#How To Save Your Relationship Afte

[fallenneziah]

An unexpected spark.

Tag: @heiress-prime

Summary: Your relationship with Optimus is... Complicated. Between the adjustment to life on a new planet and saving your asses from the Decepticons, there was only so much you could handle. And having Optimus' kin had not been on that list for either of you.

Cw: Pregnancy, minor injury, implied sexual encounters, Femme reader. Optimus doesn't have the software update for dadification. Italics for past conversation.

Your relationship with Optimus is... Complicated. Purely for the fact that being sparkmates with a Prime is exactly how you'd expect it to be. 

Yes, Optimus had grown more intimate when you finally decided to stop dancing around each other's afts. Optimus was used to the way of the Prime, so it wasn't in his routine quite yet to acknowledge you romantically. Occasionally when you got some alone time he'd press his helm to yours and remind you how much he appreciated you for sticking by him.

Optimus cares about you, he does. He cares about you to the point that If you didn't contribute so much to the team and were few in numbers he may have yoinked you off the field for good. 

He hates seeing you come back dinged up with scratches glaring in your paint. He hates that exhausted look and he wishes he could keep you safe. 

You knew this, nudging him with your field and smiling softly at him from across the room, excited and lighting up like a puppy when his EM field would brush you back.

You'd sit and have your Energon in the morning together. In the past couple weeks Optimus had noticed the rate at which you had Energon had been increasing. You just found yourself thirsty a lot.

Optimus would tell you to go easy, you only had so much supply after all. It eased the aches you felt after spending the night curled up next to him.

Optimus left you satisfied. You knew it would be a difficult relationship, if not for his duties as Prime, but your survival. 

And you were no stranger to a recon mission, driving down the open Nevada road and taking in the dirt and grime under your tires. Optimus had given you coordinates to an emerging supply with a light squeeze of your shoulder and a loving gaze only he could pull off.

It was nice to spend time away. At least you didn't have to drag one of the kids with you. The children were so interesting. At least, earth children were. 

They were always full of energy, they always asked questions and wanted to be around and play with you. It made you chuckle a little.

Your drive down the road led you to a discarded backroad into the Nevada hills. You shifted your tire and diverted from the pavement off into the trees.

The constant ping from your interior leading the way.

You felt, in a sense, pent up. The way your back struts strained despite being tucked up into the carriage of your car. You could have chalked it up to your latest intimate night with Optimus.

Usually, you shake off the aches in a day or two. Optimus was the kind of 'bot who made up for his less-than-constant intimacy strings with an all-nighter that left you unable to move for the week following.

The weeks prior you had been more sensitive than usual, which Optimus had noticed. It left you both unable to find any time for intimacy because when you got to that point, you just couldn't handle it. But he was gentle. 

"Easy, am I hurting you??"

Your servos gripped onto the plates of his forearm, your expression twisting slightly. "No... I just.." You paused briefly to see if relaxing would ease the unusual pain and sensitivity.

"I don't know..."

"Should I stop?"

"No, no you're fine... I'll be fine."

Optimus' face at the time didn't show he was too convinced. He'd rather be cautious than be sorry later...

"You're coming up on the signal, be careful when you enter." Ratchet's voice broke you from your thoughts, causing you to slow down.

"I'll be careful."

You transformed and shook your pedes along the loose rock of the road. You scanned the area briefly, then continued on foot through the trees. The Energon supply would be right below you soon enough.

You absentmindedly rubbed your abdominal plating to ease the tension in your struts and fuel lines. He must have messed you up good considering the noticeable dent. You'd had it there for a bit, but it was barely noticeable.

The constant beep of the counter led your way through broken foliage and trees barely taller than yourself.

"Coming up on it." You said into your comm. You kept yourself at a good pace as you made it through and found the crater. 

Bingo.

"Get a move on!" A distant voice calls, causing you to duck behind a rock and bushes. 

"Could you useless 'cons work any faster!?"

You shifted and looked through the foliage to see a plateau-heeled Decepticon screeching away.

"Just... Perfect."

You leaned back, "Decepticons got the jump." You whispered into your comm and waited for Ratchet to update.

"How many??"

"Their usual mining crew... I'd say 15- maybe 20?" Your servo pressed against your plating again, feeling the uneasy warmth fill your gut. 

"I'll send Bumblebee and Bulkhead out to you, see if you can get a better idea of who we're up against." Ratchet again replied, giving you something to focus on while waiting for the scout.

You shifted against the rock and ducked back into the foliage. You tread up the small hill. Thankfully the only notable figure among them was Starscream. The rest looked like workers, they wouldn't pose a huge threat. 

You kneeled, your hip plating grinding loudly, making you freeze. The combined sink of your plating and the sound made you cringe. "Fraggin' hell..." 

You grimaced and continued to stay low and wait. It was all you could do. 

You sat there watching them mine the precious Energon that should be for you and the team. That wouldnt be the case if they didn't hurry up and get Bumblebee out here.

Your plating ached. It ached in a way that made you think about Optimus. About his hands on your hips and his denta on your neck cables.

Your plating heated, and the thought of Optimus made your fuel pump thump in your chassis.

"Frag," You whispered.

Your fans kicked on, and your panels clicked.

"Ratchet I- I'm not feeling well..." You swallowed hard.

"Not well?? What are your readings showing?"

You checked your monitor, looking down at the diagnostics on your forearm. You were experiencing intense tightening just above your hip plating. And the rising temperature caused your fuel lines to tangle and a lightheaded feeling to sink in.

"My plating feels... Too tight."

"Is it painful?"

"Yeah."

"Can you make it back?"

"I.. Yeah.." You started to stand.

You paused, and your servo came to your stomach plating. Your Energon levels were down to 40% despite your rationing before you left.

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on their way to your coordinates."

Optimus was in the other room, concentrating on some old data pads he skimmed whenever he wasn't on missions.

He heard Ratchet in the other room but tuned him out. A tight warmth grew in his chest which caused him to adjust and shake his shoulders slightly. But as he read the feeling grew more prominent until he couldn't ignore it. His EM field pulsed, feeling that faint pulse of your spark alongside his. It felt uneven. The usual soft pump in rhythm that comforted the Matrix in his chest felt off. 

Optimus pressed his servo to his chassis and tuned in to the feeling. Your spark throbbed against his rhythmically. The tight pulse and pull yearning for him, tugging the Matrix as if new life was growing the strength to stir from your chest.

It made him forget to breathe. He adjusted his optics again and pressed his chassis shut again, unaware it had come slightly ajar.

You leaned up against the rock, listening for anything around you with your servo still pressed against your abdomen. Footsteps softly came up behind you, a servo touching your shoulder. You jumped slightly and looked up to see Bumblebee. He whirred softly and pressed a digit to his helm as he moved toward the 'cons.

Bulkhead was close behind him. You sucked in the minor pain, took a deep breath and got on your feet again. You drew your arm cannon and followed the mechs out into the open.

"Hey, Screamer!" Bulkhead shouted and clanged his fists together. 

Starscream saw the three of you and frowned deeply. "Autobots!" His wings fluttered in a panic. "Get them!" He ordered the 'cons. They abandoned their mining and ran at you three.

You shot at the first wave, taking them down before they could get too close. Bumblebee and Bulkhead worked together to get the bigger bots and leave the smaller ones for you.

As you went to take another shot the ache returned.

You winced, taking down the miner and looking around the area. Starscream was nowhere in sight.

You were about to comm Ratchet, but a sharp pain in your chassis forced you to hunch over and hold yourself.

The energy in your veins is pumps and pulses. Bulkhead noticed you and quickly rushed to your side, defending your flank while you recovered. You recovered and moved toward the Energon reserve. Bumblebee and Bulkhead held their position. You rushed to the middle of the pit, Starscream jumping down in front of you.

"Where are you going?" He grinned and aimed his arm at you, spindly digit threatening to pull the trigger.

"Starscream-" You held a hand up, the other resting against the pain in your plating.

"Oh, you're not getting any mercy today!" He lunged at you and shot a round into your shoulder. You tumbled to the ground, the pain seering your plating. "Frag-" You reached your knee up and kicked him off, deflecting his arm that swung at you, twisting and throwing him off of you. His nimble frame was back on his feet in seconds. Luckily so were you. You raised your fists, blocking his left hook, his sharp arm plating screeching against yours.

His leg swept under your ankle and threw you to the ground again. He stood over you and aimed his arm in your face. "I've been waiting for this... Megatron will praise me." 

You panted and tilted your head back. "I wouldn't be too sure of that..."

A shadow fell over you both. Starscream's wings tucked in defeat as a fist violently shoved him out of the way and threw him against the wall. Starscream yelped, rock falling and landing in his lap.

Optimus stood over you, his servo reached for you and grabbed your arm to pull you up.

You winced and held yourself, feeling your struts and plates shift uncomfortably.

"Thank you."

He nodded firmly, activating his arm cannon and placing a protective arm on your shoulder. He moved you somewhere safer and rejoined the fight. You watched him go and smiled softly. Ratchet split from the group and came over to you. You slowly sat down and looked up at him as he worked. You took a deep breath and looked down. Your spark was warm, and your chest felt like it was going at a million beats per second.

Ratchet checked your diagnostics and nodded. "That was one of my fears... We need to get you out of here." You looked at him. How he looked at you made your spark flutter but for the wrong reasons. "Ratchet it's not..."

"It is. Optimus had a hunch."

You shuddered softly. Ratchet kept you sat down and watched over you protectively until the sound above the reserve grew quiet. Starscream squirmed out from his place and transformed, flying off. 

"We'll get him next time." You said.

"I'd say so." Bulkhead approached.

You tried standing but were met with resistance.

"I can walk," you said stubbornly, moving your hips slightly. Ratchet gave you a firm look and kept you down. Optimus walked over, the other two moving away so he could come close to you.

"It's as you thought, Optimus," Ratchet said and got up. He motioned the others to follow him and they went to look over the Energon.

You looked up at Optimus softly and searched his optics to try and identify any anger in his face. Or, anything. Any emotion would be great right about now. "I... I don't know how I didn't notice sooner... When would we even-"

Optimus gently reached out and took your servo. You looked down and then back up. Optimus fully kneeled to your side, squeezing your servo. "I am not upset. I'm not... anything, right now."

You sighed softly. "I should have known... all the signs were there." You looked down, "I should have known."

Optimus' faceplates softened, "I'm glad you're alright." He let go of your servo and cupped your faceplate, tilting his head down. Your shoulders loosened a little. You reached up to cup his neck when his helm met yours. He welcomed your EM field into his, surrounding you with a mellow warmth that soothed your hydraulics.

You were a nervous wreck. He knew that.

You leaned forward and nuzzled into his neck cables.

"Optimus.."

"I need to get you and the team home." His voice rumbled low in his chassis, soothing you with something fierce. He slowly leaned back and helped you up. Your knees wobbled and crumbled underneath you. Optimus caught you effortlessly, a large hand spreading across your breastplates, helping you lean back up. "Easy.." He kept you close to his body, a comforting weight in your chest that reminded you you were safe.

"I've never had to carry someone so much before."

You smiled up at him. "I wouldn't mind if you did it more often." 

He cracked a small smile at that. He effortlessly pulls you up off your pedes and against his warm chest. The others got the Energon they could, and Ratchet called Arce to open the bridge and bring you back to base. Optimus went first with you in his arms. He held you tightly and protectively as he made his way through the tunnel.

The team followed close behind, Arce shutting the bridge and coming to Ratchet's side.

"What happened out there?"

Ratchet looked up at Optimus, they shared a silent conversation for a moment before Ratchet turned back to his computer. "Mishap, come on, let's get the rest of this, yes?" The others nodded and followed Ratchet's instruction.

Optimus brings you back to your berthroom and slowly sets you down. Now that you were in private you could properly talk.

"I am not mad."

You looked up at him.

"I don't want you to think I am. We are in a dangerous war. I cannot blame you for this, nor am I mad at you for it. You couldn't have predicted this. I couldn't have either." He knew that wasn't entirely the case. You two were sexually reserved, sure. But you could have avoided this.

He gently reached out and touched the side of your helm. You leaned into it and reached up to touch his wrist.

"I am..." He paused. He didn't know what he was. How he felt, it was very mixed emotions. "I don't know what I feel."

You understood.

You leaned forward and nuzzled his wrist. You looked up at him with soft optics, "It doesn't change anything?" 

To that, Optimus shook his helm. "No, not a chance." You looked down, and a smile formed across your derma. "If it means anything... I wouldn't do this with anyone else."

Optimus chuckled softly.

You sat up a bit straighter. 

"I wouldn't feel privileged to raise a sparkling if it weren't with you." He said, his thumb tracing your jaw.

You leaned in and pressed your lips to his. He held you, his hand on your jaw slowly traveling to the back of your helm. His EM field pulsed around you, warming you as it wrapped around your body. He pulled back and pressed his helm to yours.

"I'm glad we're in this together." You whispered. Optimus was quiet in favor of kissing you again. One servo comes down to protectively rest against your abdominal plating.

If Primus brings him a child, then who is he to say no? It may not be the ideal condition, but he wouldn't want to raise a sparkling with someone else.

You gleamed up at him. He returned the soft smile, gently nudging your forehead. "You're going to be a sire," Your smile grew wider, the momentary fear and worry that troubled you replaced by the joyful realization of what was to come.

Optimus couldn't help thinking of the future, of Megatron, of others who would get to hurt you, who surely would try to lay a hand on his child. Megatron wouldn't go that far... Would he?

He didn't fragging care. Not right now. Right now he allowed himself to bring his walls down, to hold you and kiss you all over until you giggled.

"And you, my Cybertronian beauty, the carrier of our sparkling."

A higher honor than anything. And even if sometimes Optimus didn't have it all figured out, he knew that if there was any time to commit to being the best sparkmate he could, it was now. For you, and for your sparkling.

After all... It wouldn't be long. He could feel it in his spark.

[throneofsapphics]

finding you again epilogue

Azriel x f!Reader

summary: after he ended your relationship, you didn’t expect Azriel to pop into your life again - and you’re not happy about it

warnings: implied sexual content

a/n: here's the last part to this little series! thank y'all so much for reading it <3 and thank you to @whisperingmidnights for your help <3

series masterlist

“Your shadow is here,” your sister cooed. 

You groaned. Gods, you were going to kill her. She’d taken to calling Azriel ‘your shadow,’ anytime she spotted some patch of darkness moving - as in every single swaying tree. Sure, it could have been Azriel a few times, but  he had much better things to do than follow you through Velaris on your infrequent visits. He’d made that perfectly clear. 

“Casual,” he’d said. Or had you? Either way, he’d agreed. You both did. 

Pressure built in your temples, the uncomfortable semi-headache that usually accompanied thinking of him. 

A pointy elbow jutted into your side. “There,” she snipped, nose upturned - offended you thought she was lying, perhaps. Or putting on a show. The second option was the most likely, knowing her. 

But you had bigger issues at hand. Mainly the Illyrian warriors strolling down the sidewalk, their massive wings taking up most of the space, females and males alike ogling them. 

You had no right to be jealous. When you were certain you wouldn’t be caught, you ogled them. Any sane person would. Besides, you got to see several of them in vastly different states. 

-

He knew that scent anywhere. The sweet unfurling of a flower, a step beyond your usual one. Sure, he was already aware of your presence but to scent that, and not even see you looking in his direction. Cassian’s hand on his shoulder was the sole thing keeping him from stalking over to you and winnowing you back to -

“Control yourself,” Cassian snickered. 

He shook his brother off, fixing him with a look that did nothing to wipe the smug grin off his face as he kept going - Right. To. You.

Just like that, he was signed up for dinner with you, your sister, and Cassian. He had a sinking feeling in his gut two parties would be missing. It was something he’d do. 

Az was nearly a millennium old by the time he was convinced to retire. By you, by everyone. To you, in private, he groused about the others' opinions. 

You were surprised by how quickly he agreed to retire to the home you’d created so many years ago. Not Velaris. 

Maybe he craved some peace and quiet as well. 

After all, the two of you managed a ‘long-distance’ relationship. His form of winnowing made the moniker redundant, but you still spent a few nights apart each week. 

Not that it had started as a relationship, not even close. In the moments, those years had been full of turmoil and unrest throughout the world, but you’d enjoyed the reliable banter with him, the push and pull that lasted centuries until there was an intervention. 

Mor had become your friend over the last few centuries, and it wasn’t a surprise that she showed up for you out of the blue. 

The surprise came in the room filled with the inner fucking circle of the Night Court. Well, a good portion of them. 

Rhys had a wicked smile on his face, similar to when you’d received the bargain and your heart caught in your throat. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. 

“Everyone’s sick of you two dancing around each other,” Mor started - and it only got worse from there on. Azriel had inched closer to you throughout it, and at one point you felt him attempt to winnow the two of you out - to save both of you, but the High Lord had prepared for everything. You shot Az a grateful look. 

As soon as there was a pause in conversation, you turned to him. “When is a good time to announce our marriage?” He paled. Just a shade, but you’d made the feared spymaster pale and mother above you’d remember it for the rest of the day. “I’m joking,” you added quickly to the room. 

Less than a month later, the two of you eloped, not telling a soul until after. They had all gloated over how their intervention worked.

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[mouwrites]

Creepypasta/MH - Breaking Up With Them

Characters: Nina the Killer, Jane the Killer, Clockwork, Jeff the Killer, Eyeless Jack, Tim/Masky

Nina the Killer

She approaches you one day, eyes puffy and red from crying

She breaks the news that she wants to separate pretty bluntly

“Y/n. I want to break up.”

She has to be quick because the second she opens her mouth, the tears are going to start again

She’ll be apologizing, telling you that you’re really awesome and attractive, you’re just not the one for her

If you let her she’ll hug you, burying her face in your shoulder

Your shirt will get stained with makeup

After a while she’ll pull away, sniffling, and ask if you hate her

If/when you say no, she just nods solemnly and hugs you again

When she’s finally ready to stop hugging you, she’ll offer to help you gather your things

If you forget anything she won’t have a problem texting you about it, or even bringing it to you herself

She’ll probably still want to be friends, but distant ones

Like, you’ll keep tabs on each other every now and again, and you’ll be friendly when you see each other, but you’re not exactly besties

She keeps the gifts you’ve given to her, as well as the Polaroid photos you’ve taken together

Even when she’s over you, she likes to look back and remember the good times you had together

Jane the Killer

Sends a “we need to talk” text first

She’ll tell you to meet her somewhere private and secluded

When you get there her face is creased with pain, but she’s firm and steady as she explains why she wanted to meet up

She stands a good distance away while she speaks

Her arms are crossed, but eventually it becomes obvious that she’s trying to hold herself as comfort

Tears may come to her eyes, but they won’t fall

If you take it well, she’ll approach and hold out her hand for a handshake

But as you get close, she’ll change her mind on a whim and yank you into a rough hug that’s over before you even realize it happened

Then, with a single sharp sniffle, she’ll wish you the best and walk away

“Have a good life, Y/n.”

She won’t contact you again

If you see her after, she’s going to avoid you at all costs

It’s just too awkward and painful for her

She probably purges everything you gave her in a fit of rage at some point

Everything but something super small, like a bracelet or something

She keeps it locked away, out of sight, out of mind (mostly)

Occasionally she’ll find it and stare for a while, reflecting on your relationship

Then she’ll shove it away again and try to forget she saw it

Clockwork

She’ll try to find you alone

Somewhere quiet where you can talk and think in privacy

She might startle you a bit by jumping straight in

She doesn’t even announce her presence first

“We should break up.”

Her expression looks relaxed to the untrained eye, but you see how tired she is

She’ll try to have a civil conversation, making plans with you to execute your separation

She wants to make the process as smooth as possible, which means no emotions allowed

She saves those for your last goodbye

While she’ll be totally cold and serious throughout the whole breakup, she’ll cry when you see each other for the last time

She’ll hug you tight and tell you how much she loved you

Then she’ll wish you the best, and tell you that if you need anything you can text her

Honestly she hopes you won’t

It’s really hard for her to restrain her emotions around you, but she forces herself to do exactly that

That’s why she won’t want to see you much anymore

She puts everything that reminds her of you in a box, but she can’t make herself get rid of it

It sits in her attic, collecting dust, just like her suppressed emotions towards you

Jeff the Killer

I see him as the type to break up mid-argument

Like, in the heat of the moment, he just shouts:

“That’s it! We’re over!”

Even if it’s was small, if breaking up is something he’s been thinking about, he’ll use the argument as an excuse to do it

He won’t elaborate much; he doesn’t want to expose himself like that

After the argument, he’s really cold, but not particularly aggressive

Like, he’ll help you pack your things calmly, but he’s not going to comfort you in any way

When you actually leave he walks you to the door and just says “bye” before closing it

He immediately blocks you on all platforms

Yet he’s too “lazy” to delete all the pictures of you off his phone, or to get rid of the gifts you’ve given to him

Sometimes he finds himself staring longingly at them, wondering if he made the right choice

His finger has hovered over the “unblock” button several times

Yet if someone brings you up in conversation, he scoffs and turns his head distastefully

Might even talk a little trash about you

(He’s still trying to convince himself that breaking up was a good decision)

If he sees you though…

He’s frozen, staring at you, more doubtful of himself than ever

Eventually he just looks away, too stubborn to address his feelings

It takes him a very long time, but he finally realizes that he ultimately made the right choice

Eyeless Jack

He’s mortified when he realizes he wants to split up

He feels so bad; he doesn’t want to hurt you

Doesn’t have the courage (or emotional energy tbh) to confront you face to face

So he leaves a letter

It’s multiple pages and very gentle and emotional

He makes it clear how he feels about you, restating multiple times how delightful you are, but that you’re just not for him

He’s probably already packed your things, but he tells you to grab anything else you want

He’ll disappear for several days, letting you sort yourself out

He’ll answer if you text though

It might take him a moment if it’s an emotional text, but he’ll just reiterate what he said in the letter

To be fair, it was a very thorough letter that he wrote with the intention of you having no such questions

But if it’s something practical, like “where is my toothbrush” or something, he’ll respond really quickly

That’s pretty much how it is afterwards

He’ll answer your texts if you need something, but he’s not looking to keep emotional ties

He might keep a few things to remind him of you, but he’ll get rid of most of them

Like Nina, he wants to remember the good times

He’ll probably be alone for a long time after, so the memories you gave him are ones he’ll treasure forever, even though he doesn’t love you anymore

Tim/Masky

Does it over text

He just can’t bring himself to face you

But he doesn’t want to leave a letter either; he wants you to be able to respond

He’ll be very blunt and to the point, but he’ll be dodgy when answering your questions

He doesn’t want to be vulnerable like that

The only things he will expose are that he did love you and that he thinks you’re a good person

He’ll only say it once though

After that he’s focused on planning

If/when you meet up to collect your things, he doesn’t say much

Honestly he just acts weirdly normal

Like, he’ll help you pack it up and carry it out

Then, before you leave, he says (astonishingly casually, as if you weren’t in the middle of a breakup):

“That everything? Yeah? Okay. Bye, Y/n.”

He’s acting like you had a healthy breakup when you really didn’t

It’s because he’s already bottled everything up

Maybe it’ll spill when the going gets rough, but he’s not going to touch it if he can help it

He’s already shoved your memorabilia in a box that he keeps in his basement, and he’s not planning on opening it

Yet its presence burns in his mind from time to time, driving him to push his emotions down even further

Sorry if I broke your wee hearts my loves :( but thanks for reading!! Take care of yourselves <3

[bettyfrommars]

The Nightmare Factory

an Eddie Munson x Reader series

The Fabric of Moonbeams

Masterlist

18+Only for mature themes, mention of sleep disorders and sleeping medication, longing, afab!reader, astral travel, horror icons. wc: 4.2.

Eddie got demoted to Ominous Thuds & Ghostly Whispers status after the whole Headless Horseman debacle.  Not because Steve or Saul narced on him, but because the eye in the nightmare sky sees everything.

He tried tapping the morse code that Wayne taught him on your bedroom wall one night, but only succeeded in making you sleep upright in the chair in your living room with all of the lights on.  You had dark circles under your eyes the next day, and almost dozed off at your keyboard.

You spent a lot of time looking at the sketch you had done of him, and the description of the headless horseman dream that you remembered with fascinating clarity.  You could close your eyes and smell the soap and leather of his skin now, and you could see the way his mouth moved when he spoke to you.  He knew your name, and you felt like you knew him.  

You found a book at the library called, “My boyfriend, My Nightmare” about a woman who believed she was in a relationship with a man in her dreams for years.  No one believed her, of course, and she was diagnosed with a particular type of rare disorder that had her on such heavy sleeping medication that it was impossible to remember her dreams, if she even had them at all.  

You sank down on a soft chair and almost read the entire thing in one sitting.  According to this woman, there is a place called The Nightmare Factory where your nightmares punch a clock and take lunch breaks together and collect a paycheck.  Apparently, it sits on a separate plane of existence, and you go there when you sleep.  Nightmares can exist during waking hours as well, the author said, and you sat up straight to read that paragraph.  

“The membrane that keeps our worlds apart begins to dissolve when you are able to perceive the nightmares, when you begin to understand that there is no true distinction between reality and dreams.”

“If you can imagine it, it exists somewhere in possibility,” the author continued.  “The Nightmare Factory workers are a form of entertainment to save us from the true horrors of human existence.”

What ever happened to the woman? Did she ever get to be with the man she fell in love with in her nightmares?  You skipped to the last chapter, and skimmed a few pages until you found what you were looking for.  

Her final words were very vague, but she admitted to going off of her prescribed sleeping medication, which made her have insomnia for a week, but then she started to dream again.  

“I know that no one will believe me, and that’s fine, I did not write this to convince anyone.  I’m having it published through a private company to help those who might find themselves in a similar situation.

By the time you read this, I will be gone.

The physical particles of my body have a hard time assimilating when I return from dreams now, and one day soon, I will stay there with him and not return through the secret door.  I’m not sure if I will ever be able to get back to this astral plane as anything more than a visitor, so please, if you are able to cross over, find me.”

You checked the clock on the wall, knowing you should head home, and then you found a few more books to take with you.  One was a manual on how to decipher your dreams, and the other was another memoir, though not as detailed, that someone had written about moving through the dream world with your physical body.

That’s impossible, you mused to yourself.

But still, some strange blossom of hope in your gut moved you to tuck it under your arm.

Meanwhile, Eddie flirted his way into the 7am Unexplained Voices & Creaking Stairs class by offering to service the teacher’s car for free.  She was a ghostly apparition who wore glasses and a pair of gloves to give students a hint to her presence.  She finally accepted after some hesitation, knowing full well that there was a waitlist. 

Anyway, her ghostmobile was not only serviced, but detailed, and there Eddie was, in the front row, bouncing his knee, eager to learn anything and everything he could.  

His band played a show at the Hideout that night.  The Hideout in Eddie’s dimension was a place where a lot of Nightmare Factory workers went after their shifts, so it often looked like the bar scene from Star Wars, but with ghouls. The factory was the biggest employer for a thirty mile radius, and everyone who grew up in Hawkinsville had worked there at least once in their life.  

It had been difficult when Eddie and Wayne first moved there when he was young.  Eddie was what they called “a normie”, meaning he was not born into the nightmare life.  He hadn’t been raised by evil clowns or wolves or demons who walked on goat legs.  He’d picked up shapeshifting pretty fast though, and he’d learned to make his eyes go completely black whenever he wanted to by the time he was ten.

There were more than four drunks at the place that night, Eddie counted at least six, and then there were a few normies at a table, but he didn’t recognize them.  The bartender had a beer ready for him and slid it to the end of the bar before giving him a “thumbs up” motion.  Corroded Coffin did not get paid by the venue to play on Tuesday nights, so the beer was always on the house.  They had a tip jar at the edge of the stage that usually only had a couple bucks in it by the end of the evening, or a sprinkle of loose change.  

They were halfway through the set when Eddie looked out into the crowd and saw you.

He blinked hard, squeezing his eyes shut for a beat, but when he opened them again, he saw that it was really you—standing there, staring back at him, plain as day.

Sure, the room was dark and filled with smoke, but there seemed to be some type of luminescence around you.

Eddie cleared his throat into the mic and wiped his hair off his sweaty forehead, waiting to make sure to make sure you weren’t a mirage for the thirsty man that he was.  Some shrill feedback sounded through the speakers, and he mumbled an apology to the crowd.

You lifted your hand up slowly to wave at him, and you mouthed a little, “hi,” as a smile twitched across your lips.

But this time, it was Eddie who woke up.

He was back in his own bed, gasping for air, wanting to cry, wanting to return, needing to know how you had made it into his dream.

You were looking for him now.  Somewhere, behind the scenes of time and space, an invisible membrane was getting thinner.  

—------

“Are you coming or what?” Your friend Ellie turned to see that you had stopped short at the entrance to the Haunted House attraction you were about to enter.  You’d already paid, and had your hand stamped, but all of a sudden you wanted to be back in your bed, reading.  

You loved Halloween, but you weren’t a huge fan of jump scares, unless they were coming from that guy you kept dreaming about, the one named Eddie.

You wrote his name down in cursive and blocked letters all over the inside of your notebook, wanting to press it into the wrinkles of your brain.  It had been weeks since you last saw him, and every night you hit the pillow, you were hopeful.  

“I’m coming,” you jogged a bit to catch up, listening to the evil, mechanical cackling and high-pitched screams coming from inside.

You caught up to her and stayed close.  There were strobe lights inside and menacing figures loomed in the narrow hallway before you turned a corner into a dining room full of people with decapitated heads.  A few scare actors jumped out to lurch at you from dark corners while thunderous organ music played.

After the next room, there was a shuffle of people as one of the animatronic spiders dropped down from the ceiling, and one of the scare actors with a pig mask blocked your path right when the hallway split, so you lost Ellie, and all of a sudden, you were alone.  

You spun in a circle and called Ellie’s name.

Surely you’d still be able to hear the sounds from the haunt? But everything was quiet, the crowd was gone, and the noises from earlier were muffled, as if coming from far away.

Panic rose in your throat as you felt along the wall for a light switch or a door.  You stumbled around a black, velvet curtain and caught sight of the glowing EXIT sign with a rush of relief.

“Ellie? Anybody?” You eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the inky darkness, but the illumination from the sign gave you hope

This was fine, you’d wait for the other’s outside and tell them you had to duck out because you weren’t feeling well, which was not a complete lie.  

Beyond the door were aged, wooden stairs that went down.  A single light bulb dangled from the ceiling to offer a weak, ocre glow.  You didn’t remember climbing stairs to get into the building, but you must’ve been mistaken.

You hurried down the steps, hearing the door slam shut behind you with unexpected force, enough to shake the walls.  

Something didn’t feel right; the further you went down on the creaking steps, the darker and danker it seemed to get.  There was a sudden heat emanating and you could make out some soft rattling and hissing sounds.

By the time you realized you’d gone down into a sealed basement, it was too late.  

It wasn’t just a basement, though—it was a…boiler room?

There were metal tanks producing steam mounted with temperature gauges, and you couldn’t see to the other side of the space because they were massive.

“Hello?” You took a tentative step forward, looking around the concrete walls for some type of door to get out of the building.  Your heart was in your throat, and your breathing was getting rapid as your eyes jerked from side to side like a scared rabbit.  

You wrapped your arms around yourself. “Can anyone hear me? I got turned around and I’d like to leave now.”

There came a high pitched scraping then, like nails on a chalkboard, and it was so shrill, you had to cover your ears.  

“I can hear you just fine,” a deep, gravely voice chuckled from somewhere to your right.

Your attention snapped in that direction.  Instinct was telling you to start backing up, to get further away, to go bolt up the stairs, but that’s not what you did—you just froze there.  

It wasn’t long before you spotted a pair of glowing eyes peering at you from between two of the pipes, against the far wall. 

There was a person standing there.

It had to be one of the scare actors, down there on their break, or maybe this was a part of the haunt? But where was everyone else? And why was there a huge, poorly lit boiler room in the basement of that old house?

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he spoke in an evil sneer, like a villain in a cartoon.  

“This isn’t funny,” you shouted. “I just want to get out of here, please.”

He gave another diabolical cackle, and then there was the sound of nails on a chalkboard again.

The man in the basement with you stepped into view with a flourish, brandishing the long, metal daggers on his hand, flexing each finger for you to see each one individually; the tips were sharp and the blades caught the light.  He had on an old, brown fedora, a green and red sweater, and his skin was covered in scar tissue from severe burns.

You were down in that boiler room with Freddy Krueger.

The scream you let out as he charged toward you might’ve cracked fissures in the concrete.

You spun on your heel—

—and landed face first into the body of the person that had been standing behind you.  You felt the ragged, torn nature of a shirt under your cheek as whoever it was had enormous height, and then you pushed back and looked up in time to see a hockey mask with black eyes staring down at you, expressionless. His shoulders were broad and his body massive. Out to the side, he brandished a gleaming machete that was the length of your arm.

“Hi baby, get behind me!” The person in the Jason Voorhees mask said, sounding slightly echoed and muffled. The look he had was the same as in the movies, but this one had curly, almost frizzy dark hair that was long past his shoulders.

That voice…it was Eddie.

It was your Eddie.

You stammered a partial question, but then  you were already moving, letting his arm guide you around so that his body acted as a shield from Freddy who was cackling and swiping his finger knives around; you could hear the sharp whistle of air against the metal.  

You held on to the hips of Voorhees Eddie from behind and peeked under his raised arm to look at Freddy.  This Eddie in front of you was tall and massive, much more so than you remembered from the last dream you had.

“What the hell are you doing here, maggot?” The Freddy Krueger guy growled, saliva dripping from his yellow teeth as his pocked skin stretched over his cheeks like curdled milk.  

“Don’t worry about it, Jerry,” Eddie growled with disdain, throwing his machete into the other hand with deft precision. It twirled in the air and he caught it by the handle.  “This one is mine.”

“Oh, really?” The guy who looked like Freddy suddenly had a normal voice again, and his shoulders relaxed, dropping his hands to his sides. “I didn’t know, wow man, I’m sorry. Did I get the schedules mixed up?”

Voorhees Eddie relaxed too, dropping his free hand down to hold your hip, making sure you were still there. “No, you’re good,” Eddie’s voice was light now, soft, even. “I’m just filling in for Alex, he’s on vacation for a few days.”

“Paid leave?” Freddy/Jerry asked.  You were trying to match his face with the voice coming out, but it wasn’t working.

“I think so,” Eddie nodded once. 

“Must be nice to have seniority,” Jerry put his knives hand on his hip and scratched under his hat with the other. “Okay well, I’m going to head over to the next job. See ya, Munson.”

And with that, a black space the size of a door opened behind Jerry and he stepped through it. The door disappeared, and so did he. 

“Eddie?” You said his name over the hiss of the boilers as he turned to you.  You could see the realistically gray, rotting flesh of his Voorhees skin under his mask.  “What are you doing in a boiler room looking like Jason Voorhees?”

“Workin’,” he smiled and dropped the machete to the concrete with a clang to be able to snake his arms around you so that his fingers clasped at your lower back.  “I’ve been missing you.”

His new height was throwing you off as you tilted your head back to look up at him.  

“I recognized your voice this time,” you smiled, proud of yourself.  

He lowered his head to touch the mask to your forehead.  “I didn’t mean to disappear on you.  It took me a while to be able to have physical form again, to be able to see you like this.”

“It’s okay, I know,” you slid your hands up the torn clothing over his broad chest.

“You know?” He pulled back, searching your face.

“I’ve been reading this book, about where you work,” you wet your lips. “That Nightmare Factory place. I’ve been trying to figure out…how to see you more often.”

Eddie’s heart jumped.  He put his hand over yours on his chest and held it there, and you could see that even as Jason Voorhees, he still wore his signature metal rings.  “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course,” you got a bit bashful and looked down. “I want to…get to know you better.”

“I saw you the other night in my dream,” he rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand.  

You stared up into his eye sockets of his mask, and your face lit up.  “That was cool, wasn’t it? I couldn’t believe I found you.  There is a sort of meditation in the book that I did about a thousand times, and it was only for a second. I think it’s a type of astral projection. You looked really good on stage.”

Eddie tucked his chin almost bashfully, moving his hand to interlace his fingers with yours.  “You thought I looked good?”

Eddie had been learning too.  Learning new skills to come to you in your nightmares, but also learning about a rare case where a nightmare worker crossed into your dimension and stayed there.  They were never heard from again, and some say they didn’t survive the crossover and their particles exploded into the ether, but Eddie chose to believe that was a lie to keep people from trying.  

Suddenly, there was a banging sound, muffled and far away, but you could feel it thudding in your chest.  You checked around the room, thinking it was noise from one of the pipes, but Eddie dropped your hand and squeezed your arm, checking his digital wrist watch with a sigh like he usually did when he was about to make his exit.

Back at the factory, someone was banging their fist against the transportation door, shouting for Eddie. He tightened the muscles in his jaw, frustrated that there never seemed to be enough time. It sounded a whole lot like Kevin.

He had to figure something out soon, before his heart exploded.

“Are you in trouble again?” Now that you knew a bit more about what he did, you feared he might get penalized, and you wouldn’t lay eyes on him for another month.  The pounding continued intermittedly, and you faintly heard someone call out Eddie’s name.

“No, not this time, sweetheart,” Eddie stretched, puffing his chest out a bit, and then bent forward to put the mouth of the mask on your forehead. You could feel his warm breath on your skin there.  “But my shift is over.  I have to get back before my timer goes off.”

“Before your timer goes off? Sounds like you’re in a microwave.”

“Well,” he tipped his head to the side, thoughtfully.  “The technology is similar, I suppose, but yeah, I hate to leave you like this.”

You hugged Eddie Voorhees as hard as you could and spoke into his chest.  “Maybe next time, I’ll find you first.”

The distant banging got louder, more persistent.

He bent down to grab the machete, pushed a button on his watch, and the same square, black opening in the air appeared.

There was a second there when you considered just running and jumping through his door, but then you remembered a part in the book when it mentioned how that type of jarring dimensional travel could give Dreamers what scuba divers called “the bends” from the dramatic change in pressure.  

You were about to tell him you’d miss him, or goodbye, or something else, but then, in a blink, you were jolted back to your senses—

—you were back in the hallway of the haunt right after the spider had dropped from the ceiling.

Wait a minute.  How had that happened?

You were at a dead halt, stopping the flow of people traffic as you looked down at your hands and over at Ellie who had turned around to motion you to keep moving as another scare actor dressed like a deranged doctor covered in blood jumped from the corner.

When you got home, you rushed to your desk to open the book, and flipped to the chapter called “The fabric of moonbeams”.  It talked about “dream pockets” that occurred like daydreams when you were linked to someone.  The author didn’t know exactly how to explain it, but she suspected it had something to do with sudden surges of adrenaline that caused a dimensional shift, especially if you had a connection to someone at the factory.  

You sketched out Eddie again that night, this time, it was what you remembered from when you’d visited him for a few seconds at The Hideout.  Flanked by his bandmates, he was strumming the strings on his guitar, looking down with one knee bent out and his hair hanging down.  

You wanted to recapture the scene as realistically as possible so that you could study it to prepare for the next time you tried to visit him.  Next time, maybe you'd step into his world and not his dream.

Maybe next time, he’d kiss you again.

----

Happy Halloween weekend to all of you who are enjoying this series, thank you for reading 🧡

[bots-and-cons]

Arcee, Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack being paired with a Bot who was a laidback and casual bodyguard before the war but is also an absolute stone wall in battle?

A/N: I took stonewall to mean something strong and something you can’t get past. Idk how you meant it but that’s what comes to mind first for me. All of my stuff lately feels like a stream of consciousness kind of thing, but I don’t really care. And I cut out Magnus, surprise, surprise

~Wheeljack~

•You’re definitely very chill and Jackie quite likes that, you don’t seem to get stressed about things, even when you maybe should

•You’re always chill and calm, and seems like you never really lose your cool

•Jackie is kind of similar, he’s really laid back, and calm in battle, but he can get really reckless and mad if someone he cares about is hurt

•Jackie knows you used to work as a bodyguard before the war, and even for a while after it started

•You’re a strong warrior, so your services were wanted by many

•Jackie never ran into you on cybertron, but he did encounter you after the planet went dark when you’d left the cybertron with your employer

•Your employer at the time becomes unable to pay you, so you left them to fend for themselves

•You didn’t have a ship, so when you met Jackie, you struck a deal with him for you to hitch a ride

•It ended up becoming more of a partnership, because you ended up adventuring in deep space together, before you came to earth

•Jackie and you are pretty close and you’ve talked quite extensively about your past jobs and all the scumbags who hired you

•There’s not much to do on long trips in space, all you could really do is talk about all kinds of things

•You’ve heard all of Jackie’s wrecker stories at least once, but you don’t mind hearing them over and over again

•Though you have taken note that the stories seem to change ever so slightly sometimes, they seem to get more and more heroic, if only slightly

~Arcee~

•Arcee doesn’t always appreciate your carefree and laid back attitude, because it sometimes feels like you don’t take things seriously

•She finds out pretty quickly that you take fighting very seriously and that you’re very good at it

•Of course this raises the question of “what did you do before the war?” because you seem to be suspiciously good at kicking aft

•You shrug and just tell her you were a bodyguard and that you had to fight a lot even before the war broke out

•She’s mildly interested in what kind of people you guarded, and you just straight up tell her: “Mostly some rich scumbags, but it paid well, so I didn’t care”

•Of course that money didn’t do much for you after cybertron went dark, so you had to take payment in other forms after that, physical currency instead of digital

•You sometimes infuriate Arcee with your laid back attitude, because she feels like you don’t take responsibility for things, nor do you take things seriously

•You have to/want to prove her wrong, but that takes some time

•You’ve saved Arcee a couple of times in a fight, but she has done so for you too

•Your relationship is a bit complicated, but you are quite close

[joelalorian]

Tides of Desire - Chapter Six: Edging Forward

Pairing: Yacht Captain!Joel Miller x f!reader

Series Summary: TLOU no outbreak AU. Joel Miller is a luxury yacht captain running charters in the Caribbean. You join the crew as a deckhand and unexpectedly complicate Joel's peaceful existence. Basically the TLOU bunch on a Below Deck yacht.

Series warnings: 18+ MDNI, adventure, alcohol, injuries, fluff, angst, smut (eventual), slowish burn. Reader is a badass. Smallish age gap (reader is 32 or so, Joel is 40). Additional warnings will be posted with each chapter as needed. No use of y/n.

AN: Thank you so much for the feedback on this fun little story!

Series masterlist

Chapter Six: Edging Forward

I figured we could think about it together.

The statement left you flustered, exhaustion making you wonder if you hallucinated it. The soft bump of his shoulder jostling yours removed the doubt.

“Talk to me.” Joel’s voice was a deep rasp in the dimly lit room, wrapping around you like a thick blanket. It was comforting and inviting, so you did. You talked through everything, what happened with Connor, the confusion and pining you felt for Joel, the emotional roller coaster… everything. He remained quiet, eyes never leaving your face as he listened until your voice tailed off into dead air.

For several, long minutes, the only sound on the bridge was that of your combined breathing. When Joel finally did speak, the deep rumble startled you.

“I’m sorry.”

Your eyes shot to his, the dark orbs shining in the low light, waiting for him to elaborate.

“For everything – for the emotional roller coaster, for not making sure you understood where I’m coming from, not being clear about what I want. For you having to be the one to save Connor. All of it.” Joel scrubbed his hands against the scruff of his beard with a sigh. “I feel all the things you do; I promise. I just, I won’t do anything about it right now. That doesn’t mean I won’t later. Ya get me?”

Biting your lip, you searched his face. It was all there, in those big, dark chocolate eyes that you could fall so easily into. “So, not never. Just not right now.”

Heads turned toward each other, gazes remaining locked, Joel nodded. “I just want to maintain a more professional relationship while on the yacht, but we can be friendly, keep getting to know each other until the season ends. After that, we can decide, together, if there is anything to pursue further.” After a pause, he added, “How does that sound?”

Mulling it over, you nodded. It was a perfectly reasonable request, leaving you hopeful once again. “I can manage that. Just try to not be so fucking sexy all the time, will you?”

Laughter rumbled from deep within Joel’s chest. “I’ll try if you do. I don’t know if you realize this or not but you’re beautiful and it’s very distracting.”

Your face and neck were still flushed with warmth when your shift on anchor watch ended and, back in your cabin, you drifted off to thoughts of later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Brit! Come meet our new deckhand,” Tommy called as you walked out onto the aft deck hours later, refreshed from a deep nap. He introduced you by your real name first, then added, “But everyone calls her Brit ‘cause she’s British. Brit, this is Jake.”

Reaching out, you shook Jake’s hand with a firm grip. He was tall and broad, like Joel, torso tapering down to slim hips and strong legs. His face was tan, jaw strong, like it was chiseled from stone. His hair was light brown, cut short on the sides with a little wave on top. His eyes were big and ice blue, piercing you with an assessing gaze as you took him in.

“Hello, nice to meet you, Jake,” you greeted, assessment complete. He was hot.

“You too, Brit. Really happy to join this crew.”

You listened as Tommy inquired about Jake’s experience and strengths, trying not to fidget every time those icy blue eyes gazed at you. Someone once told you that boys with dark hair and light eyes were nothing but trouble. You had the sense that was entirely true. Jake was trouble.

A call came over the radio just then, Ellie requested Tommy’s help with something. Before departing, Tommy turned to you. “Can you show Jake to his bunk and help him settle in? Once you’re done, we’ll get the guests in the water with the toys.”

“Sure, come on, Jake. I’ll give you the penny tour on the way.” Leading Jake through the yacht, you pointed out the importance stuff. “Have you met the captain yet?”

Nodding, Jake followed you. “Yeah, met him first thing. I also met his daughter… what’s her name, Sarah?”

“That’s it. They’re a good bunch, those Millers.” On the crew deck, you stopped in front of the boys’ cabin. “You’re in here with Sammy and Tommy. The free bunk is obviously yours.”

A stack of uniforms sat on the top bunk, a pile of luggage and an acoustic Taylor guitar on the floor. “You play?” you asked, intrigued.

“Any chance I get,” Jake replied, picking up the guitar to show off his skills. Long fingers strummed with the effortless talent of years spent playing the instrument. “Do you play?”

A quick shake of your head was your only response, eyes focused on watching his fingers pluck the strings.

“I could teach you. I bet you’re a quick study.” Your eyes shift to meet his, the burning look in them hinting at his desire for more than just teaching you to play guitar.

You hummed with a shake of your head, guiding the conversation back where it needed to go. “I’ll leave you to get settled and changed. Don’t take too long though.” You waited in the crew mess, having a little snack while Jake sorted out his things. Ten minutes later, you swallowed the last of your snack when Jake emerged from his cabin dressed in the daily deckhand uniform.

“How do I look?” he asked, spinning on the spot with a smirk. Such an incorrigible flirt. The shirt clung to his frame, hems stretching around his biceps. He looked good, really good, though you were not about to tell him that. Instead, you shrugged.

“It’ll do. Come on, we need to get out to the swim platform.”

Jake fit right in with the deck crew, taking direction from Tommy and finding ways to connect with everyone during conversations. Ellie was quickly charmed into wanting to learn to play the guitar. He was also a hard worker, enjoying the job just as you did.

“The guests want to head to the Virgin Islands for the next few days,” Tommy explained as the four of you wrapped up the washdown. “We’ll pull anchor in an hour. They want to explore the Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon.”

“Wicked!” Jake exclaimed, blue eyes sparkling. “My undergrad was in marine and wildlife conservation. I love that stuff.”

“Perfect. You and Brit will go with the guests then. Ellie and I will stay here and help interior setup for the dinner party.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stocked with snacks and a cooler full of alcohol, you and Jake help the guests onto the tender.

“My, my, my, aren’t you just a pretty boy!” Donna teased, rubbing a hand along Jake’s bicep as he assisted her. “You must be the new guy. You can hold my hand as long as you want, handsome. Don’t mind my husband.”

From his spot on the swim platform, her husband rolled his eyes, a long-suffering smile upon his lips.

“I’m Jake, sweetheart.” Jake grinned at the vivacious woman, already entertained by the group.

“Careful, son. She’ll have her claws in you before long,” Doug teased, subtly pulling his wife away from the attractive, young deckhand. You really loved this group of guests. They were so playful.

“Okay, everyone ready? Let’s go exploring!” Once the lines were released, you steered the tender away from the yacht toward the wildlife refuge. “Our first stop will be the Buck Island Lighthouse.”

Buck Island was a rather bare little island about two miles southwest of St. Thomas, with little more to offer than the old, abandoned lighthouse and rocky shoreline. But for anyone interested in birding, it was a wonderful place to explore and spot various types of shorebirds.

The guests spent a couple hours walking the shoreline, bird watching, exploring the old lighthouse, and taking photos. After joining them for a bit of exploration, you and Jake sat on an outcrop on the northern side of little island, allowing the guests to enjoy their outing without you hovering over them, but ready to assist if needed.

“Where are you from?” you asked Jake. One of your favorite parts about yachting – aside from being on the water – was meeting and working with people from all over the world.

Charming little dimples appeared on his tanned cheeks as Jake grinned. “I’m from down under, mate. Grew up in Sydney surrounded by surf and sun.”

“Oh, I love Australia! My ex was Australian, so I’ve been a few times. The visits never lasted long enough, though. What was it like growing up there?”

“It was a wild mix of beautiful beaches, bustling cities, and the outback. We would go surfing in the morning and be on an adventure in the middle of nowhere by afternoon. Always felt like a bit of a paradox, but that’s what made it special.” Jake’s face was alight with boyish charm as he spoke of his homeland.

“Sounds wonderful. Why ever leave?” you asked, curiosity piqued.

“An inflated sense of adventure, I guess?” Long fingers reached up, running through his wavy hair. Your eyes tracked how it flopped back into place. “When it started to feel like I exhausted all the adventure home had to offer, I got into yachting to explore more of the world. I’ve been lucky to work on boats down under, in the Mediterranean, and now here in the Caribbean.”

You could relate to the sense of adventure and wanting to explore the world on your terms. “Do you ever miss home?”

Jake’s ice blue eyes clouded over for a moment as he leant forward, elbows planted on his knees. “Of course, always. But yachting gives me a taste of home, even when I’m halfway across the world. Home is where my love for the water began, and yachting just lets me share that love all over the world.”

Nodding, you drew your knees up toward your chest, wrapping your arms around your calves in a loose hold. “I feel that in my soul. Although the Caribbean is nothing like England, just being on the water, wind in my hair and sun in my eyes, reminds me of back home and all those summers sailing with my grandfather.”

Conversation continued, weaving from travel, past relationships, hobbies, pets, to family. It was easy and unguarded. Jake reminded you a lot of your ex-boyfriend, handsome, charismatic, and easy to talk to. Even with all of that, your mind wandered back to thoughts of Joel during every lull in conversation.

When the guests returned from their explorations, you let Jake drive the tender back to the yacht, taking a seat next to the primary during the ride.

“Did you all get some good photos?” you asked, brushing errant locks of hair out of your face.

Donna smiled, pulling out her phone to scroll through some of the shots she took. Once done, she tucked her phone away and shifted closer to you. “There are a few hotties on the yacht, huh?” she asked conspiratorially, bumping your shoulder.

Humming in response, heat raced up your neck to your cheeks. “I can’t deny that some of the men are quite attractive.”

“And tell me, as a beautiful young woman surrounded by these handsome men, which one has caught your attention? I know it has to be one of them.” After a beat, Donna added with a wink, “I know who I think it is.”

Flustered, you were at a loss for what to say. Could you… should you… tell her the truth? You held your tongue, avoiding her gaze, which Donna took as a challenge.

“Well, I’ll tell you who I think it is and you just sit there and look pretty if I’m right.” You laughed at that, and, after a beat, Donna said, “It’s the captain. I know it. He’s quite dreamy.”

Your breath caught in your chest, smile falling. What? How? Your eyes searched hers for answers. Donna patted your knee with a well-manicured hand. “Oh dear, it’s obvious if you know what to look for. One glance at the pair of you and it’s clear that something’s there.”

Clearing your throat, you stutter through a response. “W-we’re not… we haven’t… there isn’t anything, yet.”

Giving you a knowing nod, Donna replied, “Yet being the operative word. You will soon enough, believe me. I know these things.”

Jake pulled up to the swim platform before you could say anything else, and you got back to work tying off the boat and helping the guests back onto the yacht.

“Welcome back! How was the outing?” Joel inquired once the guests were back on board, cocktails in hand.

“It was delightful!” Donna exclaimed. “You have a wonderful crew working for you, Captain. I’m particularly fond of Brit, she has been nothing but a joy to talk to.” She patted Joel’s arm with a knowing wink, leaving him pleased but perplexed.

Stepping onto the bridge aft deck, Joel gazed down at the swim platform where you and Jake were cleaning the tender. The pair of you worked well together it seemed, chatting and laughing the whole time. A small pang of jealousy rippled through his chest, but he shoved it down, reminding himself of your recent conversation.

You wouldn’t give up on him that quickly, would you?

No, he didn’t think you would, but the new deckhand was handsome and charming, less burdened…

The sound of your lilting laughter carried up the decks, bringing a hint of a smile to his lips despite the thread of concern weaving through his thudding heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The charter carried on much better than it started. News from Connor indicated that his charter season was over, his broken arm needing a couple months to fully heal. Emmy was heartbroken but stayed focused on work. The weather remained clear, and no further incidents occurred. Jake settled in, fitting in with the crew seamlessly. He and Tommy had a lot in common and often chatted while working.

You noticed Jake’s icy blue eyes lingering on you sometimes but brushed it off, still enamored with Joel. The primary’s words bounced around in your mind as well, leaving little room for thoughts of anyone or anything other than Joel and what may lay ahead for the two of you.

Since the conversation with Joel, you noticed him making a concerted effort to check in with you – meeting you on deck in the morning before your shift technically started, making little conversations throughout the day, and asking about your day before heading off to bed. Every interaction made your heart swell and you found yourself counting down the weeks until the season was over.

However, a few times on the last night and final morning of the charter, you caught him gazing at you with an unreadable expression that left you wondering if you did something wrong. You didn’t realize that Joel was watching from nearby while you and Jake were tidying up on the sundeck, misinterpreting your friendly conversation as something more than it was which fueled his growing frustration since Jake’s arrival.

“I dislocated my jaw while playing ultimate frisbee in college. It never healed right,” you explained, demonstrating how the right side of your jaw popped when you opened wide.

“How the hell did that happen? That’s not exactly a contact sport!” Jake’s eyes were wide as you told him how you collided with a big dude’s should while in mid-air trying to catch the frisbee. You both winced at the retelling.

“Your turn! I can’t wait to hear this!” you said with a laugh. After hearing his silly fact, you were hysterical. He was addicted to General Hospital. “You’re full of surprises, Jake. I never would’ve guessed you were into soap operas!”

He smirked at you, eyes sparkling in the boat lights. “Well, there’s a lot more to discover about me, Brit.”

You had brushed off the comment as Jake’s naturally charming personality, not reading anything more into it, but apparently Joel had.

When the yacht docked at the end of the charter, Donna left you with words of encouragement regarding Joel. “I’ve seen the way he’s been with you the past few days. He obviously cares about you, and you will make the most beautiful couple, in time. Good luck, my dear.”

“Oh hush,” you said with a chuckle. “Take care, Donna. I hope to see you and Doug again sometime.”

Pinching your cheeks like a child, Donna chuckled and arched a brow. “I have no doubts our paths will cross again sometime, dearie.” The woman moved her way down the line, saying goodbye to the rest of the crew. You watched as she stopped in front of Joel, pulling him in for a tight hug and whispering in his ear. Whatever she said made him blush wildly and you grinned.

As the last guest exited the passerelle, Joel turned to everyone. “You know the drill. Get to it.” Cheeks still tinged pink, he winked at you before heading back for the bridge.

The deck crew made swift work of the wash down, jumping in to assist the interior crew with changing out the bins and finishing up the dishes. Before long, it was mid-afternoon and time for the tip meeting. It was no surprise that Donna and Doug left you all a fantastic tip, tied for the best of the season. They had been very pleased with their experience.

Before dismissing the crew, Joel stood up. “I’ve a surprise for y’all. Dinner and rooms tonight and all day tomorrow at the Beach Club.” The words barely left his lips before the room erupted in celebration. When the main salon quieted once again, he added, “It’s on the other side of the island, so vans will be here to pick us up in two hours.”

While most everyone else scrambled to go get ready, you hung back, moving over to Frank while Bill and Joel discussed something. The tall, older man beamed down at you. “Hello love. What are you up to?”

Shrugging your shoulders, you sighed. “Just killing time, I guess. Won’t take me that long to get ready.”

“Well then, join me for a cocktail on the sundeck?” At the bar, Frank whipped up two martinis before motioning for you to lead the way out of the room. He caught Joel’s dark eyes tracking your movements and smiled.

After some initial small talk, Frank dove right into, catching you by surprise. “I’ve noticed something.”

Intrigued, you frown. “Noticed what?”

Leaning closer to you, Frank motions vaguely with his wine glass. “You and Joel, the way you orbit around each other without ever getting too close. I’ve noticed that it bothers you.”

A sigh escaped your lips, once again reminded that nothing went unnoticed in such an environment. When you didn’t say anything, Frank continued. “Joel’s a protector, always has been. He’s got this way of keeping everyone at arm’s length, but when he lets himself care, he cares deeply.”

Unsure where he was going with this, you continued frowning at him. “Okay…”

Frank patted your leg with an indulgent grin. “You’ve got him thinking. Maybe more than he’d like. It’s in the way he watches you, the way he softens at the mere sight of you. He’s protective of you.”

Equal parts confused and thoughtful, you inquired, “How do you mean?”

“The way he checks on you, the subtle glances. Joel’s not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but I’ve known him long enough to recognize when he’s wrestling with something. I think that something is you,” Frank explained. “You’ve gotten under his skin.”

You knew this already and nodded. “I know. He’s made it clear that there’s something here, but he doesn’t want to explore it until after the season’s over.”

A cryptic grin spread across Frank’s handsome face as he stood. “I have a feeling that some recent developments will change that. Have fun tonight.” He walked away before you could fully process what he said.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was a first for Joel, leaving the yacht overnight during season. It was something he never would have done prior to meeting you. You, who caused so many unwitting changes in his usually rigid behaviour. After opening to you about his feelings, then watching someone new try to swoop in to gain your attention, he had to do something.

That something was the overnighter at the Beach Club, where he’d join the rest of the crew, minus Bill and Frank who offered to stay behind to watch the yacht so Joel could spend more time with you. Frank had no qualms in gushing to Joel how good you would be for him, how he should just enjoy the moments as they happen, and, quite simply, just remove the stick from his ass and do something before you gave up and found someone else.

Joel could take a hint when it punched him in the face.

Freshly showered and dressed in a pair of dark, fitted jeans, a short sleeve button down, and flip flops, Joel stepped out onto the main deck, the breeze tousling his still damp curls. The rest of the crew was waiting, stylishly dressed and small overnight bags in hand. His eyes zeroed in on you, long hair flowing over a simple, yet sexy sundress, a backpack slung over one shoulder, your skin dazzling in the evening sunlight. His gut clenched.

“Everyone ready?” Joel asked the group to distract himself from the stunning vision of you. Peering over the railing, he added, “Our rides have arrived.”

The sound of excited chatter filled the air as everyone moved down the passerelle and over to the awaiting mini vans. The group split between the two vehicles and Joel was uncertain whether to feel disappointed or relieved that you were not in the same van as him. All he knew was that he was not pleased that Jake was in the other van with you.

Tommy distracted Joel with conversation during the journey across the island, taking his mind off the near constant thoughts of you. He was becoming obsessed. Perhaps Frank was right – it was time to remove the stick from his ass and make a move, if for no other reason than to see if he could get you out of his system.

Dinner reservations were at six o’clock and Joel booked a total of five rooms, with the intention that the crew would bunk up and he’d have the fifth room to himself. Joel was no fool, though. He knew some of them – mostly Tommy – would try to pick up someone in the bar or hook up with each other and want some privacy, so he had two extra rooms on hold, if needed.

The ride was a little over an hour from the slip in San Juan to the resort in Ponce, and everyone was relieved to arrive in time to freshen up before dinner at La Cava Restaurant.

Once the rooms were sorted out – of course, Tommy quietly requested a room of his own, planning for later – everyone headed for the elevator. The rooms were scattered throughout the resort, by design. Joel wanted to cause the least amount of disruption to the other guests knowing how rowdy the crew might get. As the crowd in the elevator dwindled, Joel turned to you.

His palms were already sweaty with nerves. “Stay with me?”

You blinked up at him. “Do you mean…?”

Joel’s lips quirked up in a nervous half smile as he nodded. “Stay. In my room. With me, tonight.” The words fell from his lips awkwardly, but the gleam in his eyes begged you to understand that he wanted this, needed this. “We don’t have to do anything. Just stay with me.”

Your eyebrows raised in surprise. “But…” You were about to question the sanity of this, but it looked like you thought better of it as a dazzling smile lit up your face. “I would love to, Joel.”

Relief washed over Joel in a wave and without conscious thought, he leant down, his lips catching yours in the briefest, softest kiss.

TBC

[godspeedviper]

Smoke Break - Jonathan Crane x Harley Quinn

𖤐 Summary: Jonathan Crane and Harley Quinn share a smoke break for the first time since their fall from grace, reflecting on the evolution of their relationship from student and professor, to colleagues, and now as villains. (can be read as platonic or romantic)

𖤐 Type: angst || hurt/comfort

𖤐 Word Count: 1,060

𖤐 Rating: T+ || smoking || asylums || slight allusions to past abuse || no smut

  Jonathan had heard rumors of her capture, but he didn’t believe it until he saw her sitting alone on a bench in the sorry excuse for a yard that Arkham called an outdoor recreational area. He wordlessly sat beside her and pulled out a cigarette box – which he had earned for good behavior – offering one up to her. 

“Do you still smoke Marlboro reds?” He asked. 

 The blonde slowly turned to him with a pained look on her face, eyes puffy and red, nodding in agreement. 

“Yeah.” She replied with a sniffle. 

  Her hands trembled as they reached out to pull a cigarette from the box. Jonathan then pulled out a lighter – which he also earned on good behavior, but he had to hand it back in when rec time was over – and lit her up first before lighting his own. The two sat in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the ocean waves which clashed up against the cliffs of the tiny godforsaken island they were imprisoned on. The last time they shared a smoke break here, the circumstances had been completely different. They had stood together as colleagues back then, both in the employ of the facility that now served as their prison, but that was a lifetime ago. Doctors Harleen Quinzel and Jonathan Crane were no more, their personas tossed aside like the empty husk of a chrysalis left behind by the fully transformed butterfly, and in their place sat Harley Quinn and The Scarecrow. Now they sat together, masks off, and it felt as if they were meeting each other for the first time all over again. 

Crane was the first to break the silence, uttering a single phrase that carried the weight of the world. 

“I understand.” He said, causing Harley to tense up. “When I first saw… him , I felt it too.” 

Neither of them needed to say the name to know who was being spoken about, he was their shared nightmare, their nexus point, chaos incarnate. Jonathan drew in a deep breath and fixed his gaze onto some abstract point in the mass grayness of Gotham’s edge, where the gloom met the sea and became indistinguishable from one another. 

“He exposes you fully with just one quick glance, as if his eyes were hot knives cutting through your bullshit like butter, and he knows you’ve been hiding this nakedness all your life.” Jonathan scoffed. “We never stood a chance, you and I. Our cores were rotten long before he came into our lives. All he did was remind us of that. I don’t blame you for falling into his trap.” 

“Thank you.” She replied, choking back a sob. 

  Harley took in a deep shaky breath as she tried to settle her nerves enough to speak her mind. No matter how good of a therapist she had been, she could never be comfortable with her own vulnerability. 

“Do… Do you think that… maybe if we had acknowledged each other, we could have saved ourselves?” She stuttered as she spoke up again, voice hesitant and fragile in between sniffles. 

“I don’t know, child.” Jonathan responded, his gaze still lost in the surrounding gloom. “Perhaps if we had allowed ourselves to be honest and vulnerable with one another, forming a bond beyond the professional, we could have developed a psychological resistance, or maybe not and our rotten instincts would have flourished in the same manner. All I know is that there is no use wondering about it.” 

“I judged you at first.” Harley followed Jonathan’s line of sight, dissociating along with the mist and thus allowing her words to flow unencumbered. “I told myself I didn’t understand why you’d gone off the deep end and tried to terrorize everyone, but night after night I was haunted by jealousy. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, society still spits in the face of those who don’t conform. No matter what, I’ll always be just some poor white trash from Jersey with big tits and big dreams. The only power I could ever hope to have was in making others fear me, and Mr. J gave me that in spades.” 

“Oh how I admire that about you.” Jonathan sighed wistfully. “Genuinely, I really do. You were still able to embrace who you were before the world tried to beat it out of you.” 

He flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, not bothering to stomp it out. 

“You can still speak in the same accent that you worked so hard to hide… I can’t remember what I used to sound like, or who I used to be… Jonathan Crane died many many years ago… on a farm, and all this time I’ve been carrying his corpse, 

                                                           wearing his skin, 

                                                            using his name.” 

His voice trailed off, the last of his words carried away by the wind and into the damp melancholic atmosphere. 

“You were always my favorite teacher, you know.” Harley said almost by compulsion. 

Jonathan scoffed, “Don’t mock me, child.” 

“No it’s true!” She cried out. “Yeah, you were a bit of a hardass but you never underestimated me. You didn’t even seem surprised to see me at Arkham during my internship!” 

“I never doubted your determination.” Jonathan said very matter of factly. “And you were the only student I didn’t need to constantly correct.” 

Harley smiled for the first time since her capture, and leaned her head onto Jonathan’s shoulder, feeling his body tense up in response. They sat in silence for a beat, and then he spoke. 

“I’m proud of you, Harleen.” 

Now it was Harley who tensed up, a hard lump quickly forming in her neck and choking her. She tried to swallow her feelings, but her efforts were futile. Tears formed in her eyes as Jonathan continued to speak, and spilled out like blood from a fresh cut. 

“You’ve gone further than any of my students could have even dreamed of. You broke free of the monotony of normalcy and have become the stuff of Legend.” 

“No one told me it would be this painful.” She said with a pained sob. 

“Icarus would not be remembered today if he hadn’t fallen, and so we too must pay the same price, child.” Jonathan replied solemnly.

The pair spent the rest of their break in a deafening silence. 

Ao3 || Ko-Fi || Requests

[beanghostprincess]

Any comprehendible thoughts about Bruno’s and Leone’s relationship ?

By "comprehendible" I'm guessing you mean "coherent" and not "they make my skin crawl and my organs twist in a way that not even throwing up would be enough to get them out of my system they make me completely ill to the point of insanity and I would sell my soul to see them together again and happy". So I will try for you and write some thoughts you can understand instead of this being me sobbing over them for a whole year--

Part 5 has some incredible JJBA ships (I know you said relationship and not necessarily in a romantic way but it's impossible for me to see them platonically, I am sorry), I've realized, and maybe it's because they are all wayyyy gayer than usual and extremely more poetic. Araki went hard with the symbolism here. I missed it (he does this a lot idk what I'm saying) (but I missed the feeling part 2 gave me because it's my favorite) (well actually my favorite is part 4 but Battle Tendency will always be important to me and I'd choose it over anything else) (I forgot what we're talking about) (I apologize I never talk about JJBA here and I use every chance I get to mention everything I can).

So Bruabba (I believe the ship is called) wasn't my favorite ship in the beginning. It's kind of like that one thing you already just assume so you don't go that insane over them? They're so in love it's sickening and almost canon to me to the point that I often forget they are... Not canon... Wild. Honestly wild. In my mind, they kissed. But yeah, they were just there and I thought "they're gay and married. Good for them". Abbacchio's beef with Giorno is so funny to me, too, because God forbid Buccellati gives attention to someone other than him for two seconds 💔💔💔 (no but seriously I actually love Abbacchio and how protective he is) (his dynamic with Giorno is something that I love too but that's for another day).

But oh......... Then they show Abbacchio's flashback and how he is only at ease whenever he's with Buccellati... They trust each other so deeply and would not hesitate to do anything to save the other?? Something about Abbacchio hitting rock bottom and Buccellati saving him from his desperation and showing him another path. Something about Abbacchio going "The only time I'm at ease is when I'm following the orders of something great and absolute" vs "The only time I'm ever at ease is when I'm with you, Buccellati". Something about Buccellati seeing Abbacchio as not only someone he can rely on but someone he can lower his guard down around. Something about Buccellati being so protective of him which, you know, he is protective with everyone but it hits differently with him (he did something to me when he went "The moment you stab Abbacchio, I will end your life" like damn, they're not taking him away from you, soften your grip sweetie) (they're indeed taking him away though) (I am very sad). Something about Buccellati having to deal with the weight of leaving Abbacchio after his death and being the one to make the decision while Narancia sobs.

In general their dynamic is just insane to me because they both respect each other in different ways but so deeply. Buccellati will forever be Abbacchio's capo and light and savior in a way that is almost religious devotion. And Abbacchio will forever be Buccellati's most trusted person and he was just so proud of him and of choosing him. Like, if fate is a thing (which it is because it's the main theme in this part) these two are definitely soulmates. Not to mention that there's just something so beautiful in Abbacchio following orders but choosing to go with Buccellati knowing it'd probably get him killed. And Buccellati seeing so much potential and humanity in Abbacchio and someone to call home, too.

They're not even my favorite ship but yesterday I read so many... So many fanfics of them... This ask is the perfect timing, honestly. They've been on my mind lately. I literally woke up today after a nightmare and INSTANTLY went here to look for fanart of them.

Basically, coherent comprehensible thoughts, I love them an abnormal amount.

BONUS! Yesterday I asked my fiancé (who has not watched JJBA) their thoughts about part 5's characters and this is what they said about them:

[petitelepus]

ESCAPE FROM YANDERES COMMISSION

Alright, in these stories Reader-chan tries to escape from their Yandere match but fails. These stories were commissioned by ONE AND ONLY @biggesttfsimp!

She was so kind and patient with me, I’m sorry it took so long and I hope you and everyone enjoy the short stories I wrote!

Also, last one, Tarn one has some violence so if you aren’t okay with that, DON’T READ.

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

You knew you had to escape one way or another. While Starscream didn't necessarily treat you badly, it was obvious that he did not hold you two as equals like it should be in a healthy relationship should be done.

He did bring you food, take care of you, and compliment you, but he expected you to compliment him much harder and sometimes he just bragged to anyone willing to listen about how he was doing you a favor.

How kind he was, taking care of a simple human like you and saving you from certain death once Decepticons would take Earth over. Never once did he ask how you truly felt.

Starscream is away, scheming how to take over Megatron's position as the leader of the Decepticons or doing God knows what. Perfect time to attempt an escape.

You sneak out of Starscream's habsuite and make your way down the halls of Nemesis. If any sci-fi movies were to be believed then there should be some kind of escape pod or something like that.

Sadly, your legs weren't in good shape and you hadn't been venturing long before your legs started to hurt too much for standing to be bearable anymore.

You move to take support from the cold walls, but your legs give out and you go down with a defeated grunt.

Okay, maybe you could take a short break before you continue. Nemesis was a huge ship even for a Cybertronian so imagine how huge it was for a small human like you.

"My, what do we have here?"

Aah, shit. You looked up and saw Knock Out looking down on you. The cherry-red mech chuckled at the sight of you as he leaned down and carefully picked you up.

"I should scold Starscream for letting his human pet wander around the ship on their own."

"Please..." You whimpered sadly, "Can you let me go?"

"As much as I would love to mess with his royal pain in aft, I doubt Starscream would be happy if I let his pet just leave-!"

"What exactly I wouldn't like?"

Talk about the devil and he appears. Knock Out turned to look at Starscream who had his arms crossed and was tapping his leg on the ground.

"Well?"

"Oh, nothing!" Knock Out chuckled as he shrugged, "Your human just looked miserable and I thought she would benefit more from clear air."

"Don't tell me how to treat my human! Who do you think you are talking to?!" Starscream snapped as he reached to take you with force from the Decepticon medic, but the red mech didn't let him take you back like that.

"Pardon me, your Highness." Knock Out rolled his optics and didn't even try to hide it as he gently handed you back to Starscream. "If I were you I'd treat my partner better."

"I think I know what my human needs!" The sleek Con hissed before turning and leaving. You cursed by yourself, your escape attempt ruined for good.

Once back in Starscream's habsuite and your prison, he set you on your own bed and you made yourself comfortable as you looked at him. "So... Where were you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He grunted as he barely even looked at you and you rolled your eyes, "That's why I'm asking."

"It's really none of your business."

"I see." You huffed, "Fine, stay that way. I didn't want to speak either way."

"Then why would you ask!?"

"I was being thoughtful. You could try it sometimes." You snapped as you made yourself comfortable on your bed and turned your back to Starscream.

The Decepticon grumbled and hissed under his breath and you tried your hardest to ignore him as you were tired and your body wanted you to give it a break and rest.

"I'm... Trying my best." Starscream finally said, "Once I rule the Decepticons, you will get everything you desire. Mark my words!"

You knew his words were worth nothing. He was manipulative and most of all a liar. No doubt he lied even to himself, but you wouldn't believe anything he would say. The day you started to believe him, would be the day you would start lying to yourself.

PLANE TICKET

You loved Autobots and the kids, they were all good people and so accepting of you. All expect Ratchet. He wasn’t a Bot you thought he was. While he was kind in his own cranky way, you could tell that deeper in there was a darkness that was too much for you to handle.

‘I need some time alone so I’m leaving town for a while. Please understand.’ You had left them a message so they wouldn’t worry about your sudden disappearance.

With your luggage packed, you were on your way to the airport just outside the town when suddenly out of nowhere, something crashed with the taxi you were in.

It all happened so fast. Just a second ago you were chatting with the taxi driver and next your ears were ringing and you could smell gasoline leaking from the car.

You could feel something dribble down your face and you realized it was blood.  You must have hit your head. You started to see black spots in the corner or your vision and you realized that you were losing consciousness.

No matter how much you tried to keep yourself from fainting, you were fighting a fight you were bound to lose. Just as you blacked out, you could hear sirens ringing...

Slowly, you started to gain your consciousness back and you blinked, your vision still a little hazy. You felt that you were in a bed, but everything looked too dim for you to figure out where you were at. It certainly didn’t look like a hospital.

You rubbed your eyes as you slowly sat up and looked around and saw that you were in a dungeon of some sort.

“What the...?” You groaned as you touched your forehead and notices that your head had been bandaged. So you had gotten medical attention.

“Where am I?”

“In your new home.”

You yelped as you turned as saw Ratchet sitting in the corner of the dark room.

“Ratchet?” You groaned and rubbed your eyes, “Where am I? What is this place?”

“This is my private room.” The Autobot medic replied, “No one knows about this place except me.”

“Why am I here?” You asked and the Bot frowned, “You tried to leave.”

“What?”

“You tried to leave me!” He snapped, making you flinch and he continued, “You can try and deny it, but I know you wanted to leave me!”

“Ratchet, please, you’re scaring me!”

“You might as well get comfortable,” Ratchet said as he stood up, “Because you aren’t leaving this place.”

“What?” You blinked and watched the Autobot take his leave.

“Ratchet!” You cried out as you threw your legs over the bed’s edge and tried to stand up, but your legs wouldn’t hold your weight and you collapsed on the rough ground.

“Shit...!” You groaned as you tried to crawl but you felt something tug your ankle and you looked to see a chain snapped around your ankle and connected to the bed.

“Shit!” You cursed as you turned to look at your captor.

“You can’t do this Rachet!” You shouted, “People are going to wonder where I am!”

“Please! Everybody thinks you’re out of town!” Ratchet shouted, “No one is going to come looking for you!”

“No...!” You whimpered as you tried to push yourself on your feet, but they wouldn’t hold.

“You said you needed time alone?” Ratchet asked as he turned the lights off, “Let’s see how you like it.”

And just like that, he closed the door and left you in complete darkness. It would be only manner of days before loneliness and isolation would get you and after that, you would cling to Ratchet as if your life depended on him... Exactly like he wanted you to.

FOREST ESCAPE

Blitzwing had been careless. With SpaceBridge being built he had his hands full with getting, cough stealing cough, parts and materials for the Decepticons’ huge project.

He would each night come to you and enjoy your company, telling you how his day went and how their project was doing. He would get very little recharge and that took a toll on him.

As you said, Blitzwing had been careless and he had left the door of your prison ajar.

You knew you wouldn’t get another chance like this so you had to try your hardest to escape and maybe even find help. For your and Professor Sumdac’s sake.

Finding the right tunnel that would take you outside was hard. You had to rely on the cave’s walls, taking support from them as you wandered. Your time was limited and despite being tired, you knew you had to push forward.

So when you heard the sound of rain and saw light at the end of the tunnel, you felt hope spark in your chest. You made it out.

It was raining heavily and you could hear thunder roaring in the distance, but you made it outside. You couldn’t remember the last time you breathed fresh air or felt raindrops hit your skin.

It was a small victory that turned into a hindrance as you ventured into the woods. The trees did very little to shield you from brutal rain and you could feel yourself grow weaker with each step you took.

You tried to take support from the trees, but you were already feeling fatigued. Your legs hurt and they could barely hold you up...

Suddenly you slipped on wet grass and you went down and hit the ground hard. You groaned as you tried to push yourself up, but you had used too much of your powers to escape the Decepticon base.

You were shivering in cold, rain soaking you and making your wet clothes stick against your body.

With each passing second, you could feel yourself grow weaker and you started to lose consciousness. Finally, you felt your body give up and you slipped into darkness...

You were sure that was it but then you felt warmth engulf you.

Slowly, you started to wake up. Your eyelids felt heavy and you could barely keep your eyes open, but with each passing moment, you started to regain your strength.

You tried to move your hands and legs, but you felt resistance. You looked down and saw that you were wrapped in a heating blanket. Someone had found you and saved you.

You looked around and you felt your heart drop. You were back, back in the caves, back in the Decepticon base, back in your prison.

“Jou’re awake.”

You flinched and looked to the side to see Blitzwing looking at you. Icy sighed, “Jou tried to leave, didn’t you?”

You didn’t dare to speak. You didn’t trust your voice.

Blitzwing’s face shifted and Hothead scowled at you, “WHAT WERE JOU THINKING?! JOU COULD HAVE DIED!”

“I’m sorry...” You said with the tiniest and weakest voice there was and it was almost heartbreaking by how weak you were.

“BE THANKFUL THAT I FOUND JOU!”

“I am...” You nodded, “Thank you...”

Hothead huffed, but then Random took over, “Oh, jou are too cute to be mad at!”

Blitzwing reached for your prison’s door and opened it enough to let his hand in. You flinched, thinking he was going to pick you up, but instead, he put a steaming hot cup of cup noodles next to your bed.

His face turned and Icy looked at you, “Eat. Jou need food to get better.”

You nodded and Blitzwing pulled his hand back and he made sure to shut your prison’s door all the way and locked it before he stood and left.

You frowned as you reached for the cup of noodles and took the small fork that came with the cup and started eating. You don’t remember noodles ever tasting as good as they tasted at that moment.

Escape was out of your mind for the moment. You were so sore and tired, you would now focus on getting better before you would start plotting your next escape attempt.

ALIEN ESCAPE

"What a beautiful place." You hummed happily as you looked around yourself. The marketplace you were in was filled with life and alien races, all sentient and willing to part with their interesting goods for the right currency and amount of it.

Vos who pushed your wheelchair behind you hissed and grumbled as he proceeded to glare at everything that moved. He had been put on babysitting duty and he had made it clear he didn't like it one bit.

The sniper would rather be hunting a traitor with the rest of the Decepticon Justice Division, but instead, Tarn had ordered Vos to take you out shopping in this gorgeous alien marketplace. You were running low on organic food and you could use some new clothes.

'Only best for my fair maiden.' Tarn had said as he handed some credits to Vos.

You and Vos didn't share the same language and while he understood you perfectly you couldn't understand him at all. Maybe he used this as his chance to badmouth you as much as he wanted and you wouldn't be any wiser. Or so you thought, but you couldn't tell for sure.

"Oh Vos, can we stop here? They have such beautiful gemstones here?" You asked and the Decepticon hissed as he pushed your chair in front of the stall that was being held by this alien who looked a lot like a humanoid snail. You looked at all the jars filled with precious gemstones that could make you a rich woman back on Earth.

"I see you have a great eye for fine treats!" The salesman laughed and you smiled, "Yes, they are very beautiful!"

"Yes, these blood rubies for example taste incredible!"

"Ah...!" You blinked in surprise. Did you just hear right?

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, these beauties are delicious candies back on my planet! Little ones love making candy necklaces with them!"

"I see." You nodded and you turned to address Vos, but when you looked you saw he was gone.

You blinked, confused by his sudden disappearance. You looked around but couldn't see the Cybertronian. You excused yourself and started to carefully move don't the street by yourself. When bound to a wheelchair your movements were extremely limited.

Suddenly you felt someone grab your wheelchair's handles and you smiled, thinking it was Vos, but when you turned to look you saw this alien man with only one huge eye on his face, holding the handles of your seat.

"Who-?" You were about to ask when the man suddenly shushed you and started to push you forward. Panicking, you were about to scream for Vos, but the man shushed you again.

"Quiet! You are one of us, right?" He hissed as he looked around in paranoia. You blinked, confused beyond your mind. "What?"

"Cattle, an organic pet for those hideous living machines!"

Ah, you wouldn't necessarily call all Cybertronians hideous... But he wasn't completely wrong.

For the first time in ages, you let your smile drop.

"You don't know who you are dealing with...!" You hissed in fear, fully knowing what the DJD was capable of but the alien shook his head, "Doesn't matter, I'm getting you to safety!"

You frowned but didn't fight against him as he pushed your wheelchair in hurry. Soon you left the marketplace and you saw that you were being brought to what looked and smelled a lot like slums. The one-eyed man looked around before knocking on some door and he shared an alien language with the person on another side of the door.

Finally, the door opened and you were pushed inside. Another organic came, this one a woman who looked a lot like a human but she had cat's ears and tail.

"Xelon, what the fuck were you thinking, bringing her here!?"

"She is like us! An organic!" The one-eyed man Xelon shouted. Hearing this, the cat woman relaxed immediately and turned to look at you. "You poor thing...! Having to live with those creatures!"

You blinked and before you knew what happened, this lady hugged you. "Do not fear, for your time with those hideous machines is over."

"No, you don't understand...!" You hissed as you looked around in fear. "They will find me, Tarn will find me, and then-!"

"Trust us, you aren't the first one we have released from the claws of the machines." The woman smiled, but you knew better than them.

"We can have you sent back to your home planet in a manner of hours!" Xelon smiled and you blinked in shock, "What?"

"What are you, a Gigilan or Human?" Cat woman guessed, "Our spaceship should arrive in a few hours. It can take you back to your own people!"

"But I..." You swallowed nervously. This couldn't have been this easy, there was no way...! While you worried, Xelon brought you a cup of some steaming hot liquid.

"Please, drink some tea. It should calm you down a little..."

You accepted the cup of tea and took a small sip. It was absolutely delicious. Feeling yourself relax a little, you started talking with Xelon and the cat woman called MinMin. Apparently, they used to be slaves or pets to Cybertronians and now they dedicated their lives to saving others like them. Others like you.

An hour maybe passed and you were having a time of your life, laughing and chatting with Xelon and MinMin. The two of them were funny and they could somewhat relate to your life as Tarn's beloved... But not fully.

While they might have been simple pets, Tarn was completely sure that you were his beloved. You didn't dare to say that to them and instead you drank more tea. Soon you would be back on Earth, back in your home and-!

"So this is where you were taken?"

You heard him and acted without realizing it, shielding yourself as the wall to the small slum house was torn apart from the rest of the building. It was Tarn, he had found you.

"T- Tarn!" You cried out and the purple Decepticon looked at you.

"Cover your ears and close your eyes, my beloved. You don't want to know what happens next."

No, you didn't want to know.

You clenched your eyes shut and covered your ears with your hands just in time when the screaming started. Despite trying to block the sounds, you could still hear Xelon and MinMin screaming as Tarn tortured them. You could smell the rich iron in the air and you could tell it was blood. The smell was so strong it almost made you sick.

Part of you was hopeful and you wished that he killed them without bringing them any more unnecessary pain...

But this was Tarn we were talking about. He enjoyed every crack of bone or every single scream of agony and knowing him, he would prolong the act of... No, it couldn't be called mercy. Not when Tarn was killing.

Finally, the screaming stopped, but you didn't dare to open your eyes. You didn't want to see what happened to these nice aliens who only wanted to help you out and return you back to your home.

You felt Tarn's hands as he picked you up and held you against his chest as he carried you out of the slums... Still, you didn't dare to open your eyes until you couldn't smell the blood anymore.

Slowly, you opened your eyes and saw that you were back at the Peaceful Tyranny. Back in your room or rather prison. Tarn gently set you on your bed, minding your useless legs and you sighed, "Tarn..."

"My fair little Maiden..." Tarn crooned as he gently rubbed your cheek with his servo. "You are safe now."

Ah, yes, safe. Of course, you could do nothing wrong in Tarn's eyes. No matter how bad the situation might have looked, Tarn wouldn't get mad at you. He would blame anything else but you. In his crimson optics, you were his perfect Maiden.

"Tarn..." You sighed before putting on the smile you always had when around him. "I'm happy to see you."

"As am I to see you again." You could tell he was smiling behind that Decepticon mask of his. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm going to make sure that Vos gets a warning and is reprimanded for his carelessness."

"It's alright Tarn." You smiled even if it hurt. "I'm here with you so everything is alright again."

"Yes..." Tarn nodded, buying every word you said, "You're here with me...."

[currebunz]

Cheating on the Mondstadt crew

Diluc

-He is mad and disappointed, however he doesn’t really show it. If you really know him well, then you won't’ bother trying to defend your case.

-He is the ‘cut off all loose ends’ kind of person, you are going to be gone from his life.

-You are just a regular civilian to him now, although he knows better than to let you back into his life.

-It’s not that he goes out of his way to avoid you, rather he just won’t waste time hearing anything you have to say unless he has to.

-Diluc is very good at making you feel bad without even trying.

-Once he is sure you are gone, he finally lets the pain settle in. He’ll go off to train or be alone somewhere so that he can sort out his feelings and finally put his love for you to rest.

Kaeya

-You don’t know how much pain you have caused him and he keeps it that way.

-Much like Diluc, he is disappointed but not mad. Part of him look inward and thinks he might have neglected you a bit.

-If he can find any instance, it will eat away at him. He would hate the thought that he had made you feel unloved.

-If he can’t, it’s not like he hates you. He just pities that you weren’t the one for him.

-Kaeya keeps a smile on his face as he blows off finding out that you cheated.

-”Ah well, I guess we just weren’t meant to be”

-It’s painful how much he doesn’t react but he still takes the steps to remove you from his personal life. He is still nice to you, but there is a barrier between you both. You only get to know Kaeya the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.

-Once everything is settled, he finds himself drinking more. Spending more time at the bar lamenting lost love.

Razor

-I’ll be frank, he doesn’t understand.

-It’s a lot of words and he just doesn’t get it. But he feels pain in his chest.

-He avoids people for a while, especially you. He tries to figure out why his chest hurts.

-After a while, he realizes it hurts more whenever he thinks about or sees you.

-Starts to avoid you and doesn’t want anything to do with you.

-It takes him a long time to make a new friend let alone a new lover.

Albedo

-Honestly, he probably already saw it coming. He is sharp so he saw the signs.

-He keeps his face blank but not to protect himself.

-He just can’t be bothered anymore. Albedo simply tells you to go and to not bother him anymore.

-He’ll busy himself with work or a project to take his mind off it.

-However, whenever he goes to paint he always ends up drawing you at the start.

-It takes him a while to work it out of his system.

-He doesn’t jump into a relationship right away, but he might busy himself with getting to know/spending time with his friends.

Bennet

-Heartbroken central

-He starts asking what he did wrong and how he could save the relationship. He’ll do anything.

-Then he thinks it must be his bad luck, it was always causing trouble so maybe you wanted someone normal.

-No matter your response, Bennet blames himself and cries about it for like a week.

-Whether you still want him around or not is up to you, he still wants to be apart of your life because he loves you so much.

-But he won’t pursue anything but friendship.

-It does hurt him to see you with someone else so he will try and busy himself with adventures.

-He can’t part with anything you gave him/anything that reminds him of you.

Mika

-Another heartbroken boy.

-He didn’t see it coming and blames himself a bit.

-If he isn’t at all in the wrong, he tries to accept he had poor judgment of you.

-Won’t get mad but he is sad for a long time.

-He’ll cry himself asleep as he stays up late doing work or reading to keep his mind off how alone he is.

-When he sees you, his heart hurts but he does his best to not show how he feels.

Venti

-Oh yeah he knew it was coming. He isn’t going to really address it until you really mess up or he gets tired of it.

-When it happens, he is hurt but pretends not to be. Much like Kaeya, he keeps a good poker face.

-Inside, he is breaking down.

-Venti doesn’t want to be alone after he bids you farewell, he becomes a nuisance to everyone as he tries to keep people around.

-Once he is alone, he starts singing sad tunes.

-Doesn’t really drink more, but he sings a lot more.

-The winds around Mondstadt feel colder as of late.

[lady-hirako]

P. I. Reader x Shinji Hirako

Chapter 2:

[You finally open up to Shinji about you and Kari's relationship. Then the mission begins]

(Reader is depicted as Black Female)

You looked at Shinji after settling on your cot. You took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Well. Kari and I are... close. Closer than most people would think. Her being more reserved, reserved, and me... Firey and combative. We first met in Salem. Funny right? Two black women in the mid 1600's, running rampant and trying to save who we could... And as you guessed... We've been alive for longer... Kari is roughly 600 years old... I was 23 when we met...

Shinji gave you a small nod. You kept going.

"We met on the stake... rather on a convoy headed to one. Salem wasn't that big, but it was large enough to be a big place to hold trials. And Kari sat smiling that whole time. Eventually I got the courage to asked her why she was so happy about the fact of about to die. It seemed so... out of place. And as she spoke, Kari told me she was planning on breaking free... but she needed help."

You paused taking a moment to breathe. Shinji scooted closer on his cot, looking at you.

"She wanted me to make a pact... N-no... Take a oath. To be her partner...."

You took a shallow breath. Adrenaline from back then came up again.

"Kari promised me a life of freedom and power... but only if I made a promise to stay be her side and help her with her endeavors. And it was too good to pass up. I asked what she needed ot wanted to have this pact or oath come to be. Kari only asked for a drop of blood... That night... I gave it to her."

You took a look at Shinji.

"So now... you work as a Paranormal Investigator. How did that come about? Like... I get the years, centuries are a big part of it all. So how... how did you guys get to where you are now?"

It was a good question... how did a coven of witches and warlocks become Paranormal Investigators? You took a breath and then sighed,

"Kari's idea. We are apart of the world of the impossible. Kari believes that the impossible can only help the other impossibility amongst the cosmos."

Shinji seemed to take the answer and nodded. Then you both grew silent. He looked up again,

"What made you say yes?"

You blinked and smiled.

"I was reasonably afraid. Scared, terrified. I was headed to be burned, for a crime that was... inconceivable... Murder. They say I had enchanted a man to commit adultery and when he tried to run from me, I killed him."

You were crying. Red tears, streaming down your face. Decades of not purging your emotions were falling infront of your partner.

Shinji, wasn't a man of many things... but he could feel empathy. It came with being a victim of circumstance as well. At least you had a choice: die or live freely...

"Are you really free? Did the pact make you and the others made with Kari actually grant you freedom?"

You wiped your face.

"In alot of ways, yes. But... Kari isn't like other witches, wizards or warlocks. She... she has an eye on everyone that works for us..."

Kari seemed to be the head of the coven.

"An eye?"

Shinji raised an eyebrow at you.

"What does that mean?"

You laid down on your cot, flat on your back. And folded your hands together, resting them on your stomach.

"Put it this way: you have to give and take in life. Kari takes your freedom and replaces it with power. Power you can use on your own will... leaving her is easy... but she can easily bring you back. We've had... 6 people leave the coven. They never got as high in the ranks like myself or 4 others, but Kari can bring them back of she chooses. And they are always under watch. Once you leave, you aren't allowed to speak of your powers."

"So she can't take away the powers she gives?"

You shook your head at his question.

"No. She can... but like I said, she's kinder... in her own way."

Shinji left it at that. Seeing that he was done prying, you rolled over and slept.

The following morning, you had woken up early. A simple routine that stuck after your long life. The dawn greeted you. And you felt rejuvenated with its light pink and varying oranges, yellows that painted the sky with vibrant color. You were a dawn/sun witch. Kari had taught you the ways of light and the warmth of the sun. And you were grateful for her teachings.

"Bright and early as always, right Sunny?"

You turned and greeted your friend. She called you "Sunny" for obvious reasons: you were a sun/dawn witch and your attitude, it was quite fitting... most of the time. You could be quite the firestorm.

Kari had walked from the hut she and Kenpachi shared. You smirked at her.

"As always."

You confirmed. Both of you stood side by side watching the sunrise. You looked at her after the sun had climbed high,

"You like him then? Kenpachi?"

Kari gave you a small smile, wrapping her arms around her torso.

"Yeah. I do... you know 8 months is quite a bit of time to learn about someone..."

Kari and Kenpachi had been working together since the start of this program. You and Shinji started two months later. But you smiled.

"So... its safe to say he's going to be a constant?"

Kari nodded, but then waved her hand.

"What about you? I know your kryponite is blonde men with silver tounges."

Kari gave a lewd motion, holding her index and middle fingers up, and licking inbetween them. You gave an embarrassed smile and tried to shy away. So Kari had seen the piercing in Shinji's mouth.

"Shut up..."

Kari gave a laugh, and gave you a pat on the back. The pair of you settling again. Kari looked at you.

"I want you happy, you know that right?"

Kari was the only person that knew about your past. That's why she offered you the life she did. You nodded ar her question. And then you looked at her.

"Same goes for you... but what are we doing? This program... it's-"

Kari interrupted you, sighing and removing her hand from your shoulder.

"Sunny, I told you. We need help. No one sees witches or warlocks like they used to. Romanticizing what we are. They don't take us as threats only something to be neither sought out or truly bothered. Only the few paranoid or seekers try to find us. And... thats how we need it to be. So the majority stays out of our way. There are very few true beings of real magic left. We are apart of that. And with all of it, we have to protect those boundaries."

You looked back at the sunrise. Kari had told you that once before, when you started your training. You sighed. You knew she was right. But still... A new set of footsteps joined you and Kari. It was Kenpachi. The man let out a yawn and looked down at you.

"Take it easy when you can Sunny. Trust me. This responsibility you witches carry ain't an easy one. But I'm glad us Shinigami can help out."

You smiled. Kenpachi was right as well... any help you guys could get was good. Even moreso that other beings were willing to step in and help. You gave Kenpachi a look and then watched as the man pulled Kari to him. The other woman was short. 5'2, and Kenpachi was a giant among men standing at 6'7 and a half, like he needed that half to be anymore intimidating.

Kari let out a giggle as Kenpachi, lifted her up with ease and pressed his face into her chest. Shinji walked out of the hut and have a stretch.

"Mornin."

Shinji saw Kari and Kenpachi and rolled his eyes.

"You two can't for like 5 minutes? It's fuck-"

Kenpachi sent the other male a glare and growled out. Kari patted his head and Kenpachi lowered her to the ground."

"Sorry Hirako."

Shinji nodded and gave you a wink. Then he looked around,

"Sooo... where's the other team?"

You gave a shrug and Kari spoke up.

"They were supposed to be here last night. But... I haven't gotten a call from them..."

She looked a bit worried, and Kenpachi lifted his head, looking around alert. Then Kenpachi grunted and pointed. It was Captain Hitsuguya and one of the younger warlocks of the coven.

The younger warlock was riding a summoned mount and Captain Hitsuguya was suing his shikai. You rolled your eyes at the younger warlock. When they landed you and Kari both smacked him, one after the other, upside his head.

"The fuck took you so long!"

You barked at him. Silas, the boy you and your friend smacked rubbed his head.

"We took a detour!"

Kari sighed rubbing her forehead, and you kept control of the scolding. But Silas shook his head, his dreaded black hair flopping as he did.

"Listen, listen, Sunny, Kari, there was this unicorn! It was getting hunted! And you guys said we're supposed to help-"

Kari raised her hand.

"Ok. Ok. We get it. So long as you both are safe. Did you-"

"Yes Boss Lady! I got the unicorn to the safety zone! You shoulda seen Toshiro's face!"

Silas laughed and you could see Hitsuguya frowning. You shook your head. Letting Kari take over and she looked over Silas.

"Well if your ok, we can go meet with the chief."

She looked over you, Silas and the accompanying Captain's. You gave a nod, Silas gave a thumbs up, Toshiro gave a nod, Shinji horribly gave you and Kari both finger guns and Kenpachi gave Kari a look. With everyone ready, Kari led the way into the Shaman's hut.

Inside two male dog men sat. Kari entered first, giving a bow, and an odd type of salute with her hand, her thumb pressed to her palm and her remaining 4 finger curled to mimick claws. You did the same, and the others followed suit. With the sunlight blocked by the dark hut. You and the others sat in a V shape behind Kari. She sat facing the fire. The Shaman and the Dog Village's Cheif sat on the other side of the ethereal fire. The Dog Chief introduced himself.

"Im Falling Waters. Chief of this Village. I'm glad to see you both return, Sun Shade and Moon Walker."

You and Kari both nodded. You, Sun Shade, as Falling Waters named you for your dark skin but your amazing power that was as powerful and bright as the sun. And Kari Moon Walker as the powers of the moon she possessed.

"Its good to see you too, Falling Waters."

You smiled at the Dog Chief. And he nodded. Kari introduced Silas and the Captain's. One after another. Falling Waters nodded to them in turn, and then introduced the Dog Shaman who seemed in a trace by the yellow burning fire.

"This is Shadows Wing."

No one else spoke, for a moment and then Shadows wing cut to the chase:

"A demon... has moved into these woods... one I cannot defeat. It purges the lands around our home. Our guardian, cannot thwart it for long. The guardian grows weak... Please. Expel it..."

Kari gave a nod.

"Which of your warriors have seen or encountered this demon?"

Falling Waters rose and waved for the group to follow them.

"Two. Red Rock and Shifting Sands. They... they were the only ones that returned from the encounter with the beast. Come."

The Chief led them along. The rest of the village had rose with the sun. The women and children already moving about. The pup-kids running and playing. Their mothers watching the outsiders that moved with you and Kari. The pair of you had previously helped the dog-people. And had gained their trust, Silas and the Captain's were strangers. And you understood their weariness. The group of you soon made way into a small medicine hut, the concoctions, causing Silas to sputter and cough. You sent the young warlock a glare and he calmed his coughing.

In the middle sat two younger dog-men. They looked up and gave the odd hand gesture and bowed as the Dog Chief entered. The two quickly stood. Seeming ready at the sight of you and Kari. The understood right away. And both stepped to the sides of Falling Waters.

"They are ready to assist you, Moon Walker and Sun Shade."

Kari nodded and looked at you. You narrowed your eyes at her. She had that look in her eyes... You sighed, as she turned to the Captain's.

"I think you three should work together on this on. We'll split into two groups. I'll take Silas and (Y/N) with me."

Kari turned and waved Red Rock with her. Shifting Sands nodded and stood with the Captain's.

"Is this a good idea?"

You looked at Kari, and she nodded.

"Yes. I'm treating them like I did all of you. Like I did Silas."

You gave a shiver, this... the way Kari was treating the others was... kinder. Her abandonment of you on a rough mission, flashed back to you. It... it was a Wendigo you both were hunting. Kari had told you to go your own direction. A wild card thrown at you randomly... that night... the Wendigo had made two trails. Kari took one and you the other. Snow and ice freezing you, you got attacked, luckily your honed instincts saved you, flames bursting out and searing the Wendigo...

You were alive and unscathed. When you exploded on Kari, she told you that it was worth waking up the Sun's Blaze. It was your Witching Mark.

And... it seemed that she was going to awaken some new power for the Shinigami. One only she and The Captain Commander Shunsui Kyōraku had learned...

[autobot2001]

Another Good Day

Author: Autobot2001 Henre: Fanfiction Fandom: Transformers Rating: E Warning: None pairing: Drift X Jamie (OC) Description: Cogman and Vivian has another idea of how Drift and Jamie can spend time together.

@fluffyfebruary: partners @fluffbruary: tea cakes | flood | feature

Crosshairs and Drift sit on the couch in the living room, listening to the crackling fire. It's one in the morning, and neither can sleep. Jamie's mental health and lack of interest worries them. "You should go to bed," Drift says, "if this insomnia is going to keep up and I use all my holoform's energy—." "Then you should also go to bed. We're partners in battle and — what?" Crosshairs asks, seeing Drift's smile. "Just thinking about how our relationship is." "I already said the only thing I'd change is Jamie's mental health and that damn chemical in her blood. I love both my battle partners. We are partner guardians to Jamie, but I think we're more like a family. I worry about you and Jamie," Drift rests his head on Crosshairs' shoulder and yawns, "come on, I'm not letting you sleep in here." The two stand up, the fire is out, and the two go upstairs.

With how late they went to bed, both mechs slept in until nine. "So much for a workout," Crosshairs complains. "Lazy aft," Drift teases, "go now. You'll be done by the time Jamie is awake." Crosshairs doesn't bother convincing Drift to join him. Drift lies next to Jamie, wondering what the plan for today could be. This changes to thinking about how much he loves Jamie. Drift isn't bothered that this has happened frequently in the past few weeks. He loves every physical feature about her. He's not sure if he should like Jamie's short stature as it's an effect of the chemical that was injected to kill her twenty-one years ago. Drift loves Jamie's personality, save for her mental health. To Drift, his relationship with his cross-dimensional traveler is like romantic relationships on Cybertron; not always perfect. The two in the relationship know to accept flaws happen unless it's accepting a toxic relationship. He's seen on Earth there's too much of an expectation for the relationship to be perfect. Drift didn't realize how long he'd thought about Jamie until he felt her move. "Good morning," Drift smiles. "Sleep." "Nope, it's ten in the morning. Time to get up." Drift holds onto Jamie and gets off the bed. He carries her out of the room.

Crosshairs is displeased seeing Drift walk into the kitchen. "You ruined it!" He complains. Drift sees that Crosshairs had planned to bring breakfast upstairs. How long of a workout did he do? Drift questions, seeing Crosshairs made pancakes. He sets Jamie on a bar stool at the island and sits next to her. Crosshairs made Jamie and himself coffee while he made Drift tea. It's quiet while the three eat.

The two mechs talk about the plan for the day while cleaning the kitchen. Other than deciding not to go out, they're still determining what the plan is for the day.

The day is the same as most days until the three walk into the kitchen at three. The femme watches Drift get the box of nut bars from the cabinet. She tells Drift Cogman made tea cakes. Crosshairs smiles, knowing what Cogman and Vivian planned. "Go be with your partner," he tells Drift. Crosshairs watches as Drift takes Jamie's hand and takes her to the living room. He smiles, seeing the two doing something together. He doesn't consider Vivian or himself creating opportunities for Drift and Jamie to do something together as unusual. Vivian follows with a tray prepared with a plate of tea cakes, a small stainless steel pitcher with hot water, a creamer full of milk, two cups with tea bags placed in them, and a small sugar bowl. Cogman walks into the kitchen, just missing Vivian leaving. Crosshairs tells him that Drift and Jamie went to the living room, and Vivian brought the tray.

Drift knows what Cogman and Vivian are trying to do. He doesn't mind their help. The coffee table is moved in front of the sectional. Drift finds a movie to watch as the two enjoy tea and tea cakes. Jamie leans on Drift when she's not drinking her tea. Sunstreaker found out where Drift and Jamie were and snuck a few pictures. He smiles as he takes them. Drift will love these. Sunstreaker thinks. He closes the door before either realize it's open and goes upstairs to print the pictures.

Drift and Jamie stay in the living room until dinner. By then, the movie is over. The others see how happy Drift and Jamie are. Regretting they didn't think of helping the two do things together sooner. Hoping to keep it up.

[zaenaris]

I loved the idea that you wrote in one of your fics, about Senju being passive aggressive with Waka and Benkei. I mean they may have had their reasons to go with Mikey (and it's not very clear when we read it) but they still abandonned Senju. and i'm pretty sure that, since they had abandonnement issues, it has deeply hurted her.

Also do you think that Mikey anbd Sanzu are in prison in your mabu post fight fic?

thank you for reading my fic❤️

yeah, after the fight, of course she'd be happy to have Waka and Benkei back, but their whole modus operandi was really stupid, even Inupi said it in their face that what they were doing made no sense

And we know Benkei and Waka were brother figures to her, and were Inupi's senpais, both Seishu and Senju cared about them and had a good relationship with them until before the KMG fight.

Inupi's priority was to get Koko back, and he did, therefore he can... let slide(?) the thing a little more (he still believes Waka and Benkei acted like fools, but he can also see that they didn't know how to help MIkey and they probably felt guilty they later stayed more with Senju after Shin's death, rather than Mikey - here I also personally headcanon that Waka started having drinking problems after Shin's death, but since he already had the gym with Benkei, he(Benkei) helped Waka. Of course we know Takeomi had his problems as well after BD disbanded and after Shin's death, but Waka and Benkei seem to have a deeper bond with each other rather than with Takeomi, that according to his profile in the 4th character book, look down on him)

meanwhile, Senju wanted to save Haru and to understand what happened to BenWaka, that had been with her for all that time, so she would have taken it more personally, even if she also realized they probably felt sorry for Mikey. Yet, I think for a few time she would be a little mad at them, but happy the're back

in general yes, i think sooner or later mikey and sanzu would end up in juvie for a while. Kakucho was stabbed/killed(?) and Takemichi as well, it's impossible to hide those things, there would have been an investigation. But I believe that, even with juvie, it would have been for the better. Mikey, as Draken believed was necessary, would have “looked at the sky” metaphorically after a defeat; we know when he felt guilty he let other people hit him and i think that, even if many things were the dark impulses fault, Mikey was still "sentient" in many moments and he allowed some not okay things, that's why i think that some time in juvie would help him feel that he'd made amends for everything.

same with sanzu, he was a victim of DI too and he also saw some terrible things in the other TL, that's why he had so many problems. But i think that afte the defeat of the DI, he would improve as well

[rozugold]

Hello friend!!

Apologies for the wait it took me to respond to you — I only just checked back in with my ao3 account and noticed your comment, and since you don’t have an account yourself I’m unsure if you’d see my reply. So here I am, plaguing your inbox with it instead! I do hope it isn’t a bother, haha.

I was really very happy to see your name again. Admittedly I’ve saved all the incredible artwork my fic received over the course of my writing it, but yours genuinely have a very special place in my heart as some of the first and last I ever received. I still recall opening my inbox and seeing the notification the first time; it was so surreal to me that people would draw anything based on my works. Your art of Tommy and Techno sitting back to back, as well as your art of the forest trio at the end, serve almost as mental book-ends for me; I return to them often just to admire it, and to remember how happy it all made me. I can hardly believe it’s been more than two years, goodness.

I was also shocked to hear you may be putting together a playlist—if you would be so kind, I would love to know what songs might be on it! At your leisure of course, and only if you feel like sharing it, the thought alone is more than enough <3 thank you kindly for all of your support, truly, and once again for your gorgeous art. The memories have gotten me through many a dark day.

- Que (WWHWI)

HELLOOO QUEEEE it’s so good to hear from you again :D!!!! And yeah I should really get on getting an account already, it would probably make things a lot more convenient. BUT account or not you’re always welcomed to plague my inbox :]

And waaa I’m happy that you still like the fanart I made! I’m glad it’s stuck with you as much as your writing has stuck with me. SPEAKING OF WRITING I forgot you had so much of it??? Once life settles down a bit im definitely gonna make my way through them, so don’t be surprised if you see my name in the comments later on eheheh

AND YES PLAYLIST!! OK if I’m gonna be honest, the reason I started making this is because of god of war sjshSJDHD Every time I get into new media it only gives me ideas for the old media I’m trying to escape /j Two years man, and still these blorbos live in my brain rent free

I’m gonna ramble about each song now >:D warning spoilers for if you hadn’t read the fic!

First is Cave by Cody Fry! I wanted an instrumental to start it off and a song to represent the explosion of Manburg; I think this song serves that purpose well!

Half-Mast by Branches is a song I use in my other dsmp related playlists to represent Doomsday but it works so well in this context

^ this bit especially reminds me of Tommy and Wilbur ;;;;;

Casualty by Hidden Citizens & Tash is just absolutely perfect for Tommy. The scene of him screaming out in grief surrounded by the rubble that used to be his home- waaa it’s so good, both the song and scene

Sorrow by Sleeping at Last is for Tommy slowly learning how to live after the explosion (or at least learn how to function again :[ pobrecito..)

The Corner Dwellers by The Vocal Few is a Techno and Tommy song! It simply reminds me of them :’]

To Forgive or to Kill by Bear McCreary was chosen mostly for the title and the fact that it was from the God of War soundtrack skdhdhdh Incase you’re unfamiliar with the game, this song plays during a scene where one of the main characters is debating on whether to forgive or kill another character but ultimately realizes that she can’t do either. So naturally I thought this song would be good for when Tommy saves Schlatt from Technoblade! I’d like to have more instrumentals in this playlist but we shall see,, I’m very picky when it comes to instrumentals skdjddj

Carnivore by Bear Attack! Ok I might replace this song with something else later since it reminds me of c!Tommy and c!Dream’s relationship more than Tommy and Schlatt’s from WWHWI. But it’s works for now! Something to represent their first argument chat after the whole getting locked up bit

Marble Floors by Vian Izak & Juniper Vale is here to sorta represent Tommy longing for his life before the explosion and when he still had Tubbo.

^ also just,, this bit.. Ow

Drown by Seafret is for when Tommy gets blown up by the creeper. Just that scene where it starts off as a dream sequence then slowly twists until he’s suddenly shocked back into reality— GOSH it’s so good. And then the crisis he has afterwards when he bandages himself up, it’s probably my favorite scene. It’s so well done and makes me feel so much ;;;;;

Battling Life by The Dunwells is for Technoblade!! (And a little for Tommy too, now that I’m looking at the lyrics again) Gosh, the man gets injured but he doesn’t let that stop him from taking care of things and taking care of Tommy. You captured his perseverance and stubbornness perfectly :’]

Blood Upon the Snow by Hozier & Bear McCreary! Here I go, to shamelessly smoosh two of my interests together again skdhdj This song is also for Technoblade but more for his exhausted god-ness you characterize him with. (Atleast I think he’s a god in WWHWI? Or is he just a well known champion? Immortal? My memory sucks, I’ll have to find out when I reread it) This song is just super cool and reminded me of technoblade and is part of the reason why I started making this playlist skdjdjjd

Brother by Kodaline… what is there to say? They’re brothers :’’] BUT ALSO WHILE SKIMMING CHAPTER 15 EARLIER I FOUND THIS LINE: “"Stay here," he said to the man who'd long since become his family…” HELLO?? EXCuse me while I go sob

Sirens by Oliver Daldry, I may be wildly misinterpreting this song for this playlist but SCREW IT it reminds me of them okay

This repeating lyric serves as a little nod to the fact that this is an au. How Techno, Tommy and Schlatt would have all been strangers in this world if certain circumstances didn’t lead them to eachother

This bit reminds me of Schlatt @ Tommy, I don’t think he ever outright asks for forgiveness but in time they both find some peace with eachother.

All three of them are so different from eachother but they still care for eachother :’]

The Cave by Mumford & Sons acts as a sort of summary of this story to me! I imagine the first verse is from Techno’s pov, the second is from Tommy’s, and the last is from Schlatt’s.

This bit changes meaning depending on the pov. For Techno it’s him taking care of Tommy, ‘changing his ways’ yknow, or atleast adding the family role to his list of titles.

For Tommy it’d be him taking care of Techno, “finding strength in pain” and learning to move forward despite everything that’s happened

And for Schlatt it’s for him rushing out to help Tommy and Techno during the final battle. Man doesn’t even hesitate :’D

Gosh and just the line “I’ll know my name as it’s called again”. All three of them grew into people they never thought they’d be!! And despite a huge part of their lives is shaped from tragedy they’re okay in the end. It was far from easy but they’re okay. And that’s just so comforting yknow? This story is so comforting and beautiful and raw and I just love it with all my being ;;;;;

Wow that was long and a little all over the place lol!! I’m still working on this playlist as I go but that’s all I have so far :]

[casspurrjoybell-20]

Sky Twizzlers - Chapter 26a

*Warning Adult Content*

Memories and Dreams Hurt - Part 1 - Aaron 

"My father believed that being a beta meant that we had to be tough and emotionless. Showing emotion was weakness and the right-hand man of the alpha shouldn't be weak. He drove this listen into me from the moment I could walk and talk.”

"As a child, I wasn't allowed to show emotions around my father. If I did, he'd often yell at me and lock me away in my room until I calmed down. He never hit me, but that didn't make it any less scary to a small child. It was how I perfected my straight face from an early age. Showing weakness in front of my father was terrifying, so I avoided it.”

"Then there was my mom. I loved my mom. I look like her. She was so sweet and loving. She encouraged me to feel my emotions and behave like the child I was. My father often left us to do beta duties, so my mom and I were always together. Once I became friends with Erin, it was just the three of us a lot of the time since Erin's mom was busy with alpha duties as well. My father never let Mom work; he said it wasn't her job."

As I told my story, my mates idly touched me. Before I began, we laid down in the bed and pulled up the blanket. Then, they smothered me with touches. I didn't mind it but I couldn't tell them that. Talking about my family was... hard. Erin knew only because he'd been involved in my life since we were little kids. He was often around when my father yelled at me while my mom tried to calm him down and remind him that I was just a child. He never listened.

"When I was older, my mom fell ill. You don't usually hear about werewolves falling ill but she was the unfortunate exception. The more her health deteriorated, the further my father pulled away from us. He buried himself in work and ignored me. I had to take care of both Mom and myself since he didn't even bother to leave his office enough to see his dying wife," I said, cursing myself for how bitter I became at the end.

"It's okay, Aaron. Keep going," Aubrey encouraged.

"I don't get why he didn't comfort or support her. He looked for a cure, sure, but not once did I see him stay by her side for more than five minutes. He... he let her die. She died a few years ago. Even after we tried our best to save her, we couldn't. I was devastated. My relationship with my father, whatever was left of it at least, deteriorated and we barely spoke after that. He trained me to become a beta, but he treated me like I was nothing. He still does."

I let out a bitter laugh and looked up at the ceiling. Evander ran his hand through my hair and the familiar action eased my body. Aubrey rested his head on my chest and traced small circles on my arms. I didn't realize it but talking about this was helping me more than I thought it ever could. 

"The last time my father and I spoke was when I had to put my duties on hold to help out with the Eye issue. That was months ago now. I don't mind it. We were never close. He made sure of that. That's why you've never met him before, either. He doesn't care enough to meet you and I don't want him to meet you."

"If you don't mind me asking, what does that have to do with you making a bad or good father?" Evander asked. "You are not your father."

"But I was raised by him. Or rather, he was the only father figure I really had. Alpha James was there but I didn't see him often. And he wasn't the one who gave life to me. What if I treat my children the way I was treated? What if I can't be vulnerable with them because I was never allowed to be as a child?"

"Aaron," Evander said gently.

I peeked up at him carefully. He reached out and cupped my cheek while staring into my eyes. 

"You don't have to be afraid. You'll have us there to help you out. And we won't allow you to become your father."

"And you're not mean like him," Aubrey added, cuddling into my chest "You're really nice. You care. Even if you pretend like you don't, we know the truth. You won't be mean to your kids."

After taking a shaky breath, I said, 

"Thank you. Getting it off my chest feels weird. I... I haven't really acknowledged the fact that my mom is gone. I haven't acknowledged it since it happened."

"I'm sure she's very proud of the man you have become," Evander whispered reassuringly.

"I hope so."

"I know how it feels to lose loved ones. My parents weren't vampires. I had to watch them grow old and eventually die in my arms. It hurt more than words can describe but I know they are happy wherever they are now," he said.

I hadn't even thought about that. Evander was immortal. Sure, he was a relatively young vampire but he'd still watched people he loved age and die while he was still young and living, somewhat. It was oddly comforting knowing that he'd been through what I had. I'd held onto my mom's hand until her dying breath. 

I still remember how pale and frail she had become but her hand had stayed warm even when she was gone. My mates were suddenly crushing me in a hug and that's when I realized I'd started crying again. Goddess, maybe I didn't have to worry about being vulnerable. It was so easy to cry in front of my mates now. They weren't cruel to me nor did they judge me for it. They comforted me. 

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Evander," I said softly.

"It was years ago and I have accepted it by now. But, thank you."

We went silent for a bit before I felt Aubrey shift around so he was behind me. 

"I don't even know if my parents are alive," he whispered.

I turned around in Evander's arm so I could face Aubrey and hug him. I heard him sniffle. 

"It's been so long since I saw them. I barely remember their faces. I'm afraid of trying to look for them because I don't know if I will be able to handle the answer. If I never look for them, then I don't have to wonder if they're alive or not."

"That's understandable," I said. "But if you ever change your mind, we will gladly go with you to look for your family."

"Yes. I would love to meet your family," Evander said. "But Aubrey, I don't think you should run away from it. It is your choice in the end but I would hate for you to regret not seeing them again."

"I know. I'll think about it, I guess," he mumbled.

"Good," I agreed. "I'm tired though. Can we go to sleep?"

“Yes, I think we covered what we needed to. We'll come back to the topic of children when you're ready," Evander said.

"Well, you never talked about what you wanted," Aubrey pointed out. "You've let us speak, now it's your turn."

"Well," he started, running a hand through my hair idly again. 

"I do want children someday. I don't mind if they're mine or not. The birth rate for vampire-born children is fairly low. I would be happy with any child I can call my own."

"Well I'm okay with trying either way," Aubrey said from my chest.

"Alright. Well, when that time comes, now we know where we stand. And don't be afraid to say anything if your feelings change," Evander said.

"Right but the same goes for you, mister," I pointed out.

"Of course, of course," he said with a small laugh.

Aubrey yawned, which prompted a yawn to escape from me as well. I was happy I got to tell my mates about my parents. It went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. There wasn't much I ever wanted to say about my father, though. And I was still unsure about sharing memories about my mom. Maybe a little part of me wanted to keep them to myself so I could pretend that she was still around. Sharing the memories made it feel like I was letting go of her.

[playerverse]

Now the questionnaire has arrived.

(Very long)

Sinner of madness

His real name is Andrew, but he abandoned it so as not to return to the past.

Status: hybrid (half sinner, half hound)

Appearance:

In a past life he had no special role. A simple teenager with typical problems. He had a family: mother Abigail, father Vector and older sister Maria. Maria was 5 years older than Andrew.

What he looked like in a past life:

(Yeah,this is gacha and i too lazy to draw art. Sorry about that. I made it in gacha plus.)

Relationships with family:

Relationships are different when I was alive and when I went to hell. He loves his mother and sister very much and the relationship has not changed, but with his father everything is different. I used to love you, but when I died I started to hate you. Why? Now I'll tell you...

Everything was fine in the family. His mother was a teacher, his father was a miner, and his older sister worked part-time as a chef. But one day everything collapsed. The mother was in a car accident, where she could not be saved. It was a big disaster for the family. This greatly influenced the father, or he began to release his emotions (in particular, rage) on his own children. Maria protected her younger brother, taking everything upon herself or calming him down, saying that everything would be fine. But she couldn’t stand it either. In her room, she killed herself with a rope. Andrew was left alone with his father and his fears. And so there were problems at school, both with my personal life, and my father added. At some point... Andrew got tired of it. He took a knife in the kitchen and killed his father. Surprisingly, he liked it. As in typical stories about murderers, he began to eliminate his offenders. He eliminated almost everyone. The last one left, Elizabeth, ran away from him through the forest. Andrew was ready to end it, but was shot in the back of the head. It was a hunter who thought the guy was a bear. Thus ended his life in the human world. And he was only 17.

Life in Hell:

He left the circle of anger and arrived in the circle of pride. Life was not easy and we had to live somehow. He first worked as a cook in a restaurant. There he met Moxxie, where he helped organize a romantic evening for his wife Millie. However, Andrew did not stay long and was fired due to a setup. I went on to work in a bar. I thought that he would be a bartender, but it turned out... That his role was... Something similar to Angel Dust. Still, with difficulty, I was able to escape from there. Not just escape, but even accidentally set the bar on fire. Some demons found him and... took him to a shelter, considering him a homeless hound because of his ears and tail.

The sinner thought that he could not find hope for a normal life, but he was found by Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer, founder of the Hazbin Hotel. She decided to take the sinner with her to the hotel. There was already a basically normal life there. Was able to have a heart-to-heart talk with Angel, learn martial arts thanks to Vaggie, etc. Quite... Had a good time, but it was time for him to move on, leaving this hotel. He eventually met with Moxxie again, and Moxxie persuaded Blitz to hire him as a new employee. This is how Andrew began his career as a killer.

I’ve been in hell for a year now, if not more, and I’ve been able to find a lot of things. At work at I.M.P I was a good worker and gained more experience each time.

Attitude towards employees:

Blitz doesn’t particularly approve of his jokes, but appreciates him as a boss and understands his past. He helped Blitz get along with Stolas.

Moxie is a good partner with whom you can discuss something over a cup of coffee.

Millie is a good friend and a psychologist. Why psychologist? Because Millie listened to his problems and supported him.

Luna - they didn’t get along very well before, but after that they became friends.

It also has its relation to goetie:

Stolas: a good conversationalist, and he was the one who helped with many problems.

Stella: deep hatred for her

Andrealfus: neutral.

Octavia: Let's just say the sinner likes her.(Yeah,i know that Octavia is asexual but i made it as my au and my character was made before that fact)

He met Octavia literally in a circle of lust, where she was sitting under a tree. The sinner approached her and a conversation began. Day after day they became closer and managed to become a comfortable friend. Then met Stolas thanks to Octavia talking about Andrew and even met at home. Andrew saw Stella in a cafe, where she offered to work for her a little. Andrew agreed and... He still regrets it. Previously, he was her usual assistant, but when he learned that Stella wanted to kill Stolas, he refused to work and this angered her. Because of this, Stella began to mock the sinner. She killed and revived to do it again. It came out more than a thousand times. They either drowned or set fire to whatever they could to torture the sinner. In his mind, the sinner was literally sitting in a cage and in chains. Stella drove him crazy. One of the tortures became the craziest. Goetie turned Andrew into a small mouse, which other Goetie began to hunt. Octavia even bit off a mouse's hand. Only Stolas noticed that something was wrong and discovered the catch. He returned the sinner to his normal form. Of course, it’s strange that the hand remained intact after its normal shape, but still... few people are able to answer this question. And they probably noticed that he met Octavia in a circle of lust. How did you meet if sinners cannot leave the circle of pride? Even Andrew doesn’t know, but he assumes that it’s because of half the hound that he can afford it.

There was a real war with Stella. And they couldn’t really touch each other. Why? Because if a sinner dies, the same Stolas will find out and be able to prove her guilt, and if the sinner kills Stella, then what will Octavia say? He is afraid of what she will say, afraid of losing her. One day... A battle began in one palace, where the sinner won. Then I was in the hospital for another two weeks. After recovery, he took courage into his own hands and told everything like it was to Octavia, or he was tired of keeping everything inside himself, and... if she doesn’t understand, then that’s her problem. At first Octavia was angry, but then she began to understand and was even... happy? Her mother still didn't pay much attention to her.

Want a joke? Stella was alive after the battle but was severely injured. She was found by her brother Andrealfus. There was another battle after its restoration, where Stella was finally defeated by cutting off her head.

Let's talk about character: he can be jealous, crazy, cold, but at the same time he can also be kind.

He felt sorry for killing some victims on order.

Date of birth: September 10. (This is the date when I first came up with the character in 2021.)

He is good with edged weapons (in particular an ax and a knife), as well as a pistol.

Facts: Red hair shades glow in the dark. She gave the respirator to Millie and began to wear it often. When the respirator broke, it was automatically repaired.

How did he come up with this nickname?

He took his status as a sinner and his character as madness.

Yellow star-shaped pupils are visible in the eyes, but when the eyes turn black, these pupils disappear.

IQ: He is smart thanks to spending several days in Goetti's library.

Abilities: Telekinesis, teleportation,basic hellhound abilities, transform into a puppy, transform into an old version of himself when he was alive.

Likes: chocolate, Octavia, his friends, knives, meat, music, silence, night.

Dislikes: noises, when someone interferes with his business, when he has to make a difficult decision

Fears: afraid of being left without friends (no, this is not autophobia, he is sometimes alone, but he is afraid of being left without them), Satan and other demons of mortal sins.

He is not the strongest, or he can be defeated easily, but at the same time he is not weak, or he was able to defeat those higher than him (Goetti, a couple of Overlords)

Zestial and Andrealfus noticed that the sinner is not a sinner at all, but an Overlord, or how can his powers be explained?

However, the sinner himself denies it, saying that he is simply strong, unlike others.

“I’m not an Overlord, I don’t consider myself one. I'm not the strongest, but I'm not the weakest either. I’m just a strong sinner and nothing more.”

That's all for now. I will answer your questions

Thanks for reading