as he felt the warmth of the autumn gold rays hit his face, he turned towards the light and shut his eyes. the inside of his eyelids glowed red from the blood pumping through his human veins. his vessel- no, body- was miraculous. his grace had faded but cas felt more at home in his skin than he had the last time humanity had settled over him.
a small sharp sound caught his attention and he opened his eyes to glance down the drive towards the road outside the bunker. he couldn't immediately see what the source of the noise was, so he walked a few steps down the road and heard the noise again coming from the ditch to his left.
mew?
"well, hello there." cas bent down and spoke softly to the small ginger kitten cowering in the weeds and soggy grass. the kitten cried again and cas looked up and down the road. "where's your mother?"
the kitten's cries grew sharper and cas reached out and scooped it up from the ground. it squirmed and wiggled, but he kept a firm gentle grasp, so that it wouldn't fall. "careful now." he let out a small laugh. "you're just like dean when i saved him from perdition."
he held the kitten to his chest and it looked up at him with big green eyes. mew?
"it's ok. you're alright." he glanced up and down the road once more, listening intently for any rustling in the grass but there was nothing except faint birdsong breaking through the misty dawn.
"do you not have a family?" he asked and the kitten mewed sadly. he felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes. it seemed everything made him cry lately. emotions were so much more overwhelming now.
-
dean heard the door open and he called out from where he was flipping bacon in a pan. "was it a good sunrise?"
there was no answer and he looked up in question, only to find cas standing in the doorway holding a bedraggled kitten, and staring at him with the wettest, most pleading eyes dean had ever seen.
"oh. no. cas, we're not keeping it. i have allergies remember?" he could feel his nose tingling and he knew it would start running any second.
cas stepped closer and tapped his forehead with two fingers. "now you don't anymore."
"i thought you didn't have any grace left?"
"that was the last of it."
"cas." dean sighed. "you should've saved it for something important."
"this is important."
dean looked down into the kitten's face and it mewed softly, like it didn't want to be a bother. his heart melted.
where prince tobio is trapped in a tower by dragon shapeshifter and warlock kei except it's actually tobio demanding kei to keep out all of the intruders while he tries to find a way to get those corrupt lords out of his kingdom
kei's less bothered about being branded a villain because he's already used to it being a shapeshifting warlock. he's more miffed about being ordered around by this high and mighty prince he likes to piss off by calling king
kei: and that is the eighth knight in shining armor they're sending to rescue you
tobio: mmhm. now breathe some fire on their path so they don't come any closer
kei:
one time kei nearly burned down noblemen hinata and oikawa because they wanted to help their friend tobio and the 2 of them were so shocked to see their friend slapping the dragon with the magic staff kei used because the warlock couldn't hear tobio telling him no
in kei's defense, the trespassers were really annoying and hinata's voice was grating on kei's ears
tkkg's first meeting was tobio barging in the manor kei was staying in and immediately going to business by saying "i want you to kidnap me" and kei's either stunned or had his first laugh of the week or both of them. he told tobio to leave him and go back to his fancy palace
high society really thought their poor and precious prince was held captive by the big bad dragon/warlock while the commoners are welcoming kei and tobio in their weekly dinner in their villages
the commoners are actually convinced that their prince tobio left the palace to elope with his one true love aka kei which is funny because everytime they see the "couple" they're always one step away from biting each other's heads off
speaking of, i imagine that kei didn't have a good reputation because 1) his serpentine eyes are hella scary 2) he has magic 3) he literally lives in an abandoned manor with a high tower surrounded by a huge moat
tobio was the one who helped improve his reputation (which also helped improve his reputation among the common people)
and now the people understand that their local shapeshifting warlock is actually just a hermit
tobio doesn't like that kei's purposely shutting himself out because it was a waste of his potential and talents in magic
what if their actual first meeting was during when they were kids and tobio's just a little prince who wanted to see more of the kingdom so he snuck out with nobody noticing but he ended up getting lost and he got help from warlock in training kei
and after that, kei couldn't shake off the years long curiosity of the princ who badly wanted to see the world outside of the palace and noble society. he thought it's stupid he kept on thinking about tobio when they were worlds apart and would never see each other again
at least that's what he believed until that same prince he had helped barged in on his living space and demanded to be helped once more
ANYWAY the ending is that after a grueling battle and tkkg nearly dying (gotta keep up with the death toll i have for them),they managed to stabilize the kingdom. tobio lets miwa ascends the throne while he "elopes" with kei.
tobio decides to move closer to commoners because he realizes that he prefers helping his people directly like all the times he has done during his times of "captivity". so kei's manor now has 1 more permanent resident yipeee
this au came to me bc it was during misterms szn when i started typing this, an image of half dragon kei hugging tobio from behind with his arms and his big dragon wings, and because i remembered the popular dragon trope of them being possessive with their belongings so....
i also have this wild and incredibly self-indulgent image of kei going feral when the corrupt nobles kidnapped tobio from kei's estate and hid him to 'execute' him for his crimes
and by feral i meant that kei barged into the imprisonment where they locked tobio in and slayed everybody with just his strength and rage alone no magic
now i need you to write a small ficlet of raelle actually kissing tally and tally being like "whoa what the hell" but kissing back and them talking about how lonely they feel without syclla/gerit and bonding :')
HAPPY RAELLY DAY HERE YOU GO!!!
WRITTEN IN LESS THAN AN HOUR, UNBETA'D, DEFINITELY NOT PROOFREAD. I'M HERE WITH MY CLOWN NOSE LET'S GO.
Tally spends the morning after the Paragon reception with a pounding headache and an even worse heartache. She’s always been an empathetic person but there’s something distinctly different about legitimately feeling as if she were linked to Alder on the night of the Martyrdom.
It’s a bundle of horrible awful theories and secrets and feelings that Tally doesn’t even know how to begin to untangle.
So, she sits.
Legs crossed, head down, deep breaths.
Old calming techniques she picked up at home when arguments with her mom became too much.
She’s in the middle of trying to name the feeling that Alder felt when she watched Nicte Batan walk away when Raelle comes into the room with a cup of tea for her.
It’s a welcome relief to have her best friend next to her; Raelle’s freshly showered and every bit of the definition of soft.
Tally finds herself reaching for Raelle’s hand after breathing out her frustrations and instead asking for Raelle to share her night—hoping to find distraction in Raelle’s soft voice and charming pride.
The smile that paints Raelle’s face when she almost puffs up proudly at the memory of blowing stuff up in front of military brass.
There’s a moment of silence and Tally’s reaction is only a breathy, “Wow.”
She kind of wishes she was there to see it.
The moment passes and Tally finds that Raelle’s just looking at her.
Empath-be-damned, Tally can’t get a read on what Raelle’s thinking. Only that the hand under her own has tensed just the slightest as Raelle grips her own knee and bites her lip, brows knitted together in thought.
“Rae?”
Tally’s voice seems to break whatever trance Raelle was sitting in and she straightens her back and shakes her head as if to brush off the thoughts crowding her mind.
“Sorry,” Raelle laughs, focus dropping to their hands and gently flipping her palm up to link their hands. “Is it stupid that I kind of wish Scylla were here to see it? It’s—”
“It’s?”
“It’s her seed, after all. The one she showed me.” Raelle looks embarrassed.
Tally kind of finds it cute.
She shakes her head and smiles, gripping Raelle’s hand back.
“No, of course not, Raelle. She meant a lot to you. It’d be silly to not be thinking about her at a time like this, right?” Tally reasons. “Sometimes I think about Gerit, too.”
She feels Raelle’s grip tighten in her hand.
“Yeah, but fuck him.”
The softness of the moment has been replaced by a firm frown on Raelle’s face. It catches Tally off-guard, the way Raelle stiffens and seems to zero in on Tally; though her gaze seems to be landing somewhere south of Tally’s eyes.
Tally laughs softly, “It’s fine, Rae.”
“No, you deserve better.”
And Tally knows she, herself, agrees. She knows that what Gerit did was unacceptable and that she deserves to find a person who is willing to give all of themselves, honesty and affection first, into a relationship with her. But she also knows that she leaned into it. She let herself live in a fantasy world where she could let her lust drive her without thinking of the repercussions and aftermath of it all.
It was kind of her fault, too.
She just wanted to feel that softness. The warmth that comes from being someone’s sole focus.
Tally’s been quiet for long enough, bottom lip caught between her teeth, that she doesn’t notice Raelle shifting closer to bring her free hand up to Tally’s jaw.
Her breath catches in her throat and she looks up to see blue eyes regarding her with a sense of carefulness that exceeds what gentle could even begin to define.
There seems to be a question in Raelle’s eyes, but Tally’s brain has taken off at a mile a minute into outer space; it’s doing loops around the rings of Saturn when she realizes she’s leaning in too.
And then they’re kissing.
It’s soft, careful, delicate, smooth, and so warm that Tally thinks her heart is going to plop right out of her chest and in between them.
Her brain comes to a skittering halt somewhere over the endless, endless blue of Neptune when she pulls away.
“Wait—”
“I’m sorry!” Raelle cuts her off, already falling back and scrambling away.
Tally realizes that’s one of the last things she wants and reaches out, hand grasping into the fabric of Raelle’s tank top.
“No!” The panic in her voice is scrambled by the sudden deep rasp that accompanies it.
Time stops and they’re just looking at each other.
“It’s okay.” Tally whispers, eyes unable to help themselves from darting back and forth between her best friend’s eyes and her lips. “Is this okay?”
Raelle looks like a statue; she’s carved from marble and the light’s hitting her so perfectly that Tally’s afraid that, in the panic of the moment, they’ve been hit by a wave of rogue work that’s frozen the two of them over.
And then she nods.
Tally nods too, because she’s not sure she can do anything other than mirror Raelle.
There’s a bundle of something joining the mess of feelings inside her — tunneling and twisting itself into the tangle — and she knows that this is only going to lead to trouble, but she can’t find it in herself to care too much as she burrows herself into Raelle, pushing and pressing against a warmth that she can’t define.
In the afternoon, the two of them will rush to the infirmary to find the third of their trio in pain. In the afternoon, they’ll awkwardly stand by each other and send shy smiles and silent agreements between each other. In the afternoon, they’ll deal with the aftermath of whatever this is.
But for now, as Tally drags Raelle into her lap and feels her hands (shaking ever so gently) wrap around her friend’s waist, she’ll let herself sink into the blissful blankness of being Raelle’s only focus.
Hana invites Sombra over and finally opens up to her about her insecurities.
Author’s note: REAL QUICK i just wanna say i’m really sorry it’s been like 5 months since i’ve posted a chapter of this fic. i totally lost all motivation to write it for a long time, but finally decided to start again. hopefully the next chapter wont take too long to be up since i already wrote most of it.
In the morning, Amélie immediately kicks me out of her apartment once I wake up. Normally, she doesn't even wait until I'm awake before forcing me to go home, but she must've been feeling particularly generous today.
Returning to my own place, I make a beeline to my computer to kill some time. I start investigating a few corporations that I've been trying to find some dirt on. However, the thoughts of all the different things Hana might tell me tonight are nagging me in the back of my head. I try not to let it bother me too much as I go about my day, but somehow it proves to be more difficult than it probably should.
To my relief, I end up finding some pretty interesting details during my research and get very invested in it, forgetting about everything else for a while. I'm so focused in a rabbit hole of data that only the buzz of my phone hours later pulls me away. It's a text from Hana, saying that I should come over whenever I'm ready. I look outside my window to see that it's already dark. Shit, the time flew away from me and I didn't even notice. I close everything up and head to Hana's apartment as quickly as possible.
I knock on her apartment door and she answers shortly after.
"Hey, thanks for coming. Sorry if I'm interrupting any plans you may have had." She seems a bit nervous. I figure that I'm not the only one anxious about the conversation we're about to have. I step inside and she closes the door behind me.
"Don't worry about it. I wasn't doing much tonight anyways, so I'm happy to see you." She cracks a small smile to my response.
"Make yourself comfortable. I made some tea if you'd like."
"Sure, thanks." I take a seat on her couch as she Hana goes into the kitchen and comes back out with a couple cups. She sets them down on the coffee table and sits next to me.
Then there is silence. I can tell Hana is only getting increasingly anxious, her face says it all. She sits very still, eyes fixated on the ground to avoid making eye contact with me. Seeing her like this only escalates my own fears, but I'm able to ignore them more easily. I take her hand into my own and gently stroke it with my thumb in attempt to soothe her a little. It seems to be effective, since she squeezes my hand in return and looks at me.
"Deep breaths. Tómalo con calma." I whisper. She nods, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing.
When she is done, she opens her eyes, looking directly at me. She continues to hold my hand, but without gripping on it as tightly now.
"I have an insecurity of mine that I should've told you about a while ago. The reason why," she pauses, taking another deep breath. "Why I get so hesitant whenever we start to get intimate." I stay quiet, but nod and give her my full attention. "You see, I've been in a couple relationships before, but... all of them fell apart pretty quickly. I noticed something in common with the people I was with. I realized that... that..." Her breathing gets heavier and tears start to form in her eyes.
"Hana..." I had yet to see her like this before. The was very different from her usual confident personality, instead being very vulnerable and sensitive. I brought my free hand to her face, attempting to wipe some of the tears away.
"M-My partners seemed to be really forward, making getting into bed with me a high priority. I got afraid that if I gave them what they wanted, they would leave me after finally getting to all the bases.... or something like that. After I kept hesitating and not doing those sorts of things with them, they would end up leaving anyways. I get that was probably just bad luck, and likely the fault of being so popular and being appealing to so many different people, but I've still taken it hard." Immediately, I can feel anger swelling inside of me. Of course there are risks to dating fans, but thinking about how it's happened to Hana really pisses me off.
"That's so stupid, you don't deserve to be treated like that. Give me all the names of those fuckers and hack them to hell." I clench my teeth to hold back from yelling. At least my comment makes her smile a little, which somewhat eases me.
"Maybe later, since I definitely don't object to some revenge. However, that’s not the only issue. The main thing is... I've noticed it actually takes me a while to warm up to people in that sort of way. I don't feel comfortable getting intimate with others until I really get to know them and have a good bond with them. Being that way always makes me feel like I must be a weirdo or something..."
"You aren't weird at all! I certainly don't think feelings like that make you some sort of freak. Everyone is on a different level when it comes to things like that, and you just happened to have been with people that don't match yours very well."
"It makes me happy to hear you say that. However, being with you has been so much different. I've really felt like things have been so right with you, and I find myself more and more comfortable as the days go by. But because of what I've experienced before, I can't help but still get anxious and worried. I just... I-I love you, and I really don't want to lose you."
There is quite a bit of tears now and Hana was shaking. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly. She nuzzles her head into my neck, and I can feel my skin get wet from her crying.
"I love you too, very much. I'm sorry that you've been feeling this way." I say while rubbing her back. Then, I pull away so I can lift her head so that she's looking directly at me. "Listen, I'm here for you, alright? Never once since we've gotten together have I considered leaving, and that certainly isn't going to start now. I don't think there's anything wrong with you at all. I'm just happy that you trusted me enough to be honest with me. Eres muy importante para mi. Te esperaré."
I give her a kiss, which she happily returns. She hugs me so hard that I have to let my body fall back to lie down. She lies on top of me, nuzzling into me again.
"You have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you."
"Of course, mi amor."
I hold her tightly as she calms down, crying turning into just an occasional sniffle. I begin to let myself relax as well now that the dust has settled. Thankfully Hana was finally able to get all that off her chest, and I feel relieved knowing I wasn't doing something wrong after all.
Now knowing what Hana's been through in the past, I wonder what I could do to her exes to really teach them a lesson. Such a shame for their personal information to fall into the wrong hands... maybe I'll use their credit card information to buy myself a couple extra monitors, or perhaps I'll dig up some deep dark secrets about them and expose them for the world to see. Man, the possibilities are endless, I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.
I pet Hana's soft strands of hair while we cuddle and enjoy the warmth of her body next to mine. I notice that her breathing starts to slow down, meaning she must've fallen asleep. It's been quite comfortable laying with her like this, so I don't blame her. I just hope she doesn't mind if I spend the night, since I really don't want to wake her, and getting up sounds unappealing right now. I give her a light kiss on the forehead before closing my eyes.
dean slid onto the hood of the car next to cas. mimicking the angel, he too tilted his head to gaze at the heavens above them.
“sure is quiet out here,” he remarked, feeling the need to fill the silence with something.
cas hummed. “for some, perhaps.”
“what do you mean?”
“i can hear them,” cas tipped his head towards the sky.
“the stars?” dean asked incredulously.
“mhmm.”
dean looked at cas in awe for a moment. “what do they sound like?”
closing his eyes in thought, cas was quiet. “they’re all different but… a bit like souls. crackling fire and a softer sound on top… almost like tiny bells.”
searching the sky, he couldn’t help but ask. “is there one that sounds like mine?”
when he didn’t hear a response he finally looked over to find cas staring at him.
“you’re living the dream, man.” sam slapped dean on the shoulder before joining eileen in the car and starting the engine.
cas wrapped his arm around dean’s waist as they watched them drive down the dirt road away from the lakehouse.
“was this your dream?” cas asked.
“hm?”
“when you were younger. did you dream about a life like this?”
he watched dean’s eyes glance up towards their home, and run across the garden that they’d built together. his arm tightened around cas’s shoulder.
“honestly? it wasn’t something i ever thought about. i just knew it would never happen for me. i saw dad and i just… i figured hunting was all i’d ever be good for.”
cas turned in dean’s arm so he could face him. “you know that’s not true.”
dean’s eyes crinkled at the edges. “i do now, angel.” taking cas’s face in his hands he pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “thank you for showing me how much more i could be.”
cas shook his head affectionately. “you were always more than you could see. you deserve this, dean. you deserve to be happy.”
eyes shining, dean leaned his forehead against cas’s. “so do you. i’m so glad you’re here.”
