#like Um could you please look over the code again i think there might be a mistake

[radiopaques]

Was rereading for a thing recently and had a realisation.

Rose Thought this was her mother's room, but it's just a giant wine cabinet of a space. Other thing there though? A transportalizer. Into the skaianet lab. And inside the skaianet lab, there is a little girl's room.

The implication being. Roxy worked so much on trying to study the upcoming apocalypse and program SBURB just in time, she LIVED IN THE LAB. She fucking slept at her workplace !!

This woman is so depressed and overworked, and her only escape is to drink her tiredness away. It's still unexcusable, because she is neglecting her child, but damn. My heart aches for her.

Actually, this in general is a good metaphor for who Roxy is... her outside layer is just an airhead alcoholic, but she's actually a badass science hacker lady who has been working to save her planet since she was very young. She deserves respect, no matter how much she failed as a parent.

[oftenwantedafton]

the assistant | william afton x f!reader x dave miller

chapter five

Explicit content, 6k words, new 5/27/25

ao3 link

You’re dead on your feet.

You usually stay awake for a couple of hours when you get home after work, allowing yourself to wind down before bed.

Now your stomach is painfully empty and you can barely keep your eyes open. The initial adrenaline rush that had overcome you after the incident with the shelves falling over has long since been depleted. Dave is doing the majority of the work, and even though it was sort of indirectly his fault, you still feel guilty for not doing more.

“Sit,” he insists at one point, dragging over a stool for you to perch on. “You look as if you’re about to keel over yourself.”

“I’m okay. I just need—” You yawn, interrupting yourself, and you grin at the security guard sheepishly. “I am tired,” you admit.

“Are you going to be safe driving home?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’ll put the radio on full blast or something.” You watch him add a few more items to the growing collection on the shelves. “Want a ride to your place?”

“No, I’ve got a few more things to do. I’m not going to delay you any longer.”

You shrug, too fatigued to argue. “What are we going to do about Helpy?”

Dave frowns. “I was thinking of keeping him in my office.”

“He’s going to need something to keep him occupied and out of trouble.”

“Yes, you’re right.” He arranges several more objects, then dusts his hands off. “That’s good enough for now. Let’s get you out of here.”

You groan as you push yourself to your feet. “I wish teleporters were real. Could really use one right about now.”

“I can carry you to your car if you’d like.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“No?” He makes a rapid move towards you and you laugh nervously, backing away. “Don’t forget your bag.”

“Won’t be getting very far without it.” You retrieve it from the table you’d placed it on earlier, digging around for your car keys.

When the employee door swings open you have to squint and shield your eyes. You’re not accustomed to the sun being this high in the sky when you leave work.

“Last offer for a ride home.” You turn to face Dave as you reach your car.

“Thank you, but no. Please get home safely.”

“I’ll call you if you want, so you know I made it there. What’s the extension for the office? Actually, I don’t even know the main number, either.” Further rummaging produces a ballpoint pen. You uncap it and hold your palm out. “Okay, shoot.”

“Four three five.”

“I know the area code.” You shove his arm playfully.

“You might be too tired to remember by the time you arrive home.”

“I don’t have that far to go, thankfully. We might even be neighbors and we just don’t know it.”

He gives you a soft, indulgent smile. “I don’t think so. Ready?” You nod and he rattles off a sequence of numbers.

“Got it. Hopefully that doesn’t smudge.” You recap the pen and place it back in your bag.

“I’m surprised you don’t have some paper in there to write on.”

“I usually do. I left my notebook on Mr. Afton’s desk. I’m too lazy to go get it.”

Dave nods, looking curiously at the unzippered bag. “What else do you have in there?”

“Wallet. These.” You jingle your keys. “My book. Some Kleenex. Lip gloss. You know, the usual necessary stuff.” You slot your key into the driver’s side door lock and turn it, then lean inside the car slightly to toss your backpack onto the passenger seat. “So are we, um, like meeting up here early again later?”

“Probably not tonight. You need your rest.”

“You need to sleep, too,” you remind him. Your eyes narrow. “You never look sleepy. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Good genetics.”

“Lucky.” You shake your head, then settle inside the car. “Alright, Dave. I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t forget to call.”

“I won’t.” He closes the door for you and moves away, offering a final wave.

By the time you reach the parking lot’s exit, he’s already vanished back inside the building.

***

You fumble replacing the same servomotor four times in a row before William halts you with a sharp command to stop.

The entire evening has been a struggle so far. You’d slept as late as you’d dared, fearing to arrive to work past your shift, and you’re feeling the effects of that insufficient rest keenly now. You also miss spending time with Dave. A quick hello in passing doesn’t feel like nearly enough anymore.

You’re exhausted, you’re distracted, and on top of that, you’re kind of, quite frankly, a little bored.

Now that you’ve opened the Pandora’s box of the new entertainment complex and seen what’s inside, it’s difficult to resist that alluring temptation. You know there’s better tech out there than this. You can’t be content being restricted to these older animatronic models any longer. This all feels so pointless now. These will never see use again.

“You picked a hell of a time to get a social life.” William stands, walking over to the steel filing cabinet nearby. You know what this means, and it’s not good.

“Sir?” You croak weakly.

“You’ve clearly not had enough rest. Your mind keeps wandering. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve made a mistake, revealing those wonders at the new facility to you. Perhaps my endorsement of your allegedly budding talents was misplaced.”

Your shoulders stiffen. “It wasn’t a mistake,” you say hastily. “I’m looking forward to working there.”

“Your employment there is not guaranteed.” The bottom drawer screeches open and the familiar bottle of whiskey and accompanying glass appear.

“But…but you said you were going to teach me about the new animatronics. The AI. Begin integrating coding into my training. You promised—”

“—I do not deal in promises. The only words that are legally binding are those printed on paper. That fact is known to any good businessman.” He sets the bottle and glass down on the table.

“Your first business failed.”

You don’t know why you give voice to this thought out loud. You’re not sure which of you is more surprised. Your mouth drops open and his eyes widen.

“What was that you just said?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

“Nothing, I didn’t mean it. You’re right, I’m tired, I—” You know you’re babbling. You also know that you’ve just gotten yourself into serious trouble here. William seems even larger when he’s angry, that tall, broad figure looming over your cowering one. You see a vein pulsing in his left temple, his jaw clenched. He grabs a handful of your shirt and drags you to your feet effortlessly. Your eyes slide shut, your body trembling, trying to prepare for whatever is to come.

“You think you’re better than me? Not even six months out of school and you know everything there is to know?”

“I never said—”

“Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”

He gives you a little shake and you reluctantly open your eyes.

“Standing on the shoulders of other men. Greater men. Taking it all for granted. You’ve no idea the sacrifices I’ve made. Give me one solid reason why I shouldn’t throw you out right now.”

You stare at him fearfully, your mind racing. Any single word might be the wrong one. The last you ever utter in his presence.

Would that really be such a bad thing, though? So you get fired. There are other jobs out there. Ones where your boss won’t be moody and violent and cruel.

Of course, that means leaving Dave behind; you can be friends outside of work, though. So really, what is the upside of staying?

Those new animatronics. So lifelike. So real. They’re going to haunt you forever. You have to know how he’s creating them.

“I’m waiting.”

“William.” You cover the hand still clutching a fistful of your shirt with yours. A flicker of something sparks in his eyes, and you feel his grip relax slightly. A moment passes. Another. Your heart feels like it’s going to burst through your chest.

“What happened to that smart mouth, hmmm?” He abruptly releases his hold on your top and grasps your chin instead, shoving it upward.

You swallow, the movement difficult with the strain of your face lifted so severely. “I apologize. I spoke out of turn. I know this place means a lot to you…”

“You’re going to have to do much better than that. A pitiful attempt to butter me up is not the angle you should be vying for.”

“I spent the morning helping a friend move some things. I lost track of the time. I wanted to make sure I didn’t get here late again. I didn’t get enough sleep, you’re right.”

“More excuses. I’m not interested in you regaling me with your acts of charity for the reprobates you associate with. Is this all you can offer? I give you my time. I give you my money. I give you knowledge of things most will never get to experience. And still it’s not enough for you.”

“It is enough. I haven’t stopped thinking about what I saw yesterday. It’s distracting me. You’re right about that, too. But I can focus. I can do better,” you hasten to reassure him.

“And what about me? Am I enough?”

The question punches the air from your lungs. His fingers cradle your jaw gently now, his thumb wedged just below your bottom lip.

“William…” you rasp. His eyes have darkened like storm clouds, his breathing growing more rapid.

“It’s taking you an awfully long time to respond.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.” The words are an echo of those you’d spoken to Dave not that long ago. Somehow you don’t think the engineer is going to be responding with a plea for friendship.

“I want your complete loyalty. Your total obedience. Your undivided attention,” he murmurs, his fingers finally shifting, now trailing over your shoulder and down your arm, eliciting a shiver. “Commitment. Devotion in its most absolute form, because if you can’t give me that, you might as well walk right out that door. No more excuses. No more distractions. Serve me well, and I’ll show you things beyond your wildest imagination. My best kept secrets laid bare. Would you like that?”

You nod, finding yourself no longer able to speak.

His lips twitch in a soft smile. “Good. Then this shall be my final warning. Do I make myself clear?”

You swallow past the lump forming in your throat, forcing yourself not to waver from his gaze. “Crystal.”

“Sit down.” He immediately takes a seat after issuing the command.

You obey, collapsing into the hardbacked chair, watching as he pours a half glass of whiskey, surprised when he doesn’t sample it but slides it closer to you instead.

You peer confusedly at you mentor. “I don’t…”

“Drink it,” he orders, then his voice gentles slightly. “It will calm your nerves.”

You sincerely doubt that; you don’t think anything other than being away from this man will work in that regard. There’s something so terrifying, yet so terrifyingly compelling about him. Repugnant and yet captivating. Your thoughts twist back and forth, unable to coalesce into a unified assessment, a resolution of feeling. Reluctance makes you hesitate to reach for the glass; an eagerness to please drives your fingers forward. You wonder when the last time he’d bothered washing it was. Rinsed it, even. You’ll effectively be swapping spit with your employer. For a moment there, just before, you’d very nearly thought he was actually going to kiss you. The thought makes you shiver again.

You raise the beverage, downing it in one swallow. Fire immediately stings your throat. You wince and cough, your eyes watering as you set the glass back down.

“I didn’t say to drink it all at once.” The British man chuckles, refilling the glass three quarters full this time. Noticing the alarm blooming on your features, his laughter deepens. “This isn’t for you. This is for me.” You see his Adam’s apple strain his collar as he takes two large gulps. “The best drinks are always the most bitter.” He regards you for a moment, swirling the brownish-gold liquid around. “Another two weeks. Maybe one, if you really put your nose to the grindstone. Then we’ll begin having a look at the new AI programs the animatronics are being outfitted with. Understood?”

“Yes. Thank you.” You still feel your throat burning, making it difficult to speak.

“Now get back to work. Show me I’m not going to regret this decision later.”

You refocus your attention on the component in front of you, ignoring the bead of sweat that slides down your cheek. You’re not going to let anything distract you now. Forget about the sudden nervous heat creeping across your skin. Forget about the taste of that terrible alcohol still stinging your tongue.

And whatever you do, don’t respond to that caress your boss offers when the repair is finally successfully completed, his fingers stroking between your shoulder blades, the glass beside his other hand now emptied and refilled several times.

“Good girl,” he praises, his whiskey saturated breath ghosting over your cheek.

“What’s next?” You’re proud of how steady your voice sounds. How confident.

Maybe that whiskey had helped after all.

***

You find Dave seated at his desk in the security office later that morning after your shift is complete, slouched down in the swivel chair, his long legs stretched out beneath the desk stacked with monitors.

He straightens as soon as he sees you approach, offering a little smile of greeting.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

“Did he leave yet?”

“On his way now.” He points to one of the images onscreen.

You heave a sigh of relief. You’ve had quite enough of William Afton for one evening. And you don’t feel nearly as guilty as you might otherwise for directly disobeying his request to ignore your coworker; you think you’re more than entitled to a bit of a reward after such a difficult shift.

The seated man frowns. “How bad was it? You look exhausted.”

“It was…stressful. I’m feeling a bit wrung out, to be honest. But I managed. How about you? How was your night?”

“Uneventful.”

“Helpy behaving?”

“Yes. I’m running out of things for him to color, though.”

You walk past Dave’s chair to find the little bear seated on the floor, using crayons on what looks like a paper placement depicting the pizzeria’s lead mascot, something the security guard had clearly scrounged from the restaurant’s dining room that had once been used to entertain children before their food orders arrived and their birthday parties began.

“So he likes to color. I’ll stop at the store and get him some proper coloring books.” You squat down, admiring the animatronic’s skills. He’s gone outside the lines a few times, but it’s mostly tidy. “Hey there, little guy, good job.”

The bear blinks, his head lifting. As soon as he sees you he pushes himself to his feet and reaches his arms out.

“He likes you better than me, I think,” Dave murmurs.

“No. He’s just friendly.” You give the robot a brief hug before rising.

“Is that all one has to do to receive a hug from you? Just stretch their arms out?”

Dave is on his feet now, his gaze shifting from the screen showing William’s car exiting the lot to your face.

You feel your cheeks grow warm. “Yeah. I mean, I guess so.”

“You guess so? Shall we test the theory out, then?” His arms spread wide and you hesitate, then step into them, curling yours around his back. His grip tightens and you sigh into his shoulder. “Thank you. I really needed this.”

“Me too,” you murmur against his uniform shirt. Dave doesn’t smell like cologne or aftershave like William does; he doesn’t smell like much of anything, really. It feels nice being wrapped snugly against his lean body. Comforting. Safe. It’s hard to believe you’d been eager to avoid him not so long ago. “I missed not spending time with you before work.”

“I like when I have you all to myself,” he whispers against your hairline. “I don’t want to share you.”

“Dave, you don’t have to share me. I already told you…”

“You’ll go back to him later.” There’s no mistaking the hurt in his voice; the shiny, wounded reflection in his eyes as he draws back to study your features.

“For training, Dave. That’s all. You know that’s all.” That’s all, you repeat internally. Because this is a line you’ll never cross with your employer. You don’t want to. Do you?

“Try to spare a few moments for me before your next shift, if you can. I know you need to sleep.”

“Alright. Let me drive you home now.”

“I can’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t.” He takes a step backward, out of your embrace.

“Whatever you have left to do, can’t it wait until later?”

“No. Any more than you can deny his demands. We’re both indentured.”

“Dave…”

“Go home. Sleep. Then come back to me.”

“Okay. I’ll try to come a little early.” You pause in the doorway. “Hey, did you like the cookies by the way?”

“Hmmm?” Dave hums distractedly. “Oh, yes. Very much so. Thank you.”

“Good. I’ll bring you another treat soon.”

You watch the guard bend and lift the little bear into his arms, keeping him tucked securely against his side. “Let’s go walk our friend to her car, shall we?”

Recognizing this verbal cue, you leave the security office and emerge outdoors, holding the door open for your companion and his small charge. The expression on the animatronic’s face is heartwarming as he blinks and looks around, squirming excitedly in Dave’s grasp.

“No, Helpy. You can’t get down. It’s too dangerous.”

You understand his caution; given its deteriorating condition, the parking lot’s uneven surface would only spell trouble for the robot’s stubby legs.

“You’re good with him,” you say, watching as he hands a wildflower he’d just squatted and plucked from a rent in the asphalt to the animatronic. The bear clutches it with his metal fingers, peering at it curiously, the aqua eyes widening with interest. “You’d make a good dad, I think.”

“I can’t have children.”

“Oh! Dave, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“—It’s alright. Just stating a fact.” He readjusts the position of animatronic as it begins sliding downward. “Do you want kids?”

You blush. “I don’t know. Maybe someday.” The bear holds the flower out to you and you accept it, murmuring your thanks.

“Why do you think Mr. Afton made him?” You ask softly, watching the white robot pluck curiously at Dave’s shiny silver name badge. “I mean, why create an animatronic with a toddler’s level of functioning?”

“I don’t know. Why does he do anything he does? Idle curiosity. Because he can. Much of it is without true purpose, I think. He simply enjoys the ability to do it. Having absolute control. Power.”

“Do you guys still talk about me?”

Dave’s expression darkens. “No. He’s barely spoken to me at all the past few days. Which suits me just fine.”

“You still haven’t told me why you work here.”

“There certainly isn’t time to discuss that now. You need rest.” He detaches the ring of keys from his belt and hands them to the bear, who begins vigorously shaking them, clearly entertained by this new object.

You’ve reached your car. Helpy stretches out an arm towards you, offering the ring of keys.

“Those aren’t mine, silly.” You hand them back to the guard. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Looking forward to it.” His index finger strokes the back of your hand as he accepts the offering.

You reluctantly slide behind the wheel, setting the flower on the dashboard.

It’s getting harder and harder to leave him behind.

***

Tonight, you vow, is going to be a successful shift.

It’s taken you an entire weekend spent sleeping to finally feel a little more caught up on rest. You hated wasting your time off like that, but it had been necessary.

You can’t afford to make any more mistakes.

You automatically draw in a deep breath when William Afton enters Parts and Services that evening, bracing yourself. What mood will he be in tonight?

The tall man appears calm as he stands in the doorway. His clothing is in order, his hair neatly styled. His eyes look sharp and bright. Maybe he’d gotten some much needed sleep over the weekend, too.

“We won’t be working in here today. Gather your things.”

You blink in surprise, hastily grabbing your backpack from under the workstation and following him curiously, a nervous sort of energy charging through you.

You’re being led, you soon discover, to the manager’s office.

At first glance, it appears to be a fairly standard space: desk, computer, a coat rack, filing cabinets, and a cork board with a monthly calendar tacked to it decorating one wall.

“You can put that in the closet, if you like.” He gestures towards a narrow door, hanging his blazer on the coat rack and settling behind the desk.

You twist the doorknob, revealing a cramped interior with a number of shelves, all of which are cluttered with a variety of items. You choose the least occupied one, lifting a pair of framed photos clear before setting your bag down.

You’d had every intention of setting the pictures back down immediately, but your hands are slow to obey and instead you bring them closer to your face to view them properly.

The first is a Polaroid photo, a dated looking specimen with fading colors. You have to do a double take, because this younger version of William closely resembles Dave. He’s standing beside a bearded man you don’t recognize with glasses and a friendly smile. Henry Emily, perhaps? Just behind them is a banner reading Grand Opening, and behind that a much earlier, more intact version of the restaurant that you’re standing in.

The frame beneath this contains a snapshot of three young children and a woman with gold hair and green eyes occupying a sofa. The oldest boy reminds you of William. His family, you realize. His wife and kids.

Your mentor clears his throat and you turn swiftly, nearly dropping the pictures.

“I forgot those were in there,” he murmurs softly.

“I wasn’t snooping. I’m sorry, I…”

The tall man pulls them from your fingers and tucks them back inside the closet on a higher shelf, then turns and sits back down. “Grab a chair and bring it around.”

This task completed, you settle beside your employer, more nervous than ever. You don’t think he’s upset about your discovery, but then again, he might just be waiting to unleash his displeasure. For the moment he’s just sitting with his thumbs tucked beneath the purple and gold suspenders he’s wearing. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him without these two colors on one portion or another of his daily attire.

You glance around the room, observing more details. The calendar is out of date. There’s another on the desk in the same condition, and an arcade token partially tucked into one corner pocket of the desk blotter.

“Well? What do you think of your new workspace?”

“It’s, um…you don’t use this office much.”

“No, I don’t. Not anymore.” He lets the suspenders snap back into place, leaning forward to drag a finger through a faint coating of dust on the top of the keyboard. “Do you know why I brought you here tonight?”

“I’m not sure.”

William tugs on the coin you’d spied earlier, setting it upright on one grooved edge and spinning it between his fingers, snatching it back up every time it loses momentum and prepares to fall, then repeating the process over again. “Let me ask you another question, then. Are you familiar with the Turing Test?”

“Yes. It was designed to see if a human playing a game could detect which opponent was human and which wasn’t.”

“Precisely. Following this, the creation of Eliza, a program capable of having an intelligent conversation and Shakey, the first mobile intelligent robot. Years later the genesis of neural networks able to process entire sequences of speech and video data. The defeat of a chess master by a computer. Humans making machines that could not only think like them or serve them, but could outwit them entirely. Now we’re going beyond mere entertainment,” he says, his voice taking on a rapturous tone as he allows the brassy bit of metal to drop onto the desk. “We’re creating an entirely new environment made of synthetic beings that are indistinguishable from their living counterparts. There has never been anything like it in existence.

Obviously this computer here is an older model, but for the time being, it will suffice. When—if,” he corrects, offering you an unfriendly smile, “you make the transition to the new location, you’ll have access to the very latest hardware and the newest programming languages.”

You have only a rudimentary understanding of basic programming languages; more specifically, giving concrete instructions for a computer to follow. Enabling one to learn and adapt without specific rules in place, instead evolving through the use of algorithms, is definitely not in your wheelhouse.

“Judging by your silence, I’d say this is something you’re not overly familiar with.”

“No,” you admit reluctantly.

“Good thing I’m here to teach you, then.” He grins, then turns back towards the monitor, powering the computer on. “Pay close attention.”

***

By the time several hours have passed, you find your neck is on fire, cramped and stiff from your posture.

William seems to notice this, or perhaps he’s in a similar state, his fingers finally stilling, leaning back to regard you. “Time for a break, I think. And afterwards, I need you to retrieve something from Deep Storage. There’s a series of steel cabinets along the back wall. You know the ones I’m referring to?”

You dip your head towards each shoulder, trying to work some ease of movement back into your neck. “Yes.”

He leans back further, jamming his hand into his pants pocket and extracting a ring of keys. Different than the ones for the restaurant and different than the ones his car key are on. How many does he have? “Take this. It opens the third one from the left. There’s a box inside. Bring that back here. Only that. Understood?” He removes a single small silver key from the ring and offers it to you, jerking his hand back as you reach for it.

“That means no rummaging. No looking at or touching things that don’t concern you.” His eyes shift meaningfully to the closet nearby.

You sigh internally. Of course he isn’t going to let that transgression slide without getting in some sort of dig. “Yes.”

“Good. Be back in forty five minutes.” He holds the key out again and this time you succefully retrieve it, keeping it curled tightly in your palm.

You’re just about to exit with your bag when your mentor halts you. “Oh, and if you happen to see Dave Miller in your travels, be sure to tell him I said hello.”

You struggle to keep your features impassive. Inside, your stomach is twisting in knots. Does he know you and Dave have been spending time together against his wishes? Surely he would have already mentioned it by now if he did. “Okay, sure,” you reply casually, hoping you’re being a more convincing liar than the security guard had deemed you were capable of.

William smiles.

***

Third cabinet from the left. Third cabinet from the left. You repeat this mantra over and over on your way to the storage room. You’ve decided it’s better to just grab the stuff your employer wants now and get it over with. Then you can spend the rest of your break with Dave.

“Don’t tell me he’s sent you for more tools.”

“Dave!” You spin around to find the lanky man walking towards you. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Fine.” The security guard folds his arms across his chest. “So what is it he wants this time?”

“Some box. He didn’t tell me what was in it. You know those cabinets in the back?”

He nods, frowning. “They’re locked.”

“Yeah, but he gave me a key.” You hold it up in the air. “Wanna come with me? Is Helpy okay?”

“He’s in the office. I made sure he was switched off before I left. Of course I’m coming with you,” he adds.

“I have to be back in forty five minutes,” you caution. “So I thought I should get this done and over with first.”

“Smart. Let’s go.”

You weave your way past the rows of shelves and tables and racks in the poorly lit room, finally reaching your goal.

“Third one from the left,” you recite out loud, fitting the key in the lock.

Dave stands just behind you, one hand resting on the handle of the flashlight on his belt.

A sharp clicking sound echoes in the room as you turn the key.

“Let’s see, there’s supposed to be a box…oh, yeah. There it is. These things are deeper than they look on the outside.” You reach for the requested item, frowning and tugging harder when you meet resistance. “It’s stuck on something.”

“Want me to help—”

Dave never has a chance to finish his question as the box suddenly jerks free, the object keeping it tethered inside following with it.

You see a human hand and forearm, the limb severed just below the elbow.

With a yelp you fall back, the box and its gruesome attachment tumbling to the floor, and you and your companion going with it. You shove at the offending appendage, kicking it away and scrabbling backwards to lean against the guard.

“Jesus Christ. There’s a body in there. The missing kids…”

“Calm down,” he hastily attempts to reassure you. “That’s not a child’s arm. It’s not even a real human’s.”

“What do you mean it’s not a real human’s? It looks pretty damn real to me!”

“It’s not. Look closer.”

You shake your head. “I don’t want to.”

“Just look.” He leans around you, reaching for the hand and giving it a sharp tug to clear it free from the items now swamping it. Then he inverts it so you can see where metal and wiring is clearly visible. “It’s not a real arm, okay?”

“What the hell?” You stare dumbfounded at the limb. “Where did it come from? I mean, why was it in there in the first place?”

“Another of his discarded projects.” Dave drops the arm.

“But he’s never made anything resembling an android,” you protest.

The man remains silent, beginning to gather the scattered contents of the box.

“Dave.”

“What?” He continues to work, avoiding your gaze.

“You’re not surprised. You knew about this.”

“What was inside the cabinet? No. The fact that he’s made androids? Yes. He stole the tech from his business partner. He was grieving his deceased daughter. William was…trying to create an offspring he was proud of.” His head lifts. “He wanted you to find this, I think.”

“But why? Why wouldn’t he just tell me about it outright? Why make such a big deal about creating an animatronic fish when he can make a damn replica human?”

“Because he likes playing games. You must have figured that out by now.” He slips the final item, a hardcover journal, back into the box, glaring at the hand resting palm upward on the floor.

“So what happened? He just disassembled the android afterwards? Where’s the rest of it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe in the rest of the cabinets. This all happened before I started working here. I’ve only heard bits and pieces of the story here and there.”

He notices your own gaze now fixed on the animatronic component. “You’re impressed with it, aren’t you? Dazzled once again,” he mutters, his expression souring.

You shake your head. “I don’t know have I feel about it, to be honest.”

“Well, you’d better come up with an answer, because he’s surely going to be expecting one.” He scowls, picking up the arm and then tossing it into the depths of the cabinet before slamming the door shut.

“Maybe not. Maybe this is just a test,” you say slowly as he hands the key back to you.

“How so?”

“A test of my loyalty, to see if I can follow directions. He said not to look at or touch anything besides the box.” You drag a hand through your hair in frustration, wondering what reaction your boss is expecting. How are you supposed to feign innocence after a discovery like this?

Back in the hallway outside a few moments later, you’re still uncertain of how to proceed. Dave looks upset. You’re not entirely sure how you feel. On the one hand, the tech is undeniably impressive. On the other…you hate being kept in the dark, drip fed little tidbits of information here and there. And most of all, you don’t like the fact that Dave is involved in the deception.

“How many more of his secrets are you keeping?” You ask softly.

The guard turns to look at you, then stops, setting the box down on the floor. “I’m not keeping secrets. You never asked me.”

“How did it never occur to you that I’d want to know about this? I’m here working on animatronics and you didn’t think to mention that there are the remains of human ones hidden on site?”

“I told you, I didn’t know they were stored here.”

“Fine. Let’s say you didn’t. That still doesn’t explain why you never mentioned its existence in the first place.”

Dave’s eyes flash. “Why don’t you just ask him about it? That’s obviously what he wants. Another chance to brag. An additional opportunity for you to hero worship.”

“Because I want to hear it from the person I actually trust. My friend, that I care about.”

You stare at him for long moments, watching the rapid rise and fall of his shoulders.

The lights flicker and die.

“Damn it.” You hear the security guard curse, then the click of the flashlight from his belt as it’s switched on. He aims the beam somewhere in the middle of the wall behind you. “I apologize,” he says. “I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

You swallow and nod, stepping closer. “Okay. But from now on, tell me, alright? I don’t want any secrets between us.”

Dave exhales. “I have to go reset the lights.”

“Just…wait a minute.” You reach for the flashlight, feeling for the switch to shut it off.

“What are you…?” His voice trails off as you run your fingers up his forearm.

The flashlight drops to the floor with a clatter. The backs of your fingers stroke against his cheek and he groans, clutching the hand touching his face, nuzzling it like a cat might, so that you rub along his nose and jaw and finally his lips. Your breath hitches and he chases that sound, crushing your mouth with his. The kisses are initially sloppy, clumsy until they aren’t, his tongue becoming more and more skilled, his lips now soft and generous and wet.

“God, Dave…”

The sound of heavy breathing fills the dark corridor, interspersed with little sounds of pleasure. You clutch his shoulders, the nape of his neck; thread your fingers through his and let your mouth wander along his jaw and throat. Frenzied, then slow, then frenzied again, your lips discover the most sensitive places. Behind your ears. The side of his neck. The corner of his jaw. The base of your throat.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you,” he whispers beside your ear. “Forgive me.”

“I forgive you…” You suck his bottom lip and he cups your face between his hands.

“The lights, I have to…”

“I know. I know, Dave. It’s okay.”

He releases you with a mournful sigh, bending down to locate the flashlight. A burst of light soon illuminates the hallway. His free hand reaches for yours.

“You can pick up the box on the way back.”

“Okay,” you agree, allowing him to guide you forward.

[ctommyisnt]

@tpucs secoND FIC REQUEST IVE COMPLETED I got super excited when I saw this because um. Hermitcraft tommy fics??? Those were my lifeline for a solid month I think I read every fic in the tag.

This is not technically finished it’s like. The beginning of what might turn into a long fic if I get the time but I also had this in my drafts for two weeks and didn’t want to leave it sitting. It’s mostly exposition bc I love exposition a lot please enjoy (if anyone wants me to add trigger warnings I can but I don’t think anything applies here????) also if anyone has any ideas on what scenes. Of continue this that would be great bc I have no idea what the next part should be

Anyway

The newest player to join hermitcraft came as a shock. In a lot of different ways, for a lot of different reasons.

To start, it was well off from the beginning of the series. In fact they were well into season 10, and even the new hermits had settled in comfortably.

Secondly, and more concerningly, nobody knew the kid.

Tommyinnit joined the game.

Xisuma shot up sharply the moment he got the ping. That is incredibly odd and he needed to check on that immediately. He equipped his elytra quickly, grateful it was in his inventory, and took off to spawn.

It didn’t take long, though he wasn’t the first there. Gem was running over from the direction of the shopping district, and Keralis was talking to… a teenager?

“-how did you get here?” Keralis was saying, standing a wary distance from what looked to be a very disgruntled kid who flinched harshly as Xisuma landed near the two.

“Who are you?” Gen shouted, pulling out her sword. The teen breathed in sharply, arms moving up to tug at the sleeves of his rather burnt winter coat. His hair was so dirty that Xisuma could hardly tell it was blonde, and the rest of his outfit wasn’t that much better.

“Hey, hey,” he rasped, standing up taller, which didn’t seem to hide his trembling as much as he liked, “I don’t mean any harm I just- I don’t really fucking know how I got here either.” He said quickly. Gem lowered her sword slightly but Xisuma was still wary.

“How did you get through the code, that should’ve been impossible, this is a whitelist only server.”

The boy raised his hands, and his eyes flickered to Gem with a pinched grimace, “if you just want to- point me in the right direction I’ll go- I’ll get back to, uh,” he seemed to falter, “I’ll get going.”

Xisuma bit his lip, “it’s not going to be that simple, this server is locked up pretty tight. Especially since you broke in.”

“How do we know you didn’t break in on purpose,” Gen pushed.

“Gem, look at him,” Keralis drawled, “he’s a kid there must be an explanation.

“I’m not a kid!” The teen barked out sharply. He cowed sheepishly to Gem when she raised her weapon again in warning, “I don’t know how I got here, I swear.”

Xisuma sighed, and motioned to Gem to back down. She bristled at the thought but in all honestly, the kid looked… pretty harmless. He’d still have to be careful though, which means…

“I’m going to get Grian over here,” he started pulling out his comm as he continued, “and you need to come with me where we can keep an eye on you.”

/msg Grian: just a kid. Not them. Need your helping getting this mess cleaned up

“I’m not going to be fucking watched,” the kid spit out, “I’m not fucking going with you.”

Keralis stepped closer, though he had to put his hands up when the kid flinched again to show no harm, “it’s okay dude, Xisuma and Grian just need to make sure your code isn’t all tangled, and all that doohickey admin stuff so you don’t get hurt.”

Xisuma nodded, “if I just ban you now whatever glitch happened to get you here might hurt you permanently. It’s for your benefit as much as ours.”

“Wait, you’re the admin,” he asked, “I don’t want you digging through my code that’s a- that’s a violation of my personal boundaries.”

Xisuma opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to respond to that. Which, thank god, Grian took that moment to fly in and land just next to him, red yellow and blue feathers poofing off of his wings with the landing and drifting down.

“I’m Grian, nice to meet you,” Grian said, reaching out his hand but keeping his face alarmingly neutral. The boy didn’t take it, which didn’t deter him, “why is your code like that?”

He balked, wrapping his arms around his torso, “you went through my code?”

Grian nodded, “I’m not the first, your code has been modified a lot. Did you not know this?”

“Modified? Like how?” Xisuma asked, concern levels raising considerable. And probably also his blood pressure.

“Like tangling it up with enough restrictions and mods that it’s no wonder you glitched like that.” He continued. “this could be dangerous, especially if you keep server hopping. Someone needs to fix this, because if you don’t you might not survive the next jump. If we can’t, do you know any admins or server moderators that can?” He pushed.

The teen’s breath quickened, and keralis looked rather worried. This probably wasn’t best done in front of everyone, especially since the more nosy or concerned hermits were bound to show up as well. Grian was not one to avoid speaking his mind, though.

“Are you- are you an admin too?”

Grian tilted his head, confused, “not for this server. Though I have before. I’m help Xisuma out with this one.

He took a few breaths, making sharp looks at everyone surrounding him. Keralis looked ready to say something else before the teen collapsed in on himself in defeat. “Fucking- fine. But you’re going to tell me fucking everything you’re doing. And the admin isn’t touching anything.” He demanded.

Grian huffed, “but he-“ but Xisuma elbowed him.

“Of course we will. It’s your code, we just want to help you get to… wherever you meant to go safely. What’s your name?”

“Tommy.” He grumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets and raised his eyebrow as if to say ‘well, let’s go.’

—

“So this,” Grian waved his arms so the lines of code could appear close to the wall where Tommy could see from the sofa, “-is your code. It is, essentially, you.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes,grimacing at the unintelligible language.

They were in one of Xisuma’s labs at his base, one of the ones near the top with big windows and wooden desks and soft furniture. It wasn’t as crazy as his more experimental laboratories, which were mostly in his basement and probably would freak Tommy out more than they should.

“Some people are naturally able to read and access the code, and they usually end up becoming admins or server moderators. Some people, like me, either learn it, which is very hard to do, or are ‘given’ the ability to read it.”

“Given?” Tommy asked, “is that something anyone can do?”

He shook his head, “no, it’s a rather dangerous and traumatic process. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but now I can tell you that your code is really bad.”

Tommy shouted incredulously, “my code is not shit, fuck you!”

Grian huffed, this kid, honestly. “I’m not saying this for fun. I’m telling you this because that is incredibly concerning. Here-“ he waved at the code again to scroll farther down, “this is how your code allows you to transport between dimensions. With the nether it’s mostly fine. I can tell it was erased and re-added here, though.” He pointed at another line of code that Tommy also could not read.

Xisuma had been banished to another room to start going through the server code. Tommy seemed to freak out at the very idea of the admin even getting too close to him. He couldn’t help but dread exactly why Tommy was freaked out about admins. He should probably be nicer to him, but Grian was still running on the sharp burst of terrifying adrenaline he received when he saw someone join the server.

There were a couple hermits that relied on the safety and security of the server, including him.

“If you scroll a bit further it looks like your access to the end has been completely restricted, if you jumped into an end portal it would probably instantly kill you.”

Grian sat down on a stool opposite Tommy, trying to figure out what on earth happened to this kid and what kind of server he was in last. Even as Grian had sat down the kid had tensed, almost leaning away from him as if it was physically painful to be near another human being.

“Tommy, that’s just one thing.” He sighed, “Your ability to fly with elytra’s, if you somehow managed to get one, has been tampered with, access to any of the worlds code, tracking devices on you and monitoring on your comm. Someone attempted to erase all of your hybrid traits, which thank god is almost impossible to do. Most concerning is your respawns, which have been locked at three lives completely. If you managed to permadie your code would be locked in the server and you’d be unable to come back. Even if you did decide to go through the process of leaving the server, I doubt you’d be been able to get out naturally. It’s a miracle you didn’t die getting here.”

Tommy’s hands were trembling, ans he clearly wasn’t taking this well. Which, to be fair, Grian didn’t expect him to in the first place. He put a hand on the boys leg, making him flinch, but making him just a bit more present.

“Your code has been mutilated, Tommy, but you’re still alive. We can fix your code, and if you want, transfer you safely to another server.” He told him.

Tommy opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His hands had been clenching at the sofa cushion hard enough to give him marks. Grian stood up and waved away the code screens so he could grab a cup of water they had prepared earlier. He gave it to Tommy, who managed to curb the shakiness to take a sip.

“You don’t have to make this decision now, but you are kinda locked in this server until something is fixed. The only other option would be to open the server publicly and open a hole wide enough for your code to do, but there are several people here that would be in danger, and who knows who would jump in after you.”

Tommy took a deep breath and reached into his shirt to grab what looked to be a compass that was attached to a chain around his neck. He squeezed it once and looked up at Grian.

“So even if I don’t want you to mess with my code, I’m stuck here forever?”

“Yep.”

“And if I stay like this i might die again.”

“Again?”

Tommy ignored his question and squeezed the compass again before shoving it back into his shirt. “Okay. I’ll let you fix my code but only fucking that. I don’t want to be sprouting wings like you just because you feel like it, bitch.”

God this kid was so annoying. Also- “um, you do know you’re a hybrid, right?”

“What?”

—

SO SORRY THIS DIDNT GET FINISHED??? I meant to do an part where Tommy was getting used to unlimited loves but I couldn’t figure out how to start it which meant I overthought it and now I have a whole headcannjned worldbuild in my head about the lore of servers and junk. This is mostly exposition. I love exposition. It’s my favorite thing to write. My bad yall. Enjoy 🫡

[nian-7]

HEYYYYY IT'S ME OF COURSE! Anywho, I assume you know who I'm gonna ask for, my lovely Husband<333 Jouno<333333 and Tachihara because he's the shared husband<333 anyway uhhh so can I request Tachihara and Jouno with a Reader that's like kinda oblivious and always misses things, like um comments and things just kinda fly over there head a lot, like me in every conversation we have ever had :D K, THANKKSSSS<33

HI EVE!! PLEASE ENJOY (get jouno OUT!!)

Jouno, Tachihara, Tecchou x gn!reader

✧oblivious reader

✧fluff

-Jouno is visibly annoyed when you look at him with a confused look when he tries to 'make a move'. He can't believe you're so oblivious even when he's basically just spelled it out for you!

-Genuinely, you remind him of Tecchou sometimes. He wouldn't be surprised if one day he found you eating eggshells with no reason behind it.

-Sometimes he just stands there as if you've said something absurd after. Like how can his bluntness with words still go flying right over your head as if he had spoken in some sort of code.

-Very annoyed with you sometimes. He'd like for it to get through your thick skull sometimes and he'll mention it to you if you're slow on the uptake when he is annoyed with you for being oblivious.

-Bear with him, he's trying to be nice. Key word, trying. He doesn't seem like he is 90% of the time because half the time when he tries to make some sort of move, it just will go over your head. There's no doubt in his mind that it will.

-Poor guy tries to flirt or make some sort of move on you but you just think he's being nice. He does have that delinquent-ish vibe to him so you just think he's trying to be nicer!

-He won't get mad or upset at you for being oblivious, he just gets a bit annoyed. He's made it as obvious as he can and you still aren't catching on!

-He likely would try to be straight up with you about things. Things that he could say without embarrassing himself that is. He wouldn't tell you straight up that he thought you looked cute or anything of the sorts. He'd like to keep that to himself for now.

-Visibly a little dejected when another one of his attempts go straight over your head. He thought he'd have it that time and yet again, you smiled and thanked him when the goal was to fluster you or even get you to realize what he was doing!

-Genuinely thinks you're messing with him after a while. How can someone be that oblivious? Not to say that he's going to give up trying but, he does consider the fact that he might just have to be blunt about it..

-Tecchou is just oblivious as you lets be honest. Things fly over both of your heads and it irritates Jouno to no end. Usually though, you both are very on par with each other when it comes to obliviousness.

-He likely was oblivious to his own feelings at first too. His protectiveness towards specifically you was just something he thought was because you both were close friends.

-I swear both of you would be so oblivious to each others small advances to the other while everyone else is watching you both with annoyance. The signs are right there and you both are completely missing them all.

-Every 'flirt' coming from Tecchou just ends up as a compliment. He'll tell you that you look nice today and you just simply think he's being polite. The poor guy has no clue how to flirt and you're just oblivious to his attempts.

-You both could be acting like a couple and hugging but the moment someone asks if you're together, instant denial. Both of your thought processes are literally that the other doesn't like you back as if the signs couldn't be anymore clear than they already are.

please do not repost any of my work without my permission, thank you for reading.

[oddeyevibes]

CH 7 - Puzzle Problems

Words: 774

Summary: The puzzles of the police station might do you in before any of the zombies.

A/N: Small slight comedy bit while I'm working on a different chapter.

One thing about this entire debacle is that if the zombies and other monster don't kill you….then these extra ass locks will.

You guess it's because whenever you've been here for the animals, the entire place wasn't on lockdown but it felt like every time you and Leon found a door, it had some convoluted locking system in place.

If it wasn't shape-coded keys then it was having to figure out which picture codes went together to unlock the door. Like picture books in the form of combination lock. It was ridiculous!

How many of these were actual safety measures and how many of these were just to fuck with people?

Electric Door Panel

"Ow!" You yelped from getting shocked, throwing the finger into your mouth.

In hindsight, you probably shouldn't have touched it without no type of gloves whatsoever. Leon came over to you, gently grabbing onto your hand and pulling it closer to him.

"Doesn't look that bad."

"Hurts like hell though."

He chuckled. "To be honest, I figured getting stabbed is a bit worse."

You pouted. "Yeah…I guess."

"Here, lemme try."

You watched intently as Leon carefully turned the small squares holding the wires, getting bits of excitement as you watched the wire light up, indicating that it was successfully connected.

"I always thought the wires would have to be connected on both ends for it to light up like that." You spoke quietly and casually.

Leon shrugged. "Honestly, with so much shit defying logic tonight, I'm not surprised that something like this is different too. Then again…I wasn't much of a science nerd in school."

You smirked. "So what type of nerd were you?"

"I-I wasn't."

You shook your head. "Nah, I don't believe that. Everyone was nerdy for something."

"Nope, normal guy."

"Who walks around like a cute but rejected boy band member? I don't believe you."

With a final flick, the panel's reward was a noise of success and the nearby sound of the now deceased Ben's cell opening.

"All done!"

"Yay…time to get up close and personal with the corpse. Love that for us."

Chess Plugs

The three of you stood confused at the panels in front of you. This one? This was really ridiculous. Plugs…in the form of chess pieces that had to be plugged in in a certain order.

You looked over to Leon. "Please tell me you know chess."

"Um…not really in this form."

"Uhh…ok! Let's try this. It's three on each, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Alright, then you take three and I'll take three and we'll just plug them in and see if anything sticks."

"Should we be really just plugging ANY of them into anything recklessly?"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"We trip an alarm and it attracts those monsters?"

"…………..you're right."

Greenhouse Lab

To be honest, you and Leon didn't know what the hell y'all were looking at.

"Are these…supposed to be numbers?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…guess? How are we even supposed to tell which number is which?"

Leon shrugged. "Guess that means more looking around."

Your head dropped down as you groaned. "I hate this place so muuuuuch."

Leon gave you a reassuring pat on the back. "Yeah…same."

Lab Herbicide Synthesis

"Alright! First step?" You asked.

"Ok, hit the red button and it should switch with the tube that's above the green button right now and then press the green button."

This was nerve racking. "OK…?"

"Now switch it out with the empty tube that should be above the blue button."

"O….k! Wait! Where's the blue tube going?"

"Wait, it's blue?"

"No, it's the tube that's over the blue button, I'm just calling it the blue button."

"Oh ok. So then the tube that's over the blue button, just switch it all the way over and then press the green button."

"Exactly what are we doing, Leon?"

The rookie shrugged. "I think……………..the goal is to reach where that red laser line."

"Oook. What's even in these?"

"It's supposed to be an herbicide."

You heard a success ring before the green liquid began completely draining down and coming back up in the form of the tube that Leon had you place in earlier.

"Woo!" You let out with a clap and a little jump before turning back to Leon. "I think it worked!"

Safe Room

"I hate these soooooo much."

Leon nodded. "Well, if it makes you feel any better. I think we're almost home free. Once we reach the lab underground, I think that'll have a free ride out of here."

"Hopefully…"

Evie let out a tired whine as you rubbed the top of her head.

[j2zara]

oooo so for the directors cut meme, from biggest lie: everything from He’s not sure if he’s all that bought in on this Plan—being committed is more of J2’s thing, and he doesn’t know if the aversion to fealty is him or The Boss, but he doesn’t care. to And yet he pushed. Because he’s J3. He can’t help but play with fire.

OOOOH what a choice. ANYWAY THANKS FOR THIS i was hesitant to even do directors cuts for Biggest Lie and my latest b/c they were so shameless in their aims (um. Being horny). But seeing you do it gave me permission to cave. Ok. Letsa go...

Let's start here:

(He’s not sure if he’s all that bought in on this Plan—being committed is more of J2’s thing, and he doesn’t know if the aversion to fealty is him or The Boss, but he doesn’t care. But he gets how Bluejay feels about gods, the power of names. He was never brought up religious—ha—but he thinks, the Porter right here with him? He could be worthy of Ascension.)

Apologies. I'm gonna start with the Name Thing. I'm gonna backtrack slightly actually n cheat (please forgive omissions) b/c it feels relevant:

and that’s all it takes for J3 to say, “Porter,” instantly repulsed by his own longing / “Gods, Porter.”

Ok. So this when I was writing felt very much like an echo to Almost. Specifically chapter 6. Bluejay thinks this:

“Porter.” Even in his fear, he can’t stop the longing in his voice. And he can assert that he likes Porter—he chose Porter—all day, but it’s just. It’s Jace. It’s always Jace. Jace is why he was brought here. Jace is why he is here. Jace is the reason why Porter always feels so warm, so familiar. Why it's so easy to believe in his radiance, his might.

And to me, these are sister scenes. Both J2 and J3 having similar reactions to the power behind porter's name, the pull he has on them that feels almost unwilling, it feels Of Jace. J2's reaction due fear, and J3's. it could be him, the lack of ownership of this thoughts, but it could also due to him being the commitmentphobe coded jace. Maybe that reaction is also not his, y'know? And even J3 is aware of this, and decides he doesn't care. J2 changes a lot over the course of Almost and for a while he was unnerved by the lack of ownership he had over his own psyche, but J3 is willing to strip himself of that identity. Made a decision to cave to all ofJace's impulses because he's only here for so long, right? If it feels good, why try to fight it (like J4).

And names being so vital when it comes to Ascension. Again, the compare / contrast to almost. Is the reason J3 is so willing to buy into Porter's plan because he is Of Jace? Or is it something that is so unique to him, in that its something that was sold to him due to their chemistry? And Porter's physicality (Unlike J2, j3 says "the feeling in his hand? That's Porter.). J3 wants the height of every sensation and b/c he's hard wired to want porter, he gets the best from Porter. And J3 the worshipper of pleasure, of sensation, so the best of the best is the closest he feels to understanding holiness.

But also obviously the power of names is also about Bluejay being imbued with a sense of identity when Porter named him. Like. J3 is ambivalent on the plan b/c he's always been the disposable one, he didn't have J2's pseudo religious torrid romance of an experience, but also. J3 doesn't have Jace's religious upbringing, but also. There was a time when Jace wasn't religious either.

OK. Next paragraph.

He spent the night at Porter’s once. J3’s not there nearly as often as J2 used to, it’s no second home to him like it ever was to J2. But it was a respite from having to share a space with three other versions of himself. He’d teleported over in the middle of the night—J2 was fast asleep on the couch, looking so small wrapped up in that blanket, always cold. And he wonders, if J2 hadn’t been there, would he have been reminded of the thing he'd said once about Detect Thoughts. About using it when they were together. He didn't know the guy had it in him. Mentioned to him just once, shyly, like J2 was embarrassed or something, yet his expression revealed a deep resolve. It was important to him, for some stupid reason, to have this, have that moment. He’d always found J2 deeply pitiable, too caring—yet was grateful to not be the one who took the brunt of their master’s rage even as he had to be, no, got to be Porter’s right hand.

Ok. I guess I'm gonna take this all at once? This is more of a comedy ha ha than like real intent but like it was like. nowhere textually in Almost yet so Clear in my mind that while Porter was having this whole like tortured love affair with J2 he was absolutely noncommittally flirting with J3 on the side which started as a joke but also basically became the impetus for J3's whole personality. I will say i do think this is not a During Almost scene tho this flashback takes place after jace has been folded back into the plan, and like. Porter is still KINDA with J2 but its very up in the air. And this idea of. J2 having this place by Porter's side, and J3 resenting that. But also convincing himself that he lucked out by not having to deal with attachment.

(there's also something i realized that implies this makes Jace. Less special to J3 than he is to J2. Because Porter's rage is special to J3, something he seeks out, but Jace's is. Not something J3 is all that compelled by.)

Anyway. So.... I caved and included the Detect Thoughts Sex Trick in j3porter even tho i keep saying im not gonna use the Detect Thoughts Sex Trick. But I think. The point to me was like. Maybe i wanted to shake things up, i wanted to challenge myself, but maybe I also just knew the detect thoughts sex trick would be WAY to vulnerable for someone like J3.

And like. While conceptualizing this fic, I felt confident because he's a person who wants to experience EVERYTHING, so i knew he would at least want to try it once, even though he thinks its so funny and like. I jokingly refer to it as "pseudo vanilla" bc its like a way to heighten a scene and then i just end up not including any kink b/c im a coward. And like. J3 also probably would be like Haha j2 that's so vanilla. Meanwhile J2 views it at this deeply moving experience for him.

Maybe like Porter’s darling Bluejay, he wanted too much. Porter had taken his sweet time with him that night, in the dim light of the bedside table lamp, drawing out the pleasure to the point of torment—had even treated him gently, his touch imbued with reverence. And in that, in the quiet cries and soft, sacred hushed whispers and moans, just before a hand clamped over his mouth to tell him to keep the noise down, he’d caved to temptation—as usual—and casted the spell.

There's this idea of J3 being afraid to sit with himself. Afraid to sit in his own thoughts. He's always going, always moving, always seeking out the next hit. When J3 is asked to sit with himself, its torturous. And he affirms that he wants everything from Porter, all his desire and all his rage, he wants to feel everything, but J3 is constantly running away from Porter's love. Because who is it for? It's for Jace. And he's willing to take everything else that's for jace, but

J2 is desperate to capture that for himself because a just a glimmer of the full scope of Porter's love for jace is all he's keeping himself going on, but J3 is running away from it. ( "it feels so good to be Jace, so excruciating to be Jace, to fall short of Jace"). It's easy to accept the negatives and its easy to subsume yourself to sensation, but it's hard to accept love when its real. And it hurts to receive that love when you know its not really for you. Both prospects are scary, painful. So J3 denies both and convinces himself he got the luck of the draw.

I liked the idea just for the sake of some variety of J3 trying it just to know. His lack of belief in his own impulse control always becomes this self fulfilling prophecy. (And i think J2 is perturbed by his lack of control than surrenders to it, J4 tries to white knuckle grip on control and is disgusted by her impulses, but also disgusted by the strength in her conviction when it comes to control. She's fucked lol. and J3 tells himself he never had control)I think there's also a degree of jealousy as well (I mean, J2 gets to be darling Bluejay, right? J3 is the disposable one, and J2 is the precious gift. Why should j2 have something that J3 can't have?)

He remembers what he’d been doing at the time, too. Staring out the window at the splintered, charred up tree in Porter’s backyard, the one with a jagged red scar running right through the trunk, practically glowing—captivated despite trying to succumb to the feeling of Porter’s teeth sinking into his neck, disappear into every slow thrust. He’d asked about the tree once, gotten brushed off—something about a fight. The fight, he would later find out, the one that drove The Boss and the Big Guy apart. But everything else he knew, he'd picked up secondhand from J2. Left out as always.

IYWD reference! Obviously that's the reference to the fight porter and Jace had where Jace fried the pomegranate tree. I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards. There's that hades and Persephone reference, and I do think b/c of the cultural meshing of the stories some biblical connotations as well. Eating the fruit and caving to temptation. And the hades n Persephone take is about like. Choosing Porter. (what will you do when it is your turn in the field with the god?) Like. J3 is running from connection and in that moment he wants to understand porter, maybe even be doomed by him.

And the biblical connotation is like. Eating the fruit of knowledge and becoming aware, and that also being the sin that condemns you. And i think that second connotation is leaned on in the second half because it's about j3 feeling left out of something that is sacred.

And yet he pushed. Because he’s J3. He can’t help but play with fire.

MMM last line! Kind of honing in on J3's role as like. An agitator. I think default i tend to characterize him as passive and to a degree he definitely is. But also he will provoke if it gets an intense response because that is what he craves. He wants everything before he goes out. Playing with fire as this like. Experience that falls into that, its self-destructive and yet J3 careens towards destruction. There's also the connotation of fire and prometheus, like associations with the like. Beginning of humanity or civilization like the beginning of the use of tools or whatever and the thing that condemned prometheus, so again there's that connotation of being condemned by knowledge.

And of course also a lot of association with fire in the season with ankarna and rage and war and the house of sunstone etc etc.

To finish off. i knew the flashback on the Detect Thoughts Sex Trick was going in somewhere, but fought over where i wanted it to go and i think i knew it had to happen kind of early to establish what exactly j3 is running away from. I think i chose here because this is right before the scene where j3 goes "I want" and then swallows and rescinds that want, denying his own personhood. And lets be real. In that moment what he wants is dick, but i always like to like. Tie things in so. There's also a denier of the deeper thing he wants as well. And like. That's intimacy. That's history.

SO. i know this elaboration is a big. Indulgent but b/c this is the precursor to the big Detect Thoughts I Want Song. I'll add that. i caved and used the Detect Thoughts Sex Trick but i am still impressed with my restraint this time. Sometimes the discovery of what the characters Want comes through the process but because I spent so much time in Bluejay's head, and J3 was the result of a joke yet felt so like. Clear to me as an iteration on J2. Like. I did think about what J3's version of J2's like deep need for belonging and purpose is. And to me for someone who wants to cram all the high and low extremes into life and then die in an explosion is like. What they're running from like. All the mundanities of living a long life, its history, its building a future. Which is why J3 runs away from the intensity of Detect Thoughts Sex trick. It's why he insists nothing has to change. J2 was enamored with Porter the god, but J3 is too scared to ask for Porter the man.

[marionluth]

Not What We Used To Be

A tag to the episode Jack and Jill (S3E6).

Brie is taking Xanax. Brie is sleeping with Brady. Jack finds out about one of these two facts and he’s not particularly pleased with the information or the fact he missed it. Unresolved angst. One-shot based on a reddit prompt. Might continue this if anyone reads and enjoys it. Not romance-centric. Revolves around the Sheridan siblings’ relationship.

A/N: Short one-shot that leaves things unresolved. Might continue this if there’s interest. It bugs me so much that the whole xanax and alcohol issue is simply dropped like it never happened and we suddenly see Brie not taking any more again or struggling from cutting them cold turkey. Her and Jack never talking about it. His not digging for answers on what has his sister so upset and scared enough to run away.

It’s also all over the place with Brie and Jack, like their relationship isn’t really explored or given any depth. One minute Brie’s like you’re a stranger and the next they hug it out casually with Jack never really trying to figure out what’s going on.

This one-shot doesn’t explore any of the above for now. It’s just where the muse took me for the dialogue prompt. But if there’s interest I’d consider exploring all these with a few more chapters.

So, if you enjoyed this and would like to see more... Well, let me know 😃

~

Brie walked to the first-aid station, her smart outfit standing out in the sea of flannel shirts and denim. The air around her was filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked goods, mingling with the scent of pine and sawdust. Laughter and chatter surrounded her from every direction, a stark contrast to her inner turmoil.

"Oh, you came!" Mel called out with a big smile when she saw Brie approaching.

Glancing down at her outfit, Brie chuckled self-consciously, feeling slightly out of place. "Yeah! And it seems like I missed the dress code memo," she quipped.

"Well, they do sell fake beards in one of the tents, so you could always blend in," Mel teased, eliciting a genuine laugh from Brie. The idea of her donning a comically large, fake beard seemed both ridiculous and oddly tempting.

"You're sure you're up for this?" Mel asked, concern creeping in her tone, as she noticed the faint traces of weariness in Brie's eyes and the lingering paleness on her cheeks.

"Nah, I'm fine," Brie assured, mustering a smile. "Plus, I promised Jack I'd help around.”

"Well, I promised Jack I'd saw down a tree with him," Mel said with a sheepish smile, having a hard time believing she actually uttered those words.

"You must really love my brother," Brie softly chuckled, smiling warmly at the redhead.

Mel's eyes sparkled with affection as she nodded. "That, I do," she confirmed.

A comfortable silence lingered for a few minutes before Brie's stomach growled, reminding her of her hunger. "Hey, I'm starving. What's good around here?"

Mel's eyes lit up with excitement. "How about we go raid the baker tent?"

"I'm in," Brie nodded eagerly, grateful for the distraction. She waited for Mel to wear her cozy sheepskin jacket before they started walking side by side towards the mouthwatering aroma wafting from the baker tent.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Brie blurted out after a few silent seconds.

“Oh, no problem! I’m just glad I was there to help make sure you were alright!”

Brie noticed Mel’s answer was reassuring and she was thankful the woman didn’t seem to want to probe. Still feeling bad and wanting to make sure nobody was worried enough to start asking questions, she continued with what she hoped would pass as a solid excuse. “I think I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”

Mel pulled her hair out of her jacket as she turned to look at Brie with an uncomfortable expression. “Um… Brie… I saw the Xanax,” she trailed off, watching Brie’s expression shift from confident to defensive.

Shoving her hands into her coat’s pocket, Brie asked in an accusatory tone, “You went through my purse?”

Mel could read the younger woman like an open book in that minute. Until the night before, she had chalked the whole incident up to anxiety from what had happened to Jack, but now? Now she could tell there was more to this than she initially thought.

“No,” Mel immediately clarified, her voice gentle.. “No, I didn’t. You knocked it over as you passed out, and everything spilled out… Jack found the bottle and asked me what they were.”

Eyes enlarging, Brie’s gaze left Mel’s face and turned upwards, her expression growing even more worried. Great. Jack knew. Just fucking awesome. Her first instinct was to be worried about this. But then she realized Jack wasn’t the way he used to be, where she was concerned. He had grown distant and he probably wouldn’t sweat too much over this. Brie wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

“So, how much are you taking?” Mel asked conversationally.

Brie considered lying but didn’t think there was a point. She felt uncomfortable not knowing how Jack would react to any of this, but then again, he hadn’t reacted to anything or bothered to check up on her in an awful long while, so…

“Well… One isn’t enough for me, you know?”

Mel looked at her, her gaze reflecting no judgment. Just understanding. She did know. She had been there. “Have you been mixing it up with alcohol?”

At Brie’s surprised glance, Mel added, “I noticed an empty wine glass last night, and I wondered…”

Unable to hide anymore, Brie let out a sigh. “It’s just that sometimes I need them to work faster. But I know it was a mistake. Definitely won’t happen again.” Her eyes glanced at Mel, hoping that she’d believe her.

She didn’t.

Mel carefully weighed her options, understanding the delicate balance between offering support and giving Brie space. If she called Brie out in that moment, she might push her away and lose any chance of learning what was eating her to the point of self-medicating. And she had grown to care deeply for Brie, not just because she was Jack's little sister, but because she was slowly but surely becoming her friend. As the bustling crowd surrounded them, Mel searched for the right words to handle the delicate situation.

“Well, both Xanax and alcohol depress the central nervous system functions like breathing, so… you know… they can be fatal," she finally spoke, her words hanging in the air, causing Brie's expression to shift to a mix of guilt and fear.

“Yeah, ugh… I was just having a bad day, I guess,” Brie trailed lamely, not knowing what else she could say. She felt annoyed with the knot that was forming in her throat as well as the one in her stomach. Possibly fatal behaviors didn’t sit well with Jack and she knew this first hand. Yet he’d turned a blind eye too many times now. That thought instead of easing her nerves drove her even more on edge. What the hell was wrong with her? She was an adult and yet she was bitter that her older brother had finally started treating her like one?

As Mel turned her full attention to Brie, her eyes conveyed empathy and understanding, devoid of any judgment. “Look, I get it. After Jack was shot, I had some bad days," she said softly.

Brie's eyes welled up with tears, and she shook her head, feeling a sudden urge to open up to Mel. "I started taking Xanax before the shooting," she admitted quietly, surprised by her own willingness to confide in her.

Mel's concern deepened as she observed Brie's fragile state. "Oh, Brie, I'm sorry… Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Brie fought to keep her voice steady, her eyes growing distant. "I was dating a guy in Sacramento… He, uh… He was an attorney. And it ended badly. Really badly. So, I quit my job."

A million alarm bells went off in Mel's mind as she processed the information, trying to understand what could have led Brie to leave her job, her home, her whole life and run to hide in Virgin River.

"Did you work with him?" she asked gently, hoping to gain more insight into Brie's situation.

"No. But if I stayed we'd stumble upon each other. I just couldn't stomach the idea of seeing him in court," Brie responded with a nervous chuckle.

Mel nodded, recognizing that there was more to the story than Brie was revealing at that moment. And also that Brie wasn’t willing to share any more with her. "I'm so sorry, Brie. You know… You should talk to Jack; he's really worried about you."

"Oh, I don't know. We're not as close as we used to be,” Brie managed through a half-hearted smile, her uncertainty evident.

Mel understood the complexities of sibling relationships, especially with someone as guarded as Jack. "Well… Now that you're both here, maybe you could change that. I know he cares so much about you. And he looked really worried last night."

"He did?" Brie asked, trying her best to hold back tears. At Mel's nod, she took in a shaky breath. A moment of silence passed between them before Brie regained some of her usual confidence. "So, the baker's tent… Do they have cinnamon rolls? 'Cause I'd so dig some cinnamon rolls right about now…"

Mel smiled warmly. "The best you've ever tasted."

Jack’s heart was pounding as he rushed through the forest, desperately calling for Christopher. The weight of the world seemed to bear down on him, every worry and trouble crashing over him like a relentless wave. His life felt like a chaotic mess, with Mel's talk of having a baby, the Todd situation, the suspicions about Brady, his sister struggling to the point of Xanax and alcohol cocktails, and everything in between left him breathless, exhausted, and drained. Christopher going AWOL on Preach was just the final straw, pushing him to the edge. It felt like the cherry on top of a shitcake, a bitter taste of life's unfairness.

In the midst of this whirlwind of thoughts, he spotted Brie strolling in the forest.

"Hey! Have you seen Christopher?" he urgently called out to her.

“No,” Brie shook her head, her brow creasing with concern as she noticed Jack's distressed appearance.

“Please, keep an eye out, will you?”

"Sure," Brie nodded, her gaze following Jack as he walked away. But before he could go too far, she found her courage and called out, "Hey, Jack!" When his blue gaze locked with hers, she awkwardly blurted out, "I'm really sorry about last night. I'm just dealing with some stuff and..." She trailed off, unable to find the right words to explain her struggles.

Moving closer, Jack's gaze softened with genuine concern. "I just wanna help you, Brie," he said sincerely

"Thanks, but I don't need help," she responded confidently, even as her eyes told a different story.

Jack didn't back down, his worry driving him to press on. "Why are you pushing me away?" he asked, yearning for an honest answer.

"I'm not,” Brie scoffed and shook her head slightly, but her emotions were too raw to hide completely.

"Okay then, talk to me!" he urged, his head tilting to the side as he tried to understand her.

"Why do you care?" Brie retorted with a hint of disbelief.

"Why do I care?" Jack repeated incredulously. "You're my sister, Brie! That's why I care!" He couldn't bear to see her in pain, and he wanted to be there for her, no matter how difficult it might be.

As he looked into her weary eyes, his concern deepened. "Come on. Hey! Whatever's going on, I can handle it, okay? I can help you! I am here for you!"

The bitterness in Brie's mouth intensified as she heard his words, but she tried to maintain her composure.

She shrugged, simply saying, "It's personal."

"So what?" Jack responded, refusing to back down.

"So what?" She fired back. "So, Jack, before the shooting… When was the last time you called?" Her expression revealed frustration and hurt.

His heart sank with the weight of her words, but he refused to be sidetracked. "And? You're keeping me in the dark about something that has obviously upheaved your life because I didn't call enough?"

"No, Jack, not because you didn't call me enough. But because you haven't given a shit in too long. Because you've been a stranger," she confessed, tears welling up in her eyes, revealing the pain she had kept hidden for too long.

“Brie, come on! I love you!" Jack's heart clenched with anguish, desperate to bridge the growing divide between them.

"I love you, too, Jack. I just don’t know how to be around you anymore. I don’t know how to talk to you or what… what to expect from you! You haven’t cared about what’s been going on in my life for too long. Why should I believe you care now?"

With those heart-wrenching words, she turned away, storming off, leaving Jack standing there with a lost look on his face.

With a sour expression etched across her face, Brie stood atop the hill, gazing at the breathtaking landscape stretching out before her. The majestic mountains painted a scene of serene beauty, yet her mind was restless. Just then, she heard his voice calling out to her.

“Hey! What are you doing alone up here? Hiding?”

Her smile blossomed at the mere sound of his voice as she turned to watch him approach, looking handsome as ever.

“I just had a thing with Jack and needed the space,” she replied as he strolled next to her, taking a seat on the wooden bench beside her.

“Oh. You want me to leave you alone?” Brady asked, his face and tone conveying that he wouldn’t be offended if she did.

A soft smile formed on her lips as she shook her head and playfully bumped her shoulder against his. "No!"

"You okay?" Brady inquired, his eyes searching hers.

"Yeah, just… Siblings stuff," she waved it off, not wanting to burden him with the details.

Eyebrows arching, he simply nodded. “So, I was thinking about taking the bike out. Wanna go for a ride?"

Brie's interest was piqued, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Where?

"Well, there’s this cool little Italian joint in Grace Valley."

"Oh, Grace Valley… Yeah… Isn’t that like two hours away?" Brie asked with a smirk.

"Mhm. Why? Got somewhere to be?" Brady inquired, his brow creasing between his eyebrows as his eyes squinted and his lips twitched in a half-smirk that made her heart skip a beat.

Brie pondered for a moment. Yes, she had somewhere to be. She had a conversation to finish with Jack. She knew he wouldn't let this go until they figured out a way to move forward. But right now, she didn't particularly care about what Jack wanted. It felt like he hadn't cared about her wants or needs for so long. Why should she?

"Not that I can think of," she finally answered.

"Good," his smile widened, his signature dimples forming. Brie stood and followed after him, a sense of wild freedom sparking inside her. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring and, frankly, not caring, she jogged behind Brady and took the helmet he offered her. Putting it on, she mounted the bike, her heart racing in her chest as the engine roared beneath them. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she closed her eyes as the cold wind kissed the exposed parts of her face.

She couldn’t remember the last time she'd felt so free.

The end

[tobiasdrake]

Entering The Forlorn Temple.

Yeah, this place looks pretty forlorn alright. But I wouldn't necessarily say it's any more forlorn than the woods I was just in.

Oh, cool, the sun's coming out. It must be dawn.

I. Uh. I guess. That means I could have waited five minutes and not fought the Leaf Monster that only comes out during full moon nights. <.< Awkward.

There's probably a lesson in that about impulsivity but fuck if I'm gonna learn shit when I'm on a mission!

Wait wait wait, the Demon King destroyed our stronghold? We had a stronghold?

*think think think think think*

...what, Clockwork Castle? Or something else? Sorry, I was super invested in the Luana Fable and didn't pay much attention to any of the other key history lessons. As the goddess teaches, "I have better things to do with my life than pay attention to a boring-ass instructor."

No, for real, if it's Clockwork Castle, I am going to laugh so hard. You have no idea.

Because that already belonged to them in the first place.

You can't just say shit like that to a follower of Luana and expect a cautious response, my guy. What you have described is a pristine MBD (Mad Bitchin' Deed) just begging for a bold enough ninja to carry it out.

I am that ninja. I am the night. A shadow dancing around the edge of a moonbeam. A grasping hand around your back. A knife in a locked storeroom. I am.....

...wait, I think I said that wrong. Can I have a do-over?

This is it. "Oh, Ninja, you're too much of a wimp to make this jump" FUCKING WATCH ME

...what?

That's. That's not supposed to happen. I was supposed to soar like an eagle and look awesome doing it. I don't understand.

Is someone coming to let me out so that I can try again?

...

Does impulsiveness have consequences?

HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU

I mean. Hi? You look like a very nice... uh... tadpole?

That sounds horrifying. I'm sorry that you were born some sort of eldritch embodiment of terror.

Yeah, that's pretty understandable. I was. Um. Pushed. By someone very large. No idea who. He just came along and shoved me. It was super rude.

............

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ALL OF THE SHARDS ARE MINE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Bestie, you're gonna be sad you missed out on this!

...

Oh. I made myself lonely.

There we go. HEY BESTIE HOW'S THINGS?

Yeah, we're down here right now. On purpose. I did this super cool triple backflip quarter axle maneuver into a swan dive and shot straight down this huge pit. It was the best. Sorry you missed it.

How are things? Did you know I just fought a Leaf Monster? It was so cool. Didn't even touch me once. He was like "HAHA Razor Leaves!" and I was like "This ain't fuckin' Pokemon asshole SCHWAZING".

I was amazing.

._. Please validate me fighting a Leaf Monster because it was very scary and you are my only friend. Apart from the shopkeep who I might not be allowed to associate with.

Purple wizard? Purple wizard! Some sort of necromancer, I guess! Maybe Roro? I remember reading about a necromancer named Roro. I think she was a close, personal friend of Luana's.

Let's see. If that is Roro, then I believe the phrase to identify me as a friend to her is... Right! Ahem.

"HEEEEEEY BESTIE!!!"

Aaaaaaaaand undead horrors. Well, that's rude. Must not have heard me.

HEY! BESTIE! WAIT U--

Okay, in my defense, that time was an accident. But it is nice to see you again, all the same.

Please don't be jealous that I was calling the necromancer "Bestie". For you, it's a term of endearment because we're besties, but for her, it's a code phrase. It's supposed to make her realize that we're friends and stop trying to kill me.

Well, I was getting to that. But then I saw these cool catacombs and decided of my own volition, mind you that I would come check them out. It's like a side quest. Sometimes you're strolling along and you see this whole-ass dungeon and you're like, "There. I'm gonna go there."

So, yeah. Now I'm here. And I'm gonna finish out this deliberate sidequest and see if I get any cool rewards for it. How's life for you?

[visualtaehyun]

Hello~ um, hope you don't mind the bombardment of sudden notifications from me, but after reading more on your linguistic analysis posts for Love Sea (THANK YOU btw; they're really really adding to my enjoyment of the show and I didn't think I could love the show even more but here we are), it got me thinking of a question I have regarding LITA and Prapai's way of calling Sky.

Mostly I'm wondering if you had any insight about Prapai testing out different ways of addressing Sky at the end of episode 9. The subs say Prapai tests out "Sky krub" and then "nong Sky krub", but it sounds to me like Prapai is saying "khap" the at first and "khrap" the later which sounds distinct to me. Is there a difference? The way the music swells seems to indicate some other meaning, so I'm curious.

I'm also wondering at the implication of Sky asking Prapai to call him "just Sky" in episode 10? I just thought it was interesting since Prapai in ep 9 says "isn't that too curt" about calling Sky just by his name. Also wondering why this request from Sky makes Prapai go feral nearly kiss Sky?

Hope its okay to ask you like this! If its not please feel free to ignore me; I hope you've having a great day! ^w^;;

Ohhhh I hope you realize the monster you've unleashed cause this might get long 😂 Hi though first of all!! Loved reading all your tags in my notifications hehe

My usual disclaimer applies: I'm not a native Thai speaker, just a passionate learner 🙏

First things first: I'll be using screenshots from the Viki version, simply because I highly recommend re-watching the show with those subs for all who have a base level understanding of there being different levels of speech, pronouns, particles etc. in Thai. Back when LITA got re-released on Viki with weekly episodes all over again, my Thai was still in its baby shoes lol but since I was actively following the main cast at the time, I therefore followed a handful of fan translators on twitter too! One of them, midknightmoodz, still translates for BossNoeul's fandoms to this day, has been involved in several Thai BL sub teams on Viki, and got to be the translation editor for LITA's re-release on Viki. Her subs therefore give a little more insight where possible and, as a fan herself, come from a place of wanting interfans to gain a better understanding of some of the intricacies of the language used. Long story short- if the subs look unfamiliar, it's because they're the Viki ones!

If my pre-explanation already got this lengthy then... 🤡

Color-coded for ease of understanding: Prapai, Sky, Plerng, Rain, particles

Pai testing out ways to call Sky

I'll try to faithfully transcribe the way he pronounces the particles but only for this scene here because it establishes a lot of things about how Pai thinks and acts:

สกาย สกาย = Sky... Sky. ห้วนไปไหมวะ สกายคับ¹ น้องสกายค้าบ² /huaan bpai mai wa? Sky khap. Nong Sky khaap/ = Is it too curt? Sky¹. Nong Sky². มันขาดอะไรไปอย่าง น้องสกายครับ³ /man khaat a rai bpai yaang. Nong Sky khrap/ = It's missing something. Nong Sky³.

¹สกายคับ /Sky khap/ This is a pretty standard informal pronunciation of the polite particle ครับ /khrap/. Without it, he feels like he sounds too brusque, the addition of it makes him sound more polite, formal, sweet and honestly pretty flirty!

When they first meet, Pai defaults to informal พี่/น้อง /phi, nong/, since Pai is older and Sky clearly younger, and he uses typically masculine polite particle ครับ /khrap/ A Lot already. We know he's a huge flirt and sleeps around a lot so none of this is surprising to me lol

In the scene after the freshie orientation thing, the contrast to how Pai and Rain talk to each other really puts Pai's use of ครับ /khrap/ with Sky into perspective lol He does not use it with Rain, of course. If my boy wasn't such a walnut, Rain would've clocked right away that Pai is intent on pursuing Sky! Because using ครับ /khrap/ so much when addressing him, makes Pai sound flirty-sweet.

Back to the differences you correctly heard between the ways to pronounce this particle though!

²น้องสกายค้าบ /Nong Sky khaap/ The emphasis on elongating the vowel, the sweet tone of voice, the more endearing น้อง /nong/ + name? This man is laying it on thick lol In ep.10 especially, you'll hear him speak this sweetly and อ้อน /aon/-ing Sky a lot!

In the following scene at Sky's dorm, Pai actually already starts calling Sky น้องสกาย /nong Sky/:

แล้วชัดพอไหมครับ น้องสกาย /laaeo chat paaw mai khrap, nong Sky?/ ชัดพอครับ ว่าพี่ตั้งใจจะมาจีบน้องสกาย หือ /chat paaw khrap? waa phi dtang jai ja maa jeep nong Sky? heu?/ = Is it clear enough? That I intend to be pursuing you? Hm?

Crystal clear 🫠

At the beginning of ep.9, we see Pai getting feedback from his younger siblings re: just "name" vs. Nong "name" and the effect he intends it to have:

- เพลิง = Plerng. - ครับ /khrap?/ = Yes? - น้องเพลิง เรียกนี้เขินไหม /nong Plerng. riiak nee, kheern mai?/ = Nong Plerng. Does calling you that make you feel shy/fluster you? - ถ้าเป็นพี่พายก็ไม่อะ /thaa bpen phi Pai gor mai a/ = If it's you, then nah.

Many of Pai's moves are intended to make Sky shy or get his heart racing. He keeps saying so too, for example here in ep.10 after 'claiming ownership' via the wind symbol:

นี่พี่ทำขนาดนี้แล้วเนี่ย ไม่เขินบ้างเลยหรอครับ /nee phi tham kha-naat nee laaeo niia, mai kheern baang loei raaw khrap?/

³น้องสกายครับ /nong Sky khrap/ This last one is pronounced really properly and clearly, you can hear the rolled ร /r/ in there. It's giving well-mannered or gentleman, basically. This guy is really bringing his A-game, trying to prove to Sky that he's serious about him! And can you believe this utter simp? Playing dress-up, practicing in front of the mirror, testing it out again on his little brother- only to what? Go ambush his crush at his dorm to take him out for a meal during which he talks a mile a minute 😂

Sky asking to be called "just Sky"

Again giving you the entire exchange first, as faithfully as everything's being said:

- พี่พายเลิกเรียกผมว่า น้องสกาย ได้ไหม /phi Pai leerk riiak pom waa "nong Sky" dai mai?/ = Could you stop calling me "Nong Sky"? - แล้วให้เรียกว่าอะไรอะ /laaeo hai riiak waa a rai a?/ = Then what would you have me call you? - สกายก็ได้ กาย⁴เฉย ๆ ก็ได้ /Sky gor dai. gaai/Ky⁴ choei choei gor dai/ = Sky is fine. Just 'Ky⁴ is fine too. ขอแค่ไม่มีคำว่าน้องอะ ฟังแล้วตอแหล⁵ /khaaw khaae mai mee kham waa nong a. fang laaeo dtaaw-laae⁵/ = Just please not the word "nong". Sounds like bullshit.⁵ - สกาย สกายค้าบ² /Sky. Sky khaap²/ = Sky. Sky.²

⁴กาย /gaai/ or /Ky/ Sky's name is สกาย /sa-gaai/ in Thai but among his friends, they mostly all just call him กาย /Ky/ or ไอ้กาย /ai'Ky/. That's clearly too casual for our resident sweet-talker though lol

⁵ตอแหล /dtaaw-laae/ This is a bit of a rude colloquial expression akin to 'bullshit', meaning- being deceitful, pretentious, lying, insincere, duplicitous, fake etc.

It actually comes up once before in this episode when Pai swears he only had 3 hookups after he met Sky lol:

พี่สาบานเลยว่าพี่ไม่ตอแหล /phi saa-baan loei waa phi mai dtaaw-laae/

Pai doesn't always call Sky น้องสกาย /nong Sky/ before Sky asks him not to, though. And the moments he doesn't, honestly go to show that Pai's aware of how that's mostly an act to get Sky to fall for him or at least get him flustered. It does sound fake!

When Pai accidentally triggers Sky by saying "Love makes me blind" in ep.9, he pulls him back out by calling him just สกาย /Sky/:

Same again after being on the phone with Rain and rushing to Sky's dorm:

สกายอยู่ไหน /Sky yuu nai?/

And again while looking after Sky:

สกายจะคิดนะ ว่าพี่ต้องการแค่เซ็กซ์ /Sky ja khit na waa phi dtaawng gaan khaae sex/

His other fallback is the pronoun เรา /rao/, and not just with Sky. Bit of a tangent but- before the freshie orientation thing where he hands Rain that useless coffee receipt lol Pai and Rain talk a bit differently to each other.

Between these two instances, Rain becomes more chill and casual, going from constant ครับ /khrap/'s to only using it when strictly required (whenever you'd ไหว้ /wai/ 🙏 basically lol so hello/bye/thanks/etc.), and Pai goes from calling him เรา /rao/ to just เรน /Rain/. The pronoun เรา /rao/ as a 2nd pers. pronoun is used by people more senior/older to refer to someone younger, it can both be endearing as well as come across as treating someone like a little kid, depending on context.

And this little pronoun is exactly what Pai sometimes switches to, here in ep.9 with Rain for example:

พี่สัญญาว่าจะไม่ทำอะไรเพื่อนเรา /phi san-yaa waa ja mai tham a rai pheuuan rao/

And in ep.10 with Sky as well:

เมื่อคืนเราไข้สูงที่พี่เกือบพาไปโรงบาลอีกรอบแล้วนะ /meuua kheuun, rao khai suung thee phi geuuap phaa bpai rohng baan eek raawp laaeo na/ ใช่ครับ พี่อยากพาเรามาเดท /chai khrap, phi yaak phaa rao maa date/

As you can see, it mostly comes up when he gets serious. Being the eldest sibling, I guess he can never quite turn off that caretaker mode (or maybe it's his factory setting?).

Circling all the way back 🥴

²สกายค้าบ /Sky khaap/ Here he goes again: full-force puppy eyes, sweet voice, long vowel on the particle, leaning in as if to kiss him- he's trying to tease and fluster Sky again. And this time? Ohoho, the evidence is unmistakable!

I wouldn't necessarily say this request drove Pai wild lol it's more how this scene so nicely mirrors the first meal they shared in ep.9 where Pai shared all the most important info about himself against Sky's will 😂 Whereas here Sky is the one asking questions, engaging, showing interest- he's finally opening up to Pai :>

สกายของพี่ /Sky khaawng phi/

Hope my rambles made at least some sense but I'll gladly answer any follow-up questions~ Thanks for giving me an excuse to re-watch some LITA and thanks for reading ✨

[zephyrusislost]

Chapter 2. Sunset

Miss Eleanor was once a cleaner in the church. In her retirement, she still frequented her old workplace. For the amount of time that she spent alongside Father Mackenzie, they did not seem familiar with each other, and rarely exchanged words further than the Hellos and Goodbyes shared between everyone. Anyway, she has been around enough for Regulus to know her name and face, but not enough to know much else.

It was turning colder by the day, and soon, Regulus would have the additional morning task of sweeping snow from the driveway, the paths and the grave. He was not built for this manual labour. But it did take away from the energy he had to overthink everything that happened to him in his life as a wizard, and then there was the pleasant reward of seeing the pretty snowfall.

Monday mornings began the same way as every other day. Because the graveyard must open every day. And there was nobody else to open it. Duh.

Regulus sweeps away the layer of orange-brown leaves mindlessly. His mother, or rather his ex-mother, would be disgusted at the way his life now consisted only of menial tasks, completed to serve others. Sirius would think this is boring, but he thought everything was boring. And James. James, the biggest optimist in the world who the worst things have happened to. James would love this for him, Regulus thinks. Back then, they always talked of running away forever, living a peaceful, good life away from the war. Together.

Monday afternoons are slightly different from every other day, because Miss Eleanor usually comes. She brings her knitting needles and sits beside Regulus, offering a smile and no words. She usually knits until closing. Regulus doesn't know what she's working on, and doesn't really care, but it looks like some sort of cardigan for herself. He watches her, and watches the others that pass by, and overthinks himself into sadness again.

It's four thirty and he goes to the washroom before preparing for closing. It's golden hour now, but that's the kind of thing Sirius would have cared about, not him.

When he returns from locking up the office, someone has taken his place on his swinging chair, and is now loudly and enthusiastically chatting to Miss Eleanor. It's one of the guys he saw yesterday. He has his back to him, and Miss Eleanor looks both taken aback and also very pleased to talk to him. She waves him over.

"Regulus here is the keeper of this humble graveyard," She explains proudly, "and he is most kind to enjoy his peaceful presence when I visit."

Hardly a kindness, not kicking you out, Regulus thinks.

The man seems to share this sentiment because he makes an amused noise. Up close, he's taller and broader than Regulus, and when he turns to face him, Regulus' next words die in his throat.

James - well, Regulus doesn't even know if he's still called James - looks different only because they're in a different era where the dress code norms are different. But his face is still James, just like how Regulus still looks the same.

"James," Regulus whispers, and his final brain cell also short circuits and dies, leaving him quite rudely staring.

"Oh hi! Miss Eleanor was just telling me about this town, nice to meet you, Regulus. Oh er, I'm James, wait ... how did you know my name?"

And, he also sounds the same.

"Are you okay?" James waves a hand, and Regulus might melt and die right now, he doesn't know whether out of panic, longing, or fondness.

"Fine." He blinks. James is still there, looking at him with no recognition.

"Okay, um, my mate and I are here on vacation for a week, just got here two days ago. I'm a photographer and my usual model is snoring away in our hotel room," James snorts, "d'you wanna be my model? Just here, of course."

Well, Regulus could never refuse James anything.

~~

They started off with Regulus sitting cross legged on his swinging chair, then moved around beside the shrubbery and the ancient maple tree, and finally to the graves. Miss Eleanor watches them passively, and James directs her to join in for some shots. She looks like she's having the time of her life.

James is talking and laughing the whole time. Regulus is silent, and leaves Miss Eleanor to fill in the gaps of their so-called conversation. James must think this town so dull, and them both so boring.

"Beautiful. I love it here." James says.

Regulus waits for him to elaborate.

"Oh it's terribly boring, I'm afraid." Miss Eleanor shakes her head. "Meeting you is the highlight of my decade."

The highlight of my sad, lonely life, Regulus thinks.

"No! This is like your cute little corner of the world, and it's so pretty, you're pretty too, both of you." James sighs dreamily, scrolling through his camera roll.

Only my James would call a graveyard cute Regulus rolls his eyes and takes a step closer to check out the photographs.

James looks down at him over his shoulder, they're less than a feet apart. The last time they were this close, James was begging him to go, his face full of desperation and hopelessness. The seventeen or more years since then have restored him back to full merriment, but now he only looks at Regulus with curiosity and nothing deeper.

It's awfully unfair, Regulus thinks, that he gets the privilege of forgetting, while I will always be still living in the past.

He closes up late again, and once the high of seeing his soulmate again dies down, Regulus feels empty again. He's not mine anymore. He doesn't belong here, in my sad little town. And he leaves in five days, he reminds himself, just to keep his hopes down.

Regulus replays and replays the afternoon until it's locked in the safest corner of his memory. It's worth more than anything else he has.

[nagito-kissmaeda]

if it isn't real, why does the sun still burn?

Chapter masterlist

Summary : Like most people visiting this tag. You have always dreamed of meeting Nagito Komaeda for real, what you would do, what you would say? Things don’t go as planned.

AKA: Reader from our universe ends up in danganronpa and is just trying her best to keep everyone alive. and maybe to make komaeda kiss her.

Contains: she/her pronouns, negative body image ment, cringe national treasure jokes

Read on Ao3

After Komaeda leaves, it suddenly becomes incredibly clear just how uncomfortable it is to sit in the gravel. Your sundress is long enough that you are saved from a potential ‘rocks in the panties’ situation, but it’s still digging into your thighs pretty badly.

You sigh, appreciative of the cool metal of the arcade machine at your back in the otherwise very sweaty weather. It’s weird being alone out here, you’ve been stuck inside Komaeda’s cottage for what feels like an age and you are instinctively nervous about what is to come next.

“Wait.” You whisper, quickly fishing the strange envelope out from the pocket of your dress, “What even is this?”

Only the manilla envelope containing the motive photos was present in the game, or at the very least, that was the only piece of evidence found in the game. It’s highly possible that Kuzuryu found something else that never came to light during the trial. Either way, the unknown is scary and you hate that.

The quickest way to make the unknown less scary is to make it known instead. So you quickly tear open the envelope.

“Huh.” You whisper, squinting at the notecard inside. Whatever is printed on it is completely illegible, a smattering of bright red and blue ink in the shape of what might be words. The longer you look at it the more it makes your eyes hurt.

“It’s colour code.”

You yelp aloud when someone else speaks, thwacking your head backwards into the arcade machine with a clang that rattles right through to your teeth. The notecard falls from your hands as you instinctively clutch at the back of your head, “fuuuuuuck……oww…..”

The other person drops to a crouch beside you and rests a warm hand on your shoulder, “You should be more careful.” they chide.

You dismiss them with a wave of your hand, “M’fine, it just-” You blink up at him. Him being Togami, “Oh. It’s uh…it’s you .”

His brows pull together, “Were you expecting someone else?” Yes. You had been expecting Kuzuryu. Though thinking on it, it does make sense that (with him not, ya know dead ) Togami would be the first person to come and investigate the motive. Especially knowing how quickly he arranged that party after getting the anonymous letter from Komaeda. If you weren’t so blockheaded you probably would have foreseen this outcome a lot sooner.

You swallow, “Um, no. Not really.” Togami raises an eyebrow, “You weren’t expecting Komaeda-san ?” he asks, probably noticing how instantly red that accusation makes you, “I noticed that the two of you were the only ones who didn’t show up to the urgent meeting I called.”  

Damn. He’s so organised. You are not organised.

“I was um, already here?”

Togami rests his forearms on his knees. He’s surprisingly dexterous, you wouldn't be able to hold a squat for that long without falling over, “After all the effort the others went through to prove your innocence, it would be very inconvenient for you to do something suspicious now.” he gives you a long stare, “So please, a sensible excuse would be appreciated.”

The real Togami wouldn’t say please , but he still manages to make it sound like a threat, “Yes, sorry.” You start, hands fidgeting in your lap, “I came here to check on the motive, same as you. I thought maybe if I got here first I could make sure it wasn’t dangerous.” “And Komaeda-san?” Even the mention of him makes you turn pink again, “Y-yes, he followed me, but he’s gone now.” You gulp a breath and try to meet Togami’s eyes, “I was just trying to help, Togami-san. Please believe me. I can tell that you aren’t the sort of person I want to make an enemy of, and I just want to make sure no one gets hurt.”

Togami stares at you appraisingly for a moment, and you feel your heart kick into high gear. After what feels like an age, he sighs and hangs his head, “I suppose there is little reason for me not to believe you, especially after so many of my classmates came to your defence.” he looks back up at you, he seems tired, “I will be keeping an eye on you, as I will with everyone else, but I’ll trust you for now .”

You nod desperately, “Yes, th-thank you. You won’t regret it.”

Togami joins you on the ground, sitting crosslegged in the gravel, it doesn’t seem to bother him, “So. This machine that you hit your head on is key to the motive, I take it?” You wince at the reminder of your recent injury, but manage a nod anyway, “Yes. The game it uh, well in short it recounts events that occurred during everyone’s missing high school years. The events aren’t pleasant.”

Togami nods and rests his chin on his palm, “That is troubling. I won’t ask who it involves, the safest thing would be for as few of us to view the motive as possible.” He glances at you from the corner of his eye, “The notecard you were holding when I arrived. Is that part of it?” “Oh, maybe? I’m not sure, I can’t actually read it. There was something else too, but I gave it to Komaeda-san already.” You shrug, “With his whole deal no one is going to find it unless he wants them to.”

“So the two of you are working together? That explains why Komaeda-san defended you so staunchly this morning.” “O-Oh?” You ask, trying to sound coy and not at all desperate for more information, “What um…kind of…things…did he say?”

Togami eyes you suspiciously, “He spoke to your tenacity for the most part, that and his unwavering trust in you.” Unwavering. Unwavering unwavering . The word circles around and around in your head until it becomes the only sound you can hear. You know that Komaeda was likely just posturing, but even still the warmth of the word settles low in your chest and you have to bite hard on your lip to stop yourself from smiling too widely, “That’s uh…that’s good.” “More importantly. That note of yours.” Togami says, pointing to where it is nestled in amongst the gravel, “It’s colour code. You need to view it through a coloured lens.” You pick the card up again, eyes widening, “Oh! Like in National Treasure!” Togami stares at you. “You know like, when he has the glasses that change lens colour and he-” You wither under Togami’s continued stare, losing confidence instantly, “Nevermind. It’s a dumb movie.”

Togami scoffs and pulls himself from the ground, dusting any dirt from the back of his slacks with his hands, “As defacto leader, I’ve been focussing on figuring out who is behind this whole ‘killing game’ as Monokuma has been calling it.” He looks down at you, “For now I don’t believe you had anything to do with it, and since delegation is a key part of good leadership-” he gestures to the card in your hands, “-I’ll leave solving that up to you.” “Yes of course! Thank you!”

“I’ll also guard this machine for the time being, to make sure no one else uses it.” He holds his hand out to you, “And you should go back to your cottage.” You gingerly take his hand and are surprised at how easily he pulls you up from the ground. Once you are standing you duck your head in a bow, “Thank you for trusting me, Togami-san.”

He chuckles quietly, “Don’t thank me. Though maybe when we get out of this you can show me that National Treasure movie of yours.” You say, “Maybe I will.” even though you know full well that you will not be getting out of this. ***

You don’t take Togami’s advice, making a beeline for the supermarket instead of going straight back to your cottage. Much like with everything, you hadn’t really thought about what effects Togami still being alive would have on the narrative.

Narrative? Is it weird to call life a narrative?

You dismiss the existentialism with a shake of your head and keep walking, you’ve become quite good at ignoring it.

Either way, Togami being alive is a net good for multiple reasons. Mostly because he’s a swell guy and you hated seeing him go so soon in the game, but also because he is smart and good at keeping a handle on things. You had just been planning to sit in the dirt in front of the arcade machine all day, and hope that Kuzuryu didn’t try to throw hands with you when you had to stop him from playing the game.

This is just like the situation with the party all over again, and that time you managed to get yourself framed for attempted murder. You need to be more thoughtful about all this, which is hard because you aren’t smart, but in the meantime, knowing that Togami is still around takes a weight off your shoulders.

For now, you need to figure out what the mystery note says. Lacking a set of the cool glasses from the hit film National Treasure, you are going to need another way to replicate the same effect. You had for a moment considered that the movie theatre might have a supply of 3D glasses, but the second island still isn't open so that's a moot point. So the supermarket was going to be your best bet.

Your legs are already aching from that serious sprinting you did earlier in the day, so it’s hard to keep up the brisk pace, but days are only so long and the last thing you want to do is waste any time. So you are almost out of breath when you finally half stumble through the sliding doors of the supermarket.

The cool air is utter bliss after the hours you have already spent in the hot island sun, and it’s hard to resist the urge to lay face-first on the cold tiles, but somehow you manage. As in the game, the Rocketpunch Market is full of every terrible diet choice that a person between the ages of 15 - 21 is liable to make and as tempted as you are by a packet of chips nearly the size of your torso, you force yourself to be a little more productive than that.

As you browse, you stop for a moment in front of the display that holds all of the tactical gear, chewing nervously on your lower lip when you notice that the knife Komaeda took several days ago has been quietly restocked. While it makes sense for Monokuma to want the stock of knives to never run dry, the fact that someone could take one and then it would be immediately replaced is not good. There could be so many loose knives about and there’s no real way of knowing.

Before you can get even more stressed, you finally manage to spot something potentially useful on a shelf closer to the back of the supermarket. Abandoning the knife selection, you break into a grin at a small supply of powdered drink mixes. They come in a variety of tooth-rotting flavours, but you are particularly interested in blueberry and raspberry. As you grab one of each, you also pick up two clear water bottles from another nearby shelf and pack them into a plastic shopping bag.

Feeling newly invigorated, you get ready to head back into the heat, when you are suddenly frozen in place at the sound of the doors sliding open behind you.

“Yo!”

Turning on your heel, you are met with Owari’s very wide grin, “Oh. Hi.” She comes walking over to you before crossing one leg over the other and leaning one shoulder against the shelving unit. You can hear a few chocolate bars go clattering to the ground on the other side from the impact. Owari doesn’t seem to notice, “You looking for a new swimsuit too, or what?” Your brain fails to process the question, “Huh?”

Owari grabs a random packet of chips from the shelf and starts munching, “Did the shrimp not invite you? He said he did.” Your brain finally catches up, “Oh! Souda-san! The beach! Yes, sorry, I totally forgot.” Owari shrugs, “Nah I’m not mad, don’t apologise.” she shoves another handful of chips into her mouth, “Anyways, if you forgot, I guess you’re not here for a swimsuit, huh?”

“Um, no. I was just uh, grabbing some drinks.” You raise your bag up to show her.

“Tha’s cool.” She tilts her head back and pours the last crumbs of chips into her mouth, “Since you’re here though, wanna look together?”

The last thing you could ever want to do is go swimsuit shopping, even in normal circumstances, “Oh, um, I dunno, maybe I should just-”

Owari wraps a huge arm around your shoulders and tugs you up against her side, “C’mon! It’ll be fun, we’re going to look fucking hot, dude!”

Before you have a chance to squirm out of her grip, Owari drags you over to the small clothing section on the far left side of the market, “Are-Are you sure you want to do this with me? I’m sure that any of the other girls would look a lot nicer in a bikini than-” Owari mercifully releases you, standing with her hands on her hips in front of the women's swimsuit display, “S’that what this is about? Did someone say somethin’ mean about you?” she punches a fist into her open palm, “Who was it? I’ll fuckin’ deck ‘em” “Huh? Oh no! God no!” You flounder, gesturing far too wildly with your hands, “I just have self-esteem issues, no one said anything, everyone is nice, please don’t deck anyone!” “Hm.” Owari says, her shoulders softening, “Well, then I guess you gotta be nicer to yourself, but it isn't any of my business unless you want it to be. So I’ll leave it at that.” “Oh, uh, thanks?”

Her smile returns in full force, “Your welcome!” she jabs a thumb in the direction of the swimsuits, “You happy to jus’ hang out while I pick out a swimsuit, then? We can chat.” You should go, but Owari’s enthusiasm is infectious. You give her a half smile, “I mean, maybe I can…pick out something too. Anything will be more flattering than those uniform swimsuits Monomi gave everyone.”

“Right on!” Owari exclaims, quickly moving to the racks to start rifling through the options, “You do gotta get out more, you know?”

You join her, trying your best to find anything in your size, “Um, I guess so. Though I’ve kinda been on house arrest, so it’s not completely my fault.” “Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that whole thing. I told four-eyes that you seem cool though.” She grabs a bright red one-piece and holds it up against herself before shaking her head and returning it to the rack. “Wait.” You say, “You defended me? I-I don’t think we’ve even talked before.” Owari shrugs, “Don’t have to. M’not good with names and stuff, but I’ve got a nose for this sort of thing. I can smell out a good person a mile away.” She pulls out a pale pink bikini with high-waisted ruffled bottoms, “And you’re a good person, I know it.” That gets a real smile from you, “Thanks Owari-san.” She grins, “Don’t mention it. Also-” she tosses you the swimsuit she’s holding, “I’ll bet this is your size.” You catch it from the air, ready to correct her but find that she is absolutely right, “Huh. You got it in one.” “Yeah, you seem like you’re into pink stuff.” She smirks at you, “Now you gotta help me find my swimsuit.” ***

You have to stop by Komaeda’s cottage before heading back to your own so you can grab all of your stuff. He isn't there when you open the door, which is the best scenario given your nervous disposition. It doesn't take you long to grab all of your clothes, and your Switch is still sitting on the couch from earlier in the day, so you are in and out within a couple of minutes.

It’s kind of weird unlocking your own cottage for the first time in days, it still looks exactly the same as you remembered it, but it feels empty and lonely.

You shake your head and toss all of your clothes onto the bed to be dealt with later, quickly sitting on the couch and pulling out the bottles of water you grabbed from the supermarket. Uncapping both of them, you grab a packet of strawberry flavouring and tear it open with your teeth before carefully pouring it through the opening in the bottle. As the water slowly starts changing colour, you do the same with the blueberry flavouring and watch with bated breath. It only takes a few minutes before you have one bottle filled with bright blue liquid and another with red.

You heave a shaky sigh and pull the illegible notecard from your pocket, “I really hope this works.”

Grabbing the red bottle, you hold it in front of the note and almost squeal with delight when the red shapes disappear, leaving clean, legible blue letters behind.   Temporary Monobeast Deactivation

Your heart nearly skips a beat at those words. The deactivation of a Monobeast would mean access to a new island, and if that happens to be the second island this whole thing is done and dusted. Your stomach is in knots, and you try to calm your breathing. While you had expected any updates from Naegi and Co to come directly from Monomi, there must be a reason that they decided to send the message this way instead.

Holding your breath, you switch over to the blue bottle and do the same thing as before.

Five Thirty in the Evening

You half scramble, half tumble off the couch as you try to find any sort of clock in your stupid bedroom before coming to your senses and whipping your handbook out of your pocket. Fuck. It’s already quarter to.

Despite the heavy aching pain in your legs from what feels like a full day’s worth of sprinting around the island, you work up enough adrenaline to make the run to the central island for the second time. Luckily the sun isn’t as hot at this time of day, only just starting to descend down towards the horizon. Your breath heaves and chokes in your throat with each pump of your legs and every muscle in your body is burning.

But you’re going to do it, you’re going to save everything, and you are going to be worth something for once in your goddamn life.

This is what powers you forward as you finish crossing the bridge and cover the final stretch to the gate for island two, still firmly closed, but as promised, with no Monobeast in sight.

“Yes! YES!” You cry out, running towards the gate and grabbing onto the hard metal, “Now I just need to figure out how to--GUH!”

Something whips hard into your gut, sending you flying backwards onto the unforgiving gravel and skidding a few metres back on your ass. Unfortunately not avoiding a ‘rocks in the panties situation’ this time. It takes you a second to get your breath back after having it knocked clean out of you, and when you look back up, you see the Monobeast is back. “Huh, what…but it-” You are cut off by a cacophony of irritating laughter and see that Monokuma himself has mounted the beast. “You- oh my god-” he breaks down in laughter, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes, “You actually fell for it, oh my god .” Dread rises like bile in your stomach, “...what?” “Fucking hell. If you’re the only help these kids have got you might as well bury them right now to save them the trouble.” He clutches his stomach, doubling over with another bout of laughter, “There ain’t even a ceiling out here, but I bet if I told you I’d written gullible on it you’d look right up, wouldn’t’cha? Upuhpuhpuhpuh~”

You manage to drag yourself to your shaking feet, feeling hot tears of anger rolling down your cheeks, “So was this just a joke?” You yell, “A fucking prank? ” Monokuma’s laughter stops instantly, and he jumps down from the Monobeast, “Sure was! I got you great didn’t I?” “Why would you do that?” You ask desperately, whole body aching and sore, trying everything not to burst into sobs, “I mean, what do you even have to gain?” “Oh?” Monokuma tilts his head to the side, “Did you forget my whole MO, did the nasty tiger hit’cha too hard?” You sniffle, “Huh?” “Despair, obviously! Watching you run across this whole island on your sore little legs just thinking-” your own voice starts coming out of his mouth, like he had just ripped the sound files from the code, “Oh! If only I could get to the second island! Everyone would be saved, and Nagito Komaeda would finally stick his-”

“JUST SHUT UP! STOP DOING THIS TO ME!” You cry out, hands balled into fists at your sides, unable to fight back the stream of tears escaping your watery eyes.

“Aw shucks, I could never stop. It’s just so funny!”

You cover your face with your hands, openly crying now and too embarrassed to let Monokuma see how thoroughly he has hurt you. It makes sense, in retrospect, leaving that card in the arcade machine was such a convoluted method of contacting you, and Monokuma was the one who arranged the whole motive, he was the only one with access inside the machine. You might have realised if only you weren’t so stupid .

“There there.” Monokuma says, patting one of your legs with a stubby paw, “Just let it all out.” You jerk away from him, “Don’t touch me!”

“Yeah yeah, Alright. All this crying is starting to make me sad, so I’m gonna head off.” You lower your hands to glower at him. Monokuma winks.

“I’ve got one last thing for you though, just a little present for being such a good sport.”

He leaps up off the ground and thwacks you in the chest. When you look down, you realise that he has stuck the dreaded ‘I'm sorry I was born stupid’ sticker on the front of your dress. You’re so far gone that it makes you start laughing a little bit. You suppose it is pretty apt.

“Real funny.” You say

“The actual funny thing is that if you take it off I get to kill ya.”

You freeze, “What.”

“Check your handbook, I’m not kidding.” You wipe your dripping nose on the back of your hand and pull out the handbook, quickly swiping through the rules section. There’s no point checking, you know that Monokuma doesn’t lie about this sort of thing, but even still, you feel cruel irony dripping down your spine like ice water as you see the new rule: Idiots must not remove their identification stickers for at least one day after assignment

When you look back up from your handbook. Monokuma is already gone.

Great.

[therosebunpost]

Summer Vacation Regrets

—————

Steve Harrington x Disabled! Disfigured!Fem!Reader

The Summer where you finally get that major surgery, but for some reason you don’t want to hang out with Steve before it happens. (A prequel/drabble to my Regret Series)

TW: Underaged drinking, heavily discussion of surgery, self esteem issues, hospitals, mentions of a near death incident, Reader is as neutral as possible but this story is heavily influenced by my life and experiences, so there may be some incidental coding. (Please feel free to give me feed back on anyway I can make this better!)

(Not beta’d, so I apologize for grammar)

—————

Steve was looking forward to summer. He already had it mapped out. Taking a job at the pool as a lifeguard, he was determined to save up for a car by the time he was 16 years old. His parents were proud, he was proud, and you were proud. Proud enough to promise him that you’d make the trek to hang out with him at the pool as many times as your parents let you, or you could sneak away on your big, clunky three wheeled bike.

It’s why getting that call was so confusing.

“I…I can’t hang out with you at the pool anymore. At least not for a few months.”

“Months? How many??”

There was some muttering on the line that Steve couldn’t quite make out. Not that he was really focusing on it too much. Months? You wouldn’t hang out with him for months?

“Two, two months.”

He says your name, exasperated. “That’s almost the entire summer! We’ll only have a month left!”

More muttering, now he can hear the sudden pain in your voice. “Wait, it…it might be…the whole Summer, Stevie.”

“What?!”

“I just came back from my doctor. They say it’s finally time, that I’m so close to getting my prosthetic. I just need to um, do something else first. That I need to recover from. So, no pool or anything.”

That gets him to calm down, just a bit. Right, your appointment. Your surgery. “Well, alright. Then we’ll just hang out another way! You know there’s that movie coming out, maybe you can ask your mom-“

“I can’t.”

Steve blinks, once again confused. “O…kay. I’ll bring stuff over then! Or you can come over! Oh, we could hang out in my pool. Does your mom know I’m a lifeguard? I promise we’ll be super safe, and she can even stay over with you, we have the room-!”

“I don’t want you to see me!”

There was that pain in your voice again.

"Oh god Steve it's, it's so awful. They have to put this implant inside of me, and it's gonna end up looking like this growth on my face. I hate it, I hate this so fucking much." You finally break down on the phone and Steve takes a moment to gather what your saying.

Sometimes the things you went through confused him. He's known you for years at this point but your condition still didn't make a lot of sense to him. From what you've told him, it didn't make sense to your doctor's either.

"...So I can't see you at all? You really are gonna spend all summer alone?"

"We can still call." You rush to tell him, and Steve can imagine the way you strangle the phone cord in your hands. "I dont…i just don't want to be seen. But I'll call you. i'll call you everyday."

"...When is it? The..implant?"

"Next week. Im going to home school for the last weeks of school."

"Holy shit, your serious?"

"Yeah. It's…Its bad, Steve. I…I cried after they told me the plan. Right in the room with mom."

"...Will you at least come over one more time this week? At least come hang out at the pool once?"

"..I'll ask mom."

-.-.-

Your mom does say yes, and hanging out at the pool was just as fun as Steve thought it would be. Sure, you couldn't swim but you hung out with him in the guard chairs. You spent the night, and you both sneak out to hang by his pool, alone.

Steve, ever the bad influence at times, passes you the bottle of beer. "...Are you really not going to do anything? Or see anybody?"

"...I just…I think I was finally starting to accept my appearance and now this? For months? I just…I hate it so much. Its like the universe hates me."

"It's probably won't be as bad as you think, I mean-"

"It's gonna be pretty damn bad. like, it's gonna be the size of my cheek. Maybe even bigger! I'll look gross." You lean back against the warm ground.

"The doctor said they could do a skin graph but they wanted to use the skin on my face first so it matches better. But like come on, it's all my skin, the difference can't be that much! It's not like they had that issue trying to use a part of my rib as a prosthetic!"

"....Didn't you say that your body…like…sucked it back in and that's why it didn't work?"

".....Okay, fair but still! A balloon?? On my face? It's like they don't even fucking care how awful that's going to be.The stares I'll get, the grossed out faces. It's like, how do they expect me to live with that?"

Steve laid down with you, and while he didn't know a lot about what you were going on about, he knows your frustrated.

"Remember when you got that bar on your face? The metal one?"

You gave him a look. "..Yeah?"

"You lived after that. You survived."

"I was like, five."

"So? You gonna let a five year old be braver than you?"

"Oh that is not the same-"

"Okay, what about when you got that thing out of your stomach? The feeding thing-"

"My G-tube?"

"Yeah. You literally bragged about having your stomach stuff coming out of you and just living with it. We were like, ten?"

"Im still not over the fact that the doctors didn't believe me about it not closing all the way, those jackasses."

Steve says your name and you sigh. "Okay fine, but that was then and this is now. I'm older, I care more about myself."

Steve snickers and you reach over and shove at him. He makes a show of nearly falling into the pool which you scoff at.

"Last summer, you and I went out on a canoe together without a person with us. Mind you, you could have died if we tipped over. We gave the counselors a heart attack."

You laugh at the memory, the rebellion rushing through your veins. "I had you with me!"

For a moment Steve is taken aback, but he's quick to shake his head with a smile. "Obviously. But anyway, are you gonna let this get you? Are you just not gonna hang out with me because of a bunch of assholes? Do you think I'm an asshole?"

That makes you whip around to face him, aghast. "No, Steve what-"

He levels you with a long stare. "Then why do you think I'd care about it? You're my friend. I wanna spend the summer with you. Not just over the phone, which is bullshit because you hate phone calls anyway."

It's a moment like this where you ponder the real reason you don't want him to see you. The real reason that you refuse to acknowledge because it will never happen.

Only in fairy tales, or movies, or books. Things that happened to Pretty Girls, like the ones Steve talks about sometimes.

"...I'm scared." You whisper, softly. "...I'm really scared, Steve. This…this is going to change my life. I dunno if I'm ready for that." You look out at the water, which glows from the pool lights. "I've been told my whole life how this will fix things. Fix me. Getting this prosthetic, getting my trach taken out. There's gonna be a lot of benefits, yeah, but…I'm angry that I have to do this shit. I'm angry that it's something I just have to grin, and bare because there's no other fucking alternative."

Steve watches you as you talk. His eyes trained on the shape of your lips, the way the sounds are altered, the light of the pool on your face. You look…tired. More tired than anyone your age should be.

"....You know uh…worms?" He snickers a little when you furrow your eyes at him. "They go through that thing, that change thing."

"Metamorphosis."

"Yeah, metamor-whatever."

"Okay, end? Also those are caterpillars."

"Your a worm!"

"Caterpillar."

"Oh my god, shut up-"

You laugh, silent but obvious with the way your shoulders shake and you lean your head back.

"But like yeah, this is you going through your meta-thing. You're gonna be a pretty butterfly or Oh! A Swan. Yeah."

Pausing at his words, you can feel the heat creep up your cheeks. "...Pretty?" You echo, shy and just a little uncertain.

"Well duh. Really pretty." Steve insists, beaming at you. It's a brash, kinda backwards compliment but he's trying. He's really trying, and you aren't sure if you can keep shoving those fluttering feelings away.

-—————-

Those last three weeks of school pass. Steve doesn't get to see you until the first week of Summer, where he bikes all the way to your house. He had called to tell you he was coming, so he doesn't knock when he gets there.

"So, how did it go- Whoa-"

Well, you were not kidding. The implant was obvious. Very obvious, and Steve forced himself not to stare at it. Not that it mattered, since you were already crumbling away from him.

"It's awful, I know-" You gush, devastated. "Feels weird too." Your eyes are red rimmed from crying and Steve stands there awkwardly. Fuck, he was not good with crying.

"No! It's…Its not that bad. I just had a hard time picturing what it looked like when you told me." He explains, the words spilling from him. It was the truth, he really didn't know what to expect. "It's not bad, I swear on my collection of baseball cards, it's not!"

You narrow your eyes at him. "...Even the signed ones?"

"Yeah."

Your shoulders slowly relax and you rub at your eyes. You were always good at coming back from crying. Steve, well, he wishes he could bounce back that fast.

"..Wanna watch a movie?" He suggests, already heading into the living room. "Any one you want!"

-----

After that, the weeks passed and you slowly grew bored of keeping yourself locked away like some princess, or troll. You slowly started joining your mother on her errands. The implant grew and grew, but after a while you got used to it. Steve barely glanced at it anymore, instead focused on spending the summer with you, whenever you had the chance.

You do end up hanging out with him during lifeguard duties. He jokes about having you as his assistant whenever you bring him water or snacks, but you always retaliate with squirting at his hair with a water gun.

It's not all perfect. You do get stares. People sometimes avoid you, and kids your age are cruel, but Steve is there. He's getting popular, and with whatever grade school cred he has, he makes sure to use some of it to protect you.

It all shifts when the surgery finally arrives. You and Steve are sitting out by his pool again, now a month and a half older. "...I'm gonna miss you, at camp." He states, taking a sip of another beer.

"...Your still going??" You raise an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Because I like it? Besides, I'm thinking about being a counselor. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well, I…I mean I'm not gonna be there." You state, and the words sound ridiculous as soon as you let them out. Steve laughs and you shove at him. "I'm gonna miss you, sure, but I still wanna go! I need to defend my swimming record, and I already have what I'm gonna wear for theme night! Wouldn't you still go if I couldn't?"

The way he says it, it sounds like the answer should be obvious. The camp was for people like you, after all.

He says your name after a moment, confused. "...Wouldn't you?"

"...I dunno." You admit after a moment, breathing in slowly. "....It's kinda fun, but sometimes I hate the atmosphere. I hate the way the counselors talk to me at times, like I'm stupid. I don't feel like…I'm disabled enough to warrant even being there. Hanging out with you, it actually makes me enjoy it. It feels like an actual camp."

Steve doesn't say anything for a while. You watch the way his brows furrow, and the contemplative frown on his lips. "...Does that mean…last year was your last year?"

You ponder it before shaking your head. "...I want to go with you." You shrug, picking at a loose thread on your swim suit. "If you become a counselor, then I will too! Like hell am I gonna let you boss me around even more."

He laughs, loud and clear. You're jealous, and awed all at the same time. "But I will probably stop one day, I think."

Steve nods, and you wonder if the sadness in his eyes is just a trick of the light.

----

The next morning, you go in for early surgery. Steve is antsy the whole day, though he isn't sure why. You were a pro at this! He's heard countless stories about your various surgeries, so why does this one feel so…great? Monumental?

He doesn't get to come see you until the next day. He walks in, holding a bouquet of flowers and a plush of your favorite animal. He hopes he doesn't look as tired as he feels. He woke up early at 6 AM, zoning out to Twilight Zone reruns until 8, where he stumbled around to get ready to see you again. It hadn't been that long ago, but it felt like maybe you had gone three months without seeing each other.

As he makes his way over to your room, he's reminded of an episode he watched. A hospital themed one. It kind of confused him, really. The woman got surgery to be beautiful, but it failed.

Steve turns a corner, and passes a plastic surgery office where he can hear the distant sounds of a meeting.

He remembers watching the bandages being removed, and thinking he heard them wrong. The woman was beautiful. The surgery was a success and yet…the hospital staff had recoiled. He had been blown away by the revelation of what the doctors and nurses looked like, and something in the back of his mind wished you could have seen it with him.

He steps into the hospital room, his eyes landing on you. Your face isn't fully bandaged up, but there's a strip of cloth that keeps your mouth shut. You look as exhausted as he feels. Your eyes slowly open to see him, only to become slightly panicked.

"Hey." He greets, slowly walking closer and settling down in the plastic chair beside your bed. You don't say anything, you can't, but Steve does. "Y'know, I'm kinda confused." He admits, gently placing the tiny stuffed toy on your bed. “I don’t think the doctors did much.” You make a noise of confusion, gesturing at the bandage on your face. Obviously they did, what was he even getting at here?

"No, really. Like sure, the balloon thing is gone, but you look the same to me, Miss Butterfly." He admits, leaning on his arms and gazing up at you. Watching as the words slowly register. You slowly smile, eyes shining with tears before you wince and grab at your notepad.

'Stop making me smile, my face hurts like a bitch. >:('

He laughs, shaking his head and reaching over to grab the remote for the TV. "I'll ask the nurse for more drugs, maybe you'll be a little nicer to me." He grins, and flips through the channels. "But hey, there's this episode I want you to see.."

Midway through the re-runs, you fall asleep. The drugs and the pain dragging you under. Steve sits there, his hand in yours. He eyes the IV, his thumb brushing against the bandage keeping it inside. His gaze travels up your arm, and lands on your face. Your expression wasn’t exactly peaceful, but he was glad you were resting.

“I was scared this morning.” He admits, emboldened by the silence. “I know you’re like, super good at all of this, but…yeah.” He trails off, letting his eyes slowly drift closed. “You do look really pretty. In your hospital bed, or..anywhere really. You always have.”

[no-droids]

Whenever You Want

Part Fourteen of the Rough Day Series

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 11.2K

Warnings: Listen there is some dirty smut in this one yall okay like I was blushing when I wrote it, it has a very stark beginning and theres a pagebreak afterwards if you would prefer to skip over it. Smut includes oral sex (female receiving) rough sex, sensory deprivation, butt stuff (ass to mouth, anal fingering/penetration) so PLEASE LOOK OUT FOR IT PLEASE. Also there is jealous/possessive mando in this, season 1 Karga makes another appearance, and some angst/fluff towards the end

A/N: Nothing much today yoditos just love you all

***

Din said he’d meet you here.

You’re currently sitting across from Greef Karga in a cantina on Nevarro, a closed shield next to you and a blaster tucked into the back of your waistband, hidden underneath your shirt.  You’re barely even looking at him, though—your eyes are attached to the door by an invisible string, forcing your gaze back to it no matter how much it bounces around the room.

You don’t know where Din is, you haven’t seen him in hours.  But you do know that when he left, he was moving slower than you’re used to.  You don’t think anyone else would notice, but you sure did.  Not that he was obvious about it—you only picked up on very subtle hints.  Leaning up against things just a bit more than he usually does.  Taking slightly longer exiting the ramp of the Crest than his normal strides would carry him.

He didn’t say what he was going to do—just that he needed to find someone before meeting with Karga, and you accepted it.  But truthfully, you didn’t want to.  You were worried about him—still are, actually.  But for all intents and purposes, he was speaking and acting like himself, showing no real signs of exhaustion other than the smallest instances you described before, so you didn’t really have a leg to stand on.  He’s been through way worse, and you know it.  You just… find yourself worrying about him so much more than you used to, and you need to learn how to gain some control over that part of you.

The kid was still passed out from healing him and you remember Din carefully setting four pucks down in the sleeping baby’s sphere and giving his ears a gentle rub between leather fingers.  He turned back to you and told you to meet him at the cantina in three hours, but if it ended up taking him too long for any reason, to try your best to see if Karga will let you exchange on his behalf.

Admittedly, he didn’t sound too confident about it—the instructions were delivered with a tone that implied a doubtful, just-in-case scenario he wasn’t foreseeing happening.  Or maybe he just doubted the likelihood of Karga agreeing to do business with you, you’re not entirely sure.  All you know is that when he left, you were almost certain he wouldn’t be late, but you also took the time to grab the smallest blaster from his armory before heading out just in case.

Yet—here you are, three and a half hours later, eyes flicking between the door and Karga as you attempt to keep up polite conversation.  After turning down his offer of alcohol for the fifth time and still not seeing any glimpse of beskar coming to your rescue, you figure this may be as good a time as any to start the exchange.

During an extended break in the small talk, you slowly reach over to the corner of your booth and press a button on the face of the kid’s shield.  It hisses open and you completely miss the way Karga’s hand raises while three of his guards automatically reach for their hips.  The little green monster is still snoozing comfortably while you pull out the four glowing pucks Din left you and set them on the table one by one.

They scrape along the top of it as you slowly push them over to him, before sitting back in the booth and clearing your throat, flicking your eyes between Karga and his guards.  To you, nobody appears to have moved, so you muster a polite smile at him.

Karga smiles back, but makes no move to gather or inspect the offerings in front of him.

“Um…” you say after a moment, suddenly feeling your heart start to beat a little faster.  “Mando… Mando gave me permission to exchange on his behalf.”

“I believe you,” he drawls out in response, but the pucks still sit untouched in front of him as he leans back in the booth and studies you.  “Mando has always had a… let’s say, a frustrating penchant for disregarding the pillars of our code.  My apologies, young lady, but I’m afraid that I cannot accept these from you.”

Your voice comes out quieter than you’d like it to sound.  “Why not?”

“It is… unlawful,” he answers after a moment.  “Our organization operates under strict rules.”

Does it?  You blink.  No, it doesn’t.  You’re nothing to the Guild and you’ve sat next to Din quite a few times while Karga talked, listening to him drunkenly boast about return rates and out members by name.  You’re not sure why he’s barring you like this, but you’re also not self-assured enough to put practically any spine into it whatsoever.  “I’m… afraid I don’t understand.”

“I cannot legally do guild business with individuals not recognized as members in an official capacity,” he sighs, sounding grave and almost apologetic about it, but you don’t know him well enough to know if he’s a good actor or not.  “There’s nothing I can do for you besides provide you with my company, not until Mando decides to show.”

Well now that doesn’t make any sense, and you’re starting to worry that for some reason or another, he isn’t going to show.  Though it was incredibly well concealed, you’re well aware that Din was still lingering in the final recovery stages when he left the Crest earlier and all you have to go on is his word that he’d be here.  Something could’ve happened.  Something could be happening right now, you need to push.

“People pick up bounties for extra credits all the time,” you mumble, still way too fucking quiet about it.  Maker, you’re not even sure if he could hear that over the sound of the cantina.  Speak up, speak up.

“Yes, but those quarry are listed on the New Republic’s most wanted database,” Karga acknowledges diplomatically, educating more than he is arguing, before uncorking the bottle of glowing blue alcohol in front of him and beginning to pour himself another shot.  “They’re fodder.  Up for grabs—names, last known locations, and biometrics published for the entire galaxy to read.”  He tilts his head down at the four metal pucks on the table without removing his gaze from the gradually filling glass.  “Those pucks are different, they’re commissions.  Tied specifically to Guild contracts.”  Karga clunks the bottle back down again and corks it, pinning you with a stare.  “For all I know, you could’ve murdered a member of our ranks and come to collect payment for his bounties.  Can’t have that.”

Your blood suddenly turns to ice at the implication, eyes wide and your heartbeat rocketing as you look from Karga to the three guards casually stationed behind him.  “You—You think I murdered Mando?”

“No,” he says, easily and in the very same breath, before throwing the shot back and wiping his mouth with a grimace.  “Not sure I’d care too much if you did.  It’s not my rule, but I am required to follow it or risk losing my position in the Guild.”

Shit.  Shit.  What do you do?

You’re blank, left quiet and feeling increasingly unsure of how to proceed.  Karga, however, seems completely unbothered and even appears to be enjoying himself and your company.  He gives you another smile, this one a lot friendlier and more genuine than the one earlier, before setting his elbows on the table and leaning forward.

“Look, I want to help you,” he admits, keeping his tone light, “but my hands are tied.  Just relax and share a drink with me until he gets here, it’s not a problem.”

Fuck, you don’t like this, and a quick look around brings another reminder of Din’s continued absence.  Your chest feels tight, the anxiety starting to compound and make you jumpy.  It’s been too long—it’s been at least forty minutes or so of waiting by now and something just feels wrong about this.  Not having him next to you feels wrong enough on its own, but when he specifically told you he’d be here?

You clench your jaw and try to work up your nerve.  Karga is a nice guy, right?  He knows you by name, he knows who you are to Mando.  And while you never really thought about the bounty hunter’s omnipresent protection as being anything other than metaphorical, you suddenly realize that… it might be literal, too.  How much sway do you actually have here, you wonder?  You’re not stupid, you’re not going to try anything stupid, but maybe just another question won’t hurt?

“Well, um… how do you become a member, then?”  You ask him, and you watch as he leans back in the booth, raising both eyebrows at you.

“Excuse me?”  He asks, though there’s a genuine amusement in his voice.  Stunned that you’d even say the words aloud.

“I have four bodies,” you tell him shortly.  You’re still quiet about it, but his thoroughly entertained astonishment is beginning to rub you the wrong way.  You don’t want to be part of the Guild, you don’t want to be here, you’re doing this out of growing necessity.  “One of which I dragged through a blizzard on Hoth by its ankles and put into carbonite myself, so please just tell me what I have to do to get you to take them.”

“I can’t,” he repeats, shaking his head like you’re just not getting it.  “New members are only accepted if they bring in an S-level criminal from the database or if they complete a commission that was granted to them by someone of my station—neither of which apply to you.  If you cannot present me with any sort of reasonable argument for which they could, then I’m afraid this is not a favor I can swing.”

“I was sitting right here,” you return, suddenly finding your voice.  If Karga wants an argument from you to get this to happen, then you’ll do it.  You just need to finish this exchange, go back to the Crest, and scan around for Din’s signal.  “When you first gave the pucks to Mando, I sat right here and you pushed them over to this side of the table—I was present for the commission and now I’m here to complete it.”

He shakes his head.  “But I didn’t give them to you, I gave them to Mando—”

“Yes, but you only wanted to give him three,” you immediately point out.  “The last one, the one I told you I put into carbonite—you said you threw it in because you liked me, it could’ve been for me.”

Karga suddenly stops and blinks at you for a few seconds, and you bite your lip, wondering if the logic will hold.  It’s flimsy as fuck and you know he could very easily rip it apart if he wanted to.  It could’ve been for you but it wasn’t, he gave it to Mando.  You also purposefully leave out the fact that you’re also the reason Mando only gave him three bodies in the first place; your only goal here is to complete this transaction as quickly as possible and leave.  You don’t like the fact that it’s taking Din so long, and you also don’t like the fact that Karga seems so keen on keeping you here with him, no matter how many reassurances he provides.  He said he wants to help you?  This can be his chance to prove it.

After a few extended moments of consideration, Karga finally shrugs like he really couldn’t care less before reaching across the table for the pucks and beginning to stack them in his palm.

“What is your last name?”  He asks, turning behind him to gesture for one of his men with a jerk of his head.  The bodyguard exits the cantina without another word and your eyes flick back to Karga’s.

“Why does it matter?”  You ask uncertainly, watching another guard approach with a holopad as he shrugs once more.

“It doesn’t, but we need something for our records,” Karga explains, grabbing the device as it’s tapped against his shoulder without removing his gaze from yours.  “I can just use Doe if you don’t feel like sharing—most of our members tend to prefer anonymity, including your companion.”

Your eyebrows furrow even as your heart continues to pound, wondering how they can afford to be so lax about some things but take others so seriously.  “You have him down as John Doe?”

“First name Man,” Karga grunts in response, finally breaking eye contact to begin navigating through pages on the holopad.

“Ah,” you say shortly, knowing you’d probably find the joke funny in other circumstances.  You’re not out of the trenches yet, you still feel the worry tugging hard at your chest.

“Very well,” Karga announces with a sigh, pocketing the pucks in his leather overcoat and then handing the holopad back to one of the men flanking him after a moment.  “Someone is collecting the carbonite plaques from your vessel as we speak.”

You give him a nod, taking a deep breath that you hope is slow and subtle enough to not give your anxiety away.  He helped you out, you’re halfway through this.  Now comes the exchange.  Now it’s his turn to give you the credits and four more pucks, that’s how this should go.

Only, Karga leans back in his seat and cocks his head at you.  “Unfortunately, I believe we have found ourselves in the midst of yet another predicament.”

Your heart continues to slam, praying you haven’t somehow majorly fucked things up by getting this far.  Din still isn’t here, why is he so fucking late?  He nearly froze to death and you handled a dead body just to make this meeting on time, where the fuck is he?

You raise an eyebrow at him, willing the building panic not to show on your face.  “Have we?”

“You’re lucky credits are attached to commissions instead of rank within the Guild,” he prefaces, pulling out a large handful of them to begin counting, and your eyes flick around the cantina while you know he isn’t looking, “or else you’d be getting about half of what I’d normally give him.”

Heart galloping when you still don’t see any sign of him, you just decide to keep extra quiet as you watch Karga divvy out a sizable stack of credits, hoping your prolonged silence will protect you somehow.

“The question now becomes…” he lifts an eyebrow at you while sliding them across the table to you, “how many pucks do I give you in return, hm?”

Fuck, you don’t like this, you’re trying to make it crystal fucking clear that your intentions do not extend beyond the perimeter of this table.  There’s no you to be found in this deal, you’re just an emergency proxy in Din’s absence and you only inserted yourself in the situation to accomplish that task.  “I told you I’m only here to exchange on Mando’s behalf, that’s it.”

“Be that as it may…”  Karga glances around the cantina like he’s thinking extra hard about it.  This is a made-up problem, you both know there’s no predicament here.  He knows you didn’t kill Mando, he knows there’s no real reason to be giving you such a hard time about this, and you clench your jaw as he still seems to take his time considering it.  “Tell you what, young lady,” he finally turns back to you.  “Do me the honor of sharing one sip of this fine spotchka with me and I’ll give you four pucks to pass along to Mando.”

Okay.  Okay, you can do that, if he really cares that much.  Karga gestures for the closest droid to come by with a glass for you, but you just grab the bottle in front of him and uncork it without thinking too much, balancing the glowing blue liquid with two hands and diligently taking a small sip of it before setting it down again.  Appearing satisfied with your demonstration of upholding your end of the bargain, Karga grins and reaches into another pocket.

“Four for Mando,” he pushes four pucks across the table, “same rate and return as last time, as promised.”  You nearly deflate in relief as you quickly gather them up and begin dropping them into the snoozing baby’s shield along with the credits, but then Karga reaches back and pulls out another puck, pushing it over to you.  “And one for you.”

You blink at him, frozen in place.

“Lowest level, lowest pay.  Not even a criminal by New Republic standards, just a missing person,” he goes on to say, but then quite suddenly… 

Quite suddenly you’re absolutely fucking horrified.

You don’t want it.  Everything inside you surges up to scream that you do not want that puck.  It’s a waste of time, even if it’s an extra job—it’s too much trouble, too much fuel for such a small reward.  You already know good and well that Din won’t want to bother, getting this extra puck would be considered a detriment to him.

“What if I don’t want it?”  You ask, sounding nervous and vaguely out of breath as you look down at it.

Karga scoffs.  “Of course you don’t.  Nobody wants these, why do you think I’m trying so hard to pawn one off on you?”

Shit.  This is not at all how you expected any of this would go.  You know he’s not really asking, even if his tone and continued courtesy implies it’s only a request.  There’s an expectation attached to this, and it appears you take too long pondering an offer that isn’t actually voluntary.  Karga stares at you and your clear apprehension for just a few seconds more, before finally giving you an ultimatum.  “You said you’re here on his behalf.  You either take all five pucks now or Mando only gets three next time, your choice.”

Oh.  Oh, no.  This is a lose-lose; three pucks means more fuel and less credits, five pucks means more fuel and less credits.  It’s not like you have any real bargaining power here—almost everything he’s done for you today has been a favor of some sort and you’re well aware that things can always get worse.

Still, you take a deep breath and try your best to throw around whatever weight you have left in one final agreement.

“Give me your word you’ll go back to giving him four from now on, no more hassling or hard time constraints and we’ll take it just this once,” you tell him, trying to conjure and put power behind your words even though you’re unsure if they’ll stick.

“Deal,” Karga readily agrees with a smile, reaching his hand across the table.  You have no choice but to meet him in the middle and clasp it, unable to feel anywhere close to good about your performance here.  It was clunky and insecure and even though you just barely succeeded in making the exchange overall, you’re massively disappointed in the specifics.

But then Karga’s eyes quickly flick over your shoulder.

“Ah, Mando!”  He suddenly calls out, and your hand nearly snatches away from his while your body goes rigid.

Oh, this isn’t good, this is not good.  Well, it’s good that he’s here but it also really fucking isn’t.  You don’t even turn your head; you sit completely straight and still while the cantina falls to a hush and heavy footsteps begin to approach behind you.  You fucked up—you fucked up, you didn’t wait long enough and you feel the sharp regret instantly twist in your stomach.  He said he’d be here, why didn’t you trust him?  Your anxiety and stress compounded and spurned you to act too quickly, you made the deal a few fucking seconds before he showed up.

And, as Din eventually comes into your peripheral, taking his time leaning his rifle up against the table, you immediately realize that you should not have worried.  Recovery isn’t even a word in his vocabulary right now—he’s more intimidating than he’s ever been, more powerful and certain and dangerous while he lowers himself into the seat next to you than he’s ever felt to you before.  Everything is so quiet now that he’s here; you feel like even just swallowing against the sudden dryness in your throat turns into an audible gulp.  The man sitting across from you may own this cantina and every material good under its roof, but the one sitting by your side feels like he steals the literal air from the room just by walking inside it.

Yet, in spite of the daunting presence of the Mandalorian, Karga beams and tips his glass at him.  “I believe you’ve arrived just in time for your favorite part of the conversation, friend.  The farewells.”

You stare wide-eyed down at the table as Din leans back into the booth and very slowly extends his arm behind your shoulders, saying nothing at all to him.

The testosterone is radiating from him to the point of near suffocation, you can taste the alpha in the air.  Your heart slams in your chest at the unspoken claim he just made with a subtle movement, and though you’ve never been one for masculine displays, this one weirdly feels… good right now.  You know it’s primitive and crude and you’re not a piece of meat to be fought over, but it doesn’t feel like that at all.  It’s the immediate feeling of security that serves to heat your cheeks, the fact that you’ve been a nervous mess trying to be extra brave this whole interaction and then suddenly you have the backup of an entire army contained within one single suit of armor next to you.

If you weren’t internally panicking at how badly you screwed this shit up, you’d probably be going fucking feral for him right now.

Karga says your name and your gaze snaps to his, feeling like you can’t breathe.  “My associate has collected the plaques, nothing keeps you here any longer.  It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

Still, nobody at the table moves.

After a moment, you carefully glance up and to the side at the sharp, metallic profile of his helmet.  Maker, you can’t explain it—it’s like you feel terrified but not really for yourself, if that makes sense.  You’re upset with yourself for not having enough trust in his word, absolutely, but something in Din’s demeanor tells you that he’s going to be considerably less understanding of how Karga handled this situation than the way you did.

The helmet slowly turns down to look at you, and you bite your lip while carefully placing your hand on his thigh brace under the table, letting him feel your fingers brush against the bend of his knee.

He turns back to Karga after a few seconds, still not saying a single word, until eventually Din’s arm is lifted from behind your shoulders and you feel his leather fingers gently clasp your hand, before he starts to rise from the booth and pull you along next to him.  You both stand, and he silently presses a button on his vambrace without dropping your grip, urging the kid’s shield to follow along behind him.

“Um, goodbye,” you just barely remember to tell Karga as Din begins leading you away, apparently not waiting for the polite farewells he arrived in time for.

“Wait!”  A voice calls out just before you can make your exit, and Din pauses just in time for Karga to extend that damned fifth puck out for you to grab.  Right in fucking front of him.  “Can’t forget this!”

Fuck.  Great.  Thanks.

Blood rushes to your face while you go to reach for it, taking the puck and then placing it in the open shield along with four others in a way that you hope is casual but you know isn’t.  You close the lid on it and then squeeze Din’s hand slightly, but he stays rooted to the spot for a few more seconds, having watched the entire exchange play out.  Though you obviously wouldn’t be able to read his facial expressions even if you could lift your head to look up at him, you can’t will yourself to do so right now.  You’re too disappointed in yourself and nervous—you just stand there silently as he looks back at Karga, staring at your feet and praying he doesn’t do anything brash.

After too many moments of uncertainty, you squeeze his hand again and slowly begin to pull on it.  Without needing much pressure at all, he goes where you go, and you end up being the one to lead Din out of the cantina by the hand still tangled with yours.

*** 

The walk back to the Crest lasts an eternity.

Neither one of you say anything at all to each other the entire way there, and you know he’s not mad at you yet, but you’re worried.  You feel incredibly self-critical right now and it’s really not helping that he seems even quieter and more wound up than usual.  You don’t know if it’s because he already figured out that you just handed him extra work or if it’s because whatever made him late to the cantina also altered his mood, hit a reset button and reminded him of the way he used to be, the armor he’s wearing.  Was there a confrontation, you wonder?  Is he okay?  He seems like he’s… extra Mandalorian right now, there’s not really a better way to describe it.

He doesn’t drop your hand, though.  As you pass through the markets and shanty huts lining the streets, Din holds onto you.  Shoulders tense and strides heavy, but his fingers stay tangled in yours.

Regardless, you keep your mouth shut and eventually the Crest comes into view.  The ramp drops to the ground and the three of you make your way up, and you have enough foresight to carefully drop Din’s hand and lead the baby’s shield over to the unused cot built into the hull walls, closing him in a safe quiet place to sleep and continue building up his strength again.

You turn around to see Din press another button on his vambrace.  He stays with his back to you as the ramp slowly closes, but as soon as it latches up against the hull and locks into place, he nearly whips around and suddenly he’s right in front of you, gloves cupping your face.

“What happened?”  He asks sharply, the helmet looking you up and down.  “Are you alright?  Why did you look so scared?”

You reach up to rest your hands on his, blinking up at him and not knowing what to say.  How are you going to tell him?  He’s gotta waste extra fuel and time on a bullshit quarry because of you, what are you going to say?  You don’t even know if it’s last known location is nearby; he might have to fly to some remote, desolate corner of the galaxy just for a handful of credits because you couldn’t wait a fucking hour for him.

“I, uh…  I-I’m sorry, I just…”  But it’s nearly impossible to form a coherent thought when he’s this close to you and sounding fucking sincere, genuinely concerned about you while you’re stuck worrying about how to break the bad news to him.  “Oh, stars, um…”

“Did Karga fuck with you?”  He asks in that same sharp tone when you don’t finish your thought, but you’re so absorbed in your own conflict that you barely even hear him.  “Because I can go back right now, the cantina is just—”

“Okay wait, please—” You suddenly speak up, “before I tell you, just… please keep in mind that I did save your life two days ago, so…”

“Sweet girl,” Din rumbles slowly, a subtle warning for you to hurry up and spit it out.  His fingers tighten just slightly on your cheeks, still so gentle but needing you to communicate with him right now.

Tell him, you just need to tell him.  If he gets mad, then he gets mad, but at least he’ll know at that point and you won’t just be springing it on him out of nowhere.

“I fucked up,” you breathe out, eyebrows pulling up in the middle as you tighten your own grip on his hands.  “I’m so sorry, I fucked up and you were late and I got nervous and I didn’t wait long enough and I tried to make the exchange like you asked me to but then I had to take a fifth puck and I didn’t want to but Karga threatened to short change you next time around unless I agreed to take an extra one for the lowest pay just this once and I didn’t have any bargaining power and you showed up right after I agreed to the deal and I’m so so sorry—”

You cut yourself off with your own ragged gasp, not having paused once to breathe throughout the entire thing while your expression twisted up with regret more and more the longer he allowed you to speak.

Din stands there in front of you and doesn’t move, hands still attached to your face.

“Okay,” he eventually tells you.  Stunted words, like he’s trying extra hard to find them when yours just fell out of your mouth in a complete mess.  “It’s okay.  You did… good.”

The silence is tense and you’re becoming more and more anxious the longer he takes to speak.  He’s lying for your benefit, he must be.  When he drops his hands from your face and takes a full step back, you take the gesture as symbolic and nearly launch into panic.

“Maker, I’m so sorry I didn’t wait for—”  You start to say, but Din cuts you off.

“Did he make you…”  His back suddenly goes a little straighter, voice finding a quiet edge through the modulator as his fingers subtly twitch at his sides, “…Uncomfortable?”

You pull back at the sudden change in subject and furrow your eyebrows.

“Who, Karga?”  You have to think about it.  Did he make you uncomfortable, or were you just uncomfortable already?  You might’ve just been scared because you were making it scarier than it really was, you can admit that’s a valid possibility.  “Um… no?  I don’t know, not… not really, I don’t think.”

“No?”  He asks, taking a small step forward.  “You don’t know?  Or not really… you don’t think?”

You know you can only see the blade of his visor, but something makes you feel like you’re looking right in his eyes.  You even go back and forth between where you’re pretty confident each one is, trying to read his intentions right now.  It’s like he’s purposefully trying to keep space between you even though he looks like he wants to move closer, fisting his hands at his sides when he looks like he wants to touch you.

“No, he just… lowballed me towards the end of it and I got intimidated, but I’m also not…”  Your expression narrows in concentration while you try to find the words to explain yourself, wanting to be as honest as possible with him.  “I don’t know, I’m not like you.  I’m not that strong, but I’m trying to get better.  I think he was probably just being normal.  He did offer me alcohol a bunch, but I’m pretty sure he also did that last time, so—”

“And I didn’t like it the last time he did it,” Din says quietly, taking another small step forward.

You blink up at him, completely dumb.  This is what’s bothering him?  Is he really not upset with you at all for giving him more work?  It’s like the major fuckup on your behalf just went in one side of the helmet and out the other, he barely even acknowledged it other than the role Karga played.  He said it’s okay and you did good, which are like… five of the most common words in Galactic Basic, a Wookiee could probably find a way to say them.  How are you supposed to take that?  Were you just overthinking this whole thing from the very beginning?  You know anxiety tends to be irrational by definition, but has none of your panic from the past hour been justified whatsoever?

“Why were you so late?”  You ask him, but it’s not accusatory in the slightest.  It’s… concerned, worried about his well-being without having a real reason.  He’s clearly more than fine right now, he’s like a hurricane enclosed in metal and holding still in front of you.  Too much potential energy just waiting for a reason to be released, too much tension held tight and ready to snap.

“I’m sorry.”  He quickly reaches out to grab your hand and squeeze it, before dropping it just as quickly.  Fucking lightning quick, you’ll never understand how he can be so damn quick with all that extra weight strapped to him.  “It took longer than I thought it would and she’s not really someone you can rush.”  His response, ironically, feels very rushed, like he’s trying to address the tangent but also keep things on track, but something in the answer he gives catches your direct attention.  “Did he flirt with you?”

“Who is she and what can’t be rushed?”  You blurt at the same time, not even taking a split second to think about it.

Din stops short at the blunt question, staring at you in a silence that feels like it’s vaguely taken aback.

After a few moments of that… strangeness, of the two of you realizing that you’re both feeling slightly possessive over each other for absolutely no reason whatsoever, you start to feel… warm.  In another weirdly stupid, primitive way.  You know that letting those kinds of thoughts have their day in a relationship isn’t a good thing, but you can’t explain it.  Some deep-seated, prehistoric instinct inside you just goes fucking nuts whenever he gets in either provider or protector mode.  Now you understand exactly why he wanted to get you alone after you admitted to being jealous once before.  You totally fucking get it, you’re right there with him right now.  He hasn’t said anything, but you think he feels it, too.

“She makes things,” Din finally answers you, careful with his words and somehow managing to address your question while also sidestepping it, leaving you with only the smallest bit of information to go off of.  “Did he flirt with you?”

“I don’t know,” you tell him honestly.  “Maybe.  He could’ve just been trying to be friendly.  What did she make for you?”

“She made it for you,” he responds, again not really answering the question but continuing to juggle two separate conversations for your benefit.  “Did he scare you?”

“For me?”  You ask, eyebrows shooting upwards.  Provider, that stupid cavewoman DNA whispers to your lower body, making your voice go a little breathless.  “You asked her to make something for me?”

“Did he scare you?”  Din repeats sternly, grabbing your hand and giving it a firm squeeze.  “Because I can go back, I swear—”

Protector, it whispers this time, and your knees nearly buckle.

“Everything is scary when I don’t know where you are,” you admit to him, knowing it’s the truth regardless of how self-deprecating it sounds.  The only times you’ve ever truly been brave was because of him or the kid.  Stabbing a Corellian and then immediately flying the Crest out to him afterwards, walking through a pitch black forest believing a dangerous criminal was hiding in it, dragging a dead body through snow and shoving it into carbonite, standing up for yourself and pushing a deal through when odds were stacked against you.  Though it’s nothing to him, it’s nothing, it’s leaps for you.  You’re slowly learning to find a backbone, and he’s the one inspiring it.

Din holds there for a moment, unmoving with his hand still clutching yours.  You can’t get a read on him but you know how you feel right now.  Achy.  Hot.  Needy.  Wanting him to come closer.

“Will you do something for me?”  He asks you after a prolonged silence.  His voice is quiet, but… incredibly restrained.  Controlled chaos—his body is rigid and he’s flexing muscles that aren’t necessary for just standing, feeling like a sprinter holding still on the starting blocks.

“Of course,” you breathe out.

Din lets go of your hand and tilts his helmet over at the corner of the hull behind you.  “Go turn around and face that wall.”

You freeze, immediately recognizing the undertone in his voice.  Heat ladles deep into the pit of your tummy, sends warmth pooling downwards.  He wants to do this here?  Right now?

“We’re—” you look around the enclosed hull, “Mando, we’re not in hyperspace, we haven’t even left the surface yet…”

He looks around too, taking a second to blankly take in his stagnant surroundings like he had absolutely fucking no idea, before turning back to you and not saying a word.  Maker, everything below your waist is already stirring, twisting hot and deep inside, but you’re trying to be the voice of reason for a second.

“What if somebody hears us?”  You whisper, and Din cocks his head to the other side.

“I can help you stay quiet,” he murmurs, and… fuck.  You don’t know what it means, but you immediately imagine his hand held tight over your mouth while he takes some of this stress out on you and you already feel yourself wilting at the thought.  Okay.

“Okay,” you breathe without needing anything else at all, before spinning around and standing exactly where he told you to.  It’s just a corner near the back of the hull, nothing else here to look at besides two metal panels meeting at a right angle, but that’s admittedly what makes your heart start beating quicker.  You can’t see him come up behind you but you can feel it.  Slow, measured, but so restrained.

But then he stops almost immediately, before the back of your shirt is suddenly being yanked upwards and you remember at the very last second.

Din carefully grips his blaster and then eases it out of your waistband, the metal sliding warm along your skin from pressing against it for so long.  You never told him you took it with you, and he’s so fucking quiet behind you.  You have no idea how he’s reacting to that piece of information you originally didn’t think twice about.

“Do you like carrying my gun around?”  Din’s voice murmurs soft through the modulator to you, but then the blaster is tossed uselessly to the side, skittering loudly across the floor of the hull.

“Yes,” you reply, beginning to shyly turn your head back to look at him, hoping to gauge his response.

“Don’t turn around,” he quickly interrupts you, pushing your shoulder back into position and keeping you facing the corner.  You blink at the metal walls in a bit of a daze but follow instructions regardless, feeling your heart pound at the sudden display of dominance from him.  He has a very valid reason for it and you don’t realize what it is until a few seconds later, but even if he didn’t and he was just telling you what to do for the fun of it… you’d still like it.

But then his helmet is carefully being lowered over your head and you shudder as your vision is replaced with a familiar black abyss.  Fuck, his helmet, why does he like it so much when you wear this?  Admittedly, you don’t have much time to contemplate—as soon as it’s fitted and secure, he spins you around and you have to just do your best to maintain your balance, not having any visual to help.

“Can you hear me?”  Din asks, and your clothes start to be ripped off of you.  Your shoulders tip sideways with how quick he is about it, feeling him pull the fabric off and hearing the soft sound it makes landing on the floor.

“Yes,” you tell him, but he doesn’t respond, continuing to strip you completely naked in the hull.  Once your upper body is bare and he’s yanking your pants and underwear down your legs, you try saying it again as you step out of them, louder for him this time.

“I can’t hear you,” his voice grunts after a moment.  You know he’s in front of you but you can’t really tell where, now that he’s not touching you.  “Scream.”

You take a second, not having hard evidence anymore but still very well aware that you’re parked close to a marketplace on Nevarro and multiple people are nearby while you’re wearing his helmet.  This is dangerous for him, and not sure if you should, but then an arm is wrapping around your back and a large leather palm rests directly over your chest.  Din repeats his last word very slowly and clearly for you, waiting to feel it under his hands.

Your sternum lifts while it rises with your deep breath and then collapses as you diligently yell as loud as you can into the helmet, feeling like you might deafen yourself with the trapped sound.

“Good,” he growls, suddenly spinning you around and pushing you back into the metal paneling.  “I can’t hear you, be as loud as you need.  Hit me or something, put up a fight if you want me to stop, alright?”

Arousal rockets through you and you let out a moan already, taking advantage of the noise suppression and beyond turned on at this point.  You feel like you’re buzzing with it, lit up with excitement and wondering with bated breath what he’s planning to do to you.

“Alright?”  Comes his voice from behind you once more, and you quickly jerk the heavy helmet in a nod for him.  You can put up a fight and you know he’ll stop, you don’t have any problem with that and the fact that he specifically made sure to wait until he knew you understood him makes you start to pant inside the hollow beskar.

But then you feel him flick a small switch at the base of the helmet and then everything abruptly cuts out and goes dead silent.

Nothing.  Nothing.  You’re standing in a pitch black room where no other sound exists besides your own labored breathing.  Just like the waterfall on Naboo, but you can’t speak this time.  Temporarily making you blind, deaf, and putting a proverbial gag over your mouth all with one powerful piece of armor.

You shudder and he kicks your legs apart before you can do much else, yanking your hips back while you just try your best to cling to the wall for stability.  You don’t know what he’s going to do, you’re completely isolated in here and the only way you can even tell he dropped to his knees is the hot glide of his tongue through your pussy from behind.

Oh fuck—you arch into position as best you can while hands wrap around your ankles to pull them apart, trying to make the angle better.  His tongue licks softly over your clit and each time is like an electric shock jolting through your body, making you twitch back and up for him, stretching and begging him to do it again.  You can’t see anything right now so your mind readily imagines the visuals instead, providing you with a third party view.  Din, fully clothed and face shielded by your thighs, eating you out from behind while you brace yourself against the wall, completely naked and at his mercy, head tilted down from the weight of his helmet and living for the moments he decides to drag his tongue across your clit.

Without warning, a sudden burst of sensation ripples along your backside and causes you to lift the beskar in surprise, but without being able to hear anything, it takes you a second to figure out that he just smacked your ass.  The realization comes more or less at the exact time he decides to flatten his tongue and follow the curve of you back and up.

You gasp into the pitch black and there’s a moment where you just hold utterly still for him, experiencing and processing the sensation for the very first time.  His mouth is soft and warm as he tastes you here, his fingers digging into the swell of your cheeks to spread you open.  You’re glad your face is hidden so he can’t see the shock in your expression, the way your mouth drops and your eyes close as you let him explore you this way.

His gloved hands leave you for just a moment while he continues gliding his tongue against you, along every single bit of skin he can reach, and then you feel a bare hand reach up between your legs and begin to rub slow circles around your clit.  His other arm pushes against your lower back and you’re forced into the corner even more, your naked breasts pressing hard against cool metal and feeling his hot mouth and strong fingers work you closer to the edge from behind.

You’re panting into the helmet, your hips arching back to feel that stimulation on your clit better, and as his fingers move over it slow and strong, you feel a soft vibration against your skin and you realize he’s moaning into you.  The knowledge sparks a different kind of heat through you and makes you suddenly go still and tense right here.  If he stays just like this for even just a few more seconds, you’re going to cum.

“Din, I’m gonna cum,” your voice warbles inside the enclosed steel—just as his touch decides to abandon your body.  You groan loudly in distress, completely alone without his hands or mouth on you anymore, but all he likely hears is the silence of the hull and the way your palm smacks against the wall with it.  You were so close, everything feels like it’s pulled up so tight and painful and it hurts—

A hand clutches your hip and then a thick cock is suddenly pushing up against your soaking wet entrance, going to alleviate that twisting discomfort.  Your eyes roll back and your whole body goes limp as he slowly eases forward and breaks you open, fitting himself deep inside where you love to feel him most.  Your hands claw down the walls with a swell of bliss as he pulls out and then starts thrusting—and fuck, you love this.  You love the way he’s trapping you up against the corner and making you see stars at the same time, the way he’s supporting your weight but crushing down into you, too.  It makes you go boneless and want to riot simultaneously, groaning loud into the quiet abyss as he gives you what you both desperately needed.

One of his hands sinks down between your legs to play with your clit again, while a slick finger presses up against your ass and you gasp as he slowly penetrates you there, too.  Din’s hips work steady and powerful behind you, pushing you into the wall with every desperate thrust, using the arm shoved between your legs to support you as well as stimulate, and you just feel yourself move into a different place.  You don’t have a name for it but it feels like hyperspace.  Silence so loud it feels suppressing, faster than anything light can touch, nowhere and everywhere, hurtling towards something you can’t see but know lies in the distance.  You can tell he’s still fucking the tension out of his body, you can feel him working another wet finger inside you and stretching the virgin muscles back there, but every sensation begins to slowly blur together in a wicked uprising of ecstasy.

You don’t know where you are anymore, just that his fingers keep rubbing your clit and you think he's trying to ease a third into you when your destination abruptly arrives.

You nearly collapse when you cum, contracting so hard around his cock and fingers that you cry out unexpectedly—and because of the helmet, you think it’s just as unexpected for him.  He stops moving—everything stops moving besides you.  Your hips stutter backwards into his stationary body, dragging your clit back and forth against the tips of his unmoving fingers and fucking him as best you can.  It shatters white hot and goes straight through to your soul, wringing pleasure and wetness between your legs in waves.

Your knees are knocking against each other when Din pulls out, his cock still deliciously hard and now soaking wet with your cum, and then they just suddenly decide to give up without warning.  You don’t fall necessarily, but you do slowly slide down the wall like a slug and Din follows you to the floor instead of holding you up any longer.  His sternum moves quick and heavy against your back as he breathes and then suddenly the same switch at the base of his helmet is flicked, and sound bursts into existence all at once.

He’s panting.  Harsh breaths behind you that match the rapid pace of his chest, and the ambient noise of the rest of the hull.

“Can you hear me?”  He gasps, sounding fucking wrecked, and you nod the helmet against the wall while gravity and exhaustion and his beskar chestplate squishes you into it.  “P-Put up a fight if you want me t-to stop, p-please—” he rasps out, almost the entire thing air and so close to cumming, and then his knees lift just slightly and the blunt head of his cock presses against your other entrance.

And, if you wanted, you absolutely could.  He’s got you boxed into the corner but he’s not constricting your movements, he’s given you every ability to struggle.  You could easily throw an elbow back against his side, push against the wall to shove him away, smack at his arms or even just flail against his body in panic—you could do one or all of those things to signal him to stop and you know he’d do it immediately, he’s asking you to.  You could struggle.  If you wanted.

Instead, you just grab hold of the beskar strapped to his thigh and drop the helmet to your chest, nearly vibrating with the thrill and preparing yourself for it.  You know he’s gotta be inches away from orgasm, you know from the tone of his voice that he’s right there on the edge and it’s not like it’s going to last a long time.  Thanks to him, you also feel like you’re just as slick and wet back there as you are between your legs, stretched open by his fingers while you came all over him.  You want nothing more than to give this to him, to let him be the only person in the universe that knows how you feel this way.

When you pointedly do not put up a fight and even go so far as to arch your lower back for him in presentation, Din curses and his fingers begin jerking back and forth over your sensitive clit once more.  It might normally be too much for you, but your body is sparking with lust and quickly acclimates to the stimulation, learning to burn and ache for it, too.  Fuck, it feels so good, you tense and melt into it at the same time, letting him ease you back up to that peak once more.

He pushes up against the tight ring of skin and you can’t fucking explain it—his fingers keep rubbing your clit and he’s slowly pushing into your ass and—

“I—I think I’m—” you suddenly lift the helmet to gasp out in surprise, forgetting he can’t hear you, “ngh—D-Din, I think I’m gonna c—”

He’s just barely able to breach the tight entrance and fit the head inside before he freezes—and even though everything happens consecutively, it’s all so rapid that it feels simultaneous.

Your hips could go forward, but they don’t.  Your body decides to send you backwards into him, pushing him inside nearly halfway all at once as your muscles lock down and just fucking strangle his cock.  Your piercing scream gets trapped in the silence of his helmet as you cum once more—painfully, madly and with every fucking part of you for him.  There’s maybe one or two mind shattering pulses of ecstasy before the rest of your body catches up and starts convulsing, and by then Din is already gasping and fumbling behind you, suddenly realizing what’s happening without hearing the sound of your ragged warnings and then ripping himself away just in time.

He punches out your name when he cums like you just fucking snapped him in half—his body hunches and the beskar digs hard into your back as warmth starts splattering along your skin.  You crumple while he shoves his hips up against your spine, riding and working the orgasm out of himself while yours just fucking obliterates you.  You think you whine his name—or a curse word or something, but it gets strained and your lungs lose air every time his powerful armored body humps you into the wall of his ship.

Finally he eases up and you just lay there and listen to the ringing in your ears.  Blissfully empty, still pulsing from cumming so hard and feeling like your bones just decided to stop existing and the rest of you was okay with it since you were already on the floor anyways.  You feel him shudder and twitch behind you, letting go of that last bit of tension until he too allows gravity to slouch his heavy torso over onto you.

You both stay like that for a while, until your eyes close and your everything below your waist goes numb.  Eventually you feel him shift and your head bobbles as the helmet is slowly removed, but a large palm cradles your chin to stop your face from slamming into the wall in exhaustion once it’s off.  You just continue to melt into the paneling like you’re nothing more than goo of a human being while he trades it back to its rightful place on his shoulders and tucks his cock back into his pants, before wrapping his arms around you and lifting you both up.  The floor and metal walls, once feeling like you and them were one, suddenly decide to disappear entirely as you’re hauled up into Din’s powerful arms.

He slowly carries your naked, fucked senseless body over to the fresher, and you squint your eyes open over his shoulder to see… he’s still got his rifle slung around his back while his cum is dripping down yours.  Not a single thing on him is out of place and you’re, well… a mess is a word that works.  Limp and doll-like, carried like your weight is practically nothing to him after years of having the densest armor known to the galaxy strapped to his body.

Setting you down is a mess, too.  At some point you think he just gives up and decides to return you to your humble floor abode with a patience and care unexpected from someone who just defiled you so thoroughly.  You hear the fresher door open and the faucet squeak, before he turns back around and crouches to your level.

“Stay here,” Din tells you lowly, his modulated voice coming gentle and warm through the sounds of water raining down against metal.  You don’t feel his touch directly, but your hair moves away from your face.  “I’ll be right back, okay—just stay here.”

Can do.  Easy.  He waits until you murmur a soft mhm to him before he leaves the tiny compartment, and then you soon hear his heavy footsteps ascending the ladder to the cockpit.

***

You don’t think you fall asleep, but the powering up of the Crest’s thrusters make you realize your eyes were closed.  Opening them barely qualifies as a squint though; you look around to see steam slowly filling the fresher, the water already running hot and welcoming in the small room.

You know you need to shower but you’re so fucking exhausted, you feel like you can’t even move your body.  You also know you can just do the same exact thing in there as you’re doing in here, you just need to muster up the energy necessary to get inside it and then fall back asleep.  He set you down in the small little space outside the shower door and then got everything set up for you, you can at least stand up and take a few steps.

Unfortunately, you might pick just about the worst time possible to plant your hands on the ground and work to struggle upright on all fours like a newborn animal.  The steady rise through Nevarro’s atmosphere pushes gravity down harder than you’re expecting—is he trying to fly quickly or are you just that dead-limbed?—and then of course, by the time you do manage to fight it and successfully get on two wobbly legs to hold yourself up, the subtle shift of the hyperdrive kicking in nearly knocks you back down again.  You stumble and grab the walls, bracing yourself against them and looking down at your knees in exasperation.  Come on, work.  Move forward.  Come on.

You’re glad he’s not here to witness this monstrosity, honestly.  Just opening the door and taking a few steps into the fresher is a feat—while you’re not in any pain and he didn’t leave any marks on you, you just feel… steamrolled.  Ran over by a truck.  Only having the strength to keep your feet beneath you as you finally move under the water and close the door behind you.

Oh, but this is wonderful.  This was such a good idea, he’s so fucking smart.  The shower falls warm and lovely against your body, wetting your hair and immediately heating you down to your bones.  You don’t move really at all—you kinda just stand there and slouch, closing your eyes against the spray and slowly breathing the mist into your lungs.  It feels so nice—not really restorative even though you like that word, it would imply the water provides you with any energy whatsoever.  It just feels like a comfort, a relief and sedative for your already wildly fatigued body.

You haven’t been in here for more than a minute or two when knuckles tap gently against the metal walls of the fresher, before the natural bass of Din’s unmodulated voice murmurs from somewhere beyond it.  “Hey.  Keep your eyes closed.”

How did he know?  You figured you’d be way ahead of him.  You’re standing but slumped over, wanting nothing more than to just say fuck gravity and pass out right here.  The walls are too cold to lean against now that you’re all toasty from the heat and steam, so you’re just unconsciously swaying on your feet, trying to balance the precedence of sleeping versus not falling over.  You don’t even comprehend the sudden flip of the light switch overhead beyond the fact that it makes it easier to snooze without being so bright behind your eyelids.

The door eventually opens at the very same time you realize you never answered him, but you just commit to the silence at this point.  It’s easy, you like it.  Soon you feel warm hands touch your shoulders, slowly spinning you around while you follow and hang your head, your neck not wanting to support it any longer, and then suddenly a bare chest is pressing up against you and powerful arms are wrapping around your body, and you can just lean all of your weight into him while your head rests right here on his shoulder.

He holds you without moving for a long time, keeping you just like this—your ear pressed against his skin while water rains hot and comfortable down your back.  Knowing you’re facing one of the walls, you crack your heavy lids just the slightest bit and finally notice the tiny compartment is dim and shrouded—the only light source is a single one coming from somewhere in the hull beyond the partially closed doorway.  It’s dark and quiet and you can barely see anything besides the metallic fresher walls and unfocused droplets chasing each other down Din’s naked skin.  Just you and him, flowing water with a sheet metal backdrop.

You think you spend an eternity like that and yet you still find yourself wanting another when he finally shifts, reaching over you to grab a bar of his generic soap but making sure to use the arm whose shoulder you’re not currently resting against.

It glides slow and hypnotic down your back, dragging up over your sides and then back down the curve of your spine.  He’s so sturdy and he doesn’t say a word while he does it, lathering it along your body and rubbing it into your skin.  His bar of soap, not yours.  They started out almost the same since you picked them up at the same vendor, but there’s just a slightly bolder and sharper scent to his that you recognize.  How the bar is far larger than yours because of how often he’s gone away.

Your eyes droop and you feel the water trail over your lips, dripping down your chin and pooling the dip of his collarbone.  The only other time you two shared this fresher was terrifying and he’s rewriting the memories right now, whether consciously or not.  Hot water, not freezing cold.  Standing upright and supporting you.  Heart beating strong under your ear, taking care of you this time until you can care for yourself.

You… you just worry so much more now, it’s becoming an issue.  You didn’t realize how much until you nearly lost him, and you know in your heart that he’s just going to go away again.  Throw himself into more danger, tempt death as always, risk his life for mere credits while all you can provide in return is this.  Skin to skin contact.  Someone to hold.  Someone who knows him, who knows the way he struggles between reaching out for a softness that life has always denied him and clinging to what is rough and familiar.  Someone to remind him that there’s still gentle and forgiving things in this galaxy that won’t disappear when he’s gone, and that he can always come home to them, as long as he can manage to find his way back.

Something sad tugs hard at your chest.  You want to tell him not to leave.  Again, again—you want nothing more than to beg him to stay.  You don’t have anything better to offer instead; if he asked you how it would work, how you imagine your lives would go if he wasn’t hunting quarry on a constant timetable, you’d be hard-pressed.  You don’t know.  But you know what you want to say, because it’s two words you shouldn’t say but always find yourself needing to say regardless.  

Don’t go.

But, instead of two words, you give him three.

Instead of asking him not to leave you again… in the haze and comfort of his arms, you think you just tell him that you love him.

And… you also don’t think the water falling down on the two of you is loud enough to cover it up this time.

It’s not ideal, you know.  You know.  From his point of view, he just got finished releasing all sorts of pent up tension on you, overwhelming your body with the strength and power of his in a way that normal people wouldn’t take as an expression of affection.  But you know him.  You know that he finds it much easier to express the things he feels in a physical way, which is why there’s a bar of soap against your back right now instead of his voice in your ear, telling you all the things you’ve always wanted to hear from him in return.  You know that sex is how this all began and it’s likely just the closest link between roughness and sweetness that he can really put his hands on, something that can fit him equally as well as it fits you.  Love is different, it’s thrilling and scary.  Even to someone like him, who lives everyday of his life surrounded by thrilling and scary things, who’s seen more bloodshed and suffering and pain than you can ever even imagine, you know that it’s scary.

Din doesn’t say anything back to your confession, and truthfully, not a single part of you was expecting him to.  It wasn’t said so he could say it back.  It just is.  Some things don’t need explanations, they just are.  You’re okay with that.

But, you eventually come to realize that he always waits until you’re just on the very edges of sleep, holding out until your blurry vision and fading consciousness can trick you into thinking you only imagined it.  You won’t ever figure out if it’s purposeful or if he just needs that long to find what he wants to say.

Another soft, lilting sentence in a language you wouldn’t be able to translate, even if you could pick out a single word.  It sounds so beautiful though, regardless of how mysterious and far away its meaning feels.  There’s something hidden underneath.  You ache to know what it is.

But you’re so tired.  You just whine softly against his shoulder, not being able to transform the thoughts into sentences anymore but hoping he understands regardless.  He can’t just resort to bearing his soul in Mando’a all the time now, especially when you’re always on the verge of sleep when he chooses to do so.

But at some point, his arms subtly tighten around you and the pressure is one of the only things that’s keeping you awake anymore.

“I won’t ever ask you to,” he says to you, the quietness of his baritone getting lost in the gentle spray and your looming slumber.  “I’m…  not allowed to ask.  I can’t.”

Your expression twitches just the slightest bit against his shoulder in confusion, wondering distantly what word or sentence you must’ve missed from before that would make him make sense.  Was that a translation?  Or a continuation?

But then your wet hair is slowly moved away from your nape and his head tilts down, face pressing into your neck and voice lowering until it’s nothing more than a breath against your skin, nothing more than a confession that he couldn’t ever say out loud with his full chest.  It’s a secret he only ever wants you to know, a truth he’s choosing to admit to even though you could ruin him with it.  You have no idea how much, you won’t know for a long time just how much power he’s giving you by telling you this one very simple thing.

“But whenever you want to look,” Din finally whispers, the only version of I love you too that a Mandalorian knows.  “You can.”

[incandescent-creativity]

The @flashfictionfridayofficial is perfectly timed today to help me write the opening scene of LiaHT!

My doorbell rings.

This is unexpected, and therefore unwelcome.

“Aster?” I yell down the hallway.

“Not me!” her sweet voice calls back, clear as crystal and twice as shiny.

But I’m not expecting anybody, either.

Throwing the dish towel over my shoulder, I stifle a sigh and move towards the front door.

The person standing on our teeny-tiny porch makes it seem even teenier and tinier than normal. They are tall, almost taller than my entire doorway, and have broad shoulders and actually defined biceps. Their skin is a warm dark brown, and their tightly coiled hair is cut short over the curve of their head.

They’re wearing a tan turtleneck, and a gold bracelet on one wrist. Technically, their pants are denim, but it’s that well-made, dark-wash denim that would turn its nose up at being called “jeans.” If it was an attempt to dress as a common peasant, and not some radiant angel from the upper-class, they kind of missed the mark.

What is someone like this doing here? They must be lost.

Both of those statements seem a little forward, so I put on a customer service smile instead.

“Uh, hi. I think you might have the wrong address.”

The stranger recites my address perfectly, including the zip code and country.

“And you’re Nora Collins, right?”

I am wracking my brain for some sort of crime that the government would want to send someone like this after me.

“Am I in trouble?”

The stranger laughs. They exude joy, and sound perfectly at ease—perfectly the opposite of how I feel.

“No more than anybody else. May I come in?”

I am not prepared for such a forward proposition. “Um. Sure.”

The tall dark (and sure, handsome) stranger steps in, ducking their head slightly. They look completely out of place on our secondhand couch, but the discrepancy doesn’t seem to bother them.

“Aster!” I call again, partially to warn her and partially to make sure she’s listening if I get attacked. “Company!”

“No need for your roommate,” the stranger says. “This is somewhat of a private matter.”

I don’t see how that could be, since this is the first time we are meeting.

“She probably won’t join us,” I say honestly.

Aster is more of an extrovert than I am, but she also has noise canceling headphones and several ongoing creative projects.

“Perfect,” they say, pleased. “We have a lot to talk about.”

[justanotherrpmeme]

The World in the Walls

" I can't go back. " “ Dude, you're in the wrong-- or I'm in the wrong, uh... " “ Hey! Big stuff. Hey. Got 'em? I'm dying. Where are they? " “ Where are they? Oh, Jesus. Where are they? " “ You give me happy pills, me love you long time. " “ Okay, this is obviously a dream where I realize I'm in a dream. " “ Okay, let's just skip the part where you don't believe me, okay? " “ Um, yeah, it's a little chilly in here. " “ I hate these dreams. It's like your feet are stuck to the floor or you're paralyzed. " “ Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. " “ You know that isn't true. " “ I don't want to get nobody in trouble. " “ No one's in trouble. " “ I know this can all seem very real, but it's not. " “ You're seeing this, right? " “ You're very, very sick. " “ Code red! Code red! Main office! " “ No, no, no. Just focus on me, okay? None of this is real. Just us two. " “ Where are we? I mean, what's going on? " “ You came to find me. " “ But first, we have to break the illusion. " “ I crash-landed on this planet 9.3 light-years ago. " “ You're a starship captain, and you came to rescue me. " “ I--uh, no. Hang on. But none of this is real. It's-- " “ And they show us these illusions to make us fall in love and mate. " “ They collect us from all over the galaxy to feed off our emotions. " “ They finally got to you. You belong to them now. " “ It's okay. I'll still mate with you. " “ All right, that's enough. " “ Are you feeling any better? " “ Are you up for seeing a visitor? " “ I mean, Yale's still kind of a let-down-- " “ You don't remember? This? " “ Are you engaged? " “ Seriously, it doesn't even matter. It's not important. " “ Hey, um, I swear I'm not crazy. " “ I want to understand, okay? I want to help you. " “ Are you seeing this? Look! Are you guys-- are you not seeing this? " “ Don't feel sorry for me. Do not. " “ I'm not me, and you're not you, and this is not happening. " “ Do you hear me? This is not happening. I'm not--I'm not here. " “ Hey, you! Keep your voice down. " “ I'm sorry. It's my fault, um... Sorry. Hey, I'm gonna go, okay? " “ I wanted to see the fireworks. I really did. " “ Laughing at you? What kind of a friend would do that? " “ One thing that's real: you're always a raging dick. " “ It's very strong, this spell. " “ No, No! No, stop! Stop it! Stop! No! " “ The answer's in these books. " “ No one has that kind of time. " “ So who'd like to begin? " “ Oh, that one song, please, no. It gets in my head, and it never leaves. " “ He's doing this because I made him take his pills. " “ Look, I think I know what's going on here, and I think I know how to get help. " “ What happened to your face? Did you run into a door or... " “ Come on. It's time you see something. " “ What did you do to my powers? I need my powers. " “ He's coming for me. He's coming for you. He is coming to kill us. ” “ You have got to give me back my power! " “ He needs to hear it. He needs to know the truth why he's here. " “ I tried to stop you. I grabbed you. I tried to stop you from... " “ Accept who you are and what's put you here. " “ Hey, you, seriously, talk to me. Are you fucking with me? " “ Dude. Uh, um, look, this'll all be over soon, okay? Just try not to get buried under it. " “ Quit singing that stupid song. " “ Stop, okay? Just stop. Please stop. Stop. " “ That hurt. Do it again, harder. " “ Now stop singing that song so I can go the fuck back to sleep. " “ Oh, my God. It worked. I did that. " “ I'm in trouble. Seriously, help me. " “ My whole body, every part of my body, is tingling. ” “ I mean, you didn't tell me it would feel-- So good? " “ Oh, he's not gonna die. He just might not actually ever wake up. " “ Oh, my God. Hey, you are not going limp on me here. " “ Now go put all that sweet hotness to work. " “ God, why can't I remember? " “ Okay, look, I am, like, 100% sure I invented you, so if you could please just disappear? " “ Look, it was a party. He's probably sleeping it off under something or someone or-- " “ He crawled in here and passed out around 1:00. " “ When are you gonna tell me what all this is for? " “ I guess I could tell you now. No, I don't feel like it. Later maybe? " “ Mm, how about never? That's a growing possibility. " “ Your emotions are in complete control now, overriding logic, reason, even the will to live. " “ No, please, don't. I didn't mean to, I swear. " “ Get up. There are no straps. This is not a hospital. You are not crazy. " “ Will you please, just for once-- no more riddles, okay? Just tell me what to do. " “ It doesn't matter what anyone tells you. ” “ You make the web you're in. You're the spider and the fly. " “ Of course you're exhausted. " “ Magic does not solve problems. It magnifies them. " “ That was almost well put. "

[whiteqnn]

Pairing: Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader

Summary: Sean invites one of his good friends - Y/N - to play with him and the group. She has a lot of fun with them, but at the same time is too oblivious, too nice, and too pure to notice that one particular Among Us player has taken a liking to her the moment he heard her voice...

Notes: Hello everyone! This is the very first time I’m publishing something bigger in here, I’m honestly still figuring out how Tumblr works, even though I’ve had this account for quite some time now 😅. That being said, please don’t expect anything super impressive. I tried my best though just so you know. 🥺

A/N- It didn’t turn out as I expected, but I really hope at least some of you find it enjoyable :(

Y/C/N - your channel name

part 2

part 3 

part 4 

part 5 

PURE [1]

“Did you guys find anybody?” Felix asked, as the number of players still showed just 7 of them. They could just start now, but the game would be way more fun with a full lobby. 

“Yeah, Lily’s joining. I just texted her the code, so she should be here at any moment.” Sykkuno replied after receiving a text message from the said girl. “Oh, and Corpse also said he’d be joining soon.” 

“Great. Anyone else?”

 “I think Jack was also bringing someone, right?” Dave asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I have one coming, she’ll join us in a few” the asked man replied at the same moment Lily’s character appeared in the lobby. 

“Who you’re bringing Jack?” 

“Y/N” he said, causing Felix to gasp in shock and yell into his mic:

“How the fuck did you manage to convince her? I’ve been bugging her about this game for the past week and she always had some excuse!” 

“What can I say, my charm is irresistible” Jack replied nonchalantly, causing everyone in the lobby to laugh at his fake deep voice.

The number of participants changed to 9, as a little black astronaut with horns on his helmet appeared in the lobby. 

“Corpse, you’re here!” Rae’s character ran up to the man, circling him excitedly. 

“Hey man!”

“What’s up, Corpse?”

“Hello everyone” his deep voice sounded out “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“All good man, we’re still waiting for one person.” Felix reassured him “Sean, why is she not here yet? Are you sure you’ve sent her the right code?”

“Of course I am!” he all but shouted at Felix “And about that, she just texted me to give her a few more minutes and that we should start without her.”

“We can just wait, right?” Lily offered, earning a few hums of approval from the others.

“I think it might take a little longer than a few minutes, she has some problems with her microphone.”

“Who are you guys talking about?” Corpse asked, completely unaware of who Jack was referring to.

“Wait, Jack, you mean Y/N from Y/C/N?” Sykkuno asked suddenly, only then realizing why this name sounded familiar

“Yeah, the one and only” Jack replied, a smile evident in his voice.

“Oh my god, I love her videos!” Rae exclaimed at that “She’s so funny and sweet!”

“Yeah! Her new video is so freaking cute, I wish she’d upload more often.” Poki agreed. 

“Right?” Jack said, clearly very proud of his friend. “But don’t let that sweet demeanor fool you guys cause she’s one of the best players I’ve encountered in this game.”

“That’s true, she’s a secret big brain genius” Toast confirmed, making Pewdiepie gasp once again. 

“wHAT??YOU TWO PLAYED WITH HER?!” Felix’s offended voice boomed through everyone’s headphones “HOW DARE YOU. HOW COULD YOU NOT INVITE ME?!” 

“That’s for not inviting me to your latest Cringe episode!” Jack was quick to respond, making others in the lobby laugh at their mini fight. 

“Oh, so that’s where I recognized her from!” Sykkuno nearly shouted when he finally put two and two together. “I can’t wait to meet her, she seems like a really nice person.”

“She is! When she got impostor for the first time she refused to kill me” Toast explained, earning himself a couple of Aww’s from his friends. “So we just ran around the emergency button until I called the meeting and voted her off.”

“Yeah, only to be her first victim in the next game.” Jack all but giggled, clearly very amused at the memory of Y/N going into a full berserk mode. No one except for him and Toast knew how good she really was at this game... 

“She’s basically the wolf in sheep’s skin” Felix concluded with a chuckle “Very soft wolf, however.”

“She’s like the complete opposite of Corpse, both in voice and personality” Jack suddenly said, making Felix laugh wholeheartedly at something only two of them understood at the moment. 

“I don’t know how should I take that” Corpse admitted with a chuckle. He remained silent for most of the conversation since he didn’t really know who the guys were talking about. But he would lie if he said he wasn’t intrigued by this girl at least in the slightest. Although he heard about her channel, he hasn’t seen any of her videos, so he didn’t really know what to expect. But hearing what gamers like Sean and Felix said about her, he knew he’s not gonna be disappointed once the girl joins them in the game. 

“Imagine Corpse and Y/N talking.” Felix said suddenly with a seemingly very amused voice.

“Imagine Corpse and Y/N both being Impostors” Toast said, which resulted in many of them shouting over each other at how crazy that would be. 

“Alright, now that you mention this I start fearing the moment two of them meet” Jack confessed with loud laughter following the sentence. Corpse chuckled deeply under his breath, at the same time glancing at the questions his audience was asking him in his stream. He could hardly read any, as there were quite a lot of people asking, so all he saw was just a bunch of comments moving at the speed of light in his chat. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was slightly nervous, seeing the growing number of people watching his stream. It was still a rather new thing to him, and he feared he'd say something inappropriate, or just make a complete idiot out of himself. 

"At least no one can see me..." he mumbled under his breath after muting his microphone. 

"Oh! Y/N just texted me! She's joining the call right now!" 

"Fuck yeah!" Felix shouted excitedly "Just so you know Jack, I won't forget that you two played without me."

"Uh-oh. Is that a threat? Are you threatening me now?" 

"It's a warning" Felix replied, receiving a series of gasps from other players. "If I get impostor, you're the first one on my list."

"Okay, everyone heard that! You know who to vote off when I'm dead!" 

"It's so cool to play with someone new, I wonder if she's as good as you guys depict her" Sykkuno spoke up, but before anyone could answer his question, a new character popped up in the lobby.

*** 

"Hi everyone! I’m sorry I left you just like that, but this stream would be completely useless without me being able to answer your questions. Fortunately it wasn’t anything serious, I just had to readjust my mic and go through the settings to find what was wrong. Took some time, but here I am now!” Y/N chirped into her microphone, smiling apologetically at her webcam. At the moments like this, she really appreciated how supportive her audience was. No one was hating on her when she had to get off the stream for a couple of minutes, and everyone was just so understanding that it made her heart melt. Perhaps her audience wasn’t very big, but it felt almost like a second family to her. 

“Anyway, as you already know from my twitter, today I’ll be playing Among Us with my friends and their friends! I can’t wait if I’m being honest, last time I played this game was so much fun, and there was only a few of us.” she admitted with a genuine smile on her face. “Let’s just text Sean now so we can get into the lobby...”

Y/N: Ready to play with you guys ^^

Jackaboy: Great! You got that mic fixed already? 

Y/N: Yes, everything is fine. I’m sorry you had to wait so long.

Jackaboy: It’s all good kiddo, no worries. I’ll call you and send you the code in a sec. 

Y/N: Perfect, thank you Sean :)

Jackaboy: Btw, everyone can’t wait to meet you ;-)Y/N stared at the screen for a moment, only now, seconds before joining the group, realizing how nervous she felt. From Sean’s tweets she saw earlier, she figured that the lobby was right now full of many famous streamers, those she wouldn’t even compare herself to. It’s not that she thought of herself very low, but... being among such youtube celebrities like them made her panic a little bit. She didn’t want to look like a complete fool amongst them. 

Playing or recording with Sean and Felix was something else because she knew those guys for years (and yet still sometimes found herself thinking how lucky she got to be able to call them her friends). She felt good in their company, not worrying about choosing the right words. But amongst the rest of the players, she knew only Toast and talked with Rae maybe once in her life... 

What if the rest won’t like her? 

Y/N cleared her throat, realizing that she was still staring at her phone like hypnotized and her audience was already asking her what’s going on. She quickly typed in the code Sean had texted her and readjusted her headphones, before joining the discord chat.

“THERE SHE IS” screamed Sean, making her grin from ear to ear, hearing how excited he was “Little wonderchild!”

“I think you meant little TRAITOR” Felix corrected him with a scoff. A silence settled in the lobby as everyone was waiting for Y/N to speak up.

“Um... hello everyone..” she said softly, almost inaudibly, a sudden wave of shyness taking over her. “I’m Y/N” 

“Oh, you were right about that Corpse thing!” replied another, also very soft and very sweet voice, and Y/N saw the image of someone named Lily pop up. “It’s like the exact opposite!” 

“See? Told ya. Everyone, meet Y/N/N, the little angel from Y/C/N.” 

“Hey Y/N!”

“Hi there!”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“H-Hi, so great to meet you, Y/N!” a very friendly sounding voice said, and a little lime astronaut with the name Sykkuno above it started running around her. “Can’t wait to play with you!”

“That’s so nice, thank you” she replied with a wide smile on her face, moving around his character as well. “I can’t wait to play with you too, actually with all you guys. It’s so great to be here with you.”

“Jack I swear she’s the cutest little thing I’ve ever heard. Where the hell did you find her?!” Poki all but yelled at the man, making Y/N giggle to herself and in-process loosen up a little bit. They all seemed like someone she’d happily be friends with. 

“Or rather, where do you get one?” someone else commented, making them all burst into laughter, Y/N included. 

“Guys, what did I say about that sweet demeanor...” Jack said after calming down from his fit “Don’t put your guard down just because she sounds like that!”

“Wait- what did you tell them about me?” Y/N asked confused, the tone of her voice making him laugh even more “Jack!”

“Don’t worry, only the good stuff” a very deep, low voice spoke up, leaving her taken aback for a moment. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced at the name of that person, reading out CORPSE. Now that’s something she didn’t expect... 

“Corpse, mind your manners! You didn’t even introduce yourself!” 

“Oh, shit- yeah, sorry. Um, I’m Corpse, it’s very nice to meet you Y/N” he replied right after, making her lip corners curl up into a smile. 

“Nice to meet you too Corpse, you have a really pleasant voice.” she spoke sweetly, completely unaware of the chaos that was taking place in her stream chat. She didn’t even think of it the way her audience did, she just simply spoke up her mind, and being an incredibly nice person - turned it into a compliment.

“Oh- wow. I mean, thank you so much. I love your voice too, it’s really sweet” he replied, nervously chuckling at the end, before muting his mic. It was, however, enough for Felix and Sean to start teasing him, as the two immediately screamed:

“SIIIMP!!!”

“It’s the voice Felix, I told you he’d fall into her trap!” 

“Wait- he was just being nice, guys! Stop making fun of him” Y/N immediately defended the man, trying to speak up over the hysterical laughter of the other players. 

“Oh my god, but what if they both get impostors and they both pull the voice cards on us?!” Rae managed to yell through all the noise, making Y/N even more confused.

“Wait, what? What do you mean? I don’t understand.” 

“Don’t worry Y/N, that’s how I feel all the time around them.” Sykkuno seemed to be the only one who heard her question, as the rest continued their gabbing without giving her as much as a glance. 

“Alright, let’s start the game maybe. I might have a few old scores to settle” Toast cleared his throat theatrically, his astronaut coming face to face with Y/N’s. 

“Oh, you mean me? I thought I already apologized!” she replied frantically. “You gave me no choice Toast, I didn’t even want to kill you in the first place...”

“BUT YOU DID. IN THE VERY FIRST ROUND” 

“I’m sorry!” 

“Alright, enough! Toast, just don’t kill her right away, okay? Let her run around the map, fearing for her life for a moment.” Y/N gasped upon hearing Jack’s words, clearly sensing the smirk behind his voice. 

“Wha- Jack?! Since when are you against me?!” 

“Don’t worry Y/N, I won’t let them hurt you. You haven’t played with us yet, I’ll protect you.” 

“Oh, thank you so much Sykkuno! I’ll protect you too!” 

“Great. Another one simping...” was Felix’s last words, before the game began. 

Y/N sighed in relief upon seeing the word crewmate forming on her screen, but at the same time feared Toast’s inevitable revenge. She thought they'd already buried the hatchet, but it seemed that he was desperate to make her pay for the last time they played together. 

“Aw, Sykkuno was serious” she mumbled with a smile, when his lime astronaut started circling her white one, so she would follow him. “Okay, let’s do some tasks.”

They both made their way towards the medbay, Sykkuno patiently waiting nearby as she did the scan, then Y/N waiting for him to do the same. The moment his little character stepped towards her, a meeting was called by none other than Felix.

“What happened?” Rae asked.

“I called the meeting because I’m afraid of Jack” he responded, causing everyone to laugh. “Seriously though! Dude’s been following me around the whole time.”

“I was just making sure nobody kills you.”

“Yeah don’t go all Sykkuno on me!” Felix screamed, making the call erupt into even more laughter. 

“Alright, are we skipping?” 

“Yeah.”

“Guys, my life is in danger!” Felix wouldn’t give up. “Come on, show some support! Y/N? You played with him, you know his techniques!” 

“Sorry Felix” Y/N giggled, clicking the skip button. 

When the next round began, Sykkuno was quick to join Y/N on her way towards admin, where they both found Poki doing the upload. They did the card swipe and left her there, when the lights suddenly went off.

“Uh-oh. Let’s head the opposite direction, Sykkuno” the girl murmured, dancing around his character and heading towards Comms instead of going to Electrical. It was the easiest way to die, after all. 

Once they entered the room and waited for someone to fix the lights, Y/N could see another figure appear in the same location. She couldn’t recognize whose character it was, but upon seeing the horns on the helmet she smiled to herself.

“Hey there, Corpse” she said, walking up to the black astronaut, who was standing still in the same place as if he was just watching her and Sykkuno run around Comms instead of doing their tasks. 

They stood like that for a couple of seconds until Corpse turned around and ran away, and that’s when the first body was reported. 

“Oh no, Jack!” 

“Poor guy. He’s gonna haunt us now.”

“Where’s the body?” 

“Navigation” replied Rae, who was the one to find Sean’s green astronauts’ body “Didn’t see anyone around, but I’m pretty sure someone just vented right in front of my eyes...”

“Any suspicions?” Toast asked.

“Um, not really sure, it was the exact same moment the lights went off. I was doing tasks with Jack and then he just died. I only saw the vent close, nothing or no one else.”

“Okay, where are you guys right now?” 

“I’m in admin with Dave, we only passed Poki when we got there.” Lily’s voice sounded out, quickly being joined by Poki’s explanation.

“Yeah, I was finishing the upload when you guys came in, Y/N and Sykkuno saw it”

“Did you see her?” Toast asked, addressing his question towards the white and lime astronauts. 

“Yes, we were doing the card swipe before going to Comms. Corpse joined us for a moment and then left.”

“Yeah, I was on my way to fix the lights when I stumbled upon them in Comms, the body was reported the exact moment I left.”

“Can someone confirm this? I mean, did someone see you besides the two of them?” Toast continued his questioning. 

“I think I only saw Felix in Medbay.”

“Hmm, so no one really knows where you were this whole time. You could easily lure Jack into Navigation and kill him there. Is that what you did, Corpse?”

“Woah, that’s some serious accusation” Corpse replied in his usual, low and calm voice. “Where were you Toast? You seem the only one who still doesn’t have an alibi”

“Neither does Felix.” Y/N spoke innocently, and the mentioned man quickly started his explanation.

“Okay, I was with Jack at the beginning but he clearly can’t confirm this since someone snapped his fucking neck. We’ve split up in O2 after doing our tasks and then he must’ve gone with Rae. I just wandered around the map, escaping from the death.”

“Hmm, so not only were you one of the last people to see him alive, but you also admit to not doing your tasks” Y/N said, trying her best to keep her voice steady and stop herself from laughing. She was sure Sykkuno was doing the same thing, they both refused to do any tasks after the lights went off, after all.

“Yeah, but does that already makes me an Imposter? I’m just scared for my life, that’s all.”

“Y/N has some good logic, but I’m not really sure it’s Pewds. I mean, I saw him in Medbay and he really seemed to be just jogging around.” Corpse said, his voice almost immediately doing its magic, as people more or less willingly agreed to skip this round as well. 

“I think it’s Felix. I mean, I haven’t played with him yet, but I have this feeling that he’s just acting.” Y/N said to her chat after muting herself. She went towards Weapons to do another task, seeing Sykkuno’s little character follow her once again, but the doors were suddenly locked and his lime astronaut remained in Cafeteria. “Oh no, Sykkuno” she sighed with a pout on her face, deciding against waiting for him and risking getting her neck snapped. She finished her task in Weapons and moved towards another location, when suddenly Corpse appeared in front of her, coming right out of nowhere. 

“Oh- Corpse, you scared me to death” Y/N breathed a laugh, watching as his character stood still for a couple of seconds, before circling around her white astronaut. Y/N nodded her head with a smile, even though he couldn’t see her, and followed him in Shields, where they found Poki’s dead body. 

“The body is in Shields” Y/N replied right after reporting the body, only to gasp in shock when she realized more than one person was killed. Red crosses decorated not only Poki’s name but were also visible next to Dave and Lily. 

“What the hell?!” Felix all but yelled into his mic, obviously shocked just like everyone else who was still alive. 

“Now that’s... a lot of bodies” Sykkuno mumbled under his breath. 

“Alright, who’s in Shields? Y/N, you said you found the body there, which one?”

“Poki’s, Corpse was there with me” her reply was followed by his short and low hum. 

“Sykkuno, where are you? I didn’t see you anywhere since the last round.” Felix asked, clearly accusing the lime astronaut of being a murderer. 

“I was... doing the wires in electrical, Toast was there for a moment as well.”

“Yeah but I was only searching for the body, so I saw you maybe for a second” Toast replied, building even more suspicions around Sykkuno.

“But- guys, you know I wouldn’t kill two people in one round, let alone four of them.”

“No one says you did that, I only mentioned that you were nowhere to be seen. You could’ve been sabotaging the map for the other Impostor” Felix said nonchalantly.

“Guys, I-”

“It’s him! It must be him!” Rae shouted through her mic. 

“Sykkuno is 100% innocent, I can vouch for him” Y/N’s voice sounded out in everyone’s headphones “We were together since the start of the game and he didn’t kill me, even though he had quite a number of chances to do so.”

“Weren’t you with Corpse this time?” Felix asked suspiciously.

“I was! But at the beginning, I was with Sykkuno, until someone locked him in Cafeteria. That’s when we split up.”

“And you haven’t seen him ever since?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then I can assure you it was only a matter of time before he’d stab you in the back” Toast concluded, making Sykkuno gasp in confusion.

“Wha- No, I would never do that! Y/N is our guest, I was just making sure she was okay!”

“Sykkuno, simping won’t save your life right now” 

“Wha- I- Guys!” he tried to stutter out some logical explanation “Y/N, don’t believe them!”

“I don’t, I know you’re innocent! C’mon guys, he wouldn’t do it!” 

“Yeah yeah, let’s kick him out. Corpse, who are you voting?” Toast asked, and Y/N could see the I voted sign next to his character. 

“I kinda feel like Felix tries to shift the blame onto Sykkuno. He didn’t even tell his location, and was already throwing accusations on someone else.” Corpse replied after a moment, making the smile widen on Y/N’s face. Someone was finally on her side! 

“That’s because he can’t even explain himself!” Felix exclaimed, voting as well. 

“Besides, I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for whoever locked that door, Y/N would be dead as well!” 

“No, I told you I-!”

“Guys, we have ten seconds to vote. Rae?” 

“I think it’s him as well. He was acting suspiciously since we started this round. I vote Sykkuno”

“But..!” 

“No, Sykkuno...” Y/N whispered with a pout on her lips, when she saw the number of people who voted for her lime friend. 

Sykkuno was ejected. 

“Alright, I’m pretty sure it’s Felix. I saw Rae multiple times and she didn’t kill me, Toast also doesn’t act very Impostor like, but maybe that’s just one of his strategies... Corpse is with me again, I don’t think that’s him, I mean, he followed me around last round, but still didn’t do anything, and even vouched for me and Sykkuno when we were both clearly chilling in comms. It can’t be him... right?” 

 Dead body reported.

 “I just saw Corpse kill Toast, then vent!” Rae’s voice blared through Y/N’s headphones, as she looked in shock at the red cross next to Toast’s name. If not him, then..?

“What?” the accused man asked calmly “That’s a self-report, she’s trying to frame me. You guys can’t possibly believe her.”

“I believe her. I saw you enter the Electrical with Toast, then he’s suddenly dead” Felix said. 

“That’s because she vented in there and killed him.”

“No! I swear, Y/N/N you have to believe me!” she directed her words towards the girl who remained silent during their discussion, processing her accusations over and over in her head. “I was fixing the wires, Toast was doing another task, and then boom! I see Corpse snapping his neck!”

“How could you see that if the lights were off?” Y/N suddenly asked, making Rae cut her own sentence off “No one went to fix them, they were off the entire round.”

Silence. 

“It’s Rae, it must be her” Corpse couldn’t help but laugh wholeheartedly at how small was the mistake which completely blew Rae’s cover. “We’re voting Rae, right Y/N?”

“No! Guys, I mean, let me explain, I-!”

Rae was ejected. 

“Now that was something I didn’t expect. I would’ve never thought it was her, I even suspected that Sykkuno might really have been the other Impostor, but now... It’s just me, Corpse, and Felix. I’m clear, clearly, so it must be one of them. And since Corpse protected me for the past few rounds, there’s no other option than...”

Her eyes suddenly widened when the realization hit her, and she quickly turned around to speed towards the emergency button. Fortunately, no one was around to stop her from calling the meeting.

“Felix.” Y/N started, trying to contain her excitement and sound seriously “Where were you when Sean was killed?”

Neither Corpse of Felix said a word, as it was probably the last question they expected her to ask. Felix cleared his throat, however, and finally replied:

“Y/N, that was literally the beginning of a game. How am I supposed to remember what I did then?”

“Well” she said nonchalantly “I, for example, clearly remember the things you said even when we were in the lobby.”

“What are you implying?” 

“Wasn’t it you, who told everyone that Sean was your number one if you get Impostor?” she asked with a wicked smile on her face. Felix was dumbfounded, he obviously didn’t expect her to pull that card on him, hell, he didn’t even know how she knew about it since she wasn’t even in the call at the time. 

“FELIX” Corpse suddenly broke the silence, simultaneously breaking the said man from his train of thoughts. 

“Okay, first of all- YOU WEREN’T EVEN IN THE CALL WHEN I SAID THAT” he yelled through his mic, making both Y/N and Corpse laugh, as it only confirmed their suspicions. 

“See? You only proved my point.” 

“Oh, fuck’s sake- I was just joking okay?!” he tried to defend himself, but hearing how he couldn’t even contain his own laughter anymore, it was clear he already accepted the defeat. “It wasn’t serious, god damn it!” 

“You know what to do, Y/N” Corpse’s voice asked through her headphones, and surely, she knew exactly what to do.

“C’mon Y/N, that’s not fair! At least let me explain myself!” 

“Bye Felix” she said in an overly dramatic tone before Corpse voted as well. 

Soon enough, the sign VICTORY could be seen on her screen, which made her squeak and joy. This game was really fun, even though she was so scared of being killed first. 

“I knew it! I knew you would figure out it’s him! That son of a bitch who murdered me!” Jack basically yelled out, clearly very happy about the result. 

“Y/N, seriously now, how did you know I’ve said that?” Felix asked without even hiding his surprised tone.

“Let’s just say I might’ve stolen some of your viewers, Felix” she admitted, winking at her webcam, a new wave of comments landing on her chat. “Thanks guys!” 

“Okay, that is rude and not fair!” 

“It helped me win, so I’ve got nothing else to say” Y/N grinned from ear to ear, before muting herself for a moment to finally answer some of the questions from her chat, while the rest took a quick break to eat something or go to the bathroom.

She was halfway through telling the story of how she met Sean when she noticed she got a message from a private discord chat. 

CORPSE: That was really impressive :)

Y/N smiled to herself upon seeing his text and quickly typed out the answer. 

Y/N: Thanks!! I wouldn’t have done that without you though, you stood up for me and Sykkuno and all

Y/N: Also, thanks for protecting me from being murdered ^^

CORPSE: No problem, I knew you were innocent right away. 

CORPSE: Anyway, good game, Sean was right saying that you’re one of the best players

She couldn’t help the blush that arose on her cheeks, it was very sweet of him to say that, even though she didn’t actually do much except for exposing Felix. 

Y/N: I wasn’t an Impostor though, so you didn’t really see much :)

She watched the three dots beside his name, that signaled he was still texting. The chat was completely forgotten, but people seemed to quickly notice that small, shy smile on her lips, and the pink tint decoring her cheeks.

CORPSE: Okay, now I’m intrigued... 

Y/N: Maybe we’ll both be Impostors one day ^^

CORPSE: Can’t wait for that to happen.

Soon enough, they returned to the lobby to begin another game. Y/N glanced at her chat for a second, and the moment she returned her eyes to the game, her jaw basically dropped. 

IMPOSTOR was written in bold letters in the middle of the red screen, right above her name.

Corpse’s little character was standing beside her.