142.

It's dark under the castle. Callum'd been going out of his way to stay out of the tunnels, if only because the atmosphere down here puts his teeth on edge and makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. There's too much unfriendly history; too many reminders of the previous high mage and the less-than-ethical ways he tried to solve everyone's problems.

But Rayla had insisted, and even as awkward as things are...

How could he say no?

She's got a bow strung over her back now, and a quiver of arrows clutched in her hand, and he can see the discomfort in her posture, and in the way her knuckles shine white around the leather of Runaan's quiver. He wants to say something, to ask if she's okay, but the quiet feels heavy and the words get tangled up before they ever make it into his mouth.

Then they hear something in the distance. Footsteps. Something—someone—hurrying away.

Callum's breath hitches. The back of his neck prickles. His stomach writhes uneasily in his gut, because the only others who know how to navigate the tunnels are Ezran, and...

"You don't think—"

Rayla holds out a hand. "Shh," she hisses. She unsheathes one of her blades and inches ahead of him, her feet light against the floor.

"Rayla—"

"Shh!" She glares at him. "You'll give us away!"

"But what if it's—"

"They wouldn't have come back here," says Rayla. "That would be stupid, even for Claudia."

"But if someone else is down here—"

"I know." Rayla flicks her blade into its sword form, and dimly, Callum remembers a comparatively simpler time, a finger pressed against his lips, magic humming in his hands. "Stay here."

"But—"

"It'll be fine," she says. And she's right, it's probably no one, or nothing, but still. Callum's been hesitant to let her go off on her own since Umber Tor, and she'd come back, of course, but he's grown to dislike watching her walk away. And weird as everything is, they must still share a link of some sort, because she smiles and adds, "I'll be back."

"I could just come with you?"

"And give us away?" She smirks. "Just stay put. I won't be long."

A pause. Callum hesitates. Rayla does too. And then, she leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek. There's more in it than they've talked about: her longing, her regret, her apology for putting him through what she did. But it's a promise too: that she means what she says, that she will be back, that she loves him still.

"I always come back, don't I?"

Callum nods slowly, learning to trust her again, learning to breathe. "Yeah," he says. "You do."

Worth the World-Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang

The awesome art is called "In The Night" by @anaccidentwaitingtohappen

@strangerthingsreversebigbang

Worth the World

Summary: Steve and Mike give each other pep-talks in their own unique ways, and it works! The almost end of the world is rough but they can figure it out together.

No Archive Warnings Apply

Rated Teen and Up

Pairings: Steve Harrington & Mike Wheeler, Mike Wheeler & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, (Minor) Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Characters: Mike Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper

3,254 words

Some tags: steve harrington and mike wheeler bonding, post s4, vecna is defeated, mike wheeler centric, late night conversations, Mike Wheeler loves Will Byers, first kiss

Link to ao3!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54738172

As Marinette and Adrien begin to grapple with their feelings for both their partner and beloved classmate, secrets are revealed one by one. This is the story of how they face each of these secrets with each other and those supportive people around them. Secrets that if faced alone could break you.

“They didn't know how stubborn he is,” Arthur muttered eventually. “Trying to get Merlin to do anything you want from him is like trying to get a donkey to do what you want.”

And, for the first time, he was horrified by Merlin’s unyielding loyalty.

Feel free to tell me if you want to be tagged for updates ❤

Woah. Sword of Sanctuary be upon ye. Cole for scale

if season 1 Tim & Lucy could see season 5 Chenford right now wow ❤️😭

People have been saying "new Sunny sucks" for over a decade, btw:

("last nights episode" was The Gang Gets Trapped)

Divorce

the way that harvey cannot at all handle that mike isn’t his personal associate anymore

I rlly dgaf about the bnha plot if it’s not dabi-centered 😭

In between season 4 and 5 when everyone's back at the castle and Callum's painting the wing runes on his arms. Rayla comes along and finds out he's been painting them on almost everyday for two years and that Ibis has them tattood but Callum doesn't really want that. And so Rayla tells him that the purple marks on Moonshadow elves are temporary and last for about a month but last long the more you put them on (like real-world henna, but these last longer because, magic). She offers to show him how to do so and says he could have saved alot of time if he knew how to do it. Later on there's a slight formal event going on and Callum tells Rayla the runes could be neater and he doesn't know if she should paint them next time, but she has time to improve until them and he can show her how to do better. He asks her to dance but Rayla doesn't know how to waltz and Callum doesn't know Moonshadow dances, but he realizes there is one dance they both know and gets into position to do the Silvergrove key dance and hesitates before Rayla joins and they dance together. And then the next day Rayla does a sneaky and get caught by Opeli and Callum says the rules don't apply to his girlfriend.

But the wing runes are the pain and loneliness and longing that Callum's being carrying by himself for two years since Rayla left. But this is Rayla giving her unspoken apology. But Rayla is saying she should have stayed with him and been the one painting them for two years instead of just him. But each brush stroke is an "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." But now Callum has a physical reminder that Rayla's here. But Rayla has given Callum his wings back. But when Callum dances with Rayla there's gossip all around them because the High Mage and Kaltois' current most desirable bachelor, whose turned down every courtship and never asked to dance other then formalities, is now dancing with this random elf girl. But Callum is saying he doesn't forgive her, yet and Rayla is going to have to work to get there and he's going to have to allow her to, but wants that, he wants that so badly. But Callum hesitates because the Silvergrove dance might make Rayla uncomfortable to be reminded of the people who ghosted her. But its not, and Rayla's hands tremble at the start but are steady by the end and her exhale is too staggered and filled with relief to be anything but a sigh. But when they circle around each other at the end their hands are not just palm to palm but their fingers are intertwined. But everystep is still Rayla coming home but in a different place with different people. But Rayla hasn't had a home to go back to for so long. But Callum is telling her "welcome home." But Callum's extra pissed at Opeli because he just told Rayla the castle can be her home and Opeli is rejecting her from it. But much later on Rayla wakes up Callum at midnight with a happy birthday and tells him to roll up his selves to redo his runes. But Callum got them done a week ago and they still look fresh. But Callum rolls them up and Rayla paints them on and Rayla's still here, and he hasn't painted them himself for a year, and even though they fade, they're basically pernament because Rayla keeps putting them on. But then Callum redoes the marks on Rayla's face as well and her eyes are closed, and he's got her head and complete trust in his hands. But on Rayla's birthday they dance again. But it's not the Silvergrove dance even though the steps are the same.

Because Rayla's home.

Any kind of show, just use the normal rules of rounding ig.

https://www.tumblr.com/amethystsnakedlife/163054604942/my-turn?source=share "beckett: we could go back to my place tonight and take some more photos" 5x17 fic prompt

FOR POSTERITY PRE-5X17

She kneels over him, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, heat flooding through her at the dark look of desire in his eyes. She rolls her hips, freshly satisfied but ready for more - always ready for him - and she smirks at the low groan that escapes from his chest, reverberating through her entire body.

"You're killing me here," he moans, his hips lifting, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward.

She manages to catch herself with her hands on his pillow, bracketing his head, and he leans up and takes advantage of his proximity to her chest.

She gasps his name as he laves at her skin, worships her, and she's tempted to move back and sink onto him, take her pleasure before sending him over the edge.

She doesn't, though, instead reaches to the side, grabs the item off the nightstand, and shifts back so she's straddling his stomach again.

His gaze drops to the object in her hands, and his lips lift in a mischievous smirk. "Recording this for posterity?"

She points the camera at his face and takes a picture. "Or to use next time you're out of town," she teases right back, enjoying the strangled curse that falls from his lips. "Now...what do I want you to do first?"

RoyJamie Recomendations — Hurt/Comfort (Part 1)

All the Angry Men by PGHumfort (Rating: Teen and Up | Chapters: 1/1 | Words: 12,232 | Setting: Season 3 Canon Divergence | POV: Alternating | Other Tropes: Angst with a Happy Ending, Getting Together | Warnings: Abuse/Domestic Violence)

When they finally get together, Jamie keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Roy to lose his temper with him. Jamie's father and some angry exes have laid the groundwork for disaster, but Roy is nothing like the other angry men Jamie has known before.

don't you forget about me by andrealyn (Rating: Teen and Up | Chapters: 3/3 | Words: 20,283 | Setting: Post-Season 3 | POV: Roy | Other Tropes: Amnesia, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship | Warnings: N/A)

Roy wakes up with a splitting headache and a few years of memories missing, which is bad enough. Worse is that everyone is withholding information from him because they're all loyal to Future Roy. All that means is that Present Roy is getting fed up not knowing who it is that he's dating and why it is no one will just tell him.

i watched the world without knowing what to look for by buckstiel (Rating: Teen and Up | Chapters: 1/1 | Words: 6,140 | Setting: Post-Season 3 | POV: Roy | Other Tropes: Getting Together | Warnings: N/A)

It's snowing in Newcastle, and Jamie's Man City ankle injury already hurts before he hits the pitch. Or: all things must come to an end, eventually.

kip by fleeceframe (Rating: Teen and Up | Chapters: 1/1 | Words: 10,433 | Setting: Season 3 Canon Divergence | POV: Roy | Other Tropes: Pre-Relationship | Warnings: Abuse/Domestic Violence)

The energy of the room shifts suddenly as Jamie’s eyes widen. It’s as though he’s just waking up, looking around quickly to get his bearings straight- as if he doesn’t remember coming to Roy’s house at all. Maybe he doesn’t. When his startled expression finally lands on Roy just off to the side, Jamie’s eyebrows raise even though his shoulders relax. He looks down at the bath again. “What’s this?” Jamie asks as he combs a hand through the beer head of bubbles on top of the water. “A bubble bath,” Roy says gruffly. He stares straight forward at the open-faced cabinet in front of him that has piles of fresh black towels on each shelf. A pause. “You put me in a bubble bath?” or the one where roy and jamie have a run in with tarrt senior and roy has no idea what he's doing even though he's trying really hard

weave your little webs by floweredhalo (Rating: Not Rated | Chapters: 2/2 | Words: 25,703 | Setting: AU | POV: Alternating | Other Tropes: 5 + 1 Things, Getting Together, Magic/Supernatural | Warnings: N/A)

“Sorry,” Sounds more like sorreh, “can you uh, stitch me back up again?” Roy can now see the large gash across his stomach and the cut on his jaw. He hisses through his teeth and winces in solidarity with the man. Roy just stares at him. Spiderman cocks his head and puts a hand on his hip as if to say well? “Yeah yeah, come on then.” Spiderman trails after him, thankfully not dripping blood on the wood floors. Though Roy thinks he wouldn’t mind cleaning up the mess. “Spidertwat.” Spiderman laughs at that. another 5+1: 5 times Roy patches up Spiderman and the 1 time he patches up Jamie (Or the one where Jamie is Spiderman and he keeps showing up hurt.)

First Sentence, Then Scene: “I know your secret.” Lila said as she pinned Marinette to the wall.

Just a lil warning that I touch on anxiety and dealing with that... emotional feedback (I guess you could call it?) of being in a high intensity situation with your bully/source of anxiety.

~/~

'I know your secret,' Lila said as she pinned Marinette to the wall. Marinette wriggled, but Lila's grasp didn't budge.

'What secret?' Marinette asked, still trying to loosen Lila's grip. 'I don't have any secrets.' Lila tsked, shaking her head in mock disappointment before smirking up at her with a devious glint in her eyes. 'Playing innocent, I see...'

The Italian's tone sent shivers up Marinette's spine, but made sure she gave no indication of how the girl's words affected her.

'The only one "playing innocent" here is you,' Marinette spat. 'Everyone thinks you're so kind and sweet, but you're like the devil in disguise.'

'Hah! You flatter me,' Lila purred, 'but I am not the Devil- well, not yet, anyway.'

Marinette's eyes narrowed.

'See, the problem with you angelic types is that you're too honest for your own good,' Lila said, voice heavy with faux concern that made Marinette want to grind her teeth. 'Too kind, too generous, too self-sacrificing. You would do anything for a friend, and expect nothing in return.'

This was pressing on all of Marinette's buttons. She knew what the true purpose was of these words, and yet-

'And that is why you'll always lose to someone like me,' Lila finished with a devilish grin.

'You know what your problem is?' Marinette snapped. 'That attitude. Those lies. I know you can't help it, you're born this way, but the thing is you could be so much more than this.'

She couldn't help but take satisfaction in the way Lila's eyes widened ever so subtly.

'You have an incredible talent, and an even more incredible mind - you could be truly amazing if you wanted to be, but you don't, so you're not. You lie, you cheat, you play these twisted games, wasting your time and energy on things and people that do not matter to you - and for what? To get me down? To hurt me? We both know that you're targeting me with all this, for some minor disagreement long-since forgotten- which, let's be honest, doesn't justify all that you've done since then. I've tried to make amends, to help you, to do what I can to build bridges, but you burn them every time, turning away any offers I made so that you could keep that flame burning within you. You think that everything that makes me who I am makes me weak to the likes of you, but in reality-' Marinette forced her hands free from Lila's weakened grip, '-that's why you'll never win against someone like me.'

'Aaaand cut!' Nino cried, leaping out of his director's chair, his hand clutching his cap as his arms waving excitedly. 'That was electric! That was super tense and believable and ohhhhh, I knew this "angels and demons hidden amongst humans" theme was going to work! And you two! Man, I could not have cast more awesome people for these roles!'

'You're welcome, by the way,' Alya lightheartedly sing-songed from behind him, grinning happily.

'Yeah, okay, I owe you an Andre's ice-cream, but if this take is as good as it was in person, I am buying you ice-cream every day for a month!' Nino promised before dashing off to look at the take.

'Whew! It was sooo hard being so mean!' Lila fibbed, earning her some comments on how fantastic of an actor she was by their fellow classmates. With Lila sufficiently distracted, Marinette let out a shaky breath, the adrenaline pumping through her body making her fidgety and unsettled.

'Hey,' Adrien greeted gently as he approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he handed her a glass of water, 'you did fantastically out there.'

They both knew the real meaning behind his words.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

"I know your secret." Lila's line echoed in her mind, Lila's expression - and the way it scared her - haunted her. It was like she really knew...

'Yeah... but also... no?' Marinette answered. She wasn't entirely sure he'd understand what she meant, but he nodded like he did. 'The acting bit, I'm fine with, but her? It's... she's...'

'Overwhelming?' he prompted. 'Like suddenly, it's all too real, and it's hard to remember where you are and what you're doing.'

She nodded. He understood.

'I felt like that every time Dad was at a photoshoot,' Adrien admitted. 'Despite him being my father, he's this intimidating, powerful, incredibly critical figure that with one look can pull my performance- can pull me apart, and make me feel vulnerable in such a way that I feel like a kitten backed into a corner, trembling in front of this towering, snarling dog, and it always made me want to run and hide. But I had to fight through it, push through, pretend I had everything under control when I didn't feel like that at all, and let myself decompress once I was alone and safe in my room.'

Marinette's heart ached for Adrien, while also taking comfort in knowing she wasn't alone in feeling this way. Any other time, she might've felt guilty for taking comfort in such a painful thing, but she was too rattled right now. Instead, she silently hugged him, ignoring the stinging of tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, careful not to spill the water in the glass she was still holding as he hugged her back.

In his arms, she felt safe, and the world around them faded away as she let the adrenaline run its course and bleed out of her system, knowing he'd catch her if she fell. She ignored Nino's cries of a perfect one-take wonder, she ignored Lila's grandstanding to their peers, she ignored the clicking of phone cameras. She was in her own bubble within Adrien's arms, and all she could hear was the sounds of their breaths and his steady heartbeat against her ear.

~/~

Ask game: Give me the first sentence and I'll write a short piece for it!