#Can you imagine how I felt when they were like “Oh. Um. Yeah. They're dead”

[autumngracy]

Unrelated, but I misread this as "got a package from my dead grandpa today" and was reminded of a few years ago when I (29ish at the time) found a letter written to me by my paternal grandfather, who had died when I was 5, and whom I saw only a few times, leaving me with a single foggy memory of sitting on his lap.

He had written it to child me, and my parents never gave it to me, possibly because I was around 3 and too young to read at the time, and they meant to give it to me later and forgot.

In the letter, (it was actually a cute little greeting card) he wrote how much he enjoyed having a granddaughter and how happy he was to spend time with me.

I opened the sealed envelope and read that letter 25 years after he'd died. I didn't get to attend his funeral. I can't remember his face.

But I know that he loved me.

HES LEARNING

[vivitalks]

[read on ao3]

"You okay?"

Lydia has her elbows on her knees. Sitting in the waiting room of Deaton's clinic, her blue dress paradoxically bright against the bland color palette of the room, she's a contradiction unto herself. She looks tired and shaken. She looks glad to be alive. She looks unprepared to believe that being alive is going to last.

"I've been worse," is how she answers him. Then, "I've also been better."

Stiles takes the empty seat beside her.

"Feels like we're always hovering in the middle there," he offers.

Lydia nods. "Ethan and Aiden are going to be okay."

"Thank God," Stiles deadpans. "I would have been heartbroken to lose them.”

Lydia gently shoves him. "They did the right thing in the end. They're not that bad."

Stiles only hums, drumming on his knee with restless fingers. A deafening silence crowds them in. Stiles reflects on the events of the last twenty-four hours and finds them alarming when compressed into such a small time frame.

"What's on your mind?" he dares to ask, after the quiet is almost insurmountably heavy. If Deaton is still in the exam room with the twins, they're being very quiet. Suspiciously so. Something for Stiles to check on, once he's done checking on Lydia.

Lydia who is smoothing out her dress with a persistence that could be called obsessive. Every motion creates a new wrinkle, and every time, Lydia flattens it under her thumb.

"Oh, you know." Her tone is light, but her twisting fingers betray just how uneasy she is. "Thinking about how the last time I was sitting in this waiting room, you were dead for sixteen hours."

Stiles takes that one to the solar plexus, though he's not sure how else it could be taken.

"I wasn't…really dead. It was more like a long sleep. A long, icy sleep."

"You stopped breathing." Lydia stares lasers into her knees. "You didn't have a heartbeat. Deaton kept saying it was okay, that this was normal, that if something was really wrong we would know, but he was lying, I could tell. He wouldn't let us near you guys — he said he didn't want us interfering with the process." A fist forms in her lap, creasing the folds of her dress. "Sixteen hours. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. I just sat here. Waiting. Hoping Deaton wasn't full of shit."

"And he wasn't," Stiles says, morbidly upbeat. "We came back!"

"You don't get it," Lydia says, sounding angry and scared and deeply wounded all at the same time.

Stiles frowns. If she would just look at him, maybe he could read her expression, but he can't tell what she's thinking from the set of her shoulders. "So help me get it."

Lydia breathes out, out, out, expelling air like it's a toxic gas.

"Humans have a reflex," she says in a small voice, staring through her palms. "It prevents them from drowning until the last possible second. The survival instinct is so powerful that it overpowers the breathing instinct, even when holding your breath becomes excruciatingly painful. It's called—”

"Voluntary apnea," Stiles says dumbly.

Lydia looks up at him and nods once. Her green eyes latch onto his.

"You told me once that death happens to the people around you," she says, biting her lip. "I can't imagine how it must have felt to be in that ice bath…but can you imagine how it felt to be the one holding you down?"

Stiles is too dumbstruck to answer.

"I killed you. I did that. It doesn't matter that it was temporary. I didn't know that, we didn't know that for sure. I held you in that water until you died, Stiles." Her hands tremble. "You were dead for sixteen hours because of me. I was a murderer. For sixteen hours."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey," Stiles says. His 'Protect Lydia Martin' instinct is back online and the alarm is blaring. He grabs her hands in both of his, keeping them still and warm.

"Okay, first of all, you didn't murder me. It was consensual drowning! If anything it was more like assisted suicide." Lydia glares. "Not helping. Right. Sorry. Um, but secondly, and— and way more importantly, Lydia, yeah, maybe you temporarily killed me, but you also— you brought me back to life." 

She’s unmoved, he can tell, so he shakes her gently. "Yeah. You did that. Look, anyone can kill me. I'm not even six feet of fragile bones and zero muscle mass, and my best friend's a freakin' werewolf, okay, killing me is not impressive. Bringing me back? That takes something else. Something special, and only someone who—" He tries not to stammer but his tongue sabotages him, "who cares about me enough to bring me back to life could do that, and honestly, those are in short supply, so yeah. Maybe you were a temporary murderer, but you were also a savior. My savior." He smiles weakly. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Lydia holds his gaze. She holds his hands, too — not passively but decisively, clutching them like a lifeline, like she's the one who's drowning. Reflecting once again on the past twenty-four hours, it occurs to Stiles that he is not the only person for whom that stretch of time has been alarming.

"That's certainly a nicer way of looking at it," she yields softly. Then she shakes her head. "But it doesn't change the fact that in order to save you, I had to kill you." Now she weaponizes that arresting stare, seaglass green pinning him to his seat. "I'm never doing that again, you understand? I can't."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

"You don't know what it was like," she murmurs — seemingly talking to herself now, more than him, anyway. "Watching you. And I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything but sit there."

Something niggles Stiles's brain, that feeling he gets when a few different threads braid themselves into a discernible pattern. The emotional tether. Lydia's remorse. Sixteen hours of sitting and waiting.

"Sitting there was exactly what you were supposed to do," he realizes, also half to himself. It gets her attention anyway; she frowns at his conclusion. Stiles goes on: "An emotional tether, Deaton said, someone to bring us back, I didn't really get it, how that could work, but you just said it. You all just sat there. For sixteen hours. You waited. You stayed, so I had someone to come back to. The way only a tether could do. Think about it, right? If a fisherman casts a line and then walks away from the fishing pole, it doesn't matter whether he hooks a fish because no one is there to reel it in."

"Are you comparing yourself to a fish?"

"We were underwater, I was thinking about water, it was the first metaphor that came to mind, give me a break,” Stiles says defensively. "My point is, sixteen hours is a long time. Long enough to get bored, to lose faith, to give up and walk away and pronounce us dead. But you guys didn't. You didn't."

"Deaton said—”

"You just told me you thought Deaton was full of shit. But you stayed anyway, right?" Stiles presses, looking Lydia in the eye. "You had a feeling. Or maybe you just believed. Whatever it was, you stayed. That's how you brought me back. You thought you weren't doing anything, but you were doing the most important thing." He squeezes her hands. "You were waiting for me."

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME! once again, i am behind. four-episode update 💀monday we watched ds9's "visionary" and voy's "emanations," and last night we caught voy's "prime factors" and "state of flux" which was a banger of a fucking evening tbqh.

visionary (ds9):

HEADLINE: ONCE AGAIN, O'BRIEN SUFFERS! he's become so dear to me that i get really distressed when this happens, but also a little excited, because his reputation for suffering is like the only thing i knew about him even when he was just an extra in the tng pilot, and i like knowing what's up

actually, he did a lot of swooning this episode, which was really fun. very damsel of him.

side bar kira gets so quiet when they're dealing with people she doesn't like. it's almost like sisko told her "fi you can't say something nice don't say anything at all" and so she shuts it to avoid undermining him (whom she likes and respects) in front of people like romulans or cardassians, whomst noses she would be happy to break.

i DO like that she got to get mad later, though. ESPECIALLY mad when they insinuated that odo had feelings for her. odo agreeing that this was absolutely ridiculous totally made my night. liar liar <3

back to the a-plot, obrien and julian having moved onto darts after wringing every last bit of joy out of racketball that they possibly could...this is so funny. julian is literally going through his wifeless year right there with him. he is such a good bro

which made it so distressing when obrien saw him in the future and was like BRO HOW COULD YOU LET ME DIE

julian's response of "i did everything i could to keep you alive for an hour" was very casual but i can just imagine him sweating bullets, deeply distressed. i'm sure it was a very long hour for him. i wish they had played it with a little more gravitas!

obrien seeing his own dead body TWICE was creepy. what's more horrific, OUR obrien basically kind of died. like, future obrien is a slightly different version of him. the obrien we've known since tng is dead and he never got to say goodbye to his family. like green shirt and black shirt john. i think i spent fifteen minutes of the next episode (which was about death, hilariously) going "OBRIEN JUST DIED? HE JUST DIED??" he even said he felt like it wasn't his life...........

monday was literally existential dread night. we brought up the mood after this with...

emanations (voy):

this episode was a pretty thoughtful look at te nature of death and what happens if you fuck up a culture whose belief in the afterlife is unshakable by shaking it up. that said, absolutely none of this is up my alley. GOOD for harry kim though. or um bad for him depending where you fall on that

i liked chakotay's story at the beginning about accidentally desecrating someone's grave. i was afraid they were having him be ultracautious about the dead bodies because they were being racist like oh he's aware because native americans are so Spiritual but he literally just picked up a rock once and felt bad about it. could happen to anyone. bullet tentatively dodged.

i have been referring to harry kim as chekov with brain cells but i think in this episode he lost the brain cell for a little while. he very much violated the prime directive with every word. dude, don't tell them you came from the asteroid with the dead bodies!

that said, i am no less fond of him - it was very compassionate to offer that guy a way out and VERY brave to get back into the death pod wearing the death shroud

it is crazy also that this place was in a whole other fucking dimension. this could easily have been a planet.

janeway & co waking that alien lady up and her finding out the afterlife is not real and that she still has to die anyway was really horrible and fucked up. like, they didn't even need to do that to get harry back. he got it on his own. they just tortured her for nothing <3

janeway at the end like i wanna give you time to reflect on what happened harry kim :) and harry kim is like yeah i should do that :) and theyre like yeah the afterlife might be real after all bc of the energy around this planet :) not my ass. there's not even a therapist on board. i would be back to work as QUICK as possible. who wants to reflect on getting into the death pod!!!

prime factors (voy):

HOLY SHIT.

here is the thing. if you let it, this episode will FUCKING take you places

wait wait let me go back and remark on some little details before i get into it. firstly, tom paris needs to stop trying to get harry laid. he'll cheat on his gf if and when hes ready and considering the extenuating circumstances we can't get mad at him bc for all he knows his gf thinks hes dead and has begin moving on too

also, smart of them to bring seska in for this episode when next episode she. you know. bc she's had such small parts so far that otherwise i'd be wondering who tf this even is. and she is HERE to cause problems on purpose! she's such a bad fucking influence i was absolutely aghast. more on this in the next episode but it's a wonderful way to show the maquis guys, who, lest we forget, FUCKING HATE STARFLEET, didn't all automatically hop on the starfleet bandwagon just because they're all stuck out here together.

i think janeway could have pulled a captain kirk in this episode ie fucked and sucked her way to victory. i mean, i'm glad she didn't have to bc that guy was SO skeezy, but she COULD have and it wouldn't have felt the way deanna's victimization in tng felt, it would have felt like kirk's close encounters in tos.

harry kim discovering the transport technology by accident when he's about to finally cheat onm his gf with some hot alien lady...poor harry. he has the worst luck recently.

and of course now we get to the big thing. the tech. the Big ethical dilemma. i LOVE that they quoted the prime directive here - like yes, of course it sucks for the aliens! it's also true what harry said that it still does more good than harm, but there has to be nuance involved...i still think it's stupid to let an entire culture die rather than save them, etc

you know, and i was sitting there like. falling out with this episode, is the thing. i was sitting there going jesus christ why is everyone being so STUPID why are they disobeying orders why aren't they thinking straight. especially after the huge plot twist of tuvok being the one willing to take one for the team, so to speak, and do the illegal dealings so he could save janeway's morality (WHICH: HELLO??? WHY DO THAT IF NOT FOR THAT FORBIDDEN EMOTION: FRIENDSHIP). like just wait to test the damn thing! tuvok is on his way to janeway RIGHT NOW!

but they're desperate. they're desperate and scared shitless and of COURSE it is making them stupid. they almost KILLED EVERYONE because they weren't being smart because THEY WANTED TO GO HOME. like, the scene in janeway's office at the end totally saved all of this for me. you can see on b'elanna's face so clearly she is facing her sins in the cold light of day and having the SAME THOUGHT PROCSS which is "how could i have possibly been so FUCKING stupid"

oh my god. i rewatched it twice. JANEWAY. did we know kate mulgrew could ACT? she was so emotional but still holding it together because SHE IS THE CAPTAIN. her whispered "dismissed" at b'elanna after she GAVE B'ELANNA A CHANCE. i would have sunk right through the floor. and her speech to tuvok!!! "you can use logic to justify anything that is its power and its flaw" LIKE HOLY SHIT GIRL. SAY IT, OUT LOUD!

sorry ik hes married but i also know hes gotta do pon farr eventually he and janeway could get it. like they could literally get it just as buds like one time. "we have forged this relationship over years and i depend on it" SHE LITERALLY DOES DEPEND ON IT! like, that was easily, EASILY the finest acting we have seen in this series so far. that scene CRACKLED. it was incredible. it took an episode i was losing faith in and flipped it around to one of my favorites. 10/10

state of flux (voy):

this one wasn't as good as the previous one but it was still pretty fucking good.

the mystery was really entertaining in this one and kept me guessing until the end. i kept going "no it's too EASY if it's seska" and then seska would trick me and everyone else into thinking she had plausible reasons for x suspicious fact and i would go SEE she's just complex! but she got me. and in hindsight it's SO obvious, and especially compared to lt carey who was a dick at first but fell in line and is working on his redemption arc or whatever. it wouldn't make sense narratively to send him back

chakotay refusing to take even ONE MORE BITE of that soup he wanted so bad after he realized seska essentially stole it. punishing himself ALONG WITH everyone else for the infraction. seska is such a good way to illustrate the tensions between starfleet and the maquis, even out here, and chakotay is in SUCH a rough position, having to both protect his own people AND keep them in line AND protect them BY keeping them in line. he and janeway both want the crew to be completely integrated but it's just not that easyyyy i love the complexity of it all

i feel like i recognized the filming locations in this one...yeah, all caves look alike but it looks so much like that valley outside the holo-city from ds9 and the save reminded me of that tng ep where picard and crusher got mind-linked

janeway was a sucker to let those kazon get that close. like of COURSE they kill the guy after the entire ship bled to save his life. but she's a well-meaning sucker. classic starfleet move

i also love chakotay's little crisis at the end. like, bro, am i that easy to trick? he is trying so hard and everything continues to fall apart around him!!! he hates cardassians and he was fucking one! dude is living in a nightmare scenario.

i hope we see seska again - they wrote her out when she just now got interesting. problems on purpose.

crack headcanon for a second there was maybe she was that woman they thought kira was in that one cardassian kira episode. that would have been way more interesting than her being cardassian on purpose, actually

TONIGHT: ds9's "distant voices" and "through the looking glass."

[harmonyckrs]

Day 25 in Twisted Pleasantview: Crystal Vu's Reports (TW: Mentions of suicide)

THE PREVIOUS DAY

NAME: CRYSTAL VU

LIFE STAGE: ADULT

STATUS: DECEASED BUGGED ?????

SPECIAL NOTES: If the real Crystal is dead, then who's this supposed to be?

---

REPORT #293

Today marks the first day of Project Pleasantview. With how easy it was to take over Strangetown and Veronaville, I can only imagine how quickly Pleasantview will fall into my hands.

And I've found a notable weakness, too. My associate apparently originated from Pleasantview, and seems to have a vendetta against some people in town. What better person to exploit than her? I promise her vengeance, and drive the town into chaos right before taking over everyone's minds! It's the perfect plan!

Aktu also told me that Lazlo was trying to starve himself in order to end his life, so I told him to just cast a spell so that he could only die of old age. As annoying as he is about this whole "I don't want to take over the world with you" thing, I do want to keep him around. I haven't really checked on him all that much, but I imagine he probably hates me now.

It's a shame I had to burn that bridge. I was being genuine when I said that I loved him, and that there was nothing more I wanted than to rule the world with him. I don't know if he knows that, though. I wonder if he thinks everything I've told him has been a lie.

I don't want our story to end like this.

REPORT #302

All of us were wrong!

She's far more ruthless than I thought. Mother confronted her about killing Dina, and in response she's killed her! And now she's threatening to kill me if I don't pretend to be Mother, in order to keep control of the fairies!

I don't know how long it'll take before the others realize I'm a clone. I wasn't constructed for a purpose like Nova was! I was designed specifically because Mother was bored and felt like cloning herself! She didn't even teach me how to act!

Who am I supposed to turn to? The fairies would turn against me if I told them the truth, Nova has been seized and reprogrammed to obey only her, and Lazlo seems to have lost his will to live since we left Veronaville. He won't even look at me anymore! Would he even be willing to help if I told him that I was a clone, and that the real Crystal was dead? I don't even think he'd be helpful at all.

Would reaching out to someone from Strangetown work? There's his brothers, but they'd probably kill me too once they learn of what we did to Lazlo. And besides, she's far more powerful than I can ever imagine. I don't know what the aliens did to her, or how she became full of such hatred, but I don't think we're safe.

Taking over the world was a mistake.

B: ...

H: Brandi? Are you alright? You can hear us, right?

B: Yeah, but...where am I? Where's Dustin, Beau and Daisy? Are they okay? What happened to your hair?

H: They're fine. You're in the Dream Realm right now. Your body is currently asleep, alongside your kids...well, Dustin's actually sneaking out with Angela, but I'm sure he'll be fine. As for my hair, I just wanted to try something different. What do you think?

B: It's, um...not bad?

H: ...I'll cut it once I wake up. Anyway, Dr. Vu is going to release her army of servants onto Pleasantview in a couple of hours, so I need you to warn everyone and flee.

B: In a couple of hours?...How do you know about this?

H: I was there for the other takeovers...and before you ask, no, I didn't participate in abducting anyone! My siblings and I were mainly just responsible for keeping an eye on Lazlo.

B: Lazlo...that name sounds familiar, for some reason.

H: Well, he's...oh...

B: Hamza? Are you okay?

H: ...He was my friend! He was the first person who welcomed us to Strangetown, and I DID embarrass myself in front of a waitress that I was trying to impress by spilling chocolate milk on my shirt! And I paid him back by helping Dr. Vu IMPRISON HIM!

B: That sounds really bad...

H: And I just sat back and watched as she reprogrammed Nova into some kind of...killer capture robot! How am I supposed to face him after that?

B: Yeah, that's pretty bad, but...you can still talk to him, right?

H: Well, I can't leave the Dream Realm until my body is fully recharged. But I suppose I can try to apologize once I wake up. I'm not sure if I can convince my siblings, though...and I feel like the damage has already been done.

B: It's worth a shot. You can't change what you did, but you can prevent it from getting worse. Even if he doesn't forgive you, I'm sure he'll appreciate it if you tried.

H: I guess so...thanks, Brandi.

B: Of course. Anything for a fri-

A/Z: HAMZA! WAKE UP, HAMZA! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!

THE NEXT DAY

[hiddens-eden]

The Last Tune (Emmett Cullen x Male!Reader) Pt 1

Paring; Emmett Cullen x Male Reader + Cullen Family x Male Reader (PLATONIC)

Warning: Cursing, Abuse, Tramua, Angst

Pronouns; He/Him

Spelling checked; No

Summary; Y/N is a quiet boy that's had his fair share of physical and emotional trauma, so he loves to keep to himself. He barely interacts with anyone unless needed and prefers to listen to music and sketch in peace. So imagine his surprise when some of the most popular kids in school want to be around him! They heard him singing along with his music and were immediately entranced. One of them in particular has his eyes set on him. Though, they are not the only ones who have an interest in Y/N.

A/N; Hello, my little Otaku's! Welcome to my first fic! I hope you enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated! Just be kind! I'm sorry if it seems at all rushed! On my next stories I do plan on switching PoV's so it'll be easier to write and more entertaining. Enjoy!

"Who are they?"a dark haired girl asked her friend that was sitting just across from their lunch table

"Those are some of the most popular people in school, the Cullen's. Not only are they hot as hell, but they're charming to boot! They do disappear for long periods of time, which gives them an air of mystery."

At the Cullen's table, they softly chuckled at the description the new girl was given. After all, it's only natural considering what they are. They are a being talked about in many fantasy tales. Known for their taste for blood. Vampires, a creature of the night that feasts on humans. However, they in particular don't drink human blood

They went back to softly talking to each other, but a few minutes later something caught their attention. A soft voice echoed in their eardrums. It was enchanting and beautiful, it was like nothing they've ever heard of. They all simultaneously started looking around for the source of the pleasant sound when the new girl asked about someone else.

"Who is that?" she asked, pointing to a table where a boy sat by himself

"Oh! That's (Y/N), (L/N)! He doesn't talk much, but when he does, you can't help but feel so tranquil and at peace!"

That caught the vampire's attention, and they whipped their heads to where the brunette was pointing. Noticing that that was where the sound is coming from.

"What do you mean?"

"His voice is so soft, like silk! But it has a sort of firmness to it! That's not the only thing, though. He is so kind, adorable, and smart as well! He even helps who ask for him to tutor them. His personality makes everyone want to be around him!"

That rose some questions in the vampires heads. If he is that well-liked, why is no one sitting near him?

"Then why is he alone?"

~The vampires will have to thank the new girl for asking so many questions~

"Well, whenever people come near him, he gets anxious and tries to get away as soon as possible. Someone grabbed him on accident, and he started having a panic attack, falling to the ground, and hyperventilating."

The Cullen's were a little shocked when they heard this. That wasn't normal for sure

"Holy shit. Was he okay?"

"Yeah, he was sent home early. But, some students saw his face as he was leaving and said that he looked terrified. We think something is going on where he lives, though we can't know for sure" she shrugged

"Once he came to school the next day, he was wearing long-sleeves. I thought it was weird considering he never wore them before, but the rest of the school shrugged it off as it being in the winter months making it reasonable. The person apologized the next day and (Y/N) just said it was fine, and he just likes being alone, so now that's what we do"

Right when the girl finished, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Making everyone get up and start to throw away their trash and head to class. All except one person...

"I don't think he heard the bell" Emmett said

"Gee, none of us would've guessed!" Rosalie responded, causing the other Cullen's to chuckle

Suddenly, Jasper's sight shifted to his wife Alice because he felt her stiffening up, a tell-tale sign of her power activating. The other vampires looked at her as well, waiting for her to relay what she saw. After a little bit she came to and, slowly, turned to Emmett grinning

"Emmett, why don't you go over and tell him class is about to start? Maybe even ask him to tutor you! We all know you need it." she remarked, still grinning

Starting to understand why she was acting like the way she was, Emmett sighed, wanting to protest, but he knew Alice's visions almost always came true, or they would end at the same conclusion.

He made his way over to where the boy was sitting

"Remember not to grab him!" Alice semi-shouted from where she was standing

Emmett waved her off, still approaching (Y/N)

He gently tapped (Y/N)'s shoulder, making the smaller boy jump in surprise and what Emmett can only assume is fear

(Y/N) turned his head around fast enough to give him whiplash and that's when he met the golden eyes of the person that startled him

He took his earbud out before speaking, "I-Is there s-something I can do for you?" (Y/N) asked shakily

Emmett stood there for a moment. He had never seen someone so hot and cute at the same time. The girl was right, too. His voice is the embodiment of angelic. Emmett took this chance to take in all the boys features, from his soft (S/C) skin that reflected the light of the cafeteria. To his intoxicating (E/C) eyes that he could get lost in over and over again. Emmett felt a small pull to (Y/N), and he knew exactly what it meant.

“H-hello? Are you alright?” (Y/N) asked

“I-I um…class is about to start…”

(Y/N) looked at the time and blushed

“So it is…” (Y/N) stood up and started collecting his things “T-thanks for letting me know” (Y/N) stood to leave but was stopped as Emmett stood in front of him

“I was wondering if you could help me study for chemistry? I’m currently failing” Emmett chuckled, rubbing the back of his head

"I-I don't mind, where should we meet?"

"How about the Library after school?"

(Y/N) smiled the slightest bit "Sounds good, now if you don't mind I need to get to class" and with that (Y/N) left the cafeteria heading to his next class. Emmett slowly rejoined his family, still in awe from the recent interaction.

Jasper grinned from the emotions Emmett was emulating

"It seems Emmett is very interested in that guy"

"Hell yeah I am! Did you see him?!"

"We did" Edward answered him, "But"

"But what?" Emmett asked

"I can't read his mind, same with the new girl"

"Does that mean they're a supernatural?" Rosalie asked

"No, they aren't. The new girl is a weird case, but (Y/N) seems to just have fantastic mental walls and barriers. Which is concerning..."

"Then I'll have to break them" Emmett smirked

The rest of the Cullen's let out a collective sigh as they made their way to their respective classes. Still wondering what was going on with the mysterious (Y/N).

The final bell rang, indicating the end of the school day. Students started to funnel out of their classes and into the hallways. Emmett was waiting outside (Y/N)'s classroom, ready to head to the library.

After waiting awhile of waiting, (Y/N) came out of the classroom books and binder in hand

"Hey"

(Y/N) jumped and turned around to see Emmett, a look of relief claimed his face

"You ready to go?"

"Y-yeah"

As they made their way to the library, they made some just talked about their interests and things of that nature, eventually arriving at their destination. After they settled in their seats with the necessary books, they started the study session.

Emmett found it cute, they way (Y/N) would nervously try and help him understand the complex formula's and equations. After a few explanations, (Y/N) sat down and started to work on his homework. Unconsciously, (Y/N) started to sing to himself, making Emmett perk up and look at him.

"You're a good singer"

(Y/N) blushed, "Thanks...but others don't think so..."

"Are you kidding me?!" Emmett stood up, causing (Y/N) to jump a little, "Your voice is amazing!"

(Y/N) blushed at the praise he was given. He'd never been complimented before, so this was new to him.

"Thank you" (Y/N) smiled, making Emmett's cold and dead heart swell with something he's never felt before

"N-no problem" Emmett said before sitting down, and starting to work again, still thinking of that cute-ass smile

Soon, the sun started to set and that was their cue to wrap things up.

"Could you tutor me again tomorrow? If you're free, that is" Emmett asked

"Sure, I should be open. Meet here after school?"

"Deal"

"Then I'll see you tomorrow" (Y/N) smiled at Emmett before walking to his place

To say Emmett was giddy is an understatement. He was over the moon. Not only did he get to be tutored by his adorable mate, but he also got him to open up and be more relaxed around him! He made his way back to his own house and entered with his head still stuck in the clouds. Unaware of the fact that the whole family was sitting in the living room

"It seems that Emmett had an amazing time" Jasper couldn't help but let out his own smile from Emmett's emotions

"Something good happen, Emmett?" Carlisle asked, intrigued by Jasper's comment

"I think he's the one"

"The One?" Esme questioned

Alice snickered, clearly happy that her vision seemed to have came true

"My mate" Emmett replied, still thinking about the fun time he had studying with (Y/N)

"Congrats!! But, make sure you claim him before anyone else!" Esme explained

"He's not an object, Esme" Carlisle chastised

"I know, but humans may not understand their feelings"

"I just have to take things slow. I don't want to scare him off"

~Next Day at School~

"Hey (Y/N)!"

"Hmm? Oh, hey Emmett!" (Y/N) smiled sweetly

As Emmett got closer to (Y/N) he noticed a very distinct smell coming from the boy. "(Y/N) are you alright?" he asked concern lacing his voice

(Y/N) visibly tensed and started to shake slightly. "U-um ye-yeah? I'm f-fine"

Emmett was less than convinced. He needed to know who or what hurt his mate, so he could end it's pitiful existence, then and there. Though, he decided not to add anymore fuel to the fire...yet.

"If you say so. We should head to to class"

"Yeah"

"Are we still on for tonight?"

"If you still want to, then yes" (Y/N) smiled at Emmett causing him to absolutely gush at his adorableness

"Yep! Totally!" (Y/N) chuckled at Emmett's response

While heading to class they just talked about whatever was on their minds. Well, mostly Emmett since (Y/N) is a closed off little bean <3. But, that didn't stop either of them from enjoying themselves. Even once they where in class they softly whispered to each other. Their teacher didn't care much because (Y/N) is a model student and Emmett is a popular kid (you know those teachers that try and get in with the cool kids? Yeah, that's their teacher). When they went their seperate way's for their second block (Y/N) though that was it, like all of the other people he's tutored. He just thought Emmett was being kind and he'd see him after school for their study session. But he was proven wrong at lunchtime.

(Y/N) was eating by himself at a table listening to music and singing along softly when he felt vibrations coming from next to him. He looked over to not only see Emmett, but the whole Cullen entourage in tow. He was shocked to say the very least.

"Can we sit here?"

Collecting himself he responded with a soft "Yeah". The Cullen's then sat down, Emmett sitting on your right and Alice on your left. She squealed and looked twoards you "I've wanted to actually talk to you for a while now! Emmett talks about you and your singing too! I hope I can hear you one day!" This, this was how (Y/N).exe has stopped working. You where an embarassed blushing mess while looking at Emmett in mock betrayal. 'He talks about me?' you thought. He just smirked enjoying your cuteness.

"Ahh!!! He's soo adorable!!" Now you were a even darker red. Only provoking Alice more as she got slightly closer to you. You were about to curl in on yourself when you felt that you were being griped by the waist and pulled into a solid chest.

"Alice, your going to make him explode" Emmett said slightly, just slightly defensive

She laughed "My my what about you then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look down, bonehead" Rosalie butted in amused

Emmett did what she said and saw you an absolute wreck. If a cherry was a person it would be you at this point-

Now he was trying to compose himself. The sight of both of you made everyone at the table start chuckling. After that whole fiasco you got to know Emmett's family and started to enjoy their presence. Something you never really had the pleasure of experiencing...

Over the next few weeks, Emmett did everything he could to be even remotely close to (Y/N). They would do studying sessions at the library, and after they would get something to eat. Well, only (Y/N) did. He thought it was weird Emmett never ate anything, but Emmett assured (Y/N) that he was eating well. They would often go to parks and just have fun too. However, all fun things come to an end. When one day (Y/N) didn't show up to school. Emmett just thought (Y/N) got a cold, but soon days turned to weeks and he was getting worried. He didn't know where (Y/N) lived so he couldn't go to his house and see if he was alright, but one day Carlise came home a little later than usual which was not unnoticed by his family.

"You're back late" Esme commented

"Well there is a teenager in critical condition. He came in with severe lacerations all over his body and what seemed to be marks of repeated tramua as well. He came in a couple of weeks ago and was in a coma until he flatlined earlier this morning" Carlise took off his doctor coat and placed it on the chair making his way to Esme. As he stood next to her he looked over to see his "children" with wide eyes

"Is something wrong?" Carlise asked a bit worried

"When did that patient come into the hospital?" Emmett asked urgently

"(Date). Why?"

With that all of the vampires stood up and started to get ready to go to the hospital

"What's wrong? Where are you guys going?" Esme asked

"That's most likely my mate" Emmett replied, making it clear he was irritated

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Esme rushed everyone out the door and to the hospital

At the hospital, they made their way to the room (Y/N) was at. Once there, Carlisle motioned for Emmett to enter first. Emmett went in and was shocked by what he saw. (Y/N) had many tubes attached to him. His body was wrapped in bandages and his breathing was hitching. Emmett walked over to the resting (Y/N) and reached out for his hand, grasping it softly. He rubbed his thumb over the boy's knuckles in a reassuring manner, then sat down next to the bed, still holding (Y/N)'s hand. He could only think about how much he failed his mate. How could he let this happen? He knew there was something going on, but he did nothing? He turned a blind eye to it all. How can he face (Y/N) when he wakes up? Emmett's thoughts were interrupted by someone's voice

"Who are you?"

"I should be asking you that" Emmett replied

"I'm (Y/N)'s boyfriend"

With that, Emmett's world stopped. Boyfriend? How? Why? Was I to late? Emmett turned to (Y/N) conflicted, but that's when he saw the heart monitor. His heart rate was not that high a while ago.

"Can you leave me with my boyfriend?" (B/F/N) asked harshly

Emmett reluctantly stood up and made his way to the door, but not before taking one last look at (Y/N). Once he was out of the room, Emmett started walking down the hallway back to his family.

"Who was that guy that went in there?" Rosalie went up to Emmett

"Apparently, he's (Y/N)'s boyfriend"

The Cullen's looked at Emmett in sadness and pity, but they noticed something

"You don't seem that bothered about it" Jasper said

"Well, before he came in, (Y/N)'s heart rate was normal, but when he spoke his heart rate rose"

"So, you think-"

"Yeah, his 'boyfriend' must've done that to him"

"That's awful" Esme covered her mouth in shock

"We can't really do anything if we don't have proof though" Alice said irritated

"Then we'll just have to get some" Emmett smirked, making the other Cullen's nod

They made their plan's and put them on hold until you were sent home. In the meantime, Emmett came to visit whenever your 'boyfriend' was never there and if he was, Carlisle was keeping a closer eye on you than normal. He also noticed that (B/F/N) would only ever sit in the chair across the room and when he would glance at you a look of disgust would be present on his face. This further solidified his resolve to get you out of that situation.

~A few days later while Emmett is visiting you~

"We're going to help you (Y/N), Everything will be better soon" Emmett reassured the sleeping male whilst holding his hand. He then felt (Y/N) clench his hand and looked up to see those beautiful (E/C) orbs opening

"Em-"

"Shh, don't strain yourself yet" Emmett stood up and pressed the 'call' button just above (Y/N)'s head before sitting back down

"Where-"

"The hospital...can you tell me what happened to you?"

After a brief pause, (Y/N) shook his ever so slightly

"That's fine, just tell me when you're ready" Emmett smiled sweetly. He saw (Y/N)'s face contort into sadness as he started crying. "I-I'm sorry f-for worrying you" (Y/N) choked out between sobs. Emmett couldn't see him cry like this, so he started to comfort and reassure the other male. "You'll be okay...I won't let you get hurt anymore..."

A/N: I really hope you liked it! Please tell me your thoughts! Sorry it took way longer than I said! I will now be working on the requests I have gotten and a new series I've conjured up ;)By my little Otaku's!!

[ilove-cedricdiggory]

I love you, mum

Remus Lupin x Reader

Requested - Noppe

Summary - Remus Lupin was the love of your life, right? You thought so, that was, until he came home from an order mission finding you pregnant and hating it with his entire being. Can you handle that?

Trigger Warning - cursing, mentions of abortion, mentions of pregnancy, rude as hell Remus.

This one is kinda lengthy, so, fairwarning. I'ma make it a series, so, Part 1!

There he stood, right before you, his bag packed as your eyes watered. "I know 'm love, but you know how the order is. I don't get to pick when I go." He took you into his arms, his hand immediately running through your hair.

You both were 24 now, honestly surprised with the way time had flown by even with the pending war surrounding you. He, James, and Sirius were going to investigate a lead, one that involved the fourth member of their family from Hogwarts, Peter.

The night Peter was trusted with James, Lily, and Harry's lives, Voldemort had shown up, prepared to murder them in cold blood. The only thing stopping him that night was that you, Remus, and Sirius paid a surprise visit to your favorite new family, wanting Harry to experience a Halloween as normal as you all could make it.

Harry had been zooming through on his broom in his Kinmare Kestrels costume, the five of you cheering him on as if he was in the middle of a quidditch game himself. Voldemort had made himself known quite quickly, assuming the three of them were on their own, but was met with a small army, prepared to protect your family.

Now, Remus was leaving to go find Peter, along with looking into how deep his dedicated now lied with the monster attempting to rule your world.

"I'm going to be back before you know it. I'll be nice and safe, and I'll be home after this months turn, so we won't even have to worry about that when I come home." You nodded, but teared up at that.

"But, who'll patch you up and kiss all your bruises?" You asked softly, pushing back some of his hair to gaze into his eyes. "'M sure James and Sirius will be more than happy to help me out like they used to, although I don't think either will kiss the bruises - not that I'd want them to." He grimaced at the thought of one of his two best friends kissing each healing wound on his skin after a horrible night of turning.

"Just, come back safe, okay? Don't do anything stupid, don't let Sirius talk you into doing something irrational, don't let James cry too much about Lily and Harry either, please. I can't even imagine how they're doing. Just come back safe to me." You kissed him softly, pulling him closer to your body, only wrapped in a robe, holding him as close to you as you could.

"Of course sweets. You be safe too, go see Lily and Harry, go see Molly and the kids, don't stay cooped up in here missing me. I'm sure Molly would love to bake with you and I'm sure Lily would be more than happy to eat at much as she can, especially now that we all know she's pregnant again." He laughed softly, kissing your forehead.

"Okay, okay, go, before I lock you in the house and break your wand so you can't leave." He chuckled, wiping a few stray tears from your face as he kissed you one last time before moving to leave the comfort of the home the two of you built together.

Five minutes without him had you sobbing and feeling empty.

Six days without him had you throwing up.

Two weeks without him had you taking a pregnancy test.

Two weeks and three minutes without him had you sobbing as the plus sign on the test.

Three weeks without him had you hiding it from your best friend.

Four weeks without him had you looking for the baggiest of his sweaters and wishing he would finally come home.

Five weeks without him had you shaking in fear, fear of your growing stomach and fear of the second turn he would be fulfilling away from home.

Six weeks without him had you going to the appointment without him, without anyone knowing.

Six weeks and two days without him had you sobbing.

Six weeks, two days, and thirty four minutes had you screaming in joy as you wrapped your arms and legs around his warm hold, clutching onto him with dear life.

"Remus John Lupin!" You yelled, tears falling harder as you felt the worries of him being dead in a hole left your shoulders.

"Oh my sweet love, I've got you, yeah? I've finally got you." He whispered. Your arms were tight on his frame, holding him like you were afraid this was a dream, for him to fade away and leave you once more.

He had walked you to your bed, sitting on it with you set in his arms, his nose sniffing your hair, letting your scent calm him and moony. "Oh my girl, I've missed you so much." He whispered, your tears finally slowing. "I've missed you, bubs." You whispered, your eyes meeting his to press your lips upon his, holding his face close to yours.

Silence filled the room, his hands wandering your skin, making sure each inch of it was the same as he remembered. He didn't falter, until his hands slipped under his sweater, feeling the bump under his hands.

"The fuck?" He whispered, pulling away from you. "What's going on?" He asked you, his eyes sharp on your own.

"Um." You said, your head falling and you stared at your hands. "'M pregnant, Moons." You whispered, moving off of his lap to lift up the warm fabric, showing him your bump. "Twins." You said softly, looking up into his eyes.

"You're joking." He said, his voice void of emotion, it staying the same pitch with each syllable.

"Does it look like I'm joking? You're staring at the bump. I haven't told anyone, waiting for you to get home." You were waiting for a smile to break out on his face, for his eyes to light up, for him to wrap you in his arms once more and spin you and gently as he could before bending down and kissing your belly once - twice - three times.

But, it didn't happen.

Two minutes after he knew had you silent.

Three minutes after he knew had you shuffling back from foot to foot.

Four minutes after he knew had your eyes welling up with tears.

Five minutes after he knew had you breaking the silence, your voice louder than expected.

"Say something, Rem!" You yelled, flinching at the sound of your own tone.

"I - uh." He said, one of his hands moving down his face to attempt to shake the shock from it. "No." He said after another moment, standing up and moving across the room.

"No, we aren't having a kid, let alone two! No!" He paced back and forth, shaking his head. "No way. We're gonna have to figure something else out." He spoke, stopping to think, his face pointing up at the sky. "I'm sure there's something we can do to fix this." He said, finally turning to look at you.

"Fix this? There is nothing to fix, you prick!" You yelled, tears falling once more, but for a much different reason. "I'm fucking pregnant, this isn't something you fix!"

His eyes grew angry, glaring at you like never before. "You know how I feel about having kids! No!" He shouted, his tone matching yours.

"Fuck you." You whispered, shaking your head. You picked your wand up from your bedside table, flicking it once before a suitcase appeared and clothes began filling into it.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice monotoned once more.

"Leaving." You spoke the word, shivering at the idea of it. But, once the bag was packed, your hand wrapped around it's handle, you quickly turned on your heel, unsure of apparating out of the flat while pregnant.

"Where are you going?" His voice was slightly softer now, the actions of the moment catching up to him.

Before exiting the place you called home, more so, leaving the person you called home, you whispered. "I dunno."

Your wand was held out, summoning the Knight Bus, letting you onto it and paying the fee before looking at the man before you.

"Where to?" He asked, his left eyebrow raised at you.

You didn't think you could go to Lily and James, not wanting to face Lily's wrath towards Remus along with her hurt for not knowing about your pregnancy. You couldn't turn to Sirius, knowing he would hate his best friend in a way you could never want for the man you loved.

"The burrow, please."

The bus took you there after dropping off the two people before you, assisting you with your bag to the front door before disappearing.

Your hand shook as you knocked, but heard the pitter patter of the feet of her many children before a yell from the woman herself. "I don't know who's at the door! Charlie can you please change Ginny!"

The door flung open, revealing the woman to you. "Oh! Y/n!" She spoke, her face breaking out into a warm, wonderful smile before letting you in. "I haven't seen you for a little while, I was about to send an owl your way." She said, leading you into the home and back into the kitchen where the smell of Mince Pies filled your nose.

"'M sorry, Molly. A lots happened."

With tears in your eyes, you stood before Molly, the woman you saw as your own mother. The woman who celebrated with you when Remus asked you out. The woman who held you when you cried after your first argument with the man. The woman you had planned to tell about your pregnancy, but feeling your heart break each day you waited to tell her.

You had it all planned out. You were going to show up with Remus, once he found out and the two of you celebrated, wearing a sweater that covered your bump - much like the one you still wore. You would be holding two bags, one for each of the parents you loved so much, with a shirt for them both with the words "first time grandparent" on it.

But now, you had to tell this woman that you had kept your pregnancy from her for this long, your spouse had practically told you to get rid of the babies, and that you had left him.

"Molly, I'm pregnant." You whispered, pulling his sweater up to show the adamant bump. "And Remus wants me to get rid of them, so I left him." Your voice was breaking, shaking, and terrified of what you were to do now.

Her eyes filled with tears of her own, her arms wrapping around your frame and holding you to her. Molly Weasley: Best Hugs. She held you for a minute, letting your sobs fall from your body, holding your shaking frame. Once you calmed down as much as she thought you would, she sat you down on the kitchen chairs.

"Oh, sweet girl. I'm so sorry." Her wand flicked, bringing you a warm cup of tea before she settled in the seat beside you. "You're more than welcome to stay here. We can move Charlie in with Bill and you can take his room. You know you're more than welcome to." Her voice was soft and sincere, looking at you with the look you wished your fiance had looked at you with. Her hand reached to tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear before moving it down to press softly against your growing stomach.

"Molly, you know I can't do that. I wouldn't want to put Charlie out of his room. Plus, I'm going to be getting bigger and eating more soon, I don't want to be in the way." You explained, watching as she shook her head. "In no way would you be in the way. Plus, I'd love to be here with you through this!" She exclaimed, taking your hand in hers.

"Honestly, Molly, I don't want him to find me." You admitted softly, your heart hurting at the truth. You hated how he had talked to you, how easily it was for him to suggest he "took care of it". It hurt you to your core. He was the man you thought would stand beside you through everything. Through the fears of financial trouble, through the happiness of your own home, through your pregnancy. But now, you were all alone. Your soul felt cold, the warmth he provided now long gone, leaving a feeling as cold as the harshest winter in it's place.

"Oh, honey, I understand." She said softly, nodding.

After another minute or two with the wonderful woman, you looked at her. "Molly, could I use some parchment and a quill? And your owl? I wanna write to Lily." You said softly, hating to intrude, but knowing that with one person told, that would soon turn into two, then 9, then everyone else you could imagine.

"Of course love! Of course! Bill, bring me some parchment and a quill please, y/n needs it!"

Bill soon came in, hanging you the items you requested before rushing back outside to play with his siblings. "You can go sit in the living room and write, okay?" She pushed back your hair, smiling at you before allowing you to walk off, going to write a letter for James and Lily, along with one for Sirius.

Your hand was shaking as you pondered what to write to your best friends. How do you explain that you're pregnant with their best friend's kids, that he doesn't want them, and that you've left him, all in the same day that they got home?

You set your fears aside and wrote to your best friends, letting everything out that you could.

Dear Lily and James

I'm so glad you're safe, James, I was so incredibly worried. I'm so happy you're back home with Lily and Harry.

You guys might be wondering why I'm not using our owl, that's actually what I was writing you about. I left Remus. Before you're freaking out and such, I'm also pregnant. He wanted me to "take care of it". His words, not mine.

It's twins. I don't know the genders yet, but I'm 6 weeks along. Absolutely huge though. That's a lie, I just feel huge. I can still wear one of his sweaters to cover the bump. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Lils. I wanted to wait until Rem got home and us be able to tell you both together. Don't worry, I'm writing Sirius about it too.

I don't know where I'm gonna stay, if I'm being honest with you. I'm at Molly's right now, but I'm not staying long. I'm not staying at yours either - especially not with you pregnant too Lily, and with Harry. I can't do that to you guys. Plus, like I told Molly, I don't want Remus to know where I am.

I know that might seem wrong, but he wants me to get rid of them. I can't ever do that. They are apart of me, apart of us both. I'm growing these two precious beings that are half of us and full of our love - well, my love. How am I supposed to look him in the eyes and see him hate me as I grow our kids.

I'll write you both after I'm settled somewhere, but this will be my only letter until then. I love you both so, so much. Give Harry a kiss from me.

You folded the letter up and wrote one quite similar to Sirius before tying them to Errol and sending him off to your three best friends.

You stood and waddled back to find Molly with Fred and George outside, scolding them for attempting to get Ron to fly on their broom and hit the Bludger before it hit him.

"This is what I have to look forward to, huh?" You asked, a light smile on your face.

"Oh yeah, they're twice the trouble." She laughed, smiling. Fred and George smiled at that, proud to have caused Mischief in their family. "But they give you twice the love." She spoke, watching as they ran off while their mother was distracted.

The two off you walked towards the house once more, talking. "Did you decide what you want to do?" She asked finally, looking at you.

"I'm going to the states. I have some family there that I want to go visit, one with a guest house that I can stay in. I owled to them when I sent Lily and James one." You stood before her, tears welling up.

"You better come see me all the time still, send me pictures of you growing. Send me the address so we can come see you, especially in America! Don't let me go without seeing you growing my grandbabies." You nodded, wrapping her up in your hold.

"I won't, I swear. I'll send you so many owls, you're gonna think I am living with you." She kissed your temple, holding your cheeks.

"Okay, I put your bag upstairs in Bill's room, just as a precaution. Do you want me to go get it or-" she was cut off with a frantic knock, the hits not stopping.

"I'll go get it, that sounds urgent." You both laughed softly, your swollen feet carrying you up the stairs and to Bill's room, grabbing your suitcase before heading down the stairs.

"Molly, where is she. I just want to see her." You heard Lily speak, her voice hurried.

"Sirius, let me go! She's in there, I know she is!" Remus yelled, his voice carrying up the stairs.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." You mumbled, looking around the stairs for some kind of hidden passage. It's a wizard and witch house, how is there not a hidden passage?" You reached for your wand, your eyes squeezing shut as you realized you set it down to write to your friends.

"Stop it! All four of you!" Molly yelled, her voice sharp. "There is a woman in my home who is pregnant and does not need this kind of stress. Now, I will ask her if and who she would like to see."

While she was speaking, you creeped down the rest of the stairs and slipped into the living room, grasping your wand.

"Worse than my own kids, I swear." You heard her mumble before walking towards the living room. "Y/n, dear? I'm sure you've heard them by now but the boys and Lily -" she cut herself off, her eyes finding you holding your wand and suitcase, your eyes welled up with tears and your lip between your teeth.

"I love you, Mum." You whispered, before clutching your belly in protection with your arm holding your suitcase, apparating from the warm home.

[multiplefandomsblog]

Shuichi x fem!reader fluffshot

desc; shuichi with a fem!s/o who enjoys wearing dresses. she goes out of her way to buy a dress for a date.

warnings; they're in highschool? i think???, suggestive depends on how you look at it, fluff, so many clichés, i did some fake text messages bc i didnt know how to type the text message format

word count; 2k

“Hmm...” You hummed frustratingly as you skimmed through the dresses in the shop, not finding one you were happy with. You were trying to find a dress that you thought Shuichi would like, but so far you haven’t found one that piqued your interest. You furrowed your brow at a blue dress that you came across on, looking at the back in interest. You grinned as you finally found the right one, the one you were going to wear for the date you had with Shuichi.

As you brought it to the counter and took out your wallet, you couldn’t stop thinking of how Shuichi would react. You felt giddy from the excitement of seeing him flushed from the sight of you. Quickly purchasing the dress, you grabbed the handle of the bag the dress was in and made your way back home with a bounce in your step.

As you sat in one of the public bus seats, you checked your phone for the time. Your eyes widened in panic when you saw the big bold letters read, “5:00 pm” That meant you only had 1 hour to prepare for the date you had with Shuichi. You put your phone back in your pocket and started fidgeting with your fingers in distress, predicting how much time it would take for you to get home, shower and dress up. ‘Would there be enough time?’ You thought. Shifting uncomfortably in your seat as the anxiety bubbled up inside you, waiting to pour out.

Whilst you were panicking in the bus seat, Shuichi was at his house trying on multiple shirts that he was unhappy with. He stood in front of his full body mirror with faux confidence, “H-hey there uh, you look great!” He spoke to the mirror with a nervous smile, picturing you in front of him. His face dropped as he sighed, “Great? Great!? Get it together Shuichi, we both know that she’s much more than great.” He grumbled to himself as he took off his shirt and--yet again-- put on another one.

He looked in the mirror, examining the black button-up on his back. He made a sound of uncertainty before nodding, “Eh, okay.” He inhaled before faced the mirror again and looking himself dead in the eyes. “S/o, would you be my girlfriend?” He said--surprisingly--without a single stutter, before breaking character and groaning. He squatted down and muffled his screams in his knees, face red from shame. “I can’t do this,”

“No, I-I can do this. What would Kaito say if he saw you being such a coward?” He muttered as he stood up and paced the room stressfully, before stopping and staring at the flowers he got for you. He had an internal battle in his head between ‘What if she says no?’ and ‘But what if she says yes?’ In the end, he decided that future Shuichi would decide.

~~~

Once the bus stopped near your home, you quickly hopped off the stairs of the vehicle and started jogging to your house. You unlocked the door to your house and rushed to your room. Checking the time again, it read 5:14 pm. ‘Perfect.’ You thought as you hastily stripped yourself of your clothes and showered. No longer than 10 minutes later, you carefully got out of the shower, careful not to slip. While you dried yourself, you heard your phone ring. Unlocking your phone, you smiled at the message from Shuichi.

Shuichi yelped as he pressed send, throwing his phone at his bed. You replied back with trembling fingers and rosy cheeks.

You laughed loudly as you watched his calm composed texts turned into embarrassed apologies. Your nerves easing as you laughed. Taking a small breather, you replied back with a goofy smile on your face.

You left his last message on read as you dried your hair with a victorious smile. Whilst you basked in glory, Shuichi was at his house, trying his best not to imagine you naked. “Keep it together, Shuichi!” He told himself, voice muffled by his hands. He lightly whacked his head, trying to stop where his thought process was going. He really didn’t want to picture you naked; He would never look at you the same way if he did. Shaking his head of his strange thoughts, he went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face.

~~~

Once you dried your hair thoroughly, you got out of the bathroom, shivering as you felt the cold hair hit your damp skin. You quickly slipped on your undergarments, wanting some sort of material on your cold body. After slipping on your undergarments, you made your way towards the small paper bag you had left near your room door. You reached into the bag and grabbed the dress, grinning excitedly as you saw the glossy dark blue fabric.

You put on the dress and went to go check yourself in the mirror. Looking into your reflection, you beamed at how your dress looked on your figure. You felt like a fucking Disney princess. You made a few funny power poses in the mirror to hype yourself up. This might be your new favourite, you thought, you just hope that Shuichi likes the dress just as much as you do. You did a few playful spins in the mirror, before glancing at the clock on your wall, ‘5:35 pm.’ Looks like you had more time than you needed.

You sat down on your bed, picking up your phone, and opening the messaging app to text Shuichi. Your thumb hovered over the keys, as you hesitated. You decided it would be rude to ask someone if they wanted to go earlier when you had already agreed on a time. So, instead, you exited the app and scrolled on Tumblr, occasionally laughing at a shitpost.

〜〜〜

Shuichi stared at his phone, waiting for the screen to light up with a notification impatiently. His ahoge perking up every time he saw his screen brighten up with a notification, but deflating when he saw it wasn’t you. He glared at the small box before caving in and grabbing his phone. He opened the messaging app, about to text you when suddenly, his phone started vibrating. He almost dropped his phone from surprise, fumbling it until he caught it. Unfortunately, his thumb had tapped on the answer button before he could see who it was.

When he finally held his phone in his hands to look at it clearly, his eyes widened as his heart thumped when he saw your name. Clearing his throat, he quickly brought his phone next to his ear, letting out a squeaky, “Hello?” He winced at the unwanted pubescent sound his throat made, face-palming as his voice failed him.

“Uh-Hi! Is-is your throat okay?” You asked, unsure if who you heard was Shuichi. “U-um yeah- No, my uh, my throat is fine.” He cleared his throat once again. It was as if he had forgotten to speak, somehow managing to mess up each word. “S-so, why’d you call?” Shuichi asked nervously, trying to steer the conversation away from his squeaky voice. He awaited your answer as he laid on his back on his bed, gripping his phone with one hand and leaving the back of his other hand on his forehead.

~~~

“No reason, really. Guess I just got impatient and wanted to hear your voice.” You slyly replied, your face heating up with every word that made its way out of your mouth. You see, that was a lie. You had actually been trying to change his contact name to something funny but you had accidentally pressed the call button. What? Did you really think you would have enough confidence to call him yourself? Hah, you wish! You should be thanking your ginormous fingers.

Shuichi sighed dreamily, basking in the sound of your voice. He was so entranced by the sound of it, that the lovesick idiot forgot to reply. Causing your thoughts to go into overdrive and your confidence to go ‘poof!’, “Oh! I-I’m sorry if that’s weird! I just mea-” He snapped out of his daze the moment he heard your panicked voice, quick to dismiss your thought process, “N-no, it’s not weird! To be honest, I wanted to hear your voice too but I just d-didn’t have enough confidence to call.” He admitted quietly, face flushing from his mini confession.

“O-oh.” You were sure you were going to pass out from overheating, he wanted to hear your voice too! You lived in the thought that Shuichi likes the sound of your voice. Shuichi continued the conversation, “So... Tell me about the dress you said you thought I’d like, I’d love to hear about how it looks.” Shuichi smiled fondly, knowing how much you love dresses. As the image of you in a summer dress popped up in his head, he felt his heart warm up. He’s extremely grateful that you enjoy wearing dresses because he enjoys seeing you in them just as much.

Every time he sees you approach him with a dress on, he’s on cloud 9. He swore he was the luckiest man alive when you accepted to go out with him. As you giggled at his words, you were unaware of the effect your giggle had on this man. Your giggle was near fatal for a love-sick fool like him, you made his heart pump just a little bit faster in his chest.

“Nice try, Saihara-Kun. But it’s a surprise! Don’t worry about it though, I am positive you’ll like it.” You teased, running your fingers on the glossy blue fabric in thought. Shuichi chuckled underneath his breath, making your heart skip a beat this time. “You caught me,” Shuichi confessed, laughing quietly. You pressed your hands against your red cheeks, feeling how warm they were.

Glancing at the clock, you spoke, “Oh hey, it’s already 5:46 pm. Are you going to pick me up, Mr. Detective?” You purred, standing up and searching for your purse. Shuichi checked the time on his phone, eyes widening at the time, “Already? It felt much shorter than that.” You shook your head and laughed, “Time goes faster when you’re having fun.” You chimed. “That’s the most cliché thing I’ve ever heard you say.” Shuichi deadpanned, causing you to chuckle at the tone of his voice.

“But it’s pretty accurate isn’t it?” Shuichi sighed in defeat, “I guess so. Or maybe the author was too lazy to write more.” You hummed in agreement, “That’s probably what happened, yeah.” You smiled softly before saying the words neither of you wanted to hear, “Hey, we have to hang up now.” Shuichi felt dread wash over his body at the thought of not hearing your voice, “You have to pick me up remember?” You reminded, cleaning your room a bit before you left. “Don’t hang up.” He pouted, not wanting to stop hearing your voice.

“Shuichi, I’m going to see you in, like, less than 10 minutes.” You giggled at his desperate tone of voice, “Trust me, I don’t want to hang up either.” Shuichi exaggerated his sigh, “Okay, okay, I’m on my way. I’ll see you in 10 minutes, yeah?” He quickly got up, smoothening the wrinkles on his dress shirt. “Yup!” You gushed, feeling caught up in the moment you blurted out, “Love you!”

Crazily enough, Shuichi didn’t seem to notice it either as he replied, “Love you too.” As both of you hung up, you paused. ‘Wait.’

Shuichi also froze, ‘wait a second.’ The two oblivious idiots simultaneously had a mental breakdown, both realizing that they both had just confessed to each other. What did this mean? Were you two a couple now?? Shuichi pushed the thought to the back of his head, focusing on the fact he had to drive to your house and he couldn’t be distracted(drive safely!). He picked up his keys and the roses he had gotten for you earlier today, and made his way out the door.

You slipped on your heels with one hand while you held your purse with the other. Looking in the mirror one more time, you adjusted your dress slightly before taking a peek at the clock. 5:59 pm. You made your way to the door and opened it. Jolting when you saw Shuichi’s tall body right in front of you, “Shui- Why didn’t you ring the doorbell?” You questioned, cocking your head to the side. Shuichi looked at you in awe, you were right, he really did love your dress.

“I... Uh...” He couldn’t say anything as he marvelled over the way you looked in the blue dress. You grinned bashfully, twirling a bit for him. “You like it?” You bit your lip, looking up at him. He simply nodded, not able to think of any words to describe how godly you looked at the moment.

Holy shit, he really, really wanted to kiss you.

He found himself slowly leaning towards you, eyeing your lips. “Shu?” You tried to snap him out of his daze, before realizing where his eyes were trained on. Realization dawned over you and you flushed, eyeing his lips as in turn. Reaching up to grab his face, you gently put your hands on his jaw and craned your neck to kiss him. Thank god for the heels, you would’ve had to pull him down without them.

His eyes expanded due to the fact you made the first move. Closing his eyes, he gripped your hips, sliding his hands over the material of your dress. As he kept going for more of your lips, more of your touch, more of you, the more he became intoxicated. But to his dismay, you pulled away, breath fanning against his chin. “Ditch the date?” You asked, trying to gain your breath back. “Ditch the date.” Shuichi eagerly replied, curling his arm around your waist and pulling you inside your house, closing the door behind him.

this is so long ;--; and unedited- hsbhjbdkndfx i hope you guys enjoyed this! super fun to write brooo, and hey! its only 1 am! proud of me? :D - mod chia

[karlajoyner]

Stole My heart (Owen Patrick Joyner x Reader)

A/n: Hey guys so there’s this imagine let me know if I should make a part 2? Possibly a smut? I don’t know let me know! Also let me know if I should post these on wattpad too!!!

Warnings: None

————

"Owen seriously if someone catches us I'm gonna kill you"

"No ones gonna catch us. They're filming a scene" He mumbled leaving a trail of kisses down my neck.

"That's what you said last time"

"They didn't catch us" He said pushing my shirt down my shoulder.

"Yeah but they almost did- wait. Are you? Owen" I scolded pushing him away.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"What do you mean what? The makeup department will literally kill me if I show up with another hickey. Then their gonna interrogate me like they did last time since there are limited people I see daily" I groaned.

"They're not gonna kill you y/n. Relax"

"I can't relax. Now that we landed a season 2 the chances of us getting caught are much higher now. Plus my character has such a bigger part now" I spoke pacing back and forth in the dimly lit room. Julie's room set to be exact.

"I know. But you can't let that get to you now. You did amazing the first season and your gonna kill it this season. And if we get caught then oh well"

"Oh well? Oh well. Owen I already told you I don't want anyone to know about us until-"

"Until we're sure it's not gonna effect our worth ethic. I know" He muttered sitting down on the bed. I sighed realizing he was upset. It was never my intention to date my co-star. Let alone fall in love with him. But after spending countless of hours on set and off set with him there was no denying the chemistry. And what to everyone seemed like an amazing friendship was actually something more.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I wish things could be different but-"

"But this is your first big part. I get it" he said moving to sit me on his lap.

"I'll back off. We'll just have to keep sneaking around"

"Owen-"

"No harm. No foul. If this is what I have to do to be with you I'll do it" He said kissing the spot he had previously been sucking on.

"And I'd do it again" He whispered kissing my skin once more.

"And again" Another kiss.

"And again" He spoke finally meeting my lips. The kiss last longer than the ones shared previously. It was much more passionate on both ends. The risk of getting caught high.

"Owen" I giggled as he flipped us over on the bed.

"Yes?" He questioned as his fingers made their way up my shirt.

"Baby" I moaned as his hands cupped my left boob.

"Mmm" He muttered against my lips.

"We've got to get back on set soon. I have a scene with Jer" I panted pulling away.

"Don't do it"

"Owen" I warned.

"Fine" He groaned getting off me.

"But for the record if they did know we were dating I would not give my approval for the stupid kissing scene" He said kicking the ground like a little kid. Referring to the fact that my character became Reggies love interest this season.

"Be careful there babe the jealousy is peeking through. Just be lucky he's married and they cut it down from a whole make out scene" I teased checking myself in the full length mirror.

"Yeah yeah. God the unholy things I would've done to you in that bed" He whispered in my ear as his hands explored my body.

"Don't temp me Joyner" I said a smirk making it's way onto his face.

"I'm here!" I called running onto set.

"Finally! Where were you?" Charlie asked exasperatedly standing beside Kenny who was looking at script at hand.

"We don't have time to interrogate her Charlie we've got to get this scene filmed if we wanna stick to schedule. Y/n next time be on set 5 minutes before"

"Yes Kenny. Sorry I was um was distracted. Lost track of time" I said noticing Owen had walking onto set casually going to talk to Mads and Savannah.

"Okay so this scene your gonna walk in on cue to your mark. Find Luke sitting on the couch playing his guitar. Sentimental talk. Confess your undying love for Reggie. Then Jers gonna come in tell y/c/n he loves her too. But he can't be with her because he had this girlfriend back in 95 who he never officially broke up with. Then he says screw it. You kiss. End scene"

"Oh the kiss. That's this scene?" I asked finding Owen who was deeply in conversation.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No, no I'm ready" I said not expecting to have to do this in front of my secret boyfriend right now.

I sighed going to stand on my beginning mark. I watched as Charlie did the same.

The lights dimming in the studio to replicate nightfall.

"And action!" Kenny yelled.

I opened the barn like doors walking in slowly.

"Oh Luke. I didn't know you were here sorry I'll go-"

"No. No it's okay. I was just messing around. What's up?"

"I was looking for Reggie"

"Looking for Reggie? Oh he's with Alex and Willie. He should be back soon"

"Then I'll just go. Thanks I guess"

"Wait. Can I play you something?" Charlie questioned taking a hold of my wrist.

"Um sure. Why not?" I asked sitting down next to him. I listened as he began strumming his guitar to a familiar tune. A small smile forming on my lips.

"That was great Luke. Did you write that? Maybe about someone whose name rhymes with Judy" I spoke in a teasing matter.

"No. Actually Reggie wrote it. About someone who name rhymes with yours" He said a blush forming on my face.

"Okay. I get what your saying" I said playfully rolling my eyes.

"Good. I thought I'd have to follow up with home is where my horse is" He said making me giggle.

"How could I possibly tell a ghost who died 25 years ago that I'm completely head over heels for him?"

"Maybe the same way your telling a ghost who died 25 years ago right now" Charlie said jokingly bumping my shoulder.

"Right... I just- I don't want to get rejected by a ghost. It's one thing when they're alive but if the dead doesn't want me I think that's saying something"

"Y/n, Reggies in love with you. He'd be thrilled if you showed any romantic interest in him. At least more than you already do" He teased me once again.

"Thanks Luke. I just hope he doesn't freak out on me like last time"

"Last time?"

"Yeah last time I brought up relationships in a topic he got all weird and left. So I just never did it again"

"Oh. Look y/c/n back in 95 we had a decent following and a ton of girls following after us" A strange look forming on Charlie's face.

"Okayyy" I stretched out the word.

"And Reggie. You know him he uh well he's a fl-" Charlie words were cut off.

On cue Jeremy strolled into the studio set as Charlie and I sat facing each other stiffly.

I stifled a giggle knowing this would later be edited so it'd look like Jer flashed in out of nowhere.

"Y/c/n? Luke?"

"Oh Reggie. Hi" I stood up continuing the scene.

"Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home"

"I was. Julie invited me over for a bit and I thought I'd say hi before I uh left. I though maybe we could talk for a bit"

"Oh. Okay yeah" He slightly smiled before turning to the brunette beside me.

"And what are you still doing here?" Jeremy asked looking at Charlie.

"Hey, I was just leaving man. She's all yours" Charlie smirked at us before walking off set.

Jer and I paused until his footsteps could no longer be heard before continuing.

"So um what did you want to talk about?"

"Just um stuff" I said standing still in my spot.

"What stuff?" He asked coming to stand in front of me.

"Luke. He played me your song" I said picking up the piece of paper with chicken scratch from the coffe table.

"Lifer Girl?" I finally read the title before looking up into his brown eyes.

"Uh yeah. I'm still working on the name. Did you like it?"

"I loved it. This lifer girl. She's one lucky girl. Do I know her?"

"Of course you do. Your practically the same person" he said a piece of my hair falling to the front of my face. I nervously played with my fingers as he pushed the strand behind my ears.

"Oh. Can you tell me about her?"

"Well she's funny and makes me feel happy when I'm around her. She's really smart and her grades skyrocket compared to what mine use to be. And she's beautiful, drop dead gorgeous" He whispered tilting my head up with his fingers.

For a moment I looked up into his brown eyes wishing. Longing for them to be someone else's. I felt his finger leave my chin before he turned away dramatically.

"I shouldn't"

"Shouldn't?" I asked curiously.

"I can't"

"Can't? Why not?" I questioned once more.

"Y/c/n there's something I need to tell you"

"What is it Reg?"

"Back in 1995 you know before we died. I uh-"

"You what?" I asked urging him to continue.

"I had a girlfriend and well then we died. So we never officially broke up" Jer said.

"Oh" I mumbled backing away from him.

"I get it"

"No wait y/c/-"

"No Reggie it's okay. Your still in love with her. Of course you are. God how could I be so stupid to think that you'd actually love me. Let alone like m-" My eyes widened as I felt him crash his lips into mine completely going off script. Which wasn't uncommon. But it was supposed to be a short kiss. There were lines that were missing.

Slowly I pretended to sink into the kiss. Pulling away after a couple of seconds amongst hearing the word.

"Cut!" Kenny yelled Jeremy finally letting me go.

"That was amazing! Spectacular! Great improve Jer! We're done with this scene!" He called out to us. But all I could focus on was the look plastered on Owens face. He was hurt. But not because of the kiss. But because of the fact that he couldn't do that. Not out in public anyways.

"Yeah great going Jer" I commented to the boy in front of me.

"Thanks y/n. You did great too" He said getting near me.

"But if I were you I'd go talk to your boyfriend before he bursts" He whispered in my ear leaving me wide eyed.

"H-how'd you?"

"Know? Please everyone knows. I mean you guys aren't great at hiding things. There's actually a poll between Kenny and Charlie. Whichever one of you slips up firsts. My bets on Owen" He chuckled.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Seriously"

“Who was the first one to know"

"Sonya in makeup. The first hickey you showed up with only matched with the timeframe that you and Owen had been together. Clearly not getting lunch like you had said you were"

"That long?" I asked.

"Yup" He spoke popping his p.

"Just don't tell anyone I told you. Carolynn insisted I put you out of your misery"

"Thanks. I think" He smiled at me before walking away.

A grin began to form on my face as I made my way toward the blonde who was leaning against a wall twirling one of his drumsticks in his left hand.

"Hey. Great scene back there" He commented as I now stood in front of him.

"Thanks. You know Jers a good kisser and all but I think your better" I spoke aloud noticing Savannah's and Madison's head whipping towards us.

"What?" He asked making sure he heard right.

"You heard me Joyner" I spoke giggling at his shocked reaction.

"Now shut up and kiss me would you?" He tilted his head to be extra sure. Something I adored about him.

He always wanted to make sure I was certain about these things. I simply nodded feeling his arms wrap around me bringing his lips to meet mine.

I smiled into the kiss as he turned us around pushing me up against the wall. I giggled upon hearing clapping around us from the cast and crew.

"Finally!" I heard Savannah shout.

"Keep it PG kids!" Kenny shouted laughter following.

"You owe me 20 Gillespie!" He yelled again followed by a groan by presumably Charlie. I finally pulled away first leaving Owen in shock.

"I'm gonna need you to come back to reality lover boy" I said rubbing my thumb against his cheek.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked keeping a tight hold on my waist.

"Let's just say you have Carolynn to thank for that. Apparently everyone knew"

"What? How?"

"I guess we weren't as good at keeping a secret as we thought"

"How long?"

"First hickey"

“That long?"

"That's what I said" I laughed as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"You two are so cute"

"Thanks Mads" I smiled at the girl.

Finally able to wrap my arms around the boy who had stolen my heart without any warning.

[ethereal-not-occult]

patience and the mulberry

"With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown."

Fandom: Good Omens Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) Characters: Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale (Good Omens) Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Fluff and Angst, Character(s) of Color, Sericulture, silkworms, past religious trauma, but nothing bad happens in this fic I promise, mixed bookverse w/ TV elements, references to Chinese culture Notes: Originally written for the @goodomensfashionzine​ !

“I'll only be a minute, dear.” Aziraphale kissed Crowley's cheek as he opened the door of the Bentley. “You don't have to see me to the door if you don't want to.”

Crowley tightened his grip on the wheel. “Sure, angel. Sounds good to me.” The sibilants slid far too quickly past his clenched jaw, and he bit his tongue to stop the instinctive hiss from escaping.

Aziraphale gave him a sympathetic look, but shut the Bentley's door behind him and soon disappeared through the doors of the church. Once he was out of sight, Crowley slumped forward slightly, sliding his sunglasses up and rubbing at his eyes. A few deep breaths later, and he felt composed enough to exit the Bentley himself in blatant disregard for the “NO PARKING” sign on the curb.¹

[¹ Given his new job position (or lack thereof), lawbreaking was no longer a necessity, but old habits die hard.]

The bright afternoon sun made him wince a bit, and two robins in a nearby bush were getting frisky in a way he would never be able to unhear, but they made it easier to forget the distant wail of air sirens. Even standing out on the road, Crowley's skin prickled faintly with the remembered sting of consecrated ground.

He pushed the feeling aside and walked resolutely forward. Aziraphale was bound to take his sweet time as he mooned over the church's dusty old tomes, but Crowley had his own investigations to conduct while he waited. No rest for the wicked and all that.

The concrete pavement under his snakeskin shoes gave way to grass, and the tingling sensation in his soles faded. Soon he found himself at his intended destination—an Edenic grove of mulberry trees, clustered together in a ring in the church's backyard. He'd spotted them on the drive over and couldn't resist the temptation of a closer look.

Crowley wandered into the garden with a scrutinizing eye. They were young, for trees, but growing well despite their callowness. A particularly stocky sapling hardly flinched when Crowley gave it a token glare, much to his disappointment. Then again, outdoor plants were rarely as well-behaved as properly cowed houseplants. It seemed this attitude persisted even in ecclesiastic gardens such as these.

He cast a surreptitious glance over his shoulder, then reached a hand up into the tree's umbrella-like branches and tugged. The season wasn't quite right for fruits, but he still withdrew clutching a handful of dark ripe mulberries. Hardly apples, but his lips twitched upwards nonetheless. He plucked a berry from the pile and raised it to his lips.

“Zaoshang hao!”

Only a hasty miracle saved Crowley from choking as he jumped and swiveled around. Hovering right outside the churchyard was a middle-aged human, well-dressed and smiling pleasantly at him. Judging by her formal clothing and the Bible she carried, she was a part of the congregation, maybe even the priest herself. Crowley swallowed and stepped backwards.

“Ni shi jiaohui de xinshou ma?” the human called again, picking her way across the dewy grass in his direction. Crowley eyed the Bible she held, willing himself not to break out into hives.

“Um. Wo bu—er, no. I'm not new. Not here for church at all, actually.” He fidgeted and clasped his hands, still full of pilfered mulberries, behind his back. “Just waiting for someone.”

The human raised an eyebrow. “You're welcome to wait inside, if you like,” she said, also switching to English. “I reckon we still have biscuits left from the children's morning service—”

“No!” Crowley said too quickly, and perhaps too sharply. He winced. “I mean. That won't be necessary. I'd much rather stay out here, if it isn't too much trouble.”

The human gave him a Look. Crowley's cheeks heated and he averted his eyes, willing his sunglasses a few shades darker.

“Beautiful, aren't they?”

Crowley's head shot back up. The human had turned her back to him and was running a hand through the glossy green leaves of the nearest mulberry tree. Crowley could practically see the branches stretch out in delight beneath her touch, like a purring cat.

“Volunteers from our congregation take care of them,” the human continued, smiling at the young tree. “The kids here like raising silkworms, you see, and we welcome them to pick leaves from the trees each week to feed them.”

Silkworms. Of course. Despite himself, a hazy memory rose to the forefront of his mind: Sichuan, China, several hundreds of years ago. A family farm, weathered and cozy and oozing enough sheer goodness to make the average demon ill with it. Crowley wouldn't normally be caught dead in such a place, but he had owed a favour to the angel. His fingers twitched at the phantom memory of butter-soft silk fibres against his skin; long, winding threads that stretched out thin and fine, tangling so easily around his uncertain fingers. With this memory came the golden, moon-round face of a child he hadn't thought about in centuries, grinning toothily as they held out a box to him, a box filled with small pale larvae that wriggled among the spade-shaped leaves. “Zhe jiao can.”

Crowley forced himself to return to the present. The human was speaking to him.

“—waiting on Mr. Fell?” she asked.

Crowley blinked. Shook himself a little. “Yeah. He's helping out with the restoration of some old manuscript or other.”

The human smiled again. It was an unnervingly piercing expression. “I'm aware. I was the one who requested his help. Such a lovely man. Are you a friend of his?”

Crowley tensed. “His husband, actually.”

He braced himself, but the human only brightened. “Goodness, then you must be Mr. Crowley! Mr. Fell talks ever so much about you. Finally gone and tied the knot then, have you?”

Before Crowley could stammer out a reply, something dinged loudly, making him jump. The human pulled a phone out from her pocket and squinted at the screen.

“Sorry, I have to run back inside. But it was lovely meeting you, Mr. Crowley.” She stuck out a hand—thankfully not the one that had been holding the Bible—and after a brief hesitation, Crowley shook it. As quickly as she had arrived, the human disappeared from the garden, leaving Crowley alone and off-kilter amid a grove of mulberry trees.

---

Aziraphale emerged from the church around an hour later to find Crowley seated on the curb next to the Bentley, basking in the last rays of the afternoon sun as he scrolled through his phone.

“My dear,” the angel sighed. His joints creaked as he eased himself down to sit next to Crowley on the roadside. “Don't tell me you've been sitting here the entire time.”

“Nope,” Crowley said, popping the ‘p’. “I toured the gardens for a bit. Swiped some fruits, too. The mulberries aren’t half-bad, for a bunch of church plants, but they’ll need a good deal more threatening before they're really up to snuff.”

Crowley stopped when he saw Aziraphale chewing his lip, brow furrowed as he studied Crowley's face. Now it was Crowley's turn to sigh.

“Really, angel. It's fine. I was hardly bored.”

The expression didn't leave Aziraphale's face. A soft brown hand reached out and brushed aside stray wisps of hair from Crowley's forehead. The demon hadn't bothered to cut it since the Apocalypse-that-wasn't, and it was growing longer and more unruly by the day.

“I'm fine.” Crowley caught Aziraphale's hand and held it, carefully. He pressed his lips against the well-manicured fingers. “It was years ago, angel, and we both came out of it all right. You don't need to worry about me.”

Aziraphale still looked vaguely distressed as Crowley drew him close. With the sun setting behind him, framing his face and curly dark hair in a golden halo, he was the most beautiful thing Crowley had ever seen.

He kissed him then, right there on the road, in full sight of the church and probably Someone Else, too, if She happened to be watching at that particular moment. Once, he would've been terrified of such a public display, but he hadn't gone through hellfire and holy water to care anymore about what others thought of them.

As he helped Aziraphale into the Bentley, he noticed abruptly that the angel was carrying what appeared to be a shoebox, of all things, along with his usual camelhair coat.

“What on Earth is that?”

“Oh!” Aziraphale carefully pushed the box over to Crowley. “Mrs. Lao gave it to me once I'd finished with those manuscripts. She said it was a gift for you, actually. Have the two of you met before?”

Crowley stared down at the box, baffled. “We talked for a bit in the gardens just now, but I can’t imagine why…”

He trailed off, and his mouth dropped open as Aziraphale eased open the lid and beheld the contents with a raised eyebrow.

“Good heavens. Are those caterpillars?”

“Silkworms,” Crowley corrected automatically, leaning in for a closer look. There were so many of them, somehow both smaller and larger than he remembered, all white and wiggly and chomping away busily at the layers of mulberry leaves filling their box. None of them paid any attention whatsoever to their occult observers hovering above them.

“Why would she give you such a thing? Not that they aren't dear little creatures,” Aziraphale added hastily, glancing into the box, “but I doubt I have the means to keep them in the bookshop.”

“No need,” Crowley said before he could stop himself. “I can raise 'em in my flat.”

Aziraphale gave him a curious look. “You know how to care for these… insects?”

“Yeah.” Crowley gently shut the lid of the inhabited shoebox and curled a hand around the Bentley's stick-shift. “I've done something like this, before. I know what I'm doing.”

“If you say so.” Suddenly Aziraphale chuckled. At Crowley's affronted look, he demurred, “I'm not making fun, my dear. It's only that you still manage to surprise me, even after all these years.”

Aziraphale leaned in and pecked Crowley's cheek, making him blush red and sputter. Much to his disgruntlement, the Bentley chirped a light-hearted rendition of Haydn's Crazy Little Thing Called Love all the way home.

---

Crowley had spent the past eleven years co-parenting the Antichrist with Aziraphale.² They had faced this challenge head-on, and in his opinion, it hadn’t gone too shabbily. Now, without the threat of the Apocalypse hanging over his head, becoming a surrogate parent was far less daunting the second time around.

[² Even if young Warlock hadn't really been the son of Satan, it was the principle of the thing.]

Still, Crowley worried. He had always been something of a worrier, and that hadn't changed even after the First Day of the Rest of Their Lives.

After dropping off Aziraphale at the bookshop, Crowley returned to his flat, where he commenced the preparations for introducing his unexpected twenty-odd guests to their new home. This was accomplished by miracling up a small glass aquarium onto his desk, lining the bottom with paper towels, and carefully (read: nervously) placing the silkworms one by one into the tank. Once this was done, Crowley scattered the half-eaten mulberry leaves from the box around the aquarium. The silkworms set upon their interrupted lunch with all the enthusiasm of Aziraphale devouring a meringue pie at the Ritz.

Crowley slumped into his chair, took off his sunglasses with a wince, and rested his chin on his desk, staring into the glass tank.

“I raised your ancestors once, you know,” Crowley informed the wriggling creatures. “Tiny farm in China several centuries back. We'd weave branches together into a tray and let you loose inside. Bit like how manmade beehives work, or something.”

Crowley paused. Watched one silkworm slowly inch its way across a stem to tackle a new section of leaf. “‘Course, humans use wire mesh nowadays, but the general premise is the same. Always thought it was bloody clever, what humans could come up with. If you gave me a bunch of moth larvae and told me to make a living out of them, I definitely wouldn't think to make clothes.” He snorted. “Whoever came up with that, I'd like a glass of whatever they were drinking.”

The silkworms munched on. They ate much faster than they crawled, that was certain. In the quiet walls of his flat, away from prying human eyes, Crowley loosened the knot of his silk tie and tugged it off, easing the tightness around his neck.

“You're the ones who made this, in a sense,” he said, waving the tie at them. He laid the tie beside one glass wall of the tank at just the right angle for the inhabitants within to see. Several silkworms looked up curiously.

Crowley tossed his suit jacket aside, then unbuttoned his shirt collar. He had always prided himself on his sharp, modern attire over the years, the better to tempt humans with—or so he claimed. Despite repeated scoldings from his superiors, his Lust quotas had never been quite up to par.

Sufficiently dishevelled, and feeling all the freer for it, Crowley sank back into his chair to watch the silkworms.

“The only thing I didn't like about the process was the boiling,” he murmured. “Logically, I can see why it was done. And you would all be in cocoons, so it's not like you'd be in any pain. Not like I was.” He exhaled, the sound becoming a low hiss. “But still. Never liked it. Always felt like an awful lot of trouble just for the sake of some silk threads.”

One particularly adventurous silkworm had nosed its way upwards and was now creeping over the edge of the tank opening. Crowley made a mental note to devise a lid of some kind and stuck his finger against the lip of the tank. The silkworm crawled onto his hand without any hesitation. Tentatively, he drew it closer. Its many feet stuck stubbornly to his skin, and it reared up as he approached, swaying slightly, its mandibles twitching.

Crowley stared at the silkworm. The silkworm stared back, and seemed disappointed when Crowley had nothing else to offer. Just to prove it wrong, Crowley materialized a single large mulberry leaf in his other hand and presented it to the insect, who fell upon it with gluttonous enthusiasm.

Staring at the miracled leaf, an idea formed in Crowley's mind. He smiled, slowly.

“I need a hobby, now that I'm jobless,” he said aloud to the silkworm, letting it creep onto his palm. He ran a careful finger over its smooth back. “I think I'll take up sericulture again, for old time's sake.” He reached back into the tank and gently encouraged the silkworm to crawl back inside.

“Humans have to boil you alive to get those nice unbroken threads off your cocoons,” Crowley mused, withdrawing his hand. “Fortunately, I don't have to do things the human way.” He lowered himself until he was eye-level with the inhabitants of the tank. The silkworm he had carried paused in its perpetual eating and turned its head, almost like it was looking at him.

“How's this?” Crowley asked. “You'll be able to grow into a fuzzy, fully grown silk-moth, and I can take your cocoon after you've finished with it and miracle the threads whole again.” He paused and mulled it over. “I guess I could take it a step further and just miracle the finished silk together, but there's still something to be said about the human way of doing things.”

The silkworm bobbed the front half of its body as though in agreement. Crowley smiled again.

“We can make silk, and no one gets hurt. I'm a few hundred years out of practice, but I'm sure I could make it work, somehow.”

The silkworm turned its attention back to its meal. Crowley didn't notice. He was too busy wondering if Aziraphale had any old texts on silk-weaving that he could borrow, just so he could refresh his memory.

The angel would appreciate having a new silk bowtie to add to his collection.

---

Thank you for reading! Replies and reblogs are always much appreciated. <3

[devinescribe]

Oh yeah? Any head canon? Okay, listen. Tatta knows how to sew clothes because he's kind of used to trying his darn best to get somewhere in life, and thought it'd be a good skill to learn how to sew.

So he, when he gets the chance, sews his own clothes. They turn out pretty good. Maybe not designer, but they're functional. It also means he knows how to fix clothes, once he gets the chance to.

I love Tatta, please-

And I love this headcanon!

Your night was going relatively well. You weren't dead, your game had been a success, and now you were sitting and chatting with Tatta. You were laughing at a joke he had made, setting down your drink for a second. "Oh my gods! Really?" You giggled. He nodded with a smile. "You're so funny Tatta! Tell me more," you encouraged, giving him a wide smile. His felt his heart do a flip at your words. "You really think so?" He asked. "Of course!"

The night went on with you talking to him about anything that came to mind, his jokes making you laugh. A lot. So much so that soda came out of your nose. And you spilled you glass. "Ow ow, fuck," you groaned, holding your nose. You stood up, so the soda didn't make that much of a mess. You heard him snicker and you pouted at him. "So mean," you said dramatically, leaning against the wooden wall behind you. You went to get back into your chair, before you heard a ripping noise. You looked to see your bathing suit had caught on a nail, ripping the fabric. You gasped, trying to get free from the nail. Tatta helped you and winced. "Ooh... here, have this," he said, taking off his shirt, and sliding it over your head. You blushed at his kind action, hiding your face. "It's not horrible... I could fix it for you if you want?" He suggested, nervously running a hand through his hair. "Could you really?" You asked. He nodded, and you untied your bathing suit top, sliding it out from under his shirt, handing it to him. His face turned bright red as he held it. "Are you ok? You're looking pretty red there," you asked, genuinely worried. "I-im fine! I'm going to go... get some sleep. And fix this for you, promise!'' He shouted before running off. You frowned, thinking you scared him off. "Just when I got to know him a bit more too..."

The next few days it seemed Tatta would ignore you, or purposely avoid you. It made you sad that he wasn't talking to you anymore. You sighed sadly as you walked into a room, noticing Tatta on the other side. You waved with a smile, and he looked at you, running off. Tears filled your eyes as you left. "There's only one way to know... let's go talk to him," you whispered to yourself, heading up to his room.

You sat on his bed, waiting for him to come into his room. When he did he was so surprised to see you, he screamed. "Tatta, it's just me! Calm down," you stated. "I-i have to go-"

"Do you hate me? Did I make you uncomfortable?"

He stared at you in shock. "No! No, of course not I- I was just... um... well, I guess I have been avoiding you.... but it's not for the reason you think I promise!" He stammered, walking over to his closet. He grabbed a medium sized box handing it to you. "I was hoping to... surprise you. But I guess I was being a jerk... I'm sorry, I hope you can forgive me," he apologized. You stared at the box curiously, before looking back up at him. "Go on. It's for you, open it,'' he ushered. You heard the uncertainty in his voice, and wondered what it could possibly be. You opened the box, seeing your swimsuit top. You smiled, noticing it was fixed. Was this what he was so nervous about?

"There's more... under it."

You smiled, taking out the newspaper that decided both things. Under it was a piece of (F/C) fabric. You picked it up, and noticed it was a cover up skirt. You smiled widely. "Wow... where did you find this?" You asked, looking up at him. "I uh... I made it," he muttered. You looked up at him in shock. "Really? You made that for me?" You questioned. He nodded, looking down at the floor. "Why? Why would you do something like this for me... it's so beautiful," you asked, admiring it. "Because... because I-i like you... more than friends," he stuttered. You smirked. "Well... I have to pay you back for this," you said, placing the skirt besides you, and standing up. "You really don't have to, I promise I just wanted to-"

You cut him off by pulling him into a kiss. It was sweet. You had imagined kissing him before, but nothing could compare to actually doing it. You pulled away with a smile. "Was that payment enough?" You giggled, softly taking off his hat and playing with his hair. "I- you- kiss? I-uhm.m yes?" He stammered, unable to believe what just happened. "Hmm... I don't think it was enough..." was all you said before pulling him into another kiss.

[towerfandoms]

hI (its the anon that said both men & women in the khun are hot😳 especially the data vers of maschney omf-) bUT UH if u dun mind,,, could u maybe write a small scenario of like khun aa wif the reader & they're training etc. & like khun is so whipped so he randomly blurt out 'i wonder how our children will look like' which startled the reader & she yk, accidentally hurt herself,,, basically just fluff JSSJDJSJ also u earned another follower😔🤚💘💘💘💘

A/n: ok first of all thank you I LOVE YOU <333! second of all SO sorry for the late ass response. i have no excuse other than i’ve just been studying ew✋😔 but i miss khun and what better way to get back to the grind than khun bullying you

Our Children (Khun x reader)

Wc: 1.2k

Warnings: mentions of Ro*chell.

It felt like you’ve been training for days though realistically it couldn’t have been more than 2 hours. Aguero wasn’t necessarily an evil man (well unless you’re roachell) but goddam was he a tough trainer. If you thought he’d go easy on you because you were his girlfriend then sorry to say but you were dead wrong.

By the time the sun went down you were wrecked. It hurt to even breathe let alone walk. You thought 5 hours of training was enough but your devilishly handsome boyfriend thought otherwise. You were tired and sweaty and just wanted to go have a shower and cuddle afterwards. So you said as much.

“I’m sorry but we still have to do platform training” he smirked. The bastard looked anything but sorry, chuckling at your pouting face. “Awh, don’t give me that look, we can cuddle and even watch one of your dumb romance anime’s later. But we have to be well trained for next week's test.”

“Ughhhhh, fine. But i’m choosing what we’re watching.”

“Of course, of course. Now the quicker we get this done the sooner we can get out of here.”

As much as you wanted to just collapse on the floor and die, the sweet thoughts of watching Kaguya-sama with your boyfriend was very enticing indeed. So you did as you were told and started jumping from platform to platform, gradually getting higher.

Unbeknownst to you, Khun was watching you from down below with adoring eyes. Despite how each jump was excruciating on your aching legs, you still jumped with the gracefulness as that of a cat. Your lovely legs almost gliding from each platform as you skillfully dodged any obstacles that came your way. To put it simply, you were captivating to watch. So enchanting in fact, that Aguero couldn’t help but think about nothing but you.

He appreciated how much you trusted him, enough so that you listened to everything he said without making a fuss. Well, except when it came to what you two were going to be watching that night… He had never felt this way about anyone before. Completely and utterly head over heels. Anything you said would instantly put a small smile on Khun‘s lips no matter how silly it was. That was one of his favourite things about you. He loved your ability to turn anything ordinary into something fun and memorable. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Aguero was completely whipped for you. Hell, he even helped you choose the correct answers for your stupid otome games. Even if you gushed about marrying 707 more than he’d like to hear.

Marriage. He began to imagine your wedding ceremony. You two had been dating for several years now. He wondered when would be the best time to propose. And what about after marriage? Then comes children….

You looked down to see what your sarcastic grandad of a boyfriend was doing and was surprised to see him watching you intently.

“What you thinking about, pretty boy?” you called out to him, still jumping because he’d give out otherwise.

“I wonder what our children will look like?” he blurted out.

That- that caught you off guard.

You didn’t even have time to process his words fully as you had lost your balance and slipped, causing you to fall all the way to the bottom.

You landed with a hard thud on your backside, injuring your head and tailbone.

You didn’t even notice the pain at first because like Khun, you too were a simp so his words just circled your mind.

“Shit, y/n! Are you ok???” Khun called out frantically, running over to where you lay.

“They’d be cute” you mumbled.

“What?” you heard him say, relief flooding his voice seeing that you weren’t too badly injured. Just shaken up.

“Our children. They’d be the prettiest ones in the tower” you replied, still in a daze from the shock, either from his words or the fall.

“Forget the children!” the blue hair male snapped and sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples. However he couldn’t say he was surprised by your antics, “Just see if you can sit up and tell me where it hurts”

He kneeled down beside you and gently helped you sit up. Then ever so carefully, checked your head and backside to make sure there was no serious damage done. Satisfied that you were all right, he wrapped his arms around you and laid his head on your shoulder while you burrowed into his chest.

“Be more careful next time” his words muffled by your shoulder.

“Um, excuse me!” you cried indignantly, lifting your head up to look at his oh so angelic face. “You were the one distracting me. When you blurt our random things like that it’s only natural i’d fall”

Aguero let out a small laugh as you huffed and crossed your arms in mock pout.

“But weren’t you the one that asked? Besides you didn’t answer the question properly. Obviously they’d be cute, i’m the father.”

“Not if 707 comes into my life.” you replied, smiling innocently up at him.

“Oh come on, i thought we were going to have a moment y/n,” now it was Khuns turn to be pouty.

You laughed at your boyfriends cuteness and poked his cheek.

“Awh i’m only kidding.” you said kissing his nose. “Anyways I remember you promising to watch my romance animes with me”

“I remember promising no such thing”

“KHUN! Don’t do that to me. Come on pleaseeee.” you implored, giving him puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately for Khun, he was a simp. He could not say no to them.

“Ughh fine,”eventually giving in. ”Only cuz you’re injured though. But first let’s go take a shower.”

“Together?”

“If you want” he replied, smirking a bit.

“Woah, before marriage too. Jesus did not die for this”

“How do you always manage to ruin the moment” Khun sighed, dramatically placing a hand on his forehead.

You giggled at his theatrics and grabbed Khuns arm.

“Come on let’s go get washed quick. I want to watch Maid-sama” With that you got up, injuries quickly forgotten and raced ouir of the room, half dragging a very startled Khun by the arm.

“Please not Maid-sama. We’ve watched that 5 times already.” he groaned after you, replacing his arm with his hand.

You said nothing and simply giggled again as you ran to the showers.

a/n part 2: ok so there was a lot of references to romance animes but i watched devilman crybaby again and i needed to heal. and yeah i know i always ramble way too much at the end but i just feel like ending it anywhere else would be too sudden. and i just have a kink for annoyinh khun. but i hope you enjoyed this and count arguing with khun as fluff.

[loxley-blair-lockhart]

Puppy love

He saw the scraggly little dog hanging out behind a fish and chip shop long before she saw him. She was good at hiding, her all white coat making her look like some sort of chip rubbish from the shop, but Loxley was very bored and very observant. The first day he did nothing, thinking it might be somebody's pet, but on the third day he saw her ribs sticking out and he knew he had to intervene. He'd come prepared, or so he thought, with a collar and lead that he'd bought especially, but when he finally got close enough and finally got her to trust him enough to actually be wagging her tail and trying to play with him, she had no idea how to walk with a collar, and Loxley didn't know how to make her.

"C'mon," He called her lightly, tapping his leg, but she looked up at him and tilted her head in confusion. He didn't intend on keeping her. Tyler wouldn't ever let him, and he didn't know how to keep a puppy anyway. But when she tilted her head Loxley's heart ached.

He ended up carrying her to the local vet, where they did a variety of tests while Loxley patted the dog and tried to keep her calm. 

"She's an Irish Wolfhound, you know." Said the vet, which Loxley decided couldn't be too much older than him. "They're quite a sought after breed. You're sure she had no family?"

"I've watched her for a couple of days, and she's so skinny... But people might be looking for her?" He was hopeful. He could imagine her with a young family. Maybe a little kid was worried about their dog. 

"Perhaps. Perhaps she started getting too big. It happens with  big breeds, getting abandoned I mean. She'll be taller than you on her hind legs at full grown."

Shocked, Loxley looked at the puppy again, this time noticing how big her paws were. 

"We can keep her here for a week and try to find the family, but that's all we've got the resources for. Then we need to send her to the pound, and they've only got resources for two weeks..." they were both quiet, knowing what happened next. The pup looked between them happily, her tongue loling about her mouth. 

"Um, look, don't send her to the pound, alright? I'll take her. I just need to talk to my, er, landlord." Not to mention Tyler, but he felt like he needed to drug him to get him to agree. Something. He had a week if this family didn't show up. Loxley took his phone out and took a picture of the pup. "A week, yeah? I'll pay for everything, don't worry. Just don't send her to the pound."

The vet smiled and looked a little relieved. Loxley gave the vets all his info and had a little pat with the puppy on the floor while everything was processed. "I've just got some work to do. I hope your real family comes and gets you, but if not, you can come stay with me, ok? Tyler's taller than me on his hind legs anyway, I'm used to it." He gave the dog a nuzzle before she was taken away. Loxley, still on the floor, called Alastair.

~

"Loxley Blair, always a pleasure." The older man smiled without the heart. Loxley had always given him a hard time, but this time he was going to have to take a different approach. 

"I found a dog," He began, and he showed the picture. "And she was all alone and half dead and I saved her, but she's only got a couple of weeks until they'll put her to sleep, and she's such a sweet puppy. Tyler will flip and I know one of the first things he'll bring up is you and well, please? I'm always outside and doing stuff anyway, so it's not like she'll dig up your garden, and even if she did it's not like I'm not the best person to fix it," Bragging? He cleared his throat and took back his phone. "I'll do some work for you if that helps. Landscaping, labouring, whatever. I just felt a connection, you know?" He was beginning to tear up, like he did in situations where he was frustrated. Alastair hasn't said a word, and Loxley thought he must be thinking of an especially fruity way of saying no. He'd have to sort out another home for the dog. Piper?

"You can keep her as long as Tyler is okay with it." Alastair said after way too much contemplation. Loxley gave a huge sigh of relief. "And I'll take the landscaping, thank you. You're welcome to bring the pup, my wife loves dogs." And it was all Loxley could do to not gag. Instead he twisted his face into a smile, and actually shook Alastair's hand. "Thank you." He managed to not spit. "I'll text you the outcome... it might take a couple of days." 

"Oh I'm sure of it." Alastair laughed. Loxley could have gagged then, too. Tyler wasn't going to be pleased at all.

[followingfallout4]

Companions react to sole always joking about their death when really they're really considering it because they hate themselves but always joking and playing off like nothing is wrong

Thank you for this ask, anon. I’m hoping this one might give people who are dealing with this some hope and comfort, maybe even to talk about it to someone they love and trust. These characters would believe in you, and one way or another so do I ❤️ Intro: Sole was not doing nearly as well as they pretended to. Being in the ravages of the commonwealth, losing what they lost... they felt useless, hadn’t been able to stop it all. Sole couldn’t shake the thought that nothing would change that feeling. They hated themself for not being good enough, never feeling happy enough so faking that it was to the outside world was the next best thing. Joking to hide it, just one day at a time, as long as nobody found out about it. That was until the day, in spite of the smile still set on their face, something must’ve shone through in one of their jokes. They were looking into the very concerned eyes of their Companion. “ Hey... are you alright?”  It took Sole a fraction of a second to regain their composure, to get back to the façade and the fake smile. “Yeah, of course! I was just joking, let’s go.” Their companion held them by the arm, not tightly, but just to get them to turn around and stand still.  “ Sole... What is really going on?” The worry in their voice made Sole cave in entirely. They had hoped never to have to explain this... not like they would understand it anyway. But they couldn’t evade it anymore. Tears welled up in Sole’s eyes as they admitted that maybe they hadn’t just been jokes. 

Codsworth: He felt like something had been going on for a while now, noticing the difference between the Sole he used to know and the way they acted now. He never could quite place his finger on what was going on , but as soon as Sole poured their heart out to him he recognized what Sole described. The feeling was somehow familiar to him. He had felt it too, once. He held Sole’s hands and told them they were not alone. “ I have felt lost... for all those years without you. I hate to admit it but... mum/sir I have thought about it too, it was so very lonely. But I held on to the thought that maybe I would see you again. And when you were there... oh Sir/Mum... I was so happy to see you again. You gave me a reason to live and to fight again. I felt better talking to you about it. About how I felt... I have learnt that bottling up past trauma can lead to inadiquate coping strategies in later life. We can help each other Sir/Mum. I am here for you.” His heartwarming smile wasn’t enough to fix the feeling of emptiness instantly but some warmth seeped back in, tears still running free. “Okay.”

Danse: Danse felt a slight sense of panic at Sole’s words... he tried to envision a world without them but felt his chest tighten every time he did.  He knew what it felt like to no longer care if you lived or died, but to consider taking your own life... he couldn’t wrap his head around that. He desperately wanted to help but he didn’t know how. “ I know what it feels like to feel like an imposter... but you helped me back up. Through all of this, you are the one thing that has kept me from giving up, from turning it all off. I would have been dead without you and I have devoted my life to protecting you, even if this means protecting you from yourself. So that is what I shall do, in every way I can. “ He pulled them into a very tight embrace and kissed the top of their head. “ You can tell me how you really feel. Your secrets are safe with me. The dark thoughts and the nightmares... I probably have had them too... maybe I can do for you what you do for me. Give you a reason to feel alive again.“ 

Deacon: Deacon was dumbstruck, his own jokes falling away entirely. He had no idea what to do but not taking Sole’s words seriously was the last thing on his mind. He pulled Sole into a hug. “ Shit Sole, you’re more worthy to be alive than me. You’ve saved so many lives, helped so many people. You have no idea how amazing you are.” Sole shook their head. “ Doesn’t make me feel any better Deacon. It’s not about how worthy who is. I just feel... lost. All the time.” He stroked their hair until Sole cried a little less. As he wiped away some tears from their face he inhaled deeply.  “ I’m not gonna pretend I know what it’s like. I’m a pathological liar with a bad past but I can’t imagine how you feel right now. And that’s okay... as long as you talk to me. You can’t fight your demons alone, I’ve tried doing that myself and it’s only been working since you’re around and since I told you about my past. I can’t... ‘fix’ this. I know that. But I will fight with you if you let me. And until the threat is passed, just to be safe, I won’t be leaving your side. I won’t bring it up unless you want to talk about it but I won’t leave. “ Dacon looked down. “ Because it’s worst when you are alone. “ He grabbed Sole’s hand. “So please know that you’re not. I can be an idiot but I won’t let you get lost in yourself, okay?” Sole was trying to ease their breathing, wiping away some tears. “I... I think I can do that.” Deacon smiled at them, a little smile. “Good. Now get over here.” He pulled them into a hug again. “ Oh, does this mean death bunnies as a nickname is off the table or...?”  Sole chuckled a little, while Deacon reveled in the sound of their laughter, vowing to get them to smile genuinely, every day, again someday.

Nick: Nick didn’t look at Sole with the pity they expected to face, but with a look of determination. “ Listen’ up kid, there’s one thing you need to remember; we’re not gods, we’re men. Human or synth, all of us. You’ve been trying to take on the world, one injustice at a time and you’ve found out that you can’t save everyone. It hacks in on ya, I know. But damnit, you make this damn hellhole a little brighter. So hang in there and rely on others when you need to. If you feel like you can’t handle it, come to me. You’re not the only one who feels lost sometimes, don’t get lost inyourself. You’ve got too many people looking out for ya to do that.” He grabbed Sole’s hand. “You don’t have to face it all alone.” 

Hancock: Hancock smiled at Sole. “ Looks like we got more in common than I thought.” “ You mean aside from the deadpan and the sarcasm?”  “ I’ve almost done it a hundred times over. I’ve considered it, justgoing out on a high, ya know? Literally. And to be honest, if it weren’t for you maybe I woulda done it, too. But you gotta find yoruself somethin’ that makes you excited to wake up in the morning. It doesn’t matter what it is. And if you let me, I’ll do whatever I can to be that thing for you. Or die trying.”  Sole scoffed, eyes still puffy. “ I’m not sure it’s a good iea to make those kind of jokes. Or to put any kind of pressure on me to be happy.”  “ Oh, I’m not doing that. You’re a grown-ass (wo)man, I’m not gonna tell you what to be or what to do. But I ain’t going anywhere without ya. But this ain’t the kinda thing you tell people unless you hate that empty feeling. Keep talking to me when you feel it and I’ll help ya. You’re gonna be alright. I’ll keep you safe.Cause you’re the most important thing to me in this whole goddamn world.”

Maxson: Maxson felt hopeless, felt some sort of unfamiliar panic wash over him. If ther was one thing he wasn’t used to being it was helplessness. He wanted to helo but didn’t have a clue how. “ Sentinel... I would kill for you.” He walked closer to them, looking Sole straight in the eyes. “I would die for you if it came down to it.” He grabbed Sole’s hands. “ But I can’t let you die. Cause I’ve lost a lot of good soldiers, a lot of friends, and I cannot lose you.” Sole looked at their feet. “But I’m not sure if I can keep going on, Maxson.” He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t angry at Sole, not dissapointed, just concerned and frustrated by his lack of ability to do anything. “ Whenever you feel lost, come to me. I know now and I’ll drop anything if you need me to. You can do whatever you want, tell me whatever you want and I won’t use it against you or judge you for it. As long as you don’t do it. “ He had a pleading look in his eyes as he grabbed Sole’s hands in his. “ Please. I am no longer sure if this this world is worth saving for me if it no longer has you in it.”

Preston: Preston sighed and asked Sole to sit down on a nearby bench with him.  “ When I first started all of this I was, um ... scared as hell. You know that I often barely managed to hold my head above water. Sometimes I just wanted it all to stop. I’ve seen so much death and misery walking through the commonwealth... it rubs off on you. But I kept going because the people around me needed me. Sometimes I felt some genuine happiness again, in the little things, you know? When I noticed some kids could still be happy, when I saw lovers reunited,... when I saw my guys like Sturges with his eternal optimism. It made me push through. And then you came along and I wasn’t the only one with the weight of the world on my shoulders.There was some hope again, among the pain and the suffering. I’m still not completely okay but I try to go by the little things... you are a reminder that sometimes things get better. But when it all gets too much... “ He gabbed Sole’s hand in his. “You can come to me. I know what it feels like to feel like you’re not enough. As it turns out talking about it helps best, and for me focussing on the little things that make me happy. Like you. Like coming back to the settlement and knowing you’ve given these people a new home. Like the look of relief when we help a settlement and those people realise that they haven’t lost everything. The bravery to start over. You know the story of Pandora’s box right? Once all the misey is out, hope is left. Anyway... just know you can come to me when you want to okay? Cause... I don’t want to lose you.”  

Sturges; Sturges can’t even stand to see Sole cry, let alone deal with the fact that they’re contemplating ending their life. After they barged in at the Museum of Freedom he felt like he owed them his life but now it came down to it he didn’t know how to return the favor. He looked at them with such hopeful eyes and said “ Hey... I don’t really know how to help but I’ve got your back. You’ve helped us out back at Concord. You saved our damn lives... I wanna do the same for you. You’re one of akind Sole, and this world would be a whole lot darker without you in it. So whenever it gets to much you know where to find me. Same team, remember? “ His heart broke to see Sole nodding their head while they still were having trouble stopping the tears and he pulled them into a hug, holding onto them tightly. “I got you. You’re gonna be okay.”

X6-88: “ I told you I once thought you looked lost and confused, that you might not be able to handle this life... and how you proved me wrong. How tough and determined you are in spite of all you’ve lost. I told you then you could accomplish anything you set your mind to. I still believe you can. You will overcome this.” He tried to maintain his more composed way of speaking intact but seeing Sole like that... something was hitting a nerve, making him feel something he didn’t usually feel.   “ X6, I’m not sure if I can. You also told me you were worried I might slow you down and I am doing that now. It’s overwhelming, too much to handle.” “ I am sworn to protect you.” Sole inhaled deeply, tears still streaming down their face because they were saying goodbeye to their support system. But Sole knew he was probably doing all of this out of a sense of loyalty to Father, a sense of duty. “ I relieve you of that. You can leave. Nobody will hold it against you. You no longer need to be my bodyguard.You will always be welcome in the Institute but no one will command you any longer.” “ With all do respect, ma’am/sir, I refuse to leave your side as long as you are in harm’s way.”  “ This isn’t helping. Knowing I’m a burden, an annoyance to you.It makes it all worse, okay? Just leave.”  “ Damnit...I am not leaving because I have to protect the one thing that I can’t live without. That’s you.This is no longer just about the Institute. I respect you and I want to be by your side as you take on the world or whatever idiotic thing has gotten into your head that makes you feel insecure. “ He clenched his jaw. “ You do? ” “ I do... sir/Ma’am. I will aid you in overcoming this in any way you can. I refuse to let you destroy yourself.”