#re: my last post. this is like. THE best scene for face studies and watching how his eyebrows work LOL | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

marjansmarwani · 3 years

Text

like I was already brave enough to let go

7.2k || Chapter 1/2 || ao3

Enzo understands that leaving New York in the wake of everything is what's best for TK, but that doesn't make it any easier. Watching his stepson pack up all his broken pieces and move across the country hurts him in ways he can't describe, mostly due to the knowledge that there will be a distance between them that has never existed before. So he takes the time to check-in, to keep track of TK. To be there for him, no matter what.

He's just starting to wish that he had picked somewhere other than Austin, because he is quickly discovering he is not built for this level of stress.

After reading @futures-tense’s Enzo fic (that everyone should read, it is phenomenal) I couldn’t get thoughts of him and his relationship with TK out of my head, so naturally I wrote this. It fits into canon evetns and this is only chapter 1 of 2, because while I so have an outline for season 2 events, this was getting long so I figured I’d at least post what I had.

Massive thanks to @silvarafael and @justaswampdemon for all their help and support with this, you’re both the best!

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

He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting when TK opened his apartment door, but the sad shell of the boy Enzo had come to love as his own wasn’t it.

Or maybe it was, but it hurt all the same.

“Hey kid,” he said softly, stepping carefully around him and into the apartment. He looked around the small space, taking in all the boxes haphazardly labeled and partially packed. “So, it’s true. Your mom told me but I don’t think I believed her. Never thought I’d see the day TK Strand willingly left New York for Texas, of all places.”

“Who says it’s willingly,” he said dully as he shut the door behind Enzo.

Enzo turned and studied him more closely, taking in the downturned eyes and anxious fingers thumbing the seam of his hoodie pocket, “Do you not want to go? Because you can stay here. I’ll talk to your mom, you can stay with us if you…”

But TK cut him off with a shake of his head, “No,” he said, “I think I need to do this. Dad’s right, I need a fresh start. I can’t...I don’t think I can be here anymore. When I think of staying here, I don’t see a way forward. I think if I stayed here I’d…” he trailed off, but Enzo felt a chill rush through him at the implication of what TK hadn’t said. He tried to meet his eyes but TK looked away, casting his gaze downward and away from Enzo’s sympathetic eyes.

It hurt him more than he could say to see TK like this. For all his struggles he had always been a happy kid. He had always been someone who found the joy in life where he could and he had always worn his emotions on his sleeve, for better or worse. Seeing him like this and knowing what had happened hurt Enzo in ways he couldn’t fully describe because he didn’t know the right words. All he knew for sure is that this was not the TK he had known and loved for 16 years standing before him. This was a stranger; someone he had only seen once before during a time he had hoped to never revisit.

He hadn’t asked what happened because he knew enough and he wasn’t about to make the kid revisit it just so he could fill in some blanks. He might not know everything but he knew enough to feel hot anger course through him at the thought of someone breaking that too big heart of his. TK had always been someone who loved fully and completely, and to see that thrown back in his face so spectacularly made Enzo—a typically steady and calm man — strongly consider homicide.

He had every confidence that Gwyn could get him out of any charges too, but he pushed that thought aside to focus on the scene before him.

“This isn’t your fault, TK.”

TK turned away from him, absently picking up some books from the table and dropping them into one of the boxes. “I know I didn’t make Alex cheat,” he says eventually, “but the rest of it? That is completely on me Enzo, no one else.”

He could sense that the kid had more to say so he let him go, watching from the doorway as he listlessly picked up other odds and ends from around his apartment, tossing them into boxes without any real care as to what the labels on the side said. He knew TK would speak up when he was ready and it was only a few more minutes before he did.

“Eight years,” he finally said, his rough voice breaking the silence of the half-packed apartment. “Eight fucking years of sobriety, all gone. And that’s all on me. It doesn’t matter what Alex did, I’m the one who made the choice. I am the one who let him have that power over me and…” he broke off, meeting Enzo’s eyes for a moment before looking away and swallowing. “I do need to leave,” he said eventually. “I don’t trust myself to stay here anymore. I don’t know if I’d survive it.”

Enzo could feel his heart breaking for the kid. He wasn’t a kid anymore — now 26 and an adult — but in Enzo’s eyes sometimes he was still the 10-year-old who met his eyes shyly when Gwyn first introduced them, the 14-year-old who had admitted to him in a terrified whisper that he thought he might like boys, the 19-year-old who had come to him because he wanted to enroll in the fire academy and didn’t know how his mother would take it. The feeling he had now was just like the feelings he had had then. This overwhelming love and desire to protect him from everything bad in the world; from anyone that ever told him he wasn’t enough.

And just like he had then, he stepped forward, closing the space between them to pull him into a hug. He held him close, pressing his face into his chest and placing a kiss on the top of his head. “You’re making the smart choice then,” he said evenly. “And, as much as I’ll miss you, I’m proud of you for doing what you have to do. You’ve beat this once and you’ll beat it again, I have no doubt about that.”

He knew he wasn’t imagining it when the body in his arms sagged in relief. It made him clutch him that much tighter as he spoke again, hoping what he was about to say was a given but needing to say it anyway: “And I will always be here for you, no matter where you live. I’m always just a phone call away, you know that, right?”

TK’s voice was muffled by the material of Enzo’s sweater, but he could still hear the tears in it clear as day, “I do.”

“Good,” Enzo replied firmly, releasing his grip on TK and stepping back so he could meet his eyes. “Because I will be calling to check-in, that is a promise.”

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

Watching him leave was bittersweet, but he believed TK when he said it was something he needed to do. He took some solace in the fact that he wouldn’t be alone. Enzo and Owen Strand may have had their differences over the years (many, many differences) but if there was one thing Enzo had never doubted it was the other man’s love for his son. He knew that TK was in good hands, but that didn’t make it any easier.

He got confirmation they had arrived in Austin in the form of a text that included a picture of a shop selling cowboy hats that simply said, “turns out people actually do where these here. Yes, it looks as ridiculous as it sounds.” It is followed by another two days later that noted the crimes Texas has committed against pizza and though Enzo was still filled with worry, he allowed himself to smile and take it as a sign that he was healing, be it ever so slightly.

He gave it almost a week before he called. He wanted to hear TK’s voice; to have proof that he really was okay, but he also wanted to give him time. His patience was helped by the fact that Gwyn had spoken to her son but eventually, he decided that he needed to hear from him himself.

TK answered by the third ring, sounding out of breath. He greeted him warmly, and Enzo could hear the commotion of construction in the background. He raised an eyebrow, “What, did you decide to leave the fire department and become a contractor when I wasn’t looking?”

This pulled a laugh out of TK and Enzo took a moment to savor the familiar sound. It felt like far too long since he’s last heard it.

“No. Dad decided we should re-do the firehouse, to give everyone a fresh start. I figured I might as well help out. Besides,” he added with a shrug Enzo could almost hear, “demolition is the far healthier method of coping with feelings, right?”

“When done with permission,” Enzo quipped in response. “How are you doing kid, has the pizza chased you away yet?”

TK scoffed, “No, but it was a close thing. Honestly, I really haven’t had that much time to dwell. I’ve been helping with the demo and construction, as well as the candidate interviews and paperwork. I haven’t really taken too much time to think about anything.”

TK said it matter of factly and Enzo almost moved past it. But he knew TK better than most. “You don’t have to punish yourself, kid,” he told him gently. “All you need to do is heal.”

“I’m not punishing myself,” TK objected, “I’m just...trying to keep busy. To distract myself.”

TK might very well think that, but Enzo was pretty sure it wasn’t true. But he was willing to move past it, for now.

“Tell me about the new crew,” he said instead, and smiled as TK launched into stories about a daredevil from Miami and a possible psychic from Chicago. He seemed enthusiastic and Enzo didn’t realize how good it felt to hear that until he had. It was like there was a little bit of life back in his voice and though he knew TK still had a long way to go to make this better, he was relieved to see that he was at least on the way.

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

For a while, everything seemed to be going great. TK called and texted him from time to time, sharing anecdotes from calls and his new crew, and each time Enzo thinks he can hear just a little bit more of his old self returning to his voice. Sure he complains about one of them, for a while, but that too seems to sort itself out.

He could tell there is someone new in his life too, even if TK is hedgy about it at best. But Enzo was the first one to know that TK was gay at 14; he knew how to spot the signs.

“Why won’t you tell me about him?” he asked him one day, voice light and teasing as he stuffed his papers into his bag. “Is there something horribly wrong with him?”

“No,” TK countered emphatically, “there is nothing wrong with him. Absolutely nothing,” he added, almost an unconscious mutter Enzo was not entirely sure he was supposed to hear.

“So if there is ‘absolutely nothing’ wrong with him, why aren't you going for it?”

There was silence on the other end as Enzo slid his bag onto his shoulder, patiently waiting the younger man out.

“You know why,” he eventually said, voice low and sad. Enzo grimaced at how pained his voice sounded and he dropped back into his desk chair with a sigh.

“TK…” he began, but the younger man cut him off firmly.

“No, Enzo. I...I thought I could. I thought we could have something casual and that I could handle it. But then he wanted more and I hurt him. I don’t want to do that, he doesn’t deserve it. He’s too good to get dragged into my shitshow.”

“Have you asked him what he wants?” Enzo asked gently.

The bark of laughter TK gave at that was sharp and harsh, “Yeah, that should go well. Definitely won’t lead to me having to explain to this guy I’ve hooked up with a handful of times all the ways I’m fucked up right now.”

Enzo sighed again, leaning back in his chair, “It won’t always be like this, T. Someday you will be ready to try again, but only if you let yourself consider the possibility. Can you at least promise me that?”

There was silence for a long stretch and Enzo was about to ask him again when TK’s voice finally responded quietly, “Yes.”

“Good,” Enzo responded firmly, “because no matter what happened, you still deserve happiness. And someday you’ll be ready to let it in again — maybe sooner than you think.”

The sound of acknowledgment TK made sounded skeptical at best, but Enzo would take it. He knew he was right and he knew that someday TK would realize it too. Maybe even sooner than he thought.

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

It’s about a week later when Enzo’s phone rings, nearly making him jump as he is pulled abruptly from his stack of midterms. It took him a few moments of shuffling blue books to even locate his phone and when he did he frowned at both the time and the name displayed on the screen.

“Hey kid,” he said lightly as he answered the phone, “what’s up?”

He had hoped he was overreacting, that TK was just calling him late because he was on shift and had lost track of the time. He had hoped that maybe the universe was finally giving the kid a break.

The despair and fear so clear in TK’s voice quickly prove him wrong.

“Hey Enzo,” he said softly, “fuck, I know it’s late and I’m sorry to bother you, but I just really needed to talk to someone.”

“You are never a bother,” Enzo told him firmly, capping his pen and setting it down on his desk. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” TK began before stopping, taking a deep breath and trying again, “I don’t know for sure yet, but I know something is.”

And Enzo believed him. The fear in his voice is so raw Enzo could feel every ounce of it even from a timezone away. “I’m going to need more than that, kid,” he told him gently, leaning back in his chair as he waited TK out.

“I found something,” TK said eventually, “that I definitely wasn’t supposed to find. And it means something awful. Something I don’t know if I can handle. But it also means he doesn’t trust me,” TK continued, “and somehow that almost feels worse.”

Enzo frowned, pondering all the non-specific details in his mind. He didn’t know all that much about his stepson’s life in Austin, but he knew enough to know that while he was close to his new crew, he wasn’t close enough to be this upset by an omission from one of them. That left him with two possibilities: the mysterious man he was not seeing, or Owen.

And Enzo knew which option was more likely and it made his heart sink. TK might not be sharing but Ezno knew both the Strand men better than most. If there was something Owen felt strongly enough to keep from his son that TK was this upset about, it wasn’t good news.

“You don’t have to tell me what it is,” he said cautiously, “but is it something about your dad?”

There was a deep, shuddering breath before TK responded, “Yeah.”

And Enzo shut his eyes, the hurt and fear in TK’s voice telling him all he needed to know.

“I don’t know what this is about,” he said eventually, “and you don’t have to tell me. But I do know you, and I know whatever it is you are going to want to be there for him, because that’s who you are. Let him know that, and the rest will follow from there.”

There was silence again, but Enzo waited TK out. He was familiar with this rhythm; when something was bothering TK he often took his time to make sure he had the words right before he spoke. Over the years Enzo had learned to wait him out knowing that he would get to his point when he was ready.

He did a few moments later, “I do want to be there for him,” TK agreed, “I just know why he didn’t tell me. He doesn’t think I can handle it — and he’s right,” TK confessed softly, “I don’t know if I can.”

“You can,” Ezno assured him firmly, “you can do anything you set your mind to. You always have.”

He let his words sink in for a moment before he added, “And I would talk to your dad before you make any assumptions. Let him know he can rely on you, let him know you want to be there.”

“You make it sound so easy,” TK said dryly, and Enzo huffed a laugh.

“In a way it is. It’s just words. It’s the actions behind them that are hard.”

There was silence again before TK spoke, his voice so quiet Enzo almost missed his next words, “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared,” Enzo reminded him, “sometimes fear is the appropriate response.”

But even as he said it, he could feel his heart breaking. He didn’t know what was going on and while he was sure he would find out soon enough, he couldn’t help but hate whatever it was. TK deserved some time to find himself, to heal and simply exist. He didn’t understand why the universe kept throwing such curveballs at him, but he wished with every fiber of his being it would stop.

“Sometimes it is,” TK agreed in a tone that made Enzo wonder even more what this was all about. But he didn’t ask; TK would tell him when he was ready. For now he would just be here for him. Sometimes that was all he could do.

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

As much as Enzo couldn’t help but worry about the younger man, sometimes the updates were a sign that things were getting better for him, slowly but surely.

One such time came as he and Gwyn were sitting on the couch together, Enzo making a case for watching Jeopardy with Gwyn adamantly refusing.

“No,” she said again with a firm shake of her head, “it always ends the same way.”

He shrugged, “I can’t help that you’re too competitive, or that I’m better at it then you are,” he added, giving her a sly grin.

“We can’t all have PhDs in history,” she said wryly, “some of us need to work for a living.”

He opened his mouth to fire back a retort but was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. “Saved by the bell,” he said instead with a shake of his head as he dug his phone out of his pocket. He frowned when he saw the familiar name on the screen and turned it so Gwyn could see.

“Hey T,” he said cautiously as he answered, “everything good?”

There was a lot of noise in the background but he could hear TK’s voice clearly as he answered, “Yeah, I just had a question for you. These people don’t believe me so I need your cred as a Columbia history professor to back me up.”

Enzo raised an eyebrow at Gwyn, who had leaned closer to hear. She bit her lip against a laugh and he shook his head fondly, “I’ll do what I can. What’s the question?”

“Hang on,” TK said, “I’m going to put you on speaker.” There was the sound of fumbling before the background noise grew louder and TK’s voice returned. “Okay guys,” he was saying, “this is my stepdad Enzo. He’s a history professor at Columbia and if you don’t believe me maybe you’ll believe him. You want to ask him the question, Paul?”

“Man, you didn’t need to…”

“No, this is a point of pride now.” TK objected indignantly and Enzo glanced at Gwyn to see that she had fully pressed a hand against her mouth to stop any laughter from slipping out and giving away her eavesdropping. “Ask him,” TK prompted and there was a sigh before a new voice joined the conversation.

“Sir, we are so sorry to bother you. TK’s just being a sore loser.”

“Paul, right?” Enzo asked and got a sound of confirmation in return, “You don’t have to tell me that, I helped raise him.” There was an indignant noise in the background, likely from TK, but Enzo ignored it. “What’s the question?”

“Who invented the first movie camera?”

“Louis Le Prince,” Enzo replied without hesitation, unable to suppress a chuckle at the sound of TK’s triumphant ha! In the background. “You guys thought it was Edison, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Paul admitted sheepishly and Enzo chuckled lightly.

“That’s understandable. Edison was the first person to mass market it and the first to get recognized for it, but Le Prince was actually the first. But he mysteriously disappeared in 1890, right before he was set to take a trip to the US to talk about his invention. So he never got a chance to market it.”

There was silence for a moment before Paul spoke again, “So is there any proof Edison had him killed or…?”

“No,” Enzo admitted, “but that is one of the theories for sure. Another is his brother did it over the family will. Either way, Edison was not the first.”

“Huh,” Paul said thoughtfully, “that’s actually fascinating. Dude, I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“It’s fine,” TK said evenly, “I am more than a pretty face you know.”

There was a collective snort from the other end of the phone and Enzo glanced at Gwyn to roll his eyes. She shook her head fondly and he returned his attention to the call, “Any other burning history questions or was that it?”

The background noise lessened as TK took the phone off speaker. “No, that’s it. Thanks, Enzo.”

“Anytime kid,” he told him, “you know I love to flex my random history facts.” That got another laugh out of TK, but Enzo could still hear the background noise of a group in the background. The sounds of easy comradery set his mind at ease in a way not much else had since TK had left for Texas. “Why don’t you get back to your friends and I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay, thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it. I love you kid.”

“Love you too. Say hi to mom for me?”

“You’ve got it.”

With that the call was over and Enzo was left back in their silent living room, Gwyn looking at him with a soft smile.

“He sounds happy,” she said after a moment, her voice warm but thick. He nodded.

“He does. As much as I do hate to admit it, I think going to Austin may have the best thing for him.”

“You just hate that Owen was right.”

“And you don’t?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“Well that’s a given,” she quipped, leaning closer to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed them as she rested her head on her shoulder. “I’m just glad he’s doing better,” she said softly after a moment, “I’ve been so worried about him.”

“Me too,” he admitted, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair. That sat in silence for a few more moments, each lost in their own thoughts before he spoke again.

“So is that still a no to Jeopardy or…?”

She swatted at him and he grinned, ducking away from the light hit. Things seemed to have returned to their equilibrium, and that was a relief.

He just hoped it stayed that way.

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

When he was wrested from sleep by the shrill sound of his phone ringing cutting through the late-night silence of his bedroom, Enzo groaned. He swore under his breath as he fumbled for the device, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he did. But when he managed to grasp his phone and saw the name on the screen, all thoughts of annoyance fled his mind. Owen Strand calling him was rarely a good sign. Owen Strand calling him at 2 am promised nothing short of disaster.

“Owen?” he said as he answered, skipping any and all attempts at pleasantries. “Is everything okay?”

He could afford to give the universe the benefit of the doubt, he decided; even if only for a moment.

When Owen’s reply came it was in a voice Enzo didn’t recognize. It was shaky and uncertain in a way that the other man never was.

“Enzo, hey. I’m sorry to bother you but Gwyn’s not answering her phone and…” he broke off with a shaky breath, “I really need to talk to her.”

“She’s in Beijing,” Enzo replied, sitting up and switching on the lamp beside him. “And given the time difference, probably in a meeting.”

He heard Owen swear distantly before he felt fear rise up in him. Owen calling him at 2 in the morning looking for Gwyn and out of sorts only added up to one thing, but Enzo so hoped he was wrong.

“Owen, did something happen to TK?” he forced himself to ask; the stress of not knowing was worse than anything else.

He could hear Owen take another breath, deep and shaky and filled with something else Enzo couldn’t identify on a phone call from half a country away.

“There was an...incident,” Owen said softly, voice still unsteady, “on our last call.”

Enzo’s mind was already spinning, stumbling from one horrible possibility from another.

“There was a man with dementia who broke into his old house and a homeowner who had a cardiac event and TK broke down the door and….he was shot.”

Enzo heard the words, he knew he did. But he couldn’t have. If he had heard them that would mean that TK had been shot and that was not something that could be true. His stepson was a firefighter. It was a profession that came with enough risks of its own. He had spent countless days worried and fearful at the thought of rescues gone wrong, of untamable flames and unstable buildings. Never once had he even entertained the thought of a bullet being a risk to watch out for. Bullets were supposed to be the problem of other people with other jobs — not his stepson, who already had so many dangers to face.

But it was true. The fear and pain in Owen’s voice told him it was true. There was an edge of both hysteria and despair in his words and that more than anything scared Enzo more than he could say.

“Where?” was the first coherent thought he could form.

“Just below his left shoulder” Owen repeated mechanically. “His...his lung collapsed before we were even out of the hallway. Enzo, he couldn’t breathe. He kept trying but he couldn’t and there was so much blood....” Owen trailed off and Enzo could hear the unmistakable sound of a sob in the background even as his own hands trembled and his eyes watered.

“Is he…” he started, but he couldn’t make himself say the words. He couldn’t speak the awful possibility into existence.

“He’s headed to surgery,” Owen replied. “I don’t know anything more than that, we only got here about 15 minutes ago. I just...I just hope it was fast enough.”

There was silence then as the two men allowed the same fear to consume them from opposite ends of the country. Enzo felt a morbid camaraderie with the other man in that moment. In the 16 years they had known each other it was safe to say that they had never exactly gotten along. They had always been polite and cordial for the sake of Gwyn, TK, and family gatherings but they were too different in too many ways that mattered to ever truly be friends. They had only ever agreed on one thing, and now that was the thing that tied them together — loving TK.

“You got him there as fast as you could Owen,” Enzo assured him without hesitation because there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that it wasn’t true. “You did everything you could. Any chance he has is because of you.”

“I think the credit lays more with the paramedics,” Owen objected, “but I appreciate the effort all the same.”

Enzo opened his mouth again, not quite sure what he was going to say but feeling the overwhelming need to say something, but he was interrupted before he got the chance to figure it out.

There was a noise on the other end followed by the sound of shuffling as Owen attended to whatever it was. When his voice returned, it was tight.

“That’s Gwyn on the other line, I’ve gotta take it. But listen, Enzo…”

But Enzo just shook his head, “Don’t worry about it Owen, talk to her. Just, keep me updated?”

“Of course,” he replied without hesitation, “as soon as I know anything.”

Then with another hurried goodbye, the call was over and Enzo was left in the dark and quiet bedroom, alone. It wasn’t long before the tears he had felt threatening began to fall in earnest as he wrapped his mind around this reality and allowed himself to dwell on it. There was a chance — a very real and terrifying chance — that they could lose TK. That Gwyn and Owen could lose the son they had brought into this world and loved for 26 years. That Enzo could lose one of the people he loved the most. The thought of TK not existing anymore was too horrible to dwell on.

Enzo was a religious man. He had been raised by a small Jewish family in a large community and his faith had been something that he had always had. It had seen him through so much. But now, with this, he had to wonder. It didn’t make sense that TK — his wonderful, caring stepson who had dedicated his life to helping people — should have to suffer so much in such a short time on earth. It went against everything he had ever believed about putting good into the world. Why should TK — who had never done anything to hurt anyone — have to suffer so? Why should he? He didn’t want to know what life without TK looked like.

More than anything, he hated that he might find out.

When Gwyn called him a few minutes later he pushed his own tears aside. He murmured soft reassurances as she sobbed in a quiet corner of a Beijing office building, consumed with fear and grief a world away from her child who was slipping further and further from them with every passing moment. He gave her empty platitudes, reassured her the best he could.

But all the while the fear was drilling a hole straight through his chest. This, he decided, was the worst fear he had ever felt.

The worst part was there was nothing he could do but wait, and hope desperately for the best.

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

The next several days were some of the longest of Enzo’s life. Each day he woke up and went about the day. Each day he kept his phone volume on, not wanting to miss any news either way. Each day an update came from Owen and each day it was the same: no change.

He debated going out to Austin — he had been halfway through buying a ticket online half a dozen times — but each time he stopped himself. Logically he knew that being there wouldn’t change anything. He would still be waiting, he’d just be waiting there. He told himself he was needed here, that he couldn’t just pick up and go across the country with no warning. It was the end of the semester and he had students to help to finish the course or their dissertation. He told himself staying was the responsible option, but he knew that it was largely just a distraction. But he would take any distraction he could get and so he pushed the guilt of not being there to the side

He taught his classes, he went through the motions. He fielded calls from Gwyn, still stuck in China and frantic with worry. Each day he reassured her; reminded her that TK was strong, young, and healthy. Above all that, he reminded her, he was stubborn. No bullet or coma was going to take him from them before he was ready.

Of course there was the private fear, the one he didn’t want to share, that he didn’t want to hang on anyone else. The one he was afraid to say out loud.

It was the thought that maybe, after everything, that was exactly what he did want. That maybe this was an out and that maybe, he would take it. That maybe he didn’t want to be alive anymore.

But that was a possibility too horrible to accept. Maybe it was selfish, but Enzo knew that even if that was the case, he wasn’t ready. He doubted he ever would be, but he certainly wasn’t now. He knew both Gwyn and Owen would agree. No time was a good time to lose your child — step or otherwise — but now, after this — after everything — was not the time.

So he waited, and hoped.

Time seemed to blend together and before he knew it one day had become two, which had stretched into four. Each moment passed the same way — tensely, with no news.

He knew he had been distracted too — keeping his ringer on during class and checking in throughout his lectures and office hours. He had apologized to his classes after the second telemarketer had caused him to drop everything and lunge for his phone, citing a family emergency and word had slowly gotten around. Soon it wasn’t just him hoping for the best, but most of the Columbia history department as well. Their well wishes were touching, but nothing short of good news was going to make him feel any better.

So when his phone did finally ring on a Thursday afternoon, 5 days after the fateful call, he picked it up with trepidation. The name on the screen sent his heart racing and he nearly dropped his phone in his haste to answer it.

“Owen?” he asked tersely, “Any updates?”

Because since that night they hadn’t spoken. All updates had come in the form of texts and the thought of Owen finally having something to tell him one way or the other simultaneously thrilled him and nearly froze him with fear.

But it wasn’t Owen’s voice that answered.

“Hey Enzo,” TK said, the sound of his voice rushing through Enzo’s body like a current of electricity. He sank back into his seat with a wobbly laugh, feeling nearly a week's worth of tension fall away as he listened to the miraculous sound of TK breathing on the other end of the phone.

“Hey kid,” he said warmly. “You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” he answered, “I really don’t feel too bad at all. A little sore, a little tired, but overall not bad.”

“I hear getting shot will do that to you,” Enzo retorted drily before sighing and running a weary hand down his face. “You scared the shit out of me, TK,” he admitted.

“Sorry,” TK replied softly, “I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“It’s not your fault,” Enzo rushed to reassure him, “I know you didn’t ask for this to happen but...shit TK, I am not built for this. Do you think you could avoid getting shot in the future, for my sanity at the very least?”

“I’ll try,” TK responded with a chuckle, “I don’t remember most of it but I don’t think it’s anything I want to revisit.”

“No, I’d imagine not,” Enzo retorted wryly. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts and taking comfort from the presence of the other even if it was only over a phone call from half a country away. “So,” he finally said, leaning into normal conversation for the sake of normalcy, “is your dad driving you nuts yet?”

“Yes,” TK responded emphatically, “he has been hovering non-stop, and he brought a date.”

Enzo could hear indignant sputtering in the background and Owen muttering something about him not bringing a date, that his date had simply come to visit him to see how he was doing and, maybe because of all the fear and stress of the past week, Enzo could only laugh.

“That sounds like your dad,” he retorted once he caught his breath, “and I wouldn’t count on that changing anytime soon.”

“She seemed cool at least,” TK allowed, voice teasing, “I don’t know why he was trying to keep her a secret.”

“Excuse you,” Owen’s voice objected from the background, “I am not the one who had a hot cop sitting by my bedside. You don’t get to talk about keeping secrets.”

“Dad,” TK groaned and Enzo’s eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, so the mystery man is a cop,” he teased, “and the plot thickens.”

Now it was TK’s turn to splutter, “Nope, we are not doing this. That is more than enough from both of you,” he declared and Enzo could hear Owen chuckling at his son’s indignation from the background. It was a slice of normal that he had feared he’d never get again. To be sitting here hearing TK’s voice, teasing him about something so simple as the guy he had a crush on seemed like a miracle and Enzo was grateful for it.

Everything was normal again, at long last.

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

Sometimes he thinks that turning on news alerts for Austin was the worst decision he had ever made.

It seemed practical, at the time. An easy way to stay in the know, to have an idea of what kind of calls TK may have seen on any given day. But now he was frozen in the middle of the hallway after one of his classes staring at a notification about a solar storm that had blasted through Austin, leaving devastation in its wake; regretting every decision that led him to this point.

He knew TK was still on medical leave. He knew that he should be home and resting after only being released from the hospital two days before. But he also knew his stepson and knew that whenever there was trouble, TK was usually not too far behind.

It was with that thought in his mind that he stepped out out the middle of the hallway and leaned against the wall as he waited anxiously for the call to connect. The sound of a pleasant robotic voice informing him that his call could not be completed filled him with dread, but he forced himself to take a breath. It didn’t mean anything. The grid was likely overloaded right now; Enzo couldn’t say he knew for sure what kind of damage a solar storm could do but he was willing to guess that it wasn’t great for the electronic infrastructure.

Left with no other options he went on about his day, the familiar anxiety he had only recently shed slipping back over him like a worn winter coat. He tried calling a few more times, trying to ignore how the dread in his gut grew each and every time the call didn’t go through. He resisted the urge to ask one of his science colleagues to explain the specifics of a solar storm; reasoning that dealing with his own uncertainty would be far kinder than having confirmed facts. At least this way, he decided, he could tell himself he was overreacting.

It was far too many hours before his phone rang; an unfamiliar number appearing on his lock screen. He frowned at it but swiped to answer. He did list his cell number on all of his course syllabi, but for the most part his students stuck to his campus email, or — in desperate times — text.

“Dr. Cohen,” he answered, mentally placing bets as to whether it was actually a student or a robot trying to inform him about the extended warranty of the car he didn’t own.

To his immense relief, it was neither. Instead, a familiar voice answered, sending a rush of relief through him at the sound, “Hey, Enzo, it’s me.”

“TK,” he breathed, setting down the paper he had been reading and closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

“More or less,” he answered sheepishly and Enzo was about to push for more than that when he caught the distinct sound of a hospital intercom in the background.

“Tyler Kennedy Strand, are you in the hospital again?” he demanded and he heard a weary sigh from the other end before a quiet “yeah” was muttered.

“It’s not a big deal though,” TK rushed to explain, “I’m fine. I just pulled my stitches.”

There was another voice in the background that Enzo didn’t recognize and could barely hear, but what he could hear made it clear that the other voice was not impressed either.

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” TK demanded, and Enzo was not entirely sure who he was speaking to, “Let her drown in a burning bus?”

“You just got out of the hospital!” Enzo objected when he could form words again, “What were you doing somewhere where there was a burning bus?!”

“We just went out for boba,” TK retorted, “I didn’t expect there to be a solar storm that caused a bus accident.”

And Enzo forced himself to take a deep breath because that was fair, he supposed. There was no way anyone could control anything like that. Still…

“The next time you move we’re going to need to do some research,” he declared. “Because if it is anywhere as chaotic as Austin, I’m going to have to object.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” TK assured him, “I think I’ll be in Austin for a while.”

There was a smile in his voice and Enzo somehow had the feeling he was intruding on something, even though TK had been the one to call him.

“What number are you calling me from?” he asked, testing his theory.

“I borrowed Carlos’s phone,” TK answered in a voice that said he knew what was coming and he hoped it would at least be quick.

“Oh,” Enzo replied, “and Carlos wouldn’t happen to be the name of a certain ‘hot cop’ your father mentioned, aka the mystery man I have been trying to get you to tell me about for months?”

“Yes.”

“And when you say ‘we’ were trying to get boba…”

“Enzo…”

“And he wouldn’t happen to be with you right now, would he?”

“Are you done?” TK demanded, and Enzo only laughed.

“Not nearly, kid; I’m just getting started.”

And despite TK’s muttering, Enzo could tell that he sounded happier than he had heard him sound in ages. He marveled at the fact that somehow, despite everything, TK had managed to find the happiness and peace he had hoped for him ever since he left New York all those months ago. Between the disasters he had managed to take his broken pieces and fit them back together, maybe even stronger than they had been before.

It was all he had ever wanted for him, and he was relieved beyond belief that he had found it.

“You know, this means I’m going to have to come down there soon,” he said instead, “I’ve got to meet this mystery man for myself.”

He could practically hear TK rolling his eyes, but his voice was impossibly warm when he assured him, “You’ll like him, Enzo.”

“Do you like him?” he asked.

“Yeah,” TK responded without a moment’s hesitation, “I do.”

“Then I already do,” he assured him.

If this Carlos had anything to do with the happiness he could finally hear returned to his stepson’s voice, he couldn’t do anything but.

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #my writing #tk strand #enzo #userkimmy #userjilly #userac #userbones #reyesstrand #reyeslonestartag #tuserpaige #tuserjamie #buckybarnesalways #laelipoo #I know for sure I usually tag more people but it's been so long I can't remember

96 notes · View notes

clumsyclifford · 3 years

Note

ok hello i absolutely love all ur fics, you’ve just got a certain quality in ur writing that is just… mmm. yeah so anyway, do you have any advice on how to improve or just how to write?? (especially fic cause personally i struggle with that more than original stuff??)

hello!! that is very kind of you to say thank you <3

advice on how to write. oh boy. oh man. well i can try. i will do my best. i will also try to be brief but we all know how that song goes

update from having finished answering this: alright. okay. this is not only long, but decidedly english teacher-y. i’m sorry that i am the way that i am. this is what you get for asking a leo for writing advice. am i joking? maybe. maybe not. anyway. this post got away from me in a big way so here’s a read more. warning: LONG post under the cut.

1. study your characters. for RPF like the band stuff i write, that literally means watching interviews, watching them perform, seeing how they interact with each other, picking up on their mannerisms (behavior) - what they do with their hands, if they repeat themselves or stutter when they talk, the quality of their voice when they're talking about different things, and so on. also keep track of things they mention a lot in interviews especially about each other - for example jack has mentioned before that alex has an annoying habit of twirling his hair when he zones out. that kind of thing. IMPORTANT NOTE!: you don’t have to use all of this information. just like studying for anything, you collect all the information you can and then you parse through it and use whatever you think will contribute or be relevant to your story.

2. remember that characters are people. or at least they’re representing people, which is an important distinction (see #3). still, considering that your characters are people can be a helpful way to get out of your head. see, characters are supposed to be archetypical, and fulfill a role, and say certain things in certain ways and never really deviate from that. but people are highly unpredictable and behave in random ways for random reasons and have thought processes that are unfathomable. people will just do fuckin’ whatever. if you’re worried that your characters aren’t behaving in a believable way, keep in mind that you’re trying to make your characters represent people, and people’s behavior is justifiable any number of ways. people just do shit.

3. remember that characters are not people. sike! no but seriously, this is just as important to remember. unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, characters are never going to be people. that’s a good thing for stories, though. characters can pick up on nuance in senses that people can’t - they can distinguish between different facial expressions, different smells, different sounds - BUT ONLY INSOFAR AS IT MOVES THE STORY ALONG. in other ways, characters are ridiculously oblivious. you can use this to your advantage. in fact, a lot of the time, you have to. if your character notices right away that someone is flirting with him, then you can’t write a 30k slow burn, for example. characters don’t do that thing humans do where they go “what?” but then halfway through the re-explanation they register what’s been said. pretty much everything characters say has meaning. (by this i don’t mean semantic meaning, i mean significance - characters don’t really just say “what?” because they didn’t hear what someone said, they say “what?” because they can’t believe it or they don’t understand it or they refuse to understand it. characters never seem to run into the didn’t-hear-them problem. must be nice.)

characters can do whatever you want or need them to do, because you’re in charge of them. (sometimes this doesn’t feel true - mine do all kinds of shit and i just have go “well alright then” - but it is true.) they are gears in a story. you decide when and how they turn.

4. dialogue is your friend. i am super super biased here, because i looove writing dialogue. if you talk to sam about this i’m sure she would say that description and narration are the ways to go. but you came to me, so i get to say that dialogue is god. i don’t want to say that dialogue is the only method of communication (i know nonverbal communication is real), but dialogue is the fastest and most effective method of communication, and by extension, the most effective way to advance relationships between characters. now. obviously there are exceptions. if characters are kissing, they’re probably not doing a lot of talking. if they’re trying to be undercover or discreet, they’re more likely to rely on gestures and facial expressions than speaking. if you’re writing a very peaceful scene, you might not want to undercut it by adding a lot of chit-chat. but i maintain that dialogue is the best way to move a story along, for a few reasons.

first, at least for me, too much description is just tiring. depending on how skillful the writer is (sam), i can read a fair amount before i hit my limit, but unlike in mean girls, the limit DOES exist. you don’t want to over-describe the world (see #5). second, i find that dialogue is a really really good indicator of a person’s character. this is especially true and relevant in fanfiction, which is a lot more character-driven than original fiction in many ways. also, in a sec i’m gonna talk about showing [not/and] telling, which is every english teacher’s bitch, but dialogue is a really good way of showing who a person is and also a good way to establish facts about the universe. you could just narrate and be like “Jack hated waking up early,” and that works and in many cases it’s perfectly legit. but you could also do something like this:

“What the fuck,” Jack mumbled, still half asleep. “You better have a really fucking good reason to be waking me up this early. Like someone better have fucking died.”

and sometimes that’s just a more fun way to say it. (for the record you can also show AND tell here! there’s no reason why you can’t have this line of dialogue and then a line in the narration confirming how very much jack is not a morning person!)

the last reason why i am particularly fond of dialogue is because i am also particularly fond of communication, which is a preference thing. let’s face it, guys: characters aren’t gonna communicate if they’re not literally actually talking to each other. dialogue means talking to each other. talking to each other means solving problems, fixing (or creating) conflicts, understanding each other better. i love communication, ergo, i love dialogue. And You Should Too.

5. describe the world, but don’t over-describe. i opened this fic earlier and it was like “jack was excited to wake up to go to his first class at the university of baltimore” and i just. i was like is this really relevant. do i really need to know this. and i never found out because i closed the fic but in my defense it was on wattpad and i had only opened it out of curiosity. look. there are three ways to use details in fic. (a) introduce them right away (b) introduce them when they become relevant or (c) don’t introduce them at all. let me give you some examples.

(a) say your character A (i’m using jack because i’m used to him) wakes up. he’s in his room in his house off-campus. character B (rian) walks into the room. this might be a good time to explain that rian is his housemate. to that point: “show not tell” is a good rule, but sometimes “show and tell” is just as good. e.g.:

Rian walks in, holding Jack’s Green Day shirt and looking irritated. That’s really nothing new; Rian looks irritated at Jack roughly once a day. Being housemates for a year will do that to a friendship.

boom, now you’ve let everyone know they live together without throwing it in their face, and you’ve also told everyone that these two guys are friends and have been friends for at least a year but probably longer. you showed it by having rian walking in holding jack’s shirt - usual housemate behavior - but you also told it in a subtle way that established the relationship and some kind of history between these two. well done.

(b) sometimes you want a certain detail to make an impact. this is the kind of thing you hold onto and don’t specify, and in certain cases you leave the reader wondering, “well what about x?” and then when you finally explain x they go ohhhhhhhhhh. yknow. the italicized oh. consider the following:

(A)

“Alex is in my bio class,” Rian says, referring to Jack’s ex-boyfriend of last year.

Jack frowns. “So? Why should I care?”

“He’s my lab partner,” Rian says. “I have to spend a lot of time with him.”

“I don’t care what you and Alex do,” Jack says. “But you should know he sucks at bio.”

Rian gives Jack a look. “First of all, that’s not true, he’s incredibly smart. And second, I’m telling you as a courtesy, because I thought you might not want your ex-boyfriend hanging around our house after he broke your fucking heart.”

(B)

“Alex is in my bio class,” Rian says.

Jack frowns. “So? Why should I care?”

“He’s my lab partner,” Rian says. “I have to spend a lot of time with him.”

“I don’t care what you and Alex do,” Jack says. “But you should know he sucks at bio.”

the only difference between these two excerpts (which i just wrote lol they’re not from anything real) is that the second one doesn’t explain who alex is right away. that makes it way more interesting when rian reveals who alex is a few lines later. magic.

(c) take this college au that we’ve established here. where does it take place, you ask? easy answer: it doesn’t matter. you don’t need to say what school they’re at. this will make your job easier, because then no one can fact check you, and it also means you don’t have to decide what school they’re at. but even if you do decide, it’s not usually necessary to say. believe me, you can go thousands of words without ever needing to specify what school they’re at. you know why? because it doesn’t matter. and no one cares. and as soon as you specify in canon that they’re at a particular school, you are bound to be accurate to everything that school does, and that makes your job way more difficult than it needs to be. as hazel once said, work smarter, not harder.

6. adverbs are also your friend. (yknow, words that describe verbs, typically ending in -ly, like “loudly” or “angrily” or “smoothly”.) ESPECIALLY when it comes to dialogue tags. (dialogue tags are the things you add to dialogue to say who’s talking and how they’re talking - like “he said” or “he whispered” or “he earnestly explained” or whatever). a lot of the writing advice you’ll see nowadays will usually guide you away from overusing dialogue tags other than the classic “says/said” and i STRONGLY concur with that advice. things like yelled, cried, mumbled, snapped - these are very good in moderation, when you’re really trying to emphasize the way a person is speaking. the more you use them, the less impact they have. in most cases, a simple “he said [adverb]” will do. instead of “he snapped” consider “he said curtly/sharply/coldly.” instead of “he mumbled” consider “he said quietly/clumsily/softly.” I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THESE ARE NOT DIRECT SYNONYMS. every word has a nuanced and slightly different meaning and that is the BEAUTY of the english language!!!! all i’m saying is that in many cases, a verb can be replaced with an adverb to achieve roughly the same effect, without making the reader feel like they’re scanning a thesaurus.

and speaking of a thesaurus: it’s not cheating to use outside resources like thesaurus.com to help you come up with words. i fuckin love thesaurus.com. i use that shit all the time for everything. i use it when i’m writing emails. i used it just now to write that last paragraph. thesaurus.com is your BEST friend.

7. grammar. (and spelling but that’s really a given.) unfortunately if i tried to teach you all of the essential rules of grammar this post would exceed tumblr’s previously-nonexistent word count limit. so i’m not gonna teach you any of them. this is just a general point to suggest that if/when you’re writing, have someone you trust, with a good grasp of grammar, look over it. of course it doesn’t have to be perfect or AP style or anything like that. readers will overlook a certain amount of grammar mistakes and every reader has a different threshold. but in general, as a grammar geek and former journalism editor-in-chief, i have a duty to my grammurai code to preach the importance of grammar in writing. good grammar does not necessarily mean good writing and vice versa, bad grammar does not necessarily mean bad writing, but bad grammar makes good writing a lot harder to read, and in some cases will even obscure your actual meaning. so please, have someone read it. for the record this is me offering up my services. i am very good at fixing grammar. i have lots of weaknesses in writing but grammar is one of my strengths. please prioritize grammar. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

***

okay so now that i’ve said all of this shit and pretended to be an expert and embodied everyone’s tenth grade english teacher, let me add one very important disclaimer:

none of this is always relevant.* writing is an art, not a science. you are never going to be following all of the rules, all of the time. you shouldn’t. it’s good to know the basics of constructing a plot, establishing a character, showing and/not telling, moving the story along. but a lot of this advice is really subjective and heavily influenced by my writing experience and habits and tendencies and preferences, and those are simply not generalizable to the world. i am a sample size of one and science dictates that that means my results cannot be statistically significant. i am just some guy. earlier i said you don’t want to over-describe the world. but maybe you do! maybe you’re really into worldbuilding and you want people to know what they’re getting into. maybe you’re like sam, and you just don’t feel as confident in your dialogue skills but you love painting word pictures. i said that adverbs are your friend, but maybe you just prefer to use verbs. maybe you don’t want ANY dialogue tags and you want the reader to interpret the dialogue based on context and content. i said that characters aren’t people and they won’t behave like people, but maybe you’re trying to write hyper-realistic characters. maybe you’re just going for believability over narrative. WHATEVER. the point is, rules are made to be broken. no one is going to have The Answer for How To Write Good because there isn’t just one answer. every single writing rule has exceptions and you can be that exception as many times as you want.

*except grammar. grammar is fucking always relevant.

i hope any of this advice was helpful to you, even though i english teacher-ed the fuck out of it. and for what it’s worth, i approached this as if you were a relatively novice writer, but i know absolutely jack shit about your writing prowess and experience and habits. so maybe you already know all of this and none of what i’ve said is helpful at all. if you have a more specific problem, i would be happy to try and help. if you’re hoping for more specific feedback, i’d have to read something of yours first - but again, happy to try and help. i don’t know if you can tell but i loooove writing and english and grammar and all of this shit and it would be my honor. i have now spoken so long that james madison himself is begging me to shut up so i’ll stop here but thank you for coming by and giving me the opportunity to expatiate a shit ton. and GOOD LUCK i forgot the most important advice of writing which is HAVE FUN LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE AND WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE OKAY BYE

#yowza #mamma mia #hachi machi #someone get this bitch a muzzle #i feel like i keep saying i sound like an english teacher here but i never specify that im not actually an english teacher #god i wish my blog brand was just 'the person you come to with writing questions'#is it too late to establish myself as that #ask #writing advice #stuff #im giving it the stuff tag. i said enough that i feel like it's earned the stuff tag.#anonymous #if i keep looking at this im just going to keep adding things because adhd-coded brain wants ME to overdescribe. hypocrite #so im just gonna hit post n run #good luck

27 notes · View notes

suckmykawaiidesu · 3 years

Text

Compilation of Nessian Moments: ‘A Court of Wings and Ruin ’ Edition

Hello loves! ♥️

I recently asked for a compilation list of Nessian moments and there doesn’t seems to be one so I decided to hurriedly put one together before the release of “A Court of Silver Flames”. I have probably missed some scenes but these are the ones that I came across during my re-read. I will be making a post for each book and will link them once available:

A Court of Mist and Fury

ACOMAF Target Exclusive Story uploaded by bookofademigod

A Court of Frost and Starlight

Sneak Peak at the end of A Court of Frost and Starlight

A Court of Wings and Ruin

Chapter 15

Nesta had been beautiful as a human woman. As High Fae, she was devastating. From the utter stillness with which Cassian stood beside me, I wondered if he thought the same thing. She was in a pewter-colored gown, its make simple, yet the material fine. Her hair was braided over the crown of her head, accentuating her long, pale neck—a neck Cassian’s eyes darted to, then quickly away from, as she sized us up and said to me, “You’re back.” With her hair styled like that, it hid the pointed ears. But there was nothing to hide the ethereal grace as she took one step. As her focus again returned to Cassian and she added,

“What do you want?”

But Cassian sauntered over to Nesta, a half smile spreading across his face. She stood stiffly while he picked up the book, read the title, and chuckled. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a romance reader.” She gave him a withering glare. “And, again, why are you here?” She snatched her book from Cassian, who allowed her to do so, but remained standing beside her. Watching every breath, every blink. “Elain’s mate is here,” I said. And it was the wrong thing to utter in Nesta’s presence. She went white with rage. “He is no such thing to her,” she snarled, advancing on me enough that Rhys slid a shield into place between us. As if he, too, had glimpsed that mighty power in her eyes that day in Hybern. And did not know how it would manifest.

“If you bring that male anywhere near her, I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Cassian crooned, trailing her at a casual pace as she stopped perhaps five feet from me. He lifted a brow as she whirled on him. “You won’t join me for practice, so you sure as hell aren’t going to hold your own in a fight. You won’t talk about your powers, so you certainly aren’t going to be able to wield them. And you—” “Shut your mouth,” she snapped, every inch the conquering empress. “I told you to stay the hell away from me, and if you—” “You come between a male and his mate, Nesta Archeron, and you’re going to learn about the consequences the hard way.” Nesta’s nostrils flared. Cassian only gave her a crooked grin.

Nesta only shook her head, turning toward the chair and her book. “I don’t care. Do what you want.” A stinging dismissal, if not admission that she still trusted me enough to consider Elain’s needs first. Rhys jerked his chin at Cassian in a silent order to leave, and as I followed them, I said softly, “I’m sorry, Nesta.” She didn’t answer as she sat stiffly in her chair, picked up her book, and dutifully ignored us. A blow to the face would have been better. When I looked ahead, I found Cassian staring back at Nesta as well. I wondered why no one had yet mentioned what now shone in Cassian’s eyes as he gazed at my sister. The sorrow. And the longing

Chapter 16 I cringed. “I guarantee Nesta is now guarding Elain. I think she might honestly kill him if he so much as tries to touch her.” “Not without training she won’t,” Cassian grumbled, tucking in his wings as he claimed the seat beside Mor that Azriel had vacated. The shadowsinger didn’t so much as look at it. No, Azriel just walked to the wall beside Cassian and leaned against the wood paneling. But Rhys and the others remained quiet enough that I knew to proceed carefully as I asked Cassian, “Nesta spoke as if you’ve been up at the House … often. You’ve offered to train her?” Cassian’s hazel eyes shuttered as he crossed a booted ankle over another, stretching his muscled legs before him. “I go up there every other day. It’s good exercise for my wings.” Those wings shifted in emphasis. Not a scratch marred them. “And?” “And what you saw in the library is a pleasanter version of the conversation we always have.” Mor’s lips pressed into a thin line, as if she was trying her best not to say anything. Azriel was trying his best to shoot a warning stare at Mor to remind her to indeed keep her mouth shut. As if they’d already discussed this. Many times. “I don’t blame her,” Cassian said, shrugging despite his words. “She was—violated. Her body stopped belonging wholly to her.” His jaw clenched. Even Amren didn’t dare say anything. “And I am going to peel the King of Hybern’s skin off his bones the next time I see him.”

Chapter 17 Not that there was much finery to bother with. I’d opted for my Illyrian leather pants and a loose, white shirt—and a pair of embroidered slippers that Cassian kept snorting at as we flew. When he did so for the third time in two minutes, I pinched his arm and said, “It’s hot. Those boots are stuffy.” His brows rose, the portrait of innocence. “I didn’t say anything.” “You grunted. Again.” “I’ve been living with Mor for five hundred years. I’ve learned the hard way not to question shoe choices.” He smirked. “However stupid they may be.” “It’s dinner. Unless there’s some battle planned afterward?” “Your sister will be there—I’d say that’s battle aplenty.” I casually studied his face, noting how hard he worked to keep his features neutral, to keep his gaze fixed anywhere but on my own. Rhys flew nearby, far enough to remain out of earshot as I said, “Would you use her to see if she can somehow fix the wall?” Hazel eyes shot to me, fierce and clear. “Yes. Not only for our sakes, but … she needs to get out of the House. She needs to …” Cassian’s wings kept up a steady booming beat, the new sections only detectable by their lack of scarring. “She’ll destroy herself if she stays cooped up in there.” My chest tightened. “Do …” I thought through my words. “The day she was changed, she … I felt something different with her.” I fought against the tensing in my muscles as I recalled those moments. The screaming and the blood and the nausea as I watched my sisters taken against their will, as I could do nothing, as we— I swallowed down the fear, the guilt. “It was like … everything she was, that steel and fire … It became magnified. Cataclysmic. Like … looking at a house cat and suddenly finding a panther standing there instead.” I shook my head, as if it would clear away the memory of the predator, the rage simmering in those blue-gray eyes. “I will never forget those moments,” Cassian said quietly, scenting or sensing the memories wreaking havoc on me. “As long as I live.” “Have you seen any glimpse of it since?” “Nothing.” The House loomed, golden lights at the walls of windows and doorways beckoning us closer. “But I can feel it—sometimes.” He added a bit ruefully, “Usually when she’s pissed at me. Which is … most of the time.” “Why?” They’d always been at each other’s throats, but this … yes, the dynamic between them had been different earlier. Sharper. Cassian shook his dark hair out of his eyes, slightly longer than the last time I’d seen it. “I don’t think Nesta will ever forgive me for what happened in Hybern. To her—but mostly to Elain.” “Your wings were shredded. You were barely alive.” For that was guilt—ravaging and poisonous—in each of Cassian’s words. What the others had been fighting against in the loft. “You were in no position to save anyone.” “I made her a promise.” The wind ruffled Cassian’s hair as he squinted at the sky. “And when it mattered, I didn’t keep it.” I still dreamed of him trying to crawl toward her, reaching for her even in the semiunconscious state the pain and blood loss had thrown him into. As Rhysand had once done for me during those last moments with Amarantha. Perhaps only a few wing beats separated us from the broad landing veranda, but I asked, “Why do you bother, Cassian?” His hazel eyes shuttered as we smoothly landed. And I thought he wouldn’t answer, especially not as we heard the others already in the dining room beyond the veranda, especially not when Rhys gracefully landed beside us and strode in ahead with a wink. But Cassian said quietly as we headed for the dining room, “Because I can’t stay away.”

Chapter 17 His focus shifted behind me before he replied—and Lucien shut his mouth. His metal eye whirred softly. I followed his glance, and tried not to tense as Nesta stepped into the room. Yes, devastating was a good word for how lovely she’d become as High Fae. And in a long-sleeved, dark blue gown that clung to her curves before falling gracefully to the ground in a spill of fabric … Cassian looked like someone had punched him in the gut.

Chapter 19 Something drew Cassian’s attention behind me. And even as his body remained casual, a predatory gleam flickered in his eyes. I didn’t need to turn to know who was standing there. “Care to join?” Cassian purred. Nesta said, “It doesn’t look like you’re exercising anything other than your mouths.” I looked over my shoulder. My sister was in a dress of pale blue that turned her skin golden, her hair swept up, her back a stiff column. I scrambled to say something, to apologize, but … not in front of him. She wouldn’t want this conversation in front of Cassian. Cassian extended a wrapped hand, his fingers curling in a come-hither motion. “Scared?” I wisely kept my mouth shut as Nesta stepped from the open doorway into the blinding light of the courtyard. “Why should I be scared of an oversized bat who likes to throw temper tantrums?” I choked, and Cassian shot me a warning glare, daring me to laugh. But I felt for that bond in my mind, lowering my mental shields enough to say to Rhysand, wherever he was in the city, Please come spare me from Cassian and Nesta’s bickering. A heartbeat later, Rhys crooned, Regretting becoming High Lady? I savored that voice—that humor. But I shoved that simmering panic down again as I countered, Is this part of my duties? A sensual, dark laugh. Why do you think I was so desperate for a partner? I’ve had almost five centuries to deal with this alone. It’s only fair you have to endure it now. Cassian was saying to Nesta, “Seems like you’re a little on edge, Nesta. And you left so abruptly last night … Any way I can help ease that tension?”

Chapter 22 The Carver purred to Cassian, “If I tell you a secret, warrior-heart, what will you give me?” Neither of us spoke. Carefully—we’d have to phrase and do this so carefully. The Carver stroked the shard of bone in his palm, attention fixed upon a stone-faced Cassian. “What if I tell you what the rock and darkness and sea beyond whispered to me, Lord of Bloodshed? How they shuddered in fear, on that island across the sea. How they trembled when she emerged. She took something—something precious. She ripped it out with her teeth.” Cassian’s golden-brown face had drained of color, his wings tucking in tight. “What did you wake that day in Hybern, Prince of Bastards?” My blood went cold. “What came out was not what went in.” A rasping laugh as the Carver laid the shard of bone on the ground beside him. “How lovely she is—new as a fawn and yet ancient as the sea. How she calls to you. A queen, as my sister once was. Terrible and proud; beautiful as a winter sunrise.” Rhys had warned me of the inmates’ capacity to lie, to sell anything, to get free. “Nesta,” the Bone Carver murmured. “Nes-ta.” I squeezed Cassian’s hand. Enough. It was enough of this teasing and taunting. But he didn’t look at me. “How the wind moans her name. Can you hear it, too? Nesta. Nesta. Nesta.” I wasn’t sure Cassian was breathing. “What did she do, drowning in the ageless dark? What did she take?” It was the bite in the last word that snapped my tether of restraint. “If you wish to find out, perhaps you should stop talking long enough for us to explain.” My voice seemed to shake Cassian free of whatever trance he’d been in. His breathing surged, tight and fast, and he scanned my face—apology in his eyes.

Chapter 23 “Would you be frightened of her, if Nesta was—Death? Or if her power came from it?” Cassian was quiet for a long moment. He said at last, “I’m a warrior. I’ve walked beside Death my entire life. I would be more afraid for her, to have that power. But not afraid of her.” He considered, and added after a heartbeat, “Nothing about Nesta could frighten me.”

Chaper 24 Mercifully, or perhaps not, Nesta’s retching filled the silence. Cassian gaped at Rhys. “What did you do?” “I asked him the same thing,” I said, crossing my arms. “He said he ‘went fast.’ ” Nesta vomited again—then silence. Cassian sighed at the ceiling. “She’ll never fly again.” The doorknob twisted, and we tried—or at least Cassian and I did—not to seem like we’d been listening to her. Nesta’s face was still greenish-pale, but … Her eyes burned. There was no way of describing that burning—and even painting it might have failed. Her eyes remained the same blue-gray as my own. And yet … Molten ore was all I could think of. Quicksilver set aflame. She advanced a step toward us. All her attention fixed on Rhys. Cassian casually stepped in her path, wings folded in tight. Feet braced apart on the carpet. A fighting stance—casual, but … his Siphons glimmered. “Do you know,” Cassian drawled to her, “that the last time I got into a brawl in this house, I was kicked out for a month?” Nesta’s burning gaze slid to him, still outraged—but hinted with incredulity. He just went on, “It was Amren’s fault, of course, but no one believed me. And no one dared banish her.” She blinked slowly. But the burning, molten gaze became mortal. Or as mortal as one of us could be. Until Lucien breathed, “What are you?” Cassian didn’t seem to dare take his focus off Nesta.

Chapter 27 Cassian had stationed himself by the doorway, I realized, to be closer to Nesta. To grab her if Amren decided she didn’t particularly care for where this conversation was headed. Or for any of the furniture in this room. Precisely why Rhys now placed himself on Amren’s other side—to draw her attention away from me, and Mor behind us, every muscle in her lithe body on alert. Cassian was staring at Nesta—hard enough that my sister at last twisted toward him. Met his gaze. His head tilted—slightly. A silent order.

Cassian casually slid Nesta behind him, his fingers snagging in the skirts of her black gown. As if to reassure himself that she wasn’t in Amren’s direct path. Nesta only rose onto her toes to peer over his shoulder.

Chapter 30 Both males went a bit still. But Azriel sketched a bow—while Cassian stalked for the dining table, reached right over Nesta’s shoulder, and grabbed a muffin from its little basket. “Morning, Nesta,” he said around a mouth of blueberry-lemon. “Elain.”

Cassian finished the muffin, licking his fingers. I could have sworn Nesta watched the entire thing with a sidelong glance. He grinned at her as if he knew it, too. “Ready for some flying, Nes?” “Don’t call me that.” The wrong thing to say, from the way Cassian’s eyes lit up. I chose that moment to winnow to the skies above the House, chuckling as wind carried me through the world. Some sisterly payback, I supposed. For Nesta’s general attitude. Mercifully, no one saw my slightly better crash landing on the veranda, and by the time Cassian’s dark figure appeared in the sky, Nesta’s hair bright as bronze in the morning sun, I’d brushed off the dirt and dust from my leathers. My sister’s face was wind-flushed as Cassian gently set her down. Then she strode for the glass doors without a single look back. “You’re welcome,” Cassian called after her, more than a bite to his voice. His hands clenched and slackened at his sides—as if he were trying to loosen the feel of her from his palms.

Chapter 31 In the terrible silence, Cassian hauled me out—toward the dim center of the pit. Nesta was standing there, arms around herself, eyes wide. Cassian only stretched out an arm for her. As if in a trance, she walked right to his side. His arms tightened around both of us, Siphons flaring, gilding the darkness with bloodred light.

Chapter 32 I wondered what had happened in those initial moments, when he’d found my sister. As if he’d read my thoughts, Rhys sent the image to me, no doubt courtesy of Cassian. Panic—and rage. That was all he knew as he shot down into the heart of the pit, spearing for that ancient darkness that had once shaken him to his very marrow. Nesta was there—and Feyre. It was the former he saw first, stumbling out of the dark, wide-eyed, her fear a tang that whetted his rage into something so sharp he could barely think, barely breathe— She let out a small, animal sound—like some wounded stag—as she saw him. As he landed so hard his knees popped. He said nothing as Nesta launched herself toward him, her dress filthy and disheveled, her arms stretching for him. He opened his own for her, unable to stop his approach, his reaching— She gripped his leathers instead. “ Feyre,” she rasped, pointing behind her with a free hand, shaking him solidly with the other. Strength—such untapped strength in that slim, beautiful body. “Hybern.” That was all he needed to hear. He drew his sword—then Rhys was arrowing for them, his power like a gods-damned volcanic eruption. Cassian charged ahead into the gloom, following the screaming—

Chapter 39 But Nesta was glancing between us all, her back still stiff, mouth a thin line. “Where is he?” “Who?” Rhys crooned. “Cassian.” I didn’t think I’d ever heard his name from her lips. Cassian had always been him or that one. And Nesta had been … pacing in the foyer. As if she was worried. I opened my mouth, but Mor beat me to it. “He’s busy.” I’d never heard her voice so … sharp. Icy. Nesta held Mor’s stare. Her jaw tightened, then relaxed, then tightened—as if fighting some battle to keep questions in. Mor didn’t drop her gaze. Mor had never seemed ruffled by mention of Cassian’s past lovers. Perhaps because they’d never meant much—not in the ways that counted. But if the Illyrian warrior no longer stood as a physical and emotional buffer between her and Azriel … And worse, if the person who caused that vacancy was Nesta … Mor said flatly, “When he gets back, keep your forked tongue behind your teeth.” My heart leaped into a furious beat, my arms slack at my sides at the insult, the threat. But Rhys said, “Mor.” She slowly—so slowly—looked at him. There was nothing but uncompromising will in Rhys’s face. “We now leave for the meeting in three days. Send out dispatches to the other High Lords to inform them. And I’m done debating where to meet. Pick a place and be done with it.” She stared him down for a heartbeat, then dragged her gaze back to my sister. Nesta’s face had not altered, the coldness limning it unbending. She was so still she seemed to barely be breathing. But she did not balk. She did not avert her eyes from the Morrigan. Mor vanished with hardly a blink. Nesta only turned and headed for the sitting room, where I noticed books had been laid on the low-lying table before the hearth.

Behind us, Amren murmured to Nesta, “Cassian has gone to war many times, girl. He isn’t general of Rhys’s forces for nothing. This battle was a skirmish compared to what lies ahead. He’s likely visiting the families of the fallen as we speak. He’ll be back before the meeting.” Nesta said, “I don’t care.”

Chapter 42 Nesta only lifted her chin. “I …” I’d never seen her stumble for words. “I do not want to be remembered as a coward.” “No one would say that,” I offered quietly. “I would.” Nesta surveyed us all, her gaze jumping past Cassian. Not to slight him, but… avoid answering the look he was giving her. Approval—more. “It was some distant thing,” she said. “War. Battle. It … it’s not anymore. I will help, if I can. If it means …telling them what happened.”

Mor sagged a bit, jewelry glinting with the movement, and went to take Cassian’s arm. But he’d at last approached Nesta. And as the world began to turn to shadows and wind, I saw Cassian tower over my sister, saw her chin lift defiantly, and heard him growl, “Hello, Nesta.” Rhys seemed to halt his winnowing as my sister said, “So you’re alive.” Cassian bared his teeth in a feral grin, wings flaring slightly. “Were you hoping otherwise?” Mor was watching—watching so closely, every muscle tense. She again reached for his arm, but Cassian angled out of reach, not tearing his eyes from Nesta’s blazing gaze. Nesta blurted, “You didn’t come to—” She stopped herself. The world seemed to go utterly still at that interrupted sentence, nothing and no one more so than Cassian. He scanned her face as if furiously reading some battle report. Mor just watched as Cassian took Nesta’s slim hand in his own, interlacing their fingers. As he folded in his wings and blindly reached his other hand back toward Mor in a silent order to transport them. Cassian’s eyes did not leave Nesta’s; nor did hers leave his. There was no warmth, no tenderness on either of their faces. Only that raging intensity, that blend of contempt and understanding and fire. Rhys began to winnow us again, and just as the dark wind swept in, I heard Cassian say to Nesta, his voice low and rough, “The next time, Emissary, I’ll come say hello.”

Chapter 44 “You’re insane,” I breathed to Tamlin as Varian bared his teeth. “Do you hear what you’re saying?” I pointed toward Nesta. “Hybern turned my sisters into Fae—after your bitch of a priestess sold them out!” “Perhaps Ianthe’s mind was already in Rhysand’s thrall. And what a tragedy to remain young and beautiful. You’re a good actress—I’m sure the trait runs in the family.” Nesta let out a low laugh. “If you want someone to blame for all of this,” she said to Tamlin, “perhaps you should first look in the mirror.” Tamlin snarled at her. Cassian snarled right back, “Watch it.” Tamlin looked between my sister and Cassian—his gaze lingering on Cassian’s wings, tucked in behind him. Snorted. “Seems like other preferences run in the Archeron family, too.”

Chapter 45 Rhys lifted a brow. “Your staggering generosity aside, will you be joining our forces?” “I have not yet decided.” Eris went so far as to give his father a look bordering on reproach. From genuine alarm or for what that refusal might mean for our own covert alliance, I couldn’t tell. “Armies take time to raise,” Cassian said. “You don’t have the luxury of sitting on your ass. You need to rally your soldiers now.” Beron only sneered. “I don’t take orders from the bastards of lesser fae whores.” My heartbeat was so wild I could hear it in every corner of my body, feel it pounding in my arms, my gut. But it was nothing compared to the wrath on Cassian’s face—or the icy rage on Azriel’s and Rhys’s. And the disgust on Mor’s. “That bastard,” Nesta said with utter coolness, though her eyes began to burn, “may wind up being the only person standing in the way of Hybern’s forces and your people.” She didn’t so much as look at Cassian as she said it. But he stared at her—as if he’d never seen her before.

Chapter 47 Helion paused his debating the wall to survey her carefully, as he had done earlier. Spell-Cleaver. That was his title. She surveyed him with her usual disdain. But Helion gave her the same bow he’d offered me—though his smile was edged with enough sensuality that even my heart raced a bit. No wonder the Lady of Autumn hadn’t stood a chance. “I don’t think we were introduced properly earlier,” he crooned to Nesta. “I’m—” “I don’t care,” Nesta said with a snap of her wrist, striding right past him and up to my side. “I’d like a word,” she said. “Now.” Cassian was biting his knuckle to keep from laughing—at the utter surprise and shock on Helion’s face. It wasn’t every day, I supposed, that anyone of either sex dismissed him so thoroughly. I threw the High Lord a semi-apologetic glance and led my sister out of the room. “What is it?” I asked when Nesta and I had entered her bedroom, the space bedecked in pink silk and gold, accents of ivory scattered throughout. The lavishness of it indeed put our various homes to shame. “We need to leave,” Nesta said. “Right now.” Every sense went on alert. “Why?” “It feels wrong. Something feels wrong.” I studied her, the clear sky beyond the towering, drape-framed windows. “Rhys and the others would sense it. You’re likely just picking up on all the power gathered here.” “Something is wrong,” Nesta insisted. “I’m not doubting you feel that way but … If none of the others are picking it up—” “I am not like the others.” Her throat bobbed. “We need to leave.” “I can send you back to Velaris, but we have things to discuss here—” “I don’t care about me, I—” The door opened, and Cassian stalked in, face grave. The sight of the wings, the Illyrian armor in this opulent, pink-filled room planted itself in my mind, the painting already taking form, as he said, “What’s wrong.” He studied every inch of her. As if there were nothing and no one else here, anywhere. But I said, “She senses something is off—says we need to leave right away.” I waited for the dismissal, but Cassian angled his head. “What, precisely, feels wrong?” Nesta stiffened, mouth pursing as she weighed his tone. “It feels like there’s this …dread. This sense that … that I forgot something but can’t remember what.” Cassian stared at her for a moment longer. “I’ll tell Rhys.” And he did.

Chapter 48 Nesta let out a breathy, sharp noise and surged from her chair. I lunged for her, nearly tripping over the skirts of my dress as she staggered back, a hand clutching at her chest. Another step would have taken her stumbling into the reflection pool, but Mor sprang forward, gripping her. “What’s wrong?” Mor demanded, holding my sister upright as her face contorted in what looked to be—pain. Confusion and pain. Sweat beaded on Nesta’s brow, though her face went deathly pale. “Something …” The word was cut off by a low groan. She sagged, and Mor caught her fully, scanning Nesta’s face. Cassian was instantly there, his hand at her back, teeth bared at the invisible threat.

Chapter 49 Nesta smoothed a hand down her dark dress. “What do I do now?” A purpose, I realized. Assigning her the task of finding a way to repair the holes in the wall … it had given my sister what perhaps our human lives had never granted her: a bearing. “You come with us—to Graysen’s estate, and then travel with the army. If you’re connected with the Cauldron, then we’ll need you close. Need you to tell us if it’s being wielded again.” Not quite a mission, but Nesta nodded all the same. Right as Cassian clapped Rhys on the shoulder and prowled toward us. He paused a foot away, and frowned. “Dresses aren’t good for flying, ladies.” Nesta didn’t reply. He lifted a brow. “No barking and biting today?” But Nesta didn’t rise to meet him, her face still drained and sallow. “I’ve never worn pants,” was all she said. I could have sworn concern flashed across Cassian’s features. But he brushed it aside and drawled, “I have no doubt you’d start a riot if you did.” No reaction. Had the Cauldron— Cassian stepped in Nesta’s path when she tried to walk past him. Put a tan, callused hand on her forehead. She shook off the touch, but he gripped her wrist, forcing her to meet his stare. “Any one of those human pricks makes a move to hurt you,” he breathed, “and you kill them.” He wouldn’t be coming—no, he’d be mustering the full might of the Illyrian legions. Azriel would be joining us, though. Cassian pressed one of his knives into Nesta’s hand. “Ash can kill you now,” he said with lethal quiet as she stared down at the blade. “A scratch can make you queasy enough to be vulnerable. Remember where the exits are in every room, every fence and courtyard— mark them when you go in, and mark how many men are around you. Mark where Rhys and the others are. Don’t forget that you’re stronger and faster. Aim for the soft parts,” he added, folding her fingers around the hilt. “And if someone gets you into a hold …” My sister said nothing as Cassian showed her the sensitive areas on a man. Not just the groin, but the inside of the foot, pinching the thigh, using her elbow like a weapon. When he finished, he stepped back, his hazel eyes churning with some emotion I couldn’t place. Nesta surveyed the fine dagger in her hand. Then lifted her head to look at him. “I told you to come to training,” Cassian said with a cocky grin, and strode off. I studied Nesta, the dagger, her quiet, still face. “Don’t even start,” she warned me, and headed for the stairs.

Chapter 51 On and on they went, until Devlon looked over Rhys’s shoulder—to where we stood. A scowl at Mor. A frown at me—wisely subdued. Then he noticed Nesta. “What is that,” Devlon asked. Nesta merely stared at him, one hand clamping the edges of her gray cloak together at her chest. One of the other camp-lords made some sign against evil. “That,” Cassian said too quietly, “is none of your concern.” “Is she a witch.” I opened my mouth, but Nesta said flatly, “Yes.” And I watched as nine full-grown, weathered Illyrian warlords flinched. “She may act like one sometimes,” Cassian clarified, “but no—she is High Fae.” “She is no more High Fae than we are,” Devlon countered.

Chapter 56 But Nesta had jolted to her feet, staring at Cassian, at the helmet he had tucked into the crook of his arm, the weapons still poking above his shoulder, in need of cleaning. His dark hair hung limp with sweat, his face was mud-splattered where even the helmet had not kept it out. But she surveyed his seven Siphons, the dim red stones. And then she said, “You’re hurt.” Rhys snapped to attention at that. Cassian’s face was grim—his eyes glassy. “It’s fine.” Even the words were laced with exhaustion. But she reached for his arm—his shield arm. Cassian seemed to hesitate, but offered it to her, tapping the Siphon atop his palm. The armor slid back a fraction over his forearm, revealing— “You know better than to walk around with an injury,” Rhys said a bit tensely. “I was busy,” Cassian said, not taking his focus off Nesta as she studied the swollen wrist. How she’d detected it through the armor … She must have read it in his eyes, his stance. I hadn’t realized she’d been observing the Illyrian general enough to notice his tells. “And it’ll be fixed by morning,” Cassian added, daring Rhys to say otherwise. But Nesta’s pale fingers gently probed his golden-brown skin, and he hissed through his teeth. “How do I fix it?” she asked. Her hair had been tied in a loose knot atop her head earlier in the day, and in the hours that we’d worked to ready and distribute supplies to the healers, through the heat and humidity, stray tendrils had come free to curl about her temple, her nape. Faint color had stained her cheeks from the sun, and her forearms, bare beneath the sleeves she’d rolled up, were flecked with mud. Cassian slowly sat on the log where she’d been perched a moment before, groaning softly—as if even that movement taxed him. “Icing it usually helps, but wrapping it will just lock it in place long enough for the sprain to repair itself—” She reached for the basket of bandages she’d been preparing, then for the pitcher at her feet. I was too tired to do anything other than watch as she washed his wrist, his hand, her own fingers gentle. Too tired to ask if she possessed the magic to heal it herself. Cassian seemed too weary to speak as well while she wrapped bandages around his wrist, only grunting to confirm if it was too tight or too loose, if it helped at all. But he watched her— didn’t take his eyes off her face, the brows bunched and lips pursed in concentration. And when she’d tied it neatly, his wrist wrapped in white, when Nesta made to pull back, Cassian gripped her fingers in his good hand. She lifted her gaze to his. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely. Nesta did not yank her hand away. Did not open her mouth for some barbed retort. She only stared and stared at him, at the breadth of his shoulders, even more powerful in that beautiful black armor, at the strong column of his tan neck above it, his wings. And then at his hazel eyes, still riveted to her face. Cassian brushed a thumb down the back of her hand. Nesta opened her mouth at last, and I braced myself— “You’re hurt?” At the sound of Mor’s voice, Cassian snatched his hand back and pivoted toward Mor with a lazy smile. “Nothing for you to cry over, don’t worry.” Nesta dragged her stare from his face—down to her now-empty hand, her fingers still curled as if his palm lay there. Cassian didn’t look at Nesta as she rose, snatching up the pitcher, and muttered something about getting more water from inside the tent. Cassian and Mor fell into their banter, laughing and taunting each other about the battle and the ones ahead. Nesta didn’t come back out again for some time.

Chapter 56

Nesta did not flinch at the clash and din of battle. She only stared toward one blackarmored figure, leading the lines, his occasional order to push or to hold that flank barking across the battle.

Chapter 57 Nesta laid a hand against her bare, rain-slick throat. Cassian began another assault on a Hybern captain—slower this time than he’d been. Now. I had to go now—quickly. I took a step away from the outlook. My sister narrowed her brows at me. “You’re leaving?” “I’ll be back soon,” was all I said. I didn’t dare wonder how much of our army would be left when I did. By the time I strode away, Nesta had already faced the battle once more, rain plastering her hair to her head. Resuming her unending vigil of the general battling on the valley floor below.

Chapter 61 I squinted at the watery light—the very last before true dark. When my vision adjusted… Nesta stood by the nearest tent, an empty water bucket between her feet. Her hair a damp mess atop her mud-flecked head. Watching us emerge, grim-faced— “He’s fine. Healed and awake,” I said quickly. Nesta’s shoulders sagged a bit. She’d saved me the trouble of hunting her down to ask her about tracking the Cauldron. Better to do it now, with some privacy. Especially before Amren arrived. But Mor said coldly, “Shouldn’t you be refilling that bucket?” Nesta went stiff. Sized up Mor. But Mor didn’t flinch from that look. After a moment, Nesta picked up her bucket, mud caked up to her shins, and continued on, steps squelching.

Chapter 62 Nesta still didn’t move. She could not use the bathtub, she’d told me. Because the memories it dragged up— Cassian said to her, “Nothing can harm you here.” He sucked in a breath, groaning softly, and rose to his feet. Azriel tried to stop him, but Cassian brushed him off and strode for my sister’s side. He braced a hand on the desk when he at last stopped. “Nothing can harm you,” he repeated. Nesta was still looking at him when she finally shut her eyes. I shifted, and the angle allowed me to see what I hadn’t detected before. Nesta stood before the map, a fist of bones and stones clenched over it. Cassian remained at her side—his other hand on her lower back. And I marveled at the touch she allowed—marveled at it as much as I did the mudsplattered hand she held out. The concentration that settled over her face. Her eyes shifted beneath their lids, as if scanning the world. “I don’t see anything.” “Go deeper,” Amren urged. “Find that tether between you.” She stiffened, but Cassian stepped closer, and she settled again. A minute went by. Then another. A muscle twitched on Nesta’s brow. Her hand bobbed. Her breath then came fast and hard, her lips curling back as she panted through her teeth. “Nesta,” Cassian warned.

Chapter 63 Cassian chuckled hoarsely, and looked to Nesta, who remained pale and quiet. What she’d seen, what I’d seen in her mind… The size of that army… “Eat or bed?” Cassian had asked Nesta, and I honestly couldn’t tell if he’d meant it as some invitation. I debated telling him he was in no shape. Nesta only said, “Bed.” And there was certainly no invitation in the exhausted reply.

Chapter 64 “We’ll get her back,” Cassian rasped from where he perched on the rolled arm of the chaise longue across the small sitting area, watching her carefully. Rhys, Amren, and Mor were meeting with the other High Lords, informing them what had been done. Seeing if they knew anything. Had any way of helping. Nesta lowered her hands, lifting her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed, lips thin. “No, you will not.” She pointed to the map on the table. “I saw that army. Its size, who is in it. I saw it, and there is no chance of any of you getting into its heart. Even you,” she added when Cassian opened his mouth again. “Especially not when you’re injured.”

Chapter 66 “Good,” Cassian said, glancing at Nesta. “If I end my life defending those who need it most, then I will consider it a death well spent.” Lord Devlon, for once, nodded his approval. I wondered if Cassian noticed it—if he cared. His face revealed nothing, not as his focus remained wholly on my sister.

Chapter 69 During the brief midday break in a large meadow, Nesta and I climbed inside one of the supply caravan’s covered wagons to change into Illyrian fighting leathers. When we emerged, Nesta even buckled a knife at her side. Cassian had insisted, yet he’d admitted that since she was untrained, she was just as likely to hurt herself as she was to hurt someone else.

Chapter 70 Nesta pushed herself onto her elbows, hair shaking free of her braid, lips bloodless. She heaved into the grass. Rhys’s magic shot out of him, arcing around our entire army, his breathing a wet rasp— Nesta’s hands grappled into the grass as she lifted her head, scanning the horizon. Like she could see right to where the Cauldron was now about to be unleashed. Rhys’s power flowed and flowed out of him, bracing for impact. Azriel’s Siphons flashed, a sprawling shield of cobalt locking over Rhysand’s, his breathing just as heavy as my mate’s— And then Nesta began screaming. Not in pain. But a name. Over and over. “CASSIAN.” Amren reached for her, but Nesta roared, “CASSIAN!” She scrambled to her feet, as if she’d leap into the skies. Her body lurched, and she went down, heaving again. A figure shot from the Illyrian ranks, spearing for us, flapping hard, red Siphons blazing— Nesta moaned, writhing on the ground. The earth seemed to shudder in response. No—not in response to her. In terror of the thing that erupted from Hybern’s army. I understood why the king had claimed those rocky foothills. Not to make us charge uphill if we should push them so far. But to position the Cauldron. For it was from the rocky outcropping that a battering ram of death-white light hurled for our army. Just about level with the Illyrian legion in the sky—as the Attor’s legion dropped to the earth, and ducked for cover. Leaving the Illyrians exposed. Cassian was halfway to us when the Cauldron’s blast hit the Illyrian forces. I saw him scream—but heard nothing. The force of that power… It shredded Azriel’s shield. Then Rhysand’s. And then shredded any Siphon-made ones. It hollowed out my ears and seared my face. And where a thousand soldiers had been a heartbeat before… Ashes rained down upon our foot soldiers. Nesta had known. She gaped up at me, terror and agony on her face, then scanned the sky for Cassian, who flapped in place, as if torn between coming for us and charging back to the scattering Illyrian and Peregryn ranks. She’d known where that blast was about to hit. Cassian had been right in the center of it. Or would have been, if she hadn’t called him away. Rhys was looking at her like he knew, too. Like he didn’t know whether to scold her for the guilt Cassian would no doubt feel, or thank her for saving him. Nesta’s body went stiff again, a low moan breaking from her. I felt Rhys cast out his power—a silent warning signal. The other High Lords raised shields this time, backing the one he rallied. But the Cauldron did not hit the same spot twice. And Hybern was willing to incinerate part of his own army if it meant wiping out a strength of ours. Cassian was again hurtling for us, for Nesta sprawled on the ground, as the light and unholy heat of the Cauldron were unleashed again.

Nesta had her brow in the grass as Cassian landed so hard the ground shuddered. He was reaching for her as he panted, “What is it, what—” “It’s gone quiet again,” Nesta breathed, letting Cassian haul her into a sitting position as he scanned her face. Devastation and rage lay in his own. Did he know? That she had screamed for him, knowing he’d come… That she’d done it to save him? Rhys only ordered him, “Get back in line. The soldiers need you there.” Cassian bared his teeth. “What the hell can we do against that?”

Chapter 72 Rhys made to shoot me back down to the ground, where Amren and Elain were still waiting. Nesta said, “Wait.” Rhys obeyed. Nesta stared toward that armada, toward our father fighting in it. “Use me. As bait.” I blinked at the same moment Cassian said, “No.” Nesta ignored him. “The king is probably waiting beside that Cauldron. Even if you get there, you’ll have him to contend with. Draw him out. Draw him far away. To me.” “How,” Rhys said softly. “It goes both ways,” Nesta murmured, as if my mate’s words moments before had triggered the idea. “He doesn’t know how much I took. And if … if I make it seem like I’m about to use his power … He’ll come running. Just to kill me.” “He will kill you,” Cassian snarled. Her hand clenched on his arm. “That’s—that’s where you come in.” To guard her. Protect her. To lay a trap for the king. “No,” Rhys said. Nesta snorted. “You’re not my High Lord. I may do as I wish. And since he’ll sense that you’re with me… You need to go far away, too.” Rhys said to Cassian, “I’m not letting you throw your life away for this.” I was inclined to agree. Cassian surveyed the depleted Illyrian lines, now holding strong as Azriel rallied them. “Az has control of the lines.” “I said no,” Rhys snapped. I’d never heard him use that tone with Cassian, with any of them. Cassian said steadily, “It’s the only shot we have of a diversion. Luring him away from that Cauldron.” His hands tightened on Nesta. “You gave everything, Rhys. You went through that hell for us, for fifty years.” He’d never addressed it—not fully. “You think I don’t know what happened? I know, Rhys. We all do. And we know you did it to save us, spare us.” He shook his head, sunlight glinting off that dark, winged helmet. “Let us return the favor. Let us repay the debt.” “There is no debt to repay.” Rhys’s voice broke. The sound of it cracked my heart. Cassian’s own voice broke as he said, “I never got to repay your mother—for her kindness. Let me do it this way. Let me buy you time.” “I can’t.” I wasn’t sure if in the entire history of Illyria, there had ever been such a discussion. “You can,” Cassian said gently. “You can, Rhys.” He gave a lazy grin. “Save some of the glory for the rest of us.” “Cassian—” But Cassian asked Nesta, “Do you have what you need?” Nesta nodded. “Amren showed me enough. What to do to rally the power to me.” And if Amren and I could control the Cauldron between us… That distraction they’d offer … Nesta looked down to Elain—our sister monitoring the bloodbath ahead. Then to me. She said quietly, “Tell Father—thank you.” She wrapped her arms tightly around Cassian, those gray-blue eyes bright, then they were gone.

Chapter 74 Nesta surged to her feet, staggering across the clearing, blood at her mouth from where he’d hit her, and threw herself to her knees before Cassian. “Get up,” she sobbed, hauling at his shoulder. “Get up.” He tried—and failed. “You’re too heavy,” she pleaded, but still tried to raise him, fingers scrabbling in his black, bloodied armor. “I can’t—he’s coming—” “Go,” Cassian groaned. Her power had stopped hurling the king across the forest. He now stalked toward them, brushing off splinters and leaves from his jacket—taking his time. Knowing she would not leave. Savoring the awaiting slaughter. Nesta gritted her teeth, trying to haul Cassian up once more. A broken sound of pain ripped from him. “Go! ” he barked at her. “I can’t,” she breathed, voice breaking. “I can’t.” The same words Rhys had given him. Cassian grunted in pain, but lifted his bloodied hands—to cup her face. “I have no regrets in my life, but this.” His voice shook with every word. “That we did not have time. That I did not have time with you, Nesta.” She didn’t stop him as he leaned up and kissed her—lightly. As much as he could manage. Cassian said softly, brushing away the tear that streaked down her face, “I will find you again in the next world—the next life. And we will have that time. I promise.” The King of Hybern stepped into that clearing, dark power wafting from his fingertips. And even the Cauldron seemed to pause in surprise—surprise or some … feeling as Nesta looked at the king with death twining around his hands, then down at Cassian. And covered Cassian’s body with her own. Cassian went still— then his hand slid over her back. Together. They’d go together. I will offer you a bargain, I said to the Cauldron. I will offer you my soul. Save them. “Romantic,” the king said, “but ill-advised.” Nesta did not move from where she shielded Cassian’s body.

Chapter 80 My sister had barely spoken, barely eaten these past few days. Had not visited Cassian in his healing bed. Still had not talked to me about what had happened.

- END -

#a court of wings and ruin #acowar #nesta archeron #cassian #nessian #a court of silver flames #acosf #feyre archeron #rhysand #a court of thorns and roses #acotar #a court of mist and fury #acomaf #a court of frost and starlight #acofas

115 notes · View notes

lafox · 3 years

Text

RE:ID Rant! /SPOILERS/

I just finished watching Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness and made some scene pack which you can find here.

I’m not the biggest fan of putting my opinion out there on the internet but I'll try to write my opinion while still be careful.

NO HATE TO ANY CHARACTER LISTED BELLOW THANK YOU!

Anyhow, I need to talk about it!

First of all, amazing character design and rendering. All the characters looks amazing and I adore the little details, for example, Leon's little head twitch or look at the president’s facial details. I think we all agree that they aced in that department. (will talk more about that subject after character analysis)

Now, the plot... the plot.

Look in all honesty it was a nice plot but i felt it went a bit too fast, not enough build up and stuff. I don't have much to say on it, only a few default on the characters and why and how things happen but I'll talk about that through character analysis.

Okay, about our main character Leon.

He was badass, I'm so surprised he knew what to do in the submarine, honestly that was a good scene I was really anxious for him. He did care for the people around him but I didn’t get that sweet side of him like he had in RE2 or in DAM, I'm saying this because even if he saw Shen May’s brother, he didn’t have the empathy of his last wishes, like Shen May basically said: “He doesn’t want this to happen again and that why this *the chip* can help us.” And what annoys me the most and that both the ‘villain's’ didn’t deserve to die so the least he could do is to not make it *the virus* happen again.

I am revolted at Leon for not giving the chip to Claire, not even telling the president about this shit! LIKE BRO. Also denying Claire, thinking he knows best?! Excuse me but Claire literally interviews people, she knows the Press! Anyhow, Annoyed...

Now let’s talk about Claire.

My girl Claire! They made her a side character that didn’t have much to add only confirmation to our suspicions which is good yes, but it isn’t Claire’s job, she deserve a much bigger role in the RE universe! I get it, she was also a ‘side’ character in RE2 and Leon is the star but still tho! She did give #girlboss energy which I am LIVING for! She was stunning! her character design and CGI was beautiful and I've seen a lot of people saying that she is ‘ugly as shit’ as i quote. I’m sorry but she looks realistic and you are going to cry about it? She is around her mid-tweenies, maybe around 27 and you gonna tell me that her being realistic is ‘ugly as shit’?! Yeah nah sorry pal, go and like Shen May (no hate to her, she is gorgeous) then and not our OG Girl Claire!

Claire deserved a bigger role and she is smart, like she is fucking smart! She almost decoded everything before the agents came and kidnap her, one of many reasons she should’ve had a bigger role! (Also please, your hand in marriage Claire ilysm)

Next on the list is Jason.

Okay, I'm sorry but i am in love with him.

I’m sorry okay! He fits the dilf characteristics and I cant-

Anyhow back to analysis.

I feel horrible, he didn’t deserve to die, the man had serious mental illness and PTSD involved, they showed that but they killed him off. Why? Because he wanted to stop the virus from ever happening by his own ways? Even if it is a violent way, there is still, there was a logical and reasonable. Honestly i think and/or probably, a lot of people might relate to him and Shen Mei, because he has PTSD and mental health issues and Shen Mei lost someone close to her and they are both trying to make the world better, in their own way and for Capcom to kill them both is such a shame..

Jason is such a badass tho like.. damn~ He was really well written as a side character, like, I enjoyed when he was on screen (Maybe because i like him but whatever)

Last but not least, Shen Mei!

I’m gonna be real and probs a lot of people are not going to like this but she was the least prominent character for me, like, yes she stands out a bit but for at least 2 episode she is.. just there and having little dialogue. But i did enjoy her twist, i felt like all that nothing from her was worth in someway. She is definitely #girlboss *chef kiss* and i can relate to her on a deeper level. I enjoyed that she silent for 2 episode because i can relate that she doesn’t talk, that she only listen and observes. I enjoy how she will do anything to help the people she love and that think that's what make Shen Mei a great character! Overall i did enjoy her character and i think her side role is very well placed with her personality.

CGI and Rendering Rant

I need to talk about the amount of details in the male characters but lack of it for female characters... You can see how, The President, Jason or Leon have detail, you can see their pores on their skin, you can see their history and age through those CGI detail on their skin and others but.. Claire or Shen May, their skin is perfect. They do have a few details under her eyes but no pores, no small wrinkles, nothing. I think that's a shame. Shen Mei looks absolutely perfect, you cannot tell me that there is any default on her. I think that is marketing.. what I mean is that Shen Mei is an attraction for people to watch REID. She is absolutely stunning and has no default.

I was talking with a friend of mine that studies human biology and we were talking about those details, we went on the subject of the women representation and rendering and we both suspect makeup is involve. What i am saying is that Capcom doesn’t show those pores because : Makeup.

It can be a valid point. Exhibit A is Shen Mei eyelashes and slight makeup, she is meeting the President after all. So of course she would whip out some makeup. (I know i would.) Shen Mei eye Lashes are way longer longer than Claire’s which would go back to out theory of make up.

Photo comparation:

Claire in her hotel room.

Shen Mei in the submarine. You might think that it’s not convincing enough but keep in mind that Shen Mei is looking up as her head is downwards!

Coming back to skin. In the last two picture, yes, you can see pours and details of the face of Shen Mei but i want to talk about normal viewing of the two character VS male character same view point.

Photo comparation:

The girls, looking perfect (ily both sm)

Leon at the (almost) same camera leveling and depth and you see way more characteristic then other female character even when Leon and Claire are around the same age. But they did nail it when the camera was close on both women.

Adding a note that Claire does show a it of characteristics, more than Shen Mei and the we get people calling her ‘Ugly as shit’ for having a realistic face.

Maybe Shen Mei is younger, Probably and surely but I'm 18, i have facial characteristics. the only thing that is realistic is her beauty spot which is a really nice touch I love it.

Anyhow i think I'm done talking about it.

I enjoyed watching the show and i was excited for it! i hope everyone enjoyed it! Also I love all the character, I'm not bullying them or critic them for their physic or anything else! I’m just ranting about things that was ‘negative’ only because i enjoyed so many aspect of it that the post would be longer aahh.

A few positives I will list are:

Camera angles (immerced)

Character movement (No awkward movement or glitch)

Motion blur (None sickening blur, right place Motion blur)

Lighting (Accurate lighting, not forgetting lighting through hair, ear etc)

Animation (Overall fucking amazing like holy shit)

Tension (Performed very well through animation and plot)

Emotion and facial expression ( I could write a whole essay on that, that’s how well they did it)

I think that's it :)

I hope you enjoyed me rambling on about this, i will write soon I've just had a holiday! scheduled writing around the end of next week!

-Chlo

#resident evil #resident evil infinite darkness #re #leon s kennedy #claire redfield #jason #shen mei

24 notes · View notes

daleisgreat · 3 years

Text

30 Years of Super Nintendo - Flashback Special

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of the North American launch, so it seems the perfect time to post a Flashback Special honoring it! Suppose you have not perused a past Flashback Special of mine (all linked at the bottom of this entry). In that case, they are essentially my history with the platform over the years, with a little bit of history thrown in, and recounting all my favorite games, accessories, memories, and moments with the system.

Odds are for the average gaming enthusiast reading this, and you probably are familiar with the core details of the SNES launch stateside (if not, then I highly recommend CGQ’s video on it for a quick breakdown). The SNES launched in 1991 when I was eight. I did not have a subscription to any gaming magazines yet, so I most likely first found out about the system around that time from classmates at the time at school, the infamous Paul Rudd commercial, and the fourth season of Roseanne that transpired from 1991-92. I vividly remember the Roseanne episode with her son, DJ, pleading with his parents for the brand new SNES for his birthday gift and how his parents dreaded not being able to afford the system. I covered that episode when I did my Roseanne complete series re-watch here in the year leading up to the relaunch of the show several years ago. It brought back memories of how that was the story with my parents also denying me the much sought-after SNES, saying it cost too much and that I already have an NES to tide me over. ”But mommmmm, the SNES is 16-bits!!!!” Yeah….playing that angle got me nowhere. Kiosks & Friends The first couple of years for the SNES, I mostly remember playing at store kiosks. Super Mario World blew me away from the brief time I played it with it being such a leap from the NES installments. I always ate up the precious few minutes I could procure at a store kiosk if no one were playing Super Mario Kart. One last store kiosk memory was eye-gazing over the impressive WWF Royal Rumble. I loved WWF WrestleFest in the arcade, and for a couple of years, it was the only WWF game that offered up WWF’s marquee over-the-top rope elimination match, the Royal Rumble, and it was endlessly fun to play in the arcade. Fast-forward to playing it on console kiosks around its 1993 release, and I could not eat up enough of that game’s Royal Rumble mode either, and at the time, the graphics seemed like a huge step up from the wrestling games on NES. One of my favorite issues of Nintendo Power is the 50th issue that did a several-page spread on WWF Royal Rumble that I must have thoroughly re-read at least a dozen times.

I read this NP spread of WWF Royal Rumble many times, and it was one of my initially most desired SNES games! Around 1993/94, a couple of friends and classmates started to get the Super Nintendo. An early SNES memory that stuck with me all these years is my grade school friend, Jon-Paul, having me over for his birthday where he rented a SNES console and Street Fighter II: Turbo from the video store, and we played it for several hours straight. Another is spending a lot of 1994 at my neighborhood friend’s place, where we played countless sessions of NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat II. Both games were big on codes and secrets and perfect two-player games. I was just regularly getting into video game magazines at this time and ate up issues of Tips & Tricks, Game Players, and Electronic Gaming Monthly to see what kind of hidden character and other much-rumored codes were making the waves each month for both of these games. Mortal Kombat II especially dominated the code-fervor that season with trying to uncover how to face off against secret characters like Jade, Noob Saibot, and Smoke, and trying to memorize all the input sequences for the game’s infamous Fatalities. Fast forward to late 1995/early 1996, and I still did not have a SNES, but a new neighborhood friend, Rich, just got one and the next several months at his place introduced me to so many SNES games. Rich kind of got me somewhat into RPGs at the time, and while it may not sound fun on paper, there were many times I recall just kind of embracing the role of “armchair gamer.” I did this for games like EVO: Search for Eden, and Eye of the Beholder while keeping an eye out during gameplay to offer whatever suggestions seemed viable.

FFVI was eye-opening to me at the time of what video game narratives were capable of, and I devoured the latest secrets for FFVI discovered in the latest issue of my Game Players subscription that was delivered. The RPG I felt like that I contributed something to was the game that was originally released as Final Fantasy III. That game featured two-player support for battles only, so it was refreshing to help Rich with progressing through the game finally. My two favorite characters to use were Sabin and Cyan. That game especially blew me away with its larger-than-life story with two different game worlds, the momentous opera scene with Celes, the dazzling mode-seven graphics when traveling via airship or Chocobo, constantly getting irked at Shadow whenever he deserted the party, and so many other priceless moments. Over the years, I tried restarting the GBA version on a couple of occasions and regrettably have yet to finish it. Finally Owning a SNES….in 1996

Growing up with divorced parents put me in a unique childhood when it came to gaming. I lived with my mom, who provided for us as best as possible for the three siblings I grew up with, so we only had an NES for us for the longest time. However, when visiting my dad on weekends, he would always be big on hitting up as many garage sales and second-hand stores as possible and would acquire whatever he thought seemed like a bargain. Games-wise, this usually meant he lagged behind a generation because everyone was offloading their Atari VCS/2600s at garage sales for cheap when the NES was king, so I could have a great couple of years to become familiar with the pioneering-era of games on Atari. He then got into the NES scene when the SNES hit in 1991. Sure enough, the same month the N64 launched in America in September 1996 was when he bought a Super Nintendo for the family used at our local Premiere Video. The game we picked up with it was Street Fighter II: Turbo. My dad instantly remarked upon booting it up the noticeable jump in graphics. We played nothing but Capcom’s second Street Fighter game on SNES for a few weekends. I could only finish that game by button mashing into a victory against the final boss, M. Bison, once….with M. Bison. I still have a lot of love for this era of Street Fighter - whether it be for the roster, every character’s stage and theme music, and receiving Nintendo Power’s strategy guide for the game for Christmas and studying it regularly to improve.

After a few weeks, we realized we needed something else than a fighting game, and after another trip to Premiere Video, we came home with Super Mario All-Stars. It felt like the easy choice to go with 16-bit remakes of all four 8-bit versions of the core Mario Bros. games. Every game felt like a whole different game with all-new graphics and sound, and more importantly, being able to save progress midgame. This was a bigger hit with the entire family, and it provided many days of taking turns in its alternating two-player mode to see who could get the farthest in the four Mario games included.

youtube

Make sure to have some tissues by your side as you witness FFIII/VI's infamous "opera" scene. Seriously, this was mind-blowing stuff to 13-year old Dale in 1996. 16-bit Sportsball Fun

After playing a lot of those first two SNES games, I went into this stretch for the next several years, where most of what I played was sports and wrestling games. I attribute this to many multiplayer sessions with Rich, my brother, Joe, and my dad. I know my dad was not all that into sports other than a passing interest in rooting on hometown Minnesota pro-sports teams. Still, I have to give him credit for spending as much time with us and taking the time to learn and become a pretty solid player at teaming up with me in many sports games. It is worth noting that I feel the 16-bit era is probably the last-gen where most of its library of sports games had a relatively simple pick-up-and-play feel that NES games had. That changed a little bit in the final SNES years, where it was usually EA’s games that started to incorporate more realism in their sports games and make use of most of the buttons of the SNES controller. For football, Madden NFL ‘97 was the one I played the most. I played plenty of the Genesis version at Rich's place, so much so that I noticed too many little differences with the SNES version to make it stand out on its own. For 16-bit sports nuts that want to know, the Genesis version had the better playing version, but the SNES had a better overall presentation and more popping audio and visuals. I was part of a small slice of sports gamers big into NES Play Action Football, and the 16-bit version played almost exactly like the NES version, but with a 16-bit upgrade and also has a nifty feature to play games at the high school, college, or NFL level.

NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime dominated my 16-bit sports lineup. The code scene for these games were so intense at the time I had to keep my own binder of notes on them all that I still have today as seen above! As I alluded to earlier, when it came to hoops, I played way too much NBA Jam the first year it was out at my friend’s place. However, the arcade hoops game I played the most on SNES was NBA Hangtime, which was developed by the same people who made Jam. I got that game new for Christmas in 1996 and must have played it regularly with Rich for nearly a year straight. I do not hear that game receive the same level of praise as Jam, but it added a few new fun layers to freshen up the gameplay, like being able to do co-op dunks and earn “Team Fire,” and being able to create players. For more simulation-focused hoops, I played a lot of NBA Live ’96 with my dad, in addition to Nintendo’s NCAA Basketball which appeared like a technical marvel to me that was ahead of its time with the mode-seven camera allowing constant 3D rotation whenever possession of the ball changed and foreshadowed what would become the go-to camera perspective for the next-gen of basketball games. Finally, I will cherish my time with Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball for it being the only hoops game I ever had to consult a guide to figure out how to shoot the damn ball….and for its surprisingly rocking soundtrack. Find out all about it when I broke that game down with the Your Parents Basement crew on their penultimate podcast.

Nintendo incorporated the same camera style into its hockey game, NHL Stanley Cup. Its graphics also impressed me, but it was rather challenging to score a goal, and I did not have as much fun with it. I played EA’s hockey games more on Genesis than SNES, but EA’s baseball game, MLBPA Baseball, was the hardball game I spent the most time with on Super Nintendo. Many years later, I picked up Nintendo’s Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball, and had some fun with it, but already played the Game Boy version of it to death by the time I picked up the SNES version, and thus did not invest as much time with it as I did with EA’s game. Wanna Wrassle!?

I must have read through this review of WWF RAW countless times in my youth, and seeing how this essentially is a bigger and better version of Royal Rumble only increased my desire to one day own a SNES! The North American wrestling library was a significant step up from the bottom of the stairwell where most of the NES games hung out….but on the SNES, it only made it roughly halfway up the stairs. The aforementioned WWF Royal Rumble provided many hours of fun for its day, but it has not stood the test of time with the button-mashing grapple meter it featured that will obliterate thumbs on the normal difficulty level! Its sequel, WWF RAW, was noteworthy for having more match types available and being one of the first games to have a selectable female wrestler in Luna Vachon, but it too used that same ill-fated grapple meter that has not aged well. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is a fun little hybrid of Mortal Kombat and wrestling, but the SNES version is notorious for lacking two wrestlers compared to all other home versions.

For non-WWF games, WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling is rather unremarkable….except for its exceptional wrestler select screen.There were a few interesting unlicensed wrestling games in America. Natsume Championship Wrestling featured a solid wrestling engine but removed/altered the AJPW wrestlers from the Japanese version of the game. Hammerlock had a promising concept of having part of the screen dedicated to nonstop Tecmo-esque cinematics. In contrast, the other half of the screen featured 2D gameplay, but the cameras constantly flipped on screen, to which half was dedicated to cinematics or gameplay. It resulted in it being a jarring mess. Saturday Night Slam Masters is no such mess, however, and is a better hybrid of fighting game meets wrestling game, with this one done by Capcom. It features larger-than-life character sprites, full-on ring entrances with laser lights, and is a fun-playing combination of wrestling and Street Fighter. To top it off, Slam Masters has Final Fight’s Mike Haggar on the roster to boot!

youtube

Joey Pink does a fine job detailing why Capcom's "Street Fighter" in a wrestling ring should not be missed! Ensuring RPGs are here to Stay Aside from watching Rich play some of the RPGs I listed above, and of course, playing Final Fantasy VI with him, I did get a chance to play a few other RPGs on the SNES over the years, and it was not until the last few years that I finally finished a couple of them. In the late 1990s I first started two RPGs that stood out to me at the time because they broke out of the medieval fantasy mold most other RPGs at the time took place in. Shadowrun on the SNES was drastically different from the Genesis version I first encountered at Rich’s. This one still had the same futuristic cyberpunk world setting and terminology, but there were many more dialog options with NPCs that were pivotal in asking the right questions to progress the story. Additionally, the hacking games played out differently and had more of a puzzle theme to them than the action-oriented ones in the Genesis version, and the combat had kind a PC interface where a cursor had to be dragged across the screen on which target to aim at. I still wound up being totally into it and became stuck in the back half of the game before my save data became corrupted. I thought that would end my days with Shadowrun…

SNES Shadowrun remains one of my all-time favorite RPGs as of this writing! The final gauntlet tower was an ordeal and a half to work through, only to face off against a dragon as the final boss! …until nearly two decades later in 2016. I mentioned on past flashback specials how I occasionally guest host on the Your Parents Basement podcast, where they cover a random retro game per episode. In 2016 they asked me if there were any games I had in mind to cover, and Shadowrun felt like worth revisiting and possibly knocking off the “must beat this game” bucket list. I progressed until about a little over halfway through by the time we all met to record and broke down the game, but by that point, I just started to make further progress than my last effort and was determined to see this one through! I was playing on actual SNES hardware and was surprised that the battery still held a save but ran into trouble in the final tower with a gauntlet of enemies on each floor to overcome before the final boss. I looked up a walkthrough and discovered an exploit to grind experience to beef up my character. Eventually, I managed to persevere and finally conquer the final boss, a fire-breathing dragon, to cross finishing Shadowrun off my bucket list! I had a riot podcasting with the YPB crew about it too, so please click or press here to give it a listen if you want to know more about this under-the-radar 16-bit RPG.

Fast forward three years later in 2019, and the awesome YPB hosts of Steve, Huell, and Todd helped me once again restart and finish another SNES RPG that I came close to finishing in the late 1990s before evil corrupt save data reared its ugly head again. This time the game of choice is the uber-expensive Earthbound. Like Shadowrun, that game stood out to me because its setting went against the grain of fantasy settings and instead took place in modern times as grade school kids. The opening levels felt like getting lost in your neighborhood and using childlike items as weapons like Yo-Yos and baseball bats. I do not own that ridiculously expensive game, but by 2019 I did own a SNES Mini (more on that in a bit) that I made sure to abuse the save state and the rewind functions it provided to overcome some troubling bosses in the back half of the game. That final act of the game certainly goes places with its sci-fi twists and feels like an entirely different game, but I still loved it all the same! It felt exhilarating to finally knock this one off my “to do” list as well, and I had just as much fun dissecting it to pieces with the YPB crew that you can check out by click or pressing here. Unfortunately, this is where my extensive hands-on time with SNES RPGs comes to an end. I played a lot of FFIII/VI, and finished Earthbound, and Shadowrun. Sure, I dabbled in several other games but did not put more than an hour or two into them. One of those games is the much-heralded, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and I have no excuse for never sticking with it because I loved the NES original. It was the GBA re-release I played, and I think I was spreading myself thin while playing and reviewing too many games simultaneously. Lufia and Breath of Fire II were another pair of RPGs I put a couple of hours into that both left me with promising first impressions, but there was a whole other reason why I did not go back to those again, and that is because then I was waist-deep at the time in….. Discovering Emulation Right around the time my family acquired its first computer in the fall of 1997 was when I found out about emulation. It seemed way too good to be true to easily download and play games right on the computer, especially when factoring in the SNES was at the tail end of its lifecycle, and there were still new games releasing for it. As an unemployed 9th grader at the time, I sampled countless 8- and 16-bit ROMs with the SNES games I was the most curious about. A few of the RPGs in the previous paragraph being prime examples of the ones I invested the most time into. It proved to be overwhelming with so many choices, but I took a long sabbatical after a year or so of taking in the emulation scene after the family computer crashed and I lost all the save data I had amassed in so many games.

It has been interesting to see how emulation has evolved over the years from programs like SNES9X and Retroarch to being incorporated into machines like the MISTer, RetroPi, and Retron 5. Nintendo has learned to embrace official, legal emulation over the years with purchasable digital classic games on systems such as the Wii, WiiU, and 3DS. Having a stable income as an adult now many years later, I feel guilty for embracing the emulation scene so hard in my teenage years, so much so that whenever Nintendo re-releases one of its classic hits several times over, I choose to purchase it again (well…usually at a sale price) to redeem myself. Keeping SNES Alive Today

Over the years, I find myself diving into retro games versus the latest and greatest coming out. I am a fan of the various SNES hardware updates/clones, both officially from Nintendo and unofficially from other companies, which has kept my SNES and other retro game fandom blood flowing over the decades. I am unsure if it feels right to lump it in here, but the Super Game Boy lead to me getting a lot of extra life out of my SNES. Playing Game Boy games on the big screen was a big deal to me back then, considering it was always a pain to make out what was happening on the non-backlit handheld. For some reason, those special border screens that would eventually have funny animations after being left idle for so long made an impression on me. Game Boy games with the “Super Game Boy Enhanced” logo on the front of the box usually have their own exclusive border and special color palette. I loved the Mole Mania and Donkey Kong Land borders the most! I thought it was rad that around 15-20 special enhanced Super Game Boy titles featured multiplayer support with two SNES controllers. They consisted almost entirely of Bomberman and fighting games, but it was still a cool feature nonetheless. The handheld Hyperkin SupaBoy is the unauthorized SNES take on the Sega Nomad by having a portable SNES. It is a bit on the bulky side, but it has a rechargeable battery, and its support has been flawless with my entire SNES library. Another Hyperkin product I got a lot of use out of is the Retron 5. I know that particular clone system is controversial with retro game enthusiasts based on the unauthorized emulators it implements. However, the user interface and emulation support made it possible for me to make record progress in many SNES games by taking advantage of save states and its optional Game Genie-esque cheats library. The SNES Classic Edition is an excellent official piece of hardware from Nintendo that has the pint-sized SNES pre-installed with 21 SNES games, one of which is previously unreleased Star Fox 2. It has an adorably intuitive interface and supports game rewinding and save states, which made it the way I was finally able to finish Earthbound. It was also surprisingly not-so-difficult to plug into a PC and import a bunch of SNES ROMs into. Other companies like 8bitdo made that system extra convenient by making their recommended wireless controllers compatible with it!

If you did not grow up with the SNES, then both of these options are great entry points for those looking to move on beyond emulators. The Analogue Super NT may have been pushing it too much price-wise. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of emulation tech, I am not a wizard by any means, except that by all sources, it sounds like the Super NT offers the best hardware emulation with its FPGA technology. It makes SNES games appear as pristine as possible on an HD/4KTV without any or as minimal of the fuzziness that happens whenever I try plugging in the composite/RCA cables from a base SNES system into a 4K/HDTV. For those unfamiliar with the Super NT, this video from the My Life in Gaming crew does a thorough dissection of everything it has to offer. The list of options in there is intimidating to mess around with, but this sounds like the way to go if one wants to keep playing their cartridges……although I have to admit I am pretty satisfied currently with the Retron 5 and SNES Classic Edition.

Odds are some of you are quite a bit younger than me and grew up post-SNES lifecycle. Not interested in going down the pricey road of hunting down old cartridges and hardware, and do not want to dabble on the dark side of illegal emulation? Then a terrific alternative is if you have a Switch with Nintendo’s $20/year online service membership and taking advantage of the Nintendo Switch Online and Super Nintendo Switch Online digital game portals. It has unlimited access to the slate of games on there, along with save points as long as your membership remains active. The implementation of save states and the user interface has also improved noticeably over the emulation used for NES & SNES Classic Editions. More importantly, it adds the feature to play online with a friend. Last year I played online SNES games with my nephew, who was wrapping up 6th grade at the time, and this was his first time playing SNES games. He loves Mario Kart 8 on Switch, and so when the first game we played was the original Super Mario Kart, I could not help but crack up when he instantly remarked, “Dale, this looks old!” He eventually came around, and then we had some fun playing co-op , Joe & Mac . A couple of years ago, on my Genesis Flashback Special, I made sure to reminisce of my fond memories of the summer I spent playing nonstop Sega Channel. These NES/SNES Switch portals are essentially the Sega Channel, but far better because it does not cost $15 a month (in 1994 dollars which equals $27.63 today per Google), offers multiple save states, and ability to play online for only $20 a year!!! Kids, get your parents to hook you up now!!! Miscellaneous Quick Hits

SNES games were the most common denominator on six of the 13 episodes I guest hosted on the retro game podcast, Your Parents Basement. Check out their full archives by click or pressing here. -Turns out I did quite a few guest hosting spots on Your Parents Basement Podcast for SNES games. For those that are podcasting fiends and dug the three episodes I linked to already, then I will link you to three more SNES themed episodes I appeared on where I breathed in the Mode 7 skies of Pilotwings, embraced Capcom’s action-platformer prowess in X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, and made sure not to miss any Gatorade and Wheaties health pick-ups in Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.

-The SNES controller is my favorite pre-disc console era controller. It kept the similar button layout of the NES controller but rounded off the edges into its iconic “dog bone” feel so the controller no longer cramped in your hands! Throw in the two extra face buttons and two additional shoulder buttons, and it opened up all kinds of deeper gameplay possibilities! It made it perfect for most fighting games that used almost all the face and shoulder buttons. I found the shoulder buttons were also smartly implemented in NBA Jam/Hangtime for being assigned to use for turbo speed functionality. As far as other SNES controllers/peripherals go, since I loved the NES Zapper, I always wanted to try the Super Scope, but as a kiddo, its bazooka-sized proportions were kind of intimidating. It still kind of bums me out all these years I never got to experience it with epics like Yoshi’s Safari, T2: The Arcade Game, and Tin Star. I never had an opportunity to use the SNES mouse either, which I kind of regret all these years later after seeing all the marvelous creations from experts at Mario Paint, and it was cool to see some PC ports like Civilization, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D take advantage of SNES Mouse compatibility.

-The 16-bit era was when fighting games exploded, and as you can tell above, I spent a lot of time with Street Fighter II: Turbo, and the first two Mortal Kombat games. Other than that, though, the only other fighting game on SNES I put significant time into was TMNT Tournament Fighters. It was released at the tail end of the TMNT-mania when the cartoon peaked at its popularity. The game itself was a surprisingly competent licensed fighting game from Konami, and tried its best to feel like a solid Street Fighter-clone. Speaking of them pesky turtles… -…TMNT IV: Turtles in Time was the only beat-em-up brawler I put considerable time into on the SNES. I have vague memories of trying others out once or twice like The Peace Keepers, and Super Double Dragon, but Turtles in Time was the one I frequently revisited over the years. It is a superb rendition of the arcade game, with SNES-exclusive levels like the Technodrome that had a fantastic first-person boss fight against Shredder, where lowly Foot Soldiers had to be chucked right at him to defeat Shredder. The soundtrack is one of my favorite SNES scores, so much so that I went all-in to get the for it! I have so many great memories of this game, with the highlight being my friend Matt and I revisiting this for complete runs of it once every year or two for about a dozen years.

youtube

Turtles in Time and FFIII/VI are my favorite SNES soundtracks, but Turtles in Time I own on vinyl so I will embed it here in all its glory for you to enjoy as well!

-The SNES library had a quality slate of racing games. Super Mario Kart quickly rose to the top of the ranks and was always fun to bust through a GP with a friend. Street Racer was one of the first kart-clones to hit in 1994, and for some reason, that one always stuck with me. As did it being one of the few games to have four-player split-screen support with all four screens being horizontal! Rock ‘n Roll Racing is another killer arcade racer on SNES; think of a more beefed up RC Pro-AM, but with a good dose of heavy metal mixed in. This past year saw it re-released as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection for everyone to experience it! I remember trying out F-Zero at a store kiosk around SNES launch, but was too young at eight years old at the time to fully grasp its style of futuristic racing (or that the name was a riff on F1 racing until a couple of years ago). I was more into a game similar to its style that was the trilogy of Top Gear titles. Uniracers was a quirky racer I enjoyed with its unique aesthetic and one-wheeled racers taking advantage of their nature in races filled with jumps and loop-de-loops….too bad about Pixar holding a grudge against Nintendo and legally forcing them to yank it off shelves. Nintendo’s other racer, Stunt Race FX, was ahead of its time with the polygonal FX-based graphics running pretty chunky on the SNES. Still, it is a commendable piece of 16-bit tech they were just barely able to keep running at a passable-enough framerate. Another FX-chip game that did not originally gel with me was…

-…the original Star Fox. Being 10 when it released in 1993, I thought those polygonal graphics looked blocky and horrendous and would have none of it! Many years later, I would revisit it and rightfully come around on it! -Another Nintendo-published game that received a lot of hype was Donkey Kong Country with its cutting-edge 3D models. They were plastered all over gaming mags at the time. I briefly recall trying out the first and second of the three Donkey Kong Country games on SNES. However, I did not put more time into them because I beat Donkey Kong Land on Game Boy before our family got a SNES, which was just a watered-down port with some remixed levels for the handheld. I enjoyed my time with it, but its disappointingly blunt “congratulations” ending left a bad impression on me, and I never felt like giving the other entries a serious go all these years.

-Some may be wondering why there has yet not been anything dedicated to the pair of Super Mario World titles and Super Mario RPG? Super Mario World was probably one of the first SNES games I tried when I visited my older brother at his first apartment in the early 90s. I think the heavy-duty graphics and trying to comprehend attacking with Yoshi proved to be too much for eight or nine-year-old me at the time. I played it a few other times in my 20s, hanging out with coworkers on retro game nights, and had fun with it, but I think since I was exposed to the NES trilogy more and played the hell out of All-Stars, that those were the versions I preferred more. I appreciated how Nintendo stepped up to Sega’s edgier marketing at the time with Nintendo’s “Play it Loud” marketing campaign. Unfortunately, I think their ad for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was a bit too extreme for 12-year old Dale at the time. That ad (click here for it if you are feeling daring)was forever planted in my subconscious and always crossed my mind and indirectly caused me to avoid Yoshi’s Island for all these years. I did pick up Super Mario RPG and it is on my “bucket list” of games to play as well. I am holding off on it all these years because I was hanging out with Matt one day, and he explained how he was having a tough time with the final boss, Smithy. Well, he wanted to give me a quick demo to show how unforgiving of a challenge the boss was….but for some reason his clutch gaming skills kicked in right then, and he beat Smithy and was exposed to the ending right then and there!

-As far as other tough SNES games go, the two most challenging for me are easily Contra III: The Alien Wars and Zombie Ate My Neighbors. Contra III is like the first two games on steroids. I love the boss battles and intense walk-n-shoot chaos, but do not love constantly dying in one shot! Zombies Ate My Neighbors is another fun action-platformer that is also equally tough to make it farther than a few levels in unless you seriously dedicate yourself to it. Hey, both of these games also saw re-releases this past year on current consoles with the Contra Anniversary Collection and Zombies Ate My Neighbors & Ghoul Patrol set for those wanting to experience 16-bit nail-biting difficulty (but with save state support!).

youtube

I hope this excellent video review from the quintessential retro video game source, Jeremy Parish, suffices for my lack of any meaningful Super Mario World memories here. -In 1997, I was hyped for a late SNES release, the original Harvest Moon. The farm/life/dating-sim series is still around today from publisher Natsume (as well as the original developers parting ways with Natsume and delivering their own competing Story of Seasons series). During the SNES era, I spent several summers out on a farm. I appreciated rural life's solitude and free spirit lifestyle, and that first Harvest Moon game perfectly encapsulated that. Trying to determine the best way to spend the day tending to the fields, livestock and managing a social/family life was surprisingly fun and engaging! Harvest Moon remain one of two games that I submitted a blurry Polaroid photo to Nintendo Power’s “Arena” high score section. I cannot recall if my score got posted or not.

-The original Sim City port on SNES received a lot of love around the SNES launch window, with Nintendo giving it a unique makeover with bonus Nintendo characters in it and an exclusive tutor in the form of Dr. Wright to ease everyone into the simulation gameplay. I never played too much of that version, but one night at Rich’s, the game we decided to rent that night was Sim City 2000. That one was released way late into the SNES lifecycle and lacked any Nintendo extras the first SNES game had. Still, we stayed up all night playing it and looking at our daily news recap and mayor approval ratings and trying to figure out where to stop underwater pipe blockages! It ran slowwww on the SNES, but we tolerated it fine enough at the time because I had yet to play the PC version. Eventually, I would check out the PC version and came away surprised with so much I had to put up within the SNES game. -For those wanting to dare the Super Famicom scene, there are a plethora of great games that never made their way stateside, and better yet, a hearty chunk of them have received English fan translations. I am partial to the FirePro wrestling games that never made it here that are vastly superior to all the American wrestling games I broke down above, BS Out of Bounds Golf is an addicting take on miniature golf, the original Star Ocean, and the Back to the Future platformer that was not a five-star classic by any means, but blew away the poor NES and Genesis games that did release here. If you are not that familiar with the Super Famicom library, this top 50 list from RVG Fanatic is a great place to start your research and very much helped clueing me into a bunch of Super Famicom games I had little-to-no knowledge of. Conclusion

If you are around my age reading this, you may be wondering why I have not gone on about the fabled “16-bit Wars” by now. Rest assured, I experienced it in the lunchroom and at recess and in gaming magazines at the time. I devoured all the side-by-side screenshots in gaming mags of dual-platform releases to see if I could spot which version was better. I want to say back then, I sided with the SNES because I grew up with the NES, but that does not seem like a fair choice since I did not own a SNES until 1996. Reflecting on it, although I experienced a fair amount of RPGs and other games on SNES with Rich, I primarily played endless hours of Genesis games with him back at the time. So whenever I hung out with Rich, I considered myself a Genesis fan, and when I finally got a SNES and grew my SNES library, I considered myself a SNES fan and avoided a lot of the “console wars” trash talk. For younger readers here who want to learn more about the fervor of the 16-bit wars, the book, Console Wars, and its corresponding documentary (which is currently only available on Paramount+/CBS All Access sadly) are my recommended ways to absorb all that hoopla. I will cherish all of the past 30 years of SNES memories and hope you have enjoyed reminiscing with me for the last several thousand words. If you want to hear more of my SNES memories in podcast form, I have a few SNES-centric episodes of my old podcast I recently un-vaulted and have embedded below for your pleasure. They have some of the friends I repeatedly mentioned above as co-hosts that share their SNES experiences and memories, so please load up a random SNES “podcast game” and boot one of these podcasts up for fitting background noise….

youtube

10 years ago I did a 20th anniversary SNES special with Matt!

youtube

Here is the history of RPG series episode dedicated to the 16-bit era.

youtube

Finally, here is Matt and I hosting the 16-bit installment of our history of comic book games series. Bonus Overtime

It would not be a Flashback Special without one random oddball bonus story to wrap it up with. The only Kirby game I ever finished receives that honor. One day, my brother and his friend Jake were over at my place. We were discussing SNES games at some point, and Jake mentioned how Kirby Super Star is his all-time favorite. I said how I never played it and did not think anything of it at the time, but the next time I met up with him and my brother, Jake had the copy of that game with him and insisted on borrowing it to me and said not to give it back until I finished it. I felt this sudden obligation to play through it as a priority, so I did not feel like I was keeping his game hostage. Luckily, Kirby Super Star is a damn fun game, which the front of the box labels as “8 Games in One!” Most of the games are abbreviated-length adventures of only a handful of missions in their unique theme of levels, and a few of the games are mini-games like a race against King DeDeDe. Regardless, almost every game provided that trademark Kirby lighthearted fun and was hard to put down! Kirby’s Dream Course is also a lot of fun on SNES, and is an interesting take of Kirby meets miniature golf! With that anecdote, I will wrap up yet another Flashback Special. Thank you for sticking with me this far, and If you dug reading about my trials and tribulations with Nintendo’s 16-bit machine, please take a look at the other Flashbacks I have linked below!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary NES 35th Anniversary PSone 25th Anniversary PS2 20th Anniversary PSP 15th Anniversary and Neo-Geo 30th Anniversary Saturn and Virtual Boy 25th Anniversaries TurboGrafX-16 30th and 32-X 25th Anniversaries Xbox 360 15th Anniversary

10 notes · View notes

shianhygge-imagines · 4 years

Text

Silver Rose [Vergil/Reader] [V/Reader] {Devil May Cry} The Mortal Half

AN: I apologize for the wait! The road of life took a bit of a wild turn, and my writing (along with a few other things) suffered for it.

On another note... anyone as excited for DMC5: Special Edition as I am :D

This chapter is a long one that I wanted to write and post as soon as possible (I was tempted to wait until all chapters of Visions of V were out). I will probably come back to re-explore V’s character at a later time because damn it, Visions of V really kicked my ass with the character development.

WARNING: As I have mentioned in a separate post, there is a section of smut in here. This is actually the first full smut scene I’ve ever written, so please excuse the awkwardness... and the kinks... and if it sucks.

So, yeah. It’s now a Vergil/Reader as well as a V/Reader story. Cheers!

If you like the content I create, please consider donating to my Ko-fi! Please help me feed my tea addiction!

|Masterlist Link| |First Chapter| |Prev. Ch.| --- |Next Ch.|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4th May 01:40pm

When you woke the next morning, Shadow was still curled into your side, its eyes closed and seemingly content despite the afternoon sunlight pouring through the windows. Though you’d slept peacefully through the rest of the night, it was rather strange having another presence in the same bed as you. After all, you hadn’t shared your bed with another individual since Vergil had started leaving on his alarmingly frequent trips away from your home in Red Grave City. And although it had been years since you visited that place, the mere thought of those nights brought a frown to your previously content face. Closing your eyes and exhaling slowly, you mentally gave the box of memories a rough shove away.

It’s best not to dwell on unpleasant thing, Y/N. You muse to yourself with the slightest tensing of your body.

Sensing your change in mood, Shadow shifted to rest a lightly dozing head on your stomach, cracking a single ruby eye open to check on you as a purr rumbles throughout its body in an effort to calm you.

Running a hand through the shadow panther’s silky ‘fur’, you hummed absentmindedly in response. “Just unpleasant memories, Shadow.” When the remnant of your husband’s memories merely huffs in a feline scoff, you turn to cuddle into the Nightmare demon. “I am 100% sure that V didn’t tell me the truth last night… but if there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, prying is generally not the correct course to take to learn the whole truth. Still though,” you sigh wistfully, “My life has been so chaotic and cryptic that there are times where I wish that I was born a normal girl.”

Although you wished to say more, your lips clam up the moment that you hear a knock at the door. “Y/N? It’s nearly 2pm. Are you awake, yet?”

You share a look with Shadow, “Well, speak of the devil, I guess.” You don’t bother moving as you call out to the moral man, “You can come in, V. I’m awake, but I sure as hell ain’t getting out of bed yet.” Even though you say this, you lift your head to peer over Shadow’s dark body as V enters the room with an eyebrow raised.

“Do you have any intention of leaving your bed, Y/N? It’s well into the afternoon.” V inquires with a furrowed brow as he closes the door and continues forward to the side of the bed with a limp.

“Oh…. Is it? I hadn’t noticed.” You remark cheerfully, settling back down into the sheets as you pet Shadow. “I don’t think I will any time soon, no.”

Unsure as to how to proceed with your blatant denial to rise from bed, V gestures towards the edge of your king sized bed. “May I have a seat?”

“Knock yourself out, V. This bed is too big anyways, so… ‘free real estate’ I guess.” You found yourself repeating the meme that a group of orphans in Fortuna City had taken the time to teach you… though you were unsure if you had used the meme in the proper context.

Your eyes shifted to meet V’s green once you felt the edge of the bed dip to your left. In the daylight, with the sun’s rays pouring into the room, V seemed… sickly. It was worrying how skinny and pale he was despite the hint of power you could feel in him. If it weren’t for his contract with Vergil’s remnants, you would not have any confidence in V’s ability to defend himself should you all take on Urizen. And once Vergil had been defeated again (though you found yourself in pain just thinking about killing your beloved), would the powers disappear and leave the young man before you weak and on the verge of collapse?

“There’s no need to worry, Y/N.” V’s gaze is almost gentle as he reassures you, “I promise that I’ll not suddenly collapse.” Not realizing that you had been staring, you blinked your eyes and mumbled an apology. “No, don’t apologize. It is only natural to doubt my abilities when I look like this.” The young man gestures towards his weakened body with a carefully bitter expression that would stick with you for days to come. “My powers are limited, which is why it is absolutely imperative that we stop Urizen before he grows too powerful.” When you don’t respond, trying to find a way to comment without offending him, V took it as a sign of sadness. “I couldn’t help but overhear you before I entered. That you wished that you were born to a normal life.”

Your face scrunches up as you force yourself to sit, “If I’m being perfectly honest, V… I don’t really know you well enough to pour my heart and soul out.”

V’s smile remains slightly bitter even as he pulls out the anthology of William Blake poems and hands it over to you. “Fair enough, Ms. Y/N. By all means, save your words. I only ask that you listen to what I have learned about you and your past.” When you reluctantly take a hold of the tome, V gestures towards it, “The note written on the back cover of that volume seems to imply that the person who gifted it to you was rather fond of you.”

The book’s cover was immaculate, but upon closer inspection, you noticed that the pages have yellowed from its age. Brows scrunched and curious, you immediately flipped to the back cover and withheld a gasp at the painfully familiar handwriting scrawled along the back cover.

To my beautiful silver rose,

Perhaps it is just the slightest bit vain that I gift this book to you. After all, an exact copy of this anthology sits on my book shelf in the study. But I noticed that you’ve taken a deeper interest in these old poems as of late, so I sought out a copy for yourself. Please do not think I turn a blind eye to your sadness when I am away, Y/N. I do my best to comfort you while I have you in my arms, but I must see my goals through. When I am gone, please read these poems and think of me. Just as I will think of you.

Rest assured that no matter how far I travel, Y/N, that I will always find my way back to you.

Your loving husband,

Vergil Sparda

“You were in that place, weren’t you?” You asked V as your fingers traced the note written into the cover. “There is no way you’d have this particular volume if you hadn’t been.”

V nodded, his eyes carefully watching as you caressed the book. “When I found Vergil’s remnants, they had been drawn to that book which had been left in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

“I left it there when Vergil embarked on his quest through Hell.” You admitted, melancholic. “The book had been a constant reminder of an empty promise, so I tried to bury my past. Obviously it didn’t work, but I left the book in Vergil’s childhood room regardless.”

“Why the book?” V wondered, “Aside from the note in the back, the tome seems ordinary.”

Handing the book back to the younger man, you merely smiled a tame smile, “It was a symbol of hope that I didn’t want, as well as a constant reminder that the man I love abandoned me in favor of demonic power.” Slipping out of bed, you grabbed a robe and ventured into the bathroom, only a final statement leaving your lips before the door shut behind you, “And nothing’s worse than to be reminded that I wasn’t enough.”

22nd May 11:32am

You’re not sure if you should be worried or relieved by how easy it was to trail V through the city wreckage as you sprinted and jumped from one roof to another. The mysterious young man traversed the streets below with his Nightmare demons protecting him as low leveled demons appeared along the path. Over the course of the past few days, you and V had taken shelter within your home in Red Grave City. Although there were times where you interacted, V regularly ventured out into the city on patrols and supply runs, seemingly under the impression that you were still injured from the encounter with Urizen at the heart of the Qliphoth Tree. More often than not, V would leave in the afternoons and return in the morning.

Although you were touched by his care for your well-being, you still couldn’t but feel distrustful and suspicious of V. The names of his demon contracts… Hence your current trailing… and as it turns out, his actual hair color is white.

With how many demons there were roaming the streets, you were surprised that V had lasted this long. Though, from your spot seated on the roof above the corner where V fought to protect a small group of surviving humans, you could tell that the younger man was becoming weaker the more he used his abilities. You would jump down and aid him if he needed it, but only if he needed it.

Your initial assessment of V was that he didn’t care for humans in the slightest after watching him walk fast the human corpses without a care. The way the younger looking man had gazed upon the carnage with indifference… you remembered shivering and thinking that there was no way he was completely human. Though, after that night, you were pleased to learn that V had quickly taken up the role as protector while the humans evacuated.

Your attention drifted back into the present when V slumped over below you, exhausted as he sat upon a pile of demon corpses. The humans that he had protected were cowering against the wall opposite of V, and you frowned when none rose to offer aid to the sickly man, who had begun to pale more than he normally did.

You heard V heave a tired sigh as he asked Griffon a question, “How many days has it been?”

The demon summon flapped its wings and hovered above his master, “Three.”

V slumped over, curling in upon himself, his dark hair hanging to cover his face. “I’m not sure that I can even last a month.” Your frown deepened at that comment. That’s news to me… shit. Now I feel bad for not helping him. You rose from your seated position and removed your eyes from V to sweep the area with a vigilant gaze.

“You’re just going willy-nilly, spending all your strength like that.” Griffon squawked mockingly, “Nicely done, buddy. If you continue like this, you’re gonna croak before the kid even returns.”

So, V’s dying? You wondered, Who is he? What’s his deal? How is he involved in this mess to begin with? Your gaze also darkens when the humans call V and Griffon monsters. We have to protect humanity, yes. But this is one of those times where I understand Vergil’s distaste for humanity. Then again… nothing is perfect.

Your eyes sweep briefly back down to make sure that V was in the clear while searching for food just as you felt several demonic presences appear behind you. Stepping away from the ledge, you nodded and unsheathed the Totsuka just as several Hell Bats and a Lusachia attempt to ambush you.

Your steps are quiet as you slide under several fireballs and sprint across the rooftop to a less narrow roof. “Okay, folks. I’m going to have to ask you to be as quiet as possible during this entire transaction we got going here.” You chirp with a smirk, voice carefully lowered to just below your normal speaking voice. “I don’t want my friend knowing that I’m spying on him. Heh.” As expected, none of the demons respond, opting to rush you with fireballs and incantations.

Your feet are moving before your brain catches up with the attacks, running in wide arcs and tight turns to avoid the incoming fireballs and incantation circle. “Sorry, what was that?” Your grin is feral as you push off from the rooftop in a wide swipe at the Lusachia, striking it with a shallow cut before kicking off of it in a backflip, free hand pulling out your Silver Rose to shoot it in the face a few times. “I couldn’t hear what you were saying!” As you stick the landing, you shoot it once more before raising the same hand to your ears, “You’re gonna have to speak louder!”

Of course the Lusachia can only groan as it falls, dying from the wounds you’ve inflicted upon it. Around you, the Hell Bats screech and rush, swooping down in lines of fire as you duck and dodge. “No, no! I wasn’t talking to you guys! You’re a bit too loud, so imma have to ask you to shut up!” Just as two Hell Bats swoop down to attack you from both sides, you holster the Silver Rose and Totsuka, getting into a wide stance. When the bats are close enough, you unsheathe the Totsuka in a single movement, cutting down the demons before they could even touch you.

The remaining Hell Bat screeches and flies back towards the grocery store’s roof, but you only grin and follow, Totsuka sheathed once more. “No, no! I’m gonna getcha!”

You are probably a step away from killing the bat yourself, when you notice a giant meteor suddenly appear in the sky above you. “Ah! Nope!” You are just in time to kick off the grocery store roof and flip to safety when Nightmare crashes into the grocery store, completely decimating the building. Wincing at the loss of the area’s last remaining food source, you crouch down upon the ledge of another roof and scan over the wreckage below. “…that was overkill.”

It seems… from how loudly Griffon was protesting, that it agreed with your assessment. “You’re killin’ me here, V! Didja really have to take it that far? You could’ve just-oh, I don’t even know where to begin!”

You watch as a boy and his mother walk out of the wrecked grocery store before jumping down from the rooftop, casually strolling over to where V and Griffon continued to converse. You were about to speak when V crouched down and suddenly took a bite out of a demon’s carcass.

The only thing you could do at seeing the younger man eat the demon meat was dry heave loudly.

Both V and Griffon freeze before turning their heads to look at you. “Aw shit!” Griffon curses, “It’s the Lady Sparda!”

You hold back the gag threatening to escape as you approach the two, eyes trained on the blood staining V’s mouth. There’s unfiltered horror on V’s face even as you crouch down and wipe away the blood with a handkerchief. “Raw demon meant cannot be good for you.” The horror softens when you sigh and offer V a hand, “Come on. I still have canned food in the pantry back home. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

You don’t see the grief and regret upon V’s face as you turn to lead him out of the wreckage, hand in hand.

~~~~~

V’s Point of View

V’s green eyes never leave your back the entire way back to the house that Vergil had bought you all those years ago. He is exhausted from overusing his abilities, his mind muddled and unfocused. V can tell that the silence bothers you. He’s known that the silence bothers you ever since you’d both fled from this very city when you were children. Still, the past few hours have rendered him too tired to speak. So the silence continues.

Even as you fix him a meal.

Even as you sit down with him to eat.

Even as you guide him to the bathroom.

Even as you place a set of his pajamas on the counter.

Even as you leave the bathroom with a comment that you’d be in the study.

Even in his mute state, V doesn’t fail to see the melancholy in your eyes.

As he undresses, leaving his demon blood soiled clothes in the sink, V laments his current situation.

The house that he’d bought for you is still very much the same as it was over twenty years ago. Aside from the changes in products and appliances on the inside, it is as he left it. There are signs that Y/N doesn’t live in the building as often as she should… canned and dried food products in the pantry… a fridge empty except for bottled water and frozen meals… untouched kitchen appliances… a vacuum that seemed to be over ten years old… dust gathering in the unused rooms where they had planned to put a baby crib… his old clothes packed into boxes and shoved into the very same dusty rooms…

When the overly large bathtub is filled with hot water, V forces himself into the separate shower to quickly rinse off the dried blood and grime coating his skin. In the back of his mind, he recalls a memory where you told him that it was gross to sit in filth when taking a bath. The memory brings a constricting feeling to his chest and he doesn’t care that he drips water everywhere as he leaves the shower in favor of the bathtub.

The soap used in the shower is the same scent you’ve always used. The brand has changed, but it seems that you haven’t. His chest constricts some more when he realizes that you haven’t changed much since the last he saw you aside from your overuse of snark and slang. Sinking into the hot water and wrapped in your scent, V laments that the melancholy in your eyes was nothing new. When he was Vergil… a young Vergil from over twenty years ago… the last year spent with you before Temen Ni Gru… there were times where he noticed your eyes fill with melancholy. V winces, visibly in pain as he forces himself to remember. Vergil had known you were sad and lonely… but he had chosen to ignore your pain.

And even now, when he was no longer that man, V continues to hurt you.

The mortal half slips under the water before he knew it, his mind running wild with reflection.

Strange.

I feel rather peculiar.

I’m scared because I am weak.

I’ve resorted to depending on others because I am afraid.

That is what the weak do.

I’m…

…ever since I got this body, all I’ve been doing are things that I don’t want to do.

All of my thoughts are things I don’t want to think about.

(Y/N. Mother. Dante.)

While I’ve always intended on reflecting on why I lost (to Dante… to Mundus),

The reality is, I’ve moved on a long time ago.

I always thought I could fill this emptiness with power.

Anything that I lacked could be compensated with raw power.

How ironic.

It was only after I was stripped of all my strength that I realized…

That it was always within reach.

Always.

Deep inside, the answer was always there.

~~~~~

Y/N’s Point of View

“V?” You knock on the door to the master bathroom after around ten minutes, intent on taking the man’s clothes in order to wash them. “V, I need your clothes so I can put them in the wash.” When there is no answer, you knock again, “V? If you don’t answer me, I’m just gonna come in.” Your brows furrow at the lack of answer. “… Well, I warned you. I’m coming in.”

There’s a distinct lack of sound inside the bathroom when you enter although the dirty clothes are in the sink, “Um… V?” Your gaze sweeps across the large bathroom to rest upon the filled bathtub, and you frown when you notice the bubbles rising from the middle of the large tub. Creeping closer, you can see V under the water, his gaze empty and melancholic. No more bubbles rise from his lips, and you suddenly realize that V might be too tired to notice that he was drowning.

You don’t notice the wet floor, and you don’t care that the man is completely nude. Something in you beckons you forward, and you practically sprint to climb into the bathtub, taking a firm hold of his torso and lifting V’s upper half out of the water.

V’s green eyes blink blearily as he stares into yours. “V?” You whisper, letting go of his torso once he’d sat up on his own. Your hands come up to brush his dark hair out of his eyes. “Are you okay?”

The man lets out a shaky breath and ducks his head, nodding. “I appreciate the sentiment, Y/N. But I wasn’t in any danger. You didn’t have to climb in to save me.”

“You weren’t breathing, V.” You deadpanned, bringing up a hand to flick his forehead. “Nobody’s dying in my house.”

The two of you are quiet for a few moments until V turns to look away from you. “As much as I am grateful for you kindness, I don’t want to imagine what your husband would do to me if he finds out that you bathed with another man.”

You flush a deep red when you notice the position you were in… straddling a completely nude V in the bathtub while you sit in a soaked white nightgown that was becoming see through. “I… uh…”

You’re at a loss for words and continue to be at a loss for words when V turns back to stare you down with darkened eyes. He scoots you closer, pressing you against his body as he teases lowly, “Unless… I entice you…?”

You swallow hard when you notice that something hard is pressed up against you.

~~~~~~

Third Person Omniscient Point of View

“I… don’t…” The water is starting to cool in the bathtub, sending chills up your body even as you flush from head to toe. The only source of warmth is from V, who holds you close, his green eyes gazing at you with a myriad of emotions… Lust… Affection… Loneliness… Guilt… Mischief… Love… It has been over twenty years since someone has made love to you, and for all your faith and devotion, you want to feel that intense pleasure… that warm intimacy once more. You know that a demonic Vergil has run rampant across your home city, that what remains of your husband’s humanity has bonded with the man before you… You know that something within you call for V and beckons you to continue… to give in.

The moment that you pulled V out of the water, soaked from head to toe with concern in you eyes, V knew that he could continue this charade with you. He’d been cruel to you for most of your life, and he couldn’t bear to be cruel for another minute. He wants you to know him completely once more. As Vergil as well as V. What he wanted and need this entire time had been something you’d been willing to give him from the beginning, and Vergil had been a fool to cast you aside. Yet, with you pressed so close to him, your scent invading his senses, all V can think about is his love for you. A love that had never died, just stubbornly ignored. He’d neglected you for over twenty years because of his mistake. And now, if you are willing, he would make love to you until that melancholy has been chased away.

You gasp when V presses his lips to the crook of your neck, whimpering as he simply brushes his lips over your skin in light caresses. The mortal half smirks against your skin and whispers to you in a low rumble. “I’ve slacked in my duties, Y/N.” His hands trail up your bare thighs resting on either side of his hips, bunching up the material as his hands rise sensually to rest upon your waist.

“W-what are you…saying?” It would be remiss of you to not notice the same phrase that Vergil used on the day he asked you to marry him. When did your breathing become heavy?

V’s lips trail upwards along the column of your throat achingly slow as he kisses teasingly along the way. His thumb traces gentle patterns on the skin of your waist even as he lifts you from his hips to place you close to the edge of the bathtub. He’s on all fours, knelt before you with his arms propped up on either side of your head as he continues the kiss until he’s at your ear. “I’ll show you how much you mean to me, my beautiful wife.” V growls as he gently nips your ear.

Shocked, you pull away to stare at the man. “V…” you plead, voice weak from arousal and heartbreak, “Please don’t play with my heart like this.”

The dark expression softens as V leans forward to press a loving kiss to your lips before pulling back. “I’ve made so many mistakes in the past, Y/N. The greatest was leaving you in pursuit of power.” His green eyes are filled with guilt as he sighs miserably, “You were right. Power isn’t everything. And I was wrong to call you a burden all those years ago.” At the reminder, you flinch backwards, and suddenly it is no longer just guilt on V’s face, but self-loathing. “Because of me, we lost so much time. Over twenty years of sorrow and regrets, and I didn’t want this to be another regret.”

“So, you’re…”

“I am Vergil… but not quite.” V confirms, “I… made another mistake, and this is the result.”

V’s lip move to continue, but you quickly shut him up by pressing your lips firmly against his. Your arms are raised to drape over his shoulders, pulling him closer as you deepen the kiss with a hungry moan. You part your lips before V can tease you, and heavy desire pools below when his tongue teases the roof of your mouth.

V’s hands find their way to the hem of your soaked nightgown, grasping the edges firmly and lifting when you separate briefly to assist him in undressing you. You hear your nightgown flop into the water as V tosses the article of clothing to the side, but you can’t bring yourself to care. You press yourself into V, hands rising to hold his face as your lips capture his once more. “Explanations can wait until tomorrow.” Your voice is thick with desire as you pull away just the slightest to leave the bathtub.

After casually slipping your soaked panties off, you turn back to V to beckon him after you. You can hear him leave the tub as you walk out of the master bathroom and into the bedroom.

(Smut Alert!!!)

You don’t make it to the bed before V catches up to you, his hand snatching yours and halting your progress forward. The air conditioning is on, and the cool breeze on your wet skin elicits a shiver through your body just as your nipples harden. Soon, your shivering is not from the cold air, but from the heat of having V’s naked body pressed into your back. His right arm moves to circle around your waist, pressing his palm flat against your pelvis while his left arm releases you in favor of cupping your left breast. You can feel him hard against the small of your back as V presses urgent kisses along your shoulder.

“Tell me, Y/N.” His voice is a husky growl between sensual kisses as his fingers tweak your nipple with a quick flick. “Did you ache for me while I was gone?” V’s right palm lowers to rest just over your mound drawing molten patterns just upwards of your clit. “Did you stay up touching yourself to thoughts of what I might do to you when I returned?”

You know your husband, and even if V wasn’t completely Vergil, the teasing was enough of a tell to know that he could play the long game. If you don’t answer. If you don’t let out the sinful sounds he’s looking for… V would refuse to continue. And after twenty plus years without, you didn’t want to wait another moment.

“Y-yes!” You moaned, body aching for more as your pussy gets wetter. “Every night that I’m alone.” The tortured whimper from your lips pleases V immensely as his hand dips lower to cup your sex, long fingers swiping just lightly before pulling away to show you just how wet you are.

“And when you thought of me during those nights, were you as soaked then as you are now?” His voice had been sinful as Vergil, but the deep airy whispers that V makes has you licking your lips in anticipation as his fingers play with your juices. V rests his chin upon your shoulder and brings his fingers up to his lips, “No, right?” You can’t reply, too entranced as he licks your juices off his fingers. “Hmmm.” He moans as you whimper, bringing his hand back down to rest exactly on your clit. “I want to taste more of you.” V growls, a finger toying with your clit while his remaining fingers dip into your slit, spreading your juices all over your lips.

Head tilted, you can only moan when V dips a long finger into your pussy before immediately pulling out. “V… please s-stop teasing me!” You beg, quivering as your hands raise to tug his arms close.

He hums and thrusts his hips into your back slightly, not enough for him to receive any pleasure from it, but enough so that you know how much harder he’s become. “Hmmm” V purrs into your ear, turning his hand so that it locks with yours, fingers intwined for just the moment, “Well, if that is what my love desires…” In a single fluid movement, he’d spun you around and gently guided you to rest upon your bed. “Then who am I to deny?”

Although sickly, you can’t help but salivate over how the black markings decorate his torso and arms. They trail in intricate patterns all over his torso and down to his pelvis, ending at… oh. Fuck. He’s longer than I expected. The part of him that stands at attention, partially curved up, draws your attention better than his beautiful green eyes and dark hair. You’re sure that V can hear how fast your heart is racing as he smirks, completely at ease as he saunters forward and crawls over you. There are whispers at the back of your mind telling you to touch him, but you only ignore them as V presses slow, open mouthed kisses along every inch of skin on his way up to your mouth.

He stops just shy of kissing your core, where an unbearable amount of heat has gathered.

He presses gentle, mournful kisses to the spot that Vergil and Urizen stabbed, his eyes briefly meeting yours with a silent plea for forgiveness.

He licks up the valley between your breasts, eyes closes as if he’s savoring the taste of your skin.

He issues a silent challenge by meeting your gaze as he pulls one of your nipples into his mouth while a hand plays with the other. You meet his gaze and stubbornly refuse to look away even as you feel his tongue flick and lap, even as the heat of his mouth becomes almost too much to bear.

When he finally makes his way to your mouth, V’s smiling, something that has always been rare even when he was Vergil. The slow kiss that follows is sweet and loving, but is interrupted as you gasp. V smirks smugly as his fingers circle your slit a few times before he presses a finger into you… then two. His green eyes watch you in adoration as he pumps his fingers in and out of your soaked pussy, taking in your moans as if it were the sweetest melody he’d ever heard.

You can’t help the moans that fall from your lips or that your legs spread to give V more space. You want more.

“V!” You whimper, even as he presses a third in. “P-please!”

He pretends he doesn’t hear you, continuing to finger fuck your pussy as his thumb plays with your swollen clit. It has been over twenty years since he’d had you beneath him. And with all the shit he’s pulled in the past, he wants you to cum at least once before he takes you.

After years without, you don’t last as long as you’d hoped. The rush of pleasure builds up faster than you expect. Your legs stiffen and your toes curl as the heat builds up to a climax, sending you over the edge of wild abandon and heavy breaths.

You come back from the haze to find V grinning triumphantly, licking your juices from his fingers once more. When scowl dangerously, V only continues to grin. It doesn’t take much more than a push to reverse your positions, but still V’s grin persists.

“Not satisfied, my love?”

“You know damn well that I’m not satisfied.” You mutter with a pout, throwing your legs over his hips so that you can press your soaked lips against his throbbing cock. Biting your lip, you stay still for a few moments as you look down at V, his dark hair sprawled upon the bed and lustful gaze staring up.

“And how would you have me repent, Y/N?” The words are out of his mouth before V realizes it.

You hum, tracing your fingers along the black lines adorning his chest before moving your hips to slid your pussy along his cock. “I want you to fuck me, V.” His body tenses when you continue to tease him, “I want you to fill me up. To make me cum so many times that I forget my name. To make me scream so loud from pleasure that fucking Urizen can hear it from his stupid demon tree.”

A growl is your only answer before V’s gaze darkens once more and you find yourself pressed into the bed, watching as V positions himself between your legs, lining himself up so that the head of his weeping cock is pressed to your opening.

“If Urizen hears the sounds of your pleasure, he might be compelled to take you as well.” He’s teasing you again.

“Urgh, V, jus-ah!” You’re interrupted when his hips snap forward, sheathing his cock to the hilt.

“I’ve never been one to share.” V gasps, holding onto your hips as he pulls away and snaps back.

All you can do is moan and move to meet his hips, lewd noises filling your quiet home as V sets a quick pace. After years of denying yourself the pleasures of the flesh, you can feel your cunt stretch around V. Already sensitive from your previous orgasm, it takes everything for you not to cum again just from being filled. Your soft moans and gasps of his name fuel V’s desire, and soon, as you cry for more, he sets a brutal pace, pounding into your pussy as your writhe beneath him.

His green eyes are wild as he pounds deep into your womb, something like determination in his eyes, “Y/N.” Your name is like a prayer upon his lips, “You asked me to fill you up.”

If it was possible, another jolt of pleasure shot through your body and straight to your core, and you found yourself tightening around him at what V was implying. “Yes.” You moan, throwing your hands up to wrap around his shoulders, “Yes, V! Fuck! I need you to cum in me!”

Unable to stop himself anymore, V let go of whatever control he had and thrust into you with wild abandon. He didn’t even know if he could impregnate you in his current state, and he knew that it was reckless to try, but fuck if he wasn’t going to try anyways. It was all you’d ever wanted with Vergil. A family. And if he could give you this, too…

God, you wanted to be filled. The thought of finally having a child leaves you wailing and on the edge of release. You could feel him throb as he abandoned rhythm, muttering ‘I love you’ as his body quaked with each thrust before abruptly stopping. The moment you feel his warmth spilling deep into you is when you finally allow yourself to fall over the edge with a wordless moan, pussy pulsing as you milk V of his release.

Coming down from the high, you find yourself entangled in V’s arms, the both of you breathing heavy as you both lay on the bed. Like all times before Vergil left, the two of you lay in silence, content with each other’s presence.

(Smut end… *fans self* as a side note, they absolutely cleaned up after an additional two rounds :P)

23rd May 09:32am

You woke up to the sounds of a struggle, bolting from the bed with light steps and snatching the Silver Rose from your nightstand. You heard something clank and clatter from within the bathroom just as you pressed yourself to the wall, gun raised as you peered into the room. What you saw in had you in a fit of laughter.

“Ahahahahaha! Oh my gosh! V!” Your finger leaves the trigger as you bend over with a laugh, , “I have a washer and dryer for a reason!”

V grumbled and flushed lightly as he wrestled his clean, but soaked pants from Griffon and Shadow. “…” The set of pajamas that you’d coaxed V into the previous night were thoroughly soaked through because he’d decided to hand wash and hand dry his only set of clothes.

“Guess we’ve been camping out too much, huh, buddy?” Griffon chirped after letting go of the black pants.

Shadow lets out a growl in warning, also letting go of the pants in favor of approaching you, rubbing its face against your side with a purred greeting. Though you raise a brow in question, you raise a hand to scratch behind the panther’s ears. “I have many questions, I’m not going to beat around the bush.”

V sighs and sets his clothes on the sink counter before walking towards to pull you into a loving embrace, “Let me change into some dry clothes, and we’ll talk over breakfast.”

His wet clothes feel cold against your nightgown, but you don’t mind, humming as you snuggle into V’s embrace.

15th June 06:00am

“Hurry up, Shakespeare! The Lady Sparda and I aren’t gonna wait for your slow ass all the time!” Griffon called back towards V from his perch on your right arm.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Griff. He’s trying his best.” You chide, turning to stare at V just as he closes the remaining few meters to stand at your side. The past month had been an ordeal, but here you were, about to meet up with your son to end this mess. Turning to V, you playfully nudge him, “Let’s go, V.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will definitely be writing more about Reader’s time with V as chapters of Visions of V release.

As always, thank you so much for reading!

PS. Hi, yes, Tumblr. Please don’t eat up my chapter again.（╹◡╹）THanks

231 notes · View notes

albino-whumpee · 3 years

Text

To me, you are...

This is a heavy one so please go carefully. It deals with a lot of dubious heavy stuff like slavery and the relationship between captor and captive. And, to answer the anon who asked what Zarai saw Albus as, if more as a pet or a friend, here´s your answer.

I´m a bit behind schedule, so I´ll be posting them in the next few days.

Taglist: @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @giggly-evil-puppy @cowboysrappin @haro-whumps @burtlederp @neuro-whump @comfortforthepain @whumps-the-word @whole-and-apart-and-between @broken-horn @ashintheairlikesnow @rosesareviolentlyread @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @as-a-matter-of-whump @whumpasaurus101 @grizzlie70 @twistedcaretaker

CW// box boy blanket TW, pet whump, bullying, defiant whumpee, noncon touch (non sexual), conditioning, discussion of ownership and fucky views about slavery, intimate whumper, diffuse line between caretaker and whumper, lima syndrome, self sacrifice, collars, grief and anxiety attack.

Lunch breaks were the best part of the day for the albino. He would meet up with Sasha and Tony at the food truck down the street, settle down on a bench together and order two crunchy tacos Zarai would disapprove of, saying they weren´t real tacos, but the boy would gobble them up regardless. Lunch breaks were the only times of the day he could relax, after all. Even just a bit.

The atmosphere at the office had just started to get somewhat calmer after Zarai´s intervention. Albus’ cheek had a fading yellow bruise when he went back to the building with Sasha, talking excitedly about Sann´s progress with sign language.

“Thank you for spending the last Saturday with us” the albino said, smiling as they passed their cards over the scanner and moved to the elevator “He has been nonstop studying since then” he passed a hand to his neck, feeling the collar under his clothes “I’m starting to get worried I won´t be able to follow him someday”

“Why´s that? We can always practice at lunch” Sasha signed perfectly after punching the buttons to their respective floors. Slowly so Albus could watch her movements perfectly.

“I mean, yeah, but-” the boy flinched when Sasha lifted her finger and shook it in front of him. The boy sighed and put his hands up “I´m just afraid I won´t understand him” he signed even slower, mouthing the words under his breath.

“You´re doing your best, Al” she signed using the white gesture. Albus cheeks flared up remembering Sann´s words when he gave him his sign name.

The other pet had put his extended hand over his chest and then pulled away as if taking a pinch of salt. Sann had told him it was like taking a part of your heart and giving it to the other person. A sign for kindness that meant white, perfect for someone like Albus, the other boy had said smiling at him.

Sasha elbowed him back to reality “Trust yourself you can do it, ok?” she signed with a gentle gesture on her face that made him smile as they came out of the elevator and walked through a hallway to Zarai´s office “Also he learns too quickly, it´s quite scary! I couldn´t have learnt to read and write all by myself at all, so trust me. You´re doing just fine and normal” she finished signing with a pat on his back the boy winced to before patting himself. “Just try to watch your mouth when you sign and…wiggle your eyebrows more, yeah? Gotta emphasize” she said walking away.

Albus groaned as he straightened up “I still do that?” he shouted across the hallway. Sasha nodding with an apologetic face. He sighed before he signed bye to her, already turning on a corner.

He then took a deep breath and stepped into the large room and walked with eyes cast down to Zarai´s office, feeling too many eyes nailed on him. He just had to get used to the piercing glares and low murmurs in the air. He couldn´t make a scene again.

However, Albus jumped away when he felt someone get too close and heard someone laugh as he recomposed.

“Sorry, what´s it Jeremy?” the albino said looking at the blonde blocking his view from the other people as he stepped forward. He blinked amused when he saw Jeremy standing between him and the door.

“Sorry, Sir. But, uh, Mr. Glass is inside the chief’s office” he whispered just low enough for both of them “Should I tell him to go, Sir?” Jeremy asked with genuine worry in his voice that warmed Albus’ heart.

In the last weeks, he had stood up by his side and tried to not leave him alone. That got him some side eye from other coworkers, but he didn´t seem to care and he was still as efficient as always, just slightly more tired though. Maybe he thought he didn´t realize, but he was deeply thankful to find a kind person among the cutting edges the office had turned into.

“Thank you for telling me, Jeremy. But I´m ok, go take your break” He said with a forced smile. Jeremy opened his mouth but closed it and stepped out of his way. He settled his hand on the handle and stepped inside to find Robert Glass with the framed photo on his hands, leaning against the desk. “Mister Glass”

Robert´s eyes lifted up to see the albino closing the door behind him, smiling as he set down the photo back on its place.

“There you are. I wanted to speak with you” He said, lifting himself from the desk and walking closer to the albino. “Oh? What happened to your cheek?” he said lifting a hand to stroke him, amusing himself when the albino flinched and he had to grab his chin to force him to look at him “Hey, hey, didn´t they taught you not to move away?” Robert said, feeling the pressure he was putting on his jaw underneath his fingertips.

“Yes, from my owner. Not you, Mister” The albino said through gritted teeth. Robert let go with huff. Albus tried to shove down the disgust and replace it with his usual poker face. Couldn´t be too hard to force it up again. He had been doing it since he stepped out of the box after all.

The albino breathed in as he saw the man walk away, passing his hand through the stuff scattered around his desk. All of it lined up exactly like Zarai wanted to.

As the albino saw his hand hover curiously around his things, Robert fixed his eyes upon another painting on the wall.

“That´s not what you said with Jefferson was it? I mean-”

“You´re not here to talk about me are you, Mister?” Albus interrupted him, his chest brewing with newfound anger. “Sann is absolutely fine now, if you wondered”

“Oh no, I came to talk about you exactly” Albus frown grew deeper, eyebrows tightening when he put his hand up. “Don´t worry, I won´t touch you. I only came to talk” he giggled, picking up the stress ball over the shelf and bouncing it on his hands side to side.

“You know? People think Pets aren’t people anymore. More like animals or objects” he started, stepping closer to the stiffening albino. A smile formed on his lips “I know some refer to their own pets as it, but do you know why I don’t refer to Sann or you like that?” He said in front of Albus. Lifting one arm up to trap him between the wall and himself. “Because you’re a person, of course” he giggled. Before he simply stared at him from above. Like a hawk above the trees just waiting for the perfect moment to dive for its prey. “Doing to you what you couldn’t to any other human… that’s the thrill of owning a box boy” He whispered to his ear, a freezing chill ran through his spine at the sickly sweet tone of his voice “Zarai knows that too”

“There’s info she has been hiding from you” he began. Sweetly noticing the confusion in his face “A boxie can buy back their freedom if they pay for their contract”

It hit him so hard, Robert was enjoying seeing his eyes widen with each word. He kept his grimace hidden and continued to explain to the dumbfounded albino.

“Of course, it is almost impossible to buy something when you’re not even allowed to be paid in most cases…unlike you”

Albus breathed in deep. Processing the new info and checking if it was info he should believe or not.

“Is that really possible? I-I-I could really…I could even-” Robert knew by the way his eyes widened that the question he had come to install on him had settled. Already knowing which words would come out of his mouth after that.

“However” the man interrupted him “It´s a one-time chance thing. Only one contract each” he noticed the drop of sweat going down the albino´s face as his smile widened “If I were you I would think it more thoroughly, Albie”

—-

After her meeting was over, Zarai walked to her office and thought it was odd people stared at her. She opened the office’s door to find Albus talking with Robert.

The boy turned his head to see her and then back at Robert “Goodbye, Sir” he said with clenched teeth before opening the door. Zarai caught his arm before he walked away and pulled him closer.

“What’s going on here?” She whispered.

“Nothing really, princess” Robert interrupted their conversation. Albus closed the door with a short sigh.

“Then what did you come all the way here for? You should know by now you´re not welcome here” She said with fire in her eyes. Robert made his jaw work but hid it with a smile.

“Zarai, darling, when were you going to tell him that he could buy his own liberty?” Zarai’s eyes widened slightly before she recomposed. “You let him win money, but you didn’t give him an object to spend it on. Doc Martin from Marketing would be really disappointed with you”

“Albus, go outside and wait for me at the rooftop” she ordered the boy who quickly set off. Silence sat in the room as Albus closed the door “What are you playing, Glass?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

The man snorted and whistled “I was being honest with him. Might want to do that more often. Do you even know what he said when I told him?” His hands shot up in a dramatizing gesture. “‘Is that really possible?’ With eyes all sparkly and hopeful! You might wanna help him understand that even if it is possible, he shouldn’t be showing that emotion” Robert kept talking but when he noticed she was quiet he talked again “Were you planning to even tell him Zarai?”

The woman avoided his eyes, “…eventually” Robert laughed.

“Well, would you have told Sann about it?” She exploded.

“Don’t get confused princess. I didn’t give Sann the means to buy himself out of this. That’s all” he shut her down immediately. Robert gave her a sympathetic smile. “You are so lonely, so desperate to have someone on your side, you are forcing the only one who can’t displease you, to stay with you” Zarai inhaled hard “It’s alright though. I understand you better than anyone” he said stepping closer.

“Nobody wishes to be left alone, after all. Animals won’t help loneliness as much as a human would, so we buy pets for our broken hearts and call it love when they laugh with us” Finally Robert towered over her before talking into her ear the few words she didn’t want to hear ever “but they won’t ever be the family we lost, Zarai. No matter how much they look alike or how much they need to be cared for, they’re not Sirius, nor Jarred, Charlie or Fran”

“He´s not a replacement, Glass. I´m not like you” she battled the tears prickling behind her eyes.

“I know, he’s not that kind of replacement” he leaned to whisper on her ear “I know we are not playing the same game Zarai” he said stepping back as the woman’s head spun and pulsed with how hard she was clenching her teeth “You never wanted a secretary to help you. No, you never needed him to be your secretary” his lips twisted into a smile “You aren´t made of ice. You could´ve taught them just like you did with him. But you never would´ve been so patient with anyone that could leave would you?” he said enjoying the small frustrated gasps coming out of her.

“¡Suficiente!” She yelled pushing him away. “If you are so sure of it, why did you keep Sann? What was the point in that huh?” Robert finally shut his mouth for a second. “If Sann is just a fake why keep him around?”

“For the same reason as you. We’re so lonely we bought ourselves company” he admitted. Making Zarai burst into tears.

“Vete” he stayed still “AHORA, Glass! FUERA!” she screamed before the man walked out of the office with a grim face.

“You know I’m right”

She slammed the door closed on his nose. She waited a while, trying to calm herself down, but the violent tremble wouldn´t stop.

Suffocating and sweaty and feeling too heavy on her chest, she stepped out of her office and didn’t even bother to cover the furious tears rolling on her cheeks until she let it out on the elevator to the rooftop.

She passed to the bathroom to put herself together.

When was the last time she hid in a bathroom to cry like she was? College? No, a year after the accident. When she came back to work and all of the sudden after one of her meetings, she just couldn´t stop herself from tearing up. Then she went back home to cry on the kid´s beds clenching their clothes before she fell asleep. No, wrong the last time had been a few weeks before Albus came.

She heard the water run as the realization roamed in her mind and concentrated on breathing in and out, in and out. Since he came to her life, she hadn´t had an anxiety attack.

Every day for the last eight months, she woke up to homemade breakfast and a good morning, she went to work and had the exact thing she needed on her hand without asking, she went to sleep and her fingers lazily unbuckled the boy´s collar before he wished her good night.

For the last months she had glanced back over her shoulder and found the albino immediately turned attentively at her.

Her breathing hitched as tears rolled down without being able to stop them.

For the last months, she always had someone on her side making her company.

Just like she requested on the WRU form.

“Ha ha…I really am a monster” she whispered to herself with a sniff “A lonely…lonely monster, just like he said…”

It took a long time before she recomposed herself and walked to the rooftop garden where Albus was waiting for her.

His hair had grown a bit and had gained some weight. He was not the dirty, malnourished box boy on a crate anymore. He was the best assistant she had ever had, and a simply adorable and promising kid. Her hands fell on the handle and doubt overwhelmed her for a second.

In the end, Zarai opened the door and Albus turned to see her with mild surprise. Fixing his posture and face when he recognized her and followed her movements.

If she asked him, if she let him buy it…what would he do?

She had no other way to know than asking and her heart broke when the boy widened his eyes and sulked on the plastic chair in the roof, rounding his thumbs one over the other, before he breathed out and looked up at her.

“I made a promise to you, Ma´am” the boy said calmly, crimson eyes looking at her as he wetted his lips “And I intend to keep it. But…I had enough time to think about it here” he looked around the roof, seeing the whole city under him but eyes fixed on the ocean beyond the beach. He turned back to see her with a light frown on his face, looking too young all of a sudden “I´ll make a request, and this will be the only one I´ll ever ask from you, Ma´am”

As the breeze carried his words to her, she froze. She saw the way the albino smiled at her, a bold pleading on his eyes she couldn´t refuse. After a long silence, she agreed. With a big smile to hide the sadness underneath, Albus thanked her.

The reason for their agreement would be completely secret from the other two, no matter what happened, both vowed not to tell either Sann or Claude about their deal.

At night, her hands had trembled when she was supposed to loosen up his collar to sleep like every night. And the albino had looked at her with those big crimson eyes that softened as he settled her hand over his collar and she finished the task.

“Good night, Ma´am, Mister” he had said before walking through the door.

“Goodnight, Albus” she had replied back and curled closer to Claude.

She would wonder later, why she had agreed to it. Why didn´t she stop him or offered the backup way she had planned to give him from the beginning, but she quickly found her answer when she looked over her shoulder and found, always found, the albino trailing behind her.

She agreed, because for her, Albus was company that wouldn´t ever go away.

11 notes · View notes

cosmiclatte28 · 4 years

Text

Quarantine (Baekhyun x you; domestic fluff)

I love Domestic Baekhyun and here is more of it

ENJOY! PS. stay happy in quarantine okay, things will get better. We’re all in this together. 💖

You want to go home. You miss the busy street from your home town, you miss your mother's cooking, you miss your cats, and mostly you just miss the feeling of being home. COVID-19 has messed up all of your plans, you're supposed to be at home now with your mother and father, sitting down as you tell them stories from the secret life of dating the young prince of King of KPOP, EXO Baekhyun and right now in a project with SuperM too, The Avengers of KPOP. You bend to turn off the vacuum robot circling the big room. Baekhyun and you have been sharing the roof and sheets after two years of relationship. You were just a student, transferring to Korea and taking some job in one of the uprising firm consultation group. You were supposed to go back after graduating, but the pandemic made it impossible for you to fly back safe. Your parents knew about your relationship with Baekhyun, even your mother is secretly tuning in to UN Village and carefully tries to remember EXO and SuperM. You met Baekhyun not in office, but from a colleague of yours. He invited you to his lunch birthday party only to sit face to face with the man who gives you energies when doing endless home work and quiz. He was Baekhyun, the Baekhyun of EXO, whose songs were on repeat every time you study, the same group where you spent all of your money to. You remember how his friend introduced you that Baekhyun is his best friend, and to your surprise, Baekhyun was so easy to talk to. By the last scoop of ice cream and cake you both have, he already got your number. The next day and night flew by so fast. With small greetings and good night texts, you got closer to him. In six month, he brought you over to his favorite café, handed you a fresh bouquet of roses, and asked the oh so surprising statement. You were so surprised that night, but you made sure to nod your head. With that and one hug, you were now his official girl friend.

Baekhyun made sure you were comfortable with the relationship. He did not tell anyone first, so that you won't be overwhelmed. When you asked why he didn't tell his friends about this, he simply said "Having a relationship is not something I boast around about. I keep my personal life secret. When it is the time, I will make sure to tell everyone. Just be patient okay." You trust him, with all your heart. You cannot hate him, not even when you're annoyed by his eating habit. He kept his promise, after one year of dating you and feeling even more comfortable with you and the relationship; he introduced you to the band. Xiumin, Kyungsoo, and Suho were already away when Baekhyun introduced you to them. You knew Kai even better after visiting them onset for SuperM's comeback. You can keep up with the dating life, because at morning both of you are busy with works, and at night Baekhyun always come back home. With EXO doing sub-unit works, he didn't really stay together. He has his manager to drive him to work and back home. You always make sure to finish your work before going home, so that when you're in his apartment, you can just sit and relax with him. Baekhyun likes to play games, and so are you. The two of you can just sit in his special game room and spend the night screaming into microphone while frantically pressing keyboard and mouse. For your second anniversary, he bought you a gaming set and that was the sweetest thing you did not expect from Baekhyun. However since quarantine, you've been taking your work from home (his home) and he still have to go to the studio to train and record, but other than that he cannot go anywhere. It was fun to see Baekhyun having his comeback and doing a V-live from his bed room. Little did the fans knew, someone else was cooking the food he ate, and his girl is laughing on the living room seeing how Baekhyun still try his best to entertain the fans although situation is challenging. You teased him after he finished his V-live. "Told you, you cannot finish all of it. It's a lot and I know your portion honey." Baekhyun chuckled from his half sleeping state, "I slept a bit." You snickered, "Yeah I saw everything. I even left comments too but did you catch mine?" He yawned, "Too much to see, I mean you can always tell me what's in your mind, so it's their time to share. Thanks for understanding." You cleaned up his plates, "Ah yeah, I get it. Do your job bae, make sure the fans are happy to see you again. This time of life is challenging, so I want you to be their mental and moral support." You understand their feelings, you are one of them, just a lucky one who can win his heart. "Thanks for always understanding. Hey what time is it now in your parent's?" You glanced to the watch, "Night I guess, why?" Baekhyun shrugged, "Ah you missed your time to call them to see my live?" You grinned and giggled, "They will understand, I can call tomorrow." Baekhyun pulled you into his hug, "Okay then, we go to bed now it's late." You pushed him away, "Let me put your plates away. I save my works and we sleep." Baekhyun gave you his cheeky smile, "I love you." "Yeah say that whenever I want to wash your dishes. Smart move eh?" The next quarantine was even funnier with SuperM and his Mtopia series. Watching Mtopia with Baekhyun was even better since he explained things that happened. You also shed tears watching his short drama and you praised him for his acting skills. You remembered seeing Baekyun blushed when you pretended to re-enact the scene. "You know, I am a bit thankful to the flight ban." he said one day when you and him were sitting on the sofa, watching the sun sets. You quirked an eyebrow, pulling your body to sit straight, "What?" He pulled you back into his embrace, "Because you can stay here, and I am happier with you in this challenging time." You smiled, "Well, I am also quite happy to have you here and I like staying here. Would be even better if we have Mongryeong and not a Roomba." Baekhyun laughed at your remark "Well, I can't take Mongryeong here to disturb your work, but a Roomba is enough right for now?" You slapped his arm playfully, "Well at least I don't have to sweep the floor." You made him laugh, "Now that shows how we are even made for each other. We have the same humor. Dry ones." "We just got another level of humor honey." you taunted at him and bend to turn off the Roomba. "If you really like the Roomba that much, I can get you another 10 of those." You deadpanned look at him, "Really? Eleven cleaning robots? No thanks. I'd rather buy your albums or book a flight with you to my parents." "Becaue you know Baekhyun, you're like a high test score..." you looked into his eyes with adoration. "Why?" "Coz I want to take you home and show you to my mother." you stifled a laugh and he burst out laughing too. "She saw me frequently from TV and video calls!" "Yeah but it's unfair how your mother have seen me but my mother hasn't seen you for real." you pinched his cheeks. His crisp laugh erupted, "Who taught you those cheesy pick up lines?" "Running a blog of incorrect SuperM made me research a lot of pick up lines.. cheesy ones, and I am keeping the one I like." "You run a blog?!" Your eyes pop open, "Uh-oh... wrong information.." You escaped from his hug and stood up to run away before he can ask you anything else "Hey why you never tell me anything!" He rose from his seat. "No pretend I said nothing! It's too much information." "Come back here! I want to support you!" "No Baek, I am shy!" you pocket your phone and run away from his chase. The house is big, big enough for two adults to run around and play chase. "I won't let you live if you make me anything weird in the posts." "Uh-oh I am in trouble."

“Stop, okay okay I will tell you! Just stop and stay away okay.” You said between your breaths and he stopped finally. You quickly run away from him once again, this time locking yourself inside the room so he cannot reach you.

“I swear you tricky little peach!” Baekhyun banged on the door when he realized you’ve tricked him and locked him out.

You quickly logged out your tumblr and after some time, reopened the door for Baekhyun.

“What?” you hold your laugh back, there’s no way he will be calm when he sees your post.

“Let’s keep it a secret okay Baekhyun. You heard nothing!” you kissed him quick and he gave up.

“I’ll discover it one day!” his mischievous smile is back on his cute face.

end.

#baekhyun x you #baekhyun x oc #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun domestic fluff #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun imagine #imagine bae #imagine baekhyun #exo imagine #superm imagines #exo fluff #superm fluff #super m fluff #super m imagines #super m fanfic

62 notes · View notes

alexlabhont · 4 years

Text

I didn’t mean to fall in love with you

Chapter Two

Book: Queen B - Choices (Universe)

Pairing: Poppy Min-Sinclair x Trans!Male MC (Beck Hughes)

Genre: Canon re-write (Because I can)

Rating: Anyone can read it, really... I think.

I´ll be posting this one over here because Tumblr, for some reason, thinks my secondary blog is a bot...

This is me trying to write by and for the Trans community, specially FTM community, meaning, trans guys, but I actually took the liberty to use They/them pronouns for everyone out there who´s interested (Also, the name Beck was the most neutral one I could find, trying to use the cannon Bea Hughes)

Now, about the PAIRING... I will be using choices style, kinda. If you have any comment, PLEASE BE RESPECTFULL and patient with me. This is also my first english fanfic and english is not my mother language, so... i’m sorry fo the grammar errors

CHAPTERS

The beginning

Chapter one

ONE-SHOTS

Just a dance (Zoey x MC)

—————————————————————————–

One of their favorite things of all New York experience it's having lunch with Zoey. The girl was funny and interesting and she always had the right conversation to spend time with. Also, she had an incredible taste in music, they both even shared some classes together, working in pair so often that the rest of their classmates just knew they weren't available to them.

So when Beck found out Zoey co-produced the last summer hit, they weren't surprised, what was making some teeny tiny noise in their head was…

“Did you really co-produced Lightning and you didn't tell me?!”

… That.

Beck was impressed, of course. They where proud! That song was one of their personal favorites, so the fact of knowing they were collaborating all this time with such a spectacular talent was an honor.

“To be fair, you never asked” She chuckled.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, Zoey: Hey, my name's Beck, had you ever co-produced a summer hit? Because I haven’t”. Beck ironized. The news were all over The T, and it definitely had to do with a little lunch Zoey managed to have with the same Professor Roberta, making her finally be friends with Beck. “By the way, thank you very much. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Babe, you just bought us a $200 lunch. I think you deserved not to have some teachers bad blood”

“Maybe I did it to be on your good side” Beck winked towards her, making Zoey laugh.

“Such a charmer, aren’t you?” Zoey opened their room door, finally reaching their home. “Careful, Beck. You’re going to make me believe I'm your favorite girl.”

“How says you aren’t?”

“Hum… I don’t know” She tapped her chin with a perfect polished fingernail, pretending to be thinking about it. “Maybe some little bird called Ina Kingsley.

Ow! Low blow

“Ah, gotcha!” Zoey laughed.

“Ok, that’s completely unfair! You know it was one-time thing and we ended whatever that was as soon as we found out we were teacher-student” Which was practically the very next day, by the way… kinda.

“Still… I think you should make it up to me for it.” Oh, that little flirty game between them. Beck was curious about it most of the time. Was it just a joke? Something more? Back at Farmville they never had a friendship relationship like that one, but Zoey was never really clear about the matter neither.

Instead, she always came up with some Ina related topic and it was confusing as fuck. I mean, yeah, they kissed Zoey in front of everyone in that football kiss cam. Beck thought that time that it was very clear they wanted to be more than friends with her. But apparently, she didn't feel the same, so… they won’t be pushing her. Beck would never oblige someone to be into… well… them.

“What can I do? Please tell” They said, playing along with her.

“You're a smart one. I'm sure you’ll find a way to do so.” Damn it, Zoey…

“I already have a few ideas… Scandalous lingerie.” Beck joked some more, a mischievous smile on their lips. “I’m thinking satin sheets, handcuffs, maybe a blindfold…”

“I like this image. You, sprawled out on the mattress, completely at my mercy…” Zoey moved closer to them, trailing her finger up their arm, making them shiver.

“Come on, Zo. Back down already! At least show me something, do something.”

“I might just take you up on that someday.” She said before walking away, teasing them.

“Gwaah!”

Beck hated that. Really, that kind of frustration was no good at all.

“Crap, I'm gonna be late for music theory! This is not good. The prof is a total hardass.”

“Told ya! You should’ve choose professor Liam as I did. You brought this on yourself.”

“And now you’re just an asshole” She said smiling, hitting Beck right on their arm.

“Ouch! Rude…”

“I’ll catch up with you tonight, yeah?”

“It’ a date”

~~X~~

“Are you sure you’re ok, Poppy?” Veronica asked. She looked preoccupied, and she was… But Poppy wasn’t the one in her mind. The blogger was worried for Chloe.

She was number one now, dethroning Poppy so suddenly that it was suspicious, especially knowing the blonde dumb head girl. She adores Poppy since they were kids, Chloe would never betray her, never. But of course, Poppy wouldn’t see that; no, the strawberry blonde was furious, feeling backstabbed, feeling like revenge…

Of course, you couldn´t blame her. She lived all her life between smoke and mirrors.

“Of course I am!” She replied, knotting her white transparent beach dress, covering up a sexy pink bikini. Poppy took a deep breath and accommodated her cleavage so it shows part of her chest, just a little, seductively inviting, but demure enough no to seem made on purpose. She was an expert on it, and she was about to prove her theory right about now. “I´ll take care of that traitor later…” She checked the hour on her phone. She had invited Farmsville to come there around this time. Test number one: They needed to be punctual, no lover –real or fake- of hers is an irresponsible with her time. She had better things to do than waiting around for an asshole. “Now come, Hughes must be here by now”

“No, I think I’m going to stay right here. Light’s perfect” Poppy rolled her eyes at the way Veronica was trying to find the right angle to make her face look impossible good. She always manages to do so, though.

The strawberry blonde crossed the room, walking through the cabin towards the swimming pool room, she could see Beck there, on time, talking with Michael. Poppy smiled to herself.

“Test passed, Farmsville…”

“… It was built by the Alphas and Zetas as a place to study, party, hook up… Now the only people who come here are - -“

“The people I decide should be here.” She made her entrance.

Test number two: Is Beck into girls? Kissing Zoey didn´t count, Poppy herself had kissed a lot of friends without liking them, she had to prove it herself first hand. So she walked to them with confidence, head up high while moving her hips seductively, attentive to Beck´s every reaction, reading their face, their expressions, the little gulp in their throat, the way their eyes opened wild, checking her out, looking at her boobs…

“Disgusting pervert”

… to her eyes, were Beck fixed their own to stay, always to the face. Beck was trying to be polite, respectful, but the red on their cheeks was exactly the same they had back in the class. They liked what they saw, Poppy knew it. Just to verify, she took a look at the rest of Alphas, who looked away the moment they were discovered. Ugh, gross.

“… but… you have manners. I like it… Second test approved. Well done.”

“Welcome, Farmsville. Let’s discuss our little project, shall we?” An inviting smirk was drawn on Poppy’s lips, willing to test the limits of her new discovery, how much more could she play with Beck today?

“Oh, sure. See ya guys at gym” Beck said, bumping fists and shoulders with the Alphas as if they were good friends. One more of them. For an instant, Poppy found herself wishing they won’t turn Beck into a brainless gorilla. Beck was fine just like already was.

A blonde head caught her eye from behind Beck, saving her of questioning what was that though about because the anger crawled its way up her stomach, keeping her from minding of anything else. “Hold on. What is she doing here?”

The fucking nerve!

The audacity!

Every person in the room was watching Chloe, but nobody had the rage Poppy had. Of course she made them block the entry, how dare she?! After a little scene, that bitch finally went away. To think she considered Chloe her very own best friend! Deep inside, she was hurt, she felt used… The society was right: never to trust anyone, because their always pretending, always faking no matter what they said. Waiting the right moment to strike. That was a mistake she was never going to repeat. Never. She was about to leave, ready to start the project, but of course, Beck was about to ruin her mood one more time.

“That was… pretty rough…” What did they just say? The strawberry girl observed Beck. There was no rest of respect in them, conversely, Beck looked at Poppy as if she was Narnia´s White Witch, what happened to the little lamb look? “I get it if ya’ll are in a fight, but isn’t she supposed to be, like, your best friend?”

God, they were an idiot.

“You´re not here to be my moral compass, Farmsville. Shut the fuck up and walk with me. The rest of you, get out. Now”

Once alone, they both walked slowly around the pool, silence… She didn’t enjoy that. At all. But it was necessary and she couldn´t show any weakness sign to anyone there. Especially not Beck. But… She was now sure of one thing: Beck didn’t care about looks, but actions, or… feelings?

“Have you checked the student ranking today?” She asked, her voice softened. Beck shook their head. They looked at her phone, and after a while…

“Oh boy. Chloe is…”

“Don´t say it…” She was angry, venom caught in her throat, but instead, she let that out like a whisper. A hurt one. She wasn’t faking it, but controlling her emotions on her benefit. Wanting more test, Poppy slipped off her heels and went to sit at the edge of the pool. A moment after, she felt Beck doing the same.

“Bingo”

“It’s just as my parents told me… You don´t have any real friends, Poppy. Just allies. Hmp! Looks like they were right all this time.”

“Poppy, I…” They said, unsure.

“Such a shame.” She stopped him, going back to the anger. “I don’t know who she thinks she is, or who she had to sleep with to knock me out of my spot, but if she thinks this is over she is so wrong. It’s utter betrayal is what it is. That girl is dead to me.” Silence. Was that too soon? Did she got it wrong, again?

“Poppy, you´re too hot to worry about this”

Yes… now they can play.

------

#queen b choices #choices #trans #ftm #poppy x mc #malemc #poppy min sinclair #bea hughes #Beck Hughes #choices stories you play #choices poppy #choices queen b mc #mc x poppy

34 notes · View notes

aethelflaedladyofmercia · 4 years

Text

What Might Have Been - 9

(This one got a few re-writes and wound up not very connected to the prompt. Sorry! CW for some violent intrusive thoughts, but not very graphic.)

This is part of a single story for the @goodomenscelebration “Theme” prompts.

Parts 1-6

Part 7

Part 8

Doubt

It’s a trap. He’ll hurt you. Destroy him.

The whispers were starting again, but the Antichrist waved them aside. The first ones were always easy to ignore. Once, he’d been able to go weeks – almost a month – fighting them off, but the times when he could be himself were getting shorter and shorter. Maybe soon there would be no time at all.

He studied the demon crouched beside him for another moment. Dark clothes, red hair, sharp features. He’d been wearing a pair of sunglasses before, pitch-black lenses curved over his face to hide the glint of his bright yellow eyes from most angles. Now they were in his hand, the metal arms (black with bright red flames) hidden.

He didn’t look like a demon, not really. The eyes did, the black wings he’d briefly revealed, the sigil on the hinge of his jaw. But apart from that, he looked human. Demons didn’t usually bother to look very human.

“So,” he started, ready to teleport the demon as far as possible if he didn’t like the answer, “if you’re not supposed to bring me back to the war…why are you here?”

“Looking for an angel.” The demon glanced around, his eyes distant. “Not even sure where to start.”

The Antichrist nodded. Some of the angels and demons were sworn enemies, locked in eternal single combat. “Your Adversary?”

The demon grinned, but there was nothing bloodthirsty about it. “Oh yeah.” He stood up, brushing himself off, then held out a hand for the Antichrist. “Had him in my clutches this morning, but he slipped away. And now…” the grin faded.

Ignoring the hand, the Antichrist stood up. “The nearest fighting’s down by the coast. Brighton, when I ran, probably spreading from there. Th biggest is over America…” he closed his eyes to concentrate. “Yeah, New York. And smaller fights in what’s left of the Amazon, and somewhere over the mountains in Asia and…” he looked at the demon again. “Is this angel good at fighting?”

“The best,” he said, with some kind of strange pride.

“Probably America. That’s where I’m supposed to go next, but…”

“I don’t think so.” The demon wandered back to the inn, where a still-partially-green plant in a red pot sat in the box planter. Tucking the glasses in his pocket, he carefully picked it up and walked back. Was it some sort of weapon? He hadn’t heard of that type of biological warfare, but you never knew. “He was here, my Adversary. Or not too far, anyway. I And he doesn’t really like America. He’d stay close, I think.” The demon sauntered past the Antichrist with hardly a glance. “Just gotta keep looking.”

More whispers, destroy him, forget him, find your destiny, but the Antichrist pushed them away again, and found himself following after. “Is he on one of the Retrieval squads? They’re supposed to be some of the best fighters. The Guardian of Humanity only picks the best.”

“I don’t know about Retrieval Squads,” the demon said. “He doesn’t get on well with other angels. But Guardian of Humanity…that sounds like his kind of scene. They keep the humans safe?”

“It’s what they say,” Adam said darkly. “If he’s mixed up in that, I can’t help you.”

“Adam, if there’s anyone who can help me, it’s you.” The demon frowned, studying the buildings lining the road behind them.. “Can probably help me figure out what happened here, too. This…” He tucked the plant under one arm and waved a hand at the last house, bricks melted to mud. Across the street, the remains of a stone wall and a marker stone of some kind, broken down and scattered as if kicked over by an unruly toddler. “This is wrong.”

“Dunno. Same thing that happened to all the villages.” Rumor had it there were still a few holdouts, but they tended to be destroyed a few hours after the Antichrist arrived. Having an army of demons will do that.

He didn’t realize the demon had stopped until almost too late, and the Antichrist very nearly walked into him. “Look. This is going to be a lot easier if you just do your mind-reading trick. I give you permission.”

“No,” the Antichrist said firmly. “I don’t – not anymore.” He shuddered, trying not to remember the last time. The feel of maggots on his flesh, the voices in his head. Rip his arm off, one of them suggested, rising a little above the whispers. That’ll teach him some respect.

“Adam? What happened?”

The Antichrist knew if he looked up again, he’d see golden eyes watching him. Might even see an expression he’d never expected to find on a demonic face, on any face ever turned to him again.

He kept staring at his shoes.

“I…didn’t want to fight. Kept teleporting home, even though no one was there. They’d drag me back. One day I read their minds and told them their battleplans were stupid.”

The demon chuckled at that. “That’s my boy. Bet they were stupid.”

“They were glorious,” the Antichrist said, bitterly. “Battles that would rip apart the Earth, shows of power that would make everyone quake in fear. And more than half our forces would be lost in the first three years.”

A long pause while the demon glanced around, taking in the destruction, the boiling red rivers cutting across the field, the pond reduced to an empty pit with a black tar at the bottom. A swarm of locust rose from the dead grass, the only sign of life. “I take it you didn’t convince them to change their plans?”

The Antichrist raised his head to meet the demon’s eyes, but wasn’t ready for that. It was easier to stare at his shoulder. “They. They locked me in a cell with a pair of demons.” His throat grew tight. “Made me read their minds. Over and over. Every…nasty thing they’d ever done, all their awful thoughts…”

For days afterwards, he’d thought like them. Gloried in the idea of ripping people apart, destruction for the sheer joy of it. Even now, one voice whispered, Hurt him. Rip his wings off. Lock him in a church and laugh as he tries to escape. He didn’t even think there were any churches left, not around here.

“Hey. Adam.” The Antichrist let his eyes flick up for a second, meeting the golden eyes of the demon. Like a cat. Or a snake. “Let me guess. Hastur and Ligur?” He nodded. “Nasty pieces of work. And you were…all alone? No friends? No dog?”

The Antichrist shoved his hands in his pockets. “Didn’t really have any friends. All those rich kids, we just tried to outdo each other, you know? Who had the better toys, who could throw a cooler birthday party. Never really talked with any of them. When things turned bad…” he shrugged, frowning. “As for the dog, he finds me sometimes, drags me back to the fighting.��

The demon scratched his head, looking confused. “Your dog does that? ‘S not right. You should be able to control him. He was designed to obey you, be loyal only to you.”

“You’re kidding.” The demon didn’t look like the kind to joke around. “How’s a kid like me supposed to control a Hellhound?”

A long silence. The Antichrist wished he knew what the demon was thinking about, but he still refused to read his mind. Refused to allow another voice in. Finally, he stepped in front of the Antichrist, making it very hard to look away. “Call him by his name, Adam.”

“Killer?” His expression crumpled into pained disbelief. It would have been funny, if anything in the world could still be funny. “I know. The kids at the party suggested all these really violent names. Widow-Maker. Throat-Ripper. Luger. They said a bit scary dog needed a big scary name and…I didn’t want to look lame.”

“What did you want to call him?” the demon asked.

“Dunno. I had one I liked but…I mean…it was dumb,” he confessed. “Stupid kid stuff.”

“Call him that next time, Adam.” A hand with long, thin fingers fell on his shoulder, squeezed gently. “Every creature prefers to be called his real name.”

The demon started walking again, and Adam followed.

For those curious, Crowley’s new glasses:

I wanted something a bit more relaxed post-Apocalypse. He’s started letting the walls down a little, so we’ve lost the side-shields and gone for a Ray-Ban-style design. I think Aziraphale helped him pick them out, in that Aziraphale was there, saying vaguely encouraging things for each pair of glasses while not really having a strong opinion.

#good omens #adam young #good omens fanfiction #good omens celebration #goc2020 #Anthony J Crowley #POV Adam Young #post apocalyptic #post canon #fanfic #my writing

32 notes · View notes

browneyedmissy · 4 years

Text

The Way I Loved You

Pairing: Rafael Aveiro x Casey Valentine

Summary: The moments where Casey and Rafael realized they loved each other: they just never said it out loud until it was too late. Prequel to Like a Friend

Author's Note: Hey y'all, it's ya girl Missy back at it again with the angst for the Raf romancers writing at stupid late hours again. Happy one week into OH hiatus or happy 10 months(?) since a Raf diamond scene 😭

"You never told me you loved me when we were together." Rafael said, his hand twitching as he wanted to reach over to touch her.

"Well, you didn't either." Casey said, blinking back tears as she looked down. "Doesn't matter anymore."

Part I: Rafael

Rafael knew he was in love when he was in love when he realized that she fit into his life and he wanted all his days and nights to be spent with her.

She had invited her out to dinner with her and her friends from her hospital. He had seen them around, recognized a few of their faces but she was the only one he had really ever talked to. Doctors were friendly enough, he observed, but they mostly mostly hung out with each other because of the shared camraderie of medical school and residency.

And sitting there, listening to Casey's friends talk, he wasn't quite sure what he could add to the conversation.

"Do you really have an early morning, Raf?" Casey asked later as they walked towards the subway.

He put his hands in his pockets, giving her a shrug. "Your friends are really nice people, Casey. I just... I don't really know if I fit in with doctors that have ivy league credentials and are going to solve pandemics."

They both looked towards Jackie's direction as she shouted something about karaoke towards their directions. He watched as Casey looked towards her friends and then back to him.

"If you want to, you can come with me to see the neighborhood I grew up in."

She grinned at him, biting her lip. "Do I get my own private tour guide?"

He chortled. "I think I can arrange that."

Her face lit up and he felt his heart thump as she ran over to her friends and exchanged a few words with them, nodding his way. She waved goodbye to them before heading back to him, taking his hand. He squeezed it as she smiled.

"Let's go."

They walked hand in hand as they walked down the street in the warm humid heat, greeting his neighbors as they went. He led her a side road, taking her down to the park he went to often as a child with his family, fond memories of running around with his uncle and his mother.

Casey grinned as she ran straight over the swing set, sitting down and looking up at him as he stepped behind her.

"When was the last time you came to the park and just let yourself play?" He asked her.

"I don't remember the last time, to be honest." She admitted. "School didn't come as easily to me until I figured out I really liked science so I spent a lot of time studying. But I always liked being on the swings as a kid because I think it was the closest thing to flying."

He nodded, moving to take the swing next to her.

"I used to come here with my uncle a lot. He was the one who taught me how to fly the helicopter. He used to tell me that as hard as the world was, it was important to remember why we always try and look for the good in the world."

He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about times where he helped his uncle rebuild houses after storms, shoveling snow for neighbors. When his uncle passed, Rafael's heart was broken because the good that he had put into the world was gone and he had cried when everyone his uncle had touched stood in the crowd as his uncle was laid to rest.

"You miss him, don't you?"

He looked over at her and gave her a sad smile as she reached for his hand. "All the time."

"He taught you well. Everyone in this neighborhood adores you."

"Oh, if you think everyone adores me, they loved my uncle." Rafael smiled fondly. "I just hope I am even the fraction of who he was."

She let go of his hand moved so she was in front of him, hands covering his on the chains of the swing. With her standing, he observed, she was at eye level with him. At this distance, he could smell the lavender of her body wash and the way light of streetlamp backlit her made her look almost ethereal.

"You, Rafael Aveiro, are the most kindhearted compassionate person I have ever met. I've never met your uncle, but if he is anything like you, he would be so incredibly proud."

He grinned and leaned in, pressing a light kiss to her lips.

"Come on, I want you to meet someone."

He walked Casey into the kitchen of his grandmother's house, breathing in the scent of chocolate. He smiled at the picture of Casey sitting down at the table and his grandmother brought a plate of brigadeiros to the table, as if this was a common occurrence.

"Casey, how do you know my grandson?" She asked as Rafael took a spot next to Casey.

"Hospital, vovo." He said as he popped a chocolate ball into into his mouth.

"Yup. He brought in a pregnant woman from a burning building."

He smiled fondly as he thought about the moment he had gotten Dolores- rest her soul, out of the ambulance. Casey had been standing there, biting her lip in worry before looking up at him. He remembered as she blinked at him, surprised before flashing him a smile and his heart had fluttered.

"Oh, he told me about that! So you're the pretty doctor he told me about!" She exclaimed.

Rafael felt his face heat as he coughed down his chocolate. He felt a hand on his back and he looked at Casey who was hiding a smile.

"Mmm, pretty doctor, Rafael? Do you have a crush on me or something?" She teased.

He grinned as he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "You know I do."

"It was nice to meet you, Casey." His grandmother said as she walked them to the door. She pressed a bag of bridagdeiros into her hands as she gave her a hug. "I know my grandson is in good hands."

Rafael blushed as he hugged his grandmother goodbye.

"Bye, vovo."

"I like this one a lot, Raf. I love you, come see me again soon."

He waved her goodbye as he and Casey walked down the street. He threw an arm around her, bring her in close to his side and smiled at the way she nestled into it.

"That meant a lot to me, Casey. Thank you for coming and thank you for coming after me." He said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Thank you for showing me your world, Raf."

He paused when she came to a stop and she turned to face him.

"Teach me how to dance?"

His heart swelled as he placed an hand on the small of her back, bringing her in close and feeling her heartbeat against his chest. He had the sudden longing to have more nights like that, wishing they could always be as close as they were in that moment.

Part II: Casey

Underneath the flickering hospital lights, she realized she loved him.

Every inch of her was completely exhausted. From Naveen's diagnosis to Ramsey's departure, she had hardly had a chance to catch her breath when the triage began. And then, after hours of diagnosing patients, after countless faces, that was when her worst nightmare happened.

When Rafael was wheeled in, her body wouldn't move. She had desperately hoped that she was in a nightmare and she would wake up any moment.

"He's in critical condition." She vaguely heard Harper saying in the background. Casey felt like the air was being sucked out of her lungs, looking down at Raf's face and tears began welling in her eyes as she scrambled to recall her last memory with him.

"Casey." A hand on her shoulder jerked herself away from Rafael and she looked up to see Bryce with a concerned look on his face. "I know this might be hard, but we could really use you in there. Raf will have a better chance if we had some compatant extra hands in there."

She blinked to see Rafael being wheeled into an operating room and Harper giving orders before heading to the scrub room.

"Rafael-" She choked out.

"We're going to do our best, Case. Harper Emery is a better surgeon than I am and I'm pretty damn good."

"I didn't get to say- what if he- Bryce, I can't remember the last thing I said to him."

He squeezed her shoulder, his eyes sympathetic.

"I'm going to go help Doctor Emery to make sure you can have more memories with him. Go take a second for yourself and breathe. If you feel up to helping us save your boyfriend, we'll be in operating room 3."

She stood there in a daze as Bryce left and thought about Raf, unmoving on that operating table. She swallowed down the sob that threatened to break and took a deep breath before following after him.

After the longest six hours of her life, she was finally let go as Rafael was declared stable. She let out the biggest breath as she stood in the shower afterwards, letting the water wash away the smell of the operating room and the images of Raf on the table.

She closed her eyes, willing them away and searched her brain for the moments that warmed her heart: the way her heart skipped a beat when she found him chatting at the nurse's station with an almond milk latte in his hand for her, the feel of his hands in hers as they danced underneath the stars, and the warmth of his arms as he comforted her after she learned that Teresa Martinez died.

She thought about how his presence had instantly in the moment made her relax. She couldn't get him close enough as he held her, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat.

She glanced around the empty locker room. For the first time since the beginning of the triage, she was finally alone. The tears she had been holding in finally burst and she let herself cry, her tears washing away down the drain.

She sat down in the chair next to Rafael. She watched as his chest moved up and down with his breathing and felt her muscles relaxing with every rise and fall. Her eyes moved to his face, bruised but still achingly beautiful and she reached to move his hair off of his forehead.

She watched as he stirred, moving his hand to reach the one covering his.

"Casey?" He murmured as his eyes opened, squinting at her. He tried to sit up and her heart broke as he winced. "What happened?"

"You came in and you-" She choked back her words. "I thought I lost you, Raf. I was so scared, I couldn't stand losing someone I have feelings for."

"I'm sorry I worried you." He said quietly. Then, with a soft smile. "You have feelings for me?"

"If that's not obvious by now, I haven't been doing a good job."

He reached out and touched her cheek with the back of his hand.

"I didn't want to assume. But I hoped you felt the same way."

She nodded, her heart in her throat.

"Is there any room there for me?" She asked as he scooched over. She nestled into his side, feeling the weight of his arm around her. She felt the thud of his heartbeat again and reminded herself that Rafael was still there and they still had time together.

She looked up to admire the soft wave of his hair, the shadows that accentuated the strong line of his jaw and the high points of his cheekbone, and his warm eyes, bright as they looked down at her.

"You're beautiful." She said in wonder.

He let out a laugh and Casey decided it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"You make my heart beat faster. You know, not in a medically dangerous way, but it just feels... You know. Content."

She closed the gap between them, feeling his lips on hers. His hand found itself in her hair as he moved her closer to him.

She found herself desperate to just stay in this moment, where he was safe and here with her. She wondered for a brief second if he could feel the wetness of her tears as he pulled away, his cheeks flushed.

"Well, I'm not going to joke that it was worth it to get crushed under rubble to kiss you." He joked, smiling at her with warm eyes. "But for the record, it was."

She felt her breath catch in her throat as she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Only this boy, the one who had come in, still and unmoving on the gurney could bring her to tears and heartache but also make her her heart swell this way.

Casey never really understood when people said that they felt like time stopped and everything melted away. But in this moment, the only thing she could see and hear was Rafael Aveiro with his kind selfless heart and the words of adoration.

"When did you realize?"

Raf couldn't say the word love out loud- it cut his heart too deep, brought up too much heartache he wasn't ready to face yet.

"That night of the triage. When you joked about how it was worth being crushed by rubble to kiss me."

He willed his heartbeat to be quieter as he held her close.

"The night you came with me to see my vovo. When we danced underneath the stars."

Tags:

@heauxplesslydevoted @hatescapsicum @cora-nova @princess-geek @flyawayboo @sunnyxdazed @loveellamae @my-remedy-is-euphoria @narrytheworld @drakewalker04 @annekebbphotography @drakewalkerfantasy @infinitiestones

#missywrites #open heart #playchoices #rafael aveiro #rafael x mc

21 notes · View notes

davantrask · 4 years

Text

Winter King

So. I haven’t posted anything in years for Hitsuhina but I have written a thing for a friend so I will post it here. It was kind of an experiment in getting back into writing again so it is jumpy and might not be entirely linear but oh well.

It is kinda long.

This may or may not be my first attempt at tumblr.

Momo moved through the bullpen quickly, ignoring the talking idiots while she walked. She was pissed. She was very, very, pissed. Mostly, she was pissed because the captain had reassigned her partner without talking to her first. Well, no one had talked to her first. Her partner had asked for a change without consulting her because he was an idiot.

The last case has been hard. Children had been taken and skinned by a local member of the fae community. No one liked the fae, well, most of them. Children were easy targets, delicious targets according to the asshole that was currently sitting in a cell of cold iron. The idiot had taken one look at the crime scene when they had finally caught up with the fae and well… run. Now she was going to have to have some of her protection runes re-done and that hurt. Magic inked runes were wild things. She had lost five in that fight and if she was honest with herself she was still mad about it.

She rolled her shoulders and kept walking. Coffee, she needed coffee. The bakery down the street would give her what she needed before she had to meet up with whoever the captain was going to stick her with.

She gritted her teeth and ignored the rage demon who walked past her. Michael was a nice guy, so long as you didn’t piss him off. When she had first started here his ears had thrown her off, but she was used to seeing them now. The receptionist was a lovely fairy whose wings were gorgeous. Her eyes kind of reminded her of a dragonfly, but it would be worth those eyes to have those wings. Renji was half a something weird that she had not figured out yet. She had hoped that they would get partnered together but he didn’t do general police work. He got a lot of the shit cases that required more brute strength than detective work.

His runes made her eyes water some days and she wasn’t sure how to explain that to a partner. Seers, good seers, could see through the glamour that let people live their ordinary lives. What was left of their ordinary lives after the walls came down and the supernatural invaded. It had taken a lot of cold iron, a war, and a few cautious treaties, to keep humans from being the main course on the easy to harvest table. That didn't mean humans weren't hunted. It did mean that someone had to hunt the things hunting the people in the dark.

When you hunted things in that went bump in the night you didn’t have the luxury to walk around pretending that your knives weren’t perfectly balanced and the runes that you had etched into your skin wasn't to keep others from wearing it. Partners, good partners, were hard to keep. Damned weak willed asshole who had run, run, from the whole thing babbling like an idiot.

She ran her fingers through her hair and stomped out of the building. Coffee, coffee would make all of this better.

Her new partner was not what she had expected. First of all, his forearms were very distracting. She wasn’t sure where he had gotten those tattoos, they were beautiful and dazzling and she had to work hard to keep from looking at the runes. She was fairly certain she knew what most of them meant but there were a few that were complicated enough that she couldn’t make them out without drawing them and studying them herself. Doing that would tell him that she was busy looking at his forearms, so that was out.

She wasn’t entirely sure that the girls in the office saw when they looked at him. It had to be something. Those forearms weren’t his best trait, they were just the most distracting part for her since they sat across from each other each day.

She hadn’t quite figured him out yet. He presented himself as an elf, but Momo wasn’t quite sure that she had ever seen elves with teeth quite that sharp. He didn’t have fangs like a goblin but his incisors were sharper than any humans. His ears were definitely pointed, but Fae, Goblin, and Elves all had the pointed ears. The fae that she had seen were so far gone into their blood madness that she wasn’t sure she could tell the difference between any every day elf and an everyday member of the fae court. Then again, if he wasn’t such an utter dick about life she might have taken the elf thing at face value.

She took a bite of her chocolate cake and ignored the eyebrow. Two weeks with him as her partner and she had already decided she wanted to stab him in the face when he looked at her like that.

“Cake? ”

She waved her fork at him. “I don’t judge your shake things.” It was self-defense to argue back. If you didn’t argue he thought that he was right and quite frankly she had only been able to handle that for about an hour.

Pretty or not, the man was an ass.

“Protein shakes.” He corrected, eyes narrowing.

She shrugged. “If you choose to live on water and powder that is your decision. I choose to live on cake.” The eyebrow arched higher. “Don’t give me that judgy eyebrow. I have lived just fine without your judgmental eyebrows about my cake.”

“Judgmental eyebrows.” His voice was the same flat tone he used on the girls upfront when they annoyed him.

Momo smiled her most charming smile at him. The one that got stupid cops to talk and cantankerous old men to calm the fuck down. His eyes narrowed at her and she grandly ignored that, taking another bite of her cake.

“I have a mirror, would you like to borrow it?” The surpy sweet voice she had practiced on Renji until he just twitched at her when he heard it. Toushirou just kept watching with that narrowed eyed expression so she took her last bite of cake and put her container into what she had labeled her food drawer.

She rather thought that no one bothered the man from wherever he had come from. Someplace across the pond before they had transferred him here. She wasn't sure why he would want to come to this city of all places he could have chosen. He was a good investigator according to her boss. He wouldn’t run when they found fae attacking children nor would he get in her way. He had asked for a competent partner, apparently, and gotten her. She didn't think he thought much of her yet, that was all her partners though.

She didn't need her partner to approve of her methods to do a good job.

---

“If that is the kind of trouble you attract on a regular basis, we need to work on your hand to hand.”

Momo let the sound of his voice distract her enough that she could ignore the tug of the needle in her shoulder. She glanced back at him cautiously, her shirt held in front of her boobs to maintain her modesty. “My hand to hand is fine. He had ten inch claws for hands. He only grazed my shoulder.” And then she had used the many knives she carried on her person to keep him back.

Toushirou leaned against the door to the ambulance and she forced herself not to react. He had blood and dirt smudged on his person but some of that was probably hers. His cheekbones seemed sharper in the light and his eyes were glowing. She could ignore both those things if it didn't add a feral edge to the cast of his features that made her very aware of the fact that she was a small woman and he was a very fit man. Very fit. Other parts of her were very, very, aware of just how fit he was after playing toss the Momo and he had played catch. He wasn't human and Momo had rules about only dating humans. Pretty was never a good indication of anything when it came to supernaturals.

“If you're going to run ahead of me like that into a dark creature with ten inch knives for hands, then yes, we do.”

There was a light tug and then the tech was patting her shoulder. “Let me get a bandaid so your stitches are covered and then your free to go.”

Momo nodded, glad for the brief distraction. “Thanks Mike!”

“You can thank me by not needing stitches again for awhile.”

“Sure thing.” Band Aid applied over her back she carefully tugged her shirt over her head, ignoring her partner. She climbed down the back of the ambulance and was surprised when a jacket dropped down over her shoulders. She glanced up at Toushirou and mimicked his raised brow.

“It's snowing.” He reminded her. “Half of your shirt is gone and your jacket is in shreds. Take the jacket.”

“You will get cold.”

He shook his head. “The cold doesn't bother me.”

She wasn't currently cold, but that was probably adrenaline talking. She hadn't come down off her high yet, but she was certain when she did she would notice the snow. She hadn't expected snow tonight, the weather had said very cold… eh. Things like that happened when supernaturals got involved. Probably some stupid weather witch.

“Thank you,” he had pulled their car up to the police barricade. Thankfully, he had the keys since it was his turn to drive. She slid into the passenger seat gingerly and was surprised when he handed her a mug.

“Drink that.”

She frowned at it. It looked like tea, but it didn't smell like any tea she had had before. “What is it?”

“Tea.”

She glanced over at him. He was watching the road and not her but she could hear the judgment in his voice. Tea, she snorted and took a cautious sip. Warmth slid down her throat and curled in her stomach before continuing down to her toes. She pulled the mug back and stared at it.

“Drink all of it, Momo.”

She stared at him suspiciously. “Did you get this at that poor crazy elf ladies cart?”

He glanced at her. “No.”

“Are you sure? Because it might turn me blue or something if you did and this is weird tea. Weird tea generally only comes from the crazy tea lady.”

His mouth tucked up at the edge in what she thought was almost a smile, almost. “No, drink your tea.”

She huffed and took another cautious sip. Same reaction, what did he put in the tea? Minus that almost grin, the man was wearing his 'see no evil, hear no evil,’ stone face. He wasn't going to tell her what was in the tea and he wasn't going to stop nagging her about drinking it if her previous experience was anything to go by.

She fell asleep somewhere between the city they were in and the precinct. She didn't end up spilling the last of her tea on herself but the gentle shaking of her good shoulder managed to help her claw her way out of her dream. She glanced at her partner who was looking at her with those glowing eyes and she wondered if he knew she could see them.

“I am dropping you off at home, I will handle the paperwork.”

She glanced to the right and blinked. Right she was home. Had she told him where she lived? Probably at some point she had. She blinked at her apartment complex and decide not to ask. She glanced back at him and narrowed her eyes. “I have gone in and done paperwork with stitches before.”

He shook his head. “Not today.”

She frowned and shrugged, carefully. “Suit yourself.”

She opened the car and shut it behind her. Her body was tired, but he thankfully didn't try to walk her up. She managed to get into the house and locked everything back up. Her wards were in place, the salt on her windows was undisturbed, so she stripped out of her clothes and curled up on the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Momo wasn't awake by the time she hit central the next morning. Her back had burned like fire, waking her up more than once. She wanted to blame the stitches but a quick glance in the mirror that morning had promised otherwise. Her fingers itched to touch the runes that had somehow etched themselves into a line just under her shoulder blade under the wound. They gleamed silver in the early morning light and she had the vague impression that they were unfinished work. She had still been able to walk through her wards and none of her tokens of power had flared in alarm, so they weren't dark magic. She didn't know what they were, but she knew better than to ask. Half finished as they were someone would throw her in a mental institution and lock the door.

When she had slept she had dreamt of a dragon of ice with red eyes and lord that wasn't helping her disposition either. Dreams were the worst as a seer. It could mean anything or it could mean nothing. Still someone had started the communal pot of coffee and she was going to take advantage of that.

“I hear you rescued some fae blood last night.”

Momo turned cautiously, eyes narrowed. Ah yes, big and dumb was here. She was fairly certain he had a name but she hadn't been bothered to learn it. Anyone with that much prejudice leaking into their work wasn't someone she wanted to be associated with.

“If we did?” she kept her tone polite but shifted to the balls of her feet. This one she could probably take but if she popped her stitches someone was going to see the runes. That would be bad.

He marched forward. “Fae deserve what they get. Don't waste our resources on them.”

She jutted out her chin. “She was a child. Our job is to defend children from the things that go bump in the night.”

“She was a fucking animal.” He was looming over her, his face turning red.

“She was a child.” He raised back his hand and Momo braced for the hit. If he hit her, when she stabbed him in the throat with her knives it would be self defense.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” The cool, clipped words of her partner broke into the room.

Big and dumb turned to sneer. “You going to do something about it pansy man?”

Toushirou arched a brow at him. “You are, of course, welcome to try your luck.”

Momo decided she didn't want to deal with any of this. She wasn't sure how to get out of the break room without having to engage one of them.

“Daniel, what are you doing?” The captain was suddenly there and Momo was fairly sure she had never been so happy to see her.

“Just talking.”

“Take your talking elsewhere.”

Momo watched him walk off and tried to not look startled when the captain nodded and her and headed off as well. She ignored her partner and went for the coffee.

“Did you know the child was fae?”

Momo turned with her cup of coffee and stared at her partner. Since she suspected him of being fae she hadn't thought that he might be prejudiced against them. “I don't see why that matters.”

She moved to slip past him but he curled his hand around her forearm, halting her progress. “Momo.”

She glanced up at him, eyes narrowed. “Unless it relates to the job, what I see is none of your business.”

“We were on the job.”

She frowned and sighed. “I suspected. A human child wouldn't have still been alive after what had been done to her. Elves would not have tried to fight the way she did and she didn't have a goblins fangs.”

His fingers relaxed and he dropped her arm. “You dove between a fae child and a creature with ten inch knives for hands.”

She stared back at him. “It's my job. If you don't like it, find a new partner.” She pivoted on her heel and stomped towards their desks.

She was done with today and it had just started.

She dreamed of fire and ash being swept away by the cold snow and ice of the mountains. It was there deep within the cold mountain heart of the glaciers that the dragon rumbled her name with the voice of thunder.

But it wasn't her name he called. The words were about her but they weren't her. Still, it crawled down her spine and settled along the skin of her back. Vivid words that hung like magic on the air.

Even upon waking it hummed under her skin and through her blood until her ears rang with it.

“You need to eat more.”

“You should mind your own business.” She slid into the passenger side car door having lost the toss to see which one of them was driving. She was starting to think he was cheating to get his way and drive. She would suggest rock paper scissors next time and see how he liked it.

“You're losing weight.”

She turned and stared at him. “Are you going to drive?” A family had been murdered and they had been called to check it out.

He made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded vaguely of disapproval but she ignored it. She had a blinding headache and wasn't sure if it was good or bad that the sun was going down. All she had been able to get down was one of those ridiculous protein shakes he seemed to enjoy so much since he always had one with him in the morning.

Last night she had woken up in the middle of the night and did not realize there was no light in the room. Her night vision had improved rapidly and she didn't know what to do about it. At this rate she was going to have to quit and move somewhere where no one knew her or thought she was supposed to be fully human.

Granny had died a few years ago so it wasn't like she had anyone or anything holding her to New York City. Pain sliced down her spine and she shifted in her seat to take pressure off her back. That morning when she got up and checked the runes were now gracefully lined down her spine, a dragon had been curled through them. A beautiful silver dragon shaded to blue, with red eyes. Throwing up into her toilet had not been the way she had wanted to start her morning but it had happened. Now she was rocking the world's worst migraine and was headed to a triple homicide. If she was lucky she would finagle coffee out of something at some point today. If she wasn't lucky, they would end up on a hunt through the streets.

Toushirou was blissfully quiet on the drive. No music, no talking, just the sound of the car engine and the occasionally angry tourist on the road. Even the five o'clock traffic was strangely muted inside her head while she leaned against the headrest with her eyes closed.

The car door opened and shut and her eyes opened wide. When had he stopped? “Here,” Toushirou slid into the driver's seat and handed her what vaguely resembled a pork bun. A cup of tea settled in the cup holder next to her. “Eat.”

She caught the food on reflex and stared at him. “You stopped for food?”

He glanced over at her. “You clearly didn't eat enough today. Eat your food and drink your tea.”

She blinked at the pork bun and then back at him. He didn't get anyone food, not even a donut. Some of the supernatural communities were weird about feeding each other, she had always just assumed he was one of those. Clearly, if he was getting her a pork bun be was not. Maybe he just didn't like doing people favors.

The food was delicious and at least the tea tasted normal this time. The sun was down so her eyes weren't hurting as badly as they had been. She wasn't going to tell him it had helped, but by the time they were at the house her headache had eased back and she rather thought she could get through the evening.

She opened the door and turned to go inside the house.

“Momo.” She turned to look at her partner, eye arched in question. A habit she wasn't going to admit picking up from him. He walked past her, hands in his pockets. “Don't forget to eat next time.”

She scowled at his back and headed after him. Partners.

She was flying this time, tucked carefully under the dragon's wing and he screamed into the night air. She was safe, safe, safe, from whatever was hunting them.

Then the fire came and there was an explosion of ice.

Momo woke up slowly, her head was spinning like a top and she wasn't sure what to think about it. She rolled into her back carefully and stared at the ceiling. She frowned and blinked at it. That was not her ceiling. In fact it wasn't her house. She sat up gingerly and touched the bandage wrapped around her chest and shoulders.

She wasn't quite sure what had happened exactly. She remembered going to the house and the runes that had been carved into their bodies had activated. Something...bad come out of that hellhole. Whatever it had been, it was infinitely worse the second time around.

“You’re awake.”

Momo turned to blink at her shirtless partner. She turned her head away and frowned at the wall. “Where am I?”

“Home,” he said quietly. She turned her head again and frowned a little. The room was a lot bigger than she had thought it was upon first glance.

“What happened?”

“A nightmare creature was summoned from the bodies of the victims.”

She summoned her inner fortitude and turned to look at Toushirou. His shirt was off so the eye watering runes that curled around parts of his body were fully visible. She ignored the muscles under those runes and froze when she caught his face. His eyes were glowing again but it was the lack of human anything that had her breath catching. Sharp cheekbones, pointed ears that were not the soft ears of elves. It was the power clearly radiating off of him that alarmed her. He was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

She wobbled to her feet and held onto the post at the end of the bed. Home, he had said home. Not her home, not his home, but home. “What is going on?”

He stayed where he was, leaned against the door jam. “It was a trap set for the two of us.”

She snorted. “I am human. Granted I can see through glamors, but totally human. Supernatural creatures don't set traps like that for humans.”

He sighed. “Momo, I -”

There was a loud noise that echoed through the rooms and he snarled, sharper than human teeth gleaming in the low light. It was an inhuman sound from an inhuman throat and she had…

“Send me home.”

He whirled. “You’re not-”

“Home, Toushirou. Mine, the one I pay rent on every month. Now!”

He moved forward and settled his hands on her shoulders. “It's not safe.” This face was inhuman and full of an emotion she couldn't name.

She pushed her chin up. “I want my bed and my clothes and my shower. Not whatever this is.”

There was another roar in the distance and this time when he snarled she could feel it rumble down her bones. There was a snap and a rumble and she was wobbling in front of her apartment. He reached over and opened her door for her. “Do not leave until I come get you.”

She walked into her apartment and shut the door, locking the deadbolt behind her. She stumbled across the floor and crawled into her bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and closed her eyes.

The dragon was curled around her this time. His breathing deep and even. She turned her head to stare at it.

Alive. They were both alive.

She woke several hours later to something echoing through her head again. She crawled out of her bed and wobbled her way to the table. There was a bowl of what looked like soup, that strange tea, and some sort of fruit.

'Eat the food, Momo.’

She crumbled the note into a fist and was tempted to ignore it. Her stomach gurgled up at her so she forced her shaking hand to test the broth. It tasted like soup and not magic soup. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not. The fruit was strange and sweet on her tongue. The tea did that thing where it warmed her down to her toes. She struggled back across the room and rolled into her covers again.

Tomorrow she was warding her house so that nothing bigger than a flea could get in here.

He had been looking for her for a long time, he told her. Had not expected to find her in the human world. Would not have looked for her at all, except she had drawn their attention by saving a child of the court.

Drawn attention how?

Magic.

Momo felt better the third time she woke. Her head wasn't spinning and the world wasn't on fire. She managed to make it to the bathroom and the all important shower this time. It took some careful work to get the bandages off her shoulder. They were sticky with blood and some pungent smelling herbs. She vaguely remembered something tearing into her shoulder but once she got everything unwrapped all she found was smooth unblemished skin. No scars, no wounds, just Momo skin completely untouched.

She glanced behind her and swallowed; the runes are her back had shifted again. They we're definitely protection runes of some sort and made her eyes twitch just looking at them, but the dragon was no longer a shaded outline. Intricate, delicate, detailed work had been added to the markings when she had been asleep. It was gorgeous and done by a master hand or…. magic. She was fairly certain it was the dragon that had been haunting her in her dreams. She closed her eyes and took careful breaths. She was going to ignore the rest of it. She crawled into her shower and scrubbed down very carefully using her human soap. The razor worked like it was supposed to and when she got soap in her eyes it burned like soap was supposed to.

The towels were her rough cheap towels and the liberal use of the blow-dryer got her hair dried. The texture was a little off and the color looked like it had deepened, but she ignored that entirely. Human, she was a human Momo and that was how she was going to stay. She pulled on her entirely human clothes and walked into her living room and found a fae sitting at her kitchen table, watching the door. She froze. He wasn’t wearing his human facade but at least he had his shirt on this time.

“What are you doing here?” He had told her to stay put until he came and got her, but she was fairly certain that she hadn’t actually expected him to come find her.

“We need to talk.”

She shook her head. “Do we?”

He sighed and motioned to the chair across from him. “Sit down, Momo.”

She frowned at him. He was entirely too used to getting his own way. She sat in the chair, mostly because if they were going to argue or fight about her being entirely human she wasn’t going to waste her energy arguing about whether or not she needed to sit in the chair. She watched him and he watched her and she sighed.

“So you are Fae then,” it wasn’t much of a question but it broke the ice.

“Yes,” his mouth curled up at the edges. The smirk that had felled Mary Deleat from five-hundred yards was a lot more potent five feet in distance and directed solely at you. This face wore it better as well, as if… her brain wasn’t sure it wanted to supply that information to her. She swallowed.

She scowled when that was all he said and moved to stand up. “Well it's been a good chat why don’t you -” His hand reached out and caught her wrist, and her words caught in her throat. His skin was cool against hers and calloused.

“Can I look at the runes on your back.”

She froze, and turned to stare at him. “What?”

“The runes on your back. I would like to look at them.”

“There aren’t any runes on my back.” She refused to sit again, even holding onto her like this was better than letting him have the advantage of being taller than her even when they were sitting.

“Momo,” his voice gentled. “When we bandaged you up after the nightmare attacked, we were able to make out bits and pieces of things.”

She jutted out her chin. “I have lots of runes inked into my skin, Toushirou. You do too, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

His eyes shifted from the almost human eyes to the glowing eyes thing and his power wrapped around him. Her pulse was pounding in her ears. “You can see the runes on my skin?” She tried to tug her hand away from him, but his grip was like iron. “Momo,” he pushed to his feet, using his greater height to stare down at her. “Answer the question.”

She huffed at him. “Don’t threaten me,” she told him. His words weren’t threatening, but his body language was. Everything about him screamed ‘threat’. Something shifted between them and he let go of her wrist while she put some space between them. She watched him carefully, while he watched her in return. He wasn’t following her across the room and it gave her a little bit of courage. He was wearing his stone face again and she wasn’t entirely certain she could make it out of the apartment without him letting her go. That meant that they were going to have to figure out something. She could transfer or ask for a new partner, but first she had to survive the next fifteen minutes. She was not stupid, she knew who would win a contest of strength or power and it wasn't her. “You know I am a seer.”

He nodded, slowly. “Yes, a human seer. Such things have existed beyond the veil of time since humanity started to walk the earth. Your captain would not elaborate on the exact nature of your seer gifts and you are tight lipped about them.” The ‘surprisingly’ hung between them and she scowled.

“Did she know your a fae?”

His mouth quirked up at the edges again. “She knows my nature, yes. This is her territory, there is no hiding that sort of a thing from her.”

“Her territory?”

He shook his head. “You're changing the subject.”

“You're evasive.”

“Momo, tell me about your gifts.” He was using his ‘coax momo into doing things’ voice. He didn't use it often and never in the office. Probably because it made her distinctively uncomfortable with him being a man and her being a woman. She narrowed her eyes at him again in warning.

“Seers… we can see through the veils or through your glamour mostly.” She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. He was watching her so closely and she was to aware of it. “How do you not know this?” Best to point out his problems to get him not to look at her so closely.

She felt rather certain the expression that flitted across his face wasn't exactly a comfortable one. “I have not left my court to explore the realms on this side of the divide in some time, Momo.”

“Your court?” Her ears were starting to ring again, but she wasn’t entirely certain it was from fear. The feral bite of his magic nipped gently at her skin and goosebumps slid down her spine.

He shook his head. “Let's save some secrets for later, Momo.”

She shook her head and scowled at him. “If you're going to ask for mine, then you're going to have to return the favor.”

He sighed. “Momo…”

“Are you my partner or not?”

He watched her closely before shrugging. “As you like. I am the Winter King of the Fae court, Momo. I have taken a sejorn from my people to come and find those who are hunting our children for blood and magic.” His magic curled through the room like a sleeping cat and the dragon on her back burned. “This city is the hub for it and the dark magic here on this side of the veil. I am duty bout to find and destroy it.”

She blinked at him, her mind blank. Yep… she definitely had not been expecting that.

-- Her tatoo had stopped growing, the runes seemingly settled into the form they wanted to take down her back and with them the dreams. She wasn't sure if she missed the dragon or not but with him curled down her spine, she wasn't sure if he was gone for good.

She had escaped a meeting with, more like a grilling, from The Captain and now she needed cake. Actually, what she needed was to not have the entire realms diplomacy levels with the Winter King shoved down her throat, but that wasn’t going to happen. If he was lucky, she wouldn't throw salt at his head and scream Ghoul. It would provide endless hours of entertainment but it would definitely get her in trouble with both the captain and his royal pain in the ass.

She stared at the protein shake sitting on her desk. Her partner wasn't there and everyone else seemed to be minding their own business.

“Is he feeding you now?”

She scowled at the shake. “I hope not.”

Renji moved to stand next to her. “In a lot of supernatural communities feeding someone is an act of courting.”

“So is punching you in the face.” She said sweetly.

He laughed. “So you're not going to drink that?”

She snorted. “Powdered water is gross. I will hit the vending machine -” she paused. “Who is that?”

Renji sighed. “That is a very high and mighty elf.”

Momo snorted. “What is he doing here?”

Renji patted her shoulder. “He is looking for a seer to help locate some rare far artifact that he thinks is causing all our missing children issues at the moment.”

She froze. “No.”

The captain hadn't said anything to her about it so it couldn't be something that she expected her to do. The elf turned and saw her and headed her way. “You're on your own kid. Elves and I don't get along.”

Momo hissed. The elf didn't look very nice, he looked fairly terrifying. She wanted to take a step back but if she had learned anything from being a cop it wasn't to take a step back from the terrifying people.

“Momo Hinamori?”

She arched a brow at him. “Who is asking?”

“Lord Alvract Schale, the elven government would like to hire you for a job.”

Where was the captain when you needed her? “I am a cop, I don't do private jobs. If you would like for the police to help you with an investigation you can talk to the Captain about that.”

His head tilted. “I don't think you quite understand the circumstances.”

“Is there a problem?” The cool voice of her partner clipped through the room. Momo wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that he was there. Fae and Elves did not particularly like each other. That particular elf looked all elf and he was all Fae.

Lord Whatever his name was turned and frowned. “Who are you?”

“Her partner.”

“Ah,” he dismissed him. “I don't believe this involves you.”

Momo settled her hand on Toushirou's lower back to keep him from replying. She wasn't sure what he was going to say, but it couldn't be good. “I told you that all investigations go through the captain. I am not for hire outside of my work with the department.”

He glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “This isn't a refusable job offer.”

She jutted out her chin. “Talk to the captain.”

He stared at her for another moment before turning on his heel and moving back towards the front door. She dropped her hand from Toushirou’s back and made a beeline for the captain's office.

That was a giant pile of nope. Clearly, the captain needed to be in full agreement on that. The last thing they needed was for Toushirou to do was get in a fight with lord what's his what. Because she knew which one of them would do the fighting and it wasn't her. Iron only worked on the Fae.

Momo stumbled into her apartment carefully. The door was easy to open since she had had Rangiku come by and upgrade her wards again. She had taken the elf’s visit seriously and she was hopeful it would keep Toushirou out of her apartment as well. The ability to pop in and out like that was very uncool. Still, she wasn't entirely certain that mugging had been a human one. The knife wound on her side had been aimed in a completely different direction. The fact that it has missed all the important bits and has resulted in a rather impressive 'flesh wound’ may or may not have been due to the extra hand to hand Toushirou made her do lately. She eased her top off and sighed. That was going to be fun to explain on Monday. At least she got two days of rest before the captain or her partner would yell at her for this one.

Her pants and bra followed. She eased out of both of them and stared at the rune in the mirror. The dragon seemed more glowy than normal. She sighed and turned and tripped over her pants. She put her hands out to stop her fall, eyes closing. This was going to hurt, a lot.

She landed on something soft and half not. She managed a pained groan when all the air was knocked out of her, but the pain she was expecting when all of her stitches popped didn't come.

“Momo?”

Her head jerked up and she realized the reason it was dark wasn't because she was close to passing out, it was because she...what the fuck.

“Don't turn on the light.” She couldn't scramble but she could make out just enough to grab blankets and yank them around her person. Soft, soft, blankets that caught on the tape holding her stitches together, but they covered her. Nevermind the fact that if she could see that much he could see… she was going to die of embarrassment.

“Are lights acceptable now?”

She couldn't read that tone, but she absolutely didn't want to deal with this. She swallowed. “What are the chances of you sending me home and pretending this didn't happen.”

“Nonexistent.” His voice was flat. She knew that voice. That was the voice he got when he was displeased.

“Okay.” She swallowed.

A low light kicked on in along the walls and slowly eased up until you could see, but weren't blinded by the lights. Well, she had known she had landed on his bed, but she wasn't prepared for rumpled, shirtless, Toushirou. No one could prepare for that. She was turning red again, probably going to die of embarrassment twice.

Fingers brushed her bruised cheek. “What happened.”

“I don’t know.”

He sighed. “To your face, Momo.”

She forced herself to look at him. This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her in her life. “I got mugged.”

He sat up a little straighter. She ignored the tummy flex. That wasn't fair. “The elves?”

“Maybe,” she said cautiously. “They had masks, but they moved better than a human would.”

He nodded. This face was so much harder for her to read, but it was not a happy face. He looked at her sheets. They were hers now anyway. “How did you end up here?”

She shook her head. “I don't know.”

“You don't know?”

She shook her head again. “No.”

He sighed. “I think you're going to need to let me look at those runes on your back, Momo.”

She pressed her lips together. The damn dragon and those damn runes. “What makes you think a set of runes has anything to do with this.”

He gave her a look, such a look. “No human hand made those runes. Which means there magic; magic that apparently can teleport you without your conscious consent. There are only a few types of magic on either side of the veil that can do that.”

“What kind of magic.”

“Let me see your runes and I will tell you.”

She shook her head. “Explanation first and then I will decide.”

He looked at her through his lashes. “I don't have to be nice about it.”

His pitch lowered and warning skittered down her spine. No. Just no. She scowled to give herself something to do. “I don't care. You're not the one who got teleported naked. Explanation first.” His eyes gleamed at her for a long moment and this time the flush that slid up her chest wasn't from embarrassment. She didn't think it was. It might have been. She made herself stare back at him.

“Most magic runes are court based. In the winter court as you grow, runes tend to appear on your skin based on what you will become or how your magic is developing. For instance, there are runes on my back that indicate that I am the Winter King. These tie me to the court and the court magic.” He was watching her closely and she nodded. All right, that made sense. Magic runes that gave him his authority. Right.

“You are human and not tied to a court but you do have magic, your seers blood. Somewhere you have done something that tied you to this court since you were teleported here.”

She frowned. “How?”

He shook his head. “Magic is a strange thing. We have theories on how it works and we can adapt it to our uses; it's still a wild thing with it's own will.”

“I am not Fae. I definitely am not part of your court.”

His mouth curled up at the edges. “I am a benevolent king. Who knows, you might like it.”

She huffed. “No.”

Her motioned for her to turn. “Let me see your back, Momo. Then we can talk about how we're going to deal with you popping into my bed at night.”

She stared at him, fingers curling into the blanket. Yes, okay, that...she had not imagined that innuendo. It wasn't the words, it was the tone and that tone had been full of things. She scowled at him.

“You're not going to make some random shit up are you?”

“No.”

Okay, okay, that was his 'insulted my honor’ voice. She carefully eased around. At least she had underwear on. Her side pulled but she ignored that. He would see the stitches no matter what if she was giving him her back. She snuck a hand out from under the blanket and grabbed a pillow to cover her chest. She wasn't going to give up modesty just because he wanted to see her back. She eased the blanket down and pulled her hair to the side, pillow clutched to the front of her chest. She felt him move behind her and jumped a little when his fingers touched the skin of her back.

“Hey,” he said look, not touch.

“When did these first start coming in?”

His voice was weird. She didn't know that voice. It was full of… she didn't know. Alarm was trying to work it's way down her body. She was a cop, she ignored it. “The first one appeared after I got hurt helping that Fae child.”

“The dragon?”

“Bits and pieces here and there.” She hesitated. In for a penny, in for a pound. “The dreams were the annoying part.” She admitted. “I don't really know what they meant.”

“The dragon is the protector of the Winter Court,” he had that same strange tone in his voice, “he is also the embodiment of our magic.” His fingers traced part of what felt like a dragon and goosebumps slid up her back. “These are protection runes, very strong ones.”

“How did I end up here?”

His fingers touched the rune at the top of the set. The one she hand not been able to figure out on her own. “This rune here, it is keyed to the King of the Winter court.”

She tightened her grip on her pillow, eyes wide. “Why? That makes no sense.” She turned her head to stare at the wide eyed man behind her. “I am not Fae nor should I be tied to your court at all. Humans don't get mixed up in your business. Most of you don't even like us.” She felt like she was standing on a cliff and her words were a vain attempt to get them back on solid ground.

His hand moved away from her back. He took a deep breath and it was the first time she had seen him look wide-eyed and rattled. She didn't like that, at all. That meant something was really wrong.

“The runes name you guardian of the winter court.” He hesitated before his eyes met hers. “Guardian and Queen.”

Momo let the little healer unstitch her side as she worked on healing the knife wound. The cut on her face was already back to smooth Momo skin. She glanced at the mirror in front of her. After Toushirou’s declaration he had done something to summon the healer, more importantly clothes. The clothes basically covered her front and left her back free. She had decided that it was because the healer needed access to her side, although she had caught Toushirou glancing at her back when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

She did not know what to do with this situation. What she wanted to do was go home and sleep and pretend this conversation had not happened. Queen? Queen? There was some sort or cosmic joke going on here. She was human. Humans did not do this; they did not become supernatural anything. She glanced at her hair again. Darker, thicker hair, framed a pale face. She was pretty sure the pale was because she wanted to throw up. She had no trouble seeing in the lower light and that bothered her a lot. Everything about this bothered her.

“You need to eat some food to replace the energy I used to heal your wound.”

Momo nodded. “Thank you.”

The healer nodded and moved out of the bathroom. She had gotten a quick wash to get the blood and smell of hospital off and now she had to go back there and face Toushirou. She gritted her teeth, she did not want to do this.

“Come eat, Momo.” The order was in his tone again. She didn’t like it. She sighed and pushed to her feet. There was no point in not eating whatever he had rounded up. She wasn't a fan of the skirt that had come with the top but at this point she wasn't going to argue about clothes that mostly covered her body.

The food at least turned out to be the same soup and fruit he had given her last time. “I take it this is the standard food after someone heals you?”

His mouth eased up at the corner. “To a degree, it's the easiest of the options for you to eat.” She sat down and accepted the bowl he handed her. Food was good. It kept him from talking to her and that was what she wanted.

“I have a compromise for you.”

Momo glanced up. “I didn't realize that we needed one.”

“Did you plan to permanently move here?” She shook her head. “Then we need a compromise.” He glanced at her healing side. “The elves are targeting you as well.”

“We don't know it's elves, also, we don't know if this is permanent. You barely know me. This...whatever it is -”

“Momo, stop panicking.”

“I am not panicking.”

He grinned. It made her want to punch him. “I did not expect this either. The court has absorbed humans with magic before. All courts would do so if given the chance. Humans aren’t just caught for food, Momo.”

She stared at him. “You seem...not upset.”

That damn eyebrow arch. “I have ruled alone for a long time.”

She waved her hands. “I am human, not Fae. I can't be queen.”

He caught her hands. “You’re changing; in a few months you will have to wear your own glamour to appear human.”

She scowled. “I don't want this.”

“I know.”

She stared at their hands. His we're long fingered, strong. Hers were short human hands. Would that change too? “What changes?”

He shook his hand, shifting his hands so her hands were cradled by the palms of his. “We will discover that as we go. Some of them won't appear until we formalize our relationship.”

Formalize? “I am not sleeping with you.”

That grin popped back up. “Yet,” he corrected. “You're not sleeping with me, yet.”

She shook her head “You cannot -”

“I knew I would not pick my Queen.” He told her. “Fat, tall, ugly, pretty, it would not matter once magic choose her. I am old, Momo. Much older than you can imagine.” His gaze slid down her body and she felt herself start to flush again. “I am not disappointed in the choice that has been made.”

She pulled her arms back and crossed them over her chest. She was going red again. “I am still not sleeping with you.” She glared at his amused expression . “I am still a cop.”

“And that is our compromise.”

“Compromise.” She repeated.

“The elves may know who you are. They have a different sort of seer in their bloodlines. It is the winter courts job to ensure that you are safe.”

“Okay, and that means what?”

“During the day, you may reside on your side of the veil. We still need to find the source of the black magic and remove it so that the children are safe. Since you have been named guardian you are going to find your need to hunt this creature is going to increase more as your instincts settle.”

“Okay, what's the catch.” She didn't like the 'you may reside’. He was not her king, this was not her court.

“You sleep here with me at night.”

She clenched her fists. “I like my bed.”

“You are also vulnerable on that side of the veil. Here, you are protected.”

She rubbed her face. “I don't even know how I got here the first time!”

“I will come and get you until you master the magic required to travel between realms.”

She glared. “And how do you decide when it's bedtime? I am not getting a curfew.”

He held up a cellphone. “Magic. You can text me when you're ready for bed and I will come get you.” He shrugged. “If you don't text me, I will assume something is wrong and react appropriately.”

She rubbed her nose and frowned. “I don't have a choice do I.”

“No, but other than changing your place of sleep, your life won't change much.”

She pressed her lips together and stared at him. This….was not what she had in mind when she told Granny she might like a little adventure sometimes.

God, this was not what she had imagined.

Momo was too tired for this nonsense. She had not slept well in the unfamiliar room, even if Toushirou had not been there half the time she was actually there. Apparently, he did not need as much sleep as she did being immortal, long lived, whatever the hell be was. He might have been giving her space as well since she was twitchy as hell around him now.

Hell, work today had been spent mostly in silence. Even the captain had been giving them weird looks. They had agreed that they weren't going to discuss their new status just yet, but he did go to talk to the captain shortly before shift end. She had been prepared to leave, go home, and shower and maybe nap before she bad to change residences for the evening but what she had gotten was Rangiku Matsumoto instead.

So now she was in a bar with a drink, eating cheese fries, and staring at the human woman in front of her who was showing her own (small) dragon tattoo.

“So you’re not human?”

Rangiku grinned and dunked a poor innocent fry into some unholy concoction she had created earlier. Momo shuddered and pulled her plate a little closer to her side of the table. Clearly not human if she was eating that.

“Technically, no. I was human, then the elves got ahold of me and I escaped and Toushirou rescued me. Now I am part of the winter court.”

Momo sighed. “Is everyone who is part of this damn court going to figure it out before I want them too?”

Rangiku shook her head. “I don't think so. It's obvious to me, I mean.” She took a bite of another fry. “I went through all this while under the tender mercies of the elves, bastards. So it was obvious to me what you were going through when it started. Toushirou should have noticed if he hadn't been so distracted.”

“Distracted?”

Rangiku grinned. “The man fed you food! Or tried to, he would only have done that if he was interested. You just bulldozing past it was the greatest thing I have seen in five-hundred years.”

She opened her mouth to argue and closed it. Then covered her face and sighed. “I don’t know what to say right now.”

“Drink more of that alcohol. It will help.”

“Ha, ha.” She ate a fry instead. “Why dinner, or fries, then?”

“The next few months are going to get weird for you.” Rangiku sighed. “I owe Toushirou my life, but there are some things that you might not want to talk to him about. If you need to talk, my ear is always available.”

Momo nodded. She would probably need to double check with Toushirou before she actually talked to her about anything, but being able to have someone not connected to the court to talk to...well that sounded nice.

Rangiku looked serious for a moment. “We all know a queen has been chosen. It… Toushirou should have known too or maybe we knew as soon as he did. I am not as well versed in how court magic functions since I don't leave this side of the veil.”

Momo decided to just ignore that part. She was not sleeping with him. “Why can't you leave this side of the veil

“Elves are assholes. If I try to leave the veil they will find me again.” She shrugged. “It's fine, I like it here. Alcohol, people, I almost feel normal most of the time.”

Momo sighed. “I think I am going to need more fries for this.”

“You know that sounds fantastic.”

The smell of blood was nauseating. Momo covered her mouth and pulled her knife out of its sheath. The room smelled like magic and magic made guns very unpredictable. If she has to use one, she would.

She turned her face into the microphone stitched into the collar of her jacket. “It's definitely this way.”

Renjis voice clicked back. “We are coming down, don't engage anything.”

Blah, blah, don't get stabbed. Got it. If she got stabbed then Toushirou would probably make her go to the healers first and then feed her and then she would spend two days sleeping that off. No thank you. Just walking into the room with him anymore was enough to get stomach twisted together. She wasn't sure if it was magic or just plain ole hormones, either way she wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Most nights he was nice enough to leave the room to let her fall asleep and then she woke up in her bed at home with her alarm going off. It was some sort of routine anyway.

She focused on the blood trail and tried not to jump when Toushirou and Renji dropped down next to her. Renji looked extra fangy and Toushirou's ears were starting to look very Fae like.

She arched a brow at both of them. “There is enough magic down here to choke a horse. Reign it in you two.” She turned and eased down the walkway. It was too narrow for either of them to pass her and that would probably annoy Toushirou. She didn't care overly much. Right now...she was fairly annoyed with him and she didn't have a reason for why. Rangiku had give her that amused look when she had asked her about it and told her that sex would probably fix it.

Ha, ha, no.

She pulled her attention back to herself and paused when they got close to a corridor. “Let me go first.” Renji’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I smell sulphur.”

Momo nodded and eased to the side. She ended up having to squash against Toushirou but that was better than the wall. She was not touching the wall. He grimaced when he had to lean into the brick, but he could take it like a man or far, or whatever. Magic curled down her spine and along her runes. It almost felt like it missed her, she glanced at Toushirou from under her lashes and was a little startled to see him watching her and not the walkway.

“Don't let them touch you here, your magic is going to be unpredictable.”

She nodded, her head jerking before moving down the hallway. She paused. “My magic?”

His fingers settled on the small of her back. “Forward, Momo.”

She gritted her teeth and ignored how warm his fingers were when he should clearly be cold, king of winter and all. She scowled at Renji’s red hair and avoided a hole in the wall and kept walking. Damn evasive bastard. She had decided he only gave her information when it was convenient for him. She wasn't sure how to deal with that but right now wasn't exactly the time.

Fine. Fine. Fine.

She would deal with it later.

He should have been more specific. Momo stared at the carnage that was the room she had been trapped in and refused to actually acknowledge the fact that it was snowing. If she ignored it, maybe it would go away. She wasn't cold, but of course it was apparently her magic that had caused it.

Possibly because she was trying to cover a lot of dead people that she didn't remember killing. Her clothes were ripped in a few places but most of the blood wasn't hers. Hell the blood dripping down her knife wasn't hers. There were also runes, elegant, beautiful, runes along her forearms that she was to shell shocked to translate.

She also didn't know where she was. She had been with Toushirou and Renji and then the floor had dropped out from under her while she was escorting a victim to the main road. The victim bad attacked her as surely as all these people had. Probably, probably the woman was in the middle of all this. She swallowed her bike and flipped on her flashlight. It burned her eyes but it helped her see a little better.

Right, okay, her watch said she had been missing for two hours. Toushirou was probably going to kill her for this one, but in her defence there had been cops everywhere. She hadn't expected to fall through a whole and wake up exhausted and bodies...everywhere. Was the snow from her or Toushirou? Did it matter? She needed to find a way out of this place or she needed to see if she could teleport to Toushirou somehow.

She started walking. Well, she used the gross wall as a prop while she meandered down the hallway. Unpredictable, she wanted to know what predictable meant to him. Killing, no, she wasn't going to think about it. She was going to hold onto this knife for all she was worth and she was going to walk.

Some weird instinct warned her to turn off her flashlight so she did. There was a small alcove and she gritted her teeth and walked through it. She could hear her heartbeat in the quiet of the room, but that was all.

“Who pissed off the Winter King.”

“Why is he here?”

Momo eased a little further back and froze. They were talking about Toushirou.

“The Queen is missing.”

“How did he lose the queen?”

“The elves have a bounty on her head.”

“Why would - do you smell that?”

Momo wanted to ask them what they smelled, but the dragon on her back burned and she was suddenly in the dimly lit room that she had come to recognize as belonging to Toushirou. The tiny healer looked up and smiled.

“Glad to see I haven't lost my touch. Come on dear, let's get you cleaned up before Toushirou descends on us. If he sees all this blood it might go really bad for the elven diplomats.”

Momo let her lead her to the bathroom. “Diplomats?”

White teeth flashed. “Apparently, Toushirou beheaded two elven Lord's this afternoon after you went missing. It was very messy, I am told. The elves have a fine sense of diplomacy. As soon as the first head started to fall they dispatched people to make sure no other heads rolled.”

“How kind of them.”

“Yes, well, since you smell like you bathed in elven blood I can imagine how you're feeling about them just now. Now, let strip and wash. I will take care of the clothes. You get clean and then crawl into the tub to finish the recovery.”

Momo didn't argue, the need to be clean was pretty intense and since she didn't really know whose blood she was bathed in it wouldn't be good to argue. She hesitated. “He beheaded them?”

The little healer whose name she might be able to pronounce one day grinned. “Very messily I am told. It serves them right. You're the Queen.”

Momo nodded slowly; all right what was she supposed to say to that. “All right then, I am going to go shower now.”

“Use the green soap. It will get the smell of blood out of your hair.”

Right. Shouldn't let Toushirou smell the blood. He had already beheaded two people. Who just… why would he even… you didn’t behead people. She looked at the runes on her arms. He wasn't not going to miss those. He was going to freak out and apparently he had already freaked out and beheaded two people.

“Is someone going to tell him you found me?” That was probably an important question.

“Of course. Clean up quickly. You probably have ten minutes at the most.” There was a pause. “Unless you want him to find you naked in the shower.

She was hot and cold at the same time. He did not need to find her in the shower. She swallowed. “Very funny.”

Momo pulled a pillow over her head when the lights flared on. She was not particularly fond of the lights. She sat up and immediately closed her eyes. Oh god, that was bright; too bright. She slapped a hand over her face. The light was wa

o bright. Way, way, to bright.

“What the hell.”

Hands jerked her forward. She snarled and slapped out at the hands. God her body hurt. “Be still, Momo.”

“I am so done with the orders.” She blinked at the walls in eye watering fascination. Toushirou never turned on the lights like this. She wasn’t sure if that was for consideration for her light sensitive eyes or his. She wasn’t sure if it was the light that gave it away or the hands roughly shoving her into the bed, but her runes flared and magic snapped the person on the bed across the room.

She sat up and shoved her nightgown back over her shoulder. This was why she always brought clothes when she came over here. So she didn’t have to wear these flimsy things that the women here thought were nightclothes. She scowled. Her knives, she had knives somewhere didn’t she? Who the fuck was in this room? She crawled across the bed and landed on her feet. At least this stupid outfit had shorts. She scowled and grabbed a chair to pull in front of her when he was running at her again. She swung her chair around and connected with it. It flew into the table and sent everything flying across the room.

Right, okay. Power slid down her hands and it started to snow again. Why was it snowing exactly? God only knew why it was snowing. She scowled and dove behind the chair when something crashed into it. That was something with a sharp edge attached to it. Someone was attacking her with a sword. There was a flash of power in the corner of the room, and Momo decided that it was probably not going to kill her in the next sixty seconds.

She grabbed another chair and attacked whoever it was that had turned on the damn lights. This was not fun. Something twisted her body around and she hoped over the sword that was coming at her from behind. A knife landed in her hand and she dove at the man who was coming at her. He dodged backwards and she took that opportunity to do so as well. Great, just great, now there were two of them. She caught the corner of the table and flipped it up to hide behind to catch the knives that she had barely noticed. Right, okay, well she was a good fighter but this was a little ridiculous.

The snow exploded into the room. So much ice and snow. Momo used the distraction to dive behind the couch. There was a crash and a scream; another scream. Momo wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her knife a little tighter.

“It's all right, Momo.”

She almost snorted. Right, she had heard that one before. Get up, Momo. Eat the food, Momo. Let this person who wears Toushirou’s face crawl into bed and shake you and probably try to stab you in the face, Momo. No, she was not going to deal with this. She crawled to the end of the couch and peeked out from behind it when the snow and ice disappeared. The room was still shambles, but there were no bodies. Toushirou was standing in the middle of it. A long ass sword in his hand while he looked around the room. Her tiny knife, in comparison, wouldn't do much of anything to stop that sword.

“You know, I have heard that before in the last ten minutes.”

He turned, mouth quirked up. “Nice outfit.”

She scowled at him. “Put up the sword.” It disappeared from his hand and her little knife followed. Well that was a rather interesting type of betrayal. She had liked that knife. Having a weapon was a lot better than not having a weapon. “I thought you said I was safe here?”

His eyes narrowed and she forced herself to leave the relative safety of the couch and ignore the way his eyes followed the line of her legs. “You were sleeping fine when I left.”

Right, okay, it wasn’t creepy when you shared a room with someone. She rubbed her face. “Well, they got in somehow.” She dropped her hands and yelped. He was right there. She threw up her hands and he barely caught her before she tripped over the couch. She swallowed. Okay, they were supposed to not do this level of touching, right? She glanced up at him through her lashes, he was watching her with that particularly lethal for Momo expression on his face.

Her super ninja fighting skills had not reared their head, so clearly he was Toushirou?

“Be careful,” he loosened his grip on her hips and she took a step back, nodding.

“They had your face,” she told him a little wearily, his jaw ticked.

“How did you figure it out?”

She waved her hand at the still very bright lights. “They turned the lights on all the way. You never turn on the lights when I am asleep.” She glanced at him. “I haven’t decided if you keep them off for me, if you keep them off in general or if you can see that well in the dark.” He didn’t need to know about those few seconds of confusion. She had not been awake.

His mouth curled at the edge. “I see.” She glanced at the room that she had thoroughly trashed. Huh, that had been an effective if fast fight. “You weren’t alone for more than ten minutes.”

She frowned and went to ask him if some of his people had decided to get rid of her when he reached down and caught her hand so that he could look at the runes on her arms. She almost jerked her hand out of his, but she was fairly certain that it would get her another one of those looks and she had had enough of those today. He had that half amused expression on his face, that wasn’t much better.

“What happened when you feel through the floor?”

She ducked her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He tapped her nose with his free hand and she scowled.

“These runes are very rare and hard to come by.”

“Great.”

He sighed. “You have protection runes on your back and battle runes on your arms.” His thumb brushed against her wrist. “What am I going to do with you?”

She shrugged, “Take me home so I can get actual clothes to sleep in?”

He reached up and ran his fingers down her throat and to her collarbone. “I like this outfit.”

She felt the flush starting to work its way up her chest. She cleared her throat. “That's nice, I still want pants.”

“I can keep you warm, Momo.”

She blinked. Blinked again. He did the voice thing. The unfair voice thing. She felt her face flush a bright red and scowled at him. “No.”

She wasn't sure what to do with that dimple. Probably ignore it, that was for the best. “Come,” he told her. There was a faint whisper of magic and they were standing in a new much bigger room. It wasn’t as dark as the previous room. Windows lined the walls giving her a view of the mountains covered in ice and snow.

“What in the world…” her voice trailed off while she blinked at the room. It was a nice room, but still.

“This room opened up once you were recognized as the Queen. It is in the heart of our court, anyone who wishes you ill will here will face a different sort of death than the one I can offer them.”

“What do you mean?”

He motioned her towards the window. She glanced at him. He was wearing his stone face again; the one that told her she was going to have to figure this out on her own. She sighed and walked to the edge of the room and stared out the window. Mountains, ice, snow, more mountains. She wasn’t sure what she was… wait. Wait one damn second. The mountain that she had been admiring shifted and red eyes flashed against the horizon as the whole damn thing…. it moved. That whole mountain over there moved.

“Is that a dragon?”

Momo stared at her coffee cup and the cookie she had ordered herself and tried to be practical. There was no practical left in here. There was a lot of devastation, anger, and hurt. She had been fired from being a cop. She forced herself to keep her hands from clenching. Oh sure she has reasons.

‘The Winter Queen can't be a detective on this force without political repercussions. It is one thing to use cover to find a murderer, it's another to be a paid member of this institution and we are a neutral force. No one will think this territory is neutral if you're being paid and you are too good to let you volunteer.’

Too good to let her volunteer. It was a nice way of saying she wasn't wanted. She took a bite of her cookie and contemplated what, exactly, she was going to do now. She was still inching her way through the transformation from human to Fae. Toushirou had spent a lot of time staring at her that morning so she had avoided the mirrors for all she was worth. Her ears didn't feel pointy, but she had left her hair down just in case. Maybe that was the problem. She used to have fine hair and now it was a thick curtain to just past her shoulders. At least it was still straight. If her hair curled she might have lost her mind. It also wasn't white; a small favor she kept thanking the universe for.

Still, she had been fired from the job she had spent her whole life working towards. She wished Granny was still alive. Then she could call her and tell her about this madness and hear her laugh. She would want to meet Toushirou and probably demand daily visits once she knew he could pop in and out of reality at will.

She wasn't going to cry in a coffee shop over a cookie. She could at least wait until she had liquor in front of her. God, what was she going to do with her stuff? She was going to be forced to live with Toushirou full time now and that would just lead to extreme boredom. She closed her eyes and jumped with someone dropped into the seat in front of her.

“Renji?”

“I heard.” He had a cup of coffee in his hands. She wasn't quite ready to look up at him yet. “Shit thing for her to do

“What reason did she give?”

“That's you’re the newly appointed Winter Queen.” He paused. “Toushirou is going to be pissed.”

Momo nodded. He was probably going to have words with her. “Why would she do that?”

He shook his head. “I don't know. The captain doesn't play political anything, but that was a pretty shit move. It's going to paint a target on your back with the more extreme cops in the division. Her grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave right now.”

Momo hesitated before shrugging. “What's her story? As a human I didn't rank enough to know, but Toushirou said he had to tell her who he was when he came into town. Is she a see?”

Renji grinned. “No, she probably hates you for that one, actually. Her great-great-grandmother had real power, but she was a human yanked out of this world by a court. She made it back and settled here, declared this place neutral territory and started the supernatural police force to monitor and deal with things that went bump in the night. It's a long convoluted story but that's the basis. Each generation has carried it on, though the current captain is all human. She uses charms and various things to maintain her authority and most of the courts respect her stance because of the previous generations.”

Momo nodded. “If it's just based on respect then who knows how Toushirou is going to react.”

“Quickly and angrily if I am to judge his response to the elves attacking you. It's why I quit too. I want no part of that when he decides on how he is going to retaliate.”

Momo blinked. “You quit? Too? I thought everyone liked the captain.”

Renni nodded. “We did, until she obviously set you up against those elves. Then she throws you under the bus? Fae aren't stupid and Toushirou has been the king for a long time. Going after you is suicide.”

Momo took a drink of her coffee and watched the people walk by outside. Some were supernatural hiding in plain site, some were just plain humans moving on to live their new lives. “That doesn't make sense to me. Why? All I wanted was to be a cop and help people.”

Renji shrugged. “The type of person who goes from human to Fae Queen in a matter of days is the type of person the captain would see as a rival. As long as you were a good little cog in the wheel she could ignore you. The rules of this place state you should be safe here, but that won't stop her from trying.”

Momo pursed her lips together. “What do you think Toushirou will do?”

He looked at her and she sighed. “That's what I thought. What brings you here, Renji? You didn't come all this way to give me the political speech.”

“I have a job offer for you.”

She glanced at him surprised. “You quit your job.”

He nodded. “Yes, but Kira, I don't know if you have met him, and I have had a contingency plan in place for a while. We both like to find the missing pieces but we don't like all the bureaucracy, so we have our private investigator licenses. We would like for you to join us.”

Momo wondered if she looked as startled as she felt.

“We have offices on the corner not too far from here and three apartments above. We bought the place outright a few years ago so if you wouldn't have to pay rent or anything.”

“That's… Generous of you guys.”

Renji looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Look, I mean, I know Toushirou would probably buy you anything you wanted, but we wanted to make the offer. You're a damn good investigator and we would love to have you as part of the team.”

Momo smiled at Renji. “I would love to meet Kira and look over the apartment and space, but I probably do have to talk to Toushirou and see if there is some political thing I don't know about.” Having an apartment that she didn't have to pay rent on would let her continue to transition in peace and give her a place to hide from things. Having a job would be better.

Doing private investigations would give her something outside of being queen. She wasn't ready for the queen gig, wasn't even going to pretend she was ready for the queen gig. Hell, Toushirou and her weren't even at the point where they were kissing. She eyed Renji and wondered if he would still like her if she asked him if Fae kissed each other.

Kissing Toushirou would probably wreck her world, she had better not.

“Wanna go look now?”

Momo scooped up her cookie. “Let's!”

“You’re not sleeping.”

Momo glanced up from where she was settled in front of the large window that looked out over the mountains. She hadn't seen the dragon again since the first day she had been here, but she figured it was out there somewhere. Toushirou had picked her up at her apartment and then apparently headed off to meetings. She rather thought the time difference here was strange, but probably it wouldn't matter as much anymore.

“My brain isn't tired.”

She was a little startled when he sat on the rug in front of the window with her. She...well, okay. Nevermind now she could feel the heat of his leg against hers, really was it necessary to do that? She glanced over at him and realized she had his full attention. Well, crap.

She glanced back out the window. She was pretty sure the dragon was hiding from her.

“What's bothering you.”

She looked back at him. “Your many minions haven't reported in?”

“Not today,” he stretched his legs out in front of him. “I will wait to see if you will tell me before summoning the minions. It is easier on their knees.”

Momo snorted and watched the snow fall. “The Captain fired me today. Said I was too much if a political hot potato to work under her office.” It stung, having to tell him. He was the whole reason this has happened and she didn't particularly like it. He had not returned to the precinct since the whole 'behead they enemy thing.’ Probably due to his cover being blown.

“Did she now.”

“You didn't know?”

He shook his head. “No, I would have dissuaded her from it, if I had.”

“Why?”

“Politically, she has very little power. The rules that have been put in place are maintained by the courts through treaties. Initially, following the rules was forced by her family but that changed as people settled into that side of the veil. They have very little power of their own now, they have only ever produced children with humans.”

“The why did you look for the murderers as a cop?”

“Convenient cover. Also, it is her people's job to hunt for those who would attack our children. I was curious as well, how someone like the creature we caught was killing uninhibited in the city.”

“What did you decide?”

“Other than you and a few others it's a farce of a police force now.” She shifted so she could look at the line of his jaw. It told her more than that flat, flat, voice. He looked at her with those eyes. “What else did she do?”

She closed her eyes with a sigh. He brushed her hair back away from her face and she tried not to look startled, she rather thought she failed.

“You wouldn't look so pensive if there hadn't been something else. What is it?”

“Renji met me for coffee. He said she named me Winter Queen.”

“Did she now.” His words were soft and quiet and that was more terrifying than anything else she had seen from him.

Momo nodded. “I can't confirm -”

“I can.”

“Renji offered me a job as a private investigator.” She told him to change the subject. She got the satisfaction of seeing him freeze, eyes a little wide. Ha, she had surprised him with that one. “It comes with an apartment. I am going to accept it.”

He cocked his head at her. “You could always move here.”

“And do what? You and I both agreed I wasn't ready for court functions until I finished my new power upgrade.” Amusement curled at the corner of his mouth and eyes. “I have never sat still in my life, I am not starting now.”

“They offered you an apartment?”

She shrugged. “I can't afford my own place without my job.”

“You can afford whatever you want.”

“That is your money, not mine.” Her hands were fists on her knees and she forced them to relax. She hated talking about money. He had so much and she had so little. Working at least let her feel independent, well, maintain her independence.

“Everything that I have is yours.”

She looked outside in an attempt to cover her blush. Right, yes, well they had to have this conversation at some point. “It doesn't feel like mine.”

“I see.”

“Do you?” Arching her brow at him probably wasn't winning her any points. “I have been alone a long time. Not long in Fae terms, granted, but it feels like winning the lottery or something. Not mine.”

He kept watching her for a few minutes and she made herself stare back. This was one of his tactics, stare at the Momo until she broke and told you what was actually bothering her. Not this time.

“I am going to have to insist that you eat dinner with me several times a week, if you're going to want to spend your days on that side of the veil.” He gave her one of his looks that she hadn't quite figured out. “We will also need to work out arrangements on how to handle the more dangerous investigations you're going to find.”

“I am not -”

“Protection spells and battle runes do not equate a peaceful life, Momo.”

“Because I created those runes myself!” Sarcasm would win her any points, but it helped. He pushed to his feet and held out a hand for her to take. “Come to bed, it's late for you. You're going to feel it tomorrow.”

She took his hand grudgingly. She moved to drop it once she was standing and his fingers tightened around hers. He led her towards the bed and glanced back at her. She wasn't sure what he got from her face but his mouth tilted up in that smirk that always did weird things to her stomach.

“I can't seduce you if you don't let me touch you, Momo.”

She almost tripped over her own feet. Seduce? “What?” Her voice was raspy, but she was...he…

He paused and turned and used his free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, fingers brushing over her jawline before he let his hands drop. “I told you before, I am not disappointed that you are my queen.”

“I told you I wasn't sleeping with you.”

That thrice damns smirk had her curling her toes into the floor to keep from reacting. “Yet,” he reminded her. “You're not sleeping with me, yet. I never said I wasn't going to change your mind.” He brought her wrist up to his mouth, lips soft against her skin. “It's a war of attrition and I am playing to win.”

Momo could feel her ears turning red. She cleared her throat. “No.”

He nodded and tugged her towards their room. “For today.”

...that was both the most thrilling and terrifying thing she had ever heard in her life.

Momo wasn't sure where she was. She was floating somewhere and her body felt weird. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in a weird Misty place, just floating. She turned her head and frowned. Her body wasn't particularly under her control, just her head. She closed her eyes and counted to three and opened them again. Same place, same story, what was going on here? Was she dead? What had happened and why couldn't she remember it? She closed her eyes again and decided to not panic. Panicking didn't seem to be a plausible thought process.

There was a rumble in the distance and her head tilted in it's direction. The rumble increased. She closed her eyes and the mist growled at her, she opened them in time to see a red eyes dragon curl around her body. She took a deep breath and felt the dragon curl around her.

'I found you, you are safe.’

She wanted to ask him where he found her, but her eyes were closing again. This time, at least, she was safe.

At least, she thought she was safe.

Momo stood in front of Rangiku’s door, hood pulled over her face. The door opened and she stared at her friend, wide eyed and probably pale. Rangiku stared at her.

“Can I come in?” Even her voice felt funny in her mouth. It was enough to startle the blond out of her stupor.

“Momo?”

“Please?”

The door opened wide and she moved into the room before she could change her mind. The door shut behind her and she shivered. It was cold, but it wasn't the cold bothering her. She turned to her friend and wondered if she saw the same thing she had when she looked in the mirror.

“Momo, what happened? Does Toushirou know you are here?”

She swallowed the tears that wanted to erupt. She wasn't going to cry. She shook her head. “I am not even sure how I got here to be honest.”

Fingers pushed her hood back and Rangiku sucked in a breath. Momo didn't quite flinch, her body freezing. “You finished -”

“Yes,” she interrupted quietly. Rangiku was looking at the same defined cheekbones, sharp ears, and dark eyes of the fae lady she had seen in the mirror that morning. She swallowed. “Something bad happened. I don't know what yet, but I dreamed… Well, it doesn't matter what I dreamed. When I woke,” she waved to graceful, not human, hands at herself. “This.”

Rangiku hesitated. “You’re beautiful.”

She surprised both of them when she burst into tears, her entire body crumbling into the chair she had sat in a hundred times. Rangiku dropped with her, wrapping warm, human, arms around her while she cried.

She cried too much and not enough but as soon as the waterworks started, they stopped. “I didn't want to be Fae.” She told the woman next to her.

“I know.” The hand patting her shoulder paused. “Toushirou is going to have kittens when you're not there.”

Momo snorted. “He will live.”

Rangiku leaned back on her heels cautiously. “Momo, he is the King of the court.”

She shrugged. “According to the dragon I am his equal not his subject. He will live.”

“The… dragon?”

Momo looked at her friend and wondered if the empty hole in her gut was because her humanity had been so thoroughly stripped from her so quickly or not. She was numb and tired and god, she was right.

He was going to kill her.

She managed a slight smile. “It might be better not to ask that one. It's complicated.”

Rangiku nodded, wide eyed. “What can I do?

She sighed and closed her eyes. “How do I get back?”

“Oh boy.”

Momo sat in her bed and listened to the rain fall. Rangiku hadn’t a clue how to get her home but she had known how to sneak her back to her apartment. The room Renji and Kira had given her had the most privacy being on the top floor, it also had the biggest window and was the hardest to get from the front door. Right now she couldn't see much outside, but the lights were off and it was peaceful. Her new ears had caught too much sound outside until the thunderstorm shut everything else out.

She refrained from touching her ears again, not sure how she felt about them. Toushirou had told her it might take decades for things like that to change, but clearly he had been wrong. She tucked her arms around her legs a little tighter and rested her chin on her knees. Everything was too big, too loud and… magic whispered against her skin and she tilted her head to look at the blond man who had appeared in the corner of her room.

Her inhuman eyes took him in without the veil of humanity shielding her. Power thrummed against her spine in warning, even as the part of her that she hadn’t realized was on alert settled and relaxed. He was safe. Toushirou, Winter King, her...whatever. She had expected him to be furious but he was watching her as cautiously as she was watching him.

“I guess you got Rangiku's message.” She had not taken anything as modern as a cell phone with her when her panic had plunked her in down in front of the blond woman's door.

“Yes.”

Even his voice sounded different. Her stomach fluttered and she ignored that too. “What happened?”

He tilted his head just a little. “You don't remember?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“A few elves decided to kidnap the Winter Queen and torture her.” His voice was low and quiet but she could feel the rage he wasn't showing her, now that he was talking.

“How did you find me?”

His mouth edged up at the corner. She wasn't sure how she knew he had found her, that he would look, but she did. It wasn't that he had been her partner or that he was...a friend. She was missing so he had found her.

These new instincts were going to get her in trouble.

“Kira.”

She nodded and looked back out the window. She didn't want details. She wasn't sure how being tortured equated pointy ears and weird blood but it had. Maybe later, when she was feeling brave, she would ask.

“Why Rangiku?”

Momo glanced back at him. “What?”

“Why did you go to Rangiku when you woke up?”

And not him, he didn't say it but it hummed between them. It was the question of the hour apparently.

She sighed. “It wasn't a conscious thing.” She had the time to think about it. Rangiku had explained why she needed to know the answer to that question. “I saw my reflection on the mirror… and I guess I wanted to be human again so badly I ported myself to the only safe human I knew.”

He settled on the bed next to her, long legs tucked close. She shifted so she could mostly face him. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers carefully not touching her ears.

“You’re beautiful.”

She managed a slight smile. “So Rangiku said.”

“Being Fae doesn't change who you are.”

“It feels like it does,” she looked at her hands. Long delicate fingers, strong wrists, even her chipped nails had been replaced. She wondered, briefly, if they could grow into claws.

Long fingers curled around hers. “Who you are is not predicated upon how you look. It's what you do.”

She looked up and was a little surprised to find his face so close to hers.

“You are the guardian of the winter court. It's Queen, a protector. The fact that you are also now Fae in body does not change that.”

She huffed. “You make it sound so easy.”

That damn mouth quirked up at the corner. “Come back with me.”

There it was, the elephant in the room. The reason Rangiku couldn't just magic her home. Consequences to all of her choices, even unknowing ones.

“Why? I panic at the sight of my own face and somehow port myself to the other side of the veil and can't get myself back home. That does not scream stable.” She couldn't get home this time, but he could come and get her. She could choose to go or to stay.

Magic...well, magic rules were so strange.

His mouth brushed against the palm of the hand he was holding. “Next time, don't panic.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like that is going to happen.”

Another brush of his mouth; this time against the pulse point on her wrist. “You will learn.”

She scowled. “That isn't helping your case.”

That smile that made her heart stop and her face flush, flashed lightning quick against his mouth.“If you leave me to deal with the elves, I will just kill them all.”

“You can't just kill an entire race because they attacked me.”

“Tortured you, and I assure you, I can.” His eyes had shifted until she wasn't sure she wasn't looking at the Dragon.

“No.” She swallowed. “Toushirou…” She didn't know what to say. What to do. She didn't know enough about anything to do anything and yet here they were.

“Being alone leaves little to be desired.”

She scowled at his mouth. She wasn't even sure why she was looking at his mouth. “Can't you just say you would miss me?”

“I would miss you.” Another kiss to her palm. “You haven't slept with me yet.”

She could feel the heat sliding over her cheeks. “That should not be a predilection on which I base a decision.”

Eyes gleamed at her from behind thick eyelashes. “Sure it can.”

She huffed and laughed at the same time. “I will cause you endless problems.”

“No one will be bored.”

She looked at him again and tried to set aside her worries and just...look. He was beautiful and so old. His age and power an endless well against her skin and yet, here he was trying to convince her to come back with him. To try again.

She didn't remember what had happened to change the rules but clearly something in her did. The wary, uncertain side. He watched her with those unblinking eyes of his and she wondered until she didn't. She surprised herself when she leaned forward and kissed him. His mouth was soft and warm against hers. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but the new side of her with all its instincts approved.

His hands curled into the thick mass of her hair while hers eased into the front of his shirt. She kissed him until she was flushed with it, until her lungs burned for air, until she memorized the taste of his mouth. She broke the kiss and ignored how hard she was breathing. “I am still not sleeping with you.”

He leaned forward and nipped softly at her bottom lip with his inhuman teeth. Shivers and goosebumps slid down her spine. “Yet.”

#hitsuhina #hitsugaya x hinamori #alternate universe #fae #toshiro x momo

29 notes · View notes