#I needed to make chapters to keep the sense of the separate pranks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

azulsluver · 7 months

Note

haunted house au??!! Is that a new event coming up? Will it relate to the last chapter 👀👀

Originally, bunch of ghouls who haunted this old house/apartment or whatever. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to that au but realizing the Halloween event was perfect for starters. For those who read the event then it would make sense of how the characters came to be in the world MC lives in.

Here are the basics of how they accustomed to their new life.

tw: yandere, ghost!twst, mentions of attempted suicide, obsessive/possessive behavior, mentions of gore-ish fantasies and acts, nudity (non-sexual), they watch you sleep every night.

Your apartment is small. With them all inside as ghosts they can physically interact with each other so it gets pretty cramped. They’re attached to you, literally, they aren’t able to leave the place they’re in unless you track down Crowley or COUGH COUGH the man who owned the store. Also moving places since it is “haunted house”, will lead to them following along.

-What did he do to deserve this? To be transferred into a world with no magic, and to be a ghost again! He can't physically touch you or use any sort of magic to collar you, it's a nightmare for Riddle when you break some of the (unknown) rules.

-To keep it short, Riddle is a noxious ghost to have around. He practically breaths down your neck for everything you do. You'll mostly see Riddle inside your bedroom, along with many others who are trying to get comfortable. Besides the bedroom, Riddle is one of the many ghosts who will volunteer to go along with you for your errands. That is if people like Ace or Floyd who always wanna tag with you.

-The second person to be leaning over your shoulder is Trey, he’s more than curious of your everyday life. What type of shampoo you wear, lotion or perfume that reminds him of you. He’s not a nauseous but you’d wish he’d leave you alone as well. The veil covering his face burns into your mind of the people he tore so easily, no matter how much he smiles sweetly at you.

-Like clingy dogs, Deuce is nearly always on you. Be it a hug, hand holding, or trapping you in his arms, he can’t stand the thought of separation now that you’re here and alive. Second clingy dog; Cater. He’s so fascinated by everything and you, often times teasing Deuce to not hoard you all for himself. Cater does bother you as much as Deuce does, his odd fixation on you is unknown and sometimes freaks even Ace out. But Cater thinks it’s adorable, funny even.

-Nobody really eats anything. They don’t have the stomach in your world to actually enjoy cuisines like you.

-Ruggie and Ace are always pulling pranks on you, inside your safe haven has been stripped from you completely. Where privacy privileges are nonexistent as the ghosts free roaming in your home. You’re always on edge with these psychopaths who have no problem using your fear to their advantage.

-None aren’t as kind as Silver however, but he doesn’t bring you much comfort. When everyone feels no guilt of killing the innocent, Silver is nothing but human to you as he shared a deep meaningful conversation with you during the late night. Times where you couldn’t sleep and he just so happens to be awake there for you.

-Speaking of clingy, Leona, Rook, Jack, Kalim, Floyd, AND Malleus are there to make your mental sanity DROP. With their weird confessions and obsession of wanting to cut you open and eat you is bad enough. Their touches burn like hell. Oh will somebody solve the problem of these big mean demons….

-The shop is your solution. With the shop owner spewing nonsense into your ear, hope drains when you catch upon the fact ghosts like them will stay until your time has been served.

-Like death themselves, until you can no longer breath will you be free, not unless one of them manages to snag your soul into their realm.

-However, there is a part-time solution if you wish to have peace and quiet. A sacred scroll that mostly works like a phone seeing how it needs to recharge energy to work; as it is unbreakable, it’s used to ward off evil spirits for a whole week before falling into a deep recharge for a month.

-Was it a scam, maybe, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

-Now there are some who aren’t as obnoxious as the rest, that being Vil, Jamil, Trey, Azul, Jade, Lilia, and Silver. With your space being respected if asked, they’re more curious about your world. Not being obnoxious doesn’t mean they aren’t playful, often making comments on how you’re gonna die. What position, what days, places, all the scenarios that feeds into your brain like scratching chalkboards.

-What should be dreaded most is sleeping hours. The touches are faint and almost weak, something that had to do with your current situation and mood. As your drowsy figure stumbles into bed, somehow they too become more docile and quiet. That sounds good but it’s the fact they don’t sleep. Instead now that you’re state is dreaming off they can’t really interact with anything else. Other than watching you in a single room. Their touch is haunting.

-No one can see them, other than you and Grim. With you and your fat little feline friend have to deal with losers like these. Sadly, Grim can’t do much as no physical contact works, much to Idia’s pleasure.

-Absolutely no one likes any of your friends coming over. Surprisingly even Sebek is possessive over you. They’d glare so hard it makes you pass out from fear they might cause actual harm. As they can’t be seen doesn’t mean the force of their wrath will.

-Having friends over is not a good idea. But leaving home doesn’t get rid of their pissy attitudes. As spirits have strong emotions and auras; leaving you feeling sick and lightheaded by their constant bickering.

-Settling for agreements are tough, people like Azul and Vil have no problem with that. In fact they were one of the many to ask before doing things. You recognize Azul as the one who attempted to drown you, as Floyd dose nothing but babble about how much he cried and how he whines it hurts. Azul and Vil someone….respect you in a way? You certainly aren’t seen as equal but from everything that’s happened to you? A pat on the back is all you’re given.

-Get use to nudity. They sure are but they’ll still be dicks about it: Ace, Sebek, Jamil, Leona, Lilia, Floyd.

-More about their physical touches. It can cause a lot of harm to your body. Leaving marks and evidence of their abuse. Depending on your circumstances it can hurt as bad as getting your nails ripped out, they aren’t able to dig their fingers into your flesh to the point of slicing limb to limb.

-That has something to do with life and deaths they aren’t allowed to kill you ad your are bounded to the book. Serving the years of unknown disasters (murder, accidents, etc…but any attempt of self harm brings agony until you are waking up with their faces hovering above you.) or old age

-Rook makes most of your situations worse somehow. He’s always teasing the others for stupid reason. He wants to sit with you when Leona has a arm slumped over your shoulder on the couch. Invading your personal space in from of Malleus when engaging (not so willingly) conversations. Asking stupid questions like; do you prefer waking up to me or blah blah when you awake from your slumber.

-“Neither.”

-They don’t seem very useful other than bothering you whenever you come back home. The problem is how small room there is, and they complain about it a lot as well.

-Luckily for you they aren’t completely useless nor do their powers; it’s still pretty weak and does little. Malleus is ancient, his power weakens him if used, but he’ll use it for your advantage. Good luck.

-That’s the power, yep. Only key holders contain powerful magic as they did back in their world.

-Technically Malleus has the power to bring good and bad luck. Depends on how silly he’s feeling. Cue the blackish grey skies with green thunder causing crashes outside.

-Riddle’s power does more harm to others however, like his usual unique magic, and the reason why you don’t bring anyone over/ victims are forced to experience a choking hazard, one that’s not visible to touch or see.

-Leona can bring you golds and jewels, those are rare times if he ever thinks you deserve it. As I say when you have a whole drawer of them.

-Azul’s power allows him to create illusions, they are weak yet powerful on your still traumatized soul. When angered he’s petty enough to bring the faces or place of the events that happened in the book.

-Kalim is like a drug, his power is anything including smoke. Smoke that can make you sleep, intoxicate you, feel hunger or smell something like childhood.

-Vil is draining and giving. Having the ability to give or take your fatigues, when used more it can cause you to bleed from the nose and lead to hallucinations. It’s best to be on his good side if you ever feel the need for more enthusiasm energy.

-Idia can create skeletons to the living world. They don’t last long but are able to sedate and hold you. He doesn’t use them much as it quickly drains him. (Skeletons won’t be seen by others btw)

611 notes · View notes

crunadh · 3 years

Link

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aiden/Lambert (The Witcher) Characters: Aiden (The Witcher), Lambert (The Witcher), Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Eskel (The Witcher), Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Vesemir (The Witcher) Additional Tags: Pranking, Fluff Summary:

Lambert takes Aiden to Kaer Morhen for the first time. Aiden decides he needs to win the favour of the wolf witchers, but of course he’ll do it the cat way.

This fic is a prompt fill for @the-buttcher-of-blaviken who requested a Lambden fic with the prompt “prankster accomplices”.

Many thanks go to @do-androids-dream-ao3acc who gave me emotional support and advice to keep me from binning the whole thing when I despaired at it halfway through. I hope you’ll have as much fun reading it as I had writing it!

#my writing #fanfic #lambden #lambert #aiden #pranking #i apologize for the short chapters #I needed to make chapters to keep the sense of the separate pranks

22 notes · View notes

agustdakasuga · 4 years

Text

You Never Walk Alone | Chapter 4

Genre: Werewolf!AU, Poly!AU?, Mate!AU, romance, fluff

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Characters: Student!reader, Omega!Seokjin, Alpha!Yoongi, Beta!Hoseok, Alpha!Namjoon, Omega!Jimin, Beta!Taehyung, Alpha!Jungkook

Summary: You live a quiet life in your late grandfather’s cabin in the woods. You go to school just to graduate and get your diploma, not to make friends or stand out from the crowd. That was until one day, you enter your home to see a pack of wolves that need shelter.

You get closer to the wolves staying at your house. They seem to be the only ones that accept you, until a new student at school shows up.

Jin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Jimin, Taehyung and Kook.

These were the names of the 7 wolves that were now sharing a living space with you. (Yes, you realised wolves may know how to read) They have been here for slightly over a week. It was hard to leave all of them at home during the first few days but you knew you could trust Jimin would keep them in place. Jimin, Hoseok and Taehyung would walk you to the bus stop every morning.

“Thank you.” You patted their heads as they stood by the edge of the forest, watching you head down to the bus stop.

“I don’t like that she goes to school and gets bullied. She doesn’t deserve that.” Taehyung whimpered.

“I don’t like it either but what can we do anyway?” Jimin sighed.

“Is there a way we can help?” Hoseok looked at his brothers. They turned around and went back into the forest. You sat in the bus and waited for your stop to come.

Right now, you didn’t even want to go to school anymore. You just wanted to stay at home with the wolves and laze around rather than come here and get disturbed by the other students. Someone tried to trip you as you were going to your locker but you stepped over his leg.

“The hell?” They whispered in annoyance.

“Grow up.” You hissed and walked to your locker to exchange your books.

“Someone’s got an attitude today.” Kira leaned against the lockers, arms crossed and an amused eyebrow raised. You rolled your eyes, taking your books and shutting your locker.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” Kira chased after you. She held your shoulder and instinctively, you slapped her hand away.

“How dare you?”

“Don’t touch me.” You shook your head. You backed away and quickly ran to class. Sitting down, you felt your heart racing. What was wrong with you? You rubbed your temples. Someone sat beside you and you heard gasps from the others in class. You looked up and met eyes with a very, very good looking boy. His head was propped up with his hand.

“Umm...”

“Hi!” He greeted, his boxy smile appearing on his face.

“Hey...?” You turned around. The other girls were obviously glaring at you for getting the attention of this stranger, unfamiliar boy. He was in the same uniform as you but you haven’t seen him before.

“I’m new! My name is V!” He held his hand out. You looked at him in confusion, someone was definitely messing with you now.

“Uh... hey.” You shook his hand uneasily.

“What’s your name?”

“It doesn’t matter... Look, you shouldn’t sit here. You can sit somewhere else.” You shook your head and turned around to face the window. There were some footsteps behind you, followed by voices.

“Hi! You’re new right? Come sit with us. We can tell you everything about the school and show you around. You don’t have to sit here.” The girls put themselves around V’s arms. You snorted, these girls were all the same. All they want is the attention from a cute guy even if they don’t know him.

“I’m not sitting here because I have to. I want to! Besides, I only want to sit with her. I want her to show me around.” V smiled and you turned back to face him. This guy was so weird.

“But she’s a loser...”

“I would appreciate you not use such harsh words towards her.” V almost growled but remembered where he was and masked it with a cough.

“Now go.” V shooed them off and turned back to you. He stared at you with the same smile.

“I’m (y/n).” You said softly.

“Pretty name for a pretty face.” He complimented and you blushed. All the other girls were livid. Why was this new student so entranced by you? He only wanted to stick by you and talk to you. He never spared anyone else another glance. Even during lunch, he followed you to your locker for you to drop your books off.

“The cafeteria is there.” You pointed. Girls were still giggling and whispering about him, pointing at him.

“Great! Let’s go.” He smiled.

“I don’t eat in the cafeteria. I’ll just see you in class.” You said quickly and walked away quickly, praying that he wouldn’t follow you. He almost reminded you of the wolves at home that would constantly follow you.

V stood there in the hallway. He pouted and grabbed the lunch that Jin prepared for him from his new locker. He managed to beat the others at rock, paper, scissors to come. He wasn’t going to waste the chance by letting you distance yourself.

With his wolf sense, he chased after you. He found you sitting under a big tree, eating your food alone.

“Mind if I join you?” He appeared behind you. You jumped slightly, turning around and looking up to see V standing there with his lunch in his hands. You bit your lip, hoping none of his fangirls followed him.

“I came alone.” He blurted.

“Sure.” You nodded and turned back to your food. V sat beside you, digging into his own bento. Strangely, his food was similar to yours.

“Where are you from V?” You asked.

“Not far from here. I live with my brothers. We kinda move around here and there until we find a place to settle.” He explained.

“That’s cool.” You hummed as you poked your food around. V looked at you with a soft smile on your face. These people were blind for not seeing how your amazing personality is but that may be biased just because you were their m-

“V?” You called.

“Huh?” He broke out of his train of thought with a shake of his head. You couldn’t help but chuckle out of amusement. V reminded you of the wolf, Taehyung. Taehyung would always play around with Jimin and Jungkook but at the same time, he would enjoy time by himself. You have caught him staring into space in the backyard alone a few times.

“Nothing. You just... remind me of someone...” You blushed.

“You’re nice, (y/n). I would like to be friends.” V said seriously. staring into your eyes. You felt your heart race.

“Why would you want to be friends with me? I’m a nobody, a loner, a loser.” You chuckled in disbelief. V’s heart broke as he heard you describe yourself with such hurtful words.

“No, don’t say that. Don’t say such untrue things about yourself.” He cupped your face and whimpered sadly. You blinked at his actions.

“Umm... Sorry!” He quickly pulled away when he noticed your stunned expression. He realised he may have been too close for a ‘stranger’ but hoped you would be scared away by him.

“Sorry, I just don’t like it when people say such bad things about themselves.” V excused himself.

“Thanks, V. We should go back to class now. The bell is going to ring.” You stood up and looked back at him. V grinned and pushed himself to stand up as he trailed after you. The students all looked at the two of you as you made your way through the hallways together.

“Look at their jealous stares.” V leaned in to whisper as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and headed into class with you for the rest of the day.

The other 6 wolves were roaming around the house.

“The house will be done in a few days, what are we going to do?” Jin asked the others. Yoongi yawned, rolling over on his back.

“Either we tell her or we just leave.” He said in a bored tone. Even if he called for the wolves to meet the other day, he wasn’t exactly happy with their decision but he couldn’t outvote them.

“I’m not going to just leave her like that.” Jimin paced around.

“Calm down, Jimin. It’s just a discussion. Now, your pacing is giving me a headache, stop.” Namjoon said. Jimin huffed but sat his butt down.

“I think we should tell her so us moving away won’t seem so bad. But of course, we tell her in a planned out way. Not a ‘hey, we’re actually werewolves’ and transform into naked men right in front of her.” Jungkook yawned too, draping himself over Jin tiredly. The elder rolled his eyes, struggling to get out of the alpha grip of the maknae.

“I agree.” Hoseok voiced.

“It’s settled then.” Namjoon nodded and they got ready to go out for their daily run. Jimin sulked in a corner, still annoyed with this morning.

“What’s wrong, Chim?” Jin asked his fellow omega.

“Why did Tae get to go see (y/n)? I was with her first, I should have been to one to go. But then I had to lose at stupid rock, paper, scissors.” Jimin whined. Jin laughed, using his head to bump Jimin’s lightly.

“I know you met (y/n) first but soon, we’ll all have to just share her, alright?” Jin comforted. Jimin nodded reluctantly.

“Let’s go for our run.” Jin stood up and walked out. The two came out and the pack took out into the forest. They passed by their big house that was getting built. There was a room for each of them and even if their old home was destroyed, they were excited to start anew.

The feel of the wind through their fur was exhilarating. They ran until school ended and Taehyung came back to join them while you went to work.

“How was it?”

“Horrible!” Taehyung howled.

“They treat her so badly and they even tried to separate me from her. It was absolutely horrible. And when I wanted to talk to her, she was so wary of me. As if I am pranking her!” Taehyung continued.

“Humans are so mean to one another.” Hoseok’s ears drooped sadly.

“The way she talked about herself was so hurtful. I asked her to be friends and she asked why because she’s a nobody, a loner, a loser.” Taehyung whimpered. The other wolves couldn’t help the growl that rumbled from their chests as they heard Taehyung’s words. You were not a nobody to them, well... most of them for now.

“What should we do?” Jimin asked.

“Rip their heads off!” Jungkook declared.

“Okay, as much as we all want to do that, we can’t just kill humans like that. We need to think of a way that let’s us still stand by her side and protect her without having to kill anyone.” Namjoon said.

“We leave and come back as humans.” Yoongi finally gave a suggestion. Jimin opened his mouth but Yoongi cut him off.

“I know she’ll be sad that we leave. But we can still fill that void as human friends. Then, when she’s ready, we tell her that we were the wolves. Simple as that.” Yoongi finished.

“Good idea.” Taehyung nodded.

“We’ll tell her that we’re leaving then stay in our house. I mean, she already knows what Taehyung looks like.” Jin said and everyone else agreed. Taehyung noticed that Jimin walked out the back door and into the backyard. He chased after his best friend.

“Chim, what’s wrong?”

“I know that we’re not actually leaving her but I know she’ll still be crushed. I don’t want her to cry again. I don’t want her to feel like we abandoned her like everyone else.” Jimin’s ears dropped.

“It’s hard for all of us. I know you’re worried but we can’t stay as wolves forever just to be by her side. She needs to know the truth someday.” Taehyung shrugged.

“When the house is done, we’ll invite her over everyday and still hang out with her. Once she knows, it’ll be easier.” Taehyung smiled.

“I hope you’re right, Tae.” Jimin looked up.

“Let’s go or we’ll be late.” The wolves all went to the bus stop to wait for you to return from work.

“She’s here!” Your scent was close by. When you walked up, you saw all 7 wolves standing there, waiting for you. It immediately gave you energy and made you forget your tiring day.

“The whole pack is here, huh?” You chuckled and you pet their heads.

“I have meat from the restaurant.” You held the bag up and they barked. The 8 of you went back to your cabin and you went to put your bag in your room. The boys watched as you tied your hair up and began cooking their dinner. Jungkook came up to you and pawed your feet, whining for just a taste as you cooked the lean pork.

“You have to wait, Kookie.” You gently pushed him away with your foot. He leaned down on his front paws, whining cutely.

“Alright, alright.” You picked a small piece and gave it to him. Soon, there were more footsteps and you turned to see 7 wolves staring at you, their tails wagging excitedly.

“It’ll be done soon, guys. If you keep sneaking food, there’s not gonna be enough.” You chuckled.

“Go.” You pointed to the couch. They whined but you gave them a look, not giving in. There may be alphas but you were certainly the alpha of the house. They sadly trudged back to the couch, sitting down and watching you.

“Dinner!” You called and they ran over. They waited for you to put their food down, a mix of meat and rice. You grabbed some kimchi for yourself but ate more of less the same thing as them. They ate the lean meat while you ate the pork belly.

“You know, I made a new friend today. He’s really nice, a little weird but really nice.” You said as you chewed. They looked up at you.

“You guys are messy.” Reaching out, you picked away any stray pieces of rice that stuck to their snouts with a laugh. Taehyung mentally smiled as you described him today.

“I hope you guys had a good day too.” You ruffled Hoseok’s fur with a smile.

After eating, you cleaned up and went to shower. You were so tired from the long day and didn’t even have the energy to do your homework but you knew you had to. You grabbed your papers and went downstairs.

“Sorry, guys. I just thought working here may keep me awake more.” You yawned and sat down by the coffee table.

“Hello.” You giggled as Yoongi came over and lie down next to you, resting his head on your lap. This was the first time Yoongi displayed any sort of closeness with you. But you weren’t going to harp on that. As you wrote down your work with one hand, your other was running through his soft, white fur. You noticed that he fell asleep rather quickly.

“I know one day, you guys will have to go back. You can’t stay here forever right?” You turned to rub Jin’s ear. The wolves all looked at you sadly.

“But can you guys visit from time to time?” You chuckled. Jungkook came up to you and nuzzled against your cheek, making you smile and kiss his muzzle. The others all surrounded you.

“It’s biology, Joon.” You said as Namjoon rested his head on your shoulder to see the papers in front of you.

The wolves stayed awake as you did your work, except Yoongi. Jin turned away from his conversation with Namjoon to see your head bobbing.

“Guys.” Jin called, nodding over to you.

“She’s asleep.” Jungkook bent down to look up at your face. They transformed and even woke Yoongi up but the white wolf didn’t transform. Namjoon carried you onto the couch as Jimin laid a blanket over you. Yoongi crawled over you, laying on your stomach.

“Yoongi hyung.” Taehyung hissed in jealousy. Yoongi snorted and turned to face the other way.

“Is she done with her work?” Hoseok asked Namjoon. Namjoon sorted through your papers to see that you actually finished your work before you fell asleep. Jin stacked together, keeping your stationary and putting it aside.

“We should head to bed too. It’s late.” Namjoon said and Jimin went to turn the lights off. They all transformed back into wolves and slept around you.

You were woken up by the sunlight streaming in.

“Oh no!” You shot up, scaring Yoongi off you. He growled in shock while you scrambled over to your phone to see that it was already 10 am, you were so late for school.

“Ah... I’m late.” You sighed, throwing your head back. Yoongi stood there, staring and blinking at you.

“Sorry, Yoongs.” You reached over to stroke his head. Maybe it was the world telling you to take a break. You called in sick to work for the night as well so you could spend the day at home. The other wolves woke up from the commotion and Jimin saw the time. His eyes widened at the time and the fact that you were still in the kitchen.

“She’s late!”

“Relax, Chim. We all woke up late so she just decided not to go today. She called in sick to work as well.” Yoongi explained, stretching his limbs.

“That’s good. She deserves a break.” Jungkook pointed out and the rest nodded their heads. They trotted over to you to wish you a good morning. You fed them breakfast and had some fruit for yourself.

“Hey! That’s mine!” You scolded as Jin stole your strawberry. You hugged the bowl to your chest, turning away, only to have a wet nose bump into your cheek.

“Gimme!” Jungkook drooled.

“No, Kookie. You all already ate.” You lightly pushed his muzzle away from you as you continued eating.

When you were done, thanks to the wolves trying to constantly steal your food, you changed into some outing clothes. The wolves went running every day, maybe you would follow them for once. You wore your shoes and they barked at you to hurry up.

“Alright! Go easy on me, okay?” You joked as the wolves took out. You ran behind them. Of course, they were wolves, you weren’t going to try and outrun them. You all ended up in the same big field as before.

“It’s a good day.” You fell onto the grass. Taehyung jumped on top of you, nipping at you playfully.

“Yoongi, don’t be a stranger.” You teased, patting the space beside you. Yoongi rolled his eyes and trudged over, sitting down.

“Your white fur is so beautiful.” You ran your hands through.

“I know.” Yoongi smirked, making the others glare at him. You stayed in your spot while you watched the wolves run around you and playfully tackle each other to burn some of their energy off.

“You guys need a bath when we get home.” You shook your head. They all whined and whimpered in protest. They hated showering in wolf form.

“Oh, come on. You’re big bad wolves, a little bath shouldn’t scare you.” You scoffed. The 7 wolves followed you back to your house and you kept them outside since you didn’t want your floors to be covered in mud. You grabbed a bucket and some dog shampoo you bought the other time. Laying everything out, you grabbed the hose by the side of the house.

“Come on. One at a time. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go in.” You coaxed.

“You go!”

“No, you go first!” They internally debated. Seeing as to how long they were taking, you grabbed Jimin first.

“It’s cold!” He yelped as you sprayed water onto him. You cooed as you squirted the shampoo into your palm and rubbed the dirt off his fur. After that, you rinsed all the soap off.

“Here’s a tow- Yah! Jimin! Stop!” You tried to shield your face away from the water droplets due to Jimin’s shaking. You laughed and wiped your face.

“Next!” You washed each wolf until you were done.

“Yah! Guys! Seriously!” You whined as you tried to prevent them from splashing you. Mentally, they were all laughing and smiling at how adorable you were. You gathered everything headed back into the house.

“You guys are all squeaky clean now! Doesn’t it feel good?” You asked and they gave you a flat look.

“Whatever, ungrateful. I need to shower.” You headed upstairs to take a warm shower. You scrubbed everything, making sure to get all the sweat and dirt off your body. Hearing the shower running, the boys decided to transform back into their human selves.

“Ugh, hate the smell of dog shampoo.” Yoongi grunted.

“At least we got a shower.” Taehyung shrugged. Jungkook grabbed the towel that only you used and rubbed his wet hair.

When they heard your humming and the bathroom door close, they changed back. You made some tea for yourself and gave the wolves. You curled up against Namjoon and closed your eyes for a short nap.

Tag list

@georgie-me-myself-i @tatastaetaemainblog @dragoste-lunes @lil7bluedragon @amber-thumbs @greezenini @jisoosbitch @taozibun1 @ghostkat23 @fullvoidmoon @lovelyseomin @aclp-jb1d @mrcleanheichou @smallbaby-cat @thestrugglesofateenagedirtbag @veronawrites @hobisbeech @purelyecstacy @hxsxxk-180294 @bts-edits-bitch @namjoonies-dimple @cool-strawberry @kthsmullet @bubbletaetaesstuff @queenceline22 @rjsmochii @kawaiikpoplover268 @ervyst @lovelysky15 @legendaryweaseltreedream @tea-ay-en-you

1K notes · View notes

ashbrea381writings · 3 years

Text

Flying Blind: Chapter 1, Bats in Paris

Four-year-old Richard Grayson glared at the girl in front of him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was just six weeks older than him, and right now, she was taller than him too. “You’re gonna lose.” He taunted in heavily accented French, “I got super high scores and you can’t beat them!” “Don’t even think about it! I’m gonna win!” Marinette’s fists were clenched and her face red. “Just you watch!” The Dupain-Chengs and the Graysons shared an amused look over the heads of the children. “How are you doing?” Tom asked, chuckling about the children’s antics. “We’re good, we’ll be starting another tour this summer, then probably settle down for a couple years before moving on.” The two children started shouting even louder, causing them to be dragged apart by their exasperated parents. This happened every competition, for years.

***

Five years later, Richard stopped showing up to competitions. Marinette was annoyed at first, grumbling about him being a chicken who didn’t want to face her. At another competition, a month later, she heard one of the judges talking about the Graysons, making a sad comment about the loss of so many talented people, the wasted potential, an entire family of fliers just gone. Marinette stiffened in shock, her eyes wide as she processed what they had just said. Bolting to the locker room, Marinette yanked her hair out of it’s bun and changed back into her street clothes, hiding in the bathroom stall and crying. When her parents find her some minutes later, they make sure she isn’t hurt and take her home. “He’s dead… Dick’s dead.” She told them tearfully in the car on the way home. “All of them are.” Marinette stopped going to competitions after that.

***

Ladybug could feel the tension in her shoulders as she confronted the man before her, Chat a step behind and to her left. “If your Justice League doesn’t want to help, you could at least stay out of our city.” Her arms were crossed as she glared at Batman. “Why do you think the League wouldn’t help?” Robin asked, his accent strong but his pronunciation carefully precise. “We only heard of the situation recently.” “Oh? I called the League two years ago when our mentor gave up his memories to prevent Hawkmoth from getting something important.” Ladybug spat, letting her disgust show without letting it be bad enough that Hawkmoth could sense it. “I got told to stop playing games and they hung up on me.” “Who did you speak with?” Batman asked, pulling out a small tablet to take notes. “I don’t know, they didn’t say. Male, light voice in the baritone range, sounded way too cheerful until he decided I was lying, then he was just an ass.” She shrugged and gestured to the city around her. “‘Paris is fine, we would have noticed if something bad happened.’” She quoted in a near-perfect impression of Hal Jordan that made Batman frown. “Did you mean to do an impression?” Robin asked, somewhere between surprised and trying not to laugh when the girl his age was able to deepen her voice that much. “It’s accurate, I was there to hear him.” Chat chuckled, crossing his arms and shifting to lean on just one leg. “The guy continued to rant about children making prank calls and how he didn’t even know how we had the number.” “The fact that we had it at all should have told him the truth.” Ladybug scoffed. “Look, I’ve been doing this for four years. If you really wanna help, you’ll need to make sure you don’t fall victim to Hawkmoth yourself.” “And how does one do that?” “Mostly by repressing your negative emotions.” Chat shrugged, looking out over the city. “To be honest, it’s getting harder for Parisians to keep up their hopes. Our ages don’t help either, there are plenty who keep demanding we give up our Miraculi to older, more experienced people, but not just anyone can wield them.” “The personalities of the people wielding them must mesh well with the Miraculous, or it corrupts you and either causes you to become someone you wouldn’t recognize, or makes you very sick.” “That explains why you can’t pass them on, but why were you two chosen?” Robin tilted his head, moving forward a bit more. “We were the best candidates at the time. Our former mentor read our auras to make sure who meshed with which Miraculous and gave us a test to make sure we were the type of people to help others even when it’s not in our best interests.” Ladybug sighed and turned to look as a loud ‘bang!’ sounded from the direction of the Eiffel Tower. “Always the tower, I still don’t get it.” Chat sighed, prepping to take off. “Don’t ask me, Kitty.” Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo. “Stay back out of the fight unless you see a civilian in danger. You don’t know what you’re up against.” Batman looked like he wanted to argue, but the teen heroes took off in the direction of the Akuma that was currently pulling pieces off of the Tower and throwing them at the ground nearby. Batman and Robin found a spot just outside the action to observe. Other members of the Miraculous Team were already on the scene, moving civilians and calling out information to each other. Viperion split off from the action to intercept Ladybug and seemed to have a lot of information. Once they conferred for a few moments, a suddenly weary-looking Viperion gave signals to several of the team members. The Akuma was released, captured, and purified. With the Cure cast, the Tower was repaired and the Miraculous Team collectively shared quiet celebrations before separating except for Chat Noir, who’s Cataclysm hadn’t been used. “LB and the others are going to recharge, check in with their families after the attack, and meet us. I’m to lead you to somewhere private where we can talk more thoroughly.” Chat was brisk, seeming tired. “Your Snake friend… He spent a good portion of the fight observing and only really called out instructions for the most part. Why is that?” Robin asked as they started running across rooftops. “That’s his part. Ladybug is Creation, I’m Destruction, he’s Intuition. He watches the fight and uses his ability to make sure we do not fail when we cannot avoid it otherwise.” Chat answered vaguely, enjoying the verbal cat-and-mouse. “Are you going to tell us what his power is?” Batman asked, his exasperation audible in his voice. “The more information we have, the better we can plan and the more help we can give.” “I’m gonna let Viperion explain, he’s a chill guy, he won’t mind telling you. Besides, they’re all gonna be there and I think LB plans to give you two a rundown of everyone anyway.” Chat explained, dropping down into a small garden hidden between buildings. There was a small storage shed that Chat opened, removing a handful of chairs and a folding table. “I believe LB plans on bringing refreshments, will you help me set this up?”

***

An hour later, the rest of the team had assembled, with more than just Ladybug bringing snacks and drinks. There was something for everyone, although Batman chose not to eat. “So, a rundown?” “My powers stem from Creation, I create an object that helps us in the fight, purify the Akuma, and my Cure repairs any damage done by the miraculous during that specific Akuma fight. If too much time passes after the Akuma was purified, I can’t put it right.” Ladybug began, pointing to Chat next. “His power is from Destruction, he can destroy any one item he touches or a portion of a surface such as the ground or a wall. He can control how far the destruction spreads to a degree, it’s something we’re working on. Viperion has the power of Second Chance, he sets a timer and within that span of time he can reset to the beginning as many times as he wants theoretically. The problem is that he’s the only one who remembers what happened in the timeline he reset, so he has to be able to remember what to do so we can succeed.” “Is that why you suddenly looked more tired during the fight?” Robin asked, brows furrowing. “Yes. Seeing your friends get hurt over and over will do that.” The shaggy-haired hero sighed, shaking his head. “As much as I dislike seeing it, I know that I can prevent it as long as I still have my power active and as long as I’m able to give them the right information when we reset. I’ve gotten a lot better than when we started, but it helped when Chat started to realize I knew what I was doing.” His eyes sparkled with a bit of humor and Chat shook his head with a goan. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Chat asked, stretching. “Nope, never.” “Anyway.” Ladybug glared at the two boys, but it lacked conviction. “You’ll have to give me the rundown later of how many times we reset. Moving on, Rena Rouge, power of Illusion. Carapace, Protection, his shields are nearly impenetrable.” Ladybug pointed out each hero in turn. “Honey Bee, she can paralyze a person with her stinger, most of these have a duration and are usable just once for now. Pegasus can make portals to anywhere, again, once and there’s a time limit after using it. King Monkey isn’t here right now, but his power disrupts those of whomever is touched with an object he summons. We have one more teammate who doesn’t get involved often. Their name is Bunnyx, and they don’t show up much unless we really need them. They travel through time.” “So you have a time-traveler to come pull you out? Then why don’t they tell you who Hawkmoth is?” Batman demanded. “Because one: that’s cheating, and two: that’s not how they’re supposed to figure it out.” Came another voice from above before a blue, white, and pink blur dropped down behind Ladybug.

***

Note: The competition is for Gymnastics if anyone’s confused.

#dickenette #maribat #mgi trope tussle #dc #miraculous au #soulmate

75 notes · View notes

beewolfwrites · 3 years

Text

And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin - Chapter One: The Edge of a Diving Board

Hello everyone!

So I haven’t used my Tumblr account in years, but I recently binge watched Alice in Borderland not too long ago and like any sane person, I realised that it was pretty darn amazing.. and that Chishiya was hands-down one of the best characters in the show.

So while I'm still riding the AIB wave, I decided to dig out my old Tumblr and write something!

This is just the first chapter, and you can find it here on AO3 too. To be honest, it’s probably better on AO3 because the formatting is a little funny on here.

I’ve written it in first person, but avoided giving the main character a name, so it can either read as a Chishiya x OC or as a reader-insert depending on how you prefer :)

Please let me know what you think, and if you do read it, thank you!

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

It was David Foster Wallace who put it best. The world was one big queue leading up to a diving board. You took your place in line, climbed the rankings, and once you got to the top? The end. Process over. Because that’s how life really is: breathe, work, jump off the edge. You fulfil a function and then you’re gone forever.

At least, that’s how I’d always seen it. But the Borderlands changed all of that. Suddenly I was being pushed towards the edge of the diving board when I had thought I was still in the queue.

It happened all at once. I had been in an apartment, laughing over drinks with my brother and his friends. It was our first time in Japan, and we were only visiting for a four-day summer trip. I had only been allowed to go on the premise that he was there. Looking back now, I wish we had chosen Brussels or Amsterdam.

The last time I saw my brother, he was laughing with his friends as I closed the bathroom door behind me. I had turned to the sink, taking a moment to splash cool water on my face.

And that was when the lights went out.

‘Power cut’, I muttered, fumbling around for the door handle and re-entering the living room.

The apartment was dark and cold. I was alone.

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

Tokyo almost looked beautiful without electricity at night, like a ghost city paused in time.

‘Hey!‘ I yelled through the empty streets. ‘誰か’ Anyone?

My Japanese was limited at best, but I had to try. I had to find someone. There was no way this could’ve been a prank. A whole population doesn’t just vanish into thin air, it’s simply not possible.

‘Hey, Is anyone there?’ I tried again.

As if on cue, a light cut through the darkness. I couldn’t help but squint at the large white screen projected across a desolate building. I couldn’t read any of the kanji, but there was one word that stood out clear as day.

GAME

What is this? I asked myself.

Suddenly, the screen changed, this time sporting an arrow pointing to the right. I tried to read the hiragana, but it seemed there was no need. Another light appeared in the distance, glowing ominously over the tops of buildings.

I guess I have to go that way, I thought. Perhaps there’s some kind of big event on and everyone’s gone to watch.

I made my way to the source of the light, which turned out to be an old furniture store. In this sea of darkness, it was as if the electricity had pooled entirely into one two-storey building.

There can’t be an event in a place like this. Where is everyone?

On a wall was a smaller sign with an arrow pointing into the store.

GAME – こちらです

Hesitantly, I followed the arrow up the steps leading to the door. Inside, the hallway was fully lit. The walls were decorated with mirrors and printed canvases, their price tags and sale stickers still attached. Passing beneath an arch that led into a large room, I heard a tiny bleep. It was almost inaudible, but I knew I hadn’t imagined it.

As I peered around, looking for the source of the noise, a voice spoke.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’

I jumped, turning on my heels.

Leaning inconspicuously against a wall, a man was staring at me curiously. He was wearing a sleeveless grey top and looked to be in his thirties. He didn’t look like it, but perhaps he was the shop owner?

I stepped forward, intent on asking for help. However, I must’ve moved too quickly in my excitement, as my arm wavered, knocking a tiny vase with an artificial flower off a table.

It rolled across the ground, but before I could apologise and pick it up a neon red laser cut through the vase, leaving a singed hole in the plastic soil.

‘I told you not to do that,’ the man repeated, huffing.

I stared, wordless, at the destroyed flower. Lasers? What the hell kind of game was this?

‘Newbie, hm? This’ll be easy.’

It was a new voice this time. Another man, slightly younger, was reclining back in an armchair. I hadn’t noticed him until now as his green shirt blended into the furniture fabric.

‘A foreigner, too. How lucky,’ Green Shirt said.

My mind scrambled to piece together what Japanese it could.

‘すみません… 何がこれ？皆んながどこですか’ Excuse me, what is this? Where is everyone?

Green Shirt raised a brow, whereas the first man huffed once more.

‘It’s a game. You’ve just got to follow the rules.’ He gestured his thumb to a small side table where there were a several phones lined up. ‘You need to take one before registration closes.’

On second inspection, I noticed that they were both clasping phones tightly in their hands. Maybe this was part of the game? Approaching the table, I picked up a smart phone, finding that it sprung to life immediately with a face recognition screen.

‘FACE REGISTRATION IN PROCESS.

PLEASE WAIT FOR THE GAME TO COMMENCE’

A timer on the screen began to tick down from two minutes. Around me, I could feel the two men watching my every move. They seemed to be sussing me out, although I couldn’t figure out what for. Surely, since everyone in Tokyo disappeared, we should all band together and find others.

‘REGISTRATION CLOSED. THE GAME WILL NOW COMMENCE.’

This time, the voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once, as if through an invisible sound system. I looked around at the ceiling, trying to find the speakers, when I realised that at the back of the room all of the furniture had been moved aside to make way for a large circular table and four chairs. In the centre of the table was a stack of cards.

‘GAME – RUMMY

DIFFICULTY – FOUR OF DIAMONDS

TIME LIMIT – ONE HOUR’

Four of Diamonds?

I looked at the phone in my hand, where a picture of the aforementioned card flashed up. None of it made sense. And what did playing cards have to do with this?

The first man and Green Shirt both got up and made their way to the table at the back, leaving me no choice but to follow. They seemed to know what was going on better than I did. The three of us each took a seat, only I chose to a sit as far as possible from the other two. Judging from the deck in the middle of the table, we’d be playing a card game, and I didn’t want anybody close enough to see my hand.

The overhead voice continued.

‘RULES –

PLAYERS MUST COMPLETE A SINGLE GAME OF RUMMY.

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO CLEAR ALL CARDS FROM YOUR HAND. THE FIRST PLAYER TO CLEAR THEIR HAND IS THE WINNER.

THE DECK HAS ALREADY BEEN SHUFFLED.

PLAYERS MUST DESIGNATE ONE PERSON TO BE THE DEALER.

TURNS ARE TAKEN COUNTER-CLOCKWISE, FROM THE LEFT OF THE DEALER.

EACH PLAYER STARTS WITH SEVEN CARDS. AFTER THE CARDS HAVE BEEN DEALT, THE FIRST CARD IN THE DECK MUST BE TURNED OVER AND USED TO START A SEPARATE DISCARD PILE.

PLAYERS MUST ALWAYS DRAW ONE CARD FROM THE PILE, AND DISCARD ONE CARD PER TURN.

PLAYERS MAY PICK UP A CARD FROM THE DISCARD PILE, HOWEVER YOU CANNOT DISCARD THE SAME CARD IN THAT TURN.

PLAYERS MUST CREATE SEQUENCES OF THREE TO FOUR CARDS ARRANGED BY EITHER NUMBER OR SUITE. IF A SET OF THREE OR MORE CARDS IS CREATED, THE PLAYER MAY CHOOSE TO LAY IT DOWN IN FRONT OF THEM.

PLAYERS CAN ADD TO OTHERS’ SEQUENCES PROVIDED THEY HAVE BEEN LAID DOWN ON THE TABLE.

ACE MAY ONLY COUNT AS ONE.

JOKERS CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF ANY CARD.

CLEAR CONDITION – BE THE WINNER.’

Okay, I thought, mulling it over. Okay…

I hadn’t understood most of what the voice had said, but I could pick up enough that I figured it was just a game of standard Rummy. I had never played the game before, and I only knew of it through John Steinbeck’s characters. But I had played something similar, a card-melding game that my parents had taught me when I was a small child. I’d played it countless times, and I knew it like the back of my hand. Sure enough, these rules were slightly different, but it was still a card-melding game, all the same.

I looked up at the two men opposite me. They appeared confused, despite their attempts to hide it. Green Shirt gazed at me curiously, then smirked.

Oh…

‘A foreigner, too? How lucky.’

His previous words rang in my memory. Judging by the way the two men were looking at me, they were both counting on my inability to understand the rules. They were assuming I had no idea how to play, or even what rules were just read out. And yet, the brief glimpses of confusion in their expressions told me everything: they had never played a card-melding game before.

So they’ve already decided that they have the advantage?

I tried not to smile.

‘Do you know how to play?’ the first man asked me.

I paused, considering how I should answer. I didn’t know exactly what the stakes were, but judging by the laser I had just seen, losing the game couldn’t be good. In any case, I decided to keep my cards close to my chest.

‘このガームは知らない.’ I’ve never heard of this game before.

I was aware that my Japanese probably sounded like it came straight from a textbook, but in this situation, I couldn’t care less.

The first man nodded. He looked at Green Shirt, and said, ‘I’ll be the dealer then, if that’s okay?’

Green Shirt just shrugged and sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. ‘Hurry up then. The clock’s ticking.’

Sure enough, my phone displayed a timer which read 57 minutes. I didn’t want to find out what happened if we didn’t have a clear winner by the time it hit zero.

The first man picked up the deck, dishing out seven cards each before returning the stack to the centre. He took the first card and turned it over on the table, beginning the discard pile. Picking up a card from the deck, the first man began his turn.

I didn’t pay attention to what he was doing, as I needed to focus on the cards currently in my hand.

King of Spades

Three of Hearts

King of Diamonds

Five of Clubs

Ace of Hearts

Nine of Diamonds

Eight of Clubs

It wasn’t bad. Or at least, it could’ve been a lot worse. The two kings stuck out immediately as a potential meld. I could certainly build around them. However, another thought came to mind. If Rummy was anything like the game I had learned as a child, it meant that players could add to each other’s melds once they were on the table. In that case, I would have to avoid creating sets of consecutive numbers within the same suite, as a three-card combination in this kind of meld would leave two openings for the others to get rid of their cards, rather than just the one.

Glancing up, I noticed it was Green Shirt’s turn, promptly ended as he threw an Ace of Spades into the discard pile.

That meant it was my turn next.

I eyed the Ace he just discarded and remembered hearing the overhead voice say something about Aces. But there was no time to think about it; the other two were watching me closely and waiting for me to pick up a card.

I reached out to the deck.

Seven of Diamonds.

Technically I could’ve used it in conjunction with my nine, but it was too risky. I didn’t have time to wait around in hopes of picking up an Eight of Diamonds. Plus, I’d already decided against consecutive sets.

I tossed it into the discard pile.

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

The game continued for longer than I would’ve liked it to. The clock was ticking, ticking, ticking, and now read 17 minutes.

So far, my hand had started to come together.

King of Spades

King of Diamonds

King of Hearts

Nine of Diamonds

Nine of Spades

Five of Clubs

Ace of Hearts

I could’ve laid down my kings on the table. But there was only three cards in the meld, meaning one of the others could add the remaining king from their own hand. Across from me, neither of the other two had laid down any cards, and until they did, I couldn’t add anything to their melds either.

Green Shirt then took his turn and picked up a card. He glanced once at me, then threw a Nine of Diamonds onto the discard pile.

I must’ve regarded it a second too long because Green Shirt then spoke up.

‘You’re collecting Diamonds, aren’t you?’

I tried not to smile.

‘どうして知っているのですか’ I asked, playing along. How did you know that?

‘Because you always stare at the cards whenever I discard a Diamonds one.’

He must’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick, because whenever he discarded a Diamonds card, my heart sank. The last thing I needed was a Diamonds card.

‘I’ll try and keep a poker face from now on,’ I muttered.

Green Shirt frowned in response and checked the timer on his phone.

Nine minutes.

Nine minutes until game over.

That’s 540 seconds I had to land a good card.

Come on, I thought. Please be a nine. Please be a nine.

I picked up a card from the deck. It was a Two of Spades. I discarded it immediately.

In the back of my mind, I was starting to panic. Judging by this whole setup, we were playing for our lives. After all, what kind of game would have an invisible barrier that kills those who try to back out?

The first man threw away a Six of Clubs. Green Shirt stared at it and scowled. He must’ve been looking for extra cards to add to his meld on the table.

By now, the two men were starting to become antsy. The first man kept scratching his eyebrow, whereas Green Shirt kept dragging his nails on the table in impatience.

He picked up a card from the deck, then grinned from ear to ear. He proudly lay down a consecutive suite consisting of the Seven and Six of Clubs and a Joker used to represent a five.

Carelessly, he tossed down a Nine of Clubs.

My heart jumped, and adrenaline shot through me.

He still thinks I’m collecting Diamonds. That’s why he tossed it.

My hand shot out and snatched up the card from the pile before Green Shirt could figure out his mistake. And figure it out, he did, because his eyes widened slightly.

I looked at him squarely.

‘I have something to confess,’ I said in English. ‘I lied. I’m not collecting Diamonds.’

Green Shirt’s smile dropped. He didn’t understand, but he would soon enough. The thing about Jokers is that they’re always a double-edged sword.

Laying down my new trio of nines, I reached over to Green Shirt’s meld and inserted my Five of Clubs, swiping his Joker for myself.

He made a noise of protest, whereas the first man watched on with disbelief, as if hoping that his intuition was wrong.

I added the Joker to my two Kings, creating a new meld which I down on the table.

Their faces told all. They had no idea that Jokers could be swapped. Even though I hadn’t understood the rules outlined at the beginning, it was evident that this was a rule that hadn’t been mentioned.

Watching them shake their heads, wide eyed… it was like watching a penny drop.

‘ごめんなさい,’ I said.

I’m sorry.

I threw the Ace of Hearts onto the discard pile.

The two men shot out of their seats, yelling frantically. I tried to tear my eyes away, but couldn’t, as two lasers pierced through the ceiling and struck them where they stood.

The two bodies crumpled to the ground, and all was still.

‘GAME CLEAR – CONGRATULATIONS!’

I don’t know how long I remained seated in my chair, but I felt that if I moved, I would collapse too. Swallowing, I took two fingers and pressed them to my jugular, feeling for my pulse.

I had won. I was still alive.

I was still here.

The phone on the table beside me flashed with a message. According to this game, I had a four-day visa, whatever that meant.

It didn’t matter though, all I needed right now was to sleep.

Rising unsteadily, I cautiously approached the where the invisible barrier had been. For all I knew it was a one-way system, and I didn’t want to make a stupid mistake after all my effort in the Rummy game. So, as a test, I picked up a tiny vase and threw it across the entrance.

Nothing.

It was like the lasers had just disappeared altogether.

Tentatively reaching my fingers through, I deemed it safe, and made my way back down the hall to the store entrance. I didn’t know where to go, or how to live in a world like this, but if books and movies had taught me anything, I needed to make some kind of camp, perhaps even head to a food store to collect some supplies –

I stopped.

On a small side table near the entrance doors, a card lay facing up. The Four of Diamonds. The same Four of Diamonds that had flashed on the screen on my phone. The game’s difficulty.

But when did it get here? Perhaps someone had come by whilst I was still playing.

Shrugging, I pocketed it and stepped outside into the ghostly darkness of Tokyo. Behind me, the electricity in the furniture store shut off completely.

Whatever kind of games these were, I had a feeling they were only just getting started.

#alice in borderland #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x oc #chishiya x reader #chishiya alice in borderland

117 notes · View notes

the-silentium · 3 years

Text

Bloodhound

Masterlist - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Fors is an Original planet. I do not give permission to people to use it for their own fics, the planet, the animals, the Nightmares, the lore or anything related to Fors. Thank you.

Pairing: Bad Batch x Reader

Words: 5172 words

Warnings: Blood, gore, curse, monsters, ANGST.

A/N: Yessss two chaps in two days!! Thanks to every single one of you who left comments and kuddos on the previous chap. You're all awesome 💜

**Also! Words in bold are words said in French, which means the clones can't understand it. I stopped writing the French in actual French for you guys, it'll be more useful in the future.**

Taglist: @haloangel391 / @lightning-wolffe / @cherrydemon5 / @and-claudia / @clone-rambles / @mandaloriandin / @lackofhonor / @gaymasonjar

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

//25 minutes earlier//

"That's not him! Guys!" You yelled in the comlink you fished in your pocket in a haste, almost making yourself trip when you pulled on the fabric of your pants at the same time.

The gap separating you from them was increasing more and more with each step they took. Damn their long legs and commando training, you weren't made to chase this kind of prey!

"I know his voice Y/N! That's him!" Wrecker was too damn sure of himself, his confidence affecting his brothers' judgment as well.

It didn't take long for rule number one to be thrown overboard and surprisingly it wasn't by the one you expected, no offense Techie.

"Stay under the trees!"

This couldn't be happening. They were all running headfirst to their deaths. According to the lore, Venustes didn't affect more than one person at a time. You couldn't know for sure if the lore was reliable or if the other three were following out of concern for the fake 99, but they had to snap out of their own mind trap soon or else they would all be dragged down.

"H-" A clawed hand appeared inches from your face, cutting short your attempt to call out for your sergeant.

Instinctively, you threw your body to the ground to avoid getting grabbed by the head and ultimately being crushed like a berry in its grasp and crawled to continue running. Alas, the Algax wasn't as dumb as you thought, his other hand swiftly reached forward to stab your right thigh with one of its fingers, preventing you from escaping.

Your screams of pain were muffled by the hand pinning your face to the dirt, waiting before your lungs were empty of any air to lace its long sharp digits around your torso. The feeling barely registered through the thick fog of pain coming from your thigh.

Your first instinct was to yell at the top of your lungs for help, maybe your distress would get them out of their haze, saving their lives as well as yours, but you quickly found out that your lungs were empty and unable to expand to receive more oxygen.

The lack of air in your system mixed with the agonizing pain from the retreating talon in your thigh almost knocked you unconscious. You could feel your blood escaping your wound to drip down your legs and nourish the ground under your suspended form.

It leaned closer, a low crackling sound escaped the slits on its temples. With considerable efforts, your good leg moved up to push against its torso to keep its horrifying face away from yours, the up-close view causing more tears to gather in your eyes.

Fear and the lack of oxygen quickly took over your body in the form of violent shivers shooking your whole frame. The building pressure encompassing you once more was excruciating, your bow laid on the ground out of reach while your arms were pinned down along your sides, keeping you from stabbing your way out of the situation.

All you could do was scream in your head out of pain and fear, waiting until your bones gave up under the tightening grasp to pierce your organs and kill you slowly. The boys seemed way too entranced to come to your aid, leaving you to feel as miserable as when you were hunting for the village, without back up and entirely alone. If you were lucky, you'd die alone without another beast feasting on your still alive-but-unable-to-move self. This would be a nice death, as horrible as it sounded.

You hoped the boys would survive though. Even if they apparently totally forgot that you were there. Not that this came to you as a surprise. People who gravitate around you for some time always tend to go away on their own, leaving you behind just like the clones. But you couldn't hate them for it, your heart already knew it was coming and had prepared itself for this right moment.

After all, they had to lie to their chain of command and train a primitive idiot how to fly a ship, they were trapped on this infernal planet once again because you nearly died and they hadn't seen the Shinehorn sneaking its way into their ship, being too busy fussing over your comatose self. Oh and let's not forget that you ended an innocent's life right in front of them without warning. It was only a matter of time before they left.

Plus, if they were so desperate to meet this 99, it surely meant that he was highly special to them whereas you were the newbie, so no you weren't mad. You merely wished you had someone who could make you forget everything around like this 99. It seemed nice to have someone that important.

And finally, if you died maybe you would find a way to come back to haunt them. This could be fun, you could mess with Crosshair's rifle, disturb Tech while he was tweaking with his prototypes, pushing Wrecker around to your liking because he couldn't possibly defend himself against you anymore and most important of all, you could mess with Hunter by constantly untying his goddamn bandana. It would drive them all mad, you knew it.

After some thoughts, you knew they would make it off this planet alive. Together they had a good chance. Hunter's acute senses along with their brains and elite commando training gave them an advantage the natives never had. Hopefully, they would stay in these parts of the jungle until daylight, where they knew how to deal with the monsters living around.

Yeah... Good luck guys.

Eyes closed, you waited for the inevitable snaps of your bones. It resonated between the trees, sickening and disgusting you to the core, but you weren't flooded under any more pain than the one radiating from your thigh. Instead, you felt nauseous for a whole second when you were once again thrown away, landing on the ground harshly.

Your body rolled on the dirt, bouncing a couple of times under the force of impact. For as far as you remembered there wasn't a single time in your life when you've been thrown around as much as tonight. This was getting tiring and it’s been dark for only a bit more than two hours. Lucky you.

Still laying on your back, you breathed erratically to provide the much-needed oxygen to your organs, watching upside down the Algax receiving a second arrow to the head, effectively scaring it away.

A hunter. You were saved. You were fine.

Huffing, your body went limp at the lack of imminent danger and talons menacing your life. Maybe you could rest-

"Shit. She's really alive?" A hunter you recognized as Farlan walked out of the shadows to slowly approach your form like you were a trapped animal.

"So it's true then. It's your fault they're back." Another Hunter spat, literally, missing your face by an inch. Kerth never liked you, obviously.

You would have liked to say that those were the hunters you desperately wanted to come and rescue you, but then it would be a lie. None of them appreciated your presence even slightly so they all meant the same thing. This will be a drag.

"Now, who's back? And why is it always my fault?" You pushed on your forearm to sit straight, grunting at the pain in your right leg.

Shit. The hole left by the talon wasn't big, approximately two inches wide, but it was bleeding profusely. It was sickening to be able to see the ground through your flesh so you opted to keep pressure on the wound with your hands, camouflaging the hole like it wasn't even there. If only the pain could disappear as easily...

"The nightmares. They're back because you're still alive." Kerth pulled a piece of gauze from a pocket on his belt, the sight of the medical supply pulled a relieved sigh out of you.

Wait what?

"So the council wants a word." He said with so much venom that your heart skipped a beat. This wasn't good. At. All.

Before you could react, the gauze found its way in your mouth, quickly followed by an irritating rope that despite your weak thrashing around got attached behind your head.

You were brutally pushed onto your belly, hands pulled behind your back to be attached tightly with skillful fingers. A muffled scream escaped your mouth when a knee pressed onto your wounded thigh, tears joining your blood on the dirt.

"Because of you, I've lost friends tonight. I'll make sure to pay you a visit once the council is done with your stupid ass." He growled in your ear.

Oh, you were so dead. Your bet was on the council, but if by some miracle they weren't the one to put an end to your life, then Kerth was the next bet. Maybe you shouldn't have sabotaged his weapons the day of the hunt competition. Or put some poison ivy in his hunting clothes. Or laugh whole-heartedly when he got shit on by a Furant during his ceremonial speech in front of the whole village. Or… one of the numerous pranks you pulled on him for payback of his daily shitty attitude towards you.

Farlan was the one to pull you up and push you forward, leaving the job to spot the monsters to Kerth. The thought of running or fighting was completely futile. You wouldn't run very far with your untreated leg, there was the possibility that they would shoot you down out of spite too. They seemed very fed up at you for some reason. How could you be the cause of the nightmares reappearing? Also, they were gone? Since when?!

This was getting weirder and weirder.

_________________

//Present - 10:48 pm//

"I got her position. She's close” The corners of Wrecker’s lips lifted slightly. They could track you, everything would be fine from here. You weren’t lost. “and unmoving." The whispered last words rang loud and clear in all the clones' ears.

Wrecker's breath wasn't the only one to abruptly stop.

The smile quickly left his face, as well as a majority of his blood. You couldn’t be dead. This couldn’t be happening.

“Where?” Hunter’s hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly around his blaster,

“700 meters that way.” He pointed deeper into the jungle, where they all came from.

A weight fell on his stomach and he had to force a deep breath in. You hadn’t made it out of the jungle with them. They had outrun you and left you behind on your own.

Without a word Hunter took the lead, Tech following right behind with Crosshair on his heels. Wrecker took a single second to gulp down his guilt and shake his arms lightly to regain feeling in his body and not worsen his wounds. He followed silently behind the group, squinting attentively to discern the shadows with his half working equipment.

“300 meters.”

You were resourceful. You knew your planet like the back of your hand. There was no way you were dead.

“100.”

Please 99. Don’t let her be dead.

Crosshair stumbled on Tech as the brown-haired clone abruptly stopped, looking around like he was searching for something. With a step forward, Tech crouched to grab a small object on the ground to show it to the rest of them.

“Kriff!” Hunter punched a nearby tree, exhausted by this succession of ill-fated events. There in Tech’s hand was your comlink, their only way of locating you on this living prison that was this planet.

Wrecker held onto the last hope he had. There wasn’t any blood, you could still be fine. Maybe you’d dropped your comlink while running away.

“Hunter.” Crosshair’s voice was unsettling. His usual dry snarky self was replaced by a more small and scared tone that the soldier hadn’t heard in a while. “That’s a lot of blood.”

And it was. The puddle was big enough and it looked like you'd struggled quite a bit in it too.

The world was spinning. He knew battalions lost men every time they went out on missions. It was a common occurrence for soldiers to die and the remaining ones had to suck it up ad continue the fight. But Wrecker wasn’t used to this. From the very beginning, they were the four of them, surviving each mission thrown their way to fight another day. He never got attached to anyone out of his Batch but you and losing his first comrade in the field hit him hard.

Sure, the death of 99 left him in crumbles but with you it was different. He was supposed to have your back just like you had his. You saved his life and he didn’t save yours.

As his eyes fell to the ground in shame, he noticed a small object at the tip of his boot.

“Tech.” He called, as he raised back up with your earbud in hand.

“So we can’t contact her, she can’t contact us, she’s unarmed and wounded.” Crosshair resumed the situation, your bloody bow, and quiver in hand. "If she's not dead, she'll be soon."

"There's no way she'd run deeper into the jungle wounded and without her bow. It's suicide." Hunter tore his gaze from the large puddle at his feet to follow sparse dark spots staining the grass to their right. "It could be a new critter that doesn't kill right away or she found someone or something else to protect her."

So there was a possibility that you weren't dead. Wrecker felt relieved that his brother came to that conclusion, his own mind was working in slow motion, too distressed at his feelings to allow him to concentrate and think.

"Whatever it is, we'll find her."

Even if the words weren't meant to reassure him, Wrecker felt more at ease knowing that they had a way to track you and that you were possibly safe with someone or something. All he hoped now was that you were alive long enough for them to find you and that ultimately, you'd forgive him.

Wrecker rushed behind his brothers who followed the trail, jogging at a steady rhythm, slow enough to be able to detect the monsters that might target them but fast enough that they would catch up to you at some point.

It didn't take long for the first Algax to cut their road, the shy creature poking its terrifying head from behind a large trunk as soon as it heard them approach.

Wrecker tensed, already gripping the handle of his blaster with his left hand despite the knowledge that his weapon was useless against them. Having his blaster in hand, even if it wasn't the right one, gave him a sense of security.

The dark blue creature didn't have time to lift its hand to reach for them that an arrow flew right into the trunk next to its head. The beast hissed, its long fingers hitting the arrow in anger before moving out of its hiding spot to engage the group.

"Damn thing." Crosshair growled, at the bow in his hand or at the beast, Wrecker didn't know. All he knew was that he almost cheered when his brother managed to scare the beast away with two arrows piercing its chest.

"Nice work." Tech approved, light sticks in hand instead of his blasters.

"You were right. It is primitive." Crosshair growled, following Hunter who resumed the tracking of your blood on the ground.

"I'm always right." He chirped, eyes scanning the shadows.

"Debatable." His brother scoffed back.

"Wrecker." Hunter called from the front, eyes quickly darting forward when he caught his brother's eyes. "Let your blaster. Take your blade."

"Okay." Against his best instinct, the clone let go of his DC-17, letting it fall on the jungle floor to grab his vibroblade in a firm grip. The blade felt weird in his left hand but it would do. Knives worked on those things, he was still safe.

The surroundings were calm for a while, and the more time they spent no crossing path with any monster, the more the tension built between them. Apprehension kept them on their toes, eating away at their nerves slowly.

The next Algax they encountered stood tall in their way like he was challenging them to jump at it. Maybe they were used to being at the top of the food chain, just like the clones were used to being at the top of their game. Regrettably, the clones were in way over their head on this planet but they would make sure that they weren't the only ones.

Instead of slowing down, Hunter charged at the Algax, stopping only when the sharp metal of his vibroblade was deeply set into the monster's chest.

Wrecker waited for a screech, for the creature to start thrashing around or flee like the one that fell down a tree with you. Seconds passed and the Algax lifted its arms like nothing happened, like there wasn't a long knife jabbed in its thorax and made a move to grab the sergeant who swiftly jumped away, blade still in hand.

"What?!" Hunter exclaimed, facing the creature once again.

An arrow in the head managed to get the desired effect, the tall beast running away in its signature hiss.

"Why didn't it work? Her knife worked on them!" Hunter was getting more and more on edge.

"Maybe it could be because our technology is too advanced or because our equipment is not native." Tech remarked. "It is logical in a sense. This planet created its own rules to protect itself from invaders, so it may have created a sort of protection against anything exterior to its own resources."

"It is possible?" Wrecker found it quite hard to believe. A planet controlling what could kill or not? Blasters could kill anything!

"The planet changes beliefs in the real thing. Yeah I think it's possible." He deadpanned with an eye roll.

Suddenly, the vibroblade in Wrecker's hand didn't provide the same sense of security as before. All their hope resided in Crosshair and Tech's hands. 7 arrows and 3 light sticks. Talk about limited resources. If only he had his backpack containing all his explosives, he could get something done.

Too deep in thought, Wrecker didn't notice the wall of dirt right in front of them until he almost rammed into it. They were back to their landmark.

"We missed each other." Hunter growled in frustration at the sight of the blood splatters leaving the safety of the trees to disappear under the waterfall.

Wrecker understood immediately, his own frustration building in his chest. They entered the jungle and you got out of it. Maker knew Wrecker was used to bad timing but this was a new low. Fate was laughing right in their faces.

Cautiously, they left the dense vegetation to venture into the open area where Wrecker almost became bird food. His eyes were fixed in the open sky, some stars were visible through the small clouds. The bright moon wasn't at its highest yet, Wrecker estimated that there was another hour before the satellite reached its peak.

The provided light allowed him to relax the muscles around his eyes. He hasn't been squinting for long that the beginning of a headache started to form in his skull.

As they neared the wet dirt, three sets of footprints were easily distinguishable in the wet dirt. The spacing told them that none of you were running. If nothing was chasing you, then why weren't you patched up?

"We have to find her quick." Crosshair spat what every brother thought quietly.

If you were with people that didn't patch you up and had plenty of time to do so then they weren't on your side. Even without medical supplies, they should have been able to stop the bleeding one way or the other.

"Stay close." Hunter called, venturing closer to the waterfall where your blood disappeared.

With each step forward, the sound of the waterfall hitting the river below became more and more deafening. The sound was assaulting his ears to a point where he almost ripped his helmet off to cover his ears. He managed to hold on, focussing instead on his leader who clearly had more problems than him.

Hunter had removed his own helmet to pass it on to Tech in hope of covering some of the uproars with his hands. The relief must not have been enough for his arms began to shake, his hands pushing firmly against the sides of his head.

If only he could reach for his brother and take some of his pain, Wrecker would do it in a heartbeat.

"Let's make this quick." Crosshair took the front, his steps taking him behind the waterfall where a tin border of rocks formed a path to the other side.

Tech nodded his head towards Hunter, his hands already full with the sticks and the extra helmet.

"Got him." Wrecker confirmed. His left hand reached for his brother's pauldron right after sheathing his blade.

With practiced movements, Wrecker bent to carefully set his pain down, now wasn't the time to listen to his body.

With slow steps the tank walked on the wet trail of rocks behind the roaring wall of water, his arm tightening slightly around the body on his shoulder. If Hunter reacted Wrecker couldn't hear it.

The rocks were flat enough that he didn't slip once. The problem appeared on the other side, where the blood trail ended abruptly a couple of feet away from the bank.

"Where to now?" Wrecker asked, still supporting his limp brother.

"No fucking idea." Crosshair grumbled, visor moving from right to left where the jungle extended as far as his eyes could see in both directions.

Hunter's feet returned to the ground when soft pats disturbed the tall clone carrying him, his hands were at his sides, fingers clenched into fists as he grounded himself through deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Wrecker dared to ask, his worry for his family finally escaping him.

Hunter usually took more time to recover from an overwhelming episode like this one and it was apparent that he still needed time, but he opened his eyes nonetheless, ignoring Wrecker's question to grip onto Tech for support and deeply breathe in, brows furrowed in concentration.

His head turned in a different direction as the three remaining clones scrutinized the line of trees for signs of a threat.

"It's faint." Hunter whispered, still deep within himself. "Blood. That way." He pointed at their right before reaching for his helmet in the engineer's hands.

"You're good to walk?" Tech questioned, watching his C.O. warily. His hands lifted slightly in apprehension that Hunter may faint under the pressure he was forcing on his body.

"Yes." It was weak but firm, leaving no place for discussion, not that either of them would have said anything. They knew what you meant to the sergeant so it was better for their sakes to not put themselves between you and him.

Back in position, clone force 99 advanced through the trees, their pace building at each passing second. They were almost running when finally they stopped, their boots almost slipping under them in a sticky substance.

"Karkin' fuck." Hunter cursed, his hands tightening around his vibroblade, eyes glued to the corpse lying at their feet.

"That was you smelled?" Crosshair pushed the eviscerated loth wolf with the tip of his foot.

"Ye-"

Screams resonated in the distance, cutting Hunter off. Wrecker's heartbeat loudly in his ears, almost covering the yells of pain under its incessant percussion against his ribcage.

Every single one of the soldiers breathed out in relief at the lack of a female scream. However, they tensed in apprehension as the screams faded and howls filled the air in their place. A new beast was around and they didn't have any idea of how to react to it. Run? Hide? Would the knife work this time? Or the bow?

"There were two distinct voices. Males." Tech stopped his recon of the surroundings to catch his batch's eyes. "Maybe it's them."

"Worth a shot." Hunter nodded, already moving in the direction of the screams, although this time he kept a slower pace, fully conscious that they were in unknown territory, charging at unknown beasts.

The screams weren't too far, but they obviously came from the opposite direction Hunter initially pointed them to. Hopefully, they would find you there, wounded but alive, and he wouldn't beat himself too much for his mistake.

Despite knowing that they were useless, Wrecker retrieved his vibroblade from its sheath. The need for a weapon in his hand was too great to ignore, every cell of his being felt the danger ahead and wanted to be prepared although he could never really be prepared for anything this planet threw at him.

He cringed every time a twig broke under his boots, the soft sound resonating in his own ears like the grenades he liked to throw on the battlefield, resonating into the silent jungle to scream their position at anything that dared to listen. Maybe it was paranoïa slowly creeping its way into his brain, using the aftereffect of the corrupted hallucinations he suffered to play around with his senses.

Just like right now, the more he concentrated to decipher the shadows with his half working helmet, the more strange the forms became. At first, it was spots from his constant squinting, then he saw small blue lights on the horizon, dancing haphazardly around. After a couple of blinks, the pale lights disappeared as fast as they arrived, leading the bald clone to shrug them off as his eyes playing tricks on him. The constant stress was definitely getting a toll on him, and let’s not talk about the two dives into a strong current. Once this night was over and they get back at the Marauder, he’ll sleep for two weeks straight.

Softs whines could be heard over unnerving growls and occasional barks, quickly catching the group’s attention.

“Blood.” Hunter informed them over comm, his whisper almost blending with the rustles of leaves in front of them.

The group halted in their tracks as Hunter raised his fist, Crosshair already had the bow cranked, ready to shoot at whatever alerted their leader. Carefully peeking over Tech’s shoulder, Wrecker craned his neck to the side to see what was happening around the boulder they used as cover.

He could see the posterior of a large animal, jerking successively like it was pulling at something. Disturbing yelps filled the air and the animal fell backward with its prize tightly encased between its teeth. It rolled near their position but was too preoccupied with the bloody arm in its possession to detect the clones observing it.

Wrecker knew Tech was recording, there was no way he wasn’t. Not when the monster before them had no skin whatsoever to cover its bones. The canine-like monstrosity easily reached Tech’s waist, had no external skin, leaving its bones to shine under the green tint of their night vision, muscles were observable between the ribs and along the joints, but that was it. No skin.

"If only we could capture one." He muttered to which Hunter answered with a glare under his helmet.

As it ate, Tech’s appreciative whispers filled the comm, muttering about the extra smaller ribs that circled the abdomen of the monster, keeping its intestines from falling all over the ground and marveling about the movement of each muscle, totally bare for his curious eyes to see and analyze at will.

"Fine fine. We won't be getting one of those perfect study specimens." He grumbled, reporting his gaze to the organism that crunched the humerus with only moderate difficulty. "Fascinating."

"No, it's not." Crosshair elbowed Hunter who redirected his gaze to a hollow tree where a figure was shivering, hidden in the darkness.

"That's her." He confirmed, the sniper's impeccable sight was not to be doubted.

"Why aren't they attacking her?" Wrecker questioned, puzzled.

Two other beasts were walking only steps away from your poor hiding spot, ignoring you totally despite acknowledging your presence with occasional glances towards you.

"I have some theories but they are all shots in the dark." Tech answered when he realized that they were all waiting for his highlights.

"That's just perfect." Crosshair growled.

The tall clone counted 4 of them, walking between two bodies to tear at the flesh and stain their white skulls with fresh blood.

He wondered if his brute strength would be enough to smash their bones if needed when he noticed you slowly standing up, hands behind your body to steady yourself against the trunk.

"Maybe she could come here instead of us going there." Wrecker pointed out. If only he could catch your attention without catching theirs. "Tech. Do you still have your laser?"

The toy they kept around to annoy Crosshair whenever he was too relaxed on leave could be more useful than its original purpose.

Wrecker was amazed at how unafraid of the canines you were, standing next to one of them to pull at the bow on one of the beheaded corpses with your foot.

"Good idea." Tech walked to the other side of the rock where he could have a clear view of your limping form, slowly making your way toward one of the dead bodies.

"She's tied up." Remarked Hunter, his voice merely above a whisper but frightening nonetheless. Your aggressors should be glad that the dogs got them first.

Crosshair had the creature in his aim, an arrow already pointed at its head if it dared to make a move in your direction.

At one point the bow got stuck, the snapping mouth of the monster next to you was deeply buried into the open chest of what once was a man, blocking your progression toward the shoulders.

Wrecker's breath blocked in his throat and Crosshair cursed under his breath as they saw you tentatively poke the skull of the monster with a very shaky foot before almost falling on your ass with a muffled yelp at how quickly you moved it back when the big bony dog jerked its head up to look at you.

Your wide eyes stared back at it until it lost interest and moved further down the body to nib at some abdominal organs. Quickly you pulled out the bow with your foot, head tilted down to your chest to look at your work.

Tech used this moment to point the red laser at your chest, immediately catching your attention by moving it from side to side. Wrecker grinned as your head lifted in their direction, eyes wide in surprise. You spotted them in seconds, maybe because Wrecker was waving.

Words were muffled by the rope around your mouth, but the wild shaking of your head was clear. Even with only a half functioning helmet, Wrecker could read the fear in your gaze.

Tech couldn't close the light fast enough. One skull turned at the source of the small brightness. As soon as it spotted them, earsplitting yaps covered the snarls of the feasting animals, catching the pack’s attention simultaneously. Soon 4 pairs of predatory red eyes stared at them, their maws chattering in anticipation.

#bad batch x reader #wrecker x reader #tech x reader #crosshair x reader #hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #clone force 99 #star wars #clone wars

89 notes · View notes

inkweaver22-blr · 3 years

Text

Here’s another filler chapter! I like how it turned out so I hope ya’ll do too! Enjoy.

AO3 Link

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Twelve: Memory Proof

Tang learns a bit about the twins. Being in the same body as them might have something to do with that.

----------

Tang hid behind some debris in the ruined theater as he watched Macaque approach the shattered Shadow Lantern. He had been hoping to collect the pieces for himself to try and study the artifact’s ability to trap souls. The data he could potentially obtain from it would be priceless in trying to come up with a counter to his curse once he found it’s cause.

But just because they were intelligent, didn’t mean they had common sense. The amount of harebrained plots and ideas they had that blew up in their faces due to not thinking everything through was almost comical.

Abandoning his plan for now, Tang waited patiently for Macaque to leave so he could make his exit as well.

Suddenly the Mayor was there.

Tang tensed in his hiding spot as he watched the man taunt Macaque before surprising the monkey and grabbing him by the throat.

Tang’s pulse raced as he watched Macaque get captured with little effort.

Was this why they never saw Macaque again after these events? Did this happen in every cycle? Just how strong was the Mayor to be able to subdue the shadow demon so quickly?

He needed to get out of here.

Tang froze when he realized the Mayor had vanished without him noticing.

“Now what do we have here?”

Blinding white and blue pain flashed behind Tang’s eyes as he stumbled back. Gasping in panic he looked up to find the Mayor right in front of him, giving the scholar his trademark nonchalant smile.

“Can’t have you running off to spoil the end of the show for the others, now can we” the Mayor said as he held up the Shadow Lantern. “I do love a captive audience!”

Before Tang could react, the lantern was activated, and he knew no more.

----------

He was in the cave, thankfully. The voices called out in concern. The golden-yellow light wrapped around him.

----------

Tang awoke with a start, gasping in panic.

Damn that man!

He hadn’t been killed this time, but being a puppet for the Mayor until the cycle ended was just as unpleasant.

The more he learned about him, the more terrifying to Tang he became.

He would have to do his best to avoid him as much as possible from now on.

Once he got his breathing under control, Tang made his preparations for the day and began his remembering ritual.

It seemed this cycle was one where there were only a few changes. Everything seemed mostly the same except for two details.

The first was that Jin and Yin had been good friends with Mei for years, acting almost like older brothers for her.

The second was that this cycle had Fusion.

Tang groaned at this revelation.

There were many strange and weird magics and powers he had come across in the timelines, but Fusion was the most conflicting for Tang.

Fusion was a special ability where two or more beings would physically combine together into a new, more powerful being. The result was usually a much larger combination of the participants that mixed together their physical characteristics and often sported extra limbs and eyes. Whether the minds of the original beings remained separate or fused into a new personality as well as the permanence of the Fusion tended to be randomly determined like most things in these cycles.

The only constant was the need for absolute trust between all parties that fuse.

Fusion was an intimate process as you shared not just a body with someone else, but your mind as well. Thoughts and memories could not be hidden from a Fusion partner. It was an implicit sign of trust, and oftentimes love, to want to fuse with someone.

Forcing two unwilling beings to fuse was possible, but never went over well in Tang’s experience.

Tang didn’t dislike Fusion. It was an incredible experience the few times he had done so with either Pigsy or Wukong. He had never felt so close with anyone as he did when fused with them.

The problem was the curse.

Fusion required trust and the participants working in synchrony to function. His curse made it impossible for anyone except himself to know about it. When fused, his partners would become confused at the strange gaps in Tang’s mind they couldn’t perceive. The disorientation would destabilize the trust between them, causing them to fall out of sync, and result in the Fusion ending prematurely.

The questions he would receive were ones Tang couldn’t answer, and he was usually treated with suspicion and distrust for the remainder of those cycles. The same problem would occur if he refused to fuse at all, as that implied he didn’t trust anyone.

Luckily for Tang, he wasn’t in a romantic relationship with anyone this cycle and hadn’t fused with anyone yet. There was also a precedent this time for some people finding Fusion nauseating, so he could always fall back on that if pushed.

Hoping it wouldn’t even come to that, Tang left his apartment and made his way to work. He began to think of the second change as he walked.

Jin and Yin. The Gold and Silver Demon Brothers.

The two trouble makers loved to spread chaos wherever they went. Even during the rare occasions like now where they were allies. Schemes, pranks, and hijinks were to be expected whenever they were around.

The twins were smart. That was pretty much a given being the former lab assistants of Lao Tzu. Their talent in crafting magical items was impressive by mortal standards.

Tang had to admire their tenacity though. Their determination never faltered no matter how many failures they had. This was particularly handy when they were allies.

The twins’ self destructive tendencies usually got smoothed out whenever they befriended the group as well. Tang was genuinely surprised a few times by what they had managed to come up with when given a proper sounding board to help point out problems.

He may not consider Jin and Yin to be a part of his extended family, but Tang couldn’t help but have a soft spot for them. Perhaps, in time, he could include them. Maybe when their redemption became more common in the cycles.

But for now he was perfectly fine with just being their friend.

----------

The attack came without warning.

They had all been hanging out at Pigsy’s Noodles when multiple explosions went off across the city. Tang wasn’t sure what happened in all the confusion, but he was currently with Jin and Yin, the three of them separated from the others.

They had been trying to find everyone when the twins had suddenly pushed Tang away from them. There was a loud crashing sound and the air was filled with dust.

Coughing and waving away the dust, Tang stood and looked around. As the smoke began to clear, his heart dropped at what he saw.

“Jin! Yin!”

The twins were trapped under the rubble of a partially collapsed building. Jin’s entire left side was stuck under the debris while Yin was pinned from the waist down.

Neither demon had super strength and were completely helpless. They couldn’t even fuse to escape as they were just out of reach of each other and Fusion required contact.

Tang scrambled over the torn apart street and knelt next to the groaning brothers.

“G-go get help Tang,” Jin said, teeth clenched in pain. “We’ll be fine for now.”

“I am not leaving you two here,” Tang said, looking around for anyone to help, but the street was deserted.

“Come on, we’ll be right here when you come back,” Yin said with a strained smile. “I promise we won’t get up and leave.”

Before Tang could scold him for joking, there was another distant explosion followed by a rumbling sound. The three looked up in horror as the remainder of the building began to sway.

“Shit! Tang you need to leave now!” Jin pushed against the concrete trapping him, but made no progress.

Tang’s mind raced.

None of them were strong enough to push the rubble away. He had no time to go get help before the rest of the building fell. Jin and Yin couldn’t grab each other to fuse.

But he could.

Tang reached out and snatched up the hand of each twin.

“Fuse with me!”

“What?!”

“There’s no time! Fuse with me!”

Spurred on by the urgency of his voice, the twins closed their eyes and focused. Tang did the same and the world melted into gold, silver, and yellow light.

Fusing was always an indescribable experience. Tang felt warm as he felt his body stretch out and merge seamlessly with the twins’. He had no idea which physical traits would be picked from each of them, but their appearance was the least of his worries.

When they opened their eyes, they were standing several feet away from the pile of debris, just as the building began to topple.

“Shit! Go go go,” Jin said from their shared mouth.

They quickly dashed away from the area, their much taller stature allowing them to easily outpace the collapsing structure. Their new body didn’t feel strange in any way, and their combined movements came naturally.

‘Damn, I think my legs are broken,’ Yin said in their shared mind once they paused to take a breath. ‘We’ll have to keep this up until we get to a hospital and unfuse inside.��

‘Pretty sure some rebar had stabbed into my side so ditto on that,’ Jin added.

‘That might be a problem...’ Tang’s nervousness caused their stomach to twist.

‘What does that- Oh. Huh. That’s interesting.’ Jin explored the gaps he found in Tang’ mind with curiosity. ‘Hey Yin, take a look at this.’

‘Whoa. Trippy. Haven’t seen a memory-proof seal like this in a while.’ Yin poked at the spaces gingerly, not wishing to be caught completely in its effects.

‘Look at how big it is though,’ Jin said. ‘You are much older than I thought you were Tang.’

‘No, no, no. His body is definitely only 41 years old. So that means his mind is much older.’

‘Time travel?’

‘That usually has the person physically moving through time, so I doubt it.’

‘How are you two not disoriented by this,’ Tang said as they began to move towards the sounds of the explosions.

‘Should we be?’

‘Oh, yeah, I see what you mean,’ Jin said as he found the context for Tang’s confusion.

The demon didn’t vocalize it, but he projected how he found it interesting that he could get the knowledge on Tang’s past experiences with fusions without the full picture.

‘Oof. Forcefully unfusing and being treated as untrustworthy must suck,’ Yin said.

Tang was about to ask how they were being so unconcerned about this when the context came unbidden from their minds.

Lao Tzu had placed his own memory-proof seals on the twins to prevent them from revealing his secrets. They had to deal with it every time they fused.

Along with that knowledge came the feelings of the desperate need for approval and attention from their master, but never receiving it.

Always having their ideas dismissed. Being told their work was never good enough. Belittling their reliance on one another. Outright destroying their inventions at one point.

‘What an ass,’ Tang said vehemently.

He had worked too hard across the cycles to keep MK from drowning in his insecurities. It was insulting to him that someone he had once respected for their vast knowledge would ever treat anyone like that to make them feel this way.

‘I know, right?’

‘Why do you think we left,’ Jin said.

Tang sent over the context that, while he couldn’t tell them how, he had become an accomplished magician and artificer in his own right.

‘We’re going to make him regret ever dismissing you two,’ Tang vowed.

‘You… You want to take us on as students?’

Tang’s righteous protectiveness over how small Yin had sounded shocked the twins as they felt his warmth of comfort envelope them.

‘I would be honored to have you two as students. There is no way I’d ever let my family feel like they are unwanted.’

‘Family?’

Tang let the context for that free as well as the love he felt for his family, which now included his two new students.

They had to stop walking for a moment as Jin’s and Yin’s emotions caused them to start crying. Tang made sure to keep watch from his set of eyes while they were indisposed.

The joy and appreciation they sent his way in silent thanks was returned with his own.

‘Let’s get you two to a hospital.’ They continued to move once they had composed themselves. ‘I would never forgive myself if I let my favorite students perish from a simple collapsing building.’

‘Aren’t we your only students?’

‘Oi! And what do you mean by a “simple collapsing building''? Are you saying there are other ways you’d let us perish?!’

The master and his students bickered playfully back and forth as they looked around for a hospital that had been undamaged in the attack.

Tang may not have been expecting to add the twins to his family this soon, but he knew he wouldn’t regret it. How he felt for them would live on even past the memory erasing effects of the curse.

Jin and Yin returned the sentiment a hundredfold.

----------

And thus Tang’s family grows in numbers once more! He’s almost completed the whole set by now.

Fusions are an interesting concept and there are plenty of great designs for different combinations out there. While none of them show up in this chapter, I’d like to give a shout out to @winterpower98, @smallpwbbles, @sketchquill, and @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off for their amazing fusion designs! Go check them out!

Don't worry about that bit with the mayor. It's fine.

Next chapter will be another filler! Until then!

#Ink Writes #Monkie Kid #Scattered Cicadas #Tang #Jin #Yin #Lao Tzu #Fusions #Fusion #winterpower98 #smallpwebbles #sketchquill #ninja knox ur sox off #Tang Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid

15 notes · View notes

thewickedkings · 4 years

Text

Between the Two of Us ~ Chapter 6

Masterlist || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Summary: Jurdan High school AU. Rivals Jude and Cardan are forced to partner up for a history project, and drama ensues. Filled with banter, pranks, an unhealthy amount of pining, and Jude being clueless as usual.

Trigger Warnings: I don’t think there’s anything so far, but please let me know if there’s anything I missed!

~~~

Jude blinked. And then blinked again. But Cardan was still standing at her door, holding a bouquet of red roses, very much real. Under her confusion, a distant part of her felt a surprising flutter of warmth.

She opened the door hesitantly and was greeted with Cardan’s scowl. He was dressed in jeans and a simple white T-shirt that somehow made his already attractive features stand out even more. His sharp black hair fell over his forehead in tantalizing waves. With the roses in hand, he looked like a heartbreak waiting to happen.

Jude opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, but he interrupted.

“Don’t worry. They’re not from me.” He shoved them in her arms like they had burned him. Clearly, the idea of giving her flowers completely repulsed him.

“I- okay. Hi to you too.” She stepped back to let him in, and his jaw ticked. “Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

He stepped in and Jude shut the door behind them. When she turned back to Cardan, she found him looking at her expectantly. She ignored him and walked to the kitchen, resisting the urge to check the note attached, even though she had a feeling she knew who they were from.

“Want anything to drink?”

“No,” he replied bluntly.

Jude pursed her lips. “Okay then.” Clearly, he wasn’t in a cooperative mood. She sighed. “So, I figured we could compare our research to see what-”

“Are you going to put those in a vase?” Cardan interrupted.

She glared at him. “Are you going to be like this the whole time?” But she stood up and went to the pantry to get a vase.

She felt Cardan’s gaze on the side of her face as she filled the vase up with water and put it on the counter, but he didn’t speak. The only sound was the steady drip of the faucet into the sink. She picked up the bouquet, inhaling the fragrant scent of the roses. Before she put them into the vase, she untied the note and read it.

For Jude. Yesterday was fun. We should do it again.

She bit her lip to stop the giddy smile that threatened to break free. Nobody had ever bought her flowers before.

Cardan cleared his throat, irritation edging his voice. “Are we going to do this or not?”

“You’re the one who asked me to put these in a vase,” she mumbled. She flopped onto the bar stool next to him, annoyed.

She opened her laptop, clicking through to open her research. “Like I was saying before you interrupted me, we should compare our research and see what we’ve got.”

“Right, okay.” He ran his hand over jaw, easing the tension in it. “By the way, they’re going to display the best project on the school website, so we might have to up our game.”

Jude’s head swiveled back to Cardan. “What? Since when? Why didn’t you tell me right when you got here?”

“I was a bit preoccupied.”

Jude narrowed her eyes. “Wait, how do you know?”

He smirked, some of his earlier mood dissipating. “I have my sources.”

“I don’t trust your sources,” Jude shot back.

Cardan leaned back, arms stretching behind his head. “Fine then. Don’t believe me. When Taryn and Locke have their project on the website, don’t come crying to me.”

Jude paused momentarily. She’d forgotten Taryn and Locke were partners. Something niggled in the back of her mind, a thought that wasn’t fully formed. “You think they’d actually win?”

“Locke will try if he knows I… if he knows we want to win.”

After the date, Jude had conveniently forgotten that Locke and Cardan knew each other. She felt the strange compulsion to keep them separate in her mind. “Okay, so say this is actually true.”

Cardan scoffed. “If you really must know, I heard my father talking about it. He’s on the board, and it’s one of the publicity tactics or something to make the school look better. They need to show off for the donors.”

Jude looked up, surprised. “Oh, okay. I didn’t know your father was on the board.”

Cardan shrugged and redirected the conversation. “If we want to win, we better start working.”

“Don’t worry. We’re winning this.”

“I’m not worried.” The quick, playful grin he sent her startled her, and Jude wondered what they could do if they actually worked on the same side for once.

Jude paused. “Wait, why do you want to win so badly?”

Before he could answer, the garage door opened, and Madoc entered. Jude stiffened in surprise, not expecting her father to be here while her and Cardan were home. She felt weird introducing them, and she didn’t want her father making any assumptions about the two of them like he did with any guy Jude mentioned.

Jude cleared her throat. “Um, Father, this is Cardan.”

Cardan stood up from the barstool, and Jude watched in awe as Cardan transformed into a gentleman, politely introducing himself and ending each sentence with sir.

“Ah, Eldred’s youngest son. You stay with Balekin now?”

Cardan’s smile wavered but remained intact. “Yes, sir.” She couldn’t help but notice the stiffness in his posture, a sort of rigid tension that Jude couldn’t quite place.

Madoc gave Jude a nod. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” He walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

An awkward silence descended over them, until Cardan broke it. “So… you call your dad… Father?”

She didn’t feel like explaining that he wasn’t actually her father, and that their real parents had died in a car crash, so she didn’t. “Yeah, well, dad always seemed too…” she trailed off, shrugging.

“Close?” Cardan supplied, and she nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”

She resisted the temptation to ask him why, but it felt too personal, and it wasn’t like they were friends. Instead she shoved his shoulder. “What was that? I didn’t know you could be a gentleman? All yes, sirs, and of course sir.”

For a second, he blinked and Jude could have sworn she saw a blush on his neck. But then he leaned closer to her across the barstools, almost challenging. His eyes darted to her hand, which was still on his arm, before they flitted to the vase on the counter and then back up to her eyes.

“I can be a decent human sometimes.” He smirked, adding, “But certain people bring out the worst in me.”

Jude’s retort died on her tongue as he leaned further into her space. Cardan’s gaze probed into hers, searching, and her breath caught in her throat.

Heat rushed up her neck, her senses heightening in anticipation of…

A thud sounded from her father’s office, and Jude quickly pulled away, berating herself. What the hell was that?

Cardan swallowed and averted his gaze, his hand flexing. When he spoke, his voice was low. “You never came to any of my parties. There’s one on Saturday. You should come.”

Jude was too surprised by the sudden change in topic and the earnest tone in his voice, so she said, “Okay.”

The serious expression in his face disappeared immediately. He grinned down at her, wiggling his eyebrows. “Okay?”

Jude scowled. “I’ll be there. But only because I owe you.”

Cardan laughed, and any remaining tension dissipated. “Don’t worry. I’d never think otherwise.”

“Come on, let’s just finish this stupid project,” Jude grumbled, but felt the corners of her lips lifting up into a smile.

~~~

The next week was stressful, to say the least. By Wednesday, Jude was ready to pass out and call it a week. Her physics quiz that morning had been draining, and she had barely finished before the end of class. After that, she had a presentation in her literature class that she had just barely fumbled through.

Jude walked to her locker, rubbing her temples to sooth the dull ache growing there. She was surprised to see Locke waiting for her. The few times she had seen him in school over the past week were in passing smiles in the hallways. She hadn’t been sure if she should text him to thank him for the flowers or if she should approach him,

Now, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Jude winced, but quickly covered it with a smile. Her head throbbed, and she didn’t have the energy to sort out why she didn’t like his touch right now.

“Hey, you get my flowers?”

“Yeah, thanks. I loved them.”

Locke’s eyes flitted over her shoulder and then back to her. “No problem.” He leaned in, brushing a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. “Can I walk you to class?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Locke wrapped his arm over her shoulder possessively, pulling her to him.

Jude was awkwardly conscious of his arm around her shoulder and the glances people gave them in the hall. Something about his actions felt unnatural, almost forced. Or maybe she was projecting her own feelings onto him. They’d only been on one date, and she didn’t feel fully comfortable with him yet.

When Jude got to her last period study hall, she quickly slid out from under his arm, mumbling a quick “thanks,” before entering her class.

Study hall was basically an hour to work on any of your assignments before school let out, and Jude spent the class with her headphones in, head resting against her arm. She knew she probably should get some assignments done, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

When the bell rang, Jude made her way to the gym next to the soccer field to get ready for practice. Her headache had thankfully subsided, and she threaded her way through the parking lot.

“Hey,” a voice said from behind her.

Jude was surprised to find Nicasia quickly walking to catch up with her. “Hi?”

Nicasia rolled her eyes. Her black hair was up in a messy bun, the ends died an ethereal blue. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and fell into step next to Jude. “I figured we could walk to practice together, since we do have the same class last period.”

Jude blinked. “Um, okay. You weren’t exactly being friendly when you ignored me on the field and tried to shoot an impossible goal instead of just passing.”

Nicasia shrugged. “I was just pissed because I heard Locke talking about you, and I probably shouldn’t have taken it out on the field.”

“Great apology.”

Nicasia rolled her eyes again. “Shut up.”

“So wait… you and Locke dated?” Last she knew, Nicasia and Cardan were together. She really needed to keep up with the school drama.

Nicasia nodded. Something in Jude’s face made her add, “Don’t worry. I ended things with him for a reason. It was great at first, until I realized he was just using me to get at Cardan.”

Jude paused, suddenly reevaluating everything she knew about Locke, and wondering why Locke would want to get at Cardan. Jude was instantly curious if it had worked.

Nicasia sighed and played with a loose strand of hair. “Look, I know this might make me seem like a jealous ex, but Locke… he likes drama. He likes to create drama. I saw him with you in the hallway today, and despite our differences, I don’t want you to get in caught in it.”

Jude didn’t know what to make of this information, but Nicasia seemed to be genuine. Something about her date with Locke had felt… a little too perfect. Then, she hadn’t thought it was a bad thing, but now she felt as though she had been played. “Thanks for the warning, I guess.”

Nicasia opened the door to the gym. “I wish someone had given me one, but I should have known better.” They both silently entered their separate changing rooms to put on their soccer gear.

Jude’s thoughts wandered as she slipped out of her jeans and into her soccer shorts. Even though she did enjoy their date, she realized she didn’t really know Locke. What Nicasia said about Locke could be true, and if it was, Jude absolutely did not want to take things further with him.

Jude found she wasn’t as disappointed as she should be at the thought. Besides flirting with each other, they didn’t really have anything in common that connected them. If she really thought about it, she knew whatever was between them wasn’t going to last, and that it mainly for fun. Yes, the first date went pretty well and she loved the attention, but what about after? She wasn’t very good at relationships in general, and she was bound to do something wrong.

When Jude came out, she silently sat next to Nicasia on the bench next to the lockers. Jude leaned down to slide her foot into her cleats, and her foot came in contact with a warm goeey substance. She yelped, pulling her foot out of her shoe.

“What?” Nicasia asked. She snorted when she saw the green sludge on Jude’s sock. “Oh.”

Jude groaned. “Ugh, Cardan. I knew he was planning something.”

Nicasia gave her a long look, tying her hair back into a ponytail, and then getting up and getting her napkins. “You two are still doing this?”

Jude wondered just how much Nicasia knew about their prank war as she cleaned out the inside of her shoe as much as she could. Despite her best efforts, some of the sludge remained stuck to the bottom. “I mean, if one of us stops, it means the other person wins. And I can’t let him win.”

“You’re both idiots.”

Jude laughed, shrugging. “As long as I beat him, I don’t care.”

Nicasia stood up, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. “When you two finally get together, I’m going to throw a party.”

Jude sputtered. “What? We’re not- he doesn’t- what?”

“Uh huh, right.” Nicasia smirked as she walked to the door. “See you on the field.”

Jude scowled as Nicasia shut the door of the gym behind her, leaving Jude in silence. Why did Nicasia think her and Cardan would ever… get together? Jude shook her head, and opened her gym bag to find her headband. A piece of paper fluttered out, and Jude picked it up. There was no name on it, but once she read it, she knew exactly who it was from.

Have a “sensational” time at practice. See you on Saturday.

~~~

A/N: Hehehe sorry for getting your hopes up with the last chapter but this is going to be a slowwww burn. We did get to see jealous CardanTM though 😌

Sorry for the long wait! My school just started again this week and my attention span is exactly 0.02 seconds after quarantine lol. I’m so excited for the next chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments :)

Tagging: (Bolded tags didn’t work. I don’t know why, it might be your settings or just tumblr acting up, but I’ll tag you in the comments for now! If I forgot to tag you our messed something up, just send me an ask and I’ll fix it as soon as I can!)

@jurdan7 @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @amoosewithflannelforfur @aneuwin @mercrutiodidntdieforthis @hizqueen4life @mi-mavencalories @simonelovesff @b00kworm @nope-has-lied @andromeddea @aesthetics-11 @queen-of-glass @runnybabbit9 @afexiss @the-keen-queen @yesimtheslytherinwitch @fizziefaerie @abigneignenn @storiesandschemes @aelin-queen-of-terrasen@words-of-the-wise @thedazzlingheights @magicalbookwyvern @kittkatandbooboo @queen-of-no1 @iminsanenotobsessed @dorkzrul @snusbandxknifewife @aknymph @clouds-and-peonies @thefolkofthefic @snorting-up-pizza @fandomfanatic987 @fandom-will-be-the-death-of-me @cardanslittletail @curlyredqueen06 @losssssstttttt @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln@omfglucayababies @judiecardan @woodsbeyond1 @yourroyalbooknerd @ireallyshouldsleeprn @st00pid231 @alittledribbledrabble @nomotivation-lads @herladyshipxx @judiecardan

#between the two of us #chapter 6 #wow i actually wrote something #jurdan #jurdan fanfic #jurdan fanfiction #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #the folk of the air #folk of the air #my writing

183 notes · View notes

reading-while-queer · 3 years

Text

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

Rating: Mixed Review Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Dark Academia Representation: -Bi/pan protagonist -Jewish protagonist -Latina mixed race protagonist Trigger warnings: Sexual assault (in scene), rape (in scene), CSA (in scene), graphic violence, murder, drug use, drug abuse, drugging of another person, overdose, domestic abuse, medical abuse, violence by dogs Note: Not YA

Why is it that every time I read Leigh Bardugo, I love the book with a passion...except for one thing that makes me want to tear my hair out?

Here’s what seriously impressed me about Ninth House, Bardugo’s entry into New Adult. The pacing was phenomenal. The measured, perfectly timed revelations of information had me finding excuses to listen to the audiobook - taking extra neighborhood walks, doing extra loads of laundry - because I was so hooked. Then, there’s the worldbuilding. Bardugo managed to walk a delicate line, successfully suspending disbelief while still asserting that eight Yale secret societies do secret magic rituals to the benefit of the oligarchical capitalist machine (we all kind of suspected this was the case, right?). But the best part of the book, the part that had me recommending Ninth House in more than one group chat, was, of all things, the point-of-view jumps.

Rarely are point-of-view switches the star of the show, but I was so excited to see a genuinely original, intrinsic-to-the-heart-of-the-whole-novel use of that technical tool. The point of view jumps crank the volume up on the theme of the whole book. We start with the main character, Galaxy “Alex” Stern; she is the point-of-view character for the present semester during which the principal action of the novel takes place. Her upperclassman and mentor Daniel Arlington (or “Darlington”) is the point-of-view character for the semester before - all because something happened to Darlington. Alex is telling people he’s doing a “semester in Spain,” and all the reader knows is that her explanation isn’t strictly true. The point-of-view jumps being so strict (there is never an Alex perspective chapter during last semester, and never a Darlington perspective in the present) serves to separate the two characters from each other with a really incredible emotional effectiveness. The heart of the novel, for me as a reader, was yearning for these two to be reunited - and all because Bardugo holds the two character points-of-view separate across an unbreachable temporal divide. It’s a powerfully effective technique.

But let’s backtrack. Alex is a 20-year-old high school dropout from the west coast. As the story progresses, we learn that Alex can see ghosts, which is why, despite never finishing high school or getting her GED - or even applying - Alex is a freshman at Yale - contingent on her joining the secret society called “Lethe House” as apprentice (“Dante”) to the current leader of the society, Darlington (the “Virgil”). Lethe House is the governing body of the eight Yale secret societies that practice the magic that keeps the elite in power. These secret societies make books sell, make T.V. anchors charming and compelling, and open portals to other parts of the world - when they aren’t throwing over the top Halloween parties with magic designed to alter one’s perception of reality.

Darlington, by contrast to Alex, seems to belong at Yale. He’s from an old family, and he’s preppy and well-read. Most of all, he loves Lethe House and its history of keeping the secret societies from harming people in their pursuit of magic and power. That is, until he disappears just in time for Alex, only half-trained, to investigate the murder of a girl on campus.

The first three quarters of the novel are fantastic for the reasons stated above. Bardugo’s approach to mystery writing is effective. We have half a dozen suspects, most of whom, as elite ivy league magicians, are at least guilty of some misdeed. Having all your red herrings end up somewhat culpable anyway is a good way to keep your mystery difficult to solve until the end. We were off to a good start.

Unfortunately, in the end, Bardugo made the all-too-common choice to value “surprise” over the most compelling, satisfying solution. So while the reader doesn’t see the ending coming, that is at the steep cost of the ending not being justified by the rest of the book. Bardugo even has to invent new rules of magic off the cuff to justify the ending. When the rest of the book so painstakingly developed the rules of magic in a way that made sense and never felt overly expository, undoing all that effort feels like a monumental waste. And for what did Bardugo undermine all her hard work? A mystery that the reader won’t have all the clues to solve? It’s really okay - in fact, good - if the reader can puzzle out your story. It means your story has symmetry, internal logic, or perhaps, some sort of message.

This is what had me tearing my hair out. I know exactly how I would have written the ending of Ninth House to be the perfect conclusion to a stunning book. I know exactly what the message should have been. Is it somewhat ridiculous to say that Bardugo misinterpreted the message of her own book? Perhaps. But given the out-of-left-field-ending, the theme of the book ends up being a rather cheaply bought “No matter how traumatized you are, you can be a girlboss” instead of the message that the very structure of the novel itself was pointing to since page one: one of companionship, trust, and restoration (frankly, a better message for a novel with a main character who suffers so much loss and trauma. But, sure, “girl power” is a theme...I guess...)

Here’s what I mean by the structure of the novel itself pointing to a different theme. (Spoiler warning for the rest of this paragraph). Because the point-of-view switches in the first two thirds of the novel were used by Bardugo like two magnets being held apart, the only way to create a feeling of resolution was, so to speak, putting the magnets back together: getting Darlington back into the “present.” The degree of disconnect between reader expectations and the reality of the book is comparable to picking up a romance novel only to have the two leads decide to just be friends at the end. Bardugo set expectations - akin to genre expectations - but unfortunately Bardugo kneecapped her first book in the service of the sequel.

And then there’s the trauma. Alex’s backstory wouldn’t be the same without some level of trauma; it’s an important part of her character arc. Even the explicit presence of sexual assault on the page was justified in the case of Alex’s backstory - and I think that is rarely true. But when it came to a side character’s explicit in-scene rape, which was used as a clue in the broader murder mystery rather than treated as a crime in its own right, that tipped me over into feeling the trauma in Ninth House was more excessive than necessary for character development. The resolution to that side character’s rape is oddly cartoonish - like an over-the-top prank rather than justice - and again, the only reason the rape happens to the character is to give Alex more information she needs to solve the plot. Maybe that wouldn’t bother some readers, but for me, a book has to bend over backwards to justify showing me a character being raped. Bardugo does well earlier in the book when depicting Alex’s assault; the assault is the explanation for why Alex doesn’t view magic with the same childish excitement as the rest of Yale, and it’s part of what holds her apart from the entitled secret societies. It needed to be in the book. Everything else was gratuitous.

That said, there’s one thing still to address in this roller coaster of a review, and that is: wait, is this a queer book? I had gone into it assuming that it would be, mostly because all my queer friends were reading it. And the answer is….kind of? Knowing Bardugo’s history with putting queer characters in her books, I’m going to assume she wasn’t baiting when she had Alex claim to have loved a girl in her backstory. Which, in the context of the rest of the novel, would make Alex bi or pan. As a book that a lot of queer fans of Bardugo’s YA have read, or will read, it feels appropriate to review it here.

This was a mixed review from start to finish, but to finish up: if you are thinking about reading Ninth House, go for it! There is so much to like about this book. Take to heart that if you read and liked Bardugo’s handling of sexual assault in her YA titles, you should be prepared to be surprised by Ninth House. It is not the same. I would not have called her handling of sexual assault in Six of Crows, for instance, restrained - but compared to Ninth House, it absolutely is. Despite my strongly worded feelings about the ending, Bardugo left room to redeem herself in the sequel (which, if you ask me, is why the ending was so bad in the first place...). I for one will definitely be reading the sequel the second it comes out.

#leigh bardugo #ninth house #fantasy #mystery #dark academia #not ya #mixed review #bi #reviews only #protagonist of color #jewish protagonist

30 notes · View notes

eleanorbloom · 4 years

Text

All I Ever Wanted (Bryce Lahela x f!MC)

Warnings: Angst, cursing and smut. The second half of the chapter is NSFW and not suited for minors (I left a mark for those who want to read the first part fic but are not comfortable with smut).

A/N: Hello!

I swore to myself that I’d only write my series and a collab I was invited to do, but chapter 12 left me wanting for more, so here we have the love and smut that was missing in that 30💎 scene. I’m a hopless romantic so prepare yourselves for a bit of cheesiness.

I’m using the same tag from my BrycexMCxEthan series, thinking you would be interested in read this, so, if you want to be removed from this post, just let me know!

A/N2: I apologize in advance for any mistakes, English is not my frist language.

That’ll be all.

Enjoy!

Taglist @utterlyinevitable @shanzay44 @choicesficwriterscreations @laiba-the-person @starrystarrytrouble @lahellacute @lucy-268 @aylamreads @binny1985 @romewritingshop

_____

All I Ever Wanted

The chatter of people had decreased into an unstable hiss from the few people left in the room.

Bryce had said goodbye to Bobby’s and Danny’s family and was waiting for Eleanor, who was immersed in a joyful but melancholic exchange of memories with Danny’s mother.

When he found a picture of the hospital staff at a picnic a few months ago, he couldn’t help but smile at the happy faces of colleagues and friends having a good time, without the worries of daily routines.

No one could’ve ever imagined at that moment that two of those smiling faces would leave so soon. Nor that it could have been four.

As he sensed his eyes starting to burn again, he blinked swiftly to keep the tears at bay.

“You okay?”—Her voice was soft as a whisper, careful enough to not startle him as she appeared beside him out of the blue.

Bryce turns to his right, where Eleanor was looking at him with a worried expression.

“Yeah, it’s just… I know we deal with life and death every day, but it feels different to lose our people and so unexpectedly.”

Especially when someone you love was so close to death, he says in his head.

“Yeah, I know”

Eleanor looks around the hall as one of the volunteers starts packing up chairs. There were a few groups at the corner, mostly family and relatives of the heroes of Edenbrook. All their friends had gone by now.

“I’m ready if you want to leave”

“Let’s go, then.”—Bryce says as he heads to the door. Eleanor follows suit, instantly.

Outside, the sky is completely closed with thick, black clouds, threatening with rain any minute now.

“Should we take a cab?”—He asks, looking up the sky.

“No, I’d like to walk, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t.”

As they start to walk, they notice how quiet the street was. The only noises accompanying them was the clicking of her shoes, and a few cars passing by a couple of blocks away. Bryce couldn’t help but get lost in the sound of her steps. The confirmation for the umpteenth time that she was alive and walking by his side. As if the last few days, the last few hours hadn’t been proof enough.

Since the moment he knew Eleanor could die, every moment with her feels like a treasure to him. A challenge to not take anything for granted, especially her existence, and to make the most of his time with her. They couldn’t waste any more time.

With that in mind, Bryce looks down at her, searching for her hand. She had both hands pocketed and as she saw he was offering his hand, she tangled her fingers into his.

Although her face was pale and gloomy, Bryce noticed how her eyes softened at the touch of his skin. He felt tickles at the sensation of her soft touch in him.

They walked in comfortable silence the few streets that separated the reception center from Eleanor’s apartment. Every few feet, they would stare at each other and smile imperceptibly, Bryce just for having her by his side, Eleanor for having him when she needed the most.

Once they reach her apartment street, a thunder roared loudly above them, waking them from their deep thoughts.

“I guess the sky is angry too.”—She says looking up as she stops in her tracks, waiting for the bolt.

“Yeah.”

And all Bryce can think of, is if Eleanor wouldn’t have made it that night, the sky would have broken the earth in two. His earth, his world, his heart. Everything would have fallen apart if she’d gone.

Then, the sky turns white and shiny for an instant. The stroke of lightning like an enormous photograph flash illuminates their faces and makes them realize how wonderful life can be with just so little.

After a moment she turns to him, looking for his beautiful brown eyes. But she can’t get enough as Bryce just take her by the nape of her neck and kisses her like he was gasping for air. His lips were cold, but in a matter of seconds, they were melting every inch of her skin he touched, his tongue roaming her lips, then her lips sucking his lower lip impatiently in an almost-too-fair exchange of kisses.

As Eleanor lets out a moan, a shower of rain comes down, soaking them in an instant. Neither of them seems to mind. Somehow the rain was all that they needed at that moment: something that washed them for all their fears, the loss, the pain. The uncertainty.

Eleanor rests her forehead in his, panting.

“Would you stay with me tonight?”—She pleads.

“I’d love to, Elle”—He replies before taking her by the hips and kissing her again, this time softly.

After a long moment, he embraces her, burying his face in her wavy, damp hair.

He breathes the sweet scent of her shampoo, bringing memories of the first time he discovered it.

Donahue’s was packed. Everyone was there celebrating the first day of residency. Eleanor had agreed to play darts with him. The bet was a kiss. The moment she turned to him, all victoriously, a trail of pomegranate scent reached his nostrils. And that night, even if she won, Bryce felt like a winner too, as they’d share the second kiss of that day.

“Should we go inside?”—Bryce doesn’t respond, still lost in memories.—“Bryce?”

He pulls away reluctantly. There’s a mix of longing and vulnerability in his eyes she had never seen before. As if he was opening the doors of all the mysteries he had kept sealed since... Always.

“Yeah, it’s just… I’m so glad you’re still here. I can’t help but feel thankful every moment I’m with you.”

“Me too. I feel thankful for being alive and to have you by my side.”

She gives him a quick peck in her wet lips and then she takes him by the hand, pulling him to the building. The rain still pouring.

“Do you think Keiki will be okay if you stay?”

“Yeah. I’ll text her to let her know I’m not coming home, anyway.”

By the time Bryce and Eleanor enter her room, Bryce was pocketing his cellphone back into his jacket.

“All settled. She kinda assumed I would spend the night with you”—Bryce replies, sheepishly.

“Your sister is always two steps ahead of you, it doesn’t surprise me at all.”—She retorts as she balances herself in one foot, taking off her Mary Jane stilettos. Then she continues with her coat.

Bryce stands there, at the door, watching her silently, studiously.

“Are you okay, Bryce? You seem… really pensive.”—She asks, walking towards him.

He can’t help but feel a wave of tenderness as she is now at her natural height. About 3 inches shorter.

She cups his cheeks both hands and caresses him with the tip of her thumbs.

“Mmh?”

“Honestly, I-”—He clears his throat, feeling it tight.—I feel a little out of control. One minute I’m laughing and telling a story about some prank Danny and I pulled on the OR staff… the next I want to bawl… the next I feel terrified. Of what could’ve happened to you, of what could happen tomorrow…”

“I feel the same.”—She admits—"Every little thing knocks me off balance. Somehow today made everything that happened seem more… real than it did before."

“That’s it exactly. Before, I was somehow still able to keep it all in the ‘work’ portion of my brain, but now…”

“Now it’s taken over.”

Now Bryce was realizing how things would have been if she hadn’t made it. If the team wouldn’t have gotten the antidote. Or if Rafael wouldn’t have been there to protect her. She would have left this planet just as soon as Bobby Gunderson did. Without a chance to say goodbye, without a chance to tell her how much she meant to him.

A sob escapes in his breath, and suddenly he wraps her tightly, this time like he is clinging onto life. As if he frees her from his arms, she'll become thin air and will be gone completely oblivious of what he feels.

Tears were streaming down all over his face, a grimace of terror and hollowness that shattered her heart the moment she saw it.

“Bryce…”—She whispers, her eyes shimmering with tears, containing her own sob at the sight of him so vulnerable.

“The… the night I stayed with you I… I couldn’t even close my eyes, afraid that you could be gone any second. And… I couldn't stop thinking about how much I wanted to tell you what you mean to me, but I felt like if I did it at that moment, would be like a farewell, like a confession in deathbed, and I couldn’t think that way.”

His lips were quivering while trying to find the exact words to continue.

"Since the moment I knew you would be okay, I realized that I wasted so much time all these months, Elle. Trying to play it cool, hiding my feelings, my worries. Trying to keep my walls up, just to be strong and be the support you need. As if I didn’t need anything. And I realized that somehow, I was unknowingly pushing you away when you have been the person I’ve open up the most. About my family, about what I lived in college because of my parents. And at the thought of you leaving… without knowing how much you mean to me, it felt selfish… unfair.

“Bryce, it’s okay. We all have our times...”

“This is not about time, Eleanor, it’s about fear, about pride. But after what you have been through, I felt stupid for fear something as absurd as my own pride. My charade of having all under control.”

Eleanor wiped the tears in his cheeks.

“I love you, Eleanor.”—He said in the most steady voice he could—You’re the only person that from the moment I met, knew you wouldn't let me down as so many others did, even my own family. But somehow, it took me this long and all this tragedy to finally tell you how I feel about you. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry."

Large tears run down her face. But her eyes were shining with a warmth he hasn’t seen in weeks.

“Bryce…”—Eleanor saw the raw vulnerability of Bryce Lahela. The person she had grown to love even if she knew half of the depths and torments of his mind and heart. But now that she was knowing him at his lowest, it only increased the affection and care for him.

She observed the features of the man who was taking the biggest leap of faith and, becoming the bravest man she knew by showing all his vulnerability, even if it was his biggest fear. Then she kissed all the spots she had look: His forehead, his temples, cheeks, nose, jawline, chin, eyes, to finally his lips. Each peck filled with adoration.

"Bryce, you don’t have anything to be sorry for. I've been afraid too, because since the moment I met you you’ve been the one in my heart, but I was afraid of scaring you away, or lose you because you might not feel the same. But the truth is... I love you. I love you since, I don’t know. It feels like forever.”

On a normal day, Bryce would've retorted something flirty or cocky like "Of course you would, I'm too irresistible", but that day wasn't a normal day.

The rain had washed all his charades, all veils of confidence, carelessness, self-assurance, and all his flirty retorts. All that was left, was his deepest fears and hollows of his heart: to grew up in a family that never really cared for him; to lose his parents at the age of seventeen: to have to endure the consequences of his parents' actions, and always end up alone, without real friends, without anyone who would love him unconditionally.

Since the age of seventeen, he had always been on his own. His own emotional support. There never was a single person who would be there for him to vent up, to process feelings, emotions, stress. And since the moment he met Eleanor, he knew it would be different. But he had been carrying the fear for ten years. It wouldn't be easy to let all those walls go. But when it happened, when Eleanor found out about his sister, it was so easy to let the walls crumble. And even if he was used to seeing the judgment in everyone's eyes after finding his truth out, the only thing Eleanor gave him was understanding, support, empathy, generosity. Love. Unconditionally love.

“Let me take care of you”—She whispers, caressing his cheeks in the most tender way. As if he were about to break. —“You don’t need to carry all by yourself. You’re not alone anymore.”

He nods imperceptibly, as Eleanor kisses his forehead and he rests his head on her chest. She strokes his head as he hears Bryce sobbing, letting all out.

“I’m with you, love.”

How many nights she had dreamed of calling him that way. More than she could remember. And it felt so right.

How many nights he had dreamed of being called that way by her. More than he could remember. And it felt so right.

It enlightened his heart that had been buried deep inside all his fears and traumas. He felt alive like never before.

After a while, his breath steadies and he pulls himself out of her grip, looking at her in the eyes.

“Thank you.”

Bryce leans, kissing her chastely in the lips. They stare at each other, smiling.

**NSFW**

After a few seconds, they kiss again, but the connection lingers, an innocent and sweet peck that soon turns into something more. Feeling the softness of his lips on her unleashes a desire that starts to flow quickly through her veins.

She opens her mouth in response to the desire, capturing his lips between her teeth, their breaths becoming one.

“Bryce, I want you…”—She parts from him a single moment, just to let him know her mind.

“And I need you, Eleanor”—Bryce gasp loudly before kissing her again, this time drawing a trail of kisses down her neck.

After feeling dead all those days, immersed in confusion, pain, and fear, she had made him feel alive. And he wanted to spend the first moment of his awakening by adoring her in the sweetest and exquisite way.

Soon, Eleanor unbuttons his tux and shirt, leaving kisses in every inch exposed, discarding it on the floor.

Then Bryce turns her to unfasten her black dress in the back, facing the same fate as his shirt. He embraces her for the back, roaming his hands all over her curves, pinching her hips, her waist, and then cupping her breast with both hands while leaving sloppy kisses in the crook of her neck. A wave of popcorn and vanilla intoxicates him with more desire. He pulls her tight against him, groaning as her lower back presses his crotch. He grips her throat with one hand, arching her head back, kissing her fiercely, while Eleanor roams one hand between his tights, making him release a moan in her mouth.

Eleanor frees herself from his arms, and bringing her hands to his belt, working on his pants until she sends it to the floor like the rest of their clothes. Then she takes off her pantyhose, and when she ups her head to look at Bryce, she finds him looking at her silently, contemplating every inch of her body.

“What?”

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

“Maybe a million times.”

“Make that one million and one, then. You’re absolutely gorgeous”.—He whispers, starting to suck kisses down her jawline, and staying at her chest for a few more moments, while he unclasps her bra and tosses it to the floor. After that, he buries her face in her breasts, cupping them with his hands and feeling the exquisite aroma of her skin concentrating in the apex of her breasts.

He slides his lips softly to her nipples, sucking it delicately at first, but then he nibbles them hard, making a moan escape from her throat.

His touch is like never before. Is gentle but confident. He knows exactly what he's doing, but somehow he touches her with new delicacy, with adoration. Thanking for being alive with every inch of skin he kisses.

As he goes down, Bryce takes her by the hips and pushes her to the bed, pulling her panties out. His kisses along her stomach and belly feel like fire, as he is getting closer to her sweet spot. Eleanor gasps with anticipation.

Bryce grips her tights and opens them while leaving kisses and licks in her mound and just around her folds. Eleanor breaths heavily, her hips moving involuntarily as his soft kisses tickle in her core.

She thought he would tease her for a minute or two. But that night wasn't about teasing. Was about need and adoration. And he didn't want to waste another second without adoring her most sweet and satisfactory way.

Eleanor tugs the quilt as she felt his tongue sliding slowly through her folds and towards her clit.

“God”—She whispers.

After a few moments working on her core, Bryce places one finger inside her, then two. Then he curls them gently while looking for the right spot until she indicates he has reached it.

“Yes, yes, there, there!”

Without leaving her nub, Bryce goes up, leaning to Eleanor, kissing her breasts to then brush his lips into hers. The moment they meet, Eleanor takes his head desperately, moaning in her mouth while his fingers keep moving in circles and entering in her.

"Yes"—She breathes desperately, Bryce observing every feature of her face. The way her mouth was making a perfect O, the crease in her forehead when she frowns as the pleasure overtakes her.

Bryce picks up more speeds, and her hips began to shake uncontrollably. Bryce looks at her as a deity professing all her powers.

And her power works like a painkiller to him. Seeing her like that, reaching the peak of satisfaction the human nature can have, is the best proof he can get of how alive she is.

Her whole body shudders and then her voice is off, unable to articulate another sound. She can only return the kiss he gives her before tumbling beside her.

As Eleanor catches her breath a few moments later, she steals him a kiss, gripping his arousal. Then she mumbles in a sultry voice:

“How you want me?”

He wasn’t expecting that question, but after a few moments of deliberation, he answers:

“On all fours”

As if her patience was extinguishing, Eleanor stands up immediately, takes his underwear off, and then she crawls onto the bed as Bryce asked.

Bryce places himself behind her and grabbed her by the hips and enters her. Slowly at first, sensing every inch of her as he pushes and pushes until all his length was inside her. Eleanor leaned on her elbows, stroking her hair as Bryce began to thrust her. The feeling of him inside her sends shivers down her spine, waking every fiber of her again. She feels alive, desired, loved.

“Bryce”—She groans.

Suddenly, Bryce takes her by the wrists, pulling her body to his chest, without stop pounding her. With one hand he cups her breast, with the other, he slides his finger to her clit. Eleanor arches her back, leaning the nape of her neck on his shoulder while tugging his hair in the back of his head.

“You feel incredible, babe”

"Don’t stop, please"—She cries in a tiny voice, as Bryce began to thrust her harder.—”Yes…”

“You like that?”

“Yes, y... you?”

“I love it”—Now his finger picks up speed.

“Fuck, yes, Bryce.”

Bryce kisses her jawline before pushing her back to the mattress, now taking both wrists and crossing them on her low back, holding them there.

As he pounds her faster, the noise of their bodies colliding fills the room, a maddening melody that brings them higher and higher.

“Fuck, yes… I wanted you exactly like this, Bryce”

“Like what?”

“Fucking me hard”

Bryce groans as her words invade his mind.

Their bodies connected was another proof of how alive she was, and how alive he was.

But something was missing.

He pulled away, got on his feet, and turned her in one swift motion, her body, shimmering in sweat, now facing him. Eleanor looks at him, expectantly.

“At least this time, I don’t wanna miss your pretty face while you cum.”

She grins naughtily, biting her lower lip.

Placing himself over her, he grazes her nipples, to then go up to kiss her.

After a few moments lost in her mouth, he stands and takes her hips, raising her a bit, reaching her sweet spot, and making her squeeze on the inside

“Bryce, yes”

Every thrust harder, nosier. Every thrust breaking the chains of the fear, of the loss, of what wasn't said. Of what he could've done. Every thrust getting them near to the edge, to the end of that once endless road of loneliness, of charades, of pretend.

There was no return now.

“Elle"—He breathes, sensing his body was losing control, her body tightened around him, making him explode any second now.

“Come here, please”—She sighed.

Bryce lowers to her. Eleanor captures his lips instantly, as she was about to choke out of air.

“Bryce, you’re incredible"—She says, dizzy—“I’m… I’m… Ahhh!"—She buries her mouth on his shoulder, as she reaches her long-awaited orgasm.

The raw moan is enough to make him cum against her, growling while he motions erratically over her, as the sensations overwhelm him. Then he collapses by her side, both trying to catch their breaths.

They stay in silence for a couple of minutes, the big smiles never leave their faces.

“Is your need satisfied?”—She asks, turning to him.

“Honestly?”—He replies, placing a hand in her waist—“No, I’m not done, yet.”

“Good, me neither.”

Bryce wraps her in a warm embrace and Eleanor nuzzles in his chest, drunk of tenderness and love.

The rain had stopped falling. The room was quiet. They could only hear their breaths. The basic and simple proof that they were alive at that moment. Alive and absolutely aware of what they felt about each other.

“I love you”—She says softly.

“I love you too, baby.”

There was nothing left to say, but words of reaffirmation for a lifetime.

______

#bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #bryce x mc #bryce x casey #open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction #fanfic #Oh fanfic #choices #oh choices #playchoices #choices stories you play

90 notes · View notes

be11atrixthestrange · 3 years

Text

Waking Up In Vegas Chapter 5

After a night of debauchery, Ron and Hermione wake up in Vegas... married.

Muggle!AU. Romcom!Romione. Slow burning, smutty, angst-fest.

Rated M for reasons.

Ao3 | FFN

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

More Chapters

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

Chapter 5

[Ron]

How do people live in Las Vegas? Accustomed to the mild English sun, Ron finds himself wondering why the bloody hell someone would choose to reside in this heat. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he glances back at his phone. He's over halfway to his destination and can surely stand five more minutes of walking in the sun. Wishing he brought water, or even thought to put on sunscreen, he groans and continues on his way.

He's far beyond the flashy streets of the Las Vegas Strip, having ventured into a more run-down and understated part of town. The buildings no longer stand out, but blend together like a colorless mural, and his destination, Erised Elopements, is easy to miss. He's looking for a building marked by the number twelve, and it takes him a few passes down the block before he spots it. It's a skinny building, shoved between numbers eleven and thirteen, almost as if it's trying to be invisible. It gives Ron an eerie feeling, like it's hiding dark secrets inside.

However, any uneasy feelings vanish when he opens the door and steps into a wall of cool crisp air, inhaling a cold and nourishing breath. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

"Hello, sir! Welcome to Erised Elopements!"

Ron locks eyes with the bubbly receptionist beaming at him. He sends her a friendly nod, then scans the room. There's a large refrigerator stocked with bottled water, an indoor forest of tropical plants that look like prisoners in the dry heat, and in the corner of the room sits an elegant gold mirror that he recognizes from the logo behind the front desk.

Then his eyes wander to a pink plush sofa in the mirror's reflection. Sitting stiffly in a light blue sundress with her arms crossed in front of her body is Hermione Granger. Shit.

His heart rate spikes, and a prickling heat begins to rise up his neck as he dodges behind a pillar, sucking in a quick breath. Here he is again, hiding from women behind walls. It's becoming a theme.

"Sir? Are you okay?" The receptionist suddenly looks concerned as she rises to her feet. "You don't look well."

Coughing, Ron tries to obscure his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine," he huffs at a lower octave than feels natural.

"Well, there's water in the fridge if you're overheated, and you can have a seat on the sofa; we will be with you in a second."

"Erm, thanks."

Ron wants to leave. He's tempted to turn out the door and run away, right back to the hotel, heat be damned, but his curiosity roots him to the spot.

Why is she here? Does she know?

He takes a deep breath and approaches the pink fluffy sofa with trepidation. Hermione must sense someone nearing because she snaps her head in his direction and meets his gaze.

Her jaw drops, and her cheeks flush crimson. "What are you doing here?" she hisses.

"Hi, Hermione," he splutters. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Ron, seriously, why are you here?" Her eyes flit around the room as if looking for a hidden camera, some kind of confirmation that this is all a prank.

Sighing, Ron shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out their marriage certificate. "I'm here because—"

She interrupts him. "Did you know?"

Ron gapes at her, utterly confused as to how she found out, then nods.

"And you didn't say anything?"

Sighing, Ron shrugs. He meets her icy stare and sends her a look of apology. "I was hoping I could fix it before you found out."

"You could fix it? Without telling me? Don't you think I have a right to know?" She rises to her feet, uncrossing her arms to place them on her hips. Her frizzy hair crackles with static electricity, giving her the appearance of someone deranged. Theoretically, it should scare him into submission, but instead, her confrontational stance ignites a flame from somewhere within him. It gives him an adrenaline rush, and he doesn't hate it.

"I thought you'd prefer not to know, based on how horrified you were this morning," he challenges back, his voice matching hers in strength and volume.

"So how was I supposed to find out we were," she says, her eyes darting vigilantly around the room, "married?"

Even in the frigid air, Ron's palms begin to sweat. He shrugs. "Honestly, I didn't think that far ahead."

She scoffs, folding her arms across her chest again. Like Ron's palms, her forehead glistens with sweat that doesn't belong in the abrasive air conditioning. "That's the attitude that got us into this mess; how did you figure it would get us out?"

Matching her stance, Ron hardens his gaze. "What would you have done?"

"I would have told you," she says with an air of finality.

Ron laughs. "If that's the case, why are you here alone? Why did you ask if I knew?" When she doesn't answer and her eyes narrow, he adds, "You weren't going to say anything either, were you?"

She exhales audibly and stiffens her jaw, tense and trapped without a response.

"That's bullshit, Hermione, acting like I'm the dishonest one here."

"You're infuriating," she says, shifting her gaze out the window.

"You're just as responsible for this! Don't put it all on me!"

"Oh, come on, I never do stuff like this."

Scoffing, Ron says, "Trust me, I know. Spontaneity isn't your thing."

"Impulsivity isn't my thing. I generally think before making big life decisions."

"And I don't? Believe it or not, Hermione, this is the first time I've accidentally gotten married. And I was just as horrified as you to find out."

When she whips her head back to face him, her face is expressionless, and Ron wonders what it's masking. Like the building's secretive facade, it looks forced. "Well, at least we agree that it was a mistake. Let's just straighten it out, then pretend it never happened."

Pretend it never happened. That's what they both want, right?

"Okay. Let's just make it disappear," he says, and they both take a seat on the sofa, separated by a wall of thick, icy air.

"Well, hello! Can I help you two?" Ron and Hermione look up to see a short, stout man with circular spectacles and the beginning of a handlebar mustache. He's dressed in black golf pants and a polo shirt that's at least one size too small, and something about him puts Ron on edge. "I'm Dave, the owner and CEO of Erised Elopements."

Hermione is the first to speak. "Yes, actually. We have a problem, sir."

"So do I!" says Dave cheerfully. Ron and Hermione stare blankly at him, confused. He diffuses it with a hearty laugh, color flooding his cheeks. "Just a joke, just a joke. Come on into my office!"

They share a nervous glance as they follow his lead. Dread pools in Ron's stomach. Oddly, he feels like he's approaching the witness stand in a courtroom and makes a note to be careful what he says.

"Go ahead, have a seat! Make yourselves comfortable," says Dave, motioning toward two armchairs in front of his desk. They're upholstered with green velvet, and Ron wonders when they were last cleaned. "What can I do for you?"

"Hi, sir—" starts Hermione.

"Dave."

"Sorry?"

"Just call me Dave. 'Sir's' too formal, and here at Erised Elopements, we're all friends." Dave beams, revealing white, unnaturally straight teeth.

"Okay...Dave. Here's the problem. We got married last night." Hermione motions vaguely between herself and Ron.

"Oh, congratulations!" Dave claps his hands together in excitement.

"No sir…I mean Dave—"

"I knew I recognized your faces from somewhere. Hold on one second." Dave silences them with a finger, reaches for a remote control, and points it toward a large black flatscreen monitor on the wall. It lights up, and Dave scrolls through a few photographs, eventually landing on one of Ron and Hermione. Ron's holding her up and pressing his lips to hers, her arms snaking around his neck. Above them are the words "Just Married." Ron is horrified and glances at Hermione, but for some reason, she doesn't seem surprised by the photo. "There! It's Ron and Hermione, right?"

"Yeah," says Ron tentatively, still staring wide-eyed at the photo.

"Well, congratulations again. You two make a lovely couple!"

"Thank you," he mumbles without meaning it. The words feel like they've been extracted from him, and it's unsettling.

Dave leans back and stacks his feet onto the table, paying no attention to the stacks of paper, empty picture frames, and take-away lunch container he's knocked aside in the process. Hermione looks on with wide eyes. "Honestly, sometimes couples waltz into Erised Elopements and have everyone thinking 'oh for fuck sake, these two should not be getting married', so it's incredibly refreshing to see such a happy couple. Really, congratulations again."

"About that. We didn't mean to get married," says Hermione hastily.

"Ahhh."

"Yeah. It was kind of a shock to us this morning, actually," she says, shrugging. She smiles at Ron in a sheepish manner that doesn't match her fiery demeanor.

"How lovely!"

"Sorry? Lovely?"

"Yes! It's perfect!" Dave reaches for a pen and notepad and begins scribbling as if taking notes on their conversation. Ron shifts uneasily. "I just love the idea that the best things in life are surprises. It speaks to how important it is to keep an open heart and let life happen to you."

Ron and Hermione exchange confused looks. "I think you misunderstand."

Ignoring them, Dave continues. "We've been working on a new ad campaign, and that sums up our message perfectly."

"Sir—"

"Sometimes, you don't even know your heart's truest desire until it's on your doorstep—"

"Dave," says Ron firmly.

The pen stops. "Yes?"

"We don't want to be married," says Ron, his tone stiff and forced.

"Sure you do!"

"No," adds Hermione. "This was a huge mistake. We need to undo it, if possible."

"Undo it?"

"Yes, cancel it. The whole thing," she says, gesturing between them again.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"Excuse me?" Hermione's eyes are wide and disbelieving.

Dave removes his feet from the table and sits up straight. Although short, he appears commanding. "What you're asking for is an annulment, and unfortunately, you waived your right to an annulment yesterday when you signed your marriage license." He opens a drawer, shuffling for a piece of paper. "See, here's a copy of our contract; it's all there if you read the fine print."

Hermione snatches the document from his hand. "This can't be legal."

"It's perfectly legal in the state of Nevada," he says, shrugging.

"You don't let anyone get an annulment?"

Dave laughs. "Wouldn't be very good for branding, don't you think? We pride ourselves on marriages that last. For most people, when they see a high annulment rate, they don't exactly think 'Happily Ever After,' you know? In fact, we go beyond that. We promise 'Blissfully Ever After.'"

Ron and Hermione join heads to scan the document. "So, you're saying we're stuck married?" Ron asks finally.

"Well, I wouldn't think of it as stuck, per se. You're starting to sound like my wife."

"You're married too?"

"Sure. Technically," chuckles Dave. "But you're not 'stuck.' With that mindset, your marriage will never work."

"We don't want it to work. It was a mistake," says Hermione, slowly and clearly. Ron feels his stomach clench at her words, but he's unsure why.

"Give it a chance! Even the good things in life require effort!"

"Listen, we barely know each other—"

Dave cuts her off. "Perfect! You have no history, no past that'll keep coming back to screw everything up."

"I'm sorry," says Ron. "I'm not sure what you mean by that—"

Dave gestures toward Hermione, who looks affronted. "Listen to me. This is an opportunity. She hasn't broken your heart yet, so when you see that she has an 'office happy hour' on a Friday night, you're not tempted to show up at the bar just to check on her. Even if you do show up and see her alone with her 'coworker'," his fingers make air quotes as he speaks, "she doesn't know about your 'addiction' to porn, or how much money you lost at the slots. She doesn't know anything about you, and that's a beautiful thing, Ron, because she can't use any of it to justify her affair and make you look like the controlling one. She has nothing on you, at least not yet. Trust me; a blank slate is a beautiful slate. You have a chance to keep it that way, so I'd recommend not fucking it up."

Ron's mouth drops open, and he glances at Hermione, who is also wearing an expression of horror. This is not about them anymore.

"Turn around," demands Dave. "Go on, your chairs swivel."

Reluctantly, they swivel their chairs and turn to face another mirror, identical to the one in the lobby and the one on the logo. Engraved on the golden frame are the words 'heart's desire', over and over again, in fonts that don't seem to match. Ron assumes it's not meant to be stared at too closely.

"What do you see?"

"Us," states Hermione plainly.

"Well, yes, you, but more importantly, this mirror shows your heart's one true desire."

"It's just a mirror," says Ron.

"It's your heart's desire," responds Dave firmly.

Ron stares at their reflection; his face is red and peeling from the sun, new freckles invading his features. Hermione is scowling, hair erupting from her head like a volcano, arms and legs wound tightly into knots. They don't look happy.

"Now, if there's anything else I can help you with, by all means, shoot. But if not, then enjoy your Blissfully Ever After!" Dave motions for them to stand, and they oblige. He moves toward the door, opening it and gesturing them through.

"If it's not working in six months, you're more than welcome to file for divorce," he calls after them. "But give it a chance, don't disrespect love. Honor your heart's true desire."

Speechless, Ron and Hermione stumble out back into the lobby.

"Come again soon!" says the receptionist as they pass her desk.

They press open the door and emerge back outside, once again engulfed by the aggressive heat. Ron glances at Hermione. "That was a disaster."

"I'll say."

"Er, I guess we just should go back to the hotel. Try to enjoy the rest of the day?"

Hermione nods. "I guess. And file for divorce as soon as possible."

Ron sighs. "You read my mind," he says, although it's not entirely true.

"I guess we're just so in tune," she chuckles, and Ron, surprised by her sudden pleasantness, suppresses a smile.

"That's why you're my wifey," he risks, glancing nervously at her to gauge her reaction.

"Please, don't say that," she groans, and her cheeks flush adorably red, most likely a result of the Las Vegas heat.

#Ron Weasley #Hermione Granger #Ron and Hermione #ron x hermione #ronweasley #hermionegranger #ROMIONE #romione fanfic #romione fanfiction #hp fanfic #hpromione #muggle AU #waking up in vegas #romione au

13 notes · View notes

messymessyml · 3 years

Text

Sometimes a premonition is destined to happen

Hi all,

This is the craziest thing I’ve written in a long while and the strangest part about it is that my top three oddest pieces of writing have all had a Greek Mythology worldbuild. It’s what the ancient Greeks would have wanted.

This is my Secret Santa 2020 gift for @bunathebunny and my prompts were ‘Percy Jackson AU’, ‘turning into cats’, ‘no soulmate AU’, ‘Jason x Luka’, and ‘Stephanie x Marinette’. There were a few other requested ‘fors’ and ‘against’s’ I was able to include here, but I have to say, this was the most reader-specific thing I think I’ve ever tailored. I hope you like it!

FYI: “~~” indicate POV changes, and while I ended up breaking this into chapters, this is essentially a oneshot. I curse when Jason is the narrator since I can’t see Jason as Jason without it so if that’s not your thing be forewarned. This is also cross posted on AO3.

@maribat-secret-santa-2020

Chapter 1

The camp was noisy, with people’s inner songs reaching out to the treeline in a mess of chaotic synergy. Word had arrived that Artemis and her hunters had just reached the outer edges of the barrier around the camp and the camp-goers who were not busy with sentry duties or away from camp were frantically working to put the finishing touches on the new lodgehouse erected for Artemis’s feast. Artemis was one of the more frequent godly visitors to Camp Half-Blood, but it was rare that she deigned to make the visit official, much preferring to conceal herself as another half-blood or a visiting instructor under a different guise. As son of Apollo, Luka was aware of a more mischievous side of his father’s twin sister, and the grating cacophony of sound combined with the foreboding feeling he felt down to his bones stemming from this impending visit was just on the edge of overwhelming for him.

Finding a quiet area was relatively easy, all told, though his senses tried to disagree with him as they quailed from the near sensory overload all he had to do was move to the outskirts of the lake as he followed a very familiar and well worn path. As Luka approached his boyfriend’s House, that marrow-ache he always felt from prophesy tightened in tandem with the relief that enveloped him as blessed silence cloaked him in it's comforting embrace. It seemed that the adventures of today wouldn’t be as easy to dodge as he’d hoped, but it was comforting to know that his boyfriend would be along with him for the ride.

Jason was having a no-good gods-be-damned day.

He’d been woken by Emma and Darcy who had managed to get into what appeared to be no holds barred fight to the death a four in the fucking morning. Emma, the eastern screech owl he’d found a few years before making his way to Camp Half-Blood, was hooting up a storm and fluffed to Elysium while Darcy, the mustard-bellied snake Luka had given him about a year and a half into their relationship lunged at Emma’s clawed legs with his teeth extended. Suffice to say, he wasn’t happy to wake up like that, and it served them both right that they were now separated on either ends of his lodge by a verifiable army of skeletal mice. It made a sort of macabre justice to see them cornered and policed by their own undead meals as he had left his lodge after breaking up the fight.

He was currently in the mess hall grabbing food, but it wasn’t much of an improvement over his living quarters. The raucous environment grated on his ears after a less than full night’s sleep and the fact that it was mostly the higher pitches of the girls making most of the noise didn’t help matters. The porridge he’d grabbed was looking less appetizing by the minute.

He’d just decided to give up on his breakfast when Jason heard a familiar voice call out “Hey bozo, whatcha up to this fine morning!” at the same moment another body hit his side. Jason faintly registered the girl who hit him let out an “oops'' as this action pushed his hand into his spoon and sent mush into his face. Miraculously, not a drop landed on the perpetrator, which gave Jason enough of a clue to know the identity of both the girl hanging from his shoulders as well as the girl still approaching from behind him.

“What. The. Fuck.”, Jason deadpanned. Taking a napkin from the center of the table, he did his best to wipe up the mess even with his tag-along making the stretch all that more difficult.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Jay. Marinette didn’t mean to do it, you know that.” Saying that, Stephanie slid on to the bench on his other side, leaving Marinette to cage him in from the right.

“Sorry, Jason. Next time I’ll check my landing!” Marinette added with a cheeky little grin.

The nerve. Jason couldn’t really say this minor level of chaos was out of the norm for his friends, but after his early wake-up call Marinette’s clumsiness wasn’t appreciated.

“Why the fuck are you two so energetic today? For that matter, why are all the girls acting like Eros came for a visit?” Jason asked.

Marinette piped up stating, “Artemis and her hunt are set to arrive today! Steph and I aren’t on sentry duty so we won’t get to join the welcoming party, but that just means everyone who isn’t on duty can join Artemis on her hunt later today!”

“I think she’s looking to recruit some new huntresses, and after her last visit to the Amazons, this is the next spot scheduled.” Stephanie confided. “Obviously everyone only means all the girls, so that’s why you’re hearing mostly girls talking about Artemis’s visit.”

“Knowing your luck, you’ll be offered a spot and rope Steph here into joining too.” Jason directed to Marinette with a raised eyebrow.

“I may have luck on my side, but I doubt Steph or I will actually join.” Marinette responded, continuing over his head with a smile, “I’m too happy with you to give all this up.”

Jason could see Steph smile from the corner of his eye as he wiped the last of the oatmeal from his face as she replied, “Babe you and me both.”

“Not that this isn’t exactly what I want to hear before eight in the fucking morning, but I need to get back to my cabin; I left Emma and Darcy in time-out and I need to re-up the power behind the undead mice keeping them away from each other.” Jason reluctantly got out.

“Ha, what the fuck? I thought those two got along, did they decide to wake you up, Mister Grumpypants?” Stephanie teased him even as Marinette relinquished her vice hold and scooted to the side to let him up.

“Sure as the Underworld, they decided 4AM was the best time for it. I swear, good ole pops must have remembered I existed for once and decided to have E and D play messenger or somethin’.” Jason grumbled as he got up and grabbed his tray.

“Don’t be a stranger! You won’t like the consequences, Jay!” Stephanie called out.

“Yeah-yeah-yeah, I got it. See you guys.” Jason said as he waved over his shoulder and dropped his bowl off at the clean up station on the way out.

Jason made his way back home, not in a hurry to arrive but not making any stops on the way. His father didn’t do him any favors in the PR department, and most camp-goers avoided him on principle. It wasn’t like there were many demigods with Hades as a father, and most avoided children of the Big Three out of practicality if not fear. Jason soon found himself entering his cabin, pleasantly surprised to see his boyfriend Luka calmly sitting waiting for him on the bed, gently strumming his guitar. Less pleasantly, it seemed his broken concentration at breakfast cost him a few skeleton mice enforcers whose bones were strewn across the floor and a clear path of destruction was shown leading from the corners each animal were previously penned into to the center of the room. He couldn’t see any blood and it looked like Luka had been able to calm them down as Emma and Darcy were now perched on his shoulder and leg, respectively, but it didn’t take a genius to see that they both weren’t done fighting.

“Hey love, I didn’t expect to see you until later today, what had you up so early?” Jason queried.

Giving one last strum to his instrument, Luka pulled a hand away to capture Emma in one hand, preventing her from diving down to the snake anklet just visible from under Luka’s pant leg. Darcy seemed content to stay where he was curled around Luka’s warmth. Sometimes it was eerie watching his boyfriend’s knack for precognition in action. Mostly, it got him hot.

“There were too many conflicting songs near Apollo’s cabin this morning so I woke up early. I came over here for some peace and to see you.” Luka calmly replied.

Nodding, Jason moved over to the washbasin, washing his face and hands, a simple “wait a sec” enough for the time being. He wanted to hug his boyfriend, gods dammit, but he didn’t want to do it with porridge on his body.

“Marinette struck again.” Jason complained, “She managed to land on me without me hearing her or her shadow reaching me first and got me covered in my breakfast. Not a drop landed on her, Luka! Luck shouldn’t be that powerful, babe.”

Luka’s eyes twinkled as he grinned and said, “What did you expect, mon beau, she is the daughter of Tyche.”

“The minute she and Steph got together it seemed they were a match made specifically to punish me. I swear, if Steph uses her powers on me one more time to rig another prank in her girlfriends favor, I will fill her bed with dancing bones.” he said as emphatically (read: dramatically) as he could.

“Sounds like a plan.” Luka full-out grinned, hardly able to get the words out. Once he’d gotten a bit of a handle on his response, Luka continued, “What do you say about joining me on our date a little early? Since we’re both up, let’s try to get to the river fort a little early; we might be able to watch the hunt from that vantage without incurring Artemis’s wrath.”

“Ugh, yeah, lemme just…” Jason said as he pulled power from the ground, focused on the mice bones scattered around his cabin. Commanding the dead to do his bidding wasn’t all that hard, but he wanted to make sure both Emma and Darcy stayed away from each other so he also instructed the shadows to form a barricade, making sure that the shadows understood that they needed to remain opaque and in between his companions while he was gone. That done, he turned to Luka and caught the tail end of his softened expression which never failed to soften his own brow in return.

“Ready, love?” Jason asked.

“With you? Always.” Luka replied.

Chapter 2

Jason found himself following after Luka as he moved through the forest like he belonged. Most of the time, he found himself bringing up the rear as it was easier for him to keep in contact with the shadows a step or two away from his child-of-the-sun boyfriend. Jason felt more secure being able to keep in touch with his shadows as they acted as an early warning system for any ambush. His time on the run while he made his way to Camp Half-Blood gave him a healthy dose of fear for the unknown and a respect for the utility of his powers to keep himself and others safe. With how distracted people had been that morning, there was no telling what might have slipped past the sentries divided attention.

Luka was up ahead, likely channeling the song of the forest as he usually did on these hiking dates of theirs. Today’s melody was a bit more playful, with individual notes that rang out loudly every few chords. With one last set of instructions to the shadows, Jason left them and pulled abreast of his boyfriend.

“Were you able to eat before you made your way to my cabin, Luka? I didn’t see you in the mess hall.” Jason began.

Still strumming, Luka responded, “No, I had a feeling that we should stay together today and try to get to the fort by the waterfall as quickly as possible. It feels like one of those omen-filled days.”

Small chills went down his spine as Jason digested that information. The fort was pretty far away from the residences and probably the furthest training ground in Camp Half-Blood. They would sometimes go to it on their days off since the location was hardly ever visited so he hadn’t thought much when the spot was originally proposed, but Luka’s intuition was never to be taken lightly. Even though they’d been walking for an hour or so, talking or enjoying each other’s presence, there was still a way to go to reach the fort. Time to get a move on, then.

“In that case, babe, let’s get moving.” saying that, he placed his hand on Luka’s hand holding the guitar, making eye contact, and after a gentle squeeze he let go.

Luka knew that the music would have helped, but he was weak. They’d been dating for over three years at this point and friends for almost five and he was still weak to those eyes. Sometimes Jason seemed to reach inside his chest and squeeze his heart to pulp, the only thing left the breath in his lungs calling him to sing. Sing his feelings and leave all else to the wayside.

It meant he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.

It meant he didn’t feel fate grab hold.

Jason with laser focus on the path ahead and him with his head in the clouds, it meant they stumbled upon the hunt in progress without realizing it.

Chaos. Stephanie couldn’t have stopped the trainwreck that just happened to save her life. Unfortunately, her friend’s lives might be at stake at this point, so that just wasn’t gonna cut it. Time for damage control.

Stephanie and Marinette had joined the hunt after Artemis called for volunteers for the day stating that a training session was in order. They’d been tracking the golden buck that was the star of the hunt for almost two hours at this point and it was getting close to midday. The sun was shining almost directly down on the buck as it paused in a clearing where the animal trail intersected with one of the paths more commonly used by camp-goers. Stephanie and Marinette were shadowing Artemis while Artemis’s third-in-command waved three other girls to fan out to surround the clearing, both groups moving in tandem to corner the buck and lead him on a chase to the river. The purpose of the training exercise was to learn how to pursue large prey and tactically block all escape rather than a simple kill the buck, otherwise their team of demigods and goddesses would have finished the hunt over an hour ago.

Unfortunately, it seemed her dumbass friends didn’t get the memo and stumbled directly on the clearing, obscured from view until they were directly in the sunlight. As they came into view, the buck stiffened and the game was up; the buck’s nostrils flared and the animal ran in the exact opposite direction as intended, straight for Artemis.

Artemis swiftly shifted from the red-haired youth she had chosen for the hunt to a body with an Amazonian stature, her hair shifting to a sleek brown and her features shaping into an adult countenance. The buck, startled, reared up and attempted to hit the goddess, hooves aimed to cut and bruise. Artemis swiftly moved around the buck’s shoulder, pulled a knife from its sheath at the base of her spine and slit the buck's throat as it’s feet came down, spasming as it fell to the ground.

Sternly, moving to face her friends, Artemis’s booming voice could be heard: “What nonsense goes here? Who are you to dare ruin this hunt?”

Stephanie bit her tongue to avoid speaking on their behalf. Her own powers beat with Artemis’s thirst to mete out her comeuppance on the boys.

Her eyes cut from Artemis’s back to Jason’s as he straightened his spine and stepped further into the clearing to state: “Apologies, Artemis, we didn’t intend to interrupt your hunt. I was hiding myself and my partner in the shadows to avoid startling your prey, but it seems luck wasn’t on our side today.”

“Son of Hades…” Artemis said thoughtfully. “Your father has been kind to my children lately. I may be lenient on your punishment because of this. However,” here, Steph could see Artemis’s head tilt to fully view Luka, “Apollo has been quite impertinent lately. You, I do not feel so kind toward. You, I may turn into a boar for today’s hunt and I might not guarantee your safe return to humanity.”

The threat hung in the air. Stephanie so badly wanted to intervene. Perhaps...her eyes cut to Marinette’s and a moment passed between the two. Darting her gaze to Jason’s, she mouthed the word ‘luck’ and ‘Tyche’ to her girlfriend, hoping Marinette would be able to pick up her plan.

“Artemis,” Stephanie spoke. “Perhaps a middle-ground would be satisfactory. Marinette over there is the daughter of Tyche and I am the daughter of Nemesis; perhaps she could help you verify their claim about luck and I could propose a suitable punishment?”

Artemis half-turned around to view her as she contemplated the offer, her eyes piercing as their color shifted with her thoughts. Stephanie could feel her breath catch in her throat as she waited for Artemis’s response.

“Hmm, I suppose you all are still young, perhaps my usual punishments for men who interrupt a hunt can be bent.” Artemis’s gaze turned in Marinette’s direction. “What say you, daughter of Tyche? Are your powers strong enough to judge their statement true?”

Stephanie could see her girlfriend straighten her spine and tuck her chin determinedly before she replied, “Yes, I can do that.”

“And you will answer truthfully? You know I will know if you lie.” Artemis warned.

“Yes.” Marinette swore.

“Hmm. Very well, show me your skills.”

Marinette stepped forward, circling around the fallen buck and towards the boys. Jason was leaning just the slightest bit forward, while Luka seemed at ease. Stephanie’s eyes caught Luka’s and the amount of Zen in them was calming. Hopefully, he was calm because he had foreseen this gamble pay off. Stephanie could see Marinette’s hand raise to face their friends and a light pink glow started to emit from her hands, forming the Greek words for ‘ominous end’ over Jason’s head and ‘bright mayhem’ over Luka’s. Below, a timer formed, showing Luka’s current luck to have started at sunrise that morning, while Jason’s was marked in years, days, and hours. It wasn’t clear from what Stephanie could see whether Jason’s timer was moving backward or forward. It gave her chills either way.

Marinette’s voice rang out with her verdict: “Their luck was at fault today. It appears the Muses found these two to be fun to play with. Chance was at play.”

Shaking herself out of it, Stephanie stepped forward and pulled that sense of vengeance and judgement to the forefront of her mind as she spoke, “Since the hunt was not interrupted maliciously and was due to bad luck shared between the two, a shared punishment would be best. I propose the boy’s take the place of the buck in the hunt, but ask that they fall to no harm and their punishment ends at sundown. Do you agree this punishment is fitting, Artemis?”

A mirthful chuckle left the goddess’s lips while a yelp exited Jason’s. Stephanie kept her eyes on the goddess’s; the boys were on their own if Stephanie let on she wasn’t as impartial as she wished to appear to be to the goddess.

“If a time limit is what’s called for, daughter of Nemesis, then so be it.” Artemis said. “I agree to your proposed punishment and am willing to ensure no permanent harm befalls them so long as they stay within the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood, but if we only have until sundown, they’d better work hard to keep the hunt challenging. You two won’t be prey animals, oh no, let’s see what predator’s you’ll be.”

Artemis didn’t wait to hear from any of the campers present, including the boys, waving her hands in their direction even as Jason opened his mouth to argue. Jason’s comically open mouth shifted along with the rest of his body into the form of a mountain lion, leaving a large cat with a panting mouth in his place. Luka’s form shifted to that of a European lynx, even that unflappable friend of hers looking ungainly and awkward from the suddenness of the change.

Both boy’s clothes and bags had disappeared in the shift and Stephanie couldn’t help hoping that they’d return with the boy’s human forms when they were changed back at sundown. She shuddered at the thought of leading two whining toddlers back to camp in nothing but their birthday suits, and if Luka lost that guitar he wouldn’t be able to play for her anniversary dinner with Marinette. There’s no way she’d be able to propose to Marinette without Luka’s musical help. Stephanie sent a prayer for continued good luck towards her soon-to-be mother-in-law, stepping back as Artemis said, “Let the hunt recommence!”

Chapter 3

This was worse than any stint he’d pulled in the Underworld. He’d lost Luka a while back when another hunting party found them. Luka had bounded for the trees and he’d headed in the direction of the river. His powers weren’t working in this form and it bit him pretty deep as it felt like an entire sense of his was missing. Since he’d ‘woken’ back up from his near perma-death after his mom had died and learned to access his control over the shadows and bones around him, he’d come to rely on them pretty heavily without realizing it.

That was probably why he’d gotten Luka and himself into this mess in the first place; he didn’t realize that the clearing was entirely devoid of shadows and it was too close to midsummer for the clearing to allow him to hide in the shadows like he was used to. He’d managed to escape the hunting party on his tail but he was worried for his partner; moving in a new body and effectively becoming prey wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Luka could tell that this series of events was what his intuition was telling him would happen when he woke up this morning. All told, it wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever gotten himself into, and it was kinda cool to be able to leap from tree to tree and traverse the forest at this pace. It seems like most of the hunters had moved towards the river, as he hadn’t encountered any other hunters after losing his tail near the cliff face further inland. He was currently making his way towards the fort, figuring Jason would manage to follow the river to their intended destination without too much worry. For now, he’d enjoy this new body and feel the new rhythm he could feel through his paws and his nose while he waited for sundown.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

Claws were not for him. Whoever (read: himself and most definitely Steph) got him into this mess, they’d pay. That was the fourth hunting party he’d encountered and the second time he’d had to cross the river and backtrack to hide his tracks and he was sooo not down for the feel of wet fur. This just went to show how feathers and scales were so much better and why Emma and Darcy were the only pets for him; he could tell he wouldn’t want to pet an animal with fur for months after this.

Currently, he was hiding in a tree, taking a page out of his boyfriend’s book and hiding in the trees rather than at ground level. He could see Marinette and another girl from a different hunting party conversing about 10 yards away; there was no way he was getting down or giving away his position anywhere near where Artemis’s party could be found. That psycho goddess had it out for him, lenient his ass.

Marinette could tell Jason was hiding in that tree, the water puddle slowly forming underneath him was a dead giveaway. She loved the goofball too much to actually hunt him though which was about the only bit of luck he’d seen today (she could tell). Honestly, he’d have been caught at least seven times by now if she hadn’t miraculously shifted the tides of luck surrounding him or redirected other hunters like she was doing now. Mirabelle was a nice girl, but a little too vicious to let her in on the game she was playing, so she was focused on sending her off on a wild goose (or cat) chase as soon as possible.

“If we pincer attack, we can pin him down. “ a branch broke off from Jason’s direction and fell on the ground, causing Marinette to pause and do her best not to glare and give away the game. “...does that makes sense?”

“Yeah, I think the best bet would be for me to go down and try to pick up the trail, and run him back to you. Sounds good?” Mirabelle said.

“Yep, let’s do this!” Marinette sweetly smiled in reply.

Mirabelle nodded, turned, and Marinette watched her go, waiting until she was out of earshot to say, “You are the absolute worst human-in-cat-form I have ever seen.”

Marinette marched over to Jason, seeing him freeze and look her dead in the eye. It wasn’t exactly easy to tell what Jason wanted to say, but she could fill in the gaps for him.

“You, monsieur, are going to give yourself away at this rate. I’d like to keep you in one piece if it’s all the same to you, so here’s what you’re going to do: head inland and away from the river. We were driving our prey towards the river to trap it, so any hunting party worth their salt will be crawling along the riverbed. You are going to head to the fort upstream and hide; not many other camp-goers go there as frequently as you and Luka do and it’s your best chance to stay out of Artemis’s sight. Stephanie and I will continue to run interference, but you are acting like a teenager going through a growth spurt with how clumsy you’ve been, and that’s saying something coming from me!”

The big cat scoffed at her, but leapt to the next tree, struggling a bit to land gracefully but not with too much trouble and continued on like that further inland as directed. Marinette didn’t watch for too long; she had a job to do.

Luka ends up outpacing most of the hunters he’s encountered, but one is hot on his tail, following him at forest level as he makes his way through rocky outcrops to the fort. He’s not sure if it’s an official member of the hunt or another camp-goer, but he tries his best to wind his way around boulders and choose outcroppings that blend in with his fur color to avoid his pursuer.

Taking a small break, he waits in the shadow of an outcropping, watching. His pursuer is good; that he can tell, and he doesn’t want to lead them directly into the fort and make it even hard on him and Jason to get through this debacle. It seems, it’s time to call for help.

“Apollo, hear me please. Your companions the Muses have struck a game between Artemis and I, and I need your help. Grant me aid avoiding my pursuer.”

“Luka, son of mine.” Apollo’s amused tone filtered through his mind. “You’ve gotten yourself trapped by one of Artemis’s hunter’s I see. Very well, I will help you this once, but I will be joining as a spectator for this one. Artemis’s main trouble is with me, after all, and I’d like to see her face when she realizes you’re under my direct protection.”

Soon after, a flash of light appeared, blinding his pursuer, and Luka moved onward while she was distracted.

It was close to sundown, and Jason was finally in reach of the fort by the waterfall. After his encounter with Marinette, he’d seen evidence that Stephanie was also redirecting heat away from his passage through the forest, but it was still slow going. His bulk had almost ratted him out more than a few times, and he’d taken to any groundcover he could when possible as it was almost impossible for him to figure out how to move through the trees without sound. He was stealthy enough on two legs to give assassins a run for their money, but put him on four legs and he was worse than a toddler was at stealth. He hadn’t seen Artemis since the beginning, but knowing his normally catastrophic luck, that was only due to Marinette’s aid.

Crawling forward, he inched his way around the watering hole below the waterfall in the direction of the fort, when suddenly an arrow passed in front of his paw and hit the stump he was crouched by….Clearly, Marinette’s blessing was wearing thin. Taking his chances, Jason bolted.

Arrows pelted behind him, and the aim they held was mocking in its accuracy. Just close enough to scare but not close enough to injure. The direction they came from was just as confusing as they seemed to originate from the water.

Diving behind another tree, this time close enough to the fort to see his boyfriend peering from the battlements, he peered out in the direction of the water to see none other than Artemis hovering in place, this time in a blended form that combined the youthfulness and agelessness of the two forms he encountered her in earlier. She was also holding a really fucking scary recurve bow, so there’s that.

“Come out and play, kitties. You know you know a good hunt is part of your deal with me.” Artemis crooned.

Jason wasn’t fucking moving, dying was not part of the deal. Unfortunately, it seems his slow arrival also allowed Artemis to set up an ambush as two women lept at him from the shadows (the traitors, he was going to train so much to overcome this dependency he’s built on them), forcing him to emerge. Jason kept his eyes pinned to Artemis, even as he heard others leave their hiding places to encircle the clearing at the base of the waterfall.

He was trapped.

Luka watched as his boyfriend was driven into the open. He was also being ushered out of the protection of the fort and into the open himself.

“Now would be a good time, dad.” he whispered his prayer.

Marinette was about to lose the game she’d decided to play, and she was NOT happy. Nothing she could really do about it; she could see that the balance of luck and fortune were too stable to shift.

She was so focused on trying to parse the threads of fate that she almost missed the flash of light that signaled Apollo’s arrival. Marinette did see Artemis whirling around to glare at the newcomer, though, a bright man in a Hawaiian shirt and chacos. Apparently, being a deity did not automatically give you god-tier fashion sense.

“Artemis, dearest, what’s this I hear about a grudge against my son and his partner? I thought you left the animal transformations back in the Hellenistic period.” Apollo drawled.

“You! I can’t believe you have the audacity to show up now of all times! Where have you been?” Artemis yelled.

“Sometimes a god has to go on vacation too; you — of all of us — leave Olympus the most, dearest, so I assumed you’d understand.”

“Sometimes?! Sometimes doesn’t happen midway through a war council when you’ve promised to share a prophecy pertinent to the fight at hand! Ares about had my head about wasting the council’s time on petty matters because you flaked out to — where, Tahiti???”

“What can I say? Sometimes the sun in this hemisphere just isn’t it. I’ve got to share the light with everyone.”

“Apollo, you — !” screeching, Artemis brought her bow to bear on Apollo, shooting faster than even the demi-gods present could see.

Apollo was shifting around, using the last rays of the day’s light to bend away from her arrows, periodically reminding her “This is Camp Half-Blood, dearest.” and “You don’t want to hit one of your precious hunters, do you?”

Giving one last yell of frustration, Artemis released her quiver and lowered her bow and arrow, pinched her brow and said through gritted teeth, “Apollo, you insufferable child. You. Are. Coming. To. Olympus. With. Me.”

With a brief glance at the sky and a one-handed vice grip on Apollos bicep, Artemis stated, “A fine hunt, your debt is repaid.” Then she waived her hand towards the big cats seemingly frozen in place and teleported away.

Stephanie was closest to Jason and saw as his form crumpled to the ground, shifting back into human form. Stephanie ran to help him up even with the shadows swarming around him as his powers returned in a sudden influx. She grabbed him and hoisted him up onto his feet, keeping her hands firm and grounding while he readjusted to his normal form again.

Stephanie just thanked the gods that her friends weren’t naked after returning to normal.

“You two need to stop getting into so much trouble; you’re lucky Marinette and I were there to help.” Stephanie commented, finally releasing her hold on Jason to let him stand under his own power.

“Yeah, fuck you too.” Jason growled out.

Luka picked himself off the ground, checking his guitar for any damage. He saw Marinette approach from the corner of his eye with her palm facing him, granting him good fortune, so he wasn’t too surprised that he couldn’t find any damage to his instrument on close inspection.

Luka glanced up at her and said, “Thank you, Melody. This day would have turned out much worse without your help.”

Marinette just smiled softly at him in return. “Let’s go home.”

#Jason Todd x Luka Couffaine #Stephanie Brown x Marinette Dupain-Cheng #maribat #maribat-secret-santa-2020 #gift fic #secret santa #fanfic #ML x DC #percy jackson crossover #mlb x dc

33 notes · View notes

antisocial-af · 3 years

Photo

Title: The Dangers of Petting a Cat

Chapter: 3/3

Square Filled: Cursed Item (For @shadowhunterbingo)

Raiting: T

Wordcount: 1615

No Major Archive Warnings

SFW, Attempt at Humor, Annoyed Raphael, Demon Simon, No Chairman Meows were harmed or even put in harms way to begin with in this fic, Protective Magnus.

Summary:

Magnus tries to sort out what is going, Simon attempts to stay in one piece, and Raphael is done.

Read on Ao3

Story:

Simon stared at the warlock that just passed through the portal.

Shit! I didn’t see him call for backup! Especially from a greater demon’s kid!

Simon hoped that the vampire was too distracted to notice him as he tried to stop the possession. The demon needed out of here now. A banishment would mean an automatic failure on his mission.

When Simon tried to stop his magic and separate from the cat, he found he couldn’t. Something was trapping him inside the host.

The demon started to panic and focused harder. Simon was sure it was just a hiccup and would work this time. Still, once again, his spell stayed in place and seemed to rebound him back into the cat.

“What is going on?!” Simon panicked aloud in an almost yowl. Even that was out of the ordinary, but Simon had let it go, thinking it was just because it was his first time. But, he had never seen one of his friends bound to the voice of their host. He kept cursing at himself for not taking up Kirk on his offer to shadow him for his first possession.

“Raphael, you better tell me someone found a spell that makes cats capable of speech, or I am revoking your babysitting privileges,” Magnus glared at Raphael as he flicked, capturing Chairman Meow in his cat carrier.

“We both know you would be the first to know if someone made a spell like that,” Raphael bit back, glaring at the possessed cat.

“I am supposed to be enjoying a nice drink and relaxing at the beach right now, Raphael,” Magnus complained, allowing his magic to deliver the cat carrier safely to him.

“If you two are having a moment, I could just leave,” Simon chimed in from his less than favorable position.

“I’m sure you figured out that isn’t a possibility,” Magnus replied with a smirk. “Now, do tell what made you dumb enough to possess my lovely Chairman today?”

“You leave your cat with a vampire?” Simon asked before he could think of his words.

“When I must, but that wasn’t the question, little demon.”

“Hey! Just because I’m in a cat doesn’t mean I’m little! I’m over 200 Earth Years!”

“Isn’t that like 20 ish in your realm?”

“Yeah, but I’m on Earth right now, so I can use my Earth age!” Simon hissed and startled himself in the process. He didn’t know he was capable of that.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Raphael complained and ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time that evening. “Magnus, can’t you just yank him out already?”

“I would if you would stop feeding him,” Magnus grumbled as he started to read the wards he had placed on Chairman’s collar. “The demon is a Trickster demon, meaning he feeds off your frustration. You have been an all-you-can-eat buffet for him.”

“I don’t deserve this,” Raphael groaned and took a deep breath, trying to compartmentalize his anger and annoyance.

“Does that work for vampires?” Simon asked as he sat up in the carrier. “I mean, vampires don’t breathe, so does it work?”

“It does when there isn’t a squeaky nagging voice in the room,” Raphael continued.

“Not helping, Raphael,” Magnus intervened before it could go on. “Still, my question stands. I have known my fair share of Trickster demons, hell I’ve contracted some myself for the usual joke or prank on a friend, but in all my years, I’ve never known one to possess an animal, much less a cat.”

“I might’ve missed,” Simon confessed. “I was supposed to be the grumpy vampire.”

“So it’s because you missed that I am here instead of with my husband,” Magnus attempted to glare at Simon, but when Chairman’s wide eyes and pulled back ears looked up at him, Magnus couldn’t do it.

“If you let your wards go, I could just be out of your hair,” Simon quickly reasoned. He needed a way out of this quickly. Currently, the Downworlders were distracted by the situation, but Simon had no plans of sticking around when that passed.

“Getting you out is a start,” Magnus agreed as he pulled at the wards around the collar, adjusting the locking mechanism to allow the demon out. “What way you return to your realm once you are out is another question.”

“Wait!” Simon panicked. “You have to promise you won’t banish me once I let the cat go, or else I won’t release the possession!”

“Oh, you are young if you think I can’t safely force you out of my precious Chairman,” Magnus smirked and pushed a bit of his magic through to nudge the demon out.

“Woa-” Simon’s words were cut off when he felt a push of foreign magic push him out. Simon started to get sick when he began to phase through, and his body pulled itself back together. “What part of that was safe!?”

“Oh, I meant for Chairman,” Magnus smiled as he petted a now purring Chairman. Magnus let his magic run through his cat to verify the demon had done no damage. Since the collar activated, he wasn’t too worried about Chairman being scared or traumatized by this incident; it should’ve sent Chairman’s mind into a dream. Still, he needed to make sure. “I don’t usually keep unwanted guests around. By now, I would’ve banished you, so I never know the side effects for you.”

“So I’m free to go then?” Simon asked as he stretched, trying to get used to standing on two legs again.

“No.” Magnus and Raphael both answered.

“Since you missed, I am assuming Raphael was your target,” Magnus reasoned as he glared at the demon. “What did you plan to do once you did possess him?”

“Oh, you know the usual stuff,” Simon answered, looking away. There is no way he could let them know his actual plans; it was already bad enough that he got caught.

“So you planned to cause chaos and play pranks on the vampires of Hotel Dumort?” Raphael growled. “Did someone send you?”

“Well, not exactly,” Simon started to back up and look for an escape route. He had knocked over many of the books and furniture throughout, dodging Raphael in cat form, and his only escape was the window he came from.

“What do you mean not exactly?” Magnus flicked his fingers at the demon and watched a prison form around the demon. “Who sent you?”

“Well, they didn’t exactly send me to the hotel,” Simon gulped and stood still. He didn’t want to find out what would happen if he touched the blue bars around him.

“They send you to New York to cause trouble?” Magnus asked.

Simon looked at the bars and back at the glaring warlock. He was sure his mission was already a failure, so there wasn’t a point anymore.

“I wanted to pet the cat,” Simon sighed and mumbled.

“What?” Raphael questioned, shocked.

“I wanted to pet the cat!” Simon stated clearly. “I was going to possess Raphael and pet your cat.”

“So all this,” Magnus emphasized by pointing to the broken vase and torn drapes. “was because you wanted to pet Chairman Meow?”

“Yes.”

“I’m never pet sitting for you after you get back from vacation,” Raphael declared.

“It’s fine, Chairman prefers Cat,” Magnus snapped his fingers, causing the jail around Simon to dissipate. He pulled Chairman up from the couch chair and into his arms before walking towards the demon. “Go on then.”

Simon looked between the cat and warlock briefly in shock. He didn’t know if this was a trick, and as soon as he touched the cat, he would be hurt. But Simon couldn’t pass up this chance. If not the mission, then at least he was going to pet a cat today. Simon carefully brushed his fingers between both of Chairman’s ears and watched as they twitched from the pets.

“He’s adorable,” Simon whispered.

“Agreed,” Magnus smiled as he kept a close eye on a demon just in case. Chairman’s collar would still activate again if anything happened, but he didn’t want to take a chance. “If this is all you can go back, right?”

“You’re just going to let him go?” Raphael questioned. “He did all this, and you are just going to send him back with a slap on the hand?”

“Trickster demons are harmless; you know that,” Magnus shrugged. “The little demon just got a bit sidetracked.”

“I’m not a little demon!” Simon huffed and immediately regretted it when his new cat friend jumped away. “My name is Simon, and yeah, I will portal straight back to my realm. No need to worry.”

“See, he’s going to be a good little demon and go back home before it even gets dark,” Magnus waved his hands, already making plans to summon his own portal back to his Alexander.

Raphael groaned and sat back down on his couch, glaring at the two people in his room.

“Don’t worry, at least now you will have something new to complain to Chairman about other than your Clan,” Simon teased as he opened a portal to his realm, quickly jumping through as he watched the vampire leader pick up a chair to throw at him. “See you!”

Simon sighed in relief as he stepped through the portal and smiling as he made his way up the Academy steps. He didn’t know if he still had a chance at passing, but he hoped that Prof. Modo would give still approve his first mission. Even if he didn’t, though, at least Simon had petted a cat, and that was worth all the trouble from the mission pass or fail.

#antisocialaf #shadowhunterbingo #shbingo #Simon Lewis #Raphael Santiago #Magnus Bane #fanfic

7 notes · View notes

tobswrites · 3 years

Text

Shut Up, I’m not Scared!

Hey! I just finished, a certain part of School Briefs, (pretty sure it was Chapter 13 in the way the site I use is formatted) and turns out, Bakugou hates scary stories, or so it’s implied, so I wrote this real quick!

“She dropped me off just at the end of the street,” Mina continues with her storytelling, or for that matter, an actual ghost story that has been following her for years now.

Usually Bakugou wouldn’t be one to join shit like this, he won’t admit to himself, any less his friends, but fucking stories like this, scary ones, horror and ghost a like just didn’t suit well with him. They always gave him an unwanted thrill, a fear that prickled him.

But he stayed goddammit, first it was for that shitty red head, who begged for Bakugou to come join the rest of the ‘Bakusquad’ in the lounge area, using those famous puppy eyes of his, like what the fuck. At times those eyes of his reminded him of a Shiba Inu, a little dog with little eyebrows just like Kirishima’s own.

Kirishiba, he huffs, laughing at his own pun.

That’s beside the point, Kirishima had stuck to his side for the beginning of the night before he scooted closer to Mina to hear her story better, so there was no real reason for him to stay since his only incentive had left him.

Though if he walked out now, he would probably be called a sacredly-cat for leaving in the middle of Mina’s stupid story. Sure, he could always act cold, brush it off, but he was sure that Kaminari would mention it, and fuck that idiot knew his weakness, he’ll tease him and try to do that reverse psychology shit.

“As I passed the first house, the darkness seemed to get thicker, heavier even, it felt like I could climb on top of it, walk on it.”

He had no real reason to be afraid, a lot of the shit they were spewing was load of bullshit, exaggerated to make the story more enticing.

They pull all the tricker, using the fact they’re all going to die one day, darkness, even fucking shit like bugs are enough to pull anyone to fear and anxiety. They use the darkness, something that relates the brain to rest and sleep, relaxation, using your comfort against you. Throwing you into the unimageable in pure darkness when you’re greatest sense is gone, sight.

“And I could feel like someone was walking behind me as soon as I passed the second home, I did the trick with the makeup mirror, opening it up and looking at the reflection behind me. And there was no one, not a single person, but as soon as I was about to close the mirror, I swear on my life a black shadow moved.”

“It was just your fucking shadow.” Bakugou comments, stiff in his words as he was tensed.

Mina shakes her head rapidly, “Na-uh, I swear, there was no lamp post or anything, but I swore there was this like, black mass or something.”

“Someone was pulling a fucking prank on you with their quirk.” He says next, trying to calm his own nerves.

“What a shitty person.” Jirou says, calmly as she twirls one of her earlobe jacks.

“Guys!” Mina pouts, crossing her arms, “Let me finish!”

Bakugou groans, but waves his hand nonetheless, letting her finish as he falls back on to the sofa, looking at Kirishima who looked completely entranced with this sort of shit.

“Anyways!” Mina quickly says before anyone else has anything else to say. “I was almost home, I could see my neighbor’s house, so I started to walk faster, taking larger steps and all, I was practically running.”

She fastens her speech, like she was losing her audience and wanted to get the story to end, which thank fucking god.

“And as soon as I got to my doorstep, key out and all, I felt safe, I made it, I remember thinking but as soon as I entered the key into it’s whole, I felt my entire body freeze up, chills on my spine, and for a second I swore I could feel a hot puff of air on the top of my head.” Mina gives the audience an example, puffing once before continuing on.

“I shrieked and swung a fist, uppercut style,” she says proudly, but soon slumps her shoulders, “but there was no one.”

“Please tell you had it all video tapped.”

“Yeah! Security camera’s bitch!” Mina snapped her fingers, “it even records a separate video using infrared! You know, for those invisible using quirks? Well guess what? There was absolutely nothing caught! No body, no heat signature! No nothing!”

“Not even the puff of air on your head?” Kirishima as, flattening down a hand on the newly washed hair.

But Mina shakes her head, “None, I thought for sure I would catch something…but holy shit I thought I was gonna die, because the next thing I knew, I felt…” she shrugs her shoulders, “I don’t know, I felt free, the darkness didn’t look to dark anymore either, and that feeling of being watched? It was gone.”

“It was your brain cell kicking in.” Bakugou jokes, which Mina simply glares as Kaminari and Sero were the only one’s snickering.

“Sorry about that, I was sure it was my day to use it.” Sero joins in, causing Bakugou to even snicker.

“Okay, okay my turn!” Kaminari stands up, shooing Mina from her original seat.

“What? Go tell it from there!” She points from where Kaminari came from, but the blond wasn’t having it, pushing Mina causing her to fall to the side.

“My turn.” He says, plopping himself down while Mina whined about being injured, Kirishima gave her a smile of reassurance before the girl decided to take a seat next to Bakugou and away from the other idiots.

“Kaminari this better not be I thought I was home a lone but guess my mom was there story.” Jirou leans back, arms behind her as she smiles at the blond who only pretends to laugh at Jirou’s joke.

“Very funny, but no, okay, get this guys, I was visiting my gramps on the country side,”

“Oh hell no.” Mina says, shaking her head and throwing her arms cross one another several times.

“What?” Bakugou glances at her, confused.

“That’s where all that real shit is, tell him Kirishima, tell him that’s where the real shit is at.”

“That’s where the real shit is at.” Kirishima confirms, nodding his head in affirmation at Bakugou, and soon after smiling at the blond with a quick wink.

“Well, then buckle up Mina, because you know this shit is about to be even more real.” Kaminari says, looking stupidly serious.

Bakugou then tenses, already feeling the fear from the hype the two were giving it. Fucking shittt.

It was during the summer, so the nights weren’t as cold as they usually were. Crickets and frogs could be heard left and right, yet not one in sight to be seen.

He was a kid, he explains that it was late, but his mother, auntie and cousin had stayed up to talk, play and keep them entertained since they, the kids, were having a hard time sleeping.

“Then out of nowhere, I got hungry,” he laughs, patting his stomach, “And I begged my mom over and over to take me to the kitchen to get some food, since we lived in those separated room homes? Where the bedroom was it’s own building…”

“Like fucking courtyards? Open air yards?” Bakugou comments, not realizing that he’s speaking more often than usual.

“Yeah!” Kaminari smiles in graditide, “Well anyways, my mom told me to shut it but my auntie felt bad for me, and told me she’ll take me. So she picks me up.”

“Wait hold are you?” Sero stops him, creating a curious crowd.

“I was like, uh, probably seven? Six?”

“This could have been a dream!” Mina groans in annoyance, “are you sure this is real?”

“Yes! Yes it’s real!” Kaminari says, irritated now, “guys come on! I didn’t interrupt you Mina!”

Mina hums, asking for forgiveness and as soon as Kaminari accepts, he continues on.

“She was holding on to me, and as soon as we walk into the pathway to the kitchen there was this little thing by one of the walls. Just standing there, looking at us. It had a little ball on his hands, I’m pretty sure it was a football my cousin and I were kicking around earlier that day!”

The creature was hunched, or so says Kaminari, looked at both him and his aunt with a looking spooked like it didn’t expect either of them to come out so late. Before Kaminari could even figure out what he was looking at, his auntie had grabbed a baseball bat, another toy the kids had left around and started swinging it, yelling out words Kaminari couldn’t understand.

The creature then straighten it’s back, looking even more shocked than before, but the ball was still in their hands, holding it tightly, just a moment away from popping from it’s sharp claws.

Kaminari’s badass aunt had started marching towards it, Kaminari’s young brain still not yet comprehending what he was seeing, or even understanding why his aunt was so scared as she started swinging harder and faster.

It seemed like the creature finally got the hint his aunt was gonna beat his ass, as it turned around and started the attempt of climbing what Kamanari said was a concrete wall. The ball was now passed in one of his hands, trying to climb with it, but when it realized it couldn’t he had to let the ball go.

It climbed to the very top, turning back around on it’s fours to look at the two before jumping to the other side.

“After that, I got my snack and we made it back inside no problem, turns out my mom had her own adventures too! Said they found a nasty looking spider, like good thing I wasn’t there! I would’ve passed out!”

“Wait,” Bakugou backtracks, not at all noticing he was holding in a breath before talking, “what the fuck was the thing?”

Kaminari took a second to think before shrugging his shoulders, like it didn’t matter. “I dunno.”

“Dude!” Kirishima pipes up, “how could you be so chill? That’s creepy!”

“Hey man, it was years ago, and I haven’t seen or experienced any weird shit since then!”

“It could have been a hyosube.” Jirou had her phone out, the only light source causing her face to be luminated. “You could be cursed for life buddy.”

Kaminari playfully plays her off, “Come on Jirou, don’t say that.”

“Fucking stupid is what this is, I’m going to sleep.” Two scary stories were enough right? He doesn’t need this shit, and he’s sure if he hears another one of those fucking stories, he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.

Kirishima nods in affirmation, “Yeah guys, Imma call it a night too!” he hops up from his seat and trails behind Bakugou.

The remaining four watch the two go, and as soon as they walk into the elevator close, Mina quickly whips her head back to the other three.

“Tots saw how Bakugou was hella tensed right?”

Jirou hums in confirmation, “Dude wouldn’t stop talking, he was totally nervous.”

“Come on guys leave him alone, the dude can’t be all perfect.”

#kiribaku #if you squint #bakusqaud #bakusquad #?#which one is spelled correctly?#Anyways #Bnha drabble #bnha fic #bnha one shot #bnha oneshot #kiribaku oneshot #kiribaku drabble #bakusquad drabble #bakusquad oneshot

15 notes · View notes

the-silentium · 3 years

Text

Siren Song

Masterlist - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Fors is an Original planet. I do not give permission to people to use it for their own fics, the planet, the animals, the Nightmares, the lore or anything related to Fors. Thank you.

Pairing: Bad Batch x Reader

Words: 3025 words

Warnings: Blood, monsters, ANGST.

A/N: Thanks to @shadow-hyder who helped choose who got hurt in this chap ~

Taglist: @haloangel391 / @lightning-wolffe / @cherrydemon5 / @and-claudia / @clone-rambles / @mandaloriandin

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

"Wrecker. I knew you'd come to help me." 99 whispered through his comm.

Wrecker couldn't contain his excitement at his ori'vod calling out to him. He was alright, on this planet, away from the long-necks and their experiments, away from the dirty looks and degrading whispers, away from all the forced maintenance. He left the rainy planet like he always dreamt he would.

For so long Wrecker ached for the reunion with his brother. He had so much to say to him, from his biggest explosion to date to his best prank on the regs with Crosshair and he couldn't forget to relate how he fought a giant snake that could have easily swallowed him whole in a single bite!

He could already see 99 listening intently to each of his words, nodding and smiling as he would move his hands around to illustrate his words, because words weren't powerful enough to convey the power of the moment.

Clone force 99 would be complete with its fifth member on board. All they needed to do was get him out of there with the rest of them.

"That's not him! Guys!"

For a split second, Wrecker had forgotten their newest teammate. Their cabur'ika. He was so wrapped up in helping his vod that he forgot everything else and let his body take control. His body knew what to do, fighting was in his blood.

A new spark burned to life in his chest at the prospect of presenting you to his very wise sibling, maybe he could help you with your insecurities like he helped them all with theirs.

"I know his voice Y/N! That's him!" He pushed forward, his team right behind him.

You'd see soon, it was worth it. 99 was worth it.

"Stay under the trees!"

He would have laughed at your words if he hadn't caught a glimpse of a man standing near a river. Trees were everywhere on this planet, you didn't have to worry. Instead, he forced his legs to move faster.

A huff resonated through the comm just as 99 called again, the newfound fear in his voice made Wrecker's blood boil in worry and anger.

He was almost there. He'd help. He'd save him.

A nagging feeling plagued the back of his mind. It was just like when he forgot to close the light of the fresher one night and caused the ship to be inoperable for a couple of days or when he forgot Crosshair in a secluded village while on a supply run. He couldn't tell what was wrong, all he knew was that something wasn't as it was supposed to be.

Wrecker got to the edge of the river, 99 just on the other side of the large angry stream. The ravine they had followed for a while was visible from his spot on the bank. It seemed they had moved a klick away from it and deeper into the jungle. The tall wall of rock and mud abruptly stopped and disappeared under a tumultuous waterfall that would be breathtaking in broad daylight.

He doesn't see them, but Wrecker heard the soft steps of his brothers joining his sides. He didn't acknowledge their presence in the slightest, his eyes being glued to his elder kneeling on the ground clutching his chest, the grunts of pain leaving his mouth were too clear over the roaring water separating them.

Without thinking he took a step forward, carefully setting foot in the deep river to reach the other side without getting carried away by the rapids.

“Wrecker, what are you doing?” Hunter put a hand on his pauldron to keep him from going further into the water.

“He’s hurt!”

Without wasting a second, Wrecker harshly shrugged Hunter's hand away to venture into the raging water, fighting for his balance against the strong current pushing against his abdomen threatening to take him further through the jungle. Wrecker winced as static took over his comm, drowning the words of his team behind him.

99's voice overflowed the nagging sound to encourage him forward, inciting him to grab the outstretched hand as soon as he was within reach.

"Stay back." Wrecker ignored the help, he didn't want to pull his older brother into the river where he'd have no chance to survive.

The ignored hand gripped his armpit in a useless effort to assist him, water dripped down his soaked blacks and armor, nurturing the grass below.

"Are you okay 99?" Without wasting a second, Wrecker turned to his brother, already reaching for his frail shoulder.

The sight squeezed his heart in nostalgia. There he stood, smiling just like the last time the Batcher saw him when they departed for their mission on Devaron. He even opened his arms like he always did whenever they’d all return from their assignments. This was him.

An urge to jump into the long-awaited embrace propelled his body forward to carefully wrap his strong arms around the fragile form of 99. Relief flooded his brain as soon as he felt arms wrapping around his own waist, numbing his senses to concentrate solely on this moment.

"Thank you for making all the way to me." He heard his voice in his comm, as clear as day, the background white noise abruptly muted as Wrecker's eyes widened in understanding.

He managed to pull away slightly before the sight in front of him paralyzed his muscles. By fear, surprise or sadness, he couldn't decide which one had more control over his body.

“Thank you for saving me Wrecker.” 99's lips stayed glued together despite the words echoing through the soldier's head. The once calming smile had lost all its warmth only to be replaced with a way more sinister grin.

Half of 99- no, half of the monster disappeared under a layer of darkness slowly bleeding from its eyes, nose and mouth, the black goo covering its right side morphed into parts of someone else. Brown hair, a youthful smile, a broad muscular arm, they all appeared for a moment before the goo engulfed them again and changed over and over again, never truly setting on anything in particular.

The shiver running up his spine brought the man to his senses long enough for his brain to order his body to move away from the threat. His chest separated from the smaller one as his feet stumbled backward. Unfortunately, his left hand didn't have such luxury. The liquid tightened around his fingers, crept over his palm to reach his forearm and slide under the sleeve of his blacks.

He pulled and pulled again without any success. He was trapped.

"So long…"

It was cold as death, enough to chill the giant to the bone. Bile raised in his throat as the sticky feeling crept up his skin. He tugged as hard as he could, but inches by inches the wicked sludge reached his elbow, gaining complete control over his arm.

"It has been so long…"

For some reason the tank of a man has never felt as small as in this instant, heterochromatic eyes staring up at him right in the eyes like his opaque visor wasn't even there.

"We're so hungry."

Before he could register the meaning behind his words, Wrecker went flying backward a few meters away from his initial standing spot, a heavyweight on his chest pinning him to the ground.

Everything was happening too fast. Wrecker had some difficulties keeping up. That is until the unprotected skin of the underside of his upper arms burned worse than a blaster wound, his brain instantly knew what happened.

With a yelp followed by a powerful kick, the clone tried to once again to dislodge the opponent clinging to him. His movements didn't send the gigantic thing rolling like he hoped, instead it merely shrieked in his face and flapped its cracked white wings to fly away, claws still locked around his arms.

Fortunately for once, the beast doesn't get off the ground. Unfortunately, it meant that some parts of its prey had to go.

Massive maws closed around his helmet, offering an absolutely atrocious view of the beast's mouth and throat. Wrecker would never admit it, but the sudden fear forced his eyes closed for a split second, protecting his fragile orbs by doing so. Shards of his visor exploded under the assault of some particularly sharp teeth, scratching the sensitive skin around his eyes.

This high level of panic was completely new for him and he didn't like it one bit. A nice adrenalin rush was one thing. This was far from the enjoyable spectrum. He wanted to yell for help, but who would hear his call? He was alone.

The pressure around his head was increasing fast. Saliva covered his helmet, leaving Wrecker to blindly touch around his head for the maws, fingers slipping between the sparse teeth to force them open. The grip around his upper arms tightened, shooting a new wave of searing pain through his body as the claws dug deeper into his flesh.

Ignoring his agonizing arms, he put more strength behind his movement and had the toothy vice open in a second. A well-placed kick on the bird sternum sent it flying backward, liberating his lacerated skin in the process.

Hands cleaned his visor in a haste but stopped as soon as his fingertips started to tingle. The soft feeling soon morphed into full-on burning, prompting the soldier to wipe his hands onto the grass at his sides.

Holes adorned the once intact tactical gloves, showing the damaged skin that it was supposed to protect.

Before he could question the condition of his hands, a screech pulled him back to reality.

The milky bird was big, easily four times his size with weird legs and two pairs of arms. The long white beak was pretty sharp with nasty teeth occasionally poking out, its maws opening frantically on a high pitch screech, its old-paper like wings flapping in anger at its side.

Following the blue trail of bolts hitting the creature, the calls of his brother resonated through the comm without any interference as soon as his eyes landed on their offensive positions.

His brothers. He remembered them now. He wasn't alone. They were here.

"-ot responding." Tech

"Wrecker! Come back here!" Wrecker winced at the very loud order coming from his sergeant. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he barked his instructions.

"I'll get h-" Static filled his ears once again as 99 appeared at his side, hands wrapped around his pauldron.

"Don't leave me. Please Wrecker, help me.."

"I'll hel-" His words were cut off by a sudden pull from behind, quickly followed by water engulfing his armor.

Gasping, Wrecker tried to keep his head above water by instinct but failed miserably. The strong current left him totally helpless, the force of the water digging into his injuries to make him totally unable to move them around to get to the surface. Where was the surface? He turned on himself so much that nothing made sense anymore.

A pull on his back stopped his body from turning in all directions, halting his quick descent down the river. Multiple hands pulled him out of the stream and wasted no time to pull him upright.

"Wrecker can you hear me?" Hunter shook his shoulder forcefully.

Too soon Wrecker tried to lift himself up using his arms to reassure his brother. All he managed to do was to almost faceplant into the wet dirt beneath his torso.

"99." Was all he could say. He still felt a pull towards the other bank where he knew his oldest brother was still waiting for him.

"There's nothing there. It's not real." Hands lifted him by the armpits to take him back under the cover of the trees. "It was a trick."

"No he's right there!" The clone was getting frustrated as everyone ignored his hand pointing behind them focussing instead on keeping him upright.

A shriek pierced the night followed by a sudden splash of water, causing the three soldiers to jump simultaneously. Wrecker turned just in time to see the bird emerging from the river and fly away with something bright in its mouth.

Once the beast disappeared over the horizon, every memory repressed by the weird fog obscuring his brain came back to the front of his mind. Tears ran down his cheeks as he remembered that 99 died in a Seppie attack on Kamino, that he wasn't there to help.

He had to bite his bottom lip to keep his whimpers from escaping, the pain of losing his brother a second time was way worse than it originally felt. Whatever it was back there felt so real, so warm, it told him exactly what he needed to hear and acted like the one and only 99. Deep down maybe he knew already but allowed himself to be blinded by hope.

And hope crushed his heart in the more twisted way possible.

Crosshair was the first to let go of his brother when they got deep enough into the line of trees, moving his attention to the grapple fixed under his rifle to put it away. So that's what pulled him into the river.

"Are you okay Wrecker?" Hunter's worry pulled at his already suffering heart.

"I am." He weakly mumbled, quieting down the hisses of pain menacing to erupt from his throat.

"We don't have much time." Hunter carefully lowered himself to set his brother at the foot of a large tree. "We have to patch you up and search for Y/N before anything that might 've heard the noises comes this way."

Wrecker perked up at the mention of your disappearance, his eyes roamed the surroundings to get a glimpse of your shirt painted in blood and guts that always gave him a tiny heart attack every time he looked at it. He never thought not seeing that shirt would fill him with dread.

"What happened?" He asked just as Tech removed his helmet to toss it at Crosshair for examination.

The jungle looked way more terrifying without the night vision helping his sight. Without it, every shadow looked like an Algax silently staring with its inexistent orbs.

"We don't know. We were too…" Tech trailed off, quickly assessing the wounds on his arms. "focussed to notice anything."

Wrecker winced at the same time Crosshair did, although for a totally different reason. Tech stopped poking at the edges of the wounds to stuff some gauze pads on the bleeding lacerations before wrapping them with a sterile wrap.

"Cross?" He asked his brother that stopped analyzing the helmet to lose himself in his thoughts, eyes fixed on one of the holes in the visor.

He seemed taken aback for a moment but quickly recovered, rolling the customized helmet in his hands.

"Night vision stopped working on one of the lenses. Too damaged. The front is melted at some places," He turned the helmet over to trace a long crack at the back of the head. "and it may not resist a hit to the right place."

The frustration in his tone wasn't lost on anyone. Clearly, the helmet wasn't the subject of his irritation and no one had to ask for the truth. They were all prey of the same guilt.

"I'm sorry. She told us not to follow voices." Wrecker averted his eyes, not able to look at his fuming brother anymore. Whatever happened to you was his fault. If only he hadn't followed the voices, you wouldn't be missing.

Bile raised in his throat as his mind wandered on the dreaded questions. What happened? Were you in danger? Or hurt? Or dead?

From his experience on this planet, Wrecker knew it was safe to assume that you crossed paths with a monster of the night. This was a certainty. All there was to speculate on was your wellbeing.

"Her tracker is still working, we'll find her." Tech applied a small bacta patch that he pulled out of his belt onto the palm of Wrecker's hand, the latter hissing in pain.

"You're lucky the water washed off any remaining chemical that burned your skin or else we'd see some bones if the state of your helmet is anything to go by." He admired the edges of the burns that weren't covered by the patch. "I'll wrap your fingers together to keep them from moving on each other so refrain from closing your hand. You'll only damage it more."

"But I won't be able to shoot!" He frowned, teeth clashing together as Tech put some gauze between his fingers and wrapped the bandages tightly together.

"Blasters don't work anyway." Hunter grumbled as he turned back to them, letting go of the hair at the back of his neck to face his team.

"But light does." The engineer got on his feet to help Wrecker, offering his forearm to pull him up.

"Light?"

"I threw an emergency light stick at it."

"How did you know it would chase it?" Wrecker pulled on his helmet that Crosshair held out to him.

Having only one night vision lens would make it difficult for him to continue, hopefully, it wouldn't slow him down too much or cause him to miss some monster out there. He couldn't be more of a burden than he already was at the moment.

"I didn't. It was merely a theory." He typed away at his vambrace, missing Wrecker's bewildered expression. "And I was only partially correct. They indeed are reactive to light, but they do not fear it as I initially thought. Turns out that light enrages them. It gave up on you in order to eat the stick." He explained in his signature matter of fact tone.

Before anyone could add to the previous conclusion, Tech continued.

Wrecker's breath wasn't the only one to abruptly stop.

#bad batch x reader #wrecker x reader #tech x reader #crosshair x reader #hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #clone force 99 #star wars #clone wars #Reader is gooooneeee #what the hell happened?#the answer...in the next chap

81 notes · View notes

snowdice · 4 years

Text

Goblin Brain Study Session Fic 1 [Day 35]

Because I don’t want to just have walls of text for my Goblin Brain Study Session posts, I’m separating them by days. If you want to read the previous chapters, click the links below. Chapter 13 and what I have done of Chapter 14 is under the cut.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

See this post for more details and feel free to send me asks to keep me going! It’s been a lot of fun so far! I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today.

The Gobiln Brain is a problem today. I’d planned to start like 2 hours ago. :/

Remy was slumped down in his seat as Emile continued to lecture him on all the possible consequences of his actions in the past 24 hours. Jeezy creezy was Emile miffed about all of that. Remy had been trying to blow it off, but Emile was fully, painfully aware that he almost had lost his brother today and Remy was going to hear about it until Emile’s lungs aches.

“And another thing…” he said.

“Wait,” Remy said, and Emile did because there was a lace of panic to his tone.

“What?” Emile asked.

“The tracker stopped working,” Remy answered pushing buttons a little bit desperately on his device.

“It went completely offline somehow,” Remy said.

“Did it get turned off?” Emile asked. “Or run out of batteries?”

“It doesn’t turn off and the batteries are designed to last for years,” Remy said. “It can even track through 20 feet of water. The only way it could stop sending a single this abruptly is if the thing was destroyed.”

Emile paused. “You said Virgil knows what the blinking light means.”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible that he knows, or well, ‘knows,’ you’re dead? Barbara did send a man after him, he could have mentioned it.”

Remy stared down at the device in his hands.

He pressed a couple of buttons and studied the screen for a moment. “You little shit,” he groaned. “You threw it out the fucking car window, didn’t you?”

“How do you know?” Emile asked.

“Because if I look at the history, it was going at 65 miles per hour down the interstate, suddenly stopped cold, and then broke when another car inevitably crushed it.”

“Ah.”

“Well, at least the fucker’s probably okay. Dammit Virgil! Where are you going?” Remy pushed a few more buttons almost idly as he thought. “Let me get into Virgil’s head for a minute: emo music, dark clothes, would rather have his toenails ripped out than go to parties, makes split second decisions based on little info. Yep! Got him.”

Emile rolled his eyes, but Remy wouldn’t have noticed as he had his own eyes closed. “Hmm. So, I’m Virgil. My bitch mom killed my dad and sent someone after me. I have no idea what’s going on, but I bolt out of there because fuck mom. I want to get the hell out of dodge so I convince someone to drive me somehow, I guess, but where would I want to go? Someplace safe. Where’s safe? Maybe Emile, but obviously that’s not where he went. Or Janus, but he’s too connected to mom. I don’t really no anyone else, especially not someone who could help with this sort of stuff.”

Remy thought for another long moment. “Oops.”

“Oops?” Emile asked. “What oops?”

He could tell by the expression on Remy’s face that he was not going to like the answer. “I may have let something… slip.”

“What do you mean, Remington?”

“Um, well you see,” Remy said. “A couple of months ago Virgil was being, you know, himself: a little shit. He may have, possibly, found some papers.”

“What kind of papers?” Emile asked.

“They were nothing important!” Remy assured. “There wasn’t any dangerous info in them or anything, but…”

“But?”

“It is somewhat possible that they had the name on them.”

“How possible?” Emile asked, eyes narrowed on him.

“He asked what Green Bellow Foods was and why they needed 50 top of the line computers outfitted at an old factory.”

“And what did you tell him?!”

“Nothing!”

Emile glared at him.

“Okay, well I had to tell him something,” Remy mentioned. “I just kind of said that I knew the owner well and was working with him on some stuff. Then I told him not to worry about it, which was probably a mistake, because he’s Virgil. So, then I found him snooping in my car. At that point I had to sit him down and talk to him. So, I told him a bit about Logan.”

“Remy that’s not nothing!”

“I didn’t use his name or anything. I just told him a couple of really, extremely, tremendously, vague stories, so he didn’t think I owed money to the mafia. Which, yes, he did suggest.”

“That’s worse!”

“What do you want from me Emile?!”

“Some common sense!” Emile answered. “I’ve been comparing you to the rat in Ratatouille for years, but I’m starting to think you’re more of a Pinky from Pinky and the Brain.”

“Hey, ouch,” Remy replied. “Also, I personally subscribe to the theory that Pinky is actually the intelligent one who is foiling Brain’s evil plots from the inside. So, there.”

“Now is not the time,” Emile said.

“Oh, it’s not the time to discuss cartoon theories?” Remy mumbled into his lap. “Must be serious.”

“It is serious! Virgil is missing!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Remy snapped. “I know, Emile.”

There was quiet. Emile took a breath. “Okay,” he said, calmer. “Do you really think he’s going to Logan?”

“He’s headed somewhere,” Remy answered, “and wherever that somewhere is, it’s inexplicably down the most direct route towards base.”

“Well, Virgil is smart. I don’t think he’d just keep going so quickly without a destination in mind. We should call Logan.”

“Do you honestly believe Barbara doesn’t have your phone tapped when Virgil is missing? If you had one of Logan’s phones, I might agree with you, but as it is, we’d be giving away our position, and possibly clueing her in to Virgil’s plan. If he shows up at base, Logan will take him in no question asked. It’s less dangerous for everyone this way.”

“Fine,” Emile said. “We’ll just keep driving towards Logan and hope you’re right about where he’s going.”

“Of course, I’m right,” Remy said lightly. “I’ve got the paternal instincts going on. Course, they didn’t stop the knife throwing incident of ’09. I blame Janus for that, though.”

Emile shook his head at him.

“It is good for when he tries to steal sweets, or that one time he brought home a baby piglet and tried to hide it from me in his bedroom. Or when he’s feeling anxious about something but won’t tell me because he thinks it’s silly.” Remy’s own fingers tapped out an anxious pattern against his knee. “It also worked with the golf cart incident, but it was too late. Again, I blame Janus. He messes with the paternal instinct meter. He’s far too unpredictable and I make the mistake of thinking he’s responsible, which he is half the time, but the other half of the time I remember that he’s still mostly a kid and one that grew up in an unstable environment. Did I tell you that last month they went and won a bunch of tickets at the arcade and used them to get those 5 ticket rubber ducks and just unloaded them all over my room? Honestly, you’d think a 21-year-old would have a better use for his money or at least have the brains to go buy them at a store. He could have gotten like 500 more ducks for the same amount of money. Of course, it was his mom’s money, so I guess I can get behind wasting it on arcade games and rubber ducks. The prank was apparently based on some comedy sketch Virgil found online.”

“You’re doing the thing again,” Emile pointed out calmly.

“Stop psych evaluating me,” he shot back.

“Fine, fine,” Emile said. “Keep distracting yourself from your emotional responses with silly stories. See if I care.”

“Thank you,” Remy replied. “I will.”

Emile sighed as he started back up again mumbling something about having taken away Virgil’s Gameboy after catching him playing it at 3 o’clock in the morning. He claimed this wasn’t because the boy hadn’t gotten any sleep, but because he insulted Donkey Kong to Remy’s face. After that story had run its course, Remy continued to babble at an increasingly fast pace about all sorts of things. Emile imagined most of the stories he sprouted out were quite embellished.

He’d tried to turn on the radio once, but Remy had slapped his hand away saying, “The next one’s a really good one.” So, he had resigned himself to his fate of tuning out Remy’s coping mechanism to the best of his abilities and just focusing on driving for the next 45 minutes. Which is probably why he noticed that traffic had strangely decreased. He didn’t really pay that much mind until the traffic suddenly increased… in the form of a wall of stopped cars.

“Jenkies, what’s going on?” he asked, as he came to a stop at the end of the line of cars.

“Um…” Remy said looking out of his car window. There, staring into their car with beady black eyes was a cow. As Emile watched, said cow leaned forward to drag its tongue across the passenger side window. “Shit.”

Chapter 14

“You two doing okay back there?” Roman asked, glancing into the rearview window at them as he exited the interstate onto highway 236.

“We’re perfectly fine,” Janus replied evenly.

“Ow ow ow ow ow! You’re crushing me!” Remus complained. Janus was currently sitting on his chest, pinning him to the back seat.

“You should probably put your seatbelt on,” Roman advised.

“You’re probably right,” Janus agreed.

“No! Get off!” Remus said. “Or I’m going to scream!”

“Oh, because you don’t scream randomly when someone isn’t sitting on top of you?” Janus shot back. Roman officially liked Janus; he’d just decided. “Give me that!” Janus said, and a moment later, Remus’s phone was thrown into the passenger seat.

Remus whined and Roman glanced back at them once again, amused. That is when he caught sight of a car behind them. He glanced at his speedometer and then back at the car. Roman was currently going a little over 90mph, having slowed down a bit now that they were off the interstate. Yet, the car was gaining on them.

“Hey,” Roman said. “Wh-,” and that’s when a bullet came through the back window right past Janus’s head. “Holy fuck!” Roman screamed, swerving a bit before getting the car back under control. Remus grabbed Janus by the front of his shirt and pulled him down as more bullets rained on them courtesy of the car Roman had spotted. The glass from his car’s back window shattered over the two of them.

Roman pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator and started purposefully swerving to throw off their shots as Remus shoved Janus down onto the floor so he could lunge into the front seat. He grabbed the gun Roman stored in his glove box and loaded it with practiced ease.

“My bag,” Janus requested, and Remus threw the asked for object over his shoulder before rolling down the window.

“Methinks mommy dearest’s people may have found us,” Remus commented.

#study break stories #remy sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #guns #platonic moxiety #platonic remile #creativitwins #emile piccani

42 notes · View notes