#[ hes trying and he knows he is and he can only hope its enough

[pippytmi]

kacy au + a prompt from this list: "this is the first time I’m living on my own and my parents decided to spontaneously drop by in a few hours to see how I’m doing pls let me borrow some cleaning supplies and food so that my parents will believe I’m a functioning, responsible adult who totally cleans and doesn’t just have condiments and eggs in my fridge AU”

////////

“Hey! Hi, you’re—you're 8C, right?”

Kate nearly drops her bag at the sudden voice and its proximity, entirely unused to any kind of attention whatsoever. Embarrassingly, her first response is to reach for a gun that isn’t there, succeeding only in pulling out her keys as a makeshift weapon.

“Whoa,” the stranger before Kate says, raising both hands up. She looks vaguely familiar, dark eyes and curly hair and a short enough stature that Kate presumes she won’t be a real threat. “Is that a…key? No offense, but I don't think that would stab very well.” She squints up at Kate suddenly, almost like she’s trying to figure her out. “Please don't test that theory.”

Kate can only hurriedly lower said keys, feels her cheeks burn under the scrutiny. “Sorry,” she says. “I guess I’m a little jumpy.”

“It’s all good, I totally get it,” the stranger says cheerfully. “There’s not really a welcoming committee around these parts.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Kate asks slowly, cautiously on guard once more. She had first moved into this apartment two months ago, so it’s a little late for a welcome-to-the-neighborhood kind of thing.

“It could be,” the woman says, and she holds out her hand. “I’m Lucy. You might know me better as 12B, I’m the one always throwing empty bottles at the landlord’s head.”

Kate just stares back, accepting the handshake a beat later than socially acceptable. “I…didn’t know anyone did that, actually.”

“Oh it’s fine,” Lucy’s quick to reassure her. “He hasn’t found out it’s me.”

“Okay.” Kate is still very, very confused as to what Lucy of 12B (who throws water bottles at people) could possibly want. Or why she has decided to introduce herself in such a strange manner.

“Sorry to bug you," Lucy says, “but you’re kind of my last hope. I’ve been trying to find one friendly neighbor in this shithole, and so far, everyone has been shutting their doors in my face. You’re kind of on another level since you tried to shank me, but I am completely willing to forget that if you can let me borrow some stuff.”

“I didn’t try to…” Kate trails off as Lucy gazes up at her with such a hopeful expression that her resolve immediately weakens. “What kind of stuff?”

“Nothing major,” Lucy says. “Long story short, my parents decided to drop in on me, and I basically have nothing in my place. Any chance you can lend me some cleaning supplies? And maybe some groceries? I will one hundred percent pay you back. I just need them to think I’m an actual functioning human being.”

“I guess I can see what I have,” Kate says reluctantly, gripping her groceries a little tighter to her chest. “Come in, I’ll get you everything you need.”

This is probably a bad idea. Scratch that—it is definitely a bad idea, and Curtis will actually kill her for this, but Kate invites this literal stranger into her (government-assigned) home and leaves Lucy alone in order to briefly dash into her room and lock up the gun kept in the bottom of her purse.

Lucy, at the very least, stays firmly in the living room where Kate left her, though her eyes obviously wander around the room. “I like the color,” she says, gesturing to Kate’s couch. “Funky.”

Kate grimaces. “It was the only one they had,” she says of that neon-green monstrosity.

“Well, I think it’s really cool,” Lucy says. With Kate back, she seems emboldened, takes a turn about the room with a curious half-smile. “Your place seems smaller than mine. How much are you paying? Because if it’s the same as mine, I can totally get the landlord with a bottle for you.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Kate says. “Um, I think I should have everything you need in the kitchen.” She ushers Lucy right over, gestures to the fridge and says, “You can pick whatever you want for food. I’ll get the cleaning supplies from under the sink.” Still on edge, she crouches down to retrieve everything while watching Lucy out of the corner of her eye.

If Lucy can feel Kate staring, she doesn’t show it; she happily accepts the invitation to rummage through the fridge, clanking of bottles and rustling of bags audible. Finally, Kate focuses on the task at hand, and packs the basics into a plastic bag: bleach, window cleaner, Lysol.

“Okay, this might be more unbelievable than having nothing in my house,” Lucy suddenly declares. “Do you have anything good to eat?”

Kate lifts her head. “What?”

“This is all health food and green juice, 8C,” Lucy says. Pauses. “Oh fuck. I never asked for your name.”

Honestly, Kate forgot she hadn’t, either. “It’s—”

“I really hope you’re not a serial killer,” Lucy continues, as if Kate isn’t even in the room and she is just musing aloud. “That probably should’ve been my first question. Can we start over? Here. 8C, are you a serial killer?”

Kate blinks. “No,” she says. “But I also don’t think serial killers would tell you if they were.”

“Fair enough,” Lucy says, and peculiarly enough, she doesn’t seem threatened at all by the possibility. Obviously she is not afraid to be in unfamiliar situations with unfamiliar people, and Kate wonders if she should rethink her assumption that Lucy is not a threat. “So what’s your name, then?”

“...Kate.”

“Kate,” Lucy repeats. “Hm. It’s not what I was expecting, but it fits.” With that information, she just turns around and…continues going through Kate’s fridge. “Are you single?”

Kate coughs. “W-what?”

“Single people always have those sad frozen meals, at least,” Lucy says. “I do too, normally, but I haven’t hit the grocery store in a while.” She opens the freezer and actually whoops at the sight of Marie Callender's finest. “Jackpot! I will take these off your hands.”

“And your parents will…be fine with that?” Kate decides that, overall, she is utterly confused by Lucy the neighbor from 12B. There's no other possible way to put it.

“Oh not at all, but it is what they expect,” Lucy says. “I’ll take some of your health foods too, I guess. Let them think I’m trying to stop bad habits.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear with a self-conscious laugh. “I mean, only if that’s fine with you.”

And something about that moment where Lucy becomes a little awkward—when she bashfully looks down at her feet, then looks back up at Kate from underneath her long eyelashes—it endears Kate completely. At the very least, it makes her relax, stomach twisting in itself in a tell-tale weakness for pretty girls in trouble. “Sure,” she says. “Do your parents like wine? You can take a bottle, I have a few.”

“I would never turn down wine,” Lucy says, brightening. “I don’t even care that I don’t have wine glasses. We can drink out of paper cups for all I care.”

Kate opens the liquor cabinet to make her selection: a nice red that had been a gift from her mother. (She’ll just have to email her later and say she loved it when her mother asks.) “I would offer to lend you some, but I also don’t have wine glasses,” she finds herself saying, then immediately regrets it, because Lucy obviously expects an explanation and all Kate seems to be able to do is make a fool out of herself today.

“Are you also a connoisseur of paper cups? Kate from 8C, I think we’re going to be friends,” Lucy says easily, and Kate’s lips twitch from the effort of biting back a smile.

“I actually like to drink wine out of mason jars,” Kate says. “I know it’s a little weird…”

Lucy has absolutely no qualms about smiling, and her smile lights up her whole face in a way Kate can’t look away from. “I think that’s cute,” she says, and Kate’s face burns so hot she knows that her status as this building’s number one gay disaster is 100% secured.

“Here,” Kate barely remembers to blurt out, handing off the wine bottle. “And let me get you a bag for the food too.”

After everything has been successfully squared away, Lucy is left with three large bags that will definitely require more than one trip. “Thank you,” she says. “Seriously. You’ve saved my life and I promise I will replace everything I’ve stolen today.”

“It’s no problem,” Kate says. “Do you need help taking it to your place?”

Lucy feigns a double-take, mouth falling open in an exaggerated gasp. “Already trying to invite yourself over? Wow, 8C. At least buy a girl dinner first.”

Kate’s mouth inevitably twists into that damned smile anyway. “Is that not what the frozen meals are? Technically, I did buy them.”

“Touché,” Lucy says, biting her lip. “You are…surprising.” She snags the smaller of the bags which contains the cleaning supplies, then swings it over her shoulder. “Alright, you can walk me home. But no funny business.”

“Okay,” Kate says with a laugh, taking the last two bags herself.

“But,” Lucy says as they walk outside, “you officially have a rain check.”

“For dinner?” Despite the circumstances of Kate’s arrival here—despite the looming undercover op that is about to consume her life—she feels light. Hopeful, even.

Lucy throws a wink over her shoulder. “For the funny business,” she says, all but skipping in the direction of her apartment.

Kate, meanwhile, freezes in place. Nevermind about Lucy being a threat to her life—she’s just going to be a threat to Kate's sanity.

(Which…may or may not be a bad thing. It’s to be determined, at any rate). 

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection 2024 | Day 9: Empty Rescue

his and mine are the same | @cascigarette Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,510 Main Tags/Warnings: Post Canon Fix-It, Dean Winchester Has Abandonment Issues, Alcohol, First Kiss, Newly Human Castiel, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Castiel and Dean Winchester Use their Words Summary: Dean rescues Cas from the Empty. They end up having to talk about that final confession.

Two lesbians, two bicons, and their cat walk into super turbohell | @nuttysaladtree Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2,038 Main Tags/Warnings: crossover with She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the Empty, Fix-it, first kiss Summary: And they bury one person and zero gays. 15x20 "Carry On" finale fix-it that Castiel deserves. Mentioned Bow/Glimmer. Sam Winchester shows up, too, as well as the OTP Dean x pie. Melog is best kitty, and good riddance to the Empty/Shadow/Cosmic Entity and Horde Prime.

sometimes you just don't know the answer (wait for me) | @cassiecasyl Rating: General Word Count: 7,992 Main Tags/Warnings: Canonical Character Death, Episode: s15e18 Despair - Castiel's Confession Scene, Grief/Mourning, Album: evermore (Taylor Swift), Grieving Dean Winchester, Episode: s15e18 Despair, Alternate Ending, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Reunion, Castiel in the Empty (Supernatural), Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Angst, Hope vs. Despair, Love Confessions, Angst with a Happy Ending, Inspired by Hadestown, Song: Doubt Comes In, The Fates (Hadestown) Cameo, First Kiss, Reunions, Epic Love Summary: As Dean grieves, Jack tells them of an old story, one that has been told and sung over and over again anyway. Two lovers challenge the universe to escape death. They walk the long way home, but the one in front is not allowed to turn around for the whole way. Every entity of grand power knows this, for the pact has to be respected were it ever to be attempted again. Of course, Dean goes to find Castiel, because if anyone can do this, it's them.

Can't Stop Lovin' You | @teeparadigm67 Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 9,512 Main Tags/Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Castiel is Saved from the Empty, First Kiss, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Happy Ending, Fix-It, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Dean Winchester Saves Castiel from the Empty Summary: On paper, the plan seemed simple. Jack opens the portal between the worlds. Dean walks into the Empty and makes it loud enough to wake the dead. Drag Cas’s feathery ass out of there. Simple, right? Cloaked in Cas’s grace, tape deck in hand with Van Halen blasting out its little speaker, he plans to bring the angel home and tell Cas all the things left unspoken between them for all these years. Now they have a chance, he can’t throw this all away. The only problem is, the Empty has other ideas. It doesn't stop Dean however, it’s his turn to be the one who drags Cas out of perdition. Inspired by: Van Halen - Can't Stop Lovin' You

Bring Me To Life | @Taymarpigeon Rating: Explicit Word Count: 10,960 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-Canon Fix-It, Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gratuitous Smut, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Dean Winchester Calls Castiel "Angel", Bottom Dean Winchester/Top Castiel (Supernatural), Interrupting Sam Winchester Summary: In 2008 Dean Winchester met a man who changed everything; he says a man, Castiel Angel of the Lord was so much more than a man and not just because of the whole halo and wings thing. November 5th 2020 Castiel sacrificed himself to save Dean and by extension the world, but not before turning the hunter's life upside down one last time. In 2025 Dean was... moving on, let's put it that way. He hadn't forgotten Cas, spending the past five years trying to be all the things the Angel said he was in that teary goodbye. He put one foot in front of the other, day by day, because as Frank Devereaux once said: 'that's what you do'. This life only ends one way for most hunters though and Dean was no exception. Skip four months into the future and he's back, only this time he's done playing by the rules, done pretending his life didn't end with Cas that day in the dungeon. He's done. Time to do what he should have from the beginning...

stay | @thisisapaige Rating: Explicit Word Count: 15,073 Main Tags/Warnings: Fix-It, Post-Canon, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Light Angst, Happy Ending Summary: Standing on the bridge beside his brother, Dean looks around. Something’s wrong. Because this Heaven, this place Dean supposedly deserves, just seems so... empty.

The Little Issue with the Mission to Perdition | @amaranthhiding Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 16,460 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, Post-Ep 15x19, Jack and Amara Try Fixing Things Together But Make Everything Worse (at first), Amara is Part of Team Free Will, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Temporary Major Character Death, Angst with Happy Ending, First Kiss, DCRB 2023 Summary: Chuck is defeated and his power now belongs to Jack and Amara. They struggle with adjusting to their newly-shared existence, and with big questions such as, how can (almost) all-powerful beings avoid becoming what Chuck was? What even is all that power good for when it doesn't allow Jack to save someone from the Empty who absolutely deserves being saved? Who thought it was a good idea to hand all that power to two beings who, together, have spent less years on Earth than the average human child? ...And why is there suddenly black goo everywhere?

Until the Moss Had Reached Our Lips | @alulangel Rating: Mature Word Count: 20,543 Main Tags/Warnings: Fix-It, Everybody Lives, Lake House, Saved from the Empty, Groundhog Day Loop, Castiel’s True Form, Castiel’s handprint, Creepy forests, Inappropriate use of pie Summary: After everything with Chuck went down, Dean thought he deserved some time off. Not a retirement, just a break. A little cabin by a lake. Fishing. Baking. Time to process and reflect. Except he doesn't remember exactly how he got there. And he doesn't know why he can't leave. And there's something about the woods around the cabin, creeping closer and closer and closer every day...

one working part | @mittensmorgul Rating: Explicit Word Count: 40,051 Main Tags/Warnings: Inspired by It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Episode Fix-It: s15e19 Inherit the Earth (Supernatural) Angst and Fluff and Smut POV Alternating Not Canon Compliant with Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth (Supernatural), Human Castiel Summary: Wherein they actually inherit the earth. Again. Because I will never be done retelling the end of their story in more sensible and satisfying ways. This time, via the power of a classic holiday film... with a slightly demonic twist.

Empty Earth (WIP) | @amaranthhiding Rating: No Rating Word Count: 102,437 Main Tags/Warnings: Post-15x18, Epic, Plotty, Angel True Forms, Consensual Possession, Enochian, Apocalypse, Rebellion in Hell, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Witch!Sam, Destiel and Samwena, Jack & his three fathers, Crowley & Jack Summary: After Castiel's confession, Dean carries a spark of hope telling him this can't be the end. This spark is the strongest weapon for Dean, Sam and Jack in this final war. The enemy is God. The battlefield is an Earth devoid of humans, a Hell in rebellion against its queen, and a Heaven betrayed by its creator. And the stakes are everything and everyone they have ever cared about.

[yanderecookierunkingdom]

The Final Sunset

Previous | First | Next

You entered the quarantine area with a heavy sigh and a weight on your shoulders. You shrugged off your cloak and placed it upon the coat rack. You did the same with your lantern, blowing out the flame inside before you did.

Brushing off whatever snow made its way onto you, you walked deeper into the building, the warmth of the building familiar yet oh-so foreign. Walking deeper and deeper into the building, you were soon greeted by Chili Pepper Cookie, who was tossing one of her daggers up and down. She had a look of anger, maybe even resentment on her face as she gazed through the window.

"Chili Pepper Cookie?" You called out, voice soft.

"Reader Cookie!" She stumbled a bit before grabbing her dagger. She sighed and put it away. "C'mon, don't do that. Really scared me there."

"Sorry," you apologized with a gentle smile. You then walked next to her and peered into the window. "..you okay?"

Chili Pepper Cookie paused before she looked away. Her shoulders trembled. ".. it's my fault. I should have been watching him."

Your gaze softened as you walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We don't know if he's infected just yet."

"He could be."

".. I know," you relented with a frown. You gave her a quick hug to reassure her before pulling away and grabbing some gloves. You slipped them on before putting on a tight coat, followed by a mask.

"It's really snowing hard out there," Chili Pepper Cookie muttered as looked towards the entrance.

"It is." You nodded in agreement, approaching an iron door. "At least it wasn't snowing when this all started."

After a nod of both agreement and confirmation from Chili Pepper Cookie, you flicked the lever beside you, and you walked in.

The door hissed shut once closed, and you exhaled slowly. You approached the young Cookie on the bed first. "Hey, Pancake Cookie!" You smiled at him. "How're you feeling?"

"Hi!" He chirped, looking up at you with a wide smile. "I'm kinda hungry, do you have any Acorn Jellies?"

"None at the moment, but I'll try and get you some." You hope he can't sense the melancholy in your voice. "So, Pure Vanilla Cookie told me you were feeling a lot more cold than everyone else."

"Yeah, I dunno why." Pancake Cookie looked down as he kicked his feet. "All the snow was hitting me and I felt like I was an ice cube!"

Your expression softened. "How do you feel right now?"

"Still kinda cold, but not as cold as before!" He shook his head.

"Okay, that's good. I'll see if I can get you some blankets."

You gently patted his head before walking to the next door. You pushed it open and your expression fell, seeing Black Raisin Cookie pacing.

Her worried gazed fell upon you, and you could only look at her assuringly. "You did the right thing," you told her as the iron door behind you hissed shut.

"I know." Black Raisin Cookie looked down. She clenched her hand to a fist. "I just wish I had been faster. If I had been.."

"Black Raisin Cookie," you gently cut her off as you walked closer. You placed a gloved hand on her shoulder, and her tired eyes met yours. "The fact that you managed to bring Pancake Cookie here even with those Frost Cookies chasing you is more than enough." You smiled behind the mask. "Just focus on the now, okay?"

As the other Cookie nodded, you pulled your hand away. "Now, how are you feeling?"

"Tired," she admitted, rubbing her face. "It also feels like I may have gotten frostbite.."

You frowned from that and you held out a gloved hand. She placed her bandaged hand in yours, and you looked over her hand. She wasn't wrong, her fingertips were a bit red. Scars marked them as well, and you narrowed your eyes a bit.

"I'll mention this to Pure Vanilla Cookie," you told her, wrapping her hand back up. You looked her up and down before your eyes caught a scar on her cheek. You reached out and gently brushed a finger over it. "How did this..?"

"A branch scratched me." Black Raisin Cookie shook her head, doing her best to quell your worries. "The Frost Cookie didn't get me, and it's jam didn't get in me either."

You paused to consider her words before you relented. You moved away from her and gently cupped her cheek. "Do you remember what it looked like? The infected?"

"It.. didn't look like a Cookie." Black Raisin Cookie stepped away and began to pace again. "It had cake hound legs, but a snow lion tail.. it just.." She shook her head. "All I know is that.. it was an infected, and it was a terrifying hunter."

You nodded softly.

You learned nothing more, so you said goodbye to Black Raisin Cookie after informing her that her crows were doing fine. It was only her and Pancake Cookie that were showing signs of the Frost, after being ambushed by an infected.

Walking through the sterile halls, you thought back to when Black Raisin Cookie and Pancake Cookie returned. Chili Pepper Cookie had lost sight of the young Cookie, though it wasn't her fault. She was stressed, everyone was. The younger Cookie had thought he saw some acorn jellies off in the forest, and he had rushed off towards it.

It, of course, wasn't.

Black Raisin Cookie had luckily found him, just before an infected had found them. It still made you shudder, how Caramel Arrow Cookie and Pastry Cookie came rushing in, supporting Black Raisin Cookie as best they could.

Ah, you should probably check on them, now that you think of it..

As you stepped back out to the common area, you spotted Pure Vanilla Cookie discussing with Chili Pepper Cookie. His staff caught sight of you first, and soon the Ancient's head turned to look at you. "Oh, you are here, thank goodness.."

"What's wrong?" You asked as you took off the mask, setting it aside as you then slipped off your gloves.

"The acorn jellies, they're.. they're freezing over more and more," he informed you as he clutched his staff. "My spells are doing nothing, and no fire is able to melt them. It's like someone is.. deliberately freezing them over."

"We don't know that." You shook your head. "It's a fair chance that the cold is just freezing them over. I'll come with you."

As you followed him out of the building once slipping on your cloak and grabbing your lantern, you couldn't help but have a bad feeling brewing. You tried to push it away, merely saying that it was due to everything that had happened.

But still..

* This choice will affect your future. Decide what will help you gather more information on the Frost.

taglist: @speadrunner / @haveneulalie / @queensharotto / @luv-sorrow / @imaginarydreams

mention - Infected!Arsenic Cookie (Arsenic Anon)

[joojeans]

˚◞♡ ⃗ I Dare You Pt. 3

♡ Bestfriend!Nicholas x Afab!Reader

♡ Summary: You’re sitting on the floor with your friends playing a juvenile game–truth or dare. Things have been spiraling out of control for some time now, but what happens when you’re dared to turn on one of your best friends without touching them? Can they handle it? Can you handle it? Spoiler alert: neither of you can. Find out how things go from seriously fucked up to seriously fucked, one member at a time.

♡ WC: 3.9k

♡ Content: lbr nicholas needs a warning all on his own, nicholas is falsely confident at the beginning, the boys are on each other's asses, reader is head empty only nicholas (real), oral (f. receiving), fingering, unprotected sex (be smart), 'baby' used a couple of times, creampie

♡ PREVIOUS | SERIES MASTERLIST | NEXT

“You’re so cute. You can barely handle telling us a little dirty secret without your ears getting all red.”

You can barely hear Nicholas–your attention on K’s phone as he shows you a funny video–but you know he’s talking to Euijoo. It was just his turn during this round of truth or dare. You think you remember the question being about a fantasy of his, but you weren’t really paying attention, to be perfectly honest. You thought K wasn’t either until you hear him scoff at Nicholas’s teasing, looking up from his phone with a taunting smirk.

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you. You get a tent in your pants if the wind blows the wrong way.”

You look up now, choking back a laugh at a smug Euijoo and an annoyed Nicholas, tongue pushing into his cheek.

“Hey, fuck you.” Nicholas retorts, half playful, half deadly serious.

“Prove it then.” Euijoo. Silence follows for a second as everyone looks at him curiously. His ears are burning slightly from all the attention, but he’s determined not to back down right now. “It’s your turn. Let’s see how easily you crumble with a little attention.”

“Bro, unless you’re planning on making a move on me, I’m not following.”

Euijoo hesitates for a moment, realizing he hasn’t thought his plan and its implications through. He reluctantly looks in your direction but he can’t bring himself to say what he was thinking. Luckily for him, Fuma seems to understand. He chuckles.

“Y/n, I think he’s suggesting that you should be the one to give this a go.”

You watch as Nicholas’s eyes grow wide, shocked. Somehow even more shocked, Euijoo sits up straight from his spot on the couch, shaking his head insistently. “N-no. I didn’t mean that. You don’t have to do that. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t think I was–”

“Euijoo, relax. It’s fine.” You laugh, a fondness in your heart. “Obviously I should be the one to give this a go. Look at me. He wouldn’t be able to resist.” You wink, hoping to soothe his nerves. It seems to work, his shoulders relaxing and his bright smile creeping back onto his face.

You dart your eyes next to him: Nicholas. He looks antsy–nervous?–thinly veiled with surety. As expected.

“So? Are you going to let me try? I believe this is your dare, so it’ll look really embarrassing for you if you chicken out.” You’re poking the bear. You’re smug.

Nicholas exhales a laugh, his eyebrows indicating his surprise at the situation he’s found himself in. “I’m not going to stop you.”

You smirk. Perfect. “Okay, so what are the rules?” You ask, glancing at everyone else for guidelines. Nicholas probably doesn’t have much of a say here.

“I think…” K starts, humming as he ponders. “Everything is fair game as long as you don’t touch his dick. That would be too easy.” The other men mumble their agreement, heads nodding.

“Easy enough. You ready?”

Peacocking, Nicholas sits further back into the couch, spreading his arms out along the cushions on either side of his head. He lets his legs fall open, inviting you to his entire body. No verbal confirmation needed.

You don’t believe him. You know you can get him to fold. Without wasting much time, you stand up and make your way to the couch. Once you’re standing in front of Nicholas, his eyes firmly on yours, Euijoo quickly moves from his end of the couch, taking the seat on the floor next to K.

You’re just gazing at each other. He’s looking up at you like he’s expecting your best effort. You’re looking at him like you can’t wait to fuck with his head. Smiling much too sweetly, you slowly lower yourself to your knees in front of him. His eyes follow you, a glimmer of fear igniting in them. You know exactly what he’s afraid of. He knows he’s fucked already. He’s still trying to pretend that’s not the case.

“Hi, Nicholas.” You coo, both hands curling over his kneecaps.

“Hey,” he says simply. He doesn’t plan on giving you much to work with. That’s okay.

“I hope you’re having fun tonight.” Your hands glide slowly up the tops of his thighs, venturing to the outer sides as you move higher, careful to avoid his crotch. His eyes are trying to decide whether to look at you or watch your hands, ping ponging back and forth. “I know I am.” Your hands move up to his hips, finding the waistband of his jeans. Your fingers curl into the belt loops on the sides.

And then you pull.

Just enough to yank his body down the couch a bit more. Just enough to have his torso almost parallel to the ceiling. The soft, surprised gasp that pushes out of his lips is gorgeous.

Just this much is enough to extinguish the confidence in his eyes almost completely.

You fight the urge to smirk at him, keeping up the innocent appearance despite your actions being anything but. You untangle your fingers from his belt loops, your hands hovering by his sides as you look up at him. “That’s better, isn’t it? Much more comfortable this way.” You muse the words, not believing them, but selling them to him anyway. You keep your eyes on his as your thumbs hook under the hem of his t-shirt. You push your hands up slowly until his stomach is exposed to you and then you stop. His lips are parted in awe.

In an attempt to lighten the tension that’s building up in his body, Nicholas forces a laugh. “Y/n, what are you even doing? This is ridiculous…”

“Mm.” You hum, tilting your head like a confused puppy, your lashes batting sweetly. You don’t humor him, instead leaning down towards his stomach. You see his skin jump as you approach it, your lips far too close. “Pretty,” you mumble, bringing your hand up to stroke the small tuft of hair above his jeans. He tenses more. You smile.

“Y/n.”

You pause for just a moment to look back up at him. You want to give him the opportunity to stop you if he’s uncomfortable, but he doesn’t say anything more. You know it’s just stalling. So you continue, moving your hands to hold his waist securely as you close the space between the two of you, placing gentle, open-mouthed kisses on his stomach.

You can tell from the shaky exhales and the single fuck that you both know he’s lost already. You don’t need to do much more, but you’re having a good time. You move your lips over his skin, covering every inch of his stomach with a wet kiss. 

To your surprise (and pleasure), you feel Nicholas’s hand slide into the back of your hair, his fingers curling to hold you there, to keep you doing what you’re doing. The unexpected move makes you freeze for just a moment, your attention momentarily drifting to a stirring in your stomach. You’ve got to finish up. You are not supposed to be the one turned on by this.

Eager to put an end to this before it gets out of control, you set up for your final move. Your lips kiss down the soft happy trail guiding you to his jeans. You don’t have to see Nicholas to know he’s watching with bated breath, secretly hoping you’re going to properly finish him off. 

Alas, that would be against the rules.

Taking advantage of his hope, you move your lips just over the waistband of his jeans, collecting the button in your mouth. You pull just slightly with your teeth and then the worst thing imaginable happens: Nicholas moans.

Oh no. Now the sensation in your stomach is wafting lower, taking up residence between your plush thighs.

You let the button snap free of your teeth and pull back slightly. You internally recenter yourself as best as you can, taking notice of the fact that Nicholas’s jeans aren’t hiding his obvious arousal. Seeing your success lets you forget your own growing arousal momentarily, a proud smirk on your lips as you look back up to Nicholas. “Well, would you look at that?”

Groaning when he realizes you’re really going to stop here, Nicholas rolls his eyes and grabs a pillow, placing it over his lap. “Oh, fuck off. Any of the guys in here would have responded the same.”

The room erupts with snickers. Not sure where to sit now that Euijoo is in your spot, you move up to sit next to Nicholas on the couch. He’s mindlessly playing with the rings on his fingers, trying to distract himself from his own urges. You almost feel bad until you remember how smug he was.

Everyone tries to steer the night back into a less tense direction for the next few minutes, but it’s not working for Nicholas.

“I think I’m gonna head out.” He says suddenly. “Thanks to all of you, I now have a problem to take care of.” Assuring everyone that he’s not upset, he playfully throws the pillow he was holding at Euijoo and smiles the way he always does. He turns to look at you, equally playful. “Thanks, y/n. You’re truly evil.”

You watch as he stands up, tucking his phone into his pocket and grabbing his keys from the table. He says his goodbyes and then he’s gone. Just like that.

Or so you think.

Only moments after the front door closes behind him, your phone vibrates in your pocket. You pull it out only to find a message from Nicholas.

Meet me at my place in 20.

Oh. Oh.

You look up, relieved to see none of the guys are paying attention to you, too busy staring at K’s phone screen like you had been doing earlier. It’s a perfect out, you realize.

“Well…” You start, waiting for them to look at you so you know you have their attention for the small act you’re about to put on for them. “I think I should get going too. You guys are entertaining yourselves and I think I need to wash my mouth out with soap after what you made me do.”

K laughs. Fuma and Euijoo nod their understanding, wincing as if they were the ones that were touching Nicholas like that. No one protests.

-

As you step out of the uber outside Nicholas’s apartment, reality finally settles in.

What am I doing here? Why did I just do what Nicholas told me to do without thinking about it? Why did I make up an excuse to come here? Why am I not changing my mind? Why are my feet already making their way to his door? Why am I knocking?

Nicholas opens the door and only then do you realize how fast your heart is beating.

He looks exactly the same as he did before but you’re not seeing him the same right now. Without a word, he steps to the side, inviting you in. He seems to be pretty sure that you’ll do so, but can you blame him? You just came to his apartment without so much as a question. You step inside, feeling the light of his apartment dim as he closes the door behind you.

You’re just standing there now. You feel and must look awkward, but you’re not sure what to do. You have an idea of why he might’ve invited you, but you don’t want to assume and look like a fool in front of him. So you just stand. Waiting.

You glance down when you feel Nicholas’s hand capture yours in his, gently pulling you to him as he leans against the wall perpendicular to his front door. You’re pressed to his chest–hands resting there–and your eyes are locked on each other’s. He lets go of your hand, letting his hands take up residence around your waist instead. His hands feel secure on your lower back.

Everything is way too quiet for how bizarre this is.

“So did you have fun?” It’s like he could sense your objection to the silence.

“I…” You swallow, not quite sure how to answer. “Yeah.”

A small smirk on his lips, a peek of pretty teeth. “Yeah?” His tongue glides over his bottom lip, one of his hands playing with the hem of your shirt at the back. He never takes his eyes from you. “So then we should keep having fun, right?”

You narrow your eyes, partly to disguise your intrigue. “That’s what you called me here for? It was a dare, Nicholas. I didn’t come here to fuck you.”

“I didn’t call you here to fuck you. I just thought we could maybe…” His eyes fall to your lips, his smirk widening. He glances back up to your eyes, briefly searching for a hint of opposition and finds none. He drops his head slightly, pressing his lips to your jaw, kissing across it until he’s in perfect proximity to your ear. “I thought maybe we could make out a little. What do you think?”

You don’t think. You can’t. All you can do is feel the burn from his lips and imagine that feeling everywhere else. Your eyes close briefly as you try to find some semblance of self-control. Nicholas must notice because he allows himself a soft chuckle before taking hold of your chin. Your eyes open again and he’s looking down his nose at you. “If you don’t tell me you’re not interested, I’m going to kiss you.”

You can’t even pretend to yourself that you don’t want him to kiss you, but you’re too stubborn to admit you want it. So you keep quiet, swallowing the remnants of the resistance you never had to begin with. As promised, Nicholas leans in, hand still holding your chin in place for him, and presses his lips to yours.

It starts out light, lips barely moving against each other, afraid to do more than they’re supposed to. Nicholas’s free palm presses flat against your back, pressing you even closer to him, and your mouth opens in surprise. Nicholas takes this as an opportunity to test the waters, licking into your mouth, slowly, carefully, pleased when you moan in response. He drops your chin, his hand sliding into your hair instead as he pushes the gentle kiss into a heated meeting of lips and tongues, his other hand sliding down the back of your jeans, palming the flesh covered by flimsy panties.

Everything is escalating quickly all of a sudden, but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels good.

You let your body fall against Nicholas’s, trusting him to keep you on your feet. One arm moves around his neck, the other hand feeling the skin beneath his shirt. The skin your lips were on not so long ago. You feel the muscles there tense beneath your fingers, his mouth punctuating the effect of your touch by taking your lip between his teeth. He bites hard enough to warn you, but not enough to hurt. You’re not deterred.

Your heads are tilting this way and that, mouths opening and breaths taking on weight as you kiss each other like you’ve been dreaming about it. It’s messy and desperate. He’s trying to pull you impossibly closer and you’re trying to memorize the feeling of his skin. You don’t miss the way his hands tighten in your hair and squeeze your ass each time he pulls a moan from you. You don’t miss the way he’s straining against his jeans, grinding yourself against him, pleased yourself when he groans into your mouth.

He pulls back, shaking his head to clear it, his hands freezing where they are before dropping to his sides. “We should stop.”

Your head is still spinning. You’re still reeling. “I–why?”

Nicholas leans his head back against the wall and looks at you, panting. “Because we’re getting to a point of no return.” He pauses, exhales heavily. “And I want to respect your boundaries.”

No.

You’re panting too, looking at him, searching his eyes. “What if I changed my mind?”

He cocks his head, unsure if he believes you. “You better not be playing with me right now, y/n.”

“I’m not.”

Famous last words.

Nicholas scoops you into his arms, carrying you to his bedroom. His lips are on yours the entire way, not giving either of you a second to think yourselves out of this. He carefully lays you down, hovering over you as he follows. His hands are all over you now–ghosting, groping, gliding. You’re pulling at his shirt and he’s all too happy to pull it off for you, only needing one hand to do so. He tosses it away before his hands focus on yours, sliding it up your body so he can kiss your stomach, his fingers working the fasteners of your jeans.

You use the moment to try and catch your breath, your back arching into every kiss Nicholas places around your navel. So fucking pretty, you hear him mumble more to himself than to you. You sigh dreamily, pushing your hand back through your hair as Nicholas lifts your hips to pull your jeans off. He kisses up the insides of your legs starting from your feet until he’s reached his target–your wet, panty-clad cunt. He presses a kiss to the center before peeling them away, smirking as he listens to you whimper for more contact.

His mouth finds your now-exposed sex like a starved man, tongue swirling around your clit and dipping down through your folds to gather your arousal, to taste it. He hums his satisfaction, eyes closing as he lets himself enjoy feasting on you. You’d swear you’ve never felt anything like it. Your hand grabs at his hair, pulling for some sense of grounding, and he groans, the vibrations only adding to your pleasure.

Nicholas takes your clit into his mouth and sucks, allowing his eyes to open and look up, wanting to see the way your body shakes in response. You do just that, moaning louder than you anticipate, and Nicholas eats it up. He doesn’t want to make you cum too quickly so he releases your clit, letting only his fingers glide through your slick. “You’re so wet, y/n,” he notes with a smirk. Just an observation, he’d say if you were to challenge him.

“Just take your fucking pants off,” you quip with a smirk of your own.

“Yes ma’am.” He’s grinning now, one hand pumping two fingers into your cunt while the other undresses his lower half.

His fingers feel good. His rings are adding to the stretch and the cold metal makes you shiver. “Fuck,” you sigh, sure you’re in a wet dream. Nicholas chuckles lowly before removing his fingers, much to your dismay. He moves back up your body, letting you watch as he cleans your arousal from his fingers with his mouth. You watch in awe, feeling new waves of it pooling between your thighs. He winks when he finishes, his face hovering just above yours, his hand gripping the side of your neck.

“Last chance to tell me to fuck off.” You can sense his hand stroking his cock between your bodies, waiting only for your go ahead. The cocksure look on his face says he knows you won’t be doing that.

You roll your eyes, both annoyed and fond. “Don’t make me change my mind again.”

Nicholas grins, lowering his mouth back to yours. He’s more nibbling and tugging than kissing this time, his hand guiding his throbbing cock inside you. You both hiss at the initial stretch and resistance, both pairs of eyelids fluttering from the relief. He pushes inside you slowly, making sure not to cause you any discomfort while he bottoms out. “Fuck, you feel so good.” The rasp in his voice is enough to make you clench around him and he hisses again in response.

You tilt your head back as Nicholas’s hand travels up the side of your neck, taking hold of the side of your face as he starts to move, thrusting into you at a pace you both can adjust to well. He keeps your face turned to his with his grip and even though it makes everything feel more intimate than maybe it should, it’s also really fucking hot. “Feels good, baby?” He asks, his eyes boring into yours, his hips slowly picking up their pace. You nod because yeah. It feels so fucking good. Too good, maybe.

You like the feeling of Nicholas keeping you in place the way he wants you. You like the way he’s constantly kissing you as he fucks you, groaning against your lips when he thrusts into you particularly hard, grinning when you moan his name. You like the sight of his hair dripping with sweat and his thick silver chain dangling above you. You like the way he pays so much attention to you, especially when he starts fucking into you at a relentless pace that neither of you will be able to withstand long. You like the way he asks you if it feels good, if you want more, if you’re going to cum for him when he feels you quivering beneath him.

“Fuck, I’m going to cum too.” His voice is so low now that you almost can’t hear him properly. He finally looks away from you, eyes trained on your lower halves. His mouth is open as he puts all of his concentration into hitting just the right spot inside of you, sucking air through his teeth as he staves off his own orgasm until he can pull one out of you. “Come on, baby, cum for me. Let me feel you.”

But you don’t need to be told. He’s hitting that sweet spot that makes you see stars, your head pressing back into the mattress under you and your hands clutching at his arms. The moan that accompanies your orgasm is lewd, echoing your gratefulness for release. You twitch as he fucks you through it, equally grateful for your orgasm so he no longer has to postpone his own. His eyes squeeze shut as he releases inside of you and he’s never looked prettier–jaw tense but open, brows furrowed, skin gleaming with sweat. The strangled moan is on loop inside your head, music to your ears.

As Nicholas comes down from his high, he opens his eyes once again, smiling weakly but happily at your fucked out face. He carefully pulls out of you and gathers you in his arms, rolling the two of you over so you’re laying on his chest. His chest is heaving beneath your head, his arm securely around your lower back. Again, you feel like this is maybe a little bit more intimate than it should be, but it still doesn’t feel that way. It just feels comfortable with Nicholas.

You stay silent for a few minutes, both of you catching your breath and recovering. As your brain comes back to you, you have a question.

“Nicholas?” “Yeah, baby?”

You ignore the ‘baby.’ You’ll correct him later. “When we were playing the game earlier, were you imagining what it would be like if I gave you head?”

He laughs. He wasn’t expecting that to be the question right now. “Uh…yeah.”

You laugh now. “So…why was I the one that got head then?”

Nicholas thinks. He thinks some more. “...Ladies first?”

You both laugh this time. He’s implying there will be a next time, you think to yourself. You don’t correct him. You’ll do that later too.

[lyrqxa]

Narinder is the only sibling out of five who never reached godhood.

It made him angry and jealous, knowing that he would never be on the same level as his siblings and would never understand what it meant to be like them. That does not waver his love for his family. For thousands of years to follow, he is their most devoted disciple. He stays by their side, worshiping them and fighting for them. When the prophecy causes panic among his siblings, he does whatever he can to ease their minds, hoping everything will be okay.

But when he, the final cat, is unwillingly slain as the final sacrifice to secure his siblings' safety in godhood, he meets The Shepherd, who proposes the offer of a lifetime. The price is to kill his siblings, free them from their chains, and fulfill the prophecy that he died for.

“Yes.”

(An AU where the Lamb is The One Who Waits, and Narinder is chosen as their vessel.)

ITS OUTTT ITS OUT YAYYY sorry that it took 10298310238 years...

this chapter was really fun to write and i look forward to writing the rest of the darkwood arc!! ngl i wrote like half of this in one whole day, got bombarded by the responsibilities of life, and started writing more sporadically. hopefully i get fucked over a little less in the upcoming weeks

i hope that this is good enough of an opening so that you guys vaguely understand narinder's upbringing + just how he works here. it was so interesting to take this grumpy ass cat and try to place him in a position where he never really had power and was still just a follower (and was also not imprisoned for a thousand years so that he could grow saltier). i think it'd make him a lot more reserved, which is why he's so hopeless when it comes to actually trying to have nice conversations with people LOLL

anyways! hope u enjoy it !! whaahhaa

[backtothefanfiction]

Brown Eyes | A Mandalorian Imagine

Summary- Turns out, there’s so much more at stake than just life or death if you get injured

Length- short

Warnings- mostly fluff, mentions of injury

A/N- this just popped into my head so I of course had to write it out for you guys before I can sleep.

You’ve been lucky. Real lucky. All this time spent travelling with him and the kid and you haven’t gotten injured once. Which is even more lucky when you think about what your travelling companion does for a living. Or at least that’s what you think to yourself as you now sit hold up in the hull of the ship, your hand holding tightly to the blaster wound at your side.

It was your own fault really. He had told you multiple times to not do wander off or let the kid roam around outside the ship when he was on missions like this- but did you listen… No of course not. It’s not like anything had happened the last 15 times you had let him stretch his legs and get some fresh air and Din had been none the wiser.

He had also told you before that people were looking for him and the kid, which was another reason to lie low, but you didn’t think the situation was a shoot on sight kind of deal. You had both just been enjoying the meadow Din had landed in and the nearby tree line when the first shot had burned its way through the side of a tree. Then came another- and another. You felt one of the blasts burn across your side, but you couldn’t stop, couldn’t acknowledge it. You just had to get out of there.

You had tried to shoot back, scooping the kid up in your arms and running for your life back to the razor crest. The moment you were through the doors you had closed the hatch and placed the kid safely in his cradle, closing the top for extra protection as blaster fire began to hit the side of the ship.

You had frantically began to press buttons to get it up in the air and away from them. As you just about cleared the tree line, the crest half protesting from your hasty take off, another beep, the beep of the coms, sent a new wave of adrenaline through your body.

“What’s happening? Why have-“

You don’t let him finish asking his questions. “They found us. They found the kid.” You quickly informed him. Although you were trying to block it out, you knew from the strained way you were talking he’d know you’d been hurt.

“Is he safe? Is the kid safe? Are you both safe?” He quickly asked through the com link.

“Yes.” You said quickly back, if not a bit breathily, as you fought to steady the ship in the air and move it away from the meadow and the wooded area, instead heading towards a mountain ridge, hoping it would provide some cover.

“I’m sending co-ordinates,” he said- and you could hear the beeping of him typing in the location to send to the crest through the com, “meet me there.”

“Okay.” You said, gritting your teeth against the pain in your side.

The adrenaline coursing through your body had been just enough to see you to the rendezvous point, a large cavern on the far side of the mountains. You just had enough focus to land the crest inside, shutting the engines back down, before climbing back down into the hull to check on the baby. When you opened the cradle, you weren’t surprised at all to find him sleeping in it, the stress of the situation exhausting him. Knowing he was safe though filled you with relief.

Finally safe, knowing Din was on his way, allowed you to finally relax. The only problem was, without the adrenaline coursing through you, you were becoming more and more aware of the pain in your side. You lifted your hand to cradle it protectively as you hobbled to a bench along the outer wall and sat yourself down.

You sneered as you took it in, all blood and charred skin. It made you light headed. And that’s where you were now, eyes closed, head tilted back, resting against the wall. Deep breathing your way through the pain trying to think of anything else to pass the time while you waited for Din to return. He’d know how to deal with this.

You must have fallen asleep, because the next thing you knew you were being jostled awake, a frantic voice calling your name between curses. It felt like a fight to open your eyes. They were so dry and heavy.

“Come on baby, I need you to wake up. Stay with me now.”

You felt him prod at your side and you let out a small groan as your head lulled heavily to one side. You just wanted to go back to sleep. It didn’t hurt when you were asleep.

“Fuck.” He groaned, his voice ragged and desperate.

As you continued to fight to get your eyes open, your body seemingly working completely separately to your brain right now, you heard his heavy feet begin to charge around the small space searching for what- you did not know with your eyes closed.

You felt him return to you, his hand resting on your thigh and you assumed he was resting on his knees before you. Knowing this was something you definitely had to see to believe, you finally fought to open your eyes. But it was difficult, they kept trying to close again, your head rolling from side to side as you fought to stay conscious, fought to look at him on his knees before you.

You knew his fingers were fumbling with something and you sneered as his fingers jabbed at the wound again.

“Uuuhhh owwwww.” You complained.

“Fuck.” He said again. “I can’t fucking see shit.” He complained.

Your eyes grew heavy again and you more sensed him lean away from you than saw him, but the sudden hiss of compressed air coming from his helmet had them seemingly fly open and you watched him lift the helmet from his head.

“Din-“ you groaned, but he didn’t respond. You watched him as he reached again for the med pack, getting out a pair of scissors and cutting away at the fabric of your top around the wound. He then grabbed a bottle of clear liquid, wetting a pad with it, which he then wiped carefully around the wound. Your eyes squeezed tight and you hissed in pain.

“Hold still now baby, hold still, I’m nearly done.” He says. Your only thought though is when did he start calling you baby?

There’s a reprieve as his hands move away again and your breathing starts to come back into your control. There’s a rustling sound of a packet and you open your eyes again to watch through blurry eyes as he removed a bacta patch from its packaging. You close your eyes and rest your head back against the wall again as he carefully lines it up, before sticking it down over the top of the wound.

You must have fallen asleep again, because when you wake next, you’re lying down on a cot with bandages wrapped around your middle. As you shift, the blanket placed over you shifts, exposing your skin to the cold air. You surmise you are back in hyperspace.

You pull yourself from the bed groggily. Your side still feels tender but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was, the bacta patch clearly doing its job. You slowly begin to follow the sounds of the kid’s babbling up to the cockpit where he is sat resting on Din’s knee. He quickly goes quiet when he sees you.

Din turns himself in his chair to check what he already knows. He’s relieved to see how much better you’re looking already. There’s more colour to you skin and the fact you are moving around speaks volumes to your alertness and body’s responsiveness.

But when you lock eyes on him your brain can only think of one thing. “You took it off.” You say, your eyes blinking at the vague memory as you take in his once again helmeted form in front of you.

“Yes.” He says as if it is merely just a matter of fact.

“You have brown eyes.”

“Yes.” He says again bluntly, clearly not wanting to give these facts more attention than they need.

You frown. “You called me baby.”

He’s silent then. There’s a long pause between you both as he turns himself away from you. “You scared me.” He says as firmly as he can. “Don’t do that again.” He says more strongly, but it just makes you smile.

For the first time since you boarded his ship, it’s clear to you he is able to care for someone other than the kid. “I won’t tell any one.” You reassure him.

He’s quiet for a moment- and you worry he’s not going to say anything at all- when he finally says, “Good.”

A few seconds later you’re dropping out of hyperspace and it’s like the whole ordeal never happened in the first place.

[soleilonthesun]

📸SPECIAL SUPERMEGA INTERVIEW WITH SHIDOU AND CHARLES! ‼️

Soleil: *Looks at the cameras* Hello again! I am Soleil, your never-before-seen reporter, and I am in the heart of the PXG, in its stadium. And today, I meet two players who look like brothers, Charles Chavalier and Shidou Ryusei!

Charles: Salut! Salut! Salut! Est-ce qu'ils me surveillent ?!

[Translation: Hello! Hello! Hello! Are you watching me?!]

Soleil: Don't worry, Charles. And yes, we are on national television.

Charles: *Puts on the magic Blue Lock headphones* Ah, now I can understand!

Soleil: *Try not to laugh too hard* That's right! Anyway, in the Blue Lock fandom, and among the members, especially @luvingshidou, They have questions. Can you answer them?

Shidou: *Looking at the camera, as if it were a model* That's right! Ready to clear up some doubts!

Charles: That's it, Miss Soleil!

Soleil: *Looks at his notebook* First question, Shidou is the strangest and most comically extroverted character, but is he hiding something?

Shidou: Eeeeh...! I just like to steal goals! Of my enemies! *Smiles evilly* So alone, so alone...! It feels so good to steal a goal from Isagi!

Charles: That's how it is! It's cool to see how those from Bastard Munchen writhe under our powerful name like devilish brothers, Miss Soleil!

Soleil: *Looks at Shidou* It is speculated that he has a younger sister, is that true?

Shidou: Who knows~ Who knows~ But, just @luvingshidou knows the truth. Why are you asking her?

Charles: I DO HAVE BROTHERS! Two older sisters and a younger brother!

Soleil: So, young Charles, are you the youngest in the family, or how...?

Charles: I am the youngest son of the Chavalier family! And I grew up in Lorient!

Soleil: I see...! But, then, what is the reason you play football?

Charles: Because it's so cool to see the world burn, mujahaha! *Jump on top of Shidou* Right?!

Shindou: That's right, little demon of the soccer field! You're a pretty cool guy, you know football!

Soleil: *Watch the scene* And that makes me wonder, Chavalier, do you have a partner?

Chavalier: Couple? I'm only 16 years old! I don't need a partner! My partner is crazy about football!

Soleil: That is a good answer, gentlemen. And finally, what will your relationship be like in the future?

Shidou: As narrow as a street! Charles and I understand each other's football!

Charles: That, that!

Soleil: *Laughs* So, the interview ends here. Thank you very much for answering our questions. I hope...*Soleil looks at Shidou* you and @luvingshidou be well both! And as for you, little Charles, I hope to see you at other times!

Shidou: Don't worry! Anything, my wife will contact you. Tell her I love her~♡

Charles: Heehee, Shidou has a partner~ 🎶

Soleil: *Looks at the cameras* This is how today's interview ends. Thanks for watching this far. Soon we will interview a character who lived in Spain. We know who we're talking about, right? A Real Madrid player and currently, the Japan U-20. Again, thank you very much! And cut!

>>>Behind the scenes:

Soleil: Another interview finished!

@milkteansugar: Is it so difficult to write the script?

Soleil: Enough, my dear @milkteansugar. But let's rest for today! Tomorrow we have to go to Spain with the plane given by CF GIRLFRIEND and @kurominote08!

@milkteansugar : SPAIN!

[rambleonwaywardson]

Salt Water

A Clegan (Buck x Bucky) one-shot

Summary: The boys take a trip to the beach, where Bucky learns that Gale is a little afraid of the ocean.

Word Count: 3020

Author's Note: This idea came to me out of nowhere, and I decided I don't care if it feels accurate or not because I wanted to write fluff about it. I've also never posted a fic on tumblr before, but I'm waiting until I have a larger collection of Clegan one-shots before posting them under a single work on AO3 and wanted to put this out there somehow before that happens. My AO3 is also RambleOnWaywardSon.

—

Gale is perfectly comfortable reclining lazily on a beach towel, book in one hand while he props himself up with the other, when a towering shadow blocks his sun and causes him to glance up through his sunglasses. Bucky, even through the glaringly bright light of a cloudless July day, may be the most beautiful human Gale has ever seen on this planet. Water droplets like glittering crystals cling to the pale skin of his chest and abdomen and drip from salt-water damp curls. Even today, his smile gives the sun a run for its money. 

But he is, in fact, blocking Gale’s actual sun. And Gale had been perfectly happy in the sun, thanks very much. 

“You’re blocking the sun,” he says matter of factly. Even so, he earmarks the corner of his paperback and sets it beside him on his towel, full well knowing that Bucky, giving him this facial expression that somehow manages to mix ‘hurt but hopeful puppy’ with ‘giddy, plotting boyfriend,’ will not be easily deterred.

He would be correct.

“You’ve barely gotten in the water all afternoon. Why the hell did we come to the beach if we’re not gonna swim?” Bucky’s puppy dog smile turns to a pout, and Gale rolls his eyes behind his sunglasses as he glances Bucky up and down.

“You’ve been swimming.” 

“But you haven’t!” Bucky steps closer to Gale and grabs one of his hands, tugging insistently. “Come into the water with me,” Bucky says. 

Gale lets Bucky work for it for a second, but eventually, reluctantly, allows himself to be tugged to his feet. It beats the inevitable alternative where Bucky uses his – extremely slight though not insignificant – size advantage to drag Gale into the sand before throwing him over his shoulder. “Bucky,” he sighs, running a hand through his own dry hair. “I don’t know.”

“Why not?” Bucky whines. He tugs Gale’s hand again, and Gale indulges him until they reach the shallow tide of the ocean, water lapping peacefully at their feet. Gale feels the cool water splash his ankles, the soft and gritty sand nestling between and over his toes. He stops ankle-deep in the clear water, staring at the tiny fish that dart around him as the tide pulls them forward and back.

“See?” Bucky says. “You’re not gonna melt if you get a little water on you.”

Gale looks over at him. Bucky ignores the fact that he knows Gale is rolling his eyes behind those sunglasses. Buck is sassy today. “I walked around in the water with you earlier,” Gale reminds him. “And no, I’m not the wicked witch of the west, thanks so much.”

Bucky ignores the last comment, practically having to physically force himself not to make some poorly executed joke about Gale, apparently, being a witch. A sassy witch. “You’ve been laying in the sun long enough,” he says instead, patting Gale’s cheek. This earns him another eye roll. Bucky doesn’t care. “You’re gonna burn your pretty face like that.”

“I will in the water, too.” Deadpan. Unamused.

“Gale,” Bucky pleads. “I wanna swim in the ocean with you. We don’t get to come to the beach every day, so can we please just make the most of it? For me?”

Gale sighs and looks down at his feet, shifts and presses into them until the sand is almost completely covering them, an anchor. Only when he feels Bucky drop his hand does he look up again, just in time to watch him walk away, without a word, into deeper water. Gale bites his lip and runs his hand through his hair again, trying to tamp down the feeling of abandonment rising between his ribs. This should not be such a big deal. This should not be so hard.

Once Bucky is a good few yards away, the water up to his thighs, he turns around, fully intent on calling Gale out on his bullshit. But he stops short. He doesn’t know what he really expected to see. Gale had been a little off -- difficult, sassy, John doesn’t really know — all day. But he did not expect to see Gale biting at his lip and staring down at the water around his ankles, his arms crossed protectively over his chest. Bucky tilts his head and squints. 

When Gale hears splashing and glances up to see Bucky walking back towards him, wading through the waves, he feels the tight feeling in his chest begin to ebb. He drops his arms to his sides and straightens up, trying to seem nonchalant. Bucky doesn’t buy it. “Hey,” he says. He reaches out and grabs Gale’s hand in his again, this time insistence replaced with a gentleness that wasn’t there before. “It’s okay.” Gale just blinks at him, opens his mouth, closes it, looks down at his feet. “Gale,” Bucky says quietly. With his free hand, he tilts Gale’s chin up again, so he has to look at him. “You’re scared of the ocean?”

Gale shrugs uncomfortably. “Not a whole lot of ocean in Wyoming.” He’d always been a good swimmer, it’s just that he’d never had very positive experiences with the ocean itself – the unknown of it, the unknown in it, the tides, the salt water that tastes awful on his tongue.

Bucky smiles and shakes his head. “No,” he agrees. He lets go of Gale’s chin and brushes his fingers down his check just briefly, a thoughtless touch that's barely there. “Why did we come to the beach if you don’t like the ocean?”

Gale shrugs again. “You like it. Wanted to make you happy.”

Bucky about melts, and he’s not a melting type. At least, he wasn’t before he met Gale Cleven. He squeezes Gale’s hand tight and gently tugs again. Gale takes a step forward, then another. Bucky leads him a few yards out, where he’d been just a moment ago, where the water hits about mid thigh and the waves swell up to just below the waist. It’s here that he feels resistance pulling at his hand. When he turns to look at Gale, the other man is tugging back, his feet firmly planted in the rocky sand. He’s shaking his head. 

“Come on, Buck,” Bucky urges. “Just a little further.”

Gale shakes his head again. “This- This is good.”

Bucky turns a little more so he’s face to face with Gale and steps towards him, so close their noses almost touch. He takes Gale’s free hand in his, so he’s firmly holding both. “It’s okay,” he whispers. He starts slowly stepping backwards, pulling Gale along with him, and is relieved when the other man follows, unsure. Bucky glances behind him at the waves. The water is fairly calm today — Bucky is thankful for that now — but earlier in the day, here and there a wave would catch him by surprise. He doesn’t need any surprises with Gale. They just go slow, so very slow, one step at a time. 

By the time the water is at Gale’s midriff, splashing up towards his chest, he stops and shakes his head definitively. He will not, under any circumstances, go further than this. Bucky decides to take it. He decides that they don’t have to swim today. They can stand, float, whatever. His new task is simply to get Gale comfortable in the ocean that he loves. 

“Look at me, angel,” he says. He holds his breath for a second, worried the nickname will throw Gale off. He never really could figure out what to call Gale other than, well, Gale or Buck. Sometimes the nicknames he came up with were hit or miss — baby depended on the day; princess had earned him radio silence for about an hour, but he’d convinced himself that Gale just didn’t want to admit that he kinda liked it (he is most likely wrong but will not be deterred); darling was acceptable but how fucking boring; and sweetie was a very hard no.  Angel just kind of popped out now because, seriously, Gale looks so goddamn ethereal in the ocean sunlight, the highlights in his blond hair bright and glittering from the sea-spray. 

But Gale does look at him. He looks amused, but John can’t tell if his cheeks are tinged pink from the sun or because he’s blushing. Reaching a hand up to Gale’s face, he pushes the sunglasses up away from his eyes so they’re sitting on top of his head. “There you are,” he says. “Just keep your eyes on me.” He tugs Gale closer, so they’re nearly chest to chest, nose to nose. Bucky can feel Gale’s hair, which has grown just a little too long in the front, tickling his forehead as Gale looks back down at the water rising and falling around them. It’s not so clear anymore; he can no longer see what’s under the surface. “Gale, look at me.” 

Gale obeys, meeting Bucky’s eyes. He’s suddenly very aware of how close they are. “People are gonna look,” he mumbles.

“No one cares what anyone else is doing at the beach.”

“They might…”

“No,” Bucky reaffirms. “And to hell with them if they do. Just keep looking at me, okay? I’ve got you.”

Bucky wouldn’t admit it – it would just scare Gale off – but he secretly loves these little moments where he can be Gale’s safety. He can protect him, reassure him, let him know everything would be alright. Buck Cleven was always so in control, seemingly fearless. Bucky loves that he gets to see this side of him, the one that can be unsure, the one that needs some guidance. He likes that he’s the one Gale looks to for that. 

Bucky guides Gale’s hands up so they’re wrapped around his neck and shoulders. “I’ve got you,” he repeats. “We’re just gonna stand here, okay? You and me.” Then he reaches down behind Gale's legs and picks him up, convinces him to wrap his legs around his waist so now Bucky is fully holding him, lifting him higher out of the water so he doesn’t have to contend with the waves alone. 

“Bucky,” Gale starts to protest, immediately moving to disentangle his legs. He feels silly, a little too dependent. It goes against everything he tries to let the world see of himself, and everything he’s careful to ensure they don’t see.

Bucky holds tight to his waist though, keeping his arms firmly wrapped around Gale’s middle. “Just breathe, Gale. Just stay here with me.”

Gale hesitates, but nods and re-secures his legs around Bucky, leaning back in his firm embrace. The water makes him feel like he’s floating while the arms around his waist anchor him. He tries to focus on the sounds of seagulls soaring overhead, waves breaking over the sand, the distant buzz of a plane engine somewhere up above. The water is cool against his skin, leaving him almost cold where it splashes up and recedes again. Bucky’s body is warm and solid against his. He focuses on Bucky’s face, all warm eyes and a soft, encouraging smile. Gale lets that ground him, almost smiles back. 

But then a larger wave comes and smacks him in the bicep, knocking him off balance and causing his breath to hitch as he tightens his grip on Bucky and shuts his eyes tight. “Bucky!” He’s a little ashamed of how nervous his own voice sounds. 

Bucky just grins at him, though, totally unfazed. “I won’t let you go,” he promises. 

When Gale opens his eyes again and stares straight at Bucky, Bucky’s breath catches in his throat. He feels like a teenager with a crush, the way his stomach flips at having the undivided attention of someone who may very well be the most beautiful man in the world – definitely the most beautiful in Bucky’s world. When they had first allowed their friendship to turn into more, Bucky was terrified that he wasn’t cut out for commitment. He never had been before. He was a low stakes, one night, paint the town red kind of guy. And Gale, well, Gale was not. He deserved so much better than Bucky. Even now, Bucky still beats himself up too much about whether or not he’s good enough, but slowly, slowly, slowly his anxiety over it had started to fade. Now, staring into Gale’s eyes, taking in his beautiful face, his hair, running his hands up and down his slim waist, Bucky is awestruck. Not for the first time, he can’t imagine ever wanting anyone else again. It physically pains him how much he wants to spend his entire life with Gale. 

“What?” Gale asks, smiling a little shyly as he quirks an eyebrow at Bucky. 

“You’re beautiful,” Bucky blurts out. 

Gale’s smile grows. He opens his mouth to speak just as another wave comes and catches them off guard, spraying salt water into his face. He splutters and gags, trying to get the unwelcome taste off his tongue. Bucky can’t help but laugh. 

“‘S not funny,” Gale mumbles. 

Bucky surprises him by pressing their lips together for the briefest of moments, relishing in the taste of salt and sand mixed with Gale. “It’s a little funny.”

Gale rolls his eyes and unwraps one arm from around Bucky’s neck so he can check that his sunglasses are still safe atop his head before clinging on again. Bucky shifts him up an inch or two higher, a silent apology and an attempt to spare him from the bigger waves. 

“Are we done now?” Gale asks impatiently. “Can I go sit on the beach again?”

“No.”

Gale huffs and looks away from Bucky, out to the great ocean and the horizon beyond, even as his fingers play mindlessly with the wet hair at the nape of Bucky’s neck. “It is pretty, I’ll give you that.” When Bucky hums in agreement, Gale frowns. “Of course, I’d rather think that from where I was on the beach.”

Bucky lifts one hand to the side of Gale’s face, runs his fingers down his cheek and then presses his thumb to Gale’s bottom lip, which he’s still been worrying between his teeth. “You’re still nervous.”

“Yes John, I’m fucking nervous,” Gale snaps, and he immediately regrets it. Then he sighs, closes his eyes. The words rattle around in his brain like gunfire. “Sorry.”

Bucky barely reacts, though. He knows Gale doesn’t do well with nerves, or with being looked after, or really anything that shows him to be less in control than he wants everyone to think he is. “You’re doing great,” Bucky says. “Now what was that you were telling me earlier about how stars die? Fusion or something. All those smart things you know so much about.”

Gale glares at him, but there’s no more malice behind it. He looks more like a petulant child who doesn’t want to be coddled anymore. “I know what you’re doing,” he says. 

“And what am I doing?”

“Trying to distract me.”

“So what?” Bucky grins at him, and Gale can’t deny how much he loves that smile. How much he loves feeling their upper bodies pressed against each other as they just float. Or the way Bucky’s hand reassuringly strokes up and down his side as a silent I’m here, I’m with you, I won’t let you go. “Buck?” Bucky bumps their noses together, making Gale scoff. “Tell me about all your nerdy physics facts.”

So Gale does. He tells Bucky all about the life cycle of a star: the fact that the sun is made up of hydrogen and helium, and how hydrogen nuclei collide in a process called nuclear fusion to create helium and release energy, and how eventually the helium will start creating carbon and the star will become unstable, ejecting its outer layers into the cosmos like a fireball. Gale tells Bucky about all the types of stars and how they die in different ways to become different things — No Bucky, the sun will not become a black hole, sorry — and the fact that even the biggest stars eventually stop fusing when they inevitably create iron because they no longer have enough fuel to evade collapse. These are the stars that explode outward in a spectacular encore of literally stellar proportions, a supernova. 

All of this really is over Bucky’s head, but he’ll listen for hours if it means he gets a front row seat to Gale’s unfiltered excitement. The thing that catches his attention though is when Gale smiles at him, brushes his wet hair away from his face. “That’s where everything in the universe comes from, Bucky,” he says. “The Earth, moon, planets, the sun itself. You and me. We’re all made of star stuff.”

Bucky can’t look away from this amazing, beautiful man that he’s holding in his arms. He wants to make some comment about when did you become such a poet, but all that comes out is “That must be why you’re my entire universe.”

Gale’s expression somehow manages to be long-suffering and unamused but somehow so loving. A look that says you’re an idiot but you’re mine and I wouldn’t trade you for the world. 

“You doin' okay?” Bucky asks. 

Gale blinks at him, then looks down at the water again. One arm still around Bucky’s neck, he lets his other hand rest on the water’s surface, bobbing up and down with the waves. He finds the motion somehow satisfying, the physics of it as well as the repetitive rocking, the cooling feeling of water adhering to his skin. He has no idea how long they’ve been out here. “I’m fine,” he concedes.

“Maybe next time we can go out a little further,” Bucky says. “Ride the waves in.” Gale looks skeptical if not a little terrified, and Bucky can’t help but laugh. “Alright, that’s a no for now.”

“I think,” Gale starts softly. He pulls his sunglasses back over his eyes and bows his head, so his forehead is resting on Bucky’s as he tightens his grip on him once again. “I think I’m okay right here.��� He feels safe, secure. And he finds he doesn’t mind admitting that. 

Bucky decides he’ll take it. He doesn’t need more right now. After all, he has his entire universe right here in his arms. 

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #52 — The DJD Once Again Prove to Be an HR Nightmare

Ratchet and Drift, looking fresh as hell in their matching paint jobs, stand on the cliff they made their cool entrance on last issue, as they snipe at each other over whether or not Drift personally knows the DJD. Considering how Tarn and Friends had a space-cocaine induced freakout over seeing Drift on the quantum duplicate Lost Light, they may want to talk a little quieter, especially with the face Helex is making.

You better watch out, Ratchet— this man's going to do Sakamoto-got-all-the-way-to-pencils shit to you!

The Pet takes the opportunity presented by our recently returned newlyweds being too busy flirting to pay attention to the fight at hand, leaping to chew on Ratchet's head. Luckily, Ten is an ally, even when he’s been beat to shit, and punches the shitty little Pomeranian into the air. Kaon, card-carrying freak and dog dad, takes this abject display of animal abuse about as well as he can.

Ratchet, having his gun eaten by the mouth pervert, is beginning to worry that he, his rich boytoy, and a mostly out of commission Ten might be sliiiiiiiiightly outnumbered against a dozen Decepticons, two of whom belong to the Super Murder Death Squad. Drift, after a bit of needling, heelies a dude’s face off, jumps into the air, does a bunch of sick flips, blocks a laser with a sword in such a way that it looks like he got shot in the dick, and then lands, like, 70 feet away to scoop up the Pet and threaten to chop its head off if Helex doesn’t stop trying to vore his boyfriend.

Kaon, #1 dog dad, orders everyone to fall back. Helex, who has Ratchet like 70% inside his smelting chamber by this point, can’t believe that Kaon’s ruining the fun. Helex releases Ratchet, letting him crowd onto Drama Point with Drift and most of Ten, as the Decepticons circle them. Drift, unfortunately, didn’t think past doing sweet flips to show off after his sabbatical from the comic run, and they’re back in the same situation they arrived to, but now one of them is holding a crusty little dog.

Then a platform descends from the sky, and we see what Ravage has been up to.

Grand theft auto!

Yes, it turns out that this cat can drive, and well enough to get the boys up and out of danger, though Ten’s size means that the lovebirds have to dangle off of his remaining arm. Drift still hasn’t put down the Pet. Sure hope that thing’s been socialized to cats.

Oh, who am I kidding? Kaon wouldn’t have bothered.

Speaking of Kaon, he looks like he’s about to cry, because someone’s kidnapped his princess baby angel, and Helex doesn’t even CARE, the heartless bastard, as he orders the other Decepticons to fire on the shuttle. They, of course, hit it, as there’s at least ten of these guys firing, and they’re all decently tall. The shuttle begins to lose altitude, and Ravage, who does not have traditional hands and is currently using his tail to man the control stick, attempts to crash as close to the “fortress” as possible.

Meanwhile, over at Megatron’s plinth, we get back to that whole thing where he surrendered himself to Tarn. Tarn, feeling an excuse to monologue coming on, says that he’s well aware of Megatron’s new schtick, and he’s not a huge fan of it. Megatron clarifies that he wishes to give himself up so that the rest of the Lost Light crew stranded on this planet might live, because this is his fault to begin with. Tarn agrees, reminding him that he paid for Tarn’s plastic surgery. Megatron states that he only brought Tarn to his side to hurt “someone”.

Three guesses who Megatron could have possibly hurting by bringing Tarn over to the Decepticons, and the first two don’t count.

Megatron thinks that by bumming around space on a borderline vacation, he’s returned to who he used to be (maybe he got his teaching license, who knows) and that the war was a waste of time. Tarn gets kind of intense here, because if Megatron wasted his life, what does that make Tarn? Tarn, who has decorated his home with nothing but Decepticon symbols? Tarn, who has had corpses nailed to his wall for the last couple million years? Tarn, who wears a fuckoff stupid mask every single day of his life, even while eating and trying to kill himself with space meth cut with time travel and gas station dick pills? Also, what about all the other guys who died trying to realize Megatron's ideals? What about the little guys, the cogs that made the machine run? What about Steve from accounting, whose husband left him, because he was too busy trying to balance the budget on Megatron's body remodels and Optimus Prime punching bags that also doubled as body pillows to come home? What about Steve, huh?

Megatron basically regrets everything he’s ever done, not that Tarn cares. Megatron then reveals that whole thing where Rewind tried to retroactively kill him as an infant, and how he sort of wished it had worked.

Tarn starts beating the shit out of Megatron before the guy can start going on about how his parents are Brainstorm and Whirl, though Tarn promises that this is just a healthy dose of tough love, as surely the wimp before him isn’t actually who Megatron is. Megatron doesn’t fight back, instead just staring sadly at the Autobot badge Tarn slapped off of him. This is really starting to piss Tarn off, as he was really hoping to beat some of the fire back into his former mentor and idol. This is when he starts trying to choke Megatron, even though their species doesn’t breathe. Still, I’m sure Tarn’s stiletto nails hurt something fierce.

Megatron then recalls his conversation with Velocity, and states that if the fool’s energon DID alter his personality, it was probably for the best, and he wouldn’t want to go back. Tarn, who has based his entire selfhood on the thing that Megatron threw away to live out his probation on a cruise ship, takes this statement with all the tact and level-headedness we’ve come to know him for.

Tarn is just one more double fusion cannon blast to the chest away from smiting Megatron utterly, and he’s fully committed to doing so. However, he gets distracted by the sound of Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” coming from across the field.

WHO LET THIS MOTHERFUCKER OUT OF HELL

Anyway, it looks like Ravage can, in fact, drive pretty well, as the shuttle did crash pretty close to the “fortress”. Swerve, who still really wants to make up for his shitty boss behaviors and also accidentally dragging Ten into a microcosm of hell, lets Ten know that they saw his floor graffiti, and that it might actually work. Magnus, who still has his arm off, does his best to not kick Swerve across the room as he scurries underfoot, as he drags Ten inside the building.

Skids intercepts Ratchet to welcome him back, and also ask how the hell he knew to come to Necroworld. Apparently he and Drift had received a call from the handy dandy phone that he had given First Aid, who First Aid had then regifted to Velocity, just in case some bullshit happened. Velocity’s introduction to Ratchet is rough, as she manages to call him grumpy, old, and stubborn as a mule in the span of about fifteen seconds. Ratchet is mostly concerned with the fact that the Lost Light replaced him so soon after his return. Nobody tell him about Velocity’s track record with the medical exams, he might just shoot off into space to beat First Aid to a pulp for leaving her by herself.

Over in what might be a closet, Rodimus runs across Drift sitting in the dark and sharpening one of his swords. Drift seems to have used his exile to remember that he does, in fact, have some semblance of self-respect, as he doesn’t immediately forgive Rodimus for throwing him off the ship that he paid for, only to have given himself up as the real culprit behind the Overlordening, like, a week later, thus negating Drift’s sacrifice, and then never coming to find him, despite the fact that they’re supposedly friends, and, again, the ship is in Drift’s name, as was the crew’s allowance money. How the Lost Light has survived financially without Drift is unknown.

Rodimus knows that he sucks and is the worst, but he was really worried that Drift wouldn’t like him anymore, so he’d sort of been kicking the issue of “finding my ex-TIC to tell him he got publicly humiliated for nothing” down the road, to the point where Ratchet had gotten sick of it and went to solve the problem himself.

Of course, the meta reason for Drift not being found was so that Shane McCarthy could have his OC back, as well as Ratchet, for the miniseries Transformers: Drift— Empire of Stone, well known for being sort of silly and introducing the phrase “be shoosh” to Drift’s lexicon. In it, Ratchet found Drift traipsing around the edge of the galaxy being a neutral (in terms of war) hero to organic species affected by Decepticon aggressions, before crashing on a planet where Drift, back when he was “Deadlock”, had found a mystical stone army, one that Gigatron (a dude who totally isn’t anime Megatron) wanted to harness the power of, so that the Decepticons might claim victory over their enemies. Hellbat, Gigatron’s second in command, had gone mad doing nothing but killing over millions of years, and had been modifying the stone army in secret to do his bidding so he could "kill everything". Then the stone army woke up, Hellbat died, Gigatron died, and Ratchet went to take Drift to get detailed, because he looked like he'd been ridden hard and put away wet.

Also, if you think about it, having two former high-ranking Decepticons turning to the Autobot side being on the Lost Light’s high command might have been too many redundancies to make Megatron’s arc stand out. Perhaps, had Megatron not been added to MTMTE’s roster so late in the game, Rodimus WOULD have gone looking for Drift, finding him just in time for the DJD to catch wind that they hadn’t actually super nightmare death murdered Deadlock after all.

Drift, who can’t say no to Rodimus's puppydog face, lets Rodimus sit with him on the floor, as he apologizes for the fact that by coming here, Drift and Ratchet have unwittingly signed up for Tarn’s Political Theory and Dismemberment Slam Poetry Night, but he mega-promises that they’ll come up with something together to get through this. Drift appreciates the sentiment, but knows that Rodimus is just saying this to make him feel better.

Back at the worst fan club meetup in the galaxy, Tarn elbows Overlord in the throat and tells him to fuck off. Overlord tells him that he knows Tarn never finished his degree and only acts like an academic for the aesthetic. Tarn transforms to shoot him while reminding Overlord that at least Megatron’s spoken to him in the last few thousand years. The two duke it out with their tank modes, Overlord KRUMPing all over Tarn, before the theatre kid kicks him off and questions why exactly Overlord is even alive, given that he chainsawed his head off last year. No word on if he’s bothered to ask this same question about 75% of the people he’s here to super murder.

Overlord simply states that someone found him floating out in space and fixed him up, because it turns out that they both wanted to go after Megatron and kill his ass dead, because Overlord is sort of sick of not getting the attention he so obviously deserves. When Tarn, ever the opportunist, attempts to make a team up deal, Overlord tells him to shut up.

And then they realize they lost the old man they were fighting over.

Great work, fellas.

Over with the Autobots (and Cyclonus), Rewind’s outside, looking at that memorial to the disappeared and trying to figure out why the Necrobot laid out the names in the way that he did. He’s currently near the top, where you can see most of Roller’s name, someone whose name ends in “gator”, and Dreamwave Production’s smoldering corpse, which makes me wonder if Alex Milne ever did get all the money he was owed from his work with them. Rewind, who last dealt with the DJD not even a year ago, is trying really, really hard to not think about how many needles they’re going to jam into Chromedome’s eyes this go around.

Of course, Nautica, who has come out to find Rewind, doesn’t give a shit about Rewind’s PTSD. She wants relationship advice! She’d ask Chromedome, but apparently he’s taking a nap, still worn out from stabbing Tailgate in the brain after he rainbow-exploded all over the ship. Which happened months ago.

You know, at the rate he’s been going, Chromedome probably wouldn’t have lived too far past sunset anyhow.

Anyway, Nautica wants to know if, on Cybertron, you have to be besties before you can get hitched, because that’s how it works on some of the other colonies. She specifies that this ISN'T how it works on Caminus, which is good, given how problematic that would be, considering you need to be best friends with someone by the time you're five weeks old, and there's no telling if they're cool with platonic polyamory. Rewind informs her that it’s either one or the other on Cybertron, no double-dipping, and god help you if it’s a situationship. Nautica is asking this because she’s realized that she can’t waffle about on committing anymore, seeing as she’s probably going to die in the next hour or so, and she’d rather use that time to enter a queer-platonic partnership than get her face fixed.

Back at the Peaceful Tyranny, Tarn has, in fact, managed to bring Overlord to reason, much to Deathsaurus’s confusion and derision, if his squiggle face is anything to go by. Overlord, smug as fuck, informs Deathsaurus that in exchange for his compliance, Tarn has agreed to let him personally murder Megatron while everyone watches, because surely Tarn couldn’t actually kill his idealogical idol, because he’s a pussy. Tarn is being very brave about this, only letting the spot blacking on his linework show on his face, as his fists shake with rage.

Then Kaon shows up, begging they pull back their forces until the Pet has been returned, and the spot blacking gets a little heavier.

Tarn, who has had a very long day of tactical meetings, phone calls, facing his fallen idol, having a very unsatisfying beatdown with said idol, and dealing with known freak Overlord, handles Kaon’s inability to be a big boy about misplacing his shitty little dog with all of the tact and decorum we’ve come to know him for— he gives Kaon a big, beefy hug, acknowledges just how much Kaon loves that shitty little dog, and then makes sure that Kaon never has to worry about a thing ever again.

That’s a series wrap on Kaon! Let’s give him a hand, folks!

Tarn, who has had just about enough of Overlord in the last half hour, smashes Kaon’s head onto Overlord’s tits, covering him in viscera, as he demands he be treated with respect, because this is HIS house, where HE’S paying the bills and calling the shots, so help him god. Nickel is very displeased that Tarn’s killed one of the Twinksome Twosome. No word on how Deathsaurus feels about this, considering that a big reason he’s working with Tarn is because he refused to kill the rest of the DJD when demanded to do so, thus showing his dedication to his men. Also no word on how the rest of the DJD are going to handle Tarn decapitating their weed man.

Tarn tells everyone to pony up, as they’re about to go over and handle all the silly little bastards hiding out in the Necrobot’s “fortress”.

Speaking of which, it looks like Megatron made it home, despite Tarn blowing his tits clean off with that cannon blast. Rodimus and Ratchet carry him inside, as Magnus is probably too busy not getting his arm put back on to help, and Megatron is using the last of his energy to hold the Autobot badge Tarn slapped off his chest earlier.

Sure hope Ratchet didn’t forget to tell Drift about his old boss being co-captain of the ship, or else this is going to be a very nasty surprise for both of them— we've already seen that Drift loves to freak out and kill sick people.

[just-jordie-things]

Do you think yuuta would be the type to try and win you over even if you had a bf/liked someone else? Part of me feels like yes he’d back off! But another part of me feels like his emotions are so strong he’d do anything to make you see him 🥹

ohmygod yuuta is such a good guy.... just the nicest guy... let's talk abt it ;)

yuuta knows that you like your boyfriend. he might not be convinced that you love him, but he can at least see you like him. you talk about him regularly enough, bring his name up in conversation when appropriate, talked to him about dates you had planned and whatnot. you liked the guy, sure.

but yuuta loved you, and he knew it. he'd known it for a while.

being the good guy he was, he told himself he was willing to wait. he was happy to be your friend. as long as you could still be close, he could be patient. he told himself that for quite some time.

eventually things took a shift.

yuuta tells himself that it's only because your boyfriend got shifty. started blowing you off on a few dates. he wouldn't reply to your messages for hours on end, sometimes for a whole day. he forgot your anniversary. the evidence started to stack up, and honestly, yuuta thought he was being a good friend being as there for you as he was.

he was always right there. as soon as your boyfriend would let you down, yuuta would be there to lift you up again. your boyfriend forgot about a dinner date? yuuta would take you. he's ignoring your texts? he'll take you to a movie so you don't have to think about your phone.

when he forgot your anniversary, yuuta brought you flowers and offered to take you out wherever you wanted to go. no, it wasn't a date, he wasn't dating you, you were just friends hanging out! he was only trying to lift your spirits...

... so it was natural for him to start the narrative that you should break up with your shitty boyfriend. because you deserve better, because you were too good and perfect to be treated so terribly. you deserved to be happy, to be loved, to be cherished. yuuta would be so kind and thoughtful to you, listening to your complaints with nothing but patience, hugging you when you cried, and that's when he would give you his two cents.

"its hurts to watch him treat you like this, sweetheart," yuuta coos, cradling the back of your head close to his chest. your tears are soaking through his jacket, but this isn't the first time you've found yourselves in this position. "you've gotta break up with him, m'kay?"

and as you always do you'll nod your head and agree, throwing your arms around his neck and crying into him like the pitiful little girl you were.

yuuta hated to see you cry. it made him angry- made him think about all the terrible things he'd like to do to your boyfriend. but he loved to be the one there to comfort you. he was the one to wipe your tears, he was the one holding you, he was the one whispering in your ear. it was only a matter of time before things finally worked out.

you'd sniffle, cling to him like he was your own lifeline.

"m'kay," you'd mumble back empty promises. "m'kay i will"

and yuuta would rock you, kiss your forehead, comfort you in every way to make you feel warm and safe again. you'd fall asleep in his bed, in his arms, wrapped up in nothing but the feeling of him. and soon, he hoped, you'd realize that's enough for you.

he hoped every day you'd follow through and break up with your boyfriend.

and there was nothing wrong with waiting, right?

[lunicho]

Here r my thoughts !! I hope they’re ok bc I’m really sleepy rn so idk if they make sense lololll

K: def a dom

- like I CANT see him as a sub

- If u try to make him submissive he’ll just mock u n make fun of the things u say when ur with him

- You: “Stop making fun of me”

- K: “I thought this was normal sub behavior 😋😋”

Fuma: soft dom

- likes taking care of you n worries about ur pleasure first

- If u want to be the dominant one he doesn’t mind and let’s u

- Subby Fuma tho…mmm tastyyy

- a soft dom but can be a mean one if he’s feeling extra possessive

Nico: switch (or is it called vers? Like versatile? I forgot 😟)

- a little controversial(/j) but I’ll d!e on this hill

- He tries to be the dominant one all the time but if he goes more than 2 days without ur pussy he’s on his knees begging for you and is at your mercy

- He just wants to be good to you so he’ll want to be in control but every now and again he wants to be taken care of and have you make him feel so good

EJ: service top with a sprinkle of sub

- As much as I love subby Juju and making him tear up I see him more as a service top but the subby parts of him comes out and he ends up falling apart bc u feel so good around him when he was supposed to put you first

- I looooooveeee service top juju

Yuma: MEAN DOMMMMM

- he is MEAN

- He makes FUN OF YOU

- But the dick is so good you’ll only go to him (so basically the mean dom Yuma you always talk about LOL)

- He’s actually not mean which is the funny part 😭 when y’all aren’t having sex he’s so chill and easy to hang out with 😭 he just likes seeing you cry and whimper as he fucks you and calling you names is the fastest way to do it LOL

- I KNOW the jealous sex is so good bc he gets jealous and possessive so easily so if another man tries to make a move on you he is FUMING and he needs to fuck you as fast as possible

Jo: sub

- pov: ur at the “I love sub!Jo” contest and ur opponent is me 😋😋😋😋

- Sub!Jo is so beautiful in my mind like him just laying down while i have my mouth on him PLEASEEE

- He likes it when you praise him omfg praise kink Jo 😵‍💫 but that’s for another time

- Tbh I see him as the type of guy that’ll do anything for you so you can praise him

Harua: switch

- as you know I’m a switch!Harua truther

- This section won’t be long since I already talked about it it

- But bratty sub Harua 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

- Sassy dom Harua who knows how to control you 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Taki: switch but u HAVE to hear me out

- every time I think of Taki most of the time it’s just pretty shiny sub Taki who wants all of your attention on him

- The type to D!E if you don’t take care of him and his raging boner /j

- Whines a lot 😵‍💫

- BUT LISTEN

- Recently…him and his “morality police” bit where he’s (playfully) telling the members to cover up and not wear revealing outfits

- Makes me think of mean dom Taki 😵‍💫 where you wear revealing and skimpy outfits to mess with him and he fucks you harddddd bc he knows you’re just trying to get his attention and to rile him up

Overall I also think that they’re all really possessive with the exception of Jo but those thoughts haven’t marinated long enough in my brain yet 😙

-😵‍💫

HOPE U GOT SOME REST BOO THANG, u came and u served and now its time for u to get the rest u so rightfully deserve bc this right here ‼️‼️

kei - okay so i do agree, he most often takes on a dominant role just because he enjoys it and it comes so naturally for him. BUT i had a convo with one of my moots (shout out mel 🙏🏾) where we explored the idea of subby kei and i think he's in there somewhere. he has the potential to be submissive but may not know how to go about it or how to commit to that fully which is why he'd rather be all snappy and mean and mock u about it and in other words that's why he kinda acts like a brat 🤷🏾‍♀️. but dom kei is so so real there's no denying that ☝🏾😌

fuma - YES. everyone who read my fuma a-z knows i agree cuz like duh, he's so soft dom to me but he has a love for being the submissive one. he may not be THE MOST submissive guy out there but being under u and being doted on is something he enjoys thoroughly. but yeah like u said ur his baby and his top priority so he loves taking care of u <3 subby fuma is incredibly delicious to think about if im so fr like idk

nico - i giggled. SWITCH NICHO IS SO REAL TO ME 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭. ppl are too scared to play around with the idea of subby nicho but COME ONNNN u can't tell me this man wouldn't look and sound so good when he's getting edged and ur sucking him off or jerking him off or riding him like i can hear it so clearly in my mind how he'd suck in a breath thru his teeth and how he'll grunt and groan sm and how- yeah. also pussy obsessed nicho?? hello??? him not being able to be without pussy is so true i could say sm abt that but imma move on for everyone sake

juju - the way when i read his section the first time i went "NOOOOOO" but then i read it again and was like,,, oh wait kinda true tho. he leans so subby cuz of how well he listens and how obedient he is. he'll let u use him and grind against his face/ride his face, he'll let u pull his hair and get yourself off using his tongue like 😞. he's a service top cuz he likes making u feel good but i will never deny sub juju. i will never deny how pathetically hard he gets sometimes and how he Will tear up in front of u quicker than either of u could even process 😞

yuma - EXACTLY LMAOHSJS he's not actually mean or crazy at all like he is during sex which is what makes it hotter cuz he's so versatile. i do think that he can change up a lot and he can be soft and sweet at times too but he's just a rough sex enjoyer what can i say 🤷🏾‍♀️. i do wish ppl would fuck around with the idea of sub yuma more tho cuz i need people to feed me those thoughts like i wanna hear what ppl say so bad 😞 (teamies dom, sub, switch analysis but it's just me wanting people to explore the idea of sub teamies) AND THE JEALOUS SEX?? big yes he's sooo jealous and possessive sometimes like it's crazy 💔

jo - ?!?!?!?!?! $! $;! #;#;#? +#(#) #+#-(# like what like ?!?! $? ;$? $+($-# and why have u never come to my inbox abt sub jo?? didn't even know this was an agenda u had wtf??? LITERALLY okay. okay. let me control myself. i see him as a sub as well and i see him as the type who's a little naive but not necessarily in a bad way. he's just the type to follow you so blindly just bc ur his partner and he wants to do anything to please you so he can be ur good boy 😞 i could see the dom jo agenda but it's smth abt sub jo that feels so true to him 😞 he's so cute ugh

harua - yes 😞 i am aware of your switch rua agenda 🙏🏾 and honestly i think it's quite accurate i just cannot fully process harua as a dom like it just won't register in my mind so i always just think of him as a sub. and i always feel like he's not really like a brat he's just kinda moody and super needy and if he ever is bratty it's cuz of him acting up for your attention 😞

taki - ??!?!?!!!!! $;! $:$? $($(($$ okay so?!?!? fuck i literally agree like FUCKK 😭 taki can be so submissive to the point where if u told him to get on all fours and bark then he fucking would. this man will do anything for some pussy like im being so fr. he just might fall over and die if u haven't made him cum in a little while cuz he's like erm hello??? but he's such a good sub like genuinely 😞 but as a dom?? 😵‍💫😵‍💫 can't even properly process the thoughts that are happening in my mind but i just know he's rough and mean like u said, a little controlling too if im so so honest with u ohhh em geeeee. like maybe he only rlly doms on specific occasions or like maybe u both just switch often cuz i could see him needing someone who's willing to switch up regularly depending on your moods yk? (FUCK HOW'D THIS PARAGRAPH GET SO LONG??? i feel like i didn't even say anything 😭)

[babymochibear]

POV:arcade date w bf beommie goes wrong

was writing this part in my first post but realized it became more of a continuous imagine hence i decided to make it into its own post!! Hope you guys like it!!

You’re literally the girl ver of heuning kai and you love to collect anything that looks cute to you,especially plushies! You cant get enough of them. Be it small keyring plushies or big gigantic ones you want them all!

So since you guys are at the arcade right now , beommie being the best bf ever ,is trying to get a plushie from the claw machine(the biggest one there is and of course he gets it(from one of the todo episodes he got the plushie so easily he is actually a arcade genius)

And you decided that the prize will be sleeping in your bed tonight. However what you didn’t know was that beom was actually jealous of the big prize that he got for you.

Usually when you guys go to bed, you guys will give each other goodnight kisses and play with each other’s stray hairs, moving them out of each other’s faces , until one of you falls asleep.

However that night, as beom was about to get into bed, he saw that you were already hugging the big plushie (he was wishing that he was the plushie instead.)

So with a heavy heart that night, he went to sleep with his back facing you.

The next morning:

When you woke up , you saw that beom was not facing you at all, and you thought to yourself that it was really strange. You guys had the habit of giving goodnight kisses and playing with each other’s hair for as long as you can remember. So what changed you thought to yourself.

And then you realized , the plushie you were hugging to sleep. That was the new addition.

So you quietly stood up from bed, not wanting to wake up beommie and you placed your new plushie on the couch and went back to bed.

After getting back into bed, you moved closer to beom,giving him a back hug so he was now in a little spoon position even though the height difference was about 20cm .

Beom feels your hands around his waist, and turns to look at you in confusion with his eyes barely being able to open fully, thinking what’s up with you this morning?

And you couldn’t help it, he looked too cute right now with his eyes unable to open fully. So you gave him little pecks on his lips , and that was enough to wake him up, with his boba eyes finally looking at you.

The look on his face says it all :what was that for ?

And you apologized for having the big plushie in between you guys and that it will never happen again.

“the plushie will be sleeping on the couch from now on(looks good as a decoration)”you said.

Beom then just wraps his arms around you and laughs,

“You still can have your plushies on the bed, but I’ll win you smaller ones this time so that your cuddles will only be for me.”

inspired by the photos abv hehe, hoped you guys liked it. I’m still really new with writing and i’m just having fun with it.

[fallenclan]

Toadbelly Fic

by Dragon Anon

Ever since he had been old enough to remember his dreams, he had been haunted by the place of shadows. Every night, his mind would carry him to the starless forest, with its grim, haunted trees blocking out any semblance of light. The air smelled damp, of mushrooms and decay.

Some nights, Toto felt as though he were being watched, followed, hunted. Other times, the shadowed forest seemed almost peaceful. 

Tonight was not one of those nights. In a fever-induced trance, Toto ran. The shadows seemed to snap and bite at his paws, chasing him as he tried desperately to find any escape. "Please, let me out!" he wailed. "My twolegs, they--they left me. I need to find them." His cries felt upon deaf ears. The forest listened, always, but never answered. 

Tonight, though, the forest was merciful. Toto found himself in the world of the waking mere moments later, hazily blinking the sleep out of his eyes. A pale grey and white tom was peering at him, eyes rounded with concern. "Oh, Ravenshade, he's awake!"

Another tom appeared, dark-pelted and swift as a striking hawk. "Can you walk?" he rumbled, voice surprisngly deep, almost soothing.

"Yes, I--I'm sick." Toto grimaced, sniffling. "My twolegs abandoned me."

"We should take him back to camp," the lighter tom mrrowed. "I bet Bristleheart could help him."

Ravenshade. Bristleheart. What strange names, Toto thought. Standing shakily, he padded towards the strangers, "If you help me, you won't regret it," he murmured. 

"We should get going, if we want to get to camp before nightfall," Ravenshade replied in lieu of answer. 

"All right."

***

"You'll be welcome to stay here, of course. If you want to join the clan-"

"I do," Toto replied immediately.

"Great!" Cherrystar grinned. Bristleheart and Sagespeckle sat a few pawsteps away, chatting quietly. Toto had already decided that he enjoyed the medicine den, with its various scents and herbal aromas. The so-called "medicine cats" were simply an added bonus, all of which being quite charming individuals.

"I'll make an announcement to the clan later, though by now I'm certain half of them already know you're here. Gossip travels quickly." Cherrystar chuckled fondly. "But first, what should I call you?"

Toto considered this. He glanced at the medicine cats, who now watched him curiously. He thought back to the stoic Ravenshade and the compassionate Cloudtuft. Smiling, he hummed, "You can call me Toadbelly."

***

"--and your mentor will be Toadbelly." Toadbelly blinked in surprise, quickly trying to regain his composure. Tanglepaw bounced up to him, tail curled with delight. 

"I'm gonna be the best apprentice ever, I swear," Tanglepaw purred, pressing her nose against Toadbelly's. 

"I don't doubt that for a second," he replied sincerely. "I only hope I'll be half as good a mentor." 

"Of course you will be! I'm just glad Cherrystar didn't stick me with someone like Ravenshade."

"What's wrong with Ravenshade?"

"He's scary." Tanglepaw shivered. 

"Well, I promise not to scare you, if I can help it."

***

"My dreams are filled with shadows."

"How so?" Cloudtuft glanced at Toadbelly. The pale tom's gaze was vacant, as if his mind were somewhere else.

"It's hard to explain." Toadbelly shrugged. 

"Hm. Well, I don't really dream of anything at all. At least, I don't remember my dreams," Cloudtuft remarked. "Ficklefern used to have really vivid dreams, though. You could always talk to her."

"Oh." But I want to talk to you, lay dead on Toadbelly's tongue. "Sure, maybe."

"Anyway, I should probably get going. I wanted to get in a quick nap before the dusk patrol." Cloudtuft shot Toadbelly an amicable albeit reserved smile before padding off.

"Wow." Toadbelly started. A black she-cat had seemingly materialized by his side. "That was a harsh rejection."

"It wasn't a rejection," Toadbelly huffed, narrowing his eyes at Coalblaze. She grinned, seemingly unaware of Toadbelly's disquiet.

"Looked like one. Y'know, I have weird dreams too."

"They aren't weird, they're just... persistent."

"Sure." Coalblaze tilted her head. "D'you wanna try and try some snail shells?"

"Like . . . river snails?" 

"Uh huh. Cloudtuft keeps a few in his nest. He likes to roll them around under his paws."

"Oh." Toadbelly blinked. He hadn't known that.

"C'mon, let's go before sundown. I bet if we race, I'd beat you!"

"That's probably true."

"Yeah, well, probably isn't for certain, so will you race against me anyway?"

"Why would I do something if I was certain I would lose?"

"Is it not worth trying?"

Toadbelly found a tiny smile spreading across his features, despite his prior vexation. "Okay, okay. I'll race you."

"Yes!"

***

"You were mentored by Ravenstar, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Flamefall shot Toadbelly a wary glance. "Why?"

"I was just curious." Toadbelly flicked his tail against Flamefall's side playfully. "We don't need to spend the entire border patrol in silence."

"If we talk too loudly, we might miss the sound of predators."

"Or trespassers," added Sootstep. 

"We can all use our sense of smell, can't we?" Pepperswipe chimed in. "We'd smell any threat from fifty fox-lengths away."

"Cats can disguise their smell," Flamefall argued, ears twitching irritably. "We need to remain vigilant."

"Lighten up." Pepperswipe nudged her littermate. 

"When it's a matter of our clan's safety-"

"Watch out!" Toadbelly darted forward, shoving Flamefall backward. A twoleg trap shone, teeth bared, right where Flamefall had been about to set his paw.

"I--thank you, Toadbelly." Flamefall mumbled, suddenly bashful.

"It's nothing. We should set off the trap with a branch so that no one accidentally steps on it."

"Hm. Good idea," Sootstep affirmed. 

"What? A compliment from Sootstep?" Pepperswipe gasped, widening her eyes for emphasis. "Incredible!"

"You're embarassing yourself, Pepperswipe," Sootstep grumbled. "Enough."

"Oh no, I will definitely never be letting this go . . . ," Pepperswipe declared.

"Ugh."

Throughout the she-cat's back-and-forth, Flamefall's gaze remained locked on Toadbelly, as if seeing him for the first time.

Toadbelly pretended not to notice.

***

"I, uhm, heard about Cloudtuft."

"What?" Toadbelly stared. "How?"

"Well, I guess Ashblink overheard, and you know how he is." Tangletail winced. "You'll get over it, won't you? I mean, you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Toadbelly sighed. "I would rather have risked rejection than stayed silent."

"How wise," Tangletail teased.

"Hush."

"Nope. You aren't my mentor anymore, so you can't tell me what to do."

"Tangletail."

"Yes, yes, I know. Why don't we go do something to take your mind off of it? We could ask Shrewscratch if she needs any help collecting herbs."

"That would be nice." Toadbelly rose to his paws, stretching. "Thank you, by the way."

"You're welcome. Now, c'mon!"

***

The shadows were haunting him again. He felt resignation. The forest was beautiful in its own solemn way. And yet, something about it seemed to crave despair, loss, violence. The forest sought souls to fill its emptiness, leaching the very life from them instead.

Toadbelly shivered. I'll wake up eventually, he consoled himself. He had made so many new friends in FallenClan. The brown tom with the matted fur had been right. It was a good place, for good cats. 

Toadbelly hadn't seen the tom in awhile. He distinctly remembered the scrawny creature's departing words. "Trust Ravenshade. He has his priorities straight. He will do what's right, to protect the clan." And now he was Ravenstar.

Toadbelly sighed. He would simply have to find somewhere to lay down, in the roots of some gnarly oak perhaps. In the morning, things would look better.

They always did.

-🐉

(dedicated to raccoon anon, who suggested i write something about toadbelly. i tried to incorporate his dark forest bond and speculate on his relationships with other fallenclan cats, since he's still relatively new to the clan. curious to see where his story goes!

guest appearance from a certain blorbo at the end there. was debating including or not, but ultimately decided to. i think he wouldn't care that much about toadbelly and probably only interacted with him once or twice, due to loneliness.

anyway, i'll be writing a ripplefade fic next! for now, enjoy a collection of little scenes i thought up with toadbelly haha)

(beetle note: ANOTHER BANGER..... a fantastic exploration of a character I have yet to expand on, and you captured him perfectly :D the idea of him being named Toto before coming to the clan is so cute <3 (without giving too much away, i'll say that you did explore a bit of a relationship that i plan to add in the future. dodgeball moment))

[penisbilt]

the bittersweet but absolute flood of relief that comes from admitting defeat at living independently, to have to move back in with parents. we tried! we gave it our best shot for almost 3 years! but living like this (being on our own) is just not possible for us at this time of our lives. we've finally proved it to ourselves that we can't do it. it'll be okay to let ourselves rest now

[borderlinegerard]

its always morally correct to wish death on your ex

[piplupod]

one of the cashiers at the grocery store i go to is so fucking fixated on shoplifters and it drives me crazy any time i check out through him (i try to avoid him but his checkout is often the most open/empty - hm! i wonder why! - and im often on a tight schedule w the bus). he brings up shoplifters every opportunity he gets and he seems so convinced that theyre a huge problem.

BUT WHAT REALLY GETS ME ,,, is that today the customer in front of me was needing a price check on one of the items bc it should've come out to be cheaper, so he was kind of apologetic abt it and saying "ah well, yknow, six dollars is six dollars, especially with how expensive groceries are right now" and i was nodding and agreeing (trying to show that i dont mind the wait and also solidarity my guy good for u for speaking up and getting the price fixed on that) AND THE CASHIER AGREES. FULLY ACKNOWLEDGES AND BEMOANS THE FACT THAT GROCERIES ARE CRAZY RN. AND THEN GOES ON TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SHOPLIFTERS. HUH ??????

so you agree that groceries are unreasonably expensive... and that sometimes ppl can't afford them... and yet ....................