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bonefall · 10 months

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Are you going to keep Goosefeather's curse? If so are you going to change anything about it? From my memory the book was... depressing.

It will probably get rolled into Pinestar's Crusade, building it up into an SE rather than just a novella. There's actually a lot going on in that specific moment, and it makes sense to go over it all at once.

So to answer your question, yes, most of Goosefeather's Curse is staying. Most of the Crusade Generation have depressing stories to tell. If the Thistle Period is defined by the fact that Thistle Law metastasized and went terminal, and if the Campaign Era was when it was newly born, then the Crusade Era was when it was first conceived.

I've been thinking about Pinestar's Crusade idly and mentioned it a few times, but here's my fragments so far;

PINESTAR'S CRUSADE (Fuses Pinestar's Choice and Goosefeather's Curse)

We start in the Crusade Era; there is now more focus on 3 major characters, though it's still built around Pinestar as the POV

Pinestar, Goosefeather, and eventually Pinepaw's apprentice Speckletail.

Pinepaw is born into the start of the Crusades, a bloody period where the Clans are invading Chelford and brutalizing cats in the hopes of appeasing StarClan. He only begins to learn the full story of what happened in Darkstar's Commandment once he begins going to Gatherings as a warrior

The truth being that Oakstar came up with this idea because he couldn't take an L

But even as an apprentice, it becomes quickly apparent to him that what they're doing is evil. They were brutalizing kittypets who aren't trained to fight back.

During his first raid as an apprentice, he allows a ginger-and-white mother and her kittens to escape

This came back years later, when that queen, Crystal, forms BloodClan in response to the Crusades.

Pineheart watches Oakstar die barely a year later to the queen he saved, using early claw extenders to cut right through him. Even if he hadn't been on his last life, it would have ended him.

But, Crystal lets Pineheart go, recognizing the Clan cat who had saved her life.

Watching his dad die along with several friends, and countless more innocent Chelford, plus being released by Crystal, is a Formative Moment.

Doestar continues the Crusades in the name of revenge for Oakstar, but now that BloodClan exists and is ARMED, the easy raids become bloodbaths.

They slowly peter out, not with a bang but with a whimper. She never announces an official end, eventually she just stops organizing them. No one gets closure, especially not Pineheart.

But the 'peace' doesn't last. Just before Heatherstar takes power from Smallstar and begins the Campaign to take the Mothermouth Moorland, ThunderClan deals with the Great Hunger

Pineheart and Goosefeather become very good friends, part of a little buddy group that also included Tawnyspots and Pheasantfeather (who will become One-eye later)

Pineheart was given his first apprentice, a rowdy little one and the niece of Doestar, Specklepaw. He's tasked with helping her fill the pawsteps of greatness she's destined to walk in.

Just like canon, Goose predicts the Great Hunger... though, he is an adult this time around because of some timeline changes.

And, like canon, it fails. They couldn't stockpile enough food to last an entire year of famine, a scorching summer and a frozen winter, they end up losing a huge stock of their food as if it was destiny.

Goosefeather was forced into a role he hates, given horrible visions of the future, and argues ferociously with Pineheart; if they hadn't tried to stockpile, they wouldn't have lost all that food to begin with.

It is in this moment, he comes to realize that every time he's fought back and used his visions like a warning, it's backfired.

So, perhaps, they are instruction.

But, meanwhile, Pineheart can't loose his apprentice or his friends. While others were hunting desperately, he was keeping cats alive through scouting for grubs, foraying into other territories, and...

Every bite of kittypet food he took for himself was a morsel in someone else's mouth. But this... this he kept quiet.

It started a "bad habit" he could never break.

Having lost the previous deputy to starvation and on her deathbed, Doestar nominates Pineheart to the position. He was shocked and upset by this, but he was the obvious choice.

Son of Oakstar, Hero of the Hunger, the cat who had kept Specklepaw alive when all the other kits and apprentices starved.

But, Pinestar took the helm to extreme controversy.

Everything Pinestar's ever done that worked was nonviolent. He's never seen battle do anything but bring harm, and the thought of leading people into war... it makes him feel sick.

But the rest of the Clan can't see what he sees. They yearn for the glory days (even though they were not glorious at all), itch to die for a cause, and leave this old, disgusting subsistence survival behind them. ThunderClan wants blood and Pinestar just wants peace.

Taking back Sunningrocks is an example of this. To avoid losing Clanmates, he proposed to Hailstar that they would have a Joust, instead.

ThunderClan's strongest against RiverClan's strongest. Adderfang vs Mudfur.

It didn't go well.

The problem with those sorts of situations is you have to abide by the deal. RiverClan took Sunningrocks for 6 months. It was humiliating for ThunderClan.

Even the cats he'd saved from the famine were furious with him

The only things that DID seem to please the Clan was when he would throw them fully into battle. Such as Goosefeather's prophecy that WindClan's herbs needed to be destroyed...

Every time a situation like that happened, where Goosefeather would phrase things as a Holy Struggle, Pinestar was thrown right back to the Crusades

Terrified eyes, screeching, cats begging for mercy, his father dead at his paws and feeling horror and relief swirling

Sitting vigil for old friends killed in these horrible fights, like Moonflower, it made him feel like how he felt the day he buried Oakstar.

And the bile rose in his throat, remembering that Oakstar was not there at his Leadership Ceremony, damned to the Dark Forest.

A thought was born, here. What does StarClan truly want? What do they expect of him? If they will send the architect of the Crusades there...

What of a cat who stayed fed on human food and fed grubs to his Clanmates? Or a leader who never knows the right thing to do?

When Mumblefoot retired and Sunfall became deputy, the Clan seemed to love him more than Pinestar. He found himself just... sitting back, and allowing Sunfall to call the shots.

It was towards the end, when Leopardfoot proposed an Honor Siring. He was from a glorious legacy, she wanted kits... and on his end, he wanted the peace that raising kittens could bring.

The warmth of human dens was calling him, but perhaps the warmth of love for children could keep him home.

UNLIKE CANON; Nothing about Tigerkit was born evil.

There was no StarClan vision of Tigerstar; Goosefeather knew full well that Thistlestar was the Leader of Prophecy.

But Pinestar would never give Thistleclaw an apprentice in time. Nor would he ever give his own little son to a cat as vicious as him.

Goosefeather never hurt anyone... but Pinestar just needed a push.

Pinestar was already anxious, unhappy, clinging to the goodness that was his little kits. Even as two of them were lost to minor illnesses, shortly after receiving their names.

It wasn't a lie. It was just half of the truth.

"Pinestar... you have a choice to make. StarClan has given me a vision of blood and war, and Tigerkit will have a role to play in it."

He DID have a vision... of Thistlestar. Not Tigerkit. But that was enough for Pinestar, his fear and trauma took the helm from there.

He'd seen his friends, his apprentice, the kits who had been born and died in his rule, all of them turn into the monsters Clan Culture demanded

Nothing he did ever seemed to work, why would THIS moment be different?

How could he prevent Tigerkit from becoming like that too?! Was StarClan telling him to KILL his son??

Pinestar's never had a vision from StarClan. He doesn't have the aptitude like a Cleric... what he has is a nightmare, of Tigerkit growing so large he crushes the whole camp under his claws

After a week of agony, Pinestar unknowingly creates a prophecy of his own,

"Can only the death of a child break fate?"

Sensing he was close to victory, Goosefeather dipped his head, not denying his question.

And it's the last straw.

And that is the climax of Pinestar's Crusade. Broken from his experiences, every turn taken for peace causing him more pain, the idea that he might have to hurt his own son plaguing his mind, he makes the choice to leave.

It wasn't hard, he'd still had that old bad habit of taking bites of kittypet food, a couple friends on the other side. But what he doesn't know is that by leaving with his life... he prevents Sunstar from acquiring his own.

Sunstar had ONE single life, StarClan was not able to give him more with the previous leader still alive. For leaving his Clan, for unknowingly preventing the transfer of power, and for dismissing the Warrior Code, Pinestar is sent to the Dark Forest after his death.

He can choose to walk there, or spend time in the mortal plane as just a spirit, but StarClan offers him no place in the cosmos.

#Pinestar's Crusade #Better Bones AU #So yeah it's still depressing LMAO sorryyyy #im a sucker for the theme where someone you raised and loved became part of an evil system #failure to protect. How COULD you have done differently? Was there anything at all that could have saved them?#i've mentioned it before but I love Pinestar most as the foil of Firestar #and it's very underexplored as an idea #How Firestar succeeded where Pinestar failed #Literally like a brighter version of you #someone who never gave up past the point where you would have broken #and how painful and uncomfortable that idea must be #It doesssss things to me #Also I am still shuffling the timeline #Pinestar might end up being old enough to remember Mapleshade... BUT we'll see #It might be pretty funny to have Pinepaw watch his dad take several Ls in Darkstar's Commandment #''this is my cringefail boomer dad who I have a complicated relationship to. he cannot swim. oh god. oh fuck''

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baby-xemnas · 10 months

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a breed of guy

(they couldnt be more different)

#ill love gin forever...best boy...if noone got him i got him #law can keep winning his popularity contests #my art #gin one piece #law #one piece #add: looking at refs (my own old art lol) and smiling cuz gin's nose have been broken many times #hes had so many broken bones that healed in less than optimal conditions #law is so well kept its not even fair to compare #i love thinking about gin as very sick guy. i so rarely do this but that is him to me.#remember i said i dont want law to keep spots on his skin?#well thats absolutely different for gin to me he is gonna suffer from effects of that poisoning for the rest of his life #he never had proper care #he is just broken all over from a real shitty life he lived. but hes the most stubborn beat up dog there is #he's never gonna die no matter how much blood he coughs up and scares the shit out of sanji with it #im using my personal familiarity with lung issues and blasting them on gin #i never do this fr. he's very special

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carefulfears · 1 year

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thinking about how the ammunition that phoebe uses against mulder in fire is a childhood nightmare that he had shared with her, and how the world only has so much held over him because he shares so generously with it

#this is…….the thing honestly #and this is why scully is Like That when it comes to how cutthroat and protective she is of him #thinking about ‘paper hearts’#and how she tells him that he walked in with his heart on his sleeve #and he did #he always does #he keeps doing it #and it’s not that she wants him to stop #this is what she wants to shield #scully has that kind of protectiveness towards him that you have towards a child that hasn’t been touched by the world yet #it’s very #‘the world is at least half terrible though i keep this from my children’#‘good bones’ by maggie smith #scully in the beginning is like……there is something here that should have broken by now #and she wants to watch him be able to walk into every room with the most hopeful answer and a hand out to every stranger #despite how Frustrating!! it can be and how easily exploited it is and how often it’s used against him #she wants to protect his ability to hope and trust and share so generously with the world #and i adore that about her character because it would be easier for her to tell him to take his heart off his sleeve and open his eyes #she just values that in him so much and she’s so desperate to nurture it and protect it because it’s so special to her #he’s so special to her #and how rare it is that someone whose experienced so much loss and trauma and abuse sees the world the way he does #she doesn’t have to keep the reality of the world from him #he’s seen it his entire life #but he has so much belief in the world anyway #and she’s cautiously running behind #txf.txt #fire

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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 10 months

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in tonight's endeavor to be distracted from Everything, i have painstakingly jotted down the base, beginning ideas for a modern human au. it includes a gap-year group road trip in Wally's RV, Home

#& i've only got... the Very base ideas and 1 neighbor done #worldbuilding continues to be my go-to coping method #plotting it out from Tiny Days to established Graduates In Their Late 20s!#a worthy distraction indeed!#the most traditionally successful of the bunch is frank - an entomology professor!#poppy has a tea house! howdy still has his store! barnaby is a bartender for a gay club! eddie does drag performances there! etc!#its fun to think about and even more fun to jot down in a document #im trying to estimate whats most likely for them based on What We Know #which is not must! but i can make educated guesses!#and this is all for personal fun anyway <3 #absolutely unprompted #i thought i would be scribbling tonight... no... au building....#also since this is a human au and they can all get injured #Im Putting Wally Darling In The Hospital #and im making it as emotionally/psychologically damaging to barnaby as possible #because thats the drama i live for babey! maiming and intense guilt!#nah dw im not gonna Maim him maim him. just gonna fuck em up a lil. broken bones and all that

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m4ndysk4nkovich · 4 months

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Do you think Ian, Lip or Fiona ever broke any bones as kids? And if so, how do you think that it happened?

oh 100%

we actually learned that ian broke his collarbone at 12, and i always find that very interesting.

there are three ways that i think this could have happened:

he pulled a season 1 carl. i feel like younger ian was basically just like younger carl just a bit quieter and more mellow (less of a psycho), but he was definitely athletic and hyper like him. in season 1 carl tries to do a crazy stunt by driving a dirt bike off of the roof or some shit like that and ends up breaking his arm, so i can imagine ian trying to show off for lip or something and then just landing wrong and… bam. maybe he like, fell out of a tree or something. all i know is that it must’ve been pretty ian “play what cool” gallagher.

he and lip pull one of their infamous schemes and ian fucks up. yet again, ian “play what cool” gallagher lives up to that name. i’m thinking of the first scene with them both in 3x01 when they’re stealing that part for the thing lip was building (sorry i’m doing a rewatch rn but i’m only at like 2x07 so i don’t remember what) and then ian jumps off of the building and runs from the cops. maybe they stole something dumb from like, the mall or something, and they get chased and ian tries to do what he does in 3x01, but he’s only 12 so he’s not as strong, trained, and tall as he ends up being so he totally fucks up and gets caught. that’s pretty similar to #1 but i’m placing the blame more on lip because let’s be honest, lip most definitely had something to do with it.

football. ian played football in elementary/middle school, according to season 2 carl, so maybe he got hurt doing that? i was going to try to elaborate but all i know about football is that there’s a ball and people get tackled so… yeah. maybe his collarbone was the reason he stopped playing. like, we know he stopped and we know he wished monica was there when he broke it, so maybe he got hurt at a game that monica missed (ian gives monica shit for missing carl’s other games in season 2, maybe he was projecting?) and since he was injured and realized his mom couldn’t be bothered to come anyways, he quit? …damn that got angsty oops

also, ian is such an athlete that i can imagine him breaking other bones too, and based off of the scene in 1x01 where fiona says she can “never remember whether that’s good or bad” when lip winces after she’s trying to help him leads me to believe she’s had to deal with a kid breaking a leg or an ankle or something. i think it would be ian. i also remember hearing that when you break a bone it makes it easier to break it again later on, so him breaking his leg when he was younger could explain how his leg snapped so easily in 10x08😭

as for fiona, i can’t ever see her breaking a bone but for some reason i can really see her spraining her ankle as a teen. she was a track star and always going on runs, and i feel like that’s a common injury in track (my girlfriend does track… that’s the only somewhat athletic thing i know even a little bit about so i apologize for my stupidity about this LMAO). it could be a serious problem if fiona needed to lay low for a bit, because she would not let herself do it. and if she was still in school and doing track she’d be like, 16? so ian and lip would be 10 and 11, and i could imagine them forcing her to lay down and rest while they took care of things for her.

lip has never broken a bone in his life, miraculously. i mean, if you count breaking his nose, a few knuckles, and bruising his ribs then maybe, but i don’t think he’s really suffered a serious injury like that before. he always is getting into (and losing) fights, but he managed to never break a bone. my man is too unathletic for that shit (me too bro)… a deviated septum and maybe a sprained wrist are the worst injuries he’s delt with.

#this is basically a long post of aria rambling about god knows what #i’ve broken 1 bone and it was in the most uncool way ever #i punched a bus seat when i was in like 6th grade and it broke my pinky…#i’m such a loser i know #if lip were to break any bones it would be like me- punching something dumb #shameless #fiona gallagher #lip gallagher #ian gallagher #monica gallagher #carl gallagher #shameless headcanon

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urlocalwhumper · 2 months

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OK LAST ONE FOR NOW. MAYBE. DEFINITELY NOT FOR GOOD THO LOL I WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY WRITE MORE EVENTUALLY

as always, rayan belongs to @sowhumpshaped

rayan felt horrible.

nana had only been with him for a few days when he noticed that her tail was bothering her. a little glint of pain in her eye whenever it wagged, she way she took great care not to sit or lay on it, and, most recently, how she yelped and flinched away when he, idly fidgeting with her tail while sitting on the couch, brushed his fingers over the unnatural bend near the middle.

he'd wanted to give her at least a week to settle in before taking her to the vet for a check-up, but he also wasn't just going to sit there and let her suffer when she was clearly in pain.

so, off to the vet they went. nana really didn't like it there, she shook like a leaf and stayed glued to his leg for their entire time in the waiting room, and once she was up on the examination table, he had to be at least holding her hand for her to stay somewhat calm.

even the vet winced once her x-rays appeared onscreen.

"oh yeah, no wonder she's in pain." the vet grimaced. "this is a really bad break, the bone is completely shattered around where that bend is." he said, pointing on the screen to what he was talking about.

"this kind of injury... the most likely cause is crushing." the vet glanced at nana's papers and pursed his lips. "repeated impacts. like being stomped on, perhaps."

rayan felt sick. he could tell, from the look in nana's eye and the way she curled further into herself, that the vet's assumption was correct. he trailed a comforting hand across her scalp and pressed a little kiss to the crown of her head.

the vet continued. "either way, for a break this severe, there really isn't much we can do to fix it. your best option is to amputate."

nana went stiff as a board. rayan felt her breathing quicken as she started to whimper under her breath. her loose grip on his shirt turned into an iron vice and she looked up at him with a fearful, pleading gaze.

he continued to scratch at her scalp and behind her ears, soothing and gentle, but internally he was just as frazzled as she was. he was expecting the worst case scenario to be needing to re-break a badly healed bone, not amputating most of her tail.

"can... can we have some time to think about it, please?" he said, wanting to at least get nana out of the examination room and hopefully calm her down.

the vet nodded. "of course. you know how to make an appointment, once your decision has been made."

it took hours for nana to calm down fully. once they returned home, she immediately retreated to her bed, curling up under the blanket like it would hide her from the world. rayan sat beside her, nearly lost for words.

"... i'm so sorry, nana." he said, resting his hand, palm-up, on the edge of her bed. her shaking hand reached out from under the blanket and gripped it tight. "this isn't fair, you shouldn't have to deal with this at all."

he sighed. "... but... your tail's just gonna hurt forever if we don't do anything. and it might even get worse." he squeezed her hand. "getting it amputated is scary, but it's the only option we have."

he felt horrible, trying to convince her like this. he knew that if he was in her position, he'd be just as terrified and reluctant to have a part of him cut off. but, he also knew that, for her health, it needed to be done.

and when he looked over and saw her peering out at him from under the blanket, her eye hesitant but trusting, he knew that she understood too.

nana was a nervous wreck on the day of her surgery. even though he could tell she was trying to be brave, the vet informed him that she wet herself out of fear the moment she was in the prep room, completely separated from him.

but it was finally over. the amputation had been performed with no complications, and now nana was at home - short half a tail and loopy from the meds they'd given her, but no longer suffering from a painful shattered bone.

she was napping at the moment, her head in his lap as he absently pet her hair. he frowned at the bandaged end of her newly shortened tail. it was the right decision, he knew that, but... it was just so unfair. for her to lose most of her tail just because some jackass decided it'd be funny to stomp on it... it made him angry.

angry that such a monster could get a pet license, angry that they'd been so cruel to a pet as sweet and loving as nana, angry that they even existed. it made him so angry that he felt like he could just- !

nana stirred in his lap, mumbling something unintelligible and snuggling further into him. right, he needed to calm down. all of that was in the past now. right now, she was safe and comfortable and happy with him, and that was all that mattered.

#I CAN'T STOP HELP ME #anyways! yeag.#nana wagging her tail so hard it audibly thumped against the wall last time was extraordinarily painful. btw.#but she was just so happy in the moment that she didn't care :')#this is as angsty as this series is gonna get tbh i mostly just wanna write fluff lol #also rayan is usually kind of a pushover but i feel like genuine pet abuse would really rile him up #he's wanted a pet so badly for so long it disgusts him that someone would get one just to mistreat it #also he already pampers nana but while she's healing he turns it up to 11 lol #world's most loved pet #also i don't know how broken bones or vet surgeries work so if i'm wrong abt smth. uh. in this universe no i'm not.#mine

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crash-bump-bring-the-whump · 11 months

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ALRIGHT time to finish up the cocaptives arc!! This was so fun to set up!! Okay now I can post things with them kissing--

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

TWs: hypothermia, fever, broken bones mentioned, hospital setting, needle mention, death, violence, captivity, blood, people being burned alive

“C-come h-here.” Dimitri’s voice was soft and hoarse as he cupped Mariano’s face. Mariano leaned into the touch, into Dimitri. He let himself be tucked up close, did his best to roll onto his side for more contact, whining from the effort.

One of those broken arms painstakingly lifted, draping over Dimitri’s waist. Mariano’s fever had only progressed further as the days had gone on, but Dimitri couldn’t help but be a little grateful for it. His scalding forehead felt like heaven up against his own chest.

Mariano whimpered as his shoulders tensed, another wave of pain dragging its teeth through him. Dimitri slid a thumb along his cheek, back and forth, giving him something nicer to focus on. "I kn-know…I know."

Glazed over eyes looked up at him as Mariano relaxed again, barely aware but wanting touch and gentleness and mercy from someone. Anyone at all, it seemed, if he was so eager to receive it from Dimitri of all people. When Dimitri pulled Mariano fully into his arms again he shivered, a cracking moan drifting through their cell.

They were running out of time. Mariano was barely hanging on, and Dimitri knew he didn’t have much more of himself to give. His own beating earlier had left the room spinning for hours, and he wasn’t sure if he could come back from a third trip to the freezer. These people didn’t seem like they had the best emergency care available, either.

If the others didn’t show up soon, they might just be bringing bodies back.

Mariano buried his face into Dimitri’s neck. It seemed like he understood the stakes too, on a level. Dimitri took a deep breath, letting tension seep from his shoulders.

There was no need to worry about it at that moment. There was nothing he could do. In the end, they’d either die here or they wouldn’t.

Dimitri didn’t remember falling asleep. He woke with ice still in his bones and shudders snaking through his limbs. Mariano was radiating heat, bloody hands wound into Dimitri’s shirt. Footsteps entered Dimitri’s awareness next. Three people.

He couldn’t open his eyes. Wouldn’t. He didn’t want those three guards to be the last people he ever saw.

He curled in close around Mariano. He didn’t care about training. He didn’t care about procedure. One hand wound into Mariano’s hair, holding him tight.

“P-please–” Dimitri stuttered out as their cell door rattled open. “Please…” His voice cracked. He didn’t know what to ask for anymore. He couldn’t give anything else. “M-me.” It slipped out before he could think. “M-my t-turn…n-not done.”

“Shit–” That voice sounded like Laredo. “Can we even…”

“We have to.” That one sounded like Manuel. A hand came to rest on Dimitri’s forehead. It was smooth and calloused. Small. Whoever it was hissed. “God, yeah, he’s frozen and Mariano’s burning up. I don’t know if they can handle healing magic–not being this dehydrated, so...”

Scaled hands slid up under Dimitri’s, unwinding his fingers. They were so, so warm. Warmer than Mariano was, even if it wasn’t by much. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay, it’s alright. Let go.” A soft, growling voice sounded nearby. “It’s us.” That didn’t sound like any of the guards.

It sounded like Bastian.

Dimitri hesitantly opened his eyes. He blinked hard, trying to will his vision to focus through the exhaustion and aches. Silver eyes with slit pupils looked back at him. Scales that glittered like diamonds grew along dark skin. Those teeth were pitch black and sharp as knives. “Wh…what…? Bas-stian?”

“Yeah, it’s me. The others are here too, Izan's in the van. Let go of Mariano so we can get you guys out. He’s too warm for me to carry him.” Bastian glanced at Mariano, then to the side. When Dimitri followed his gaze, he saw Laredo.

Laredo looked furious, heartbroken, and joyous all at once. Blood was splattered along his clothes, hands, and face. He’d taken point during this raid. “Yeah, let go of Marito. I’ve got him now.” His hands were at Mariano’s chest and forehead. One of his thumbs slid back and forth along Mariano’s sweat-soaked brow. “Bastian’s even warmer than me. Let him take care of you.”

Dimitri finally let go. He let Bastian and Laredo untangle them, the desperate, panicked whine that Mariano made as they were separated only tugging at Dimitri even more. “Shhh.” Dimitri heard Laredo whisper. “I know–I know. You’re okay, Rookie. Manuel’s gonna take care of you in the van...” He didn’t catch much else as his world tilted and smeared when they both stood. Bastian’s grip pressed in on bruises and lashes and breaks, and it wiped all thought from his mind.

The dragon was warm, though. He was so warm, even through Dimitri’s damp, chilled clothes. His arms were even softer than Mariano’s–closer to Laredo’s. Manuel was chattering away, filling Laredo and Bastian in on what the next steps were, and Dimitri felt the sway of Bastian jogging. He tucked his face up against Bastian’s chest, basking in the heat rolling off of him.

At some point, the air filled with the smell of burnt hair. Flashes lit up the world beyond Dimitri’s eyelids. There was shouting, Manuel shouting. Laredo joining in, barking for someone to drop their weapons or else they’d wind up like their friends. It was so familiar, so comforting.

The desperate, cracking screaming of someone burning alive was the last thing Dimitri heard.

When he woke up next, the room was dim and dark. The bed wasn't the softest, but after the concrete floor it felt like heaven. A heavy blanket was draped over him, and he was warm. Someone was holding his hand.

Opening his eyes was the hardest thing Dimitri thought he'd ever done. Messy, short black hair, tense shoulders, and tired brown eyes greeted him. "Welcome back, Dimitri." Laredo said, one hand reaching up to rest on Dimitri’s forehead. "You scared us, stubborn old bastard."

Dimitri laughed quietly, and he realized he wasn't impossibly thirsty anymore. Glancing down, he saw that there was an IV in his hand giving him warmed fluids. "Takes more than that to kill me." He leaned into Laredo’s palm anyway.

"Not much more."

"But still more." Dimitri said with a sigh as Laredo moved to cup his cheek. He lifted one hand and brought it to rest over Laredo’s, relaxing further and letting his eyes drift shut again. “Is…is Marito okay?”

Laredo’s thumb started to slide along Dimitri’s cheek. “He’s real fucked up, but he's alive. Bed's to your left. He’s just resting right now.”

When Dimitri looked over, he saw Mariano lying in a similar hospital bed. He had an IV in, casts on his arms, and Bastian's jacket draped over his shoulders like an extra blanket. There was no blood flaking off his skin, and he was in a similar hospital gown.

He didn’t look as close to being a corpse as before.

Even with his broken glasses and the lingering pallor on his face, he seemed more alive. He seemed to feel Dimitri looking at him too, as dark, exhausted eyes drifted over to meet his own. It took a moment, since Mariano probably needed a second to process anything with that fever. But then he smiled.

“Holding up alright, little lamb?” Dimitri asked.

“Mmmhm. Glad you're awake, banana bread.” Mariano slurred, smile not wavering.

Laredo snorted, choking back a louder laugh. “That’s going in my phone right now.” As promised, he pulled out his phone and opened up his contacts.

Dimitri just sighed, not able to bring himself to feel angry or irritated. “Whatever…” He muttered, settling back in against his pillow.

When the other war mages filed in with Bastian right behind them, happy gasps and worried chatter filled the air. Manuel and Izan gave him the same updates they'd given Mariano earlier as Bastian took his seat next to his mage. They'd gone through and exterminated everyone there. No one died quick death.

They’d even gotten him some shitty coffee on their way back from getting lunch. It was burned. It was too bitter, and watered down horribly. It wasn’t even that warm. Laredo had to help him sit up to drink it, with a steady hand at his back.

It was exactly what Dimitri needed.

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