#'my heart is breaking for my sister‚ and the con that she called love‚' Mercie and Jeritza except the con is killing people | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chezzywezzy · 2 years

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Yandere Chic (3/5)

Word count ; 3.9k

*Edited.

I’d been kept in the loop by Betty over text recently, and she understood why I was being aloof and distant. I simply didn’t want to be around Chic. He often spammed me with messages, and sometimes when I was home, he even came knocking on my door. I learned that Chic wasn’t a product of Alice and Hal and other minor details. But I tried my best to focus on my new, lovely boyfriend, Sweet Pea, instead of having my entire life revolve around a family I wasn’t even a part of. I was still doing well in school despite the personal problems, and I’d been participating in a lot of community service. So, in reality, I wasn’t doing too bad.

I was doing some homework on the front porch when I noticed that a large group of Serpents, including my Sweets, was breaking into the Cooper household. I gasped and curiously watched as they piled into the household. I had a feeling that whatever was going on had to do with Chic, so I made my way over. When I forced my way in, two sleazy people shoved their way past. I warily glanced at the, managing to sneak into the house.

“Thank you, Jughead. Thank your friends for me.”

“We’re Serpents. It’s what we do.”

Serpents began filtering out of the house, but Sweet Pea noticed me and stood next to me. He affectionately wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I advanced into the living room.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“We… we’re alright,” Alice spoke reluctantly. “Betty, you’ve been telling me something I didn’t want to hear, and I’m sorry. Chic… you’ve put us in danger twice. I think that you should do what you said, and leave.”

Sweets whispered in my ear,” Thank god, that creep’s finally hitting the road.” I couldn’t help but press myself securely against his back.

“I will. I’ll find a place,” Chic promised.

“Do it quickly, because you’re not going to spend another night here.” Alice was clearly on the verge of tears, so Betty went to comfort her. Chic rose to his feet and made sure to shove into my boyfriend as he passed.

It went without saying, I Madde sure to keep Alice company that evening.

~~~

The house hadn’t been any less chaotic, even with Chic’s flight. The Black Hood was back. And I thought that when Betty urgently called me and told me to go to her house one afternoon, it would be about that. Not Chic.

I met up with Betty and Jughead as they rushed into the house. I almost keeled over from a heart attack when I saw Chic leaning against the kitchen counter, but the other two charged ahead. “We should’ve gone to the Sisters weeks ago and found this out,” Betty exclaimed passionately.

“Found out what?” Chic asked casually.

“Mom! What is he doing here?”

“I took Chic to give this statement and invited him for dinner.”

“Great!” Betty shouted sarcastically, shoving a blue folder onto the island. “Except he’s not Chic!”

“Enough of the melodrama,” Alice groaned.

I was standing back, fiddling with my fingers. So Chic wasn’t who he said he said he was? Should’ve seen that coming. A creep and a liar.

“Jughead and I paid a visit to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.” She shoved a photo into Alice’s face. “That is your real son, Mom. Not this con artist.”

Alice looked heartbroken. “I don’t - I don’t understand.”

Chic intervened desperately. “I do. Betty’s been out to get me. She never wanted a brother, and she hated when I became involved with Y/n —“

“You’re not my brother! And she’s not interested, pervert!”

Chic suddenly snatched up a knife, waving it wildly. Alice was struck, and the house erupted in shrieks. Luckily, though, Alice was able to hit Chic with a pan and knocked hi out while he was waving the knife at Jughead. I was in total awe, but I assisted the family in doing something rather shady: carrying Chic down to the basement and tying him up to a chair. After that, the Coopers and Jughead asked me to go home. I’m not sure what ever happened to Chic, but I never saw or talked to him again. He completely disappeared.

It was nice, though. Life returned almost to normal. Sweet Pea and I had a healthy and serious relationship, so much so that during December, I moved in with him. We lived peacefully in the trailer park. For a while, we fell into a pattern. Sweets drove me to college, I studied and worked, he drove me home, and most nights we either went on a date at Pop’s or were invited to Alice’s for dinner. Life was normal and happy. No Chic, no Cooper household drama, and no father-daughter drama. I had cut out a majority of what was toxic and chaotic out of my life. I was thriving.

One day, though, my homeostasis was disrupted. Sweet Pea and I had just finished doing some… couple activities when Betty called me up. It was already nine p.m., so I knew it had to be serious. “Betty, what’s wrong?” I inquired eagerly, struggling to pull up my jeans with one hand.

“You know talking out loud helps clear my thoughts, I hope you don’t mind. The weirdest murder happened, you won’t believe it,” she started. “Dilton Doiley and his friend, Ben, were found dead in the woods. Maybe it was suicide, maybe murder, but they were doing some crazy ritual. They had these… weird carvings in their backs and were found with blue lips. Ben barely made it, but Dilton died to poison. The circumstances are completely unknown, it’s crazy. Jug and I are leaving in a few minutes to investigate Dilton’s secret bunker.”

“Sweets and I are going on our late-night walk in a few minutes, too. I’ll call you if I see anything suspicious, okay? Stay safe, Betty,” I warned.

“Same goes for you. You’re one of my best friends,” she replied.

Sweet Pea wrapped his arms around my waist, peppering some kisses against the nape of my neck. He stole the phone from my in the process. He sent me a smirk and interrupted,” Bye, Betty, I’m stealing my girlfriend from you now.” And with that he hung up.

“You’re lucky we were about to hang up,” I pouted.

“What mystery was she telling you about this time?” Sweets inquired as we exited the trailer and started walking into the woods, hand in hand.

“Do you know who Dilton Doiley and Ben something was?” I began.

“… I don’t like the use of ‘was,’” he noticed suspiciously.

“Yeah, ‘was.’ Betty said that when Jug was in the forest on a walk last night, he found their dead bodies. They were doing some crazy ritual and had all sorts of markings etched in their backs. They apparently drank poison. Ben barely survived. Obviously, Betty and Jug are on the case now.”

“That’s fuckin’ terrifying. Goddammit, why can’t Riverdale ever just be normal?” he groaned.

I sighed in agreement. “Yeah, first thing I’m gonna do when I graduate is get the fuck outta this town. It’s gotta be cursed or something —“

We both froze when we heard a twig snap to our left. We turned, confused, as there was nothing there but shrubbery. “Maybe it’s an animal,” I muttered, turning on my phone’s flashlight. However, what we came face to face with was no animal.

Towering at at least seven feet tall was a figure made hip of twigs and branches. But what was most unsettling, was that it had a wooden mask stained with red. My eyes trailed up and down the… monster, taking in various details, before I finally glanced at Sweets again.

“You see that?”

“Yeah.”

“I think we need to fucking run now.”

The monster took a taunting step towards us, and we took off from the direction we came. Even when we made it back to our trailer, Sweet Pea reminded me that we had found the creature not too far from us, and that we should go somewhere else. Of course, the first place that came to mind was Pop’s Diner.

By the time we stumbled through the front door, I had calmed down enough to try and register what the hell we’d seen. Luckily, Betty and Jughead were there too. They seemed just as out-of-breath. In front of them, they’d drawn a picture of the monster of scratch paper.

“Guys!” I called, plopping next to Betty. “You saw it too?”

“Yeah,” Jug said. “It was the Gargoyle King, if I had to assume. Luckily for us, he doesn’t run very fast.”

“What did you guys see?” Betty inquired.

“Taller than anybody I’ve ever seen around town. They probably use stilts, right?” I began.

“Yeah. Plus, they weren’t too far from the trailer park. It’s why we had to come here. Maybe it’s a Ghoulie exacting revenge?” Sweet Pea added.

“What’s this Gargoyle King you mentioned?” I asked curiously.

“Long story short, Dilton and Ben Buttons got involved with a cultish game. Last time I saw Dilton, he told me that the Gargoyle King was real. That… thing in the woods is the closest thing to it we can get,” Jughead explained.

“Ethel’s involved, too. It was too tall, but again, the stilt idea exists. She also isn’t answering our calls.”

They started investigating a map while Sweet Pea and I took a breather. It wasn’t as though we had much to offer to their investigation. After half an hour or so, I checked my phone. “Sweets, we should probably go home. Whoever this Gargoyle King is, they hardly seem like a threat. They walk slowly and clearly tend to skulk in the woods. I’m fuckin’ tired, please?”

Sweet Pea looked on edge. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll tell you yes if we learn anything that’s helpful, okay? Good night.”

We said our good-byes before we headed home. We both had a very hard time sleeping that night.

~~~

In the middle of one of my classes, I was surprised to receive a text from Jughead asking if I could help him with the case. He told me that in order to get closer to Ethel and learn more for the case, he had to play a game with Ethel. But, for some reason, Ethel asked for me to be there, too. She hadn’t specified why, and we’d never even met before. I trusted Jug, though, so I agreed.

“This looks like the place,” Jug said, motioning to a weird pipe dug into the ground.

“What the fuck, Dilton definitely had a few screws loose,” I commented as we climbed down.

“No kidding.”

When we were both inside, the first thing I took note of was the dozens, if not hundreds of candles. It was rather spooky. “Ethel,” Jughead stated, which made me cast my gaze to the front. Down a short hallway was a room, and in the middle of the room, a table. Sat at that table was a girl with brown-orange hair and a big bow, but what was odd about her attire was that she was wearing medieval garb.

“Welcome to your first game. Your entry point to the realm of Gryphons and Gargoyles. The magical kingdom of Eldervair. First things first, join me.”

Jug and I kneeled down at the table, occasionally sending each other questioning glances. “Do you want to be the Radiant Knight, Arcane Invoker, or Hellcaster?”

“Uh, Hellcaster.”

“I’ll be Arca —“

“You do not choose,” Ethel interrupted. “Sit here, next to me. You are already the destined Gargoyle Queen.” I did as told, situation myself next to the strange girl. “Good choice,” she continued, directing her attention back to Jughead. “That was Ben’s avatar. I was supposed to ascend with him, but he betrayed me and finished the game with Dilton.”

“I’m sorry, Ethel,” I apologized sympathetically.

“Doesn’t matter. Pick a quest card. Let’s get started.”

The game began, but only for Jughead. I was mostly concerned about why the hell I was the Gargoyle Queen, when I had no association in any of this drama except that I was friends with Betty and my boyfriend was a Serpent. I tuned back in to the conversation when Ethel spoke,” Two chalices sit before you.”

“Ethel!” I exclaimed. “No way is he doing that!”

“You wanted to prove your worthiness,” she retorted with a shrug.

Jughead seemed to be pondering it. “If I do this, you promise to give me the scripture?”

“I promise. The King as my witness.”

I couldn’t help but scan the room, paranoid. Jughead picked up one of the chalices and chugged it. I watched, chilled to the core, waiting for him to drop dead. I knew there’d be no convincing him to stop, however, I was relieved when he seemed fine.

“I’m fine. Rulebook, now,” Jug demanded.

“You have to kiss me first.”

“My god, are you serious?”

“It’s in the scripture. The Hellcaster kisses the princess or doesn’t get the treasure.”

The ritual was complete, and we were both relieved and ready to get the hell out of there, until we realized Ethel had drank the chalice with poison.

~~~

It was the fault of that stupid game. Sweet Pea came home a week ago with a manual for Gryphons and Gargoyles, and ever since, he’d gotten completely addicted to it. It bothered me, especially knowing the outcome of the game was almost certain death. From the moment we got home to the middle of the night, he played it with his friends. Somehow, even Jughead had gotten absorbed in it. Betty hadn’t been in touch either, but I presumed she had a lot more investigating to do now that she was down a detective.

I sighed, shutting my laptop and setting it on the table next to me. The chilled midnight air nipped my skin and I let out a yawn, finally throwing the blanket over me. I hated not having Sweets in the bed next to me. It made me feel lonely. I was tired, and clearly Sweet Pea wasn’t coming home anytime soon, so why not sleep outside and wait?

I set my alarm and started to doze off to the music of the forest. The wind brushed my hair around time to time, and occasionally, I heard a Serpent walking or talking in the distance. I turned on my side, cuddling my knees to my chest. Just as I was almost lulled into sleep, I picked up the vague sound of slow, approaching footsteps. Maybe Sweet Pea finally decided to sleep. But even if it was him, I wasn’t in the mood to be around him. I stirred a bit as they came closer.

It really must’ve been Sweet Pea, because he paused right next to my seat. I was confused, though, because it sounded as though leaves were rustling from right next me. It became rather insistent, and he wasn’t moving away. Suddenly, I felt something cold and metallic touching the top of my head.

My eyes shot open, and dread consumed me as I saw the looming figure of the Gargoyle King. I sat up instantly, letting out a shrill scream. Lights in the trailers around starting turning on, and the King turned and left the scene. I was left paralyzed after tipping my chair and collapsing into the small table, eyes glued to the evacuating figure.

F.P., Fangs, Jughead, and a group of Serpents came to the scene, and the boys helped me up. “Y/n, what happened? Did you see the Gargoyle King?”

Sweet Pea pushed his way through the crowd, pulling me into a warm hug. “Y - yeah. I was asleep, but I heard someone coming towards me. I thought it - it was Sweets, but then he dropped something on my head. I woke up and he was just… standing there!” I stuttered fearfully, clutching my boyfriend’s shirt tightly.

Jughead weaved around me, leaned over, and picked up something. “W - what is that?” I asked. The crowd was starting to disappear, bout a few of my friends stuck around to comfort me.

“A tiara.” He inspected it in his hands. “I guess Ethel was serious about that whole ‘Gargoyle Queen’ thing.”

“What?” Sweet Pea shouted angrily. “What the fuck are you talking about? Are you telling me she’s in danger again?”

“Sweet Pea, chill —“

“Shut up. Are you kidding me? We have a serial killer hunting my girlfriend, and you’re telling me to chill?”

I pushed myself away and placed my hands on his cheeks. “Sweets… let’s just go to bed, okay? It’s late. Jughead and Betty will take care of it… F.P., too.”

“Yeah. We’ll keep an eye out for any Gargoyle King. Make sure to stay inside, too,” Jug said, patting my shoulder.

“…Fine,” Sweet Pea conceded, grabbing my arm and pulling the both of us into the trailer. He strictly locked the door and sighed. “Goddammit. I should’ve come home sooner.”

“It’s not your fault. I just wish you weren’t so obsessed with a… board game,” I admitted.

“I… I’m sorry. It’s just really fun.You should join.”

“It’s the reason two kids are dead, drugs are becoming a thing again, and Ethel is in the hospital. I don’t want you playing that game, Sweets! Not you or any of your friends. Even Jughead’s lost it, he’s hardly solving the problem!”

He massaged his forehead. “It’s not the board game killing them, it’s that Gargoyle King or whatever the fuck! And we’re not using the Fizzle Rocks, I promise! Can we just… go to bed, babe? It’s late and we have classes tomorrow.”

I bit my lip. “…Sure.”

~~~

Yeah, Sweet Pea’s definitely not obsessed with that board game. It’s definitely normal that we never talk, he never sleeps, and I even have to ride my bike to school. Two weeks had passed, and it had been a solid three days since I’d seen him. If I could’ve known when we first started dating that our relationship was fragile enough to be ruined by a knock-off Dungeons and Dragons, I never would’ve been interested.

So, just like normal, I had woken up at two a.m. alone in bed. I couldn’t sleep. I was always worried that the Gargoyle King would break in. To be fair, though, the last time Sweet Pea actually paid attention to me was when said King attacked me.

It was suffocating in the trailer. There weren’t any lurking dangers outside the trailer, so it was fine to step outside. I pulled on a sweatshirt and went out. The cold air nipped the my exposed face. I took out my phone and scrolled aimlessly through my gallery - I had over seven thousand memes, and only memes - for a few minutes. The cold grass tickled my bare feet, although I didn’t mind the sensation.

“That’s the queen,” a deep voice suddenly spoke, and several people emerged from behind the trailer. I dropped my phone from shock and shrieked, trying to reenter the trailer. However, a number of hands grabbed at me, pulling me back. One hand covered my mouth, another had my neck, but a majority of them gripped my arms and waist. I struggled against the cloaked figures with scary masks, tears slinking down my cheeks. I was being dragged away, and obviously nobody had heard my cries, because the rest of the trailer park remained silent and asleep. At some point, my arms were pinned behind me and only one of the men felt the need to hold me. I was still struggling, trying to slobber on or bite the hand against my mouth, but it was in vain. Somehow, I was dragged up an entire hill, and I dreaded when we passed by some lit torches and I was pushed into a cult circle.

I scrambled to my feet, realizing I was totally enclosed by ambiguous figures in gargoyle masks. There was at least ten people. And, only a few feet away, was the Gargoyle King. Was this when I got sacrificed to a dude wearing a tree?

“Gag,” the King growled, clearly using a voice changer, and I stared at him in horror. I did what I could before I was grabbed again, letting a shrill scream rip, even if my voice cracked several times. However, I couldn’t prevent the white cloth that was tied around my mouth. I was forced towards the King, who reached out and grabbed my shoulders. I was turned around and my back was pressed against the twig figure.

“Bring the new recruit.”

Suddenly, a new figure emerged from the crowd, accompanied with two people that were carrying chalices. I knew where this was going. I struggled harder against the person. The masked recruit walked forward. It took shocking turn, though, because he shouted,” Now!”

Serpents emerged from every corner of the woods. “Gargoyles, run!”

The King let go of me while Serpents swarmed the area. My knees were jelly so I fell to the ground. I tore off the gag. Sweet Pea appeared at my side, and they’d somehow snatched one of the… Gargoyles, was it? I was hardly registering what was happening around me. My vision was blurred from sheer stress. I knew people were talking, but all I could focus on was Sweet Pea’s arms that were secured around me. I couldn’t stay at the trailer park any more. Sweets picked me up, to which I clutched onto him desperately. I guess at some point I passed out.

A few days later, I was staying with Betty. They were more than understanding when I called up, and Sweet Pea thought it would be a good idea, too. Betty was gone most of the time - it was adorable how brave and hardworking she was - so Alice and I spent most evenings knitting, playing monopoly, and watching movies. It was fairly therapeutic and felt like a break. I didn’t need to think about my busy boyfriend or the Gargoyle King; the most stressful thing consuming my life was schoolwork and leadership programs for community service.

I was cuddled up on the one-person couch, a warm hot coco cup in my grip, while I aimlessly watched a YouTube video. “Hi, Betty,” I called as the woman entered the house. Even while walking inside, she seemed to be deep in thought.

“Oh, hey, Y/n,” she greeted.

“Betty, there’s some leftovers in the kitchen,” Alice said. She was sat on the couch next to me doing some paperwork. Apparently she’d becoming more successful, a newswoman, and I was proud of her for that.

“Thanks, mom.” She made her way over.

It was only seven, but I was dreadfully tired, so I shut my laptop and just basked in the surrounding heat. I occasionally took a sip of hot coco, staring into space. “Are you alright, Y/n?” Alice asked.

“Yeah, just sleepy. I’m going to get ready for bed.”

I finished my drink and slowly rose to my feet, heading over to the downstairs bathroom. I washed my face and started brushing my teeth. I leaned over the sink to spit it out, when all of a sudden, the electricity went out. It was startling, so I quickly washed the rest of my mouth. I stood in the kitchen in a confused fashion.

“Betty, you stay here, I’ll check the power box,” Alice said from the front door.

“What’s going on?” I asked warily, hugging myself.

A flash of lighting boomed from outside, ad when Betty and Alice turned to me, they screwed unanimously. I was confused, stumbling back a bit. But I realized what was scaring them when I backed straight into a hard surface. Twigs rustled as two arms enveloped me tightly. I was too tired to scream - I’d ruined my throat from last time - so all I could do was try and push at them.

Betty said that I’d be fine, so the two of them ran up the stairs. The moment they were gone from view, the art unraveled themselves and the Gargoyle King backed away. I stumbled back, so confused by their decision, my brain apparently figured that the best next course of action was to faint.

#cw riverdale #yandere riverdale #yandere sweet pea #yandere #x y/n #x reader #chic cooper #yandere chic #riverdale #betty cooper

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narnie · 3 years

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so I made a humble attempt at writing lyrics to “Kaz Brekker Didn’t Need a Reason” as mentioned in my post about Six of Crows: The Musical

@sisters-and-crows @f-r-o-p @alinaleksanders @gilbertscarrot @zeromournerszerofunerals @joyfulsongbird @totally-not-morgan-le-fay did y’all think i was playing, I’m expecting to see you at the first round of cast auditions

the vibes are inspired by those of Les Mis’s “At the End of the Day” and Legally Blonde’s “There! Right There!” but more edgy and somber idk but enjoy if you manage to read through everything!

Six of Crows: The Musical | Kaz Brekker Didn’t Need a Reason

Inej Ghafa ft. the City of Ketterdam

Inej, walking on the rooftops of Ketterdam at the break of dawn

What can I tell you about Kaz Brekker?

Nothing everyone already knows

He’s a liar, he’s a thief

He’s a boy you shouldn’t meet

Born in the Barrel, hardened in the streets

Fool him once, he’ll have you beat

Doesn’t care for political drama

The only proof that he has a heart is his love for kruge

A mystery who everybody knows as Dirtyhands

Ketterdam - townsfolk going about their day

Dirtyhands! The Bastard of the Barrel!

If you’ve got coin, a wallet, or a purse

Keep them close or you’ll get hurt

Nothing is free in Ketterdam

But this we’ll freely share:

Don’t be fooled by his age

Don’t stare too long at his gloves or scars

Don’t dare mention his limp or cane

Is he criminally insane? No!

He’s the Bastard

of the Barrel!

Inej, in the shadows of the streets, trailing after a man walking with a cane

What can I tell you about Kaz Brekker?

He’d do anything for a pretty price

Strikes without ever thinking twice

He didn’t need a reason, that’s what they say

Me? I cannot say, I will not play

This game of greed, this brand of Kerch

Comes at a price that has no worth

His secrets are my own, those of

Ketterdam - gangs

Dirtyhands! Dirtyhands! The Bastard of the Barrel!

Rarely are we sincere

If you have secrets, hold them dear

For if there’s profit to be made

You will soon meet his Wraith

And if you ever cross his path

Pray that his judgment will be fast

Those who cross him do not last

Pray for mercy at the whim

Of Dirtyhands!

Inej

They call him Dirtyhands, Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel

He rarely smiles and when he does it’s a warning

His hands are very versatile and can pick locks in his sleep

Always schemes and rarely eats, has his own code of morality

Still I’d rather have this life of blade

than a slow death of silk and whispered words of rum and flattery

Ketterdam - merchers

He’s got a Wraith with many blades

She’s the weapon got him made

in a mob of people who we say are so very depraved

And with this arrow for his bow

what you reap is what you’ll sow

If you’ve got skeletons in your closet

best believe that he will know

Kaz Brekker is Dirtyhands

and he’s got a Wraith!

Inej

What can I tell you about Kaz Brekker?

They say he didn’t need a reason

And with only this I can agree

Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason,

didn’t have the obligation, faith, nor proclivity

to loose the chains that once held me

And so I am indebted to a boy infamously known as

Ketterdam - all

Dirtyhands! Dirtyhands! The Bastard of the Barrel!

Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason

His Ketterdam con is always in season

Don’t ask us how or where or when or why

Brekker was born to live and steal and die

So beware out in the ports,

the streets, the Crow Club - he’ll extort

If you’ve got coin, a wallet, or a purse

a secret, skeleton, or worse

Keep them close and keep them safe

or you’ll get burned

by the Bastard of the Barrel!

Inej

Don’t say you’ve not been warned

They call him Dirtyhands for a reason

But in truth his are the only hands

Of any man in Ketterdam I trust

Still I caution you, be wise

I can expose all alibis

I am the spider on your wall and if there’s anything I’ve learned at all

It’s better terrible truths than kinder lies

So if you’re a tourist or trader anywhere

Should you wish to buy or profit in Ketterdam:

for Saintsake, do so fair and square

And beware

Both

of the Bastard in the Barrel!

Ketterdam, fading as they go about their business

Ketterdam! Ketterdam! Ketterdam, be warned!

The city of Kerch that everyone knows

is where you go to sell your sow, or trade, or self to have it made

But did you hear what happened at The Exchange in the evening yesterday?

Did you hear what happened last?

Don’t talk too loud! Don’t talk too fast!

What did he steal? Who did he meet?

Who was the sorry skiv he killed?

How did he do it? When did he do it?

Where did he do it? Why did he do it?

All we can say is:

Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason!

#six of crows the musical #might write no mourners no funerals next #or maybe dreaming again dreaming of her #six of crows #crooked kingdom #shadow and bone #narnie writes

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philliamwrites · 3 years

Text

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Fandom: The Case Study of Vanitas (Mochizuki Jun)

Pairing: Noé/Vanitas

Tags: #vanitas pines for noé, #implied/referenced past rape/non-con, #implied/referenced past childe abuse, #blood and unjury, #angst and feels, #forehead kisses

Words: 3.7k

Summary: Vanitas can’t sleep so he does the only other thing he’s good at besides curing vampires from the curse: harass Noé. It escalates royally and doesn’t end good. No one is surprised.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Moonlight casts slim, silver lines on Noé’s face.

Sitting on the windowsill, Vanitas can see the slow and steady rise of Noé’s chest, a constant rhythm speaking of life. How he has survived until today is still a wonder to Vanitas. Only a few feet separate him from the sleeping, defenceless body—a body he knows all too well capable of pulling tense like a bowstring when ready to strike; an animal equipped with lethal tools to hunt and destroy. But Noé is a paradox of black and white, a pacifist at heart that opens up too easily, too quick. Why else would he be interested in someone like Vanitas?

Their conversation at the top of the bell tower is still ringing all too clear in his head, a memory he’d rather strip from his mind and drop in the deepest part of a vicious, dark sea. Noé is dangerous, because unbeknown to himself, he has worked a strange magic on Vanitas, pulling at invisible chains curling around his neck however Noé pleases. If Vanitas didn’t know better, he’d call it Fate, but she has abandoned him long ago to suddenly return like a sullen lover and beg him for companionship.

“Louis,” Noé murmurs, drawing back Vanitas’s attention, and no, he isn’t jealous, not in the slightest. He just wants to reach inside Noé’s mouth and rip that name out of him. He hates that even though Noé is easy to read like an open book, it turns out its pages are filled with enigmas Vanitas is unable to solve.

A little huff escapes him as he slides down the windowsill, his feet landing eerily quiet on the floor. Watching Noé snore undisturbed, he’s quite sure he’s met what must be the worst vampire of his kind. What else explains his utter lack of awareness of danger? Vanitas imagines slipping right next to him and sliding a dagger across his throat or put the barrel right above his heart, pulling the trigger.

He’s so easy, Vanitas thinks, barely holding back a scoff. In so many ways.

Noé shifts, and Vanitas stops, only noticing then he’s already crossed the room and has almost reached Noé’s bedside. And that’s another thing he can’t stand about Noé: He makes Vanitas do things impulsively, barely spending another thought if what he’s about to do is beneficial or utterly disastrous—no matter that, in most cases he is already moving, already talking, and it’s so aggravating that 80 percent of what he’s saying in a sentence starts or ends with Noé’s name on his lips. Like a blessing, like a prayer. Vanitas doesn’t pray, not anymore. He’s stopped long ago, and no God, Saint or Martyr’s promise of benediction would be enough for a reward to make him resume.

So they punish him, and surely Noé is just another part of what they hold in store for him. Another explanation isn’t possible, because why of all nights in which he has visited Noé, this time he wakes up, his warning only a little hum before Vanitas is met with a sleepy face and white hair adorably ruffled.

No, not adorable, he tells himself. Terrible. Annoying.

“Vanitas?” Noé’s voice is rough on the edges and thick with sleep. “You can’t sleep?”

Vanitas feels challenged to say, “No, watching people sleep is one of my many exotic hobbies!” but he’s tired and sort of really desperate for some form of rest, so defeated, he admits, “No, I can’t.”

Noé considers him with more regard, and Vanitas wonders what he thinks, watching him stand in his room, barefoot and with deep shadows under his eyes. Just the previous day, he'd commented that Vanitas wasn’t looking well at all, and he'd asked if they should rest for a while. Vanitas had pressed on even harder, refusing Noé another good look at his battered form.

The silence stretches before them like a lazy beast, unmoving but still ready to pounce any second. Eventually, Noé offers with a carefully even voice, “Do you want to know what always helped me falling asleep when I was a child?”

Vanitas scoffs. “No, I really don’t.”

“Good,” Noé says, either not noticing or ignoring Vanitas rolling his eyes. “Whenever I couldn’t fall asleep, I’d go to Domi’s room and climb into her bed. Knowing someone was beside me helped, and I can sleep much better with someone warm next to me.”

“My, do I look like a ten year old boy, barely able to fend for myself that I need to share my bed with someone?” Vanitas cocks his head to the side, squinting at Noé from under his black lashes. “And who would want to lie next to a rough sleeper like you, ending up as a body pillow for your serving!”

Noé arches a slim, white eyebrow and lifts his blanket. Vanitas stares at him for a moment, then moves towards him like a moth to the flame and crawls under the sheets, settling right next to the other boy. “What a splendid idea!” no one says, because it isn’t.

Noé is a furnace beside him. Whatever space Vanitas tries to bring between them, he immediately bridges, pressing his arm against Vanitas’s.

“Dominique is going to kill me if she hears about this,” he murmurs into the darkness, ignoring how Noé’s calf feels against his bare ankle. “If you so much as mention it to her, I will haunt you down and slay you.”

Noé hums as he turns around to face him, snuggling into the blanket. Vanitas tries to lie as still as possible. He imagines he is a rock at the bottom of a vast sea where he’s been for hundreds of years and will remain for another hundreds of years. It works until he feels Noé’s warm breath ghost over his cheek and in his imagination, Vanitas sees the rock carried away with the water current.

“She won’t bother,” Noé says. “Like I said, we used to do that all the time as kids. Me, Domi and—” The sudden silence feels like the air sucked out of the room so no sound can travel. Vanitas can feel his shoulders tense, his breath caught somewhere on the way from his lungs to his mouth.

Don’t say Louis, don’t say Louis, he thinks.

“And Louis,” Noé finishes quietly, another breath on Vanitas’s skin.

“Then we must be talking about a different Dominique,” Vanitas says, not indulging at all in the boy that’s written in blood on Noé’s tongue and hands. “But then again, you are her favourite thing, and she would do anything for you. Do me one favour, would you? Don’t invite me to your wedding.”

Noé makes a strange, curious sound, and draws his knees up to his chest. Vanitas tries to accommodate by moving further towards the edge but half of his body is already hanging off, barely covered by the blanket. He shivers and turns to his side, now facing Noé and notices too late what a terrible idea that is with only a few inches separating their faces. His eyes shift from Noé’s ears to his cheekbones and focus on where his lashes throw dark shadows on his skin.

“Wedding?” Noé blinks up at him. “Me and Domi? What makes you think that we would marry?”

“What makes you think you won’t?”

“Dominique is like a sister to me.” Noé hums another little, low note, leaning his head forward. Vanitas leans back. “No, she is the sister I always wished for. I love her as family.”

“Why, go and break her heart like that.” Vanitas sighs, faking a concerned huff. Either the soft fabric just under the tip of his fingers is his own coat or Noé’s pyjama, and he doesn’t dare moving to find out. “Or maybe you’re actually naive enough to believe she feels the same way.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” He can practically hear the other boy frowning. “I’m certain she too loves me as a brother. And should she ever decide to marry, I’ll surely be sad, but it doesn’t matter as long as she’s happy. I just know she’ll be a beautiful bride.”

Vanitas rolls his eyes, unable to believe such gullibility and there’s nothing he wants to do more than claw his way into Noé’s heart and see what makes him tick like that, what mechanics work to produce such a strange specimen like him. But before he can give back a snark remark, Noé suddenly asks, “What about you?”

“Oh, I would make a lovely bride, thank you for asking.”

“No, I mean marriage,” Noé says after a poorly restrained chuckle. “Are you considering to marry Jeanne?”

Vanitas’s mouth forms a little ‘o’ before he barks out a laugh. “What in Heaven’s sake makes you think that?” he says, pressing one hand against his forehead because surely whatever Noé comes up with now will give him the headache that’s asserted itself within him since their first encounter.

Noé is quiet for a moment, then whispers, “Because you love her.”

Vanitas stops laughing. The headache doesn’t come, it’s dulled by the strange tone in Noé’s voice, one he fails to identify. It’s like grabbing mist, the whitish mystery clearly visible but slipping through his fingers.

“That is a very strong assumption,” he starts slowly, hearing the edge in his own voice. “But tell me, Noé, do you see me as someone who is capable of loving?” Noé’s breath hitches, his answer clear to Vanitas before even spoken, so quickly, and with a voice dark and hard, like late-winter ice, he adds, “A vampire of all things?”

Noé’s breath hitches again, this time sounding like a knife stabbed into his side. It does something funny to Vanitas, makes his heart jump a little out of tact, and he feels a smile slowly forming his lips into a crooked line. His hand sneaks up from under the blanket and reaches to grab a white lock, playing a contrast of black and white between his gloved fingers.

“I don’t love, Noé,” he whispers, pushing his cheek into the pillow that smells of Noé. “Not you, not Jeanne. Not humans, and certainly not vampires. I only consume those of value to my cause.” Like you. Like Jeanne and that boy she holds so dear.

Noé seems to understand, but he doesn’t pull away from Vanitas’s touch, which speaks volumes of whatever this connection between them is. No, he slightly turns his head, nuzzling into Vanitas’s hand, and with a shudder Vanitas realises how vulnerable the inside of his wrist is just inches away from Noé’s mouth and those hidden teeth that can easily rip apart his skin.

In this short moment he begs to whatever deities currently punishing him that he would bite him. Because then everything would easily fall into place, and he could kill Noé without second thought; without remorse.

Silver lines return to Noé’s face, and Vanitas blinks up at the window, at the narrow slit showing the moon emerging behind thick clouds, making Noé look like a piece torn out of the night sky: silver and black.

“Ah, but it seems there is someone else who adores you,” he says, his voice rising to a playful, ironic tint. He nods his chin towards the moon, and Noé turns around and away from Vanitas’s hand, blinking into the soft light. Just for a split second, his fingers twitch—toward Noé’s throat, his cheek, his lips?—but he already pulls it back under the blanket, still feeling exactly where Noé has touched him even through the thick fabric of his glove.

“La lune?” Noé turns back to Vanitas, brows drawn together.

“Yes, the very one. But I don’t recommend giving into it. You can only go so far on a roof after all before you reach the end.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know the story? About the man falling in love with the moon. He climbed up to a roof to reach her, but well. I think you can imagine the end of that.”

“It sounds like the moon is a harsh mistress,” Noé says slowly, surprising Vanitas in joining his antics, even following his train of thought. “La belle dame sans merci,” he whispers. “Then you two aren’t so different.”

Vanitas raises an eyebrow. “Beg your pardon?”

“Just as distant,” he says, shifting away from Vanitas for the first time. Good, Vanitas should think. Stay away from me. But instead he goes rigid and demands, Don’t go. “Just as out of reach.”

“Thank you, I try to keep things interesting,” Vanitas says, his voice hollow.

Noé surprises him (there it is again, being surprised when Vanitas has sworn that he’ll never underestimate another person ever again) by giving a soft chuckle. “But that makes me want to get closer to you even more, Vanitas.”

His mouth goes dry. His brain tries to follow up with whatever might rebuilt the wall between them, brick by brick, but instead his mind betrays him and takes over his mouth, babbling, “Did you know Alain Chartier wrote the poem about the merciless belle dame? It’s a little tacky to my taste, but then again, I wouldn’t beg anyone for their adoration. It’s a silly concept, the dialogue between the Lover and the Lady, I mean why would anyone ride out to enjoy a party, only to languish at the feet of—”

Noé groans. He stops the onslaught of words by slapping a hand on Vanitas’s mouth. The sudden silence stretches into uncomfortable territory until Vanitas can’t bear it anymore. He stares at Noé out from the corner of his eyes, and parts his lips to drag his tongue over Noé’s fingers. Noé flinches, and looks back at him with wide eyes. What usually did the trick to gross people out (Dante for example was fairly familiar with this concept and never failed to meet Vanitas’s expectations to draw away quickly) doesn’t work on Noé. He remains transfixed on Vanitas’s face as if all secrets of the universe display on his features, and Vanitas starts to questions his action. Suddenly, Noé shifts. He props himself on one elbow and leans over him, casting a long shadow over his upper body.

Just then, Vanitas realises what a dangerous situation he’s in. Up until this moment, he thought Noé to be shy, but that isn’t right at all. Noé is quiet resolve, and steadfast loyalty, he is the very silence ready to pounce and turn peace into havoc. It’s evident in how he watches Vanitas behind half closed eyes, those ruby mirrors considering him with an unreadable expression. His heart picks up, and before he can ascertain if this is a game he can win, he answers with sultry eyes himself, and mouths “Kiss me” against Noé’s skin.

It’s just out of curiosity, he tells himself. He wants to rile Noé up a little, see how far he can go and where he draws the line. Maybe Noé won’t do a thing and play the blushing maiden Vanitas imagines him to be. They both know it’s a dare Noé will lose because he respects Vanitas’s boundaries too much, and that little victory satisfies him already enough to smile into Noé’s hand triumphantly.

Noé considers him with a blank expression before his eyes slowly drift to his hand where it’s still secured over Vanitas’s mouth. Something changes in his eyes, they grow soft, and Vanitas immediately regrets what he’s done because he can’t bear the warmth in them, the unspoken promise of whatever Noé is willing to give him. He thinks about squirming out of the boy's touch, but he’s started moving his hand already, settling on Vanitas’s eyes. His heart stops. Rotten memories claw at the edge of his mind, hungry hyenas demanding blood and misery that this kind of darkness brings. Before he can lash out and push Noé away, soft moon light illuminates the darkness behind his closed eyes again, and he takes a deep, shaky breath, only now noticing that he’s stopped breathing. His eyes snap open, locking with Noé’s as he brushes black bangs out of Vanitas’s face. The moon shines a halo around Noé when he leans down and kisses his forehead.

It’s perfect.

Vanitas hates it.

He doesn’t move.

Noé’s lips are surprisingly soft. So is his smell, a faint fragrance of sandalwood with the sharp tint of clove and something coppery hidden under the layers, and there’s nothing better to describe it than home. The realisation cuts him in a sharp, painful flash, one that robs him of the air he’s only just now regained. Noé is careful that no other part of their bodies is touching, and it’s the last act of kindness that pushes something in him into a bottomless, black hole.

His fingers splay on Noé’s chest as he pushes him away, staring up into a slightly flushed face. The blushing maiden. Despite everything, it makes Vanitas smile.

“You live dangerous, my friend,” he murmurs, playing with a shirt button close to Noé’s collarbones. “But I will condone it this once. It seems I forgot one gets burned when playing with fire.”

Noé leans back, one hand beside Vanitas’s head carrying his weight, contemplating. Vanitas already knows whatever he’s going to say, it won’t be good.

“I never thought of you as someone who would yield to anything,” Noé says eventually. “Not even fire.” And quieter, he adds, “Ignis aurom probat.” Fire tests gold.

A shudder ripples through Vanitas’s body, stealing his control and causing him to laugh involuntarily because he doesn’t see himself as pure as gold, and Noé is so much more than a simple fire. Noé is a searing blaze, devastating cities and forests and leaving ashes of their self, allowing them to rebuild and regrow and turn away from an unwanted past. Vanitas would gladly sell his soul for such an opportunity, but he’s shackled by the shadow of a little boy half his height with a sweet voice and eyes the fairest blue even the sky envies.

“You’re quite the charmer, but you do know what they say about gold, don’t you?”

Noé hesitates, shifting a little, and even Vanitas with the little imagination that he has, can quite clearly picture how the muscles must shift beneath Noé’s dark skin on his back. He closes his eyes and breathes through his mouth. “Gold gives to the ugliest thing a certain charming air, For that without it were else a miserable affair.”

Noé pales. “I didn’t mean—”

“Shhh.” Vanitas smiles a smile Lucifer must have worn just seconds before God banished him from Heaven. His eyes don’t leave Noé for a second when he lifts a finger and presses it against Noé’s lips.

“I know, you didn’t mean to.” He rolls his eyes, voice in a mocking tone imitating what Noé was going to say because he’s easily predictable. “And you would never hurt me. But that makes us different. Because I will gladly hurt you if you let me.” He follows the soft curve of Noé’s lower lip with the tip of his finger until he reaches the corner of his mouth. There he curls his finger inside and pulls one side into a crooked smile. A sharp tooth grazes his skin, not quiet enough to break it, but a shiver travels down his back nonetheless.

Noé pulls Vanitas’s hand away from his face, looking down at him like he’s a strange animal he’s never seen before. A dull sadness settles over his eyes, but it’s too quick for Vanitas to really acknowledge.

“Not gold then,” Noé concludes with resolution in his voice. “But quicksilver.” And with that, he places Vanitas’s hand carefully back on his chest, and retreats to his side of the bed, laying down so Vanitas is faced with his broad back, his body completely turned towards the moon.

Vanitas blinks, stretching out one hand to follow the curve of Noé’s spine in the air with a finger, imagining what it would feel like to curl against this strong body and hold onto something what won’t break under his touch. He stays like that until he hears calm, deep breathing. Only then he lifts that same finger that’s been inside Noé’s mouth to his lips and sucks slowly until his mind talks him into believing it’s actually Noé he tastes.

I don’t love, he repeats over and over in his head until his eyes fall close and he drifts into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning starts just like Vanitas has always feared a morning sleeping beside another body would go. Waking up slowly to a woman’s voice in the far distance, he’s still walking on this slim line between sleeping and waking, a coma really, when his conscience registers a heavy arm around his waist and warm breath in his neck. His body locks up into one painful, tense muscle; all desperate instinct and frightened awareness because No, I don’t want Doctor to touch me, and he starts frantically scrabbling for the dagger below his pillow only to find nothing. Vanitas feels punched back to when he’s eleven and caged under Moreau’s heavy, naked body, a choked whimper like a wounded animal leaving his mouth. The arm moves, allowing the tiniest leeway. Vanitas doesn’t think. He swings his arm as hard as he can and hears the satisfying crack of a bone breaking. The man beside him gives a surprised shout, and Vanitas jumps to his feet, ready to break more than bones as the door crashes open at the same time, a woman storming inside.

“Noé?” Dominique cries, taking in how he's bent forward on the bed, holding his face. It doesn’t stop the blood dripping all over the white sheets, and Vanitas grows cold when her sharp eyes land on him, a furious hate boiling inside them. “What have you done, human?” she hisses, reaching Noé’s hunched form within few steps.

Vanitas is lost for words, a quite frequent reaction whenever he’s in Noé’s proximity. But it isn’t like anything he’ll say can excuse or save him from Dominique’s wrath, so he just stands there, dumbfounded, and watches her valuate the graveness of Noé’s broken nose, wondering if the man who’s fallen off the roof in the pursuit of his love lost as much blood as Noé right now and if that was worthwhile, or if he’d have rather poisoned himself with quicksilver.

Not that it matters.

Both end in a painful, slow death.

I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci Thee hath in thrall!’

[John Keats]

#philliamwrites #ap3 #fanfiction #the case study of vanitas #vanitas no carte #vannoe #vanitas #noe

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hunghohoseok · 5 years

Text

Punk Rock Drummer

Disclaimer: He is actually NOT a drummer it just didn’t work out that way lol

Words: 3.8k

Genre: Smut.Fluff (if you squint)

Warnings: seeeeeex.dick piercing.tonguing panties? (is that a thing?).implied drinking.unsafe sex (stay safe my creepies).accidental voyerism

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Summary: You’ve always wanted to go to the big city, but going alone terrifies you. Your best friend tells you that her brother and his band are gonna have their big break and is inviting you to go see him in action. The thing is, you’re a sucker for a boy with tattoos.

This is part of my B.F.B MASTERLIST! Find the rest here!

Blog Masterlist

(this shit in unedited, sorry ya’ll)

You knew, you knew, you shouldn’t have messed with him. Everyone told you that he’d hurt you, but you had a type.

Asshole, asshole is your type.

Jay was his name, breaking your heart was his game. He was hot, had a lip ring, and his hair was unruly and it made your heart flutter and your insides feel a certain way. Oh, and he had a tribal tattoo wrapped around his forearm. That was the only thing you could took at while he took you in the back of his car. It was dark enough that he didn’t notice.

After that, he seemed to call you less, and you tried to call until you called one too many times and his phone was out of service.

“He had ONE tattoo and you fell for him?” Your best friend Yejoon handed you another tissue and sniffed into softly.

“Maybe.”

“Why do you do this to yourself?” She asked softly.

The thought of your best friend worrying about you made you cry harder and she wrapped you into her arms and leaned you both back on the couch and you ended up falling asleep on her chest.

After this one, you’re done, you say to yourself.

“Soo, guess what?” Yejoon leaned on the table in front of you and you looked up from your homework.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Yoongi is having a show.”

“Okay? He always has shows.” You turned your eyes back to your book, determined to read this chapter.

“Buuuut,” she grabbed the book and closed it. Before you could complain, she put her finger on your lips, “It’s at the Bangtan Ballroom. Tonight.”

Your eyes widened. The Bangtan Ballroom holds around 500 people, and it’s in the heart of the city, where you love to go – not alone though. Yejoon doesn’t like big crowds and a fast-paced environment, so she would always refuse. You both have heard too many bad things about the city, and she took them to heart. They scared you too, lowkey, but you couldn’t help but want to go.

“You’re kidding!” You grabbed Yejoons arms and jumped around the coffee table. “Oh my God, I’m so proud of him!”

Yejoon smiled widely at you, “Me too! And guess what?” She pulled to lanyards out of her back pocket and waved them in your face.

You screamed and started jumping up again, Yejoon joining in until a hard knock from under your apartment floor made you stop in your tracks. You both giggle and she pushes you from your guys living room to her bedroom and she made a b-line for the closet.

“Gotta look good for the other bands. I could meet my true love tonight.” She pulls out a short red dress, puts it up to her chest. “Or a quickie. Same thing right?” She threw the dress back in the closet and dug once more. “Though, I don’t think Yoongi would like it.”

“How is your brother by the way?”

“Bugging me every second, ‘When are you coming to see us? You got any friends who need jobs? Know anyone single?’ I swear, if he asks me one more thing, I'll shut down a cell tower.”

“He’s single? What happened to Suzy? I thought they were ‘in loooove’.” You made a heart around your face and Yejoon threw and shirt at you.

“That ship sailed after they moved to the city for Yoongi’s band. She ‘couldn’t handle the pressure of having a famous boyfriend.’”

“Hardly, they had just formed! They were inseparable during high school.”

Yejoon finally picks out a pair of pants and takes off the ones she currently wearing. “Yeah, well I told him she was bitch from the start.”

You grinned and made your way to her closet and tried to dig out the dress she pulled out earlier.

“Hot.” You open your mouth to reply and you see her twisted in front of the mirror. She had put on the shirt she threw at you; it was cropped and off one shoulder and you couldn’t see..

“Are you not wearing a bra?”

“Of course not, it wouldn’t be easy otherwise.”

“You really out here tryin’ to be a hoe, huh?” You snickered.

“You’re just mad that my tits are small enough to be a hoe.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

She laughed at you as you went to your room to get ready.

“I put on the worst bra.” You were grabbing your side, trying to shove the metal piece back into it. The dress was tighter than you thought and it wasn’t helping.

“Dont’cha wish?” Yejoon gestured to herself, and she ended up wearing tight black pants and a cropped tank top.

“Oh shut up,” You mumbled. You guys had finally made it to the ballroom and it was packed to the brim with bodies, already drunk and dancing to the music playing through the speakers. As you guys finally made your way to the back, you flashed you VIP lanyards and they let you guys though.

“He said it was the door at the end of the hall..” Yejoon murmured to herself as people, you assume other bands pass by and she couldn’t help but stare. Taking her arm, you made your way to the last room and knocked on it and a gruff voice welcomed you.

“Come on in!”

Yejoon pushed her way past you and you heard a gruff voice say, “Speak of the Devil.”

“And she shall appear. You were talking about me?” She leaned on Namjoon, the drummer, while he was sitting on the couch. He may have been clumsy off stage, but on stage was a different persona, grabbing the crowd's attention. With the slow beats of his base drum the crowd would hush and be at his mercy. As of now, he was at Yejoon’s attention. He sat up straighter and grinned and she tilted her head in feigned ignorance.

“Ya, get off him.”

A low gruff came from behind you that made you jump and turn around. Yoongi had looked different since you’ve seen hm. Granted that was 3 years ago at your high school graduation. Instead of short, spiked, black hair, it now made its way a little past his eyes and bleached His eyes were sunken in and closed halfway into a glare directed at his sister almost falling into his drummer's lap. He stood straighter now, you quickly noticed. He was at least a head taller than you and his once smooth face now had piercings; many adoring his ears, one on his eyebrow, and two small hoops on either side of his bottom lip. Out of your peripherals, you notice he’s wearing a turtleneck. Not very comfortable, you think, he’ll be sweating and that’s not a turtleneck.

A soft black ink adorned his neck and down towards the collar of his shirt which you now see is a shirt with an unfamiliar logo on it. You don’t think much of it because your eyes go lower and see that he is covered in tattoo’s all the way down to his fingers. As the hands wave in front of you, you soon realize that he was trying to get your attention.

“Hello? Earth to Y/N?”

“What?”

“I asked you if you wanted to sit. You seem out of it.” He gestures to a loveseat and you sit down softly. Everyone else had broken off into their respective conversations and you feel out of place now. Yoongi plops down next to you and he leans back and put his arms on the back of the sofa.

“So, how’ve been? You look good.”

“Oh! Uh, thanks, thank you.” Your hands try to drag down the fabric of your dress, and after a few tries you give up and set your hands in your lap. “You look good too. These past few years have been good to you.”

He laughed, “I could say the same about you.” His tongue peaked out and swiped across his lip and you breath hitched.

“Um, s-so do you like the city?”

The blond makes a face and he shrugs a bit, “It loses its touch after a while. Too fuckin’ loud honestly.”

“Really? Ah, I’d love it.”

“Why?”

“I once drove with my parents through the arts district as a child. It was so beautiful, the lights so pretty, and people were talking and having fun and I just want that experience, ya know?”

You looked at him and he had a small grin on his face.

“What?”

“Nothing. Why don’t you just go?”

You hummed and leaned back on the couch. “It’s all so new. And I've heard some rough stories about the city so I don’t wanna go alone. Yejoon doesn’t like coming so.”

“She doesn’t like anything fun,” he laughed. You smiled at him and became more apparent to his arm that was on the back of seat was inching its way towards you. It’s hard to ignore the heat of his arm on you and involuntarily shiver.

He moved his body closer and whispered so only you could hear, “Well, if you want, I can take you.”

Taking in a sharp breath, and glanced at his neck piece. You have never seen Yoongi like this. He was never a childhood crush of yours and you sure as hell wasn’t one of his.

Well-

There was one time, in high school. Yoongi and Suzy had come down to visit and you had been spending the weekend with Yejoon and her family. In the middle of the night you had to use the bathroom which happened to be past the guest room, so no, you were not peeping and you want to make that clear. Hearing a soft groan, you stopped, half asleep, in front of the door and peeked into the light shining though the crack of the door.

The image permanently seeped into your brain was one of Yoongi, thrusting wildly into Suzy from behind. With her head covered by a pillow, all you could see was Yoongi. How sweaty he was, how he would roll his hips before thrusts, and his abdomen – you had no idea that he worked out. Suzy’s moans were quiet but you could tell she was trying so hard to keep them that way.

You didn’t realize how long you had been standing there until Yoongi’s eyes bolted up and you swore he made eye contact with you because he grabbed his lip in between his teeth and thrusted faster into and when you heard Suzy get louder, you finally came to your senses and scurried off to the bathroom.

You couldn’t make eye contact with either of them the whole weekend. Yoongi never mentioned it, so you felt less like less of a pervert. Your own little secret.

All that is coming back to you as he gazes softly at you. Glancing over to Yejoon, she’s too engrossed in a conversation with Seokjin, the singer and another one of Yoongi’s friends, to pay attention.

You felt soft fingers on your chin, “Over here, Dollface.”

“Uh, I don’t, uh,” He grinned at your stuttering, and set his hand on your uncovered thigh.

“Tell me if I'm being too forward but,” he got even closer and whispered in your ear, “you look delectable in that dress.”

You felt a shiver down your spine, this one obvious to him, and he chuckled.

“All right guys, you’re on.”

And just like that, he was gone, along with the rest of the band. You finally had a chance to take a breath and Yejoon took your hand to lead you backstage to watch.

The only thing you could pay attention to though is Yoongi. The way his fingers lazily strummed the cords of his base guitar all while looking sexy. The crowd recognizes this as well, due to them chanting for him to take his shirt off.

He indulges.

The intricate linework on his chest and back makes you drool, and you hope no one saw that.

After the show, you, Yejoon, Yoongi and the rest of the guys went to a late-night sushi bar, the perks of the city.

There was laughter, drinking, yelling, and you had completely forgotten about Yoongi’s proposition earlier. But as you guys were leaving, Yejoon having been drunk, you were worried about how you guys would get home. She was in no condition to drive, and you had a few drinks and weren’t going to risk it.

That is how you ended up in Yoongi’s car sitting in the passenger's seat while Yejoon softly sings to herself in the back.

“Y/N, Y/N,” Yejoon leaned forward to your headrest, “d’ ‘u feel as good as I do righ’ now?”

“No, not really,” you laughed at her and she gazed at you, or at least you think it was at you. It could’ve well been the door handle she was looking at. Her eyes were glazed over and you she abruptly blew a strawberry at you and melted back into her seat.

You guys had finally made it back to your apartment without a hitch and you and Yoongi (mostly Yoongi) lugged the singing drunk girl back into your guys home, and safely in her bed.

Yoongi waited in the living room while you helped Yejoon out of her clothes all while she tries to grab your face and tell you how much you love her.

When you finally make it out, Yoongi is on the couch scrolling on his phone. You don’t know how he makes something so mundane look so alluring.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. She’s a handful sometimes.”

“Oh no problem,” he stands and makes his way to you.

“So,” you don’t make eye contact with the blond while you talk. “It was an amazing show.”

“Thanks. Was I, uh,” Hearing him stutter made you gape at him. He was gazing softly at you and scratched his neck. “Was I out of line, back there in the green room?”

You wanted to say no immediately, but you had to think about it. Did you let him because you wanted him to, or because the ink on his arms? Yoongi was nice and from what you heard from Suzy, a grumpy but soft human being willing to make you happy in the most subtle ways. As you think back, you remember in middle school he’d give you his lunch because your family couldn’t afford it. Your first day of freshman year he stuck to you and Yejoon all day, making sure you got to your right classes safely. When he left for college the summer after, he let you and Yejoon hang out in the basement with him and his band every practice – something he claimed he hated.

You felt your chest warm up and you reached out to him. “I liked it.”

“Oh,” his face was flushed and you couldn’t tell it was from the alcohol, “cool, cool.”

He interlocked your fingers and neither of you moved for a minute. You glanced back up at him and you guys slowly made your way towards one another until your lips touched softly. That was all it took for Yoongi’s hand to leave yours and find its way to the back of your head and deepen the kiss. His other hand was on your back and yours interlocked behind his neck.

As the kiss got more intense, his tongue ran across your mouth and you stuck yours out to taste him. His mouth wrapped around the muscle and sucked on it and you couldn’t help but moan.

He released your tongue, “Yoongi, please.”

“Yeah?” He bent down and grabbed the back of your thighs and you jumped into his arms. Yoongi walked to the couch and settled between your legs. “Tell me what you need, Dollface.”

Your legs had to stretch apart to accommodate for his body and your dress began to roll up. You tried to pull it down, but Yoongi grabbed your wrists and put them above your head.

“Tell me.” His voice was gruff.

“I-I need you, Yoongi.”

“To do what?”

You groaned, “Touch me.”

“How Dollface? You have to be specific.”

You groaned again and lifted your hips. You felt his growing bulge against your panties, which were now free for him to see. He took both of your writs in one hand and dragged his other hand slowly down your body to your heat and rubbed a finger over your panties and a moan makes your way out of your throat.

“Oh? This is what you want?”

“Yes, please.”

“Oh, well, I do aim to please Dollface.” He let go of you and moved his face toward your center. His tongue prodded at you and you hissed. Yoongi thrusted his tongue in you as far as he can, making your panties go with him and he made his way to your clit, soaking your panties as you squirm under his touch.

“More pleeeeaaase Yoongi.”

You could hear a soft chuckle and before you knew it, his tongue was directly against your pussy, thrusting in and out while his thumb was rubbing against your clit in quick circles. Your moans got louder and you realized that no matter how drunk she is, Yejoon hear and that makes you cover you bite on you hand.

“Let me hear you baby.”

“But - haa – she's gonna he-aah!”

Yoongi took your clit into his mouth and flicked it around with his tongue and your felt a growing heat in the pit of your stomach.

“Faster please.”

Your toes began to curl and you tried to spread your legs as far as they could go and he release your clit, spreading your lips to see how pink and wet you are.

“Let go Dollface, cum on my tongue, please.”

Hearing his plead made you moan behind your hand and seized your clit again. He moaned into you and the rubber band snapped in the pit of your stomach and your legs shook and you hand left your mouth and onto Yoongi’s head, gabbing and pushing him closer as you ride out your orgasm.

He finally pulls away and kisses you hard, shoving his tongue in your mouth so you can taste yourself. You feel his hands come to the neck line of your dress, trying to pull it down to look at your breasts. When it wouldn’t budge, he groaned a “sorry” into your mouth and before you could ask, you heard a loud rip.

“Yoongi! This was Yejoon’s.”

“I’ll buy her a new one,” he sat up and made a mental picture of how wrecked you look. Chest red, a pretty black lace bra pushing your breasts together, the bottom of the dress rolled up to your waist, and your pussy on show or him. “Take it off.”

You sit up all while keeping eye contact with Yoongi. His lip was in between his teeth and starts to take off his shirt and you couldn’t help but drag your hands across his inked chest.

“You like these?” He smirked.

“Mhm.”

“I like these,” Yoongi squeezed your breast and leaned you both back down to latch his mouth on your nipple while his hand rubbed the other. “God, they’re so pretty. You’re so beautiful Dollface.”

You could feel yourself blush at the compliment, not that you could tell. “Please, I need you Yoongi.”

Your hands started unbuttoning his jeans and he grabbed your wrists again. He started rubbing himself against your center.

“I saw you, you know.”

“W-what?”

“All those years ago, when I was home.”

“Oh God Yoongi, I-”

“You liked it, huh? Liked how good I was fucking her? How she couldn’t keep quiet while I took her over and over?”

You whimpered and moved your hips with Yoongi, “Please.”

“I knew you were there, I just couldn’t help but show off. It made it so hot knowing someone, you, were watching me.”

He reached into his pants and pulled out his hard cock and he stroked himself a few times. You looked at his red tip and you saw a silver ball at the top. Oh God, his dick is pierced, oh god, oh god-

“You want me Dollface?”

You nodded fast and he rubbed he tip against your clit. You felt your hole clench around nothing.

“I do,” You took hold of his forearms to keep your grounded while his middle finger entered you slowly.

“Oh, so easily,” he pumped a few times before adding another one, it going in easier than the last. “Jesus, okay. You want my cock this bad Dollface?”

“Just do it!” The plea in your voice made Yoongi smile this big gummy smile and you felt the heat in your stomach again. He lined his cock up to your entrance and the pressure of his cock stretching you made you clench.

“Ah, fuck,” He sighed as his hips met yours.

“C’mon, fuck me.”

“You asked for it Dollface.”

He dragged out his cock and thrusts back in and didn’t stop until you had a pace you both agreed with. Your moans were like a lullaby to his ears and he wanted the extended version. He groaned at the pleasure he was giving you and rolled his hips to hit your g-sot. Your moans got louder and high pitched and the sound of his skin slapping your made you push back harder.

“Oh fuck, fuck, fuck.” You reached out to Yoongi and you caught a glimpse of one of his tattoos. It was a rose wrapped in thorns. So simple and bright red, but you loved it. It seemed soft and the thorns made it seem too dangerous to touch. Looking back at him, his lidded eyes were staring you down and you couldn’t help but keep eye contact with his as he fucked you.

“Please, make me cum.”

“Oh I will,” he gruffed.

His fingers found your clit and he rubbed as fast as he was thrusting and you squeezed around him feeling your orgasm coming.

“Oh, fuck I’m close.”

“Fuck yes, cum for me Dollface. I need it. Squeeze my cock, squeeze it.”

With his words, he made you came around him, tightening your muscle and your mouth was formed an ‘o’ in a silent scream.

A groan hit your ears and Yoongi’s thrusts were stuttering off tempo and he pulled himself out, pumped once, twice, and the third stroke set him coming across your stomach.

“Ah shit.”

Only the sounds of your harsh breathing was heard and he fell softly on top of you and wrapped his arms around your limp body.

“So,” he finally said after a few minutes, jolting you awake, “still want the tour of the city? I think it could make a great date.”

You smiled at him and he leaned down and gave you a kiss.

“I think I'd like that.”

#ksmutclub #btsguild #kwordsmiths #💤#min yoongi #yoongi #bts smut #yoongi x reader #yoongi smut #min yoongi smut #bts min yoongi #kim seokjin #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jeongguk #bfb #bfb yoongi

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shleezaemour · 5 years

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The Shadow hunter Major Arcana

I noticed that the shadow hunter tarot did not come with a booklet. Shame, guess I’ll write one. Here is my interpretation of the major arcana of the Shadow hunter Tarot deck. I will be doing the other cards too, but that will take time. I have this section finished so here you go, enjoy!

**The fool!**

Henry Branwell ( The scientist)

Even in the picture Henry is surrounded by his cogs and gears. Always the butt of the joke, but perfectly fine with it. Henry understands that people laugh at him but he knows what he’s doing is for the greater good no matter how many times he fails. The man behind the woman, the levity in the relationship. Brings light and humor to the starkness of Charlottes personality. While he rules in logic, he can see beyond it to create what’s only ever been dreams.

**2nd Fool card!**

Tavvy and Drusilla (The dreamer & the innocent)

Drusilla dreams of glory as she is in the middle of things. She’s too young to go on adventures, and to old to really be a child. While the older kids ignore her for the most part, they don’t understand that keeping her in the dark isn’t going to keep her innocent forever. As Julian said she is the heart of the family, none of them could function without her. While she lives in fantasy with her horror movies and playing the part of secret con man, she just wants to be noticed. Tavvy being the youngest and the baby, is the perfect sign of innocence. Still wanting to be held, still needing someone to keep the nightmares away. Not quite wanting to grow up, because that would mean the nightmares were real. In the picture you see Dru carrying Tavvy, Tavvy has wings on the back of his shirt showing his innocent angelic presence. The scene is at night, showing that Dru is there for him anytime he needs.

Upright : Beginning of a journey, innocence, acting without thinking things through. Potential.

Reverse: Uncertainty, failure to seize the moment.

**The Magcian**

Magnus Bane (The warlock)

Being an immortal gives one a sense of wisdom. Magnus being around for centuries gives him a Scholarly air about him. His kindness and willingness to still trust shows that he understands that history does indeed repeat itself and trust is met with trust. Because he has been there before and bought that T-shirt, he tends to believe everything repeats itself. While it’s good to have the wisdom of seeing patterns, he forgets that occasionally things go a different direction than expected. This makes it hard for him to share his past, due to other people’s reactions to it. Which in turn makes life harder than it had to be. Magnus understands why looking back is important, and also the importance of looking to the future. Finding his true love in a man whom history in a way repeats itself. While he never loved Will Herondale he loved his coloring, now over a hundred years later he finds Alec who has all of Wills beauty being his descendant on his sisters side. Swearing to never involved himself with shadowhunters again, only to fall in love with the boy whose parents he hated and almost had him killed in their youth. Karma works in mysterious ways. In the picture you see on the side table, the book of the white, chairman meow, and Woosley Scott’s snuff box. A clear representation of past present and future.

Upright: Creativity, exploring ones abilities, crafters hands, emerging talent

Reverse: Putting ones gift to ill use, unable to learn, No imagination

**The High Priestess **

Cristina Rosales ( The Believer )

Cristina was raised to be the woman behind a great man, only to become the queen set on a pedestal by many suitors. Even after the pain and hurt caused by all the men in her life she still opens herself to love. This girl is so much woman she needs two men to satisfy her, both seelie and unseelie with a dash of shadowhunter. Strong and deadly with her feminine wiles. Though she may forgive, she never forgets. As was shown with Perfect Diego and Jaime, both forgiven, both betrayals never forgotten. Cristina will give you a second chance, but if you break it you don’t get another one. This Princess of Roses will not be taken for a fool, things will be on her terms or nothing. In the picture you see her infamous butterfly knife pointing right at the black heart. Dressed as she was on her way to fairy with her two loves. In white going against shadowhunter tradition, as is her love life.

Upright: Great Knowledge, wise beyond years, virtuous, a scholar

Reversed: Ignorance, false vision, holding back feelings

**The empress**

Emma Carstairs (The Warrior)

A woman that shows the bloodlust isn’t just a mans realm. Anything you can do she can do better, and in heels. While her search for revenge blinds her to the world around her, she knows how to be the stable rock of a relationship whether its romantic or platonic. The only one worthy of her weapon, never taking no for an answer. Blood and scars are part of her, it’s how she shows her strength and commitment. While her recklessness can get her into trouble, she will not stop until she is the best. As the leader she knows that a good ruler is because of her subjects, and that her partner is there to make her stronger. The love she has for Julian being the only thing that could break her. In strength she even tried to push him away, for his own well being. In the picture you see Emma on a throne of her own as golden as her hair. While many blade sit behind her, only one is worthy enough to be in her hand, Cortana. Her un-lady like stance in the chair shows the air of “Wanna fight about it?”

Upright: Strong female figure, fertility, Maternal

Reversed: Infidelity, home strife, infertility

**The Emperor **

Julian Blackthorn (The artist)

As the silent leader of the family , Julian knows how to make the hard calls without ever showing it was him making them. While his secrets and tricks keep him and his family safe, his constant control of everything around him can come undone in a instant and he knows it. Always the man with the plan. Julian’s ruthless heart can blind him into making poor choices, but his gentle mercy is a soothing balm that no one can turn down while in pain. Forced fatherhood hasn’t dampened him, it’s only made him stronger. Emma by his side showed his unwavering loyalty and how choosing a female Parabatai never made him a weaker man. Even his romantic love for Emma showed strength , the only thing that could make him lose all his self control. Never allowing anyone, even the law stand in his way of what he wanted. For a bad law is no law for the Blackthorn family. Julian in the picture is on a throne showing his position, with paint smeared and thrown carelessly. Showing that even those in power don’t always run the tidy ship. The belt buckle of the ram shows his stubbornness at his center.

Upright: Strong male figure, leadership, ambition, accomplishing something

Reversed: Weakness, indecision, incompetent

**The Hierophant**

Brother Zachariah (The Silent Brother)

A magical man of the cloth. Brother Zachariah traded death for life and knows sacrifice in an intimate way. Never truly changing completely on either side, his love for his parabatai and former fiancée never waver. Both his love and his form are arrested through time. Though the feelings are dulled by magic, they never truly fade. All the while learning the trades and traditions of the Silent brothers, giving him abilities and an outlook that others can’t see or comprehend. The wise one in the room. As a former addict himself he can never give up that which brings him joy, whether it’s Tessa, Will, or his violin. In the picture you see him sitting with his fingers entwines together, the mortal sword leaning against him and a skull to his right side. The skull representing his long dead parabatai Will Herondale, and the sword that makes Shadowhunter’s Tell the truth and delivering justice. Yet it’s leaning.. not directly in his palms. While Brother Zachariah believes the truth is always better, that doesn’t exactly apply to himself.

Upright: Divine, mercy, conformity, Controlling spiritual needs

Reversed: Unorthodox, poor advice, Impotence

**The lovers **

Magnus & Alec /Jace & Clary (Love)

So many types of love between these four. A twisted web of love in its purest form. Two Parabati with their partners. While Alec isn’t Magnus’s first love, he is his first shadow hunter love. The first person where marriage was an option, the only one to convince him to have children and build a real life with an actual family. Alec like most shadow hunters found his love and is sticking to it. Head over heels for the bad boy his parents never wanted for him, yet he is absolutely perfect for him. Young and old fit together neatly in a relationship neither of them have ever experienced. Bring each others firsts in so many new and exciting ways. Angels and Demons coming together in a love deeper than the realms of hell themselves. Alec’s light and dark co-mingling with Magnus’s in a Yin and Yang that finds perfect balance. Clary and Jace were touched by angels, drawing them together regardless of circumstance. Their blood singing the siren song of forbidden love, even that couldn’t keep them apart. Obstacles at every step of the way, first the possible brother/sister issue, then the magical ensorcellment, then the heavenly fire roaring in Jace’s veins. No matter how large the problem, they get through it together. Always finding a way when no path is presented, they make their own. It wouldn’t be the first time a deep love mingled between a Herondale and a Fairchild. In the picture you see both of the couples embracing. Clary and Jace facing each other, holding the other up. While Magnus holds Alec from the back, having his back always, eyes closed in a comforting bliss.

Upright: Love, Passion, union, romance, harmony

Reversed: Conflict, separation, divided.

**The Chariot**

Mark Blackthorn (The Changeling )

Mark was never just one thing, he always had a foot in both worlds. One with the Shadowhunters, and one in Fairy. Longing for the stars and winds of the skies of fairy, homesick for the family that loved him all his life. A born protector to all he loves. Self discovery showed him how his love was not just a single trunk, but all the branches that came along with it, and with that the knowledge that he could have it all. Not wanting to choose, but to have everything he wanted was a struggle worth the burden. Allowing his differences be the reason that he shines. Eyes dual colored for both the worlds he belonged, two worlds, two loves, both within reach. Both worlds bringing him Bliss as well as torment. Shadowhunting meant he would never truly be excepted because of his fairy blood, his bisexuality also driving their acceptance further away. The runes call to his blood, the fight within him singing to rid the world of demons as his mandate. Marks family never wavering in their love for him no matter the circumstances. Fairy being equally as cruel for stealing his childhood, torturing him physically and mentally for his being a half blood. Finding love and wonder in his lover Kieran. The freedom of the hunt, the ability to feel what he wanted to feel without prejudice. Mark Blackthorn has the ability to change his direction to what suits him best, driving his life forward in the way of true happiness. In the picture you see him with two dogs of the hunt, by his side and fierce as he is with his bow and arrow. Fairy clothes and runes both adorning his body showing his dual life.

Upright: A Journey to new places, boldly venturing into the unknown

Reversed: Ruined plans, bad strategy

**Justice**

Jace Herondale (The Angel)

The golden Ichor that inflamed his veins as a child changed our hero. From his golden eyes to his unwavering abilities that go far beyond normal Shadowhunter standard. The law is hard, but it’s the law. While Jace finds loopholes and ways to have the law work in his favor, he never truly breaks it. A true believer in his mandate to rid the world of demons and their ilk. Even being disgusted by the very idea that he might have been tainted with demon blood was almost to much for him to bare. Wielding a blade to protect innocent and good, his wit and charm are the only equal to his deadly prowess. Jace knows their is more than one way to fight, more than one way to win a battle. The perfect soldier, born and bred to fight for the angel. Special talents only equal to his girlfriend, who also shares his angel blood. Pure love drives his motivations, for both Clary and his Parabatai Alec. Finding family in both of them, being a good brother and partner above all else. Even being raised in evil, his natural good nature shines through... even if it is tipped with sarcasm. In the picture you see him as an angel, as Clary drew him in her sketchbook. A lion to his side showing he is the king of the jungle, the alpha male with a golden mane to rule his pride and bring order around him.

Upright: Balance, Strong sense of self, Fairness

Reversed: Poor character, abuse, taking sides, biased.

**The Hermit**

Tiberius Blackthorn (The genius)

Even being born into the world with a twin, Ty has always had a sense of loneliness. Of feeling separate. Everything is to intense, too colorful, too loud, too much! Autism isn’t something known in the Shadow world, and because of that it’s looked at as set apart. Just because Ty is different, doesn’t mean he is condemned. Seeing the world through special eyes, seeing what others don’t. Drawn to routine, study, and Sherlock Holmes he finds a way to exist in this world of chaos with the help of his trusty headphones blaring Classical music. While he loves his twin more than the world itself, he still only found solace in Kit Rook. Someone who never saw him as anything but awe inspiring. An instant connection in a world of constant rejection. While Ty likes to be alone, he most wants to be alone with someone else in the room. No real interaction, just having them there so they can be alone together. In the picture you see the books stacked, the only one you can read is the codex, meaning the rules and tradition plays a large part in this reading. But it’s not the first book, while it’s in the mix many other tomes and knowledge comes before that. The moth in the corner shows transformation and signs of change. While not as exquisite as a butterfly, it has its own beauty that is unique all on its own.

Upright: Solitude, Exile, Out cast, seeming alone time, Secrecy, Hidden knowledge

Reverse: Social, At one with the community, seeking friends or love

**The Wheel Of Fortune**

Luke and Jocelyn (The Destined)

Lovers finally coming full circle. They have a tendency to get in their own way, assume things that are not true. Selflessness kept them apart for to long, finally coming full circle they find what’s always been there, love and eachother. Both seduced by the same man, both seeing him for what he was around the same time. Their minds were always on the same brain wave, and even long believed prejudice couldn’t keep them from the other. Luke would follow her anywhere, and Jocelyn could find him even if he didn’t want to be found. The circle brought them together, just for them to go full circle back to eachother. Forever destined, the angel and the wolf. In the picture you see Jocelyn above Luke, on the pedestal in which he placed her. The circle behind them both representing their start and end. The runes on their arms were the connection tunes between downworlder and shadowhunter. The runes on the circle are angelic power, strength, and voyance.

Upright: Fortune, chance, Fate, destiny

Reversed:Unfortunate events, unexpected results

**Strength**

Charlotte Branwell (The leader)

The first female consul, the pillar of strength in the London institute and enclave. Even being referred to as “the gray mare is the better horse in that race.” While her husband placed himself below her, he is not threatened by her. Henry loves that his wife is in charge and running everything around him, taking the pressure off of him so that he can follow his dreams. Charlotte would never cast out anyone who had no place to go, regardless of her opinion of them. While her build is small and birdlike, most people forget that about her because she demands the room. A personality and sense of authority that makes her appear six feet tall. In the picture she stand between two pillars. She is her own pillar of her community, standing between the other two that hold up her people. The law and protecting the world from evil. While she upholds both, she also stands between them understanding that there are gray areas in this world of black and white.

Upright: Strength, Endurance, power from within yourself.

Reverse: Weakness, defeat, surrender

**The hanged man**

Will Herondale (The cursed man)

Will thought himself to be cursed by the demon his father kept in his study. The demon killed his sister with a sting and then lied and tricked him, making him believe he couldn’t let anyone love him or they would die. This caused him to push everyone away, except Jem. Jem was the exception because he was already fated to die, so Will believed the curse wouldn’t touch him. This belief made him secretive, a liar, and secluded him from all around him. That was until Tessa came into his life and gave him purpose to try to rid himself of the curse that was never actually on him. Five years of self hatred did it’s damage, with Jem and Tessa being the only chance for redemption. Magnus, a Warlock, his only means to find out the truth, changing a young mind about the down world forever. In the picture you see Will upside down twisted in shadow, invisible bonds that keep him in place, but don’t actually exist or have actual power to keep him bound, only his own belief that they do is what keeps him trapped.

Upright: Opportunities missed, keeping ones self in indecision, letting time pass by

Reversed: Wasting time, lack of progress, feeling stalled

**Death**

Johnathan Morgenstern ( Death)

A boy who didn’t even have a chance before his own birth. Damned to be a soulless being before even feeling love and light. His own father created him this way, and he resented him from keeping any chance of redemption open for him. Evil was natural, and while Love was not lost on him it was tainted. An unnatural love for his own sister, a longing to keep what is his in his own mind. Feeling possession over people, forcing them to love and accept him. Deep down inside is the real boy, the good shadowhunter that never got to thrive. In a constant cycle of change and transformation. Conceived innocent, transformed with demon powders in gestation, shaped and molded in childhood, finally to die and see the spark of what could have been. Johnathan is all about changing one thing into another, moving forward, becoming better. In the picture you see him holding the infernal cup, the very thing that is change. The instrument that makes the endarkend. You see his sword on his hip with 4 stars lining the hilt, four being a magical number (example 4 seasons, four stages of life etc.) also he’s wearing his bracelet that reminds him of whom he is, keeps him grounded. Skeletal creatures surround him because eventual death surrounds him (or the death of plans). Red blood spatters the card, red being a scared color for supernatural, spiritual, or in shadowhunter culture to bring an enchantment down.

Upright: Change, metamorphosis, loss, end of ways.

Reversed: Bad situations, turbulent change.

**Temperance**

Jem Carstairs (The musician)

The addict, Wills own cracked mirror, Tessa’s second love. While Jem has his own problems, he tends to be the one people lean on. While he is this driving force in the back of his mind, he wants others to come first. Not really an optimist, but a realist. Instead of growing bitter over his parents deaths and his forced addiction, he chooses to see the bright side of it. Because of those things he found Will, he found Tessa. Two driving forces in his life that supersede the Yin Fen. Bringing balance to all their lives regardless of timeline. His love for Tessa and Will are equal in strength. Having the patience and dedication to love Will, even when Will pushes everyone away. Giving Tessa his energy and deep caring, his music and combining of both Bass and Treble as shown in the picture. Also in the picture is poppies, a death flower, which Jem is always on the brink of. While his violin is pictured close to his heart (Tessa) the bow that makes the sound ring out is by his side (Will). Neither of any real use without the other, and both useless without Jem.

Upright: Patience, Balance, Channeling ones energy, combining elements to make something new

Reversed: conflict, bad combinations, excess

**The Devil**

Valentine (The Zelot)

Valentine was not always the evil man he became, he was once the good son. Much like the devil he fell from grace after his father was killed by werewolves. Thus starting the natural obsession inside him to seek revenge for his father and beginning his hatred of Downworld. With the charisma of a cult leader he did just that by establishing “The circle” bringing the best and brightest by his side to get his obsessions fed. Get in his way, and he will make sure you fall with him. He is not without love or even loyalty, but like his son he sees those he created as possessions. Things that belonged to him. Jace was his perfect soldier, even mourning him after he knew he couldn’t keep him around and stabbed him. Clary, his daughter who can create runes because of his experimentation. Valentine did everything he could think of to bring her closer to him, even fooling her and Jace into thinking they were brother and sister. Jocelyn was his wife in his mind regardless of where she was or how long they had been apart, her hatred for him was temporary in his mind, she would come around eventually or so he thought. In the picture you see him holding the mortal cup, his key to his obsession. The chains surround him, even one choking him. One gold, one black, one silver. Mortals, Downworld, and shadowhunters. The Downworld being the one choking him, for Magnus stated that he and other warlocks were chained to this life by a chain of gold. His hatred for them was his downfall.

Upright: Oppression, material bondage, obsessive desires, evil fantasies.

Reversed: Unwavering pursuit, greed, mind control

**The Tower**

Isabelle & Alec Lightwood (The soldiers)

Here we have the two eldest of the lightwoods, strong as they face danger, both extremely and deeply damaged as siblings. Alec, afraid of his own sexual identity. Always feeling like the one left behind, never destined to shine. His father making his home life a cage, suffocating him with the mold of what a true nephilim should be. Izzy, a born warrior that’s terrified of commitment. Love is to make yourself weak in her eyes. Men are below her and would only step on her toes. Her mother damaged her by sharing adult problems with a child. Telling her of her fathers infidelity, making her lose faith in love and commitment. Both born into greatness only to fall because of personal issues. Yet if hey fall, they fall together. Always having the others back. In the picture you see Alec behind his sister, where every man in her life is placed. Alec sees it as having her back Incase of danger. Alec at the ready with a crossbow, Izzy while having her whip I hand does not have it out to strike as Alec does. Izzy is winking at the viewer, letting us know her place. The church in the background is being struck by lightning right at the cross, showing how both their faith was shaken.

Upright: Abrupt change, Accident or Loss, Ruin, traumatic event, upheaval.

Reverse: redundancy in life, unable to break patterns in life, sad events.

**The Star**

Tessa Gray (The masked)

Tessa was not aware of the circumstances of her birth, believing she was a mundane for the beginning of her life. Only to find out that she was the daughter of a Prince of Hell, a greater Eidolon Demon, and an unmarked shadow hunter. With the help of a spirit of an angel locked in her mothers necklace she was able to be born into this world as a new race entirely, not quite warlock, not quite shadowhunter. Her ability to shapeshift unlike any seen before her, the ability to connect with the persons soul through objects. All the while being able to flip through their memories unknowing to them. Always trying to break from control. Mortmain, her brother, the dark sisters, the clave, all trying to control her in some way. Escaping into novels to keep her inner demons at bay. Doing everything she can to seize control of her own life, even if it meant giving it up. She would be no ones puppet, she is her own and belongs to herself. Taking her new found gifts and trying her best to turn the darkness inside her around and use it for good. In the picture you see Tessa I’m a veil, masking her true face to navigate the world while still holding onto it and herself. Black and white stars around her, good and evil, truth and lies, and she remains in the middle with the veil staying gray. The clockwork angel the only thing unmasked about her.

Upright: Hope, a sign of good things, fulfillment in life’s pleasures.

Reversed: Doubting ones ability, stale creativity.

**The moon**

Maia Roberts & Jordan Kyle ( The lycanthropes)

A tempestuous relationship, not born to last. As the moon sets every night these two had their time only for it to be cut short. While death intimately took Kyle, Maia was close to ending things before that even happened except death beat her to it. While she loved Kyle, she knew like the phases of the moon they are ruled under that things had to change. Maia needed her own space to become a pack leader, and Jordan would have kept her as a Beta when she was a born Alpha. Jordan didn’t want to see it, all he could see was a wrong he did and the need to fix it. Him being the reason she was changed in the first place. Joining the Prater Lupus to become worthy of her love and regiment himself into someone better. Jordan wanted to help, wanted to mend, not seeing that you shouldn’t try to fix what’s not broken in the first place. Trying to convince himself that his relationship was working, that all his atonement was worth the struggle. You see them in the picture facing eachother on a bed. Maia looking at the viewer, while Jordan is fixed on Maia herself. The wolves above them showing their changing shapes, yet Maia’s is higher than Jordan’s and has the look of a leader. Jordan’s is panting and below her awaiting to follow.

Upright: brainwashing, dark influences, trickery, illusion, subconscious control

Reverse: avoiding reality, lies and despair, strange forces, delusional

**The sun**

Simon Lewis (The daylighter)

Simon, being the only person alive knowing what it’s like to live in the three different societies. First a mundane, then a daylighting vampire, then a shadowhunter. Simon has this way of fitting into each as if he were born to it, not without hard work. Clary’s best friend and Parabatai, Simon always finds a way to save the day. Whether it’s coffee and comics, or giving up your immortality in a demon realm to save everyone you love, Simon always makes things better. The only man to tame the reckless heart of Izzy Lightwood. The one who brought the Dregs and Elites at the academy together. The one to win Clary’s eternal love (platonically). Wherever Simon is, he belongs. The only one who doesn’t know that... is him. In the picture he is where he was always meant to be even though he was a vampire once, the sunlight.

Upright: successful social relationships, friendship, engagement, happy times and pure joy.

Reversed: separation, loneliness, unstable relationship

**Judgement**

Livia Blackthorn (The protector)

The other more femme half of the Blackthorn twins. Everything her twin lacks she’s has in spades, as is the reverse. Growing up knowing her brother was a slightly different kind of shadowhunter, Livvy always stood by his side and acted as his personal bodyguard. Willing to even slay her eldest brother to protect him. Livvy wants the best for everyone, she wants everyone to be happy. From wanting to set her brother Julian up, to giving up a possible romance due to her brother having more of a bond to said possible romance partner. She just wants everyone to get what they deserve, even if it’s death. Even her death. She didn’t want to be brought back, but she saw how much her brother needed her. So instead of punishing him away she stayed. She would make sure his dreams were fulfilled so that he could possibly live without her one day, something she should have done in life. In truth she knows that may never happen, while it’s a win for Ty... it’s a punishment for her. In the picture you see Livia in the dress she was buried in. Her trusty saber behind her back just Incase justice is to be served once more, or ty needs back up. Three blades are in the picture for what I interpret as past, present, and future.

Upright: accountability for ones actions, new beginnings, awakening

Reversed: guilty feelings, fearful of death, worry, delay, fear.

**The World**

Clary Fray (the creator)

Growing up thinking she was mundane, clary has grown and fought her way to shadow hunter hero. Clary went from drawing pictures, to creating runes not of the gray book to make her race stronger. Stubborn and small, strong and reckless. She wants to prove that she is more than she seems and always seems to find her way coming full circle. The center of the mortal instruments saga and of the world of her boyfriend Jace. Both with extra angel blood singing in their veins, drawn together by heaven itself. This pocket sized vixen is going to make her mark, or rune on the world. In the picture you see her with a falcon on one side and a lioness on the other. The falcon representing Jace, always by her side and equally as deadly. Sitting on the lioness as it represents herself. The woman in the pack that is more vicious than the man, the one who brings home the prey and takes it down.

Upright: completion of a cycle or journey, triumph, good outcome over adversity, hard fought victory.

Reverse: frustration, incomplete endeavors, failed projects.

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kije999 · 5 years

Text

Far Cry: New Dawn – Hope County got a Nuclear Makeover

Ubisoft’s latest installment for the Far Cry franchise has been released and been out for a couple of days now. The game is a direct sequel after the last game in the franchise, which is beloved among many fans.

So let’s get into it. Warning: spoilers ahead

The events of Far Cry: New Dawn takes place 17 years after the events of the last game and features some of Far Cry 5’s cast and introducing new as well. One of these new characters is none other than Carmina Rye, the daughter of Nick and Kim Rye who was only briefly seen as a baby in FC5. Carmina and her mother play a big part in the storyline of New Dawn.

The game starts with a cinematic introduction, where Carmina tells us, the player, her life story. How she was born on the day of The Collapse, how she lived in the bunker for 6 years before she ever saw the sun and why she came to Thomas Rush for his help. As she wraps up her story, the screen fades to black and we hear the train she is on crash, followed by screams and chaos.

And then the game begins. We meet the hero of the story, ambiguously called The Captain and their boss, another key-character, Thomas Rush. After a quick-paced running sequence, we also meet our main antagonists, twin sisters Mickey and Lou, the terrifying leaders of The Highwaymen.

After another cutscene, we officially enter the beauty that is Far Cry: New Dawn.

I played and finished the game in two days, I got a little bit earlier access to considering I live in Europe and I’m on spring break. So I could stay up until 4 a.m. in the morning after its release around midnight.

So yeah, the game is not long. The storyline is much, much shorter than its predecessor, FC5. As is the map. The game mechanics are practically the same, aside from the new level system that is more seen in RPG games à la Borderlands.

Arguably, it is retailed at 40 euros compared to the 60 euros you have to pay for FC5. Although, this might be the broke student in me talking, is still quite a lot.

But let’s talk about something positive, the graphics are breathtaking. The scenery is so bright and gorgeous, despite it being a post-nuclear setting where it’s popular to see dead vegetation and terrifying creatures roaming about. But no, New Dawn features a brightly colored world, with beautiful animals roaming the county.

The moment I saw and heard Carmina, I was in love with her character. And considering she is the baby you, as the deputy, saw and became a godparent in FC5. Her character design is awesome, I personally love how blue her eyes are. I pretty much felt very protective over her in-game, and wouldn’t let her die on my watch, which usually resulted in my own death as well.

Another character I fell in love with was Thomas Rush. This is a bit more on the superficial side but I don’t care, he’s good-looking. The relationship between him and the captain isn’t much explained but I could feel they’ve known and trust each other. And I was very upset when Lou abruptly killed him.

Speaking about being upset. There were moments in the game, especially when first time playing it, where I felt so sad. Seeing all these familiar places and hearing about familiar people from the previous game, reading the notes (Thanks for the feels, Tracey). Especially seeing Boomer’s grave, and the mentions of Peaches and Cheeseburger, hit me hard. Yeah, I care for the FFH a bit more than the GFH, sorry Jess and Addie… (Poor Grace though, losing her eyesight like that…)

But there were moments that put a smile on my face, like “reuniting” with Sharky and Hurk, who now has a baby with a new GFH, Gina Guerra. The Rye family reunion pulled on my heart-strings (of joy!) as well.

Now, let’s talk dear ol’ Joe. He’s still kicking, albeit missing from the first arc of the New Eden storyline. I have mixed feelings about Joseph, I never really cared that much about him in FC5 (John, however, won me over fast) and I guess you can say he’s a broken old man at this point, exiling himself from his family in New Eden.

He also has a son now, Ethan. It’s not fully clear if Joseph is his real father or considering the evidence we got. Ethan is…complicated. As a character, he might have had potential. But alas, he is poorly written and comes over as an annoying brat who throws tantrums à la Kylo Ren style. I don’t hate him, I even felt sorry for the guy at some points. But yeah, I have a feeling his character is an afterthought, as well with the rest of the ending regarding Joseph.

So now, about the ending… Like I just mentioned, it felt like an afterthought. A loose end they needed to wrap up, considering Joseph was the Big Bad in FC5. In my opinion, they should’ve ended it after the boss fight with Mickey and Lou. On another note, I like the mercy the player can show in ending. To have the choice to spare Mickey and Joseph.

In my gameplay, I killed Joseph, which I considered a mercy kill. I accidentally spared Mickey, I didn’t know she would live if I left, I assumed she would bleed to death if you walked away.

Anyway, I think it’s time to wrap up the review. I started off how I was taught, but it got personal and I startled rambling on. This review is a bit of roller-coaster, oops.

PRO’s

Amazing scenery, absolutely stunning and a fresh take on a post-nuclear apocalypse

Loveable new characters (Although I have my problems with Ethan)

It’s a lot of fun

Homestead building and seeing the cutscenes for it

CON’s

Short story

A bit pricey

Limited Map compared to FC5

Grinding for ethanol and materials gets tiring fast.

So yeah, I might have forgotten some points and If you’d like to talk to me about the game hit me up and I’ll give you my discord.

#far cry new dawn #fcnd #far cry new dawn spoilers #fcnd spoilers #fcnd review #carmina rye #thomas rush #joseph seed #kim rye #nick rye #sharky boshaw #hurk drubman jr #ethan seed #I'm too lazy to tag other characters #I'm exhausted after writing it #this is really long

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paladin-andric · 6 years

Text

Moments in History: Justice and Spite

Everyone is here! The cult of Palaiogeas faces down their old foe in one final clash...

(Side note: “Brother” and “Sister” is used in the context of a religious order. The guards are NOT related.)

Part 1 - A Snake in the Grass

Part 2 - The Long Con

Part 3 - The Unwitting Volunteer

Part 4 - The United Front

Thunder boomed and rain poured down outside as the Dragonoids stood guard, defending the entrance of the cave and protecting their master from any interlopers.

Two dragonoids, large and intimidating half-dragon, half-human hybrids, stood right inside of the cave. Their draconic overlord didn’t want any unnecessary attention, so the guards remained inside the cave, rather than guarding the outside entrance. It was fortunate at the moment anyway; getting soaked wasn’t something the servants were exactly excited about.

“Hey,” one of the guards whispered, nudging the other. His cohort merely glanced over at him.

“Yes, brother?” the other dragonoid was slightly smaller, though still large by human standards.

“Master sure has been ecstatic recently, huh?”

“Due to our diligence and obedience, no doubt,” the smaller one replied, “He’s become...well...I think our subservience has softened his heart, somewhat. He is so glad to have all he wishes, and is always letting us know how much he treasures our loyalty...”

“Well put, sister,” the male replied, gripping his spear with both hands, “I’d be overjoyed too in his place!”

After a moment of silence, his eyes widened in realization. “Uh, err, I, uh, I mean...not that I’m not already overjoyed! I am blessed to have earned master’s graces, and love all my brothers and sisters of the dragon, and master is above all, of course!”

The other dragonoid shot him a knowing grin. “You’re quite cute when you’re nervous, brother.”

The guard instinctively folded his wings around himself defensively. “You...think I’m cute?”

“Quite.” The smaller dragonoid winked at him playfully.

Tapping his claws against his spear nervously, the dragonoid swallowed hard, gathering his courage. “Uhh...say...after our shift is over...perhaps we could...you know...uh, I mean...there’s a lovely lake just south of here. I-I think it would be a wonderful way to spend an evening.”

The smaller dragonoid chuckled. “I don’t think getting soaked in the thunderstorm would be very lovely!”

The other guard looked down, embarrassed. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

The smaller guard leaned towards her cohort, grinning. “...but what’s a little water, huh? I’ll go with you!”

The male’s eyes shot back up, widening. “Oh, really?! Thank you! I bet it’ll be great fun! There’s a waterfall, and this really big tree on a cliff over the lake...”

Suddenly, a loud roar snapped them both back to attention. Their eyes pierced through the pouring rain and flashes of thunder to see a white dragon flying straight toward the cave.

“A challenger?!” the male cried. The female quickly raised a rallying horn to her muzzle and blew on it, sending out the signal that their sanctuary was under attack. The male followed suit, using his own rallying horn, as all members of the cult were issued. Their master, after being betrayed twice, ordered everyone to travel in groups and carry rallying horns, so that no ambush, betrayal or surprise would go unnoticed.

As the horns echoed throughout the cave, the two guards readied their spears and got into defensive stances as the dragon swooped into the cave, landing directly in front of them.

The guards shivered a bit as they held their spears toward the dragon. Despite being loyal to their master, their adoration of him had left them awe-stricken by dragonkind in general...though this was easy to suppress, as their devotion to the blue dragon was absolute.

The female snarled and stepped forward. “What is your business here?! Master has not called for a visitor!“

The white dragon grinned down at the dragonoid, a glint in his eye. His cruel and sadistic visage looked quite out of place on the small white beast, known to be the most weak and peaceful of the dragons.

“My business? Nothing less than the complete annihilation of your pathetic cult and your fat, stinking master.”

The guards’ eyes widened as other servants began entering the room.

“H-he wishes to slay master and destroy us!” the male cried out, “He must be protected!”

The other dragonoids began moving, some falling back to warn the dragon while others moved up to aid the guards.

A loud roar shook the very earth the guards were standing on. They clutched at their heads in pain as the beast cried out at them. The dragonoids slowly shook their heads and looked back up at the dragon.

“Stand aside or be destroyed. It matters little to me. Actually...” the dragon chuckled, a low and menacing laugh. “...mmm...I have plans for you. Surrender and I’ll be merciful.”

“We would NEVER betray master! We fight to our final breaths!” the male cried defiantly. The dragon rolled his eyes, lifting a hand and flicking the guard with his claws. He flew backward, slamming into the walls of the cave before collapsing.

The female snarled at the dragon. “Big mistake!” Quickly, the guard thrust her spear forward, stabbing the dragon’s foot with it. Normally the steel point would have been turned aside, and the wooden shaft would have snapped in half, but the servants of the dragon used enchanted weapons, for they knew other dragons may foolishly attempt to challenge their master, and they must be able to protect him.

The white dragon roared, vibrations shaking the cavern as blood seeped from the wound. He looked down at the guard with a hateful and malevolent snarl, enough to actually give the dragonoid pause. He capitalized, knocking her onto the ground and placing a claw on her head.

“Let me give you a glimpse of what I plan on doing with you, and your wretched kin...”

Suddenly, thoughts began flowing into the guard’s mind. The dragon’s thoughts, plans, and the fate of the dragonoids...she saw herself there, along with the others, all slaves, and all...

She screamed in horror at the images, screeching and flailing her arms in a desperate bid to make it stop. The horror of his plans...the cruelty...the...unthinkable nature of it all!

The thoughts stopped. The guard found her thoughts her own again, but...the memories were burned in her mind, and she doubted she would ever forget them.

The dragon laughed as one of the other dragonoids rushed forward and pulled her to her feet. “What’s the matter?! What did he do to you?!”

She could barely register the servant’s words, stumbling away from the dragon. “H-he...he...” Shaking her head, she regained control of herself just enough to speak. “He is...insane! His heart and mind are black and full of...unspeakable things! Oh, God...” The guard finally stopped backing up, pointing a claw at the dragon. “You’re sick! Twisted! You’ll never take me alive!”

“And what makes you think you can stop me? With a moment’s concentration, I can break your will, and make you beg for the things you cried out against...” the dragon leaned forward, flashing his teeth. “...but I’d rather watch you squirm, plead for mercy...and break through duress rather than under magic.”

The guard clenched her fists. “We must fight to the death. Do not surrender, brothers and sisters...for our fates would be worse than death.”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

A loud voice make everyone freeze in place, looking back as Palaiogeas stomped into the room, his guardian flying and landing beside him. The blue dragon was very large, and although very fat, the servants saw only power in his size.

“You dare challenge me?! You-” the dragon glanced to his side, spotting the unconscious guard.

“You dare harm the loyals?! You will be shown no mercy!” His gaze fell upon the other dragonoids, all looking to him for guidance. “Get back, children! I will protect you...and show this invader the might he meddles with!”

“Master...” the guardian looked up at his lord worriedly.

“No, Sawin. I will handle this. Do not intervene unless needed.”

As the group of dragonoids dispersed, Palaiogeas lunged forward, the white dragon leaping to the side and smacking the older dragon with his tail. Palaiogeas winced and snapped at the other dragon, who moved back and leaped forward, biting into the blue dragon’s shoulder. He roared before sending the younger dragon sliding backwards with a swipe of his claws.

The white dragon winced as he felt blood trickle down his chest, which heaved from what he was forcing it through. “Hah...hah...phew...you’re...strong indeed...this form is indeed insufficient.”

Palaiogeas raised a brow. “This form? What are you blathering about?”

The white dragon’s tail began waving about as he focused on something, what that was the blue dragon couldn’t tell.

“You’ve gotten even fatter from the last time we’ve met...I do wish you’d take better care of your body...I’ll need to put in some extra work because of your sloth. Still, I’ll take it. It’s stronger than this shell.”

Palaiogeas’ eyes widened. “You...AGAIN?!”

The white dragon grinned. “Indeed. You like my new body? You should...for it will be yours in a moment.”

The blue dragon stood tall and proud, smirking. “How many times must I teach you this lesson, fool? You cannot surpass me and the loyals!”

The white dragon suddenly raised his arm up at Palaiogeas. “A little something I’ve been saving, just for you...”

The blue dragon tried to prepare a ward, but in the blink of an eye...his vision changed.

He was now staring at himself. Glancing down, he was small, and his scales white...

“H-how did you...?”

“Quickly, slaves, kill him!” the blue dragon cried.

Palaiogeas held his claws up, stained with blood...HIS blood. “This is impossible! How did you...I did not get a chance to resist! What sorcery is this?!”

“Ignore his madness, servants! Kill for your master, now!”

The dragonoids glanced at one another, confused.

“Sir? You said to let you handle it...”

The blue dragon snarled. “You dare defy me, your master?! Obey me, or I’ll slaughter you for disloyalty!”

Palaiogeas held an arm out at his servants, though they recoiled from the gesture. “Do not listen to him! It is another trick! He has stolen my form away! Stay back, my children!”

The blue dragon glared at him. “Very well...the slaves will be punished later...for now, I’ll kill you, filthy beast!”

Palaiogeas snarled and shook with rage. “You will pay for this, you SNAKE!”

Lunging forward, he clawed at the trickster, only to be knocked aside with ease. Palaiogeas quickly jumped back at the dragon, biting into his side, only to roar in pain as his opponent’s larger, much more powerful maw locked around his neck.

He has my physical strength, now...I am the one at a disadvantage...

Palaiogeas struggled to break free, unable to escape from the now mighty sorcerer’s grip. He started to feel weak as he lost more and more blood, the stuff trickling down from his various wounds. The dragon’s once pure, gleaming white scales were now stained and smeared with red. He felt dizzy as he began to slip away.

“C-curse you...traitor...”

With his victory assured, the blue dragon leaned down, tearing at the beast’s neck further, hurrying to kill him, knowing full well the smaller dragon had no hope of winning. His mouth was occupied, but his gleeful eyes laid his emotions out clearly for all to see.

It cannot end this way...my servants, loyal and true...my dear children...please...find it in your hearts to forgive me...I have failed to live up to my own boasts...and you will pay the price for my failings.

A sudden jolt of pain in the back of his head caused the blue dragon to momentarily open his mouth in shock. It was the opening Palaiogeas needed. He shoved the dragon backwards and stumbled away from the great beast, head still spinning.

The blue dragon whirled around to see who dared to strike him. A lone dragonoid stood in the center of the room, sword raised. He recognized him. That damned guardian. The witless, obedient, self-righteous slave of the dragon!

The warrior held his sword out to the dragon, eyes narrowed. “Master does not speak in such a way...yet the traitor does. I know the white one’s words to be true...you have outdone your trickery yet again, foul sorcerer...yet you cannot hope to deceive master’s servants with such a poor impersonation.”

“I have had enough of you!” the blue dragon roared, “You...I will put you through such horrors...you will kiss my feet and beg for forgiveness when I’m finished breaking you!”

“Brothers! Sisters! To the armory! The crossbows! I will hold him...” the dragonoid got into a combat stance and held his sword closely, glaring at the blue dragon. The others quickly fell back, filing into the hallway further into the cave in a bid to properly arm themselves against the dragon.

Palaiogeas smiled at Sawin, tears in his eyes. “My champion...”

“Master...”

The blue dragon shook with anger. “Very well, fool...I will subdue you...and make your precious master watch as you throw yourself before me in worship!”

“You may try.”

With a short laugh, the blue dragon raised his arm at the dragonoid, channeling magic. Palaiogeas’ eyes widened. He couldn’t let this great and loyal champion be hypnotized!

“NO!”

Leaping forward, the white dragon crashed into the sorcerer, knocking him over while he was distracted.

“Master, no! You’re terribly wounded! Get back!”

Using his wings to launch himself into the air, the dragonoid flew at the two dragons, slashing the blue one as he passed. He landed, turning around and spitting frost breath at the sorcerer. This did little, for he was a frost dragon as well, but it was better than nothing. He was saving his magical reserves for something besides battle...

The blue dragon kicked Palaiogeas off of him and turned toward the dragonoid, enraged. “Your time is up, slave...”

The dragonoid narrowed his eyes. “Come and get me, traitor. You may have the body of a dragon, but your soul is still that of a pitiful, slimy wretch.”

The dragon got up and leaped at Sawin, who threw himself to the side, quickly landing and stabbing him in the neck before leaping back from a swing of the beast’s claws.

“You may have raw strength, but you are slow and untrained in the art of controlling such a graceful form.”

“You can’t dodge forever, slave!” The blue dragon readied himself for another attack, when a sudden shout gave him pause.

“Not so fast!”

A shrill and pathetic voice...a familiar one...the sorcerer turned back toward the entrance of the cave, only to see himself...or his old self. A pitiful kobold and a man in armor stood before him, that stupid fool he had unburdened his old body onto.

“That’s MY body! Give it back!”

Palaiogeas gazed at the kobold in confusion for a moment before piecing it together...the lightheadedness from all the blood loss had left him slow to process things.

“A-ah, you’re...the one he tricked?”

“That’s right,” the human said, stepping forward, “and we’ve come to collect what is ours.”

“NEVER!” the blue dragon cried. He prepared to leap forward and crush the two, only to recoil in horror when another guest came in behind them.

A red dragon glared at the two dragons, eyes darting from one to another. “So...he succeeded again?”

“Looks like it.”

The red dragon snorted dismissively. “It makes no difference. He cannot hope to stand against us all.”

Slowly, the blue dragon began stepping backwards, thinking his options over. This wasn’t good...there were two dragons opposing him now. Even with his greater strength, they could overwhelm him...

Several footsteps from behind him made the blue dragon turn. Dozens of dragonoids, all wielding large crossbows blocked the hallway, their weapons trained on him. No doubt the arrows were enchanted to pierce his hide, as the spears were.

The sorcerer was silent for a moment before glaring at the white dragon. “This isn’t over...I will come, time and again, until you are finally at my mercy...no matter how long it takes...”

Raising his front legs up, the sorcerer closed his eyes, beginning to vanish as he teleported away.

“No! Not again!” Palaiogeas shook with rage. He COULDN’T walk away with his body! He didn’t deserve it, the snake!

Suddenly, the dragon reappeared, eyed wild as he writhed in pain.

“Gaaaah...w-what?! Why...why am I back here?!”

“That would be me.”

Yet another figure entered the cave, clad in black leather. The assassin strolled in, casually leaning against a wall.

“YOU!” the blue dragon snarled. The assassin grinned back at him.

“Heya. You’ve put on some weight since we last met.”

“What have you done?!”

Laurence held up a scroll. Not the one he had used, of course, but merely to demonstrate what he had at his disposal. “Heard you were back. No one escapes me twice. I came prepared. You’re in a sort of net, so to speak. You’ll find teleporting to be quite impossible in the immediate area surrounding this cave...which shall be your resting place, soon enough.”

The blue dragon’s eyes widened. Quickly, he rushed forward, but stopped as the red and white dragons blocked the entrance to the cave, and crossbow bolts peppered his back.

Recoiling as pain shot through him, enemies surrounding him, the dragon whirled around, frenzied in his hurry to find an escape.

“H-how could this happen...?”

“Because you’re short-sighted and arrogant,” Laurence began, “You made too many enemies, and took them all head on...without any friends of your own. Not that you could ever draw anyone into wanting to spend time with you.”

The sorcerer roared out as the red dragon fell upon him. Laurence began tossing a knife up and down as he watched the beast realize just how hopeless his situation was.

“Time’s up, trickster.”

“Hey, careful!” Palaiogeas cried, “That’s mine! Don’t kill him, I need him alive to get it back!”

“Right,” the red dragon returned. Theodosius wrapped a clawed hand around the sorcerer’s neck, looking him in the eyes.

“It’s over.”

“NO!” the sorcerer cried, “I will not submit! You can’t make me!”

“Allow me,” Palaiogeas interrupted, walking up to the pair and placing a hand on the blue dragon, magic flowing through it. The sorcerer began hissing and writhing, unable to escape the red dragon’s grasp.

“What are you doing?” Theodosius probed.

“Dominating him. If I can break him...I can force him to use his vile sorcery to change places with us again, and fix this mess...”

“N-not...your...slave...”

“Do not bother,” Palaiogeas replied, “You have used too much mental energy fighting, and the pain is too distracting...you cannot resist...”

The blue dragon writhed as he fought the influence, but it was clearly a losing battle. His struggles weakened as he was pushed further into serving his old master, until he finally gave up.

Palaiogeas slowly raised his hand from the blue dragon, who turned to face him.

“M-master...? Wait...something’s...wrong.”

“Silence, slave. You will return the body you stole back to me.”

The blue dragon clearly didn’t like that, wincing and grunting...until he finally bowed his head.

“It...displeases me...but...yes, lord.“

Palaiogeas gave Theodosius a nod, who, with a bit of hesitation, got up off of the blue dragon. The dragonoids stepped held their crossbows at the ready, prepared to fire at the first sign of trickery.

The sorcerer slowly faced his master and raised his hand. After a brief inner struggle, he closed his eyes, willing the spell to happen.

With a flash, Palaiogeas blinked, looking down at himself. It...it was him! His body! He was back! He flexed his claws, shivering and breathing erratically as he reveled in the power he felt.

“I am restored!” he cried. After a brief pause, he looked at the white dragon, weighing his options. He walked up to the smaller dragon, who averted his gaze, still under his command.

“Hmm...a dragon slave...think of the prestige!”

“No!”

Palaiogeas turned to see the four heroes. The assassin, soldier, dragon and kobold glaring at him. Theodosius narrowed his eyes.

“That is the good dragon’s body! You must return the wretch to his old form!”

Palaiogeas considered this, for a moment. He had his servants ready to fire. With a single order, he could destroy them and claim the dragon as his slave, but...

The corpulent beast rolled his eyes. “Oh, the burdens of being a merciful and benevolent lord...never dare call me a tyrant, so selfless and honorable I am, throwing away such worthy prizes that I deserve so...”

He turned to the charmed white dragon. “Slave! You will give the dragon you so cruelly tricked his form back!”

The white dragon’s eyes widened. He began stepping backwards and shaking his head. “N-no, master, please, don’t...”

“Heed my directions!”

“I...I just want..to be like this...please...I’ll be good...”

Palaiogeas shook his head and raised a hand. “You had half a century to be good. You’ll just betray me again, anyway.”

More mental attacks on the white dragon finally ceased his struggles, slouching forward and lowering his head to the ground.

“Yes, master...”

The sorcerer stepped forward and casted the spell once again, aimed at the kobold. With another flash, the kobold collapsed to the floor as the white dragon looked down at himself.

“Y-yes...it is...it is really over! Oh, my friends...I can never repay you...”

Palaiogeas smirked. “I shall think of a suitable tribute. A little payment as thanks for so KINDLY giving you your form back.”

“Yes, of course...”

Ambrosius ran a claw over his admittedly bloody body as he felt at home once more.

“Look like it’s over, huh?” Henry smiled as the dragon looked over himself.

“Yes, yes, it is...I-”

Ambrosius’ eyes widened as he looked at his claws. They were caked in blood, the stuff dripping from his once pristine form.

And he remembered.

The town. The people, thinking him to be his friend...he slaughtered them.

“What’s wrong?”

Ambrosius shook his head. He felt faint as he came to the realization. “I...I...they...trusted me...and now they are dead. It is my fault.”

Henry crossed his arms. “That was-”

“Do not look at me!” the white dragon cried, unfurling his wings and flying out of the cave.

“Ambrosius!” Henry ran after the dragon, exiting the cave. Theodosius looked at Laurence worriedly. The assassin, still leaned against the wall, merely shrugged.

“...well. That was odd.” Palaiogeas raised a brow at the hysterical dragon’s exit before shaking his head and turning to the kobold. “...hmm...what to do...”

The dragon thought long and hard about this, considering the worst possible suffering he could inflict on this traitor that had brought so much suffering to so many people.

Suddenly, an especially nasty idea hit him. He surprised even himself; it was so needlessly cruel...and yet, it would both be worse than death, while getting rid of him forever.

“Children! One of you has dabbled in the occult, have you not? I must know!”

The dragonoids looked at one another in surprise, before a lone servant stepped forward.

“Ah! You?”

The dragonoid was shaking in fear, gaze planted firmly on the ground. “I-I-I am sorry, master. I will never do it again, if you will show me mercy...”

“No, no! That is not why I called you! I have need of your powers...can you...”

The blue dragon leaned down, whispering to the servant, who nodded, eyes wide.

“Do it.”

“Yes, master.” With a flourish, the dragonoid began chanting in a foreign tongue, a small rip in the air forming.

Palaiogeas grabbed the kobold, who squirmed, slowly beginning to recover from the dragon‘s influence.

As the rip formed into a portal, red and exuding unholy energies, Palaiogeas grinned wickedly.

“The only place that would ever take a wretch like you...hell! Enjoy your new home!”

The kobold’s eyes shot open as he suddenly began thrashing in the dragon’s grip.

“No...NO!”

The sorcerer only managed a single scream of terror as he was thrown into the portal, which quickly closed behind him. Palaiogeas sighed as the rest of the room watched in stunned silence.

“Well...I would have preferred killing him, but I suppose that’ll do,” Laurence said.

“That was...unnecessary.”

The blue dragon turned his gaze to Theodosius. “He’s a black-hearted wretch. He’ll fit right in...he deserves no mercy, for he showed none.”

The red dragon fidgeted, uncomfortable. “I suppose...”

Well,” Laurence started, “I’ll...just be going, than. Give Sawin my regards...and tell him to stop sending challenges to my letterbox, would you? I’m too busy to duel.”

“Are you scared?!” Sawin cried, “Accept the challenge, coward!”

“Pah! Someday, when the crown stops sending me all over...I’ll take you up on it eventually, though. Until then...” The assassin held a hand over his chest and pointed at the half-dragon.

“My regards.”

Sawin returned the gesture. “I will defeat you honorably, assassin! You’ll see!”

“So we shall.”

As the assassin left, Theodosius did as well, offering Palaiogeas a respectful nod.

“I had better check up on Ambrosius...”

“Farewell, than.” the dragon turned his gaze to Sawin.

“...yet again! How many times must my champion rescue me?”

“Oh, it was nothing, master. I live to serve...” At the same time, a dragonoid slowly rose up as he was helped by one of his kin. He gazed into the eyes of the one he had been standing alongside only a moment ago.

“D-did we win? Did I do good?” the dragonoid laughed at the male, who rubbed at his head.

“Indeed. You were so brave! Say, about that lake...”

...

Henry stepped into the cave, his eyes locked on the white dragon.

“Ambrosius!”

The dragon recoiled at his voice. “Henry...do not look at me...”

“Enough of this! It’s not your fault!”

“Yes it is!” Ambrosius cried, “If I wasn’t such a fool, so many less would be dead! It is all my fault, I let it happen!”

“You didn’t know.”

“I SHOULD HAVE!” Ambrosius’ voice shook the cavern in a rare display of his power, his emotions running wild.

“...I should have...”

Henry crossed his arms. “It’s alright, Ambrosius. You are our guardian, our protector, our friend...I’ve explained the situation to everyone, they completely understand.”

The dragon shook his head. “No, they must hate me. They trusted me...they will never forgive me.”

“Yes we will.”

A young man stepped into the cave, eyes watering. Ambrosius’ jaw opened in surprise.

“J-Jonathon?”

“That...trickster, that vile sorcerer...killed my father. He wore your skin while he did it, but it was him...NOT you.”

Ambrosius whimpered as he looked down. “B-but...”

“No.” The man was crying now, but he continued, “I don’t forgive you...because there’s nothing to forgive. It wasn’t you. You weren’t even there. You had...absolutely no control over it. You are utterly innocent.”

The dragon shook his head, joining in on the weeping. “O-okay, I get it...you are...correct...it was not me...I...I only wish I could have...helped.”

“You did plenty.”

The dragon’s eyes widened as he heard yet another familiar voice.

“Theodosius?!”

The red dragon grinned. “Come, now. As I look at the true, real you...I find your form possesses such beauty...and a frown spoils it. Put a smile on your face!”

The white dragon looked away, bashful. “Theodosius...”

“We’re all here for you,” Henry said, voice low, “Can’t you see? Everyone understands...you are our guardian...and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ambrosius let out a small laugh as his tears hit the earth below. “My friends...I...I do not deserve such marvelous companions.”

The group knew the truth, however. Those words were hollow, wrong. They all deserved one another, for their friendship was built on trust and kindness. Henry merely smiled and shook his head.

“You’re wrong. You’ve earned it.”

Theodosius laughed as the group huddled close to one another, old memories rekindling their closeness. Though he had no past with these people, he was eager to begin forming memories for the future.

“This looks to be the start of something wondrous, my friend.” Ambrosius looked up at the red dragon. Somehow, after all of this, he came out of this with yet another friend.

“Indeed.”

This tale finally draws to a close! It’s been a blast, but the sorcerer has finally been defeated for good!

Tag list: @thereisnothingwrongwithbeingmad, @lady-redshield-writes, @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword, @sheralynnramsey, @the-true-shadowmaster, @tawnywrites, @writer-on-time, @oceanwriter, @zwergis-spilledink, @fluffpiggy, @elliewritesfantasy, @homesteadhorner, @laurenwastestimewriting

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legend-waitforit-harry · 7 years

Text

Blame this on @hestylesno as she’s the one who sent me this pic from which this concept slew and then this… yeah. Also totally her fault for encouraging me further into it. So here you have it!

Featuring alien!Harry, scientist!Ed and a girl torn between her protective brother and a really beautiful stranger.

Harry has always been curious. Always taking the less traveled path, always peeking inside the haunted house, always eating that one thing his mother asked him not to. He wasn’t a rebel. No, Harry didn’t like to be called so. He was just curious, at times too curious for his own good. And that was everyone’s main concern when like all his other brothers and sisters he was to join the survey ship and take rounds of the neighborhood. Coming of age, it was a ritual for everyone on their planet to know their surroundings, which extended all through the Milky Way. He as a child, as a very very curious child, loved to know about his neighbors. Especially the ones from whom he got his name.

It is an interesting story, because it wasn’t supposed to happen, like most of the things that happened to Harry. He, like all the other children, learned to run before speaking. And running he was when he ended up in the radio centre. To his luck, the chamber was unguarded making our little mop of curls smile bright. With a keen interest in the galaxy, this opportunity was no less than any treat his mother could ever give him. And so he gladly took it. When the men in duty came back they found two stray messages aired in the vacuum of Space and a kid listening into the receiver intently. Now as much as it is a joy to see a child of his age sit so calm and quiet, it is never a good thing to intimate others out there of their presence without thorough research and a number of meetings of the Supremes. So the terror of the scene struck the men immediately as they tried to erase the stray messages and pull the kid off the receiver. But they realized it’s too late when there was a sweet voice coming through it calling for “Harry, Harry! Is that you?” And the little mop of curls bobbed in rhythm with a wide smile as he chanted, “Ha-ry, ha-ry”, his first words.

Those stray messages were never recovered and at last were left at the mercy of the Divine Star. The radio waves he caught on were traced to be from the blue planet, the noisiest planet with the most restless creatures, though nobody dared to reach out for it again. The whole incident became a matter of existential crisis as they hoarded in the craters waiting for the extra terrestrial beings to come invading their mother planet like one of them other ones who totally mistook their hospitality for submission. Thank the stars they were half their size. But this time they had someone else to blame and everyone was furious with this little boy who couldn’t hold on to his curiosity and has to go on endangering everyone’s life. Some said that if the aliens come they’ll trade him for their lives while others just wanted to throw him into the oblivion of Space already. But all he did was sit on his mother’s lap as he kept on chanting his new favorite word, “Ha-ry, Ha-ry”. And after about a year of waiting, when at last the Supremes decided that they were safe, the same people who wanted to trade the kid for their life boasted they knew it all along that they were safe. But none of that actually made his name Harry, except for the fact that he just won’t stop chanting it.

And due to all of this, on the day that the ship on task was about to leave, not only did he get kisses and words of advice from his mother, but also side glances and snarky remarks mixed with desperate pleads from all of the community. The Supremes nearly kept him from boarding but some rules even they couldn’t break. Thus letting Harry reluctantly embark the ship. And as it took off, everyone prayed to the stars to knock some sense into the curious boy and not let their own children die in the process.

But as it was, the stars had something else in store for him.

///

It was dark, too dark for your liking. And the candle melting on your hand didn’t help you much. And neither did your fuming rage. If blowing up the transistor and sucking in the power of the entire village wasn’t enough for your brother, he even had to forget where he left the torch. Cons of having a scientist for a brother you assume. But that doesn’t justify you haunting around the house with a candle like a ghost. And he deserves to know it.

With that thought, you pull down your hair and wrap a white sheet around you as you creep to his mini lab in your backyard with a candle in your hand. Even though he is a scientist and all, he has an active imagination when it comes to these things. And you would also like to think that you’re quite a convincing ghost with your preparations. Though you didn’t plan on the pitch black of the new moon making everything eerie, your own footsteps giving you goose bumps making you mutter all the prayers you know under your breath. But when the bushes behind you rustle and you could hear someone else’s breathing you couldn’t hold it anymore.

“Ed! Ed, I know it’s you.” You call for your brother taking cautious steps towards that corner. “Ed, that’s not funny. At. All.” You say sharply, sounding braver than you feel. But all that bravery drains you when Ed does reply to you, from behind.

“What’s all the ruckus for?” and you jump out of your skin. Turning around to find him at the threshold of his lab with the candles from inside marking his silhouette. “It’s-“

The sudden movement make you both turn to look at the figure emerging from the bushes and a scream instantly leaves both of your mouths soon joined by a third voice. Lifting the candle after you register the fact that the other person is as scared as you. You find a boy of your age, with a mop of curls, shining eyes and a bright red nose. As if on cue, he sneezes and you look down at the flimsy pink night gown he is draped in, which even in the dark you can say belongs to Mrs. Carlson down the street. You burst into a fit of giggle as he rubs his nose, eyes bouncing between the two when your brother at last recovers from the scare. “Whoa, mate! Could have given me a heart attack there. And what’s that you’re wearing?”

You examine the stranger’s confused face and decide that he might still be in shock thus turning around beckoning both inside the house. “I’ll find you proper clothes” you say going inside to dig for something fitting.

“Yeh new here?” Ed asks eying the guy as he looks around still rubbing on his red nose. “What’s your name, mate?” Ed tries again. But their guest just tilts his head staring at the ginger head like he is from another world. “I’m Ed.” He extends a hand which makes the guy recoil before taking it cautiously. Lips part and close as he tries to bring out a word but fails.

“Ha-ry. I’m Ha-ry” he says at last, slowly like he is testing his own voice. And surely he was as he recollected all the things they were taught in preparation for something like this.

“Ah, I thought you’re dumb or something. No offence!” Ed raises his hands in mock surrender.

“Ed, don’t scare him!” you come from inside with arms full of clothes which you dump on the couch. You look up at him smiling as he reciprocates with his own bright smile. Extending his hand, Harry mimics Ed’s previous actions and repeats himself, now with a higher pitch testing his voice.

“Harry!”

You giggle at his sudden surge of excitement introducing yourself. He joins you in as you both laugh with his freezing huge hands wrapped around yours seeking warmth.

But your brother butts in pulling you away. “Now that everyone knows everyone” he says a bit harshly as he stands between the both of you. “What were you doing in our backyard, Ha-ry?”

You look at the confusion clouding his face again, his cheeks pink from the cold. “At least let the guy dress up, will yeh?” You say elbowing Ed aside as you lead Harry to the other room to change.

Though you were less worried about the stranger in your house than fixing up dinner in the dark, Ed won’t stop mumbling things like if he is a thug, a serial killer, a runaway prisoner, a psychopath and his most favorite, an alien. You role your eyes at all of them, and specially the last one, though the fact that you are feeling so at ease about the whole situation itself is a bit disturbing to you.

“We are two. We outnumber him.”

“What if he has a weapon?”

“The guy hardly has clothes, Ed!”

Harry enters the room dumbfound staring at the both of you as you siblings stare back at him trying to calm down from your argument. “Wait, you gave him my clothes?”

“It was either that or Grandpa’s old dress shirts and sweater vests.” You speak taking in the sight of Harry drowned in a yellow sweater with skinny jeans and though the sweater is gigantic for him, the jeans just fit him perfectly. He catches your eye with his eternally confused look, “Huh?” And you think maybe he’d pull off your Grandpa’s clothes too.

“So, quiz time.” Ed claps his hands stepping forward, “Where are you from and what are are you doing here?”

“Ed!” you warn him and he looks back at you ready to defend himself but you beat him to it. “Not everybody is a genius like you. Let the guy be. He clearly looks traumatized enough without you giving him the third degree.”

Ed’s mouth opens ready to give a speech of his own when Harry chirps in, softer than before like he is talking to himself. “Trauma-…genius?”

Though he is just picking up the words trying to make sense about everything, his words comes out as a question which in turn elates Ed giving him a chance to re-introduce himself. “Dr. Ed Sheeran, you must have heard about me. The only one with a doctorate in a hundred miles radius and a thriving astrophysicist on his way to the millennium’s greatest discovery. I won’t have to be giving these introductions once I track those buggers up there” he mutters the last part to himself.

Harry takes his hand recognizing this gesture with another surge of excitement as he congratulates himself at knowing it. But Ed, in his moment of fame, mistakes the excitement as having to do something with his declaration. And his genius mind runs at the speed of light as he puts two and two together. “Are you by any chance one of them young boys pursuing to be in this field?” “What now?” you croak from behind, your mouth stuffed with cheese and crackers.

“Don’t you remember? The boys from the Catholic school, who wanted to get into research instead of living the mundane life of a teacher or a factory worker and then were shunned by their parents?”

“You mean the scandal that accused you of starting a cult? Yeah, sure.” You laugh thinking about the various accusations on your brother just for being different. Your all time favorite being him turning into Frankenstein.

Ed turns to Harry guiltily while Harry just tilts his head giving a nervous smile starting to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, more to the credit of his devoted time with the radio than to his lessons. “So…. Are you?”

Harry looks between both of your awaiting faces and does the only thing he feels natural. Bob his head in a rhythm as he smiles bright. You both let out the breathe you didn’t know you were holding, laughing at the tension that settled in the room. But soon that takes over with Ed’s eagerness as he drags Harry back into the garden shed that he made into his lab, ignoring your calls for dinner. Harry stumbles all the way to the lab, tripping over his gangly human legs as he is pulled into the cramped space. The wooden shack is spacious inside though is crowded with instruments and machines and the rest of the open space covered with research papers. Ed quickly apologizes clearing the papers before going on to explain about the various devices though Harry gets caught with the flickering flame of the candle. He raises his arm to touch it when the power comes on and everything in the room burst into live. A small shriek leaves Harry’s lips, mainly at the surprise of the artificial light though Ed takes it as a scare from his robotic arm. “I’m sorry. That’s Thing.”

Harry gives a quizzical look to Ed which makes him wave his hand in the air. “I know it sounds stupid. But I thought it’d be fun, you know like from the Addams’ family? Mr. Thing T. Thing? I know it’s not very original and all. But-“he switches it on as the hand springs up and waves at Harry. He looks at it confused and mimics the action. “It makes me coffee when I’m working! That little missy in there can be very moody when she wants.”

Harry smiles and nods again but then his eyes lock on the screen over Ed’s shoulder. And as Ed goes on to explain the mechanism of the arm, Harry zones out to the night sky showing on the big screen, with all the stars twinkling on its black canvas. And amongst it all is the one tiny dot that hardly seems any different but means the world to him, literally. His home.

Harry burst into tears soon after seeing his home as a tiny dot, instantly missing his people and feeling guilty of whatever happened. Thinking about how he screwed up yet again and was lost on this strange planet all alone. And the thought of it all was tolling on him. After his break down, without much of talking, you and Ed thought it’s best for him to be tucked in the guest room, only thing being that the guest room wasn’t a guest room but a store room cum library with a mattress. Ed explained to you, what he thought, was an emotional outburst from being overwhelmed to be so close to your dream. And though it did sound very absurd to you, you guess there wasn’t much you understood in this field.

Harry at last stopped sobbing but by then the whole house was silent with slumber. But that didn’t bother Harry as much as the fact that he didn’t know where he was. And in the darkness, without the knowledge of what the Earthlings call ‘electricity’, Harry resolved to use his absorbed solar energy, thanking the Divine Star as always before radiating the light he absorbed then embarking on the journey. The room immediately lit up to be a dusty old storeroom with boxes stacked in one side and cupboards covered in cobwebs but Harry found it all amusing. Being immune to the dust and dirt of this world, he eagerly dug into the boxes despite of the small voice in his head warning him that this might be dangerous, as if he ever listens to that.

Some boxes were less dirty and disheveled, filled with clothes that smelled the same as he was wearing, thus concluding they were procured from there. The others filled with odd little boxes which opened to thinner layers and a lot of tiny drawings scattered on them. Harry being a stranger to this mode of information keeping, didn’t understand the significance of the books he was holding, though he has always been faster in reading than speaking, being the youngest of his species to learn their letters. By the age when others were learning their alphabets, he already moved on to his mother’s literature collection. So even if he didn’t understand the concept of books, he understood the concept of reading and by the time the sun came up he was done rummaging through most of the books there, gaining enough knowledge to address a roomful of university students the Theory of relativity and at least explaining Shakespeare’s sonnets to a high school class.

The next day, Harry, though quite, seemed to be very fluid as he adjusted easily into your routine. He did his dishes after breakfast, cleaned up the guest room before taking a bath and was outright polite around you both, excusing the fact that you found him lying on the roof early in the morning. And though Harry easily pleased you with his polite but quite demeanor, Ed didn’t think so when Harry was taken to work.

“Can you not-“Ed has to rush around each time when he looks up to see Harry fiddling with a machine, his voice raising immediately making Harry jump a foot high. “-touch that please. The wiring is very delicate.” He finishes in a more calm tone once the tool is in his hands. But it is repeated all over again and again as Harry couldn’t keep his grabby hands to himself.

At last Ed makes Harry do the regulation of the radio waves instead of demonstrating them himself, knowing that this kid of a man couldn’t sit still until kept occupied. But to Ed’s surprise Harry is in fact an expert at radio communication tuning it in the accurate angle to acquire the right frequency at the first trial, something which even Ed has not mastered yet (he should have just hired an astro-radiologist). When the radio livens with the heavenly sound of cosmic blur Ed couldn’t stop from hugging the life out of Harry as he announces him in-charge of the radio and the best apprentice ever! (Which was pointless considering the only other assistant he ever had was you though you never agreed on anything like that)

Ed rambles a lot of half finished sentences trying to pick up his lecture from last night but getting distracted with his calculations every now and then. More often than none, he gets so engrossed in his research that he forgets to even straighten his back, let alone get out of the shack. But Harry doesn’t mind as he tries to focus and grab the waves from his vessel or his planet, whichever comes first. But it seems like a harder task than what he just did for Ed as the equipment given to him are way outdated than the ones he had back at home, at last these were running on ‘electricity’.

Truth be spoken, Harry was banned from the radio centre, or anywhere near it after the first incident. No one with sound mind would let him in that area and it killed Harry from inside because he didn’t have a good relationship with closed doors for obvious reasons. And with his petulant whining and pleads he landed with a radio receiver of his own, specially designed for him with only and only the facility of receiving waves and his family has never known silence since then.

But Harry couldn’t be more grateful about landing here out of all the places. He didn’t know much about the rest of the humankind but he knew for sure that Ed was one of a kind. And with his obsession with, indirectly, Harry’s life gave him a strange kind of security. He just felt assured that this is the best place he could be right now. So, all he focused at the moment was to find his ship.

When the sun set, you had to practically drag them both out by the collar for dinner when you stepped in the dark lab to switch on the lights, which obviously both of them couldn’t bother to do themselves. Ed couldn’t stop gushing about how Harry was so handy with the radio and all his new hypothesis though you couldn’t care less.

“I had to go around apologizing on your behalf again. The grocers said nobody would sell us anything if there’s another power cut because of you.” You lean on the counter trying to act stern though you have to hold your laugh when Harry gets cross eyed examining an egg like it was a dinosaur’s instead of a chicken’s.

“Those ignorant brats, they are! They’ll all be scattering around us for a piece of me once I’m done with this project.”

You sigh letting your chin drop. He is always so sure about his work but it has been years and there is just no progress and-

“Hey, you! Don’t get all sad on me. You do believe that I will get it through, right?” Ed stands by you squeezing your arm in assurance and you have to nod, at least for his sake. “I’ll prove that extra terrestrial life exists and all these are not just myths. And then NASA will be begging me to join them and then these people will miss us to bits. I’ll never let you and Professor Enoch down. He spent his whole life doing this, can’t let it waste now, can we?” he says chucking under your chin and you nod again with a bit more assurance though you doubt if it’s convincing. But you didn’t get to worry much as there is a cracking sound behind you and you turn around to see Harry’s cheek dripping with the egg yolk.

///

It is quite surprising how a third person fit in the small world of you both. Ed eases into the idea of having an apprentice and often in their breaks, you’d find them on your ragged couch sipping on tea with Ed rambling how penguins have individualistic sounds to recognize each other or how George Reeves is the best Superman ever(!) And Harry filling in a few words here and there in his slow drawling voice, which doesn’t only keep Ed occupied but also entertains you when Harry would take a break after seeing nothing but spots in front of his eyes from focusing on the screen for too long. You also love how Harry actually listens and even more how he takes pauses between words like every word he says has been delicately constructed just for you and how he gets animated with his hands and eyes when he tries really hard to explain something. And it gets even more interesting when he stumbles upon your Grandma’s stashed gypsy jewels and now more than often his lanky fingers adorned with gypsy rings are flashed all over your face.

Harry has also taken more of a liking to your dad’s shirts, not that you mind. And anyway, when he asks for kale juice in McDonald's, his exotic dressing sense is the last thing you’re worried about.

“You should hang out less with my brother. He is getting in your head.” You say sipping on your chocolate shake.

Harry just tilts his head frowning at you and you let out an exasperated sigh.

“He has adopted these strange things over the time. At least, now he isn’t eating his apples with ketchup.” You cringe a bit with the thought.

“And….. that’s weird?” Harry’s genuine confusion nearly makes you spill your drink.

But that never stopped you from dragging Harry along with you whenever you got a chance to. With your friends gone to uni and spending hours of looming around the empty house, it was good to have company. Though to no one’s surprise that led Ed to take over his brotherly duties of tormenting Harry each time he’d be around you. Like the time Harry was explaining you evidences of the existence of Atlantis (which vaguely sounded like a Vernian thesis your Granddad owned) while you were doing laundry in the basement and Ed busted in dragging a very confused Harry claiming that he really needs a tea break though he already took one not even fifteen minutes ago, leaving you to roll your eyes.

But anyhow, you know Ed loves him to bits. May it be the time you walked in the lab to see them subconsciously coordinating into a routine like an old married couple or when you trudge by the living room at midnight, sleepy and thirsty, to find them drunk and teary watching Downtown Abbey.

And if you still had your doubts, it vanished the night you three decided to binge watch movies. And you obviously insist on horror movies not only because you know full well that Ed is an easy scare but also because Harry starts boasting that it couldn’t make him flinch (though in reality he had no idea what a horror movie is) and you want to test his words. And true to his words you find him giggling away half way through the movie, but soon you join in as you notice that Ed sitting between the both of you is jumping at every little thing happening in the movie. But then your eyes meet behind Ed’s back and a devilish grin pull at your lips as he catches on your thoughts and reflects your grin.

You hold up your hand counting backwards from three and Harry mouths the numbers as you both pounce on Ed shrieking at the end scaring the daylights out of him. Even his red face and ragged breath and gushed cusses couldn’t stop you from literally rolling on the floor laughing. Making Ed dump all the pop corn on you both and vanishing into his room.

Though, overnight guilt takes over you and the first thing you want to do the next morning is apologize to your brother, except for he is not in any of his usual places. And worried you enter Harry’s room to wake him up when you find a sleeping Ed cuddling his pillow with a mouthful of Harry’s hair with one of Harry’s arm thrown across him as if he is protecting Ed from all those ghosts in his dream. The scene is so endearing that you’d have just stood there cooing at them all day but then again you had to take a photo to torment them both later.

It’s good to see Ed at last opening to someone after being a recluse for years following the demise of his mentor, Professor Enoch. He always was a misfit, with his red head and spindly limbs, and would be pushed around by the other guys. That was until he met Prof. Enoch, who also happened to be your Granddad’s best friend, and all of a sudden everything fell into place. With the telescope he got for his tenth birthday and books about stars and galaxies crowding his shelf, Ed became a favourite of Professor Enoch. And that was the first time he felt like he belonged somewhere. But the thing with them just so happened to be that both gave in to social isolation locking themselves in the Professor’s mansion for days on end and nobody would know what they were up to. And that’s why it hit him hard after the Professor’s death and Ed again confined himself, this time, to his make shift lab.

So after months of seeing your brother shut himself off, when the other day you went to the market without knowing that there were whiskers drawn on your face, you couldn’t be really angry on the red faced giggling duo of Harry and Ed. At least seeing him easing around someone, even at your own cost, it’s worth it. And just the fact that Harry spent the rest of the evening following you like a kitten and apologizing with a little pout wasn’t helping your anger either.

On the other hand, Harry is having a blast. To his great pleasure, he has learned a lot of new things. Starting with speaking skills to better ways of cracking an egg rather than to slap it on his face, though he still struggles with the idea of electricity and where in space Krypton is. But by far the best thing is the food. It’s all so different that he couldn’t have enough of it and that makes him utterly thankful for the metamorphosis adaptation enabling him to enjoy it all. Though when he tried the shorter green leaves from the lawn when the ones inside finished, all hell broke as you went off on Ed for starving your guest to madness.

And to think about it, you weren’t that far off with your accusations. Since just the other night, Ed was so engrossed that they completely forgot about dinner and Harry would have not noticed either if it weren’t for his grumbling stomach, which by now he has learned is his human body’s way of reminding him to eat. But with Ed busy and you asleep, he helplessly wanders in the kitchen sniffing every bottle and jar trying to find one of those things that you people make him to eat. And then he realizes that for the first time in his life he actually didn’t dig in and thus has no idea about cooking. But it seems that his luck was with him as you walk out drowned in a night shirt and PJs with printed cheese and bananas all over, making his stomach growl even louder which makes you chuckle knuckling at your sleep ridden eyes.

“Hungry, Harry?”

And he just stands nodding at you as you turn to the fridge to take out the frozen soup that you had for dinner. But by the time you prepare to heat it, you look up to find Harry licking off sugar syrup off his fingers.

“What are you doing?” You narrow your eyes at him with a smile creeping on your lips and he stops mid lick looking at you like a deer in the headlight. The sight makes you burst out laughing. He is about to scratch his head in embarrassment before remembering about the syrup on his fingers and you both cringe at the thought of what could have happened and then break into laughter again. Mid-laugh it strikes you and you switch off the heat turning to him with wide eyes as if you’re conspiring something and as always he is all ears for any and all of your conspiracies.

“Do you have a sweet tooth, Harry?” He tilts his head blinking at you for a while before deciding that agreeing would be the best way to go and he nods.

With that innocent look on his face, you feel wicked to pull out the bottom drawer and reveal your secret stash of chocolates. But it does not feel all that wicked when Harry looks into it with wild eyes as if you have just lit the Christmas tree. Picking a Hershey’s bar you give it to him as you pick a kit Kat and lift yourself on the counter with your legs dangling. Harry leans on the closed fridge door carefully unwrapping the bar and your eyes fix on the curls falling over his eyes and the shadow of his cheekbones lit by the dim light of the hall.

Your concentration is broken by a long moan as Harry tilts his head back with the first bite of the chocolate. A chuckle slips out of your lips and Harry looks back at you even more embarrassed now and immediately the guilt of laughing at him hits you.

“How long has it been since you last had a chocolate, Harry?”

“Too long.” He lies through his teeth.

“Strict parents?” And Harry nods without even thinking as he takes another bite.

“Our Mom was also strict about sugar in the house. Chocolates were only for Halloween. But dad was cool with it. He is the one who’d encourage us to have a secret stash, guess I’m stuck with the habit.”

“Where are they?” Harry asks with a frown stopping mid-bite. But when you hesitate he retracts. “You don’t-“

“Oh, no. It’s fine. We just don’t talk about them anymore.” You shrug, your chocolate long forgotten. “Our parents died in an accident when we were in our teens. But we didn’t know them very well anyway. Mum had a traveling job and dad traveled with her. To be honest, I don’t remember much from the time when we used to live together.”

Harry frowns at you with disbelief and you wonder if he is really close to his family.

“Do you miss them?”

And now it’s you frowning as you think back to the time when you last thought about them. “I think so, sometimes. I was really young when we were together. I remember at that time, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I’d say ‘my dad’. And my mum hated it. My dad was a writer, would sit at home all day surrounded by crumpled paper and ink stains all over him. His mind was always in a different world, always lost, a bit slow to catch on things but had the wittiest comebacks when he actually listens. I just… don’t know why I said it. Maybe it was just that, you know? To be able to lose yourself in a different head-space. Now I know why Mum hated me for saying that, I mean, she’s one of the strongest and the most ambitious women this small town has ever seen. Well, guess where Ed got his determination from?” You let out a breathy chuckle looking at Harry, but he is still frowning, listening to you intently, so you continue. “And dad on the other hand was just…. Nice, you know? Quite, always polite and… he was in fact the nicest person I have ever known. I think somewhere I still want to be like him.”

And you run out of words. This is a revelation to you as well as you think back to what you just said. You didn’t know how much you actually missed them or how much you remembered, but talking about it aloud brought back all the feelings and it is like your father is right there in the room with you.

“You’re nice too.”

Harry chirps in your thought train and you give him a wide smile. “Aw, you’re not bad yourself Harry.” You say patting him on the shoulder as you get off the counter heading to your room stowing away the intact kit kat back in its place.

“Thank you.”

You look back to see Harry watching you with soft eyes and a small smile and then at the half eaten chocolate in his hand. “It’s cool. You can grab one anytime you feel like. Just don’t tell Ed, I don’t share my secret stash with him, that’s why it’s a secret.” You end with a wink. But Harry just shakes his head.

“No, I mean everything. Thank you for everything.”

This makes you stop and stare at him for a while. His warm smile, glowing eyes and just… him. He feels so familiar but then again maybe it’s just memories fogging your emotions.

You nod with a small smile tugging at your lips as you turn to head back again.

“Good night, Harry.”

///

Between working with Ed and hanging out with you, Harry doesn’t regret much about all the mistakes that has led him to here. He would miss home, true. But in those times you’d hand him a glass of hot chocolate (he can never have enough of that) and start blabbering some anecdotes from your childhood to ease him which would inevitably lead to Harry teasing and cracking really bad jokes about it. And at last you decided to just stick to Ed’s embarrassing stories instead of yours (which you learned the hard way after bringing up the story where you accidently killed a spider when you were 7 and were scared for days thinking the giant mother spider will come to eat you and Harry, being the sweetheart he is, took it upon himself to scream “SPIDER!!!” pointing at your feet when you’re mid step often ending up with you falling on your ass). But he did appreciate it, the way you would rub his back when he was particularly feeling low and sad or just tired when your brother exhausted him by being the workaholic he is. He loved it how you would stay up late at night saying that you are reading a book or binge watching a show when you’re actually waiting for them and to remind them to have sufficient amount of sleep. And at those times, how your lashes would stick together refusing to open your eyes and you rub your eyes sighing (because you obviously cannot yawn when you said you’re not sleepy). And how you would leave sticky notes all over the house threatening them to take care of themselves and not burn the house down while you’re away.

But there is also something bothering him, the things he can’t explain. Like that small flutter in his chest when you’d smile at the ground thinking about something and when you cringed your nose when he cracked a joke, though he knows you like it and you’re suppressing a smile, and the way you look at him when he is talking even when he can’t remember the right words. And that flip in his stomach when you laughed at something he said wrong about some Earthling thing about society (why is everything so confusing here?) and then you would patiently correct him when it is not completely absurd, and if it is utterly absurd, that would earn him a slap to his chest and narrow eyes. And the sudden feeling of burning up when you would give him a sly smile and a wink when you both teamed up against Ed in a joke. Or the need to hold on to you when you would hug and his hands would trace over the soft bumps and curves of your body or when you rested your head on his shoulder after a long day and would nuzzle against his neck. And to add on, he couldn’t find a remedy in all of those books which was driving him crazy.

Not that Ed helps either. With his brotherly instincts kicking in, he just stands there throwing daggers at Harry when you both are giggling away at some inside joke. And more often than none he’d come in dragging Harry because “What if our brothers up there are calling us and we’re not there to pick up the damn phone!”

So Harry is just on his own in this one.

///

Ed has eventually relaxes around him over the time and trusts him with the lab and maybe even more. Harry has picked up on your habits and often takes on your job to remind Ed to eat in time and sometimes to even take pee breaks (because Ed is just so engrossed). He has taken Ed to be like a brother he never had. Where in his planet he never fitted in, with his long history of mishaps and different, often daring, thinking left him with no friends, here Ed didn’t care much about his mistakes and surely appreciated his thinking, especially when it was proving to be beneficiary to both of them.

And though he has always been a workaholic, breaks with Harry were surely becoming one of his favourite things. Usually in his breaks he’d opt to do some mindless TV surfing with a cheese steak and some beer, but Harry surely adds spice to his mundane routine. It turns out Harry was not very acquainted with any TV series or movies, which was strange since his knowledge of music wasn’t only varied but dated over decades (thanks to his radio). So, you and Ed took upon yourselves to update him with all your favourite things, starting from the superhero movies since Harry couldn’t shut up about Krypton (though Ed thought he was only ribbing him). But somehow they end up watching Before Sunrise with beer and nachos at their disposal.

“You know, this movie broke my heart for the first time.”

Harry didn’t know he was smiling at the screen until he turned to Ed with a frown. “What? How?”

“I mean, not the movie. Because of this movie. This point” he says pointing towards the screen with his beer bottle as they hop off the train in the movie, “where he says that ‘think of this as time traveling’ and I thought, you know I don’t want to have to do that. And I… had this girl in my class who was always my lab partner and she won’t do a thing and I’d do the whole thing and at the end she’d thank me with a smile and that’d be enough for me.” Harry chuckles shaking his head at Ed which Ed mimics, “Yeah, I was pretty whipped for her. So anyway, after I watched this I was like, what is the worst thing that could happen anyway? And now I can safely say that spaghetti stains on my favourite Heisenberg t-shirt was so not worth it.”

Harry burst out laughing with crinkles forming by his eyes and Ed just sat there shaking at himself.

“You know, I just realized you have never said anything about your childhood. You’re living with us and I don’t know a thing about you.”

Harry’s smile slid down his face as he thought back to the big secret that he is holding. He really wanted to spill the truth already trusting you both enough now. And the thought of tonight being the night makes his insides gooey.

“What do you wanna know?” he asks with a straight face, still considering if he should tell Ed about him already.

“How about…. Tell me how you got into this field, for starters?”

He had to squint his eyes considering the question. It’s not like he lied about that before, he has surely always been into this even back at home. But he doesn’t remember how it all started.

“I think… I was very young. My mum would tell me stories about people from faraway land as bedtime story and I just… wanted it all.” He ends with a shrug. That wasn’t hard, neither a complete lie. He does remember her telling those stories, though it was mostly because he urged her to.

“Your mom sounds very cool, Harry.”

Harry smiles thinking about her starting to miss her again but then he notices Ed’s face fall and his mind goes back to the story you told him a long time ago and he knew he somehow had to bring that smile back.

“You know once, I stayed up all night to see where the sun goes.” Harry said looking at Ed nudging him with his socked feet that lay upon the coffee table beside Ed’s. Ed looks up to him with a questioning look. “And then it dawned on me.”

“Was that a joke, Harry?” Ed narrows his eyes as Harry stares at him with wide eyes holding his breath. And Ed couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh shaking his head because it is just like Harry to say something like that and Harry joins in.

“I have another one!”

“No!”

“This one’s good, I swear. Okay, how do you know the moon is going broke?”

“It’s down to its last quarter.” Ed says with a smile already pulling on his lips.

“You knew that already!”

“It wasn’t funny anyway!” But he was still laughing as Harry whined and pouted.

And surely Harry was much more useful than just to crack really bad jokes when he is piss drunk (or not). And it all came to a result when one evening the radio starts beeping and all his gadgets blurring the red light. Ed and Harry jump to their feet looking at each other with matching expressions. They did it! At last they got something in return, they don’t know what yet but they did!

Both the lads couldn’t help but launch on each other with a tight grip jumping around in victory when the beeping increased to a shrill sound and they released each other looking around.

The heat meter was going mad, Ed noticed and turned to tell that to Harry but he was already heading to record the signals that made them dance to their victory.

“Good thinking, mate! But you should really-“

Ed leaned in beside Harry looking at the screen with it’s ECG like marking when the whole system blew off due to overheating. You entered on time to see their darkened ashen faces staring at you with matching pouts and hair stood on attention. And you barked out in laughter. That is until the lights went off with a distant burst.

“EDDD!”

///

You were pissed off, no doubt. No matter how many times Ed apologized for blowing out the transmitter, again. He knew that you were so pissed that he even made Harry apologize to you with all his charm and “we’re so sorry, love. To make the current a history.”

But all the charm and jokes couldn’t have persuaded you, especially since you were the one who went out to the city for about everything and were answerable for all their acts. You warned them and they had to learn soon.

And that’s how the socially awkward duo found themselves walking to the market the next day. Ed remembers your outburst from the last time he blew the electricity and he totally gets it. With the side glances and whispers storming around him, he can feel the heat raising his neck already. This was most probably the best way to punish him.

And if that wasn’t enough, the first shop that Ed goes to, just to hide from others, turns out to be Steve’s. The same Steve who in school used to hide Ed’s books and call him names and pull ridiculous pranks on. And the smirk that pulls on his lips tells that he hasn’t changed much.

“Look, who do we have here? The crazy scientist and… who’s this? His lab rat?” Ed gulps cowering into himself, memories from his childhood flashing in front of his eyes.

Harry looks at Steve then Ed and then back at Steve. “He’s not crazy! Don’t look at him like that!” ‘Cause how dare someone look like that at his human?

“Harry, don’t.” Ed mutters trying to keep Harry from pouncing at Steve already which just agitates the bully more.

“Oh, so have you got yourself a boyfriend here, ginger? Is he the alien that you’ve been waiting your whole life for? You really had to summon someone from the another planet ‘cause you couldn’t get any on this, didn’t you?”

And that was what triggered Harry because no one should ever put anyone down for their passion, and this was Ed we were talking about.

With all his concentration Harry had to pull that one trick that he hoped he’d never had to, the heat of the Divine Star that he had absorbed that morning focusing on his target to form a laser like beam. To be honest it’s more like a magnifying glass focusing the sunlight at a point but it’s enough to burn and burn it does as Steve feels the heat on his head with the smell of burning hair overpowering his senses. His hand immediately clutched his head holding on the wrinkling hair patch as Ed laughs out at his plight despite of not understanding it. And soon the rest of the crowd that gathered around starts laughing at Steve’s misery as Harry and Ed moves on with the shopping taking advantage of the shifted attention.

“Thank you for standing up for me, mate.” Ed says to the ground on their way back. Harry shrugged not thinking much of it. “No, I seriously mean it. I’ve never had a friend, so it’s nice to have someone by your side, you know.”

Ed looks up at Harry when he nods urging him to go on. “I’ve spend my entire lifetime dreaming this one dream that I never got to really live, you know. And I don’t regret that! But yeah, it’s nice to have someone.”

“You spend your whole life on this one project?”

Ed nods looking out in the distant like he can look back at the small kid with specs bigger than his face drowning in books heavier than him. “I’ve been curious about the universe since ever. But when I learned the possibilities of life outside the Earth, it got me even more excited. I think it was partly because I felt like I didn’t fit here and maybe… That makes Steve right, doesn’t it?” His laugh was empty and it saddened Harry. But he couldn’t do much then bump his shoulder against Ed’s and that was enough to earn him a smile.

“Why are you so sure that there is anyone there?” Harry asked again changing the topic. And it did wonders as Ed looked at him with a smirk of his own.

“Can I let you in on a secret?”

Harry frowns at that, his stomach flopping in a not so good way. But he leans in anyway, all ears.

“So I was living with my Professor, yeah? We were doing really well on this one project, it wasn’t a big deal. Just some model radio thingy. It wasn’t even supposed to work as an astro radio, you know, like the one we have back in the lab. It was more for the microscopic range. But one night it just started beeping all strange. The maid thought it was possessed. Turns out it caught some signals, which was strange since it didn’t work properly. And it didn’t, not at least like it was supposed to. Instead it caught radio signals of macroscopic scale and we found two different records. Now we never deciphered them, so it wasn’t really viable officially. But we knew it was from them and that’s why I just need to get them again this time around and decipher it. If we have a record to present later, no one can discard that!”

All through that, Harry thinks he might have an inkling of what Ed is on about. But he refuses to believe that his childish mistake can shape out someone’s entire life, so he pushes that thought back in his mind and grabs at everything else.

“So if you were to find someone out there you’d befriend them?” Harry asks to distract though he also wants to test the water if he can at last reveal his identity. He has been itching to do so every time he realizes just how much he has come to adore the both of you.

Ed bursts into laughter that sparks hope in Harry before Ed continues, “yeah sure. Once I dissect them to see what all the buzz is about” and that makes Harry freeze.

///

With the whole system blown off, there wasn’t much to do in the lab for them. But Ed was determined on getting it fixed as soon as possible to check if the signals that they got yesterday could be retrieved at all. And as much as Harry wanted to help, he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Ed after his intention of cutting an alien into pieces. Even the thought makes Harry shiver. And miss home. So he heads out to his favourite secret spot (as he had to sneak out every time after the first time he got caught), the roof.

He laid there, his limbs sprawling out as he stared at the stars above, naming all of them thinking back to their atmosphere and the people out there. But mostly, that one small star that looks like it forgets to twinkle, the place that he calls home. He is just about to get teary eyed when you find him. Clearing your throat you announce your arrival and he nearly tumbles off the slant. And though he feels like he could have died with a heart attack, the sound of your laughter eases the pain a bit and a soft smile settles on his lips.

He helps you out to lie on the roof as well, staring at the sky without saying anything. And he wonders what you think of the tiny star that is his world. But before he could say anything you start.

“Thanks… for what you did today. Ed told me. He’s really happy to have you here, you know?”

“I know.” Harry replies on autopilot though he can hear the warmth of your gratitude.

“You’re like the brother he never had and he’s really grateful for it.” Your words make Harry soften from his previously rough mood and he wants to tell you that he is grateful too, to have you both.

“So am I.” But you beat him to it as you turn your head to see Harry looking at you from your side where he is laying.

Harry opens his mouth and closes, words barely forming. And you couldn’t help but stare at those lips thinking how soft they would feel on you.

“I am grateful for you lot too. I never really had friends.” And Harry turns back to look at the sky. You sigh shaking your head lightly laughing at your own thoughts.

“I did. Loads of them. But now here I am, stuck with two dorks.”

Harry chuckles before saying, “What happened to them?”

You sigh, unknowingly playing with your hair. “Nothing. After school everyone moved to uni and nobody remembers the girl left behind with her excuse of a gap year to take care of her up-to-no-good brother”

You laugh again as you say that though Harry is frowning at you. “Really?”

You at last catch on what he is saying, “uh no. I mean, I didn’t just stay back because of him, of course. I didn’t even know what I’d major in. Growing up I’ve seen Ed and…. He has always been so ambitious. He always knew what he wants from life. Me on the other hand, I have no idea. I couldn’t even decide on my major.”

“Maybe you can become a writer… with all your crazy stories about giant spiders.”

That earns him a slap to his chest making him chuckle. The vibrations in his chest forming a sweet hum under your fingertips and you leave your hand there.

“Yeah, right. After staying with my brother for so long the only thing I’d be able to write about is alien invasions.”

“That’d be great too!” he exclaims with a spark zipping through him.

But you dismiss it with a “Nah, that’s overdone.” He falls back.

He is just about to start whining that if you don’t show them as invading but just visiting with warm hugs and treats that’ll make it more interesting (and realistic), when you call his name softly. He’d have thought it is just the wind but he can feel you tense up beside him, your words just sitting at the tip of your tongue.

“Do you think anybody’s really out there?” you ask just above a whisper.

You know that’s a stupid question to ask him since he is also working towards the same goals as your brother. But you need to know what he thinks. So you hold your breath.

“Why, yes! Of course.” He says after a dramatic pause. And his declaration knocks the air out of you and makes you look up at him with wide eyes.

“Who, Harry?” you say quietly as if the air around you is fragile and might break if you speak any louder.

But Harry doesn’t seem to care about any fragility as he sits up and makes a gesture that was too fast for you to follow. You sit straight and lean closer to examine his clasped hands that he is offering you. And when he opens his palms slowly there is a small yellow light sitting right in the middle.

“This little fella.” He says softly as the firefly lifts up from his hand lighting up both of your faces as you both look at his blooming and dimming tail as he flies off.

As the light gets distant your eyes fall back on Harry and you can feel your blush creep on your face when you see his eyes trained on your lips. His smile wavers, just a bit, when he looks up at you to see that he is caught. But then ever so cheeky, he just licks his lips and smirks at you melting something inside you.

You don’t even realize you’re leaning in until you feel his breath hit on your Cupid’s bow and you close your eyes. And right then, you hear Ed’s voice bellowing from downstairs calling for Harry, just the perfect timing. You internally groan as Harry helps you off the roof and you pretend to not notice the slight tremor in his structure.

///

You and Harry stand facing a very red faced Ed sitting stupefied in front of his monitor thingy. In the clouding confusion, you want to ask him what’s up when you notice that he isn’t even looking at you. Following his line of vision, you look at a very timid Harry, equally red faced though evidently for a very different reason. On instinct you step towards Ed trying to defend Harry for whatever it is that is brewing between them when Ed speaks up in an accusing tone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Harry gulps. He knew. He obviously knew! He knew it since the time he got the signal; it was his ship contacting him. They were coming they said. And that’s why he was more interested in reading the rest of the message rather than manage the overheating machines. But he never got to read it completely and from then he is just counting the time that he has left with you two.

And apparently, Ed has not only fixed the system but retrieved and deciphered the message as well.

“I wanted to.”

“What’s going on, guys?”

“Why didn’t you?” If Ed were a cartoon, there’d be steam above his head. And you’ve never seen him like this. But the part that breaks your heart is the teary eyed Harry who is choking on his words as he tries to explain.

“I wanted to! I just… you were about to dissect me.”

“How could you think like that, you fool! You’re like my brother. I’d never. But I don’t think I mattered at all anyway. This whole time you were just using us to get back, weren’t you?”

“GUYS! Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

You stand between them looking at both of them with bewildered eyes. Your stomach knotting fearing the unknown.

“Ask him.” Ed says looking away. And you turn towards Harry who couldn’t meet your eyes either.

After a few seconds pass by Harry starts with his voice shaking. “I didn’t come from that village you thought I did… I don’t even remember what was the name you said. But… I just didn’t know what to say at the time. I couldn’t just trust anybody… and I was scared. I mean… it is normal to be scared if you end up all alone on a different planet, right?”

Harry looks at you with red rimmed bleary eyes when you gasp in realization and disbelief.

“I was so so so scared. It was all my fault. I wanted to look closer so I got my cousins to fly the ship lower and lower. And then I was peeping out though we were never supposed to be this close to any planet without instructions. And I just… I think I miscalculated the force of gravity of Earth. I fell and everyone panicked and they kinda… left me. I mean, it was just my cousins actually, the elders didn’t even know, or else they’d never let us so close in the first place.”

“And it was so dark and after the metamorphosis, humans are really weak, no offense. I couldn’t see in the dark and it was freezing and I… was all alone. I don’t think I’d have survived if it weren’t for you guys. But I was just scared…. And by the time I got used to you, I didn’t know how you’d take it. So, I just waited.”

“Waited for?” You couldn’t stop yourself before asking.

“For you to find out.” He shrugged though he was anything but non chalant.

Harry’s eyes lingered on the both of you. A shocked you and an angry Ed, and he could feel another wave of fresh tears forming in his eyes and Ed chuckled dryly.

“And we did! Cheers mate.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry begged but you looked away.

You couldn’t let his big eyes, pout and broken voice get to you right now when you had a crisis in hand to handle. You looked at Ed who was already on his machine working something and you had an inkling of what it might be.

“What now?” Your question comes in a sharp breath, though you don’t feel as in control as you sound.

Ed sigh running his hands over his face and you couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling right. You ignored the blabbering mess that Harry has reduced to as Ed frowns down at his equipment.

“I can try sending them a message telling them where to find us.”

He breathes out and your heart swells with pride for your brother as Harry stands still realizing that Ed indeed would help him out despite his personal feelings.

“You… You will do that for me?”

“I don’t know what you thought of me, mate. But I can never cause you any harm.”

You hold on to Ed’s arm feeling his anger pulsing under his skin.

“I… I really didn’t want to hurt you. Trust me.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Harry. The point is you never trusted us!” And your grip on him tightens with your own heart breaking at the thought.

“I don’t want to leave like this.” His voice watery as he looks at the both of you with pleading eyes.

Ed looks at you for a second and you, for the first time this whole evening, notice that it wasn’t anger at all that was coursing through him, but sadness.

“Then don’t leave.” Ed whispers looking at Harry that makes him gasp with a sob. And before you could blink, Harry launches himself on Ed enveloping him in a bear hug and Ed reciprocates as you see his face reddening with his own eyes brimming with tears.

You wait beside them grasping your chest as the impending farewell dawns upon you as well. But you don’t get to shed a tear as Ed looks at you from the side and invites you in their hug. You’re all a teary mess when there is a loud chaos outside.

You break away first to look at the home made analog clock sitting on the shelf.

“I’ll go look what’s happening, you both get working on the message.”

The words coming out of your mouth wilts something in you but Harry already knows that as he reaches up for your hand squeezes it and you offer him a small smile before you can break down already.

The noises from outside gets louder as Ed clears his throat getting your attention and lifts his chin directing you and you couldn’t help but roll his eyes at him.

It turns out that the noises were only getting louder because it was the whole village heading towards your house with torches and what seems like sticks and weapons and you shiver to your bones. It won’t have threatened you as much as it does if it weren’t the incoherent chants about your brother and his alien friend. You don’t know how they’d know if you both found out just right now. But then the crowd was led by Steve and you never expected him to follow logic anyway so it didn’t matter. You bolted across the house locking all doors and windows before heading back to warn the guys. But Steve already spotted you.

“Tell your brother his secret is out. You cannot hide that thing out here forever.”

You keep on reminding yourself that you don’t need to listen to him and your top priority right now is Harry and your brother’s safety but Steve always brought the worst out of you.

“If anything that should be hidden is your ugly mug.” You spat out.

“Always the feisty one, aren’t you? Go get that creature and hand him over to us or we’re burning down the house.”

You were done taking threats and you head out right to the front yard facing the crowd, staring down at their leader who was double your size.

“Try stepping into my Granddad’s house and see who’s the one burning into flames.”

This agitates the crowd into a chaos making Steve sneer at your helplessness as you are outnumbered. But you don’t care as long as you get to land a few on his smug face but you stop when your hear our name being called out from behind you and you turn to see Ed and Harry looking at the crowd.

“There is that pest. Get him!”

Ed grabs Harry’s hand and pulls him towards the forest though Harry’s eyes are trained on you as you try to ward off the crowd unsuccessfully. When at last you realize that you were clearly outnumbered and you couldn’t save them, you head towards the other way into the forest where they disappeared.

You can hear some people following you as well and you try to outrun them by taking the rough route that you are used to since your childhood. Anything that keeps them off Harry and Ed’s tail. And you are successful until you hear others through the woods and you don’t know where they are.

You stop to catch your breath and look back trying to locate the noises. Until someone bumps into you from the back and you turn around to see Ed about to scream and you have to clamp his mouth before he can.

“Ugh disgusting” you remove your hand when you could feel Ed’s tongue graze your hand and clean it on your cloth. He mutters an apology before looking up to watch the crowd on the other side who were still looking for them.

“Now what?”

“I have an idea.” Harry mutters before focusing on the opposite way.

“What are you on about?” Ed asks frustrated, fixing the strap of the bag that he is carrying.

But before Harry could reply the woods where he was looking at starts crackling and smoke fills the air. You watch the trees catch fire as Ed turns to Harry in awe, “Wow that was you?”

Harry shrugs, “I’ll teach yeh that the next time.”

“Wait; is that what you did to Steve in the market today?” Ed looks at Harry suspiciously. “We should go! We’ll be late!” Harry says with wide eyes as if he just got caught red handed.

“Wait, what?!” You ask totally lost on what the guys are talking about but you don’t get to ponder upon as the people on the other side notice the fire and erupt into shrieks followed by instructions.

Ed leads the way as Harry pushes your shoulder slightly in the direction to distract you from staring at the blazing forest fire and the people across it.

“Let’s go.”

///

You have no idea where you are heading as Ed leads the way and you reach a clearing. You people at last stop as Ed looks at his watch.

“They must be here anytime now.”

“Not so soon, bugger.”

You watch in terror as Steve crawls out of the woods drenched in water and out of breath. You look behind him but can’t see or hear anyone else. Relief washes over you as you check nobody was following him but not for long as you watch him head towards Harry with anger burning in his eyes.

“Do not go near him.” Ed threatens standing in front of Harry.

Steve’s eyes flicker between the both before bursting into laughter. “Or what? You’re gonna throw a punch, Edward?”

And you prepare to step up before you watch Ed pull back his arms.

“Oh piss off!” and with that he actually throws a punch knocking Steve out.

Ed stands there surprised by his own strength clasping his bleeding fist as Harry and you throw your arms around him in congratulatory hug.

Your shrieks of rejoice are soon overpowered by a strengthening breeze and increasing buzz from above as you turn around to watch the distant light growing brighter.

Ed turns to Harry, his arm around his neck as he squeezes his shoulder.

“You’re going home.”

Harry couldn’t help but bury his face on Ed’s shoulder with a silent “I’ll miss you.”

“yeah, right. Obviously you will. Who else will argue with you about penguins and octopus now?” he jokes but you can hear his voice cracking. “You are the best apprentice I can ever ask for.”

“Heeeey” you say with mock offense just to realize that you’re choking on tears as well.

“I thought you didn’t want to be my apprentice.” Ed says wrapping his other arm around you when Harry looks at you.

Your heart skips a bit as he smiles at you, his eyes looking right into yours. And you don’t know how will you ever let him go.

Ed backs off, awkwardly heading towards the approaching ship, for the first time ever giving you both privacy.

“I’ll miss you.”

You both say at the same time and burst out laughing before catching your breath and looking at each other again. Harry’s eyes slide down to your lips and there is the flutter in his chest again. He doesn’t know if he is allowed to, now that you know who he is. But you just roll your eyes with a smile, “Come on, now!” and pull him by the lapel of his shirt until his lips smashes on yours.

Your teeth knock and your nose bump and you both feel each other shake with laughter. But soon taken by the warmth of your skin and the softness of his lips and the smell of your shampoo and the taste of his mouth, you couldn’t stop your fingers getting tangled in his curls as his hands rest on your waist. You tug his hair, he pinches your love handles and you have to pull away because you know that’s all you’ll ever get together.

He rests his forehead against yours and you breathe in the same air.

“You can be anyone you want” he whispers against your lips, his thump stroking your skin. “Just follow your heart, love. It might not always be right but you’ll never regret it. At last, that’s how I found you, the nicest person I know.”

He smirks repeating your once said words to you and you have to grip his shoulder because obviously he has to say something like that right before he leaves. But instead of allowing another tear to fall, you steal another kiss and pull away completely.

Ed stands there capturing photos of the ship that has landed twenty feet away from you and you have to hit him on the shoulder to stop being so inconsiderate.

“What?! He doesn’t mind.” You look up at Harry and he shrugs.

This was the least he could do to thank you both for everything.

You look up at the not so gigantic ship with all the intricate details that pretty much makes it look like a cartoon space ship, though not the typical one, as Ed hands Harry his bag and a last hug.

The door of the ship opens slowly, with the light increasing to a blinding point and Harry couldn’t contain his excitement anymore. There are the silhouettes of his people on the entryway to welcome him and he happily walks towards them with a pep in his steps.

Ed keeps on snapping photos and only stops to wave Harry bye before the door closes. And just like that, the ship prepares to take off.

You both look at it as it lifts off the ground with smiles on your face and tears in your eyes. Until there is a meek voice from behind. You turn around to see Steve looking at the ship as well, “What is…” And he faints again out of shock making you both burst into laughter.

///

Ed at last got the recognition from world renowned scientists and organizations. His research published into books and he was in news as the potential Noble recipient of the year. He credited his professor in his research and a certain curious child who couldn’t keep his hands off the radio and send random messages about banana and candy floss into the universe because of whom it all started. Among all the invitations of universities and research laboratories that he received, Ed got a lot of offers to choose from where to continue his research. But instead he opted to buy and transform his respected Professor’s house, his first research lab, into an institute and encourage young scientist to believe in their dreams. But only after a long and well deserved break in Hawaii.

Whereas for you, you at last decided on your major and went back to the social life you once had, now that Ed can afford real assistants to take care of him. You didn’t exactly take up writing as a livelihood, no. You were majoring in psychology to be able to understand how on earth your brother is still considered a human, though you might or might not have a secret stash of stories about unrequited love and fireflies.

But wherever you both are, one day every year, you both meet up in the small shack in the backyard of your granddad’s house to tune into the cosmic blur and listen about all the mishaps that goes on in the other end of the universe until your stomach aches from laughing and face hurts from smiling.

a/n: Shoutout to @twistofpayne for going through the 12K+ words of mess that it is, over and over again. And to the lovely @stylessemantics for keep on telling me that this isn’t completely crazy.

#soooo this happened #please be nice #alien!harry #my writing #harry styles fanfic

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