In a world where Renee Swan left her daughter Bella with Charlie when she left, Bella got to visit the nursing home every day with her dad, and in the evenings he made steak and potatoes until Harry Clearwater begged him to feed his child a vegetable. In a world where Bella was raised by Charlie, she maybe cooked or cleaned a bit more than the average kid, because her dad was so busy, but she wasn’t worried about paying the bills or reminding her dad when she had to go to the doctor. Bella got to be a kid, and she got to have a relationship with her grandparents before they died when she was in kindergarten. On those summers where she visited Renee, she saw how hectic her mother’s life was, although fun, and was relieved for the stability and boring nature of Forks.
In this world, she grew up playing with Leah, Seth, and Jacob and his sisters. She went fishing and spent weekends at the beach and got to scrape her knees hiking on a monthly basis. She went to school with all the kids from Forks and the Newton kid got over his crush on her in like a week, cause she wasn’t all that interesting since she played pirates with him in second grade. Bella’s best friend was Angela but Jessica was a close second, although the two of them had a more on again off again type of relationship. She and Eric game together, because once he and Mike had a fight and he had nobody to hang out with him for a month. Lauren is a frenemy that Bella loves to hate.
She is a klutz, but Charlie watches her like a hawk and usually catches her before too bad of a fall. Her grades are killer and when she’s thirteen Charlie takes Bella and the girls to Seattle for a painful day of shopping. (Bella didn’t want to either, but she wanted the right of passage and wanted to make her friends smile). Bella and Jacob become the best of friends after a particularly bitey spring and their dads are always off fishing together. (Leah, Rachel, and Rebecca are too cool for a while and Seth is too much of a puppy dog). Maybe they think about dating and maybe they don’t, maybe they’re best friends and don’t care. Well adjusted, happy, perhaps a bit prone to melancholy, depression, and insecurity, Bella is in a much healthier place when the Cullens arrive in early high school.
She doesn’t even get a chance to meet them.
Edward reported to Carlisle with some urgency after their first day in Forks that Chief Swan’s daughter may be his singer. There is no suggestion that he just kill her or test his resolve. Bella Swan is too beloved, too known, too surrounded and ensconced in the community. If she died or went missing, there would be no forgetting this girl. She had been here since birth. It didn’t matter that she has a quiet mind, Edward realized shortly after that Charlie’s mind is murky and hard to read as well, shrugs his shoulders because there’s something off with the Swans. But his possible singer? A slip up would destroy the town and likely expose his family.
The Cullens leave in the night. The locals blandly gossip that a better hospital in Alaska offered double for Doctor Cullen’s services. Life goes on, and Bella believes that the supernatural is just a myth or legend, like she hears about at the bonfires with Jacob and her dad. She decides she’s going to make Charlie eat more greens.
Harry reached over, taking Draco’s hand in his, their fingers threading together. No one knew what it was like to be a sad man behind those green eyes. Except for Draco, who had been forced to tell his own lies.
That was going to change now, though. They were free.
Characters/Pairings: Neville/Charlie | Rating: R / Mature | @digthewriter Word Count:1650 Content/Warning(s): Nudity. Exotic Dancers. Insinuation of sex in a public place. Kink realisation.
“Getting old doesn’t mean you stop having fun.” Neville discovers a new kink at an exotic dance club, but not with one of the young dancers.
Thanks to nuclearpolymer for the beta, all the remaining mistakes are mine. Originally created for the 2022 SALT AND PEPPER fest on hp_goldenage.
Excerpt:
Evidently Red had got up off Neville and Neville hadn’t immediately noticed. He came to Neville’s side and slid his arm around Neville’s waist. “Oh, I see… Daddy was looking at Grandpa—”
“Don’t call him that,” Neville snapped.
“Sorry…” said Red, and he stood up again, and pulled on Neville’s arm.
Neville broke his eye contact with Charlie to look at Red. As he stood up, he looked around the room to discover the rest of the men were busy with their male or female dancers and weren’t paying any attention to them.
Red walked Neville over to Charlie and made him sit down. He slid in between Charlie and Neville and turned towards Charlie.
“I think my Daddy has eyes for you…”
Neville felt flushed with embarrassment, and discomfort, and he closed his eyes again. He was a grown man for Merlin’s sake. He shouldn’t let this bother him so much. He could have easily got up and walked away. Why couldn’t he?
“What did you call him?” Charlie asked, sounding firm and maybe a bit irritated.
hey guys so i finally made a form for your requests!! it is more organized and you can tell me exactly what y'all want <3 (if you made a request on my tumblr, rest assured I’ll post them too!)
Xisuma was used to coming across his Hermits doing strange or unexplainable things. So flying over Spawn Town to find Grian staring blankly at a rock was hardly the oddest thing he’d come across, especially where this particular Hermit was concerned.
“Whatcha up to, Grian?” X said, landing smoothly beside the avian and accidentally startling him out of whatever brain fog he’d been sitting in.
“Trying to work out how to move the Entity to the shopping district,” Grian replied distantly, tilting his head and resuming his staring contest with the inanimate hunk of rock.
“Oh,” Xisuma hummed, looking between the rock and the other Hermit. “Have you tried asking Pearl for tips? She’s good at moving builds, isn’t she?”
“She’s currently crawling on the ceiling cooking a pot of soup.”
“Oh,” X said again. He seemed to be saying that a lot. “Best leave her to it, then.”
Grian hummed in agreement, still staring puzzlingly at his boulder.
Just then, a low rumbling split the quiet morning air, a series of tremors shaking the ground. Xisuma shouted wordlessly in fright, Grian’s feathers puffing up around him as the earth moved. A deafening crack rang out as stone split, and suddenly the Entity was sprouting legs, six long spindly appendages emerging from within and planting themselves in the ground at its base.
With an almighty creak and rumble, the Entity lifted itself from the earth and began to move, scuttling away like some sort of cursed insect, its steps thudding tremendously against the Spawn Town landscape.
Xisuma and Grian stared after it in silence, unmoving, as the previously immobile rock scurried away into the distance.
“Well,” Grian said finally. “That solves that problem.”
“Grian, WHAT THE F-”
Grian snapped out his wing, whacking Xisuma in the face before he could finish that sentence, before taking off to follow wherever his now mobile sentient rock had decided to wander off to.
Xisuma watched him go, making a sound not unlike a deflating balloon.
“That’s it, I’m done for the day,” he announced to no one in particular, turning on his heel and striding back towards his house. “I’m done, I’m going home, I need a cup of tea.”
Or maybe something stronger, he thought to himself as he slammed the door behind him. Perhaps he could steal some of Evil X’s hellbroth he liked to call coffee and call it a week. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Better than dealing with whatever the heck that was, anyway.
author:@war-of-the-words (2) artist:@qxiu beta:@war-of-the-words(1) rating: g warnings: n/a summary: KID is a mysterious artist known for his mystifying paintings and their refusal to make a public appearance. Who are they? What is their purpose? People want answers, but before they can get any, KID produces one final piece of art before vanishing completely. Private Investigator Kudou Shinichi doesn’t care about art, and has only heard a little about the case of the Phantom Artist KID from his friends. He is forced to take interest, however, when he comes to find out that KID’s final painting bares a striking resemblance to himself. Now what would an artist like KID have to do with a detective?
When Luck summoned the two of them to the meeting chambers, Kaito was surprised. Aoko knew that the upcoming ceremony was stressful for everyone involved, so why she would summon the most important people in it–this close to it–escaped him.
When Kaito arrived, the other apprentice was already present. He was silently sitting in a chair near Aoko’s. Kaito bowed slightly since it had been a formal summons before taking his seat.
The future Death spoke before too long had lasted, “Lady Luck, to what do we owe the pleasure of being summoned here today?”
Kaito had to take a moment to register that the other’s voice was what he had heard. It was absolutely beautiful. Kaito turned his attention to Aoko as she started her response.
“I simply wanted to get a feel for how you two were handling the preparations for the ceremony. Most before you haven’t handled the transition well.”
Kaito shot a quick glance at the other man. He seemed to be almost frustrated at her response. “I don’t see the necessity to pull us out of our preparations just to ask how everything is going. If you don’t mind I’ll be taking my leave now. I have much to accomplish and very little time to do it.”
As the future Death approached the door, Aoko said one last thing directed to him, “Just– Please keep in mind that you are never alone in your position. The rest of us are here to help.”
With a nod, he left the room.
Kaito watched as Aoko noticeably relaxed after he obviously wasn’t coming back. “Aoko, was that all you were going to say?”
“No, no it wasn’t but it will have to do for now. He is a stubborn one, you’ll have your hands full, Kaito.”
-<3-
Shinichi had to hold himself back from acting aggressively when he felt the transfer of power and confirmed it with Fate before she sent Life and Death to their next phase. His understanding was that there would be time for a quick rundown on control before they were separated from their mentors until their time on earth was over. He could already feel the slight pangs of no control and he was suddenly glad that any current realm holder couldn’t die.
But, he could now put a name to the other man that had been training on the opposite side for as long as he had. Kaito. His only true equal for as long as they held the titles. This should be interesting.
-<3-
The first time Kaito had to use his powers to negate Shinichi’s he honestly wasn’t expecting it. They had had an earlier conversation discussing what to do with a species that had invaded another’s space and was causing massive death on both sides. Together, they had come to the conclusion that eliminating the invading species was the proper way to solve the problem.
So, when he felt the spike of the other’s power he wasn’t surprised. He was surprised, however, when there seemed to be something fighting that spike, and then the spike was more like a tidal wave.
Kaito was quick to infer the answer: Chaos had decided to intervene. Chaos was a being that he had only met once before. When around him, Kaito had ended up confused enough that his mentor had separated them, leaving Kaito with a headache to nurse for a few days. After he had recovered, he was informed that Chaos was best left alone, as he was the only one that could influence another’s power to the point of no control.
Kaito’s best guess was that Chaos had created the mess they were trying to fix in the first place. So, the new Life rushed to his equal and opposite’s realm to help.
What he found was Shinichi crumpled on the floor, conscious, but obviously in pain, and, not 3 feet away, with rage flashing in his eyes, Chaos.
Kaito first addressed getting rid of the extra factor. Since he could influence the use of another’s power he could prevent his from helping Shinichi. “Leave, Chaos! Before you cause more harm.” The other being only smirked at him before vanishing. Next, Kaito had to focus on Shinichi. He slowly reached out with some of his own power and began soothing Shinichi’s with his own. Kaito watched the other relax and quickly moved closer, “Shinichi, are you alright?”
The other was slow to respond, but when he did it was with a smile. “I am now.”
-<3-
Gaining their own apprentices was an interesting process. Every little detail had to be approved by Fate and Luck both. The two had to be compatible, usually meaning they had to come from the same species and time period. Shinichi and Kaito usually were sitting together at a conference table in Fate’s realm when they had no other duties to attend to.
After the first month of searching, because the candidates they kept choosing were so different, Fate had made it so compatible possibilities would be connected to each other by a list toward the end of their profile.
By the time that Shinichi and Kaito had decided on a matching pair, they were already running behind in the other preparation necessary for their introduction.
-<3-
Introducing a new apprentice to the other-world was a much harder experience than either Kaito or Shinichi remembered their introduction being. But, it very well could have just seemed that way due to being on the opposite side of the preparations. For months ahead of time, they sat down with many of the other beings trying to arrange a schedule to introduce the apprentices to those that would truly be available for them to consult with on decisions that have to be made.
The actual bringing the apprentices to them was easy. Fate cast her spell, and suddenly they were there. Explaining what they were being dragged into? Much, much harder.
“So you’re like, making us immortal?”
“Kind of. Not entirely though. There are restrictions and policies that you will have to follow.”
“What exactly are we supposed to do though? Like do we need to-”
Shinichi cut off this question before it was finished. “You help maintain the balance. It’s not hard. You make sure creatures that die are replaced by living ones and vice versa. And then in a century, you get to teach your own apprentice how to do everything properly to take over for you. And the next few months should give you an idea on how to do that.”
-<3-
Before the ceremony, Aoko planned one last meeting between herself and the leaving Life and Death pair. She had had her first meeting with the apprentices early this morning, and wanted to consult with Kaito and Shinichi before they were to leave for Earth.
When they walked in, with the customary greetings and normal glances toward each other throughout their meeting, Aoko knew that it was time to let these two go be humans and left them with a few final words of wisdom before the next day’s ceremony–Fate never lets her Life and Death pairs get away with not meeting.
-<3-
Shinichi breathed in deeply as he lead his apprentice to the meeting point. The group of four had met many times before, if only in a way to show that Life and Death could have more together than just isolation. However, the catch to this was that they had to be very careful with names during these meetings because the apprentices were not allowed names until the passing ceremony, and Life could not know Death’s apprentice’s name until the same point and vice versa.
As they approached each other, Shinichi reached out his hand to take Kaito’s. They exchanged smiles before turning to their apprentices.
“After today, you will no longer have us to depend on. Your choices will be your own. If you really need it the others will help you, but you also need to help one another if it comes down to it. You don’t have to become as close as we are, but you do need to at least form a bond of tolerance otherwise the next 100 years or so will not be fun.”
Kaito snickered at Shinichi’s statement, “Trust us. When we were in your spot, we properly met each other once before the ceremony, not that you would think that would be the case.”
The two stared at them for a moment before turning to one another and shaking hands. Satisfied, Shinichi and Kaito turned around and led their apprentices into Fate’s ceremonial chamber hand-in-hand.
-<3-
“Do you, Shinichi Kudou, agree that your apprentice is prepared to take over the symbolic role of Death for at least the next century?”
“I do.”
“Have you, as their mentor, taught them everything you believe they will need to know to take care of this role for the time in which they will fill it.
“I have.”
“Do you, Kaito Kuroba, agree that your apprentice is prepared to take over the symbolic role of Life for at least the next century?”
“I do.”
“Have you, as their mentor, taught them everything you believe they will need to know to take care of this role for the time in which they will fill it.
“I have.”
Fate had Shinichi and Kaito step to the side and had the apprentices step forward and take their places kneeling in the same spot the two had just left.
“Do you promise to take care of your role and perform it to the best of your ability?”
Both apprentices nodded in agreement.
“Do you accept that one day you will be on the opposite side of this ceremony and will have to train an apprentice of your own to take on the role when it is decided it is time to move the titles on?”
The two apprentices once again nodded.
Once fate had recognized their responses, she turned to Shinichi and Kaito. “Are you ready?” At their nod and fleeting glance at one another, she waved her hand, a dazed look came over their faces and the apprentices felt the power transfer. She turned to them, “Did it transfer properly?” They nodded, she snapped her fingers, and Kaito and Shinichi faded from view.
-<3-
“C’mon, Shinichi! You promised you would go to Tropical Land with me! My friend Aoko bought the tickets already! You can’t just let that go to waste!”
Shinchi sighed and put down his copy of A Study in Scarlet. “Ran, I don’t have time to go to Tropical Land this afternoon. I have to go into the office to put the final touches on a police report.”
“Then why haven’t you done it yet? I bet you’ve been reading Holmes all morning. Besides, you never leave a case only needing ‘final touches,’ you always go ahead and finish it.”
Shinichi inwardly grimaced at being caught in the lie. Sometimes he forgot just how freakishly well Ran could read him. “Fine, I’ll go, but–” he was cut off by Ran cheering and attempting to pull him out of his chair, “–but, I’m not doing any of the weird souvenir photo stuff.”
Ran pouted slightly before accepting the compromise and dragging him out the door.
When they finally arrived at the entrance to Tropical Land, it became obvious that Ran was looking for somebody specific before even considering joining the steadily growing queue.
“Ran! Over here!”
Shinichi brought his attention to the call for his friend only to see a girl that he found to be strikingly similar in appearance to Ran and a boy that looked way too familiar for it to be the first time that they had ever met. Had they seen each other before and Shinichi was just having trouble putting the name to the face? No, that couldn’t be it. He always remembered names. Perhaps they frequented the same park and had seen one another in passing? That was more likely.
Shinichi watched the same slightly confused look that was surely on his face form on the other boy’s as Ran dragged him closer to the other pair. Good, so at least he wasn’t the only one that felt some sort of recognition when looking at the other.
When the two pairs stood across from one another, the Ran-look-alike spoke up, “I’m Aoko Nakamori. You must be Shinichi Kudou. Ran has told me a lot about you.” She took a moment to smile at him, which gave Shinichi the chance to see further recognition flash in the other boy’s eyes, before continuing, “And this is my friend–”
“–Kaito Kuroba. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the boy-Kaito-said as he extended his hand. When Shinichi took it, it was like the world stopped.
Years worth of memories seemed to hit him at once. He could remember doing things that he definitely had not done in this lifetime, but felt right. Him escorting Ran into death’s realm, the first time Shinichi had met Life’s apprentice in that cafe, the awkward meetings that they were sent to toward the end of their mentor’s time, and the many, many escapades they had gotten up to in the ensuing years. Everything that they had done together throughout the last century hit his mind at once, leaving both of their faces warm at some of the more embarrassing moments.
Shinichi thought back to everything that Aoko said shortly before their resignation ceremony. Fate really does tie its Life and Death pairs together forever.
Summary: It wasn’t exactly willing but Shinichi thought he could handle the job. Kaito was surprised that out of everyone he was chosen to take on the role. At least they both have some life lines. And maybe… each other? It’s just my take on a Life and Death AU I’m just bad at summaries. Written Oct 2018 Next Part>> Read on AO3
The balance of Life and Death is a fragile thing. That’s the only rule that has stayed consistent in Shinichi’s years of holding his title: the apprentice of Death himself. Of course, it is a title that not many would want to hold, not that many could in the first place. The only reason Shinichi was able to was because of some deal that the Kudou line had made hundreds of years ago due to their uncanny ability to meet the requirements.
He actually found that the day-to-day routine was quite boring. It didn’t help that many people that he used to be friends with had to believe that he was dead. Well, he technically was, but only because of the amount of time he had spent around Death and the dead.
As he headed to his post for the day, welcoming the dead that had joined them overnight, he spotted a girl that he had come to know well. Ran had been the first person that he had personally escorted alone. She was a sweet girl and he had trouble trying to decipher why she had met her end when she did. Her fiance had decided that he didn’t truly want to marry her on the day before their wedding day and had lashed out violently instead of trying to talk it out with her. Shinichi had a feeling that if he had met her before the whole Death’s apprentice thing had taken over his life, she would have had a very different person prepared to marry her. However, such relationships were forbidden between him and the dead, so he would settle for the friendship they had found. He shot her a quick smile and a wave, which were returned, before allowing his work persona to take over.
Shinichi entered the processing area to a scene of a few older women attempting to console a few children that were crying out for their parents. He took a deep breath. Today was going to be a long day.
-<3-
Kaito tended to enjoy his post as the apprentice of Life. Everyday was the constant work of creating something out of nothing, which helped keep his usual boredom at bay. The only regular complaint he had was the small issue of beings that took other’s lives.
He often came to resent them because they added more work to his usual schedule by making them have to take the time to send the dead’s file to, well, Death so that the official report could be made. He didn’t mind when beings died naturally of a sickness or old age because those files would automatically transfer. Don’t misunderstand that he doesn’t care–any loss of life was a reason to mourn–just those that were ‘natural’ didn’t add to his usual work load.
When he was first appointed into his title, he questioned why Life and Death even needed apprentices. Life gave him some long, convoluted answer that basically boiled down to the fact that even though they were semi-immortal beings, they could never ignore their own existence and the forces that they were in control of.
They had to, every century or so, go to Fate to be released from their titles and become mortals together, and eventually they would come to live together for eternity in Death’s realm. From his instruction, he knew that most mortal souls eventually faded, but, due to their complicated existence, not many beings that had previously held the titles of Life and Death had. Kaito easily accepted the answer. It was hard to ignore the balance that their continued existence, for the past however many years, relied on holding.
Kaito had only met the other apprentice once. Their usual messenger was unable to carry the files so they were sent to a common ground to exchange the necessary reports. When he had arrived in the cafe in the mortal world that had been agreed upon, Kaito was very easily able to identify the other. There was just something otherworldly in the other boy’s presence. Kaito found his bright blue eyes striking in the sense that he would never have thought that something so lively could ever be associated with something as dull as death.
If Kaito was honest with himself, the quick meeting left a lot to be desired. He really wanted to get to know the person behind the quick “here,” “thanks,” and the coffee order he had overheard. He didn’t even know the other’s name.
Kaito sighed as the list of creations for the day formed on his desk. Time to get to work.
-<3-
Shinichi had found some free time in his day and quickly made his way out to where Ran usually spent her time. Shinichi liked filling his free time by talking with the dead. It wasn’t uncommon to see him talking to Ran anytime he had a little free time and interacting with others when he had a bit more.
Ran was about the age he was when he left to take the apprentice role. In fact, she kind of reminded him of one of his friends. She was kind of hot-headed, but once you had earned her trust there was a kind of fierce loyalty that Shinichi didn’t think would let anyone ever break a promise they made to her.
“Ran!”
Shinichi saw her look up from whatever she was doing and give him one of her customary smiles. “Hello, Shinichi. It’s nice to see you.”
Shinichi took a second to plop down in the grass next to her before responding. “It’s been a few days, I think, maybe a week, since we last had the chance to talk. What have you been up to?”
Ran looked at him almost appraisingly for a second, “I’ve been with the others recently. I even went to a couple of those parties that you are always complaining about. It wasn’t that bad, a couple of the others did get a bit rowdy, but it was easy to break them up and calm them down.”
“I never really took you as a party-going kind of person.”
“There’s a lot about me that you don’t know yet, Shinichi.” She smiled and laid back so she was staring at the sky, and Shinichi leaned back to join her.
It was something that seemed odd when Shinichi’s first moved to Death’s realm, but the ability to see the stars from here no longer fazed him. Death had explained that the folktales where humans had assumed his realm was underground were odd–something so big could obviously only be in another dimension.
Of course, it took some time for Shinichi himself to accept that it was, so whenever he thought about the conversation it was usually in a sarcastic tone.
Things were silent for a minute and Shinichi had just started to locate some of the still visible constellations when Ran spoke up again. “Shinichi, do you ever think about what would be the difference if we had met before I died? What will happen to you when I eventually fade?”
Shinichi took a moment to look at her before responding. “Sometimes. But if you fade before I give up this position it would only be a few years of remembering that you existed. Why do you ask?”
“Sonoko faded last night.”
A rush of understanding passed through Shinichi. Sonoko was the girl that Ran had confided in almost immediately when she first arrived in Death’s realm. Sonoko was the girl that encouraged Ran to open up to people after she arrived.
It wasn’t hard to see why Ran was so suddenly worried
-<3-
Kaito was forced to step away from his growing list of work when Lady Luck arrived to talk. Lady Luck was one of the few beings that he now knew existed that he had believed in before he had joined them. The current Lady Luck was a girl named Aoko.
Kaito was pretty sure that Aoko as a human girl during her time on earth was somewhat of a spit-fire. She lost her temper easily and tended to refer to herself in the third-person when she became extremely upset. She was also the only person that Kaito could really consider a friend since he got to the “other world.” Though, that was partially because most of the realms were kept separate from one another, and partially due to the fact that he was rarely invited to the bigger meet-ups because of his status of apprentice.
“Hey, Kaito?”
“What’s up Aoko?” He spun around in his chair to see said woman walking into his office.
“I-I just wanted to chat for a bit. I’ve heard some rumors going around and I kind of wanted to know if you had heard any of them.”
Kaito took a moment to think about the more recent rumors and was hard pressed to think of any that had been circulating since the last time Aoko had talked to him about rumors. “The one that Death’s apprentice is dating that dead human girl?”
Aoko giggled a little bit before replying, “No not that one. Good guess though. I actually went and talked to that girl the other day.” she took a second to give kaito a suggestive look, “They aren’t dating. So your so-called destined partner isn’t cheating on you. Don’t worry.”
Kaito felt his face warm up. He didn’t really understand why so many people in the Other realm liked to think about Life and Death as destined romantic partners. It was a common conception in the human realm as well which made him wonder if it had some truth behind it, but that didn’t mean that the idea wasn’t embarrassing.
“I’m talking about the rumor that fate is getting ready to commence the passing ceremony.” At that statement Kaito took a second to remind himself to breathe. The passing ceremony. The hour that it would take for her to cast a few spells that would send the current Life and Death to earth and give the apprentices the full range of their duties.
He officially only had a week and a half to get to know the rest of his duties and come to an agreement of some kind with the other apprentice, may it be an agreement of toleration, friends, lovers, enemies, or solitude.
author: war_of_the_words artist: @hachikoshrine beta: not provided rating: g warnings: none word count: not provided summary: Kudou Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito are childhood friends and were incredibly close. Kaito began growing distant, the only hint as to why was that Kaito needed to find something before another person did. Armed with this vague knowledge, Shinichi decided to help in his own unique and and, possibly, win the heart of his friend along the way.
Here’s both links to the bang i participated in! I had a lot of fun working on it and a special thanks to @hachikoshrine for their amazing concept and artwork! It was a pleasure working with you! -Player 2
Warnings: Obsessive Themes, Slight Sub/Dom Theme, Dark Shit
It started when you were young — the descendants of filthy rich family trees. Purebloods, the kind that, even at the ages of five and six, were forced into fancy fits and were reprimanded if your backs were not straight as you walked.
You were young when you first met, you and Draco. The boy of topic had already been pinched and teaked into his father’s image — standoffish, cocky, demanding. You, on the otherhand, had been morphed into that of a more gentle nature, soft spoken and patient as much as you was pretty.
And from just that one meeting, Draco liked you.
He liked the way you listened when he talked, when you smiled ever so politely and kindly disagreed with his points. Being the little shit that he was, Draco would scoff at you and cross his arms — end the discussion where it was just to start a new one. Why not talk if you would listen?
Sure, he supposed Pansy, or his two goons, or any other kid he felt like talking to would listen, but really, they never were truly listening. They zoned him out and obediently agreed with whatever he said, careful not to make an enemy of the Malfoys. Careful not to end up in the path of sure destruction — because a Malfoy’s wrath ensured just that.
But not you — not our sweet, precious [Name]. You listened, really listened, and when you spoke, you did so with meaning. With your own thoughts, your own personal views and with your own feelings.
Granted, you were soft. Hufflepuff soft, Draco might say, but there was also a twinge of cleverness — you, unlike so many others, had your own mind. A sign of a leader, so he had his hopes that when the time came, he’d see you again one day in the Slytherin common room, assuming he’d be there, too.
“Those were the [Last Names]?” Draco asked his father as soon as the two families departed.
“Yes,” Lucius mumbles, obviously irked by whatever conversation that’d taken course with your father.
“Are they friends?” Draco demanded, “Will we see them again?”
The Malfoy man stops to stare at his son, his only son, with a look so grim that it was strange that Lucius also seemed to be so … pleased? How it was possible to be so riddled with both emotions was beyond Draco. But that wasn’t his concern.
Lucius’s lips suddently twitched — too quick to be his signerature smirk but too visible to not be.
“Yes.”
And he did see you again, a year later on the Hogwart’s express wearing a pretty black dress appropriate for an eleven year old and a fluffy white cat craddled in your nimble arms. Draco’d almost forgotten about you by the time he saw you again, almost.
But he could recognize those loose curls anywhere, those soft eyes that garunteed warmth even if one were undeserving of such a kind welcoming. It was only natural that you would be coddled by the older students, older Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls fussing over how beautiful your hair was or how cute you were. They hoped you would be housed with them — but Draco needed you to be housed with him.
Doubtful, sure that you’d be placed into a more righteous house and he’d grow to despise you, the Malfoy boy turns away to order Crabbe and Goyle around as he tends to do. But not before turning back to catch your eyes.
The next time he sees you is when it’s your turn to be sorted. You’re popular already, so the hall falls absolutely silent, older girls from other houses chanting their house name as if it’ll coax the sorting hat to give you to them.
It annoys Draco to no end, because he’s secretly doing the same with his fingers crossed under the Slytherin table. His knee is bouncing, his teeth snaging his bottom lip and he’s glaring at the hat so intently that it could’ve burned up and shrivled into nothing but ashes and dust right then and there.
He craves your genuinity — the good conversation you have to offer, your not-too-quick-to-judge judgement. He wants as much of it as he can have to himself and young Draco can only promise that to himself if you are a Slytherin too.
Whatever magic he was using must’ve been working, because you’re now bounding over to the Slytherin table where the other girls are more than happy to add another pretty girl to their mix and young Draco’s heart is soaring.
Draco has you right where he wants you.
Salazar Slytherin gave him the key to get closer to you.
He’s a spoiled boy, but one thing his father never failed to thoroughly teach him is that when he wants something, when he even remotely likes something, no matter the cost, make it his.
“If… it’s not too rude, sir… can I ask how your wife died?”
Dojima sucked in a breath, the question’s suddenness enough to replace the familiar pain he usually feels with simple surprise, at least for a moment. “It is rude” is on the tip of his tongue - it’s not a topic he’s comfortable talking about - but as he takes a look at the brunette sitting at the other end of the riverside bench, looking at his feet, and the words die.
He remembers the frail blonde figure they’d recovered, just a few days after the first murder, remembers seeing her at Junes whenever he’d take Nanako - and remembers seeing the same brunette dancing attendance around the blonde, a much brighter expression on his face than the one he wears now.
I see.
It’s not easy for him, it never has been. The last time he’d mentioned it was to Souji, and even though it had been good - now that he and Nanako had finally had time to sort through their growing pains - and he hadn’t expected to have it come up again so soon. Taking a deep breath, he recounts the story again; as he finishes he looks up to see Yosuke no longer looking at his feet, but instead at him with the oh-so-familiar look of horror and pity that he’s long since grown used to.
“That’s- that’s horrible. How do you manage?Does it ever just… go away?”
The lonely, broken tone of voice with which these questions are asked takes the sting away from the pity and Dojima’s voice softens as he shakes his head. “It doesn’t. That’s the horrible secret about loss… you’re never going to forget, and you’re never going to stop grieving.”
Beside him, Yosuke’s expression crumples slightly and Dojima feels his heart squeeze in sympathy. “But… that’s also how you manage. You never get over it, but you do learn to live with it. It’s a part of you, and some day - it may not feel like it now, or even any time soon, but it will - you’ll remember it and you’ll think more about the good times than about the bad times. But… you have to let it. And you have to learn to let people in again - locking yourself away with the pain will never help it get any better.”
There’s silence for a moment, each of them alone with their thoughts even though they’re sitting on the same bench; the silence is soon broken, however, by a faint shout. They both look up together to see Nanako, skipping happily down the riverside path, with Souji walking behind her, a smile on his face.
“Dad! Yosuke-nii! Hi! We’re back!”
Beside him, Dojima sees Yosuke straighten up, looking at the two figures approaching; there’s no time, really, to say anything, but he doesn’t figure it’s necessary. As Nanako hops onto the bench next to him and Yosuke stands up to greet Souji, he finds himself thinking about the conversation he’d just had.
“You’re not gonna grow anything weird.” Katrien shook her head as she watched the tree-being shake himself off. The rain had just stopped, but not before they were drenched running into the building. Katrien took in her surroundings and saw that they had entered a ballroom. At first, she thought they were in the wrong place until she saw Natasha, dressed in a flowing purple gown, talking to Clint who was in a black tuxedo.
“I thought it was odd that Fury told us to wear super formal clothing. I was under the impression that this was just supposed to be a meeting, not a meet and greet.” She looked down at her baby blue dress, thankful that the satin material was shedding the rain water, before looking back to Groot. “Why didn’t you tell me I was wrong?”
“I am Groot.” He replied in a mocking tone.
“Don’t you sass me.” She scolded the teenager.
“I am Groot.”
“Keep that up and I’ll take away all your games.”
“I am Groot.”
“That’s it mister. You will not curse at me. Your games are mine until I feel like giving them back and If you utter another word about it, you’ll never get them back.” He crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything else. “Good. Now then, I guess we should mingle.” They started walking towards Nat and Clint, but were interrupted by a male voice.
“Ah Lady Katrien and Tree. It is so good to see you made it.” She turned to see the God of Thunder, wearing what she assumed was Asgardian formal attire.
“Thor, I didn’t think you would return in time for this. How long have you been back?” She asked her friend.
“I just arrived by the Bifrost only moments ago. I am sorry to end this conversation so quickly, but I must speak with Tony.” He looked around for a minute before catching a glimpse of the billionaire and strode off in that direction.
Katrien looked back to where Natasha stood, now alone, on her phone. As they got closer, Katrien could hear that Nat was speaking in hurried Russian to the person on the other end.
“I am Groot.” Groot began tugging on Katrien’s dress, trying to get her attention. She swatted his arm away, but he continued. “I am Groot. I am Groot.”
“I’m trying to learn Russian, would you please stop.” She turned back to see him pointing to Fury who seemed to be in a heated argument with Thor. Just then Fury turned into Loki and lunged at his brother.
“Of course. Only Loki would send us to a ‘meeting’ in such a formal setting.” Katrien pulled up her skirt and retrieved a knife from the holster on her leg. She took a quick glance around the room to see that everyone else had also drawn their weapons.
Post-canon Hualian AU in which Xie Lian gets hit with a curse that makes him forget the last 100-200 years, which means he’s back to his “smile, don’t annoy anyone, try to make people happy”, but most importantly “FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING LATER WHEN YOU CAN.”
So here he is, in a wrap-up meeting in Heaven after a mission he can’t recall, with a bunch of gods he doesn’t know, but also Feng Xin and Mu Qing? And they act like his friends again?? And everyone is treating him with respect??? Which is very nice but also mildly terrifying.
As the meeting drags, he keeps fidgeting, trying to gauge the state his body is in. There are a few scratches (which is understandable, because he came back from a mission after all, whatever it might be), some aches at the base of his spine, which he can easily neglect.
Apart from those, he’s… fine. There’s no hunger or thirst, no weariness deep in his bones. If he were to describe it, he’d say he’s… content. Maybe even happy. (what a foreign concept that is)
…and then he notices Mu Qing rolling eyes at him.
MQ: “Yes, yes, we know, you want to go home. Tell your husband it won’t take much longer.”
XL, externally: (✿◕‿◕)(❁´◡`❁)
XL, internally: I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, WHAT HUSBAND, HOW CAN I HAVE A HUSBAND, OUR CULTIVATION PATH PROHIBITS HUSBANDS, DON’T YOU REMEMBER???
Once the meeting ends, he kind of… loiters around his palace, because what else is he supposed to do? How does one go back to a life they don’t remember?
So he sits down. Gets up. Walks around. Sits down again. Tries to remember things he can’t even imagine.
He’s so wrapped up in his own head (“What husband, I can’t have a husband, this must be a joke, but what if it isn’t, what does he look like, nononono, don’t think about that”), that he doesn’t hear the steps or the tinkling of bells.
He nearly jumps out of his skin when an arm snakes around his waist and a cold, moist something lands behind his ear.
“Gege,” a man purrs into his ear. “You’ve been gone for so long.”
XL: blue screen of death before a speedrun to reconsidering his vows
XL, a few hours later, very quietly: What just happened???
HC: Gege is thinking so much tonight. Has something happened? Should I provide more distractions? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
XL: AHAHAHAHAHAHA [XieLian.exe has stopped working]
(HC does, in fact, provide more distractions)
XL isn’t sure what he expected of a hypothetical husband, but his apparently actual husband who’s also incredibly powerful ghost on the side pampers him, showers him with affection, and also brings him breakfast to bed, so fuck them vows, XL will take a husband over them any day.
(it would be nice if Xie Lian knew his name, though)
“What on Earth are you doing here?” Aziraphale whispered to the dirty man standing on the steps of his shop. He was wearing dungarees, for Heaven’s sake, and had a smudge of coal across a cheekbone.
There were other men nearby, shy and cautious in Soho, but they weren’t paying any mind to the bookseller or their companion chatting with said bookseller.
He smiled. “D'you remember when you encouraged the LGSM to donate to the Welsh miners back in December?”
“Well. December is a season of giving, so the encouragement didn’t need to be-”
The party ended slowly. The whole guild had enjoy the good ambiance of this evening.
But someone wasn’t definitely not happy. Freed had noticed it as soon as he saw her. He knew her for years, they had been teammates and friends. He knew Ever better than anyone.
She was his best friend. He couldn’t ignore when she was sad.
But he knew that if she had wanted to talk about it, she would have. He didn’t want to force her.
So he stays there for her, comforting her with a slow dance, without a word.
He was there for her, whether it was a heartache, a problem to solve, an injury to heal, or whatever…Freed will always be there for Ever.
![[it is a fucking mess]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1aafc97211254f537e92172278ec590b/8c95da8510aad703-dc/s30x30u_c1/ead0b7bf81a43d52d3d37b7f12445e6b77c1a233.jpg){kind=small}
