#Danny watches Dark Skies

[spockvarietyhour]

Will Patton

[luxaofhesperides]

You know how Spiderman has 'canon events'? And how Gwen would always die? How about in every universe Duke exists in, there would always be Danny. And every time they fall in love! But whenever Duke tells/hints at him being The Signal, Danny suffers an accident or dies.

Like let's say in the DC vs Vampires universe, Duke tells Danny he's Signal and then a few days later he gets turned into a vampire and Duke has no choice but to kill him.

Or something like that yknow?

Earth 26.

The undercity is full of life. People from above refuse to understand it, staunch in their beliefs that the undercity is full of crime and sickness, drugs and filth. But the people down there are more human than any of the ones Duke has met up top.

Though Bruce Wayne can try to bring Duke in all he likes, there’s no denying that Duke doesn’t belong. His heart will always be in the undercity, where he was born and grew up and lived and lost so much. 

The undercity is where Danny is.

Away from the blue skies filled with blimps, tucked beneath the towering buildings and clocktowers and elevated rails for trains leaving trails of smoke through the city, there in the cramped spaces and dark alleys, is Danny. 

He ducks through familiar alleys, cutting across perilously stacked homes and hopping over railings to get to the Fenton Lab faster. 

He’s been excited all day, heart thrumming with anticipation, as he returns to his roots and seeks out Danny. Today is the day he’s going to come clean, tell Danny everything: his feelings, his powers, his identity as The Signal, fighting crime in all parts of the city to keep Gotham safe. He’s sure Danny suspects something is going on with him, likely has already guessed at everything he wants to talk about, but Danny deserves the truth.

It is his inventions that help Duke save people, after all. 

Finding the front door of the Fenton lab is always a challenge. Metal scraps and materials stripped from vehicles litter the front of the building from people leaving all their unwanted things with the Fentons. Miscellaneous inventions and tools are left scattered around as well, creating a labyrinth that Duke has to traverse every time he wants to see Danny while he’s working with his parents.

It takes a few minutes, but Duke manages it, pushing open the door after a quick knock.

“Danny? Are you there?”

He can hear something from the lower floor, a strange, high pitched whirring noise. His powers kick in and suddenly he can see people rushing around the room, shouting in voices that he won’t be able to hear until the time comes. He can see himself, crying.

Duke’s heart drops.

“Danny? Danny!”

He runs down the stairs, suddenly terrified that he’s too late. Something is going to happen to Danny. It has to be Danny, because no one else is home with him; that’s why Duke asked to meet in the Lab, to have some privacy while the other Fentons were out.

The noise is louder, too loud to hear over, and Duke rushes into the Lab just in time to see some strange circle of metal spark with electricity. Danny stands right before, staring up at it.

“Danny!” Duke shouts as loud as he can, and Danny startles, then turns around.

Their eyes meet just as the machine finishes turning on, the metal circle ripping open with a thunderous noise, and Duke can do nothing but watch as it sends electricity and some other energy racing through Danny’s body.

It lasts just a brief moment, and then Danny is crumpling to the ground, eyes closed as the machine settles. The swirling pit of white and green stares out at him and Duke knows without a doubt that Danny is dead. . . .

Earth 41.

Duke’s been acting strange. Well, stranger than usual.

Danny’s not one to go around poking at people’s secrets, especially not his boyfriend’s, but he knows something big is going on. He’s not worried that Duke is cheating on him, but he can see the injuries he comes back with some days, citing all the unrest and the resurgence in crimes following Batman’s death.

He wonders if Duke is going out each night for street fighting, forcing all his emotions into his fists until they’re beaten bloody. Batman’s death hit him hard, and Danny has no idea what to do to help him.

They’re both stressed, on edge and scared, but they don’t fight as much as he expected. Admittedly, it’s hard to fight where they’re always spending time apart. 

No longer. Tonight, Danny is determined to get to the bottom of things so he can help Duke with whatever he’s going through. He even texted Jazz to get some tips about communication and helping someone through grief. He’s as ready as he’ll ever be. 

Right at 3AM, the window slides open. 

“Welcome back, Duke,” Danny says, watching as Duke flinches, then sighs as he closes the window. 

“What are you doing here, Danny?”

“Well, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, I decided to hang out here and wait for you. But you’ve been gone for a long time.”

“Sorry, Danny, but I’m really tired. Can this wait?”

Anger bubbles in his gut and Danny takes a deep breath to force it down. “I’ve been waiting. If you keep pushing this conversation off, we’re never going to get anywhere.”

Duke slumps against the window, rubbing a hand against his face, looking exhausted. “Look, Danny, things have been getting real bad, and I don’t want you to get hurt because of it.”

“What’s going on, Duke? What are you so worried about?”

“It’s… The guy who killed Batman. His name is Karma, and I’ve been going after him.”

“You’ve been what?!” Danny shouts, shooting to his feet. “Duke, are you insane? Anyone who can kill Batman is bad news, there’s no way anyone short of like, Superman, can stop him! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“Someone has to stop him! And I can do something to help, okay? I’ve been helping the other bats fight him. I can do this.”

Danny clenches his fists, feeling frost crack against his skin. “You could have told me,” he says. “You know I can help, too. You’re not the only one with powers.”

“I can’t endanger you like that, Danny.”

“So you leave me in the dark instead? You would have rather I wait for you forever while you never come back because you got yourself killed running into a situation you can’t get out of? You think I would have been any safer not knowing? Then clearly you haven’t been paying attention!” He’s shouting by the end of it, shaking with fear and rage and so many things it all becomes a tangled mess in his head. 

“I really think we should have this conversation in the morning,” Duke says, eyeing Danny warily. It’s probably just because he’s been out all night hunting Karma, so used to being attacked while he goes out to try to save a city that even Batman couldn’t lift from the darkness, but that doesn’t stop the stab of hurt from going through his heart. Danny has done his best to be safe for Duke, to be human and comforting and strong enough to protect him. 

And Duke is looking at him like he could be at threat.

“Whatever,” Danny mutters, shaking his head. “You’ll talk to me in the morning by saying nothing but how you need to do whatever this is and then you’ll leave and we’ll both be unhappy. Great. Can’t wait.”

“Danny—”

“Bye, Duke.”

Danny’s up and out of the apartment before Duke can take more than a few steps towards him. He zips up his jacket and pulls the hood over his head, taking the steps two at a time to get to street level. It’s dark and quiet outside, save for the distant police sirens, and Danny barely spares a glance around him before he’s making his own way home, sure that no one would still be out at that time.

He should have been more careful. More vigilant. Not so lost in his hurt feelings.

But there’s no time for that when he’s pulled into an alleyway, knife at his throat.

A man in a black helmet, face fully covered, stares down at him. “Well, well, well,” he purrs, digging the knife in a little deeper, “What’s the Signal’s little lover doing out so late at night?”

Signal?

…Duke. His boyfriend who always disappears in late hours, blows off dates when something big is going down in Gotham, who is trying to pick up the pieces following Batman’s death. 

And here is Karma, the very man Duke is searching for, pulling Danny away into the dark.

He only has a brief moment to regret storming off, for not being more patient with Duke, for not paying attention and avoiding Karma, before the knife is pulled away, tossed into the air, and the hilt comes down hard on his temple, and it is a long, long time before he is seen again.

The Signal does not find him alive. . . .

Earth 53.

The apocalypse isn’t kind even on the best of days. But today it might be coming close to something resembling kindness as Duke approaches the skeletal remains of Gotham. It’s been years since he’s been back here, moving with the Robins across the United States just trying to survive. They’d constantly been moving, searching for other survivors and food and shelter and any sign of hope they could get. 

There hadn’t been much anywhere, too much devastation across the country for anyone to even think of rebuilding. Even now, nature is just starting to recover, little green shoots pushing up through concrete rubble. 

This world isn’t one for superheroes anymore. Supervillains aren’t around either. Everyone is either dead or barely getting themselves through each day; but humanity is still around and wildlife is beginning to recover. 

Duke doesn’t know who’s left in Gotham these days. He suspects Oracle is still there, somewhere, helping reconnect telephone wires and setting up internet and electricity. Lights have been flickering on steadily as the Robins made their way into New Jersey and the sight lifted their spirits so much they decided to keep traveling through the night. 

No one in his group has a working phone any more, but the possibility of getting that piece of the old world back excites them all. 

By the time they reach the outskirts of the ruined city, the entire group is nearly buzzing with energy, speaking in hushes whispers that do nothing to hide the elation in their voices. Gotham was everyone’s home, once. They’re all happy to be back, regardless of what they’re walking into.

Duke volunteers to go scouting with a few others to find a good place to settle in for a bit as they reacquaint themselves with the city. Even before the end of the world, it was never a good idea to go blind into Gotham. 

Much of the city is still abandoned, and concrete rubble carry faded graffiti that show the remains of a gang long gone. The few people he see in the distance are quick to hide and disappear and Duke himself is too wary to approach them. But as he gets closer to the heart of Gotham, picking his way through destroyed streets, he sees more and more signs of life, people who don’t hide, weak lights in hastily constructed shelters.

No one attacks him as he wanders closer. In fact, a few exchange nervous glances then approach him, quietly asking if he’s coming from outside Gotham and what news he brings of the outside world.

Duke tells them about how Chicago is gone completely, unable to be saved at all, but there are settlements all along the shores of the Great Lakes. He tells them of the traveling groups he’s met who rotate through a few chosen states and are willing to take in new members. He tells them of someone who has an entire farm up and running again, full of chickens and cows and sheep and goat and horses, on top of all the crop they can grow. The location of the farm is kept secret and carefully protected, but they give away seeds and young animals for anyone wanting to raise their own.

The news gathers more and more people around Duke, eager to listen, and they’re more than happy to update Duke on what’s happened in Gotham. 

The Bats aren’t around as much anymore, but at least two of them are still in Gotham, helping people from the shadows. They’re fixing everything up as best they can, and most people live in or around Robinson Park where Ivy, who survived, grows food and shelter for everyone in exchange for protection and companionship. The Riddler turned from making death traps and taking hostages to creating new technology and inventions to make life a little easier, taking in a crew of assistants to learn from him.

That is to say nothing of the ghosts.

Gotham is full of them now, walking among the living as if they never died. They help people and stick with loved ones who lost them and fly through the air to deliver things with ease. It’s nothing that Duke has ever seen before, and he wonders how many people who died in the apocalypse chose to stay in such a ruined world. 

He begins to head back to the Robins, mind racing with everything he’s learned, when he sees Danny.

Danny, his friend once, who he loved dearly and didn’t quite realize it was deeper than friendship until after the world ended. Danny, who was always sleepy and soft and smiling, cracking bad jokes and lifting Duke’s spirits whenever he felt down. Danny, who was lively and dreamed of going to space to sit among the stars.

Danny, who is dead.

He never got the chance to tell Danny he was the Signal, but he thinks Danny knew anyways. He could ask now, put that lingering thought to rest, but it was one of the few things left unsaid between them, the only thing he had of Danny for all these years, and he doesn’t want to let go of it yet.

Danny hasn’t seen him yet. Duke could go to him, speak to his ghost, have some part of him back in his life.

But it wouldn’t be the same. It certainly wouldn’t be fair to tie Danny, who is free from the pain and misery of the living, to Duke, who is never going to stay in Gotham permanently. 

He misses Danny so much he feels hollowed out and empty, but he knows this is for the best.

Duke turns, pretending not to see him, and walks away. . . .

Earth 78.

Duke was…

Duke was important to him, Danny thinks. He can’t remember much, not after everything (electricity, screaming, pain pain pain, heavy darkness, a spark, hist chest cut open, where is ___? Why won’t he save—) but without any memory of what his life was like back then, his feelings are without context and easily ignored.

Wraith follows Shrike from a distance, watching as he drops into an alley to kill a rapist. Wraith feels nothing about this, for caring is not in his duties. He is instructed to simply keep Shrike alive and assist in his plans, whatever they may be. Wraith does not care about killing.

Danny, tucked away deep inside the mask, shivers and cries, wishing to hide away and say enough, please, that’s enough, just stop please stop stop stop stop—

Batman crosses the rooftops, a figure of darkness across the city’s skies. The Signal, his second oldest companion, travels through the shadows by his side until they land on the building Wraith stands on. 

The yellow of Signal’s armor is familiar and it feels safe but Wraith knows better. Talia and Ra’s have taught him to see past his emotions, to force away any sentiment and grapple with the cold hard truth. This is the truth: they are here to hurt him and Shrike, because they are dangerous killers and dangerous killers are dealt with swiftly and painfully in Gotham. 

They can do as they please to him. They will not take Shrike.

He engages Batman in battle first, easily slipping past his defense by going intangible, freezing his boots to the ground and icing his fists together. The Signal slips away at first, leaving Batman behind to try to get around Wraith, sending shadows towards Shrike who leaps away deftly, dodging them with ease as he leaves the beheaded body behind. 

Wraith grabs Signal before he can fully sink into a shadow and tosses him back, then flies to Shrike, picking him up and getting them away as quickly as possible.

“They found us faster than I thought,” Shrike says. His voice carries something in it that Wraith doesn’t recognize, but it makes his heart feel heavy. 

“We’re done for the night,” Wraith returns, voice low and hoarse. He died screaming and even the Lazarus Pits weren’t able to fix the damage done to his vocal chords. 

He lets his invisibility wash over them both, and they disappear into the night. The safehouse they set up, far away from the one Talia prepared for them, is small but comfortable. It’s secure, everything created and coded by Tim, which means Danny can relax inside the walls of the small apartment. 

Shrike helps him shed his gear, putting it away carefully. Wraith becomes Danny and he watches as Shrike becomes Tim. 

Gone is the ruthless efficiency, the quickness to cut down the scum of Gotham without remorse. Instead, he’s pale and tired, eyes still a faint green from the linger remains of the Lazarus Pit that brought him back from the dead, but there is no madness in him. Only a coldness that came long before his death, unwanted by Damian, the first of Batman’s vigilante partners, who refused to see him as part of the family or even as a hero at all. Duke had already gone to work with other teams since then and never met Tim properly for more than a few minutes.

But he knew Danny. They must have been close. If seeing The Signal sends such a sharp stab of pain in his heart, it must be for a reason. But the memories are long gone, and with them, any desire to be close to him again. 

They never do well after a run in with the Bats. Though they have won every fight they’ve had, Tim often retreats to bed in order to hide his tears and Danny is left alone, lost, and wishing he had stayed dead. 

Tonight is no different. Tim is making a difference as Shrike, striking fear in the hearts of Gotham’s criminals. Crime has gone down in Crime Alley, his chosen territory of the city, killing as many people as needed before they finally get the message to be better people. Tim is also still only eighteen and had spent three years with the League of Assassins before returning to Gotham and seeing that his place in the Bats is erased and forgotten and replaced by the well-loved Jason.

He only stays in Gotham to kill the people who sold him off to the Joker and laughed as he died slowly and painfully. Once the Joker is dead, he’ll leave Gotham and disappear for good. 

Danny will follow him. He has no life now and no other direction. And with Tim hiding under the covers, Danny can do nothing but feel his own skin crawl at the need to get away from everything that connects him to his life Before.

It’s a terrible idea, but he goes out again, heading into Otisberg, where he once lived. Only a raised hood conceals his face; the expressionless mask he usually wears is gone, and Wraith feels far away from him.

He hears the Signal land behind him some time later. It could be minutes or hours; time slips by Danny easily these days no matter how hard he tries to hold onto the minutes passing by. 

“Wraith,” Signal says, and his voice is hard. “Where’s Shrike? Out terrorizing the rest of Gotham?”

Danny doesn’t reply. He stares out into the city lights, a cold emptiness growing inside his chest. 

“Well, if you’re going to just sit there, then I suppose you don’t mind if I take you in to let Batman interrogate you. You’ve been causing a lot of trouble around here, and we don’t take kindly to murderous masks in Gotham.”

He doesn't resist as Signal grabs his wrists, hauling him up from where he was sitting on the ledge. Danny allows Signal to turn him around, shadows binding his wrists together and pulling down his hood.

The Signal sucks in a sharp breath, hands falling limp to his side. “Danny?”

Danny doesn’t respond.

“This better not be a joke, I swear to God. If you’re just wearing his face to fuck with me, I’m going to kill you, Batman’s rules be damned. Say something already!”

Danny looks up into the visor of Signal’s helmet. He opens his mouth and a hoarse whine slips out. “I knew you,” he manages to whispers. “I knew you. And then I died.”

The Signal flinches, then reaches up and pulls his helmet off. “Tell me something only we would know. Anything.”

“I don’t… remember. I wanted you to save me. I don’t think you did.”

“If this isn’t really you, Danny,” Duke says, voice thick with tears, “Then it’s a really fucked up joke.”

Danny looks at Duke, helpless. He doesn’t know what to do. What to say. Wraith only knows how to follow and protect and take orders. Danny doesn’t know how to live anymore. There is nothing he can do.

And then, as he stares as Duke, a memory slides into place, fuzzy but there.

“Arcade on eighth street,” he whispers, and Duke’s eyes go wide. “That was going to be our first date.”

“It was,” Duke says. There’s a light in his eyes now, something that looks like hope and the sight of it makes Danny sick to his stomach.

“I’m dead, Duke. Danny is dead. There is only Wraith now. Let the dead go, and stay away so we don’t have to kill you. I… want you to live.”

The shadows have loosened, still wrapped around his wrists but as a caress instead of a restraint. It doesn’t take any strength to pull out of them and drop off the roof, falling towards the ground. Danny lets gravity take hold of him for a few moments, then goes invisible and flies away just as Duke grapples down and searches for him desperately. 

He can hear Duke calling his name, then calling in Batman and Nightwing, but his voice fades away before Danny can make out what they’re saying.

Not that it matters. Whether tomorrow or further down the line, he and Tim will leave Gotham and disappear for good.

The dead cannot stay with the living, and so they will go.

There’s nothing left for them here, anyways. . . .

Earth 0.

Duke has had his fair share of strange dreams. It comes with the trauma and the powers, a terrible mix that leave him shaken and rattled when he wakes up, gasping for breath.

But instead of fear, his latest series of dreams leave him with a deep-seated feeling of grief. The details fade away quickly once he’s awake, but he can remember bits and pieces of worlds that looks so different from the one he lives in, and all of them have a single constant: Danny.

Danny, whose face he never remembers when he wakes. Danny, whose name is permanently etched into his mind. Danny, who he loves and loses every single night.

Danny, someone he’s never met.

Dick asks him if he’s alright the next time he’s in Gotham, eating breakfast in the manor with him and Tim. He considers lying, then tells him about the dreams and how frequent they are, snapshots of other lives where there is someone important to him that he can never save. Tim, who he thought was sleeping with his eyes half open, looks up and mumbles that it might be another universe.

After a few cups of coffee, Tim is awake enough to ramble on about the multiverse, pulling up reports from the Batcomputer on his phone to show Duke how many of them have had run ins with alternate universes. 

“So you’re saying that Danny might be here? In this world?”

Tim shrugs. “Well, maybe. If he’s the only constant, then I wouldn’t be surprised. If you’re here, so is he.”

“But he always dies!”

“Don’t worry, Duke,” Dick says, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “If you do find him, then you’ve got all of his to help keep him safe.”

“Do you want me to find him? If you give me a description, I can probably narrow it down to a few people in the United States. One of them might be him.”

Duke considers it for a moment, then shakes his head. “Nah, thanks though. If we’re supposed to meet, then we will. No point in rushing it.”

“Alright. Let me know if you change your mind.”

And that had been that. Nothing to really worry about, but the dreams continue and Duke keeps waking up grieving and so love with Danny, carrying the feelings of his alternates over to his own reality. At some point, he wishes that he and Danny would never cross paths in this world, if only so he doesn’t have to lose him.

But he wants to meet him. The universe says Danny is important to him; why else would he be part of his life in every world?

The thought never leaves him. It’s always in the back of his mind as he goes about his life, going to school and fighting crime. He finds himself lingering in the streets, trying to see everyone’s faces, listening for that familiar voice.

It takes over a year before he hears someone say, “Danny!” as he’s patrolling as Signal. 

He bends the light around him, going invisible, and searches for the people shouting the name of the person he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind. It takes some time, but his eyes land on a tall, red haired woman fussing over a boy with black hair and blue eyes, leaning down some so she could reach his face.

He can’t hear what they say with the distance between them, but he knows with absolute clarity that he’s looking at Danny.

His Danny.

Duke takes a step forward, ready to drop his invisibility, letting the light escape his grasp, the pauses when he sees the bright smile on his face. 

This Danny is safe. He is alive and laughing and is with someone he cares about. 

This Danny has a life and a future and as much as Duke wants to know why his alternate selves love Danny so much, it isn’t worth Danny’s life.

Heart breaking, Duke steps back and watches as they walk away, disappearing into the crowded streets. 

He stares after them long after they’ve disappeared from sight, then grapples to a rooftop and releases his hold on the light. He sinks to his knees, trying to breathe through the grief that runs through him, and taps a pattern into his comms to signal that he’s ending his patrol early. 

It’s fine, he tells himself. This is for the best. This will keep Danny alive.

Danny always dies because of Duke. Someway, somehow, whenever they meet, the bell tolls and Danny’s death quickly approaches. It happens in every world, in the many, many dreams he’s had looking into a moment of their lives. 

But not this one.

In this one, Duke will save Danny by doing the only thing he can: making sure they never meet. 

It’s for the best. It has to be. . . .

[send me ghostlights prompts!]

[puppetmaster13u]

DPxDC Prompt

New Ancient of Space Danny watching over Krypton as he gets older, taking care of each ghost, acting akin to their guardian and ferryman across the cosmos to their final resting place, if they should wish it.

And finding the ghosts after the planet's death and taking all of them under his wing. Especially the children, whom he cares for and makes sure they can have the childhood that was stolen from them.

He cares for them, watches over them, taking them in as not just allies and friends, but family. His own little stars shining amidst the dark, old or young, all beautiful and shining and bright.

But he's not just taken the dead in his hand, and sometimes, on a farm in Kansas, a child looks to the starry skies, and feels incredibly loved, like the very universe is cradling him close.

[megxplryxb]

Bite Me...

*Note* Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of posts lately, i've been really sick and feeling crap but started to write this on Halloween night and only finished it now. Also, Green with Envy pt. 2 is almost finished so bare with me. Anyway, enjoy your weekend beautiful people <3

Warnings: Smut at the end because we all love smutty Steve.

Pairings: Steve Harrington fem!reader

Disclaimer: I do not take any credit for gifs used.

The sound of children’s laughter and excitement echoed loudly through your usually quiet neighbourhood as Halloween night was finally upon the town of Hawkins, Indiana. You smiled, looking out your bedroom window to see an army of kids hyped up on sugar, running all over the leaf filled streets with their flashlights, knocking on doors, dressed up as monsters and superheroes trying to get as much loot as they could before darkness completely covered the skies and their parents ordered them to call it a night.

Halloween had been your personal favourite holiday ever since you were a little girl, running around trick or treating with your friends, collecting as much candy as you could in your costume of choice for that year, secretly watching horror movies with your older brothers’ to end the evening while your parents were out at some gathering. Now that you were older however, trick or treating had been traded for drinking and partying but the dressing up tradition had always remained firmly intact for you and your friends.

Music blared from the radio on your bedside locker as you added the finishing touches to the vampire outfit you were wearing to Steve Harrington’s Halloween bash at his parents house. Two fake puncture wounds on the side of your neck, eye make up dark and glittery as your mouth featured a pair of plastic fangs. Your usual straight hair now full of long loose curls, black tights matching the colour of your short skirt. Cleavage much fuller than normal as the purple corset top hugged your chest tightly making your boobs spill over the edge ever so slightly. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t intended on looking a tiny bit slutty tonight, thankful your parents had already long gone to their own Halloween activities to notice what you were wearing.

The beep outside signalled to you that Jonathan had arrived and was waiting patiently outside. The second and continuous beep, signalled to you that he had already picked up Eddie Munson who was not being so patient and wanted you out of the house immediately. You rolled your eyes at your friend’s immaturity, bending down to the mirror on your dressing table, applying the dark shade of lipstick before grabbing your purse and heading out the front door.

“Come on sweetheart, we should be drunk al—SWEET JESUS” Eddie cried, hanging out the car window, stunned as you walked towards your friends, finally getting in to the back seat beside the long haired boy.

“You look amazing!” Nancy squealed excitedly. “You guys do too, you’re really pulling off the blonde wig Nance!” You complimented as Nancy smiled sweetly. She had her and Jonathan’s costumes picked out since the middle of summer, deciding to go as Sandy and Danny from Grease as it was her favourite movie. Jonathan easily agreeing to it once she was happy.

“I know I’m not supposed to say things like this to one of my best friend’s but fuck you look smokin’ hot.” Eddie drooled, eyes glued to your cleavage. He was dressed as some up and coming musician called Slash and swore that this guy was going to be the next up and coming rockstar.

“Eddie can you not be a perv for five minutes?” Nancy pleaded.

“Eyes up here at all times Munson.” You ordered, pointing to your face as he shook his head to focus. “Yes, ma’am.” He joked as you shouldered him playfully.

“Wonder what Harrington is going as this year.” Jonathan quizzed as everyone else shrugged. You knew Steve was dressing as Joel Goodsen from Risky Business, he had showed you the costume two days ago while you lay naked in his bed after another round of mind blowing sex. But that was a secret you had both been keeping from your friends for the last couple of months, because tonight while pretending to be a bloodsucking creature of the night, you also had to pretend that you weren’t in a relationship with one, Steve Harrington.

You weren’t exactly sure when your feelings for Steve had changed from platonic to romantic, maybe those feelings had always been there deep down but you knew something had definitely shifted between you after getting trapped in that Russian elevator back at the Starcourt mall. The way he intertwined his fingers with yours as you sat on the cold floor trying to come up with a plan to get out of there, the way you rested yourself on his shoulder while his hand sat on your thigh, the fact that you had almost kissed while the others were sleeping until Dustin let one rip and pulled you back to reality again, both of you bursting in to quiet fits of laughter. You could see how much Steve had matured by the way he protected you from the Russian guards when they held you captive while Robin, Dustin and Erica had escaped to get help. It was he who took the beatings when they looked for information that neither of you could give, drugging you both in the hopes that someone would let something slip. The only thing Steve let slip in his drugged up state though, was his regret of not getting to kiss you back in the elevator, a regret you silently agreed with.

Neither of you brought it up again after the drugs had worn off and the mind flayer had been defeated. You decided to take Max under your wing after losing her brother and Steve was busy job hunting with Robin after the mall had all but burned to the ground. When you did find yourselves together however, either alone or with the others, you were certain there was a spark between you that neither had noticed before. Things stayed that way for several months, you and Steve being drawn to each other, finding reasons to touch or be near the other, it was something unspoken between you but you both knew it was there. Then, like clockwork, strange things started to occur in Hawkins once more with Chrissy Cunningham mysteriously dying, followed by Fred Benson days later. It didn’t take the group long to figure out another battle was on the horizon.

The battle with Vecna felt darker and more personal than it ever had before. The creature playing on people’s fears and weaknesses, taking pleasure in causing so much terror and pain and for the first time, you weren’t sure it was a fight that you and the others could win. You were fearful for the younger teens safety, hating that they were once again in danger but you all promised to see it through to the end one way or the other.

The night before the final fight, you found yourself at Steve’s house, both realising that if you were going to die, you wanted to spend your last night in the presence of the other. It had become a common theme, finding comfort in each other’s company every time your little town was on the brink of total destruction. Sharing a bottle of whiskey from his parents drinks cabinet, sitting on his living room floor, backs against the couch, listening to music as you talked about all the things you hadn’t gotten to do in life up to that moment. You weren’t sure how it happened or who had initiated it but suddenly your lips were on Steve’s, hands lost in hair, clothes torn off and desperate words being whispered in to each other’s ears. Something that had started out fast and frenzied became slow and passionate, as realisation set in that it might have been your first and last night together. Feelings that had been hidden away for the better part of a year, now out in the open, bodies aching to feel anything other than fear and the next morning you woke in Steve’s bed, laying across his chest as he held you close.

It had been the best night of your life.

Now months later, Vecna was dead and you and Steve were finally a proper couple, although no one else knew that yet. The two of you had been enjoying your time together in secret, getting to know one another better before telling everyone else about your relationship. You knew they’d all be ecstatic, especially Dustin and Max but neither of you were ready to answer any questions yet. So instead, you snuck around like naughty teenagers, trying to steal moments with each other whenever possible and you had to admit, it was pretty fun.

You knew Steve would both love and hate your Halloween costume. He had begged you to tell him what you were going as, pleading with you not to look too revealing as he’d spend all night trying to hide an awkward hard on, knowing he couldn’t touch you without blowing your cover. He should never have told you that because you had made it your job to find the most scandalous clothing possible, wanting to make him suffer.

Jonathan pulled up, parking on the side of the street as you all emptied out of the car. “m’lady” Eddie bowed, offering his hand to help you out, you gladly accepting. “Who said chivalry was dead?” You teased as he winked at you, walking towards the door. Nancy’s soft knock was met by a sneer from Eddie. “Nance, just walk in. No one’s gonna hear your knock with the music that loud.” Jonathan muttered.

“No, Jonathan it’s rude to just walk in to someone’s house!” She argued.

“It’s Steve, I don’t think he’ll be offended.” You laughed. “You’re all wasting valuable drinking time!”. Eddie groaned, finally shuffling by everyone to open the door. The house was already packed with people as you made your way in to find your boyfriend and Robin. Your best friend had also been roped in to help Steve for the better part of two days, cleaning, decorating and shopping for drinks and food for the party, both of you taking over the duties when Steve went to work at the video store. Eventually, you found them both in the kitchen, talking to a bunch of people over a couple of drinks and you couldn’t help but bite your lip seeing Steve in his sunglasses, something about it just made you weak, thoughts immediately turning dirty in your mind.

“You’re here!” Robin gasped, noticing you first as Steve’s attention was pulled from his current conversation to look at you, jaw almost hitting the floor when he saw you. You tried your best to keep your focus on Robin but you couldn’t help notice the lust in his eyes as you mentally undressed each other.

“I know, sorry we’re a bit late, we had to stop at the store for cigarettes for Eddie and then Jonathan forgot his jacket and—”

“I wanna say I’m hearing you but I’m way too distracted by your boobs.” Robin teased as you let out a laugh. “Robin!” You cried, blushing slightly at your friend who was dressed as Carrie, and weirdly pulling it off.

“I’m sorry! It’s just I’ve never seen them so on show before, I don’t know why you don’t show them more often, you have very nice boobies and I’m going to stop talking before Vickie gets here and I get in to trouble.”

“Buckley, stop perving on your best friend.” Steve joked as Robin shoved him playfully. “I’m just complimenting her boobies dingus, girls are allowed to do that sort of thing.” Robin defended.

“Well maybe you should go compliment your girlfriend’s boobies instead because she just walked in the front door.” Steve said encouraging Robin towards the hallway. “Oh, look how cute she looks! I’ll be back in a second.” Robin squealed, running to greet her girlfriend, leaving you and Steve alone as he handed you a red cup full of beer.

“So can I compliment your boobies too or is that weird?” He whispered in a teasing voice. “I’d be highly offended if you didn’t, Harrington.” You flirted back, taking a sip of your drink as he took in the view before him, removing his glasses, placing the temple in his mouth to inspect you further. “Jesus Christ, you’re too fucking hot in that outfit.” He groaned, practically drooling all over the place.

“You’re looking pretty hot yourself, Stevie.” You grinned as he stopped himself from moving closer.

“How am I gonna last the night with you looking like that huh?” He whispered desperately in your ear before the others joined you back in the kitchen.

“What are you guys talking about?” Eddie asked suspiciously as you and Steve both looked at each other…”Boobies.” You said in unison as Eddie laughed excitedly.

“My kind of conversation.”

An hour or so had past and you were back in the kitchen after having danced with Nancy, Robin and Vickie, sitting on the counter top with another drink in hand.

“I think Steve’s seeing someone.” Robin stated, stuffing her face with nachos as you tried not to spit your beer all over the floor.

“What makes you say that?” You asked nervously, looking over at Steve who was sat on the couch in deep conversation with Jonathan and Eddie.

“Well, besides the huge hickey he had on his neck in work last week, he’s not flirting with the customers which is totally unlike him and he hasn’t been on a date in like months. Haven’t you noticed?” Robin asked.

“I guess I haven’t.” You shrugged, avoiding eye contact with her.

“Has he said anything to you?” She questioned as you shifted uncomfortably.

“No, why would he? You’re his best friend, you see him more than I do and I’m sure if he was seeing someone, he’d tell you first.” You assured, feeling slightly guilty for lying to her.

“I don’t know, I mean, I’d really love to meet her if she does exist because he’s been really happy lately, happier than I’ve ever seen him.” Robin revealed smiling at you as you smiled back, heart fluttering at her words about Steve. You weren’t quite sure if she was trying to hint at something but you were thankful when Vickie interrupted the conversation, dragging her girlfriend back to the dance floor again.

A couple of hours past and the party was still in full swing, drinks were flowing, music playing, people dancing and making out. You had just beaten Eddie in beer pong, the two of you deciding to take a couple of shots afterwards for good measure but now you were starting to feel a little light headed, deciding to sneak outside to Steve's back yard for some air.

"Boo." Your boyfriend whispered huskily, wrapping his strong arms around you, nuzzling in to your neck.

"Steve, someone could walk out here at any second!" You giggled, turning to face him.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you out here all alone huh? Lot's of creepy people out tonight just looking to take advantage of an innocent girl." He teased, as you let his hands roam your body, your arms sliding around his neck. "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded, grinning at you.

"Oh Stevie, I think you're underestimating your girlfriend." You flirted, walking slowly to the side of Steve's house, curling your finger, signalling for him to follow you.

"And why is that princess?" He asked licking his lips, catching up to you as you grinned cheekily at him, lifting your skirt ever so slightly to slowly pull your black lace thong down around your ankles before removing them completely, throwing them at your boyfriend.

"Because I'm not very innocent at all."

"Holy shit...." He swallowed, putting a hand through his hair, unable to get any words out of his mouth.

"Steve Harrington lost for words...that's gotta be a first." You smirked, biting your lip as he stared lustfully at you.

Steve had never seen you like this before, usually it was he who would take control, initiate the flirting or the foreplay but here you stood, so bold, so brazen, full of confidence, absolutely radiating sex and fuck, it was turning him on.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me right now?" He groaned, closing the space between you, backing you in to the wall. Steve took your hand, placing it on his already hardened cock, priding yourself on your ability to arouse him that quick. "You see what you do to me huh? The way your fuckin' dressed, fuck i've been staring at you all night, just want to ruin you." He whispered.

"I want that too." You moaned, feeling his hand slide between your legs, sliding a finger achingly slow through your folds, letting out a pathetic whine. "So fuckin' wet, always ready for me. Think I could fuck you out here without anyone seeing, baby?" He questioned in your ear, making you shiver excitedly at the thoughts of him fucking you in his backyard. Deep down you knew it was a bad idea but it was hard to care when Steve was whispering dirty things in your ear, promising to make you come over and over again.

"Steve.." You whimpered as his lips met yours, tongue darting in to your mouth. "Wanna know a secret? I've got a thing for vampires and you're the hottest one I've ever seen." He confessed, a darkness in his eyes as the lust began to take over.

"Want me to bite you Stevie?" You teased, nipping lightly at him, leaving wet kisses down his collarbone.

"Oh shit, want you to bite me baby, fucking do it." He pleaded as you sunk your teeth in to his neck. Steve hissing in pleasure as you began to suck on the skin, leaving an instant bruise.

“Oh, oh fuck you’re so hot right now.” He cried, grabbing your hair, holding you in place as you continued to suck and lick his neck.

“Taste good, baby?” He asked as you nodded, proud of the love bite you had left on him.

“Wanna suck on something else now….” You admitted, playing with his belt buckle as he shook his head in disbelief.

“Christ, you’re really trying to kill me.” He stated, throwing his head back as you began to unzip his pants.

“Harrington, where the fuck are you?” Eddie yelled from the house as you quickly pulled apart, knowing it was only a matter of time before your friend checked the yard.

“Shit.” Steve muttered, trying to fix himself before returning to the party, hiding his hickey with the collar of his shirt. “Typical Munson.” He sighed as you fixed your hair and outfit, trying to grab your panties back from your boyfriend.

“Not so fast sweetheart, I’m not finished with you yet, not by a long shot.” He grinned, dangling your lace thong in front of you.

“Steve!” You blushed, trying to grab your underwear again as he stuffed them in to his pants pocket. “I’m gonna keep these for now because what I have planned for you later, doesn’t involve panties.” He smirked as you huffed, folding your arms. Steve slyly smacking your ass as you both walked back in to the house, instantly being greeted by Eddie, wearing a shit eating grin on his face, realising exactly what you two had been up to.

[silverzoomies]

Only Me

kyle spencer x reader smut

warnings: dubious consent, biting, kissing, shameless smut, undead kyle, zombie sex, zombie kink, halloween, song lyrics, dead dove: do not eat

word count: 6,205

a/n: hiiii !! halloween fic in june !! lol this one's my most bizarre fic yet probably !! i made kyle a lot more zombified than he was in the show !! if you're squeamish about corpses and wounds and stuff, i wouldn't tread any further !!

apologies for the usual: inconsistencies, characters ooc (kyle's a little more instinctive/aggressive here), clunky writing, etc etc etc

taglist: @dewberryobssesed @violetharmonscupcake @kaismanwich @jellyluvr @icannot3 @taintandviolent @ahoyladiesz (as usual, ask to be added !!)

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A full moon shined in a bright, stunning spectacle, high above Miss Robichaux’s Academy. A striking contrast to the black skies of a particularly cool Halloween night. Shrouded in a veil of evening darkness, the old-fashioned academy emitted an otherworldly glow. From the first floor windows, flashing lights of slime green and hellish orange flickered in endless repetition.

Inside, a small group of young witches danced. Dressed in their skimpiest costumes, they moved fluidly to the beat of Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party. Blaring loudly through a large set of speakers, the tune mingled with the girls’ laughter. Meanwhile, the older women of the academy socialized near cluttered snack tables. They chatted away with each other, paying no mind to their free-spirited students.

Dead Man’s Party.

An ironic song, you thought. Given the only ‘dead’ man in the room seemed beyond confused. You wondered if he even knew what the purpose of a party was. His Frankenstein brain might’ve forgotten parties entirely. Such a concept was also ironic. Considering, when he was alive, Kyle had attended enough frat parties to keep the beer industry thriving for years at a time.

The ancestral room felt alive with energy. You stood in a corner with your back against the wall, sipping overpriced punch Myrtle Snow had prepared herself. An unamused look crossed your face, as you watched Zoe and Madison dance. Their movements were effortless and intentionally suggestive.

Between them, looking out of place and somewhat lost, was Kyle. The zombified blond was hunched over in his loose-fitting flannel shirt. And his expression spoke of someone who had no idea what was happening around him. Unlike everyone else in the room, he hadn’t worn a costume.

Poor guy. It seemed like no one had warned him ahead of time.

There was an unmistakable tension in the air, as Madison and Zoe grinded their thin figures against Kyle. The indecent movements of their dancing were almost unbearable to watch. And you couldn’t help but recoil at the sight. The girls glared at each other, trying to outdo the other in a shallow competition for Kyle’s attention.

As Kyle stood there, he kept his head tilted down. His curly, blond hair fell into his face, and his eyes were blank and empty. Kyle must have been oblivious to the girls’ intentions. You felt a pang of discomfort in your chest at the thought.

“Jeez…it’s like I’m watchin’ a car crash in real time…and I can’t look away…” You said, sipping your punch.

Queenie, dressed in a dingy, striped sweater and a Freddy Krueger cap, leaned casually against the wall next to you. Her sweater fell loose off her shoulder, leaving it bare. She sipped her punch as she laughed, her Kreuger claws resting on her hip. Oingo Boingo echoed in the background, competing with the sound of her voice as she spoke.

“Those two are a wreck if I’ve ever seen one.” She joked, shaking her head, “Somebody’s gotta get in there and save that poor guy. Dude looks miserable. ”

“How pissed do you think they’d be if I cut in?” You asked. Glancing down at the lacy hem of your dress, you toyed with it idly in thought.

The pounding music in the room seemed to pulse in time with your heartbeat. Danny Elfman’s wavering voice echoed, booming throughout the floor.

I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go

Walkin’ with a dead man, with a dead man

Your ruby red slippers twinkled on your feet. You wore an (admittedly) revealing Dorothy of Oz costume, with a blue dress lined with white lace. The skirt barely reached past your thighs, showing off your legs in thin, white stockings. You clutched a decorative picnic basket, with a plush, scottie dog sticking his head out from inside. His beady eyes shined in the party lights.

“You’d be doin’ Kyle a favor if you did. But, girl, I dunno…” Queenie pushed herself off the wall, “You know those two ain’t messin’ around. They’re feral over him. Listen, whatever you decide to do? It’s your funeral. We’ve all seen what happens when Madison loses her shit.”

Queenie sauntered off then, her hips swaying with each step. She joined Nan on the dance floor. And you let out a sigh, knocking your head against the wall. After watching Zoe and Madison’s shameful display for a few moments longer, you decided enough was enough. You pulled your phone from your basket to check the time. Only 6pm.

Gracing your ears in tune with the catchy beat of the song, Danny Elfman’s voice rang out.

Don’t run away, it’s only me

Don’t be afraid of what you can’t see

If your hunch was correct, neighborhood trick-or-treating had only just begun. And even though you and Kyle were well into adulthood, the thought of indulging in such an innocent, nostalgic activity was too enticing to resist. Halloween was a holiday wherein Kyle could blend in with the general population. And if you accompanied him, he’d finally get some reprieve from the constant objectification he was accustomed to. It was a win-win.

You waited a few more minutes, hoping the two girls would eventually tire of their petty competition. As time passed, Madison finally stumbled off in her heels. Presumably to have a smoke out back. Queenie, ever the helpful friend, pulled Zoe away for a dance. Leaving Kyle free of anyone’s clutches. Seizing your chance, you immediately stepped in. And you lead him upstairs to your room.

It took around ten minutes for the two of you to finally leave the academy for trick-or-treating.

Five minutes to patiently explain your plan to Kyle, trying your best to help him understand. And another five minutes to help him get ready, after struggling to clarify what Halloween was to begin with. You asked if he wanted to dress up in a costume. 

Kyle’s only response was a simple, slurred-

“W-Woooooolf.”

He then made an awroooo sound in an adorable attempt to mimic a wolf’s howl. It was the cutest thing you’d ever seen Kyle do. And hearing him make such a precious sound instantly melted your heart.

You took the time to chat with Kyle. And you joked that if you’d known ahead of time he wanted to be a wolf, the two of you could have coordinated costumes. Perhaps you could have gone as Little Red Riding Hood, and him as the big, bad wolf. Even though you weren’t sure if Kyle understood the reference, he gave you the sweetest smile nonetheless. In his undead eyes, you saw a sparkle of lingering humanity. You couldn’t help but smile back, feeling your heart melt just a little more.

Carefully guiding Kyle to the bathroom, you brought him in front of the mirror. Using a dark, eyeliner pencil, you drew a big, black dot on the tip of his nose. Then, with a steady hand, you doodled adorable, cartoon whiskers on his cheeks.

Which, in retrospect, made him look more like a cat than a wolf.

But Kyle seemed delighted with his new appearance regardless. He held his big hands up in front of the mirror, curling his fingers into claws. Kyle faked a snarl, scrunching his nose and showing off his pink-tinted teeth. The teeth of a dead man.

To your own surprise, you managed to sneak Kyle out of the academy without a single hitch.

For the next few hours, you lead him around a local neighborhood. As the two of you made your way down the street, you marveled at the eerie decorations at every house. Politely, you approached each doorstep, excitedly proclaiming, “ Trick-or-treat! ” while holding Kyle’s hand loosely in yours.

Thankfully, nobody seemed to mind that you two were well past the necessary age for trick-or-treating.

You stopped to explain the concept of Halloween to him once more, after he struggled to understand what trick-or-treating was. He furrowed his blond brows, as though deep in thought. Kyle made a frustrated grunt in response. You couldn’t help but smile, finding his confusion…strangely endearing. Everything about him was endearing, really.

Despite his initial confusion, Kyle definitely enjoyed the candy aspect of Halloween. The treats. His opaque eyes lit up with glee, and he held his pumpkin bucket up in front of you like a fabulous prize. You cheered him on, showing off your basket overflowing with goodies.

A thick mugginess in the air felt sticky against your skin. As the hour grew later, the air shifted to a sharper, colder chill. Crisp, autumn leaves fluttered in the breeze, twirling in colorful circles along the road. The once charming decorations at every house now appeared all too creepy in the dark. Illuminated only by a combination of moonlight, and the occasional streetlight; the neighborhood appeared desolate and empty. You wrapped an arm around yourself for security and warmth.

Perhaps it was time to return to the academy before things got any spookier.

Kyle loomed in close proximity to you all night. And as the hours passed, he leaned in even closer. Part of you began to question your assumptions about him. Perhaps you had misjudged. Maybe Kyle appreciated the constant attention Zoe and Madison gave him back at the academy.

His craving for physical touch was obvious. Every time you tried to create some space between the two of you, he pressed himself against you again. It became clear then, physical intimacy was something Kyle wanted on an almost constant basis. And given his limited communication skills, you figured he had no other way of expressing such a need. He stuck to your side like glue, walking with you throughout the cold, dark neighborhood.

You were reminded of that Oingo Boingo song. Dead Man’s Party.

I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go

Walkin' with a dead man, with a dead man

Ooh-ooh, waitin' for an invitation to arrive

Ooh, walkin' with a dead man, with a dead man

Despite his proximity, Kyle’s body provided you with no warmth. You were left plagued by the nightly chill in the air. And out of nowhere, Kyle groaned, sounding displeased about… something. You didn’t know what. Worried it was your fault, you moved to give him more space. Kyle appeared even more annoyed then. He choked on words he couldn’t say. And you stopped in your tracks on the sidewalk. Gazing at him with concern in your eyes, you tried to deduce what the problem was.

“Hey, K-” You started.

Before you could ask him, Kyle reached out a hand. He stared down at you with black, cloudy eyes. Between his pale, grey lips rested a half-eaten candy bar. His fingers were covered with sticky chocolate. And he made a move to pull the collar of your low-cut dress down.

“Oh! Wh-...Kyle!! What are you doing, honey?!” You shrieked in hushed surprise.

At that moment, something must have clicked in Kyle’s Frankenstein brain. Some kind of instinctive shift.

Even though he loved his candy, chocolate wasn’t necessarily the kind of Halloween treat he wanted. He pulled the chocolate bar from his lips, tossing it aside into the grass.

“Treeeaat…” He slurred, with his pale, chapped lips coated in chocolate. Kyle tugged the front of your dress down even lower, “Tr…tr-trick…or treeeat?”

Your breasts almost popped out from the force of his strong tug. The swell of them bounced in a mesmerizing display, looking supple and smooth. Smears of chocolate stained the clean, white lace of your dress. Gasping, you backed up before Kyle could do anymore damage. You stumbled on your sparkling, ruby slippers. As you struggled to find your balance, Kyle eagerly followed. He pushed his strong body against yours, leaning down to kiss you.

“Kyle, no! N-Not that I mind, if this is what you want! But…can you at least wait until we get home, bud?” You protested, bringing a hand to his mouth to stop him.

You were fearful of any late-night passerby catching the two of you in such a compromising position. Kyle knit his brows together, put off by your rejection. You gave him a sympathetic look, and lowered your hand.

Whatever you said before, none of it registered. Kyle abruptly attacked your neck with his mouth, and you sucked in a sharp breath. His lips were frigid and cold against your skin, their rough, chapped texture scraping across your neck. Reveling in your taste, he hungrily swirled his cool, slimy tongue.

“Honey, no-...s-stop! You can’t-” You pathetically whined, patting him repeatedly on the shoulders to get his attention.

Kyle devoured your neck like a Halloween treat, sloppily tonguing your smooth, warm skin. You squirmed as he wrapped his thick arms around you tightly, pulling you closer. The entire weight of Kyle’s body pressed itself into yours. Dead weight. You lost your balance again, stumbling backwards. And without meaning to, you slipped off your feet behind a nearby lining of bushes.

Taking a tumble, Kyle came down with you. He immediately took advantage of your vulnerable position on the ground, crawling over your body. Even as you continued to protest, Kyle’s attention returned to your neck. He nipped at your skin, flicking his sticky tongue in a desperate thirst for more of you. Underneath your body, you felt dewey grass seep wetness into your dress. You squirmed again, hesitant to give in to Kyle’s reckless desire.

“Pleaaaase! Just let me-...Kyle, please, help me up, won’t you?” You begged in a desperate plea.

He groaned a throaty noise into your soft neck, and his hands began to explore your body. Fighting to maintain your dignity, as well as your modesty; you made another move to push Kyle off of you. Your hands pressed hard at his thick shoulders, but he refused to budge.

“I’m serious! If you wanna do this together, we can, okay? Just…not here! This is…it’s a neighborhood, right? What if someone sees?? Let’s just wait until we get home, please?” You insisted, “Kyle, p-

Unexpectedly, he cut you off (or shut you up, rather) with a surprise kiss. 

Lips of a muted, grey hue collided with your own, more saturated ones. A kiss of life and death. Kyle’s lips were ice cold, molding effortlessly with your warmth. He tasted of a bizarre mix between cheap, dollar store chocolate and…something else you didn’t recognize. Something almost…earthy.

He was the sloppiest kisser you ever locked lips with. Prodding at your lips fiercly with his tongue, Kyle demanded entrance. When you didn’t let him in, a frustrated growl vibrated through his mouth. His hand darted down to your chest, where he tugged the front of your dress with an even stronger pull. Threatening to rip it apart, as though he knew you would protest.  

You opened your mouth with a surprised squeak, scrambling to pull Kyle’s hand away.

That oozy, freezing tongue of his slithered its way past your lips like a wiggly leech. Thick and slimy in your mouth. Kyle’s kisses became filled with a wild and unrestrained passion. Even though such a messy makeout session would be off-putting to anyone else, you found yourself melting into it. Despite having no concept of restraint or consistency, Kyle’s lack of skill was somehow intoxicating. You were irresistibly drawn to his discolored, dead man tongue.

You couldn’t help but think of how you always admired the way he looked.

When he was alive, Kyle was undeniably stunning, and so gorgeous. He had one of those beautiful, sunshine smiles, and golden hair to match. But after his resurrection, he was viewed as somewhat of a monster. Since the initial work done to bring him back had been less than subpar. To the average person, Kyle looked like a walking corpse pulled straight out of Night of the Living Dead.

However, Kyle’s zombified appearance did nothing to deter you. In death, you found him attractive in about a million other, more forbidden ways. Perhaps you were a bit of a freak behind closed doors.

And now, you had the opportunity to appreciate Kyle, in all his reanimated glory. Allowing yourself to explore his bulky, undead form. Corpse-like in appearance, Kyle’s body seemed right on the cusp of decay.

Maybe you could indulge in your curiosity and unconventional attraction…for just a few minutes. A moment or two wouldn’t hurt. Kyle was obviously desperate for the attention anyway. It was almost cute, really. The way he fought so hard to fool around with you.

Yeah. A few minutes of teasing touches. And then, you’d surely head back to the academy together.

You hesitated to touch Kyle intimately at first, careful not to cross any personal boundaries.

You knew Kyle harbored strict boundaries somewhere in that Frankenstein brain of his. Misty had told both you and Zoe all about it. Though, none of you had any clue where such boundaries originated. Was Kyle somehow self conscious? Did his instincts operate on a more intense, animalistic level of fight or flight? There wasn’t any way for him to tell you, and you’d never be able to guess on your own. Best to tread lightly.

Kyle loomed over you, guzzling your lips and tongue like a hungry man starved. Raising a hand, the tips of your fingers took a careful chance. They brushed across the poorly sewn stitches in his neck. Grazing his prominent scars, you traced their irregular lining.

You were afraid he might recoil, but Kyle instantly melted into your touch. His shoulders fell slack for a moment, and he moaned a soft, little whine into your mouth. It was as if tracing the scarred etching of stitches brought him some sense of relief.

A trail of thick, gooey saliva connected your tongues, as Kyle pulled his lips from yours. He gazed down into your eyes with a soft expression. The cute dot you'd drawn on his nose was slightly smudged now, along with those kitty wolf whiskers. You noted the way his hefty form looked, illuminated by a faint blanket of warm, yellow light. The street light flickered from above, as if threatening to abandon the two of you in the dark.

You stared back into Kyle’s foggy eyes. They were somewhat empty of humanity, with black pupils blown wide. His brawny chest became exposed, as you unbuttoned the thick flannel of Kyle’s shirt. Trembling fingers felt across his pecs, your skin burning hot against Kyle’s lifeless cold. He shuddered under your touch, arching his back slightly.

“W-Waaarm.” He slurred, “Mooore…”

Patches of discoloration decorated Kyle’s broad torso. They reminded you of a tropical desert map. One in which Kyle’s pale skin was the desert sand. Portions of his flesh had turned yellow in color. Faint hues of deep purple and sea-foam blue leaked through, similar to a watercolor palette. You ran your fingers over the discolored patches of skin, feeling subtle, textural changes. Kyle’s skin was overall smooth, but slightly torn near his ribs.

“Stop me if-uh…if this hurts, okay?” You whispered in a soft tone. Kyle tilted his head, the blonde curls of his hair dangling over his face.

Morbid curiosity overcame you, as you momentarily delved deeper into Kyle’s ripped flesh. The texture of his skin was uneven, as the surrounding skin had dried out slightly. Hesitant, yet alarmingly eager, you dipped your fingers into a decaying wound close to his ribs. Keeping your eyes on Kyle’s face, you searched his expression for any signs of discomfort. Beyond the scabbed edges of his skin, your fingers found a cold, mushy cavern inside.

You felt the cold rigidity of his rib bones just beneath the surface, the dampness of his insides slimy and raw. Kyle’s breathing steadily grew labored the longer you explored him from the inside. His jaw fell slack, dark eyes rolling back in his deep sockets. After teasing the wound for a few beats longer, you pulled your digits from it. A warm blush pooled in your cheeks, and you exhaled a flustered laugh. Ashamed of yourself.

“S-Sorry, honey…” You apologized, “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Kyle whimpered in response, wildly shaking his head. A slimy stickiness lingered on the tips of your fingers. And you made a mental note to thoroughly wash your hands once you finally returned to the academy.

You explored Kyle’s peculiar body for a moment longer. Beautiful, blue veins were visible under the thin layer of his skin. You traced those veins, following their intricate, web-like patterns. Kyle’s eyes fell closed as you did. He hummed soft, submissive whines. His head occasionally jerked in sudden, instinctive motions. After opening his eyes, Kyle stared down at you with a more lax, half-lidded expression.

You noted the way his eye sockets were slightly sunken in, appearing almost skeletal. A smokey darkness surrounded his foggy, black eyes, making them pop when they widened with abrupt impatience.

Growing fed up with your slow-paced, careful touches, Kyle darted down. He returned to his original task, gnawing pink teeth against the burning flesh of your neck. Your blood pulsed under your skin, beating against his slimy tongue. You brought your hands up to his blonde curls, carding your fingers through the somewhat-ragged locks.

Kyle’s hair was clean and washed. Yet, the strands felt like those of an old, decrepit dog. Curls dangled in his face as he mouthed your neck, and Kyle sloppily licked the bruises he sucked harshly into your skin. He pulled at your skimpy outfit, tearing rotted, jagged fingernails into the cheap fabric. Exposing your bra-covered breasts, Kyle ripped the front of your dress apart in one, harsh jerk. You wrapped a hand around his wrist, fighting to pull it away before Kyle tore your bra off as well.

“WAIT! Kyle, no! You can’t, honey!! I-It’s cold out here!! And someone might see!!” You insisted, “B-Before we do that, let’s go back home first!”

You were in too deep now, that much was obvious.

He jerked his hand away from your hold, groaning in protest. Kyle brought his massive palm to your chest, curling his fingers into your bra. He ripped the garment apart, letting your tits bounce freely. Immediately upon seeing them in their lucious, supple glory, Kyle made another noise. A groggy, throaty sound dripped from his tongue, drooling cool saliva over your breasts. He didn’t hold back, dropping to swipe his sticky tongue hungrily around one of your nipples. 

“T-T…T….Treeeeeeeat…” Kyle groaned, ragged over your breast.

You whimpered, your nipples immediately hardening in response to his numbing, chilly touch. Your hands dropped to Kyle’s broad shoulders again, as you attempted once more to push him away. Ruthless with desire, Kyle licked and sucked your tits, as though thirsty for the milk you couldn’t provide.

By now, Kyle was handling you a little more roughly than you preferred.

As the dull flats of Kyle’s teeth sank into your flesh, biting hard; you were beginning to second guess yourself. Kyle chomped into your smooth skin like he wanted to rip you apart and feast on your blood. You wiggled from under him, trying to shimmy away. The hand of his not occupied with your breast, darted up to your shoulder. Kyle forced you down with his palm, keeping you in place. Mesmerized by the pheromones permeating from your pretty breasts, Kyle couldn’t stop himself. He gnawed your tit even harder.

And for you, that bite crossed a line.

Imprints of Kyle’s teeth were left embedded into your skin. Weakly raising your basket, you fought Kyle off, repeatedly whacking him on the shoulders with it. Candy flew out from the basket in every direction. In the back of your mind, you mourned their loss.

No matter how much you fought, Kyle refused to budge. If anything, your protests encouraged him further. Kyle grew more frustrated, growling monstrous noises into your tits as he sucked one hard. He scraped his teeth up to your collarbone, chomping into your skin so harshly you nearly cried.

“Stoooppp!!! Please!!! Kyle, sweetheart, that hurts!!” You pathetically begged, tears pricking in the corners of your eyes, “Please stop!! It’s not good, Kyle! It’s very bad!”

He shook his head wildly with another animalistic growl, keeping you caged under his body in the wet grass. Kyle moved himself further down your squirming form, jerking the skirt of your dress up over your belly. The tiny, lace panties you wore underneath were exposed to him completely, along with a shameful, wet spot between your legs.

“Noooo! Good… v-very good …” Kyle grumbled, frustrated. He sank down between your legs, enveloping your clothed pussy with his whole mouth.

Goosebumps shot across your thighs as his cold breath met your cunt. Kyle’s teeth roughly grazed you, his slimy tongue prodding your folds through the thin fabric of your panties. You instantly panicked, kicking his shoulders with all the might you had left.

Kyle violently tore your delicate panties off, ripping the fabric at the seams and leaving you bare. Crisp, late-night air nipped your poor, defenseless pussy. Fearful that Kyle might start chomping at your cunt like a corpse in search of brains, you quickly rolled onto your belly in the grass. You crawled forward on trembling limbs, your veins pumped full of adrenaline. 

“L-Let me go, Kyle! No more! We gotta get back now!! P-Please!” You cried, rushing forwards with your knees pressing into the dirt.

Kyle came charging after you on all fours, his movements similar to that of a vicious, feral predator. The panic swarming your brain heightened, surging down your spine. Your heartbeat kicked to high-speed. Scrambling to stand, you were faced with the unfortunate reality…that your legs were too shaken and weak to function.

Your thin stocks were stained with mossy green, as wet dew seeped into their fabric. Just as you made it to the sidewalk pavement, you felt the tight grasp of cold hands wrapping around your ankles. Your ruby slippers kicked frantically against Kyle’s hold. But his grip tightened around them. Kyle dragged you by your ankles behind the bush in the dark, his jagged, rotting nails sinking into your skin over your stockings and scratching holes in the fabric.

That Oingo Boingo tune stuck on repeat in your head, echoed eerily topical lyrics in your subconscious mind. Don’t run away, it’s only me

Don’t be afraid of what you can’t see

Don’t run away, it’s only me

Don’t be afraid of what you can’t see

You couldn’t hold back the terrified scream that leapt from your throat.

Kyle’s eyes flew open wide. He moved quickly, climbing over your body from behind. Reaching around to clasp a large, cold hand over your mouth, Kyle growled chilly breaths into the shell of your ear. You could feel the hard press of his sizable bulge against your ass.

You barely registered the sound of Kyle’s hushed, throaty voice shushing you, as you cried for him to stop in loud pleas. He whispered in your ear gentle, slurred reassurances…or, at least, he tried to. Kyle apologized repeatedly, mouthing your ear and neck in a more loving, yet clumsy way. Less teeth. Thank fuck for less teeth.

“S-Ssssss-...sooorry.” He mumbled slowly, “N-N…N….Neeeeed…”

Trying to calm yourself, you breathed long, deep breaths through your nose.

Realistically, you knew Kyle never intended to hurt you. And if he did, it wasn’t necessarily his fault. He was a creature who operated purely on animalistic, carnal instinct. His brain functioned at a process slower than the average person. Like Frankenstein’s monster. Of course, it should come as no surprise. If Kyle desired something as natural as sex, his thirst was bound to make him slightly more deranged.

Maybe he just hadn’t been taught otherwise.

With one of his hands clasped tightly over your mouth, Kyle brought his other to his jeans. He felt around aimlessly for the button, finding it difficult to free his cock from the constrictive denim. After a bit of agitated fumbling, Kyle finally released his hefty, undead cock from his pants. Perched in the grass on your elbows and knees, you curiously dropped your head to take a glance at his dick.

You were lucky enough to catch a quick glimpse of Kyle’s thick, bouncing cock. It was discolored like the rest of his body, and covered in vivid, blue veins. In your mind, you questioned the logistics. How was it even possible for a zombified man to get an erection?? Was it witch magic? Was witch magic really powerful enough to keep oozy, undead blood flowing through a zombie?

Kyle mounted you much like an animal in heat, guiding the fat tip of his cock to your weeping entrance.

The stark contrast between his corpse-like temperature and your own, more lively warmth shook you to your core. You gasped into Kyle’s palm, your lower-half squirming as the deathly cold, smooth length of his cock pushed its way through your searing walls. Your pleasant heat engulfed Kyle’s dick completely, and he immediately roared a guttural noise from deep in his chest.

“T-Trrrreeeeeeeeeeeeaaat!” He slurred in a broken tone, “ G-...G….Gooood treat.”

Those were the last, coherent words Kyle spoke, before carnal instinct took over his brain completely. He violently jerked his hips forward, sinking his stiff cock deeper into your pussy. The leaking, wet tip hit your cervix in a bruising pressure. You fell forward into the grass, almost losing balance on your trembling legs. Kyle released his hold on your mouth, instead raking his blunt, uneven nails down your body.

Pumping his cock through the tight squeeze of your cunt, Kyle dropped his palms to the grass. His brittle nails dug themselves so deep into the dirt.

“K-Ky-” You choked, feeling a thickness bubbling in your throat, “Kyle, please-”

The slickness of his length felt inhumanly cold inside you. Your blistering hot pussy constricted around him, grasping hold of Kyle’s cock and pulling him in deeper. He wanted so desperately to gnaw and bite you again, but he refrained from doing so. Kyle made huffy, monstrous noises as he fucked you raw and hard in the grass. Guttural, zombie-like groans echoed, ragged against your ear from behind. He carried no restraint, as he drilled you with his dick so hard and deep, it began to hurt.

Your entire body buzzed with sharp, pinpricks of overwhelming pleasure, edging so closely to pain. But somehow, you registered the ache as intoxicating. Your body couldn’t stop itself from betraying your brain’s warnings. Despite your suffering, your pussy fluttered so wet around Kyle’s cock. Hot, slick heat made it so easy for him to fuck you as hard as he desired. Allowing him to act on his unfiltered, baseless instincts.

“P-Please-...Ky-...Kyle…slow down, please-” You begged, mewling little cries.

Your soft voice only encouraged Kyle. His thrusts turned more violent and rapid, losing any consistency. Heavy balls slapped repeatedly at your hot mound, teasing your clit. Out of your control, your eyes rolled back in their sockets, as you moaned in blissful ecstasy.

Kyle’s nasty, unrelenting thrusts were so powerful in force, the overstimulation was enough to make you cum from penetration alone. Your fiery heat tightened around his pulsing cock, and your body erupted in a mind-altering onslaught of uncontrollable, orgasmic trembles. Kyle roared another guttural, monstrous sound, unable to resist sinking his blunt teeth into your neck. He wrapped an arm tightly around your middle, jerking you backwards to meet his thrusts.

“Kyle, wait!” You struggled to speak, your head dizzy and swimming. Turning your head slightly, you felt Kyle’s messy, blond hair brush the skin of your cheek, “Don’t finish inside! You have to – f-fuck – you have to pull out! You can’t cum inside me, baby!”

Your ass bounced recklessly against the hairy mound of Kyle’s pelvis. If he understood what you meant, it was clear Kyle had no intention of listening. Burying his length to the hilt in one, final, savage thrust; Kyle spilled his sticky, zombie seed deep inside your hot, living pussy.

“N-NO! KYLE, NO-” You panicked again, trying to crawl forward and out of Kyle’s grasp, “FUCK! YOU CAN’T-”

He roared his loudest noise yet, the sudden sound tearing through your eardrums. Latching a palm tightly around the back of your neck, Kyle forced you face down into the dewey grass. With your ass up and out, he fucked the last of his cum into your pussy with a near damaging force. A frigidly cold sensation pooled in the pit of your belly.

For a short moment, Kyle kept his slick cock buried inside you. Even as the length softened, he took his time before pulling himself from your cunt. And once he finally did, the thickness of his off-colored, oozy cum came spilling out of you in heavy spurts.

As it turns out, zombies cum a lot.

You shivered, sniffling as hot tears raced down your reddened cheeks. Kyle released his hold on your neck, reaching up to pet you clumsily over your hair. Behind you, you heard shuffling as he fought to tuck himself in his pants and fumbled with the button. Your knees collapsed into the grass, and you heaved rapid, frantic breaths. You couldn’t deny the way your body quivered with blissful, euphoric exhaustion.

“Kyle…for fuck’s sake…why…” You sniffled with a hiccup, lying with your cheek pressed to the grass.

Several bite marks of deep, dark violet littered your once clean skin. You rolled onto your back on the ground, your chest rising and falling with every quick breath you took. Kyle sat back on his knees, staring down at you with an expression of fearful, worried confusion. It seemed that, somehow, he didn’t understand why you were so immobile and worn out.

Kyle’s black eyes steadily trailed across every mark he left behind, all over your neck, collarbone, and breasts.

He frowned, his foggy eyes pooling with heavy tears. The whiskers and nose you’d drawn on his face earlier were smeared to high heaven, leaving black streaks on his cheeks.

Crawling over you again, Kyle gently buried his teary-eyed face in your tits. He pressed soft, cool kisses along your abused skin. Before resting his cheek on your chest. His thin, blonde curls tickled your chin.

“S-S…ssssorry… ” He mumbled through his tears. Kyle rubbed his thumb across one of the bites he left behind, making you wince, “B-Baaaad…not gooood…sorry…” 

Despite his rough handling, you knew you couldn't stay mad at Kyle for very long. In a way, he'd made you feel pleasure beyond anything you ever experienced with an average, living man. And the loving kindness he carried under the surface of his monstrous exterior made you adore him. So much more than you already did.

You let out a long, tired sigh, raising a hand to gently run your fingers through Kyle's curls.

"What am I gonna do with you, huh? It's okay, honey. It hurt a little bit, but...I'm fine. Just..." You breathed an exhausted laugh, wincing as you tried to move, "Let's try to teach you a little restraint next time, okay?"

If you thought about it logically, there was no possible way you could actually get pregnant from a reanimated corpse, right? His swimmers were probably dead as doornails. Regardless, you felt a little squeamish knowing loads of gooey, zombie spunk resided inside you. You shivered at the thought, shaking your head.

Yeah, you definitely needed a long, hot shower. Asap.

"Can we please go home now, Kyle?" You begged, weakly sitting up on your elbows.

Peering up at you through adorable, innocent, dark eyes, Kyle blinked slowly. He nodded, pushing himself quickly off your body.

"H-Hhhhhh-....Hoooome..." He mumbled, politely holding out a hand to help you up.

You found yourself too incapacitated to stand. After such a raw, violent fucking, your body felt on the brink of death. Consumed by exhaustion, it was as though you'd become the living corpse. Undead and barely functional. Falling into the grass on your back, you groaned, burdened by a deep ache in your bones.

Catching on to your pained, tuckered-out state, Kyle reached down. He wrapped his thick arms around your body, effortlessly lifting you up over his shoulder. It was a ridiculously careless way for him to carry you, but you couldn't find it in yourself to complain.

In one hand, Kyle held his pumpkin bucket and your basket, both slightly empty of the candy they once held. With your limp body lying slump over his shoulder, he used his other hand to keep your skirt pinned over your butt. Nice of him to consider your decency. 

In the empty, desolate cold of a moonlit, Halloween night; Kyle carried you all the way back to the academy.

And the whole way, as you hung limp over his shoulder in a fucked-out daze...you hummed a song softly to yourself.

Oingo Boingo kept looping endlessly in your head, like a persistent parasite.

I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go

Walking with a dead man over my shoulder

I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go

Walking with a dead man over my shoulder

[readyforthegarden]

Eternal - Part Twelve

A vampire!gvf multi-part dark romance AU (Josh Kiszka x reader, GVF x reader)

Masterlist

Warnings: 18+ Only Minors DNI. smut (fingering f!receiving, penetrative sex, slight rough sex), angst, mentions of blood, death, vampirism.

A/N: hi 🫣 i just want to say thank you to everyone who still reads this fic and enjoys it, and the people who have checked in on it's progress (or lack thereof). i got really into my head about this fic and every kind word means a lot to me, really and truly. please enjoy this installment!

WC: 4188

Fall was beginning to take a hold of the world, the trees around the manor beginning to lose their bright summer greens in favor of maroons and oranges. Normally the first signs of fall had you tripping over yourself with excitement, cooler weather, cute sweaters, apple cider and sugary cinnamon donuts all within an arm's reach. But now, all it reminded you of was everything you missed. Would you get to experience the sun warming you on a chilly October day in your future? Or would you spend centuries pretending the moon's rays were just as good?

You had been curled up on a couch, looking out a window in one of the sitting rooms on the main floor, watching a steady rain shower pelt the grounds. It had been nearly a full week of rain, and you were growing tired of it. The gray skies gave enough cover for the vampires of the manor to feel at ease moving about with the curtains opened, but they still stood out of the way in case the clouds broke. 

“Hey,” looking up, you saw Danny standing in the doorway. 

“Hi,” you hadn’t spoken to him about the new ‘arrangement’ between yourself and the Kiszkas. In fact, you weren’t sure how to. Were you supposed to come right out and tell him you were potentially going to sleep with everyone in the house but him? How would he react to that? And worse, if you told him you fought for him to be added, how would he react then? Danny was a good man, immortal or not, and good men were never typically the ones that were attracted to you. 

“I made a few sandwiches for lunch, if you wanna join me?” Danny smiled sheepishly at you. It made you feel guilty, how you had started to avoid him to spare the awkward topic if it came up. His smile was so hopeful, you couldn’t find it within yourself to say no.

You walked with him to the kitchen, the back of his hand gently grazing yours on the short walk to the kitchen. Taking a seat on one of the stools at the counter, Danny went to the fridge and retrieved a platter of sandwiches he made. They were covered in plastic wrap and looked like they were perfect for a picnic. 

“You’ve been distant the past week,” Danny murmured softly, setting the platter down in front of you and removing the wrap. You shrugged in response, not knowing what to say. “Listen, if you’re acting weird around me because of the little agreement you have with the Kiszka’s, it’s okay.” Your eyes snapped up to Danny’s. He gave you a half-smile before grabbing some paper plates from a cupboard and placing one in front of you. 

“How did you…”

“I’m still Sam’s best friend, even after all these centuries.” Danny winked. “But I’m not judging you for it. I want you to know that.” your shoulders relaxed at his words, more tension than you had realized you’d had releasing from them. 

“It wasn’t…it wasn’t just that I was afraid of you judging me..” you took half of a sandwich off the platter, setting it in your plate. You fixated on the leaf of lettuce hanging over the edge of the bread, taking your nail and ripping it. 

“What else was bothering you?” Embarrassment swelled in your chest, heat rising through your body and prickling your cheeks and ears. 

“That you weren’t a part of it.” you whispered. You didn’t see the expression on Danny’s face. The shock at your admittance, the wave of satisfaction as he realized you felt what he felt too, and the anger that pressed his lips into a thin line for it to all be swept away as quickly as it came. 

“I’m sure there’s a good reason,” Danny cleared his throat. There was a sense of dejection in his voice, and it cracked your heart. You sighed, picking at the crust of your sandwich. “The Kiszka’s always have their reasons.” 

“Josh just said it was a boundary he wasn’t willing to negotiate.” you mumbled, finally looking up at Danny. He stared at you across the counter before moving around it, coming to your side and turning you on the stool. 

You felt a finger under your chin, turning your head up, locking eyes with Danny. His eyes were darting all over your face, lingering on your slightly parted lips. Heart beating wildly, you felt your neck crane in assistance, your movement to meet him halfway beckoning him closer. Eyes shut, his lips met yours tenderly, waiting for a response. When your lips moved against his, he took your face in his hands, cradling you gently and deepened the kiss, his tongue gently and slowly lapping against your own. You could feel as the kiss slowed again, his reluctance to pull away, and yet he did, opening his eyes and gazing down at you with an unreadable expression.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while now,” he murmured. “Thank you,”

“No one’s ever thanked me for a kiss before.” you chuckled quietly, feeling the need to whisper in this secret moment. “You’re welcome?” Danny let out a soft laugh through his nose, bending down and pecking your lips before letting go of you completely.

“This is between us, okay?” you nodded, crossing your heart. In all honesty, you were glad to have this secret with Danny. It filled you with a small giddiness, the feeling of having done something naughty that felt so good making you want to giggle. 

He moved around the counter and just in time. The kitchen doors swung open, and Jake sauntered in. There was a glimmer in his eye you hadn’t seen before as he looked at you, then Danny, then the plate of food between you two. 

“Sandwiches?!” He reached over the counter, grabbing one and taking a large bite. “There’s something about these dreary rainy days that makes you want the comfort of a good sandwich, isn’t there?” 

“I guess?” You chuckled under your breath, finally picking up your half and biting the corner off. 

“Isn’t Danny a wonderful chef?” Jake continued, leaning his elbows on the counter. “I taught him almost everything he knows about food.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm,” Jake took another bite of his sandwich. “Danny, Sam is looking for you. Something about moving his bed to the other side of the room.”

“Again?” Danny grumbled. He gave you a soft smile before leaving the kitchen, his sandwich on his plate, barely touched.  It was quiet, just the sounds of you and Jake chewing before he took a sharp inhale through his nose and looked at you. 

“What did Josh tell you last night?” your forehead crinkled, looking at Jake in confusion. He spoke without looking at you, playing uninterested in anything but the salami on his sandwich. 

“What-“

“I saw you and Danny.” Jake sniffed. “Kissing in a communal kitchen is risky.” 

“Jake,” 

“If I tell Josh, it’s bad for everyone.” Jake shook his head. “But especially you and Danny.” 

“What is Josh’s deal with Danny? Hmm?!” Jake finished off his sandwich, licking some mayo from his finger. 

“That is not my story to tell, darlin’” pushing back from the counter, you jumped off the stool, beginning to storm past him to find out what the real reason was. 

Jake put a hand on your arm, stopping you from passing. Looking at him, his face was stern, if not a bit worried. 

“I won’t tell him what I saw,” Jake told you, his voice quiet. “But I will warn you. You’ve gotten away with a lot most people would have been drained dry for. Do not test my brother this way. For yours and Danny’s sake.” 

“It’s nothing,” 

“Your heartbeat says otherwise.” Jake bit back. “And if Josh fed on you recently he has felt it. I would come up with an alibi, and quickly.” Jake’s eyes flickered with an old anger you hadn’t seen before, one that, for the first time since meeting him, scared you. 

Jake let go of your arm, swiping another sandwich from the platter and moving around you to exit. 

“It was just a kiss,” you whispered. “It won’t happen again.” Jake looked at you over his shoulder, almost pityingly. 

“If you value your life, I hope not.”

Danny didn’t try to kiss you again after that moment in the kitchen. Whether he’d gotten a talking to from Jake himself, he didn’t say. But the two of you worked together on the chores, letting the tension die down into a somewhat awkward friendship again. 

You decided to have lunch in the small solarium of the house. It was sunny outside, not a cloud in sight, but a chill had hit the air, making you want to stay inside. Danny joined you at the table, keeping his distance by sitting down from you. 

Food was the last thing on your mind, you tilted your head back at the sun and closed your eyes, soaking in the warmth through your skin and clothes. The break in the bleak cloudy weather gave you a much needed mood boost. 

“You should put on some sunscreen if you’re going to be doing that all afternoon.” Danny joked, stirring his soup around in the bowl, releasing steam from the thick broth. Smiling, you tilted your head back down, sticking your tongue out at him and scooping up a dumpling from the soup in front of you. 

“Do you think you could do it?” you asked, blowing on your food before eating. 

“Do what?”

“Give up the sun.” Danny was quiet, the only sound the clinking of spoons against bowls, the occasional soft flutter of a leaf landing atop of the solarium roof. 

“Do you think…you could?” you hadn’t been sure of the answer yourself but it bubbled up on your lips before you realized. 

“No,” you shook your head. Realizing your steadfast feeling, you straightened in your chair. “No I don’t think I could.”

“Me either,” Danny looked up toward the sky, seemingly relieved. “Sam wanted to try once, after the curse. And honestly I figured I’m already immortal, might as well be a vampire too.. But I didn’t know if trying for a ‘double eternal life’ would negate it all and kill me. We found Morana and asked, but she advised it wouldn’t be good.”

“I don’t blame you,” you picked up the piece of crusty bread on the saucer with your soup bowl, dunking it in and taking a bite. “Who is Morana?”

“She’s the witch Sam found, the one who did the curse.” Danny looked down into his soup bowl, as if the broth and vegetables were showing him a vision of the past. “So you don’t want to be turned?” Danny quirked an eyebrow at you. Shaking your head, you answered. 

“I want to live as long as I can and then get old and die.” you nodded. “And honestly, I’ll take turning into a wrinkly leather bag over missing the sun.”

“Gonna retire to Florida?” Danny laughed as you nodded harder. 

“Gonna get myself a little bungalow in a senior living facility, meet up with another old lady named Eustace and complain about the clam chowder on Tuesdays.” Danny almost snorted laughing, making your giggles erupt loudly. As the two of you laughed, you couldn’t help but envision spending more and more sunny days with Danny. You tried to envision the same with Josh, but couldn’t place him in the sun the way you could Danny. 

“It’s a nice dream, isn’t it,” Danny sighed, settling down a bit. 

“Oh yeah, I can’t wait to have dentures and diapers.” you giggled. 

“No, growing old.” Danny’s face fell, a solemn look taking the place of the cheerful smile. “Don’t waste that, okay? I would have given anything to do that.” 

“I know,” you whispered softly. Your heart broke for him, an occurrence that happened more often than not around him. Danny’s choice was taken away, and you’d be damned if you ended up in the same fate. 

You were ready to call it a night early. In your enthusiasm for the nice fall weather, you decided to try and rake a small patch of the massive lawn, just to spend a few more hours in the sun. Even with the gloves Danny gave you from the gardening shed, blisters had formed on your palms just under the skin, stinging with every flex of your hand. 

The large tub in your bathroom was calling your name, and you joked to Danny as you entered the house. The closer you got to your room, the more excited you were to run the water, add the bubbles and sink down into the hot water. But as you entered your room, it seemed someone had beat you to it. 

Steam was filtering out from the cracked open door to your bathroom, flickering light glinting off a gilded picture frame on the wall adjacent. Slowly you stepped towards the bathroom, hearing water splash around softly, and you stepped into the humid air. 

“It’s about time,” Sam smirked at you from your bathtub. “Jake is going to have a coronary when he sees the amount of water I’ve been using to keep this bath warm.”

“Sam, what are you doing?”

“I’m tired of waiting for you to come to me,” he shrugged simply. “You wanted seduction, and what’s more seductive than a hot, candle lit bath after a long day of working?” you took a deep breath, leaning against the sink counter, watching Sam relax back into the tub. “I even brought up a bottle of wine.”

“I’m sweaty and tired, Sam.” he picked up a glass of wine and stretched his arm out to hand it to you, though it only reached the middle of the tub. There was condensation on the glass, making you lick your lips, knowing it was chilled to perfection. 

“It’s chardonnay,” Sam sung temptingly, swirling the liquid in the glass to tantalize you. It did look good, and you pushed yourself away from the counter, bending to reach for the glass. Sam pulled it away, a playful, sinful look in his eyes. “You get in the tub, you get the wine.”

“Is there an option where I get in the tub and get the wine and you get out?” you snipped, leaning over the edge of the tub. 

“No.” Sam grinned, and you straightened up. Huffing out a ‘fine’, you stripped down, ignoring Sam’s gaze and slipped into the tub, settling at the other end. Sam eyed you for a moment, and handed you the glass of wine, which you gladly sipped and smiled. 

“Happy?”

“Getting there,” Sam murmured. He leaned back against his end of the tub, arms outstretched on the sides. Settling back into the tub, you let the hot water soothe your tired muscles. Holding your glass to your chest, you closed your eyes, ignoring the presence of the man across from you, staring at you. 

You adjusted your back a few times, trying to find a sweet spot that would work out a sore muscle in your right shoulder. The movement of the water met your ears, and you felt your body be pushed forward. Opening your eyes, Sam was no longer across from you, and instead you felt his body behind yours, his legs on either side of you.

“Let me help you with that,” his voice was low, his hands gathering your hair and moving it to your left shoulder. When he touched you again, he applied pressure with his finger tips, causing you to sigh. His hands were warm, and his thumb quickly found the knot you’d been trying to ease. A sharp, small gasp left your throat as he dug into it, and you felt him chuckle behind you. “There it is,”

Humming, you leaned forward, letting him work down your back and into the water. You downed the rest of your wine and set the glass on the side of the tub next to the bottle and some candles. Sam’s hands came up your back, working slowly before they came up and rounded your shoulders, to your neck. Your head lolled back involuntarily as he reached over you towards your collarbones. 

“Did you also work in the massage parlor with Jake?” you asked quietly, a small laugh in your voice. 

“I’d help him out here and there,” Sam whispered into your ear, his facial hair tickling your sensitive skin. “Are you feeling good, pet?”

“Yeah,” you sighed. You weren’t lying. Between the chilled wine, the hot bath, and the massage you were feeling less sore and so, so relaxed. Sam’s touch became lighter, his fingers slowly, gently grazing your skin. He teased you, barely dipping below the water and bubbles where your breasts waited. 

“Would you allow me to make you feel even better?” a shaky breath and soft nod, Sam's hands dipped below the water surface, caressing your breasts. His fingers found your nipples, pinching them delicately and rolling them between his thumb and forefingers. You arched your back, feeling your legs spread at the warm feeling spreading through your veins. 

Sam’s left hand stayed at your breast, softly groping it in his large hand and teasing your nipple. His right slid down your body, grazing your hip before making their way to your center. 

“Sam,” you sighed as the pad of his middle finger circled around your clit, the perfect amount of pressure to make your thighs shake with every pass. Moans were spilling from your lips as your hips bucked from his touch. One of your hands grasped his wrist under the water, desperate for something to cling to. 

“You sound so pretty,” Sam murmured into your ear, a hint of a yearning whine in his voice. “You feel so soft,” his finger slipped lower, teasing you before sliding in, working against the water around you. The heel of his hand was brushing against your clit as he pumped in and out. Your chest was heaving out of the water as you panted, writhing back against Sam. Water was sloshing out of the tub, bubbles going flat. His lips were pressed to your neck and shoulder, before the hand that was on your breast came up, grabbing your chin and twisting your head back and capturing your lips with his in a searing kiss. You felt the strain in your tired muscles but didn’t care, his kiss was hot and heady, and you only broke away to catch your breath.

“I’m so close,” you shuddered, opening your eyes and looking at him, “Sam, please. Don’t stop.”

“You sound just like you did in my dream, pet,” Sam grinned, between his own panting breaths. “I want you to say my name as you come, will you do that?” Biting your lip, you nodded, and he sped up his movements, causing you to cry out, the sound echoing off the walls. 

“Sam!” you cried, your grip on his arm tightening. His name fell from your lips over and over again as your orgasm crashed down on you, your hips bucking against his hand and causing more water and bubbles to splash onto the bathroom floor. You felt a sharp sting on your shoulder, and out of the corner of your eye Sam’s head was ducked down, a moan vibrating off his lips as his own hips pressed against your lower back. 

You were dizzy, but you were hellbent on getting more from Sam. At your movement, Sam withdrew his fangs from your skin, small beads of blood left in their absence. You moved his hand from your core and turned, straddling him and sinking down on his hard cock slowly. His head tilted back, eyes closed and mouth agape as you inched down, a brief glimpse of a vulnerable, quiet Sam. You noticed some of your blood on his lips, though none made it to his tongue. It may have been in acknowledgment of his agreement with Josh, even licking it from his lips could be considered drinking from you. Before you could stop yourself, you reached up, your thumb swiping across his plush bottom lip, gathering the ruby red liquid from it.

Sam’s eyes opened, and he watched you meet his eyes, bringing your thumb to your lips. Something lit behind his eyes as he watched you clean the blood off, and his hands took a hold of your hips, moving you as his hips thrust up at a quick pace. 

“Fuck!” you shouted, grabbing onto his shoulders to try and keep balance. Sam grinned before leaning forward, biting your breasts, anywhere his fangs could reach, leaving little punctures all over. Without the pull of a drink, it wasn’t near enough to send you over the edge again, but each nip did set a spark through your veins. One of your hands left his shoulder and tangled in his hair, clutching it and tugging his head back, his mouth falling open again. You were still able to taste a little of your blood in your mouth, and you leaned down, lapping your tongue against his. 

A low growl emitted from his chest, letting you know he could also, in fact, taste the blood too. 

“What a nasty, nasty trick,” he mumbled against your lips. A large hand raised from the water, enclosing around your throat, squeezing the sides. That spark in his eyes was dancing dangerously in the candlelight, and he rutted up into you, causing you to gasp with what little air you could intake. “If I wanted to, I could drink every drop of your blood right now.” Goosebumps raised on your flesh as you panted shallowly above him, your nipples hardening again, and he smirked “Oh, you want that don’t you?” In a flash of inhuman speed, you were on your stomach on the cold floor, Sam pulling your hips up and easing himself back into you. He wrapped a fist in your hair, tugging you up roughly. 

Sam’s lips pressed onto your shoulders again, the razor sharp tips of his fangs grazing, causing small rips to the skin there. You were preparing yourself for another bite, but his lips pressed to your ear again, breath hot.

“You want to break the one rule that matters most, don’t you?” his voice was ragged with his thrusting, and you reached back a hand to grasp his tensed thigh, trying to have some leverage. “You want me to drink from you and put you over the edge again. Even the hint of your blood tasted so sweet, I don’t think I could ever stop drinking you.” His hand left your hair and enveloped your throat again, though not squeezing as hard this time. 

“S-sam,” you stuttered out, your mind was turning into jelly, your muscles already ahead of it. If Sam hadn’t been holding you up, you’d been face down on the floor, moaning into the tile. 

“I do love to break rules, and I know you do too, pet,” Sam’s gravelly voice laughed haughtily in your ear. “Do you want that? Another little secret to keep?” Ice rushed through your veins, the idea that Sam also knew about the kiss with Danny, but it was quickly replaced with the fire erupting in your lower abdomen. Sam’s fangs punctured the skin of your neck, and you moaned. He was huffing out shallow, hard breaths onto your skin as his hips rhythm became frantic, slamming into you. You were sure there were going to be bruises forming on your ass in the shape of his hip bones. Your fingernails dug into his thigh as you came again, crying out his name one last time. Sam’s hips stilled as he found his release, moaning onto your skin. 

He took his fangs from your neck when he could muster the strength of movement, holding you to him with one arm while reaching over to the counter, grabbing a washcloth and wiping the small amount of blood from his lips and fangs before his tongue could taste more. Your body was limp, and he moved you both until you were closer to the tub, leaning you against it before standing and opening the drain to the tub. You were watching him, catching your breath. He strode around the bathroom, gathering a few towels and then turning on the shower. 

“What are you doing?” you asked softly. Sam glanced back at you.

“We worked up quite another sweat,” he answered. “I don’t think another bath will help, so we’re taking a shower.”

“I don’t think I can stand to even wash my body,” you weren’t joking, your legs almost felt fuzzy, like they’d fallen asleep in your previous position. Sam came over again, leaning down and putting your arms around his neck and hoisting you into his arms.

“Lucky for you, pet,” Sam hummed, walking you to the shower. “You have a bench in here, and I plan on doing all the work.”

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[capturethechaos]

Josh Kiszka x Reader

Words - 1409

Warnings - None! Pure fluff ♡

a/n - Another for you @joshkiszkas, I'm dying here.

Sleeplessness had become a familiar foe in the past month. With Josh off on tour, you were left with an empty apartment and bags beneath your eyes that your manager had begun pointing out to you. 

It seemed as though Josh had found himself in a similar situation, FaceTiming you at ungodly hours of the night from wherever they were playing just to hear the sound of your voice, and maybe catch a glimpse of your face in the darkness of your bedroom as you laid restless beneath the covers. 

You had been thinking about flying out to visit him for a couple weeks, but hadn’t actually done anything to plan a trip. After a shift that ended with you dumping coffee grounds all over the floor of the back room, your manager pulled you to the side and not so gently told you that it was time for you to take some time to visit Josh, and that your job would be there for you whenever you came back. 

It took one text to Jake for a plan to form, and within hours you had a plane ticket to meet them at their next tour date. Downside to last minute booking was that you ended up with a red eye flight for the next morning, so when your phone lit up with Josh’s contact at two in the morning, your phone was in airplane mode, and you were passed out. 

By the time you landed, you had two more missed calls, and a voicemail. You fixed your earbuds in your ears as you shuffled towards the baggage claim, hitting the voicemail on your phone to listen to while you stood waiting for your bag.

“Hey baby. You must be really out if you missed all three calls, so you’ll get this in the morning. I hope you had the best sleep baby, I know you’ve been having trouble with that…” 

Josh’s voice trailed off for a moment, and you could hear what you assumed was Jake mumbling in a half-asleep daze as he readjusted in his bunk.

“Rest up love, and give me a call when you’re awake. I love you.”

You pulled your luggage from the conveyor with a tug, a grin spreading on your lips as his drowsy tone came through the speakers. 

It was another hour from the airport to the venue, and you watched the sun as it shifted the skies to its warm glow. Brilliant pinks and oranges being painted across the horizon as you watched in quiet contemplation. Two of the four men were still asleep when you arrived, and after receiving a text upon your arrival, Jake shuffled out of the band's bus, a groggy smile on his face as he walked up to you.

You were pulled into a hug within milliseconds of exiting the car, a breath of relief releasing from both you and Jake. He let you know that Sam and Danny were still passed out in their bunks, but that Josh had gotten into the venue when they arrived and was wandering around in an attempt to tire himself out.

“How bad is he, Jake?” You asked as the two of you separated.

“It’s not ideal…” Jake’s hand lifted to rub against the back of his neck, “he’s started asking the photographers to edit pictures before they get posted, because the bags under his eyes have gotten so dark.”

Your lips turned to a frown at the thought of him being worried about his appearance, and the fact that he was having such a difficult time getting any sleep.

The two of you walked into the venue, and Jake sent Josh a text asking about where he was. Josh texted back fairly quickly, letting Jake know that he was laying down in the green room, so you and Jake made your way towards it.

When the two of you reached the door to the greenroom, Jake offered you a small smile before slowly opening the door. Josh’s head rolled to the side at the sound of the door opening, and his eyes looked between you and Jake a few times before you saw the recognition cross his face, quickly followed by a look of disbelief.

“Y/n? Are you- are you actually here or am I finally asleep and dreaming?”

You giggled at his question, earning a wide grin from him as he slid from the couch and stumbled over to you. He pulled you into his arms as soon as you were within reach, and the comfort that washed over you made your knees buckle. You melted into him, and he gripped you tighter. 

“Is this real Jake?” Josh asked, looking at his twin with wide eyes.

“Josh you’re literally squeezing her right now, it’s about as real as it can be.” Jake chuckled, patting his brother on the shoulder gently before turning to walk back to the bus. 

“I missed you baby.” Josh said as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck.

“I missed you so much Josh.”

The two of you stood there holding each other for a couple minutes before you noticed the sudden vibration of his chest against yours with every breath he took. You quickly realized that he had begun to cry, feeling the slight wet patch growing on your tee shirt as his hands balled up the fabric. 

“I feel like I haven’t slept at all since I left, Y/n.” His voice was shaky and weak, and every breath he drew was stuttering, “My brain just won’t let me rest without you baby, god I missed you so much.”

You turned to press your lips against the side of his head, and took a step toward the couch, pulling Josh along with you. He followed, remaining as attached to you as he could manage as you neared the desired piece of furniture.

“Josh, baby, let go of me for a second. Let’s lay down.” 

Josh hummed in agreement, withdrawing his grip around you and slumping onto the couch. He reached for you as he finally landed on the cushion, and you stepped forward between his parted legs, looking down at his clearly exhausted features. 

Your hands settled against his rosy cheeks, and he leaned into your touch, his eyes slipping closed. 

“The fans are starting to notice how tired I am.” His voice came out in a breathy whisper, quiet enough that you only just barely hear it. 

“I don’t want anyone to notice it, so I get the photographers to edit it out. I don’t want anyone to worry about me, but I also just don’t want to see people talk about it… you know?” His eyes fluttered open once again, locking with your own.

You frowned, nodding your head in response before leaning down to press a gentle kiss against his forehead. Your lips slowly trailed across his face, from his forehead to the tip of his nose, from there you placed two small kisses against the apples of his cheeks, and when you pulled back and saw that his eyes had fallen shut once more, you pressed a soft kiss against his lips. 

“You are the most amazing, selfless, beautiful soul I could ever have the honor of loving, Josh.” You were mumbling, your lips just millimeters from his as you cradled his face in your hands. “It’s okay for people to worry baby, it means they care, but I’m here now Josh, let your mind rest my love.”

Josh hummed in response, pulling you into him and lowering the two of you onto the cushions. He wrapped himself around you, and it took what felt like seconds for your body to settle against his warmth and slip into sleep.

Jake watched the time tick past twelve in the afternoon as him, Sam, and Danny, walked towards the green room. Danny turned the doorknob slowly, pushing open the door for the three of them to look inside. What they found was you and Josh still passed out on the couch, quiet snores coming from Josh. 

“Should we wake them up for soundcheck?” Sam asked, keeping his voice low.

Jake looked from his twin to their little brother, then back to your relaxed figure wrapped tightly in Josh’s embrace, “No- no, give them another hour or so. I haven’t seen Josh sleep this much since we left. He can soundcheck when he wakes up.”

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[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - I Out Pew Pew Your Pew Pew

For: @wingedflight

Danny is kinda a walking weapon even with ignoring his ghostliness, and robbing a bank is certainly one way to find that out

Danny? Yeah Danny was having a day. He turbo fucked his right shin and now had a cast, even with that his parents were still insisting on Danny himself going to both set up the new FentonWorks deal with a non-military adjacent investor/potential buyer and for him to set up the investment/deposit any under the table cheques at the bank. Of course, he had to be in his FentonWorks brand hazmat/spandex -gotta be able to show off those weapons and other gadgets at the drop of a hat right?- for said meeting, he dressed it up with a burgundy lab coat, fuzzy green and purple plaid pants, and a pair of dark blue doc martins; combined with the white trimmed with black spandex he hopes he was a fucking eyesore.

“-It’ll be a pleasure doing business with FentonWorks”, the gray-suited man gets up and they shake hands. White gloved hand to pale hand, the other man had a gaudy ring on his ring finger with diamonds so most likely married though his watch was definitely a fake Rolex. The man was bringing both legal and… less than legal money to the table so Danny makes a point to pull the guy in and clap him on the back, “do keep in mind, my uncle is Vlad Masters, I’m sure you understand”, and let’s the guy go, finger snapping and finger gunning as he take his leave; the other man looks slightly shocky. Fucking good. Sometimes people would try to pull one over on his parents, mostly due to Jack’s seeming obviousness and innocence, and they’d sometimes try it with Danny too due to him being all young and shit. It didn’t help that his dad feel for it sometimes, even his mom had once or twice due to being excited or too focused on other things. Danny, however, never had, he was way too perceptive and aware of the more unkind side of people (ghost or human) for that; which is probably why his parents wanted him to handle all the deals and clients now. Was it a pain? Yes. Most of the clients were either a little wacky, a little shady, or just painfully normal. But bringing up Vlad, who had a goddamn thirty-ish year reputation for being brutal/vindictive and unscammable in business, usually stopped anyone from even trying to pull one over on Danny.

Vlad definitely didn’t mind, that man liked his more intimidating business reputation, and would absolutely run someone’s business into the ground on Danny’s behalf; at least they got on well these days, so the rich ass wouldn’t ask for much in return.

So anyways, bank time, as he slips in through the slightly squeaky doors with a whistle; thank fuck he was practiced in walking around with casts. Slapping his cheques down on the till and, as is typical of his luck, all Hell breaks loose immediately after.

Doors banging open loudly and men shouting stereotypical bullshit, “ON THE GROUND NOW! THIS IS A ROBBERY! IF YOU DONT WANT TO DIE YOU’LL LISTEN THE HELL UP!”, and fires a few rounds at the ceiling. Don’t these jackasses know that could cause ricochets and shit?

Needless to say everybody drops… except Danny, who, you know, has a fucking cast and thus would reasonably have difficulty with that shit. The chuckle fucks don’t really like that of course, one pointing a gun at an unaffected looking Danny, “ground, now”.

“I don’t know about you guys but I kinda have difficulty laying on the ground with a fucking cast on”.

The guy rolls his eyes under his ski mask, “funny. Ground, I don’t care how difficult it is”.

Danny shrugs and just kinda falls sideways, landing on the ground with a huff and a very loud thump. This? This was not what the armed man expected him to do and he just stands in shock for a beat; Danny’s tempted to knock the man’s feet out and bite him to get some kind of upper hand but… he wasn’t alone in the building and he wasn’t about to risk collateral. so the man with the gun grunts and goes back to the others to watch everyone while giving him some weirded out side-eye.

Cue operation big ass distraction. He is literally wearing a spandex suit filled to the brim with weapons and that’s super fucking durable, a regular ass gun ain’t doing shit and these guys don’t look like they brought ecto-based weaponry or a rocket launcher or an anti-tank rifle… just so long as they don’t shoot him in the fucking head. Granted that won’t really do anything else either but that was because he was already dead, and while that would really make these idiots realise the situation they’re in, that shit being caught on camera would be super bad.

So Danny starts drumming his fingers on his stomach, then moving his arms and legs around like he’s making snow angels, when that doesn’t get mu- oh wait never mind, they’re staring at him and one of the guys mutters, “are you fucking kidding me”. Danny bounces his feet up and down making thumping noises and making his whole body shake; while also trying the gesture to everyone to, like, hide or some shit. At least shimmy away from his ass, ‘cause trying to shimmy away from the guy that’s practically begging to be shot is very reasonable behaviour that the gunmen won’t really question much.

A slightly taller jackass comes over this time, pointing his gun right at Danny’s nose, “I can just kill you now if you feel like being annoying”.

Danny smirks very mockingly, “go ahead, be doing me a favour or two”. And the man eyes how Danny is very clearly entirely unbothered by the gun in his face. “Lookie a kid with a death wish, on your stomach. Now”, and he nudges Danny’s side with his gun barrel; everyone is very much not near Danny now.

Danny does oblige, again he doesn’t actually want to get shot in the face. The taller man backs up and mutters to another, “he might be real trouble, either he doesn’t fear death or he’s made these kinds of rounds before”; his buddy just nods curtly and passes the message along.

Nice. More eyes on Danny. Danny likey. Also he absolutely heard someone managing to hit the panic button; ghost ears for the win. unfortunately said ghost ears are also picking up on the guys doing a solid job breaking into the safe, these guys have done this before.

And then someone other than Danny does something stupid and lunges for one of the men’s guns, Danny wants to call the girl a fucking moron as she gets shot in the foot without any hesitation. Aka, Danny’s hand is solidly forced now since he was no longer their only ‘problem’ meaning playing distraction via erratic behaviour wasn't gonna work now. Whelp. Nothing for it. Taking advantage of the girls distraction to twist his palms under his collar bone and flex his feet so his toes are flat in the ground. Grinning, “a cast might hinder your legs but you know what it doesn’t hinder? Your ankles”, and uses his wrists and toes/ankles to springboard/slingshot himself forward and straight into the nearest asshole's knees.

The guy goes down like a sack of bricks.

Danny snaking his arm around to jab the guy one in the chin, knocking him out easily with a little help from his ghostly strength; then grabbing his shirt and flinging the man at the other men, Danny grabbing the man’s gun too while he’s at it and using the gun as a prop to shove himself back into standing upright.

Danny took issue with killing. Big no to murder. But what he didn’t take issue with was injuries; people don’t die from mild enough injuries, they just hurt like a son of a bitch.

So Danny shoots two guys in their feet, both feet. While everyone else starts panicking and running around; Danny winds up shooting one of the guys in the shoulder -barely- cause he tried to shoot a fleeing old dude. Danny basically gliding over the ground, using the reach of the butt of the gun to deliver knock out neck hits to the two guys he shot in the foot; chuckling the gun at the shoulder shot guy, he’s not super happy with the thunk noise it makes against the fuckers chest but he’s still breathing… just maybe with a cracked rib or two.

Now there’s just the two in the vault and the two in this room with him, both of the later have their guns on him at this point and obviously think he just threw away his weapon based on their definite smirks under their masks.

Danny glances around at the ground like he’s looking for another weapon, one of the men chuckling, “not so cocky now, are we”. Danny looking back up and shrugging, “oh I assure you, I am the perfect amount of cocky”, and suddenly Danny has a bazooka.

The two men’s eyes go wide, Danny taking their shook as a chance to summon out a little laser gun from its ankle slot and promptly laser seals shut the vault; those men can stay there and get picked up by the cops… whenever the cops can manage to get it back open anyways. But for now, bazooka. Danny snickers, “your guy’s luck must really suck to pick the one time to commit robbery at the same time as when an owner of a ground breaking weapons company that even does deals with some… less than public government sectors, will be around doing business”, grin turning mean, “and I’m the owner with the best shot”; the bazooka charging up with a whine. Any remaining hostages are either huddling further in their hiding spots, trying to record this shit, or muttering profanities.

‘Cause yeah, this was definitely a weird ass scene. Three unconscious bank robbers, a ‘wack job’ in a red lab coat plus spandex body suit plus green/purple pants plus blue shoes like he’s from a fucking comic book or something, and two other bank robbers having a gun stand-off with bazooka mad scientist dude. The fact that Danny was grinning like he was having a jolly good time while the robbers looked all serious, really sold it.

Annnnnnnnd then the cops show up.

“EVERYBODY PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! Put your weapons down”. The robbers do as their told instantly while glaring bloody murder at Danny.

Danny, however, actively pouts, “hey, I’m just defusing the situation”. He sounds so serious that even the cops are thrown off and pause, everyone eyeing him.

The shorter robber fucker wheezes, “kid, you’re fucking crazy”.

Danny shrugs, still holding his bazooka, “first off, I’m an adult. Second off, again I have a leg cast so that whole get on the ground thing’s gonna take some time. Third off, Imma Fenton, crazy’s in the genes”, smirking, “or in the spandex jumpsuit, I guess. These definitely aren’t denim”.

One of the cops lowers her gun, “you’re a Fenton”.

Danny takes one hand off the bazooka and points to his face, grinning goofily, “Daniel James Fenton, heir to FentonWorks, at your service”; somewhat slowly lifting up the bazooka to point it at the ceiling instead, all the cops -except the lady cop who spoke up- following him with their guns the entire time.

Tall robber sounds slightly confused, “full name? Are you not concerned a friend of ours will come hunt you down for this”; one of the cops grabbing him and yanking his cuffed ass up very roughly.

“Eh, bigger men with bigger arsenals haven't succeeded yet so I’m not worried”.

Meanwhile, lady cop holsters her gun, waving the others off, “don’t bother with him, Fenton’s are basically exempt from the law”. The other cops looking dumbfounded at her, one even giving her a, “seriously?”.

“Yes, seriously. You three, get that vault open”.

Danny nods, retracting the bazooka, “good call, kinda trapped two fuckers in there with an ankle laser”.

One cop mumbling, “ankle laser? What is this? James Bond?”.

Danny snickers, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you”, then walks over to the lady officer, she looks like she’s in charge here or at least the highest on the peeking order, handing over his FentonWorks id for her to look over and nod at.

She hands it back to him with a, “you Fenton’s are as crazy as I was warned”.

Danny beams happily, “oh this isn’t remotely crazy for me”, glancing around, “actually I think this was the single easiest robbery slash hostage situation I’ve ever been involved with. Glad to see there’s no weird gothic mime clowns or mecha body suits”. Then looking right at the robbers, “by the by? This shit?”, putting a hand to his jumpsuit, “is neck to toe bullet proof and contains well over three hundred different weapons. You were out gunned and out armoured before you even tried. Suck on deez nuts”, and makes a couple of lewd gestures.

Some of the hostages whimper, two laugh, and the other remaining ones just fucking flee. the lady cop eyes Danny, “please try to stick to you own jurisdiction in the future”.

Danny grins giddily before striding back over to where he left his cheques, “now is anyone gonna cash these for me or? They’re not, like, super legal so…”.

One of the two cops that were working on the safe shouting, “are you for real!?!”.

“I verbally and/or visually -take your pick- terrorised some robbers, shot three of them, and held a bunch of cops at bazooka point; questionable money and maybe tax evasion are a moot point at this point”.

A bank teller does actually shakily come over and start doing his cheque for him, “um, uh, thank you?”, her voice is a little squeaky.

Danny gives a little thumbs up, “hey it’s my thing to both disturb and protect the peace, usually from far weirder situations with a lot more collateral damage”. And gives her double-finger guns while the cops finally get the safe open and drag out the two trapped men.

Whelp, this wasn’t his problem anymore and he dealt with what he was required to. Saluting everyone, “whelp, this was fun, thanks for the more mundane combat style break. Got dead people to deal with, if you want to charge me with your therapy bills please don’t, the damages tab is high enough already”, and with that he saunters out.

One of the cops looks to the boss lady cop, “how are we supposed to report this?”.

“Maurice, the second we slap FentonWorks Incident on that report, we could claim we fought the goddamn tooth fairy and the higher-ups wouldn’t question it”.

The other cop just whistles, rather impressed.

---

Danny snags some danishes before flopping down in one of the kitchen chairs, “so guess who shot three people, had a bazooka standoff with the cops, and was in a freaking bank robbery, today?”.

His mom turns away from the stove, she was probably making supper, “are you okay? Didn’t seriously hurt anyone?”. His dad, who’s tinkering with… something, just looks giddy, “that’s my boy”.

Danny snorts, “eh the worst anyone got was maybe a cracked rib, kinda threw a gun kinda hard into his chest”.

Both his parents wincing, his dads the one to ask though, “Fenton kinda hard or normal people kinda hard”.

“Mostly normal”, Danny shrugs, he’s not worried, “and the cops got the guys I sealed in the vault out pretty quick so I doubt they were having issues breathing”, straightening up some, “the deal went fine though, some cash in the account already”.

His dad does a little cheer, while his mom smiles, “that’s good and I’m glad things didn’t get too eventful”.

Danny laughs, “ha! Yeah, someone definitely record some of that shit show though so don’t be too surprised if I’m on the news again”. They shake their heads fondly at that… and yes, Danny was in fact on the news that night from multiple different shaky angles; his outfit definitely was a bit of an eyesore, nice.

End.

Prompt: Danny gets caught in the middle of a bank robbery. Can he diffuse the situation without revealing his powers?

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

50 of My Favorite Fics from 2023

Did something like this last year on Dreamwidth and it was fun so I’m doing it this year, on Tumblr this time! These are all fics I read last year and loved a lot!

It’s 50 fics because that’s about how many recs were on my list last time by happenstance so I decided to just roll with it. Especially because I read so much fic this year, between the comment bingos and the explosion of Mario fic in the months before and after the Mario movie, for example. Thus, I probably forgot some good ones, somehow (I was mostly going off my AO3 bookmarks for the year + what I’d reblogged on Tumblr) so whoopsies if some quality fics slipped through the cracks! ^_^;

This list ended up being

50% Super Mario Bros,

18% Ace Attorney,

6% Danny Phantom x DCU,

4% Professor Layton, Pokémon, and Linked Universe each, and

14% comprised of other assorted fandoms,

which is obviously a way different distribution from last year, haha!

Regardless, if you’re going through the list and wondering about an author showing up more than once (or maybe even four times) then that’s your cue to go check out the rest of their fic catalogue because it all slaps! That's why they're on here so much! (^o^)/

So, without further ado:

Super Mario Brothers

A Dream of Sunny Skies by Skippy_Watts Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Luigi & Mario, Bowser & Mario, Bowser & Peach 11 chapters | 62,474 words | Complete A strange affliction is causing Luigi to sleep more and more each day. Worried about his constant collapses, Mario enlists Princess Peach’s help in looking for a cure, leaving Bowser to play nurse and watch over the dreaming brother. To Bowser, this is just an easy favour to make Mario owe him in the future. However, he soon starts to find himself getting much too invested in the wellbeing of a man who may soon never wake up again.

a gentleman by MrSpockify Rated E | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 4,568 words | Complete Peach spent her nights longing for Mario to touch her, to grab her with a passion she knew he possessed. She had seen him scale mountains with ease, punch his way through brick walls, and beat down enemies while hardly breaking a sweat. He was strong and sharp and so, so capable of taking whatever he wanted from her. She wanted to give it to him, whatever it was that he wanted. He just… wouldn’t take it.

All the Gold in the World by peaches2217 Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi/Prince Peasley One-shot | 2,647 words | Complete The quality of one’s character based on the fabric they clad themselves in. The notion made little sense to Peasley. "What constitutes a 'real man'?" ~ Or, "Peasley Doesn’t Acknowledge Gender Norms and Wants to See Luigi in a Pretty Dress."

Coming Down by MrSpockify Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi 20 chapters | 70,245 words | Incomplete “You can tell me anything,” Mario tried again, leaning over to look at his brother, but he couldn’t quite catch his eye. “You won’t like what I have to say.” “Tell me anyway.” ~ The brothers face the realization that one of them is unable to cope in the aftermath of Bowser. They just never really thought it would be Mario.

Cooking Mama (Luigi)! by Little_RedHots_Riding_Hood Not Rated | F/M, M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario/Peach, Luigi & Bowser Jr, Luigi & Koopalings 27 chapters | 83,036 words | Complete Luigi was having a perfectly peaceful stroll through the Toad Market - the sun was shining, he'd just found a lovely handmade blanket, and was on his way to the bakery before heading back to his and Mario's home. Only... what was that sniffling noise from that dark, scary alleyway? Of all the creatures he was expecting to find, the littlest prince of the Koopa Kingdom certainly wasn't it.

Day Forty-Two by Useless19 Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario & Luigi, Bowser Jr. & Luigi One-Shot | 7,119 words | Complete Luigi returns to Bowser's castle. Somehow he's the only one who isn't surprised by this.

Father Koopa by Razzbarry Rated G | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser & Kamek One-Shot | 1,457 words | Complete Something’s sent Bowser into a furious rage, and it’s up to Kamek to calm him down.

Growing Pains by JupiterRainstorms Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi One-Shot | 4,946 words | Complete It’s something he shares with his brother, a connection that feels almost tangible if he thinks about it hard enough—he’s always been the green to Mario’s red. For as long as either of them can remember, it’s always been the two of them off in their own little world.

I Diagnose You with Crocodile by KnightOn Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi & Mario 4 chapters | 4,833 words | Complete Alternative title: The Id and the Ego Walk into a Bar… Luigi has a chat with his other half.

Koopa Princess by Esperata Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser & Wendy O. Koopa One-Shot | 687 words | Complete Boy things, Bowser understands. With girl stuff however, he struggles. He tries his best for his little princess though.

Linguistically Challenged by Krackaroo21 Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Peach One-Shot | 4,768 words | Complete It was nothing short of a miracle that someone came to rescue Princess Peach. But she would never expect a language barrier to make her getaway so frustrating.

Looking the Other Way by Istadris Rated T | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Bowser’s Army, Bowser, Mario One-Shot | 1,500 words | Complete All around them were the loyal, the fanatics, the enthusiasts, the fatalists; the ones who followed King Bowser out of worship and the ones who wouldn't care if someone challenged the status quo. Ears which could listen and report any signs of dissension. Their companions, their friends, their family, all would turn on them if they voiced their doubts. King Bowser was the strongest. Therefore King Bowser was right. That was all there was to know. The best thing to do was to look the other way.

Nobody’s ever heard of a girl Toad by wordbending Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Toad, Peach, Mario One-Shot | 2,092 words | Complete Nobody’s ever heard of a girl Toad, least of all Toads themselves. If you asked a Toad what pronouns he used (it was always “he”), he’d just stare at you quizzically for a moment before answering “I just check the dictionary!” Still, as one Toad stares into the mirror, looking back at a Toad indistinguishable from the thousands that look exactly like him, he wonders if it was always like that.

Pay No Mind to the Man in the Mirror by h0moquixotic (h0moneurotic) Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Kamek One-Shot | 511 words | Complete Kamek cherishes his opportunity to look like the Princess. Until he doesn't.

Plateau by peaches2217 Rated E | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 3,803 words | Complete “A spell that does what?” “‘Prevents contractions of the bulbospongiosus muscle and withholds resultant bodily and neurochemical emissions,’” Peach repeats directly from the page before her. That’s an unnecessarily complicated way of saying ‘This spell makes it physically impossible to orgasm.’

Super Bowuigi Odyssey by ProtoChan Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario/Peach 102 chapters | 166,306 words | Incomplete When Luigi and Bowser find themselves stranded together in the Lost Kingdom after a turbulent windstorm sends them flying off Bowser’s airship, a busted up Odyssey becomes their unlikeliest of saviors. Now reluctant traveling companions, doomed to remain marooned without the other’s help, the two gather power moons and embark on a globe-trotting adventure home. However, as they fly and hunt for moons together, encountering and overcoming any and all conflicts in their way, their reservations about each other wither away while a fondness forged through their travels grows into something neither of them ever thought was possible.

tethered by MrSpockify Rated M | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 2,214 words | Complete Mario woke with a knot in his throat and a soft cry on his lips. His eyes shot open, and as he lay struggling for breath and clutching his own chest, his eyes darted around rapidly, trying unsuccessfully to see through the darkness that surrounded him. The only thought on his mind was Peach. Peach, who he had just seen die before his very eyes, burned alive by his greatest enemy. ~ When Mario wakes from a terrifying nightmare, Peach takes care of him and sooths his worries.

Little Events by Vegebulluv Rated G | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Toadsworth & Peach 2 chapters | 5,115 words | Incomplete Expansions on little moments of Peach's life following my other fics.

The Mushroom Kingdom’s Unconventional Line of Defence by Amethyst_Goldwind Rated T | Gen | Graphic Depictions of Violence Mallow & Bowser One-Shot | 3,665 words | Complete That Toad remembers his bazooka at a time nobody needed him to.

The Quiet of Night by Istadris Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi One-Shot | 954 words | Complete It was true, Mario preferred to travel alone. But never for the reasons everyone expected when they looked at the brothers.

This Blazing World by SelanPike Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Kamek, Geno, Fawful, Ludwig von Koopa, Wendy Koopa 8 chapters | 14,462 words | Complete Even the Star Sprites had questions about the Dark Star. Surely they knew more about what the Dark Star was, but maybe they were in the dark as to what exactly happened to it, and what it left behind. If that was the case, then Kamek was at an advantage. He had something they’d want to see.

Three Times Toad Broke In And One Time He Didn't Have To by BlueJay2 Rated G | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Mario & Luigi & Toad One-Shot | 8,810 words | Complete After the bros move into the Mushroom Kingdom, their new friend Toad is excited to show them things in his world. Unfortunately, he gets a little too excited and also knows how to pick locks. There are shenanigans.

Traduzione, Per Favore? by peaches2217 Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 1,682 words | Complete "I’m named after a fruit. Surely you have a word for ‘peach’." ~ OR: Peach asks a silly question and Mario falls a little harder.

Untitled Dimigi Smut by lizadale Rated E | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Dimentio/Luigi One-Shot | 3,905 words | Complete You’re not trying to be rude to him. It’s unintentional, this time, but at this rate you may be lucky if he ever lets you leave the house again.

Whatever the universe is made of. by TheMusicalCC Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi/Rosalina One-Shot | 4,908 words | Complete "They do say butterflies can’t see their own wings.” She muttered. (Super Mario Galaxy but Luigi and Rosalina get to interact.)

Ace Attorney

An Insecure Turnabout by Red_Acted (96percentdone) Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Miles Edgeworth & Larry Butz One-Shot | 2,178 words | Complete Crying at the drop of a hat is a quirk of Larry's that you get used to after spending a few minutes around him. Miles has spent several years, and yet despite all those years, all those horribly loud bars and messy break ups, he's never seen anything like this. Larry is crying, and it appears it's Miles' fault. In which Miles Edgeworth has had enough of being dragged to clubs, but his annoyance is the least pressing issue.

atroquinine girl and the fox with the hole in his heart by kbots Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Vera Misham/Wocky Kitaki One-Shot | 7,724 words | Complete After a beat, the boy shrugs. “S’cool. You don’t gotta talk if you don’t want. Ma always says I can do enough talkin’ for two.” He pulls a box out of the pocket of his hospital gown - the box of pocky - and offers it out to Vera. “Name’s Wocky. Want a pocky?” ~ where Vera Misham meets the strangest boy of her life while recovering in the hospital and somehow, against the odds, makes her very first friend

Cold Case by RockettoMusashi Rated T | F/F | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Maya Fey & Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey & Miles Edgeworth One-Shot | 9,489 words | Complete Deep into a strangely cold LA winter, unseen from prying eyes... the most despicable, most uncouth, most heinous crime has been committed. Of all the hardship the young Maya Fey has seen since leaving her quaint little commune in the mountains, truly no horror has trifled her on such a level as this. Someone... has gotten her sick. Ever the determined truth-seeker, and with years of (totally legit) legal experience under her obi, Maya is going to find out who.

come dine with me by pheenick Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Dick Gumshoe/Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright & Maya Fey One-Shot | 5,715 words | Complete “It’ll be a long drive,” says Phoenix, cautiously toeing the waters. He spares a glance at Gumshoe and ends up staring openly. Gumshoe smiles. That’s all he does, but Phoenix swears he sees the afternoon sun rising above the clouds. ~ Or, how Gumshoe gets the guy.

Leopard Lily by frogs_in3_hills Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Viola Cadaverini & Maggey Byrde One-Shot | 3,564 words | Complete Wright frowned, straightened, and looked her in the eyes. “It’s not like that. I won’t pretend to know what it’s like having brain surgery, but… in therapy, you’re the one in control, not the doctors. You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to, they’re just there to help you out. This woman specializes in trauma and abuse recovery, so just… please consider it, Miss Cadaverini. You’ve been through a lot, and I think it could really help.” Well, that did sound a little better than being put under anesthetic so that a stranger could lobotomize you. ~ In which Viola enacts her vengeance through community gardening.

my crown i am by zombiekittez Rated M | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Rayfa Padma Khura'in, Pearl Fey, Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, Apollo Justice 3 chapters | 6,367 words | Complete Pearl Fey cleans the temple like the lowest devotee. She helps translate foreign records into Khurainese, for she is nearly fluent. She stands beside children and frightened women in the docket, helping Apollo and his newly trained lawyers coax testimony from the anxious and weak. They call her the Golden Pearl for the way her light hair catches in the hot Khurainese sun and Rayfa hates her more each passing day. ~ Or, Pearl Fey comes to Khura’in.

the only love i ever found by jambi_cafe Rated G | M/M, Other | No Archive Warnings Apply Miles Edgeworth/Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth & Phoenix Wright One-Shot | 1,571 words | Complete "Have I not made myself clear? I do not spend my time idly. If I am with you, it is because I want to be." Edgeworth speaks with the thoughtfulness and commitment that he brings to everything he does, declaring the above statements as if they are courtroom evidence. Incontrovertible. Phoenix's heart does an odd sort of thing, filling his whole body with warmth. ~ a queer-platonic love story for phoenix and miles. set sometime after aa2.

The State of Spicy Noodles in Southern California by RokettoMusashi Rated T | F/F, Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Franziska von Karma & Miles Edgeworth One-Shot | 6,317 words | Complete “Maya Fey,” she says, “I regret to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems as though my living space is woefully unprepared to properly nurse you back to health.” “Are you drafting me a fucking work email right now?”

Turnabout Substitution by pictureswithboxes Rated T | F/F | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Pearl Fey & Franziska von Karma, Pearl Fey & Maya Fey, Franziska von Karma & Miles Edgeworth, background Phoenix/Miles 8 chapters | 54,776 words | Complete '“I must have misheard you,” Franziska said, almost surprised by how flat and cool her voice sounded as she spoke. How easy the words escaped her mouth, forming into the voice of someone cold and clinical, without a hint of the anger she felt in her words. “Because I could have sworn you’d just asked me to act as a defense attorney.”' ~ When one Maya Fey is in need of legal help, once again, and neither Phoenix Wright nor Miles Edgeworth are available, there is only one person they trust enough to take on the case. And that person is Franziska von Karma, the prodigy prosecutor.

Danny Phantom x DCU

The Health and Wellbeing of Hybrid Entities by Faeriekit Rated T | Gen | Graphic Depictions of Violence Danny Fenton & Justice League 17 chapters | 25,604 words | Incomplete Adrift in an unknown space, his transportation lost, his body a wreck, and only half-conscious, Danny has to find himself somewhere safe to recover. Now, if only he can convince the locals to leave him alone while he does...

those who serve. by aryelee Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Danny Fenton & Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Bruce Wayne, Danny Fenton & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Danny Fenton 6 chapters | 49,024 words | Incomplete Running away from Amity Park—from his entire dimension—Danny takes refuge in the streets of Gotham. It's hard, suddenly being a homeless teenager in such a crime-ridden city, but it's better than dying a second time. Enter Alfred Pennyworth, a kind old man who works as a butler and, for some reason, has decided to befriend Danny. His future is still up in the air, but he's hopeful that things will work out. After all, Alfred isn't getting any younger and someone needs to help him with his butler duties. Danny's just the right person for the job. Or: Alfred Pennyworth sees a homeless teen who looks like he'd fit right into the Wayne family and decides to take matters into his own hands. It's not like he's just going to leave this very sad, possibly meta teenager alone when there's more than enough space in the Manor to house one more child in need.

Throwdown Therapy by gamma_radio Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Danny Fenton & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne 12 chapters | 30,715 words | Complete Danny hears about a suspicious character lurking around Gotham and decides to befriend him. Jason has no thoughts on the matter — mostly, he has a lot of empty-head green-tinged rage on the matter. This is less of a roadblock than one might expect. Danny thinks he might even be able to help the guy, if he can form enough of a relationship to bring up sensitive topics like "you have the ghostly equivalent of lead poisoning or maybe rabies, we aren't quite sure".

Professor Layton

Breaking News: 12-Year-Old Kidnaps Himself in an Effort to Make Local Professor Attend High School Reunion by DawnCloud Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hershel Layton & Randall Ascot & Henry Ledore & Angela Ledore, Hershel Layton & Clark Triton, Emmy Altava & Luke Triton, Hershel Layton & Luke Triton One-Shot | 19,081 words | Complete Hershel Layton, feeling rather out of place, made his excuses and left Monte d'Or as quickly as possible, with little to no intention of returning. Unfortunately for him, his apprentice had other plans.

In your rearview mirror by MagicWhiskers_29 Rated G | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Aurora & Flora Reinhold, Hershel Layton & Flora Reinhold, Flora Reinhold & Luke Triton, Emmy Altava & Flora Reinhold, Flora Reinhold & Claire, Don Paolo & Flora Reinhold "And... Not at all robots die when they're supposed to, right?" softly, she responded. ~ Having the spirit of a deceased Azran golem show up in her tower was one way to make it less lonely for Flora...

Pokémon

Goodknight, Sweet Prince by EmeraldSands Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Tracey Sketchit/Gary Oak One-Shot | 3,149 words | Complete Gary, a loyal knight, is injured while protecting his prince from a pair of dangerous bug-types. Tracey does his best to help his knight--it's the least he can do.

Stun Spore Detour: The Threequel by EmeraldSands Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Tracey Sketchit/Gary Oak One-Shot | 2,200 words | Complete On a trip to Kalos, Tracey gets hit with a stun spore... again. It's up to Gary to find a cure.

Linked Universe

The Wondrous Sword of Legend by ImperialKatwala & PolynomialPandemic Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hyrule & Legend, Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind 21 chapters | 59,581 words | Complete “Well,” the boy said to it as the sun dipped closer to the trees, “your hero didn't show up yet, but I bet they're coming! I bet they're real nice, too. You’re probably going to save the world together.” He was borrowing it. He was borrowing the Sword of Legend, and… what, checking in to see if it was needed? Waiting for a hero to come for it? It wasn’t sure what to think. It wasn’t supposed to think about its wielders. But it found itself looking forward to the stories, keeping an eye out while the boy slept, memorizing as much of the information he gave it as it could. Its job was to protect the innocent, after all. Or: Hyrule finds a sword. The sword has opinions about this.

Warriors says by Zarvasace Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hyrule & Warriors One-Shot | 1,635 words | Complete Hyrule covered his face, feeling it burn in shame. "It's fine, they're just old. It'll be a while until they're entirely unusable." He heard Warriors exhale, then stand up again. Warriors took Hyrule's hands and held them up to try and sign into them again. Hyrule did his best to focus.

Other Assorted Fandoms

An Arm and a Leg by AzuraJae Hi-Fi RUSH Rated G | F/F, Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Chai & Peppermint, Chai & Korsica, Chai & Macaron, Chai & CNMN, Chai & 808, Peppermint/Korsica One-Shot | 6,004 words | Complete "That hurt. Like really hurt." Chai was looking down at his leg in disbelief. "Are you okay?" Peppermint asked again, now seriously worried once more. “Ow, ow… It’s fine, I’ll just walk it off,” Chai managed to say, voice strained with pain. A moment later, there was another crash as Chai fell right back into the pile of debris. “Okay, you know what, nevermind… I think I’m just gonna… lie down.” Peppermint narrowed her eyes, sending off a command to 808 to give her a reading on Chai’s vitals and see what’s wrong. His heart seemed fine, though his stress levels seemed quite high. It wasn’t until Peppermint saw the scans for his leg did she finally understand what was wrong. “Your leg’s… broken, Chai,” she said, unable to believe what she was saying.

Art Exercise by cucumbet Rhythm Doctor Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Maximo "Lucky" Jonronero & Lucia Moon One-Shot | 3,327 words | Complete A few nights into his stay, Lucky is having a particularly rough time. He can't get himself out of his own shoulder, but you can always trust Lucia to do it for you. Just, maybe in the most Lucia-way possible.

I Can't Accept All This by MeaslyFurball Sonic the Hedgehog Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply E-123 Omega & Sonic the Hedgehog One-Shot | 4.869 words | Complete It was all fun and games until the roof collapsed. Sonic finds himself buried alive with the one Badnik who doesn’t want him dead. . . . . . maybe.

Peering into Shadows by Menolly5600 Kingdom Hearts Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Donald Duck & Goofy & Sora One-Shot | 6,825 words | Complete Sora, Donald and Goofy learn why its maybe not a good idea to play with Drive Forms too often.

Perfectly Reliable by chantolove Fallen London, Mask of the Rose Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mr. Pages & Griz Smith & Player One-Shot | 6,292 words | Complete The first thing a new citizen of the Neath gets accustomed to is the daily occurrences of impossible phenomena. The second thing they get accustomed to is said impossible phenomena mixing with ordinary, daily occurrences and inconveniences. Relatedly, you are beginning to suspect that something might be up with your boss.

Things We Don’t Say Aloud by TheGoliathBeetle Hetalia Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply China/India One-Shot | 1,830 words | Complete “Don’t.” Kabir fights down something panicky in his heart and reaches out, a hand on Yao’s thigh. “Don’t say such things. Don’t invite such rotten luck. What will I do without you on my doorstep?” “My country will live on without me. There’ll be a new personification.” OR, They are old countries. Sometimes they get tired.

Trial and Error by ApatheticRobots Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Casey Jones & Leonardo, Donatello & Casey Jones & Leonardo & Michelangelo & April O'Neil & Raphael, Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael, Leonardo & Splinter, Leonardo & Leonardo 21 chapters | 104,123 words | Complete The world ends. The Krang win. Leo failed. It was supposed to be on Casey's shoulders (and his shoulders alone) to go back and make sure the invasion never happened in the first place, but apparently his student had a little more inherited stubbornness than he'd thought. (Leo ends up in the past. This changes some things.)

[maebird-melody]

Tag game~

Tag someone you want to know about and/or some of your besties!

Thank you @aowyn for the tag! Tag games are so much fun. 😊

Favorite color: teal! I also love orange, but mainly because it plays nice with my skin tone. But given the choice, I’ll always choose objects that are some variation of blue-green.

Last song: Lanterns Lit by Son Lux but also technically a song I wrote myself as I listened back to my demo recording for it

Last movie: does Over the Garden Wall count if you watch it all in one sitting? Otherwise probably whatever I watched last with my parents back in August.

Currently watching: Link Click. Found it through fanart that I thought was Danny Phantom fanart. It’s very dark but fun. Also just finished Mandalorian and started Star Wars Visions season 2.

Other stuff I watched this year: the miraculous movie, rewatched Loki season 1 and OFMD season 1, Good Omens season 2, all of Boku no Hero back in March while sewing a cosplay, rewatched a lot of Clone Wars while quilting, DetCo, SpyxFamily, My Happy Marriage, RTTE, Spiderverse so many times, MLB, My Adventures with Superman (it’s so good!), Trigun, more stuff I’m sure

Shows I dropped this year: at least one show that had an interesting premise but was too much fan service. Duke of Death? I didn’t make it far idk if that’s the title

Currently reading: I follow the prepub for Ascendance of a Bookworm so I’m reading a chapter every week for that, I’m also reading The Girl in the Tower, tried reading The Cruel Prince but dropped it pretty quickly, Witch Hat Atelier, various comic books, and I’ve got a To Read pile that’s waaay too high

Currently listening to: Nothing, I’m in bed

Currently working on: too many projects. I’m writing a book (well, I’ve written a book already) that I’m also illustrating, but since I’m in 3 fan fiction events I haven’t had time to do the artwork. I have a con in 2 weeks so I’m doing minor tweaks to my Hypnos cosplay to make it more presentable

Current obsessions: low key Spider-Man is always there in the background, but I think my all-consuming hyperfixations have calmed somewhat. Current active interests are Ascendance of a Bookworm, Danny Phantom, Hades (and Hypnos specifically), and Pathfinder.

Tagging @tundra-tiger @seaglass-skies @bibliophilea @madam-buffalo @misstooni

[spockvarietyhour]

Dale Dye

[ollieofthebeholder]

Get to Know Me

Tagged by @blasphemous-lies-and-deceit

𖦹°‧★ Favourite song(s): Rosemary Clooney's version of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"; "Right Field" by Peter, Paul, and Mary; "Flying Dreams" from the end of The Secret of NIMH, as sung by Paul Williams; "If We Hold On Together" from the end of The Land Before Time, as sung by Diana Ross; "Wild Montana Skies" by John Denver; "Lies" by Stan Rogers; "Stained Glass" by Danny Schmidt; and "Panthers on the Mountainside" by Jon Charles Dwyer. (I like a lot of songs, really, but these are some perennial favorites.)

𖦹°‧★ Favourite colour(s): Purple, grey, blue, and certain shades of green, in that order.

𖦹°‧★ Currently Watching: I'm partway through a rewatch of the original run of Blue's Clues. And also partway through a rewatch of the original Dark Shadows.

𖦹°‧★ Last Movie: The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

𖦹°‧★ Sweet, spicy or savory: Yes please.

𖦹°‧★ Relationship Status: Lowkey wishing I knew where to look for one as an asexual arofog, tbh.

𖦹°‧★ Current Obsession: TMA. I know, you're shocked.

𖦹°‧★ Last thing I googled: The Glencoe Massacre of 1692. Don't ask.

Tagging @jaz--hands, @fridayyy-13th, @ellieloves2read, @ent-is-undecisive, and anyone else who wants to give it a go. (As always, no pressure!)

[cian1675]

ketamine

I’ve been burnt out on dolls lately. But yesterday, having a phase of searching for the vibes of dolls and photos I used to like -- the big eyed Luts Delfs, the kind of interesting photography that reminds me of the highs of deviantart -- I suddenly felt a little bit of something again. I think the photos I used to be fascinated with used to often be taken outdoors, and since the people I followed tend to be from different countries, the landscape was often quite different from what I have here in Singapore. And in the middle of the night as I laid there thinking of why these photos fascinated me so, the thought that the light has a different colour and different temperature in different parts of the world hit me. Photos can be edited for colour, of course, but I remember being in Australia once, seeing the brightness of the sun, the colours of the plants (vibrant yet muted), and I thought, that’s a very different colour palette than tropical Singapore, where everything is bright but in a yellow-orangey-er way, with rich deep dark greens for foilage, waxy and reflective. Maybe that’s why the Australian plants looked muted to me; they’re less waxy. Anyway, I had the thought but I’m not saying these photos are anything in the way of what I thought. It’s just me feeling like I want to take some photos of Danny after I had those thoughts, and that’s what I did this morning after I had breakfast. The photos were taken in my kitchen. Danny seems to suit backlit photos the best. When front-lit, with the Singapore sun, he gets too vibrant and saturated and not right. Maybe it suggests Danny’s from a place with less sun, duller skies. I don’t know. If this made no sense, that’s fine. I haven’t done this kind of rambly-ness since deviantart days. It feels like nowadays on social media everything is streamlined for clicks and likes, and I just want to take the chance of keep-reading to dump the little flicks of excitement and connection I had.

Also, the song, I really only clicked on it by accident after spending two weeks watching Dexter and Dexter: New Blood, and it felt like the right mood.

[five-rivers]

Angelus

For @gamma-radio-dp and @kiinotasha

.

It had been a long time since the last truly quiet night in Amity Park, the last night when the skies were empty of anything but clouds and no alarms, sirens, or ectoplasmic zings filled the air, the last night when all its residents were able to sleep deeply, without it being a ghostly plot.  They took advantage of it and enjoyed it immensely.  

But when they woke up, they had to wonder if they shouldn’t have been at least a little suspicious.

.

Danny had a habit of looking up when he went outside.  This was mostly because of ghost attacks, but also because people looking to mess with the ‘local crackpots’ (or just Danny) used to rig pranks to the door (which had, incidentally, fueled Jack’s tendency to answer the door with a ectogun in hand and blame random things on ghosts).

This meant that he saw the… thing almost immediately.  

He took several steps back.  “What is that?” 

“A ghost?” called Jack from the kitchen.  

“Uh,” said Danny, eyes still fixed on the sky.  “No.”  No, he was fairly certain what he was looking at wasn’t a ghost.  Yes, it was out of range of his ghost sense, but he was still, somehow, absolutely sure it was not a ghost.  Or a half ghost, for that matter, although that thought was ridiculous on the surface of it.  

No.  It wasn’t a ghost.  

Still.  

“You guys had better come see this.”

.

The thing in the sky over Amity Park was huge.  So big it was hard to really comprehend as a thing that was actually there.  It didn’t look real, and not in the way that ghosts sometimes didn’t look real, lacking substance and texture, but more because of the way its edges were sharp but faded from distance, from the way it hung suspended in the air, from its detailing.  

As for its shape…  It was roughly humanoid, with giant feathered white wings alternately wrapped around itself and spread wide.  From Danny’s perspective, he could count at least six, but he thought there might be more.  The rest of its body was covered with a kind of armor that included a featureless mask.  Something like horns spiraled from its helm.  

It was upside down.  Head pointed at Amity Park.

Distantly, Danny could hear people shouting about the apocalypse, shouting about angels and demons and the end of things, shouting about ghosts and about how this was just too much.  

Danny rather agreed with that last one.  This was too much.  

“--the figure in the sky appeared sometime last night, between the hours of two and four AM,” said the TV.  “No one is sure how it arrived, and we have yet to receive any reports of a person seeing it arrive.  Thus far, it hasn’t made any aggressive moves or attempts to communicate.”

He walked back to the couch and sat down.  Jack and Maddie were in the kitchen arguing about whether or not and how to shoot the thing.  Apparently, something the size of a mountain gave even them pause.  

The ticker at the bottom of the TV screen read out the names of schools that had canceled classes.  He watched the band go across rather dispiritedly.  

Danny had done a lot of things for this town.  Vortex, Undergrowth, Nocturne, and Pariah Dark had all been really big, but they’d been, at most, skyscraper big. 

This was a lot bigger, and it wasn’t even a ghost.  

Really, it was too much.

Jazz sat down next to him.  “I was worried you’d sneak out.”

“Still might,” mumbled Danny.  “Just.  You know.  To go up there and see what it wants.”

“You think it wants something?”

“It’s got to, right?”

“Hm,” said Jazz.  “I suppose.  It could also just… be there.  Passing through.”

Danny gave her a look.  “I’m not going to be picking a fight with something that could level the whole town just by falling.  It could probably crush all of downtown with its foot.”  He slouched down.  “Maybe I should just leave it alone.”

“Sadly,” said Jazz, “if you don’t do something, someone else will.”  She tilted her head at the kitchen significantly.  “You know what they’re like, and you know what the GIW are like.  Plus, they have those hovercraft things.  I’m not saying you have to do anything.  I’d actually like it if you didn’t, but…”

But then he’d have to live with the results.  Overall, Danny was action-oriented.  He preferred to do something rather than to not do something.  

“I guess there’s Vlad, too,” said Danny.  “Even as a human, he’s got those helicopters.”

“He’d probably work with you on this,” said Jazz.  

“Yeah, and then he’d ditch me as soon as it got too hard for him.  That’s what he always does.”  He stood up.  “Cover for me?” 

“Always.”

.

As Danny got closer, the thing in the sky got bigger and bigger.  Which was, of course, how perspective worked, but Danny had been hoping it had been closer than it looked and, thus, smaller.  But it was, in fact, farther away than it looked.  

Danny thought this was unfair.  

With his eyes fixed on it as his destination, he also saw how still it was.  It didn’t move or breathe.  The wind didn’t ruffle its feathers.  It added to the air of unreality.  

Speaking of the air, it was also… humming.  No, that was the wrong word for it, but it certainly had some similarities to sound, whatever it was.  An energy that wasn’t physical, but also wasn’t emotion or ectoplasm or anything like that.  

He stopped.  

He was probably within shouting distance now, right?  Assuming this could even hear him.  His voice might be too quiet to make its eardrums vibrate, assuming it had eardrums.  

“HELLO,” he called, the faintest touch of his ghostly wail leaking in.  He paused, waiting to see if there was a response.  

There wasn’t.  At least, there wasn’t a physical, visible response.  Whatever feeling was in the air intensified.  Danny felt uncomfortably aware of his own skin.  Between his back started to itch to the point where he looked around to see if there was anyone behind him.  

There wasn’t.  

He turned back.  

“WE WERE WONDERING WHAT YOU WANTED.”  He paused again, more from uncertainty than anything else.  “WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

This time, there was movement.  Movement that looked agonizingly slow, but only by virtue of how big the thing was.  Two of its wings unfurled, freeing a hand that pointed down.  

At the city?

Danny looked down, trying to determine if it meant the city in general, or if it was pointing at some specific building or–

But then the sensation spilling over his body became too much to ignore, and he curled in on himself, his gloves the only things keeping him from digging furrows into his back.  What was this, some kind of supernatural radiation?

Oh, gosh, this was some kind of supernatural radiation.  He should probably leave, like, right now.

He should be flying away right now.  

Why wasn’t he flying away?

He looked up.  

The other thing the hand could possibly be pointing at was him.  

His eyes rolled back in his head.  

.

Phantom’s approach was, of course, filmed and broadcasted.  Vlad watched.  No need to put himself at risk when the boy was perfectly willing to do it for him.  

He watched the tiny, blurry picture of Phantom come to a stop, then seem to shout at the angel-like figure.  He watched as Phantom curled into a tiny ball, then went limp.  

He watched as Phantom fell. 

“Fudge buckets.”  A fall from that height would be unpleasant even if Daniel managed to keep hold of his ghost half.  

If he didn’t…

Vlad was phasing through his ceiling before the wine glass he’d been holding hit the floor.  

.

The eyes of Amity Park were on Phantom as he fell.  Perhaps that’s why no one immediately noticed the giant creature that had been hanging over their heads all day simply vanishing.

But perhaps the true reason was something else, something more related to the being’s nature, whatever it had been.  

It was impossible to tell. 

.

Vlad caught Daniel.  It was a near thing, and Vlad wasn’t experienced with catching people falling from the sky at speed, but he did do it, and Daniel’s back didn’t break or anything.  

He would have to count this incident as something to lord over Daniel in the future.  

In the meantime, Daniel was spasming, as if he was having a seizure.  It was remarkably inconvenient, and also troubling, because Vlad hadn’t thought that half ghosts could have seizures while transformed.  

He adjusted his grip on Daniel and noticed–

Pausing mid-air, he turned Daniel over.  There, on Daniel’s back, small but unmistakable, were six snow-white wings. 

[another-shameless-fangirl]

Laugh

The citizens of Amity Park didn't know for sure it had a resident ghost boy until about 3 weeks after the first reported sighting.

Ghosts were becoming more common, more dangerous. They looked dangerous. They were dark and shadowy figures with glowing red eyes and weapons and hair made of flames and tricks of the light. Among them, there seemed to be one that kept coming back to fight the other ghosts or otherwise be seen flying through the skies relaxed and somersaulting against the stars.

Everyone had a ghost story by October. It had only been a few months since the Fenton's published their paper on their now functional ghost portal and the town had been a hot spot for violence and terror.

Except when it came to our most common spectre.

We had taken to calling him Inviso-Bill because of his habit to dissapear when spotted and, well, Bill just seemed like a nice respectable name to call someone.

The respect came and went in waves however. Bill seemed to have a penchant for giving in to his "evil" ghostly side stealing money and art and jewels one day and rescuing civilians the next, then after that taking the mayor hostage. Public opinion varied and it wasn't ever easy to talk about him because you may never agree 100% with your neighbor about Inviso-Bill: hero or menace?

It would get easier as time went on. October came and went and eventually everyone had started to agree that for all of Phantom's faults, he usually was with other ghosts when he did bad things. Maybe Bill was just a little impressionable. He likely died when he was a child and lost children would often try to fit in. That instinct must be astronomically worse when you're dead and the only company you can find are the firmly evil kind.

If you could manage to find Phantom alone, often on starry nights, you could often see him doing flips and spinning enjoying the sense of zero gravity like a child would. In these moments it was easy to forget that Bill was dead, was a monster and different and every thing that would ruin Amity Park if it's citizens let their guard down.

He saved the town again. This time there was no denying that he was fighting for us, doing good to protect Amity Park for selfish reasons or otherwise, that wasn't for us to judge.

Danny Phantom he called himself. He smiled and we watched and talked amongst ourselves as he flew off again finally feeling light and free as we saw he could be this whole time.

It was so much easier to find comfort in the echoed laugh of the ghost boy. His mirth filled the darkness with something no longer feared and forbidden. When he laughed we could smile at each other too. If you followed the laugh, you could find him and not be afraid. Phantom was a friend in the darkness with snow white hair and glowing green eyes.

Ectober 21 Day 1- Trick

Ectober 21 Day 2- Laugh

Ectober 21 Day 3- Mutant

[pricklenettle]

When You Dream of Falling

The prompt comes from @ghostgothgeek

WC: 3416

Prompt: Nocturne is back, bringing both pleasant dreams and nightmares to team Phantom. (PR276)

Sometimes dreams are more dangerous than nightmares.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38587677

Vlad ran his hands through the ashes. They were so fine, they clung to his gloves, drifting away in little eddies every time he stirred them. That unstoppable elation bubbled up in his chest, rising up to choke him. The earth was his, the heavens were his to their fullest extents, he’d gifted them to his son before he’d burned it all to the ground.

The sun was rising red and bloody, as though the skies were still burning from his whims. But other than the distant sun there was no other light except for his own ghostly aura glimming the blackened fields. His mansion. Leveled to the ground and those inside cremated.

He sat back, suddenly starting to feel a little sick. His hands fell into his lap, ash flaking onto his pants. His ghost’s core felt sore, flickering like a candle flame. The wind picked up, swirling the ashes together in an unnaturally tight whirlwind. First Danny’s legs appeared, the ash flying around so thickly Vlad didn’t notice immediately. The ash rebuilt itself quickly, regaining color as it went. Beside him, Maddie’s ashes started to reconstruct as well. Vlad watched numbly. 

Danny was moving before his neck was finished. He stumbled toward Vlad, tipping over a shattered beam. His palms when he rose were blackened. The ash had now given him a mouth to speak. “I’m so sorry I displeased you, Father. I’ll do better next time.”

Vlad choked on his reply. “It’s okay Daniel.” He trailed off, eyes drifting to Maddy who stood rocking slightly to the breeze, rebuilt up to the cleavage.

Danny’s contrite mouth immediately twisted into a brilliant smile, forgetting all that had come before— the burning heat, pleads unheaded, Vlad’s ectoplasm roaring into an inferno that ate away skin and bone. At first, Danny had helped him burn down the world, simple green ectoblasts joining Vlad’s.

Danny fell to his knees beside Vlad like a puppy. One brilliant blue eye stared up at him with adoration. The other side of his head was still hollow, stained pitch black with flurries of soot flickering over the empty space. 

“Father, can you teach me more about my powers? You know so much.”

A shiver ran down his spine when a light hand rested on his shoulder. Maddy smiled down at him. She sat on his other side to lean on him. “Or I could make you some cookies if you’d like.”

All around them the ash flushed up in dark clouds, obscuring the sunrise. Although such speeds could only belong to a hurricane, his cape only rippled gently in the breeze from before. Walls grew up around them, black obelisks that slowly regained color, like tissue paper touched to a bowl of dye. A polished floor shot out from where they huddled, glass clinked back into windows, pictures unfurled on the walls quickly surrounded by their frames, outside he could see green leeching back into his gardens, and further than that, slowly rising black forms that might be Amity Park. 

Maddy kissed his cheek. “What would you like to do now, my love?”

“If you destroy us again, we’ll forgive you.” Danny jumped in, voice high and whining. “But the Packers are on, they’d be sad if you didn’t watch your own football team.” Danny jumped to his feet, pulling Vlad’s hand.

Maddy rose as gracefully as a swallow, she wandered toward the t.v. room, beckoning.

And Vlad wept. Great wracking sobs like he had never cried before.

…

Danny grabbed Vlad’s shoulders and shook him wildly, growing more and more concerned. He’d found him with his head on his desk, still sitting in his mayor chair. Vlad’s eyes slid open, pupils glassy and vague. Danny let go and he flopped out of his chair, prone to the floor. Danny stared at him.

Vlad was always trying to be one step better than him, an older halfa who should have a right to demand respect, always put together, he’d never seen him like this. Rumpled suit, gray hair a fly, a thin trickle of drool oozing onto the carpet. Danny stumbled back a step into the wall, gathering an ectoblast in his palm.

“Vlad, if you’re faking this…” Well, Danny would do his best to smash the creep’s face in, just like always. That was almost a comforting thought to fall back on.

“You seem upset, little ghost boy,” a soft guttural voice broke the silence.

Danny wasn’t surprised when all the shadows in the room lengthened to converge before Vlad’s head, stretching up into a figure so tall his ram horns brushed the ceiling. Stars blinked awake in his inky cloak. 

Danny pointed the ectoblast at him. “Nocturne, what did you do?”

Nocturne bent over him, taking up his entire field of vision. He smiled gently, his vivid red eyes squinting into somehow calming lines. “Why so threatening? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Danny squared his shoulders, pressing further against the wall. “You sent the entire town to sleep so you could feed on our dreams. I’d say, no. The opposite really. Now answer my question.”

Nocturne's smile fell and he looked actually hurt. Instead of answering, he drifted around Vlad’s office, hands behind his back, shadows shifting in sync with him like dogs anxious to please. He examined the paintings Vlad had hung, a sad smile playing about his lips. “I came back to Amity because I want to talk with you, little ghost.”

“Why,” Danny growled. Nocturne’s voice summoned feelings of a grandfather telling bedtime stories, hoarse and honeyed at once. It sent his ghost’s core off its guard, humming along pleasantly, it was a struggle to keep the ectoblast bright and threatening in his palm.

“It’s clear there’s been a misunderstanding, it’s important to me that we set this right. Plus it’s always pleasant to speak with another lover of stars.”

Danny blushed green, dim stars flickering over his cheeks for a fraction of a second. He stepped over Vlad, launching into the air to hover next to Nocturne. He pushed down the urge to start gushing about space with an enemy. “You still haven't explained what you did to Vlad.”

“I’m surprised you’re concerned for that soul sucker, you might not be so protective if you knew what was in his dreams,” Nocturne said with distaste.

Danny gagged. “I don’t want to know, but the fruit loop is the only other halfa I know. I would appreciate it if you let him go.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nocturne admitted, drifting like a dandelion puff up through the ceiling.

Danny made an annoyed noise and followed Nocturne into an attic. Danny’s head clipped through a box of Christmas lights. He grimaced and pulled himself free. The attic was filled with paraphernalia from forgotten elections, the banners were unreadable in the darkness.

“Have you noticed that all the older ghosts almost always have stable obsessions that could never be satisfied.”

No, he hadn’t, but a bad feeling was spreading fast in his gut. He chased Nocturne up onto the roof. 

The yellow moon crowned the night sky, smiling down on the quiet Amity Park from an aquamarine cloth embroidered with low fluffy clouds, flecked from below by green and amber streetlights. Nocturne held the only stars in the sky tonight. Nocturne stretched out his arm, inky claws cradling the city.

“The ones who can find an end always pass on sooner, dissolving into the final peaceful slumber. When there is no more urgent need or obsession driving you on, holding you together, there’s no more reason to exist.”

“That’s sad,” Danny said, crossing his arms. “Your point?”

Nocturne chuckled. “All ghost stories are sad, little ghost. But I believe that the ones who go that way are quite happy to finally be at peace. My point is, that it’s about time you found out why I am so feared in the immortal realms.”

Danny jumped back, ready to fend off attacks, but Nocturne simply kept flying. Danny would lose him if he didn’t follow. So he kept his distance, just close enough he could still hear him over the slowly rising wind. 

“Alright, tell me then, since you’re not going to demonstrate.”

“Oh, I already have. One good dream and my enemies disappear from this immortal coil.”

Danny froze, watching the back of Nocturne’s cloak twinkle with spiraling constellations. The calm brutality of that sentence had thrown him off. He didn’t like this at all. If Vlad went and died in a ditch in the ghost zone— or literally anywhere else at all, Danny wouldn’t even blink, but for the idiot to come to harm in Amity Park— however much deserved, that just didn’t sit right with him.

“Anything can happen in a dream, even the most impossible obsessions can be retold as reality in their heads.” 

“But, Vlad is half alive, he couldn’t just dissolve like that.”

“Indeed, I am intrigued to find out what happens. Will he simply pass away leaving nothing behind? Or will you be able to keep him alive with IVs and breathing tubes, machines beeping away his heart rate until the last of his gleaming life drips away. Perhaps he’ll survive, simply unable to access his other form. I wonder what a man can do without a soul.”

Danny hunched over, crossing his arms. A torrent of emotions washed through him. He’d messed up. Vlad could be dead or worse, and what was he doing just following the killer around like some kind of sheep. Nocturne dipped down and Danny finally realized where he was going.

Danny rushed in front of him, throwing out his hands. “No way am I letting you anywhere near Sam’s house.”

Nocturne slowed, just cocking his head. “But greenhouses are such calming places, and your Sam keeps hers so peaceful.”

“I thought you just wanted to have a friendly talk, Nocturne— if you even know what that means. There’s no reason to bring my friends into it.”

“I was simply trying to think for your own sake,”

“What do you mean?”

Nocturne kept coming, closing in on Danny with that same mild expression. Nocturne was huge, Danny realized once again, his shadowy body could cover a king-sized bed. Danny found himself backing up despite himself. His heels hit the glass roof of Sam's greenhouse. He glanced down, startled, he hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten.

Danny forced ectoblasts around his fists, gritting his teeth. “Stop messing with me.”

“But you’re such fun to play with, and your dreams have such detail, I would have been sad if Vlad had snuffed out such a wonderful creature.”

“I’m not a toy, and neither is anyone else in Amity Park. I thought you said you only sent dreams to your enemies.”

He wanted to shoot Nocturne down, but the ancient ghost was just so huge, he took up the entire sky. Danny could see nothing but stars. 

Nocturne put a grandfatherly hand on his head. “Of course, I would never. Your soul will live a long time if I have anything to say about it.”

Danny shook him off, kicking off the glass to float weightlessly backward, like taking a step on the moon. “What about the time you tried to take over the entire town from the mattress factory?” he accused. 

Nocturne had the audacity to chuckle, a soft wistful smile crossing his face as though recalling sweet memories. “Yes, that was a delightful playtime.” Danny made an aghast noise but Nocturne waved it away. He tapped his temple. “Dream helmets, a nightmare army, a final showdown that you had to face with your little Sam, you have such a powerful imagination.”

Danny gaped. “What are you talking about?”

Nocturne swooped closer, those red eyes wide in an adoring smile, clawed hands hovering on either side of his head. “From the first moment it was all your dream. I brought those things into your normal reality so all of Amity could experience it. Don’t you remember those things that didn’t fit? That shouldn’t make sense? No one ever questions a dream they’re in. Don’t worry, I would never, ever manipulate your obsession to make an end of you. It was such a splendid dream though, with ups and downs, fear, and moments of comfort, I was able to introduce you to my lair, and I met your loved ones. I think it was a rather perfect first impression.” Nocturne preened, but he seemed honestly just as proud of Danny’s dream as the power and control it must have taken to impose it upon the human world. “I was so impressed and had such fun, I’ve returned often to continue the acquaintance. Since then, you’ve grown precious to me.”

“You’re why my nightmares have gotten worse,” Danny said numbly. His fists had drifted down to his sides. 

“Exactly, the amount of horror your core can withstand is truly amazing. Every time I bring in a new terror, you make it ever increasingly worse. Most would have folded long ago, their cores cracked beyond repair, but not you, my little ghost. You only seem to get stronger, dreams more gruesome than before.”

Nocturne's claws closed in to cup Danny’s face. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll become.”

“Danny!”

It was Sam’s voice. Danny jerked out of Nocturne's grip, skirting away from him with fists once again blazing. Sam had crawled out of her window, inching along a narrow lip toward where they floated above her greenhouse. The wind made her black hair flair wildly, purple glinting in her dark locks like the arms of a nebula. It was a long drop to the manicured lawn below, and the greenhouse was even higher. 

“Sam, you should get back inside.”

Nocturne was slinking along the glass roof, shadows suctioned to it like a remora. His red eyes stared indecipherable at Sam. Danny fired his ectoblast. It seared through Nocturne's outstretched arm, he hissed and flinched back, but within moments his cloak of stars had knitted back together. 

“Don’t go near her,” he growled. The first hard drops of rain hit his head.

Nocturne had the gall to smile. “I’m not the only fate she should fear.”

Sam was still climbing toward them. Now he could see the wrist-ray around her arm. She’d been so excited to get that. She waved it in the air threateningly, wobbling a little from the slick footing. “Get away from Danny, goat face.” She reached up, grabbing onto a window sill. Grunting she hoisted herself up, toward a higher roof, socked feet slipping on the window pane. 

Danny cringed and flew forward to help her, but Nocturne took advantage of his distraction to tackle him to the roof. Danny shouted in frustration, shooting an ectoblast through Nocturne's left arm. He rolled, his world a confusion of night sky and misty green glass. When he righted himself, panting opposite Nocturne, Sam had cleared the window and was running toward them over the slick shingles. The rain was pounding now, distant thunder rumbled.

 Again, Danny tried to get to her, but Nocturne went invisible. Danny tensed and then his chin snapped back from a blow. Another landed on his nose and he immediately felt it start to drip down his lip, bright glowing fresh ectoplasm pattering to the glass below. Eyes watering, Danny spun in a slow circle, keeping his fists up over his face. 

“Why are you doing this? Why did you even bring me here?”

“I wanted to spend time with my favorite little ghost! In my defense, I planned to leave you inside the greenhouse, I thought you’d prefer that over being found in the ex-mayor’s office.”

The cool voice came from the right. Danny lashed out, only to be playfully boxed on the left ear. Sam was level with them now. Their gazes met over the gap between her house and the greenhouse roof. Danny frantically shook his head but Sam ignored him. She put her chin down and ran for the edge.

Her leap across the gap seemed to stretch into an eternity. Legs stretched out like a ballerina, arms flapping wildly as though she could fly if she set her mind to it.

Danny shouted and rocketed toward her, his unexpected speed knocking Nocturne out of the way. He caught her. Just as her eyes started to panic when her flight dipped below the edge of the greenhouse. Danny wobbled in the air a moment, accounting for the human weight, then corkscrewed up into the sky. Sam’s arms were around his neck, eyes glowing, wide as violets. 

“Thank you.” Her lip quirked upward. “And I was trying to save you.”

“You did,” he assured her, a no doubt dorky smile on his face. “I like to return the favor sometimes.”

The buffeting wind had died to a breeze that just touched Sam's bangs, loose strands of hair flicking around her pink cheeks. Through the dark clouds, a sky full of stars sparkled above them, millions of glass shards hung in the heavens just for them, just for tonight. 

Wait, Danny’s thoughts stumbled, there had only been the moon visible tonight. 

The sky cracked. White violet light filled his vision, the same instant thunder clapped in his ears. His mouth opened in a silent scream. The familiar pain of electricity scrambling through every nerve burned every thought away except fear and panic. He didn’t know when Sam slipped through his arms, black fingernails grasping for him, the gentle flick of her hair against his numb hand. 

Danny fell out of the sky. Smoke and ectoplasm bubbling up from his paralyzed form. 

Sam called his name. 

He forced his eyes open, squinting up (down) through the hot tears zigzagging over his face. Sam fell below him, scrabbling at the air as though she was begging it to catch her. It was the ground that listened instead.

An edge of Nocturne's starry cloak wrapped around his waist, slowing his fall till Nocturne could just roll him onto the greenhouse roof. Danny stared at his hands, curled uselessly beside him. Everything had looked so real, but it couldn’t be. There were no stars tonight except for Nocturne’s. He grabbed onto that thought with both hands and all his life. He pushed himself up, the glass freezing against his knuckles. He drifted upright so he could glare at Nocturne, loathing pouring out of his mouth. “You got me again, but that was a mistake.”

Nocturne just clapped his hands with a cheerful smile. “You’re learning, oh, what a good job, little ghost!” Nocturne cooed. “You really should tell that girl how you feel.”

Danny snarled and launched himself across the roof. Nocturne's eyes gleamed proudly. Stars filled his vision, zapping by him like electric charged fireflies. Nocturne made a tiny wave and Danny’s eyes snapped shut. He dropped like a rock, landing in a sprawl on the glass roof.

He didn't get up.

…

Nocturne smiled benignly down on the little ghost boy. A few small rivulets of ectoplasm leaked out of him to pool and run across the misty glass. Out of his nose, the scrapes on his knuckles, from beneath his eyelashes, but Danny was a strong little one, he could handle this and so much more. His fingers and small face muscles twitched in the thrall of a more ordinary nightmare. Nocturne knelt, his cloak rippling against the glass. He rested his hand on the boy’s hair, stroking it gently back into place. He smiled again, fondness warming the huge expanse of his core. 

Perhaps in the morning Sam (who had just started up in bed from a dream of falling) would wander into her greenhouse and look up to find the little ghost sound asleep through the glass above. If not, perhaps it would be days before they found him. That was all right, Danny was strong, and Nocturne would take very good care of him. 

Nocturne would not let a single dream of contentment soften his core. Formed by lightning but quenched in nightmares, Danny’s soul would last far longer than a billion, billion years. 

Nocturne smiled softly as he drifted off on the night breeze. It was nice to have someone to talk to again. 

Before he left, he lulled Sam back down into dreams of lightning and burning and a wailing silhouette in a blinding green tunnel. After all, he couldn’t let the little ghost’s sweetheart disappear on them either.