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eddysocs · 2 months

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The Object Of Desire — Chapter Six (Drowning In Doubt)

Summary: Camille's revelation of her name prompts Aerla to seek answers. Joining the diving team for a practice, she faces mixed reception. And later, a quiet moment by the water hints at unspoken desires, leaving Aerla torn between longing and the constraints of their connection.

Word Count: 1,455

Warnings: Unresolved romantic/sexual tension

After their adventure, Aerla was too energized to fall asleep right away, and toyed with the idea of sneaking out and wandering the halls in hopes of stumbling upon Miss G again, who she suspected might also be having trouble winding down. But, the last thing she needed was to get into trouble and exploring the halls at this hour. It was not a risk she felt willing to take. She’d hate to be sent away again when she was just starting to like it here.

When she was finally able to lull herself into sleep, her dreams were filled with the events of the day, almost as if she had been watching the day unfold as an observer rather than a participant. To see it all over again like that was refreshing, exhilarating even, and when morning came, Aerla felt rested, ready to tackle the day before her.

Only one thing remained in her mind as she got dressed. Camille. Miss G's given name had echoed around in her head. Why had she told her that? Did she want her to refer to her that way? Certainly not in public, that would draw too much attention. But she must have shared it for a reason.

As she stepped out of her room to head for breakfast she saw several members of the diving team discussing practice. It seemed Sundays were when the team got together for both practicing their dives and for fun. She hadn’t meant to linger, but when Di caught sight of her, she smiled, one that didn’t quite fully reach her eyes, and asked if Aerla wanted to join them, like they were making it up to her after last time.

"I’d like that," Aerla replied. Though she remained somewhat skeptical of Di's intentions, it was a marvelous excuse to see Miss G again, and get an answer to her question about her name.

And so the waiting began. Aerla found it hard to fill her time until the divers met out at the lake. She couldn’t seem to concentrate on anything other than the nagging question she was determined to revisit with Miss G later. At lunch, she picked at her food, too caught up in her own head to realize she hadn’t actually eaten much of it.

"I hear my divers invited you to practice. I would have done so myself, but I didn’t want you to feel pressured if you weren’t ready." Brought out from her chronic overthinking, Aerla looked up from her plate.

"I thought I’d give it a try. You did say I was good. I’d like to see how it is diving with the other girls."

Miss G clapped her hands and smiled. "Wonderful. Then I’ll see you later."

Later truly could not come soon enough for Aerla. She was eager to show off whatever skills she had as a diver and prove herself to Di and the rest, as well as Miss G, who seemed to have so much faith in her.

Finally, her moment had come, and Aerla's lungs burned from the quickness in which she sprinted out to the lake. She was a little embarrassed to be the first one, but too excited to care as much as she might normally. The rest of the divers filed in in groups of two or three with Di and her friends bordering on being fashionably late. Aerla had wanted to speak to Miss G the moment she’d seen her arrive, but she didn’t want to be overheard. Best to save it.

Despite Di having invited her along, almost none of the girls spoke to Aerla, leaving her to once again feel like an outsider. She tried with them, but it felt like she had no way in. The group of girls were too closed off to truly let her in. Oh well, she thought, as least she had Miss G.

But even that brought no solace. Miss G had given her attention mostly to her more experienced divers, instructing, critiquing. There was but a single distracted smile sent her way in between two dives. She shouldn’t be feeling jealous. It was unreasonable. However, jealousy didn’t always go hand in hand with reason.

After hours of mostly watching her classmates practice and otherwise splash and linger in the water, Aerla was beyond ready to leave. She had a reason to stay though, one she could not simply put off for another day. Finally, the girls began to dry off and head back for dinner. Aerla stayed.

As Miss G picked up several towels left behind, Aerla approached her. "I wanted to ask you something," Aerla broached, deciding to be straightforward with her. "The other day, you told me your name. Why?"

She’d been expecting this, ever since she’d confided in her, yet the question had still managed to catch Camille off guard. "I can’t say I fully know myself," she admitted. "Did it make you uncomfortable? I never meant—"

"No, it isn’t that. I was…I don’t know, grateful? It felt like you were divulging a secret, one you’d only tell someone you were close to. Did you want me to use it? Your name, I mean." She felt like she was rambling. She was nervous, her heart fluttering away in her chest. "Just when we're alone," she added quickly.

Camille wanted that very much, but would it be appropriate to say so? It could lead to trouble, but she said only when they were alone. Had she meant that she wanted to be alone with her? Camille shook her head, almost imperceptibly, and realized she needed to give her an answer.

"You’re welcome to use it if you like."

There was a small pause, filled only with Aerla's smile at having her permission to refer to her by her given name, "Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course." With the words came Miss G's hand on her back, rubbing gently and reassuringly up and down, easing the anxiety she felt.

"Can we go back to private lessons? I don’t think I’m good in a team setting. It felt so…impersonal. I want to train with you, but everyone else being there just feels like a distraction." In all honesty, she hadn’t cared much whether or not she continued diving, but losing her time with Miss G entirely felt like too big of a loss for her, so if that were the way she could continue seeing her, she’d be more than happy with that.

It was exactly what Camille wanted as well, and so she graciously and enthusiastically allowed for their one on one lessons to continue.

As the lessons continued, the connection between them deepened. Camille's guiding touch became more deliberate, her hands guiding Aerla with a gentleness that transcended instruction. Yet she remained careful not to overstep. It was a constant, nagging fear that if she went too far, it would drive Aerla away. Still, Camille hungered for those moments of intimacy that were somehow neither romantic nor entirely platonic. It was those moments that she’d think about at night as she lay in bed, when anything seemed possible.

One afternoon, they stayed and lingered by the water's edge after their lesson came to an end. The sun was slowing sinking towards the horizon, casting a warm glow on the water. Camille's gaze locked onto Aerla's, a silent invitation back into the water. It was their safe space, almost like another world. Without words, they descended into the water, the world above replaced by the ethereal blue.

In the quiet depths, Camille's hand found Aerla's. Their fingers intertwined and time lost its grip as they shared a moment suspended in liquid intimacy. Breaking the surface, they emerged, breathless and entangled. The unspoken tension now simmered on the brink of acknowledgment. Aerla searched Camille's eyes for answers, finding a vulnerability that mirrored her own.

Camille wanted so badly to kiss her in that moment, but she refrained. It had been the beginning of the end for her with Fiamma, a tragedy she did not wish to repeat. No, if she wanted Aerla, she’d have to let the girl come to her. If it were her that turned the relationship into something more than it already was, it would not end well.

Their breath regained from their foray under the surface of the lake, they shared a mirthful laugh, finally breaking the mounting tension that had bubbled between them. Aerla was all too aware of their physical closeness, their clasped hands. But it could not mean what she wanted it to. Not if she wished to hold onto it. She was once again caught between what she desired and what could not happen.

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

Chapter Five <- 🩵 -> Chapter Seven

Forever Tag: @arrthurpendragon, @baubeautyandthegeek, @foxesandmagic, @ginger-grimm, @bossyladies, @atjsgf, @misshiraethsworld, @kmc1989, @curious-kittens-ocs, @fanficanatic-tw, @kissykissymouth, @blood-moon1234567890

Aerla Grae: @athenodora-sulpicia-writer

#oc: aerla grae #fc: francesca capaldi #fd: cracks #fic: the object of desire #aerla x miss g #miss g #miss gribben #miss g x oc #miss gribben x oc

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calamitysshatteredson · 9 months

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Imagine this: Hojo secretly runs a fanclub of Sephiroth and shares some private details in a very unsophisticated manner, going as far as talking passionately about how good Sephiroth's hair smells.

And Sephiroth finds out it's Hojo writing all that

...So. The whole Silver Elite/Chairwoman H thing in Crisis Core comes off as... so incredibly creepy and awful (more so over time, haaa), but this... immediately became ridiculous crack in my mind. Sometimes you gotta let crack!Hojo out of his reinforced prison cell for a few minutes, okay.

"Hojo."

The man did not fumble with the glasswear he was oh so carefully dropping a certain amount of technically forbidden, questionably legal, certainly not moral liquids into. Sephiroth's presence had already been announced by the series of steel doors kicked off their hinges on the way there. He didn't bother to turn around before insisting, "You could have texted."

"I broke the phone." The response was a low growl, followed by something dropped in front of the scientist-- Ah, yes. That pile of sparkling plastic and glass had been a phone once. "This... fan club, what is this?"

"What is what?" Hojo responded innocently enough, putting his bare thumb over one of the slender test tubes and shaking the liquid to a froth before putting it back carefully. "All of the Firsts have fan clubs."

Sephiroth loomed over the feeble man to point at the broken phone screen. "None of the others have lengthy descriptions of what their hair smells like."

"None of the others have such dedicated chairpersons." Hojo sniffed, shaking a second test tube and making a small noise of disappointment when nothing frothed.

The SOLDIER finally physically turned Hojo around in his swiveling chair, looking ferocious. "No one should know what shampoo we use or exactly what it smells like."

"You use Shinra products. The scents are clearly labeled. If anything, it's just a product placement done as only a genius can do it." The scientist perfectly reasoned with a little flourish of his fingers... which were starting to turn neon blue.

Sephiroth took a moment to collect himself. A few breaths. Trying not to think about how easy it would be to just snap that tiny twig of a nec-- "So you're admitting to writing this?

"I admit to nothing." Hojo huffed, turning himself back around to continue his work.

He could be drop-kicked. He'd go flying in such a satisfying arc... "But--"

"Nope, no admissions." Hojo reassured loudly, shaking another tube. The result was a neon purple thumb.

Sephiroth drew a deep, loud breath and decided it probably wasn't worth the physical violence. There were better ways to attack. Leaning in, he stated clearly, "Your grammar is atrocious and you mix tenses."

#drabble #crack #((if you know then you know basically))#((...tiny bit of Dr. Venture voice happening in my head at the end there fd;gjkdfg))#offline queue

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aki16official · 27 days

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With cracks

No cracks

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sunskate · 6 months

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Mezzaluna Cup 2023 results - Dozzi/Papetti move up from 9th to 7th, Ritter/Brykalov finish 18th

#d/p scored season’s bests in both programs and cracked 100 in the fd #r/b had a rough day in the rd #recovered and got most of their levels for the fd

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flightofthefaeriedragon · 2 years

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Me: ♫ There's n-n-n-n-n-n-no way. There's no way! ♫

Kid: *pats me on the head* "Yes there is."

#lol #xD #cracking me up so much #lmao #six the musical #six broadway #fd sings #flights of the faerie dragon

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awakenedmaiden · 2 years

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@twinfoxtails replied to your post “"Why did I ... think I could ... make it up the...”:

Satori YOU CAN FLY))

A reminder that would have been better before she started to climb the mountain.

#wheelchair detective ~ crack #Listen this is most heavily influenced by FDS and she walks everywhere like a fool there #Thinks about how Satori gets so tired of walking she makes Yuyuko carry her on her back when she could just FLY #twinfoxtails

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quiteliterallyilliterate · 4 months

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Could you write a yandere FD where reader finds his mask and accidentally frees him? I find the idea of him stalking reader after his freedom and reader being helpless to get help due to what he is.

Order up!

There really isn’t enough FD stuff (that isn’t smut) ((but also in general)) So here you go!

Edit: Part 2

tw: yandere, murder, slaughter of animals, blood/gore

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

The deity despised what he had come to. A being of such pure power, capable of ripping Termina away from Hyrule thread by thread, was now bound to not much more than a piece of wood. The feeble fears of incapable gods now made a mockery of who and what he was. His prison was bleached and painted with the same war patterns that defined his godliness with the eyes empty for its wearer. Two blank spots —weak spots— in the mask. For when they bound his form to such fragility, there was something of a loophole left behind. The hallowed eyes allowed the wearer to see, and believe they had some control over their actions as his consciousness began to muddle with their own. You see, within the mask there were no holes allowing them —the wearer— to breathe. Because while they wore the mask, likeness of his own face, they didn’t realise the rotting wood begin to mingle with their skin. None of them did. Too hungry for more of the power he could provide and blood he could spill they hardly realized what they were becoming. The paint was always the first to merge with the new wearer, the pigments staining the skin as a faint, ever fading —but never truly gone— reminder of what he was. The hair came next. Silvery white strands mixing with their own around their fringe, framing their face, much similar to his own now. Last was the eyes. Not many kept the mask long enough to ever really hand themselves fully over to him, but his conscience would continue to invade nonetheless. No one held the power to hold him captive in their minds, so a corpse they were rendered. Their eyes would lose their iris, and as the wearer weakened, their eyes would become vast pools of stark white. He heard in the travelers’ wisdom that eyes were the doorway to the soul. Perhaps that was why the eyes were the last part of a person he was bled into. His final act to them was conquering their souls. Where once, double helix sword in hand, he would have slain any thing —living or otherwise— where once he could’ve conquered anything, now he was left to the slow trickle of energy from collected souls.

He’s first made aware of you by your gentle touch. You fingers cup the edge of his face —what was of it now anyway— and attempt to make sense of who it was you were looking at. Perhaps is was they no longer worshipped him in Termina. Centuries could slip by him in this form and he’d not know better. Hand in hand with that, the paint on his mask could very well be greyed and chipped beyond recognition. Immortality was always more faulty than the mortals made it seem. While boredom could be sated with bloodshed and war, it was aging that couldn’t be so simply ignored. Despite the fact his consciousness was as it was from the second he was bound into what he was, it didn’t stop the wood from rotting nor the paint from chipping and fading. Much he was like the warrior constellations in the sky. While consistent across the birth and death of many civilizations, slowly he died with them. Not in the final splatter of blood like the matter of mortality, but it was death in all the way that matters. Perhaps Hylia proved that you can kill a god. Sure, she may have ‘killed’ demise, but cyclically, he was still her tormentor. With Fierce, his form was weak. Too weak to hold him further. Much like the mortals who believed they could shoulder the weight, this form would too crack and rot beneath the earth. His point still stood that in spite of every possible factor that your serenity shouldn’t have met with his ruthlessness, you’d defied fate nonetheless.

By your grace he loved to watch you. Mounted on the fireplace, he could see everything in your tiny cabin. He could watch you cook food for yourself, sing as you cleaned the dishes afterward, and especially the fact you often would fall asleep on the couch meant he could spend even longer admiring the curves of your face. You were incomparably precious to the world. He remembers the days of his youth in divinity, freshly given his purpose. He’d killed many in those days, like an executioner who’s axe discriminated against none. The worship he once had, the temples he’d once been graced with, the concubines left for him… Perhaps he wanted more than to watch you. Being so close to what he wanted, truly wanted, made him antsy. And you’d live through life like you’d not known better. You’d talk to people where he couldn’t monitor to keep you safe, you’d leave the protection he offered. He’d long for you while you sat just out of reach, tempting him to try something. And so he did. It seems years of rot made the wood fragile.

You were honestly quite disappointed the mask had broke. The wood was splintered across the floor, and with how old it was, it really wasn’t worth saving. Still, you collected the bits from across the floor and kept moving. The forest was still and quiet as you traveled, the wind would whistle in the trees and a murder of crows crowded around you. Unfortunately, you had no bread or shinies to spare aside from a small green rupee, which they normally would’ve cawed and kicked around. Instead, their beady eyes watched you, huddled high in the trees as you waded through the forest. You could feel their eyes on you the whole way past.

The dead animals on your doorstep are not only mildly concerning, given their split open ribs, but incredibly creepy the longer it goes on. Clearly whoever was doing this was stubbornly persistent given their notes in a not very decipherable language. At first they left you a crow, the day they watched you. It had a small ring in its leg you didn’t bother to touch. The next was a badger, followed by fox, then an elk. Now, it was entirely beyond you who’d collect that many animals carcasses —you’d doubted they were hunted, given the large lacerations across their torsos— but it wasn’t much flattering. It wasn’t until you’d caved and cooked one of the elks and they’d kept giving you more that you’d considered they were trying to feed you. Sweet as that was, no one person had a use for that much elk. No one person could hunt that much elk. No person would see it right to draw a sigil in blood on the back wall of someone’s house in elk blood. No one person would help you.

You were still beautiful as you slept. He was glad now you were his spouse, though it did take you a while to get used to his courting. It was for the best though, you were well fed and protected now, more than any mortal man could hope to provide you with. He did enjoy killing all your other suitors. That tradition was always entertaining.

#linked universe #yandere fierce deity link x reader #fierce deity x reader #fierce deity x you #lu fierce deity x reader #yan!fierce deity

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yandere-daze · 22 days

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I´m back to my Collar x Malice obsession (currently playing the FD) and so I just had to write something for my favorite boy! And since he already shows some yandere tendencies in the game, I decided to run with it. Hope you enjoy <3

gn reader

1.3k words

tw yandere, obsession, possessiveness, jealousy, manipulation, implied stalking, overprotectiveness, brief mentions of violence

General Yandere! Kei Okazaki headcanons

Okazaki strikes me as the type of person who could take an immediate liking to someone when meeting them for the first time but then needs a lot of time for true love to materialize. Or in this case, obsession.

He´s quite fond of you from the very beginning, he likes seeing you smile and enjoys being around you. But the true obsession only starts once you two get to know each other better.

He has been in a lot of relationships before and while he had liked all of his partners, he never felt like he could show them his flaws, he never felt comfortable being true to himself, always hiding away a part of himself in fear of rejection. It´s like that at first with you as well, he only wants to show you his charming and cool side as he wants to make a good impression on you. How would you ever fall for him if you knew about his past and his mental troubles? About his possessiveness and jealousy?

You inadvertently sealed your own fate when you encouraged Okazaki to be honest with himself and that you would accept him for all his flaws. That you wouldn´t turn away from him, no matter what. That you won´t judge him.

How can you say these things and not expect him to become absolutely obsessed with you?

For the first time, he feels this deep connection to someone else, he feels like he can be himself around you, even if it´s scary and difficult. So you wouldn´t mind if he let his obsession with you show, right? If he got clingy and possessive with you. You said you accepted all of him, right?

Okazaki for sure is a protective yandere. He works as a bodyguard so he´s an expert at making sure certain important people are safe. And you most definitely count as a very important person to him!

Whether you´re actually dating or just acquaintances, Okazaki will insist on accompanying you wherever you go so he can "keep you safe". And he´s quite persistent when it comes to this as well, not taking no for an answer and just tagging along anyway with a smile on his face.

It doesn´t even matter if you were planning on meeting up with him or not, he´s somehow always there whenever you go out to wander the streets. How does he always seem to know when you´re about to head out?

In truth, Okazaki keeps tabs on you even when you believe you are alone. Due to all his training, he´s more than capable of staying hidden in the shadows while still keeping a watchful eye on you. Even if you say you need some alone time, he just can´t risk anything happening to you. He´s still shaken up from that incident all these years ago where his inaction caused his coworker to die on the job. He can´t let something like that happen to you, his dearly beloved.

And next to making sure you´re safe from harm he also has to make sure you´re "safe". What does he mean by that? He has to make sure that no other men try to approach you to ask you out. He knows they´re no good for you, so just leave it all to him.

Okazaki has an uncanny ability to swoop in out of the blue whenever a man tries to talk to you, inserting himself in the conversation and making the other person uncomfortable with his unnerving smile and underlying threats. He can be quite scary when he wants to and thus it´s easy for him to scare people off. He also isn´t against using violence to get them to back off, whether it´s punching them or twisting their limbs until they crack, nothing is off-limits. Under no circumstances will he allow anyone else to sweep you off your feet, you´re meant to be with him after all.

Afterwards, he will explain that the person that tried to talk to you was dangerous. There had been warnings going around at work and so he tried defusing the situation immediately. You see what happens when you´re out there without him? Really, you were in luck that he just happened to be around! Maybe ask him to tag along next time again, okay?

Of course, that´s all lies. No such warnings about a suspicious person existed, he just needed a convenient excuse for chasing them away. He can´t let those people possibly get in between the both of you.

Okazaki is also just really really jealous in general. He doesn´t like it when you spend time with others and if you´re dating, then he would directly tell you this, though he tries to word it in a way that sounds more reasonable than "I want you to cut ties with all your friends". He hates seeing you smile and laugh around people who aren´t him, it makes him fear that you might be getting sick of him.

And he can´t have that. He vows to never let go of you. Strangely enough, he will actually tell you this many times (like he does in the game) but you just take it as a bit of cute possessiveness, nothing too concerning. You just don´t know how obsessed he is with you.

He canonically has thought about locking the player up so they´re for his eyes only so a kidnapping would not be completely out of the question I believe, though I do still see it as a last resort, something he would only do if he felt an immediate threat to your relationship or if he was close to snapping. For now, he would much rather use words to try and convince you to spend more and more time together.

It´s normal for a boyfriend to want to spend all of his time with his darling, right? He just loves you so much! He wants to spend every second of every day with you, aren´t you being a bit cruel by depriving him of that? Why do you insist on being with people that aren´t him? Isn´t he enough? Don´t you love him?

He can get quite manipulative if he feels like it will bring results. But also, he just genuinely feels like that. He just can´t fathom it, how can you bear to stay away from him when he feels like he´s being ripped apart every time he has to part from you?

So to no one´s surprise, Okazaki is very clingy, even before a potential relationship. He loves being close to you, wrapping his arms around you or resting his head against you. He also loves holding your hand in public, both as a way to show affection but also to show anyone else that you´re unavailable. He´s also shameless enough to kiss you in public while people are most definitely watching.

Resting his head in your lap while he falls asleep is also another favorite of his. He´s often exhausted from his job as a bodyguard and tends to not get a lot of sleep, so he treasures being so close to you while he gets to rest up. Please run your fingers through his hair too, he will sigh in bliss if you do!

Also very affectionate in the way he talks to you. Once he realizes his feelings for you, he won´t really try to hide that he likes you, perhaps only the extent to which he does. He loves calling you cute pet names, especially if they make you flustered. He loves teasing you, it makes him proud to know that he can have that sort of effect on you.

"You´re so cute when you get flustered. Tell me I´m the only man that gets to see you like this~"

He will truly never let go of you for as long as he lives.

#collar x malice #kei okazaki #kei okazaki x reader #collar x malice x reader #yandere x reader #male yandere x reader #otome #otome game #yandere kei okazaki x reader #gn reader #tw yandere #yandere #tw obsession #tw possessive behavior #tw stalking #tw jealousy

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trashbag-baby666 · 26 days

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Pilot-Firehouse au

Summary: There’s a new probie at Casper fd, Gale is one step closer to finding out who Rosies been going on dates with, welcome to the madness.

WC: 3,385

C/W: None!

au masterlist!

MOTA Masterlist!

John skipped through the fire department a pink box of donuts in his hand. Most people would probably ask what’s got you in a good mood? But no one batted an eye at John, because this is just how he carries himself all the time, aspiring to put a smile on all his crew's faces. Today it would be with donuts tomorrow it might be dad jokes.

“Morning, Bucky.” Curt wiped his hands on his pants and took the powdered sugar donut out of the box, “Chicks got a probie in the office. Told me to send you in when you got here.”

“Sounds good,” John nods, heading up the metal, red steps and going into Chicks office. A brown haired man sitting on the opposite side of Chick, his eyes wide with excitement. Fresh out of the academy and ready for some real action.

“Morning chief, donut?” John held the box out.

“Yes please, thank you, Captain. John, this is Captain Egan. One of the finest firefighters CFD has ever seen.”

“We’ve got another John?” He raised an eyebrow leaning over slightly to see the file on Chicks desk, “John Brady, how do you like Brady?”

“I…uh.”

“Come on, Brady, wouldn’t wanna be late for the morning stretch circle.” John called, bouncing down the steps, Brady scattering after him, “Guys this is our new probie, Brady.”

“Fresh blood, huh?” Dougie leaned on the fire truck

“This is Dougie and…” John looked around for a moment, “Where’s your Missus?”

“I ain’t anyone's missus,” the lengthy blonde came from around the front of the truck, eyeing up Brady.

“And this is Howard but everyone calls him Hambone, maple long john for you.” John plucked the donut out of the box and handed it to the blonde, “I’m putting Brady with you guys today, so please be nice to him…Brady, good luck with the hazing.”

“You’re ours now, pretty boy.” Dougie put a strong hand onto his shoulder, shaking him lightly.

“Come on stretch time, boys.” Curt clasped his hands together grabbing the attention of everyone, quickly being overshadowed by the loud siren that began to ring, “Nevermind.”

“Suit up, Brady!” John clapped him on the back, offering a small crack of a smile.

—---------

Gale’s all too familiar with the sounds of too many voices all at once on top of the constant voices on the intercom paging doctors, the occasional groan, the clacking on keyboards. The sound of the Casper, Wyoming ER became nothing but white noise for him, “good morning, doctor.” Rosie stood against the counter in the breakroom. His words okayest doctor thermos in hand, a small smile on his lips.

“Morning, doctor.” Gale opened his locker, “How’re you this morning?”

“Doing just fine.”

“So I take it the date went well?”

“Oh, how did it go?” Croz pushed open the break room door, his stuffed to the brim tote bag over his shoulder eyebrows wide with curiosity.

“It was fine guys, but I don’t kiss and tell.” Rosie put his hands up in defense. Croz and Gale had been trying to crack the code into Rosies love life since late med school when they met Croz during their residencies. But he kept it a secret from them and wasn’t budging still.

“You’re no fun, Rosie, who else are me and Gale supposed to gossip about?”

“Linda from HR. No, I’m kidding, gossip about me wouldn’t be very much fun anyways, but he did meet Freddie last night.” Rosie glanced at the two of them as he walked towards the door.

“Oooooh,” Gale snickered, getting to meet Freddy was a big deal. Rosie didn’t let just anyone meet his elderly deaf cat with separation anxiety.

“Sorry I gotta get back to it,” Rosie put his hand on the door handle shooting them a wink.

“I’m glad he’s found a guy, this was their…fourth date I think he mentioned the other day?” Gale and Rosie had met their freshman year of college since they were roommates. Then they just never separated and lived together all the way up until John asked Gale to move in with him.

“Me too,” Croz sighed, putting his bag away, “How was Delia’s game yesterday?”

“Great! She almost had a home run, but they did win, six to five!”

“Sorry, we couldn’t make it, Junie got sent home from the day camp yesterday with a fever.” Gale knew Croz and his husband Bubbles kept very busy with their four kids.

Hell, Gale only had two kids and they kept very busy.

“That’s alright, how high was the fever?”

“Hundred and one I think she sweated it out last night. She was drippin’ this morning when I woke her up.”

“Hopefully it passes fast. It makes me so sad when the girls are sick.”

“Me too, hopefully we can contain her germs to herself and we don’t have a house outbreak.” Croz rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. The last thing any of them needed was a Crosby family sick outbreak that could possibly spread.

———————

Brady squeezed the excess water out of the sponge and back into the bucket of soapy water. Pressing the sponge back into the truck. After the call John had asked Ham, Dougie, and himself to wash the truck. But the other two had long since abandoned ship , leaving him by himself.

“Dougie and Ham ditch you?”

“Jesus,” Brady put a hand out on the truck turning to see John with that same smirk from earlier on his face. Bending down he grabbed the other sponge out of the bucket.

“Curt used to do the same shit to me. I promise they’ll like you, they do this to everyone.”

“How long did Curt, y’know…? Harass you for being the new guy?” Brady scratched the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Oh I don’t know, I think a good month, till I saved his ass from a burning building.”

“Oh.”

“How old are you, kid?”

“Twenty four, sir.”

“Well you’re aging me specially with the sir, no need for this sir and captain bullshit. Just call me Bucky, everyone else does.”

“Okay, capt…Bucky.” A moment of silence passed between the two of them. Brady just hoped he was doing everything right like he had been taught in the academy.

“Got a special someone in your life?”

“Oh, uh, no. I haven’t met the right one yet…there weren't a lot of options in Sundance. Thought I’d have a better shot since I play for both teams.” Brady chuckled dryly hoping he wouldn’t be ostracized for his sexuality here.

“Amen to that one! I thought I’d be single for the rest of my life, till I met my husband.”

“How long have you guys been married?”

“We actually just celebrated our tenth anniversary last week.” John snickered.

“Well congratulations, do you have any kids?”

“Yeah, we’ve got two girls. My oldest will be 13 next week and our youngest is seven.”

Brady felt a hole of anxiety in his chest begin to fill itself back in knowing there was at least another lgbt member in the firehouse. He kept it to himself at first in the academy, he didn’t want a stigma to follow him.

Brady picked his head up at the sound of a dog barking, meeting the sight of a white and light gray husky in a service dog vest dashing towards John. “Oh hello there, Meatball!” John scratched the husky behind his ear, “This is Meatball, the hundredths mascot and staple.”

“Is this the new probie?”

“Yep,” John clasped a hand on Brady’s shoulder squeezing gently, “Brady, this is our driver engineer Benny Demarco, he’s Meatball's other half.”

“I’m not married to him, I promise.”

“Did you look into the tax benefits for it?” John asked, tilting his head and putting his hands on his hips.

“Nice meeting you, Brady.” He held out his hand for him to shake.

“Nice meeting you, I look forward to working with you.” Brady shook his hand, his grip tight and firm.

“Come on Meatball,” Demarco headed up the steps to Chicks office, the husky behind him.

“So,”

“Hm?” Brady’s eyebrow raised.

“Me and Benny are good friends, but he won’t tell us a thing about this person he’s seeing. If you can figure anything out let me and Curtie know.” John squeezed Brady’s shoulder again delivering a small shake.

So John is chronically nosy?

———————————

“Fancy seeing you here, we gotta stop running into each other like this.” Curt leaned against the open door of the ambulance.

“Hey, Curtie.” Ken looked up from where he was writing down his report, “Did you ask Bucky if we're still coming over for dinner?”

“Yes we are.”

“Awesome, I felt bad we had to leave right after the game.” Ken set his clipboard down standing up taking Curt’s hand then jumping out of the back of the ambulance.

“Yeah, the girls were all excited. I'm bringing them popsicles to Friday's practice, today we gotta lock in on fielding.” Ken smiled while watching Curt talk with his hands. He loved getting to coach Cordelia’s rec league softball team. Curt also stayed busy playing on the firehouses softball league Bucky coached. He didn’t play anymore only because he tore his ACL a few years back.

“I know I was so proud of them! You tell them I said that.” Ken placed his hand on Curt’s chest, “You’ve been working out?”

“Sure have sugar,” Curt pulled him in by the belt loops. He could stare at Curt all day and make this his full time job. Curt moved in with Ken a couple months ago and things had been going pretty well.

“Curt, what are you doing?” John furrowed his eyebrows coming around the truck.

“I was just saying hello to the wife,” Curt kissed Ken’s cheek, “See you at home, Kenny.”

“Bye Curtie, bye John.” Ken waved and shut the back doors of the ambulance.

“I saw you and Buck making out against one of the trucks the other day. So you got nothin’ on me, Johnny.” Curt shook his head walking after him.

“You know too much about me for me to become an enemy of Curtis Biddick. I was just coming to tell you we were leaving.”

It was true, when John dropped out of college halfway through his second year. He got in his car and started driving. He got to the Wisconsin/Minnesota border and decided to just keep going. Drove all the way to Casper, Wyoming in two days, decided to stop for a drink and then never looked back.

“I don’t want you as an enemy,” Curt shrugged his jacket back on as they got back to the truck.

“Good, because then I would have to kill you.” The two of them climbed back in the truck, “How’re you liking it, Brady?”

“I like it sir- uh, Bucky.” He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together looking down.

“Loosen up kid, I’m glad you like it.” John sat across from him.

“You’ve been doin’ a just fine job. I know you’ll fit right in.” Curt had seen a dozen or so of guys through their probie phases at the firehouse. He did in fact haze John after he convinced him to join the academy. John and Curt both saw Dougie and Ham through their probie period together. Brady seemed like a good kid and determined to become the best firefighter he can be.

————————

Gale: I’m on lunch, just thought I’d check in if you or Flynn needed anything from the store. If you make anything please clean it up so I don’t have to clean before making dinner. 🤗🤗

Cordelia: ok

Gale sighed, setting his phone back on the breakroom table stabbing a crispy piece of lettuce out of his salad. “I don’t like this tweenage thing.”

“Delia?” Rosie hummed through his bite of sandwich

“Yeah the other day she looked at me like I killed her cats because I asked her to help me pick up dinner.” Gale rubbed the bridge of his nose. He and John both had been coming to terms that Cordelia did not in fact hate them. She just wasn’t their little girl anymore and wanted more independence and they could respect that.

“Has the attitude started yet?” Croz could probably offer the best advice out of any of them. Their oldest was a couple years older than Cordelia, “The first time Astrid actually raised their voice at us we were so distraught.”

“A little bit,” Gale sat back in his seat rubbing at the gold band on his finger, “I’m beginning to think about bringing back timeouts for her too.”

“Sometimes it’s better to let them cool off in their room. I remember this age, hormones flying, your body changing, everything seems like the biggest deal of your life.” Croz definitely had the most confidence in his parenting out of the group. But I guess you do probably have to carry confidence with your words when you have four kids to wrangle around.

“I told my parents to shut up one time at that age…it did not go over well.” Gale could imagine a younger Rosie telling that to Mama Rosenthal. Followed by her most certainly chewing him out in Yiddish and sending him to his room.

It’s not that Gale is insecure about his parenting, it's that he doesn’t want to be like his father. He wasn’t like his father at all. It’s the one thing Gale brought up when they first talked about kids, “John, what if I turn into him?” “That’s not going to happen. You’re nothing like him, Gale.” John was right, Gale wasn’t his father. The apple didn’t even fall from that tree.

“It’s at least a little nice to hear that this is at least some right of passage event.” Gale cleared his throat. He didn’t really get a chance to have that, he grew up at far too young of an age. He had spent his entire childhood taking care of his father and avoiding the swinging hands that came at him. The rundown apartment in northern Casper, the cigarette burned couch with the cans and bottles littering any surface available. He knew his only way out and he took it and ran.

Now he had his own family, he had his firehouse family from John's side and he had Rosie and Croz from his side. He had to remind himself, he in fact is doing better than he ever thought he would.

————————

There’s a lot of things that are staples in the Cleven household. but the one that never missed was the barking every time someone was at the door. Scooby would jump up his loud howl carrying alerting Chili that maybe he needs to start barking too; although, his didn’t carry the same way Scoobys did.

“Guys!” Gale scolded the dogs from the kitchen.

“It’s us,” Ken sang as they came inside toeing off his shoes. His prized Apple pie in his hands, Curt not far behind him, “Hi Scooby.”

“Uncle Curt!” Flynn came flying out of the kitchen and jumped into his arms.

“Hey, Flynn.” Curt spun her around, “How was your ball game?”

“Good! I got a couple good hits! Papa said we could practice tomorrow.” Flynn quite literally fell from the John Egan tree though. Not only did she have the same blue eyes and dark brown curls but the same sass and humor. Oh yeah, and the lifelong passion for baseball but ‘specifically the yankees’.

“I’ll see if I have time to stop over and I can toss you some balls. Sounds good?”

“Yes! You’re the best Curt.” Flynn wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

“No you’re the best, Flynn. Why don’t we go help your dads set the table?”

Flynn nodded, Curt setting her down and she took off for the dining room attached to the kitchen.

“Delia, why don’t you take Ken with you to grab some drinks.” Gale nudged her from across the kitchen island.

“Okay,” she rolled her eyes with that sharp tone in her voice.

“I don’t like that attitude,” John popped his hip out resting his hands on his hips.

“I don’t like your attitude, Pa.”

Gale looked between the two of them having their nightly ‘drama queen competition’ as Flynn called it. Cordelia let out an irritated grunt stomping to the connecting door to the garage.

“Teenagers are fun,” Curt snickered.

Ken sat on the steps next to the fridge in the garage while Cordelia dug out the last can of Arnold Palmers for Curt.

“Is everything going alright, hun?”

“Yeah, it’s just, everything feels like…I don’t even know.” She handed the can of tea to Ken and shut the fridge door sitting back on her knees.

“That’s part of growing up, unfortunately. Do you wanna talk about anything?” At those words Cordelia looked down at her hands bashfully, a small smirk that resembled Gales following.

“Well, okay but you can’t tell dad and Pa.”

“Deal,” Ken rested his head in his hands.

“There’s this girl on my team, her name is Mel.”

“Does Curt know?” Ken interrupted her momentarily.

“No, we just started talking last week. She’s staying over with some of my other friends on Saturday.”

“I hope you have fun. But make good decisions,” Ken picked up the drinks off the steps next to him.

“Don’t worry, we haven’t even held hands yet. I can’t tell if pa would be upset that I’m dating or start crying?”

Ken let out a small chuckle, there's a good chance both could happen. Curt told him that when Cordelia had taken her first steps John broke down crying. He also cried when she turned one, he wasn’t ready for his little girl to be in such a rush to grow up still.

—-----------

John let out a loud yawn stretching his arms above his head, his shirt coming up just slightly. Gale leaned over, poking his stomach softly sending John into a loud laugh falling onto the bed right on top of Gale. “Did you have a good day at work?” Gale felt his cheeks heat red him and John were nose to nose.

“Yeah, we have a new probie at the station. Seems like a good kid. How about yours, Doctor Cleven ” John smiled because he knew exactly how to get Gale all flustered.

“Well, Captain Egan, I did have a good day. Today I found out Rosie went on a fourth date with that guy and he brought him to his apartment and let him meet Freddie.” He was pleased with himself that John's cheeks were now flush and he looked down slightly, just from calling him captain.

“Ooooh, do you know his name?.” John rolled off of him climbing under the blankets. He loved some good, who's dating who gossip? Someday he could be just as bad as Cordelia.

“No, that’s all he’s told us. We should find a time to go out and tell Rosie to bring him.”

“Good god, Buck. You’re just as bad as me and Delia!” Wrapping his arms around Gale he pulled him into his chest.

“Exposure therapy,” Buck giggles, turning his head to meet John's sparkly eyes. They laid there for a moment just basking in the energy of an amazing sixteen years together.

“Can you believe we’ve been married for ten years?” John rested his chin on Gale's shoulder, “Together for 16.”

“I know it’s gone so fast.” Gale tangled his hands into John’s pressing his back into John’s warmth.

“Next thing we know it’s going to be our 60th anniversary and Delia and Flynn are going to put us in a home.”

“Don't remind me,” Gale sighed, tipping his head back against John.

“At least we’re a long way from retirement?” John kissed Gales neck, truthfully he’d work forever if that’s what it took to keep this little life. He couldn’t imagine anything better than this, he was married to the absolute love of his life, “Well, maybe we should use my sexy firefighter body to our advantage.”

Gale mentally rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, John’s cheesy flirting never getting old. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”

——————

Thanks for reading!! Hope you enjoyed! Likes and reblogs highly appreciated! <3

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eddysocs · 1 month

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The Object Of Desire — Chapter Seven (Hidden Thoughts And Secret Places)

Summary: After a short night, Aerla must go about her day, and relief comes in the form of her private forest clearing. There to write out some of her thoughts, her peace is interrupted.

Word Count: 1,117

Warnings: Some minor angst/drama, progression of feelings within a student/teacher relationship

Later that night, Aerla lay sleepless, staring up towards the ceiling. Again, the day's events played over and over in her head. Beautiful, blissful images swam at the forefront of her mind, yet still the thoughts somehow plagued her, taking her slumbering hours away from her. Di, directly across the room from her, was awake as well. Aerla sighed, half with contentment and half with frustration at her inability to fall asleep.

"Hey," Di whisper yelled. Aerla sat up. Her eyes were accustomed enough to the darkness that she could tell Di was also sitting up and looking —rather, glaring— at her. Aerla pointed at herself to clarify that Di had been speaking to her. Had she done something to wake her? She hadn’t thought so. "Yes, you. You came back from the lake awfully late. What were you doing out there?"

Aerla didn’t like the accusation in Di's tone. What did it matter to her what she did or didn’t do? Yet she needed to answer her. Although she certainly had no obligation to tell Di the truth. At least not the whole of it. "I stayed to speak to Miss G. I wanted to tell her that I don’t think I’ll be joining your diving team. I don’t think I'm suited to it."

"Oh," Di replied flatly. Aerla didn’t know what she'd been expecting to hear, but she assumed that hadn’t been it. "Okay then. Shame. You were kind of good," Di replied dismissively and with a passive aggressive shrug. Aerla fought not to argue with her. She was damned good, and Di knew that as well as Aerla herself did. Miss G had praised her on her dive, possibly more so than any of the other girls. Perhaps Di was merely jealous that she was better than her. Aerla longed to gloat, lord it over her like some primary school bully, but she didn’t need the conflict. Di seemed determined not to like her, and she didn’t need to give her any more reason to hate her.

After Di laid back down, and Aerla was able to be off her guard once more, she actually settled into a light sleep. Morning seemed to come too quickly however, and Monday's classes were bright and early as usual. For her first few courses of the day, she was struggling to keep awake, the monotony coupled with her shortened night of rest was a draining combination.

Lunchtime had perked her up a bit, having forgone breakfast for roughly half an hour more of rest. The afternoon then proceeded to go much smoother for her. She was more attentive, especially after passing Miss G in the hall between class periods. And then classes concluded for the day and she was free. While the other girls gathered in dorms and a short distance outside the building, Aerla made her way to the forest.

The clearing she'd found on her first foray out into the woods awaited her and the journal she’d brought along with her. Birdsong again filled the secluded area, and Aerla sat on the large, fallen log to put some thoughts down on the pages in her journal.

Camille. French in origin. There is something exotic about her that keeps her always in my thoughts. It is not unlike what I felt for the girl from home, whose name need not be mentioned here, yet it is not quite the same either. With the girl, curiosity. With Camille…perhaps desire?

The snap of a twig got her attention and froze her pen to the page. It could have merely been an animal traipsing through, but she had to be sure. She slowly lifted her head to observe her surroundings. In the distance, she caught a glimpse of a silvery, silken skirt as someone darted away beyond the trees. Perhaps it was time to leave. She wanted to preserve this spot as her own, and if someone was already poking around, she best wait until later for another visit.

Camille had only meant to keep an eye on the girls after classes had let out for the day. She’d been making her rounds, seeing that the girls had mostly grouped up for a bit of fun during the pleasant weather before the rain came overnight. And that’s when she’d spotted Aerla heading for the forest. Normally, the girls weren’t permitted past the tree line, but she seemed to be heading somewhere with a purpose and Camille wanted to know where.

She lingered behind at quite a distance, only just able to keep Aerla in her sights. When she saw her enter the woods, she pressed forward after her, carefully treading into the brush. From behind a thick and gnarled old tree, Camille stood and watched as Aerla entered a forest clearing, sitting herself on a fallen log. It appeared that she was writing something. She wouldn’t be able to see the words on the page even if she were to draw closer, yet she took a step forward anyway. A mistake.

The crack of the stick beneath her feet had clearly startled the young woman, whose writing ceased immediately. Camille knew she’d have to flee. She could only hope she was fast enough to avoid catching Aerla's eye as she went. Her mad dash from the woods left her wanting for breath by the time she reached the forest's edge. It was already starting to get dark at this time of year, and a chill was setting in, so Camille jogged off to go inside and grab a coat. She might have just stayed in, but she wanted to make sure Aerla made it back.

Camille stood outside the school's entrance and waited, puffing on a cigarette to look as if she were preoccupied with anything other than worry for her favorite pupil. When Aerla finally came trotting up the hill, Camille exhaled a long plume of smoke, along with an abundance of relief. Everyone else had gone inside by the time she reached the door, so that left them alone. "Camille, what are you still doing out here?"

Camille almost lost her cool when Aerla addressed her by her first name, but another drag from her cigarette helped her to regain her composure. "Just making sure everyone comes inside," she replied. "You’re the last."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she apologized, though a hint of a smile told her she wasn’t entirely sorry for it.

"Not at all. After you." Camille half bowed as she gestured to the door with a flourish. Aerla smiled at the act she was putting on until she caught sight of a peek of silver coming from under Camille's long, black coat.

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

Chapter Six <- 🩵 -> Chapter Eight

Forever Tag: @arrthurpendragon, @baubeautyandthegeek, @atjsgf, @kmc1989, @curious-kittens-ocs, @fanficanatic-tw, @kissykissymouth

Aerla Grae: @athenodora-sulpicia-writer, @ilovehotactresses

#oc: aerla grae #fc: francesca capaldi #fd: cracks #fic: the object of desire #miss g #miss gribben #miss g x oc #miss gribben x oc #cracks 2009

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breannasfluff · 10 months

Note

Regarding the new headcanon re: fierce diety---

...So what you're saying is we need to let Wild chew on the mask till it cracks/breaks and frees FD?

(Watch Time have hysterics)

Obviously, this is the only way. Wild just gnaws away at it while Time tries to yank it away. Twilight dies laughing.

#eldritch wild #fierce deity

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shade-pup-cub · 2 months

Text

Febuwhump 2024, Day 14: Mask(FD) & Link - Blood-Stained Tiles

Fandom: LOZ/Linked Universe

Summary: Mask seems to be the only one that can see what is going on with his big brother and he refuses to stand to the side when he could try to change it. Unlike his own Zelda, this era's doesn't show the same care. Their hero is only a tool.

CW: blood, injury, mild language

Link’s limp wasn’t hard to miss if you looked. His slight hitch in breath when he gave a slight laugh, drew in breath or spoke too much could be seen, if someone would look for it. His posture was guarded, arms stiff and hardly moved away from his sides. His smile was fake, pained and his eyes wanted to shut from the lack of sleep. All of this could be seen if someone just looked.

Mask watched from afar after the battle was over and had slipped the Fierce Deity mask back onto his belt. He saw Link get hit a few too many times and knew he would be kicking for not doing better.

A meeting had been called for in the castle to discuss the next move against Cia and Ganondorf the second the battle ended and Link was off the field. Mask cursed aloud when he lost sight of Link, crowds of people pushing and shoving. Being hip height had its disadvantages, but Mask was not above hitting kneecaps to get through.

It was the rare occasion that the eleven year old hero wished he had his sixteen year old body back. He could easily get through if he was taller, but he wasn’t. He scaled the nearest wall somehow undetected. He balanced his way across beams, careful not to fall into the swarm of bodies below. Living as a Kokiri was like living in one big playground, making this easy.

It still took much longer than he wanted it to to get across the castle, run down the halls to where Link’s personal chambers were. Mask jiggled the locked handle to the door. Link never locked it…

“Link! Open this fucking door!”

There was no answer outside of the shuffling of feet, something being tossed around and something breaking.

“Don’t make me blow this door off its hinges!”

When Link still did nothing outside of continuing on, Mask grew more worried. Link knew that Mask wouldn’t give idle threats, especially ones that included blowing things up.

“Cap, you’re worrying me… Please open the door.”

A few moments later, the door creaked open. “Worried? Now that’s a word I haven’t heard come from you before.”

Mask looked up at him, eyeing him curiously and cautiously. Something wasn’t right. Link had less dust and dirt on his tunic, meaning he had taken it off. He wouldn’t do that for any other meeting, especially with how urgent the Queen made it sound.

“Did you take a potion?” Mask went right to the point.

“No, I didn’t need one.”

“Did you wrap your wounds?”

Link furrowed his brow, “I didn’t have any.”

“Bullshit, I saw you take some hits today. There is no way you went unharmed.” Mask went to push on the Captain’s ribs, but his wrist was caught by Link. “If you don’t have any, why stop me from checking?”

To Mask’s surprise, Link’s expression cracked for a split second before he straightened up. “Because I do not have time right now. There is a meeting being held to strategize our next move. Even if I were injured, our supplies took a great hit today. We are short of most things. Small cuts are not worth my time worrying.” He let go of the younger’s wrist. “Stay here if you want, but I have somewhere to be.”

Mask flinched slightly back at his big brother’s became uncharacteristically angry with him.

Link deflated. “I’m sorry. I have no right to take my frustration out on you.” He took off his scarf, wrapping it around Mask snuggly. “Get some rest.”

Watching Link walk away hurt, but Mask had a job to do. He needed to figure out a way to get the good Captain to rest some. It had been three days since he slept anything more than two hours, a week since he slept five hours at one time.

He sighed with a groan as he walked into the somewhat large room. He went and sat on the bed, kicking his feet while his brain raced. He couldn’t think of a way to help his big brother and even if he did, no one would take him seriously due to his age. Well… he was just going to have to make them listen.

Looking around the room again, something caught his eye. Something white and red. ‘That bastard.’ He knew what it was before he reached it. It was old bandages that someone had tried to hide. That meant that Link had been hurt some time before and hid it from everyone.

Mask pushed open the bathroom door, wanting to take all the bandages out of there and hide them so Link would be forced to seek out proper help. What he wasn’t prepared to see was blood smeared across the marbled tiled floor. Several towels had been used hopelessly to clean up the mess and there were still small pools of blood that hadn’t been touched.

Mask’s breathing picked up as he took a few steps back. Horror gripped him like an icy hand around his middle. That was too much blood. How much was Link hiding? How much worse was he than Mask had originally assumed?

His anger roared back like a grease poured on an open flame. He folded Link’s scarf in a hurry, tossing it on the bed. He was on a warpath to where this so-called meeting was being held. He ran through people, not caring who it was. Many times he collided with the wrong people, all agitated warriors or nobles. A few pushed him away hard enough that he landed on the ground and nearly trampled. The others only spoke harshly towards him.

None of this stopped him from reaching the guarded doors that held the highest ranking officials in this Hyrule. He thought about blowing the door off the hinges, but that would cause too much destruction and bring too much attention from outside people. Direct approach it was…

Mask kicked and screamed as the guards tried to pick him up and throw him out of the castle for intruding. ‘This shit again, really?’ He managed to get a few good kicks to the door, calling for Link. With no one responding from behind the doors, Mask bit one of the guards and pulled the Fierce Deity mask from his belt threatening to put it on, backing up slowly, then literally kicked the door open.

“What is the meaning of this interruption?!” one of the nobles asked as everyone jumped to their feet.

Mask eyed Link as he tried to stand up fully without wincing. Link tried to keep eye contact, but sat down first with a hand holding his ribs.

Two more men went to snatch Mask, but he raced over to the way too oversized round table and climbed onto it. The Queen waved her hand for them to stop.

“Mask, what brings you here?” Zelda asked, calmly.

“Him!” Mask pointed at Link as he tried to catch his breath.

Link huffed, “Mask, go back to the room and get some rest, please. There is no concern here for you to be worrying over.”

“You don’t get to speak, Cap! Not after what I saw!”

Losing patience, Zelda also sat back down, prompting the others to do the same. “If something was wrong with our Captain, he would say something.”

“Are you blind? Are all of you blind to what is in front of you? He is injured, still injured from the battle before today, hasn’t slept in gods know how long, eating is a rare thing and he is refusing any medical treatment because he thinks it would be wasted on him when he should be the first person to receive it!”

“We are at war, child. There has to be sacrifices even if it comes to oneself.” A random nobleman said.

Swiftly turning, Mask gritted his teeth as he spat out. “No one was talking to you.” Looking at the Queen again, he asked, “How well do you sleep in your ivory tower, knowing that this war is all on Link? He has saved you, Impa, Lana, everyone in this room, this whole kingdom, but who is saving him as he drowns in his own thoughts of doubt and self worth? Who does he get to lean on when it becomes too much to carry alone on his shoulders? He isn’t some plaything from the goddess, he is a real person who deserves better than this. Heroes deserve better than this!”

The same nobleman decided to speak up again. “What would you know of a Hero’s job? You call yourself a hero, but how could an eleven year old understand the complexity of war and what Link is to uphold his part as the hero?”

Rage boiled in Mask’s veins, slowly turning back to the old man. “I took up the role of the hero at age nine, where I was sent to the future by sleeping until I was sixteen. I fought Ganondorf and his bloodthirsty monsters and I defeated him. When I was sent back to my original time as a nine year old, I did it all over again. I earned the title Hero of Time, though it came with many steep costs. I went to an unknown land called Termina, ridding it of one of the most powerful demons ever known to the world, Majora. I did both adventures alone outside of my fairy and the few that I could trust to point me in the right direction, but I walked alone.

“The work of a hero is damning and lonely, even if we aren’t alone. No one truly understands what we need or what we go through. I refuse to let another hero go through the hell I went through for the sake of his country. I don’t care if I have to do it from my grave, heroes from now on will never have to walk alone.”

The silence was interrupted by a puzzled Queen. “This still has nothing to do with you. Leave, Mask, we have work to do and every second that you waste by badgering us with things that are irrelevant, Ganondorf gets stronger. If Link has a problem or an issue, he knows how to deal with it. He is an adult, capable of taking care of himself.”

“Clearly not by the state of his bathroom! The tiled floor is stained in blood, fresh blood has pooled on top of it from where he tried to take care of himself and I’m surprised he’s even standing by how much was there! Do you not care for your Hero?”

“He is not my responsibility!” The Queen stood, matching Mask’s height where he stood.

“Mask, that is enough. This only makes matters worse. It doesn’t matter what happens as long as we win the war.” Link rubbed his face, elbows on the edge of the table. The lack of self preservation was overwhelming. Mask knew what it was like, but his big brother was being thrown to the wolves with no hope.

“See, boy, if our good Captain Link says he is fine, then why should we be listening to you? Now, run along and let the adults handle things.”

If Mask could have gotten away with it, he would have skewered that old bastard. Instead, he took the Fierce Deity mask, sighing, “Since you won’t listen to me, maybe you will listen to him.” He pressed the mask to his face with a scream. The scream wasn’t because of the pain like others thought, but because of the amount of emotion trapped inside with no way to release it except when Mask used them. Fierce Deity's hurt the worst.

“Mask no!!” Link hollered and scrambled to get to the youngest in the room.

The wooden table groaned under the weight of the god that now stood where the young Link was. The Deity knew why he had been called on, afterall he could go through the mask’s wielder's thoughts. His glowing eyes took in the room, landing on Link who was now doubled over and clutching his side, blood coming through the green tunic.

The Deity growled in disgust, “It takes a child to make you see what you already know, yet you call yourselves the responsible adults. I would have never treated my own men with such disregard.”

Much like Mask, his eyes locked on Zelda’s, lips pulled back to show all his teeth. “You, Queen Zelda, I would expect so much more from my sister’s blood than what you have become. You disgrace the goddess’s bloodline and all she believed in.”

Link took in a wheezing breath. “D-Deity…” He collapsed to the ground, head nearly slamming into the stone floor if it weren’t for the Deity’s quickness.

Large gloved fingers inspected the head in his hands, feeling for damage. He sighed when he felt the bump below the crown of the young man’s head. If he remembered correctly, Link got his with a shield there. Placing the man’s head on the ground softly, the Deity pulled the tunics and chainmail up, showing bandages soaked and hardly wrapped around him properly.

Almost like she cared, Zelda was at their side. “I had no idea… truly. We need to get him to the infirmary right away.”

“You will do nothing. You do not get the right to suddenly step up for him and care about his well being. I will take him to his quarters and watch over him. He needs rest, not people hovering over him. Besides, friends and foe are wearing the same colors nowadays.”

With Link in his arms, he made his way to the door, but stopped short to say one last thing. “If his body gives way and we lose him, my host will not fight in this war, I will make sure of it. You will do this on your own and you will lose.”

#ao3 writer #febuwhump 2024 #febuwhump #linked universe #hero of warriors #hero of time #lu mask #fierce deity #wow… I really behind #but I will finish!!!

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