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outsideratheart · 1 year

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Adios Amor (Alexia Putellas x reader)

A/N: I'm back baby! This fic was inspired by a line in a movie I watched recently. I hope you guys like it.

UEFA's end of season gala is one of the most prestigious nights in football. No awards were given and ego's were left at the door. The large ballroom is filled with circular tables each hosting different teams from across the world, both men's and women's alike.

It a night to celebrate the sport and to catch with with people who for most of the year are considered the enemy. It is how you found yourself staring across the room at the woman who crossed you path many years ago. It was a night you will remember for many different reasons.

"Why is Y/N Y/L/N staring at you?" Aitana asks Alexia who not so subtly looks your way.

When you lock eyes you raise your class of very expensive champagne. It was a innocent gesture but one that makes Alexia's stomach churn. She shakes her head and hastily turns away. The lack of acknowledgement gains the attention of her fellow Barcelona team mates. The two of you had played against each other a few times at both club and country level but now they think of it, they have never seen you interact with each other than the pre and post game hand shakes.

Then Jenni comes sauntering over and their curiosity only grows.

"Are you going to talk to her or carry on ignoring her like you have been for the past 5 years?" Jenni says fully unaware of the thread she is unravelling.

"I feel like there is a story here" Mapi pushes for more all whilst wondering how in all the years she knew you did she not know you knew each other.

"No story, just history, that's all" Alexia is quick to shut down the conversation given that it took her years to stop thinking about you, or least she had tried to do so.

Alexia's watches in worry as all of her team mates eyes widen and their attention turns to something or rather someone behind her.

“Well, the history is about to become the present because she is coming this way" Jenni quickly downs her drinks knowing that she will need another before you get to them.

You can see 3 Barcelona players looking at you as you make your way towards them and one player is looking anywhere but. Just as you approach them Alexia turns to leave but stops in her tracks when she hears your voice.

"Walking away from me, i'm getting Deja Vu" Although you are joking, it becomes clear that Alexia knows the true meaning of your words.

"Y/N" Alexia says with a low tone.

"Alexia" you say in return.

The energy between you shifts. No words are exchanged but you eyes never leave Alexia's. It is only when she hears Jenni clearing her throat does Alexia break her gaze but yours remains.

"This champagne is amazing" she says in attempt to ease the tension.

"Lefevre Brut" You turn to Jenni when talking to her but by the look at her face she is clearly confused, whether is be by your french accent or something else "The champagne? that is what it's called"

Ale--" you don't get the chance to talk more to your fellow Balon d'or winner as one of Presidents of UEFA calls your name.

"I guess we will see you at the Euros" Aitana tells you only she doesn't quite get the reaction or reply that she expected.

You face drops at the mention of the summer tournament. Alexia expects a clever retort about how Spain won't win if it comes to facing France. The two of you might not have talked for a while but the passion you have when you represent your country is unmatched.

“I'll apologise now for when France beat you, if you get that far" You reply arrogantly hoping that it will cover your delay in response and look on your face which you know you didn't hide very well.

It seems Alexia is the only one who doesn't buy your act. The way you phrased your sentence, how you said France instead of we or even I, it didn't settle well with her.

This time it is her turn to watch you walk away and she couldn't help but enjoy it, she is only human after all.

"Something is wrong with her" Alexia says to no one in particular.

"Why do you care? It's not like you're friends" Mapi is clearly surprised by her friends concern.

"Because Y/N was Alexia's first" Jenni says nonchalantly before taking another sip of her drink.

"She was what?" The blonde defender says in shock.

"That's enough for you. I don't need you telling everyone in this room about my sex life" Alexia takes the champagne from her best friend's glass, downing it herself before putting it on one of the waiter's trays.

"Sex life? So it wasn't just the one time" Aitana joins in.

"We ended up sleeping together more than once over the span of a few years but then I found out she was sleeping with other people.” When she sees her friends about to ask more questions she hold her hand up “It's in the past"

That was the last time your name was mentioned until they watched France play in the first pre Euros friendly and your absence both on the pitch and bench is the hot topic within the Spanish national team. It was during the half time commentary that the world learned the reason why.

"I have spoken with Y/N this morning. She told me that she sustained an injury during the Champions League final against Barcelona which she down played in order to help her team win and she wanted to end the season on a high. She had hoped that rest alone would heal it but unfortunately surgery is required. This is why she is not in the squad today and why she won't be travelling with the team to England for the Euros"

Despite the bad blood Alexia and you shared she couldn't help but feel incredibly sorry for you in this moment. So much so that she wants to reach out to see if you're ok but when she pulls her phone she realises she no longer has your number and messaging you on social media seems too impersonal.

Little did Alexia know she would be joining you on the sidelines after tearing her ACL.

***********************

Alexia was limited in what she could do when she wasn't at rehab so she spent more of her spare time mindlessly scrolling through social media. If asked, she would deny it, but she had been keeping on eye on your accounts and even had a notification on for when you posted. She wanted to know you were ok but the only thing you posted was a photo of you in your hospital bed with the caption 'The cost of victory is high'.

She saw that her sister Alba has posted on her a story which wasn't strange considering the amount fo time the younger Putellas spent on social media. What was interesting is who was in the photo with her. There you stand, your arm wrapped around her sister’s shoulder with the beach as your backdrop.

It wasn't an old photo because it showed Alba's tattoo, one she had only got a few days ago. It caused Alexia to be both confused and intrigued. What were you doing in Barcelona and why out of all people were you with her sister.

Alexia only has one thing on her mind when Alba arrives at her house the next day to take her to therapy. Although she is not sure how to bring you up with it leading to more questions. The fidgeting and constant glances over to the driver’s side of the car doesn't go unnoticed by Alba.

"Ale" she turns her attention to her sister when they get to a red light "What is it?"

The two sisters are close and very open with each other. If one of them has something to say then they will say it making the current situation a little bit concerning.

"What were you doing with Y/N Y/L/N?” Alexia asks.

“Why do you do that? Say her name like you don’t know her?” When it became clear Alexia won’t answer her question, Alba continues “I bumped into her a few summers ago. She said came to surprise the woman she loved”

This got Alexia’s attention. Whilst Alba knew the two of you were friends, she had no idea just how close the two of your were. You always said your visits to Barcelona were for work, not an international booty call.

“In the end she never told her. Y/N didn’t want to waste her trip so she starting training here, now she does her solo off season training in Barcelona every year before going back to France”

When the car pulls up to the rehab centre Alexia is out of the car before Alba can say anything else. The midfielder’s mind was running a million miles a second. Part of her couldn’t help but think what if she is the person you came to see.

When Alexia hears a knock on the door of her physio room your face the last one she expected to see.

"Sorry wrong room" you don't push an interaction with her and chose to walk out before a conversation could be started.

Alexia wishes in that moment that she could chase after you, she had so many questions for you.

Like she had for the past couple of weeks, Alexia completes her therapy to the best of her ability even though she quickly becomes frustrated at her lack of mobility.

Just as they finish the session, the physio's phone goes off, rightly or wrongly Alexia glances down at the screen.

Y/N L/Y/N is calling.

“You can answer it” Alexia says when she notices the therapist declined your call.

“It’s ok. You’re my patient at the minute”

Did that mean you were her patient at a different time.

“Do you know why she is in the city? I thought she would be in France working on her ankle” the Catalonian asks.

“She did her aggressive rehab here. In France there are too many reminders of what she is missing out on. She, like you, has been struggling with missing out on the euros”

Alexia’s body tenses at the mention of the Euros. The fact that she is missing out of a tournament that she had been preparing for years for, has been hard for her to deal with.

“I don’t think you should be telling me this?” Alexia knows that the therapist is bound by patient doctor confidentiality. What is discussed between you and her during your sessions should not be talked about. Had the therapist been telling you about her, about how she is dealing with things.

“Your thoughts are very loud Alexia” the therapist jokes “To answer your question, no I don’t tell her about you. The reason why you know is because Y/N told me to tell you. She knew that once you knew she was here you would ask questions”

A small chuckles escapes Alexia’s lips. You always did know her well, it should come as no surprise that you still have the ability to predict her behaviour all these years later.

“When is her next session?” Alexia asks hoping to talk to you.

“Considering we have over run I would say” The therapist looks at her watch but then there is a knock on the door “Now. Shall I tell her to come in?”

Alexia only nods her head.

She watches you walk in the room. Your ankle is in a boot and you are still limping, the grimace on your face is clear to see.

“I just have to grab a few things, i’ll be back in 10 minutes”

The therapist leaves the two of you alone in the room. Something that hasn’t happened since she walked out on you.

“How’s the knee?”

“How’s the ankle?”

“You didn’t answer my question”

“Neither did you”

The silence that follows is comfortable but the tension is thick. The words that has been unsaid seem to weigh you both down yet neither of you are willing to be the one that breaks first. Alexia sees you turning the ring on your pinky finger and watches are you brows furrow, you are thinking and whatever you are thinking about is making you nervous.

“Why are you nervous?” Alexia asks.

“The last time we were in a room together you walked out” the memory of that night replays in your head and the feelings that followed soon come rushing to the surface.

The frustration Alexia feels is borderline overwhelming. She recognises the hurt on your face but cannot bring herself to care, or at least she tries not to. Ever since the night of the gala Alexia has a feeling in her gut that this moment was coming.

“And who’s fault was that? You slept with one of my best friends”

Your head snaps up in the direction of your former friend. The venom in her tone hurts.

“I didn’t know she was your friend” When you see Alexia open her mouth to cut you off, you hold you hand up to stop her. If Alexia wanted to do this then you would say everything you have wanted to say for years.

“When we talked about exclusivity, I recall you been the one to say we should keep it casual” you remember the moment clear as day. You hated that she didn’t want anything more but you were happy to have no strings if meant be able to call her yours, even if only for a night.

“Because that’s what I thought you wanted” Alexia tries justifies her decision.

“Well Alexia, me taking you at your word doesn’t make me the bad guy, it does however make you a liar”

It worries Alexia how emotionless you are in this moment. There is no sadness or vulnerability in your tone, it is as if you are numb.

When you realise that this conversation is not going to have a happy ending you decide to change the subject..

“Like you said at the gala, that is the past” You laugh a little at the shock on Alexia’s face, clearly she didn’t know you heard her.

“How is your ankle?” Alexia asks sincerely.

“On the mend, I guess. The doctor said that if I got treatment when the injury first happened then I wouldn’t have needed surgery”

There is something that had been bothering Alexia since she heard you got injured in the champions league final. A feeling of guilt had settled in her gut and she knew it wouldn’t go away until she knew the truth.

“It was when I tackled you wasn’t it? You didn’t even have the ball but I was so frustrated and you were unstoppable. I knew I had to do something and I guess I jus—“

“Wanted to punish my for my sins on and off the pitch”

“Y/N I’m—“

“I don’t want your apology Alexia” You says truthfully.

Alexia doesn’t get the chance to respond.

“You ready for our walk?” The therapist comes back into her room, unaware of the moment she is interrupting.

Alexia watches as you take your boot off. The scar and bruising is still there. You wince as you put on one of your trainers and its’ like Alexia feels your pain.

“Before I go. Remember I have been where you are, be patient. I’ll see you on the pitch soon Alexia”

Those are the last words spoken before you leave the physio’s room.

You would like to say you haven’t thought about Alexia since that day in the physio room but she is all you can seem to think about. The past has been playing on a loop in your head for days. You had debated messaging her as a friend just to see how she is doing but bailed. In the end a 3rd party ended up making the decision for you.

The text message from Alba was unexpected given that was 10pm and you was about to go to bed.

It read I need your help, something’s happening with Ale and I don’t know what to do.

You knew what was going on in the Catalonian’s head because you have been having the same thoughts.

Alba picks you up the next day and uses her key to let you into Alexia’s apartment.

“Alba I said I needed a day by myself. Why can’t you do as I say?” Alexia snapped when she heard the door open and footsteps approaching her.

It was hard hearing that alexia wanted to be alone but it wasn’t surprising. Alba hadn’t told you much about why she needed your help but when you looked around the apartment you see why. The blinds are closed, the lights are turned off, the only evidence that someone is home is the small sound coming from the TV. You follow it until you reach the living area.

There she lays with her leg elevated and the look of defeat on her face. You do see a brief look of happiness when she sees you, yet you remain in the doorway waiting for her to invite you in. There had been so many things taken out of alexia’s control and having people come into her home uninvited shouldn’t be one of them.

“I heard misery loves company so here I am. Can I come in?” You ask her.

She makes you wait a little longer than you would have liked but when her face softens she pats the seat beside her.

“I’m not miserable” Alexia pouts. The expression stays on her face when Nala jumps over to your side of the sofa, something that shouldn’t happen given that you have never met the dog before.

“We disagree, don’t we nala?” The furball barks in agreement making her owner laugh but only a second before her stoic face returns.

“Let me guess, this has to do to with Barcelona being in France for the AMOS cup? Missing out on international duty is one thing but missing club football, that is tough” You are speaking from experience but the pain and frustration Alexia feels blinds her from seeing that.

“You wouldn’t understand” Alexia absentmindedly begins playing with the velcro on her knee brace.

“Really? Lyon is in Portland for the WICC cup and I can’t be with the team so trust me when I say I understand how you feel Alexia”

“How are you so…” Alexia tries and fails to come up with a word to describe your energy.

“Not pissed off at the world” Alexia nods at your choice of words “because I know that me being mad and pushing everyone away won’t change anything” It has taken a while for you to come to this realisation but now you had, things seemed to be getting better.

“Really Y/N? You have pushed everyone away because you are here in Barcelona when you live in Lyon” still Alexia chooses to argue with you but you let her, you know she needs to let her frustrations out.

“You know that isn’t true. I haven’t pushed anyone away I have simply chosen to see different people. I saw Lola the other week and then yesterday I went to lunch your new team and my former team Lucy Bronze. As for me being in Barcelona, I come here every year since” you stop yourself when you realise what you are about to confess.

“Since what?” Alexia asks even though she knows the answer, well half the answer. Every since Alba told her that you came to Barcelona years ago to confess your true feelings, Alexia has wanted to know more.

“Since I came here to tell you I loved you” you shrug your shoulders when you see Alexia’s eyes widen in shock.

Alexia stumbles over her words and she cannot manage to say a single sentence.

“What? Didn’t expect me to be honest? I know Alba told you” you knew this would come up since the her younger sister told you Alexia has asked about you.

“But you never told me. Why come all the way here and leave without doing what you came to do” Alexia wants to know why you never told her, why you let her hate you for all these years when you loved her.

“I wanted to Alexia but then I saw you at the beach with your friends. You were so happy and knowing how much I hurt you, I didn’t want to risk you feeling that way again. It was clear that you had moved and I knew in that moment that I missed my chance”

You felt like a weight hand been lifted off you shoulders and placed on top of your heart. Now that Alexia knew how you felt it opened you up to being vulnerable and you didn’t like it. Alexia’s face gave nothing away and it only added to your anxiousness.

“You’re wrong Y/N I didn’t move on and I think part of me still hasn’t. It why I still has these feelings for you, some that are obvious like pain and frustration but then I have moments like when I found you were injured and I knew that I still care about you, more than I would like to admit”

Now it was your turn to be at loss for words. Alexia has always been your what if but now things could be different.

Instead of waiting for you to reply, Alexia asks a question which you wanted to know the answer to as well.

“What does this mean for us”

“It means we have a chance Alexia”

You look down at the time of your phone. When you stand to your feet it is obvious that you are going to leave.

“What are you doing? I want you to stay” Alexia begs.

“Unfortunately today is my last day in Barcelona, I need to go home” when you see the look of disappointment on her face you know that once again time is not on your side.

“But there’s some much more I need to say”

“Alba has my number. I’m only a call away”

As you walk away you do with a heavy heart. You didn’t think you would be leaving Barcelona having said what you came to say all those years ago but you are happy you have.

“Goodbye Y/N” Alexia reluctantly says.

“Adios Amor” A nickname you hadn’t used in years comes out so naturally and by the look on Alexia’s face you can tell she likes hearing you say it just as much as you like calling her it.

#woso x reader #woso imagine #woso one shot #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas imagine #alexia putellas one shot #barcelona femeni x reader #barcelona femeni one shot #barcelona femeni imagine #espwnt x reader #espwnt one shot #espwnt imagine

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dice-wizard · 1 year

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Hello everyone looking for a new fantasy tabletop game!

As it nears backer release, there's never been a better time to pre-order Exalted: Essence

Pre-ordering gets you access to the beta document and the early release backer pdf.

What's Exalted you ask?

Exalted is an epic fantasy TTRPG where players play the titular Exalted - humans elevated to superhuman/demigod status - in a wild and unique setting that draws inspiration from the ancient world rather than medieval Europe. Creation (the setting) draws key inspirations from the entire world. If you're used to having to make yourself visible on your own in other fantasy, there's probably some representation in Exalted.

It has explicit queer and trans themes about finding your people, creating your own identity, and having the power to punch back at the people who hate you. This isn't incidental. The writing staff is queer as hell. You can hear me break this down more here.

Curious to learn all you can? Well you can get a detailed overview of the entire game on the podcast Systematic Understanding of Everything hosted by myself, @presidentofbirds and @phillycuriosity

If I'm used to D&D 5e why should I pick this up?

Well, I presume if you're reading this post you're already interested in trying something new, so:

The entire game in one book. Exalted: Essence is self contained, character types, equipment, enemies and all!

An exciting style of fantasy that's different than classic D&D but like, textually gay, and very easy to have scenes like ballroom fights, epic galas, and touching homoerotic healing scenes - no house rules required.

But also, tactical depth and combat you can really sink your teeth into if fighting monsters and villains is your bag.

An excuse to use all your d10s at once

Character building and advancement mechanics designed to be familiar to a 5e audience. Characters "level up" based on story beats, and have Advantages, which are functionally similar to class and race features.

A world welcoming to most heroic archetypes, so it's easy to convert your favorite OC.

Extremely kissable dragons, demons, gods, elementals, ghosts, faeries, and unnamed ancient horrors

I'm a fan of a previous edition, what's Essence got for me?

Design focused on alleviating some of the previous versions' missteps

Virtues are back, baby

2e fans will find it an improvement from second edition's mechanical strengths - it's pretty easy to convert all your favorite 2e Charms to XS.

Streamlined versions of familiar rules to make it painless to introduce new friends to the game we love.

The Cliff's notes on Ex3's new Exalt types.

Did I mention it's all of Exalted in one book?

How does it play?

d10 dice pool looking for 7,8,9 as successes. 10s count as two successes, which can lead to explosive, heroic outcomes

Combat system designed to keep all players engaged the entire time - even characters who aren't focused on fighting at all.

Combat also narrows the gap between experienced and new players and players who want to win at RPGs and players who just wanna vibe so GMs aren't tearing their hair out trying to balance encounters.

Social system designed to resolve in a single roll so you can be immersed in role play and not interrupt it with constant rolling - without sacrificing a variety of social approaches

"Ventures" system for characters working on long term projects from traveling across the world to crafting magical wonders to building communities without forcing this to be "downtime" activity

Characters have access to Charms - exception-based special powers that make them extremely good at whatever they focus on.

It's easily my favorite game (and the project I developed that I'm the proudest of), so I'm excited for everyone to try it out.

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harmonysanreads · 10 months

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Neuvillette brainrot/headcanon time! So I've spoiled myself on the archon quest, but I do wonder how much of his attitude (as we know it), both his awkwardness in dealing with other people's emotions and in dealing with his own, is due to the fact that he's the chief justice.

As players, we don't know how long he's been around. We don't know how long he's been chief justice. We also don't know how long trials have been a spectacle either. If he's been around for a while, which seems like the case, he's had to have seen it all.

He's had to have seen people beg and plead for their lives in his courtroom. He's had to have seen people mentally break down and/or lash out during trials as they're publicly embarrassed among everyone in Fontaine and in front of the archon. He's had to have seen the disillusionment people have in Justice system play out in the friends and family of the accused, as hidden crimes are brought to light. He's had to have seen and heard people curse his name and Furina's. He's had to have seen children crying in the stands because their parents were placed in jail or put to death.

He's supposed to be this impartial figure. He's supposed to keep order in the court, and be fair to everyone in it. Both for the people of Fontaine, for the archon, and for the instiution of the Court of Fontaine. For everyone's sake, he cannot afford any sort of rumor of him being biased in his decisions. All of his decisions should be based on sound logic and the rule of law.

We are crossing into headcanon territory, but I think Neuvillette's confusion and ultimately, his difficulty in expressing and dealing with emotions in general, stem from the fact that he's always been placed on a pedestal, and he knows it. He's smart enough to understand what his position entails and how important it is in ensuring Justice is served. He's also smart enough to understand what happens when people's faith in Justice and the Court of Fontaine shatters.

For Neuvillette, I think having to shoulder that impartiality day after day for months, years, decades, and millennia on end, as trials are held in the Court, while he presides over them, not only added to his confusion about human rationality and human emotions, and also made it so he hasn't really had to confront his emotions in a more visceral way. If enforcing the law and Justice is what matters, where does his emotions play into it? Is a really interesting idea to think about.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the Neuvillette brainrot thoughts inspired by your post. I'm curious to see how the rest of the Fontaine archon quest plays out.

Ahh, now that is a very, very interesting perspective. It seems to me that you've managed to empathize with Neuvillette beyond what everyone, including us players are seeing and I find it to be fascinating. Because it proves that despite Neuvillette's approach towards the whole matter of emotions and his identity, he's far more.. human than some actual human characters in this game. Even if it isn't the whole reason, I think the hc you presented has contributed to Neuvillette's present state. You cannot see the intricacies of a city while sitting at the top floor of a skyscraper, after all. This is further verified by his final opinion on the case of Navia's father :

But what really sets Neuvillette apart from other yanderes that share similarities with him, is that he's so welcoming and accepting of new perspectives. He just needs an obvious and blunt pointer towards it, which is where patience on the other person's part is required. Subtlety is ineffective with him, wherein a significant amount of human interactions are characterized by it. Neuvillette, in general, is a softer yandere (or well, at least the Neuvillette of the present). What I'm really curious about, is if he's always had this empathetic side to him, or if it's a result of certain experiences ; for example, Zhongli's change in character after meeting Guizhong.

#the writers of hyv are just getting better and better #i still remember when we considered alhaitham as a refreshing character/yandere #which he still is #neuvillette is refreshing in a different sense #i think none of us knew we needed this twist until they gave it to us #i've this fic idea brewing in my head for a while but i just can't find the time to write it (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)#i'll come for you soon gramps #neuvillette brainrot #yandere neuvillette #neuvillette

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dreamerlucifer · 3 months

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First, My Main Ask account is DreamerLucifer on Tumblr. http://dreamerlucifer.tumblr.com -This is open for Hazbin Hotel and Helluva crossover Art requests as well as RPs!! Please note, I'm basing comics off of my interactions with askers and rpers!! YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE NOW, BITCHES!!--

youtube

AU so far- My Lucifer, once stopped by Charlie from killing Adam, Takes on a much more compassionate role. Realizing that he almost took Adam's life, he is instead inspired to become better, even moreso than he ever was! Charlie and her accomplishments Have really and truly inspired Him to look at Adam in a new light!! Now Instead of passing judgement, as he almost did, He decides to help pick the fallen angel up, out of the rubble, and help him rebuild. In other words, his newest pet project!! With each passing Day, he will help Adam be a little more righteous and a little less gross! Have an Adam? RP some scenarios with me, I am, as is my Lucifer, Bi sexual, so all characters are welcome to take a pass at the King of hellish ducks himself ;D Who wouldn't want a piece of that, eh? lol So Lucifer's Pet Adam has been crashing on Lucifer's couch, and just making a mess as of right now, scenario as discussed with @fatass-adam , haha, but any Adam is welcome to take part and help me build different storylines and scenarios!

WIP and what you can expect a lot of my art to look like:

♥ Meanwhile, My Luci is going to be pushing ever so much harder to be a part of Charlie's life again, so all Charlies are more than welcome to rp with me as a father figure!! But Charlies be warned, My Lucifer loves his little duckling unconditionally, and does not see her as anything but his wonderful little girl. (So no, incest isn't happening with my Lucifer) / My dear Radio Demons, My Lucifer is dominant, and giving, But he can't stand that smug Alastor!! Trying to take his precious Charlie >:U ahem… I digress, Relationship to Radio Demon Players has been set as love / hate. And There is nothing my Lucifer hates more than a Radio Demon Alastor trying to dominate him sexually or otherwise. So of course, its an invite to try and catch my Lucifer if you can, Alastor, but it won't be easy!

Ohh, all OCs are welcome to interact and /or make artistic requests as well!! -WIP of @wicked-omens getting a special Adam shaped Ducky ♥

And Disclaimer, I may be the king of hell, lol j/k but I'm really only human, so don't expect every interaction to end in an artistic scene, and when it does, there will be vast differences in quality depending on my current free time and how much the scenario inspires me. I'll do my best to get back to RP situations as fast as hellishly possible, but give me time, I like to think about my posts ^^ Well, all that being said, All other characters interacting with Lucifer are welcome to become the new cannon for the DreamerLucifer AU!! Any questions? Shoot 'em here or on my Tumblr, Bitches!! Most all of this information will be written out and posted much better via my Tumblr, again http://dreamerlucifer.tumblr.com

This is a temp post until I have my main promo Page ready XD

#hazbin hotel lucifer #hazbin lucifer #hazbin hotel #viziepop #fanart #oc #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel fandom #hazbin hotel theory #Youtube

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homestucksimplified · 3 months

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The 12 Classes of Blood.

"Blood is the Aspect of bonds, relations, friendship or relationship or hatred, anything that holds the idea of people connecting and interacting. Blood Players usually strive for community, craving the unity of people, thriving on groups of friends, families, rioters getting ready to protest, anything that ties the bloods together. They can have a hard time adjusting to freedom, preferring the value of the attachments in their life. Their view of the world is very interesting, mostly focused on the association between people, even the disharmonic ones".

"Blood can be literal, in the sense of a Blood Player’s path having to do with their care or lack of care for a sibling or parent, but it can also be about friends or lovers. They can attempt to form unity whenever they can, that might be their way of dealing with the world. They have a thought that “everyone has the same blood”. Blood is the opposite Aspect to “Breath”, which is focused on freedom and detachment".

Sburb Players each have a combination of an Aspect and a Class. Aspects are understood to represent what a player’s goals and actions in life are caused by. A Class is within an Aspect and understood to represent the way they deal with their Aspect.

The Sburb Classes are Maid, Page, Mage, Knight, Rogue, Sylph, Seer, Thief, Heir, Bard, Prince, and Witch. (Lord and Muse*)

(*Classes Lord and Muse seem to only be possible in either Cherub society or in two-player sessions. They are very absolute and it’s rare for a human to identify with their descriptions. I will have to leave them out here and only write about the remaining twelve :)

Adding the Classes to the Aspect of Blood will result in twelve God Tiers. My analyses of them are as follows:

1st God Tier: Witch of Blood

Witch is the Active Class of manipulation. Witches are known to “control” their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Witch of Blood, specifically, would believe themselves to work better under stress, with second plans, with a strong sense of security, but their most productive moments will be those in which they decide to be free and “go with the flow”. Being the rebels against Blood, they would be deeply interested in exploring how they could break rules of conformity, even the ones they planned for themselves. They don’t like leadership, they don’t want to be responsible for other people; they are followers of change even when they don’t mean to be. They have very complex relationships, whether romantic or platonic, but not complex as difficult, and rather as “interesting to explore”. Their connections to others can be of heavy weight to them, as they sometimes doubt they are the right thing — they can love their best friend deeply but wonder all the time “do I really? Should I just leave them?”, for example. Blood Players tend to be chaotic, but I see Witches as the most collected of the lot. In regards to society, I can view them being into anarchism even if only as an interest of study.

2nd God Tier: Heir of Blood

Heir is the Passive Class of manipulation. Heirs are known to “influence” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. An Heir of Blood, specifically, would be the connecting link between people and situations. This is one of the coolest God Tiers, because Heirs become their Aspect somehow, so they would be inspired into inspiring relationships and unity, for example introducing people to their biggest passions, changing lives even when they don’t mean to, by helping their friends find themselves in what they were always meant to be doing. An Heir of Blood would have a lot of friends and probably be highly sociable and open-minded. Their challenge in life can have to do with low self-esteem in romantic surroundings, and maybe a belief that all of their friends are more interesting than them. Still with that, Heirs of Blood will be thought of as great company. They may pursue jobs related to inspiration and guiding other people.

3rd God Tier: Mage of Blood

Mage is the Active Class of knowledge. Mages are known to “understand” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Mage of Blood, specifically, would be really experienced with all forms of social interaction and/or close connections. They would be the friend that solves the issues and that takes the lead when it is time to make a decision involving somebody else (needing to talk to a figure of authority to help with something within the group, for example). I see Mages having confidence in what their Aspect represents, so they would know what they are doing, but, at the same time, it is said that Mages “suffer” from their Aspect, and I like to believe that is because they are too self-aware of it. So this would be the bad part, they would perhaps feel like they already know everything and refuse to take advice from others when it comes to their friendships or familiar bonds. And of course, since Blood also talks about binds, these Mages could also be knowledgeable in politics and social issues, naturally good at talking about it.

4th God Tier: Seer of Blood

Seer is the Passive Class of knowledge. Seers are known to “study” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Seer of Blood, specifically, would be fairly observant but retracted from social interactions. They would be the “judge instead of the participant”, and make up for what they lack with rigorous practice. In Blood, that means yes, they would constantly force themselves out of their comfort zone and challenge connections and bonds. They could be the most routine-based person in the Sburb session, and the most to-themselves person in the friend group. I think Seers are really interesting because they show signs of their Aspect even in childhood! I mean, all people do, but Seers do in a particular way.

Seer of Blood is a canon Homestuck God Tier. Kankri Vantas is the character that holds that title.

5th God Tier: Thief of Blood

If you read into Thief of Blood I suggest you also read into Rogue of Blood — I wrote them together as one.

Thief is the Active Class of stealing. Thieves are known to “take” from their Aspect and through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Thief of Blood, specifically, would not be as evil-sounding as their title suggests, but they would be or make themselves seem overly powerful within their Aspect. Thieves in general tend to depend a lot on their Aspect in a way to strengthen themselves, and with Blood that may be done by engaging in self-serving relationships, whether romantic or platonic. I feel like it’s important to state that not! all! Thieves! are! selfish!!! But acting in their own interests is part of their unique pattern of Aspect handling. Again, Thief is the Active Class of stealing, so these would bring Blood to themselves, benefit from connections and structure in a way that is focused not on a clear objective but rather on the overall feeling of the Player. Stealing Blood is just something they do, because they were built to do just that.

If this is too abstract for you to understand, I’d suggest that you are not a Thief of Blood. But in any form, I hope this finds them.

6th God Tier: Rogue of Blood

If you read into Rogue of Blood I suggest you also read into Thief of Blood — I wrote them together as one.

Rogue is the Passive Class of stealing. Rogues are known to “redistribute” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Rogue of Blood, specifically, would be hard to notice. They would showcase a lot of power, but much less evidently than the Thief would. Likewise, their connections would be mostly selfless, even to the extreme point of lacking focus on their own person. But remember that not! all! Rogues! are! selfless!!! It’s just a theme in their pattern that they handle their Aspect with focus on the outside world. In a Blood way, that would mean the Rogue would be active in helping society, maybe taking that as their objective in life. Parades, sure, but I’m thinking mostly protests, even if silent activism that changes humanity little by little. Sometimes they’d think they are wasting their time and should be focused on other things, but that is just the questioning that will always be present in their lives. They are doing the correct thing, just usually not in the right quantity.

7th God Tier: Knight of Blood

Knight is the Active Class of utilizing. Knights are known to “handle” their Aspect and through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Knight of Blood, specifically, would feel a strong sense of duty that they should use their Aspect in the best way possible, possibly creating pressure on themselves. They tend to be into leading and/or handling other people, following the knowledge that their Aspect is their objective in life. Outside Sburb, this can mean this Knight is the best person in a group when it comes to having empathy and being understanding. We see that in Homestuck, with Knight of Blood being one of the most well-explained God Tiers. They are unable to ignore their duty, but of course they also make mistakes relating to it, they are as imperfect as every other person. We see the Knight of Blood being the center of all relationships, but still failing at their own because of said imperfection.

Knight of Blood is a canon Homestuck God Tier. Karkat Vantas is the character that holds that title.

8th God Tier: Page of Blood

Page is the Passive Class of utilizing. Pages are known to “rise” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Page of Blood, specifically, would feel like they lack talent in handling other people and social dynamics, but in reality, just be held back by their own insecurities and feelings that they are insufficient. If they tried to apply effort into their Aspect, they’d find all the potential they have, understanding their place and their destiny. A realized Page will happily utilize connections, routine, revolution, everything in its own place, and will even uplift others in their own Aspects, but only after defying their limits. Pages can be the center of a Sburb session. Sometimes everyone depends on them so they all can be their best versions.

9th God Tier: Maid of Blood

Maid is the Active Class of construction. Maids are known to “create” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Maid of Blood, specifically, would at first not believe in their talents. Unlike Pages, they are creators, not users of the Aspect, and so their relation to it depends on more than facing their limits. A Maid of Blood will be a pushover in the beginning, and have to fight to find a relevant place in relationships and gatherings. They might even be built up by others, depending on them before emancipating themselves. But this characteristic doesn’t mean they are inferior to others, it simply means their initial challenge will be finding independence in their Aspect. A Maid of Blood will follow advice and whatever others say is the right way to handle connections, I can see that as accepting what anyone does, following their therapist’s relationship advice without hesitation, go through life accepting the minimum thinking that is all they deserve. The thing with them will be realizing they are not made to only follow. Realized, again, they would be great bosses, good at controlling people, changing minds, inspiring.

10th God Tier: Sylph of Blood

Sylph is the Passive Class of construction. Sylphs are known to “build” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Sylph of Blood, specifically, would be very dependent on relationships and order in their life. Their favorite things in life will be concerts, parades, football games, anything that brings people together with one common goal. They will thrive in situations where they have to deal with others, be good at community, or at least like community a lot. I can see them not being very patient, however, for example when something disrupts this sense of union that they crave. They can get frustrated more than the other Blood Players, because they are the ones who feel they should be the ones doing the building. They will also be extremely hardworking when it comes to helping others, since Sylph is a healing Class and Blood is a people Aspect.

11th God Tier: Prince of Blood

Prince is the Active Class of destruction. Princes are known to “wreck” their Aspect and through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Prince of Blood, specifically, would be a complicated person to deal with, but mostly because of things that can be fixed. Princes are the opposite of Maids, so they are usually self-obsessed and self-confident; they know they are meant for / can’t escape / must act on their Aspect (their destiny). But for that reason they also aggressively hold their Aspect, in a way that might make them seem overbearing to people around them. When healing, a Prince of Blood will crave stability in social dynamics, believing that they would be completely fixed if only they had the friendship / relationship / community / family that they deserve. And they will heal from that, from perhaps creating their own community / family / etc. and building their destiny, positively seeing their Aspect.

12th God Tier: Bard of Blood

Bard is the Passive Class of destruction. Bards are known to “deconstruct” their Aspect or through their Aspect, both literally and figuratively. A Bard of Blood, specifically, would challenge themselves a lot, always defying the rules of their Aspect, which for Blood can mean they would estrange themselves from the people who care for them, escape from situations they feel comfortable in, etc. In general, they are estranged from their Aspect itself. It’s a complicated relationship to their Aspect because they are destroying it, even if passively, so this Bard’s challenge would be being taken away by Blood, expressing it way too much, believing they are too into relationships to the point where they abandon them, believing if they are too comfortable they must withdraw, and other situations of the sort.

#sburb #god tier #classes #blood #homestuck #maid of blood #page of blood #mage of blood #knight of blood #rogue of blood #sylph of blood #seer of blood #thief of blood #heir of blood #bard of blood #prince of blood #witch of blood

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sanctus-ingenium · 4 months

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Idk if you play DnD, but if you do, how would you build Finbarr and Olivier?

Finbarr is a kind of shrinking violet/heartless killing machine guy (in the least cool way possible- no, worse than that), I think he'd make an awful player character in dnd lmao but I think if his pact with esk can be used creatively it could be fun. so:

human, folk hero, ranger (fey wanderer) x warlock (archfey), sharpshooter feat. all skill points into dex and con, absolutely nothing in cha (multiclass was against his will), and equipped with 'silvered' arrows.

Olivier, who famously ate his own father's still beating heart as a way to take control of their sect & claim it imbued him with enough Male Energy that he was no longer considered a woman, would be an amazing character to play imo because he's so intense about everything. Physically beefy but his main talent is charisma and a magnetic personality

shifter/werewolf, gladiator, paladin (oath of conquest) x bard (college of eloquence), inspiring leader feat. he'd be a cha & str beast

I made those up on the spot but in case u were wondering about other characters, behold their actual character sheets I have made: (and played) in dnd. They were antagonist npcs so were allowed to be kind of broken lmao

He was a ranger (hunter conclave) x fighter (arcane archer) and because Bowman is technically a bow and a man, he gets two sets of saving throw proficiencies - esk got int and wis, bman got the other three, and nobody got cha because the version of him in dnd was set up to be kind of a loser (even moreso than usual!!). he got two extra attacks (one for being a ranger, one for being a fighter) and, if sufficiently buffed by his party, could make a stealth roll of 35 lmao

his two pals were more basic cleric & warlock/druid builds

Erica was a secondary player character for a while, originally I wanted him to have a more interesting class but to be perfectly honest, thief is so badly broken at high levels that anything else would be a downgrade and i wanted him to be good at what he does

#setting: inver

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saintsenara · 8 months

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Hi, if you're still doing the ask game, may I inquire about your opinion on the following ships ? : Tomarrinny, Bartymort, Quirrellmort, Petermort and Tom Sr/Cecilia/Merope. Also, thoughts on MoD!Voldemort or on how a meeting between Snape and Petunia would have gone ? Thanks !

thank you very much, @take-the-unknow-road-now for this wonderful selection of unhinged things for me to talk about. i am always ready for asks which inspire chaos:

tomarrinny

when she's eleven, harry's twelve, and tom is an immortal shard of soul? no.

when she's thirty, harry's thirty-one, and tom is back from the dead for some reason? absolutely. after all, why shouldn't ginny be allowed two orphans, as a treat? and why shouldn't tom be allowed two people who are clearly less good-looking than him to pay him attention? plus, two quidditch players will definitely be willing to do all the work, allowing him to achieve his true form: undying pillow princess.

but - in reality - we all know which way the power dynamic actually lies: tom and ginny are both harry's subs. let's hope that their ability to jointly write a poem has improved since the 'his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad' days.

bartymort

canon.

there has never been a man with a more flagrant daddy kink than barty crouch jr., and we all know that he threw himself onto lord voldemort's lap the second he arrived in his first death eater meeting. the dark lord advised him that he'd be physically chastised if this behaviour continued. unfortunately for him, that was exactly what barty wanted to happen.

the reason it burned out hard is because lord voldemort also has towering daddy issues. he is even forced to reveal what his real name and background is in an effort to make barty understand that sometimes he'd like to do something other than put on a double-breasted suit and pretend he's come home on time to attend a birthday party. (for example: 'hello son, i've come to pick you up from the orphanage' role-play.)

barty literally couldn't give less of a fuck. lord voldemort is not sorry when he gets turned into a soulless husk.

quirrellmort

lord voldemort - overcome with joy at being back in a human body after a decade - doesn't think through how awkward the aftermath of this will be, and spends the first night he's attached to quirrell's head directing him in a... let's just say... exploration of his anatomy.

quirrell is so pathetically suggestible that - from that point onwards - he can't get off unless the dark lord is talking dirty to him. but can you imagine how cringe trying to speak sexily to quirrell must be? (hey baby, what are you wearing? a turban which smells of garlic?)

voldemort simply pretends not to have heard when quirrell brings this up. unfortunately, all this does is make quirrell want to talk about his feelings.

lord voldemort is not sorry when harry kills him.

petermort

flopping. lord voldemort hates wormtail, because he betrayed a man to whom he would give his affections: james potter.

[seriously, he is a simp for james. there is no other explanation for why he insists that james fought him bravely when he turned up on halloween when we canonically know that what james actually did was run into the hall without his wand and then fall over.]

but don't worry. wormtail is getting some god-tier hate sex out of snape.

tom riddle sr./cecilia/merope gaunt

i'm going to answer this lightly, on the assumption that this triad is consensual.

tom sr. is getting thrown out of the bedroom within seconds. they're lesbians.

[he'll be fine. he goes for a little walk to sulk and ends up making out with frank bryce against a rose trellis. the four of them become bffs.]

and then our not-ship questions:

lord voldemort as the master of death

sounds like a lot of hard work, plus both of his parents keep appearing whenever he touches the resurrection stone to shout at him.

snape versus petunia

snape went round to speak to her about what a dick he thinks harry is (dumbledore told him to speak to her about the blood protection, he didn't want to.)

they fucked.

#asks answered #asenora's opinions on ships

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k-s-morgan · 6 months

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Hi Katrin, hope you're doing well!

Already posted a more elegant comment on Ao3, but I had to get this out of my system.

The boy is getting slurped like a human smoothie next chapter, isn't he? 😭.

There is no way he is going to find out Sebastian's real name at this point in the story, so the only option I see is for him to lose, not just the game, but nearly all of his blood too.

Although this makes me all the more excited to see how everything actually plays out. This sounds like an interesting game, and my secret wish is that Randall is given the role of murderer because his attempt would be personal, but also quite desperate. Would he do it? Would he not? Who knows.

All of this rambling is to say that this chapter inspired so many ideas and predictions for the new game and I am buzzing with excitement. This should be the first game I am present to see unfolding since I started reading this fanfic, so it is twice as meaningful to me :).

As always, thank you so much for all of the work that you put in to writing these chapters! The skill you have in writing and your love for your works is palpable!

Adding to my previous ask, the hints!!! About the other contract!!! Wonder how Ciel will feel once he realises that the second contractor was right under his nose at the tea shop.

His favourite tea shop, no less. With the coldness of this chapter, and the revelation that Sebastian can no longer distinguish his soul from anyone else, will he be under the impression that S is replacing him, giving everything he appreciates to another? Now that would really be the equivalent of rubbing salt into a fresh wound :').

Pair this with the amazing snippet you shared, where they meet for the first time face-to-face, and Ciel's first thought is that the other boy is more attractive than him. Ouch. Not that Ciel himself knows why he feels the way he feels, but this will certainly make him hurt that much more. The layers!

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

Hey, thank you so much for your amazing comments! "Human smoothie" - haha, I love it!And I'm also excited that this is the first game you'll see develop in real time :D I hope to update relatively soon.

I cannot say who'll win the game, but there is going to be a twist that neither Ciel nor Sebastian (and from what I see, nor my readers) can predict :D I hope it'll be surprising and satisfying both.

The other players are going to be tempted for sure, and Randall will perform the role he's given whole-heartedly.

Oh, and I'm so pleased you've realized that Ciel ran into Sebastian's second contract! He'll have a belated realization because the boy he saw in the tea room is not immediately on his mind, but once he has it, he won't be happy. This situation will hit him so much worse because of Gremory's spell because when Sebastian is acting like this, it will feel like he's replacing him, even though he made this contract with the drastically opposite purpose.

Thank you so much again for your reviews! Hope you'll enjoy the second part.

#my fics #sebaciel #black butler #kuroshitsuji

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anonymeqaupdates · 2 months

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I remember reading your soul mates ask regarding about eye color. It makes me curious how Malleus see the world without the color of Yuu's eyes.

Well, it would depends on Yuu's eyes. However if you want to have fun with the AU I made for JamiKali then it's best that Yuu doesn't have black or grey eyes.

The way I would spice up the AU is do what Luluthorn did in her inspired fic but for both Malleus and Yuu. Meaning that until Yuu arrives in NRC, both of them are capable of seeing all colors. So Imagine Malleus' surprise a few days after Yuu arrived when he realizes that no, it hadn't been cloudy all week, he was just incapable of seeing blue anymore.

As for Yuu, When they first get to see NRC during the day at first they thought it was a Namek situation where the grass and leaves were not green like where they came from. They don't say anything at first because they're already the odd ones out. No need to attract more attention to himself. But then, Trey and Cater start telling them about the uniforms and when they mention the black and Green ribbons for Diasomnia, but Yuu saw that Lilia's ribbon was grey and black they started to wonder.

Maybe grey was called Green here? But when they asked Grim what color his fur was he said grey, so grey was grey and green wasn't grey. Maybe getting transported in another world made him color blind? Though, shouldn't he be seeing green red then? He wanted to tell the Headmage but he got too busy with Riddle then the Spelldrive player incident that he postponed it. Still, he needed to talk to someone about it! He'd got talk to the Headmage tomorrow.

That night, Malleus and Yuu meet for the first time.

Malleus grew up thinking he didn't have a soulmate. Unlike for Kalim, the fact that Malleus did not have one was a very bad news! Love is extremely important for dragon fae to have children. While Malleus could still find love, that wasn't a guarantee and so the lack of Soulmate was a very important secret. Malleus was not allowed to say anything about his situation to anyone that wasn't already in the know. So the Queen, the Senate, Lilia, Baul (and unofficially Silver and Sebek).

Of course this did not help with his feelings of solitude and lovelessness. He felt inadequate about it (and completely rejected by a person that did not even exist) so naturally he did his best to avoid the subject. When he stopped seeing blue, he hid it. He was confused about it but didn't want to bear the humiliation if it turned out he really did not have a soulmate. After all, even if they hadn't been born, he shouldn't have been able to see blue. This development was strange and almost unwelcome. Until he met face to face with the magicless student

When the day after their encounter Yuu was able to see the color green again, he was relieved and decided to ignore the whole thing entirely. Maybe his body had just been a little out of whack. He didn't make the connection with the encounter the night before and thus It didn't mean anything to him.

Malleus made the connection right away and it meant everything to him. However he elected to keep it a secret still. After all, while he was elated at the idea that someone out there really was meant for him, he was also lucid enough to see the glaring issues. First their humanity. The Senate was going to be furious and while Malleus was more than ready to tell them to F off, he needs to figure out the best way to do it so that Yuu wouldn't have to live facing judgement and rejection from everyone else. He would also need to prove their bond to the Senate and his Grandmother, and have an explanation for the quirks it had exhibited so far. And of course the difference lifespans. In the meantime, he would take his time to learn more about Yuu, but he couldn't risk to frighten them. Thankfully they had no idea of who Malleus Draconia was. Their silly nickname had been of great help in the end. Once he had figured out all that, and wooed his soulmate a little, he would open up to Lilia about it.

It did not occur to Malleus, or anyone else really, that Yuu's world did not do soulmates and that he had very little understanding of what his friends were talking about. Sure they mentioned the concept here and there, but Yuu had so much to worry about and was so convinced it did not concern him that no one realized his ignorance for months. Soulmates were not that commonly discussed after all. They were private matters.

By the time Ace finally asked Yuu if he had a soulmate in their world and that Yuu explained that they did not have such a concept there, Lilia had already announced he was leaving the school.

Once again, Yuu lost an occasion to learn more about Soulmates since his friends felt too guilty and awkward discussing it. They felt sorry for Yuu. After they went to sleep, and that Yuu met up with Malleus, the magicless student during their conversation ask him if the prince had met their soulmate already.

Malleus could have misinterpreted it, take this for a confession, but no, he realized that Yuu had no idea they were soulmates. They did just admit that soulmates did not exist where they came from after all. Then, Yuu ask him to help with the mirror.

Oh this stung more than any rejections. Yet Malleus agreed. Yuu missed his home, and how fair would it be to drag him into something he never should have been a part of? Malleus shouldn't be selfish. He needed to let them go, Lilia and Yuu. He couldn't chain them by his sides because of his feelings.

It did not change the fact that it hurts. it hurts so much that for once Malleus went out of his way to not go to a party. He couldn't bear it. It was the one selfish act he allowed himself. Or that was the plan until Silver found him and break down.

Malleus snapped. He couldn't be selfless after all, but, he didn't want anyone to suffer from his selfishness either. One last thing left to do then. Malleus was going to make everyone happy, and he would keep Lilia, Silver, Sebek and Yuu by his side forever.

Yuu did not see Tsunotarou's OB coming at all. He's worried sick, literally, and he couldn't see green again. But not only the green, but blue too was gone. Seeing Grim with completely grey eyes was freaky. However now wasn't the time. So many lives to save they had to hurry!

Lilia's regression however was seriously slowing them down though. Yuu was getting antsy but this was a dream, worrying about time wouldn't do him any good and who knows, maybe the key to calming Malleus down was in Lilia's memories?

It's only when Lilia started commenting on how annoying Meleanor and Revan were about their soulmates colors that Yuu thought of asking more questions about those soulmates colors. Of course, Lilia, Sebek, Silver and Baul were shocked he didn't know but they explained the best they could.

Yuu started to make some connections. He asked the dreaded question.

'What does it means when you stop seeing your soulmates colors and your own eye color?'

'Well, it's uncommon. But I heard it happened to the soulmates of Mages who OB.'

Lilia didn't know how important that questions was at the moment, but Silver and Sebek definitely got it. Sebek nearly fainted if you want to know.

Talk about finding out at the worse time possible.

The rest plays out like the game up until they meet with Malleus again. He's angry at all the lies. He's angry at the rejection of his efforts to fix everything. He catches Yuu's gaze for a moment when the Magicless student looks back one last time while Lilia is getting in his way.

Malleus see recognition in that gaze, and yet Yuu flees and leaves him alone at the table.

It hurts.

The only thing Yuu can think of while the Shroud brothers tells about their own adventure is Malleus. The expression he had when Yuu ran away. He knew he just did a terrible thing to him, but to stop Malleus he had no other choice.

Yes he would save Malleus. Even if it meant he would have to make difficult decision. Even if he had to give up something precious.

...

Now if the others could hurry up and wrap it up already. He felt like he spent almost a year in here!

#thanks anon!#ask #twst fanfic #malleus x yuu #soulmate au

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thedo0zyslider · 1 year

Text

And The Universe Said - 9k Words

Once upon a time, there was a player

Or: Empires Season 2 endings and some bits afterwards, but with a little inspiration from the end poem sprinkled in

A03 Link

“And the universe said I love you.”

Animalia was bustling that day, and Lizzie was absolutely beaming with joy.

Her tail flicked against the stone roads of her empire happily, watching as everyone set up for the show. She wasn’t sure the exact reason she’d decided to have a show, it just felt appropriate. It felt like the end of an era for the empires in some sense, so why not celebrate? Also, not only were shows fun , they brought in revenue . And she could show off her talented little citizens!

She reached the main area, near where the stage was set up, and observed the final preparations. All of the emperor's friends, minus the ever elusive False, had accepted their invitations. Now all eleven of them were sitting around, talking and laughing. Even some who supposedly hated each other seemed to be tolerant of their enemies presence, just for the night anyways.

Before she moved forward, Lizzie did something she’d thought she’d never do. She reached up to the sides of her face, and unhooked her mask.

The feline wasn’t sure why she’d kept it a secret for all this time, well except for the beginning. Though after a few months keeping the mask on had seemed pointless, yet she'd continued doing it anyway for her own sense of comfort. Everyone could tell she was a cat, despite (in her opinion) the rather good human disguise. Lizzie had ears and a very obvious tail, for goodness sake!

The mayor supposed she was doing it now because no one had seemed to care. They had shown no hint of cruelty that her ancestors had faced, everyone had let her wear the disguise; they’d let her talk about it when she was ready. No one had pressured her into taking it off, or asking questions about why she was so obviously hiding her cat-like face. And now, well she was ready to show it, so her friend’s patience had paid off in the end.

She set the mask inside a spare barrel, fully intending to leave it there and never touch it again, before joining the little group at the foot of the stage.

Fwhip waved her over, his own tail flicking as well, and the mayor hurried to join him. Lizzie took a seat next to her fellow critter, her best friend, and more people began to gradually fill up the little show area. Before she knew it, after about ten minutes of conversation and teasing a certain Sheriff, the show was ready to start. To her delight, her true face was not made into a big deal. It seemed to be an accepted fact that Lizzie had taken the mask off, and that was that.

She watched the wonderful show in the setting sun, laughing as Oli was lightheartedly booed off stage, and as her star Ariana Goatee replaced him. Yep, this was definitely a new era for their little empires. And it felt like it was gonna be a good one.

“And the universe said you have played the game well.”

Joey hummed, watching as the waves lightly crashed into the side of his docks. He was setting up his ship currently, planning to go on yet another sea-bering expedition. He wasn’t sure when he’d return to eversea, but he probably would. Unless something went wrong of course, but Joey was a very skilled pirate! Nothing would go wrong under his watch!

He looked at his crew, most of them beginning to gather on the boat with a tense smile. They were one sort now. A certain first-mate-who-shall-not-be-named was a traitor, and it still stung, even after all these weeks of processing and trying to successfully get over it. Maybe Joey just had to accept that the sting would never go away, and that’s what being betrayed by your best friend did to your heart. Didn’t mean he had to like it though.

Though that day he’d been captured and lost a friend also had some positive sides he supposed. Because that day he’d finally settled his differences with Shelby and Katherine, his two wonderful friends who’d saved him when he thought no one else would. It was nice, the pirate found, having two fellow emperors who actually liked him and enjoyed his company. He still had a little crush on Katherine of course, and so did Shelby, but Joey was learning to handle that better and more….naturally than he had before. He learned that whoever Katherine chose, or if she chose no one at all, that it would be fine, because he would still have friends waiting for him when he returned home from sea.

That reminded him! He’d promised to bring said wonderful friends some shiny treasure back! So he’d best be off soon, these little expeditions could take quite a while. Shelby said she might be leaving within the year, and he was not going to miss saying goodbye to his favorite little witch! Even if she was the only witch he actually knew.

Joey clammored on board, calling out greetings to his crew, and darted enthusiastically for the ship’s wheel. His comrades joined in his eagerness, all them excited to be out at sea after…hell years of being landlocked.

The pirate gave a dramatic tip of his hat to his new first mate, and set sail from Eversea for the first time. His home, his beautiful empire faded into the distance, and he hoped he’d be returning in time.

“And the universe said everything you need is within you.”

Katherine stood at her balcony, staring down at her kingdom with a smile. The curse was lifted, the land was healed, and now her people rejoiced below her. The Princess observed fondly as her citizens mingled below her, enjoying the celebration festival she’d ordered to be set up. It was the happiest her empire had been…well since she was born probably.

Despite her seemingly boundless joy, the Princess of Glimmer Grove still felt like a fool. The solution to her home’s curse had been right in front of her for so long, since her first day ruling in fact. She would’ve never thought the fairies were capable of lifting the disease affecting her lands, and no one else she’d consulted had thought that either. Hell, her own people had never even thought to ask the magical creatures so close by them for so many years. That made her feel less stupid, less, not fully smart. She thinks everyone could’ve been smarter, instead of blaming a poor newborn baby for a curse because she’d been born at the same time. That had just been a dumb coincidence!

Katherine shook herself, determined not to get too sour over that fact. She’d always loved her people unconditionally, no matter what nasty words they’d thrown at her. If she hadn’t then she wouldn’t have wasted so long trying to find such an obvious cure. It wasn’t the first time that wondered if her birth was meant to be an omen, one that she could cure this mysterious curse; and that it had just been very easy to interpret wrong. Though despite that she frowned with a huff, as a part of her did have to wonder what would have happened if she didn’t, if she chose to not fix her lands and focus on other things instead. She was going to get coffee with Shelby in a few days….

Her mother’s voice jerked the Princess out of her thoughts, and her vibrant smile returned in full force. She spun around to meet her parents downstairs, battle axe comfortably resting against her back. Her kingdom being healed didn’t stop monsters from spawning, and after the festival's end she planned to stay up all night slaying monsters! She would have so many stories to tell her favorite little witch over coffee!

Katherine ran down her castle stairs as fast as she dared, and stepped out into the next part of her story.

“And the universe said you are stronger than you know.”

A light drizzle fell over the world, seemingly caused by the presence of a very peculiar witch. She smiled as she flew home on her broomstick, the gentle breeze whipping at her face, running through her pure white hair and the raindrops feeling nice on her face. The Storm Witch always liked to think on broom rides like this.

She thought of how she’d basically become the new Supreme Witch, well technically. Shelby had come second to Scott in the final battle, but that latter had ended up giving away his powers to bring a loved one back to life. She was quite happy that the necromancer had completed his goal, having seen how much her friend had been suffering before. The world of witches had become sort of a mess since the tournament, so when El brought the Supreme’s crown back it had been handed to Shelby for the time being. Until Bertha could be found, she had all the power any witch could ever want.

It was kinda funny in hindsight, how weak she thought she used to be. Back when she first visited what would become the Evermoore, Shelby had been a weaker witch, and probably hadn’t been giving herself enough credit. She had only been a beginner back then, yet managed to shift dimensions and create a successful potion business from it.

Thinking of her first days as a witch always gave Shelby a big sense of nostalgia. She thinks she should visit soon, after this stop of course. The Storm Witch often missed her old stomping grounds, as it still felt like home; even ten years after leaving it for good. Her last proper visit had been….well a good year or two before the tournament had started, so a trip by was definitely a little overdue. Shelby smiled softly as she flew, hearing a crack of thunder in the distance. She wondered vaguely if it was from Joel, just as she did with every thunderstorm that occurred these days.

Speaking of her emperor friends, she wondered how Sausage was doing. The Storm Witch missed that man a great deal, they’d become best friends during those two years after all. Though he kept in contact the best he could, always getting Hermes to send a message and making the boy live up to his name. Or he’d get Joel to strike her house with lightning, which was rude. She wondered if he’d gone to see Fwhip often enough, knowing how lonely the little goblin could get sometimes. She wondered if Scott would be at Chromia this time of year, and if he’d be interested in some of the new shiny things she’d gotten over the past few weeks.

Shelby landed at her destination soon after, ceasing almost all thoughts and memories of her old friends. She’d see them soon enough, but first she had to see her again.

“And the universe said you are the daylight.” (gem)

Gem strolled through the streets of dawn, watching as the street lights began to slowly light up for the night. Behind her the sun was setting into the ocean, and around her citizens were starting to head in for the night. Though a few groups were making their way to the tavern, and the Princess was sure that place would always be filled to the brim with drunkards; no matter who led the kingdom.

She turned to watch the sunset for a final time, and didn’t hate the darkness as much as she had before. It was nice to stand in it, but only sometimes. And she certainly wasn’t leaving this word under the cover of the night. Nope , Gem was gonna leave in full view of everyone, sun reflecting off her wings and everything. Make her last moments in her empire memorable and full of light.

There was a sudden blue spark on the floor, and the princess smiled. At least the darkness made her little wisp friends shine a bit brighter than they did in the sun.

“Alright, alright, I’m going !” She laughed, little blue fires swarming around her feet. Gem walked back to her house as fast as she could with the little guys swarming her, giggling all the way. They were very impatient to get her back on Hermitcraft, it seemed.

Gem laid in her bed, and turned this world's night to day for the final time.

The sun was rising just a minute after it had set, and it wasn’t for the first time the princess wondered if it ever got tired. Though calling herself a princess didn’t feel right anymore, because she was never a real princess. She was still a high elf, deep down. A high elf with two very lovely, but very annoying neighbors waiting for her back at home. Gem shuddered to think at what pranks had befallen her beloved Hermitcraft base during her absence.

She exited her house for the final time, and took a good look around Dawn; the empire she'd built up from nothing. Gem still wondered how exactly she strolled into this world, and why she had. She didn’t regret in the slightest, not at all. These past ten months had been amazing, yet at the same time far too short; though in this world ten months was like, a few years? She wasn’t sure, time worked differently in different worlds. Like timezone, Gem supposed, but extra confusing and weird. All she knew was that in Hermitcraft land it had been a rather standard ten months, and in Empires at least a few years had gone by. Which made sense really, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was any empire here. Though the time stuff had led to some awkward conversations of just how long ago certain events had happened with her fellow emperors.

And oh, her friends! She was gonna miss her friends so much! Gem had already said goodbye to Sausage and Oli, who understandably didn’t react very well. So she’d decided that maybe no more goodbye were necessary. Those two would tell everyone else where she went! Probably. Hopefully . She had told the most…erm, reliable people she was leaving, now had she? Both of them were sure to dramatize it, and the ginger let out an amused huff at the thought.

Distantly, the former princess wondered if she’d see them again in some lifetime, other than False. She knew she’d always keep seeing False on Hermitcraft. And Pearl, since she seemed connected to this world somehow. Part of her had always wondered if there had been some other Gem here before her. She was content not to know the answer to that one, just hoped that if that Gem had existed, that she got out okay. (Even if the current Gem really doubted that, based on the brief history she’d heard from Pix. So not fully okay, just getting out semi-okay would work, she supposed.) Gem began moving through her streets for the last time, towards her nether portal. It felt poetic to disappear in front of there, for some reason. Maybe her people would just assume she went to the nether and never returned if she did that.

“C’mon boy,” She mumbled to her beloved bear, Apollo, once she reached him. “Let’s go for one last ride okay?” Apollo just gave a friendly yet tired huff, letting the ginger clamber onto his back for the dozenth time. She gave him a light scratch behind the ears, and he began slowly moving through the empire, stopping to sniff a fair amount of things. Usually Gem liked him to travel faster, but today a slightly slower pace would do. The wisps, still floating nearby, were seemingly tolerating it. Maybe they understood the sentiment of this goodbye.

They strode through the city at a steady place, allowing Gem to take it all in one last time. She waved at the few villagers as they passed, exchanging smiles and good mornings with the people she’d come to know so well. She was sure she’d remember all their names and faces, even when she was gone. She admired her builds, the beautiful gradient texture of the roofs and the glory of her sun church, which reminded her to stop and return her sunglasses. Regrettably, Gem couldn’t take those with her.

Apollo was left by her bees, because she wanted a glimpse of them and the Beekeepers before she departed. The sweet little bear even got some honeycomb, munching on it as Gem removed his harness and saddle. He wouldn’t have anyone to carry around, now that she was gone, but the former princess was certain Apollo would stay. She ignored the squeezing in her chest at the thought of leaving her beloved companion for good, and knew that she was gonna miss his cute little face dearly.

Gem flew the rest of the way there, using her monarch butterfly like wings one last time. They were pretty, and she was going to miss them as well. Maybe she could customize an elytra to look like them when she was back home. Maybe a future base could have some Dawn inspired architecture. Yep, that sounded good, but in a few seasons; when she wouldn’t miss it quite as much and could get all nostalgic. Maybe she’ll have seen her friends again by that point.

It was hard to leave, but she knew it was for the best. She wasn’t supposed to be here anyways. Just because you could travel between worlds doesn’t mean you should .

Gem stood in front of the swirling, purple nether portal, and vanished back home. To anyone else, it would look like she’d just walked through and never reemerged. She was back on Hermitcraft, back in her castle and an elf once more. The wisps floated around her happily, and she giggled as their flames tickled and brushed against her skin. Well, that was her time on Empires done it seemed.

She didn’t let herself linger on that thought, mainly because Gem was running to her front door, checking for any more new additions to her home. And maybe also getting ready to slay Impulse if he had done any more pranking, for funsies of course!

“And the universe said you are the night.”

A goblin looked on the paper at his desk, hands shaking a little as he glanced over it a few more times. It was a notice of retirement. His retirement. Fwhip was retiring, and he'd be announcing it tomorrow. He would've liked to do it today, rip the bandaid off before he gets too nervous. But it's late, he's spent all night writing this, and he needs a drink. Badly

The goblin ruler, well soon to be former ruler, stood from his office desk. He went over how exactly he'd do the announcement one more time. Fwhip had figured he'd tell the few other goblins that worked with him in the more government-like positions, then let them tell the rest of the people afterwards. That seemed good enough, and he could just retire to his house peacefully and ignore all the questions his citizens might have.

He'd walked the path to the bar plenty of times, probably too many times to be healthy really. He found the building quickly and easily, and soon found himself sitting on a bar stool; downing the first of probably many drinks that night. The bartender, far too used to seeing Fwhip here, didn't even raise an eyebrow, and would go on to just wordlessly refill his glass as the hours ticked by.

Fwhip sat in silence, listening to the ambience of the bar and thinking of how he failed as a ruler.

His people probably didn't think he'd failed, because he did what they'd wanted. He'd expanded the empire, made it prosperous, and filled the vault full of gold. But other than those three things, one could argue he'd done a pretty horrible job at leading. Probably because he hadn’t even wanted to lead in the first place.

Fwhip had only been appointed as leader because he was the tallest goblin, not because he showed any actual leaders skills. He was the tallest by like, an inch anyways, and in his opinion other goblins; even some shorter ones; were better suited for the job then he was. Well, Fwhip had some capabilities, but his personal flaws outweighed them greatly. His failed allyship with the Sheriff was a prime example of that.

He took another swig of his drink at the thought. Fwhip had been so obsessive when it came to that man, co-dependent even; which stemmed from a list of problems that only gave him a headache when he thought about them. Everything else had become second priority to Jimmy, to his loyalty to the Sheriff, to his…. affection for him one could call it. Goblands was even pushed to the side, and during their partnership he'd spent most of his time above ground, in Tumble Town with Jimmy. Now Fwhip could hardly stand being in the sunlight for long, much preferring the cool darkness of his cave home.

He thought of the damn house he'd built for Jimmy in Gobland. The house he'd wasted precious gold on, that now sat abandoned and untouched by everyone. No citizen wanted to move in, because it was tailor made for someone else; not to mention the sour air that hung over the building.

That whole friendship had been so…well Fwhip didn’t want to use the word toxic , but he couldn’t think of any other word. Jimmy had his own issues, like demanding respect when doing nothing to earn it ever. His misplaced sense of authority. And Fwhip’s codependency had only made all that worse. They’d made each other's worst traits more horrible, so it shouldn't have been a surprise when they had a big falling out. He cringed to think of how horribly he'd taken that, basically acting like a jealous ex boyfriend.

The goblin started on his third drink, now starting to feel just a bit tipsy. If he knew all the hurt that relationship would cause, he probably would've tried to avoid Jimmy, and then failed because his past self found that man irresistible. Now the two preferred to keep this distance, and god weren't they fucking pathetic ? It had been months and they couldn't even give each other proper apologies, just tense truces for the sake of their own empires.

A man sat down next to him suddenly, and Fwhip looked over with a blink. As fate would have it, his seatmate was the Old Sheriff. Jimmy’s honestly sad attempt at replacing his former deputies. Listen, Fwhip still cared about the blonde, but he could do better than a senile, sixty-something-year old man he found in a cave. He could also use someone who'd give a bit of a wake up call, to fix himself and be the better person everyone knew he could be, and Old Sheriff was probably doing the opposite of that. (Distantly, Fwhip was a little disappointed in himself that he couldn't even be that person for his Sheriff. He beat the thought down to the back of his mind.)

"Hey," He grumbled a greeting to the Old Sheriff. The man glanced at him, and Fwhip could tell he'd entered the bar absolutely hammered . He caught the bartender's eye, and gave a slight shake of his head. It was a signal to not give the older man anything else, mainly because Fwhip doubted he'd pay for it.

The other goblin nodded in acknowledgment. They also seemed to sense what kind of conversation was about to occur, one that should not be overheard, and silently slipped into the back. Fwhip really had to remember their name one day, because that was going on the ever expanding, long list of things he needed to thank them for.

"What is it?" Old Sheriff asked, and Fwhip was surprised his words weren't slurred. The goblin king didn't know why he was about to do this, it was probably the alcohol talking really. Yet still, he opened his mouth and got all sentimental to a man he barely knew.

"Can you pass a message on to Jimmy?" Fwhip began, and had to stop himself before he started anxiety rambling.

"Eh, why not!" The man next to him shrugged. "What'll it be?"

Fwhip took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Tell him I've decided to retire as ruler of Gobland, and as deputy," He almost laughed at himself, really he did. He should've done the last one months ago, for both their sakes. "And I have something that is rightfully he is." Fwhip finished his little speech by passing a piece of paper to the elderly man, one with coordinates hastily yet legibly scribbled down.

They were the coords to the original deputy badge, the one he'd stolen. They were also the coords to his old Sheriff shrine. God the shrine . Fwhip had cringed just thinking of it earlier, and almost did the same now.

The Old Sheriff looked at the paper, then nodded. "Yep, got it." He said, and somehow Fwhip he didn't have it and would ruin this.

"Tell him I'm here, if he ever wants to talk." The only response to that was a grunt, and Fwhip drowned himself in cocktails for the rest of the night. He thought it was cocktails, because he woke up the next morning slumped over the Counter with a headache.

He decided around midday, after he'd officially retired, that he'd invite some friends over to celebrate. He'd never done enough of that before, spending time with his friends. Fwhip felt as if a lot of them would be leaving soon, for some reason, so any time spent with them was looking to be time well spent.

The goblin almost reached out to Jimmy with an invite, but decided against it. The Sheriff would come down when he was ready. And for now Fwhip could focus on other things, like enjoying his newly retired life.

“And the universe said the darkness you fight is within you.”

Cogsmeade, an empire most thought had been abandoned by its ruler, still had its mechanical cogs turning. False liked to think they turned in spite of all the nasty whispers about her. Not much had happened to her after that whole Rift fiasco, not really. She hadn’t vanished, just stayed at home a lot more. And by a lot more she meant one hundred percent of the time.

It was a lot to process really, meeting an alternate version of yourself, having her stalk your home for two months, then finding out you're basically a clone of her who had to be thrown away to another world because of violent tendencies. That would mentally fuck with even Sausage , and False knew he’d been through some messed up dimension hopping stuff; despite not really seeing him in almost a year. It kinda became big news when an emperor started messing with the space time continuum, okay?

She was over all that now, really she was. She’d managed to wrangle those um….borderline homicidal urges in. Really she had! She hadn’t tried to kill anyone since Pix and Jevin back during Rift times. Though she would argue past her hadn’t really been trying to kill them per say, just knock them out and give them some slight amnesia. Though she probably would’ve tried if she had the chance. It didn’t matter in the end, because her idea had worked and they remembered nothing of her weird doppelganger stuff. She thought that's what she wanted the two to forget anyways, False was really blocking out memories of that time.

Her empire had grown as well, becoming more flushed out than it had ever been. The inventor was proud of it, so so proud of it. This place hadn’t started out feeling like home, but now it did. Cogsmeade was home , and her life was going better. She was happier, despite all the unpleasant memories, ones that seemed very persistent at popping up today.

No one liked to remember bad times in their lives, and Cogsmeade’s ruler was just the same in that regard. She hadn’t been able to get rid of that head room per say, but she had locked it up. It kinda disturbed her even thinking about it now, which was progress! No longer wanting to decapitate things was good! Really good!

That was really all that had happened, now that False thought over it. All she’d done was better herself as a person, so the time when she’d “gone missing” was time well spent. She was even considering leaving again, going to make some trades. False liked her solitude just fine, but even loners got well… lonely sometimes.

Trades, yeah that’s a good idea. She thought, making her way back up to her house for the day. False felt like she could trust herself around others again, so maybe she’d go see one of her neighbors. Maybe Scott, maybe Joel, maybe she’d even go all the way down to the Goblands if she was feeling real adventurous.

It didn’t have to be tomorrow though, it could be any day. Whenever she was ready.

“And the universe said the light you seek is within you.”

Sausage hummed, sitting at the empty bar, and ran a hand through his now graying hair. Damn, he was old.

He might be at a bar, but he was drinking juice. Apple juice to be exact. Sanctuary’s ruler didn’t drink as much as he used to back in the day. Even if back in the day had been less than twenty years ago. Though back in the day he had more pressing problems, and now he only had to deal with a teenager. Well, a teenager who’s soon to be an adult.

That put into perspective exactly how many years it had been, because back in the day Hermes had been now older than five. Now he was seventeen, going on eighteen, and begging to use his dads old staff of Sanctuary. It didn’t feel like that long ago really, that Hermes was basically a baby and Sausage was off doing, well god knows what he was doing. He didn’t regret it though. The brunette was still the same man as he had been in his younger years, just more laid back.

He was this close to giving Hermes that staff too, because he was weak for his kid. The little guy had always loved Sausage’s stories about his multiversal travels, his many lives; even if some of them hurt too much to be told. But those things wouldn’t happen to Hermes, because he wasn’t living multiple lives, he was just stopping by. And the young demigod had both Sausage and Bubbles, both more experienced dimension hoppers who would look out for him. (Inwardly, Sausage still shuddered at the thought of Hermes finding one of his old worlds especially. He didn’t know… how he’d answer any questions about a demon or an empire full of blood red sheep, or why one kingdom was now a large explosion hole and why all the water was drained. He just had to hope the kid never found that one.)

Sanctuary’s ruler decided to move his thoughts to something else, like when his friends would next visit. Or when he’d pester them first. A lot of them had left, but a good half of the original thirteen emperors still remained. He especially wanted to know when Shelby’s next visit from the Witch’s Academy would be. They hadn’t seen her in months ! Almost a year ! The brunette thought it was fair to say he missed his best friend a whole lot. He really wanted her to see Hermes again, she was always so excited to see the little guy.

Sausage also wanted Hermes to show off a little bit with his old staff, the one he’d be getting tonight. Was that an impulse decision? Yes, yes it was. But he was sure it would be fine! Hermes knew how to be responsible, and would probably be much more responsible (which did not seem like a typical teenager quality) than Sausage himself had cared to be.

He stood with a hum, yet again running his fingers through new strands of gray hair. Blegh , it felt like he was aging ten years by the minute! He waved goodbye to Bruno, the bartender, and walked outside to get some fresh air.

His feet took him to the church almost on instinct, like she was calling him there. Sausage giggled, finding himself near the chapel’s door and standing in a field of sunflowers. He leaned down with a smile, gently picking one. He’d give this to Hermes later, for good luck. And also a reminder of home, and to look inside himself when he needed too.

That last part sounded really cheesy, but it was true! (He was so going to tell Hermes that and embarrass him later!) All of Sausage’s solutions back in the day seemed to be because of him. Those strange memories of sunflowers? Of a woman in a green dress? The answer was inside him all along, in the form of unlocked little memories of….himself. The Evil King slash His Birth Dad problem? The answer had been himself, multiple versions that is. The Evil Sausage problem? That one was solved by literally merging with a different version of him, so in a way the answer was himself again. The brunette knew he was simplifying this a lot probably, but it worked! It made sense to him!

He picked a few more sunflowers, before deciding not to dawdle around the church for too much longer, lest he age and turn to dust before dinner. He had to get to Eddie and Maria’s for a family dinner soon, with the kid of course. And he needed to swing by and grab the staff from the castle before seeing his son again. He could come visit Santa Perla in the morning anyways, like he always did. She shouldn’t miss him too terribly in the meantime.

Sausage waved goodbye to the church with a smile, sunflowers delicately clutched in his hand, and headed back up the path.

“And the universe said you are not alone.”

Jimmy grumbled something to himself, quickly packing up cat food. He was packing because he was leaving. No, they were leaving. Him and the Old Sheriff were getting the hell out of dodge.

If there was anyone still living in this damn town, they would wonder why their Sheriff was leaving them. It was a long time coming really, but in short? Everything had crumbled around Jimmy’s head, then he had pissed off the fae, and now they were taking over his land. Slowly but surely of course, but the little patch of strange blue grass had almost tripled. It hadn’t even been half a day since he found it either. A lot of things had happened in that half a day actually, and his mind was currently whirring as he packed up as much as he could carry.

Besides finding the fae’s corruption that morning, Fwhip had also given him his deputy badge back. Fwhip , the obsessive little nuisance of a goblin, had actually said sorry and given it back. After months of the two just seeming to tolerate each other. The blonde almost couldn’t believe it, he really couldn’t. Part of the Sheriff still wanted to hate Fwhip too, to hate him and blame all his problems on someone else. But you couldn’t really do that if they said sorry , now could you?

Jimmy was also ignoring the part that wanted so badly to stay , to see his old deputy again and be friends once more. He couldn’t stay, he couldn’t fix anything anymore. He’d been damaged too badly, caused too much damage. It wasn’t healthy for him to stay, to be around all these friends of his. He had to leave . The Sheriff had to start over somewhere new.

He sighed, seeing that dusty, newly regained deputy badge resting at the bottom of his bag. Leaving should hurt. Leaving all this should be harder, because this place had been his life; his home; his pride and joy for almost two and a half years now. Leaving it shouldn’t feel like the easiest thing in the world.

Jimmy reckons he’s good at running. Because this feels like running away, away from his problems so he doesn’t need to actually untangle them. He wonders if he’s always been good at running, in past lives; if those exist. Part of him says he always is.

Running was easy because he could remember. He could remember how Joel had taunted him, how everyone had joined the god in taunting him. Bullying him, that was a better term for it. He remembers how horrible he was to Fwhip, how Fwhip was to him. Remembers why the goblin was fired in the first place, for his general life threatening pranks; pranks he played because it was funny. Because putting a warden near a town that had been full of civilians was funny ; was a gift .

Running was so easy because he remembered how Tumble Town had been empty for months. He remembered how he’d driven all his people away. Remembered how Gem, his friend, his ally since the start, who was supposedly a pacifist had pushed him off the Great Bridge. Running was easy because he didn’t have friends anymore. There was nothing left for him here, hadn’t been for a while.

He did have one friend, he supposed. Old Sheriff was okay, Jimmy guessed. He was more senile and spouted nonsense, but he was funny sometimes. He seemed to care when things got serious, so he was alright. Jimmy was kidding himself really, he was attached to the man. Badly attached. It’s what loneliness does to a person, it makes you attached to the first person willing to tolerate you; even if that person is some guy you found in a cave.

The Old Sheriff had started to call for him, yelling about how he had to hurry up before the faeries at them or something. Jimmy huffed in amusement, and made sure his bag was packed with everything he could possibly need. He adjusted his hat, grabbed Norman the cat, and walked out of his old house for the last time. Flick, Norman’s little brother, started trailing behind him towards the horses.

The two rode off in whatever direction seemed best, cats in tow and bags full of as many supplies as possible. Well, Jimmy’s was. There was a ninety percent chance the Old Sheriff had brought liquor, and only liquor. It was a good thing he’d expected that then.

Running was easy, Jimmy found. There was no tug of pain in his heart as he left. The Sheriff didn’t even spare a glance back to his former empire, the home he’d built from the ground up. And why would he?

There was nothing left for him there.

“And the universe said you are not separate from every other thing.”

Joel was having a really weird day. And that was saying something, because as a god he’d had a lot of weird days.

It was weird because some guy, who looked quite a lot like himself, had descended from the heavens like an angel or something. Apparently he hadn’t been a god this whole time. These past few years had been a test, and the brunette had passed with flying colors. Now he was going to be an actual god. He was going to disappear from the mortal realm as well, which was not preferable. But what could he do about that? Joel, despite all his glory, didn’t think he could control that.

So he’d spent his last few hours saying goodbye. He’d said goodbye to Sausage, to Hermes, to his people. He’d found that some people, Jimmy particularly, were gone when he tried to say goodbye. So that was a shame. And now the god didn’t know what to do. He was leaving soon, and he had nothing to do but think.

So think he did.

He thought about his time here, and decided it had been good. He had enjoyed building Stratos, he thought, sitting on the edge of one of his floating isles. Maybe he should’ve been a bit nicer to Jimmy, maybe he should’ve been a better dad to Hermes, spent more time with Sausage. (The kid had said both of them were awful parents, after all.) Maybe he should’ve been less self absorbed, maybe he should’ve done so many other things. But he must've done a few things right, because they were letting him be a true god in the end.

He was proud of his empire, and he was gonna miss it. He was gonna miss his people, the ones who always put up with his great need for quartz and gold, for what sometimes felt like every material under the sun. They were good people, his villagers. He hoped they thought of him well, he hoped they remembered him. The founder of their empire, the slightly horrible, but sometimes kind god of the sky.

Joel hoped the beautiful empire below him would stay, that it wouldn’t die out. He hoped someone would replace him. He hoped Hermes would keep visiting even after his dad was long gone. Maybe Sausage would see to that, because that seemed like a Sausage thing to do.

He was gonna miss his friends, he thought, running through the emperors in his mind. He was even gonna miss the more annoying ones, like Joey. Or the skittish ones, like False. Joel didn’t get to think of this for long sadly enough, because he soon found himself slowly turning translucent.

He thought that if this place was going to be forgotten after he went, he’d leave something for them to find atop Upper Stratos.

Joel placed the crown down on the grass, right in front of his fountain, and ascended to godhood.

“And the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code.”

A man, a ghostly one, moved through the hallways of some old abandoned ruin. It had clearly been a grand castle once, judging by architecture. Pix would know that well though, because he’d spent the past few years of his life trying to study and restore it. Well, the last few years of his life and a little bit of his death. Being turned into a ghost somehow was funny like that.

He thinks it’s about time to move on though, he’d been here long enough. Pixl could always go haunt some other place, or finally move out of the living world. He just had to write some things first. The history of the world wasn’t the best preserved, so he felt some kind of obligation to do it. No one else was, or else they’d have done it before this castle became all old and dusty.

It took a while, longer than he thought really, to write it all out. But Pix did it eventually. As his friends set out on adventures, ascended to godhood, or even left this realm itself, Pix started a new chapter of his life with writing. He was never one for dramatic beginnings anyways.

He wrote of empires of old, of those twelve original emperors. It wasn’t for the first time he wondered how similar most of them were to most of the current ones, minus Sausage and his patron Saint; who literally were those old rulers. He wrote of how their world ended, of the wars, of the demon and the cod and the salmon. He wrote everything he could, about everything he’d gathered from the Ancient Capital’s library, whose books were equally as old as the building that housed them.

He wrote of his beloved little empire too. He wrote of how it was built from survivors of the Old World, how they’d mixed old cultures into something new and beautiful. He wrote about the monuments they’d made, the challenges they faced, and how they too eventually became nothing. He wrote about how a curious little archeologist came to restore their once glorious kingdom, and wrote everything about that man he could. Pix was a part of history as well, but it did feel kinda funny preserving well…. himself .

He wrote a little of the current kingdoms. He wrote of the small sheriff, picking fights with a god. Of the goblin empire, descended from those long ago oceanfolk, now living underground. He wrote of the city above the goblins, one thriving with animals of all kinds. He wrote of color, of cogs, of swamps and witches, of pirates and of half corrupted lands. He wrote of a weird little bard who showed up randomly some day and never quite left, He wrote of a Rift and the stranger visitors it brought with it, he wrote of a dimension traveling little butterfly. He wrote of sun gods, of sunflowers and how one those old emperors never quite left. He wrote of a sanctuary full of magic and old memories. He wrote everything he could into the few open books he had, and everything he memory’s would supply him. Pix really should’ve kept a journal and preserved things as they happened. Yeah, that would’ve been a good idea.

He didn’t document everything from the current time though, because he was leaving. He wasn’t sticking around to see history play out in full. Pix was off to a new adventure, whatever that may be. He had a feeling that one king from long ago, the one that lived in the desert and kinda looked like himself, didn’t do that either. Though he wasn’t sure what happened to that guy, because records of him were hard to find, even harder than some of those long ago elves.

Pix felt like his friends would document stuff for him, and keep his museum nice and tidy maybe. If only to remember him. That’s what he hoped they’d do, as he set those newly finished books down in the library, a hidden gem amongst all those tattered, old books.

After that, Pixlriffs took advantage of his ghost abilities and vanished, leaving the story unfinished; like most people he’d studied seemed to do.

“And the universe said I love you because you are love.”

Scott hummed to himself lightly, feet falling softly against a worn path. Louder footsteps sounded behind him, and he stifled a giggle at his companions excited stomping. Owen could be a little annoying at times, but mostly his little llama friend was stupidly endearing.

“Are we there yet!?” Owen called, catching up to the collector. Scott was suddenly understanding every parent ever to ever exist, because he was being asked that same question every five minutes or so.

“We’re close!” He said, keeping his voice light. He wasn’t that annoyed, not really, not anymore. A few months traveling with the llama had gotten him very used to Owen’s antics. He was learning how to be well, more human than llama by the day too! Which was good, especially because his friend had finally figured out doors!

So yeah, Owen had his moments of being insufferable, but Scott was sure he had his as well. So overall, the brunette was a good traveling companion, and a surprisingly fast learner. Plus he could talk to normal llamas, ones that hadn’t been turned into people, and Scott liked having a way to communicate with her favorite animal very much.

“How do you know that?” Owen asked curiously, tilting his head. Scott giggled again, and pointed at his yellow eye.

“I can see magic? Remember silly?” He smiled, watching as the other’s face lit up, being able to see Owen actually remember in real time. He didn’t blame him for forgetting. There was no external indicator of that power, and Scott never talked about it much. This was like, the third time it had been brought up in almost half a year of traveling.

“ Yep , mhmm! I totalllyy remember!” Owen nodded vigorously in response, and Scott just rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure you do!” He laughed, and they walked in silence for a few minutes, though there was never much silence with Owen around. Scott didn’t mind, because traveling alone and in silence all the time used to get really, really boring .

“Scott?” His llama asked after about ten minutes. He had that semi-rare tone of voice. The quiet one, one that showed Owen had been in some pretty serious thought. “When are we going back to Chromia?” He repressed a smile at that last word, still a little satfisted he’d finally gotten Owen to call his empire by its proper, official name, instead of Llamaland .

Scott looked to his right, fixing Owen with a curious gaze. Ah. He thought. He’s homesick. The collector realized, seeing the expression his friend made. It was one filled with a little bit of longing, and the brunette's two colored eyes were looking off into the distance.

“Maybe in a few months?” Scott suggested it tentatively, softly. He knew the feeling of homesickness well, getting bouts of his own from time to time. Sometimes it was for his original home, where he’f first started his journeying. Though at this point he’d walked so far, crossed so many rivers, he wouldn’t even know how to get back to his old family home.

“But we’ve been traveling for like, seven months already!” Owen pointed out, whining a little. “That’s such a long time!” And the collector supposed he had a point, that was quite a long time. And he had told Sausage he’d stop by at least once a year or so….

“Tell you what!” Scott said, clapping a hand on the other’s shoulder. “We’ll go to this place, and another one after it, and once we have enough goodies we’ll head home! That sound good?”

“Oh that sounds great!” Owen exclaimed, earlier enthusiasm returned. “I can’t wait to see the others again! Like umm, uhhh….” The brunette trailed off, and Scott laughed again.

“You don’t remember their names, do you?” He asked, forever amused by the llama’s comically short memory.

“I do! I do!” Owen argued back lightly. “I just need a little….reminder is all! My brian’s just tired from all this walking! Yeah that’s all it is!” He ended the sentence a little sheepishly, and Scott readily started listing off the names of his beloved llamas back at home. He missed the little guys too, he had to admit

“Well, there’s Crow and Mia at the Great Bridge, but i don’t know if you ever meet them-”

“I did!’ Owen interrupted, a giddy smile on his face.

“Then we’ll have to visit them too!” Scott continued, and the other man fell into a content silence as he listened to the collector go on a little ramble. “Then back at the garden there’s Perry, the little troublemaker! There’s Dan the pond fish. And there’s Violet, and Comet, and Astrid and Eloise..”

Owen cut him off again, talking about how much he missed Eloise. Apparently the two had been close friends, before the former had become Chromia’s resident bartender. Scott listened to the stories of all their little llama antics happily, sometimes chiming with anecdotes of how he’d had to stop them from doing things like breaking out of the garden.

He let Owen talk them both to sleep, deciding to call it a night a little earlier than normal. The ruin they were exploring was pretty deep underground, some old elven thing if he remembered correctly. He wanted an early start on mining the next morning, knowing it would probably take a good day or so to reach the thing. Though now that he had Owen to help, doing things was much faster than they used to be.

Hell, considering what the ruin contained, they might even head home early! He knew Pix was researching some old elf stuff, so maybe this was connected to that. Scott did prefer to keep the treasures he found, but he knew the archaeologist would appreciate much more than he would. Pix would get more out of it too, because he could study it and what not, while Scott was just gonna let it collect dust on a shelf.

He fell asleep that night quickly, Owen splayed out close by like he always was. Scott fell asleep, thoughts of tomorrow causing excitement to course through his limbs. He fell asleep wondering of elves and his llamas back home.

"And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love."

Oli rowed quickly, giggling all the while. He’d just faked his own funeral, and he’d be surprised if anyone took it seriously. It wasn’t meant to be taken that seriously though. It was just the easiest way he could think of to leave.

He was back near the festival grounds before he knew it, and honestly it felt strange. It felt strange sneaking around this world, walking around without his trademark bard’s hat and lute. It was like he wasn’t supposed to be there, because he wasn’t. The universe hadn’t wanted him here, he’d made his own way in. And now he was doing what the universe had probably wanted since the start all those months ago. He was leaving.

He was going to miss it, just a little bit. He was going to miss his empire, which had some of the finest builds he’d ever gone and made. He was going to miss walking around, touring all these beautiful places and playing music; really leaning into the slutty bard persona and just going wild with it really. He was going to miss the newly hatched dragon egg, he was going to miss his friends.

But these weren't his friends. Not really. These people, for all he loved them, were just different versions of his actual friends. And maybe all of them were just different versions of the same people, living new lives. Countless lives that stretched so far back no one could remember the first, but that wasn’t for Oli to know. All the bard knew was that these weren’t his friends, and that this wasn’t his home.

His friends had been in Afterlife, and then they all died. That world wasn’t home anymore, and this one wasn;t supposed to be either. Ya know that saying, home is where the heart is or something like that? Yeah, well Oli’s heart wasn’t in Afterlife anymore, and it certainly wasn’t here in Empires. Honestly, it was getting a little painful to look at these people and pretend he hadn’t known a different version of them.

Well, He thought, eyes landing on the great bridge as he passed by the area. Almost all of them . He thought Pix was watching, maybe felt the other’s gaze on his back. He probably wasn’t, but that man was scarily omniscient at times. Maybe he knew Oli wasn’t really dead, and how he planned on leaving.

The bard scurried his way across the abandoned festival sight, ignoring the pang of sadness he felt when glancing at it. His beloved stands and tents had fallen into disarray, after so many hours lovingly and painstakingly being set up. That shouldn’t matter anymore though, he was leaving. If Oli had wanted to fix it he should’ve done so before today.

He found his way to the Rift. The strange thing was now shattered, like glass, and no longer glowing purple. Expect for one spot, one spot in the side he was inexplicably drawn to. This…the back door of sorts shouldn’t exist, the Rift was supposed to be gone . Gone and never to be opened again. But Oli wasn’t going to question or deny such an easy escape. Maybe one of the Grumbots was holding out still.

He was gonna try and go to Hermitcraft, key word being try . Afterlife wasn’t a viable option anymore, for the bard's old home was empty and full of long abandoned builds. He’d always been an outcast here, in Empires. He was the weird guy who never quite fit in, the one who talked nonsense and never quite fit in, never quite found his place. He wasn’t supposed to be here, Oli wasn’t sure that he was supposed to be anywhere, but Hermitcraft was worth a shot he supposed. Besides, Gem was there, his friend , his neighbor who’d bloody left him for a second time . She was there, in Hermitcraft, maybe they could be friends again.

He knows he’s not the usual sort of person who they invite to that world, but there he isn’t an outcast. Because it’s a server full of so many different people, ones who never quite fit anywhere else and some who do fit elsewhere, they just prefer that weird little group. And Oli can see why. Maybe he won’t be outcasted there, maybe he’ll fit in. They at least won’t kick him out, he’s sure of that. And if they try he hopes Joe Hills and Gem will back him up. Man he misses Joe Hills. He can even see Tiny Tom again, tell the little guy hello from Jimmy and Joel; who have absolutely forgotten about the kid at this point.

Oli steps through the swirling, yet all familiar purple mass of the rift. He thinks he feels it close behind him, and is content to be taken wherever. Unless it’s the void with that stupid , fucking unreasonably long poem being muttered into nothingness again. Anything but there he’s fine with, because you can’t start over again in the void.

“You.”

"You are the player."

"Wake up."

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sanjoongie · 1 year

Text

Cowboy! San

🐎Inspired by the That That cover 🐎Pairing: Choi San x Reader (f) 🐎Genre: non-idol au, Westworld Au 🐎Word Count: 2,808 🐎Warnings: mentions of death, blood, gun fights, sex (cowgirl position because hello), m and f orgasm 🐎Rated: 18+ MDNI, smut with no plot 🐎Dedication~ @mejuii @downtoamagicalland my beta writers and part of the reason this exists. my cowboy san gc @toxicccred @cherryxsang for making this a thing too. @flurrys-creativity because you wanted this as well.....

~TBZ Outlaws (hosts): Sunwoo, Changmin, Kevin, Juyeon, Haknyeon

~ATZ Cowboys(guests): Mingi, Yeosang, Yunho and Hongjoong

~TXT town boys(hosts): Yeonjun and Soobin

🐎Synopsis: Westworld~ a meticulously crafted theme park where you can immerse yourself in the world of the wild west. You can fuck, kill and commit whatever sin, or glory, you decide. Other than the other guests, all the players in this world are androids, or known as Hosts, who don't even know of the outside world. All they know is what the narrative, or story, that’s filled their heads. The guests can never die, but there is one risk… falling in love with an android.

🐎A/N: if you’re not familiar with Westworld, the guests(or the humans) can talk about the outside world or about the androids (hosts), and the hosts won’t react to it. They will pretend like nothing was said. It’s to keep them in the narrative. They’ll never ask what a cellphone is or wonder why the guests mock them.

You’ve lived on the ranch all your life. Your father was a horse breeder, sold some of the best steeds in the state. Your mother, bless her soul, died in the attempt to birth your brother. Your brother died of smallpox before the age of ten. And your father had just recently passed after a horse threw him when he was breaking him into saddle riding. So it was just you at the ranch now, haunted by the memories of your family.

The town treated you well, especially because the quality of horses never faltered, even after your father passed. It was frowned upon, certainly, that you had never married, but other than that, they still traded with you and that got you by.

The only true danger lay in strangers. More specifically, outlaws.

You were out in the training ring late one evening, working on a colt. You were trying to gauge if he was ready for horse shoes or not, and so you had him running the ring. It was late but you just didn’t want to be cooped up in your cabin yet.

“Well, look what we have here boys,” A man with sharp features called out, “A bonafide cowgirl.” The group snickered at the comment.

You pushed your hat upwards so you could get a good look at the group. They looked travel-worn and they were still on their horses. Perhaps they had been previous customers of your father’s. “You looking to buy a horse?” You said, putting on a warm smile.

The men exchanged long looks. “You could say that.”

“Town ain’t that far,” You offered, “You could find some rooms and then come back at sunrise.”

“Noooooo,” Another man, with plush lips and wicked glint in his eye, said. “I think we’ll stay here.”

You frowned. “You’re welcome to some water and hay for your horses, but the town really isn’t that far.” No need to inform them that you were on your own. That wouldn’t bode well for you.

"Darlin’, I don't think you understand the situation." You swallowed hard when one of them descended from his horse. "We're here to steal your horses. And there isn't anything you can do about it."

"Changmin!" Another frowned, "Don't tell her! That'll take the fun out of it."

Your eyes immediately went to your father's shotgun leaning against the rail post. If only you could--

"It'll still be fun, Juyeon," The last man, with an evil grin, reached for your gun and pulled it through the fence. He winked at you. "Don't you worry."

Kevin, the ringleader of the gang, ordered Sunwoo, Juyeon and Changmin to round up the horses. Haknyeon, the one with the evil grin, was in charge of you.

You kicked and screamed as Haknyeon grabbed you by your waist and dragged you back to your cabin. Sunwoo complained loudly about Haknyeon getting all the fun jobs while he had wrangle horses.

"Like that ever stopped you before," Changmin said snidely, snickering behind his hand as a blood burst from his chest.

Whooping and hollering erupting from the main trail and out came five other men on horses. They had shot Changmin, so clearly they weren't with the outlaws.

Oddly enough, they drew up to the five men, guns drawn and aimed, but not shooting.

"This is our catch, Cowboy." Kevin stepped up to a black haired man with a jean jacket and tight vest underneath.

"Did you have to shoot so prematurely, Mingi?" One of the men said, face in hand as if exasperated.

Mingi shrugged with a goofy grin on his face. "I got excited, Hongjoong, what can I say?"

"Bet he said that to the whore from earlier too," A man with long black hair snickered.

The man in the jean jacket looked to another with a green jacket. The man in the green jacket shrugged. "This is a completely new story line, San. It's your birthday weekend. Why don't you choose how we do this?"

San stared at you, hurt racking over his face. "Let's kill these assholes and save the girl, Yunho."

Yunho smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

It was a shoot-out, plain and simple. Haknyeon threw you to the ground, expecting you to sob and cry like any other girl they'd have come across. But you weren't about to let someone else decide your fate.

While Haknyeon flicked the hammer of his revolver, shooting as quickly as his hands would allow him, you grabbed your shotgun. Haknyeon’s aim was reaching San. You shot Haknyeon from behind and the outlaw collapsed. San's jaw would have been on the floor if not for the fact he was still on his horse.

"Shit, San, she saved you!" Yeosang's eyes were wide in surprise for a moment. "Maybe your girlfriend--"

"Shut up, Yunho!" San hissed.

Yunho mimed zipping his mouth. Hongjoong and Yeosang exchanged a look. Yeosang spoke. "Is that her?"

San didn't respond. He simply got off his horse and walked to you. He crouched down by you, ignoring Haknyeon's body. "You okay? They didn't…"

You shook your head. "No. You got here just in time."

San smiled, showing off a pair of dimples. "Good. You saved my life back there. I should thank you." He stood up and offered you a hand.

You took it, clapping your palm to his. You suddenly had an intense headache and your vision became blurry.

"Hi, my name is San. I've never done this before, actually."

You felt your face smile broadly at your shy customer. "No problem, Darlin'. I'll take it easy with you."

The cowboy took his hat off, respectful and a gentleman. He scratched the back of his head, smiling and showing off a pair of dimples. "Actually, I'm hoping you won't."

You quirked an eyebrow up at him. "Oh? Are you the type of cowboy that enjoys a bucking bronco?"

San’s neck got red, highlighting some freckles there. "Yeah. I kinda do."

"Well, shall we?" You offered your hand.

San took it, fingers fluttering along your wrist. "I'd love to."

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" San’s eyebrows furrowed inwards, looking worried.

You rubbed the heel of your hand into your eye. "I'm shook up over everything. But I think it's me that should be thanking you. If you hadn't interrupted them…"

Mingi was using his toe to poke at Kevin’s body. "Should we…uh?" He looked at Yeosang for any hint of what they should do with the bodies.

Yeosang jerked his chin angrily to motion to Mingi to get away from the body. "Staff'll clean it up. Don't worry about it. You're un-immersing me, Mingi!"

"You need some time, San?" Yunho asked, eyebrows lifted inwards.

San had not let go of your hand still. "You wanna go to the town? Better make sure that's all of the outlaws. Otherwise the sheriff won't give us a reward."

"But!" Mingi protested.

"Take the hint, Mingi, geez." Hongjoong clapped Mingi on the shoulder. "We'll be in town, San. Come find us when you're done."

You lead the way back to your house. You worked in silence as you prepared a meal for the two of you. The sun was setting and you had to light a fire. Instead, San took care of it and it made your heart ache. The simple act of someone doing a chore for you was not something you had experienced in a long time.

After the meal, you began to think of the evening and how it might pan out. San was easy on the eyes and you can’t say you didn’t contemplate taking him to your bed. It wasn’t so much the gratitude of him saving you, but more so, you were just lonely. Forming a new memory that didn’t have anything to do with your family would be nice as well.

“I hope the bed is to your liking,” You shouted as you made it from your room. “I’ll just replace the sheets and then--”

“No!” San shouted, clearing his voice when it cracked. “No no, you don’t need to offer me the bed. I’ll just--sleep in front of the fire. Your floor is softer than the hard packed earth outside at least.”

San curled up in front of the fireplace, pulling his jacket off and using it as a pillow. His broad shoulders practically blotted out the firelight.

Well that wouldn’t do. You began to unbutton your blouse. “Always such a gentleman,” You cooed.

San sat up all of a sudden, eyes wide. “What did you say?”

“You helped me up earlier.” You finished unbuttoning your blouse. “I’m all alone in this world right now, Cowboy. My heart is cold as ice. I can’t care anymore about anyone. My father, my mother, my brother, they’re all dead. Maybe you could warm it up for me?”

You weren’t a virgin. Your first time was with Soobin, the bank manager’s son. He had climbed on top of you in his bed, when his mother was out at a friend’s house and his father was working late. Only a few pumps later, however, and he was done. You thought that sex wasn’t all that cracked up to be. How was it that others paid for this service?

With that thought in mind, you decided to try again. You took some earnings your father had insisted on giving you after a profitable year selling horses you had helped train and bring up, and you had gone to the whorehouse. You paid for the services of Yeonjun, who spent an entire evening teaching you the pleasures of lying with another man. Yeonjun had you cursing your weakness for shy men when you could have been experiencing so much more between your legs.

San stared up at you, watching as you discarded your blouse. “You don’t know what you’re offering.”

You knelt down to his level, smoothing your skirts over your bottom instinctively. You cupped his face. “I wanna share the night with you, San.” Your eyes traveled over the planes of his handsome face. “Something inside of me wants to give my all to you. I feel like I can trust you with everything, even my cold, dead heart.”

Even with his soft protests, his lips opened slightly so that you could kiss him. It was gentle and warm and soft and it matched him somehow. Your hands descended to those broad shoulders you had been admiring earlier. The pads of your fingers followed the line of his vest, slipping over his collarbones and tracing the v that framed his chest. Your fingers found the first button but San’s hands stopped you. “Wait.” He broke the kiss.

“San,” You said gently.

“I brought you the flower you wanted to see. It’s dried and flat but it’s the best I could do.” San pulled out a lovely pink flower that looked too fragile for the harsh world of the west. “Hibiscus, remember?”

“I--” Wasn’t this the first time meeting this cowboy? Had you met San before? Surely you would have remembered such a gentle cowboy. They were rare in this world, that hardened everyone.

You shook your head, “I’m sorry…”

San smiled. It was a bright smile but his eyes brimmed with tears. “It’s okay. I’ll remember enough for the two of us.”

You grabbed your head, another headache threatening to take you out of consciousness.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll stop. I’ll just try to enjoy our time. I won’t bring up our past again. I don’t want to see you in pain.” When you opened your eyes, tears were streaming down San’s face and he was clutching his heart.

“What’s wrong, Cowboy?” You reached over and wiped away his tears. “Maybe I can fix your heart too. Let’s heal each other.”

You leaned in and kissed his cheekbones as new tears fell. You could taste the salt on your tongue. You finished unbuttoning his vest and ran an appreciative hand down the planes of his stomach. He felt like carved marble but somehow living. You pulled up your skirts and straddled him in front of the fireplace.

“Fill me up,” You murmured, “Make my heart warm again.”

San’s hands smoothed up your thighs, warm and surprisingly soft for a cowboy. “You know I can’t say no to you, even like this.”

“Then don’t say no to me.” You smiled impishly, and fished for his cock in the confines of his pants. It wasn’t hard to find.

San moaned, his back arching into your touch. You swiveled your hips, running your outer lips along his cock. Your slickness covered his cock as his cockhead nudged your sensitive nub, making you moan in return as well.

San's nails dug into your skin, tongue licking his lower lip. "You always.. tease me!"

"Isn’t that what you want?” You crept your hands up his stomach and then gently raked your nails down the skin there.

“Please!” San sat up, locking his arms behind your back. “Take me,” he whispered against your lips, “Make me yours again.”

You swiftly raised his cock and your body, only to sink down on his cock, taking him inch by sweet inch. It felt good to be stretched out like this. San was girthy and it gave you a new-found pleasure to take him all inside of you.

When you looked back at San, he was sucking down on his bottom lip, his eyes hooded and staring at you. This was all up to you, you could feel that in his gaze. He'd take whatever you gave him.

You raised your body, lifting it up until San was barely still within you and then swiftly descended. San’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and that was how you decided on the pace. Slowly unsheathing him within you and then a quick push back inwards. Your thighs, used to riding horses, had no problem with the pace and you were glad for it.

"Sweet--sweetheart!" San groaned.

"It's--?" You pressed your lips inward, "It's good?"

"You have no goddamn idea," San groaned again.

"I want it to be good for you," You found yourself saying.

San’s hands found your waist and tightened, thrusting up into you. Your hands clung to his upper arms, a cry leaving your lips. "You're always good for me, Sweetheart. Made just right for me, you are. A heart of gold and a spine of steel. You're perfect for me."

You smiled. "Feels pretty perfect, doesn't it?"

The two of you came in a crescendo of intense shouts. San’s hair clung to his face, sweat drenching his face and you panting because of the ride. “That was…”

San smiled up at you and finished your sentence, “...out of this world.”

You got up and offered him a hand. “Now come to bed.”

You fell asleep to San’s heart beating against your eardrum, your cheek pressed up against his chest. His arms were wrapped around you so tightly, as if he thought you’d steal away during the night. Your mother did always warn you that if you gave your body away, men became possessive, but this didn’t seem like that. It seemed like San never wanted to let you go.

Except… Come morning, there was no San and his horse was gone. All that you had to remind yourself of him was the pressed, dried flower that he said was for you. You rode hard to town but the sheriff said the group of men had already claimed their bounty and had moved on to hunt down other outlaws and hooligans.

For a chance, one night spent encounter, your heart hurt harder than it should have. You blamed it on the loneliness that permeated the horse ranch since everyone you loved was gone.

🐎 🐎 🐎

“You sure you wanna leave without saying goodbye?” Yunho wondered as their horses plodded out of the town.

San pulled his hat down over his eyes. “I won’t be able to say goodbye if she’s awake. Besides,” San pushed off his grief with a joke, “I already checked. They won’t let me live here.”

Yeosang and Hongjoong exchanged a look of pity. “So what are you going to do?” Hongjoong asked. Even Mingi was interested in the answer.

“I’ll find a way to save her. One day. Take her out of this damn place. She deserves better,” San mumbled.

“But… San… she’s just a host… just an android…” Yeosang mentioned.

The heat and anger in San’s eyes when he pushed up his hat made Yeosang shrink back into his saddle. “That’s where you’re wrong, Yeosang. She’s her own being, human or not. She has feelings and memories. They just wipe it from her when it’s convenient. Someday these ‘droids are going to realize that they’re more than just humans play toys. Then the real story will begin.”

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