#the council was *right* that there was something else going. that something was driving the mandalorians into attacking. jedi are first and
Text
The Kissing Booth | E.M x G!N!Reader
Cw: flufffffff, mild angst on Eddie’s part. Smooching. Reader wears lipgloss. No use of pronouns.
Wc 1.4K
Eddie could not believe this was happening to him.
“Nope, nope, no way, man. Over my dead body-“
“What my boy means is he is grateful he is not being suspended and will graciously accept his punishment of volunteering at the school fair.” Wayne looks at his nephew with a glare in his eyes that Eddie hasn’t seen in a very long time.
“Great, then it’s settled,” Ms. Laughlin, the guidance councillor, smiles.
It was happening. Eddie was being served the most gruesome punishment, and all because he skipped P.E. of all classes.
Eddie Munson was being forced not only to participate in the school fair but to work the kissing booth, of all things.
How on earth would he survive this? Not only would he be the laughingstock of the school, but he would also have to endure the absolute embarrassment of having no one come up to his booth, and he would also have to be forced to participate in extracurricular activities.
“Just wait until Hellfire hears about this boy,” Wayne laughs as he drives him and Eddie back to the trailer.
All Eddie could do was roll his eyes; he could never show his face again.
“You’re not going to believe the rumour I heard today.” Nancy looks at you from over her shoulder. She is sat at your vanity.
“What?” You asked, intrigued, as you got dressed and got ready for tonight’s festivities.
“A little birdy told me that a certain someone is working the kissing booth tonight.” She smirks.
“Who?” You challenge her back.
“Who, what?” Robin walks into the bedroom from the bathroom.
“Nancy knows who is working one of the kissing booths tonight, but who’s telling me” you pout.
“Ohhhhhhhh,” Robin smirks knowingly.
“Oh, not you, too! Come on, who is it!”
Robin and Nancy give one another a nod of the head before Nancy speaks.
“Eddie Munson.”
“Ha ha, very funny; you think I’m going to believe that? How gullible do you think I am?” You snort.
“No, it’s true! Shelly from the student council told me when we were working on the student paper! Instead of detention, this is his punishment, to help out at the fair tonight.” She wiggled her brows at you suggestively.
“Who else’s working it?” You try and ask casually.
Your friends knew about your crush on Eddie. It had been about a month since you confessed to one of your late-night sleepovers.
“Um, I’m not too sure what other guy, but I think Chrissy is working the girl's booth. Nancy shrugged.
“Cool…cool…” you turned to the closet, now faced with a sense of anxiety to find the perfect top.
Eddie was actually dying on the inside. Ten minutes until his “shift” at the booth, and he wanted to book it.
Running away would solve his problems, right? He would much rather be suspended than have to endure this humiliation. This was a cruel and unusual punishment.
He watched from the sidelines as Josh was at the booth currently. He was the senior star quarterback on the football team. Everyone wanted him. He could just see now the long line disbursing once he stood there.
"Hey man, you're up next in 5." Eddie was snapped out of his internal monologue when he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. He wasn't sure how long he had been there stewing with his own thoughts. "Don't worry, it's not all bad. Some customers are cute," Josh smirks.
Oh god. What if he actually had to kiss someone tonight? He hadn’t thought of that option. Like, what if some actually came up? What would he do? Are they expecting tongue?
“You have some gum or something?” He asked quickly before Josh left.
He smirked and tossed him a pack of icy mint.
“Thanks.”
Eddie peaked around the corner to where the booth was set up. The fair was set up on the school football field. There was a small sign that said be back in 5 and no lineup to be seen.
That made Eddie feel a bit better; no one was there. That took some humility out of it.
Before Eddie could back out and run, he felt another hard hand on his shoulder.
“Come on, Munson, your time to shine.” Jeff and Gareth practically dragged Eddie to the booth, kicking and screaming.
“You’re the worst friends ever,” Eddie huffed as they backed away from the booth. Watching him so he won’t run away.
“You can't serve the time and shouldn’t do the crime.” Jeff laughed.
“That’s not-“ Eddie was cut off mid-sentence as he saw Robin and Nancy pushing you towards the booth just like he had been moments ago.
“Don’t make me do this,” you plead with your best friends.
“You have to do it,” “It’s now or never,” “He’s right there. Just have him your ticket and pucker your lisp. It’s not that hard,” Robin and Nancy whispered in your ear as they dragged you towards Eddie.
“You guys, please, I can’t!” You say a bit too loudly as you fight back your friends from pushing you up to the booth.
You can see the look on Eddie’s face as you are pushed up the step of the booth. He looks disappointed? Disgusted? You’re not too sure.
You let out an embarrassing squeal as you stumbled in front of Eddie. “Um hi”
Despite not being well-acquainted with Eddie, you couldn't help but notice him whenever he walked by. You only exchanged a few words in passing and learned about him through your friends. Although you never had the opportunity to spend time together, you found him to be irresistibly charming and incredibly good-looking. Whenever you caught a glimpse of him in the cafeteria, he never failed to bring a smile to your face with his silly antics and infectious laughter.
“Uh hey,” he spoke back, clearly uncomfortable.
“Busy night for you?” You ask, trying to delay the inevitable.
“Uh nope.”
“Good,” you smile; the thought of Eddie kissing anyone else made you want to vomit.
“Good?” He cocks a brow at you. “The thought of nobody wanting to come up to the freak of Hawkins High is good to you?”
“Oh I didn’t mean it like-“
“Why are you even here?”
“Oh- well- I um-"
“No, I get it. You’re just here on a dare, or you lost the bet, right? I really thought better of Nancy and Robin; I thought they were my friends… You know I heard you say you can’t do this. I understand the thought of kissing me is so terrible that-“
You couldn't help but cut off Eddei from his intrusive thoughts. You held his face with both hands and smushed your lips together. The thought of Eddie thinking that about you was far worse than the fear of kissing him.
It wasn't everything you had dreamed of. However, the kiss was still nice. You felt the eruption of butterflies fill your stomach as Eddie deepened this kiss himself. You kissed him until you could no longer breathe. Only then is when you pull away.
“Woah”
“I hope that was okay.” You shy away.
“Yeah.” Eddie sighed as he took you in.
As he gazed upon you, he was struck by how pretty you were, which he had overlooked until now. The sweet aroma of strawberries wafted from you as the strawberry lipgloss lingered on his lips, just below his nose.
“Um, here,” you jut out your hand with the crinkled ticket you hadn't yet paid with.
“Oh no, no, the house,” Eddie said without thinking and that made you giggle.
“Well, I really only bought a ticket for this, so I might as well cash it in.” you flirt.
“Ok, yeah, sure. Two for one.” Eddie took the ticket from your hand and brought it back to cup your cheek before kissing you again.
You could hear the giggles and cheers of your friends from behind you in the distance, but your main focus was on Eddie. His soft, plush lips. His minty taste, the way his soft hair tickled your cheeks.
“Ok, lovebirds, that’s enough.” the supervising teacher returned with an unimpressed huff.
You begrudgingly pulled away, but with a smile nonetheless.
“Can I get your number?” Eddie’s mouth was moving before his brain could catch up.
“Come find us later, lover boy.” Robin giggled while snatching your arm and pulled you away before you could answer.
“Dude!” Gareth clapped his hands, having witnessed the whole thing.
“Maybe we should sign up for this,” Jeff laughed. A little jealous of what he just witnessed.
After you, Eddie didn’t care if he got another customer for the rest of the night. Maybe this whole kissing booth thing wasn’t too bad after all.
#eddie munson x reader#Eddie Munson x you#Eddie Munson fluff#eddie munson x gender neutral reader#eddie munson x female reader#eddie munson x male reader#Eddie Munson imagine
2K notes
·
View notes
Note
Blood and Cheese does not happen. Instead, Daemon plots with his connections to kidnap Aegon’s most prized possession: his wife. They ask Agon and the Greens to give up the throne and she will be returned. Aegon is furious
Requests for HotD are opened again! I have a few in the work already, so make sure you are on the taglist to be notified when I post them <3
my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time
—
The guards standing on each side of the small council chamber bowed their heads at their king. Aegon hated these meetings, finding them lengthy and uninteresting, but now that he wore the crown, he couldn't escape them.
He pushed the large door open and stepped in. Inside, one person sat at the table: his mother. Beside her, a man in armor stood. Their hushed conversation ceased as he arrived.
Alicent glanced at her son with a somber expression. ‘’Please have a seat,’’ she beckoned.
Aegon furrowed his eyebrows. ‘’Where is everyone else?’’
‘’Council meeting is canceled today,’’ she informed him gravely. ‘’We have more urgent matters to discuss.’’
Seating himself at the table's head, Aegon braced himself for what was to come. The tension in the chamber was palpable, and he knew something serious had happened.
Alicent hesitated for a moment, her eyes betraying the weight of the news she carried. ‘’There's been an incident,’’ she began, her voice strained. ‘’Before I explain further, I need you to stay calm.’’ Her eyes held Aegon’s, waiting for a silent promise before pursuing. ‘’We all know that Daemon still has connections in the city. Some of his men breached our defenses and infiltrated the castle and she…she was taken by the Blacks.’’
Aegon laughed dryly. This had to be a joke.
But he found no sign of jest in his mother’s solemn expression.
The king turned to the lord commander standing to her left. ‘’Where is my wife, Ser Criston?’’ he implored, still in disbelief that you had been taken.
Ser Criston's gaze fell to the ground, his silence speaking volumes. ‘’I regret to conform, your grace,’’ he murmured, his voice heavy with sorrow. ‘’The queen has been taken.’’
Aegon felt as if the ground had been ripped from beneath him. His wife, his beloved, stolen from him — kidnapped — by the hands of their enemies.
‘’We've received a raven from Dragonstone,’’ Alicent informed, clearing her throat. She forwarded the rolled piece of parchemin to Ser Criston, who handed it to Aegon.
He unrolled the parchemin and read the message: As a result of stealing from the rightful heir, something of yours has been taken. Abandon the throne and she will be returned.
Aegon's jaw clenched so tightly that the parchment in his hand crumpled beneath his grip. His violet eyes filled with wrath as rage spread through his blood.
He rose to his feet, his voice dripping with fury. ‘’Ser Criston, tell the dragonkeepers to get Sunfire out of the dragonpit. I will go to Dragonstone myself and—’’
‘’I’d rather not,’’ Alicent interjected, her tone icy. ‘’Going to Dragonstone is driving yourself to your own death.’’
‘’I will not stand idly by while my wife is held captive by our enemies!" In a surge of anger, Aegon tore the silver crown from his head and flung it to the ground with all the force of his rage, the clang of the Valyrian steel reverberating off the stone walls like a thunderclap.
At his outburst, Alicent's lips pressed into a thin line. ‘’You may leave us, Ser Criston.’’
The lord commander nodded and exited the small council chamber in silence, leaving the king and his mother alone.
‘’You have no idea the sacrifices that were made to put you on that throne?’’ she stated, her tone heavy with implication.
Aegon's frustration boiled over, and he leaned against the back of his chair. He ran his hands through his silver hair, tugging at the roots in a gesture of despair and anguish. ‘’I never asked for that throne!’’ he exclaimed, his voice cracking with emotion.
All he wanted was his wife back, it was all he needed — you.
During his father’s reign, the castle had never been threatened. Viserys was a peaceful king, one who stayed away from conflicts. Therefore, he never had to worry about the loyalty or competence of his kingsguard.
Now that he had fallen and that a civil war had begun, the safety - and life - of those who lived in the castle was at risk. In the days following Aegon's coronation, all who had refused to swear to him had been beheaded. So, how could this have happened?
‘’I want these men’s heads,’’ he declared, his voice filled with a mixture of vengeance and determination as he straightened. ‘’Plot against the king and I will pay it back a hundred times over.’’
—
House of the dragon taglist: @khaleesihavilliard @domoron @ididliquorice @lover-of-helios @lover-of-helios @shine101 @tanyaherondale @mikariell95 @serrendiipty @lantsovheiress @gilliananderfuckme @shine101 @tetgod @clayzayden@memeorydotcom @tnu-ree @futuregws @blackravena @winxschester @mysteriouslydelightfulchaos @xxlaynaxx @secretsthathauntus @pilarxxxaguayo @emmavan39 @stargaryenx @erylilly @bbblackmamba @rainedrop97 @dreamer087 @gothicgay14 @ashlatano7567 @superkittywonderland @justaproudslytherpuff @evesolstice @buckysmainhxe @padfootsvixen @scarletmeii @evesolstice @dkathl @kaywsworld @tetgod @padfootsvixen @domoron @weird-addiction @angeliod @xjennyx2 @adaydreamaway08 @mymultiveres @secretsthathauntus @puffycreamcakes@thirsty4nonlivingmen@naty-1001@katiepie67@moshpot24x@hc-geralt-23@lovelynerdytraveler@saturn-sas @zgzgh @sssjuico10@tabloidteen@timetoten@deekaag@wondxrgurl@aerangi@strmborns@astridyoo15@daemonslittlebitch@queenbeestuffs@severewobblerlightdragon@agentstarkid@msliz@vane1999-blog@fairyfolkloresposts@todaywasafairytale07@otomaniac@zgzgzh@thebeardedmoon@golden-library@kikyrizuki@hnslchw@camy85@winxschester
#aegon targaryen imagine#aegon targaryen x reader#aegon ii targaryen#aegon ii targaryen x reader#house of the dragon#hotd#house of the dragon imagine#aegon ii targaryen imagine
602 notes
·
View notes
Text
Idle hands are the devil's playthings.
Perseverance | SOLOMON x afab!Reader
2.3k words | NSFW | Smut | Established Relationship
Content warnings: Pet names, (mutual) masturbation, phone sex, teasing/orgasm denial, sex toys, sex magic, cursing, aftercare, implied past Asmo x afab!Reader x Solomon, implied/referenced kink/relationship negotiations. Reader uses gn!pronouns.
Insatiable AU: [Part 1] [Part 3]
You know Solomon is up to something the moment he strolls into the RAD student council chambers unannounced. He was supposed to meet you at the House of Lamentation later - so why is he here now?
He returned from his trip to the human world early that morning, and you tried to tempt him to come see you before class. You missed him after nearly a week of not being with him, and you were desperate.
“I know, darling, I missed you too,” he said on the phone, but his voice had that mischievous tone that made you shiver with anticipation. “I have a few more errands to finish before I can come see you. I’ll fetch you after dinner this evening, and then I’m all yours.”
You reminded yourself that throwing tantrums about wanting your boyfriend to fuck you senseless wasn’t appropriate behaviour. The messages he sends you certainly don’t help. He reminds you of all the things he missed about you while he was gone and what he plans to do to make up for his absence.
You're confident that you're prepared for whatever else he might do to tease you while you're stuck at RAD. You keep a kit in your locker that contains several pairs of clean underwear, a soft washcloth and a small bottle of liquid soap. It’s useful for days like today when you’re so fucking needy that your arousal soaks through your underwear; your thighs feel unpleasantly damp and sticky if you don’t change them.
When you can’t stop squirming in your seat, you ask to be excused and rush from the classroom. You lock yourself in one of the staff washrooms so you can relieve yourself in privacy. You pull down your uniform and lean against the wall, hand inside your underwear so you can tease your throbbing clit and stuff your needy hole with your fingers. It’s a futile effort to relieve the ache inside you that’s driving you to distraction. It works for a while, but desire still simmers inside you endlessly, constantly threatening to boil over with each depraved thought you try to ignore.
Your kit is going to need replenishing by the end of the day at this rate. You’re using up your spare clothes and taking self-care breaks between classes so often, it feels like a new record for you.
You can’t help yourself; Solomon has been sending you text after text of filth, spilling loose all his own fantasies about what he wants to do to you. He describes in excruciating detail what he imagined when he fisted his cock during those lonely nights without you. He also reminds you that he still has something planned to punish you for the video you sent him.
Oh, right - the video. It was two days ago when you woke up with your hand in your pajama pants while your hips rolled pathetically against your mattress. You called him and his voice was still thick with sleep, but he knew what you wanted. He guided you through two orgasms, his rough voice in your ear telling you how to touch yourself. You obeyed when he told you to stop and listen to him instead, letting the slick sounds of his hand around his cock tease you until you begged him to let you come too.
A couple hours later, you were in class and copying notes from the blackboard when your D.D.D. pinged with a message from Solomon. He wanted to inform you that he had an important meeting later that day, so you might not hear from him until that evening. The next message he sent was a picture - presumably from that morning - of his hand wrapped around his cock and a pearly-white rope of cum trailing up his naked belly.
That bastard.
You raised your hand to excuse yourself and you nearly ran from the classroom. Once you were alone in one of the nearby washrooms, you fucked yourself with your fingers and muffled your cries with your other hand. You changed your soaked underwear for new ones and spent the rest of the day deciding how you wanted to repay him.
When you got home from RAD that afternoon, you locked yourself in your room and rummaged through your toy drawer. You sent him a generous gift of your own: a video of you fucking yourself with one of your favourite toys. Your pleased noises combined with the obscene squelch of your slick as you thrust the toy in and out of your hole. You teased your nipples between your finger tips and when you came, you cried out his name with the toy buried deep, kissing your cervix; your free hand teased your clit through the aftershocks. When your body finally went limp, you said his name one last time with a breathy sigh.
His response to your gift was him telling you how naughty you were. Apparently, he received your message during a very important meeting. Even without sound, the video of you - beautiful, lustful, incredible you - nearly drove him mad. He had to excuse himself to deal with his cock, achingly hard and leaking inside his trousers.
Oops.
It was difficult to feel guilty about it at the time, especially since he didn’t mention the video again until today.
The student council meeting is almost finished, and Solomon is speaking to Diavolo and Lucifer about something. He glances at you from the corner of his eye, and there’s something unreadable in his stare.
You look away and try to think of anything but him and his cock and what you’d like him to do with it. The other demon brothers are still mingling in the room and chatting amongst themselves. No matter how much you might want Solomon to fuck your brains out, as hard and as rough as possible, you don’t want to make a scene in front of them. You can be patient a little longer.
You need to retrieve your belongings on the dais before you can go home. You're surprised by the strange tingling between your legs as you walk. The sensation increases, and you suck in a breath to keep yourself from gasping when there’s a soft, teasing pressure against your clit. You try to ignore it and keep walking, but your knees buckle when the pressure travels through your folds and teases against your entrance.
You reach the dais just in time; you lean against it, palms slicked with sweat as something slips into your needy hole and massages your walls. Whatever it is is rubbing that soft spot deep inside, and you're on the brink of ruin. You clench your jaw to keep yourself from moaning when pleasure surges through you out of nowhere.
The orgasm leaves you winded and you’re panting heavily, but everyone else seems too distracted to notice. You look over your shoulder and spot Solomon across the room. He catches your eye and holds up his hand, his fingers wiggling playfully at you. He starts rubbing his bottom lip with his forefinger and you can hear him hum in agreement in response to whatever Diavolo just said to him.
You stare at him, mouth open in shock, when you feel the vibrations of his hum inside you. Your walls instinctively clench around nothing, and he winks at you before he looks away.
That absolute bastard.
You’re not sure what sort of magic he’s using on you or how it works. All you know is that you're exhausted and desperately fighting the temptation to collapse on the floor. You're one devilish smirk or teasing touch away from becoming a writhing, sobbing mess for everyone else to see.
You can feel him trying to coax more pleasure from you, but it's too much. You can't possibly endure more of this, not without completely humiliating yourself in front of your friends. There’s an exit to the side of the dais, and you manage to push through the door on your trembling legs. The sensations between your legs stop suddenly, and you head for the nearest washroom.
You’re not sure how long you’re in there, rubbing at your swollen clit and biting your lip to keep yourself from screaming. When you’re finally spent, your entire body is shaking. You feel hot and sweaty, and your clothes are damp and sticking uncomfortably to your skin. You groan loudly in frustration when you realize you left your bag - and the remainder of your kit - in the student council chambers.
It’s only when you hear a chuckle echo in the empty space around you that you realize you forgot to lock the door. Thankfully, you recognize who it is and nearly sigh with relief instead.
“I brought your bag,” Asmo announces when you poke your head out of the stall to make sure he’s alone. “I sensed something was going on between you two and figured you might need it.” He left it on the counter for you, and you clean yourself up as best as you can before going home.
“Appreciate it,” your voice warbles pathetically. Your throat is parched and you wince from the discomfort of choking down your moans and cries earlier.
Asmo looks you over, and you can tell that he’s equal parts curious and concerned. “It’s been a while since the last time I saw you look like this,” he notes. “What’s gotten him so worked up this time?”
You cup water into the palms of your hands and splash your face; it’s a cool relief for your warm cheeks. “I might’ve sent him a dirty video during a meeting when he was away.”
Asmo laughs - he can imagine the details, so he doesn’t ask for them. However, his worry for you doesn’t fade. There’s still a noticeable tremor in your legs. “Did he stop what he was doing to you?”
You nod and start peeling off your bottoms and underwear. You’re too tired to go back into the stall to change, and it’s nothing Asmo hasn’t seen before. “As soon as I left the student council chambers.”
“Good,” Asmo nods. He knows the rules as well as you and Solomon do - he helped you write them, after all.
You’re wiping yourself clean with the washcloth from your kit - it’s a quick, sloppy job, but you still feel a little better. “Was he ever like this with you?” you ask curiously.
The question surprises him and Asmo hums for a moment while he considers his response. “Like this? No, not really. The times we were together before - before you, I mean - it was more like an itch he needed to scratch. He had his moments, sure, but nothing like the way he is with you.” Asmo laughs, and it sounds almost bitter. “You two bring out the worst in each other, in the best possible ways.”
Their history together isn’t something you normally bring up, and you’re worried that you might’ve hurt Asmo’s feelings. He has a frown on his face, and his eyes look a bit sharp, like he’s annoyed by something. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He tilts his head curiously when he looks at you, and his lips tick up in amusement. “Don’t get me wrong, I still have my little moments of jealousy,” he admits, but then he clarifies for your benefit, “but it’s not you I’m jealous of.”
You’re not entirely surprised by his admission. The opportunities he has to indulge himself with you are rather limited, and it’s been a while. It almost makes you feel guilty when he helps you like this, his eyes so full of concern and affection for you. He loves you unconditionally, making no demands of you; he’s only ever cared about your well-being.
You adjust your clothes and try to smooth out the wrinkles of your uniform. Your reflection in the mirror still looks like a slightly worse-for-wear version of yourself, but you look better than you did before. You catch Asmo’s gaze in the mirror, and you both smile at each other.
“Thank you for checking on me,” you murmur appreciatively when he turns you around to face him.
He pulls a stray hair off your jacket. “There’s no need to thank me. I wanted to make sure you were alright.” He looks a little bashful when he admits, “it’s not very often I get to spend time with you like this. Solomon is very greedy with your company - not that I blame him.”
You feel a little flustered when he hands you your bag. “For what it’s worth, I miss you too.” There was more than one occasion during Solomon’s absence when you considered going to Asmo for comfort, or for relief. They were desperate thoughts in your most neediest moments. Even in your lust-fogged state, you knew you’d regret asking him later. He would’ve said no - or forced himself to say no, most likely - no matter how tempted he was to give you what you wanted.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit some of the rules.
It’s almost like he can sense what you’re thinking because Asmo gives you a knowing look. He drapes an arm over your shoulders so he can pull you into his side, and you lean against him gratefully as you walk together. “You know, there’s an event at The Fall next week I think you might enjoy. You’re both welcome to join me.”
You glance up at him and worry your bottom lip between your teeth. “It’s not one of those events, is it? Because I really don’t think I can stomach it a second time.”
He presses a kiss into your hair. He told himself he wouldn't take you back to one of those events again, even if you begged him to. “Of course not. This is one of the club's regular dance events, but the theme sounds intriguing. I think we'll be able to enjoy ourselves, together.” His playful tone intrigues you, and you promise to consider it.
The student council chambers have emptied by now, and you head towards the exit instead. You see Solomon waiting for you both in the distance when you step outside. “I'll ask him about it later, okay?”
Asmo gives Solomon a subtle thumbs-up behind your shoulder to let him know you’re alright. “There’s no rush.” He winks at you just to see you get flustered all over again. “I have a feeling you two won’t be doing much talking tonight.”
#series: insatiable#obey me solomon#obey me solomon x reader#solomon x reader#solomon smut#obey me solomon x mc#solomon x mc#obey me solomon x you#solomon x you#obey me smut#omswd smut#obey me x reader#omswd x reader#obey me fanfic#x reader#afab!reader
640 notes
·
View notes
Text
— Sneaking around —
Synopsis: they sneak into your room/ you sneak out (high school au!)
Warnings: mentions of an argument (Scaramouche (ofc)) not proofread
Characters: high school au! Kokomi, cyno, dehya, childe, and Scaramouche
Pronouns for reader: gender neutral/ not mentioned
A/n: I reallllly wanted to try writing for dehya, cause she’s amazing and I love her very much, idc if the prompt doesn’t fit her. Anyways enjoy, and take care!! :>>
— Kokomi —
“Quick quick get in here, or else my mom will see you from her window!” You said, ushering your girlfriend into your house through the front door. That was your first mistake. Your second, was the moment she took her shoes you immediately started kissing her. “[name]! I thought your mom might see!” Kokomi said with a chuckle.
You rolled your eyes, laughing along with her until you were interrupted by none other than… your mom. Clearing her throat she says, “now, [name]. I taught you better than this.” You let out a gasp, releasing kokomi, and almost trying to hide her behind you. “If you’re gonna try to hide something, or someone, don’t let them in through the front door. At least try to be stealthy.” Your mother said with a laugh. Ah. She was joking. Wait a minute?! “I am stealthy!!” You exclaimed as both kokomi and your mom just laughed at you.
— Cyno —
“Hey [name], it really panes me to see you like this.” Cyno said crawling through the window. You look at him flatly. “Cyno I will push you off my roof if you don’t get in here.” Cyno’s typically emotionless face turned into a pout of sorts, “I think I’m hilarious.” He muttered, stepping into your room. You ignored his self proclaimed humor, and hugged him tightly. “I missed you.” You said burying your face in his hair/ neck/ chest (all depends on height really)
You haven’t been able to see each other recently, cyno being busy with student council stuff, and you being busy with academics and extracurriculars. Now was the only time you’ve really gotten to share a moment of peace together in a while, and you had to sneak around to get here, so you certainly wouldn’t let the moment pass easily.
— Dehya —
Dehya’s smile is bright as you hop into her car, giving her a kiss on the cheek as you too so. “It was cute watching you climb from your window.” She jokes, and lets out a hearty laugh. You punch her arm playfully, “you watched me struggle?!” She smiles, “of course.” You start to fuddle with the radio, until dehya stops you, “so, where to.” She asks. Right… you hadn’t even thought of a place to go.
“Hmm… we could… uhh…” you ponder, but everything is either closed at this hour, or… boring. “How about we just drive around for now, and then we can go to my place. I’ll drop you off before morning too don’t worry.” Of course, dehya already has everything planned. You smile sweetly at her, and grab onto her hand over the middle console. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”
— Childe —
The laughs of the ginger above you are heard loud and clear, even if he’s trying to suppress them as best as possible. “You look so tiny down there-“ he says before having to cover his mouth out of fear of waking up his parents. “Shut up.” You retort, as you start to climb up. You barely make it through his window before childe is practically right on top of you. Muttering in your ear about how much he missed you, as you’re about to fall over because all his body weight is on you.
“Childe!” You whisper yell, and drag him over to his bed so you can properly cuddle. He just stares at you, so lovingly, you don’t even have to say anything to him and he’ll be so infatuated with you. “You’re staring like a creep.” You say, absolutely ruining the moment. Childe pouts, “can’t I just look at my lover? We haven’t seen each other for a while now.” You remain unamused, as he continues to go on and on about how he missed you. “You’re such a drama queen” you say, like you didn’t absolutely miss him to death.
— Scaramouche —
“[name] unlock your window.” Scaramouche says with a sigh. You had gotten into a fight recently, and Scaramouche realized he was in the wrong so, he wanted to apologize. He has tried all day to say sorry, but you are rightfully still upset. But Scaramouche hates when you’re upset with him, so he’s… gone to plan B. Breaking and entering.
“No scara, I don’t wanna talk to you.” You say, closing your blinds. Scaramouche is growing increasingly frustrated, but the last that that will help is getting angry again, “[name] I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said what I said, and yelled at you. I was insensitive.” He says almost shy, but clearly still frustrated that things aren’t going his way. You don’t respond, he doesn’t even know if you’re still on the other side of the window. Until you open your blinds once more, revealing the light of your room, and your empathetic face. Unlocking your window, to allow him to climb in. “I’m sorry you.” You say, hugging him, as he lets out a relived breath and relaxes under your touch.
#genshin impact#genshin headcanons#genshin x reader#genshin fluff#genshin x gender neutral reader#kokomi#cyno#dehya#childe#Scaramouche#genshin kokomi#genshin cyno#genshin dehya#genshin childe#genshin Scaramouche#kokomi x reader#cyno x reader#dehya x reader#childe x reader#scaramouche x reader#kokomi fluff#cyno fluff#dehya fluff#childe fluff#scaramouche fluff#kokomi x you#cyno x you#dehya x you#childe x you#scaramouche x you
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
I feel like people are being so obtuse and reductive about Nemona's character. Everyone chucks her up to be this battle-crazed possessive person when it is so clear that she is not that and it is driving me crazy how people miss the point of her character even with Pokémon having really basic storytelling.
Her character is deeper than that if you actually paid any attention to her story. She wants to fight everyone everytime because her massive interest in battling has made her nigh unapproachable to the eyes of the other students and she wants to find someone her equal. Her champion status coupled with the fact that she's president of the student council isolated her from the rest of her peers. She was constantly keeping tabs with us because she believes we have the potential to understand her and see her eye to eye especially in battle.
All she ever wanted was a friend who could indulge in the same interest as her and someone who can keep up with her attitude. Someone who could understand how hard she worked in order to excel in battling and someone who could see the fun in battling the same way as her. You could look at it the same way when you really like something, a game or a series, and you try to talk about it with everyone but no one really seems to be as interested in it as you are. The feeling of finding someone who you can experience and talk about that thing with then becomes one of the best feelings in the world because finally you're not alone.
Now this is headcanon territory but I believe Nemona got interested in battling because she was largely not paid much attention to by her parents when she was young. Her sister was going to inherit the company and their parents likely poured all their resources into said sister. Nemona was alone and right from the start she knew she can't be given the same graces as her sister was by default. She has to work hard and so she picked up Pokémon battling because it requires skill and practice above all else. Upon reaching the pinnacle and acquiring the champion title, however, she realized that she was still left by herself.
Imagine her joy seeing us fight her with the same enthusiasm she had discovering the fun in Pokémon battles.
#pokemon scarlet and violet thoughts#pokemon scarlet and violet#pokemon sv#nemona pokemon#nemona#i love her she is my child#please have just a bit of media comprehension
569 notes
·
View notes
Text
Jaune: "So..."
Taiyang: "So?"
Jaune: "Ruby must have gotten most of her looks from her mom. Summer? RIght? I mean... I see where Yang got it. From both you and Raven Branwen. But Ruby must have taken mostly after her mother."
Taiyang: "You knew Raven?"
Jaune: "I fought her twice. I killed her the second time. I have her sword. Do you... do you want it?"
Taiyang: "I didn’t know that about you. No. I don’t want it. It’s yours by all rights. And Ruby does take after more Summer than me. It’s a good thing. It reminds me of her."
Jaune: "Couldn’t have been easy with how she wanted to be a huntress. With how both of your girls wanted to be hunters. I hope… I hope my kids choose something else."
Taiyang: "It wasn’t a walk in the park. I worry about them but I had to let them go. I couldn’t hold them back. But you’re planning on having kids? With Ruby?"
Jaune: *nods* "Ruby wants four. Weiss wants two. They want to drown me, I think. "
Taiyang: "You’re a lucky guy."
Jaune: "You… everyone says that. But they wouldn’t if they really knew me. You feel me?"
Taiyang: *laughs* “A little bit.”
Jaune: “Ruby and Weiss are all I really have. I lost everyone else. And if I lost them I’d lose it in a bad, bad way. I… I have some real power behind me and I’ve done some pretty terrible stuff with it before when no one was able to stop me. And we’ll see how I fucking handle kids.”
Taiyang: “Ruby trusts you with it. That counts for something.”
Jaune: “Ruby trusts a little too easily.”
Taiyang: “Maybe. You took off with her to Mistral. That was you.”
Jaune: “Back then I thought they were just her enemies and it was my place to serve beside her. It was my honor to serve her and hound her enemies like a dog.”
Taiyang: *nods* “But they weren’t just her enemies. Ozpin’s enemies. I don’t know the details like Qrow and Summer did.”
Jaune: “My family are those enemies. I defected from them. I fight them now. I… I lead the fight in many ways. It’s my responsibility to fight them. It will kill me. And Ruby and Weiss are trying to squeeze as much life out of me as they can before I bite it fighting something like Ozpin’s enemies or something for the council.”
Taiyang: “You run errands for the council?”
Jaune: “They pay well enough and it’s sort of my duty. The money can’t buy what I really want but it pays for pretty much everything else pretty handily for my ladies.”
Taiyang: “Summer used to run those sorts of missions,. I’m sure Ruby worries about you.”
Jaune: “Ruby worries about literally everyone. But yeah. She worries about me. But it’s… it’s really only a matter of time. You know? Until I run into something too big for me to handle. And there’s no one who can really bail me out if I’m in a bad way. But in the meantime I have my women and a pretty good job.”
Taiyang: “Beacon, right?”
Jaune: *nods, walks into Taiyang's family room. Folds his arms in front of his chest and listens to Ruby work in the kitchen. She was after the old pots and pans and sheets which belonged to her mother. She wanted them at our house. It wasn’t far. Just a thirty minute drive.*
Taiyang: “Well, you seem like a good kid…”
Jaune: “But looks can be deceiving."
Taiyang: “Ruby’s an adult. She can make her own decisions. She always wanted a big family and I’m glad she’s getting it. Raising kids is safer than hunting.”
Jaune: “It’s just as hard, though. Isn’t it.”
Taiyang: “It’s harder.”
Jaune: "I was worried about that. And I suspected as much. Luckily I’ll have Ruby and Weiss to bail me out of a bad situation. Set me straight when I’m wrong.”
Taiyang: “Are you sure about that?”
Jaune: “That or this world stops being my problem. I lost it before. I know what would shatter me again. Losing Weiss or Ruby would be intolerable. I literally couldn’t handle it.”
Taiyang: “Kids change you."
Jaune: “Vale would be gone. No one could stop me from tearing down cities in my madness. Atlas and Mistral too. It would break me and I would level mountains out of spite.”
Taiyang: “Kids change you.”
Jaune: “Nothing could change this. We call that checkmate.”
Taiyang: “Maybe. If you have kids, they could ground you. Keep you sane. My kids kept me sane. Both times.”
Jaune: “I would break. I’m already glass. Ruby has no idea how fragile I am and how she holds me together. She’s my moral compass. I would perish. I couldn’t do what you did. Luckily I’m the one slated for death. I couldn’t handle it if it was one of them.”
Taiyang: “We don’t really have a choice. I had to keep going for my little girls. I didn’t have a choice. I had to let Summer and Raven go. I had to push forward. They were so wonderful and they held me together but I had to keep going for my little girls.”
Jaune: “Not so little anymore.”
Taiyang: “No. Not so little anymore. Now she’s somebody else’s sweetheart. And I just have to trust that she’s making the right decision for herself with who she chooses. You seem like a good kid but I sort of have to take it on faith.”
Jaune: “Sounds hard.”
Taiyang: “Wait until you have a little girl of your own,” the words dripped from his lips like an ancient curse. Jaune imagines it stretching all the way back to the dawn of time. From father to son in law. “Then tell that to me.”
Jaune: “Weiss wants a little girl. A boy and a girl. I’m not sure if she wants both bad enough to do some in vitro bullshit. But I know that’s what she wants. And Ruby I think is up for dealing with whatever hand she gets dealt.”
Taiyang: “Six is a lot.”
Jaune: “It is. And they’ll probably have to do most of the work without me. Especially if I bite it.”
Taiyang: “But you want to give it to them?”
Jaune: “I’d do anything for them. I’d even fight my family and try to walk away for them. It’s so easy to say. ‘I’d do anything for you.’ But would I actually? Would I kill my friends if they asked me to? I’m having kids for them. Because they want it. And that’s pretty hard. Maybe it’s even the hardest task that they could ask me to do. You know?”
Taiyang: *nods*
Jaune: “I’m gonna fail. Whether I beat my family or not, I will fail to be a good enough parent. It’s literally impossible to do a good enough job"
Taiyang: “I take offense to that. I did good enough."
Jaune: “You’re not allowed to be offended because did you? Or could you have done better?”
Taiyang: *gets quiet*
Jaune: “How do I do it? How do I do a good enough job? On top of all my other responsibilities?”
Taiyang: "You can’t. You will fail."
Jaune: “I knew it. But I have to try anyway. They’re asking me to try anyway. They want me to try. They really honestly believe I can be a good father even with all my other bullshit. And I can’t talk them out of it. And I’ve tried. And I would do anything for them. And it scares the living shit out of me. Even more than my family does.”
Taiyang: “Good. You should be scared. Six.” *grants Jaune a kindly smile*
Jaune: “Thank the gods I have two of them to support me or I would be fucked.”
Taiyang: “But then again you wouldn’t be having six without the two of them.”
Jaune: “You been to our place yet?”
Taiyang: *shakes his head*
Jaune: “You’re welcome to swing by. Big empty house to fill with all those little ones. That’s the plan.”
Taiyang: “The wedding is there as well, isn’t it?”
Jaune: *nods* “It is. That’s the accord, at least. As far as I’m aware. Most of the planning is those two. I’m sort of just along for the ride.”
Taiyang: “They both taking your name?”
Jaune: “Yeah. Both of them. I suppose I had better ask for your blessing.”
Taiyang: “Is that how you ask me?”
jaune: “Yeah. It is.”
Taiyang: “Did you ask Weiss’s dad for his blessing to marry her?”
Jaune: “Weiss isn’t on speaking terms with her father. I was going to ask the man she chose to walk her down the aisle. A butler who actually raised her named Klein.”
Taiyang: “So you don’t intend to ask her father?”
Jaune: “No. She hates her pop. She couldn’t care less if I had his blessing or not so I don’t care about asking for it.”
Taiyang: “But you do care about mine? And this other man’s? Klein’s?”
Jaune: “To an extent. Ruby wants to marry me. I’m gonna marry her. You can either give me your blessing or you can not. But I’m gonna marry her regardless because I love her and she loves me. It’s still your choice to give me the blessing or not.”
Taiyang: “But it doesn’t really matter. You’d marry her anyway.”
Jaune: “I’d like your blessing. Ruby cares what you think. That counts for something.”
Taiyang: “And I’m supposed to give it to you off of one conversation?”
Jaune: “You got to take me on faith. Isn’t that what you said? And yeah, maybe don’t give it to me today. Maybe don’t give it to me in general. But I’m gonna marry Ruby. We’re gonna have kids. You can be as big of a part of that as Ruby lets you.”
Taiyang: “What about you? You gonna cut me out?”
Jaune: “Not unless you motivate me to. Please don’t motivate me to. And it would take more than not giving me your blessing to motivate me to.”
Taiyang: “So how important is this blessing.”
Jaune: “I think it’s important to Ruby.”
Taiyang: “So… pretty important?”
Jaune: “So pretty important."
Taiyang: “But not so important that you wouldn’t marry her against my will?”
Jaune: “You’d have to have some pretty potent will to stop me. You couldn’t stop Ruby from leaving for Mistral under my protection. When I was her dog and nothing more. Even if you would have wanted to, you couldn’t stop her. And I’m willing to bet you would have rather she stayed here. Nice and safe. Not out dealing with those same forces that took her mother from you.”
Taiyang: “Would you kill and die for Ruby?”
Jaune: “Easily.” "pulls up his shirt to reveal the bifurcating scars Tyrian left behind* "This serial killer came after us out in Anima and I almost died rather than let him take her. When I killed for the first time it was in Ruby’s defense. I’d do it again now. I have a lot more power now than I did then. I’d do more if she asked me for more. Like having kids.”
Taiyang: “Like having kids. Put your shirt down, kid. I’m probably going to need more than one conversation.”
Jaune: “No problem. You had two wives, right?”
Taiyang: “Not at the same time." *shakes her head*“Not like you will.”
Jaune: “Just about. Ruby and Yang are what? A year and a half apart? Minus nine months implies… You moved on fast at the very least.”
Taiyang: “I never really moved on and got over Raven.”
Jaune: “Ouch. But Summer scooped you up nice and quick.”
Taiyang: “Yeah, I suppose she did.”
Jaune: “You can be more honest with me than that.”
Taiyang: “I… I don’t know what you mean?”
Jaune: “Did you sleep with Summer before Raven left you?”
Taiyang: *says nothing, doesn't meet Jaune's eye*
Jaune: “I was just curious. Does Ruby know?”
Taiyang: *shakes his head*
Jaune: “How do you want her to find out?”
Taiyang: *lowers his face into his hands* “Don’t tell her, please. I will. When I’m ready.”
Jaune: “Fair cop. Fair enough. Just don’t wait too long. I don’t want to have to tell her.”
Taiyang: “Making me the bad guy?”
Jaune: “Holding you responsible. I have to be responsible for so much bullshit. Your daughter comes up to me and tells me ‘take responsibility for me, won’t you?’ You have to be held responsible for the impact you have over her emotions too. And if I have to hold you responsible so that she’s informed and aware of everything she should know, then I will. That’s my job. I’m the person she turns to now.”
Taiyang: “She used to turn to me…”
Jaune: “You had your time, old man. She’s mine now.”
Taiyang: “And if I don’t like it?”
Jaune: “Well let’s ask her. We’ll tell her you don’t like it and ask her to decide.”
Taiyang: “That’s not fair…”
Jaune: “Really? What’s not fair about it? You had her for fifteen years, old man . I’ll be lucky to squeeze out ten. You don’t get to sit there and tell me it’s not fair. Your time as the sun has passed. I’m her sunshine now. And I worked hard to get there. I killed, and bled, and almost died to get there. Over and over again I killed and bled and almost died. Worse than that happened to me too. What’s not fair? Tell me specifically? If I’m not a good enough man for your daughter you better come out and accuse me of such.”
Taiyang: “You’re not a good enough man for my daughter."
Jaune: “Yeah, no shit. But she chose me anyway. She chose to save me. She could have left me in the garbage where I belong. Now I’m the most powerful man on the planet and it’s all because of her. She has the power to make and unmake me. I’m only the most powerful man on the planet.”
Taiyang: “And this other girl? Weiss? You want her too?”
Jaune: “I always wanted Weiss. Ever since I was young. She was my first real crush. She was the question with the changing answer. ‘How do I be good enough?’ Do I need to be faster? Stronger? Smarter? More confident? Do I need more power? Always more power. Unending with the power. When is it enough? And of course the answer is that it’s never enough. It can’t be. I can’t be enough. I was never going to be. But she also chose me anyway.”
Taiyang: “And how did you three get together?”
Jaune: “How we got together… Ruby and I dated out in Anima. Then I got split up and they and I weren’t sure that we’d ever see each other again. Then Weiss and Ruby got together. They were always close and had good chemistry. Then when we found each other again Ruby begged me not to make her choose. She begged me. So I gave it a shot.”
Taiyang: “How magnanimous of you.”
Jaune: “Please. I’m allowed to have something . Just because you never figured out how to make it work with your business doesn’t mean we can’t. And Ruby begged me to try. I had no choice. And I always wanted Weiss. It just played out well. If we tried it again a million times I think they’d exclude me. And I would deserve it.”
Taiyang: “If you don’t deserve to marry them and you know you don’t deserve to marry them, then you shouldn’t be marrying them."
Jaune: “Not even if they beg me to? Their heads are on straighter than mine. If they think it’s a good idea, then who am I to argue?”
Taiyang: “You sound like a dog. Why would I be happy about my little girl marrying some dog?”
Jaune: “Well, I am a dog. But I’m her dog. And I’m doin’ it because she asked me to. And I would do anything for her. Even if I personally don’t think it’s a good idea. I didn’t think this trio was a good idea. But she begged me to try and robbed me of my free will. I had to. And you don’t have to address me like you’re not also a dog. Do you? Out of you and Summer Rose, who was the person and who crawled on all fours?”
Taiyang: “Cruel of you…”
Jaune: “But not inaccurate. Is it? And it’s not my fault that it’s the truth. Did you deserve her? Or was she so fantastic you didn’t deserve to pray for her? When she came for you did you have a choice in sireing Ruby? Or did she tell you to come and, like a dog, you did?”
Taiyang: “I couldn’t help it. I didn’t have any choice really. I never really did. Not with Summer or with Raven.”
Jaune: “So do you think I have any choice when she says she wants to marry me and wants four kids?”
Taiyang: “You’re supposed to be a man."
Jaune: “I’m not. I never was. Ruby knows that. Or I’ve told her so many times she’s forbidden me from saying it anymore. Qrow didn’t like me around her. He thinks it’s dangerous because of my family. And it is. And Ruby knows that. She is so cruelly merciful.”
Taiyang: “She’s sweet like that… Summer was as well. That’s where she gets it from.”
Jaune: “And here I am hoping for a daughter just like Ruby. I'm over here praying for my heart to be broken.”
Taiyang: “A good woman is like that. On one hand I hope… this awful thing I’m going through right now… some kid does to you someday with your daughters. My granddaughters. On the other I really wouldn’t wish this on another person.”
Jaune: “I’ll look after Ruby and my daughters.”
Taiyang: “Lookin’ after ‘em is easy. Letting them go is hard.”
Jaune: “I hope I’m fuckin’ dead before that happens. Stone cold gone.”
Taiyang: “I mean… it’s beautiful. Watching her grow into the woman she’s supposed to be. It’s so beautiful I can hardly watch it happen. But I do have to watch it happen. And part of that is you. You’re the man she wants to marry. You have a role in it too. And it’s so terrible I want to laugh and so beautiful I want to cry. And I’m just left sitting here feeling it all. What am I going to do now? She doesn’t need me anymore? She’s the reason I’m alive and kicking. And she doesn’t need me anymore. And I can’t attach myself to her like a parasite. I can’t. I have to set her free. And part of that is watching her run into your arms and watching her run towards heart break and I can’t stop it. It’s agony and wonder unlike anything in the world. And all I can do is watch while my brain melts.”
Jaune: “Sometimes life is like that, I think. With the awe and horror mixing together in unmerciful quantities. But what can we do about it? We just have to lay back and take it. Or let it take us at any rate. It’s so much bigger than we are. It’s huge. Ruby has a heart bigger and stronger than my whole soul. That’s why I’m just a dog compared to her. The real reason. Not just because I do what she tells me to do.”
Taiyang:: “Sounds painful."
Jaune: “I want to claw my eyes out but I want to stare at her forever and I deserve neither. Was it the same for you?”
Taiyang: “Largely. I couldn’t handle it. Summer was too good to me. I didn’t deserve it. And she left me with this shining gem of a daughter. I didn’t deserve Ruby either. But… my time as her light has ended. You’re her sunshine now. Isn’t that right?”
Jaune: “My turn. My turn to not deserve her.”
Ruby: *walks in carrying a box from the kitchen* "What are you two talking about?”
Jaune: "You."
Taiyang: “I was just giving this kid my blessing. He asked for it and you trust him. That’s good enough for me.”
Ruby: “Oh, well that’s wonderful. I’m glad you two can get along. And you don’t have to worry, dad, Jaune’s good material. He’s a wonderful person.”
Taiyang: “You wouldn’t be marrying him if he wasn’t.”
Jaune: *takes the box from Ruby on basic principle*
Ruby: *cocks her head up at him*
Jaune: *walks out of the house and puts the box in his bike's trunk*
Jaune: *catches the tail end of their conversation*
Ruby: “-oh? Yang? Well she’s with Blake. They’re dating but I don’t know how far along they really are with it. They aren’t pressed for time like I am with Jaune.”
Taiyang: “But you’re not rushing in?”
Jaune: *hesitates by the door*
Ruby “No, I’ve dated Cloud for almost three years. I trust him totally and I’ve been with Weiss for almost two. Longer if you count how long I’ve been on a team with her. But I get the sense it’s not Weiss that has you worried about me.”
Taiyang: “Well… he talked a little about his family. And the missions he’s doing. I hear you say you love him and trust him. But… I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Ruby: “I’ll be fine dad. Swing by our house some time. Okay? I love you.”
Taiyang: “I love you too sweet girl. Bye. Drive safe.”
Ruby: “I will. See you soon!” *walks out of the house*
Jaune: *stares at her*
Ruby: "What?”
Jaune: “I just… like looking at you."
Ruby: "So what did you and my dad really talk about?”
Jaune: “I told you, you. I mean, a little about Raven and Ozpin and missions for the council. But it was mostly about you.”
Ruby: “Like what about me?”
Jaune: “Well, how many kids you want. How hard it’s gonna be for me to be a teacher, a hunter and a father. We talked about how I didn’t really need his permission to marry you. I mean, if he could stop you from doing what you wanted, then he would have stopped you from leaving for Anima. Then we talked about how I killed for you and almost died when the Scorpion came for you. He talked about how scared he was.”
Ruby: “What did you say?”
Jaune: “I told him his time was over. I told him it was my turn to take care of you.”
Ruby: “Were you mean?”
Jaune: “Maybe… I’m a selfish beast. And you belong to me now.”
Ruby: “Be nice to him.”
Jaune: “Sure. No problem.”
If you liked this excerpt try my fanfic Motion Sickness V2
#rwby#jaune arc#rwby incorrect quotes#weiss schnee#ruby rose#lancaster#whiteknight#ff7#motion sickness#war of the roses#whiterose#white rose#white knight#taiyang xiao long
105 notes
·
View notes
Text
@cult-of-the-eye here it is, hope you like it :3
MAG[REDACTED] - Blood in the Machine
Anonymous statement, regarding the statement maker's purchase and use of a strange desktop computer. Original statement given 4th of February 2024, recording by Arcturus Walker, head archivist of the Magnus Institute, Budapest. Put to tape on the 21st of March 2024. Statement begins:
I don't want to go into details as to why I came to make this decision. It was an offer too good to be true, just what a struggling university student needed: a cheap PC with great specs and with only 2 years of usage. I know how some sellers put enticing prices on Facebook Marketplace just to drop the real deal in later messages, but that wasn't the case. The owner got his hands on "something better" and saw no use in keeping this one around so he asked for the bare minimum that would still be a deal to him.
I went to pick up the desktop, it was a city away so I drove there. It was a bit weird how creeping closer to the destination all we had were dirt roads. I live in the suburbs, I know not all city councils pay it enough attention, but these weren't those dusty solid roads. These were muddy, the tracks barely visible and overgrown with grass. No, not grass, something more- vibrant.
The roads branched off a few hundred meters from my destination, only one going in its general direction so I followed it. I reached a house, no buildings in its neighborhood, crop fields on one side, a small forest on the other, the kind that always seems way more moist than the weather would allow it and always has that smell of thick mud and insects. I could only *enjoy* that for a moment before I got hit with something else, something fleshier. It was a stench that burnt into my nostrils. I try not to judge a house by the smell, my parents were chainsmokers and I've always been more ashamed to bring friends home than it seemed they were bothered by the odor. Assuming I just met a butcher, or really just someone that keeps their own livestock I headed inside.
It felt like a hallucination, it really did. I stepped into a corridor, my lungs full of the dull yet powerful stench that covered everything. My brain felt foggy and with a headache that felt like pressure on my skull I continued inside. I was hoping to pick up the computer and get going right away, and I did my best to accomplish just that. I lifted the PC which was rather heavy and hurried back the way I came when something caught my attention. As I was putting my shoes on my brain alerted me of movement. From all around. The walls seemed to have this rhythmic pulse to them. If I wasn't at the doorstep I would've fainted, that's for sure, but I made it out to my car, telling myself it's the headache getting to me.
The drive back was nothing out of the ordinary, but that foul smell just wouldn't leave my nose. I parked, opened my boot and to no surprise the aroma oozed out of the case like a thick invisible fog, bringing back that numbing pressure that I felt earlier. I grabbed all the cleaning chemicals and similar that I could find lying around, giving it a thorough rub on the outside. I pride myself on my expertise in software, but the hardware always confused me and I never bothered to learn it. Thus I did not want to open it up, which proved to be a grave mistake.
For 6 months straight there seemed to have been no problem with the PC. It worked as intended, was just as fast as I expected and the smell was only noticeable if you got up close to sniff the case. Which I didn't. But two days ago I didn't need to either. I woke up to a strange smell. It wasn't as strong or numbing as the one I felt at the house but it certainly wasn't pleasant. We had maintenance that night, we were notified that from 10pm we should be expecting a blackout. I didn't mind, but it seemed that whatever was in my computer did not like it. I decided to give it another round of cleaning once I was done with my cup of coffee. I dressed up and went to pull out the cables on the back, but they were a lot harder to unplug than I remembered. I ripped out the one which was most limiting length-wise and I pulled the rest of the case out from under my desk. As I saw the back of the PC I had to stop myself from throwing up.
Now I'm not afraid of gore, I grew up in a generation (and the subcultures) that made it such a commonplace it's usually unamusing. On screen, at least. But I didn't expect to come face to face with a chunk of skin stretching across where my plugs should have been. The cable I ripped out laid on the floor, a dark red liquid dripping from it, staining my carpet. Same thing could be found on the back of the case. Turns out the cable wasn't just stuck, it was *integrated* into the fleshy mess that shouldn't have been there.
That's when I got a screwdriver and ripped the case open. It seemed like the only logical way to deal with whatever infested my computer and I didn't know what else I could do. The case came away like a sticker, the inside melted to a wall of human-like skin, peeling away it left a residue of perspiration on the plastic.
The flesh monster's skin seemed to have formed a block, covering its insides from all angles, pressing against the vents and pushing out through the outlets. The cord I ripped had left a nasty hole that started to scar up, but I wanted to see what I was up against and I *didn't let it*. I scraped away the scar tissue with the screwdriver and pushed it through the wound, detaching the vein that supplied my cable from the wall of skin. The case still hugging it from the outside cast a shadow that made it hard for me to see in, so I turned on my flashlight, stretching at the hole with my tool, trying to take a peek.
I saw veins running across the surface, the inside was humid and *warm*, at least warmer than room temperature but it wasn't the heat of a working human body. It was starting to cool. In the middle of the case I saw something heavy, a huge knot in the middle of the circulatory system which kept beating in a steady rhythm. It was slow, the pulse was invisible from the outside, yet it kept pushing blood through the opening, trying to close it up, but the scarring slowed down significantly from when I first ripped that cable out. It ran on electricity, it had to have been the case, the inside had a greenish tone from what I could make out, meaning that during the blackout it started rotting. The system that somehow ran like a normal computer for months started to decay, which reminded me of the smell my brain ignored from my initial shock that once again sat heavy in my lungs.
I did not reconnect it but I didn't know what to do with it either. Who would have I called? I scoured the internet to find your institute, and I left my PC to you. Past making this statement I wish not to associate myself with this case any longer.
Statement ends. First thing after reading this statement I went down to artifact storage to ask about this curio. Turns out whoever left it to us delivered it too late, the "heart" was not beating and the thing once stretched against the walls of it's case now sat collapsed and rotten in the organic section, making any other follow-up almost impossible. Looking for the flesh house also yielded no results, meaning I will put this case to rest as-is. What does keep me wondering are the intentions of the seller. Why would an avatar of the Flesh sell a piece of itself to an unsuspecting individual? There was no mention of the *flesh block* attempting to leave its case meaning there was no intention of spreading the system either. Maybe they didn't intend the buyer to possess it for so long, maybe they tried to alert us of their vicinity. But they failed. They left us with a cold trail. *sigh* Recording ends
This is episode one of my series I call MAGREDACTED, here are all the episodes out now:
The Vast The Stranger The Dark
New episodes will be posted over on @archivus !
34 notes
·
View notes
Text
Updated Post for the Persona 5 Magic au
It all starts with the eternal battle for balance. Good v evil, light v dark. Two beings oversee all that is magical, using their every breath to keep the other at bay. With the opposing forces in balance, no one being can overcome the world, and rise up. The humans, the normal ones, remain in the dark
Darkness draws back for a few decades, and strikes swiftly. It goes to absorb the magic of Light, but cannot contain that much raw power. Light, and it's magic, are sent to the mortal plain, their magic scattering among those who were never meant to have such power
One dark night, many years later, a young witch, unaware of who he is, has his first spark of magic.
Akira Kurusu is charged for assault.
Akira Kurusu is sent to Tokyo.
Akira Kurusu is the first.
But first, he's late on his way to school. He feels the air leave his chest when a blonde girl takes down her hood in the rain. She blinks at him, and the glass film in his eyes shatters. He blinks at her. He feels normal. She gets in a man's car, and he's compelled by something else to deny a ride.
Suguru Kamoshida hits someone with his car
But it's okay, Ryuji Sakamoto gets up, completely uninjured. This has happened before, you see. A little girl, racially ambiguous, appearance shifting like the winds and the sands in the tides, well she greeted him the first time. Sent him right back, to his own waiting body
So, they decide to head to school together. That's when the talking cat shows up. And forms a blood pact with Akira, after revealing that he's a witch. A familiar bond.
The cat is Morgana, the former magic one of Light. And he recruits both boys to help him track down his magic, and return balance to the world of magic
Their first target? Kamoshida, who has some of Morgana's magic. Along the way they recruit Ann, a young succubus who's touch starved, very gay, and comes very close to killing in the name of her "best friend" that she is definitely not in love with
Their second target is an artist, who uses Morgana's magic to convince others to let him use their art as his own. Only one pupil remains in his lowly shack, one that Ryuji swears he's never seen blink
Yusuke Kitagawa believes he owes servitude to his master. A kitsune, one with large potential, just as he holds for art. The others show him the truth behind his master, how he tricked Yusuke's mother, leaving her to die, and taking all her work
He goes a little berserk. Finds Madarame in his exhibit, and let's his power fly. Yusuke drives his former master to madness, and his illusions leave a handful of visitors a little less sane than before.
Next, they go for the boss of a local Yakuza ring, Kaneshiro. The gang go after a few weeks of planning, deep in the middle of the night, dressed in Halloween store costumes for disguise, but find they don't need them
Uhm. Rating goes up for the next bit. Warning for violence and blood!
Because the doors are unlocked, left ajar. The full moon shines light on the red, wet floors, the stench of fresh death wafting out.
The sun has begun to rise by the time they gather their wits and find the central room. With one last shout of pain, they watch one last body sag between large fangs, the form of a full moon werewolf, dark fur soaked with blood, standing there. Right in the centre of the room
It turns to them, and it's bones creak as the moon comes to a close
Soon, all that's left standing there, bare, shivering, coated in blood, is Shujin Student Council President Makoto Niijima. With the additions of two furry ears atop her head, and a brown wolf's tail tucked between her legs
She's in a state of panic for many reasons. Partially for the mass murder she just did, partially for being all nakey wakey eggs and bakey. Mostly, because she has to get back to her apartment's boiler room before her sister goes to let her out, and she's in Shibuya and covered in blood and maybe losing it a little-
The gang throw Akira's jacket and Ryuji's pants at her, and race to Yongen, for a proper change of clothes and washing up. Which, leads to Ann trying to help only to discover her touch works on Makoto, who learns she's gay. Then it's a race back to Makoto's, where she ducks back into the dark boiler room
Come lunchtime at school, she thanks her underclassmen profusely, and asks to help them in return for what was a wild and awkward night. They let her in
Now is a good time to mention they have weekly Saturday Night sleepovers in LeBlanc's attic. Ann gets to spread out her wings, Yusuke doesn't have to blink, and now Makoto, who cannot put away her tail, wears pants with a hole cut in them. And she brings out her ears, too
This to say, during one of these sleepovers, there's a storm. Sojiro runs in, worried. He finds them all, magiced out, and barely thinks before begging to help him find his daughters
You see, Futaba isn't alone in her mind. Her mother had used dark magics to create a sentient AI, Sophia, but was stopped before she could properly set her free. In the incident that killed her, she uploaded Sophia directly to, Futaba. In technical terms, she's being haunted. Sophia appears over her shoulder in a ghostly blue, but humans can't see or hear her
They find her cowering inside the old movie theatre. Her uncle had shown up while she was talking to Sophie. Disastrous. But, sleepover night has one more guest going forwards
Next, is a request. News of this group of "monsters" is getting around, and through their online inbox, Haru Okumura asks if they can get her Selkie coat back, and return her father to who he once was
They have to stake him out first, make sure he has some of Morgana's magic. Ann and Yusuke go undercover as an elite married couple, with. Makoto as their large, exotic dog. For the laughs.
That night, Okumura is visited by a Vampire, who leaves him dead and drained on his study floor. Our heroes will get the blame, but during the next week of chaos, they're able to get into his office and into his safe, retrieving the pelt of a Ragdoll cat
Haru is grateful for her coat back, and spends an entire day in her cat form. She swears she'll help them clean their names, and return Morgana's magic
I will stop the plot regaling there, to list what everyone is in this au
Akira - Witch
Yalbadoath - Magic One, being of Darkness
Morgana - "sorcerer", Magic One, being of Light
Makoto - turned werewolf
Haru - ragdoll cat Selkie
Yusuke - Kitsune
Sojiro - seer of magics
Ann - succubus
Ryuji - undead
Goro - vampire
Futaba - Haunted (by Sophia)
Chihaya - nekomata
Munehisa Iwai - dragon
Tae - Wizard, potions expert
Sadayo - Fae
Ichiko - incubus
Shinya - ghost, unaware he is dead
Hifumi - warlock, charm master
Mishima - dream eater
Sumire - changeling
Anyone unlisted is human
Alright, so there's this one! I. Technically have more, cause this au covers Strikers. But this was tiring for me, I. Yeah
Feel free to ask about it! Suggest things! Comment on it!
#makoto niijima#haru okumura#persona 5#persona magic au#yusuke kitagawa#ryuji sakamoto#ann takamaki#goro akechi#futaba sakura#joker p5
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
Magic Trick a la @ariaste
Since OP is overwhelmed with feedback and asks about the theory, I'm going to just continue theorising about it right here:
"Continuity Errors" that stink of....Meddling:
1: When Aziraphale returns from Edinburgh, they put the plants in the car...then next scene Crowley is driving back from somewhere, but we know it's the same day. Where did he go? Was it important? Was it deleted?
2: Equally where/what the f was Crowley after the battle? Post-battle in E6, when Michael is threatening Aziraphale with erasure, Crowley is just lounging in the background looking calm as anything. Excuse me? Dearest Angel is being threatened and Crowley just...does not care? Nonsense. I expect he was either not really there, or was doing something else, and this cardboard cutout version of him was placed back in the scene by Meddling.
3: Changes to the car. This might be more "the car has accepted them both as owners" or it could just be bad attention to detail by someone Meddling. The leather seats changed to black when the car turned yellow, and then the seat colour remained black for the rest of the season. But Aziraphale did NOT remove the bullet decals from the window when he was using the car. BUT they're gone in the credit scene. Like, conspicuously gone. For why?????
4: OP touched on the demon attack being Edited, so I'll just add to this that these are supposed to be 'bottom of the barrel' demons...and yet two of the three members of the Dark Council that FurFur went to in E4 are there (not Dagon, obv, but the other two apparently high-ranking demons are now also part of this attack?). THATS ODD?!?
5: 1650. We all spotted it. BUT in light of some Meddling, I would have to ask, is 1650 a Pledge? or a Clue? Is it just Neil being silly and just going to bring up 1650 later, or were we, the audience, 'shown' the 1650 scene, but then it was deleted from our memories? I DO NOT KNOW.
6: Lots of time lapses. It's been pointed out that the time of the bookshop battle could NOT have taken all night, and that the 1941 flashback SHOULD HAVE taken all night. But also: after Crowley (iconically) orders 6-shots-of-espresso, Maggie immediately walks in and Nina is already late for closing the cafe. Hmmmm. Also, Mr Brown carries the same newspaper all week. Again, very conspicuously. Is he real? Does time not pass for him? What's going on with the prop department here?
Exhibit B: (slightly different but in the realm of 'i see what you're doing)....overarching theme of resurrection. All three flashbacks heavily involve that idea. Job's children are "brought back" from the dead, Mr Dalrymple is literally a Resurrectionist and we try to bring Morag back, then literal zombies? And Mr Brown clearly dies, and Crowley brings him back almost as a second thought.
#the magic trick you didn't see#the pledge and the turn#good omens#good omens 2#good omens theories#ineffible husbands#metatron#fuck the metatron#ineffible#crowley
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
Time is a Roulette Wheel: Swain WIP Pt2
SFW
Not me spending like an hour in the weeds of the fandom wiki trying to reconstruct a timeline for Noxus. Apparently after Swain killed the previous Grand General and established the Trifarix council he pulled back most of the warhosts but maintained a bunch of coastal territories in Ionia and Shurima, which is roughly when I'm setting this, but also at some point in the future he decides on Ionian Invasion Pt: Back In The Saddle Again re: the awaken cinematic, which apparently isn't even necessarily canon?? Anyway I'm extrapolating a bunch of information about Noxus' current political climate from those two things
----
They give you a nice room in what you take to be a guest wing, and Garret departs again. There are guards outside your door, which you aren't sure if you're to take as a threat or a luxury. You aren't really in the mood for their oppressive hospitality, though, so as soon as the doors close you rewind yourself to the streets outside.
Your latest raven sights you almost immediately. There's lots of them outside the palace–you assume because that's where Swain is. You make it to the block outside the tower before you stop and turn to look at it, exasperated. “Come on then,” you wave it over. It flits down to the fence next to you, cocking it's head at you. “If you're going to be following me around anyway, I'd rather know where you are,” you say, offering it your arm.
It blinks, one eye at a time. “I'll tell you a secret? Something no-one else in Runeterra knows…” you coax. It caws softly. “Alright, you drive a hard bargain. Two.”
The raven steps onto your arm and caws. You grin. “Okay, let's see…hm. When I was six, I stole all of my friends glitter pens and blamed it on a boy who was mean to me. Then I felt bad, so I threatened him into writing an apology note and planted it and the pens back in her bag the next day.”
The raven caws harshly at you. You shrug. “I never said they were ground-breaking secrets.” Nevertheless, the bird settles on your shoulder when you lift your arm up to it, and you set out again.
You walk without any particular purpose, just exploring the City. You were somehow expecting it to be more depressing, but despite the grim and brutality architecture the people are lively and vibrant. It reminds you of Bilgewater, but with less outright crime, honestly. The market hawkers holler offers across the street, beside you a woman argues sharply with a weaver about the cost of a bolt of silk. A vastayan man on a street corner does an elaborate fire-breathing display, and his hat is piled with coin. Nobody apologizes when they knock into you in the busy streets, but not once does anyone try and lift your purse. You eventually find your way to the markets, where you permit yourself to buy a few books and a glass figurine that catches your eye. You usually prefer to travel light, but here's hoping that you'll be staying here for at least a while. You get skewers from a food stall that smells irresistible, and you feed chunks to the raven as you walk back. You suppose that they must be like normal ravens to some extent, because it accepts the food easily enough.
The raven departs with a soft caw as you make your way back to the tower, the sun setting in the distance. You rewind yourself back to your room and read until your dinner is brought.
—
If you were counting your entire stint in the Void as a single incident, meeting the Trifarix is the second most stressful thing that's ever happened to you. It's like a job interview, except you're pretty sure they're going to try and kill you if you don't get the job.
You're led into a cavernous throne room, with the Trifarix seated at a simple stone table at the foot of the empty throne. Swain sits in the center, Darius on his right, and to his left the Faceless in their many layered robe. You sit across from them, feeling distinctly like you should be wearing something nicer. Your guard escorts fall back, and Swain prompts you to recount your offer.
What follows next is the most exhaustive hour of negotiation you've ever been party to. The Faceless asks where you got your powers. You explain that you can't explain, and then go through all of the unpleasantness of proving it by hacking glass up on their table. Darius wants to know what exactly you have to offer Noxus, the limits of your powers, whether you can be sent to the front lines. You tell him you're immortal, and then when he laughs in your face, you say he can behead you and prove it if he's fine waiting a few hours for you to come back. He kind of pauses, then, and either the seriousness in your offer or the shard of mirror glass still sitting on the table seems to convince him, because he's a tad less rude after that.
Swain seems more concerned with the terms of your agreement than your worth to the empire–what your duties will be, for how long, how each party will assure the other that they're fufilling their end of the contract. He doesn't know off the top of his head how to get you home, but he suggests several promising avenues a team of mages and researchers could pursue. The Faceless suggests you work for them until they find a way to send you home, you point out that that motivates them to purposely delay or fail their research to keep you here. You suggest that you work for them for a year regardless of their findings; at the end they either send you home, or you fuck off elsewhere. Swain suggests a ten year term with updates. You point out that if you find out that they're trying to fuck you over, you’ll unmake this entire goddamn city around them. Swain points out, almost idly, that that would disproportionately affect the citizenry, and you don't really have a rebuttal for that, so you relent and amend that fine, you'll just kill all of them, but that's a much less dramatic threat. Darius laughs. The other two do not.
You settle on a three year term.
---
“Garret, be honest with me, are you reporting my every move back to the Trifarix?” You ask wearily, on your way out of the meeting.
Garret blinks. “Not specifically. Of course I'll be honest if asked, but to be frank, ma’am, they have better ways to keep tabs on you.”
You grimace, glancing up at the birds on the rooftops around you. “That's fair. Why were you assigned to me, then?”
“If the need arised, to kill you,” he says evenly.
You raise a brow at him. He doesn't look any more dangerous than your average Noxian, but there must be some reason he was the one assigned to take you out. He looked Ionian–maybe some form of magic that would take you off guard. “Unlucky.”
“So I hear,” he says dryly. He stops in front of your new residence, a two story in a nice looking part of the city, or as nice as Noxus' imperious architecture gets. “This will be your new residence. Someone should have already been by to drop off your citizenship documents. Welcome to Noxus, ma’am.”
“You won't be escorting me anymore, I take it?” You extrapolate. He shakes his head. “Can I ask you a personal question, then?”
He blinks. “Not standing out here in the street, no. You may invite me in for tea, however.” He fishes a set of keys out of his pocket and hands it to you.
You crack a smile, open the door, and then turn to stand inside it. “Could I invite you in for tea, Colonel I don't know your first name Garrett?” You say with your best approximation of an Ionian bow.
“You may, Madam Iso I don't know your last name,” he responds in kind. There's the edge of a smile on his lips, which is as expressive as you've ever seen him.
“I don't actually know if I have tea,” you say as you close the door behind you. “I didn't bring any.”
“I don't drink tea,” he says plainly. He goes to sit at your new couch, politely folding his hands in his lap. “You may ask your question.”
You sit across from him, bemused. “Are all Noxians this abrupt?”
He inclines his head at you, akin to a bird. “We value our time. Was that your question?”
You laugh. “No. I wanted to ask, and you can feel free to tell me to fuck off if it's too personal, but…you're Ionian, right? Why are you here, in Noxus?”
He pauses for a moment. “That is very personal, yes. May I ask why you want to know?”
You pause a moment, mulling over your words. “Because…look, you know what I did in Shuriman. I work for Noxus now, and honestly there isn't a hell of a lot I wouldn't do to get home, but…all the same, I want to know what I'm getting into. What I've done to those people.”
He sighs. “It was…different, for me. My village was poor, and we had little to resist with when Noxus came almost a decade ago, under Darkwill’s rule. It was brutal, and I lost people I cared for in a hopeless attempt at resistance. The army raided our temple for relics, and we were told to bend the knee or die. I bent.” He spreads his hands to indicate to his practical Noxian garb. “I thought our lives would be as senseless and cruel as the army was. For a time it was. Then Grand General Swain deposed Darkwill, and things changed. The world opened to us. My sister pursued an education in history, my son an apprenticeship in smithing. We were recognized for the worth of our craft rather than the blood in our veins. I miss my wife, yes, and my son his mother, but we are fed and content.”
You look down. “Does that make it worth it?”
His lips thin slightly. “The spring does not justify the winter. They are merely things that happen, and we weather them.” You sit in silence for a moment, before he offers “Grand General Swain is just, as far as I have seen. He has inherited his predecessors' wars, but there is a purpose there where Darkwill only had tyranny and madness. He is not war-like by nature, I believe, but securing Noxus' future relies on stabilizing the borders of our acquired territories.”
“So that makes the brutal expansionism justified?” You ask dryly.
He shrugs. “Justification is the tool of a dishonest conscience. I know who I am and what is valuable to me, and I know what I must do to have it. So do you. That is why you are Noxian now. The citizens of Bitharix will have a choice to make, whether they value their lives or their ideals, and then they will either be dead or they will be the same as any other Noxian. I can tell you that the Trifarix cares for the wellbeing of Noxus. I cannot tell you if Noxus' wellbeing is more valuable than that of Shurima’s, but here is where I live, here is where I thrive, and so here is where I will serve. Whether the same can be said of you is your own decision to make.” With that, he rises to his feet and offers you a bow. “I will be going now.”
You nod. “Thank you, for your assistance, and for your advice.”
He nods. “Whatever path you choose to walk, I hope that you walk it with surety.” And then he turns and leaves.
You sit in silence in your new Noxian house for a few minutes. Then you abruptly decide this situation calls for ice cream and hop to your feet.
—
“Birdie, do you know if this place has ice cream?” You ask the raven that flies down to the fence next to you. It caws harshly, and you get the sense it's offended. “Oh, come on. I'll tell you a real secret this time if you bring me somewhere nice,” you offer enticingly. It caws again, this time somewhat uncertain. “C'mon, it's riiight on the tip of my tongue, can't you just taste it?” you taunt.
The raven stares at you so intensely you think it might actually be able to, and then hops onto your shoulder and caws in the direction of the markets. You beam and set off.
—
“God, I really needed this,” you tell the bird appreciatively as you devour your chocolate chip cone. “I know you're a demonic entity whose reporting my every move to Swain, since I'm under contract now, here's a secret for free: that man stresses me the fuck out.” The bird caws in what you take to be agreement. “I know, right? It's the resting bitch face, I think. It makes me feel like I've forgotten my homework or something.” You shudder.
As you finish your cone, the bird caws at you impatiently. “Alright, you did good, I guess you earned it,” you relent with a sigh. It hops onto your knee and peers up at you intently. The words rise to your tongue unbidden. “The thing that took me had a name, but I haven't been able to remember what it is since I killed it. I try, and it's just…white noise, like blood in my ears. I don't even know why I knew it's name, it's not like it ever told me,” you say forlornly. Then you blink. “Wait. I shouldn't have been able to say that. How did you–”
The raven crows triumphantly, and then pain beyond anything your curse has ever given you rips through you.
—
You wake up on a plush couch. You sit up groggily, only to realize you have no idea where you are.
“You weren't lying about your immortality, it seems,” Swain observes mildly. He's at a large desk, writing something. You're in his office, it seems.
You rub your throat. “What happened?”
“Raum suppressed your curse long enough to draw out a secret, and you paid the price for speaking where you shouldn't.” Swain says. He signs the page at the bottom, puts his quill in his inkwell, and then steeples his hands and looks at you. His expression is neutral, but there's an intent glint in his eye you aren't sure what to make of. “You were found with about a dozen shards of glass protruding from your throat. You have been dead for…” he glances at his desk clock. “Approximately one hour and twelve minutes.”
You blink. “That was quick. Usually takes longer here.” You look down at the couch you're on, which is covered in what is most likely your blood. You rewind it clean with a grimace. “Why bring me here?”
“For one, to verify your claims of purported immortality. For another, we need to discuss your duties. I had intended to give you some time to settle in, but given the circumstances it seems best to be expeditious. Do you need anything, before we continue?”
You frown. Your mouth tastes like blood. “Water would be good.”
He produces a pitcher and some glasses from a side table hidden from your view by one of his enormous stacks of paper, and gestures for you to sit across as he pours. “What do you know of Raum?”
You settle yourself across from him and drink. It tastes faintly of lemon. “Demon who eats secrets. I know generally what you can do with his powers, but I don't have the specifics of how you control them.”
He nods. “I see. Suffice to say, Raum becomes more difficult to control if I overuse his power, or if he's…overfed, shall we say.” He gives you a pointed look. You wince. “I purposefully let him loose to see if you could contain him unassisted. Not only did you accomplish that, but your intervention significantly weakened his bids for control. As such, part of your duties for your time with Noxus will be assisting me with Raum’s ongoing containment, starting now.”
You blink. “Now?”
“Now,” he repeats, unimpressed. “May I remind you that you fed him a secret capable of leveling a kingdom so that you could find the best ice cream parlor in Noxus, and now I am paying the price.” His voice is so dry it rivals the Shuriman dunes.
You wince slightly. “Yeah, that's fair. Give me your hand.”
He blinks. You hold your hand out towards him and wiggle your fingers expectantly. His lips thin slightly, but he complies. The leather of his gloves is warm, and you can feel the shape of his past beneath it, but… “Something's not right,” you mutter, opening your eyes. “Other hand.”
“Pardon?” He says.
You furrow your brows. “Give me your other hand.”
“This wasn't necessary last time,” he points out warily.
“Last time, I was being actively fried with demonic energy, which gave me a physical connection to Raum’s timeline,” you point out. “Now, I'm pretty sure there was a term in my contract that says you're not allowed to eldritch blast me just because you really want to, so I suppose you're just going to have to give me your hand.”
He lifts his hand from where it lies hidden under his coat, and if it were a word you thought could be physically applied to Swain, you'd say he seemed hesitant. Alas, it's not, so you go with wary instead. It casts a soft red glow across your skin, and when he finally places his palm in yours, it has the oddest sensation of electricity–a current that's just strong enough to hum under your skin, but not to hurt. Other than that, it feels like a normal hand, though admittedly one with long curling claws and feathers at the elbow.
“Satisfied?” He asks dryly.
“Yes,” you agree easily. You shut your eyes and begin to work–it’s strangely difficult, like every inch you wind Raum back he tries to regain. “This will take some time. He's not happy about it.”
“Hm.” He hums in response. “Tell me something. Why Bitharix?”
You blink at him. “It was in an important strategic location to connect trade from the coastal cities, and a sustained seige would cost too many resources, leave your forces too exposed for too long. Plus, I figured altering the geography of an entire city would be the fastest way of getting my point across.”
“Why not Port Alkaline?” He counters. “It was closer to Tereshni. It's an important coastal stronghold with strong walls.”
You furrow your brows. “I figured you were planning to blow their wall up and then just build it back. It's not nearly as thick, and you had more stone shipped in than you'd need for the those big ominous arches you like to build.”
“And do you know why we build the arches?” He pushes.
You frown. “It’s an ever present reminder of Noxus' presence, and their resources, as well as a defensible structure? Why are you…” you pause, narrowing your eyes at him. “Are you quizzing me?”
“Hm,” he hums noncommittally. “You mentioned you could restore the walls, and the Bitharix ravine.”
You nod. “Sooner would be better. Longer something is the way it is, the more it wants to stick. Won't take me long, though, I can go back to anywhere I've been before without much effort. Same goes for Alkaline, if you do end up blowing their wall.” You pause, listening. “...can you hear that whispering?” You ask.
“Constantly,” he agrees. “Best to ignore it.”
You frown. “Can you tell him to shut the fuck up?”
“I truly wish so, but no,” he sighs.
You open your eyes and squint down at his feathered hand. “Hm. Maybe if I…” and here, you slow the rhythm of Raum’s existence to a crawl, until there's quiet in your mind. Swain looks at you in what might be surprise, but doesn't comment. You sit in blessed silence for the few more minutes it takes to claw Raum back to what feels like a reasonable equilibrium. “Hm. Is that better?”
He removes his hand from yours, flexes it experimentally, then nods. “Yes. You're dismissed. I’ll send for you when I have need,” he returns to his work.
You stand, apparently dismissed.
“Oh, and Iso?” He calls as you turn to leave. “If you have any more pressing questions about local cuisine, please refrain from making bargains with my birds.”
You consider him. “...in that case, do you know where I can find a good seafood mornay? I've got a craving for fish.”
He gives you an unimpressed look. You're fully expecting to be ignored, but apparently he decides answering you is the fastest way to get you out of his office. “Sailmaker’s Bounty, on the east side. Now begone.”
“Thanks, boss!” You chirp with a grin before you close the door.
#league of legends x reader#league x reader#reader fic#leauge of legends#x reader#f!reader#reader#my fics: tiarw#swain lol#WIPs
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Mace Windu, Vaapad, Drawing on Emotion
Fanfic writers, if you must, if you absolutely must have a member of the Jedi Council say a line about how drawing on emotion couldn't possibly lead to anything good ever, please, I beg of you, give that line to anyone other than Mace Windu.
Key descriptions of Vaapad, directly from the wookiepedia article on Form VII include:
"The key architect of Vaapad was Jedi Master Mace Windu, who developed the form to address his weakness by controlling his inner darkness and channeling it into worthy ends."
"Practitioners of Vaapad drew on their anger and passion but never gave in to them. Compared with the other lightsaber forms, which directed warriors to master their emotions, Vaapad's approach was dangerous. However, it was not as reckless as Juyo's manner of employing unchecked aggression."
In other words, Mace Windu is literally the guy who spent years if not decades perfecting the only lightsaber form which actively draws on emotion, and he did it because he struggled with emotion and needed to deal with it a different way than most Jedi.
He's generally wary of teaching it to others, and for good reason. Actively drawing on emotion and remaining within volatile emotions for extended periods is dangerous. Have you ever been mad at someone and you just couldn't get out of that feeling? It's not nice, it hurts, it makes you want to say and do stupid things. The particular skill with emotional regulation to deliberately stay in any emotion, but especially negative ones, without getting yourself into trouble is not something everyone has.
In Avatar the Last Airbender, when Aang is overwhelmed by grief, he nearly blows his friends off the side of a cliff. When he's angry about Appa being kidnapped, he blames his friends and is verbally cruel to them.
In Sense & Sensibility when Marianne Dashwood is reveling in her feelings of infatuation and heartbreak, she's rude to everyone around her, reckless in love, and completely blind to the pain and struggle her sister is going though.
In Hamlet, Hamlet is so caught up in his own goals that he drives Ophelia to insanity and dooms his kingdom to invasion.
In Doctor Who, when the Doctor gets overwhelmed with sadness and anger at losing companions, they almost doom the whole universe trying to get those companions back. Multiple times.
In Daredevil, when Matt Murdock is overwhelmed by helplessness, he breaks from his own principles and decides to try and kill his enemy.
In Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd is so consumed by vengeance that he fails to see his supposedly dead wife right in front of him, and is ultimately responsible for her death.
All of these characters (with the possible exception of Sweeney) are ultimately protagonists and heroes (even tragic ones) of their stories, and none of these stories argue that emotion cannot ever do good--in fact several of them (including Star Wars) argue specifically that ignoring it is just as bad--but they do all argue that emotion must be regulated. It must be noticed and its origins understood before it can be wisely followed, else it will drive unexpected, unwanted results.
Vaapad and Mace Windu make the same argument.
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
Beckett x reader - things of the past
Part four:
“We told you detective, we won’t allow you entry to our nation.” One of the guards said.
“He’s our main suspect in a murder investigation, and our main lead on a missing detective.”
The guards all shrugged.
“That’s not our issue, we have things of our own to worry about.”
They began to walk away.
“Wait! This means something!”
Beckett held up the bracelet and a guard walked over, carefully examining it.
“Where did you get this?”
“From our victim. And he meant something to our detective who is linked to your convict.”
The guard narrowed his eyes a little.
“We have videos as well, videos we can’t explain.”
“Show me.”
Gates nodded and Beckett showed the man the three videos that they had.
“Impossible…”
“What? What is it?” Gates asked.
“Detective Beckett may come with us, bring this all with you, the council will want to see what you have found.”
“And I can relay this all to my team?” Beckett asked.
“If we deem it necessary yes, but you must come now, we can get you clothes and whatever else you may need there.”
Beckett agreed, and she was amazed at how short the journey seemed to be.
It was only a day out, she was given a visa to take with her everywhere, and while the guards split up to take the prisoner, the others turned to her.
“Come with us.” The other said.
She was escorted through the city, and she looked around at people selling things in markets, kids playing with rocks, throwing them and kicking them.
There were children playing on the roofs of buildings.
“All questions will be answered at the city hall.”
“Right.”
Beckett carried on observing the place.
Walking up the stairs, Beckett was ushered into a conference room.
“Detective Beckett, a pleasure. I’m president Miko, the council heard your request and depending on what you have to offer we’ve agreed to help you.”
“First, did detective (L/N) come from this nation?”
“I’m sorry ma’am, but we don’t know anybody by that name. Do you have a photo maybe?” Miko asked.
Beckett nodded her head, pulling up a photo of you and he looked at it confused.
“We had somebody similar here many years ago yes, but… that’s impossible…”
“Why? How is it impossible?”
“Detective Beckett, that person died in an ambush 20 years ago.” Someone said.
They walked over, handing her a photo, it was old, but she could still make out the people in it.
“That’s our victim, and that’s (Y/N).” She said.
“You’re sure of this?”
Beckett nodded her head.
“Yes sir, I’m sure.”
“How did the victim die?”
Beckett began explaining every thing to him, along with the destroyed temple and what they had found there.
Beckett turned to Miko.
“Tell me about (Y/N), and these videos.”
Beckett showed the man, who carefully examined them.
“I see they’re taking this to the outside world now.” He whispered.
“Taking what?”
He sighed, gesturing to the table and she sat down.
“For years we have been on the brink of war with one another, an organisation is trying to drive the four nations into a war that will be devastating for everything that we have built. We’ve lived in harmony for hundreds of years.”
“Sir, what exactly is going on here, I need to know.”
He sighed, gesturing for Beckett to follow him so she did, and he led her to a map with the same symbols as yours.
“(Y/N) has this map as well.”
“It is a map of the nations, and their boarders. The boarders don’t mean much, but it’s more of where the heads of the nations live.”
Beckett nodded a little bit.
“Ma’am, those videos, have you examined them?”
“Yes, and I know they’re not fake, our techs scrubbed them.”
Miko nodded his head.
“Perhaps I’m not the one to explain it to you, maybe your friend can. But how well do you know your friend?”
“Apparently not much, we thought they were new to the city but they had been living there for around 20 years.”
Miko sighed, slowly nodded.
“Detective allow me to show you something.”
He led her back to the hallway, and he gestured to a statue in the middle of the large entrance way.
“Do you recognise that face?”
Beckett narrowed her eyes a little bit.
“That’s the person from the first video, the oldest one.”
“That is the face of the person who saved our nation many years ago. We tried to help, when we got there it was too late. Our main suspect and (Y/N) we’re both gone.”
Beckett turned to him.
“There are many things to your friend that you have yet to find out, but if they aren’t dead, and are in fact alive they’re in danger.”
“I know, it’s why I need to find them sir.”
“This is a danger you cannot protect them from, they will be hunted, they will always be hunted they always have been.”
“Why? What are they involved in.”
Miko shook his head slightly.
“I’m sorry. Yet, I may be able to help you find them, if they have returned here, there is one of two places they would go.”
“Where?”
“The southern temple in the air nomads nation, or, the spirit tree, by the boarder of the city and the water nation.”
“Air nomads? Water nation?” She asked.
“All things you will come to know in time, try the tree first. I’ll have somebody take you there.”
“Thank you sir.”
Beckett grabbed her things, and she looked at him.
“Is there somewhere safe for these?”
“Yes, of course.”
He held her to a bank, letting her drop them in a safe deposit box before she was taken to a car.
“How long will this take?”
“About half a day at most, but if they’re there then they’ll stay there.” The man said.
Beckett nodded her head, going through some photos that castle had sent her from the videos they were reviewing.
They were enhanced images of you, and under your shirt she could see the sliver of a scar peaking out, but there wasn’t much else to help.
They reached the edge of the city, and the man sighed.
“I’m sorry, I can’t go any further. If the avatar spot me they will run, especially if they’re hiding.”
Beckett furrowed her brows a little but said nothing.
She’d learned that apparently asking questions wasn’t going to get her very far here, not with these people.
Getting out of the car, she smiled at him.
“Will you wait here?”
“Yes, I will.”
Beckett nodded again and she began up the hill where she could already see the over towering tree.
As she got closer, she slowed her pace a little bit.
She could hear a quiet voice, gentle singing sounded through the quiet.
Making her way to the top, Beckett slowly stopped.
She recognised you immediately, leant against the tree, eyes closed, softly singing.
Beside you was a headstone, and she slowly knelt down.
You stopped singing, but you kept your eyes closed.
“You shouldn’t be here…” you whispered.
“You ran off, what was I supposed to do?” She asked.
You opened your eyes.
“You should have left it Beckett, like I told you to.”
You sighed, turning your head away from her.
“Leave.”
“No. Not until you tell me exactly what’s going on.”
“It’s nothing to do with you, just being here makes you a target as well.”
Beckett placed her hand in the ground, sitting down.
“Why? What happened in that park? What happened 20 years ago?” She asked.
“It’s in the past.”
“Right, and that’s why you’re here? Because it’s still in the past?” She asked.
You glanced at Beckett.
“This is my fight Beckett, not yours, you can’t help help with this. You have no power, your gun is useless. You’re just risking your own life for nothing.”
“Then tell me what I’m fighting for. Tell me who you really are, who is the avatar? Why does everybody think you died?”
You clenched your jaw a bit, placing your hand on the tombstone next to you, smoothing it along the top.
“I used to come up here before I left this country, after he died. He was barely an adult, he just celebrated his 18th birthday. He died just to protect me.”
Beckett looked at it, reading the name.
“You were related?” She asked.
You slowly nodded your head.
“My older brother, he raised me when our parents were taken away. We never saw them again, but he did the best he could. He worked, he taught me when he could, played games with me.”
You sighed.
“When I was taken in by the monks, I thought it was because I had nobody else to look after me, but that’s not why they took me in Beckett. I never asked for this, I didn’t want to be anything but a kid. But I wasn’t allowed.”
Beckett gave you a confused look.
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“Everything Beckett! It had everything to do with it! People look at me and they see a hero, somebody to keep the peace between the nations and protect them. Do you know what that feeling is like?”
“Of course I do, I feel that pressure every day back at the office.”
You have a small laugh.
“At least you can escape that feeling when you go home, I can’t. If I had just been better none of this would have happened…”
Beckett slowly pulled out her phone, handing it over to you so you could watch a video.
“They said that is you. How? Because whoever took a shot like that through the stomach, with the amount of blood they found 20 years ago, there’s no way someone would have survived that.”
You set her phone down in the grass and stood up, moving your cloak and lifting your shirt.
“You mean a wound like this?”
Beckett slowly stood up, her hand reaching to touch the nasty scar on the side of your stomach, and she turned you around slightly, seeing an exit wound on your back.
The same scar, and a blue line going up your spine.
You lowered your shirt and covered yourself with the cloak again.
“That’s how you knew, isn’t it? Because you have the exact same wound.” She said.
“I had my suspicions, I still do. But if I’m right Beckett you cannot get involved with this because they will kill you no problem, no hesitation.”
“Right and you won’t die?”
“Maybe I will, but I have a better chance at fighting than you do.”
You picked up your staff, handing back her phone to her.
“This is my past, I let this happen and I need to fix this.”
“You blame yourself, and that’s not fair. You couldn’t have stopped anything that happened.”
“But I could have Beckett!” You yelled.
Tears streamed down your face.
“I could have stopped all of this if I had just stayed that day I was hurt! But I chose to runaway like a coward!”
You turned your back to her, looking at the vast stretch of land ahead.
“I ran away because I didn’t want to be a hero, I didn’t want to be the avatar, the keeper of peace and balance. I wanted to just be normal. I wanted to just be like you… live a normal childhood.. a normal life..”
“You still can. You can’t chase the past, believe me I’ve tried, it won’t change anything that’s happened.”
You nodded a little.
“I know. I know that…”
Taking a deep breath, you wiped the tears from your eyes.
“But I can step up, and be the person I was supposed to be back then. It means that I am the avatar, and I have a job to do, I’m done running from it.”
“What the hell is the avatar!?”
“The keeper of peace and balance, through centuries the avatar has kept the balance of this world, keeping it safe. Even if we don’t want it, we have to do it. No matter the cost.”
You began to walk away.
“Hey! No! I’m not letting you walk away this time!”
You turned around, pointing your staff at her, and she felt herself het knocked over by a gust of wind.
“Beckett leave.”
Raising your hand, she found herself stuck in the ground, and she struggled.
“What the hell have you done?! What are you?!”
You said nothing, and you walked closer.
“Go home Beckett, please. I don’t want to see you caught up in all of this as well.”
With that, you slammed your foot into the ground, thrusting your hand forward, and she found herself flying backwards away from you.
She stopped by the car that took her there, and she was released.
“(Y/N)!”
Beckett was terrified, and she didn’t know whether to run towards you or away from you.
“Don’t, they’ll be gone by the time you get there.”
“What’s going on here? Who are you? What are you?”
Beckett drew he gun, pointed it at the man who raised his hand.
“Maybe we should talk…” he said quietly
#castle#castle x reader#castle x you#castle imagine#Kate Beckett#Kate Beckett x reader#Kate Beckett x you#Kate Beckett imagine
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hurricane: Only Human (11/?)
Pairing: Liam × Jenna
Warnings/rating: Mature. 🍋. Mentions of alcoholism, stress, depression.
Word count: 3,390
A/N: I have decided to resurrect this series with a little nudge from @umccall71. You can catch up HERE. Also since this series is old, so are the tags. If you'd like to be added or removed, please let me know.
A few days had passed since the brunch at the Palace. Liam sat reclined in his chair, staring at the phone in front of him. He wanted to call her, just to hear her voice would maybe set him at ease. Someone was going to lengths to set her up, but was it the same person who sent Tariq into her room that night? Or could it be someone else, a stuck-up court member who was determined to see her gone?
Hana had been a close confidant to him since Jenna left. She had become a good friend and an ally, someone who had his back against the council members who insisted he take a bride, the country would have a queen and the land could have an heir. He had to come to know Hana well or so he thought. Something in the conversation he watched between Jenna and her seemed off to him.
His mind kept going back to it. He had watched that video time and time again, Drake's eyes had glazed over when Liam leaned up "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Drake snorted, "We've been at this for hours Li. I've spent the whole day with Olivia, do you know how exhausting that is?"
"This. Right here." He pointed. The frame was of Jenna facing Drake and Olivia, her view was toward the back of the estate by the outdoor bar. She was speaking to the two of them, so she would not be paying much attention to her surroundings.
Drake sat up, squinting his tired eyes. "Looks like Hana handing something to the waiter, in passing." He answered.
Liam examined the frame carefully. It wasn't very clear but she definitely placed something in that man's hand, and he intended to find out just what.
He let out a frustrated sigh, shaking the thought from his head. He reached out and grabbed his phone, swiping the phone on and pulling up a name. His finger hovered over the dial button before tossing it back onto his desk. Fuck it he muttered standing up grabbing both his keys and phone and exiting his office.
Liam expertly maneuvered the sleek BMW around the bends and curves of the Cordonian Countryside. The drive to Lythkios would have taken hours, lucky for him where he was headed would take minutes. He pulled into the estate grounds and walked up to the door, knocking firmly. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around, it had been a while since he was there.
"Liam? Hey buddy. What brings you here?" The door opened and Maxwell beamed on the other side.
"Hello Maxwell, it is good to see you." Liam greeted him, stepping inside. "I was wondering if I could see Jenna, Olivia has told me she is here."
"Okie dokie, I will get her." Maxwell turned spinning on his heels. "Little blossom," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Little blossom!" He shouted again. Liam cupped his ears laughing as Maxwell bound the steps.
Olivia had some business to attend to out of town, she was very quiet and private about her personal affairs but, as Liam understood it was something to do with Jenna's scandal, and for that Liam was grateful. Bertrand was not a fan of Jenna, he was embarrassed by her actions and her not becoming queen hurt any help his estate could benefit from. Liam, being the caring soul that he was, stepped in and helped anyway. Fydelia and the Palace we're known for their beautiful gardens and landscaping, Ramsford was home to a beautiful vineyard. The Beaumont family had created a delicious wine they called the Royal Apple, Liam helped land a contract to supply several upscale restaurants in the country with their wine.
"What is so damn important that you had to drag me out of my bed. I was watching Friends and it's the one where Ross is Rachel's lobster. You never interrupt that episode." He heard Jenna scolding Maxwell. They turned the corner and there she was, dressed in her ratty old Nsync t-shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants, his grey sweat pants.
"Liam." She gasped, crossing her arms across her chest. "What. What are you doing here?"
Maxwell looked back and forth between the two. "Ahh, I gotta go um, dress Clarice." He quickly mumbled before running off.
"Who the fuck is Clarice? No clue?" Jenna spoke to herself aloud, shaking her head before turning her attention back to Liam. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Well as I stated in my text, We need to talk. And since we haven't done so yet, here I am." He motioned to himself.
Jenna shrugged her shoulders in defeat and motioned for the stairs. She led him into her room and quickly closed the door.
"You look great in my sweatpants," Liam smirked.
"I'll give them back." Jenna's cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson. "Keep them, they look better on you." He sat down on the edge of the bed, patting the side for her to sit.
"Listen, Jenna, I know that you did not want me to know about the investigation. But I am glad you are letting me help. Drake told me about what happened the other night." Liam gave her a sad smile, taking her hand. "I want you to know that your safety means everything to me. I am so very glad you are doing this but, I have to ask. Before we were working on clearing your name so we could be together, is that? Is that still true?"
"Liam." Jenna sighed. "Seeing you with Madeline screwed me up, I became an Alcoholic and this is still something fresh. I don't know what I want. Hell, I don't even know who I am." She stood up, beginning to pace the room.
"I'm sorry. I am so very sorry I just, I didn't mean to upset you. Of course, you're sobriety is very important to me. I am not trying to be selfish, I just. I love you, Jenna. I always will and I will wait for you. As long as I have to. If at the end of all of this, you don't want to be with me, I will just have to deal with that. But, I'm going to be selfish right now because I want you, all of you. All your perfect imperfections." Liam closed the gap between them, stopping her from moving.
"I know who you are," his voice a whisper. "You're incredible, smart, funny, caring," his hand reached out tucking her hair behind her ear. "Beautiful, charming, sexy." His hand caressed her cheek, cupping it gently. His lips a breath away from hers "insatiable." He pressed his lips to hers, claiming them in a soft, cautious yet sensual kiss. Her lips began to move against his in response, and his tongue swept across hers, popping them open with a gasp.
Her mind kept getting in the way, it screamed no, but her body screamed yes! Jenna grasped his shoulders pulling him into her. She made short work of his shirt, letting her hands travel his perfectly sculpted chest. Liam lifted her shirt over her head. His fingers ghosted her bare chest as he slowly made short work of the rest of her clothing, lifting her and carefully laying her down on the bed. His lips found hers as he hovered over her, Jenna's fingers tangled in his sandy locks she looked up at him, her eyes pleading "Liam." She whispered, giving him a clear sign that she wanted him as much as he wanted him.
The next morning Liam awoke to the faint buzzing of his phone on the bedside table. He carefully pawed around until he reached it, glancing one-eyed at the screen in front of him. He let out a heavy breath, slowly turning his attention to the sleeping form beside him. He didn't want to disturb her, she looked so peaceful. The past few weeks had been hard on her. He shook his head making a mental correction, the past almost year had been hell. He slowly crept out of bed, retrieving his discarded clothing.
A far cry from the girl who came from New York for him. They had connected in ways Liam had never dared to dream and he fell, he fell so very hard. Fate wasn't kind to them, someone went to great lengths to force them apart. His stomach was knotted at the thought that that person was still out there and how they could hurt her again if they knew anyone was digging.
"So were you going to pull a me?" Liam turned at the sound of her voice to see her sitting up in bed. A smile tugged on his lips as he took in her wild hair and darkened lips, all signs of their night. "No, but I do have to get going soon." He smirked as he sat down on the bed, slipping on his shoes. "I was going to see about getting us some coffee and food, I'd say we worked up quite the appetite." He flashed her a lopsided grin.
"Yeah, about that." She chuckled nervously.
"You don't have to say anything, Jenna. I know last night wasn't supposed to happen." He paused, pulling his shirt over his head "I know you're in a delicate state right now and I do not want to rush into anything that could hinder your progress but," he turned to face her, taking her hands in his. "I love you and I am willing to wait for you to be ready." Liam's phone began vibrating on the nightside table again, he picked it up letting out a frustrated sigh. "I'm so sorry to cut this short but, I do have to go." He leaned pressing his soft lips to hers and he stood to leave
"And how do you know that I want this?" She called after. Liam abruptly stopped. His hand gripping the door handle. "Because a love like ours just doesn't just go away." He answered, still facing the door. "We will talk soon," he said. Twisting the knob and leaving her room. As soon as the door clicked shut Jenna flung back into the bed letting out a frustrated sigh. What the hell did I get myself into?
After a long shower, Jenna got herself dressed and sat on the Veranda with a book in hand. Maxwell had a meeting to attend in the capital and Olivia and Drake were following up on a lead they were particularly adamant about Jenna not knowing the details of. After reading the same line three times she frustratedly tossed the book onto the floor. Her mind was completely consumed with Liam and what had happened between them. She picked up her phone, finger hovering over Liam's name when a knock came at the door. She jumped up, heart hammering in her chest at who may be on the other side.
" what are you doing here?" her Jaw dropped as she opened the door.
"Why I believe we agreed to go shopping silly. Ready?" Hana stood there with a wide grin, motioning to the town car waiting behind her.
"Oh. I don't know Hana." She nervously twirled her hair. "I'm not even dressed to go out in public." She hesitated.
"That's ok. I can wait a few minutes for you to go change." Hana smiled back at her. Jenna was having a hard time coming up with an excuse when Olivia's voice rang out in her subconscious. You need to get on her good side. Maybe she will spill some secrets.
A smile bloomed on Jenna's face, "of course, Hana. I will be right back." She bound the stairs and rushed into her room. Tossing on a pair of nice jeans and a blouse. She walked over to the dresser for her brush when the apple pendant caught her eye. She was nervous to be alone with Hana, she didn't trust her as far as she could throw her but, perhaps having a sentiment of Liam with her would help. She fastened the pin to the shirt and took off the meet back up with Hana.
The two drove into the capital and went to several shops. The two made small talk, Hana mostly asking about Jenna's time away from court, Hana for the most part remained tight-lipped about anything Jenna could use as evidence she was sabotaging her.
The ladies walked into their final shop of the day, Jenna hesitated at the door. "Why are we here?" Her eyes nervously darted around at the extravagant dresses that adorned the racks.
"Why for the annual Lythkios fire and Ice ball of course. Didn't Olivia tell you?" Hana smirked, taking in Jenna's shocked demeanor.
"N, no.. she failed to mention that."
"Well it is in a couple of weeks," Hana grinned pulling Jenna into the store further. "I must find something spectacular. I need your help. Besides, we have to find something Devine for you as well."
The two browsed through racks upon racks, pulling multiple dresses. The sales associates set them up in two dressing rooms and the girls began trying on their finds. "So Jenna, have you had much time to speak to Liam? I know the two of you split on stressful terms." Hana called out.
"Um, we have spoken a bit," Jenna responded, behind the curtain.
"Well that's good. It's good you two can remain friends after, well, what happened between the two of you."
"Mmhmm." Jenna mumbled as she fidgeted with the dresses zipper.
Friends, huh. Pretty sure just friends don't have sex and say they love you she thought to herself. What am I thinking? Get ahold of yourself Jenna, of course you're just friends.
Jenna let out an audible sigh, promptly clasping her hand over her mouth.
"Are you ok, Jenna?" She heard Hana ask, this time she was right outside of her dressing room.
"Oh. Um yeah. Just not sure about this dress thats all." She lied, sliding the curtain over and exiting the stahl.
"Wow. I know Red is usually Olivia's color but, that dress is stunning on you."
"Thanks." Jenna blushed, she looked at herself in the mirror, catching a small glimpse of her former self, she smiled remembering the last time she attended the Lythikos fire and Ice ball. She let her mind wander while Hana droned on..
She stood in her room at Lythkios, admiring herself in the mirror. The dress was gorgeous. A strapless light blue satin dress that hugged every curve. The bust encrusted with rhinestones that sparkled against the lights, and the slit that hit right at the hip left little to the imagination, well it would leave very little to Liams anyway.
"Knock knock." Maxwells voice rang out as the door cracked open. "Come in Max." She smirked as Maxwell gasped. She did a little twirl and let out a giggle. "Little blossom you look amazing."
"Thanks max. You've really out done yourself this time."
"Yes, yes, perhaps Maxwell can become a stylist to help keep our beloved Ramsford afloat." Jennas smile faltered as he entered the room. " That is if you completely fail us as our sponsor " Bertrand snapped.
"Must you always be so doom and gloom Bertrand?" She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah Bertrand lighten up. Little blossom is going to kill it tonight. Just trust me." Maxwell winked at her as he defended himself.
Jenna ignored the two as the bickered back and forth. Before she knew it she was in the ballroom, she scanned the room until her eyes met his. Like a moth to a flame the two gravitated towards each other. Liam reached for her hand, his lips softly brushing her knuckles.
"My lady, I must say you are absolutely breathtaking in that dress."
"Why thank you, your highness. You look rather dashing yourself. But I must say it does look awfully coincidental that our attire seems to match."
Liam gave her a smirk "Coincidence or a well thought out plan. I will leave that assumption up to you, Lady Jenna."
"Liam, you didn't." She gasped, a small giggle escaping her.
"I did." He smirked again, just as the music started up. "May I have this dance?"
Jenna took his hand as he led her to the dance floor. He took her hand, his other resting on the small of her back. She could hear the gasps and murmurs of the crowd around her. "Everyone is starting liam."
"Let them. Everyone is already talking about the two of us, they have it pegged that I will choose you to be my queen."
"Is that so?" Jenna smirked. "Hoe scandalous of you, your highness. And what do you say about all of this gossip going around?"
"I say they're on to something." His tone playful but she could see the seriousness in his eyes. "If I had my way I would tell everyone to go home. I'm not supposed to play favorites but, nobody compares. And maybe I dont care who knows anymore."
"So I supposed Liam told you about his deadline then?" Hanas voice pulled her from her daydream.
"His what?"
"Why his deadline. He has until the end of the month to choose a queen or the council will be forced to take action."
The color drained from Jennas face, she stumbled back until her legs gave out and she fell into the chair. "He. He what? How can this be happening?"
"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Hana feigned concern. Jenna shook her head no.
"You don't look so good Jenna. Perhaps we should head back to Ramsford." Hana patted her leg. Jenna nodded in agreement.
Jenna quickly changed back into her clothes as Hana paid for her dress. The ride back to Ramsford was quiet. Jenna's mind going a mile a minute.
Hana cleared her throat. "Jenna, I have to ask you something. I seen the way you reacted back there when you found out about Liams time limit. And well, I have to ask. Do you still have feelings for him?"
Jenna's eyes widened, words became hard to come by. "I. I. Why do you ask Hana? Is there something else I don't know?"
"Well, I did not want to be the one to tell you this but," hana let out a sigh. "After you left Liam was in a bad place. The council had been hounding him to take a queen, and show the country that he was stable. Liam and I made a pact that if he did not find someone by then that we would marry and have a political marriage. For Cordonia of course."
Jenna's eyes snapped shut, her stomach churned as the visions of Madline draped in Liams arm swirled in her head, morphing into hana and Liam. The country would want an heir, the thought of the two of them together pushed her right over the edge.
"Stop the car." She shouted as the driver pulled over onto the side of the road. Jenna jumped out in just enough time, vomiting into the brush. She returned a few minutes later, Hana giving her an unreadable look.
"Are you ok?" She asked. Jenna nodded her head. "I dont think lunch agreed with me." She lied. They pulled up to Ramsford Jenna gave a quick goodbye and she rushed inside. She watched from the window as hana drove away she grabbed a set of Keys and quickly made her way to the one place she didnt want to be but needed to go.
She had no trouble entering, it was as if they were expecting her. She walked through the front door, up the stairs and stood in front of the door. She knocked hard and when the door swung open her hand flew up and connected with a loud slap.
Bastien stepped forward, Liam held up his hand. "Give us a minute Bastien."
Bastien nodded as he stepped out of the door, closing it behind him.
"Is it true?" Jenna questioned.
" I'm not sure what you're referring to my love. If you would just have a seat and."
"Is it true Liam? Are you actually going to marry Hana?"
@kingliam2019 @ao719 @emichelle @annabellewynter @twinkleallnight
@tessa-liam @riseandshinelittleblossom
@blackcatkita @katedrakeohd @tinkie1973 @ownworldresident @cordoniaqueensworld @lovingchoices14 @indiana-jr @txemrn @bascmve01 @queenwalton @sfb123 @umccall71
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/adowryofblood/716588730922745856
The answerer's points remind me of what Seth Abramson said about Alicent and Rhaenyra both. Especially the:
it was a huge mistake to reframe every bad decision rhaenyra made as a reaction to something that someone else did to her. first of all, it removes all agency from her as a character whose actions drive the plot. second, it incorrectly portrays her as 100% victim when she is very much 50-50 victim/perpetrator. the fact that the writers felt this was necessary for a woman character is so incredibly gendered. to them, a woman can only be sympathetic if she is reacting, if she is acted upon first. a sympathetic, role model woman does not have drive or flaws. feminism starts and ends with one person on the throne.
Abramson said:
I am very interested in the answerer's part here:
the writers fundamentally misunderstand that the appeal of book rhaenyra is her narcissism and impulsivity, and her character only really makes sense if she remains that way. for example, only a very specific type of person would marry their uncle right after both her and his spouses die. that's not a heroic action, but it doesn't make her an evil queen. it doesn't negate our sympathy when she miscarries or when the lords call her a whore. it just makes her a multifaceted person. same goes for alicent.
AND most of all:
the writers' intention--to deconstruct what they perceived as an "evil queen" archetype from the book--was compelling, imo
Because that is exactly what GRRM is doing w/Rhaenyra. The entire account of the Dance is green-leaning and endeavors to make Rhaenyra much worse than she actually was.
Alicent, in my eyes, was not a good person, and she, to me, is hardly a better person than Rhaenyra, and she is neither a simple character. Yet the account would have us think that as well: she is a simple, "good"/"good enough person" just like other men in ambition...is she really, though?
Alicent outwardly played by the rules of patriarchy, she is partially responsible for the war and her kids' deaths. Yet she's barely remembered at all and for being a perpetrator of this calamity. She wasn't the only or even the first person at fault for the Dance, though she is still definitely one/a prime of the persons responsible. So even with Alicent, there is some deconstruction of "evil queen" going on, in terms of what an evil queen who "seduces" (beguiles and deceives) the right men through powers of persuasion, her performing seemingly innocuous deeds that an aristocratic woman/royal woman is expected to do, and the necessary amount of violence performed by men:
She convinces a council of men [except one] to turn against Rhaenyra by making herself and her kids seem future victims of who she painted as the would-be evil queen
in the same council she doesn't have to take an oath of secrecy or alliance with the men when Larys brings it up on account of her womanhood....yet again, she's the one who brought them all together and stirred them to act in her favor
she got Cole on her side to strategize for her team (Battle of Rook's Rest and maybe more if Aemond hadn't been dumb) using his self-convinced hatred of Rhaenyra for her own needs -- her taking him in as her protector after Rhaenyra rejects him would have been seen as not that unusual because tourneys have accidents and rage-filled men maim and kill others enough times
her pointing out how Cole would "endanger" Rhaenyra's virginity (before he joined her team) makes a question of Rhaenyra's virginity and Cole's place beside her (to influence him away from her and remove that protection), while looking as if she's just concerned about Rhaenyra's well being and reputation as the Queen/her stepmother
And more. Once again, the subversiveness comes not from how we the modern audience perceive Alicent so much as from how Alicent was never viewed as the "evil queen" despite all the subtle and nonsubtle actions she took to undermine and usurp Rhaenyra. Even when she has tried to get her granddaughter to kill Aegon, the text writes her as more crazy than responsible for her actions, even expressing a little surprise (in tone) from Gyldayn and some who attended the wedding for her absence during Jaehaera and Aegon's wedding.
Getting back to Rhaenyra's characterization though, HERE is what azureflight says about Rhaenyra's womanhood within the context and perceptions and subsequent meaning:
Rhaenyra was undeniably female, in a society where being a woman was lesser. She was not someone they can put into a sterilized icon to strip from her flesh and blood humanity and she was not some “not like other girls/almost like a boy” type that they could rationalize accepting as their ruler because she “technically didn’t count as woman” due to how different she behaved.
She was the embodiment of every fear about women these people had: Powerful despite lacking traditional mastery of arms, charming and hot, making her deeply desired by men which meant she could influence and “control” them, sexual meaning they couldn’t control her, holding authority, meaning she could reject them, and cuckolded her husband, meaning she could emasculate them. Oh, and she also had a dragon so she would most definitely win if they were to ever try to assert themselves physically against her, as they would try against women like this in general.
"Undeniably female", I read--to the perception of what a woman looks like to her contemporaries--as Rhaenyra checked all the boxes of what a woman and an attractive aristocratic woman looked like and some behavior. Love it attention to clothes/beautification, not that interested in fighting like a warrior, wanting a family, being attracted or having a preference for knights and warriors, etc.
The problem for them was that she also had many other behaviors, a look (pale weird hair, rare colored eyes), and materials that made her have much more power than most men or deviated from the Andal standards of womanhood and femininity.
Rhaenyra was a contradiction, a temptation, a danger, and a "mystery" to those men and many women if they didn't actually know her. And F&B/Gyldayn/maesters/many men, after the Dance ended AND during her life wanted to reduce her into this "evil", "ugly" "WRONG" queen.
Funny how they also reduced but underestimated Alicent's person simultaneously.
#asoiaf asks to me#rhaenyra's characterization#rhaenyra targaryen#alicent hightower#alicent's characterization#rhaenyra i#hotd critical#house of the dragon#hotd characterization#book vs tv comparisons#fire and blood characters#asoiaf#hotd
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
It’s building.
The feeling of standing at the edge of a precipice is back.
But unlike last time, unlike with Malistaire, there is no urge to run.
The Wizard wants to see Morganthe burn.
Freeing the Lords of Night only serves to drive this desire higher.
Every one of Morganthe’s devoted generals scattering to the wind at their hand just proves that she was never going to stand a chance. Not now. Not after Xiabalba. Not when she struggled so with the Astral Schools. Not when the wizard wove shadow around themself as easy as breathing. Slipping through every crack in the ranks, turning every unconvinced arm to their side.
You are marked by the Raven and the Spider.
Morganthe was going to fall.
They do not need the Council at their back.
They do not need Ambrose.
They do not even truly need Old Cob.
She was right, in a way.
They are alone.
They do not need anything else.
Even four of her do not stand a chance.
The cosmos dance across the wizard’s fingers as easily as Myth had from the start.
There is no respite in Morganthe’s defeat. They think for a moment that she will pull something like Ghost Dog, that she is only pretending to be done.
And then the glass cracks.
She falls to the dark expanse of space below and—
“Show me.” The Wizard’s voice is shot, hoarse and cracking with the effort of speech. Raven is not often one to grant, to reply. “I deserve this. Show me.”
Their vision flashes dark and starry.
The request is clear.
In the cold expanse of space where the worlds of the spiral float, Morganthe is torn apart by the endless tide of darkness. Consumed by the Shadow Web she sought to control, burnt up by the Song she left unfinished. Morganthe, daughter of Avalon, scatters to the stars she could never hold.
Slowly, their vision clears. They are kneeling in broken glass. Old Cob is watching them like he knows what just happened, though he could not have heard.
His voice, the doubled echo of clicking fangs, assures them that her song is over.
The rest, in truth, is silence.
Or it would be.
Were the wizards veins not buzzing and burning.
Were their eyes not running gold and purple like starlight made ink.
They understand even before Old Cob speaks that they have taken in too much energy, too much from the Council, too much from Morganthe.
She was right.
It burns.
The Colossus in Sardonyx ebbs some of it away. Their blood feels settled. Their heart rate slows. But their eyes still burn, running wet and cold liquid across their cheeks. What must it look like? This outpouring of unhoused power.
Bastion’s Colossus takes the rest.
Lets the tears dry frozen and sticky against their skin.
The wizard wonders if their appearance speaks to the horrors.
If it’s why both Zaltanna and Dyvim look at them as though they might fall apart.
Dyvim hails them a hero.
They cannot smile.
Heroes do not ask to watch their enemies be torn apart.
Heroes do not seek revenge as victory.
But they do not correct him.
They don’t want to inflict any more pain on Dyvim than they already have.
Soft, halting, they mumble that they have to go, that there are still things to clear up with Morganthe gone, and make their way to the ledge where Old Cob is waiting. They wonder if perhaps, he will be the one to talk peace for the Arachna. He seems to be an old leader of theirs. Ousted by Morganthe, or perhaps the Magi.
But as he tells them goodbye, as magic shifts and swirls around them—
“No!”
A new prophecy—
A new tragedy waiting—
Another war they don’t want to be fighting—
The wizard is left, hands outstretched on the ledge before the waterfall, as another of their mistakes dissolves into nothing. Promising to bring disasters beyond imagining.
And again, another victory burns to ash on their tongue.
But it is time to go back.
To lay this nightmare to rest.
Read the rest here <3
#wizard101#wizard101 fic#wizard101 fandom#wizzy fandom#wiz101#lark is still playing funky wizard game from their childhood#arc 2#khrysalis#hope y'all are ready the next few are gonna be. a LOT
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
blessed are the merciful (for they shall obtain mercy)
it's here, cowboys! my fic for @grishaversebigbang 2023!
Materialki (artists):
@mitraavrs [art]
@maxe-murderer [art]
@polekands [art]
@beani-ed [art]
Corporalki (beta):
@gimmedafood
Summary: The law is hot on the coattails of the Dregs, an infamous gang cruising through the countryside of Kerch. With each heist and robbery lining their pockets with more than enough money, Kaz Brekker has his eyes set on one place in particular - The Exchange. Taking down the hub of trade would cement his gang’s place in the city and history, as well as causing a lot of chaos to the merchants that trade there. But Kaz has underestimated how much manpower he will need for this feat - so he calls upon other outlaws in society to help him pull it off.
Or: A western/cowboy AU featuring the Crows as various outlaws, all teaming up to tear down the new world that is forming around them (and to make a lot of money in the process).
READ ON AO3!
chapters will be out pretty regularly over there!
CHAPTER ONE: LAYING LOW IN PLAIN SIGHT
It amused Kaz at how out in the open they were.
When hiding from the law one usually would lay low, stuffed away in the darkest corner of the earth, but Kaz found that approach boring - it simply wasn’t his style. The Dregs were situated a short walk from Ketterdam, up on an overlook that gave him a perfect view of the road leading in and out of the city. Plumes of smoke rose up into the sky and the gentle chatter of the other gang members carried on the wind and Kaz was honestly surprised at how they had yet to be caught by the law. If Inej were here, she would tell him not to tempt fate. Fate was a fool’s wish - he believed in himself and his crew, not some higher force driving him through each heist and scheme.
Which brought him back to his original train of thought. Scattered across a large table in the middle of his tent were various maps and writings on guard rotations. Marked in the centre was his next target: the Exchange. He had been eyeing up the place ever since he was a boy, wondering what it would be like to claim the place as his own and pocket a portion of the money that gets passed around there; and now he was planning on fulfilling that dream. The plan was vague in his mind, a mess of ideas and what he would need to pull it off. One thought kept occurring - he needed more hands. The Dregs had their own talents and he had utilised all of them at some point in the long history of this gang, yet he couldn’t trust anyone but himself to get others involved in this. Jesper and Inej were to be included, there was no doubt about that. He wanted a few others…
A clash of pots falling and a cacophony of yells in jest made him audibly sigh. Could they not even get through dinner without something going wrong? Kaz held his head in his hands, eyes darting over the map and forcing out the rising sounds of complaints coming from those cooking. The streets were riddled with guards, they would need to be exterminated somehow. What he really needed was a full list of the guards rotations, that way he can make use of any periods of time where roads weren’t being watched. Inej could probably get that information for him, but if she was caught… No. He couldn’t risk losing Inej before the plan had even started. Jesper would make too much noise and if things started looking sour Kaz knew he would gladly shoot now and ask questions later. Connections. Insider knowledge. That’s what he needed. No one in the Dregs had any useful knowledge about the Exchange or even the Merchant Council unless he started asking someone to dig around. Digging around was too risky.
This wasn’t a routine train or carriage heist for goods and money. This was the Exchange. Masks on and guns out wouldn't cut it. Everything needed to be planned right down to the last second or else the law would be hot on their tails, again. He had survived this long without being caught for his long list of crimes, and he wasn’t about to swing for them now.
“Who let Muzzen cook tonight?” Jesper was heard before Kaz could see him. Voices overlapped one another, some in complaint and some in defence of Muzzen’s cooking but ultimately they fell on deaf ears as Kaz saw Jesper approach his tent, a grin on his face. “Picture this - I’m sitting in a bar, two shots of whiskey down and I overhear some loud-mouthed guy rambling on about how much money he’s made this past week. He’s blowing it all on booze and drinks are on him.” He took a seat opposite Kaz, kicking his feet up on the table and narrowly missing anything important. He rummaged through his jacket pocket for a moment and dumped a handful of cash on top of Kaz’s notes. “So I robbed him of it all.”
Kaz counted at least twenty kruge, and gave Jesper a nod. “And is that for your own personal bank or are you finally contributing to camp?”
Jesper feigned shock. “Hey, I got that lead last week! The one about the boat-”
“Which turned out to be two hours late. Pim spent the night in a cell and I recall you injured your ankle so badly you couldn’t walk for a few days.” Kaz had no malice in his voice as he spoke, there had been worse heists that took place, everyone knew that. The boat plan was a simple misunderstanding, but it was amusing to push Jesper’s buttons about it.
Jesper kicked his feet off the table and began counting out his share of the money he had rightfully earned, pushing the rest to Kaz with an overly dramatic pout. “I didn't know the boat was going to be late. You can’t blame me for that.”
“Resources were put to waste and the horses got tired riding away from the law. I’m not blaming you, just reminding you of what happened,” Kaz replied with a shrug, taking the bills from the table and checking to see how much was left. Fifteen kruge. That would go towards food supplies - he recalled Anika mentioning how they were running low on good quality food and people were starting to complain. He'd send her down into the city tomorrow to restock.
“It sounds like you’re blaming me. Where’s Inej? She’ll have my back.” He looked past Kaz to see if she was lurking in the shadows. She wasn’t, Kaz would’ve felt her presence already.
“Inej is out following a lead she found. She should be back soon.” Not that Kaz was waiting for her or keeping track of the time. Inej was her own person, part of his gang. He knew she could handle herself if she happened to be out later than anticipated.
“Speaking of leads…” Jesper leaned closer to him to keep prying ears out. “I may have something.”
“Oh?”
“Something good.” There was a glimmer in his eye as he spoke, a sparkle Kaz had learned to mean that this was information Jesper was not supposed to know.
Kaz raised an eyebrow. “You said the boat was good.”
He frowned in response, arms folded over his chest. "Maybe I won't tell you about this, then."
Kaz knew that was a lie. In all his years of knowing Jesper he knew how much the other enjoyed telling him about leads he'd picked up or gossip he had heard. As much as Kaz pretended to be disinterested in the rumours and scandals of those he didn't know, the way Jesper crafted the stories was intriguing. He shrugged. "I'll find out eventually. I always do."
"Fine. I'll tell you." He took out a small scrap of paper that had been marked with a hastily drawn out map. "Heard that there's some precious cargo passin' by the main highway leading to Belendt tomorrow."
"By train?" Kaz took the map from Jesper, adding it to his larger collection of notes on the table to see if it lined up with anything he had collected before. It didn't. No one else had heard of anything travelling down to Belendt, which meant this lead was either a trap or it was top secret.
"By stagecoach. Which is weird considering if it's important, going by train is safer." Jesper leaned back in the chair. "Said it would be passing through there around midday. Heavily guarded, too."
"Something's not right about that," Kaz replied, setting the note down. "Why transport something by stagecoach if it needs to be guarded by many people? Why waste the manpower when you can get there quicker by train? And why Belendt? Did you hear who was involved?"
Jesper shook his head. "Just that it was important to keep it on the down low. Didn't do too good of a job if I heard it, though."
Kaz was drawn into this mysterious cargo, there was no doubt about it. Whatever was being transported was important to somebody and that meant it had value. They could use another big payout, especially after how high the morale got after the last heist.
"Best stock up on ammo," Kaz said, sticking a pin into the map. The road wasn't too far of a journey out from camp - he was certain he, Jesper and Inej could travel out there by midday, see what it was all about and come back richer. Jesper grinned at the confirmation that they were going to explore this lead, giving him a mock salute as he stood up.
A choir of cawing sung overhead as Kaz felt another presence approach the tent. He knew of the rumours that his Wraith had the crows working for her and the timing of the crows only fuelled the tales, but they were just stories. Everyone with a criminal past had some scary story that followed him - Dirtyhands lingered behind him in dark alleys and everyone knew that. Kaz kept his gaze down at the map as he caught her walking in from the corner of his eye.
"Five times he stopped outside the Kaelish Prince. You were right, Kaz - something's up." Inej appeared behind Jesper, causing him to flinch and curse loudly.
"Where did you come from?" he asked, a hand over his chest in shock.
She stood next to him, shrugging in response. "Outside. Where else?" Inej took a moment to look over the maps and notes, pointing out where the Kaelish Prince was located in Ketterdam. “I followed him along the main street and he kept stopping off there at every half bell.”
“Who are you following?” Jesper asked, leaning over Inej’s shoulder to get a better look at what she was doing. Kaz gave him a look, and considered keeping this lead to him and Inej. He knew that if the plan went well he would need to bring Jesper on board, perhaps it was easier to let him in now. Jesper waited patiently for any follow up, and Kaz gave a small sigh.
“I want to know who’s in the pocket of Pekka Rollins,” he began, leaning against the table and pointing out a few places. “I want to know who’s loyal to him and who’s being threatened by him.”
“And you’re doing this for fun, or…?” Jesper rested his hands on his gun belt, giving Inej a look. Kaz knew that his vengeance towards Rollins had been kept secret from them for the longest time, so it made sense for Jesper to question why he was suddenly going after him.
“I’m doing it because Rollins needs to be brought down a few pegs.” A half truth, Kaz had no intention of telling them his entire life story right now. There wasn’t time and he heard Muzzen call that dinner was ready. He began to tidy up the table, hiding away any important notes and plans to keep any prying eyes from seeing what they were up to.
“We have a few other plans in the works, Jesper heard of something travelling down to Belendt tomorrow,” Kaz explained, and Jesper took this time to catch Inej up to speed on the lead he found.
“I want to go back to the city to see if any of my other connections have anything,” Inej said once Jesper had finished hyping himself up. “They may have heard something pass through the cracks.”
“Good. Anything you can find out will be useful. I want to know how many guards are protecting this, and what it is they are transporting. Something about it doesn’t make sense,” Kaz replied, following the road from Ketterdam to Belendt and making note of where they could stake out the road. He had yet to dismiss them both, Jesper and Inej stood across from him and waited for the closure of the conversation. With the lead on Rollins and the strange cargo that was passing by tomorrow it only felt right for Kaz to let them in on his next plan. It was still in the early stages, he had yet to scout out the areas and get intel on guard rotations and what is stored there, but now felt like the best time.
“My next plan is to take down the Exchange.” He had no need to coat it in flowery language, it was easier to keep it simple and tell it how it is.
"You want to hit the Exchange?" Jesper and Inej spoke at the same time, eyes widening at Kaz's reveal of the plan he had been brewing over for the past few days. It was unexpected, the both of them hoping that the target would be smaller, maybe another train or perhaps a boat. But the centre hub of all trade in Ketterdam?
"It's a death sentence, Kaz. Surely you know that?" Inej tried to scan Kaz's face for a hint of emotion, but there was nothing. Just the face she had grown used to, the one that told her he was not backing away from this plan.
"We’ll have several distractions taking place at the same time to drive the law out from there." Kaz pointed to several marked locations on the map all in close range to the target area, but far enough away that it would take someone a good few minutes to walk between them. "With enough chaos, we can get in and out before the law even notices."
"You're relying on chaos?" Inej questioned, eyes darting over the marked locations and mentally walking the rooftops of the streets. It worked, in theory.
"I'm relying on getting more hands involved. The three of us aren't enough.” Kaz looked past them both at the rest of the Dregs. They were lacking in a few areas, he had known that for a while. "Keep an eye out."
It was a risky plan, but everything he had been building was leading to this. All the narrow escapes, all the hiding out in awful places for months away from the law, all the bad food the camp made - it would all be worth it.
He made a promise to his family that he would see to it that Rollins would crumble, and Saints be damned, he was going to bury him alive.
#gvbb23#gvbbfic23#gang 15#six of crows#kaz brekker#inej ghafa#jesper fahey#wylan van eck#nina zenik#matthias helvar#western au#soc#six of crows fic#grishaverse#grishaverse fic
11 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
onelove4boognish
weenybopper
sun-e-chips
Crunch
zickyzeera
Zicky Zeera's World!
myewt
Memo
littlemintbunny642
too tired to think of a cool line