Anonymous:RANDOM NIGHTMARE FLASH BACK, GO!

For once he couldn’t hear them. Or their voices were muffled. Twisted. It was like he was underwater.

The room was blindingly white. And the four, five figures surrounding him were nothing but black shapes with beady white ‘eyes’, where the hot lights above reflected off their goggles. Talking. One of them reached forward and twisted the device that covered his mouth and something metal pried his jaws open. He let out a growl and jerked at his restraints, though both efforts were useless. They were different today. His right arm was angled differently and it was extremely uncomfortable and made struggling harder than usual. 

More muttering. Couldn’t understand it.

Something burned in his mouth and for a moment he tasted blood. And then the device closed again. He rolled his jaw, spitting at the metal as it was removed and glowering at a scientist who moved to his right arm. They reached down, poking and prodding around his elbow and squeezing at the muscle. 

“Hey,” 156 growled, closing his fist and giving his arm a jerk. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Why. Testing to see if you have increased healing, of course,” the voice replied. Their hands flattened on either side of the elbow joint. 156’s eyes widened.

“—wait. What do you mean?!”

He could hear the wide, sinister grin as the white goggles turned to watch him. So that they wouldn’t miss even the smallest movement. “…relaxing your arm may make this less painful.”

“—what are you—”

—CRACK—

“—AAHN—!!!”

He gasped sharply, heaving out a breath and panting as he convulsed awake. His left arm snapped out, grabbing at the thin sheets as his hand finally latched onto the mattress and pulled him off his right arm. It twisted out from under him and he felt the blood rush through it, sending a wave of pins and needles through his skin.

Dolcetto shook, looking around and continuing to swallow down heavy breaths of air as he took in the small Resembool house room. It was dark. The moon was shining through the window past the bed. He could hear Martel breathing on the bed above him, from where he lay on a spare mattress laid out on the ground. The white labs were gone. So were the scientists. …they’d never been there to begin with, of course. …it’d just been a dream…—

He looked down, grabbing at his right arm and wincing as it throbbed. It hurt to the touch, but it wasn’t broken. He could barely make out the thin scar that lined his inner elbow. “…” Swallowing, he rubbed at his face and forced his breathing to slow. He sat up enough to peer onto the bed. Martel was still sound asleep… and he could see the white bandage lining her neck. “…” 

The chimera gradually laid back down and stared into the ceiling over him, hugging his right arm absently to his chest and brushing his fingers against the elbow. As his breathing finally began to right itself, he became aware of the sweat on his brow and the fact that his hands were still shaking. 

…damnit… He pressed his jaws together, swallowing again and forcing his eyes closed. That was two now. Two nightmares in the same week. So close together. And one had damn near been fatal. It’d been almost five years…would… they ever stop? …before they got…worse…

…damnit…

Requested Drabble — Waiting Game
Prompt: Alt!Dol and Martel trying for a baby, but not having luck and are beginning to have doubts.

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“… it’s been almost a year, Dol…” 

Her voice was quiet. Hesitant. And he knew it was because they were words that the two of them had been thinking, but neither were quite willing to put them into the air. Dolcetto opened his eyes and stared into the ceiling. The early morning sun had nearly reached the wall and the shadows from the bookshelves, book piles and small model rockets had become rather small, and the room was bathed in soft yellow light. Little specs of dust floated in the rays that reached through the windows and for a split second he questioned how long it’d been since he gave the tiny apartment a proper dusting. But the thought was forgotten almost as quickly as it’d come. She spoke again. “…do. …do you think, maybe.. that time?…” 

“… I … I don’t know that there’s any way to really tell, Marta.” He felt her hand close against his bare chest as he turned his head to look down at her. Her face was ducked away from him so he couldn’t see her eyes or mouth, just her blonde hair and the single long strand that never seemed to be satisfied with where it fell in front of her face. “Not… now, anyway.” Then quieter, more reluctantly. “…we have to wait.” 

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Requested Drabble - Safe & Sound
Prompt: Dol comforts Genevieve after a nightmare

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Any other night, it would have taken him a few hours after lying down to finally drift off into even a light sleep. But the soothing cries of the Resembool loons in the distance had easily reached his ears just after nightfall, and he’d quickly been lulled into a sound sleep. So sound, that he didn’t hear Genevieve come through the bedroom door and make her way to the bed; his eyes opened when he felt the bed sheets shift and caught the tiny sounds of sniffles and whimpers. 

Dolcetto lifted his head, inhaling a little as he blinked and turned himself enough to see over his shoulder without waking Martel, who was sleeping with her head tucked against his chest and her arms wove around his middle. The toddler stood at the head of the bed, her stuffed bear hugged tightly against her. Her bottom lip was quivering and every few seconds her little chest would hitch with her breath. Dolcetto’s expression fell as her composure sank in and he dared to rotate a little more towards her, loosening his arms around Martel’s back. 

“… mmnGenevieve? …what is it? What’s wrong?” 

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Magic!Anon Drabble - A Time when We Must all let go the Breath that We Hold
Prompt: For one hour, without any harm coming to him, the nest, or his family…Dolcetto gets to see and speak with his mother.

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There had only been a few times in his life when he’d ran into someone’s arms. The sprint had been almost blind and for a moment he thought he lost control over his legs. And by the way she all but collapsed against him and pulled him to the ground with her, she must have, too. He allowed his legs to give way under him and crumbled to his knees, heaving out a shaken breath as her surprisingly strong arms wrapped around his back and held his head against her shoulder for the first time in almost twenty years. 

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Anonymous:short drabble request: Genny asking her Dad if Greed stole his eyebrows

“Daddy?”

Dolcetto opened his eyes and tilted his head up a little. They were lying on the couch for the routine afternoon nap and rest period. Genevieve had been lying across his chest with her head tucked just under his chin. He must have started to doze off because now she was sitting up with her arms propped on his collar and her eyes staring curiously down at him. “…mm?”

“…why… why doesn’t …you haf …fuzzies?”

The chimera blinked and squinted his eyes a little in confusion. 

“…fuzzies?”

“Yeah.”

“… whatd’ya mean, Genevieve?” 

She let out a frustrated little huff, clearly irritated that he was too vacant to understand what she so obviously meant. The toddler grunted as she pushed herself up, scooting a little further up his chest until she could reach out and let her palm plant itself on his brow line. “Fuzzies!” 

“…”

Oh.

“… uh. Because… I don’t.”

“Did Unca Geed take’m?”

Dolcetto snorted softly, reaching up and gently pulling her hand away from his eyes. “No, kid. Uncle Greed didn’t take m’eyebrows.”

“…is ‘e gon take my fuzzies?”

“Eyebrows.”

“…ey-bows.”

“There y’go. …and no. No, he ain’t. Now lie down ‘n go t’sleep or you’ll be grumpy t’night. And y’know it makes mom sad when you’re grumpy. Uncle Doc, too.”

“‘kay.” 

She huffed and let herself flop over so she half lay on him and half lay against the back of the couch. He quickly adjusted an arm to nudge her back onto his chest before folding them behind his head and closing his eyes again. 

“…but daddy?”

“…hmnn?”

“Where …did th’go?…”

“… go t’sleep, Genevieve.”

Anonymous:Write us a drabble about Dol accidentally scaring Genny, please

“It was STUPID and you fucking KNOW IT.”

Dolcetto shoved a chair out of his way, storming into Greed’s path to cut him off. The boss had asked them to do a lot of crazy shit in the past; it was almost clockwork. But the expectations that had been put on them that night had been one step too far. He’d wanted specific information and only sent a small group of them out. The results had been damn near catastrophic. They’d gotten the intel that they needed, sure, but at the price of Doc getting a nasty bullet wound dangerously close to an artery in his leg and Axel a broken arm. Dol and Cain were lucky to escape with a few grazes, though he had also managed to twist his ankle. Though it had gone numb the moment Greed brushed the whole thing off as no big deal and that if they hadn’t been so sloppy things would have gone better. 

The homunculus hardly blinked as the shorter man blocked him, staring down his nose at him with an obnoxious sense of calm. And by the faint upturn of the corners of his mouth, Dol knew the expression was nothing but purposeful. “Don’t try to blame this on me,” he said cooly, raising his brows. “I gave you the information you needed to know. Warned you they had numbers and weapons. The rest was up to you, dog boy. Maybe I should have put Cain in charge… you’re slipping up again…” 

“Don’t start that bullshit,” Dol fired back. His hands clinched and he exhaled sharply through his nose. “You didn’t make it sound anythin’ like it fucking was! We were in over our heads—y’can’t fuckin’ throw us into a lion pit unprepared like that—”

“You all got out, didn’t you?”

“BARELY!!!“ 

“Then look at it as a learning experience, runt. Next time, try not to get everyone almost killed.”

“You—”

“Daddy?”

Dolcetto broke off, halting mid-step forward to look towards the stairwell door. Genevieve stood there with her white teddy bear clutched against her chest, blinking sleepily at them. Shit, had he woken her up? Swallowing to gain control of his breath again, the chimera shook his head, briskly waving a hand at her. “Genevieve, go back upstairs.” 

“But Daddy—” The two year old began to protest. 

“Go back. Upstairs.”

“Well, that’s a bit rude,” Greed stuck in, the smirk that had appeared on his face easily growing as Dolcetto’s gaze snapped back to him. 

“Shut up, Greed.”

“Y’know, you better start cleaning your act up, both with me and in the field,” the homunculus continued nonchalantly. His simper took on a small twist and his eyes narrowed as his voice lowered. “…wouldn’t want to slip up like this when I start sending the kid out with you now would you? …That’d be a damn shame.” 

There was a sudden, boiling sting of heat in the chimera’s stomach that rapidly shot through his veins. He felt his shoulders rise the instant it happened and his nails dug into the beds of his palms. Greed must have seen the change in his composure because his expression became nothing short of wicked as the chimera snarled. “I said shut up.”

“Daddy?”

“—Go. Upstairs. Genevieve.” 

“I’m just giving you a fair warning. I mean. Think about it,” Greed said, not even blinking as the other’s lips began to draw away from his teeth. Dolcetto’s hands were shaking with resistance now. He wanted to lash out; he wanted to grab the homunculus’ head and rip it right off his shoulders. He’d put them in danger again. People had almost died again. And now the sin was dangling his daughter’s safety in his face. Again. It’d be okay, he’d just grow another head; he’d be fine. But that wasn’t an option. ”You couldn’t handle three military and experiment hardened guys; imagine what would happen if I sent you out with your newbie little girl. …oh, wait. That’s not right… my newbie little gi—” 

“I. SAID. S—”

“Daddy—”

“WHAT?!?!”

The word burst out of his mouth like a bullet and a deafening growl roared out with it. Dolcetto blindly whipped around and threw his hands down, beginning to fire the word a second time but almost choking on it as it caught in his throat. 

Genevieve had wandered closer, her wide eyes and shivering form only about five feet from him. He clamped his jaw shut, all the heat draining from his body in an instant and a sickening cold replacing it as her lip began to tremble and water filled her eyes. She’d shrunk and continued to do so, practically shriveling towards the floor. 

”.. G…—no…” He stammered, swallowing hard as she began to emit a tiny, frightened whine. “…G… Genevieve…I-I-I’m sorry, I—” He’d began to reach out for her, but she quickly backed away, letting out a shrill scream. Dolcetto pulled back, cringing at the sound. The toddler all but scrambled away from him, tears streaming down her cheeks and the bear falling from her arms as she made a clumsy beeline towards the stairwell door. By the time she reached it, Martel had hit the bottom of the stairs and was quickly kneeling to gather her into her arms. 

“—Genevieve, what is it?” She asked quickly, pulling her close. “What happened?”

Dolcetto swallowed again, feeling his hands begin shaking anew. Martel asked her something else, but he didn’t hear it. He didn’t want to. Greed whistled under his breath and said something, but the chimera didn’t care. His attention was locked on the sobbing infant in his wife’s arms. Scared and shaking like she’d just seen a ghost. … or… a monster…

Martel’s head suddenly lifted and her eyes met his. For that split second, his blood felt like ice and he thought he was going to vomit. He turned sharply, ducking his head and swallowing the bile down as he practically barreled through the bar door and into the outside alley. Stepping back into the night air was like jumping into a cold lake. It immediately woke the twist in his ankle and caused the scratches and nicks on his arms and sides to burn. But they were hardly a concern in comparison to the rip in his throat and the twist in his chest as he tore blindly down the alley.

Anonymous:RANDOM SIBLING FLASH BACK GOOOO

“… Dolly?…” 

Dolcetto opened his eyes, blinking slowly a few times as they adjusted to the sunlight leaking through the trees above. The air was warm and still. And Ol’ Lou could be heard grazing through the woods’ grass a few feet away. …It had to be late afternoon now. Almost time to head back to the house. Help mom with dinner. 

He turned his head in the direction of the voice. The upper half of her body and her face were hidden around the other side of the tree trunk but he could still see her bandaid patched legs sticking out from the bottom of her dress and galoshes. “… yeah, Jo?”

“… you’re gonna make sure Chris doesn’t do anythin’ stupid… right?”

They were leaving tomorrow. He’d graduated from the academy a year ago. Chris just did that spring. Neither of them had been expecting the call to war to come as early as it had… but… that’s war for you, he guessed. Almost the whole day had gone by and no one had said a word about what loomed hours away. Like ignoring it would somehow slow it down; slow down the day and keep a sense of normality to their busy routine. But it hadn’t quite worked like that… and it must have finally gotten to her. 

“… ‘course I am, Jo,” he answered softly. The toes of her galoshes anxiously tapped together and he could see that she was nervously twisting at her fingers. 

“…an’ you’ll get’m home safe?”

“I’ll sure as hell try.”

They went quiet again for a moment. 

“… y’gotta promise t’get home safe, too.”

“… dunno know if I can do that, Jo. But…” He chuckled weakly. “I’ll sure as hell try t’do that, too.”

Another few seconds of silence. Then, she turned, leaning on the palm of her hand to peer around the tree. Her eyes were just visible under the uneven, messy cut of her black hair. “…but… you will promise t’write ever’day…right?” 

He managed a small smile. “‘Course I will, Josephine. Ever’day. Th’mail boy’s gonna hate me for it.” His smile faltered a little when she looked down and away from him. “… m’gonna take care’a him, Jo. We’re gonna be okay… tough it out. Like we trained. …y’helped, too, remember?” 

She looked back at him, seeming to study him for a moment. Then, she slid around the tree, pressing against his side. He shifted his arm out from behind his head and gently wrapped it around her, frowning and rubbing her shoulder. Silence fell between them, again, for several minutes. 

“… m’gonna miss you, Dol,” she finally whispered, one of her hands closing against his shirt. He inhaled slowly, swallowing and tilting his head back. 

“… I—”

CRASH!!

Dolcetto jolted out of sleep, gasping and flattening his free hand against the brick behind him. He was in the storage area of the Nest. And by the sounds of things, some sort of fight had broken out on the floor above. There was movement against his side and he looked down to see Martel, asleep under his arm and her head resting lightly against his chest. They’d ducked out of the bar just hours ago to get away from the activity and noise. …must have drifted off…

“…” The chimera sighed thickly, ducking his head and slowly rubbing his face as a lump caught in his throat. “…’miss you, too, Josie…”

Dol sighed, gently settling Genevieve on the blanket in front of him and leaning on his knees as she squeaked and began to crawl about. There was some racket from downstairs; something about cheating during a card game and now at least half of hell had broken loose. He was glad he’d decided to duck out when he had. At this point, it would have been hard to avoid getting sucked into the brawl, whether he wanted to throw a few punches or not. 

The good news, at least, was that the sounds and yells from below no longer seemed to upset Genevieve all that much. …or… was that a good thing? …you should be alarmed by the sound of a fight, not numb to it. Right? ….god damnit. 

The chimera rubbed his face, letting it drop against his palm and shaking his head. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was exhausted. Not so much physical exhaustion… he’d tried naps when he had the time, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He found himself almost envying Genny as she giggled and babbled to herself, now free of the blanket and shuffling across the floor. No attempt to stop her was made, but he watched her carefully as she finally reached her destination—a mattress—and allowed herself to topple onto her side when she attempted to grab and drag a sheet from it. She wiggled, clumsily turning herself to face him and let out a shrill squeak. Though he cringed at first, he did manage a small smile.

“… look’it you,” he said with a rather pathetic chuckle. “…determined little thing, aren’tcha?…” 

She smiled widely, beginning to huff and kick her feet. He watched her for a few seconds, then grunted and rolled his legs under him. He pushed onto his knuckles and crawled the few ‘steps’ across the floor to her, scooped her easily into one arm with a “c’mere” muttered under his breath, and allowed himself to twist over and land on the mattress back-first. Genevieve squealed and burst into a fit of gurgled giggles, squirming in his arm. He laughed softly, adjusting her so she lay across his chest and fixing one arm behind his head. “There. …that better?”

“Bah!”

“Bah?”

“…mmmmmbahh.”

Dolcetto smiled lopsidedly, poking one of his fingers under her hand and exhaling a little as her much smaller, delicate fingers curled around it. “Yeah… now, if dad falls asleep, y’gotta promise me you’ll wake me up, an’ y’won’t go downstairs and start openin’ a can of whoop-ass on those morons. Got it? That wouldn’t be fair to them.”

“…ahbbbbpp.”

“… that’s m’girl.” 

Anonymous:RANDOM PAPA DOGGY AND BABY PUPPY FLASH BACK GO

“What? … What is it? D’ya see somethin’?”

Dolcetto grinned up at the infant sitting on his chest. He was lying back-down on the couch, one leg propped over the backside cushions and the other dangling lazily off the front. Deciding that simply lying on her father’s chest was uneventful, Genevieve had worked very hard to sit herself up all on her own; his only guidance had been holding her hands or bracing her to make sure she didn’t slide away from him. Now, she looked quite proud of herself. And curious about her surroundings. 

She looked back to him with her wide, bright eyes and a large smile spread across her face. She bounced and squeaked, waving her arms up and down. Dol laughed softly and quickly raised a hand as she began to slip a little. “Ain’t much goin’ on down here t’day, huh? …” He blinked as she began to lean forward, reaching out for him. “…what’sit now?” 

The infant huffed, poking her tongue out as she opened and closed her fingers around the air.

“…what’dya want?” 

Another small, slightly annoyed squeak. 

“…y’want to come closer?”

The chimera gently tugged her up to his collar, grunting when she practically threw her upper half forward and latched a hand onto his nose. “—nngah! ‘ey!!” He laughed awkwardly, giving his head a small shake. She didn’t let go. “Al’ight al’ight, ny’a goht m’nose.” Dol winced and huffed when her grip only tightened and she even attempted reaching with her other hand. “Al’ight, ny’eed t’let ngo now. …Geenehveeve. …y’cahn’t ‘ave daiddy’s gnose. …lehggo.” 

“He-he-hey.” 

Dolcetto stiffened and turned his head, shooting Greed an irritated stare as the he passed. The homunculus bounced his brows, smirking crookedly. “Looks like I’m rubbin’ off on her already. Tcheh.”

The chimera watched him until he’d disappeared up the stairwell. Then, he growled softly, letting Genevieve continue to tug and pull at his nose.

“Ngohd daymnet.”

Anonymous:INSERT RANDOM LAB FIVE FLASHBACK, GO.

Five seconds earlier, everything had faded out and distanced itself. But now, as his body hit the cement wall, it all came flooding back to him. Screeching. Yelling. The scrambling of shoes on the ground and orders being shouted. The over powering smell of blood filled his nose. Somehow, he found the strength to push onto his hands and knees, lifting his head to stare across the narrow hallway. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten all the way on this end…

…Two scientists had fallen not feet away from him, both unconscious and one bleeding. At least four more had begun to surround the much larger chimera, desperately trying to get him back under control. But the giant was thrashing about and gripping his arm.

…his arm.

It was coated in blood and shredded, the muscle and flesh nearly hanging off the bone as the reptilian chimera bellowed in pain. What ha—…

… 

His stomach grew cold as he suddenly became aware that there was something thick in his mouth. 156 fixed his jaw, shaking his head sharply and spitting to the side with some effort. The large clump of scaled skin and muscle splattered to the ground next to his hand, which he quickly lifted and dragged across his mouth. Blood smeared across his wrist and the back of his palm. 

156 stared at it, his hand rapidly shaking as the realization of what he had done began to sink in. The other chimera had riled his temper on their way back to their cell… and he’d lashed out in the worst possible way. He’d ripped apart the other’s arm with his own teeth. Been thrown into the wall and

… and…

… the blood… almost… t…

“…w…” his jaw now shaking nearly as much as his hand made it difficult for him to form words.  ”…w…what…. h…. I….no… n—”

He yelped sharply as something sharp hit him in the neck. Immediately, his vision faltered and shifted and he had to drop his hand back to the ground to maintain his balance. But it was in vain.

Suddenly, he was on his side again. Sound was fading out and things were moving in slow motion. The darkness crept in, blacking out the room just as a scientist raised a gun to the thrashing chimera’s head.

The last thing he heard was a pop, and the vibrations that ran through the hall’s floor a second after.