#and 2) he either has to make a choice before or after to continue on the 'dark path' thread from s5 now SO

[raayllum]

Was thinking it over that Callum giving up info/doing dark magic to save Rayla in 5x08 is indeed the equivalent of her leaving in Through the Moon (“As long as we love each other, as long as we protect each other” “I was trying to protect him” / “I knew I had to be strong alone” + Callum not telling her about what he did / “All that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself” “I have to be strong, no matter what, and if you said even one word to me, I wouldn’t - couldn’t be”). 

And Rayla is still set up to be the one to save Callum from brainwashing/his imposed ‘destiny’ in S6, probably tying together her arc regarding sacrifice and her well, refusing to sacrifice Callum even for the good of the world. Which means also having to save her - from death, from Aaravos, and subsequently risking the world for her as well - is still on the goddamn fucking table I am Losing my mind

[wh1msic4lwasab1]

𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 ₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

synopsis: while gaming with your friends who live in your dorm, someone suggests something a little cynical and humiliating for the loser to do

tags: explicit, vulgar, m@sterbation on cam, 3some, penetration, oral

wrd cnt: 1.2k

a/n: repost/rewrite! (continuation)

The normal night for you and your friends after a brutual day of calculus was a quick game of whatever the three of you decided that night...and quick was a few hours.

The three of you lived in the same building, but it was more convenient to just game together on call.

Tonight it was rounds and rounds of "poker night 2".

"Can you hurry it up?" Scara says, waiting on Xiao

"You know..unlike you I actually look at my cards" Xiao replies, rolling his eyes in the webcam and smiling when he hears you chuckle.

"All I'm saying is, I didn't win for nothing last round."

"Beginners luck" You say, raising your eyebrows in question of his skill, earning a scoff from Scara.

The game went on for a while, and the three of you had the usual banter and laughter, which made the comments ahead a little... questionable.

"Xiao…...I swear to you if you win this round I'm going to bed and blocking you."

"Wanna bet on it, dick?"

"Of course you're thinking about dick" Scars jokes, in a mockerish tone making you burst out into laughter.

"You think about jerking off more than what's for lunch."

"So that's the bet tonight??" You say, not expecting what Xiao would say next.

"What so loser has to jerk off for the world to see?" Xiao says, the light of the monitor screen reflecting into his eyes in his dark room, as he waits for a joke in response.

"I'm down." You say, hearing Scara slightly sigh out a deep breath before agreeing alone with you.

Suddenly a game of poker had a lot more riding on it than some fake money.

Of course, in ironic fashion Scara is in a loosing streak and cursing loudly at every terrible hand that follows his incredible bluffs.

"I can hear you from the fucking CEILING. Calm down..." Xiao says.

It was down to either you or Xiao, Scara losing considerably already, so at least you saved yourself the embarrassment of losing the bet.

It was your turn at this point, and you decided to go all in; with a straight flush. No way you weren't going to win.

Xiao, in the lead, didn't need to win, he just needed you to lose.

You were confident in your choice....until you saw Scaras cards.

A royal, fucking, flush.

"Fuck" you breathe out. You saw your character icon drop down down to the number "0". Game over for you.

“You don’t have to actually y/n- it was just a joke.” Xiao mentions.

“Fuck off”, you yell, your competitive nature acting before thinking.

You dropped your pants and spread your legs over the arm rests, each leg on either side as you groaned in annoyance at your loss.

"Uh oh...someone's not so happy huh?"

"Shut the hell up..." You say, defeated and salty, so close to winning. "I-I won't let you win again you know...this is just a one time thing" You manage to spit out, deep sighs leaving your body as only your chest and below is left in frame, your fingers visibly rubbing your hard nipples through your tank top as you begin to pinch and rub your clit, before fingering yourself with only your panties to cover your pussy.

"Fuck..." Xiao whispers, barely making its way to your ears as his palm covered the lower half of your face.

"Heh....what a bunch of whores the two of you..." You say, whimpering as the sounds of your slick coating your fingers becomes more and more apparent, your throat pitching higher as you gasp and moan for release, hearing Xiao and Scaras voices get deeper with groans, the sound of them pumping their cocks to the sight of you and your arousal.

Was was meant to be just a joke was your downfall.

Soon after, you see the boxes that would be Scara and Xiaos names and faces turn to black, leaving you feeling guilty and really fucking desperate, did you do something wrong?

You didn't know what would come next, they were your only friends on campus after all.

Minutes that felt like hours passed, and a furious knock returned at the door, almost startling due to how vulnerable you were right now.

"Y/n...it's us." You heard from beyond the wall.

Familiar voices which made you even more nervous as you open the door, Xiao and Scara leaning their bodies against the door frame with animalistic looks plastered upon their countenance, cheeks blushed and eyes set low.

"What's wrong..." You asked, letting them slowly enter your room, dimly lit with just the computer screen illuminating the space that they'd seen just from the other side.

"What do you think?" Scara says, his hand finding your waist as he pushes you aside to close the door now behind you, pressing you against it.

"Tell us this is what you want to…isn't it?" Xiao says, his face so close to yours you're practically sharing the same breathes of air, feeling his warm hand on your side of your neck as he spoke.

It took you 2 good minutes of convincing with a makeout against the door and you were so easily stripped, and layed into bed, and in such vulgar positions.

Scara holding your hips behind him, and Xiao next to your head.

They already knew how they were going to fuck you, Scara, imaging it as he saw how you pleasured yourself; on your hands and knees with your ass in the air would give him a good look of his cock sinking into your tight little hole; the one you were riding on call.

Your hands gripped your own sheets tighter until your knuckles were lightened from how slowly he started to push his thick cock inside of you. Scara groaned, smacking a hand across your ass before reaching his hand down to rub your clit in circles like he watched you do on call.

"You like that? It looked so sexy when you did it for us. Made me so fucking hard..." He'd spout, feeling your cunt clench around him.

"I'm here too you know" Xiao says, his thumb toying with your bottom lip before it parts your mouth open, the tip of his cock allowed itself in as muffled moans from how Scara thrusted into you vibrate around his length, making him groan and throw his head back; pinching and tugging at your perky nipples from under you all the while.

"Fuck..you have suck a nice mouth y/n...."

"Don't get me started on her pussy..." Scara groaned, one hand gripping your hip with the other was wrapped in his hair, keeping it back as he fucked you so deep and full.

"You'll take me next, right y/n?" Xiao cried, his eye brows furrowed as he looks down to see your mouth wrapped around him, wet sounds of your pussy and the drool around his cock making sinful noises in symphony.

"Fuck fuck fuck....can I come inside y/n...please-god it’s too much”.

Scara groans, seconds away from painting your pussy white, looking to Xiao for your confirmation.

You urgently nod, needing to feel his cum inside you.

That's exactly what you got.

With one last thrust Scara held your hips close to his, emptying out his balls into you as Xiao did the same. Cum dripping out of your cunt and more going down your throat, both the men breathlessly grunting, pleasure taken over all three of you.

Maybe losing wasn't so bad after all?

whimsic4alwasab1 ™ - do not copy, translate, modify, or claim any of my work as your own.

[lucyrose191]

BROKEN DECISIONS| T.WOLFF

Pairing; Divorced!Toto Wolff x fem!engineer!Schumacher!reader

Summary; The news of Toto Wolff divorcing from Susie has just hit the media and you, Michael Schumacher’s eldest daughter and George Russel’s race engineer, are beyond shocked, even more so as your relationship with your boss begins to evolve.

Warnings; angst, light smut, heartbreak, pregnancy trope.

F1 Master List , Part 2 , Part 3

The paddock was overwhelmed with media reporters and cameras, way more than usual for a race weekend, the Mercedes garage was surrounded by people as well as the entrance to the track, all waiting for one man, Toto Wolff.

You had been more than taken back by the joint statements released this morning which both effectively said the same thing.

mercedesamgf1: Team Principle Toto Wolff announces divorce from wife Susie Wolff, both will continue to co-parent son Jack Wolff and will continue to work together happily, they wish nothing but the best for each other in the future and wish for the privacy and support they need during this time.

SusieStoddart: Toto and I have mutually decided to part ways and divorce after 12 years of marriage, both of us will continue to co-parent our son, Jack and will continue working together in the future. I wish nothing but the best to him for the future, please respect our privacy during this time and I hope you guys will continue to support us both from this point on, even on our separate paths. Thank you.

It all seemed so sudden to you, nothing has seemed out of place whenever they were in the garage together but you suppose that’s how the saying you never know what’s going on behind closed doors goes.

You squeezed your way through the crowd, ignoring all of the questions fired your way and the cameras and microphones that were shoved in your face, it wasn’t your job to be making comments about a relationship that had nothing to do with you and it was entirely unprofessional.

Huffing out a breath as you finally crossed the threshold of the garage, you straightened out your clothes and bag before making your way over to your desk that you sat at whenever George was out on the track.

Bono was already in his chair and looked up when he heard you pull your hair out, taking note of your flustered state. "I take it you’ve seen the news."

"It’s everywhere! It’d be a miracle if I hadn’t seen it," you huffed. Looking around, you noticed how flustered everyone else seemed to be whilst trying to do their jobs, you didn’t blame them because right now no one knew what mood the boss was going to be in when he arrived, if he arrived.

"Is he even coming today? I certainly wouldn’t." You asked.

Bono shrugged, "you know what he’s like, that man would be here even if his leg was falling off, he’ll be here and god help him when he is."

"Yeah, true. Am I blind though or did anyone else not see this coming because they were both at the factory two weeks ago and everything seemed fine to me."

Bono turned away from his monitor and completely turned to you, huddling closer. "I didn’t suspect anything either but they’re really good as keeping work life and private life separated. Have you seen some of the rumours though?"

You snorted and nodded your head, "I’ve seen the ones about Toto having an affair which is ridiculous, that man does not have the time to be hiding an entire relationship."

Bono laughed at your choice of words but abruptly stopped as he stared behind you causing you to look at him in confusion before turning around, pausing at the sight of your boss walking in with a face of stone.

"Ahh shit," you muttered, hearing a small hum of agreement coming from Bono.

Then you saw him heading into your direction.

"Double shit," You heard Bono mumble causing you to bite your lip, trying to prevent yourself from smiling.

"Y/N. Bono. Good Morning," Toto nodded his head in greeting.

You smiled up at him, "Morning, boss, feeling positive about today?"

Bono sighed from behind you which caused you to internally wince at your own words, now realising that might not have been a good question to ask.

"Yeah," Toto looked between the pair of you suspiciously. "Are you?"

"Very," you tried to sound convincing, "I’m sure George is going to drive like it’s his last race and if not then I’ll boot him up the arse."

Toto looked at you amused, "I believe you."

After he walked away you turned to Bono with a pained look on your face meanwhile he was trying not to fall into laughter. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

He laughed straight in your face as you sighed at yourself. "How an I supposed to talk to him normally when all I want to say to his face is ‘hey, heard about your divorce, that sucks and now everyone thinks you can’t keep a wife’."

"Yeah don’t say that," Bono grimaced at your words.

Everything was real now, it had been real for a while but now the news was out for everyone to gossip about.

Things hadn’t been right for a long time between him and Susie and whilst there hadn’t been any constant arguing or disloyalty between the two of them, there hadn’t been much else either.

You’d have thought working within the same industry would have built an understanding between them about their schedules and commitments and it had in the beginning but as formula one became more popular, their lives had only gotten busier to the point they hardly saw each other and even when they did it was only to ensure Jack was getting enough quality time with both of his parents, it was as though they had been coparenting with each other whilst they weren’t even split.

A year ago they had accepted the inevitable fate of their marriage and had been figuring out the logistics of their divorce but just like they had kept their struggles silenced, they had kept the news of their parting silent too.

But it had been over a year now and quite frankly the fake shows they were putting on were getting exhausting, they were both moving on and pretending to still be a happily married couple wasn’t doing well in helping them in the process.

Toto had found a particular thing that hadn’t allowed him to dwell in the sadness of his private life. Something, or someone, that didn’t even know how much they were helping him.

You.

Everyday you showed up to work with a smile on your face, eternally grateful for everything life had offered you. You had achieved your dreams of working within formula one, it might not have been on the track driving at record breaking speeds like your father but you had one of the most important roles in the team and you enjoyed it.

Even today as he walked through the doors trying to ignore all of the sad, pathetic looks people were giving him and the onslaught of invasive questions people were attacking him with and even if they weren’t verbally shooting words his way, he could see the unasked questions in everyone’s eyes, you greeted him like you did every other day and whilst he knew you were aware of the news, nothing in your face showed the slightest bit of curiosity towards the end of his marriage and he couldn’t express how refreshing that was and how much he needed it.

Slowly, he found himself looking forward to the days ahead where he could bump into you and witness the smile on your face as he tried to ignore the way your energy made his heart feel funny and when Mick signed as the team’s reserve driver he would use the fact that he was ‘mentoring’ your little brother as an excuse to see you, knowing that naturally he would be around you more.

You jumped up from your seat in excitement as you saw both Mercedes cars pass the checkered flag securing second and third place behind Max, obviously.

"George you fucking beautiful human bring!" You shouted through the radio before turning to look for Toto, hoping that these results would have put a smile on his face only to find that he was already looking at you intensely, not even acknowledging the pats he was getting on his back by team members.

He winked at you? And sent you what seemed to be a grateful smile before turning away to celebrate with those around him. You were thankful he did so and didn’t see the pink hue you could feel spreading through your cheeks.

A sudden weight on your back didn’t allow you to dwell on it. Mick had launched himself at you in his exhilaration causing you to quickly latch onto his legs so you both didn’t go tumbling, you laughed and spun the pair of you around before putting him down so you could all go outside and gather in the pits to watch the podium.

You always went out of your way to be a kind person but the moment your team was standing under the podium all manners went out of the way and you barged your way to the front of the barriers to watch, mumbling half-hearted apologies, you knew no one would take your behaviour the wrong way as you’ve known them for so long.

Looking up, you were happy to see the smiles on Lewis and George’s faces, tough seasons can really take a told on the mental health of the drivers and it can be easy to lose motivation, especially when you were part of a team that was so used to winning but they looked as happy as ever now and it made all of the hard work that everyone had put in worth it.

Two hands clamped down on your shoulders startling you, followed by the feeling of a firm chest being pressed up against your back. You looked up and saw Toto but he wasn’t looking at you, he kept his gaze up on the podium and the happiness on his face hadn’t subsided so you didn’t question it and turned back to the celebrations.

His behaviour was really confusing you and you wanted to talk to him about it but decided to push it away for another day.

His behaviour hasn’t been limited to that day alone.

The entire season has been filled with soft touches from him, from a small brush of his hand against your back as he walked past or light touches of your hips to guide you to the side when you were in his walk way.

Let’s not forget about the way he started to look at you. Toto’s stare was always intense but now you couldn’t ignore the soft shine his eyes held as he looked at you.

You hoped you weren’t reading too much into things otherwise that would be embarrassing but you couldn’t stop noticing the little things he would do and what was even worse was the way these things were effecting you.

These touches would leave your skin feeling tingly and your head fuzzy to the point your mind just turned blank and now whenever he was so much as in the same room as you, your mind became hyper-fixated on his presence to the point it felt like you were compelled to constantly glance in his direction.

You had worked for him for nearly eight years and not once had you even considered looking at him in any other way other than as your boss and a friend.

You acknowledged that he was handsome and had the charisma to match but you had never been attracted to him up until now, how was this year any different to the last seven?

Hands slamming down into your desk startled you from your thoughts, you looked up wide eyed at the grinning face of your younger brother causing you to grumble in annoyance and throw the pen that was sitting on your desk at him.

"What’s wrong with your face?" Mick easily dodged your attack and asked.

"What do you mean?" You asked.

"My big sister always has a smile on her face and for the last twenty minutes you’ve been sat there staring at nothing with a frown on your face."

"Nothing," you muttered, turning back to your laptop screen that had long since shut off.

"Right," Mick replied sarcastically, "Come on, tell me what’s wrong."

You pursed your lips as you debated telling him or not. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

Mick’s face lost its teasing look as he realised you were actually troubled. "Of course." He replied sincerely.

You hesitated for a moment longer before asking "have you noticed that Toto has been acting strange lately?"

Mick looked at you surprised for a moment before smirking and nodded, "you mean the fact that the entire season he’s been staring at you like you’re the finest piece of meat he’s ever seen?" He asked teasingly.

"I wouldn’t have worded it that way but yeah," you responded.

"Then yes, I’m surprised it took you this long to acknowledge it."

You shook your head, "I noticed it at the beginning of the season but I thought I was imagining it and now I can’t stop noticing the fact that he-"

"Fancies the hell out of you?" Mick finished, a shit eating grin on his face.

You groaned and placed your head against your desk. "This is wrong, he’s my boss!"

"Tell me about it, he’s mine too and he fancies my sister!"

"Stop saying he fancies me!" You told him resulting in him just laughing at you. "Seriously Mick, what am I supposed to do?"

Mick sighed and looked at you seriously, "Do you like him?"

"I dont know," you replied honestly, "before this season I wouldn’t have even looked at him as anything but my boss and a friend but now he keeps looking at me and taking any opportunity to touch me and it’s confusing me."

Mick pulled an uncomfortable face at your words but gave you some advice. "Then do nothing until you know for sure."

You nodded and he smiled before walking around your desk and wrapping you in a tight hug which was more like a headlock but it was a hug nonetheless.

"Smile! We’re in Abu Dhabi and we’re partying tonight," he fake cheered as he walked away causing you to laugh at his behaviour.

And that’s exactly what you did. It had been a tough season for Mercedes, the team hadn’t nearly performed as well as they were used to but through a lot of hard work the season had ended on a high note and and no one was going to dwell on this years difficulties tonight.

You were definitely allowing yourself some freedom tonight to drink away and forget about the confusing thoughts that had been swimming around in your head all season.

The club was dark except for the colourful flashing lights that were roaming the entirety of the room that the FIA had rented out for all of the f1 teams celebrating tonight. You were already feeling more relaxed from the three drinks you hadn’t wasted time on consuming and had dragged poor Bono, who had zero rhythm, to the dance floor.

The man looked traumatised as he simply stood there awkwardly with you holding onto his hands, swaying his arms to try and encourage him to dance and have a bit of fun.

You kept him there for an hour before eventually taking pity on him and letting him go, you walked over to the bar to get another drink, not seeing the person approaching you until he was right beside you.

"You look lovely."

You turned to your right in surprise, Toto was mimicking your stance, leaning his side against the bar as he looked into yours eyes. "Thank you," you replied, a little shocked at his words.

"I see you were having fun with Bono," he commented absentmindedly.

You laughed, "Me? Yes. I don’t think he was having as much fun as I was."

"He’s not much of a dancer," Toto smirked.

"Oh, I know. He can’t move to save his life but it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try."

The bartender placed your drink in front of you and you took a sip after giving him a thanks. "Have you been having fun?" You asked.

Toto tapped his fingers against the bar top and signed. "As much as I can after the shit season we’ve had."

"We’ll be better next year," you replied confidently.

He simply nodded in response, dragging his gaze down your body and back up again.

The feeling of his eyes trailing you left a burning heat on your skin and an unfamiliar fluttering in your stomach.

"I like this dress," he told you, nodding at the tight fabric that clung to your figure.

"I got it yesterday," you knew he didn’t care but for some reason you felt inclined to share that information with him, fighting the urge to look away and hide a smile.

"You picked wisely," he immediately responded and this time you didn’t fight the smile, his smooth responses settling within you exactly how he wanted.

"I’m glad you like it," your voice was quiet in the midst of the loud music and voices but it didn’t prevent him from hearing you words.

The way he smirked down at you made you feel much smaller than you were, the idea of how his stature and strength would help with the power he held over you made you burn with need and the want to find out for yourself.

You huffed out a breath.

You needed another drink.

You threw your head back into the pillows and gasped as Toto thrusted into you, pulsating pleasure rushing through your body with every movement.

You didn’t know how you got to this point, the night was a haze of drinking, close dancing and longing looks but the one memory that stood out was the warmth of Toto’s hands against your hips, after that everything blurred up until this moment.

Your arm wrapped around the back of his neck, your hand burying itself into his hair as you tried to ground yourself but you were hopeless within the haze of his kisses against your throat and hands holding your thighs spread for him.

"Toto!"

His breath was heavy against your skin. "You feel so good, schatz." The guttural groan he released sent you feral, you tightened your grip on him and pulled him closer so your chests pressed against each other.

Your vision went white as Toto just grazed that sweet spot inside you with one particularly hard thrust before he angled his hips in a way that with each bruising snap of his hips he made, the tip of his cock would brush against you just right.

As you felt yourself approaching your release, your back arched and the air remained trapped in your lungs, your grip tightened on Toto’s hair causing him to groan into your neck while your other hand shot up behind you and grabbed onto the headboard.

Just as you were at the precipice of your release, Toto reached down and circled your clit with his fingers providing the last bit of stimulation needed for you to let go and dive into a river of overwhelming pleasure.

The sight of your face completely blissed out made Toto’s cock harden more inside of you, he continued to thrust and work you through your orgasm whilst chasing his own, chasing his release as he felt his body fill with an indescribable need to continue rutting into you.

The groan of relief he let out followed by a warmth in your core brought you back to reality, Toto allowed his body to collapse onto your own and simply lay there as he caught his breath and recovered from his own orgasm.

Your hand continued to run through his hair, grounding his mind to reality and encouraging him back from his high.

Moments later, Toto removed himself from you and curled up behind you, wrapped an arm across your stomach and pulled you into his chest.

Both still feeling the haze of the alcohol in your systems, no words needed to be spoken between the pair of you as you both succumbed to much needed sleep.

You woke up feeling as though your brain was swelling beyond the capacity of your skull and dehydrated to the point you felt like you could drink about forty litres of water.

Every part of your body ached as you moved beneath the covers, flashes of last night flickered through your mind causing you to groan at the reminder of your drink choices.

You were definitely regretting it now.

A particular memory caused you to pause and look beneath the sheets, grimacing as you realised you were naked.

Then you froze, Toto.

Your head shot to the side and instead of laying your eyes upon your boss’ 6ft5 frame you were greeted by an empty half of the bed with only crumpled white sheets.

Your heart dropped as you looked around the room, there was no indication that anyone else had been here but the ache between your legs made it very clear that last night did in fact happen.

He had left.

After an entire season of fighting with your feelings and the way he made you feel, you had given in to him only for him to leave.

You felt sick and dirty and disgusting and used.

You pulled yourself into the shower and tried to to push down the need to cry but you were filled with an overwhelming sense of betrayal and couldn’t stop the rogue fear that fell down your cheek.

Waiting to board the plane back to England, you looked down at your phone, you had a feeling Toto was already there by now and you had messaged him ages ago but no response.

Had you been crazy believing that he could have feelings for you?

You were so mad at yourself for being as affected as you were by his actions, it felt like someone had your heart in their fist and found amusement in squeezing it, filling you with the need to just let go and allow your emotions to flow freely.

You didn’t need to be back at the factory until after Christmas so you went straight home and unpacked your bag before repacking to go and spend your time off in Switzerland with your family, Toto still hadn’t responded and you were positive he was just ignoring you now and you didn’t try to get a response.

You’d deal with that after Christmas.

Normally you’d wait a week or two after the season ended to go back home but you really had no reason to stay, you’d changed your mind on attending the FIA awards which had confused Mick when you told him but he could tell something was wrong and chose not to pry.

You seriously didn’t think the year could get worse, you were so wrong.

The last three weeks in Switzerland had been hell to put it lightly, Christmas was just around the corner but it was hard to be excited when you had caught the sickness bug, the amount of time you spent in bed throwing up was disgusting at this point and the coddling of your family wasn’t helping.

You knew they loved you but you wish they’d just leave you alone to wallow in misery.

Toto was still a lingering thought in the back of your mind and it was only adding to how rubbish you felt but you hadn’t made any other attempt to get in touch, he hadn’t tried either so you knew where you stood with him and that was enough.

New years had passed and you were now back in England to go back to work, you had never dreaded going to work in all the years you’d worked for Mercedes so the unsettling feeling in your stomach was new.

But that could also just be nausea.

You still hadn’t completely recovered from your sickness over the holidays, you were no longer bed bound but the urge to throw up and the loss of appetite was still there, the loss of weight was visible in the sickly paleness of your face so you had booked a doctors appointment for the upcoming Friday.

Your stomach churned as you walked through the doors of the Mercedes headquarters, as the daughter of Michael Schumacher you got a lot more attention in the building as you would’ve if you were just a race engineer so the nods from almost everyone as you walked in weren’t strange to you but the sympathetic looks were.

You hoped it was just because you looked as if you hadn’t seen sun for the past ten years.

Deciding to stop by hospitality on the way to your office for a bottle of water, you paused in the doorway at the sight of Toto and didn’t hesitate to turn right back around before your mind even processed his presence.

You got a few funny looks by the people in there but you truly didn’t care.

It stayed like that for the rest of the week, whenever you found yourself in the same room as your boss there was no time wasted before you left even if there were still things needed to be done in that room, you didn’t even try to be subtle about it either.

As soon as he entered the room you immediately took your leave, it was rude but you couldn’t find it within yourself to care and you doubted he cared either.

You had taken the day off work today to attend your doctor’s appointment so thankfully you didn’t need to waste your efforts avoiding him.

"Symptoms are nausea, sickness and weight loss," The doctor listed and you nodded in clarification.

She looked at you knowingly, "When did your last cycle finish?" She asked.

You pulled a face and leaned your head back in thought, it was probably before Vegas, but that was….. your face grew even paler than it already was.

"November," you whispered, your body filling with complete and utter horror.

The doctor’s face grew sympathetic at your reaction, "and you’ve had unprotected sexual intercourse since then?" She asked though your face gave her the answer.

You were at a loss for words so you resulted in nodding; the idea of you being pregnant only made you feel more sick.

"Okay," she replied softly, "We’ll have you take a test to confirm."

You didn’t even register the next ten minutes, lost in your own mind as an emptiness settled within you, your chest ached with pain at the idea that your whole life could be changed in just a few short minutes.

"Miss Schumacher, are you okay?" The doctor asked worriedly.

You snapped back to reality and nodded numbly.

"The test came back positive, Y/N, so I’ll refer you to a midwife and during this time you should think about what you want to do, okay?"

How you didn’t crash on the way home was a miracle because you definitely weren’t concentrating, you carried your body straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, you looked like hell.

Just the sight caused your eyes to well up and this time you didn’t fight the emotions, you welcomed the tears and allowed the pain to consume you, the pain of realising just how alone you were in this moment.

You slid down against the bathroom door and curled yourself into a ball, buried your face into your knees and sobbed until you no longer could.

The weight in your chest was still present as you walked into work the following Monday but you no longer had any tears to spare, you had made up your mind about what your future would consist of and today would mark the beginning of it.

Knocking on the door to Toto’s office, you waited for confirmation to enter and he clearly hadn’t anticipated you on the other side from the look of surprise on his face but you didn’t mention it and closed the door behind you.

"We need to talk," you wasted no time in pleasantries and sat down in the seat opposite him.

"Is there a problem with the car?" He asked, his formal tone cut through you like a knife but you refused to show the effect it had.

You wouldn’t have thought the pair of you were friends just two months ago.

"There’s nothing wrong with the car," you told him.

"What do we need to talk about then?" He asked.

He was royally pissing you off with the way he was pretending to be ignorant. "We need to talk about what happened between us-"

"This is unprofessional," he interrupted and you scoffed in disbelief.

"Unprofessional?" You laughed in his face. "Do you know what else in unprofessional? Sleeping with your employee."

His face dropped at the bluntness of your words, "look, you shouldn’t be bringing private matters into the workplace."

"How else am I supposed to bring them up? Over text message where I never get a response?" You looked at him incredulously. "This is important-"

"I don’t want to hear it, Y/N," he cut you off harshly. "What happened between us shouldn’t have happened, it was a moment of weakness and it will never happen again."

You looked at him stone faced before nodding, "fine." You got up from your seat and left without another word, not bothering closing his door.

You didn’t go to your office, instead you went to HR.

Walking past the different offices you went straight for the head of HR. "Chloe?" You knocked on the door quietly, opening it once you received a response.

She smiled at you in greeting, "Y/N, can I help you with something?"

You nodded softly and sat down on the sofa she had against the wall. "How many holidays do I have?"

She looked at you suspiciously, "All of them, you didn’t put one in for Friday so that went unpaid."

"Okay," you muttered under your breath, "I want to cash them all in, starting from tomorrow."

"What?" She looked at you shocked. "Are you sure? If there’s something going on we can figure out a better solution for you."

You smiled and shook your head, "Uhm no I’m sure, I want to use them all and then after that I’ll be taking early maternity leave."

Chloe’s eyes widened in shock. "Wow, okay, congratulations."

"Thanks, I want to spend my pregnancy in Switzerland so you won’t see me around."

You could see that she had questions but didn’t ask them and you appreciated it, "I understand, I’m happy for you Y/N, I’ll get it all sorted for you."

"Great," you stood up and headed towards the door.

"Y/N?" You turned around, Chloe looked at you sincerely, "Give me a call if you need someone to talk to, yeah?"

You probably wouldn’t but you nodded and left.

To say Toto was surprised when he found out they were down their usual race engineer for the season was an understatement.

It was completely unexpected and he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy about it, George was not at all in agreement to having a new voice in his ear.

It wasn’t even for a couple races either, it was for the entire season.

No one in the team had any information on what had happened except two people, Mick and Chloe.

No one could ask Mick because he had left to do the world endurance championship and when Toto had went to ask Chloe all he got was a shrug and words that sounded as though they’d been read from the companies handbook.

"It’s against an employee’s confidentiality rights to discuss the matters with you, even if you are the boss, all I can tell you is she’ll be back at work next year."

Meanwhile, in Switzerland you were slowly but surely feeling much better.

You were putting the situation between you and Toto behind you, you were recovering and as you did, your bump grew and the sight made you smile.

The horror and fear you felt when you found out about your pregnancy had dissipated weeks ago, leaving you filled with excitement and love for the journey you had ahead of you.

With your mother and sister around you, the loneliness you felt had evaporated as well.

You were doing good and felt amazing and that’s all that mattered right now.

[deliciousangelfestival]

The Imperfect Couple - 5

Character: politician!Bucky x ex-wife!reader

Summary: A separated couple must pretend to be happily married while the husband runs for Vice President, dealing with old issues and political pressures during his election campaign.

Warning: The couple's arguments could be triggering.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5, Chapter 6 , Chapter 7 , Chapter 8 , Chapter 9 , Chapter 10 , Chapter 11 , Chapter 12 , Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist || If you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee on Ko-fi 🙏🏻

By the way, I publish my book Arrogant Ex-Husband and Dad, I Can't Let You Go by Alina C. Bing on Kindle.

Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. Leave a comment and Reblog, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

You were deep in conversation with Greg, discussing the next move, when suddenly, you were called to Steve’s office. As you entered, you noticed Steve and Bucky sitting with serious expressions.

“What?” you asked, feeling a twinge of anxiety as both men locked eyes on you the moment you walked in.

Steve exchanged a glance with Bucky before he spoke up. "We found a comment that mentioned our divorce," Bucky said, his voice low.

“Oh,” you replied, crossing your arms defensively. “Does it also mention how you kidnapped me?”

Bucky chuckled, a small smile playing on his lips. “The things I’d do to bring you home.”

You rolled your eyes, refusing to be swayed by his charm.

“When we separated, did you ever tell anyone about our divorce?” Bucky’s tone grew more serious as he leaned forward, searching your eyes for the truth.

“Me?” You raised an eyebrow, the memory of Caroline’s threat flashing in your mind. “Did you forget that your mother threatened me not to tell anyone?”

The tension in the room thickened as you spoke. Caroline had made it clear she didn’t want the divorce to be public knowledge. She wanted you as far away from Bucky as possible, and she had the power to make it happen.

You’d learned quickly that fighting her was futile. Every news station and newspaper in the country had mysteriously closed their doors to you after the separation, leaving you with no choice but to pursue a career as an independent international journalist.

“That woman is ambitious as hell,” you muttered under your breath. Caroline’s wealth and connections were unmatched, and she wasn’t afraid to use them. She had even used Julius’s money to secure people who would do her bidding. Once you left the country, it seemed she lost interest in you, allowing you to continue your work in relative peace.

Working alone as a journalist in foreign countries had its challenges, but it also opened your eyes to the world. You found purpose in being a voice for the unfortunate, using your platform to shed light on the truth. Along the way, you met new friends, formed new connections, but you never let slip the truth about your marriage or divorce. The scars left on your heart were too deep, and the thought of trusting another man terrified you.

'What’s the point of having a husband if he can’t protect and defend me? you thought bitterly, the pain still fresh.

But perhaps, in a moment of vulnerability, you’d let a clue slip. You couldn’t lie to fellow journalists; they had a way of sensing the truth.

“What about your family?” you shot back, narrowing your eyes at Bucky. “Don’t just point fingers at me.”

For Bucky, the divorce was never acknowledged. He even burned the documents in the fireplace, a secret known only to him and God.

His parents, especially Caroline, were too embarrassed to admit their golden child had been divorced, while Julius, who never agreed with the divorce in the first place, remained silent.

Shawn, his oldest brother, was too high to care, and Hazel never bothered with such matters.

“It wasn’t my side either,” Bucky said, his voice steady as he locked eyes with you.

“Suit yourself,” you replied, your tone laced with a mixture of defiance and resignation.

“Sooner or later, the person who wrote it will show up,” Bucky added, his voice calm but carrying a cold edge.

“How can you be so sure?” you asked, a flicker of unease crossing your face.

Bucky merely shrugged, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “If they take too long, I’ll use my way to find them.”

A chill ran down your spine at his words, the threat lingering in the air. You knew what he was capable of, and the thought of him resorting to his methods sent a shiver of fear through you.

Steve, sensing the tension, stepped in, patting Bucky’s shoulder in a calming gesture. “Let the cyber team do their job. We don’t need you taking any extreme measures, especially with the convention so close.”

Steve understood Bucky better than most. While Bucky might present a soft, composed exterior, inside he was a beast—a man unafraid to take risks, to do whatever it took, especially when it came to you. The lengths he would go to protect what was his were both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

But Steve also knew the stakes. If the truth got out—that the future Vice President’s family, particularly Bucky's mother, had abused his wife to the point of divorce, and that the wife, thought to be widowed, had been kidnapped before the election—it would destroy the perfect image the Barnes family had worked so hard to maintain.

And it wouldn’t just affect Bucky; it would drag you down with him.

It would be the scandal of the century.

That’s why, before it could escalate, they had to find the source.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

The Barnes family gathered in the opulent conference room, tension crackling in the air like a live wire. Everyone was present, except for Shawn, who, as usual, was nowhere to be found.

Greg stood at the head of the table, flipping through his notes. “Well, after the Rogers family makes their appearance, it’s time for the Barnes to take the stage.”

“Of course,” Caroline chimed in, her voice sharp with authority. “All of us need to be up there.”

“Me too?” you asked, directing your question to Greg.

“Yes,” Bucky interjected before Greg could respond. “We’ve prepared the ramp for Tim’s wheelchair.”

Before you could even register the thoughtfulness behind Bucky’s statement, Caroline’s voice sliced through the room, dripping with venom. “No. It will ruin the balance. Everyone else can stand on their feet. While…”

“You know what? I hope you die and rot in hell!” you snapped, your voice ringing with years of pent-up anger.

The room froze, every head snapping in your direction. Caroline’s eyes widened in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “Did… Did you hear that? She cursed me!”

You didn’t back down, the rage pouring out of you like a dam breaking. “So you’d rather parade your cocaine-addicted son who crashed his car and killed someone than show my brother who, despite losing a leg, works tirelessly from nine to five?”

Caroline was too stunned to reply, her face draining of color. Bucky, though usually stoic, couldn’t keep the anger from his voice. “You’re out of line, Mom. Tim is her only family left.”

Hazel, normally indifferent, nodded in agreement. “This time, I’m with them.”

Caroline, her voice trembling with indignation, shot back, “Is this how you treat your own mother?”

“No, Carol,” Julius said, his voice cold and cutting, “this is what we call karma.”

Bucky’s jaw tightened as he fought to control the emotions boiling beneath the surface. “She’s been in the same position as you,” he said, a lump forming in his throat as memories of his mother’s cruelty resurfaced. “You only felt that sting for three minutes, but my wife endured it for years.”

Caroline’s eyes narrowed, her fury now directed squarely at you. Her face flushed with rage, and you could almost see the steam rising from her ears. “So what? You want me to apologize?”

You met her gaze without flinching, your voice icy. “No. I don’t need your apology. It wouldn’t be enough to cover the pain I’ve suffered because of you. And honestly? I’d feel relieved if you died. If someone could confirm you’re burning in hell, it’d be the best news I’ve heard in years.”

Caroline, still believing she was the true victim, stormed out of the room, her heels clicking angrily on the marble floor. Julius and Hazel exchanged a glance before following her, leaving a tense silence in their wake.

Bucky watched them go, his fists clenched at his sides. He turned to you, his eyes searching yours for any sign of what you were feeling. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice softening for the first time that day.

You shook your head, the adrenaline still pumping through your veins. “I don’t know. It felt good to finally say what I’ve been holding in, but it doesn’t erase everything she’s done.”

Bucky nodded, stepping closer to you. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that alone. I should’ve stood up for you sooner.”

You looked up at him, the tension between you both palpable. “It’s too late for regrets, Bucky. We’ve both been through hell. The only thing that matters now is what we do next.”

He reached out, taking your hand in his. “Then let’s make sure this doesn’t break us.”

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Before the convention starts, the air buzzes with the anticipation of the event. As you stand in the corner of the vast convention hall, adjusting your outfit, a familiar voice calls out your name. You turn and see Ian, the British journalist you’ve met a few times before. His tousled hair and easy smile make him stand out in the crowd.

“Ian!” you greet him, a genuine smile spreading across your face. “What are you doing here?”

Ian chuckles, clearly pleased to see you. “I’m here to cover the election, of course. But, honestly, I jumped at the chance to come because I knew you’d be here.”

You laugh softly, shaking your head. “So, you flew all the way out here just for me?”

He grins, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “My boss didn’t believe me when I said I knew you. I had to show him a picture of us together just to convince him.”

You laugh again, feeling the warmth of his presence. “Well, I’m glad you made it. It’s been a while.”

As you and Ian catch up, the conversation flows easily, your shared ideas and interests making the time fly by. He tells you about his latest assignments, and you share some of your recent experiences. The banter between you is light and effortless, the kind that comes naturally with someone you’re comfortable with.

But then, you sense a shift in the air, and before you can react, Bucky appears at your side. He’s polite, as always, his smile perfectly in place, but you can sense the underlying tension in his posture. His eyes dart between you and Ian, and although he doesn’t say it, you know he’s not thrilled about the easy rapport between you and the British journalist.

“Hi,” Bucky says, his voice calm but laced with something you can’t quite place. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Just thought I’d come by and check in.”

Ian extends his hand to Bucky with a friendly smile. “Ian, nice to meet you.”

Bucky shakes his hand, his grip a bit firmer than necessary. “Likewise. I’ve heard a bit about you.”

There’s a brief, almost imperceptible moment of silence, where you can feel Bucky’s eyes on you. His polite smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and you can tell he’s itching to separate you from Ian.

“Well,” Ian says, oblivious to the tension, “I should get going. Need to find my spot before the chaos begins.” He turns to you, his smile warm and genuine. “Let’s catch up properly after this?”

You nod, still smiling. “Definitely. See you around, Ian.”

As Ian walks away, Bucky’s gaze follows him, his jaw tightening slightly. Once Ian is out of sight, Bucky’s shoulders relax, but only a fraction. He turns to you, his expression unreadable.

“You two seem close,” Bucky says, his voice carefully neutral, but you don’t miss the hint of something more beneath the surface.

“We’ve met a few times,” you reply casually, though you can sense Bucky’s unease.

He nods, but his eyes narrow slightly, as if something about Ian doesn’t sit right with him. Deep down, Bucky’s instincts are on high alert. There’s something about Ian—something he can’t quite put his finger on—that doesn’t add up. And as much as he tries to push it aside, the feeling gnaws at him, making him wonder if Ian’s presence here is as innocent as it seems.

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[sometimesoliloquy]

“The fandom is centering a man in a story about women, all they can talk about is the man, all they care about is the man and the romance.”

Actually no, what we care about is representation of a strong woman being portrayed as a whole person who can contain multitudes: able to be a mother, daughter, friend, fighter, leader AND a lover if she wants to be. A complexity the character used to be granted before the writers apparently somehow decided it wasn’t “feminist” (a fallacy, btw).

We care about the message it would have sent for the main character to have been allowed to choose for herself a love that makes her feel alive, grounds her and helps her to be the best version of herself as she continues her fight. For her to trust and follow her own heart, mind and gut, as opposed to caving to the societal pressure telling her what she should be and who she should be with. 

Rather than the message we were given, which is that sexual desire and the love and companionship of a romantic partner is a distraction (a “flight of fancy”, even); that as a woman, you don’t get to have that if you want to be strong and independent and reach your true potential (think about how often media sends this same message about a male lead… yeah, not very).

We care about the fact that we wanted to fully emotionally immerse ourselves in an ending that involved beautiful female friendships we’ve been following for nearly 10 years and reflections on motherhood, family and resistance, but were too distracted by nonsensical, unsatisfying character choices, carelessly dropped plotlines and completely unrealistic and unearned moments shoehorned in at the last moment to enjoy the resolution as a whole.

We care about the fact that in the end they seem to have turned a main character we deeply cared about and rooted for into either a sociopath who doesn't care that the man she claimed to love* (at least as of 2 weeks ago) died horrifically, or else has become so fully numbed to death that she is unable to process it, and that this is yet another wound she will have to rip open at some point, another gut-wrenching loss she will have to mourn when she finally reckons with all the the lives needlessly lost over the years.

We care about the show staying even the littlest bit faithful to the spirit and the underlying themes of the source material (and not just in the literal words with which the first novel begins).

The reason we're talking about "the man" (aside from the fact that we appreciate this deeply layered and complex character, which yes, we're allowed to do even in a show centering on women) is that, in so fully and shockingly (the point, ostensibly) destroying not just the character but also apparently everything he had meant to the lead, it also inevitably denies the lead of one of the aspects that made her so relatable in all her messy humanity.

Can she be whole "without a man"? Yes, my god, of course. But she would also not be less with one, or even continuing to love one (or hell, even two) from afar. Was it really necessary to literally blow up the man she loved in order to deny her the choice, even at some potential point in the future beyond what we see after the screen goes black? Personally, I don't find that very "feminist", satisfying or hopeful, but hey that's just me.

*I won’t even get into the fact that we’re not even just talking about romantic love and sexual agency and desire here, we are also quite literally talking about familial love because this was *the father of one of her children*, because quite honestly my point here is that romantic love and sexual agency and desire actually do matter on their very own merit as well.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Twisted glisten x reader who decides to stay with him?

Reader staying behind w/ Twisted!Glisten

The timing on this is impeccable because me and my friend are playing DW and there's glisten on this floor (I'm spectating as I write this opening) (scraps and goob were also in this floor. And toodles. As I write this bestie is COOKING) (they're the last one standing) (THEY LIVED)

Notes: reader is gn, toon reader, ambiguous ending but it looks grim for reader, short post, twisting is treated as an infection in glistens case, maybe ill make a part 2 that takes place after this we'll see

CWs: none

God... this one hurts.

It was already hard enough to deal with the fact that the twisteds were still your friends- they still had their faces, just not their minds

But not... glisten.. he was still there, even if shaken. He could still talk, and reach out to you

Maybe asking to keep him company while the others extracted and scavenged was a bad idea. Maybe you should have considered how this would make you feel before you jumped at the chance

Was it hope that maybe you'd be able to bring him back down before the machines finished? A yearning to come back to your pal? Or maybe a sense of normalcy as you tried to mutter to him that he was still beautiful

...not that he had asked for your praises, no. Those demands were long gone and replaces by pleas for you to stay and proclamations of fear

He hardly responds to anything you say as he wanders around. And each time you have to run off to lose the floors other twisted you scramble to find glisten again... he did not wait for you

If his hands weren't tied together you'd hold his hand- either to give him comfort or to keep him close

The others would NEVER take him onto the elevator- he's already way too close to turning for them to comfortably allow it. Valid, but it doesn't make it hurt any less when you hear glisten start panicking when he hears the elevator open

But...

..

He's pacified when you stay rooted at his side. You don't respond to the calls of your friends as the timer winds down. You don't step into sight so they at least know you're alive. You couldn't bring yourself to move from the corner you and glisten have tucked yourselves away in

The hold glisten has on you is tight, bordering on painful... but..

The elevator shuts and continues it's descent

...this was the.. right choice right? Maybe not THE right one... but it wasn't a wrong one surely?

Regardless it was all the same; Glisten continued to keep you in his hold long after the elevator slammed shut as his fear of being alone overpowered him in that moment

And you were going to do your best to soothe him

[lu-is-not-ok]

How it feels to be T minus six months away from being thrown into The Chamber which is awfully Red.

Anyway, I'm going to take this opportunity to make some Canto 8 predictions before the Roadmap drops for fun.

Now, these are a mix of theories that have been brewing within me since the game's launch and some stuff that hit me extremely recently. I'm going to try to keep the most general/sane predictions at the front while the more specific/deranged takes are gonna stay at the bottom.

Enjoy.

(And just in case anyone is curious, yes, I will be making a Canto 8 bingo board after we're done with this Season's Intervallos.)

Canto 8 Name Predictions:

The Disillusioned / The Disenchanted (Reference to either Land of Illusion or the fairy Disenchantment from DOTRC)

The Indebted (Reference to the Debt of Tears from DOTRC)

The Cycle Continuing (Matching the Canto 7 format of misleading you into thinking it's a description of the plot when it's actually describing the Sinner as well - Sancho is trying to end the dream, she's the Dream Ending Sinner)

All The Other Predictions:

The lesson Hong Lu will have to learn is to stand up for himself against his Family.

As the Saplings of Light seem to be happening in reverse Ruina order, Hong Lu would end up being assigned Chesed. Thus far, every Sinner tied to a Sapling of Light had to learn the same lesson as the counterpart Sephirah - Heathcliff had to learn to move on from his past like Hokma, while Donqui had to learn to have hope in the future like Binah.

Chesed's arc revolved around him learning that he needs to stop lying to himself and others, and that simply following authority only contributes to perpetuating the harm they cause, so his resolution has him stand up to that authority and try to rebel. I expect Hong Lu to have to go through something similar in his Canto.

Hong Lu will Distort.

Did you really think I would forget that foreshadowing from all the way back in Hell's Chicken?

Hong Lu will be the key to the Immortality of the Mind his elders are seeking.

This would tie him directly to the theme of resurrection that him being the Jade implies, plus it would be a direct reason as to why his Family is actively looking for him - they need him for their own goals.

There will be at least One cannibal in the Jia Family.

No I am not letting go of that Canto 2 line about bitten off fingers.

The Land of Illusion will be revealed to be where one of (if not more) of the Rivers is.

DOTRC potrays the Land of Illusion as a place with notable supernatural Rivers + thematic cohesion between Land of Illusion and Hades as forms of "afterlife" (we already know one of the Rivers is named after a River of Hades).

Hong Lu will be revealed to be both Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, not in a "they merged the two characters into one for the sake of adaptation" way, but in a "this character is composed of two characters in-universe" way.

The framing and timing of the reveal of Hong Lu's name being Baoyu feels incredibly suspicious to me, to the point it actively makes me doubt that's all there is to his true identity. Plus there are multiple things about his E.G.O.s and certain writing choices that can't be explained with him Just being Baoyu.

[beanarie]

of course 3/3

1/3

2/3

entire fic on ao3

in which tommy finally admits he should maybe see a therapist.

thanks again to @mooshkat for the original concept

(tw: heart problems, hospitalization, self loathing)

~

Bobby is the next to show up.

"Hi," he says, disconcertingly tall as he stands over Tommy's bed with a small tupperware. "I figured you can't have anything we would normally bring for someone stuck here, but there's this recipe I liked after my heart attack. It's just chickpeas tossed with olive oil and a bit of curry powder."

"That's very thoughtful," Tommy says, touched and confused. He starts tucking in immediately. The food here could be worse, but he never has much appetite when he's unwell. Maybe eating something will make the nurses frown less often. They're very frowny in this unit. Makes sense, as they probably have the highest proportion of deaths in the building, but it's shit for patient morale.

Bobby's still standing, so Tommy tilts his head at the chair and continues eating.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, once Tommy has left the now half-empty container on his tray table.

"Fine? Tired, mostly." Which is probably for the best when the only change of scenery he gets is the regular trips to imaging. All the napping doesn't leave time to develop cabin fever. "You?"

"I'm good. A little concerned."

Shit. So he's just jumping right in. Tommy works on his breathing. "Oh?"

Bobby nods. "Buck is getting released in the next few hours. He'll probably be up here as soon as they hand over the discharge summary."

Tommy doesn't eye the monitors, but he has a brief fantasy about ripping the leads out and smashing everything on the ground. It's been a long time since he's felt this exposed for this long. "That's good."

Bobby puts his hands on the armrests of the chair. "Hen seems to think you don't want to see him, which is interesting since Buck is behaving like you're pretty much back together."

Keep him away. Do it so I don't have to see his face. "I- I'm-"

Bobby looks at him like he's a spooked horse. "I'm not just here for him, okay? I wanna help you get clarity on what you're actually looking for before it blows up in both your faces again."

It's such a brazen offer Tommy can't help but laugh. "You're welcome to try?"

Bobby smiles a little. "Kid's got a heart the size of Alaska, but--or maybe because of it--he's like the La Brea tar pits. Once you're in, that's all she wrote. It's fine, though, great even. If that's your choice."

Tommy tilts his head, reconciling this man with the friendly, new in town captain who had a veil behind his eyes. In the last eight years, everyone at the 118 figured out how to open a vein for each other, and here's Tommy. Out, flying, and only able to meet his own eyes in the mirror half the time. "What if I'm a bomb," he asks. "Or... whatever destroys tar."

"Is that how you want it to be?" Bobby presses gently.

Tommy rubs at the side of his neck. "I'd be a monster and an idiot if I said yes, wouldn't I?"

Bobby spreads his hands. "There's no relationship jail, Tommy. Doesn't matter to me if you're either or both those things. All I ask is that you keep it away from people I care about."

"No. It's-" Tommy shifts his gaze, his vision blurring. "It's not- That's not what I want. But it's not that easy, Bobby."

"Didn't say easy. Didn't even imply it." Bobby moves a box of tissues from the nightstand to the tray table. "You're no stranger to tackling something hard because you thought it would be worth the effort. Maybe give yourself a little credit."

There are oval-shaped bruises in a roughly circular pattern on Evan's forearm, resembling a school of fish. Those weren't there after the crash. Tommy flexes his right hand, which has been stiff and sore for no apparent reason. "I did that," he says.

"Yeah?" Evan frowns in confusion. "You were suffocating. It wasn't on purpose."

It can be an omen if Tommy lets it.

"Tommy?" Evan says.

Omens are stupid. "Hm?"

Evan fidgets with his free hand, pulling at the edge of his sling. "You said of course you love me, like it was easy. Like it was a given. People don't- haven't said it like that."

"How did they say it?"

"Like they were surprised. Like it was the last thing they could've expected."

"I knew it was a possibility the first time I kissed you," Tommy says, tired of choosing between truths.

He looks up. "You did?"

"Evan," Tommy sighs, "you're the fucking sun."

His beautiful eyes widen and get wet at the corners. "I didn't want the first time I said it to be when- when you were dying in my arms." A shadow passes over his features and Tommy's fingers curl, gathering a handful of his blanket. "I wanted- needed to believe that I'd get another chance. I love you, too, Tommy."

Tommy is so grateful this conversation is taking place today, when he's recovered enough to not cause an international incident every time he does anything more stressful than looking at the color green. The specter of the alarm still looms, but he's done okay so far. "I might not have heard you, if you had said it then." Tommy gestures at his chest. "The wheezing, it was very loud."

"You heard some things, though? It felt like you- you were reacting."

"Yes, Evan. You kept me going."

Evan beams. Tommy aches from the inside like someone sprinkled salt in his IV bag.

"I need," he warns, "so much therapy."

Evan shifts forward in his seat, grunting softly in pain. "I can get you some recommendations."

"Of course you can." Tommy smiles.

Evan is inches away, practically falling out of the chair. "Can I touch you?"

"Do you have the slightest idea how many medications I'm on right now?"

He ducks his head and laughs. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Oh, well, show me what you m-"

Evan lays his free hand lightly, ever so lightly, over Tommy's battered heart before leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. "I'm so proud of you," he whispers. "I asked you not to run, and you stayed."

Right after the alarm goes off, Tommy pulls away just far enough to capture Evan's mouth with his own.

[circeyoru]

Unwanted Soul _ Part 3 = Requested

[Yandere!Alastor x Owner of his Soul!Reader]

The Request

Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 2.5 (ask) — Part 3 (here) — Part 4 — Part 5

At first you allowed it because you understood Alastor was worried about you, as absurd as it was. Now it was plain annoying. Him requesting, no, that’s not the right word, forcing himself to be in the same bed as you. At first there was the excuse of you recovering and him not wanting you to roll over on you stomach to apply pressure to the wound. Then it was him not used to his new room. Now? He just flops onto the bed and hugs you no matter what you’re doing

“Do I look like a pillow to you???? Or a soft toy??????” “Darling, you are the best cloud ever.”

He doesn’t even mind you slapping the back of his head and snuggles closer to you. You gave up trying to escape his hold and continue with your reading or watching

It went as bad as to you needing a bigger bed since Alastor was always here with you. Alastor got you covered and gave you the best bed you could ever think of. You really just treated Alastor like one of your giant soft toys and slept, you’ll admit, listening to his heartbeat was more lulling than any other sounds. Your warmth and presence had the same effect to him

Oh, right. Alastor filled you in that you were in the hotel and you were occupying a room Alastor took for himself near his bedroom and radio tower. He connected your room with his, evident with the difference in style

You never seen his old room, but he did say he had half of the room as a bayou where he ate his meals. Yeah, he didn’t do that with you, never has he eaten a whole raw meat in front of you. This time though, it was just two different room styles on either way while the wall separating the two was gone. There was an extra door that replaced the window as a dimension to his feeding ground, you just never enter it

It happened out of the blue. When the room door opened and you thinking it was Alastor greeted him without looking. You noticed the lack of static or the obnoxiously loud announcement of his arrival, that’s when you looked up to see who you believe to be Husk from Alastor’s stories and reports

Before Husk knew what hit him, his neon green chains appeared and dragged him into the large room, the door closing and locking behind him. Husk landing on the ground looked up to see Alastor looming over him

You had to wack your memory to recall their relationship. Right, Husk was a former overlord of gambling and he lost his soul to Alastor in a bet to regain power. Poor choice of decision really. Why would you make deals with other Overlords that would want to knock you down? You looked away, thinking that it was none of your business how Alastor treated his souls, as long as he wasn’t like that to you

But your voice snapped Alastor out of whatever he was planning to the former Overlord, “Alastor, I’m craving some steak for tonight. Can you go to Rosie’s and get some nice ones?”

Of course Alastor knew you were giving Husk a save. Yet he can’t deny your request to have his cooking again. (you were binge eating snacks and cup noodles after your wound healed and didn’t want to eat his cooking) So he left into his shadows

Turning back to your laptop, you typed away for another new episode while Husk composed himself. You heard that sigh of relief, you knew Alastor was a cruel demon. You knew because he’d paint the streets red and black whenever sinners and demons alike would glance at you the wrong way, even worse when they said the wrong or vile things to you

“I’m curious, does anyone know I’m here?” “I know now.” “Mhm… You best leave before Alastor’s back and please don’t say anything. Else I’m positive you’d be wishing otherwise.” “Why are you here?” “I wonder too. Because of Alastor?”

You shouldn’t have phased it that way because Husk thought you were an innocent soul that Alastor took as well. That can’t be farther from the truth, but you let him believe as he please. Neither you nor Alastor wanted to disclose your hold over Alastor’s soul to anyone apart from the two of you. Perhaps you could play it like Alastor has your soul, that would make more sense. Maybe

Over dinner, you told Alastor that you’ll be making your appearance as his assistant in the hotel. That way it was reasonable to take the room next to his (that you are currently in) and you’d be always seen around Alastor (more like Alastor could always be near you). Alastor agreed without a second thought

He did added a little detail to your plan. That you two were romantically involved with each other. You shot that idea down immediately. Changing the subject, you told him how Husk thought you were the one that Alastor took the soul of. That gave him a good laugh and you a chuckle. Both of you calmed down, you with your small smirk and Alastor with his wide grin as you two met eye contact, thinking the same: That was such a ridiculous assumption

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet My Dearest Darling.” Alastor’s hand patted your shoulder “Nice to meet you all, Alastor’s told me all about you guys.” You had bowed your head a bit with a smile, appearing as humble as you could. The introductions went without hiccup, was what you would wish for “Pager! My good fellow!” Lucifer came over and wrapped you in a tight hug. “How have you been!?” You missed how Alastor was glaring daggers at Lucifer and the King of Hell was grinning like crazy. “Sire, just fine. Thank you for asking?”

Now it was everyone else’s turn to be shocked and confused. Questions came at you left and right. You didn’t even need to answer because Lucifer had told them you used to work for him. Your room would have been assigned next to Lucifer’s if not for Alastor’s intervention that you were to be ‘put to work’ under him

Well, now that there was something of an intermission for the hotel to bounce back to its former glory (if it had any), things were pretty chill around the hotel. Everyone did their things like usual. Though it was odd that things were unchanged, since you were supposed to be a new staff member. Yet they hardly saw you, nor did Alastor tell you to work on anything

All they knew was you were always in your room, doing whatever behind closed doors. Charlie and Vaggie had asked about you, from Alastor since you were barely out when they were active and the only other contact was through Alastor who was never bothered that you were slacking

Alastor reassured that you were writing scripts for his broadcast and doing your own research on something else, so you wouldn’t be leaving the room for the majority of the time

Everyone would catch Alastor using the kitchen at the oddest time of the day to cook or bake things, then bring it up to his radio tower to eat. When he was confronted on his odd mealtimes, he informs that it was yours. As for why he was the one making, he said it was because he sent you to work overtime and so he compromised

“The poor darling was feeling peckish so I, as the employer in charge, should do my duty, yes?” “Oh ho! No need to fret over my dear Pager upstairs, merely took a longer nap than usual and needed to delay dinner!” “My doe won’t be joining us for breakfast, still sleeping from all that work, you see. I’ll make some food later on.”

All lies. Each and every one of them. All this time, you were eating up on the internet provided by the hotel and doing what you do best. Laze around and chill. There was no work assigned, no script to be written, and certainly no research underway. You were doing what you would back home, now it was just a change in location. Then there’s Alastor joyfully serving you like always without change

But none was the wiser when any of them hardly knew you. Save for Lucifer. He’d pop into your room without Alastor’s notice and give you new books or comics or shows or whatever you please. All while saying they were gifts to you for all you’ve done for him. He was quickly chased out of the room when Alastor sensed another being with you

Now when it came to your break periods, your room wasn’t enough and you wandered around the hotel to stretch and give yourself a change of scenery

This was when everyone else got to talk to you and not through Alastor

Charlie got you to join in her exercises, wanting some feedback from you. You lazily joined, matching Angel’s attitude to it all. You two shared a knowing glance and smirk from time to time. Vaggie groaned and scolded Angel since he was the one that wants to be redeemed, but then turned to you to be more supportive and put heart into it since you were a staff

Alastor immediately poofed out of nowhere, hands on your shoulders while you had a bored look on your face at Vaggie. At the growing static, you sighed, “Please don’t.”

Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel raised a brow at your words. Vaggie wanting to pull you away from Alastor since from their point of view, Alastor was having a scary face again. Husk watched silently from the bar, wondering if you’d be ‘punished’ later behind closed doors for ordering the Radio Demon

But to everyone’s surprise, Alastor reverted back to normal and hummed, offering you his hand to escort you away from the group, “Shall we take a stroll outside the hotel, darling?”

That day, a whole street was painted red. You and Alastor returned late and just went to your room to rest. No one dared to question. They did wonder what would have happened if you said nothing when Alastor appeared behind you. Perhaps Vaggie was lucky she got off with a glare

You wandering the hotel became obvious to the others that you were ‘resting’ from your heavy workload given by Alastor which was rare, they noticed that there was no routine nor a fixed time you’d appear

They held off attacking Alastor about your workload since everytime they see you you weren’t complaining or drained in any way. So they continued as normal, sometimes asking Alastor if he was giving you enough breaks between work or if you were eating. Alastor kept up with appearances and assured them you were well and dandy. You had a good laugh at their concerns

Yeah, neither of you were going to correct it since there was no need

You’ll admit that Alastor was doing a good job at keeping people away from you, just as you like it. Though it could be because of his possessiveness you can tell. Still, it aligns with your wishes, so you leave it be

Once when you were on break and with Charlie and the others for a broad game day, another activity for bonding and the like. Suddenly left mid-game and went to the kitchen to cook, everyone thought Alastor was preparing for everyone’s lunch so no one questioned it. Soon enough you got up

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, everyone turned to you “Hungry.” It was like you were on autopilot when you turned to walk into the kitchen Everyone else shared a glance, thinking it was time for food anyways. “Let’s eat.”

They weren’t prepared to see you leaning against Alastor with your arms crossed over your chest meanwhile Alastor was having no trouble plating whatever dish was cooked. Another point, you were just causally touching Alastor and he didn’t do anything! He didn’t even make a peep and let you stay there while he worked

No one could touch Alastor unless he does it first. No one touches Alastor especially when he’s in the kitchen cooking!

“Have a seat, darling, food’s ready.” Alastor cooed “Mhm~ Looks nice.” You remarked with contentment as you pushed yourself off of Alastor and sat on one of the high chairs on the island Angel noticed how only you had food and no one else, complaining, “Hey, what about us?” Alastor turned over, shamelessly commenting, “Oh, I finished using the kitchen, you can make your own food now. Sorry for taking so long.” The condescension was gone when he turned his attention back to you, “How’s the food, dear?” “Good as always.” You praised, glancing up at him to know he was overjoyed at your words even with the lack of expression. His eyes narrowing while his grin widened was the hint. “Could use some mini cupcakes when we play the board games later.” “Say no more!” Alastor snapped his fingers, making a bunch of ingredients appear. He turned to the crew, “Apologies, but I’ll be using the kitchen since you’re all merely standing at the entrance!”

Yeah. Everyone came to the conclusion that Alastor was extra weird after you came to the hotel. They’d ask Alastor about it but he would dodge the question all together or he’d just shift the attention elsewhere. They’d love to ask you, since you were somewhat more approachable? But you were just rarely around. When you are around, Alastor was not far from you

Note: Yup. Part 3. Amazing right? I blame the ask and you can thank the ask. The writing mood just hit me like a truck, so here's the result

Guys I'm very tempted to change all the stories in ask to a post format so I can keep track of them! Not sure about this yet, but if I do do it, the stories in ask will be replaced with a link instead and the stories will be readable as a post (maybe with a picture of the ask?). Do I reboot all of them or just start with the next new request?

Circe Y.

Other Works: MASTERLIST

Taglist:

@aconfusedwonderland

@crowleysthings

@donustellaron

@nevermore-ramblings

@justboredforreal

@youroneandonlysimp

[mochinek0]

Drama-Bomb: Part 2

1

As Damian entered the Manor, everyone was waiting for him. He could tell everyone was on edge.

"Talia was here." Bruce stated.

"Yes." Damian spoke, setting multiple bags down.

"Why?" Jason questioned.

"Mother came to visit and make sure Father was adequate to parent me." Damian explained.

"And if not?" Dick asked, after an eerie silence.

Damain huffed, "She said her door is open, if I choose to return. She will not force me; it is my choice. "

They all sighed in relief. They had already decided to go all out on patrol and keep every communication point open, in case they spotted her.

"So," Tim questioned, "What exactly did you two talk about?"

Bruce's phone beeped, gaining their attention.

He glared, "Why is there an $8000 charge to my card?"

Damian tossed it to him, "Mother and I ate dinner and went shopping. We were in public and there was no mention of the League. She was questioning my studies and social skills. Mother expresses her gratitude."

Bruce just groaned in response.

"Hey, Damian." Tim called, amused.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

Tim turned his phone around and showed them a girl with Damian on the home surveillance, "Who's the chick?"

'I should have scrubbed the security footage before I left.'

Dick grabbed the phone out of his hands. There was no audio but he had seen Damian walk over and grab her hands.

'Awwww.'

Jason looked over as she left, right before Talia and Damian.

He looked up at him, "Brat, she's still alive, right?"

Damian rolled his eyes and picked up his bags, "Of course she is."

"Did you get confessed to?" his eldest brother asked, excitedly, as Damian walked up the steps.

"Why would my girlfriend need to confess?" the youngest retaliated.

"Girlfriend?" they all shouted.

"Since when?" Tim demanded.

Damian gave a far off look and shrugged, "A few years now."

Tim sputtered. Dick was freaking out about how he hadn't known while Jason was questioning the end of the world. Bruce looked at his son confused.

"So much for the World's Greatest Detective, Father." Damian declared, "Mother has taken a shine to her. We're having dinner here, tomorrow, at the manor."

"We as in who?" Bruce asked, already feeling low.

"My girlfriend, myself and Mother." Damian declared, "Mother wished to speak to her. You're invited to attend. Be on your best behavior; none of those fake facades from your gatherings, either. I'd ask them not to act like children, but what's the point?"

Damian continued up the stairs. He had bought some fabric for his girlfriend and he couldn't wait to show her the pictures. 

[loveforeren]

୨⎯ If we only had more time⎯୧

Pairing: Eren Yeager x Sick!Reader

Synopsis: You and Eren had been together since your sophomore year of high school. You guys were now in your sophomore year of college when you got devastating news. You were sick, and not just any type of illness. You didn't have long to live. They told you that they don't know what the illness is or how to treat it. So all you can do is wait for the day you die. There's only one problem you have approximately 2 months lefts and you've been avoiding Eren due to it. You haven't told him, and you were being put in the hospital..very soon.

Content Warning: Sick Reader, Angst, Small Argument, Unknown Illness, Sad Ending.

A/N: I wrote this because I was bored...I don't write angst often loves. I'll be posting a either longish Kokushibo fanfic or another Miguel snippet soon. Also, yall should listen to Promise By Laufey.

You look out the window to see Eren's car pull up in front of your small townhouse. Your body shakes at the thought of telling him. You watch as he walks to the door and knocks. You take a deep breath before slowly creaking open the door.

It's been months since you got the devastating news. The news you weren't going to live much longer. They don't know what the illness is or how to cure it. The only thing they know is it's causing your body to break down and destroy itself at a rapid pace. They're trying every medication they can think of and nothing works. When you told your parents they broke down in tears begging the doctors to help their child. When you told your friends they cried for hours and promised to make the most of the time you had left. There was one person you didn't tell, Eren, your boyfriend. You couldn't bring yourself to do it. You couldn't bare to tell him, but you couldn't put it off any longer. You were being put into the hospital sometime this week or next and you couldn't put off telling him any longer. You knew he was worried because, for the past few weeks, you haven't been around him as often. You couldn't the pain your body was in was too much to bare. You had to tell him today. You had no choice.

"Hey Ma." He said with a grin.

His arms wrapped around you and he buried his face into your neck.

"H-hey Eren." You stumble over your words. Your body shakes and your chest starts to hurt slightly.

"What's wrong? You're shaking." Eren points out as you tried to calm yourself

You pull him over to the couch sit him down and sit next to him. Your heart was beating out your chest.

"Eren...I need to tell you something." You murmured loud enough for him to hear.

He looks at you with his beautiful green eyes piercing you. Your chest started to hurt more and more by every passing second.

"So..I-.." Your words get caught on your throat.

Eren notices this and puts his hand on your thigh.

"Ma, calm down. Take your time." He said.

You took a few deep breaths and started bouncing your leg to calm yourself.

"A few months ago, I went to the doctor for a small little check-up. You know I was in pain for some reason." You say trying to keep your tears in.

Eren nods, and you can already tell he's getting anxious by the way your acting.

"They didn't know the cause of my pain, so they ran a few tests...They made a discovery. My body has been destroying itself slowly..and-" you words get caught in your throat but you force yourself to continue.

"They said I don't have much longer to live.." you say quietly looking away from Eren.

"Baby. What do you mean you don't have much longer to live? You're sick? Why didn't you tell me this?" Eren asked question after question.

You look back at him and see his beautiful green eyes starting to flood with tears. His hair became disheveled from him raked his hands through it trying to calm himself.

"I..couldn't tell you." You said now tearing up too.

"Why not!" His voice boomed through the small place you were in. His tears finally escaped and ran down his face rapidly.

"Because I was fucking scared Eren! How can I tell the man I love I was going to die? I didn't know how and I didn't when to tell you." Your voice raises as you start to cry too.

"Y/N you're fucking dying! I deserve to know the love of my life is dying!" His voice cracked.

"I know. I know I'm sorry Eren I didn't know how to tell you." You rasped out.

"I-isn't there any medicine you can take?" Eren stumbled over his words.

You watch Eren's face scrunch up. You thought he was mad at you until he pulled you into a tight hug. His arms snaking around you. His head on your shoulder.

"We've tried everything..nothing is working." You say as tears pour down your face.

"I don't wanna lose you. I can't lose you." He cried.

You cried just as much as your body ached slightly but you didn't even care at this point.

"I'm sorry Eren. I'm so sorry." Your voice cracked.

‿︵‿︵ ‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

It's been a few days since you told Eren. Ever since then, Eren stuck to your hip. Going to every appointment, sleeping over at your house, going with you to the store. Wherever you were Eren was bound to be. That was until the doctors advised you to stay in the hospital full-time.

"Eren I have to go the doctors said I should stay in the hospital." You said as he hugged you tightly.

"I know...I just-...just let me hug for a few more minutes and I'll drop you off there." He rasped out trying to not cry.

He stayed there hugging you tightly for a few more minutes then let go of you. His beautiful green eyes filled with sadness.

"I'll drop you off now.." he said looking down his fist clenching slightly to stop himself from crying.

The drive there was silent besides your stuff the doctor said you could bring rattling around in the back of the car. Eren's hand stayed on your thigh the entire time. You could feel whenever he was getting extremely anxious because his grip on the thigh would strengthen.

When you guys finally made it there you watched as Eren parked the car and then rested his head on the steering wheel.

"Eren.." you say quietly.

It seems like he's in a trance because he didn't hear him.

"Eren." You say again.

His head snaps up to look at him and you see his eyes filled with tears again. His eyes were red as tears spilled out.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to calm down before we go in there." He says.

Your heart was breaking. You hated seeing him like this because of you. You hated that you were going to leave him so soon.

Your hand went up to his cheek, and he nuzzled his face into your hand. His lips kissed your hand gently. As he took a few deep breaths to pull himself together.

"I love you...I love you so much Y/N" He said his voice laced with worry.

"I love you too." You kiss him gently as he tries to calm himself.

It's been a few weeks since you've been in the hospital, and Eren was there every single day. He only went 3 places his house, school, and the hospital. You could see the stress eating away at him. Especially when you have coughing fits, or your body would randomly aches for hours. You didn't want to tell him just how painful it was. If you had to explain the pain in one word it would be excruciating, absolutely excruciating. You couldn't tell him that though worrying him would only cause you more stress. Today the doctor was going to ask you about the pain again, usually, Eren is at school. This time he was here and you knew you couldn't lie. The doctor has caught you in your lies at least 4 times. There was no use in trying to lie.

‿︵‿︵ ‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

"So Miss Y/N, How has your body been feeling lately?" The doctor asks with a clipboard in their hand.

"Ah...Doctor Hange...My body..uhm.." you try to tell the doctor but Eren's presence was scaring you. You didn't want him to worry.

"It hurts a lot when I breathe in the left side of my chest, my legs ache if I stand for too long, my head hurts a lot, and...I've been experiencing dizzy spells. If I'm being honest...my whole body hurts..ears are constantly pounding.." you say quietly.

You watch as Eren's face turns into a sad frown and his hands fidget together.

"I see...I'll come back to you after I look at the test that we ran the other day," Hange said walking out quietly.

Eren quietly scrambled over to you and laid on your lap. Your hand strokes his head as he shakes.

"Ma, I..I love you.." he whispered.

"I love you too 'Ren" You smile bitterly.

He lays on your lap for about 10 minutes before Hange came back in trying to hide their grim expression.

"Miss Y/N I would like to speak to you privately." They said.

Eren looked at you about the protest but you sighed.

"Eren..go please you can come back in once we are done."

︵‿︵‿︵ ‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

Doctor Hange told you the most devastating news you could hear. Your body seemed to be deteriorating even faster than before. Your pain was only going to get worse and worse. They said there was some more medicine you could try but it wasn't guaranteed to work. They also quietly stated you could get euthanized but they were strongly against it. They told you that they didn't want you to stress and to tell them what you wanted when you were ready. You quietly stated that you wanted the pain to end early, and that if that was the only way then so be it.

After Doctor Hange was done, Eren walked back in frantically. His eyes shoot to your very troubled expression. As of that moment, he didn't know that you had chosen to end your life. You had to break the news to him, and you hated that.

"Hi, Eren." You say with a say sad smile.

He quickly scrambles by your side and holds your hand.

"So...I was talking with the doctor, and they said I had two options.." you stated eyes looking down to avoid his sad expression.

You explain them and watch as his face darkens. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was either when you were in bad condition to basically pull the plug or to let you suffer. Both options were terrible.

"There's...nothing else we can do..?" He asks quietly gripping your hand.

"No...I'm sorry.." Hange said.

‿︵‿︵ ‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Days have passed and like Hange said you've only got worse. You lost so much weight, you were pale, your eyes could barely stay open, you threw up everything you ate and drank, and your breathing was labored. Eren stayed through it all. But unfortunately, it was the time your vitals weren't looking good, and the doctors could tell.

All of your friends and family were there to say their last goodbyes to you. It was bittersweet they knew you'd get peace but they'd also lose you. Eren stayed in the room watching from a distance with a grim expression. He wanted to cry but he simply couldn't as of now. His body wouldn't allow it. Maybe it was saving up for when you departed. Or maybe it was because he cried so much that he simply couldn't anymore.

After all your family and friends left, Eren came to you holding your hand gently. You smiled sadly. He lay there in a comfortable silence until he felt you fell asleep. He soon after followed suit. The exhaustion taking over.

‿︵‿︵ ‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

"Eren~" you giggled.

Eren turned to see you smiling brightly and hugged you tightly.

"Baby, please don't go.." Eren begged.

You smile softly and kiss all over his face gently. Each kiss you whispered something you loved about him.

"I'll never truly leave you, my love." You said sweetly.

You were shining so brightly like when you guys were in high school. He knew this was goodbye. You turn to hear someone calling you and smile. You began to walk away fading in the distance as Eren chased you.

"Y/N!" He screamed stumbling to the ground.

Eren jolted from his sleep and saw you with a sweet smile on your sickly face. He put his hand on your face you felt cold. His body froze shockingly still.

"Baby?" He said his throat beginning to tighten

"Nurse!" He screamed so loud that entire side of hospital probably heard.

"No, no, no please!" He cried

You died with the illness finally staking its claim on your life. Eren never truly got over your death. How could he? Still, that dream gave him some comfort.

[saturnyo]

Call Me Castillo

Chapter 3 - That Wasn't In The Job Description

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Pairing: Harry Castillo x Reader

Summary: Such a crazy proposal that Harry has brought forth. Fake date him and get rid of anyone still talking about your failed engagement and his soured reputation in the media. Will you accept or deny his proposal?

Warnings: mentions of Y/N like once or twice, I believe, power imbalance, some fluff, etc

WC: 1.9k

A/N: I usually use Spotify for the song choice but it's acting up so bear with me on using YouTube for now until the issue is fixed

Song choice: Lose You to Love Me by Selena Gomez

From: andrew.mason@outlook.com

To: {Redacted}

CC: jessica.bridesmaid@gmail.com, tobias.bestman@gmail.com, emily.matronofhonor@gmail.com, chris.groomsman@gmail.com, lindsey.flowermom@yahoo.com, laura.bride.mom@hotmail.com, charles.groomdad@aol.com

Subject: A Clarification for Everyone Involved

Hey [Y/N],

I've taken a few days to process everything. After some deep reflection (and advice from my therapist, whom I hope you'll consider seeing too), I wanted to take a moment to officially and respectfully bring closure to what we had.

I know that things haven't been perfect lately, and I accept my share of the responsibility for how things turned out. I never wanted to hurt you — you're an incredible woman, intelligent, compassionate, and genuinely kind. However, I've realized that we've been growing in very different directions, and continuing to push forward with a wedding that no longer reflects where either of us is would be unfair not just to me, but to you and everyone involved.

For transparency and to avoid any confusion or rumors, I've looped in the bridal party on this email. I think it's best if everyone hears the same message directly, without distortions or misinterpretations.

To be clear: our relationship is over.

You can come by the apartment this weekend to collect your things. I've boxed up most of your stuff already — it's labeled and waiting in the foyer. Please text me when you're on the way so I can make myself scarce; I think space is the healthiest thing for both of us right now.

I know this is hard. Believe me, this wasn't easy for me either. But I hope in time, you'll understand that this is the best decision for both of us. You deserve someone who truly sees you and can meet your emotional needs in a way I simply couldn't.

No hard feelings. I still wish you the absolute best, sincerely.

Warm regards, Andrew

P.S. To everyone CC'd — please be respectful and give us both some time before reaching out. This is already hard enough without adding to the drama. Thanks for understanding.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ──

You stared at the computer screen longer than you cared to admit. It was bad enough that the man dumped you in front of everyone at your engagement party; now he has sent you an email and CC'd the entire wedding party.

What a fucking asshole.

The day started relatively normally. You had a strange interaction with Maria and Jackie from legal, who scurried off at the sight of you when you walked into the break room. It was weird, but you ignored it and continued to get your coffee. When you got back to your office, you could hear Harry's voice through the wall talking with a business associate. He didn't know you listened out of curiosity and sometimes boredom - you couldn't help it; the walls between your office and his were thin.

You heard a ding from your email inbox, figuring it was legal; IT reminding you to change your password or even Tobias wanting to gossip about who's fucking who in the office- smiling to yourself at your best friend's antics before opening it. Your heart dropped when you saw the name and email address it was sent from, then you realized that your former wedding party bridesmaids and groomsmen, whom you had considered friends at one point, were included too.

When you thought it couldn't affect you any more than it already had, your darling ex-fiancé has decided to humiliate you more. He has a weird sense of entitlement and humility. Acting like a good person, saying he's gone to therapy, and honestly, he should have gone a long time ago.

Love or what you thought was love blinded you from his narcissistic tendencies and his annoying way of demeaning what you did for work.

"My cute little secretary," he would say as if my working for Harry Castillo was anything but an achievement.

You kept rereading the words over and over again. It was almost like a corrupted psalm, a mantra filling your head with nonsense and making you feel guilty. A distant noise buzzes in your ears, but it's irrelevant; the words jumping off the computer are all you can see.

"Y/N?...."

"Y/N!"

Harry's voice comes through the door, knocking on it, trying to get your attention.

"Yes, Mr. Castillo?" You murmured, still torn between his voice and your computer. There was no response from the other side.

You sighed. "Yes, Harry?"

You could feel his smile through the wood and wallpaper.

"I need to speak with you about the deposition."

Your brow furrowed in confusion. "Deposition? I didn't know anything about that."

"It's something I've been handling myself. Can you just come over to my office for a minute?"

"Yes, Harry, I'll be right there."

His footsteps fade away as you get up, gathering your notepad and pen. When you opened the door, he was casually sitting back in his chair, hands clasped in front of him like he was waiting for you to admit a secret that he already knew.

Harry motions for you to sit down in the same chair as yesterday, waiting for him to speak about the "deposition."

"So you wanted to speak about the dispos-" you started to speak.

"That was a lie." He says, cutting you off

You raise your eyebrow. "A lie? Why would you need to lie?"

He looks at you for a moment, hesitating to tell you whatever was so important that he would lie to you to get you to come to his office. Harry had never done that before, so you were extremely curious as to why he would do something a bit out of character. Suddenly, he shifts in his seat, leaning forward closely, his face close to yours, but not uncomfortable.

"I need you to hear me out, ok?" He stops, then continues. "It's about the gala."

"Are you choosing someone else for your plus one? Or do you want to cancel your invite?"

His face goes white, making the words that just fell out of your mouth equivalent to robbing a bank.

"No. No. No, I still want you to be my plus one..."

"I feel like there is a but in there somewhere."

Harry takes a deep breath before continuing. "I think we can help each other. You know the media paints me as a womanizer and bachelor. Now with you, I'm assuming you want people to stop asking about your...failed engagement."

Your skin prickles at the memory of being left at the front of a grand ballroom, everyone's eyes on you as your fiancé, now ex, walked out the doors without so much as a goodbye and a pathetic sorry.

"Why are you bringing those two things up?" You replied.

"Well, I think we can solve both of our problems. At the gala, we should announce that we are dating."

You know the moment in a movie where the hero says something, and it just makes you stare at the screen for hours after the film has even ended?

Yeah, that is what just happened.

You looked at Harry like he was the hero in the movie, when instead of an incredible speech on defeating evil, or having to band together to defeat the oncoming forces, he said something that only a crackpot could say.

"I-i'm sorry, you said what now?" you exclaimed, your eyes almost bulging out of your head.

"I understand how that may sound, but just listen for a moment, ok? Those around us have vilified both of us, and I think that, even if it's temporary, it can give us some breathing room to at least get them off our backs."

You jumped up, abandoning any professionalism, and were dumbfounded at how he said it so casually.

"Are you kidding me? Harry, you're asking me not only to lie to our coworkers but also to the press and my mother that we're dating. Plus, you want to do it at a gala. A gala where the elite will be in attendance watching our every move, and of all places, you want to announce it there!?" You snapped.

"Y/N...please, I'm trying to help you in this situation. I know your fiancé just emailed-" he stops completely, caught in a lie he hadn't meant to reveal.

"Email? How did you know he emailed me?" You questioned. You walked over to his side of the desk, hands on hips, staring him down until he confessed. "Harry Castillo, what do you mean about the email?"

"It was flagged in the system. Look, that's not important right now. What is trying to figure out how we can convince everyone."

"Wait, wait, I haven't even agreed to the idea."

Harry didn't even flinch. His jaw ticked. The brief hint of something else passes quickly.

"It's just for a brief time. You won't be shackled to me forever. We can draft up something that's ironclad if it'll make you feel better, and we need something more than just my word." He adds that his brown eyes soften towards you, as you cannot look away.

"What else are you going to suggest now? That I move in?" You quipped.

"Tempting," he muttered with a smirk.

"Harry..."

"Look, I just...I do want to help. I hate to see you being leered at everywhere you go in the office. If i had my way everyone would be fired-well monies your friend Tobias" he said, voice softening.

His words settle in, taking your breath away. Harry has always been kind, but this? This is different. You breathe in and out before speaking. You know it's probably a bad idea, but if you agree, your life won't be the same.

"I'm assuming that we'll have to do a couple...stuff like holding hands and...kissing." You said, blushing.

Harry shifts in his seat once more, almost uncomfortable under your intense stare. The idea itself was crazy, impossible even. You know Harry extremely well, not only having worked with him for two years, but you have also practically scheduled his entire life.

The question is, does he know you?

"Look, this isn't how I imagined asking you." He said quietly. "I mean, I didn't think about asking you something like this at all."

He pauses, then meets your gaze again, soft and vulnerable.

"But the truth is, I'm tired. Tired of the way the media paints me as some womanizer. In reality, I keep myself busy whenever I'm not at work or other functions, as you know. It's strange, yes...But I still think it can help us."

He lets the words hang between you, his fingers tapping on the desk. Not in annoyance but curiosity.

"So what do you say?"

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ──

So what do you say?

His voice is a constant reminder of what you just agreed to. A deal. A contract. You two made a 3-month agreement to fake date, starting at the gala, to avoid further negative press and gossip about your failed engagement.

"So what do you say?"

Not even a beat passes.

"Yes."

The hallway leading to the elevator felt like time was moving slowly. Your legs felt heavy like cinder blocks, dragging behind you. The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Harry had meetings to attend to all day, so you were left to your own devices. As you sat in your office, you kept thinking it was a mistake and considered telling him that it was off when he got back.

But another part of you, the hurt part, wanted to get back at your ex, so you are starting to move on just as quickly as he did, if any of his Instagram posts were true.

During your break, you couldn't help but check it. It's where you saw a post of him with a girl you don't recognize. 

You and he had only separated a week prior.

Later that night, when you were sitting on your couch eating some leftovers, you heard your doorbell. It's probably something your mother sent or a salesman going door-to-door.

You didn't expect to see a bouquet of your favorite flowers and a bottle of your favorite wine.

There was a note attached to it.

Y/N...

I know our "relationship" is just an agreement, but you still deserve to be treated correctly.

I hope you enjoy them.

-Harry

It seems the big, bad Harry Castillo has a heart after all.

[xoxolaw]

+ THE TURNING POINT

this is an interactive story. if this is your first time seeing this, then hop over to introduction - to get the idea behind this story.

+ CONTENTS

+ CH A2

It was the weekend, and she was glad that she could avoid facing people at school for 2 days. But the guilt that she has been trying to supress all this time, had caught up to her and now she was standing in front of the hospital, that she remembers being pushed out of.

“Never show yourself here! My poor baby’s in that condition because of you!” The screaming women’s voice, she remembered.

The antiseptic scent of the hospital hit her the moment the glass doors slid open. Harsh fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, echoing against the white-tiled floors like memories she didn’t want to remember. Her footsteps were too loud in the silence, like each one was dragging the weight of what she'd done.

She kept her head down, hoodie casting a shadow over her face, hoping no one would recognize her—especially not her mother.

The receptionist didn’t even glance at her when she asked for directions to the intensive care unit. Maybe she looked just like any other visitor trying to see someone they’d lost. And in a way, she was. The girl in the bed wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t really alive either—not the way she used to be. Bright. Loud. Laughing. Now she just lay there, in a room that smelled of stillness and machines.

Room 409.

She hesitated outside the door, fingers trembling as they reached for the handle. For a second, she thought about turning around and running.

CHOICE

run away - continue to CH AA1

stop running away - continue reading

but she’d been doing that for too long.

With a shallow breath, she pushed the door open.

It was dim inside, curtains drawn halfway. A steady beeping filled the silence, tracking a heartbeat that shouldn’t still be there—but was. And there she was, the girl from the video. Her face was paler now, framed by tangled hair and medical tape. A breathing tube. IV drips. Monitors blinking quietly beside her. She looked small. Fragile. Nothing like the last image frozen in Y/N’s mind—the one of her falling backward after taking the final blow from her in the fight.

She swallowed thickly and stepped closer, heart pounding like she was trespassing.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Her voice cracked at the end.

She waited.

But there was no answer. Just machines and silence and that dull hum in her ears.

Y/N slowly sat down on the plastic chair beside the bed, unsure what to do with her hands. She wrung them together, staring at her knuckles. Then at the girl’s bandaged wrist. Then back at her own reflection in the monitor screen.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, voice smaller now. “For trying to forget about what I did to you… for laughing around like nothing happened.”

The tears were hot and unwanted. She wiped them away angrily. Crying wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t make the machines go quiet or bring her back to school. It wouldn’t erase what happened in that MMA ring.

She stayed a few minutes longer, fingers curled tightly in her sleeves. Then, silently, she stood up, placed the strawberry milk on the bedside table, and gave one last glance before stepping outside the room.

The hallway was quieter than before.

She turned toward the elevator, head down.

That’s when she heard footsteps. Soft, slow ones. She wouldn’t have noticed if the person hadn’t paused in front of Room 407—just two doors down.

She glanced up—and froze.

Si-eun stood there, hand on the doorknob, eyes widening as they landed on her.

Y/N's breath hitched. Of all people—

They stared at each other.

Neither spoke.

The silence stretched, a chasm between them filled with unsaid words, old wounds, and things neither of them wanted to face—but had to.

Si-eun’s gaze dropped briefly to her hoodie, her sleeves still damp from where she’d wiped her tears. Then it flicked to the side, toward Room 409, where the soft beeping continued behind the closed door.

“Why… are you here?” he asked finally, voice low.

“The girl in the video… The one I fought.”

“She isn’t dead?” He asked.

“In coma… but that’s literally equivalent to dying.”

Si-Eun felt it. The guilt she had been carrying with her. Because it completely mirrored his own. He suddenly felt the pressure of the room behind him, the one he just came out of. His own friend, lying in there, in coma.

His lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out. Two friends. Two fights. Two lives hanging by threads of machines and quiet rooms. “Do you want to come to the rooftop? The visiting hours are over.” He said and she just looked at him.

She gave him a nod, “sure.”

---

The evening sky looked beautiful from the rooftop. The gentle hues of orange and purple stretched across the horizon like a quiet reminder that the world kept turning—even when everything inside them had stopped. It was quiet up there, the air cooler, fresher. A soft breeze carried the scent of blooming grass from the hospital gardens below, cutting through the sterile numbness of the corridors they had just walked through.

Y/N stood near the railing, resting her hands on the cold metal. Si-Eun handed her a can of energy drink and stood next to her. They stayed silent, the same silence from when they sat next to each other in the library. He again didn’t ask her anything.

She opened the can and took a sip, “What were you doing here?” She asked.

“Visiting a friend.” He answered to her surprise. She wasn’t really looking forward to an open answer. She faced him, leaning side ways on the railing, “What happened to him?”

“He fought for me… and ended up in a coma.”

She stayed quiet. She didn’t know what to say. He looked down at his hands, as if they held the weight of everything. Y/N watched his profile—how still he looked, how calm. But the tightness in his jaw said otherwise.

“What happened to the person who put your friend in that condition?”

“I… smashed his leg.”

Y/N almost choked on her drink. “Huh?”

“When I transferred here last year, I heard the rumors about me. It didn’t really matter to me. All I wanted was for Suho… to wake up again. Eventually, I made more friends… who stuck by my side. I know it’s weird to say all this out of no where. But… all I want to say is… Just hold up. People will talk, treat you different… but don’t let it get to your head.”

Y/N exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on a point far in the horizon where the city faded into mist. The rooftops, the skyline, the sunset—it all felt too still, too quiet, as if the whole world was watching them unravel without saying a word.

“I wish I was like you,” she murmured.

He glanced at her, confused. “Like me?”

“You don’t run away. You face it. You fought back, even when it wasn’t pretty.” She gave a dry laugh, bitter. “I just stood there and let people believe I didn’t care. I thought if I smiled enough, people would forget. But I couldn’t. Not really.”

Si-eun was quiet for a long beat. Then he said, softly, “You came here today. That’s something.”

She shook her head. “It’s not enough.”

“It’s a start.”

The wind picked up, tousling her hair, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she let herself feel the weight of her breath. Like it belonged to her again. Like maybe she hadn’t completely lost herself the moment that fight ended and the sirens started screaming.

“She was… my closest friend once. Back when we trained together.” Her voice faltered, eyes still on the sky. “We got into MMA at the same time. Same gym. Same dream. We pushed each other so hard, we forgot when it stopped being about growing together and started becoming… war.”

Si-eun’s voice was quiet. “You think she hated you?”

“No,” she said. “I think she was just hurt. Like me. And we both didn’t know how to stop hurting each other.”

Another silence fell over them—heavier, but not uncomfortable.

“I hated myself for what I did,” she said. “I thought if I buried it deep enough, laughed enough, it would disappear. But every night, I hear it. Her scream. That fall. The sound of everyone watching.”

His voice was barely above a whisper now. “Guilt doesn’t fade.”

She met his eyes.

“But you learn to live with it,” he added.

Y/N nodded, slow and small.

The sky had grown darker now, streaked with violet and the last traces of fading gold. Somewhere below, the hospital lights flickered on, glowing like tiny stars. Life continued, even when theirs felt like it had stopped.

They were now sitting at a bus stop waiting, “Someone else put your friend into coma, and you smashes his leg… I put someone in coma… what punishment should I receive?” She jokingly asked.

“You don’t need any punishment… you are already suffering enough. Fighters, fight at their own risk.”

Her eyes flickered at his words. Something inside her clenched—grief, maybe. Or relief, wrapped in disbelief.

“Then why does it still feel like I deserve it?” she whispered.

He leaned back against the bench, hands stuffed into his pockets. “Because you’re human.”

She scoffed quietly, shaking her head. “That doesn’t make it right.”

“No,” Si-eun said. “But it makes it real.”

For a moment, the only sound was the rustling of leaves overhead and the distant hum of a car passing by. The night had settled fully now, wrapping them in a quiet stillness that was softer than the sterile silence of the hospital. More forgiving.

“You didn’t mean to hurt her,” he continued. “But it happened. Now you’re here, trying to face it. That’s more than most people would ever do.”

Y/N turned to him, really looked at him this time. He wasn’t the boy people whispered about in the halls. Not the cold, emotionless top-ranker everyone feared. He was just a boy—sitting beside her, carrying his own scars, trying to offer what little comfort he could.

Then she said, “If Suho friend wakes up… What would you say to him?”

Si-eun exhaled, long and low. He looked ahead again, as if the answer might be written somewhere in the horizon.

“…I’d tell him I’m sorry.”

“And then,” he added, “I’d thank him. For protecting me.”

They were quiet after that. No more confessions. No more guilt. Just two people, sitting in the thick of everything they hadn’t said for too long, watching the world move slowly around them.

When the bus finally arrived, they got on together, but didn’t sit side by side. He stood, leaning quietly against the rail. She sat near the back, her head against the window, watching the reflections of city lights blur across the glass.

Yet, even from where she was sitting, she could feel it—that strange, grounding comfort of not being completely alone in what she carried.

Si-eun stepped into his room, dropping his bag by the door before collapsing onto his bed. The mattress dipped beneath him as he stared at the ceiling for a moment, then reached for his phone. He opened his messages—Suho’s chat was still pinned at the top.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a second before he finally started typing.

“Suho… there’s this girl…”

continue to CH A3

crafted for you with love by - xoxolaw

[timeslipcamp]

so the traitor thing

everyone has a theory and i feel like i've seen everyone's name thrown out at some point but i'm just throwing my two cents in the ring so that way someone can yell I TOLD YOU SO when we finally find out (hopefully me)

spoilers through ep 15

so the traitor thing was something touched early on and then not often since, getting sprinkled throughout just enough to remind us that while we need to get close to the ghouls, we still need to be suspicious

i wanna say eye roll but im so fucking locked in to trying to figure this out

anyways, despite the super sus vibes from the beginning, the first we really hear about the traitor is actually when taiga brings it up in episode 4

taiga's implying he knows who it is. he also knows a lot more than he's letting on, which i'll get into some other time, but this moment is also bookended by a couple moments of the most lucid taiga we've seen yet. in both episodes where taiga is featured, he's shown figuring out the anomalies before anyone else, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's known all along

another time we see the traitor mentioned is ed. he's such a weirdo i love him

what a freak <3

anyways he doesn't really give us any more info, just tells us that he knows. which also doesn't surprise me because apparently he can read the text boxes like he's deadpool or something.

but it continues to be sprinkled throughout the story, and we even get little hints that someone betrayed jin last year. so: who is it? 1. someone heavily involved with the ghouls and knows enough personal info that it's fucked them over (and potentially caused the clash, but that's a theory i'm still mulling over) 2. someone smooth talking and sly enough that they can get away with it

there's some obvious choices and some off the wall choices, but my basis is coming from a writing standpoint and is based mainly on themes....which is SO unfortunate, because he's one of my favs and if he's the traitor i'll cry

but i think it's haku

cue crying here

the instant a traitor was mentioned, my immediate gut instinct was haku--which in all honesty, that could be on purpose! they could have made him really obvious so we're looking away from who it actually is. but either way, my gut was screaming haku purely from the way he was introduced to us

a white knight swooping in to save us? promises our safety right away? tells us his main job is to clean up after the other ghouls because the teachers send him in?

i think it speaks for itself right there

not to mention if you pick him as the one you save right at the beginning, this is his intro:

suuuuussspiiiiiiiciiiiiooooouuuuuussssss

he's one of the ones that i believe has a plot relevant intro, and it's also because of this and his line in episode 15 that makes me think if he IS the traitor, then he doesn't really want to be. he's super flirty with mc as well, and while i think a lot of that is an act to get him to trust us, i think at least a little of it is genuine. this could just be because i'm a sucker for the classic trope of "i was supposed to hurt you but then i fell in love with you," but it is SO easy to see that with someone like haku.

unless he really is just duping us and i fell for it. but it's moments like this that make me think mc is slowly turning him back to the ghouls side

anyways, so we get into episode 15 where he talks a little more about his past. starting off in clementia makes sense i think. my guess is that it was a healing/holy house centered around sending spirits on and quieting the undead (more on defunct houses in a different post) so with his shrine fam, that fits. then he transferred to frostheim (well known family. again, makes sense.) and then ended up in hotarubi, another one that fits. the only suspicious part is him leaving frostheim last year and the timing of it. him and yuri would have left at the same time tohma was transferring in, presumably at the same time the clash was happening. he's got inside deets on three houses (one now gone) so that just adds to the ways he'd be able to wiggle in anywhere

not to mention in episode 15 he drops the line "make a deal with darkwick" several times. it almost feels like a callback to the classic haku traitor line

taiga voice "slimy motherfucker." anyways he says two or three times in episode 15 that he made a deal with darkwick. how often is he dealing with darkwick?

also, there was the break in at jabberwock. ren didn't say anything was taken, so i'm hesitant to say the traitor did this. this could have been any number of people just trying to get info on ren and what his stigma can do. ritsu said that he thought it was a professional, which makes me think it was a ghoul since they'd be able to make a quick getaway.

i've seen haku be associated with tanuki several times. tanuki are japanese "raccoon dogs" that are often depicted as tricksters in folklore, much the same way foxes are in western europe and coyotes are here in the states. while they're tricksters, they're not necessarily malevolent, and i feel like that fits with haku as well.

like i said earlier, i don't think haku necessarily wants to be the traitor. this whole story just feels...tense? i don't know if that's the right word, but it always feels like haku is waiting on something. the few conversations where the other ghouls seem a little suspicious (namely rui) and when he's talking to the teachers, it's always felt strained. so my two main guesses with haku are

1. he's being blackmailed into this. maybe he fucked something up and darkwick is covering it up for him as long as he feeds them info (was he at fault for yuri's medical mistake? is that why zenji died? does he feel guilty and that's why he's doing so much for a ghost now?)

2. he's the traitor willingly because something happened that made him distrust the other ghouls and side with the teachers, but mc is slowly making him realize the ghouls aren't all bad and deserve to be treated with respect. also, episode 15 has him admit he always takes the easy way out. saving his own hide would certaily be easiest.

i just realized i keep referencing the teachers all the way through this. i think the faculty are the antagonists of the story. they've felt slimy from the beginning and the more we talk the less i trust them. fight the power

i'm still not completely sold on haku, though. it can't be any of the first years because they weren't here for the betrayal last year. i don't think it's jin, tohma, or alan because they're all actively trying to solve it i think. zenji's dead, yuri seems like he was trying to run away from it and also actively avoids the other ghouls. i also don't think it's romeo because i think taiga would have done something crazy if it was. other traitors on my shortlist are: rui (can move in shadows, faculty could be holding a cure for his curse over his head), subaru (i think he could be guilted into it), and taiga himself (but he's not aware, only suspecting. memory suppression, constantly guessing who people are...it could be!!)

so that's my traitor theory! i'm sure i'll come up with more theories (hopefully in a more coherent manner) as more episodes come out.

send me who you think it is! ask and dms are always open

[cosmerelists]

Should You Invite These Cosmere Characters to Boardgame Night?

As requested by anon. :)

I've done two boardgame-related posts before this (I love boardgames): Favorite Boardgames of Each Knights Radiant Order and Should You Invite the Shards to Boardgame Knight?

In this list, allow me to provide some advice about whether or not you should invite these Cosmere characters to your next boardgame night!

1. Adolin: Yes

Adolin is a delight at every social gathering. He brings wine that somebody at the store told him was good. He has fun with every game whether he wins or loses. By the end of the night, he is somehow the best friend of each individual guest.

2. Shallan: Yes

Is she cheating? Maybe. But she makes a lot of puns and you know that if she tries to cheat TOO much, Radiant will stop her.

3. Kaladin: No

He wins everything. It's annoying. He joined Settlers of Katan twenty minutes late and STILL won. How does he do it???

4. Kelsier: Yes

At first you were admittedly intimidated, as Kelsier kept smiling to himself and saying things like "Just wait until I reveal my Master Plan!" But actually, he kinda loses games...a lot. Keeps smiling, though, so you assume he's having a good time! What a good sport!

5. Vin: Only if you like losing

Like Kaladin, Vin wins all. the. time. But unlike Kaladin, she doesn't come late & then win in a blaze of sudden glory, no. She simply...destroys you. Continuously and brutally for the entire night.

6. Harmony: No

No offense to Harmony, who's a good dude 'n' all, but man, he takes FOREVER to make his next move. It's like--we're playing Sorry. You either move forward 10 or back 1. It's just two choices! How is he thinking for like 10 billion years??

7. Lopen: Maybe

Lopen likes to play around and tease people. He MAY mock you a little too much when your attempt to "Draw 2" him backfires and you find yourself drawing 8 cards in Uno... but other than that, he's a good time.

8. Blushweaver: Maybe

You didn't realize checkers even COULD be played as "Strip Checkers."

9. Tien: Yes

Tien is mostly concerned with making sure that everyone else is having a good time. Even after he gets killed during a round of "Werewolves," he continues to grin and encourage the rest of you to have a good time. W-Wait, why do you suddenly feel like crying?

10. Skar: Yes

Like Tien, Skar also seems chiefly concerned with making sure everyone else has a good time. Bonus: he's GREAT at explaining the rules!

11. Lightsong: Depends on how competitive you are

Ask yourself this: if there's a guy there who wins every game despite clearly and loudly not understanding the rules, would that be fun? If yes, then go for it. If no, then don't invite Lightsong--he doesn't understand how to play Hearts and he doesn't care to, yet he has shot the moon TWICE.

12. Nale: No

No one likes a rules lawyer.

13. Shai: Yes

Shai knows all of these obscure, complicated games that actually turn out to be really fun!

14. Hoid: No

Hoid knows all of these obscure, complicated games and while he does explain the rules, you can't shake the feeling that he's actually playing by an entirely different set of rules that he's not being totally honest about...

15. Elend: Yes

Elend was born to participate in board game nights weekly.

16. Telsin: No

She cheats 100% of the time. You didn't even know it was POSSIBLE to cheat in Connect 4, but she somehow found a way...

17. Raboniel: Well...

Raboniel is ENORMOUSLY competitive and cares very deeply about winning...but she also respects the game. She is surprisingly gracious about losing despite her eyes blazing with the heat of ten million suns as she slapped down that 7-letter word in Scrabble. Yet when you responded with your own, better 7-letter word, clinching the victory, you could tell that she respected you for it.

...But on the other hand, you've been clammy with fear sweats for 45 minutes now.

[just-some-random-blogger]

Visenya | 1

Part 2

He snorts though his jaw tightens, "stupid little girl," he tilts his head and puts his hands in his pockets, "I wanted you before you were any of this."

Daemon Targaryen x Reader x Gwayne Hightower | 4k+ | cw: fem!reader, modern au, stripper!reader, power imbalance, age gap, slow burn?, angst, fluff, typos, etc.

A/N: this pairing was voted on but the plot was inspired by anora cuz damn it got me thinking about fics I've read that are better than that film. i said this was gonna be a mini series (i wanted it to have 3 parts) but it feels so much like a train wreck idk fam, so pls if you like this please leave a comment/reblog cuz 🧍‍♀️ what even is this. Edit: nah this slaps

You were no stranger to attention; you had no choice, as it sought you out with a vengeance. For a while, attention was your enemy, a flame you so badly tried to put out, it left your fingertips charred. Now, attention was your comrade, a match you purposely dropped in the woods, the wildfire that warmed your eternal winter.

Once upon a time, you felt your face burn in shame and embarrassment. Once upon a time, you pretended to be completely distracted by the design of your textbook and the music from your earphones, though it was not really the case. Now, you took up space and stared back to whomever did. Now, you made them uncomfortable by being more than a rumor, a reputation, a name.

And for every self-righteous woman in your college that had shit to say about your night job, for every man-child who made it a point to make cheap porno noises whenever you passed them by, you got yourself a new customer, eager to find out about the name on everyone's lips: Visenya.

"I clocked some guys come in for you, V," Mysaria says as she fixes her lipstick. She can't really; the dressing room lights are so dim and purple. It doesn't matter either, cause the entirety of Mockingbird is poorly lit and none of its patrons care for the quality of makeup when ass and tits begin to jiggle. It does matter to her; Mysaria has perfect lipstick every night.

You pull your jeans down, unashamed to change in front of the other dozen girls in the room, having been both so accustomed to both their company and being half-dressed, "oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," she turns to you, "all pretty with suits and ties."

You adjust your cotton underwear, which did you no favors, and slip on your tiny booty shorts. You put on your ulta-glittery, backless micro dress and upon adjusting it on your body, you remember you hadn't shaved your armpits. You check your pits in the mirror and quickly wave yourself off, "it's fine."

Another girl groans, "maybe I should stop shaving too."

You chortle at the sentiment.

"Maybe then the creeps with the big bucks will come to my stall after Visenya over here is done robbing them blind," she chirps, slapping your ass before walking out.

You, as well as the rest, giggle at the thought. You grab your bald cap and begin to fix your hair, calling out to the woman who just left, "I'll send you a creep if you think you can handle one, baby girl!"

You walk towards the mirror, squeezing in beside Mysaria. You continue your conversation, "is he rich?"

The dark haired woman watches you as you expertly put on your silver wig. Pride blossoms in her chest as, once upon a time, it was she who fitted fake hair onto your head as you sobbed over the difficulties of this job. She crosses her arms, tilting he head at you, "very. Sports car, penthouse, granddaddy's money rich."

You fix your lace front and grab the hairspray in your bag, "how you manage to tell all that from how they dress still manages to astound me."

Mysaria smiles as she watches you spray your wig down. You let it dry a bit before wrapping your hairline with your satin band. She watches you put on your makeup. You do it so quickly, it felt haphazard, though it was anything but. She taught you better than to do things like that.

You look at her after you put on your lip gloss. As you smack your lips, you find yourself knitting your brows at her smile, "what? Is it bad?"

Mysaria shakes her head, placing her hands on your shoulders, "no." She affectionately pushes your fake silver hair back, "I'm just so proud of you."

The thought makes you pout.

"I'm so," she clutches your cheeks, "so proud of you," her eyes water, "for persisting. For not taking shit from anyone. For busting your ass off," she takes your chin, "for you."

Your eyes begin to water, "Mysaria."

"You're gonna do what most girls here can't," her breath begins to shake, "I'm both so happy and so sad that you'll be leaving us soon."

You pull her into a tight hug as the rest of the girls in the room coo at your exchange. One of them groans and chucks her mascara on to the table, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BITCHES ARE GONNA MAKE ME CRY BEFORE MY SHIFT!"

You and Mysaria chuckle as you break away. Someone offers her a tissue and she grabs it, muttering a soft, "fuck you, V," to you before leaving the room.

You affectionately call out to her, and just then, Littlefinger walks in. Your boss claps his hands before shimmying over, "there she is."

You chuckle as takes you by the hand and spins you around.

"My Visenya, in all her glory" he looks you once over, "armpit hair and all."

You roll your eyes at his remark and pull your hand away mm, "I'm not shaving."

"No!" he shakes his head as he places his hands on his chest, "I would never ask you to do anything you don't want, my queen."

You turn to Mysaria, who promptly rolls her eyes.

"Especially not when you rake in as much money as you do," he grins.

Mysaria rolls her eyes one last time, giving you a final look before walking off. Littlefinger eyes her as she leaves, "go make me some money, baby girl."

"Don't tell me what to do, Petyr."

He chuckles as he turns back to you, "I love it when she calls my name."

You shoot him a look.

"Anyway," he claps his hands, "I have 3 rich assholes in VIP for you and Sandor on standby."

You strap on your thigh garters and heels.

"They're already half drunk and obnoxious, so make sure to make their life a living hell."

You grin, undoing the satin band on your wig, chucking it into your duffel, "with pleasure."

In truth, you don't know why you were so surprised to see the clientele in VIP. You should have known the moment Littlefinger said asshole, he meant your most generous regular: tall, blonde, and trust-fund.

"Konīr issa," a familiar baritone called, making his friends cheer, "Dāria Visenya," he raised a glass, "Tala Zaldrīzoti."

He wasn't an asshole per se, just a cocky rich guy that's very much full of himself and needs an attitude check. It's easier to just call him an asshole though.

You stalk over to the three men, eyes locked on the one with hair as fair as yours. You place your hands on your hips once you're in front of him. The man leans back and spreads his thighs, a stupid open mouthed half-grin on his face.

His friends holler like teenagers when you step your 6-inch heel on his lap. You lean forward, "you gonna translate that for me, honey?"

He gulps and grits his teeth, grin not wavering once.

"Woahhhh, Daemon," his friend yells, "you gonna let this hooker bitch talk to you like that?"

The same man yells again, only this time it's because you kick him back and dig your heel into his, making sure it hurts, "you wanna say that to my face, little boy?"

Daemon's eyes are on your leg. He so badly wants to touch you.

He yelps and tries to push your foot away, but you pull away before he can touch you.

You click your tongue, "someone clearly didn't listen to Sandor's briefing."

"Fuck you, you psycho-"

"And that's strike three," you raise a finger and turn to the door, "Sandor!"

Not a second later, a hulking man walks in, rolling his neck and shoulders back. His eyes are on you, and you merely point your finger to the man beside Daemon. Without a word, Sandor grabs him by the collar and forces him to his feet.

"W- get your fucking hands off me," he swats Sandor's hands off him.

Sandor glares, "you get three warnings from her and one big one from me. Get the fuck out of here."

He brushes his suit jacket off and combs through his hair, "I paid 500 to see this stripper shake her ass."

Sandor's face curls and so does yours. You raise your brows, "you paid for the Visenya Experience and your idiocy has led your experience to be getting thrown out by her Hound."

The man scoffs, "listen, sweet cheeks, I'm not fucking-"

Sandor shuts him up by punching him in the belly. The man lurches forward, not a morsel of fight left in him as he's dragged off. You grin and wave goodbye, "thank you, Sandor."

He nods, "you're welcome, V."

You turn back to Daemon and his remaining friend when the door closes. You cross your arms and walk over to the latter, "did that scare you, kitty?"

The man turns to Daemon but Daemon's eyes are locked on you, watching intently as you rest your knee on his friend's instead of his. He breathes heavily as when you turn to him.

"What's this one called?"

Daemon immediately answers, "Robb."

"Robb," you turn to the said man, reaching for his face. You see him anticipate your touch, which is why you pull away with a lopsided smile. You walk off to the poll in front of you, "I asked you a question, Robb."

Both men watch you as you walk around the poll.

Robb examines the shape of your legs, "...no."

Daemon counts the steps you take, as by now, he knows your routine by heart.

"Good," you stop in your tracks, "what about you, Daemon. You owe me a translation."

Daemon licks his lips. He wonders what punishment you'll have for him if he disobeys, but he'd rather not have you on your bad side today, not when this would be the last time he'd see you. He translates the words he spoke in High Valyrian, "there she is, Queen Visenya. Daughter of Dragons."

You tilt your head, "cute."

Robb gasps when you continue your routine. He'd seen pole dancing before, but what you just did was not something he'd ever seen before. You dip and spin and twirl so effortlessly; you've done this dance so many times you don't break a sweat. Daemon shifts in his seat and tilts his head in anticipation for his favorite move.

You climb up the poll and invert into an Eros position, slowly dropping down to your hands before doing a forward walk over.

Daemon huffs as you flip your hair back. He pulls out a thick fold of cash and looks at you expectantly. You smile and beckon him over.

He immediately drops to his knees and crawls towards you. His hands brush up and down your thigh until it's as warm as his palms, and then he takes his time hooking each bill into one of your thigh garters.

You turn to Robb and tilt your head, "my other thigh is cold, kitty cat."

Robb jumps off his seat and pulls out his wallet, garnering your other garter with all the cash he had at hand.

The two extended their session until Mockingbird's closing time, and when that came around, Sandor had to get involved because neither refused to leave.

Robb is now shirtless and drunk out of his mind; you have to hand him his dress shirt and suit jacket as he's pulled by the arm amidst his begging, "no wait, please— save me a dance tomorrow. You have to let me-"

"She doesn't owe you shit," Sandor grunts, shoving him out the room.

You smile and wave at him.

"B- wai- why does Daemon get to stay?!"

You turn to Daemon, who's lingering beside you. His jaw length hair is tousled, and the first four buttons of his shirt is undone. Though he had about as much to drink as Robb, you could tell from the focus of his lilac eyes, he wasn't drunk at all. You shrug and purse your lips, "yeah... why do you get to stay?"

Daemon eyes your body, "because my queen lets me."

Sandor manages to muscle Robb out, who huffs defeatedly outside VIP. The tall man then turns to you, asking plainly, "in or out, V?"

You smile at Daemon and turn to Sandor, "in. Give me 5."

With that, Sandor nods and closes the door.

Now that it's just you and him, the air is different. Your heart races when Daemon circles behind you and brushes your hair back. You feel your breathing as he leans close, so close that the tip of his nose brushes against the shell if your ear, "lift your hair for me."

You feel your skin prickle at his hot breath. You suck in a deep breath before doing what you're told. The air is completely different.

He brings his arms over and around you, and soon, you feel a brush of a cold metal on your burning skin.

"Happy graduation."

You drop your hair and look down at your décolletage. You brush your hands against the small, shimmering diamonds before turning around, "stalker."

Daemon drinks you in. He imagines what you would look like in a floor length dress under normal lights. He is pleased by how you inspect your reflection in the mirror, "it suits you."

You turn back to him, "how do you know about my graduation?"

"Mmm, a smart girl like you refusing to schedule more dances with me?" he clicks his tongue, "something clearly made you think you're too good for my money now."

You chuckle and cross your arms.

"Between you and me," he pulls out a bill, "the paper you get from me is better than the one you're gonna get from your kindergarten."

You roll your eyes at him but gladly take the money, "some of us don't want to live at the mercy of sleazy men's paper."

He snorts and puts his hands in his pockets, "we're all at the mercy of some sleazy man's paper, doll face."

"At least I don't have to walk around every night feeling like a piece of meat."

He does not reply. There's nothing he can say to that.

You stare at each other for a moment before moving to unclasp your necklace.

"No," he raises a hand, "it's a gift."

"You know I only take cash, Daemon."

"It's worth more than everything I've paid you tonight," he motions, "if you really don't want to keep it, go pawn it or something. Buy yourself a car or pay a few months of rent with it."

Just as you remove the necklace, he steps back and tilts his head at you.

You stare back at him, holding the necklace up.

"It spells out Visenya, you know," he points to each dangling stone, "V-i-s-e-n-y-a."

"Cute."

"I would have spelled it out after your real name, had I known it."

You shrug, "you should probably just go find a real Visenya then."

"Or, I can just make you another one once you tell me your-"

"Daemon-"

"It's your last night. When will I ever get to see you again?"

"Hopefully," you shake your arm for emphasis, "never."

He raises his brows, "please?"

"If you don't take this necklace, I'll never tell you."

"So... you'll keep it if I don't get your name?"

Your brows quirk.

You both stare at each other until the door flies open. Sandor cocks his head to the side, "come on, blondie. Time's up."

You turn to Sandor, but Daemon's eyes remain on you. When you look back at him, his hand is out for a handshake. For a split second, you think of shoving the necklace into his palm, but you decide against it.

His hand is as warm as it always is when you take it. Your breath hitches when he leans it and presses a kiss at the back of your hand. His eyes remain on you until he pulls away, "till we meet again, my queen."

Sandor gives him a twisted look as he walks away, but you, you watch him intently as he walks down the hall. The former scoffs, "fucking jackass."

So, no, you weren't a stranger to attention at all. It was exactly that, your ability to attract attention and manage it under your thumb that you found yourself where you were today, soaking in all the attention in this gala, only to shrug it off your shoulders.

You cared little for the attention offered in this place anyway. It's not like any of it was genuine.

"Sorry I took so long, my love."

You barely manage to turn before you feel a kiss on your lips. Your eyes widen at the lipstick stain left on his face as he pulls away, "Gwayne! I'm wearing red."

Gwayne places a hand in your waist, bringing you close to him, "mmm, yes. I'm not colorblind, my dear."

His pale blue eyes rove over the form of your red of your dress as you rub off the red lipstick on his mouth. You raise a brow, "I take that it went well."

He groans and leans into your neck, "must I talk about work with my wife as well?"

Wife. The word makes you smile, and you do, but you still push him away, "I'm not your wife, Mr. Hightower."

"Mmm," he takes your hand and rubs your knuckles with his thumb, completely focused on the feel of your skin rather than the large marquise-shaped emerald on your ring finger that he proposed to you with, "count your days. You will only be able to tease me with this for so long."

Your laugh is cut short by the feel of his lips on yours. You push him away again, and this time, the mark on his mouth is so big, you are concerned by how your own mouth looks, "Gwayne!"

He chases after your lips, stealing another kiss. When you push him away this time, you break away all together, quickly covering your mouth, knowing red was smeared all over. He does not flinch when you swat his arm, nor when you pull out the handkerchief from his breast pocket as you instruct him to wipe the mess off his face.

He does just that as he watches you run off to the ladies' room with a hand hovering your face. He cannot wait to marry you.

The moment you're in the bathroom, you make a beeline for a tissue dispenser and walk towards the mirror. You were glad he didn't do so much damage that you'd have to use makeup to fix it. You wipe red off the edges of your lips and on your chin, then inspect the rest of your body. After looking yourself once over, you chuck the used tissue into the bin and head out.

You stop in your tracks when you see Alicent and two of her friends at the door. Their conversation runs dry when they see you. You press your lips into a soft smile, rubbing your hands together as you walk past them.

The moment you do, they break into loud laughs, and you pointedly hear Alicent say, "no, I know, it's embarrassing."

You shake your head, telling yourself not to think about her as you go back to Gwayne. The only problem was, he was no longer where you had left him, and you quickly figured he was probably pulled by the collar into another conversation with some rich old man who wanted to absorb him into his company.

You decide to simply wait for him in the same spot, completely turned off by the idea of joining in a conversation with rich old men.

Suddenly, your ears ring at the name you hear. Of course, it wasn't your name, so you ignore it.

But there it is again: Visenya. You swear you even recognize the voice.

"V!"

The call was so loud, you had to look.

Your brows raise and your lips part. The man who had been so eager to run to you now grows laggardly, in disbelief it was actually you.

In truth, you had never seen him in proper light, but there was no mistaking his blonde hair or his violet eyes. He stops a few paces from you and he's unmistakable as he sighs. You take in his suit and the shorter cut of his hair. He takes in your floor length dress.

"You know," he chuckles softly, "I've only ever dreamed of seeing you like this."

You raise your brows and tilt your head, "sorry, do I know you?"

He laughs. Loud. He clutches his belly and steps forward, "her majesty forgets the face of her subjects too quickly."

You chortle and turn away, shaking your head at his ridiculousness.

Unlike you, he does not stifle his laughter. "Konīr issa, Dāria Visenya, Tala Zaldrīzoti."

You hum and cross your arms. You purse your lips, "you gonna translate that for me... old man?"

Oh, he's missed this. He chuckles, "I assure you," he takes another step, "I am just as capable, if not more, in my age now than years ago."

"Capable," you pull your head back, "of what?"

"Everything."

You chuckle dryly, "you haven't changed a bit, haven't you?"

"No, but you-" he reaches a hand out, "-clearly have."

You ignore his hand in lieu of rubbing your chest and pouting at him, "don't worry. It's never too late for some change. I mean," you point, "you managed to get a haircut."

He chuckles, brushing his hair back as he stares at your décolletage, "and you managed to lose my necklace."

"Ha... an odd response."

"Is it, when you bare neck is begging for my diamonds," he raises a finger, "V-i-s-e-n-y-a."

Your forehead curls, "baby's first-time spelling?"

"Baby?" he excitedly chuckles, "if we're talking about babies, I-"

"For gods' sake, Daemon."

You step back as Gwayne comes between you both.

"I turn around for one second, then the next you're here, sticking your nose into my business."

Daemon scowls, "this is literally none of your business, Hightower."

"Oh," he chuckles dryly, "I do beg to differ."

You can see his face begin to turn as red as his hair, "Gwayne-"

"No," Daemon laughs, "you work for him?"

Your lips curl at his words, "no." Gwayne looks between the two of you as you say, "I'm his partner."

"O h !" the blonde gasps exaggeratedly, raising his hands, "pardon me for the semantics."

"No, as in we're going to get married, Daemon," you blurt, showing him the back of your hand.

Daemon's entire expression drops at the sight of your ring.

This put Gwayne all the more on edge. He pulls a pinched expression as he asks you, "time out. You two know each other?"

"Unfortunately," you retort.

Daemon scoffs. He clenches his jaw and raises his brows, "why don't you ask her how we know each other, Gwayne."

You give Daemon a look.

"While you're at it, why don't you ask her about her old pal, Visenya."

"Visenya?" Gwayne repeats, turning to Daemon.

"Yes, Visenya," Daemon sneers at him, though his eyes remain on you, "go on, ask her!"

Your face twists at his expression.

"And what makes you think I wouldn't already know about her?" Gwayne snaps.

Daemon finally looks at Gwayne.

His shoulders are tense, and his face is hard, "or that I would ever be baited by someone as degenerate as you?"

"Alright," you grab Gwayne's arm, "that's enough."

"What do you know about Visenya?" Daemon asks, like a wronged child.

"I know that if you every try to hang this over her head, I will make sure you never be able to work in-"

"I said that's enough, Gwayne," you cut him off, pulling him away from Daemon.

Gwayne's nostrils flare as he turns to you. He clenches and unclenches his jaw as his chest heaves. You shake your head. He speaks out your name.

The sound of it makes Daemon tense and his belly churn.

You clutch Gwayne's cheeks and offer him a reassuring look. Without a word, the two of you walk off, intent on going home. Daemon does nothing, can do nothing but stand there, watching you as he tests the sound of your name in his mouth, over and over again under his breath.