#like ladies does he love you or does he call you his strength to live?
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you're in her DM's, she's my strength to live, we are NOT the same
#like ladies does he love you or does he call you his strength to live?#especially after all the Horrors??#ft 100 yq#ft100yq#gruvia#mages read 100 yq
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tw: mentions of roofies, murder, then smut:)
cbf!simon would absolutely kill for you.
cbf!simon has always been your partner in crime.
even in your youth, back when he was built like a daffodil, he was always by your side. kept you safe from the mean girls at school, always got in trouble for throwing hands at boys who made crass comments at you and the like. then he'd left his butcher job to join the military. "I gotta learn how to keep you safe, love. i'll always come back to ya."
and he had. he returned to you almost four times his size; he left a boy and came back a man. down to your very bones, you knew that he would always keep you safe.
which is why he was the first person you called when the guy next to you at the bar roofied your drink. the beer fizzed irregularly and had an almost milky colour even though it was an ipa.
the idiot had dared to smile at you, an oily, crooked grin with yellow teeth, and lifted his own glass to toast with you.
you bolted out of your seat in seconds, heading straight to the ladies' room, and dialed.
he answered on the second ring.
"please come get me." you hadn't meant to sound as terrified as you felt.
"be there in 5," then hung up.
he lived 15 minutes away from the dingy bar.
true to his word, he was there in 5, texting where you were at.
inside the ladies bathroom.
he let himself in, put his jacket around your quivering shoulders, and with a strong, comforting arm, guided you toward the exit and into his truck. simon remained silent as he sat you in the passenger seat, gently pulling the seatbelt over your chest, clicking it into place.
he stood next to you, his hands resting on your jean-clad thighs, waiting patiently for you to explain.
your teeth sink into your bottom lip as you sort out your thoughts. you no longer felt afraid, that much was certain. simon has always been your pillar of strength. there was nothing to fear with him at your side.
so why do your hands continue to tremble? digging deeper, you realize that you're angry. no.
furious.
some imbecile thought he'd take advantage of you. if you'd been any more drunk, you would have been a victim— wound up lifeless in a dirty ditch.
you burned with fury, your blood boiling under your skin. how dare he? how dare he?
simon softly touches your tightly clenched hands, coaxing your fingers to unfurl.
everything pulls hard to port when your eyes land on his disfigured knuckles— scarred by battle. you've never liked what simon did for a living. he just fought and killed people that some higher-up told him were the bad guys.
in war, there is no good or bad side. the field is too soaked in blood for anyone to recognize where the line is if there even was one to begin with.
until now. just this once, you couldn't be more grateful that simon possesses the skills he does.
you make your decision. "there was a guy in there. green hat, ugly brown jacket with yellow, crooked teeth. he drugged my beer, then toasted me so i would drink it."
his hands tighten around yours marginally. "and now i'm here, safe, with you. but he's still in there, with potentially a pocket full of pills, on the lookout for his next victim. how am i supposed to sleep tonight, knowing that if someone goes missing tonight, the blood will be on my hands?"
you cut your eyes to his dark, hardened ones, and the words tumble out of your mouth with surprising ease.
"there's trash in there that needs throwing out, simon."
nothing but a wretched mongrel that needs to be put down.
simon's nod is subtle, but it's there. you exhale a shuddering breath, heart slamming against your ribcage.
he's a gun in your hand, and you've just pulled the trigger.
simon hands you the keys to the truck. "are you sober enough to drive home?" he quietly asks.
hard to keep a buzz when you almost became a victim of—
"yes."
he's opening the glove compartment, taking out his skeleton gloves, and a tac knife that he tucks inside the waistband of his jeans.
"go home. i'll see ya in a bit." his voice is flat, lifeless.
simon closes the door and raps his knuckles on the hood of the truck before heading inside.
and so the elephant marches to war.
-
it's well past midnight when he crawls in through your window. one moment his boots are on the windowsill, the next he's pinning you onto your mattress, hips flush against yours.
his chilly, clean hands lift the hem of your loose shirt, dimpling the soft skin that his fingers dig into— his bare lips grazing the shell of your ear.
"he is no longer a problem."
he grinds his clothed erection against the flimsy fabric of your sleeping shorts.
"you did the right thing by telling me what he did."
simon trails a path of open-mouthed kisses from your ear down to your mouth, licking your bottom lip.
"nothing gets me harder than when my girl looks at me to keep her safe."
your breath hitches when a hand begins to move south, lifting the waistband of your bottoms and sliding his fingers over your slick pussy. "it seems you like it too. does it turn you on, ordering me around like a dog? i bark at your command, pet."
one finger sinks into your wet heat, his groan drowning out your own.
"you like having this much power over me? how easily i bend to your will?" he croons.
there are two fingers in you now, so much thicker than your own, and the way they curl and drag along your nerves has your toes tingling. he takes you to the precipice at frightening speed— the expert hands that kill without remorse are the same ones that are bringing you your pleasure.
he thrusts his fingers into you with an obscene squelch and a thumb circles your slippery clit.
"i'd burn the world to ashes if you asked it of me."
the coil in your stomach is tight, your body tense in anticipation.
"so... would you? would you ask me to bring the world to its very knees?"
the answer sits on the tip of your tongue when you climax around his fingers, walls pulsing rhythmically, arousal dripping from his knuckles.
later will be a good time to reflect on how you don't feel even remotely guilty for what's been done.
for now, you focus on how good simon feels as he slowly sinks into you, splitting you wide open with his heavy cock.
-
simon finds no pills in the guy's pockets. no baggie, no bottle.
nothing.
shame that his little love has declared the guy's life forfeit.
your wish is his command.
#call of duty#simon ghost riley#simon ghost riley x reader#cod mw2#cod mwii#simon riley x reader#simon riley x you#simon ghost riley smut#simon ghost riley x you#simon riley#cbf!simon#cod smut#cod
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I’d love to see your take on an arranged marriage with klaus (like medieval times or some period like that). maybe he’s marrying her to get something from her/her family but there’s something a little off about the reader (hint: she does what giulia tofana did - google her if you’re not familiar!! her story is so fascinating) and when he pieces it together he’s smitten with her 💗💗
aqua tofana | klaus mikaelson
author's note; this has been in my inbox for over a month because i was so inspired by it that I decided a 14k oneshot was necessary I hope I did it justice
klaus mikaelson x reader (no y/n) use of nickname in place of y/n
warnings; arranged marriage, strangers to lovers, klaus is a little shit but so is reader so it's okay, no Y/N, mentions of domestic abuse but not in regards to reader, mentions of poison, fluff, shy!klaus (he is real to me), these two mfers are in LOVE, mikael (a warning in itself), minor violence and bloodshed but nothing too bad. if I missed anything let me know!! this is heavily inspired by ACOTAR bc I just binged the entire series in less than a week so thank you sarah j. maas for your service
The Mikaelsons were said to be a noble family. One with loyalty and strength.
They were coming to stay in their small kingdom, in their castle. Three of them. Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus. Looking for a safe haven, to avoid growing conflicts in surrounding areas. Looking for someplace to call home for a little while longer– at least, until they could no longer pass as mortals.
Riverend was perfect for them.
The way the people of Riverend saw it, their problems were their own, and the larger, outlying kingdoms could fight their nonsensical battles without any help from a small, useless kingdom built downstream from them, carved right out of the flowing water that traveled through their town square by the calloused hands of the families that still lived there today.
As far as anyone was concerned, Riverend had no monetary value, no natural resources to capitalize off of, no armies worth rallying, and no animals to trade. The only thing it had was its people, and to most, that meant nothing. It meant they went overlooked, and were never considered in territory battles and similar crises. But to the right person–a dangerous person– such a thing could mean everything.
That is why she was so wary to accept this supposedly noble family into their walls. She had to be wary, to think of the danger they could bring along with them should they stay. How much danger it could put her kingdom in.
It’s why she had further qualms about marrying the man the king had been corresponding with all these months. Said qualms, of course, outside of the fact that she had no real desire to marry, let alone to a stranger. All familiarity aside, she had a duty to her people to maintain their livelihoods and not leave them stranded for her own selfish desires. Even if it meant marrying some man.
With her mother’s voice in her head telling her to keep her chin up and her shoulders back, she was determined to keep her wits about her. She didn’t complain when she was asked to wear one of her nicer gowns to greet the family when they arrived that brisk, cloudy afternoon. She let her ladies dress her in a midnight blue gown that swept along the ground, with sleeves that draped over her hands, leaving no skin visible, spare for her neck and face.
She was escorted by the king to the throne room, where she stood at his shoulder, resting a hand on the embroidered fabric along the muscle hidden beneath the layers. A silent, supportive daughter. A perfect royal family, to anyone who might linger too long while looking in their direction.
Two of their sentries escorted their new houseguests into the throne room, and she did nothing but raise a brow at their humble appearance. The girl, Rebekah, was young. She’d seen better days, and she silently wondered where they had traveled from that had them end up before her and her father with dirt scuffs on their cheeks, and scruffy, unkempt facial hair marring their jaws.
“Welcome, Lords and Lady, to our home,” Her father spoke genially, a content smile on his face as if he was unaware of the judgmental look his daughter was fixing them with. “We’re honored to have you here, honored to build a bridge between our families for years to come.”
One of the long-haired men spoke, his hands clasped neatly behind his back, making him look like he was some proper gentleman and not a random man who had shown up on her doorstep.
“The honor is all ours, Your Majesty. The opportunities that your generosity has given my family have not gone unnoticed. We thank you and the Princess for your kindness.”
The King shifted slightly like he’d forgotten his daughter was there. He turned to look at her over his shoulder, and she met his gaze, peering down at him over the bridge of her nose. “Yes, my daughter. Nyxia. She’s a woman of few words, I must warn you all. And when she chooses to speak, it’d do you well to listen closely.”
All of their eyes shifted to her, but the set of icy blue ones had never left. Not to meet the king’s eyes, or look around at his new home for the foreseeable future of their impending marriage.
“Your Highness,” Blue eyes, suddenly alight with fire. Flame that burns her from the tips of her toes to the base of her scalp that her very hair grows out of. Flame that ravages civilizations, and wipes out bloodlines. She can feel the darkness in him from two simple words. It’d take a fool to not see it. “I look forward to getting to know you before our prospective arrangement takes place.”
He wasn’t lying, she could tell. But his words seemed to hold as much weight as hers did. A hidden meaning tucked behind every spoken syllable. Dangerous. So dangerous. The King was a fool to not see it, but that was neither here nor there.
Licking her lips, she chose her first words carefully. It was always important to make a lasting first impression, but with this man– with her future husband, she wanted to be honest from the start. She wanted, for once, to reveal her hand before the game started. Just to see what he’d do. Just to see what he had planned.
But she didn’t. She knew it would just be chaos. And even though such things were in her blood, she couldn’t risk anything this far into everything.
“Lord Niklaus,” She didn’t move a muscle besides the ones it took to make words form on her tongue. “My kingdom rejoices with your arrival. They will be overjoyed with the announcement of our nuptials.”
And the man, encased in his flames that felt as if they could burn the whole world down should he please, tilted his head and smirked at her. Like he’d heard every thought she’d had in the moments between words.
Nothing else was said between them, not verbally, at least, and the king interrupted the rising tension that was so obvious between the Princess and the Mikaelson siblings, oblivious to the people he’d surrounded himself with.
“Lady Rebekah, my daughter can show you to your rooms in the east wing. You’ll have ladies of your own to help you bathe and dress,” He gestures to the blonde, who looks childishly excited at the thought. “The both of you will be in the west wing, my men can take you to your rooms. We can reconvene tonight at dinner, yes?”
The three siblings bowed at their waist, easily deferring the power back to the King.
“In the meantime, feel free to explore. Our home is yours, now. Make yourselves comfortable.”
She stayed in the throne room long after even her father had left, watching the doors the siblings had been escorted through. She lingered at her place beside the throne, nearly behind it, where her mother once stood behind a man who looked like he belonged on a throne more than any woman would. She laid a hand around the back of the embossed silver and thought to herself that it would look better in gold.
──────
Klaus watched his wife-to-be dig into the dinner presented before them moments ago, her fork the first one to move, even before her father’s. She didn’t sit at the head of the table, but just to the right of her father, and Klaus had taken the seat across from her. He did not doubt that she could feel his eyes on her, but she was pointedly ignoring it in favor of talking to his sister at her side.
Rebekah, ever the people pleaser. Even in their centuries on this earth, Rebekah could never resist the desire to cling to the nearest female in their proximity. He hadn’t said anything to her about it, yet. He figured there was no harm in letting her delude herself into thinking that Princess Nyxia wanted anything to do with any of them.
Elijah wasn’t even pretending to be friendly like he tended to be in this position. He’d been silent for a majority of the day, perhaps tired from their travels, though Klaus doubted it was anything so simple. If Klaus were to look at himself as a King, it would be Elijah as his second, watching everything and everyone, dutifully reporting back to him about usurpers and battles to come. It would be Elijah ripping hearts out, and Klaus taking responsibility for the blood on his brother’s hands.
There was a reason it was only the three of them. His other siblings just didn’t understand that you did everything for family.
He supposes that’s why he’s so curious about the two royals before him. They were the only family they had left, and yet there was something unspoken there, something withheld between them that left a tenuous truce. There was such anger behind Nyxia’s eyes, and Klaus had the urge to push and push at it until it finally shattered. Elijah often compared him to a child for this inane urge, and Klaus couldn’t deny it.
“This food is lovely, Your Majesty,”
Rebekah looked at Nyxia’s father with a sweet little smile, and Klaus wondered how she managed to maintain such a degree of humanity inside of her after everything.
“Oh, it’s all my sweet Nyx,” He turns his pleasant, kingly smile to his daughter. Looks like he owes her the world. She doesn’t return an ounce of the fondness, but she still smiles, like she knows it’s expected of her. “She has specific tastes, so I prefer her to pick the menu. Our cooks in the kitchen work to make it all come to life and it never disappoints.”
It works in the way that it makes Rebekah turn adoring eyes onto Nyxia once again, but it doesn’t do as such for the two brothers. There’s something about this place that drew them to it in the first place and they wanted to figure it out, neither of them did very well when it came to venturing into the unknown, so they devised the plan. It’s set in motion, it’s happening as they sit at this table and eat this food, and yet he still feels wrongfooted. He’s missing something, he’s missing the thing that brought him to this small kingdom in the first place.
He doesn’t like living in the dark.
Elijah cuts a thin bite of the lamb chop on the plate in front of him. “Do you cook, then, Princess?”
“If I am feeling particularly inspired, yes,” She grabs her silver chalice, swirling the dark red wine in it before she takes a drink. “I prefer vinification.”
The King’s face lights up like he’d been waiting for another opportunity to brag on his daughter. “Yes, Nyxia made the wine we’re drinking tonight. She tries to make a personal barrel at least once a year, and it’s always the most unique flavor. She goes out and picks fruits from our trees up near the bluffs, where–”
“I’m sure they aren’t interested to know what fruits our land produces, Father.”
“On the contrary,” Her eyes shot to Elijah at his words. “I think it’d be quite ignorant of us to turn down any knowledge of the land we’re to call… home. It seems to be a very special place.”
She watches him for a moment, eyes narrowing at his unsuspecting tone. “Yes,” She muses quietly, looking away from Elijah to meet Klaus’s gaze like she can tell Elijah’s speaking on his behalf. “Perhaps I’ll show you what makes it so special.”
None of them acknowledged the fact that it wasn’t so much of an offering of camaraderie, but rather a threat.
──────
Months go by. Time passes peacefully, but Klaus is growing restless.
With the announcement of their joining sent out to the few people they intended to invite outside of their kingdom, they had begun preparing the castle for the celebration and the princess found herself preoccupied with menial tasks, like picking out what flower arrangements to line the aisle with and what color banners should hang from the ceilings above them.
Throughout it, she’d done her best to avoid the Mikaelsons but maintained a close enough distance so they couldn’t claim she was giving them the cold shoulder. She’d grown quite good at falsifying closeness throughout her years. She was designed to have a connection with her people that displayed generosity but not bias. A relatability, but not a weakness.
She was sure that Rebekah would call them best friends by now, but she also knew the girl could not even tell a person what the princess’s favorite color was if someone ever bothered to ask her.
She has always been able to exist in a way that makes her entirely extraordinary, but forgettable the moment she’s out of sight.
She’s been able to use the wedding as an excuse to avoid isolated interactions with Klaus, but she knew he’d catch her without an excuse one of these days. She would’ve preferred to avoid it for a bit longer, but she wasn’t unprepared when it finally happened.
Standing in the aisle of the throne room where the banners of white and gold were hanging above the place they were to stand in front of her people and all of the guests they’d sent invitations out to and declare an undying bond that didn’t exist, she felt a rage bubble inside of her that she was quick to smother into nothing but cinders and ash when she heard the doors creak open behind her and footsteps slow as he stopped beside her.
“You’re a hard woman to track down, Princess,”
“You could have sent for me at any time. It is my duty to serve my subjects,”
She glances at Klaus out of the corner of her eye and sees an amused look grow on his face. “Is that what I am? One of your subjects?”
“Until we are bound by law, yes, Lord Mikaelson. You are one of my subjects and I your Princess. Soon enough you’ll be Prince, and you will also owe loyalty to my subjects because this place does not exist without them.”
“You take such pride in this kingdom, in these lands, yet you did not win it in a battle, have not even fought in one, as far as I’m aware. You have no value to other kingdoms, and yet your father brags of orchards and vineyards with bountiful fruits. He tells tales of heroic civilians, always offering a helping hand to those in need. Sparing what they can, to maintain their peace here. It’s an odd thing, considering I’d never seen or heard of Riverend before that time all those months ago when I first met your father.”
“And yet, here you stand, within the walls of my kingdom, amongst my people. In my home.”
There’s no humor in her voice. There isn’t any hatred in it, either, and he can tell she’s got that impenetrable mask on again. Even her momentary anger or irritation was different from this nothingness.
He can hear her father’s words from that very first day, telling them all that her words are important. He remembers thinking it was such an odd thing to point out at that time. It almost rings like a warning, now, and not a twisted compliment for the woman.
“It’s curious, is all. I wonder if I’ll understand what inspires such devotion once I am Prince, or if it is a feeling only you experience.”
She turns, finally, to look at him. “You are interested in learning what makes me love my people and my home?”
He ducks his head in a nod. “Guilty, I suppose.”
“Then I will show you,” She nods once, firmly. Like she’s just decided it then and there because of his earnest words, and he thinks it’s a ridiculous, rash thing, but when he looks into her eyes there is no hesitation or wariness. “Tonight, we will have dinner and I will answer all of your questions. I will show you why I would spill endless blood for this kingdom, and never ask any of my people to do the same for me in return.”
He raises his brows, letting a sliver of his suspiciousness show in his icy, blue-gray eyes. “You’re offering such honesty to my family after weeks of pretending like we don’t exist? Forgive me if I’m skeptical of your generosity.”
“Not your family. You. You and I will have dinner alone, and I will tell you everything you want to know,” She corrects him, earning a more genuine look of shock from him. “You are to be my husband. One day you will be my King, and I your Queen. Is honesty not the place to start?”
Klaus falls silent, watching her, waiting for a slip-up. For any sign of hesitation or scheming behind her endless eyes. Finding nothing, he bites out a wry laugh and nods in agreement, finally tearing his eyes away from her to look around at the decorated throne room.
The betrotheds stand silent together for a few minutes, and she offers no insight into whatever it is she’s thinking as she stares at the throne front and center in the room.
“Is my help needed for our wedding?” Klaus says suddenly as if there isn’t a mounting tension building in the room like a shadow of the night.
“Not unless you are offering,” She says simply. “I’ve told them white and gold, for our colors. My dress is to be fashioned similarly, as are your garments. I’m sure you’ll be summoned for fittings, but our seamstresses have plenty of work to do before then.”
The man hummed agreeingly. “Then I shall leave you to it. And I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
“Before you go, Lord Mikaelson,”
“I am certain you can call me Niklaus. Just Klaus if you’re feeling particularly agreeable that day, Princess,”
She raised a brow like one might raise their lips in humor. “Niklaus.”
He looks at her indulgently.
“Even after we are married, outside of our duties to this kingdom, I will never ask you for anything,” She says, her words striking something like a warning bell inside him. “But right now, I have a question for you.”
“Ask me anything, Princess,”
“Do you know who you are?”
Klaus’s eyebrows flexed on his forehead. “Pardon?”
She turns to face him head-on, standing before him like she did that first day they arrived, only this time there was barely a foot of distance between them. He could almost see her pulse move in the long lines of her throat. “I ask you, as your future wife, do you know who you are? Do you feel the shadow that shields your soul? Do you feel the fire that consumes you?”
She tilts her head at his suspended silence. “You hide from the light that is still inside of you. You hide from someone. But you won’t hide from me. You can’t. It is because of that unfair advantage that I am offering you honesty. Know that I do this for you as an act of trust. Do not underestimate the weight of such a thing, or you will see just what I am willing to do for this place.”
She side-steps him and walks past him, leaving him in a stunned silence that quickly turns into rage that they both know he can’t take out on anything within the walls of this castle, and the borders of this kingdom.
She’s established the high ground. And she has made it clear that it is not Klaus standing up there, looking down at her, but rather the other way around.
She’s offered to even the playing field, though. He’s curious to see just how much honesty she’ll be parting with tonight. He’s curious to see how it will end.
──────
The table is set for two.
It’s different from the dining table they’ve been occupying for the past three weeks. This is a table made for two, and only for two.
Candlelight casts shadows around the room, and Klaus does a slight double take as he walks towards the table, escorted quietly by one of the sentries from his quarters to this room. He’s loath to admit he was distracted by thinking about all of the possibilities of this dinner to pay attention to the fact that he was being led to the east wing and not the usual central hall where meals were had.
But it’s too late for him to question it, as the sentry is walking out and a door across the room opens, revealing the princess.
She’s changed again– always in different gowns throughout the day. This one is similar to the one she was wearing when they first met. A blue so dark it looks black, that holds color like the night sky. Sleeves that drape over her shoulders and cinch down to her wrist, leaving only her hands bare. With the dim lighting of this private dining room, shadows dance around her face, and he thinks to himself that the shadows cling to her.
She gestures for him to take a seat, already doing so, and she immediately grabs a corked bottle from the side of the table, popping it open and pouring their golden chalices halfway full before she sets it back down.
Klaus takes the first drink and has to bite back the pleased noise he starts to make, if only out of spite.
“I’ve been fermenting this wine for three years,” She informs him, seemingly hearing the noise anyway, if the gleam in her eye is anything to go by. “It’s from my private reserves.”
“Aren’t they all from your private reserves?”
“No, I give barrels to the tavern in town,” She swirls it around in her cup, quirking a brow at him.
“Give, or sell?”
“Aren’t you the one who said I have undying generosity for this kingdom for no good reason?” She takes a small sip of the wine, holding it in her mouth for a moment before she sets it down. “It’s too bitter for my liking.”
Klaus hums, taking another drink. “Perhaps you’re just your own biggest critic,”
“Mm, perhaps,” She concedes, fluttering her eyes in a slight roll. It’s as casual as he’s ever seen her, and she’s still sitting stock-straight in her chair, shoulders back and chin high. As royal as ever. “Are you going to start asking your questions?”
He smirks, tilting his head in a slight nod. “Maybe I was waiting for your permission. I wouldn’t want to be a rude dinner guest, after all. Not after you’ve brought this lovely meal into this secluded space,”
“It’s mine. I don’t always prefer to eat in the company of others,” She says. “My bedroom is through that door.”
She points to the door she’d come through upon his arrival, and his eyes follow the curve of her arm through the fabric shifting along it.
“How lucky I am, then, hm?”
“Oh, most people would not call it luck, Niklaus. In fact, I think I heard your brother say to your sister once that it feels like you’re all just sheep in a wolf’s den.”
Klaus makes a dry noise of acknowledgment, mentally cursing his brother for saying such things within earshot of anyone, let alone his soon-to-be wife. “My brother’s desire to protect this family often leads him to paranoia, I’m afraid.”
“I never said he was wrong.”
Klaus’s hands flex in his lap, out of view of the princess. “Oh, is that so? Then maybe I am ready to start asking questions,”
She beckons him on with a wave of her hand. Neither of them has touched their meals. He doesn’t think they’ve broken eye contact, either. Locked in this stalemate, tension rising and rising and rising.
“I have traveled far and wide in my days on this planet, and I have come across some very strange places, I must say. But never have I come across a place that simply… doesn’t exist,”
If Klaus knew any better, he’d think she looked excited at the words coming out of his mouth.
“That is not a question, my Lord,”
He smirks at her correction. “What is it? What is it that hides this place from the map? How do you keep travelers passing through, yet no one has ever had so much as a–a tall tale, or some monster story to tell about this place? You fight in no wars but you have sentries stationed throughout this castle, on guard every night and day. You trade no goods, but these lands are bountiful in fruits and vegetables, crops as big as this castle grow in people’s yards. So, tell me, Princess Nyxia, how do you do it?”
She shifts in her chair, leaning her arm onto the armrest, and for the first time since he met her all those months ago, she smiles.
She smiles widely, and it’s not something wicked or cold, but instead, it’s amusement, through and through. Every bit of that coldness stays in her eyes, though. Darkness still clinging to her like a child and its mother.
“There are stories about things– creatures so dangerous that you cannot even utter their name, for fear of inviting them into your home, your mind,” She starts, undoubtedly aware of the anticipation thrumming in his veins. He’s had to be so careful about feeding since they came here, compelling people, and never taking too much, because he can’t risk her catching on. He thinks he feels more human than ever within these walls, and it’s such an odd thing.
“My real name has not been spoken in decades. Most people in this kingdom, in this castle, do not know me as anything other than Nyxia. It is the name that my mother held when people started to refuse to say her name as well, and in honor of her great life, I now bear it as my own.”
Klaus lets out a slow breath, a feeling like adrenaline coursing through him. “What are you, Nyxia?”
“I am the shadows that follow you along the walls, I am the very stars in the sky. I am the end to every day, and I will be the end to it all when I am finally called back home. I am the thing you see every time you blink your eyes, Klaus Mikaelson. I am darkness.”
He shuffles, leaning his elbows onto the table to examine her closely, in a way that he hasn’t had the chance to do since their arrival. “You keep this place hidden so that people don’t find you and hunt you.”
“Why do you think you and your siblings found this place? Why do you think you could see and remember what so many others could not?” She raised a brow, pulling her cloth napkin from her lap and dropping it atop her untouched plate. “I know what you are, Niklaus Mikaelson. The Original Hybrid. The divide in you is shadowed in darkness. I am, and have been a part of your very being from the day you took your first breath and were declared a bastard.”
He flinches minutely, but she sees it anyway. “Why me? Why lure me and my family here? To kill us? I have no doubt you have every means to kill creatures such as ourselves if your claims of power are to be taken as truth.”
“I have no intention to kill you, Klaus,” She pushes her chair back from the table, standing up. Silently, she gestures for him to do the same. “I have not yet told you why I do what I do here.”
“You haven’t even told me what you do here, let alone why,”
She chuckles freely and he ignores the chill that travels down his spine at the sound. It’s like she’s been waiting on him to break this dam between them, and now that her secret is out, she’s alive.
She’d told him earlier to realize the weight that is behind her trust, her honesty. He will admit to himself that he had underestimated it, even in the wake of her precautions.
“Your family is not expecting you tonight, right?”
He raises his brows but shakes his head. “I told them I’d be having dinner with you and that I’d be out for the night. Why do you ask?”
“We’ll be taking a trip. I have things to do,”
It’s all she says before she leads him into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind them.
──────
Draped in cloaks that covered their faces in shadows she had promised him would keep them hidden while they made their way through muddy alleys and thick groves of trees, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder just what he’d gotten himself into.
He didn’t often admit that he was in over his head– was rarely in such a position at all– but this. This was something he was utterly in the dark about. The irony wasn’t lost on him, either.
“Where are we going, Princess?”
“You may call me Nyxia, you know. You did earlier,”
“I am nothing if not a gentleman, Princess Nyxia,”
She rolls her eyes, but there’s an unfamiliar degree of humor in the action. He’s still discombobulated at her complete flip of a switch, but he’s trying to familiarize himself with it. He selfishly hopes that she doesn’t slide that cold mask back on when they return to the castle.
“They’ll be just through here,” Nyxia led them through another tightly packed thicket of trees, and just as Klaus was about to complain, they broke through into a clearing that nearly took his breath away.
Though they were undoubtedly still surrounded by the forest she’d traipsed them through for the past hour, at least, this ovaloid clearing was shrouded in a different kind of darkness than the night that encased the rest of the area.
Light up by the stars glimmering just out of reach above their heads, women mingled about, stopping to talk to one another. A few children ran by, laughing as they chased one another barefoot through the trees, disappearing out of sight and earshot as soon as they left the area, only to reappear before him like a bursting bubble.
Klaus turned slightly to look at Nyxia, watching her pull her cloak down off her head and smile kindly, genuinely, to the people who had stopped and gathered around them. Klaus took the cue and pulled his own hood off, and his presence immediately earned wary looks.
Glancing at Nyxia, he fought the urge to jump when her hand landed on his arm, her face contorting into an understanding but reassuring look. “No, no, look,”
She pulled Klaus closer to her, keeping her hand wrapped around his arm as he looked warily at the sea of faces watching him. Feeling entirely caught off guard, he stayed silent, happily letting Nyxia take the reins.
“This is my betrothed,” Her words immediately earn a variety of reactions. From the children, their hesitance turns into immediate adoration. From the older women, teasing laughs are shared between them, and Nyxia bats a hand out to silence them, though it’s not done out of real offense.
Friends, he realizes. These are her friends. She’s brought him to meet her friends that she has hidden in this patch of woods, further secluding a place that already doesn’t exist outside of its own bubble.
An unavoidable arrow of fondness shoots down his spine, and he bats it away as quickly as he can.
“So our lovely princess has finally brought a prince to meet us,” One of the older women grins tauntingly, and Klaus eyes the wrinkles around her mouth that only come from smiling too much, and the strands of gray hair falling out of the braids she’s got piled atop her head.
“Klaus,” He says, somewhat shocked by the emotion in his voice. “You may call me Klaus.”
“Klaus, then,” The woman nods, conveying something to Nyxia that is seemingly translated between the two of them, though Klaus couldn’t even begin to guess what went unsaid.
Nyxia finally removes her hand from his arm to reach into her cloak, pulling three small bottles out and passing them off to the older woman, whose face turns somewhat solemn.
“I know that one is for Merida,” The woman starts, meeting Nyxia’s gaze from beneath her lashes. “But who are the other two?”
“Reya and Liesl,”
The woman curses beneath her breath and apologizes when the children nearby gasp.
“When am I to bring this to them?”
“Within the week. It has only been getting worse lately,”
As if she were a soldier being told her life was being offered up on the chopping block, the woman nodded and tucked the vials into the deep pockets of the dress she wore. “I will send word once they are here.”
“Thank you, Theresé,” She grabs Klaus’s arm gently once more, beginning to steer him towards the path they’d taken, but she stops short, looking over her shoulder with a slight smirk. “You are all invited to the wedding, of course. Next month. I will send someone to escort you to the castle.”
A bout of excited tittering follows them out, and they walk in silence, heading a bit of the way back towards the castle before she leads them off to the left, walking them across one of the runoff creeks that flow with the river through town.
He remains silent until she leaves his side to push open a gate ahead of them, the metal creaking and groaning beneath her force, but giving way eventually.
This time, when Klaus steps forward, he instantly knows where he is. “The orchard,”
“Yes,” Nyxia takes a deep breath in, releasing it quietly. “Come, let’s sit.”
She leads him to a wooden bench down the main aisle in between the trees full of ripe fruit, all looking ready to be harvested and used.
“That place,” He starts once they’ve been seated for a moment, Klaus watching Nyxia’s profile as she basks beneath shadows and night of her own making. “What is it?”
“It has no name,” She informs him, her voice unexpectedly soft.
She’s been so different this entire night, he wonders how long she’s been waiting for someone to just ask her these questions. Every person who’s been close enough to do it has been too scared of what wrath they may face if they did ask her about the oddities of her home, but Klaus did it because he can’t help but push people.
“It has no name, and no one knows of it besides the ones who live there, and myself. Now, you do, too,”
“What is the purpose of it? Why is it only women and children?”
She takes a long moment to think about her words, and he can see the way she struggles to verbalize her thoughts because no one had ever thought to ask her before. “Just because I am darkness does not mean that I can control all that exists in this world. I can’t take away what already exists, no matter how much I wish to. That place is what I call a loophole. I have them hidden all around the world. Because I cannot erase what already exists, I must find a way to work around it. To remove the darkness I wish to see gone without violating the laws of my making.”
“And what exactly have you been working around?”
“Humanity,” She says simply. “With every passing decade, they tear themselves apart more and more. My loopholes exist to take people out of that chaos, of the darkness. Sometimes it’s a hungry child or a bastard,”
Klaus glances away for a moment before forcing his gaze back to hers.
“Sometimes it is a woman that gets sold to the highest bidder. The woman I spoke to, Theresé, was one of the first women I saved from a nearby village. Her husband was an utter brute and had killed his first wife when she had barely seen sixteen name days. Theresé was strong, but there was only so much she could do before the inevitable. So I stepped in and I proposed a hypothetical situation to her, where all she would have to do is make him dinner and serve him wine, and meet me outside of her home later that night.
“I did not think she would do it, but when the moon was high in the sky, I waited outside of her house and barely breathed until she was standing before me in one piece, with tears in her eyes and bruises on her cheek. So I told her who I was and what I wanted to do, and she said she would help me if I continued to save women who had been in her position. So I have. The girls I mentioned, Reya and Liesl. Young girls, friends since childhood. They were married off to the same man, a prince of some second-rate kingdom a few days north that had already gone through 3 wives. They have just found out they’re both pregnant, and fear raising children in the environment they live in.”
Realization dawns on him. “You give them poison. The wine you make,”
She hums in assent and silence falls between them once more, the princess dutifully letting Klaus turn the events of the night over and over in his head, finally slotting pieces together where they’d been misaligned for months.
“Why?” He breathes out, his tone of disbelief earning her attention once more. “Why did you bring me there when you’ve barely spoken to me all these months? When you have known what I am and who my family is, and you knew I was suspicious from the very start, why have you just now shown me the truth?”
Sighing, Nyxia looks down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “I fear that my honesty is about to get me in trouble for the first time tonight.”
“Just tell me,” He shakes his head pleadingly. “Please.”
“Death consumes your very soul, Klaus,” Her voice takes on a distant tone, one he recognizes more than any fondness or humor she’s shown throughout the night. It’s the way she’d spoken to him since he first arrived, down to that very morning in the throne room, overlooking preparations for their wedding. “It is a fire that burns you from the inside out. And because of that fire, there is a shadow on you. And in that shadow, I exist. I see parts of you that you likely would not share with me, and for good reason.”
Klaus can’t help the way he flinches, shifting away from her on the bench. She looks unsurprised at this particular reaction, but her fingers twitch like she’s going to reach out for him again.
She doesn’t.
“I have known you much longer than you have known me, and for that, I apologize. When you first arrived, I was still hesitant to believe what I had felt, and I– I am much different in the daylight. I am at my weakest when the sun is out, and that has never changed. But– other things have.”
“Your father–”
“He is not my father,” She cuts him off, voice reverting to that cold indifference for a split second. “Once upon a time, he was a man. A king. But he was not a kind man, let alone a kind king. So I took the darkness in his mind, and I collapsed it from within. I made him hollow with it, and now he is but a puppet. A face to put on our currency, so that I may do as I please without so much attention. My people remember the cruel man, and they remember what I did for them. That is why I have their respect. Their loyalty. Trust breeds trust.”
Klaus’s jaw clenches. “And when you decide you’re ready to become Queen one day, and I become a King, will you also make me into a puppet? Will I be nothing but a conduit of political jargon made to distract people from your loopholes?”
Nyxia’s eyes burn, but they are dark. Almost black.
“I did not bring you here to make you a puppet, Niklaus,”
“Then why did you bring me here? Tell me, Nyxia. Tell me the truth.”
“I brought you here because I want to protect you,”
Klaus’s lip curls in a snarl and he stands up, cloak billowing around him. He turns at the feeling of a slight breeze and finds himself looking at the castle from a high distance, and he wonders if he’d been in such shock that he hadn’t noticed their uphill hike, or if this was another one of her tricks.
Clenching his jaw, he turns to look down at her. “I do not need protecting, Princess. I have done nothing but protect myself and my family for hundreds of years.”
“I know that, Klaus,” She spits out, looking as angry as he feels. Both of them are stubborn to a fatal degree. “But I want you to let me do it anyway!”
Klaus lets out a harsh breath through his nose, turning to look away from her as his chest heaves with frustrated breaths. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion practically slaps him in the face as it settles over him and he finds his racing thoughts finally slowing down, seeming to process in his mind after the eventful night.
“I understand that this has all been unexpected,” She starts, voice carefully neutral in the wake of both of their tempers. “And I will not blame you for being upset. But trust me when I say that I have your best interests in heart, for you and your family.”
“I’m to trust you after you’ve shown me only a fraction of the truth?”
Her soft look has shuttered away when he looks at her again. “I told you,” She whispers, voice quiet but certainly not weak with how thick it was around the emotion clenching around her windpipe. “That I was putting all of my trust into you the moment I told you what I am. The danger that I have thrust upon you and myself just by sharing all of this with you is endless. I have bared my soul to you in a single night, Klaus Mikaelson, and then you spit in my face by asking me if I am trustworthy.”
“Nyxia,”
She stands from the bench abruptly, pulling the hood of her cloak back up over her head. “We should go. I don’t want to run into the guards at the shift change.”
“Nyxia, just–”
“We’re leaving,” She cuts him off, not looking back to see if he’s following after her as she stalks off towards the gates she’d opened for him, just for him, moments ago. “Either join me, or find your own way back.”
Klaus pulls his own hood up and is quick to fall into step a few paces behind her because he isn’t nearly stupid enough to think that their easygoing atmosphere from earlier is still lingering. All because he couldn’t stop the traitorous beating of his heart and the way his skin crawled at the thought of entrusting the safety of his family to anyone else.
She is going to be family soon enough, though. If she’ll still have him, that is.
──────
The tension in the castle is thick for a few days before it’s suddenly dampened with something painful.
Rain begins to pour and does not stop for three days straight. Most foot traffic that is in and out of the castle for wedding planning is put on pause at the King’s order. Not worth risking the safety and integrity of any person or thing for one wedding.
Klaus doesn’t see or hear from Nyxia for those three days, and on the fourth day of heavy downpours, of him being stuck in the library with his brother or listening to his sister drone on about a particularly handsome guard, he breaks. He walks the path the sentry had taken him down into the East Wing of the castle and knocks on the thick wooden door, tilting his head just to hear the heart beating faintly on the other side of it. It’s the only reason he even knows she’s alive, and he can’t stop the relief that soothes his nerves.
It doesn’t manage to get rid of the cloud of guilt that’s been hanging above his head since that night in the orchard, nor does it make him want to turn around and leave.
“Princess?” His voice is low, but he knows she’ll hear it if she’s listening. “I was just…”
He trails off, unsure of what excuse to offer up for his impromptu visit. A lie, a half-truth. The whole truth.
It’s the least he could do in return, offer her honesty. Since he threw hers right back in her face four nights ago.
“May I come in, please?”
Silence follows his question, but when he pushes on the door slightly, it creaks open, and he steps through as quickly as possible, not willing to take the chance that it was a fluke. He’s greeted with darkness broken up by dim firelight, and his eyes take a moment to adjust, that concern inside of him chipping away at his pride.
“Princess?” He asks again, voice low in the dim room. His brows twitch on his forehead, pulling together. “Nyxia?”
There’s a shift of fabric from the four-poster bed a few feet in front of him, and he can see the orange glow in the room the moment she turns to face him.
Even in the poor lighting, he can see the sunken shadows of her face and the way the stars in her eyes have gone dull.
“Nyxia?” He nearly gasps her name as he rushes to her bedside, dropping to his knees beside it as he takes in her sickly features. “What’s happened to you?”
She lets out a shaky breath that sounds like it hurts. “Sometimes… sometimes I let them take too much,”
Confusion passes over him momentarily before a realization hits him. “The loopholes… this place… it drains you, doesn’t it?”
She nods where her head is pressed into the pillow.
He lifts a trembling hand to her cheek, brushing invisible dirt off of her cheek. He can feel the clammy sweat tainting her skin, the fever roaring in her veins. How odd it must be to be an immortal creature taken down by something comparable to a cold.
“Why?” He shakes his head, genuine disbelief coating the word as he watches his betrothed wheeze out a few more breaths. “Why do you let them do this? Why do you do this?”
She smiles and there's a tired pull to it, and she leans into his touch, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “People are so scared of me,” Her voice is impossibly soft, so unfamiliar, and yet he feels that ache in his chest, the desire to hear it more. To hear her more. “They are scared of everything. The least I can do is make my darkness feel safer.”
He thinks it shatters something in him, to hear her grand reasoning behind everything. To hear that underneath that cold exterior, and the soft one, too, the woman before him just wants people to feel safe in her shadows. She wants them to leave behind lives of unhappiness, to not feel fear when the moon rises in the sky and stars hang over their heads. She doesn’t want them to fear the thought of a monster under their bed but rather feel protected by it. By her.
She wants to do that for him. For his family. And he’d practically laughed in her face.
A shame buries itself deep in him, and he finds himself lurching forward slightly, face hovering above hers to keep her attention while she loses her lucidity before his eyes. “What can I do? What can I do to make this better?”
She reaches a hand up from beneath her blankets and rests it atop his. “Stay. Just stay with me, please,”
He nods and holds back more words he’s simply not ready to say yet. Reluctantly leaves her side for a moment to bring a chair to her bedside, and once again intertwine their hands together.
He watches her fall asleep and continues watching her well into the night. It doesn’t feel like a chore, or anything of the sort. He thinks he’d be content to spend a few years of his eternity just sitting here with her.
──────
It takes another four days for Nyxia to be able to get out of bed without feeling weak. In those days she regains a bit of that life back into her eyes, and Klaus is there to see every speck of it grow. He sees the shadows get darker again, not as faded and murky as they seemed to be when she was in the worst of it. It makes him happy in a way that he wouldn’t have ever expected it to.
They spend those four days together in a bubble of their own, with small touches shared between each other. Lingering glances and longing looks are shared from across the dining table while they share meals with his family and the king.
He doesn’t know if all of it means he’s forgiven for his harsh words in the orchard. He doesn’t let himself hope for anything, because he’s not sure if he deserves it after everything.
It’s a particular train of thought he hasn’t let come to fruition for his own sanity. Instead, he’s relished in the freshly budding relationship between him and his wife-to-be. The partnership that’s being created. The friendship.
He finds himself in the library that remains hidden behind one, nondescript door that opens up to high ceilings, and endless bookshelves. The first time she’d taken him to see it, he’d spent the entire evening looking through the books, getting lost in the history books she had in her collection.
As the days go by, he finds himself there more and more, and it seems that Nyxia’s in the same boat.
Hands skimming against the worn spines of the books, Klaus’s mind travels near and far, and he lets his imagination run wild. It’s a rare occurrence, this vulnerability that he’s found within these walls, beneath Nyxia’s care, so he can’t be faulted for being caught off guard when a book slides out from the shelf on the other side and he snaps his gaze up to meet her amused one.
There’s no doubt she misses the slight intake of breath he does at her sudden presence, but she gives him the grace of not saying anything about it out loud. Her face is framed between the two shelves and she grins widely, unabashedly, in the shadows of the books. “Hiding in the art history books again, Niklaus?”
He ducks his head, glancing at the lone book he is holding in his hands, a finger shoved between pages to hold his place while he searches through other titles. Lifting his eyes back up to meet hers once more, he shrugs a shoulder, poorly feigning obliviousness.
“It’s alright, at least I always know where I can find you,” She quickly dismisses his uncharacteristic shyness, and he’s once again grateful for it, even if he’s not sure if she does it for her own sake or his. “I wanted to ask you a question, actually, about the wedding.”
He raises a brow, not hiding his surprise. She rarely brings the wedding up to him these days, and with the celebration in just five days, the castle staff was bustling about more than ever. Klaus only ever looked at the gold and white decor lining the throne room in passing, usually hurrying through to track Nyxia down somewhere in the castle, or dodging his brother’s increasingly personal questions about the state of his relationship with the Princess.
He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about the wedding, despite Nyxia rarely saying anything to him about it. He found himself wondering just how the day would transpire as it drew closer, wondered how all of the fittings he did for his garments a while back would look like in the end, and wondered endlessly about just what Nyxia would be walking down the aisle in.
“It’s about the guest list,”
Her voice pulls him from the frequent thought and he bites the tip of his tongue in silent reprimand. Clearing his throat quietly, he looked at her. “What of it? I thought invitations were sent out months ago,”
“They were,” She confirms, nodding once. Her voice takes on a hint of that diplomatic lilt she likes to pull out of thin air with him when she feels she’s approaching a difficult subject. It instantly puts his nerves on edge, but he tries not to get defensive. If there’s anything he’s learned with her, it’s that he’ll do nothing but regret his knee-jerk reaction to bare his teeth and snarl at the first feeling of danger coming his way. He knows just as well that Nyxia would never put him in danger on purpose.
“I was just wondering if there was anyone you wanted to invite,” She continued, glancing away from him. “I know Rebekah and Elijah will be there, of course, but is there anyone else you want to come?”
He’s quick to respond, barely even thinking about it. “I’ve become familiar enough with your subjects that they’re plenty for me, I think. Especially the women coming from the loophole. I’m looking forward to seeing them,”
Her face softens with an endless fondness he’s not quite sure what to do with. Any time she offers it up to him, he does his best to just hold it gently in between them, like it was a cloud threatening to seep through his fingers and dissipate into nothingness.
“I am as well,” She smiles briefly before her face falls back into a placating look. “But you’re sure you don’t have any friends you might not have thought of? Or any more family? I’m sure you’ve… outlived… most of your ancestors, but perhaps there’s a distant cousin that was never turned? Or your… your parents, perhaps?”
Klaus instantly realizes the true nature of her question, and once again has to fight off the urge to snap at her and make her go away. It’s an easier path to take than explaining just why his parents won’t be in attendance at their wedding or part of their futures at all, and why he wouldn’t want them to in the first place, but he finds himself wanting to try. It’s the least he could do for her.
“No, my– my parents are no longer– an option,” He says carefully, brows furrowing as he revisits centuries-old aches and stabs of pain laced with a childish hurt. “I wouldn’t want them here even if they were.”
Her face twists with concern before she disappears from the side of the shelf, and Klaus’s eyes widen momentarily before he hears the click of her shoes growing closer. She rounds the corner of the bookshelf swiftly, coming to stand before him with a practiced look of understanding on her face meant to convey her state of heeding.
“You know by now that I’m a bastard,” She nods. “Even though my father was already unhappy with how I came about, it worsened when he learned my father was the leader of the werewolf pack in our village. I wasn’t just a bastard, but a monster, then, too. I faced abuse from my father my entire life, and my mother always let it happen, or encouraged it, if only to save herself from facing his wrath for her own mistakes.”
Silently, she reaches out and grabs the book from his hand, setting it flat on the shelf in favor of grabbing his hands in hers.
“When my youngest brother Henrik was killed by the pack my true father was a part of, my mother was overcome with the grief of losing a child and that’s when she turned us. When she made the spell to make us into these undying creatures who survive off of blood. She and Mikael killed us all and we were forced to transition when we woke.”
Squeezing his hands, Nyxia shakes her head. “You don’t have to go on, Klaus.”
He shakes his head, waving off her apology. “It’s alright. I want you to know the truth,” Her already soft face opens more and she takes another minute step towards him, closing the distance between them a bit more. “With everything heightened after my transition, I was so overcome with my anger that I lost control and I– I killed her. I killed my mother.”
“Nik,”
“I regretted it as soon as I did it. And I buried her body where no one would find it, and I told my family that she was killed by our father. Because in my head, she was. She let him abuse me, she let him turn even a fraction of that hatred onto Rebekah and Elijah, and the rest of them, and I– I truly hated her for it. What good of a mother was she if she could just watch that happen to her children?”
He clenches his jaw and tilts his head slightly, biting down the bitterness that still swims in his veins all these years later. “Mikael knew what I did, though. I don’t know how, but he always knew. And I– I don’t know what’s happened to him, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive, like us or something else, but I– I do not want him here. I wouldn’t want him here, no matter the situation. I never want someone like Mikael to find this place, because a single touch from him would destroy it all.”
Nyxia shakes her head immediately, eyes wide and full of something that transcends simple fondness. “He wouldn’t, Niklaus. I wouldn’t let him ruin it. This is my home– this is our home. I won’t let him ruin it for you.”
Klaus wished he could believe her. And he knows she knows that. And he knows they both know it’s truly got nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the fact that his father has ruined his life at every turn since the day he was born. It’s just what he does. He could so easily take this beautiful thing Klaus has been given and tarnish it with a single touch.
“I had to inherit these shadows, you know?” She says suddenly, taking him off guard. “I wasn’t born with them, not really. I was born with power, I was made of this power. But in order to have them at the capacity at which they exist now, I had to wait for my mother to die. She was my best friend. But I think that made it all the worse when I had to watch her wither away through each century, until one day, she became nothing more than the night sky we came from. Afterward, I was so overcome with grief that I didn’t even acknowledge the shadows. I wanted no part of it, not without her,”
She huffs out a small, wry laugh and shakes her head. “But they are very stubborn. They persisted, and one day, they brought me into the shadows and showed me the light that exists within them. And after that day, I started doing things differently. It’s been a long time since then, but I still remember all of those feelings like it was yesterday. And I know that because you have been given the gift and the curse of eternity just as I have, that you understand it like no one else does. So you must believe me when I say this, husband, but it will not be like this forever. And I am making you a promise now that your– that Mikael will not ever make his mark in my kingdom. You and I will live in peace for the rest of our days, with our people and no one can take that from us. Do you hear me? Do you hear me, Niklaus?”
He nods, clenching his teeth together as he swallows around the concrete lump in his throat. “Of course. Of course I do,”
“Good,” She nods once. “You can trust me. I swear it on my life.”
He nods again and she offers him a small smile, like she’s wary to shift the graveness that had settled over them into something else. He jostles their conjoined hands, and her eyebrows tick together, silently coaxing his words out.
“How did you do it?” He asks quietly. “How did you find the light when you were surrounded by the darkness?”
Her eyes suddenly burned with ferocity, an ancient thing that had roots buried deep inside of her. A small fraction of her power. “I carved it out of the shadows with my bare hands and I did not stop until my fingers bled. Until my nails were cracked and my body screamed for me to stop. And I would do it again if it meant I kept you and your family safe. Understand that, Klaus. If nothing else, understand that I’ll bleed for you.”
Klaus isn’t sure what to do in the face of her devotion. He feels as if it should be the other way around– him worshiping her, instead of this blood-promise she’s made to him. He isn’t sure what to do or say, but he is sure of one thing; he loves her. And he would bleed for her just as well.
──────
The morning of their wedding, a low hum of activity overtakes the calm of the castle and does not falter, well into the early hours of afternoon. Klaus was summoned from his rooms just minutes after the sun was up and brought to the seamstresses that he’d seen increasingly over the months and put into the intricate suit made specifically for him.
His trousers were plain, simple, and tucked carefully into shoes that almost felt like armor. His surcoat was donned with intricate, weaving lines of gold that gleamed in the sunlight, woven into the fabric like they were the very veins in his body. Like it was a showcase of the life that flowed through him, scorching like the sun for all eternity. When he was draped with a mantle of white fur and more golden details along the draped fabric, he looked in the lone mirror before him and felt, for the first time, that he was truly a king. And just after that thought, he couldn’t help but wonder what his queen looked like.
When he is escorted to the throne room, he can hear the dozens of heartbeats waiting on the other side of the doors before him and he only has a moment to breathe before the doors are swung open and the guests are standing, turning to face him.
His blue eyes immediately shoot to the front of the room, where the king awaits his presence at the end of the aisle, where his brother and sister stand on either side of the large arbor, looking at him with an odd pride gleaming in their eyes.
Bracing himself, he lifts his chin slightly and walks forward, his hands clasped in front of him as he meets the eyes of strangers, all watching him like they’re waiting for him to show his true colors. When he nears the end of the aisle, he looks over to his left and sees Theresé standing there, with a row of familiar faces lined up beside her, and he can’t stop the small twitch of his lips when she meets his gaze head-on with a smile that radiates pure excitement.
He tears his gaze away from the women and children of the loophole and meets the king’s eyes, exchanging a nod with the man as he takes his place at the center of the room. He turns his head towards the doors he’d come through moments ago, and finds himself holding his breath as he waits for them to open once more, and reveal his bride.
He prepares himself for the sight of her, but when the doors swing open, guards standing on either side of her, he thinks himself a fool for ever thinking he’d be prepared for the sight of her dressed in a white gown that trails behind her in a sea of golden embroidery that gleams just as his does. Like the life that burns in him also burns in her, despite the way her shadows carve out the angles of her face, the bridge of her nose.
He knew her dress would compliment him, of course, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much it would take his breath away, to see himself standing before a kingdom, waiting for her slow, graceful steps to come to a stop as she neared him.
Her own fur-lined mantle was just as carefully draped over her, and it went down the length of her train, the fabric moving along with her as if it were just water rippling along rocks. Slow, elegant, natural. Like she was born to be this.
For the first time, her arms are bare before him, and the skin below her jaw is as well. Her unexpected bareness exposes things he hadn’t known were hiding beneath her long sleeves and high collars. The shadows that run in her blood wrap around her arms, weaving like vines up across her chest and down into unknown territory, still hidden from his sight and touch. He swallows roughly at the sight of the image she creates before him, her head tilted back ever so slightly just to maintain his gaze as she steps up before him, her hands immediately reaching to lay in his proffered palms.
He can’t find his voice in time to tell her that she looks beautiful. To make vows to her before they’ve even started.
The king clears his throat quietly, raising his hand in a silent gesture that has the guests taking their seats once more.
“People of Riverend, we gather here to witness the joining of two souls. To celebrate a love that withstands life, death, and everything in between. A love forged in shadows and cradled by the moon, that blossoms beneath the sun. It is my honor to stand before you all and mark the start of our future here in these cherished lands beneath their incoming rule.”
The king shifts, turning slightly to look at Klaus directly. “Lord Mikaelson, repeat after me: I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours, and vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars,”
Klaus swallows and wets his lips, meeting Nyxia’s gleaming eyes. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” His voice trembles slightly, and her fingers press into his wrist, squeezing reassuringly. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.”
Nyxia mirrors his swallow, seemingly biting back her own emotion. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” Her pulse stutters beneath his fingertips, and his blood burns with it. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.”
“As witnessed by your people, do you both promise to serve them to the best of your abilities? To bleed with them, or for them, shall it one day be necessary? To feed and clothe them, and wash the dirt off of their feet, should they ever ask you to?”
They both nod once. “We do,”
The King mirrors their nod and continues. “May this marriage be protected by the powers that be. May it never bend or break, or waver in even the strongest of storms. May you both know one another’s love like no other. May the darkness protect you as it has protected others since the dawn of time,”
The king takes in a short breath and shifts, holding his hands up for his palms to face the sunlight gleaming in through the stained glass windows. “By the power entrusted unto me, I bless this marriage for the years to come. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss–”
“Stop this nonsense!”
Gasps echo throughout the throne room and Klaus’s blood freezes as his head snaps over, his gaze locking onto his father’s immediately.
The man at the end of the aisle takes a step forward, a mean smirk on his face. “Is it not utter blasphemy to make a king out of a bastard?”
Klaus breathes out a breath that shudders in his lungs painfully, and he looks past Nyxia to find Rebekah standing frozen in her place, tears bubbling in her eyes at the sight of Mikael. He doesn’t need to look at Elijah to know that the man is likely boiling with barely stifled rage.
Mikael takes another step forward and Klaus flinches back instinctively, despite the distance that stretches between them.
The man laughs at the sight, and Klaus finally looks at Nyxia, only to find her glaring at his father like her very gaze could burn him into ash.
“You have no business being here, Mikael,” Elijah’s voice bites out the words from behind him and he hears his brother take a step down, quick to be a buffer between him and Klaus. “Leave now, and you will not face any consequences.”
Mikael laughs again. “And from whom would these consequences be dealt? You? Or perhaps Rebekah?” The girl flinches, tears skittering down her flushed cheeks at his ridicule. “Certainly not Klaus. He’s not capable of it.”
“It will be me,” Nyxia’s voice rings out, firm and cold in a way that Klaus hasn’t heard it before, not even in their worst moments. “You will not speak of my husband in that manner. I’ll have your head for treason if you’re not careful.”
“You’d take my head for him?” Mikael’s brows raise like he’s actually surprised at the prospect. “I hate to break it to you, girl, but he is nothing. He comes from no high standing, he has no riches and nothing to give you in exchange for all that you give him. Whatever he has told you in those regards is a filthy lie. That’s all he is– a liar.”
Hot tears burn at the back of Klaus’s eyes and he struggles to find his voice again.
Nyxia drops his hands and Klaus fronts at the loss of her touch, only to reach for her as she turns and steps towards Mikael, unwavering beneath his hateful glare. “Don’t,” He gets out, pulling her back by her arm. “Do not go near him.”
She wrenches her arm from his hold, looking at him apologetically before she hardens her gaze once more and faces his father. “You come to my kingdom and interrupt my wedding to spew nonsense. You have the looks of a crazed man, Mikael. I should have my sentries imprison you until I find it worth my time to sentence you.”
He grins like her words are a challenge. “I’d like to see you try, Princess,” He spits her title out and before anyone can blink, he holds the tip of a dagger beneath her chin.
Gasps of fear ring out through the room and Klaus stumbles forward, stopped only by Elijah holding him just out of their father’s reach. “Do not touch her!” He growls out the words, black veins crawling beneath his eyes, earning a mocking chuckle from the man.
“Don’t tell me you actually love her, Niklaus,”
Klaus says nothing, which is answer enough, and it earns another round of derisive laughter from the man.
“What a ridiculous thing, love,” He tsks his tongue, shaking his head as if scolding his bastard son. “Nothing but a weakness to someone like you who is already softened by his childish emotions. It’s nice to know that you’re still such a disappointment, Niklaus.”
Klaus lunges for the man but is once again stopped by his brother.
“Klaus,” It’s Nyxia who says his name, which calms the racing of his heart in his ears, and he looks at her desperately. “Do you trust me?”
His brows furrow deeply, lines twisting onto his pale skin. “What?”
She gives him another look that conveys an apology he doesn’t need, and he feels his stomach swoop with fear.
“Nyx,” He breathes out, eyes wide as he starts to shake his head.
She rolls her eyes away from him like it pains her to do so, and looks to his father, uncaring of the tip of the dagger digging into her chin. “I told you I would bleed for you, Klaus. And I shall.”
She takes one long step forward and latches her hand around the handle of the dagger and digs her nails into Mikael’s skin, earning a grunt of annoyance from the man. In the blink of an eye, a cloud of black consumes them, and the last thing Nyxia hears is Klaus’s yell for her to stop.
Her hold on Mikael falters and they fall away from each other, thrown into shadows and thrown apart in the same breath.
It’s been centuries since she’s been here. Encased in nothingness, something that cannot even be considered night because it is so dark it does nothing but swallow the life that enters it.
She hears Mikael’s breathing through the darkness and hears him struggle to find footing as she does the same.
“You,” She speaks out, voice echoing into the void. Swarming around them like a crow’s call. “You have tarnished his soul. You are the darkness that exists inside of him, and I am going to rip every inch of life out of you even if it kills me.”
“Such meaningful threats,” The man speaks back, voice tinged in that smugness that sets her nerves alight with rage. “To think that you have fallen in love with a man like Niklaus. You could have such potential if you weren’t clinging to frivolous emotions.”
“You underestimate me, Mikael. You mock me, even now, when you are surrounded by something that does not exist without me and my power. It is your arrogance that will kill you, and I will offer your heart on a platter to my husband as a wedding gift.”
She lunges for the sound of him in the void, grunting as they blindly swing for each other, slamming fists and swinging daggers over and over with no sign of stopping.
She doesn’t know how long she was in this place the last time. Doesn’t know how long they’ve been here now. It could be mere seconds, it could be years. Nothing exists in this place, especially not time.
Blood from a cut that is already healed trails down her cheek, she can feel the wetness as she brushes her fingers along her skin. She can hear Mikael’s ragged breaths, her endless onslaught of pain catching up to him.
“He’s an abomination,” Mikael spits out. “Not just in name, but as a creature. It is not enough that he has no soul as this undead thing, but he has that mutt inside of him, waiting to be unleashed. He doesn’t deserve to live.”
“You don’t get to decide that,” She bites back, lips curling in a snarl. “But I do. And he will live with me until the Earth takes its last breath. And you will never take anything from him again, so long as I am at his side. You will never hurt your children again. I am taking back the darkness that is inside of you. I am taking the very air from your lungs,”
She tackles him blindly, knees pinning him down as she presses her hands roughly down onto his chest, her fingertips itching with heat as she does exactly that. “You will know pain like you’ve never known before where you are going. And with everything in me, I swear that I will not let there be a day that goes by that you do not suffer.”
The shadows that warm her skin crawl as she takes his life little by little, and she can feel his breaths begin to shallow with every word she speaks.
“Let your last thought on this Earth be the knowledge that I love your son, Mikael. And not even you can take that from him.”
A scream tears from her throat as she lifts her hands off of his chest and slams them back down, his body disappearing beneath her as if it had never existed. A burst of energy explodes from her and she nearly falls onto her face, catching herself on her hands and knees as it blows around her like a gust of wind.
She grits her teeth, trying to catch her breath as the void grows smaller around her, trying to swallow her whole as it had Mikael. But she had let it have Mikael. She would not let it have her. Not when she had something to go back to. Someone.
“No,” She bites out, jaw clenched tight enough that her bones creak. “You will let me go back.”
She digs her nails into the nothingness beneath her hands, skin scraping off at the fight it puts back. She lifts her hands from the void and brings them back down, clawing at it like a rabid animal.
“Let me out,” She says. Demands. “Let me out!”
Her voice echoes on a yell and she feels a scream build deep in her chest as she clenches her hands into fists and brings them down onto the ground, and she can feel it begin to crack beneath her force.
The ache in her hands grows with each hit but she doesn’t stop, doesn’t let up, not even as the first cracks of light bleed through.
With just that sliver of light, she can see the broken skin of her hands and it’s such a guttural reminder of her past that she raises her hands once more and brings them down onto the shattering void with a strength she did not know she possessed.
All at once she is thrown out of the darkness and she flinches at the burst of brightness that encases her so suddenly. The sound of startled gasps and fearful noises makes her stumble and she tries and subsequently fails to get to her feet, her bloodied hands smearing along the pristine white aisle she had walked down.
Arms encase her and she turns her head to meet Klaus’s gaze as he pulls her into his chest, eyes wide in fear at the sight of her blood, no doubt mixed with some of Mikael’s that likely splattered onto her at some point in their tussle.
“Where did you go? What did you do?” He breathes out, eyes brimming with tears. “Where is Mikael?”
She lets out a shuddering noise as she clings to him, staining his surcoat with blood. “I took it back,” She grits her teeth, fire burning in her eyes for a split second before her exhaustion wipes it out. “I took my darkness back from him, and I turned him into nothing.”
Klaus makes a noise of grief that she knows is not for his father, but for the thought of her doing something he knows weakens her.
“I’m alright,” She assures him, finally looking past him at her kingdom that watches on warily. “I’m alright, I promise.”
Klaus holds onto her tighter like he’s scared she’ll disappear again, and she lets him as exhaustion weighs her down.
She smiles suddenly, breathless and hopeful. “We aren’t finished here,” Her eyes shift to the king, who hurries towards them, kneeling slightly. “We were interrupted.”
Klaus mirrors her smile, much more reserved even as his fear dissolves. “We were, weren’t we?”
“Finish it,” She looks up at the king from her place in Klaus’s lap in the aisle. “Please, finish it.”
The king barely takes a moment before he lets his voice carry like he had before, unwavering as if nothing had happened at all. “Without further ado, Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss your bride.”
Klaus barely lets him finish speaking before he kisses her, stealing the breath from her lungs as she gasps into it. Starlight burns in her and she raises her hand to gently cup his cheek, pulling him into her for one hard press of their lips before she pulls away, letting her hand fall from his cheek to rest against his heart.
She turns her face into his neck and whispers into his skin, her breath making goosebumps grow in its wake. “My name,” She says. “I want you to have it.”
He echoes it back to her softly, like he’s cradling it in his hands, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes.
The king speaks from above them, an excitement laced in his voice as he lifts his hands above his hand. “It is my honor to introduce to you for the first time, the Prince and Princess of Riverend!”
Cheers burst around them, and Klaus dips his head down to hide his smile in her hair, and she clings to him just a bit tighter, her eyes fluttering.
“Let us celebrate!” The king exclaims, another round of cheers echoing after his words.
She pulls back slightly to look at Klaus, smiling. “I love you, Klaus,”
He lets out a breath like she’s knocked it out of him. “I love you,” He hesitates before saying her name like he’s worried she’ll take it back from him. “I'll love you until the end of time. Never doubt that."
"I won't."
#klaus mikaelson#the vampire diaries#elijah mikaelson#the vampire diaries fanfiction#rebekah mikaelson#the originals#klaus mikaelson x reader#klaus mikaelson fanfiction#klaus mikaelson fluff#klaus mikaelson angst#stefan salvatore#damon salvatore#kol mikaelson
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THE PASSENGER
A Lucifer x fem!reader ff
This is my first time writing a fanfiction, or writing in general plus my native language isn't english so sorry for any mistake! Critiques are welcome as long as they are respectful and reblogs and comments are well liked! I am planning to make this a series so tell me if you like it!
Words:1509
You were in the garden of Eden, long (h/c) hair flowing behind you. That's when you were created, when you begun living. You were made to be the first wife of the man Adam. You truly loved him, at least you thought you did, you did everything he told you, always being good...then why were you taken and put into heaven?Why did you have to be taken away by your one true love?You stood there, confused, scared even, with only your long hair covering your nudity. That's when you met him, an oh so wonderful and stunning angel, Lucifer was his name. He dressed you, took care of you, cared about you. It didn't take long for you to catch feelings for him. What was a lady supposed to do when some handsome was so caring to you, so touchy even. You still remember the times he took you flying with him, the look of adoration he gave you, it was just you two, flying in the sky peacefully. The comfort he would give you, his touch always lingered on your skin, oh how you wanted him to hold you like that forever.
You stood there, high in heaven, observing Adam, the one that was supposed to be you husband, with another woman. Lilith was her name, how could he do this to you? Did he not love you? No you were sure he did. But if you were so sure then why did tears start falling from your eyes? Why did you start crying like that? You felt horrible. If the man that was supposed to love you for eternity didn't want you, who would have? You hear rustling behind you, and that's when he came: "Y/n? Are you ok?" You didn't respond to him, you didn't have the strength to, you felt so embarassed, you were so vulnerable,what would he think of you now: "Oh sweetheart what happened to you? Who hurt you? Please don't cry I hate seeing you like this. I know that whatever the problem is we can deal with this togheter" and there again, the usual hold he would give you in those moments. He treated you with such a care, you felt bad for him. You used all your strength to mutter some shaky words: "Why is he with another woman, who is she?" He answered, holding you closer to him: "Dear, is this really the problem that's taunting you every day? Don't be sad, please, trust me he doesn't deserve your love. He doesn't deserve you! You are the most wonderful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon, it's not your fault he doesn't see your beauty. It's not your fault he doesn't love you". You sobbed back: "No, no he does love me. I was made for him he surely dose. He just doesn't understand it yet". He watched you with compassion as he kept comforting you.
Lucifer, or Luci, as you would always call him, always talked to you about all his plans and ideas. You never understood them much, you were too naive, too dumb and stupid to understand, but you would always support him through it no matter what. You always encouraged him to expose his ideas, you were his number 1 supporter. You loved him oh so much, you always did and you always will. Nothing would have prepared you to the day he got casted down from heaven, and with Lilith too. Not only have you lost the one you REALLY loved, he loved someone else too, the same one that stole Adam away from you. Damn Lilith, if only you were as pretty, if only you were so captivating maybe it would have been you who got casted down with him. After that you came back to the life at Eden, becoming Adam's wife again, but you couldn't be happy, not when Lucifer was gone for good, you longed for his grasp once again, and so, you did the unimaginable, you decided to fall down for him. You always liked to explore places, you saw a lot of heaven, it was bound that you eventually found the entrance to hell. You were afraid, but your love for him guided you into the pits of that horrendous place. You did it for him, and him only. you jumped and fell for who knows how long. You landed in a place full of Sakura trees, it was beautiful, absolutely stunning. The petals on the ground where as soft as snow and it was so calm you could easily fall asleep in there. You didn't have the time to savor the space you were in at the time. Too focused on the pain all over your naked body. You couldn't give up yet, you had to find him, you had to find Lucifer. You were trying to move from the ground, to get up peraphs, that's when he found you.
Lucifer was relaxing among the trees when he heard a loud thud. Startled, he went checking what the source of the sound was, and that's when he saw you: "What the- Y/n? Is that really you? Oh god what have you done! Why are you in here? Are you hurt? Here let me help you dear" he got you dressed and picked you up, you could hear the hurt in his voice as he murmured you comforting words and whys: "I am sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking. I missed you Luci, I missed you so much I just wanted to see you again" you cried to him. He replied: "Please don't apologize, there is nothing for you to be sorry about. I am just glad you are with me again, I missed you so much, you know?Don't worry sweetheart, me and my wife will take care of you, we will teach you all about this place. Oh there is so many things I have to tell you! Lilith will be super happy knowing she can finally put a face to the name, she always wanted to know you!"
Right....Lilith
It took you a lot to adjust to the situation, and Lucifer and Lilith being all lovey dovey didn't help you one bit. You were forced to see them togheter, you lived with them after all. It isn't that you had any place to go other then his castle. You enjoyed living in there, and you savored all the alone moments you had with him, but oh it hurt you so much, but if you really loved him, you'd let him go, so you kept staying with them as your heart broke and shatteted more, the longer you were with them. The thing you didn't know though is that you weren't the only one suffering from all of this .
Lucifer's pov
As he brought his friends to his castle, his heart was flooded with a torrent of emotions, absorbing his every being. The flames of love once felt for her burnt with a passion he never felt before in his life, peraphs that flame never extinguished. As y/n lived there, his life had changed in an unimaginable way, as he lived in a never ending desperation. A desperation born from the knowing that his heart belonged eternally to his wife, but every quick glances, every alone time spent with y/n, served as a poignant reminder of his unceasing adoration for you. Yet, in the depths of his agony, he found solace in the the devotion and trust he vowed to always give to his wife, that he would never betray her, not when she lived an oh so happy life with him by his side. There was no other choice, he must let you go.
Y/n's pov
The more you learnt about hell the more you felt confident navigating it's depths of your own. You began forming a sense of identity, you started to know yourself, something you were never permitted to do in Eden, you even dared to cut your beautiful, long hair. You didn't like them, they held too many harrowing memories you needed to let go of. Your free spirit was finally able to show itself, the decisive step happened when you decided to leave his castle for good. The agony you felt seeing them togheter becoming unbearable to you. You ventured into the steppes of hell, explored all you had to see, seeked every secret of it. Your hunting never stopping, as the inferno kept increasing in size. The more it got bigger, the more you wanted more, you soon got hungry for it, and you ate all your discoveries. You didn't have a home, you'd rather sleep and get food from the people of this place, also making the usual visit to Lucifer and Lilith. It didn't take long for the demons to get used to you, you also managed to make a few friends. Only a select few knew your real name, the majority of people simply called you
The Passenger.
#hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel x reader#fem!reader#hazbin hotel lucifer#lucifer morningstar#lucifer x reader#hazbin lucifer#lucifer morningstar x reader
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Okay, okay so i saw you guys liking the idea of Mafia Brozone au. So i decided give you some more info of it as headcanons + concept.
Imagine a bit different world that we usually expect in trolls. A huge city where small and big creatures live together (Aka Zootopia, i guess???). And one of the most small, but sneaky mafia group was Brozone. Five troll brothers. Elusive and too bold. (They probably took Branch with them just because they needed to babysit him somehow tho. Imagine all of brothers have special suit thingy so they can place Branch in there. ).
After they split up, Branch was left to granny, until some bad guys killed her. He was left to the shelter. There he also meets Poppy that is actually just a lost child. That's how they slowly becoming friends and growing up together.
What for other bros?
Floyd becomes a photographer and just enjoying his calm life. He really didn't have anything close to stuff he used to do. But he can't avoid that he sometimes miss the dangerous adventures.
Clay becomes a teacher in one of the biggest uni's! (University). Also just enjoys his life, learning kids and even got a new (girl)friend - Viva (who's also a teacher.) and very rarely calls to his big brother - Bruce. Clay still accidentally use his talent that he used to use back in days. For example, open a jamming locker with his fist or deftly catch all the sheets of papers that have scattered due to students running around. But he's really trying to hide this. He don't want to be part of it again. (Or does he?)
Bruce is a happy father man. After he left Brozone he kept doing small crimes all alone. Until he got caught but agents. Guess who was the lady boss? Brandi of course. This man fall in love very quickly and decided to let his dark past go and start new life with his love. Later, when they married, they both quit the agents job to rise kids in calm peaceful life. (But you really don't want to mess with any of them, cuz they still pretty good at smashing.) Also! Bruce find a good use to his strength - he becomes a redneck guy, a very good one. And yea, sometimes he calls Clay to hang out somewhere in bar or go for bowling.
And John Dory, of course. How not ironically that was, he becomes a police guy, but not really for long time. He realises that such boring stuff is not for him so he grabbed all his saving (like money ya know) and decides to buy a mini vane to live in far far away from anyone. Also in this AU Rahonda is a puppy. You can imagine some sad back stories where John saves this little girl and adopts it and saying something like:"Looks like you're as lonely as me, huh? That’s okay, now even if we are alone, we have eachother." He and his little girl living by themselves, without any worries, because they both don't need much money to survive. And believe me, John have a damn tonnes of money. He just lost the point of using it so much. Even though he does buy a lot of cute doggy stuff for Rahonda. But he would not tell you about that haha.
The story of it? Viva finds out about her long lost sister being captured. So Viva have to ask Clay very much to help her until all bros slowly get together to rescue Poppy. (Later then find out that Branch was captured too, which will make them even more angry and determined.)
+ a funny bonus for that Viva is good at boxing tho.
#trolls band together#brozone#dreamworks trolls#trolls#trolls 3#trolls clay#clay trolls#trolls fandom#trolls au#bruce trolls#branch trolls#trolls branch#brandi#brandy#brandi trolls#trolls bruce#trolls spruce#spruce#jd trolls#jd#trolls john dory#john dory#floyd trolls#floyd#trolls floyd#viva trolls#trolls viva#viva#poppy trolls#queen poppy
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Part One
Read on AO3
They want to throw him a party whenever he gets released from the hospital.
“You know,” Dustin says with a shrug, “before the world goes tits up, or whatever.”
“Dude!” Steve smacks him across the back of the head, knocking off his hat.
Dustin gapes at him. “What?”
“You can’t just say stuff like that!” His eyes flash over to Wayne, who knows the whole story because Eddie’s been on the good drugs and tells his uncle fucking everything, especially when he’s high. He’s got a raised brow and a half-smile, which is basically a laugh.
Dustin smacks his hat on his knee before putting it back on. “What, I can’t say ‘tits up?’ We’re all adults here.”
“You’re fourteen.”
“Excuse you, I’ll be fifteen in three weeks, you know this.”
“Still not an adult.”
“Oh, bite me.”
“Ladies, please.” Eddie holds up a still-shaking hand to get them to shut up for a second. “You’re both pretty. And as much as I would love any chance to let loose and live young… I’m not too sure now’s the best time for it.”
His hospital room has a window that Wayne keeps the blinds drawn for, no matter what time it is, but Eddie knows what’s on the other side all the same. He sees it in his nightmares plenty. A red, cloudy sky that crackles with lightning, the chokes the light out of the daytime and turns nighttime into one of the seven rings of hell.
Eleven says that Vecna is getting stronger. That it’ll be a while before he’s back up to full fighting strength, but that she thinks he’ll be more powerful than ever when he is. And Will’s been having visions of what he thinks are glimpses into the Upside Down, into the stuff that hasn’t already leaked into Hawkins. Will says they’ve been both unhelpful and just generally bad.
Not to mention that Max is still asleep, and that’s a whole other can of worms that everyone is trying to be optimistic about, but Eddie can see their hope draining by the day.
“That’s exactly why we need something to celebrate,” Dustin says. “Everything sucks right now, and it’s probably gonna keep sucking for a while—”
“Like a while,” Steve chimes in.
“—so we should take every chance we get to, as you said, let loose and live young. For morale.”
Which is great, and a part of Eddie agrees, but that’s the part from before. Where something like facing off against an alternate-dimension-evil-bad-guy was from out of a board game. Before this was real, where it’s outside and under his skin and those bats stole like, half of his tattoos and his nipple.
He nearly died, and all of them still could.
“I’m just not sure it’s the best time,” Eddie says.
Dustin rolls his eyes. “Okay, well when exactly—”
It’s Steve’s hand on his shoulder than cuts him off and a shake of his head that has Dustin slumping back in his seat. Eddie hates to see the kid put down like this, hates that he was the one to do it, but when he tries to say something to apologize, anything, the words get stuck.
Then it’s Wayne’s hand on Eddie’s arm and his uncle’s eyes are familiar and gentle. For someone who everyone thinks is such a gruff guy, Eddie’s always though it was obvious how much of a wuss Wayne is. Or, maybe wuss isn’t the best word. What do you call someone who’s lived through what he has and come out kinder for it?
Wayne gives him a squeeze and says, “Dustin, I need some fresh air but my knee’s been acting up with all this…not-rain. I hate to ask, but do you think—”
The kid practically jumps to his feet. “Oh, sure, Mr. Munson, I’d be happy to help out! Y’know, my granny says that I have an intuitive touch for the older generations.”
“Well, I think that’s just what I need. What else does your granny say about you?”
“Oh man, where do I even start? There was this one time, in first grade—”
Then they’re both out the door, shutting it behind them, and Eddie lets his head fall back with a sigh. “Jesus Christ, that kid.”
“Yeah,” Steve says, moving to sit in Wayne’s now-empty chair. “My mom would say that he grows on you like a fungus, but he’s just trying to help.”
“Yeah, I know.” Eddie can’t look at him, so he looks at the ceiling instead, at those corkboard-y panels that seem to always have stains on them. Anywhere else you go, those stains would usually just be water from leaky pipes or rain, but here they’re all sorts of different things. Water, blood, vomit, medicine. Whatever’s managed to get high enough.
(There’s a weed joke in there somewhere, Eddie thinks, but he doesn’t have the will to make it. How sad is that)?
“It’s weird, though,” Steve says, and Eddie feels him lean forward. Feels the heat of him on his arm, crawling up his neck. “Eddie Munson, dodging the spotlight. Never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“Well, here it is.” It comes out a little bitter. “Thought it was time for a change of pace.”
“I don’t know. I kind of liked the old pace.”
When Eddie looks over, Steve’s already looking back. He’s smiling, just a small one, like he’s teasing him. Because he does that now. Teases Eddie like they’re real friends, makes him feel like he’s going insane, like maybe he actually did die back in the Upside Down and everything that’s happened after has just been some crazy, fucked up version of the afterlife.
Except, Steve saved him. He doesn’t remember who told him, but someone must have, because the first day Eddie woke up (or really, the first day he remembers) that had been his first full thought.
Harrington gave me the goddamn kiss of life.
Followed immediately by:
He’s gonna lord this over me forever.
But Steve hasn’t even mentioned it. Eddie has some vague sort-of memory of one of them saying it probably tasted gross, but beyond that it just hasn’t come up, and it’s leaving him feeling kind of off balance. Like he’s forgotten the chords to his favorite song. His fingers are hovering over the strings, ready to play, but he doesn’t know what kind of sound is going to come out.
It was easy when they were both in school. Jock Harrington and Freak Munson, two opposite ends of the spectrum, never to collide past some classic teenage bullying and the occasional drug deal.
Now, they’re Steve and Eddie. Harrington and Munson, the savior and the saved. Two maybe-friends who apparently swapped spit, but in a totally I-had-to-do-it kind of way and the worst part is that Eddie doesn’t remember a single second of it.
He wonders, if he were to start flatlining, if Steve would do it again.
(But of course he wouldn’t. There are doctors and nurses around for that now, because that’s the only reason he did it in the first place, right? He was the only one who could, and Eddie’s grateful, but maybe also a little bit…ashamed? Stupid, for sure. He knows that it was last resort only, that he wouldn’t even think about doing it again unless he really had to, but here Eddie is, praying he might anyway).
“You just want an excuse to get drunk,” Eddie tells him, because he has to say something. Steve is looking at him like that, and he has to say something.
But then Steve’s smile goes a little wider, almost cocky, and he says, “Munson, I don’t need an excuse to get drunk, thank you very much.” Then, quieter, “Although, I’ve gotta admit, it’d be nice to get drunk because someone’s alive for a change.”
Eddie shouldn’t get it, but he does. He realizes it like a slap to the face, a big ohhhhhh. Steve Harrington, of the big house and the new money and the nice car, gets drunk for the same reason Eddie Munson gets high: to forget. The people they’ve let down, the ones who’ve left, to the ones who keep leaving. To the fact that maybe it’s never gonna get better and their entire lives are gonna be a big ol’ circle of finding and losing and regretting.
Finding people, losing them, regretting all the rest.
Steve is sitting next to him, staring at Eddie like he’s someone else, someone better, and Eddie thinks that he wants to break the cycle.
So, he groans and rolls his eyes. “Fine. Damn it, alright. We can have your little party.”
“Not my party.” Steve’s close to beaming, smug.
“Dustin’s party then.” Eddie bites his lip so he doesn’t laugh at how stupid this is. “He’s got big shoes to fill, though, I want a party that’s gonna put all of King Steve’s ragers to shame. I never got to actually have fun at one, y’know. Always too busy handing out the party favors.”
Steve snorts. “I’ll make sure it’s nothing but the best for you. Want me to roll out the red carpet, too?”
“Like it’s the goddamn Oscars.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
And then he winks, and Eddie realizes just how close they are. Steve’s leaning on the bed, their arms brushing, their faces close enough that Eddie could count every single one of Steve’s moles, pick out every individual shade of brown in his eyes and the smell of his body wash. The way his lips are parted and curved and Eddie has never wished more desperately that he remembered what they felt like. The taste of him, the amount of pressure and give, if he would bite and lick better.
It's a dangerous fantasy.
But Steve is looking at him like it’s real.
Before he can say anything, do anything, Steve leans back and says, “Once you’re out, I’ll show you what you’ve been missing.”
And Eddie, hopelessly fucked, can only say, “Can’t wait.”
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Lowly Desires Remake Drabble. Part 1
Yandere Gellert Grindelwald x Female Muggle and younger Reader.
You sighed and saw the fog come out of your breath. It was cold as ever in the cellar you chained.
How long have you been kidnapped by that ugly old man? You remembered being taken away at the airport. You were about to be picked up by your parents. You have never seen them since.
“I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living…”
The beauty of your face matched your lovely voice whether singing or speaking. Pure and clear.
No wonder why your “master” would refer to you as princess and “Muggle”. You didn't know what that meant. But you knew it was degrading. And if he was angry as in a bad mood or impatient with your attitude as you tried to stop him from raping your ass. He would call you slut and bitch a lot.
You rolled your eyes. You don't remember offending him. Why does he hate you so much? He kept saying how he will kill you. But, he still won't do it. He should be bored of you by now. He took your virginity. The first time he entered your college dorm as you were unpacking for your first year.
Then he left. You quit college to tell your parents what happened. But, he came back and kidnapped you. You resisted at first and fought. But he would use a magic wand and his strength to torture you. You realized that magic was real. And Muggle must mean someone like you who cannot do magic.
It was odd. He kept being racist to you. But he just couldn't keep himself from touching you. If you were so bad and low as he said you were. Why can't he leave you alone or kill you already?
That confused you.
You were scared to die and begged to not be killed. But, he tortured you mentally so hard that you not only lost interest to live but wanted to die. You got nightmares and knew life wouldn't be the same even if he let you go. Broken. Damaged beyond repair.
Old hag. You felt old inside despite being only 18. What have you become? An old witch.
Life has killed the dream I dreamed.
Then he came. A man with ice cold eyes and an undercut entered your cell and grabbed you after using his wand to free you from your chains.
He didn't speak but he pushed you inside a bathroom. He ordered you to bathe or else.
Were you going somewhere? Home?
Maybe you should give it a try to start a normal life.
You did as you were told and then saw a dress. A long sequined and green mermaid style dress. Expensive. A party?
Suddenly, the dress inserted itself on you by itself and your hair was styled to a professional updo. The man from before once again grabbed you and led you to a waiting limousine outside what appeared to be a grand estate.
You were in a cell of a mansion the whole time?
You knew your capturer was rich because of his expensive suits whenever he visited you in the cell.
But, this was a castle. Ancient too.
“The Master will meet us at the grand party.” The man sat next to you and ordered the driver to start.
You inwardly groaned. What does that ugly old man want now?
Please ignore the size and race of that lady. I needed to find an emerald sequined dress on Pinterest
#harry potter#fantastic beasts#fantastic beasts 3#gellert grindelwald#gellert Grindelwald x reader#mads mikkelsen#mads mikkelsen x reader#yandere#yandere x reader#yandere Gellert Grindelwald x reader#fantastic beasts Secrets of Dumbledore
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just saw someone on tiktok say Elucien aesthetic would be beautiful if Elain was a whole entire different women.
LIKE DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK? From what elriels gathered, Elain loves darkness,she will be high lady of dusk,she loves death,she wields a dagger at all times and she is a illyrian spy as if she did not refuse to wear illyrian clothes.
Using CANON Elain and Lucien, Elain helps flowers grow which would make sense for her to be with lucien because he is light and light helps things grow. He looks crafted from the forest whilst she loves nature. She likes to live a small peaceful life and lucien prefers to sit down and read in a peaceful quiet place. They both are underestimated. She gardens with gloves and he got her enchanted gloves because he somehow knows she likes to keep her hands clean. (she keeps her nails cut and wore gloves in acotar while gardening) They both literally throw up in regards to violence.
I was talking with an elriel in a comment section the other day and she said after i said Elain hates violence ´´Its called growth and Elain can learn to be strong when needed´´
The thing is, Strength varies in multiple different ways. Keep in mind Azriel does his job because it suits him. Does it suit Elain? No. You say it does because she keeps secrets and is quiet blah blah blah although does Elain Archeron want to stay in the shadows and hide? No she wants to make a clear difference. Literally Elain Archeron has never been in the role of a spy. She is not even foreshadowed to be one as Azriel.
Its sad, really. People who claim to be Elain stans will shape her and jab at her until she indeed is a whole different woman. They yap about how your anti feminism if you are not an Elriel buts its Elriels them selves changing everything about our girl.
The cauldron did not give Elain the dark,quiet,cold shadowsinger. The cauldron gave Elain her, her equal. The one who knew what she needed, the one who travelled a long distance because of Elains vision that no one really knew for sure was true, the one who gave her two gifts that perfectly align with what she would want:
pearls: She wore pearls on her hair just right before lucien gifted her pearls
Gloves: She hurt herself from not wearing the gloves lucien gave her because he knows Elain in fact does value cleanliness.
The one who spent time with her father who she loved so dearly.
Is it not ironic in ACOFAS ,Elain says Lucien does not know her yet he probably knows a lot about her!
The one who slaughtered his way across the battlefield to get to her.
The first one to give her credit for something she did while no one else did at the time.
The one who saved her younger sister from dying (multiple times)
Ship Elriel i don´t care but don´t pretend you are blind and cant see this.
#pro gwynriel#elucien#anti elriel#gwynriel#pro elain#pro gwyn#pro elucien#acotar#anti e/riel#pro lucien
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Awful Characters Round 1 Part 1 (6/8)
Propaganda under the cut!
DIO BRANDO
why i like him: he’s evil, he’s funny, he’s a vampire, he’s a dick for no reason, he’s British, he’s bisexual, he stops time, and everything bad that happens in the series is his fault
why he deserves to be in: LITERALLY kicks puppies, that’s his THING. Ruins adoptive brother’s life just because he’s Mean and Evil. Kills people. Kills animals. Does weird horrible things to people for literally no reason. Turns people into zombies. Kisses women without their consent. Brainwashes people. Seduces lovers and sucks their blood while a weird old lady watches in the corner. Ruins generations of lives even after his ass is dead.
can you be cancelled by twitter users: yes absolutely
BELIAL
Belial is the primal beast/angel of cunning, and one of the main antagonist of the side story "What makes the sky blue". He's the very first primal in existence and had a profound romantic and sexual devotion for his creator, Lucilius. So profound that he commited all sort of crimes to get Lucilius's love and approval, and only got worse in worse when Lucilius only showed distate for him.
Mind you those were crimes Lucilius wanted him to do, but Belial was just never enough compared to the second primal beast, Lucifer, the angel overseeing Evolution.
List of crimes includes:
-Provoked like 3 attempted apocalypses
-Organized a group of rebel fallen angels in order to make them Lucilius's experiments subjects later, torturing all of them for thousand of years.
-When Lucilius was beheaded by Lucifer, Belial vowed to bring Lucilius back to life…. By organizing Lucifer's murder and beheading him in order to use Lucifer's corpse to sew Lucilius's head on it
-Also managed to blame Lucifer's boyfriend for Lucifer's death because "well it's your fault he died since he was trying to protect you so he wasn't fighting at his full strength :/"
-He is also extremely sexual and is constantly talking about wanting to orgasm on the spot, or engage in sexual intercourses with anyone he encounters
-Also the type of person who kills his one night stands after he's done with them.
-Calls torturing people for fun just himself indulging in his SM side.
-He's spoken a lot about his goal to Fuck Lucifer's Corpse, in front of Lucifer's boyfriend.
-Also is constantly doing sexual remarks to said boyfriend.
-He's torn the wings of the one person who was still loyal to him (technically to save his life but he lied that he was doing it just to torture him)
-Also he lies all the time and backstabbed everyone we ever see him make plans with
-Guilttripped the protagonist by faking his suicide
-Helped the protagonist at the last hour during their fight against Lucilius in order to be locked into an interdimensional prison for all of eternity with the man who hates his guts, out of love for him, while the guy couldn't think of a worst way to spend eternity.
-But by helping us i mean "gave us a ship, and then we learnt that he left a bomb on that ship, nearly killing us"
-Has been appearing in MC's dreams regularly to manipulate them into embracing a magic that will make MC his puppet
-Managed to mind control MC for long enough to have MC try to kill their soulmate.
-In the spin off fighting game he mind controlled a lot of people in the same way to make them his puppets and force them to try to kill their loved ones.
-He's described in the game as "Just, The Worst".
-Has this for theme song and we're supposed to think it's normal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2MHUJTciRg
Personally i like him a lot because there's Layers to his depravity, mainly also that the horny feels a lot like an act some of the time, and that he's ultimately a man with intense inferiority complex and self destructive because he wants the love of his uncaring creator at all cost.
He's fairly popular in the fanbase but i've somewhat also seen a LOT of takes about how you're a bad person if you stan him. Mainly i've once seen a call out post saying all fans of Granblue Fantasy are bad because "Belial is a pedophile" quickly followed by "but i never played granblue". Like. The dude's a canon necrophile why did you need to add a crime he didn't commit on the list. (pretty sure it was on the list since he's an immortal guy who's two thousands years old who flirts with mortal people so there is Always An Age Gap but didn't he commit worse than that by now.)
I've also seen some people hate him for how clingy he is to Lucilius and how he's earned all the abuse he recieves from his creator, but i don't know if those groups sweeped as low as to call his fans bad for it lmao.
Oh right and once he was trending on Twitter and a lot of catholic people started to cause an outrage because "how could the youth worship the demon Belial by making him an anime boy, you're all going to hell", it was fun!
There's a lot more problematic characters in the franchise that would honestly fit more to this prompt, but Belial is the only one who's popular enough to have people, even outside of the Granblue fanbase, make judgement on people who like him because he's Terrible.
pollrunner's note: belial's propaganda was all from one person and is supposed to be one big quote block but tumblr didn't like that so I had to split it up a little bit
#awful characters tournament#tournament poll#awful characters round 1#jjba#jojo's bizarre adventure#dio brando#granblue fantasy#belial gbf#wmtsb
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Ok so I was just listening to some Chinese instrumental music and i got this idea
(I'm gonna write in a very messy way cuz i don't have much time)
The time setting is like ancient Liyue or something.
Xingqiu and reader are engaged. There were like candidates for him and people expected him to choose another girl (I'll think about her later) but he chose reader instead. His family was happy his choice but some other relatives and noble families, especially the first girl's family didn't.
Reader is a soft-spoken and quiet person and i imagined her to wear a veil (idk why) Also her physical strength is a little weak.
Xingqiu and Reader don't really get to talk much since he's busy with his work but he makes sure that reader and him atleast meet eachother twice a day. Evening was their own meeting time, they would drink tea together or talk about their day. There are days where he still has to do a lot of work so he just calls reader to him or he would go to her with all his documents and stuff. Xingqiu would be doing his work and reader would be next to him watching him or doing any hobby she likes to do. As I've said, reader's body is a little weak and she doesn't like noisy situations at all so Xingqiu makes sure to be gentle with her.
Reader's family was very loving and they adore her a lot (she's the youngest in the family after her older brother). Now for the drama, their status is lower then xingqiu's and first girl's family. This was the reason why a lot of people were against this engagement. But they couldn't do anything because Xingqiu and his parents had already accepted her as family.
Reader on the other hand, knows that the other nobles don't really like her. She knows about what type of comments the other ladies would give when the see her at gatherings and events. Yes there are some ladies who like her a lot and they always cheer her up during these situations. But reader still feels sad, she can't help but feel like a burden for Xingqiu. Reader is a part of his family and if someone mocks her then that means they're mocking his family.
This is why reader tries to fit in with the other noble ladies and sometimes she does things that are out of her comfort zone.
Xingqiu about this situation and he hates it. He has told her a lot of times that he couldn't care less about what others think about them. He doesn't want her to be uncomfortable or sad. All he wants is for her to be happy. He does try to silence the people who says bad things about reader.
Now why did he choose reader?
(y'all can add any reason you want, mine is this one)
When Xingqiu was a kid he used to run away from his house to skip his study work. He would rather play with his bestfriend than do all that stuff. He would also sneak out from his birthday banquets because according to him that's the most boring way to celebrate his birthday.
It was the same thing for his 10th birthday, there was a big banquet held for him. A lot of unfamiliar people and relatives were present there (including the first girl's family). He was waiting for the right time to sneak out. Every year Chongyun would help him but this time he had to go somewhere with his aunt so that resulted in Xingqiu being all alone. He successfully escaped and went to a local market. Xingqiu always liked the atmosphere there, it was all lively and colourful with lots of stuff to buy. He bought some candy and roamed around the market, occasionally eating some of the candy. Suddenly someone accidentally pushed him, maybe that person was really busy because they didn't even look at xingqiu who fell down.
At first xingqiu just say there for some seconds because of the shock and then he could feel something stinging in his knee, he looked down and saw his knee was bleeding. He panicked, not only because it was paining and bleeding but because the blood could make his clothes dirty and then his family would find out. Xingqiu didn't know what to do and right before the tears fell someone came near him and helped him get up. He looked at this person and saw a girl, she seemed to be the same or year younger then him. They both went to a side where benches where made for sitting. The girl took her handkerchief and tied it to his knee, she told him that the handkerchief would stop the bleeding. The girl said some more words that xingqiu couldn't concentrate on, he was fully focused on the girl's face, she was the prettiest person he had ever seen. Xingqiu's focus was taken away when he heard someone call her. They both looked to the direction where the voice was coming and saw a boy calling someone and the someone was the girl infront of him. She quickly told xingqiu to sit there and wait for her to return with some ointment. Xingqiu saw her rushing to that boy. He was looking at their direction in a daze when suddenly he remembered he had to go back but...she told him to wait, he didn't know what to do. He had to go back or else his parents would scold him a lot but he wanted to see the girl again. Again he heard someone but this time it was not her or that boy's voice, it was his older brother's voice. He hurriedly ran towards Xingqiu and lightly scolded him but as soon as his brother's gaze fell down to his face his face was filled with worry. His brother slightly panicked and carried him saying words to assure xingqiu (it was more like he was assuring himself). Xingqiu wanted to wait there but his brother was already walking out of the market.
That was the first time he saw reader. Xingqiu tried to find you but he didn't even know your name at that time. His parents had told him about the engagement and he kept delaying it. At last he had given up the hopes on meeting reader and accepted his parents wishes. Xingqiu met a lot of girls his age, some who he had known since childhood and some who he had never seen. He was ready to decline all the girls and choose the 'first girl' (i still don't know what to name her) because she was the only one he was friends with. But when the meeting was held with the last candidate he was shocked, it was reader. He had remembered her face perfectly and he was sure it was her. The person that he was trying to find for so long was now finally infront of him, he honestly wanted to cry and hug her at that moment, he would've done that but he noticed that she didn't remember him. He didn't even wait for his parents to ask him about his thoughts and directly accepted the proposal.
And that's how reader and xingqiu's story began.
(i changed and added some more things here. Genshin writers are free to use this idea and they can change some of the details however they want. Just don't forget to mention/tag me. Don't pay attention to my english cuz I know it's shitty.
Thank you for reading this ｡◕‿◕｡
Byee)
#genshin#genshin impact#genshin x reader#genshin impact x reader#genshin impact fic idea#genshin fic ideas#genshin xingqiu#genshin xingqiu x reader#xingqiu x reader#xingqiu x you#xingqiu x y/n#genshin x you#genshin x y/n
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When a parent needs parenting
Lanayru works himself to exhaustion, and Eldin is not pleased.
[Misfits of the 3 Dragons]
AO3
“ZINGA-DINGDING!”
The Thunder Dragon flies over Skyloft, a few people waving to him from the Knight Academy’s balcony. Although Link and Zelda no longer live up here, the locals have gotten to know him a little from his frequent visits. It is quite nice to be around people…something he was deprived of for centuries.
“Mighty Thunder Dragon!” a young boy calls out. “Sing for me!”
Lanayru groans quietly, aware that his strength is beginning to fade. The fatigue from being so active the last few days has finally gotten to him. But it would be a shame not to please the boy…and so he slows his glide down slightly and opens his mouth to sing.
The sweet melody of the Song of the Hero, the same song he performed for Link all those years ago, fills the air. He tries to ignore how it takes some breath out of him, and his spinning movements through the sky are flimsy and uncoordinated. His deep, booming voice still echoes through the clouds and makes its way to the young boy’s ears.
“More! More!” the kid chants. “Sing another song!”
“Now now, dear. I think you’ll have to wait.” A woman puts her hand on the kid’s shoulder…most likely his mother. “Mr. Thunder Dragon, you don’t look quite right. You should go home and rest.”
Well…shit. Of course this lady noticed. Lanayru floats on his back and lets his eyes droop closed.
“Mr. Thunder Dragon?” he hears her ask, but he is too absorbed into the calming feeling of resting at last.
“Lanayru?”
He snaps his eyes back open. “Ah, yes…my apologies.”
“What’s wrong with him, Ma?”
“Overworked, I assume,” she answers. “Gully, go see your father. I’ll be right with you.”
The boy turns to jog away, giggling, and mutters Lanayru’s signature line repeatedly:
“Zinga-dingding!, zinga-dingding!, zinga-dingding!, zinga-dingding…”
Gully’s voice fades off into the distance, and Lanayru brings his focus to the mother. He chuckles slightly, but she only frowns.
“Please go, Mr. Thunder Dragon. Go lie down, I’m serious.”
Lanayru scoffs. Besides the hero Link, he never likes to take orders from someone a fraction of his size. But this woman seems persistent. A little too persistent.
“…Fine, I guess…”
“Good. You can come back when you’re better, okay? Gully will love it.”
The Thunder Dragon grins, giving her a thumbs-up with his claw, before pushing himself forward through the clouds. I can’t look that tired, right…? His condition must appear even worse than he thinks…surely the lady was right. He does need to lie down.
“Tell the boy I’ll be here tomorrow,” he calls out, most likely loud enough for her to hear.
Leaving Skyloft behind, he continues straight until he approaches the yellow beam cutting a large hole through the cloud barrier…the one Link and his sword spirit created at the start of the hero’s adventure. Squinting from the incredibly bright glow of the beam, he dives down into the skies over Lanayru Desert. His former home. The air warms up, sunlight beating down onto the sand, but Lanayru doesn’t mind too much. He can handle the heat just fine.
His body continues to weaken from the effort of flying, like a robot slowly running out of power. But he pushes on, past the dry sands of the desert and into the grassy area beyond…closer to his current home. The tops of trees become visible soon, and he starts tilting his glide down to meet their level.
You’re almost there, he assures himself. Almost there.
He wonders how Faron would react if she found out about all this…the Water Dragon would definitely not be happy. Especially since she’s always on his ass about caring for his own health.
As he reaches his large forest clearing, the place where he normally resides, he finally slows to a stop. A few LD-301’s scurry around, carrying various materials like sticks and pinecones, but his eye is quickly drawn to something else. Or rather, someone else, lying right on the grass of his sleeping area, the sun brightening the oranges and reds of his body…
“Eldin?? Wh-what are you doing here? I told you—“
Oh.
The Fire Dragon’s eyes are closed, and his breaths are deep and even. He’s asleep.
In my territory??
As Lanayru lowers himself to the surface, taking a seat on the grass in front of Eldin, he rubs his temples with a groan. Too tired to yell at his brother and push him around for breaking several rules, he simply nudges Eldin on the shoulder, digging his long pointy nails into it to wake him.
“Hnngh-ahh!!” Eldin gasps, eyes snapping open. “Wha…?” His gaze meets Lanayru’s. “Oh…guess I dozed off, I’m so sorry—“
“No need for an apology, fire boy. I’m not pleased with you, but I’m letting this one go.”
“Wait…really?” The Fire Dragon yawns, rubbing his eyes before squinting at Lanayru. “Hold on, something’s not right…oh, you look awful.”
“Well, thanks a lot,” Lanayru mutters. First the Skyloft woman, and now Eldin…Although he figures that is most likely true, if he does indeed appear as worn-out as he feels.
Eldin’s brow furrows. “Lanayru…have you been overworking yourself again?”
…Shit.
“What? No, of course not! I—“
“Nuh-uh. I can literally tell by looking at you, Lanayru. I know how much you like to zip through the air and do your singing and take Link for rides and all that…but you got a limit, old thunder man. Ho! You like to think you’re invincible! But you’re not.”
“You…do remember what happened to me, right?” Lanayru asks, arms folding across his chest. “All those years ago?”
“Of course. Yeah, you nearly lost your life then, but you don’t seem to have learned! You’re a bit weaker than Faron and I, that’s just how it is, and so you need more rest and more breaks.”
“…Ugh, I know…” The Thunder Dragon tries to ignore the dull aches throughout his large body.
“You are so darn stubborn. Like you’ll admit to your tiredness when you’re parenting us, but not now?”
“That’s because you and Faron exhaust me so much more…” he mumbles. “You two act like five-year-olds sometimes and it takes a lot out of me.”
Eldin gapes at his brother. “Five-year-olds?? Since when have we acted like—“ He pauses, seemingly in thought. “You know what, you kinda have a point. But what you’re doing now isn’t much better.”
“…Stop it. Just…stop it.” Lanayru’s head begins to throb at Eldin’s booming voice. “I’m fine.”
“Totally not fine! Can’t you admit to neglecting your own health at least once? Isn’t that how you fell ill in the first place??”
“…I don’t know, Eldin, it was so long ago, I…I don’t really remember how it happened.”
“Well, I can bet ya it was from your stubbornness, thunder boy. Cause ya know, you claim to be the Mighty Thunder Dragon and all…but that almost killed you. And Hylia blessed us with eternal life, Lanayruuuu.”
He scowls at the way Eldin whines his name. It would have killed him had Link not intervened…he knows that. Eldin knows that.
“I get it, okay? I was really bad…but not anymore. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Well, if you keep this behavior up, I will.”
Lanayru breathes out a long sigh, a light fog beginning to fill his aching head. Maybe Eldin is right…perhaps he is too stubborn. But the last thing he wants now is to admit it.
“Mrmmm…” he mutters. “Your call, fire boy. I won’t change…”
Eldin’s face begins to blur, darkening at the edges, and Lanayru feels his head loll slightly. He snaps it back up, blinking several times to focus once more. But it’s beginning to get harder now.
No. Don’t fall asleep, Lanayru. Not now—
“Haha, someone’s feeling reeeeally sleeeeepy,” Eldin teases, cackling. He reaches a claw forward and waves it back and forth in front of Lanayru’s face. “Veeeryyy sleeeeepyyyy…”
“Shut up.” Lanayru pushes the claw away, his lightning bolt ring clinking against one of Eldin’s. “Maybe if you go away I’ll sleep.”
“Nope, can’t trust you! I’m not leaving til you’re out like a light, thunder man, because you’ve been at this too long. Link can wait.”
Eldin rises up from Lanayru’s sleeping area, floating behind him with another laugh. Soon Lanayru feels the Fire Dragon’s warm claws pushing up against his back. He is much larger than Eldin, and normally he’d be able to resist it…but this time he doesn’t have the strength; he lets his brother shove him down onto his back with a thud.
“Now, do you want a bedtime stooory?”
Lanayru glares at him with all his might. “No.”
“Or maybe I’ll sing you to sleep with the Song of the Hero.”
“Nnngghhh…no.”
At last, he lets his heavy eyelids close as his body sinks into the warm grass. “Don’t…need that…”
But Eldin doesn’t seem to have listened. Soon the Fire Dragon’s mighty but calming voice fills Lanayru’s ears, a bit more higher pitched than his own. The Song of the Hero indeed.
It is this melody, one they each know all too well, that lulls the Thunder Dragon to sleep.
#bailey writes#lanayru the thunder dragon#eldin the fire dragon#skyloftians#gully!#(the name is a nice nod to gulliver)#misfits of the 3 dragons#tw sleep deprivation#<<just in case
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Sabine Wren
Passed Through Fire
Story summary: An unexpected conversation with Jacen Syndulla and his mother, Hera, leaves Sabine Wren with doubts regarding her path as a Jedi. Later that same night Sabine experiences an intense Force vision; what she learns within it will lead to a choice - one that will determine her future as a Jedi, forever.
Sequel to this story:
The Wren-Bridger watchtower is quiet; night on Lothal is falling fast. The stars from the balcony can be seen twinkling overhead, too many to count. Below, the fields of grass sway in the cool evening breeze.
Somewhere, a family of loth-cats scurries through the undergrowth looking for shelter.
Somewhere, the distant howl of loth-wolves can be heard, echoing through the night air.
To some, it is a warning. But for Sabine, she finds the howl to be a comfort. As does her partner, and fellow Jedi, Ezra Bridger.
Sabine leans on the balcony railing taking in the sight and, once again, finds herself falling in love with Lothal. It is home. Always will be.
Our home.
There’s a shared feeling of familiarity and warmth that crosses through the Force. She turned to find Ezra, smiling at her from the doorway.
“It’s a beautiful view,” he said.
Sabine rolled her eyes, but couldn’t fight back a smile.
“Hey, it really is,” Ezra protested. “Lothal nights are one of a kind.”
Sabine arches an eyebrow at her partner. “So, you weren’t talking about me?”
“I mean, what words can be used to describe your beauty, Lady Wren? Truly, there are none that can properly convey the constellations in your eyes-”
Sabine scoffed. “What third-rate romantic holo-vid did you pull that from?”
“Actually, I got it from Lando. He said it a lot better, though.”
“Lando, huh. Maybe I should ring him up and hear how it’s properly said, then.”
She made to move inside the watchtower - until Ezra playfully grabbed her by the waist and twirled her into a smooth dance move that dipped her near the floor with him bent over her in a graceful arch.
“Not a chance, Lady Wren,” he said, his eyes serious.
Sabine’s pulse sky-rocketed. Oh, very smooth, Ezra Bridger, she thought.
After a heated moment, he stood her back up and took a bow.
“Well? How was that? Still want to call Lando?”
Trying her level best to sound non-chalant, Sabine replied, “Nice moves.”
“Ah, high praise.” His eyes sparkled as he pointed out, “I don’t think it’s quite that cold for your cheeks to be flushed, however, my Lady Wren.”
Sabine cursed silently. He held out a hand to her.
She took it. "To bed?" she asked.
"Sure. Unless you want to do some light sparring first? To help settle you."
"Not the exercise I'm interested in, at the moment," she said with a smirk.
Ezra's eyes flashed with heat. "Well, let's not waste anymore time."
They were half-way through the living room when their comm station beeped, alerting to an incoming call.
Sabine cursed out loud this time.
Ezra chuckled and crossed over to the comms.
The blue hologram sputtered forth the image of Jacen Syndulla appeared.
"Hi, Ezra! Hi, Sabine!" said the young boy. His grin was infectious in its youthful energy.
"Jacen!" Sabine joined her partner at the comm station, hurriedly buttoning up her blouse. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah!" Jacen peered closer at the two of them. "Are you guys okay?"
Ezra said, "Yeah, we are. Why?"
"You two look out of breath. Been sparring again?"
Sabine coughed loudly and smoothed her hair. Ezra hid a grin behind his hand.
"Sort of," Sabine said, sheepishly. "Why are you calling this late?"
Jacen grinned and said, "Mom's taking me to see Ahsoka tomorrow."
Sabine looked at Ezra, who mirrored the same look of surprise she had. They knew that Jacen was Force sensitive and most likely held the same strength that lied inherent in his father's blood, Kanan Jarrus. It was only a matter of time before the Jedi path came calling for him.
Hera, however, had been particularly quiet about what she thought regarding her son's future path. As a mother, it can't have been easy for her to think about giving Jacen to the Jedi for training.
As both Sabine and Ezra knew, that was a lifetime commitment. And it came with a steep price.
"Whoa, buddy." Ezra stroked his beard. "That's a lot sooner than we expected."
Jacen pouted. "Really? I've been waiting for ages!”
"We're happy for you, Jacen. Promise." Sabine side-eyed Ezra, who just shrugged. "What does your mom think about this? Is she excited like you are?"
The young boy's face clouded over. "No . . . she pretends to be, but I feel - I don't know. I feel a lot of different things from her whenever we talk about it."
Sabine nodded. "That makes sense. It's a big decision, Jacen."
Jacen nodded. "Ahsoka asked to think about who I want to teach me. As my Master."
"Really?" asked Sabine. "And who do you want as your Master?"
Jacen looked directly at Sabine. "You, Sabine."
Her heart came shuddering to a halt. She could feel Ezra's gaze fall on her.
"Me?" she asked. "Not Ezra?"
"Yes, you." He pointed at her this time as clarification.
Sabine snuck a look at Ezra, worried. She shouldn't have been; his eyes were full of pride and affection without a single trace of jealousy.
As her mind raced with questions, Ezra asked, dryly, "Is it because she has Mandalorian armor and a jetpack?"
"Noooo . . . well, maybe a little bit."
Sabine buried her face in her hands. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Training Kanan's child. That was a huge responsibility.
Am I up to it? Can I do right by him?
It went without saying how much Kanan had influenced her and Ezra's lives. They wouldn't be here without him.
She missed his presence every day. And she knew that Ezra thought about his former master just as much, if not more.
Without looking up, Sabine asked, "Did you tell Hera about your choice?"
There was a pause. Sabine peeked out from her hands and saw the young boy's face look uncharacteristically anxious.
"Yeah, I told Mom."
"And what did she say?"
Jacen looked furtively to the side for a moment, like he was watching for something. Then he whispered, "Promise you won't get mad?"
Ezra looked confused. "Why would we be mad, Jacen?"
"You have to promise," Jacen urged.
Sabine shared a look with Ezra and then nodded. He replied, "We promise."
I've got a bad feeling about this.
Jacen nodded, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, then. She said . . . Mom said she was against it."
The young boy looked down at his feet, ashamed. "Mom doesn't want Sabine as my master."
Sabine sat down, stunned at the admission. She could feel Ezra's puzzlement emanating through the Force, laced with threads of uncertainty.
Hera didn't trust Sabine to train her child.
Not hard to think about why, Sabine.
Even so . . . it hurt to think that Hera didn't have faith in her.
He was about to ask another question when another voice, familiar and filled with outrage, cut in from Jacen's end of the call.
"Jacen! What are you doing?"
Jacen jerked in surprise, eyes widening in horror. "Mom! I thought-"
"Who are you talking to this late at night - oh, you didn't."
The familiar figure of Hera Syndulla, General of the New Republic, filled the hologram gently pushing Jacen to the side. Out of view, Sabine heard Jacen yell, "Chopper! You were supposed to warn me if she was coming!"
Ezra huffed a laugh.
Hera was dressed in plain, comfy night wear - which, to Sabine's realization, none of them had ever seen Hera in casual clothing before. The former Rebel was always seen in her customary flight suit.
She looked tired, but her eyes were sharp eyeing both of them. "Hello, Ezra. Hello, Sabine."
"Evening, Hera. Sounds like you're having a busy day tomorrow from what Jacen tells us." Ezra sounded calm, as though he wasn't perturbed about what Jacen had just said mere second ago.
"Yeah. Sounds like Jacen said quite a lot while I was in the refresher."
She glared to the side and said, in a tone that brooked no dissent, "Bed. Now."
There was a blur in the background of the hologram that had to be Jacen. Hera watched her son off-screen for a little while more and then sighed.
"Sorry about that," she muttered. "He's too wired about tomorrow."
"It's fine," said Sabine. "We always love hearing from him."
"Hmmm. Maybe not this late at night, though." Hera rubbed at her eyes. "I'm going to get a cup of caf."
"We can leave you for the night if you want-" Ezra began, before he was cut off.
"No. I heard everything Jacen told you. And I suspect that Sabine wants to talk with me."
Sabine stared at the hologram. "Are you sure you're not Force-sensitive? Maybe Jacen gets it from you."
Hera gave a half-smile. "Funny." She looked at Ezra. "Ezra, I love seeing you, but this conversation is between myself and Sabine."
Ezra looked at Sabine and she felt his worry and reassurance pulsing through the connection they had.
"It's okay, Ezra. Go to sleep. I'll try not to be long."
He sighed. "Okay." Leaning down, he gave her a kiss on the cheek before departing.
Pausing at the bedroom doorway, he said, "Hera."
"Hmmm?"
"Be nice. Please."
Hera arched an eyebrow. "I don't take orders from you, last I checked."
"Consider it a personal favor to me."
She sighed. "Very well."
Something eased out of his shoulders. "Thanks."
He went inside the bedroom. Sabine and Hera were alone.
"Let me grab that cup and then we'll start." The hologram showed static for a second as the call was put on hold.
Sabine crossed her arms and marshalled her emotions.
Anger. Fear. Sadness.
The emotions Jedi were supposed to know how to deal with.
Emotions that she struggled with every day. She felt no wiser, no more adept at being a Jedi then when she first started all those years ago.
Was it a wonder that Hera didn't want her to mentor Jacen?
There was movement and the hologram sharpened to reveal Hera once more with a freshly brewed cup of cafe. She blew on it for a moment and then said, "You go first."
"I . . . understand your decision, Hera. But it does hurt to hear that you don't trust me to teach Jacen."
Hera's gaze turned sharp, along with her tone. "Not just with Jacen, Sabine. I don't trust you at all. With anything."
Sabine felt her hands unconsciously ball into fists. She breathed deeply, trying to regulate her emotions. Feeling that loss of trust; the relationship she had cherished so much with Hera . . . it was gone.
She had thrown it away when she handed the map to Baylan, along with so many other important things.
"You never understood me." The words slipped out; Sabine barely registered that it was coming from her mouth.
Hera snorted. "Oh, I understand why you did it. All for Ezra. Because you loved him so much, and wanted him back so desperately."
There was a brief pause as she took a sip - and then Hera continued: "Well, news flash, Sabine. You weren't the only one who loved Ezra and wanted to see him come back home."
Sabine crossed her arms. "Ten years. You never came forward with a lead on him-"
"I was busy helping to re-build the New Republic! And I had Jacen to take care of! You think I didn't want to help look for him?"
"And where were you when Mandalore was burned! When my family died! And then Ahsoka left me . . . Ezra was all I had left, don't you get it? I had no one!" Sabine was standing now, her voice raising to almost a shout. She could feel her hands trembling with the raw rage and hurt that was spiraling out of her.
At the mention of her family, Hera's eyes lost some of their anger. She looked away for a moment, blinking hard.
Sabine suddenly realized that Hera was crying.
The rage inside her chest quelled and began to disperse. She took another deep, calming breath.
"You're right about that. I wasn't there for you when . . . when Mandalore fell. And your family - Sabine, I'm so sorry for that. I should have been there."
Sabine sat down, feeling exhausted. "It's in the past, Hera."
"No, it isn't. Not for you," Hera said. "And that's my fault."
A silence spread between the two of them that was, for a moment, impenetrable.
Sabine broke it first. "Hera. None of it was your fault. I wasn't exactly . . . I wasn't - it was a bad time for me. I didn't give out any indication that I wanted anyone around me during - well, really, for a long time. Not just with what happened on Mandalore."
Hera nodded. "That's true. But I should have tried harder for you."
Sabine began to feel the tangled ball of emotions inside her dissipate. Tears began to flow freely down her face.
"I messed up so bad, Hera. I know that. Handing over that map leading to Thrawn . . . do you want to know the worst part?"
"What would that be?"
Her voice was barely a whisper. "I would do it all over again. Even if I knew then how it would all turn out. Even if it meant losing your trust and respect."
Hera sighed. "Oh, Sabine."
"It's not just Ezra, you know? I was so lost. I've been feeling like a failure for so long and I wanted to not feel that way anymore. After the War ended . . . all the victory celebrations and I just couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel happy about any of it. I just kept thinking about what we lost."
She kept talking, just letting it all spill out; everything that had been rotting inside her, spreading a poison that needed to be expelled.
"I kept losing, Hera. Don't you get it? You. Zeb. Even Chopper, that blasted droid, went with you. And I was stuck. And I kept coming back to Ezra - how I felt like the universe owed me this one thing. Just this once, for everything that I did."
She let out a shaky breath. "Just one thing to keep. To call my own. I was tired of giving up everything for a greater good."
Hera asked, "Thinking about Ezra was the only thing that made you happy?"
Sabine let out a laugh. "Yeah, that goofball. Who knew that the kid on Lothal would end up . . . meaning so much. I just kept holding onto that memory of him and it got me through a lot."
It kept me alive, she thought.
"You lost sight of him," Hera said, not unkindly. "The real Ezra. The one who would not have wanted his return to come with the risk of danger to our galaxy."
Sabine nodded.
"Sabine, I understand that. More than you know." Hera leaned back in her chair and sipped at her caf again. "Everyday, I think about Kanan. Especially when it comes to Jacen. I feel so out of my depth with him because of his growing abilities."
Hera sighed. "My own kid. Kanan would know what to do, but he's not here. And sometimes . . . sometimes I resent him for that. Leaving me. Leaving Jacen."
"And then you took on Jedi training with Ahsoka. And I was so hopeful . . ."
"That I could help with Jacen?"
Hera nodded. "Yes."
Sabine waved at herself in a sardonic fashion. "But I turned out like this, instead."
Hera's eyes flashed with renewed fire. "You put my child in danger, Sabine. It's not just about your mistake - you abused your power."
Sabine said, sharply, "What power? I didn't have access to the Force yet, remember?"
"It's not about the Force, Sabine. That's not what makes a Jedi. Even I know that. No, you made a choice. You gambled the fate of our galaxy because of your desire to see Ezra again."
Choice. My choice to save Ezra at the cost of trillions of lives.
"And if you made such a terrible decision before having the Force, then I can't bear to think about what you might do with it. Because there are stories about Jedi who became tempted like you did. And what they did with their abilities is the stuff of nightmares."
Choice. The word echoed in Sabine's head.
"You're worried that I might pass this on to Jacen," Sabine said. Her voice was calm, despite the storm brewing in her stomach.
"Yes," said Hera, quietly. "I see this shadow in you sometimes . . . and it scares me. Jacen can't see it. He adores you."
"His feelings blind him to my failings," said Sabine. "Sounds familiar."
There was another pause. Hera waited for a reply, sipping at the last dregs of her caf.
Sabine just stood there, unable to process anything. She just wanted to sleep - forever.
"Sabine."
She looked at Hera's image.
"Are you certain that this is the right path for you?"
"Being a Jedi?" asked Sabine in a monotone.
Hera nodded.
"I don't know. I struggle with it, everyday."
Hera took that in without comment.
"Why do you want to do it, then? It's not a path that called to you, like with Kanan and Ezra. You chose it."
To atone. But she didn't say that out loud.
Hera, however, guessed at it. "If it's for some kind of penance that you think is owed . . . I'm not sure that's a good reason to be a Jedi."
"Then why should I be a Jedi, then?"
Hera shrugged. "That's for you to figure out." She checked to the side and groaned. "I really hope that chronometer is lying about the time."
"You should get some sleep, Hera," said Sabine, quietly.
"I'll try." She began to turn off the call.
"Hera." Sabine couldn't help herself.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think - can I make this right for you? And Jacen? Can you ever forgive me; trust me again?"
Hera looked at her with such pity and sadness, then. Sabine felt something inside her crumble to dust at the expression.
"I don't think I can, Sabine."
And she was gone.
Sabine turned to enter the watch-tower's sleeping quarters. The doors slid open and she found Ezra, laying awake on their bed.
"You heard?" she asked.
"Yes." He held out his arms. "Come here."
She crawled into his arms and wept her shoulders shaking with bitter grief.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the dream, she is alone.
Kneeling on a stage of starless night.
A voice comes forth - one that she hasn't heard in a lifetime.
"You look a little lost."
Sabine turns to find the achingly familiar figure of Kanan Jarrus, garbed in traditional Jedi robes.
She whispers, "Kanan." All the memories of him threaten to overwhelm her in this moment.
He smiles. "Hey, Sabine. It's been a while."
In a small voice, Sabine asks, "Are you real? Is this happening in my head?"
Kanan shrugged. "Technically, everything happens in your head. Doesn't make it any less real."
"Is this the Force again? Trying to tell me something?"
Kanan turned serious. "Yeah. I've been watching you for a while now, Sabine."
"And? Impressed by my progress?"
Kanan sat down in front of her, cross-legged. "It hurts."
"Yeah?" She wanted to sound defiant, but all that came out was a croak. "Which part?"
He just looked at her with compassion. "It hurts to see you in so much pain."
Sabine didn't want to talk about this. "Where are we?"
"Within the heart of every Jedi lies a place of stillness; a place to reflect, when they meditate. I call it the Still Place."
She snorted. "The 'Still Place'? Kind of lame."
Kanan pouted. "Look, it's not meant to be creative. It just is, okay? That's what it's called."
Sabine sighed and looked around the empty space they inhabited. "Looks like my Still Place is pretty barren."
"It looks different to every person. Focus, Sabine."
She did, closing her eyes - and . . .
The gentle rustle of grass fields in the wind.
She opened her eyes to find herself in a clearing, surrounded by familiar grass lands. Craning her neck upwards, she saw the familiar night sky view of countless stars. In the distance, she saw the capital city and the watchtower she now called home.
"Of course," she said. "Where else would it be."
Kanan smiled. "I miss being here."
She soaked in the view of the world she loved and her former mentor, taking it all in.
"Why are you here, Kanan?"
He returned his gaze to her. "It's not to punish you, Sabine."
"I think I would deserve it. You know what I've done?"
"I know. But it's time to let that go. It's weighing you down. It's hurting you."
"What is?"
"Your attachment to your failures."
Sabine scoffed. "What attachment? I hate my failures! I hate that I messed up!"
"They're a part of you. You need to accept it. And move on."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "That makes no sense."
"Try."
"Jedi don't try," she shot back. "They do."
"When it comes to the matters of the Force and their abilities, then yes," replied Kanan. "But in everything else - look, Sabine, the universe is a complicated place. There's no guarantee of anything. That's the secret."
He leaned forward. "Sometimes, the best we can do is try. Even Jedi make mistakes."
"Even like the ones I've made?" she asked.
"Okay, that's a pretty exclusive club," Kanan admitted. "But there are other Jedi who did make mistakes like you."
Sabine looked at him and said, "Hera thinks I'm irredeemable, you know. That I've gone too far and abused my power."
Kanan gave her a look. "Do you think that?"
"I saved Ezra. And it came at a cost."
"You also stated that you would do it again, even knowing the outcome. You also haven't answered my question."
She thought about it. "I don't want to be irredeemable."
"What do you want, Sabine?"
"I want to be a Jedi."
Kanan cocked his head. "Why? You've never shown an interest before, when I was training Ezra."
"No," she admitted. "But I was watching. And I saw how it made you better. You both became stronger."
"Is that what you desire? The powers of a Jedi?"
Sabine frowned. "No . . . no." She let out a breath of frustration. "I don't know how to put it."
Kanan waited for her to gather her thoughts. And, at last, Sabine found the words.
"Taking the path of the Jedi made you both . . . more. More than what you already were. But you both were still yourselves, but also not just yourselves." She still found the statement to be clunky, but it felt true to what she felt.
Kanan smiled and nodded for her to continue.
"I wanted that. To be more than what I was. To protect others, like you both did. To prevent tragedies like we experienced from happening to everyone else. The Rebellion had plenty of soldiers, Generals, and heroes . . . but what the galaxy really needed were Jedi."
She looked up at Kanan. "And you and Ezra were gone."
"So, you wanted to step up. Become what you thought everyone needed."
Sabine nodded.
Kanan smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Sabine. I didn't mean to leave you with that burden."
"It was my choice. But, I let everyone down."
"Being a Jedi isn't about the lightsabers or the Force. It's about your choices, Sabine. It's about being the best possible version of yourself. You didn't need to be a Jedi first and foremost - everyone needed you to be yourself."
Sabine shook her head, feeling the tears starting to well up. "But it doesn't matter, Kanan. I think doing this - going down this path, it made me worse."
"Power," said Kanan, "regardless of where it comes from - the Force, political, or financial - is an amplifier for every person. It doesn't change them. It just gives you the ability to be more of . . . yourself."
"So . . . I am irredeemable?"
"You just said that you don't wish to be, right?"
"Right," said Sabine.
Kanan chuckled. "Then you won't."
She blinked at him. "It's that easy?"
The chuckle turned into a full throated laugh. It'd been so long since she'd heard him laugh.
"No, no. You've got to put in a lot of work, Sabine. But if you decide that you want to make amends, then you can."
"Hera doesn't seem to think so."
Kanan stopped laughing. "She'll be a tough one," he admitted. "You crossed a line with her."
He gazed directly at her and for a moment his eyes turned piercing. "You put our son in danger, Sabine."
Sabine felt a chill go through her that had nothing to do with the Lothal evening breeze. "Then why are you helping me?"
"Because I care for you. And so does she. It's why she's so angry with you."
Kanan stood and ignited his lightsaber. The blue blade was bright as any star, casting brilliant light in the quiet field around them.
"Are you ready? To face what comes next?"
Sabine looked at that sky-blue blade and asked, "What comes next, Kanan?"
"Joy. Despair. Love. Heartbreak. And life." He stared at her, face unreadable. "So much of it. If you want."
Nothing about the conversation had particularly inspired her to continue, she reflected. Kanan had simply told her what she needed to hear.
It would be tough. It would be hard, heart-breaking labor to make amends and find her way.
But . . . she wanted to keep fighting. She wanted to do it.
Sabine would see it through to the end. Make more mistakes, learn from them, and keep going. She would try her best and, when the time came, leave this galaxy with as few regrets possible.
And, hopefully, make it a better place for some.
"I'm ready," she said, quietly.
The blade lowered and rose onto each of her shoulders without touching.
"By the right of the Council; by the will of the Force. I dub thee, Sabine Wren, Jedi Knight of the Republic."
The lightsaber blade retracted into its hilt. Kanan held out a hand.
She took it and rose to her feet.
"That's it?" she asked. "Don't I get a fancy parade or something?"
His laughter, warm and loving, followed her out of the dream.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The next day, Ezra took Sabine to the hangar bay where the re-salvaged G9, christened The Starburst Phoenix, laid in wait.
He knew that she wanted to focus her mind on something positive considering the mood from last night. Sabine didn't say anything but she appreciated the gesture to cheer her up, nonetheless.
It was good to have a Jedi partner. You were never really alone. Sabine couldn't fathom why the old Jedi Order forbade these kinds of relationships.
They were mid-way through retrofitting the laser turrets when a call came through the comms.
It was Hera.
Ezra looked at Sabine. "If you want, I'll take this."
She shook her head. Sometimes, all we can do is try our best.
"I'm good, Ezra. Go ahead and answer it."
He did. Hera's voice came through, sounding unsteady.
"Hey, Hera," said Ezra. "How'd it go?"
"Ahsoka finished her tests. He's ready to start his official training." Her voice sounded stuffy, like she had been crying.
Sabine spoke. "I'm sorry, Hera."
"No, it's a good thing. He was always meant for this. You should have seen his face, how it lit up . . . I can't take this from him."
There was a few moments of silence. Hera's voice came back on the line, this time sounding more normal.
"When does his training start?" asked Ezra.
"That's the good news. Her and Skywalker are still setting up the Academy and rounding up other candidates. It will still take some time. Maybe a year, at the most."
"You still have time to spend with him," said Sabine, relieved.
"Yeah. I told the Council that I would be taking the next year off to spend time with my son. Mon Mothma personally approved it."
"Good," said Sabine. "They owe you."
"Yeah," replied Hera. "They do."
There was a long pause and then, barely there: "I'm scared."
Sabine caught Ezra's look. He motioned at her to speak.
She frowned and said, "What are you scared of, Hera?"
"Letting Jacen go. The last time I did that with people I loved . . . it didn't end well."
"When was the last time?"
"Kanan. Ezra. And then, you. I let you all go. I should have fought harder to stay by your side."
Sabine let out a breath. "None of that is your fault, Hera. There was a war. It's different this time with Jacen."
"I can hope, right? Trust in the Force." She sounded almost sarcastic in that last one.
"If you need something more, then trust in me, Hera," said Ezra. "And trust in Sabine. We'll look out for him, I promise."
Hera was silent. There were some voices on the other end of the call. Sabine heard a chuckle.
"Jacen wants to know if he can borrow Sabine's jetpack for his training."
Ezra grinned at Sabine. "We'll talk about it," Sabine replied, smiling.
"My vote is no," said Hera, firmly. "But, who knows? It might come in handy some day for a Jedi padawan."
"It did for me," said Sabine.
"And me," added Ezra.
Hera snorted. "Positive influences you two are. The New Jedi Order's best and brightest."
"Hera," began Sabine, cautiously.
"Yes, Sabine?"
Try my best. Make amends.
"Listen. Now that you've got some time off, Ezra and I were wondering if you would love stopping by Lothal to help with a personal project of ours."
Ezra raised his eyebrows questioningly at her but didn't say anything.
"Oh, yeah. Heard you picked up a real clunker of a ship. G9, right?"
"Hey," protested Ezra. "She's got it where it counts, you know. They flew the G9s during the Clone Wars. I heard even some Jedi used them as personal starships."
"Right," snorted Hera. "I'll take your word for it, Ezra, but I'd take the Ghost over your ship, any day.
"Anyway," continued Sabine, glaring daggers at Ezra, "if you wanted to help out. We could use some experienced hands on the repairs. Make sure nothing blows up when we power it on, that sort of thing."
"You haven't powered it on, yet?"
"No. Because we're worried it might blow up if we do. Haven't you been listening?"
Hera sighed. "Repair work, huh. Great start to a vacation."
Sabine replied, "You don't have to, if you think it's too much to handle."
"Nah. Whatever's broken, we'll fix it together," Hera replied. Sabine could almost see Hera's gentle smile in her mind's eye.
Sabine looked at Ezra, who reached out and held her hand.
"My thoughts, exactly."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Author's Note: This was a really hard one to write. I don't know how I feel about this; I'm not sure if I got everything I wanted to across or if I properly fleshed out the motivations for Sabine. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Gonna take a break from writing fics for a while but, never fear, I'm already planning the next one. It's gonna be Ezra focused. Stay tuned!
#sabine wren#ezra bridger#sabezra#ezrabine#star wars rebels#star wars#ahsoka show#fanfic#hera syndulla#jacen syndulla
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How does the 1st year ob look like? I mean, what outfit/accessories are they wearing?
So basically I am actually working on some concepts for this but here are a few I have came up with. Hope you like them! I didn’t do a full design due to a time limit and art block please forgive me.
Adeuce duo they basically have the markings of their respective card suits on their head. Their markings downward are kind of like helmets too. But they both still have the heart/spade on the corners of their eyes.
With Aces overal design I had wanted it to be like a jerster and soldier like outfit. Because I had loved the traitor Ace theorys and some particular designs of his ob form had stood out to me a lot. But I had taken a lot of inspiration from the card soldiers from Alice in wonderland a lot.
With Deuce I wanted his more delinquent side to show throughout his appearance. Because his delinquent years were a big part in his life. A part that he tries to repress so I just thought what if he hadn’t changed? What if he was just very impulsive and didn’t hold back his tounge on snarky comments like Ace. So I have just been looking for the most grunge and delinquent styles I could find for him. His messy hair was kept since he probably doesn’t care that much for appearances. I had given him chains as his neck mark and to surround him. Because of his gangster persona and as a symbol of the weight of guilt he carries from seeing how upset his poor mother was. Not even bothering to change his ways because he was too deep into it and went “ FUCK GRANDMA!”
Epel like deuce would be a menace. For he must have a lot of built up gender dysphoria and hatred from always being called a girl. Even after constantly stating it to others only for them to still call him girly. So I wanted to give him a very delinquent-y look along with a long cloak since he is obviously inspired by the old lady queen? I forgot the name but anyways I wanted you to convey that through giving him a more intimating and messy look to convey how manly he is. Along with the fact he doesn’t care for his appearance either and is just a messy and chaotic farm boy. His blot markings are very similar to Vil’s but extremely messy and he has splashed markings everywhere on him.
Jack I am not too sure for his reasons of overblotting. Because sure you could have a good supportive family and childhood but still have issues. So I’d say that he maybe overused his powers to a point he had overblotted. But he is an obvious leader of the group due to him always keeping them in check. So I’d see his overblot form showing his animalistic side a lot more. Id keep his little shark tooth? Or fang necklace. But adding more fur onto him for a more animalistic look. Along with his very complex hair being more disheveled to add to his blot form looking very over worked. I’ve added the three scratches on his nose because of Leona.
Sebek… it’s just very obvious that he was bullied as a child for being half human. Due to Briar Valleys rarity of humans being there so he probably would have occasionally been bullied or felt different from the rest of the kids there. This would result in his self hatred. So his adoration for malleus besides his strength and other admirable characteristics would probably also be because he’s living perfection in his eyes. So his human racism would be at its max! But his loyalty to Malleus would still shine throughout his design because of how devoted he is to him. So most of his outfit would contain little accessories similar to malleus but expressed in Sebeks own unique way. Along with his reptilian looks shining through so he would most definitely have many inky and real scales around his face and body. Kinda like freckles for example.
I haven’t gotten his yet due to running out of time but still hopefully you all enjoyed this and are having a good day/ have your day get better!
Sincerely Cup1d T3a💕
@simping-on-the-daily Got you some food!
#Overblot#twst#twst wonderland#twisted wonderland#ace trappola#deuce spade#epel felmier#jack howl#sebek zigvolt#First years#Overblot series
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What is your opinion on the "Female Space Marines" thing, Lady Mirdan?
Are you trying to get me cancelled, my good man? 😅
Strap in. This is gonna be an unhinged and unfocused ranty wall of text.
Short answer:
Female space marines are a primaris level of a bad idea, and I really hope it doesn't become canon.
Slightly longer answer:
I feel like people forget that the Imperium are bad guys. Even the Emperor's “dream” for the Imperium is a fascist utopia, with all its horrible connotations going along with that.
There are good/interesting people/characters mixed into this mess, and I find it so interesting to see them interact in a world where the morals are (sometimes not) so radically different from the one we are living in.
The Imperium is a horrible, xenophobic, misogynistic, misanthropic hellhole.
The rotting carcass of the Emperor on a golden throne is a perfect metaphor for this.
The only thing that matters is brute strength or power/resources.
Human lives are very cheap in the Imperium. I have heard the argument “It doesnt make any sense to ignore half of your population when making space marines”, yes it does. Geneseed is rare and valuable, but humans are not. There is always someone willing to give up their son for a chance to get the God Emperors' blessing.
But let's say it is possible. Geneseed is fully compatible with female anatomy. Would someone still do it?
My guess is: probably not.
The Imperium can't even come up with a new pair of shoelaces without the inventors risking being called heretics. None of the bigger, more established chapters would risk it. Entire chapters have been wiped out for less.
I would also expect that the Ecclesiarchy would be rather unhappy with the Astartes dipping their toes into their own military recruitment pool. Terran bureaucracy is not a thing to be taken lightly.
Can’t Roboute Guilliman just go in and make it a thing?
Maybe, but why would he want to? What has given anyone the opinion that Guilliman is a “good guy”?
He often (in my opinion) wrongly gets accredited as the primarch of reason/tactics/politics when he is clearly the master of Propaganda.
He is memed to be this chivalrous boy scout when he absolutely is not. That is his carefully crafted public image.
Look at what types of men he chooses to promote when given the chance. Strong and dumb, every time.
But how about the chaos space marines?
Here we actually have an argument to do it. We have seen in several books (Nightlords, Fabius Bile etc,) that human fertility drops dramatically in the warp.
Here every body counts, and they have to be more economical with their initiates.
Fabius Bile himself is working hard to make this a possibility. Even though he wants to do his own thing and not just more space marines, they are close enough for me to be called female space marines, and I'm fine with them. The EC can have them… but do we really want them to?
What about the other Traitor Legions then?
Most of the traitor Legions leaders grew up in the Imperium and shares a lot of their sensibilities and morals.
I would doubt that the Black Legion would be fine with it even IF (big if) Abaddon himself were ok with it. A lot of his warbands would be pissed. There aren't good and rational people; they are just as brainwashed as the imperials. (I imagine a good re-enactment of this happening would be the Templin institute’s comment field on their video about this, but with (actual) curses and no profanity filter)
But GW has done bigger retcons in the past!
Yes, they have. And most of them have been handled badly.
I fully believe that female space marines CAN be introduced in a good way.
Do I trust GW/BL to do this well? Absolutely the fuck not.
I have read a good number of BL books by now, and I think I have come across well-written female characters… twice?
But my friend has a kitbashed army with female space marines, and he wants to play with them.
Hell yeah! Can I see it? I love kitbashes, and I much rather see a female space marine on the table than an “Angry marine”, for example. I’m not bothered in the least by anything fan created.
It is GW I don't trust.
You don't want female space marines because you are a sexist!
I'm not gonna bother defending against this because that would make me a hypocrite.
Yes, the primary reason I don’t want female space marines is so I can have a harem of imaginary big, buff boyfriend waifus that will never ever have an unmotivated, badly written love interest written in. Do you have any idea how rare that is to come across in a fandom?
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ok so MY guess is that Wangxian dual cultivated hard enough to end up with a radish in the xuanwu cave, but I wanna read the conversation where these two idiots are forced to acknowledge it. I feel like at minimum the Lans would immediately start asking questions. Bonus points if WWX accidentally lets it slip that they might have accidentally-on-purpose gotten SLIGHTLY engaged in a separate, prior, gay cave incident involving Lan Yi
"Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian says one night, about a week into Lan Zhan's first month in Yunmeng, "there's something you should know about A-Yuan."
The two of them are sitting on the roof together, partly for tradition's sake and partly out of convenience. They met on the roof of the guardhouse at the Cloud Recesses, and settled their quarrel about Wei Wuxian’s guidao on the roof of Nie Mingjue’s guest chambers—and now, at Lotus Pier, the pavilions and bridges of the living compound are occupied even in the dead of night, leaving the roof as the only safe place for lovers to meet and trade secrets.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan can hardly be called lovers, despite being a pair of sworn zhiji and parents to the same child. But Wei Wuxian loves Lan Zhan dearly all the same; and so, here they are, perched on the roof over Jiang-shushu’s study like a pair of trysting sweethearts.
“What is it?” Lan Zhan replies, placing his pale hand over the dark one in Wei Wuxian’s lap. “Are you and Yuan-bao well?”
“En, we are. But Lan Zhan, about your offer of marriage, I—”
Lan Zhan closes his eyes and squeezes Wei Wuxian’s hand a little tighter.
“I will not repeat it. It would distress you, and I would not bring you grief for any price,” he says quietly. “I understand that you do not love me, though you care for me deeply, and so...let us put my foolishness to rest, and move on. You have your due rights as A-Yuan’s muqin and a member of my clan, which is what I truly wanted for you both.”
Wei Wuxian knew that Lan Zhan proposed to him out of duty and nothing more, but the ache of hearing him say so is no less keen for it. He takes the blow like a man, refusing to betray himself with a flinch or the trembling of white lips left unkissed by the father of his child. Now, he has no need to tell Lan Zhan about his feelings; his beloved does not return them, and revealing the truth of his heart would likely win him a second offer of marriage, one Wei Wuxian would never have the strength to refuse.
He would wed Lan Zhan if he asked again, wed him and dwell with him until the end of his days, because it would be torment to be parted from him and death to imagine Lan Zhan with another. Once he tried to think of someone else surpassing him in Lan Zhan’s affections, some high-spirited maiden or gentle xianjun who would love A-Yuan and honor Wei Wuxian as the father that bore him, and found himself wishing himself married that very instant, so he could be content in the knowledge that Lan Zhan would never...
“I love you,” he says aloud, so softly that he scarcely hears himself above the rustling of the wind. “I love you as Zhu Yingtai loved Liang Shanbo, as the Lady Bai She loved her Xu Xian. When we were still in Qishan, I heard Lan-xiansheng say it was a miracle that you were well enough to dual cultivate with me after fighting the Xuanwu, let alone that I had the strength to receive you and bear a child, and so—well!
“It was more than your strength, my Lan Zhan, and more than mine, too. I love you more than life, qian xin, and so we have our A-Yuan. And that’s why I can’t marry you, because I would demand much more of my husband than he would be willing to give.”
Lan Zhan’s tongue darts out to wet his mouth. His eyes are wide and bloodshot, like pale pieces of cracked-glaze jewelry made to show the red enamel below, and all Wei Wuxian can see in them is his own wavering reflection.
“And have you asked your husband what he is willing to give?” Lan Zhan says fiercely, dragging Wei Wuxian into his arms and squeezing him until he gasps for breath. “Or did you break his heart by refusing him, when that heart was yours to take or discard the moment your eyes met his!”
Wei Wuxian stares at him in disbelief. “But you never spoke,” he pleads, fighting the urge to lie back in Lan Zhan’s sturdy arms and melt like iced fruit left out in the sun. “If I asked you to come back to Yunmeng with me once, I must have asked a thousand times—and each time you refused me!”
“Refused out of fear,” Lan Zhan counters. “I could not—” and here his ears flush redder than roses, burning hot against Wei Wuxian’s skin— “Nie Huaisang told me that things were different here, that the cultivators of Yunmeng Jiang were free with their affections, and I was afraid that being spoiled further with your friendship would force me to betray my love.”
He pulls Wei Wuxian closer, shamefaced, and presses his cold nose into the curve between Wei Wuxian’s neck and shoulder.
“And I could not bear the thought of you having a mingding zhiren other than myself,” he whispers. “I was sure that one such as you would be dearly loved—for how could you not be? From the way you defended Mianmian and your shijie, and the way you spoke of the beauties you knew in Yunmeng, I was sure you had made some good guniang a queen among women by loving her before you ever met me!”
“And so you rejected me whenever I tried to approach you?” Wei Wuxian protests. “Then what else was I to think, save that-that--”
And then Wei Wuxian can say nothing more, because his heart’s treasure is kissing him.
Marry me, Lan Zhan begs between kisses, even as Wei Wuxian calls his name and weeps at the finger’s breadth of space keeping them apart. Let me be yours and be for me only, my love!
And Wei Wuxian yields to him, body and soul, willing as a peach blossom torn by the wind as he cries out—
“Yes!”
#wangxian#the untamed#mo dao zu shi#lan wangji#wei wuxian#cultivation baby sizhui au#my fic#!!!!!!!#please reblog this omg im sweating
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Ok, so unless this is a spoiler question: How does Hueso react to Usagi? Do Leo and Usagi ever babysit Jr? :)
(It is a little bit of a spoiler but I also think most people can guess it a mile away so might as well confirm it.)
Leo tell Hueso all about Usagi before Hueso ever gets to meet them boy. On one hand he is happy Leo found someone who took care of him and helped him when he needed it most. But if the boy was not everything Leo said and more than He didn’t deserve his pepino.
Hueso is one of the few people who Leo confides his insecurity in. He knows how Leo thinks about himself and he doesn’t need anyone taking advantage of the boy’s low self esteem. When he finds out that Usagi knows about all of Leo’s insecurities and still told Leo he loves him he has mixed feelings. He is not sure if this Usagi phased his ‘love’ as I love you despite all of these things, or if he said I love you except for your flaws, or was it I love you, flaws and all.
If it was the first two then this boy had to go. He would make Leo’s insecurities worse and could manipulate the boy into thinking worse about himself.
Even the third option made him wary. Leo did have flaws but many of his insecurities were unfounded and he just needed support.
Thankfully when they met he found that Usagi was a mixture of option three and something better. The boy loved all of Leo and supported him in his insecurities. Pulling Leo aside to reassure him of his worth and value. Hueso liked this Usagi.
He saw that the two were a good fit together, balancing each other’s personalities well. Leo had become less boisterous about his own achivments. Instead of bragging in the hopes that someone else would agree with him, he had become more reserved. At first Hueso had worried this was the boy valuing himself less but when Usagi showed up he realized what it truly was. Leo didn’t have to praise himself anymore as someone else was doing it for him. Usagi acknowledged Leo’s successes and praised him for them while also helping the boy with his failures. Leo had need that for a long time.
But it wasn’t just Leo that this relationship balanced. When he talked to Usagi’s friends he found that the boy used to be very serious and was now starting to find joy in their daily lives. He was having fun and enjoying his time with Leo. But it wasn’t until much later he truly saw Leo’s effect on Usagi’s personality.
The boy and his friends had approached Hueso with a request. They had wondered where to go to find employment in the hidden city. They were all use to working for money, and specifically Usagi wanted to start establishing themselves here. This was now their home after all. They didn’t asked him for jobs as they didn’t want to “take advantage” of his and Leo’s relationship, but the other two adults they could go to were unemployed rat man and mad scientist turned lunch lady. April worked in the human world as did Draxum but it would be harder for a bunny, fox, and rhino to pass as humans.
Hueso had offered them jobs at the restaurant anyways. ‘Just until they found something more suited to them.’ He could tell they were hard workers and it was better to keep them out of trouble while they learned their new city. Besides at this point he still didn’t fully trust the bunny.
The three did great. Usagi was all ways polite and respectful and Kitsune had a bubbly personality making them popular as waiters. Gen was more gruff but his love of food had made him a fast study in the kitchen as a bust boy turned chief. They were good workers. They were even better on days when he had ruff customers.
Most of his staff didn’t want to work on the nights he had crime bosses come in. These were the nights he normally would call Leo and his brothers in for some extra hands. He had learned to play the boys to their strengths Leo as a server and Mikey in the kitchen. If Donnie or Raph tagged along they would help Leo bring out food or just be in the back, just in case something went poorly.
His three new servers didn’t take off the first time. He still called in Leo and Mikey just for the extra hands. He had a feeling that his new servers weren’t fully aware of what was happening that night.
The restaurant was cleared out of it’s usually guest and staff confusing the three new members. It confused them more when Leo and Mikey, who had arrrived with them, went to the back to get ready instead of taking their normal booth. Leo, Mikey, and Hueso all did their best to explain who was coming tonight. The three were not happy.
The best Leo could do was describe the mob boss as a lord who ran a criminal gang instead of a city. Usagi had given him a flat look and said “so they are like the leader of a group of bandits.” Usagi was not happy about servicing such people. Gen and Kitsune had left a life of crime but that’s the difference they left, these people still actively hurt people. Judging by the way Hueso was stressing, they would hurt him if this didn’t go well.
Usagi didn’t understand why they couldn’t just deny them entry, Leo tried to explain that they had power in the city and that it was better for Hueso if they just grinned and bared it. Leo didn’t like it either but he understood how the underground worked. Most of these gangs wouldn’t actually cause to many problems as Big Mama kept smaller gangs in line.
He told them that if they didn’t want to do this Hueso wouldn’t hold it against them if they left. He was used to doing this by himself before the turtles entered his life. Raph had only helped out once as serving criminals rubbed him the wrong way. He made it clear though that him and Mikey were staying as he wouldn’t abandon Hueso. Just because he had done it by himself before didn’t mean he should or that it was easy.
Gen and Kitsune were fine staying. Both understood that dealing with these kinds of people was necissary. Kitsune’s past as a theif and entertainer made her more then aware of what bad people in power could do to businesses. Gen didn’t mind as long as they got paid, he and his family had been bounty hunters after all.
It was Usagi whose fur fluffed up at the thought. Gen and Kitsune both told him he should probably go and Leo reassured him no one would mind if he left. Leo loved his boyfriend’s sense of morals and duty, he knew Usagi wouldn’t be comfortable with this. But Usagi couldn’t leave. The idea of leaving his boyfriend, his sibling, his boyfriend’s little brother, and their boss (who had been to kind to them and was more of an uncle at this point) behind to face these people made his skin crawl.
He stayed but Leo suggested he stay in back or with Hueso. He and Kitsune could handle being the waiters tonight. This allowed Usagi to not have to serve them while also giving him something to do besides watch and worry.
The night had started off great Leo and Kitsune were charming and Mikey and Gen were killing it in the kitchen. Hueso was bouncing between helping in the kitchen and keeping an eye on everything, Usagi stayed by his side ready to step in if necessary. Everything had been going great. Until an order came out late.
They started to yell at Kitsune and Leo stepped in only for one of the henchman to shove Leo into Kitsune knocking them both down in a spill of food. Usagi moved before Hueso could stop him. He was in between his loved ones and the threat his wakizashi at the henchman’s throat. The fight that followed was nothing new. They had managed to keep the restaurant safe which was all Hueso really wanted out of the night.
It was after they were gone that Usagi righteous anger was fully on display. It had been the whole fight but now that it was over he was still infuriated that any of them were put in that situation in the first place. It was here that Hueso got to see Leo’s true effect on Usagi for the first time. Usagi was ranting about what had just occurred asking if it had happened before. The boy was rightfully upset at the treatment of his loved ones. Leo just got up and hugged him stilling the boy’s fury. Leo calmed him with gentle touches and whispered reassurances and Hueso could now see exactly how balanced they were as a couple.
Usagi continued to work for him as did his friends. They never took off a ruff night though Usagi never acted as a server on those nights, more of a bouncer. It quickly spread through the underworld to keep your hands to yourself at Run of the Mill, there was a new samurai there.
Hueso became quite fond of the lot of them. When he called Leo to babysits Jr. he would also allow Usagi to join them. He was trusting the couple with his boy. (Besides there was no better birth control then a child running around your ankles. He might like them as a couple but he didn’t need any grandnephew or grandniece running around just yet)
He might have also give the group a small pay raise when he found out that Usagi used his salary to get things for Leo. The boy’s love language was gift giving and who was Hueso to stand in between that. (For a man made out of bones he is quite soft for his adopted boy and his sweet boyfriend)
#a world of samurais and ninjas#asks#leosagi#rise leo#awosan miyamoto usagi#rise hueso#awosan kitsune#awosan gen#future oneshot
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