know why I got so mad at them... I didn't want to hurt them but I just..."

Harry patted his shoulder gently and stood up. "Hey, it's okay. Let's go talk to them, they're just worried about you, okay? Let's go talk to them and you can apologize, they'll forgive you."

Peter looked at him with an unsure look but followed in his movements. "But... what... what if they hate me?"

"They won't, it'll be okay. They're probably just trying to figure out what's going on. We can go talk to them and get a charm on Venom and it'll all be okay." He reassured, turning to start walking.

Peter gritted his teeth for a moment and looked down, tears welling in his eyes. "I... I just... I can't- I don't- Harry-"

Harry turned around, immediately feeling anxious. "Peter?"

Peter was hunched over slightly, seeming to struggle to catch his breath. "Harry, Harry- please..."

Harry took a step forward. "Peter- are you okay?"

Peter looked up. His eyes were no longer the green Harry had grown accustomed too, but instead fully black. Peter seemed to try to choke out a word, only to start coughing as he covered his mouth. Harry immediately moved to his side when a dark tendril shot out of Peter's back and slammed into him, sending him tumbling onto his back. "Peter?!" He cried out in alarm as he fell.

Peter's coughing increased for a moment before ceasing. Peter went stiff as he caught his breath before standing up straighter, his movements almost seeming artificial. His movements were too perfect to be real as Peter looked up at him. His eyes were completely blackened as he stared at Harry quietly. Harry stared at him for a wide-eyed moment. "Peter?"

After a few seconds, Peter chuckled softly, his eyes half-lidded as he looked down at his hands, squeezing them experimentally, before looking back up to Harry. "Peter's gone now,"

Harry's stomach clenched as he recoiled at Peter's voice. It was too deep, it wasn't Peter talking. "Peter? Wh-"

A sudden black tendril lashed out at him, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying back. He let out a wheezing cry as the wind was knocked out of him and he cupped his bruising chest. Peter- or whatever he was at the moment- only watched him with an amused look. "Stay down, or I'll have to make him watch me kill you."

Harry coughed. "What are you?"

The whites and irises of Peter's eyes turned black as a sick smile crossed his face. "We are Venom."

In a split second, Venom lashed out again, and Harry's vision turned black.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Miles stepped through the forest slowly, looking anxious. It had been hours since Gwen, Anya, and him had sent Harry out to find Peter and they'd gotten no word back from either of them. They had begun to worry and decided to send out a search party for them.

Miles was listening for any sounds of arguing or Harry's voice, silently hoping everything was alright and the two were just taking their time while they talked.

However, his fears were confirmed as the scent of blood touched his nose and he immediately froze up. He looked around for a moment before turning in the direction of the smell and speed-walking over, his eyes narrowed and his form stiff. He got to a small clearing and looked around in a panic before spotting Harry collapsed against a nearby tree.

He sprinted over, letting out a panicked cry as he kneeled beside his limp form. He reached out and nudged him fearfully. "H-Harry?"

Harry didn't move and Miles shook him again. Before he could fully panic, Harry began to stir with a groan. Miles let out a sigh of relief as his eyes opened slowly before closing again as he covered them against the setting sun. "Uggghhh..."

Miles moved to block the bright red sun. "Hey- are you okay? What happened? Where have you been for the last few hours?"

Harry rubbed his eyes and moved a bit, taking a deep breath through his nose. "I... I don't," he paused to lick his lips, seeming to try and gather himself, "I think... Venom is bad."

Miles straightened slightly. "What?"

Harry seemed to think for a moment before suddenly shooting up. "Shit- Venom is- AH-"

He let out a pained cry and gripped at his chest. "Fu- ouch..."

Miles looked at him worriedly. "What happened?"

Harry leaned against the tree, closing his eyes and resting his head against the trunk as he took deep, labored breaths. "I don't know, I think Venom... I think he's in control of Peter. He attacked me."

Miles' heart sunk at the news. "Oh god, oh no this is bad. This is really bad..."

Harry nodded in agreement before slowly pushing himself up with a pained groan. Miles put his hands up in a panic. "Wait- wait you're hurt, lemme get a nymph or- or a dryad or someone- you're too hurt to move."

Harry ignored him. "I'm fine- I'm fine, just sore."

Miles shook his head. "No, stay here, it'll only take a minute to find someone, the forest is pretty full. It's surprising we took so long to find you," he sighed.

Harry chuckled wheezingly before nodding and leaning back down. "Alright, just don't be long."

Miles nodded. "I won't,"

Harry watched him stand up and quickly go, obviously in a panic. He was only gone for two or three painful minutes. He quickly returned with a young-looking girl. She smiled sympathetically at Harry. "Hey, just relax, I'll heal you."

Harry nodded and took a deep breath as Miles crouched beside him. "This is Roz, she's one of our best healers."

Roz nodded to Harry as her hands started to glow. "Yep, it'll only take a minute. You'll be okay." She reassured softly.

Harry laid back and closed his eyes as Roz healed him. Her hands emitted a warmth that made Harry feel safe. After a minute, she pulled away. "All done,"

Harry glanced up and looked down at his body. The ache in his chest had disappeared and he felt comfortable as he sat up. "Thanks," He murmured, still in slight disbelief that such a peaceful forest was so magical.

He twisted experimentally before smiling in satisfaction. Roz seemed pleased with his development before stepping back. "Is there anything else you two need?" She chirped.

Miles' gaze darkened. "Yes, actually. I want you to go around and warn the other spirits to stay hidden until Me, Gwen, or Anya come tell you it's safe to come out."

Roz stiffened up. "Is something wrong?"

"No, we're just taking a precaution." Miles lied. "It shouldn't take long, I'd say less than a few hours, but like I said. Don't come out under any circumstance unless we're telling you it's safe."

Roz shifted before looking down. "What about Peter? What if he comes and tells us it's safe?"

Miles' gaze looked pained. "Then don't come out."

Roz looked at the ground and nodded, whispering, "Okay..."

"Roz,"

She looked up weakly and Miles gave her a pleading look. "Don't tell anyone what's going on, just tell them to hide."

Roz looked down again and nodded mutely. Miles watched her go, feeling guilty. "This is gonna hurt Peter a lot..." He murmured.

Harry glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"We're telling everyone in the forest to hide and only come out when Me, Gwen, or Anya tell them to, but not when Peter does... They aren't stupid, they'll make the connection..."

Harry felt his stomach clench as he looked down at the thought. Peter will be devastated...

He tried not to think about it too hard as he looked back up to Miles. "What do we do now?"

"Now we go tell Gwen and Anya."

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Anya swung her legs over the side of the tree boredly. "Gwen, I'm bored."

"I know, I am too." The blonde replied, sighing loudly. "How long is Miles gonna take?"

"Hopefully him taking forever means he's found Harry and Peter."

As if on cue, the sound of hurried footsteps filled the clearing and Miles ran in with Harry in tow. Anya sat up. "Hey, you two, where have you been?"

"No time to talk, Astelle was right."

"What?"

"Peter got taken over by Venom."

Gwen straightened up, her eyes widening. "You're kidding,"

"I'm not, he attacked Harry and now we have to find him,"

Anya looked over to Harry for confirmation. Harry responded with an unhappy nod. Gwen looked crestfallen as she turned to Anya. "He's really gone?"

Miles shook his head. "That's not how those kinds of demons work, they take control of the host but they don't kill the host. And the demon can be separated but its a ridiculous process,"

"How ridiculous?"

"We need a charm to separate Peter and Venom and I have no idea how to get one."

"Do you know what the charm is called?"

"No, but I know what it does. After we get that charm, we need another charm to contain Venom. That or someone can try to get an Erinyes and-"

"No."

"Yeah, agreed."

"What's an Erinyes?" Harry interrupted.

"A demon I'd rather not piss off," Anya replied with a sigh. "Hopefully we won't have to get them."

"So all we need is a charm to separate Peter and Venom and then a charm to contain Venom? That's easy enough."

Miles shook his head. "At first it is, but containment charms for parasitic demons like Venom are hard to come by. We probably won't be able to find one around here."

Gwen hummed thoughtfully. "I have a few charms hidden around my place, I might have one that can separate Peter and Venom, I'm not sure about containing Venom though."

Harry furrowed his brow as he thought. "Can't you just... separate them then kill Venom?"

The group exchanged looks. "Harry- it isn't that easy," Anya spoke up. "Sure, we can separate them, but we can't kill Venom unless he has a host or he's contained."

"Wasn't he dying when you guys found him? If he doesn't have a host then he'll just die on his own, right?"

"Well, yes and no. Who's to say he won't bond with us? All it takes is just a touch for him to bond."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, just one touch then you're bonded. And if he's taking control of Peter, we probably won't be able to shake him off if he does bond to us. We have to contain him and kill him that way so he doesn't bond to us or anyone else in our forest."

Harry nodded slowly and thoughtfully. "So what do you need for a containment charm?"

"I-"

Their conversation was interrupted by another set of footsteps entering the clearing.

They all glanced up and froze to see Peter at the edge of the clearing. His eyes were dark and he looked irritated. Anya stood up and growled. "Venom."

He barely spared her a glance before sighing. "You all are making my goal too complicated."

"Release Peter," Gwen demanded, preparing to fight.

"You aren't in a position to be making demands,"

"I won't ask you again,"

Venom sighed, seeming annoyed, before turning around. "Out, now."

A familiar boy staggered out of the undergrowth, his eyes wide with panic. "Boletus-" Miles yelped in alarm.

Anya took a threatening step forward, only for Venom to tug Boletus closer. "Take another step and he's dead."

Harry's mind flitted back to what Peter had said when he first had met the boy.

"He's the only fungi spirit in the forest so he has a lot of responsibility. Fungi play a huge part in a forest's ecosystem and we rely on him to keep our forest healthy. Without him, the forest would be vulnerable to diseases, I'm not even sure we'd survive."

The other spirits stiffened up, their eyes wide with uncertainty. Venom grinned at their panic. "Well, I'm glad to see you'll listen to me. Now, you have two options. You can hand over your powers to me and neutralize any threat you could be, or I can kill him. It's your choice, really." Venom sneered.

They all exchanged panicked looks and Venom tightened his grip on Boletus' neck. "Make your choice now, I'm not here to play."

Miles jumped and looked to the others in a panic. When they still hesitated, Venom tightened his grip ever more and Boletus gagged and choked, struggling for air. "Stop-!" Miles yelped in alarm.

"I'll stop after you give me your powers." Venom snarled.

"Okay- okay I will!" Miles cried out, stepping forward in a panic.

"Miles-"

Venom grinned and grasped onto Miles' arm. In what felt like a fraction of a second, he tightened his grip painfully tight and a red aura surrounded Miles' body, transferring over to Venom. It was only a moment, but then Miles was on the ground gasping for air as he clutched his chest, clearly in pain. "Miles!" Gwen shouted, running over to the weakened boy.

Harry watched in horror as Venom reached out to presumably steal her powers as well, only for Anya to interrupt, sprinting forward. "DON'T TOUCH HER!"

She was quick to intercept Peter's grasp, only for him to grab onto her arm, tightening his grip. Just like what had happened with Miles, a golden aura surrounded her and transferred to Venom in a fraction of a second, leaving her weakened and collapsed.

Gwen caught her and held her close, snarling at Venom. He only grinned back, throwing Boletus aside, and grasping Gwen by her throat. Gwen gagged and coughed as Venom simply smiled at her. "You all are quite a powerful bunch, don't worry, I'll be using these powers well."

A light blue aura surrounded Gwen and Venom was quick to take it in, taking a deep breath and smiling at the new strength before dropping her on the ground. He turned to Harry and smiled. "Well, it's almost the end of summer, isn't it? Just pretend like this was a normal forest, won't you?"

Harry took an alarmed step back as Venom smiled. "I'm sure you will,"

With that, Venom turned and left, seeming satisfied with his conquests.

Harry stared on in horror for a moment, before regaining himself and running towards the injured guardians. "Oh my god- are- are you all okay?"

Miles sat up, seeming the most recovered but also the most distraught. "He- he took our powers- he- I-"

Anya sat up as well, looking exhausted and distressed. "There's nothing we can do to protect the forest," she whimpered.

Harry looked between them as the horror of what had happened set in. They were defenseless.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry paced back and forth as the weakened guardians tried to recover what strength they could. "So there's nothing you can do?" Harry asked for what must've been the 27th time.

"For the last time, Harry. No, without our powers, we may as well be humans."

Harry looked down and rubbed his face. "Then what do we do?"

"I don't know, I don't think there's anything we CAN do."

"So we just- just sit back and let Venom take over the forest?!"

"Well without our powers we can't forge the charm to capture Venom, none of the other spirits here can either. We can try and search for one who can, but by the time we find one it'll be too late."

Harry looked down again. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Anya looked down and shook her head. "I don't know,"

Harry swallowed and looked at the ground. "So... Do we just give up?"

"I don't know!" Anya yelled, getting frustrated.

Harry recoiled. "Sorry, sorry, I just..."

Anya sighed and rubbed her face. "No, no I'm sorry. I'm just... I don't know what to do, we can't fight him anymore, there's nothing we can do to stop him. We were the strongest spirits in the forest and if even Peter can't control him, then we were doomed the second we saw that thing."

"What does it even want?"

Miles sat up to answer. "Parasitic demons drain power from others to live longer. Essentially as long as they have a food source, they're immortal. Nothing can kill them other than them running out of energy. Containing Venom was the only way we could kill it and obviously, that's not something we can do anymore."

Harry furrowed his brow. "There's got to be someone in the forest that can make the charms!"

Gwen sighed. "I mean, I have one of the charms, the one that can separate Peter and Venom. But we don't have the magic to do it. Sure, we have it, but we need magic to activate it."

"So we just need to find a spirit strong enough to use it, right?" Harry questioned. "Come on, guys. We can do this, we just need to keep our heads up, okay? Peter's strong, he can tough through this while we figure out what to do,"

Miles looked down. "I know it's just..." He took a shaky breath. "What if he can't?"

Harry looked down, not wanting to think about what that could be implying. Anya and Gwen copied his movements, seeming to agree.

"Well... we'll figure something out. All we need is someone who can craft charms right? You guys get the materials, and I'll look for someone who can."

"Where will you even start?" Anya questioned.

Harry shrugged. "May? She seems to know some of the spirits in this forest, she might know something." 

Miles narrowed his eyes. "Harry, May's strong and all, but I doubt she knows someone who can craft charms."

"Well it can't hurt to try, can it?"

They all exchanged looks and Anya sighed. "I guess you're right, just be careful. We don't want Venom to figure out what we're doing and try to stop us."

Harry nodded back. "I'll be careful, don't worry. I'll be back by tomorrow night at the latest,"

The guardians wished him luck as he turned to go.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

The walk was quiet and unnerving as Harry quickly made his way to where May's cabin was. It took a little more than an hour of walking through the dark to get there and every noise made him jump. The forest was unusually quiet, not even the sound of the crickets he'd grown accustomed to filled the air. It was just silence.

After he found the path to May's house, he felt much more at ease, now at least knowing where he was going, though he practically ran the entire way, just wanting to get out of the dark.

He finally got to the top of the narrow path and nearly cried with relief when he saw the lights of May's house. He jogged over, finding comfort in the light, before slowing his pace as he got to the door.

He knocked gently, silently praying May was still awake. After a few moments, he heard a reply from inside. "Who is it?"

"It's Harry," He called back.

There was a moment of silence before the doors opened to an alarmed looking May. "Harry! It's so late- what are you doing out?"

Before Harry could reply, May opened the door further. "Get in here, you're getting bitten up by mosquitos."

Harry was happy to come in, letting out a relieved sigh as May sat him down on the couch. "You look exhausted, what happened?"

Harry curled up slightly at that. "Uh, a lot. Before we get into it, I gotta ask you a question,"

May straightened slightly before nodding. "Ask away,"

"Do you know anyone who knows how to make charms? Like the spiritual kind, we gotta make one to hold Venom."

May's face grew concerned. "To hold Venom?"

Harry nodded. "It's... it's a long story. Shortening it as much as I can, Venom is evil and he's controlling Peter and we need a charm to contain him."

May paused for a moment and sighed. "Oh my goodness..."

Harry nodded weakly. "Yeah, I know."

May glanced up before softening. "Well, you're in luck. I can make charms,"

Harry's head snapped up. "You can?"

"I live next to a forest full of people who are magic, of course I pick up some things." She chuckled.

Harry stared for a long moment before snorting. "Well, that was easier than I thought it was."

May chuckled. "I can make it, just bring me the materials."

"Does Peter know you can make charms?"

"Well, I never bothered to keep it a secret, though he might not know. I don't make charms very often since the materials to make them are quite valuable."

Harry nodded. "Okay, I don't want Venom to try to hurt you because he thinks you could be a threat."

May laughed. "Well, I don't think that'll be an issue. What could a little old lady like me do?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh along before yawning. May smiled softly. "You look exhausted, you should sleep."

Harry rubbed his eyes. "No- no I'm okay, we need to help Peter."

"You won't be doing Peter any good if you're passing out while trying to fight." May scolded. "Sleep, we can get the materials tomorrow."

Harry watched her for a long moment before nodding. "Okay, I should head home then if I'm sleeping."

May scoffed. "We have a couch, I have spare pillows and blankets. You settle down for the night,"

"But-"

"No buts. Just sleep, alright?"

Harry paused for a long moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll sleep..."

May smiled in satisfaction. "Goodnight, Harry,"

Harry smiled back. "Night, May,"

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry woke up to the smell of sausages. He yawned and stretched, finding himself too comfortable to get up. He laid there for a long few minutes before sitting up.

May smiled when she saw him. "Good morning, Harry," She greeted.

Harry rubbed his eyes with his palms and offered her a weak smile. "Morning, May. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept just fine, how about you?"

"I slept good,"

May smiled and motioned to the pan. "I'm making breakfast, sausage and eggs."

Harry smiled and sat up only to sit back down at the breakfast table. "It smells good,"

"Thank you,"

Harry stretched again with a long yawn. The two sat in silence as May finished cooking, setting the plate and a fork in front of Harry. He thanked her and quickly dug in, only having eaten breakfast the day before. He quickly finished and smiled. "This was really good, thank you May,"

May chuckled at the thanks. "You're definitely welcome, Harry."

Harry wet his plate in the sink and washed it quickly before setting it on the drying rack. He moved to the couch once he was finished and sighed. "So... back to the serious topic."

May set her fork on the plate as she finished. "Oh yes, the charm. You only need one to contain Venom, right?"

Harry nodded. "And someone to use them, that should be easy though. Gwen already has the charm to separate Venom from Peter,"

May looked thoughtful before smiling. "Alright, well you need someone to use the charm. I'd offer to but I don't think I'd fare well in a fight."

"Yeah, I was gonna look for a spirit who could."

May smiled at him. "How about I train you to use them?"

Harry's head snapped up in alarm. "I- me?"

May nodded. "You don't need to, but I can imagine you want to help as well. Plus you won't have to search for someone to do the charms for you, you'll be able to do it, it just saves time." She chuckled

Harry stuttered for a moment at the thought. "So you'll just- just teach me? How to use charms?"

"If you're willing to learn."

"Yes-! I- yes, please. I want to help, I want to learn,"

May smiled happily at him. "Alright then, charms are very simple to use. All you need is a correctly made charm, the right keywords, and a target."

"Okay, that's… easy."

"It is, the hardest part is pronouncing the words correctly," She chuckled. "Before I get into training you, let's make the capture charm."

Harry nodded. "The Guardians should have the things by now,"

May only hummed as she picked up her plate. "I'll clean up here, I'm ready when you are."

"I'll be back in a bit,"

"Stay safe,"

"I will,"

With that, Harry gathered himself and made his way out of the house. The sun had just risen and a light mist covered the horizon as the ravenet quickly made his way to Gwen's camp, silently hoping she would be there.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

It was a long walk and his feet were growing sore, but he got to where Gwen's camp was. He slid into the cave, maneuvering around some of the sharper rocks, before letting out a relieved sigh as it opened up to a large clearing. Miles was curled up against the wall, seeming to be asleep, but Anya and Gwen were gone.

Harry quickly made his way over to the dark-skinned boy and nudged him lightly. "Miles, wake up,"

Miles jumped at the nudge and rubbed his eyes before smiling slightly at Harry. "Hey,"

"Were you sleeping?"

Miles sat up and rubbed his eyes, nodding. "Yeah, it's been a while since I've done that." He chuckled softly.

A smile tugged at Harry's lips and he sat down. "Alright, where's Gwen and Anya?"

Miles stretched and sighed. "Gwen's out to get the last of the materials, Anya's napping towards the back of the cave." He yawned.

Harry nodded. "So we should probably leave her alone, huh?"

"If you want to keep your head, then yes."

He grinned and leaned back slightly. "So, I found someone who can make the charms."

Miles straightened up. "Really? How- who!?"

"May,"

"WHAT?!"

Harry laughed at Miles' gobsmacked reaction. "May could make charms this whole time!?"

"Apparently so, I asked her if she knew anyone and she said she could. She's also gonna teach me how to use them so I won't just be sitting on the sidelines."

That made Miles take a pause. "I don't know if that's a good idea, Harry. If you're using the charms, Venom's gonna be gunning for you."

"I know, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I want to help Peter too,"

Miles smiled slightly and looked down. "I'm glad he has someone like you, you're good for him."

Harry's cheeks tinted pink as he gave him a bashful smile. "You think so?"

"I do, he's been happier since you came around."

Harry couldn't stop his grin from growing and he looked down, slightly embarrassed. 

Miles elbowed him playfully. "He has been, really!"

"Oh shut up!"

The two shared a laugh as Miles prodded him. "Ooo? Does someone have a cruuussshhh?"

"Miles, I will punt you."

Miles laughed happily before shaking his head. "Aww, romance."

Harry only looked down, his smile fading slightly. "Well, there's not much of a chance it'll work out. You guys are all tied to the forest and pretty much immortal, I cap out in 70 years at best."

Miles gave him a gentle look, seeming to think. "You know, there could be a way you two could make it work,"

"Rea-"

"I'm back!"

Miles' gaze snapped away from Harry and the two looked up to see Gwen walking in with a small bag. "Oh, Harry, you're back already,"

Harry cast Miles a quick glance before nodding. "Uh, uh yeah. Yeah, I'm back."

"Did you find someone who can make the charm?"

"May can," Miles chimed in.

Gwen looked slightly surprised. "Can she?"

"Yeah, I know, it came as a shock to me too."

"She's gonna teach me how to use them too, so I'll be able to help you guys."

Gwen thought for a moment before smiling. "Well, we're more than happy to accept your help."

Harry smiled. "Thanks,"

Gwen walked over to him. "So you're taking this to May for the charm to be crafted?"

Harry nodded and Gwen handed him the small satchel. "This has everything she'll need. Bring it to her and don't lose anything, be careful. I think Venom might know what we're doing."

Harry paused. "What makes you say that?"

"I mean... Venom isn't stupid. He's manipulative, he's not gonna give up easily. I'd honestly be surprised if he didn't know what was happening."

Harry nodded slowly. "Alright, so what do I do?"

"Just... be aware. If you think you're being followed, run."

"And if he catches me?" Harry asked after a bit of hesitance.

Gwen was quiet for a few moments before replying. "Yell for help, someone will hear you and they'll come help."

Harry looked down and nodded. A tense silence followed for a few seconds before Harry looked up determinedly. "I'll be back soon,"

Gwen smiled slightly. "Yeah, see you soon."

Harry took the satchel carefully and held it for a few minutes before turning around to the exit of the cave. "See you guys," He called, keeping his voice steady.

They wished him well as he made his way out. He squinted against the blinding light of the sun as he exited, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand and cringing slightly. He muttered a complaint to himself as he began speed-walking to May's house, wanting to keep a swift and steady pace.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

He managed to get there after a little more than an hour of walking. He dragged himself up the slope, his legs sore and aching. He went to the door and knocked twice, shifting from side to side. After a moment, May opened the door and smiled. "There you are, Harry. Come in,"

Harry was happy to do so, slumping down on the couch. "Ugh, my legs are so sore." He groaned as he sat.

He could practically feel the blood flow return to his legs and let out a long sigh of relief. Harry missed May's worried look as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

May watched him let out a long sigh as he let his legs rest. He looked tired. "Are you okay?"

Harry glanced up and smiled. "Yeah, my legs are just sore."

May nodded. "You rest up, I'll make the charm, okay?"

Harry nodded mutely, closing his eyes again.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

It only felt like a minute before he was being nudged awake. He opened his eyes and sat up. "I uh, I'm awake, awake, yeah. Hi,"

May chuckled. "Morning, Harry."

Harry jolted lightly. "Did- did I sleep through the day and night?" He yelped.

May laughed softly. "No- no, you didn't. It's only been an hour,"

Harry rubbed his eyes and stood up. "Okay," he yawned.

May watched him get up and take a few experimental steps before he nodded. "Okay, what were we doing?"

"I was going to train you," May replied, a hint of a laugh in her voice.

Harry perked up excitedly. "Training?"

"Yep, are you ready?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, yeah I am."

The ravenet wavered slightly as he stood up and walked in a small circle, seeming to be getting used to being awake again. May led him out back. There was a small table with a few different charms laid out neatly. He walked over and examined them curiously. "What are these?"

"Those are all charms. They're harmless ones, speeding up the growth of grass, moving the water in the air, things like that."

Harry nodded slowly. "If you have these, why do you garden? These would help speed things up,"

"They're single-use, once the magic in the charm is used up, you need to make a new one. I don't use charms unless I need to, and typically it isn't necessary." May explained.

Harry nodded slowly and looked at each of the charms as May joined his side. "Okay, let's start out with something easy." She reached for a light blue and gold charm that had a bright white crystal in the center. "I want you to use this charm to redirect the water in the air and accumulate it onto the grass,"

Harry nodded and took the charm. "How?"

"Think of what you want the water to do, then say, Συμπύκνωση."

"I'm sorry, you want me to say what now?"

"It's Greek for condensation." May hummed, taking a pad and pen and writing the word down.

"Oh, okay um... that's hard to say." Harry mumbled, staring blankly at the word.

May chuckled lightly before writing 'sympýknosi' under it. "There's the English lettering if that helps,"

Harry nodded, studying the word for a few moments. "Okay, can you repeat the word?"

"Συμπύκνωση," She repeated again.

Harry was quiet before trying to repeat the word back slowly. "See-pek-nos-e?"

"Close, less stress on the beginning and more on the 'pek' part."

Harry nodded before repeating it again. "Se-peak-no-se?"

May nodded. "Better, now try it with the charm."

Harry nodded and took the charm from May and sat down, concentrating on the ground in front of him. He remembered what May had said, that it was relatively simple and he shouldn't overthink it. He took a deep breath and held the charm tight before saying, "Συμπύκνωση," aloud.

Harry waited for a few moments and pouted when he saw nothing had happened. May gave him a sympathetic smile. "Just take a deep breath and try again, don't forget to concentrate on what you want to happen."

Harry nodded. "Okay,"

He took a slow breath before imagining the blades of grass covered in dew, before repeating, "Συμπύκνωση."

At first, it seemed like nothing had happened again. Before Harry could get frustrated, he could see small droplets begin to form on the blades. He grinned eagerly as May patted his shoulder lightly. "Good job!" She praised.

Harry looked up at her, his eyes shining, before returning his gaze to the blades, which were now drooping as the droplets of water grew bigger. He looked down at the blue and gold charm in his hand to see that the crystal in the middle of the charm was no longer as white and pure as it was before, now clouded and dull.

May smiled and walked over with another charm, having a similar crystal in the center, though it was still clear and white. "This one makes grass grow faster, it's the same sentiment as the συμπύκνωση charm. Concentrate on what you want it to do, grow the grass faster, then say λιπαίνω."

Harry nodded slowly. "What does that one mean?"

"Fertilize,"

Harry snickered softly before nodding. "Li-pan-o?"

"Yep, that's right,"

Harry nodded and took the charm, looking at the ground in front of him. The dirt and soil had darkened from the dew building up as he took a deep breath and said, "Λιπαίνω.”

He grinned proudly as small needles of grass began to breach the surface of the dirt as the existing grass grew darker and longer. The crystal in the charm became cloudy just as the other had. May smiled proudly and patted his shoulder. "Great job, you're a natural at this!"

Harry looked down, his face tinted pink with embarrassment at the praise. "Thank you,"

May smiled at him before standing up. "Come on, let's get you that charm."

Harry nodded and stood after her, following her inside. "Now, this charm is just as easy as those charms you just used. The keyword to separate Venom from Peter is άδεια and the keyword to contain Venom is περιέχω."

Harry was quiet for a moment as he made a mental note of the two words. "To separate them is a-de-ya, and to contain Venom is pe-ri-eh-ho?"

"Yes, but you say άδεια faster, it's only two syllables, and you put an accent on the R for περιέχω."

Harry nodded and repeated the words under his breath a few times. May gave him a worried look as she grabbed a larger charm and walked over to Harry. She took his hands and carefully placed the charm in his grasp. "Now you need to be very careful. Don't break the crystal, it won't work if the crystal is broken, and after Venom is contained, the crystal will be very fragile. More fragile than glass. If it breaks, Venom will be free again. Once he's captured, put the charm somewhere where it will never be touched again,"

Harry nodded and held the charm close before looking up. "Uh, anything else I should know before I go to try and save Peter?"

May gave him a gentle smile. "Stay safe, alright? You can do this,"

Harry turned his gaze to the floor and smiled slightly. "I'll do my best,"

May grabbed his shoulders lightly. "I'll see you soon, Harry."

Harry looked up once again and smiled. "I'll see you soon too, May."

Harry reluctantly pulled away, holding the charm close, before making his way down the cliff face.

May watched him go without a word.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry was careful as he walked through the forest on high alert. He didn't want to be caught by Venom without the separation charm, but he couldn't risk the capture charm being broken as he tried to be quick but careful at the same time.

He was jumpy and paranoid the entire walk, only getting any sort of relief when he approached the giant sequoia. At least I'm in Gwen's section of the forest now. He thought as he made his way back into the foliage.

He slipped through the undergrowth and followed the natural paths that led to the mouth of Gwen's cave. He was very careful with his entry, not wanting the charm to get injured in any way, shape, or form. Finally, after a minute of maneuvering carefully, the cave opened up into the large cavern and Harry was quick to let out a breath of relief. He was safe.

He was quickly approached by a hopeful looking Miles. "Did you get it?"

Harry showed him the charm. "Yeah, May taught me how to use them too so I'm ready whenever you guys are,"

Miles let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank the gods- so you'll be separating and capturing them?"

"If everything goes okay, then yeah."

Miles smiled excitedly before looking over his shoulder. Anya was walking over, looking tired but hopeful. "So we have a chance?"

"Yep, now we just need to find them."

"There's the hard part." Gwen sighed, following Anya out. "See, even if we had our powers, Demons can mask their auras so it's hard to find them. And without our powers, we're basically screwed."

Harry sighed and looked down. "So... what you're saying is he has to come to us."

Anya narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"

A sly grin crossed Harry's face. "Well, he's not gonna come to us under any normal circumstance. We just aren't a threat to him anymore, so we gotta make ourselves a threat."

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Anya stood in the small clearing with Gwen and Miles. They casted a glance into the undergrowth where a spirit who was new to the forest, named Technitós, laid in wait. The young illusionist was using his powers to create a large artificial aura surrounding the Guardians.

"If Venom thinks you guys have your powers back, he'll get scared."

"He wasn't scared last time,"

"Well yeah, last time he had leverage, this time he has nothing."

The Guardians exchanged looks. "So we just need to convince him that we have our powers back?"

Harry nodded. "He might back off long enough for me to come in with the charm,"

Anya sat up. "I think I know someone who can help us,"

The others turned to her. "Oh?"

"A new spirit in my part of the forest, he's only been here a few days. I was going to introduce you guys to him but, well, things got complicated, obviously. His name is Technitós, he's an illusionist spirit. Along with just making illusions, he can also create a false aura, making him look stronger or weaker. He can probably make one around us,"

"Then we have everything we need, you all ready?"

"As we'll ever be,"

They all felt exhausted from being completely drained of their magic, but they kept their heads up, putting on a facade of strength.

After standing for what felt like hours, they heard swift footsteps in their direction. In a moment, Peter entered the clearing, his eyes blackened out and his expression furious. "How did you get your powers back?" Venom demanded.

Gwen took a threatening step forward. "You underestimate us,"

Venom snarled at her, the tips of Peter's fingertips changing into inky black claws. "You all made a mistake trying to challenge me,"

Harry slowly made his way out of the underbrush with the two charms as the Guardians stalled. He held the separation charm tight, his hands shaking, as he focused on Peter and whispered, "ádeias,"

A few seconds passed and Harry began to panic, whispering, "ádeias," again, more urgently.

When nothing happened, Harry’s blood ran cold. He had gotten the word wrong. He frantically tried to remember what the word was when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and he was thrown aside. He looked up to see Venom looking outraged at him.

"You tried to trick me!" He screeched. "You'll all pay for that!"

Harry shakily looked down to see his stomach bleeding out. He wrapped his arms around the wound as the Guardians quickly began to panic. Venom turned to attack them before stuttering in his movements, making the onlookers take pause. He staggered for a moment before a low snarl erupted in his throat. "Get off of me," He whispered.

Harry watched for a moment before realizing it was Peter trying to take back control. He quickly looked around the ground, trying to find where he had dropped the separation charm, his entire body shaking. He panicked when he couldn't find it before Technitós appeared in front of him, wide-eyed and shaking but also holding the charms. "H-her-ere," He stuttered out.

Harry reached out for the separation charm, his arms shaking as he grabbed it and held it close. He looked over to Venom, who was snarling at him, before wheezing out, "A-"

He didn't manage to finish the word before Venom let out a furious shout and launched out a tendril, grabbing Harry by the neck and pinning him against a nearby tree. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Harry gagged and wheezed as he used one hand to grip the charm and the other to grab onto the tendril, trying to loosen it from his neck. Venom only tightened his grip however and snarled as Harry struggled to choke out the keyword.

The tendril recoiled a few inches as Peter struggled to force control again, his entire body shaking with effort as his eyes began to return to their usual green. "Get- get off of me!"

Harry gasped for air, his stomach bleeding as he struggled to take in air and reduce his pain however he could. He coughed wetly as he gripped the charm. "A-A-Αδεια," He coughed out.

Peter let out a loud shout as Venom was crudely ripped from his body and slid off of him like oil on water. Peter gasped and coughed for air, recovering from the sudden shock of being in control again.

Harry let out a relieved sigh and slumped down, nearly crying with relief. He put his hands on his stomach and let out a pained whimper as he was reminded of the messy tear. He tried to ignore his agony as he reached over to get the containment charm. A soft hand touched his arm, stopping him. "Don't move, Harry, someone's coming to heal you, I've got this."

Harry looked up to see Peter giving him a gentle look. He looked scared, though he was trying to keep his composure. The ravenet grabbed his hand tightly and let out a pained noise. "Don't- don't die,"

Peter gave him a pained look. "I should be telling you that," Peter moved his hair out of his face, his sweat keeping it where it was moved. "Just stay still for a few more minutes, we've got this, okay?"

Harry swallowed thickly and nodded as Peter stood up and walked over to where the charm laid. He picked up the grey and white artifact and turned to Venom. He didn't waste any time in absorbing the power he had stolen and returning it to Gwen, Anya, and Miles, before tightening his grip on the charm. "I was willing to help you because I thought you just wanted a place to belong." He scowled, looking angry and hurt. "I let you feed off of me, literally draining the life out of me, and you still betrayed me."

Peter looked down, angry tears forming in his eyes. "And look where that got me."

The others watched him mutely as he squeezed the charm. "Περιέχω."

Peter watched silently as the blob writhed for a few moments before dissolving into a black mist that was quickly sucked into the crystal in the middle of the charm. He looked down at the charm for a long moment before sighing. "Anyone wanna take this?" He asked, holding the charm away from him.

The newly rejuvenated Gwen approached. "I can keep it safe," She murmured softly.

Peter gave her a small smile before looking down and sighing. "Shit, I'm sorry I put you all through this..."

"It wasn't your fault, Peter. Demons are finicky like that, sometimes they're good, sometimes they aren't. You were just unlucky,"

Peter offered him a small smile before turning over to Harry and quickly walking over to his side. "Harry, are you still with us?"

The taller boy nodded. "Yeah, just- ow, shit, just..."

"Hurting, I know. Just relax, we'll get someone over here," Peter promised, turning his gaze to the injury.

He cast a glance over his shoulder to see Miles was already off going to find someone. He turned back to Harry and smiled. "You're gonna be okay,"

Harry forced a smile before making a pained noise. Peter cringed lightly before lightly lifting up Harry's shirt to check the damages. There was a gash about 4 inches long across his stomach. Peter couldn't tell how deep it was, but it wasn't good. Harry tried to look down and Peter cupped his face, keeping his head up. "No no, just keep your eyes on me." He murmured, pushing Harry's shirt back down.

Harry tilted his head back and let out a pained noise. "God damn this hurts," He choked out in a wet laugh.

Peter nodded. "I know, I know, Miles is on his way with someone who can help."

Peter comforted Harry for a long few minutes before Miles arrived with Ygeía. "Well, isn't this morbidly familiar?" The Dryad murmured, quickly moving to Harry's side.

Peter smiled weakly as she sat down beside him and quickly began healing his wounds. "Harry, this is Ygeía. She was the one who healed you when you first fell down the side of the cliff,"

Harry laughed softly before making a pained noise. "What a coincidence, saving me from dying again."

Peter chuckled softly. "Oh quiet, let Ygeía focus on healing you."

Harry smiled but clammed up, his eyes closing as his wounds were slowly stitched shut. The clearing fell silent except for the distant chirping of blue jays.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Harry fiddled with the hem of his suitcase as Peter stood in front of him, looking sad. "Promise you'll come up next summer?"

"I swear on it, and I'll see if I can come up in the winters too."

Peter smiled weakly. "You'd love the snow spirits, they're nice."

Harry's gaze softened as he reached out to grab Peter's hand. Peter took it and gave it a gentle squeeze. "See you in 9 months?" He murmured.

Harry smiled. "See you in 9 months."

As much as Harry wanted to stay and talk for longer, he knew he couldn't miss the bus. He walked over to May's truck, getting a ride down to the bus stop, and cast Peter one final glance before waving goodbye.

Only 9 more months.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

It had been years since the events in the forest that summer had taken place. Harry had kept his promise and had visited as often as possible, doing what he could to preserve the forest so Peter and the others could live on as long as possible. They always expressed their gratitude whenever he came to see them.

But as time went on, Harry got older, and after a long 84 years of life, doing what he could to better the world around him, Harry knew his time was coming to an end.

His entire body ached as he laid on his back in the car. He knew what was happening, the people around him knew as well. A few of his employees and caretakers were with him, watching him fearfully as they drove. It was a long and painful drive for him, but one he needed to take.

They soon arrived onto the ever-so familiar gravel road. The bumps made his back ache even more as he let out small pained noises. His caretakers seemed anxious, wanting his ride to be as painless as possible. When they finally got to the forest, Harry almost wanted to cry with relief. He was almost home.

They got him onto a cot and brought him to the bed at the old cabin. He had managed to keep it in relatively good shape over the years at least. He was laid down on the mattress carefully. The caretakers sat down and watched wordlessly as Harry slowly began to drift. They knew what was coming, they were all aware of what was happening. Harry was leaving.

They watched quietly as the steady rising and falling of his chest slowed to a stop. After a minute or so, his heart soon followed, and they all knew he was gone.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Peter tended to May's old garden quietly. He and Harry had never stopped weeding the garden and tending to it, even after May had passed. They missed her, but it had been decades since she'd gone and both knew she was still around, though in a different way.

His mind wandered to Harry. A rush of love and affection washed over him as he thought about the other. Though they did have feelings for each other, both of them were afraid to pursue them, knowing the day would come when Harry would die and Peter would be left alone. He didn't like the thought.

He lifted his head as he finished yanking out the small weeds and he made a pleased noise as Astelle trotted over with a bucket. "Are those the last of the weeds?" She asked, picking some of them up and tossing them in the compost.

Peter nodded. "Yep, that's it. Almost time to start planting the Marigolds, don't you think?"

Astelle nodded in agreement. "I'll ask Gwen for some seeds if you want me too,"

"If you could," Peter hummed, standing up and brushing off his pants. "By the way, have you seen Harry yet?"

"Has he not come to see you?"

"No, not yet."

"Huh, weird."

Peter only nodded and glanced up at the clear sky. He could see a distant plane flying far above. "I wonder when he'll get here."

#peter parker #harry osborn #peterharry #parksborn #parksborn fic #parksborn fanfic #parksbang 2020 #Miles Morales #Anya Corazon #Gwen Stacy #May Parker #fantasy #smh this is my 5th time trying to post this

[imjeralee]

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 8 - Me Kill You

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

Rating: General/Teen

Me Kill You

…

…

[Robert the Doll is the world's most haunted doll. It can move on its own, change its facial expressions and cause misfortune]

…

…

After Sonia’s helped you pick an outfit and matching shoes to wear for tomorrow’s dinner, you fish out the Wooloo plushie from your closet. You had mentioned to Leon a while ago that you had a spare for his little brother and you inspect it, turning it round and round. It’s clean and in great condition so you place it carefully inside a white plastic bag, tie the straps together and leave it beside your backpack on the floor, ready for tomorrow.

When it’s around eleven pm, Sonia, Cutiefly and Poltea go to sleep so you quietly make your way downstairs. Magnolia has left spare food for you as usual and after reheating it, you carry the food with you to the lounge and sit down on the sofa.

You’ve got a whole night ahead of you and you have no active cases so it’s a good time to study Gengar.

It’s peculiar; for the past couple of years and you didn’t think about owning pokemon but here you are with a Gengar and Froslass, though you will need to hand the ice pokemon to Graves very soon.

It’s inevitable and hopefully she will be in better hands under the right ownership. You had thought about releasing her but if Graves finds out, you’re done for.

You finish your food and when Gengar emerges from your shadow, you grab your journal and ask him to stand still so you can sketch him.

He can only stand still for a few seconds or so before he yawns and decides to float in the air and cartwheel around the lounge.

When you finish the sketch, you ask him to stand before you which he does, his feet touching the ground for a change, and you use a measuring tape to take note of his height. He is roughly five foot eleven.

“You’re very tall compared to the average Gengar,” you utter and he nods vigorously, grin widening. “You have teeth too. Human teeth.”

He nods again and opens his mouth wide, showing you his pearly whites. You tap your chin with your pencil, tilting your head to the side as you inspect his mouth.

“You even have a human tongue.”

Gengar proceeds to stick his tongue out which extends all the way out of the door of the lounge and into the landing.

“Interesting…”

You use the measuring tape to work out the length of his tongue and it turns out to be even longer than his height. Once you’re finished, Gengar rolls his tongue back up and chuckles darkly.

“Well, according to the pokedex entries, you were a human in your past life…” you put the measuring tape away, flip your journal to a certain page and read aloud, “'Should you feel yourself attacked by a sudden chill, it is evidence of an approaching Gengar. There is no escaping it. Give up’.”

Gengar laughs in response and rolls around the air with glee, clutching his tummy.

“Do you remember your past life?” you ask and he pauses to ponder, then shakes his head. “Do you remember how you became a Ghastly?”

Again, he shakes his head.

“So you woke up one day and you were a Ghastly?”

He puts a hand on his hips and a hand under his mouth as though deep in thought, but shrugs.

“What did you do when you were with the Duke?”

Gengar glances round, points at your pencil which you give to him; he returns to float in the air, then pretends to stab at the air viciously and as though he is fighting an invisible enemy.

“You fought in a war?”

He nods and returns the pencil to you, sighing inaudibly and wiping his forehead. He looks tired.

“This is really interesting,” you mutter to yourself, scribbling notes in your journal before you reach over and pat the top of his head.

He is rather cold to touch and you retreat.

"You’re tangible," you mutter, before you plant your hand over to where his stomach should be to pat his belly. Much to your surprise, your hand sinks in and you feel...nothing. You attempt to grab but you cannot even feel your own fingers. "Whoa. Obviously you can be tangible or intangible at your own free will. What’s inside you? Can I see?"

Gengar nods, grabs you by the arms and pulls you inside his tummy face-first for a few seconds or so. When he pulls you back out, you gasp and blink dazedly.

"...Darkness, swirling vortex of nothingness, an eternity of black, a void," you mutter unfocusedly, before you quickly rush to the kitchen and pull open one of the cupboards to grab a few snacks, tearing off the wrappers and stuffing them into your mouth. You even grab a chocolate bar, unwrapping it and munching it quickly. You feel better at once and sigh with relief. Putting the chocolate bar down, you exclaim, "I shall write this down!"

You return to the lounge, flinging yourself over the sofa to grab your journal and you begin jotting down what you had witnessed and experienced when Gengar showed you his insides.

You describe how there was nothing and you had no sense of self, nor were you aware that you were alive though you experienced intense feelings of hopelessness, despair and sadness and you also write down that he smelled somewhat of sulphur but the golden question really is:

"Hey Gengar, can you take me to the spirit world?"

He looks at you with widened eyes, then shakes his head.

"Why not?"

Glancing left and right, he grabs one of the flowers from Magnolia's vase on the mantelpiece and holds it in his hands, then moves to float on his back, lying horizontally in the air as he clutches the flower to his chest with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, I know one is usually dead in order to go there but...can’t you separate me from my body?”

He looks confused.

“Like, um….split my soul from my body?”

Gengar glances at you before he circles the side of his head with his finger.

“Don’t give me that, I’m not crazy, okay? I mean, what happens if a living person is accidentally brought there? Can they escape? Are they alive or dead?"

He looks confused by your question and again, imitates being dead.

You sigh, shaking your head, and turn to a new page of your journal, eager to study more and so you let Froslass out of the capsule and into the lounge.

You sketch her as she looks around and inspects random objects; she appears curious about her surroundings and eventually picking up one of Sonia's hairbrush which she had left lying on the coffee table and returns to your side, brushing your hair and trilling a somewhat melancholic tune.

You try to study her as much as possible but she doesn't appear to listen to you and keeps floating around, picking up random things and throwing them around in the air when they're not interesting to her.

When you are left to pick them back up and put them into their respective places, she puts her little paws to her mouth and giggles. Quite the prankster, this one. You determine she has an impish personality and she has taken a liking to the hairbrush, holding it tightly to herself.

When it’s six am, the ghost Pokemon are exhausted and you emit a loud yawn and stop studying them though the entire session has aroused more questions than answers. It’s time to retire and you're exhausted; you quietly head up the stairs and into the room.

Sonia dozes in her bed, lying on her side with her back to you. You slide into your bed noiselessly, wrapping your thick, cosy covers around you and close your eyes.

You drift off to sleep until a rough shake on your arm forces you to wake and you open your eyes groggily to see Sonia standing by your bed.

“…Huh? What…what is it, Sonnie…?” you croak out, rubbing your eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up so early but you have a new client…” Sonia mutters and you check the clock.

It’s ten in the morning…and you groan out loud and slap your hand over your eyes tiredly.

“They really want to talk to you," she adds, "They really, really want to talk to you.”

You can hear the emphasis so you nod.

“………….Alright, fine,” you mumble as you get up from bed and grab your black dressing gown from the chair and drape it over yourself, half-awake. You only managed roughly four hours of sleep…

Sonia watches as you tiredly trudge downstairs, barely awake, and the light hurts causing you to hiss and wince as you blindly make your way through the lounge. You head to the direction of the conservatory where you peek through the gaps of your fingers to see a couple seated on one of the sofas. They look relieved to see you despite your frumpy and drowsy appearance.

Lethargy has taken over; once your eyes has adjusted to the light, you stop wincing and plop yourself in the empty sofa as the couple nervously fidget, balancing a white plastic bag in arms.

You're finding it really hard to stay awake.

“Thanks for seeing us,” says the man, and you’re assuming it’s the husband.

You nod wearily, crossing your arms as you nod off.

“No problem..." your voice is sluggish as you fight to stay awake whilst emitting a huge yawn, “How....how can I help…?”

You are so tired you can only catch snippets of what they're saying as you yawn once more.

"We live in Turrfield,”

"Our daughter turned eight."

"We got her a gift for her birthday."

Your eyelids are drooping no matter what. "...Okay…Zzz…”

"This doll."

"...Mm….hmm…yep…what about it…”

"...Makes strange noises......moves on it’s own…."

Your eyes jerk open.

"What?!"

Looking up and around, you see that you are still in the conservatory but the couple are gone and you are alone. In an instant, you sit up as you look left and right. The room is empty.

"Where'd they go?" you squawk.

Sonia enters the conservatory and you throw your wide-eyed glance to her.

"They left an hour ago. You fell asleep," she says, walking round the sofa with a teapot and cup before she seats herself on the sofa opposite yours, crossing her legs.

"Oh," your eyes grow wide and you scrabble up to stand, "That's terrible. I should call them.”

"Relax, they said they left something for you." Sonia gestures to the corner where a white plastic bag sits against one of the potted plants, the straps tied tightly together.

You head over, picking up the bag and realizing that it is exceptionally light; untying it, you pull the straps apart and peer inside.

It's empty.

“….Hey Sonnie, where’s the doll?”

“What doll?”

“There should be a doll.”

“I didn’t see any doll.”

“That’s weird,” you mutter, rubbing your chin, “They came all the way here and forgot to bring the doll?”

Scratching your head, you shrug and decide to return upstairs with the white plastic bag. There is no doll inside so you’re not sure what’s going on. You will call the client later to inform them they must have forgotten it.

When you return to your room, you emit another long yawn, scratch the side of your hip and flop over your bed, snuggling into your pillow and burrowing yourself with the blanket once again; the moment you hit the bed and you close your eyes and begin snoring immediately.

You’re not sure how long you had slept when you feel the blanket slowly being pulled away from your body and you begin shivering.

“Nnmm…Yamper, cut it out…Stop…stop that…” you mumble under your breath.

The blanket continues shifting down your body until it slides off the bed and flops loudly onto the floor. The coldness forces you awake and you open your eyes, blinking groggily in the dark room.

“Huh?” you croak out as you push yourself off the mattress using the back of your elbows, looking around the empty bedroom before you spot the blanket lying crumpled at the foot of the bed.

You must have kicked it off in your sleep somehow… though you swear someone was pulling the blanket off you...

Crawling to the edge of your bed, you bend down and reach for it, grabbing the blanket and lifting it up and you do a doubletake when you see a strange shape lying on the floor underneath it.

Lifting the blanket up, you reveal a small, grey and dirty ragdoll with an enlarged head, two black buttons sewn on for eyes and a jagged line of black stitches that you assume is supposed to be the mouth. It has short black strands of thick yarn for hair and its limbs are round and stubby.

It can’t be Sonia’s for you believe it’s rather unsightly for her liking… and it’s certainly not yours, that’s for sure. You don’t think this could be a new chew toy of Yamper’s, either.

It’s most likely the doll your client mentioned.

“They got this for their daughter’s birthday?? It looks like a voodoo doll...” you say aloud before you can help yourself. Shrugging, you scoop it up and let it sit on your bedside table where it slumps against Sonia’s hairdryer, and you grab your duvet and wrap yourself up once more and roll over to sleep, closing your eyes.

The room falls silent.

You’re so exhausted, your body begins to relax. Your mind grows weary, a blanket of darkness consuming your thoughts until a cold grip seizes you by the ankle and drags you several inches from your spot.

You sit up at once, kicking the blanket off you and staring wide-eyed at the edge of your bed only to see the ragdoll sitting near your left foot with its head flopping backwards.

“What the….”

As you gawk, the doll begins to twitch aggressively before its head flips forward and into its normal position, and your eyes grow wide.

“Haunted doll!!!” you yell, and Gengar manifests from your shadow on the wall. You point hurriedly at the doll, “Gengar, attack!”

Gengar obliges and immediately fires a beam of purple energy at it, blasting it off the bed and burning a small section of your mattress in progress. The ragdoll flies into the air before it lands on the ground with a thump.

It doesn’t move and you and Gengar glance at each other warily before you quickly tiptoe forwards, seize the white plastic bag, grab the doll by the scruff of it's back and dump it inside. It begins to thrash and you tie the bag in a tight knot, then hastily murmur a quick chant to immobilize it. Rushing to your desk, you open one of the drawers and find a scrap of scritta paper, grab a red marker and draw a symbol on it before you stick it on the bag. That should do it.

The entity sealed inside the bag struggles and flails and you glance at Gengar with a wince. “Well, that’s a first,” you say, lifting the bag up and giving it a shake.

It continues wriggling violently, accompanied with a sound akin to the noise of teeth grinding. "Kccchhhkhhhkk...."

“Yeesh, it’s like a tiny terror, right Gengar?” you mutter as the sound sends various shivers down your spine, and Gengar nods.

You throw a glance to the clock; it’s now one in the afternoon. You need to get ready for the dinner which means unfortunately, you will need to deal with the doll later. However, you're still sleepy so with the doll subdued, you fall back into bed, fast asleep.

At five pm, you awake from the beeping of your alarm and unfortunately you're still tired from being woken up so many times during the day but you force yourself to get up so you can utilise the additional two hours to get ready. You get dressed in the outfit Sonia had sussed out for you and before you leave the house, you grab the bag with the Wooloo plush that’s meant for Hop.

The Wooloo doll and the haunted doll have been placed in similar white bags but you made it a point to keep them separated and also, you put the talisman on the haunted doll bag so you pick up the bag that has no talisman and open it for a thorough doublecheck.

Indeed, the Wooloo doll is inside.

You put the bag back down and continue getting ready, rushing around your room to grab some accessories and a spare hair tie just in case. Once you’re done, you grab your pouch and the Wooloo bag and leave the room.

“Sonia, professor, I’m heading out now!” you exclaim as you head downstairs..

“Have fun at Leon’s, dear,” Magnolia says; she’s in the kitchen washing the dishes whilst Sonia lounges with Yamper in the living room, watching a chatshow.

“Tell Leon I said hi,” she says.

“Okay,” you settle the Wooloo bag on the floor and head to the cupboard under the stairs to grab the sandals Sonia prepared for you and return to the front door, slipping them on.  

When you leave, Sonia gets up and off the couch a few minutes later with her empty mug to get some water. However, she spots something lying on its side, hidden behind the umbrella stand.

It's a Wooloo plushie.

…

You make your way down the path of Wedgehurst to Postwick. Sonia’s picked out a white summer dress which she thinks is perfect for the weather.

Whilst you’re far more inclined towards the colour black or anything that would cover up the most skin, this dress seems to reveal a lot of leg and chest than you had wanted. She’s picked a pair of matching nude sandals and a little beige pouch to complete the look, and she’s also helped with your hair and makeup; she has brushed your hair neatly and applied minimal makeup for a more natural look.

You can't help but wonder what Leon will think of you.

The path to Postwick is linear albeit covered with tall grass which you avoid at all costs and very soon, Postwick looms into view; it’s a tiny farming town with a small population. It’s pleasant and dainty with cottages straight from fairytale picture books, with thatched roofs and walls covered in ivy. One wouldn’t have thought the Champion of Galar would have roots from this modest settlement.

Leon’s house is not hard to miss. As he pointed out, it’s the biggest house and you pass the trimmed hedges and stone walls, pass the mini battle court and the garage. There’s a large barbecue grill and an outdoor table which is where the dinner will possibly take place. Leon wasn’t kidding. His house could be mistaken for a mansion...

You arrive at the front door and press the doorbell, then take a step back and wait on the doorstep whilst smoothing your dress down and tidying your hair, inwardly rehearsing some lines in your head. “Hello, Mrs Leon’s mum. I am a Pokemon Researcher. How do you do? Wait, let’s try that one again: How do you do? Oh, how splendid. Me? I’m well, thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me for dinner….”

When the door opens, you stop practising and look up to see the same woman from the hospital standing before you and she smiles widely.

“Oh! You must be…” she says your name and you nod. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“It’s lovely to meet you too.”

“Come in, come in!” she exclaims happily as you shake hands, and she opens the door wide for you and ushers you inside the house, “Leon, your friend is here!”

You hear footsteps from upstairs; Leon arrives at the top of the stairs and hurries down, looking rather flustered. He’s also dressed very casual, barefoot and donned in a pair of black joggers, a thick and woolly, white sweater and shirt.

When he sees you at the door however, he freezes on the last step as he gets an eyeful.

“Hi Leon.” You wave at him as you stand on their furry ‘home sweet home’ mat.

“H-hi,” he utters. His face grows pink as he looks at you from head to toe, jaw going slack. His reaction does not go unnoticed; his mum giggles as she heads over to his direction and plants a hand on his shoulder, steering him towards your direction until he’s directly in front of you and you look up and he looks at you and your gazes meet.

Following that, you hear another set of rapid footsteps bumbling down the stairs and it’s the little boy from the hospital clutching a Charizard figurine in hand. With a Wooloo rolling down the stairs after him, he leaps off the last step and lands in front of you, looking up at you with a big grin whilst Wooloo takes a baby leap off the step and trots over.

Leon’s little brother grins widely at you and says, “Hi there, Lee told me all about you! I’m his little brother, Hop.”

“I know, he told me about you as well,” you say with a smile as he looks up at Leon, who grins and playfully loops an arm around the back of his neck and Hop begins to laugh as Leon proceeds to playfully drive his clenched knuckle over his head.

“And he’s my biggest fan too,” Leon adds.

“Leon told me you like Wooloo so I brought you something,” you hand him the white bag, and he blinks as he accepts it.

“…For me?”

“Of course.”

“Oh wow! Thanks, mate!” he exclaims, “Lee was right, you’re pretty and kind!”

Your eyes bulge as you gape at Leon who begins spluttering at once. Leon’s mum and Hop exchange glances before they grin at your interaction.

“Hip-Hop, would you like to help me get the barbecue sorted out?” Leon’s mum coos before Hop can open his gift.

You chuckle under your breath. Hip-Hop….how adorable…

Hop looks at the bag briefly then nods, “Okay, mum, let me put this in my room first," he says, before he rushes up the stairs with your gift.

“I’ll send the Hopster to get you when everything’s ready,” Leon’s mum says to you with a wink, and when Hop returns downstairs, they make a speedy exit towards the direction of the kitchen.

It’s just you and Leon.

“So uh…where can I put my shoes?” you ask, and Leon finally tears his eyes away from you to throw his glance to your feet.

“Oh, here is fine,” he gestures to the side of the door where a bunch of shoes are lined up on the floor over a mat and you slip out of the sandals and carefully place them beside Leon’s champion boots. “You look lovely.”

And your cheeks grow pink in response. “Thanks,” you offer him a smile, gingerly placing your hands behind your back, “You have a very nice house.”

He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck at your compliment. “Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour,” he says with a grin, and he leads you into the living room where an elderly man sits on an armchair with a Purrloin who is fast asleep in his lap.

Leon enthusiastically introduces you to his grandfather who looks up from the snoozing pokemon and greets you politely and you do the same; he asks you briefly about your work before he’s conveniently called to the kitchen by Leon’s mum.

You’re alone with Leon once more as grandpa settles the snoozing Purrloin over the sofa and slowly shuffles to the kitchen. Leon tosses his glance to you as you take the time to look around his large and spacious lounge, spotting the numerous trophies displayed on the mantelpiece. There is also a portrait of Leon in his champion attire beside a framed medal on the wall.

“Where are these from?” you ask as he joins your side, “This one looks interesting.”

He looks sheepish, cheeks reddening as you step towards the fireplace and peer at the engraved words on one of the trophies. “I won that at the World Coronation Series."

“That’s really impressive.”

Your words only serves to make him blush harder and Leon blurts out, “Do you want to go to my room?”

There is a brief silence until Leon’s face grows even redder than ever before and he begins spluttering incoherently.

You guess he doesn't invite girls to his room often but you say, "Sure."

Leon stops stuttering and his eyes widens a brief fraction at your response. Nodding limply, he leads you out of the lounge, heading up the stairs. Along the way, you pass his grandmother; she greets you politely and after a brief introduction, decides to head downstairs to leave the both of you alone.

Leon’s house is huge with several winding corridors and turns, and you can’t help but wonder if his poor sense of direction started with this but you see there are signs stuck to the wall that will help him find his own room and when the signs run out, he has arrived at a random door, opening it.

He lets you go in first and this would be the first time you’ve stepped foot into a boy’s room - and the Champion’s room, nonetheless. You’re stunned that his room is quite plain and the interior decor are Autumn-inspired, with the reddish floor and the tawny shade of his walls and curtains.

There’s his bed, a desk, a bookshelf lined with boxes and a workout station in one corner though they don't appear to have been used much. You also spot a colourful collection of snapbacks on display, neatly lined up side by side on several shelves. You count them all and the total goes over thirty.

As you look around his room, Leon watches you as though he is waiting for your reaction. You head over to his desk where you see a desktop calendar with random dates circled and notes, and Leon makes his way up to you when you scrutinise it.

“That’s my schedule,” he says, as he scoops it up and hands it to you for a closer look.

“You’re booked out for the entire year,” you utter in awe as you flip through the pages and he nods.

Once again, you are subtly reminded of who exactly you're dealing with here. You're talking to Leon, the Champion of Galar. Not only that, but he has invited you for dinner. The gravity of it all makes you almost faint. Leon is...a celebrity.

You go through the dates and what the events are. "Rose of the Rondelands Charity Gala Ball, Paediatric Visit, Soda Pop photoshoot, Soup Kitchen for the homeless…Miss Galar Beauty Pageant??”

Leon crosses his arms over his chest, nodding, “Yeah, I’m supposed to make a brief speech.”

You raise a brow at the thought of Leon being surrounded by smiling, beautiful girls in swimsuits. You didn’t realise his duties as Champion would extend to the Miss Galar Beauty Pageant too...

“I see,” is your reply, before you catch glimpse of his 'Official Fanmeet and Signing'. It's then you recall you have his poster and wonder if it would be possible to sign up...

"This is for you," Leon fishes out a flimsy small envelope from one of the drawers of his desk and hands it to you, "It's the ticket to my next match. Actually, it's an annual pass for Wyndon Stadium... so you can attend all my matches."

Your jaw drops. The Wyndon Stadium annual pass costs a five figure sum!! "You're kidding, right?"

"No, why would I be?"

He sounds a little puzzled and it occurs to you he took your words quite literally.

You accept the envelope with a wide grin and Leon's face grows red at the sight of your gratitude. "Thank you so much!!!" you gush at him.

"You're welcome," he says quietly.

And you put the envelope away safely and return the calendar over the desk. As you turn, your bag swings round and you accidentally knock a random snapback off. It’s a white cap with a black visor and the League’s symbol on it. It’s quite possibly an expensive collector’s item and you gasp.

You attempt to catch it before it drops to the floor, diving for it, and so does Leon, and suddenly he has grabbed your hands and you both completely miss the snapback, which lands on the floor.

The two of you simultaneously freeze at the same time.

His hands are so warm compared to yours, and you look at him and he looks at you before he quickly releases your hands. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you croak as your fingers tingle all over from the unwarranted contact and your heart begins to pound. You quickly pluck the cap off the ground and you both move to stand. “H-here’s your hat.”

“Thanks,” Leon cradles it to himself gently, “This one is vintage. In fact, my collection are all vintage, limited or special editions. This one commemorates the fiftieth Galar Pokemon League gym challenge,” he says with a smile and as he glances at the hat in his grip, he reaches over and fixes the cap over your head and proceeds to fasten the strap behind your head, tugging on it securely.

You go still once more, swallowing down the lump in your throat.

He is standing so close to you. He doesn’t need to be, but he is. You can feel his breath on your cheeks, his hands skimming over the side of your face gently. You swerve your eyes up to him and as he looks at you at the same time, you quickly avert your gaze and he takes a step back once the hat is fastened properly. “It suits you.”

“I’m just missing your cape,” you blurt out.

“You’re right. Wait a second, I’ll go get it,” Leon replies and he heads to his wardrobe, opening it and pulling out the thick, red champion cape from within.

“Uh…” you pale slightly when you realise Leon had taken your words seriously again. With cape in hands, he proceeds to step behind you and carefully position it over your shoulders and tie it around you, and you realise there are also two unnoticeable clips on it that attaches itself onto the shoulders to prevent it from falling off.

“There we go. All done.” Leon says, and you’re astounded he’s letting you try it on.

“Oh, I…I feel weird,” you croak out as you attempt to twist your body left and right to see the cape; Leon is taller than you, so unfortunately the cape brushes against the floor and you attempt to bundle it up.

The beautiful fur that lines the cloak tickles your chin and the sides of your face and ears. Furthermore, you accidentally catch a heavy whiff of Leon’s scent all over and you blush.

Leon takes another step forwards and begins slipping his fingers underneath the cap and brushes some hair from the side of your face, tucking it behind your ear. He replaces the cap over your head once more and smiles. “You look really pretty today,” he murmurs.

“Um…..thanks.” you can’t help but blush furiously; he’s said it twice now. As you glance down at yourself, you grab a section of the cape and lift it up, hiding the lower half of your face with it. Leon laughs in response as you quirk a brow at him. “How do I look?”

“Not bad!”

“I could get used to this,” you say, “No wonder you wear it all the time.”

Next, you use your other hand to grab the other side of the cloak and lift your arms up in the air, the cape rising and Leon chuckles as you parade around the room.

“I should take this off now,” you say before you get carried away as usual.

“How did it feel to be Champion of Galar for five minutes?”

“Pretty good but the cloak is heavy," you reply, as you take a few steps and the cloak’s weight makes your shoulders feel hefty.

He grins and helps you remove the cloak, it brushes against the floor once more and as you hop backwards, you accidentally step on one corner just as he lifts it up and your eyes grow wide as the ground beneath you disappears; you lose your footing and begin to slip.

However, Leon’s quick to catch you by wrapping a thick and sturdy arm around your back but it doesn’t stop you from falling and he doesn’t abandon the cape; you fall flat on your back with a grunt and Leon topples over you, the cape spooling over him.

His weight causes your eyes to bulge and a few strands of his long hair catches in your mouth which makes you splutter. Muttering a long string of apologies, Leon scrabbles to get off you and the heel of his hand accidentally presses hard against your breast and his jaw drops in horror.

Before either of you can move, Hop suddenly pokes his head into room.

“The barbecue’s-“

Hop pauses, eyes widening at the sight of you lying on the ground with Leon on top and the cape covering your lower bodies and most importantly, his hand on your breast. Hop blurts out an apology for disturbing you but not before spinning on his heel in a one hundred and eighty degree turn and he rushes away, stampeding down the corridor.

“Hop!” You and Leon yell at the same time, before you gape at one another.

Next, you throw your gaze to where Leon is touching you and finally he lifts his hand off your chest, lifting himself off you in general and as he sits up, his hand is trembling, his face a thousand shades of red. He collects his cape into his arms and bundles it up.

“Arceus, what a mess!” he groans before he turns to you, “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Leon…” you croak out as he sticks his hand out; you accept his hand and he lifts you off the ground so you can sit up. One of the straps of your dress – and your bra – decides to fall off your shoulder and Leon accidentally catches a glimpse of your exposed shoulder and your bra strap and he looks away to bury his face into the soft material of his cape.

“Sorry.” Is his muffled apology.

“It’s fine,” you wave your hand dismissively before you pull the straps over your shoulder and into the proper positions. “It was an accident. Is Hop gonna be okay though?”

Leon lowers the cape, then nods. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle this. Let’s go find him.”

You agree with a nod and you both get up to stand; Leon carefully hangs his cape in his closet and you both leave his room. Following the directions on the wall, you both make your way to the stairs and as you pass a random door, it is open and it’s then you see that Hop is inside, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Hop?” Leon says, and he looks up.

He has the white bag in his lap and when he sees you and Leon, his face visibly goes red. “I-I didn’t see anything!!!”

“It’s fine, Hop, it was just an accident,” you say as you step into his room. “I fell after slipping on your brother’s cloak and he tried to help me, but unfortunately he ended up falling on top of me too and his hand-”

Hop’s eyes grows to the size of saucers.

“Um…” Leon steps in before you can finish, “Maybe I should…”

“Oh right, yes, please do…”

Leon moves to sit down beside his little brother, sitting cross-legged over the carpet and places a hand on his shoulder. “Hop.”

“Yeah, Lee?”

Leon takes a deep breath then says, “I know it’s not yet time for you to have that talk with mum about the Pidgeys and the Beedrills, but I wanted to let you know that what you saw in the room, I wasn’t the Beedrill and she wasn’t the Pidgey. It was just an accident.”

Leon goes on and on and you’re left standing, wondering what he is on about.

“Hey Lee?”

“Yes, Hop?”

“I get it.”

“Oh, you do? That’s good.” Leon pats Hop on the shoulder; the younger brother grins at Leon, then turns to you with a somewhat sly grin.

“Whatever you say, Lee,” Hop adds, grin broadening, and you don’t think Hop is as innocent as he seems. “Can I open my gift now?” he adds excitedly.

“Sure, go ahead,” Leon replies with a smile.

Hop proceeds to open the bag with an ecstatic whoop of glee and unties your bag, sticking his hand in and once he’s grabbed the doll, he pulls it out. There is a silence when he lifts it up in the air.

It’s the ragdoll.

“What the-?!?” you squawk, whilst Hop and Leon blink blankly at the hideous toy, before they turn to you questioningly. “Arceus, I’m so sorry…Hop, there was meant to be a Wooloo plush but-"

When the ragdoll squirms under Hop’s grip, he drops it in alarm.

“I-it just moved by itself!!” Hop exclaims and the two brothers are quick to jump onto their feet with Leon immediately ushering his little brother behind him.

Before anyone can make a move or speak, the doll twitches fiercely on the floor of the bedroom and you, Hop and Leon exchange wide-eyed looks before the doll twitches on the spot, its stuffed body convulsing rigorously and finally, the ragdoll inches off the ground and sits up.

“Mi…..me….me kill you….” A distorted voice emits from within.

Hop yelps with panic and you immediately call for Gengar whilst Leon steers his brother away from the doll as far as possible.

When Gengar manifests from the corner of the room, he spots the doll and you command, “Dark Pulse!”

Gengar aims a beam of dark energy at it and the attack smacks into the doll; it soars into the air once again and one of its stitches comes loose on the little doll’s face as it flops to the floor.

“Kkkccchhhkkk….” the noise akin to nails scratching on a chalkboard returns and the doll struggles to sit up as one of its button eyes pop off, its head flopping to one side limply, revealing a pair of glowing dots underneath the worn out fabric. “Kcchkkkk….!”

“Look out!” Leon yells, as the doll's head snaps back onto its normal position and a shadowy appendage bursts out from the gap between the torn stitches, aimed at your direction.

You gasp but Gengar jumps in front of you and the claw slams into his body. Gengar goes reeling from the impact and finally, Charizard comes bumbling into the room.

“Charizard, ember!” Leon is quick to instruct, pointing at the doll of terror.

Two long shadowy claws have emerged from the ragdoll's body, rising high in the air as it takes tiny steps one foot at a time towards your group, and Charizard stares at the minuscule adversary in confusion for a split second or so before he coughs out a weak ball of fire the size of a golfball from the back of his throat which immediately catches onto the doll’s yarn hair.

The doll stops at once, the two glowing dots blinking numbly.

“Mi??” a voice from within squeaks, before it senses the flames on it's yarn hair and leaps an inch into the air with fright. “Mi mi!!!”

The doll begins running around frantically in the room, its hair on fire.

“Mi!! Mi mi mi mikyuu!!”

You and Leon gawk at each other whilst Hop blinks wide-eyed at the spectacle, before everyone bursts into laughter.

As the doll runs around the bedroom helplessly, you walk over and begin stamping on its head with your foot to clear the flames and you hear the doll squealing and squeaking in agony until the fire goes out and it flops over the floor, it’s hair fizzing with smoke.

You’re amazed the fire alarm hasn’t been triggered and when you and Leon look at each other again, you let out a chortle under your breath.

“Go ahead.” Leon says, crossing his arms and you pull out an empty Dusk ball from your pouch, tossing it at the pokemon and it is sucked inside. The capsule shakes a few times before the light goes off, indicating its capture.

You pick up the black and green coloured capsule and sigh whilst Leon checks if Hop is okay. “Sorry, Leon. Sorry, Hop.”

“What do you mean??!!!” Hop exclaims with a wide grin, clenching his fists tightly, “That was soooo awesome!”

You raise a brow until you hear Leon's mum downstairs, informing everyone that the barbecue is ready. Leon gives you a wide smile as Hop makes a beeline out of his room.

"C'mon, let's race! Last one down is a rotten Exeggcute!"

Leon turns to you and grins, "Let's go," he says, motioning for you to follow and you nod, trailing after him into the corridor.

#leon #dande #leon x reader #Leon x you #fanfic #fic #jeralee #archive of our own #comfort in despair #reader #reader insert #pkmn #pokemon #pokemonshield #pokemonsword #pokemon shield and sword

[abimee]

another slap of garbage

To watch the way they brave the storm is like watching the habits of a newly witnessed bird.

They do not hurry away to the basements or check supplies, nor do they all panic or worry about the damages; they felt the storm coming long before the anchors told them so. 

An poked her head up from her seat at the porch, and slowly moved to see the sky above her. A rush of a breeze came through the trees, and you can hear it coming from miles as it shakes each leaves in a crescendo passing over you, running away and dying off at the other edge of horizon. The sky was becoming dark, and everything had this desaturated tinge to it as the storm blocked out the light.

She did nothing, at the sight. Just watched. Nobody needed to be warned. Batteries did not need to be checked. A storm was coming, and The Visitor soon learned how the Basswood people welcomed it.

They stood, and watched.

Meanwhile, all of those in town who came out to the flowage to fish were quickly packing up, rolling in their boats and hurrying children away into cars. Their radios told them that the storm would be severe, with a watch for tornadoes over some counties as it forced it’s way East. They were hasty, and prepared.

But as the rain began to fall and the wind begin to pick up, more and more of the Basswood people came out to their little wooden porches and watched. Tuck and Mabel hung unto the ledge and held their hands out to feel the sharp drops of rain, to watch the way the trees bent at the tops as gusts began to pick up to the speed of cars. 

The clouds were a murky black now, like a drop of ink in water; lightning touched down not too far away, and the old and wrinkled hands of Terrence counted the seconds between it and the thunder, gauging the miles himself. Logger was as calm as a dog could be, standing dutiful by her owner.

Thunder was loud, and as the storm got closer ii’s every clap would shake the houses and throttle the ground, every strike hitting a tree they touched, every moment a spectacular light show that turned the world searing white.

Nickels and Quarters watched from an open garage, having brought out their lawn chairs and a case of beer to drink with the show. The wind whistled through their ears and they mindlessly chatted about what damage this one will bring, betting that surely the transformer down by the blackberry bushes will be hanging by a thread by morning.

It was dark now, as if the night came early, but the lightning lit back up the world to show the ways that the trees snapped and fell, the flooding of the dirt roads and the flow of tiny rivers down the hills. Flags fought the violence of being ripped and pulled, and deer bolted endlessly to dry land they’ll never find. The storm was in full swing; a orchestra of nature with the thunder’s drumming and the whistling tune of wind whipping through houses and over cars, the rain keeping it all together with a steady beat against the roofs

The storm was above them, and it was ripping up everything it could get it’s hands on, striking every open field and driveway with the loudest cracks they’d ever heard, and in this the neighborhood simply let it pass through without fear. The Visitor was enamored with the recklessness that they all showed --- if a single tree were to fall, someone would most definitely die.

However, this was not the most surprising thing to the Visitor, but what came afterwards.

When the clouds departed and the wind disappeared, letting light back down onto the hidden world of the Basswood, the first thing anybody thought to do was walk around.

An immediately lept off the porch and started down the driveway, followed by Tuck and then Mabel, or maybe it was Mabel and then Tuck. Sean stayed behind, and The Visitor, not really enjoying the ugly fellow’s company, soon followed the rest.

The damage from the road alone was obvious; the trees could not be saved by their roots in such sandy deposits, and some fell or broke to the strength of the storm. Carnage was littered all over, tossed here and there, trees learning on other trees and some exploding out onto the rood in splinters and chunks. Puddles like lakes formed across the dirt word and forced everyone to walk on the grassy yards of others. A few lines were very obviously down; either slashed by a falling branch, or the poles themselves victims.

Tuck and Mabel stopped to gaze at the dangling Transformer --- Nickels won that bet --- and eye it’s dangerous open wires before being called back to follow their mother. 

The Visitor tried to keep up as best as one could, while looking around at all the houses for possible damage; none seem to have been dealt any in the storm, and even the Birdbox House has all their little ones all lined up and in order. The birds that live inside them must be very grateful.

But at the crossroads where the three roads of Basswood intercept, the group came upon practically all of the neighborhood standing around in a circle, muttering among each other --- a first for The Visitor --- about something.

It was a massive tree, laying itself out across the road. It’s body wide enough to reach their waists, and long enough to touch both sides of the woods. Terrence and Logger were leaning against it, with Nickels and Quarters doing that ‘hand on your hips’ assessment stance as they gauged how many blocks of wood they can salvage out of it. Mabel and Tuck immediately ran to look at the hole it caused when it uprooted, and Cakes was right where she needed to be complaining about it. The Visitor promptly got involved in the conversation.

“ Anybody call the public service department?” Terrence asked with crossed arms. Everybody else gave a mumbling response.

“ This is quite a big tree that fell,” The Visitor motioned to the obvious.

“ Yeah, and perfectly on the road.” Nickels slapped the tree’s body and laughed, “ Just our luck.”

“ Should we call someone?”

“ We already did,” Nickels pointed to the chainsaw and buckle straps laying in Terrence’s yard, “ Terrence is going to log it up and pull it off the road.”

“ And if anybody wants any for their log shed, they’re going to hafta help!” He snarled and gently petted Logger.

Everybody who wanted a cut of the log, literally, was all motioned to grab a buckle strap and wait. There, Terrence started up his chainsaw and cut the tree into six perfect sections, all while An and The Visitor watched on. Nobody spoke much during all of it, sometimes giving each other glances or whispering to one another, but the whole neighborhood simply stood and watched their crochety neighbor dice up a tree so they could take home some firewood.

Quarters showed the others how to strap and pull the logs, wrapping it the horizontal way and tightening the buckle as flush against the log as it can go. There, she began to backwards pull and drag the lowest chunk of the tree off of the road and into the bushes, where Terrence would then cut it up three more times to transport home.

Each person took their turn pulling their piece, and when it was Ann’s turn, The Visitor offered to do it for her.

She agreed with an almost ashamed look to her, and carefully The Visitor worked the strap against the log and pulled --- it was awful work. Harder than the butches made it seem, as you have to pull at the right angle unless the strap comes off and you get flung to the ground. It took a couple attempts, but The Visitor managed, and Terrence trotted over to cut it up to pieces.

It wasn’t strange as much as it was just new to The Visitor, this sort of congregation; back in town, when a tree fell it was usually the job of the public service department to get it removed. But there’s a sad reality to the Basswood, and to others living out in areas like this; public help did not prioritize them, and Quarters let The Visitor know that power will not be seen for a couple of days. Usually they’re the last to be serviced, and so it could be days to a week before anybody sees running water and lights again.

They’ll go off to collect water from the flowage to use to flush toilets and take showers, and the logs will be used to start their firepits, and the powerlines will stay swaying and broken in the breeze of the afternoons. They don’t know when they’ll see help, but if there’s one thing for certain, is that they’re happy to have some wood for their burner pits.

#untitled story #ocs #still need to name this. kill