#of course that doesn't mean I'll be able to keep doing every night for a while :p

[steampunk-swift-arrow]

New personal best with the cpap! I slept for more than 2 hours with it last night and wore the mask for 2 hours and 46 minutes!

[xiao-come-home]

How they sleep with you - HSR Edition!

✰ Characters: Anaxa, Phainon, Mydei, Sunday, Aventurine, Boothill, Jiaoqiu.

✰ Words: 1,3k.

✰ SFW ; a tiny bit sug/gestive in aven's part.

Warnings: none, gn!reader.

A/N: first time writing for anaxa, phainon, aven and sunday. pls spare me if theyre too ooc :( i tried pensive emoji

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Anaxa:

Religiously sticks to his half of the bed and expects you to do the same as well. Be aware that if you don't behave, he'll poke you intensely with a pointer until you return to your side. It's not that he is uncomfortable with physical contact per se, but he appreciates his personal space; he's not completely heartless though, as he finishes off his day with a kiss that leaves you both breathless. What you may not expect this for the first few times is that when the sun rises ever so slowly, the professor is the one desperately clinging to you, making his lengthy battle the night prior dissipate within mere hours.

"No such things happened," Anaxa answers swiftly, "however, this does not surprise me. This isn't the first time you've devised a ridiculous statement."

You would've believed his words if Anaxa wasn't currently nuzzling into your shoulder blades, searching for your warmth.

Phainon:

If Anaxa at least attempts to keep his distance, Phainon knows nothing of sorts. He's quite shamelessly glued to you as soon as you enter your bedroom, let alone the bed itself. Though, you're not exactly sleeping as soon as you crawl under the covers - Phainon tends to have a cuddle session before finally succumbing to sleep. He wants to talk to you about his day and hear about yours - only then he's satisfied enough. Bedtime might also act as a rare, vulnerable time for Phainon, where no filter exists; he says everything that keeps him restless.

"Will you be there when I wake up?" Phainon only hopes his voice is not as broken as it is inside his head.

"Silly, of course. I'll be by your side every time you wake up." Your tender tone is enough to fade some of the somber clouds above his head.

Phainon laughs, but it comes out as bittersweet; he brings you closer and wraps his arm tightly around your side, hiding his face in your neck. He'll do everything to make it happen - even if it means fighting the fate itself.

Mydei:

The Kremnoan prince insists he doesn't require sleep, but falls victim to your puppy eyes. He makes sure you have the best quality of sheets, pajamas, and pillows; your comfort comes first to him, no matter how many times you insist that he brings you the said comfort the most, and the rest is insignificant. Mydei holds you close to his chest, playing softly with your hair to help you fall asleep - only then he's able to rest, knowing your soul is peacefully in repose. If plagued by nightmares, featherlight kisses on your eyelids wreak the foes away.

"Sleep well, my love," Mydei cradles your cheek for a moment, before adjusting himself; his lips are resting against your forehead, as he himself, begins to doze off.

You, on the other hand, watch Mydei sleep in the morning. A wide smile spreads on your face as you observe his chest fall and rise, a moment of interrupted serenity on his handsome face.

"Looking at me again?" The male questions, his deep voice dripping with honey, watching you with one eye open; perhaps not yet ready for the bright light.

"No...?"

Mydei pinches your nose lightheartedly.

"You're a bad liar."

Sunday:

Poor thing trying to break the habit. Being used to having everything in perfect state, Sunday needs a reminder that it's okay for bedsheets to have a few wrinkles here and there. He'll apologize nervously, but you can't stop him from fluffing up your pillows and readjusting the covers. He tries to stay on his half but desperately wants to stay close to you, so don't hesitate to pull him close - he'll freak out for a bit, and then slowly, but steadily give in to your touch. There's one thing you too, cannot resist - watching his innocent image crumble away in your very hands.

"Quit smushing my face against your—" Sunday's words die in his throat as you push his face further into your chest, the redness of his cheeks so bright, it could rival Himeko's scarlet hair.

"This is— this is inappropriate! How humiliating..."

You only laugh at your boyfriend's despair. Sometimes it's nice to be a villain.

"What, you're not gonna fight me? Are you chickening out?" You poke his side. He groans and bends in half for a second.

"Atrocious joke."

Be prepared for his wing accidentally hitting your face tomorrow when you kiss...

Himeko: lmfaoo robin you wont believe they actually did this *sends a video*

Aventurine:

Gambling who sleeps on the floor. You don't play that game anymore. The blonde finds great pleasure in aggravating you before sleep hits in, gambling with his own life to get a reaction out of you. He cackles mischievously if you try to suffocate him with a pillow for tickling you for at least 15 minutes prior, but even so, it's not enough for him to let you go to the dreamland, yet. By the time you're done, your bed needs to be made again and your shared panting could possibly give bystanders a very different idea...

"Aven, enough, I think my diaphragm might actually explode," a remnant of giggles still exits your mouth, unfortunately, Aventurine does not share your sentiment and snakes his arm against your belly, while kissing your neck a bit too enthusiastically.

"Stopping, now? Where's the fun in that?" His fingers play with the waistband of your pajamas, "Why not raise the stakes a bit more?" Your skin turns into goosebumps as you feel a grin painting itself on Aventurine's face against your neck.

Boothill:

Well, he doesn't sleep really, he has to get recharged with electricity to get the energy back... So there might be a problem. Hopefully, your bed is also able to support some heavy weight, since laying down with a man whose body is almost a full machine, can be quite challenging. Either way, Boothill is actually pretty excited to accompany you, even if he'll spend most of the time watching you sleep instead; he'll hum you a song to help you fall asleep, card through your hair with his hand - it's... Reminding him of the peace he used to have on his home planet. You being the only survivor besides Boothill made him much more protective than before, but seeing you sleep so blissfully curled up to him... You still trust him. That's all it matters, after so many sleepless nights you've had.

"Shh, sleep," Boothill urges you gently, pulling up the bedding to cover you further.

"I wish you could sleep with me."

Boothill chuckles, caressing your cheek with his robotic finger, "I might not sleep with ya anymore, but I'm still here. And will be, until yer sick of me."

Jiaoqiu:

This man. He wraps his whole body around you like a snake and doesn't let go until morning. If it's possible for him to entangle his tail somewhere - expect that too. If you try to escape his grasp, he'll accuse you of not loving him anymore and might bite you (in a teasing way, of course). The sly foxian tends to sneak his hands under your clothes to rest them over your bare skin; sometimes, if need be, instead of teasing you furthermore, he gives you a soothing massage before drifting off. In fact, he'd prefer to sleep bare - skin to skin, but respects it if you're not interested; not that a mere layer will stop him from being a menace.

"Jiaoqiu," you sigh, looking over your shoulder, "your tail is reaching places that the sun cannot."

"Oh, really?" His voice dripping with fake surprise, but he only adjusts his head against the pillow behind you, "A checkup is necessary in order to ensure your health is in good condition."

Despite his silvery voice and elegant words, don't be fooled - mischief is laced through the tiny gaps.

[liketolaugh-writes]

Sick Day Once A Year

I might be too much in love with the Death Echoes trope. So, have a whole bunch of Bruce taking care of Danny. It's basically a sickfic with extra hurt/comfort.

It takes place in the same verse as More Like Home but probably won't happen until after the plot of that fic is done. At this point, Danny has been living with Bruce for a little under a year.

-----

At noon, Alfred called Bruce to ask him to come home early. Bruce turned around and walked out of the board meeting without even looking at anyone, but did throw a distracted 'family emergency!' over his shoulder. He might have carefully cultivated his airheaded Brucie persona, but even then people knew that he took his kids seriously.

He ignored the board member that grumbled 'enough fucking family to have an emergency every day if he wants.'

"What is it, Alfred?" Bruce asked, once he was clear of the board room and in the elevator. Calm. Calm. No running. Brucie doesn't run.

"Master Danny declined to specify the nature of his sick day this morning," Alfred said, in a dry tone that didn't do a bit to hide the worry underneath it. "Apparently the anniversary of one's death is rather... physically harrowing for a ghost. He's admitted that he'd like to have you here."

But of course he hadn't asked for it, because that would require bringing up what he was. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Ten minutes at most."

"I'll let him know. Come prepared to spend several hours in his room, if not the rest of the day. He indicated that he may be well enough to eat by eight or nine o'clock, but even then..."

Meaning he expected to be debilitated until then. "Understood. Should I bring anything?"

"He's not aware of anything that will help, but some topical analgesic might be of use. I will see if I can find anything else to try."

"He's in pain?" Bruce's brow furrowed. Alfred hesitated before answering, which made Bruce's heart sink.

"He is... physically reliving his death, he says, and will be for most of the day. He is in quite a bit of pain."

"These kids will be the death of me," Bruce muttered. Danny hadn't even hinted at anything like this when he asked for the day off. Bruce made a mental note to keep him off patrol the next night as well. The elevator stopped, and he took off at as quick a walk as he dared. "I'll be there in ten."

"Yes, Master Bruce." Alfred hung up, hopefully to return to Danny.

On the way, he collected a few items that seemed promising: IcyHot cream in the strongest available formula, both heat and cold packs, a variety of compression bandages, and some muscle relaxers from the Batcave infirmary.

Bruce knocked on Danny's door. Cool air drifting out of it indicated either Danny or Alfred had turned the thermostat down lower than usual. Fortunately, Bruce had grabbed a jacket just in case.

"'M in," Danny mumbled, barely loud enough for Bruce to make out.

He pushed the door open and was unsurprised to see Alfred seated beside a miserable-looking Danny. He was surprised to see Danny in ghost form, as it wasn't a form he typically spent recreational time in, particularly when he was unwell. Perhaps it made the ordeal easier. Danny was curled up in his bed, on top of the covers, with his jumpsuit removed and a set of soft pajamas in its place. Alfred was running one hand through Danny's soft white hair, slow and comforting, while his other held one of Danny's.

"Hey, chum," Bruce called out quietly, drawing Danny's attention to him. "Heard you're hurting today." Danny hummed unhappily instead of denying it, which was concerning. "Think you'll be able to eat anything for lunch? Applesauce, bone broth, yogurt? Maybe with ectoplasm?" Danny didn't seem to have any intention of leaving ghost form.

Danny started to shake his head, but stopped to consider when Bruce brought up the last point. "Applesauce and ectoplasm," he mumbled. "Maybe. Nothing after like, two, though."

Alfred gave Bruce a warm smile and gently extracted himself from Danny. "I will see to it," he promised. "Do you need anything else, Master Danny? Master Bruce?"

Danny shook his head mutely, and Bruce said, "I'll text you an update once we've tried these." He hefted the bag he was holding. "If you could bring me lunch when you can, I'd appreciate it."

"Of course," Alfred promised. "I hope you feel better, Master Danny."

"Thanks, Alfie."

Alfred left, shutting the door gently behind him, and Bruce took his place, setting the bag at his feet for now. Danny didn't stir from his leaden sprawl, not even to lift his head.

"You didn't have to leave work, y'know," Danny mumbled, half into the pillow. "I'll be okay."

He didn't apologize, Bruce noted. That was progress. "I know I didn't have to. But someone should be here with you."

"I don't-" Danny choked, his hands squeezing into fists as his whole body shuddered and jerked as if tased. Danny panted through the spasm, his whole body rigid, and when it was over he slumped down and let out a weak moan of pain, making no attempt to continue arguing. It took Bruce a moment to remember to breathe, reminding himself forcefully that this was no attack.

"I brought you some stuff," Bruce said, softer. Danny grunted in discontent. Bruce leaned down and opened the bag anyway. "IcyHot lidocaine cream and muscle relaxers." Danny shook his head without looking. Bruce wasn't surprised. He hadn't realized Danny was in ghost form. "Both heat and cold packs." Danny hummed in mild interest but didn't open his eyes. "And compression bandages."

Danny blinked his eyes open to consider them. His usually neon eyes looked dull. "Worth a try," he muttered after a moment.

Good. Something was better than nothing. "Do you need help sitting up?"

Danny's mouth quirked in a dry smile. "Not yet."

He pushed himself up with a grunt, and shrugged off his pajama shirt with intangibility rather than lift his arms. Bruce had to suppress an immediate and visceral reaction to the glowing lines that coiled up his left arm, which he had only gotten glimpses of before; a telltale Lichtenberg permanently etched onto Danny's ghost form. In contrast to the rest of him, which had dimmed to about the light of a glowstick, the Lichtenburg mark was painfully bright.

"Where do you want these?" Bruce asked, lifting one of the rolls of elastic bandaging. Danny cocked his head and considered it. Then he gestured silently, indicating his left arm from his wrist to his shoulder, and twisted to give Bruce access. With the ease of long practice, Bruce started to wrap it. "Anything I should expect?"

Danny watched him unroll the bandages for a minute, around and around, getting halfway up Danny's forearm before he answered. "The pain comes in waves. They'll keep getting longer, more severe, and closer together until around four, and then they'll die down completely about two hours after that." He paused, watching Bruce loosen the bandages around his elbow before moving on. "It won't ever get as bad as actually dying, but it's still pretty bad. And I'll be really emotional for a lot of it, especially when it hits peak."

"When are you not." The words were out before Bruce could think twice about them. Fortunately, Danny laughed, tired but genuine.

"You've got me there. How many rolls of bandages do you have?"

"I brought three. Alfred can obtain more if necessary." Pretty bad, Danny said. Bruce had no desire to experience pain that Danny described as 'pretty bad.' His tolerance was high even for their family.

Danny shook his head. "That should be okay. Can you do my back too?"

"Yes, but I'll need to be closer." Danny scooted to make room, and Bruce shifted to sit next to him, then tapped a spot low on Danny's spine. "Starting here?" Danny nodded. "Alright. Is there anything else I should know?"

Thankfully, Danny seemed to genuinely think about it, but eventually he shook his head. "I've only had two of these," he reminded Bruce. "There's more stuff I don't know, probably."

Ah yes, a frustrating constant. The elusive nature of comprehensive information about ghosts. Even Constantine had large gaps in his knowledge, which Bruce would grudgingly admit was rare for the man. This? This was definitely not in the introductory handbook. Was Bruce now obligated to share information in return? Hn.

Danny squinted at him. "What did Constantine do now?" he asked.

"Constantine."

"You have a very distinct 'thinking about Constantine' face."

"Hn."

Danny smiled briefly, then yelped, curling up like a bug and accidentally dislodging Bruce's grip on the bandaging. Instinctively, Bruce tucked Danny against his side, and Danny shook and twitched against him, a desperate whine tearing itself free as Danny rode out the wave of pain. Bruce all but held his breath until Danny finally slumped again, breathing heavily. His chill crept through the jacket Bruce had slipped on before coming in.

"Ready to keep going?" Bruce prodded, once Danny's breath evened out. Danny laid there for another few seconds, then nodded and pushed himself upright with a wince. Bruce picked up the dropped end of the bandage, tightened what had come loose, and kept going. "You're sore?"

"Ha." Danny lifted his arms slightly, enough to make room for Bruce to work. Bruce shifted and encouraged Danny to rest his arms on Bruce's shoulders, and Danny did, leaning against him. "Yeah, I wake up pretty achy already, even though I don't start getting spasms until ten. Just to make sure I have a really miserable day."

Uncharacteristically bitter, Bruce noted, but unsurprising under the circumstances. He didn't comment. "Remarkably, we don't currently possess any upper back bandages. I'll ask Alfred to retrieve one if you're happy with the results. We do have shoulder and wrist bandages." Bruce finished wrapping Danny's torso but didn't pull away.

Danny turned his head to squint at the bandages peeking out of the bag. "Why'd you bring so many?"

"I know how you died," Bruce reminded Danny evenly. Electrocution implied muscle pain, and Bruce had suspected his left arm would take the brunt of it. Danny shuddered, a natural one this time, and pressed himself against Bruce for comfort. Bruce dropped an arm around his back, holding him. A minute or two passed, and then Danny pulled away with a sigh.

"Okay."

Right, yes. More compression bandages. These went by much faster, simply needing to be strapped on, and soon Danny's hand and shoulder had joined his left arm and mid-back in compression. He seemed satisfied with that and laid back down on the bed, somewhat more relaxed than when Bruce had first come back in. Bruce hesitated, then shifted closer again and set his hand on Danny's upper back, carefully trying to smooth out the painful knots that had developed there. Danny 'mm'ed softly but didn't otherwise react.

Alfred knocked on the door, and Bruce called him inside when Danny made no move to. Alfred pushed open the door and brought in two plates, one for Danny and one for Bruce. Bruce accepted his with a nod.

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said quietly. "Danny, are you up to eating?"

Danny didn't answer at first, but then shifted around to glower half-heartedly at the bowl Alfred had brought. Then he buried his face in Bruce's arm, grumbling, and Bruce's mouth twitched in amusement. It disappeared when another tremor wracked Danny's body, and the young teen bleated in pain, his grip tightening painfully.

Bruce forced himself to breathe evenly this time, and massaged Danny's hand with his own, pressing through the thick bandage. Danny slumped, panting, and with care, Bruce shifted his hand to massage all the way up Danny's arm, coaxing the tension out of the muscles there until he reached Danny's shoulder, skipped past the compression bandage, and pressed his fingers into Danny's back. Danny didn't say anything, but he pressed into Bruce gratefully and stayed relaxed. Somehow, still, Bruce was startled when Alfred joined him, cupping Danny's temple in one hand.

"Master Danny?" Alfred coaxed, more firmly than Bruce had. "Can you stomach some applesauce?" Danny whined, a softer-toned protest than the low keens of pain he'd let slip. "I know, but you will feel worse if you don't eat anything. I don't think you want that."

Danny grumbled something that sounded like 'no' and acquiesced, allowing himself to be propped up just enough to poke the glowing applesauce with a spoon. He brightened a little at the reminder that Alfred had added ectoplasm, and started to eat. Bruce followed his example and worked quickly through his sandwich.

"I see you're making good use of our extensive collection of medical garments," Alfred said to Bruce, making Bruce snort quietly. "Will you be needing anything else?"

"If he's satisfied with the improvement from these, we'll need one for his upper back as well," Bruce said. "I'll let you know."

"Perhaps after this, the collection will be complete."

Danny got through about half the applesauce before he pushed it away, and Bruce set it on a clear spot on his nightstand before Alfred could pick it up. He glanced up at the butler. "I'll see if I can coax more of this into him later."

Alfred gave him a small smile. "Very well. I'll check in later to see how the two of you are doing."

Bruce nodded, and Alfred left to attend to the manor. Bruce turned his attention back to Danny and considered him. He had a few more questions - why Danny was staying in ghost form, if there were any physical effects from this - but nothing that couldn't wait until Danny was less ill. He picked up his tablet instead. "Would you like me to read to you?"

Danny tilted his head up to look at him, then nodded. It was barely twelve thirty and he already looked exhausted, pale even for his ghost form and cradling his left arm protectively. Bruce hoped he'd be able to sleep at some point, but that seemed unlikely until the pain had passed, which apparently would not be for hours.

Bruce picked up his tablet and quickly downloaded a book. Danny had mentioned wanting to read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' a few times, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. "The story so far: in the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

Danny snickered softly.

As always, reading to his kids made time pass a little faster. It also gave him easy access to the digital clock, and with the note function innate to the Kindle app, he could keep track of the time and Danny's progressing condition, most importantly the interval between spasms and the relative severity of the pain.

After half an hour, he noted that the current interval period was about twelve minutes and asked Danny, "Are the compression bandages helping as much as desired?"

Danny nodded. He'd pulled a thin blanket over himself after a while, mainly for comfort, and his hold on his left arm was still loose enough that Bruce believed it was more psychological than physical for the moment. "Hurts less when I can't jerk around so much. One for my upper back would be good. The shoulder one isn't quite cutting it." He made a face.

Bruce shot off a text to let Alfred know. "Anything else you want?"

Danny wrinkled his nose. "Heat pack?" he asked, softer and more tentative, as if there was anything Bruce would say no to right now.

And that was simple enough. Bruce activated one of the handheld heating packs and handed it to Danny, who shuffled around a little before putting it on his neck, by the junction of his shoulder. Bruce picked his tablet back up and continued reading.

Alfred returned about twenty minutes later with the requested bandage, and Danny didn't protest when Bruce went to help him sit up. He wasn't weakened, Bruce judged after a minute, but there was a minute tremble in his muscles that indicated the pain was ramping up even outside of the periodic spasms.

Bruce helped him get the new compression bandage on, and then paused to smooth out some of the building tension there. Danny leaned in gratefully - he was much more physically affectionate than most of Bruce's children, he'd come to realize, except perhaps Cass and Dick. Bruce kept an eye on the clock, and made sure to get Danny down before the next spasm hit. Danny groaned, the sound drawn-out and wavering unhappily, and clung to Bruce through it before falling into a shivering, panting slump.

Alfred ran his fingers through Danny's hair, nodded to Bruce, and left quietly, as harried as ever when one of the kids was suffering.

"You happy like this, chum, or do you want to lay back how you were?" Bruce asked Danny quietly. Danny grunted, then squirmed further into Bruce's lap. It was a little eerie, Danny being so light and cold in this form that Bruce could have mistaken him for a lap full of snow, but it made Bruce smile for a moment. "Alright."

He settled down and picked up his tablet to resume reading, noting the time and event before he continued.

A part of Bruce, a not-so-small part, was furious that Danny had meant to handle this alone, without anything to even try to ease the pain; it reminded him of when nine-year-old Tim had caught a bad strain of flu, and how confused he had been when Alfred insisted on him staying at Wayne Manor to be cared for. This might not have been particularly dangerous, it was true, but Danny was miserable now and only promised to get more so through the day.

He wondered briefly how Danny had spent the previous two such events. Certainly not with his parents, there being no human explanation for this. Could he even be home for it, in the comfort of his own room, or did he have to go elsewhere? Had he been alone for either of them? It unfortunately seemed likely, especially if he hadn't known about it in advance the first time.

Even with the bandages stabilizing half his upper body, Danny's groans and whines slowly progressed into low keens of pain, and he started to clutch at himself through each one, gasping for breath like it was the only thing that would bring him comfort. Bruce shifted so one of his hands rested on Danny's shoulder, where a gap between the shoulder and upper back bandages seemed to be creating a sharp spot of pain that Danny kept trying to get at. He massaged it carefully without looking away from the tablet, and Danny relaxed a little, panting.

At two thirty, Danny started to cry, exhausted tears shining on his cheeks and faint, breathy sobs following each spasm. At three, Bruce noted that the interval had decreased to six minutes, then set the tablet aside and transferred his attention to comforting Danny.

"How are you feeling, chum?" he asked quietly.

"Hurts, God, it hurts," Danny choked out, trembling like a leaf and his better hand clamping down on his shoulder again. "'S so cold, Bruce. It's in my bones. Shouldn' be in me."

Cold. Ectoplasm? Bruce wasn't sure. Danny had never described his accident at length. "Heat pack?"

Danny nodded jerkily, so Bruce leaned forward, careful not to jostle him, and grabbed a few. He lifted the blanket enough to place one on Danny's upper back and one on his lower, then noted the time and the request. If this was indeed a yearly event, a thought that made his blood boil, they'd need to be better prepared for it next year.

A stray thought crossed Bruce's mind. Did this happen to Jason as well? Jason had never referenced anything of the sort, but he also knew that Jason never went out on the anniversary of his death. Bruce would know; he'd specifically looked out for him the first few years, before the habit became apparent, and still kept half an eye out since.

Danny cried out, no longer making any effort to muffle the noise, and seized and jerked through another long episode. Bruce counted silently. Up to thirty-three seconds. When it was over, he sobbed and curled closer to Bruce.

"Why'd they have to build that stupid portal?" Danny choked out. Bruce ruthlessly clamped down on another wave of rage at the eldest Fentons. "God. A-ah. This sucks. I wanna go to bed. I want it to be over." His voice cracked.

Sleeping pills, or a sedative? They wouldn't work on Danny's ghost form either, but depending on why he wasn't reverting to human, they could try to get him to sleep through as much of the day as possible. Something to discuss later on. "It's 3:16." Danny whined in protest. "I've got you. What hurts the most?" He checked on the heat pack by Danny's neck, making sure it was still in place.

"My chest hurts," Danny sobbed quietly, his face wet with tears. "My heart is stopping."

Unfortunately, Bruce couldn't help with that. He set his hand on Danny's chest anyway, and Danny reached up and clutched at it, apparently finding comfort in the futile gesture all the same. Even his hand trembled.

"'M scared, B," Danny confessed after another minute, almost too quiet to hear. Bruce's chest tightened, and he breathed through another wave of frustration and hatred before he could soften his voice enough to reply.

"You're going to be fine, Danny. You'll be in pain for a few more hours, but that's all it is."

"'M already dead," Danny murmured. From inflection, Bruce deduced that it was meant to be self-soothing.

Bruce's throat ached. "...Yes."

At four o'clock, the interval dropped to two minutes, counting from the end of one spasm to the start of the next. It barely gave Danny time to breathe, and he tossed and turned until Bruce moved both of them so Danny could sit up and hold onto him, crying into his shoulder. Danny held on with bruising force - and no more, as careful as Clark even now - and jerked, hands tightening and loosening in Bruce's jacket with the ebb and flow of relived pain.

You did this to him, Bruce thought at the elder Fentons, more than once.

At exactly 4:36 - Bruce was keeping as close an eye on the clock as he could manage - Danny screamed. Bruce immediately recognized the sound from an echo audible in his Ghostly Wail. Bruce's jacket tore under Danny's hands, and a horrible, quaking tremor seized Danny in an unmistakably fatal grip. Bruce counted the seconds and held Danny too tightly for him to accidentally shake himself loose.

Forty-six seconds. That was how long the worst spasm held him. Bruce assumed that was also how long it had taken Danny to die.

In contrast to the other times, when it finally released him, Danny pressed in closer instead of loosening his grip, and sobbed hysterically.

"No, no," Danny choked out, and "Please, I don't wanna-" and "Dad, Dad."

What did you say after something like that?

"I've got you," Bruce settled on. "You're safe. You're with me."

Danny calmed down slowly, sobs dying down into heaving breaths and then into a deep but labored rhythm that closely matched Bruce's but seemed to take much more effort. The next spasm that hit was much lighter, lasting only eighteen seconds, but it still sent Danny into renewed shudders and tears, holding on tightly.

When Danny seemed calm enough, Bruce shifted him enough so that Bruce could hold him in one arm, then pulled his tablet back over and logged the time of death, length of the accompanying fit, and what had followed. Interval immediately increased back to more than ten minutes (Bruce had unfortunately missed the precise time) and period decreased to eighteen seconds.

Danny set his head on Bruce's shoulder.

After that, things got much easier. At 5:15, Danny removed himself from Bruce's lap to lay down. He removed all of the heat packs and passed them to Bruce, but kept the compression bandages on. He didn't reach for the blanket but hummed gratefully when Bruce pulled it over him anyway, and Bruce sat on the floor beside him and debated returning to reading aloud.

"Whoa. You two look wiped."

Bruce looked up. Duke had opened the door to talk to them, probably too worried by what he'd seen through the door to remember to knock first, and his expression was pinched with worry. "Duke. Anything on patrol?"

"Uh, some movement I'll tattle to Jason about, but nothing big." He studied them with concern. "How's Danny doing? I didn't realize he was this sick."

Hm. Had Alfred declined to explain what had happened? Bruce glanced at Danny as the teenager hummed unhappily, but Danny didn't say anything else, so Bruce provided, "He's had a long day. I expect he'll go to sleep soon. We'll debrief tomorrow."

"Debrief?" Duke frowned at him, understanding immediately that there was more than what he'd been told, but then he glanced at Danny and just nodded. "Alright. Feel better soon, Danny. Get some rest, okay? I'll let Alfred know how you're doing."

Danny's hum this time was more positive.

At 5:30, Danny fell asleep. At 5:45, Dick came in to check on them and left once he'd come to look at Danny's sleeping (calm) face, and at 6:15, Cass came in with a plate of food for Bruce and a few granola bars for Danny. For when he wakes up, she signed.

A little while after 6:30, Bruce fell asleep without meaning to.

[lavenderprose]

There is some universe where Rook is a young up and coming popstar (Not like teen idol tho she's like. 27.) and she sings songs about Riding Dick and Eating Pussy using cleverly disguised innuendo like sports car and cherry. (They're not clever.) She doesn't write her own lyrics she just sings them with her mouth. When she writes her own songs they're like. Hey does anyone ever think about dying. I lost my mother at a young age and that was WILD. One time I had a transcendental sexual experience with a girl who wouldn't meet my eyes afterward and I was sad about it for a YEAR.

These are good songs but the executives were like. Yikes kid, bummer. How about you sing about partying in Val Royeaux.

I've never EVEN been to Val Royeaux, says Rook. Nobody listens.

Meanwhile Emmrich is a famous pianist. He was a child prodigy and he's been making television appearances since he was eight years old. These days he has a residency with the Nevarran National Symphony Orchestra and only occasionally (Several times a year) makes appearances elsewhere. He's often approached to feature on albums, especially when artists are trying to appeal to a new demographic.

Anyway, Rook's producers are like. You HAVE to release a Wintersend album. It's just what's done. And Rook is NOT religious but she has fond memories of the more traditional Wintersend songs her mom used to play, so she's like. Okay. I'll do whatever weird version of All I Want For Wintersend is You that you put in front of me, BUT. But. I also want to do a version of Winter's Longest Night.

(This is a very Andraste-heavy song that basically just rehashes the lore of Wintersend. It was Rook's mom's favorite. It's usually done with a killer piano solo in the middle)

Cue Emmrich, because of course. He shows up in a maroon sweater vest with the longest fingers Rook's ever seen, introducing himself like she didn't grow up listening to HIS Wintersend album.

They fall in love while the snow falls. Because of COURSE they do. There's a scene where Emmrich sits behind Rook and she's wearing nothing but his shirt and he leads her in plucking out chords on the piano. It's the most romantic shit you've ever seen but that's not the POINT.

The point is that the tabloids are like. What is this HOT YOUNG POP STAR doing with this OLD PIANO DUDE. Our moms listened to his music, screams all the rags. Or something to that effect.

A publicity stunt! She's a gold digger, he's a creep!

The truth is much simpler and it's this: anyone with half a fucking brain can look at Rook and tell that she's deeply fucking gone on that old man. She walks down the street holding his hand, just being young and hot wearing shorts and a bikini top and looking at him like he hung the stars while he's in a waistcoat and slacks and reading menus OVER the top of his reading glasses. Why even put them on. God he's hot.

They go on vacation and someone with a telescopic lens snaps an image of Emmrich looking like a translucent fucking ghost while Rook smiles ear to ear and hangs off him in the tide pools, all tan and sunhat.

When the paparazzi corner her in an airport, it's always just to see her power-walking down the jetway with Emmrich's hand on the back of her shirt like a little kid being led through a crowd.

Someone has the bright idea to address him. Ask him some unsavory question about the age difference--something stupid and out of pocket and just to get a reaction.

Rook spins around and flips off her sunglasses to reveal bloodshot eyes--because she's played six concerts in as many nights and now she's on her way to PASS OUT with her man in a giant bed with his stupid fluffy cat.

"You," she snaps at the paparazzo. "Yeah, blobfish looking motherfucker. Do not speak to him. Keep your tongue in your fucking mouth around my husband, or I will end your career in a way that means your grandchildren won't be able to work in this town. Do you understand?"

The front page of every gossip site immediately reads, "HUSBAND???"

Emmrich, of course, forgives her. He was never even upset in the first place. He does make sure that the pregnancy is quietly and subtly leaked to a more reputable magazine, though.

[omgfangirlland]

Dude, Imagine a reader being isekaid in Gotham. Reader has a system which prevents them from dying so they're kinda immortal. What I mean is that reader can die but they'll get revived again and again. Of course.. Since it's Gotham, she gets killed on her first night. Imagine where there are certain things she gotta do to unlock some abilities but she doesn't know what or how to unlock it. A reader who was happy at being isekaid before she slowly realized the reality she was on now (happy character to gloomy and depressed reader). Imagine a reader who's slowly losing it as she dies for the 99th time.. How life slowly does in her eyes. Randomly thought of this as I was reading a quotev story of a Reader x record of Ragnarok. This sucks cause I wrote this at 3am with one eye closed. ➖👄👁 (me rn)

-🔱

OMG GO TO SLEEEP (I'll probably stay awake until 5 am so really, who am I to talk-)

Tried to keep this GN!Reader, but I may have slipped. This may be gruesome soooo fair warning from now: Dead dove do not eat, gore, blood, death, everyone is getting traumatized tbh, suicide mentioned, trying to make it funny but it gets dark quick, lots of shit like that

Some things before starting:

I've always liked the idea of Isekaid!Reader- add to that Immortal-but-not-really!Reader who remembers every death? Amazing angst.

Reader who is immortal in the sense that she regenerates, no matter how small the piece left is, she'll be back up and running by the next day, maybe the next week if the piece is really small- but you'll see her again! And like Deathstroke, the regeneration keeps her "in her prime" as well, so if she died young, like 16, she'd stop aging by 25-30(tbh this would prob be another layer to the trauma)

I imagine the way to level up is in a dead magical language, a forgotten dialect of some god, etc.

This could turn into a multi chaptered fic... This could be Romantic!Batfam... This could be Romantic!The Immortal Version!Wonder Woman... This could be Romantic!Ra's and Talia 😈 IT could be all three options 😈😈😈 It's def yandere/obsessive territory either way.

---

No matter how Reader actually died in real life, mugging gone wrong, the classic bus/truck moment, suicide, etc etc, it'll probably be brushed off as a dream in a dream once you realize you've woken up in Gotham.

So, of course Reader dies the first night. "Oh- it's just a dream, let me do crazy shit like going into rich people's places-"Yeah you end up in a hostage situation.

Now- you wanted to be sneaky, play vigilante for shits and giggles, you weren't as amused when you were eye to eye with a bomb.

Now, Batsy thinks everything is fine- he got everyone out, the area is evacuated, and everything can be rebuilt. And then he hears Oracle gasp, saying someone is face to face with the bomb. It's Jason all over again, from him running towards the building, to your shoulders slumping in defeat as the clock ticks zero, to Bruce being in utter shock as he tries to move on as the smell of burnt human flesh once again sticks to him, bringing back his sleepless nights and blank stare.

You weren't worried, thinking you'd just wake up and go to your normal life. But you wake up in pain as bones, veins, nerves, meat, and skin regrow, as the fabric that was melted into your skin is expelled, clear skin taking over. It was excruciating. It left you screaming and crying, your body shaking on the metal table. And it left the mortician who was about to work on you passed out on the floor.

When the old woman wakes up, the only evidence that she didn't hallucinate is the missing change of clothes, CCTV recordings showing you stumbling out of the building, barely able to walk, and a small smear of liquid gold.

Bruce's guilt was eating him. He's memorized your face at this point, every pixel, the way your shoulders dropped, to the way you resigned to your fate. And he starts to see you in random places, looking at him from over the street as he's swarmed by reporters, in the local cemetery, on Red Hood's territory. So he goes to the morgue.

When the bat comes knocking for any information on you, for any blood he can test to find out who you are, so Bruce Wayne can send some guilt money to your family, the woman pales, multiple prayers to different gods spewing out of her lips. Another employee, not quite as terrified but still shaken, tells him everything, even shows him the recording.

From everything, he'd have assumed a trauma-born meta-gene, but the liquid gold smear and the pure fact that you should have been dead, no discussion had, gave him pause. Maybe it was a Dark Justice League problem.

You've died so much, you stopped counting, what use was it anyway? You tried leaving Gotham, but every time something would happen, from almost getting decapitated, it was so weird to feel your neck sewing itself in place, to being run over, to being shot Bonnie and Clyde style. So much happened, and you remember it all. You remember the pain, the way your blood seeped through your wounds, the crack of your bones.

But you also remember waking up from imminent death, the red blood now golden and melting into the ground, the pain of everything mending, over and over again. You stopped trying, taking refuge in the safest territory you knew. You also stopped looking into reflections. You couldn't take what you saw, what you would hear if you stared long enough- letters and whispered words in a language you couldn't recognize, dark figures in the corner of your eye, hands clutching at you- it was too much, a never ending nightmare.

It didn't matter who you were in your past life, in Gotham, you are a nobody, and even so, the Bat and his birds found you quite quickly. Granted, you working for gangs and occasionally the Penguing wasn't exactly low profile, but no one else would hire you without needing some form of documents. Documents you no longer have. So you took to cleaning up The Lounge and turning a blind eye to everything that was happening, to the drugs, to the scream coming from the basement you weren't supposed to know existed, everything. The way Penguing pays, you'd play dumb for as long as he was alive, honestly. Soon enough, you'd be able to afford a house.

Of course- you were trying to avoid Batsy and whatever robin he currently had, what would you even say to him if you could catch a one-on-one moment? "I know everything about every version of you because I'm from another world, I found out I'm immortal, and need a sugar daddy."? Jail. Straight to Arkham. Nobody would believe you. But you were already on his radar, and when he emerged from the shadows of your small apartment, you understood why the goons were so afraid of him.

[disabilitymissunderstood]

Bro I breastfed my daughter for like a fucking WEEK! I had to stop because she stopped breathing like 2 fucking times, my boobs are to big to breastfeed AND she had health problems at the time. Meal prepping? Oh hunny everyone does that, I figured since I was a SINGLE HARDWORKING mother, that meal prepping was the easiest for me. I went weeks without eating just to be able to take care of my child, I had COUNTLESS SLEEPLESS nights just so my daughter has a dry diaper and warm food in her belly! I stopped being friends with my friends I had simply because they didn't understand that being a mom is more important then going to parties, or doing drugs, or fucking meeting with guys. You wanna call me a bad mom? Atleast my baby doesn't have to ever worry about when the next meal is, or if she'll ever have warm clothes.

You can tell parthena if she's got a problem with the way I DO shit stop being an ugly ass hoe that shows her tits on every fucking selfie to message me and we can have an adult conversation. All this could be avoided with communication instead *YOU* want to come off RUDE and be immature, we can play this game. But I so would hate to see you lose :)

You think it's funny to make in front of a dead man you don't know? Keep it up girl, it shows how heartless and immature you are. And yea he had maggets in his ears that's what happens when you've been dead for 17 years, jackass.

You think telling me you sitting on whatever the fuck his name is face bothers me? Girl I cringe. I laugh so hard over the fact YOU think I'm JEALOUS of YOU? OF HIM? bitch please get a clue. Perhaps get a fucking life? A hobby? I mean I could help you get a hobby if you need help!

Never claimed those candles I bought was mine that I made??

I do remember saying I plan on starting a candle business which are NOT the same thing girliepop!

But of course to you they are but whatever.

Again please stop being obsessed with my GORGEOUS daughter it's unsettling and it's showing pedo vibes, which of course doesn't suprise me one bit.

And I was emo back then. But who fucking cares? It's 2025, not 2012; grow the fuck up.

And I never copied anyone with the writing nor have I copied you-not that I would want too. I write pretty good but I absolutely don't need to prove ANYTHING to you because I know who I am and that's all that matters.

Getting your opinion Is like getting stepped in dog shit, stupid, worthless, and a waste of my fucking time.

I'm 25 I truly and utterly don't got time for your bullshit it's exhausting thank you for all the mean shit you've said, I know it'll make me a better and bigger person😘 keep being insecure

I LOVE my gorgeous body, I'm so sexy I TRULY love myself. Sorry you'll never experience that! I hope one day you can🙃

Btw I NEVER gave zach an STD and sweetheart he knows it too, I also have proof ;) but hehe thank u for the chuckle!

My life is awesome over here, to bad you can't just message me and apologize for coming at me so rudely I would've love to have a rational, mature, ADULT conversation. Cause I feel like we could be good friends IF you weren't rude.

People spread gossip and lies about everyone, especially those that they don't like.

I don't do that anymore, I ain't in highschool I'm a MOTHER, a daughter, a sister, a wife AND an ADULT.

We've all been through trauma and bullshit in life, and I'm sorry for whatever hurt you but it truly isn't my fault.

I also do go to theraphy and take meds cause I simply, and utterly WANT to be a better mama for MY child, because she DESERVES the best.

I'll keep eating my cake and enjoying MY life because I'm so glad I'm not with someone who made me feel worthless, ugly, starved me, LIED to me, and mentally and pyscially abused me, and cheated on me many times.

I admit I punched the hole in the wall but that's because he asked *ahem* a friend who was his but now MINE, for 5 FUCKING mins. She was there and she'll confirm it too.

I mean I was pissed off. I told him I was sorry and I'd pay to refix it but of course he didn't show you that now did he?

I'll never kill myself over you or him but keep harassing me and saying mean things to and about me. Your words DONT affect me.

It's beyond me, your level of obsession with ME is gross,

You wanna talk?

Message me

My phone number is 5076529432

But only text me if you're going to be nice and mature girliepop otherwise leave me and my brother and my daughter out of your mouth.

I will also take accountability on saying mean things to you, but girl you deserved some of them, aren't you glad I didn't misscarry? I know your goal is to get my happy healthy girl outta my custody but babygirl that won't happen because I'm a good FUCKING MOTHER.

Sad you never will be.

I will also not die unloved, kinda hard when I'm SO loved, I'm truly sorry you'll never experience that :/

And girl living in a section 8 housing and "living" off of government essistence mmm its not something I'm ashamed of

So thank you for your taxes sweetheart I'll make sure my daughter has EVERYTHING she needs ;) keep being pressed.

Anyways *yawn* I need coffee, I hope you take what I said to consideration and understand I'm not trying to be immature nor mean to you, I believe in "treat others the way they treat you" you treated me horrible so I treated you horrible back. But you see I don't wanna be that person anymore, especially for my daughter

It's not me, and I'd be dammed if my daughter gets bullied too.

So again, please stop harassing me. You leave me alone I'll leave you alone. You stop writing about me ill stop writing about you

I'm not scared of you, this isn't "omg she's serious I'm so scared!" Its

I'm tired, mentally and emotionally. I want to live a happy peaceful life with my child, so please I ask you kindly leave me alone.

Thank you

And have the day you deserve.

I truly hope one day you'll be kinder to the next person that crosses your path, because i know I will be.

I also want to mention: I'm glad he's got someone that loves him so deeply like that's awesome, even though he treated me horribly I still wish him the best, not for him but for me. I'm over him, I'm so passionately over him it's amazing. But I'm glad you're both happy together and I hope nothing but the best, you go live your life ill go live mine. But please stop accusing me of being "jealous" and "obsessive" of a man I forgot about the minute I got pregnant. I left his soul and existence back in 2023, you should do the same.

Congratulations on the engagement, hope you both have a happy healthy marriage.

[echantedtoon]

Yandere Kagaya Ubuyashiki Headcannons

I've been wondering what if he was a yandere. I don't support actual yandere behavior etc. I suck at editing images so excuse the sucky quality. I'll be including both Kimetsu no yaiba and Kimetsu Gauken versions of him as Kimetsu Academy Kagaya is a bit different from his Demon Slayer counterpart.

warnings for Yandere themes, death mentioned, etc.

-Let's say he doesn't meet Amane in this timeline. How does he meet you? What catches his attention to you above anyone else? His foresight of course. The Ubuyashiki family was widely known for their predictions and abilities to predict the future, and this time it was no different.

-He'd gotten the foresight one night that his future wife would come to him soon, and when he laid eyes upon you he KNEW you were the one. There was no question about that when you came to help care for him. So tender, so kind, and very loyal. Yes. He knew you were the one who his vision spoke of.

-Kagaya as a yandere would be pretty self aware. He knows these feelings are unnatural and possibly unhealthy, but as his foresight told him of your arrival, it must be meant to be because his foresight hadn't been wrong before.

-He wouldn't have to be manipulative. On his own he's already charming and he's able to convince you to marry him without having to manipulate any aspects of himself. Of course he can be manipulative if he wants to be. Only because he's very concerned about you and wants to keep you near him to protect you from demons. Or at least that's what he tells himself and the corps.

-Wouldnt try to isolate or trap you in anyway. He might try to convince you to stay within or nearby the estate but otherwise he doesn't mind you walking around or going to deliver messages on his behalf similar to how Amane did cannonically. But you'll always ALWAYS be escorted by kakushi or slayers and there's always a few stationed to secretly keep an eye on you about the estate...For your own safely of course!

-Any concerns about the relationship you have are washed away from his gentle and assuring voice alone as he has a way with words as everyone knows.

-Even tho he does allow you to roam the estate and go places freely, he'll always remind you how dangerous it is out there and how much he needs his loyal wife to help him with his day to day life. Sadly this isn't him manipulating too much. After all he IS right. It's dangerous with demons out there especially for his wife if any demon found out who you were, and he actually really DID need you to help him because of his condition which worsened every year. He's happy you choose to stay close even if he did use the current situation to convince you to do so. He simply tells himself it's for the best.

-Once you become pregnant with his children he fully insists on you staying in the estate and gets many healers and other members of the corps to help assist you with the pregnancy as well as himself as you progress along. He's only become more protective and a bit paranoid about you now. However he's also very happy. This means you both are actually a true couple now, and you'd never leave him alone to look after the children alone. He's happy that hes getting a life with you.

-His Kimetsu Academy self is slightly different. He doesn't have the foresight of his Demon Slayer counterpart so he doesn't become yandere out of thinking it's your destiny to be together, but from a sense of wanting to be loved and have a sense normalcy in his life after so much heartache.

-His mother and brothers passed in a fire while his father took his own life. His only other family is his distant relative, Muzan, and they don't have the best relationship either always being at odds. One point someone even mistaken him for Muzan and spraying his face causing the scars upon his face.

-So when he meets someone who expresses a romantic interest in him and who's NOT interested in his money or position, he immediately latches onto the idea of having a normal family life.

-Much like his DS counterpart, he's self aware and knows exactly what he's doing. He also wouldn't isolate or manipulate you (too much) so the relationship is pretty healthy. But like how his counterpart will hide his true natures under a soothing voice, he hides his under the charming personality Kimetsu Academy Kagaya has.

-Keeps you far away from his relative. Like FAR away. Muzan would be the only one who could see under the mask and he won't risk him scaring you off before you get married.

-He loves to spoil you rotten and goes all out on the romance aspect of the relationship keeping in mind to not go overboard and make you uncomfortable. Planning dates and y'all's wedding is his favorite hobby.

-He insists you get a job at his academy or become a stay a home wife insisting he can take care of you and to better keep an eye on you. If you don't do either he'll call or text you at least once a day and if you don't respond within an hour he's heading to wherever you are to 'check on you'.

-Once you become pregnant with both your quintuplets, he gently insists on you becoming a housewife more in order to help better take care of your incoming children. He's got the funds and can stay with you for the entirety of your pregnancy and after.

-he's very attentive and becomes more monitoring during this time. After you, you both were starting on the next leg of your lives together (forever) as a family like he do desperately wanted. He's not going to let that go so easily.

[staarboyyy]

Do you perhaps still take requests for Joe Goldberg? If yes, can I pretty please with a cherry on top have some Joe Goldberg x chubby! Fem! Reader? Gm is totally fine I'd just like some chubby representation...

I know you probably won't believe me but this ask is my first ever and I just noticed that there aren't any fics with Joe Goldberg and curvy/chubby reader....(I have thick thighs and some curviness around all my edges if you need that type of info) I don't care if it's a drabble, a fic, or hc or anything just a Joe Goldberg x chubby reader

Oh! Could you maybe make like, they meet at the library and he supposedly goes to help him and she calls him "oh lovey-" "sweetie, actually-" "sweet boy-" stuff like that??

Anyway I Love your work! Hope you have a great day/night/evening/life

daydream

johnathan moore [ joe goldberg ] x chubby fem librarian!reader

18+ characters / scenarios - minors dni

> joe's internal dialogue

tags / warnings ; dead dove do not eat, stalking, unhealthy dynamics, power imbalance in a work place, flirting

summary ; you run into professor moore, and meeting for the first time feels like he's known you far longer.

word count ; 1.3k

a / n : omg!! i love writing for specific requests, as joe, it makes the process soo much more fun!! i took a couple of creative liberties, but made sure to include everything asked :) we need more chubby representation!! i hope i wrote this drabble justice, chubby gals deserve some "light" stalking too y'all! <3

This Library is exquisite. Of course, I couldn't help myself from meandering about campus after recovering from the reeling hiring process. It was comforting, surrounded by the smell of pages, going up and on for miles above head. The second floor, quiet and persistently reserved for those who insisted on studying, noses driven between the worn pages like prophets. You know what I mean, I'm sure; The day you said my name, behind the second-floor desk, the swell of light shining into the necklaces you surely knew drove every man in the room up the wall - You smiled, apples of your round cheeks curving into your eyes, peering through your lashes to assist a carbon copy of the person before. You were kind, considerate to each person who came with the same problems. I don't know how you do it, especially now that I stepped my way into the line and; No. I step my way out of line. I can feel puckering eyes, glancing and sticking to my shoulders like glue - I am off the table for love right now, and need to get off this ride. I'll find you after I find out who keeps buzzing the phone, burning a hole in my back pocket. Just as I take a step onto my heel, a frayed copy of David Copperfield digging into the side of my ribs, I'll check out downstairs, collect myself and my concerningly fast heart rate, and -

"Can I help you, sweetheart?" The man, whose brown eyes swam the second story of the library hesitantly moved to you; A professor, English. You heard ample things about him, the frequenters of your level reporting their assigned findings in quiet whispers. You smiled softly, leaning your shoulders onto the desk and tilting your head off to the side, eyebrow cocking. The dark-eyed man wet his lips, opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. A beat, then a brisk laugh from your nostrils, nodding to the book snug to his side. "You better not be stealing for your personal collection, professor."

Fuck, you're good, and you know it. It doesn't take me long to realize the lingering floral smell of this floor is from you, not as I stiffly approach the desk while demeaning myself silently. Idiot, stop moving your feet. Professor, the word sounds obscene on your lips in a way I don't think I'll ever be able to properly conduct. Taking a breath solves nothing, but I know you can see my nervous tremors as I lift David to reveal the cover, trying for a smile. I can tell it looks as jagged as I feel, but still, you put out your hand, and I manage to force my throat to squeeze the comment out.

"No, no; I'm sorry, I didn't know I could check out here. I figured you were exclusively a study guide," 'Mr.Moore' spits lies like a seconod language.

"Ohh, I see... I'm a study guide with a useless book scanner then," You speak like it's a revealtion, hoping to ease this mans nervous demenor with a light wiggle of your fingers forward. "Copperfield, huh?" Joe's jaw clenches as your recognition, chuckling hoarsly as he forked it over, laying it into your palm. His cold hand grazed your soft warm one through the transaction, the placement of his grasp noticeably unessecary - Was he flirting? Even he couldn't tell, but the banter felt good, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

"Not like that - I mean, you're always busy with students, I didn't want to clog up your line," He juts a thumb over his shoulder, the empty space behind him not settling into him until after he spoke. Was he always this nervous? Another thing he couldn't tell, not even now.

This was an introduction I wanted to plan, If I'm really honest I needed more time. But if the universe wanted to throw me into your warm arms, would it be so wrong to follow it's guiding plan? The first day I saw you, weeks ago. Books against your chest, pants snug fit to your doughy thighs, hair a tousled mess as you walked from your car; You aren't on too many social medias, but you are focused and driven on pushing yourself for more, a bigger life, something to explore and peel open. You didn't get dished the bright opportunity all these spoiled kids did, you worked to get where you are and you aren't finished. That spark was so electric, didn't you feel it too? I crossed the street, directly going for your path as you took a hard glance to your phone, managing to juggle it from your back pocket. Your shoulder clashed with mine, and the books went a tumble between us onto the cement. It made me wince, but it was worth hearing that voice. "Oh lovely, I'm so sorry!" You're considerate. You put your hand onto the flat of mine, doe eyes finding me. The moment was brief, but it took the breath from my lungs being so close, the floral smell, the soft squeeze you gave me before going to collect the littered books. I wanted to live in that moment forever, swallow the feeling of you calling me lovely. I want more, to hear more.

"No, I'm sorry - I don't really look where I'm going when I'm on my phone too," It's a little rude, I can see your cheeks flush, eyeing me slightly. But it's worth it when you smile, nose scrunched as you stood, allowing me the grace of picking up the rest of the books.

"Alright honey, watch it, not a student." I can feel my knees starting to buckle when you stand up, a few heads shorter than me. I already knew, of course, but it was fun to watch you flounder. And before I could tack down even your name, you were gone. "But I do have things to do, sorry again!" It was more than enough to get high off of. You're a kind girl, aren't you? A sweet one, one who sees me past the details.

It was so easy to swipe your copy of David Copperfield during that little collision, but I think you know that, and I don't think you care. Not even as you scan it, eyebrows shifting as you recognize the strings frayed on the spine. I swallow, wondering if you recognize me the same way, from weeks ago. A small collision I carefully planned, all for you. I can feel my heart jamming into my chest when you hand it off back to me, trying to not be visibly disappointed at the lack of contact. I never realize how truly silent everything feels when you aren't talking, but being a lurker of the library since our encounter has filled my head with you. The books you love, your favorite students, the ones you pretend to love and grumble about when you think you're out of earshot. You aren't ever out of earshot from me.

"Have you been following me?"

Fuck.

"No?" Yes.

"Just - Sorry, I feel like I've seen you and I'm pretty sure I lost my Copperfield, like a month ago?" Your eyes move to the mystery man, his graying curls falling forward as he cocked his head, examining the book in his hands. Feigning recognition, and then;

"Ah! Miss not looking where she's going? I got this one from the un-shelved cart," It's a brisk lie, one that will be good for us. Copperfield, it's our thing now, something we can tell our kids. Genuine recognition looks gorgeous on you, a couple blinks and that eye creased smile, your real smile. Being close to you feels even better than I remember, a high I've been chasing for so long. My eyes, stiffly controlled, remain on yours; But a smart man can appreciate a delicious peripheral.

"Oh god, yeah! Mister clumsy, Professor...Moore?" Even the fake name I wear sends spikes through my blood, crystalizing the cells and shattering every other definition of want and love I thought I knew before. I give a nod, putting the book to my side. "That's what I figured! Thanks for the help that time, sweet thing." My heart can't take your nicknames, but you knew that since the moment we met. I want to know about you, I've already memorized your recent reading list, and taken my time imagining you with a book and nothing else. The sparking images dries my mouth, giving another hoarse chuckle. Your shape, something I can't pull myself from marveling at, something I crave to grope, to mold to my own body and hold entirely. Your curves, the perfect waves for my hands to rest and drown in -

"Jonathan is fine. I'd love to know you're real name, just so I don't mistake you as a study guide again, Miss...?" You give me your name, extending your hand out for proper contact. I already knew, but the thrill of truly being allowed to know you is a high I don't think I'll ever come down from.

[selfpositiveundertale]

Hey everyone. Probably a long post. Not a very happy one. Tw for scary medical stuff, but it's not for me.

My husband spent the night in the hospital. Yesterday he called my mom and asked her to come get him from work because he felt dizzy and tingly on one side of his body and his vision was doubled, so she took him to the ER and called me. I got an Uber there and we stayed with him late. They did various tests including blood work and a CT scan and neurological tests and checked the pressure on his eyeballs and he passed every test with flying colors but his blood pressure and cholesterol were high and his eyes were rolling in different directions like plastic googly eyes and his pupils were super dilated and he couldn't focus and they couldn't figure out why so they admitted him for the night and gave him an MRI today.

Turns out he had a mild stroke in the thalamus. The neurologist said he dodged a bullet because he can walk and speak and his coordination is fine and both sides of his body are functioning the same, but his vision is still wacky because his eyes don't want to work together right now. He's gonna have to see a vision therapist and wear an eye patch but switch eyes every 4 hours while he's awake to strengthen both of his eyes. Since his depth perception is so bad right now he's going to have to practice driving in an empty parking lot before he can be on the road. He won't be going in to work tomorrow and I'm not sure when he'll be able to go back to work since he's a truck driver. He has to take an aspirin every day forever and he has a cholesterol medication to take.

I'll need to make a few adjustments to the way I cook for him and be mindful of the amount of sodium that goes into anything. I'll probably make salt free versions of the spice blends I use regularly so I can add salt as I see fit. The neurologist said other than salt and added sugars he doesn't need to really change his diet but I'm going to look up foods that can help him and ask my chiropractor for nutrition advice for him. As I've said in the past, my chiropractor is a licensed nutritionist and I've gotten really good sound nutrition advice from him before so if there are any foods that can help my husband, he will know. I did tell my husband I'll make whatever he wants for dinner this weekend and he requested chicken and dumplings so you better believe I'm gonna make him the best chicken and dumplings he's ever had. I mean my chicken and dumplings are already the best he's ever had but that's not the point.

My husband's best friend has been a saint through this whole ordeal. He's been calling and texting to check on us, asking if we need anything, he and his wife brought us dinner and got my husband's car from his work and brought it home and they'll do our grocery shopping tomorrow so I can stay home and look after him. Their young daughter even made my husband a get well card. These folks are like family to us and I'm so so thankful for their help in this trying time.

But then the next issue is going to be the hospital bill. We don't have any health insurance so we have to fill out financial assistance paperwork and hope it'll cover enough so we won't be buried under even more debt. And of course, getting by for however long he'll be out of work. Monday is a holiday so he has the day off anyway and he's got PTO days but I don't know how many. He is getting a paycheck tomorrow but idk how long it'll have to last. I'm trying to work on things for my Etsy shop because every little bit I can bring in helps. I'm also still working on my art and trying to get to a point I might feel justified offering commissions. I need to post more on my art blog and on my bluesky and try to get more of a following there so I might eventually be able to take commissions and maybe even start up a Patreon but I have to keep practicing and studying.

We are both in our early 30s, and he had a stroke at his age. It was probably caused by stress but we don't know for certain. Please please please, for the love of everything good in this world, take care of yourselves. Look after your health. Practice self care. I don't want this to happen to any of y'all. It's been so scary and we've both cried a lot today. As much as I've been crying, I have to be strong for him and support him when he breaks down. He's not used to being scared and sad, especially for himself, and he doesn't really know how to handle it.

He's home and sleeping now. I currently have a migraine, the first I've had in over a week since getting on a new medication for it and it's probably being caused by a mix of the stress of the last 2 days and I might also have some ribs out of place because the chairs beside the beds both in the ER and in the room they moved him to wrecked my back. But unless it escalates bad enough to render my psych meds ineffective and make me uncoordinated and incapacitated, I'm still going to be taking care of my husband in whatever way I can.

Good vibes are appreciated.

Stay determined.

[penelopepine]

Forever in Your Gaze Pt. 4

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x Fem Reader

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Summary: Night at the museum AU. Gaz and Reader are both paintings directly across from one another, and have been in love for many years now. The only thing is that they are unable to actually leave the confines of their canvas, and have never felt others touch.

Word Count: 1713

Content: Established relationship, fluff, light angst, mentioned gunshots

The second Kyle is awake he is immediately pushing on the barrier once more. It takes him a good few pushes, but he does manage to eventually get out. His landing this time is also much better; the dizziness doesn't seem to affect him as much either. Originally Kyle had been worried that once he entered his frame that he wouldn't be able to leave again, and that the first time was some kind of fluke.  

Before he even knows it he's rushing out of the hall towards where he left you. Kyle doesn't even wait for Price to give him an update on what's happening. He'll know where to find him anyway when he sees that Kyle is already out of the painting, and that, of course, will be by your side. 

Darting into the docking area he finds you exactly as he did the night prior; sheet over you and all. He calls your name as he makes his way to you. Once the sheet is off he finds you he finds that you are already looking up at him with a sad smile on your lips. "Kyle," you whisper as he moves to be eye level with you.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting, my love." 

"I don't think you could have gotten here any sooner if you tried." 

"Well I plan to try then; prove you wrong." He says lovingly to you without breaking away from your gaze.

"Well I plan to try then; prove you wrong." He says lovingly to you without breaking away from your gaze. It's you who looks away first. Kyle is able to tell that something is on your mind, and that you're hesitant to bring whatever it is up. "Is everything alright, love?"

Tentatively, not meeting his eyes, you reply, "I- I want to try again; with the barrier, but what if it never happens. I'll be stuck in here forever while you're free to walk the corridors, and talk to whomever you wish. You'll outgrow me, and I'm scared of losing you"

"I don't think I could ever get enough of you. I've been hanging across from you for years now, and I could do it for another hundred. In the frame or out I will not leave you." Kyle desperately retorts your words. "It doesn't matter if you break the barrier or not, love. You could break it today or a year from now, and I'll be right there when you do."

Tears fill your eyes at Kyle's words, "I love you so much, Kyle."

"And I worship you, " Kyle barely moves back from your frame, "Now push." 

Right away you put your hands up to the barrier and immediately the barrier shines to life under your touch. It ripples as you continue to push and push. Kyle from this view can see that with each ripple a crack starts to appear under your palms; getting larger and larger as the seconds pass. “I have spent the last few years gazing into your eyes every day, and wishing to feel your touch every night. Please do not make me wait another second. Push!”

Kyle doesn't look away as the barrier begins to shine brighter, and the cracks continue to grow. In a blink of an eye though you're out.

You falling out of your frame is very similar to his. Except this time you have him to crash into instead of the ground. Kyle isn't complaining though, not when it means that he gets to finally touch you. 

It doesn't register right away that he is feeling you at first though. One second he's watching you, and the next he is staring up at the ceiling with an unfamiliar weight on top of him. Looking down he finally sees you for the first time outside of the frame.

Kyle says your name with a gasp before wrapping his arms around you, and tucking his face into your hair. Slowly you get your bearings, and when you do your holding onto him just as tight.

"Kyle…" you choke out, your voice muffled with your face pressed to his chest. "I'm out!" 

"You're out!" He sits up now keeping you firmly in lap, and for the first time grabs your face with both hands while pulling you into a heated kiss. He has dreamed of this moment for so long, and it's everything he's ever wanted and more. 

The two of you stay in this position for several minutes; absolutely refusing to let the other go. It isn't until the docking area's door is opened do they finally pull slightly apart from each other. Looking towards the entrance they see Price standing there looking shell shocked at them. 

"Price!" Kyle yells, unashamed of his current position, "She got out!" 

Still taken aback, but still clearly excited, Price staggers forward, "This is amazing lass, I'm glad to see you out here." He then offers a hand to you, and helps you stand on your feet. Kyle is quick to follow you up as well since he knows that you're not going to have an easy time walking for the first time. "And it's good to see you looking much happier, lad."  Price smiles at him looking as Kyle helps steady you on your feet. 

"It helps when I have my entire world with me." Kyle then gives your waist a squeeze, and sends a smile your way. Absolutely loving the way you smile back and giggle at his words.

"Alright love birds let's keep our heads on straight. I've got some good news from Laswell that needs to be discussed." 

With all the excitement around you exiting your frame he had genuinely forgotten for a second about why you two were even here. "Good news?" He asks hopefully

"Good news. Now let's get you two to the lobby; we'll discuss it there." Price then turns back to the door leaving you both to follow behind him. 

Kyle keeps an arm around you as he helps you down the halls, and he can't help but stare at you as you take in the new world around you. The amazement in your eyes as you stare in wonder the entire walk, smiling at everyone you pass, and your tight grip on him. He loves you so much. 

When they finally arrived at the lobby Ghost and Soap were already there waiting for them. Soap being the first to react ran to you scooping you up in a big hug, “I knew you could do it, lass! All you painting people are going to be out and walking around before we know it!” 

“I’m sure Price is excited about that; more people for him to boss around after all.” Ghost stated while giving your shoulder a friendly squeeze. 

“Oi, I wouldn’t be bossing you all around unless you needed me too. Which clearly you lot do,” Price points at Ghost and Soap, “you two specifically were trying to kill each other every night until I stepped in.” 

“Price,” Kyle interrupts, “as much as I’m enjoying the friendly banter you said that you had news from Laswell.” 

With a snap of his fingers Price directs his attention back to them. “Yes I do, Shepherd is now under investigation by the police. With everything Laswell uncovered it’s believed that he’s been dealing with illegal art trafficking and fraud. All pending contracts with Shepherd are now null and void.” 

“Does that mean-” Kyle starts before trailing off; he’s looking at you now desperately hoping that he’s understanding correctly what Price is saying.

“Which means you, my dear, aren't going anywhere!” Price beams a wide grin at you. 

Kyle is immediately pulling you into his chest upon hearing those words. He didn’t know what he would have done if you had actually left the museum. It would have been the end of the world in his eyes. “Oh thank god.” 

“Is she still going to be put back in the hall now then or what?” Ghost asks it might now be obvious but he would have been devastated to see you go as well. Not only because you meant a lot to Kyle, but because you were his friend as well. 

“Laswell is going to be looking at the hall, and moving some stuff around to get her back with Gaz. For now though she’ll be put in storage tomorrow morning. Until then; it should only be a few days before she’s back in here.” Price explains to them. 

Kyle wants everything to believe that everything was good, but he can’t help but feel like something bad was right around the corner. “That Graves fellow that was working with Shepherd isn’t going to be a problem right?”

“We don’t have any information about Graves. For all we know he could be a middle man for Shepherd.” Price informs him before continuing, “I don’t see him being a problem for us though.” 

It’s Soap at this point who comes up from behind and grabs Kyle and you by the shoulders, “Come on Gaz, lighten up. Everything has been solved; your girl gets to stay here, and now you two get to walk around with us. Now let’s go, you two are getting the grand tour of this place!” 

For the rest of the night Soap and Ghost lead you two around the museum; introducing you to other people, and what areas are best to avoid the nightly chaos. The whole time is filled with laughs and joy. 

Kyle was even still smiling when he eventually had to walk you back to your frame. “I’ll see you tomorrow, my love. In just a few days I’ll be waking up to your face once more.” 

“I’m so happy everything is finally going back to normal.” You grab him one last time, pulling him into a quick kiss before stepping back into your frame. 

Once Kyle was back inside his own frame he couldn’t help, but think about what the future now holds for you both. 

If only he had known that all of this was merely the calm before the storm. The gunshot that sounded when he woke, and began his walk to you the next night was enough to attest to that. 

Taglist:

@zarsghost @nexthyperfix @kaoyamamegami @thigh-o-saur

[sp00kcanwrite]

Hear me out- i'm cooking here some idea! Like- what if Sun wukong, Macaque (separatedly) met an Reader who is an Goddess of the Moon, like, not like Chang'e but mostly THE Protector! One of the elements, like, they met her when she was humming a tune while sitting on a little moon shape floaty thing (The Design might be inspired of Moonlight Cookie From Cookie run Ovenbreak/Kingdom! So you get an idea of how to do it <33) Some Headcanons??? I'll gladly love to read it! It can be Some fluff or something about them both having a crush on The Reader (bro's gonna go wild if they found out Reader is lesbi-) (jk,jk, just an nerd joke from the moonlight x sea fairy story)

Just an fan of Moonlight Cookie here! Love your fics <33

Stay healthy and keep yourself all good

-This dumb nerd

I LOVE COOKIE RUN TO!

This is my first,and (probably will always be) my favorite request ♡♡♡

MACAQUE X MOON GODDESS! READER

Maybe a bit OOC

_____________________

MEETING!

Macaque never thought he'd stumble into a moon goddess but here he is!

After a fight with wukong, in wich macaque barely got away, he fled to a usually empty lake surrounded by woods .

He didn't expect the isolated area to be occupied by a women with almost glowing skin and a ethereal dress to be sitting elegantly on a Cresent moon like platform that floated 5 inches away from the water of the lake and gave off a white glow.

The woman hummed a soft tune that would put thousands of children to sleep. Though it was very quiet macaque would've been able to hear it from a mile away, he almost fell asleep as he felt the insomnia he's been plagued with for years slip away.

His black claws gripped onto the bark of a tree as he watched the lady for, he doesn't even know how long at this point.

Maybe his grip was to strong as the wood eventually let out a booming Crack and fell forward, right into the lake. The water splashed over the woman sitting in a Cresent moon.

HEADCANONS!!

I won't lie that man fled as soon as the wood gave out, faster then sonic i swear. Yet he found himself coming back to the same lake, to hear the same humming tune that you sung.

After awhile, I'd say 4 weeks, you'd finally introduce yourself. And boy did that shock the raven haired monkey as he thought he was being rather sneaky.

It takes a while for him to warm up to you but patience is perfection! And trust me eventually he did, and soon that friendship blossomed into something else.

He thought of you every night, everything about you intoxicated the guy. Your humming, your face, your eyes, and even how quiet you spoke.

He knew he had it bad but couldn't convince himself to confess, so what does he do? He ghosts you

For a pretty long times (cough 8 days) until you finally take actiona and burst into his dojo, your moon staff in hand, and demanded a explanation on why he was avoiding you.

After a long while of bickering he accidentally slips out a confession, you paused completely when you heard the words come out your mouth.

Oddly enough..you didn't mind it

MEETING!

Ya'll know how in the books he was described to be a light weight drinker? Yeah it was true. And he's a man of bad luck to run into the same moon goddess that he treated so rudely in the past.

He was stumbling threw a forest, god knows how he got there, and ran into a glowing woman that sat sleepily on a Cresent moon. And when I say ran in I mean it, he ran full force into you by accident of course.

By the time you got up and held him by his collar the man was knocked out, he wanted to smack him over the skull buttt that wouldn't be very "elegant" for you (definitely not because you knew he was THE sun wukong)

So you dragged him to FFF mountain, all the way into the shame shack and threw him on his bed. But sadly this powerful demon had, in his sleep, gripped onto your flowing gown and pulled you onto the bed with him.

No matter how hard you wiggled or squirmed you were stuck being wukongs brand new stuffed toy for the night.

______________

He was out like a rock, you had to summon your staff and hit him a couple of times before he even opened a eye.

But oh boy when he did you screamed louder then any siren could in all 7 seas. Not from fear, but from hangover shock.

You scoffed at his girlish scream and turned your nose up to his lazy apology. As you went to the door the great sage folded over on the ground, and started breathing heavy? Was he gagging? Why- OH CRAP

I don't think I need to say what happened next, it ended with him bent over a toilet and you helping him up. You don't know how or why but you stayed for a good 6 hours just listening to the obviously touch deprived monkey, you could tell by how he clinged on your arm, ramble on and laugh at his antics in the past. Tha antics that caused alot of trouble to the moon you protected.

Turns out the great sage has some overpowering charm as you found yourself showing up to his house again

And again

And again

Until you memorized flower fruit mountain like it was the back of your hand.

The lonely great sage found himself growing fonder and fonder of you each day, he wondered why his heart beat so much, why his palm went sweaty or why he felt hot around you.

Until it hit him the day you cooked him a peach pie.

He had hearts in his eyes as he held your wrist, catching the steaming pie with his tail he looked you in the eye and said with much confidence.

"I love you!"

"I like woman-"

(JK)

(JK)

You stared with shock as the monkey man confessed his feelings, and as hard as a asteroid hitting the moon your lips crashed with his.

[sunny44]

Unveiling the Truth

(Ruin it part.2)

Pairing: Max Verstappen x journalist!reader

Warnings: none I guess.

Summary: You and max were always teasing each other and over the years it turned into a huge sexual tension, until the fights of all the years and the accumulated lust turned into one long night of great sex.

Previous chapter | Next chapter

After that night Max and I never talked about it again. He went on pretending that nothing had happened and so did I but the fact that I was part of his betrayal is what haunts me every day.

Ok I don't like Kelly but I did something I wouldn't want to be done to me so I feel bad.

We were at the last race of the year and it was a weekend she was here which didn't help my guilt at all.

"Are you okay?" Pierre asks slipping his arm around my shoulders giving me a hug.

"Not much."

"Do you want to talk?"

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?" He agrees and I pull him into a corner. "Max and I had sex."

"WHAT?" He screams and I cover his mouth with my hand. "What?"

"That's exactly what you heard."

"How?"

"Do you really want me to explain how?"

"Ew that's not what I meant. I mean how did it happen?"

"It was after the third title celebration party, I took him back to the hotel and we fucked in my room."

"My God I've been trying to get you into bed for years and you never wanted to."

"Is that really what you're thinking about right now?"

"Of course, that lucky bastard."

"Pierre I'm serious, stop thinking about me naked on top of you and concentrate."

"Now that you've said that I won't be able to concentrate."

"Forget it." I walk away annoyed and he comes right behind me but Max sees us and I know he's imagining that we did the same thing he and I did at the hotel.

...

I was walking past Redbull at night with the paddock already empty when one of the engineers asked me to go into the garage and when I did he directed me to Max's drivers room where he was inside.

"What is it?"

"May I ask what you were doing with Pierre in the corner?"

"And why does that interest you?"

"Just answer the damn question." He says irritated.

"We were talking."

"The same way you and I talked that night?"

"Where's your girlfriend anyway?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It does matter since I know she's here this weekend."

"Forget Kelly okay? Can we talk about us?"

"There is no us, that was a mistake and you shouldn't be so calm about the fact that you cheated on your girlfriend and that I helped you do it."

"I'm only calm because I don't feel the same way about her as I do about you." At this I fell silent. "She doesn't make me feel angry and want to grab you and kiss you at the same time, she doesn't make me feel good after a bad race even if I only see you in those 5 minutes of interview and she doesn't understand me like you understand do."

"Max..."

"Just say you don't feel the same way about me and I’ll pretend the best night of my life never happened and leave you alone.”

"I don't know." He takes his hands away from my face. "I never thought of you as anything other than the guy I keep picking on."

"And I'll never be anything else to you?"

"Not until you sort out your situation with her." He sighs. "I won't allow myself to feel anything for you or try to have anything with you while you're committed."

"And after that?"

"After that we're going to have to talk, because like it or not you cheated on her and as much as I was the bitch who helped you do it and that I deserve it to happen to me too, I don't want to be the next on your list."

"You're never going to be just anyone on my list, you're not even on the list, you're completely superior to anyone I've ever been involved with in my life."

"Don't say that if you don’t really mean it."

"I was serious about everything I just said."

"Okay then go find me when you sort yourself out."

...

It had been a month since our conversation and Max hadn't said anything else so I understood that he had moved on with Kelly.

Charles and Pierre had invited me to go on a trip together and as I had nothing better to do I decided to go along.

I packed all my things and my cell phone started ringing and I saw that Pierre was calling so I didn't even answer it, I just locked my apartment and went down the elevator with my things, to my surprise when I got downstairs Max was with them and smiled when he saw me.

"I didn't know you were going."

"Yeah, last minute plans."

"We're going by jet." Pierre says kissing my forehead and hugging me from the side.

"What about our tickets?"

"They don't exist, I lied because I knew that if you knew max would be along you would have given up on going."

"Good that you know me." I say putting my bag in the trunk of the car and getting in the back seat.

The walk to the runway was complete silence on my part, I was annoyed that he had ignored me all this time and now he showed up here on a trip he knew I would be on.

The boys were excited and got on the plane before me and Max who grabbed my arm as soon as the two had left my sight.

"Can you let me go?"

"Can you stop being rude to me?"

"And why should I? It wasn't enough that you ignored me and went on this trip together to annoy me and now what? Kelly is going to show up there too."

"No because we broke up."

"What?"

"I broke up with her like I told you I would and I only ignored you because I was helping her moving her stuff out of my apartment. I had to hire a moving truck to take P's stuff to her place too.”

"You could have texted you saying that."

"I know and I'm sorry, it wasn't a quiet break up and I just needed time.”

"It's okay." He let go of my arm. "Let's go before they notice we're late."

Taglist: @44-ilton @babyvinnie @hockey-racing-fubol @xjval @xcinnamongirl @dudenhaaa27 @evans-dejong @chelseagirl98

Ps: this will have a part 3

[hemingwaystan]

A Guide To Actually Portraying The Lords Part 1: House Dimitrescu

Hello, fellow RE8 fans, this is the first part of a rant/post/open letter/essay which I intend as a detailed essay with five parts on how they should've portrayed the lords and then Miranda, with more realism and nuance, because they are nuanced characters when you actually think but Capcom is so bad at showing it. This is my opinion, feel free to disagree but that's the setup so without further ado. Also, sidenote, this series of "essays" will assume Chris just doesn't involve himself in the story, it's still saving Rose, maybe, but Chris exists purely as a MacGuffin so fill in your own blanks on the setup, I'll explain other ways they could've served his purposes.

The Dimitrescu's were more powerful than Ethan, they all were, in a 1v1 they would all win. The Dimitrescu's have been alive for decades and Capcom treats them like idiots. The daughters die effortlessly and Alcina twiddles her thumbs for an insane amount of time. That's obviously stupid. I have the that they should make the daughters immortal for gameplay reasons, you can get them off your back for an amount of time with the cold use it as a shield/safe zone to keep them away for a while but they're always after you, guns will also hold them off too and cause a temporary retreat if done well efficiently. Then of course, I think once a daughter or daughters are either truly hurt or you make a certain amount of progress Alcina should entered the fray in her in game stalker role. The daughters would kind of but not really be in their own areas of the castle but they would collaborate and interact, they're siblings. Think with me here, House Beneviento focused on horror so who's to say it wouldn't be just as effective as that was in horror gameplay to make House Dimitrescu centered around stalker enemy gameplay, a resident evil must-have. Let's say, you have to find the masks and that kinda thing while fighting and working around the Dimitrescus. It makes them scarier, the very serious threat they should've been realistically, and it gives them time to get more characterization. I've went over the threat factor so here's characterization. I think the maids should still be alive, no ceremony as I suggested, no slaughter. You might run into a handful and get help from them or help one escape or they might run from you because of the gunfire, and maybe like one volunteered to be a maid from an abusive family so comes at you with a knife and one shot you with a heart stab in defense of her mistresses and you have to only shoot her in the leg if you don't want to kill her in cold blood, but she moves fast so it's a split second decision. You'll find the record of her existence along with other maid hire records somewhere or other, some negative, some undetailed, and this one positive, again, DICHOTOMY, they kill, they eat, but like the other lords they are human, even if not looking it at first glance, we will see the sides of them and draw our own conclusions. The explanation I think is best for the maids not being everywhere is that they were ordered to their rooms for curfew meaning this would take place at night but the ones you run into are either doing a special task or in the knife ones case drawn to action. The night serves the purpose of increasing the feeling of you against an indominable but understandable threat, imagine, Alcina's heels clicking after you by the light of candelabras in a remote hallway, then you hit a door you don't have a key for, she picks you up and you're impaled, that's a quality, memorable gameplay moment. The explorable castle should be expanded sizably, you should be able to find much more lore scraps and such on the Dimitrescus, maybe have to enter each of the daughter's rooms or some shit to get a set of keys they each have one of. Show every Dimitrescu doing and saying their horrible things to you and maybe maim a maid who gets in the way in the chase and be totally evil on like a 1/3 of the lore scraps but then have a dichotomy of their canonically "loving family" and less canonically them doing some good things, not many but some, we see their evil but we can also see humanity and miniscule scraps of good under it. Given seeing the maids alive they should all have mixed opinions of them, because they should be often cruel to the maids and drain them sometimes but if it's cartoonish it loses credibility, they protect the maids and treat them "ok", servant food and quarters might be better than the village lol, because Lycans as opposed to daughters/Alcina, Dimitrescus have rules, which would be a fair bit less harsh in this version, rabid Lycans don't, BUT, they do drain disobedient maids and are cruel to them on the regular it's just not omnipresent.

At maybe the two thirds or half of the way into Dimitrescu section we see the phone call and watch as Lady Dimitrescu realizes Miranda never cared for her, because she didn't, let's say Miranda needs something from her for the ceremony or something else and says, roughly, "the daughters don't matter at all, they are unimportant to me, and are irrelevant right now, so go and obey me NOW, are we clear? Alcina.", she's scared for her daughters with Ethan loose in the Castle because by this point he has actually hurt them, and just hurting them is enough for a canonically very protective of those she loves Alcina, so she responds to Miranda, paraphrasing, "Fuck off Miranda if my family means nothing to you than you are not my family, I have a manthing to kill thank you very much."

Also the dagger of death's flowers shouldn't exist, it's a fuckoff stupid MacGuffin in the first place, or maybe it could just disable Alcina for a sizable amount of time at the end of the Dimitrescu section so we can escape. How do you use a logically unkillable enemy well? You make her unkillable, scary, threatening, and an unstoppable force, make it so the player is on the edge of their seat trying to fight back the daughters and Alcina, hide, or temporarily disable, all that. Their will be killing, because game, the Moroaica still exist, I would minimize rooftop so less Samca but still. It's almost like when there is a very threatening force that is portrayed with clear nuance but is still evil and enemies you have to get through you find yourself managing what resources you have, thinking about where you are constantly as not be cornered by the daughters or run into Alcina, or find windows and cold air to make yourself a temporary safezone to recover in, of course straight-up saferooms still existing, it means you have to use your environment to keep the credible force back that acts logically, remember Nemesis? Exactly. But with a more competent AI than in game Alcina, not that ingames is bad, because her stalker mode is the whole point, this AI that makes their attack patterns less predictable in turn, they all will behave in characteristic ways or at least unique ways so you have to know your enemy to be best off, like maybe Daniela will move the fastest but is the least perceptive of your hiding place, Alcina is the most dangerous, calculating in pursuit and hard to lose but has slightly slower attacks although harder to dodge and far more damaging, she's the main threat, the first bit of the section she's left it to her daughters but once you legitimately hurt one mama bear comes in with a steel chair and a vengeance, Cassandra is a great tracker and hard to hide from but because she likes playing with food and is sadistic she'll be more arrogant and focused on pain rather than death, she wants to have her fun, BUT, if you kill one of the daughters which I'm considering as an idea, she becomes far more dangerous, as they all will, but this is the largest threat increase because the gloves are off, Bela is the smartest according to devs so she can be the slowest walking but by far the hardest to get rid of the daughters once she's found you and is close. Bela will also be the most likely to find one of her sisters and work together, this would only happen latter and just once or twice because of how dangerous it would be but on the other hand it's less moving parts for you to think about, or maybe there's like a 1 to 4 chance when heavily injured, not killed because they're basically immortal, injured the daughters will yell for mother meaning you'll have to go and fast, again, mama bear, steel fucking chair. The daughter won't pursue and again the temporary retreat you get if you damage them enough but it gives Alcina your location and she moves faster temporarily, this gives you a reason not to just action hero the daughters on easier dificulties and is lore compliant.

Like, when you're doing all that it's almost like you've found yourself trying to survive(al) horror. I don't think you should be able to kill more than one of the Dimitrescus because past that is illogical, you just do as stated above and manage to through fighting, hiding, and surviving escape Castle Dimitrescu, Rose flask in hand(If we keep Rose).

Thorough explanation of a regularly mentioned idea. Give the player a chance to kill one of the daughters, and because they're all expanded on in a huge way in all the new lore scraps of them and Alcina it makes you think, which is the worst, which is the best, I only have one chance, I need to do the right thing. There are all these factors on why to do what, maybe Daniela has a crush on one of the maids but you also hear a story of her eating someone alive, limb from limb, hours of torture, from one of the anti-Dimitrescu maids but the maid was planning to find the dagger of flower's if it stays and kill Alcina for one reason or another or if no dagger she, dumbass, thought a gun would work, but what if it isn't true? Is Daniela sane? All these questions appear or do they just deserve to die for fair reasons. Maybe there's also a harder way of doing things where you keep all three alive by doing something or other and at the end you get a special cutscene where you look a death's flowered Alcina who's powerless for the moment in the eyes say something or other and walk out of the castle through the escape route you take no matter what at the end of Dimitrescu section. There could also be like an almost impossible new game+ way to kill all three of them to encourage replayability. Or you could just not care but in any game with some kind of moral choicemaking some player's won't, which is fair but rude.

Part 2 is out on House Beneviento, read it next if you want.

[waldau]

constant — choi seungcheol | 1,459 words | fluff, hurt/comfort

alexa, play sorry by justin bieber. that damn edit just won't leave my head.

gender neutral reader. warnings: reader pointedly has an ex-boyfriend.

the one face you're looking for is the one that's conspicuously absent. you'd think maybe your boyfriend — no, ex — would have the courtesy of picking you up from the airport after promising to do it weeks ago, but it's just you and your stupidly heavy suitcase in the midst of a swarm of people that are too close, too loud.

you try not to let the tears slip, instead repeating your search for him through all the faces in the crowd. it doesn't change anything. you're all alone.

who the hell breaks up through a text message when you're on a flight halfway home?

there's really no other option left. you just have to take a cab and get home, and do your best not to stew in your thoughts for the next few days while you adjust to the jet lag. but there's one name that catches your eye in your contacts.

choi seungcheol.

it's been nearly two months since you've met him in person, and every single instance of you returning his calls and messages undeniably late is brought up to the front of your mind. it's selfish, really, to even think of asking him if he can wake up at this hour of the night to pick you up, but he's the only person you'd trust in a situation like this.

you press the call button and wait for it to connect. part of you hopes it just goes to voicemail so you don't have to apologize for everything between you, all of which is your fault.

"sunshine? you okay? did you get back home safely?"

there's concern in his voice that shouldn't be there but still is, because he's cheol. the fact that he remembered you'd be getting back today is enough to break you. "he—" you choke on a sob. "he didn't show up."

seungcheol curses softly. "are you still at the airport?"

you nod, then remember he can't see you. "yeah."

"just wait a few more minutes, okay? tell me where you are."

"cheol, what—"

"i'll explain everything to you. just tell me you're okay."

"i— yeah." you mumble your location, the closest landmark you can see, and it's not long before a familiar jacket appears in your line of sight. you don't think you've ever been relieved to see him before.

seungcheol doesn't say a word as he guides you into his arms. all you can think of and feel is him protecting you from the rest of the world, your head on his chest and his head on yours. the tears don't stop falling, and neither do the apologies. you don't even know what you're apologizing for at this point, but seungcheol keeps shushing you. you've never been one for making a scene at airports, but the parking lot is pretty empty. you can't bring yourself to care.

when you pull away after a while, finally able to breathe a bit easier, you find seungcheol looking at you with a pout.

"what," you ask wetly.

"seeing you cry is making me sad. please don't cry?"

"i would if i could," you say, but then your eyes land on the wet patch on his white shirt, all soaked with your tears, and you begin crying even more.

"i'm sorry," you say, voice weak. "i don't— can we just go?"

"of course we can," seungcheol says, wiping your tears. "don't apologize. you're fine with me, okay? nothing's going to happen to you."

you've heard those words, or variations of those words, from so many people before, but the only person who can convince you he means to keep his promise is seungcheol. you nod, feeling yourself believe his words. he's never one lied to you, and you don't think he's going to start now.

seungcheol places his baseball cap on your head and tugs your hoodie closer around you to make sure you're shielded from the cold. your cold hand is in his while he wheels your suitcase to where his car is parked. you've managed to calm down by then, but it's still not easy to look at seungcheol after all he's done for you.

"are you hungry? tired?" he asks, getting into his seat.

you shake your head, buckling your seatbelt with slightly shaky hands. "neither."

"then there's someplace i want to take you before i drop you home. is that okay?"

you'd follow seungcheol wherever he went. of course it's okay. he hands you the aux cord while he drives through the city which is quiet at night, and it's not long before your mood begins lifting up. you kind of don't want to get out when he stops the car and motions for you to follow him, but you do it anyway.

he grabs a blanket from the trunk and throws it on the hood of his car, holding out his hand for you to join him. you're about to ask him what he wants to do, but your words die in your throat when you look up.

the dark sky is painted with countless stars splashed out across however far your eyes can see. it's not often you get to see such a sight, and you realize seungcheol's driven you to the countryside, somewhat far from where both of you live. sitting underneath the sea of stars with seungcheol seems better than everything that's happened to you in the past month. or two. or more.

"hey," seungcheol says, reaching over to rest a hand on your thigh. warm. friendly.

"hey," you say back, taking his cap off so you can look at his face properly. you gasp when you notice his hair. it's a striking blond shade, one he'd been nervous about getting months ago. you run a hand through it slowly, wondering how old it is. how long it's been since you've really taken time to be with him.

"you okay?" he asks. you want to say yes, but you don't want to lie to him. but you also don't want to burden him with everything you've been facing recently. also the fact that you've been somewhat ignoring him. you just shrug in response.

"do you want to talk about it?"

"no. tell me something else."

seungcheol doesn't question why you said what you said. he starts talking about everything he's been up recently, and it just makes you realize how much you've pulled away from him without realizing.

he's in the middle of some story of him and jeonghan when you sigh. "he broke up with me."

seungcheol stops immediately. "what?"

"he broke up with me. over text."

seungcheol scoffs. "who the fuck does that?" and then, "i'm so sorry, sunshine. you deserved so much better than him."

"aren't you going to say i told you so?"

seungcheol shakes his head. "you know i'd never make fun of you."

you do. "you didn't have to come, you know."

"and if i didn't?"

"i'd have taken a cab or something."

seungcheol frowns in mock annoyance. "don't call me something," he says, punching your arm lightly. "i'm your best friend."

it circles back to that, then. you look down at your feet dangling in the air. "i'm sorry for being a bad friend for the past few months," you say, not meeting his eyes. "i should've tried spending more time with you. or returning your messages on time."

"sunshine," seungcheol says. "don't. you did what you thought was best for you. you're still my best friend, in case you've forgotten."

you look at him, at that. "how is it so easy for you?"

"it wasn't. i won't lie. but there's no one else i want as my best friend, okay?"

"me too," you say, relieved. "and i'm really sorry, you know?"

seungcheol throws his arm around your shoulders. "stop. i know. now that you're here, can you promise me we'll be better?"

"you mean me?"

"no, i mean us. i'm not going to let you distance yourself so easily. on that note, do you want to lay off dating for a while? what if you find...the one? in your own time?"

you raise an eyebrow. "are you dictating who i date?"

seungcheol looks like he's been caught stealing your leftovers. "no! of course not! just looking out for you, is all. you know i just want you to be happy, no matter what."

you smile and settle a bit more into his side, feeling his warmth through your hoodie. "do you really believe in that? finding the one?"

he shrugs. "it's nice to think it could happen someday, don't you?"

leaning against the hood of seungcheol's car with his arm around you and the stars twinkling up in the sky, yes, you think. it would be nice.

[shhh-secret-time]

Stan Marsh

26 y.o (He/Him)

Soul Synergy: Anything you write on your skin will appear on your soulmate.

Headcanons:

◇ Worked on his father's farm for years, while he didn't want to he stayed for his mom

◇ Shelly moved out and left South Park for a different college. The two aren't close, but they're better than when he was a kid.

◇ He works part-time at the university radio station with Jimmy.

》 Jimmy does most of the commentary, Stan will pitch it sometimes, but he leaves most of the talking to him. Stan is in charge of the music

◇ He has snuck some of Crimson Dawn on air and did the same for Timmy's band. Jimmy doesn't care, but he gives Stan a hard time about it.

◇ Going to college on a sports scholarship, to no one's surprise

》 The surprise came when he almost lost it all.

◇ He struggled heavily with alcoholism when he first moved out of his parents house

◇ Used to go out night after night, being invited to parties and hang out events

◇ It didn't seem like a problem until he woke up with vomit in his hair and had no memory of the last three days.

》 His hair used to be longer but he decided to cut it after that.

◇ It takes the other three to help snap him out of it, not just Kyle.

◇ After that he went and got help, of course the other three had his back. Kyle helped him find the support groups needed around campus. Kenny spread the word of keeping alcohol away from Stan, and Cartman enforced it.

◇ They have a system when they go to parties or out to eat with him. Kenny will give everyone the warning, do not offer him alcohol. Not as a joke, it's not funny. Wanna flirt with him, buy him something else. If you invite him to a party, have some fucking sodas or juice.

◇ Cartman is the next step if for some reason you don't decide to listen. Absolutely embarrasses the person, socially tears them apart. We all know he's very good at turning a crowd on people.

◇ Kyle is the big guns, he lives with Stan. He's his best friend. His super best friend, and he'll be damned if he lets anything happen to him. Kyle's not afraid to let the person know just how small they are and will throw hands if need be.

》 Luckily, it hasn't gotten that far. Most people stop at Cartman.

◇ Stan has worked very hard since then to keep himself clean. He's cut alcohol out completely because he knows how easy it is to slip back into it.

◇ When he feels himself slipping again or tempted, he goes to the gym. He writes a song, goes for a jog, bugs someone with board games, does literally anything to keep his mind off it.

》 His last resort is smoking a cigarette, Kyle doesn't like it, but it's better than the alternative

◇ Stan was able to keep his scholarship but it took a lot of work, and a lot of dedication.

◇ The necklace was a gift from the three boys after Stan's second year clean. They all wrote something up on each line and had Kenny carve it in.

》 Kyle: I'm proud of you man. Keep it up, or I'll kick your ass. -SB

》 Kenny: I am always a call away. I've got you Stan, I love you handsome.

》 Cartman: Don't be fucking stupid. I'm the only one who gets to ruin your life.

(Cartman took up some of Kyle's line. It makes Stan smile everytime he sees it)

◇ It's incredibly corny and off brand for him but he never takes it off, that necklace means everything to him.

◇ He's still the quarterback on the team, and the pressure sometimes gets to him.

◇ He plays basketball with Kyle sometimes, but he's not a fan of getting his ankles rolled all the time so he only does it when he needs to get Kyle to relax

◇ His depression is still there, it never really goes away, but he's got a better understanding of it

◇ Goes to a proper doctor and gets the help he needs. After a few therapist visits, he gets a prescription for it and now here he is.

◇ Since Kenny and Karen live so close Karen helps remind him to take his meds. She leaves him little snacks with every pills.

》 Skittles one day, M&Ms another, Cashews, and then a Reese's cup at the end of the week (I just like the idea of the group adopting Karen, but she adopts them back ya know?)

◇ No one else knows about this, Stan's a bit embarrassed by it but he finds it adorable that she's trying

◇ It makes him want to be better. So he works hard to keep a routine and a method.

◇ When he feels like he hates himself, he showers

◇ When he feels like he hates other people, he needs to eat

◇ When he feels withdrawal or if he's tired, he needs water.

◇ Has a special water bottle that Gary got him.

◇ Begs Kyle to go to the gym with him, he can't go alone he needs his buddy!

》 They end up making it a game. Who can push the other one to giving up.

》 Kyle does a certain number in a set, well Stan does one more. Stan runs for a certain amount of time on the treadmill, well Kyle runs faster and longer.

》 They pay for it in the morning but it's worth it

◇ Was the forever DM in his board game nights. He has all the D&D books, most of them are those special covered ones

◇ The local comic book store knows him well, and they save a book for him when they come out

◇ He still paints minis, for Christmas one year he got everyone's characters! Hand painted them and gave them out

》 He was so proud. And then Kenny lost his character the next session

》 Kenny's character is on the shelf near his books. Forever immortalized next to the players guide

◇ On days where everyone can't make it they play test a different system

◇ Wild Talents -> Superheros

◇ Deadlands -> Cowboys

◇ Traveler -> Sci-fi

◇ Red Market -> Zombie Apocalypse

◇ When Stan finally finishes his campaign and Kyle takes over, it takes him a minute to shift back into being a player! (I'm projecting)

◇ He has Wendy and Nichole over, of course! They can't make it all the time (Nichole has her own campaign that Stan's a part of and Wendy is a busy little lady), so they guest star!

◇ Gets together with Nichole and they plot ways to bully their players. (Rip Kenneth)

》 If people don't feel like playing TTRPGS he's got plenty of board games! (Honestly dude I can go on forever about this. I'm big time projecting, so I'm gonna end it here.)

◇ Stan loves his messenger bag, its got more patches in it then just the deftones on the side

◇ Collects band patches like a punk does for their jackets

◇ Anytime he goes to a local band gig he buys a patch (support local artists)

◇ Of course he has his guitar. Even if I didn't draw it!

◇ Cherry red guitar that he babies, he loves his guitar more then anything else he owns.

◇ Kyle got it for him when they both graduated high-school, it means the world to him

◇ His case for it has seen better days, most of the scratches are covered in stickers people have slapped on it.

◇ Honestly, he's got like one or two that he put on

◇ It's a game around the university: Get a Sticker on Marsh's Case

》 Craig's in the lead.

◇ Like Kyle does with Stan's inhaler. Stan carries insulin in his messenger bag for Kyle.

》 He knows Kyle doesn't pay attention to himself and lets his blood sugar drop so he also carries snacks

◇ The bright pink lighter and the lighter case was given to him by the guys, because that dummy always loses his lighter.

》 Every other day he's asking to borrow a lighter because he lost his

◇ Yet he knows where everyone of his guitar picks are, which is ridiculous

◇ Has a shit ton of them too, carries them in a little case!

◇ Stan will fist fight anyone who touches that brown journal, there's so much in there. (You know that feeling you get when someone asks to see your sketchbook? Yeah.)

◇ Lyrics for Crimson Dawn, poems that will never see the light of day, magic cards he uses as bookmarks,and campaign ideas

》 A few pages that have been ripped out and or burned out. Usually means he's had a bad day and needed to get it out

◇ The other thing he's protective of is his headphones, he's not sure why. There's nothing special about those white headphones. But they're his, and they got him through high-school.

◇ He was actually super happy about his Soul Synergy

◇ He already had a habit of doodling on his skin, so it was a surprise it manifested like this

◇ Kyle does get onto him about how often he marks on his skin. He orders Stan those Body Mark markers.

◇ When pictures or words show up on his skin it tickles, it's like he can feel the marker or pen

◇ That's the only part he hates, it tickles him and he's extremely ticklish (perish.)

◇ Doodles, lists, lyrics, and notes on things to do later. For some reason he's protective over all of them, and it makes him slightly sad when they go away.

It a few hours of sitting still, but it's finally done. Red takes a wipe and swipes it across his forearm, the moist wipe feels good against his skin. It's irritated from being poked over and over again, he can still feel the buzz of the needle.

The wipe reveals the jagged Soundwave tattoo stretching down his forearm. He smiles at it and almost goes to touch it, but stops himself. From the way his tattoo artist glares at him, he knows better.

He tries, he really does, to listen to Red as she goes through the steps on how to take care of it. But it's hard when he keeps staring at it, wondering if his little plan worked.

On the outside, it certainly seems narcissistic to get one's voice tattooed on one's self. But Stan could live with the whispers or the questions if it meant it was on the skin of his soulmate too. It wasn't anyone else's business what it was, that was between him and them.

After all Stan worked very hard to get that recording of him singing, You are my Sunshine, just right.

(Here's the blank if you want it ♡)

[ashen-char]

together pt.1/?

ship: river (all souls) x gender neutral reader

warnings: vague mentions of drug dealing bc of canon i suppose

summary: river has some financial troubles. you want to help.

word count: 800+

You're resting on River's worn-out sofa bed, like you do whenever you come over. River's place is a single bedroom and her baby comes first - Jade is already sleeping soundly in the bedroom. And you can ignore the springs digging into your back if it means River's laying beside you every night.

But right now, she's busy. River is counting crumpled bills at her dining table, sitting on a metal folding chair that's always been uncomfortable. A little from the dealings she runs, a little more for helping the cops, and the shitty tips from her diner job.

Her being a police informant is too dangerous for your liking. Especially with how it wraps River up in Silas's world again. River agreed with you every time you two talked about it but, in her words, what the hell can she do? She needs the money to keep the lights on, to keep her girl fed, needs Jade to be able to stay miles away from the shitshow that is her life. And, River added, the more she helps the police the closer that scum gets off the streets.

"Damn," River whispers to herself as she counts the final bill. "Barely enough to keep the lights on." But you hear her, and you can see that wrinkle between her brows. She's stressed - mind already whirring about how to make her paycheck stretch for the week. Your girl takes on way too much by herself.

"Hey," you say. You get up from the sofa and make your way over to her, sliding an arm across River's shoulders.

"Mm," she murmurs back in acknowledgement. River lifts her head up so that your lips graze against the tattoo on her neck. "Sorry, it's just-" she sighs, "a lot. But I'll figure something out. I always do."

"No, no. I'll pitch in." You don't say it like an offer, knowing that River's pride would make her refuse, but as a statement. You'd take care of her. You'd take care of them both if she let you.

River has been independent since she was a kid, practically, so young when she had Jade. She had dropped out and had taken whatever jobs she could, and after her mom passed River has been doing it virtually alone. Learning that it's alright to depend on you has been a struggle for her.

River pauses. "You sure?" You've offered before, and River always turned it down. It's your money, she'd tell you. The fact that she doesn't refuse immediately tells you that she's more comfortable relying on you already. It warms your heart.

The answer's easy. You don't hesitate to say "of course", leaning down to kiss her again.

It's slow and a little sweet, the tang from the Monster she just downed hitting your lips. Your tongue darts out to lick it away and River makes this cute little noise at the back of her throat. The pressure of River's kiss is like a soothing balm. When she pulls away, though, you can see that the money problems are still on her mind.

Leaning her head on your shoulder, she sets down the bills she was tallying and rubs her tired eyes. It's a mix of emotions. Gratitude for the roof over their heads, frustration at the unending struggle to make ends meet. And above all, River has determination to provide a better life for her daughter. She knows accepting this offer would be for the best. And she trusts you. 

"Alright. But I don't really know what to let you help with," River admits. She already has enough, if barely, to cover the bills. With a little more pocket change from you, she could actually have some savings for a rainy day. You two wouldn't have to sleep every night on a sofa she found off the side of the road.

"I dunno. Anything," you say.

River looks over her apartment as if seeing it for the first time. The coffee table has cigarette burns and crayon scribbles. Toys are strewn all over the floor but the walls are empty, save for Jade's drawings. The cabinets never close properly. There's only two chairs at the dining table. That was enough for when it was just the two of them, but with you around... maybe River can dream of sharing meals together as a family. You'd stick around for breakfast instead of slipping out before Jade wakes up.

"You think we can get a little something to make the place more homey?" she asks. "I think I'd like that."

You grip her tighter, whispering promises against River's skin. Dreaming for more is hard in a world like this. But you hope against hope that you being around will make River see that it's alright. That dreams can come true.

You hold her close, surrounded by the faint scent of her perfume and the quiet hum of the city outside. "I'd love to. We'll make it happen," you whisper. You'll make anywhere home as long as you're by each other's sides. "Together."

pt. 2 is here!