#charlie let a tall guy out of the room last time

[thefusioncelestial]

Mix 8: The Rugged Pop Star

Anonymous asked:

Hello, Love your stories and I love the merge thing. Now, you see, I've got a huge crush on Charlie Puth and I was wondering if you could merge me with him? That would be awesome to be able to live that. I'm a pretty tall guy, kinda hairy on the chest, black hair and dark brown eyes. I wonder what I would look like after.

Can you help me? Your price will be mine!

Another successful show for the mega successful pop star:

Life is good, life is perfect, it would be.

Charlie found out about prowlers: celebrities born from jealous people forcibly assimilating the target of their ire & living the dream they worked so hard to obtain. He himself was almost a victim to this after a typical LA party. Some preppy kid wanted his fame for himself. Charlie knew that something had to be done. He needed a defense against this phenomenon.

With his money & connections, he able to find out how others are doing it. His heart sank. He would only need to do it once, but he would need to assimilate another. This would give him a natural defense against predation attempts on him, like a vaccine. But who? He would be taking away someone's right to live their life independently & of their own free will.

He heard of stories of celebrities losing it all, after choosing a member of their management team, it meant duties as a star in their field & the behind the scenes work load. He didn't want a super fan, the result could be extreme levels of narcissism, and that has ended the careers of many or destroyed their ability to form relationships.

"Here's your coffee sir," the intern chimed. He was tall, had black hair; lots of facial hair. His clothing choices hid his build, but he seemed a little skinnier than Charlie. Charlie had his choice. He would scope him out first.

The intern was a fan of his, but never confronted Charlie or tried to get an autograph. He was able to separate his own desires from his work. A strong work ethic. He didn't have any outwardly noticeable social media either, no mention that he works for a mega star. A strong work ethic, mature, and not using him for clout. Charlie could dig further and find a more perfect candidate, but he was shaken up. If it were not for the taser gun, someone else would be living his life, and Charlie would be stuck in them forever.

He called this intern to his dressing room. He didn't know what Charlie wanted, maybe to complain about the coffee, but he was happy nonetheless. After he came to the room, he was sat down by Charlie.

The intern was nervous at first, but Charlie explained the situation. He couldn't believe it, Charlie Puth wants me to be a part of him! The intern looked back at his life, university graduated, aside from his job as a part of Charlie Puth's crew, a new addition mind you, he had nothing remarkable going on. That is why he never blasted his job online: he wanted to keep this one. So he worked his hardest & kept his head down. And now he might be mixing his body & mind with his idol.

The intern agreed when Charlie was done. Charlie sighed that this was necessary & thanked him. He informed him that he wanted to do this now. The intern was shocked, now? He blushed. Ok, so be it. Promotion to Charlie Puth.

Charlie went and locked the door. The last thing he needed was for someone to walk in and get grabbed by his transforming self & adding to the result.

Charlie pulled out a flask with red liquid and drank it. He sat down in another chair. He hesitated. He apologized again and with his right hand bid the intern to come.

The intern, overjoyed, took off his shirt and jeans, revealing boxer briefs. He was about to go commando, but Charlie stopped him from doing that.

All they needed to do was touch skin and then press hard into Charlie. Let the process handle the rest. The intern was taller, and had a build similar to Charlie, only more cut. He was hairy too. Like all over. It was intimidating, no going back. Time to invest in better razors.

The intern got on his knees and then pressed his head against Charlie's chest. His head started to go in.

Charlie felt pressure, and a wave of liquid flow into him. Then pleasurable sensations. He didn't let out any moans or groans except from heavy breathing through his mouth. He didn't want to express the pleasures from assimilating others. Even if they consented. His face showed discomfort, like he was going to cry. And then it hit him.

As the intern entered, he liquidized. Within a few minutes his entire being was a slurry of liquid masses swimming throughout Charlie's body. The underwear fell the to ground. The intern entered Puth's brain, his mind. Charlie felt everything the intern was feeling, and so did the intern. As their minds merged, they reconciled their differences. Charlie's apprehension went away, he was at peace. His face changed to calm. He looked as if he was sleeping in the chair.

The mental traits that didn't become a dominate part of Charlie's mind went into his subconsciousness. From the intern's prospective, he was floating in an peaceful abyss. He would hear Charlie's thoughts, feel what he felt emotionally & physically, see what Charlie sees, and on occasion push Charlie's decisions in one direction or another; just a little. He was Charlie Puth now, small part of the whole.

Charlie's body was rife with activity. The liquid mass of the intern moved through out, looking like big lumps under beneath his skin. Pulsating fast and randomly.

The intern's dna latched on to Charlie's. Puth's new dna then fired off. The mass began to settle and in act new changes. Charlie could feel each one, but all he could do was open his mouth wide open & clutch his hands to the arm rest of the chair he was sitting in, and crunch his toes.

He could feel muscles pop, and in other places, his skin constrict. His bones stretch. His hair darken. And then his face morphed. As if a layer of skin toned smooth clay was covering his face, the intern's facial traits settled in. It was if the intern was a sculptor, and with care & precision molded his new face, dyed his hair.

The intern was a hairy man, and when the merger was focusing on his face, hair started to erupt all over. But as if Charlie was standing next to his new body, as if with a pair of scissors, began to cut away the hair. The body & facial hair began to shrink. Finding a happy medium between Charlie's original bare skin & the intern's wall of hair.

The process was over. Charlie let out a deep exhale and closed his mouth. He opened his eyes.

He was a new man.

But what has he become? Can he still sing?

He looked at the dressing room mirror.

He was taller, and more muscular. He wasn't fat or overweight beforehand, but the intern gave him that push. A six pack was more visible, but he kept his mass. His arms were more vascular. Was he a pop star or a bodybuilder?

His arms and shoulders grew too, a thicker neck. Did he really merge with someone, it felt like he just went to the gym more or dieted better. His brushed his hand against his chest.

Body hair?

He had hair on his forearms, on his chest and abs, and in the face. Sideburns that connected to his new beard & mustache. His hair was darker too, & more voluminous.

His mouth was smaller, and his nose moved more upright, but the lower mouth generally followed his original shape. His ears & skull were longer. But his eyes? A mix of his and the intern. More the interns. The signature cut above his right eye was gone.

He wiped his face, scrupled his hair.

The intern's personal history. It was melded to his. He knew partly why he was big now, his was practicing judo beforehand.

He wanted to feel the fresh air now with his new body. He changed into the underwear & shorts of his fusee and then went outside for a jog:

It was exhilarating. He was stronger, faster, had more stamina. He could see why people get assimilated. But this is it. No more. Too many, and the original me will be gone & buried. A monster hunger for more power.

He went back to the dressing room and used the secret shower within. He changed his clothes. Everyone addressed him as Charlie. No one knew the difference. When he asked for the intern & described him, no one knew what he was talking about. Scary.

He went to his vocal coach and tested out his singing voice. He sounded more mature, but kept his perfect pitch abilities. And now he could kick butt too.

[classypauli]

She’s the Man

Pairing: Jenna Ortega x fem Reader A/N: You guys... this one drained me out. I still can´t believe the feedback I´m getting. You are the best!! From the bottom of my heart thank you 🤍 happy reading ;) Warning: grammar mistakes, spelling errors Word count: 3.7k

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4

It was friday afternoon, Y/N was sitting in her last class, looking out of the window. She wasn´t listening to her professor. Her mind was currently thinking about the spider web she was put in. Or more like she created.

It was her fault as well. If she had been more careful and more unnoticing, this wouldn´t be this hard. And to be honest? What was she even thinking? She really thought that everything would go back to normal?

She wasn´t Charlie and she would never be. Even when they were twins. Same yet so different.

She let herself be lost a little and completely forgot about her brother. Her friends now know her as her, they know her personality, what she likes and dislikes, her hobbies, and how she acts. But they don´t know her by her name. Confusing. How is she even going to explain this? Or would they act like she wasn´t him the whole time?

Before she even noticed, her professor already ended the lesson. She slowly picked herself up from the chair, took her books, and walked out of the class. Y/N made her way to her locker, opened it, and found some paper. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What is this? It wasn´t hers, she was sure of it. The tall girl looked around the hallway if she would catch someone but nothing. She pushed it in her bag and walked away to her dorm.

This morning Mason texted her, reminding her of today´s plan. Georgie offered them his house, actually his parent´s house, but he didn´t want to hear them saying that. They are probably going to order some takeout, play some games, and have fun. Y/N was pretty excited.

She was now taking an afternoon nap. She loved afternoon naps but the worst thing about them was when you fell into a deep sleep and woke up with a sweaty forehead, barely knowing where were you or what year was.

She talked a little with her brother, he was slowly ending his tour and should be home next week. She didn´t tell him about her. About Jenna. Y/N didn´t know why but she wanted to push it as far as she could. The girl didn´t want to think about it if she didn´t have to yet. That´s probably her worst habit of her, leaving everything to the last minute.

„Go! What are you doing?!“ Georgie shouted as he stood up from a couch with a controller in his hand. They were playing a Mario Kart, competed against each other and some were a little more competitive than others.

Y/N and Mason laughed at him, holding their stomach in the process, tears in their eyes. Oh boy, it´s been a long time since they were laughing this hard. Georgie´s character crashed his car into a wall and couldn´t move from the spot. He was so frustrated by it that he was yelling the whole time with his legs moving up and down.

„Shut up! I can´t concentrate!“ they kept laughing, now leaning into one another, Mason´s arm around her shoulders still having a fit of laughter. He was playing against Hunter who was calmly laying on the couch, his character riding his car without any trouble. He slowly made it to the finish line and looked up at the boy beside him smirking slowly.

„This was unfair!“ he shouted at them making excuses for how his controller was broken and telling them how he wanted to go again.

They argued a little but he wasn´t giving up so they gave him one more chance. Which was by the way failure again. So he just folded his arms and sat on the couch, pouting like a little boy. It was so much fun.

This whole thing was Mason´s idea and it was, to be honest, so fine. As the girls were in the kitchen, the boys were in the living room waiting for them to be finished while playing some video games. They were making homemade pizza and some pasta. Gideon was amazing in the kitchen, she knew everything and it was clear this was her thing. She was enjoying it so much.

While making the food, the girls were drinking red wine. They weren´t drunk, saying that they were just tasting the wine. Well, whatever works for you.

After they finished everybody went into the living room. Relaxing music was heard around the room, Y/N was sitting in the big armchair, quietly enjoying the pizza while listening to others conversations. They talked about school, the next football match, their families, favorite childhood memories, and more. It was relaxing, seeing her favorite people getting along, and laughing together.

Through the night they got to play Monopoly, Uno and even started singing songs. They got pretty drunk but not much. Y/N with the urge to pee stood up to go to the bathroom, she made it there, did her thing, and was now washing her hands. Y/N felt arms around her from behind, hugging her, head in between her shoulder blades. By the hands, she knew who it was. The girl turned around and was met with Jenna´s eyes, her chin now on her chest, looking up in her eyes. She was more clingy these days, always smiling, leaning into her, or holding her hand. Y/N of course didn´t mind.

„Hi.“ Jenna smiled still looking into her eyes. Y/N looked up from her feeling a little bit shy from her gaze.

„Uhm... how´s going?“ Y/N asked making a thin line with her lips as she looked down at the smaller girl again.

„Amazing.“ That was all she said. The wine got her a little but she didn´t want to admin it. Jenna now felt a lot more confident and relaxed. Most of the time when she is around you she feels nervous, but not in a bad way, more like she can even feel her heart beating in her chest. With a little help from wine, she wasn´t even noticing that now.

„Why don´t you want me?“ Suddenly it got quiet, you could start hearing your breathing. Jenna asked the question in a low voice, as she was afraid of your answer. You raised an eyebrow at her, not getting her question. When did she get the idea of you not liking her?

„I don´t understand.“ Jenna kept looking at you with her eyes getting lost in yours, looking almost desperate.

She sighed and now put her forehead against your sternum with closed eyes „Every time we have a moment you rush away from me.“ She got even more quiet after that, in this position she felt vulnerable. „It hurts me when you do that.“

You put one hand against her back and the other on her head, hugging her, you kissed her head slowly swaying her to the sides.

Now you were outside. In the backyard of the house, there were loungers with blankets and pillows. It was the perfect time of the year when Saturn was most visible in the dark like this.

They were lying down looking at the sky above them, pointing at constellations and falling stars. You were lying down in Jenna´s lap leaning against her chest and her lying on the lounger. She had her hands around you, slowly stroking your hair, blanket over your legs. She was again in your hoodie, she decided that it was now her favorite type of clothing. You gave it to her when you saw goosebumps on her arms from the cold.

Others went to sleep, saying they were too tired, some fell asleep right on the couch, like Georgie, and others managed to make it into the guest room.

Y/N and Jenna were still lying there, alcohol which was in their bodies already faded. The taller girl was thinking about what Jenna said to her, and how she felt. Y/N doesn´t want her to suffer. She doesn´t deserve it. This unfair feeling towards Jenna is growing. It grew to the stage where she knew, she needed to do something about it.

You slowly looked up at her, she was looking up at the stars, with her hands still in your hair. She felt you move and saw you staring at her. You told her to switch and now you were the one leaning into lounger. She was standing above you, not knowing where to put herself. It was cute but you also felt a little bad, she was doing it because she didn´t want you to be uncomfortable.

Y/N opened her arms, waiting for the smaller girl to join her. Her eyes flashed and she slowly sat into your lap sideways, arms around each other. Both of you were looking at the stars above you, sharing heath between bodies. With your arms strongly around her, she felt protected. It was just you and her, in this position, silently watching the endless universe. It created a feeling that when you two are together, you can manage to do anything. You got her, she got you.

You were having convos about most random things. Each time you said something funny, she laughed and you hugged her a little tighter. You both stopped and now you remembered her words in the bathroom from not long ago.

„I´m sorry...“ you started looking at her „I didn´t want you to feel unwanted.“ Stroking her hair behind her ear. She furrowed her eyebrows softly, looking down at your hands around her. She knew what you were talking about.

Jenna smiled almost sadly at you „No it´s okay I understand-„

„No, please... let me explain.“ You put your finger against her lips, shutting her down, her big eyes now giving you their full attention.

„I... I want you to know that I didn´t mean to make you feel like that...“ you gulped, not knowing how to explain to her in the best way. 

„...I-I just... there´s something I´m currently dealing with and...“ you looked up from your lap where she was sitting to her face. You cared about her, more than you even realize. You wanted to say everything to her, what´s bothering you, how you feel, why you act like this. She deserves to know. Jenna wanted to know it too, it was clear to her it was something serious. But she didn´t want to push you, she wanted to have your full trust.

You thought about the right words to use, but in this position, with Jenna on your lap, arms around each other, looking into one another with so much adoration... your mind just said the most important words. To make her feel better.

„I want you Jenna.“ You whispered gently.

Jenna breathed out the air from her lungs as a stone fell from her heart. She was preparing herself to hear that you only like her as a friend or that you aren´t looking for a relationship right now, which she would absolutely understand. But it would hurt her a little, she didn´t want to lie. That´s what she deserves for turning down every guy who ever looked her way.

But hearing you say those words. She shook with excitement. The girl pushed herself up, and sat into your lap with her thighs on your sides now, looking at you with her soft doe eyes.

You grabbed the smaller girl´s thighs pulling her a little bit more close to you. Her arms were around your neck, playing with your hair gently. Your inhales started to get harder and couldn´t breathe regularly. Jenna kept staring at you with her face relaxed and patiently waiting. With chests joined together, both of you felt your hearts beating fast. Like talking to each other, craving for their connection.

Jenna moved her hands to the sides of Y/N´s face, looking into her eyes. The tension was so strong someone could cut it with a knife.

You slowly leaned into her, bending your head to the side. She understood immediately what was happening, couldn´t believe it, finally after dreaming and craving for it for so long. Slowly following your action and connecting your lips.

Your emotions were on top, you have never felt like this. Kissing Jenna´s soft lips was so addicting. She was holding your head between her hands, pushing you closer and closer, feeling your lips touching, enjoying every move of them. She looked into your eyes, almost breathless, looking hot with her chest rising up and down, her dimples softly showing at full display. In a second she grabbed you again pulling you into another kiss, this time smiling into it.

Your chest was completed, it finally found the other heart.

The next few days went by fast, Y/N spent every day with her friends but also thinking about her issue. She feels more anxiety and now even her friends can feel it from her. She is most of the time tense or just staring blankly to nowhere, thinking about the best way how to explain it.

Right now the girl is with Jenna, they are studying for the upcoming chemistry test. A table full of books and papers, Y/N groans and lets her head fall onto the table.

,,It´s too much” she mumbles which her classmate only laughs at.

,,Come on, there´s not much left.” Trying to energize her back. Already three hours passed since they started. Y/N doesn´t hate chemistry, even though it´s definitely not her favorite, she thinks it can be a fun subject if you are learning interesting things. But right now it only brings her a headache. Y/N puts her chin on one of the books and looks at Jenna. The girl is buried in a book, focusing on her studies, looking effortlessly beautiful.

For almost her whole life it was hard for her to let someone in. She didn´t have a problem with anyone, she just trusted herself the most. If someone told her that she would meet someone with whom she would be connected like the girl in front of her she wouldn´t believe it. She adores Jenna so much, that she can´t get enough of her, there´s no topic that she would be bored of when she´s having a conversation with the girl.

She adores how she talks and the way when she´s talking she uses her hands. She adores the dimples that pop out of her cheeks when she smiles. She adores her lips and her voice and her laugh, especially the one she can´t hold and forgets to put her hand in front of her.

She adores her opinions and how she is always trying to bring the best out of others, how supportive and creative she is. Her sense of humor and her brightness.

The girl knew she liked her, more than a friend, and her feelings were only growing each time she was with her. Y/N would do anything to keep her in her life, she needs to say it to her. She´s going to do it. She doesn´t care, not anymore.

To Y/N, Jenna was special, she was someone for her only. Finally, she felt like she also deserved something just for herself. At least one time in her life she wants to be selfish, she deserves it.

Neither Y/N nor Jenna didn´t talk about the kiss, but they weren´t shy about it either. With holding hands, smiling faces, nonstop texting, and hanging around, the two girls became almost inseparable. After that night, they didn´t share another kiss, even though they should talk about it because there are many feelings unsaid.

Not knowing saving it for later may bring unwanted issues.

Charlie was walking down the street, and finally, he was back. He came yesterday and to be honest, he was pretty excited. He missed Y/N and his parents, and friends and spending time with them. Right now he is going to get a coffee at the local coffee shop, he should meet some of his friends over there who want to catch up.

,,Charlie!” he heard his friend David from one of the tables beside the window. There was sitting his friend group. "Missed you, man! How was the tour?" They ordered and started talking about everything he got to see. Showed him photos and videos, and even let them listen to some of the new music he started to make.

He was so happy that finally, he could be back. Charlie called his twin, saying that he was home already, they were going to meet tomorrow because of school. He loves his sister, what she did for him wouldn´t do to anybody. Because of her, he could go on the tour he wanted. He owes her and he is ready to do anything to repay.

,,Charlie?”

Jenna was sitting by the table, enjoying a quiet Wednesday and cool weather. Today was pretty cloudy, people were walking with their umbrellas in hands, ready to use them if the rain started. It has been like this since morning but still no sign of rain drop.

Listening to music while slowly drinking coffee, is one of the things she enjoys the most, in the back of the cafeteria, having a clear view outside of the window but also people in here. She is waiting for Emma who was still in the class, they agreed to go shopping today.

She puts her headphones down as the waitress comes to her asking if she needs anything, Jenna pays for coffee, sitting in her seat a little more. Now she´s looking out of the window, somehow her thoughts goes to you, making her smile. You are always in her mind, even when she´s not with you in the moment. Your smile and your eyes are the only things she sees these days. She likes you. You are the first person ever in her life that she thinks about like this. Her feelings are serious and she hopes yours are too. After your kiss, she can´t stop thinking about it, about your lips on hers, your hands on her body, and how you were like puzzles. You were her other half she was trying to find. Jenna wanted to be with you and she´d do anything to be with you.

„Charlie?“

Jenna heard someone call from the entrance. She raised her head and looked that way. She saw a group of people at the table opposite her. She double time checked if she saw right, at first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her but she was sure you were sitting at that table, your back to her.

She saw a girl running to you, the one who was yelling your name, you stood up and hugged her. She was now confused and felt a little jealous of the girl. It was clear you both know each other and maybe even more than she thought. She furrowed her eyebrows at you. You have never told her about any of your friends, except Mason, Hunter, or Georgie. You barely talked about your family, only mentioned your sister and that was only because she asked.

Still looking at both of you holding each other like your life depends on it. Your friend pushed herself from the hug and put her hands on both sides of your face. Jenna´s heart started bumping, harder and harder. Please no. Oh God please no.

But she stopped completely breathing when the girl kissed you, hard on the lips. And you kissed her back, holding her waist.

The brown-eyed girl´s heart broke. She has never felt pain like this like someone was strangling her. Tears started to form in her eyes, lips trembled as she watched the scene. She felt like an idiot. Was she really thinking that something could be between you? That you liked her?

She stood up from her legs and rushed out of the coffee shop around the two of you with a broken heart.

Y/N was lying in her bed, phone in her hand. Enjoying the cloudy weather. Her brother texted her about their tomorrow plan and she was excited. The girl hadn´t seen him in so long, it was strange not having him around. As she was scrolling through her social media, dying of boredom, she suddenly remembered the paper she found in her locker couple of days ago. She shoots up to her legs, pulling the folded paper out. She opened it and what she found there, wasn´t what she was expecting.

Fell for you like a kid, first time riding a bike, like a tough ground scarred their knee, you scarred my heart. My wish is, to sit with you in an old chair, in the countryside somewhere, covered in a blanket, mugs in our hands, on your shoulder is my head, watching our sunset, knees touching, sharing heat, only you can make me pleased. I´m not a love poet, yet you are my love poem.

It was a poem. She sat on her bed as her head was trying to process what her eyes just red. On the left bottom was the initial. J.

It was clearly her. Y/N told Jenna she liked poems and she was enjying writing them. Now she wrote her one. Confessing her love.

She pushed the air out of her lungs. Slowly picking her hands up to support her head. She sniffled. Y/N didn´t know why she was crying, her heart was beating too fast almost like she was having a heart attack.

She barely cried, even when she was by herself. She hated when she was crying and she hated even more when she was crying in front of others. For the girl, it was embarrassing like she was fragile. Showing her weakness. For the longest time of her life, she was fighting with this. Y/N knew it was nothing bad to show this kind of emotion. But her mind was fighting back, and her heart took it all.

To her, Jenna was everything. After reading this she realized her true feelings and that she can´t keep Jenna in this lie anymore. She stood up from the bed, looking at now raindrops falling outside, fixing herself, and rushed out of the dorm with confidence. She´s going to say it to her. She´s going to confess. Jenna will no longer know her as Charlie but as Y/N. Finally as her. And how she loves her.

But if she only knew it was too late.

next chapter

[girlboypersonthingy]

Totally not requested Hazbin Hotel piece…BRO IM OBSESSED. Just something cute and cheesy about your first day at the hotel and how you’re greeted by each resident/staff. Any Hazbin requests, send em my way!

New Arrival!!! 🏩

Charlie ❤️‍🔥

Obvi Charlie is the one who found you and told you all about her hotel, dragging you along “just for a tour” she says in a sweet voice. And you follow along (whether you really want to or not) bc she’s just so kind and energetic and she’s the first caring person you’ve met since you landed in hell. You can’t break her heart after your first meeting :(

Once at the hotel, she’s practically screaming from excitement.

“WE HAVE A NEW ARRIVAL!!! NEEWWW ARRIVAALLLLL~” she sings with her angelic voice, making you crack a small smile at first until it hits you-

“Whoa whoa, wait! I never said I’m staying, you said it’s just a tour!” She pretty much ignores the annoyed look on your face, smiling brightly at you still as she holds her hand out for you.

“By the time I’m through with you, you’ll never want to leave!” Her smile faltered a little. “Well, it’s your choice, I’m not gonna force you. I just have a feeling you’re really gonna like it here.”

At that, your smile grows a bit and you take her hand as she begins showing you around.

It’s very flattering that not only has she offered you her friendship before even learning your name, she is also giving you a tour of her hotel and offering you a room, but the best part…

As she guides you around, she’s asking you all sorts of questions about yourself, your past, where you came from and how you’re adjusting to your new life (afterlife?)

As you pass by a tall gentleman with red hair and a huge smile, he greets Charlie as “princess” and you’re like “oh, is that your dad or something?” She she so plainly responds “oh, no. Lucifer is actually.”

And you choke on your spit for a second, pulling your hand away from hers now (holy shit were you holding hands that whole time?)

“Oh shit! I-I’m so sorry. I had no idea you’re the Princess of Hell. Wow! Should I like…bow to you or…?” Charlie lets out a bright giggle, her eyes closing as she holds her stomach.

“No no no! Please, I’m just Charlie, okay?” And now she’s holding your hand again, continuing her tour.

She gradually introduces you to each staff member and resident you guys pass.

By the end of her tour, you’ve forgotten pretty much everyone else’s name besides Charlie’s.

She is standing right in front of you, both of you in the center of the lobby of the hotel. You’re sort of unintentionally tuning her voice out as you watch her talk, taking note of how bright and shiny her fangs are and how cute she looks in a suit like that and how she’s so pure and heroic and gorgeous and funny and generous and-

“(Y/N)? You okay?” Her saying your name snapped you back to reality. “Sorry, yeah. Uh what were you saying?” “What do you think?”

The nervous but excited face she makes as she awaits your reply is the cutest shit omfggggg ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 you take a while to answer just so you can stay this close to her and admire her adorable facial marks and her big eyes.

“I’d love to stay. I’m…not sure if I’m worthy of being redeemed but…I’d like to see more of you- I MEAN what you’re doing here and maybe help out if you need?”

She literally jumps in the air and fist pumps, letting out a loud “WOOHOO!!!” This pulls a soft laugh from your mouth and suddenly as she looks back at you, tears are forming in her eyes and you’re so confused about the sudden mood swing.

“Hey, uh…what’s-“ and before you can finish, she’s hugging you so softly, her eyes closed but her smile never fading.

“I won’t let you down, (Y/N). You’re gonna love it here, I promise.” She pulls back, her hands on your shoulders to keep you close to her as she looks you in the eye. This moment lasts only a few seconds but (both of) you feel your heart jumping in your chest and your mouth go dry.

“Well! Follow me to your room~” She waves a hand at you before turning her back to you and leading the way. As you follow behind her, admiring how her long blonde hair sways with each step, you can feel yourself becoming hot from the nerves, thinking to yourself…

‘Omg…first day down here and I am now living with the princess of hell? I could definitely get used to this.’

Lucifer 🍎🐍

You were actually a good friend of Angel Dust for a while and when he told you all about the new place he was staying, first of all you were happy he was spending less time with Val abd more time with some positive influences, and also you were really interested in Charlie and what she was doing for your fellow sinners.

Eventually, Angel convinces you to come over one day to meet Charlie and maybe possibly talk to her about staying, seeing as you’d like to redeem yourself or at least try.

You’re super nervous, not having many other friends in hell and often staying alone and secure indoors. You’re pretty sheltered now a days…so it’s weird going to meet new people.

Unfortunately, you walked into the Hazbin Hotel with Angel at the worst possible time.

Charlie was ranting and talking to herself, pacing the lobby of the hotel with messy hair and majorly disheveled clothes.

“Uh…what’s up with her?” Angel ask as he points to Charlie, looking over at Vaggie. Vaggie just shakes her head as she approaches Charlie, trying to calm her down.

When Charlie spots you, she smooths her hair back and takes a deep breath, embarrassed that this is your first impression of her.

She introduces herself, a manic look in her eyes still.

“Hi im Charlie! You must be (Y/N)! YAY! Welcome. Sorry, my father will be here soon so…it’s just a little bit on the hectic side today!” Her eye twitches but her smile stays big and shiny.

Holy shit…you’re gonna get to meet the Princess AND the King of Hell in the same day? As if you weren’t already anxious…

You look around to see everyone else cleaning, hanging banners, preparing snacks and you decide to start helping while also very awkwardly trying to introduce yourself and make small talk with everyone else.

“Okay okay OKAY! He’s almost here!” Charlie says looking somewhat excited and nervous at the same time.

You stayed glued to Angel’s side, internally having a panic attack. This day was becoming overwhelming.

Lucifer himself finally walks through the door, immediately focusing on his daughter as well as her three darling pets.

He’s…not at all what you expected but…somehow he’s better? You pictured him being bigger and scarier and in darker clothing but he’s actually….really fucking cute. Like an adorable dorky kind of cute.

You’re just at a loss for words. Watching as he talks to Charlie and argues with Alastor.

Angel gently elbows your arm to get your attention. “You good, hun?”

Your breath gets caught in your throat as you nod, eyes still fixed on Lucifer.

All you can do is bunch up the fabric from your clothes in your hands tightly, your breathing becoming more rapid as he gives a kind greeting to all of the staff and residents, slowly approaching you.

“And this is (Y/N)! They actually just got here today. I haven’t even had time to show them around yet.” Charlie smiles, looking back and forth between you and her dad.

“Oh, nice to meet you! It’s uh…t-truly an honor, sir. I-I-“ You can’t seem to get another word out once his smile grows, his sharp teeth making an appearance now.

Lucifer took your hand, not really shaking it but just holding it snug in his own.

“Please, please, just call me Lucifer. The pleasure is all mine.”

The eye contact lasts longer than either of you wanted it to. It wasn’t bad, it was just nerve wracking for the both of you. It was only a few seconds of intense staring and soft blushes creeping up before Alastor and Charlie were dragging you two along for a tour.

And commence the hardcore pining for the rest of the day!

As you all stroll from room to room and down long hallways, you two check off every cliche romcom movie moment in the book!

Your hands brush up against each other’s

You keep catching each other staring

You both go to talk at the same time, then both stop, then both giggle and look away and insist the other go first.

At one point, you sort of bump into each other trying to walk through a doorway and then it’s the awkward back and forth of “Sorry, you go ahead.” “Oh no, you first!” “No, no, I insist.” As you’re standing way too close to each other, both stuttering and acting like absolute idiots.

By the end of the hotel tour, your face is redder than Charlie’s suit and our short king has started to break a sweat, avoiding eye contact with you at all costs.

But you’re both grinning so big, it’s ridiculous

“So, you’re gonna be staying here?” He asks confidently, giving you a charming smile.

“Oh uhm…y-yeah. Sure. If Charlie will have me, that is.” Your reply has Charlie squealing with excitement as Angel watches you and Lucifer interact.

“Magnificent! Good for you. I’ll be seeing you around then, (Y/N).” Lucifer says your name so sweetly it causes you to start blushing all over again.

You’re also blushing bc from behind Lucifer, Angel is winking at you, making kissy faces and humping the air as his way of taunting you and your very obvious crush on the king of hell

Little do you know…he’s got a crush too 🤭

Vaggie ⚔️

Obvi, Charlie introduced you two seeing how Vaggie is Charlie’s right hand man, best friend and protector.

Vaggie is immediately suspicious of you, watching your every move with a tight lined frown on her lips. In her defense, she’s suspicious of every new person she meets.

“This is Vaggie! My best friend and number one supporter here.” Charlie smiles so big it forces her eyes to squint closed. “And thiisssss is (Y/N). Hopefully, maybe…our newest resident?”

The straight faced girl gives you a quick nod followed by a soft “Hey.”

“Hey. Nice to meet you. That’s a cool name, Vaggie. I like it.”

Now she’s feeling a bit less up tight. I mean…You like her name??? That softened her just a tad.

You offer Charlie a small smirk as you shrug. “I dunno. You’re gonna have to give me a tour first, princess.”

And suddenly, Charlie is pulling you along by your wrist, babbling on and on about every detail of the hotel as Vaggie follows behind you two.

You can’t help but keep glancing over at the quiet, long haired girl following you guys. You had hardly even heard her voice yet but there was something about her that made you feel weirdly comfortable and nervous at the same time.

After the tour, Charlie is doing a little happy dance in front of you, eagerly awaiting your reply to her question of whether you’ll stay or not.

You can’t help but laugh at her and how cute and kind she is.

As you open your mouth to give her an answer, your voice seems to give out and you’re totally caught off guard by a soft and slightly low chuckle from beside you.

You look over to see Vaggie now standing closer to you than before and this is the first time you’re seeing her crack a smile.

“Y-yeah, sure. I’ll stay.” You reply, but more so to Vaggie than to Charlie.

“WHOOOO!!!! NEW RESIDENT! We have to celebrate!” Charlie screams out in excitement causing the other residents and staff members to give a little cheer before they all swarmed around the bar, pestering Husk for drinks.

You stayed planted in your spot, still eyeing Vaggie right beside you. You two stand alone, apart from the rest of the group at the bar.

“Welcome aboard, (Y/N). It’ll be nice to have a new face around and…you seem normal enough.” Vaggie finally offers you her hand, a warm smile still on her lips.

You take her hand and give it a gentle shake, your face becoming so hot and flushed that you have to look away and wipe your other hand on your clothes bc it is SWEATY.

“Normal enough?” Your brow raises as you watch her.

“Yeah. We have some odd characters here. You’re probably the most normal one here.” She lets out another soft chuckle, making you tremble a bit. Her voice is just so nice and deep and smooth.

“Oh, heh, right. Well, thanks I guess. This is an incredible opportunity. I can’t believe the princess of hell herself is running a rehabilitation program like this. And, truthfully, I’m just glad to finally have some friends.”

At this point, Vaggie being the smart girl she is can tell that you are nervous. What she doesn’t know is that she is the one making you nervous.

“C’mon, newbie. I’ll introduce you to everyone. But seriously…try to stay away from Nifty.”

“What, why?” You ask as you follow her to the bar.

Before either one of you can speak another word, little Nifty is climbing your body all the way to your face to get a better look at you.

You let out a surprised yelp as she bares her sharp teeth in a creepy smile, giggling manically.

“Oooooh, fresh meat. Hi! I’m Nifty, I clean.” And suddenly, Vaggie is peeling the little demon off you.

You sigh in relief but your breath gets caught in your throat when Vaggie puts an arm around your shoulder.

“Don’t worry. She’s harmless.” Her smile becomes a little softer and a bit sheepish. “For the most part.”

This pulls a soft laugh from both of you and now you’re truly starting to relax.

You spend the night talking with everyone but Vaggie. She’s not much of a talker but OMFG SHE STAYS BESIDE YOU LIKE ALL NIGHT AND WRAPS HER ARM AROUND YOUR SHOULDERS FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE HOURS AND UR PRETTY SURE YOURE IN LOVE

Husk 🃏

Sorry but bro is not gonna introduce himself or even really wanna meet you. Poor guy doesn’t even want to be at the hotel at all so if he doesn’t have to interact with anyone, he won’t.

But he’s leaning his elbows on the bar counter as he watches Charlie go from person to person with you trailing behind her as she introduces you to the staff and residents.

Husk can’t help but scrunch his face and huff in annoyance as he watches the two of you finally approach him.

“Thissss is our lovely bartender, Husk! Husk, this is (Y/N), our newest resident. Isn’t that so exciting!?”

You shoot him a shy smile before waving your hand at him. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

Husk eyes you for a second, not returning the smile as he sits up a bit. “Pleasure…” He mumbles in response before taking another swig from the whiskey bottle in his hand.

Husk watches you sitting at the bar for a while after this, just seeing how you interact with everyone and listening to your stories and watching the way your face looks as you laugh or how you seem to get really focused when listening to another person talk or how you keep looking over at him and giving him a small smile.

Finally, you clear your throat before you speak up. “Uh Husk?” He moves his eyes your way but stays still. “Could I get a drink?”

“What do ya want?”

“Surprise me! Or Whatever is easiest.”

And at that, he pours you a straight shot of whiskey in a glass.

You give him a look before picking up the glass. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

“Hey, you said easiest, not tastiest.” He watches you with a raised brow and when your eyes finally meet his gaze, his face seems to soften a bit at the sweet smile you’re wearing.

“Oh I get it! I don’t think I’d have the patience to be a bartender, especially one in hell. So, thanks.” Your smile remains.

“Why are you so fucking cheery and nice? You messing with me or something?” He watches you with a dumbfounded look on his face then glances over at Alastor before looking back to you with a frown.

Hes genuinely confused tho…like how did a kind hearted little thing like you end up in hell? And why are you being so nice to the drunk, smart ass bartender???

“Oh, I-I….um I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Your smile is gone now but you can see on his face that Husk regrets what he just said.

“Oh, don’t worry ‘bout him, sweetheart! He’s grumpy like this all the time.” Angel chimes in, making Husk roll his eyes.

“It’s okay. I’ll uh…give you some space.” You stand and remove yourself from the bar but before you can get far, Husk’s voice calls out to you.

“Come back…Sit down, kid.” And as you turn to return to your seat at the bar, you hear ice being put in a glass.

“I’ll make you some sweet, fruity crap. Seems like something you’d like.”

He whips up your drink rather fast and slides it over to you, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he watches you take a sip.

You take a drink, about to compliment the tasty beverage but then a loud bang sounds from behind you and everyone goes running off, yelling “NIFTY!!! NIFTY, NOOOO!”

You flinch first then turn and watch with wide eyes as a deep chuckle comes from Husk. His laugh makes you turn your attention back to him.

“You’re living here now?” He asks and you nod in reply. “Better get used to that.” He points to where the loud noise just came from.

Finally, he’s got your smile back. He feels a little less guilty now.

“So…are you really always grumpy or…just having a bad day today…?” You ask before sipping your drink again.

Husk simply shrugs in reply.

“Well if you ever need anyone to talk to, I’ll be here. I’m at the very end of that hall there.” You point as a smile stretches on his face. “You can talk to me.”

“You stole my line.” His smile and this new teasing tone of voice make you laugh softly.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Ya know, people always talk about their baggage with the bartender. No one ever asks the bartender if they need someone to talk to.”

“Well! There’s a first for everything, Husk.”

His face contorts a bit as a blush slowly grows across his nose. Not only were you being disgustingly sweet to him but the way his name sounds coming from your mouth…oof he is feeling some feelings for you rn

“Thanks for the drink. Do I…owe you anything?” You stand but keep your eyes on him, noticing his ears are now pinned back against his head as if he’s scared or shy.

He’s not sure if he’s just really drunk or if you’re just really cute or both??? But he suddenly forgets where he is and what’s going on so all he can do is shake his head ‘no’.

“Oh, okay. Sweet! I’ll see you around then. Goodnight, Husk.”

As you walk towards your room, waving to the other staff members and whispering ‘goodnight’s to them all, Husk is staring so hard omfg

Angel saunters up to the bar, nearly laying across it as he pokes Husk on his blushy nose. Angel snickers when he notices Husk firmly gripping the bottle of whiskey in his claw, his dark eyes watching intently as you walk down the hall until you’re completely out of sight.

Once he can’t see you anymore, his attention finally shifts to the spider demon.

“Ooooh, aawwww! Does the little kitten have a crush on the newbie~?” Angel teases, smiling wider which causes Husk to groan and try to push Angel away.

Angel Dust 🕸️

IMMEDIATELY FLIRTS 🚨🚨🚨

Pickup lines and lingering touches right off the bat. You know baby boy is NOT afraid to make his feelings known.

No one introduces Angel Dust to anyone besides himself 😘

“Hey, sweet pea. I think ya in the wrong place cuz you look like an angel. What’s your name?”

“Heya, cutie pie. Who are ya and what did I do right to get ya here?”

“Well hello there! I didn’t know we’d be having guests~” Spoken as he adjusts his chest fluff all seductively and gives you a wink.

Whether you happily accept his advances or not, he will continue to flirt and give you way too much attention unless you specifically tell him to stop or that it’s making you uncomfortable.

In that case, he’ll chill out on the flirty words but you’ll have to fight him if you want him to stop being handsy. I mean, he has six arms! Just let him put at least one arm on or around you.

Follows you and Charlie around the hotel on your first day, chatting your ear off about everything and anything.

Charlie lowkey gets irritated a few times bc she’s trying to show you around and tell you all about her hotel but Angel just keeps complimenting you and telling you about his line of work in hopes that it’ll tell him more about who you are as a person.

And it’s extremely distracting, in a good way for you but a bad way for poor Charlie :(

“Soooooo? What do ya think, babe? Are we gonna be roomies or what?”

Regardless of your height, I’m sure Angel is much taller and probably rests his arm (or multiple arms) on your head or shoulder as he waits for your response.

“Angel! I wasn’t even done with my tour!” Charlie pouts and now she is also eagerly awaiting your response looking at you like this 😥

“Yeah! Sure. Why not?” You finally say, now trying to look up at the spider demon.

“Alright! Yeah!” He cheers before turning to Charlie with puppy dog eyes.

“Please put (Y/N) in the room next to mine?”

His plea to the princess forces a goofy grin to your lips, making you beam with pride. He wanted to be your neighbor? Cuuttteee~

But you had to question his motives and his true feelings.

All day, he’s flirted and shown his interest in you non stop but you’ve caught him flirting with others around the hotel too so you’re not entirely sure if he’s just really really nice and accepting and wanting to give you a warm welcome or…if he’s actually into you

Cuz you’re sure as hell into him ❤️‍🔥

“Yes, of course!” Charlie replies and suddenly Angel has one of your wrists, Charlie has the other and they’re practically running to your room, both giggling like kids on Christmas morning.

Charlie opens your door to show you the room and Angel enters first then flops down on your bed before you can even get through the doorway.

“Oooh your bed is so comfy. Maybe we can have a sleep over sometime, baby~” He wiggled his brows at you, making you turn beet red all the way down your neck.

“O-oh! Sure, sure. That actually sounds really fun. Heh..thanks for making me feel so welcome, Angel.”

And Angel just about loses it…

You’re so cute and innocent, like you just let him talk all lowkey naughty to you and now he’s watching in adoration at the way you look down at the ground and you can’t control your smile

He totally knows you’re crushing on him. He can sense that shit.

You’re not sure of Angel’s true feelings but he’s so sure of yours

When Angel flirts and throws himself at others in hell, half of them look at him like 😒 “ew bye” (sort of like Husk) and the other half are like 😍 “AWOOGA!!! Me, you, Pound town, right now.”

But you are different…you seem so pure and nice. You shy away from his touch at first before slowly melting into him and his comments obviously make you happy and giddy and he thinks you’re just too cute.

He’s definitely gonna take you up on your agreement to actually have a sleep over.

Starts out innocent with you guys having some drinks and maybe some snacks, maybe watching a movie or listening to music

But if you’re down to take it further, just say the word and Angel will happily kiss you until you can’t breath or even rip your clothes off and ravish you 😉

Alastor 🩸

He’s also the type to introduce himself once you finally run into him.

He’s a very busy man after all, you might even be at the hotel for a day or two before you actually meet him.

“My my! Charlie, you didn’t tell me we had a new resident. Hello, darling! Pleased to meet you. Call me Alastor.” He tips his head to you but keeps his large hands fixed on his cane.

“Oh hi! Nice to meet you too. Uhm…aren’t you…the radio demon?” You ask, equally afraid of him and intrigued by him.

“Why yes, yes I am. You must have heard my show then, yes? What do you think?” He leans forward, invading your personal space a bit with a prideful look in his deep red eyes.

He was testing you in this moment, wondering how you’d respond.

“Oh yes! Well, some of it. But I like it and I’d love to hear more.”

His permanent smile stretched just a bit wider at your response, eyes softening a bit.

“You’re awfully kind, (Y/N). What did a sweet little dove like you do to end up down here, hm?”

“Wait. How did you know-“

“Oh I know your name.” He interrupts, his expression and tone becoming just a bit more ominous but it didn’t scare you much.

“Oh wow, okay.” You watch his expression change before speaking. “I’m not even sure what I did to deserve this. I don’t remember much from my life, it’s all kind of a blur.”

Suddenly, his hand is on your back and he’s gently pushing you the way he wants you to go.

“Did Charlie give you a tour yet?” “Yeah, she did-“ “Oh, who cares! I say we go for another!” This was Alastor’s way of getting you alone to examine you a little closer.

The taller man walked you from room to room and down different hallways, not speaking much but waiting for your voice to shine through instead.

“Uhm c-can I ask you something?” You mumble out shyly, somewhat afraid of how he might respond.

He hums in response, hands behind his back as he continues his slow pace down the hall.

“Do you…always smile? And if you do always smile…why?”

And now he’s looking at you with much more intense eyes, his curved up lips twitching ever so slightly.

“You’re awfully bold, my dear. Most sinners run the opposite way when they see me on the street, but you…well I’ve got you all alone, in an unfamiliar space and you’re asking me such intrusive questions? Hmm…interesting.”

He had stopped walking, causing you to freeze in your spot as well.

Uh oh…was he mad?

“Oh! I-I’m so sorry. You just s-seem so nice and-and friendly. I like your smile. I’m just curious I guess. Sorry again. Forget I said anything!”

Your expression shifted to one of slight worry and concern as Alastor continued to stare you down with his terrifying radio dial pupils.

As apathetic and evil as his expression looked rn, his tiny cold heart stuttered a bit at your words.

Of all the ppl in hell, you thought he was nice?

Part of him was thinking “what the hell is wrong with this one? Why are they so naive?” But the other part of him was like “I NEED TO SIT THIS ONE DOWN AND LEARN MORE, HMM, VERY INTERESTING.”

And you try to keep walking bc now you’re just a tiny bit afraid of what he might say next.

You can’t even take two steps before his hand is gently but firmly latched to your wrist.

“No need to apologize at all! I find your curiosity very amusing. After all, you’re new here.” He gently pats your head, smiling bigger at you as his eyes squint.

You suddenly realize when his eyes squint closed and get wrinkled at the corners, he was genuinely smiling, not just being forced to uphold his smile.

“So…why do you smile all the time?” You ask again, voice barely above a whisper as the radio demon keeps his hand on your wrist.

“Well, You’re never fully dressed without one!”

He lets you go before using his mic cane to gently tap you on the head.

“I’m so very intrigued by you, (Y/N). I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting someone quite like you, especially down here in hell. Well, let me know if you need anything from your gracious hotelier.”

He slowly turns and walks off, his back to you as you yell out in response.

“Thank you, Alastor!”

And then he starts walking a little faster bc your voice is making his head spin a bit.

He’s not used to these feelings.

Well he’s not used to feelings of any kind anymore. It’s been way too long since someone has been so open and receptive to him. Like he said, most ppl run the other way but for whatever you reason, you ran straight at him and he didn’t understand why.

But it made him somewhat excited to get to know you more.

[lysistratawrites]

all or none (chapter 3)

Hold on to what you have and never let go.

Pairing: Original female! Character x Joel Miller

A/n: honestly, i also want joel to take care of me.

Warnings: canon violence, swearing, infected, angst, ellie’s puns (yup, total warning itself 🤣) self harm/suicide(please please please ask for help if you need it), blood

Rating: Explicit (+18)

Tagging list: @maegelletargaryen @daryltwdixon @mmkkzz @isla-finke-blog

The sight of heavy vehicles at the other side of the road makes her sick to her stomach.

“We’re so fucked” she mumbles as a pick-up truck, a plow and even a humvee go along the road, people heavily armed on them, ready to fire at the first glimpse of what they are searching for. “If they are looking for us, things are really fucked up.”

“They are not FEDRA, they are not Fireflies, so who are they?” Charlie isn’t looking at Ellie, but she knows the kid is frowning, thoughtful.

“People.”

The unspoken truth falls like a hammer. For a moment none of them daring to break the uncomfortable silence. She still is looking outside, trying to get as much information as she can only from what she sees. Despite the tension, she can’t help but feel Joel’s eyes stick to her arm, where a couple of blood drops still run along her arm, staining a part of the butt of her gun in a deep crimson color.

“How much time we’ve got?” it is him who dares to break the quietness, his voice a mere mumble.

“Not much. Looks like they’re checkin’ the apartment buildings first. I bet my socks stores are the next in their list.”

“Any good news?” Joel sounds worried, his voice strangled by a restlessness mixed with something Charlie doesn’t wanna put a name to.

“There’s a really tall building like four blocks away. If we hurry, we can make it there.”

“Not with your arm like that. C’mere.”

And she obeys. Despite the rage running through her veins she obeys and sits by his side, her wound facing him. She clenches her jaw and closes her eyes as he takes a little first aid kit from his pack. The sharp tang of antiseptic hits her nose, and she bites her lip to stifle a wince as Joel starts to clean the area, taking his time despite being in a complicated situation, always caring about her like when he parched her up again in Lincoln. As he works, the silence stretches between them, broken only by the distant sounds of trucks outside.

“It will scar. Won’t be pretty.” he mumbles as he starts stitching.

A loud huff from Charlie almost echoes in the silence of the room.

“Not the first once. Surely not the last.”

Her right hand—he is working on the left arm—curls into a fist as the needle keeps going in and out of her skin, her knuckles white with tension. Each stitch pulls at her patience, but she welcomes the pain as a distraction from the chaos outside.

“I—” he sighs, resigned “I didn’t hear those guys comin’, and… You shouldn’t have had to… You know?”

He is talking to Ellie. Charlie knows that whatever he wants to tell her can wait for the privacy of the night, when the kid is sleeping or, at least, pretending to.

“Well, you’re glad I did, right?” her voice is stern, her frown burrowed in a mixture of concentration and fear Charlie wishes she wouldn’t have seen up her face.

“You’re just a kid. You shouldn’t know what it means to— It’s not like you killed him but...”

“Joel, sweetheart, you are terrible at this.” Charlie mutters, her left hand landing on his thigh as he finishes stitching her wound. It is him who huffs in response this time.

“It was my fault… And I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, we should have gone back and take the detour at the highway instead of going across this shit of a city, but it’s a bit too late for that. This is what we’ve got, and we have to make it no matter what.” Charlie’s eyes land upon Joel, his face shadowed with worry and regret. He looks worn and older, each wrinkle a story of survival in a world that demands everything he has. “We stay together. We go to that building, spend the night there and by dawn we keep going, okay? We’ll get through this.”

When his gaze meets hers, Charlie knows Joel is holding onto those words of hope like a lifeline in a sea of despair. He nods, his fingers trembling slightly as he closes the first aid kit, her hand gently landing upon his in search of reassurance.

Charlie is not even sure if they will make it out of that wretched city.

“It wasn’t my first time.”

Joel and Charlie turn to face Ellie, her gaze fixed on the floor before her feet, her face contorted in a mix of sorrow, sadness and courage, the revelation shocking them both.

…

They rush along the streets as fast as they can. First goes Joel, then Ellie and Charlie goes behind, eyes stuck to every single detail around them. By the time they get to the really tall building night has fallen upon Kansas City, and the militia that tormented the streets hours ago has vanished from air like a cheap magic trick.

“Ellie, move your ass!” Charlie mumbles as the girl sneaks into the building through a ventilation overture on the façade with Joel’s help.

In matter of seconds the door opens from inside, and Ellie looks at them both with a smug face, both eyebrows up, cocky.

“Where would you be without me, huh?”

“By now, Wyoming.”

A cackle escapes Charlie’s lips as they both come into what it seems the garage. Around them filth, dust and discarded remnants of a previous life clutter the space, casting long, eerie shadows under the dim light of their torchlights. With the echo of their steps making them company as they search the place, part of them searching for something to help defend themselves and another looking for the door to access the stairs to go up—as much as they can make it.

The three of them start with high spirits, moving in silence, each of them keenly aware of the danger lurking behind every corner, awaiting for them in every landing. By the time they reach the eleventh floor Ellie starts to breathe heavily, it is time for Charlie to start losing her will when they are passing through the landing of the twentieth floor, and a couple of floors up Joel starts to pant, encouraging them both to go a bit further.

The three of them refuse to keep going when the door to come into floor thirty-three appears in front of them like a mirage of some sort.

“Holy shit” Ellie closes the door behind her as Joel sits on the floor, his back against the wall and his breath far from normal. “Thirty-three floors, that’s good.”

“It’s gonna have to be.” Charlie instead of sitting just lays on the floor, upwards, a hand on her forehead keeping her bangs away from her face.

Sooner than expected, Ellie reaches for them both to get up, gently kicking their feet and lending them her hands.

“Get up, ya lazy asses.”

Charlie tilts her head towards Joel, who is looking at Ellie with a raised eyebrow and a grunt on his lips, reluctantly giving her his hand to get up.

“Lazy asses… Can you believe that? The little shit…”

Ellie laughs, and the ambient lightens up a bit.

They make camp in an abandoned office, with Joel taking the first look around and Ellie improvising some beds with the little stuff people left behind. Charlie prefers to take a look outside, helped with the telescopic view of Joel’s rifle, determined to find anything that can help them escape the city.

“Can’t see shit outta there.” She doesn’t even notice Joel approaching her until he is ducking next to her, eyes upon the window as well. “You should get some rest.” Charlie looks at him, sideways, putting a face. “How’s your arm?”

“Hurts like hell” she mumbles, taking a quick peek at her wound, the improvised bandage Joel put there hours ago starting to get stained with blood, probably from the effort, “but I still can use it.” She bites her inner lip, suddenly aware of Joel’s proximity. “Thank you.”

Joel nods, his gaze softening. “Take it easy for a bit, alright?” His voice is low, almost gentle. His hand brushes hers, slowly making her lower the rifle and leaving it against the wall. “Lemme do the hard job, at least for tonight.”

Charlie kneels on the floor, taking a deep breath before approaching Joel and cupping his face with both hands, lovingly, letting her forehead rest against his for a moment before giving up and brushing her lips against his, hesitant, finally giving up and melting into a tender kiss.

“Yo! Lovebirds” That’s disgusting…”

“Fuck off, Ellie” Joel mumbles, voice hoarse, gentle eyes locked on Charlie as she smiles against his lips. “You two, get some sleep before I change my mind.”

As she goes to the improvised cot made my Ellie, Charlie can spot a soft smile upon Joel’s face as his eyes observe them settle down. His brow furrows slightly, like he uses to, but there is a glint to his gaze that she did not see for years, since their incursions to the towns around Lincoln.

“Dudes” Ellie mumbles after a while of silence, only the pages of a little book she carries on her bag shuffling in the dark, calling their attention a couple of times before they both turn to face her. “Do you know diarrhea is hereditary?” Charlie even slightly sits up, puzzled, tilting her head. “It runs in your jeans.”

A cackle erupts from Charlie, followed by a snort that she tries to suppress with her hand.

“That’s so goddamn stupid...” Joel mumbles, looking away, trying to fight back a laugh.

“Jesus, I’m losing it” Charlie falls back to the improvised cot, laughing, and Ellie does not help to keep the place in silence.

“Get some sleep you two.” Joel finally gives up and laughs, the three of them finally finding a glimpse of lightness in that wretched place.

…

“Joel.”

He thinks he’s dreaming the first time he hears it.

“Joel!”

He opens an eye, still lying on the floor, and the image before his eyes shatters all levity he thought they had built the hours before. A man with a gun pointing at Charlie, who is ducked against the wall with his rifle pointing at the armed guy, and Ellie is kneeling with her hands on the air, visibly shocked; it is when he turns and realises that a kid has a gun barely a few inches from his face.

“Eyes on me, eyes on me.” Dares to say the man with the gun “Don’t wanna hurt you. We wanna help you.” Joel’s eyes land on Charlie, who is ready to fire if it is needed. For a moment he wonders if they can make it risking his life, if the girls may have any chance to run away if he puts himself between them and their guns, but all thoughts of a suicide plan go away when the man talks about lowering the gun, his tone hesitant as he assures that they won’t hurt them. “Gonna trust you.” The man seems uneasy as he speaks, one of his hands gesturing to his companion—a deaf kid, around Ellie’s age, maybe even younger. “But if you guys try anything…”

“Won’t do shit. Now I’m gonna sit up, okay?” Joel does so, slowly, hands in the air and eyes stuck on the man with the gun. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Henry, and this is Sam. Right now I’m the most wanted man in Kansas City, but you’re running up a close second.”

The realisation hits hard like a hammer. The mess at the store, the corpses left behind—one of them with a knife on the chest and another one suffocated. Surely the people behind the fall of the QZ are not precisely happy with them in that moment. Not just some random tourists lost in a place they shouldn’t have gone, but people ready to kill if necessary—a threat. A risk.

“Charlie, lower the rifle.”

They eat something they managed to get from the truck before leaving it by the store around a torchlight, the five of them hesitant from the other’s intentions. By the time sunlight comes, they go to the upper floors to take a better look of the area, and the vision is not what they would have wanted to.

“Welcome to Killa City.”

“No FEDRA” Joel frowns. By his side Charlie observes the blocks of buildings half torn apart in silence, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Not as of ten days ago.”

“Always heard KC FEDRA were a bunch of nutters…” Charlie mumbles, clenching her jaw.

A proper radio signal does wonders after the world as you knew it goes down south.

“Raped, tortured and murdered people for twenty years. When you do that to people, the moment they got a chance they do it back to you.”

“But you’re not FEDRA.”

Behind them, by a couch near one if the walls of that abandoned office, Ellie is showing Sam some stuff of her pack, probably one of the comic books she bas been fidgeting about during their trip, or maybe the joke book.

“No. Worse.” Henry turns to face him, hesitant about his next words. Despite not seeming to realise the slight change in the air, Joel can see Charlie’s hand approaching the pocket of her jeans, subtle, getting herself ready to use Frank’s switchblade—the one with a white handle she used to carry with her every time she left the house. It feels nice to have her around, to be both of them thinking in the same unspoken language. “I’m a collaborator.”

Of course it is worse. Out of the possible options, to have a collaborator stuck to them in a moment like that is the worst possible scenario. A collaborator means betrayal, mistrust, and potential danger lurking in every shadow. The militia is surely searching him because he had sold anybody too important to FEDRA, and to have him with them means a danger bigger than the one they were facing hours ago.

“We don’t work with rats.”

“Today you do. You fucking do, ‘cause I live here and you don’t. That’s how I followed you here” his eyes go from him to Charlie, almost like wanting to convince both of them, a mixture of decision and desperation in his voice. “I know this city and that’s how I’m gonna help you get out.”

“Why help us?” Charlie has gone by his side, her gesture one of suspicion.

“Saw what you did, the way you killed those men. I know where to go, but I don’t know how to make it through alive… Not if it’s just me and Sam.”

“You seem capable enough. You’re armed.”

The memories of their meeting hours ago come to his mind. One does not forget easily the feeling of having a gun bare inches from the face.

“You’re wrong. Never killed anyone. Pointing an unloaded gun at you is the closest I’ve ever been to being violent.” Charlie scoffs. “That’s the deal. I show the way, you clear the way.”

“What’s your masterplan, huh?”

Joel doesn’t like the idea either, but he knows the odds are not in their favor.

With a sort of mix between courage, enthusiasm and determination Henry takes a discarded plan of the city and a pen and starts drawing, disclosing their situation, showing them the idea he so brilliantly crafted: escaping through tunnels.

“Kansas City has a subway?”

“No, but they do have maintenance tunnels. There’s a bunch of buildings all put up by the same developers and they share these tunnels, including the bank next to us. We take those tunnels, travel underground and pop out in a residential area. There’s a embankment next to it, take the pedestrian river and free as a bird.”

Charlie takes a deep breath as her greyish eyes scan the map. She is restless, and Joel can feel the same incertitude as her.

“Then why do you need us for?” she spits, eyes on the map.

Then all the information Henry was keeping comes to light, and Joel huffs, both hands curled in tense fists, trying his best to not lose his temper.

“So you want us to go into a tunnel with who knows how many infected?”

“Everyone thinks that it’s full of infected, which means we’re not gonna run into any of the revolutionaries. But, listen, I know it’s empty.”

“How do you know it’s empty?”

It is Ellie this time who asks, and Joel wonders if she is feeling as restless as they both do.

“You’ve been down there?”

“No” Charlie pinches the bridge of her nose with a grunt. “But, the FEDRA guy I worked with told me they cleared it out.”

“When?” Ellie’s eyes go to Charlie and Joel, and she is definitely not liking the plan.

“Three years ago.”

“Jesus fucking Christ… Are you out of your mind, Henry?” Charlie snaps, and Joel can’t help but feel her own annoyance.

“Okay, maybe there’s one or two. But you guys can handle it.”

“What if there’s more? What if the whole fucking colony is waiting for us to go down there?”

…

“Can’t believe we’re actually doin’ this…” Charlie groans as she kneels by Ellie’s seat. “Listen up, dawg. Now that it seems you know how to shoot, you’ll have to cover us down there.”

“Dude, what the f—”

“Shut up and listen” as she talks, she gets a tiny gun out of the pack and gives it to Ellie after having unloaded it. “Show me your grip. Finger off the trigger.” The girl obeys, her eyes going from the gun to Charlie’s face. “Who taught you?”

“FEDRA school.”

“Cool.” she mumbles, Joel’s eyes stuck to her back, observing the scene. “Your thumb goes over your thumb” as she talks, she takes Ellie’s hands and shows her how to grab a gun the same way Bill did with her when she was younger than Ellie. “Left hand squeezes down on the right. There ya go… Like this, no fucker can take your gun. Got it?” To prove her theory Charlie tries to move the arm from Ellie’s hands like Bill did in her place, and the soft laughter from Ellie’s lips helps to ease her temper. “Only for emergencies, okay?” When she stands up, she gives her her hand. “Counting on you.”

By the time they get to the hall of the bank building, Charlie is already ready to growl at Henry for doubting which way they should take. It is not until they come into a staff door that leads them right into the maintenance tunnels that she doesn’t allow herself to even breathe properly.

“Girls, load your guns.” Joel closes the door behind them, eyes scanning their surroundings with attention, Charlie can tell he is as reluctant as her, but he prefers to stay quiet about it.

The entrance to the tunnels closes once they all are there and the image before them is not a pleasant one: long, big tunnels with piping big enough to hold a bus inside await for them, the air heavy and the stench of humidity and filth crawls up their nostrils.

“See? I told you, it’s empty.” says Henry mere moments after they have started to walk along the place, torchlights trying to illuminate as much surface as possible. “The plan is good.”

Before Charlie can even think of a bite back, Joel shushes the man, a raised eyebrow and a scowl upon his face.

“‘The plan is good’? We’ve been down here two seconds. We don’t know anything. Just point your light forward and be ready to run.”

For what seems like ages they go along the tunnels, torchlights on, Joel and Charlie heading the group, both of them with their arms loaded and ready to fight at the first sight of an infected. Only the sound of the leaks falling into shapeless puddles on the floor and their steps echo through the silence, mixed with the howling of the wind seeping through the cracks of the structure and the noises coming from the machinery half abandoned. Every shadow seems threatening, every noise amplified in the suffocating darkness. The weight of the unknown presses heavy on their shoulders.

And then, almost out of nowhere, a door with childlike paintings on the walls appears right before their eyes, the drawing of a castle inviting to lift their spirits.

Sam approaches it first after a nod from Henry, ready to open it and take a look at what waits at the other side. Before the kid even realizes it, Joel is already putting himself between him and the door, a clear shake of his head as a message to the deaf boy. Charlie remains quiet, but something inside her stirs with what she has just watched, with Joel’s instinct going beyond and blooming after two decades of his loss.

“What the fuck is this place?” Charlie mutters once Joel opens the door and the five of them come into something completely new to her, a relatively safe haven among the darkness and the filth.

“I heard about places like this” Joel’s face reflects all incredulity she feels, his eyes observing all around, how that mixture of playground, nursery and school remains frozen solid in time. “People went underground after Outbreak Day. Built settlements.”

“And what happened to them?” Ellie seems even thrilled, going to the painted goal on the wall, urging Sam to play with her.

“Maybe they didn’t follow the rules and they all got infected?” Charlie bites back in front of a board with strict rules written down in order to maintain that weirdness alive.

Ellie puts a face to her, mimicking in a jest, before focusing on playing with Sam, and they get lost in their childish nature, in their own way to see things in a shiny way instead of as dark as they may seem.

“Keep it down, we’re not out yet.”

“C’mon, man! Can we just rest here for a while? There’s actual shit to do here.”

Charlie is observing the drawings hung from the wall as Joel and Ellie talk, her mind trying to imagine how it would have been to grow up with other kids her age instead of a grumpy paranoid man. The draw of two men in uniform calls her attention. ‘Our saviours’ it says, calling the figures Ish and Danny.

“Wouldn’t be so bad to wait the light out a bit. Safer in shadows when we pop on the other side.”

“It’s not you who has to shoot our way out” she bites back, her voice far from any bitterness, more like a mumble. “We stay here for a while, but before nightfall we have to be crossing that damn bridge. I wanna see the face of the motherfucker that shoots me down.”

While Ellie and Sam escape from reality for a bit, the girl freaking out when she finds more comic books, Henry and a reluctant Joel stay apart, waiting, their eyes upon the kids as they talk about something Charlie doesn’t hear well, basically because she prefers to not stay still, to not relax too much. She keeps observing that strange place, trying to get as much information as possible to satiate her curiosity. But among the toys and the books and the forgotten innocence she finds something that in some strange and twisted way lifts up her spirits: a sawed-off shotgun next to a Firefly badge, like the one she found by the gas station—this one with the name of Laura Henderson on the back followed by the number 000512.

“Oh my Gosh...” she mumbles, her eyes observing the gun before carefully picking it up to check if there is still some ammunition in it besides the half-emptied box next to it. “Come to mama” she takes it all before she approaches Joel and Henry with a smug smirk upon her face, the weapon carefully pointing to the ground, all bullets on the other hand and the Firefly badge on her pocket. “Baby, got you a present. Wanna try it?”

They end up leaving that place, and quickly the tunnel ends in another door, this one with a couple of landings before letting them reach the surface. An almost empty parking lot waits for them, sunlight filtering beneath the few vehicles abandoned there and the columns, welcoming them back to the outside world.

To the carnage Kansas City has become.

The residential neighbourhood close to the embankment is a ghostly sighting. Dozens of houses half standing, weed and junk everywhere, the main road littered with cars on both sides. The first thing Charlie thinks is that in Summer life there must had been quite an experience.

“No, no one’s here. No one’s gonna be here because my plan worked.” Henry breaks the uneasy silence, probably talking with Sam behind her.

Joel and Charlie cross gazes, both of them visibly wanting to finally put an end to that suffering.

“So much goddamn talkin’…”

“I’m just saying, I delivered.” Henry even chuckles, too positive for Charlie’s taste “Make this right, go down the street, embankment behind the last house and we’re out. Aren’t ya glad I—”

A shot breaks the presumed peace of the place.

The five of them run to hide behind one of the abandoned cars.

“The fuck is that comin’ from?”

“Shut up.” Joel clenches his jaw for a moment, thoughtful.

“Somewhere down the street.” Charlie mumbles, her eyes spotting the sun’s reflection upon something tiny, coming from the last house, the one they have to reach to get out of that damned city. She ducks back when one more shot lands on the bodywork of the car they are hiding behind “Ellie, stay here.”

“What? No!”

“Before you start, you guys have to keep him busy. I think I can go around, make it there and see if I can get the angle to take that fucker down.”

Another shot.

“Ellie, if you don’t move, he’s not gonna hit you. Charlie’s plan may work.”

“But if you move he’s gonna kill you.”

Another one.

“He’s got shit aim, nobody’s gonna kill us. The moment you don’t see a reflection on that window for more than five seconds you start running towards the house as fast as you can, alright?” Charlie’s grip on the shotgun goes tighter, her breath steadying as adrenaline courses through her veins. "I can do this," she whispers to herself, inching forward slowly. “I can fucking do this.”

Joel’s hand around hers surprises her, the warmth of his touch unexpectedly grounding.

“You take right, I take left. No argues” he mumbles, his hand gently squeezing hers. “You’re faster, don’t shoot me if you get there before, okay?” she chuckles at the suggestion. “Meet you behind the house?” Charlie nods at him, her determination unyielding. They share a quick, reassuring glance they both seem to need.

One more.

“You two are batshit crazy.”

Charlie starts running down the street, her boots spreading dust with every step she takes. Instead of going down the main road, making herself an easy prey to shot down, she goes through the half torn apart houses, only stopping when the wooden fences have no holes through she can go through, or when she is forced to return to the street to leave one house and approach the other’s yard. Her heart pounds in her chest, echoing the rhythm of her rapid footsteps, her hand only going up when she happens to surprise any militiaman that is stationed in that area, her gun firing carelessly to get rid of the enemy.

When she arrives to the entrance of the house she slips on the floor when she has to turn to the left to come into the place, forcing herself to stand up as quick as she can despite the abrasions on her knees and arms. Without stopping she comes into the place, arm in hand, her steps suddenly becoming as silent as she can, the loud bangs from the shoots making the wooden steps of the stairs tremble beneath her feet.

The shooter at the end of the last room in the upper floor looks like a ghost to her. The figure half clad beneath the curtains, grip leaving the fusile as soon as the floor boards creak beneath her boots. It is an old man.

“Put the gun down. Slide it over to me” she finds herself saying, her own arm pointing at the man. “Then stay up here for another hour. Just it.”

Charlie doesn’t want to kill him. There is no need to do so.

“Please, don’t do it” the man hesitates, his gaze going from the gun to her and viceversa. “Please.”

When the shooter raises his weapon towards her, she just pulls the trigger.

All that matters is Joel and Ellie.

With a push Charlie makes herself room to get the fusile, hands gripping it steady, head tilting enough to look through the telescopic sight, quickly spotting Ellie, Henry and Sam behind the same car they were last time she put her eyes upon them.

At least they are still alive.

The muffled sound of a walkie-talkie next to the corpse still warm of the old man freezes her to the bone. They are on their way. They are about to get there.

“Run!” she yells with all her strength “RUN!”

If they don’t react quickly enough they may be lost.

“Charlie?”

Joel’s voice comes from the stairs, echoing with urgency. She glances back, locking eyes with him, relief mingling with fear. Before she can even react he is by her side, hugging her tightly, his hands half grasping her t-shirt as if he fears she may vanish the moment he lets her go.

“They’re coming, Joel.”

And the sound of her voice has a strange ring to it.

She is afraid.

“You take this floor, I take the floor below” his hands cup her face, forcing her to look at him in the eye as he speaks. “Shoot at everything that ain’t Ellie or those two, okay?” Charlie nods, lower lip quivering. “We’re gonna make it, babe. I swear it.”

A quick kiss on the lips is the last thing Charlie gets from Joel before he is already going down the stairs. With a deep breath she turns to face the street again and Bill’s yapping comes to her mind as she takes her position again, hands gripping the fusile, index brushing the trigger as she gently moves the weapon from where it is placed, her eye spotting through the view the first unwanted face.

Take deep breaths. You don’t control the gun, it’s an extension of you. It feels like Bill is still by her side, his angry mustache moving every time he says a thing. Once you spot your target stroke the trigger, gently. Smooth. she does so and the first of the militiamen falls to the floor, below him a puddle of blood starts to spread. Attagirl. Now, load it again and go for the next one. Shoot all those fuckers down.

She had practiced with infected back at Lincoln, first from the bell tower of the church, then from closer spots. Always the same routine. Sometimes even Bill carried a snack with him to entertain himself as he observed through the binoculars as she took down infected after infected.

Once the humvee makes its appearance, it is like both of them, Joel and Charlie, know what to do. She points at the damper at the top of it, waiting for it to be opened. She even grits a curse or two as she waits, and when it finally opens, a punk trying to throw a molotov cocktail at Ellie and the brothers, Joel shoots before her, making the vehicle drift away and finally crash into one of the houses, sweeping along a couple of rusty cars in its way.

Peace doesn’t last long when a myriad of screeches tears the air, and by the time Charlie realizes what she is doing, her feet had dragged her to the entrance of the house, and Joel and Henry are pushing some furniture against the main door to make them get some time to finally run away.

…

The most comfortable spot in the whole planet cannot compare to the feeling of resting her head against Joel’s hard shoulder. With her eyes closed she takes a deep breath, Charlie even allows herself to sigh, tasting a moment of peace after all the chaos.

“Not hungry, thank you.” she mumbles when Joel offers her to eat something.

“Are ya comfortable there?” His voice is low, almost a whisper, but filled with warmth and concern. Charlie nods slightly, feeling the softness of his jacket against her cheek.

“Pretty much.”

“How’s your arm goin’?”

“Hasn’t fallen yet.”

He chuckles, softly, and the sound rips a little smile out of her face.

“Funny girl.”

The next thing she notices is the smell of something warm, something that instantly gets to make her stomach rumble in want. When she opens her eyes Joel is still by her side, one of his hands holding one of hers. Outside sun is already up in the sky.

“What’s smells so good?” She yawns, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

“Tomato soup, I think” Henry tilts his head, thoughtful, as he stirs the substance. “It was not much for us five, so I put some Bolognese sauce too and a can of what seems to be a kind of weird pasta. At least it doesn’t smell bad.”

Charlie stands up, going to observe through the closest window while behind her when Ellie asks about her new friend. Something in her voice tells Charlie that she can’t wait to start a new adventure, to get as far as possible from Kansas City.

“Decided to let him sleep a bit more. If ya want, go tell him to move his ass and have some breakfast.” Even Henry sounds positive.

But all goes to hell the very moment Ellie’s yell breaks the quiet of the place.

The door separating both parts of the room opens with a bang, and before Charlie can even react Ellie falls to the floor while she is wrestling against a feral Sam whose only motivation is to attack her, to hurt her.

“Ellie!” Charlie goes to the packs, same as Joel, and both suddenly face the barrel of Henry’s gun pointing at them.

“He’s my brother!” Henry seems clearly torn apart, the grip on the weapon slightly shaky as he points at them both.

“He’s infected!”

“He’s my fucking brother!”

When, in a violent twist, Henry points at who was his little brother and shoots, the body falling to the floor with a thud next to a shocked Ellie, Charlie quickly goes to where she is, freezing in the middle of the room, not even daring to move the moment another bullet gets ready to be shot.

He is pointing at her.

“Sam” Henry’s anguished calling echoes without any answer. “Sam…” The plea twists in the air, the shot already fired.

“Henry, lower the gun. Give it to me, c’mon.”

What scares Charlie the most is not to have a gun pointing directly at her, but Joel’s voice at her back, visibly restless despite his attempt to hide his own distress.

“It’s all your fault!”

“Henry, lower the gun. Nobody has to— Henry!”

By the moment Charlie dares to look at the man, his arm is not pointing at her anymore.

A shoot makes the whole building tremble.

[blakenation1]

Dead Poets Society showing affection to their friends (hugs, gifts)

Inspired by @forrestpoet ❤️ I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND YOU'RE SO KIND!!!! Under the cut 😋

Charlie's love language is gift giving, idc.

He would love spoiling his friends/partner so much

Like if you go shopping with Charlie and like "ohhhhh I'm kind of hungry but I probably shouldn't spend anymore money-" "It's okay just get the whole menu it's on me"

THANK YOU CHARLIE 😋😋

Okay.... How would they hug....

I feel like if Neil is playfully hugging his friends or something like that he squeezes them so tightly

If you need a gentle hug just let him know and he's got ya

Todd wouldn't like being touched, but his hugs would be very gentle. If someone needed a hug, he would think about giving them one, but would probably prefer to just pat them on the back or something like that

coming from a fellow human that doesn't like to be touched a whole lot

I've said this once before and I'll say it again, Pitts and Knox would give the best hugs ever, and they would be glad to give anyone a hug whenever they needed it

If a stranger went up to Knox holding out their arms for a hug, Knox would not hesitate to embrace them

Pitts is casually very physically affectionate with his friends

SO is Knox

I can see Pitts + Knox getting along well for this reason

Pitts/Knox casually putting his arm around any and all of his friends shoulders

IDK they're both just tall guys who are dorks

one chance please

ANYWAY...

Okay, let's talk GIFTS....

Neil gets his friends something for Christmas every year, no matter what, even if he's only known a friend for a very short amount of time.

He makes sure to put a lot of thoughts into gifts too, like he gets something very specific to that person.

For example, he probably gets Charlie something really silly (probably has to do with an inside joke between the two of them) or perhaps something for his saxophone

the silly one was a bright pink beret

Charlie also gets all of his friends something, but goes out of his way to ask them what they want.... A little something like this:

Charlie casually walks into Todd + Neil's room while only Todd is in there, just hanging out, lounging on his bed, and Charlie acts like he's about to drop the bomb on him. He sighs as he enters the room, and Todd's eyes dart up towards Charlie, and away from his book. Charlie pulls out Todd's desk chair and sits in it backwards, resting his arms on the back of the chair, looking down.

"Toddy..." he starts, Todd looking at him like 'what'd I do.'

"Yes?" Todd says, ever so softly. Charlie looks up at him, mouth forming a line.

"I have to ask you a very serious question."

"Well, alright," Todd looks him up and down like 'wtf where is this going.' (I live for sassy Todd)

"What.... What do you want for Christmas?"

"Is that seriously it?" Todd sets his book down slightly aggressively for Todd.

LMAOOO I dunno, Charlie is so dramatic I love him.

Charlie then proceeds to get whatever his friends ask for. He loves loves gift giving and seeing his friends open gifts from him.

Okay, debatable, but I can see Todd loving to give his friends handmade gifts :)

Todd made Neil a sweater (he learned to knit! yes he cursed at the needles and yarn 3/4 of the time but! Sweater! for Neil!!)

Todd: "Okay so I know it's not much but I didn't have much time but i stayed up til 3 am last night working on it because I had a last minute idea but I hope you really like it and if you don't I totally get it but-"

Neil: "HUSH.... I love it so much I'm gonna wear it everyday of my life even when it's 90 degrees out in the summer I'm gonna wear it and love it so much. mwah."

Meeks is SO creative with his gift giving.... by this I mean he puts so much into how he wraps his gifts or packages them, that the poets don't even want to open their presents when Meeks gifts any of them something (Christmas, birthdays, etc)

Like on Charlie's birthday, Charlie legit just stared at how elaborately he wrapped his present for a solid ten minutes.

Everyone questions it to themselves, "When does Meeks have time to learn how to wrap gifts so well between Welton and everything else....."

Guess we'll never know!

OKAY CAMERON LET'S TALK ABOUT CAMERON!!

A pretty good gift giver, but he overthinks it a lot

"Will Pitts like this or this? His hair is kind of like mine... should I get him a brush like mine? No no no... He'll think I'm telling him to take better care of his hair, that's mean..... Okay! I'll get him a new tie! No.... He'll think I'm telling him to dress better" and what not

OKAY KNOX LET'S TALK ABOUT MR. OVERSTREET 🤭

What a romantic little guy, he would do so good at gifts, but especially the cards he writes with gifts. His notes to his friends are so so sweet

Charlie called him a corndog for writing such a sappy note with his Christmas gift

Charlie ALSO reads that note almost every night for about two months after Christmas.

Because around two months after Christmas is Valentine's day, and of course Knox wrote Charlie a card on Valentine's day, along with all his other friends. He loves making/writing cards.

Pitts gets A LOT of gag gifts, but makes sure to also get something that his friends would actually like

He definitely got Cameron a pair of earplugs with a note attached that went something like "Anybody bring a pair of earplugs? Well, now you can have your own for Poetrusic part 2!" But he also got Cameron like a nice new pen or something, he got a laugh and a nice pen, not a bad day!

Overall, I think that the poets would all be very gift-y

I can see Neil always giving the sweetest gifts, because he secretly pays a lot of attention to everyone.

[owlxle]

The Infernal Therapist

Or: The Hazbin Hotel finally gets a fucking therapist on staff

This is something of a chapter zero for a series I'm hoping to write surrounding a Hazbin oc and their misadventures.

Words: 1,384

Warnings: None

~

It was a normal day in Hell. As normal as could be expected, that is.

There's a soft knock at the door, almost as if the demon behind it doesn't want to be heard.

Unfortunately for the poor sinner, one of the hotel staff opens the door and stares at them.

At least it's someone they're on good terms with.

"Ah. Husker, hello."

The drunkard's eyes widen in recognition. "Oh. It's you..."

"Unfortunately, yes, it's me."

Standing on the doorstep is a humanoid demon in a white lab coat and black turtleneck, his skin is tinged purple and his eyes are a much deeper shade of the same color. The demon's black hair frames their face and a pair of half-rim glasses sit on their nose.

"What'd'ya want, Doc?" Husk sighs.

"Is our... mutual friend around?"

The bartender sighs and opens the door a bit more, revealing an imposing, familiar figure staring directly into their soul with his constant large grin.

The newcomer tenses immediately.

"Doctor Haze! How good to see you again, my friend!"

"Alastor."

The two demons stare at each other as Husk slinks off, Alastor almost daring Haze to make a move.

"Al? Is there someone at the- oh! Hello!" The overexcited princess of Hell steps in front of Alastor to shake Haze's hand enthusiastically.

"Oh- Greetings, your highness."

"Just call me Charlie!" She insists, dragging the sinner into the hotel and to the lobby.

Haze looks around, trying to get a read on his surroundings.

Husk has returned to the bar where a tall, furry, white demon is flirting with him relentlessly.

A demon with grey skin, long, white hair, a missing eye, and an angelic spear(???) glares daggers at the doctor.

A snake-like demon appears to be hiding behind a couch, watching cautiously.

A small red blur Haze recognizes as Niffty darts around, barely sparing the newcomer a glance aside from a quick once-over to confirm that he is not, in fact, a "bad boy".

Without turning around, Haze knows The Radio Demon's current location.

Directly behind him.

Alastor's ambient static slowly intensifies, putting an uneasy feeling in the air.

Something that the princess- Charlie doesn't seem to notice as she nudges the doctor into the middle of the room.

"Okay, everyone! We have a visitor!" Charlie announces, waving everyone closer. "This is-!" She pauses. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name, mister...?"

Alastor cuts in before Haze has a chance to speak for himself.

"This, my dear, is Haze! An old friend of mine!"

"Mister Haze!"

The doctor shoots Alastor a glare, to which the Radio Demon responds with a knowing smile.

Charlie looks over at Haze, following his glare to the recipient. "Is something wrong?"

Alastor's grin grows slightly, daring Haze to correct the princess.

Watching this interaction, the spear-wielding demon speaks, her largely monotone voice harboring a touch of affection for Charlie. "Hon, maybe we should let him speak for himself."

"Oh! Sorry! I just got to excited and Alastor told us your name and-"

"Don't worry about it, your high-" He clears his throat. "Charlie."

"I'm Doctor Haze, but please, just call me Haze." He gives an awkward half-bow. "At your service."

"So the new guy has a title, huh? I've always liked guys with a bit more... experience~" The tall, furry demon says, his tone apparently meant to be seductive.

"...No thank you."

"Aw, come on, Doc! You look like the last time you got some was before they invented the fun stuff!"

"No thank you." Haze asserts, a bit more sternly.

"Your loss~!"

Now that he's moved closer, Haze can better make out this demon's features, wracking his brain for a name to put to the familiar face.

"Haze, this is Angel Dust, one of our residents." Charlie explains, smiling. "And over there", she gestures to the snake hiding behind the couch "is Sir Pentious! Our other resident!"

Pentious's hood flares, revealing four more eyes in addition to the two visible on his face and the third on his hat (which, by the way, appears to be alive).

"Hello, Doctor." Pentious says, politely as he slithers toward Haze. "I wassss just... doing reconnaissance! Yes!"

Haze nods, shaking the snake demon's outstretched hand hesitantly. "I can appreciate a strategic mind. It's a pleasure to meet you- all of you." He announces, expertly containing his true level of enthusiasm.

"We're not done yet!" Charlie says in a sing-song tone as she drags the poor sinner around the lobby.

"This is my girlfriend, Vaggie! She runs the hotel with me!"

Haze has a million questions about the grey-skinned demon. There's something so... wrong about her, like she doesn't belong in this setting. And that spear! He supposes its possible that Vaggie scavenged the weapon after an extermination, that would be the most logical answer, but Haze has always had a mind that runs rampant without his input.

Vaggie gives Haze a curt nod. "Hi." Ah, an individual of few words! Battle-hardened, maybe? He concludes that Vaggie was likely some kind of warrior on earth, maybe an older civilization? That would explain the confidence she exudes holding that spear... that would mean she's been down here quite a while, of course. She could even be older than Zestial!

...Back to the proverbial drawing board, then.

Charlie waves a hand in front of Haze's face, shaking him from his (admittedly long-winded) thoughts. "Haze? Are you alright??"

"Oh! Erm. Yes, sorry, I let myself get distracted for a bit too long." He laughs, hovering his hand over the back of his head in a stereotypical show of embarrassment. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Vaggie." Haze offers a handshake but the demon just... stares. Glares, even.

"She takes a bit to warm up to new people, don't worry." Charlie explains, dragging Haze to yet another introduction. He hopes it's the final one.

"Hey again, doc~"

Angel Dust. How many arms does this demon have? Four seems excessive, but if he's a spider, he should have eight limbs total, leaving a pair unaccounted for! Why he's expecting any of this to make sense, he's not sure, but he'd certainly appreciate it if it did.

There's a familiarity about the spider's name... Angel Dust. One of his patients may have mentioned it...?

"Oh, I know that look." Angel smirks. "You know me from my work!"

"Gay pornos." Husk adds, from behind the bar.

Yes, it was definitely one of his patients that brought him up. Probably Travis. Seems up his alley.

"Oh, of course." Haze nods.

"You watch my stuff?"

That is a fair conclusion to come to, quite honestly. "Oh- um. Not me, one of my patients mentioned you a few times."

"So the title ain't just for showing off? You've got patients? What kinda doctor are you, anyway?" Angel seems genuinely curious. Haze can appreciate that.

"He's the lobotomy kind!" Alastor announces, making his presence known again after his ambient static faded into the background.

"That's barbaric, Alastor." Haze mutters.

"Oh, I'm just kidding! Haze here is the kind of doctor that talks at you!"

"That's a gross oversimplification..."

"I know!" Alastor's grin seems to grow wider for a moment. "You're hilarious when you're offended!"

"Great. Thanks. Appreciate it." The doctor says under his breath, trying to ignore the Radio Demon.

"He ain't wrong, though. That's what you do." Husk asserts before taking a long drink from his nondescript bottle of alcohol.

"I'm a psychologist. I have a small clinic in Pentagram City where I provide therapy for sinners. I've found that it's often beneficial for the damned to show vulnerability."

Charlie's eyes light up and Haze can practically hear her enthusiasm. Internally, the demonic doctor grins, externally, he smirks.

"That's why I'm here. I want to offer my assistance in the betterment of sinners."

"Really?" Charlie asks, bouncing in place.

Alastor's eye twitches, a subtle sign that he is... irritated, to say the least.

He's hilarious when he's offended.

"I don't know if I believe in this concept of 'redemption' you've been peddling, but in the end, we have the same goal. We both strive improve the lives of sinners." Haze extends a hand to Charlie, in a way reminiscent of Alastor, albeit with none of the danger in the air. "What do you say?"

[looselyreadymade]

Part 5: The Roots of Evil

Falling into an AU; Reader AFAB x HH 

TW: threats, swearing, mild torture, sex acts, anxiety, panic, drugs, violence, mild gore 

Pulling into the parking outside Ozzie’s House of Lust, you look up at the flashing neon and the scantily-clad security barring the door. A thick red rope was unhooked when a paying patron with reservations appeared. Charlie looked confident as she took your hand and strode to the entrance, cheerily waving to the doorman. “table for two please, we’re here to meet the big man!” He looked at his list, “names?” “we, uh, don’t have a reservation... i, uh... (puffing out her chest and taking on a painful british accent) i am the princess of hell and i demand a table.... please” you laugh at her nervous grin.  

“look, i gotta clear this with the boss first, hang on” He clicks his earpiece and various shouting leaks through the comms. You can only make out that some drama unrelated to you is happening, and he can’t quite get the attention of whoever is on the other end of the speaker. He grunts, telling you to wait here. He snaps his fingers at a busboy in teeny pasties and tastefully frilly shorts, telling him to go let the boss know the princess of hell and her date want a table last-minute. You blush, starting to say you’re not together, before Charlie stabs you in the waist with her elbow and says “Yup! That’s us! Just two... horny demons... looking for a gooooood time in the Lust ring” another painfully awkward smile, and the doorman sighs before looking away. 

The busboy comes sprinting back, gesturing wildly for you to follow. The doorman removes the red rope and clears you to enter. You walk through a vibrantly coloured hall lined with paintings and plants of all shapes and sizes, nudity and costume beyond your imagination filling every corner of your vision. Everyone was clothed, to an extent. You were eyeing up a leather-bound hellhound with deep ruby plaits as you walked past the dining room, blushing the same crimson red as her hair when she catches your eye and winks.  

You are led up a winding staircase, the busboy jumping and hopping to keep ahead of you. He was much shorter, perhaps four or so feet tall, and not much of that was legs. Eventually, you came to two looming glass double doors that opened with a gentle breeze. A grand hallway filled with office staff scurrying between rooms, bustling with papers and debating meeting points. The final room at the end of the corridor was finer than the rest, a beautiful heart-shaped wooden frame carved with tiny nude models and BDSM toys. Charlie looked far less comfortable in this doorway than you did, but you had seen glimpses of this building from the show. Maybe this was her first time coming here?  

A tall imp with a crisp tuxedo pulled one of the heavy doors open and waved you through.  

In the room, much darker and more sensual than the corridor, you were distracted by the silently roaring fire surrounding the faces of Asmodeus. The blue flames threw brilliant ripples of light across the office, illuminating and hiding the fine details of the beautifully furnished room in waves of metallic cyan and white. 

In awe, you couldn’t immediately speak. Charlie cleared her throat and made introductions, apologising for interrupting his work. Asmodeus looked serious and patient, greeting the princess of hell with appropriate respect, but not relaxing. You found your voice then, asking him how has Fizz been since you stitched up the nasty cut he got in the middle of his ‘Glass Half Full’ raunchy show. He looked at you in recognition and laughed, realising where he had seen you before. “the healer! Yes, you helped Fizzy that time! How’s it going? You know Blitz still goes on about you. Thinks you’d be a better mercenary than a doctor. You fixed up the dancer recently, right? Good guy. You got paid fairly for that, right?” You nodded happily, “yeah don’t worry, your boys take good care of me!” He laughs, “alright, so you need anything? A show? A favour? You know i gotchu, and it’s on me” 

“well actually, yes, i need a favour. A big one. Charlie?” 

She took a deep breath and began telling a story about how the roots of hell got into earth and blah blah blah, rambling for a while until you put a hand on her arm and reminded her to ask the favour. “You can create portals to earth, right? Your demons use them to go to the world all the time. If we can go there, we can try to find the tree of knowledge and try to figure out how to reverse the corruption in Heaven. We gotta at least try. Can you help us?” 

He looks between the two of you, curious. “i can get you up there.... but neither of you look like you can blend in. You got disguises?” You look at him, stumped. Yeah, you could get away with it, but Charlie? Uhhh... 

“oh shit! Yes! Disguises! You’re like the king of Lust right? I'm sure you have a wiiiide range of costumes and... gadgets to help people look like... other things?” The sin laughed at her wording, clapping his hands twice to summon an assistant. One appeared almost out of nowhere with a slight bow and whisked us towards one of the smaller rooms in the corridor where feather boas and spiky hats poked out of packed closets. You tried to wave and thank Asmodeus but barely managed to raise your hand before you were already in the dressing room and out of view.  

The portal closed behind you with a shimmer. Charlie looked like something out of a magazine; with your help, you’d managed to help her look as close to the modern fashion without being too flashy. Still, she looked stunning. The bracelet on her wrist shone with an amber crystal bound in leather an velvet; it was the Asmodeus crystal we had been temporarily lent to get back to hell after the investigation. I felt naked without my clawed gloves and chest piece. The air was so fresh, so clean and bright, it took a minute to absorb our surroundings. The next few hours were a blur of rushing from place to place, trying foods and looking at art, even if the art was just a modern radiator or a local swimming pool. She was enthralled by the world and how it had developed, having only heard about it from stories from her people. There was no calming her, it took all the energy you had just to keep up with her. By the time you managed to get a word in edgewise and remind her we had a job, she had three shopping bags full of trinkets and snacks. You chewed on your sandwich, having almost forgotten the delicious taste of soft white bread and freshly cooked bacon since being in hell. She acted shocked as if the entire point of the trip had escaped her mind completely and she grabbed your arm, running towards a book store at the street corner. Your sandwich remained intact, thankfully. 

Having delved through seemingly hundreds of aged tomes and frayed memoirs, you had just about given up on finding answers when the store manager called for closing time. Hints of possible forbidden knowledge were dotted throughout the tales, but how many of them were just dramatized for effect? How many were actually true? You walked out of the shop, still feeling lost and unsure. You and Charlie wandered some more, discussing potential ideas, looking at various maps and suggesting ideas that were soon discarded. 

Charlie pulled a paper bag from her snack back, pulling out a small red freckled apple. Absent mindedly chewing on it, her eyes suddenly focused on the fruit. “the apple!” you looked at her, having no idea what she meant. “what aboooout if we tried to find the fruit itself, in like... an actual tree???” You paused and looked at a world map, thinking about where the literal tree would be. “you mean, like, find the actual tree from the actual Garden of Eden... wouldn’t that have been destroyed? Like, after the world-shattering betrayal by your pops?” “maybe, or maybe not, i think angels are pretty protective of the good things they create, and i dont believe they’d destroy something so important to them. It’s a symbol, like to remind heaven and earth of the choices they need to make to be good?” “you sure you’re not thinking too much into this? It could just be a tree, or even just a metaphor. Have you ever asked your dad if the apple was a literal apple??” 

The journey took you across deserts and oasis’ for miles. Shopkeeps gave you cautious glances as you enquired about ‘famous trees’ and sacred gardens’. You were using a small translation book which no doubt left your conversations lacking any sense, let alone depth, but you managed to find a few places that could have been considered sacred and beautiful enough to have been the garden of Eden. No particular trees stood out though, and few of them grew apples. Wandering to a nearby settlement for a water top-up, Charlie expressed her frustration at the literal lack of fruition. Loud tourists who spoke with thick American accents clinked beer bottles in front of unamused barkeeps, laughing about their mishaps and melodramas. You looked around, not really paying attention. Charlie was beginning to get tired and grumpy, and it was also rubbing off on you. Scowling at the tourists, she complained how ignorant people could be, making fun of other people’s cultures and disrespecting their land. “The tree of life clearly isn’t anywhere near these assholes. They wouldn’t get any smarter even if the fruit of knowledge hit them in the head.” 

You laughed, picturing the vivid scene, being reminded of how one of the greatest discoveries came from such a similar accident. Sir Isaac Newton’s apple nap. The thought tickled you, and without much further thought you suggested checking a last attempt of finding the fruit of knowledge. One last go before we either find somewhere to sleep or go back to the hotel. She groaned but agreed, and followed you to behind a building where you could portal without being seen.  

You direct her to a familiar setting from your time on earth, the Lincolnshire woods of England. After the blinding desert sands and dry air, walking into forestry was like being hit by a very wet wall. It wasn’t even raining, just so much cooler and sheltered. You made your way across the forest floor, feeling hilariously out of place in Charlie’s fashion get-up and your smart-casual dress. The sight of fields began to filter through the trees as you stumbled towards the nearest civilisation. Red brick houses sparsely dotted on the horizon did not reassure you of where you were, at all. Thankfully, nearing more structured roads, you see signs for a local town only four miles away. You didn’t even have to flag down a car for a hitchhike, one pulled over almost immediately to ask if we needed help getting anywhere. They were staring at Charlie hungrily, barely looking at you, but help was help. You both got in the back, directing them to somewhere local they can find a map. The four miles felt far, far longer than they should have done. You think the driver was probably going slower than necessary to help them try to get a shot with the hot blonde you were with. It would have been funny if you weren’t so tired. Charlie too didn’t seem bothered by the men, watching out over the green landscape with sleepy eyes.  

Giving up on their sexual endeavor, the car pulled over near a bus station and let you out. They still tried one more time to get her number before having the car door slammed a little too forcefully by Charlie. 

Using the internet cafe in the bus station, you show Charlie how to use the computers to find information. Her usual awe and energy was lackluster and she rested her face in her arms for a quick snooze while you searched the web. 

You found the manor where Sir Isaac Newton had been inspired by the falling apple and developed his theory of gravity on the map in less than two minutes; it was a brief bus journey and a small walk and we could find the orchard, no problem. You looked over at Charlie, deciding to not disturb her when she had only just shut her eyes. Your mind wandered to your family. Your home. On earth. Maybe... just maybe they were here? 

All your old social media pages and passwords didn’t work. You couldn’t find any references to yourself, your immediate family, your life. You were able to find the house you had bought, and were still paying the damn mortgage on when you disappeared, but all you could see was the street view on google maps that looked exactly as it was before you did any renovations. You tried to look up your family home, also on street view; they had lived there for over 10 years, surely if they were there, street view would show you something you recognise? No. The homes you have lived in, as a student, as a child, as a teen, as a young adult all bore no personal touches that you remember. No family car, no familiar curtains, no damage to the bushes you had over-trimmed as a young adult with no common sense or money. Your family member’s names came back with people you were certain you had no connection with, people you never met nor lived anywhere near you had grown up.  

You searched for so long to find any trace of who you were that you never even noticed the sky turning pitch black or the final buses leaving the station. An attendant came over and tapped you on the shoulder. “sorry ladies, the station is closing. You ok?” 

Charlie stirred next to you and groggily sat up straight, mumbling something indecipherable, while you blinked and tried to focus your eyes away from the bright screen. Your vision blurred and your cheeks felt cold. You hadn’t realised you were crying. Charlie looked at you with concern and took your hand as you walked out of the bus station. 

Nearby was an old, well-loved bed and breakfast, stained from age and surviving many miserable weathers in the UK. You paid for a night and curled up in the over-starched sheets, instantly falling asleep. 

You woke up alone, wondering where you were. Briefly, you felt like you again, like you could look at your phone and read your messages before you had to get up. The reality hit you like a train as Charlie’s muffled singing floated out of the bathroom. Still, it wasn’t the worst feeling in the world, just a bit of a shock. You had dreamed of your old life all night. Listening to her rendition of a ‘Happy Day in Hell’ while she showered made you feel a little happier, a little safer. There was good in hell, and we were trying to save it.  

The morning buses were bumpy and buzzing with people going to work, passing all the grassy fields and hitting every pothole they could find. Soon enough, you took the stop close enough to the manor for you to walk and set off.  

It was almost anticlimactic, seeing the dated manor and its orchard sprawling in the grey morning. Creeping around the side, you both see a large apple tree being tended by two gardeners. Waiting until they left, you approach the large tree, unsure of what to do now you have actually found it.  

You debate possible actions, deeming it unwise to eat a bunch of apples to test if any of them bring about the root of all evil. You try talking to the tree, knocking on it, pleading with it, offering it gifts. It still very much remained a tree. 

The noise of a stick cracking behind you made you jump, spinning to look at who was approaching. One of the gardeners from before, with a small smirk and sunglasses walked evenly towards you. You stood frozen, not sure how illegal knocking on and talking to a tree was. The gardener bore the uniform of a National Trust employee, with long brown hair pulled back in a hasty ponytail, functional and efficient. Something felt off though. The hairs on your arms and the back of your neck stood up and your stomach dropped. The employee walked slightly past you and put a gentle hand on the tree. “so, what is it you wish to learn from the garden?” 

Neither of you spoke. She smiled, “come now. You have searched near the full expanse of the mortal world to find me. Ask.”  

Unsure what she meant, and incredibly terrified of the implication, you swallow and try to clear your throat to speak. Charlie managed to do so first. “Is this the tree of life? The tree that bore the first fruit of knowledge?” The gardener laughed, sunglasses reflecting the silvery clouds. “No single entity can claim the value of giving pure life. Even a God cannot create existence without allowing it to evolve its own meaning of being. Dust and atoms, stars and death are all intertwined in reams of fate. What becomes of those fractious moments in time are what allows us to be present in reality. Does this tree bring you knowledge, simply through being? Or is it your understanding and beliefs that guide you to this conclusion?” 

Completely stunned, you stare blankly. Even Charlie was dumbfounded. The gardener continued; “endless cycles of birth, life, death, dispersion, growth, deterioration, nothing truly ending and nothing truly beginning. If you were to find the answers to which you seek, what would you choose to do with this power?” 

“i wish to save my people” Charlie mumbled softly. 

“And what is it to be saved? To continue a suffering not meant to be?” 

You looked between the two, feeling far out of your depth. “I don’t think it’s about the suffering, or prolonging the lives of people who have already died once... I think it’s more that we want to give souls the choice to do what they wish with their.... existence, whether it is in peace, chaos or something more, uh, shifting?” 

Charlie looked at you, appreciation shimmering in her eyes. She took your hand and wiped a tear.  

The gardener raised a hand in front of her, looked at it as if studying it. “yes, that would be more fitting, wouldn’t it? After all, that was what humanity was meant to become.” She lifted her sunglasses, revealing blazing red eyes and snake-like irises, sharp as obsidian daggers. She held out the hand as if to offer something, followed swiftly by a large, perfectly rounded, perfectly red apple falling from the tree into her palm. 

“This will not bring you the peace you seek, nor the answers for your question. It may however grant a different release, knowledge or chaos depending on how you should choose to use it. Bear this in mind, as once the fruit has been bitten, it cannot be undone. Ensure it is at your most desperate that you would even consider sowing such a seed.” 

The gardener’s hand outstretched to yours offering you the fruit. You take it carefully, cupping it in both of your hands as if it were going to shatter. The power of it felt intoxicating, feeling the brink of uncertainty and possibility swirling in your mind like a drug... A soft cry from Charlie broke you from your reverie as she jumped to catch the gardener. She had slumped lifelessly to the floor. Cradling the apple in one arm, you use your free hand to check for a pulse. Neither radial or carotid arteries thumped with any signs of life. Giving Charlie the apple, you begin CPR and try to work on her, forcing strong breaths into the gardener’s lungs. No response came. You cry out for help, alerting the nearby staff who came rushing over. They took over and called an ambulance, not even questioning you both on why you were there. You stood shocked as they worked to save her, rhythmically pressing her chest and crying for her to just wake up. You backed away slowly, horrified by the scene. Charlie, still holding the apple, urged you to come with her, that you needed to get out of here. Only when she dragged you through the portal did you manage to tear your eyes away. 

Back in the hallway of the House of Lust, shock crashed over your body in waves. Your breathing was short and ragged, your chest hurt, your palms burned, your head pounded. Spinning, slamming, screaming, aching, your body curled in on itself. Dots of red, green, blue and white controlled your vision as you lost control of your legs. Fighting for air and clinging to your body as if you were slipping from it, you screwed your eyes shut and rocked against the pain. Slowly, pressure on your upper arms took attention from the inner turmoil. More pressure, on your knees. Cold, seeping down your back. You managed to take slower breaths with cool air, easing the panic gripping your body. The colours began to ease as you managed to gently lift your head. You heard voices, dull background noise, and a soothing repetition of “you’re ok. You’re ok”. Peeping open your eyes, you could see it was Charlie, helping you get through a panic attack. You hadn’t had one this bad since you were... alive? You guess?  

You felt wetness through your dress and noticed the floor too was heavily soaked, along with a nervous-looking butler with a bucket. The sight made you laugh, further helping you gain control over yourself. Helping you to your feet, Charlie checked you were ok, and led you to some chairs. You looked at her quizzically, not seeing the apple in her hands. She seemed to understand and pointedly adjusted the shopping back slung on her shoulder. You breathed in relief. After all that, to have forgotten the damn apple would have been a massive pain in the ass.  

Walking up the driveway to the hotel, you agreed to not speak of the apple. As far as anyone in heaven or hell would be concerned, your journey to the world was, no pun intended, fruitless. 

Finding a hiding spot was challenging. You explored all possible places in your room, each time acknowledging how hilariously useless it would be to stash something in a hotel with various addicts. They would know hidey holes far, far better than you could imagine. Instead, you settle with something more creative. You pick apart some of the seam from the underside of the mattress, as close to the lining as possible. When you have enough material loose, you begin pulling stuffing and springs in a small cubic space in the far corner, right next to your pillow. The apple, wrapped in cloth and packed in a cardboard box, slides into the crevice you created. Carefully, you return as much mattress stuffing as will fit around the box and complete the repair. The mattress looks undisturbed; only sitting on or lifting this specific corner of the bed would reveal the secret inside. The remaining stuffing and springs you pack into your back to dispose of when you’re next on a job, far away from the hotel. 

[rapunzelforlorn]

A heartstopper AU where Nick Nelson is an out and proud captain of the rugby team and a bisexual icon while shy art nerd Charlie has only ever liked girls before.

(Idk how to tag fics but this is PG-13.

Straight!Charlie)

It was the first day of class and Truham School for boys has announced new form groups. Charlie stared at the room number scratched onto the back of his hand for what felt like the millionth time today. He made it to the classroom door and took a breath. He knew none of his friends were going to be inside, they had already compared schedules. Elle was at Higgs now anyway. Charlie entered the classroom and said hello to the teacher.

"Charlie Spring!" Said Mr. Lange.

"Happy new year! Let's see, where did I put you on the seating plan... ah, yes, you're over there next to Nick Nelson, he's in year eleven only a year older than you."

Charlie nodded and headed to the back corner Mr. Lange had pointed to. Nick was already seated and was busy looking out the windown as Charlie approached. He looked at the seated boy; tall, broad shoulders, athletic type, with strawberry blonde hair that fell over the top of his head as he ran his hand through it. His attention was drawn back to the classroom as Charlie pulled out the chair, and set down his bag.

"Hi"

"Hi."

Charlie didn't know very much about Nick at all other than he was the captian of the rugby team and that he came out as bisexual last term. He remembered a random year 8 walk up to him, Tao, Elle and Issac during lunch

"Did you hear? Nick Nelson is gay! What a lo-"

Elle rolled her eyes. "I heard he was bi, actually"

The kid ran off before he heard her.

The weeks passed and Charlie found himself looking forward to form every day. He and Nick had been getting along really well and Charlie just felt so comfortable around Nick even though he couldn't figure out why. One day, Nick's pen exploded ink all over himself and Mr. Lange assigned Charlie to go with him to the washroom. It was an unlikely paring but Nick had somehow become Charlie's friend.

Charlie was going to lunch when his phone buzzed. He looked down at a message from Beth. Beth was a very popular year 11 whom he had met a year ago in the hall outside the band room. Since then, Beth would text Charlie and ask to see him regularly. Charlie still wasn't sure why she wanted to see him sometimes, especially when she didn't ever seem to want to hang out with him or even talk to him in the halls, but she was beautiful so Charlie would always find the empty room and there she would be. As soon as he closed the door behind him Beth was right there hands on his face, pressing him with kisses. Charlie pulled back, hesitant.

"Hello to you too."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Hey. I missed you." In between kisses.

Charlie pulled back again, farther this time.

"What do you want Beth?"

"What? Can't a girl miss her best boy?"

"I'm not your best boy, Beth. I'm not your anything. You won't even look at me in the halls and I'm tired of only ever seeing you in empty rooms while you snog the soccer player of the week at the front gate."

"Oooh someone's mad today." Beth said with a fake pout and another eye roll.

"I don't see why you're upset, you get to kiss me too, after all. Besides none of them kiss like you Charlie Spring."

Charlie held back the rage.

"Well I'm tired of being your guy on the side. Last year you told me how much you liked me but you didn't want your parents to know you had a boyfriend. It seems you're not afraid after all, you just don't want to be seen with me."

"Charlie its not my fault my friends think you're odd. It's not so much you, but your friends are all reaaaally weird. And you're in the band so like, you're a little odd."

She scoffs at the end of the sentance but then exclaims "heyyy!" When Charlie pushes her off him and opens the door. With the door open Beth jumps back and before she can protest Charlie says

"Don't text me anymore Beth. This thing between you and me? It's over." He leaves.

Nick walked down the hall searching for Charlie, he was sure his locker was down this hallway. Nick stood a head above everyone else so it didn't take him long to spot Charlie's dark curly hair half way down the row or spot a slender arm reach up and pull drum sticks out from inside.

Charlie plays drums? That's really cool, Nick thinks as he takes a deep breath before getting closer. He and Charlie had gotten considerably closer this term and Nick was trying to assure himself that the sensation that came over him anytime he was near Charlie was strictly platonic- just the excitement of making a new friend. Last year when he told the boys on his team that he was bisexual, a few of them had reacted poorly at first, and the teasing grew beyond typical banter. It wasn't long though before Nick's friends and the coach rallied and put a stop to the bullying, from students on and off the rugby team. Since then, he'd been navigating being out with the support of his friends and mother. His father wasn't around at all and his brother David was a dick about it still, but David was a dick about everything all of the time so it didn't bother Nick all too often.

"Allright?" Nick asked as he arrived at Charlie's locker.

Charlie looked up at Nick and smiled. Nick couldn't help but smile wide back and he scolded himself internally as he needed to stop this crush on Charlie Spring. The devishly handsome musician with long curls and the brightest eyes Nick had ever seen. Charlie is -straight- Nick hissed to himself. He's one of those artsy boys that girls love because he's quiet. They think it's mysterious.

"Alright." Said Charlie.

"You play the drums?" Said Nick. "That's cool. So listen uh- me and my mates were talking and. Do you uhm. Do you wanna try outfortherugbyteam" it all came out at once.

"Do I what?" Said Charlie, processing Nick's one syllable question.

"Try out for the rugby team? We have enough players for the team but we cant compete without a reserve."

Charlie smirked and raised his eyebrows.

"A whole school full of boys and I'm the best reserve, Truham has to offer? I dont think I'm the right type" he said with a flourish of his drum sticks.

"Aw come on, we're not your typical team!" Gesturing back to himself. "Loads of different types can play rugby! And I've seen you in PE. You can run really fast!"

"I'll think about it." Charlie said.

"Just come to practice."

As he walked away Charlie watched him go before blinking and realizing he'd kinda been staring. Nick had such a beauty to him that was still unmistakably boyish. Charlie blinked again. Beauty?

~~~~~

I really wasn't planning on writing all of that the post started with the promt and then I kinda immediately wanted to write it??

I haven't written anything in like 7 years and I haven't ever in my life posted something like this so please be nice 🥲 if this gets even 1 note I'll definitely write part 2 cause it was fun but I let my dinner get cold so I thought that would be an okay place to stop/pause. I hope yall like it and hopefully I tagged it all properly.

[bigsnzstanacct]

So I said I was going to try to write something and so… here is yet another fic with original characters that sets up another chapter I may very likely never write but it’s here and it’s very gay and the plot to sneeze ratio is outrageously tilted towards sneeze (although there’s not that many actual sneezes just like… lots and lots of writing ABOUT sneezing) and yet here it is, enjoy hopefully? Shamefully un-proof-read, will probably clean it up later when I read it back and am embarrassed.

BRUNCH PT 1

“So are you completely sure you want to invite him to this brunch?”

Andrew decided to try one last time to make sure this was what his friend wanted. Andrew lay on Lamar’s bed, having spent the night—platonically tysm—at Lamar’s place in anticipation of going out for brunch the next day with friends. Lamar was still digging through his closet, putting together his outfit for the brunch, occasionally looking to Andrew for a yea or nay on a particular article of clothing or accessory.

Knee-deep in fashion, Lamar replied: “I mean I’m completely sure I want him to fuck my brains out—or, like, vice versa, I’m very vers—so yes, that means I’m sure I want him to come to brunch. Like…?”

Andrew rolled his eyes. Lamar was precious, truly just the sweetest lil (vers?) bottom in all the land, but he absolutely did not know what he was getting into with Charles. First off, Charles gave vers? bottom himself if you actually knew him, but of course the height and the pecs and the sheer size of the man always led gays astray, much to Charles’ own frustration (“why are all vers guys bottoms? If you’re a bottom just say so!” And Andrew’s reply: “Babes, you’re nine feet tall and built like a linebacker, they might be vers but they’re bottoms for you sweetheart”). But second, it was May. May wasn’t… the best time of year to invite Charles to brunch, especially at the spot Lamar liked, on the rooftop… outside…

“I mean I’ll totally call him,” Andrew said, relenting. “Not trying to cockblock anybody, just. You know he has allergies and we’re planning to go to the rooftop at Four Forty-Two, right?”

“Oh my god, he has allergies, I have Claritin, it’s a match made in heaven!” Lamar giggled, and went back to accessorizing.

Andrew shook his head, knowing good and well that Claritin wasn’t gonna do shit for what Charles had going on. They’d grown up together and Charlie could barely tame his nose with the extra-strength prescription shit. And even then, Charles had no business sitting outside on a rooftop with the pollen count looking the way it was looking. But what Andrew also knew was a) Charles always said he wasn’t going to let his allergies hold him back (especially after he came out, bulked up, and shed his bean pole scrawny sneezy nerd image for a brick house bulky—still sneezy—hunk image), b) he really had the hots for Lamar. Like… really. Like would never forgive Andrew for not inviting him out when Lamar clearly wanted him bad really. (He would, of course, forgive Andrew. But he’d be a dick about it for like three whole weeks, truly what a drama queen.)

So Andrew took his leave from Lamar’s room and walked to the living room, calling over his shoulder that he was going to reach out to Charles. And, sitting down on the couch, that’s exactly what he did.

“Charlie?”

“Ahhh… A-Andrew… whahhh… wh-whaaaahhhhh…”

“Charles Montgomery Jackson, I know that sound, don’t you blow my eardrums out, drop the phone… drop it right…”

Andrew heard the phone clatter hopefully onto a soft surface, the sound of the phone’s mic rubbing up against whatever Charlie’d dropped it on momentarily all he could hear, even as Andrew, knowing his friend—and his friend’s nose—moved the phone away from his ear. And no sooner had he done so than a resounding “WWHHHAAAAAATTTTSSSCCHHHOOOOOOO!!!” screamed out from the phone receiver. Andrew swore the sound wave of it alone pushed back his hair. (Of course, he knew it didn’t but he wasn’t so sure Charlie’s sneezes couldn’t do that irl.)

Two more screaming sneezes rang out from the phone before Andrew chanced putting his ear back to the receiver.

“So, allergy season’s kick—“

“HHHHHHHHHHARRRRRRRRREEEESCCCHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Charles bellowed.

It was Andrew’s turn to drop the phone.

Finally, a few sneezes later, they managed to actually talk.

“So, allergy season, Charlie?”

“Man… you have no idea. It’s like the worst one yet. I am SO sorry I blasted you right when you got on the phone but like… you know how it is for me, bro, the shit just comes out of nowhere and boom I’m fucking blasting off. I dunno why this always happens to me, like no matter how many herbal supplements I take, no matter how much local honey I eat, no matter how many extra-strength meds they give me, it’s like my nose doesn’t give a fuck. Just takes all that shit and blows it out with these damn sneezes like it does everything else… dude, it sucks.”

“Sorry, Charlie.” Andrew sing-songed. “You feeling OK otherwise?”

“Yeah, same as always. I used to feel like shit all day when I got my allergies, but I got in shape and it seems like a bunch of that shit went away, everything but…”

“The sneezes.” Andrew finished for him.

“Yeah, dude! My whole body got the memo, like, ‘we’re hot and cool and gay now, thanks, get with the program’ and my nose was like ‘nah man fuck you no new friends, sneeze machine for life!’”

They laughed together, Andrew heartily but a bit bittersweet. Charles really thought he’d changed more than he had, but that was probably because he wanted to change so badly. Andrew had always thought the only thing wrong with the scrawny closeted nerd he’d grown up with was the closet—sneezes notwithstanding—but Charles, it seemed, begged to differ.

“Well, I know how your nose is bothering you today so I almost didn’t want to say anything but…”

“Shit, are you with Lamar? Fuck, did he ask about me? Did he talk about me? Did you talk about me? Don’t tell him how much I suck Andrew, you gotta big me up—“

“Oh my god oh my god calm your thirsty tits, bitch. I am with Lamar, he has nothing but positive if slightly concerning things to say about you, AND we’re going to brunch today at Four Forty-Two so if you’re feeling up to—“

“What time.”

“Charlie, are you sure, it’s gonna be outside on a roof—“

“What. Time.”

“Ugh, 12:45 so actually 1:15.”

“Yes! You’re the best Drew see you there at 1, thank you so much BYE!”

Andrew just shook his head. Charlie thought he was slick. Rushing him off the phone like he was just so excited to get to brunch (he was), as though Andrew couldn’t hear the sneeziness creeping into his tone (he could), and Andrew knew that Charlie knew that Andrew would have cussed him smooth out if he’d deafened Andrew again with those big ole roars he called sneezes (sure would have!).

But just then Lamar slinked out of his bedroom, the brunch outfit in full effect. And giving his very best Mae West (though he didn’t know that’s who he was aping, Lamar didn’t know his history for shit), Lamar said: “I hear that Charles is coming to the brunch.”

[oinkinpigprince]

Hiii, I hope you're having a good day ^^! So, what about James (Smiling Friends) with an OC? It's not a romantic relationship. It's all platonic (i'm not repulsed by borderline romantic tones. Feel free if you think it adds spice!). He starts out more awkward and even kind of aggressive, but this friendship ends up showing (somewhat) good results! If we ignore James low-key latching onto her later on.

I have this tall critter here who is the leader of a band (I like to think James listens to their music hehehe it would be something like Machine Girl) which also kind of is a bike gang. She’s the one who hands James some money and food from time to time so he doesn't starve since nobody really feels safe around him in a proper working place, but she ends up trying to """rehab""" him regardless, eventually just carrying his ass around with the rest of the gang in the process. The other girlies don't understand what really makes him notable for her, but they just assume she knew him when they were younger (and that's right! They got separated after James’ dad murdered his mother when he was 10 or sum).

Last specific thing about them is that James, sooner or later in this situation, would think of or even try to harm her like he did with Charlie, he only doesn't or stops right away because she makes it pretty clear that the other members of her group would torture him cartel style for it.

Also yeah she tries to not remind him of how hard he fumbled with that Charlie thing because she's ass at romantic advice.

Sorry if it's like, so long I ended up letting no room for elaboration, I just wanted to give context to ask for some possible hcs in the “James is starting to get too clingy to her that he starts to resemble a lamprey” stage ^^’

This one’s fascinating to me! Sorry it took me so long to write, thank you for being so descriptive about your OC!! I also got ur other request which I will be answering later :33

James + hammerhead

Wow! James is an interesting guy, hmm. He is violent, rude, demanding, antisocial, everything you’d want in a best friend!

Everyone in James’ building is SHOCKED, that hammerhead somehow befriended him. Let alone just being around the guy, he’s violent and unpredictable.

No one wants to be around James so, hammerhead is literally his only friend. The only person he can stand to be around for five minutes without trying to freak them out

A lot of the stuff he does is due to self entitlement and also he just thinks it’s funny. Ask for a glass a milk even though he hates milk, that’s just his way of joking around. Hammerhead made him learn real quick she does NOT find that shit funny(it’s just a prank bro)

He sighs and obligates, mainly because of the whole childhood friend thing. He also genuinely wants to get better and learn how to socialize

So yeah, because he literally had no one in his life he does cling to Hammerhead which, she doesn’t mind, she just wished he would just try and make other friends.

Kinda follows her around everywhere, if he isn’t alone, he’s with her. Kinda like a silent(very violent) shadow. The other girls don’t, enjoy, his presence. Because his favorite punchline is to literally punch

Kinda wants to control Hammerhead, especially at the beginning. It’s mainly a fear of abandonment but also, he just is high key very selfish. Tries to isolate and manipulate her before she talked some sense into him

He behaves though, after a little talk. Now he just sits and kinda just watches her. James is just quiet, observing people around him. He doesn’t really know how to socialize other than demanding and threats. So he just becomes quiet

Still gets REALLY jealous though, of everyone in hammerhead’s life. Like, crazy jealous. After the talk of course he kinda just festers in his own misery of self doubt and anger. It’s hard for him to open up so hammerhead had to kinda pester him about it

It isn’t all bad, James really does care about hammerhead. It’s very much like a sibling bond. He’s fiercely loyal to her, and very very clingy. He may follow her around but it’s mainly just to protect her

The two are able to confide in each other they wouldn’t be able to if they weren’t, weird besties. It actually comforts James a lot that he’s able to confide in his fears, doubts, and stresses.

Hammerhead takes James out on bike rides which he loves. He loves anything thrilling, exciting. So going to their concerts and going on bike rides is his #1 favorite thing to do

[secondlife-stories]

Bachelor Party Part 1: Special Bond

This is a picture of me the night all changed. The night of my bachelor party. My name is Clayton, I'm a firefighter in LA. I had asked my girlfriend Abby to marry me about six months before and she had said yes, making me the happiest man in the world. Now here I was, In a Malibu house rented by my best friends for the weekend having the time of my life.

The party was formed by three guys and myself. Charles was my childhood friend. We'd been through everything together. Childhood, middle school, puberty, highschool... Every first time we've either shared or told the other right away. First bike rides, first exams, first erections, first love, first kiss, first jerk off session... He was the first person I told about Abby and the engagement, even before my parents. He was a tall black tower of muscle with impressive pecs and an 8-pack. We went to the gym together all the time and had the same routine but somehow he looked chiselled like a sculpture. He always shaved his head and wore a full beard. It got me so jealous because I couldn't grow it like that.

Another one of my friends was Oscar. My college roommate. We hit it off the first night we spent together in the dorms. He was more reserved than the rest of the bunch, but that's what I liked about him. He wasn't very tall, nor very muscular, but he kept himself in good shape thanks to swimming. Since we had shared a room, we had seen each other naked on multiple occasions to the point of not caring. Seeing him naked gave me the opportunity to see the tremendous dick Oscar had between his legs. A monster I had heard in action when he brought home one of his conquests. Patrick was bisexual so I had seen many men and women over the years glowing and walking bowlegged the morning after. Although quiet, he was very charming and seductive so he had a long list of lovers.

The last one on that trip was Patrick, my best friend from the fire academy. Almost 2 meters tall and a CrossFit obsessive Pat was everybody's wet dream. Incredibly loud but with a heart of gold he had been a party boy in his youth but settled when he got a girl pregnant. They got together and were raising the child in a white picket fence house. But beneath that suburban dad facade he kept the wild energy and let it out when the occasion required.

I obviously had more friends but these were my best men, as Charly put it. He had planned this vacation with my "best friend from each stage of my life so I could advance to the next". And I was loving it. The house was incredible, we got a pool, we had played poker, ate an amazing barbeque and right before this picture was taken the strippers just left. Now that I think about it, that's probably where the story starts.

"Hurry up guys! They're almost here!" Patrick couldn't contain his excitement. With a child at home, he only got counted occasions to let his old wild self out. "I got a surprise! Come on, come on!"

We all got together in the living area to see Pat showing a little bag of pills on his palm. "I called an old contact and got this. It's molly."

"Dude! I haven't taken this since college!" I said. Oscar and I had gotten into some wild stories while on molly during our younger days. I took one without thinking and swallowed it. Oscar looked a little concerned seeing as he didn't like to lose control, but he also took one right after Patrick. My friend Charles, as far as I knew, had never taken drugs, being the health nut he was.

"Hey, you don't have to do it if you don't feel comfortable." I assured him. He smiled with his perfect teeth. "This is your party and I'm not the one who's going to ruin it. I'll just take half. I don't know how it's going to affect me". And as he swallowed, the strippers rang the door.

Abby was the perfect girlfriend and she didn't care about the strippers, but she made me promise that I wouldn't touch. And that promise I kept, but the strippers didn't. From the moment the two girls started to kiss and hug every one of us. One was dressed as a sexy firefighter, a nod to me, and the other one was a sexy nurse, my girlfriend's job. I loved that detail. We opened a bottle of champagne and moved to the couch. The girls started dancing sensually, touching their boobs, their hips, swaying to the rhythm of the music. Then, they decided it wasn't fair they were the only ones in the middle and decided to take a chair and gave us a lap dance. First, they took Charles. He couldn't stop smiling. They sat him and the firewoman sat over him looking at the rest of us. She took his hands and made him explore her body. Then, she got up and turned to the back of the chair. She started to grab my friend's muscles. His shoulders, his arms, his pecs. She decided he was too overdressed and took off his silk shirt, leaving him in a black tank top damped by sweat. Then, it was Oscar's turn. He was blushing as the nurse sat him in the chair. She then mimic the routine. When she was beside him, forcing his hands to his back as she groped him, I realised the package of my friend had grown considerably. I felt a rush through my whole body. I felt weird for a moment, feeling like that as I watched my friend getting hard, but I blamed it on the pills and moved along. Patrick and I suffered the same fate and when the girls finished we were all shirtless, with lipstick stains on our necks, cheeks or chests and very, very horny.

The girls continued their routine and ended up in thongs and little bras that left nothing to the imagination. "Okey, now it's your chance to demonstrate your dancing skills." "We have given you a lap dance, now you have to give us one". "Starting with the future groom!!!" They started to talk in turns, giving us instructions.

"I'm sorry girls, I promised my girlfriend I wouldn't touch you" I argued. My comment was found with protests and boos from my friends. "It's alright, it's alright. You don't have to touch us but you have to give a lap dance so you have to choose one of these gentlemen!!!" Everyone cheered for the idea. I was completely uninhibited and found it really funny. The sexy nurse went to Patrick and sat him in the chair. "Let's see how the fire department brings the heat!!" Everyone applauded and laughed. I looked my friend in the eye and bit my bottom lip, decided to give him the best lap dance he had ever gotten.

I put my hands on his shoulders and started making waves with my full body, trying to make the most possible contact between our physiques, rubbing my package on his marked abs. I sat on his open legs and groped his strong pecs. I caressed his shaved chest, feeling his muscles flexing under his skin. Then I graced his left nipple almost by accident. That did the trick. Patrick rolled his eyes and threw his head back while inhaling deeply. One drunken night a few months back he had told me how much he loved getting his nipples played with and I used it in my favour. I felt his dick jump a couple times under my ass and it felt big. I don't know what was happening to me but i felt my blood rushing to my boner getting incredibly horny with the situation. I think the same gay panic got my friend because he jumped up, adjusted his jeans and said to the strippers in a serious tone to start dancing again. "We are paying, after all".

The girls looked annoyed by the comment but soon they were dancing with each other. The moves were more sensual than before and they took their bras from one another but kept them covered by crossing their arms in front of them. "We have a big finish prepared for you but the other two have to show us that they can dance too." One of them said pointing to Charles and Oscar.

Charles got up like a spring. He looked eager to know what big finish those strippers had prepared. I'd never seen him like this. I knew he was in a dry spell since his last girlfriend broke up with him but he seemed in heat. I remembered the molly and the fact that he had never taken it before. Maybe it was enhancing the horny feeling floating in the room. Oscar, on the other hand, got very quiet and his face turned red. Not only his face, a red flush covered the freckles of his shoulders and continued through his hairy chest. He remained motionless, staring at the ground until Charles forced him to stand up.

He started to dance around Oscar while my college friend smiled nervously. He looked like he was slouching which was a strange pose for him who was always stretched to the max trying to hide his shortness. I realised he was trying to conceal a different thing when Charles took Oscar's hands to put them on his shoulders. Everyone in the room could see the enormous bulge he had under the trousers. Charles kept dancing not minding or even enjoying the situation. He loved to be loved and knew the effect he had on people with his perfect smile and dark skin covering his hard muscles. "Come on Oscar! Let go! Have fun!" He urged as he leaned down and pressed his tank top-covered chest against his dance partner's bare one. Apparently, Oscar was starting to relax and started reciprocating the dance moves. Between cheers from the rest of the room, the dance was taking a sexier turn with my friend touching each other to guide, their faces barely an inch apart and Oscar's monster fighting to break free behind the zipper. Completely in the mood now, he grabbed the bottom of Charles tank top and lifted it over his head to then lick his naked chest. Charles opened his eyes surprised but then, to continue the challenge, grabbed his neck and kissed him passionately on the lips. With a mwah sound and loud laughter the two of them sat together on the couch with their arms around each other's waists.

The girls got up and congratulated us for being the most fun bachelor party group they'd ever have. "Normally guys only want to feel us up and never participate in our games so, for being such goop sports we've got a present" said the sexy nurse, still crossing her arms over their breasts. "To the pool!" Sentence the other one. We moved the party outside where they placed me next to the edge of the pool, my friends a few meters away and them between us facing me. The girls then uncrossed their arms and started to make out "recreating my future marriage" as they said after. All of us opened our mouths in shock and got even hornier than we were before. They took advantage of my stupefaction to throw me into the pool, to the surprise of my companions. Everyone started laughing without helping me so I climbed on top of a float.

The girls said goodbye, got dressed and left, leaving us incredibly drunk and horny. Oscar took a picture of me in the float and then helped me out. I was so wet, I took off my pants to not make a mess inside the house. We sat again around the couch and kept drinking and talking.

"Man, that was hot!" Sait Charles "I think I've never been hornier!" He said adjusting himself.

"I've never seen you hornier, that's for sure!" I declared. "Actually, I've never seen any of you like this" I said pointing to their boners visible through their pants.

They all laughed but did nothing to cover up, except for Oscar. He was never this shy. Maybe it was because he was the only one who liked men and felt a little uncomfortable being horny around us.

"Don't you dare cover that up!", said Patrick. "We've all seen what you're hiding while you two were dancing." Oscar relaxed and put his arms by his sides, exposing the shape of his member. "Damm!! How big is that thing?" Patrick asked.

"It's not that big" said Oscar with modesty.

"Bullshit!" I interjected. "If I remember correctly; and believe me, I do; it's about ten inches long and thick as a beer can."

"You have seen it?!" asked Charles, surprised.

"Man, I've seen all your dicks" I chuckled. "But Oscar and I have shared a room for so long that I have memorized that monster."

Patrick laughed and Oscar shot me a bashful and recriminatory look.

"I wanna see it!" Shouted Charles. We all looked at him in silence. "Come on! I've never seen one that big. I'm curious."

"Nah man, forget it." Sain Oscar.

"Yes man, whip it out!" Intervened Patrick. "I want to see that too".

The mood in the room had shifted and I felt hotter than ever even though I was only in my slips. I could see my friend Oscar considering the proposition, fighting between the shyness and the hornyness he was feeling.

"Don't get shy with me after liking my chest and kissing me" said Charles.

That sold it. Oscar got up reluctantly and unbuttoned his linen trousers. "For the record: YOU kessed me." And saying that he dropped the trousers. He was going commando and his dick jumped out as if longing for fresh air.

"Damm!!!" Exclaimed Charles and Patrick in unison after seeing the monster for the first time. I got used to it in college but still got amazed at its size. It was dark, veiny and uncut and after the strippers' stunt it was at half mast, like mine and probably the rest of my friends'.

"Dude, that thing is huge! I've never seen anything like that, and we saw some big ones in the academy" said Patrick.

Charles was completely stunned and couldn't look away. Oscar was tugging slowly making it bigger by the second. He was pulling his foreskin back and forth showing us the purple tip of his glans. We were all looking at each other feeling the energy in the room getting hornier.

"Looks like you are enjoying yourself" I told Oscar to make him realize he was basically jerking off in front of us.

"Looks like I'm not the only one" he responded looking at my briefs. They were tenting with my cock fully hard under them. "It seems only fair we get to see the groom's cock too". I started to protest when my friend got serious. "Hey, if I had to, all of you have to. Starting with you".

"He's kinda right. What's fair is fair" said Patrick. Then he got up and pulled his jeans and boxers down. His dick was hard as a rock. Pointing completely up its pink head was glistening with precum. He started to jerk off too.

They both looked at me, reminding me of the pact that apparently we just had made. I looked at Charles for help but he was mindlessly rubbing his package over his jeans still looking at Oscar's cock. I suddenly remembered the jerk-off sessions my friend and I had when we were teenagers and how much it strengthened our bond. This was probably a chance to fortify the bond I had with my three best friends, one last opportunity to be wild and careless before getting married.

I hooked my thumbs in the elastic of my underwear and took it off lifting my hips. My cock slapped my stomach because of how hard it was. This action was met with cheers and an applause from Oscar and Patrick which took Charles out of his trance.

"It's your turn" i told my only clothed friend. He looked at each one of us, as if trying to find a way out of this situation but when he realised we were all in the same boat, he gave up and got naked too. I saw my friend's dick a lot at the gym's locker room but it'd been at least ten years since I had seen it hard. It was a beautiful dick. Firm, straight as an arrow, almost ebony black with a mushroom head darker than the shaft, decorated with marked veins through its entire length.

"Nice cock, dude" Oscar complimented his dick.

"Shut up! You can't compare it with yours!" Charles protested.

"I'm not. I'm saying it's a very nice dick" said Oscar.

"That's not fair! I want to have my dick complimented to" joked Patrick.

"Your dick is very pretty, Pats" I told him.

"It's not the same. You don't like dicks. I want the bi guy's seal of approval" he said pointing to Oscar.

Oscar laughed and approached Patrick. "If you want it to be officially approved, it needs a closer inspection" he said getting his face closer to his crotch. To everyone's surprise, my shyest friend took the dick by the base with two fingers and started moving it around observing it in detail. He then let go and said "This is officially a nice dick" and slapped it hard on the head.

Patrick groaned and brought his hands to his damaged penis, pushing Oscar away. I laughed hard, finding the sentence hilarious. Oscar was on the floor also laughing but Charles looked puzzled and shocked.

"I can't believe you touched it, bro. You really touched his dick!!" He said.

"Not my first, not my last" answered Oscar.

"Yeah, but that's your friend. You don't go around touching your bros' dicks." Charles kept going.

"It's not that deep, man. You've never touched a friend's dick before?" Oscar asked.

Charles closed his mouth as if trying to keep the words inside. He glanced quickly at me almost imperceptibly but Oscar caught it. He looked at me and smiled.

"Of course. The childhood friends that share everything. I need to know the story." Oscar told us.

"There's no story!" said Charles suddenly, almost aggressively. Oscar raised an eyebrow and looked back at me inquisitively.

"There is really no story!" I agreed. "We were kids, we were horny, we were exploring so we jerked each other." Oscar smiled triumphantly and Charles looked at me like I had just betrayed him.

"We were kids! It doesn't count!" Charles defended himself. "We are grownups now. We shouldn't do that!"

"Precisely because we are consenting adults, it shouldn't matter" said Patrick, now recovered from the slap. "Didn't it feel good?"

"What?" Charles didn't understand.

"To jerk off each other. Did it feel good?"

Charles looked at the floor, he didn't know where to hide. Then he looked at me for help.

"Yes, it did feel good" I replied under the surprised look of my friend.

"Well, if it felt good when you were young and inexperienced, imagine how it would feel if you got an experienced friend's hand on your cock?" finished Patrick.

"And you definitely do". Said Oscar winking.

The conversation had taken a turn I could've never imagined. The drugs, the girls, the comfort of being among friends were having a curious effect on us and my dick needed more attention than I could offer.

"I wouldn't mind trying it again" the words got out of my mouth almost without me realizing it. All my friends looked at me with different levels of surprise and lust.

"I call dibs on the bi guy!" said Patrick and sat on the couch patting the seat beside him signalling Oscar. Oscar laughed but complied. I looked at Charles and extended my hand, inviting him to this bonding experience. I wanted to remember old times and create new memories with new friends, but I needed my oldest friend with me. Charles looked divided, his mind racing trying to catch up with the situation. He looked at me and saw his best friend again, an opportunity to be young and careless again and he gave in. Took my hand and sat with me on the couch.

To be continued...

Part 2

[fluorescentvermin]

Chapter 9

Reclaimed Factory - Charlie

With our tummies full of delicious food, we continued our way to Gage’s place. The cold night air was chilling me, I hoped that our walk wouldn’t be much longer. Surely Gage was just as cold as me, he was wearing a sleeveless shirt. His arms were covered in tattoos of different colours. He had a tattoo of a snake, a heart with an arrow, a police car that was on fire, a security camera, amongst other cool designs. Where did he get these from? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tattoo studio. Maybe I just haven’t been looking.

“Are you still in pain from last night?” Gage asked, scanning over me quickly.

“A little bit. I’m fine mostly. My head and ribs feel a bit tender” I wince, poking my ribs to double check.

“We have an in-house doctor at my place. Their name is Artemis. They can look you over and give you some medicine, if you’d like?”

“That sounds great actually”

“Fantastic! Bit of a warning though, Artemis is tall and super broad. They might look a little scary, but they’re a big softie”

“Okay. Noted” I nodded.

Shortly after, Gage stops in front of what looked like an abandoned factory. It had boarded up windows and the outside was littered in graffiti and posters. The only sign of life was a faint glow peeking out through the wooden boards.

"This is it! It's more homey on the inside, I promise" he smiled at me.

"Here? No. No, that's an abandoned building. Surely, you're not serious" I wager.

"It used to be. We keep it looking like this to avoid cops and other assholes"

“So, are you or are you not a squatter?” I joke half-heartedly. I wanted to lighten the mood, but I was worried about this place.

“You’re still going on about the squatter thing?” Gage laughed and rolled his eyes.

“The look of this place isn’t very convincing to your argument” I mutter. Suddenly, sounds of laughter erupted from the building.

“How’s that for timing?” Gage nudged. He walked towards the front double doors of the building, and I followed him begrudgingly. I approached slowly and analyse the windows. They're boarded up but the wooden planks don't completely cover the glass. It would let some sunshine in, but it wouldn’t be enough to fully brighten a room. I tried to peak in through the parts of the window that weren't covered. Sadly, I couldn't make out anything. This is it, be ready for anything, Charlie. Don't even go in unless you're sure it'll be safe.

I take a deep breath to try and calm my nerves. Against my better judgement, I make it to the entrance.

Gage is holding open the door, enough for me to look inside. He wasn't lying, this place looked homey. This place had charm. Old, mismatched rugs sprawled out over the metal floor, and the entrance opened into a living room of sorts. There was a couch made from canvas material I think, a table that looked like it was made from a pallet, and there were a group of people sitting around laughing and chatting. Maybe this won't be so bad, after all, why would anything suspicious happen in a place filled with laughter? I can only assume anyway. So, I walk in. Gage closed the door behind me, and I took careful notice to see if he would lock it. He took his hand off the door and walked away from it, leaving it unlocked. I can't get my hopes up yet. I don't know these people; I don't know what they're capable of.

"I see why you guys didn't want to go to the bar" Gage chuckled, approaching the people drinking.

"Gage! Apollo was just telling us about his awful hookup last night" a woman with red coloured dreads responded.

"Go on" Gage eagerly walked over and took a seat in the conversational area.

The feeling of this factory was nice. It was toasty with sounds of a distant fireplace crackling and warm light eliminating from lit candles. I decided to gingerly approach them as they chattered. I took a seat next to Gage and listened in.

"This guy was disgusting! I know it's hard sometimes for us to find running water, but it was like he didn't even put in any effort to clean himself" I'm assuming, Apollo, recalled.

With a closer look, I was able to recognize how eccentric and varied Gage's friends looked. Quite a few of them had colourful hair, but they weren't wearing the same punkish outfits like the others I had seen at the bar. A short slender woman with choppy lilac hair was wearing many things layers of comfortable looking clothes and the taller woman sitting next to had grass green hair, wearing gumboots and a dress over a turtleneck sweater.

"Hold on, who is this? Oh my goodness! Your clothes!" The woman with the green hair noticed me, concern riddling her face. Wait, did she have stubble?

"You're all dirty! You poor thing! Are you okay?" The girl with the lilac hair cooed.

I guess I hadn't thought about whether I was okay. Today had been a whirlwind. I've been cold, yelled at, lost amongst maze like streets. Just thinking about it caused a lump in my throat. I tried to answer, but tears welled in my eyes.

"I... Um" I started, but I felt the sobs crawl out of my chest.

"Oh honey!" The green haired woman rushed over, sitting next to me and putting a hand on my back.

"N-no! I'm not okay!" I stuttered through my cries. The woman with the lilac hair came over as well, pushing Gage out of the way just to rub my arm.

"What happened, sweetie?" The green haired woman continued.

"My wife kicked me out of the house and I tried to find a hotel but they wouldn't let me stay because of my stupid credit score and then I got mugged and beaten up! I don't have anything! They took my phone, my wallet, my laptop. I couldn't even find a bathroom! I had to piss in the street like an animal" I blubbered frantically. It all just bubbled out of me, I couldn't control my sad rambling.

“Is that dried blood in your hair?” The girl with the lilac hair carefully inspected my tangled hair. These two were being touchy, but it was nice to have some comfort while fat tears rolled down my cheeks.

“We’ll take you to Arty. They’ll look after you” The green hair woman insisted.

“Let’s get you cleaned up!” The lilac haired girl added.

The two of them held me as they escorted me through the living room and up the stairs, rubbing my back as I let the tears flow.

We made it up the flight of stairs. I was already out of breath by the second floor, but the women assured me there was only one more floor to go. When we finally made it, they lead me down the hallway to what looked like an examination room. Inside looked sterile with clean white walls and linoleum flooring. There was no one here except for us three, but the two women let me sit on the examination bed in the middle of the room.

“I’ll go get Arty” The lilac haired girl announced before she left the room.

“What’s your name, hon? I’m Percy. That was Nova” The green haired woman, Percy, introduced.

“My names Charlie” I squeaked. Tears still flowing.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Charlie. Don’t worry, we’ll look after you” Percy declared with a warm smile.

“Thank you”

“Your wife kicked you out of the house? That’s terrible! I’m really sorry that happened”

“I-I don’t know why. I just came home, and I couldn’t open the door. We had an argument in the hallway, and it was really embarrassing”

“I can’t believe someone would do that!”

“Tell me about it” I roll my eyes. I was able to calm down a bit, but I still felt the gravity of sadness in my stomach.

The door opened and the girl with the lilac hair, Nova, came in, followed by a tall person with wide shoulders. They barely fit through the door.

“Were you sleeping Arty? Sorry to drag you out of bed” Percy cooed.

“I was just doing some reading, it’s no problem, my child” was this Artemis? Arty? This person matched the description that Gage gave me.

“This is-“ Nova started, looking at myself and Percy.

“Charlie” Percy let out.

“Charlie! They were beaten up. Would you be able to take a look at them, Arty?” Nova continued.

“Of course. I will have to ask you two for some privacy” Artemis looked at the girls. They both nodded and made their way out of the room.

“We’ll be right here!” Nova announced. They closed the door behind them, and tension grew as I remembered the strange situation I was in.

“Before we start, I feel it’s only polite I introduce myself. My name is Artemis, and I use they/them pronouns. What are yours?” they introduced themselves, sitting on a stool with wheels.

“I’m Charlie. Nice to meet you. My pronouns are he/him” I responded with a shrug. It will be nice to meet them if they actually patch me up.                                                                     

“Now, can you tell me where you feel the most pain?”

“I know I have an open wound on the back of my head. It should have healed at least a little by now. I’m not really in too much pain right now, but my ribs, neck and shins feel tender” I explain, pointing to each spot.

“The wound on the back of your head should be easy to fix, but I’d like to take some X-rays so I can see if your bones were affected. You were able to make it here, so I doubt there are any broken bones” they explained, looking at the back of my head where the split was.

“Are you going to steal my organs?” I blurt out.

“No, Charlie” they smiled.

Artemis took some X-rays and looked them over. They say that I’m lucky, and that my bones are fine. They took me back to the examination bed and cleaned my wound before giving me a local anaesthetic and sewing my skin back together. Artemis carefully dressed my wound and gave me some painkillers. The rest of my injuries were all bruises, and they instructed me on how to look after them. After they were finished, there was a knock at the door. Artemis called out, telling the person to come in.

“How are you feeling?” Percy asked, stepping into the room with Nova behind her.

“Still hurts but the medication helps” I let out. Even though it all went smoothly, I still felt uneasy.

“You should try to sleep on your side or your stomach if you can. The wound will be tender for a couple of days” Artemis instructed.

“Did you want to have a shower?” Nova asked.

“Excellent idea. We’ll happily launder your clothes for you in the meantime” Artemis offers.

“Thank you” A nice hot shower sounds so great right now. I feel slimy.

“We’ll show you where they are! We’ve got spare clothes that you can change into” Nova added.

We headed off, through this reclaimed factory that felt more like a makeshift home than an abandoned building. The walls of this place looked new, at least compared to the cold flooring. When we got to the bathrooms, the girls let me have some privacy after showing me where everything is. The bathrooms felt strange, they looked what I would assume prison bathrooms looked like. Multiple shower stalls and sinks under a gigantic mirror. They were toilet cubicles that were separated from the showers, the mirror and sinks were connected to a freestanding wall that split the room. Did they build this?

I felt calm hearing the sound of running water as I turned the shower on. The water was lovely, warming me from my skin to my bones. I took my time while washing myself, enjoying this peaceful moment of silence.

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[patchdotexe]

explorers of arvus: the dead grove, pt 2 / 7.14.18

note: this is the first introduction of Thorne! i love thorne. why did i never properly write introduction notes for anybody

-

Charlie Punches A Hellhound With Magic

thorne fingerguns at the hellhound and it dies 

"HOLY SHIT, A HORC!" 

THORNE, WHIP IT! WHIP IT GOOD! 

taure: do you know the saying, the friend... the enemy of my enemy of my friend? charlie: THE FRIEND OF MY FRIEND IS MY ENEMY 

(penn: our 2 charisma characters stumble through conversation leo: charlie has a good amount of charisma but you would not believe it from how i speak ic as her)

[everyone harmonizes in screaming] 

[charlie aggressively encourages sieron to talk to the other horc in the party] 

We Will UnFuck The Situation

[ai-luni]

Virago

David “Hesh” Walker x Fem!Reader 

HELLO! It’s a blue moon and I return with a fic to cope with my random obsessions! Part 2

Word Count: 6.4k

Warnings: Blatant misogynistic comments and touches, canon typical violence, suggestive sexual content (which honestly might be illegal given the setting of the scene whoops), and of course bad writing. I’M NOT A WRITER! No Y/N

A/N: I’m in a massive COD Ghosts phase and there are barely any fics for my boy Hesh. So I had to fix that. This basically just follows the plot of the campaign. I got lazy and haven’t finished writing sin city but I want to write a part two so hang tight :)

Reader’s nickname is Virago

June 7th - No Man’s Land

It was a rescue mission when you met the Walker’s boys. You had heard about them a couple times, Elias wasn’t shy about sharing his once very domestic life with you. But now there was little time to think about it. In fact you thought about the dog more than you did the boys that day. But this mission wasn’t like your usual, Ajax wasn’t gonna last forever. 

“Alright, we don’t have a lot of time. You can stick with us but you do what I say - when I say it. Understood?” Merrick said to the boys. You joined Keegan’s side before heading out.

- 

“Got some stragglers on the road. Could be trouble.” The lot of you looking over a road through tall grass. 

“Keegan, Virago. Post up and keep us covered. You Walker boys are with me.” Merrick ordered and immediately you went off to find a position. Gun fire reigned loose and in a flurry of adrenaline and muscle memory, you found yourself at the gates of greenway park “Fireball Charlie” - what once was a baseball stadium - in under a couple minutes. 

“They’re moving him, we should go now.” The state you found Ajax in was enough to make your blood boil. You hadn’t served with him as long as the rest of the ghosts but you knew him well enough and you’d always fight for your team no matter what. 

“They’re moving Ajax, so our windows closing fast. We’ll hit him at home plate and work our way up from there.” Further orders given by Merrick once acquiring a vehicle. You sat in the back aside Merrick and Hesh. One hell of a ride, you often questioned if Keegan even had a civilian licence. 

“Weapons free!” Once more the hell fire began and you ran through another gate. The German Shepherd who stared at you with wide adoring eyes only moments before leapt through the missing windscreen onto a federation soldier. 

“Holy shit.” A comment of fear and intimidation and excitement all swirled together at the sheer ruthlessness of that dog. It was the first thing Hesh heard you say all mission.

“Yeah.” You turned to see Hesh by your side. You figured he was the dog’s handler. He seemed proud, he should be. 

“Ajax is through this atrium! Move! Move! Move! Hurry before more guys get in.” Merrick took cover behind a barrack, “Virago, get ahead as far as you can, weapon hold. We’ll keep you covered, keep us posted.” 

Jumping into action, you took yourself along the edge of the open aired arcade to a flight of stairs. The fastest steps your tactical gear would allow you to take without winding yourself. Gun held close to your chest with light steps avoiding fire. You could hear the team, slowly but surely following in your steps. 

Through a roofed arcade and another flight of stairs you made it to a closed set of double doors, chatter coming from the other side. 

“This should be where they were holding Ajax, one flight of stairs, shouldn’t be a difficult run.” You notified them while waiting beside the door hinges ready to take cover or fire. 

“Almost at target, let’s mop up!” Merrick’s yelling could almost reach you over the gunshots. You took out a couple soldiers out over the railing, covering the boys as they made their way up the stairs. 

Logan pulled out the remote sniper, the moment you heard a fire, Merrick sent the go signal. 

“Twelve o’clock! Twelve o’clock!”

“Runner on the left!”

“Clear right!”

“Clear left!”

“Room Secure!”

Once cleared, you passed the soldier left on the ground. Poor guy got Keegan yelling at him by the balls. You knew he’d take this harder than anyone else, he and Ajax were close. 

“Where is he? Where did you take him!”

Careful and ready for fire, you tread through the blown out room. Logan by your side as you halt before a steep slope. There was an obvious trail from that slope through the stand and down another tunnel entrance. You turn to your team noticing the other walker boy pulling his dog away from the soldier for Keegan to finish off. You beckon him over.

“Bring the dog, there’s a trail.” You turned to the youngest Walker boy, “I’m going down, use the remote sniper to cover me. Follow under merricks instruction.” 

He gave you a curt nod before you were off. 

“Riley’s got a scent!.” The team followed suit. Riley leading the lot of you to an almost closed  garage door. Multiple pairs of feet seen pacing inside.

“We don’t have time for this. Gas masks on.” 

Again through another tunnel, a conference room, another tunnel. This place was starting to piss you off, reminding you why you never really liked baseball in the first place. You’d later refer to it as the nightmare labyrinth. 

Eventually you found Ajax, Riley sniffing him out first, Keegan on his knees by his side second. 

“How is he?” Not an ounce of effort was made to hide the fear in your voice. 

“It’s bad.” Keegan was cradling the man as he coughed. 

“Son of a bitch.” In a quick but necessary moment of solidarity, you placed a comforting hand to Merrick’s shoulder. “Hang in there Ajax, Hang in.” 

“Rorke. It was Rorke. He’s targeting…” Ajax let out a cough from deep in his chest. Keegan held him tighter in shallow breaths. “Look… the wall.” 

“Come on, hang in there Ajax.” 

“He’s gone.” The room fell silent, you took to distraction. You look for the wall and your eyes grow in momentary panic at what you found.

“Merrick, he was right.” Your voice barely showed any sign of grief you were trying to swallow. No time to think. You stood by Hesh. He held out a flare for you to see, his free hand consolidating you with a gentle pat to the shoulder. 

“Get him ready to move.” Merrick ordered, Ajax’s body already hoisted over Keegan’s shoulder. Then by your side.

“It’s a kill list.” You told him. 

“Rorke’s targeting ghosts.” He resolved. Hesh’s eyes widened as he looked over the photos of you lot on the wall, his eyes drifting to one of a girl in tactical gear only realising once meeting your glassy gaze that it was you. You were smaller than the others sure but half your face was covered by a cloth, the other grease paint and your voice had been so gravelly and focused.

“Who the hell is Rorke?” He asked after clearing his throat, clearing his mind. Merrick had already collected Ajax’s mask and was heading out of the room for evac. You patted Hesh’s arm as a signal to move it. 

“No time to explain.”

-

Everything was one fight to another. You’d only truly catch a break in your third helicopter of the day.

“Alright, get us outta here!” Keegan yelled, clearly as over it was you were. 

“Hey, we’re not going anywhere” The eldest walker boy stood from his seat, he was frustrated, looking to pay it out on someone and Keegan was in his line of fire. You interjected with an assertive hand to his vest. 

“Hey, calm down.” Your cloth was pulled down to your neck now. Eyes wide as they met his. For a moment it actually worked, like you had covered the space in a blanket of silence to give him a moment to breathe. He glanced at the hand on his chest then met your eyes again. You were almost smiling. If he wasn’t panicking over losing his father, he probably would’ve smiled back. 

“Hey! We just saved your asses!” Merrick shoved the Walker boy to the wall, one arm holding his tactical vest fueled by his impatience and a hot head. 

“We didn’t need your help!” The boy fought back. By this time you had retreated to the front of the helicopter, hands held up in mock defeat towards your commanding officer with an amused smirk. He shook his head, hung in the slightest tint of embarrassment or nostalgia. Boys will always be boys.

Merrick will always be a testament of that. He was the same now as he was and will continue to be.

“The hell you didn’t!” Merrick had shoved the Walker boy down next to his brother on the bench. 

“Stow it! All of you!” Finally your commanding officer decided to step in.

“We have to go back! Our dads down there and we’re not leaving without him!” 

“That’s real admirable of you, but your father’s not there anymore.” He sat them down, really laying the act on thick. You remembered the bastard being dramatic but not this theatrical. He pulled the mask off. 

“Dad, this whole time? You were one of them, you’re a ghost.” 

“Try the Ghost! That’s your commanding officer.” Merrick was in a mood. He joined you where you stood next to Keegan. You welcomed him by holding a palm out as if asking him to calm down.

“Cool it. Stretch your legs.” You spoke softly, mockingly at him. Fake concern. He returned with a sarcastic smile. There was never a right time to push his buttons - especially not when he got in a mood… and he had many moods - but that never stopped you from having your fun every now and then. 

You waited for a moment, you could faintly hear your commander welcoming his sons to the Ghost squad. It warmed your heart, though you would never admit outloud. 

Elias had become like a father to you over your time being a ghost, the respect you worked hard to earn from the man radiated from him when addressing his children with unconditional love. 

You weren’t surprised seeing his sons often labelled as ‘natural born leaders’, they had the best of the best taking them through life from the very beginning. They held your respect for that alone. 

A genuine smile grew on your face as the eldest turned to caught your eye. He finally did return the smile. You found it sweet how his feet became restless in the moment of excitement. 

“We’re ready, We won’t let you down.”

June 15th - Federation Day

It had been approximately 9 days since you had met the Walker boys. They were everything you imagined Elias’ children to be. Determined, well mannered and well… handsome. This has been your first mission with them since. Your goal: To gain intel of Rorke's current location. 

It had been somewhat of a quiet mission up until this point, you knew all hell would break loose when you make your evac but for now, you almost had your hands on the federation soldier and “friend” of Rorkes, Victor Ramos.

“Dammit, he’s not here! Hesh?” Keegan calling into his comms when busting into Ramos' empty office.

“I got him.” Hesh dragged him in and pushed onto the office chair with a gun pointed to his head.

“He knew you would come.” Ramos’ words echoing off the gun metal.

“Where’s Rorke? Where is he!”

“I don’t know!” Ramon interjects, hands in the air “no one knows!”

“Vig.” Keegan gave you the ‘go ahead’ look. The one step in front of Hesh and Ramos was pushed onto the desktop by the lapels. Hesh now standing to the left of the man, his pointed gun in clear view. Light vibrations rushed through your body by the man’s trembling. He knew what he was getting into the moment he befriended Rorke. There was no remorse to be shared. 

“You have five seconds to deliver the coordinates on Rorke.” Keegan's voice rattled through the man’s skull, suddenly restless.

“Four.” Ramos yanked his arms out of your grip.

“He’s not here!” “Three.” You looked to Hesh.

“Two.” With a subtle nod your way, he readied his feet for fire. Ramos’s left arm dove across the table. 

“His location is in there! In an encrypted file!” Before you could follow the vector of his finger out the door, the screen fizzled awake behind you. Grabbing Ramos's loose arm, you turned the best you could to glance at the screen behind your tactical helmet.

“Well, well, well, if it ain’t the walking dead.” It was Rorke, you've heard his voice only once before in a recording but you’d never forget it. “Hm, I knew you’d follow the breadcrumbs.” 

“You tried to kill my father, you piece of shit!” Hesh haphazardly lept towards the screen. Sending the now half conscious Ramos into the desk chair, you met Hesh halfway.

“Hesh.” Your hands holding him back by the chest.

“The sons of Elias Walker. Boys sent to do a man’s work.” Hesh’s mouth went dry, his eyes fell from the screen to your gaze, then his shoulders dropped. He finally backed off, targeting his gun back onto Ramos.

“Enough games. Where are you, Rorke?” You turned to get a good look at the man on screen, your patience running thin. 

“Ha! Vi Ra Go. Talk about a man's work. Nice to put a voice to the face but where I am doesn’t matter.” He mocked. Your eyes narrowed out of frustration. “What matters is a decade ago they left me to die in this city. And from this night forward, Elias lives with the knowledge he sent his own sons to their death.”

“It was a set up.” Keegan said under his breath. The screen shut off and you locked eyes. 

“Let’s move!” You yelled, stepping with a heavy foot. One tap to the shoulder of the boy to your left and he followed behind you. Subconsciously pairing off as you knew Keegan would have Logan’s back. The building was collapsing, you could hear it before feeling it. 

“Command, mission is compromised! Attempting an aerial exfil from the 52nd floor!” Keegan was last to leave the room as he barked into his comms. You led the boys down the stairs, the concrete cracking in trails after your steps. Alarm raging. Scaffolding bare. 

-

You had your head resting on your hands, these trips after a mission were never a highlight for anyone in particular. People have different responses, Merricks paces restlessly, riding on leftover adrenaline like a drug high. Keegan sits still, to the side, not quite giving into exhaustion but with more of a level head then you reckoned someone should after jumping out of a collapsing building. 

You, however, are much smaller in frame and when you sit down, it tends to hit you quicker than everyone else. They’d called you a lightweight, especially when you share a drink with them. Keegan’s a hard one to make laugh but when Kick and Ajax continue to get you shots of water, the whole table shits their little cargo pants. So they let you bathe in the sound of the helicopter and regain a little strength. 

“You know him?” Your eyes barely opened as you turned to the boy who just sat next to you. You’re confused eyebrows egging him to elaborate “Rorke.” 

You shook your head and rested your head against the wall. One large exhale and you met his eyes again.

“They brought me on a long time after him. Knew the stories though,” Hesh watched with expecting eyes, ready for you to continue. “But he’s after me too and he took Ajax. That’s personal enough for me.” 

He gave an understanding nod and rested his head against the wall beside you. In the corner of your eye, you catch Keegan and Logan share a side eye glance. You can tell Keegan thinks you're getting soft but this job gives you little comfort. You’ll clench your balaclava as tight as you were now to stay cool in front of this boy whenever just to keep feeling the way he makes you feel. 

-

The next few days pass slower than usual. You could blame it on the same fact everyone else did. That Rorke was still out there. You almost had him and then was sent back a couple steps. 

However, you really knew it was because in the back of your mind, the idea of you, a boy and his dog, sat peacefully. 

Every mission, you kept your eye on him. Covered his back when you could and every mission he’d cover yours. Every mission you were sent to scope an area by his side. In between missions you would sit and chat. Chat about how you became a ghost, talk about his life before the military, talk about how he started to think of Riley after being away too long or how the other ghosts have become like father figures to you. The latter being a secret you thought you’d take to your grave.  

Sometimes Logan sat with the two of you, sometimes everyone else. In a group you would discuss sport and women and combat. Your plights and fights. Hesh watched as you grinned everytime Merrick rested a casual arm on your shoulder, you watched as Hesh beamed whenever Elias would place a proud pat to his back.

June 23th - Passage to Antarctica

Sure there were things to do, meetings to attend, plans to go over. But for the most part, on these kinds of days, you had more time to yourself then you would get in a while. Time you well needed when in constant close proximity with people like the ghosts. 

Once you were done on deck talking with the force, you made your way below deck to the sleeping quarters. You knew for a fact Merrick and Keegan would stay above deck for a smoke and Logan wouldn’t stray too far from Keegan no matter. But Hesh?

Something inside of you almost wished he would join you. You’d spend hours in the dark questioning if it was wistful or if you just felt guilty for having these thoughts cross your mind more often than not lately. 

When you had shared your plans of sneaking off to nap to the guys, every one of them shared a knowing look when Hesh was soon to follow you a few minutes after. It bothered Merrick more than he thought it would - feeling almost protective over you - but Keegan and Logan had already started the betting pool days before. 

“Just in time too.” Logan was quick to add. 

Hesh was quick to catch up to you. He stopped you in the hallway below deck, hand on your shoulder and a sentimental look in his eye. One that almost took your breath away at the sudden vulnerability. One you’d only seen him share with the likes of his family or with Riley. 

“Virago.”

“Hesh.” 

Let the games begin.

“Is there a reason you have me stopped in the hallway or?”

“Yes.” His chest rose with a deep breath. You had to rip your eyes away to look into his eyes. He continued his confession, “Virago, I think about you.” 

“You- what?” Spoken like you’d been punched to the gut. Your ears boiled. He had both hands on both shoulders now and at some point had steered you off to the side of the hallway with him. 

“Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t feel it too.” 

“This is highly inappropriate, I-” You awkwardly shimmied his hands off your shoulders as you tried to brush past him. He stopped you again, a hopeful, charming smile plastered shamelessly on his face. 

“It’s ridiculous, I know!” A boyish chuckle escaping through his words.

“Hesh.” The way you called him sent shivers down his spine. Had the situation been any different, had he not spotted the hope in your eyes everytime you looked at him, he would’ve given up by now. But he was already your weakness, as you were his. One more crack and he knew you’d be his. “I have to go.” 

That last crack was following you directly into the female berthing room. He greatly enjoyed your stunned state, it filled him with a sense of pride to influence your emotional responses so strongly. 

“Lieutenant! This is highly inapprop-” You’re scolding was cut off by a pair of lips and two hands gently holding your head in place. The final push. 

You melted in his warm, calloused hands. This is what you were afraid of, being so completely and utterly in the palm of his hand. You’d thank the stars for months that the room was currently unoccupied. 

His kiss was slow but hungry. Like he’d been dreaming of it but forced himself to savour you. Once you had relaxed into him, he moved his hands down to your waist, pulling and pushing. Chest to chest, back to bunk. Any gasp or sigh you let out, he returned with a quiet sound of pure bliss. Lips skimming each other but not locked. Open mouth pants, warm breath with a haze of mint below your nostrils. 

When you pressed your chest further into his, hands caressing his buzzed head to the nape of his neck. He shook his head, pulling away with a breath he struggled to take.

“You tell me no now because I may not be able to stop if we keep going like this.” 

“Hesh.” You said feigning a scolding tone. 

“You can call me lieutenant again.” He joked but sounded so out of breath. He could barely keep his eyes open when you ran your fingernails over his shoulder blades. 

“David.” You retaliate in a real scolding voice. A warning. He only groaned as his head fell onto your chest. 

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” He groaned. His grip on your hips got tighter, pulling you against him in a way that made you gasp. Showing his appreciation of the sound by latching his lips to your neck.

The boy fell just as deep as you had. You wanted him so bad but the adrenaline running through you wasn’t entirely from him either. You couldn’t pull your eyes away from the door even when you tried. 

You took a loud gulp and pulled him off you. His confused face soon daring as you guided him into your berth on the floor and pulled the curtain shut. It was tight, you laid on his chest, your back touching the roof if you arched your back. You didn’t care. If you had the chance to, you wouldn’t have ripped yourself from his chest and just stay this close forever. 

It was dark, his hands on your hips gave you butterflies. Your knees tingled as they laid either side of his thighs. He was breathing just as hard as you were. 

You started taking off your shirt and his eyes widened.

“Take your shirt off.” You didn’t ask but it also wasn’t an order. He was taken aback by your forwardness all of a sudden but didn't hesitate to wiggle his way out of the confining khaki material. “If these things start to smell, someone will know.” 

His hands were already exploring your bare waist, your lower back, upper back, the curve in your spine to the hanging stomach over him. Over your upper arms and shoulders to your chest. He memorised every curve, the feel of your soft skin. The way you’d cringe when he touched a certain point on your waist. The way you’d gasp when he cupped your breast and brought it out of your bra. 

“Hold me up.” He obliged with no hesitation. You desperately wanted Hesh out of his pants and needed the hands that were keeping you up to do so.

“May I?” you asked, hands resting over his belt. His eyes were desperate. 

“Please.” Who were you to complain? He brought you close to him, arms wrapped around your upper back pressing your chest against him. His lips rested next to your ear, determined to at least let you hear him if nobody else could. Arm reaching down between your bodies, you soon had in him his hands. 

“Holy shit.” He moaned in your ear. 

“Yeah.” You moaned back. 

-

“Did you get your nap, Vig?” Keegan's deadpan voice almost makes you think his question was genuine.

“What nap?” The words spilling out before a single thought could be put into them. You froze once you noticed your mistake, eyes wide in panic. There was no coming back from this but you could try. “Yes. Yes I did.”

He only raised an amused eyebrow and left your side with a “I didn’t think so.” 

June 28th - Sin City 

“Commander Walker, may I have a word with you.” Your fingers were fidgeting, eyes to your feet. He’d never seen you this way. You were a strong woman, Elias knew all too well. What other men called annoying - one well read man’s attempt to unknowingly call you a shrew - Elias taught you could be a sign of courage and strength. Virago. A word his wife used to love. 

This demeanour was different though. From you, almost uncanny. 

“Is everything okay Sergeant?” You took a gulp. He couldn’t stop the amused look on his face. He had a creeping suspicion of the topic you wanted to discuss, the whole team was starting to catch on. Hell, even kick could’ve guessed it. 

His suspicions were true. You knew you had to bring it up to him. The incident on the way to Antarctica consumed your every waking thought. It was almost dangerous, never have you had something come close to waning your focus on missions but this. This made you worried. It hasn’t even been a month of knowing this boy and you were worried. 

“Sir, this is very difficult for me to talk about. I’m afraid this is very inappropriate.” He let out a sigh, shaking his head. His expression was shielded by a thumb and pointer finger holding his nose bridge. Your stomach dropped.

“It’s okay Virago. Take your time.” He raised his head to look at you, giving out an involuntary chuckle. You stared at him, not sure what to do next. You were certain everything you said came out in a stutter. 

“For his sake and your sake and the ghosts sake, I will stand down if need be. It was never my intention to cause an issue like this, I know how inappropriate it is but i’m afraid of how it may develop and what will-”

“Virago.” Breathe. 

You follow the hand on your shoulder up to his eye. With more vulnerability than you were anticipating.

“Sir. Your son makes me feel like a giddy school girl.” 

After a long, uncomfortable beat, he lets out a genuine, hardy chuckle. It turns into a laugh. 

You brought your hands to cover your face in mild embarrassment. After all the chaos you endure in your job, admitting a little crush is what finally brought you to your knees. All you could do was share the laugh with Elias. It’s only when the moment settles that he gives his response. 

“As your commanding officer, you two work together better than a lot of teams I’ve seen out in the field. I am happy to overlook it as long as it doesn’t cause any problems. I see no reason for you to step down; however, if you think it’s the best decision for you, I won’t stop you. You’re an excellent sergeant, that's why you’re on this force.” You’re certain your face is red but his shoulders drop and the warm, a paternal smile returns to his face. 

“As a father, you’ve brought a sparkle to his eye I haven't seen in him since he was 18. I couldn’t feel any more pride if my son had chosen someone lesser than you.” Were you crying? A grown ass woman and you were crying at your commander’s words. You didn’t think his validation meant this much to you but you had always worked hard for this man’s respect. “He’s a stubborn one. You’ve got your work cut out but at least I know he’ll be in good hands.” 

“Thank you sir.” Was all you could get out without allowing your voice to crack. You took a quick glance at the boy standing by his younger brother. Elias walked to join them allowing you a moment to recollect yourself before the landing in vegas. With a quick but hot walk, you made it to the previously known luxor, now safe house. 

-

“JSOC’s going to want to move fast on this, so load up before you get any shut-eye. We got six hours until Keegan gets back.” 

You were already by Merricks side, guiding Logan to stock. Elias had been stopped by Hesh and dragged to the corner. 

“Dad, I need to talk to you for a sec.” Elias could feel the same smile growing on his face from only moments before. He was starting to think something must have happened on the last mission for the both of you to bring your feelings to his attention with this kind of urgency. 

“David, if this is about the girl, I already know.” Hesh stopped in his tracks. The boy was too stunned to speak! Perhaps he was meant to say a comprehensive sentence, instead he let out a series of “uh”s, “oh”s “wha?”s, “ how?”s. 

“She got to me first. A bit out of your league.” With a nudge to his gut from his father’s elbow, the tension slowly started to expel from his body. In fact he even gave out a laugh. Sheepish but true, you were out of his league. 

“You’re not mad?” Suddenly he felt like a child again, his worst nightmare would be disappointing his father. 

“Fuck no son. She is a warrior, that one.” Whatever Elias was fiddling with was dropped momentarily as he met his son’s eyes. Expression dropped to a deadpan. “If you started fucking the rest of my ghosts, well then we’d have a problem.” 

All Hesh could do was laugh out of shock and relief. He caught a glimpse of you beckoning Riley to follow you and he felt his pupils turned to hearts like an old cartoon. 

“I could marry her, dad.”  

“Hey, hey. Steady on Hesh.” Elias chuckled out, passing Hesh with a pat to his back to pull him out of the little trance you put him in. He couldn’t help but laugh - not in a judgemental way but in a nostalgic ‘young love’ kind of way. “You keep each other alive first and then you can start getting all cosy. You copy loverboy?” 

“Copy.” Hesh replied with a goofy little smile. 

“Hold up.” Merrick stopped. “Something feel off to you?” 

“Security’s working.” In a matter of seconds you were on the floor. Elias’ faint yelling at Riley in the distance played you off as you closed your eyes and took another deep inhale of gas. 

- 

They say hearing is the last to go when you die. You figured this might be it. You could hear Merrick’s voice yelling - how he usually used his voice - and figured you wouldn’t be mad if he were the one to send you off. 

What they never say though is that you’d feel hands grab you before you die. Now that sobered you. 

You were being picked up off the ground, grey federation gloved hands steadying its grip on you in places that were entirely necessary to lift you up onto a chair. After a minute of having your hands brought behind your back and met with a rope, your vision could finally focus in front of you. 

Merrick sat across from you, hands tied behind his back like your own. He watched the soldier behind you intently before locking eyes with you. You wondered what time it was, how long had you been out, how long had he been awake? You could have sworn he gave you a mocking look as if to say “lightweight” but it was short lived. You might have even laughed in any other situation.  

With a quick surveillance of the room, you noted there were only a couple of soldiers by the door. You could only just make out another figure in the hallway those soldiers were talking to. The soldier behind you was struggling with the rope as your hands started to fidget out of them. You gave Merrick a wink, devising a quick plan with a wordless exchange in under a few seconds. 

An eyebrow raise and a slight nudge of your head indicating the soldier behind you. ‘I'll take out the one behind me.’ 

A head tipped to his chair, then to the door behind him and two very exaggerated blinks. ‘You take the two at the door.’

He gave a curt nod and your expression stopped him before he counted the leap into action. You took a short moment to contemplate how to relay this information without your hands, it was never going to be a very dignified attempt.

A head nudge back to the door, a defeated eye roll then the most comical, clear attempt you could express talking by flapping your mouth. ‘The two at the door are talking to someone.’

He raised an eyebrow best he could. ‘How many?’ 

You returned a disparaging look and a subtle shoulder shrug. ‘I don’t know.’

He took a breath, shot a determined look then tipped his head to a count of three before you both jumped to your feet.

Whipping yourself around, you sent your tied hands slamming to the exposed neck of the shoulder behind you. He stumbled over the back of the chair, giving you a split second to seize the opportunity and kick his ass over his head. A clear thud paired with an echoed crack as the man’s back hit the concrete. His attempt to reach for his gun was unsuccessful when a boot trod on his wrist and a wooden chair smashed to bits off his vest. 

With what leverages your tied hands could give you, you tugged out the unresponsive soldier's pistol and finally turned your attention to Merrick.  

One soldier was on the ground, the other was giving him some little trouble. Two shots was enough to have the federation soldier on the ground. Whoever those soldiers were speaking to in the hallway were no longer there but would obviously return soon with back up. Merrick made quick work pulling the rope off your hands. You gave them a moment to roll them out before beginning on Merricks ties. They were untied enough for him to shimmy the rope off but you were yanked into the room by the waist before you could assist him further.

You’d retell the story with what you’d call more than a dozen federation soldiers surrounding the two of you. One holding your legs off the ground, vest to vest. Another soldier retying your wrists together while the rest had their guns pointed. Struggling was getting pointless. A quick glance to Merrick and it seemed he was in a worse position. Pushed to his knees and having life punched out of his gut. 

You followed suit, being pushed to your knees by a grip in your hair. The soldier in front of you lingered in this position, enjoying the view more than anything. If there weren’t so many soldiers posted, you could’ve sworn that man would have a world record for the quicked murder. 

“She’s a fiery one huh.” There was that voice again, you should have suspected it was him all along.

“Rorke.” Merrick's voice was gravelly, an evolved stage from the angered yelling to something further. 

“Vi Ra Go,” Every single time. Each syllable paired with an indolent step, his gaze never faulting from you. He didn’t want to acknowledge the man he once called friend beside you. 

“So we finally meet. The woman they sent to fill my void.” The word ‘woman’ was spat out with a misogynistic type of venom. A discreet disgust painting his features until his eyes started to wander down. His eyebrows raised shamelessly. 

“I tell you what, they don’t make soldiers like you in the federation.” His hand gripped your jaw. Resisting the urge to give him any satisfaction of a reaction, you stared past his head. He only relished in it more, with a thumb running up the skin of your neck. “Many of my men have your photo on their wall but to have the whole thing here is something else huh.”

The soldiers in the room started to holler and you could’ve sworn you felt bile being sent up your throat. You’d had comments like this before, about being a woman in the force but this man was something else and Merrick had had enough of it.

“Enough of this Rorke.” His roar rippled through the room and finally Rorke released his grip on your chin. Head dropping immediately - if not to stop it from cramping in your neck, then to hide the tear you fought hard to stop welling. Fuck him for making you feel weak. Fuck all of them.

“You know what they did to me sweetheart?” Still he refused to acknowledge the man next to you. You kept your head down.

“I know you killed Ajax, that’s all I need to know.”

“They left me to die. I’ve sat through things that’ll make your little limbs fall off darling.” He moved behind you, left hand situated on your neck, right hand on Merrick’s. Two soldiers accompanied your fronts. “Your whole team isn’t even here for you, darling. Where’s your quiet friend?” 

His grip on your neck guiding you to face him. His eyes anticipated more than he was going to get. 

Warm spit and a fuck you.

The last thing you saw was an unimpressed Rorke wiping his face with a palm before a fist connected to your stomach. 

“Bitch!” He spat. Jolted his head to the door and before you knew it, you were being dragged out the door by two soldiers. “I bet it doesn't take much to make her scream! As for you-”

“Virago!” Merrick roared before Rorke's frame covered your sight. The further you were dragged away, the less you could make out of blunt objects connecting themselves to his frame. 

The two soldiers carrying you shared a couple words, bringing you back to the foyer. And for what felt like hours, one held your head up by the hair while the other had his crack leaving bruises that’ll take at least a month to heal. 

Then finally relief.

Black.

[kwop-kilawtley]

FANFIC IDEA: A Jacob x Bella twilight rewritten the way it would’ve happened in the real world & what truly should have happened because I will never subscribe to the fact that Edward & Bella were soulmates & that it was true, meaningful love. EDWARD NEEDED TO FACE CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS ACTIONS but alas he never did. He was not meant to be with Bella, he forced himself into her life & manipulated the situation. It was not fate, it was BLOODLUST, selfishness, obsession & stalking. Anyway, this is what should’ve happened tbh.

NOTE THIS IS A WHOLE ASS MESS AND STARTED AS A CONCEPT BUT I GOT CARRIED AWAY. I will be finishing it the concept. But if someone would like to write out a fully fleshed out version of this.. PLEASEEE DO. I have ideas about where it continues too but my hand is about to fall off.

Bella moves to forks Jan 17. Edward meets Bella in bio Jan 18th. 25th van.

(This would be Chapter 8: Ghost in Midnight Sun. This part is in iguana-Edward’s POV. So this is before port Angela’s happens but is after the van. March 7th, 1 month & 2 weeks after Bella moves to forks. Bella goes to the Blacks house every weekend since she moved)

Charlie catches Edward stalking Bella in the bushes while she’s asleep reading her book on the lawn (the fact this is canon btw 🤢) Ofc in canon he is a vampire so he got away with it because of his speed & mind reading but nah that shouldn’t have happened. But in this fic it is a SECOND too late where Charlie already saw him from driving down the block so Edward has to stay & not run bc it’s either Edward getting caught stalking or Edward revealing his secret of being a vampire. Charlie wakes up bella and he confronts him. Bella is very confused by the situation. This time, Edward is able to charm his way out of it making up some excuse that he was coming by to drop off a book of Bella’s that she left in biology (the fucking creep had it in his pretentious little peacoat jacket)but it was a book from her room he took (ok Joe goldberg go off) Charlie let’s it go this time but is still sus.

(Bella’s POV) Bella couldn’t stop thinking about how strange the whole thing was. “Did I really leave that book on my desk in Biology? I could’ve sworn it was the last book on the stack next to my bed.” Alas she believes his gaslighting lies & moves on with her night. That night, Bella & Charlie go to the Blacks house for dinner. She cooks lasagna & it is a cozy time. Jacob is her assistant chef, handing her all the ingredients & of course making her laugh the whole time while their dads watch the game. He is so dizzy & nervous from how pretty she is that he leaves the spice cabinet open & bangs his head in the top corner hinge (cause it’s canon he’s a tall clutz in New Moon). He bleeds a little bit & bella gets nauseous from it but after she pops the lasagna in the oven, she sits him down to blot the wound on his head. As nauseated she is by the blood, she is laughing & he is making fun of her little gags in between. They look in each other’s eyes & Bella blushes a whole lot. She bandages it up (she keeps bandages in her little bag bc of how much of a clutz she is) & then sits at the table next to him. She comments on his long hair, how it’s even longer than hers & asks him about his hair care routine. He gets embarrassed, stammering cause he probably doesn’t take as good care of his hair as he should. He tells her he uses a homemade Quileute shampoo that all the guys get from a sweet older woman on the rez. She finds it sweet. She scoots her chair next to him & starts to braid the lock of hair that frames his face. She asks another question about his hair but he doesn’t answer cause he is just smiling looking at her. He loves her pink cheeks, soft lips, thoughtful & caring nature. He is in heaven. “What? Do you really not use conditioner? And no, grease or motor oil does not count as conditioner, Jake.” He laughs, shakes his head & tells her that he just uses coconut oil. Bella finishes the braid and then runs a finger through his hair. “That makes sense, it’s so soft, maybe I’ll take notes from you. I just use what Charlie gets from the store which is usually something pink and smells like berries. VO5 usually. I DO have a good conditioner though.”She laughs. “I don’t have the heart to tell him it’s probably not the best for my hair. He does his best with me.”

After dinner, they have a bonfire outside with others from the rez, basically whoever wants to show up and join. But bella and Jacob barely notice who is there. Jake gave up his log for Bella & sits on the floor beside her. The height difference still allows him to look down at her. They talk all about their memories as kids making mudpies & Jake brings up how they’d hold hands walking by the water at First Beach because of how clumsy Bella is. “We were so young but I always knew you as the one that would always fall. I was scared that the ocean would suck you up like a toilet or something so I had to hold your hand.” They both blush at this. “No, yeah, I remember. They probably should’ve kept a better eye on us back then because I remember once I DID fall in the water, flat on my stupid face, but you helped me up. Renee definitely did not pack me the right shoes to wear for the beaches & rain.” They talk about Renee a bit & Jake asks how the whole situation made her feel. “Do you think your mom should’ve left like that? I mean, I get it, people get divorced but how does it make you feel. Do you feel better here with Charlie?” Typically this would have Bella get defensive since she is very protective over her mother but it was the first time someone kindly asked her this question & made her think about Renee’s parenting. “I miss Phoenix, its my favorite place in the world and I do miss my erratic mother.” She laughs. “But it’s kind of nice not having to baby Charlie. Sure, I cook for him and help out around the house but I feel a lot more.. relaxed since being here if that’s makes sense? The best way to put it is this: Renee is like my best friend and Charlie is my parent. Is that kind of weird? Renee worries about me like crazy but she’s definitely made me have to fend for myself a lot. It was also pretty lonely living there whereas with Charlie, I think we keep each other company real well. I mean, I think I’m more like him despite me not having spent as much time with him.” Jacob can see the realization in her face that she hasn’t let go in a long time. That she was her mothers emotional support and was generally a lonely kid. They then got distracted because someone brought marshmallows, chocolate & graham crackers. “I cannot remember the last time I had s’mores.” bella says, face all lit up. Jake grabs them two plates immediately seeing how happy she was about it. “Aw man, this is why you shouldve come down here more often, Bells. Life’s boring without s’mores. I’m glad you’ve been coming every weekend though. We got a good little thing going on in our community. Honestly, I can’t imagine what it’s like down at forks high school.” Jacob fakes a yawn. Bella talks about her school and friends and how different it is from Phoenix. “It’s pretty different, honestly. Some of the people are nosy but I can’t blame them cause there’s not much to do here. They were sort of amazed by my mere existence and I kinda of wanted to hide under a rock forever when I first started here. It’s definitely better now but some people are definitely still… strange. Especially that family, the Cullens. I know they have a bad rep here on the rez and I sort of can see why.” Jacob goes wide eyed and then shakes his head. “Man, when will I ever stop hearing about these people. The quileutes have some really out there theories about them. I’ll have to tell you some other time though.” Bella wants to ask what he means but she doesn’t want to pry right now in case anyone listens in on the conversation. She turns dramatically to Jacobs face and burns her eyes deep into his. “Jacob Black, I have a very serious, urgent question for you.”

He looks shocked and his heart races a little bit. He puts his plate on the floor and clears his throat. “Uh, yeah Bells?”

“How crispy do you like your marshmallows?” He exhales & smiles his giant grin as he pops one in his mouth.

Next day is in edwards POV again (y’all know I do not have the STRENGTH to write in his POV rn)He is mentally going insane over bella. It’s been sunny (symbolic of Bella being with her sunny boy Jacob) which has been keeping the cullens from attending school. Edward is running in the woods trying to get Bella off his mind. He eventually gives into his selfish need to see/smell her and excuses it as “making sure she’s safe.” He tracked her scent but it led him to the treaty line. This time he is watching Bella and Jacob hanging out. He knows he can’t pass the treaty line, especially not under the circumstances but he tells himself no one will know. He slips on by to Jacobs little red house and watches behind a car like the iguana he is.

Jacob is working on the rabbit & Bella is watching. They’re eating pizza and she almost chokes from laughing. Edward is losing his mind in jealousy and it’s eating him up to see her so happy with someone else. Someone human, something he could never be. Bella is now acting as Jacob’s assistant with the car like he was doing in the kitchen. But Bella doesn’t know names of tools very well so they just start making up their own names for them. “The pointy one with the red top.” Jacob is teasing her saying he was a much better assistant then she is being. “It’s not fair though! SPICES are very easy to know. They are literally labeled, Jake. I mean what even is this thing?” She holds up a very small tool. They then name every tool a human name. “Okay this one would totally be a Gary. Look at it!.” They then get in a rhythm of this. “Bella, hand me Josephina.” “On it, chief.” She scuttles over to him & he takes the tool. He has grease all over his hands and shirt and wipes some on Bella’s nose. “Hey! C’mon I just washed my face before I got here.” She pouts and scoots over closer to Jacob while trying to rub it off, annoyed. Jacob puts the tool in his hand down on the inside of the hood of the rabbit and looks at her. She sticks her tongue out at him. “Is it off my nose?” She scrubs her nose again & looks the other way, red faced. He puts his pointer finger in one of the belt loops of her jeans and pulls her a little closer. She looks at him a little shocked. Then he lifts his hand up to wipe the grease off her nose. He smiles, strokes her face & says “Xaks óta chi chi”

“What did you say?” He blushes. “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Edward was familiar with Quileute & knew what he said. He’s seen enough. Edward leaves the rez and promises never to come back. He will leave Bella alone (he won’t lol)

Then it switches to Jacob or Bella’s POV. A little bit after they got on the topic of Edward & what happened with him just showing up to her house with her book. She doesn’t accuse him of stalking but just says it was odd along with the van incident and the hot and cold behaviors. Jacob is highly disturbed by what bella is saying to him. “Listen, Bella, this isn’t… good. Don’t let that guy get in your head like that. If you think that book was in your stack of books, then it probably was. Does Charlie have cameras? The van thing.. well, it kind of makes sense with what they say around here about them. An adrenaline rush? Come on. And the way he is lingering around you making you feel special some days and then others being mean. If you feel like this guy is actually following you or giving you issues, you can always come here. The cullens aren’t even allowed on the rez because of the legends.” Jacob is trying to make sense of it in his head. Could all of this really be true about them? Bella went on to say that she’s not afraid of him though and thinks he’s just misunderstood. She just can’t stop thinking about that book and the van incident. Jacob is patient with her but tries to put it more in perspective. “If that book was in your room then that means he was in your room. Do you even know what that means?”

A few days pass, edward is outside her house at night debating going into her room again. “One last time. I have to say my goodbyes.” He climbs through swiftly while she’s asleep. He searches through her things and makes note of the book she is reading, does her homework for her in her handwriting that he perfectly emulated. He gets close to her and breathes in her hair. He starts to pout beside her on the bed. “She had said my name in her sleep. She dreams of me. She feels this too. We were meant to be.” He has a full blown breakdown with himself driving himself mad. He had not been careful though. He was so deep in his thoughts & heartbreak, completely consumed by Bella’s scent. Driven into a frenzied state of obsession & bloodlust, he made a grave mistake. he turns around behind him with Charlie’s gun in his face. He almost instinctively ran, since that is what he does best. But again, being caught as a stalker is better than being revealed to be a vampire.

“What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing. In. My. House.” Charlie grabs edward and pushes him into the hallway. Edward obviously was not pushed but he had to pretend to be human if he was going to get out of this. “It isn’t what it looks like, Charlie. I’m so very sorry that you had to catch me like this. You see, your daughter is very accident prone and I-“

“Shut the fuck up. ITS EXACTLY what it looks like. I know exactly what kind of sicko you are. I’m taking you down to the station.”

Bella appears at the door, mouth agape. She stumbles backwards.

“Edward w-what are you doing here. DAD! Why do you have a gun?!”

“Bella get back in your room. I’m handling this and filing a restraining order against this creep. DAMNIT, BELLS, Get back in your room.”

Bella has tears welling up in her eyes and runs back into her room, shaking.

Edward is trying to barter with Charlie on the way down the stairs but he’s having none of it. His gaslighting dazzling bullshit is NOT going to work this time. Charlie drives to the station & arrests Edward Cullen for stalking & breaking & entering. He is disturbed by how cold Edwards hands are when he’s getting his fingerprint.

Bellas POV

She’s crying still in her bed. She starts looking all over her room and notices things out of place. She notices the books out of order, her homework done, her clothes perfectly folded, her shoes polished and cleaned. She has never felt so violated in her life. The guy who has been playing with her emotions since she’s been here had just been a stalker all along. She thought she even was catching feelings for Edward. She was completely fascinated by his beauty & charm. The way he saved her life and said her name. She was intoxicated by him, nervous around him. But now she understood why. There was something off from the very start, the way he hated her so much in biology was not normal. She couldn’t understand it at all. She started shaking as she reached for her cell and called Jacob. He picked up after 2 rings.

“Bella? Are you okay? What time is it?”

“I-Jake I’m so s-sorry for waking you. I… cant believe what just happened.” She explained and Jacob spit out “Lock your window. Lock your front door. Do not open it until I call you. I will be right there.”

Her phone rang but she was already at the door since she heard him pull up. She opened the door and came in, locked the door immediately behind him. She threw herself at him sobbing. “Oh, Jacob. I don’t even know what happened. How stupid could I be? He was STALKING me! In my room, watching me sleep. He even cleaned my room and did my homework. I mean what the hell is that!”

“Shhh, Bella, honey. Calm down. It’s okay, Charlie is taking care of it. I’ve got you. Come here I’ve got you.” He lifts her up in one swift movement and pulls her on his lap on the couch in the living room. He pets her hair and holds her close.

“Listen to me right now. He won’t get away with this. He violated you and your trust. How the hell did he get in here?” Jacob peered around and looked for an open window or sign or forced entry. She continued to sob in his hair.

“But I just don’t… understand. He saved my life, Jacob. I’d be dead from that van without him. Why would he be a creep? I just don’t understand it. I cannot understand it.”

Jake signs “he was obsessed with you. And I- I think it’s possible he only saved you from that van so he could have you all to himself.” He gulped. Bella looked up and blinked through tears. “What?”

“The stories, Bells. Have you really never heard them. My dad thinks the Cullens are fucking vampires. I think, maybe, that could be part of it.”

Bella cocked her head and shook her head “and I repeat.. WHAT? Did you really just say VAMPIRES? Jake do you hear yourself?”

“Do you think I don’t know how crazy that sounds. I’ve been hearing this my whole life. I never believed it, but maybe that’s what’s going on here too. Or I’m just sleep deprived and going insane like Billy.”

Bella shakes her head again. “Those are just scary stories. Come on.”

She felt a chill through her body and things started to add up in her head. She looks up at Jacobs concerned face.

“Thank you for coming. Im so sorry you look exhausted.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I came. This is some crazy stuff. I can, uh, stay too. If you want? I can sleep on the couch or we can just stay up or something.” She nuzzled her face in his chest. “I doubt you’ll be able to sleep though. I’m so sorry this happened.” He strokes her hair and cradles her even closer. “I promise I would never, ever hurt you.” He says. “Seeing your face every weekend has sort of been the best thing that’s happened in a while. Just saying.” She looks up at him. “Really? You’re not sick of me yet? Im so sorry for dragging you into my drama I really don’t mean to bring you down.” He puts his fingers to her lips. “Shhhh.”

“I really like seeing your face too every weekend. You know, Jake, you’re sort of beautiful?” He turns beat red and laughs.

“Okay, now I think YOU’RE a little sleep deprived now.”

“You really are. You also make me feel.. safe. I mean I’ve been getting stalked and watched in my sleep by an alleged vampire who I thought I liked and you are the only one I’d trust to be around right now.” Bella forces out a laugh but shivers at the possibility of that even being remotely true.

“You are safe with me. Hey, if the dude is actually a fucking vampire, maybe Sam Uley & my old man will stake him when they hear about this. They get all serious about the “cold ones. We all got your back.”

She grabs his big hand and bites it then hisses like a vampire at him. “What if he bit me in my sleep, oOoOo.”

“God, always coming through with the gallows humor. Only you would be able to laugh in a situation like this, Bells.”

“Only because I have you here, my own personal sun.” She kisses the same spot on his hand where she bit.

TO BE CONTINUED

[foxymoley]

Blind Date?

Dean/Castiel

Charlie and Sam

General Audiences

1.3k

Thank you to @tobythewise for the beta ♥

Charlie and Sam scheme together to set up Dean and Cas on a blind date. (au: No Supernatural)

- - - -

"Come on, Dean! You haven't been out in months!" Sam could hear himself whining but desperate times and all that. "What have you got to lose?"

Dean huffed and obviously tried to avoid looking into Sam's big brown puppy dog eyes. Sam had been practising just for this.

"No, dude." Dean slashed a defiant hand through the air. "It's not gonna happen!"

"But, Deeeaaan…"

"No!" Dean started to stalk away down the corridor to his room.

"He's just your type!" Sam smirked when Dean stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Dean's face had turned pink as he slowly turned to face Sam and he gulped. "He?" He

squeaked.

Sam was speechless for a second. Surely Dean didn't think he hadn't noticed his own brother's proclivities.

"Yeah? He's friends with Charlie-"

"Charlie's friends with everyone in town." Dean interjected, and Sam ignored him.

"-single, your age, Charlie says he's dreamy."

Dean shook his head, obviously sweeping past the fact he'd basically just come out, and turned away again.

"Dark hair, tall, blue eyes…?" Sam continued desperately and Dean stopped again. Sam watched him reluctantly take a few steps towards him, interest clear on his face and Sam knew he had him.

"Yeah? He funny? Smart? What does he do?" Dean asked with narrowed eyes.

"Uh, don't know if he's funny but he must be smart because he teaches at KU."

Dean's face did an odd little twitch thing then went blank. Sam had no idea his brother went for the academic type but it's not the first time Dean has surprised him and it won't be the last.

"Sounds like he's way outta my league, Sammy." Dean patted him on the shoulder and moved to leave again.

Sam couldn't believe this. Dean is an engineer, owner of his own business, who not only raised Sam, raised him to be kind, polite and a damn lawyer. He didn't give himself enough credit for the things he's achieved. Time to pull out the hail Mary.

"I'll pay!" Sam called out. Dean didn't stop again but he threw his hands into the air and sighed.

"Fine! Someplace nice!" Dean agreed and Sam immediately pulled out his phone to make a reservation at the nicest place in their small town and let Charlie know his part of the mission was accomplished.

💙💚

"Cas?"

"Yes?"

Charlie kept her eyes glued to the screen as her thumbs danced over the controller.

"When was the last time you went on a date?"

"Wednesday," Cas intoned flatly, also keeping his attention on Rainbow Road.

"Oh, haha, very funny!" Charlie giggled. Cas was great, really great but he didn't exactly do normal humany type things. He'd been raised pretty isolated by a bunch of assholes so when Charlie had met the weirdo, she'd taken him under her own weird wing and adopted him like every good extrovert should do. "Would you like to?"

"With you? No." Cas replied and Charlie snorted inelegantly.

"No, I mean, like, a blind date maybe?" Charlie asked carefully as she narrowly avoided a thrown green shell.

"Still no."

"Come on, dude. He's awesome! He's smart, funny, owns his own engineering business…" She violently twisted her controller as if it would help her turn a tight bend. "I think you'd like him."

"Is he hot?" Cas asked bluntly and Charlie turned to look at him with her mouth open. She ignored her Princess Peach character flying over the edge of the road in favor of staring at him, gobsmacked.

He didn't look back until the race was over then he smirked at her.

"What? I can be shallow sometimes too, you know. I'm not looking for a boyfriend but a lay might be nice." He shrugged and Charlie had to mentally realign for a second.

"He's tall, pretty enough to turn even my head, green eyes, big shoulders…um…what else do guys like? Nice arms?" Charlie tried but Cas didn't look impressed.

"Does he know he's being set up?" Cas raised his eyebrow and she knew she looked guilty as fuck.

"Not yet." she said quietly, "but his little brother is pretty good at persuading him."

"Oh, that's wonderful. A blind date against their will," Cas raised a very sarcastic thumbs up and smiled sardonically.

Charlie fidgeted, time to bring out the blue shell.

"I'll pay!" Charlie blurted out and Cas rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He sighed. "I'll go but you have to drive me. I don't want to leave my car there overnight." Cas said then surprised her again by waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Fine." Her phone dinged with a message from Sam telling her he'd done his bit, closely followed by reservation details. She huffed at the restaurant because it was the best in town, Dean must have really put up a fight.

A few days later, Charlie pulled up to the main door of the restaurant in her little yellow beetle and watched, amused, as Cas unfolded himself out onto the sidewalk.

"Alright, Cas. Leave this on the table so he knows who you are." She handed him a small hardback book of Keats. "I'm going to hang back a little bit, just in case he's bailed. Text me if you need rescuing, although I really don't think you will. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She winked at his frowning face and pulled away from the curb. She drifted into a parking spot near the big black car she recognised as belonging to the Winchesters and waited.

Sam climbed out first, gave her a sneaky little wave then leaned down to speak through the window, presumably to his brother. He waved his hands around a bit and Dean finally got out of the car himself. He was looking smart in neat slacks and a dark button down. Charlie mentally facepalmed as he was still wearing his boots. She was sure Castiel wouldn't mind though. Sam gestured back at her and she gave a cheerful double thumbs up at Dean when he peered at her through the windshield. He rolled his eyes and gave his best grumpy face, which, she would never tell him, was downright adorable.

She rolled down her window.

"Oh, Dean, he'll have a book on the table." She told him sweetly then leant over and opened the passenger door for Sam as Dean headed into the restaurant.

"Hey, Sam, how'd it go? Cas was a pain in the ass. I had to offer to pay." She shook her head sadly but Sam laughed.

"Don't worry, we'll split it. I had to offer the same thing!"

The two had an unrestricted view of the whole seating area through the window and watched as Dean walked in and shared a few words with the hostess. She pointed to Cas where he sat and Dean rushed towards the table. Charlie approved when Castiel stood politely but Dean wasn't slowing down. She watched in horror as Dean raised his hands, cupping Castiel's face in his big palms and going in for a kiss. She could see the tongue action from here.

"What the fuck?" Charlie said breathlessly.

"What the fuck?" Sam said at the same time, just as breathless.

They looked at each other, then back at the window where Castiel had responded enthusiastically and they now stood making out, oblivious to the other patrons, then looked back at each other.

A couple of minutes passed in silence as the two in the car did their best fish impressions and the two in the restaurant finally sat down, grinning at each other. Dean and Cas both pulled out their phones then a couple of seconds later Sam's phone pinged, then Charlie's.

- Hey, bitch. Meet my boyfriend. Thanks for the credit card, I'll be having seconds and the whisky from the top shelf I never let myself get. 😈 -

- Hello, Charlie. I think you've already met my boyfriend of the last eight months. Thank you for your credit card. I promise to not take advantage. 😇 -

Sam and Charlie looked up as one and watched Dean and Cas give them a little wave.

"Son of a bitch."