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swaps55 · 4 years

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Cafune

Shepard’s cabin is a hell of an upgrade over crew quarters. Considerably less foot traffic, for one, private bathroom for another. The dim lighting alone is heaven. It’s always too bright on the crew deck. Hell, Kaidan even kinda likes the fish.

But it’s the company he really enjoys.

He shifts in his spot on the couch, nestling a little deeper against Shepard, who tightens the arm looped around his waist in response. Kaidan is still at least attempting to read through the reports that have been piling up. But Shepard has spent the last several minutes ignoring his datapad in favor of gazing at Kaidan.

It’s…nice. Really nice. Especially when the datapad gets tossed aside entirely and Shepard’s fingers start carding through his hair.

A smile curves Kaidan’s lips. “Hey, you.”

“Hey,” Shepard says softly. “I missed this, you know.”

“Touching my hair?”

“Mmm. Also the rest of you.” He presses a kiss to Kaidan’s temple.

A contented sigh slips out of Kaidan’s throat. “Believe me, I missed it, too.”

Shepard’s fingers continue working, making the datapad in Kaidan’s hand less and less interesting. But then they still, followed by a deliberate intake of breath. After a few seconds, Shepard exhales and starts moving his fingers again.

“What is it?” Kaidan asks.

Another pause. “Nothing.”

Kaidan hides a smile and keeps skimming his datapad, even though at this point he isn’t reading a word. Shepard doesn’t hesitate to say what’s on his mind. Only Sam does. “Uh huh. Well, whenever you change your mind, let me know.”

Shepard grunts. But a minute later he drops his hand and shifts his position a little. “Can I ask you something?”

There it is.

“Of course.”

More shifting. “While, uh, while I was dead, did you…?”

Kaidan tightens up without meaning to. Those two years are never going to be an easy subject, especially when Shepard throws the word dead around so easily.

As if sensing his discomfort, Shepard draws Kaidan a little closer to him. “Never mind.”

Kaidan sets the datapad down and settles against him. Shepard’s death certainly isn’t a pleasant topic, but bridging it while tucked in his arms…helps. “No, go on. Did I what?”

“It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“Sam. There are things about…that I’d rather not talk about. But doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it at all. What do you want to know?”

He clears his throat, expression a little sheepish. “Just…wondering if you, ah…met anyone.”

Kaidan blinks. Well. That’s…not what he expected. “Are you…asking if I dated anyone after Alchera?”

“I mean, it’s fine if you did,” he says quickly. “Two years is a long time. People move on.”

A hoarse laugh escapes Kaidan’s throat. Move on. He’d spent the first year in a fugue, and the second convincing himself that functioning wasn’t enough; he had to live, too. He hadn’t quite mastered it by the time Hackett dropped the Freedom’s Progress file in his lap.

Move on. Everyone told him he would, eventually. Some days he’d even believed them.

“Sam…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shepard says, voice gentle. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Why do you ask?” Kaidan asks, curious. If there’s one thing they’ve generally done right, it’s believe in the way they feel about each other. Well. Once they’d mustered the courage to say how they felt about each other, anyway.

Besides, dating is all but a foreign language to Sam. Not that Kaidan has a much better track record of it.

Shepard’s fingers return to Kaidan’s scalp. Kaidan’s not sure if it’s meant to reassure him, or reassure Sam. “I guess…your thing with Joker reminded me…I’ll never know what kind of hell you really went through.”

Ah, right. The thing. While Shepard was with Cerberus, Joker apparently hadn’t mentioned just how contentious things had gotten after Alchera.

“If you found something, er, someone, who made it a little less hellish,” he continues, “Well.”

Kaidan closes his eyes and revels in the gentle churn of Shepard’s fingers. “I don’t really…date, Sam.”

Shepard makes a noncommittal sound.

Kaidan opens his eyes, sensing a challenge. “Come on. In the five years we served together, did I ever date anyone?”

A hesitant look crosses Shepard’s face. It takes Kaidan a moment to understand it, but when he gets there he chuckles in disbelief.

“You’re actually going to say the researcher we ran into on Arcturus, aren’t you.”

Shepard withdraws his fingers from Kaidan’s hair and gestures. “Come on, you can’t argue that wasn’t a date.”

“We had drinks,” Kaidan reminds him. “Once. At your insistence. You literally wingmaned me.”

“Yeah, well, I thought I was doing you a favor,” Shepard grumbles. “The one that got away, and all that.”

“She was not the one that got away,” he says with amusement.

Shepard sniffs. “That’s good, because she was not right for you.”

“Then why…” Kaidan’s eyes widen as realization dawns. “You were jealous.”

“What, of her?”

“Yes. You were jealous.” He chuckles again as the pieces fall into place. “You were in a horrible mood when I came to find you after. Since you wingmaned me I thought you’d want to hear how it went, but you nearly took my head off. I thought you were pissed at Pendergrass for being impossible to take out in public. But you were pissed at me, weren’t you?”

Guilt flashes across his eyes. “No.”

“Sam.”

His brow furrows. “Ok…in retrospect…I was probably jealous.”

“You insisted I buy her a drink!”

“Yeah, because you kept talking about how much you enjoyed her company when she was…researching you.”

Kaidan sighs in exasperation. “She was researching my implant. We were friends. Saw each other a few times and went our separate ways. Well before you and I met, I might add.”

“You were still into her,” Shepard insists. “Come on, I know you.”

“You ass, I was into you,” Kaidan says with a laugh. “I didn’t want to have drinks with her. You’re the one I wanted to spend that evening with.”

A smirk curves his lips. “Yeah, well, I know that now.”

Kaidan shakes his head. “So if I’d come into your quarters that night and kissed you instead of telling you about my so-called date, would that have put you in a better mood?”

Shepard grins. “Why? Did you think about kissing me?”

“When didn’t I,” Kaidan mutters.

“Boy you had it bad for me, didn’t you?” Shepard says, tracing Kaidan’s jaw with a finger.

Kaidan raises an eyebrow, not about to give in to the gesture of affection. “I’m sorry, who shot out the window of a quarantine lab and exposed themselves to a bio engineered virus for no reason?”

Shepard squawks in protest. “What do you mean no reason? You were in that room!”

“And I’d already been exposed,” Kaidan points out.

“So I was just supposed to leave you in there was some deadly virus? I kinda like to think I’d have done that you whether I loved you or not. You think I would have left Garrus in there?”

Kaidan holds up a finger. “No. No, no. If it had been Garrus you would have used that tactical head of yours for at least a nanosecond, realized the damage was already done and taken the extra five minutes to go through the decontamination process. Or at the very least, put your helmet on to avoid exposure. But no, you shot out the glass and came after me because you were in love with me and didn’t stop to think. Or grab a helmet.”

Shepard sputters, then glares. “Ok. You might, might, have a point.”

A slow grin spreads over Kaidan’s face. “And because of it you had to spend all that time with me in quarantine. You literally took care of me when I felt like I was going to die.”

Shepard draws Kaidan back to his chest. “Kinda thought you were going to die. Scared me to death.”

“Yeah,” Kaidan says. “I won’t lie…I was glad you were there. Even if it was a little humiliating to be that incapacitated around my commanding officer.”

“I’ll take you at your worst over most people at their best,” Shepard says. His fingers return to Kaidan’s hair, and Kaidan leans into the touch with a hum. “Like hell I was going to let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Kaidan says, and it’s true. As reckless and unnecessary as that stunt had been, the sound of that glass shattering followed by Shepard’s voice in his ear had made him feel…safe.

Shepard clears his throat again, shifting uncomfortably. “Is it, uh, is it weird if I admit that I might have…done this a little, when your fever spiked?”

“Touched my hair?”

“Yeah.”

Kaidan chuckles softly. “Thought I dreamed that.”

“No,” he says after a pause. “I just…I don’t know. This is probably really incriminating, but I always had this urge to run my fingers through your hair.”

Kaidan smirks. “You can admit you just wanted to mess it up.”

Shepard huffs.

“You loved me,” Kaidan says with a shrug. “You may not have known it, but you did.”

Shepard nods. “In retrospect, it was really fucking obvious, wasn’t it?”

“Little bit, yeah.”

“In my defense, I have literally never been attracted to anyone before. How was I supposed to know that’s what it felt like?”

Kaidan snorts. “So it never occurred to you that being jealous when I went on a date, or unnecessarily exposing yourself to a deadly virus because I was in trouble, and wanting to touch my hair all the time, might mean you were in love with me.”

“Yeah, the porch swing also should have been a clue,” he muses.

Kaidan rearranges himself to meet Shepard’s gaze head on. “You mean back at the orchard? When I feel asleep and drooled on your shoulder?”

Shepard nearly shoves him off the couch. “So you admit it. You’ve been denying that happened for years.”

Kaidan narrows his eyes as something else clicks into place. “Did you touch my hair then, too?”

Shepard blinks. “This is about you, not me.”

“You did.”

He rolls his eyes. “Ok, maybe…very briefly…I might have.”

Kaidan laughs and settles back against him. “I knew it.”

Shepard grumbles, but snakes an arm around him once more. “Well if it was so goddamn obvious why didn’t you just kiss me and get on with it?”

“Because how could I be sure?”

Shepard stares at him. “Boy, kinda hard to believe we saved the galaxy, isn’t it?”

Kaidan grins. “You said it yourself. How good can first timers really be?”

“Not first timers anymore, are we?” Shepard asks, in a soft voice that puts a flutter in Kaidan’s chest.

Kaidan shakes his head.

Shepard’s fingers flirt with his hair once more. “So…you didn’t actually answer my question.”

The flutter dissipates. “I didn’t date anyone, Sam.”

He runs a thumb along Kaidan’s hairline, expression growing solemn. “You know that would have been okay, right? You know…I’d want you to be happy.”

Kaidan catches his hand, heart jumping into his throat and I’ll be fine echoing in his ears. “Sam.”

So that’s what this whole thing’s about. The next Alchera. The next Mars. The next time they inevitably gamble their lives and lose. Kaidan swallows and tries to pull away from him. “This…this is one of the things I don’t want to talk about.”

“Yeah,” Shepard says, keeping him close and cupping his cheek. “But you need to hear it. I want you to be happy. Always. Whatever that means.”

“I am happy,” Kaidan argues. “With you.”

“And believe me,” Shepard assures him, “I hope that never changes. But I just…need you to know.”

Kaidan’s hands shake as he slides back into his waiting arms. “Please don’t talk about this.”

“Ok,” Shepard murmurs, wrapping him up tight. Kaidan closes his eyes and breathes him in. Solid. Real. Alive. And his. “How about, instead, we talk about all those midnight meals you fixed over the years?”

“What about them?” Kaidan asks, palm slipping under his shirt in search of a heartbeat.

Shepard’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Started as just ‘hey, there’s a stash of peanut butter and crackers in a drawer if you need a pick me up.’ Next thing you were fixing full entrees in the middle of the night.”

“I was hungry,” Kaidan replies, hiding a small smile.

“Uh huh. You’re telling me the extra plate and fork you always had waiting had nothing to do with hoping I’d show up.”

“Mom always said that if I wanted to impress someone I should learn how to cook.”

Shepard nuzzles his neck before burying his fingers back in Kaidan’s hair. “Mmhmm. So you wanted to impress me, huh? Keep talking.”

Kaidan scoffs. “What, you want to try and tell me that you appearing like clockwork was pure coincidence?”

“You caught me,” Shepard concedes. “I fell in love with the Alenko family risotto recipe.”

Kaidan huffs. Shepard plants kisses up and down his throat, letting his corona flare just long enough to send a current through Kaidan’s nerves.

“Mmmm,” Kaidan murmurs, tilting his head back to give Shepard better access. “Must have been some risotto.”

“Yeah,” Shepard mumbles between kisses. “Except it turns out it definitely wasn’t the risotto I looked forward to all those nights.”

No. It wasn’t. For either of them. Eight years ago when Kaidan had walked into a bar on Arcturus and found Shepard sitting there, it was like something had just snapped into place. For both of them.

“Quarks,” Kaidan says softly.

Shepard pauses. “What?”

“Something Tali told me a long time ago,” Kaidan explains. “That certain types of quarks are tuned to one another on a quantum level, bonded across space and time. The more you pull them apart, the harder they try to snap back together.”

Shepard lifts his head and searches Kaidan’s face. Under Kaidan’s palm, Shepard heart beats strong and steady.

“I didn’t see anyone after Alchera,” Kaidan says. “It never occurred to me. Maybe…deep down I still felt that pull.” He runs a finger along Shepard’s cheek. “Because it turns out you were still out there.”

Shepard swallows, voice catching. “You are such a romantic. You know that?”

Kaidan’s gaze drifts to Shepard’s mouth. “Say it. Please?”

“I love you,” Shepard whispers.

Kaidan brushes a finger across Shepard’s lips. So many times he’d wanted to kiss them and hadn’t. So many times he’d wondered what it would be like and never had the courage to find out. So many chances they’d lost in the debris now buried under the snow on Alchera.

Not tonight. Tonight Kaidan kisses him slow and deep, drinking in every sigh, every soft sound that slips from his throat, reveling in the feel of Shepard’s fingers tangled in his hair. It won’t make up for all the times they’ve missed.

But it’s a start.

#mshenko #kaidan alenko #mass effect #my fic #i swear it's fluffy #and basically an apology for fugue #see?!?! everything's fine they're all fine #ok #they're MOSTLY fine

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p-artsypants · 4 years

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Integrity (Part 6)

Overwhelmed with her responsibilities, guilt, and drama, Marinette has an emotional breakdown in front of everyone, and even hands over her earrings in a moment of weakness. Only for a few seconds, but the damage was done. Adrien's pretty quick on the uptake like that.

Ao3 | FF.net

Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews! Especially with the last chapter where I took a little creative license with Luka’s reaction. I felt like he had been so passive in every situation we had seen in the show, maybe this would be the point where he puts his foot down. Either way, I’m fortunate to have very kind and mature readers! Thank you!!

—

Returning to class, everything felt sort of surreal.

As Adrien and Marinette passed their classmates, instead of awkward smiles, they were greeted with hugs. But not quite in a friendly way. A hug that one would give another after they had been in a car accident, or some similar life-changing tragedy. They never said a word either, just a hug, and then they moved on.

However, it appeared that Lila never took the hint. She stayed completely delusional in the belief that the class was on her side.

In the classroom, she was fishing for attention. Marinette heard her asking around, “hey, do you want to hear about my vacation plans to Hawaii?” And, “oh during lunch I got a call from Jagged Stone! He heard about the whole thing and called to comfort me!”

No one took the bait. Not even a ‘maybe later’. Just cold hard silence.

By the time the school day came to an end, the classmates started to speak to each other, but it wasn’t ever anything more than school and homework related. Absolutely no gossip, nothing about media consumption, nothing.

It was almost as if all friendships had been reset to zero and everyone was reconsidering what they knew about each other.

Thankfully, Nino seemed pretty solid in his loyalty to Adrien. “Hey dude,” he asked softly after the last class of the day. In the silence of the room, he was still heard pretty clearly by everyone. “If you’re not going home, where are you staying right now?”

“Oh,” Adrien tried to keep his voice even quieter. “I’m actually staying with Marinette. Chat Noir thought she was safest.”

“Chat Noir said that? I wonder why?”

“He seems to have a good opinion of her.”

“We’ve talked.” Marinette clarified. “A few times. He’s stopped on my balcony during patrol and stuff.”

There was a scoff in the back of the room. “Really? He’s stopped by your house? You’re that chummy with Chat Noir?” Lila mocked.

Before Marinette could reply, the rest of the class groaned.

“Just shut up.” Alix barked back.

“Chat Noir had to protect Marinette while I was akumatized,” Nathaniel added. “It was on the Ladyblog too.”

“Oh, so now we’re taking all interviews on the Ladyblog as gospel?” Lila huffed, crossing her arms. “Hmm, sounds like favoritism to me.”

“Except Chat Noir corroborated Marinette’s story.” Alya added. “He praised her quick thinking. He’s mentioned her in high esteem a few times.”

“Fine. But did you ever ask Ladybug about our friendship?”

Alix moaned. “Are you still talking?”

Alya forged ahead. “No, I didn’t. But Adrien said this morning that Ladybug called you out in front of him.”

“Adrien and Marinette are both liars, and everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt.” Lila sneered.

Adrien clenched his fist, about to speak, but Marinette just stood from her seat. Calmly, she packed up her bag, and shouldered it. “If this is the hill you want to die on, be my guest. If there’s anything I’ve learned from our classmates, it's that if you call someone a liar, they’ll just think you’re jealous. So good luck with all that.”

Alya inhaled a quick breath, that Marinette ignored.

“You ready to go?” She asked Adrien.

“Absolutely.” He gathered his supplies and they rushed from the room.

Once outside, Adrien let out a sigh. “What a fatal last comment.”

“Ehh, I probably went too far. But I am still kind of salty about the whole thing. I’m ready to forgive and let my bitterness go, but I’d at least like an apology first.”

“I think they definitely owe you one.”

“Maybe I’ll get more on Monday. It felt like everyone was…kinda in shock all day.”

“No kidding.”

“Chloe surprised me. I’ve been…kind of hesitant to trust her again, but what she did for you today was really something.”

Adrien almost forgot he wasn’t supposed to know about Miracle Queen, since everyone in the city, including Alya, had been in a trance. There was no coverage of it anywhere. No one knew why the auxiliary heroes were all retired, and no one knew about the Miracle Box being taken. Thank God.

“I know Chloe’s a brat, but she’s…been getting better?”

Marinette shook her head, and spoke in code, since they were out in public. “She was. Honestly, I was really proud of her and how hard she was working to be a friend again. But…the reason I’m the guardian now, it’s kind of her fault. She was the akuma. But, she did it willingly. The big bad got a hold of the Jewelry Box and offered her the Comb if she worked with him. Him getting a hold of it was my mistake…but all the other friends were revealed because of her.” She paused for a moment. “I wonder why you weren’t summoned forward too, since you had the snake and all.”

“I was inside.” He clarified. “I saw the bees swarming out in the streets, so I stayed hunkered down in my room. I guess I didn’t realize at the time it was Chloe, but with bees and all...it makes sense.” He pursed his lips. “I didn’t notice Chloe acting much different. I wonder if her standing up for us was her trying to absolve herself.”

Marinette shrugged. “She’ll have to keep it up, I’m afraid. But I can’t give her the comb again. It’s just too dangerous.”

“It’s not your responsibility to fix people, Marinette. I know you want to, but Chloe is a damaged person. She will get better in time, but you gave her several chances. You can stop.”

Marinette let out a breath. “Yeah. You’re right. Thanks Adrien.”

“Anytime.”

Desperate for a change in topic as they reached the locker room, Marinette asked, “how’d it go with Kagami? You came back kinda late so I didn’t get the chance to ask.”

“Oh, it went good. Really good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She said she’s over me already. I suspect she’s lying...but we had a good talk. She’s on our side at least. She doesn’t believe I could molest anyone.”

“As she should.”

“She says she hopes to hang out with you again soon.”

“I wouldn’t mind but…I think it might be a little awkward for a while.”

“She said you’d say that too.” He laughed.

“Wow, she sure does have me pegged.”

Adrien wrestled his duffle out of his locker, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Is that everything you need?” Marinette asked. “Do you need me to get Ladybug to get anything else?”

“Nope,” he shrugged. “All of my earthly possessions are in here. At least, the things I can’t live without.”

“Do you need me to carry anything?”

“Nope, I got it.”

So they headed out, not running into any of their classmates. However, as they left the locker room, they could hear yelling coming from the second floor, where their class was.

“Well, it’s not an akuma.” Adrien said with a tiny smirk.

“Should we intervene?”

“No. I think we’ve had enough drama for the last two days.”

“Yeah…” Marinette breathed. “Speaking of drama…I spoke to Luka at lunch.”

“Oh? How’d that go?”

“Not good. Not good at all. He feels…like I wasted his time. He was upset.”

“Oh…”

“He thought that I was trying to get over you so that he and I could date, but that’s not exactly what happened. He thought his persistent pursuing me meant he was first in line to date me.”

Adrien winced. That’s kind of how Chat Noir had acted too. Boy, she would be pissed when she found out who he was. Maybe he shouldn’t tell her after all…

“So yeah, that’s how we left things. I’ve been kicked off the Kitty Section team indefinitely…”

“Oh Marinette…” Adrien cooed, resting a hand on her waist.

“Nope. Don’t talk to me like that, or I will cry.” She blinked rapidly. “I knew whatever I said would break his heart. But…I think if he had been gracious about it, I would have taken it harder. For him to react the way he did makes me feel like I dodged a bullet.”

“I know exactly how you feel. Trust me.” He tugged her close and gave her a little side squeeze.

The rest of the trip to the bakery was taken in silence as both teens were lost in their own thoughts. Both mulling over ‘what if’s of the future, and what was going to happen next.

Especially a very long conversation that had to happen.

At the bakery, Sabine greeted both of them with kisses to the cheeks. “Hello you two! How was school? Survive okay?”

“Survive is an apt word.” Marinette chuckled weakly. “Lila’s not going out without a fight.”

“Well, my offer still stands, if you need me to request a parent teacher conference, I will!”

“Thank you Mrs. Cheng,” Adrien stated, “but…my father threatened a lawsuit. If that doesn’t get her mother’s attention, I don’t know what will.”

“Oh my! She’s that bad? I just assumed it was rumors and gossip. A Lawsuit is quite serious!”

“Well, my father fired her yesterday after she left here. In order to save face, she accused me of sexual harassment.”

Sabine tutted. “That girl is a real piece of work. I’m sorry you’re both having to deal with this! Whatever you need, just ask!”

Adrien gave a weak smile. “Could I have an almond danish?”

Sabine laughed. “Oh sweetie, you didn’t need to ask.” She took one out of the case and handed it to him. “Now, I have to get back to work, but we can finish this conversation later. Adrien, Tom and I wake up very early, so we think it’s best if you stayed in Marinette’s room so we didn’t wake you up. You can behave yourselves, right?”

“Yes ma’am!” Adrien agreed a little too enthusiastically.

“Good, then scoot!” She shooed them out of the bakery.

“Are you okay with that, Marinette?” He asked. “Or are you afraid I’d sexually harass you in your sleep?”

“You touch me anyway I don’t approve, and you’ll be hanging from your ankles from the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

He snorted. “Noted!”

Adrien followed her silently upstairs into the apartment. Now that they were alone, he knew he had to tell her. He needed to say everything, so they could move forward and make a plan. As he took the steps up to her room, his hands began to sweat around the strap of his bag. Just do it. Just say it.

“You can set your bag here,” Marinette began. “The bathroom is across the hall from the living room, but you can keep your toothbrush here at my sink if you want. I’ll get some pillows and blankets—“

“I’m Chat Noir.”

He said it when she had her back turned, so he didn’t have to see her face. She continued to face away from him, her shoulders slowly tightening with anxiety, like a coil about to snap.

“I should have told you yesterday,” he continued, desperate to make sure she heard it all before she freaked out. “But you were so panicked with everything else, I just didn’t want to add to it. I didn’t want to hide from you, My Lady.”

She flinched, ducking her head slightly.

“I went home yesterday. My father greeted me at the door, and we talked about trust. He said he approved of you and I seeing each other, and he said he would remove Lila from my photoshoots. You know this. And then…he said he had something he wanted to trust me with.” He licked his lips, finding them unbearably dry. “He pressed some buttons on the painting of my mother, and this elevator lowered through the floor. At the bottom, there was this huge cavern I had never been in before. There was a bridge, and then a garden on the other side, and in a…it looked like a coffin, but I think it was a life support machine…my mother was there. She’s in a magical coma, from using the broken Peacock Miraculous. Dad revealed himself to be Hawkmoth, and he explained he wanted our Miraculous so he could use the ultimate power to wake her up.” He inhaled, his breath stuttering with faintly concealed sobs. “Then he asked me to help him. He had been using Lila as an akuma trigger, but since she was fired, he wanted me to take her place.”

“And what did you say?” Marinette’s voice was hollow and dull.

“I didn’t say anything. I was just in shock. He was crying and…I wanted to save my mother too. I know his method is wrong, and I can’t help but think the ultimate wish isn’t going to do what we want…”

“So Plagg stole the Miraculous while he was sleeping?”

“Yes. I thought about getting you, but I had to work quickly. I didn’t want to fight him. And after I gave them to you last night, I returned home, and he was waiting for me.”

“So he knows?”

“No. I had an alibi, but…he still drugged me and tore my room apart looking for them. I woke up at some point, disoriented and confused, and I attempted to fight him, that’s how I got my black eye.”

Finally, finally, Marinette turned around, showing the tear streaks running down her face. “I was so worried about you.” She whispered.

“Oh bugaboo…” He rushed to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into a strong and solid hug. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t risk getting caught. That’s why I left.”

“I understand, you did the right thing.” Her fingers dove into his hair, scratching at his scalp in a calming way. “I’m so proud of you, kitty.”

“Thank you, my lady.” He squeezed her. “And I am most certainly not disappointed in you for what happened. I know it was an accident, and I’m here to help you. I was worried about you, because I love you. I love you so so much, Marinette.”

She croaked out a sob and nuzzled her face into his shoulder. “I’m so glad it’s you. I’m sorry I kept breaking your heart, but I’m so glad it’s you! It was always you, the boy I loved. The boy I kept turning you down for…I’ve always loved you.”

“And now you know how I feel isn’t a celebrity thing,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t doubt you for a second.” She clutched his shirt. “You said you loved me even more since you found out who I was. I trust you, Adrien. With my life.”

He pulled away enough to look down at her. “This was the final loose end I had to tie up. Telling you who I am.” He reached a hand up, tracing the shell of her ear with his thumb, and letting it trail down to her jaw. “Marinette, would you marry me?”

She snorted, “what?”

“Sorry, I skipped a step. Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

“Wait, I didn’t get to say yes to your proposal!”

He laughed, gathering her tightly and spinning her around. “I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! One day, I’ll make you mine!”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she giggled, elated and bursting at the seams with love. “You’ll have to get it approved by my parents first.”

“Your parents!” He gasped. “We should tell them! They might not be okay with me sleeping in here if they know! And I don’t want to get on my in-laws' bad side!”

“Adrien.” Marinette snickered. “It’s okay. We’ll tell them at dinner. And…” She glanced down. “I was thinking about telling them my identity.”

“Oh?” There was no judgement or caution in his tone, just plum curiosity.

“It was Tikki’s idea. Now that Hawkmoth isn’t a threat, maybe revealing myself would clear the air, you know, because of unexplained absences?”

“In that case, can I tell them too?”

“Uh, sure…why?”

He rubbed his arm. “I want adults that I can come to if I need help. My father isn’t that for me. One day, I’ll probably tell him the truth, but…Not now. I’m too scared.”

“Alright Kitty, we’ll tell them tonight at dinner. After all, we have to get their permission to go to Tibet this weekend.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That soon?”

“Sure! We have to talk to the guardians about how to save your mom after all.”

His face melted from giddy to astonished, as he beheld her. “You…you want to save my mom?”

“Of course Kitty! You love her, don’t you? If she can be saved, we should at least try.”

He opened and closed his mouth, fighting for words of gratitude. ‘Thank you’ wasn’t strong enough. It didn’t mean enough. ‘I love you’ was starting to sound repetitive. Emotion seeped out of him, drenching his cheeks with tears of joy of being in love and being so loved in return. It was overwhelming, but so welcomed. He couldn’t hold it back anymore.

He kissed her roughly, thoroughly, solidly. Hands wrapped around her, grabbing, tugging, caressing, bringing her closer and closer, until he could be all consumed with her, her scent, her taste. Her everything.

He took her bottom lip between his, sucking and teasing with his teeth, while he coyly tugged on her belt loop.

Then suddenly, they were tumbling, as her leg hit the edge of the settee and she lost balance. She landed with a little ‘oof’ right on the cushion, as he braced himself above her.

Her impossibly blue eyes stared up into his, before she burst into giggles. “Whoops.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Kitty.”

“Good. Are you comfortable?”

“Yes? Why?”

“Because I’m not done with you yet,” and he returned to capture her lips again with an open mouthed kiss. He indulged for a moment, just before pulling away. “If that’s okay, My Lady?”

“Its alright, my Prince.”

His cheeks colored a little at the pet name. “I like that one.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah...” He finally closed the distance, his touch much more gentle, tender, and just savoring the moment.

“I love you.” He whispered between caresses. “I love you.”

“I love—“ she giggled as he cut her off over and over. “I love you! I love you!”

“Marinette! Adrien! Dinner’s ready!”

They pulled apart to look at each other before they started laughing all over again. “Did we just—?”

“Kiss for two hours?” Asked Plagg, with the dullest voice. “Yes. Yes you did.”

Tikki elbowed him. “Leave them alone Plagg. They’re in love!”

“Yeah,” said Adrien, sappily. “We’re in love...”

“Go to dinner!!”

#miraculous ladybug #ml #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #ladybug #chat noir #fanfiction #integrity

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after-witch · 4 years

Text

Under a Bridge (Yandere Norway x Country Reader)

Title: Under a Bridge (Yandere Norway x Country Reader)

Synopsis: You’ve been under Norway’s thumb, trapped and caged in more ways than one. You seek help from otherworldly beings, but a deal once made, can’t be undone.

(Request: Anonymous asked: Yandere Norway with a country s/o who can use magic and see magical creatures like him? Like how would he deal with them trying to get help/escape through their magical creatures help?)

Word Count: 1600

notes: yandere

“Your temperament is better,” he says quietly, settling down in the chair across from yours. A modest dinner, smoked fish and fresh vegetables from the garden, rests on the table between you. You made it tonight, without fuss, as you have been for many, many nights before. You even hummed while you did so, a song you heard long ago from a creature now turned to dust.

You smile sweetly--softly, still, but sweetly, and that is what matters.

“I know I’ve been… disagreeable,” you say, choosing your words carefully. You’re very careful now--you must be. Or all of your good behavior, your compliant cooking and helpful, listening ear, will have been for naught. “I understand now that you… only want what is best for me.” You say nothing more, gently lifting a piece of cooked vegetable to your lips, watching his reaction.

He doesn’t react much to your words. He never did, even when he was angry with you, in the time that you were a wild, fighting, nasty thing; back when you screamed out curses and begged every creature you knew might hear to help you, to no avail. Cut off from your homeland, cut off from your magic; you could feel it, tingling and stretching, trying to reach you across miles and miles and so many borders. But that feeling dimmed, day by day, week by week, until it was nothing but a soft ache in the back of your mind.

He was patient, you will give him that. He didn’t scream or hurt you, at least not in the way that you supposed captors might normally hurt an non-compliant, unwilling captive. He simply laid out his expectations, laid out his rules, and waited day by day for your resolve to weaken.

And now, his subtle smile over the table tells you all you need to know.

It means that he trusts that you’re behaving. It means that he trusts that you’ve accepted your place, small and cramped and caged in this little house with its little garden, cut off from your homeland and even the once-familiar creatures that helped you or hurt you or kept you company over the long stretch of your life.

It also means that he trusts you not to spike his dinner with a sleeping potion.

His mistake, of course.

You make small conversation, giving him updates about the garden and the animals, about repairs you’re going to make to this and that dress. He’s quiet, which is par the course--but you see over the increasingly mundane conversation that he’s starting to nod out. Slowly, slowly, until he mentions that he may sleep earlier than usual. You rise, so polite and caring now, and help him to bed. He barely makes it onto the freshly laundered bedding before he passes out.

You waste no time. Instinctively, quickly, you grab the bag you’ve prepared for your flight. Tucked underneath a floorboard, it’s enough to keep you safe and energized until you can get far away. You tucked some trinkets, things to barter with, should you find anyone (or anything) trustworthy enough in the forests.

Your dainty house slippers, made for trodding on soft boards and grass in the garden, are replaced with a pair of his sturdy boots. They’ll do you better in the forest. Without a second thought, you’re gone--you don’t even bother shutting the door, instead fleeing on foot; you leave the sounds of crying goats and concerned chickens and the rush of the stream alongside the cabin behind you.

Your time--how long, you wonder, how long--living a quiet, pampered house-life with Norway has left you weaker than you realized. You can no longer run for hours on end, strong and free, wind whipping behind you.

You’re forced to take breaks, resting on logs or on piles of leaves, trying to catch your panicked breath. You nibble on your rations and take the smallest sips from your flask. You yearn to take big gulps, especially when your lungs burn and ache from exertion, but the streams in the forest have always worried you. Back home, they were cheerful, clean; you might find someones and somethings inside, with wings or green skin or even tails, but they were always willing to part with fresh water for a trifle, a song or a compliment. Nothing serious. And they’d never tried to drown you, as far as you knew, which was more than you could say for some other water-logged entities back home.

Norway never let you fetch water from the stream near your cabin, always handling it himself. There may have been a reason for that, you remind yourself, opposing the increasing temptation to greedily drink down the precious water in your flask and refill it from a bubbling brook.

You refuse to sleep that first night, opting instead to keep running. Your potion, if crafted correctly, should keep him asleep for 2 full nights. And you want to get as much distance as possible between you in that time. The forest is unnerving, unfamiliar. You try to reach out for anything familiar--but whatever creatures inhabited Norway either ignored you or brushed you off as something unusual and foreign. Don’t bother with this one, you heard from a tree, though you can’t decide if that notion was offensive or not.

The sun is setting on your second day when you realize you can’t hold off on refilling your flask anymore. It was a silly notion, after all, to think you could ration water while your body was screaming from exhaustion.

You drain the last dribbles of water and follow the sounds of rushing water until you find something you didn’t expect to see: a waterfall, rushing down in great white bubbling, empting into a small river with unusually clear, glass-like water. You glance in the water. It’s clean… too clean, you realize immediately, to be an ordinary forest river. There is not a spec of debris, no sign of a fish, nothing but beautifully, tempting--, really--water that exuded coolness.

You know better. You know better and yet, you find your hands unwillingly gripping your flask as you untwist the cap. You lean down towards the stream, and in the glass-like reflection you can see something--more than one something--watching you from the middle of the river. Women, with long black hair stringing down past their naked waists; grinning, eager, beckoning you with their hands. Something more, too, on the other side of the river. A human figure, blonde and blurry, watching and waiting--but for what?

You want to pull away, to run until your lungs explode, but your hands feel like lead puppets, heavy and obeying someone else pulling the strings. You dip the flask down in the water, which is cold, so cold--and you can see the long strands of thick black hair coming closer, curling under the clear water like snakes. Some of the tendrils begin to loosely wrap around your wrists, like chains, and you’re briefly reminded of the cuffs Norway had once used--

Your unwitting reverie is suddenly broken by the sound of a low, rumbling laugh next to you. Your entire body jerks, the flask flying from your hands and into the water, to the sound of disappointed bubbling groans. You twist to the side and look up--and up, and up--at a massive forest troll. Covered in moss and leaves and even bird nests, some with eggs tucked neatly inside them.

“I--” you start, shaking your head, blowing away whatever enchantments had you. “If it was your intention, thank you for helping me. If it wasn’t your intention, thank you all the same.”

The troll laughs again, gruff and not altogether unpleasant. “I only wanted to see what he would do if I stopped them.” He gestures towards the other side of the river with his rock-like chin, and that’s when you realize--blonde, yes, blurry, no. It was Norway standing there on the grassy edge of the river, looking--for once--quite pissed off. The potion must have been weaker than you thought--damn recipe.

Your body falters. You want to run, but there’s nowhere you can go fast enough at this point. You look up helplessly at the troll and whisper out a plea, something you know you should never say to the unknown: “Please help me.”

The massive troll seems to consider for a moment, then opens his palm and shrugs. You glance at his giant teeth, some green and some sharp, but there don’t (for the moment) appear to be any human-sized bones inside. You climb onto his palm and he lifts you up high, cradling you against his mossy chest, while you try to ignore the sounds of Norway yelling--yelling, for once!--after you.

You feel the troll’s other hand patting the top of your head, shockingly gentle but condescending all the same. “Don’t worry,” he says, “He can’t enter my home to get you, my….” He mumbles now, and you can only hope you misheard the last word: “pet.”

#yandere hetalia #yandere norway #yandere x reader #yandere #apologies for the mishmash of folklore do do do #ahh also I know in norway this particular type of creature tends to be male #compared to other versions which are female #but #creative license

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

Text

All in the Family

Chapter 48: The Patronus

The place was not even lit, which hadn't boded well the past few times for them, so Remus was quick to wave his wand and light the candles along the wall. It revealed nothing more than a desk with a suitcase on top, the rest of the room was cleared.

At first they all relaxed, recognizing an unused Hogwarts classroom, the view outside a crystal clear night, the moon newly waning. Then they heard the suitcase rattle.

"I swear to Merlin's sack if it's another three headed dog, I am out!" Frank hissed to no one.

"Thankfully we didn't have to deal with that one," Peter tried to offer, his voice too high pitched to convey any real comfort. "Plus, I've got a nice falsetto-"

"Someone summon the damn book and get us out of here before we have to find out!" Lily snarled, their wands all pointed either at the suitcase or at the door for the threat, but none seemed willing to activate anything. Finally Lily took a breath and followed her own advice, the suitcase went sailing into her hand.

She dropped it as if it had burned her.

"Evans?" James at once asked in concern, but too late, it fell open right in front of her.

A new girl now stood before them all, carefully set blond hair and pale fishy eyes in a neat pink dress, her face scrunched up in pure disgust. Eyes locked on Lily and storming even closer with a ranky, perfumed air she sneered, "I can't believe you did that freaky magic again Lily, mum and dad will kick you out for sure this time-"

James froze with no idea of what to make of this, even as the red heads eyes filled with tears and her wand began to lower, but Remus leaped forward and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

The image flickered for a moment, eyes still locked in on Lily. For just a moment, a boy now stood before them with long greasy hair and a hooked nose, but then it changed to a cartoonish looking dog trying to balance a bone on its nose.

Sirius could only muster up a very small laugh in surprise, but that only drew the boggarts attention onto him next, blank eyes focusing in and already beginning to change into a woman, except this time with haughty dark features and claw like hands as she shrieked at her eldest son what a disgrace he was, in a voice they all recognized from frequent Howlers in the Great Hall.

Padfoot blanched in disgust and tried his own form of the banishment, but then it only grew worse again at the weak attempt, flickering to Prongs, then Moony, and then Wormtail all with looks of horror and disgust upon their faces and spewing even worse things of betrayal and a friend they couldn't trust, all words they'd already said to him.

James pushed him out of the way and, ignoring the change to a skeletal snake-like face appearing from nothing, this time said with purpose, "Riddikulus!"

It changed to a yellow balloon and made a farting noise drifting lazily around the room. Peter made a forced attempt at laughter and they all tried to join in this time with understanding. It landed, flickered feebly between a rat, a pool of blood, a griffin, then settled on an erumpent, rearing onto its hind legs and horn pointed at Alice.

She shrieked and backed away in surprise, but gathered her wits back just as quick, all of them on guard now. She repeated the incantation and watched it shrink down to a fuzzy kitten chasing its tail. They all laughed this time with feeling.

It tried one last feeble attempt, rolling onto its back and nearly locking eyes with Regulus who backed quickly away with a truly horrified expression. Lily stormed forward with a vengeance. The image blurred, taking the shape of a person once more before she shouted at the top of her lungs, and then there was a fish flopping on the floor and singing some tune none of them recognized, but they all laughed anyways in surprise.

Finally, it vanished, the silence left behind though labored with still startled breaths was almost calm thanks to the way it had ended.

Lily very cautiously peeked back inside the suitcase, to find the book sitting innocently inside. "Well," she whispered, still breathing the heaviest. "I guess Harry gets those lessons from Professor Lupin."

They all shuffled for a moment back into more casual stances, everyone looking at someone with worry for this experience.

"Err, Evans, you sure you're okay?" Potter still asked her even as he was looking at his best mate, expression sallow to the extreme and twisted up, still glaring where the boggart had vanished.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and scooped the book up without comment to get to her place.

"An erumpent?" Frank put his arm around Alice and politely asked her. "I feel like there's a story there."

She made an awkward attempt at a giggle to fight off the full memory. "My dad took me to a sanctuary once, it did not end well. What's with you and griffins?"

"A wild one went onto our property once," he grimaced. "I'd be cat chow if my mum hadn't stepped in. Needless to say, I'm quite proud I didn't wind up in Gryffindor for that alone."

She did laugh that time, but both were now done soothing each other and watching Lily with still more worry. They wanted to say something to her, find some way to really make her laugh this off like they had, but she'd just found her place and read out the chapter title, causing an inadvertent but welcomed distraction. "That's not really the way Harry's going to stop this dementor problem." She turned accusing eyes on Lupin, who looked politely puzzled himself. "That's a seventh year charm, I only know of it because I accidentally did a practice quiz for a N. E. W. T. instead of an O. W. L last week. You can't expect a third year-"

Three Marauders decided to keep to themselves they did in fact know that charm, even if they weren't dementor tested, because there had been a study done on correlations between the form they took and similar animagus'. One, did not think that through.

"Do you know any other way to make a dementor piss off?" Black snapped at her, visibly swallowing but puffing up and nearly shouting. "You want Harry to be hearing you scream in his head for the rest of his life? At least Moony's trying something, I don't see any other Professor-"

"Padfoot," Potter placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Breathe mate, she didn't sick that boggart on you, or what came out of it, which was complete bollix."

He took a deep breath and blinked a few times, whatever he'd been yelling at in his mind finally being replaced with her vivid red hair. "Right, sorry Evans."

She just nodded without comment and tried to read on, putting the tid-bit away for later on how, interesting, it was Potter always seemed able to calm all his mates down. What would they be like when he wasn't around to do that?

Sirius had even less interest hearing Harry arguing with his friends, as if he hadn't lived through that enough. So he grabbed Regulus by his shoulder and began towing him to the farthest corner away.

He went stumbling along, but willingly, and straightened his robes and drew himself up imperiously when released. "The hell Sirius? You know you can just ask to have a word with me like normal?"

Sirius huffed and muttered for a moment about the kid before he asked in an almost gentle voice, "your class done boggarts yet?"

Regulus sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment before answering, "no, at least, not like that. None of my Professors have ever mentioned them, certainly not Liz if it was supposed to come up this year, but Dad actually found one in his desk the day before Christmas Holiday ended. Told me I was going to practice on it this summer," he finished in a small voice. "Guess, now I'll be better prepared for it?"

Sirius had only wanted to somehow brush off the horrible things that boggartWalburga had said if his little brother had questions, but now he felt like he should ask more, for once. He'd flat refused anymore lessons like that with his parents after fourth year when they'd given him several dozen different lectures on not just how to do certain spells, but who they should be targeted towards, and that wasn't even getting into how they talked about beasts like trolls, goblins, and werewolves.

He'd tried to convince his little brother to join him and stop going to these as well, but the little brat had refused and told Sirius he wasn't going to disappoint his parents like that, then asked him to go outside and play a game. It was pure insanity! How long did Regulus think he could keep walking the line between appeasing their disturbed parents and keeping whatever moral compass he still claimed he had?

There was a small distraction from the discourse James was serving by Wood trying to work Harry off the team because of this dementor problem, his best friend shouting loud enough for the whole castle to hear, "Moony, if you don't get Harry a solution to those dementors, I'll banish them all from Earth myself!"

Wormtail gave a wild laugh for his usual antics, the both of them discussing loudly how they'd go about doing that when classes swung around to mentioning said professor again. Sirius looked up and around properly in concern when Hermione displayed, well, not a response they appreciated.

Regulus watched his brother eye Lupin with concern when the little Muggleborn girl seemed to know what was wrong with their newest teacher. Regulus felt affronted for a moment, he hadn't a clue if it was some disease he had or he was just consistently under the whether, but he also hadn't spent much time looking into it. Seemed the nosy little girl had done so and was now lording it, typical behavior of those less fortunate. He shifted his weight uncomfortably to the Muggleborn reading all this, the image of her fiery hair jumping to his defense and tackling the creature, and without permission guilt flooded him for the vicious thoughts. He slumped away from Sirius in confusion and sat by the desk as he tried to sort out all these conflictions in him. The boggart's shape for him, everything he'd thought he'd known being a lie, and still who to believe.

Sirius let him, as he didn't have a satisfactory answer for his own problem yet, and turned to enthusiastically egg Evans on with 'interest' of this new spell they clearly hadn't heard of!

Lily ignored their idiocies, but did stop curiously when the name of the incantation was given and how to invoke it. She hesitated, searching through her mind for something that might work.

Frank didn't have to think twice, summoning forth when Alice had agreed to go out with him and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" A white burst of light did indeed spew forth, but to his disappointment it merely faded away just as fast.

Alice waffled on anything to use. Her life had been quite mellow, nothing would really stand out in her mind that would give her much of anything to work with. She got more frustrated the longer she tried, thinking there must be some high point in her life as she flickered through memories with her parents, friends, and even Frank, but there was no peak producing silver to be found.

The Marauders all, 'gave it a go.' They all had great bruises on their prides to only produce very thick and consistent vapors of smoke without letting their true patronuses take shape, but they'd resisted the urge to brag to the world about their years too early practice in becoming animagus', they could hold off bragging on this too. Sirius turned to Regulus and called, to try and push some attention away, "come on then, give it a go! See if you and Harry are on the same level?"

'I'm nothing like that half-blood' he wanted to snap back, instinctively insulted, but took a deep breath and instead tried to respond to his brothers enthusiasm. He recalled the time he and Sirius had built a fort out of blankets in the study and Kreacher brought them snacks all night, the two whispering about all the adventures of the future, home alone as their parents went to a dinner party all night. A very substantial silver something began to materialize before him, but he was so surprised it faded away just as fast. He looked wildly over to see his brother beaming with pride.

James was watching Evans sadly, advice or something to help on the tip of his tongue. She was red in the face and muttering the enchantment with purpose, but barely a whisp was visible. Usually the ruler of the Charms room, he'd half expected her to be able to flawlessly enact this one, but she was clearly struggling with some aspect. When she opened her eyes and saw him staring, she looked even more angry and frustrated, turning back to the book with a despicable look, muttering about practice later.

She didn't exactly feel better that she was doing worse than Harry, or the fact that the boy had to create a fake memory just to produce results! She flushed with shame as she suddenly realized she may do better trying the same, nothing she'd come up with seemed to be working. Not the earliest ones of the first time she'd done magic, nor the more recent of her and Sev trying to create spells and jotting them down in his mums old potion book. She stamped her foot in frustration of what she was doing wrong.

The lesson was going brutally, and Evans' clear displeasure at her inability to do the spell wasn't helping things along. Constantly having to hear of your last dying words on top of lacking in magic her son was getting only half decent results in this same spell, more than her. At least Harry had an excuse for his lackluster work, his secret desire to hear his mother's voice, the only time in his life he would.

Then Peter fell back against the wall, clutching his ears in pain rather than keep hearing her stutter in surprise over James' last words. You-Know-Who closing in, and his brave, loyal, stupid friend standing his ground against everything. He should have ran, why didn't he run? This wasn't some animal that could so easily be tricked and fooled, this was a tyrant even Prongs couldn't face!

He watched his friend for several long moments, looking as if he were seeing a ghost in Evan's hands, but then his chest puffed up and he drew himself to his full height as if fixing to go ten more rounds with everyone in the castle. "Damned right!" He declared with actual pride.

Sirius and Remus looked on the verge of tears hearing of this, but then they too threw their shoulders back in pride for such a response. Peter wished the castle would swallow him hole in shame as he couldn't bring himself to do the same. His eyes flickered to where the Boggart had vanished, the tiny little rat that had appeared mocking him. He'd always been weak and small compared to them, even his fears, and the self-loathing only grew stronger for what he was, what his first reaction would always be.

Lily had just been given a whole new perspective of this future smacked into her face. There was still the loathsome image of being married to Potter for all of this to even be occurring, but for once that was the most insignificant bit. She held, in her hands, proof that James Potter, cared for her. Like she'd watched him do for his friends in the past few days alone, like she'd seen him even trying to do for her, now magnified in an action he clearly had no regrets for. For this one second, his last breath, he was not some arrogant prick trying to win her affections.

"Lily?" It was the quietest, most gentle way he'd ever called to get her attention. The reason he called her Evans was too rile her up and see her face him with that challenging look ready to go, but that's not what she needed now. "I don't regret it." The calm he infused into that, spluttered something out of her.

"How do you manage to- I don't even like-"

"That's alright," he actually shrugged, still looking like this of all things was a casual conversation. Not the birk that was blindly defending his friend, the arrogant idiot who couldn't see any opinion but his own, just his declaration this was a satisfying enough end. She didn't understand it one little bit. She turned slowly back to the book, because for once she didn't know what to say to him. Thank you didn't seem proper enough, when she couldn't return she'd do the same.

She almost, sympathized with Harry coming to tears over hearing of this. She'd tried, and failed, to put distance between the idea of this child being hers, and for the first time was again struck by just what the boy would think watching this. The first thing he'd ever heard in his parents voice was their life ending for his, and here the two of them couldn't even hold a civil conversation! The lad would probably cry ten fold if he was forced to hear this instead.

Some of James' confidence wavered when Remus, or Professor Lupin whatever, refused to elaborate on their friendship. He had no idea why his friend had been going out of his way these past thirteen years to not care for Harry, and dancing around the answer now was making him feel sick. Just what had happened?

Sirius and Remus exchanged terrified looks for the same, now watching Prongs as he finally looked worried about this future like hearing his own last words hadn't managed. Sirius roused himself, and in a fit of solidarity to chase that away shouted, "oi, who's up for round two with that Boggart! Professor Lupin's slacking, only letting Harry have three goes!"

Remus swallowed uncomfortably rather than admitting he wanted to quit again from this bloody story, but the other two looked relieved and laughed just like Padfoot had been hoping, even if both sounded extremely forced.

There was rising hope in everyone now as Harry finally got a good attempt off! Professor Lupin still had to step in, and it didn't seem encouraging the man who was teaching this couldn't even produce his own patronus to do it, but they'd take whatever they could get at this point.

Professor Lupin's even more cryptic comments about Sirius had the two shuffling closer to each other with unease, wishing more than ever there was some way to just get an answer already rather than all of this foul run around nonsense. Harry pausing to reflect on all of this was making them sicker by the moment, it took everything they had not to grab each others hands in front of everyone just for some comfort in this dreadful situation.

Thankfully the book lightened up from there and the moment passed without either having to acknowledge it. More chats of Quidditch and fond laughter at the little third year whining about homework between all the OWL students was really what everyone needed.

Time dragged on for Harry, Frank and Alice looked out the window curiously as if they were going to see the sun zipping by along with Lily's words, though thankfully they were saved from that experience. When the book did go back to talking about Harry in those lessons, Lily couldn't help her voice shaking again, not needing a repeat to know how much Harry needed this, and yet finally understanding why he'd never want them to stop. Her dismay at this was nothing to the Blacks reaction of finding out the oldest one was to be Kissed.

Sirius would have fallen if his friends hadn't caught him, his face a silent scream of fright, which set Regulus' blood boiling. No one and nothing made his brother look like that! "They can't do that! It's been outlawed- it's never even been allowed it's so beyond words! Just who the bloody hell is trying to hide what doing this to him!"

Hearing his little brother throwing a fit, over him, snapped Sirius out of it like nothing else could have. He'd stood there and watched in wonderment for a moment like everyone else before finally going over to him and wrapping a reassuring arm around his shoulders. Regulus immediately tried to shake him off, still muttering profane things Sirius was a bit proud to hear coming from his young mouth, but held tight. "I want you to remember this moment Reg," Sirius said with conviction. "Purebloods are not any more safe than anyone else from the bad things they do, or are framed for doing." He'd only been trying to distract the both of them from this future horror, but now his kid brother looked even more aghast.

"-But, Sirius, don't you see! This is why the Dark Lord's plans should be followed! He wouldn't let this happen to you!"

Sirius flushed in anger, his arm tightened painfully around the kid, but he remembered how shocked and afraid he'd been when hearing the news of You-Know-Who's real name and birth and forced himself to keep going reasonably. "No, Regulus, it wouldn't. I'll never follow him or what he wants, and he'd do much worse to me because of it. You've got to stop letting others tell you what to do-"

"Like you're doing!" He snapped, finally pulling away. "Both you and our parents just keep saying things, how about giving me a chance to see it for myself? All I've seen so far is someone deciding you're going to get your soul sucked out because you killed a bunch of Muggles! Who cares about them, but under the-"

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped back before he could say it again. "Do you even hear yourself? Murder's okay now, so long as it's not someone who can do magic? What next then, killing Muggleborn's will be okay because it's not you?" To his surprise, Regulus' eyes flinched to Evans and away, it was the first time Sirius had seen him even acknowledge her. "Then who, hum? Wizards without pure blood lines can go to? Then there will just be You-Know-Who's minions, and even those might some day choose to not agree with who goes next, and there won't be anyone left to stop him!"

He took a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm when Regulus just stood there, pale faced but with that insufferably stubborn look still set. He didn't seem to have a rebuttal for that though, for once. "Fine, think whatever you like," he muttered, stamping back to his friends.

Lily felt like backing slowly out of the room so as not to draw attention towards her and invoke another fight like that, even as she'd been unable to look away from the whole thing, completely riveted. The brothers were much more of a spectacle than her and her sister were, she was sure, but still she couldn't help but find herself sympathizing with Sirius Black of all people. She was full of that today apparently, as she wanted to consul the sibling who couldn't get through to the other. It made going back to reading feel ten times more awkward as she kept shooting him anxious looks, an apology or words of understanding on the tip of her tongue for him that he was clearly ignoring even from his own friends.

They were all so distracted it took a few moments for McGonagall's words to sink about Harry's Firebolt being returned to him, than Lily's good mood vanish as fast as it was back for those Marauders. They were a ball of pure energy and excitement Harry got the broom back while she just wanted to chuck it in the trash, considering Harry and Ron even went so far as to rub it in their friends face they'd been right all along. She still remembered Harry nearly being thrown from a broom once, was it beyond her son to admit it could have happened again and better safe than sorry?

She'd thought they were going to end on that high note for Harry, for once, but then another bomb was thrown into the mix for all parties. Hermione's cat had finally eaten Ron's rat. More than one relationship might be irreparable now.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #PoA #wolfstar #jilly #Regulus Black #Remus Lupin #Marauders #James Potter #Sirius Black #Peter Pettigrew #Lily Evans #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith

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mrneighbourlove · 4 years

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Evil’s Bane: Ch 5. Belief Scattered

It must have felt like a good hour of walking through the fog together. No sound echoing in the cave or even their foot steps. As they kept traveling, Leere wanted to get to know Black more. “I never knew you were an undead all this time. How’d you get so good at hiding that fact?”

"Well, I'm not alive and I'm not dead, so I suppose you'd call me undead. Technically, I'm trapped in the moment of dying." Black explained to Leere, trying to recall what Bonegrinder told him. "Almost like being stuck in limbo, but I'm on earth still. It is said that I will not cease to be until I resolve my unfinished business. Yet, unlike other Wraiths, so I've been told, I'm not mindless."

“So what, you’re a Hellspawn?”

"No, I'm not a demon, just... a trapped soul, I suppose." Black shrugged once. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it. Necromancy doesn't effect me, so I might not be completely undead, just... odd."

"Black is no Hellspawn, tiny princess, just a unique individual." Bonegrinder told Leere. "Years and years ago, this old snake found Black wandering in a swamp near Yenaldooshi in Omisha. He was able to help him regain part of his memories."

"I recalled that I was traveling back home from Al-Daida with my family and someone had double crossed me."

Leere gave Black a look. There was a weird tilt of her head, as if she was trying something out, and after a moment, she smiled with a simple hum to herself.

"If you have a better explanation, I'm all ears." Black's glowing lavender eyes curved in good humor from behind his head wrap, his body hidden beneath several layers of flowy clothes.

"There have been very few Wraiths that Bonegrinder has seen in this lifetime." The Anagari then admitted. "Even this snake has not all the answers on some issues, but an idea."

“Your soul and body certainly have unique characteristics. Much different then most undead I’ve encountered. And you certainly have control of your own body.”

"That much is true, though I am still trying to figure out what my unfinished business is." Black admitted to the Shadow Sage. "I thought it was to get revenge for my family. Yet, I didn't cease to be after I found their killer."

“You fulfilled your duty in avenging your family, but your destiny lies elsewhere.” Leere pondered a little more about his situation. Spirits, physical or otherwise, usually had a purpose for lingering on the mortal plane after death. “Perhaps you must bring unity to someone else?”

Suddenly as if they were stepping out of a portal, the fog disappeared. They knew they had been walking at a slow incline down, so the sight before the party of travellers was unexpected. An open area with sky was set upon their eyes. Only this time it was not as much a pretty sight. The sky was dreary with clouds hiding any blue. Replacing grasslands was an eerie forest landscape, with many dead trees amongst puke green pine trees. Finally, there was more earth then grass.

"This is what he recalls from the last time he was in this land." Bonegrinder's features contorted into disgusted frown. "Decay."

“I don’t sense anything too off, but be on guard.” Leere sensed life wasn’t dead, but had simply stopped in time was the best choice of wording. As they kept walking, they eventually found a path to walk along. “Civilization ahead?”

"Yes, there should be... unless that has changed as well." Bonegrinder did not sound too enthused about the prospect of seeing more residents of the land of Malus. "This snake still says its not too late to turn back."

Leere looked up to see a couple fairies fly overhead. They looked more insect like, but paid no attention to the group. “Bonegrinder, you promised me a day. You going to use it complaining?”

"He will use it to wipe his scaled ass, complain as much as he likes, and remind you repeatedly that this is a bad idea." The Anagari's tail twitched. "We should not even be here."

"That means he's irritated." Black murmured to Leere.

Leere observed her surroundings with a sigh. Suddenly, they heard talking from nearby. With a hand single, she issued Black and Bonegrinder to be quiet so they’d investigate. Near a lake, there were two men, gutting fish they caught.

"Fuck." Bonegrinder grumbled under his breath when Leere caught sight of the 'local natives'.

“Kenshi. How much longer must we wait?”

“We’ll be gone soon Lang. The whereabouts of my daughter are unknown, but I’m certain this lake is where the anomalies originate from.”

Leere watched the two men; both had darker hair like her. After much consideration, she decided to slowly approach them.

Before Leere could get too far, Bonegrinder's tail whipped out, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "What. Are. You. Doing?!"

“Engaging the locals. We have to form communication or we’ll get nowhere.” Leere gritted her teeth at him in hushed whispers. She didn’t like to be man handled like a child.

"We do not know if they're friendlies or hostiles." Black reminded Leere. "It's best to observe firstly."

"Listen to the assassin, tiny princess, he knows better than you do."

From over ahead, a fairy looked down at them. The little insect seemed to scowl at them. Slowly, it flew over to the two men. They stopped their conversation, and listened to the fairy. Suddenly they tensed, looking over to the hiding spot of the group. They both jolted upwards, grabbing sheathed swords. “Kenshi! Go back to the village! Another monster has somehow broken through the barrier, this time in day light!”

"... I'm assuming that means you, Bonegrinder." Black mused dryly with a tiny smirk. "Cause I do not sense any other monsters around here."

"Fuck Prama and Dhakk sideways..." Bonegrinder cursed under his breath. "... go catch them."

"As you wish."

"But don't kill them yet, we need information."

Leere decided to try and run out toward them. “Stop! I’m a Mortuus! I’m friendly!”

The man Leere identified by observation as Lang took a stance, drawing his sword. This revelation only made him more on guard. “You are not from either village.”

Black earned his nickname for being able to blend into the shadows initially, however, he was quite adept at hiding in any environment. In order to keep Kenshi from escaping, the Wraith simply pinned the Mortuus against a rotting tree, both hands trapped behind the back. "I have the second one, Bonegrinder." "Good. We require information." The Anagari slithered out from his spot, eying Lang. "Drop that sword before this snake removes your hand for threatening the tiny princess."

Lang was memorized by the gigantic beast slivering down from the tree line. “The gods really are abandoning us...” Tightening his grip on his blade when he saw Kenshi be pinned, the man planted his feet. “You must be from the capital. I won’t let you take me without a fight.”

Leere glanced over to Black, standing between both Lang and Bonegrinder. “Will you two stand down?! My name is Leere Dragmire. I am a Sage of Hyrule investigating a dark source of evil coming from Malus. I know that there are innocents trapped here. I’m a friend that wishes to help you. If my companion releases your friend, will you lower your guard?”

Lang, looked to Kenshi. He only slightly lowered his stance. “Release my friend.”

"Put down your sword first." Bonegrinder was incredibly stubborn. "Raising a blade at a lady is no small thing."

"Bonegrinder, I believe Leere can handle herself. After all, that sword is very... rusty." Black used basic logic. "And unkept."

"... very well. Though harm her, and this Anagari will remove your head from your shoulders." Black released Kenshi, almost chucking when the Mortuus scrambled away from him.

Kenshi stood by Lang’s side, the latter paying closer attention to Bonegrinder as he sheathed his sword. “You said you came from the outside? It should be impossible for a monster of your size to enter. The barrier of Destroyah disintegrates monsters and demons bigger than a house cat from entering. Not the mention the guardian Mata keeps an eye out for the demonic.”

"Bonegrinder is neither demonic or a monster..." Black stated, earning a blank glance from the two Mortuus. "Let me rephrase that, Bonegrinder is neither demonic nor a monster of these regions. He hails from Omisha, not of Hellspawn origins."

"Pitiful, magical barriers and ancient Colossi are nothing more than pests." Bonegrinder stated bitterly. "Destroyer's works are sloppy."

“Omisha... the land of the cowards who bask in the sun. That’d explain your appearance. Still, we should have been protected from your kind entering too.”

Leere felt tensions start to rise. “What matters is that none of us wish to bring you harm. I merely wish to learn. Can you bring us to your village?”

Both men looked to each other, then spoke in a language, or perhaps code Leere didn’t understand.

Suddenly, Bonegrinder had Lang up off the ground by his neck, his tail wrapped dangerously tight around the Mortuus' throat. He brought the man closer to his face, fangs exposed and snarling. The Anagari was pissed. To keep Kenshi in place, he wrapped the man in his coils. "You dare call us Echidnans cowards when your kind tried to drown the world in Hellspawn? Tortured the innocent? Slaughtered villages full of children?" Bonegrinder's jaw was unhinged, highly tempted to rip out the man's throat. Black warned Leere that there was a reason why the Anagari detested Malus. This country was the responsible for the demise of his home. "It makes this snake wonder if you were worth saving after you killed so many of us alongside Dhakk for choosing to follow Prama."

“BONEGRINDER!!!” On instinct, a large shadowy hand gripped Bonegrinder by the hair, pulling him away from Lang as another shadow hand caught the man from falling. “Do not escalate tensions! I did not bring you here to frighten innocents! Stop acting like a monster!” Both the men were afraid, both by Bonegrinder and by Leere’s magic. “She’s a sorcerer.”

“Just like the elder and Bi-Hanzo.”

Leere glared Bonegrinder down as her shadows calmed down. Slowly, she turned back to the pair. “I overheard you had a missing daughter. I’m a mother myself. Perhaps I can assist you.”

Kenshi nodded. “Yes... Lang. Go to the village and warn them to not attack the Echidnan on sight. I’ll stay with the group and walk with them as a sign of trust...”

Lang, not wanting to be anywhere near Bonegrinder, agreed. “Gladly.”

"He is a monster, Leere," Bonegrinder was angry with the princess for using her magic on him. He leaned down and growled, "It matters not to him the lives of those who could be responsible for the death of his family. Prama agreed to this folly because he wishes for some good to come to this God-forsaken land." The snake warned her, "You are innocent of the crimes of Malus, Leere. The others are not. Friend or foe is not debatable here."

Black was not one for expressing emotion with his stoic face, but even he grimaced at Bonegrinder's icy words. It was rather clear the hate that the Anagari had for this country. Yet, as the shaman slithered off a distance from the princess to cool his head, the Wraith approached Leere. "I apologize." Black said to the Shadow Sage, "I should have warned you of his ire. It is nothing against you, Leere. There are certain horrors that he does not wish to recall and old wounds that have never healed. Perhaps I should go forward with you and have Bonegrinder wait here. I understand your mission, but he... is having a difficult time."

“If he feels he needs to distance himself, then fine.” Leere gestured for Black to follow her as Kenshi lead the way. “All enemies or all allies view is a narrow one though.”

"How would you feel if you had to traverse into the country responsible for the death of your family?" The Wraith asked Leere, curious of her answer. "From what I remember of my human days, I think I would be afraid... and angry."

The shadow sage was sad that her friend couldn’t keep his emotions in check, worried she comprised her relationship with the village before even meeting them. When they arrived at the village, it was a small town, but held a decent enough community. A town hall, a saloon, multiple houses and a church were present buildings seen. Many Mortuus gathered around, astonished by news of outsiders. With so many red eyes on her, Leere could see how tired many of them were. “Hello. I am Leere. Mortuus of Hyrule.”

She was greeted with silence in return. Some of them went back to their daily routines immediately, but kept an eye on her. One man approached, narrowing his gaze at her. “Lang tells me you travel with an Echidnan. Where is it?”

As Black followed Leere to the village, he kept a keen lookout. His master was not too far, he could still sense the Anagari. Though, something felt... a touch off here. The residents looked like sleep had eluded them for ages. "Bonegrinder felt it was best to hold back, lest he..." Black thought of the appropriate word. "Scare the masses." He then inquired. "Why do you ask?"

“As this villages remaining experienced protector, I demand all parties are accounted for.” The man had an air about him that the others didn’t, that he could back up his demands. “The masses live in constant fear of unknown dangers. If he was here, he wouldn’t be unknown.”

Leere held a hand back to him. “He’ll be here shortly. What is your name, if I might ask?”

“I am Bi-Hanzo. Member of the Order of Balance.”

"Balance?" That caught Black's interest. "As in Kaksa? Mother Goddess?"

It was Bi-Hanzo’s first moment to be intrigued. “Yes. The very same. Though I am a dying breed. Both Destroyah and Proxamus, the names we give for Life and Destruction gods, had a hand in Malus’ creation. Our magic of necromancy was fuelled to please Proxamus. Yet both gods haven’t graced us in thousands of years. In time, the factions of Mortuus fell to darkness, blind in dedication to either. Few know of balance and try to keep these communities alive. There is no escape from Malus. Only survival.”

That was a monumental amount of information Leere absorbed. “Well, that’s good. Because I think the Destroyer is on the rise in Malus, and many of you are in grave peril.”

It seemed his master was correct about one issue; the people of Malus had lost hope. He had heard the tales of creation and destruction from his time when he was alive. Then, he learned more as a Wraith underneath Bonegrinder's tutelage. Yet, he was unsure of who was friend or foe. Perhaps a small test was needed... "We are here to seek answers." Black informed Bi-Hanzo. "For the prophecy."

“Prophecy? Those are many, and have many interpretations. Come, I will take you to the elder.”

Before Leere could follow Bi-Hanzo, Black placed his hand on the Shadow Sage's shoulder, silently asking her not to move just yet. "And how do we know this isn't a ploy?"

“I don’t. But I do this thing called taking a leap of faith? Can you jump yourself Black?”

"Jump, run, hide, take your pick. Though you must understand our caution." Black told the man, "The stories we have heard are most unsettling."

“They are most likely true. However, is every fallen leaf red?”

"Only if it's soaked up blood from the ground."

Black’s view on judging people by one cover was unsettling to the woman, discouraging even. It was when Bi-Hanzo added his thoughts to Leere and Black’s exchange of metaphors. “Ah. You can only see violence. That, is why your vision is flawed.”

Leere liked the man’s thinking, nodding along. Some villagers followed the group to a church near a graveyard looking down on the village. Knocking on the door, Bi-Hanzo waited. Finally, he opened the door to the church and gestured the pair to go inside. Leere did so without fear. Inside were very old bleachers, scratched wooden pillars, and a cross hanging on the wall. At the alter, a woman was sitting down reading a book wrapped in leather.

Bi-Hanzo respectfully bowed to the elder. “Lady Jackalen. There is a Mortuus, an undead, and an Echidnan here. Somehow, they penetrated the protective barriers to our small realm.”

"A Wraith, thank you, not an undead. There's a difference. I think." Black insisted as he looked around the church. It was better kept than the whole village. It also made him feel slightly uneasy. Was it because he was trapped between death and life?

Leere walked forward, bowing her head. When she approached the woman, she noticed how white her eyes were. “I am Leere Dragmire. Shadow Sage of Hyrule. I don’t want to alarm you, but I believe your people are in grave danger.”

“A sage? My... how young you look.” The elder cackled lightly to herself. “And you are correct. My people are indeed in danger. Or countless generations, we’ve been kept safe. Despite how much they might have changed, Destroyah and Proxamus gave us a way to protect our pocket realms from the outside world. Only now, within the last decade, those who isolated themselves from the outside world have been going silent. Communities we once shared a psychic communication with snuffed out. We didn’t know what caused this. Until two weeks ago. Devilish abominations coming out in the night to kill and steal away those who live here. Despite all my magics, I can’t find the source of where they reside.”

"Hellspawns." Black stated at the elder's words. "They're good at hiding and lurking around in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to strike. Difficult to track too if they're being aided by another source of magic. I'm surprised they haven't overrun the village yet." He glanced at the few people in the church. "Perhaps they're looking for someone."

“I’ve fought against several unidentified creatures, killed a few, but there’s always more, and there’s always someone taken.” Bi-Hanzo gripped the sides of his coat uncomfortably.

Leere pried for more information. She needed to know what specific danger lied in the shadows of this country. “Do you know if any evil spirits or gods have risen in Malus?”

The elder shook their head. “We do not. No gods have answered our prayers. And we know little of outside this realm of protection. It is our bubble. Our way of life.”

"... what prophecy do you know of?" Black decided to skip past the doom and gloom and search for answers. "My master requires answers."

“Which one? There are many Wraith. Mostly about their chosen god raising hell upon the earth. Some hope a saviour will liberate Malus from torment. Some think they will be servants while all their enemies will become slaves. Even here, some make sacrifices and offerings to their chosen lord in hopes of having their wishes granted.”

"The prophecy my master has long believed is of a young woman of fire, born of a mother of death, would be the host of Kaksa, the Mother Goddess." Black decided there was no harm in elaborating. There were various versions of the prophecy, but all resulted in the same ending. "Dhakk and Prama would have a choice to make. Either they would fight each other, or fight against Chaos."

“Chaos? Ahhhh.”

Leere looked to Black, unsure by the elder’s reaction. “What about Chaos?”

“Hehehe. Oh... oh! This is rich. I remember you now.” The elder’s white eyes were glossed over on Leere. “You were the one who’s parents fled. There are many in Malus who worship Destroyah or Proxamus. Few worship and know of Balance. But very little dared to be of the Cult of the Devil. The Devil came from Chaos you know. Evil was born of Chaos. That evil has a special connection in Malus. Those who served Proxamus were wise to kill those who worshiped the Devil.”

Leere’s comfort levels went from a 10 to a 1 real fast. “I know very little about my birth parents.”

“But you hold the markings, don’t you? I can sense it. Feel it. Hmmm. You’re marked for sacrifice.” Lady Jackalen walked away towards a book shelf, trying to find a specific text.

Black sensed Leere's abrupt uneasiness. The mentioned of Chaos certainly caught the old woman's attention. There were several names for this horrible god of discord, though he knew just a few; Teufel and Tzitzimime. Leere, she almost looked... slightly panicked. Like she was not expecting the elder to recall her or her despicable parents.

“Yes. Here we are.” The elder returned, placing a book down with a face as the cover. Flipping the page, she showed an illustration of the exact tattoo Leere had on her back. “This is it, isn’t it? Ah, no need for words. Your expression tells me enough. You are slated for sacrifice.” Leere looked much paler than usual. “I was. Past tense.”

“Heh heh heh. Present tense, I’m afraid. I can... I can feel the gate on you has been altered. But you are still a viable gateway if there were those who wished to use you.”

“For what?”

“A summoning of great and vile torment to be resurrected.” Flipping the pages, she went through many horrifying sketches of alien looking monstrosities. “Chaos has many spawns of its own. But it’s also a being, by nature, that is fractured. The body, a heart, mind, soul. Chaos is many. The Devil would like it all back. And you, just like one in every generation of Mortuus, carry a seed of resurrection in you. Congratulations on such a terrible fate.”

Bonegrinder had once told Black some time ago that he wished to save the 'tiny princess' from her fate. He really did not know what the Anagari spoke of then, but now, he understood. The assassin recalled the times that Leere was angry with the giant snake for keeping the details of her past from her. She wanted to know and now she did. Yet, Black could not help but feel sorry for her... and for Bonegrinder. The Anagari tried so hard to keep this knowledge from Leere.

Leere looked away when she saw the creature that oozed from her spine when Bonegrinder removes a sigil so long ago. “How did you deal with these children before?”

“We killed them before they could pose a threat to the world. Proxamus would have understood. Destroyah would agree. And it’s what Balance would have desired. And no, before you ask, I don’t think it wise to order your execution. That said, I don’t know why you’ve come here. There is no escape from Malus.”

“What if I can help you? Everyone who is here find a way out?”

“Dear child. That is gullible thinking. Naive. Even if you save us, there are still other villages. I doubt you can find them all.”

"How dare you think you have the power to speak for Kaksa." Bonegrinder was as sneaky as always, having found his way to the church, following Leere's scent. He managed to slip inside through the back, and was now on his usual lounging spot; the ceiling. He had coiled his massive body around the chandeliers, dust falling from above. It was clear the snake was in a foul mood even more so now. "The Mother Goddess abhors the murder of innocent children, even those who had no say in what happened to them. No, this is your failure. Failing to protect them."

"... and this is my master." Black stated with a stoic face. "Bonegrinder."

Lady Jackalen didn’t look surprised. Bi-Hanzo fists glowed a blue aura, but he kept his ground. The elder looked up, frowning lightly. “A swift end is preferable to torture they’d have gone through. It has been a long, long time since I’ve seen one of your kind. Still arrogant. Still boastful of living in better lands. After all, the Mother is part of the reason we remain trapped here. Besides, the children after death could be resurrected. They just needed their minds, not their souls.”

Leere was a little disgusted by that statement. “How old are you? How many souls have you taken?”

“Old enough. Blood magic is a gateway to soul manipulation. As I know you know.” The elder walked over to a seat, taking a moment to sit down. “Although, there’s something about you too, Echidnan. Something faint.”

"And your kind are nothing but slaughterers of the innocent." Bonegrinder hissed through gritted fangs. "Mother of the Monsters erected the barrier because your people decided to play with Chaos' little pets. We Echidnans will not apologize for protecting ourselves and our homeland." The Anagari scoffed as the Elder tried to analyze him. "You know nothing of this old snake, old woman."

"Bonegrinder is ancient like you, lady." Black had no filter.

“Ha. You think yourself a light to our darkness? Yourself righteous? You know that we desired help, yet you turned us away. All lands did. Or they enslaved us. Such was the design of those who fell to true darkness in Malus.”

"Why would Echidnans want to help the kind responsible for the rampaging of their homes? Friend or foe, the Mortuus are two faced." Bonegrinder snorted. "You are going senile, old woman, if you think we would do such a thing." He slid down the wall of the church, settling beside of Leere and Black. "Do you understand now why this snake did not want to bring you here, tiny princess? There is nothing for you here."

“Bi-Hanzo, what do you think? Do you wish freedom from Malus?”

The man was surprised Leere had the fortitude to address him so quickly. “I’d wish it more than anything.”

Leere turned her attention away from the elder and Bonegrinder. “Then I don’t know how long it will take, but I can take you and your people away from this all.”

“I don’t know if I can trust your friend. Unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Unless you stay the night. Protect my village.”

This could be a way of discovering the evil that plagued her dream. Nodding, Leere held an arm out to shake. “I accept.”

Before Bonegrinder, Black, or Lady Jackalen could disagree, Bi-Hanzo shook her hand. “A woman of her word? I look forward to it.”

"You don't have to like my master, but I would highly advise trusting him." Black told Bi-Hanzo and Lady Jackalen. "He knows more than you think he does."

"Let the people believe what they wish, Black, it is of no consequence to this snake." Bonegrinder dismissed the thought from the assassin's viewpoint. "You know what they think of him and you know what he thinks of them."

"What about the prophecy, Bonegrinder?"

"If they do not wish to speak of their prophecy, it matters not. We know what we need to know."

“Come, I will take you to the saloon. You can rest there until nightfall.”

In the darkness of Malus’ infamous great city, deep within a castle wall, creatures scuttled about in the shadows. A mechanical bug crawled along the walls, reaching a man and hissing into his ear. The man paused, patiently listening. Entering a private chamber, his voice echoed in a loud whisper. The man himself was nearly a silhouette of a man, a terrible tall blackness covered in robes and with crimson eyes. “Your brother has slithered his way into Malus it seems.”

"I was wondering when Prama would make the mistake of following that vessel into this realm." Dhakk was as studious as always, surrounded by books. He was looking for a way to rid himself of this earthly host and return to the heavens beside of his beloved Kaksa. Even after all this time, he still longed to be by her side, even if she did prefer his brother. She would never give Prama a second thought after he wiped his brother's existence from history.

Even in candle light, the shadow man was still pure blackness as he walked closer. He more of a shape, he had two horns that helped with a frightful appearance. “The Shadow Sage has also finally come to Malus.”

"Ah... now that is an interesting revelation." Dhakk actually looked up from his book, those glowing turquoise eyes seemingly amused. "The vessel was chosen as the Shadow Sage. Maybe the spirits took pity on her plight."

“There are many of us who wish to use her. Our master wants to make you a deal, Destroyah.” The whisper was like a lullaby to the gods ears.

"I usually do not deal with messengers." Dhakk returned his gaze to his books. "If your master wants a deal, then he can ask me in person."

A pause, for a moment, and the air turned to a chill. “I am asking you.” The candle lights went out, with only the glow of each others eyes in the room giving away the terror both could give. “You deal with an avatar of my will. It’s taxing to make one. You have my respect Dhakk that I let you communicate with one. I know you can be respectful yourself.”

"... a fragment, that you are. But part of Chaos nonetheless." Dhakk still did not look too interested. "What business do you want with me? If you are looking for a way to get to Kaksa, then you're out of luck. I'm sure you heard about her little fit when she tossed my brother and I from the heavens."

“She helped Hylia sever me from my power as well. A power I’m well on my way from achieving once more.” The shadow wisped around the room, holding Dhakk’s shoulders lightly. “What if I helped you gain revenge on your brother in exchange for helping me in return?” His whisper was alluring to listen to. “You keep the snake, and I get what I want from the woman.”

"Tempting. Dare I ask how you plan to achieve this?" Dhakk wanted more details. "Bound to his host or not, my brother Prama is still a very powerful being. How do you plan to enact this 'revenge'? I care not of the woman."

“The woman holds a powerful piece of my essence locked within her. If you complete a ritual to bring this being out of her, you will summon forth a demon to surpass Demise. Alone, it would rip apart the physical fabric of your brother. With you, there’d be no struggle from your brother to be had. From there, he is a soul, and a soul can be scattered, trapped, or lost to time and space. And I know something else that would entice you.”

"As I said before, tempting, but what could be better than gloating as Prama is ripped into a thousand pieces?"

“Hurting those he cares about.” The red eyes glew as the whisper grew insidious. “How he hurt you in taking away your love from you. You can take away the friendships he has. You can make him a failure before you rip him to pieces. Make his friends suffer; make him powerless to stop it.”

"That sounds like a glorious bit of destruction that is making me twitch in anticipation." Dhakk chucked with a sinister grin. "I don't suppose you had a few of these friends in mind?"

“The woman Leere needs to suffer for the ritual to be completed. I know Bonegrinder cares for her the most. Do anything you desire to her, so long as she feels every pain. There is also a subordinate of his known as Black in Malus with them. A Wraith, but he can be made to experience pain. I will lead them to the capital, from there your followers and mine will separate them. With enough time, the woman will unleash the Demon, and I will give it strength to kill your brother, but not before he wallows in the agonizing torment of having lost his friends.”

"Hrm... suffering can be physical or mental. Perhaps a mixture of both would work." Dhakk then was surprised to learn of a Wraith. He always thought of Black as an undead puppet. This was certainly interesting news. "Prama's demise will lead Kaksa right back into my arms. Though, I must say, I am rather curious as to why you'd want to help me. After all, Prama and I helped Kaksa lock you away all those years ago. Do you just want to claim this world as your own? Something that is yours, perhaps?"

“I want the bodies of the mortals that Hylia loved to pile up. That’ll be a start. And I live in the moment. I’m adaptable Dhakk.” The shadow danced around to face the god directly. “We have a deal?”

"Very well. We have a deal." Dhakk agreed with the avatar of Chaos. "So... when do I start?"

Teufel’s shadow man shook his hand, his eyes flickering in and out. The Devil had made his contract. “Now.”

________________________________________________________________

Previous Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/625816676434313216/evils-bane-ch-4-dangerous-uncharted-territory

Next Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/626094342071828480/evils-bane-ch-6-yield-to-damnation

#Love to hear comments.#Crossover #Leere #Leere Dragmire #Bonegrinder #Teufel #Dhakk #Black the Wraith #Malus #Mortuus #ridersoftheapocalypse

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kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog · 5 years

Note

If the V3 cast were to play Monster Prom, who would each character go for?

This is like, my third time trying to write this? I don’t know why it’s taken so many tries; it probably just has to do with getting cut off in the middle of the thought I was on. This may go a little more in depth then you thought it would, but that’s just because I want this to be as thorough as possible.

If you’re interested in Monster Prom, I recommend either buying it or just watching a playthrough of the game before reading this. There are going to be spoilers for certain routes along with secret endings that you can get, so… there. Now that I’ve been super transparent about what this entails, let’s get started.

V3 Dating Some Monsters!

Since this is a MULTIPLAYER DATING SIM, here are the groups of people I think would probably play against each other:GAME 1 -Angie, Himiko, Tenko, TsumugiGAME 2 -Kirumi, Kokichi, Kiibo, KaitoGAME 3 -Shuichi, Kaede, Rantaro, RyomaGAME 4 -Korekiyo, Maki, Miu, Gonta

We’ll talk about each game from top to bottom, ok?

Himiko would be player one after everyone insisted that she gets it (”Nyehhh, what a pain, I have to choose first?”). After picking Brian (Green) because he looked super tired, she waited for everyone else. Angie ended up being player two, and went as Vicky (Blue) because of how cute and happy she looked. Tenko chose Amira (Red) afterward because she seemed like she wouldn’t take crap from anybody along with the fact that she was the only girl left to choose from. Tsumugi was left with Oz (Yellow), but she didn’t mind it much; she thought his simplistic design was perfect for her personality.

Himiko didn’t really go for anyone in particular on her playthrough, although she got the most events with Polly. She did seem to like Valerie (The shopkeeper) but didn’t know that she was romanceable. At the end of the game, Himiko ended up going to prom by herself, and had a good time.

Angie went for Miranda because of how devoted she seemed to be to her kingdom! It was very impressive, and she didn’t bat an eye when she ended up getting the throne ending! Nothing like releasing a kraken to sneak a fish man into the school. (Tenko was a little concerned by Angie’s decisions through this route though, and kept an eye on her for awhile.)

Tsumugi was the only person in the group to try and romance a male, and even then, it was because she already heard of a certain secret ending with Liam- “Liam The Weeb.” She was super excited that they put a character in a game that you could see develop a love for something she has, and also had a good laugh when she muttered to herself about him requiring yaoi hands. After successfully getting it at the end, she already had been thinking of fanfiction ideas for a continuation of this route.

Tenko tried to get with Vera! Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best at reading the situations, and her stats weren’t high enough, not to mention everyone else kept getting a table with her at lunch! How was she supposed to be stepped on with affection by the powerful snake lady?!? When she was turned down at prom, she felt her heart break a little bit, but attacked Himiko with a hug saying that she would be fine as long as the little mage was there.

Before anyone could decide who would be player one, Kokichi took a chance to be Oz, but named him Ligma because Kiibo would inevitably ask the question of, “Why would you name yourself Ligma?” and he was absolutely ready to laugh at his response to the epidemic of ligma. Kirumi went next, choosing Amira because she “seems like a capable young lady.” Kiibo got Brian before Kaito could object to playing a girl, but the astronaut soon got his second wind by saying that girl power would trump the guys. He held his hand out to Kirumi for a high five, which she hesitantly accepted.

“Ohhhh, I’ve heard how hard it is to get Vera! Don’t worry Kaito, there’s no way you cou-”

“I’M GONNA FUCK A SNAKE WOMAN AND NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME.”

This is probably the most chaotic of the games due to Kokichi being able to egg on Kaito with no problem. Kokichi also decided to go for Vera, making it that much harder for Kaito. Kaito almost never got the lunch events with Vera, while Kokichi had his own agenda.

“You’re buying a used tampon? I know you’re messed up, but GOD, that’s a whole other level.”

Little did Kaito know that Kokichi had started the cult ritual secret ending, and was planning to finish it. After fumbling around with her and failing to live up to Vera’s expectations, Kaito got turned down at prom, and was pissed when Kokichi got the secret ending! Why hadn’t he been paying attention to what the midget of the group was doing?! He wasn’t sure, but Kokichi was having a good time cackling and “reassuring” Kaito that he was too dumb and not logical enough to have gotten her route anyways.

Kirumi liked how Liam carried himself, and was more than happy to try romancing him. She seemed to have relaxed while playing this game despite the constant bickering of the grapes in the room. With no failed events, Kirumi went to prom with Liam, and appreciated how secretly funny he was under his hipster demeanor.

Kiibo was being crushed constantly by Kokichi and Kaito after making the grave mistake of sitting between them. He did his best not to let that get to him, but he was distracted for the majority of the game because of him. Before he could choose the last question of the personality quiz at the beginning, his hand was knocked and he accidentally got started on Damien’s route. He spent the majority of the time asking Kirumi questions about if it was normal to be that angry and destructive. He was especially concerned about how Damien had dead bodies in his home! However, he successfully took the demon to prom.

(After his failure, Kaito spent hours playing the game and trying to get all the endings possible. He ended up getting stuck on romancing Valerie.)

From the very beginning of this game, Shuichi and Kaede promised each other that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way, and would help each other should special events requiring the extra boosts in affection come up. Rantaro was happy to do his own thing along with Ryoma. This was probably the calmest group of people to play the game.

Rantaro chose Oz before others could, just changing the name to his own so that no one would get confused. Shuichi chose Amira, but Kaede asked if she could change the name for him without him looking. When he eventually turned back, he was named “Sweetchi

Rantaro decided he liked how excitable Polly was, and how every event with her was like an adventure. He liked being a part of her party scientist shenanigans, and watching her tell a sugar daddy to marry a llama. Which he did. He got the secret Party Science ending with her, and was super calm. Originally though, before dating Polly, he really hoped that Aaravi The Slayer was romanceable.

Kaede accidentally started the Blobert route, which made everyone’s day (”you can date… a blob with a hat?” “You’re just jealous of his hat, aren’t you?”). Getting to give everyone ridiculously specific greeting cards, including a corpse. Regardless, she was super happy to hear how much everyone loves Blobert, and decided that he would always be her favorite. (Shuichi was taking some mental notes through this playhthrough.)

Shuichi ended up going to prom with Miranda as a ghost. It was an accident that he even got on her route, and he still wanted to at least have a successful run. He went to the shop and saw the ghost costume, he was too interested to not buy it. Going through all the cutscenes, he thought Liam getting frustrated was a little cute (Though he wouldn’t dare admit that to anyone) and was happy when he managed to go to prom as a spooky little guy!

Ryoma saw the gentleness in Scott’s heart, and was taken by it. he wanted Scott to be the happiest boy in the world and stay unaware of the hardships that come with life. He ended up successfully going to prom with the werewolf, and was surprised at how fun it was to play a game with other people at the same time. He could probably get used to this.

“I don’t care what fuckin’ player I am, titless- just lease me the fire girl because she’s SMOKIN’ like yours truly!”

“... I think I’m already regretting playing this game with you.”

After Miu made a big deal out of it, she ended up with Amira. Maki chose Vicky, changing the name to her own. Korekiyo chose Brian, but named him Shiso Asobi. once again, no one knew what was with the ridiculous name. Gonta was left with Oz, but he had no problem with that! He did, however, have problems with changing his name. His hands were a bit too big for the keyboard.

“REVERSE ROMANIAN WILKINSON? I don’t know what she’s on, but I fuckin’ LOVE her!”Miu was all over Polly and how ridiculous she could be, including her Reverse Romanian Wilkinson ending. She wasn’t sure what the penguin mask was for along with the guacamole and bag of beads, but just imagining what it was getting her hot all over. She successfully pulled it off, and then proceeded to bother Kiibo about trying it with her.

Maki was attracted to the way Scott acted like a certain astronaut she knew, so she just couldn’t ignore him. getting the correct choices on his route was super easy for her, and she smiled just enough to get Miu on her case for a little bit. At the end of the game, she wondered if she’s been wanting a man who’s essentially like a puppy.

Gonta didn’t want to romance anyone! He just wanted to have the best time he could making people happy. Unfortunately for him, his actions brought him to the orgy ending. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was asking everyone around him why they weren’t wearing clothes. Miu was yelling angrily because she hadn’t been informed that such a route even existed, and Maki just sighed out of frustration. Korekiyo wasn’t surprised given the rest of the games content, but he found humor in Gonta being the one to get such an ending.

Korekiyo wasn’t originally going after anyone. He just wanted to experience what it was like to play a game about dating people with, well... other people. However, when he basically summoned a powerful monster from the totem of zgord, he changed his playing style to fit accordingly. With a high enough charm stat and being able to take a tentacle monster to the prom, everyone was slightly disturbed, besides Miu. She just wished that she could be a part of that action.

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sidespromptblog · 6 years

Text

Blank: Part 6

Summary: Logan is logic no more, now all that is left is Apathy.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen

The slamming of the door rang out through the mindscape, although that was mostly because, Apathy in the haze of the static that roared in his ears and filled his mind to the brim, forgot how to gently shut the door. He felt his teeth grinding against one another, and that alone would have been confusing, had he been able to feel the emotion. He did not feel any anger, and thus there wasn’t a reason for him to grind his teeth together. Perhaps his method acting was catching up to him, acting as if he was angry in front of Roman needed some coaching, and grinding one’s teeth was an accurate way to look upset.

Nevertheless, in the safe blankness of his own room, Apathy allowed himself to relax as he shed his socks, kicking them off to the side to feel the tickling softness of his thick carpet under his feet. Thankfully this was one thing that he could feel from something else, something that didn’t elicit that burning sensation across his skin.

So slinking forward made his way to the other door in his bedroom, one that was just left to his bathroom. It was locked just as it always was, but when one had the right key, then just about anything could be opened up to them.

Pressing his thumb to the tiny hole in the doorknob, that was just about the size of a pinhead, Apathy waited and winced the moment the stinging pain was felt on the pad of his thumb. Pulling his thumb away, a single drop of bright ruby red blood glistened, before he rubbed it away on the side of his jeans before opening the door.

There wasn’t a room available to him, just a blank wall, and a mirror on the other side of the door. A mirror that reflected nothing at all.

A mirror that he rapped his knuckles on, “Logan,” He softly intoned, “Are you there?” He asked, waiting for a solid moment, as hurried footsteps could be heard on the other side before Logan rushed into view.

His glasses were askew and his hair was absolutely wild, before the logical side made an effort to flatten it with his hands. “Apep! You’re there, how are things? You’re alright, right? They haven’t said or done anything to hurt you have they? Have they touched you? Do you need me to come back?” Logan worried blathered for a moment, just to go silent as Apathy cracked a bland smile, before slowly shaking his head.

“All is well Logan, I am doing everything that you have instructed me to. Thomas’ logic is functioning perfectly in your absence, and while I have had a few run-ins with Anxiety and Creativity...Morality is keeping his distance.” Logan nodded to each one of them, his lips pressing together in a firm line at the mention of Virgil and Roman, as something akin to pain flared up inside of him before he roughly pushed it back down. “I also…” Apathy paused, and Logan’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“What?” He suddenly asked, “What happened Apep?” Something stirred inside of him, worry, concern, and...fear.

“I…” Apathy’s head tilted to the side again, before closing his eyes as he let out a monotone sigh before shaking his head again. “I had another incident...in the kitchen, when Creativity ... when he gifted me your old tie.”

A loud and definitely very pissed curse filled the air, as Logan’s upper lip curled into a defiant snarl as he slammed his fist against the edge of the mirror they were talking through.

“Are you alright? Are you feeling better now? I can still come back if-”

“No.” Apathy almost instantly interrupted, a soft lull of static made his head twinge slightly to the left, before he ignored it as well, instead choosing to focus on Logan instead. “I am fine now, everything is going according to the plan. I am fine, I put him in his place, rest assured. I promise Logan...I am fine.” He attempted to assure Logan, and watching the other push his glasses back up into place before shaking his head, Apathy again offered a blank smile even if there was no emotion behind it.

Upon seeing the smile Logan felt his shoulders sag, before a slight chuckle rumbled out of his chest. “Fine.” He chuckled out, pressing his hand to the glass that separates him. “Fine…” He murmured again, as Apathy followed suit, pressing his hand directly where Logan’s was.

And when their fingers interlocked, Apathy smiled a little bit more honestly this time as the color seeped slowly back into his skin. “I’ve got this Logan, I promise.”

However, just like that, the moment was over as Logan’s head snapped up to attention, his hand pulled back over the mirror and into his own space once again. “He’s attempting to summon me, you’d best not be late Apep.” Logan’s smile seemed just a little bit sadder, as the color once again drained from Apathy, and the other’s cold distant look returned as he sharply nodded his head, shutting the door and locking it back into place.

“Uh, guys…” Thomas began, looking more than a little uncomfortable as he obviously stared at where Logan was supposed to be standing, but instead, where Apathy was sitting in an almost executive boss chair with his hands neatly folded in his lap and a lollipop stick poking out between his lips. His blank-eyed stare bothered Thomas. “Who is this?” He asked, feeling a cold sensation crawl up his spine the longer he met Apathy’s gaze head-on.

Just seeing the way that Virgil nervously rubbed the side of his arm, and how Roman instantly looked away, Thomas wasn’t even sure of what to think until Apathy plucked the sucker out of his mouth and opened it.

“My name, is Apathy. I am working in Logan’s place for the time being. Please, do not let my presence interrupt whatever is going on in your mundane life. Go on.” Oddly enough, it felt like Apathy was talking just like a therapist..or no not even that. Like he was talking to his doctor about whatever would be wrong with him if he even went in the first place.

“Why?” Thomas didn’t mean to make his voice sound so demanding, but the inkling of worry and horror that had started to crawl up into his heart, was now festering into a snake of massive proportions.

Roman winced, and Virgil cringed away as Patton’s expression gained an utmost guilty look on his face. The worry squeezed his heart even tighter not, as fear started to curdle in his stomach.

“Guys, what happened to Logan?!” Thomas demanded, turning on his heel so that he could go and look over to Patton, expecting at least an honest answer from him at least. However, when he got only a shake of the moral side’s head, Thomas snapped his gaze over to Virgil, expecting a straight or even blunt answer. Another shake. Roman was the one he looked to finally, and as the creative side opened his mouth, he watched the other side’s shoulders sage in a mixture of regret and shame.

“They fucked up is what happened.” It was Apathy who spoke again, his dry and straightforward voice put Thomas on edge the more he listened to it, and yet...he couldn’t stop as Apathy was really the only one who was explaining just what had happened. “Creativity, Anxiety, and Morality all had a hand to play in it. Creativity insulted Logan, they...turned on him in a way, and hurt him when he needed them. So he turned to me, I am here to set things right.” The equally ominous and dull tone scared him, but not nearly as much as how the words enraged him.

“You did what to him?!” He barked out, turning to the other sides as he watched them all visibly recoil in both fear and shame as he reprimanded them. Looking at them all Thomas let the disappointment show in his eyes, Patton’s head lowered even more as Virgil’s shoulders hunched up and Roman’s lower lip quivered a little bit. “I...I don’t even have any words to stay to you three…” Thomas muttered out, shaking his head in dismay.

“Kiddo we didn’t mean t-” Patton raised his head just a little in order to defend themselves.

“No Patton, no excuses. You guys live together. You guys are supposed to take care of each other, I..I want all of you to apologize to Logan. I want a heartfelt apology to him, and when he accepts it...I’ll accept it.” Thomas firmly said, for once putting his foot down when it came to something like this, he had accepted Roman’s little nicknames for Virgil and the others, mainly because they didn’t seem upset by them. But this...this was way past that.

However, looking over to Apathy who watched the whole thing go down without the slightest change in facial movement. Thomas turned to him, “Where...is Logan?” He finally asked, and from the corner of his eye he could see the other sides leaning in, they were desperate too. They hadn’t gotten a single clue as to where Logan was from Apathy, surely Thomas could get answers right?

“He is safe, that is all anyone needs to know.” Apathy smoothly responded, and as the other sides deflated a little bit, Thomas just nodded his head in a sad kind of acceptance.

“Alright…” Thomas murmured, and that was that.

Tagged:

@neko-ereri

@seas-space-and-stardust

@estraevelyn

@katatles-the-fish

@greeneggsandham1998

@ibelievewhatsontv

@sleepyssnail

@thats-so-crash

@serious-ppl-wear-neckties

@secretlyanxiouspersona

@nerd-in-space

@blue-wolfbane

@cats-vetal-miking-vomit

@ab-artist

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@echomist13

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@iaminmultiplefandoms

@entpscarleharrrr

@punttonsanders

@unikornavenger

@scorching-scotch

#apathy!logan #logan sanders #apophis #apep #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #gotcha bitch

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austinpanda · 3 years

Text

Dad Letter 022121

21 February, 2021

Dear Dad--

The past week was mostly filled with concern about everyone without power in Texas (and, I believe, Oklahoma too) and how awful that made life at home! I’ll get to that in a bit. I hope you and Elaine are warm and have power and haven’t had any interruption to your water service or burst pipes or any other such excitement.

The most interesting thing that happened to me personally last week was a song. Zach, being a young person, carries his phone around and plays music from it all the time. And Zach’s musical tastes don’t have a lot of overlap with my musical tastes. A lot of what he listens to could best be described as experimental. But he listened to this one song just enough that it lodged in my brain and I began listening to it on my own. The song is While You Were Sleeping by a guy named Elvis Perkins. And the song might not seem like much at first; it’s kind of odd, and he sings this weird “Uh-OH,” part a few times, just to have a couple of notes to end a phrase. But the meat of the song is really catchy and it became an earworm, and now I listen to it a lot.

Then Zach told me about the guy who wrote and sang it, Elvis Perkins. Whenever I see the name “Perkins,” I think of Anthony Perkins from Psycho, and sure enough, that’s his dad. Anthony Perkins, whose first few relationships were with male movie stars like Tab Hunter (surprise), eventually did the nasty with Victoria Principal, his first experience with a female, at the age of 39. This is all on Anthony Perkins’ Wikipedia page. After that, I suppose he sort of converted to the Church of the Vajayjay, and he found this female photographer and actress named Berry, and they got married. They had two sons, Oz and Elvis. Anthony Perkins later died from AIDS-related pneumonia, and I couldn’t believe what happened to wife Berry Perkins, the mother of his boys; she died on 9/11. She was in the first plane that hit the World Trade Center.

So now, every time I listen to the song, which got me started on all this, by way of being a kick-ass song, I think of this singer and his Psycho dad and his 9/11 mom and appreciate the song even more.

But! As I mentioned, most of the last week was spent fretting about all my friends to the south. Stacy, and everyone else I know who doesn’t live here in Maine, lost power about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning last Monday. No biggie in itself, except it stayed off, and because it was so cold outside, it quickly became cold inside. I went through this with Zach after we’d lived here for a couple of months; we lost power for a couple of days during a cold snap in November, and we got to learn the special joy of that kind of power outage: Do we die from hypothermia, since it’s 40 degrees inside, or do we die from boredom, because there’s still no power? After a while, Austin decided to increase the degree of difficulty, by having enough of its water treatment facilities go offline that the water was no longer safe to drink.

Not that everyone even had access to the undrinkable water! So many pipes burst, that the fire department couldn’t respond to all the emergency calls to shut off water. I’ve read that maintenance guys are noticing some pipes didn’t just burst, they exploded. They’re finding shards of pipe nearby, flung outward by the force of the burst. Texas just wasn’t ready. I read elsewhere that the whole of north Texas has about 40 snow plows in it, about as many as every neighborhood has in a place like Chicago. So I get on the internet and all my friends are cold, they’re all miserable, they can’t sleep, and half of them have flooding to deal with. They can’t reach their landlords or property managers. Cell service begins dropping. I have to wonder if everyone in Texas with a fish tank didn’t just lose all their fish. Stacy had to keep her pet snake alive by wearing it in a cloth sack around her neck.

Took about four days, but by now, everyone I know seems to have power again. And they have internet again, but they still have to boil their water. That’s such utter bullshit. Zach and I had to do that for a while in Austin; there was some issue with sediment, and for a week, all the tap water in the city was no longer potable. To have to deal with that on top of having no electricity, and in the freezing cold...I would have given up and fled town to the nearest hotel that wasn’t gouging the guests too badly, and just put the whole thing on a credit card. I just wonder how far I’d have had to drive. Probably have to leave the state. And now all the finger-pointing begins, it’ll be investigated, ERCOT will get a lot of attention, and maybe stuff will change, maybe not.

Then I read an article that pointed out it’s not that hard producing electricity in extremely cold weather. The article said that people in Alaska, and Russia, and Maine do it every day. It occurs to me that we haven’t lost power at all this winter, and I’m very, very grateful. We also haven’t had much snow this winter, which, ironically, pisses me off. All the snow we’re not getting seems to have been delivered to Texas, by mistake. We’re ready for the snow here; I WANT the snow. I just looked at the Washington Post photo essay about it, and it had pictures of the HEB grocery store where I used to buy my groceries. The photo was taken from a nearby hillside that featured a homeless camp covered with snow. I’ll include it with this letter.

This week I think I’m going to spend a little time planning on things I’d like to do once the plague is over. For the moment, I still don’t know when I’ll be able to get vaccinated, but it occurs to me that we won’t have to wear masks outdoors forever, and that’ll be a glorious day, when we’ve finally defeated Covid-19, and we can have Chinese buffet restaurants again. Aside from those, and movie theaters, and book stores, I’m most looking forward to being able to visit friends again. It’s terrible watching a friendship begin to grow malnourished because it can only happen with text messages. On the plus side, the number of new Covid cases here in Maine, which had been approaching 1,000 per day, is now lots closer to 100 per day. I suppose something must be working! Perhaps now the vaccine will be more available and I can sign up for it soon.

In the meantime, I’m watching a movie called The Midnight Sky in installments. Some movies, even when they’re good, simply can’t hold my attention that long, and I can only watch them a few scenes at a time. I’m doing that with this movie. And it’s interesting so far; George Clooney is a scientist with a terminal disease, working in an Arctic research station. And there’s a nuclear war, and everyone at the research station leaves to be with their families, but George Clooney stays behind because (a) he’s dying anyway, and (b) he hasn’t anyone to return to. After a couple of days he discovers a little girl stayed behind when everyone else left, and now he’s got to take care of her. (Having a child in your movie is a treacherous thing, but the potential negative effects of this one are ameliorated somewhat by the fact that she doesn’t speak.) Meanwhile, there’s a spaceship returning to earth from deep space, (This is a science fiction movie!) and they’re wondering why the hell they can’t raise anyone on earth by radio. I’m about halfway through the movie now. Based on the movie’s tone, I don’t think George Clooney is going to find a miracle cure for whatever’s ailing him, but I am curious to see what happens to the little mute girl. Will advise!

I really hope you’re staying safe and warm, and have plenty of water and electricity! I’m about to get my day started, watch another ten minutes of movie, and do laundry. All my love to you both!

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