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silence-burns · 3 years

Text

Please Hate Me //part 50

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Based on: “Imagine having a love/hate relationship with Loki.” by @thefandomimagine Who would have thought that babysitting a god could be so much fun?

Genre: slow-burn, enemies to lovers, banter, smut

Living in an apartment so full of various enchantments that you couldn't move without bumping into one certainly had its perks, but your favourite was the space enhancement that made sure the apartment could actually fit everything you wanted it to.

In their original state, both floors of the apartment weren't small on their own, but as your moving in progressed, you quickly realized that the amount of both your and Loki's belongings overran the space you'd been given.

The solution was pretty standard and required bending only a few minor laws of physics and logic.

Whoever dared venture into your apartment now would get quite the surprise in the form of rooms that felt a little too big for the kind of space indicated by the building's construction, and doors leading to places that absolutely shouldn't be able to fit so close together and yet stubbornly did. But however much you loved the whole apartment in general, you couldn't deny that your absolute favourite part of it was the giant monstrosity of a bathtub that Loki was absolutely uncompromising about.

Laying in it now, you couldn't blame him.

The passage of time was forgotten as the two of you soaked in the scented water, kept warm for what felt like hours, and might've actually been that long. If it was up to you, you would've stayed there forever and enjoyed Loki's firm, warm body, the pleasantly dimmed lights and the few bottles of whatever Loki had hidden for special occasions.

Well, the bottles weren't there originally, but as your clean up progressed and both of you started to feel like something other than a walking biological disaster, a need for celebration rose. You weren't sure how the things progressed from the first bottle to the small pile of them on the floor by the bathtub, but you found yourself straddling Loki's lap, completely drunk and unable to move despite one of your legs going completely numb.

"Remind me to never drink with you again," you mumbled into Loki's neck.

"I did."

"Then be more convincing…"

With your cheek plastered to him, you felt rather than heard Loki's chuckle. The rumble did unruly things to the contents of your stomach.

"I'm gonna puke."

"Please save the last of my dignity and at least aim away from me." Despite Loki's words, he didn't move a bit and if you didn't know him any better, you'd guess he was feeling similar sensations.

With his head leaning on the tub's edge and his eyes closed, Loki was indeed fighting against the world spinning around him. The warm embrace of your body pressed into his and the water scented with jasmine were his only anchors in the chaotic mess his head tried to sort out. Truth be told, he had forgotten the full potential of the Asgardian alcohol, and especially the type he had stored for a perfect occasion. It was like a blow to all his senses, and as much as it was fun, Loki was starting to worry about his ability to ever walk out of that bathtub again. He certainly wouldn't attempt such an insanity now, with you weighing him down, so comfortably settled on his lap that you felt like an integral part of him.

Loki tried, and failed, to convince himself it wasn't an excuse, and a pathetic one too.

"Do you think we're gonna get in trouble?" You asked, as if you knew you were on his mind.

"As petty as Odin is, I don't think he's going to execute us for stealing some alcohol…"

"I meant the stuff Thor was talking about. We kinda messed up the Moon, didn’t we?"

Loki hummed in a way that was definitely not an answer. One of his hands roamed over your exposed back, enjoying the soft curve and warm skin. The other stirred the water, making the soap bubble again and the temperature stay unchanged. Loki had to concentrate more than usual, which was partly because of the amount of alcohol consumed, and partly because his mind was slowly drifting away on soft tendrils of sleep.

"No one knows you there, and I wore my brother's face," Loki finally murmured, leaning his head back. "It'll be fine."

It, unfortunately, didn't know about those predictions, which was why It was interrupted by a certain boy's voice.

"Hey guys, are you okay?" Peter asked from the other side of the door, having let himself into the apartment. Again.

Loki groaned, even as he could feel your smile pressed to his chest.

"We're fine," he said, louder than necessary. He winced as the sound seemed to erode his skull.

"What about Barbara, though?" Peter was insistent. "She's scratching at the window from the outside… and I think she wants those pickles from the table?"

"You locked her outside?" You hissed, trying to look at Loki's completely innocent face, but the sudden movement only resulted in the world tilting to the side dangerously fast.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I love that bird dearly." Louder, he said to the boy, "She's only allowed to eat them outside!"

"Okay!" The answer was quick and cheerful and mercifully moving away as the boy grabbed the open jar and went outside.

Loki took a deep breath. The blessed silence once again enveloped the apartment. Through the cloud pressing on his hazy thoughts, Loki considered locking the apartment altogether.

Another chilled bottle appeared in his hand, delightfully full and heavy. As much as he had tried to get drunk on Earth's alcohol, only the Asgardian kind seemed to do the job.

The drink burned his throat in precisely the manner he needed. It'd been so long since the two of you had a moment to yourself and could just relax without worrying about a thousand responsibilities. On most days, Loki enjoyed the kind of life he had somehow managed to secure himself. If he decided to be honest, Loki was still rather uncertain how it had happened.

The long, curvy, and annoyingly labyrinthine road that started on the day the Avengers had decided to put him under your wing somehow ended up leading him to where he was now. Not literally, of course - as much as he loved the grand bathtub he had insisted on, Loki had in mind something grander spiritually. A place of comfort, but without the boundaries of a physical space bound to certain conditions and limitations.

A home, but only if it could be a person.

Loki supposed it could. Even as he drank again from the bottle, mudding his thoughts further, the philosophical conclusions he came to still felt right.

Revelations such as these were worthy of sharing, lest they might be forever lost in one's memory. Loki wanted to share the wisdom granted to him by the unholy amount of Asgardian cider, but he had found you plastered to his chest, asleep. And drooling.

Loki made sure the water didn't run cold as he too decided to join you in the dreams' escape. The quiet popping of the soap bubbles and the lavender scent hanging in the air lulled him quickly into a state of complete and utter comfort…

"Brother, where are you hiding?

…from which a rather brutish, and definitely unwelcome voice dragged him away.

Loki started. The contents of a forgotten bottle escaped into the water.

As the heavy steps sounded outside of the bathroom, it was clear the apartment was being searched through again.

You swore. Loki agreed.

"I'm going to," he hiccuped, "change him into a frog."

"Barbara would devour him whole."

"Let them fight. He always prided himself to be a warrior."

Fortunately for Thor, even though he was not aware of the small mercy of the universe, Loki found himself too drunk to act on his words, despite his best attempts at conjuring the transformative spell.

But when his brother's thudding steps neared the bathroom again, with clear intent of dragging Loki out in whatever state he was, Loki was forced to make a very dire decision very quickly, or lest his quiet evening suffer a bitter end.

So Loki did what he had always done best, and spiced the world up with a tiny little trick.

You heard Thor approach the door, but you didn't have it in you to move and at least cover yourself up. The doorknob twisted and you heard it very well through the slight creak it always gave. Then you heard the door open - but it didn't.

Living in an apartment complex had its perks, and being able to hear your neighbors on occasion certainly wasn't one. Still, your gaze turned up when you heard a high-pitched scream and Thor's booming voice coming from the apartment above yours.

"He's going to kill you for that," you said.

"Given the vigor with which he was looking for me, I think he had a hefty list of reasons prepared already."

"That's fair."

As all good things have in common, they always come to a saddening end when you least expect them to. The conclusion that life was utterly unfair in its precipice was a natural one to come up with, even in the state of drunkenness.

"I think it's time for us to go," Loki sighed.

A groan escaped you when the world tilted to the side. Getting out of the bathtub while completely, embarrassingly drunk was a feat that almost resulted in one broken neck and three broken limbs, but somehow both of you managed to scramble your way out. While you searched for clothes that had an annoying habit of duplicating right in front of your eyes, Thor's roars of fury sounded clear through the many walls separating you.

You wondered if any of the neighbours would connect their unexpected guest to you.

You gave up on your search for the other sock and decided to only wear one. Trying to put it on was already hard as it was. "If you spelled all the doors in the building to lead astray, how are we getting out?"

"Don't worry," Loki hiccuped. "My brother dearest is too stupid to notice I didn't touch the windows."

You had never loved anything as much as you loved the walls in your apartment, their quiet support helping you get through the endless expanse of the living room. For reasons you elected to ignore, the swaying of the world only increased as you progressed, bumping into every single piece of furniture some idiot (most likely you the day before) had decided to put there.

"I don't think this is a good idea," you slurred when Loki opened the window, pickleless, owlless and impossibly high.

"Your intuition, my love, is right as always."

Loki managed to put his leg over the windowsill on the second try, which he deemed a great success. He also managed to get down on the other side with no life-threatening injuries, which was just as surprising.

His pride was short-lived when you tumbled down, knocking him off feet.

The few half-melted snowmen seemed to have a good laugh. The little garden was still winter-bare, and no grass cushioned the fall. Barbara, perched on top of Peter's head, hissed with obvious joy.

The boy blinked. "Are you...sneaking out?"

"No," Loki grunted in the same moment you said, "Yes."

Barbara ripped another pickle from the boy's hand. Life was short, especially after you died once, and there was only so much time she deemed worth looking at the two of you. She had far more pressing issues, like the impossibly narrow jar into which her head just wouldn't fit, and so left her reliant on the boy's nimble (and tasty) fingers.

"...are you sure?" The boy watched the two drunkards scramble to stand up.

"We're just out for a walk."

"A long one."

Glass broke upstairs, followed by raised voices and what was undeniably a string of curses.

Loki looked at you. You looked at Loki. Another Loki looked at you. Unable to choose which to make eye contact with, you squinted and the two Lokis merged together—damn you were never drinking again. There was no way all of you would sneak out in time.

Barbara ripped another pickle to shreds.

"Hey, Peter," you cooed sweetly. "Do you happen to know a quiet little place to lay low for a while, my darling?"

Peter, the darling, did.

*****

A/N: Hi! I'm sorry for no chapter last week, my university is going to kill me with that graduation paper I have to work on and reasearch and realize how little do I actually know about the subject I have to get a 70-pages long paper done. Heh.

But don't worry, this story is slowly nearing its end, and even though I have little time to work on new chapters, I'm doing my best and hope you'll enjoy them. Well, my life's pretty busy right now, and it stresses me out, so I'm not sure how regular the updates will be, but I promise, I'm not giving up on this story. I'm so happy about all the support I have received for this story, and grateful for all the comments it got! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

#please hate me #loki x reader #loki x you #loki imagine #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki #loki marvel #loki mcu #loki laufeyson #loki fanfiction #marvel loki #I Love Loki #marvel #loki series

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ihaveanimagine · 4 years

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Hi! Hope everything is well with you! I was wondering if you could do something where Cedric Diggory ends up in detention somehow, and the Slytherin Reader that is there as well, is quite surprised how pretty boy Diggory ended up there to begin with... but even more about how their detention ended ;)

AN: Kay so this story snatched my brain and ran so imma put a read more cut in here, sorry! Hope you enjoy!!

Go to Hogwarts, they said.

Get sorted into Slytherin, they said.

It’ll be fun, they said.

Looking around you at the mostly empty classroom with Finch up at the front desk, you mentally noted to have a few words with whoever said Hogwarts life would be fun and easy.

You sighed loudly and plopped your chin in your palm and glared at the wall.

Is it too late to plead innocent?

Your eyes glanced over to Mrs. Norris who was perched on Filch’s desk and felt a chill run down your spine when she stopped her grooming to stare at you with her unblinking red eyes.

Yeah detention really sucked at Hogwarts…

Although from what you heard from some of the older students, detention was usually served in the kitchens. So why were you in an empty classroom?

Your eyes darted around the room trying to find a clock of some kind to see how long you’ve been stuck there. You eventually found an ornate grandfather clock that informed you that it’s been...five minutes?!?!!!

It’s only been five minutes since you were brought in???

Sweet Merlin’s ankle socks this was torture-

You let out a frustrated growl and flopped your head on the desk.

“Hey!!” Filch’s gravelly voice cut through the room and seemed to echo around your skull. “No sudden movements you little runt! One more peep outta you and I’ll chain you to the ceiling!”

Normally, you’d ignore Filch’s threats. But you were bored so you decided to enjoy a few moments of sass.

“Likely story, Filch.” You responded dryly, not even looking up at the squib groundskeeper. “Everyone knows Dumbledore won’t let you abuse us students like that.”

Filch snarled and stomped his boots on the floor. “Watch your tongue, wretch! I am your superior and you will respect my authority or I will have you whipped!”

“There will be no whipping of anyone, Mister Argus Filch.” The stern yet maternal voice of Professor Sprout interrupted Filch’s tantrum.

The Hufflepuff’s Head of House strode in with her head held high and a firm gaze. “Mister Filch, we talked about threatening students with torture.” Her tone conveyed a sense of frustration and disappointment and you were genuinely surprised to see Filch cower before the woman with an embarrassed look on his face.

You perked up eagerly, internally grinning at what just happened. Was it too much to hope Professor Sprout would save you from this death via boredom detention?

Filch mumbled out an apology and crossed his arms.

Professor Sprout smiled and nodded her head “Apology accepted.” She turned to you and nodded a hello “Hope you’re doing well, Dearie.” She said softly.

Warmth and hope bloomed in your chest at the endearing nickname. Freedom was so close you could almost taste it!

“I’m doing well now that I know I won’t be shackled to the ceiling,” You grinned at her, not bothering to look at Filch who huffed in annoyance.

Sprout chuckled softly “I’m glad I could ease your mind, Dearie. But I’m afraid that’s all the saving I can do.”

Betrayal!

“I’m just here to drop off your detention partner and then I’ll be on my way.” Professor Sprout cast another warning glare at Filch before stepping to the side to reveal your detention inmate.

“This is Cedric Diggory, he’ll be joining you for this week and the next. I do hope you two get along and become friends!” Sprout smiles brightly at the two of you before quickly saying her goodbyes.

Vaguely, you heard Filch order the both of you to follow him to the dungeons to the kitchens (as if neither of you knew where the kitchen was located). But you were too busy trying to pick your jaw off the floor at the fact that Cedric “Pretty Boy” Diggory was in detention.

Your mind raced, conjuring up as many possible (and impossible) reasons he could have gotten into detention. Started a fight? Nah, he’s gotta keep a clean record to stay on the Quidditch team. Dared to cast a forbidden curse? A horrifying mental image (Merlin help anyone who provokes a Hufflepuff into using forbidden curses) but also unlikely.

Maybe he sassed Snape?

That’s how you got here but you can’t picture Diggory actively sassing Snape to his face. Not many did, and from what you knew, Sassing Snape had even been banned from Gryffindor Dare Challenges. That’s how much no one sassed Snape.

Except you apparently, but in your defense, you do believe he was just overreacting.

A small but firm tug on your sleeve yanked you out of your head just as Filch stopped at the doors of the kitchens.

Beside you, you felt Diggory inconspicuously step away from you before Filch turned around to address the both of you with a wicked, greasy smile.

Heck, you owed the Hufflepuff now-

“Enjoy your detention, wretches.” Filch drawled, opening up the door to the kitchens. Diggory shifted on his feet, obviously uncomfortable. Which Filch obviously noticed. “A shame I can’t stay and enjoy your suffer-”

“Welp, thanks for the tour, I’ll send a tip for you at the front desk.” you interrupted, shoving past Filch who stuttered wildly. You glanced back to see Diggory shuffle in quietly behind you, stepping away from Filch as far as he could while still being polite. “Now I’m sure you’re a very busy man so I’ll leave you to it!”

You quickly dashed up to the door and closed it in front of a fuming groundskeeper who shouted empty threats.

Feeling absolutely smug and pleased with yourself, you made a dramatic show if dusting off your shoulders as a smirk grew on your features. You turned to Diggory and grinned “Tour Guides can be so pushy sometimes, don’t you agree?” You quipped, earning a chuckle covered up by a cough from the Quidditch Star himself.

“You two!” A harsh voice came from below your kneecaps mere seconds before your shoes were attacked by a wooden spoon wielding House Elf. “Put your robes on the hooks by the door then report to the wash station! If I’m gonna be forced to watch you two delinquents in my kitchen, I’ll at least put you to work!”

The plump House Elf motioned first to the small rack of hooks by the kitchen doors then at the giant sink pressed against the brick walls to his right. He smacked his wooden spoon again, this time at the floor in between you and Diggory. “Don’t just stand there! Hurry! Pitts doesn’t run a social area! Pitts runs a kitchen!”

He turns abruptly and you turn to Diggory, half-bewildered and half-amused at being ordered around by a House Elf. You weren’t sure what to expect from Hufflepuff’s Seeker but a very terrified look on his face with arms scrunched up around his torso was not what you were expecting.

Oh no, he’s adorable- You thought to yourself, torn between cooing over the expression on his face as he nervously chewed his lip and bolting to wrap him in a large blanket to comfort him. Step one: Don’t fall for the adorable looks of my detention buddy.

You coughed softly and waved a hand in front of Diggory’s face. “Hey, pretty boy, you there?”

Diggory’s grey eyes fluttered before looking at you. He took a sharp inhale and quickly dropped his hands and straightened himself up. “S-sorry! Yes, I’m here. Uh, can I help you with your robe?” He asked, gesturing quickly to the hooks near the door as he quickly removed his and draped it over his forearm before holding his hands up to assist you with yours.

Oh no, he’s sweet-

“Uh, yeah sure. Thanks.” You mumbled before removing your robe to brush off your out-of-class clothes. Diggory took both robes and neatly set them up on the hooks. He began folding his slightly wrinkled sleeves up his forearm and you felt every inch of your body suddenly break out into internal screaming.

I bet 10 galleons, a month’s worth of Butterbeer, and a lifetime supply of chocolate frogs that boy is part Veela-

“What are you doing?” You asked, tilting your head slightly as the two of you began heading to the wash area.

“We’re washing dishes, aren’t we?” Diggory replied, glancing up at the large sink with a pile of dishes to the side of it. “I just didn’t want to get my sleeves too wet.”

You blinked. Shoot, you didn’t think of that.

You quickly made sure your sleeves were out of reach of the water as you both arrived at the sink where another House Elf quickly explained your jobs and how to properly wash dishes before leaving the two of you unsupervised.

Silence enveloped the both of you as you got to work, the only words exchanged between you both were reminders of how Pitts wanted the dishes washed and soft mutters of frustration when a dish slipped or clinked loudly against the sink.

After an eternity (*30 minutes*) of washing an endless pile of dishes, you finally caught a break long enough to stretch out your muscles and pop your neck.

Only for Pitts to gleefully drop another mountain of dishes at the sink with a pinched look on his face. “Hurry up! If you troublemakers have time to break rules and get in trouble, you have time to wash more dishes!”

You were suddenly very tempted to wash dishes while singing obnoxious songs as off-key as humanly possible.

You ground your teeth but said nothing and angrily scrubbed the closest dish. As you finished your dish, you passed it off to Diggory to dry but stopped when you saw that look from earlier plastered on his face.

His eyebrows pinched in worry while he chewed on his lip, his clouded eyes darted from the sink in front of him to where Pitts stood on a crate barking out orders.

Oof, poor guy’s gotta be stressed outta his mind…

“So uh...what are you in for?” You asked, casually handing over the dish like you hadn’t been holding it for the past minute.

Diggory blinked before looking at you. “Excuse me?”

“What are you in for?” You repeated as you grabbed the next dish “Me? I’m in for asking Snape why we don’t have Alchemy classes on the regular like at the Beauxbatons.” You rolled your eyes at the memory of Snape’s face turning red in the middle of Potions Class. “I was just wondering what the differences were between potions and alchemy classes and Snape went all ‘We don’t question the curriculums in the middle of class’ so I just asked if the reason was because he sucked at Alchemy-” Beside you, Diggory let out a choked wheeze “-and he banished me to the care of our wondrous groundskeeper slash tour guide Argus Filch.”

“I-, you-” Diggory bit his lip in an effort to contain giggles. “You said what to Snape?” He laughed and shook his head as he finished drying the dish in his hands. “I’m...honestly surprised you’re still alive.”

You grinned “I happen to be very good at avoiding death via Snape. It’s mostly thanks to the fact that we were surrounded by an entire class full of witnesses that kept me alive.”

Diggory chuckled again and you nudged him with the next dish you passed along. “So what about you, pretty boy? How’d someone with a squeaky clean record like you end up in detention?”

“Oh, I set a student’s robe on fire.”

ExcUSE?!?!????

You physically choked on your saliva and felt your nails dig into the metal of the sink as you tried to cough your way back to a clear throat.

Diggory panicked beside you and quickly cleaned a glass and filled it with some clean water and handed it to you while waiting for you to remember how to breathe properly.

“I’m sorry, you w h a t?!”

“I overheard a fifth year refer to a first year as ‘Mudblood’ so I cast Incendio on the fifth year’s robes.” Diggory replied, shrugging as a grim countenance fell on his face. “I don’t know either of them but I hope that first year is okay…”

“Wait, wait, wait! Back up!” You made the time out sign and pointed at Diggory “If you’re the one who stood up for that first year, why are you here instead of that fifth year?!”

Diggory sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not sure...I didn’t ask, I’m...kind of in shock that I haven’t been expelled from the Quidditch team or Hogwarts yet.”

Ah, the classic “I did a bad thing now the worst possible consequence will happen” thoughts.

“But-! You were defending the kid! Why are you in trouble?”

Another shrug. “I mean, even if I was defending someone, I used magic outside of class in an aggressive way. That’s still a punishable offense.”

Your nose scrunched up and a frown formed on your face. “I don’t suppose you can give me the appearance of this fifth year?”

“No, I’m not going to tell you what that student looks like so you’ll try to make their life a living hell while pretending to know nothing.”

“I wasn’t gonna!!”

Diggory looked at you with a half-serious half-amused expression. “Then what were you planning?”

You stuck your tongue out and grinned evilly “I was simply going to introduce them to the mermaid friends I made in Black Lake!”

Both of you broke out into laughs only to be shushed by Pitts who ordered the two of you to stop slacking.

Diggory flinched at Pitt’s tone and you gently bumped the Hufflepuff’s arm. “Hey....you okay? Pitts isn’t bothering you too much, is he? I bet I can annoy him into being quieter if you need him to stop shouting.”

Diggory smiled softly at you “Thank you but I’m...I’m okay. It’s not Pitts who I’m worried about.”

“Is it Filch? Please tell me it’s Filch. I learned this firework spell from a Gryffindor and I’ve been dying to try it out.”

Another small laugh. “No, well...not anymore. Filch is definitely terrifying but he’s the least of my problems.”

Ah, so it’s probably a personal thing. Aight no biggie, just casually steer the conversation away. No need to get mushy on the first day of school prison- ahem- detention.

“It’s my dad that I’m worried about…”

Aaaand there goes that idea-

“He’s very proud of me and I try really hard to be this perfect son for him who never causes any trouble and I’m…” Diggory looked down at the sink and his eyes went glassy for a moment before he took a deep breath. “I’ve never gotten detention before. I’ve always found some way to avoid it by picking fights with bullies when there’s a crowd of people around to confirm the bully’s actions and my defense but this time…”

“You were set up.” Your eyes widened in realization as your jaw dropped.

Diggory nodded grimly and slowly resumed his dish drying.

“Did...did you tell any of the professors what happened?” You asked softly, silently considering any and all options to track down this fifth year and cause them some sort of harm.

“Professor Sprout.” He said, taking the next dish from you “She said she’ll do some asking around but…” His throat went dry and his eyes watered.

“She gave you the disappointed voice?”

He nodded once and you nearly teared up in sympathy.

Nothing had ever made you cry as fast as hearing Professor Sprout saying “I’m very disappointed in you, Dearie.” And you were a Slytherin. You had to deal with Severus “I’m better than all of you” Snape’s condescending tone since you arrived to Hogwarts!

“I’m...sorry, Diggory.” You whispered, not sure how to comfort him.

“Cedric. And it’s alright...I appreciate you just listening to me ramble.”

“Uh, you’re welcome?”

“Cedric.” He said again, a bit firmer this time. “You don’t have to call me ‘Diggory’.” He clarified before turning to you with a shy smile. “We’re stuck in detention for a week together, aren’t we? Might as well get to know each other.”

“O-oh, right. Uh, thanks, Cedric.” You mumbled, trying furiously to stop a random blush from rising to your cheeks. “S-so uh...after detention’s over, wanna grab a Butterbeer?” You glared at the mountain of dishes before turning back to Cedric.

Cedric grinned widely at you and practically glowed “I’d love to! It’s a date!”

Well, failed Step One I guess-

#cedric diggory #cedric diggory x reader #cedric diggory/reader #cedric diggory x slytherin!reader #cedric diggory/slytherin!reader #peak hufflepuff/slytherin solidarity is huffle getting in trouble for defending someone and sly offering retaliation via murder #source: myself who is a slytherin and my sister who is a hufflepuff #harry potter #i didn't have a specific moment in time for this but as far as i'm concerned this is a cedric lives au #mminerva15

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dragonstoravens · 4 years

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Babylon Vol. 1: Bad Behavior, A Dancer in her Own Right

[ID: a blue patterned banner with text reading “BABYLON.” End ID.]

(Two chapters today, but this one’s a bit of a shorter update anyway. Believe it or not, we’re getting towards the end of volume 1 now!! It’ll be all posted by the end of December, and then in the new year at some point we’ll start posting 2. We’re also looking into Wattpad, and maybe even making an audiobook, so keep an eye out for those updates. Enjoy the chapters!)

Taglist (ask to be added or removed!): @charlottedotexe @glitterandstarshine @rainbowcoloreddays @the-starlight-chills @erased-in-stone

General: @elywritesbydarkness @residentofthedisc @humour-and-hyperfocus @skyfirewrites @viawrites-andacts

17. Bad Behavior

A tap on her shoulder alerted Azure to someone just behind her. She turned, smile plastered to her face. The woman was about her age, grinning conspiratorially. That was never good, in her book. Grinning usually meant there was a plan for the conversation, and conspiratorially meant she’d have to actually participate. She washed away her distaste for the idea with some champagne before speaking.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Oh no, we haven’t. Samantha Whitewater, my family owns the Whitewater mining firm.” The introduction was followed by a small bow, which Azure returned. A colony family, then. Whitewater continued. “I just wanted to congratulate you.”

Congratulate her? She hadn’t done anything of note to these people. She never made deals and she talked about herself as little as possible, trying to create a black box of a history no one would question. There was nothing to congratulate, and even less for a stranger to bring up out of nowhere. She touched the comm.

Hey Hotshot, you remember anyone from the Whitewater family?

I think I got a proposal from them once, he responded. More business than pleasure, though I think they wanted a marriage too. At least they didn’t keep pushing when I denied both.

That was all she needed. At least Samantha and her family had manners. Her smile relaxed to something more genuine. She didn’t know what she was about to be congratulated for, but at least it wouldn’t be underhanded. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, things have been awful slow for me lately.”

“Oh, nothing like that. I’m just congratulating you on making such a good match. No one else here could say the same, though of course the Jericho name is something of a hot-ticket item to many of us. My own family included, I have to admit.” She laughed like it was some kind of joke between friends, and Azure’s blood pressure rose. Trinity, seeming to just take notice of the conversation as Azzy’s burgeoning anger began to make itself known through their mental link, began to turn, a crease in his brow the only sign of confusion showing through the ice-sculpture poise he wore around these events like armor.

She blinked to cover for the twitch in her eye, tucking her hands behind her back to cover the sparking. She ignored the vague warning of Azzy, no, that buzzed in the back of her head from Trinity, bulldozing on. “I wasn’t aware he was on sale in the first place.” Her words came out clipped, stilted, and poisonously sweet. Speaking of her friend as though he was an item made her stomach churn, even in retaliation. These events often weren’t terrible until something like this came up, the word choice surrounding people objectifying and economic in the worst manner. But never once had someone brazenly spoken about Trinity to her face before, like it was normal or expected. That was her friend Whitewater was talking about, the one who’d taught her about shrimp forks and helped her reach high shelves in her lab and made poorly edited images of frogs telling bad jokes for her when she was sad. She seethed. “I suppose that would explain why you caught me off guard then.”

The woman blinked. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what it’s like where you come from--” the incredibly rude phrasing was somehow undercut by the fact that she still didn’t seem to think she was insulting anyone at all-- “but clearly you’re not used to this kind of society. We’re all a commodity here. The best he or anyone should hope for is to find someone equally as useful to him as he is to them, and maybe someone he can get along with-- though with someone as Icy as Jericho I never held out too much hope for that. That could have been me, but I guess it’s you.”

Azure opened her mouth to speak, but Trinity’s hand on her back stopped her just long enough for her to hear him out. Azure. She’s right. Drop it.

Azure shot back a response with a dangerous growl entering her mental voice, indignant and angry and protective. I don’t recall askin’ how anyone else here felt about it but me, so you drop it. She cleared her throat, her tone once more painted over with a thin veneer of polite but apparent disdain. “It is me, thank you very much Miss Whitewater. I wish you the very best of luck in finding someone merely useful to you.” If it wasn’t going to get her kicked out, she’d have spat at the woman’s feet like she used to when people bullied Crim in elementary school. Instead, she grinned conspiratorially with entirely too many of her teeth. “Because as we both know, that’s simply the most one can hope for in this wonderful little bubble.”

“Like you’ve done any better.” Whitewater finally seemed perturbed, angry that something was disrupting her sterile worldview. Her lip curled slightly. “That man touches you like he’d rather be doing anything else. Two inches away from anything that could be considered a little risque, even while dancing? At least someone like me would’ve known what I was getting into, with someone like him.”

Trinity saw Azzy draw in a breath, and knew whatever she was about to say would be even worse. So before it could leave her mouth. Trinity had turned fully to face the two of them, and in an instant his arm was wrapped firmly around her waist. His hand rested squarely on her hip-- right on the strip of skin her dress’ cutout bodice left exposed to the air. His fingers dug into her flesh just slightly. Not hard enough to even leave prints on the skin, but just enough to send a message. Azzy relaxed in posture only, looking for all the world like a guard dog that had just been told to sit as she looked up at him sidelong. “I’m sorry, Miss Whitewater, but my date and I have business elsewhere. Will this be all?”

“Of course. Enjoy your evening, Jericho. Garza.” Whitewater’s voice was stilted. Trinity turned Azzy around and used his arm around her to begin to shepard her away-- he wasn’t sure she was prepared to actually leave this alone, left to her own devices. They made it about ten feet before Azure looked back over her shoulder, sliding her arm around his waist as well and winking back at Whitewater, Garza’s supposed devious intention with Trinity on display. Internally, there was a small blip of take that, asshole, and then a self satisfied calm. Trinity sighed. He hated to play into whatever that was, but unfortunately a deserted hallway was likely the only place he was going to be able to talk to Azzy alone. He tugged her away into a winding passage off to the side of the main ballroom, gritting his teeth as he imagined the scandalized stare that Whitewater woman was probably still sending after them. He couldn’t deny that it was… amusing, to an extent. But he liked to avoid attention he wasn’t looking for at this kind of thing, and the last thing he needed was a jilted business-lover spreading around the fact that he’d pulled his date into a secret corner in the middle of an event. What was done was done, though, and he had to admit he hoped Whitewater felt sufficiently humiliated by the end of all that. Whatever it was.

Finally satisfied they were alone, he let go of Azzy-- careful not to let his hands linger a second longer than they had to-- and sighed, leaning against the wall with a slightly bemused smile. “What was that about? And why did it seem to have everything and nothing to do with me?”

Azure blew a stray curl from her face, absently rubbing her hip where he’d touched her with her opposite arm. The consequences of her actions appeared to be finally setting in, and her face was apologetic in that same way it was when she realized she’d started eating in massive bites at dinner instead of polite and small ones yet again. She looked almost bashful as she looked up at him. “Sorry Hotshot, I just...I don’t know, she started talkin’ about you like you were a thing instead of a person. I’m used to ‘em talkin’ about how hot you are, and that’s fine because it’s true at least, but no one’s ever said anythin’ like that about you right to my face before, it pissed me off.” She finally let her own hip go, shaking her hands to rid them of sparks and avoiding his eyes to avoid letting it be known just how honest she was about to be. “It’s rude, and it’s dehumanizin’, and I just believe real strongly that you deserve better than that.”

Trinity almost denied it, wanting to cite times he certainly had not deserved better, but the last thing he wanted was to open up that can of worms. The wound of his profiteering off that war-torn planet was still too fresh, his apology still somewhat inadequate. Instead, he just shook his head. “I know what you think, but whether that’s truly how I am or not, it’s how I’ve presented myself for years to these people. Besides, she practically called you a bumpkin to your face too, and I’m not sure you even noticed.” He felt something soften slightly inside him as he looked at his friend. She’d been defending him. God strike him down if he knew why. God would probably strike him down regardless.

She waved a hand, looking unaffected. “Who gives a shit about me? I am a bumpkin for all these people should care. But you’re…” she struggled, squinting her eyes and scrunching her freckled nose as the machinery of her mind ground its way to some kind of an end to her sentence that was eloquent. It failed. Instead, she came out with: “You’re cooler’n they are and they should admit it to themselves and act with some damn respect.”

Trinity tried and failed for several moments to hold himself together before he burst, doubling over with laughter. She’d never seen him laugh like this in person-- heard it, maybe, over a particularly good meme or something, but never like this, actual tears forming in his eyes. She grinned, wide and crooked, her job here complete. He slapped his knee, struggling to straighten back up. “Ah, Az. You’ve brought us full circle.” He wiped a hand over his eyes. “I give a shit about you. I am also what she said about me. And you are also ‘cooler’n’ them. Yes?”

Now suddenly she was bashful again. No one ever called her cool. Smart, maybe, or nice or even helpful sometimes, but never cool. She blushed. “Sure. At least I know how to act normal. Sorta. In comparison, at least.” Her hand reached up to scratch behind her ear, sympathy painting her features. “It’s a sad little life she’s about to lead. Honestly, I hope it’s what she actually wants or else she’s gonna be damn lonely without an actual someone to connect with.”

“It’s a sad life most of us lead,” was his only response. His face was turned slightly from her, into the shadows of the dark hallway, leaving his expression unreadable. “Sometimes there are things more important than our own happiness. Shall we?” He held out a hand, gesturing back down the hall towards the well-lit bustle of the ballroom. It struck Azzy that things in this world seemed to hide better among glitter and blinding lights than they did in the dark. Nevertheless, she placed her own hand gently in his.

“Now remember, act like you like me or else I might actually have to throw down one of these days.”

“Right, right.” Trinity huffed out a tiny little laugh, his fingers finding the skin of her hip once more. “As long as you’re alright with it.”

“I’m a bad actor, this is easier.” She leaned her head into his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning into him. “Plus, this way I don’t even have to stand up straight.”

18. A Dancer In Her Own Right

Her boots made a gentle beat against the hard metal of the floor. One step then another, sure of herself even as she looked in the opposite direction to her movement. There was a rhythm to her every sway, every object she tossed over her shoulder and caught in the other hand a step in a dance she was choreographing on the spot. Something from this drawer, cross the room to another cabinet, all of it swirling around that constant central point that was the examination table and her workbench. Watching her set up for a deep maintenance test was like witnessing a ballet. Her stretch for something off a high shelf was easy, graceful. She knew exactly how far everything was, exactly how many steps to get there. She carried the objects she collected as though they weighed nothing, a spring in her step the whole way.

Trinity sat on a counter as far out of her way as he could get, but he might as well not have been there at all, for all having another person in her space slowed her down. He couldn’t help but marvel a bit at the sureness of her movements, now that she was in a place entirely her own. In society and on a ballroom floor she stumbled occasionally, one might even assume she was clumsy. That thought would be long gone the moment they saw this dance, one made by and for her, the perfect combination of grace and power. Ballroom dances were as much for the observers as the dancers themselves, but being able to observe this felt like a privilege more than a right. Being allowed to appreciate this sight as an outsider, a friend but someone who would admit freely that he couldn’t even begin to understand her, was a gift. In this moment, Trinity relaxed, and let himself appreciate the organic yet mechanical beauty of her, without letting his brain get in the way. After all, dancing was supposed to be instinct above thought.

She held out a hand, and he automatically picked up a wrench that sat at his side, placing the handle in her palm. She took it without looking, and the dance went on. She vaulted casually onto a countertop like it was the most natural thing in the world, grabbing some gray box off a shelf near the ceiling and hopping down without a hint of hesitation, no signs of exhaustion as sparks flew in her wake. She made her way back to the center to drop both things off, to pick up something else, to continue this seemingly endless waltz. Individual curls of hair freed themselves from her braid, her beanie long discarded in favor of having the goggles she typically wore around her neck situated atop her head. She stopped briefly at the edge of her stage, only to map out a new path that carved the edges of the room from the center, a small bucket in hand to hold whatever things she needed as she went along. She needed a lot of trinkets and tools, and she knew what each of them were. She paused briefly in front of him, and pointed above his head. It took him a moment to insert himself into her rhythm again, then he knew what she wanted without words. He slid off the counter and held out his hands to make a step for her, boosting her up to whatever it was she needed to reach. She stepped lightly onto his outstretched hands, opening a cabinet and pulling a bottle down in the same motion as her descent back to the ground. She flashed him a grin, crooked and pleased. He heard a snippet of something she was humming to herself, low and sweet, her own orchestra to accompany her own dance.

Now that he was no longer needed for the moment, Trinity hopped back up on the counter, content to just watch her work in perfect harmony with herself.

#wip: babylon #writeblr #writers on tumblr #spilled ink #chapter update

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doritopaw101 · 3 years

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Arc1, book 2: Chapter 15

Icefire circled the apprentice, their shoulder bleeding slightly. He did his best not to take out all of his anger on his apprentice.

Mousefur's patrol had been attacked by Brokentail's followers, Sunnypaw had been attacked and was still knocked out.

To say Icefire was pissed was an understatement of the season. Chestnutclaw wasn't any better, the tom had to be held down from trying to hunt down the rouges. He wanted blood but he knew he had to be there for his kits.

What chilled him the most was that from Cranewing's own words "Brokentail was among them". He kept a closer grip on Cloudpaw and Bearpaw and did everything he could to make sure Violetpaw and Flamepaw were safe, he didn't care much for Marshstar's threats as he crossed the border each time.

They had stayed with their sister for so long and only moved when Thymeroot pushed them out. Sunnypaw was nearly killed and only survived because Mousefur had lead the rouges away. They had sent search parties to search for Mousefur, dead or alive but hadn't been able to find her for five days.

Icefire went alone to the city found Snake and Luna and managed to find Mousefur in a trash can. It was clear she had been beaten and raped, Luna said it was shocking that she managed to drag herself into the can.

All of the patrol was dealing with injures to some degree. Ebonyshade was dealing with a bad belly wound, Brackenfur was dealing with some bad cuts and bruises, Ebonyshade was dealing with a broken paw, Frostbite was the only who didn't have such serious injures aside from a few light wounds.

Chocolate had recovered after a good rest and meal as did Duskthorn. Chocolate would've left earlier if not for the disaster that happened when Tiger-roar realized they were siblings. Nightshade looked ready to kill Chocolate while Miststrike didn't look pleased but not too hostile like her littermates. Chocolate was a little scared to leave by himself since Nightshade looked like she would kill him and he couldn't really blame him especially since he found out that Chocolate was expecting kits, Bluestar offered him a place in the clan and Chocolate said he'll think about it.

Icefire brought Duskthorn back to Shadowclan the next day, snide comments were shared as they did and a long overdue apology.

Raveneye had approached Bluestar about the rogues and about Tiger-roar and Nightshade. They'd been distinct from the clan lately, even their kin, Icefire had joined in on the concerns but Bluestar shut them down saying they were being ridiculous.

-Flashback-

"Icefire" Tiger-roar called

He didn't look up from Sunnypaw as she continued eating her first meal since she woke up "What?"

"We're going on patrol, join me" the two-colored deputy mewed

"It isn't a request, it's a demand" he heard Redtail hissed

Icefire licked Sunnypaw softly "I'll be back later, call Cloudpaw or Raveneye if you need anything"

His daughter nodded

Icefire followed the deputy out of camp, his fur slightly tense. The more they walked they more Icefire felt uneasy. Further and further away from camp, where less cats would be to hear anything.

"Where are we going?" he asked

"You are a special cat you know that Icefire"

"Special isn't the word that's normally used to describe me but go on" Icefire said coolly, curling their tail over their paws

The split tabby turned to face him, they were near the boundary to the houses and the city "Times are changing Icefire, Starclan sets many things for the clans, good or bad" he started "I see it a chance for greatness, not just for me but for others as well"

Icefire hummed

"I have a plan Icefire, for great change for Thunderclan and all the clans. I want to know if you'll be there for me when the time comes"

"What plan?" he asked, his voice harsher than he wanted it to be.

"I wasn't lying when I said you're special cat Icefire, we're both special in that regard, Starclan has spoken that"

'He knows about the prophecy' Icefire stiffened

"I see you caught on fast" Tiger-roar purred "I've known since before you set a paw in camp, Starclan said the white fire: we are both cats who could fit that are we not?"

Icefire couldn't say he was wrong, he fit the prophecy in the name sense while Tiger-roar fit it in his appearance, a perfect clash of ice and fire.

"What's the plan Tiger-roar?" he repeated

"Bluestar needs to go, it's only a matter of time before she ends up with time disease"

"Time disease?"

"Have you every heard of Goosefeather?"

"No" he lied "never heard of him"

"He's Bluestar's uncle, he went mad and caused many awful things for the clan. Some cats cheered when he died in fact"

He saw Goosefeather's expression to know that Tiger-roar was telling the truth. He chilled him slightly to watch the gray speckled tom only nod at the two-colored tabby's words.

"They say time disease passes on through the family line, who knows what Bluestar could do if she has it"

"We don't know that for sure Tiger-roar, Bluestar may be harsh but she's a good and fair leader"

"And yet, she doesn't do much to cats who mock you" the tabby replied "Cats who say you deserved what you got, say you're inferior because of your bloodline"

Icefire dug his claws into the ground and their eyes narrowed.

"Don't you want respect Icefire, don't you want those cats to suffer like they make you?" he placed one of his large paws on Icefire's back, running soft but firm lines down it

"I do" Icefire found himself saying "I really really do" the thought of spilling Seedspots or Lionheart's blood made him curl with delight

"Then join us, me and Nightshade" Tiger-roar said, he pulled Icefire closer "There's going to be an attack in two days, I have Brokentail's followers and a few rouges under my and Nightshade's control"

"What about Brokentail?" Icefire asked "Is he with you all?"

Tiger-roar sighed "Unfortunately, being blind didn't stop him from finding us and Dewflare didn't help matters"

Icefire curled his lip "Dewflare"

Tiger-roar smirked, he placed a paw under Icefire's chin making him meet his gaze "If all goes well Icefire, you can kill them yourself"

-Flashback ends-

"You have a bigger destiny than what he can offer" Redtail hissed, his tail held high "You know this Icefire"

"He does know truths Icefire" Spottedleaf added

Icefire ignored the torties in favor of striking Maplepaw and Shrikepaw was a quick shot. Spottedleaf actually started to talk to him for the first time in moons, not she asked his questions.

They've been training Maplepaw the same way they did Cinderfreeze. Maplepaw was just like Cinderfreeze, eager to learn and took to battle training easily. He brought his kits into the training sessions whenever they were free or at night. Cloudpaw was using Bluestar's teachings well with how quick his blows were. He was most concerned with Bearpaw's progress since she said she didn't have any battle training since she started, not on his watch.

He never wanted to drag Voletail so much and Bluestar to some extent. They would need as much training for the events to come.

They saw Maplepaw limp slightly, panting but her blue gaze looked determined as well as a flash of stubbornness.

A wicked smirk appeared on their face. "Try again Maplepaw"

Whitethroat shook the last of the pine needles from his tail. He drew a paw to get the pine needles out of his ears but he felt a tongue lick his white-tipped ears. He flinched back quickly and his breathing quickened.

He felt paws around him, a soothing voice mewing softly "It's okay love"

Crowcloud

"Thank you"

The black molly only nuzzled him.

"Is papa okay?" he heard Twilightkit ask

"He'll be fine" Crowcloud replied

"Where's-"

"Darkhollow is in the warriors den, Burdockpaw is on patrol, Garlickit and Sloekit are with Dawncloud, and Dark-kit and Hollylock-kit are with Darkflower"

Whitethroat felt himself relax a little, his breathing slowing down.

"Make sure if you see the rouges, chase them off" Marshstar called to a leaving patrol, her voice sounded proud and confident. It's better than what's its been for a the past three days. She started a fight with Thunderclan at the gathering and started a border fight, got worse when it was found out that Brokentail broke out.

He asked his mother what was wrong at times but she either ignored the question or change the subject.

He would've let it go if not for the conversation he heard her and Palecloud had yesterday:

-Flashback-

Whitethroat had been carrying last two of the frogs when he heard Marshstar snap "Watch your tongue"

He dropped his frogs and silently padded over. He saw Palecloud was sitting, head hanging in his usual manner. Marshstar was standing tall, her tail was lashing, the flower necklace she wore around her neck was slightly rocking back and forth.

Whitethroat remembered wanting to get flowers but Palecloud told him not to, he would give the flowers. Palecloud got a flower that summed up Marshstar's leadership for Shadowclan, he got a Protea, king. KIng meant transformation and change as well as daring and resourcefulness while Protea meaning courage and diversity.

"I'm just saying Marshstar, just because we smelled them doesn't mean Thunderclan is sheltering them" the white and gray tom looked tired "Bluestar wouldn't want those foxhearts in her territory let alone her camp"

"Bluestar can be unpredictable, I don't know what she wouldn't and would want" Marshstar retorted

"Hissing and attacking isn't the solution Marshstar" Palecloud mewed with a sniff "we have just stopped being at war with Thunderclan when he dethroned Brokentail we don't need to start anything with no good reason"

"Brokentail escaped mind you and we have no idea where he is, he could be in Thunderclan right now" Silverstar hissed and looked away

"Letting an ex leader who the leader knows raped one of her clanmates and had his goons rape the other in her camp, does that sound like something any reasonable leader would do?" Palecloud countered, his healer flowers shaking and his bone necklace rattled "You're paranoid Marshstar and you know it"

Marshstar didn't respond

"It's because you only got five lives instead of nine"

Marshstar snapped her head to look at Palecloud "Shut up, Starclan can go fuck themselves for denying me, 'it was Battle for the Star' they said that's a load of fox-dung if I ever heard it"

"I know Marshstar, I was there"

-Flashback ends-

Whitethroat was pushed out of his thoughts when Badgerfang nudged him.

"How bad you feel?"

"I think I'm good for now" he replied "I'm going for a walk, clear my head"

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Badgerfang asked

"Yeah"

"Are you sure?" Crowcloud added, her tail curled around Twilightkit and the young crow she received earlier this moon. Ravenkit would receive a little raven too when of age.

"No patrols reported the rouges in the area" Whitethroat stated "I won't be out long"

He closed his eyes as he padded through the camp entrance. The breeze of the wind calmed him, his nerves at ease for the moment. He didn't know where he was going but he just needed to walk without others hovering over him.

So he didn't sleep much, he was fine. So he was addicted on catmint at times, he was fine. He has a good relationship with his kits and the clan was free from Brokentail, it was all fine.

At least, that's what he told himself.

Icefire yawned, watching the sun climbing the trees. He had spent the night with Morningflower as well as bonding with Gorsepaw, Brairpaw, and Quailpaw, they often call him dad times. He loved those three so much.

Icefire shook himself from his thoughts "Tiger-roar wants me to send Cloudpaw and Maplepaw on a solo hunting mission today" he mewed to Raveneye

The lean medicine cat looked up in surprise from his herb sorting "That's early isn't it? They've barley been an apprentices, if anything Swiftpaw and Lynxpaw should be getting that"

Icefire shrugged "Tiger-roar thinks they're ready. Bearpaw, Sunnypaw, and Rosepaw are having one too, He told me to follow them and see how they do, anyway. If your free would you like to come and help? I'll need help with watching two apprentices"

Tiger-roar had been busy that morning, sending out one patrol with Leopardstorm leading to renew the scent markings along the Riverclan boundary and another with Sandstorm to hunt around Snakerocks, so he neglected to tell Icefire where Maplepaw should go for her hunting mission. Icefire didn't want to be bothered to remind the deputy, he was planning.

"You both can make for Twolegplace" he mewed to Maplepaw, his tail laying on Cloudpaw's back "Then you won't get in the way of the patrols. You two won't see me or Raveneye but We'll be watching you. We'll meet you by the twoleg fence"

Cloudpaw nudged him "Tommy? Princess? Luna? Scourge? Can I see them?"

"If we see them there you may talk" Icefire mewed. His siblings honestly unless in Bloodclan never stay in the same area for too long. Princess and Luna were in Bloodclan while Tommy was with any group that would take him. Princess was trying to train her remaining kit, Slash into a fierce cat since her siblings either died or were taken by the humans. Scourge wasn't any better, Smoke, Rook, and Leo were killed in a fight with a random group. She was training Quince and Jackel harshly.

"Sweet" Cloudpaw's eyes gleamed, his snowy fur fluffed up in excitement. Maplepaw looked just as excited, her fluffy white tail sticking up with her tail-tip flicking. Icefire remembered doing this with Cinderfreeze, it was a lot of fun and it felt good seeing how far his apprentice had come.

"Off you two go, then" Icefire mewed

"Try to get there by sunhigh" Raveneye added

They watched the apprentices race off toward the tunnel "Pace yourself" he called after them "You've a long way to go!"

Neither apprentice slowed down.

"Apprentices" Raveneye mewed "I'm glad Ashpaw is the calm one"

They were following the apprentices scents, they were strong and mingled with each other.

"How's your kits?" Raveneye asked "Haven't had a chance to talk with them except Cloudpaw"

"Great" Icefire mewed with pride "I've heard that Sunnypaw's tracking skills have improved since she returned to training, Shrikepaw and Rosepaw's fighting skills have improved and Bearpaw has been helping out with the nursery"

"That's great" Raveneye replied "I'm proud to call them my kin"

A flurry of loose feathers told of a caught thrush, and specks of blood on the grass showed that a mouse had fallen to his claws. Not far from Tallpines, Icefire found the spot where Cloudpaw had buried his fresh-kill so he could return for it later. He saw a similar spot where Maplepaw had buried her kill. Impressed that both apprentices were hunting well so early in their training, Raveneye and Icefire put on speed, hoping to catch the two apprentices catching or stalking prey. But before they reached twolegplace he caught sight of Maplepaw racing back along her own scent rail, her fur bristling and a wild light in her eyes.

"Maplepaw!" Icefire raced forward to meet her, his body tingling with fear.

"What happened?" Raveneyes asked

Maplepaw skidded to a halt, her claws scattering pine needles, barley managing avoid a collision with Icefire "Sunnypaw's gone and Fuzzypelt's dead"

Icebelly felt his heart drop and the air grew cold "What?"

"Me and Cloudpaw saw Tiger-roar and Nightshade, and there were some strange cats with him"

"What strange cats?...The rouges" Raveneye said in horror "I knew it!"

"I think so" Maplepaw replied, her fur standing on end "They were huddled together, just on the edge of the trees. I tried to get closer to hear what they were saying, but I was afraid they would see my white tail. So I came to find you"

Icefire wasn't listening he stopped when he heard about Sunnypaw and Fuzzypelt's fate, did Tiger-roar do this?. "Where did you last smell her scent?" he suddenly snapped "Where's Fuzzypelt?"

Maplepaw was about to move when Cloudpaw came into view with Fuzzypelt's corpse. He set the old tom's body down gently.

"Dad!" Raveneye dashed forward, burying his face in Fuzzypelt's fur. The pelt-maker's had been slashed open. He caught the scent of Nightshade in the air and another he couldn't pinpoint.

"Nightshade" he hissed

Raveneye was seething. "I'll kill her" he snarled

"Well you'll have to wait" Maplepaw replied "I just saw a large group of them and they're heading for camp"

Icefire didn't skip a beat "Run!" he ordered "All of you run like you've never before"

He ran with speed he didn't know he had, not checking to see if Cloudpaw and Maplepaw were keeping up. He saw Raveneye race ahead, fear racing off his white spotted pelt.

'He sent out all those patrols this morning' Icefire thought, fighting back panic. 'and he told me to follow Cloudpaw and Maplepaw. He left the clan with barely a warrior to defend it. This was the plan' he didn't know if he should stop or continue 'Do I actually want this?'

Icefire hurtled through the trees, his muscles bunching and stretching as he drove himself on. But when Raveneye and him reached the ravine, he realized that they had not run fast enough. He saw the lats of the rouges disappear into the gorse tunnel.

Launching himself down the steep side of the ravine, with Cloudpaw and Maplepaw scrabbling down behind him, Icefire let out a yowl "Thunderclan! Enemies! Attack!" He hurled himself into the tunnel and at the same moment he heard another yowl from the camp ahead.

"To me, Thunderclan!"

It was the familiar battle cry, but the voice was Tiger-roar's.

He burst into the clearing just as Tiger-roar whirled on the band of rogues, who scattered, yowling, from his attack. The deputy certainly looked as if he were trying to drive enemies from the camp, but Icefire was close enough to see that his long claws were sheathed in his massive paws. Tiger-roar's brave defense was all a sham. He had brought these enemy cats here, but he was cunning enough to conceal his own treachery.

There was no time for any more thought. However they had come here, the rogue cats were now attacking the camp. Icefire turned swiftly to Cloudpaw and Maplepaw.

"Go and find the patrols and tell them to come back" he ordered "Leopardstorm is somewhere along the Riverclan boundary, and Sandstorm went to Snakerocks"

"Yes Icefire, I got Snakerocks" Maplepaw replied

"Riverclan" Cloudpaw added as they both raced back into the tunnel.

Icefire sprang at the nearest rogue, a dark mottled brown tabby , and he raked his claws down his side. The rogue snarled and twisted toward, paws splayed for attack. He tried to pin Icefire down; Icefire's hindpaws pummeled his belly, and rogue broke away howling.

Icefire's scrambled to his paws and crouched with tail lashing and fur bristling as he looked around for another enemy. Outside the entrance to the nursery, Frostbite was wrestling a rogue with a pale gray coat, the two of the rolling over and over as they tried to get a hold with teeth and claws.

Brindleface and Speckletail were fighting against a black cat twice their size. Near the warrior's den, Mousefur dug her front claws into the shoulder of a huge tabby, while her back claws shredded his flank.

He saw Dustpelt and Raveneye brawling with Mudfoot, Raveneye going for the ribes and Dustpelt going for the eyes.

He tried to run to help but he was bowled over by a rogue cat. His flank stung as claws raked down it. Green eyes glared a mouse-length from his own red ones. Icefire bared his fangs and tried to bite down into the enemy's shoulder, but the rogue cat batted him away. Claws ripped into his ear. His belly was exposed and he couldn't twist free. Suddenly his attacker let out a wail and released him. Icefire caught a glimpse of the older apprentice Swiftpaw with his teeth fastened into the rogue's tail; the rogue dragged him through the dust until Swiftpaw released him and the enemy fled.

Panting, Icefire scrambled to his paws "Thanks" he gasped "Well done"

"Done it a lot with Fogtail" Swiftpaw chuckled before racing off to where Frostbite still battled in front of the nursery along with Nettlemist.

The clearing heaved with struggling cats, but as Icefire poised himself to rejoin the fray he realized something that sent an even colder pang of fear along his spine. Where was Bluestar?

In a heartbeat, Icefire realized that he couldn't see Tiger-roar either or Nightshade either. Every instinct told him the plan was close to completion, even the hissing from Goosefeather.

'Save her you fool' he hissed 'This is not the destiny they follow'

"What are you talking about?" he snapped

'You'll see, now save her'

"Icefire, help!" turned and saw Cranewing pinned by Lizardstripe. The older molly dug her claws in the gray molly's chest and her ear was bleeding.

Icefire moved forward and shoved Lizardstripe away. Lizardstripe hissed and swiped at him and he dodged, he winced when he stepped on his faulty leg in his rush "Cranewing, kill her!"

The gray molly didn't hesitate, she bit into the back of Lizardstripe's neck. The older molly gurgled as Cranewing crushed her windpipe.

'Find Bluestar!' Goosefeather and Redtail hissed

He dodged around Willowpelt, who was clinging to the back of a much bigger rogue, her teeth hastened in his ear, and made for Bluestar's den, Leopardstorm falling beside him. To his relief, as he approached the entrance he heard Bluestar mew from inside, "We can worry about that later, Tiger-roar Nightshade. The Clan needs us now"

For a few heartbeats there was no reply. Leoapardstorm looked ready to bolt but was waiting. Then Icefire heard Bluestar's voice again, surprised "Nightshade? Tiger-roar? What are you doing?"

Tiger-roar's snarl answered "Remember us to Starclan, Mother"

"Tiger-roar Nightshade, what is this?" Bluestar's mew was sharper now, edged with rage, not fear. "I'm the leader of your clan, or have you two forgotten that?"

"Not for much longer" Nightshade growled

"I'm going to kill you, and kill you again, As many times as it takes for you to join Starclan forever. It's time for me to lead this Clan!" Tiger-roar declared

Bluestar's answering hiss was suddenly cut short by the sound of paws thudding against the hard floor of the den, followed by dreadful snarling.

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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961

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen? Unsettling films are my jam, man. To name a few, there’s Eraserhead, Room, Midsommar, Eyes Wide Shut, Misery, and most recently, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Eraserhead takes the cake though. That movie always makes me queasy...

What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole? I’m a firm believer in nothing good ever comes out of unethical practices. I’ll never forget reading about an experiment where a group of newborn babies were given basic needs like food and being bathed, but weren’t shown any affection whatsoever and it was meant to see if humans can survive with just the most basic physiological needs. By the end of the experiment period half of the babies were dead. The results were honestly a lot bleaker than how I’ve put it, but I don’t wanna be a downer lol. Suffice it to say that experiment haunted me for days after reading it.

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t? It was around a week or so ago, I’m pretty sure.

Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base? My sister is into K-pop and I hear insights from her all the time, but her one constant is that BTS breeds the most annoying, toxic fans. I’d have to agree. Ariana Grande’s fandom was also annoying at one point, but I haven’t heard much from them making a mess these days.

What are you interested in that most people aren’t? Autobiographies.

If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you? Why would I deserve a PhD on something I’m clearly not qualified for...I’m not sure I’m following this question right, but I don’t feel like thinking too hard about it.

What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement? I’m happy with the features that are widespread now, but I wish companies adhere more to countries other than the common ones like US, UK, Australia, etc. I always see ads about phones being able to tell you how much movie tickets cost or track boarding passes, but those are all irrelevant here. It makes a lot of Apple’s basic apps useless on this side of the world haha.

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should? Long-term effects of poor habits like not getting enough sleep or drinking too many cups of coffee. I know because I’m guilty of this.

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis? “I won’t think about that now, I’ll think about it tomorrow,” but I usually say it to myself, especially when I feel stressed.

Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents? Better, but idk if that’s just me being biased because my generation will be the next parents lol. I just think that a lot of Gen X parents still have a lot of dated prejudices and mindsets that my generation was able to learn better from. For example my mom doesn’t like using people’s preferred names, especially if they’ve transitioned -_____- and I know I’d never want to set such an example for my kids.

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart? I know I’ve come across hilarious ones but I always fail to come up with one when asked on the spot.

When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life? LOL RIGHT NOW

What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having? It’s more stupid than funny and I know I’ve already mentioned this before, but Covid Bryant as a first and second name still takes the cake for me. My sister went to school with a girl whose name is just her surname backwards, and for a time I was really weirded out by it. But in the times I’ve seen her she really owns her name and never looks bothered by it, so I quickly stopped caring.

Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? For me it would have to be organizations for animal welfare.

What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week? Post-El Camino Jesse Pinkman. I wouldn’t want to live through his chaotic shit from Breaking Bad, but his fate after El Camino is something I’m super envious of.

What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now? Flip phones, Blackberry phones, Roshes, Frappuccinos.

If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack? Phone, laptop, their chargers, important IDs, some of my favorite tops and jeans, underwear, essential toiletries, wallet, a family photo, a journal and pen, earphones, certain knickknacks to remember Gab and my dogs by. Minus the clothes, all of these are pretty tiny so I think these would all fit in the bag just fine.

What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen? I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of rating the most/worst this and that stuff in my life, either. I feel like I unnecessarily rack my brain too hard for them when I take surveys to have a chill time.

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first? Probably something that’d keep my dogs from dying.

If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do? No thanks. I’d be the chillest ghost tbh, I’d like to just sneak up on people’s business and hang out but never interfere in them.

What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving? Climate change, global warming, alleviation of poverty. Corporations and the few people who actually have the power and money to change things only ever come up with short-term shit like donations and never look at the big picture. What problem are you currently grappling with? So many personal ones. But just like the recurring theme of my surveys so far, “I don’t want to get into it.”

What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role? As much as I love Kristen Stewart, I heard she was cast as Princess Diana for an upcoming film and I’m not really feeling that decision. They could’ve gone with a British actress for starters?????? The movie is still in production but it is pretty annoying to think about lmao.

What game have you spent the most hours playing? Probably GTA: San Andreas as a kid.

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in? Luxury hotel beds are always so fluffy and comfortable.

What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard? Omg one time at a coffee shop Gabie and I sat beside this older couple that obviously was going through some heavy SHIT. There was a lot of animosity and tension between them and I caught the lady silently break into tears a few times. I never overheard anything but then again they sat in silence for hours until the lady finally walked out on him. Never knew what it was about but I’ve always guessed that the man did something crappy, like cheat, and was discovered. It was a really sad sight and a crazy situation to witness and I think I felt even more sorry because they were obviously in their 50s or 60s. I hope the woman is in a better place now as she looked rough as fuck that evening.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked? I wore a lot of hats when I was in my college org, and that was on top of balancing my acads as well.

What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it? That scene from Friends where Ross plays the keyboard for Chandler, Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel.

What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation? It depends on what music they’re into and if I have actually have a recommendation in mind for them. I obviously can’t suggest Paramore to someone who mainly listens to metal.

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose? I’m down for any monuments that are super ancient like Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza.

If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying? I’d go with frogs, but only because they get annoyingly loud in the evening.

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been? Playing The Sims, Mario Kart, Rock Band, or games in the Burnout franchise.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? Japan was so fucking cold when I was there. Didn’t do my research and ended up being dressed poorly, and I was so cold I could barely talk to my parents or fully enjoy my time. Sagada was also nearly unbearable in the early morning.

Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate? Not from a book or movie, but BoJack Horseman. Diane can also be in the running as I always found her too whiny. I get that she had her personal shit to deal with, but I don’t think living with her would be good for my own sanity and mental health.

Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine? It annoys my chef dad to death that I don’t lol. No matter how great it looks, I’d bounce. I once ate expired Kit Kats that tasted like cardboard and that scared me off of expired food forever.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought? I once bought a stupid novelty soap that to this day I’ve never even opened. It’s in one of my drawers, and I plan to just throw it out at some point.

What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen? Not a fan of these but one that got to me is Dear Sister from SNL.

What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten? A few years ago there was a local breakfast place that offered red velvet pancakes for a limited time and I was all over that crap, so I went and ordered. The actual pancakes ended up not being any bigger than my palm, and I remember not being able to hide my disappointment once the server placed the dish on my table haha. I felt so scammed. I had to order something else to feel full, because those pancakes were stupidly small.

What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job/jobs? One of my superiors, when she was presenting a pitch to our director yesterday, kept asking questions and picking at the director’s brain so that she can get suggestions and answers straight from the director herself and so that she didn’t have to do any brainstorming anymore. I thought that was a pretty nifty and clever hack.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? Hiking a mountain!

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them? Umbrella by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z.

What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone? Idk, anything can be the worst depending on the context. I’m not a fan of giving those, though.

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? Unsolved Mysteries’ Dupont de Ligonnès episode was a lot of fun to watch.

What was the last song you sang along to? I think it was Thinking of You by Katy Perry? but I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t sung along to anything in a while.

What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet? I don’t really download and use a lot of apps other than the basic ones, so I don’t care too much.

When was the last time you face palmed? Last night.

If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create? I’d give it away to the Martial Law museum currently being made near my university so that it can do more to show the atrocities of the Marcoses. And so that I can piss off my pro-Marcos relatives.

Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up? Uh hating myself, if that counts.

What really needs to be modernized? Public transportation systems in this country.

#survey #surveys

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mamabearcat · 5 years

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Into the Woods - Part 6

One day, I will follow my original story plan, and write something short. But today is not that day. I’ve split the chapter again, because it was just too long, and because Inuyasha has his own ideas about keeping his new human safe that didn’t fit into my chapter plan at all...

Tagging my two main cheerleaders for this @clearwillow and @keichanz and also @redflamesofpassion @xxracheyxx @mcornilliac@inuyashasnook @cstorm86 @xfangheartx @wenchster

Today’s song inspiration is Rabbit Heart by Florence + The Machine (one of my favourites)

Here I am a rabbit hearted girl

Frozen in the headlights It seems I've made the final sacrifice...

This is a gift it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I look around but I can't find you (Raise it up) If only I could see your face (Raise it up) Instead of rushing towards the skyline (Raise it up) I wish that I could just be brave

I must become a lion hearted girl Ready for a fight Before I make the final sacrifice

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Kagome clung tightly to Inuyasha’s shoulders, the white of her knuckles against his darker shirt barely visible in the velvet shadows under the trees. She could feel firm muscles bunching as he ran through the undergrowth, almost silent on bare feet. The full moon was still rising, and the moonlight reflecting off Inuyasha’s pale hair gave it a silvery sheen. She couldn’t help but focus on his flicking ears as he took in the sounds around them – the tiny hairs bordering the twitching white points were almost iridescent. Anything to take her mind off her thoughts.

It had been little more than an hour since she’d fled from the terror at the shrine, and now they were running towards it. Her heartbeat escalated, overtaking the almost silent rhythm of Inuyasha’s steady footfalls. Her grandfather’s usually benign face, twisted. Leering magenta eyes. Blood slimed teeth, grinning with malice. She tensed, trying to suppress the shudder that rolled over her body and scrunched her eyes tight shut as if to block the image out. But it made no difference.

“Oi woman, don’t pinch!”, griped Inuyasha. He could smell her fear; an acrid stench that burnt in his nose, and he firmed his grip under her bare thighs, squeezing gently. Slowing his pace a little so he could talk to her, he struggled to find the right words to say, to bolster her courage and find out exactly what was wrong. Who was he kidding? This whole situation with her grandfather and Naraku was wrong. He was trying not to think about it too much himself. “Kagome, take a deep breath. I ain’t gonna let anythin’ happen to ya, okay?”

Kagome leaned her head closer to the side of his, almost resting her chin on his shoulder. It was uncomfortable leaning this close to him while he ran. Even though his pace was smooth, he couldn’t minimise the occasional jolt as he landed a little harder after leaping over an obstacle. The wood of her bow dug into her side where she had it balanced over her shoulder, and she could feel the leather covered axe-head of the Tessaiga much closer to her inner thigh than she ever wanted a sharpened blade to be. Yes, it was uncomfortable. But she could also feel his body heat warm against hers, feel the strength of his hands wrapped around her legs; it was uncomfortable but comforting at the same time.

“How can you be so sure?” she whispered.

She saw a quick flash of white fang in the darkness as he glanced back at her. “Cause I’m stubborn that way. I promised I’d protect ya Kagome, and I meant it.”

There had been a brief argument before they’d set out – Inuyasha wanting to carry her on his back, and Kagome wanting to walk on her own two feet, thank you very much. It was only when he’d pointed out that he’d been able to locate her in moments as she’d fled the shrine earlier, because she’d sounded as loud as a baby elephant and that was at sunset when there was plenty of light. If they wanted to get as close as possible to Naraku before they were discovered, they had to be quiet. She’d finally agreed, after haughtily pointing out repeatedly that she was ‘perfectly capable’ and ‘didn’t need any male to carry her’. He’d grinned at her the whole time she’d been mouthing off about it, which seemed to make her even more irritable; the exasperated noise she’d made could have almost passed as a tiny inuyoukai snarl. It was adorable.

It was true he’d wanted to carry her so they could get close to the shrine quickly and quietly. But that wasn’t the only reason. He felt better knowing exactly where she was, safely behind him. His instincts were on high alert. The last thing he wanted to do was take her into danger, having only just found her. And here he was, taking her closer with every step – untried, untested and against a foe that had bested another like her before, a much more experienced miko familiar with both Naraku’s history and her own abilities. His ears swivelled, taking in every sound. The closer they got to the shrine, the quieter it became. The night should be filled with small noises; crickets, frogs, bats, all the small nocturnal animals going about their regular business. But it was quiet as the grave. He didn’t like it.

“Kagome, hang on tight.”

“Why, what are you…?” She buried her startled squeal into his shoulder as Inuyasha tightened his grip on her thighs and propelled them both upwards into the tree canopy, leaping from treetop to treetop. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure it was about to launch itself out of her chest, and her fingers ached with how hard she was holding on to him.

“A little more warning would be nice, you jerk!” she hissed into his shoulder. She did her best to unclench her fists that were twisted into the soft fabric of his flannel shirt, trying to calm her breathing. Her stomach still felt like they’d left it about three trees back, but it seemed like she wasn’t going to die, not yet anyway.

She pried open her eyes hesitantly one by one, trying not to glance downwards to catch a glimpse of the ground far below. A chill wind rushed past them now that they were out in the open, swirling her dark hair around their shoulders as he bounded through the treetops gracefully, picking up speed without the hindrance of tree roots and low hanging branches. She could feel movement under her hands, and she realised that his shoulders were shaking.

“Are… are you laughing at me?!” she asked incredulously. She saw the flash of white again as he grinned.

“I know I compared ya to a baby elephant before, but that didn’t mean ya had to make a noise like one to prove me right.” He sniggered at her annoyed huff and the pinch of her fingers into his shoulders. “Settle down woman. I can see what’s goin’ on a bit better from up here. And it will be easier for you to shoot your arrow.”

He came to a halt on a wide branch high in a giant cedar tree and sniffed the air, growling in disgust. The shrine at the top of the mountain was easily visible now, covered in a light purplish fog, but that wasn’t what had drawn his ire. The scent of Naraku’s miasma had drifted further down the mountain.

Kagome forced herself not to look downwards – the tree they were currently perched in had to be around two hundred feet tall. If she thought about it too much, she would only panic, so she decided to stop thinking about it altogether. She reached out to trace her fingers over the heavily textured bark of the trunk, then rubbed them against her sleeve with a grimace as she felt a sticky residue on them. It was clinging to her fingers, making her feel uneasy. And it wasn’t just the tree bark.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome asked uncertainly. “The air, it feels…” She couldn’t quite explain it – the breeze swirling around them felt oily, clinging, unpleasantly damp against her skin.

“It’s been touched by Naraku’s miasma”, he growled. “Try not to breathe in too much of it. I’ll get us a bit closer to the shrine before you shoot to clear a path. I’ll stop before it gets too dangerous.”

Kagome shifted her weight on Inuyasha’s back uneasily. “What happens if we breathe it in? The miasma I mean.” For some reason, a growing dread was churning in her gut, making her feel the need to whisper.

“A small amount won’t have a long-term effect, although it’ll make you feel nauseous. But if you breathe in too much and fall unconscious, and keep breathin’ it in… you die.”

“Good to know”, replied Kagome quietly. She pushed down the panic that wanted to surface, rolling her shoulder to feel the weight of the bow against it. She could do this. Shoot reiki filled arrows to clear a path through the miasma. Support Inuyasha while he fought Naraku back to where they needed to put him back behind the barrier. Strengthen the barrier somehow to keep him there. Her heart stuttered at the magnitude of the task in front of them. She had absolutely no idea how to go about it.

She tried not to think about the fact that Naraku was currently possessing her Grandpa’s body. Did that mean she would have to watch Inuyasha hurt him? She didn’t know if she could do that. There had to be a way to separate them – there just had to. She didn’t know how she was going to achieve that, but she would. Besides, Inuyasha believed in her, and that had to count for something.

“Where exactly is the barrier that Naraku’s meant to be behind?” she asked.

“On a path behind the shrine, there’s an enormous boulder called Hogeto Rock with a huge hole in it. There’s a legend that says the hole was kicked out by the servant priest of Takeiwatatsu no Mikoto, the First Emperor’s grandson. That’s where Midoriko anchored the barrier.”

“So we have to somehow get him to step back into the hole?”

Inuyasha shrugged. “It ain’t gonna be easy. I doubt he wants to go back now that he’s finally got a taste of freedom again, even though the barrier is still limiting him to the summit of the mountain.”

“Has he ever escaped before?”

“…”

“Inuyasha?”

“Yes.” Inuyasha’s reply was brusque, a tone which didn’t invite further questions, but Kagome wasn’t giving up just yet. If this had happened previously, and Naraku had been successfully returned to his imprisonment, shouldn’t they discuss how it was done?

“How did they do it last time?” She was surprised at the low growl Inuyasha gave in answer. “I take it something bad happened?”

“The miko died Kagome.” Inuyasha’s answer sounded like it had been dragged out of him unwillingly. “That ain’t gonna happen again.”

“But how did they…?”

“I’m not tellin’ ya how they did it, so stop askin’!” he growled heatedly. His voice softened when he heard her startled gasp, and he squeezed her thighs gently in silent apology for his raised voice. “It was risky and foolish, and caused nothin’ but heartache, even if it was successful. We’ll come up with our own way Kagome. I’ve seen how powerful your reiki is, and I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. It won’t be easy, but we’ll do this together, alright?”

“Alright.” Kagome gave in to the temptation she’d felt ever since she’d been boosted onto Inuyasha’s back, and tentatively rubbed one of his dog-like ears. “Together.”

She couldn’t help smiling at the feel of it, despite the danger in front of them; so velvety soft, quivering under her fingers. She scratched her fingernails around the base and gently rubbed upwards towards the pointed tip. A soft rumbling sound echoed through Inuyasha’s chest, quickly followed by a terse request for her to stop.

She jerked her hand back and returned it to his shoulder, a shamefaced blush heating her cheeks. “I’m sorry”, she whispered, reproaching herself for giving in to her desire to touch him. She’d probably done something incredibly rude and forward.

“Don’t apologise”, Inuyasha muttered, his recently caressed ear flicking erratically. “I liked it. But… we’re a long way up and I don’t wanna drop ya.” He cleared his throat noisily. “If you wanted to… to try that again, maybe when we were down on solid ground and we weren’t about to go into battle against a destructive homicidal demon, I wouldn’t say no.”

Kagome grinned at him. Even though it was still dark, she could tell that his cheeks were flushed. She was tempted to reach up and give his ear a final tweak, but restrained herself. “So, you…”

The darkness hit them out of nowhere, tangling around Kagome’s calf and dragging her sideways. She didn’t even have time to scream as she was yanked out of Inuyasha’s hold, his claws grasping on empty air as another dark coil wrapped around her chest and had her plummeting out of the tree.

“KAAAGOOOMEEE!”

She saw a yellow flash of brilliance as Inuyasha leaped downwards after her, his snarling face side lit by the glowing Tessaiga clenched in his fist, as he pushed himself from branch to branch, diving in pursuit of her. Kagome scrabbled her hands against whatever was holding her waist, but it had no form, it was like pushing against smoke.

She knew she was falling too fast; the branches dragging against her skin as she dropped hurt like a son of a bitch, but they weren’t slowing her down much. Her heart was beating double time in her chest, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she struggled to get free. She didn’t know how close she was to the ground, but she was pretty sure when she hit it was going to hurt a lot, if she even survived the fall that is. She could hear Inuyasha’s descent through the tree above her, see the determination on his face as he drove himself in pursuit of her like a yellow lightning bolt. The sound of his axe whirled and bit into the wood as he now cleared a path to fall faster through the branches, intense sparks of yellow light showing his position. Was he getting closer or was that wishful thinking on her part? If she could just get herself free, he might be able to grab her before she hit the ground.

The darkness that had previously been contained to a strip around her waist began to expand, drifting downwards over her legs and up over her chest, constricting her like a tight band. It was becoming harder to struggle, more difficult to breathe. She was already becoming light headed, and she didn’t want to know what would happen if that darkness were to cover her face.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to harness the power that Midoriko had helped her find before, channelling it down her arms and into her hands which she held over the darkness around her waist. “Hit the mark”, she whispered, opening her eyes only to lock onto Inuyasha’s burning amber gaze as he reached out towards her, his fingers almost grazing her arm. A dazzling flash of intense pink light surrounded her, followed by an ear-splitting inhuman howl that had her gritting her teeth. A moment of sudden terror seized her. What if she’d hurt him?

A sudden grab of her upper arm halted her descent. Blinded by the bright light and almost deafened by the noise, Kagome had no idea of what was going on, apart from the sudden agonising pain in her shoulder. She swung in mid-air and was hoisted up, a strong arm catching her around her waist, and she was moving, crushed against a warm chest as they barrelled through the undergrowth.

“Inuyasha?” she whimpered.

“I gotcha.” For the first time since she’d met him, his breaths sounded laboured, his chest heaving as he ran. Kagome bit her bottom lip so hard there was a faint taste of blood. The scratches on her legs and face burned, but paled in comparison to her shoulder. It felt like it was ablaze with pain, with pins and needles firing up and down her arm – she’d never dislocated her shoulder before, but she was beginning to think that sudden jerk had pulled her arm out of its socket. Her shoulder just felt agonisingly wrong, and if she was going to have any chance of shooting her bow, it was going to have to be put back in place. She was pretty sure she’d read during her nursing studies that putting it back in hurt just as much as the original injury. She knew how to pop a shoulder back in theory, but there was no way she’d be able to do it all by herself.

Inuyasha slowed his pace, concentrating more on silence than speed now he thought they were out of Naraku’s range. He hoped so anyway. He’d brought them to a small cave in the rockfall at the base of the cliff below the shrine that he’d found as a young boy. It had been a good hiding place – cool in the summer, with the soothing sound of trickling water coming from the small natural spring towards the back, and protected from the freezing winds in autumn and winter. The opening was just big enough for him to squeeze them both through, and he purposely nudged the loose rocks with his shoulder as they moved in, hiding the entrance even further.

He placed Kagome gently on the sandy floor, propping her up against the cave wall and being very careful not to nudge her injured shoulder. He’d heard the joint pop when he’d made a frantic grab for her barely ten feet above the ground, his sight almost blinded by the combined reaction of his youki and her reiki. If he hadn’t, he wasn’t entirely sure she would have survived the fall, so he couldn’t regret his decision, but this next bit was gonna suck, for him and her both. He was still trying to get his fright back under control; his stomach was churning, thinking about how very close she’d come to dying.

Inuyasha crouched down in front of her, wanting to snarl as he took in her pale pained expression. Thin bloodied scratches sliced across her cheeks, one cutting in very close to her right eye. He’d be able to cleanse them with water from the spring easily, but really, they were nothing compared to her shoulder.

“Inuyasha”, she panted, her eyes blinking as she tried to focus on his glowing eyes in the darkness of the cave, “you’re gonna have to pop my shoulder in. I’m pretty sure it’s dislocated, but I don’t think I could do it myself.” She shook her head, hissing in pain as the movement jostled her shoulder minutely. “Fuck it hu-urts!”

He cradled her cheeks gently in his large hands, wishing he had the ability to take her pain away instantly, and knowing he was going to have to hurt her even more. “Kagome, look at me.” She was panting through her nose as she let the pain take over, almost hyperventilating, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip. “I know it hurts, but ya gotta calm down. Deep breaths with me.” He breathed in deeply and slowly, modelling a better breathing pattern, and smiled and nodded encouragingly as she began to copy him. He stroked his thumbs gently on her cheeks. “Okay. I heard your shoulder pop, and I know how much it hurts because I’ve done it to myself a number of times. But the good news is, the quicker we do this, the better it’ll feel.”

He unzipped Kagome’s hoodie, sliding the sleeve off her good arm first, and then slowly and very carefully, tugging it away from her back and down her injured arm. Steeling himself against her whimpers of pain, Inuyasha gently lifted her arm and placed her hand on his shoulder, holding her elbow in place with his left hand to keep her arm still and supported while inspecting the shoulder joint gently with his right. Pushing her wide necked t-shirt to one side, he could see it - the shoulder joint wasn’t totally out of the socket, but would still need to be pushed back in. He massaged the stiffening muscles in her neck to try and relax them as they spasmed, her body trying to force the subluxed joint back in place. He sighed. “It’s not completely out, but I’m still gonna have ta lift and push to pop it back in. I’m sorry.”

Kagome gritted her teeth. “Just do it.”

“That’s my girl.” He locked his eyes on hers, keeping her gaze as he moved his hand down to her upper arm, massaging her bicep, trying to relax the muscle. “On three. One… Two… Three.” The satisfying click was almost drowned out by Kagome’s agonised scream, followed by a hiccupping sigh of relief as she slumped towards him. Moments later she was scooped up, resting in the warmth of his lap, where he rocked her gently, stroking her hair.

“I’m sorry Kagome, I’m so sorry.”

Kagome huffed out an incredulous sigh as she leaned into him. “What on earth are you apologising for? You saved me Inuyasha. I knew I wasn’t going to survive if I hit the ground. You were right there when I needed you. My only worry was that I hurt you with my reiki – I’ve got no control over how much I let loose. It’s pretty much all or nothing.” She tilted her gaze upward, squinting at him. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Inuyasha shook his head. “Nope.”

She frowned. “How is that even possible? I mean, the light was so bright I couldn’t even see you anymore, so it had to have touched you.”

“I wanna show you somethin’. Do you trust me Kagome?”

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Of course I trust you Inuyasha. You just stopped me becoming a human pancake at the bottom of a very tall tree.”

“Don’t!” Inuyasha almost snarled. “You almost died Kagome. I almost let you die. I didn’t even sense Naraku’s attack! What if I hadn’t caught you in time?”

“But you did catch me in time! Did you know he could grab people like that?” She felt rather than saw Inuyasha shake his head. “Then you didn’t do anything wrong okay?” she smiled soothingly. “You can’t know everything. It sounds like you’re not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve. But now we know about this one, we can be ready next time – physical attacks won’t affect him when he uses shadowy tentacle-like attacks against us, but reiki will.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” muttered Inuyasha, stroking her hair.

“Because…”, said Kagome with a small hiccup, burying her face into his chest, “I really wanna cry, but if I do cry, I might not be able to go back out there.” Her voice sounded muffled, directed into his flannel shirt, but he could still hear her clearly. “So I’m planning on saving all my tears until the end, and then you can hug me. You’re very good at hugs you know.”

Inuyasha squeezed his arms around her. “That’s surprising, seeing how out of practice I am.” He let out a slow breath, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I am so proud of you, you know. You didn’t freeze up even while you were falling out of a two-hundred-foot tree. You’re amazing.”

Kagome squirmed a little at the praise, feeling warmed and embarrassed by it at the same time, turning her face to rest her cheek against his chest. “I didn’t have time to be afraid. Besides, I could see you coming for me, and you had this snarly determined face on – you said that you wouldn’t let anything happen to me Inuyasha, and I believed you.” She gave a small smile at his sudden hitched breath, but didn’t draw attention to it. “What did you want to show me?”

“Hold out your hand like this”, he said, holding his palm towards her with clawed fingers pointing towards the roof of the cave.

“Boring human eyes can’t see in the dark, remember?”

“Oh, sorry. Here.” He placed his palm against hers, marvelling at how much smaller and paler her hand was compared to his, then pulled a small amount of his youki to dance around his fingertips. Almost instantly, a pink glow surrounded her own fingers. He entwined their fingers together. “See? You can’t hurt me, and I can’t hurt you. Pretty neat, huh?”

Kagome’s eyes were rounded in surprise as she watched the crackle of energy surrounding their clasped hands, the yellow and pink mirroring each other exactly, as bright as sparklers in the darkness. Her fingers felt warm and tingly, and she let out a surprised giggle. “Did you know this would happen? For a moment, when I couldn’t see after I’d pushed the reiki out through my fingers, and there was that godawful howl, I thought I’d…”

“Nope, not me”, he said cheerfully, “definitely Naraku. You were pretty kickass Kagome.” He rubbed his other hand gently over her upper arm, frowning at the large bruise developing where he’d grabbed to stop her downward plunge towards the ground. He wanted to internally berate himself again, but decided to mostly let it go for now, conceding that bruised was better than dead. “When you let out that huge burst to burn Naraku’s darkness away just as I leaped towards you, my youki shielded me. It’s not something I did consciously either, it just happened. It makes sense though, for us not to be able to hurt each other.”

He slowly pulled his fingers away, drawing his energy back in, and the pink glow surrounding Kagome’s slim fingers disappeared also. She smiled up at him, loving the way his amber eyes glowed slightly in the darkness of the cave. Just when this day didn’t seem like it could get any stranger… absolutely nothing would surprise her after this.

Part Seven

#Into the Woods #this was meant to be the chapter with major biffo #but Inuyasha decided to carry her off to a cave instead #I swear I no longer have any control over this story #this was only ever meant to be three parts long - THREE!#inukag fanfic #inuyasha fanfic #inuyasha x kagome #Bearpluscat fanfics

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conifertwins · 7 years

Text

Armed and Ready - 3/?

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] "And that's how I earned my red belt," Marco beamed.

"My goodness! And these belts determine your rank at... at that hand dancing fighting form." Eclipsa mimed a poor imitation of a fighting stance.

"Karate."

"Right, karate." Eclipsa took Marco's hand. "You really are an amazing person, Marco."

"Well, I don't think I'd be the person I am now, if it weren't for Star," Marco shrugged. "She... she's really brought out the best in me."

Eclipsa squeezed his hand gently. "Us Butterfly women tend to do that in those for whom we care deeply."

"So...," Marco said, trying to avoid her gaze, "is that because of your magical abilities or something?"

She laughed, letting go of Marco in the process. Although she'd only held onto him for a moment, he suddenly felt adrift. He looked at her hands, thinking of grabbing hers for a moment for... comfort? Security? Control? He could feel himself getting upset, but he wasn't sure why. He was just having a pleasant conversation with... with Eclipsa. Nothing to see here. Just two people talking in the rose garden at night.

"Marco?" Eclispa was no longer laughing.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just...."

"Your arm, dear."

Marco looked down. His arm had turned purple, his fingers covered in suckers. "Oh no."

Eclipsa grabbed both of his hands. "Quick, Marco. Look in my eyes. Tell me what you're feeling."

Marco leaned back, trying to pull his hands away in the process. Eclipsa's grip was firm and surprisingly strong.

"Marco, tell me."

He closed his eyes and exhaled, feeling himself slump forward in the process. "I... I feel lost. I don't know why you want to talk to me or what we're doing here."

"Why, we're having a lovely conversation," she blinked, surprised.

"No, no... you're not listening. I don't know what we're doing here. What I'm doing here. I don't know why we're talking. Look, I'm really grateful that you did... whatever it was you did in the infirmary. I'm glad that you're so... so gracious and not some power-hungry villain...."

"Villainess," she gently corrected.

"Right. And I'm glad that you seem interested in me and Earth and all of that, but... look... ever since I came back, Star's reaction, River's reaction, the guards, everyone... I... I don't think I belong here. Maybe Tad was right. Maybe I just came here to make myself miserable."

Eclipsa sat back and crossed her legs, placing her hands primly on her knee. "How did you get here, Marco?"

"I just... you know... cut a portal and came to Mewni."

"But how did you cut a portal?"

"Oh, I have a pair of dimensional scissors."

"And how did you get those?"

"They're mine. I got them from Heckapoo."

"You... got them... from Heckapoo," she mused. "You say that like you went to the market for milk and eggs. Heckapoo has never been the type to just give anyone anything."

"Well, I earned them. It took... um, in her dimension, it took me sixteen years to get my own pair. Of course, when I came back, I was in my fourteen-year-old body again."

She uncrossed her legs and leaned in toward Marco, looking at him as though she were expecting him to sprout wings at any moment. "Let’s go over that for a second. You... a boy from Earth... won a pair of dimensional scissors from Heckapoo of the Magical High Commission by enduring sixteen years of trials and tribulations at her hand."

"I... guess?"

"Without the aid of magic?"

"Well, we don't really have magic on Earth."

"And you doubt your right to be here on Mewni?"

"It's just... it's just that...."

"Things haven't gone as you expected? You don't feel appreciated by those you love, by those with whom you felt you had a special bond?"

Marco looked into her eyes. She wasn't trying to pry or scheme or manipulate... at least, not that he could tell. He saw only concern, only care... the first real concern and care for his wellbeing that he'd encountered in his time back on Mewni. He tried to nod, but started to sob instead. Eclipsa pulled him close.

"Shhh, my dear. No need to cry." She ran her gloved fingers through his hair as he cried into her shoulder. "You are more special than you know. In fact, few Mewmans have ever won a pair of scissors from Heckapoo. Most scissors are passed down through families, generation after generation. Songs are sung about the ancestors who won them. It is... it is not a trivial feat. You are, by all accounts, exceptional."

"Sorry," he said, moving back. "I... really, I should be grateful."

"And why should you be grateful, exactly?"

"Well, Star did decide to let me stay, and she did say I could be her squire."

"Hm.” Eclipsa paused. Her face seemed relaxed, at ease, but Marco felt he could see a fire behind her eyes, growing with each moment. After what felt like minutes, she blinked, her lips spreading into a wide smile. “You know, I think your destiny calls for you to become more than a mere squire. Would you like that," she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Marco slid down to the far end of the bench. "I... I'm not... look, could you just take care of my arm again? I need to get back to my room."

"I would, but it appears you've already taken care of it yourself."

Marco held his arm up. It was normal again. No purple, no suckers... just fingers and a thumb at the end of his ordinary, unremarkable arm.

Eclipsa stood up and took his still-elevated hand in hers. "Marco, my dear, thank you for the lovely conversation. I trust you'll come see me again sometime soon." She began to walk along the path to her tower.

"Uh, sure."

She paused to turn to him. "If you do decide to visit me again, I'm out here every night at the same time. Only next time, be sure to wear some shoes. They might help with the thorns," she said with a lilt in her voice.

Marco sat for a while, looking into the sky. For a moment, he felt like he was the only still point in the universe, with everything moving around him, swirling away from his vantage point.

"What just happened," he asked, hoping he would prompt himself to answer. He waited in silence until he felt the chill of the night through his clothes. “I guess there’s only going to be one way to find out,” he grumbled, as he made his way back to the infirmary, carefully avoiding both the shadows and the thorns.

==== ====

Yvgeny sat up in surprise at the pounding on the door. His surprise turned to irritation, the moment he heard the familiar voice of his Mewman friend yelling at him.

"Buff Frog! C'mon, I need you to get up," Star yelled, stamping her feet in the swamp outside of the Bulgolyubov residence. "Don't make me use my wand," she threatened, before immediately transitioning into, "Rising Sunshine Door Destruc...."

"Stop!" Yvgeny opened the door, towering over Star in his bath robe. "No need for spell. No need to cause any more ruckus. You will wake my poor babies if you keep this up." He rubbed at his temples as he composed himself. "Why are you here at this time of night, Star Butterfly?"

"Monster magic." Star spat the words, as though they'd have some sort of effect on Buff Frog.

"Monster magic?"

"Yes! Monster magic! You know, the magic that monsters use." Star pantomimed a horned monster projecting magic from its face. "That kind of stuff."

"Why are you even asking about this sort of thing, and at this hour," he asked, incredulous at her audacity.

Star looked down into the mud that made up the floor. She stared at the swirls that seemed to slowly spin as the waters of the swamp ebbed and flowed outside.

"Marco... Marco's sick. And it's my fault. I... I think I gave him a virus. A magical virus. And there's nothing in any of the Mewman archives that can cure something of this nature. I wouldn't even be bothering you with my mess if it wasn't serious. I'm... I'm sorry for waking you up. It's just... time is of the essence, and I can't afford to lose him again." She bit her lip to regain her composure before looking up to Yvgeny. "Please, Buff Frog. I'm desperate."

Yvgeny sighed. "Monsters... don't use magic. It is not for monsters to use."

"Well, duh," Star shrugged. "Not now. But before. Before the Mewmans came. Even I've heard about the wild, dangerous, scary magic from the olden times. And I know we only have, like, one side of the story. There's gotta be, like, some secret monster history where you tell tales of brave monster warriors who dared to use forbidden magic."

Yvgeny rubbed the back of his head. "There are... there are old children's stories, but nothing else. Magic is always very bad, though, even in those. It is always used to punish other monsters, in direct emulation of evil Mewman queens."

"As a magical princess, I'm choosing to ignore that last part," Star asserted. "But you have stories, then? Do you have, like, any books about this, or do you monsters just sort of draw them on your walls or...."

"Star!"

"What? I've just... never seen any books in any monster homes."

"That is very offensive. Of course we have books." Yvegny walked to a wall in his living room, scraping away a layer of mud to reveal a large bookcase. "We keep books safe behind walks like these. Many books. Monsters are very literate. You know, monsters invented the alphabet that Mewmans...."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you have a book of these stories or not?" Star, bouncing with excitement, didn't notice the irritation crossing Yvgeny's face.

He grabbed a bright red hardbound book, covered in gilt flourishes and old Mewman lettering. "This is Stories of the First People. This was a gift from my grandmama," he said, looking toward the sky. "If I give you book to borrow... borrow!... you will babysit for me three weekends, yes?"

"Three weekends at any point over the next... year or so?"

"Three consecutive weekends. Next month."

Star sighed. Marco needed her. She'd really screwed up... again... and he was in danger. She had to make it right. She had to be the one to make it right. And, besides, the tadpoles were really cute. "Okay. You have a deal."

Yvgeny handed her the book. "Thank you, Star. I am sorry to hear about Karate Boy's illness. I understand your desire to protect someone you love."

Star stumbled backward. "What? Love? I mean, Marco is... is a good friend. And I want to help him. That's all."

Yvgeny rolled his eyes. "Yes, I always seek out dangerous magic to help inconvenienced friend and troubled acquaintance. Anyhow, best of luck to you." He led Star to the front door, graciously guiding her out. "Oh! Before you go, let me tell you story of magic lady who sought to help 'good friend' with magic spell."

"Okay."

"Once upon a time, magic lady sought to help friend with magic spell. Spell went bad. They both died. The end."

"That's not a very good story."

"What do you mean? It's one of the first stories in that book," he said, pointing to the book he had just handed Star. "Is very good story. Good cautionary tale. Good night," he said, closing the door.

Star narrowed her eyes. "Well, I hope the sequel is better."

#svtfoe #marco diaz #star butterfly #eclipsa #buff frog

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saywhatjessie · 7 years

Text

‘Cause Baby I’m a Slytherin and Boy you are a Gryffindor

I'm trying to write something else but have no motivation so I decided to write this as a warm up and it got way longer than expected go fuckin' figure. (Ao3) 2.8k

Adam made sure not to let Ronan catch him smiling as he made his way into the kitchen. He couldn’t let Ronan see him looking as Ronan’s face went a little pink in the cheeks, his eyes tightening and his lip pulled between his teeth.

“Morning.” He bent to kiss Ronan behind the ear, allowing himself a tiny grin as he noted the angry blush on Ronan’s neck. “Has Opal eaten?”

Ronan cleared his throat, avoiding Adam’s eyes. “Yeah, little shit is already outside, terrorizing the chickens.” His spoon clanged loudly on the side of his bowl in a way that was more to make noise than actually scoop cereal from milk to mouth. “You want eggs or something?”

“No, I’ll just have some orange juice.”

Ronan rolled his eyes, providing a break from his previous silent annoyance now to be vocally annoyed at Adam’s eating habits. “You need actual food, Parrish.”

Adam rolled his eyes back, letting himself smirk for real. “I will get food later, Lynch. It’s too early to put anything else in my stomach, so soon after waking up.”

Ronan snorted. “Well maybe if you didn’t sleep in to fuck all hours.”

Adam just shook his head. He’d asked Ronan for days after he’d started staying at the Barns to wake him up when Ronan got up. Ronan never did it. He wanted to let Adam sleep whenever he could.

“Jackass.” He said fondly. Ronan winked and took a bite of his cereal.

Adam smiled and poured himself a glass of orange juice, wiping the condensation from the carton on the red and gold fabric of his pajama pant legs. Ronan chewed on his lip again, averting his eyes. Adam grinned for real.

Ronan really really liked to see Adam in his clothes. Part of it was possessiveness and part of it was being the one to keep Adam warm (neither of which he’d ever admit to) but mostly, Adam knew, it was the concession.

Adam did not like to be taken care of. He did not like wearing or using or having something that wasn’t his – that he hadn’t bought or earned. By Adam wearing Ronan’s clothes, he was letting a little of that go. Something Ronan loved to see.

So Ronan loved when Adam wore his things. Except if those things were Gryffindor themed.

Adam hadn’t really grown up with Harry Potter the same way Ronan had – he couldn’t afford to buy the books as soon as they came out, he never saw the movies in theaters. His father wouldn’t even let him watch cable so he never caught a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family. He was aware of it in the same way most people were aware of Harry Potter because it was the most popular book series on earth but he’d never given it much thought growing up. Didn’t have the time.

Ronan, on the other hand, names a literal cow after Harry Potter. So he was a fan.

Ronan introducing Adam to Harry Potter was endearing for several reasons. One, Ronan tried not to express too much enthusiasm. It was obvious to Adam how much Ronan cared about Harry Potter because of everything he’d ever learned about Ronan, but Ronan still tried desperately to keep cool and not get too excited when talking about it. The multiple times he’d woken up from dreaming holding a golden snitch or chocolate frog that actually hopped gave him away a bit.

Secondly, Opal, who had no hang-ups about looking too enthusiastic, loved Harry Potter. She must have known everything already, being an extension of Ronan, but she let Ronan teach her about everything as if it were the first time she were hearing it. And she was very excited about it.

Opal insisted they all get officially sorted on Pottermore.com. She and Ronan were in the same house which didn’t surprise Adam at all. Ronan had gone through his life proclaiming himself a Gryffindor and Pottermore agreed. Adam pretended to be surprised by this.

“Brave? Noble? Chivalrous? I thought you didn’t lie Lynch.”

Adam was Slytherin, which he quite liked the sound of.

“Cunning? Ambitious? Sounds about right.”

“Except I’m the snake, remember?”

Adam cuffed Ronan on the head. “Hush now, lion cub, the grown-up is talking.”

Blue and Gansey loved this. On their travels, they went out of their way to send back presents that related to Ronan and Adam’s Hogwarts houses. Ronan and Opal received hats and sweaters of crimson and gold with lions on them. Adam amassed a collection of smaller green and silver snake-adorned things like tie-pins and cufflinks.

Ronan obviously had more merchandise, having been collecting it for years, but Adam’s modest pile of Slytherin things was not to be ignored.

But ignore it he did.

Because wearing Ronan’s Gryffindor things when Adam was not a Gryffindor?

Made Ronan furious.

The five of them were at Nino’s over fall break of Adam’s freshman year at Princeton. Blue and Gansey had needed to be back in Virginia to be with their families for Thanksgiving so they’d all taken the opportunity to catch up. Henry’s family, being Korean and also Canadian, didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so he would be staying with Blue at Fox Way with the psychics.

“Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t think the witches would be into eating a slaughtered animal to commemorate the genocide of an entire people.” Ronan noted, casually.

Blue narrowed her eyes at him, throwing a balled up straw wrapper at his head. “We’re not. A couple of my half-aunts are Powhatan and they like to take the day and make it about actual sharing of cultures by making us a feast of their people.”

Gansey grinned. “Oh, Jane, that sounds fascinating! I wish I could come.”

“But you’ll be too busy celebrating your ancestors coming in to rape and pillage the Powhatan people with your own family, won’t you Dick?” Ronan asked, mouth like a pit viper.

Gansey looked crestfallen and Blue threw something else at Ronan and Adam squeezed Ronan’s hand in warning. Ronan shrugged apologetically. “I’m just saying.”

“I’ll have robobee email you a play-by-play, princelet.” Henry said, patting Gansey’s hand jovially. “I feel I will be too overwhelmed at the time to take notes myself. So many ladies a Cheng has never dealt with at a time.”

“Oh man, the psychics are gonna eat you alive.” Ronan was back to grinning. “I wish I could see that.”

Adam rolled his eyes and unzipped his hoodie, now too warm in the restaurant after the chill from outside.

“What the fuck, Parrish?”

Adam blinked, thrown off by the familiar words coming from Blue and not Ronan. “What?”

She gestured to his torso. “You told us you were a Slytherin.”

Adam looked down, having forgotten when he unzipped his hoodie what shirt he had put on that morning. A red and gold lion stared up at him.

“Oh, yeah, I am.”

Henry’s grin was feral. “So that would make that Ronan’s shirt.”

Adam’s grin matched Henry’s as his eyes slid over to see Ronan’s face painted red.

Blue cackled. “Oh my God, look at that blush. He’s all hot and bothered seeing his boyfriend wearing his clothes.”

“Jane.” Gansey scolded, he too going pink, but a smile flirting with the edge of his mouth.

Adam bit his lip, refusing to laugh. Ronan was bothered alright, just not in the way Blue meant.

Adam knew this. But he still batted his eyes at Ronan, reaching over to put a hand on his chest. “Did I get you all revved up, baby?”

Henry and Blue broke into fresh peals of laughter as Ronan tore his way out of the booth. “Fuck off, Parrish.”

Adam laughed, watching Ronan slump his way out of Nino’s. He’d come back when he was done being embarrassed.

When Adam turned back, Gansey was eyeing him reproachfully. “That wasn’t kind, Adam.”

Adam just shrugged. Gansey didn’t need to Ronan was blushing because was annoyed, not aroused. Gansey didn’t need to know Adam was wearing Ronan’s Gryffindor clothes on purpose. Gansey didn’t need to know any of their business.

“Don’t worry about it Gansey. I’ve got it under control.”

Gansey still looked reproachful and Blue Heny made whipping sounds and Blue waggled her eyebrows but by the time Ronan came back inside, the subject had passed, Adam’s hoodie was zipped back up, and everything was back to normal.

It would never make sense to Adam how Ronan could hate his phone so much but have no problem using his laptop for skype.

“I’m not expected to carry this fuckin thing around with me all day.” Ronan had tried to explain, once. “Nobody expects me to answer anything on this right away. I can take time away from this and no one gets pissed about it. But if Declan calls me on this fucker,” he held up his much abused phone as evidence. “and I don’t answer, suddenly I’m the asshole.”

“Well, not suddenly.” Adam smirked. Ronan flipped him off.

Adam had taken advantage of this weird loophole in Ronan’s aversion to technology by skyping him at least four times a week while off at school. His scholarship had included a student laptop which had webcam and skype capabilities so Adam could contact Ronan whenever he wanted and not rely on anyone to do it. It was the best case scenario as far as he was concerned.

He had called Ronan on Skype one evening, mostly because he missed him, but also to keep the nerves at bay about the oncoming networking dinner he had been invited to attend.

It was just a thing for Freshman: a way for Engineering companies to look at the best and brightest new students and try and start laying groundwork early in hopes that they’d come work for their firm after graduating. Not every incoming freshman was invited to the fancy dinner but Adam was. A revelation that made Adam panic and Ronan say “Duh.”

Ronan was being a great distraction at present, regaling Adam with a swear-filled tale of triumph involving Opal and a bucket of slugs.

“So this fucking snot has two hands in this bucket and I just scrubbed the goat shit off the goddamn walls from her last fuckery, but she’s already dripping pond scum onto my shitting carpet and– what the fuck are you wearing?”

Adam looked over, hands still on his tie, to see Ronan paused, his face screwed up and red. His hands are still raised mid-gesture from his story. “What?”

Ronan’s face flushed redder, giving him big pixelized splotches on his forehead on Adam’s laptop screen. “Your tie.”

Adam looked down. The ted was red and gold striped. He suppressed a smirk.

“Blue picked this outfit out for me.”

Ronan snorted. “You let Sargeant make fashion decisions for your big fancy dinner party?”

Adam shrugged, frowning at the knot of his tie. “I facetimed Gansey to ask him if my outfit looked okay, because google wouldn’t give me any helpful information about how to pair ties and suits and I’ve never had this many options before. Blue was there so she helped.”

“Why couldn’t you ask me?”

Adam shot him an exasperated look. “Every time I ask you if I look okay you either say ‘No outfit will ever fix your ugly mug, Parrish’ or ‘Fuck anyone who wouldn’t like your face no matter what you’re wearing, Parrish’.”

Ronan shrugged, unrepentant. “But why that tie?”

Adam brushed at his sleeved in the way he saw men do in high-end tailors. “It matches the suit.”

“And a Slyth– a green tie wouldn’t match?”

Adam bit back another smile. It’s true, a green – that is to say Slytherin – tie would go fine with his outfit. It was a navy blue wool suit jacket with a subtle plaid pattern and a light blue shirt. The green would have worked, all of the cool colors making him look dapper and sophisticated. But Blue suggested the red and gold tie and a yellow pocket square for interesting color contrast. To make him memorable.

And yes, Adam may have nudged her toward the red and gold tie, but Ronan didn’t need to know that.

“I like this tie.”

Ronan pouted, grumbling.

Adam smiled. “Are you going to finish your story about Opal and the slugs? I should probably get out of here in about fifteen minutes.”

Ronan swore but continued with his story, the climax of which included a slingshot, rubber gloves, and dream food-dye that changed color when sang to.

Before Adam hung up, Ronan stopped him with a “People will think you’re a Gryffindor, you know.”

Adam looked at him. This was the closest Ronan had come to acknowledging it. Acknowledging that Adam wearing Gryffindor things bothered him. “I don’t think anyone at this dinner is going to see my tie and think of Harry Potter, Ronan.”

Ronan grunted. “And if they do?”

Adam shrugged, grinning. “There’s a worse place for a Slytherin to be. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” He winked. “They’ll never see me coming.”

It all came to a head over Christmas break.

Adam almost snorted to himself as he thought that sentence. ‘Came to a head.’ How wonderful that phrasing was in the context of what he and Ronan were doing.

Ronan was mouthing along Adam’s collarbone, making his way slowly and agonizingly down Adam’s torso. Adam was ignoring him, or trying to, as he rid himself of every item of clothing between his body and Ronan’s. Which was to say all of them.

Ronan had been no help in this venture, too busy with Adam’s lips or hands or elbows. Ronan seemed keen on erasing every bad memory of a bruise Adam might have had with good memories of love and other kinds of bruises. Seeing as Adam had never catalogued everywhere he’d been bruised, Ronan took that to mean he had to worship anywhere.

Adam was very keen on letting him but that would be much easier if they were naked already.

Ronan basically was, only left in his boxer briefs, not being very clothed to begin with. Adam had had to start with his jacket and shoes and was still making his way to the full monty. And Ronan, his mouth biting into Adam’s neck, was not helping.

“Fuck, Ro.” Adam gasped through gritted teeth. Ronan chuckled, the air from his mouth cool against the damp spot he’d left on Adam’s throat.

As far as percentages went, Adam was doing well in clothing removal. He’d removed his jacket, shirt, belt, shoes, and pants. He really only had his boxers and socks to go. That was, like 90% if you went by square inch of fabric. 93% if you went by weight.

Good enough Adam thought, grabbing Ronan to spin him and throw him on the bed.

Ronan’s face was lit up and happy in a way it almost never was. It lacked the usual edge of malice or arrogance or scorn. This was Ronan untethered, unmasked. This was Ronan who was super happy his boyfriend was bossy in bed.

Adam’s grin was lethal as he stepped onto the bed, ready to hold Ronan down with his whole body when–

“Adam, what the fuck?”

Adam stopped, half-straddling Ronan. “What?”

Ronan lunged forward, grabbing at Adam’s calf. “Where did you even get these?”

Adam looked dumbly at his red and gold covered feet. He remembered putting them on, remembering thinking how funny it would be when Ronan noticed.

He was astonishingly finding it less funny than he was expecting to.

“They’re yours, obviously. I stole them when I stole the tie.”

Ronan looked exasperated at Adam, still clutching his calf. “Why?!”

“Because it’s funny, obviously.”

Ronan looked betrayed.

Adam laughed. “You get so mad! Just because I’m not a Gryffindor! But you refuse to admit you’re annoyed because that would make you a giant geek! Which you are!”

Ronan pouted, releasing Adam’s leg and crossing his arms. “You’re not fucking me while wearing those.”

Adam scrambled to take them off. “Fine, whatever. I was only doing it to see how long it would take you to mention it. This seems like as good a stopping point as any.”

Ronan rolled his eyes as Adam balled the Gryffindor socks up and threw them at Ronan’s face. “There. Your precious house pride is intact. Now then,” He crawled up the bed, bracketing Ronan’s still grumpy face with his hands. “Since you’re already here in this wonderful bed,” he leaned down to kiss Ronan, encouraging him to stop pouting and loosen up, “and you’ve already invited me to fuck you,” he continued, leaning down for a longer kiss. “Do you mind if I slither in?”

Ronan’s groan and Adam’s laughter help them up from having sex for another twenty minutes and it was still totally worth it.

#This is based off of a real situation except my sister's boyfriend wears her Slytherin things when he's a Hufflepuff #and I'm the one that gets annoyed #The Raven Cycle #Pynch #Oops I wrote a thing #I didn't even read this before posting #I just needed to write and finish something #Maybe I'll write and finish another short thing tomorrow. We can only hope.#Jessie writes pynch fic

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mementotori · 7 years

Text

Path of the Grey: Chapter 9

MMMmboi NFSW under the cut

Multiple trigger warnings so please be careful

@mad-mod, @ineffablewitch

"Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm weak Maybe I'm blinded by what I see You wanted a soldier but it wasn't me 'Cause I could never set you free"

9:28 Dragon

Melia sat under a large willow tree, swinging her leg off of the lowest branch as she weaved together a bracelet from the leaves.

Her toes were cold, feeling the chill of the first night of Autumn, but she still wore her barefoot sandals that laced up to her knees. When a cool breeze lifted up the leaves of the tree, Melia took in the sweet scents, loving the way it played with the fallen strands of her snowy hair.

Once she finished weaving, she set the bracelets in her pack and then set off to enjoy the night air.

After sundown in the Frostbacks was never as good as it was in the Wilds of the Brecilian in Melia's opinion. There was only the soft sound of crickets, but no lightning bugs or the familiar sound of the deep throated frogs found only in the south. There was, however, the splendor of having the comforting hoot of the owls that Melia enjoyed.

Melia stopped by a small stream to fill up her water skin when she saw a family of range halla. She clicked her tongue, speaking soft words of comfort.

The doe, heavy with calf, stopped in place. She stared at Melia with large black eyes, her snowy ears flittering as a few lightning bugs came too close.

She snorted, lowering her head a bit. Melia took this to be an action of curiosity, so slowly she took a polite bow.

The halla gracefully walked forward, her large belly not hindering each step she took. Melia looked in her pack, then extended her offer of sweet berries and a few slices of apple.

"Emma mirthada, mir falon." Melia gently brushed her fingers over the hallas velvety muzzle

"I always found the Dalish language to be prettier than Orlesian."

Melia froze in place, looking up to see Jean with a paint pallet.

"I must admit I did not expect to find you here…" Jean started, "I hope I didn't startle you."

"Are you making a habit out of just showing up wherever I am?" Melia asked.

"On the contrary, Lady Mahariel," Jean smiled, "My camp is just past those trees." He pointed behind him, "So I suppose it is you that is showing up wherever I am?" He cocked his head to the side.

Melia felt the color rise in her cheeks and ears. She felt as though the woven pink scarf around her neck was starting to constrict her.

"Then I suppose I will be on my way." She said quickly.

"Please…" Jean started, "I don't wish to offend."

"If you think you offend me with such a simple statement then you make me to be weaker than I am." Melia retorted. The halla next to her let out a soft bleat, nuzzling her hand for more apple.

Jean laughed, "I don't think that at all."

"Well then what do you think?"

Jean seemed amused, "Well," He started, "I think that I would very much like to know you better."

"I see." Melia said, feeling her throat dry.

"Would that be something you want?" Jean asked.

Melia thought for a moment, "It might."

"Good." Jean smiled again, "I would appreciate the company. After all, it's been some time since I've had the pleasure."

"Alright, then."

Jean held out his empty hand. Melia deftly stepped over the stream and placed her hand in his. She was almost taken aback with how soft it was, unlike her calloused fingers that constantly toiled with hard labor.

Jean led her through the forest, coming upon a small encampment with a neatly put up tent and a growing fire.

"There isn't much, I'm afraid," Jean started, going over to a canvas he had set up, "But when you travel so much you can't have many accessories, as I am sure you know all too well."

There was a low whinny over by a near tree. A blue roan Ardennes horse, tied to a tree, pawed at the ground. Melia felt her heart ache for the poor creature. She looked through her pack, ignoring whatever Jean was saying, and took out her last apple.

Standing at above 16 hands, the horse was over twice Melia's height. There was an initial uneasiness when she came closer, but it washed away when she saw it's kind brown eyes. Melia held out her flat palm letting the horse eat the apple. She watched in wonder, her ears twitching when the horse swished his tail.

Jean looked up from what he was doing, watching Melia warily pet the velvety nose of his horse. Her eyes were large with wonder and nose seemed to wiggle whenever the horse made a noise.

Melia seemed to feel his eyes on her. She backed away from the horse, cocking her head to the side when she saw how large its hooves were.

"Why must he be confined so?" She asked.

"Pomme is not like your halla. If I let him go, he will never come back." Jean answered.

"Well if you treat him as equal then why would he see reason to leave?"

"A good point, Lady Mahariel." Jean said, "Perhaps I will start letting him graze on his leisure." Then he added, "Have you seen many horses?"

Melia shook her head, "Only once. My cousin had drug us all the way to the edge of a shemlen village in Ferelden. There was a horse in the barn we snuck into...Merrill would not stop talking about it for weeks after…" She stopped, then looked at Jean, her vallaslin flashing in the firelight, "Why do you care? You are a shem, and should not ask such things of a Dalish."

Jean smiled, "Is it too forward to tell you that I am intrigued in you, Melia'nain Mahariel? And that these last few nights I've caught myself thinking of your sweet face?"

Melia felt a tingle run up her spine. One she hadn't felt since Merrill kissed her cheek when they were younger. Her cheeks grew red again, and she was at a loss for words for a moment.

"I…" Melia's throat dried up, "I suppose it would not be."

"I'm pleased you think so." Jean said.

"But I am Dalish…"

"Does it matter?"

"To the elders it would."

"Does it to you?"

Melia hesitated before answering, "Not really."

"Then that's all I need."

Melia hated herself for blushing as much as she was. She seemed to be at a loss for words.

"What are you doing?" Melia finally asked.

Jean thought for a moment, "I thought I was welcoming you to my camp? I can bring you back to your clan if you like..."

"No, no," Melia said, "The compliments, the glances...what are you trying to do?"

Jean gave a small laugh, "I suppose I am trying to say that I like you very much, Melia'nain. If I am being presumptuous I will cease my advances."

"I…" Melia tried not to stammer, "I think that you are well founded in your presumptions, Jean..."

Jean smirked at her, "Say it again." He cooed.

The change in his voice made Melia feel as if she couldn't stand.

"Jean." She purred.

Jean caressed her cheek, moving in closer to that he could take in the sweet scent of the flowery herbs she would rub into her snowy hair.

"Again." He whispered, gently holding Melia close to him.

"Jean."

Right as Melia finished saying his name, Jean kissed her. It was quick and passionate, Melia felt as if her whole body was on fire.

She indulged in the softness of his lips, her mind going seemingly numb. There was a tensity between the two once they let go of each other. For a few moments they both stood there, smiles slowly growing on their faces.

Melia looked into Jean's eyes. She found that she was losing herself. His iris' flickered back and forth between their usual bright blue and a bloody red. Melia felt light headed, almost drunken the longer she looked.

"Kiss me again, mon amour." Jean said.

Melia felt a sudden compulsion to do whatever Jean wanted. She went into his arms, offering a sweet kiss upon his lips. His hand went to the back of her neck, and at the moment of touch Melia felt like her entire body had been set in water.

"You are without a doubt the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on." Jean said, brushing away the stray hairs from Melia's blushing face.

"Join me in my tent tonight?" He asked, whispering in her ear, "I want you…"

Melia looked up at him, her large peridot eyes glossing over, "Ma nuvenin." she said slowly, feeling almost loathe to leave his embrace.

Jean took her hand, leading Melia to the animal skin tent. He came in behind her, bending down to kiss her soft neck, pulling slowly at the pink scarf around her neck. Melia felt tingles run down her spine when Jean placed his hand on her hip.

She let out a soft gasp when he pulled her to him, her back against his chest. Melia felt the leather thong that held her hair up in its tight bun loosen, and down went the cascades of her thick white hair.

Jean's hand grazed her neck, his fingers curling their way into Melia's hair. Once he had a firm grasp, he jerked Melia's head back, nipping her exposed neck.

It was unlike anything Melia had ever felt. The way he grabbed at her, almost forcefully, felt like being trapped in a cage with a feral creature. But the sweet whispers he would mutter as he undressed her was enough to make her melt.

Jean laid her down. He could tell by her slight awkwardness that she had never slept with a man before, and he was going to make sure he was the first and last.

He met her eyes. Melia could see the flashes of red flicker in his iris'. Her body felt both numb and extremely sensitive to everything that touched her.

Jean kissed her, biting Melia's bottom lip as he pulled away. He moved down to litter kisses down to her chin and jawline. As he did so, he moved his free hand between her legs to prepare her. He slid his fingers inside, shushing Melia when she gave a surprised yelp.

"Be good, mon amour…" He whispered, receiving a quick nod in response.

He went back to kissing her neck and cooing about her defined curves and honeyed skin.

Melia wasn't used to someone touching her this intimately. She remembered Merrill sneaking off to meet her in the woods to kiss, they even saw each other naked, but it wasn't like this.

Her head swam when Jean drove his fingers inside of her. Melia was dazed, her legs feeling numb but her entire groin burned.

Jean now settled between her legs, muttering sweet nothings as he fucked her. He spread her legs wide, thinking to himself that it was only natural for a Dalish woman to be this flexible. She was being so good for him, quiet and obedient.

He knew that he hadn't had sex in quite some time, and could feel that he wasn't going to last much longer. So he went slower, watching Melia's mouth whenever he pushed himself inside. He thought of all the dirty things he could possibly get her to do, and that was enough to set him over the edge.

He buried his face in her breasts as he came into her. Not even then did Melia utter a sound, suppressing it with the biting of her bottom lip.

Jean finally fell beside her, pulling her to him possessively.

It was a long time before either of them spoke. Melia had almost suspected Jean of falling asleep until he started running his fingers over her legs.

"I think it's best if I go back to my clan for the night." She said, getting up to gather her clothes.

"Don't." He said, moving up behind her.

He brushed her hair away from her neck, kissing her shoulder.

Melia thought quickly, "What if I promise to return?" she suggested.

"I don't think I could bear any second away from you." Jean said, kissing the delicate fingers of her free hand.

"I will come back." She promised.

He pulled her back to him, her grabbed her hips, kissing up her bare back. One hand trailed over her stomach.

"But I'm a selfish man…" Jean said, his fingers slipping down to rub her clit, "I want you to myself."

Melia had to pull away, "And you would be selfish enough to have an entire Dalish clan at your camp to cut you to pieces? I think not." She dressed herself.

"Then I shall expect you tomorrow?" Jean asked.

"Yes." Melia said emptily.

"Good."

#dragon age fanfiction #dao #Path of the Grey #melia mahariel #her lips tasted of honey #*jean yves girard #I tasted her forbidden lips and madness overcame me #I need some chill tbh

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