#they react much like a human beaten half to death would

[biteofcherry]

To find the light, we must first touch the darkness

Please also check out @bluepinkangel​’s amazing hot moodboard for this universe 🖤

dark!mafia Steve Rogers x female reader

summary: When you unexpectedly are appointed to run a health center, you foresee many struggles along the way, but not one in the form of a merciless mob boss. Steve Rogers’ core aim is to own and he won’t take no for an answer. To any of his demands.

warnings for this chapter: dark!Steve Rogers; power imbalance; forced relationship; violence; death (minor character); D/s undertones; gun play; gun play kink; explicit sexual situation; faint choking kink; mention of breeding kink;

I did warn you this Steve is dark 😜

word count: 8k

Touch the Darkness Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Chapter 4. Heated hail

~ * ~ 

Hues of orange and purple brushed over the horizon in softest strokes as the sun settled down, but your heart couldn’t settle in your chest, every few hours jumping into a rapid patter to the tune of anxiety. 

Staying in the safety of your apartment for two days after the horrid events didn’t help much, it still felt impossible to ease into your new life with its stains of alluring darkness. 

You called in sick the morning after your engagement. Then stayed home for another day, as well. Hiding worked no miracles, your brain was very much conscious of the events that happened and of the things awaiting you, but at least you didn’t have to face it all for those few more hours of denial.

Though no one appeared on your doorstep and you didn’t sense any eyes on you as you occasionally walked out onto your tiny balcony, you were convinced that Steve knew very well where you were. 

At all times.

It was a blessing he didn’t march into your home with a wedding gown, forcing you to say the vows immediately. You half expected it, since your continued talk after the kiss included Steve’s announcement that you’re to be married in a month. 

He wasn’t interested in waiting.

It seemed that even when Steve Rogers appeared patient, it was only when he knew the results he demanded would come precisely in the time window he approved of. 

Giving you a month was undoubtedly an act of grace in his eyes, since he could’ve as well dragged you in front of some registrar the very next day. 

Or maybe it was a wicked torment on his part, making you organize a wedding you didn’t really want. Not ripping off the band aid quickly, but making conscious decisions (as indifferent as they may be) about details regarding the ceremony of binding yourself to Steve for life.

True torture was playing the part of shocked and grief-stricken when Natalie called you a few hours earlier to inform you of Felix’s tragic car accident.

You nearly laughed hysterically at that.

Car accident. Sure.

Against a truck branded Rogers. 

You had no idea if they staged it so that it looked like an accident after they'd beaten him to death (or done worse things to him), or if Rogers had enough officers under his thumb that they classified it as such, without letting anyone know the truth. 

But you knew the truth. Most of it, anyway, without gory details.   

Maybe you shouldn’t feel sad, considering Felix gave you to another mobster on a silver platter. Who knows how that meeting would go, if Steve hadn’t intervened. However, you were still human and, even if occasionally you felt a taste for drawing blood when someone pissed you off, you didn’t wish anyone death. 

You would have to play the shocked and sorrowful employer in front of the health center employees, which was also why you dreaded going back to work. 

It would be easier, perhaps, if your mind reacted in the way it was supposed to. 

Though you knew people reacted to trauma in various ways, there were certain symptoms you expected from yourself. They never came.

When you dragged yourself to bed, you fell asleep easily. Steve Rogers haunted your dreams, but they weren’t exactly nightmares you’d expect. 

Those dreams were ridiculous, really. Dark, yes. In a gothic horror setting almost. No terror wrecked your body, however. You didn’t scream in fear, nor wake up drenched in sweat as you dreamt of running away from the altar only to fall straight into Rogers’ arms. 

You were processing it all too logically, as if you were only wedding stressed and annoyed with Rogers, not in fear for your life and that of your loved ones. 

If you were your own patient, you’d ask yourself if there were aspects of the arrangement with Steve that you found benefiting? Something that perhaps drew you to him?

You still had no answer to that question as you finally walked into the health center on the next day. 

Steady, slow steps; a pace perhaps a heartbeat slower than your usual. The sound of your heels clicking on the floor echoing through the quiet halls. 

Natalie waited for you in your office, as she always did without fail. In a way, she was playing a role just like you; wearing a mask to function without a hitch. Organizer in hand, she recited to you the changes she made due to your short sick leave and those that needed to be made for the day of Felix’s funeral. 

A thought crossed your mind briefly, of what Steve would say about you going to Felix’s funeral. Since he apparently belonged to a branch of the mafia, attendance of Hydra mobsters and other of their operatives was highly possible, and you didn’t think Rogers would want you anywhere near them. 

You viewed yourself as merely a civilian boss of the man that passed, but you possessed enough intelligence to recognize you were now also a part of a rivaling mob - no matter how reluctant your participation was. 

Not only by shared business, but ranking now much higher in your status as the fiancée to the ruthless mob boss. 

You didn’t mention to Natalie that you weren’t sure if you’d be going to the funeral at all, only nodding at her skilfully reorganized schedule. 

“There’s one more thing,” she said, closing her calendar.

She walked to the door, opened them and beckoned someone over. A young man, a boy really, entered your office with a shy smile on his face. 

Unruly hair, which he combed neatly, but they still betrayed harmlessly chaotic functioning of youth. A pressed collar of a button down shirt peeked above his blue cardigan. He reminded you of first year students, or apprentices at their first posting. 

The first person in the past few days who seemed innocent and you welcomed that change with a softened heart. 

“This is Peter Parker.” Natalie announced.

“Hi! Nice to meet you,” the boy cut the space between the two of you and extended his hand for you to shake. 

“Peter has just applied for our vacant position.” Natalie’s voice remained neutral and professional, but the way she accented vacant position left no doubt that it meant Felix’s job. 

Which shouldn’t be announced this soon. No one would post an ad without your authorization. So unless one of the center’s workers tried to push his own son or nephew into free position, that Parker kid was sent in by someone who knew of the brutally gained opening. 

“Son of a bitch.” You cursed under your breath. 

Natalie arched a single brow, but said nothing as you picked up your phone and unlocked it with a murderous glare. Parker said nothing either, only looked your way slightly bewildered. 

Shame that Rogers didn’t warn him about your newly discovered tendencies to outbursts. 

That it was Steve Rogers’ move, you had no doubt. 

You found his name in your contacts - Steve typed it in himself, teasing you that a fiancée should have her future husband’s number in her phone.

He picked up quickly, actually surprising you that he answered at all. You thought his phone number to be more of a reminder for you that you gave yourself away to him, rather than being able to actually call him. So when you heard his voice on the other end of the line, you choked on your words for a second. 

“Princess?”

You wondered if he saved your number under that pet name.

“The center was supposed to remain under my control,” you hissed into the phone when you regained your voice. “Hiring people should be my decision.”

“Peter’s very approachable and he learns fast,” came Steve’s reply; his voice soft, but there was that lining of finality to his decision.

You paused, once again surprised. This time by the fact Steve wasn’t playing lying games, just cutting straight to the core of the problem. Which also meant he anticipated your reaction, but did it anyway, disregarding your opinion on the matter. 

You’d laugh at the irony of it - that a man being truthful and direct in an important conversation (traits you valued), at the same time was the fucking bane of your existence. 

“Is he even of age?” You snorted, glancing Parker’s way. “He looks sixteen.” 

“I’m twenty two.” Peter chimed in and you frowned.

He really didn’t look to be over twenty. Then again, in the past you’ve been asked for an ID even though you were way over twenty five. You had no idea how young people were when they started working for the mob. 

Perhaps Rogers had no conscience and hired kids for dirty jobs too. 

“He’s legal,” Steve sounded amused. “No forged papers on him. Lives alone with his aunt, so a solid job, like the one at the center, is something he needs.”

You did not believe in Rogers’ sympathy, not for a second. Perhaps he took care of his employees in a peculiar way, but you wouldn’t mistake it for him actually caring if Peter’s dreams come true, or if his economical status is secured. 

Moreover, you suspected he used Peter’s wobbling financial stability as a means to lure him into the mafia in the first place.

“Then he could’ve applied without your commendation. Since it’s his own motivation to work here, right?” You allowed yourself a defiant tilt of your chin and a challenging gaze, since Steve couldn’t see it anyway. 

You weren’t stupid to believe Steve pushed the kid into this position only because Peter needed it. More likely, Steve wanted someone from his own batch to infiltrate the center. Maybe even to keep an eye on you, though you seriously didn’t imagine how a barely-out-of-teens boy was supposed to do that. 

“Recommendation is an additional bonus to an otherwise great employee you’ll be hiring.” 

You didn’t know Steve well enough yet to assess by his tone alone if he was growing annoyed with this conversation, or rather bored (since he knew you would be agreeing to his demands anyway, unless you wanted more harm happening). 

“That depends on the recommendation,” you muttered, too late realizing you said it out loud.

“You don’t trust my word, Princess?” A deeper timbre resounded in Steve’s voice, sending a shiver across your skin. 

He wasn’t there, but you could easily imagine the glint in his blue eyes as he peered at you from beneath his long eyelashes. An edge of a blade caressing your breakable skin.

“I’m miffed at you planting your fucking seeds in my center, when it was supposed to stay under my care!” 

There was a pause after you snapped.

One in which you cursed yourself inwardly for once again antagonizing someone who held your life in his hands, quite literally. Your heart thumped loudly, you felt the echo of it through your bones. 

However, when Steve’s voice returned with a reply, it wasn’t a promise of your death. 

Though it may as well have been, considering his words.  

“I can plant different seeds, if you wish. Inside you, Princess.”

Your intake of breath was sharp, your pupils widened and your mouth hung open. He did not just say that!, your mind screeched, while your body roused in alertness. 

You hung up the phone without uttering a single more word to Steve, then tossed it to the far edge of the desk as if it burned you. Your gaze lingered on it for a moment longer, in fear of it ringing to life. 

You couldn’t comment on Steve’s innuendo. Acknowledging it meant recognizing this particular aspect of marriage, which you somehow repressed from your mind. 

No, your marriage to Rogers was supposed to be only on paper, only for his gain of the lands and immunity. 

A facade, with a shiny ring and your new last name stained with the blood of Steve’s opponents. Not a true merging of two people, neither in minds nor in hearts, definitely not in bodies. 

A quiver pattered down your spine like a strummed string at the sudden, vivid image of Rogers’ thick body pressing into your naked space.

Fear, it had to be. But it also carried a rush of adrenaline that tingled in your nipples and brought heat to the sensitive shell of your ear.

“I need a break,” you shook yourself out of it and abruptly moved. “I’m going for coffee.”

“I can make you some,” Natalie offered, observing you with perfectly masked curiosity. 

It was a change in your behavior, this sudden restlessness and outbursts of unresolved tension. As stressful as taking over a big health center was, you managed to remain calm and professional since the first day. Natalie witnessed you roll your eyes a few times and assertively set yourself, but this was a novelty. 

She could only assume it was because of the tragic loss of an employee so early in your work, maybe suspect Rogers was threatening you. You doubted she’d ever imagine the extent of sweet terror he planned for you.

“No, I have to get out for a few minutes.” You weren’t even sure you really wanted coffee, a shot of vodka would be a better option. 

But you needed to step outside for a few minutes; to not see Peter’s boyish face with its innocence written all over it, while you knew the darkness he was signing his soul to. You hoped his only job was to tattle on you. 

You grabbed your handbag, purposely ignored your phone still hanging on the edge of the desk, and strode toward the exit. 

“What about Peter?” Natalie asked before you reached the door, both of them staring at you expectantly. 

“Hire him.” You sighed, anger whipping in your tone. 

“And you!” You glared Peter’s way. “Make sure your other boss knows that within these walls your duties are only to the center.” 

It was a bold statement. One you probably had no leverage to actually make real. In terms of power, Rogers had more of it, since he had it also over you. If he gave Peter a different task to run along his duties at the health center, that order would come first. 

Still, you wanted to make your opinion clear and install some respect for the work here. 

As you walked to the nearby coffee shop, you glanced around a few times to check if anyone was following you. You had no proof of Rogers sending someone to trail you, yet you were convinced of it. 

If he had, they were skilled at blending in, since no one seemed suspicious to you.

The usual buzzing noise of the coffee shop - conversations combined with quiet music and clinking of glass - felt like a soothing lullaby to your strained nerves. You took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of freshly brewed coffee and sweet pastries. 

By the time you got your order, you had mostly calmed down. You were still pissed off, but there was no point in exhausting yourself fighting a losing battle. 

It was time to accept the uncomfortable truth of Steve’s upper hand. At all times. 

As you stirred your coffee with a paper spatula, someone stepped next to you. In your peripheral vision you caught their hand reaching for three packets of sugar. 

“I’d suspect having Rogers on your tail requires a stronger brew than coffee.” A smooth, melodic male voice started casually.

His words froze you in place for a second, trepidation stopping your heart and then rushing it into a rapid beat. 

You said nothing, tossing your spatula into the bin and quickly reaching for the cup lid to put on your paper cup and leave the place. The man’s hand slipped between you and the lid, pushing it to the side as he reached for the cinnamon sprinkle; his gesture seemingly so innocent.  

As he withdrew his hand, glass jar of cinnamon in his hand, your gaze dropped onto a leather casing left on the counter right next to your coffee. 

A police badge. In the name Quentin Duvall.

Was it a test? Since all signs on earth and in heaven pointed that Rogers had police and other agencies in his pocket, this could be a game to see if you’d stay loyal to your future husband. 

Logically, he shouldn’t expect you to. It was only your lack of connection that you didn’t dare to seek help in the law enforcement, for if you had some friend of a friend who was an officer then you’d go to them in a heartbeat. 

You were quite certain Steve knew you would and he probably didn’t care.

“He’s a pain not only in your ass,” the man said, exchanging the cinnamon for his badge. “It’s hard to build a case against him when more than half of my colleagues are on his payroll.”

“What do you want?” Your fingers squeezed the paper cup, coffee sloshing to the brim. 

You didn’t lift your head to look at him, figuring it was best to keep the impression of a casual conversation over coffee station. If you were being watched, perhaps it wouldn’t be too suspicious. 

“There’s an ATF agent working to build a case against Rogers’ mob. He’d like to meet you and propose a way to provide you protection for whatever you can bring to the table.”

“Why won’t he contact me directly?” Deliberately, you picked a jar of chocolate sprinkles and added them to your cooling coffee.

“Since he’s one of the very rare daring to hunt Rogers, he’s on the fucker’s radar. If he appeared anywhere near, Rogers would know of it and it could end badly for you.” There was a hint of concern in Duvall’s voice, but not enough to be a poor actor’s play.

Then again, maybe it was a perfect play. Luring you with a safeline, but making it risky so you wouldn’t see it as a trap right away. 

“If you want to help-” he picked a spatula and stirred his own coffee- “if you want to get out of Rogers’ grip, come here the day after tomorrow at the same time. I’ll give you the meeting details then.” 

He took his cup and left, merging with the group of friends that were exiting at the same time. You waited a few moments, carefully putting the lid on your cup and lifting it to your mouth for a long, thoughtful sip.

Your walk back to the center was sluggish, your gaze switching from staring blankly ahead to staring at the pavement beneath your feet. 

If it was a test and you failed it, what sort of consequences would Steve draw out? If, by some miracle, a just officer could save you from the dragon guarded tower, shouldn’t you risk it? 

As you sat in your office, too preoccupied with the new dilemma, your irritation grew. That someone appeared and rocked the boat on an already stormy sea. 

Though a flicker of hope tempted you to take the risk and meet the agent, you were annoyed that it came as another drastic change in your life in such a short time. Honestly, a part of you simply wanted to just go steady with one route, even if it was the one with you on Rogers’ leash.

At least it would be settled. If you kept fighting, not only would it piss off Rogers, but it meant exhaustion for you. Perhaps a never ending one. 

Because was there really a chance for protection from Steve, if his ties reached to the Capitol and beyond?

Natalie found you deep in thought and blankly staring at the window of your office. She did a quick scan of the untouched documents which you should be working on, then flicked her gaze to you. 

Whatever she saw in your face, it made her close the door to your office and lock it. 

She moved a free chair to sit next to you on your side of the desk and in a hushed tone asked what was going on.

You looked at her for a long, silent moment. It would be reckless to tangle another innocent soul into the sticky, dark web in which you were trapped. You didn’t want to put her in danger. But you needed someone to know, someone who was a part of it from the beginning even if it was as a bystander.

Natalie and Felix were the ones who told you the truth of who Steve is in the first place, so at least you didn’t have to reveal to her something she wouldn’t already know about the man. 

With a sigh, you opened your mouth and told her everything. 

As you studied Natalie’s face afterwards, you realized she might have been the best choice to share the burden. There was no fear on her face, no panic settling in. She frowned, processing it all and you almost could sense the cogs in her head turning as she conjured up a plan. 

“That officer, what was his name again?” She asked, sliding her phone out of her pocket and typing rapidly.

“Duvall. Quentin Duvall.” You told her. “Why?”

“I fucked a guy who has ways to check people’s background,” Natalie replied without an ounce of shame or awkwardness. “A computer geek. I’ll ask him to check if officer Duvall is who he claims to be.”

“Oh!” That way at least you’d know if it wasn’t a scheme. “That’s helpful. Thank you.”

Natalie didn’t acknowledge your gratitude, as if it wasn’t even needed. Determined and focused on the task, she exchanged text messages with whomever was so into her he still agreed to do for her something that was probably illegal.

Since you were engaged to a mob boss, you weren’t going to judge. 

Few hours later, just as you were finishing for the day, Natalie returned to your office with ready information. 

“It’s your choice,” she said, taking her jacket off. 

Thin bracelets on her wrist jingled faintly, a peek of a small spider tattoo on her forearm quickly disappeared beneath the folded jacket which she draped over her arm.

“But I think you should meet him. A meeting doesn’t yet mean you’re agreeing to anything.” She walked next to you as both went toward the exit. “If they don’t offer you actual solid protection, you simply give them nothing.”

“What if Rogers finds out about the meeting and it angers him? Even if I don’t say anything yet.” Somehow, as you thought of the consequences to your decision, it was Steve’s face that kept popping in your head. 

His icy eyes trained on you; his fingers stroking you before clenching around your throat. 

Natalie paused, glancing at you with a scowl. She didn’t seem annoyed with your question, but rather with the fact she had no certain answer for it. Natalie liked knowing everything. 

“That I don't know.” She admitted, with a small pout. “In different circumstances I’d go for some predictable wrath, but honestly? He declared your engagement. That’s definitely completely unpredictable. So who knows what he’d do.” 

It was a very small, very naive consolation, but you reminded yourself that if he wanted you dead, Rogers would have made that happen already. 

If you were his employee who betrayed him, then severe torture awaited, if not aforementioned death. 

What awaited an unruly fiancee?

You hoped to never find out. Being extra careful in your act of casual trip to the coffee shop on the pointed day, you already considered potential excuses for another meeting, details of which Duvall was supposed to give you.

It better not be on some late evening in some shady place, because even though you still didn’t catch anyone following you it didn’t mean Rogers didn’t have an eye on you. 

To your surprise, and actual relief, Duval didn’t talk to you this time, just slipped you a piece of paper as he tossed out a napkin into a bin right next to which you were standing at the coffee shop. It contained the address of a small apothecary in a nearby neighborhood and an afternoon hour. 

That was very clever. A visit to such a place wasn’t anything unusual, even if most people bought their medicine at the big drugstores. And since it would still be daylight, it seemed even more harmless. 

Natalie agreed with you on that, telling you also about a bakery nearby into which you could also step in to keep the appearance of running errands. 

Both of you probably watched too many crime shows, but it came in handy. 

The lights in the apothecary were on when you went in, but it occurred to you that it was completely empty only when the door closed behind you. 

There were shelves stacked with medicines, some key-locked cases and an antique looking chest of drawers, which you suspected was more for decoration than to keep chemicals inside. 

There was no one behind the counter, however. Only the backdoor, leading to an additional room, was open. 

“Hello?” You called out, not moving from your spot near the door, in case you needed to run. 

There was some shuffling and then Duvall appeared in the backdoor. He smiled in relief, clearly fearing you would not come. He beckoned you over and you followed him through the short, narrow corridor into another room.

Spacious, but minimalist (to not say empty) compared to the front. There were two industrial tables and three chairs, some metal cabinets and neatly grouped apparatus. 

The man who leaned against one of the tables didn’t look like a chemist. 

Though you suspected a man like him may know a thing or ten about chemicals that blew up, judging by his close to military look. Well, since you never met an ATF agent in person, perhaps it was how they dressed. 

“Claude Batroc.” He introduced himself, with a smile that perhaps would be charming if not for a hint of dishonesty to it.

There was something about that man that instantly made you feel uneasy. 

Steve raised the hair on the back of your neck as well, but his type of danger was a sizzling black fog that engulfed you in its warm embrace and zapped your body with scary tingles. Batroc was the sound of screeching tires a second before a truck pummels into you.

Your instinct was telling you it’s best to squirm your way out of this, even though you haven’t yet heard the deal they offered. 

“Officer Duvall claims you’re able to help me,” you swallowed past your nervousness and looked at him expectantly. 

Like Natalie told you, you planned on making sure their promise was solid, before you jumped off any cliff.  

“I am.” He nodded, tilting his head to the side. “But that depends on what you can give me?”

You frowned. You assumed they knew how new and short your acquaintance with Rogers was; that you weren’t one of his inner circle people, who could provide a lot of intel. 

Foolishly maybe, but you thought being threatened and knowing of Felix’s demise was enough for them to consider you an important witness. There wasn’t anything else of heavy value that you could bring to the table. 

“Does he really have the stones?” came Batroc’s direct question.

Simple, but completely confusing for you. 

Out of all the things you could’ve expected them to ask you, that never came to mind. 

“I don’t know anything about any stones,”  you said slowly. Your frown deepened as your brain tried to work out, if maybe there were some jewels involved in the whole mess.

Was Howard hiding a diamond mine under the health center, or something? 

“There’s a rumor that Rogers is in possession of the Infinity Stones.” Duvall mentioned and you glanced his way over your shoulder. When he saw your face, he sighed in disappointment. It was clear you were unaware of what they were talking about. 

“They belonged to Thanos. A Greek mogul, who’d probably surpass Zeus himself if mythological riches and armies were comparable to the real ones. He was in possession of the six, most valued gems in the world. They are called the Infinity Stones.”

“Few years ago Thanos was found dead.” Batroc took over the story. “Along with most of his men. A job so clean, nothing pointed to a rampage. And nothing but the gems disappeared from his fortress. No organization ever boasted it to be their job. In time, Rogers’ name has been whispered as the one to do it, but he never confirmed. Never put them up for auction.”

You shook your head again. The only gems that came to your mind as you thought of Steve Rogers were the few that glinted in the dark, thick silver of his rings. 

You doubted anyone would put the most valuable jewels in simple rings, which he wore daily on full display for everyone to see. 

Then again, wouldn’t that be a perfect power move? A shiny middle finger and a warning to anyone who dared to think they could cross Rogers. 

“A different angle then.” Batroc changed the topic. Quite eagerly, too, as if the one he was moving onto was to him far more important than a few shiny rocks. 

“Why is he circling around the health center?” Something dark, greedy, flashed in his eyes. “He’s already got his people sitting all over it. Made an effort to reach you directly, not just work under your nose.”

When Batroc straightened and made a slow step forward, you stepped back. Duvall was standing in the doorway, blocking your escape route. You didn’t think you’d need one, but now your instincts screamed at you that there was something bad behind their intentions. 

“Rogers isn’t the kind of man to tell his secrets left and right.” You tried to stand your ground, despite your pulse quickening in fear.

You weren’t a type of person to limitlessly trust the law enforcement, but since they were supposed to be determined to build a case against Rogers they should treat you (as the potential help in successful operation) with less creepiness.

At the moment, Batroc’s stance and the way his eyes danced over your form were displaying a poor skill at charm and comfort. 

“Maybe you aren’t privy to his secrets.” Batroc shrugged, then bared his teeth in a sinister grin. “Or maybe you’re the one who actually holds the key to the project Rogers has been building, huh?” 

“Quentin said you keep yourself guarded, which is smart if you’re going toe to toe with the likes of us. But there’s not a can that can’t be opened…” 

Perhaps Batroc was an agent and maybe he was building a case against Rogers. His methods, however, were those of another gutter kingpin. He could be working for one, doing his official job and an extra one on the side. Or he could be one himself. 

You should’ve predicted that your hope for help would be false. 

You considered Rogers playing you, testing your loyalty, meanwhile another mobster scum was attempting to use you to screw with Steve. 

“We’re gonna play some interrogation game. With bonuses.” At Batroc’s words, you made another hasty step backwards, your back hitting the metal cabinets. 

A sudden wheezing sound and a loud thump of a falling body averted Batroc’s attention from you. 

Duvall fell down lifelessly, face first onto the floor. At least a second passed before you noticed a pool of red spilling around his head like a horrific halo. 

Then something heavy flew across the space, knocking Batroc’s gun from his hand as he reached for it. 

Still glued to the cabinets, shock freezing you in place, you watched as Steve Rogers strode inside in all of his dark glory. Shoulders so wide he barely fit in the entrance, muscles straining under the fabric of his clothes.  

He and Batroc clashed in the middle of the room - forearm blocking a punch, then a knee up to block a kick. 

Both of them were fast and strong, their fight a darker, less choreographed movie combat. For every of Batroc’s hits, Steve delivered two. Despite his bulk, Steve was exceptionally graceful in his technique. His opponent stumbled for a second, shaking his head to get rid of dizziness after one of Steve’s hooks. Meanwhile Rogers didn’t even wince when Batroc managed to split his lip open. 

It wasn’t a fight that would continue honorably, until one yielded and pledged fealty. 

After disarming Batrock when he pulled out a knife, Steve kicked him a few steps away then drew out his gun and shot him three times. Twice in the chest, once in the head. 

You flinched with each gunfire sound, but remained glued to the spot. 

Your gaze was on Rogers, you didn’t pay much attention to other men stepping inside. Steve spoke to them, but all the voices blurred into a dull sound as your hammering heartbeat threatened to pound away each vessel in your body. 

Only your sight remained focused. Your mind picked Rogers as the only solid point to anchor itself to.

Perhaps simply because he saved you. Once again. Even if it was to ensnare you himself. 

You pushed against the cabinets, trying to bury yourself into them when Steve dismissed his people with some short orders and started towards you, but they didn’t budge an inch. 

You weren’t attempting to escape him. You wanted to escape your growing need to wrap your arms around him and cling to the beast that spared your life as the only source of comfort at the moment. 

Yet, you knew the sickness that bubbled in your stomach wasn’t because you felt a twisted sense of safety now that Rogers was here, but because you witnessed people being killed, blood splattering; hell, you nearly were mauled. Again. 

The anxiety was skyrocketing. Or it would be, if not for the freezing shock still gripping you so tightly you felt like trapped in a glass box. It was an inner torment, procured by your own neurotransmitters and chemicals, that kept you on the edge of a malfunctioning fight or flight mechanism. 

Steve’s broad form caging you in, shutting away the bloodied world outside of his arms, was the first thing that pulled your focus back to reality of now and here. 

The feeling of a hot, metal muzzle touching the underside of your jaw snapped you out of the traumatic trance. 

He pointed his gun at you. The one with which he shot Batroc. 

A spike of adrenaline roused your body into full alertness. However, instead of logical terror and tearing up at the oncoming death, your brain paid attention to how delicate that pressure of a gun was.

How the warmth of it felt against your clammy skin; how refreshing was the metallic scent of it and how quickly it disappeared under the familiar now undertones of Rogers’ cologne. 

That gun held so much power. 

It ruthlessly disposed of a direct threat to you. An extension to the one who was behind saving you over and over (even if it was only, so he could be the one to torment you). Steve was living up to being your knight. Not in shining armor; not even one with good intentions. No, he was a black knight whose curse trapped you in a twisted realm. 

“Did he lay a hand on you?” pressing the muzzle to your chin, Steve moved your face left and right as his eyes scanned your state.

Swallowing hard, you shook your head. You were unable to form a single word, your throat constricted with all the sobs which you couldn’t force out of yourself. 

“Good.” Steve stated simply, without much genuine relief. 

“Your naughty stunt served me well.” He mused as he gently dragged the barrel of his gun across your cheek and down your neck; like he was caressing you with fingers, not a deadly weapon. 

“I wanted to get rid of Batroc for a while now, but he buried himself so deep it was hard to find him. I should’ve known he’d come up for something when he saw everyone else wanted it.” 

You weren’t paying enough attention to Steve’s words to decipher their full meaning, your senses were more interested in attuning to the trace of his gun on your skin. 

Holding your gaze captive with his icy blue eyes (so clear and unmarred with anger, despite what just happened), Steve kept moving the muzzle of his gun from one of your collar bones to the other. Slowly.

He had to read something in your body you weren’t yet aware of - a spark of curiosity ignited in his irises. 

You realized what it was a few seconds later as you felt your nipples stiffen. 

No!, a voice in your head whispered in utter disbelief. That current at the touch of Rogers’ gun was arousal. Underlaid with fear, but the kind that spiced the arousal higher, not switched it off.

It had to be the adrenaline still rushing, you thought. Your mind locked in an acute stress reaction, so that your body got confused; it didn’t know how to react, or which hormones to produce.      

That had to be the reason, the only explanation. Because you have never experienced anything like this. 

Rogers being despicable aside, you simply never entertained any kinky fantasies that included a gun, or any other weapon, or being overpowered so completely. That was never something you considered you might like. 

But as much as you were afraid of Steve in general, in this very moment you somehow knew he wouldn’t hurt you. Not in a bad way. 

And the gun pressed to your body was a substantial proof of his power. One that could touch you physically; do things to you… 

“My, my, Princess,” Steve leaned closer; whether to feel you shiver, or to shield the view of you from any prying eyes. “You’re just full of surprises.” 

He ran the gun down your body - between your breasts and down your quivering belly. When the still warm muzzle nudged the hem of your flowy skirt up, the haze of shock snapped.

“I-” you started, but your voice was weak and breathless, turning into a gasp as Steve drew the gun higher up your thigh. 

“I should go.” You squeaked out, but somehow couldn’t tear your eyes away from Steve’s. 

The only muscles you moved were those of your legs, which parted slightly as he slipped the gun over your clothed core. 

His free hand shot up to your neck; ringed fingers curling around your throat in a loose reminder of Steve’s dominance. Like the first time he’s done it, your breath hitched in your lungs, your pupils widened and your knees weakened. 

Then the solid barrel rubbed against your covered folds and your lips parted on a needy whimper.

While it shocked you, it absolutely delighted Steve. 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Princess.” He cooed, dragging the gun back and forth over your pussy. “It’s okay to need to take the edge off. After the afternoon you’ve just had.”

“That’s not how-” a part of your brain tried to fight the building arousal. 

You closed your eyes, instantly opening them again at Steve’s warning hiss. In his eyes danced a glint of triumph - bright and cold like a blade pulled straight from the forgery. 

“Not like this.” You muttered, embarrassed with how eager your body was to experience the little thrill of being caressed with something that could so easily hurt you. 

Sex as a way of destressing wasn’t a foreign concept. Hell, an orgasm or two often helped you relieve some tension after dealing with daily obstacles and minor inconveniences. You’d even agree about needing one to burst you out of the bubble of shock you fell into today. 

But you could do that on your own, not by the hand of the handsome monster who forced himself into your life. And with your own toys - the normal, safe ones. 

It was both a relief and a shameful disappointment when Steve withdrew the gun. 

“Slide your hand into your panties, Princess,” he brushed the side of the gun against your arm, nudging your wrist.

Your fingers twitched, but you didn’t move. Your heart was still going like crazy, the beat of it pulsing in your clit. 

“Come on,” Steve traced his gun up your arm, then tapped your cheek with it, “be a good girl and put your hand in your panties.”

You knew it wasn’t a request, but a command. No matter if Steve’s voice melted into a soft, thick and sweet like chocolate tone. Slowly, you reached your hand beneath your skirt and under the waistband of your cotton and lace panties. 

“That’s it.” Steve brushed his lips over your temple, whispering dirty encouragement. “Now slide your fingers over your pussy. All the way.”

You did as he asked; trembling fingers dipping between your soft folds.

“Now show them to me.” He pulled back slightly.

You wished the ground would open up and swallow you whole to cut your shame short, as you lifted your hand up for Steve to see. 

Your fingers were sticky with your wetness, a pearly string of slick stretching between them. 

“Seems to me that’s exactly how you need it, Princess.” Steve smirked; icy blue of his irises heating into white flame.

A retort was forming on your tongue, but died a second later. When Steve’s mouth closed around your digits and he sucked them clean. 

His tongue lavished the crease between your fingers, teasing your rotten mind with a reflection of where else on your body he could use that tongue. Suction of his mouth wasn’t gentle, strumming down your nerves with vibration from his pleased hum. He pulled off, with a lewd swipe of his tongue.

For a millisecond, your gazes locked in quiet suspension. 

A blink of an eye and then the gun was back beneath your skirt, while Steve’s lips were capturing yours in a filthy demand. He pushed the barrel past the fabric of your panties this time, hard metal grazing your delicate parts. His dark chuckle in response to your moan reverberated on your lips. 

The fingers curled around your neck tightened slightly, his thumb pressing over your carotid, but not enough to cut off your air. Not yet, at least.

Stars danced in the corners of your vision, heightened pleasure mixed with delicious trepidation filling your body with bubbles of ecstasy unknown to you until now. 

Steve angled his gun so that it spread your folds, rubbing your clit and teasing your entrance with each slide. Your hips rocked back eagerly. When he pushed a little deeper, pressing the muzzle into your opening, you almost seized. 

One of your hands flew to Steve’s forearm, holding onto the wrist of his hand which was choking you. The other fisted his shirt near the collar. You let out a startled cry that turned from appalled to needy. 

“Give it up, Princess,” Steve teased your bottom lip with his tongue, all the while nudging the muzzle into your cunt. 

Muscles in your legs tensed, your eyes shimmered with tears that weren’t of sadness or pain. You were ashamed of your reaction to the filthy debauchery, but you wanted, needed it so badly.

“I’m gonna have you cum for me anyway, so just let go.” 

That demand was sharper. Steve’s fingers on your throat tightened, cutting off the flow of air. At the same time, he pushed the gun deeper. Merely an inch or two slipped inside, but it was enough to feel your pussy stretch around it. 

Your climax was an outburst with sharp edges, each tremor feeling like an electric current. Your cries sounded choked, though Steve released his hold on your neck enough for the air to flow easily into your lungs. 

The gun wasn’t inside you anymore, but he kept moving it harshly against your clit, prolonging your orgasm to a point of painful throb that threatened to build into another humiliation if he continued longer. 

If he slid the gun back, or his cock into your quivering cunt, you’d probably lose your conscience. While cumming all over him again. 

Finally, Steve eased the pressure. He occupied your lips with sensual kisses, slow and lingering, and tongue dipping indecently into your mouth. The gun withdrew from your panties, the fabric clinging to your drenched pussy in an embarrassingly uncomfortable way. 

Your arms fell to your sides when Steve let go of your neck and straightened. He wiped his gun, covered with your slick, in your skirt, then secured it back in the holster at his side.

“There now. Isn’t it better?” You weren’t certain if he was mocking you, or if it was a pure cocky smugness. 

You were gaping at him, your breath still ragged. Your legs were shaking and your heart was hammering, but there was warmth and life and a vivid feeling of anger resurfacing. No longer the cold stupor of shock and fear.

No, Steve beckoned your brain back to reality. After short circuiting it. 

“Better?” You hissed, clenching your hands into fists. “You pointed a gun at me!” 

“And you creamed all over it, Princess.” Steve’s knowing smirk added to your shame. 

“You shot someone!” You derailed, unable (and unwanting) to unpack the mess of your body’s reaction to being fucked with a gun. 

“Just straight up shot them. In broad daylight!” It was now reaching your mind that all the terrors and dirty deeds, which have happened in the past half an hour, didn’t take place in the deep darkness of the night. It was a sunny afternoon, with people walking the streets just outside the front door of an ordinary apothecary. 

“They would’ve hurt you,” came Steve’s remorseless reply. 

Simple and direct, spoken in a warning growl.

“Nobody hurts what’s mine.”   

There was nothing romantic about it, even if your post-orgasmic heart flowed with bonding oxytocin. 

It was a dark claim, making you into Steve’s possession. His protection of you came only from the need to have his pride untouched - if anyone managed to steal or hurt his bride, it weakened Steve’s ruthless reputation. 

“Now let’s get you out of here, so my cleaning team can swipe in.” Steve motioned at you to follow him as he moved toward the exit. 

Your feet were frozen to the spot. There was a dead body of a man between you and the door; the pool of blood inches away from your toes. You definitely wanted to get out of there, but you couldn’t simply make yourself jump over someone’s corpse. 

Steve’s impatient sigh was motivating - you did not want to get on his nerves too much. But your body wasn’t listening to any of your commands. As it didn’t listen to you when you tried to fight off the arousal earlier.

Suddenly, you were picked up. 

Steve hoisted you up easily, throwing you over his shoulder. He carried you over Duvall’s dead body and through the narrow corridor, ignoring your outraged squeak.  

“All that blood and death, you really need to focus on lighter things from now on.” He said conversationally, tone light as if aforementioned gore was just a chore from which one needed to take a break. 

“For a while, at least-” Steve continued, as he carried you out the front- “Wedding planning should help with that.”

“No! I don’t want it!” You protested, kicking your legs. 

With what just happened, you couldn’t imagine forcing yourself to organize a fucking wedding. One you didn’t want in the first place. You couldn’t imagine going back to your routine, daily life at all. 

You just weren’t sure if it was the deaths you witnessed that changed your life forever, or the wrong kind of desire that Steve brought out of you. 

“Oh, I’m sure you don’t. But you will.” He put you down on your feet once you were outside. 

Steve cupped your chin, crushing it painfully between his thumb and forefinger, and tilted your face up.

“We both know you will be a good girl for me, Princess.”

#touch the darkness #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers x you #dark!steve rogers #dark mafia!steve rogers #dark mafia!steve rogers x reader #dakr mafia!steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers imagine #my writing

[magnoliasandarson]

birds of a feather pt. 2

Dick wasn’t sure what to make of the Redhood Jason. His baby brother, his Little Wing- back from the dead. He was gloriously and miraculously alive, but there was something different. For one, he was jacked. His Jaybird had been five-foot-nothing when they buried him, but he was now a tank given human form- well over six feet tall, at least two hundred pounds.

Then there was the less obvious. Jason had always been a dynamic fighter, explosive and quick on his feet, but where he once moved like lightning, he now moved like wildfire, fluid and lethal. Dick recognized the brutality, the swiftness. Somehow, Jason had been with the League of Assassins. It was easy to put two and two together; someone had dumped the corpse of his baby brother into the Lazarus Pit. His brother hadn’t turned away from the light; someone turned him. They would pay dearly. 

He went to Bruce immediately and demanded they kill call Talia. But Bruce didn’t react the way Dick expected. He didn’t fly to Nanda Parbat; he didn’t swear vengeance in the name of his son. Instead, he said, “This changes nothing,” and went to find the Redhood, stone-faced and deathly quiet.

Dick hesitated for all of a minute before suiting up and running after Bruce, taking care to stay just out of sight. He’d known Bruce for half his life and had spent about as much time cleaning up his messes; he knew when the elder was going to make a mistake he’d dearly regret. He wanted to be wrong. 

Still, Dick crouched in the rafters of the warehouse and watched. He wanted to sob, wanted to scream, wanted to rage as his Little Wing tossed the hog-tied Joker onto the ground in front of him. Keeping the fucking clown as a barrier between him and his father. His fingers flexed involuntarily around a WingDing as the Joker started cackling, “How sweet! It’s a family reunion!”

Jason yanked his helmet off and tossed it between him and Bruce- no man’s land. In a fucked-up way, Dick almost laughed. Jason was still Jason, even under all the rage and madness. Thank fuck Dick had found and defused that bomb- Jason’d probably go on too long, and they’d be blown to pieces. 

Any semblance of a smile faded away from his face when Jason spoke, “Ignoring what he's done in the past. Blindly, stupidly disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands who have suffered, the friends he's crippled.” Barbara’s agonized face as she stared at the Batgirl suit from her wheelchair flashed through Dick’s mind. His knuckles popped as he clenched his fists. Jason wasn’t wrong. Dick had believed- had known- what Jason was saying was true; he’d beaten the Joker to death with his bare hands, all for Bruce to bring him back. 

 Dick shifted his weight, ready to drop down in a split-second, “You know, I thought... I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you that he beat to a bloody pulp, if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing but search the planet for this pathetic pile of evil, death-worshiping garbage and then send him off to hell!” Oh, Jaybird. This was all wrong, all so fucking wrong. Bruce had lost his mind when Jason died; why wasn’t Bruce telling him?

Finally, finally, Bruce opened his mouth, “You don't understand. I don't think you've ever understood.” Dick was going to kill Bruce. Then, he was going to cart his brother off to therapy and ice cream.

“What? That your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?” So much therapy and so much ice cream. Maybe even a trip to a bookstore. Or an island. Just anywhere but Gotham.

“No! God Almighty, no. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others, and then... end him.” Barbara’s beaten form in a hospital bed, Jason’s tiny grave- Dick felt all too prepared to assume the burden for Bruce.

The Joker laughed again, “Aw, Batsy’s thinkin’ bout lil ol’ me!” Jason slammed a boot into the clown’s side, and Dick found himself almost cheering.

Bruce carried on, too stuck in his self-flagellation and morality, “But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place... I'll never come back.” Boo-fuckin-hoo, Dick would stop Bruce if he went too far. He'd done it before.

“Why? I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him, just him. And doing it because... because he took me away from you.” Dick was afraid that if he exhaled, he’d scream. It took him months to realize that Jason wasn’t his usurper- that he was just a kid who needed a family. If Jason thought for a minute that Dick hadn’t wanted to burn the world to ashes-

“I can't. I'm sorry.” Fuck this.

Jason chuckled, low and uneven, and Dick felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, “You don’t have to. I will,” he pulled a gun from his hip, cocked the hammer, and lowered it to point at the Joker’s laughing face, “Him or me, Bruce. Either kill me, or I kill him.” No, no, no, no-

Bruce reached into his utility belt and drew a Batarang- NO

Time slowed. Was this how Wally felt?

Dick launched from the beam-

Jason turned away from the Joker, his mouth opened to speak-

The Batarang glinted in the flickering lights as it flew-

Dick screamed his brother’s name, arm outstretched-

“JASON!”

A river of red opened and poured out of Jason’s neck-

Jason fell to the ground, clutching his throat-

Dick was frozen. He was standing on solid ground. His brother was bleeding out ten feet away, with the Joker howling in laughter on the ground next to him. Dick could sense Bruce Batman behind him. Unmoving.  

It wasn’t something many people acknowledged- even in his own family- but Dick Grayson was a weapon given skin. He had trained with Raptor, Lady Shiva, and Deathstroke. They didn’t specialize in nonlethal force. Dick had mutilated, tortured, and killed in the name of justice. Batman just killed his brother. Carelessly, he flicked a Wingding into the Joker’s neck, slicing his carotid like Jason’s.

"Let him go," Dick triggered his escrima stick, sparks of blue crackling into existence, "now."

He turned to face the man he had loved as a father who killed his brother, his voice uncharacteristically solemn and steady, “You killed my brother.” Blue lightning crackled into existence, drowning out the sound of the Joker’s dying giggles.

Bruce’s Batman’s face was carved from stone, even as he raised his fists, “You broke the code.”

“Fuck your code,” Dick launched himself at Batman, escrima sticks raised, “he was your son!”

Once upon a time, many years ago, Bruce had taught Dick to fight, but Dick wasn’t trying to fight his former mentor; he was trying to kill him. Batman swung at Nightwing, aiming to shatter bone and rend flesh. They had crossed the point of no return, and they both knew it, “He came back wrong.”

Dick roared in rage, primal and furious, not speaking a word, slamming a well-placed kick into Batman’s weak knee. He was done talking. He’d tried to talk to Bruce Batman for years. If the old man wanted to fight someone, he’d be reminded why Nightwing was his contingency plan.

Batman fell to one knee, slashing out with a Batarang, but Nightwing caught it with an escrima stick, knocking it from the elder’s hand, and slamming the other into the side of his head. Dick dodged a sloppy punch, flipping out of the way with agility Batman could never match. 

“Stand down, Nightwing,” Batman bellowed, “That’s enough!” He staggered back to his feet, catching the younger in the ribs with a gauntleted fist. The force of the punch threw Dick, tossed him through the air onto his back on the ground, a pained gasp leaving his lips.

Dick snarled, a horrifying imitation of the smile he was famous for, “Never again.” He’d never stand down again, not for Batman. He launched into the air off his shoulders, his feet connecting with the Bat symbol, knocking Batman onto the concrete. 

Nightwing knelt on the Batsuit, pressing a Wingding into his throat, “You slit his throat.” Tears blurred his vision as he cut through the armor, the blade touching his former mentor’s skin, drawing a single drop of beaded blood. 

“Dad?”

In a heartbeat, Dick was on the floor between the Joker’s corpse and his brother. He thought he was dead; he didn’t check- “Jason,” the word left his bloody lips like a prayer, “fuck, Jason.” He pressed his fingers to his brother’s throat- there was a thick scar under the gore but no open wound. Jason’s pulse was fast and erratic- but it was there.

“Dickie?” Jason’s voice was small, croaky. Batman had probably cut into his vocal cords when he threw that stupid Batarang. (You should call them Batarangs- like Bat and Boomerang!)

“I’m here, Little Wing,” tears dripped off his chin onto his brother’s face, “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” 

Distantly, Dick heard Batman jump out of a window. He didn’t care. He was holding his brother, his blessedly alive brother, fuck Batman. Birds of a feather stuck together.

#dc comics #dc universe #dick grayson #jason todd #batman #bruce wayne #under the red hood #nightwing #red hood #dick grayson isnt stupid #dick grayson is a good brother #dick grayson is lethal #jason todd was right about the joker #joker #nightwing is batmans contingency for a reason #robin #robins stick together

[imthefailedartist]

You know in West World when the Man in Black was talking about how ugly the hosts have become because they're making them basically human?

That's how I feel about CGI, video games, and animation. People used to create art now everything is focused on making it look real that was cool but now it's taking the fun and creativity out of things.

There used to be a balance. A mixture of the practical with the digital. It was great. We took that time for granted.

Look at the "live action" Lion King. I have never seen the animation but I know everything about it, why? Because everyone else loves The Lion King they never shut up about it, do you know what I've heard about the new one? Bubcus, nothing, zip, zilch, nada. Because it was a soulless cash grab and everyone could tell. They spent so much money to make it look real just because they could and because it had to look real they took away all the color and artistry. I'm so scared for The Little Mermaid. Hopefully the fact that it's underwater and a fantasy it forces them to be creative and embrace the fantastical because I don't want to spend two hours looking at realist fish. If I wanted to do that I'd watch a nature documentary.

Look at Marvel movies. They are starting to look like plastic. They don't even make half sets anymore. In Dr. Strange Mystery of Madness they walk down a city block and it's all fake and it looks terrible. Marvel is over working and underpaying their graphics departments and its showing. We've become reliant on it and the film industry is suffering for it.

I've been watching older movies and the practical effects are amazing. Slither looks so gross because its real. No CGI creature has beaten the Graboid in disgusting. The Blob amazing. AvP. The Fly. The Exorcist. A Werewolf in London. All look incredible sure its not all realistic but who cares it's art. The miniatures they used to make amazing. Look at Coraline and how creative they got, popcorn flowers.

Parents used to complain that N64 James bond with its square hand and rectangle gun was too violent and realistic. Look at games today. When Red Dead Redemption first came out NPCs had so many different death falls that it would take 30 kills before one repeated now you can kill 100 NPCs and still never see a repeat. That's insane. I'm in no way saying violent video games correspond to real life violence etc. but making everything so real is definitely going to have an effect on the way people react to certain things.

This was a late night rant maybe I'll make a more clear point some other time. In the meantime damn realism and get weird.

#art #practical effects #cgi #miniatures #movie magic #philsophy #the man in black #west world #old movies #fantsy vs realism

[xsvcrilege]

                      ❝ I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you . ❞

                𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟⧸𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑒 :  alara   »   hybrid   »   melisa asli pamuk  .

❛❛   aesthetic.  ❜❜   ―   ◜   ❏  . ―  a  midsummer  night’s  dream ,  she  was  truly  a  puzzle ;  but  god  help  anyone  who  mistook  her  for  a  game ,  piano  music  at  the  end  of  an  empty  hall , cracks  and  damage  on  an  ornate  statue. ―  triggers :  death tw , illness tw .

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―   ◜   ❏  . ―  * ⠀ &.  *  melisa asli pamuk : cis female : she/her : doin’ time by lana del rey  —  it seems alara has been roaming volterra. the 30/31 -year-old hybrid has been in the city for a day . whispers in volterra says they’ve never heard of anyone like them.   ―  *

🇧​🇦​🇸​🇮​🇨​🇸 »

full name :  alara .

age :  30 / 31 .

date of birth : september 21st .

occupation : museum curator / auction house owner .

species :  hybrid .

language(s) spoken :  english  ,  turkish  ,  russian  ,  spanish  ,  french  ,  italian .

hair color :  brunette .

eye color : brown .

notable scars :  n/a .

🇮​🇳​🇹​🇪​🇷​🇮​🇴​🇷​»

ability :  telekinesis + zoopathy  | the user can move, manipulate or otherwise interact with objects/matter without physical means . +  the  power to read the minds of and communicate or manipulate animals . 

positive :  witty  ,  resourceful .

negative :  callous  ,  unpredictable .

moral alignment :  chaotic neutral .

hogwarts house :  ravenclaw .

deadly sin :  lust + greed .

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book : game of thrones .

movie :  documentaries .

food :  human blood .

flower :  orchids .

season :  fall  .

🇫​🇦​🇲​🇮​🇱​🇾​​ »

father :  unknown .

mother :  unknown .

mate :  wanted connection .

🇧​​🇮🇴​​ »

—  not much is known about alara. if you asked her, she would simply tell you that  she was left found in the kayaköy village besides her mother’s dead body ,  where many believed this village haunted by jinns and people refused to settle . 

—   alara’s cries were heard for two days before, a farmer, mustafa, decided to investigate. Finding the child, for a moment he hesitated before picking her up and taking her home to his wife, eda. As old as they were, the couple never had any children as much as they tried and knowing how the those in the small town would react in finding the baby in haunted village, those who believed in superstitious (which is more than half of the small town), would be wary of her. So they decided to keep her. 

—   Naming her alara, the elderly couple became quite attached to the hybrid . Of course, it went without saying their surprise and when the small girl started to grow up rather too quickly . on top of it finding the small girl drinking the blood of the slaughtered animals they would kill for food . mustafa dived into researching of anything that could help them, nothing came to him . was this some sort of demon or something other wordly .  They were never fearful of her though, it only just made them more protective of alara .

— Growing up they encouraged alara to be herself only when she was in the farm. Never allowed to use her powers out of their home . they kept her isolated and secluded . home schooled . yet as the years passed, alara learned more and more about her powers and herself , secretly feeding on human rather than animal .  alara would help around the farm and pretty much knew how to tend to it by the time she was 13 .

—   Although it would be a couple of months later that alara’s peaceful life would take a turn when eda’s drunken younger brother would come and demand for them to hide him . running from loan sharks he had double crossed and stolen from . Yet the very next day he was found and mustafa and eda caught in the crossfire when eda’s brother refused to tell them anything . Alara woke up to the commotion and witnessed eda on the ground already dead and mustafa beaten up , his heart barely beating  .  Eda’s brother immediately trying to sell alara off to them but before any of the thugs made a move they were already dead by her hands .   .

— she looked over eda who was kind to her and mustafa’s who’s heart gave in minutes ago . While she didn’t cry over them , she knew she would miss the home they made for her . the love and care they had . Washing off the blood and giving them a proper burial , alara left the farm that had been her safe bubble and decided to explore what the rest of the world had to offer . 

—    wandering about towns after town , when she ended up in france , the sickly daughter of a museum manager , Madeline ,  took a linking to her and befriended alara . whether it was luck or fate , alara had a fondness of the past and learning about it . her friend’s father taking a liking to alara who made his daughter happy decided to take her in once he had learned alara was sleeping in the streets .  alara was mostly taken in as a companion to his daughter but saw her absorbing knowledge like no other he had become fond of her . while alara was content with having a nice place to be and clothed . 

—   being sent to school with madeline, the two became inseparable . she loved alara’s indifferent nature and although at times madeline wished for alara to express herself or know what she is really feeling , madeline loved her all the same . Alara becoming fond of the sickly human girl she was to eat on the first day they met . Of course , she knew her time would be up soon . 

—   when madeline passed at the ripe age of 19 . alara simply thought it was time to move on considering there was nothing for her there . That is when her father stopped alara from going and told her of madeline’s wish for alara to be always taken cared of . Despite her indifferent nature alara had her kind moments to people who she becomes fond of . madeline’s father also pleading alara not to leave.. 

—   living as a trust fund baby , in his death , madeline’s father left everything he had to alara by her 23rd birthday . Distant relatives angered over this but had no right to contest the will as he had left them all each one dollar for being greedy and only caring about the money they would get once he passed . 

—    alara went on with her life . while she had no need to work , alara would go on to work a museum curator and a successful owner of an action house . 

—  her reasoning for being in volterra is due to the fact that she was needed at one of the museums . funny enough as fate would have it , during this time vampires from all over are coming into town as well .

#sanguis:intro #* ╰ alara ❮ intro ❯

[hahanoiwont]

I have had Papyrus Thoughts. I have put them below the cut

been lookin through all the early snowdin scenes bc we're going to be lifting some dialogue hardcore...and Sans has this one line about Papyrus, "don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be." what does that MEAN, SIR. is it that Papyrus has a lot of traps and puzzles that could be dangerous, but wouldn't use them to kill anybody? is it that Papyrus's ability to knock people out without killing them isn't the product of great control but just that he's literally incapable of killing people? does Sans straight up not know about Papyrus's combat abilities?? (incidentally that last one would explain why he's not there for the Papyrus battle--if he figures "oh my bro can't fight like at all" then he'd have no reason to expect a battle to take place, and it would be congruent with how he frankly kind of babies Papyrus, but also how would he not know)

anyway as interesting as any of those interpretations would be, i'm gonna say that Sans completely, hilariously underestimates his brother's capacity for violence. Papyrus has a couple of lines that imply that he's not necessarily a pacifist, or at least not opposed to enacting violence (even accounting for cultural differences, beating someone unconscious is in fact a violent act). And even without using all of his potential, he's obviously a strong fighter. but, according to Sans, "not dangerous." I mean he could be lying, but tbh it's way funnier if Sans '1 hit and he dies' 'will not fight come hell or high water' Undertale simply does not recognize that his extremely cool bro could possibly harm another person. Papyrus? Never!

This could possibly be true by a mix of Sans's impression that Papyrus is more ignorant than he actually is, combined with Sans's own values and his assumption that Papyrus shares them. I will argue to my grave that Sans is a pacifist (if a real-life person refused to fight unless they were not only the next victim of an actual genocide but also facing down the end of the world, I think we would still count them as a pacifist, actually! also the geno confrontation is much more narratively interesting if Sans is setting aside his own ideals to totally, viciously oppose them--from 0 to 100 on the violence scale because he has been backed into a corner and he has exactly one way to fight back so he's damned well going to give it everything he has); and Sans so clearly admires and loves Papyrus that a few things might be assumed--such as Papyrus being totally harmless, because Sans is pretty much harmless, and why would he assume his brother is more dangerous than he is? Besides this, Sans's 1 HP comes into consideration--even if Papyrus sees no issue with making friends by inflicting massive damage on one another, Sans would be an obvious exception, because if he roughhoused with Papyrus like that he would die instantly. So the only attacks Sans has faced from Papyrus have absolutely no intent to hit, much less harm. So, yeah, I do think that Sans wouldn't really think of Papyrus as someone capable of causing harm, because Sans has never seen it from him, and he's left to assume that Papyrus is like that all of the time.

so like. I am imagining that someone could tell Sans after a pacifist run, "hey your brother beat Frisk unconscious and put them in your garage to sleep it off." And Sans would straight up not believe them. like. "papyrus? nah, you're yanking my chain. what kind of guy do you think my brother is?"

Anyway I forgot where I was going with this, except that I think that Papyrus is absolutely willing to do a hit, and Sans would not believe this fact if anyone, including Papyrus, tried to tell him. Which then has the potential to set up the fun and interesting dynamic of, "My brother has horrible stats and doesn't even try to defend himself! I have to protect him so that no one takes advantage of this."/"my brother is a little naive, and he'd never hurt anyone, no matter what. i have to protect him so that no one takes advantage of this." because Sans and Papyrus are each other's opposites in so many ways that they can both think they're covering for each other's glaring weak spots, and they can both be totally correct about this. and totally wrong.

#undertale #writing tag #anyway ppl recognize that paps doesn't kill anyone regardless of playthrough #and that is a neat fact #but murder is not the end all be all of violence #like. if u look at the text you get when monsters are reduced to low health but not killed #it's not like they're cool and fine with it #they react much like a human beaten half to death would #papyrus is legit cool with just. beating someone up #he will begin to feel bad after he has beaten them unconscious twice #whereas sans will not make even a token attack if a single monster is spared #like even if he hates their guts he will let frisk/chara pass #idk i also think it's just funnier if sans if a pacifist and could literally witness papyrus kill a man like #eh i'm sure it was a misunderstanding. now excuse me #i need to go tell papyrus a painfully obvious lie so that he doesn't realize this misunderstanding has happened #how sad that that guy accidentally ran into a suspiciously bone shaped knife several times #i will do absolutely no further investigation of this

[equizona]

aaaa i am the anon that sent the bullying ask

im sorry, i didnt know you didnt recieve the ask, im so sorry for the inconvinience aaaa

i will send the full ask, but you can ignore it since you made something similar already!!

a teen!MC that before the devildom was bullied and insecure, but after returning to the human realm, their confidence was up the ROOF, because the pacts with 7 of their big bros protect them from anything

when their bullies start to mess with them again, they threat with summoning x brother, but the bullies just laugh it off like the 8th grade syndrome

something like,,

bully: what are you gonna do now, huh? summon a demon?

teen mc, beaten up: bet. *PACT MARL STARTS GLOWING*

UNTIL ONE DAY MC HAS HAD ENOUGH WITH THEIR SHIT AND SUMMONS ONE OF THE BROTHERS.

how would their big bros react?

i'm sorry again, have a nice day!!!

Note: I don't mind doing it again! Sorry for misunderstanding— And for the long wait, I've been pretty inactive on everything for a while. As I'm working this I've also lost my glasses again so I'm sad– I had very little inspiration for this though, so it's bad.

Fandom: Obey Me! Shall We Date?

Character(s): Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor

Scenario: Teen! MC summons the brothers after going back to the human world and getting bullied.

Reader: Gender-neutral

Warning(s): Spoilers for chapter 16-20, mentions of cannibalism, death, suicide, gore, violence.

→Lucifer

Lucifer doesn't like getting summoned. He's a busy demon, and has better things to do than have humans summon him around. That's probably another of the million reasons he never makes pacts with anyone.

He's made it clear that you should never summon him unless you absolutely have to. You learned that summoning him for a joke was not a good idea after Belphegor and Satan managed to convince you to try it at least once..

You'd never quite been very confident, but the exchange program had helped you a whole lot. (And fun fact, Lucifer's pact mark can be your own cheerleader, I swear— Touch it and you're suddenly filled with so much confidence and and pride it's—)

With a bloody nose the thought of summoning Lucifer, the second(Third? Is he stronger or weaker than Barbatos..?) strongest demon in existence against them seems very tempting..

So you do exactly that, and the glare that he gives everyone around him is enough to make your bullies not even think about the fact he appeared out of nowhere in a bunch of smoke.

"What is going on here MC?"

Someone who's bad at reading him would probably think he wants to kill you, but you know better and can clearly see the small signs of concern.

The second he knows the situation then.. Well, it won't be pretty.

Lucifer is scary, even in his human form, and he gives your bullies the deadliest glare he can manage, and it's a miracle they haven't turned around and made a break for it yet. Maybe they're scared of testing his patience? Who knows.

He'll lean in and tell them something in a hushed voice so that you can't hear what he's saying, but you can see the color slowly draining from their face.

He gives them a polite smile as he shoo's them off, turning around to you as he checks on your injuries, making sure you're alright.

He's definitely scolding you for getting hurt though. It kinda sucks but also it's kinda nice.

For some reason that you can most likely guess is Lucifer, they won't even go into the same class as you, and soon after they move schools.

→Mammon

Honestly? When he gets summoned he half thinks you're a witch trying to get him to pay his debt...

Then he realized it's you and he's just so happy but then he sees the blood and now he's freaking out and—

He takes a second to calm himself down, breathing in and out slowly as your bullies stare at him in disbelief.

The next seconds he's all over you, asking you questions that probably aren't even related to what's going on because you're hurt and he's stressed and when he stresses be panics—

When you explain the situation you're honestly scared at the dark look in his eyes.

Mammon isn't the type to lose control, so he'll just give your bullies a bright grin that almost has you believing it. He'll walk over and casually throw his arm around their shoulders, whispering something so you can't hear.

You are concerned about what he said though because whatever it was it worked better than what you had been expecting of the second born.

He'll make you ditch school to do something fun with him now that he's in the human world— He saved 'ya, so it's only fair, right? Right!

He tells you to pay but ends up paying because he wants to be the 'cool older brother' and if you try to question it he'll just start screeching incoherent things.

Well, least your bully problem is over?

They won't come close to you at all...

→Leviathan

MC how could you!? He was in the middle of a game and he was almost done with this super hard game—

Oh no he's outside.

Why would you do this to him!? You're such a normie! He doesn't want to be outside! This sucks, this isn't what he wants to be doing at all..

Then he sees your 'friends' and he gets jealous. Wasn't he supposed to be your best friend? He was the lord of shadows to your Henry God dammit!

Then when you tell him the situation..?

Leviathan isn't a stranger to bullying. Not a lot of people think he's fit to be the avatar of Envy, so he gets a lot of shit from random demons and he knows how horrible it can be.

And yet there are people that are doing it to his MC? To his best friend and younger sibling?

Not on his watch.

He doesn't bother hiding what he's saying from you, unlike the previous two. He's saying some of the most hurrying threats you can imagine as he's showing off his fangs that are, keep in mind, impuded with one of the most painful and toxic poisons in the three realms.

Safe to say your bullies are a bit too scared to try and get near you again..

Well, why not watch some anime with him right? You no longer have to deal with the bullies, so do something fun with him! He's better, right? Yeah, so he'll take his favorite unoffical younger sibling to watch some anime.

→Satan

Hahaha— Why the hell would you summon the literal avatar of wrath? Do you want to get charged for murder?

If we go about this realistically he'd murder them on the spot, no hesitation. Like, summon him and he'll give you a curious glance.

Once he's aware of what's happening..

He'll get fucking livid, because how dare they? That's his younger sibling and he'll kill them right fucking now—

Either use your pact to stop him once he's beaten the shit out of them, or just let him kill them. It's your choice.

He really won't listen if you say it normally, since he'll be lost in a fit of rage, so be careful—

He'll feel a bit bad that you might be traumatized after that, though he doesn't feel shit for the ones he actually beat the shit out of—

Should have known better than to fuck with the unofficial younger sibling of wrath embodiment.

→Asmodeus

Please, Asmodeus values his manicure more than he values a fight. There's no way he'd get physical with them.

He'll probably just jump at you the second you summon him, shouting about happy he is to see his 'cute little sibling.'

When he notices the situation he'll probably just charm your bullies to leave, and to leave you alone.

He's just going to drag you away after that, determined to spend as much time with you as he can until Lucifer comes and fetches him. He missed you, you know? You missed him too, right? Of course you did, it's him!

You didn't notice the demonic claws that were held to the throat of your bullies.

→Beelzebub

Aaa, Beelzebub, Beelzebub, Beelzebub..

Look, Beelzebub is naturally really protective of his family. He loves them more than anything in the world, and that feeling was just doubled after Lilith's death.

Since you're a human, he's even more protective of you than he is with the others. (It's to be expected. You're a fragile human, their mostly capable demons. He's afraid one day he'll lose you to something small.)

So he'll probably panic the second you summoned him, fearing the worst and that maybe he was too late and should have followed you up to the human realm—

If he smells your blood he's a step away from giving into Satan's sin and breaking just about everything around him.

When he sees your mostly fine he'll calm down, but honestly if your bullies haven't ran away yet I feel bad for them.

Assuming that they haven't, —even if they probably did after seeing this huge guy show up from nowhere— He'll probably just eat them.

He's a bit hungry, so why not get rid of someone who's hurting his family while soothing his hunger? Win-win.

He'll understand if you don't want to get traumatized by that though, so he'll stop if you ask him.

You can assume safely that he'll find them afterwards though, he has a keen sense of smell and he remembers their face. They won't survive, their death will only be postponed.

→Belphegor

Belphegor is very protective too. He's not generally a very protective person, unlike his twin brother, but with you it's different.

He's already hurt you so much, and he doesn't want you to get hurt again ever.

Still, he's a bit annoyed that you woke him from his nap. He's tired MC, he's tired.

He's sharp though, and he's going to understand the situation really quickly. He won't even spare them a second glance, just guide you away from them.

He'll give them a threatening smile as he flashes both his claws and fangs at them, and they won't get near you again after that.

Why would he bother doing something that might get messy if he can just enter their dreams and make them do it themselves, right?

He's not above driving someone to suicide, they should have known better.

Anyway, MC, he's tired and you dragged him away from his nap so now you're obligated to nap with him

#obey me #obey me x reader #Lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #lucifer x reader #mammon x reader #leviathan x reader #satan x reader #asmodeus x reader #beelzebub x reader #belphegor x reader #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me lucifer x reader #obey me mammon x reader #obey me leviathan x reader #obey me satan x reader #obey me asmodeus x reader #obey me beelzebub x reader #obey me belphegor x reader

[asmo-ds]

I've had this thought in my head for awhile, but does God know mc is the descent of Lilith?? Lilith was supposed to be killed but was secretly reincarnated by Diavolo. What if he finds out and kills mc because as far as he's concerned, they shouldn't exist? Can I request some hcs of how the demon brothers and undateables would react to this happening? If not, I understand! >.< Thank you!! ❤️❤️

&

When God kills MC for being Lilith’s descendant

WARNINGS: Blood, death, depression, anger, war, Simeon dies in one of them

- If anyone mentioned MC he’d be gripping them by the throat begging them with tears in his eyes to never speak their name in front of him again

- He doesn’t want them to say it because of his pride. He knows he’ll cry hearing their name and he’d get flashbacks to Michael standing over MC’s bleeding body as they cried Lucifer’s name, hopeful that he’d be able to save them.

- He wasn’t able to save them despite being right there, he was being held back by some angels and was fighting them at that moment, but even after he killed those angels and Michael, he got to their side too late, their eyes empty and skin still warm, but getting colder as the seconds pass.

- He’d scream and cry so loud the entire Devildom would hear, and he wouldn’t care, no matter how much pride he held, he was torn to pieces and felt lost the second their soul left their frail human body

- He and Diavolo immediately agree that God needs to feel the same pain he’d put all the brothers through twice

- They go to the celestial realm and attack a bunch of Archangels

- His anger from losing both his sister and his lover will be terrifying and is enough to bring God to his knees

- “I won’t let you touch anybody else. I won’t let you tear my family apart more than you have!” 

- If he does not kill God, he definitely leaves him shaking in his boots,

- He will use all his strength to kill as many Archangels as possible, so his father would feel the same loss he’d felt.

- He’d leave God wounded but make him have to helplessly watch his children and friends die horrid deaths before his very eyes, just like Lucifer had to do with Lilith and MC, still alive, but left empty and helpless.

- His mourning process after the rage would basically be over working himself, bringing his mind to anything but the dear human he’d lost

- Watching his former brothers impale MC’s chest with a sword was not something he was ready to see.

- He hated every second of holding them in their last moments, he thought he wouldn’t have to watch them die in agony like he did when they let Belphie out of the attic

- It happened when he looked away, an angel suddenly appeared in front of MC and immediately had the blade in them

- He blames Lucifer for a while.

- Because of him, everyone found out the truth about Lilith and it got back to God and if Lucifer had just allowed Belphie to stay out of the attic to live with the exchange student like the rest of them they would never have died either of their deaths

- Blames himself a lot as well, he is supposed to be fast. That’s his thing, is being fast. But he wasn’t fast enough to save them from their killer.

- Distracts himself with drinking and gambling his life away

- One night he gets unbearably mad and intoxicated, which leads to him sneaking into the Demon Lord’s castle and using a gate to the celestial realm.

- When he’s there he books it to the throne of his father, begging him to at least tell him if MC was in heaven or hell before he sent him back down there.

- Hearing that they went to neither and God had simply wiped them and their soul from existence was what finally got to him

-He lunged at him but was stopped by Diavolo who had followed him there and apologized to God for letting him through.

- “YOU’VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU DON’T DESERVE TO RULE THIS UNIVERSE, ONE DAY I KNOW LUCIFER WILL RETURN TO BEHEAD YOU IN FRONT OF THE REST OF YOUR PRECIOUS ANGELS”

- His ranting kind of caught everyone off guard but they wouldn’t be able to stare in shock for long as Diavolo dragged him through the gate, bringing him to the dungeon where he would stay until Lucifer could hopefully talk some sense into him

- Why? Why did he have to tell MC to go shopping themselves, why didn’t he just go with them.

- When they used his pact mark a second too late, he arrived to their bloody beaten body, nearly lifeless eyes turning hopeful for their last moment of life as they saw Leviathan

- He turns just in time to see an angel booking it towards a portal, but he is too concerned with saving MC to actually chase their killer.

- He turned back to them and lifted their unconscious body off the Devildom soil, sprinting as fast as possible screaming for help

- When he arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle begging Diavolo to save them he was too late, somewhere along the way their heart had stopped and they died looking up at their yucky otaku boyfriend trying so hard to save them from a hopeless battle with a small smile.

- He locks himself in his room, not even coming out to eat meals.

- When Lucifer finally had enough of Levi starving himself, he opened the door with the master key and found his pale younger brother, in his bed sleeping, but under the blankets he guess Levi had lost too much weight.

- He also took notice of his lack of anime figurines and video games, looking to see them in the trash.

- Levi is quick to get mad at Lucifer but when Lucifer just holds him and pats his younger brother’s hair, he breaks down full on sobbing and snot getting all over Lucifer’s coat, which he cringed at a little but dealt with it for the boy’s sake.

- He wouldn’t go to God like the previous two, he’d just murder anyone who mentioned him or his angels 

- He ends up giving away his fish too, convinced that he wasn’t allowed to have loved ones because no matter how hard he tried to save them he never could. First his baby sister and now the love of his life.

- Oh poor Satan, he had worked so so hard to get his temper under control, but watching an angel slit MC’s throat in front of his very eyes erased all the control he had within him and he immediately gutted the angel, within the blink of an eye they were just as dead as MC

- He called Lucifer begging for help, even though they both knew he was much too late and MC had bled out and died quickly. 

- He held them until Lucifer and some of the other brothers had to pry his arms off of them.

- After seeing them taken away to be put in a casket and buried in the human world with their family, he filled with rage and grief all at once, from the top of his head all the way to his toes he was radiating wrath and he went on a rampage, killing demons left and right

- He wasn’t able to think clearly until a voice in the back of his head reminded him of the human and how they always helped everyone no matter their species.

- He stopped killing then, not wanting MC’s spirit to be upset with him more than they already should be.

- He, like Lucifer, distracts himself so that he can’t think of MC as much and be hurt by the images that lived in his head forever

- Whenever a book described a character similar to MC he’d tear every page, ripping it to shreds

- He’d lost almost half of his book collection in only a month because he managed to see MC in everything.

- Blames himself and tries to get to the Celestial Realm but is stopped by Diavolo and Lucifer

- After he had been in his room for about a week or so with no sign of even moving from his bed, Lucifer let himself in which pissed of the avatar of wrath

- Lucifer said nothing but looked in his eyes before simply saying the blonds name, before hugging him

- For the first time since he was a young boy, Satan let Lucifer hold him as he wailed and sobbed, venting and letting his eldest brother guide him through it all

- Why did he let MC storm off when he was letting that succubus flirt with him?

- If he had just told to succubus to go away cuz he was with MC they’d still be alive, they wouldn’t have died in such a painful way.

- When he heard a scream he turned around and froze as he saw MC, sword entering their chest and exiting between their shoulder blades

- He panicked and rushed to them, looking the angel responsible in the eyes so he could have him wait for when Asmodeus felt ready to kill him

- When MC gave him a soft smile and touched his cheek with their bloody hand, he held it against his face and cried screaming for help and texting and calling Lucifer like crazy

- When he felt their hand go limp he stopped everything

- He looked down and saw their once lively eyes looking at the sky above them, with no soul behind them, just an empty shell of the only person to ever fall in love with him for reasons other than sex, money, and power.

- He couldn’t look away, he just stared at them in silence, tears rolling down his cheeks as Lucifer and Diavolo arrived, both gasping as they saw Asmodeus covered in MC’s blood.

- Asmodeus dropped his skin care routines, rivaling Belphie’s title as the avatar of sloth as he slept day and night, no longer wanting to be awake with MC

- Why did his father have to take away the one wholesome thing he had? Why was his father so desperate to ruin things for his six surviving sons and Satan

- One day he suddenly jumps back into his old self, smiling and flirting like nothing was wrong, but everyone knew he was still completely broken up inside

- He brings home a new partner every night, each one resembling MC in some way shape or form, because he knows he can’t have them anymore, but he doesn’t want to think about that

- He just wants to embrace his sins and distract himself from any lingering thoughts of MC with strangers

- How could be be so reckless? He knows he shouldn’t leave MC alone in public places but when he saw a hotdog cart he couldn’t help but dash for it with all his speed

- As he was ordering everything the cart had he heard screams behind him

- He looked back and felt his blood run cold as he saw MC’s body on the ground, blood pouring out of their neck and an angel covered in blood flying away

- That angel would get his punishment later, right now he has to tend to MC

- He desperately tries to get them to respond to him, the only response he ever receives is MC’s final gurgled breaths, as they looked at him with terror in their eyes that slowly disappeared as their body shut down, unable to keep going

- and he roared, demon form coming out at he flew off into the sky, chasing the angel that was considerably slower than him

- When he reached them he bit into their shoulder before devouring them completely, making sure they suffered ten times as much as MC had in their final moments

- Without a second thought he flies towards the Demon Lords castle in a rage

- As he knocks down the doors he manages to knock out several guards who were watching the castle diligently as Diavolo and Barbatos had immediately left to go find MC and Beel

- Beel went to the Portals that allowed them to travel between realms, and charged into the Celestial realm, killing multiple angels on his way to God

- He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Just because he rules over the entire universe doesn’t mean he can take everything away from Beel. He can’t keep losing the most important people in his life, it wasn’t fair

- When he fought his way into God’s throne room, facing him for the first time in several millennia he raged immediately pouncing at his father only to be struck down.

- The fight kept going until Diavolo and Lucifer had arrived to take the giant redhead back to the Devildom, Lucifer nearly killing God himself when he saw how hurt his younger brother was.

- He refuses to eat for a very long time, feeling he deserved to be in pain because he was the reason behind both Lilith and MC’s gruesome deaths

- He only eats when it starts to hurt Belphie a lot as well, but he hates it, he feels unworthy

(Simeon Simps beware)

- He wishes he could unhear it. The sound of MC beside him in bed, screaming as a sword entered their chest, gasping for air but failing to find it.

- Why didn’t he wake up to the intruder? How could he just let an angel deliver MC the same fate they had nearly recieved by himself.

- He didn’t chase after the intruder, instead screaming for his brothers’ help, staying with MC comforting them and trying to urge them to keep breathing.

- “Belphie,” “Mc, save your breath you’ll be okay I promise!” “I’m sleepy, Belphie....I’m.. Gonna nap here with you,” 

- He stared at them like they were crazy, but deep down he knew this was their way of having one last happy moment with him. He nodded and held them, avoiding the area where the wound was and crying as he held onto them, feeling the last of their breaths and the life leave their body

- He turned into his demon form. He sees it now

- He shouldn’t have been hating humans, no, they weren’t to blame at all.

- It was the angels, they were the ones who kept taking away his loved ones. They were the ones who needed to pay.

- When everybody had gathered in the room, mourning MC’s departure, Belphie looked up and saw Simeon crying while trying to push Luke away from the bloody scene

- Belphie lunged at Simeon pushing him down before reaching his claws into the Angel’s throat, ripping it out as Luke and the others watched in terror

- Diavolo locked Belphie away for killing the angel and Belphie felt not an ounce of regret.

- Now father will feel the pain of losing someone so special, since he knew Simeon was one of his favorite angels

- Whichever guard allowed an angel to sneak by with a weapon is to be beheaded

- This was supposed to be a nice elegant ball with MC as the prince’s date

- But he turned to face a noble man to talk for a moment when he felt MC grip suddenly tighten harshly on his hand, and when he turned he was mortified to see a knife in their chest and an angel fleeing as quickly as possible

- Diavolo goes on a rampage, chasing the angel before ripping his head off with his bare hands

- He held MC’s body and cried for hours, begging Barbatos to bring them back in time again to save themselves once more from the cruel death they’d been forced to have

- He decided to hell with the Celestial realm, only the humans and Devildom shall be united, God had taken things too far with MC’s death

- He sent troops to the celestial realm and offered the seven demon brothers a second chance at taking down their dad, but with him and his army on their side this time

- When he does eventually rampage his way to god the battle is intense and nearly destroys all three realms, Diavolo was desperate to avenge MC and came very close to killing god with his bare hands

- He had done so much to prevent this. He’d known this future was a possibility so he tried to stop it from becoming the reality he’d lived in

- Where did he mess up? Why was MC’s throat slit right before his eyes?

- His usual poker face or sly smirk was nowhere to be seen as he cried on Diavolo’s shoulder, and Diavolo was happy that Barbatos allowed himself to be vulnerable with him, but saddened to see what had caused it

- Barbatos constantly blames himself, and whenever anyone suggest traveling to an alternate universe where they survived, he’d say no because that wasn’t his MC and he didn’t want to take them away from their version of him

- He never was vulnerable around anyone ever again

- He also nearly scrubbed every inch of the castle into oblivion, trying so hard to distract himself with cleaning, but no amount of chores could keep his mind away from MC

- When Diavolo suggests that they go to war with the Celestial realm, Barbatos is quick to agree.

- “I’m right behind you my lord, I trust you to guide us to victory,”

- When fighting he came face to face with the angel responsible for killing MC and he made his death slow and painful and forced him to watch his friends and family get slaughtered by the Devildom troops 

- No no no

- Surely he had a pact with someone who could fix this

- He is panicking and can’t think of a single demon that could heal a wound as big as MC’s 

- He’s sobbing and holding them, wailing and mourning the loss of the only other human to understand and love him

- He was angry, but he knew he couldn’t take on God

- He was moved into the house of lamentation because his anger towards the Celestial realm put the exchange angels in danger

- Asmo ends up trying to cheer him up, trying desperately to get his best friend and pact holder back

- He ends up researching spells to revive them, to no avail

- But he never gives up and Asmodeus and Satan remind him that MC wouldn’t want him to be acting this irrational and wouldn’t want to be revived for a second time

- He eventual realizes all that and gives up his search and just lets himself be sad

- Why? Why would he do this.

- He cries, desperate to find reason in God’s action, very focused on keeping his status as an angel and not fall

- But back in the Celestial Realm, Michael brings up MC’s assassination and Simeon loses all composure and tries to kill Michael, angry that he ever trusted him so much

- MC was an innocent human with no control over their lineage, they were happy, they had hope and were going to do great things, so why?

- Why did God kill an innocent human? He does not understand

- As the battle between Simeon and Michael comes to an end, Simeon is pushed out of the Celestial realm

- His wings blackening, horns sprouting from underneath his shattering halo, teeth growing sharp and the aura surrounding him becoming demonic

- He fell from grace

- He lives with the brothers for the rest of eternity, all mourning MC occasionally and making up ideas on how they could finally bring justice to MC and Lilith’s names

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #obey me luficer #obey me hc #obey me hcs #obey me angst hc #obey me headcanons #obey me headcannon #om! headcanons #obey me headcannons #om! headcannon

[alexisqueen-137]

How could I (D.M x Reader)

Hey guys, so this is my first fic that I am posting, I really hope you enjoy this, also, requests open! feedback appreciated whether good or bad, and i apologize if some bit’s in the story are a wee bit cringy... and btw the angst will be much more in the next parts! (btw I don’t write smut AT ALL)

warnings: angst, reader almost get’s raped, mentions of self-harm, mentions of abuse

Word count: 1k+

summary: Pansy uses the unforgivable torture curse on y/n, and after that y/n changes turning into a total badass, catching draco’s eye even more than before...fluff if u squint

The leaves on the withering grass indicated that finally, most finally, Autumn had come once more on the beautiful castle.

Students rushed from classes to see the wonderful sight awaiting them at the meadow. The biting breeze didn’t change their stubborn minds, infact, it most probably encouraged them to sit around the black lake, watching the giant squid with far-away looks in their eyes and pumpkin juice in their hands. 

However, probably the only soul still inside of the towering castle walls was Y/N L/N. The crumpling, aching feeling inside of your chest was only growing and though you wished to let it all out, you weren't able to. Your burning tears were held inside of you too  scared to fall and be for once free. 

Staggering to the dungeons, y/n couldn’t breathe normally or walk properly because of the pain that wracked her body even until now.

And finally have you reached your dorm, you shut the door and made sure no one was there, only to fall on your knees and let all the tears you had been holding slip, slip onto your forest green carpet and dampen it.

It was a habit, a habit of yours to cry as silently as possible, because you were still haunted by your memories as a child being beaten up by your drunken father.

All the walls that you had built inside of you were now by this point fragile; cracking; falling apart...

y/n was not a foolish sensitive girl, oh you were much more. You were so strong to have gone through all of the trials and mishaps that would have destroyed most people. Even though, it still broke you...You were a human being too, in the end. These things you went through were the reason you made those thin scars on your arms and thighs with the silver knife you inherited...it soothes you, this act. It reminds you that you are a normal person who can still feel pain.

However, what happened to you this time must be the end of it all.

It all started when you entered your potions class which the Slytherins (such as yourself) shared with the Gryffindors. You were a bit late, which was unusual since you were one of the best students in your year. Always after Hermione Granger and before Draco Malfoy. Oh how you loathed him. He made your life hell and well...you didn’t need much of a reason to hate him.

you walked over to your seat next to Blaise Zabini, who was your best friend, since he was one of the only who didn’t mind you were a half-blood Slytherin. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley glared at you because they hate all Slytherins, albeit you never did anything to them...

you ignored them, half annoyed, half overlooking the whole situation. Professor Slughorn started explaining the properties of a well-made draught of living death as you took notes. Then Slughorn said something that caught everyone’s complete attention; he was giving away a small vial of liquid luck to whoever made the best living death potion.

Everyone started working, and you started working too, extra hard, because you reallyyyyyy needed that liquid luck. For a reason you would never admit to anyone but yourself. you wanted to give it to- yes, believe it or not- Malfoy. Not because you  liked him or something, no you hated him, it was just that he kept bragging to the Slytherins how the Dark Lord gave him a job and he was chosen for blah blah blah...And you couldn’t really let him kill himself, right?

You side glanced at Potter to see how he was doing, only to see that instead of cutting up his Sopophorous bean, he was crushing it, getting much more juice than you, you followed his lead and crushed your bean with the back of your silver knife watching the liquid ooze out of it’s shiny shell...

*after class*

 you put the golden liquid in your pocket feeling quite happy with yourself, you and Potter had made equivalently perfect draughts, earning the both of you felix felicis. 

Just as you were heading to your next class, you bumped into (rather unfortunately), no other than Pansy Parkinson, the pug-faced slut. Apperently, she made it her all time mission to annoy the fuck out of Y/N.

“Watch where your going, Bitch” She retorted. You huffed. She continued, “I don’t think you can though, not with that ugly hair covering your filthy face!”

She cackled like the whole thing was so funny. You rolled your eyes, and then cleared your throught; “Bugger off, Parkinson, I don’t need you all in my face like spot cream or something, not that you would know of it, looks like you’ve never used it your entire life!” you smirked, not caring about the consequences this would bring.

Pansy’s eyes flared with anger, she said: “Think we’re so smart, don’t we? Forgot that your superiors (she said that while gesturing at herself) could handle you without much looking at your hideous face! You are sooo unbearable! First, you steal my Dracey from me (at these words you frowned, not knowing what she meant), and now you’re acting all snotty in my face, I think, it’s time for me to TEACH.YOU.A.LESSON! (she practically screeched those words) ughhhhhh I hate you so much, L/N, I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU, YOU KNOW SO, crucio!”  You gasped and before you could react an invisible force squeezed your bones and burned your skin, tugged on your flesh and stabbed you dozens of times at once; until you were screaming and wailing on the ground, writhing in agony, unable to do anything to that horrible skank, all until your vision went black and yout hit the floor, unconscious…

 *after you woke up*

 Unsure for how long you were out, you staggered up, and grimaced form the pain. All you knew that miss ruthless Pansy left you alone in the dark, cold empty hallway. All you knew was that the tears you were holding would burst soon if you don’t hurry to your dorm.

 *present*

 And now, after you had cried your heart out, you realized you didn’t just cry because of the physical pain, but from the mere thought of not being able to stand up to yourself and shoot back at the motherfucking bitch- Oh, how you promised yourself you would change that day. How you would be a new woman with a much bigger attitude, how you would take care of yourself.

 And that’s just what you did.

 *Two months later*

 You had died your hair black from the top, and silver from the bottom, keeping it long, and you always made sure your hair was always wavy, you kept worn down all the time, and it framed your face perfectly.

  Instead of the pants you used to wear, now you always wore a skirt underneath your robes, with black tights and short heels, not forgetting to add a dash of makeup. Not only have you changed your looks, but your attitude aswell. Anyone disrespects you, oh they will pay for it. Admittedly, you had to thank Parkinson for changing you like this, but you thought better than to.

You were top of your year and you helped people whenever they want. You were kind, but one hell of a badass.

However, you still thought about the day Parkinson cursed you, what had she said, I had stolen Draco from her? You didn’t understand that. You and Draco had no romantic relationship. Albeit, when you started to change, he found it better for him to be your friend. (Blaise couldn’t shut up about it, he was so relieved that both his best friends weren’t enemies anymore) After getting to know him better, you came to the conclusion that Draco wasn’t as bad as he seemed…not at all.

Yet, you still hadn’t given him the vial of liquid luck, afraid he might reject it from you.

*one day*

You took a bite from your green apple as you made your way to class, you would be 10 minutes early if you went now, but, since you had nothing else to do, you made your way into the empty hallway leading to the transfiguration classroom. you had this weird feeling that someone was watching you though...

As you were walking someone called “Hi honey”, you didn’t turn around, he was probably calling for someone else. “L/N, sweetie!” you froze. You turned around and looked at the boy behind you. “what did you just call me?” “You know what I said y/n. The boy got dangerously closer and you realized it was Theodore Nott, Slytherin. 

He came forward even closer, pushing you into a broom closet. your heart pace was by now going so fast you were sure it was about to jump out of your chest. “I know you check me out when you see me, darling. Why don’t I give you what you’ve been wanting for a long time?” “g-get off of me” was all you managed. He came closer and trailed kisses on your neck, and you yelped. And maybe, just maybe, if you hadn’t screamed, and then who knows what would have happened.

From outside, someone yelled “WHOEVER IS IN THAT CLOSET LEAVE Y/N RIGHT NOW BEFORE I HEX YOU INTO OBLIVION!” You recognized the voice as Draco’s. you couldn’t help but sigh in relief when Nott let go of you in a hurry and you watched as he scrambled out. After he went and got hit with a couple of good spells,  Draco rushed to you and got you out of the closet. Once he touched you you felt all the stress leave you, and you thanked god he came to save you.

“Are you okay? did anything happen to you? did that motherfucker hurt you? answer me, y/n!” without realizing, you’ve been holding a shaky breath. and at his questions, you covered your face with your hands and burst into tears. “H-he almost r-raped m-me..” 

“It’s okay, don’t worry, I’m here for you” he cooed. And gently ever so gently, he pulled you into his grasp, tightly wrapping his hands around you. You stiffened, but then relaxed saying: “It’s been so long since someone hugged me...I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be held...”

(part 2 coming soon!)

#draco #draco x reader #draco malfoy #enemies to lovers #romance #slytherin!reader #halfblood!reader #blaise zabini #pansy being a pug

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH46

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 46: Star Death Reality Show (XXIX)

All of the blood in Qi Leren’s body had solidified, and every cell was screaming silently, "No, don't, don't be it"! But this useless prayer could not help their current dangerous situation.

The sound from the vent became clearer and clearer, and it came out through the metal shutters. Qi Leren suddenly woke up from the stiffness that was like being thrown into a freezer, pointed to the door, and shouted, "Open the door! Fast!"

Dr. Lu was closest to the door, and rushed to open it. As a result, as soon as he raised his leg, his left foot stumbled over his right foot, and he fell hard on his face. Du Yue reacted quickly and rushed to the door to unlock it urgently. However, Leviathan had opened the metal shutter in the vent, and its tentacles wrapped in tinfoil stretched out from the black tunnel.

Qi Leren fired three shots at the tentacles. Two shots missed and one shot hit, but like last time, with an ordinary gun’s offensive power, it was impossible to break through the octopus’s shell.

The monster fell down from above like a pool of mud and expanded to a size larger than before. Its mass had exceeded that of a human, and after it fell, those branching tentacles spread across the ground like dead roots, motionless.

Qi Leren retreated slowly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the door. Dr. Lu was struggling to get up from the ground while Du Yue was sweating as he struggled to unlock the door, because it had been Qi Leren who had locked the door just now, and Du Yue was unfamiliar with this type of lock.

No, I can't get out yet. I have to stall for time... But it would be difficult to stall by fighting. The best way is...

Qi Leren shouted: "Du Yue, use your skill!"

By the time the two rookies reacted, Qi Leren had been chased by the octopus and didn’t hesitate to jump into the vent!

"Stop, don’t move! There’s a kind of charge up!" Du Yue quickly launched this bug-like skill card [Protagonist Halo]!

[Protagonist Halo: When you use this skill card, you instantly become the center of attention, the protagonist of the story, and the fearless saviour! You, with the frightening aura of a king, can easily move people’s hearts, but you can always keep your last breath when you are beaten by a powerful enemy, because the enemy can’t help but explain his motives and modus operandi to you (although there may not be enough time). This skill lasts for one minute, with a cooldown time of three hours. During the start of the skill, persuasiveness increases by 20% and some people’s IQ decreases by 20%. You will not die if attacked. After all, you are the protagonist of this one minute.]

With He Yi’s brain, Leviathan was like any boss who had been faced with the lead character. It had forgotten who it was, where it was, and what it was going to do. It just stood there and listened to this guy who was 1.9 meters tall and 18 years old and could barely act as the teen protagonist. He shouted at it with a cracking voice, and sincerely advised it to abide by human laws and surrender itself quickly.

Ah, there was an invisible and intangible mysterious aura on this human being, which made everyone who saw him believe that this was the legendary protagonist! Although it was very angry, it still had to listen to the protagonist's words!

If it wasn't for its lack of vocal cords, it would probably explain its criminal motives and criminal record. Qi Leren took this opportunity to rush to the door, grabbing Dr. Lu with one hand and unlocking it nervously with the other.

This lock should be like this, wrong, so like this, wrong, how is it unlocked?

Under the Protagonist Halo, Qi Leren, whose IQ had plummeted by 20%, went crazy. It took half a minute to unlock the door and kick Dr. Lu out: "Run!"

Dr. Lu clutched his kicked ass and ran away in three steps.

The most delicious one had escaped the danger. Now there were less than 20 seconds left. Qi Leren shouldered the rocket launcher up off the ground and grabbed Du Yue to drag him out. Watching the "protagonist" run away, the monster finally woke up from the unexplained state of wonder, and the huge mouthparts hidden beneath its tentacles let out a sharp cry, rushing to catch up!

This speed was too fast! Qi Leren kicked Du Yue out with another foot, braced himself against the door, and aimed the rocket launcher at Leviathan, but it was too late. The monster had already jumped in front of him, and its tentacles suddenly stretched. He was dragged to the ground by his feet!

As soon as Qi Leren's hands loosened, the rocket launcher on his shoulder immediately smashed down and landed on his instep, causing a tingle of pain, and his left arm was swallowed by Leviathan's sharp-toothed maw!

"Qianbei!" Du Yue cried, looking back to pull Qi Leren out.

At this time, it was too late to save, and even if he loaded the file, he couldn't go back to the time before his left hand was injured. However, Qi Leren still saved. He felt the pain as if his arm was stuck in a meat grinder, everything below his elbow being ground by countless tiny teeth.

But this was also an opportunity. Qi Leren, who almost fainted in pain, used his quick wits, and a miniature bomb from his item bar appeared directly in his left hand—that is, in the belly of the octopus. Only six minutes were left before his privacy time ran out!

This explosion was even more devastating because it happened directly in Leviathan's body! This terrible explosion made the inside of its body turn inside out, and the brain hidden in it was more fragile than any internal organs. After the explosion, the human brain was useless.

Qi Leren's situation was not much better. The heat and impact of the explosion came out of Leviathan's mouthparts towards him, slamming him against the wall and breaking his neck. He died on the spot and was resurrected at the save point.

Du Yue, who witnessed the death of his senior, was still dumbfounded. Qi Leren had already judged the current situation—he couldn't continue to play! To say nothing of his left hand that was basically wasted, he would die in a few minutes if he didn’t stop the bleeding. Leviathan, though badly hurt, obviously did not lose its fighting power, and even became more violent!

At the moment when Qi Leren resurrected, it had already become like a giant spinning top, spinning wildly on the ground and rushing towards them!

Qi Leren, who suffered from the pain, relied entirely on willpower and kicked Du Yue out the door with one foot. After he slipped out of the door, he threw it closed. The sound of heavy objects hitting the door sounded behind him. Leviathan's bloated and heavy body hit the door directly, but it didn't open the door.

Because its brain had been destroyed in the explosion just now.

One destroyed hand, but he lowered the enemy’s IQ. This round was not a loss!

Damn, you shouldn't have forgotten to shoot He Yi's head before, otherwise, how could you play so badly?!

Because of the severe pain from the intense trauma just now, Qi Leren's right hand covered the elbow of his left arm. The part below the elbow has landed in Leviathan's stomach. The blood was spraying out like a broken faucet, reaching half a metre away. The ground was as horrible as a murder scene!

Du Yue looked at Qi Leren at a loss: "Qianbei, your hand is gone! What should we do! It's bleeding!"

Qi Leren glanced at his privacy time of only five minutes. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay awake. If he passed out now, with Du Yue's rookie first aid knowledge, he might really fall to the fate of bleeding to death. At this crucial moment, I have to rely on myself. Qi Leren took out the first-aid supplies that Chen Baiqi had once enthusiastically recommended from his item bar, and gritted his teeth: "Help me hold it."

Du Yue held his arm and listened to the thumping sound behind him. He helped Qi Leren to tie the rubber hose with trepidation. Qi Leren pulled hard and tied it around the middle position of his upper arm. The wound finally stopped bleeding crazily, but it still couldn't be stopped altogether.

Qi Leren remembered that Chen Baiqi had once said that if no measures were taken within three minutes, this kind of limb injury was basically equivalent to signing a death certificate. If there is no teammate who can treat it, take a soldering iron or flamethrower and burn it against the wound. Only when the blood vessels cauterize to necrosis would it stop the massive bleeding.

"Go, Dr. Lu certainly didn't go far, and time is running out," Qi Leren said, suffering from dizziness and severe pain, and hurried in the direction Dr. Lu had run away. Along the way, he was still thinking. He had had a fight with the big boss, and was injured and dying. He also ran away with the protagonist. It was like a life mentor of the leading role who was going to croak.

Bah, it's so unlucky!

Before running far, Qi Leren heard Dr. Lu’s voice: "You ran too far!"

Qi Leren and Du Yue stopped, looked intently, and Dr. Lu, who had opened the [Free WIFI] skill card, was squatted in the corner without any presence, shouting at them. Looking at Qi Leren's injury, he was shocked: "What's wrong with you, don't move, don't move, I'll give you quick first aid! Oh come on, this injury is too heavy!"

"There’s still four minutes left," Qi Leren reported the time, in too much pain to speak.

Dr. Lu immediately used "Doctor’s Orders". In the milky light, the continuously bleeding wound miraculously stopped. Although the amputated limb could not grow back, the wound healed quickly and new skin covered it. It was completely healed.

Dr. Lu was also shocked: "This effect is too good... Am I so powerful? Am I really a genius nurse?"

Du Yue said faintly on the side: "You’ve never had such a good effect in treating my injuries..."

"No, no, no, this must be because your IQ is not enough to affect the performance of 'Doctor’s Orders'. The skill card says that the more impressive the patient is, the better!" Dr. Lu said convincingly.

"But your treatment for others isn’t this good," Du Yue refused to accept it and refused to admit it was an IQ problem.

"Right, why is that?" Dr. Lu was also confused.

Just then, the pain that made him feel close to blacking out finally faded away. Qi Leren untied the rubber hose which left a bruise on his arm. He stared at the healed amputated limb on his elbow for more than ten seconds, and then he came back from the state of high tension just now.

Although he had died before, thanks to S/L Data, he has always completed the tasks with intact hands and feet every time, and this was the first time that he has lost a hand directly. He thought he would be disgracefully frightened, but because of these two rookies, he looked much calmer.

"Don't worry, there are people in the Twilight Township who can do limb regeneration. I know them. If you go back and pay a few survival days, you can grow it back." When Dr. Lu saw Qi Leren staring at the amputated hand, he thought he was sad, so he comforted him.

"Is it expensive?" As a poor player who has consumed a lot of survival days in the process of competing with Su He, this was what Qi Leren is most concerned about.

"It's okay, I remember it was just over a hundred days," Dr. Lu said.

Qi Leren, who had only seventeen days to live, didn't want to speak.

Du Yue was not rich either. He said gloomily, "That’s a lot, I only have thirty days..."

There was no harm without comparison, and Qi Leren suddenly felt that he was impoverished...

"It’s nothing, if you don’t have enough, I’ll pay for you. I usually charge for treating others. Healers are quite scarce, so I’ve earned a lot. Right now I have about two hundred survival days!" Dr. Lu said generously.

More than two hundred days… More than two hundred days… More than two hundred days…

Du Yue would be silent when hearing this number, and Qi Leren would cry when hearing it.

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Editor’s Notes: For anyone (me) who has forgotten the exact details, here’s the description for Doctor’s Orders:

[Doctor’s Orders] (Non-Binding Skill Card): The ability to work miracles comes with a price – a price for your patients. There will be no mercy given to those who do not deserve. Allows the holder to heal all who meet the following requirements: attractive, not a Virgo and an IQ over 100. The number of requirements met will determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Skill cooldown: 2 hours. (translated by Sigma)

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[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

[fairlyqualityanon]

I really like your TTDAAY series. What was the reaction of the other brothers to... «What happened between Emma, Mammon and Levi»?

In the 'mainline' Shall We Vore stories, Mammon was the only one to eat Emma prior to the earliest story I'm kinda handwaving things because the only idea I got is one someone else used.

In TTDaaY Mammon is punished despite Emma's insistence that he'd done nothing wrong - which is why she was so adamant when talking to Beel both times and roughly half of why she wanted to keep it a secret - and Leviathan gets punished as well; Lucifer excused the trivia quiz freakout because he understands reacting with anger in the heat of the moment (chapter 6's murder attempt had happened by the time the 'Full Story' came to light) but something premeditated like that? Yeah no, where'd he put that rope?

—————————————————–

The brothers were threatened to be beaten to within an inch of their lives, in a terrifying diatribe that made Satan's "A Living Landmine" rant look like "I'm telling my daddy on you!". Physical harm and soul snatching aren't the only things that would cause the Program to fail; Lucifer must also alleviate her psychological distress, forewarned by her medical records HIPAA? is that an exotic Earth animal? :D When can Dia meet one, he'd like to pet it!.

Anyway there'd been a fair amount of jealousy, except for Lucifer because he doesn't think human flesh tastes good, and Satan because he's only interested in an intellectual study: Levi being Levi, Asmo mistakenly thinking it was her kink, and Beel because "but but but I thought we weren't allowed to eat that human :(". This is also prior to Lessons 13 to 16, so Belphie finds out last/much later it wouldn't have been as satisfying a death and he's too hesitant to ask given how she won't tell him what's required in order to accept his apology.

#Shall We Vore #swv headcanon #TTDaaY headcanon #TTDaaY vore #thank you so much for your interest #calling it a character study helps with the AUness #can finish and set it aside so that I can be nice to my snekboi #thats a big part of why I kept the /Christian/ part for my self insert #not just the 24/7 existential crisis but also delicious constant subtext between her and Lucifer #mmm angst it hurts so good #vore mention #willing vore #unwilling vore #willing prey #unwilling prey #safe vore #soft vore #clean vore #thx for the ask #mysterious munchies

[thatgirlwritingficsatnight]

Odi et Amo II

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris? nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior  

Catullus, 85

After a few years of working in the USA for Disney and playing the role of The White Fox in Marvel Cinematic Universe you came back to your motherland - Korea only to be greeted with hatred and contempt. To make things harder for you the universe sends you the most irritating neighbour ™. Will you be able to find your happiness and  accomplish your dream of becoming loved actress in Korea without complying with standards of patriarchal society?

pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

genre: actor au

warnings: angst, foul language (please don’t read it if you’re not old enough)

words: 5764

A/N: It was supposed to be published last week, but I was unhappy with it and ended up rewriting it/adding some things. Sorry! (*_ _)人 P.S Sorry for my grammatical errors! Enjoy!

Chapter I

***

Currently sitting in front of your manager you eyed him. He seemed tired and you felt a pang of conscience it was probably because of your tweets last night and you wouldn’t even think of meeting him if you weren’t in dire need of getaway from the uncomfortable conversation with your neighbor. You didn’t meet in your agency’s building since both of you despised the place even though it was a new and flashy building made out of something that looked like a white marble. Both of you agreed on meeting outside it, so you were sitting in the café nearby while wondering how did your shitty boss manage to rent it. Last time you’ve been here, it was a few rooms in shabby, old building. You shivered while imagining going in, that place had an evil aura even from across the street.

"Where did you get all that money to rent it?" you asked.

"We actually bought it." 

"Well, business goes well then."

"Actually we are only able thanks to your movies. Don’t tell Kim Pd-nim I told you, he thinks you'll become arrogant."

"I already am." You smiled coldly.

"That's what I told him."

Your manager had a sarcastic smirk on. Both of you and hated your CEO and even mentioning him would bring up unpleasant memories. Kim Sanghoon was one of those bosses who wouldn't even think about trying to help idols and stars that were bringing him money. No matter what it was — crazy fans destroying your life, death threats, your collapsing mental health he didn’t care. Once you were attacked by media and netizens you were on your own and if it was too much for the company your contract was terminated. You often wondered when would you become too much for them to handle.

"How do you feel?" Your manager caught you off guard, even though you had known each other for a long time there was an unspoken rule between you not to talk about other things than work.

"Honesty..I'm fine I don't understand why everyone asks me that." You huffed a bit irritated and run fingers through your hair. 

"Well it's just.. I know it was important to you and you worked hard to earn the hearts of your Korean fa..."

"I'm fine." you didn't manage to hide irritation in your voice. You were not used to talking about it and you didn't like it one bit. Besides what were you supposed to say anyway? No one else was as hated as you. Of course there were idols and stars that were occasionally criticized but not one of them was constantly a target of such hatred. Even when you left there were still death threats send from your motherland to you, nothing changed. Not to mention no one else got such welcoming on the day of return to their home. It was unfair, stupid, infuriating and saddening. And yet you couldn’t understand what people were expecting of you? Both Mark and your manager knew you, or so you thought. What were you supposed to do? Cry? You wouldn't cry, that was what weak people do, that would show you actually care about what those assholes think about you. You were just fine. Ok. Neither sad nor happy. You'd endure whatever you had to but you won't conform to their image of idol and woman nor will you show any sign of weakness. You'd rather stay hated than do that. Your manager sighed and it pulled you out of your thoughts.

"Well then. If you're okay then I'm glad. So just as I told you I have this drama for you if you're interested." You weren't the slightest bit. Frankly you'd rather stay in bed for the next three months jobless than play some crazy villain or villainous second female lead. Then again you felt bad about the amount of work he probably had because of you. You looked him in the eyes and answered with a sigh.

"I can't promise anything but I can at least listen what it’s about.." Your manager seemed surprised, but he didn't wait long, perhaps in case you'd change your mind. He took out some papers and handed them to you. You cringed on the sole title "Love is your destiny" — it sounded sappy. 

"So it's a love story between fallen angel and this human..." he started.

"Angels...so who do they want me to play? Satan? Devil? Succubus?" You browsed through pages to find the villain.

"You'd know if you'd let me finish." You sent him a small apologetic smile. "They want you to play the main role." You stared at him confused before you burst with laughter.

"They want me to play cute girl in love with the angel?" The idea of you playing the sweet female lead was absurd, not that you weren’t able to do it, you were a good actress it wouldn’t be a problem for you, if anything it would most likely be a challenge for the audience.

"No, no! You'd play the angel. See this is drama with strong female lead. The origin of your character is fascinating. You had to watch the mistreatment of a woman extremely devoted to god. The lady prayed, but she still got beaten, almost killed even. Moreover, you had to be the guardian angel of her torturer — the aggressive husband. You pleaded to god, you asked him to let you guard her instead, but he didn’t agree and forbade you from intervening. One night when the husband got drunk, he beat her unconscious and you were sure he’d kill her. You decided to save her, you kill her husband and this is the moment when you fell. That's when you became deviant and promised yourself you'd help those who were denied it. You’d protect them and avenge them. Fast-forward a thousand years, and we are in Seoul and you meet a man, a painter..." He was so excited you almost didn't understand some words because of the speed. He was waiting for your response but you were too occupied with reading what he handed you. Once you finished it you looked at him with a mix of surprise and excitement.

"It's like it was made for me.." you said with bewildered tone.

"That's because it was made for you. The screenwriter wrote it with you in mind." You looked like a cartoon character, eyes wide, mouth in a shape of letter "o", once you heard him.

"Me?"

"Yes. She is apparently a big fan."

"And tvN is ok with that?" You furrowed your brows confused.

"Perhaps they aren't. But it is co-production with Netflix, and they pushed for you since you’re popular worldwide." 

Your heart fluttered and the tips of your fingers tingled from excitement as you rummaged through the pages once again, not only it would be showed in TV during the prime-time but also streamed on Netflix weekly.

"The screenwriter and producer kept calling me since yesterday as soon as it was known you came back. They almost cast someone else. They were sure you're staying in the USA. Isn't it amazing?" He was as excited as you were and you felt some remorse for being so rude to him before. You gave him your warmest smile, one you usually used only around Mark and your family.

"It really is. Thank you and I'm sorry for being rude earlier." He was clearly uncomfortable with your apology, red spreading on his cheeks as he waved his hand dismissively.

"Ah don't mention it. Does that mean I can call them and say you are interested." You looked at the pages in front of you once again and smiled broadly before simply saying.

"Yes!"

Jinyoung was still amused you threatened him in his own café. He couldn't focus on the book he had in his hands anymore as he chuckled replying your angered and irritated expressions in his head. It was fun to tease you because you reacted so well. He could tell you could be great friends if you'd let him. He smiled to himself mouthing your own words "bloody Y/N". He was truly shocked that he met you here of all places and found it rather amusing when you yelled in English and caught his attention. He felt some disappointment upon seeing a half naked man talking to you from the screen of your phone but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came up once your friend ended the call. Jinyoung wouldn't call himself a noisy person, but he found you interesting, and he wanted to know who it was and what kind of relationship you had although he rarely cared for stuff like this... His thoughts were interrupted by his ring-tone, BamBam's face illuminated the screen. He sighed but answered it anyway.

"Skrrrt, skrrt!"

"Ah yes, good morning to you to Bam." Jinyoung said in amused tone.

"Oh, hyung you seem in good mood. What you're up to?"

"Reading, thinking."

"Sounds boring wanna hang out?"

"Actually I wanted to ask you about something." Jinyoung ignored his question once he remembered how obsessed with celebrities and their styles Bam was.

"Shoot."

"Do you know any celebrities under the name Y/N." BamBam laughed wholeheartedly.

"That's very funny hyung."

"What do you mean?"

"OMG you're not joking! Are you living under a rock, hyung? Y/N is like the hottest actress ever. Her style is chic and comfy and artsy it's really cool, and she actually doesn't have a stylist, she does it on her ow..."

"She is an actress?"

"She is the actress! She played the White Fox in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Lol, you call yourself an actor and you don't know the most popular Korean actress abroad."

"You know I don't like those superheroes movies. Besides why didn't I hear about her Korean career if she's so good?"

"You are so old it scares me sometimes. Well you should know her from internet. I think it's national sport to hate her or something. She just came back, and they're already frying her online not to mention the media and dating rumors."

"Dating rumors?"

"Yeah she dated few actors. I think Seojoon hyung dated her and Changwook hyung even almost proposed. The media made her to look like heartless vixen though. I mean they never liked her but her last ex gave a very unfavorable interview to dispatch and after that she became villain number one. She left shortly after."

"Mmmm... I see." Jinyoung only started his career four years ago so it shouldn't be weird you've never met before. He was also the type of person who couldn't care less about internet gossip and gutter press or dispatch. He sighed. Suddenly your angry reaction made much more sense and Jinyoung didn't feel as good about it as he did before. He scolded himself for being too frivolous and selfish. He just wanted to see your reactions - it was cute and funny...

"Why did you ask? OMG you've met her didn't you. I'm so jealous. What was she wearing? Was it Gucci? I heard she likes it."

"Ok Bam. I have to go. Thanks for the talk."

"Wait, so you wanna hang out?"

"Last time when you asked me to hang out I had to shop for 4 hours with you."

"Well... I am your stylist. Besides, it was fun, come on." 

"I think we have different definitions of "fun""

You woke up to no noise pleasantly surprised. It seems that Sunday's were free from renovation and thanks to that you could sleep in. You stretched out and grabbed the phone to check the time. It was already past eleven. You smiled to yourself and fell to bed lazily. Soon you wouldn't have time for lazy days like this as the production team was supposed to finish up casting for the drama by the end of the next week. You thought about picking some groceries, maybe cooking yourself some food and enjoying the day with a book or perhaps some video games. You took shower and put on some comfortable clothes — beige cardigan you stole from Mark clearly too big for you and some black trousers pairing it up with brown coat. You left the apartment and as soon as you did the irritating voice in your head reminded you about your debt. Hesitant at first you shook off the feeling quickly and knocked on the door. This time you were prepared for teasing, you were expecting it even so you wouldn't be caught off guard. At least that's what you were telling yourself. Your neighbor, however, didn't act the way you expected him to. Instead of smirking at you and teasing you or straight up mocking you, he seemed nervous. He had deep purple bags under his usually sparkling eyes. Perhaps he didn’t feel well... you wondered whether you should ask him if he needed some help. You decided it would be extremely awkward and so you cleared your throat and spoke up — softness now somewhere in your voice.

"Is that bad time? I can come later I just wanted to give you back your money.."

"N-No." He started nervously "I mean no. It's fine. I'm actually glad you're here. Would you come in?"

You didn't want to come in and it must have shown on your face since he continued.

"Come on. I don't bite." He smiled warmly and it seemed much more normal than the timid self he showed you seconds ago. And so you came in curiously looking around his own apartment. It was a mirror image of your own in terms of room placements — a hallway leading to living room with opened kitchen. You came into the living room and Jinyoung rushed after you quickly turning the TV off. You didn't pay it any mind since you were looking around and taking in how different was his home compared to yours. It was very modern and yet it kept the homey feeling. Yours on the other hand, well it was raw yet full of stuff? Mark would probably call it unfinished and cluttered. Your neighbor sat on the other side of the couch leaving quite a lot of space between the two of you and run a hand through his hair. He wore a cardigan very similar to yours both in color and style in fact it could be the very same brand and style it’s just neither of you noticed it.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize." He responded quickly and gained a surprised look from you.

"Apologize?"

"Yes about yesterday…I shouldn't have said those things in public I could say I just didn't know about your situation but it’s no excuse. I’m truly sorry." he paused. "You don't have to be stressed about press or rumors though. It is my café and my staff, so they won't talk about it with anyone I took care of it." You took back everything you said, you weren’t prepared for meeting him, especially not getting apologies from him. On top of that he was the owner of your favorite café...

"I… it's fine." You said confused and tried to act as normal as possible while being very aware of your palms spread on your thighs. They were unnaturally clammy. It was a surprise to you, you rarely got any apologies and you were expecting some more teasing not something like that. Your eyes were everywhere except on him and you were screaming at yourself internally to say something, anything, but nothing was coming to your mind. Once again you lost your ability for forming witty sentences around him or in that case any sentences. There was awkward silence between you and you immensely regretted coming to see him today. You weren’t used to this. Somewhere in your belly you could feel as if butterflies - or rather moths — yes, moths of anxiety were fluttering their wings desperately trying to get into your chest. You never felt like this before. You tried to avoid looking at him but your own eyes betrayed you and fell on Jinyoung only to find out he was enjoying your anguish. His brown eyes were glimmering and his lips formed half smirk that he tried to cover with his left hand in a gesture of propping his head up. Immediately irritation came to you burning all the fluttering wings in the pits of your stomach. A frown formed on your face and you send him a glare. Wondering how could you be so stupid and fall for his act.

"You're really cute when you're shy or embarrassed." He chuckled now mocking you openly.

"I can't believe I took your apologies as sincere." He chuckled again clearly pleased with how you responded.

"They were sincere. I just enjoy teasing you."

"Could you stop? That's inappropriate you don't even know me."

"What do you mean we are neighbors and soon to be friends." He smiled broadly and for a second your mind travelled somewhere else simply admiring his beauty. You cursed his handsome face it could blind and charm everyone really. You wanted to leave, no you needed to leave. It was stuffy in here.

"I'm here for a reason." You reminded him, he was watching you with amusement. It felt almost as if a cat was observing you.

"Ah right... money." his tone seemed inattentive somehow. "I don't need it. Let's say it was a part of my apology."

"Just give me your account number and take the money."

"I don't remember it." You were getting more irritated every minute you talked to him.

"You don't remember your account number?" This man was unbelievable. He shrugged.

"You can send it to me through KakaoTalk if you really want." He smiled and took out the phone from the pocket of his pants. 

"Fine. Just give it." Not wanting to spend any second longer here with him, you scanned his qr to add him quickly and transferred the money.

"Done. Now if you excuse me."

"Of course." He smiled again and you felt mocked by the sole action of his lips shooting upwards. He walked you to the door and watched as you slipped on your shoes. You tried to look as cold and dignified as possible but still tripped over the doorstep. He caught your arm firmly and straightened you. Your heart was beating so fast and hard all you could hear was blood pumping in your ears in fact you were sure he could hear it as well. On the other hand whose heart wouldn't when you almost fell face first, right…? Right? It surely wasn't because of his warm breath now tickling the crown of your head, nor the dangerously beautiful eyes... you absolutely regretted coming here today. It was foolish of you to think your cursed neighbor wouldn't shake you up today. And he was still holding you — how awkward is that; and you felt fine with being hold like that — what on earth was wrong with you? You started to think that maybe it would be better if you'd actually fell and hit that stupid head of yours.

Jinyoung was having very dangerous thoughts. The kind he didn't have in a very long time. He wasn't prepared for this kind of proximity. He was already shaken up yesterday by your touch and closeness he only held your hand for a second or two. Maybe he didn't show it but he was. Honestly he wasn't even into PDA or flirting with someone or even thinking of flirting with someone. Yes, he liked teasing, and he teased you but it was in a FRIENDLY manner. Well it was safe to say he didn't have friendshippy type of thoughts right now. Jinyoung reacted automatically upon seeing you fall he just grabbed your arm and pulled you his way. He was still holding your now tensed muscles, but he couldn't let go of you. He was in trance. Your warmth radiating onto him, the way the smell of your shampoo was tingling his nose, your huge doe-like shocked eyes, parted lips, soft pink on the apples of your cheeks. He was wondering how badly would you kill him if he asked to kiss you right now. He was seriously considering it worthy asking even if you were to pull out his tongue like you threatened yesterday. He didn't ask though, the rational part of his brain finally letting go of you. His own feeling were mess, but he did what he knew best — he masked his emotional disarray with some more teasing hoping you wouldn’t notice.

"Falling for me already?" He smirked even though internally he was screaming and already thinking of confiding in Jackson to get himself calmed. He was clearly the one falling and he was panicked. You rolled your eyes on him seemingly gaining the composure while he was getting stunned even by such simple gesture like this.

"You're way below my standards." You seemed annoyed. He smiled again although he wanted you to leave quickly and leave him alone with his feelings, so he can sort this out. Your eyes narrowed at him even more.

"I need to go now."

"Well, have a great day."

"Right, you too." You were so cold Jinyoung almost chuckled at it because it almost wounded him, and yet he liked it. He enjoyed teasing you too much. You were already walking to the elevator, but he couldn't help himself.

"Oh, and try not to fall when I'm not around to catch you, Y/N." He laughed and you were already frowning at him absolutely mad which made his heart skip a beat, you were really too cute when you frowned. Jinyoung closed the door before you could say anything or worse before he did. He realized he was in deep shit. He tried to think reasonably. He probably just had a crush because he spent a whole night watching movies and dramas you were starring in, he might have also accidentally watched all of your interviews and went to sleep at 6 still smiling to himself from that interview where you had to answer questions about your body in preparation for your role in that Marvel movie. The reporter wouldn't stop asking about your body and making comments on it even though you were clearly uninterested in the topic which you finally cut with your own questions. "Are you looking for some weight loss tips? You look great. Seriously what is it about? Are you trying to fit in my suit?" The last question was asked with whole whisper theatrics and Jinyoung laughed at loud at five am hoping he didn't wake you up through the wall. The suit in question was extremely fitting white leather catsuit. It wasn't the only interview in which you showed off your wits, eloquence and badassness, or how Bam would call it "swag". You were also the most attractive actress he had seen. Of course, you were also attractive when you weren't acting but on the screen... you were amazing. So Jinyoung tried to calm himself down rationalizing his earlier thoughts as simply being starstrucked. That’s what fans felt towards their idols, he was simply charmed by his own new idol. Yes that was it — that’s exactly the type of thoughts some fanboys or fangirls would have. He called Jackson anyway, he knew the designer was the right person to talk to in situations like this. 

Twenty minutes later Jinyoung regretted ever calling his best friend.

"OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO IN LOVE WITH HER!" Jackson basically yelled to the phone. Jinyoung groaned and massaged the space between his brows. 

"Were you even listening? I'm just a big fan."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night man. I’m a big fan of Christian Dior and all I can think of is making out with him." 

"Don’t compare it, he is dead!" Jinyoung yelled and his friend filled his ear in response.

 You were regretting not taking the car for shopping. The walk did help with your racing heart, and helped ease off your mind but it turned out the supermarket isn't that close any more when you have to drag home ten bags of food and products. Thankfully a convenience store was on your way so you could make a stop there maybe you'd be lucky enough to see Seoyun, buy her coffee and have a chat. You knew it was stupid, because she could've just feel obliged to say she is your fan but you still wanted to tell her about your new upcoming role. Sadly she wasn't there and so you just made a stop and sat on one of nearby benches. Massaging your palms that had those harsh red lines imprinted in them now thanks to the bags. You could swear you heard the sound of released shutter and so now alarmed you looked around but it seemed you were the only person here. You sighed, how paranoid have you become that you started hearing the cameras when there was none. Then again you were extremely lucky dispatch and paparazzi haven't found you yet. Just before you left to the USA, your ex gave this interview and your life became hell. You didn't have a day without paparazzi running after you or spying on you. The memories came to you not without acrimony and hurt. Your ex, an actor just like you, used you to create scandal and gain some popularity. You could remember how enraged and morose it made you. You didn't date anyone since then even when Mark tried to introduce you to some people. You intended on staying that way. You didn't need anyone, you had Mark, and he was enough for you. Just you and your best friend. You weren't sure how long you stayed like this, deep in your thoughts. You moved only after you fingers became stiff from cold. Somehow you managed to carry the groceries back home. You were so tired that you just counted it as your training today. You checked the time and it was one PM, perfect time to call your bestie.

"Markiee!!" You whined as soon as his face appeared on your screen.

"Y/N-ah. I miss you." He was wearing some blue hoodie this time.

"That's my line. Do you have time to talk?"

"Bruh, for you? Always. What's up?" 

"I am going to star in a drama!"

"What? I thought you hate those." He was genuinely shocked.

"I know, I do. But this one is different. I'm not playing the villain I got female lead, and she isn't some damsel in distress she is a badass character!" You almost screamed and he chuckled.

"Woah. Someone's excited. I'm so proud of you. So who is getting the privilege to be cast with you?"

"I don't know yet. I'm supposed to meet the cast next week." He nodded his head and smiled. "Anyway what are you up to?"

"I was actually thinking of playing Among Us and streaming wanna join?" He grinned.

"Absolutely, prepare to get wrecked Tuan." You used to play together at least once a week when you were in the USA, his fans loved you and shipped you even though you both told them you were just friends — it is some rule in the internet though, to ship close friends.

Few hours later you were once again killed as the first person, this time by Mark.

"YOU GONNA REGRET IT WHEN WE’LL MEET TUAN. I SWEAR I’M GONNA WHOOP YO ASS..." You screamed on top of your lungs and Mark laughed wholeheartedly, while his chat filled up with hundreds of LOL’s and LUL’s.

"You guys she threatens me. Someone make a clip and send it to the police once they find my dead body." He kept laughing and you couldn’t help but laugh as well. His smile and laugh were just too contagious.

"You really put our friendship to test lately Tuan, here I was foolishly trusting you when you killed me in cold blood. " You stretched and your stomach rumbled reminding you that you haven’t eaten yet and it was already around four pm.

" Hey don’t hate the player, hate the game. "   He shrugged and winked, while you rolled your eyes.

"Okay Mark, I gotta go and eat. It’s already afternoon here."

"Sure, chat say bye to Y/N." They did as he asked and it was soon filled with many hearts and goodbyes. "Love you Y/N! Call me soon." He grinned and you smiled warmly.

"Love you too Mark. Bye guys!" With that you logged off the discord, and switched off his stream. You make your way to the kitchen and took out the ingredients for kimchi jjigae you bought before. You carefully read the recipe opened on your phone and began cooking. You had to make anchovy stock first so you grabbed some dried anchovies, kelp and slashed the daikon in cubicles — it looked quite awkward as each cubicle was different size but hey it was you eating it not some kind of culinary critic. You added water and left it to boil deciding to take care of the rest of ingredients. You cut some kimchi and ate some as a snack and reward for not ordering food today, sliced some green onions, cut the pork and the tofu as well. By the time you were done it was time to strain the broth and add the rest of ingredients. It had to cook so you decided to watch some TV in the meantime. You turned it on, it was some kind of reality show where idols were supposed to camp in the wild for a few days. The idols clearly didn’t feel like being there and the fact you knew neither of them didn’t help. You dozed off before you noticed, your eyelids getting as heavy as iron. The smell of burning woke you up. You shot upwards from your couch and rushed to the kitchen, bumping into a coffee table on your way there.

"FFFFFF-UUCK." you hissed, when your shin pulsed with pain. You quickly grabbed the pot with stew to get it off the fire, forgetting it would be hot as well. You hissed in pain and let id drop on your marble floor which was now covered in burned kimchi and some other things. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fucking shit." You cursed as you tried to navigate to the sink to ease off the burn with some cold water. The cold water did help and you sighed with relief only to later follow it with a sigh of resignation. You had to clean up this mess. It was when your phone barked — a new message. You checked it.

From Unknown number: Are you trying to burn down the whole building?

You furrowed your brows confused, wondering if it was one of those jokes or spam messages you heard about.

To Unknown number: Who’s this?

From Unknown number: Guess.

You huffed in disbelief.

To Unknown number: Ok, enjoy being blocked.

From Unknown number: Wait!

From Unknown number: It’s Jinyoung.

To Unknown number: How did you get my number? Never mind I’m blocking you I’m too busy to deal with you.

With that you put the phone back in your pocket and began cleaning up. You finished in no time now tired out by scrubbing. You sat on the floor and took out your phone to check it out. From Unknown number: Don’t block me what if you need my help one day.

To Unknown number: With what exactly?

From Unknown number: What if you get stuck in your bathroom and need someone to let you out?

You rolled your eyes and saved his contact

To Devil: There is at least 7 billion more people I’d rather ask to help me

From Devil: Ok then what if I get stuck in the bathroom and need your help.

To Devil: I’d leave you there

From Devil: Heartless

To Devil: Better tell me how did you get my phone number

From Devil: You gave it to me when you scanned my kakao code

You were bewildered, was that his plan from the very beginning or were you just paranoid? You were either prejudiced or he was in fact the devil with angel's face.

To Devil: Did you lie about not remembering your account number?

From Devil: Maybe

You couldn’t believe it, the audacity, the smugness. You could feel irritation building inside you but you decide to let it go when your stomach rumbled at you aggressively. After eating you took shower, read a few chapters of The Vegetarian and fell asleep.

Next week passed quickly but in the feeling of anticipation as you were supposed to meet the rest of the cast as well as the scriptwriter and director at the meeting on Friday. You kept calling your manager throughout the week trying to find out who could they be, but he didn’t know anything or didn’t want to tell you. And so you spent the week on training, running, reading and occasionally calling Mark to express your impatience and excitement. You didn’t meet your irritating neighbor even once this week — something you counted as blessing or perhaps a sign that the universe finally turned your karma around. It was finally Friday and you were already sitting in the meeting room waiting for everyone to come in. You smiled at the young man sitting next to you, he was really cute and had this mole under his right eye it added to his charm. He was about to introduce himself, when someone came through the door and greeted everyone cheerfully. You couldn’t believe it. You were cursed, actually cursed.

"YOU?!" was all that left your mouth upon seeing him entering the room.

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[kurisus]

Chapter 88-2 thoughts

I’m writing this at 6 AM because I CAN’T SLEEP WOO. As mentioned in my snaps, I first read this chapter while in a work call so I’m rereading it now to be able to focus a bit better. Buckle up, this will be long. Spoilers as always.

So Yukine was not necessarily snuggling with the wolves. He was asking them to eat him. I think in all the other bad stuff happening this chapter this detail got overlooked slightly but it’s bad!!!!

Who was the shadow we saw approaching him when he was with the wolves?? Was it trash dad after all? I think it has to be.

really don’t appreciate the Suzuha mention in THE YEAR OF OUR LORD TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY

Yukine was such a caring brother it makes my heart hurt. Yukine in general makes my heart hurt. How did it end up happening that his mom just left him behind??

so if Fujisaki is telling the truth, we now know the context of Yukine’s death. And somehow, I think this is the most unpleasant revelation to come out of this chapter. Big statement, I know, but it explains...a lot.

Yukine was writing letters to his sister in secret for probably years, and as soon as his dad found out...well, we know the rest. I remember speculating (and a few others did too) why Yukine was barefoot and not struggling in that panel a couple chapters back that showed his final moments. So if he was already beaten enough to warrant hospitalization, that would explain why he wasn’t reacting the way he should have been.

At this point, if trash dad WAS telling the truth, I’d be fine if they didn’t show the actual scene of his death and just left it at that. Which means...we now know everything about Yukine’s time when he was alive. And of course there’s a lot we can say to fill out the gaps, but we have all the most important details. Finding out exactly how he died was the last piece in the puzzle. Aside from his full first name, that is.

Yukine yelling at trash dad to shut up and him continuing on anyway :) we really needed to know his final thoughts were “why?” :) I hate it here :)

I really hate even talking about this, this shit is FUCKED

okay so as far as trash dad is aware, Yukine’s body was still in the fridge. Meaning he had no idea that Yato went to dig it up all those months ago. Meaning Nora never breathed a word about it to him. I don’t really know how to express my feelings on this but thank you Nora. we owe you one. I have a feeling trash dad’s intent was not to give him a proper burial (since he’s all about false shows of kindness), though as to what it was, I cannot say.

I think at this point it’s pretty clear that Yato is the one who gave him a proper burial. When the panel of the empty refrigerator dropped a few months back, the fact that the body was missing struck me as just odd, and I thought maybe Yukine’s dad dug it back up for some sort of weird ritual, but judging by what we know now, that doesn’t seem likely. As soon as people started saying Yato buried him I was smacking my face like “of COURSE that’s what happened duh”

so trash dad is confirmed to drop his body in a very similar way to Hiyori, and we also confirmed that the version of him in the black robe is his spirit form. Nora mentioned his “body” a while back but now we finally got to see it. Is he a half ayakashi?? Is this just something he can do because he’s possessing Fujisaki’s body??? gah Adachitoka I want ANSWERS

Hagusa’s vessel name is just a double whammy. It’s like a horrible inversion of the fact that Yato named Kazuma Kazune. “Kazune” has the double meaning of referring to their time limit as well as being the “Kazu” Yato was already familiar with. With Hagusa, that name refers to a type of grain that looks like rice...in other words, something that appears valuable but is worthless. And now we see the vessel name is Yuuki? Adachitoka galaxy brained to punch me in the face.

SO THE REASON YUKINE DOESN’T HAVE A CELL PHONE IS BECAUSE HE DIED BEFORE THEY WERE INVENTED???? I always thought it was because he didn’t need one since Yato, Hiyori, Kazuma, and Kofuku were really the only people he needed to communicate with. but he seemed really excited to use trash dad’s. I’m in pain.

I’m thinking back to when Hiyori almost asked Yukine how he died way back in the beginning of the manga and trash dad now telling Yukine “Hiyori never wanted to know? I bet she did, since humans always want to pry into other people’s business” you shut your mouth

Speaking of Hiyori all we got of her this chapter was her looking pissed off. When she arrives to the fight I just want her to fuck shit up. She may not have her half ayakashi form but she can still snap trash dad’s neck in half.

Perhaps the reason Yukine didn’t find any news articles about himself was because “Haru” was just a nickname. I find it hard to believe that there was nothing about him going missing, especially since his dad made a fuss with putting up missing person flyers everywhere. There’s no way the police wouldn’t have gotten involved, right?

Either way it doesn’t really matter--his dad never got charged with anything even if he was a suspect, and no one else cared enough to look either.

this is so many levels of fucked

“So even now my father is still killing me” this line. THIS LINE. THIS FUCKING LINE. It’s such a succinct and excellent summary of Yukine as a character--as much as we love our son, the fact remains that he is dead. And he is dead because of his father’s abuse and society’s neglect. So no matter however much he grows and changes in the afterlife, it cannot change that his life was cut short far too soon, and everything good that happens to him is overshadowed by the fact that it’s indirectly because of his nasty father. And he got away with it. I can’t.

Before this chapter came out I speculated we’d want to strangle Yukine’s dad even more than we already did. and I was right. but holy shit this line was a kick in the gut while I’m still recovering from “that boy loved people”

Yukine loved people too....he loved people and they turned their backs on him BUT HE NEVER GAVE UP ON LOVING!!! IT JUST TOOK A DIFFERENT SHAPE. FUCK.

So Father knows someone visited the fridge. I wonder if he’s figured out that it was Hiyori yet. I just want her to snap him like a twig. it’s what he deserves.

Father also doesn’t care about Yukine, like, at all (we been knew), to the point he couldn’t even realize the only blond character in this fucking manga now has black hair. MAN. that just says a lot about him, huh.

Are we going to find out whether one of his parents was foreign?? He and Yuka are both noticeably light-haired and it hasn’t been addressed aside from Yukine’s hair color changing.

The hair color change was the only spoiler I saw before the chapter came out and it’s been haunting me ever since. I thought initially Yukine dyed his hair while trash dad was out, but now I wonder if the dark hair is his vessel form? Fujisaki summoned him before leaving, so I don’t know. He does look like his bird ayakashi form with having clawed hands as well.

I remember seeing speculation that trash dad generally tells the truth. well as of this chapter we know he’s a fucking liar. Hiyori left that flower, and I think it will end up being important in the long run when Yukine realizes that she’s the only human who truly cares about him.

Whether trash dad has been telling the truth about other things remains to be seen. We still don’t know how he got out of Yomi, if that’s really what happened to make him immortal. But this lie about the flower seems to be a white lie. He could have just said he didn’t know. If he so readily lied about this, who’s to say he hasn’t been lying about other things too, you know?

Yukine destroying the fridge would normally make me be like good for her.jpeg but since the context is him with trash dad I actually hate it

Since Yukine is now so eager to meet his dad I can’t shake the feeling that he’s dead. It would be the perfect gut-punch for him to demand why his father killed him, only to find out that he’s dead (and maybe even that YATO did it...which would only add more fuel to the fire....fuck) and never get to resolve his turmoil.

I’ve been on the fence about whether Yukine’s dad is still alive but based on this chapter I’m putting my bets on “he’s dead and Yato killed him back in the early manga because that would cause the most suffering at present and that generally seems to be the route Adachitoka takes.”

Like, yeah, if Yato did it it was to protect Yukine, but that doesn��t matter when he’s already so pissed off at Yato.

Yato only fired on trash dad because he didn’t know that it was Yukine with him. And Yukine is again thinking that Yato is trying to hurt him. This chapter is also a horrible inversion of...was it 83-2? where Yato tried to kill trash dad and Yukine stopped him? Except now this time it’s not because Yukine wants answers, it’s because he’s pissed at Yato and loyal to trash dad.

Yato was also a fool for thinking sniping trash dad from afar would work, especially when it didn’t even work the first time.

So now the thing I’ve been working up to talking about throughout these many, many words: Hagusa’s vessel form is...himself. He is the weapon. This is such a wonderful (and terrible) narrative choice I’m delighted by where it will take us physically and metaphorically, but obviously it hurts. A lot.

Yuuki being himself the weapon that trash dad fights Yato with for what may be their final showdown is such a fitting culmination to his character arc in this section of the story. (when trash dad said he would turn him into a weapon I DIDN’T REALIZE IT WAS LITERAL)

This is also a good choice art-wise because it means even more pain with seeing Yukine physically fighting Yato rather than Yato and trash dad fighting with swords or something.

So Yato met with Yuka before (it was a flashback, as many people pointed out to me after I goofed last month lmao) but whether that was earlier today or further in the past remains to be seen. I hope he told her to get out because it seems like trash dad is heading into her house while Yato and Yukine face off.

well. “face off” is maybe an exaggeration. Yato will not be able to fight Yukine at all and I’m anticipating he gets the shit kicked out of him, again, while he tries to make him see reason. bro. I hate this. I really, really hate this. This final fight is going all the ways I knew it would, but hoped it wouldn’t.

Hiyori and Nora come help please

July can’t come soon enough

I’m pretty sure this is my longest thoughts post ever. so much happened and I have so many feelings about all of it.

#Noragami #Noragami manga #Noragami spoilers #chapter 88.2 #AND NOW WITH THAT I will try to get some more sleep. #live update

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 4. Random thoughts.

So this is where mayonnaise came into the story. I still remember my sheer utter confusion over the mayo bath in the Memory Snow OVA, having no memory of the anime ever bringing up any of Subaru's love for the condiment. As a positive for him at least, it's cool that Emilia apparently really likes it too and that he's the one who figured out how to makes the stuff in this new world.

“The lad’s eyes interested me ever so slightly. They said he has crossed the boundary of death. Many come close to the line, stop, and draw back, but...” Wilhelm lowered his lids in thought as his words trailed off. “Those are the eyes of one who has crossed once, no...several times, and returned. I know of no such being. You might say I was compelled by curiosity.”

How would he know what the eyes of someone like that look like if he's never met anyone like that before Subaru?

“Listen and be amazed, look and be astounded! Behold, the ultimate combat technique—RoSciPer!!”

“What is that...thing?! You did not inform me such a hand was possible!”

“Shut up! I didn’t mention it, but it’s your fault you didn’t ask! That part is rock, this here’s scissors, and over there is paper! In other words, my hand’s beaten your rock!”

That is so freaking petty. But on the other hand, maybe Priscilla would respect him for it anyway? I could see her having no problem with winning however you can, even if it's by being unfair and tricking your opponent, as long as you keep your own pride.

“—But I wonder what Master Roswaal is thinking?”

She inclined her head slightly as she voiced her doubts about the instructions her master had left that morning.

“He said, ‘Do not stand in Subaru’s way no matter what Lady Emilia may say to you.’”

It was as if he’d anticipated Subaru’s actions and had instructed her accordingly. She also wondered why he was valuing Subaru’s opinion above Emilia’s.

Hmm...now that's curious.

“That’s right, bro. It’s been eighteen years since I got summoned here. I lost my arm around the same time... Right around the age you are right now.”

Just like that, Al confessed to Subaru that he’d experienced the same situation.

...Wait...WHAT?! If this was in the anime then I completely forgot about it because holy sh*t, Al is from another world too?! And according to him he arrived 18 years ago and was about the same age as Subaru is (and Subaru is roughly 17, isn't he?). No idea if he can Return By Death and if he can he might have the same penalty for trying to talk about it as Subaru does, so he obviously couldn't talk about it, but this is a huge deal. It's a great bit to add to Subaru's story, showing off what could have happened to him and what he could still eventually become. It probably deepened his obsession with Emilia a little bit too, since she's the main difference between him and Al.

“Unfortunately, Lady Emilia, this is not the time or place for you to argue. If all the facts become clear, Subaru will be staying here...for a very, veeery long time.”

Okay, Roswaal f**king knows and is planning something.

They talk about a Dragon Tablet handed down by Holy Dragon Volcanica, which has given predictions and warnings about great disasters that did actually occur. Naturally, my first thoughts are that this Holy Dragon (or whoever wrote the tablet) might have had abilities like Subaru's RBD and that he'll have his own role to play.

Felt might be a long lost princess of the royal family that was wiped out in a strangely specific plague and Subaru met both her and Emilia first in this world because she stole for her the thing that proved she was a worthy candidate for being a Dragon Maiden. It kind of feels like the Witch of Envy is like the Force from Star Wars with how well she made the destinies and chance encounters line up.

I never really liked Ferris that much, and not because he's a cat-boy trap. It's more the way he talks. I like things that are cute but I can't stand things that are cutesy.

While Crusch's idea for the future of the kingdom is nothing that should be rushed, and most certainly should be done with care as not to piss off the dragon, I get where she's coming from, that they are too reliant on the dragon's blessings and not doing enough for themselves. It's a classic argument I've seen plenty in superhero stories. There's no denying the heroes have done a lot of good but when the people become too dependent on them and if/when the heroes can't help anymore, what's going to happen then? It's one of my favorite plot points in My Hero Academia, where common citizens thinking "It's fine, a hero will show up and take care of it." and not helping where they should have eventually gave rise to one of their world's most dangerous and infamous supervillains.

“A-and now you make threats. These words and this show of force convey, ‘Do as I say or you shall be an icicle.’ If this is not blackmail, what is...?!”

Then, Emilia wholeheartedly affirmed his suspicions.

“—Yes, I am threatening you.” She continued, “I shall make my case to the esteemed members of the Council of Elders once more. My name is Emilia. I spent a long time in the Great Forest of Elioor, the World of Eternal Frost, and am served by Puck, the Great Spirit that governs fire mana. I am a silver-haired half-elf. The people of the nearby villages called me...”

Emilia paused, surveying the faces of the Council of Elders on the dais.

“...the Freezing Witch, born in the Frozen Forest.”

Holy sh*t, I am way more into Emilia's character here than I was in the anime! That was awesome! Her whole speech after too and her finally being given some respect. It's not like she didn't have any personality or agency in the anime. It's not like she could have just been replaced by a sexy lamp and nothing would be different like you could with the heroines of other series. But she definitely feels like she has more here, like there's more fire to her. Like hot damn, even I want to see her become queen now!

...And then Subaru opens his mouth again...and promptly inserts his foot.

Yeah, I suppose Subaru white knighting for Emilia in front of all the actual white knights is probably one of the more infamous scenes of the series, huh? It's one of those weird things where you feel you know what Subaru should have done but at the same time, if he hadn't snuck into the castle, we wouldn't have gained his relationships with Priscilla and Al or have seen as much of the meeting as we did. It's good for the story and eventually it's good for character development but it's hard not to wince a little at everything Subaru does in this part, especially because he himself reflects and feels guilty at a few points about how badly he could have messed everything up for Emilia and Roswaal.

I've thought a lot more about Subaru's white knighting ever since I watched the anime, mostly because of characters like Motoyasu from Rising of the Shield Hero and Mitsurugi from Konosuba; two LN series I read before this one. Chivalry isn't a bad thing. Trying to stand up and fight for someone you care about isn't a bad thing. But like Emilia points out, she never asked Subaru to do any of that for her. She didn't want him to do any of that for her. In fact, he deliberately went against what she did ask of him to go and do all of that. With these three characters, the problem with their white knighting is that they're doing it with no regard to what the person they're white knighting for actually wants. In many cases, like Emilia also points out, Subaru wasn't really doing it for her. He was doing it for himself. To make himself feel better. To place himself closer to her. And she's not exactly wrong that their relationship seems to be entirely just two people repaying their debts to each other, even though she has no idea what debt Subaru feels he owes her.

The ironic thing is, if Subaru wanted to get closer to Emilia and have value to her, he already found a way to do that in one of his previous lives. On his second or third loop in the mansion arc, Puck told him that Emilia doesn't have a lot of experience with friends and really wants some. During that loop, Subaru and Emilia are just hanging out, enjoying each other's company, laughing. It's made clear she does genuinely like having him around. Just being her friend was enough for her and there's still plenty of ways her friend could have helped her through such a trying time, without embarrassing her in front of everyone in the castle or making her think it's her fault he keeps getting hurt.

I think Subaru's big problem, and what he needs to grow out of, isn't that he's an idiot (though he can certainly do dumb things) but rather that he's immature. Not immature like he's a child (though sometimes...) but immature in that he hasn't developed enough to properly react to certain situations. He was a shut-in who constantly skipped school. He doesn't have a lot of experience with other real people and doesn't know how to properly interact with them, defaulting too often to what he's seen in fantasy stories. I think that's a problem both he and Rem share to an extent. They don't know what it means to be in love. That's not to say that Subaru's love for Emilia isn't real or that Rem's love for Subaru isn't real. Rather that they don't know what to do with it. They don't know how they should act towards the person they're in love with or how to show their love, so too often they default to either obsession or devotion or both. And so if they want to have a healthy, happy relationship with the person they love, they have to acknowledge and address their own immaturity and basically grow up a bit.

Nice little detail that Julius beat on Subaru to keep any other knights from going after and possibly killing him...and because he was at least a little annoyed by Subaru's words. He's a good guy...but still human.

And again with Roswaal working things behind the scenes. He gave orders for Subaru (or at least a servant bearing his family crest like Subaru would be) to be allowed to pass into the castle. I imagine he did have a back-up plan for if Subaru never showed up but the man definitely knows or suspects something about Subaru and/or what's going on with him. I mean, benefit of the doubt, if he doesn't know about RBD, from the outside it does look like Subaru has some kind of prophetic abilities, as twice now he's known about future events that would have destroyed everything Roswaal's been working towards and used that knowledge to prevent them. Making things easier for Subaru to act just in case he had another "vision" would have been in Roswaal's best interest. He might be thinking Subaru is like the Holy Dragon, thus Roswaal has his own personal Dragon Tablet. But I can't help but feel things go deeper than that. At the very least I'm glad Subaru's outburst and Roswaal trying to smite him with fire was apparently part of the plan. 1, Roswaal is just a really fun character and I don't want to lose that, but 2, he definitely seems like a guy you don't want to have against you.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gontd5/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_4/

#re:zero #random thoughts #reddit repost

[visual-explorxtion]

Vinylic Taste [Carlos Oliveira x Reader] - One Shot

Summary: You’re trapped and alone in the midst of an outbreak, struggling to survive. In the depths of your despair, Carlos came to the rescue. Through your ups and downs, Carlos soon became your best partner and vice versa. But...you soon realise Carlos isn’t who he appears to be.

A/N: Are you reading this at night time? Good...Wanted to write a Carlos fic but also wanna try and write something different from my usual stuff. But also got super distracted by other ideas and this fic got pushed waaaay further back and kinda took a different turn from my original plan and 11 pages in, I panicked. Still in first person POV.

TW: Graphic depiction of Violence, Blood, Gore, Angst, a bit of horror (idek), prob not as graphic as you think but it’s still graphic, uhh language and bit of a Mind Break.

Words: 6.0k

How did things turn out this way? Blood seeped its way across the vinyl floor, forming a pool around my feet as I sat helplessly with my body shivering in fear. Chest rising and falling rapidly and eyes locked wide open, my blurry gaze fixated onto a man but I could only make an outline of them. Him; on his knees, lays a lifeless corpse in between them, all drenched in venous blood as the deep red colour streams down every rigid and curves of his face. The air is thick combined with the stench of iron and gunpowder. He stares at his hands, covered in liquid but not his own. He laughs- echoes through my soul and pulsated the room- never have I ever heard of something so harrowing and sinister coming from a human. If he even had any sanity left in him. Neck twists abnormally towards my direction, head tilts eerily as if it's only supported by a thin piece of string. A soft gasp left my mouth, throat scorched with fear and lips quivering. My limbs lay still no matter how much I tell myself to run. My sense of self is being sucked into his dark, endless gaze. The light behind his eyes had vanished, all that's left is a soulless carcass I no longer recognise.

"Carlos...What happened to you?"

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

The thunderous rain came washing down my face, lowering my field of vision. The moisture trickles down from thick strands of hair and onto the rubble concrete in a light rhythmic pitter-patter. In the span of 24 hours, everything turned from just an average day in this town to be engulfed and corrupted by a fiery shitshow. Humans eating humans, without a hint of remorse. They have no emotions, no pain tolerance. Their sole purpose is to feed on anything that has a heartbeat. It creeps me out. Like somebody playing a joke too far to the point of no return. That's what I'd initially thought. In my struggle to keep myself alive in this godforsaken town, each bullet is scarce but every item you gather is expendable. As the gun recoils, a leftover shell would flicker out with each bullet piercing the head of the undead. A steady hand, steady trigger finger and steady breathing. One by one, I shot them down. The feeling of ambivalence surrounds my mind with every shot I take. This isn't right, they are...were...humans, flesh and blood.

The ringing in my ears grew louder with each squeezing action I take. The heat of adrenaline coursing through under my skin, my peripheral vision gradually disappears until I'm left with the image of head to head. Before I could react, my back was already on the ground. The backside of my head slams against the solid sidewalk with a loud crack, the noise echoed inside for a nanosecond. My self-defence mechanism kicks in- forearm struggle against the zombie's throat, it's jaw hinges wide open with blood oozing out as it frantically pushes it's deadweight onto me. Its skin texture is abnormal, like every part of them is set in stone. Why didn't rigor mortis happen? My fingers tremble, trying to grasp for the handle of my gun that's just out of reach. Muscles burn and ache as my defence is crumbling to its limit, teeth-gritting with every last strength that I have. I refuse to die like this. Not like them.

As my forearm grew tired- inching closer and closer to my face- I squeeze my eyes shut, refusing to look Death in its soulless gaze and let it consume me slowly in the space of darkness. The next moment, I felt liquid splatter across my face but the pain never set in. My eyes flew open and watched as the corpse lay limping on my arm and the rest drop dead around my vicinity. I grunt as I discard the corpse aside, inspecting it one more time for any sign of movement. Face frozen in place as blood runs dry from the temple. The sight of this made my stomach churn.

"Hey, are you alright? Can you stand?"

A muscular figure towers over me, fully equipped in tactical gear. One hand armed with an assault rifle and the other extended out towards my direction. His hand is all worn out, even though the gloves I can see his fingers covered in blisters and scratches. They have seen better days.

"Yeah...I'm fine."

I choked out as I accept his assistance. His grip heaved my weight without breaking a sweat but may have overestimated his strength a little. His aid offset my balance and my body crash-landed in his embrace. Even with me standing on my own two feet, he's still almost a foot taller than I am. Our eyes met for a brief moment but I immediately jumped out of his arms as heat flushed up my cheeks and I regain my composure. He chuckles.

"My name is Carlos, I'm with the UBCS and we're here to get you out of here."

The organisation doesn't ring any bells in mind, nevertheless, receiving help from a rescue team is better than trudging through this damned hell alone. I would be lucky if I could even make it out alive. But, this strange rescue encounter sends comfort to my mind and slowly easing off my anxiety, or maybe it's because I'm no longer alone with Carlos's presence next to mine. Either way, I shouldn't let my guard down even with the help I'm getting.

The rest of his team is gathered in the subway station, we've arrived just in time for the last train to bound. Every one of them is tattered and covered in rags, exhausted and in pain. I can't imagine what kind of hell they've fought through, compared to myself, it's nothing but a just a minor scratch. Carlos caught up with his crew while I took a seat as all my energy is drained from my soul. The cool metal sensation seeped through my jeans and triggered goosebumps and hair along my arm, I couldn't care less about the shock as exhaustion washes over my limbs. I've been beaten down mentally and physically enough for me to not realise the train was already in motion. The view from out the window is nothing but a fast pace blur of darkness. All that just happened felt so unreal- the gush of blood, the viscous touch of muscle fibres, so red yet so cold. Getting pinned to the ground by this...thing. Its strength is vicious and animalistic with a face that doesn't resemble a human anymore. And at that moment my mind went blank. What if, at that very second, nobody came to save me? What if, I just gave up? What if, I let its teeth sink into my neck? What if...I just died there and then?

"How are you holding up?"

Carlos appeared before me, interrupting all the trepidatious thoughts. A slow realisation sets in as my hands tremble in my lap. Immediately, I curl my fingers into fists to cover up the jitter from him. "Still holding" I swallowed and smile politely, hoping the lump in my throat won't betray me right now. He returned the smile and positioned himself in the seat next to mine. "You were brave out there. Fighting by yourself...not many people have the balls to do that."

I let out a quiet snort. "No, you saved my ass. I wasn't brave. I was just lucky. If it wasn't for you I would've..." A pause, "I would've become one of them by now." Tears tingled behind my eyes as I blinked several times to keep them at bay. Carlos catches my hands tenderly, unravelling my fingers one by one, releasing all the tension I took a grasp of and crimson liquid came dribbling out the crescent-shaped wound. The fear in my head numbs all my pain; unaware of the shallow cuts, the maroon shade stained the dents of my fingertips. He took out some bandages from one of his pouches and carefully bind them to stop the bleeding. "There. That should do the trick." he grins as I admire his patchwork. "Thank you." I returned the kindness and we sat in comfortable silence. Upon closer inspection, Carlos does look kinda cute. The corner of his eyes crinkles and smile line deepens whenever he laughs, not to mention, his voluminous mane is the centre of attention. It kind of reminds me of an Old English Sheepdog and that image alone made me giggle.

"Carlos, we have a situation." we turn our attention to another team member, dressed in the same gear as Carlos- except his appearance was more well-kept, clean-shaven. Carlos turns, face sombre, knowing the news that comes next won't be any good. "What's the status?"

"Charlie's comms are down. The situation currently unknown."

"And Bravo team's position?"

"They're en route to Charlie, but they've already lost half their men"

He ponders for a moment. "Alright, change of plan. We'll meet up with Bravo and rescue Charlie. Once we get there, see if you can call for extraction out of this city."

His colleague nodded and went off to relay the message to the rest of the squad. Carlos turns back and kneels down, looking at me in the eyes, he softly spoke. "Hey. We're gonna have to take a detour, but I promise you, I'll keep you safe." He paused, reading my reaction. "Are you okay with that?"

My gaze wanders around his nervous expression, but I simply smiled. "Yeah, it's better than being alone out there right now. And besides, I don't doubt your abilities to keep me safe." His face went blank for a few seconds to unexpectedly bursts into laughter as though my answer caught him by surprise. "Okay. We'll be getting off next stop. In the meantime, stock up on some supplies cuz we don't know what's out there. Talk to one of the guys and they can get what you need." Carlos winked before leaving me to psych myself up for what's coming ahead. Knowing the chaos that's happening out there, it's going to be a dirty fight.

Our clattering footsteps relay around the walls of the subway as the lights flicker in a retrospective beat. The place is bare and quiet. Too quiet, even. Not even a single croak or heavy breathing could be perceived. It is deadly silent. Why is it empty? With the city running amok, you'd expect people to be escaping this hell hole; or worst-case scenario, laying dead in this underground. But, nothing. Not a single body insight. That's what worries me. I could say the same for the rest of Carlos's team. Which means, whatever is waiting for us out there is greater than what we could imagine.

My knees are getting weaker by the minute, shuffling closer to Carlos as I grasp my gun tight. Fingers nervously fiddling with the indents of the grip; sucking in a cool breath of air and pulling my shoulders back, we press on.

The layout of the underground is intricate and labyrinthine- reaching an intersection every few minutes, but we haven't let our guard down. Turning the last corner, we finally arrived at the main plaza; still remaining empty but the place was already thrashed. Carlos signalled for everyone to spread out and search the area, while I linger next to him. My heartbeat is racing quick as ever since I stepped off the train with the rapid pulse stuck in the back of my throat. He gently touches my arm, worry flash before his eyes but I shook my head. 'I'm fine' I mouthed. He looked at me for a few seconds, unconvinced, but decided not to force it any further. This place is eerily bleak, what was once lively is now filled with desolation. Somehow there's a slight dread and sadness inside me. The noise of metal clanking took my attention away from my surroundings.

"Damn it. The exits blocked." He gave it another shot but the gate shows no sign of budging. A short, heavy breath escapes his nose. I examined his troubled look and spoke out, "I'll go look for a way to open the gate."

He was stunned. "No. I can't let you do this. It too dangerous-"

"Please, I insist. You've helped me enough so let me do this. Even if I am in trouble, you'll come to save me, right?"

Carlos's expression is tense; I can almost see his thoughts rotating, like clockwork, inside his mind. Considering and reconsidering my offer. At last, my words overthrows him. "Okay, but take this." He hands me a palm-size radio, all tattered and taped. "Anything you see, you radio in. And I mean that. If you see one of those things, do not hesitate to shoot. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," I respond, sloppily saluting as I backed away to complete my new objective, continue to traverse down to the backside of the plaza. By the repetition of office doors, this justifies that I'm going in the right direction, but which one? The fluorescent lights blinked abruptly before returning to normal. Seems like the building is getting more unstable, with time quickly ticking away, I should hurry. And by some miraculous luck, I stumbled upon a door that catches my attention. 'Employees Only', this must be it. The door isn't locked but it took a great amount of energy to push a gap open, just enough for me to squeeze through.

Stacks of documents and brick computers blockade the door and next to it; a dead corpse that was once the employee of this place. He must have been dead for 2 hours- top, by the looks of it. The blood forms into a pool around the body and adheres to the sole of my boots. He took the quick way out. A blow to the head with his own pistol, laying dormant in his hand, now motionless in white. Crimson red liquid and shards depicted the blank wall, chunks frozen in place.

"I'm so sorry..."

Choking back my grief, I resume my search and in front of me is my mission objective. Monochromatic screens all tracking specific places of the building. Right on the bigger screen, displays Carlos and his men searching the perimeter. I radio in, "Carlos, come in. I'm in the control room. Hang on, I'll get the gate open."

"Good job. Hurry back and we'll get out-"

The building fades into darkness, heightening my sense of fear in this unfamiliarity. I draw out my gun and tightening my hold like it's my lifeline. My chest stiffens with each shallow breath I took, the effect of the blackout is developing claustrophobia within me. I heaved and the lack of oxygen in my brain cause me to hallucinate all my nightmares, but the image of Carlos flashed vividly in my mind. I took a deep breath and count to three. One...Two...Three... The emergency lights came on before my eyes and my anxiety reverts back to a sense of tranquillity. Talk about timing.

"Carlos? Carlos! Are you okay?" Please tell me he's okay.

No reply.

"Carlos? Are you there? I can't see you." I bit my lip, searching relentlessly on the screen for a trace of him. Just any sign at all.

"Yeah, we're okay. We've taken cover but it's pitch black out here, but...we could only see so much with our flashlight. See if you can get the power back on from your end"

Frantically, I pressed every button presented on the switchboard, nothing seems to be doing the trick. "Negative. I don't think I can do anything from here." All of a sudden, the floor began to rumble. And gradually it became stronger that shook the whole room, files and objects tumble to the ground until it subsides back down again, just like a tank passing by. "What was that?" I said in dismay.

"I don't know..." Coming from the other side of the line, a low growl and heavy footsteps. "But, whatever the fuck that is...It's definitely in here with us now."

In search of the monitor, I glue my eyes to the blurry image shown; even if everything doesn't seem out of the ordinary, my gut feeling is telling me otherwise. Still as a statue, they listened in closely to every motion IT makes. The sound is too quiet to be perceived. Out of the corner of the screen, something whoosh by. Its movements are too fast for me to catch but it's inching closer and closer to the lifeforms. With one swift swipe, it took a man down, and then the next. The claw marks on the wall...it stretches 10 feet wide from point to point, even looking through the screen, the blood is so vividly deep in hue. It crawls in close, but the team is still desperately searching.

It strikes! "Get down!" My voice is shaking down to its core.

They duck, but some did not make it. Their limbs severed; corpse dangling in half on the claw of the monstrous being, still clinging and screaming for their lives and then cease all at once. I shrieked out in horror. The size of that thing knocked the air out of my lungs. This being couldn't possibly be a human?! The zombie creation stood ten times its original size. The exposed skeleton is partially bound by its flesh- all swelled up and tainted, its tail bone morphed to a whip carrying a single-edge blade. Claws digging into the shallow pool of blood as the liquid cascade down the cracks of the marble flooring. The remaining squad open fire, bullets fly and ricochet off the wall. In the brief moment of spark, they lost sight of the target again.

"Shit, where is it?" I can hear the frustration in Carlos's tone.

Their flashlight drifts around the room as the tension sets in. You fear what you can't see, even more so if all you could see is darkness. The beast growls and encircles them, but the squad can't pinpoint where the sound is coming from. Intensity fills your gut as you watch the monitor closely, decoding its every move. After a beat, it leaps.

"Carlos, your 4 o'clock!"

He whips around at the speed of sound as he squeezes the trigger. The blast took impact greater than his expectation, every shot penetrated into its fleshy fibres while it screeched with a chalkboard sound. It struggles to keep a hold of itself up on the pillars as it collapses and tumbles to the ground. Without missing a beat, the team executes the behemoth until it turns into a bloody pulp, killing it with brute force. They inspected the pulverized mess further before they could ease off their defences. As if by command, the power's back on. My stomach turns into a knot. This is strange, but I pay no mind to it.

"Carlos, you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah...that was too close. That thing was too quick... We could've been killed here if it wasn't for you. You were our eyes when we couldn't see so...thank you." I could almost hear him blush at the other end of the line.

"Don't sweat it. Alright, I'm gonna get the gate open." I pulled the lever and watch the gate rise and retracted back through the screen.

"Got it. Now get your ass back he-" THUMP! Something's outside the door, trying to crank it open.

THUMP!

"Carlos? Carlos, someone's trying to get in here." my voice shivers.

"What? What do you mean someo-"

BANG! The door flew open. As an instinct, I drew my gun and aimed it towards them. A team of four heavily armed soldiers dressed in black armoury kicked in, almost like a SWAT team, weapons aimed ready. Without a second thought, I opened two shots on their thighs and calves to buy myself some time. They did not flinch, nor did it cause any pain to them. The unit moved in closer and closer towards my position by the time I made the first punch. My right hook collided with one of the soldier's throat and swiftly transitioned my elbow to another one in between the ribs. But all of that did not matter, my attacks took little effect as they soon surround me, putting me in a lock hold position, hands bound behind my back and dragging me away from the room. I can feel my heartbeat pulsating in my throat while I struggle to break free. Who the fuck are these people? What do they want with me? I don't want this. I'm scared.

"CARLOS!"

His name was the last thing that left my lips before the hooded squad inject my system with some form of liquid. My eyelids grew heavy, I fought back to keep myself awake but alas, the shroud of darkness consumes my mind, taking my soul to a distant world. The next time I wake up, the doors to the pandora's box had already open and it's already too late for me to stop it.

The snickering and one-sided conversation waver into my ear. I can't shift my body, still situated in darkness along with the effect of the drug. The icy metal clasp my limbs tight cemented on either side of my body and unable to produce any strength. The noises stopped and I froze like a deer in the headlights.

"Ah...you're awake. Good, good." The man sneered and carry on muttering in an absence. "You know, I was surprised by your...actions. You all exceeded my expectations. With this data you provided, we could improve on the flaws with our last experiment." He chuckled. "For now, my child, sleep. When you wake up, you'll be born anew again." His words became a slur in my brain, lowering into a hushed tone. Phrases repeat and distorting, just like an echo in an ice cave, cold and enchanting before my conscious slips away once more.

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

"WHAT HAPPENED? HEY, COME IN. HEY!" The statics over on the other line holds its place. "FUCK!" Carlos's voice howls, the thunderous boom stunned the remaining of his teammates. His fists clenched in a fit of rage as he smashes the radio onto the bloodied floor. The radio explodes with shards flying across the hall, some splinters still clinging onto his hand.

"Carlos...umph..." Tyrell struggles, limping its way towards him as he compresses his wound. "The mutated monster...the lights and the locked gate...I don't think it's that simple." he sighs, pushing his glasses back up with his forefinger. "There's only one company that would create such a big experiment. Carlos, listen...you need to stop them."

Carlos shifts to look at him. "T, we still have to meet up with Bravo and we've already lost half of our men. There's no prediction of what's roaming out there."

Tyrell shakes his head, a stern look in his eyes. "No...You've seen what they are capable of, there's no saying what Umbrella might do to next. Go rescue them, I'll handle the rest." He waves him away, still clenched in pain but casually shrugs it off. Carlos conflicted for a short period but ultimately chose to listen to Tyrell. Tyrell gave him a quick pat on his shoulder before Carlos turns away.

[Umbrella's research facility]

The eerie sound of silence fills the whole facility. A silence that stayed constant in your ears, just like the tv sign-off tone. The uneasy feeling never left Carlos's mind as soon as he traverses through the isolated building, gun in position. Walls dressed in white, the distinctive chill in the air and corridors that lead to nowhere. Carlos grew impatient by the minute.

There, at the end of the hallway, lays a door just barely visible for the naked eye. 'Security Room, EMPLOYEES ONLY'. He breaches in; a vast space all clustered with fallen chairs and paperwork, the multiple screens project different rooms within the facility, some looked like its the cafeteria and another resembles a cool storage room with weird pieces of machinery scattered around the place. Yet they are all empty, except one. At the top left-hand corner of the display box, it presents various aqua chambers containing partially mutated humans and failed experiments. And in the centre of that screen, he saw his companion positioned upright on a surgical bed, unconscious and all tied up. But getting there might be difficult without putting up a fight as four heavily armed mercs all gathered outside of the laboratory. Carlos unclips his assault rifle and peeks, the ammunition is barely enough to fight four soldiers; hell, not even four zombies. At this point, every shot counts.

The build-up of sweat in his palm loosened his grip. He examines his hand; trembling and numb with uncertainty, what lies between him and his enemies is just one simple electronic door. Beyond that, someone important is there waiting for him, alive and afraid. Or perhaps they...no. That couldn't possibly be the case. He clutches the handle once more, on the count of three breaths, he bursts in. It only took a split second for bullets to fly across the room, landing hits in the enemies' calves and forearms. Carlos moves in closer before they could react, instantly killing a soldier with one shot under the jaw as blood and plasma spew out onto the ceiling. They return fire, only to hit their ex-partner's lifeless corpse. Carlos thrusts the body towards the two henchmen and staggers them to the ground, he flips; locking the remaining guy pressed up the wall with his entire body, they struggle but was immediately executed with a blow to the head. Blood splattered on Carlos's right shoulder but that didn't faze him. The sound of his assault rifle clicks empty as he saw the two crawling back up. "Tch." His tongue snapped as the gun launched across the room at a high velocity, knocking one in the face and stumbling backwards. Like a chain of effect, they’ve sprawled out on the floor once again. Stepping his right foot on their torso, his gaze shows pity as he ponders over them before pulling out his pistol from the holster.

"Hope you got friends on the other side."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The aftermath of those four shots lingers in the room. A mixture of gunpowder and blood made Carlos's stomach twist up in a knot, but he got more important things to worry about. The life of his partner was the only thing that occupied his mind. The final door slides open; revealing a skinny, middle-aged looking man in a fresh set of lab coat, stood in front of a worktable and unaware of his presence. Inside, those hydro chambers stood twice his height with flesh substance floating inside the liquid. Some are just a blob of meat and others have fully transformed into somewhat human-shaped, but all are deformed. Upon closer inspection, one mutated monster's eye pop open. Carlos flinched. He examined around and was shocked to find that they are alive, all of them. What kind of sick joke is this? Is this what I've been fighting? He wondered.

"Admiring my creations, I see. Do you like it?" The man asked.

"Is this what's been running the city into a shitshow? What the fuck is this pharmaceutical company hiding?" He looks around. "Where are they?"

"Ah, yes! My precious little plaything. You're just in time to witness the beginning of my newest creation." The man chuckles, he pressed a button and the sound of machinery begins to whir. The glass cell shifts closer into the room, unveiling you in a comatose state, pretty as a picture. "They are sedated, for now. But soon, they will become humanity’s greatest invention and you will be the first one to witness it. Isn't that something?"

The blood inside him boils; the rage within could not be contained, white-hot magma erupting and coating every strain in his system. He pulled the trigger; the shots punctured through both of the man's legs as he knelt on the floor, screaming in agony. Carlos rushed to your side, unclasping any restrictions and carefully let you lean against the wall.

"Heh...what will you achieve by saving them...? The city's gone rogue...everybody's dead...and yet you couldn't save half your men. So...why bother saving them...the end is nigh!" His manic amusement shakes the whole room to the ground. But, the laughter was cut short and soon, it has been replaced by the clinking of a bullet shell against the hard deck and empty clickings. Gun drops as he struts towards the pathetic slob, straggling in the crimson liquid that's supposed to keep him alive. Well, not anymore. Carlos straddles on top of his weakened body, gaze bore into his soul. He wondered. How could someone like him still be alive? As the world burns and he gets to live? The ability to heal given to this monster and yet, he chose destruction. He must be purged.

The sound of his leather gloves creek as it made the first impact. The feeling of bone to bone seems odd to Carlos but...it excites him. With each hit, the pain pushes him even further, numbing and bruising. It felt right. He pants, the blood spews and paints him in a new shade of violence. The man weakly chuckles.

"The man who fights monsters have become a monster himself. Isn't that irony...?" He coughs, blood spilling out on the edge of his lips.

"Killing humans...how does that feel? Still want to play the hero and save them? With the world on fire and all those lives in your hands...you will only taint them. Lemme tell you a story...do you know what kind of flower blooms the brightest even in the harshest weathers?" Carlos looks at him quizzically.

"Snowdrops. They are the first ones to bloom long before spring comes around...the pure and innocent. At the beginning of time, Snow searched for a colour to borrow... The element admired flowers and their vibrant colours. One day, Snow asked and pleaded for one of the colours from the flowers, but the blossoms denied Snow's request; they felt Snow was too cold and undesirable. The snowdrop, however, felt sorry for Snow and offered it its own colour. It accepted the gift and the element itself became as white as an angel's feathers... To show its gratitude, Snow allowed snowdrops to bloom at the end of each winter with their own protection against the blizzard weather. From then on, Snow and snowdrops exist side-by-side as friends."

He heaves. "Like I said...irony... Their friendship is only a fabrication out of pity. Just like you!" The deathly cackle roams as he chokes on his own spit and blood.

Ears buzzed with white silence, his visions hazed with a red lens filter and heart palpate at an abnormal speed. Carlos felt every ridge of the handle on his knife and takes out his weapon, unhurried. The shiny metal pressed upon the wilting man's oesophagus- with only a little strength, it opened up. Blood spatter across Carlo's face, unflinching. His eyes darkened, tunnel vision focused on the crevice of the wound; there's friction on the thin layer of skin as the sharp edge glides slowly from one end of the neck to another. Carlos finishing him off with a fling of his blade, scattering red all over the wall. Both of his hands grip the handle tight; rising it high above his head, he paused for a moment to look at him one last time, then strikes down into the man's right chest in the speed of light. Pulverising his cardiac organ. He retrieves the knife and repeats over and over again with the red fluid gushes out with each stab until there is nothing left. A monster bathed in his enemy's blood. The man croaks in agony and over a few seconds, it stops. And so does Carlos.

The white noise has been replaced by his own rapid breathing. Thoughts are empty, his gaze quivers yet, he does not fear anything. He felt it...warmth. How did he not notice it? Is this how warm humans feel? He never realised this, this kind of feeling, it's something so different from killing a zombie. He looks down at his own two hands...so red. A smile crept along his face with the feeling of content. In a spark, he burst into a peal of harrowing laughter, vibrating the whole room.

"Carlos...What happened to you?"

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

In my moments of wake, I find myself bestowing my gaze upon a beast gazing back at me with a musing look in his eyes. They're so dark and dire, almost like someone gouged out a part of him and replaced it with something so sinister. He snaps, now truly looking at me through the eyes of the actual Carlos, as if nothing happened.

"You're awake! Good, I was starting to get worried about you. We should probably leave and catch up with Tyrell. They should've called for the extraction by now." Placing his tarnished knife back into the holster, he made his way towards me. My fear of him vanished, he's just like the Carlos I met a few hours ago. Warm and caring. "Let's go." He said, both his arms shifts under my back and behind my knees, picking my weight up with ease. "Get some rest...I wake you up when went get to the rendezvous point." His voice is hushed and the sound of his heartbeat soothes out all my stress. By the time we left the room, I was already drifting between dreamworld and reality.

The sound of his footstep was kept at a constant pace, his movement rocked me side to side, gently without missing a beat. But the further he tread, the temperature in the air got colder and yet I could not feel the wind brushing against me.

"Stay here. I'm gonna fix something real quick." Carlos's body heat left my side and was replaced by the icy touch of a piece of furniture. The mechanical hum occupied my eardrums and everything sound muffled once again. Eyes weakly opened and the sight wasn't what I was expecting. What greets me was four walls made of glass entrapping my body as he stood and watched.

"Carlos...what are you doing? Let me out. Come on...this isn't funny, Carlos. Let me out of here!" I begged.

He shook his head, resting a hand on the glass in front of me, looking at me longingly. "I can't." His words were breathless.

"Why?"

"I made you a promise. And this is the only way for me to protect you...You would be safer here, nothing can hurt you." His thumb grazes something small in his palm. I looked up and saw a room that was surrounded by pieces of machinery and nitrogen tanks, placed accordingly in rows of four. Then, it hit me.

"Don't do this..." I cried. But, it was too late. His thumb clicked on the small device in his hand and soon, a strain of gas misted out from the tubings and masking the entirety of the glass cell, leaving me dazed and numbed as I crawl back to the shivering nothingness.

"I'm sorry...I promise I'll come back for you." His empty words circulated in my ears and through the air as he walked away, leaving me in the darkest den of Umbrella. Cold, afraid and alone; frozen in time without anybody knowing.

And there I was, still as a landscape; living on top on a snowy mountain at the beginning of Spring, as pale as Death herself. Bidding my farewell to him until next Winter comes; when a blanket of snow tops the upside of the greeneries and then, we shall meet again.

#i'm gonna take a break before writing again cuz you know...self care #i do like writing something different #maybe i should do that stage play...hm... #carlos oliveira #carlos oliveira x reader #re fanfiction #re fanfic #resident evil #resident evil 3 remake #re3 remake #⭐️.doc

[rina-writes]

Calm Waters (Part 3)

Part 2: x

Summary: Now that Grayson knows the truth, all he wants is to set you free.  When you resist, he settles for giving you the teenage life you deserve to experience.  However, Ethan is not sure if that works for him.

Warning:  Mentions of abuse, and captivity, but balanced with a lot of fluff

Grayson’s eyes widened.  There were so many things to process.  The night before he arrived to confront you about the whole...”mermaid” thing, he wondered what would happen if he was completely wrong.  Your humor was pretty close to his, but even you would find this a little wacko.  He imagined back-tracking his statements and coming up with some lie about it being a prank or a challenge that everyone was doing.  You didn’t have social media, so you couldn’t reasonably doubt him.

Despite it being the outcome where he was actually right Grayson wasn’t mentally prepared for this result.  He supposed in his fantasy, he thought you react throwing your arms around him like he was your knight in shining armor, begging him to save you.  Instead, there you sat, calmly as though he was telling you about his morning coffee before politely telling him to mind his own business.

“What? No!” Grayson argued, his voice getting loud and angry.

“Shh, the dolphins.” You shushed him and Grayson through his hands up in frustration.

“Forget the dolphins, Rory!” Grayson yelled. “This is about YOU! You can’t really want me to just sit by and let this happen to you.”

Grayson pointed at your tank, his face hard and angry as he stared at you.  “This is inhumane, for you and THEM.”  He pointed at the dolphins tank when he said, ‘them’.  “I’m can’t work here knowing they are keeping a teenage girl locked a freaking tank.”

“Then quit.” You said, your voice coming out stronger than you expected.  “You can do that, Grayson.  You can walk away from all of this.”

“It’s not that simple...” Grayson said, shaking his head.  “I...”

“You what?” You challenged him.  “You love me? Don’t make me laugh.  You don’t even know me.”

You rubbed your temple and sighed. “Like I get it.  I saved you from a near death experience and I have pretty skin and look like a mythical creature..., so it seems like the stars aligned or whatever, but you still don’t know me! You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into...”

You were surprised at the bitterness of your own voice.  It didn’t reflect how you really felt.  You were happy that Grayson saw the truth and that he wanted to save you.  You imagined for years that someone would see your broken heart and get you out of this hell.  You realized you were pushing him away because you were scared of what could happen to him.  While his nativity was adorable and charming, it was going to lead him into harm’s way when combined with your situation.  This was probably the exact fear your mother had when she met your father and, not to be a Negative Nancy, but look where that ended up.

You slowly stood up and looked down at him.  This is what you needed to do, push him away.  If he hated you all the better. At least he would be safe.

“Don’t you get it?” You asked him, shaking your head.  “Pete is not just one person. There are thousands and millions of Petes around the world who would not hesitate to put me in a lab, chop me up into pieces, or strap my dead body to their boat.  This is a battle, not the war, Grayson.  At least here, I know my enemies... So, thank you, but no thank you.”

If you were honest, Grayson looked very scary when he was angry.  With his jaw set and his eyes wide, it made you want to take back everything you said.  At the same time, you could tell he was controlling himself.  He wasn’t going to yell and sure as hell wasn’t going to strike you.  Years of being tossed around and beaten has taught you how to spy an evil person from a mile away, and Grayson Dolan was not that person.

“Aurora...” He said, softly. He rested his hands on his knees as he steadied his breathing.  “You’re right, I didn’t get it.  Sure, I maybe the type of guy who falls for the first pretty girl he sees, but I’m also the kind of person who can judge someone’s character.  I really do like you.  I want to get to know and I want you to be apart of my life.  To be honest, even if I didn’t like you,  I would still want you out of here. No one deserves this.”

Grayson stared at the tank. From the roof, you could only see the top, and it looked like the two on either side of it.  It made his blood boil.  He could see Pete’s face, with his thick mustache and large, almost a little too straight teeth.  Grayson thought he was a nice guy, but now he sees that he’s a monster.

Grayson looked up at you.  You will still standing in front of him, your hands balled into fists.

“If busting you out isn’t an option...what else can I do?” Grayson asked.  “Anything that I can do to make a little less hell for you, I want to do it.”

Your eyes softened and slowly crouched back down to meet Grayson’s eyes level.  You glanced down as you thought about a compromise.  You smiled softly and said,

“Well, now that you know my secret...I wouldn’t mind getting vegan food.”

Grayson’s eyes widened.  “Wait....are you saying you want to sneak out?”

“Just for the night!” You said, quickly, not wanting him to misunderstand.  “Someone checks the tank right at closing to make sure I’m in, but no one comes until morning at the earliest.  I would have to come in my uniform soaking wet, but it could work.”

Grayson knew that this compromise wasn’t easy for you.  Although you were smiling at him as you spoke, he saw your hand trembling on top of your knee.  He placed his hand on top of yours.

“Then I’ll make sure you get a vegan burger so good that it makes it all worth it.” Grayson smiled.

You grinned as you stood up, giving him a hand to help him stand as well.  “Come on, my shift is about to start.”

“Alright, let me wake Ethan.” Grayson said, walking over to his twin. “Hey E! Come meet, Aurora!”

Ethan pretended to be asleep as Grayson shook him awake violently.  In reality, Ethan had heard everything. Grayson may be okay with you just escaping for a night, but Ethan knew you needed more.  He wasn’t going to stop at getting you out, he was going to close Pete’s Ocean Land for good.

Grayson was itching to get home all day.  He needed to plan for his date.  If he and Ethan’s research was correct, it had been a long time since you had been outside, let alone, on a proper date.  Unlike most dates where he had to focus on what he was going to wear and what you were going to do, he had to also consider where you could go that wouldn’t make you run into Pete or anyone from work.  Additionally, he couldn’t expect you to go on a date in your soaking wet uniform.  As far as he was concerned, you were human and he knew you had pride in yourself.  Sure, it had been smothered into almost nothing by your sadistic uncle, but Grayson knew it was still there.

He ran into the house and straight up the stairs to his older sister’s room.  They were only two years apart in age, and Grayson was almost as close to her as he was Ethan.  Cameron was home from college for a couple weeks and was connecting with a few friends from high school.  She was always the friend that people came to for advice and so, he knew she was the right person for this job. He knock-opened her door to see his sister Cameron on the phone with one of her friends as she sat on her bed.

Without even as much as a hello, Grayson immediately went into his request. “Cam, I have a date in like two hours and I need to get her an outfit!”

Cameron’s soft, light brown eyes narrowed.  She swiped a dirty blonde strand of hair from her eyes as she muttered into her phone, “Let me call you back.”

She turned to her brother.  “What on Earth? When did you become a sugar daddy?”

Grayson let out a half-chuckle. “I’m not!” He insisted. “She’s just going through a rough time and I know she’s just going to come straight from work.  She doesn’t have a lot of stuff...but I want her to feel special today.”

“Well, if she doesn’t have a lot, then let me at least give her a makeover.” Cameron bit her lip.  Like her brothers, she also had a soft spot for people in need.  “No sense getting her dolled up if she’s all sweaty from work.”

“Cam, you’re the best!!” Grayson insisted.  “Uh do I need to get anything...”

“We’ll get to all of that later,” Cameron patted the spot next to her on the bed. “First, tell me about her.”

Grayson smile as he sat down next to his sister and gushed about the girl who was stealing his heart.

Your head slowly emerged from the water through the little crack.  You hadn’t attempted this since you and Grayson “met.”  Your hands dragged itself across the concrete, the bumpiness scratching your palms.  You pulled yourself until you were out of the water, the task much more difficult when you had a smaller space to maneuver. 

You paused as you looked at the view.  You never realized how clearly you could see the stars from where you stood.  Your heart swelled from being overwhelmed.  It was strange how something you took for granted when you were young could be so moving to you now.  You stood there for a moment, watching the tail lights of the cars as the drove along the highway.  You gazed at the houses, zoning in on the ones with their lights on.  You wondered if anyone else was also preparing for their first date.

Without the sun, you didn’t know the time.  All you knew was that you had to move quickly.  Grayson was going to meet you at the back door of the performance arena.  Apparently, this was how most people snuck in and out during the night.  It didn’t work so well in the morning because of a nosy neighbor who would snitch to Pete about trespassers, so you would need the cover of night to return back to your cell.

You did your best to move quickly, but you also couldn’t really see.  You fumbled, trying to dry yourself as best as you could while slipping on your uniform.  You decided to skip the cap, and just shake your hair out.  You wish you could see yourself, but you reminded yourself that you didn’t look much different than you usually did. Part of you was disappointed that you couldn’t get dolled up.  At the same time, this was your first time out of the park in five years.  You couldn’t get yourself down on the little things.

As you walked past the dolphin tank to sneak down the steps, your chest tightened.  While the other aquatic creatures lulled themselves to sleep, you had the chance to roam freely.  You realized you could never leave Pete’s if it meant also leaving them behind.  You shook the thought from your mind.  You were coming back.  You were allowed to have a little fun. 

You ran to the gate and gripped the black bars tightly.  Your squinted to see, realizing that it was easier “to see” in the dark when you were surrounded by water.  Large warm hands wrapping on yours almost made you yelp, until you saw Grayson’s kind, hazel eyes.

“Hey you...” Grayson whispered, making your heart pound.

His voice was so deep and inviting.  You had to run through the list of reasons in your mind why you weren’t running away with him at this very moment.

“Hey...” You whispered back.  

“Come...” Grayson gestured for you to follow him to a gap in the fence.

You scoffed internally.  The gap in your tank, the gap in the fence, the lax security guards...for someone keeping an illegal creature in his park, Pete sure was poor with his security.  As you were crawling through the space, that’s when it hit you.  Of course.  No one would suspect that dumb Pete that gets the wool pulled over his eyes by a bunch of neighborhood kids could be hiding something.  If anything the only person who could expose Pete was you, but he had beaten the fear into you so deeply that despite having this knowledge, you would never exercise it. It was the ultimate and one of the oldest forms of control.

Feeling Grayson’s arms wrap around you tightly pulled you from your thoughts and to the present.  You took in his scent, which was slightly different today.  He smelled like a dessert baked with brown sugar and vanilla.  You could tell he was wearing a button down shirt and dress slacks from the buttons pressing into your chest and the smoothness of the material brushing against your bare legs.

“Sorry,” You pulled away. “I don’t want to get you all wet.”

“It’s alright,” Grayson beamed, taking your hand and pulling back toward him. “I have a surprise for that.  Come on.”

You and Grayson held hands, ducking low to stay in the shadows of buildings and trees until you got to Grayson’s car two blocks away.  Everything looked so new to you, yet familiar at the same time.  Cars had changed since you last roamed around and there were a lot less satellites on roofs from when you were a kid. However, most things like manicured lawns, the bluish white light from tv screens flashing from windows, and the sounds of dogs barking at pedestrians walking by transported you back to a “before time” that almost felt like a dream.  

As you squeezed Grayson’s hand, you realized this was the dream.  Your fingers interlaced with a handsome boy as you ran down the street. The wind was rustling through your now only semi wet hair, and you felt so free.

“You look beautiful when you smile...” Grayson said, looking back at you.

Your eyebrows went up in surprise as you let out a little giggle. You didn’t even realize you were smiling.

Grayson led you to his car which was a black sedan, that to Grayson clearly looked secondhand, but to you looked like a pretty nice car. He opened the door of the passenger side to escort you in before jogging over to the driver’s door.  He leaned over to put on your seat belt, but you shook your head.

“I remember this much.” You grinned as you pulled the seat belt and buckled yourself in. 

“Sorry,” Grayson murmured embarrassed, as he put on his own seat belt and started the car. “I guess I’m a little protective of you.”

“You don’t have to...” You reminded him.

“I want to.” He retorted with a smile.  “First stop, my place so you can meet my sister.”

At those words, Grayson pulled off.  Your eyes widened and you turned to him in shock.

“How many people did you tell about me, Grayson?” You asked.

“Relax...” Grayson comforted, glancing at you before turning back to the road. “I didn’t tell her anything.  She may think you’re homeless though. So, sorry about that.”

“Surprisingly, that’s actually better than the truth.” You said, slumping your shoulders.  “What sister would want her brother to date someone that doesn’t even have clothes?”

“A sister that judges someone on their character and not their possessions.” Grayson suggested. 

Grayson could see your sad expression from the corner of his eye.  He reached out to tap your hand gently. Grayson hummed for a moment before explaining.

“Our parents have done a lot to make me, Cam and E happy.  But, there were times we knew it was a lot of smoke and mirrors to make us look like the perfect family.  My sister worked hard to get a full ride to college in order to pursue her dreams.  Currently E and I working to get enough money to move to LA.” 

Grayson smiled and squeezed your hand. “We’re not the kind of people to judge someone based on their circumstances, only what they have chosen to do with the resources provided to them.”

“You’re going to LA?” You asked, your mind shifting focus.

“That’s the plan.” Grayson said, with a shrug. “I’d change it for you, but I’d much rather you came with us.”

You frowned. “You can’t change your plans for me.  You don’t even---”

“I know, I know. I don’t even know you” Grayson laughed, lacing his fingers between yours. He imitated you with a high pitch voice before switching to his normal voice to continue. “I don’t know you, but that’s going to change tonight.  I want to learn every little thing about you.”

You smiled softly and squeezed his hand.  Running away with Grayson to LA sounded magical.  You wanted to pretend to entertain the idea, even if it was just for tonight.

The car stopped in front of a quaint, white house with two floors and maybe an attic.  There was a two car garage, with a car parked outside.  The porch had a few chairs and you could tell behind the house was a sizable back yard.  It reminded you a bit of your childhood home.

“Welcome!” Grayson said, turning off the engine.

Grayson got out the car and once again came to the passenger side to help you out.  You had already opened the door, but he insisted on taking your hand to help you stand.  He held your hand to the door where he rang the bell.

You could hear footsteps thundering toward the door before it swung open.  A young woman around your height with long dirty blonde hair, tanned skin and Grayson’s hazel eyes opened the door.  She was wearing a tank top and pajama shorts, and somehow she made it look chic.  You suddenly felt silly in your wrinkled, ill-fitting uniform.

“You must be Aurora.” She said, with a smile. “I’m Cameron.”

“Hi--” Before you could get a word in, she grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you from Grayson.

“Don’t come upstairs!” Cameron warned Grayson, before dragging you to her bedroom on the second floor.

Grayson chuckled softly and sat on the couch.  He pulled out his phone and texted Ethan.

Where are you?

While Grayson spent the afternoon planning for his date with you, Ethan had other plans.  After his shift at the bike shop, Ethan made a detour before going home.  About three miles south of the bike shop was a tiny office for a local television network.. Ethan was going to see a friend of his, one of the network’s producer named Ryan Abe.  Despite being closer to Travis’ age than Ethan’s, Ethan and Ryan had developed a friendship over the years.  They often biked together and Ethan would pitch ideas to Ryan.  Today, Ethan had an idea different from any other idea he had in the past.

“Ryan!” Ethan said, hopping off his bike and walking to the door.  Ryan opened the door with a bright smile.  While Ethan was used to see Ryan in tank tops, today he was wearing a white polo since he was the office. He put on loose fitting khaki pants to complete the look combining his casual style with his business persona. His blonde hair was styled and sleeked to the side, a sure sign that today was a rare day where Ryan was on camera.

“Hey, Ethan, come on in!” Ryan waved him in.  Ethan lifted his bike and pulled it into the office.  While it was setup for all five of the reporters and the two producers of the local television show, Ryan was the only one actually in there the whole time.  Ethan left his bike up front and walked past the empty cubicles to Ryan’s corner office.  He sat down on the chair in front of Ryan’s desk and let the cool air conditioned air chill the sweat on his face.

“What brings you here, man?” Ryan asked, sitting in his office chair, typing away on his computer.  Ryan was a pretty good multitasker and it made Ethan feel better but coming over during Ryan’s working hours.

“I have an idea....but it’s a little crazy.” Ethan said, leaning forward slightly.

Ryan sighed.  “For the last time, I am not going to produce a show on you and Grayson talking about being vegan.” Ryan rolled his eyes.  “No one is going to watch you guys pull pranks on each other, talk about not eating dairy, and brag about working out for hours a day.  It’s not quality content.”

“I disagree,” Ethan said, mildly annoyed that Ryan decided to take the opportunity to roast his last four television show ideas. “But, that’s not what I’m here for.  I want to do an expose piece on Pete’s Ocean Land.”

“Wait, what?” Ryan asked, stuttering out a laugh. “Pete’s Ocean Land is like the Teletubbies...a little weird and creepy when you get older, but still the core of your childhood.  Anyone trying to take down Pete would have to come with some hard evidence.”

“I don’t have anything yet.” Ethan bit his lip softly.

Ethan was lying for your sake.  He couldn’t just offer you up as evidence that Pete was doing something wrong. Firstly, using you, even in the plot to save you, was no better than what Pete probably did to you on a daily basis.  Secondly, based on your conversation with Grayson, you would not be willing to talk to a television station about your treatment as that would just broadcast your story to the entire world.  Thirdly, if this resulted in you getting hurt, Ethan was sure Grayson would never truly forgive him.

“However, Gray has been working there and said he noticed something strange.” Ethan narrowed his eyes a bit for emphasis. “There’s this tank where they closed off the exhibit so you can’t get in it from down below, but you often see Pete himself staring at it from the roof.  Only a handful of employees are allowed on the roof and only at certain times.  The idea is that the tank is empty, but why on Earth would he just stare at it.”

Ryan tapped his chin. “I mean, Pete was a beach bum when he was younger.  Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s taken in too much sun, crashed into too many waves or got hit with one too many coconuts and now just gazes at an empty tank.”

Ethan panicked inwardly.  What details could he provide that would make this all seem interesting enough that Ryan would want to pursue it?

“Sure, okay.” Ethan agreed. “But let’s say my hunch is correct and it’s not an empty tank, but something that Pete shouldn’t have in captivity.  Wouldn’t he show it off at some point?”

Ryan’s eyebrows went up in surprise.  “Like to scientists or other enthusiasts?”

“Yeah...exactly!” Ethan said,a little too thrilled. He dialed back his enthusiasm. “Chances are there has to be someone or some people who know what’s in that tank, and he’s probably always looking for more.”

Ryan spun in his chair as he massaged his chin. “Hm, like some kind of underground show and tell.”  

“Exactly!” Ethan agreed.  “I’m getting pretty good at this research thing, and I’m pretty sure I can connect with people who would know if something fishy is going on.”

“I’m interested.” Ryan admitted.  “Despite that very corny joke. Pull up a chair and sit down.  I’ll give you three hours to make sell me on this.”

Ethan smiled brightly.  This was a long shot, but he was hopeful.

Hanging with Ryan.  Have fun on your date! ;)

Grayson smiled reading the text before continuing to fiddle with his phone.  He was kind of hoping Ethan would get to see Aurora all dolled up.  Hopefully, there were going to be plenty other opportunities to do that.

“You alright up there?” Grayson yelled from the couch.

He heard shuffling, and a murmur of a response, making him laugh.  He was going to take that as a yes.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Cameron was tossing clothes on the bed and talking a mile a minute.

“I wasn’t sure what your size was so I didn’t want Grayson to go out and buy something.” Cameron explained.  “I figure we look to be about the same size in most pieces and half of them are supposed to fit either extra fitted or oversized, so we can make something work.”

“You really don’t have to do this.” You argued for the fifth time. 

You looked at yourself in her dresser mirror and you knew that was a lie.  While water was good for your skin, chlorine wasn’t.  Your skin looked dull, your red hair looked a bit more orange, and your uniform looked dingy.  You couldn’t believe Grayson actually liked you.

“I want to.” Cameron said, making you look at her with surprise.  She sounded just like Grayson.  It seemed the Dolan siblings wanted to do a lot of things, especially things that put them out of their way.

Cameron handed you a pink sleeveless crop top and a pair of dark skinny jeans.  On the bed, she laid out an off-white lace cardigan that would flow down to your ankles.  For shoes, she gave you a choice of brown sandals that would go with your brown belt, or white sandals and the option to ditch the belt.

You turned around to change, and Cameron did the same so you were both back to back.

“You know,” Cameron said, her voice jumping a bit from nervousness.  “I still don’t know much about you.  Grayson, he was saying a whole bunch of stuff about you and I couldn’t catch a single word.  But, he looked so happy.  His eyes were sparkling.  I never seen him like that before.”

You didn’t know what to say. Instead, you hopped up and down to pull on the jeans.  They were obvious filled in to Cameron’s shape which was different to yours, but you were determined to make it work.

“You know...he’s kind of girl crazy.” Cameron laughed. “He had a crush on all of my friends at one point. However, he’s never talked about them the way he talks about you. I know he can be a bit clingy and overbearing, but give him a chance.  He’s my baby brother and I just want him to be with someone that makes him happy.”

“Grayson is the nicest person I’ve ever met.” You blurted out turning around.

Cameron spun around as well.  It was the loudest she heard you speak all night. 

“He’s not only kind, but he’s funny and caring and understanding and the least judgmental person.  He’s loyal and charming and smart in the most obscure and strangely specific things.” 

You kept going and Cameron just stared at you with her eyebrows raised high.  Without that baggy uniform, it was clear you had a gorgeous shape.  Even with your hair frazzled beyond belief, it was clear that you were a beautiful girl that just needed some conditioner and a good skin care routine. But, what stunned Cameron the most was how you blossomed talking about Grayson.  You were practically glowing as you spoke about him, and that made her adore you more.  Now she got why Grayson was so determined to make this date special for you, because you were so different to every other girl he dated. You actually liked him for him.  And as you continued to rattle of your favorite things about Grayson, she realized you were the first girl to not mention he was hot in her list of reasons for liking.

“...He is just the epitome of warmth. His personality, his hugs, his smile...it’s just so warm...” You continued.

Cameron put her hands on your shoulders. “Okay, that’s enough.  Anymore compliments about my brother and I may just vom.” She laughed. “You’re perfect for each other.”

You blushed. “Sorry.” You bit your lip.  “He’s the first person to see the real me.”

Cameron turned you toward her mirror and sat you down on the bed.  Using on hand she started to gather your hair to make an updo.  She smiled softly,

“Let’s help him see the real you on the outside too.” Cameron said.

You stood at the top of the stairs, your heart pounding.  You pushed back on the makeup because you worried you wouldn’t be able to get it off when you went back in your cell. Now, you were reapplying the lipgloss that Cameron gifted you as a compromise. 

“You look great.” Cameron whispered to you. Then in a loud voice she announced, “DUN DUN DUN...all rise for the beautiful, Aurora.”

She ran down the stairs to see Grayson standing up from the couch. She pushed him towards the stairs as you slowly walked down.  You decided on the white sandals without a belt, once again thinking of how you would remove this outfit when you got back to the park.  With your left hand on the banister and your right hand holding your uniform, you actually felt a bit like a princess.

Grayson’s jaw dropped as you walked down.  It was amazing how much an outfit and a scrunchie could bring out the beauty in someone.  When you finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Grayson stammered out his response.

“Pr-Be-St...” He couldn’t decide what he wanted to say. So, he said it all. “Pretty. Beautiful. Stunning. Wow, you look amazing, Rory.”

“You wear them better than I do.” Cameron smiled, folding her arms. “Keep ‘em.”

“No, Cameron...” You shook your head. “I could never.”

She put up a hand to stop me. “Call me Cam, and I insist!” She gave you a hug and you returned it tightly.

“And...” Cameron added. “I leave all the clothes I don’t wear much here in college.  Feel free and ask this dork to bring you over some time to get some stuff. The style suits you.”

You were starting to tear up.  How could one family be so nice to you? You looked at Grayson who was still staring at you in awe.

“Thank you, Cam.” You hugged her again and she laughed.

“Now, go! Go enjoy your date!” Cameron said, shooing you.

Grayson took your hand and led you outside, waving to Cameron.  He glanced back to see both you and Cameron swiping tears from your eyes, both of you politely waiting until the other couldn’t see before showing your emotions.

Once again, Grayson open the door for you and waited until you were comfortable before going to his side.  He started the car and took another look at you. There was nothing inherently different about how you looked.  It was the fact that you looked like a regular girl that could have attended his high school that really wowed him.  It made him angry that you were robbed of the normal life you deserved, but he was happy that he could give this to you, even for one night.

“So, first stop is Bart’s where they have the best...BEST vegan mexican food.” Grayson grinned, “Then, we are going to a special location.”

“Mysterious, huh?” You teased with a soft smile.  “You better not be driving me across the border. I believe that would be kidnapping.”

“Can you kidnap someone who’s already kidnapped?” Grayson teased back.

“I’m pretty sure you can.” You laughed softly.  You never thought you would be able to laugh at the fact that you were being held captive, but here you were chuckling about it.  Grayson sure had a way of making any situation bearable. 

At Bart’s, Grayson was greeted as a regular and he introduced you as his date. After a bit of banter with Bart himself, Grayson ordered a feast of fajita, enchiladas, burritos, nachos, and cake for dessert. With two large brown bags filled with food, you and Grayson packed the car and drove to your secret location.

You rolled down the window to feel the warm breeze on your face, closing your eyes.  You could hear the soft music of Kid Cudi, an artist Grayson was introducing you to, playing the background. Your hand rested on top of Grayson’s and every now and then he would give your hand a little squeeze.

Your eyes shot open with the familiar smell of salt hit your nose.  You could feel the hairs on your skin standing up and you looked at Grayson. He was smiling big and couldn’t stop glancing between you and the road ahead of him.

“No...” You whispered.

“Oh yeah, baby.” Grayson grinned even wider.  “We’re having a picnic on the ocean.” 

Grayson turned his car into the beach parking lot and parked near the entrance. You helped him gather your feast, resisting the desire to bounce on your toes with excitement.  Your eyes were watering with happiness at the salt of the salt in the air and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  

Grayson didn’t care to contain his enthusiasm.  He started sprinting toward the ocean and you followed suit. You were both panting as you stopped on the sand to stare out at the water.  The onyx-colored ocean was calm and seemed to endless when he met the deep plum colored sky.  You could see the moon, bright and full, with the stars dusted it around it.

“Shall we eat?’ Grayson asked, already sitting down.  

He had laid out a blanket and was using his backside to keep it from fluttering in the wind.  He had also removed his shoes and was wiggling his toes in the sand. You smiled and removed your sandals, sighing at the cool sand sliding between your toes.

You sat down and Grayson scooted closer to you so your legs were touching.  You two started to divide your feast, the sound of sustainable wrapping harmonizing with the ocean waves created a feeling of nostalgia for a new experience. The food in front of you was all food you remembered from your childhood, but it tasted like a dream.  Grayson laughed as he handed you napkin to wipe your hands, even helping you to wipe sauce from your lips.  He led the conversation as you murmured your responses with a full mouth.

“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t still insane for me.” Grayson admitted, before crunching a nacho dipped in vegan cheese. “I mean, you’re like a mermaid right?”

“Not really....” You said, covering your mouth slightly.  “I’m more like a frog than anything else.”

“A mermaid is definitely sexier.” Grayson said with a laugh.

“A frog is more accurate.” You argued with a grin.  You reached for a chip and glanced at him.  You dipped it in the cheese and then pointed the chip toward him.

“Am I dreaming?” Grayson asked, leaning in.  “Getting fed by a real life mermaid...”

“Frog girl...” You corrected, putting in his between his lips.

“Don’t ruin it,” He said quickly before eating the chip.

You fed each other a few more chips, enjoying the comfortable silence developing between you.  With full stomachs, you both laid back on the blanket and stared at the sky.

“I wish I could stay with you forever.” Grayson said, turning to look at you. 

You didn’t say anything.  Instead you just turned toward him and rubbed his cheek with your hand. You both stared at each other without saying a word.  In one quick motion, Grayson leaned in and pressed his lips to yours.

Your heart was slamming against your chest as you leaned into the kiss. His lips were a little dry, but soft and strong as he massaged them into yours.  You weren’t sure if you were kissing back, but you enjoyed the feeling of the kiss and did everything you could to intensify it. His hand rested at the small of your back, sending a little shock of pleasure up your spine.  You sighed softly and Grayson seized the opportunity to nibble on your lower lip. You did the same with his upper lip and that began your game of follow the leader.

You could have been kissing for seconds or days, it was hard to tell. At some point, you broke apart at the sound of your empty containers getting crushed under your shared weight.

Grayson laughed and gave you a final peck before cleaning up. You helped, your face still red and hot from your makeout.

“That was nice...” Grayson said, not looking up from the trash.

“Very nice...” You said, also not looking at him.

“Yeah?” Grayson asked, and you didn’t need to look at him to know there was a smile on his face.

“Yeah.” You confirmed, smiling at the ground.

Grayson stood up and took he bags of garbage to the nearest trash can.  You stood up as well and started to walk to the ocean.  You craved to feel the water sliding between your toes, so you indulged yourself.  

Tears stung your eyes the moment you felt wet sand.  Found childhood memories of night swims with your mother flooded your mind. You continued walking until your ankles were immersed.  You leaned down to roll up your pants legs, not wanting to get the precious clothes that Cameron gave you wet.

When you stood back up, strong arms wrapped around your waist.  Grayson pressed soft kisses on your shoulder and your neck. You put more of your weight on him as your hands rested on top of his. You looked down to see his feet on either side of yours, the turquoise colored patches on your feet brightening and fading as your skin got wet and then dried over and over again.

“Thank you...” You whispered.

“Anything for you.” Grayson said, in a soft, deep voice.

In his arms, you felt the most safe you had felt in your entire life.  As much as you wanted this to last forever, you knew it was coming to an end very soon.  You just didn’t realize that what was waiting for you tomorrow was another visit from the “scientists” and a round of experiments.

A/N: This part was getting too long, but I think there is a nice balance of drama and fluff. 

#dolan twins #dolan twins blurb #grayson dolan blurb #grayson dolan #grayson dolan scenario #grayson dolan imagine #dolan twins scenario #dolan twins imagine #fic-cw #r-writes-fic

[punksarahreese]

24. — agony maybe for bloodletting?

In which I make Connor suffer <3

CW: mentions of murder, fighting, gore, injury

***

Connor didn’t hear much after the initial snap of his father’s neck, the sound was deafening and he almost felt the way Cornelius’ life left his body. The resounding reaction was absolute chaos but he didn’t register half of it. He barely noticed as the pack around him absorbed the reality of the situation and reacted accordingly, most of them ready to avenge the death of their late dictator. They were appalled that their great leader was dead, at the hands of his son no less, and saw it fit to take those feelings out on his killer.

He must have felt something, though, because the second Connor realized what he had done, he burst into tears. Unfortunately, that resulted in him letting his guard down and the pack only took that to their advantage, overtaking him in a flood of anger and crying for redemption. Connor didn’t know where the hits were coming from, all he knew was it hurt more than anything ever had. He was still sobbing, remorse hitting him harder than any part of the attack, but he couldn’t fight back. There were unsheathed claws digging into his back and arms and face with no remorse, tearing at his skin and forcing him to the ground. Everything was happening all too fast and Connor didn’t have it in him to fight back.

“I deserve this,” he found himself thinking, “I just killed my father.”

He had to do it, though. His father had abused far too many pups and humans and young wolves, there was no way Sam would have survived the training day if she was being punished like Cornelius wanted. She was a new wolf, barely two days off of chains, and she didn’t understand the hierarchy yet. It wasn’t her fault she hadn’t been fed enough since turning, she didn’t deserve to be punished for being hungry. Sure she was out of line, trying to take food before the elders, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be beaten half to death. He hadn’t even considered how things might end in that moment, just launched himself at his father with the intention to protect Sam and every other wolf and human that the leader thought he could harm.

He found his thoughts travelling to Ethan, the one pack member he had complete trust in. The other man was only two months into his new life, not yet properly integrated into the pack. If they killed Connor now, they would immediately turn on Ethan and Sam and any other wolf that had a positive affiliation with the leader’s son. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t let his friends die because of him. He needed to leave, to escape, and to get Ethan somewhere safe.

That was the only thought in Connor’s mind as he forced himself off the ground, heaving all his body weight upwards to throw the other wolves off him. His head was spinning and his whole body stung, feeling like he was one big open wound. He didn’t think much of it at the time but somewhere in his brain he knew he must be badly hurt. Every movement send his whole being screaming, though he didn’t make a sound outwardly. Everything felt stiff and burned, as if someone was pouring saltwater into his open wounds. He tried to get away, dodging sharp teeth and claws but not fighting back. He could justify defending himself, sure, but he wouldn’t bother. He wouldn’t hurt these people any more, even as they were trying to kill him. That would only make him more of a monster and he didn’t want to be bad; he couldn’t be. He had already stooped to his father's level, became a murderer just like him, and he hated himself for it. All he could do was push through the agony, though, if not for himself then for Ethan.

The wolf in question was standing at the edge of the clearing, fear evident on his face. He immediately ran to Connor, trying to support him because he looked on the verge of passing out. Connor just held onto his wrist for stability, a quiet apology slipping from his lips. Ethan wanted to tell him it was okay, he did what he had to, but there was no time. They had to run, get away, because the pack showed no sign of stopping until Connor paid for what he did. They had them almost surrounded again, growling and shouting, filling the forest with hostile sounds. Ethan didn’t even think as he wrapped his arm around Connor’s waist to help him run, dragging his injured friend with him as he took off away from the pack.

He wasn’t sure how long they ran for. Eventually all traces of other wolves chasing them vanished but Ethan kept going. He ran until he felt Connor slow down, his body going slightly limp and relying on Ethan to keep him up. The other man had been breathing shallowly and whimpering every so often and he knew they needed to stop. He would heal on his own in time but that would only happen if Connor rested. He half carried the other wolf to a sheltered area not far from a river, helping him into a tiny half-cave in the hillside. It wasn’t perfect but they would be safer there, until Connor was strong enough to move properly.

He collapsed onto the cold rock with a pitiful sound, making Ethan wince. His friend was clearly in pain, both mentally and physically. The events must have hit him properly the second they slowed down because Connor was crying again, clutching at his heavily bleeding arms and muttering under his breath. Even when Ethan crouched beside him, hands putting pressure on his wounds and speaking softly to him, all Connor could do was weep.

“I d-didn’t… I didn’t mean to…” he whispered, “I’m not a m-monster…”

“I know, Connor,” Ethan promised him gently, ripping a piece of his t-shirt to use as a bandage. He didn’t have any other choice because Connor’s neck had a particularly nasty gouge out of it and the last thing they needed was an infection. Connor cried out when he pressed the fabric to his damaged skin, making Ethan apologize softly. They just needed to control the bleeding until his body could catch up and heal. He would be fine physically in the next few days, but mentally Ethan knew this would hurt him for a while.

That’s why he had no complaints when Connor finally fell asleep after hours of crying, using Ethan’s thigh as a pillow. They hadn’t been all too physically affectionate before but Ethan didn’t mind at this point. He wanted Connor to feel safe and he knew the pack-instinct was begging for some sense of security and comfort. So he just sat there, on the cold ground of the cave, holding Connor’s scarred hand. He waited it out with him, listening as Connor wept in agony as his body slowly healed itself. Lycanthropy did grant immortality and fast healing, but the process was agonizing and Ethan knew that it would be a rough few days. All he could do was promise Connor that he was safe, listening to the shallow gasps of pain and mantra of apologies that came from his friend.

Everything was so uncertain now, his life turned upside down for the second time in a few months. Still, Ethan knew he was needed right then and that was all that mattered. Connor was his family, in any sense, and he would protect him the best he could.

#this may be incoherent #Connor can have some trauma as a treat 🥰 #at least he has Ethan 🥺 #gay werewolves be gay and traumatized <3 #bloodletting #occult!au #werewolf!ethan #werewolf!connor #rhoi #ethan choi #connor rhodes #my aus #my-writing #asks #mutuals #crockettstiddies