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phoenix-downer · 3 months

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Touch Cravings Chapter 1

~1400 words. Set post-KH3. Terraqua, Aqua and Ven friendship, and background Sora/Kairi. Grief, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Touch Starvation, Friendship, Romance.

Summary: Aqua is dealing with the effects of her time in the realm of darkness and then the grief of losing Sora. Thankfully, she has Ven and Terra to help her get through this chapter of her life.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

(Companion piece to Touch Hunger [Chapter 1 | Chapter 2]).

The events of the Keyblade Graveyard haunted Aqua. When that Demon Tide had come after them, she had frozen up like a coward. Locked in the past, stuck in a memory. It was like all those Heartless were her phantom selves, taunting her, tormenting her, reminding her of all those years she’d been stuck alone in the realm of darkness and her inability to do anything about it.

They all should’ve died that day, but Sora and Kairi had come to the rescue. Kairi by stubbornly refusing to let go and lighting Sora’s way, and Sora by tracking down every single one of their hearts until he reached her. Together they’d brought everyone back. And then Terra had finally broken free of Xehanort not long after. Hugging him and Ven again had felt so wonderful that the harrowing experiences of that day faded slightly.

Until they’d lost Sora. The price he’d paid to rescue them, to rescue Kairi…to go against what fate had ordained…he’d settled the debt with his own life.

Aqua sighed and curled in on herself. That brave, kind boy, risking everything to save her and Terra and Ven…she sometimes asked herself why he’d done it. She could still see his big bright smile in her mind’s eye, still picture the hand he’d offered to lift her up out of the water, out of the darkness and into the realm of light again. It didn’t feel like he was really gone. It had happened so suddenly. One moment he was sitting on the paopu tree on Destiny Islands, real as can be. The next he’d simply vanished.

Aqua still couldn’t get Kairi’s cries out of her mind, and it had already been a week. Everyone’s tear-streaked faces would forever be etched in her mind and heart too. Some things you just didn’t forget.

The other things you did. Time seemed to flow differently, much like in the realm of darkness, and Aqua felt like she was in a strange fog. The days blended into each other, and though Terra and Ven were here, she felt distant from them. They all grieved differently. Ven cried a lot, Terra withdrew, and she ruminated constantly. On and on and on, over and over again, wondering what she could’ve done differently.

There was a knock on her door. She sat up, the blanket falling off of her, the chilly night air making her shiver.

“Come in,” she said, and a moment later, she was greeted by Ven’s hollow expression and red, puffy face.

“Need a hug?” he asked softly.

“I think you do, Ven,” she said softly, holding her arms out. “And yeah, I think I do too.”

They had an agreement: Ven would give her as many hugs as her heart desired. He’d figured out pretty quickly how starved she was for human contact after all that time spent alone in the realm of darkness.

If only Terra would offer hugs like that. At first he had. At first he’d been overjoyed to be reunited with her and Ven and had given them so many hugs it made her heart sing. But then Sora had disappeared, and she wanted to give him his space as he grieved. For the years lost, for everything he’d been powerless to prevent, for what she and Ven had gone through. For Master Eraqus’s final goodbye. And for Sora’s cruel fate.

The three of them had already made plans to search for Sora, but picking up the pieces was still tough. So she gave Ven a hug, and the ache in her heart and the years of loneliness faded a little. No matter how many affectionate touches she got from friends, it felt like she was still paying back a debt to herself she hadn’t realized she’d owed.

She wondered if she’d ever feel “normal” about touch again.

“I can’t sleep,” Ven admitted. The dark circles under his eyes were proof enough, but she was glad he was being honest with her. Irony of ironies that the boy who had spent so much of his life in slumber was now struggling to sleep.

“I’ve heard it’s common to either not be able to sleep or to sleep too much when you’re grieving,” she said, gently ruffling his hair.

“I wish I got the sleeping too much version of this grieving stuff then,” he muttered. “Then I could escape in my dreams for a little while at least.”

“My dreams aren’t much better,” she told him sadly. “And then I wake up and I remember all over again that Sora’s gone. It’s like waking up in a world I don’t want to be in.”

Master Eraqus’s passing was heartbreaking, but he’d lived a good, full life, and Aqua had had a decade to come to terms with it. She’d gotten to say goodbye, too. But Sora? There was nothing she could rationalize about his disappearance. There was no closure. He was young and had had his life cut short due to the machinations of a cruel, selfish old man.

“Yeah, me too,” Ven said. “He saved us all. But at what cost?” He pulled away a little to search her face, as if she might have the answers. But she didn’t have the answers. How did you bring someone back who hadn’t died a normal death but had been completely banished from this entire realm?

“We’ll just have to save him too,” she told Ven, because it was the right thing to tell him. “That’s how we’ll make it up to him.”

She didn’t see how else they could do it. Maybe the collective strength of their hearts would be enough to save him. His heart had been enough to save all of them, after all. Granted, that heart was strengthened by all the connections he’d made, but she and Terra and Ven and all his other friends were those connections. They were his living, breathing legacy. Surely that counted for something.

“Yeah,” Ven replied. “It’s the least we can do.”

She and Ven comforted each other for a while after that, talking about what had happened and where they might find Sora. Ven went to bed a few hours later, exhausted at long last, and she couldn’t help the queasy, panicked feeling that rose in her gut as he closed the door behind him.

Alone. She’d spent so much time alone. Terra and Ven’s backs were always to her. They were always walking away, always leaving her behind. She could reach and reach for them all she wanted, but they wouldn’t turn around and grab her hand. The one person who had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the darkness was gone. He was in a pit of despair of his own now that no one could reach. Their savior needed saving, and she could only imagine how scared and lonely he must be. Cut off from everyone and everything he knew and loved.

She couldn’t help herself. Hot tears stung her eyes and wove sticky trails down her cheeks. For Sora and for herself. Sora deserved all her tears, but crying for herself was completely selfish. Irrational. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got with herself. Why was she crying? Terra and Ven were still here in the castle with her. They hadn’t left her behind and hadn’t willingly abandoned her to the realm of darkness for all those years. And yet she couldn’t help but feel completely and utterly isolated and alone.

“Stop that, Aqua,” she muttered, scolding herself. “You’re not alone. You’re back here in the realm of light with your friends. Sora’s the one you should be crying for, not you. You don’t deserve any tears. If you hadn’t frozen up in the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora wouldn’t have had to rescue everyone, and if he hadn’t had to rescue everyone, then saving Kairi later on wouldn’t have killed him.” She scowled angrily at the teddy bear holding a red heart that Terra had gotten her to make up for being such a downer about her Keyblade Master ceremony.

“Some Keyblade Master I am,” she told it. “I’m nothing but a failure. A weakling.”

“I disagree,” came a soft, low voice from the direction of the doorway. She squeaked and dropped the teddy bear. Ven must not have closed the door all the way, because she could make out someone else standing in the doorway.

“Terra?”

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A/N: I posted Touch Hunger a little over two years ago, and at the time a guest commenter said I should write a companion touch starvation fic about Aqua. Well, that stayed in my head ever since, and I finally found the time and spurt of inspiration to write it. The next chapter will be posted next Friday. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

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vibraniumwing · 3 years

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soft.

a bucky barnes x fem!reader wherein the reader comes home to see the super soldier with a toddler tucked in his lap.

WARNING: none! (all mistakes within the story are mine)

A/N: soft and domestic (and clingy) bucky, anyone? i’ve written this with tfaws bucky in mind after episode five where he was on the couch and smiled after seeing sam’s nephews. so yes now i present to you bucky with a child bcs we need that content, ,, good bYe for i shall be drowning in my own feels.

---

“Do you really have to go, doll?” Bucky asked, watching you by the frame of your shared bedroom door with his hands crossed against his chest. A heavy sigh heaving from his lips as his eyes observed you pick out a shirt to wear, hands grasping on his black shirt and opted to wear that; a small smile formed on his lips as you slipped into the clothing piece, adoring how big it looks on you.

You turned to him with your hand on your waist, an eyebrow raised, “Unless you want to starve for a whole month then fine I won’t go to the grocery” you say teasingly, checking yourself out in the mirror before walking up to him, arms linking around his neck loosely; his hands circling around your waist in a protective manner as he pulls you into him. “I won’t be gone for the whole day, James.”

He groaned softly, wanting nothing more than to accompany you but seeing that you were going with your mother, he opted out. “You always say that then be gone for the whole afternoon.” he grumbles in between the kisses he gives you. “You and your mom take so much time at the grocery store.”

You threw your head back and laughed, finding his small whiny state adorable. You retract your arms from behind his neck and cupped the sides of his face, squishing his cheeks gently. “You sound like a child, Buck. I promise I won’t be long. Besides, you have Alpine to keep you company.” you motion your head to the sleeping cat on the bed.

“Now please let me go so I can leave now and be back sooner.” you tell him, pressing one final kiss to his lips before ducking out of his embrace, making your way to the front door and grabbing your car keys before turning back to see him standing behind you with a small pout on his lips (albeit he would never admit to doing such an act),

You grinned and walked up to him, reaching up to press a small kiss on his lips. “Sometimes it's hard to believe you’re this big scary dude that can take twenty men down in a course of ten minutes when all I see is this big baby.” you tease, a hand snaking up to the back of his head to play with the ends of his hair softly.

“Doll wait before you go” Bucky starts off, holding onto you, cheeks lightly flushed as he hesitated with his words, clearing his throat lightly before looking away, “Can you set up that damn Netflix thing on the TV before you leave?”

Your gaze on him softened even more and nodded, leading him to the living room and set the whole thing up for him, handing him the remote right after. “I’m guessing you can manage now?” he smiled shyly, the area around his eyes crinkling as he nodded. “Yeah, I will. Thanks, doll.”

“I’ll be back later, I love you, Buck!” You bid him a goodbye, looking back at him from the door and gave him a small wave, the male waving back before focusing on the TV, searching for that one movie you suggested he watch.

“What was that movie called again? RIght, The Breakfast Club”

---

Not even half-way through the movie, Bucky had somehow fallen asleep on the couch, not finding the first few minutes of the film entertaining. He somehow fell deep into slumber that he didn’t even notice the front door of the house opening until he felt something being placed on his stomach.

He stirred awake and the first thing his blurry vision could make out is the outline of a toddler sitting on him. “Hey James, I’m leaving Hugo with you and Y/N for the weekend. Our babysitter cancelled out last minute and I’ve been trying to call my sister but she hasn’t picked up any calls.” Damian, your younger brother said in a rush, putting down your nephew’s baby bag on the coffee table. “Thanks James, we owe you one.”

But before Bucky could get a say in any of this, Damian was already out the door and the sound of a car pulling away was followed. Barely half-awake, he stared at the tyke who was staring right back at him with his innocent E/C doe eyes. “What do I do with you?”

He takes Hugo in his arms as he sits up, placing him on his lap, his metal arm reaching over to pause television. “Y/N’s better at this than I am.” he mumbles, watching the child look around the room before he started to fidget on the larger male’s lap, wanting to roam around.

Bucky sighs, “Now why won’t Y/N answer her calls?” he asks the tiny human who was still staring up at him. He reaches over to grab his phone and dials your number, only to hear it ring from the other side of the house, inside your room. He dropped the call and placed his phone inside his pocket, now wondering what he could do to keep the small person alive.

“Usually Y/N deals with you.” He says, watching the small child struggle on his lap, clearly wanting to get down. Bucky finally gets what Hugo wanted to do and sets him down on the carpeted floor, watching the toddler (wobbly) walk around the space freely.

Seeing that the child was doing alright after finding a small fixation with Alpine who was now resting near the couch, he returned his attention back to the TV to resume watching the movie. His attention split in half as he continued to glance back at the kid who was now playing with the toys you had brought him and kept at in a basket in the corner of the living room where you deemed it “Hugo’s Area”

Bucky was finally getting into the film, entertainment written all over his face at the sight of the students dancing around the library until it morphed into one of concern when a small bonk followed by a loud cry resonated the room making him look over at Hugo who was already flushed from crying.

He paused the movie again and rushed over to Hugo’s side, taking the small boy in his arms, cradling him on his lap as he tried to calm him down. “Now kid, don’t cry on me. C’mon” he mumbled, raising him up lightly to look at his forehead as he searched for any wounds, relieved to find none.

“C’mon James, what would Y/N do…” He said to himself, standing up as he moved around and cradled the crying child, trying to remember what you would do whenever he has meltdowns like this.

“Oh god, right!” Bucky exclaimed as he remembered, quickly going to the couch and sat down, placing Hugo on his lap as he gently placed his vibranium hand on the back of his head and his flesh one cupping the smaller one’s cheek, wiping the tears that glistened on his smooth skin.

Seeing how the toddler was starting to calm down, he carefully spoke, “Now you gotta work with me, little one.” Bucky then proceeded to blow softly on his face, remembering how you would do that when Hugo was having a fit. “Now can you do that for me as well?” He asked, encouraging the child with a small smile.

Once he felt the kid do the same thing, he repeated the steps a few more times until he was completely calm, letting the child snuggle up against his chest, feeling how he would occasionally let out a small shuddering sob from time to time, making Bucky laugh at the adorable action. “Now what do you want to do?” he gently asked, the cold surface of his metal hand that caressed the child’s back making small bubbles of laughter elicit from the baby.

“Bucky wead [ read ] pwease?” was all that left the two-year old’s mouth, causing a small surprise from the older. Hugo then pushed himself off from Bucky’s chest and turned to his small corner of the room, raising his small arm and pointing his even smaller finger towards the bookshelf that was filled to the brim with story books.

A chuckle left the soldier’s lips, “Alright then, little dude. Go take your pick.” he then proceeded to let him down and watch as the toddler walked his way towards the array of books and picked out one, running back towards him with a big smile.

“Alright big guy, what do you have for me?” Bucky asked, taking the tyke in his arms once again, taking the book from Hugo’s hands. He let out a (very) fake gasp of excitement which made the toddler laugh out loud as his reaction, making small little wiggles of his own eagerness for the book.

Bucky shifted in his seat a little to be more comfortable, letting Hugo snuggle up to him as he opened the book and started to read, “Llama Llama, red pajama, reads a story with his mama.”

---

You were elated to finally come back home and fall into your lover’s arms from a long day of errands with your mom. After the Target trip with your mom, you had to drive her back home and help her with her own groceries and pack up everything with her over at your childhood home一 with an addition of having a few serious talks with her about your future.

“Seriously, Y/N. When are you going to give me a grandchild?” Your mother poked your sides as you helped her bring in the bags filled with her stuff. Ever since Damian introduced Hugo to the family, she’d been on your heels about when you and Bucky would bring one to them as well; admittedly you and him had been in a much longer relationship than Damian and his wife which surprises everyone even more.

You shrugged, rolling your eyes in a playful manner. “I don’t know, mom. I think I’m content being with Bucky for now.” you answered truthfully, setting the items on the kitchen island and turned to her, “Besides, we have Alpine! Our cat!”

This made your mother sigh, laughing softly at your antics. “I know my sweet girl, but I’m just so excited to see a little you or James run around with Hugo.” Her answer causes your heart to swell at the thought of starting a family with him some day; conversations like this with him are normal but are always caught in a fleeting moment so you were never certain about his opinions on the matter.

“Well you just have to wait and see, ma.”

Taking the bags in your hand, you walked over to the door and opened it with ease, expecting to see Bucky waiting for you on the other side only to be greeted by none. Your eyebrows were furrowed as you carefully stepped inside, assuming he had fallen asleep as he waited for you until you heard his quiet voice resonating through the living room. “Little llama, don’t you know? Mama llama loves you so”

You peeked at the source of the sound and what you saw made you just melt on the spot. Bucky had Hugo on his lap, your nephew playing with the thumb of his artificial arm as he listened to the story that he was barely paying attention to as he was already falling asleep.

Not wanting to interrupt the moment, you graced on over to the kitchen in silence and arranged everything as quiet as you can. The smile on your face growing bigger at the thought of how much of a good father Bucky could be; the sight of him with your nephew caused a thousand butterflies to dance around in your stomach freely.

“You’re back, doll?” Bucky’s quiet voice made you jump, head whipping to his direction where he stood with Hugo fast asleep in his arms.

You nod and walk towards him, offering to take him from his arms and Bucky disagreed, pulling away from your attempts. “Hugo’s with me, I’ll take him to bed and I’ll help you finish out here, alright?”

Chuckling softly, you agree and reach up to place a quick kiss on your nephew’s forehead, moving aside so Bucky can place him down inside your room.

You were folding up the plastic bags when you felt a pair of arms sneak up and circle your waist, capturing you in a back hug. Your back was flat against his chest, the warmth from his body making you relax in his arms. Turning around, you let your arms snake up around his neck, your hands playing with the ends of his hair, his physique visibly loosening up. “So your brother came here earlier and said you weren’t picking up your calls.”

“I forgot my phone, i know.” you told him, throwing your head back slightly to let out a soft groan of annoyance at yourself before looking back at him. You met his gaze and his eyes were filled with adoration and love with a spark of something you can’t seem to pinpoint. “What’s going through that head of yours, James?”

He hummed softly, pressing a quick kiss to your lips, “I was just thinking of how I want to have a family of my own with you.” he answered truthfully, not finding anything shameful in admitting his thoughts. “The afternoon I spent with Hugo made me realize I want that for us as well.” his words were soft and dripping with enthusiasm at the thought of being with you for the rest of your days.

This made your cheeks flush lightly, a happy smile resting on your lips as you were already in agreement of his words, “I’ve been thinking the exact same thing, Bucky. I can’t wait to have our own little minion running around the house.” you admitted, this time making Bucky smile even wider than yours, happy that you had the same thought.

“Also, not to brag but I think I’m his favourite now.” Bucky said out of nowhere, grabbing the small carton of chocolate milk from behind you and letting you go, opening the drink and chugging it down in one go.

You rolled your eyes at his words, playfully flipping him off as you sauntered into the pantry where you were arranging your stock of goods. “I highly doubt that, he loves me way more.”

“That’s what you think but Hugo made me read his favourite book to him so now I’m his favourite. He even said it himself.”

“Oh no he didn’t!”

---

TAGLIST: @lunalovecroft @anchoeritic @harrysweasleys @https-bvcky @luana @weasleytwins-41 @angelsgrxzer

for those whose usernames are in bold, it means i cannot tag you for some reason. join my taglist! it's linked in the masterlist <3

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes fics #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes one shot #marvel #mcu #marvel x reader

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peachy-rambles · 3 years

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Pirate Techno and ocean god philza, where philza gets hopelessly endeared to this terrifying pirate because he doesn’t hunt magic creatures or disrespect the ocean like most pirates. While Techno is not understanding why the ocean is always smooth for him or why most dangerous sea creatures leave him alone

Anon, did you read my mind because only a few hours before you sent this, I was gearing up and forming thoughts about a pirate AU!

Techno is one of the most feared pirates roaming the seas. He's fucking massive, towering over everyone and is frankly very terrifying. He's scruffy (as pirates are), with a beard and a long mane of pink hair. He also wears an eyepatch due to one of his eyes not working/missing and has a massive scar on that side of his face going over his hidden eye. No ones ever seen him with his eyepatch off so they don't know if he's missing an eye or it just doesn't work, and they don't know how he received the scar (there's lots of rumors and stories, but Techno never comments or gives hints). He seems mostly human (besides his height, which no human could ever achieve that height), but he has tusks potruding from his mouth that hint at his non-human heritage.

(He's a bear, ok? He is not a twink in the slightest, he's a massive fucking bear pirate)

Techno is an incredibly impressive fighter, capable of dual weilding swords (as well as being able to dual weild a sword and a pistol, although he favors swords more), and is merciless, earning him the nickname "the Blade". It's said that you never want to meet the Blade in battle, not if you don't want to die a bloody death.

Many assume that because of his great reputation, Techno is the captain of the ship that he sails on, but he isn't. The Captain of the ship is in fact a pirate named Puffy and Techno is her First Mate.

They work well together, Techno having joined Puffy's crew years ago under mysterious circumstances. He has great knowledge of the sea, knows the best places to sail and what places to avoid, not to mention owns countless stories and old books/maps from explorers past (including info on buried treasure they once hid away). Again, no one knows how or why Techno joined and why he's so knowledgeable, he's just a giant mystery. Literally.

With all the mystery surrounding Techno and his terrifying appearance/reputation, people would be shocked to learn that Techno actually has quite the gentle soul. He is quiet and shy, usually standing in the back of the crowd and observing. He respects the ocean and all of it's creatures, including the magical ones. He'll go out of his way to help baby sea turtles make their way to the ocean after just hatching on a beach, or will ignore the familiar flash of a mermaid's tail in the water (despite knowing a live mermaid could sell at a very hefty price).

He doesn't let others see this side of himself, not even Puffy or their crew, and keeps up the facade of the mysterious terrifying Blade.

One night, Puffy and their crew come across another pirate ship and a battle breaks out. It's just their luck that a massive storm hits at the same time, and it quickly turns into a fight for survival.

Somewhere in the chaos of it all, Techno is knocked off the ship and falls into the dark ocean depths.

It isn't until after Puffy and her crew manage to make a hasty retreat from the other ship, attempting to find smoother waters, that they realize Techno is missing. They search long and hard, but they're never able to find him and assume he's dead.

But he's not.

Techno is, somehow, alive and wakes up on the beach of what he assumes is a deserted island. He immediately sets the work, making himself a little shelter by a group of trees and exploring the island for food and fresh water.

He is unsuccessful and he goes to bed hungry very paranoid The entire night he stays awake, unable to fall asleep because he can't help but feel like he's being watched the entire time.

The next day, he goes out searching for food and water again, but fails. He has no such luck the third day and he is getting desperate because he knows he needs to find fresh water soon.

The fourth day when he wakes up, he is startled to see a pile of fresh fruit and a glass bottle with what he assumes is water sitting innocently next to him in his shelter.

Techno comes to the natural conclusion that he is not alone on this island and someone has been watching him, and for some reason left him food. Techno considers the fact that maybe it's poisoned, but he hasn't eaten or drunk in days and he knows he needs it. He eats the food and drinks the water, and it's the best thing he's ever tasted (SO much better than the food they ate on the ship).

He doesn't die, or feel sick afterwards, so that's a plus.

With newfound energy, he goes explorint that day and is finally able to find a small river with fresh water on the island, along with some native fruits.

Several days pass, and Techno continues building on his shelter and makes some attempts at fishing, but he isn't exactly the best.

When he wakes up to a huge pile of fish the very next day, he's somehow not too surprised.

This continues for a while, Techno searching the island and exploring more and more each day. One time, after Techno attempted (and failed) to hunt down a wild hog, he walked back to his shelter only to find the very same hog in front of it, dead.

Techno examines the animal, and realizes very quickly that a human didn't take it down. No, a creature or a monster must have, judging from the bitemarks on the back of the hog's neck.

Techno is now very concerned as to who or what exactly was also on this island with him.

He knows building a raft would not be a good idea, that he's most likely drown or starve at sea if he made his out there on a little raft. It was better to stay on the island, where there was food and water, and hope someone found him. In the meantime, he started to create weapons - simple things like small knives and spears.

Whatever was on this island, if it decided to hunt Techno down, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

After completing the spear he made and lamenting on how he missed his swords one night, old rusted sword appears in his shelter the very next day. Perhaps once it had been beautiful, but now it was dull and fairly useless to him.

Techno is just completely confused at this point and maybe loses his mind a little bit.

He begins talking to himself out loud, speaking about how he misses human contact and would like to just have someone to talk to about all of this.

He does not at all expect a voice to answer him back.

"You can talk to me, if you want."

Techno quickly grabs his spear and keeps it held tightly in his hands, "Whose there?"

He glances around, trying to find the source of the voice but all he sees is the beach and the trees from the forest.

"Where are you? Come out!" he demands.

".....I would prefer not to."

'Prefer not to?' Techno mouths to himself before letting out a growl, "Why not?"

There was only silence, until eventually the voice said in a much quieter tone, "...I'm shy."

Techno is dumbfounded and can only let out a, "Heh?"

He tries getting more answers from the voice, but it doesn't respond, whoever it was seemingly gone.

Techno doesn't sleep that night, wondering if any of that had been real or simply all in his head.

The next day, he doesn't leave his shelter and instead merely sits there, waiting.

Until, eventually towards the end of the day...

"....You didn't go out today."

Techno glances around, but again he sees nothing but beach and trees. Not a single person in sight.

"Nope, I didn't," he says with a sigh.

"Why not?" the voice asks.

"I was waiting for you," Techno responds back simply.

".........Oh."

Techno waits a few moments for the voice to speak more, but when it doesn't, Techno decides to ask a question.

"Are you the one who gave me the food and water?"

"Yes."

"And hunted the boar?"

"Yep! A big strong man like you needs lots of meat to survive, right?"

Techno pauses, unsure how to process that statment before clearing his throat and asking, "You gave me the sword as well?"

"I did! Did you like it? I tried to find the best one in my collection!"

"It was rusted and dull, but I appreciate it, I guess," Techno admits.

"My collection" so whoever this was had a collection....whatevet that meant.

"Oh. I could-I could...give you another sword if you like! I know how much you like your swords!"

"....What do you mean by that?" Techno asks and let's out a sigh when there's no reply.

When he wakes up the next morning, he indeeds find a sword. It's not the best, but it isn't dull and seems to be well taken care of, so there's that at least.

"Thank you," he says outloud and is surpised when he hears a quiet, "You're welcome," in response.

Days continue on (Techno figures he's been on this island for about a few months). Most days, Techno finds himself talking to the voice. It never stays for very long, but it's....friendly, at least.

"Are you real?" Techno asks one day, lying down next to his shelter and looking up into the clear light blue sky.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm real," the voice replies, letting out a quiet chuckle (it's light and sweet, the sound falling sootbingly onto Techno's ears)

"Well, I can't see you, for one," Techno says, "For all I know, you could just be a figment of my imagination."

"I'm real," the voice says, their voice clear and strangely assuring.

"Then, could I see you?" Techno asks.

".....I don't know."

The voice is silent the rest of that day. As well as the day afterwards, and the day after that. A whole week passes by before Techno hears the voice again.

"I don't want to scare you," it admits.

"Why, do you look scary?" Techno asks. He's working on another spear (his last one broke the night before) and casually listens as the voice speaks.

"To most, yes."

"You gonna elaborate on that or just keep being mysterious?"

Silence.

Techno sighs, "Mysterious it is then."

The voice continues to talk to Techno once a day, but it doesn't go back to the subject of it's appearance or showing itself to Techno. Techno doesn't push either. Instead, they just casually converse, the voice asking what Techno is doing that day and Techno replying.

Sometimes, Techno will talk about his and Puffy's crew, some adventures they went on and the treasure they found or silly mishaps that happened to them.

Sometimes, the voice brings Techno their own treasures from their "collection" - pieces of gold, old enchanted books, jewelry and sometimes just random things from the ocean like a pretty shell or rock.

Techno appreciates it all and grows a whole little pile or treasure in his shelter.

And sometimes, when they're talking, Techno will catch a glimpse of....something hiding behind a nearby tree or rock in the forest - a flash of gold here or the very tip of a swishing tail there.

Whatever it was, it wasn't human.

Techno tried not to worry too much about that and never mentioned anything to the voice, worried he might scare them off again by mentioning their appearance.

One night, when Techno is just beginning to drip off to sleep, the voice appears for the second time in the same day.

"I like you, Techno," the voice says, "A lot. Do you-do you like me?"

Techno thinks the question over before nodding, "I think so, yeah. I mean, I don't know you that well and you're kinda just a voice, and I don't know if you're real or not, but yeah you seem nice."

The voice laughs, seemingly endeared by Techno's words. "That's good, I'm glad. Good night, Techno."

"Good night."

The next morning, Techno wakes up and finds the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen laying there next to him, watching him warily with bright blue eyes.

They have long blond hair with a crown seemingly made out of coral atop their head. Massive golden wings potrude from their back, completely smooth and sparkling in the early morning light, looking as if seemingly made of silk.

Then there was the tail.

The creature has no legs and instead has a long thick fish tail of some kind, beginning at the bottom of their torso and unable to fit completely in Techno's shelter, extending out into the beach outside.

"....Hi, Techno," the creature says, in the voice that Techno had become so familiar with in the last few months.

"Hey," Techno says and reaches out, placing his hand on the side of the creature's face, cupping their face gently in the palm of his hand, "You're a whole lot prettier than I imagined."

The creature flushes a pretty pink color, almost matching the coral it wears atop of their head.

Techno suddenly realizes how close their faces are to each other and the creature seems to realize it too before they move closer, placing their lips on Techno's in a kiss.

Techno kisses back, pulling the creature closer to them and enjoying the little pleased chirps they make as he kisses them.

They eventually seperate, Techno lying back down and the creature placing their head on Techno's chest, seemingly content to lay there in Techno's arms.

"I'm Philza, by the way," the creature says.

"Philza. That's a nice name-" Techno starts to say before his eyes widen and he remembers where he's heard that name before and who exactly it belonged to.

Philza.

Philza, the ancient ocean deity that supposedly ruled the seas and was the protector of all the creatures who lived in it, who called it home. Philza, who was said to be a terrifying monster and could strike fear into the bravest men, who devoured the hearts of men and could sink even the sturdiest of boats in the blink of an eye.

Philza, whose name had been forgotten and lost for centuries, was nothing more than an old legend - a myth.

Except, apparently not because Philza was currently curled up on Techno's chest, pleased chirps escaping him as he reached out to place his hand in Techno's, intertwining their fingers.

Philza, an ancient and all-powerful deity...and Techno had just fucking made out with him.

#techza #technophil #asks #peachy said a thing #peachy fic prompts #peachy wrote a thing #bear techno #what's the point of a pirate au if you don't make him a massive scruffy bear #pirate au

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pyreo · 3 years

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Loreposting about Abaddon

Abaddon doesn’t get a lot of attention. As a deposed god he doesn’t seem relevant to the Guild Wars timeline after Nightfall. But I keep thinking about him because Abaddon is probably the most influential character Tyria ever had.

Let’s just go over where he appears in-game if you start off in GW2. Everyone knows the six human gods. They’re in statues, temples, personal shrines everywhere. The base game story makes you detour through a sunken temple dedicated to Abaddon, while the Orrian temples to the other five gods are still intact on the surface. This is not by chance. It’s also nudging you to notice that there are no Orrian temples to Kormir, because she replaced Abaddon only two centuries ago. This is reflected again later on in Siren’s Landing on the other side of Orr, where the Five, and Abaddon, each have a personal reliquary, and Abaddon’s is central, connected to all the others, and still intact.

Building on that refresher on human divinity, in Path of Fire you visit the actual place Abaddon was defeated by the other Five gods and pushed into a side dimension to keep him out of the world.

And when you visit the archives of the Durmand Priory, they have an imposing Abaddon statue towering over the stairs. Other than being reflected in three major environments, he doesn’t have a role in the plot. BUT.

As Kormir explains to you, the weakness of the human gods is that their excess of power keeps fucking up the world. The Desolation, a map that covers only a part of the sulfur desert, is completely uninhabitable because Abaddon was destroyed there. This happened because Abaddon, who was actually the most powerful of the Six and the leader of the group, wanted humans to share in the gift of magic. He was the god of knowledge, after all. This proved disastrous and the other gods reduced and compartmentalised the magic, and Abaddon went on a whole attempt to overthrow them and become one, single god of all.

The destruction of Abaddon’s temples and relics was intentional. He was wiped from memory. The pantheon was called The Five until Nightfall, wherein the existence of Abaddon was revealed as he tried to drag himself back into the mortal plane. As a god his spheres of power were water and knowledge. Erasing knowledge of him was what made him powerless. (Interestingly, the Priory’s special collections contains the Scroll of the Five True Gods, an ancient record of what the human gods knew about the Elder Dragons, but one dragon is missing - the water dragon, who like Abaddon, has a damaged and erased history. The six Elder Dragons and six human gods have many respective connections.)

When he lived, Abaddon’s followers were the Margonites, who believed him the only real god and worshipped him exclusively, unlike other humans who revere all the Six together. They were rewarded with transformation into etheral beings with an extremely long lifespan, and were imprisoned in Abaddon’s Realm, the Realm of Torment, when he was forced out of Tyria. As the god of knowledge he had a realm to himself, and when fallen, his sphere inversed. Knowledge became madness, the theme his realm embodies. Temples were sunk, records destroyed, because to remove all knowledge of the god of knowledge made him powerless.

I can’t remember where, but it’s implied that by Nightfall comes around a thousand years after his banishment, Abaddon is finally able to claw his way back into Tyria because people are starting to remember him. There’s one side quest that sticks out in my memory called The Search for Enlightenment about a scholar stealing scriptures from an Elonian library which leads to a massive raid by Margonites. The scholar was ‘babbling’ about a forgotten god. Proximity to knowledge about Abaddon seems to bestow insanity, the connection between Abaddon in his inverted realm and his hold over anyone who knows he exists. Though the Five Gods tried, they didn’t erase everything (hell, Trahearne and Sayeh al' Rajihd give you a guided tour of an Abaddon temple). Over a thousand years, relics popped up and people began to remember The Five was once The Six. As they did his influence returned until he was able to attempt to merge the Realm of Torment with Tyria and become a single, all powerful god in the absence of the others.

But wait how does that make a forgotten god the most influential character in both games?

Well.

Guild Wars lore is nothing if not completely linked together. Every single thing has cause and effect, every event is a domino. The story is consistent from Prophecies to this day. So let’s start with the first GW1 chapter, Prophecies.

It all starts at the Citadel of Flame.

It was built into the volcano Hrangmer. The charr had been displaced, pushed out of Ascalon by the successful expansion of humankind. 450 years before GW2 the Flame Legion found this volcano and, inside, Titans. You know how Mordremoth’s minions are Mordrem, Zhaitan’s minions are Risen, etc? Titans are Abaddon minions, left behind and hidden after his defeat. They change their appearance to suit their environment. In a jungle they’re vegetative, in mountains they’re made of ice, in the Realm of Torment they’re twisted constructs of flesh, in a volcano, they’re fire. The Flame Legion brings the Titans back to the charr, charr worship them, and in exchange, get immense fire powers. Flame Legion completely takes over charr society and makes it a theistic, misogynist nightmare with the Shamans at the top.

Abaddon has just restructured charr society.

Using their overpowered fire magic indirectly from a human god, charr, ironically, rally against the humans and nuke Ascalon to pieces. The few survivors escape to Kryta. Charr are now pretty much unstoppable and invade all the way to Orr. Vizier Khilbron used a powerful stolen scroll to repel the charr with magic, and it completely destroys Orr, collapsing the island into the ocean.

Abaddon has just wiped out two nations of the humans who used to worship him, with Orr as the final goal - to tear down the resplendent city of the Gods who betrayed him. This is referenced, if you know what you’re looking for, in GW2. You can scale the Vizier’s Tower, where he read the scroll that sank all of Orr, and on the wall...

A mural to the lost god, a testament to power that, a thousand years later, one who was expunged from history had a faithful likeness depicted.

Ascalon’s a burning hole and Orr is underwater. Now what? Those Ascalonian survivors in Kryta find the place is controlled by White Mantle. The White Mantle are committing mass murder via bloodstone sacrifice (bloodstones being the power curb the gods introduced after imbuing humans with magic) in order to halt the prophecy of a Chosen One opening the Door of Komalie. Vizier Khilbron turns up, shaking out some mysteriously wet boots don’t worry about that, and leads you against these genocidal cultists. Which, whoops, does lead to the Door of Komalie being opened - and it’s a doorway into Abbadon’s Realm of Torment, out of which Titans power through. This was the apocalypse planned for Kryta. Unlike the first two, this one is thwarted by the player. Kryta lives on. Vizier Khilbron is the final boss and turns out to have been a lich.

That’s 3 of the 5 human nations. What about Cantha and Elona?

GW: Factions is the Canthan chapter in which Shiro Tagachi, the emperor’s bodyguard, continually visits a fortune teller until she inflicts such paranoia on his mindset that he believes he needs to kill the emperor in self-defense. His defeat causes the Jade Wind that creates the Jade Sea. As a spirit, Shiro then engulfs Cantha in a plague that warps people into tumorous mutants. The fortune teller turns out to be an Abaddon minion whose task was the eventual destruction of Cantha. This one also is foiled by the player.

GW: Nightfall is the culmination chapter. Abaddon is now powerful enough, well known enough, to breach Tyria and try to come back. His agent is Varesh Ossa, who slowly transforms into a Margonite over the course of the game. The player confronts the breach between planes and finally enters the Realm of Torment, meeting the shades of Abaddon’s servants that came before, the lich form of Vizier Khilbron, and the spirit of Shiro Tagachi, before facing Abaddon himself.

And that’s the end of it. In Guild Wars magic cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred, so another god ascends in Abaddon’s place. They are once again The Six.

It’s Abaddon that ruined half the Elonian desert, Abaddon whose sinking of Orr gave Zhaitan the perfect mass grave to necromance, Abaddon who froze the Cantha sea into solid jade, and Abaddon whose final death and eruption of magic started waking Primordus, leading to the norn, dwarf and asuran alliance to stop it in 1078 AE-- introducing the norn and asura to the rest of Tyria, and making the dwarves extinct, cutting their entire race’s existence short. If it wasn’t for Abaddon, the charr wouldn’t have been taken over by their magic-toting shaman caste, only to come to their senses and rebel and ostracize the Flame Legion afterward. Hell, the current Flame Legion Imperators STILL style their horns in an homage to Abaddon, and probably don’t even remember why! To a human god, gone for over a thousand years, who used their race as pawns in a revenge attempt at wiping out every nation the humans had built!

And even after being thoroughly and completely destroyed, his magic STILL haunts Tyria enough for his statues to punish you for not showing the proper respect.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #long post #LONG fucking post (apologetic)#abaddon #guild wars 1 #had to get this out me brain there we go

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emotionallyits2009 · 3 years

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deancas fic rec list!

hello everyone! happy christmas to those who celebrate it, my gift to you is my fic rec list that i said i would make like a month ago. the only thing it is organized by is canonverse vs alternate universe. tried to cover a variety of subjects but there are in particular many fics of the genre “postcanon where cas is human and he and dean live together and slowly finally get their shit together” because i know what i’m about, son. HOPE U ENJOY. and if you wanna talk about any of them or rec me other fics please do. :)

Canonverse:

where the weeds take root by deathbanjo, 30k, explicit “Are you happy? Y’know. Just—being here,” Dean says, gesturing to the yard with his beer bottle. “Being with—I mean, you used to fight in celestial wars and—and save the world. Now you’re growing vegetables and talking about chickens.” There are many fics set in a post-canon universe where Cas is human and he and Dean live together and slowly fall into a relationship. Imo this one is the best of the best of that genre. This was one of the first fics I read back in July when I was getting Back Into Supernatural where I was like oh fuck I’m like in this. Dean builds Cas planters and bookshelves and a chicken coop and they fight and work through it.

Cuckoo And Nest by komodobits, 10k, explicit For a long time, Castiel thought that every earthly possession other than the immediately necessary was excess to requirement. But Dean – Dean who named his car, who keeps a photograph of his mother in his wallet, some thirty-plus years after her death, who still has the crumpled ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign with a sleeping pelican emblazoned on it from the Microtel outside of Roanoke where he first kissed Castiel, clumsy and unsure, under the unsteady fluorescence of an exhausted bathroom bulb – is sentimental. It puzzles Castiel, where Dean draws the line between what is meaningful and what it is worthless. Really Gets the dynamic of Cas doesn’t think Dean wants him to stay/Dean thinks Cas will leave the first chance he gets. Also a nice example of Cas thinking he’s not wanted if he’s not useful/powerful and being told otherwise. Another all-time fave!

lonely hearts by outphastthemoat, 4.5k, gen He thinks he might give up having his own anything just to be able to step foot inside the room next door and sit on the edge of Dean’s bed instead. This one is for the CAS GIRLS who know what LONELINESS feels like.

Helionneiros by aeli_kindara, 24.2k, mature In which Dean visits his mother, and Claire takes Cas on a hunt. I’m always on the lookout for more fic with Claire and Jack. Jack doesn’t show up until the end here but the relationship between Cas and Claire is really nice.

Crawl by aeriallon, 11k, explicit It’s been almost four years since Castiel left Kansas; he'd eventually settled in an island town where he has a job, a house, and a life without the Winchesters. Every winter, Dean drives down to the coast to see him. Another fic where Cas is human but in this one he took some time for himself and got some distance from the Winchesters! He gets to be competent and weird as a human and we love that for him. I must warn you all that this fic contains one use of the phrase “making love” which would normally put me right off but it’s still worth reading. The first of a three-part series.

home where you hold me by microcomets, 1.6k, gen Cas and Dean, in the moments between their battles, ache for quiet spaces. Technically this is a coda to 10x20 but you don’t need the episode for context. Short and very sweet.

Build a Home by domesticadventures, 20.1k, teen After they save the world, Dean expects Cas to come back to the bunker with them. He doesn’t. This one is so cute it’s like what if once they were done saving the world Sam and Dean actually invited other hunters to move into the bunker with them. Obviously Dean wants that to include Cas but doesn’t know how to use his words.

the taste of gravel in the mouth by deathbanjo, 22.4k, explicit This is what Cas gave up Heaven for: greasy diner food, shitty motel rooms with even shittier cable, long car rides spent in complete silence except for the same six tapes playing over and over again, and a burnt-out husk of a man who can barely hold a conversation anymore. Angst fic! They go on a road trip and Dean is severely fucked up post-Mark of Cain.

Unknown Quantities by xylodemon, 8.6k, explicit No one ever tells Dean anything. Another nice getting-together fic.

Creature of Habit by trinityofone, 5.2k, teen The more you love someone, the more you want to kill them. Or: How Cas developed some bad habits, and Dean coped surprisingly well. This one is ancient by destiel standards (written during season 5) but it manages to nail the married couple vibes they give off in later seasons. Cas is a bitch and Dean likes him so much. <3

The (Mostly Accidental) Courtship of Dean Winchester by Tuesday, 11.2k, mature Angelic marriage rites were never intended to go quite like this. Another old one that is a lot of fun! They get Accidental Angel Married and if you don’t enjoy dumb fanfiction tropes like that I don’t know what to say to you.

Vena Amoris and Other Old-Fashioned Bullshit by pyrebi, 4k, teen In which angelic marriage bonds are apparently stupidly easy to trigger, Cas wages multidimensional war in Heaven, Dean can't catch a break like ever, Sam rather enjoys being a dick, love saves the day, and nobody consummates anything. The OTHER accidental angel marriage fic written in 2010.

Crazy Diamonds by pantheon_of_discord, 24.8k, explicit A week ago, Dean was pulled out of Hell. Now, he’s apparently woken up in 2018, and the angel that a mere twenty-four hours beforehand had threatened to chuck him back into the pit is sleepily pouring himself coffee and wearing Dean’s second-favourite Zeppelin shirt. It all seems like a perfect happy ending, but with Hell’s scars still so fresh, Dean can’t imagine how he could have possibly gotten there. At the same time, the Dean who went to sleep in the bunker, right next to Cas, wakes up on Bobby’s couch in 2008. He’s instantly bombarded with questions by a Lilith-obsessed brother and a man who’s been dead for years, and must decide between keeping his finally-perfect life intact, and the lives he could save by re-writing history. Regardless of these choices, both Deans are trapped in the wrong decade, and their only way back lies with a Castiel still very much under Heaven’s thumb – one who might find the future Dean describes difficult to believe. Time travel is FUN. There’s an excellent part where (minor spoilers) future!Dean is like, “Guess what, asshole? You like me so much you marry me!!!!!!!!!!!” to 2008!Castiel that made me laugh out loud the first time I read it. Also just a good reminder of how most problems in life are temporary and if you could go back in time to talk to your younger self you’d be like, “Hey man. Chill out. You get through it.”

The Path of Fireflies by museaway, 63.7k, mature After his humanity is restored, Dean wakes up in bed with Castiel, a wedding ring, and no memory of the past twelve years. There’s a lot of amnesia fic and djinn fic out there were Dean wakes up ~suddenly together with Cas~ but I like this one in particular because he’s initially very confused and kind of a dick about it until he acknowledges that being with Cas makes him happy.

take the long way home by dothraki_shieldmaiden, 95k, explicit Three months ago, when Dean decided to retire, he thought his life was going to end up differently. He'd thought that he might get to have it all, Sam, Cas, Jack, and nice little place to live. Instead he gets Sam and Jack off on their Summer of Love Tour, radio silence from Cas, and a never-ending road trip consisting of himself. Still reeling from the loss of his grace, Castiel travels the country in search of hunts. Driven by a need to prove his usefulness, he pushes himself beyond all limits of endurance. Together, with the help of a few friends, a crumbling Victorian house, and a stray cat, Dean and Castiel patch themselves back together and create a home together. Do you wanna read almost one hundred thousand words of Dean and Cas having extremely intense feelings but refusing to voice them aloud? Haha of course you do that’s why you’re here. There’s also a lot about Cas adjusting to being human and being depressed about it which might resonate if you’ve ever felt weird about having a body. To be honest the author could stand to use a few more commas but there were also half a dozen moments that made me put my phone down and drag my hand slowly over my face and whisper “oh my god” to myself which is like, the ultimate measure of a good fanfiction so it gets to be on the list.

like moses and batman and james dean by saltyfeathers, 31.6k, explicit dean used to turn tricks. over a decade later, he met cas. Have you seen the fanon (apparently pioneered by Mr. Jackles “Original Deankin” Ackles himself) that Dean used to prostitute himself to feed himself and Sam when they were younger? Are you interested in exploring that concept in fanfiction? Well, this is the only fic you need. Mind the tags on this one! It’s not what I’d call happy but it’s good.

Some Assembly Required by narrow_staircases, 47k, mature It’s September of 2005, and Dean Winchester, in an attempt to outrun old mistakes and painful memories, finds himself in southern Kentucky on a wild goose chase. He’s completely certain this weird religious movement he’s “investigating” is a hoax, despite the miraculous healings people report, and he’ll be back on the road in a day or two. Things are looking up when he meets Cas, an awkward (and gorgeous) graduate student who’s actually doing honest-to-god research into the local tent revival meetings. When that research takes a weird and personal turn, Dean’s left to face two very serious realities: one, this may be a real case after all, and two, he’s fallen way harder for Cas than he should ever have let himself. Stanford-era AU of Dean trying to avoid his father and getting in over his head on a case.

Alternate universe:

And This, Your Living Kiss by opal_bullets, 57k, mature Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen. Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen. Mundane AUs in this fandom have to be really, really good to catch my attention and this one is! It’s exactly what it says in the summary and the characterization is spot-on.

Out to Drift by deathbanjo, 20.9k, mature Dean drives a black car with a loud engine. He lies too easily. He keeps a gun in the back of his jeans, and Castiel isn’t sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Dean has killed someone before. Two people in fucked-up unstable situations meeting and forming a connection. Honestly guys I really just love deathbanjo.

#fic #deancas #destiel

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caesthetix · 3 years

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SAY A LITTLE PRAYER — Ep. What Paradise Is

↪Eren Yeager mini-series

↪content; major character death, canon universe, heavy angst, description of violence, established relationship, spoiler for season 4, alternate ending, manga spoiler

"You know, I can't help but thank Eren that he killed her that night."

Everyone was busy with themselves after Jean beat Reiner to a pulp. The rest of them who were still awake, circling the campfire, waiting for sleepiness to engulf them. But that sentence was enough to stop them from dozing off, some pairs of eyes decided to fall upon them instead.

Hange tried to be neutral all the time. They needed to be the mediator between the Marleyans and the rest of the Survey Corps. After all, they needed each other if they wanted to stop the rumbling. Yet they couldn't help but speak up, they were human too after all.

"Huh?" It was Connie. "What do you mean by that, H-Hange-san?"

They just smiled softly as they looked down, watching their own reflection from the brown liquid in their hand. It was your favourite drink, coffee. Every sip would always be savoured as they imagined you sitting right in front of them.

"But we could use her strength. If she lived, she could help us to sway Eren." Armin spoke up, responding to their statement before. His blue eyes staring at the crackling fire, deep in his thoughts. "When we lost her, we lost seventy-five percent of the chance for winning this without having to harm Eren."

"You tell me that is the reason why he killed her?" The scowl on Connie's face hardened as he tried to connect the dots. "So we can't use her against him, eh? What a coward at the end. That lunatic bastard—"

"She would have followed him."

Mikasa's voice was soft and tiny as she cut his sentence. Yet even though it heard like a whisper, everyone could hear what she said. They blinked in confusion, except Hange and Jean who currently stood a few feet from them, somehow understood. The Marleyan raised their eyebrows in confusion, Annie could not understand what they were all talking about.

The rest of them were begging for more information, but the ravenette didn't give them any.

"She would have followed him."

Instead, she repeated the words. Her friends would understand her sentence — if they decided to use their brains for a while. They all knew you, she didn't have to give any further explanation regarding her statement.

Of course, now they understood why Hange thanked Eren for what he did to you. Even if you were alive right now, you were not going to be here, eating stew and drinking coffee while fretting about how to stop your lover who tried to commit genocide to the whole world.

You were going to be there, by his side, with your swords ready to be pointed out to anyone who tried to stop and harm Eren in any way. You would stand there, devoting your heart not for humanity, but for him. That was how big your love was, something that was blinding you, to the extent of worshipping him.

And they couldn't imagine themselves to be the one who sears their blades at you.

"You never told us, Hange."

Jean's voice filled the void, his feet stomping the grass underneath him, echoing through the quiet night. "That night, you never told us what happened." He stood on the other side of the campfire, his tall body looming in front of them as they seated on the ground.

The brunette stared at the man with a stern gaze, contemplating if it was the right moment to tell them. But their time was limited now, as their friends, they all deserved to know what happened that night.

"Alright." They put the metal cup down their lap. "Though I remind you now, it wouldn't be pleasant but," It even felt so heavy for them, by just thinking about your death. "But it would be so — her."

The veteran scout told them everything. From how you stood in front of their door, the coffee that they shared with you, to the time you cried when they gave you the key so you could go inside his cell. They were sure that you went there to talk and asked for a reason, but they knew thirty minutes wouldn't be enough.

Jean felt bad for asking, as he could see how much the commander suffered from this burden. Hange's hand balled into a fist, the other gripping tight on the cup's handle. Yet they keep on going, telling them how they saw Eren wash his face as if his hands were not stained by his lover's blood.

They explained the bruises on your neck, shaped like fingers as an indicator of how you died.

"Fuck." Jean cursed, his eyes glistening with tears that were threatening to fall. "Fuck." He shouldn't have asked, but it was too late, he could see the horror in your eyes, how afraid you were that night, how you were screaming for help but no one came.

For you to die, and the one who was responsible was your lover, he couldn't imagine the betrayal on your—

"But you know what's funny?" Hange spoke up once again, they were not finished yet. Their comrades immediately looked at them once again, asking for them to continue.

They sipped their coffee, recalling the gleam in your eyes, the comfort that they remembered up until now. There was no terror, you were not afraid of him even in your last moment. "There was no sign of resistance."

And that fact was enough to wake them up.

"Even from the start, when Eren choked her, she just stood there, letting him do it." They chuckled, almost maniacal. "Her eyes still shone with comfort as she looked at him. I-I always figure her out, I understand a lot of things about her. But, but I can't with this one."

They stopped, groaning as once again your eyes were the only thing that they could see. "I don't know anymore if she really believed that he must have to kill her for a reason," His hand shook the cup gently, letting the liquid swirl inside. "Or she believed that he would stop and let her go, even until she's gone for real."

And that last sentence broke them all.

The Marleyan couldn't look at the broken soldiers in front of them. Gabi and Falco pursed their lips, trying so hard to sleep. Annie who was sitting beside the unconscious Reiner, now having her pupils dilated as she understood the story, and who would be the mysterious woman that made them distressed like this.

Connie was silent as he kept gulping down water down his throat. Armin closed his eyes, but he could see it so clearly, the faith in your orbs. Jean just chuckled bitterly, muttering stupid woman again and again as tears were cascading down his cheek.

Then, Mikasa, her lips trembled as she tried not to sob. But whimpers already slipped, her empty cup fell to the ground as she put her hands on her ears as she wanted to stop the noises in her head. You brought joy, even in her life, and to be reminded that you were killed by Eren nonetheless, tore her apart.

The rest of the night was filled with nothing but sorrow. Tears accompanied them all to their sleep, silent weeps and choked-out sobs could be heard here and there.

Hange could only stay put under the white cloth that works as their blanket, staring into the dark green of trees, then went beyond that to see the night blue skies which adorned with stars. They subconsciously raised their hand, as if they were reaching for someone.

“Tell me, Hange!”

They tried to understand him, they really did. When they closed your eyes as you laid on the infirmary bed, they knew that you would appreciate it if they tried to understand why he killed you. Down in the basement, they tried to bait him with your condition, blaming him for how they lost another comrade.

“If there’s another way, then tell me what it is!”

But they were not you, they couldn’t see it. They wanted a reason but all they got from the man was just subtle answers, pain, anger, and how what he did was something inevitable. They just knew that he suffered too from what he had done, so perhaps it was enough.

They just wished — they could understand you.

"Oh, (Y/n)." They sighed, finally letting the tears slip down their cheeks. No one else saw them, it was just their lonely soul and the craving for your existence. "I think I didn’t know you enough."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ༶•┈┈⛧┈〄┈⛧┈┈•༶ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

His vision was supposed to be filled with lights, dark blue lights that came from the coordinate. He used to know it all, see it all, what happened in the world as he activated the rumbling, he could hear all the screams from those people underneath him. Trampled by gigantic power, without given any mercy.

He couldn't remember when it stopped. The terror, his friends fighting him so they could stop his plan — suddenly all he saw was just a bright pinkish sky. It was as if he was laying down on one of the clouds, soft and free.

The breeze tickled his long hair, good that it just swayed his brown strands softly, but not good enough to give him comfort.

Comfort, oh, how much he longed for that word.

The past few days had been so hard as he kept on living to grant freedom to the Island of Paradis. He could not count how many of his comrades died, how many of his followers ended up not seeing that freedom, let alone all the lives that he took.

And now when he knew that he failed, he chuckled as the realisation dawned upon him. After all these years — he was still the same useless boy.

"Eren."

He sat up in an instant. Dark green eyes searching for the source of where it came from. Surely he was not hallucinating, but that was a possibility. He didn't even know what this place, let alone believing that it was her voice.

"Hey, Eren."

But it was indeed your voice. No matter how many days or weeks passed after some time he had to part with you, he could always recognise that voice anywhere. Gentle, warm, and comforting, it felt like he was so close to heaven.

"You are here."

Then he felt it. He felt you. He looked down on his torso, finding two arms wrapped around him from behind. It felt so right as his hand slowly covered yours, testing it in case it was all in his head. But he could touch, he could trace his finger on the back of your hand.

He laughed, just a short one as he still processed what kind of magic existed in this place. You rested your chin on his shoulder, planting a peck on his cheek without warning that caused him to blush a hundred shades of red.

"(Y/n)?" He called out your name. "Are you real?" You only answered with a single hum. "How come are you real? Where is this place? Why am I here? I am not supposed to be here, I needed to finish the plan, Ymir is—"

You shut him up by placing your finger in front of his lips.

"You are free, Eren."

Silence. He could not understand that. Did it mean that he already died? But if that was the truth, why did he even feel more alive now compared to all those years that he spent before?

You slowly retracted your finger, pulling yourself from his embrace as gently as possible. Eren was still deep in thought, hands falling to the cloud-like ground he was sitting on right now. You stood up and walked in front of him, bare feet were now within his eyesight.

He could touch you before, and it didn’t feel like he was hallucinating. He felt your kiss before, and it made him sure that it was real. Bewildered, he looked up only to find you looking forward. Even though he felt that he was finally free, he was still curious about what happened in this moment.

"What is this place?" He asked again, now a lot calmer than before as he gazed at your face which showed nothing but peace.

"A transit." You started, eyes never leaving the glowing sight in front of you. "A place where you are finally free, but still misplaced since it was not the last destination where you should go." He hummed, processing your words that still felt unreal.

"Then why are you here?" All this afterlife thing was so foreign for him. "Why don't you leave and go to your last destination?"

"Oh, boy, you really asking me that?" You chuckled softly, snickering as if that was the dumbest question that you ever heard. Your eyes finally cast down to face him, and when he still looked so confused, you could only let out a sigh. "Because I am waiting for you, Eren."

You smiled wistfully, extending your hand for him to take. "What else could it be at this point?" He took it as he nodded at your answer. You helped him up, letting him stand by himself. And now as he looked around the endless clouds, he could finally embrace the fact that he was indeed — dead.

Anywhere he looked, he could only find the soft, white clouds refreshing the air. The colour was tinted orange as the sun in front of him shone like it would set anytime soon. But it had been perhaps minutes by now, and yet the colour never changed.

If he was finally here to feel his freedom, then he would take it. The world where he lived before was not his responsibility anymore. His friends had won, and it was not his place to ask for what happened next. Yes, he was ready to be free. But as he looked at you, he still had one, unanswered question that he needed to know.

"Hey, (Y/n)." He cleared his throat, melancholy striking his feature as your gaze met with his.

"Yes, Eren?"

How come you are here on his side? Why did you stay in this place alone just to wait for him? He killed you, why are you not running away? There was so much, so many questions that he never dared to ask you. But one, he needed to know the answer to this one question.

"Why don't you fight back when I try to kill you?"

You didn't flinch, you stood there with a neutral expression as if he just asked you if you had eaten before.

"Truthfully, Eren? I always thought that you were just trying to make me hate you. Looking at me with those cold eyes, tightening your grip like that." Your finger subconsciously went to your neck. "At first, I thought you were going to let me go at some point."

He could feel a lump start forming in his throat as he listened, tears were threatening to fall already. That was what you felt that night, you didn’t want to die. Of course, who in the right mind wanted to die? Let alone killed by someone that you loved.

"But as seconds passed and you were not loosening the grip, I understood." Then you continued, your hand now fell back to your side. Though, you still looked at him with earnestness written all over your face. "I understand that you had to kill me for a reason, that you knew it was for the best."

His breath hitched at your statement; which was supposed to make him feel guilty, to make him feel like he was not worthy of your faith. But with how there was no ill will nor sadness in your intonation, he couldn't feel any other feelings except — relief.

"So I believed in you, and I wanted you to know until the end that wherever I go next, I will always devote my heart to you."

You said it without doubt, as if you have been saying the same thing over and over again throughout your life. Yet somehow he could know that it was the truth. Perhaps you said that inside your heart for all the times that you spent with him.

While you still alive, you have put your faith in him, following him anywhere he goes. No one could sway your belief, you were devoted solely just to him. You praised his name, never leaving his side under any circumstances.

And he realised — that was the way you said you loved him.

So now, it was his time to do the same, to believe in you.

"Come on, Eren." You dusted the non-existent wrinkles on your clothes before extending your hand for him to take, a smile never leaving your face as you waited for him patiently. "Let's go home."

And without wasting another second, without any hesitation, he reached for your hand. The smile on your face widened at this, and the wind suddenly twirled around the two of you. He didn't know where home was, he didn't know where you would take him.

But as you started to walk in the direction of the sun, he followed. His eyes looked forward, dark green eyes turned into the emerald shade that was gone before. It was so beautiful, how he walked above the clouds, with your hand around his, guiding him to a new place called home.

Your laugh resonated in his ears as he caught up with you, gripping your hand tighter, afraid that he would lose you if he loosened up. Yet somehow he knew that he wouldn't have to be scared anymore.

Now he was finally free. From the burden on his shoulders, from the duty that was thrown at him by his ancestors, from the endless nightmare that he saw on each vision — it was all gone. And as his gaze fleeted toward your running form, he blinked in astonishment.

He saw you, a younger self of you perhaps, maybe when you were nine or ten. You looked beautiful, even with your hair slightly shorter, with chubby, adorable cheeks. Then you turned to face him, and he saw those glossy beads filled with purity.

And inside those, he saw a reflection. Of a boy not older than ten years old, with a brown outer and a sage green shirt, holding on to someone. Oh, it was him. He looked so free as he ran side by side with you, he looked so free with you leading him to his new home.

Laughter filled the air that surrounded you and him; high-pitched, carefree laughter that people would hear when children ran around the street to catch one another. That happy laugh slipped from both of your lips.

He held your hand tighter, not because he was afraid to lose you, but so he could feel your love even more. He ran with you faster, now becoming the one who followed you as he believed that you were going to take him somewhere, to the last destination.

A place where he could finally be free.

With you.

↪Back to Wall Maria

↪Citizen; @queenofcurse

↪Send an ask if you want to be a citizen of Paradis (taglist)!

#eren x reader #eren jaeger #eren yaegar #eren x y/n #eren angst #eren jeager x reader #eren aot #aot x reader #aot imagines #aot x y/n #aot #shingeki no kyojin imagine #shingeki no kyoujin #snk x reader #snk #eren imagines #eren yeager x reader #eren yeager imagines

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jerkbitchidjitassbutt · 3 years

Text

It Was You (Part One)

A/N: Jensen and Y/n are childhood best friends. When his agent informs him that his image could use some improvement for a role, will she help him? Or will her feelings get in the way?

A holiday (Christmas centric) Jensen x Female!Reader Best Friends to Lovers series for @spnchristmasbingo. Un-beta’d, so all mistakes are mine. Header created by me with images from Google. Chapter word count: 3371

Series Warnings: break up; angst-ish at times (if you squint), but mostly all the fluff.

I consider this an AU, as Jensen is single in this fic. This is completely a work of fiction, and I wouldn’t want his reality to be any different, this is purely for entertainment.

The slight chill of a Vancouver December morning roused you from a peaceful sleep, making you snuggle further into the down blanket and comfort of your plush bedding. It was two weeks until Christmas and the weather was supposed to be a balmy high of 32 degrees today, so you had planned to stay in, do some shopping online, and stay by your cozy fireplace with every holiday movie you could find. Willing yourself to get five more minutes of shut eye seemed like a helpless feat as the wintry cold seeped into your apartment. You opened your eyes to the gentle prisms of light floating in through the adjacent window, the sunrise indicating it was time to get up for the day.

Sitting up to perch on the side of your bed and grabbing your wide-rimmed glasses from the nightstand, you slid your chilled toes into the warm slippers waiting and shrugged on your fuzziest sweater. It may be time for that fire sooner than you thought.

Padding into your kitchen to get a much-needed caffeine fix after last night’s dinner and drinks with the rest of the cast and crew, you took your favorite mug from the cabinet and loaded the coffee maker, making an extra cup or two for you and any visitors you might have a bit later.

Jensen’s apartment was down the hall, and if you knew him, he’d still be sleeping, but he’d probably wander over at some point this morning. Cradling the mug in your hands warmed them slightly and sent a shiver down your spine. Even your warmest pajamas and the heat from the thermostat did little against the Canadian winds. Laughing slightly to yourself, you’d thought you’d be used to it after six years of winters here.

You wandered towards the windows of your living room to pull back the long curtains. It was a favorite spot to have your coffee and gaze at the sights of Vancouver. Settling on the window seat, you felt a warmth spread through you as you noticed it had snowed in the night, and from the looks of it, it was a depth of fresh, soft powder – a type that you rarely saw growing up in Texas. People were bundled up tightly as they walked the streets, but a few people, adults and kids alike, were already out playing in the thick blanket of snow.

As your coffee began to warm you through, you couldn’t help the giddy feeling of joy that rose at the sight – it made the holiday season and the spirit of it even more intense than just viewing the lights of downtown and the large decorations everywhere. For some reason, snow just sealed it all up in a nice little bow.

Sure enough, about halfway into your second cup of coffee, you heard a key in your door and Jensen shuffled in, still wearing his pj’s with tousled hair, but he had thrown on a thick sweater too.

“Good morning.” You called, still seated at the large window.

“Mornin’ sweetheart.” He replied with a quick wave as he tossed his keys on the counter and waltzed into your kitchen in search of his mug, his voice still thick and gruff with sleep.

He mixed his cream and sugar and took a long sip, letting out a contented sigh after the steaming liquid entered his body. He was notoriously grumpy without his coffee, but he always met you with a sweet greeting when he came over. Walking around your kitchen island and into your open living room, he slumped into the recliner across from you and pulled the leaver to release the footing, allowing him to lean back with his feet up. He adjusted himself to get comfortable, careful to not spill the mug in his hand.

“What time did you get in last night?” you asked, taking another sip from your own cup.

He covered his eyes with his free hand, still obviously tired. “About 2:30. You know how Jared gets when we break for hiatus, he never wants the party to end. He was still talking to me as I was shutting my door.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. Jared was the most social person you’d ever met and knowing that he wouldn’t be back to Canada and on set for a month, he would always soak up every little bit of time he had with the cast and crew. Even though Jensen was griping about it now, you knew he also didn’t mind. He’d probably be missing everyone, especially Jared, about four days into the break. You didn’t get home until about 1 a.m., and that was only because you were beginning to doze off in your cocktail.

“Tell Cliff thanks again for driving me home last night. I just couldn’t cut it.”

“Yeah, I know… Lightweight.” Jensen teased.

“Hey, you didn’t have a 5 a.m. set call yesterday like some of us.”

Jensen huffed a small laugh from his seat, still resting his hand across his closed eyes. His sweatpants hung low on his hips and his green Henley stretched across his biceps as he rested his coffee on his thigh. A slight 5 o’clock shadow and the bedhead he was sporting all combined into a handsome image. He may be your best friend, but you could still appreciate the looks the man was blessed with.

Seemingly close to falling back asleep, you called to him in a hushed voice, “Jay. If you want to go back to sleep just put your coffee mug on the table, okay?”

“Hmmmph. No, I’m up.” He fibbed, as evident from the way he blinked widely once he opened his eyes again. Forcing himself to stand, otherwise he would really fall back asleep instead of just resting his eyes, he walked towards you with his cup, dragging his feet slightly as his legs sluggishly pulled him across the room. His head was down and his shoulders were wilted, but he was trying to get his body moving.

When he reached you, you felt his chest bump your shoulder before he rested his cheek on the crown of your head, his arm dangling by his side as he slumped. He took a deep breath before rubbing his hand across your back and standing, smiling as you peered up at him with a grin.

Licking his lips, he finally peered out to the streets below and his eyes went wide, “Y/n!” he practically shouted.

You flinched, “What? What’d I do?”

“You didn’t tell me it snowed!”

Giving a huff and a giggle, you couldn’t help but be sarcastic, “I’m sorry, was I supposed to while you were falling asleep in my chair?! Besides… it’s Canada. It’s not like snow is very rare here.”

“Y/n! That’s, like, snow! The kind we used to wish for when we were kids!”

“I know, I thought that too.”

“Well, c’mon!” he said, setting his cup down on the ledge. “We gotta go!”

“What? Go where?”

Jensen was already halfway through your living room and heading for the front door but paused to turn and point a finger in your direction, “You, me, snowman. Now.”

“Jay,” You whined. “It’s cold and its early. You sure you don’t want to just watch Netflix?”

“Y/n!” he said once again, looking as excited as a 12-year-old on a snow day from school. “Snowman! Please?” he begged, waving his arms frantically as he gestured outside.

“Okay, okay. Fine. No need to use your puppy eyes on me. I’ll meet you outside in 15 minutes.”

With that, a huge grin broke out on his face and he took off down the hall, leaving you to go in search of your heaviest ski jacket.

Jensen knocked on your door soon after you shrugged into the puffy coat, dressed in thick snow pants, his own jacket, and a black beanie and gloves with a small bag in his hand. Straitening your scarf before locking your door, he barely gave you a moment to put on your knitted pom beanie before he was pulling you by your hand towards the elevator of your building and pushing you out of the revolving doors into the frigid air. Heading to the side where a large park sat adjacent to your complex, he looked around before tugging you along to a spot with a large open space. He nodded to himself, as if to say he’d found the perfect place for his snowman-building escapade. As your boots crunched beneath you, you each began gathering handfuls of snow to make a large base, then packed and sculpted two more spheres. Though you initially protested, you had to admit that it was fun, and the coldness against your cheeks wasn’t bad after a bit, particularly after seeing how happy Jensen was when his finished product towered over yours. He’d managed to gather the majority of the snow within about a six-foot radius of where his snowman stood before piling it high.

“Hey, hey… look at that. An accurate height difference!” He touted, teasing you.

“Oh, hush you. It’s not my fault that you were given the extended version of the human body.” You glared at him playfully.

He laughed as he bent to rummage in the bag he’d brought, producing two carrots. He wiggled them in his hands before handing one to you. He was just about to place it in a very telling place when you grabbed a handful of snow and threw it in his direction.

“Jensen!” You berated. “That’s not where the carrot goes! There’s kids out here!”

He stood up slowly, turning to you with a serious smirk, “Did you seriously just throw a snowball at me?”

Wiping your hand on your pantleg quickly, you gave him a mischievous grin, “Who, me? I’d never.”

“Oh, its on!” he declared as he bent to scoop up the little bit of remaining snow in his reach, that which he hadn’t used for his snowman.

Ducking behind your own, he threw and missed, sending the snow flying passed you. A quick grab from around you produced another snowball that you chucked from behind your shield, hitting him square in the chest. The fight lasted for a good while, the two of you trying your hardest to target the other as many times as possible and receiving some laughs and glances from passersby as they walked along the sidewalk. Finally, Jensen gave up and took off towards you, chasing you in circles before he tackled you into the plush ice, pinning you beneath him as he tried to bury you both.

“Jay! Oh my God, stop! Its freezing!” you yelled through your laughter.

“Truce?” he asked, his eyebrows raised in a challenge.

He was still on top of you, his nose and cheeks a bit flushed from the wintry air. He still had that devilish smirk on his face, but his green eyes were soft and something beneath them made your heart flutter slightly in your chest. He scanned your face quickly before glancing towards your lips, but you were quick to snatch another fistful of snow to smash onto his head. Scrambling out from underneath him, you ran as he said something about you being a cheater before he jumped to his feet.

After the war ended and a truce was finally declared, you both put the finishing touches on your snowmen after you found sticks for the arms and coerced Jensen to put the carrot in the right spot. He stood back proudly, admiring your handiwork.

“Hey.” He gestured to you, “C’mere.”

A bit warry that he was going to tackle you again, you came to his side as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and turned on the camera. Pulling you into him, he said, “Gotta have evidence of our masterpieces.” He reached around your waist and tugged you in close, framing both of you and your snowmen in the background. The cold air made the tip of your nose and the apples of your cheeks change in color, and there was still some snow in your hair from when Jensen wrestled you, but both of you smiled widely. Feeling the scruff of his short beard against your temple and his arms wrapped around you made you think about the way his eyes danced across your face moments ago, but the thought was quickly dismissed as he stepped away from you slightly after he made sure the picture wasn’t too blurry.

“Oh, crap. Is that what time it is?” he said, alarmed, looking at his phone screen. “I have to meet Stacy in an hour.”

Stacy was his publicist and agent, but he usually didn’t meet with her during the hiatus. “You’re meeting Stacy today? What’s up?” you asked, a bit confused.

“She wants to talk to me about this movie. Some sort of romantic drama she thought I may be good for.”

“Oh,” you replied, “that’s great! You didn’t tell me! Would you have to cut back filming the show?” While you were a bit surprised, you were genuinely happy for him.

“Stacy knows Supernatural comes first, so I hope not.”

“Well, let’s get inside so you can warm up and change. I was going to make my mom’s chili and cornbread for dinner tonight, if you want to join me after your meeting.”

The excitement on his face was palpable as his eyes lit up the moment you said it, “You know how much I love your mom’s chili. We’re just meeting for coffee near her office, so I’ll bring the beer.”

As you were walking back into the building, your phone rang. It was Stephen, your boyfriend of three months.

“Stephen, hey.” You said as you entered the elevator, not missing the slight eyeroll that Jensen gave.

“Hey, honey. How are you? I didn’t want to call too early, just in case you were still sleeping after last night.”

“I’m good, thanks. Actually, just got done building a snowman with Jensen.”

A short silence followed, until Stephen spoke up again. “Oh, that’s nice.” He said, his voice noticeably clipped. “Well, I’m going to take my lunch break soon. Would you like to meet up? I can come to your side of town.”

“Uh, sure. I’ll meet you at that café on 3rd in about a half an hour?”

“Sounds great. See you there.”

Shoving your phone back in your pocket, you ignore Jensen’s stare as the elevator climbed to your floor.

“So…” he pressed. “Stephen?”

“Yeah, Stephen. We’re going to meet up for lunch while you have your meeting.”

“Hmph.” He huffed.

“Jay, we’ve known each other our whole lives and to this day you’ve never liked a single guy I’ve ever dated. What’s wrong with Stephen?”

“I don’t know. He’s just kind of… meh.”

He wasn’t lying, if you were being truthful. Stephen was meh. He was cute and had nice eyes and dimples, but he didn’t make you laugh. He was a bit dull and your sense of humor didn’t mesh with his well. Still, you thought that it might get a bit better once you got to know each other and began to understand one another more. Your relationship was still very casual, but maybe it could go further? You weren’t really sure, honestly.

“What about you and Laura?” you asked, quickly changing the subject.

“I told you… that was nothing.” He quipped as you reached your door. “We went on like three dates.”

“Yeah, the last one being just this past week.”

“Yeah, and it just didn’t go well.”

You let out a small sigh. Discussing your dating lives wasn’t really something the two of you loved to do with each other. Maybe when you were teenagers, yeah. You’d asked each other for advice and gossiped a bit about the people in your high school, but as you grew into adults it just became a subject you both steered away from besides the occasional, hey I’ve got a date conversation. Neither of you had ever really found a person that the other approved of, each finding a reason to be picky every time.

“I’m sorry, Jay. I’m just deflecting.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I was pushing.” He said sincerely with a small smile. “Well, you enjoy lunch. My meeting’s at 1:30 across town, so I should be back by 4 at the latest. Pick out a movie for us, okay?”

“Sounds great. I will.” With that, he kissed you quickly on the side of your head and went into his apartment as you ducked into yours. You freshened up quickly and changed, grabbing a different peacoat, hat, and scarf as your others were still wet.

It was a short walk to the café, and they had good sandwiches. You were surprisingly hungry, so you were glad to see Stephen waiting outside for you. He gripped your hand tightly and gave you a quick kiss in greeting before leading you into the restaurant. You were seated and ordered quickly, knowing that he would have to return to work soon.

“So, how has your day been?” You asked as you shrugged off your coat, hanging it on the chair behind you.

“It’s been… good.” He muttered.

“Uh oh,” You said, getting his attention as he looked away from you. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. I was just surprised to hear that you were with Jensen today. You had mentioned you were going to stay home.”

Stephen smiled, almost in an attempt to let you know that he was trying to be lighthearted about it, but you could tell it bothered him.

“Yeah, when he saw it snowed last night, he just really wanted to make a snowman.” You laughed, trying to steer away from the subject. Stephan wasn’t overstepping, but he also wasn’t going to prevent you from spending time with Jensen. The two of you had been inseparable since, well, practically since birth. Your parents had been the best of friends, so you were pretty much raised together.

“Have you, um…” Stephen began, hesitantly. “I know you’ve been friends forever, but have you ever had feelings for him?”

His blue eyes shown with a slight jealousy as you felt a slight pang to your heart.

“No, of course not.” You managed to say with a steady voice and a smile as you picked up your napkin to place in your lap.

It was a lie, one that you’d been telling for years. At one point in your life, you were in love with Jensen. But, the past was in the past. If Jensen didn’t even know, why should Stephen?

Stephen seemed satisfied with your response for the most part, and the two of you had a pleasant lunch. When you stepped away to use the restroom, your phone chimed. Stephen tried not to even look towards your side of the table where your phone sat, but when he saw Jensen’s name, he read the text quickly before the screen dimmed.

Hey, sweetheart. Finishing up here soon and then I’ll be heading home. Do you need me to grab anything from the store?

Stephen knew the two of you were a package deal, and thought he could honestly be alright with it, but between working together and spending practically all of your time together, he was starting to wonder where he fit in in your life. He busied himself by checking his Instagram as he thought about what he should do and found that Jensen had tagged you in a photo from this morning. The caption was simple, just a few words about the filming hiatus and the first snow of the season, but the two of you were so close. Stephen found himself wishing that you could reserve a smile like that for him, but he had yet to see it.

It hurt, but he knew he couldn’t play second fiddle to Jensen. He cared about you, but perhaps it was better to bow out now.

“Hey, sorry about that.” You said brightly as you got back to the table, smiling. It still didn’t reach your eyes, though.

Stephen leaned forward on his elbows with a sigh, “Y/n, I think we should talk.”

To be continued...

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ithinkthiswasabadidea · 4 years

Text

We’re Going Home

Set in a future where the Nein and Vilya have defeated Vokodo, we see the people of Vo lifted from Vokodo's influence, and the Mighty Nein must do what they can to help them get home.

Imagine, you’re living on an island, in the village of Vo, going about your days cooking, weaving, hunting, planting, mining, giving thanks to your god Vokodo who provides everything for you.

Something clicks inside your head, like a pressure valve releasing, a snap headache rocks you before… a memory comes back. And then another, and another. You… don’t belong on this island, you were never meant to be here. You got shipwrecked, or you were stranded, or you just decided not to leave. Why would you do that?

You had a home, in Tal’Dorei, in Wildemount, in Marquet, but that was… years ago. And now you remember all of it. You remember your name, your real, full name, you remember the family and friends you left behind, you remember the home you had before arriving at this ramshackle village. You notice everyone around you shaking their heads as they have the same revelation, and then you get angry. All of this was stolen from you, by a greedy, arrogant, false god who wouldn’t allow you the dignity of keeping your own memories.

Then, through the sky comes your village leader Viridian, though, that wasn’t her name when she first arrived. It was Vilya. She’s in her wild shape, carrying someone; with her fly two great birds, they carry figures too. They… they must be the new arrivals. They broke the curse. They slew the false god.

They SAVED you.

They land, the village is ecstatic as the story is told, and then comes the doubt and worry. How will everyone get home? The group found ships, but not all on the island know how to sail, and you’re all from different corners of the world.

The group, “The Mighty Nein”, they call themselves, talk to each other through the night, discussing possibilities. The blue tiefling speaks to the air for several minutes, facial expressions switching rapidly between concern, trepidation, happiness. The human man with bright orange hair and a spark in his eye tells the village the plan: for those who cannot or do not want to travel by sea, he can teleport you over the course of a few days to different locations.

The number of you who are content with this give your permission; you will be leaving this godsforsaken island if it’s the last thing these heroes can do for you.

“It seems they’ve done it again. You’re not the first person the Mighty Nein have saved from the brink, and you certainly won’t be the last.”

Imagine, you’re Vilya. Youve spent a quarter of a century on this island, happily serving as Vokodo's intermediary and leading the village with your equals, Terra and Lukash. The people love you, but the love somehow can't fill your heart completely, until you awaken and the hole fills with memory of your true family. You gladly hug each member of the Mighty Nein, the small halfling woman swearing you into their party with a solemn ‘Welcome to The Mighty Nein’ and letting you know that you will always be received with open arms if you choose to return. Ever in their debt, you walk into the teleportation circle before you. You’re transported to the Tidepeak Tower in Nicodranis, a city you’re unfamiliar with in all but name, and there waiting for you are two mages, an elf in gold and a lady in blue. The elf makes a noise of quiet surprise and wonder, stating,

The lady takes you by the hand, telling you she will take you back to Tal’Dorei to reunite with your family again. You walk through her teleportation circle, you are finally led to your husband, older but still as handsome as you remember. You meet with your daughter who is all grown up and powerful, with stories and adventures of her own to share. You see all the people you’ve known and loved, and you’re introduced to ones you haven’t met before; your life is instantly enriched with their presence. You live to remember the breakers of your curse and the journey you took with them to free the village that was once a home.

Imagine, you’re a human sailor. You spent your time on Vo longing to be back on the ocean, trading, fighting, fishing. The wizard draws a teleportation circle to Port Damali while the monk who stares you down with mirth in her eyes hands you a signed letter and she tells you to make a good impression. You’re led to the circle by the tall barbarian and when you hesitate, she pushes you gently into the circle. You tumble out and into a room, guards quickly opening the door in shock and you shove the letter into their hands; one takes it away. You sit on the floor, tears coming to your eyes as you realise you’re finally home. The leader of the Cobalt Soul archive comes to meet you, letter in hand,

“Another friend of Expositor Beauregard? You lot always like to make your entrances, don’t you?”

You smile, now understanding why the monk looked amused at you as you left. You’re led out to the port, weak at the knees at the sights and sounds and smells of the harbour, and spend your time finding the comrades you left behind. You remember those words the Cobalt Soul archivist said to you, that you’re a friend to the Mighty Nein; you live to hope you will do them proud and some day repay them for their aid.

Imagine, you’re an elven merchant. You’re from Zadash, and you were on the way home from a prosperous trip to Marquet, when you stopped by this cursed island to refuel and never left. The large, kind-eyed firbolg of the group takes you aside to get to know your story and asks the tiefling to send a message to a shop owner you once knew in your city. You get confirmation that a friend will be awaiting your arrival. You take a deep breath and step through the teleportation circle, walking into the halls of the Cobalt Soul in Zadash. A face pokes their head around the door, fluffy, bespectacled, with beautiful robes. Someone you’ve sat down to tea and trade with for many years, and not for many years have you been happier to see him again. Pumat Sol takes you by the arm into a hug, chuckling and telling you,

“Respectfully, my friend, if it weren’t for the Mighty Nein, I don’t believe either of us would be here today.”

You gratefully follow your friend back through the streets of Zadash, planning your re-entry into the commerce of the city, though now you place less value in material wealth. You live to trade tales of your adventures and find, unsurprisingly, the Nein are folk heroes to the city also; many citizens attest to the bravery of the party who saved you.

Imagine, you’re a smith. You’re from a great line of dwarven blacksmiths and creators. You left your home to search for rare materials to make your creations and name well known across the seas. You spend your time on the island smithing tools, simple hammers and spears, tools of function. Your memories clear of the great forges of Uthodurn, and you realise you were foolish to try to make yourself famous, all you needed was a place to work, your family beside you, and the gifts the All-Hammer gave you. The tiefling and half-orc speak to each other before she send a message away to the wind. The half-orc calms your travel nerves by showing you his blade, the incredible craftsmanship is mesmerising, and familiar, your fears are forgotten. You are led to the circle and roll out into a chamber of the Steeple Archive in Uthodurn, you’ve never been inside before and it is a grand place. You’re quickly escorted outside to a city that has changed just enough to make you worried again, when a stocky figure claps you on the shoulder. You spin into the embrace of Umagorn Smeltborne and he all but picks you up, exclaiming,

“My friend! Finally you have returned, we have much work to catch up on.”

You try to explain how you are here and what has occurred but he holds up his hand to stop you.

“By the grace of the Wildmother who watches over the Nein, the All-Hammer has seen it fit to return you to us.”

You congratulate your friend on his masterpiece of a sword, and vow you will never take your home for granted again. You live to create and learn and grow in prowess, you pay your tributes to the All-Hammer, and you make ones especially for your new friends, should they ever pass through Uthodurn again.

Imagine, you’re a dignitary. An orc with a good ear and strong voice for negotiations. You were sent by your queen, many, many moons ago, across the seas on a mission to secure new allies. You cast your mind back to Rosohna, the sweet richness of the dark city, and the queen you have been honoured to serve in your lifetimes. You wonder who is still in her council, whether you will be trusted when you return after all this time. The blue one and the wizard come to speak to you of someone you once knew, the Dusk Captain. The tiefling carefully words her message, asking permission for you to teleport, while the wizard tries to update you on the situation from your homeland. When the circle is ready, you steel yourself and march through, blessedly arriving in the Lucid Bastion. You take a knee, thanking the Luxon for bringing you home, finally. As you rise, you are greeted by the Captain, smiling to see a long-feared-dead member of the council back and well. As she walks with you through the halls, she recounts the changes in the Kryn Dynasty, culminating with the wizard and his friends who held up their missing beacon in front of the queen, and gave them new hope.

“We feared you dead, with no way to come back through the Luxon. The Mighty Nein have assured you your soul in this life and the next.”

You frown, realising the wizard and the group conveniently forgot to mention they were also heroes of the Dynasty. You are confident they shall return to Rosohna, and add your voice to those who reverently bless their coming to the Dynasty. You live to return to your position and help write the new history of the Dynasty, about the aid of the group who gave back your voice.

Connected by land and by sea, The Mighty Nein continue to shape the lives of the people of Exandria. The Nein will bend the knee for kings and queens and nobles, they bow their heads under the gaze of gods and false gods alike, they take their orders to do what they can to better the lives of others.

But at the end of the day, a druid in a far off land, a sailor in Port Damali, a merchant, a smith, a dignitary, a farmer, a smuggler, a Crownsguard, a carnival master, an inventor, a half-dragonborn, a mage, a kenku, a stone giant, a family of clay and dust and stone…

They look to the stars and count their blessings of the people who have irrevocably touched their lives.

#Critical Role #The Mighty Nein #critrole #i spent half the day imagining how many lives the Mighty Nein have changed #Caleb Widogast #Beauregard Lionett #Caduceus Clay #Fjord #Jester Lavorre #Veth Brenatto #Yasha Nydoorin #Vilya #mini fic #but a little long without a read more #Rumblecusp #Vokodo

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somethingusefulfromflorida · 3 years

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World War Z was published in 2006, but takes place in 2009 at the earliest. Late in the book, astronaut Terry Knox states that the International Space Station took over 10 years to complete; it started construction in November 1998, and Chief of Staff Karl Rove Grover Carlson says that the Republican party barely eked back into power after a disastrous 2-termer who started a “brush fire war” in the Middle East (George W. Bush). He mentions an election year, but he doesn’t specify if it was the new president’s first or second term, so it’s either set right after 2008 or 2012. This was written before the Nintendo Wii was announced, but one chapter mentions that people brought their GameCubes with them as they fled their homes in search of safety in the frozen Canadian wilderness. This same chapter also mentions that they didn’t know how to pick survival gear; a park ranger finds a SpongeBob SquarePants sleeping bag frozen in the mud because its owner didn’t know the difference between a child’s indoor sleeping bag for slumber parties and a real insulated survival bag for camping.

The new president is never named, he’s just told be be pro-big business and anti-regulation, pushing a placebo zombie vaccine through the FDA to jumpstart the economy. When shit hits the fan, he is “sedated” and his vice president takes power; we’re never told what happened to the president, whether he was bitten or had a stroke, just that he was “sedated.” His Vice President is directly implied to be Colin Powell; he’s former military with family in Jamaica and black. He appoints Howard Dean to be his vice president to form a bipartisan coalition; he is never referred to by name, but it is clearly supposed to be Howard Dean. He was a rising star in the Democratic party from Vermont whose wife is a doctor and whose career imploded after he had a passionate outburst. In 2004, Howard Dean gave a speech where he started passinately screaming about how he was gonna start sweeping state primaries and ride a wave into the White House, punctuating his point by going “HHEEUEAHHGH!!” This was political suicide in 2004, and he was laughed out of the race. In the book, he is referred to only as “the Whacko” because of this. It is implied that he was Powell’s second choice for VP, his first being Barack Obama; the Whacko says that the Democrats wanted somebody else, somebody of the same skin color as the president, but that the country wasn’t ready for that. In 2004, Obama was a candidate for senate in Illinois, so popular and so well spoken that he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention before he even won his seat; then and there, pundits already had him pegged as the first black president, they could see the writing on the walls. The Whacko becomes president when Powell dies of stress, but he is consistently referred to only as the wartime Vice President, out of respect for his boss.

Also, the Attorney General is implied to be Rudy Giuliani; all that is said about him was that he was the mayor of New York and once tried to give himself emergency powers to stay in office after his term. Giuliani did exactly that after 9/11.

Other real life figures mentioned in the book

Fidel Castro; a ton of Cuban Americans flee the continent and return to the island during the zombie war, and he jumpstarts the economy by putting them to work as cheap laborers and slowly integrating them back into Cuban society. He rehabilitates his image by stepping down as dictator and democratizing the country, voting himself out of office before the “nortecubanos” could hang him for decades of war crimes.

Nelson Mendela, referred to by his birth name Rolihlahla, the father of modern South Africa, he personally invites Paul Redekker, a former apartheid era political analyst, to solve the zombie problem; in the 80s, Redekker created a plan for the white minority government in case the black majority ever rose up against them. In real life, Mandela lowered the temperature when he was elected president, saying that revenge against the apartheid government would do more harm than good. In the story, Mandela uses this as justification to reuse the apartheid era plan to handle the zombie outbreak instead. Redekker is so overcome by his compassion and forgiveness that he has a mental episode and dissociates, believing himself to be a black South African.

Kim Jong-il, the dictator of North Korea, he withdraws all troops from the DMZ and shuts the entire country down. After months of radio silence, it is revealed that the entire country’s population has vanished; all satellite imagery shows a desolate wasteland, no zombies, but no humans either. He presumably moved everyone into subterranean bunker systems where he not only control their lives as on the surface, but now their access to food, water, and air. He presumably became the god emperor he always wanted to be; either that, or the entire tunnel complex has been overrun, turning every man woman and child in North Korea into zombies. The South Korean government refuses to send a expedition into the North to figure out what happened, lest they open up one of the tunnels and unleash millions of zombies onto the surface.

Martin Scorsese, mentioned in passing only as “Marty,” a friend of world famous film director Roy Elliot, who himself is a thinly veiled pastiche of Steven Spielberg. Interestingly enough, the audio book features Martin Scorsese doing the voice of the conartist who created the placebo vaccine

One chapter has a ton of vapid celebrities hole together in a fortified mansion on Long Island, and takes great care to show each of them getting torn apart not by zombies but by regular people who storm the facility because they were stupid enough to broadcast their location on reality television. A redneck with a “Get’er Done” hat (Larry the Cable Guy) and some bald guy with diamond earrings (Howie Mandel) blow themselves up with a grenade. Rival political commentators, an annoying guy who talks about feminization of western society and a leathery blonde (Bill Maher and Ann Coulter) have end-of-the-world viking sex as the facility burns to the ground. A dumb starlet (Paris Hilton) is killed by one of her handlers and her little rat dog escapes on foot. A radio shock jock (Howard Stern) actually survives the war and restarts his show.

Michael Stipe of REM joins the army to fight the zombies

Another war veteran mentions how his brother used to have a bunch of Mel Brooks’ old comedy skits on vinyl record, and how he and his squad acted out the “Boy meets Girl” puppet skit with some human skulls. Mel Brooks is author and narrator Max Brooks’ father.

Queen Elizabeth II, refuses to evacuate England when the island is overrun by zombies. She intends to remain in Buckingham Palace “for the duration,” mirroring the fact that her parents refused to evacuate to Canada during World War II.

Vladimir Putin declares himself Tsar of the Holy Russian Empire, an ultra-orthodox religious state that has armed priests execute political dissidents under the guise of mercy killing people who have been bitten by zombies.

Yang Liwei, the first “taikonaut” (Chinese astronaut) has a space station named after him

While the main conflict is about government responses to the zombie pandemic, we see glimpses of a greater war torn planet.

A major plot line involves a Chinese Civil War which sees the entire communist politburo nuked out of existence by a rebel sub commander, as well as an attempted “scorched space policy” where the government planned to blow up their space station with scuttling charges to cause a cascade of space debris to encircle the Earth and prevent any other countries from launching missions in the future (this is known as Kessler Syndrome in real life, and was featured as the inciting incident of the 2013 movie Gravity). The People’s Republic becomes the United Federation.

Iran and Pakistan destroy each other in nuclear war; everyone thought it would be India and Pakistan, but they had very close diplomatic infrastructure in place to prevent such a catastrophe; Pakistan helped Iran build a nuclear arsenal, but as millions of refugees fled from India through Pakistan to the east, Iran had to blow up some Pakistani bridges to stem the flow of zombies, which led to a border war and eventually total nuclear retaliation.

Floridians flee to Cuba, Wisconsinites flee to Canada, the federal government flees to Hawaii. Everything east of the Rockies is abandoned and ruled by warlords until the government sorts itself out and mounts an expedition to clear the continent of zombies by literally marching an unbroken line of soldiers stretching from Canada to Mexico across the wasteland to the Atlantic.

Israel withdraws from Gaza and the West Bank to become super isolationist, building a wall around the entire country to stop the zombies getting in (they were the first country to respond to the pandemic, and the most successful), but the religious right rebels against the secular left in a civil war that sees Jerusalem ceded to a unified Palestine.

It is an amazing, multifaceted story with so much going on that nobody recognizes. It was written as a response to the end of the Cold War and the start of the War on Terror. It’s about a geopolitical shift, a change in the status quo, a disaster from which the world never recovers; America before 9/11 was a very different place than American after 9/11. Iraq and Afghanistan changed everything, and we’re still feeling their effects to this day; the story uses the zombie apocalypse as the next big international disaster the world must adapt to. World War Z is World War III with zombies, and I think it would do a lot better if it were published today, now that we’ve had several decades to respond to the fall of the Soviet Union and the endless wars in the Middle East and a global pandemic.

#world war z #wwz #max brooks #book #novel

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redhoodssweetheart · 3 years

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By the Sea Part Six

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Mermaid!Reader

Requested: No (Requests are closed except for a few, see pinned post for details.)

Word Count: 1.5K

Warnings: Angst, fluff

Description: Y/N is a mermaid that longs for the land. Her friend Natasha tells her that she knows a human who will take care of her and leads her there, she only has one rule: do not under any circumstances fall in love with a human. But Steve’s friend Bucky is drawing her in, in ways she hadn’t expected. Will Y/N be able to return to the ocean once her stay in the human realm is complete? And what happens when Natasha learns that Y/N is betrothed to be married to their king’s son? Will she drag her friend back or keep her hidden amongst the humans?

Once everyone had left and Y/N had gone to bed Natasha sat in Steve’s library with a glass of whiskey in her hands. “What’s going on between Bucky and Y/N?”

“As far as I’m aware they’re just friends,” Steve replied as he leaned against one of the shelves looking at his friend. “He hasn’t mentioned liking her as anything other than that.”

“Would he though?” She questioned.

“Natasha, he’s not like the man who broke your heart,” Steve snapped. He knew Natasha had every right to be distrustful of someone she didn’t know, especially after what happened to her. And he knew that she was only worried about her friend, but this was his friend she was questioning him about. “If anything were to happen, he’d be the perfect person to fall in love with.”

“It won’t work,” Natasha argued. “She’s a mermaid and he’s human. Their relationship is doomed to fail, not to mention she is currently a wanted woman.”

“We’ll figure something out that will keep her safe, but if she wants to stay here for the rest of her life then she’s going to fall in love. What if she wants a family and someone to grow old with? Are you going to deny her that because you believe all men are like him.”

Natasha could hear the hurt in his voice. She set her glass gently on the table beside her and walked over to where he was, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m sorry, I know you and the boys aren’t like that. I’m just scared. I don’t want to see her in the same place I was in.”

“She won’t. I think Bucky knows I’d kill him before I’d ever let him hurt her.” He pulled back and lifted her face so that she was looking at him, “Go home and keep an eye on things there. If something happens let us know immediately, but until then I’ll keep an eye on Y/N and Bucky.”

“All right, but if something happens--”

“Nothing is going to happen,” he kissed her forehead and led her to the beach. Before she could enter the water he grabbed her hand and said, “Natasha?” She turned to face him, he hesitated before asking, “Will you ever come back?”

“I don’t know, maybe someday, but I’m not ready yet.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before slipping out of her dress and diving into the waves.

Y/N watched from her window as Steve stood on the beach for the longest time just watching the waves, still hoping that maybe she would come back. Finally, he turned and headed back inside. Y/N never heard him come up the stairs.

Y/N was sitting on a small couch that Bucky had gotten for his studio. She had a sketch pad in front of her and she was trying to draw some shells that Bucky had set up on a table for her to practice sketching. He was sitting a few feet away painting her as she sketched.

This was her second time coming to the studio and she felt like she was getting nowhere with her exercises. Her sketches still looked horrible compared to his. He reassured her that she just needed to keep practicing. He told her it took him years before he could draw like he could now. She didn’t quite believe him, but it made her feel better knowing that he was trying to cheer her up and give her hope.

“Bucky?” She looked over at him, she could make out his profile as he worked, his body angled slightly toward hers. He looked over when she said his name, “How did you know you wanted to be a painter?”

Ever since Y/N decided to stay she had been struggling to try to figure out what she wanted to do here. She didn’t want to be indebted to Steve for the rest of her life. She wanted to contribute, but she didn’t know what she wanted to do. Steve was busy some days down at the docks with his shipments and when Y/N offered to help he had turned her down for fear that her kind might see her in their search for her. She thought that maybe she could try seeing if Alma needed her help, but she had no experience with that type of work.

Bucky contemplated his answer, “I don’t know. I’ve just always known I wanted to do something creatively, but I didn’t know what to do until my father got me my first set of paints and brushes.” He smiled fondly at the memory, “I painted on every surface of our house. My mother was furious, but my father just laughed and said I had the soul of an artist.”

Y/N smiled at how fond his expression had become, he had hardly spoken of his family in the short time that he had known her. He considered the boys his family now. “I’ve only ever worked with flowers before, back home that’s what we’re known for.”

Bucky contemplated his answer and then said, “Why don’t you open up a flower shop here? Steve can help you get started and you can write home to your family about those special flowers that grow on your island.”

Y/N’s face brightened, the thought of finally doing something useful making her pleased, “Do you really think that the people here would want a flower shop?”

Bucky nodded his head enthusiastically, “Let me finish my painting and then we’ll go talk to Steve together.”

Bucky made quick work of his painting and then he dragged Y/N from his studio to the docks. Steve panicked when he saw Y/N there and she gave him an apologetic look. Steve asked them what they were doing there and Bucky began explaining his idea. He even prompted Y/N to tell Steve how she had been feeling.

“I know you’ve been wanting to do things to help, but you don’t have to feel like you owe me, Y/N,” Steve explained calmly. “I’ve said it before, you’re like family to me and I don’t mind having you around or taking care of you.”

“I know,” Y/N wrung her hands together. “But I still wish to feel useful and I want to do this. I love flowers and it would be a weight off my shoulders if I could do something to help you.”

Steve grew quiet thinking over their idea, “All right, I’ll help you get started. We can discuss this more tonight once we get home. Now go enjoy the day, and for the love of God, Bucky, please don’t take her back to your studio. Just go somewhere to enjoy the fresh air, you stay cloistered in that loft enough as it is, now you’re turning poor Y/N into a shut-in.”

Y/N chuckled as Bucky huffed and took her hand, “I’m not a shut-in.”

“Are too!” Steve called after them as Bucky maneuvered Y/N through the crowded docks.

Not far from the docks, just below the surface, a pair of eyes watched the young man with Y/N. Why was she here? And why was she with these humans? The merman took off toward the palace and rushed to find Loki. He had to alert the prince about this immediately to see what he wanted to be done about this.

“Prince Loki!” The merman called once he had discovered the prince with a group of his personal guards swimming through the halls toward his room. “Please wait, your Highness!”

Loki turned and face Peter who was swimming quickly toward him. His brows furrowed in concern, “What’s wrong, Peter?”

Peter looked at the guards and said, “May we speak in private, your Highness?”

Loki nodded and turned to his guards, “Leave us.” They bowed and swam in the opposite direction. “All right, what’s going on Peter?”

Peter quickly pulled Loki into his room and shut the door softly, “I’ve found Y/N. She was at the docks at the nearest human village. She was smiling and looked happy.”

Loki looked confused, “Why would she be there?”

“I don’t know,” Peter said. “Shall I tell King Odin about this?”

Loki shook his head, “No, my father isn’t thinking rationally about this right now. He’s furious that she vanished. Let me look into the matter before we bring my father into this. I’m sure it’s nothing bad, maybe she’s just exploring.” Loki tried to give Peter a reassuring smile, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Peter. You’ve done well.”

Peter bowed, “Of course, I’m just as worried about Y/N as everyone else. Please let me know if there’s anything else that you need me to do, your Highness.” With that, he left Loki alone with his thoughts.

Had Y/N left on her own accord? Would she be back? Loki wasn’t sure, but the one thing he was sure of was that he was going to go and see what was going on for himself.

#Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader #Bucky Barnes x Mermaid!Reader #Bucky Barnes x Reader angst #Bucky Barnes x Reader fluff #Bucky Barnes #Bucky Barnes fanfic #Bucky Barnes fanfiction #Bucky Barnes fluff #Bucky Barnes angst

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remember-to-be-gentle · 3 years

Text

Subject: BNHA, Hawks aka Keigo Takami

Title: Hunter and the Prey: Prologue (DARK, fem reader)

Trigger Warning: Hunting, cannibalism, stalking

Keigo had a process. It was time consuming and slow, but in his mind, it was all worth it for the perfect hunt.

Once a year, the Japanese government allowed for crime to be legal for 24hrs, which gave him one year to prepare his hunt. He took his time selecting his prey, stalking a total of twelve each month and picking one from that batch before repeating the same process the next month. He’d done this for years, that is, until he met you. Keigo was in his forties now, the sides of hair graying, laugh lines and crow's feet spreading like cracks in his skin when he smiled, and being this old meant that he'd seen your type before. However, something was different, something he couldn't put a finger on.

It was January and Keigo already had half his list together for his hunt.

Maybe it was because during the rush in a small coffee shop, you and five friends were the loudest people in the room, ignoring your over complicated drinks in favor of gossip. Personal information flew from your mouths without a second thought, tangling everyone inside with sticky webs of exaggerated information about strangers. You sat in the middle, laughing obnoxiously as your friends spun tales that were probably as true their insta profiles. Everyone in the room shot glares at your party, but none were brave enough to quell the wagging tongues of gossiping women.

He hated you.

It wasn't like you or your friends had quirks to make them intimidating either, as the population was 80% quirkless. All the fear you inspired came from a flapping pink muscle that would do society better if it were cooking on his grill with a little salt, pepper, and garlic.

So, Keigo did what he did best, he researched you. It wasn’t like it was hard. In today’s age of technology and cameras, all he had to do was sneak a picture of your face and reverse image search it. He found your Instagram, Facebook, an abandoned MySpace, even a Twitter where you complained nonstop about how people drove nowadays.

He was in love.

Not with you, per se, but the idea of hunting bitches like you.

Keigo had always gotten a kick from chasing down a villain, knowing they were desperate for escape and he was the cause. Just the thought of forcing someone’s fight-or-flight instincts into high gear until they couldn’t think straight had his heart pumping and mouth salivating. You... you’d clearly lived a cushy life, not being told by family or your obnoxious friends how awful you really were, never having to fend for yourself or others... You were a spoiled brat through and through. He wanted to watch you suffer, to run for your life and break your manicured nails as you screamed your pretty throat raw for help. Just imagining those heavily made up eyes streaming with black tears had his pants constricting around him.

He knew tender, fatty meat like yours was the best. Children raised in comfort tasted the best: he knew that from experience.

Your friends weren’t a bad catch either. They were all pretty and just the right amount of curvy to have virgins in the palms of their hands, and at least one of them had an OnlyFans, though her subscriber rate was below a hundred and her pics were not worth the price. He’d have to do some research to make sure all those curves were natural, but otherwise, he was just as excited to hunt them. A group of bratty girls to hunt and scream and cry and beg. Maybe it was the cold or old age catching up with him that made Keigo complacent with gathering his potential prey so early, either way, that aching, primal hunger inside him was salivating at the thought of your foolish friends sobbing from the hell on earth he’d put you all through.

June couldn’t come soon enough.

So as usual Keigo made his plans, he finalized his research and sent a picture of his targets to their future captors: his employees better known as his surviving children. Then, he filed time off work for two weeks, the middle of those days landing right on the summer solstice: Purge Night.

Right at 12:01, his targets would be taken from their beds and brought to his island. Once they were safely on his property, there wouldn't be a thing anyone could do to save them.

The island itself was large for one person to own it. It had been a gift some years ago from another hero who used it for training and wanted Keigo to improve fast in the competitive world of heroes. When he'd first arrived, the island was dense with trees and wild animals, an old house right on the crescent shaped beach beside the dock.

At first he'd been reluctant to use this area, having only flown in the city, but Keigo quickly adapted to the jungle-like environment. His instincts had kicked in, and just like that, he'd begun hunting the wildlife that lived on the island. It gave him a thrill he couldn't describe, awoken a primal hunger that lay deep in his belly... He wanted to hunt more. He wanted to hunt something smarter: bigger.

He wanted to hunt humans, although he didn't know it yet.

The first time had been an accident, or at least that's what he'd told authorities that came to investigate the disappearance of his hero mentor. Keigo had lived alone on the island so long that when game bigger and smarter than he'd ever encountered rustled the leaves and spooked the animals, he'd given into his primal urges and hunted.

He'd told authorities that he thought the hero was an intruder, that it was self defense, and since the island was already legally his, no one could claim otherwise: he was untouchable in his little paradise.

Explaining where the other half of the hero's torso was another matter, though. That was harder to cover up, but smooth lies and tired sighs had the police believing that it was an animal that had bisected his body. They never searched the house.

Even if they had, they would have never found the carefully cut up body, arranged and packaged like preserved wild game. They would have been none the wiser even if they'd been smarter.

After Keigo had had that first taste, he couldn't forget it. He craved more.

The second time was not an accident.

He was a hero, he knew how the missing were tracked and so took the time to avoid what would attract attention. Low profile villains. No one with large families or children, no one with a job that relied on them. No one that would be missed.

It was surpassingly easy to lure people to his island, they were all too eager to trust an upcoming hero. But that got boring fast. That trusting nature of theirs made it hard to make them run, he practically had to throw them out into the jungle, and still, they barely ran. The chase was mediocre.

He’d found the best way to hunt his prey was to take them by surprise, no more choices or showing his face: that ruined the game. They had to be unwilling and unknowledgeable.

That’s what made you and your friends so tempting: the only people who’d miss you lot were each other and none of you were interested in anything except partying. You’d be the perfect prey. You’d wouldn’t be mourned except maybe college dudes missing pussy. You were a spoiled nobody and Keigo wanted a taste of your plump, privileged meat.

Keigo couldn’t wait until June.

#Raven Writes #BNHA #My Hero Academia #Hawks #Keigo Takami #Hawks x Reader #Keigo Takami x Reader #TW cannibalism #tw stalking #tw hunting

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minerstatus · 3 years

Text

Teyvat’s School for the Gifted

Summary: He's cruel, mean, and sadistic. Lumine cannot fathom why he has the followers he does, but she won't fall into his hands like the rest of them. It was unknown to her at that time how such a stance would cause the biggest uproar the schools ever seen.

This is the silly drama filled high school/college parody AU nobody asked for filled with Lumine not giving a shit and Childe trying to buy his way out of problems.

Ship: Lumine/Childe

Tags: Highschool AU, Enemies to lovers, Slow burn, Jealousy, lots of side ships.

Status: 5/? on Ao3

Chapter 1

The school located on an island inside the neutral zones between nations is a blessing for anyone without a swimming pool filled with mora. Without money you have to be gifted a vision to attend. That is why Lumine thought she would never be accepted to such a place. Instead cursed to live her life on a small farm on the outskirts of Mondstadt, killing small monsters for money to aid her ailing mother.

She had become quite the prodigy around the area. Her sword work was nothing to be trifled with. Some would even gush about what it would be like if she did have a vision. Then it happened, a strange string of life changing events.

She enjoyed spending her free time sitting under the statue of the seven in windrise. It gave her a reprieve from her day-to-day life of school, killing, then sleep. She polished her blade most days she sat there, enjoying the sounds of the wilderness around her.

As she sheathed her blade, wistfully thinking about what it would be like to magically summon and desummon it as a vision user, a light began to shine behind her. There was a flash, she thought maybe a vision might appear in front of her. But this was no test or life changing event. It didn’t make sense.

Wind surrounded her body, lifting her skit in the breeze. She turned, it followed with her. She lifted her hand as a power surged through her. A burst of wind jetted from her palm and sliced across the water. It trimmed the tops off the over grown grasses lining the ponds edge. The wind died down and left her for elsewhere as the light slowly faded out of existence.

Befuddled, she stared at the palms of her hands. She felt a power emanating from her core. With a trembling arm she raised her palm again, calling forth on the energy. It darted from her as before. Shocked, she tried it again and again, smiling gleefully with each blast of wind. She twirled around, searching for her vision, but came up empty.

That is how the first visionless anemo user was born. At first people didn’t believe her. Delusions were not unknown to the common folk of Teyvat. They were a staple favorite of the mafia families across the regions. But she quickly smashed those theories to pieces. Not only was she a poor farm girl fighting to survive, but where on earth would she have the money to afford such a thing. She allowed an inspection of her things and a pat down to prove it.

After the authorities decided that she did not have a vision she was free to do as she wished. That was until the head master of Teyvat’s school for the gifted showed up on her doorstep. The scholarship she was offered would give more money to her mother per month than she could in six months of hunting. She took it without question.

That’s how she ended up here, gawking at the building in front of her. The school defied the rumors. Statues carved from marble, fountains that defied gravity, even the wood it was built from looked impossibly expensive. Heck, the wildlife looked like they ate from golden platters.

The only thing that held her from running right back to the boat was a woman pinning her down with a chemically assisted cheerful gaze. A shiver ran up her spine as she waved her over. She obliged only because her eyes looked a hair away from snapping into crazy land.

“Welcome to Teyvat’s finest Lumine!” She cheered and began to clap.

“Thanks,” She mumbled, intimidated by her nature. She looked like a robot. Sleek black hair, not a strand out of place. Perfectly pressed blazer and pencil skirt in matching shades. Her glasses glistening in the sunlight, even if they were just plain black frames. She hoped not everyone in this school looked or felt this way.

“Follow me and I'll take you to your dorm. Then it’s a trip around campus!” She quipped then turned on her heel. Even her footsteps were a perfect tempo.

They walked through the faculty building, which thankfully looked normal inside. The site quelled her turning stomach. It was into the garden next that, as expected, looked immaculate. They even had a massive sand garden. Back in Mondstadt something like that would be destroyed in seconds.

Eventually they came upon another wooden building with a large ‘girls’ over it. The woman stopped and spun so fast on her heel Lumine almost let out small scream.

“This is the girl's dorm; your roommates are waiting for you inside with your things. I'll be back in thirty minutes for the rest of the tour,” she said, smile never once faltering as she left Lumine to her own devices.

Her roommates were nice, they greeted her in the common room just as her guide stated. Amber was a bit too enthusiastic for just about anything. Barbara was a very cheerful girl but was more reserved. It was a breath of fresh air to see two friendly faces. They led her to their dorm to get settled.

“So, what do you think?” Amber asked as Lumine began to unpack her luggage. Placing her uniforms carefully into her small closet along with her own casual clothing. Her own things almost felt dirty comparted to the schools uniform she was provided. And the room was much bigger than what she expected from a dormitory.

“It's overwhelming,” She admitted.

“You'll get used to it,” Amber laughed.

“Are you?” Lumine began to ask.

“Scholarship,” Amber answered, holding up her vision, “They keep the poor kids together so we don’t infect the rich kids.” She laughed.

“Hey!” Barbara yelled at her. Lips pointing into a pout.

“Except for Barbara, she requested to room with me. She's the exception.” Amber smiled at her friend.

“So, it's exactly how I thought it would be,” Lumine grumbled. This school was probably dripping with rich kids causing trouble for the normal folk, like she expected.

“Some of the students are alright, indifferent you might say. But there are,” Amber held up her hands as air quotes, “those types.”

“Will you guys be in my classes?” She asked.

“Nope, third years!”

Lumine felt her insides twist. Great, now she would be alone on her first day. At least her dorm would be nice. Amber was warm and friendly and Barbara seemed sweet even if she wasn’t talking as much. The pair would only be a year below her so they were still close in age. Hopefully she wouldn’t be moved to another dorm with the ‘adults’ if she attends the next four years after this one.

“You don’t want to be in our year anyways,” Barbara laughed.

“Whys that?” Lumine felt a small smile form for the first time since she set foot on the island. Barbara wiggled her eyebrows and gleamed over at Amber. She turned red in response and threw a pillow at her.

“Stop! Its not my fault!” She shouted.

“It’s gross the way he drools over his desk for you,” Barbara added.

“Mind filling me in?” Lumine asked.

“No!” Amber shouted.

“She has this wolf boy that follows her around and causes trouble. Its adorable,” Barbara said anyways.

“I didn’t ask for it he just did it!” Amber defended herself.

“It's like a comedy slash horror show every day,” Barbara giggled.

“Stop teasing me,” Amber whined.

“Wolf boy?” Lumine asked. Mondstadt had a steady population of people descendant of shape shifters or animals, but she had never seen a wolf before. Most of them were cats. Granted, she did keep to herself and didn’t really mix with the town folk, even at school.

“Half werewolf, half human, grew up in the wild before coming here earlier in the year,” Amber explained.

“He can smell everything, it's awful,” Barbara moaned, “one time I tried to bring some leftovers from lunch and he almost ripped apart my bag looking for it.”

“Sounds like a nice boyfriend,” Lumine said, hiding her smile as she sorted items into her desk drawers. Amber gasped from behind her. She swallowed a laugh.

“H-he's not my boyfriend!” She yelled. Lumine busted and began to giggled along with Barbara. She was interested in seeing the exchanges between the two now.

“Very funny guys, I'll make sure to make fun of your pain in suffering next time I get the chance.” Amber crossed her arms.

“Alright I'll stop,” Barbara waved her hand at her. A sharp knock on the door quickly soured the cheerful mood. The door swung open and Lumine’s guide walked in.

“Fantastic, I'm so glad you are getting along with your new housemates. We must complete the tour now.” The woman said, still as cheerful as ever. Lumine noticed Barbara and Ambers shoulders fell on her entrance. “I'll be waiting out front,” she chirped and left.

“God, Mrs.Lee always gives me the creeps,” Amber said.

“Glad it's not just me,” Lumine laughed as she stood.

“Good luck! See you at dinner,” Amber waved as Lumine exited the room. She heard faint whispers of gossip as she left but knew it was nothing bad, those girls didn’t have a mean bone in them.

They walked around campus and Lumine slowly became accustomed to the wildly expensive taste. She was shown the inside of the year one through four buildings, for the fourteen-to-eighteen-year old's. Then the outside of the adult facilities. Mrs. Lee assured the only real difference between the two was the uniform requirement and some extra freedoms.

After taking the tour she felt less overwhelmed, but it was the final stop that really cemented the reality most of the students lived in. It was the cafeteria of the school, but should have been classified as a food court. There was the line for the scholarship students where they could use one of three free meal tickets per day, or a snack coupon, all loaded onto her school ID. Wich was normal, same thing that she had in Mondstadt, minus the dinner.

What was different was the restaurants lining the walls. Everything you could imagine from each region on tap. And the prices were nothing to scoff at. A Fishermans toast was going for ten thousand mora, she could make that for less than three hundred back home. Lines scaled out to the isles as students waited, eager to be robbed for food.

“Lumine!” A familiar voice shouted. She sighed in relief. A distraction to this insanity was required right about now. She carried her tray adorned with less appetizing food from the school over to the table Amber sat at.

“This place is crazy,” Lumine sighed in exhaustion.

“My first day I ran away,” Amber laughed. She placed a spoon full of mac and cheese into her mouth.

“Those prices are more than I make in three weeks back home,” She said as she began to eat. Pleasantly surprised that even the free food was delectable. The pasta was perfectly cooked, cheese sauce an ideal creamy texture. She moved on to nibble at her cookie, baked expertly with a crispy outside and a gooey center. “God,” she murmured, savoring the taste.

“I told you, you get used to it,” Amber smiled sweetly. A book bag slamming down on the table instantly cleared her face. She looked up to see what she assumed was the wolf boy from earlier discussions. Lumine wondered why Amber felt it was bad to have his attention. He was attractive, silver hair and red eyes, giving him an exotic look. His arms were coated in scars and a massive one gashed his face, not a bad look if your into that type. Some of the girls back home would swoon over the attention.

“Why,” She groaned as he pulled out a seat, pushing it right up against hers as he sat a plate of meat and potatoes down. It must have been one of the free creature meals from the school line. He sat, making sure he was as close as physically possible to her.

Okay, maybe that’s why. Lumine began to understand.

He tilted his head like a new puppy, “Why?” He asked, voice thick with an unknown accent.

“We talked about this,” She shoved his chair away. “This is Razor,” She sighed as he sunk into his chair to pout. Lumine nodded and greeted him with a smile.

“I bought brownies!” Barbara sang as she skipped over to the table, “For our new friend,” She handed out the sweets, “And beef jerky for you,” She said as she handed Razor a slim piece of dried meat. He perked up and took it, chewing on it greedily. After the experience with the cookie Lumine thought the food couldn’t get better. But the brownie was smooth decadent layers of velvet chocolate that melted in her mouth. She had to suppress a groan.

There was a pickup of chatter in the room that pulled her from her chocolate induced fantasy. She looked towards the entrance of the café where a group of boys walked in. They were followed by a gaggle of other students, mostly female, all adorned with an expensive accessory or more.

Lumine was an honest person and she did not deny to herself that these boys looked like royalty. They walked with an air of confidence even through the crowd, knowing that the sea of students would part for them. She counted each of their visions, anemo, geo, cryo and hydro. There was a distinct leader to the group out of the four. A redhead who wore his vision on his belt, showing it off by messily tucking in half of his unkept shirt. Like he wanted people to see it, unlike the rest of them that wore them on chains by their side, as did everyone else in the school.

“Don't stare,” Amber hissed. Lumine snapped her eyes to her friends.

“Who are they?” She asked. Amber eyed her wearily before divulging the information.

“Sons of the school's elite,” She glanced back at the group to ensure they were distracted with food or girls before continuing, “The shorter one with green hair is Xiao, the son of the wangshu inn owner. The geo looking guy is Zhongli from the Wangsheng funeral parlor. Blue hair is Kaeya, one of the sons from the dawn winery.” Amber stopped speaking as she got to the last subject. Lumine quirked a brow as both Barbara and Amber swiveled their heads to check on the group again.

“It's not really them you should be weary of though; besides Xiao they are nice. Xiao has always had a stick up his butt,” Barbara added to the conversation.

“Then what is it, why are we acting like we are defusing a bomb?” Lumine asked.

“It's Childe, the redhead,” Amber whispered.

“Childe? That’s a dumb name,” Lumine thought out loud. The girls hissed at her to keep her voice down.

“He smells mean,” Razor added. Amber pulled on his ear.

“I told you not to talk about him,” She growled at him. He grasped her hand in his, forcing her to release.

“But you are!” he argued.

“Thats because we are warning her!” Amber explained. Razors eyes darted from Ambers to Lumines and he resigned himself back to his half-eaten steak.

Amber rolled her eyes and turned back to Lumine, “It’s not his real name, no one even knows his real name.”

“Childe is an awful nickname,” She whispered back to her friend.

“He’s mean, and evil, once he has you in his sights there's no stopping it.” Amber warned her.

“What about his friends? Don’t they say something?” She asked.

“They are rich, us poor folk don’t matter to them even if they act cordial towards us,” Amber told her as she leaned back, “Besides you don’t have a vision, he will probably just ignore you.”

Lumine widened her eyes, “well...” She felt a tint come to her cheeks, “Actually...”

Amber slammed her fists on the table, “NO WAY! YOUR THAT GIRL!” she screamed. Drawing the attention of half the students.

“Show us!” Barbara insisted.

“Ah, I don’t think now is the best time.” Lumine tried to quell her friend's voices but both girls were oblivious to the attention they were attracting. She glanced over at the red head she was warned about to make sure he was still entranced at whatever activity he had chosen.

“Awh comon I wanna see!” Amber whined.

“First anemo user in history without a vision! Don’t hold out on us!” Barbara added.

“Fine! Just stop yelling at me,” Lumine finally conceded. She put her palm face up on the table and gathered a small amount of wind to it. It tinted green with her power as it swirled into a miniature tornado in her palm.

“This is so cool!” Amber gasped.

“It's the same as anyone else,” Lumine said, closing her hand to cease the wind. She was more than a bit tired of people going ballistic over her powers.

“Let's get back to the dorms,” Amber suggested, “We have much to talk about,” She smiled gleefully. Razor whimpered next to her, “fine you can come too,” She sighed. Razor looked up with a beaming smile.

“Boys are allowed in the girls dorms?” Lumine asked as they gathered their trays and bags.

“Only until eight with a strict open-door policy,” Barbara told her.

She hummed in response as the group made their way over to the trash bins. Eyes were on her now, some searching for a vision trinket she didn’t possess. She was the last one out the door when a chill tingled down her spin. She grabbed the back of her neck and turned, expecting a cryo user to be standing there with a smirk on their face.

Instead, she was greeted with sea blue eyes cutting through the crowd. He smirked when they made eye contact. The chill went down her entire body. She glared as the door to the building swung shut, cutting them off.

Shit.

#chilumi #childe #lumine #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction

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thehellcatcroons · 3 years

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The Sun

This story takes us back to a time when Dante was known as Tony Redgrave. Following the events of Morris Island, Tony finds himself in a strange town that just so happens to be inhabited by one of his Father's former squires. After facing a short life full of hardship and trauma, Tony's luck may finally be looking up.

Lord Modeus had been chasing ghosts for what seemed like his entire life, and as he shuffled down the dimly lit streets of Port Prince, he couldn't help but wonder if he was on a fool's errand. But the energy he had sensed had been so strong, he couldn't just ignore it; finding Sparda had been his whole reason for coming to this world, after all.

The legendary dark knight may have liberated the demon world from a tyrant, but he left it to collapse in chaos after refusing to take Mundus's place. Sparda turned his back on Hell and left everything behind, including his two squires.

And after a few millenia of watching his brother Baul descend into madness, Modeus had found himself doing the same thing he'd cursed his mentor for, and left it all behind as well. Truth be told, he'd come to this world in search of Sparda, determined to drag him back to the underworld to restore order. But for all of his determination and hope, Modeus had always come up empty handed.

He still believed that Sparda was out there somewhere, but he'd stopped searching when his wife died and left him to raise their daughter by himself. He'd all but given up on the legend of Sparda, but tonight he'd felt his energy nearby. It was unmistakable. Morris Island had just been attacked by demons the day before, could Sparda be back to defend humanity once more?

Modeus looked around, taking in the darkness of the beach town around him. Victorian era buildings lined one side of the cobblestones streets that he was standing in, an old wooden boardwalk lining the other. He was surprised at how quickly he'd managed to walk all the way down here, he'd been trying his best to walk slowly and enjoy the peacefulness that fell upon the town after dark. It was almost unnaturally quiet, with the crashing ocean overtaking all the other small noises of the summer night. The dark haired demon could hear it all though, and it was a strange and beautiful symphony to him. Seagrass shook with the light breeze, rattling like maracas as bugs pinged off the street lights above.

Why would Sparda's energy be here of all places? He thought to himself as he shuffled along the board walk and towards the beach. Is he leading me here for a reason? Is he trying to tell me something?

Chapter One

Why do death and destruction follow me wherever I go? Why am I always the one who makes it out alive? Why aren't I dead already, like mom and Verg?

Thick black smoke rose to the sky as an adolescent boy stood at the edge of small motorboat, staring at the destruction that was slowly fading into the distance. They were far enough away now that the screams had faded, but not even the rough waters, nor the sound of the boat's engine could drown out the screams in his head. His hands clutched the railing of the boat, his knuckles turning white, he could feel the hot tears welling up behind his eyes. This was the second time in his life that he had been forced to run away from a place that he had called home. The first time was only four years ago, although to him, it had felt like a lifetime. He had gone by a different name then, his real name, a name he could only think about, a name he'd vowed to never speak again. He had to keep his promise to his mother, who gave her life to save his.

And now someone else has sacrificed for me...He thought, although he wasn't entirely sure if Evelyn had survived the attack or not. They had gotten separated when the fires broke out. He was still trying to process what had happened.

He remembered feeling strange on his walk home from school with Ernest, and soon after they had parted ways he started to hear screaming from all around the town. He remembered rushing home, only to see a mob of people surrounding the front of home where he and Evelyn had been living.

“This is all your fault!” One of the townsfolk had yelled. “You brought the devil here because you couldn't live without your own child! Now we will all suffer!”

He'd slipped into the alley when he saw the mob, but he still heard their shouts, and remembered each and every one. He had managed to make it through the back door, where Evelyn had been waiting for him. He remembered her kneeling down to hug him and telling him that a demon was attacking the town, and that they needed to get to safety. She said that no matter what happened, he needed to run. If she fell behind for any reason, he needed to leave her behind and get off the island. It was a similar plea to the one his own mother had asked of him when she hid him away in the closet. Sure enough, as they were fleeing their home, the fires from the attack had started to spread, and the town had become a sea of chaos. People were running every which way, trying to flee Morris Island in desperation. But that didn't stop some from recognizing Evelyn and the boy known as Tony.

They ended up getting separated when someone had grabbed him by the wrist and tried to pull him away from Evelyn. He hit the man square in the nose and they broke into a small scuffle. By the time he had broken free, he had lost Evelyn in the crowd.

They attacked her because they think I'm the devil.... but why? He wondered as the smoke stacks grew smaller and smaller in the distance. I guess it doesn't matter now. If she made it off the island like I did, she's safe, and better off without me. Maybe she can live a peaceful life, and take in an orphan that isn't being hunted by demons.

A sharp crackle of static interrupted the boy's thoughts.

“We're going to be coming to shore in Port Prince in the next thirty minutes or so. If you've been separated from your family, you will be shuttled to the police station while we wait for all of the survivors to make it to shore. If you have not been separated from your family, we will have members of the coast guard shuttling groups to the local shelter where you will be able to stay until further arrangements can be made.” A mans voice boomed through a megaphone. “Any injured will be taken right to the hospital, and we will also have counselors available to talk about the incident should you need it.”

Tony was thankful that he was wearing something with a hood. He had pulled it up after getting separated from Evelyn, and had not let it down since. It did well to hid his strange silvery hair. Maybe it would allow him to sneak away from everyone once they came ashore. He certainly was not going to burden these survivors with the possibility of being attacked again. He wasn't sure where he would go or what he would do, he just knew he needed to stay away from innocent people.

(Read the rest of the chapters I have so far [MORE TO COME SOON] on AO3!)

#DMCOCWeek #Day 2 #Connection to cast #How Dante meets Catria #Devil May Cry #Fic #Writing #Catria #Catria Vibes #Dante #Tony Redgrave #Modeus

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queenmagnusao3 · 3 years

Text

Rescue & Recovery: Part Two

And some dramatic angst. Not a happy ending. Major Character death warning

Tenzin, Jinora and two other airbenders landed quietly behind her, taking in the current situation. There was a fire raging in what was thankfully a mostly unoccupied apartment building. Mako and several other firebenders were working diligently to try and calm the out of control flames but were not having much luck.

The wind was vicious and it was taking all of their concentration to keep it from spreading to neighboring buildings. Lin was feeling particularly useless as she supervised their efforts, barking orders every once in a while in attempt to keep her mind busy. Tenzin was back on Air Temple Island for the month and she had sent word to him hoping maybe some of the airbenders would be able to help.

Tenzin seemed to assess the best course of action and the four of them carefully spread out and began directing a controlled flow of air around the building and its surroundings until the whole street block was encased in a sphere of swirling air.

Lin noticed the difference immediately. With the supply of oxygen under the control of the airbenders the flames became more receptive to being told what to do. Mako and the others seemed to almost sag in relief as their frenzied hand motions became more methodical as they finally regained control. They moved in to find the source of the fire.

Tenzin approached Lin and she gave him a soft smile.

“Thank you. They’ve been struggling with this for nearly an hour now. The wind made in impossible.”

“And who better to tame the wind than a group of airbenders.”

“Exactly.”

Their conversation was interrupted by several loud shouts as her officers and the firefighters ran from the building.

“Everybody back! It’s gonna blow!”

Most people were running for cover but Lin was counting heads. People ran past her, everyone accounted for except one. Mako. She took a step towards the building just as Mako appeared in the entryway, an injured man’s arm draped over his shoulder as they shuffled towards the door as quickly as possible. He looked up, meeting her eyes, his mouth shifting to a soft smile as he started to call something out to her…

She didn’t even have a moment’s notice to react. One second she was feeling an immense sense of relief at the sight of Mako reappearing and the next she was staring up at the sky, her ears ringing and the world on fire.

She started to sit up and someone was at her side. Lin turned to look and recognized Tenzin through her blurred vision. He was saying something to her but she couldn’t hear him, her brain trying to catch up with what was happening as she struggled to remember where she was.

The building. There was a building on fire. But they got it under control. Except there was something wrong. She turned to look and her head started to throb in confusion as she looked at the spot where a multi-story building had stood, intact, moments ago.

But now. Now the whole thing was on fire again, much of the lower levels gone save for a few sturdy support beams. There were no windows left and the front door was completely gone. Lin’s brain finally caught up as the sound of the world around her came rushing back. People were screaming and the building was groaning, the integrity of the structure compromised and ready to collapse at any moment. But she didn’t care as she got to her feet, too quickly then she should have been able to, the adrenaline coursing through her veins giving her more strength than she had a right to have.

Where was he?

She started to walk towards the building but someone had grabbed her hand, pulling her back.

“Tenzin, let me go. We need to help Mako. I need-“

“Lin, you can’t-“

“Like hell I can’t! Let me go!”

She pulled her hand out of his grip, moving towards where Mako had just been. He had just been there. She had seen him. He was just there. He was almost out.

She was stopped again as Tenzin wrapped his arms around her, holding her arms down by her sides as she continued to struggle against him.

“Lin! You have to stop. Please. He’s… he’s gone.”

“No! He’s fine. I just saw him. He got out. I saw him.”

She continued to struggle against Tenzin, slamming her foot down as she sent out seismic waves to sense the remains of the building. She refused to acknowledge the truth that was boring into her very soul. Her seismic sense wasn’t always right. There had been plenty of times where it had been wrong. If she could just get closer. She bucked her head back before driving a pillar of earth between her and Tenzin. He let her go with a yelp and she sprinted to the building.

“Lin!”

As her foot connected with the first step leading to the building it gave a shudder, the whole thing collapsing in on itself with the sound of grinding metal and creaking wood. Lin’s body was encased in air as she was dragged back, out of harm’s way.

“NO! Mako!”

The tears came then. She sank to her knees, hugging her arms around her torso as tears streamed down her face, her breathing coming in great heaving sobs. Tenzin was there again, kneeling down next to her, laying a gently hand on her arm. The others were watching but she didn’t care.

Mako was gone.

Memories flashed across her mind. Mako’s surprised face the first time she invited him to dinner with her and Kya. Her own proud smile that she hid until he was out of sight the day he had stood up to her. She had been completely pissed off but spirits she was proud of how much he had grown. He had regularly left a bag of food on her desk those nights she worked far too late than she should have. He always claimed he had gotten extra and didn’t want it to go to waste but she knew he was lying to cover the fact he had gotten her favorite, specifically because he knew she hadn’t eaten. He and Kya had developed the annoying habit of teaming up to keep tabs on her well-being.

Kya.

She was going to have to tell Kya. She had already been through so much. How was she going to tell her that Mako was gone? How was she going to live with herself knowing she hadn’t protected him? That was her job. She was always supposed to keep him safe. Keep them all safe.

Breathing became harder and Tenzin moved to completely engulf her in his harms. She didn’t fight him, pressing into him while he murmured empty words of comfort in her ear.

He was gone.

And it was all her fault.

///////

Jinora was crying silently as she watched her father holding onto someone she had always seen as unbreakable. The entire group had gone near silent when her scream had echoed through the somber scene. Jinora had never seen her show such raw emotion, watching as the older woman sank to her knees in complete defeat.

She looked around and saw that others had noticed too, a few them wide eyed while others averted their gaze as if intruding on an intimate moment. None of them had ever seen their Chief break. She was solid, a steely demeanor and cold exterior. She was stone. Unwavering in her strength.

There had been a time when Jinora would have thought that nothing could break her. Lin had been through so much throughout her life but she had also changed so significantly in the time that Jinora had known her. She knew how much she had come to care for Mako, how much he meant to both Lin and her Aunt Kya. They had all teased him incessantly for basically becoming their adopted son. He had always put up a good show about denying it but Jinora could tell he secretly liked the idea.

As she watched Lin grab onto her dad’s robes, her entire body shaking, Jinora knew the fierce some warrior had been broken. One too many blows and even the strongest steel will bend.

He was murmuring something to her now and Jinora caught his eye over Lin’s head. They shared a silent moment and Jinora nodded, wiping her face as she turned to the gathered crowd.

“We need to secure this area and make sure that none of these nearby buildings were affected by the blast. Someone call for some healers and we’re going to need Assistant Chief Saikhan.”

/////

It was hours later as Lin approached the pile of rubble. It was no longer a danger, the flames gone and a steady rain falling from the dark sky. She looked up for just a moment, closing her eyes as she let the cool water hit her dirty and tear stained face.

Sucking in a deep breath she shifted her stance before slamming her foot into the ground, seeing everything the earth had to offer. It was easier to manage this particular job when there was a heartbeat to detect, much like that day nearly two years ago when she had been in a similar position. Only that time had been a search and rescue.

Today there was nothing left to rescue.

Today her job was recovery.

She knew someone else could have taken it on. She’d been told by so many others that she should let someone else do this. And she supposed they were right but she couldn’t bring herself to let anyone else do it. He was her responsibility. And no matter what any of them said, this was her fault.

Lin moved to a new position, stomping her foot again as she searched for him. It was only after the fourth time that she felt something different from the rest. She moved her arms, shifting the metal and earthen debris away to reveal a set of unmistakable human remains.

She stopped breathing for a moment as she took them in. The body was charred and mangled but there was a small fragment of green fabric unburnt stuck to it. The body was also smaller than Mako. This wasn’t him. It must be the man he had been trying to get out of the building. He was the reason Mako hadn’t gotten out in time. Lin suddenly felt angry at the man, her heartrate increasing as she silently wished he was alive just so she could scream at him for his stupidity. But it wasn’t this man’s fault.

It wasn’t even her fault.

Mako had been doing his job. It was a risk they all took with their line of work, the risk of never going home.

She steadied her breathing, bending the dirt from beneath his body into a solid slab before raising it up and resting it off the side. She finished and looked into the hole left behind, feeling her heart stop as she saw a burnt hand sticking out from the space next to it. There was a small bracelet around the wrist. A bracelet made of meteorite. Su had gifted it to Lin on her birthday and Lin had re-gifted it to Mako on his.

She carefully bent the debris out of the way.

It was just a body. It wasn’t really him, not anymore. She knew what to expect and it still hit her like a load of bricks. She stepped into the space near him, not sure what to do. She had to get both of the fallen men out but she also needed just one moment with him. Alone.

Lin had always told herself she didn’t want kids. Or rather, she kept pushing off the idea of having kids until was too late. She had certainly never expected to be blindsided by a young firebender who reminded her so much of herself. She had embraced her role as “Aunt Lin” but it was different with Mako. Kya had teased her at first but she had soon fallen for him as well. They never formally labeled the relationship but in every sense of the word she had become like a mother to him.

And now she was here. Searching through the crumbled remains of random building for a body that no longer held the soul of someone she had grown to care for so much.

Closing her eyes again she took just a moment for herself. Just the two of them, one last time.

“I’m so sorry, kid.”

AO3 Link

#my writing #legend of korra fanfic #lin beifong #mako #momboss and detectiveson #angst

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caesthetix · 3 years

Text

A LITTLE FEAR — Pt. 3 The Last Goodbye

↪Jean Kirstein mini-series

↪content; canon universe, description of violence, season 4 spoiler, forbidden love, marleyan!reader, scouts!jean, chapter 138 spoiler

Everyone was waiting, a dozen pairs of eyes looking at you with hope, wanting to hear any command from your lips. You were the only one who could calm them down, the only one who was still alive, the hope that shone even when everyone was on the brink of death.

They could not unsee it, those gigantic monsters called titans. Slowly but surely, walking towards where they were right now. You had sent all of your ships ahead to drop all the bombs in hope that it could stop them, or maybe just slow them down.

But it was no use, all of those brave soldiers were now dead knowing they tried to win this fight. The fight that they never prepared to have, the fight that was probably triggered by your own country, the fight that they couldn't win. You knew it, but you were not going to back down without giving all of your might.

"Commander! Look!" One of the troops called, pointing at the flying boat that flew from behind the line of titans. "That's the cart titan! And— the armoured titan, commander! We are saved! They will win this fight, we just need to wait!" He shouted so anyone could hear, wanting to share the news. "Even the island devils too! They are joining forces to stop that monster!"

The sound of cheers followed right after the troop announced that. It only needed the fact that someone else was taking care of the fight, that was the only thing they needed to lift the burden off their shoulders. At least for a while, they have the privilege to feel that.

You wanted to speak up, tell them that it was not the time to celebrate yet. But as you turned away from the fight ahead and looked behind you, finding your soldiers sobbing out of relief and crying from the happiness that perhaps they had a chance to live — you didn't dare to take that away from them.

Deep down, you wanted to believe that they were going to win. You wanted to take some rest too, believing them completely. After all, two titans could help them do anything, and perhaps the Ackermans were there too, enhancing their success rate even more.

But you could not rest, ever since you knew that Marley sent ninety percent of their army to attack the Paradis altogether, you could not sit down and do nothing. You needed to occupy yourself with anything, even though it was just staring at the horde of colossal titan, at least your mind was preoccupied with the thought of war.

At least your mind was not preoccupied with the thought of him.

You cursed your higher-ups when they told you to stay in Marley. Saying you are the wittiest commander, the one with a clear mind and with a good sense of war on top of that. You didn't know what happened on the other side of the sea. Whether your country won or not, you didn't know.

Until this morning, of course. Until when you woke up in your private barracks this morning. Everything was in chaos, soldiers running around to pack up, saying things about how Marley was already lost. Or more accurately, the whole world had lost.

Liberio was already gone, thousands or perhaps millions of titans were sent to wipe the entire planet clean. They said the devil in Paradis wanted to commit genocide to the whole world, leaving nothing but empty ground filled with thousands of corpses on top of it, working as a fertilizer for a brand new world.

But that was it. That was the only information you got. Everyone was waiting for your command after delivering the message to you, and you wanted to curse yourself since the first thing that came into your mind was not a war strategy, not a plan to keep on living, no.

You wanted to curse yourself as a commander that the first thing you thought about was — is he safe?

It was a question, stopping your brain to think about anything else. You were human too, grief and sadness were something that you could feel and you just needed a minute alone to calm yourself down. But you couldn't succumb yourself to such a thing as you were the only hope the Marleyan Military had right now.

So here you were in this moment, standing tall on the Air Force Unit base in Fort Salta. You called every troop who still wanted to fight, and for those who wanted to leave you promised them there wouldn't be punishment. And you were proud to know that the majority of them chose to go with you.

But they're dead now. Those pilots carried out the command that you gave without hesitating. It was a simple task, fly on top of the colossal titans and drop the bombs. They were supposed to go back, reporting to their post that they could slow the movement for a little or maybe kill some of the titans.

No one expected the beast titan to appear out of nowhere and throw shards at them, no one expected the bomb to detonate far from the lines of titans, no one expected that the force would die with no result at all. And for those who stayed beside you could only ask, "What should we do now, commander?"

There was nothing else that you could do. And at a time like this, you wondered why they decided to be here. Unlike you, they had someone who greeted them when they came home every day. They had a family; a mother who cooked them dinner, a lover that would warm their bed, they had kids that listen to them as they read a bedtime story.

And yet, despite knowing they could spend the last moment of their life with the people who loved them, they decided to stay.

Yes, they were loved, unlike you.

Your parents disowned you the second you decided to get passed down over the family business, you had no real friends that cared for your well-being, you had no one else outside of the military and that was the only reason you were here right now instead of abandoning your position.

That, and the wishful thinking which perhaps if you stay alive, you would meet him again.

"Commander?" You jolted when one of the soldiers called you. Clearing your throat, you erase all of the stupid thoughts that occupied your mind.

"Yes, soldier?" Your voice was stern, wanting to portray that you were not wavering. You waited for him to answer your question, but it seemed like he hesitated. His eyes scrutinized you with worry, and that was enough to make you question him. "Soldier—"

"Why are you crying, commander?"

Your pupils dilated when you heard his words. You frantically wiped your cheeks with your fingers, not wanting to let him see how vulnerable you were at this moment. He was kind enough to give you space after that, muttering an apology before leaving your side, and you wished he didn't say anything to the others.

Right now, you were their power and hope. If you showed any sign of weakness, it could decrease their morale, and you didn't want it to happen. So you just looked forward after that, perfecting your stance as you prepared your binocular to see better what happened up there.

And as you did so, you wished that Jean was not up there. Or if he did, then you could only hang on high hopes that he would survive.

Because you refused to acknowledge that you had no chance to say goodbye.

Never have you felt like this for so long. Perhaps, you never felt like this for all the years you lived your life. Your whole body felt so warm as the carnal desire that you had before slowly subsided. Sweats coating your skin, making the strands of your hair sticking to it like it was glued.

You were sprawled out on top of this cheap mattress, eyes scrutinizing the pattern on the wall as you inhaled and released the air out of your body bit by bit, recalling what happened a few hours earlier. You never thought that this weekend would be different from the others. Hitting the bar after such a long week was like a celebration for you, and so, you were there, seated yourself on the right end of the bar, and drinking whatever alcohol they served you.

But you didn't expect your night to unfurl like this. Laying in the arms of a stranger who introduced himself as Jean Kirstein. His intense eyes mesmerized you as he gazed down upon your figure, vivid brown looking so bright under the dim light of the bar — and it didn't change, even when you laid under him in this dark motel room with the moon as the only source of light.

Never once you ever let a stranger string you along like this. Whether you were sober or under influence of the alcohol, you could always stand your ground. So when you took his hand and ran giddily beside him like stupid, hormonal teenagers, it was all your choice by the end of the day.

The rattle of belts brought you back to the present. You turned your head to find the stranger already dressed neatly as if he didn't just turn a fierce commander to be a lady who had to fulfill her needs. Whatever happened tonight was a mistake, at least that was what his body language told you as he scrambled around the room, searching for his belongings.

You propped your elbow and laid on your side, watching him intently while your naked body still hidden under the blankets, really a contrast to him now. His face filled with worry, and now it made you wonder why a man could be so afraid of something like a one-night stand.

He turned to look at you as he fetched his fedora hat from the ground, plopping it on top of his head with newfound confidence as he was done calming himself. His eyes popped a little, not expecting you to stare at him with a gentle smile on your face. Without regret could be seen inside as if you enjoyed his company more than anyone else.

"I thought you were still asleep." He whispered out, knowing well that it was so late at night.

"And let you go without saying goodbye? In your dreams, Kirstein." You mockingly said with a sultry note, rolling your body so now you sat at the edge of the bed, still locking your gaze with him.

He rolled his eyes, wanting to look as if he was annoyed. But the small smirk forming on his face didn't go unnoticed by you.

"Guess you wouldn't let me go that easily, huh?"

He took off his fedora once again, clutching it tightly as he pressed it on his chest. For sure you would think that he had a title or some kind of aristocracy in his blood with how much of a gentleman he had been this whole time.

Or maybe he was just a normal Marleyan, someone without any special role. Yes, a simple man, being attracted to a simple man wouldn't be so bad after all. Then again, that kind of fashion was one of a kind, he could be an underground criminal too, perhaps, you could never guess.

But now though, with how enchanting he looked right now with those challenging gaze thrown at you — you didn't care where he came from or what kind of dark secret that he hides. You didn't know anything about him and yet it didn't stop you from giving him some attention.

Because despite your blindness, you still wanted him. So much.

"I wouldn't let you go without saying a proper goodbye."

You closed your eyes, easing the pain that suddenly throbbed your skull as you recalled the first night that you spent with him. Your mind played some of the memories that you had like a broken record, never-ending and felt like a nightmare most of the time since you knew it was just a distant past that could never happen again.

It was not the time to think about yourself or worry about his existence. You needed to let it go for now, and you had to be the commander that everyone expected you to be. Right now was not the right time to be a normal human. Not when your whole life was filled with peculiarity.

"Thank you."

You gave Mr. Leonhart a firm nod and a smile as you helped him up. "I always knew that you are not like any other Marleyan Commander, you did the right thing by firing all those rounds into the air." He chuckled softly, making his wrinkles more visible by it.

The Marleyan and Eldian clashed before, having both sides pointing their guns at each other. But you stated before that there was enough hatred in this world, and you needed to start from here, emptying the bullets that the Marleyan had to the sky, followed by the Eldian doing the exact same thing as they knew it was time to let go of the hate.

And now, it seemed like the rumbling had stopped. You saw it with your own eyes how yellow lights from a transformation engulfed your vision. Everyone was blinded, no one knew what happened until the lights subsided. Even now as the Marleyan helped those who got injured, no one in this fortress knew what happened out there.

There was a high possibility that the joined forces had won the battle since now you could feel the ground had stopped shaking. The explosion from before must be from the colossal titan that fell on Paradis's hand, successfully crushing the founder and stopping the rumbling.

"Dad?"

Not too far from you, stood a woman with blonde hair and beautiful ocean eyes. Mr. Leonhart immediately turned to face her, and he was frozen at the spot, couldn't believe his own eyes that he finally reunited with someone that you believed was his daughter.

It was so beautiful to see such a reunion. You knew that Annie Leonhart was still stuck in Paradis due to some circumstances, and for them having a chance to see each other again, must have felt like a blessing.

But the serene moment didn't last more than a few seconds. There was a sudden smoke engulfing the air around you. No one knew what it was, but it suffocated everyone as it filled their lungs. And your instinct told you to run — finding its source.

Right now, you needed to stop being a commander.

"Captain! You are the one in charge while I am gone!"

"Wait, commander!"

You couldn't stop. Your heart was beating a thousand times faster as you ran and left the fortress, ignoring the shout from your troops as you trotted past the smokes. You needed to understand what happened, and you needed to see if maybe he was here too.

There was a gush of wind, and you squinted your eyes to find a titan flew from the edge of the cliff. It was the same titan that you saw carrying the joined forces right before the explosion. And you wondered why they left so abruptly.

Was it because of the smoke? Were they going to come back later? Why they seemed to be so afraid with—

"Jean?"

Just like that, you couldn't think of anything else. It was as if the time had stopped when your eyes laid to the familiar ash-brown mullet that you always loved to run your fingers to. He wore the straps and belt that you knew what it was for, and even though his hair was dishevelled right now, he still looked so breathtaking.

He carefully turned to face you, and his brown orbs immediately filled with relief and something else entirely that you could not fathom. And despite the smoke surrounding the place, he was the only thing that you could see, the only one that you could focus on.

He looked so tired as if he wanted nothing but sleep for years. His eyes glinted under the sun and yet the shone inside those chocolate orbs looked dimmed already. You couldn't hear what his friend told him, you couldn't see the horror on his friend's face as you stood there — only ten feet apart from the man that you have been longing to see.

You took a few steps forward, just a little more and you could feel his body heat once more. It was the only thing that you wanted in the world, especially at this moment. To feel his warm embrace once again, to capture that plump lips with yours.

Jean could believe neither his eyes nor his ears. He heard your voice so vividly before, and now he could see you, standing flesh without any prominent wound on your body. What Pieck said was true, you would be here and very much alive. So there was only one thing left that he needed to do.

But then he felt Connie's arms wrapped around his torso.

"Jean! Snap out of it!"

No, you were so close, he was so close to giving the key back to you.

"She could be burned by the transformation!"

Then his pupils widened at the realisation.

You were there, right in front of him. And you kept walking forward without understanding the situation. Your eyes glistened with tears, hopefully, it was happy tears. And with how his vision blurred as he saw you this close, he knew that he was in the same state as you.

Maybe, then maybe just having another look at you was enough for him.

"Stand back!"

He stopped you from taking another step, making you halt your feet as he backed away from where you were. Giving you space from him and the others Eldian so you didn't get hurt later, but enough for you to hear him in this stretched-out moment.

There was no time, he could turn into a titan a few seconds from now. Running to you and returning the key to your palm would be too risky, and he didn't want you to die just yet when he felt like the world was finally free from fear.

Free from hatred and war, free from oppression. And perhaps — free to love whoever you want.

This time, he was actually grateful that he fell in love with a Marleyan. If that meant his love could live and see the world that they always wanted, it was enough for him. He was happy enough to know that you would stay alive while he would be gone as a soldier who fulfilled his duty.

If only that cursed creature was not here in this world. If only it didn't emit the smoke that could turn the Eldians to a mindless titan. If only his body didn't have this blood flowing through his veins. If — God, everything filled with that word. Just if only he met and fell in love with you under different circumstances.

Maybe he could live with you on prime real estate in wherever place that you wanted. He could live a long and happy life with you and future children, then he could bring you to meet his mother too, he was sure that she would adore you solely because you love him.

But it was all just a fantasy that would never come true.

So perhaps, he needed to do it any other day.

"I am sorry, love."

"Wait, Jean!"

"I'll give you back the key someday."

"Jean, I—"

A booming voice rang through your ears as your body was thrown away from the force. Your head slammed to the building behind you before your figure fell to the ground, making you feel detached from the rest of the world as your consciousness floating through the empty space, filled with static.

You heard a roar, and the ground beneath you seemed to shake once more. You tried to open up your eyes, only to find out that your vision blurred from the impact your head took just now. But you could still see it, gigantic feet filled your vision as you started to understand what happened.

You were supposed to move away, shielding yourself from these mindless titans that suddenly transformed. You should have remembered one of Zeke's miracles about how he could use a cloud of smoke to control an entire village in Paradis a few years ago. It was the same as back then and you should have remembered.

You should have remembered that you were in love with an Eldian, and something like this was bound to happen.

Now you knew why Jean's friend pulled him away from your figure. Now you could finally hear the warning and understood why they tried to keep you within a safe distance. They didn't want you to be burned alive, afraid that you would die if you were just a little too close.

Coughing up from all the rubbles that impaled your lungs, you gently leaned your back to the building that was still intact, waiting for your eyes to see everything clearly. All the Eldians were transformed, including those who were inside the fortress.

So you decided to sit there, watching how he turned into a titan as you wish that this nightmare would end soon. The familiar ash-brown hair titan roared as it looked around, perhaps searching for any human that it could devour.

You didn't try to run away just yet as you still need time to accept the fact. The burning sun and the rough ground that scratch your skin were nothing compared to the discomfort that swirled in your stomach just now. Realising that Jean was gone, accepting the fact that he was now a titan would be the hardest thing that you ever did in life.

It turned to look at you, at least to where you were right now. Maybe it would be alright if you died in his hand, you let your body go limp and just stare at his now empty eyes. He was not there anymore, he couldn't think or have a mind of himself. Now Jean became a puppet for the cursed creature.

You thought that this would be the climax, a tragic ending for the star-crossed lover. There was no happy ending in this story, in the grey relationship that you had with him. So it didn't matter anymore how cruel your death would be, you died in a war and you had no regret over it.

Though, he just stood there. His eyes never left your figure, not even moved an inch or gave away any sign that he would eat you alive. He just looked at you — as if he could still think, as if your Jean was still there, saying goodbye and muttering apology inside his mind.

The time seemed to slow down as you could see a single tear slipped from his eyes. Either it was your imagination or reality, you didn't know that. You were not given any explanation or a chance to take another look at him as he suddenly turned his back on you and ran.

Just as simple as that, he jumped off to the cliff along with the other new titans, gone from your eyesight and gone from your life. Completely, without a chance that he would come back again and stand in front of your door like what he used to do.

The two of you were not in Marley, not cooped up inside of your apartment where you could relish his presence. He was not just a stranger that slipped into your life, becoming a part of your routine and made your day felt more beautiful and worth getting by.

Tomorrow you wouldn't see him again, or feel his heartbeat as you laid on top of him, fingers following the line of his marks like what you loved to do.

Instead, you needed to face reality where you could no longer greet him with a confident hello that always made him smile. You needed to face reality, that you couldn't give him a proper goodbye, with him planting a kiss on your lips to reassure you that he would be back tomorrow.

Because you knew that he was already gone. And despite knowing how hard it would be for you to keep it in mind — you needed to accept it.

Even if it took you a lifetime to carry out.

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