#they've needed each other since the day they met lmao

[mynameisnotsoda]

NOW INTRODUCING.... THE CRITTERS !!!

Technically Corvid is still a part of an au, i really like everyone's designs so i guess its just like a weird little au that are also kinda ocs?? Idk. Im still tagging it as the animatronicfication au and using the other ccs names but im completely separating wilbur from Corvid.

The one that probably changed the most is simp LMAO i just went back to his old design that was inspired by Luna (@starrixle's transfem simpbur turned oc) and Spencer is such a fitting name in my mind i literally can not imagine him with a different name *bwomp*

Also I'm working on refs for the other characters associated with the respective critters! I wanna finish them all and dump them into one post and I'll link it here when I'm done.

ANYWAY INFODUMP TIME

Before we go into individual characters i want to say that this is absolutely Minecraft. Like. The world is built off of Minecraft lore yk !!!! The overworld will still be called the overworld but it's basically just earth, with more magic and humanoid species! Along with supernatural creatures and cryptids n stuff :D also with more advanced tech considering Corvid exists pFF

Spencer for the most part kinda was like he is in canon or whatever. She used to lean more towards incel ideology because she was REALLY insecure and uncomfortable with herself for the longest time. Despite that, Spencer and Adrianne (egirl) started dating when they were 17, his unhealthy obsession with her was only fueled by her unhealthy attachment to him. They needed each other and it wasn't good for either of them. Spencer had developed horrible separation anxiety which only made things worse. Over time Adrianne became suffocated by his constant neediness, overwhelming insecurity, short temper and lack of contribution to household chores. It pained her to leave, but things needed to change. It wasn't until the breakup that Spencer met Shepard, who was his first irl friend in a long time. They met when they were around 22/23, at first Spencer just used Shepard as a distraction from Adrianne, especially since he was surprised that they wanted to even be his friend in the first place. But after a while he genuinely started to enjoy their company, plus they offered him really good advice and helped him through a gender/sexuality crisis. Eventually they became partners! Maybe not romantically, as they're both aromantic, but life partners nonetheless.

OH and i did make Spencer white/Salvadoran. Her mom is the first generation from immigrant parents while her dad is British; And her dad's younger brother is Adam's dad! He's also an ex-christian, he left due to religious trauma and moved to America to escape his family hA

Spencer's also a no sabo kid LMAO (he knows some words/phrases but other than that he cant speak Spanish to save his life)

ALSO ALSO. Oh my god i could talk about Spence all day LMAO but i made him a werewolf !!!! Hes SOO jealous of Adam because she wanted the cat genes but instead got bitten and turned into a werewolf as a teenager. She's done a pretty good job at hiding it from her family so Shepard's the only one who knows.

I already dumped everything about Adam into that other post, so I don't really have much else to add. HOWEVER !! Him and Spence are cousins now :3 Adam doesn't get to meet Spencer in person until he moves to America with Charlie & co, but he does follow her socials with his secret accounts that his parents don't know about. The only reason they know they're cousins is because Spencer's dad told her so and she reached out! Much to the dismay of Adam's parents but they've secretly kept in touch online.

Keith's pretty much stayed the same apart from a slight design revamp. Although I've made him a little older since originally i made him look young. But then I decided hes a dad so i started drawing him older for the asks pFF he also has a hooked nose now! In case it's not obvious. Keith got married to Jean VERY young, they were maybe 17/18 in human years. It was an arranged marriage and their only goal was to have an heir to the throne. Well they did, they had two kids, the eldest being a boy named Lune and the youngest being a girl named Sunny, who's the would be heir. Until Jean took both the kids and left. It was completely unprompted and left everyone in the kingdom confused, especially Keith. Sure, they had a loveless marriage and maybe he was insufferable at times, but he wanted to make it work if not for the kids then for the kingdom! But its been almost a year since she left, he's lost hope in ever finding her. Keith desperately wants his kids back, not because Sunny is the rightful heir— though that is part of it—but he loves them both dearly. He misses them the most.

Wilfred has pretty much stayed the same as well! I did give him a grey tshirt and darker hair to further distance his design from wilbur though. Hes just as unhinged and immoral as he used to be !!!! Nothing has changed aside from appearance actually.

Tobi also pretty much stayed the same except for its now got an orange jumper and lighter brown hair pFF although i do now have a story for him! Tobi was found by Alejandro in a storage auction, he managed to sell a lot of pretty valuable things from there but Tobi stood out, obviously, so he kept it. Alejandro is a travel vlogger and lives in an RV with his friends: Tomas, Philip and Charles. His friends just call him Alex. Anyway, they go from town to town trying local food, visiting tourists traps and vlogging the journey! While doing that they also try to find out how to get Tobi's memories back and possibly turn him human again, if they even can. So far they haven't had much luck but maybe one day...

Corvid was created as the backup singer and lead guitarist of the first all animatronic band! Brought to you by Beloved Entertainment! The other members include lead singer Ranboo Beloved, keytarist Tommy Raccoon, and bassist James Tomcat. Located in Ranboo's Mega Pizzaplex, the only location in the world (so far). Corvid adopts a showman personality while on stage, hes charismatic and such a heartthrob, very popular with the ladies. Off stage he's very calm and soft spoken, he's rather shy but still manages to be a flirt and a tease. Lightly poking fun at his bandmates, coworkers and even guests at times. He's definitely a fan favorite for a reason!

This was so fun to write and i cant wait to share more !!!! Stay tuned !!!!!!

#simpbur #studentbur #keith the dragon #dr malpractice #tinybur #animatronicfication au #sodas critters

[dokukoi]

In relation to the ask game answer, could I get a lore dump on you and Ren? I won't deny, radio dj falling in love with thier kidnapper is a concept that's got got me hooked!

Don't feel pressured to answer and only include what you want to, I'm just super curious about that now :3

-@woof-ships

omg yay!!! thank you im so happy you like my silly self-ships to know more about them 🤭🤭🤭

it's based off of my own experiences being a radio dj and i wanted to have my own storyline that parallels btd2 canon but is more self-indulgent :D hopefully this makes sense (and is not ridiculously long) bc ive never written it down before dkakfjak

under the cut because i failed at keeping it short lmao

so, while trying to make friends by surfing gore and snuff forums, ren stumbled upon noe's late-night show (10PM - 4AM). it's an international block, focusing on rock and metal from different countries. much to ren's delight, there's also a vkei, jrock, and jmetal showcase hour. after a few days of listening to the show, listening to the DJ during their voice breaks—ren's heart races. they have so much in common, they sound so kind... they're the friend ren has been looking for! so, he finally decides to call in a request.

noe is delighted, obviously—not many people call in to radio shows, let alone late-night ones anymore! they're even more delighted when ren becomes a regular caller. there's only so much you can do to occupy yourself when you're stuck in the studio for six hours. noe is more than happy to chat away!

while it starts off as short conversations, about the music, the bands... ren quickly pushes the conversations to be longer, more personal. nothing too invasive, yet. it's basically having a pen-pal... right? noe is just happy to have some company and willing to overlook some of the more prodding questions.

meanwhile, ren is becoming increasingly parasocial. he anxiously waits for 10PM and if there's a minute delay to hearing their voice, he gets nervous. he dreads 4AM, the radio cut off. in the rare case someone else calls in—he gets irritated. why do they need to talk to someone that's not him? to ren, noe is already their best friend, their partner, since the lines are so blurred for him.

he needs to be closer to them. he needs to see them, to touch them... after weeks of asking, begging, pleading noe for him to be a guest co-host for one night, noe agrees. they've been talking to him for a few months... he seems nice enough. he's just passionate about the same kind of music they are! nothing would go wrong, would it?

yeah... while the radio station is struggling to find someone to fill their slot, ren has his very own best friend/partner/plaything now! complete with a shock collar and a cute lil ankle shackle. aren't they such nice gifts?!

after this, it loosely follows the routes in the game

ren's lovebombing and sadism quickly breaks noe in—especially after ren breaks down after almost permanently breaking them. he really, really just wants a friend—this is the only way that he knows how to treat friends, to have fun with them.

he just doesn't want to lose his best friend after he just found them. ren quickly shifts to just... trying to have a normal relationship with noe. well, what he perceives as a normal relationship sans the brutality. he just wants to love and be loved!

to help noe have some sort of semblance of normalcy again, he makes a home-made radio transmitter. they host a small radio show together every week. slowly but surely, noe warms up to ren and his affections now that ren is no longer 'playing' with them.

their laugh on the radio waves sounds just like when he first met them now. to anyone listening, they just seem like a couple head over heels for each other. not a captive and their captor.

i haven't decided how lawrence fits into this, or if ren becomes fox/the announcer in this storyline (im leaning towards fox being an au)

i hope this made some sense?? im not the strongest writer! thank you so much for asking though woof 😭🫶

#woof ships #🐇🦊 #🪩 you've got mail! #🪩 noe writes #kinda?

[xirex]

JULIA ✮ FRIENDSHIPS ?!

! YUNJIN . . . JENLIA

le sserafim's yunjin

julia's contact name : julie 💕

yunjin's contact name : jenjen 💞

they're basically sisters. julia met yunjin just before she went into produce 48 and their conversation just flowed so naturally—they just had to be friends. since then, they've been inseparable. if jake or one of the boys weren't there to give her advice, julia would head straight to yunjin. and when yunjin got eliminated from the show, julia was there to comfort her and make sure that she never gave up on her idol dreams. when she signed with somu, julia was her biggest supporter, and even showed up to every le sserafim comeback show to support her friend. yunjin offered julia the best of advice, even if she only understood the struggle her friend was going through to a certain extent. even the boys themselves know and are friends with yunjin.

? WONYOUNG . . . LIWON

ive's wonyoung

julia's contact name : jieunnie

wony's contact name : my queen 👑

julia and wonyoung met during produce 48, when the former made a visit to the set to see yunjin preform. it took them a while to get close, but now, they're like best friends. they don't hang out alone often, most times being during 'dorkz' meetups because of wony's busy schedule, but when they do, it lasts hours because there's so much to catch up on. two fashion icons, the duo enjoy styling each other and occasionally post videos or pictures of the process on instagram. just a really wholesome relationship that's more private compared to julia's other friendships.

! MINJI . . . 2JI

newjeans's minji

julia's contact name : jujuju

minji's contact name : CAUSE IIIIIII 😋

them meeting was extremely random. julia bumped into minji in a target shoe aisle while looking for a new pair of shoes for seungmin. somehow they became friends after that. these two are like two hype girls !! constantly cheering each other or their friends on for doing the smallest of things LMAO. they love messing with dispatch too!! once julia went out with minji dressed man-like and it had everybody confused pls. my little pranksters <3 out of every duo in the 'dorkz' friend group, these two are the best at tricking the others. after minji debuted, julia would NOT stop singing attention & hype boy and even does it with omg now.. bless her members' ears.

! KEEHO . . . KEELIA

p1h's keeho

julia's contact name : front door frame 🖤

keeho's contact name : forward up 🖤

my silly gooses frl!!! they love to play around. they met just before p1h debuted, in a convenience store ?? julia saw him pick up a bag of chips and was like "i love those too!!!" :insert shock face: from there, they became bee eff effs! a mix of tom and jerry and "omg ilysm let's get married!" tbh. another more private relationship; these two prefer to hang out in the dorms rather than going out, just sitting doing something as simple as video games. trust me, they'll make it extra somehow. they're the type to send you 100+ tiktoks in a span of 2 hours and then continue to annoying quote said tiktoks the entire day until they find something else to mimic.

! LILY . . . 2LI

nmixx's lily

julia's contact name : lelelelelelele 💔

lily's contact name : lililililillili 💔

never shuts up x never stops singing. all of the 'dorkz' hate [/joke] them. they've been friends since they were trainees !!! their conversations could last for hours, because somehow, there's always something new to talk about. they like to go out a lot; arcades, malls, rollerskating, bowling, etc. every day there's some new adventure they're going on and documenting in the group chat. they have a bunch of different v-lives together, dating all the way back to 2019, of them just talking about whatever's on their mind or playing some game.

! SOOBIN & YEONJUN . . . JJUTTANGBIN

txt's soobin & yeonjun

their gc name : 도움이 필요 [ needs help ]

these three.. i don't know how to explain them. two overly confident idiots and one tired leader? its um. chaotic. they can't do anything together without causing chaos, but it's okay. 'sleepovers' that turn into either a. all three of them entangled together cuddling, or b. one of them accidentally breaking something and everything ending up in an absolute wreck. soobin and yeonjun love to scare julia, while julia loves to tease them for being "old hags" (they're only 2-3 years older...). overall, fans love them, while their group members do anything and everything in their power to keep jjuttangbin apart.

! SUNGHOON . . . PPOKKU

enha's sunghoon

julia's contact name : ppororo

sunghoon's contact name : 🐧

they began being friends when they had to be mcs together, but met some time before that. you would think they wouldn't be a good match—however julia's extroverted nature brings out the more playful and energetic side of sunghoon, something fans enjoy seeing when the two do interviews together. their friendship is filled with teasing; it could be over anything, just give one a prompt and they'll find some way to connect that to the other. despite this, the two admire each other, even if they won't admit it out in the open; julia for his talent in ice skating and visuals, and sunghoon for her expertise in dance. they hang out more often nowadays, just simple coffee or shopping friend-dates.

! JAY , JAKE , & RIKI . . . JAGIZ

enha's jay, jake, and ni-ki

their gc name : 사랑의 새와 세 번째 휠러 [ love birds and the third wheelers - made by riki ofc ]

julia met jay through jake in early jan '21. then, around a month later, she, jake, and jay were gonna go to an arcade to hang out; riki saw the three leaving and immediately started being a little shit asking them to take him with them. julia, wanting to be nice, agreed (although jake begged her not to) and that bloomed the jagiz friendship we have now. her best friends !!!! they always go out or have celebratory dinners whenever one group's promotions end. during the enskz drought, they got caught hanging out tgt by dispatch and fans so much that it started to make fans think julia was dating all three boys at one point...weird, right? anyways, their name "jagiz" came from a vlog julia posted in mid-2022. jake used 'jagi' to call julia over, and jay & riki immediately began to mock him, julia joining in at some point as well.

for some context ,, jake & julia went to the same school & have known eo for years; they began dating in january '21.

! BSS . . . BSSJ

svt's dk, hoshi, and seungkwan \ such a long nickname. bssj stands for booseoksoonjul :sob:

their gc name : 싸움, 아니 [ fighting, no ]

julia met hoshi when she worked with seventeen for home;run! he found her talent in dance really cool and because they had similar personalities, wanted to be friends. initially, it was just hoshi & julia, but then he introduced her to dokyeom & seungkwan and everything just clicked for the four. bss were the only seventeen members she wasn't highly intimidated by, and they had already knew of julia because she blew up in 2019 for her dancing, so they managed to get along in a more natural setting. these three treat her more as a best friend rather than a daughter or younger sister (although sometimes, they do end up using their ages against her); regularly scheduled game nights, sleepovers, gossiping, etc. and julia's been mentioned / involved in a handful of going seventeen episodes because of her friendship with bss.

xia's message . . . this took everything out of me to finish. lee jieun why are you a social butterfly. this is only her close friends too.. :sob: taglist [ @mynameisnotlaura ]. . . open!

#xi ; julia #skz 9th member #9th member of skz #stray kids female member #9th member of stray kids #stray kids 9th member #fictional idol oc #fictional idol addition #fictional kpop community #fake idol oc #fake idol community #fake kpop idol #kpop imagines #kpop female oc #kpop added member #kpop addition #kpop oc #idol!oc #idol oc #idol!au

[yourworsttotebag]

I want to hear everything about this arranged marriage AU!!

The first time I tried to figure out how Evie would interact with all the companions I thought: oh, if she and Wyll are both nobility from Baldur's Gate and almost the same age - wouldn't they have probably met before? Wouldn't they have spent some time at fancy balls trying to size each other up? Maybe even flirting before both being like, "Oof, actually no fucking way." And then since they're both nobility my mind immediately went to some abstract cloud that said "arranged marriage" on it and basically, I think they'd both kind of hate it at first.

Now a lot of this is vibes based. Like - a lot, a lot. Why do they have to get married? Um, I don't know - I imagine Duke Ravengard needs...something. Why did I write Orin pretending to be Wyll? So she would mess with Evie and make her think Wyll wanted to be intimate with her, a thing I needed someone to do. Why is Orin messing with them like this? Um...I have no idea, someone had to.

But! I wanted to write some of these scenes out so I wouldn't lose them and then I wrote sort of a lot of them.

Wyll and Evie would probably both take this arrangement sort of hard and getting them on friendly terms would be a tough putt. Evie is well known in their circle as a Mean Girl and Wyll, who had probably dreamt a lot about true love, is suddenly married to a woman he barely knows and who doesn't seem to really like him. The early days would be a lot of Wyll tentatively reaching out and getting cold, short answers. When Wyll tries to talk to Evie before the wedding she's like, "Phew, yeah, it's pretty wild. Anyway, see you at the ceremony, I got stuff to do."

We all agree Wyll is a stand up, kind hearted dude but I think there's potential for him to also kind of screw up the early days of their relationship. Not being horrible or mean to Evie, but perhaps saying some things he doesn't quite realize are unkind. And it makes sense that he wouldn't be perfect! His whole idea of love and romance is all out of whack now, he's upset. It's not even close to what he expected and the difference is disorienting.

And I think Evie could be pretty hurt by his reaction! She knows Wyll isn't happy either and how would you feel is your spouse saw your marriage as a break down of their entire world view and you as a villain? Evie also wants someone to love and care for her, not someone who feels like they've been trapped with her. Part of Evie's cold shoulder is her just being herself and part of it is trying to shut down all these big feelings she's struggling with.

I think they'd need a kind of blow up argument about it before they could acknowledge being a little careless with each other's feelings and deciding to see if they can be friends. And over time you open up all these tasty little tropes like forced proximity, sharing a bed, trembling touches of hands, falling in love after getting married, yada, yada, yada, lots of vibes and vapor waves here. Wyll becoming a warlock question mark, question mark?

[God bless Ed Greenwood for this tidbit about half elves passing a token of their affection from their mouth INTO their new spouse's mouth AT the ceremony. I got a few hundred words out of that one.]

Can I put a read more under a read more because I need space for the "Problems" section lmao.

Problem #1) I don't really know what fancy people in a fantasy world do all day. Like Wyll and Evie start to become friendly while doing....what? How many balls can they reasonably attend? Part of Evie's problem before adventuring is that she's so bored with her life and I don't want the audience to be bored reading about her being bored. But like, the "becoming friends" section is vital so you believe it when they become attracted to each other.

Problem #2) The other characters from the game wouldn't be there! Would I have to create a whole pantheon of characters for Wyll and Evie to hang out with so every scene isn't just them talking at each other? That doesn't sound fun. Could I include their families enough that it FEELS like there's a big world around them? I guess Astarion and Shadowheart live in Baldur's Gate but could they appear in a way that doesn't feel like an episode of Frasier where Ted Danson shows up? (Frasier hive rise up)

Problem #3) I was picturing Evie and Wyll at their in-game ages, mid 20s, instead of the age Wyll was banished which I believe is 17. I thought the marital relationship between two ~18 year olds would be way different than two ~25 year olds and bringing sex into it made it feel really weird for them to be so young. Does Wyll's character get altered too much if he's in Baldur's Gate for another few years? What does it mean that he's not the Blade of Frontiers yet?

Idk, man. This is all the reason that drafts exist in the first place and also why I don't know if I could actually complete this. But it's fun to try. Maybe I'll think of something shorter and more fun soon.

#tysm i enjoyed writing this on a very long train ride #sorry this is so long #i started just rubber ducking at some point #wyll x evie #m: asks #m: writing

[theurgic-necromancer]

Jack of Hearts - How does your muse view their friends, both old and new?

Card Suits

((He cares them all very much :)

His old friends are people he spent a lot of time traveling with, getting to know them and coming to like them. ...For the most part. There are a couple of companions he never really liked. Often because they often antagonized other people he liked for no good reason, or in one particular case, were actively manipulating someone who was fairly naive to the ways of the world. And also happened to be someone he liked lmao

Still, he cares deeply for his old friends, and hates to think about how many of them are likely dead of old age. (Because he's optimistic enough to hope they all lived very long and fruitful lives, no matter what they chose to do.) It would be nice to reconnect with the ones who are still alive, but that's likely going to be an undertaking and a half on its own.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about individual companions because, well. There's like... I want to say 31 potential companions between the first two games? So I'm not going to bother going over his relationships with Every Single One in this post. Feel free to send asks about them, though.

His new friends he's still getting to know, but he likes them! They've all got their charms, even despite their flaws.

He likes Gale a lot! Fellow wizard who knows his stuff and was willing to set him up with a new spellbook and help him re-learn how to do magic in this day and age. You mean he doesn't need to individually memorize each spell he wants to cast in a day? Fuck yeah, that's so much easier. They've hung out and chatted about everything from magical theory to cooking, and Sayran has been a very avid listener which Gale appreciates. Sayran has no idea that Gale has developed a bit of a crush on him.

He clicked with Astarion remarkably quickly lmao. What can I say, he's always had a thing for rogues. He does recognize that Astarion is kind of duplicitous and was maybe a little bit suspicious of him at first... but after finding out he's a vampire he's actually not all that suspicious of him anymore. Like, sure, the guy's clearly trying to manipulate him, but Sayran is reasonably confident that he's not angling to betray them all. And anyway, he's traveled with a vampire before. He knows the drill.

He likes and respects Lae'zel. Her bluntness and tendency to get straight to the point is honestly a little refreshing. And her commitment to getting them all cured of this whole mind flayer infection is actually a little touching? She's the most compassionate githyanki he's ever met—which is admittedly not a very high bar to clear, but the point still stands. He trusts her with his life, which is good because she knows about the Slayer form.

He and Shadowheart get along surprisingly well. Even moreso since both of them revealed they know the others' secrets: that Shadowheart is a priestess of Shar, and that Sayran is a Bhaalspawn. Shadowheart is the only one so far who's managed to figure that out on her own. There's a certain mutual understanding between them. While Shadowheart is open with the group about her worship (kinda got dragged out into the open regardless of her attempts to hide it), she also understands Sayran's desire to keep his heritage secret and is willing to help keep it under wraps.

He had Karlach for less than a day and he instantly liked her. She's just so... fun and excitable and full of life! It's hard not to like her. Also he is reasonably certain that the only thing keeping her from hauling him around like a sack of potatoes is the fact that she would literally set him on fire.

Wyll... he likes him, for the most part. However, he has one rather big, glaring flaw: his tendency to view the world in shades of black and white, Good™️ vs Evil™️. He's a little wary of Wyll possibly turning on him (or Zia) out of a misguided desire to purge the world of evil—and what could possibly be more Evil™️ than the half-mortal child of the Lord of Murder? On the other hand, he knows Zia and is very clearly fond of her, so he can't exactly bring himself to hate the guy outright.

And speaking of Zia! She is firmly in the category of Beloved Niece, and he lowkey wants nothing more than to dote on and spoil her like he should have been doing to her whole family line damn it. There is a bit of wistfulness there, a desire to hang onto her as the only living remnant of his now-dead sister. But also he's just... curious about her! He wants to get to know her as a person, on her own merits. Because it wouldn't be fair to her or Imoen to treat her like a replacement. And hey, if he can lend her a hand in dealing with some of the awful instincts she's inherited as a Bhaalspawn, all the better.))

#Anonymous #whispers from the beyond (asks) #!meme responses #!headcanons #((there's something ironic about a good guy who trusts the evil characters more than his fellow good guy lmao))

[tinytinybumblebee]

Hi! I noticed you posting ghost content and thought I'd share my input, but I've just realised it's not in your fandom list so just ignore this if I'm being too forward! Anyway:

I just know that Papa IV is so good towards small ghouls and ghoulettes, sure he puts on a show of being grumpy at them on stage but they all live together and tour together so they have to get along! He is their papa at the end of it all and he gives them small kisses on the top of their masks before shows if they've been having a hard day or just to give them some support (mountain is a hard one to do as he's so tall lol)

I have this one image of ember/sodo/dewdrop (I don't know which name to use ajdhshs) standing in copia's doorway with a very sleepy looking Aether, who has been dragged out of bed by the small ghoul to go get hugs from papa.

I also think that no ghoul(ette) is ever lonely and that they all sleep close together, so sometimes bedtime is alot of tangled tails and ghoul-pillows and during these nights if one of them is tiny then they will be the center of attention and get all the love.

(Of course when talking about all of these headcannons I'm talking about the fictional demon people not the real performers lmao)

:))

!!!!! Yes aaaa I’ve been meaning to put Ghost into my fandoms thing! ;w; I’ve been a huge fan since like, 2017/2018 (Actually met Copia back in 2019!)

But yes!! Papa IV is soo good with his tiny ghoulies! Especially since these have been his ghouls/ghoul Estes since he was Cardinal, he knows what each of his ghoulies like and how to settle down their fits or knows exactly what to say to soothe them ;v; !!

And you knooow Copia is so proud of his ghouls!! At the end of every ritual he will tell them all what good jobs they did, always checking to make sure none had hurt themselves (even though Copia knows that ghouls, unlike humans, don’t get hurt as easily from simple things, like pyrotechnics xD) and gives them all kisses!

When one or many of the ghoul(ette)s are feeling tiny, Copia is right there to scoop them up in bed/couch and coddle them, head pats right between their horns (which, is the sweet spot for a ghoul, instant purring!) ;w;

Ghouls are like cats, they love a good cuddle pile, the more warmth the better in their eyes! So, bedtime definitely has all the ghoulies curled up and piled up on blankets and pillows (of course they have their own beds but, those really are just used for their instruments or if a ghoul needs a cool down/alone time) and they will definitely pull Copia into the pile sometimes, because they love him and this is a huge way for ghouls to show their love for their Papa!

Tiny ghouls definitely become the center of alll the other ghoul’s attention! It’s their “There is a kit here” instincts kick in and you’ll see the ghoul(ette) being picked up by the scruffs of their necks to carry the tiny ghoul around, ghouls tails being teething toys and also used as to support the tiny ghoul and their shaky/unsteady steps (especially for Rain, since he tends to be a stumbly ghoul)!

And absolutely!! For anyone unware: Ghost is a theatrical band, their story is about a Satantic church that has anti-popes that do musical rituals to gather new Siblings Of Sin/ members of their church! Currently they are on their 4th Papa (called Papa Emetritus IV, as the Emetrius is the bloodline of successors of the “original” Papa; Papa Nihil) and, each Papa has their own set of Ghouls, who are demons from hell that are minions/henchmen for the church and their Papa- these ghouls will play the musical instruments during rituals while Papa sings ;w;

These are the 4 Papa’s and their ghouls! Papa IV/Cardinal Copia has two types of mask for his ghouls because he was promoted from Cardinal to Papa so, the ghouls got new mask!

So, when they are talked about on this blog we are 100% talking about the characters!!

#Agere #age regression #fandom agere #sfw #mailbox #ghost bc #nameless ghouls

[themuselesswriter]

Against The Commanders’ Will

Characters: Octavia Blake, Lexa Kom Trikru

Summary: Lexa survived and joined Octavia at the bunker and together they ruled, however, the commanders of the past aren’t quite happy about it

Word count: 500+

Warnings: implied sexual act, nightmares

A/N: ignore the edit i was trying something out lmao, anyhoo, bare with me as i ship these two for a while. Also typos were made and i was too lazy to edit them!

Credits: polarrity - polarr filter by chrome, photos from Pinterest

——————————————————————————

Lexa's eyes shot awake as she screamed, the leaders of the past had been screaming at her, showing her the most horrific visions ever since she was united with the blood queen. As if they were trying to warn her from a fate that is doomed.

Her partner woke up next, taking a minute to process, she had placed a hand on Lexa's shoulder "are you okay?" she whispered, gulping, panting and sweating, she nodded.

Ever since they became trapped in the bunker, Octavia and Lexa came to a union, not one of anyone's liking though, the grounders thought Octavia was taking more control over the people, while Skaikru thought that Octavia was doing it for the sake of revenge.

Lexa admits that she's given Octavia a more saying as Oslya, the one who saved human race, but mainly because she was the leader their people needed at a time like this, the only one who gathered the knowledge of Skaikru and the grounders, she was the only one who knew what a hydro-farm does and also know how to speak fluent Trig.

At first, the commanders of the past supported this reunion, they saw it as a good alliance, but once Lexa began to feel more emotionally involved with Octavia, their rage began, and as the other took full control as the red queen while Lexa took a more... complimentary role, their rage began manifesting as constant torture whenever the Heda closed her eyes.

By now, Octavia was familiar with every detail about Lexa, she knew they way her eyes were open with terror that the brunette had another nightmare caused by the commanders, even though she never really knew the cause of them.

She handed the other a flask of water "it's gonna be okay" she whispered to her. Lexa took it gratefully and took a few sips, she handed it back to Octavia who put it away "do you want to talk about it?" Lexa shook her head, per usual.

Octavia nodded, placing a kiss on her bare shoulder "okay..." she said placing a second kiss, Lexa seemed more focus on Octavia's lips rather than her breathing, therefore, she began to calm down "what do you want to do then? How can I make it better?" the red queen asked in a whisper.

"keep doing what you are doing" Lexa whispered back, with a slight smirk, Octavia nodded at her partner then her lips wandered all over her bare shoulders and neck, leaving sweet kisses here and there, Lexa felt herself feel more relaxed, forgetting about the dreadful night.

Octavia pushed the covers off of them, exposing their bare bodies, she climbed on top of the other and began making out with her passionately, Lexa's attention had shifted from the nightmare of earlier, to the sweet taste of her lover's lips, savioring every minute as if her life counted on it.

Octavia isn't sure for how long they've been making out, but by the time they stopped, Lexa's worries were long gone and she met her partner's face with the biggest smile, if only the commanders knew, that their warning only drove the two closer to each other, making Lexa more dependant on the red queen "thank you" Lexa whispered "what for? I had my portion of fun too" Octavia smirked.

It was ridiccoulus how Octavia only felt like herself when she was embracing the other, the commanders think Lexa is being used by Octavia, while the truth is, both were using each other equally for comfort in these dark days, they were each other's source of joy.

"you know what I mean" Lexa rolled her eyes, the raven haired chuckled "hey, anytime" she replied, her eyes focused on her lover as she was facing her "will you ever tell me about those nightmare of yours?" Lexa's smile almost disappeared instantly "they are nothing that you can fight in the arena, besides, talking about them makes them real, I'd rather forget about everything and stay with you instead, here, in this moment"

#museless tumblr oneshot #the 100 #octavia the 100 #lexa the 100 #octavia x lexa #octavia kom skaikru #octavia blake #lexa deserved better #commander lexa #lexa kom trikru #lextavia #octavexa #oneshot #lesbian characters #bisexual character #non canon #the ship we deserved

[amothersvow]

>>I said I'd talk about Kaspan and Eliyen, and I WILL talk about Kaspan and Eliyen

This is campaign specific stuff, so I'll put it under the cut

For some context, Kaspan is a PC in our campaign. He's a dhampir with severe memory loss/issues, due to him traversing the Deadlands, which is a very toxic wasteland in the south east of the continent. He can briefly regain memories by consuming human(oid) flesh.

Him and Eliyen met some years ago, when he first became a dhampir and slaughtered everyone in a run down bar. She let him do it and intented on killing him in turn, but when she couldn't, they decided to travel together. They've since figured out that Eliyen's music calms his bloodlust too, and Kaspan as a device that plays some of her songs.

SO

I can only really speak on Eliyen's feelings towards Kaspan, since it's not my place to speak on another player's character.

Eliyen adores Kaspan, ridiculously so, much more than she lets on. She often feels he's the only one who understands her situation; he needs to kill to keep his memory, she needs to kill because of her pact. They're in a similar situation, Eliyen really can't tell anyone else about it without receiving harsh judgement or death right then and there. She clings to Kaspan, as he's been one of the only constants in her life since her pact with Azar. A light, of sorts, a source of comfort. Someone to confide in. Someone who isn't judging her for what she does.

In Eliyen's view, Kaspan kills out of necessity, and she kills for "selfish" reasons; she could just leave her debt as is and take the torture in the afterlife instead of ridding 1000 people of their lives. Yet out of fear of it, she does it anyways. Because of that, she views herself as a monster, as someone to stay away from. And she's so stunned that Kaspan is still with her, because, technically they don't really need each other anymore. Kaspan has the recording of Eliyen's songs to keep his bloodlust at bay, and Eliyen doesn't really need to be protected, she can defend herself just fine. Well, tbf, Eliyen needs Kaspan for emotional support and comfort, but she'd be relatively fine by herself. She just couldn't bring herself to leave him, even if she knows (thinks) he'd be better off without her.

She also doesn't really let on how much she adores Kaspan, partically because she thinks no one could love a monster like her, and partically because Kaspan is probably going to live a lot longer than her. He's ageless, at this point, he might just live forever, while she, now that she had to trade in her elven form for her tiefling one, will live 80 - 100 more years at most. She'll age and wither away and die, and she can't do that to Kaspan. She can't reveal how she feels and then eventually just leave him behind. I think her plan for the time being is fulfill her pact, get her revenge and reunite with her daughter so she can retire.

I've,,, been writing on this for so long I kinda lost the point lmao. Point being, Eliyen really adores Kaspan but would never let it on, not in a way he'd realize. Or maybe she already has, once or twice, but he's just forgotten, which is a thought I really like. The thought of her going "you'll forget in a few days time, and that is fine, just know that I adore you, much more than you may realize" and then she watches as the memory of it fades from him. Idk. I like them, they're a tragic duo, and I think they can only end in tragedy.

#» some have said that about me… [musings] « #» a personal anecdote [eliyen] « #» the ashes formerly known as green [campaign things] « #» so ive heard… [headcanons] « #» at the campfire [ooc] « #cw cannibalism #cw death #cw murder #cw memory loss #this is so incoherent lmao #i just love kaspan and eliyen as a duo #theyre just #ugh theyre everything #they have such a dynamic

[therabbitsmuse]

10

I really need to buckle down and get a part-time contract role for next year. Summer's basically over and I got almost nowhere with my portfolio. This past week would've been the perfect opportunity to knock that shit out because everyone was on vacation but it was like I got hit with a dose of inattention and apathy. I need to stop dragging this shit out because it's only going to get worse the longer I put it off.

I finally started drawing in my sketchbook again! They're really just basic doodles with no meaning or rhyme to them but I loved it. There wasn't this usual pressure I put on myself to have to 'improve' or create something 'worthwhile'. I think maybe the next step is to make it a daily 15-20 minute doodling session every day and see what comes out of it. I've had this sketchbook for over two years and I really should finish it up this year!

I've been really inspired by VSCO lately! It's made me fall in love with everything around me -- seeking out those little moments during my walks to mundane tasks, like buying groceries or dropping off my mail. I never feel bad about myself, even if I scroll VSCO for a long time. Contrary to Instagram...

Instagram feels like the LinkedIn of social media to me lol. People add each other to up their follower count, even if they've never each other or only met once. Everyone strives for posting their best selves, the highlight reels. Even stories or anything that's behind the scenes is still curated to some extent. I see a sea of strangers online all the time but don't feel any closer to them, even if we've been following each other for years. But I've found that in larger cities, people really take your social worth into account, even if it's unspoken. It makes me wonder, maybe it wouldn't hurt if I did a bit of upkeep now and then. But even that feels performative because I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for moving.

Indie pop has been the shit, it's gotten me out of this music rut I've been in for so long. Weirdly enough, I'm going to a techno show tonight, haha. I'm not too excited about it but I had promised to go with a friend two months ago and now that the moment is here, I wish for nothing more than for it to get canceled LOL.

I want to start a blog. (Talk about the resurgence of the early 00's). But I have no idea what it'd be about, what I would write about. When it comes to pictures, I know what I want to post (just not on IG LOL). But I never what to write. Choosing a niche makes me feel a little cornered as well. I thought maybe doing short vlogs, like 'A day in the life of...' would give me more freedom. But I still find myself drawn to the good, ol' fashioned medium of words and photos. I guess this Tumblr is a bit like that for me but I want something I could actually put a link out in public. Nobody needs to connect these messy thoughts to me LOL

I never thought I'd get closure after almost 1.5 years but it looks like it's happening.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm this far away from my family. With friends, it doesn't feel THAT big of a deal since we'll text, call, and facetime. My family isn't big on those and honestly, they don't say much in person either. But being there in the same room, even if only two words are exchanged, are worth a lot more than our group chats.

I bought my second luxury perfume this summer. Instead of saving it for special occasions, I've been wearing it every day and it makes me so happy. One, I know personally I get tired of scents very easily so I should probably get as much out of it now as I can haha. Two, it's still gonna take me a long ass time to get through the bottle. I don't think I'll find another summery scent that I love as much as this one anytime soon (I hope! I def don't need to be buying another perfume anytime soon lmao)

I noticed I have more energy to do things when I feel like there's the presence of someone else in the room. Lmao that makes it sound like I'm talking about a ghost. But nah, I just meant cozy vlogs where someone is talking while I do the chores. Facetiming Jeff while he and I are doing our own separate chores and sometimes will converge to talk about something random before going off again. Doing work alone in a cafe. I need to incorporate more moments like that into my life. I love wfh, the freedom it's granted me, and not having to do the bullshit sitting in office even if I have nothing to do all day long. But when it's just me all day long, it gets a little too much. I love myself more than I have in prior years but still lol, being alone with just me all the time is tiring.

#10 thoughts #musings #thoughts #excerpt from a book i'll never write #journal #brain dump #happy weekend! #words

[behbuh]

Always

#literally all of this is canon #they've needed each other since the day they met lmao #i feel like i always have to disclaim this bc no one watches the show and thinks theyre manips :/ #supercorp #supergirl #kara zor el #lena luthor #melissa benoist #katie mcgrath #canon #gifsbymi #lena and reigns convo happened s3 ep20

[rendevousz]

mum?

mother figure!nat x fem!teen!reader

avengers x reader

req by @teenwonder ; i absolutely love the entire teams adoration for reader skfksngnsf its so cute! could i please request one a little more nat based? maybe r treats and loves nat like a mom but nat hadn’t noticed that before, and the whole team is like listing examples of how and why 🥺🥺🥺

summary: the four times you needed nat and the one time she admits that she needed you too.

warnings: blood, a random attack out of nowhere because i'm not creative, inaccurate writing of medical situations because i have no idea how those things work, also let's just pretend bruce was around during iron man 2 when tony still had palladium in his arc reactor, also inaccurate descriptions of palladium effects bcs i just...don't know much about palladium pls forgive me thanks, and idk any hospitals in new york/manhattan or even the states LMAO so uh bear with this, and last but not least, my inability to write good endings

word count: 5426

notes: that's a long ass warning nevertheless pls do enjoy this fic <3

"i'm going now, bye!" you bid the team who were having breakfast together, walking out of the common area.

"bye, cupcake! don't get into trouble, don't do what i'd do and definitely don't do what i wouldn't do." tony advised and you rolled your eyes because tony says that to you every morning before you leave for school.

"wait, don't forget your lunch!" nat stands up from her seat and grabs your lunch that she had packed, from the kitchen island, bringing it over to you. "thanks, nat!" you grabbed it, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

nat smiles at the action, turning around to walk back to her spot on the table, only to find the team staring back at her with knowing looks.

"what?"

"you know, you only need to sign a couple papers and the kid's all yours." tony states matter-of-factly. nat snaps her head towards the man, an incredulous look on her face. "what are you talking about?"

"we all see the longing looks on both your faces. she's dying for you to call her your daughter and you, her mother." clint explains and the others nodded in agreement.

"that's nonsense. she has wanda too," nat reasons, sitting back down. "i'm pretty sure she sees wanda as a sister considering how much she drags wanda with her whenever she's causing trouble around the tower." steve raises his brows at the redhead who was in denial.

"she sees you as her mother, nat. just accept it," wanda tells her, taking a sip from her glass. "really? name me one time she showed it." nat challenges them, not knowing that they've been watching your interactions with her for the longest time.

"you have no idea what you just got yourself into, romanoff," clint chuckles, cracking his neck and knuckles as if preparing for a fight.

"remember new mexico?" he smirks and nat only frowns, trying to remember.

i.

"no!" you screamed, dropping down to the ground. you didn't care that you scraped your knees doing that, the only thing that mattered was the overwhelming feeling of grief engulfing your whole being. tears streamed down your face as you looked at the debris on the ground, the remainder of what used to be standing in front of you; a building. blown up, now in ruins.

clint, bucky and steve watched you break down in front of them, their hearts breaking at the sight in front of them as well as the fact that their teammate had been caught up in the middle of the explosion.

"y/n/n? come on, tony's team called for back up. we gotta go," steve tried to get you to stand up, failing when you kept your ground. you screamed when he tried again and their hearts clenched at the heartbreaking sound.

"we can't just leave her! please, we have to find her," you cried, clinging onto steve's body as he ran his hand up and down your suit-cladded back to soothe you. "y/n/n, we can't. the whole place is in ruins now," he didn't want to say it but he had to. he had to in order to get you to leave. "she's gone."

"she can't be gone! she can't just leave us! we need her! i need her, stevie.." you cried into his chest and he had to control himself so he didn't cry right then and there too.

he looked up to see bucky looking at the two of you guiltily, tapping his wrist to indicate that they were running out of time. steve had no choice but to carry you in his arms, getting you to leave the site against your will. but you were too weak to fight back now. "what am i gonna do without her now, stevie?" you asked quietly.

"we're gonna be okay, y/n/n," he tells you, sitting you down on a chair and settling down next to you as clint flew the jet to your next location. the atmosphere was tense and you could tell everyone, too, was sad about this.

"what if we're not? what if we're not gonna be okay, stevie? i know i won't be." you wiped the tears streaming down your face despite the fact that your face still wasn't drying up any time soon.

"because nat wouldn't want to see us like this. she'll be angry if she sees that we're risking people's lives just because of her." he says truthfully.

"we're landing, guys." clint announces and the team prepared for another round of fighting. steve turns to you, wiping the tears on your face as he made you look up at him. "now let's save some people and make nat proud, yeah?"

you nod at him sadly, preparing your weapons. all of you got out the jet and the second battle of the day begun. boy, were these people unlucky because they were on the receiving end of your fury.

you were busy taking down a group of guards alone when you heard a familiar voice. "y/n, behind you!" and you turned just in time to take down a guard who was aiming at you.

you didn't even have time to register your shock of seeing the redhead because more guards came at you two. you guys fought alongside each other until all the men were taken down.

"nat?" you breathed out. "yes, bub?" she answers as you both carefully walked over the knocked out men. she was taken aback when you slammed into her, hugging her the tightest you ever did since you met her.

"please don't ever do that again." you mumbled into her chest. she was about to ask you what you meant when she heard you sniffling. figuring out it wasn't the appropriate moment to ask, she continued to just hug and comfort you in silence.

"wait, that was why she cried that day? because she thought i was in that building when it blew up?" nat asks after steve finished the story. "i never found out why because she never told me."

"yeah, you should've seen her when the building exploded. completely shattered my heart, dude." clint states, remembering the broken down state you were in that day.

"wait, did you guys not grief over my supposed death then?" nat glares at clint, bucky and steve. "in our defense, they were about to blow up about a hundred people, we didn't have much time to process the whole situation." clint tries to convince his best friend, only to receive a glare again from her.

"alright but just because she cried when she thought i was dead, doesn't mean she sees me as her mum. i'd cry too if any one of you guys died," she states, still in denial.

she did love you like how a mother would love her child. but she didn't want you to feel that she was forcing the title onto you. after all, you had so many other adults around you, who's to say that you saw someone else as a parent figure instead of her? she didn't want to make you uncomfortable.

"woman, are you serious?" sam exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "need i remind you that the girl sacrificed her life for you?"

ii.

"nat, watch out!" you stood right behind her where the man was about to attack her. you gave him a harsh kick to the head and that was all it took for the man to go unconscious.

the redhead turned around, not having enough time to comprehend what had happened before you dropped into her arms. you two were lucky the last of the men had already been taken out.

"bub? what's wrong?"

at this point, you were fully leaning against her. she was holding up your whole weight, hands wrapped around your middle to support you. that was when she felt it. the familiar thick substance on her fingers, leaking from the back of your suit.

her eyes widened, pulling one hand away from you to look at it. red. her breathing picked up as one of her hands felt around your back, finally feeling the handle of a knife sticking out from your back.

your eyes were already drooping by now and she lightly shook you awake, careful to not hurt you. she lowered you down and you were both sat on the floor now.

she presses a finger to her ear and you could hear her voice echo in your ear from your own comms. "can someone come please," she paused, exhaling shakily. "y/n's down."

if it had been any other person, she probably would be bringing them to the jet by now but it was you. she didn't know what came over her but when she saw that you were injured, it was like her whole body shut down. her knees felt weak and she couldn't bring herself to move.

"hey, hey, keep your eyes open. can you do that?" she asked gently and you nodded weakly. "bub, why did you do that?" she cried softly, moving your hair away from your face as you leaned sideways against her. the action caused your face to be smudged by your own blood from her hands but she didn't care as she caressed your cheek.

"he–he was gonna hurt you. i–i couldn't..." you paused a while, the pain getting too much for you to bear. "y/n, don't strain yourself. you need to stay awake," she tells you as tears streamed down her face.

"rather me than you," you whispered. nat's eyes widened at this. "don't say that, bub." she scolds gently.

you smiled weakly at her. "i've grown too dependent on you, nat. it's to the point that i," you coughed and nat worried that you were straining yourself but you continued. "that i'd rather die than live without you. you probably can go on with life without me but i can't without you. i need you, nat." your eyes closed and nat panics, shaking your body.

"y/n?! bub?! stay awake, please, they're coming!" nat cries out loud, holding onto your limp body.

"did we not agree to not mention that to me anymore?" nat glares at sam for bringing that up.

the night of that incident had been one of the worst nights for nat. she sat by your bed all night after you had been treated. she had been the first one you saw after you woke up. she had been the one you broke down in front of after you admitted the full reasoning behind your actions. she had been the one who opened her arms for you to make yourself at home in.

"i'm sorry but you must be blind if you can't see how really she sees you for the past years," bucky states. nat turns to him with a glare. "you don't know what you're talking about."

"oh really? who does she call whenever she has a really bad nightmare?" bucky questions rhetorically with his eyebrows raised.

iii.

"no, please, don't!" you begged, asleep and thrashing around in your bed. quiet whimpers turned into heavy breathing as you plead for your life in your nightmare. "please," you whispered, inhaling and exhaling harshly.

FRIDAY, noticing the amount of distress you were in, alerted the closest person to your room, that being bucky who was returning from a late night trip to the kitchen for some water.

he quickly went into your room, only to see you shivering and thrashing around in your bed. "doll?" he approaches slowly, finding you still asleep, though sweating a lot. nightmare, he realised.

"doll? wake up," he gently shakes you and you immediately jolt awake, breathing heavily as you register what was going on. "it's okay, it was just a nightmare," he soothes you, holding you close as one hand rubbed up and down your back while the other held your head to his chest.

none of that helped as you were still in the same state as you were when you woke up. "are you okay?" he asks, worried. "nat... i need nat.. please i need her," you whimpered, shaking in his hold. you were having trouble breathing.

"FRIDAY, get romanoff."

within minutes, nat arrived, looking panicked and disheveled like she had just woken up, which she just did. "what's wrong?" she asks bucky, approaching you two.

"she was having a nightmare and woke up and i think she's having a panic attack. she asked for you," he informs her and immediately moves away when she approaches, so that she could take his place.

"bub? it's me," you look up to meet natasha's pretty green eyes. "you're okay, bub. can you tell me five thing you can see?"

you looked away from her eyes, looking around your room. "i–i see my book on my nightstand, my lamp, my jacket on the chair, my laptop and the painting on the wall." you told her after some difficulties.

"good, that's good. four things you can feel?"

"i feel the socks on my feet, my fluffy blanket, the pillow i'm leaning on and your hands around me."

she smiles softly at you. "three things you can hear?"

"i hear your voice. a–and the faint noise from the ac and i can also hear bucky's breathing." you look up at the man and he smiles sheepishly at you, standing around awkwardly. you gave him a small smile back.

"two things you can smell?"

"i can smell my own shampoo..and my room's air freshener." you told her more calmly now, feeling the panic attack already going away.

"one thing you want to taste?"

"i wanna taste wanda's blueberry pancakes." you pout and the two adults couldn't help but chuckle. "you can have them in the morning. right now you need to sleep so you can have the energy to devour them tomorrow, okay?" you nod at the woman as she tucks you in.

not long after, you fell asleep. she then presses a kiss to your forehead before leaving with a less worried bucky now. and sure enough, the next morning, wanda made you blueberry pancakes.

"okay, so what? we all need someone to help us through panic attacks?" nat rolls her eyes. "did you miss the part where i came in and tried to help but she specifically asked for you? she needed you, nat."

"guys, i... i love her with my whole heart but she has all of us. i don't wanna make her feel like she's restricted to only one of us. you all love her too," nat reasons.

"yes but she doesn't have anyone to call her mum and frankly, i think you'd be perfect for it." wanda encourages the older woman.

"i—" before she could continue, her phone rang loudly and she thanked whoever it was that called her because now she didn't have to make up excuses about her doubt of becoming your official mother.

iv.

she looks down at the caller id, sighing when it was you, meaning the team had more against her now. of course she didn't mind you calling her, you could call her when she'd be asleep after a mission and she'd still pick up with a smile on her face. but it was the fact that the whole team could see how she softened when she realised it was you who called that bothered her. she really didn't want them to let her have hopes that you'd accept her as your mother.

"bub?" she said into the phone and half the team smirked at her while the other half gave her knowing smiles. "aren't you supposed to be on your way to school?"

"yeah but uh are you busy right now? i um, i need you."

nat immediately stands up, worry etched onto her face and the team frowned at this. "what happened? are you okay?"

"you know how i told happy i wanted to walk to school today? yeah, i just remembered why i don't walk to school anymore."

"what do you mean? what happened? are you hurt? did someone hurt you?" she bombards you with questions out of worry. at this point, the team had also stopped their chatter and teasing looks, equally worried for your well-being.

"yeah, i am. wait, maybe not. i mean, i was just being dramatic but uh, i tripped on who-knows-what and now i have a sprained ankle. i can't walk now so i'm standing in an alley right now so i'm not in the way of people. can you come get me?"

nat sighs in relief, thankful that it wasn't anything that she was thinking of. "you are unbelievable, y/n." she chuckles in disbelief at your clumsiness. "can you tell me where you are? i'll come get you now. i'll have the school know you're not coming today." you told her your location and she immediately leaves after telling the team what happened to you.

you were expecting nat to call again, to tell you she was around the corner but instead you heard a whoosh of air beside your head, followed by a crack sound. your head followed the sound, eyes widening when you saw that a dart had struck the wall beside your head. you looked ahead, trying to see where that came from.

if it hadn't been for your fast reflexes being an avenger for the past few years, you probably wouldn't have ducked in time when another dart came flying right for your head. "what the hell?" you grunted, staying low but still looking around for the source. you squinted when you looked up, the sun blazing but you managed to catch a glimpse of a man on a rooftop nearby. he had blonde hair and was dressed in all black, donning a same coloured mask that covered the bottom half of his face.

"you had one job! how could you miss her twice?!" the blonde hears his colleague hiss in his ear through the earpiece. "i'm sorry! i'm no hawkeye, how was i supposed to get her in one try?!" he scolds back.

"you didn't even get her in two!"

"shut up and just let me work! you're distracting me!"

"hurry because i see the redheaded one nearing the alley. boss'll kill us if he finds out we didn't get her in her vulnerable state."

"i'm trying, i'm trying!" the blonde closes one eye, his sight now locked on your crouched state. he saw you move once you saw him and he cursed under his breath, his weapon following your movements. "she's moving!"

"just take the shot and be done with it! you have to go now!"

and shoot he did. after he shot the dart gun, he immediately fled but it wasn't like you were going to be able to chase him down or anything. a scream left your lips as a dart pierced through your skin, right under your shoulder.

you dropped down to the ground, right in the middle of the alleyway. you cried when you felt the burn in your flesh. you had been stabbed multiple times before with much bigger objects so why did this feel different?

"y/n?! is that you?!" you heard nat's voice yell from a small distance away. "i'm here," you croaked out, feeling your body grow weaker at an alarming rate.

"oh my god, bub, why are you on the ground? it's dirty, c'mon let's get you up. which foot did you sprain?" she places both her hands under your arms, pulling you up on your feet before accidentally dropping you back when you let out a shriek, crying out in pain.

"oh my god, did i hit your ankle? are you okay?" nat assumed that your tear-stained face was because of your sprained ankle but then you wheezed, your eyes drooping the longer she stood there.

your right hand slowly reached across your left shoulder, the butt of the dart sticking out of your skin now in between your shaking fingers. nat's eyes followed your hand movement's, a gasp leaving her lips.

"y/n, what happened?!" she panicked but before she could even get an answer from you, you had already blacked out. her eyes widened, knowing it was the dart because why else would you pass out that quick from a simple penetration in the shoulder. you had dealt with much worse than that and she knew your tolerance level.

she took off your bag, careful to not move the dart. she then placed her hands under your knees and behind your back, easily picking your unconscious body up and rushing back to the tower.

when she arrived, she was met with many confused yet concerned looks from the tower staff, seeing the black widow, rushing in with the youngest avenger unconscious in her arms. they had seen you leave the tower for school about half an hour ago so they knew something must've happened on the way.

"get bruce in the hospital wing. tell him it's urgent." she tells the woman working the front desk, hurrying into the elevator and telling FRIDAY to get her to the floor she so desperately wanted to arrive at quicker. black lines appeared on the left side of your neck, slowly spreading to the right side and she assumed it was from that damned dart in your left shoulder.

"natasha! what's wrong? they said it was an emergency," the doctor spoke in a panicked voice when nat entered, immediately going quiet when he saw you in her arms, neck lined with seemingly black veins.

nat laid you down on the surgery table, frown growing when black lines steadily spread to your arms now. though she was too worried to think, she managed to at least tell bruce what was outwardly wrong with you.

"dart. left shoulder." she blurted, incapable of forming proper sentences now that she had seen more of you. the black lining your skin got her speechless and anxious. bruce got ready with medical gloves, removing the dart from your flesh before analysing the pattern of your skin. it looked familiar.

"FRIDAY, get tony down here. it's urgent."

"bruce, please, what's wrong with her?" she cried, tears now freely streaming down her face. she didn't cry much in front of anyone but when it came to you, you always managed to get her to do just that.

"hey, what's going on? FRIDAY said there was an emergency here, who's hurt?" nat heard tony's panicked voice but she didn't make an effort to reply. her gaze was fixed on only you.

tony's jaw dropped, frowning when he saw you on the bed, upper body covered in black lines. "what the hell happened?!"

tony stepped beside bruce, taking a closer look at your skin. his frown deepened. "wait, it looks like.."

"yeah, looks exactly like when you had palladium instead of vibranium in your arc reactor."

"does that mean—"

"palladium's been running through her veins for about twenty minutes now. FRIDAY, how high is her blood toxicity level?" bruce asks, sampling a drop of your blood from when he took out the dart.

"53% and it is still steadily increasing."

"tony, at the rate it's going, if she's not treated in the next fifteen minutes or so, she'll.." bruce pauses, not wanting to say it out loud.

"no, she just needs lithium dioxide. that's how fury and i cured your palladium poisoning, tony." nat finally speaks.

"SHIELD probably has them but they're all the way in dc. they're not gonna reach here in time," tony states solemnly, reaching over to move your hair out of your face, looking down at you sadly.

but he was immediately pulled aside, nat grabbing his collar and looking him straight in the eyes. "you have your stupid iron suits that can probably travel faster than the speed of sound if you try. you can go down there yourself and get the damn thing. i swear to god, tony, i'm literally going to destroy those stupid suits myself if you don't put them to good use." nat threatens, glaring at the billionaire.

tony's eyes widened, the genius having not thought about nat's idea yet. "yeah, yeah, you're right, i'll go now."

he left immediately and nat approached your bed hesitantly, not wanting to see the black lines making home on the skin on your upper body. "do you think tony'll make it back in time?" she sniffles and bruce's worried frown on his face softened. "of course he will. he won't let anything happen to y/n. we won't let anything happen to y/n." he assured her.

there was nothing they could do now but wait for tony to come back with the lithium dioxide. nat sat beside your bed, hands gingerly grasping one of your own. despite the black staining it, nat held it to her face and her tears rolled past the back of your hand.

bruce decided to give her some privacy, opting to inform the whole team of the situation instead of standing around idly.

nat pulled your hand away from her face, rubbing her thumb over the back of it, crying even more at the sight in front of her. "y/n, please. i've never told you this but i need you." she pauses, breathing in shakily. "i've always needed you and i'll always need you. you can't leave me, please. you said i could go on with life without you but you're so wrong, y/n. you're the reason i'm still here and you're the reason i still want to be here. if you're not here then it's as if i have no reason, no purpose. i need you, y/n. so much more than i'd like to admit. heck, probably much more than you need me. so please, don't leave me. i can't do this without you." nat sobs out, watching the patterns on your skin spreading and growing bolder.

at this point, the whole team had now gathered outside of the room, watching nat cry over you. they wanted so bad to get a closer look at their beloved baby avenger but they respected nat and instead, waited for her to finish talking to you. once she stood up and looked around, bruce knew she was done so he entered, followed by the team.

"status, FRIDAY?" bruce asks, sampling a bit of your blood again. "blood toxicity at 96% now."

the team looked your unconscious body in apprehension, some crying and some worried out of their minds.

"goddamnit! where the hell is stark?!" nat growled. her eyes were now puffy after having spent the last half an hour crying. the team had never seen her lose her cool like this but they figured why.

as if on cue, tony's iron man suit crashed through the windows of the room but he couldn't care less. his main priority was to get to you quickly. in his hand was a silver briefcase that he passed to bruce.

bruce opened the case before wasting no time in plunging the syringe containing lithium dioxide, your supposed cure, into you. immediately, the black patterns on your skin started disappearing. it was slow but noticeable. it started from the tips of your fingers, going up towards your neck.

everyone sighed in relief, and to tony's surprise, nat hugged him tightly. "thank you. you have no idea how much this means to me." she whispers. tony pats her back gently. "hey, i care about her too, okay? of course i'd do this for her. any one of us would."

nat smiles at him when she let him go, turning back to you and almost crying out in joy when your skin had finally turned back to normal. she let the medical assistants set your bed up and handle your sprained ankle before going back to sit by you. the team left her alone with you once again.

it was only about an hour later did you wake up, squinting when bright lights shone down on you. you moved around but you felt hands around your left and you heard a familiar voice.

"and remember when you dragged wanda to pull that prank on me with you and after you did, i grounded you like i was your mum or something?" you hear her chuckle, still not noticing that you've woken up.

"i didn't mind, though. frankly, i don't think i would ever mind if you continued acting like my mother or something," you spoke and she immediately tore her gaze from your hands, looking at you, now wide awake.

"bub!" she hugs you so tightly you didn't think you could breathe. you still returned the hug though, laughing. "i was worried you might still have some palladium in your bloodstream."

"wait, palladium?" you asked her in shock. "yeah, the dart that got you in that alley, it contained palladium. it's highly toxic so we used lithium dioxide to counter it. speaking of the dart, i'm going to find out who did this to you and they're never going to see the light of day for putting us through all of this." nat says, disturbingly calm.

"yeah...you do that," you tell her, slightly scared. "but palladium? in my blood? how cool is that? i had literal metal in my blood! i could've become like tony but like...palladium woman or something." you said excitedly.

"you do know we already have metal in our blood, right bub?" nat questions in amusement. "oh." you say dumbly. "and palladium don't belong in our body and you literally almost died because of it." your mouth opened but no words came out.

"speaking of, can you please not do that again? i really thought i was gonna lose you." she whispers, stroking your hair. "oh yeah, of course. i'll just announce to the whole world to not target the youngest avenger," you joke, smile dropping when nat gave you a stern look.

"nat, being part of the avengers at my age undoubtedly means i'll be a target for the bad people out there, but i don't care because while i get to kick ass, i know all of you have my back when it's my ass that's kicked. and i think that's the best part of being an avenger; the sense of security i get having you amazing people as my teammates." you tell her honestly and she smiles softly.

"oh come here you," she pulls you in for another hug but this time it's better because you could still breathe. you make yourself comfortable, snuggling into her.

"did you mean it?" she asked and you look up at her in confusion. "mean what?"

"when you said you wouldn't mind me acting like your mother."

"of course i do, you're like the mother i never had. i wouldn't even mind you being my actual mother." you say without a second thought, eyes widening when you realised what you had said. you swore under your breath, knowing you've just made it awkward between you two.

"i– really?" despite the teams efforts to make her see the truth, it was much more meaningful when she heard you say it yourself. "y–yeah.." you admit sheepishly.

"then you wouldn't mind if i actually adopted you?" she asks carefully, gauging your reaction. your jaw dropped, eyes going wide once again. "are you serious?!"

"yeah." she smiles at you fondly. "no! of course i won't mind!" you hug her tightly, tears forming in your eyes. you had gone all your life without parents so this was a huge thing for you. not only were you going to finally have a mother, but the most amazing woman you knew was going to be your mother.

"mum?" you tested the title, smiling when she acknowledged it. you were now crying in joy.

"hey, don't cry." she soothes you, running a hand up and down your back. "no, no, i'm just so happy. this is the best day of my life." you tell her. "me too, bub."

you stayed in her arms until you fell back asleep, nat tucking you in before going back to sit down on the chair. she looked down at you fondly.

sure, she was scared of the big step she was about to take with you but she had you with her and she knew that was enough. "i love you, y/n." she whispers, planting a kiss on the side of your head.

taglist <3

@amourtentiaa @rqmanoff @abitofeverythinggg @andreasworlsboring101 @cay-writes-fan-fiction514 @teenwonder @sevenmorningstars @fleurlovesbucky

#marvel x teen!reader #avengers x teen!reader #avengers x reader #bruce banner x teen!reader #bucky barnes x teen!reader #clint barton x teen!reader #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #sam wilson x teen!reader #steve rogers x teen!reader #tony stark x teen!reader #avenger!reader

[angelssung]

floral kisses

i made up this soulmate mark bc at this point of time in 2019 i was rlly into flowers LMAO. enjoy.

summary: the day where jeongin found his soulmate!

genre: fluff, soulmate!au

pairing: jeongin x gender neutral!reader

Everyone had a soulmate. Most of the time, it was two sided, but there were some.... unfortunate one sided connections.

There were plenty of ways to identify your soulmate, whether it be a timer, matching tattoos in the same place, having colour taken away at birth but being able to see colour when you find your soulmate, or being able to see what your soulmate writes on their wrist on your own.

When you were 13, a doctor told you - at the request of your parents, who were scared that you would never have a soulmate - that you'd be able to identify your soulmate by flowers blooming around them. The flower blooming would be their favourite flower, or if they didn't have a favourite flower, a random one would bloom around them. No one else could see the flowers, besides you two.

Your parents found it funny, as they owned a flower shop that you eventually started working at when you didn't have any classes.

"Your manager really loves yellow, Binnie." You pointed out, placing flowers in the areas requested of you.

As he made you your favourite drink, he rolled his eyes, "More like she wants to find an excuse to buy things she doesn't need."

"Hey, let her be! At least she isn't spending the flower money on your paycheck." You smacked Changbin lightly on the arm, in response he pretended to be hurt and whined. "You're so mean!"

Laughing, you set the last flowers into the small pots on each table, "I only hit you lightly, those dramas we watched over the weekend must've really rubbed off on you."

You and Changbin were childhood friends. Although you were in different campuses, you both still kept in contact regularly.

"The only thing I'll be dramatic about is that I haven't even met my soulmate yet," He huffed, "This tattoo is so cheesy, it's making me wonder if they've watched as many dramas as you have."

Patting him on the back, you sighed with a smile, "Eventually, you'll find them. I still haven't found mine either, so that should make you feel better."

"But you don't even care much about it!" He pointed out, you snorted, "If I find them, I'll care about them then. If not..."

You both looked at each other.

"It eez what it eez." Simultaneously, you both laughed.

Sitting down, you sipped on your drink your friend just gave you.

"Yeah, at least I'm not a hopeless romantic-" which quickly earned you a "Hey!".

"But! I'm gonna get going, time to relax at the park then go back to the shop." You quickly drank your drink, making sure to throw it in the trash.

"Bye (Y/N), I'll probably visit with the usual leftovers. That's if there's any."

In just 3 minutes, you were sitting on the park bench, listening to music on your phone.

The scenery was nice - small trees spread around the grass area, you could tell it was mid-spring just by the weather.

A few birds, Jis- I mean, squirrels, and other animals would pass by, minding their own business as you relaxed for a while.

Once you felt like going home, which was after 13 or so minutes, you started to get up and walk out of the park.

That was, until you made eye contact with someone, your favourite flowers blooming on the ground around the figure which made you gasp.

With Jeongin as our protagonist for this part, the boy was walking to a cafe, feeling calm - there weren't any classes scheduled for the day, and his job at the convenience store near his university dorm started at night.

"Hot chocolate, please!" Since no one was around, he was able to go to the front without any waiting in line.

The barista nodded, "The usual marshmallows, I'm guessing?"

"You know me so well." "You always come here before a test- how could I not?" "This time, Changbin, there's no test. But I'm in the mood for hot chocolate."

Changbin let out a small chuckle, "Oh, I was thinking the other day - what's your soulmate mark? Wait... do you, uh, have one-"

"Of course I do! It's just... I only find out by seeing flowers bloom around them on the ground. Doesn't matter where, but I'm the only one who sees it." Jeongin smiled, sitting down on one of the bar stools, "Do you have one too?"

"Yeah, hold on-" Changbin showed Jeongin his wrist - written on them were the words "Sorry, I just got lost in your eyes, and sorry, that was extremely cheesy." on it.

Jeongin laughed, "Your soulmate seems quite sweet."

"Seems genuine too," Changbin hummed, placing the paper cup filled with hot chocolate in front of Jeongin.

Eventually, the younger boy left, due to the barista getting told off for slacking off - due to having a full on conversation with Jeongin about university, and getting into a debate whether aliens existed or not.

"They do exist! Who drilled it into his head that they don't?" Jeongin huffed, suddenly bumping into someone on the street next to the park and making eye contact with both a pair of eyes and flowers before closing his own eyes.

Opening his eyes, he looked at...

...his friend, Seungmin?

Jeongin, honestly, was disappointed, "You're my soulmate?"

Seungmin scoffed, "Jeongin, I have a soulmate already. You know this." and left.

However, Jeongin soon realised that the flowers and eyes he saw were actually in the distance.

His soulmate was you, the person behind Seungmin.

And his soulmate - you - however, was on the ground. You looked like the pikachu meme.

He quickly concluded that you fell out of shock. Walking closer, he outstretched a hand to help you up.

"Hey! I'm Jeongin, I guess you're stuck with me, soulmate." His laugh sounded like the cutest thing in the world to you.

You were already imagining your first date, a nice picnic alongside the riv-

"Soulmate? You okay?" Jeongin's voice snapped you out of your daydream, making you shake your head.

"Sorry Jeongin! I'm Y/N, guess you're stuck with me too, soulmate." You made light fun of his introduction, making him facepalm and shake his head with a smile.

As you two started talking about the most random things in a successful attempt to get to know each other, across you two was Changbin still inside the coffee store.

He was quick to realise you both were his friends, and once you two shyly kissed, he got the full picture - you two were soulmates.

"I should've introduced them to each other... what the fu-"

#skz x y/n #skz x you #skz oneshots #skz x reader #skz imagines #skz fluff #stray kids oneshots #stray kids fluff #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagines #jeongin #jeongin x you #jeongin x y/n #jeongin imagines #i.n fanfic #i.n fluff #i.n x reader #i.n stray kids #yang jeongin x reader #yang jeongin

[aerltarg]

Targlingsweek 2021

Day 7: Rhaenys, Aegon and Jon

(ver. 1, ver. 2)

Headcanons under the cut

They're an amazing team where everyone complements other two. Rhaenys, the smartest one, skilled in so many different things. Jon, brave and feral. Aegon, the most charismatic and attentive.

Rhaenys overthinks things? Aegon and Jon are always here to remind her that not everything is that deep and serious. Aegon is looking for new ideas? Rhaenys and Jon can always suggest different plans, both smart and crazy. Jon is going to punch someone? Rhaenys and Aegon are always ready either to stop him or to help him both to fight this someone or to hide the body lmao

They're protective of each other. Practice shows that if you talk shit about any of them or their family, you'll mysteriously need the maester's help very soon. Like. Very soon.

Rhaenys started to read and write earlier than both of her brothers. She still does it better than them as well as math.

Aegon is the fastest one and no one could beat him at playing catch-up as children. Jon was the best at hide-and-seek, though. He hid and kept silence too well.

When they were boys, Aegon used to have long hair and Jon short. But when they grew up, they kinda switched hairstyles for their own reasons. Rhaenys thinks it's hilarious anyway.

Also in the AUs where Jon gets his Targ name he would be Aemon. We'd have best bros Egg and Aemon ver 2, where the first becomes a king too but the latter doesn't have to go to Night's Watch for this since he's younger this time.

Some people would be surprised by Aegon's and Jon's interest in plants but the truth is that they only want to please Rhaenys. Thanks to them her collection of rare plants grows bigger with each passing year.

When they were kids, they could spend whole nights long sitting among dragon skulls and telling each other scary stories with only a single candle in darkness. Their favourite one was, of course, the skull of Balerion the Black Dread, the biggest of all. They even tried to sit inside.

Their favourite hobby when they were little was harassing fangirling over Kingsguard. No one could escape them. Though Lewyn's always been quite fond of children, Barristan has been a bit awkward but still very patient around them, and others suffered but didn't complain. Except for Arthur Dayne who had to go through much more royal kids' attention as their father's best friend, a super famous knight and the Sword of the Morning who could show them the legendary Dawn. He sighed from time to time that no one had warned him about this when he was joining Kingsguard but everyone knew he was only joking. Arthur was like a second father to these adorable dragon kids, after all, and couldn't really get mad at them. And if he had to show them Dawn twice a week and go through all this noise every time, then so be it.

Dany is, in fact, like another sibling to them, the youngest one. They played, learnt and laughed together all the time, and they're still very close now, when all of them are adults already. If you want to mess with any of them, be ready to deal with the whole Targlings gang.

Because of the small age gap Viserys is also more like a brother than an uncle to them. His temper isn't the easiest one but they get on well anyway, thanks to Rhaella's care and efforts too.

Making Rhaella upset is a big no-no in Targaryen family. Both as kids and later adults they've tried their best to keep beloved mother and grandmother happy. Sometimes she looks so sad when thinks no one is watching and remembers the past. During these moments Rhaenys is always here with her plants, books and songs as well as Aegon with his funny stories about people he's met today, Jon with his silent but so sincere and warm support, Dany with her smiles and hugs, and Viserys too. Sometimes even Rhaegar when he's free of his duties. Not that Rhaella really needs all this. She always forgets about sadness around her beautiful children and grandchildren and can't help but smile.

When Jon got Ghost, the whole family got a new interesting hobby aka watching Balerion and Ghost interact. Balerion was older and acted a bit patronizing towards Ghost when he was only a silent and stubborn fluffy baby. Well, to be honest, Balerion still does act like that but now it's even more hilarious because Ghost is almost as big as a horse and Balerion hasn't changed at all. Dany and Rhaenys can't help but sigh how cute they are, a small black cat and a giant white direwolf being protective friends.

When they were visiting North, Rhaenys surprisingly found in herself a snow ball fighting talent. Aegon and Jon didn't stand a chance.

Once they travelled to the Wall with their family and spent so much time with Maester Aemon, their great-granduncle, plus-minus generation, so interesting and amazing that they didn't want to leave in the end. All of them, including Dany, write letters to him since then.

Targlings music band regularly gives concerts for their biggest fan Rhaella. Rhaegar joins them sometimes, Dany tries to sing and is pretty good at it, and Viserys tries this and that but never loses enthusiasm.

(In the Happier AU Dany hatches six eggs instead of three, and both generations of Targlings ride dragons together. RIP Others)

#targlingsweek #rhaenys targaryen #rhaenys martell targaryen #aegon vi targaryen #jon snow #asoiaf #asoiafedit #valyrianscrolls #princess rhaenys targaryen #house targaryen #targlings #myedit #headcanon #dont @ me lmao i want them to be happy sm #ALL OF THEM #BABIES #also these hcs are so chaotic lmao but i couldnt help myself #there are probably 255352 typos lol but oh well #OH ALSO!!! #you can freely add dany to every passage that tells abt 'them' #shes one of the targlings sorry i dont make the rules

[sakuatsutingz]

inzarizaki with a s/o they've been with for a while meeting the team pt2

masterlist here

request or talk to us here !

requests currently closed

part one is here

shinsuke kita !

you guys have been together for like forever

you always call each other soulmates

kita doesn't believe in it but he goes along to make you happy !!

the team was

so surprised when they learned he had a s/o

just seemed like the type who didn't care for a relationship

they're probably the ones who bothered him into letting you meet them LMAO

when he finally agrees he asks you about it

"hey y/n ... the team wants to meet you. if you don't want that's fine."

tries to be v non-carrying about it

but is probably v nervous about it :(

but you agree !!

he introduces you to them after they win the game which lets them go to nationals <3

aran recognises you

and isn't too surprised by it lmao

bUT ATSUMU WAS SCREAMING

cause man never saw it coming

you start coming to their practices after they learned you and kita were together <33

you would bring them snacks or even help with practice if needed

but kits dislikes it when you deal with the latter

cause he doesn't want you to accidentally get hurt

babie cares about you a lot 🥺

and the team thinks of you like an older sister !!

aran oijiro !

i feel like aran would have a foreign gf

and you guys are in a long distance relationship !!

so you come to visit japan to see him in nationals

and he doesn't know your coming either <3

you end up convincing his parents / coach to bring you to one of his practices to surprise him !!

and you do

which is where you meet the team as well

babie was so happy when he saw you 🥺

lowkey forgot the team was there and that practice was happening

he just sMOTHERS YOU IN KISSES AND HUGS

the team was sitting there like ??

that's how ya'll met gn

you would come to all of his practices and games when you were in japan

and he just doted on you the whole time <3

the team would tease him for it as well

saying "they didn't realize how whipped he was"

but he just ignored them

since he wasn't planning you waste your precious days there dealing with them 🙄

you get along well with them tho !!

which aran is glad about since he didn't want you and his team fighting <33

and you tease atsumu just as much as he teases you

#sakuatsutingz ; works #sakuatsutingz #haikyuu #haikyu #haikyuu x reader #anime #haikyuu headcanons #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #headcanons #haikyu x y/n #kita #aran ojiro #aran #kita x reader #inarizaki x y/n #inarizaki

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

songs that make me think of vampy and why

this is for drea and leyla ONLY thank u

daylight- taylor swift "i don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you, i don't wanna think of anything else now that i thought of you" bc vampy loves her so much he only wants her 😔 midnight love- girl in red "I know I'm the last one you try to call but I always give in to give you it all" "your silver is my gold" bc miss chiropractor treated him terribly but he loved her with everything and would have gone back to her no matter what watch you sleep- girl in red this one is obvious: bc vampy watches bloodbag sleep :) also "the scar on your spine, you fell off a roof when you were nine" is all appreciating the tiny details about someone and that is definitely something vampy would do :( paper rings: taylor swift "i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this" line without a hook- ricky montgomery "oh baby i am a wreck when i'm without you" bc vampy loves bloodbag so much he just wants to be with her always 😔 dead girl in the pool- girl in red this one is kinda weird but i feel like bloodbag is gonna die at some point and then vampy will just be like "theres a dead girl in the pool (or wherever her corpse is laying slfjskldfjkldsj) i don't know what to do" and then he's gonna make this face

bad habits- ed sheeran bc he was just slutting around before he met bloodbag demons- imagine dragons dont make fun of me for this I KNOW but fr it's vampy renegade- taylor swift "you wouldn't be the first renegade to need somebody" he needs bloodbag 😔 starting line- luke hemmings i can't really explain this one but it's like how you always talk about how his happiness is overshadowed by the fact that he's a monster or whatever million dollar bills - lorde "theres nothing i want but money and time" and vampy has literally all the money and time :) solar power- lorde this is harrys hot girl anthem idk happiness- taylor swift "there'll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you" this is him reminiscing on miss chiropractor i wanna get better-bleachers "i didn't know i was lonely til i saw your face" "I didn't know i was broken til i wanted to change" come on 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 good 4 u - olivia rodrigo this is his fuck u song for miss chiropractor my tears ricochet- taylor swift "if i'm dead to you why are you at the wake" it's ironic innit 😌 what a feeling- one direction "what a feeling to be right here beside you now, holding you in my arms" please 😔 "everybody needs someone around" 😔😔😔 "but i can't hold you too close now" bc he has severe attachment and commitment issues :) all you had to do was stay- taylor swift "had me in the palm of your hand, then, why'd you have to go and lock me out when i let you in" omg miss chiropractor really hurt him 😔 king of my heart- taylor swift "and all at once you are the one i have been waiting for" bloodbag @ vampy 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 cruel summer- taylor swift "I love you ain't that the worst thing you ever heard" bc he knows getting close to bloodbag will ultimately only lead to pain for everyone involved "i don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you" bc he can't tell bloodbag everything about him even tho he probably wants to :( thank u next- arianna grande this is weird BUT if miss chiropractor hadn't fucked him up so much he never would have met bloodbag tear in my heart- 21 pilots again don't make fun of me for this I HAVE AN EXPLANATION "you fell asleep in my car i drove the whole time but that's okay i'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine" if bloodbag fell asleep in his car he would definitely do this :( shape of you-ed sheeran "now my bedsheets smell like you" his room probably smells like honey and lavender all the time now and he's probably foaming at the mouth constantly cowboy in LA "let's skip the club, lets skip the crowd, i wanna take you on a date" bc they both hate clubs!!!!! "I'll hold your hand I'll hold the door bc that's how i was raised" he's a gentleman 😔😔😔😔 & burn- billie eilish "i'll sit and watch your car burn with the fire that you started in me, but you never came back to ask it out" idk for some reason this has vampy and miss chiropractor vibes take me to church- hozier religious trauma babes 🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼 speechless- dan+shay "i'm speechless, staring at you standing there in that dress" love 😔 yours- russel dickerson "i came to life when i first kissed you, the best me has his arms around you, you make me better than i was before, thank god i'm yours" SCREAMING AND CRYING AND SHAKING tolerate it- taylor swift "i know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it" MISS ******** DIDN"T APPRECIATE OR CELEBRATE HIS LOVE MIA- anarbor "thinking about my life and everything i did wrong along the way"😔 lay low- josh turner for when bloodbag and vampy go to a cabin in the woods for a week and just love each other 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 who can save me now- anarbor "you stabbed me in the back" this one is pretty literal LSKFJLKSJFLKDSJ "you could have at least been kind enough to let me turn around" ouch 😔 dopamine- anarbor "i'm hooked on your dopamine" vampy and bloodbag ugh lie to me- 5sos this give me vampy and ******** vibes "i wish we never met, cause you're too hard to forget" "while i'm cleaning up your mess i know he's taking

off your dress" bc she probably cheated on him while they were together 😔 and he would have stayed with her if she told him she loved him, even if he knew it was a lie 😔 cotton candy- yungblud it's just a happy song with good vibes like bloodbag and vampy currently have :) small talk- niall horan i don't even have to say anything here pillowtalk- zayn "so we'll piss off the neighbors" chappy 9 vibes dancing with our hands tied- taylor swift "i loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us" vampy rn 😔 once in a lifetime- one direction vampy will live a million lifetimes but he will only ever have one bloodbag 😔 holy ground- taylor swift "tonight i'm gonna dance for all that we've been through but I don't wanna dance if i'm not dancing with you" they've come so far omg 😔 since we're alone- niall horan "you can show me your heart, if you put it all in my hands no i swear no i won't break it apart" crying if i could fly- one direction "for your eyes only i'll show you my heart" rollercoaster- bleachers again i can't explain it but it makes me think of him 😔 so long- niall horan "so if we knew all along why did it take so long" good question bestie current location- LANY "i need your current location to be my current location" they're idiots in love and want to be together all the time 😔 why dont we go there- one direction "hey i don't want you to be the one that got away i wanna get addicted to you you're rushing through my mind i wanna feel the high i wanna be addicted" well hes already addicted to her blood so might as well like you lots- LANY bc they both have issues and can't say love lmao too much to ask- niall horan vampy though wanting love was too much to ask of miss chiropractor 😔 walking in the wind- one direction this one just has his vibes man 😔 heartbeat- carrie underwood "dancing to the rhythm of your heartbeat" bc vampy is obsessed with listening to bloodbag's heart (fan behavior if you ask me) idfc- blackbear this is vampy and ******** bc "tell me that you love me even if it's fake" city of angels- 24kgoldn "i sold my soul to the devil for designer" yes this made me laugh the woods- olivver the kid "waking up in the middle of the woods" "don't you wanna get out of here, out of the woods" flashback to when he was dead in the woods oop "you brought me down to the river, and you pushed me in, hoping that the white rapids would challenge my ability to swim" bc... she's a murderer omg this verse is talking about leaves and i'm freaking out it fits 100% this is crazy "You pick up two handfuls You tell me they're all dried up & dead You know that's nothing like us We'll live forever instead" just a little bit of your heart- ariana grande vampy bc he loves so deeply and completely that he will give all of himself to someone even if they won't do the same my strange addiction- billie eilish bc he is addicted to her blood :) cross your mind- niall horan this is vampy and ******** "love the way you hurt me and it doesn't even cross your mind" "leaving me in pieces (literally lmao) but i swear it's worth it every time" everywhere- niall horan that scene where vampy smelled some perfume or soap or something and it made him think of bloodbag 😔 everything makes him think of her now 😔 "swear it's hard to think it's hard to breathe when you're in the air" put a little love on me- niall horan "you're the only one i need" 😔 bend the rules- niall horan VAMPY AND ******** ALL THE WAY "i'm not saying that you're lying but you're leaving out the truth" heartbreak weather- niall horan "all of my life i've been sleepwalk living, running around the same bars i've been in, it can be so lonely in this city, but it feels different when you're with me" bloodbag and vampy 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 mr loverman- ricky montgomery "i miss my lover man" vampy is probably dramatic like this all the time now that they're official 😔 bad blood- taylor swift again, just for the irony 😌 vapor- 5sos "i want to breathe you in like a vapor i want to be the one you remember i want to feel

your love like the weather all over me" they're so in love like this 😔 catch fire- 5sos "all my life i've been waiting for moments to come" he's been waiting for bloodbag his entire life 😔 beside you-5sos "i wish i was beside you" they want to be together all the time 😔 black and white- niall horan "that first night i was standing at your door fumbling for your keys then i kissed you" ARE YOU KIDDING ME not in the same way- 5sos this is vampy and ******** just bc they were so toxic lkfjskldfjsdlkjf lonely heart-5sos "and i haven't slept in days" lmao ghost of you-5sos "my feet dont dance like they did with you" thinking about when vampy danced for bloodbag and what if they break up 👁️👁️ why wont you love me- 5sos vampy at ******** 😔 he just wanted to be loved 😔😔😔😔😔 fool's gold- one direction "i let you use me from the day that we first met" "i know your love's not real, but that's not the way it feels" STOP IM SAD last first kiss- one direction "let me be your last first kiss" i want them to be together forever 😔 truly madly deeply- one direction "foolishly completely falling and somehow you kicked all my walls in" bloodbag really snuck into his heart huh 😔 fireproof -one direction "nobody saves me baby the way you do" ugh 😔 long story short-taylor swift "clung to the nearest lips long story short it was the wrong guy" (or in vampy's case the wrong vampire) gold rush-taylor swift "and the coastal town we run around has never seen a love as pure as it" bloodbag and vampy are all i want 😔 no judgement- niall horan bc vampy would never judge bloodbag 😔 daddy issues- the neighborhood again im not even gonna say anything here new angel- niall horan "the touch of someone else to save me from myself" this is vampy 😔 god is a woman- ariana grande vampy after he brought bloodbag home the first time something like this- the chainsmokers "just something i can turn to, somebody i can kiss" ALL VAMPY WANTS IS LOVE sweater weather- the neighborhood idk this song makes me think of him all of me- john legend "all of me loves all of you all your curves and all your edges all your perfect imperfections" KSFLKSDJFKLDJSFLJSDKLFJDSKL i like me better- lauv "i like me better when i'm with you" she makes him a better person 😔 sex- eden "oh no, i think i'm catching feelings" vampy when bloodbag went on a date with someone else half a heart- one direction bc bloodbag completes him 😔 theyre so disgusting 😔 only angel- harry styles "turns out she's a devil in between the sheets" woman- harry styles vampy when she was on a date with someone else bc hes a jealous moron temporary fix- one direction this has chappy 1-2 vibes a.m.-one direction when they first started falling in love and he wanted to be with her more often 😔 something great- one direction "i want you here with me like how i pictured it so i don't have to keep imagining" through the dark- one direction just all of this song 😔 happily- one direction "you know i wanna be the one who holds you when you sleep i just want it to be you and i forever" 😔 electric love- borns "i can't let you go now that i got it" canyon moon- harry styles they're just happy like this rn 😔 sunflower vol. 6- harry styles "kiss in the kitchen like it's a dancefloor" "mouth full of toothpaste" when they brushed their teeth together 😔 adore you- harry styles obviously

#music #og post

[consumedkings-archive]

WITCHING HOUR, a john seed/deputy fic. chapter twelve: the desire to devour

word count: ~10.3k rating: m warnings: naughty language, .000002 seconds of spiciness (but not really), john goes "we were vibing, right? we had the vibes? right?" for like the entire last half. also mentions of self-harm and elliot's previous trauma. notes: hi friends! i hope you enjoy this chapter! this is going to be the last sort of in-between chapter before we really get into it, and from here it's going to go faaaaast. i had a lot of fun writing it and feeling out these different dynamics. not to mention john being a gigantic fuckhead (but like what is new, lmao). special thank you as always to my wifey and beta reader @starcrier for your impeccable eyeballs, and also to @vasiktomis and @shallow-gravy for lending their eyes as well because i did fuss a bit with this chap. i would be lost without y'all. thank you everyone for your love and support, esp with comments! it really fills my heart so so much to hear back from you, and i am always in the market for friends so do not be afraid to reach out to me <3

She is twenty-five.

She’s twenty-five, and it's her first full day of work. Or, it was; now, she's sitting in the Spread Eagle listening to Pratt talk about everything that's happened while she's been gone, because he'd said, c'mon, let me take you out tonight. He grins a boyish, toothy grin at her—the same kind that's mimicked in the multiple school dance photos her mother covets—and tries to sound nonchalant when he asks how she liked being in the city.

It's hard not to think about how this is the first place she had ever met John Seed, then-Duncan, and how it feels like it's spoiled the whole place for her.

Elliot redirects her attention as best as she can to what it is Pratt is saying. He's fishing for information. They've always been each other's safety net, the person they can fall back on when all else fails. School dances. Picking partners in class. Graduation walking buddies. He'd driven her to the airport when she left for the Academy, even. But even though she knows he's trying to figure out if she's still a safety net, Elliot can't disguise the way thinking about Mason makes her feel—disgusting—so she brings the beer bottle to her mouth and takes a swallow.

The result is her face scrunching up. Pratt laughs.

“Geez, Elli, slow down,” he says, his smile crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “Bet money you're still a lightweight. When'd you start drinking beer, anyway?”

“I didn't,” she manages out around the taste, swallowing thickly. “I just won't let your money go to waste.”

He shrugs, as if to say, could, if you wanted, and swivels on the stool a little. He wants to press again—she can tell—but seems to have the good sense not to, instead busying his mouth with his own beer.

“Mama said Whitehorse let you right on,” Elliot says casually, trying to ignore the twinge of envy in her voice.

Pratt shrugs again. “He's known my dad a long time.”

“Known my mom too,” Elliot replies, dry.

“Yeah, well.” Pratt pauses, and sounds a little smug when he says, “Just because your mama likes me doesn’t mean I don’t know how she is to everyone else.”

“Likes you, does she?”

“Obviously,” the brunette replies confidently. “She still keeps all those photos of us. Remember senior year, she had all of her gal pals over when we were getting ready for prom—”

“Ugh.”

“—took us about 45 minutes before we were exactly where she wanted to take pictures—"

She rolls her eyes. Pratt grins, and then bumps his shoulder against hers. He says, “Aw, c’mon. Not so bad, is it? Having your mom like me?"

Elliot can feel the flush spreading under her cheeks. Not because she's embarrassed, or flustered, but because the beer sitting in her stomach feels rotten, and because Pratt's looking at her with the same kind of eyes he did before—always, always there's the before—and she doesn't know how to say I'm not her anymore, I'm not that girl, I'm different and changed and I don't know how to go back.

It doesn't matter. If Pratt can see it on her face, he doesn't let it show; just pats her shoulder and pretends he doesn't see the way she flinches from his hand swinging into her peripheral, pretends he doesn't notice the way she covers it up by swallowing another mouthful of beer she doesn't want to drink.

“Hudson’s really glad to have you back,” he says after a minute, when she doesn’t confirm nor deny that it’s not so bad knowing her mom thinks he’s a fine enough person. “Been talking about it nonstop.”

A smile creeps its way onto her face. “I’m glad to be back. With her, especially.”

“Yeah, you two always been thick, huh?”

She nods, swallows more beer, and Pratt rolls his eyes and snags the bottle out of her hand.

“Don’t keep drinking if you don’t like it,” he tells her, and then finishes it off himself, setting the empty bottle on the countertop with a grimace. “Can’t have people telling Whitehorse I bullied the probie into drinking.”

“‘Probie’,” she scoffs. “I could kick your ass.”

“Bullshit!”

“Could’ve done it before, Pratt.”

“Now that is lies and slander.”

Elliot only grins at him, the only time since coming back sans Joey getting her from the airport that it’s been a genuine thing; lopsided and a little sloppy but a grin nonetheless. Pratt finishes his own beer now, coughing a little into his fist before he blurts out, “I’m glad, too.”

She blinks. “Huh?”

“That you’re back,” Pratt clarifies. “Y’know—nice to have my friend back. Didn’t like sendin’ you off to the big city, anyway.”

He doesn’t know. He can’t know, because her mother won’t talk about it and Joey would never divulge what it was that had brought about her speedy return—but even though he doesn’t know about the way she has to swallow back a flinch every time he waves his hand in her peripheral, or the way the smell of beer on a man’s breath makes her stomach clench with anxiety, or how her hands are so fucking cold all the time because her heart hammers in her chest, the way he says that (Didn’t like sendin’ you off to the big city, anyway) feels a little like vindication.

“S’okay,” she murmurs, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Came back in one piece, didn’t I?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The scent of roses wafted over her in waves. The sound of bathwater murmuring against the sides of the porcelain tub rippled each time she moved, each time she used the grip of her hands against the lip of the sides to sink herself under; her knuckles went cold with the ferocious grip, but when she went under she was submerged in quiet once more. Blissful, serene, quiet; just what she wanted.

Elliot pulled herself out of the water. Downstairs, she could hear her mother’s voice, spiking frantic even through the floors and the two closed doors that kept her separated.

“...years, Mr. Seed, I have lost years of my life agonizing over what she did to herself...”

She dipped below the water, closing her eyes. No sound; no shrill noise; just the heavy, bloated static that existed underneath the surface of the bath. Only her and the baby.

It occurred to her, absently, that she needed to start picking out names for the baby. Now that they had a guess at what the gender was, they’d have to decide about a name; not only a first, but a middle, too—the last name—

“...find it quite intriguing, actually, that the second she comes back to me after being involved with your kind that she’s got all this—this—”

Oh, don’t say it, Elliot thought tiredly, closing her eyes.

“—tear, just wretched wear and tear, Mr. Seed, don’t you? Don’t you find that intriguing?”

John was sitting down there, enduring a thorough verbal lashing, and she hadn’t even asked him to. She’d said, I don’t care if she thinks it was me, and he’d guided her upstairs and cupped her face and kissed her, long and open-mouthed, and swept his thumb over her cheek. Now, Elliot could hear the sound of his voice—calmer, empathetic, like just knowing that her mother was hysterical was giving him some kind of control over himself—but that he was speaking in a normal tone meant that his words didn’t come through quite so clearly.

She heard the sound of her mother saying, “I suppose you’re going to tell me why you’re not bothered in the least?” just before she dipped under the water again.

What was she going to name the baby? Did she even have an idea of what kinds of names she liked? Exhaustion pulled at the edges of her attention; she thought, I’m too tired to come up with a baby name, and gripped the edges of the bathtub harder. More fierce, more firm; grip and pull, maybe spill the entire bathtub over, tilt the clawed feet until it hit the tiled floor and the porcelain broke and the rose-scent water flooded the bathroom, her room, the hallway.

Then they’d have to leave. Then they couldn’t stay, surely, in a house flooded with rose water.

Fingers brushed over hers where they’d gone white at the edges of the tub. She pulled herself out of the water to find John sitting there, knelt at the side of the tub—not unlike the way he’d sat back at her mother’s house in Hope County, when she’d drank too much in the bathtub and said that he could mark her.

Because that’s what it had been. As much as she had wanted it, as much as she had enjoyed it, no matter what John said—he had been marking her as his. Like that Oscar Wilde poem.

The same sin binds us.

Elliot brushed the water from her eyes and settled her head back against the tub, regarding him. He looked less bothered than she thought he would, having sat through her mother’s grilling and interrogation—though he did look like he wanted to say something, like maybe it was sitting, burning into ash in his mouth, the way she could see the flex of his jaw and the way his free hand clenched and loosened.

Ignoring the nagging feeling that he wanted to ask her what she’d been doing under the water, and the even more bothersome knowledge that she had, at some point, become painfully aware of his body language, Elliot said, “We have to think of a name.”

John blinked at her. Less than an hour ago, he’d been saying Of course I’d come for you, I love you, with or without the baby I love you, and she’d been sobbing into his arms and clinging to him.

He said, “And a middle name.”

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

A smile finally ticked the corner of his mouth, his fingers uncurling hers from the edge of the tub. Reluctantly, she let him.

“Your mother’s upset.” He paused. “She still wants you to play nice for her Christmas party, but she’s upset.”

“I know,” she replied sullenly. The despair of her shame, which had at once both overwhelmed her and hollowed her out, had dissipated in the wake of her indignation. What would she know, that vicious thing inside of her said, replaying the way her mother’s expression had crumpled. What would she know of our suffering? What would she know of our pain? ‘Wretched wear and tear’, like we haven’t been torn up for ages, like she didn’t throw us to the wolves and scoff in disgust when we came back bloodied and battered.

She wanted to be angry, really angry, but like most things that had to do with her mother, Elliot found herself more exhausted than anything. Scarlet had always found it impossible to comprehend the scars she’d given herself, had always claimed to feel disconnected to the ways Elliot had searched out meaning and comfort.

Absently, Elliot wet her lips and let her gaze flicker up to where John had perched himself beside the tub. He looked mighty pleased with himself, having finally gotten his words out. I love you, he’d said, palm flat against her window, I love you, with or without the baby.

And John, I want a home with you.

And John, Marriage is hard work, but I know you’re just the woman for the job.

And John, No way baby, I’m fucking it for you.

Blood rushed through her head, thunderous. John was saying something to her, but the words felt distant, and far away, and everything felt like it was underwater when she moved—not just the parts of her submerged in the bath, but all of it, the air too-thick and dragging on her skin and pulling her down slow as molasses. She blinked a few times as she disentangled their hands and reached for the towel, but John pulled it off of the hook first.

She watched him. She watched his mouth move, and his brows pull and furrow together at the center of his forehead, and the way his breath rose and fell in his chest, pushing and pulling the Sloth scar scratched across his sternum. Just like me, dream John had said, gripping her blood-covered hands, you’re just like me.

His voice, muffled and bogged down by the blood rushing through her ears, quirked up at the end. Elliot’s eyes darted back to his, and she asked, “Sorry, what?”

“The water’s cold,” he replied, waving the towel a bit. “Aren’t you getting out?”

“Yeah,” Elliot murmured. She felt hollow. Her fingers itched. She wanted—

John caught her hand as she stepped out of the bathtub, steadying her while her free hand gathered the towel up against her front. Goosebumps prickled across her skin, the lukewarm temperature of the bath still lingering; his fingers interlaced with hers, and she used it to steady herself.

He was close. They were close. A part of her resented it—that she let him be so close to her, that she let him kiss her and fuck her but mostly that she let him hold her when she cried, miserably, that she wanted to go home. Because after everything, after all of it, Hope County still felt—

She closed her eyes. Of course it still felt like home. Joey was there; now she knew Pratt was, too.

And among all of that, if she waded through the weeds spreading in her mind, if she hacked and cut them away, there was John.

“What are you thinking about?” John murmured, his cologne washing over her, their noses brushing. Her eyes fluttered open and she let out a little breath, that wanton little creature in her head chanting it over and over. There’s John, there’s always been John, nobody will love us with this much red in our ledger. No one but him.

“You,” she managed. Her head felt swimmy, the words coming out of her mouth sounding like a stranger’s—thick with want. John’s eyes flickered up to hers, having fixed on her mouth.

“If you want something, Ell,” he rumbled, the pressure of his fingertips against the back of her neck guiding her forward just a little but not all the way, “you only—”

Elliot leaned forward and kissed him, her hand lifting so that she could curl her fingers into his hair, the towel slipping to the floor. His body had tensed, like he wasn’t expecting it—like he was waiting for something else—and she thought about the way he’d kissed her with Kian’s blood in her mouth, the way he’d been just rampant with desire, the way the way the way—

Her teeth caught his lower lip, a little sharper than she’d intended, and his hand gripping her wrist tightened and he moaned, and she felt that same little thrill as before surge through her. It’s my magic, too, the itch in her fingers subsiding when she dug her nails in and pulled his hair a little, parting her lips against his; John leaned into her, crowding her up against the counter in front of the mirror, the hand at the nape of her neck threading into damp hair.

“Ell,” he said against her mouth, his voice rougher than before and hands planted on the counter on either side of her, “what are you doing?”

She murmured, “Stop talking,” and kissed him again, fingers clumsily working through the buttons on his shirt—her voice came out even but everything else about her felt wobbly, unsteady, craving craving craving the way it felt to have him begging her. Anything, to feel in control. Anything, to feel whole. Dig, and dig, and when you hit the bottom you keep digging some more, right?

What do we do with grief, right?

Burn and erase the image of her mother’s disgust and horror at seeing a part of her she might actually like, scrape it from her mind, dig her trenches deep deep deep and hunker down where she could feel safe, where she could feel strong; soon she would be home and—

And John’s teeth snagged her lower lip in retribution, sparking violent and red-hot behind her eyes with pleasure lighting her neurons on fire.

“Off,” she ground out against his mouth, pushing helplessly at the shirt she’d only halfway unbuttoned. The brunette grinned; his hands resumed her work, and she instead devoted her attention to the belt at his waist, yanking at it as John’s face dropped to her neck, hot breath fanning across her skin teeth dragging against her pulse point to pull a moan out of her.

There was a split second between John discarding his shirt on the floor and gripping her hips to lift her onto the countertop, his mouth seeking hers out again as she wound her arms around his neck. She had never been completely naked and felt not vulnerable at all, felt more in control—but she did, now, when she grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled and he moaned her name, a little frantic, Ell, Ell, hellcat, he said into their kiss, let me let me, greedy and wanting as he glided fingers up along the inside of her thigh.

He tensed, like he was going to drop to his knees, and she kept her hand in his hair and said, “Don’t.”

“Hm,” is what he replied, “pulling on my hair, ordering me to take my clothes off—”

“I’m about to tell you to shut up again.”

“—but won’t let me eat you out?” John grinned against her mouth, the scent of his cologne—expensive, stupid shit, but it never failed to feel like it was overwhelming her senses—washing over her. “What is it, baby? Want me to say please?”

Yes, something wicked inside of her said, John’s eyes lifting from her mouth to hers, narrowing playfully. Yes, I’d like that, I’d like to hear you say it like that.

“I know you,” he purred. He dug his nails into her hips, a sound—the wanting kind—trying to crawl its way up her throat. “Know exactly what you want from me. Yeah? So, Ell, won’t you please—”

There was a sharp knock at the door, a pause, and then: “Elliot?”

A near-silent laugh billowed out of John, stifled into her neck when her mother’s voice came through the door. Elliot’s eyes fluttered; her fingers, knotted in John’s hair, loosened and smoothed down the back of his neck, the intoxicating tension relaxing just a little. Heat had coiled in the hollow of her chest, spreading warm fingers at the same leisurely pace that John’s hand drifted up to her hip, his mouth finding the hollow of her jaw.

“I can’t believe her,” she muttered. “Yes?”

“Miss West is here, with her brother.” Scarlet’s voice was tight. “Returning your vehicle.”

Fuck. Elliot sighed, her eyes closing for a second while she tried to gather her thoughts. It was difficult to focus with John’s breath on her neck and his hands on her skin and that fucking cologne—and boy, did she not want to dwell on the fact that he’d shown up with barely anything but somehow also remembered to pack his stupid fucking cologne. But there was a different, special kind of warmth that spread through her when she realized that Sylvia was coming to check on her.

“Hair’s wet,” she called after a moment, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Fine.” There was another pause, and then her mother’s voice, scathing even through the door: “Ensure you are put together, Elliot.”

John murmured against her neck, “So no hickeys, then?” and she swatted his shoulder, rolling her eyes and sliding off of the counter. He seemed reluctant to let her disembark, thumb sweeping the slope of her hip before he dropped down—just far enough to plant a kiss on the gentle slope of her tummy. It was—sentimental, unseating her with incredible ease.

And then he ruined it by saying, “Your mommy won’t let me fuck her filthy, but I hear the second trimester throws a woman’s hormones through the roof, so we’ll see how long that lasts,” to her bump as he grabbed the towel from the floor to offer to her.

She snatched it from his hands, wrapping it around herself. “Don’t say that shit to the baby. You think I won’t end your life?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” he offered, head cocked to the side. “Leaving the hickeys, anyway, I mean. Well, and the second part too. About sex. Not the murderous part. Actually, you know I find it—”

Choosing to ignore the latter statement, Elliot narrowed her eyes. “You’d risk Via’s opinion of you dropping so severely?”

“You know what they say.” John spread his hands, almost in a gesture of helplessness; though she knew he was far from it. “Old habits die hard.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“She’s killing all of my angels!”

Faith’s voice was sharp, piercing; Isolde’s fingers fluttered over the bridge of her nose to fend off an impending headache, pen held poised above the notepad where she’d been writing down her thoughts but had paused in time for the girl’s interjection. She couldn’t stand a messy page—ink smears, jarred letters. Unacceptable.

Two hours ago, she’d had Jacob drive her out to where the service was strongest. A flood of emails and texts from her family had been waiting to overload her phone. Her dad, things are looking poorly, where are you?, her sister, I’ve been trying to reach you for days.

“Jacob,” the blonde plunged on, interrupting her train of thought, “you have to do something. They’re being—gutted like fish!”

“You should have locked them down,” Jacob told her. “And you’re not the only one losing things.”

“I put—” Faith cut herself off, clearly taking a moment to compose herself before she pitched her voice low and said, “I put just as much work into them as you do into yours.”

The red head’s voice bloomed with annoyance when he said, “Oh, did you?”

“No fighting, please,” Joseph called from where he sat next to her. His voice was even, elbows rested on his legs and fingers interlaced in thought. “I know this is stressful. But you must keep your faith in God.”

“Santi told me that—whoever she is has been leaving their corpses all around!” Faith’s voice pitched high with distress, now, sweeping around Jacob to come to where they had sat, big doe eyes wide. “We have to do something. Please, Father—I don’t want our people to wonder if they’re going to be next.”

Joseph paused, looking pensive for a moment; Isolde thought he might have been trying to figure out how he wanted to phrase something, but before he could speak, Isolde looked at Jacob and said, “You were going to hunt her down anyway, weren’t you?”

The eldest Seed’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you start with me too, Sol.”

“Get some fresh air,” she replied curtly, “go for a drive, clear your head. Eliminate a problem. You’ve been wearing a hole in the floors anyway; put that energy into being productive.”

“P—” Jacob’s voice spiked, incredulous. “Excuse me?”

He was agitated. She could tell—Pratt, and the phone call with the deputy in Georgia, and the Hunter on some kind of one-man rampage. But more importantly, Isolde thought, Jacob was agitated because there had not been a single conversation between him and Joseph since their argument.

Well, not even an argument. Just a lashing. A public one.

Isolde scooted her chair back from the table that had been set up at the front of the chapel, setting her pen down and stepping away. Her hand landed on the crook of Jacob’s elbow as she passed, and though he made a noise that implied disdain, he followed—not without shrugging her hand off by the time they got to the front doors of the chapel, leaving the other two to talk in low, murmured voices.

“You have got to stop letting this get to you,” she hissed.

“Nothing is ‘getting’—”

“Listen to me,” Isolde interjected. “I’ve been keeping as close an eye on the news as I have been on you. Things are—” She paused, mouth twisting around the words. “There is no room for you lot to be bloody fighting with each other. Do you understand me? This has moved far past needing to prepare PR and build a legal defense.”

Jacob’s eyes narrowed. He looked suspicious. “So why are you still here then, Sol?” he asked.

The words burned insult in her chest. Why are you still here, stinging fresh and hot, because it was a fair question. It was the most fair question. Unlike any of these people, she had a family outside that she still loved. Her sister, and her parents. She should have told John and all of the Seeds to go fuck themselves, to enjoy the end of the world, while she went to be with her family.

But she wasn’t. She was here. Doing—this. Finding fresh new ways for Joseph to connect with his people to keep their morale high, keeping the infighting at bay to make sure they looked like a united front to everyone, second doomsday cult included.

“My parents will take care of Avery. You know they’re close with—government,” she replied after a minute, shaking off the unease. “And I told John that I would.”

He snorted. “John says jump, you ask how high?”

“No,” she bit out, “I say jump and you kiss the fucking ground I’m standing on because I cobbled together what the fuck is left of your congregation.” Before Jacob could say anything, Isolde added, “My hands are full, Jake. Do not add to my pile.”

Dark brows furrowed, his mouth thinning in disdain. He clearly wanted to say something. But true to his nature, Jacob straightened back and settled himself before he said, “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine,” he reiterated with his eyes narrowed. “I’m going to the Veteran’s Center.”

“That doesn’t sound like where we heard about the killings happening last,” Isolde protested, eyes narrowing.

“But she was there,” he replied. “Or someone was. Someone was there enough to steal my files.”

“Your—” Isolde snapped her mouth shut, sucking her teeth as she glanced back at Joseph and Faith; haloed in the dim lighting of the chapel, she could see them looking back at Jacob and herself expectantly. She wondered how much they could hear, from there.

Turning her attention back to Jacob and pitching her voice down in volume, Isolde hissed, “I don’t think prioritizing files is the best move right now.”

“Thank you,” Jacob idled, “for your input.”

“Fuck you.”

“Have fun,” he added, opening the door and letting in a waft of biting, cold air, before gesturing to the Book of Joseph on the table that she’d had her nose stuck in. All the better to make Joseph’s sermons hit home harder, after all. “You know—with your light reading.”

Isolde narrowed her eyes, watching him trudge down the steps for just a second before she said, “Jacob—”

“Yes, Isolde?”

Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “Don’t get shot.”

For a moment, he looked almost surprised at her words—but it was only a moment before he said, “Don’t worry, I’m taking Vidal. He makes a suitable meatshield.”

“God, he’s a talker.”

A tiny ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Jacob’s lips, before he said, “John and the deputy should be making their way here any day now.”

Isolde grimaced. “I was there for the phone call.”

“Are you going to leave?” Jacob pressed, expression stiffening again. “When he does?”

She paused, clearing her throat and shifting on her feet. I should, were the words that wanted to come out of her mouth. I should go. I only came down here because John wasn’t here. I should go, and get back to my life, and maybe get to my family and try to stay out of the crossfire and—

After a heartbeat, she said, “I don’t know.”

Jacob shrugged, as if to say, see? Told you, though to what he could be referring to, she had no idea; she only knew that she didn’t like the way he swung around and sauntered out of the chapel, leaving her alone in the tepid warmth with Joseph and Faith’s eyes on her in favor of the blistering cold outside. Snow had continued to dump throughout the day and night, and had only just let up recently; the members of Eden’s Gate—those who had survived the Family’s relentless assaults, and those that had been pulled from the bunkers—had been tirelessly shoving pathways, only to have their work tidily undone each night.

Fingers brushed the palm of her hand. Isolde startled; she glanced back just as fingers interlaced with hers to be met with sweet, bright eyes and Faith’s adoring attention planted on her.

“It means so much to me,” Faith murmured, “that you would help. Not just me, but all of us.”

Soli watched the blonde for a moment, trying to gauge. The physical closeness was not something she was accustomed to; carefully, she disentangled their fingers, skin prickling with unease. When she glanced up, Joseph’s eyes were on them, on Faith’s fingers falling from her hand but skimming the inside of her palm in a lingering touch of affection.

He was always doing that. Watching. Watching, and waiting, and pinning each movement and gesture and thought and word out perfectly like the wings of a butterfly, just the color he liked and just the shape.

“Don’t thank me,” Isolde replied, mustering a smile and brushing the hair from her face.

“It’s my job.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Hey, Miss Honey, John!”

Wyatt’s cheerful voice broke through the late-afternoon chill; the sun setting early, people’s breath coming out in puffs of smoke. It all felt oddly normal, given the circumstances of the morning and the way she’d forgotten to call Sylvia once she got home, and that her friend had fished up a reason to come by the house and make sure she hadn’t—

Well.

Still, if there was any remnant of the morning in Sylvia’s heart, it didn’t show in her face, and it certainly didn’t show in Wyatt’s. Instead, both blondes beamed at her, radiant, the second she came out with fuzzy, fresh-from-the-blow-dryer hair and swaddled up to her chin in thick fabrics to fend off the cold.

And, truthfully, to hide the bump. John had reminded her of it, and even though the moment had been a...good one, it had also reminded her she hadn’t expressed this truth to Sylvia or Wyatt. As John closed the door behind her and jogged down the steps,

“Howdy,” Ell greeted, albeit a bit awkwardly thanks to her stuck-somewhere-nowhere-sort-of-accent. “You didn’t have to drive it back all the way out here, you know.”

“Sure we did.” Wyatt chirped. “Wouldn’t be very neighborly of us if we let it sit and the battery died out, now would it?”

“No,” John demurred after a moment even as Elliot’s cheeks went warm, “I suppose not.”

“You all recovered from this morning?” Via asked cheerfully, purposefully avoiding the actual question. Elliot shifted on her feet. John’s hand skimmed the small of her back, and even through the layers of fabric, it felt warm; she wondered if this was what it would have been like for them, had their life been normal. Had John been truthful with her from the get-go. Now, with everything laid out between them—the lies unearthed and only the brutal, unapologetic knowledge that they wanted each other, in one way or another—it felt like they might have been normal. Sometime, somewhere, someplace else.

It was still hard to swallow, all of it. The lies and the now-truths and the knowledge that she did, in fact, want.

“Oh, yeah,” Ell replied faintly. “Took a bath and...” She tried for a smile. “Decompressed.”

“That what smells so good?”

“Y’all get that tired from dress shoppin’?” Wyatt tsked, having pulled his coat out of the jeep and started to pull it on. He grinned at her and skillfully dodged a side-swipe from Sylvia; he had a good foot of height on her—and Elliot—so it wasn’t difficult. The siblings fussed for only a moment before Sylvia managed to fetch the Jeep’s keys from Wyatt’s coat pocket and held them out to Elliot, puffing.

She was in the middle of saying, “Your keys, madame,” when John’s head tilted and he muttered, “Now what is this?”, drawing her attention to the end of the drive. A police cruiser made its way slowly down the drive, carefully pulling up behind the Jeep.

Not beside it. Not further up toward the garage, not on the other side of the four of them chatting. Behind it. Blocked in.

Sheriff Pritchard stepped out, shuffling a little as he adjusted the black, fur-trimmed jacket on his shoulders and closed the driver side door. He’d come alone, which made Elliot certain he wasn’t here to arrest her—and what a ludicrous thought, that he might have considered it a possibility, because the mere mental image of Pritchard grabbing her arm and keeping his eyes in his head made a hysterical kind of laugh want to bubble out of her.

Not me, not me and not my baby, that thing inside of her said, lifting its hackles and baring its teeth when Pritchard began to saunter over. Not my baby.

“Afternoon, you two. And Wests,” Pritchard greeted as he drew closer. He’d earned himself a curious murmur from Sylvia. “Havin’ a little shindig out here, Miss Honeysett?” Elliot opened her mouth to respond, but he lifted his hands quickly in defense. “‘M sorry, forgot myself. Mrs. Seed.”

It caught her off-guard, sucked the air right out of her lungs. It was one thing to hear her mother say John is Elliot’s husband, to hear her say John is my son-in-law, but it was another entirely to hear herself referred to as Mrs. Seed. It had never, ever been that she was John’s wife, except out of his own mouth, but now—

John seemed eager to engage with Pritchard, because he said, “Something that you needed, sheriff?”

“Yes, actually. Believe it or not, I ain’t in the business of drivin’ out to the rich part of town just for shits and giggles,” Pritchard replied coolly. “Your mama home, Elli?”

“Probably resting,” Sylvia offered, smiling politely. “We just finished dress shoppin’ for her Christmas Party not but an hour ago.”

“Yeah,” Pritchard rumbled, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “Heard about your little trip to the boutique today.”

John asked irritably, “Do you need to smoke that right now?”

Elliot swallowed thickly. Her lashes fluttered, eyes desperate to close; the warmth that had flooded her face now felt like it verged on feverish, threatening to make her head swim again. This was bad. This was bad-bad, chop her hair off and run run run again bad, the kind of bad that made a girl change her name and burn her birth certificate and make sure that nobody would ever be able to find her again.

“I don’t,” she began, “think mama’s feeling up to visitors right now.”

Pritchard eyed her, taking a puff of his cigarette while completely glazing over John’s pointed question. “Imagine not. You know, you been a hot topic of conversation lately, Mrs. Seed. Gotten loads of questions about you. Lady from out of town, Federal Marshals. I don’t like folks sniffin’ around my town, you know, especially not the fuckin’ Feds, but it’s gotta make me wonder.” The smoke curled out from his nose, the smoke of a lazy, self-righteous dragon wafting around her.

“Sheriff,” John continued tightly, clearing his throat, “you’re going to need to put that out.”

“We’re outside, Mr. Seed. You ain’t ever seen someone smoke a cigarette outside?”

“Do you make a habit of smoking around pregnant women?” John snapped viciously, and oh, she thought, oh, I didn’t even think of that, because her brain was too busy kicking into overdrive and parse out the absolute confirmation that Federal Marshals were asking after her and strange women, too. Oh, I didn’t even think about the baby.

And then Sylvia said, eyes wide as saucers as she laughed, flustered, “Oh, John, that’s very kind of you, but I’m not—” and her eyes landed on Elliot, and she blinked rapidly.

Wyatt was looking at her, too. Big, big eyes, surely having not only learned that she and John were married but that she was also pregnant in the span of only a few minutes. At least, Elliot didn’t think Sylvia would have divulged that information, and if the shock he was clearly trying to cover up in his expression was any indication, that gut feeling was right.

No, she thought, no, this is not what I wanted. This is not what I wanted at all. It wasn’t his to tell, it wasn’t his to tell, it was mine, my choice, mine alone.

Her gaze snapped to Pritchard. She said, “It’s time for you to leave.”

Pritchard lifted his eyebrows. “That so? Well, good for me I ain’t here to talk to you, missy.”

“Get. Off. My. Property,” she bit out through her teeth. “Scarlet isn’t taking visitors, and I’ll cut the decay out of my own teeth before she makes anything close to the time of day for you.”

Now, his eyes narrowed and the cigarette sat between his fingers, still burning amber at the end. “Excuse me?”

“And tell the fucking Feds whatever you want,” she snapped, fingers curled tightly around the keys until the metal edges dug into the nooks and crannies of her hand. “But whatever you do, get the fuck out of my driveway, sheriff.”

Something flickered in the corner of her vision. John started, “Ell,” and his hand went to her shoulder, but she jerked back from him before he could make much more than a brush of contact.

“Don’t,” Elliot snapped at him, her voice wobbling and the tears—shameful tears—welling up and burning, “touch me.”

“Alright, okay,” Sylvia murmured, “Elliot and I are gonna go inside, and John can—”

“Ain’t here to talk to Mr. Seed,” Pritchard drawled venomously.

“If you’re asking questions about Elliot,” Sylvia replied calmly, taking Elliot’s hand with a firm squeeze, “I can imagine there is no better person to ask than her husband, don’t you think so, Sheriff?”

Pritchard’s eyes were squinted into poisonous little slits, and he took a long drag of his cigarette.

“Mrs. Honeysett won’t be any type of cooperative if you get her up now,” Wyatt chimed in, eyes flickering nervously to Elliot—perhaps both because of the news and because of her outburst. But she didn’t have time to think much about it, because Sylvia was tugging her out of the cluster of folks, ginger and reassuring even as her brother plunged on, “I mean, sheriff, come on—you know how women can be when they’re gotten up too early, let alone they’ve been shoppin’ all day—”

And Pritchard said, “You want I should put my cigarette out now, Mr. Seed?” as Sylvia opened the door,

and John replied with a slick, charismatic kind of venom, “No reason to anymore, smoke to your heart’s content,”

and the door clicked shut behind her and Boomer scampered out from where he’d been snoozing under the dining table.

She had to leave.

She had to go.

She had to get out.

Federal Marshals and strange women asking after her, and now her only two friends in the whole fucking world—

(well, not entirely true, since we still have Pratt, isn’t that right? Isn’t that right, Elli?)

—had just seen her almost go fucking bananas on an officer of the law, had watched her demand he get the fuck out of her driveway for wanting to ask her mother about her, had seen her.

“Hey,” Sylvia said, “you’re alright.”

I’m not, she thought, dropping the keys into the crystal bowl by the door, smearing red against the glass. Her hand stung. She reached with the good, unmarked hand for Boomer absently. His cold, wet nose brushed against it, and he whined, feet tapping against the wood as he bumped her for her attention. I won’t go. I won’t fucking go. I won’t pay the price for what they did to me, what they made me into.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out abruptly, her voice coming out tight. “Sorry that I didn’t—um, tell you. About the—”

“It’s okay,” Sylvia told her quickly, “it’s alright, Elli, it’s not a big deal. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

Elli, she said, without knowing what the nickname meant. Elli, Sylvia said, it’s alright, and Joey, right now we need to leave, Elli, and Pratt, geez, Elli, slow down, an affectionate nickname saved only for folks who considered her their friend. Sans Pritchard. Fuck Pritchard.

“Lots of people wait to tell,” Via continued, one hand coming to rest on her shoulder and jarring her out of her thoughts, which were quickly and rapidly devolving back into the urge to march outside and ensure Pritchard was obeying her command. Out out out, something vicious inside of her demanded, we want him out we want him gone.

Elliot said, “Yeah, you’re right,” but she felt far away—not lost, not gone from herself, but thinking. She could pack fast. She could pack fast, and John had brought barely anything, and they could leave right now, her mother none the wiser. They could leave now and be gone and Cameron Burke would have to—

But are we sure it’s Burke? Are we sure it’s Burke and not someone else, come to haul your ass to a fucking psych ward, for what you did in Hope County?

For what you did?

No. She wasn’t sure. She could only hope it was one singular Federal Marshall on her tail, and not an actual piece of the government body. That was all.

But whoever it was that was asking after her—strangers, government officials—it didn’t matter. That old mantra had kicked in again; something has to be done, the same kind of calm before the storm that she’d felt when Joey had been killed, something has to be done.

Something has to be done and I’m going to have to be the one to fucking do it.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Pritchard dropped the cigarette into the snow and stamped it out with his bootheel, his eyes fixed on John. Sylvia had rushed Elliot inside, but he didn’t think that had been purely necessary—only in the instance they had wanted to keep Pritchard out of a blood bath. Elliot hadn’t been checking out, trying to keep herself together; she had been angry, and he’d had half a mind to let her say and do exactly as she pleased to the man now standing in front of him in the cold.

“She always been that volatile, Mr. Seed?” the sheriff asked.

“Not undeservingly,” John replied tartly, his eyes narrowed. “Did you have specific questions, sheriff, or did you just come by to terrorize my pregnant wife with your theoretical judgment of her soul?”

“More your speed?” Pritchard replied, lifting a brow.

“Pardon?”

“Heard about you Seed boys,” he continued coolly, “and your...” He gestured with a calloused hand vaguely, looking for the right word.

John smiled, with teeth. “Before I grow old, if you don’t mind, sheriff.”

“Proclivities,” Pritchard elaborated, “for religion.”

Fucking Burke, he thought, with no absence of venom; fucking Burke can’t resist the urge to try and fuck up my life when he’d be better off trying to find a place to hunker down for the end of the world.

“We’re red-blooded Americans,” John idled coolly, “freedom of religion goes hand in hand with that.”

“Mr. Pritchard, you wanna get that car started?” Wyatt cut in abruptly, glancing around like he thought maybe the rest of the patrol might be rolling in any minute. “It doesn’t sound like you’ve got any questions for Mr. Seed.”

“That’s sheriff to you, boy,” he snapped. And then, after a heartbeat, he fished his keys out of his pocket and said, “I s’pose I got all the information I needed, after all.”

“Mmhm.”

John had turned back to the house, spotting Elliot and Sylvia through the front window, when Pritchard announced, “You make sure Scarlet gives me a call when she’s recovered from your wife’s antics, Mr. Seed.”

His gaze returned to the sheriff, narrowed. “Certainly, Sheriff Pritchard.”

“But if I don’t hear from you, no worries,” the man continued, opening his car door, “I’ll make another special trip out here.”

“Goody.”

John flashed another grin when Pritchard’s eyes flickered over him. Wyatt said, “Have a safe drive,” and Pritchard slammed his door shut, his cruiser’s engine roaring to life before he began to slowly back out and make a u-turn to head down the long driveway again. There was a moment of silence, stretching between himself and Wyatt that he didn’t feel particularly inclined to break—after all, Wyatt had been taking liberties with Elliot that he shouldn’t have been—before the blonde finally broke the silence.

“Congrats,” Wyatt said after a minute. “About—uh, the baby, I mean. I didn’t know!”

Ah, he thought, feeling a strange little surge of pride at the way the man across from him shifted on his feet with discomfort, and that’s why Elliot’s mad I brought it up. Her friends didn’t know.

Well, it was better this way, after all. He wouldn’t have taken it back even if he’d gotten the chance, knowing what he did now.

“Thank you,” he replied amiably. “It’s certainly a blessing.”

Wyatt’s mouth twisted for a moment, looking like there was something he wanted to say specifically and didn’t know how to say it without foregoing social niceties, but the sound of the front door opening caught both of their attentions.

“Wyatt, you gonna stand out here like a lemming all afternoon or what?” Via called. “Get the car warmed up, you caveman.” She took a few steps down the front stairs and looked at John. “You’re wanted inside, Mr. Seed.”

A very polite way of telling him that Elliot, perhaps, was in the mood to throttle him with her bare hands. Though he didn’t really see the harm in spilling the news—perhaps with Via, sure, but Wyatt? The cowboy? Like that was ever going to be anything.

“Thanks for your help,” John said, clapping Wyatt on the shoulder before he made his way to the front steps. Via hadn’t moved. In fact, her normally polite expression was eerily cool—whatever amicable, feigned interest she had manicured for him in the past seemed to have evaporated in the wake of Elliot’s own fury.

As he neared, he said, “Something else you needed, Miss West?”

Via’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Wyatt, now inside the car, and then back to John. “You must think I’m mighty dumb, don’t you?”

John lifted an eyebrow inquisitively. “If you think I instigated that little outburst on purpose—”

“What I think,” Via replied, “is that you know exactly what she’s capable of handling. Just because you didn’t do it on purpose doesn’t mean you weren’t thinking of letting her physically assault a police officer.”

His easy-going expression flattened. Sylvia, and her seeing, the same kind of uncanny people-reading skills that Joseph had, too. Seeing his delight at knowing that Elliot would have taken on a man a foot taller than her, pregnant, if it meant keeping him away from the baby, if it meant keeping herself out of the grip of a greater power that wanted her in a psychiatric evaluation.

“I want to like you,” Via continued, taking the steps until she reached the bottom, “and I thought maybe you were here to make a real effort. But it seems like you’re the same person you were before, John Duncan.”

The name sent a jolt of red-hot anger flushing down his spine, filling him up suddenly with a sort of molten rage that only the reminder of his adoptive parents could have inspired in him. When Via went to move past him, he snatched her elbow, holding her in place.

“And where,” he ground out, “did you hear that name, Miss West?”

“It’s called a web browser, John,” Via replied coolly. “You ever heard of Google? Imagine how many John Seeds there are in Hope County, Montana. I don’t need to tell you that the articles regarding you and your brothers, though a bit old, are unflattering. And all I want you to know—” She paused, arm still in his grip. “—is that we’re aware of each other, and that I don’t want anything happening to Elliot.”

“Neither do I,” John replied tightly, “and I especially don’t want someone digging trenches where there’s not a war zone.”

Via regarded him with an even gaze for a moment, glancing back at the car where her brother sat, before she murmured idly, “Kindly take your hand off of my arm, John.”

“Ellliot’s already aware of the any of the information in those articles,” he continued lowly, “just so you know.”

“My point, John,” Via replied casually, “is that I know, and I can—and will—deal with it as I see fit. Now, you gonna take your fuckin’ hand off of my arm, or are we going to have a problem?”

He watched her for a moment—just long enough to consider the dopamine rush of killing her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and slamming her face into the top of the porch, doing something, anything to ensure that Sylvia West was not capable of messing up anything that he was doing—and then he planted a big smile on his face and dropped his hand from her arm.

“Careful,” he said, louder now so that Wyatt would hear, “it’s icy.”

The blonde didn’t respond. Instead, she brushed her hand absently where his had been, as though to brush herself free of his touch, and picked her way across the driveway and to the truck idling just on the other side of the jeep.

Well, that would be one less problem to deal with, in the end.

John made his way inside, closing the front door quietly behind himself and taking a moment to gauge. Just to see what was going on. The house itself was quiet, and Boomer’s little footfalls were nowhere to be heard, and Scarlet wasn’t sipping her vodka in the living room—so.

So.

So.

Taking a breath, he started up the stairs, turning into the hall to find Elliot’s bedroom door halfway ajar. He paused in the doorway; she was rifling through drawers, pulling sweaters and long-sleeved shirts and jeans and sweats out and dropping them into a duffel bag, furious little exhales occasionally coming out of her.

“I was told I was being summoned,” John said, Elliot’s attention razor-sharp and snapping to him immediately.

“Pack your shit,” she said briskly, “we’re leaving.”

He blinked. Taking a step inside, he glanced at Boomer—perched protectively between himself and Elliot—and said, “I thought we were waiting until after the Christmas party?”

“You’re not fucking deaf, John, you heard Pritchard,” she snapped. “The Feds have been asking about me. The only reason they don’t know exactly where to look—whoever it is—is because Pritchard’s a fucking asshole and likes to be as obstinate as possible.”

“And if we sprint out of here,” he replied, “you’re just going to draw their attention.”

“It’s what Pritchard wants.” Elliot zipped the duffel bag shut and then brushed past him into the bathroom, gathering up her toothbrush and toothpaste and the sleeping pills. “For me to be gone. He’ll piss off if I go. And there’s no way he’s going to put up a big fight to cozy up to the government.”

“Elliot.” John watched her furiously gathering things up, and then when she came by again he caught her with his hands. “Ell, just slow down—”

“Stop,” she bit out, “stop telling me what to fucking do, John, and—I told you not to touch me.”

He lifted his hands from her, but not far enough that she could duck past. “Are you that mad about Sylvia and Wyatt knowing you’re pregnant?” When she didn’t answer, and instead hauled the bag over from the other side of the bed to be close to her so that she could dump the collections from the bathroom into it, he sighed. “I didn’t know you hadn’t told them, but I don’t understand what all of the secrecy is about. The baby isn’t—”

“I felt normal!” Elliot replied sharply, her voice pitching a little higher now, and John heard the wet wobble in it too—the way the timbre of her voice thickened and rounded out with the threat of oncoming tears, her cheeks flushed with anger and maybe shame and pain, too. “Okay? I felt—I f-fucking felt normal, for once, and it was enough that Sylvia knew you and I had been—that we’re married, which I don’t even want to dig into right now, but it was another to be like—yes, the father of my fucking child, who I’m actually married to even though I didn’t want it, is here and oh, by the way? He’s part of a cult. Yeah, a fucking doomsday cult. I’m carrying the child of a doomsday cultist.”

“How was I supposed to know?” he demanded. “How was I supposed to know that you didn’t want Sylvia and her brother knowing you were pregnant? You never said. And what does it matter?” And then, feeling the petulance well up inside of him: “I know it probably felt nice, to have Wyatt giving you attention—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked, incredulous. “You’re really pulling that now? So, what—you dumped the news because you wanted to make sure my friend found me as off-limited as possible?”

John crossed his arms over his chest. “I know this may come as a shock to you,” he said, feeling the tension peeling apart behind his eyelids, “I really didn’t want Pritchard smoking near my baby.”

“My baby.” Elliot jammed her finger into his chest, just above his heart, her words vicious. “It’s our baby, or it’s my baby, but there isn’t a single fucking universe where the only person this baby is beholden to is you.”

“He’s,” John corrected, tartly. “He’s our baby. And at the end of the day, whether you like it or not—”

“Have you ever,” she cut in over him, biting the words out between her teeth, “done anything for me that wasn’t for you too?”

Watching her, the words sat sticky in his chest. His instinct was to say, of course I have, but that wasn’t true. Of course it wasn’t. And he wasn’t going to pretend like it was, either—because he wasn’t ashamed that everything he had done had been for them, that if Elliot wasn’t his then there would be no point in it, that it was a zero sum game where he either had her or he had nothing.

He said, evenly, “No.”

Elliot looked unseated by his honesty. She swept her fingers across her forehead tiredly and turned back to her bag. “Then do me a favor and pack your shit so we can go.”

John sighed. “Don’t you think—”

“John,” she bit out, “I am making an executive decision.”

“Alright, Ell.”

“And—”

John had turned to the door to go gather what few of his belongings he’d had when Elliot cut herself off, drawing his eyes over his shoulder to her again. She looked unwell—stressed, feverish, her hands buried into the duffel bag maybe to hide the shaking and her face flushed and her brows furrowed together.

“Thank you,” she managed out after a minute, “for being honest. For once.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Pratt brushed the snow from his hair, teeth chattering as he waded through knee-deep snow out towards the water. It had been three days, and Helmi had told him to meet her out there—how she was going to get past the compound’s security, Pratt didn’t know, but he also thought it probably was best not to dwell on the things that Helmi would do (and could do) to get where she needed to be.

Which is why he found himself less and less surprised to find her standing at the edge of the water, in the middle of the night, swathed up to her jaw in dark, heavy fabrics. The only part of her that wasn’t covered were her hands; the closer he got, he could see she was turning a smooth, dark rock over and over in her hands, passing it between them as she watched him come nearer.

“You remembered,” was how she greeted him, most of her face cast in shadow thanks to the high position of the moon behind her. Pratt shivered and jammed his hands into his coat pockets.

“Yeah, well, kinda hard to forget,” he replied. “Considering it’s been looming over me for the last few days.”

“Poor thing,” Helmi agreed, not sounding sympathetic at all. “Did you call her?”

Pratt paused, clearing his throat. There was something that didn’t quite sit right with him, knowing that he had called Elliot not out of a cry for her help—not really, anyway—but because this other cult wanted her. This cult, which had tore its way through Hope County splitting and gutting its residents, wanted her. And Helmi didn’t seem keen on telling him why.

“I did. They just got word that she and John are on the road now,” he said after a moment. “What, uh—do you want her for, anyway?”

Helmi quirked a brow at him, the corner of her mouth tilting upwards. “Shouldn’t you have asked that before making the phone call, if it was going to bother you?”

A little lick of shame and embarrassment crawled red-hot into his cheeks, and he scoffed, turning his face away. “Well, you said you wanted her alive. Can’t say the same for the Seeds.”

“She’s carrying John’s child,” Helmi pointed out. “You think they’d kill her still?”

Pratt grimaced. It was still hard to stomach—the idea that Elliot was with John. Or had been, at one point. It didn’t sound like things were going great, and he could only imagine why. Still—

Still, he thought there was a lesser of the two evils, and Helmi sounded like it. Maybe not the others, but Helmi.

“They don’t have a problem killing babies,” Pratt replied after a minute. “What are you going to do, once she gets here? They won’t let her leave, and they definitely won’t let you in.”

Now, the blonde grinned—pearly teeth in the dark of the night, surprisingly satisfied with herself. “Big one’s pissed at me, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Well, you know, Faith too. You've been killing her angels.”

She shrugged. “I’ve got a plan. You know exactly as much as you need to know right now. Are you eating?”

The question came so quickly that Pratt didn’t have time to register the oddness of it, replying on automatic the same way he had been with Arden’s consistent, gentle pestering: “Yeah, I mean—don’t have much of an appetite, but...”

His voice trailed off and he glanced back at the woman. Her head was cocked and her eyes were fixed on him expectantly. “What?”

“Eat,” she told him. “Take advantage of as much as you can. And most of all, listen. Any information you can get will be helpful.”

Pratt’s throat felt a little tight. He kept thinking about the way Jacob had grabbed his shoulder, laughing when he’d insulted the woman doing the heavy lifting for Joseph—grinning like a fucking wolf, like he was going to be dinner, next.

He managed out, “He’ll kill me. If he suspects. He’ll take—everything, from me.”

Helmi planted a hand on his shoulder. The gesture made him want to flinch, but he bit back the urge, and he thought maybe she’d seen but didn’t say.

“He already took everything from you,” she replied lightly, “and do you know what that means?”

The dark of her gaze was intense, piercing even in the late night; it made it hard to look away. Voices echoed back in the compound, and briefly, he thought maybe they’d noticed his absence—but he only shook his head.

“It means you have nothing to lose,” Helmi murmured, “and everything to take back from him.” Her hand moved from his shoulder to the back of his neck, the pad of her thumb sweeping up to his pulsepoint pensively. “See? Your heart is beating, and hard. Your blood knows it’s what you want, even if you don’t yet.”

Swallowing thickly, he nodded his head once. Nothing to lose, and everything to take back. Could he? Could he get things back? Is that what Helmi had done? What Elliot had done?

“And don’t fuck it up,” she added, dropping her hand from his neck and zipping her coat up. Leaving so soon. She grinned. “Or I’ll gut you myself. And I guarantee, it won’t be an Återfödelse.”

A nervous, almost hysterical little laugh bubbled up out of him. Helmi shot him a look and then brushed past him, heading back into where the brush became the thickest, calling over her shoulder, “See you in a few days, Staci Pratt.”

A few days. A few days, Elliot would be back, and John Seed would be back, and Helmi would be seeing him. Seeing them. Maybe it would be better to make a break with Elliot, once she got in—but what if she didn’t want to? What if she was one of them?

Pratt let out a puff of hot breath, digging the heel of his palm into his eyesocket while the pain bloomed just there, turning and beginning to trudge back to the compound before anyone noticed his absence. Each scrape and puff of snow fell in line with his heartbeat, the mantra on and off again.

Nothing to lose.

Everything to take back.

#my writing #far cry 5 fic #fc5 fic #john seed/female deputy #john seed x female deputy #fic: witching hour #ch: elliot honeysett #ch: john seed #ch: joseph seed #ch: isolde khan #ch: jacob seed #ch: staci pratt #ch: helmi #hrghrhgrgh #gang's almost all together #and then i won't be tagging them all lmao #filing cabinet can suffer #thank you thank you thank you to everyone who cheered me on #had a bit of a breakdown last week and came back with a fresh head #so i feel really pleased! #ch: faith seed