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diaco1968 · 4 years

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Of Proud Fragile Hearts

Bakugou x reader

Angst, Blood is mentioned, Hanahaki disease

Under the cut cause it got too long :')

"What is your problem, Katsuki?"

You whisper yelled at Bakugou after everyone else had already left the conference room, closing the door and locking it as you turned to face the boy, leaning back in his chair, arms tightly crossed over his broad chest, scowling.

In the past few months that you two have been secretly hooking up, he had gone through not caring about your daily life, to trying to make you listen to his healthy tips, to fleeting episodes of jealousy and then some. Yet when you pointed it out to him he would deny it. Usually either by changing the subject and leading it to your usual ordeal of a hook up or if he was still feeling possesive by moving straight to pinning you down and shutting you up by some steamy make out session. Either way, the hook up is what would happen and then you'd both go away on your separate daily lives.

You had grown fund of him enough not to mind getting together with him if he was the one who'd step up first. Hell you would love to. He was hot, he knew how to spoil you, he remembered little things and despite his fiery temper he knew how to treat you properly like a woman. To sum it up, he was boyfriend material. Except he was emotionally unavailable. And you were fine with that. But recently as you started making friends with Kaminari, Bakugou also started acting up. You two acted like mere acquaintances in public and in the agency it was lonely. Then there was Kaminari, the Pikachu. He was easy to be around, easy to talk to and easy to listen to. So you befriended him. It was really nothing at all. You'd hang out with him when you couldn't hang out with Bakugou. Much to Bakugou's dismay, those times would be right in front of his eyes, earning you dirty looks and some sulking episodes every time.

And now only minutes ago during the briefing, he had been sitting across from you and Kaminari, and when Kaminari said anything he would mock and humiliate him. It was hard to even watch so you stood up for him and Bakugou shot you a nasty look before he stopped participating all together. Honestly you were glad he didn't start mocking you instead. But this behaviour towards the poor guy was unacceptable. He didn't even know why he was being targeted by Bakugou's wrath.

His eyes shot up to yours not believing what he was hearing. "What is my problem?! What the fuck is your problem!" He shot back, earning a 'Shhh!' from you. "You had no business picking on Denki like that." You scolded and he sneered "Denki?" You rolled your eyes glaring at him as he went on "you had no business sitting with Denki the whole day long. You had no business snickering and chatting and flirting with him during the conference like that. You had no fucking business standing up to me for him!" He leaned forward in his chair, placing his arms on his knees.

"We were not flirting! Everyone knows about his crush on that recruit from the IT for fuck's sake. And Denki is my friend, Bakugou! Who are you? Should I have been sitting by you? Chatting you up?" You said harshly, sarcasm dripping off of your last few words. To his sheer surprise, he felt his chest tighten from the way you addressed him with his last name right after you called Kaminari by his first name. He knew you had a point. He knew he was the one setting things up the way they were, for his work always came first and in his path to success there was no place for a full time partner or dealing with the rumours of one even existing. He knew he had no right to complain about this now. Yet, he couldn't help the pang of jealousy that rose deep in his heart whenever he saw you hanging out with that dunceface so freely.

Your keen eyes seemed to have caught him slightly off guard and your own pent up hurt and rejection clawed at your logic before you could stop yourself and you went in for another low blow "even if I am flirting with anyone, it is none of your business unless it gets physical. That was the deal. Take it or leave it."

His jaw visibly clenched, nostrils flaring as he inhaled sharply before snorting "so that's the problem. You already have some one else for back up to warm your bed just in case, huh?" there was no way to take it back now, and he was too angry to try. You watched him in silence, disbelief and hurt written all over your face. At first he felt triumphant for rendering you speechless with his snarky remark but seeing the hurt in your eyes and your pursed lips he regretted opening his mouth at all. He wished you would just yell at him, punch him even. But you did nothing as a few minutes of torturous silence passed on between the two of you, your eyes searching his face for a sign that the man you loved and cared for didn't actually come to know you as such a person he just described. You had thought you were at least friends. He opened his mouth when he saw your eyes started to glisten but before he could say anything, you exploded.

"You know what Bakugou! Fuck you! You and your whole bullshit!" You threw the first thing you could grab at him which happened to be an empty glass, that missed his head when he docked shattering on the wall behind him. "You're so emotionally unstable, you don't even know what the fuck you want yourself! Let alone get to know anyone else you arrogant piece of shit!"

His brief sadness from making you upset faded from his mind as rage took it's place filling him up to the brim and spilling out as he shot up in his place, his chair scraping on the floor and falling back. He slammed his hands on the table in front of him, saying words he had come to feel anxious even thinking about hearing "oh fuck it all to hell. You wanna know what I want, fuckwipe? You're a waste of time, I want this over and done with. We're through!" He headed for the door walking right past you.

His insult really dealt some heavy damage on your pride as angry tears filled up your eyes and you gathered all you had not to let them spill "fine with me Fuckboy! Go be a nuisance to someone else!"

He had his hand on the doorknob, knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping it with anger, he pulled it once and found it locked. Not bothering to unlock it, he exploded the whole thing open loudly, the door turning on it's hinges and slamming on the opposite wall, him stepping out and leaving amidst the dust barking at the peering colleagues who scattered away immediately "what?! Get back to work extras!"

You left the room after you made sure he was gone, hoping you could hold your emotional breakdown in the whole way home, having to raise your hand up to your mouth to suppress the multiple coughs as you inhaled the dust from the explosion.

He kicked his boots off, threw his jacket to the side and plopped down on the couch covering his face with his hands and releasing a heavy groan "ugh what the actual fuck did I say... stupid fucking dumbass..." his hands were cold and fingers shaky from the after effects of the rage leaving his body but he was too stubborn to let remorse invade his mind yet. Not fully at least. You were at fault too! "She shouldn't have provoked me like that! Annoying brat!" He spat as he lay down on the couch, but In the back of his mind, your hurt glistening eyes and shocked expresseion was creeping in the darker abyss of his brain, haunting him slowly. Then his mind wandered to the argument, your words resonating in his now mostly dark and empty mind.

'Who are you Bakugou?'

'Take it or leave it'

The way you said that so nonchalantly... did you not care at all if he left you?... after all you've been through? He wouldn't ever say it, but he had opened up to you more than anyone, you knew that. He knew you did.

'Fuckboy'

'Nuisance'

His throat constricted violently and he had to sit up and cough harshly to clear it. "Tsk fuck it. I don't give a shit." Rising from his seat he went to the fridge to get something to eat and grabbed his phone to call Eijiro to see what he was up to tonight.

"You've been sick for a while now, maybe you should see a doctor? It doesn't look like a simple cold..."

Bakugou waved his hand nonchalantly, dismissing Kirishima's concerns as he coughed into the palm of his other hand, shutting his eyes and trying to concentrate on controlling his breathing through his nose. Even though he feigned indifference he was worried himself too. It's been 2 weeks since the coughing started and it wasn't just coughing either. He would occasionally find himself out of breath and unable to get enough oxygen in his lungs without opening his mouth and taking in a sharp gulp of air. As if he was losing his lung capacity. '(Y/n) would know how to get rid of this...' he groaned in annoyance as he caught himself thinking about you again. You had made your choice. It was obvious. He even texted you to meet up, but you've been ignoring him ever since the argument half a month ago... felt like years...

His heart clenched, along with his jaw as he felt another epiode of coughs coming. He rose to his feet and headed for the bathroom "be back in a sec." He replied to Kirishima's questioning look with a hoarse voice. The noise cancelling bar bathroom was starting to become too familiar for his liking, as he had frequented it quite often in the past 2 weeks. Not alcoholic often, but the free time he usually spent with you was now spent working over time or with Eijiro at his favorite place...

He burst out into another coughing fit, gripping the sink as he bent over it. He could feel a hard lump move in his throat as he heaved his lungs out, finally managing to spit out what was stuck in his airways. And to his utmost horror he was not relieved at all by the sight and the sound.

What spilled out of his mouth and scattered inside the sink with soft 'thud' sound, was a fist full worth of what looked to be... seeds?!

His hand shot out and grabbed a few bringing them close to his eyes and squeeshing them between his fingers to make sure. "What the fuck...?!" He whispered mind wandering to each and everyone of his recent quarells with the villains trying to recall anyone at all with a floral quirk. Was this what caused the coughing?

It took him quite a while to get over the initial shock but when he was sure he wasn't coughing anymore he headed back to his table with Kirishima, plopping down tiredly in his seat. "You look pale bro, what's up? You weren't a light weight last time I checked." Eijiro teased, making him smirk tauntingly in reply "I can drink 5 times as much as it takes to knock you off your feet and still be barely tipsy, dumbass. Don't test me." They both laughed and Bakugou forgot about his problems for a little while, hoping spitting out those seeds was the end of it.

And it seemed to be. He hadn't coughed for a while now. At least not until the breaking news popped up over the screen right across from where he was sitting.

"The notorious spider villain escaped the law once again but hero (your hero name) managed to save all the victims, with the help of none other than hero Deku, who just landed a few hours ago for his vacation-..."

The words flashed in his mind and the voice of the reporter faded as he watched the screen showing the scene after the rescue, where you were talking to that bastard Deku, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck with a grin, like you used to do when Bakugou made you shy and you never had any idea how cute it made you look, and he was smiling down at you.

Violent coughs errupted out of his chest and he covered his mouth just in time to stop the content from spilling out as he shot up from his seat and made his way outside for some fresh air. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gasped for air lightly, leaning on his shoulder on the wall outside, opening his palm to see the same few seeds and a bunch of delicate red and white petals. He stared at his palm with wide eyes for a few more seconds before crumbling them in his fist as he felt someone's presence behind him. "I really really think you should see a doctor." Kirishima put a hand on his shoulder.

"I will. Right fucking now actually. This shit is so annoying."

"I said when I cough flowers come out- ugh! Hey! I know I sound crazy! Don't stare at me like that!" He let out a frustrated groan as he sat there on the bed for his check up, answering the confused doctor. "We have not encountered this before mr Bakugou, you don't sound crazy. I would have to check the database again for quirks with this kind of side effect. Meanwhile if you could... provide a sample would be really useful."

"Sure, I'll just cough my lungs out for buried seeds till you get back..." Bakugou clicked his tongue and gestured for the doctor to show it was okay to go do whatever he needed to do.

And again he sat there alone and annoyed, watching the rest of the hospital, from the little space he was provided by the door that the doctor forgot to close properly.

You always refused to close the door too...

He had forgotten how lonely a hospital felt before he had you to fuss over him as he sat there grumbling that he was fine.

He heaved a careful sigh zoning out so when he saw your face, he thought he had imagined it at first.

"Ms. (Y/h/n)! You did amazing today! The room you're looking for is just at the end of this corridor to the left. You actually did a good job finding it." The excited nurse chuckled and Bakugou snapped out of his daze hearing your muffled voice thanking her.

'Always so bad with directions...' he thought bitterly swallowing the lump that was raising in his throat in favour of getting up and following you quietly. He just wanted to know why you were in the hospital, is all. Just making sure your clumsy ass didn't hurt yourself.

He stopped outside the door you disappeared into on the other side of the corridor, blended in by the moving patients and busy staff, scoffing sarcastically as you didn't bother closing the door.

His little smile was soon gone however when he saw who you were visiting.

Sat there on the hospital bed was none other than Deku, who had his forearm wrapped in some light bandage. Probably from the rescue they showed on TV earlier. Where you were too. It was normal. You checking up on him after. Totally normal. He reminded himself. 'I could do that at home shitty nerd, no need for a hospital.'

Normal was not where it ended though and what happened next as you got up to leave had Bakugou wishing he had ripped his eyes off you and walked away the moment he had figured you were alright.

"Guess I'll be seeing you around then. Oh and Midoriya," you chuckled mischievously leaning close to whisper in the boy's ear. "I wish you luck with Ochako." Just as you expected, heat rose to his face and he flushed red to the tips of his ears as he started stuttering embarassed and his hand moved up to rub his bandaged arm "ouch!.. I mean!... thank you!"

You both jumped as you heard something metal clattering to the ground in the hallway and you peeked out to see what was going on. Much to your surprise and concern you saw a familiar spiky blonde hair a little further down the corridor. 'Katsuki?' You leaned out of the room more to see better. He looked like he had a terrible time trying to breathe, his shoulders shaking as he heaved cough after cough, bent down with his arms keeping himself up on his slightly bent knees. Your heart clenched at the sight. He looked in pain. The nurse Bakugou had supposedly crashed into, causing him to drop his metal platter to the ground put a hand on his back to try and calm him down. But Bakugou just swatted his hand away "...don't... touch..." he managed to rasp out with an unusually hoarse voice as he gained enough composure to push past the nurse and walk away, still coughing but much less violently.

"What was it?" Deku asked from inside the room.

"Nothing, just a nurse dropping a bunch of stuff..." you said quietly concealing the worry in your voice as you stared after Bakugou down the corridor even after he was already gone.

Blood. Blood and petals. And the occasional flower bloom falling out of his mouth as he coughed. He had been wiping blood off his mouth since he had gotten home from the hospital. The feeling of constantly having one of those petals sticking to the back of his trachea. It was disgusting. The sickening sweet scent filling his nose and mouth made him want to gag. They had suggested hospitalization when they couldn't find anything on his condition and he had refused. But now as the pain in his throat grew ever more intolerable, he was trying his last hope for an answer as he looked for the contact in his phone, playing with the little flower in between his fingers with his free hand absentmindedly.

'Amaryllis...'

He had looked up the shape of the flower as soon as he had seen it, washing the blood off the petals. None of this made any sense to him. How does one cough out flowers? How was this even real?

He dialed the number immediately when he saw the contact name.

"Aizawa sensei"

Despite your efforts to completely ignore Bakugou's existence after your 'break up', you've had Baugou back on your mind ever since a few days ago in the hospital and it wasn't in the best of ways either. His tense shaky shoulders, his harsh hoarse voice, his pained dry heaves. It all sounded and looked so serious but you had no idea what he was down with and it was killing you. You were constantly distracted and it was proving to be such a hassle. Oh how you wished you were not alone in this very moment. Alone in the middle of a crowded square full of civilians.

"What's wrong girly? Can't beat me now without that green lettuce, huh?"

Alone against this dude known as the spider villain. Who was back to take his revenge on the humiliation you and Deku gave him last encounter.

"Oh fuck off bug. Those are your last words before being sprayed back to the sewers?"

You growled getting in your fighting stance and ushering him to come at you.

Bakugou was walking down the street towards the hospital, crumbling the piece of paper with the surgeon's address and name in his fist, deep in his pocket thinking on his meeting with his former teacher a few days ago.

'Amaryllis?' Aizawa had said the moment he saw the bloom in Bakugou's hand, much to his surprise. He never took the old man as a flower person. 'I've only ever seen this once with my own eyes when I was a student myself... wouldn't believe it if I hadn't.' He had pulled out a bunch of old books handing half the stack to Bakugou, probably deliberately chosen ones as there was one on the meaning behind flowers in Bakugou's stack. As he sat down in front of the boy turning pages rapidly scanning the words, Bakugou reluctantly read the book.

'Amaryllis is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae. It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. It symbolizes pride.'

He stared at the lines, reading them over and over again with a blank face. Until Aizawa's voice broke him out of his trance.

'Hanahaki Disease is a disease where the victim of unrequited or one-sided love begins to vomit or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs, which will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible if left untreated...'

He paused making Bakugou wonder if it was for adding more dramatic effects as his eyes moved up to lock with Bakugou's

'...until the victim dies unless the feelings of genuine love are returned or the plants are surgically removed but this excision also has the effect of removing the patient's capacity for romantic love. It may also erase the patient’s feelings for and memories of the enamoured.'

It was obvious what Bakugou chose. There was no place in his life for such a hassle as love. It would just get in his way anyway. What a nuisance...

'Nuisance'

'Fuckboy'

His heart clenched making a surge of pain go throught his whole body remembering your words and your tone.

"Reciprocating feelings of genuine love my ass..."

He scoffed pushing his fists deeper in his pockets to keep his shoulders from shaking as a series of coughs ripped out of his throat, staining the black mask in front of his face, with blood.

He bumped shoulders with a guy in front of a TV store who looked distraught enough not to recognize Ground Zero as he apologised and turned back to the TVs on the display in the windows.

Feeling insulted, Bakugou turned to look at what this man was watching that got him so stupid to stand in his way. The moment his eyes met the screen he felt as if his heart stopped. Hands freezing cold and eyes going wide with terror as he watched the live report of none other than you being picked up and thrown a distance away aginst a wall by some villain.

Lying there in the rubble of the building you gasped to catch your breath that flew out of you when your back hit the wall. Before you could wholly come to your senses he was above you again, grabbing you by the neck and picking you back up. Your hands shot up to grab his arm to try and relieve the pressure around your neck, your feet dangling in the air as you tried to kick him off of you but he was smart, keeping you away from himself.

"Just as I thought. I should've found the broccoli. You are a waste of time."

Bakugou's face and a bunch of memories flooded your mind and your eyes stung with unshed tears, feeling it ironic to have to hear this again in what appeared to be the final moments of your life.

The corners of your vision were blurring out as you couldn't breathe in anymore air and you were sure you imagined his voice in your head.

"Get off you fucking bastard!"

The loud growl accompanied by the sound of a loud explosion and the hand around your neck disappearing, the pressure gone. You dropped to the floor on your hands and knees gasping in and looking up to see Bakugou launching himself at the guy who was framed in the opposite wall due to the initial explosion. His bare fist met the bug man's face with a sickening 'crack' and only then did you realise he wasn't even in his hero costume.

"Bakugou... I'm fine..."

You tried calling him but your voice was too strangled. He was delivering punch after curse after punch and the guy seemed to be knocked out long ago.

"Bakugou! Stop..."

You said louder as you got to your feet making your way towards him, hesitating momentarily before grabbing his shoulder and ripping him off of the bloodied beat up guy.

"KATSUKI!"

His whole heavy sweating panting body whirled around and crashed into your arms, making you trip backwards on your feet and fall on your butt still holding him.

Very unlikely for him to be so ungraceful and fall with you like that, he would usually catch you and scold you for being clumsy. Out of habit you braced yourself for his scolding but it never came.

He started wheezing and gasping in your arms, unable to breathe, whatever air he had left in his lungs being forced out by the violent coughs that wracked through his whole body, his hands moving up to grasp at his throat squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"F-fuck... h-hurts..." he wheezed out twisting in your lap as you watched him in terror.

"W-what's wrong? Holy shit! Katsu you're turning blue!"

You didn't know what took over you as your hands moved on their own accord, grabbing his jaw, forcing his mouth open and plunging your fingers down his throat. What you pulled out would haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life.

Bakugou started gasping in big gulps of air when you removed your hands from his face, but you couldn't see him anymore. You were staring at the thing that was previously clogging his airways. A whole, leaf, stem and flower petals between your fingers, dripping with fresh blood and saliva; mouth falling open and paling even more, if possible, at the sight.

Bakugou looked up once he could breathe again and couldn't help but whimper quietly at the thing you just pulled out of his own throat. The sound making your eyes snap back on him even more concerned than when he was choking. "What the fuck is this?!" You asked showing him the flower, as if either of you could ever forget about it, instinctively cupping his cheek and stroking it with your thumb. He looked surprised and you immediately realised your mistake pulling your hand away "sorry force of habit... but... answer me!"

Your touch was soothing to the ache in his damaged throat and he was so in pain already that he didn't care if he was going to sound pathetic or needy or clingy... or... sorry. He opened his mouth to tell you to put your hand back on him but instead of words he had to cough, fresh blood mixed with the sickly sweet scent of the flower spraying over both your clothes, making you panic again.

"I'll tell you later... just... give me a sec...please..." He whispered embarassed and grabbed your hand placing it back on his cheek, lowering himself down on his shaky arms and laying over your legs exhausted. His voice sounded so tired and broken that despite yourself, you chose to just let him have a moment for now without making him talk.

You stroked the back of his hand absent mindedly careful not to touch the busted knuckles, watching his sleeping face as he lay in the hospital bed. He looked terrible. Pale skin, bags under his eyes. You could swear he had also lost some weight. How long has he been coughing for? How much blood?His face twisted in pain and you jumped as he stirred with a cough, opening his eyes and staring at you blankly.

His eyes moved over your features in silence with a soft expression on his own face, watching your glistening bright eyes, wide with concern. The way your hair framed your face, your eye lashes making your eyes look even more beautiful, your lips pursed with worry. Then moving as you talked...? He was so concentrated he barely heard your voice.

"...- yeah?"

"Yeah..." he replied softly.

"Yeah?!"

His mind started to clear up more as he raised an eyebrow uncertainly "uh... no?"

You laughed at his weird behaviour and he smiled. He had missed it. Missed seeing it. Hearing you laugh.

"You weren't listening to me, were you?"

He offered an apologetic look "yeah...sorry."

You shook your head softly "nah it's fine, wasn't important."

He suddenly looked very serious "No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I said those things. I didn't mean any of them."

You stared at him blinking in confusion before realising what he meant. Bakugou was apologizing! You opened your mouth and closed it again, speechles. Clearing your throat you tried again.

"Yeah those really hurt..."

He could feel his heart drop as he looked at you wondering if it was actually over.

"I forgive you, stupid. Stop looking so pathetic." You rolled your eyes and grinned pinching his cheek.

"God I fucking love you so much... be mine again?"

You couldn't help blushing as you nod your head "you're such an asshole... but I can't help loving you either."

His eyes lit up, relief washing over him as he raised his hand cupping your cheek and bringing your head close, leaning in to kiss you.

"Wait! What was the deal with that flower-!"

"Shhh I'll tell you later...just..."

He looked down at your lips as he trailed off, licking his lips and pressing them against yours firmly.

And to this day, you still think he wanted to give you the flower and he chose the creepiest weirdest way to do it.

Nah just kidding.

He said he fell down and swallowed it by accident...

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katsuki x reader #hanahaki #hanahaki bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #my hero academia #hanahaki disease #hanahaki Bakugou

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echo-three-one · 3 years

Text

Whatever It Takes

Sequel to A Forgotten Memory

Soap and France joins Alexandra Ryder, an INTERPOL Agent tasked to eliminate all pieces of EMP-based weaponry as they investigate one of Berlin's cell towers for a possible source of a planned wide scale EMP blast. Will the team capture Augustus?

Chapter 11 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Previous Chapter : The Heart Knows what the Mind doesn't

“The Berlin Tower”

John ‘Soap’ MacTavish

Task Force 141 with INTERPOL

Berlin, Germany

Soap was kinda bummed that this isn’t a Nero case and that Ghost and Roach got to tag along with Captain Price on a possible lead. But he had to do what was instructed of him, it was a low chance for Augustus to be in this tower but he and France are on a joint operation with INTERPOL to disable the planted attachment on this tower. It’s for a great cause.

He nodded to Agent Ryder as she signaled them both to advance, he smirked slightly at France’s sight as she looked horrible at that camo paint. He noted to himself to tell her that as soon as this mission is over.

“Remember Sargeant, remind us about signs of Augustus and we’ll get there ASAP.” Soap remembered Shepherd’s words that will be his objective for this mission. He followed France and guarded her Six, secretly admiring her figure while he did it. He may show hostility toward the female soldier, but he kinda admires her determination, her attitude towards work and her face in general. He may be against relationships while on the job but he considered asking her out after all of this was over, with less EMP blasts would be better.

“Soap! Advance now! Can you hear me?” France hinted at him over comms as he quickly responded and moved to the next position. The huge iron tower loomed before the squad as they scaled the treacherous cliffside.

“Ryder, what’s the situation over there?” the pilot asked.

“Looks like illegal settlers found themselves a home at the base of the tower. We’ll be watching you from down here.” she replied, France caught a glance of Soap and they nodded to each other reminding themselves to be wary of Augustus.

Soap eyed his scope toward the settlement camp as the helo ascended up the tower, he noticed that they were detaching the houses of their roofs, revealing a missile-like structure.

“SAM!” Soap yelled over comms but he was too late. Rockets ejected from the machine and headed straight for the helo. The pilot fired a flare, deflecting the first wave of missiles but another one quickly followed, sending them to spin out of control.

The settlers followed the helicopter as it crashed down the cliff, making sure that no one escaped to tell the tale of the tower’s secret. This was their time to move, the unexpected diversion they created actually turned the battle into their favor.

"All teams advised to proceed with caution." Alexandra informed as the small group proceeded to rustle the leaves and advanced to the base of the tower.

"Doesn't this thing have elevators? Who in the world would think stairs would be appropriate here?" an agent complained upon seeing the spiraling steps of the tower.

"Let's split." Alexandra instructed.

"We circle back to the other side and plant c4 charges on the SAM sites on the far end of the settlement. Everyone nodded and the team's demolitions expert provided them c4 charges.

Soap carefully kept his while France continued to support Agent Ryder. This also splits the two 141 members in case Augustus is on the other half of the settlement. He nodded France a 'see you soon' gesture as the rest of the team parted ways and proceeded to objective.

Soap carefully crept across the small entrance of the village, eyeing his sights on the critical corners of the area. He knew most of the people inside investigated the chopper crash and that leaves their base wide open for a surprise attack. He continued hugging the thin walls of the settlement, signaling the rest of the small squad to cover each other.

The other team split up as they entered the base, taking care of the other side of their half.

It was too quiet. No weapons were being fired, could it be that the base is really empty?

"What's everyone's sitrep? Over." Alexandra whispered softly over comms.

"It's too quiet." Soap replied.

"Stay frosty." She replied. Soap signaled the two other agents to cover for him as he entered the house which housed one of the four SAM turrets.

"C4 is planted." he announced. Everyone else seemed to plant theirs as well.

"Let's regroup and detonate. I'm already seeing them fleeing back here."

"Rog." everyone else noted and stepped to objective. Then a single shot was fired, hitting one of Soap's team on the shoulder.

"Get down!" He roared as they looked for cover, and just like that, the team's cover was already blown and reinforcements were already on their way back from the crash.

"They're closing in. It's too critical! Try to stay away from the turrets! We'll have to detonate from danger close and extract!" Alexandra ordered over comms. Soap was too busy shooting tangos but they just kept on surrounding them.

The ground shook violently as one of the cornet SAM sites exploded, crippling the enemies which provided Soap a small window of opportunity to move away from the turret and shoot the nearby enemies.

"Let's push forward!" He commanded. It was a matter of life and death as the forces surrounding them began to regroup.

"None of our troops from the blast site are responding!" Ryder yelled desperately, the hope in her voice started to fade.

"Shit! We're doing a danger close detonation grab onto something!" The second quadrant team yelled as another explosion shook the ground. Instead of moving forward, Soap's team actually fell back as the large wave started to surround them, pressuring the team not to detonate the remaining two SAMs.

"We're surrounded by a helluva lot of tangos Ryder. You have to detonate the closest one to you so the bird can extract! We'll make a run for it." Soap yelled at the team leader.

"Shit! France, cover me while I make a run for it." Ryder yelled over comms. A few seconds later the third SAM site exploded, leaving Soap's SAM the only one left.

The blast's heat crawled through MacTavish's skin as he took one step back firing enemies conservatively. He threw his rifle straight at the closing enemy's head and switched to his sidearm. He took another step back and he already felt the warm surface of the humming SAM turret, looking up at the sky, ready to assault any flying object it sees. If only he could get his team so move at a safe distance away from it and finally click his detonator.

He peeked through the opening to check on his team, one already fell flat on the ground while the other one was taking heavy fire.

"Shit." he cursed and quickly hid his head as bullets started ricocheting toward him. He took a quick peek at his inventory and did the math. If he played his cards right, he had a slim chance of saving the other ally and actually making it out alive.

He took another peek and started his plan, but all that's left of his remaining ally was a lying dead body on a pool of crimson colored liquid. He was now alone. Mission Impossible.

He hid back and inhaled. He was running out of hope, he wanted to make it out alive. He wanted to ask France out for a date. He still wanted to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Soap desperately grabbed his trusty sidearm and shot each approaching enemy. One bullet per person meant he could fend off at least 48 of them, assuming he hits everyone in the head. His teammates were nowhere to be found and the rescue helicopter was already whirring at the distance.

Ryder and what's left of her team were slowly gathering by the extraction zone while Soap was still stuck in a pinch. It looked like the enemies didn't care about them and focused their attention on the remaining Scotsman. Strength in Numbers.

Overpowered and quickly running out of bullets, Soap ran for it, staying low on the ground, blindly evading flying bullets and clicking his detonator. He hoped to use the blast as a boost to further push him to France's direction but the way his body bent blew him sideways, toward the center of the base. Soap's body slammed against the makeshift walls as he rolled to the ground rendering him almost unconscious.

He coughed and struggled to get up, limping toward a safe wall, leaning against the soft walls, and gasping for air.

"It's no use, France. We can't stay here any longer. We have to ascend." Ryder advised as Soap struggled to get up, his vision blurred and his ears rang.

Soap wanted to talk but his hands were too injured to press the button, he rolled his eyes and scanned the area. His teammates were already gone, and he felt blood trickled against his cheek, while his mouth tasted like iron. With the last bit of strength he showed his game face and pointed his gun while his arms trembled from exhaustion.

"Last seven bullets. So this is how it ends." he chuckled, trying to make the situation a lot less depressing.

"One." he fired, the tango was close enough that he actually got pushed back on impact.

"Two." he fired, making an approaching tango cripple and fall.

"Three." he shot but missed, clicking his tongue.

"Four. Finally" he exhaled, squaring the target straight through the head.

"Fi-" he got kicked, causing him to drop the sidearm as he rolled to the ground.

"John! Noooo!" France's voice filled comms. Soap tried to reach his hand to the flying helicopter with the last of his strength, but it was no use. He couldn't move his leg or roll his body due to the stomps he kept getting. His vision slowly faded and the last thing he heard was France sobbing through comms.

Next Chapter : Uninvited Guests

Notification Squad my beloved

@beemybee @enderio @smokeywhalee @samatedeansbroccoli @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog

#horRAYfic #whateverittakes #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #gary roach sanderson #alex echo 3 1 #juju on that beat #sorry

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lovenona · 3 years

Note

At your words, he obliges. It's a bit of a work, thrusting into you as he hastily shimmies off his jeans. There's a blush on his face that he hopes you can't see. So good for me, Keisuke. God, what words to hear.

He's bare beneath you, finally. Open for your eyes to devour, with thighs meeting the underside of yours as he burries himself into your heat in a rhythmic beat. His thighs are toned with years worth of condition, strong with the training he's underwent.

And tonight, they're there for you.

With his jeans out of the way, his movements are unrestrained. Baji thrusts a particularly sharp thrust, deep and almost searching, meeting your pussy roughly as he tugs your hips down. His head kisses your cervix as he sinks balls deep. As you clamp on him further – you're close, he thinks, so close – he bites hard down your throat (a mark he's sure will be visible tomorrow unless you wear a scarf. but what idiot would wear a scarf during the summer?), the sting of his teeth matching the sharpness of his thrust as he renders you into an incoherent mess.

He watches, mesmerized, at the sight of your head thrown back in bliss and your mouth wide open. A strangled cry finds its way out of it as he brings you both closer to the edge. You're his, he reminds himself. You're his and he's treating you just as what's his should be treated; giving you pleasure that you won't be able to find elsewhere. And Baji believes it to be a privilege: to fuck you and to be fucked by you.

Everything else that leaves your lips becomes a mystery to his ears as he hastens his pace, giving no care of the way your couch protests at his movements. He's watching you; watching your riled up face, your arched back, your sultry gaze. His hands slip between you, finding itself on your sensitive clit. You squirm and your left hand wraps itself around his wrists in an attempt to stop the overstimulation. He doesn't, of course. The bastard that he is. Baji simply wants to please, that's all.

His cock slams into you with an unrelenting speed, and with a thrust or two further, you crash, sucking him deep and possesively down your cunt as heaps of his cum paints your walls. You're crashing with him, hands reaching for what you could of him and Baji's arms wraps around your body lovingly, riding your highs in silence and in the mess of each other's embrace.

"'So good', right?" He repeats your words and you tremble violently before your body goes limp and all he hears is your heavy breathing by his ear. "What'd I tell you? That I'll fuck you good, right?"

There's no respose. He feels your mixed juices drip to the base of his cock and Baji urges you to move so he could slip out. But your weight remains dead, slowly sinking into him.

"Oi, don't pass out on me now."

– baji

[sobs] [happy soft baji sunday]

i like the way baji’s face glows when he’s too soft for his own good: the way pink and rosy hues creep across his cheeks and his neck until he’s radiating it, until he looks at you like you’re the one who put the stars in the night sky. it never ceases to amaze me, this baji, this pool of love he has to offer.

he feeds it back in sharp and unyielding ways. it’s in the thrust of his hips, sharp and calculated because he knows me too well. it’s in his canines on my neck, electric against my pulse. it sends waves through my system, the thought of the mark he’ll leave behind, the knowledge that everyone i pass tomorrow will see it and know what it means.

(because baji hates when i cover up these precious gifts, and i don’t blame him.)

he knows me too well. he knows if he’ll bite just hard enough to leave something behind and if he thrusts into every perfect place i'll unravel in a heartbeat. he knows that if he draws circles across my clit i’ll collapse into dust and stars the moment he asks me to. he knows that i love that line between pleasure and overstimulation, that even when my hand is on his wrist to exude some form of control i do not want him to stop. i think the worst thing that could happen to me would be if baji keisuke stopped.

and i know that if i scratch his scalp, that if i dig my nails into his shoulders and roll my hips just how he wants it, that baji will unravel for me, too, drunk on his own love and desire. so even as i forget myself for the pleasure building in my gut, i give it back to him, my love, his pleasure, until the world explodes in an orgasm so violent and all-encompassing that my eyes roll back and i think i’ll never stop shaking.

i don’t think i’ll ever be ready for it, the quake or the tremor, or quite get used to the dreamlike sensation of being filled up, of being someone’s, of being baji’s. his head’s buried in my neck and mine’s buried in his as i listen to the sound of his breathing and search in vain for my sanity.

what’d i tell you? that i’ll fuck you good, right? i merely whine affirmatively in response while my head swims and my limbs turn to jelly after these two orgasms he’s given me. of course he does good: he’ll always do good. when baji says something, he means it.

and i won’t pass out, can’t, not now, not yet. i bury my face deeper into his hair as if i could hide there and i make no attempts to leave him. it’s too comfortable, this place. i’m too enveloped in him to even think to try.

“i'm not,” i mumble into his skin, both indignant and soft and needing. “doing just fine.” i'm just cozy, and fucked out of my wits, and horribly in love, i’d like to say, but i hold my tongue. i shift my head to press a kiss against his pulse, the gentle kind that he likes, because even when baji knows what he’s doing, so do i. maybe i’ll even give him his own mark, later, so everyone knows how he’s been. i like to prod him, to see how far he’ll take us both; i know if i let him baji keisuke might never stop loving. “you’re just too good at this.”

#wahhhHHHH #how can he be SOFT AND A BASTARD????#DOCTORS HATE HIM!!!!!#[PASSES OUT]#baji.anon

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noteofnaught · 3 years

Text

Dante's memory of his mother

Fiddled with what I had written earlier.

The translation was done for me by deepl (translator).

Please let me know if you think it's strange or if there are any mistakes.

The above is purely a personal opinion

Feel free to discuss and exchange.

Dante's memory of his mother

Dante's memory of his mother, or rather that night, seems to have been formally depicted once in DMC5 since DMC1.

So let's start with the DMC1.

In the DMC1 novel, there is a scene depicting Dante recalling the events of his mother's death.

「母さん、母さん……ねぇ、母さん！」

幼子が、地に倒れ伏した母親の身体を揺さぶり続けている。母親の息がすでに絶えていることは、誰の目にも明らかだ。

だが幼子は──すでに自分でもそうとわかっているのだろうが──無

駄な努力を止める気配はない。

「兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ！母さん！ねぇ、母さん！」

亡骸からは未だ、温かな血が地面へと広がり続けている。

幼子は半狂乱だった。

We can see in the description that Dante tries to wake his mother up next to her dead body, even though he realises that she is dead but he is still trying to wake her up. This is a reluctance to accept his mother's death, a normal emotion and attitude for a small child to have.

And the second half of his sentence [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] It is as if he had searched for his brother, but his tone is one of powerlessness, of helplessness, of feeling negative about the outcome. So here I want to convey not so much that he has searched for his brother to no avail, but a sense of powerlessness about the situation. He tries to wake up his mother in this way.

It's close to one: Mom, wake up. My brother is not here/is gone and I don't know what to do/I'm scared, please get up Come on.

And then in the scene of Neal's death, Dante recalls this as Neal's sacrifice to protect him, just as his mother did that day.

After that he heard the voice of his father's sword, and out of fear and insecurity he was completely drawn to it, thus obeying its words and changing his name until he gained the power to fight against it.

Then, in the battle with Gilvi, when Gilvi stabbed Dante and was covered by the necklace, Dante's internal activity was as follows.

He credits his mother with protecting him (again) as a child.

Where the mother sacrifices herself to save/protect Dante this is consistent with the DMC1 in-game scene. In DMC1 Dante has a similar line after Trish sacrifices herself to save him. This is the diagram from Precious Tears, with Japanese and English, but both Japanese and English convey that Trish sacrificed herself to save him, as did her own (Dante's) mother.

This is in line with the content of the DMC3 comic.

In the DMC3 comic, Dante has a nightmare at the office after his encounter with Vergil, a dream that is not in fully recreated form but like a fragmentary form.

Here the mother has more dialogue than in DMC1, and it is obvious from the comic's footage that there are huge hands behind her that are about to crush her, and Dante reaches towards her as if to retain his mother, who is feeling very scared, while her mother shouts for him to hurry up and hide/hide and not come out no matter what happens. She is then crushed by the huge hand. In the next panel we can see that the demon looks like a bird and says the terrible words "all die". like it is glowing, and on the next page you can also see the huge three foot shadow on the ground, which also looks like the claws of a bird, and the door behind it is the image of burning, while a long shadow is drawn under his feet.

Of course, we know from the comic that Arkham says there was a fire that day, and Vergil's fearful recollection of the house being on fire makes DMC5 even more certain that it was indeed on fire. The glowing eyes, the long, thin shadows and the subsequent bloodstained house in the comic give the impression that something ominous, unsettling and alien is about to happen.

The cartoon after that also shows us Dante waking up with a jolt, his face covered in water, looking at his hand but with only a drop on his end finger, giving the illusion that he has pulled a hook with someone. There is no sweat on his body, however, and of course there are problems of expression in the painting, so it is not painted.

But it is also true that these same fragmentary memories and dreams give Dante unease and fear.

Well, the memory, the feeling of his mother in Dante's vision so far is the following: his mother told himself to hide and not come out, and sacrificed himself to save himself. It is the great selfless motherly love that belongs to Dante.

Although it was a great mother's love, the memory of that day still makes Dante feel uneasy and afraid. The last memory his mother leaves Dante with is the one that tells Dante to hide, and implicitly the will to let him live. If we add the DMC1 novel to the mix here, it is at this very moment that he is drawn to his father's sword.

Again within these memories and fragments, the mother is rendered unknowable to Vergil, meaning that we do not or cannot see in Dante's recollections that the mother ever went looking for Vergil, if not for the presence of the phrase [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] we would not even know in this recollection of Dante that he knew that he had a brother. What we can see or what Dante perceives in his vision is that his mother loved him so much that she died in the process of protecting/saving him.

However, it is also a writing device that can be lifted off as suspense.

But again, this doesn't do any damage to the image of Eva as a great mother, because based on what happened that day, the great mother had to choose to save/protect (potentially the closest to her or that she could find) one child and had to give up the other in the face of force majeure. Dante also never said before DMC5 whether his mother loved Vergil or not, whether she ever sought him out or whether she cared for his brother as well.

What we see in Dante's vision is basically what Dante can know, but it doesn't mean all of it. After all, comics or game scenes have an obligation to show us the scenes, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the characters actually see all the textures. We, as players/readers, are a kind of God's eye and we can notice things that are not right or different (also a storytelling technique) but as protagonists we are not necessarily fully aware or in the same position as us.

I think if you have seen suspense films, you will also often see that kind of bridge, we all know that this bomb is going to explode this person to kill that person, although there is that kind of explicitly shown in the footage, but the protagonist is still unaware of the appearance, many viewers are in order to pinch a cold sweat, for this reason anxious hope that the protagonist quickly realize.

And DMC5 gives us a formal depiction of that day, not through snippets like a nightmare, you can see in the game's overstory description that it says Dante dreamed of what happened before, which means this time you are shown real memories.

After all, a nightmare is not necessarily a real memory, it is a condensation of a certain memory. Sometimes we have a nightmare like dreaming of a giant cockroach because we are afraid, so we reproduce and amplify this fear in our nightmares, so that a small cockroach we see in the house becomes enormous in our nightmares, the giant cockroach is not necessarily real but the fear is real. Of course, we are not talking about the formation of nightmares here, but only about the fact that nightmares and some fragments of our memories with fear and anxiety may be a recreation of what we felt and what existed at the time, but not necessarily a completely real recreation.

In the DMC5 Eva process screen.

There is a slight difference between Japanese subtitles and English subtitles, or even Japanese dubbing.

The overall meaning is actually similar to the DMC3 manga, Eva is all over Dante not moving and telling him to hide/hide, the only difference is that she says more words to make Dante forget his past and forget his name and start a new life from scratch/not being Dante but another person to start over. All also contain the mother's wish for him to live well.

The difference is that in the Japanese subtitles, Eva clearly expresses the possibility that she may not return and so tells Dante to listen well to what she says next, whereas in English it is expressed as I promise you will return.

In the English context, although the mother says she will come back, she immediately reverses the 'come back' in the next sentence, saying that she knows it will be difficult, but you're old enough so you'll have to do this if I don't come back. They both mean the same thing, a mother who knows she might not come back and tells her child what she will do if she doesn't come back, as if making a pact with her child: we agreed that if I don't come back, you will remember to do this, I know you can do it.

If you look closely at the animation of the process, you can even see Dante's hand trembling on the cupboard door, he is very scared.

And the BGM here also happens to be called: More Fear

And of course it is here that we first see Eva looking for Vergil, and it turns out that Eva has looked for Vergil! This doesn't exactly match the information we got on Dante's side earlier.

But are you saying that the DMC1 message contradicts the current message? The DMC1 novel only mentions that he cried next to his mother's body, not that she said anything to him before she died, after which he became obsessed with his father's sword out of fear and terror. And his father's sword statement is the same as his mother's deathbed statement but in a very different series.

The meaning of the mother's words is very clear, the words are all about the desire for her child to live well and to stay away from these things that will hurt him, a good expectation and blessing for her child and the expectation and belief that her child will be able to do so.

「今はその名を隠し、目を眩ませ、逃げ延びよ」

“Now go incognito, confuse the enemy and flee far away!”

The overall meaning of the phrase is that it is dangerous to hide the name, confuse the enemy and run away, and the phrase even takes the form of a command that the child must do what he says.

It's a phrase you'd put in the context of a superior to a subordinate, a captain to his teammates, and in the context of a tense battlefield man telling you to run fast is perfectly fine and appropriate. But Eva's words could only be said by a mother to her child.

When all the memories are linked together, our facts about Eva become a little more complete, and at the same time what effect does it have on Dante?

If his mother only died saving him and he hated his father for her revenge which is quite reasonable, this has to be a blowback from his father's enemies. What is necessary to mention here is what Dante's mindset was regarding DMC1 killing the Black Angel.

In the official publication of the 3124 collection, Dante is said to have killed the Black Angel with "no thought", a word synonymous with "remnant", which is generally translated into Chinese as: regret.

And the DMC1 how-to book has a direct description of his ideas.

Dante is talking here about Mundus killing his mother and brother.

This is not the same as what we generally think of as objective perception. In the game we see over the course of the game, the Black Angel looks as if he still has a heart, so naturally we think there is still salvation, after all, he is still alive.

But here Dante does not think that it was his own hand that killed the Black Angel, but that Mundus killed Vergil.

Of course we can parse this to mean that killing the man who was Vergil means, but even so within this passage of Dante he is not one of the reasons for Vergil's death, he has no responsibility in Vergil's death and is not responsible for any act occurring in the process, but rather Mundus should need to take full responsibility.

In other words, it means that even if it was he who killed the Black Angel in the course of the battle, then he is not responsible for it, but Mundus is responsible for it, because it was Mundus who arranged it, and how could he have killed it if he had not arranged it there, it was not his problem, it was Mundus' problem.

than what we generally think of as objective factual rational logic going into the judgement: although Mundus turned Vergil into a black angel like that, he himself didn't recognise the killing, more or less he was responsible for it or felt particularly guilty that he didn't recognise it.

Dante's logic leans more towards total emotional logic: It's all Mundus' fault!

And in DMC5 just as Vergil used to think it was a matter of not having enough power, now it's a matter of having too much power, and now that Mundus is gone, not recognizing Vergil (V) for killing Vergil can only be his active choice, not a passive one, and it can only be that his responsibility has nothing to do with Mundus.

Returning to the mother, what arises is in fact the same question. If before it was his mother's great love for him, which was selfless and exclusive to him, now, at this moment, her love is equal, not just his but also his brother's. The "he" whose mother sacrificed herself to save him in the flashback (DMC5) is not really a "he". His mother's did not hesitate to rush out to save her brother, knowing the danger.

Of course we must also mention nell, arguably the designer of Dante's double shot.

In the novel, Thor wants Neal to commission and pay a deposit for a double gun for himself, one of which is a secret-made gun he stole from a robbery, and the other is the same type of medieval gun that Neal himself received.

nell is so good to Tony, as is clearly described in the DMC1 novel, because Tony looks so much like her child, and her love for her child is projected onto Tony, and she holds on to her job before she eventually dies, not only because of her love for Tony but also her love for her own child, and more so for the work ethic she has taken on this job and should complete.

But all the same, the person she missed most on her deathbed was her own child, something Tony could never replace, nor could he if he wanted to, which of course didn't mean that nell's love for Tony was false, nell's love for Tony was also real, indeed it was love, it was precisely because of the person of her own child that nell loved so deeply that Tony was loved by her.

Whether it is nell or the mother Eva, their love for their child is not solely Dante's alone and only his, or why they love Dante/Tony, it is because they both love their child, and if they were not such, then Dante would naturally not be loved by them.

His mother's protection and sacrifice is something he feels and desires, something that is personal and emotional for him. It also explains Dante's statement to Trish in DMC1 that "his mother died to protect herself", because Trish, like his mother in his feelings and understanding, has what he calls a "heart".

Of course, because DMC1 is entirely Dante's vision of storytelling (DMC1 is Dante's story), his mother is human in Dante's eyes, and Trish acts like his mother to protect him, or even Dante's ideal mother, so Trish is also a person with a "heart", as to how Trish feels or if that is the case. We will not discuss this issue here.

Surely the mother did not save Dante? This is necessarily a negative, but was it to save him that his mother died, or to hold back the demon who tried to kill him so that he could escape? Again, that is a negative. Wouldn't his mother have done that in that situation? That too is a negative. Wouldn't Dante have wanted his mother? No. Must Dante have never been afraid of not wanting his mother to stay by his side to give him security and protection? Did Dante only want to protect his mother and never wanted her to stay by his side to protect him? All the information above seems to be in the negative.

DMC5 is simply a reinterpretation and addition of information from the past, the only thing overturned is Dante's belief that his mother died to save himself.

This message provides us with an explanation of the origin of Dante's hatred for his brother, as is often the case in many films and novels, in which he blames the child for the death of his beloved wife, even though it was not the child's fault, and believes that if it had not been for him, his wife would not have died. He stubbornly believes that his mother died to save him, not to save his brother, and not because of this he is unable to love his brother; he acts as if he wishes he could have the mother's love all to himself.

For if we are to acknowledge the fact that his mother died to save his brother, we also have to acknowledge something else, and that is that he equally did not want to be left/abandoned by his mother.

Of course, this is not a contradiction or a conflict; it is only natural that a child should be afraid and want to protect his mother, and it is equally natural that he should want to protect her.

The above is purely a personal opinion

#devil may cry

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shadeenwrites · 3 years

Text

Hearing a loud sound,

Swiftly I crouch down,

My knees bent against my face,

My hands wrapped around them in an embrace,

A hushed whisper by my ears,

Shutting my eyes tight with fear,

While slowly turning my head in that direction,

Only to see my sister with a frightened expression

Gripping onto my old sweater sleeves,

While resting her head on my bent knees,

While taking refuge under a structure that's half in crumble,

Hoping that it doesn't tumble.

The sky that once was clear and blue,

Has now turned into a shade of gloom,

Airstrikes endless above our heads,

Giving rise to fear and dread,

My sister points at a sandwich lying over there, half-eaten, Expectations shining in her eyes,

While a grumble followed from her tiny tummy,

But what if that's a bait awaiting our eyes,

And when we are close, what if, 'BOOM' it explodes?

Clinging on to me, my sister,

While I rub my palms together,

Seeking some warmth from the cold weather,

While chanting prayers asking to keep us together,

My heart pounding against my ribs

As a bullet whizzed past and hit the wall,

Where my head rested less than a minute ago,

With trembling steps, we slowly stood hoping for haven.

Two steps forward, and then one step back,

The airstrikes have seemed to halt,

Tugged by my sleeves down by my sister,

While her eyes roamed fearfully ahead,

There a lady clad in black,

With a huge device at hand

A big flash, freezing me in my steps,

It wasn't a gun but a camera flash,

Her eyes glistening with unshed tears,

As she caught sight of our shabby clothing spheres,

I pulled my sister protectively against my chest,

Lest she is taken away like some of the rest.

The lady simply shook her head,

Gesturing to me, that she came to render help,

My sister showed her that her hands were empty,

While rubbing her shoulders to indicate how cold she's feeling,

I felt my sister's eyes trained on me,

With hope and expectations dancing free,

If only I can show how much I hoped for the same,

But our past in the war zone overpowering my sense.

©shadeenwrites

#writersnetwork #poetry #spilled poetry #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #writing #warzone #syria #writers #writersofinstagram #writers on tumblr #writblr #poem society #prose poetry #my words #my poetry #poets on tumblr

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lunatunacat-14 · 4 years

Text

This was requested by MeatballsAreYummy on wattpad I hope they enjoy this!!♡

>[Warning: bad language/Cussing, mentioned suicide attempt, very lazy and rushed, not edited]

♡■■■■■■■■■■♡

"Get the hell away from me you abomination!!!"

Error, the fearless Destroyer of worlds yelled at some harmless cat. The glitches covering his eyes, rendering him blind at the moment. As his blue strings were hanging helplessly from his finger tips. The cat instead of listening, continued to trot closer to the black skeleton. Meowing complaints at him, as it did.

You see earlier he was doing his job, destroying another pointless AU. But he somehow got distracted, and this monotone colored cat with yellow-red eyes. Took the chance to paw at his leg, and of course startling the Destroyer in response. Howling up at the skeleton, obviously wanting something. Error just jumped away from the wild creature, tieing it up in his blue strings. He was intending on killing the thing straight up, but the voices yelled at him to not kill the cat. And he really didn't want a headache just because, he killed some stupid cat. So he put the thing down and told it to just go away, it didn't. Just like that worthless Protector, it just didn't leave him alone. Part of him liked the attention, but the other part didn't.

So that is where we are now.

The cat look at Error with an annoyed look, its tail flickering around to match its mood. Though Error couldn't see to well with the glitches in his face.

It suddenly grabbed one of the stray strings with its mouth and pulled on it. It didn't do much to move the glitch, but he did feel the pull from his string.

"What the fuck do you want cat!!"

Error yelled, very clearly not happy to be bothered by this animal. Couldn't it just go bother someone else?

The cat only meowed in response, Error groaning. Obviously this was going to be much harder then he thought. Wait, why doesn't he just kill it again? Oh right, the voices. Speaking of voices, here they are now.

Maybe it wants food?

How about you give it something to eat?

I suggest you try giving the cat some food Error, maybe I'll leave you alone if you feed it?

Some helpful voices gave Error the idea of maybe feeding the cat. What does a cat eat anyway? Chocolate? He likes chocolate so why wouldn't the cat, was what the Destroyer thought. He could hear the fant complaints of the voices, he decided to ignore them.

The cat meowed impatiently, pulling on one of the blue strings again. Error looked down at the cat, feeling around in his pockets to see if he still had chocolate in them. He did, so he pealed the rapper and put it in front of the cats face.

"What about this? Do you like chocolate?"

The cat sniffed the chocolate, before meowing up at Error again. This cat thankfully wasn't an idiot, and didn't want the chocolate. Much to the voices relief.

Error was a little disappointed, but more chocolate for him he guessed as he eat the chocolate himself. He wasn't going to let this go to waste. Now to find this cat something I'll eat, he thought.

Error eventually got the cat something to eat, he didn't know what it was. But the cat seemed happy. Though when it finished, it still didn't leave him alone. It just followed him around, even to other AUs. Right now they were in outertale.

Error was angrily knitting some mini blue scarf, while the cat was rolling around in the grass nearby. Sometimes nibbling on it as well. Error thought that it was kinda cute but he would never admit to anyone, not even the cat.

It didn't take the cat long to get bored and run back to Error, meowing as it lightly pawed at his thigh. Error didn't glitch out too badly, thankfully.

"What do you want now cat?"

Error said, never looking away from his work. The monotone cat didn't like the lack of attention. So it jumped straight into Errors lap, the ladder flinching. Not expecting the cat to do such an action.

Through Errors shock, the cat spun around before laying down. Purring softly. Though he didn't know that.

The Destroyer started glitching at the contact, and the weird sound it was making. Glitches began to fill his eyes again.

What is that sound? Why is the cat vibrating? Is it having a soul attack? And many other questions alike went through his head. The voices laughing at his ignorance.

Don't worry Error, the cat is fine.

Yeah, it's only purring because its happy!!

Purring? Happy? Error thought confused, that is the sound the cat is making. The glitches calm down, at knowing that the cat was indeed not going to explode and was simply just happy.

That makes sense he guesses, but the cat being happy near him. Now that is a laugh, who or what would ever be happy about being near him of all monsters. Though the thought of something even being remotely happy near him, made him smile a little. As he continues on with the mini scarf he was making.

Which thankfully didn't take long to make, considering how small it was now what to do with it? He thought for a second before his mismatched eyes landed on the seemingly sleeping cat on his lap. Maybe it would like it? With that he softly poked the cat, it meowing a yawn as it looked up at Error. It's yellow-red eyes looking into Errors, though it soon looked at what he was holding. The Destroyer let the cat sniff the scarf he just made, before he put it on the little monochrome cat.

The cat softly patted at the end of the scarf, it deeming the scaf to be okay and safe. It laying back down, purring softly as it closed its eyes. Blepping happily.

Error couldn't help but Aww, though he stopped himself quickly from doing so. There was no way he was going to show this side of him. He would never hear the end of it if the squid somehow found out, let alone the cat. Maybe he should find a place where it could hide if it really did want to stay with him, because he knew that the anti-void would not be a good place for an animal. Error began to subconsciously pet the cat, which it very much liked. So when he did notice, he just kept petting it. Though the contact wasn't that pleasent, it made the cat happy. So he could ignore it.

Maybe having something to take care of wasn't going to be so bad, the Destroyer thought. A very small smile on his face, as the little cat purred.

~--------------------~

Error groaned as he came back from another pointless battle to keep the balance, god he hated his job. The blood shed, the torture, the insults, everything. If he could end his life he would, but he couldn't even do that right. One of his hands faintly touched his neck, flashes of when he first attempted. It didn't go as planned. One of Nightmares goons found him and brought him back to the castle. Error would be lieing if he said he didn't miss being with them a little. They didn't treat him like trash.

But none of that is important now, he had his little Mistake. Which he had eventually called the cat. He enjoyed the animals company, and hes sure the cat feels the same.

One thing he learned was how much the cat enjoyed playing with his blue strings, and sometimes it would even play fetch. He remembers the first time they played, it was honestly a surprise to Error.

It was a normal day for the two, Error was just knitting mindlessly. While the cat or rather Mistake was messing around with some rock it found. They both were chilling in Outertale, as that is where Error decided to stay for the sake of the animal next to him. He couldn't circum this animal to that kind of torture, that the anti-void was. Though he does worry someone will figure out hes here, especially the Star sanses. Error groans just thinking about them, blueberry was okay. But I only him. The other two he didn't really like, especially Ink. Oh how he hated him.

He began to struggle with his knitting needles, his hands shaking out of anger as he thought about how annoying his enemy was and still is. How idiotic, he didn't understand how people even liked him. He was just using everyone for his own sick game, that stupid, soulless freak!

The Destroyer screeched out of anger, as he lunged his knitting needles forward. Glitching harshly. Though his anger was soon put aside when pet felt the cat paw at him, one of the needles in its mouth. Putting it down in front of Error, it's pupils dilated with excitement. As its tail swing around playfully. It definitely was a cute but confusing. Did it want him to throw the needle? He picked it up, him noticing the cat backing up and getting into a half pounce pose.

"Do you want this?"

Error asked the cat shaking the needle, before throwing it again. The cat chasing after it will a meow, before bringing it back to Error. They continued doing this for a while, though eventually Error got tired and had to end their litte game. Putting the knitting needles away, as they both walked to their shared home in Outertale.

That day was truly interesting, Error thought before a meow of attention dragged his eyes to the cat now jumping up onto the couch. Purring as it rubbed its head against Errors hand, he petting the cat in return. At this point he hat gotten used to the little animals touch, he liked the warmth of the cats fur coat. It had such a pretty pattern too. He smiled, as he brought the cat onto his lap. It purring happily in response, as it made itself comfortable. Error continuing to pet its soft fur, as they both enjoy each others company happily.

Such a cute little Mistake.

#error sans #error #cat #mistake #fluff #0ww0 #lunatunacat-14 0w0 #0w #lunatunacat-14 #oh my god this was rushed.#its kinda cute?#reblogs #reblogs are appreciated #i like reblogs #please #art #my art #a little dark #undertale

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orbitariums · 5 years

Note

I have a request: Peter Parker finding out his gf (y/n) is an avenger? Maybe he doesn't realize until a certain fight? Thank you, and I hope you are having a great day! - first ask anon (I guess I'll just call myself that 🤣🤣)

hi !! yes welcome back first ask anon and thank you so much for this request i’ve had the loveliest time writing it (s/o to my friend emily for helping me w/ some details bc i’m still new to marvel). hope you enjoy!! heads up this is like super long for a tumblr one shot *at least i think so*, if you guys request me stuff be prepared for it to be longgg!

disclaimer: fighting scenes are not my strength, especially for a marvel character!!! hope the plot makes up for it. also i pretty much just made up a villain and a fight. + switches between she/you when peter is first seeing the reader. ++ inspired by teen titans and kill la kill! contains: slight language + violence of course. hope u love it!

violet blast and spiderman (pt. i)

Spiderman was good. This guy was better.

Terrified bystanders and entrapped citizens watched in the crowded street as Peter tried desperately to simultaneously protect the woman he’d saved and fight off the bad guy. But doing both at once was wearing him out and his mind couldn’t help but keep going back to the fact that he had made no progress with his math project back at home because he kept delaying it to adhere to the role of friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Plus he had a date with you later that weekend that he was stressing about because he wanted everything to go perfectly. But he kept up, and kept up with his banter all the while, just barely dodging the bad guy’s grotesque metal fist as he rolled underneath him and tried to shoot a web at him from behind and flip him over.

“You know, you really should invest all this energy into being less of an asshole!” Peter yelled out, rolling to his side to avoid being smashed again.

This guy was like the Hulk, except he had the robotic, armored qualities of Iron Man, if Iron Man looked like a giant made out of concrete with glaring red eyes and a deformed metal hand that was not doing Peter any favors.

“Concrete Man!” the beast roared, swiveling around to face Peter who looked like an ant from where he was standing.

“Really, Concrete Man, that’s your name? Yeah, Iron Man called, he wants his trademark ba-” Peter’s voice got carried away as he found himself getting swooped up by “Concrete Man”, his body slowly getting crushed in his metallic grasp.

Peter’s breath became shallow as he tried to escape, looking down at the people below him who were now crowding closer, screaming in terror. He tried to find the woman in the crowd, at least to tell her to run away to safety now that Concrete Man was distracted, but he only caught a glimpse of her, and she was staring up in transfixed terror as well.

“Shit!” Peter exclaimed, growing panicky.

He tried to outstretch his arms in the hopes to web this guy’s face and get it in his eyes so he’d at least let go of Peter, but to no avail. Peter let out a panicked gasp but calmed down when he realized he could still stretch out his feet against Concrete Man’s body, and so he pressed his feet against his bulky build and pushed off, extending his arms over Concrete Man’s hand so he could flip off.

He knew that when he did he’d be awaiting a hard pummel to the ground, but he did so anyway, flying through the air momentarily before finding his landing midair and sticking it. He tried to maintain his heavy breaths as he continued to fight against Concrete Man, sticking out his hand in the attempts to catch his legs in a spiral and make him fall to the ground, and then go off from there.

But before the web could even shoot, he was shoved aside by another figure, a girl about the same height as him, a little taller even.

“Move Peter,” you said hostilely, shoving him aside and standing your ground in front of him.

Peter had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing correctly, and to make sure he had heard correctly as well. Whoever this was had said his name, so that meant she knew who he was somehow. But he had never seen her before in his life, so who could it be? His heart was racing with fear, and anxiety, and his head was pounding with fear, add in the way he was still practically hyperventilating from escaping Concrete-Man’s strong hold and the adrenaline rush.

The girl had an interesting uniform (a mix of Starfire, Raven and Senketsu)- a navy blue crop top with mid-length sleeves, and a purple stem miniskirt held up by black suspenders, along with thigh high violet boots, and her whole uniform had all types of gadgets and buttons all over it. She also had on a dark blue cloak with a hood that masked her face so he couldn’t see her, but he was still in awe. In other words, she was kind of hot- if extremely powerful- and Peter couldn’t help but notice that.

But he snapped out of it when he realized what was actually happening, and when he saw that you had propelled yourself up into the air to fight this guy off yourself. He wanted to complain that this was his fight, even though he was losing terribly, but couldn’t when he saw that you had blasted this villain guy in the face with blinding blasts of ultraviolet radiation. The concrete on his face crumbled slightly and he roared in anger, swooping his hand to try and grab you up, while you were floating in the air.

He roared again when he missed as you dodged his clenching fist with ease, lurching forward and sending passerby into a panic as the ground shook beneath them.

“Foolish girl! You dare to challenge me, your worst nightmare?”

“Not much of a challenge,” you retorted, and Peter laughed, then shut himself up when he realized he should probably be doing something, but he didn’t know what.

“You look like a schoolgirl in that redundant uniform!” yelled out Concrete Man out of spite. “Get back to class!”

You paused midair, just sort of bouncing in the air, but now your eyes were glowing green and you felt energy activating inside of you that you knew would be deadly for Concrete Man, and extremely riling for you.

“Aw,” you crossed your arms, your voice eerily monotonous. “You made me angry. Good luck in advance.”

Concrete Man started to laugh, but before he could even get out a good bellow, you darted forward, feet first, and rammed yourself into his face, nailing him so hard he practically stumbled, your superhuman strength and berserker state granting you immunity to the aftermath of the blow and even greater strength.

The people below gasped and stumbled back, and some people started to run. Meanwhile, you were launching great green blasts of energy from out of the palm of your hands and into the villain’s face, blinding him and making him even more vulnerable as he groaned in pain at the heat of the power surges you were sending out.

Peter just looked up, his voice shaky because he was intimidated by you now, and choked out,

“U-um, d-do you need any help? Sh… should I be doing anything right now? I’m really confused, woah-”

“No! Shut up and get that woman to safety!” you yelled, only because you were angry and he was distracting you.

He did exactly that and ran over to the lady who Concrete Man had been attacking previously to get her to safety, and practically managing the crowds of people running by and trying to escape. You, on the other hand, were this much closer to defeating Concrete Man.

With blast after blast you had practically rendered him powerless, and he was staggering back, about to fall hard onto the ground. As Peter watched, he realized your maneuvers and techniques - the way you were hot headed and fast on your feet, just hitting him with move after move - reminded him an awful lot of someone… someone he was incredibly close to, but in his haze he couldn’t think of who.

“EVERYBODY MOVE BACK!” you yelled out to the few people who were standing underneath where Concrete Man was going to fall.

Everyone ran and when he finally fell, tumbling and crashing to the hard ground, you zoomed down, your eyes still gleaming a flashing green, and hovered above his disintegrating face, mocking him,

“Who the fuck is a little schoolgirl now!”

He bellowed and tried to get back up, but you were already harnessing your energy between your two hands, pressing the right wrist over the left wrist in a clamping maneuver and muttering,

“Get back to class,” before blasting an explosion of radiation at him that made him cry out in agony as he melted into the ground, just a puddle of wet cement like he had been before.

The people that remained cheered raucously and you came back down to the ground, a few feet ahead of Peter who had watched the whole thing go down in awe. You couldn’t help but smile, back to your normal state after releasing all of that energy, and bow just for even more effect.

You swerved around to face Peter now, remembering the mistake you had made in calling him by his name. You had meant to tell him sooner or later, but in your anger at seeing him get so mishandled by this wannabe Ironman you had slipped up and soon the cat would be out of the bag. You knew your boyfriend could be a bit of a ditz sometimes, despite his pure genius, so you figured he hadn’t yet put two and two together.

“Who are you?” Peter was first to talk, his face a mix of horror and confusion.

You breathed out loudly, catching your breath,

“Follow me.”

Reluctantly, he did, and you led him to a quiet alley where no one else was, and this just so happened to be the alley where he left his backpack and changed into his Spiderman uniform everyday. Something was definitely up.

You looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and when you had decided it was safe, you got awfully quiet and looked him in the eyes, though he still couldn’t decipher the face because you were masked.

“Peter, it’s me,” you said solemnly, your face and voice hopeful that you wouldn’t be angry.

It was like a lightbulb, no, a fuse, lit up and exploded over his head. He almost took a step back, he was so shocked, and everything started to come together. He started getting eight by ten glossies of his life, but just the moments he shared it with you, and all the weird things about you he had brushed off.

Like for example, your insane flexibility despite you proving to him multiple times you hadn’t set foot in a gymnasium for gymnastics since you were a kid, your excuses for leaving suddenly out of nowhere, your off days where you seemed to be supernatural when angry. It all made sense now.

“YN?” his already high voice cracked as he squeaked out your name, and you smiled apprehensively, hoping he wasn’t mad.

“Um… hi?”

“I don’t believe it. I do, but… wh- how does this even happen… you knew I was Spiderman all this time? And- and you, who… who even are you! If you’re a villain we have to break up… you’re not a villain are you? Please don’t be, I love you. I-I mean, that’s a strong word, could be scary, but you’re scary so I don’t want to get you upset by saying that if you’re not ready. Are you ready? Am I talking too fast, I feel like I’m talking really fast. Okay, woah, I’m a little light-headed, I’m gonna sit down.”

He sat up against the wall and you chuckled, standing in front of him- the boots really added height and you practically towered over him- on top of that he was sitting down. You thought it was cute that he found you scary, hell, you thought he was cute - he on the other hand was intimidated by your even further enhanced beauty (because you were already beautiful to him but now even more so) and power. He was also trying very hard to look anywhere but at you, or at least at your face, because he had never noticed how absolutely ripped you were, more than him maybe.

“Peter, calm down.” You removed your mask and cloak and he cleared his throat a bit too loudly, now that he could see your face. Then he started to choke and you made a disgruntled face as you glared down at him.

“Sorry,” he held his hand out to excuse himself but continued coughing.

“Look, I can’t tell you anything if you’re gonna be freaking out the entire time.”

“Okay… okay, just… explain.”

And you did- you explained how you were the most recent Avenger and how Natasha Romanoff had taken you under her wing for training, and how you had even visited other realms like Azarath and Tamaran to receive training from the former Teen Titans. You told him how this was really very recent and how you were going to tell him at some point, you just had to find the right time. He was planning on telling you too, at some point, since your relationship was getting quite serious.

You explained that you hadn’t meant to call him Peter, but that you were just distracted and annoyed, and already angry, since Peter was getting hurt and you felt like you hadn’t gotten there soon enough to help out. And you explained how you wanted nothing more than for the two of you to remain the way you were relationship wise, and not to let this new knowledge about you or each other betray what you had.

But you emphasized that sometimes your job was more important than him and he totally understood that - you were the kind of headstrong girl who, even if hot-headed, had a good head on her shoulders and a strong belief in yourself. You wouldn’t let anyone, even Peter, your first love, come between that.

“Wow…” Peter said, following your lengthy conversation. “So you’ve been an Avenger all this time?”

“Like I said, I only gained Avenger status recently. Before that I was kind of like you… just more, y’know, lowkey I guess, since you didn’t know who I was… or who Violet Blast (your superhero name) was until now.”

“Yeah… no kidding,” Peter panted. “You look really nice in your uniform by the way.”

You side-eyed him but winked playfully,

“You too if I were into the whole tights thing.”

He made a face, irritated but satisfied- you were the same old smart mouthed you, even as an Avenger. You were sitting next to each other, still in the alley, and you hopped onto your feet again, pulling Peter up from the ground too. He winced at how hard you had grasped his hand- superhuman strength things- and couldn’t hide it before you noticed. You giggled,

“Oops.”

“Ha,” he laughed limply, because he was still a bit afraid of you.

“Ok. I left my bag somewhere here…” you trailed off, starting to swivel around to try and find it.

Peter spotted it and dashed a web out towards it, pulling it towards you,

“Got it!”

You smiled and picked it up,

“Aww. My boyfriend’s a little spiderbaby.”

“Er- I’m a spiderman,” Peter corrected, folding his arms.

“Yeah?” you teased him, rolling your eyes. You started to change back into your regular clothes, but Peter made a noise and asked,

“Whaaat ya doin’?”

You made a face, bringing your brows together,

“Changing…?”

He cleared his throat, feeling quite awkward now since it was very obvious, but his mind had gone somewhere it shouldn’t have, in his dazed mix,

“We… yeah, I knew that. Just- you weren’t gonna give me a warning?”

You raised your brow even higher,

“Peter, I’m your girlfriend.”

He squeaked out and started to complain,

“Look, I’m really overwhelmed right now, with all this new information, so could you ju-”

“Fine, turn around,” you griped, but you couldn’t help but laugh at him.

When you were done you waited for him to change too, but he just stared at you.

“You want me to turn around,” you said, more of a statement than a question, and he nodded shyly.

When the two of you were finally in your regular clothes, though you were by no means regular at all, you carried on out of the alleyway as if you were. When you got out on the other side, you laced your hand through his, careful not to squeeze too hard,

“And by the way, I do love you… too.”

Although this brought a boyish smile to his face and made him laugh joyously in that cute way of his, he was still a little confused,

“What?”

You let go of his hand slightly, hoping he hadn’t just been rambling inattentively when he said that to you earlier, and already fearing losing him,

“Just… you said, back there, when we… I don’t know, I thought you said you loved me. Back there.”

Your voice got low and your head hung and your insecurity was showing. But Peter’s face remained lit up, as he squeezed your hand to reassure you, bringing your hands back closer together,

“Oh I know! I just wanted to make sure I was hearing you properly YN.”

You rolled your eyes and glanced over at him, basking in this moment- it didn’t seem real, but it was. The two of you, literal superheroes, together in what seemed to be life’s most fun and magical twist yet, not just the fact that you even had these abilities. And you were just two teenagers walking along the streets of Queens. And you shared your first I love yous. You couldn’t help but laugh and smile.

“Sure, Spidey,” you smirked.

ahh ok i hope you and everyone else who read that liked it!! should i make a part two where they’re just figuring out how to act normally in school + when they’re around each other and stuff, and maybe more of them fighting together!! lmk <3 thanks so much for requesting first ask anon <3

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safyresky · 7 years

Text

Fusion AU Part II: When Elle Met Berline

Part I: The History | Part II: When Elle Met Berline | Part III: The Bernelle Bit | Part IV: The Triumphant Return of Jackie Frost

(IT’S FINALLY HERE!!! Picks up during TEC, and goes from there! It will end just before Crystal Springs would pick up, I had to split it in half tbh). Side note: It was very hard to write this part and not write the entirety of the Jacqueline and Elle reunion post-TEC blowout, heh).

(also biggest thanks ever to @lovelypidge who let me throw parts at her inbox to make sure Elle was in character and also for writing some of the Elle dialogue for me when I got stuck u r the best :*)

Things had gone from bad, to worse, to horrible, to hopeful, and then right back to bad again, Bernard thought. He leaned on the wall, his head feeling like it was going to explode, as the love of his life exploded on her best friend.

“What else was I suppose to do?”

“Be my friend!” Elle shouted, choked up. “All you had to do was be my friend, Jacqueline. But I’m sure even that was a chore for you. Just like it was for Jack.”

There was a brief moment of silence. Bernard wanted to speak out but his head was throbbing; he couldn’t find his voice. The cold silence spoke for itself; the temperature dropped and Bernard could tell that Jacqueline had been rendered speechless.

“You know what? Just go. You did your job, and now you can be done with me too,” Elle said.

“I bet there’s no point to convince you other wise, is there? Once Elle makes up her mind about something, nobody is changing it.”

“Glad you have me down to a science.”

“You know what, fine. If that’s what you want then I’ll go,” Jacqueline said quietly, voice heavy. “I’m dead tired of this drama anyway. If the two of you had just fused this whole thing could have been avoided!”

Bernard’s vision was swimming a bit, but he could see the look of confusion on Elle’s face.

“Good luck with this one Bernard,” Jacqueline said, her dress swishing, her voice heavy now as well. “I get the feeling you’ll need it.” And with that, the sprite disappeared.

“Ugh. She’s so! I hate--! What does that even mean?!” Elle stomped her foot, tears falling down her face. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Good riddance, I’ll bet.”

Bernard needed to tell her...he needed to go...somewhere? He really, really wasn’t doing well.

“Elle, I don’t think--” he slid down the wall, groaning.

Elle rushed over, concern all over her face. She would have to put Jacqueline’s comment on the back burner now. Bernard needed her help.

"Have you thought about talking to Jacqueline yet?” Bernard asked her one day, a few weeks after what had become known as The Pocket Watch Incident had been resolved.

“Have you thought about talking to Jacqueline yet?” Elle mocked.

Bernard rolled his eyes. “I’m serious, Elle. Have you?”

Elle bit her lip in thought. She had been thinking of it, especially after Bernard had told her a bit about what had happened between Jacqueline and her brother, and pointed out how Jacqueline had never actually betrayed Elle in any way. She had just been doing her job. She let out a long sigh. “I have been. Of course I have, B.”

“I’m just checking in,” he said, shrugging and doing that goofy lil smile that Elle really, really loved.

“I know, and I appreciate it. I really do. It's just..." she sighed, resting her cheek on her fist. "I dunno. I came away from that last discussion with Jack with more questions than answers about Jacqueline, but one thing I do understand is that what happened wasn't Jacqueline's fault--and that the things that I said to her? Yeah, they were really messed up.”

“It is a bit of a slushy spot for her,” B said, sitting down beside Elle.

She fell silent for a few moments. "I really upset her then, didn’t I? I can't tell if she was offended, or angry, and honestly? I'm kind of scared to find out.” Elle sighed. “B, I'm the one who owes her an apology, and I don't know where to start." She pulled her knees up to her chest. "What if now that she doesn't have to be my friend anymore, and...and with everything I said...she doesn't want to be?"

“Elle,” Bernard began, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. “I’ve known Jacqueline for a very long time. I betcha she’s having the same struggle you are! Or something similar at the very least. I can tell you with certainty that Jacqueline still wants to be your friend.”

“Are you sure?”

“As sure as Santa will ride the sleigh on Christmas Day.”

“Well...” Elle began, lifting her head and grinning.

Bernard laughed. “Good point. But seriously Elle, it really will be okay.”

She scratched the back of her neck, frowning. “I just have so many questions to ask her. I want to know what happened between her and Jack. I’m kinda tired of not knowing that. I want to know what she meant with that fusion comment...”

“The fusion thing is just an advance magical technique we fae can do that’s used for emergencies only. Don’t worry about it too much. As for the history between the two Frost siblings...you won't know until you ask Jacqueline."

“Then I guess we should talk to Santa about taking a Day off to go visit,” Elle said, deciding to press her friend about the fusion thing since B seemed pretty unconcerned by it.

“Already taken care of,” Bernard said, standing up and offering a hand. “Santa’s cleared us for the day and I’ve already talked to Quentin. Shall we go visit my Aunt and Uncle?”

Elle laughed. “Stop it, you guys aren’t related. Cousins my behind.”

Bernard grinned. “Doesn’t mean I don’t see them as such. So, wanna go? My arm is getting tired.”

Elle laughed, grabbing his outstretched hand and pulling herself up. “Yes, let’s.”

Jacqueline stood in the kitchen, drinking a carton of chocolate milk, still in her pyjamas. Her hair wasn’t even frozen, and was up in a very messy ponytail.

“I don’t like seeing you so upset,” Winter said, eyes trained on the crossword in front of her.

“That makes two of us.” Jacqueline sighed, taking a sip from her carton. “I dunno Mom. I know I should talk to her but she probably doesn’t wanna see me at all, less so how I usually like to appear.”

“Is that why you haven’t been freeze drying lately? It’s very unlike you.”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I just...she thinks I’m just like him, Mom.”

“Jacqueline dear, come here,” Winter said, standing up and walking towards her daughter, arms open. Jacqueline smiled, happily accepting her Mother’s hug. “You are not like him. You’re nothing like him. And I’m sure Elle will realize that soon if she hasn’t already. I bet she’ll come marching through that door to see you any day now.”

Jacqueline laughed, about to reply when the doorbell rang. Both women stopped and stared at each other, equally confused.

“I didn’t think she’d appear today.”

“That’s not funny, Mom.”

“I wasn’t being funny.”

“I’ve got it!” Blaise shouted from the foyer, answering the door. The sprites waited. “Bernard! And Elle, I presume? What a surprise, come in!”

“Oh my goddess it is Elle,” Jacqueline said, panic setting in.

“Jacqueline, it’s okay. It’s fine. Just breath.”

“It is super not fine Mom, holy snowballs.”

“You won’t feel better until you talk to her.”

“I know, but I’m...I can’t do this Mom.”

“Yes you can--”

“No, I can’t!” Jacqueline whisper shouted, disappearing in a panic, leaving a shower of snowflakes and blue sparks in her wake.

Jacqueline knew her Mother was right, and she knew that Elle’s arrival meant that they would have to talk. But she was not going to talk while in her jammies with her hair uncombed and unfrozen, nope. She was just going to get changed and then muster up the courage to go downstairs.

Or at least, she was, until there had been a knock at the bedroom door.

Thankfully Jacqueline has been dressed, her hair in its usual white, curly mess; but she hadn’t mustered the confidence to go down and talk to her friend just yet. All because she was afraid she would scare Elle; after all, Jacqueline and her brother did look alike. They were siblings, as much as she wished they weren’t. Winter was right, they were very different.

But that didn’t stop her own insecurities from hitting her like a sentient storm, nor did it stop Elle’s words from their fight from repeating over and over in her head. So naturally, Jacqueline did what anyone else in her situation would have done.

She hid under her bed.

“Jacqueline? Are you hiding from me?”

“No?”

“Then where are you?”

The sprite was silent for a moment. “...hiding.”

“Can I sit?”

“Yeah sure, make yourself at home. Mi casa e tu casa, and such,” Jacqueline said, cringing because that sounded very Jack.

“Listen. It’s okay if you wanna hide,” Elle began, sitting on the bed. “I don’t blame you. After you left I...I talked to Jack and...what I said was really, really messed up and I...god, I have no idea where to start.”

Jacqueline frowned, her heart going out to her friend. If they still were friends, that is. She wanted to get out and comfort her but...goddess, I should have stayed defrosted, she thought.

“We still are friends. At least, I’d like to be. But honestly, after everything I said...I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to be friends anymore. I’m sorry Jacqueline. I really, really am. I was so angry about everything and I took it out on you and I’m just, I’m really, really sorry.”

Jacqueline laughed.

“Hey! I just poured out my feelings and you’re laughing at me?”

“Not because of your apology! I just...I was afraid you would be different but you’re the same old Elle, even knowing me like this. It’s...comforting.”

“I’m not sure what this is referring to since you’re still hiding. Same old Jacqueline, I see.”

“Mostly,” Jacqueline said. “Just a little frosty, I guess.”

“After I talked to Jack...I got an idea of what happened between the two of you. I’m not sure if I offended you, or made you angry, or both--”

“It was none of those,” Jacqueline said, her voice cracking. “I’ve...got a lot of complicated feelings towards the brother. I’ve grown up all my life being compared to him; people automatically assuming we’re exactly the same just because I’m his sister, and his Legate. When you said what you said...I was thrown off completely. I wasn’t expecting it. And...honestly, one of my worst fears is becoming just like him. So when you said--”

“Oh man I seriously messed up, I knew it! I’m so sorry Jacqueline I really, really am--”

“Elle! Stop it. Stop apologizing,” Jacqueline said. Elle felt a pair of familiar cold arms around her. “It’s okay! I messed up too, you know.”

Elle looked back at her friend, blinking briefly in shock. “Oh geez, a little frosty indeed. Is this why you were hiding?”

Jacqueline shrugged, grinning sheepishly. “Yeah. I was thawed before you arrived but when you guys came in, I decided that if I was gonna talk to you I’d do it with my most comfortable appearance. I freeze dry all the time and I tend to go towards the bluer shades which I know is a lot like Jack and I was super afraid that you’d be afraid of how I looked--”

“Calm down snow buddy! You don’t look that alike.”

“Really?”

“Really! Your face is a bit rounder, your eyes are a bit of a darker blue, your noses are similar but I think yours is smaller. I was expecting a lot more ice on that face to be honest. You’re surprisingly warm.”

“I’ve never had a frozen heart. It’s my claim to fame,” Jacqueline said, winking.

“Nice,” Elle replied.

“Yeah. I promise, everything is all good. I’m happy you still want to see me and that you still want to be my friend, cause I still want to be yours. It was never a chore for me, Elle. You’re the first real friend I’ve ever really had, aside from B-Man, I guess. And I’m sorry, too.”

“You didn’t do anything! You were just doing your job. You were trying to protect me and your home. I understand that.”

“See, that’s the thing. I was doing my job. I shouldn’t have been so flippant when you mentioned magic existing, I should have been more supportive...I was a little harsh too, after all. The good luck thing was kinda a low blow.”

“So was me comparing you to Jack. I think B said it was a bit of a slushy spot?”

“Y-yeah. A bit.”

“What happened between the two of you?”

“The Day of Darkness happened.”

“That’s loaded.”

“It lives up to the name, I promise.”

“Do tell,” Elle said, settling in.

Jacqueline paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face before she began to talk. “Growing up, Jack had always been trouble. He had a penchant for evil. Dad was always hounding him which he never really appreciated. Then I came along. Apparently having someone to mentor put a curb on Jack’s evil streak. It didn’t last, though. Once Santa entered the scene, Jack was back to his old ways, trying very hard to take his season back. It got really bad, to the point where Dad confronted him one night.”

Jacqueline paused, lost in thought, her hand clutching the material of her dress covering her belly. “They fought. Like, with their powers. I heard them from upstairs. I was scared. I knew Jack did bad things, and my biggest fear was coming true: Jack was doing a “very bad”, I called it, and my parents sounded like they were hurt. I ran downstairs and Jack was leaving. He wouldn’t go back to help them. I had no idea that he had hurt them...just a feeling. I...I followed him outside.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes. A huge ice storm had begun, the likes of which I had never seen. I asked him why he was leaving. If he’d come back. He got really upset when I said he was doing a very big bad and that he would be on the naughty list forever. I begged him to stay; he was my only friend, my mentor...what would happen when he left? Who would teach me? He got really upset and yelled for me to leave him alone, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, with three very sharp pains in my abdomen. And he was gone.”

“Three icicles. To the stomach,” Elle murmured.

“How did you know that?” Jacqueline looked perplexed.

“The stabber himself. And Father Time, admittedly. He’s sassy.”

“I think it’s his bald spot. He’s touchy about that.”

Elle snorted. “Sorry you got stabbed, dude.”

Jacqueline laughed. “Thanks, Elle. I lived, so y’know, there’s that.”

“Did he do it on purpose?” Elle asked suddenly.

“I don’t know. And knowing all the sleet he’s pulled...well, it’s hard to decide. Part of me hopes it was an accident. Because as horrible as it is, after everything he’s done...I miss him, Elle. How awful is that?”

“It’s...it’s not. He misses you too, you know.”

“Ha.”

“I’m serious! It’s one of the reasons why he did the pocket watch thing.”

Jacqueline looked...perplexed. Maybe a bit concerned? Elle couldn’t tell, and she was being careful mentally. She didn’t want to violate Jacqueline’s privacy by prying into what seemed to be her deepest thoughts and fears.

“That’s hard to believe.”

“I know. But take my word for it, he really does want to make amends. It shocked me, too.”

“Elle, it’s...really hard to believe. When we were younger, we’d often find ourselves fused and...his thoughts, that up close and personal? Terrifying.”

“I feel like that’s a loaded statement as well, but I have no idea how deep it is because I have no idea what fused means. Does it have to do with that fusion thing you mentioned?”

“It is the fusion thing I mentioned. Didn’t Bernard tell you about it?” Jacqueline asked, genuinely shocked.

“I asked. He said it was “just an advance magical technique we fae can do that’s used for emergencies only”, and then he said not to worry about it.”

“What a typical Elvin attitude towards fusion, honestly that Bernard--”

“If it’s not an emergency technique then what is it?”

“It is a magical technique and some fae do view it as an emergency thing. The Elves before the Christmas Elves you know--and are, nice ears there kid--saw it as a battle tactic; a very important, very special one. With the Christmas Elves that became “something we can do for emergencies only”. Faeries think themselves above it and would never fuse with any of their cousins, just with other faeries. Pixies were neutral? I think? I can’t remember what Mom told Jackie, I was very young. It’s not like we could ask pixies either, they’re...gone.”

“Who’s Jackie?”

“They are--or rather, were--the fusion of me and...Jack. Jackie Frost was their name. The Ultimate Jackie Frost, but it’s a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?”

“Fusion of...so fusion means what it means, doesn’t it? Two people combined into one person?”

“In principle, yes. Fusion is a magical technique that only fae--so sprites, elves, faeries and pixies--can perform. At it’s base, it’s the combination of two fae to form one. But that’s just at it’s base, Elle. It’s so much more than that.”

“The sprite view, I assume?”

Jacqueline chuckled. “Yeah, the sprite view. The right view if you ask me. It's...an experience! You combine your form with another and become someone entirely new. New thoughts, new feelings...at the same time, the fusion knows everything each counterpart knows. All of the thoughts and feelings of each other. Everything.”

Elle was silent for the briefest of moments before a large smile graced her face. “That sounds amazing! Silver bells, Jacquie!”

“It really is,” Jacqueline said, grinning.

“I wonder if Bernard would fuse with me,” Elle mussed.

Jacqueline snorted. “The only times I have ever fused with Bernard have been in emergencies.”

“You’ve fused with B?”

“A few times, yeah. Usually in really dangerous situations. Santas would sometimes send him out on these crazy errands. Like I’m talking several hunters pointing guns at us emergencies. You can see why I’m a tad skeptical.” She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Then again, he really loves you so maybe he will agree to fuse with you.”

“Cuddles count as an emergency, right?”

Jacqueline snorted. “If that doesn’t work, I can show you how to fuse,” she said winking.

Elle grinned back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Elle, it’s for emergencies only! We can’t just fuse because we feel like it.”

“Jacqueline says we can.”

“Well Jacqueline isn’t the authority on fusion!”

“Nor are you!”

Bernard glanced over at Elle, not slowing down. “Fair enough. Had I known you were that curious I would have explained it to you the proper way.”

“I like the sprite view better, to be honest.”

Bernard smiled as they entered Santa’s office. “I can tell.”

“Well I mean if you won’t fuse with me, I’ll just go and ask Jacqueline,” Elle said, turning to the side and crossing her arms, hazarding a glance at Bernard. He looked upset for a moment, maybe even...jealous? Elle grinned.

“I--”

“Ah! There you two are,” Santa said, coming up from under his desk. “I have a very big problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find my snow globe.”

“Excuse me?!” Bernard nearly shouted.

“I was talking to Charlie!”

“Santa, you need to stop taking the snow globe out of the hall. You know how special it is!”

“It’s the only way I can talk to Charlie face to face!”

“Just get a smart phone,” Elle said.

“The screens are too small.”

“We can make you a big one.”

“It’s not the same,” Santa insisted. “If I get a big smart phone it’s going to be so bulky and I may as well just get a tablet.”

“Then get a tablet?” Elle suggested.

“I don’t like the idea. I guess the snow globe is more of my...”

“Aesthetic?”

“Yes! Thank you, Elle.”

“Santa if you really want to stick to your aesthetic, I can make a replica that serves as a communicator. That way the real one stays safe inside of the hall and you don’t. Loose it! How did you misplace it?” Bernard asked, exasperated.

“That’s the thing! I put it down for a second and when I turned, it was gone.”

“So it just disappeared?” Elle asked.

“Yes!”

“That’s impossible,” Elle said, glancing over at Bernard who had paled...considerably. “You okay B?”

“It’s not impossible,” he said, voice cracking. “It happens all the time.”

“What?” Santa and Elle said at the same time.

“Okay, picture this. You’re doing your laundry, and you pull your socks out of the dryer. You start matching them up, only to find that there’s a few matches missing. And they never resurface.”

“I hate when that happens,” Santa said. “I had these really nice pair, that had toe homes, and I lost one of them. Never found it again.”

“Well, they do go somewhere. They end up in the mountains at Crystal Springs. And I think that’s where your snow globe may be.”

“Well that’s great!” Santa said, excited now. “You can get it for me! And bring it back! And we’ll put it back and I’ll stop using it to call Charlie, if you can make a replica.”

“Course I can,” Bernard scoffed. “And in theory, yes, it should be easy to get back.”

“And in practise?”

“It’s more complex. The mountains surrounding the Northern Province, where the Vortex of Lost Items is, just so happens to be in troll territory.”

“Trolls?!” Elle asked.

“Vortex of Lost Items? That’s what it’s called? That’s not very creative.”

“The Mountain Trolls aren’t very creative.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Do you mean to tell me there are mountain trolls? Like in, like in the Hobbit?” Elle asked.

“Almost exactly like that, yes,” Bernard replied. “I’ve faced them before. They’re really stupid, but really great at bludgeoning. They have an excellent sense of smell, too.”

“We need to get that snow globe back,” Santa said. “Bernard, I’m going to request a special errand.”

“Of course,” he replied.

“Special errand?” Elle questioned.

“It’s one of the...well, I wouldn’t say perks, but uh, parts of being Head Elf. Sometimes Santa sends me on special errands that nobody else here could really do.”

“Does Elf Number Two have a cool mission perk?”

“Sometimes,” Bernard said.

“Maybe you should take Elle with you,” Santa said, sitting at his desk. “It may be helpful for a second set of hands when it comes to mountain trolls. And, it’s great practise for future special errands, if the need for her to go on one should arise.”

“I agree, but I don’t think mountain trolls would be the best starter errand.”

“Why not?” Elle asked.

“It could be dangerous. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Oh please, I can handle myself, remember?” Elle asked, tapping her head. “Danger is my middle name,” she added, grinning.

“No it’s not,” Bernard said. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Elle, send a message to Jacqueline and tell her to meet us at the base of the Northern Mountains. This way, if things get hairy we’ll have some backup.”

“Has she dealt with them before?”

“We both have, together. This isn’t the first time a Santa has misplaced something and I’ve had to fetch it. After the Clifton Manor Incident, Jacqueline tended to go with me whenever I had one of these riskier errands. Just in case things got nasty, like they did at Clifton Manor. Though it was really a Lodge--”

“Oh! Was that the incident with the hunters?”

“It-yes, it was. How did you know?”

“Jacqueline mentioned it. You guys fused!” Elle realized.

“It was an emergency,” Bernard said. “If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to get out with what we needed.”

“I suppose if something did happen, it would be best if she was there since you guys have fused before,” Elle said, a little weary for some reason.

“I’m sure it will be fine. The trolls are all over the place and I doubt they’d be by the vortex. Really, it’s a small chance we’ll see the trolls.”

“Right. And I guess it would be better to have someone experienced with fusion there, just in case.”

Bernard smiled. “Right.”

“Sorry to interrupt but, uh, fusion?”

“It’s a thing elves can do. And sprites.”

“Pixies and faeries as well,” Elle added.

“I’ll tell you more about it later, Santa. Right now, we need to get that snow globe back, as soon as possible.” Bernard said. “Shall we, Elle?”

“Yes, let’s,” Elle said, taking his hand and letting him teleport them where they needed to go.

It was dusk when they arrived; the two elves blinked briefly as their eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, since it was a perpetual daytime back at the Pole.

“Is it just me, or is the darkness up on the mountain ominous?”

“It’s very ominous,” Bernard said. “You told Jacqueline?”

“She said she’d be right over. She lives in this province, doesn’t she?”

“The Frosts are one of the few residents who live up here, yes. Now where is she?”

A snowball came flying right at Elle; sensing it, she ducked, the projectile hitting the side of Bernard’s face and sticking to it in a very comedic fashion. Elle snorted.

“Whoops, sorry B-Man! I was aiming for Elle,” Jacqueline said, ducking out from behind a nearby boulder.

“Nice to see you too, Jacqueline,” Bernard said, wiping the snow off of his face as the two girls giggled.

“I told you you wouldn’t get me!”

“Just you wait, I am the snowball master,” Jacqueline said, grinning. “So, let’s get down to business. What’ve we got?”

“Santa’s lost his snow globe suddenly,” Bernard said, air quotes punctuating the suddenly.

Instantly, Jacqueline groaned, throwing her head (and her torso) back. “Ugh, that means trolls, doesn’t it? They’re so smelly and so, so stupid.”

“It’s a slim chance they’ll be there,” Elle said. “Bernard thinks it will be fairly easy. If anything, this climb is going to be brutal.”

“I’ll just fly us up,” Jacqueline said, a cold north breeze beginning to stir.

“Hold on a second--” Bernard began, but it was too late; the breeze had turned into a heavy wind and Jacqueline grabbed them both, propelling them up the mountain side. The trip was fast, and they landed just at the cusp of the mountaintop, hidden behind a few boulders.

“There we go! First problem solved. And we’re hidden. Just in case,” Jacqueline said, shrugging.

“We needed to be stealthy.”

“It was more stealthy than teleporting, B-Man.”

Elle carefully moved to peer over the boulders as her companions argued, taking in the scene. The peaks lowered down into a plateau; in the far left of the plateau was a deep hole, surrounded by all sorts of items. There were a lot of socks, Elle noted, just like B had said earlier. A few larger objects were there as well.

Suddenly the hole began to glow, an object popping out of it. In the brief light given off by the vortex, Elle recognized it instantly.

“Guys, if you’re done bickering? I can see the snow globe.”

Bernard and Jacqueline joined her on either side, peering over the boulder. Bernard spotted it instantly. “Nice work, Elle.”

“It just popped out.”

“Thank goodness it travelled fast.”

“We have a problem,” Jacqueline spoke up, eyes trained on the right side of the plateau. The two elves followed her line of sight--about seven trolls sat around a large roaring fire, cooking something on the flames.

“Gingersnaps,” Bernard said.

“So much for a slim chance,” Jacqueline added. She turned away and slumped behind the rocks, hidden from view. Bernard and Elle joined her, deep in thought.

“We need a plan,” Bernard said.

“Trolls are really dumb, right?” Elle asked.

“Incredibly dumb,” Jacqueline replied.

“Okay, well here’s what I’m thinking. I’ll sneak down there and just pick up the snow globe. If they notice me, I can redirect them with the good old brain box,” she said.

“That’s risky,” Bernard pointed out. “They can hear really well, you know.”

“I’ll throw a rock on the other side of the plateau, this way they won’t look at me. If I stay on the far side, I should be able to do it.”

“I like it.”

“Jacqueline!”

“What? It’s simple. So are they,” she said, gesturing over the rock.

Bernard got up, glancing at the trolls again, then ducked back down behind the rock. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Elle. Or, y’know, eaten by trolls.”

“It wouldn’t be a fun way to go out,” Jacqueline added. “You sure about this Elle?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t sure,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “You guys can watch me from up here and if anything happens you can come and give me backup. However you decide to,” Elle said.

“I’m cool with that. It took me forever to get the stench out of my dress last time I dealt with trolls. Bernard?”

“We’ll give it a try. Just, please be careful Elle,” Bernard said.

Elle blinked, his sincerity warming her chest. “Of course. I’ll be back before you both know it,” she said, and with that, Elle left.

“She seems bothered by something,” Jacqueline noted. “Almost...jealous sounding? Sort of?”

“I was getting that vibe too. I think she’s upset I won’t fuse with her if things get bad today.”

“That would do it. Here’s hoping her plan works then. I don’t think Berline would help her mood much, if that’s the case.”

Bernard nodded, turning his attention to Elle’s retreating form.

Elle had decided to head over to the left side of the clearing and descend there. It was farthest from the trolls and the light from the fire didn’t quite reach. She began her decent, frowning.

She was in a little bit of a mood. The worry Bernard was giving off was a little overwhelming; she would be fine. She could handle this. There was no need for Jacqueline to come "lend a hand” if need be.

Elle knew she really didn’t need to be so upset that Bernard had fused with Jacqueline before and not her. She didn’t need to be upset because B had asked her to call Jacqueline just in case. It made sense--Jacqueline had experience fusing and Elle did not.

Though if B would just fuse with her then she wouldn’t be such a novice!

She lost her footing on the climb down, a few pebbles falling. She inhaled sharply, immediately stopping her climb and plastering herself as flat against the side as she could. She looked over at the trolls; they had heard. Of course.

Quickly she scanned the opposite wall, spotting a loose rock on the side and giving it a little mental tug. It cracked and rolled down the side of the mountain, falling on the floor.

“Eh, wot’s that?” One of the trolls said.

“Someone here? This is our hoard, leave off!”

With their attention all turned to the other cliff side, Elle exhaled and continued her decent, touching down lightly. She breathed a sigh of relief, glancing over at the group. They really did stink, she noted. Like compost, or manure.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the rocky wall, slowly sidestepping over to the currently dormant vortex. Her eyes were peeled on the trolls, as they grumbled about, trying to find what had fallen the rock. They were now arguing over what kind of animal it was, and if they could eat it.

“Oh man, you’re all really, really stupid,” she grinned. She glanced above them, giving another rock a bit of a shove. It landed on one of their heads, causing a bit of an uproar.

Careful, Elle. Don’t get too cocky.

I know what I’m doing, B, Elle replied mentally, continuing her slow sidestep against the wall. “If you were so worried, you could have just fused with me. Bet that would’ve kept me safe,” she said out loud, frowning. She sighed, inching closer and closer to the vortex. “I just wanna fuse with my man,” she said out loud, a tad loud. She stopped, glancing at the trolls. They were still preoccupied with the opposite wall.

Everything okay bud? Jacqueline’s voice asked.

You too??

I’m just checking in. You stopped and I missed why.

Oh, Elle replied. She flushed a little, a tad embarrassed for snapping on Jacqueline. Sorry for snapping. It’s all good, pal. Elle said, even though she was decidedly not good right now, what with the whole fusion thing getting her all...worked up (she refused to call it jealousy, even though a part of her knew that’s exactly what it was).

She shook her head, shoving the fusion stuff to the side as she approached the vortex. Or well, hole, as it was currently dormant. She glanced around, trying to find the snow globe. Her eyes scanned over the mess of objects--socks and keys, a few weird nick knacks, some teddy bears, and...some treasure? Sure enough, there were several small chests filled with all sorts of loose change, glimmering every so often. And were those weapons laying about?

There’s a lot of stuff here, she told them both mentally. Swords, even.

Let me know if you see one with a really nice sapphire inlaid hilt, I lost it back in the fifteenth century, Jacqueline replied.

How do you loose a sword?

Your jealous knight of a boyfriend “misplaces” it and then actually can’t find it.

Elle snorted. Is this the one that hated how good you were with a sword?

Yeah, that’s the one. And I really liked that sword, too.

Do you see the snow globe? B asked. Elle scanned the area she thought she had seen it pop off to. Sure enough, it was right where she had watched it fall, in a pile of Canadian pennies.

I got eyes on it. I’m grabbing it and heading over, she replied, inching closer to the globe. It was very close to the hole. She got closer, and closer, when suddenly the hole lit up.

The whole area was bathed in light; she could hear the trolls making a fuss and realized they were looking over at her. But had she been spotted?

“Lookit that, s’another trunk of gold!”

“Wait, what’s that there? Is that a person?”

“It smells like elf!”

“Uh-oh,” Elle said, the light dying down. “I have been spotted.”

She turned to run but was suddenly pulled up by a meaty hand. The trolls were...faster than she thought they would be.

“Shit,” she said.

“Did you come out o’ the vortex?” the one holding her asked.

“Why would she come out o’ the vortex?” another one said, smacking that one upside the head.

“Ow!”

“Looks like she got a little lost.”

“Can we eat her?”

“Elf meat is very good, I hear.”

“You definitely don’t want to eat me,” Elle said. “I’m barely an elf I like just got my ears. I haven’t aged well at all, I doubt you would want fresh meat--”

“Fresh meat is much better than aged meat!”

“No it’s not! Aged meat has a nice taste to it!”

“Wot do you say, elf? What kind o’ meat is the best?”

“Definitely aged,” Elle said.

“She’s just sayin’ that so we don’t eat her!”

“Let’s get ‘er on the spit, then we’ll discuss seasoning, ‘ow’s that?”

“Oh boy,” Elle said, as one of them began to rustle around for some rope. Craning her neck, she stared at the troll, imagining a large fist punching it out. She felt the mental tug head towards the troll--but nothing happened. He blinked and swatted, as if a bug had just hit him.

“I am in a bit of a pickle,” she voiced.

“Pickles? Oh, that would go great with elf, thank you, dinner!”

“Do we ‘ave pickles?”

“I’m sure someone will loose pickles and a jar will pop right out o’ the vortex ‘ere.”

Elle sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Jacqueline and Bernard watched as the vortex lit up, revealing Elle to the trolls.

“Elle!” Bernard shouted, making to get up. Jacqueline grabbed his shirt, pulling him back down.

“We can’t rush into this,” Jacqueline said. “Those are trolls, B-Man.”

“They have Elle!”

“I know! I’m just as worried as you are!”

“I knew this was a bad idea!”

“She had it handled and would’ve managed if the vortex hadn’t lit up when it did.”

“I-” Bernard paused, and exhaled. “You’re right. She did. What do we do now?”

“We can probably take them,” Jacqueline said. “Berline could definitely take them. I just don’t want them to upset her.”

Bernard hesitated. “They could. If we can get Elle to distract them again, we can untie her, grab the snow globe, and head out with a minor skirmish.”

“And if not, I’m pretty sure Berline could do a number on them.”

“Absolutely,” Bernard agreed. He glanced out at Elle, who was now tied to a long stick. He cleared his throat, offering a hand and sinking into a bow. “Shall we?”

Jacqueline curtsied. “Yes, let’s,” she replied, taking his hand. A flash of light and the elf and the sprite were gone, replaced by a very tall, four-armed fae. “Let’s kick some troll ass,” Berline said, grinning and floating down the cliffside.

Elle, meanwhile, was having a time. Her offensive telepathy had no effect on them. Why didn’t it work?

I know I said I would do this on my own but, uh, I could definitely use a hand. She directed the thought towards Bernard and Jacqueline; she couldn’t see both of their mental links with her, for some reason. They were...foggy. Maybe the trolls had a cloud of stupid that effected herself?

How about four hands? A voice replied. Elle nearly screamed, before the voice spoke again. S’okay! It’s just me. Well, us. Details, really.

There was something familiar about the voice; it calmed Elle down a tad as she was jostled around on the stick, very disgruntled. Had B and Jacquie fused? Elle was getting that vibe. A feeling of relief washed over her, overtaking her anger. Please tell me you’re on your way to help me.

Course. I’m not going to let you get eaten by trolls, that’s an awful way to go out. And smelly. My tunic still smells like them sometimes. I need you to do me a favour, the voice said.

I’m a little tied up at the moment, Elle said. She snorted at the unintentional pun; so did the voice.

It’s fine, it replied, laughingly almost. It’s all mental stuff.

That’s kinda not working right now.

What do you mean?

I tried to knock out the one that tied me up out but he just...brushed it aside, like a bug or something.

Trolls are made of stone. That’s probably why it’s not quite working. I should’ve specified, sorry ‘bout that. It’s mostly vocal stuff.

What were you thinking?

Distract them. Get their eyes off of you so I can grab you.

Can do. The snow globe, we need to bring it to Santa. I dropped it when they grabbed me.

I’ll grab it, don’t worry.

I’m a little worried. I’m on the menu, after all.

They’re picky eaters, the voice replied.

“I can work with that,” Elle said out loud.

“Wot?”

“Stop talking to dinner!”

“I just have a bit of a complaint here,” Elle began, remembering The Hobbit. “This is the absolute wrong way to cook elf.”

“Wot?”

“You can’t roast elves. We won’t cook evenly.”

“She’s just saying that to get out of being eaten!”

“I would never! You caught me, I am definitely trapped and not expecting a rescue anytime soon.”

“Wot?”

“If I’m gonna go out being eaten by trolls, I just want to make sure it’s done...properly,” she said, glancing towards the vortex. She could see the objects moving around; someone was coming...but she couldn’t see who. They reached the globe; it was jostled, as if a foot had nearly kicked it. She saw the globe float up and disappear.

Get them to look away, said the voice.

I’m working on it! Elle snapped.

Sorry. I just want to get you out of here and get you back safe.

“Then wot do you suggest?” The troll holding her slammed the pole she was tied on into the ground, the edge sticking in the ground and putting her right side up.

“You gotta grill us,” Elle said.

“Wot?”

“We cook better if we’re grilled, not roasted. You’ll have to find a wire rack, and get that set up. Go on, I’ll wait here.”

“Well, you all ‘eard dinner.”

“I don’t trust it,” another troll said.

“Well I don’t want to spoil the first good meal we’ve ‘ad in a while!”

“Or was it boil? Maybe we cook better boiled. I can’t quite remember, there’s just so many variations of elf flambé .”

Soon enough, all seven trolls were arguing, looking away from Elle. She breathed a sigh of relief as a warm chill surrounded her (a very strange feeling, to be honest). She could feel the ropes loosening, though she still couldn’t see the person doing the untying.

“Nice job,” the voice said, right in her ear.

“I told you I was working on it,” she whispered back. “Did you get the globe?”

“It’s in my satchel. We should be able to make a clean break unless--”

“Oi! Do you lot smell that?” One of the trolls shouted, disrupting the arguing.

“I smell fae,” another one said. “I thought you said you were alone!”

“Did I say that? I don’t remember saying that.”

“Who’s here?”

“Well since you asked, my boyfriend and best friend are here and they’re going to kick your asses.”

“Tiny elves like you? Ha! We’re trolls!”

“Made of stone!”

“Nothing can take us!”

“Jacqueline and Bernard will! They’ll fuse and kick all seven of your gross, smelly, butts.”

“Fuse?”

“Wot did she say? A Jacquenard?”

“Actually, it’s Berline,” the voice said. The trolls looked around; they couldn’t see the newcomer. There was movement behind one of the trolls beside Elle. Elle could make out a hand, tapping it’s shoulder. The troll whipped around. Berline appeared, grinning. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t eat my Elle,” they said, two arms winding back and launching forward, punching the troll straight in the face.

He was thrown backwards, hitting the nearby rocks and loosing consciousness. The others bristled, Berline shaking their fists. “That’s gonna bruise.”

“I told you so!” Elle shouted, as Berline lifted one of their arms, a gold light tossing the troll on Elle’s other side right into the vortex.

“Wot’re you doing! You just tossed our cook into a void!”

“I know,” Berline replied dryly, giving the ropes a final tug. Elle hopped down, grinning; her angry mood before all but forgotten now. “And I’m about to steal your dinner too. It would be much appreciated if you all just stepped back and let us leave.”

Elle laughed. Berline was already winning her over; they were about the size of the mountain trolls themselves, and a lot better looking. The four arms would take some getting use to; Elle hadn’t expected a fusion to have extra arms, nor to be as giant as Berline was.

“You’ll have to go through us, first!” one troll shouted, drawing a weapon.

“Yeah!” the rest agreed, gathering their arms.

“‘ow do you plan on doing that?”

Berline glanced down at Elle. They had one brown eye and one blue eye, Elle noted; their nose looked a lot like Bernard’s, though the face shape was more Jacqueline’s, Elle thought. And their hair, holy heck it was massive and crazy curly! It reminded her of River Song, and went down just past their shoulders. Jacqueline hadn’t been joking when she said a fusion was an entirely new person, Elle realized. She gazed back up. Berline winked, before turning back to the trolls. Watch this, they said mentally, rolling their shoulders.

“You really want me to tell you? It’ll spoil the fun,” they said, pouting.

“Well you’re spoiling our dinnah!”

“I have a lot of replies to that but ah, I think I’m in enough hot water already with this one,” they said, head gesturing to Elle. “You do pose an excellent question, though. How ever will I, a very powerful fusion of an elf and a sprite, thank you very much, get past a wall of one two three four...five mountain trolls? Well, here’s how. First, I’m gonna give Elle my satchel to hold. Then I’m gonna come at you with another punch,” they said, pointing to the left end. “Then I will freeze your three companions there in place and proceed to blast that fifth guy right over there with his snoozing pal. Then, once those three inevitably break out of their freeze, I’ll hit them all at the same time with my fists, knocking them out, and blast you over into that wall there. Then I’ll pick up Elle and simply walk out of here with her and what we came to get. I hope you were writing all this down because I’m about to get busy,” Berline finished, taking off their satchel.

“Hold this please, Elle.”

“I got your satchel, you go kick their asses!”

With a grin, Berline cracked their knuckles and shot forward, a cool breeze rustling Elle’s clothes. They rushed over to the troll on the far left, right arms already smacking the troll in the face. He went flying, hitting the wall behind him. Stones fell from the impact, burying him.

“That was unexpected,” Berline said, shaking ice off their fists. They turned around, the other four trolls coming at them fast. All four arms shot out at once, a huge blast of ice and snow hitting the three in the lead and freezing them up to their midsections.

They began hitting the ice, the final troll rushing around them and screaming, running right towards Berline.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you!” Elle shouted.

“She’s right,” Berline said.

“I’ll not let you get away with our dinner!” The troll said, weapon raised. Berline rolled their eyes. With a lazy flick of their wrists, a blast of gold shot him all the way across the space, hitting the rocks and landing right on top of the troll slowly gaining consciousness.

“Take that!” Elle said. She narrowed her eyes and moved her arm, a large group of boulders tumbling down the sides and landing on the two trolls, knocking them both out once more.

“Ha! Nice!” Berline said, grinning.

“I try,” Elle smirked. “Look out, you’ve got company.”

“Oh! Right!” Berline turned around and ran towards the three formerly frozen trolls, who had all broken out of the ice and were rushing towards the fusion. Ice began to form around all four of Berline’s fists, as they finally clashed with the trolls. Berline ducked one swing, punching that troll up and over them, into the wall behind them.

The other two trolls came at Berline at the same time, hoping to catch them unawares. It didn’t quite work that way, of course; Berline turned on their heel and hit one troll, then the second one, tossing them over to the pile of trolls Elle had just covered in boulders. They landed in the pile with a loud thud.

Berline stood up, stretching and dusting the ice off their hands. “I told you so,” they said to the now unconscious trolls, heading towards Elle.

“That was awesome,” Elle said. “You’re a badass Berline, holy heck!”

“I try,” Berline said, joining Elle’s side. “Sorry you almost got eaten by trolls. I really didn’t want your first errand to go like that,” They said, gesturing to the pile of unconscious trolls to their right and plopping down beside Elle. Sitting, they were about as tall as Elle.

“I told you, danger is my middle name.”

“No it’s not.”

“Huh?”

“Your middle name is cutie pie,” Berline said, booping her nose.

Elle giggled, suddenly overcome with shyness, for some reason she couldn’t quite place. “So, uh...do you know me?”

“Of course I do,” Berline grinned. “I also know that cutie pie isn’t your middle name. It’s Sophia. I was trying to be cute.”

“I gathered. It worked, don’t worry,” she said, smiling. “Here’s the satchel back, by the way. Did it get bigger?”

“Well if it stayed Bernard’s size, the strap would’ve broke. I’m twice as tall as he is. Literally,” Berline winked, grabbing the satchel and throwing it over their shoulders again, standing up. “Ready to head out? I hope you don’t think it’s weird if I put you on my shoulder.”

“Fine with me,” Elle said. “Watch out behind you.”

The vortex had spat the cook back up and he was running towards Berline. Berline barely even blinked before their left arms were covered in ice and shot up, the troll slamming right into their fists and falling over, unconscious.

“Literally, so badass,” Elle said again, walking onto the hand Berline offered. “Does the ice function as armour?”

“Thanks,” Berline said, grinning. “And yes. I’m not fond of bruised knuckles.”

“So how come the trolls didn’t see you? Or me, for that matter? Can fusions turn invisible?”

“I can because Jacqueline can.”

“She can? That explains so much,” Elle realized.

“Heh. Yeah. I don’t know why we didn’t just send Jacqueline down, invisible. Not that you weren’t doing a good job, of course. You almost made it were it not for that vortex.”

“Your disappearing act was so cool though, oh man. Those trolls were so confused it was hilarious, the look on their faces! Priceless!”

“Does that mean you aren’t jealous anymore?” Berline asked, eyebrow raised in a very Jacqueline way, Elle noted.

“Jealous? Me? Why would I be jealous?”

“Bernard was getting those vibes. Jacqueline could full on tell. She really didn’t want myself to appear, she was afraid it would upset you more. To be fair, it sounded like my appearance did upset you.”

“Okay fine, I was a bit jealous. Am, I guess.”

“I figured as much. Well, we’ve got a fair ways to go, let’s chat,” Berline said.

“I dunno, it’s just...the way Jacqueline explained fusion made it seem so special.”

“It is,” Berline agreed.

“And I really really want to fuse with Bernard and I guess the fact that he’s fused with Jacqueline before just bothered me a lot. It makes sense she would be here I mean, you have way more experience than I do with fusion. I mean, you are their fusion...I’m rambling,” Elle said, blushing as they cleared the wall they had come down originally in two steps.

“You’re cute is what you are.”

“Stop it, I’m trying to be mad,” Elle semi-joked. “God, it’s just so silly that I’m jealous of you and talking to you about it!”

Berline laughed. “That’s not silly, it’s funny. I made you jealous! That’s hilarious.”

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh man, it really is Elle. See, the thing about fusion is that not only does fusion result in a totally new fae, a fusion is representative of the relationship between the two fae. That’s why it’s so funny to me. I’m a representation of Bernard and Jacqueline's relationship--I’m basically the personification of a real tight sibling relationship, Elle. That’s why it’s so funny!”

“I’m not quite following,”

Berline stopped, offering their hand to Elle, who tentatively stepped on it. Berline brought her in front of their face, so that they were eye to eye. “The relationship you and B have is really special, Elles,” Berline began. “When you two do fuse--and I know you will--your fusion will be very different from me. And a lot more special,” they finished, smiling a very Bernard smile. “Are you crying?”

“I’m not crying, you’re crying,” Elle said, swatting away the tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.

“I think I’d know if I was,” Berline frowned, placing Elle back on their shoulder. “You understand what I was saying now though, right?”

“Yeah,” Elle nodded, smiling. “I do. You really think he’ll come around?”

“Of course I do. I’m part Bernard. And he’ll remember this conversation. As will Jacqueline. If he doesn’t come around, she’ll be sure to remind him. And hey, you could always ask her to fuse with you still,” Berline said, blue eye winking.

Elle laughed.

“Let’s head home,” Berline said, making sure Elle was safe on their shoulder before disappearing in a very large burst of snowflakes and gold sparks.

(This has made me love Berline even more, holy fuck, they’re just so sweet with Elle and I am deceased thank you for reading give me feedback please it only makes me stronger)

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