#I came back and saw chat in shambles

[royalarchivist]

Fit: I am taking my fcking chest and I am pressing it up against your windmill, 'cuz you said to put boobs on it!

Tubbo: Oh, you're putting the FitMC boobs on it?

Fit: I am putting my breasts- I am putting my breasts onto your fcking windmill!

Tubbo: Oh, the FitMC boobs are on my windmill!

Fit: My fckin' pecs! Right on there!

Tubbo: The Fitties! The Fitties are on the windmill!

Fit: The Fitties! [Laughs] The Fitties are on the fckin' windmill!

Tubbo: Nooo! No, oh my- Jesus, the last thing I wanted was the Fitties on my windmill!

[scaredpigeons]

Aqua Regia III: My love is an animal call.

Previous chapter // Next chapter // First chapter

Neuvillette x fem!Reader

Word count: 2.3k

It seems both yourself and the honourable Iudex are struggling with some… ahem. Big feelings.

Authors note: i had to get wri involved, you don’t understand— no it was a necessity. Yeah— no, you get it. Don’t worryyy about ittttt :)

Neuvillette was struggling. 

Now, it wasn’t the way he was struggling before, no. 

You’d swept into his work life and cleaned up the mess he’d found himself caught in, made it safe to breathe again, made it easier. He’d never be able to put into words how eternally grateful he was for your work. You helped him retain the dutiful and serious image he’d carefully painted of himself over the years, even through this hectic and strange transition. 

No, for the first time in his life, Neuvillette felt like he was losing his grasp on his own mind. 

His capabilities within his workplace were fine, stellar as always, as everyone (you) keeps reminding him, but his inner workings and home life were in shambles. 

Strange, archaic instincts were clawing at his psyche, making him act irrationally. His bedroom was a mess, his prized belongings hoarded around his bed, walling it in so he quite literally had to leap into bed at the end of the night. 

He tried taking down the mess of knickknacks, books, fabrics and antiquities one morning after he first made what he now calls his ‘nest’. He shook his head as he carefully unstacked all of his most precious items and put them back in their proper places, only for him to return home after work and feel so restless, so incredibly distraught. 

Everything inside him screamed for the nest, so he remade it, and never took it down again. Anything to avoid that sense of restless panic that pulled at his chest. 

Neuvillette was also hungry. His appetite grew and grew, and his thirst was never quenched. He found himself pacing his house, only to give up denying his instincts and throw himself into the waters in the cover of darkness to hunt within the depths— something he hadn’t done since his youth. 

He felt like an animal, like centuries of living in the high society of Fontaine was reduced to ash in his palms, and if he didn’t satiate these urges, he would go mad and make a fool of himself in front of his citizens and colleagues. (again, you)

He thought of you a lot. He thought of you when he woke up, when he arrived to work. He thought of you throughout the day when you weren’t in his presence, and he thought of you on his way home at the end of the day. 

Even in his fever induced late night dives, he wondered what you would say if you saw him like this. Would you worry for him? You always seemed to be worrying for him. 

You were so considerate, so thoughtful and kind. He was confused, irate. He truly tried to keep himself distant from others, to remain a truly impartial and fair judicator of this nation. 

Ever since the traveler came through and wormed into his heart and homeland alike, he found himself more at ease when interacting with humans. He even found himself more at ease with the idea of perhaps having a friend or two, trustworthy people, people he genuinely believed would never be on the wrong side of Fontaines laws. 

He opened up with Wriothesley a little more, which seemed to shock the Duke at first, but he was very open to the idea of having personal chats as well as work conversations— which he had been pushing for ever since starting his career as the caretaker of the fortress. 

The traveler made it a point to speak with him whenever she and Paimon were in Fontaine, often inviting him to go on exciting little excursions when his schedule allowed it. He considered the both of them to be his friends now as well. 

The melusines were his friends, he supposed. He cared very deeply for them. 

But you? 

He knew you well enough by now to know that on surface level, you were a genuine, good natured law abiding citizen. But he’d seen people of the same standing do heinous things. 

He tossed and turned in his sheets at night, battling logic and centuries of experience with the longing in his chest that he felt for you. 

Whenever he would attempt to berate himself, tell himself that he could not get close to you, he could not risk the image of impartial justice he carefully constructed— a tumultuous and archaic anger would rumble in his chest, and he would quite literally growl at himself. 

A dark voice inside himself would berate him instead when he thought of all the ways you could betray his trust, the ways he’s seen it happen to others before— how dare you think that way of her. 

But no, he didn’t know you well enough yet to trust you completely, even though every fiber of his being was pulling him towards you. 

He was so confused. 

It took everything in him to compartmentalize during the day, get his precious work done, only for him to go home and completely lose himself to the madness. 

His chest ached, yes. But what worried him the most— more than the drive to hunt, to nest, was the aching feeling between his legs. 

He’d been around humans long enough to understand how procreation worked. It was similar with all species, though humans were the only ones he knew of that routinely copulated solely for the sake of pleasure, rather than procreating. 

He vaguely knew about dragon mating cycles, that dragons would choose a mate to further their species, carry on their legacy. But every time he tried to justify the pulsing between his legs, he would laugh at the lunacy of it all. 

He had gone half a millennia in human society without feeling any of these urges, and coming into his powers must be the reasoning for such primitive and dubious symptoms. You were just an unfortunate bystander in it all, It couldn’t have anything to do with you. 

No, certainly not. He surmised that he must be ill. There was no other explanation. His body was not used to such an influx of power, and was acting out, throwing one last hurdle his way before all was well and settled. 

Yes, that was it. 

——————

You used to hate having days off. 

It meant less money coming into your bank account, and more time to sit alone and think. Your friends were lovely distractions, but nothing really quelled the overarching feeling of dread you had at the end of the night when the lights were out and the dark consumed you. 

Now that money was no longer an issue, thanks to your cushy job as personal assistant to the ruler of the entire nation, (a job title that still astounded you,) you no longer felt guilty when meeting up with friends. 

You didn’t have to refuse their charity any longer, or invitations to expensive meals, or parties. 

You truly felt at peace with the majority of your life, and so when the Duke of Meropide invited you to the fortress for tea one evening, you happily accepted. 

You loved visiting Wriothesley. He was a lovely little breath of the air you used to breathe, of trouble and mischief. 

Certainly a close friend, confidant, and many others (Miss Navia and Charlotte) often poked at you that perhaps he would make a good husband for you as well. 

That certainly couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

Wriothesley was fun. He was witty and intelligent, strong, he fell into the role of leadership with far more grace than you had seen in anyone before him, and he made you feel very happy. 

But he was also emotionally unavailable, his entire world dedicated to his work, to the fortress and its residents. He left room for his friendships, keeping the fires there well stoked— but anything further would be a disaster waiting to happen. 

You’d thought about it once or twice, marrying him just for the sake of it, for the security, the titles and privileges that came along with it. 

These were weak moments, when you’d been at your lowest, finding no worth or value in yourself. These were selfish thoughts, unfair to your friend and yourself. Selfish because you knew he would say yes, if only to make your troubles disappear. 

Wriothesley was a great friend. You wished to stay that way for as long as he’d allow it. 

He seemed quite content sitting on the front of his desk while you sat in front of him, sipping an absolutely divine tea while listening to his favourite classical record. 

You still found it so amusing after all these years that he retained such a dark and intimidating outward appearance and still listened to the posh classical music he grew up on. He said it was something about reclaiming a part of him that he didn’t want his parents to own. He had a lot of parts to him that he reclaimed for himself. 

“This is beautiful, remind me what it’s called again?” 

He sat his tea cup down, eyes closed as he absorbed the music with you. “L’Amour Récompensé mais inconnu III, one of my all time favourites.” 

“It’s so calming, are the others of its title the same way?” You asked, placing your teacup next to his on the desk. 

“The record in total is four songs. It’s a love story, and this is the track that symbolizes the moment the lovers realize their feelings for each other. It’s less sorrowful than the first two, a bit more light than the last.” He says, looking across the room thoughtfully. “It’s happier, more hopeful than the others. It almost makes me understand what it might be like to be in love.” 

You knew what he meant, though you tried to push the idea away with each passing day. You could not have feelings like these, it was completely unacceptable. 

Wriothesley must have noticed your breathy sigh, your face scrunching up as it grew heated, and he quirked a brow at you. 

“Nothing-“ you stammered, pushing yourself up from the chair and pacing a few steps away from him. “It’s nothing! Don’t worry about it.” 

“You do seem a bit lighter these days,” he says, that telltale smirk spreading across his face, teasing you. “Don’t tell me someone’s finally caught your attention.” 

“What do you mean, finally?” You spun to face him, red faced and projecting your embarrassment into a raised voice. “I-I’ve had plenty of men interested in me!” 

“Ah, but that’s not what I said, is it?” He rose from the desk, walking towards you in half the steps you took to get to the same spot in the middle of his office. “I asked if someone caught your attention. Plenty of losers have thrown themselves at you over the years to no avail. But I’ve never seen you so flustered.”

His presence, while physically looming over you, was rather comforting. You felt safe within this office, in his counsel. 

“I’m… going through some mixed feelings…” you admitted. 

“Mixed?” He inquired. 

“I… I am attracted to someone I really shouldn’t be, and I loathe myself for it but I can’t seem to bring myself to stop thinking about them.” 

“Oh… certainly a sticky situation you’ve got yourself in, kiddo.” His words were light, but genuine. 

A knock at the door echoed from the spiral staircase beneath you, and he yelled down for whoever was knocking to enter. Steady footsteps sounded from the stairwell and you frowned, a little perturbed that you were finally about to vent to someone, only for it to be interrupted. 

In a kind gesture, he ran his hand soothingly down your upper arm a couple times, a gesture he repeated often, something he did when he knew hugging you would be a bit too much, or when others were around. 

His hand rested on you as he lowered his voice. “We can talk about it more later, okay? I don’t want you to—“

In a flash of white and blue, Wriothesley’s arm was ripped away from you, and he staggered back a few steps as his assailant held his hand up and away from you with firm grip to the wrist. 

You blinked, and Neuvillette was between you, holding Wriothesley’s hand and breathing heavy, if he was straining somehow. 

Wriothesley stared wide eyed and completely shocked. You were sure you looked equally as startled, because Neuvillette looked between the two of you, then at his hand gripping Wriothesley’s wrist, before his own eyes widened and he dropped his hold, stepping back and clearing his throat. 

“I am… so incredibly sorry, Wriothesley,” he said, rubbing a thumb along the palm of the hand that grabbed his friend. “I truly have no idea what just came over me then.” 

Neuvillette looked incredibly guilty, and his eyes wouldn’t meet yours as he picked up a folder that must have been dropped on the floor in the scuffle. 

“Here are the files you requested.” He said softly, setting them gently on Wriothesley’s desk. His gaze trained on the floor, so unlike him, so wounded, and you felt so confused. 

“I’ll take my leave now. again, you have my sincerest apologies, the both of you.” 

The Chief Justice nearly jogged away, a brisk pace you’d not ever seen him take before. 

“Wait!” You’d called out. “Sir! I’ll walk with you back!” But he was already gone, the door closing audibly before you even finished your sentence. 

You turned to Wriothesley, still staring at the spot Neuvillette was mere seconds ago, and gave him an apologetic look. 

“I’m sorry,” you stammered. “It seems like somethings really wrong, I need to—“ Wriothesley just nodded, blank stare, so you bolted after Neuvillette, taking two stairs at a time. 

Moments later, when Wriothesley recovered, and you’d been long gone, he sat in his chair, holding his wrist in awe. 

“Well,” he said to himself. “At least it’s reciprocated.” 

He smiled. “I just wonder when they’ll figure that little detail out for themselves.” 

[callsignbaphomet]

And more info dumping. Part 5. It'll slow down for a few days while I work out some kinks in the plot and beef up some info I just glossed over. If I had to guess I might make two more of these entries, maybe three.

Also without spoiling this entry ends with a happy note for once!

The TWs are pretty mild in this one. It's just some mention of what happened to Jelani and I guess you could say some victim blaming.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Nuka World:

A few months passed and Varg came to visit. He, Jelani and Angelus spent hours just chatting away and Varg told the boys that he heard rumors that Nuka World had been attacked. Angelus was of course worried seeing as how he hadn't been to Nuka World in months. After Varg left Angelus told Jelani he needed to go back to Nuka World and Jelani said he'd go with him.

Once they arrived the raiders were weary of Jelani as he was an unfamiliar but Angelus vouched for him. Turns out that the plan to get rid of Colter went off without a hitch. Gage welcomed the new overboss and showed them the area and what they needed to do. Kiddie Kingdom had been cleared and given to The Pack but after that the new overboss was hanging around the market too much until one day everyone within the market came out guns blazing led by the overboss. Most of them died but several well placed bombs made short work of most of the gangs' members. The overboss was killed and before anyone could blink Gage had disappeared.

Nuka World was in shambles, leaderless, key figures were dead including Shank and anything could set off a civil war. The leaders of each gang had survived and while The Pack and The Operators tried their best to rebuild The Disciples just wanted blood. Many dead Pack and Operator members were blamed on Disciple members. There was an unspoken alliance between The Pack and The Operators but there was a lot of mistrust as well. Not one of the leaders thought to continue clearing the rest of the park or even continue with the plan. They were all in a stagnant stalemate.

Now, hanging around the outskirts of Nuka World were 2 other raider gangs. The War Birds, a gang formed from Commonwealth raiders that tried joining Nuka World but were rejected for whatever reason so the rejected got together to form their own gang. They'd occasionally attack Nuka World especially now that they knew they were weakened.

The other gang was The Syndicate. The leaders were Tyrone "Ty" Radek and Lamar Bourne. Their entire gang were remnants of descendants of people from the SAS and MI6 from London. This group in particular had flown across the ocean over 5 years ago and settled in Georgia but moved and soon found themselves near Boston. They were well trained, organized, and armed to the teeth with weapons in excellent condition and eager to use 'em. The Syndicate were sympathetic to Nuka World's situation but if they didn't ask them for help they weren't gonna bother.

Further from the outskirts were dozens of raiders and raider gangs dying to take over Nuka World especially after hearing about their misfortune. A massive group of Gunners had cleared out and taken over Bradberton and the power plant. Nuka World found itself between a rock and a hard place.

Normally Jelani couldn't be bothered to give a flying fuck about raiders. He'd been killing all kinds of raiders since he was 14-years-old and plenty of his caps were made from assassinating raiders. But he saw how Angelus was at the sight of his home and his gang in shambles and Jelani couldn't help but feel the need to somehow help. That first night Angelus said he was gonna permanently leave the gang as there was no fixing that mess. While Angelus slept Jelani did some research of his own and started to plan out ways to expand the gang's reach across the entire park. He went to Angelus with the plan and while grateful he told him they'd be on their own as none of the other gangs would even bother; not at that stage. Jelani said they just needed ammo and time, that just the two of them would be able to clear shit if they organized well and were careful.

Angelus went to Mason with the idea and while he was reluctant to trust an outsider again he said there was not much more damage Jelani could do so he had his gang hand over most of the ammo they had. It was a good sizable amount but Jelani preferred more so Angelus went to The Operators, specifically two of its members that he was friends with and more importantly friends that owed him a big favor. The twins Cass and Jazz agreed to talk to Mags on Angelus's behalf but it took a lot of convincing. In the end Jelani stepped up and promised the next location they cleared out belonged to The Operators. This swayed Mags so she relinquished a good portion of their ammo to Jelani and Angelus so they set off towards the Galactic Zone.

Having done his research Jelani knew that the robots within that section had gone haywire and were hostile to anything and everything that moved. In their inventory they had a few plasma grenades and mines but not enough to wipe them all out. So Jelani suggested they somehow draw the robots out to them, Angelus volunteered to run in, fire at them and then run back towards Jelani. Jela wasn't a fan of that idea but Angelus convinced him he was fast enough. So for 3 days and 2 nights they baited about 90% of the robots to run out and Jelani shot them down while Dagny kept patrol of the area for stragglers.

Once it was mostly safe to go in they found the mainframe which Jelani was a little more than enthusiastic about hacking into but without power being drawn into it it was lost. However, Angelus found some cores that powered it up. They found some and it was enough to get the defense systems shut down. Once it was completely safe Jelani, Angelus and Dagny returned to Nuka Town and went directly to Mags to tell her the Galactic Zone was hers. Impressed that the two of them managed to overtake the GZ and Jelani kept his promise Mags said that whatever he needed all he had to do was ask. The twins asked if they needed any extra hands and Jelani took them up on that offer as his next target was the zoo.

Before heading to the zoo Jelani asked Angelus if he could somehow arrange a meeting with The Syndicate, the more allies the better. Angelus agreed but told him that Radek was one of the leaders. Yeah, Jela got nervous and a little nauseous but he wanted to continue with the meeting.

Radek and Bourne heard him out and agreed that Nuka World was fucked so they agreed to help. They were honest and said they were getting bored and a little action might do them some good. Before leaving, Radek asked to talk to Jelani alone and apologized about their first encounter. Jelani just shrugged it off but Radek said that he thought Jelani's reaction was due to trauma but Jelani cut 'im off and said he was dealing with it.

You guessed it, he had a pretty bad nightmare that night but this time Angelus was there to help him through it.

The next day Radek, the twins and some Pack members met up with Jelani, Angelus and Dagny at the zoo. Cito and his family had been forced to leave and search for a new home due to the population of gatorclaws growing out of control. The beasts basically took over the zoo. At first Jelani mistook them for deathclaws and a rage he hadn't felt in a very long time possessed him. Some of the Pack members wanted to keep a few alive but that kinda went south when Jelani went a bit overkill with a few he bumped into. The idea of keeping a few alive kinda got scrapped when two Pack members were torn to shreds and eaten. This endeavor took damn near 2 weeks and used up a fuck ton of ammo. Once they dropped the population they found the cloning machine and removed the gatorclaw aspect from it. The Pack wanted to keep the machine working though as it could prove useful for duplicating animals for the purpose of entertainment. 

The zoo naturally went to The Pack. With 2 locations under their control The Pack began to look favorably at Jelani. The Operators were still friendly but they reminded Jela not to forget about them and even hinted that they favored the Nuka Cola Bottling Plant for themselves as it seemed to be a standing monument to their beliefs. Jelani was going to tackle that one next but the meeting between him and Mags was disrupted when two of Nisha's goons called for him. While Mags didn't appreciate it she was sure she knew why she sent for him and told him not to worry.

Once they escorted Jelani and Angelus (who was forced to wait outside) Nisha basically began to threaten to "slowly kill him with a dull and rusty butter knife" if the next 2 locations weren't claimed for The Disciples. Jelani being Jelani didn't appreciate that one damn bit and the two basically got into a sort of back and forth of threats that amounted to a verbal dick measuring contest between the two. In the end Nisha said that she would be sending one of her guys with him and if the next 2 locations weren't hers he was ordered to kill Jelani on the spot. He left and the Disciple assigned to him, a big and muscular brute of a man named Otis, tailed him.

With the change of plans Jela snuck away to talk to Mags. He said he'd be clearing out Dry Rock Gulch and giving it to Nisha but that after that he was gonna clear the bottling plant for Mags. He was honest about Nisha's threats and while Mags couldn't do anything about it Jela said he told her just so she knew what was happening and to keep an eye out in case The Disciples tried anything cute.

Dry Rock was somewhat similar to the zoo in that it had an animal problem. However, the beasties were a problem due to how they attacked and traveled. Mags and Mason gave Jelani and Angelus more ammo and a few people to help, the twins Cass and Jazz returned. Otis was just there to keep an eye on Jelani. However, Jelani had Dagny follow from far and occasionally could be heard yelling commands in Norwegian to the little nightstalker. Otis kinda caught on and demanded he say what he was saying in English but Jelani ignored him. Dagny was basically ordered to tail Otis and watch him.

At Dry Rock the bloodworms had also grown in population and had basically taken over the section. Their soft bodies were easily shredded to pieces by bullets but their method of traveling and numbers made the ordeal a challenge which lasted long into the night. Once the root of the problem had been taken care of all they needed to do was get the stragglers that were roaming in the area. Everyone inside the park was relatively safe as the bloodworms learned to avoid the sound of gunfire but Otis who'd been outside the park and keeping watch had been snatched by the few remaining bloodworms. He obviously yelled for help and tbh letting him die would've made Jelani thrilled but there was no way Nisha would've believed her goon was eaten by the worms so he and the others rushed to save his ass.

Once the worms were dead they packed up and left back to Nuka Town to tell Nisha that her little gang could move into Dry Rock. When they were close to Nuka Town they noticed Otis was lagging really far behind. Out of some weird sense of misplaced compassion Jelani checked in on him and noticed all the bite marks. He actually tended to the wounds and noticed the big brute had been poisoned. After letting out the world's most annoyed groan and rolling his eyes Jelani actually treated the poison with some antidote he had, it was sort of a universal one so it would take time to heal. He also noticed Otis had hurt his leg pretty badly so Jelani took care of that too. After Otis regained some strength back they continued and Otis gave Nisha the news that Dry Rock was theirs. She ordered him to tail Jelani again but he said he wouldn't be able to with his injuries. After a massive bitch fit Nisha went to Jelani and threatened him again. And again Jelani and her got into an argument which ended in both walking away pissed off.

The last place that needed to be claimed was the Nuka Cola Bottling Plant. The plant had a unique problem though. It had become the new HQ for an off branch group of Gunners led by an unknown man in a mask. This group of Gunners were very heavily armed, very hostile and knew what they were doing. This was gonna be a problem as the only ones fit to effectively fight them were Jelani and The Syndicate. There were even rumors of ghosts running through the area of the plant. Jelani and Angelus sat down with Radek and Bourne and asked for reinforcements which they gladly gave due to their boredom and desire to get out there and do something. However, they requested a sit down with whoever ran Nuka World to join as allies. Jela was honest and said there wasn't anyone running Nuka World and that basically it was the leaders of the three gangs that sorta ran it. Radek and Bourne weren't too thrilled with that answer but they decided to help anyway.

The next day a dozen soldiers from The Syndicate arrived at Nuka Town to join Jelani, Angelus and Dagny. Cass and Jazz as well as a few Operators and a few more Pack members showed up. They wasted no time and marched on the Nuka Cola Bottling Plant.

*cue the Call of Duty montage!*

This shit took damn near 70 hours but with Jelani and Radek leading the assault they managed to steer a group of raiders to victory. The "ghosts" rumored to circle the plant were actually assaultrons using their cloaking abilities. This wasn't that big of an issue as Jelani sniped them from a distance using the thermal sight on his modified scope. Once they breached the plant itself they rushed forward and suffered some casualties due to traps set up by the Gunners but they managed to push through. The leader, the masked man, had barricaded himself in the upper control room but Jelani broke through with Dagny's help. She seemed overly protective of Jelani and very vicious once Jela found the masked man and confronted him.

The man began to laugh and said, "Back for more, kid?”

Jelani froze in place while Dagny backed up against him and snarled viciously as her tail rattled. He recognized that voice, it was seared into his brain. It was one of the voices that plagued his nightmares almost every night. The man removed his mask and sure enough it was one of the men that had raped him. More specifically the first one that started the assault. The man was gonna say something but Jelani woke up from his frozen state and emptied an entire clip of a pistol directly into his face. Angelus found Jelani pulling the trigger and breathing heavily as he cried and kept aiming the empty gun at the body a few feet in front of him. Angelus lowered his arm and hugged him while he tried to calm him down. Radek followed close by and walked in on them. He didn't understand what was going on but by the state of the body on the floor it was personal. Radek asked if Jelani was okay but he shook his head. Angelus asked if he was one of them and Jelani shakily said yes.

After a few minutes Jelani composed himself and noticed a map of the area on the wall with the plant and Bradberton circled. He figured the rest of the Gunners were there and if one of the men that assaulted him was there the rest might be there. Jelani simply reloaded his gun and said they needed to go to Bradberton town to wipe out the rest. When Jelani left Radek asked what the fuck was that. Angelus said that Jela had been attacked when he was 17 and the dead guy in the corner was one of them and left it at that as he went after Jelani. Radek ain't stupid though, he put two and two together and referenced that with the first time he met Jelani and understood what Angelus said.

NOTE: The entire encounter was more dramatic but this is an info dump, not story.

Jelani told one of the Operators to go to Mags and to let her know the plant was hers but they needed to take care of the Gunner problem or else it would come back to bite 'em in the ass. Jelani marched straight into Bradberton with a scorched earth determination. The town had far less Gunners but nevertheless he and the others gunned down the entire town. Jela was on the lookout for any familiar faces but didn't find anyone else. After half an hour Radek yelled out that one of them was making a break for it and Jelani spotted one of them running away. He and Dagny gave chase.

At the Northpoint Reservoir Dagny managed to catch up to the runaway Gunner and brought him down. He managed to get back up but a well placed .50 bullet right into his right knee put an end to his running. As he writhed in agony Jelani ordered Dagny to stand down though she acted as viciously as she did with the man at the plant. Jelani disarmed him and kicked him over. Turns out the leader of that group of Gunners was Christian.

Christian began to laugh when he recognized Jelani. Like the guy Jelani killed in the plant he mocked him and asked if he was back for another round and said all sorts of foul shit to Jela. How if he didn't want it to happen he would've fought harder, how it wouldn't have happened had he and his brother minded their own business, how Jelani liked being raped because he was touching himself when it happened (Christian forced him to do that while holding a knife to his throat) and other rancid shit to get a reaction out of Jelani.

Jelani was quiet and had a blank expression as he drew his knife and his pistol. He shot him twice on each antecubital fossa (socturns out that the name for the front area of the elbow lol) and cut his throat from ear to ear and left him to slowly bleed to death. After watching Christian agonize for a bit he left back to the town. Angelus was waiting for him and hugged him again. Jelani got teary eyed but honestly he was just numb. Didn't make him feel better, didn't suddenly mean he was cured of his PTSD, it didn't change the fact that it happened, wasn't gonna stop the nightmares or flashbacks/memories, sure as shit wasn't gonna mean just anyone could touch him and he wouldn't jump or anything but he felt a weird type of satisfaction knowing he killed 2 of the men that raped him.

Once they got back to Nuka Town The Pack and Operator leaders reported that Nisha had rebelled and taken over the power plant. All of Nuka World as well as The Syndicate stormed the power plant. In the end Nisha made her last stand and was gonna shoot Jela but Otis turned his gun on Nisha and blew her brains out instead. The day before taking the bottling plant Otis came to Jelani and told him Nisha had planned to kill him regardless of whether he gave The Disciples the plant or not but since Jelani helped him Otis went rogue but stayed undercover under Jelani's order.

Once the power plant was theirs they turned the power back on in the entire park. The Syndicate was welcomed as part of the main roster and all the leaders had a sit down to make Jela the new overboss given how he was the one that revitalized the idea to take over the park again and actually pulled through. However, he turned it down. He was adamant that one lone asshole leading the whole thing was a bad idea and suggested that all leaders should form a sort of council. Still though, they added him to the council due to all of his hard work and kind of made him overboss of the council. They still had a lot of work to do. There were other gangs and raiders itching to take over Nuka World and dozens of areas ripe with caps for them to take. Not to mention that with Jelani, Radek and Bourne's help they could shape up The Pack and The Operators into lethal raiders that could rival even the Gunners in terms of fighting for and defending Nuka World.

Jelani agreed to stay within the council but wanted to make it clear that he could come and go as he chose along with Angelus. It was agreed and so Jelani, Angelus, Dagny, Ayo and Alyona returned to Kingsport Lighthouse after speaking with Ginger through a ham radio. It'd been a few chaotic weeks and Jelani just wanted some peace and quiet.

Once they were at the Lighthouse, Ginger and Abigail told Jelani he had a visitor who was waiting for him in the kitchen of the main house. Jela was kinda puzzled but he went to check anyway. Dagny was sniffing around the front door and let out a few happy yaps as she rushed into the kitchen with her tail wagging wildly. Jelani called her but she rushed in and was jumping up on a man. He petted Dagny and laughed but when he saw Jelani he said, "Hei, lillebror (Hi, little brother)."

Jelani dropped everything he was holding onto, ran towards Loke and hugged him as tight as he could while gasping for air and repeating over and over again that he saw him die. Loke hugged him back as hard as he could and kept apologizing. Jelani sort of felt faint and both siblings fell to the ground when he lost his balance but kept hugging each other and crying into each other's arms. Loke wiped Jelani's tears away as he kept apologizing and kissing him repeatedly.

[springvaletales]

((Session 34-B is wrapped!))

We’re back together in the Wearbear Inn, and Lex’s player is here today!!

Lex has named their horse ‘Pork Buns’. He’ll be great friends with Ena’s horse Chicken Fried Rice!

New NPC Request: A Centaur shopkeeper who pulls his own cart, and if you try to haggle with him, he kills you.

The party all gets settled at their chosen table, and the bear waitress, Selena(rctos thibetanus) came back over to take their order.

“Delicious, delicious mucus.”

Asahi’s Player: “I was only having inside thoughts!”

Me: “In public.”

August is rolling out the bear puns and none of the other party members are enjoying them.

Ena: “I’ll take one of everything.”

Selena the Bear: *affirmative bear noises as she circles something on her notepad*

Ena’s last allowance portion was a chocolate coin, an electrum piece, and five Hucky Heese tokens left in Asahi’s boots.

Lex’s player is jealous of Ena’s moss cat and wants one, as well.

My players gave me half a chance to expose my Transformers shame and the chat devolved into who was better: Shattered Glass Soundwave & Ravage or normal G1 Soundwave & Ravage.

“I am not a licensed robot gynecologist!”

Bagelby tried to use the planatir to find robot wizards within the world, but couldn’t make out any details.

He then tried to use it to see into the kitchen to see if the food was good. All he saw was a bubbling pot of soup.

Bagelby: “The soup looks delicious, so I’ll have that, please.”

Babelby is now going to use the planatir to make all of his decisions.

Thiori alone tipped 50g to the servers.

“When you guys get back to Kendara, your tab is cut off. You need to start spending your own money.”

Thiori made a valiant effort to get plastered, and finally discovered the class feature that prevents him from getting drunk.

The innkeeper approached the party after Asahi made mention of “always needing a bit more coin” to ask them to go out into the woods and find his husband, and remind him that he needed to be back to help with the dinner rush before the Bard Five was ready to get up on stage.

The party bartered for pay in a few gold and a bottle of semi-illegal liquor that may or may not get Thiori drunk, and set off to find the innkeeper’s husband.

Said husband is a cameo character of August’s player’s PC from an older campaign we were both in, so they took over his narration from here.

The party walked for a while before starting to find bits and pieces of zombies, and the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh.

Ena threw up.

The party can hear the sound of bells in the trees, as well as heavy footsteps and the breaking of bones.

Well…most of the party can hear it. Bagelby, Sir Carl Jaeger, and Lex are all distracted by a super-cool bug.

The party finally finds Galthor, 8ft Firbolg Bard-Barian, as he finishes off a small group of shambling zombies.

Asahi wants all the teeth that have been knocked out of the zombie skulls, purely to send them to her royal patron, Manon-Val.

“You know, eventually, he’s going to start seeing these gifts of teeth as a threat.”

“Manon-Val? No. He’s too nice to ask you to stop. His advisors, however, are starting to get concerned.”

Galthor is an absolute sweetheart who is mortified to realize he was out too late chasing zombies and his husband is getting impatient.

Galthor: “I could use y’all’s help putting these lost souls to rest.”

Asahi: “Good news! We have a cleric!”

Lex: “Oh, fuck, I have to do shit?”

Asahi and Galthor both like to collect teeth, though Galthor is more about collecting monster teeth than humanoid teeth.

Asahi: “I’m NOT mailing a skeleton horse to my-…although…?”

After some debate, vampire teeth are in fact monstrous enough to be considered compatible with Galthor’s collection.

Asahi, to the party: “All in favor of fighting a zombie hoard, raise your hand.”

Thiori: *raises all four of his arms*

The party plus Galthor heads out for a nearby tomb where the zombies have been starting to wander out of, trading small talk, introductions, and descriptions along the way.

Galthor: “Unlike my husband, I am not a werebear. I only invoke their power in battle.”

Ena: “But you did fuck one though.”

Galthor, coughing awkwardly: “ANYWAY-”

The zombies have an AC of 8 and only 22 HP. They’re really only here for story purposes and to give Lex’s player a safe taste of first-time combat without risking serious confusion or character death, and I plan for them to just keep coming until everyone seems satisfied.

Ena destroyed a zombie with her dual-hit eldritch blast, and exploded him like an overfilled water balloon.

August chopped up a zombie Galthor hit but didn’t quite put down like she was chopping lettuce for a salad.

Thiori fried a zombie like a chicken wing, and then we took a quick hydration break.

Bagelby: “What tomb is this? Who did these zombies used to be? Why are they so restless?”

Galthor: “Listen, child, I just like hitting things.”

Asahi pummeled a zombie like Star Platinum from JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure, but missed on her very last hit.

“It’s time for the Bagelby show!”

Bagelby’s Player wanted to understand the undead more, so he approached a downed one that Galthor hadn’t quite killed, stole a medallion off of it’s armor, and used his kleptomancy to power-up a Suggestion spell, and asked the zombie to tell him its secrets.

Instead of a ‘how do undead work’ kind of answer, he got a much more vivid and cryptic “I stole something from a mythical entity” kind of answer.

I have a lore side quest that needs to be seeded and this is my opportunity.

“Bagelby is fREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW-“

“Bagelby has experienced death by many hands, with all those magical rocks you’ve licked.”

Sir Carl uppercut one zombie, but it collapsed faster than he expected, and his second punch whiffed.

Lex cast Guiding Bolt and incinerated a zombie for her first D&D kill!

We’re back to the top of the order, and since I’ve managed to drop my lore and get Lex her first kill, I think we can have one more zombie for everyone, and then wrap up the combat.

In a Rage, Galthor ripped the stone slab door off of the tomb and crushed five of the eight zombies with it.

August chopped up another zombie even more finely, but then failed a Constitution saving throw, and threw up on the body parts from the burned smell.

Thiori tried to fry another zombie, but despite rolling 20+’s to hit, rolled less than 10s in damage.

Ena used Eldritch Blast to take out the last remaining zombies - including the one Bagelby was standing over, which almost fried him.

August’s Player: “Nooo! Don’t toast the bagel!”

Bagelby: “Maybe we should put these bodies back…”

August, looking down at the diced zombie at her feet: “Oh….”

The party decided that if Bagelby, of all people, was too uncomfortable with leaving the zombies outside of their tomb, then they should probably put the bodies back in their tomb.

Bagelby’s Player: “Soli…I would like to rob the tomb.”

With the party distracted putting all the bodies back, Bagelby quickly dug around the tomb and found a hidden drawer in a shelf that was opened by a button bearing the same symbol as the zombie’s medallion.

Lex left immediately - she’s seen “The Mummy” (it’s canon now) and does NOT want to be party to a curse.

He successfully stole the item inside, but Asahi and August immediately clocked his guilty look.

Asahi: “….Bagel. Bagel, what do you have? What’s in your mouth? Give it here!”

August: “What’s in your slime pouch?”

Asahi dragged him out of the tomb in a headlock, which alerted the rest of the party.

Bagelby: “So I did a weird thing with one of the zombies…”

Sir Carl Jaeger: “You didn’t lick any of the bodies, did you?”

Bagelby: “NO!”

The party is scheduling a Mummy Movie Marathon now, bc neither I nor several other party members have actually seen “The Mummy” outside of memes and clips.

With the zombies defeated, Bagelby chastised, and Galthor in tow, the party hiked back through the forest to the Werebear Inn.

Asahi gives Galthor several pamphlets for her business, and he asks her if he can commission her to make some glass animals for the inn.

“At this point, you run a cult rehabilitation center that uses glass blowing as therapy.”

Galthor wants glass bears for his husband, and a shark for himself.

Asahi’s Player to Ena’s Player: “I am not making sEXUAL BEAR THINGS OUT OF  G L A S S.”

Asahi, excitedly: “I finally have some glass work!”

Bagelby, also excitedly: “And it only took a year!”

The party returns Galthor to his husband just in time for the dinner rush, and the innkeeper passes Ena a small bottle of super-strong liquor that Asahi absolutely told him not to give her.

We left off with the party once gain settled at a table, enjoying a free dessert of acorn cake as they listened to the Bard Five start to play…and Bagelby wondered what cursed item was burning a hole in his slime pocket.

[rin-itoshi]

mc’s departure | obey me

summary: how the brothers would react to MC returning to the human world after a year in the devildom

contains: fluff , angst , ?!!!!&;@;&:idk

♯ LUCIFER

he’s the one to see you off, reminding you of the many things he had taught you so that you’d never forget.

his pride is much too large to admit that he will miss you to death and that he loves you dearly.

after you’re gone, he’s gone for hours at a time, holed up in his room with as much as work as he can take on.

he overworks himself with the intention of getting rid of the heavy emotion on his heart.

everything reminds you of him, even the paper clip on his desk that you had once found under his bed.

he gets easily irritable, feeling rather empty now that you’ve gone and left him alone in this now quiet house.

barely leaves his room, only works.

never cries but gets quite emotional when he finds a belonging you left behind.

♯ MAMMON

he cried every single night up until your departure but never showed you that side of him once

after you left, he cried non-stop, not caring if he looked like a cry baby in front of his brother’s who watched him with pitiful eyes.

once his eyes dried up, he soon never returned home as he partied all day and night.

he forced himself to attend parties after parties in order to forget about you.

it never works because everything reminds him of you.

sometimes he sits in his car and just stares into space, wondering what you’re doing now that you’re back on earth.

literally cannot stand the mention of you or your name or he may break down.

pretends to be okay but can’t go a day without getting upset about your absence.

money soon becomes pointless when he realizes no amount of cash will bring you back to the house of lamentation.

♯ LEVIATHAN

curled up in his bath tub and cried himself to sleep.

stopped leaving his room in general, continuously playing games all day and night.

couldn’t look at his ruri-chan figures because they somehow reminded him of you and how much you used to admire them with him.

every inch of his room has your touch on it and it makes his heart ache painfully.

struggles to attend online school but manages to make it through the day by zoning out in class.

claims he doesn’t care about a normie like you but genuinely misses you

sends you messages, forgetting you can no longer contact him without your D.D.D

writes about how much he misses you on his blog fully aware you’ll never see it.

♯ SATAN

reading. that’s all he does.

he hides in his room and reads every single book he has stacked up along his room, even rereading them if he finished everything.

uses books to get his mind off of you—or more so the lack of you.

will sometimes get excited about a stray cat he sees but stops himself when he realizes he can’t tell you because you aren’t here.

gets angry. a lot.

the smallest things set him off and he can longer feign a smile when he hears your name or anything related to you.

he misses you so much that he wants to tear out his hair and rip apart all these book page by page.

his room is in shambles and he can’t seem to think straight anymore.

♯ ASMODEUS

loses his interest in everything.

forgets his skin care routine and lets himself go without caring about it.

forces himself to go to parties and tries to sleep with someone to feel better but when it fails, he stops sleeping around in general.

like mammon, he doesn’t come home often to avoid seeing the house he had lived in with you happily.

cannot forget about you no matter what he does, and that frustrates him the most.

wishes he had done something to stop you or at least slept beside you one last time.

neglects himself for a while.

♯ BEELZEBUB

poor bby isn’t hungry for once.

can’t seem to eat now that you’re not sitting beside him, giggling about something he had said.

spends a lot of his time doing weight training and exercising to get his mind off of you.

misses all the meals you used to make on the nights you were in charge of cooking.

sometimes forgets you’re not around whenever he’s about to go downstairs to eat dinner.

clings to belphie in hopes to fill the gap in his heart.

accidentally broke down your room door in an angry fit when your absence finally set in.

♯ BELPHEGOR

either he sleeps even more or somehow gets less sleep.

no matter what, he feels sluggish and blank.

locks himself in the attic, almost as if he was never released in the first place.

even though he hated humans, your absence affected him the most after he had grown to love you as a human.

nearly went demon mode on diavolo when he found out that you were being sent back to the human world.

partially wishes he never met you but cherishes his memories with you too much to ever wish for that wholeheartedly.

sleeps in your bed often to hold onto your lingering scent that was fading quickly.

complains to beel that you were nothing but a stupid human who turns their backs on demons like them, but he never means anything he says.

“Why is it so quiet in here?” Diavolo asks as he opens the front door of the House of Lamentation with Barbatos at his side. The man’s golden eyes scanned the entry hall, noticing how it was so eerily dark and quiet that it almost felt like something out of a horror movie. It felt like no one had lived here in over two thousand years. “Hello?”

Upon receiving message from Diavolo, everyone had exited their rooms for the first time in a while, looking like they were dragged through the mud. The state they were in made Diavolo jump with surprise, shocked to find that even Lucifer looked like he was ill. “What happened to you guys?!”

“What is it that you need, Lord Diavolo?” Lucifer asked as he ran a hand through his hair to compose himself a bit in front of the red haired man. “If is nothing important, may I kindly ask you to leave and return another time?”

Diavolo sighed, shaking his head lightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what’s up with you guys, but I brought everyone’s favorite person along with me so sing your praises now!”

Mammon huffed, “If ya’ talking about that butler of yours, ain’t nobody care right now! We got bigger things to worry about!”

Barbatos simply smiled, taking no offense to the sly insult thrown his way.

Diavolo cocked a brow in confusion. “What? Of course not! It’s-“

The person stepped out from behind Diavolo, catching the attention of every single male in the room. The seven brother’s choked, staring at the one person they had longed for these past few days.

“[y/n]!” They shouted in unison, practically flying down the stairs to get to you. Mammon was the first to reach you, wrapping his arms around your entire body as he tackled you to the floor. The other brother’s climbed on top of you two, hugging you so tightly that you feared this would be where you’d die. “You’re back!”

Diavolo chuckled boisterously. “This is amusing! You lot are acting like you didn’t know they’d return today!” His laugh came to an abrupt stop when he saw the flat expressions coming from each and every brother. “Oh- Did I not inform you?”

“Obviously you didn’t.” Belphegor scoffed with a roll of the eyes, burying his face in the crook of your neck to inhale your scent. “[y/n]...”

“Ya can’t ever leave again! I’ll seriously get angry at ya if this happens again! Ya either go to the human world with me or ya don’t go at all!” Mammon snapped, cupping your cheeks while getting dangerously close to your face to yell at you.

“I’ll severely punish you if you ever leave this manor without giving me a heads up as to where you’re off to. You’re not just an exchange student anymore. You’re special.” Lucifer explained, a panicked glint in his tired eyes as he reached out to pat your head gently with his gloved hand.

Satan sighed, pressing his forehead against your back. “If you leave again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to control my emotions, so don’t leave.”

The avatar of lust whined loudly, “my beautiful self can’t handle a life without you! Don’t ever go anywhere without me again!” He clutched onto her waist tightly.

“Don’t... Don’t go anywhere.” Leviathan said with a sad frown on his lips as he held your hand, bringing it up to rest against his cheek. “It’s so empty without you.”

“Let’s eat dinner together, [y/n].” Beel suggested, his voice full of emotions as he drooled at the thought of dinner with you.

A million emotions ran through your veins as you sat there, basking in the warmth of their touch. It was overwhelming to receive so much love all at once but it was amazing.

A smile slowly crept onto your lips as you leaned into their touch, enjoying the way they clung to you as if you’d disappear any moment now. “I missed you guys, too.”

“What a lovely reunion!” Diavolo exclaimed happily, snapping a view blurry photos on his D.D.D to send to the group chat later.

After the heartfelt moment, they quickly disappeared upstairs to fix up their appearance before rushing downstairs to the kitchen where you stood. They clung to you like bugs to a light, hounding you about your sudden departure, only to find out that you had gone up there with Diavolo and Barbatos to help the man experience human world activities he had never gotten to try before. Diavolo was sure he had told them that but seeing as they were genuinely distressed, he assumed the message never reached.

Even though they were beyond pissed with Diavolo and his carelessness, they were just glad you were back. Them being here with you really was their idea of a perfect life.

a/n: UH YEA K GOODNIGHT

[crystalcow]

I was actually wondering if you could do a Karl, BBH, Wilbur, and Technoblade version with head canons please

𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟//𝑀𝑐𝑦𝑡 !ℎ𝑐

Masterlist

Karl Jacobs//BBH//Wilbur Soot// x reader !r !cc/ Tommy x reader !p !cc

Pronouns used: gender neutral!

Warnings: bad days, swearing, mainly fluff

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙨/𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝗼𝐛𝐬

You had just heard from your manager that they’re reducing your paycheck

That pissed you off

So when you got off the phone you seriously wanted to break down

Instead you looked over to the door that lead into Karl’s office

You saw he was streaming with Sapnap and the rest of the guys playing a Minecraft cooking mod

But in the end you remember what Karl told you a while back

“I don’t care if the world finds out, if you need me just barge in!”

So you did just that

You came into the room, tears stunning at the brim of your eyes

He hadn’t noticed it yet until small sniffles were heard

So he muted looking over seeing you before opening his arms

You climbed in nuzzling your head in his neck trying to calm down

The guys were freaking out as much as chat was

But the second he saw a rude comment he BANNED that one person and closed chat

“So um guys, this is Y/n.. not the way I was expecting to introduce them but!”

You punched his shoulder lightly starting to feel better in his arms

“I’m sorry” you whispered feeling bad for ruining the stream

He just kissed your head, lightly pushing your head down into his sweater

“No need to apologize! We’ll talk after stream alright?”

So he just carried on while everyone was just in mixed emotions

Sapnap and Quackity joked around about it obviously

“Oh my god, he’s replaced us!”

They just teased him for the rest of the stream while chat became more and more curious

After the stream ended you and Karl chatted about why you had suddenly started crying

He swore he was going to punch your boss

Talked you into quitting, maybe doing videos with the mr beast crew instead

But in the end you both decided to formally introduce you soon

I’m so in love with you

༻✧༺

𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐁𝗼𝐲𝐇𝐚𝐥𝗼

Your day has gotten off from a really bad start since the beginning

You and bad had recently just moved in with each other

For some reason rat hates you

She wouldn’t stop nipping at you and barking at your sight

Bad was shocked at the little pups behavior, she was never like this?

So while he went off to stream Gartic phone with the pp crew

You decided to bake

Taking up a new hobby to pass time while he streamed

Ironically enough you had found a recipe for muffins

The pan was hot as you were careful taking it out of the scorching oven

But that’s exactly when rat decided to yap at you

She had decided to start barking as you attempted to calm her with treats

In return you got a bite to the ankle

You must admit, that little munchkin had sharp teeth

So you winced know pain, ultimately dropping the hot pan right onto the same leg

You whined in pain pouring a cup of cold water down on it trying to sooth the pain

Almost crying when seeing the baked goods rolled around on the floor

You knew Bad didn’t stream with face cam so you went to his office to console

He was laughing while drawing a picture of him and skeppy eating rat?

You know you wanted to do the same at the moment

He heard you come in, immediately taking notice of your shambled appearance

“Are you okay muffin?”

He thought he had pressed mute

but instead he had just muted the game and not discord nor twitch

You shook your head going forward to sit on his lap, wrapping arms around him

He loved hugs

But hated seeing you upset

“Oh my goodness he’s talking to Skeppy!” Velvet joked

But he didn’t hear it due to his headset pulled down

“Your puppy hates me and the muffins are on the floor!” You complained, fidgeting with his hoodie strings

“It’s okay, everything will be alright. Let her warm up to you, and we can buy muffins from that bakery Huh!”

You perked up staying where you were, the corners of your lips upwarding

“IS BAD TALKING TO A [ ] RIGHT NOW??” Puffy shouted confused

He definitely heard that tho

“Oh crud.”

He slapped his hand over his mouth, quickly muting as chat went bonkers

His friends on the other line were laughing and making different theories

“Hey hey look at me.” You held his face in your hands

“We can tell them! It’s about time we told your friends right?”

So you both gathered yourselves together

His voice was shaking the whole time as he explained the situation

Safe to say they were all inlove with you

Puffy and Gumi decided to keep you

But throughout the next couple rounds of the game

All the prompts were about the both of you

Hm lets say that velvet and ant made things a little dirtier then wanted..

But after he ended he posted a picture of the both of you

Your head was on his shoulder as he held rat

“You make my sun brighter” “You’re my sun!”

༻✧༺

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝗼𝗼𝐭

Tommy was making your life hell at the moment

When Wilbur had introduced you to the sleepy bois

He hadn’t expected tommy to kidnap you

You had woken up in your shared home with Wilbur and a couple other of his mates

The doorbell had rang like 5 or 6 times

But when you opened the door you hadn’t had expected to see a 6’3 blonde gremlin

“How the hell did you know I live here?”

“I asked Joe..”

You just looked at him confused and we’re about to call for Wilbur

But the blonde boy shushed you before you alert your personal security guard

“Your coming with me, I’m going to vlog and you’ll have to deal with it!”

For some reason you decided to go with it

You texted Wilbur saying that you’ll be out for a couple hours before leaving

You wish someone had warned you about making the worst mistake

The blonde kid had promised a fun day of shopping, food, and regular foolery

All you wanted was to become closer with Wilburs friends, especially the one he considered as a little brother

But noooo

You got bombarded by a swarm of raging 9 year olds at the train station

Apparently someone had managed to also steal your wallet

Tommy had apologized professedly but you just wanted to go home

While you had a camera shoved in your face while walking down the mall

Some douchebag spilled his drink all over you

Didn’t even apologize, just ran

So whilst you were: poor, tired, and already on the verge of a mental breakdown

You were now embarrassed and soaked whilst all of that had been caught on camera

Just to your luck, someone who had been a fan of tommy had also recorded it from their phone

It all ended up on Twitter

So now there was a viral clip t r e n d I n g

“So how’s being Wilburs lOvEr acting up for you” “you better not put that in the video-“ “HEY DICK GET BACK HERE!”

The relationship you had been building for the past year or so felt like it was crumbling down

After months of hiding away, staying far from flashing cameras and Twitter headlines

All crumpled down with one video

Wilbur had been totally oblivious to the whole situation after he deleted Twitter

He was confused when chat started blowing up, shrugging it away more focused on the geo guesser match

So when you were dropped back off at his office you quietly made your way in with the spare key

Making your precence known without disturbing the stream

His face had litten up for a second before dying back down

“Will I think we need to talk..”

He ignored the 95k people watching as he saw you crumple down in his arms

Everyone was spamming as mods had to put it in slow mode

A lot of deleted messages may I tell you

“ITS THE PERSON FROM THE VIDEO!”

“OMG THEYRE REAL!”

He was quick to just end the stream hosting Phil

“They all know! And tommy abducted me, this wanker spilled something on me and my wallet was stolen.”

You ranted on crying into his shoulder

He was sickened by the whole situation

He just rubbed his hand on your back muttering little sweet things

“How can I help?” He asked

He knew how stressful social media can be, how toxic it is

Making a mental note to scold tommy later

So once he had calmed you down, grabbing a hot chocolate from the office kitchen

You both sat and he tried distracting you

But you slowly fell asleep on him

He made sure to download the forbidden app to make a notice of it

“Yes I have a partner, but im sure none of that is your business. If you see anyone post that clip report it and ignore. Mine and Y/ns personal life don’t need to be shared if unwanted. ❤️”

He watched the clip first before deleting the app

Promising to not let you get hurt again

“Please don’t let this be our downfall”

“I wouldn’t know what to do without you”

༻✧༺

𝐓𝗼𝗺𝗺𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭 !𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂

You were just about done with it

You had concealed your anger while greeting mother innit

Storming your way upstairs into Tommy’s room, barging in

“You would not believe what those shit cunts did today! Her bad her little group of friends accused me of fuckin dating you? As if! Oh and they grabbed my phone right out of my hand, throwing it across the parking lot!”

You shouted in agony showing him your demolished screen as you plopped down into the chair next to his

At first you were confused as to why he was just staring at you with widened eyes

“What you big wank, oh.”

Your eyes almost popped outside of its sockets as you slowly turned to face the monitor

213k watching Tommy Innit Dream Smp!

“Shit.” You muttered turning your head down before slamming it against the desk

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.” You muttered over and over again as he just chuckled rubbing your back

He just akawardly laughed unaware of what to do in this situation

“Chat this is my best friend Y/n from college!” He shouted pulling his lips into a thin line

You lifted your head up doing one quick wave

“hello..”

The only one who knew you existed out of his friends were Tubbo and partially dream

So this especially came to a shock from the rest of them

He thanked Lizzy that he wasn’t in a vc at that very moment

So instead you both just decided to ignore it

He went on with his stream, pretending that you weren’t there hiding your head in his shoulder

silently weeping

Time to time you’d let out a laugh as he told a joke

A random media share popped up on the screen of your loud appearance

The both of you sending the middle finger off into the camera

You gotta admit he was your best friend, made you laugh none the less

Oh boy Tubbo was laughing his ass off watching the stream

That boy was having the time of his life

“That girl really was a bitch.”

Yeah you wanted to start

“A wank really!” He continued riling you both up

You lifted your head from his shoulder, spinning around in the black office chair

“A fookin skunk!” “A blimey blighter!”

You both were shouting, throwing out the insults just getting each other more and more hyped up

You were ready to grab your bag and drag him to go punch the lad

“AYE! QUIT IT WITHE THE SWEARIN’ WILL YOU!

Mother innit..

You both in sync shouted ‘Sorry!’

I swear chat was eating all of this up

‘Alarm duo’ now trending?

But you looked back at your phone, hitting your head on the desk seeing it’s cracked self

“You know after the stream I’ll take you to the shop, get you a new one?”

Your eyes widened at the words

“I wouldn’t let you spend that type of money on me.”

So his cocky ass self just leaned back in the chair, arms behind his head

“Well N/n.. I’m a billionaire Aren’t i?”

Yeah that wasn’t the end of you two

One he did end you were forced into a call with Wilbur and Phil

“So your the one Tommy keeps ditching us to hang out with!” Wilbur shouted through the vc

Phil was just laughing

You had gotten along with them great, Tommy promising to introduce you to techno soon

“Best friends forever?” “That’s a long ass time don’t you think?”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

@uwucorpse

Aha I love this so much. I switched out techno for a platonic tommy because techno isn’t comfortable unless it’s his character.

As always! Request or ask anything and ask if you want to be on a taglist :)

[ducky-died-inside]

Pompeii Part 1: Triplet Au

Summary: Casita falls apart and leaves Carlos in shambles.....

Genre: Angst, absolutely no fluff

Notes: This has been running through my head since I heard this for the first time in months. This will end up being a miniseries. Told from the perspective of Carlos. You can shapeshift into animals and Camilo and Carlos can do people.

Warnings: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, EXTREMELY ANGSTY, BLOOD, DETAILED DISCRIPTION OF DEATH,

Part 1 (here) Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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

Carlos had no clue, but this would go down as the worst day of his life. The day started like any other for Carlos. He got up, and ran his fingers through his hair, making it fall perfectly in front of his eye. He pulled his ruana over his head and left his room, you and Camilo leaving your own respective rooms at the same time. He greeted you both, and joined the two of you walking down the stairs.

"Buenos dias, triplets of mine."

"Buenos dias, Carlito! How'd you sleep?"

"I didn't. I couldn't stop worrying about what Mirabel said last night."

"About the cracks?"

"Yeah."

You all stayed silent for a second until Camilo asked the question you were all thinking.

"Do you think she was lying?"

Carlos was quick with his response. He had spent a lot of time thinking about this last night.

"I don't know. It seems out of character for her, but her emotions were running pretty high yesterday."

You nodded.

"I agree. I hate to think that she would do it for attention, but I don't know. That seems out if character, but her emotions were kind of everywhere yesterday."

Camilo nodded. You guys made your way to the breakfast table and gathered some food. Camilo handed Carlos his plate and turned into Dolores.

"What are you doing?"

You hissed at him and he smirked.

"Getting more food. Isn't that obvious?"

Carlos rolled his eyes and watched Camilo walk over to the table for more food. He saw Mirabel approach Camilo and try to talk to him, thinking he was Dolores. You and Carlos snickered and watched Camilo get caught and whacked by the Casita.

He walked back over to you and Carlos and took his second plate. You all sat down next to each other at the table that Luisa brought over. Abuela walked over to the table and tried to sit down to find animals on her chair. Carlos started to tune her out as she talked about the day. His thoughts came back when Abuela walked over to Isabela and Dolores.

"Dolores, do we have a date?"

Dolores sighed and moved her head to hear better.

"Tonight. He wants five babies."

Isabela sprouted flowers in her hair in surprise while her triplet cousins all laughed under their breaths. Camilo turned into Mariano and raised his eyebrows at her. When she shoved some flowers into his mouth, Carlos almost lost it. Abuela glared at him, and he bit his lip to keep from laughing. Abuela went over the rest of the day and when she was done she raised her cup to the family.

"La Familia Madrigal!"

Everyone else raised their cups in turn and repeated the cheer.

"La Familia Madrigal!"

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

Carlos got up from his chair and helped clear the table with you and Camilo. You picked up everyone's plates while Camilo picked up the utensils and he picked up the cups. The three of you chatted as you brought them inside, so that you three could wash them.

After doing that, the three of you did the rest of your chores together. Right before dinner, Mirabel approached the three of you, covered in sand.

"Hey...You know how you three are like, my favorite older cousins, right? And how you can tell me anything?"

Camilo smirked.

"Funny, you said the same thing to Dolores this morning. Or at least, you thought you did."

Carlos deadpanned.

"What do you want?"

Mirabel sighed.

"What do you guys know about Tio Bruno?"

"You do know that we are like, 4 months older than you, right?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but that's still four months that I don't have."

The three of you looked at each other and Camilo had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Carlos sighed and shook his head. He knew that Camilo had this thing he liked to do to scare the little kids and sometimes made Carlos join in. Camilo looked back at Mirabel.

"We don't know much, but....."

Camilo shifted into Bruno and nodded at Carlos. The three of you started dancing and singing about Bruno.

Seven foot frame

The two boys took turns as Bruno as you turned into a rat and was dancing along with them.

Rats along his back

You started running along Carlos' back.

When he calls your name

It all fades to black

The room turned black as the brothers sang.

Yeah he sees your dreams

And feasts on your screams

You turned back to join your brothers on the last lines.

We don't talk about Bruno

No no no

We don't talk about Bruno

She looked back all three of you in surprise.

"Wow. You three practiced. Was any of that true?"

Carlos smirked.

"Nah, he's only like, 5'4."

"What about the rest of it?"

Carlos just shrugged.

"Carlos, that's not helping."

"Well, then ask Camilo. He came up with it."

She just groaned and walked into the town square to ask the townspeople. The three of you shrugged and went to go help set the table for dinner. Mariano was coming over to propose to Isabela tonight and dinner needed to be perfect.

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

Dinner was a disaster. Mirabel had found Bruno's last vision before dinner and had put it together. Dolores had heard and told you, who told Carlos, who told Camilo, who told Félix, who told Pepa, who told Julieta. Mariano was about to propose when everything just got worse. Cracks started to appear everywhere in the house and Mirabel disappeared. After helping to clean up dinner, Carlos went to help find Mirabel. He couldn't find her so he went back to the family to find Abuela yelling at Mirabel.

"This has to stop, Mirabel!"

She paused.

"The cracks started with you. Bruno left because of you. Luisa's losing her gift, Isabela's out of control, because of you! I don't know why you weren't given a gift, but it is not an excuse to hurt this family!"

Mirabel looked down at the ground. Carlos could've hit Abuela. No one talked to Mirabel like that! Mirabel's voice quivered as she responded.

"I will ever be good enough for you, will I? Luisa won't be strong enough, Isabela won't be perfect enough, Bruno left because you only saw the worst in him!"

"Bruno didn't care about this family-"

"He loves this family. I love this family! We all love this family, you're the one who doesn't care!"

A huge crack appeared between the two and Carlos heard his dad cry out for the candle. Everyone looked up in unison and Mirabel rushed for the candle. Carlos saw you, Camilo and Isabela rush to get her down and figured she'd be fine. He went to go help everyone else out, and looked back. He didn't see Camilo and thought he was probably already out and you were helping Mirabel up to the candle. He sighed. As long as you were with Mirabel, you would be fine.

He got out as Casita was moving the floor as an effort to get everyone out and looked around at his family. When he didn't see you or Camilo, he looked back towards the crumbling house. You were both still inside. He saw you with an unconscious Camilo, trying to get to the door, fear on your face. Carlos ran towards the Casita and tried to go back in, but the Casita wouldn't let him. A piece wall came down in front of the door and cut off his vision.

"No! They're both still in there! I need to get them!"

"We'll be fine, Carl-ahhh!"

Tears were streaming down his face as he feared what happened to his triplets. He heard you cry out in pain, but he couldn't see what happened. He tried again to get in, but couldn't. He then heard Mirabel cry out your names and he broke down on the ground by the house. He called out your names but didn't hear a response.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When you ran for Mirabel, you weren't expecting your powers to wear off. When they did, you stopped for a second, but then continued to help her. After you helped you her up to the candle, you saw Camilo unconscious on the floor.

You jumped down and rushed over to him and tried to help him to the door. You looked out and saw Carlos with a worried expression. You tried to call to him, but a part of the wall blocked your vision of the door. You looked up as you heard something falling.

You ducked out of the way and tripped. You heard Carlos outside as he tried to get to you.

"We'll be fine, Carl-ahh!"

You cried out in pain as you tried to get up, but the wall had collapsed on your foot. You knew that you weren't going to be able to get out, so you embraced Camilo for the last time and cried.

You didn't even notice it when you lost consciousness for the last time. Something hit you in the back of the head and you collapsed onto Camilo. Mirabel saw and called out your name as you and Camilo were covered by pieces of wall and ceiling that came down.

The last thing you ever heard was Carlos calling your names.

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

Well it seems my one shot idea is now a miniseries.

Taglist: @dai-tsukki-desu , @hiroyuki27 , @alexaizawa , @camilolovesroxiie , @katethecraziest , @merymikey , @kailoveswom3n

Ask to be added to romantic or platonic taglist! Please Specify so I can keep them separate!

[verdisaster]

The Great Kerch Bake Off Fic

First of all I want to say a massive thankyou to @solarpqwer for all their help and support with Beta-ing this fic, this would have honestly been shambles without them. Also please go check out @ciph3rrr and their absolutely stunning art inspired by this fic , it was a joy to work with them again!

Without further ado, here’s my fic for the Six of Crows Mini Bang~

The First Bake

Kaz’s leather clad fingers drum across the top of the counter as he slowly assesses his fellow bakers. They’re all standing ramrod straight, looking various degrees of nervous in anticipation of the competition that's about to start. He’s pretty certain if he squints he can actually see a small bead of sweat trickling down the side of the young ginger man's face on the bench in front of him.

Amateurs.

A quiet but pointed cough coming from one of the camera men just out of sight reminds him he's also supposed to be standing still and, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself off the bat, he slides his hands down to his sides and schools his expression into something neutral rather than the mild boredom he was displaying before.

—

He’d spent the morning with his fellow contestants answering questions on camera, ready to be spliced into the intro of the show so the viewers could really ‘get to know the contestants and start rooting for you’ according to Anika, the tired looking lady with the half shaved hair and clipboard tasked with corralling the contestants between each shoot.

Kaz had remained impassive as people crowded around, fixing his hair and attaching mic packs to the inside of his suit. He sat still, even as the waters threatened to lap at his ankles and one hand straying a bit too close to his ear caused a small stone of dread to settle in the pit of his stomach.

He was here for a reason and he could get through this.

After about twenty minutes of spinning lies about his back story- “Yes I grew up absolutely adoring baking, my Pa could barely get me out of the kitchen,” and “I was so excited to get accepted, I called my friends right away when I found out.” He was allowed to leave, barely brushing past the small shadow of a girl that was on her way to be interviewed next. It made him pause because he hadn’t even realised she'd been standing there, probably for at least a couple minutes given the way her eyes seemed to question him as he went by.

He was a good liar on all accounts but something in her gaze made him feel seen. He wasn't sure if he liked it.

Making his way back to Anika for his next task, he passed by a couple others giving their interviews.

A beautiful lady in a very figure hugging dress chatted animatedly, “It doesn’t seem real, I'm looking forward to it, I’m ready for the Darkling to make me cry.” Her good natured laugh followed and it caused a few other crew members to smile alongside her.

In the next room over there was Jesper who also seemed to be winning his camera crew over.

“Oh yeah I achieve things, but I achieve them in the way one can achieve a hangover.” He smiled in a mischievous way that reached his eyes and as he saw Kaz watching him he shot him a subtle wink.

Kaz scowled in response and Jesper chuckled, swiftly returning to answer the next question that had been thrown at him.

—-

The interviews had been annoying but Kaz understood it was a necessary part of the show; they needed to sell the contestants so that viewers would keep coming back.

Kaz himself had made sure to do as much research as he could on the 12 other contestants, he didn't like to be surprised.

Now they were just waiting for the judges to appear and as the sound of footsteps got louder the energy in the tent shifted, the air somehow grew electric. Even Kaz got drawn into the anticipation of seeing some of the best Bakers of their generation in the flesh.

Slowly they came into view, walking as if they had all the time in the world which, Kaz supposed, they probably did. It was no secret that even though Aleksander Kirigan didn’t technically own the show, his presence held a weight that was probably only matched by his co-host and protégé Alina Starkov.

The Darkling, as Kirigan was so popularly referred to, was well dressed in his signature all black attire while Alina wore a more casual outfit of jeans and an embellished blue jacket.

Flanking the two on either sides was the shows presenters, the ever flawless Genya whose fiery red hair had been twisted into an immaculate braid for the first episode and David, a much quieter presence in the tent but could spew facts about the technicalities of baking till the sun set.

Ever so quietly Kaz heard a soft “Oh” from the bench next to him.

His gaze snapped over to the lady from the interview earlier, Inej. She looked enraptured, her entire focus centred on the judges.

He tried to pull his attention away but there was something about her small smile and warm brown eyes staring in adoration ahead while the brilliant light from the summer sun painted a halo around her that made him pause.

He could hear them announcing the first challenge as a fruitcake and Nina's hushed comment of “is it possible to be TOO fruity?” followed by a snicker from Jesper but he still couldn't look away.

She lifted one delicate hand and shifted her long dark braid from her shoulder so it fell behind her back, clearly preparing herself for the challenge ahead. He swallowed and with effort turned to face the front.

No distractions.

The first challenge had begun.

—

Kaz’s hands flew across the ingredients, deftly checking inventory before getting to work. For a moment his focus narrowed and he surveyed his little world of the bench in front of him, a game he could twist to his own design. He had everything he needed to create a masterpiece.

Slowly the rest of the tent trickled into his awareness and he started listening to what his fellow contestants were doing.

He was acutely aware of Inej and the way her hands expertly unrolled a bag containing an impressively large collection of different knives. She wasted no time in picking up a small one and dicing fruits like the utensil was an extension of her own being. It spoke of a familiarity borne of years practising. She glanced up and met Kaz’s gaze and instead of looking concerned at his stare she held the ornately handled knife up so he could get a better view.

“It’s called Sankta Alina, after.. You know.” She said, her melted chocolate eyes flicking over to where the famous cook was currently interviewing a very gruff looking blonde man in a grey jumper- Matthias, Kaz’s brain supplied.

She was looking at him again now, her look seeming to penetrate straight through the carefully constructed image he held up, reading him like an old book.

He considered her words before responding, “She’s not a saint you know.”

“She is to me.” She contended his statement with the tiredness of someone who has made this argument a few times before.

He hummed noncommittally in response and she scoffed, seeming to view his lack of response as exactly what it was- a disagreement. In Kaz’s opinion, no saint ever helped him in the kitchen- everything he learnt was through hard work and the inability to stop when a plan for a recipe started to form.

They returned to their signature bakes, Kaz focusing on soaking his fruits in Brandy before moving on to the batter and Inej dropping her delicately sliced fruit into a bowl with some aromatic smelling tea.

—--

They were thirty minutes into the challenge before the first disaster struck. One of the benches a couple rows down let out a colourful string of expletives definitely not appropriate for a family friendly show and Kaz had to appreciate the extent of the lady’s vocabulary.

A mass of wavy brown hair popped up above the view of the counter from where it had previously been hidden, the strands irritably pushed back with an oven mitt to reveal Nina Zenik’s scowling face.

It took her no time to find Matthias and scowl at him. “You distracted me,” she huffed and even though they were separated by two benches, Kaz couldn’t help but be a little grateful the cutting words weren't directed at him.

The man accused stood as tall as a mountain, his grey jumper sleeves pushed up to avoid being dipped in the flour currently decorating his hands and forearms. He leant forward so he was practically bent over his immaculately organised bench to look down on Nina as he replied. “I didn’t do anything, witch. It’s not my fault you barely glanced at your instructions.”

“If you hadn’t spent five minutes reading yours to yourself aloud, I might’ve had enough peace and quiet to read them and remember to turn the bloody oven on!” Nina seethed. She was standing to her full height now, practically nose to nose with the Fjerdan as they stared daggers at each other.

If the heat of their anger could cook a cake, they’d be golden. Kaz mused.

After a few more choice jabs and a brief warning from Anika off camera, they were eventually broken up by Jesper calling over to them, “Nina darling, if you want to use my oven to bake those biscuit thingies while yours heats up it’s all yours.”

Nina ended the argument by sticking her tongue out at Matthias for good measure.

He didn’t know what possessed him but he took a step closer to Inej’s bench, and once he had her attention quietly muttered, “I’d keep an eye on where you leave your knives with those two around.” He drew a gloved finger across his neck pointedly.

The laugh that followed sounded like he’d surprised it out of her, a sharp exhale followed by the most beautiful chime he’d ever heard. If Kaz could bottle that sound he would, surely nothing he could bake would ever compare to the warmth that bloomed unexpectedly in their shared space.

Fuck, that’s not a thought he was supposed to be having, it’s literally 40 minutes into the competition and he’s already losing it. Get a grip, Brekker.

Despite that, he was already trying to think of what to say that would bring that laugh out again.

They lapsed into silence, occasionally Inej would angle a comment his way or ask a question but mostly they just comfortably worked on their own things while chaos ensued around them.

—--

For the most part Kaz was pretty methodical with his baking, his steady hands lent well into the complex designs of the patisserie he was previously known for and he fully intended to use those to his advantage when decorating his alcoholic spiced fruit cake now. Meticulously he piped silky white ribbons of icing in intricate loops over the top of the cake, listening to the background noise of the judges interviewing contestants.

Jesper tried to goad the Darkling into betting five kruge that he couldn't balance his sugar crusted orange peel in a gravity defying tower on his first attempt. He succeeded with neither and almost knocked Wylan’s bake off the bench in his attempt to catch some orange peel as it fell.

Wylan’s interview was interesting. He didn’t have a recipe written on paper in front of them, but he happily chirped away to David about the balance of ingredients and techniques needed to add small pockets of sherbet into his primarily lemon and blueberry fruit cake. Kaz filed away this more niche knowledge for a later date.

Alina was charmed instantly by Nina and from what Kaz could make out they shared very similar approaches to baking, both with incredible intuition for good flavour combos and no fear of changing the recipe to match their ideas.

Their interview was cut short though as Wylan let out a bit of a shriek and pulled his hand to his chest. With some detached interest Kaz watched as cameras swivelled towards the action, like sharks smelling fresh blood in the water. The young red head had managed to slice his finger with a knife and had to take a two minute pause to see the medics and be given a bright blue plaster.

Kaz was re-evaluating how much inspiration he should be taking from Wylan’s baking techniques.

—---

It wasn’t long before The Darkling and Inej’s shining saint, Alina, made their way to his table. He was momentarily grateful his bench was closer to the back as it meant by the time they’d made their way to him he’d already completed the majority of the bake and now just needed to continue decorating.

“Good afternoon Kaz, I’m excited to see how your bake is going. What's that?” Alina opened up the questioning with a cheery smile and a gesture towards the bowl he had in his gloved hands that he was stirring diligently.

Genya arrived at that moment behind Alina and poked her head over the judges’ shoulder. Alina made no move to push her away so Kaz assumed this familiarity was normal between them.

“Look’s kind of like that weird cocktail I had last week.” The red head commented contemplatively and Alina nodded in understanding.

Off camera Kaz could make out Anika animatedly gesturing for him to show the camera so he angled the bowl accordingly before replying “Pineapple soaked in brandy and rum.”

The Darkling narrowed his eyes at the mix and Kaz could see him mentally picking apart the flavour combination and looking for flaws.

“Oh it looks delicious, can I smell it?” Alina asked politely, and Kaz wasted no time passing it over to her.

Genya also inhaled deeply and smiled. “I haven’t tried spiced rum in quite a while.” Her voice took on a wistful tone.

“Do you want some?” He offered and picked up the bottle. Genya shrugged and nodded for him to go ahead.

“Oh I can't drink alone.” Her perfect face crumpled slightly as she seemed conflicted.

He was distinctly aware of the clock ticking down as he scanned his eyes across the bench for a cup of sorts. Finding nothing, he just thought fuck it, and grabbed 2 measuring cups he’d used for water earlier placing them down with a clunk. His nimble fingers spun the top of the bottle off with ease and he poured two shots out for himself and Genya.

With a brief cheers they both tilted their heads back and downed the brown liquid in one fluid motion.

Alina’s dark eyes sparkled with amusement at them as she asked Genya how the flavour was. Kaz suspected if it weren’t for her strict tutelage under the Darkling restricting drinking in the kitchen, she’d be right alongside them.

Clearly neither of the judges had ever worked in a kitchen in The Barrel.

Kaz neatly placed the cups to the side and the Darkling took this moment to turn the questioning in a different direction. He seemed at a loss for words at Kaz’s behaviour, clearly it was not the norm for contestants to be taking shots mid interview and he wanted to steer it in a different direction.

“So why the gloves? The outfit is an interesting choice in general, but surely it’d be easier to bake without them?” He enquired, his deep voice cutting straight to the point. Kaz stilled, his hand reaching to straighten the front of his suit jacket as he weighed up his answer.

“Old habits, I guess. I used to work in an outdoor kitchen and we wore them to keep our hands warm while we cooked.” Every word was a lie, of course, but the Darkling didn’t need to know that.

Kaz saw his look of disbelief and felt more lies build up in the back of his throat, ready to answer whatever the judge threw at him next.

The next question never came. A plume of white powder shot up from the bench next to him and Kaz’s audience turned to face the new problem.

Inej and Nina stood, both frantically waving their hands around a mixer that was beating icing sugar like its very existence depended on it. A fine white mist filled the air and delicately coated the two women.

“What are you two doing over there?” Shock and confusion coloured the Darkling’s voice as he surveyed the carnage.

“Nothing.” Nina hastily responded, trying and failing to subtly cover the still whirring machine with a tea towel in some absurd attempt to hide it from view.

The judges and their entourage of cameras shuffled over and Kaz quickly returned to his bake, but not before catching the small smile Inej turned in his direction.

—---

“Baker’s your time is up!” David announced clearly from the front of the tent.

There was scattered applause and moans from amongst the bakers as they placed down anything they were holding. Kaz watched Jesper go through the five stages of grief in about 10 seconds as he took his hand away from his fruit cake and the edge he’d been trying to stick back on slumped down the side rather pathetically.

When they called Jesper’s bake up for judging Kaz saw Wylan enthusiastically hurry over to help carry it. He heard Jesper jokingly mutter, “Now is not the time to re-enact Ghost with me,” which caused Wylan’s face to do an impressive imitation of the cherry’s he’d used to decorate his cake. He only barely caught the “You wish” that was hissed back but Kaz was sure the cameras caught every second of it.

The judges then proceeded to verbally rip apart his bake.

Then the next.

And the next.

Kaz was pretty certain he saw the smoke coming out of Matthias’ ears when the Darkling slapped down a slice of his cake on the table to reveal a stodgy grey mess on the inside and declared it to be “the worst cake ever baked in this tent.”

Nina gleefully called over, “Don't worry we've still got a few more rounds to go! I’m sure it can get worse.”

They moved on to Nina next who, despite having a bit of difficulty with the decoration, somehow managed to hit it out of the park with her candied fruit cake that left even the Darkling struggling for criticism and Alina positively overjoyed.

The next three bakers were pretty unremarkable and before long the judges drew up to the bench a row in front of him that Wylan stood nervously behind.

Wylan had somehow managed to cut himself another two times and Kaz was starting to question how likely it was he was going to get to the end of the first episode with all ten fingers still attached.

The first bite of his cake had both the judges flinching back and screwing up their faces against the onslaught of flavour.

“It’s… sour? And what’s that on top?”

Wylan straightened up and despite his earlier hesitation managed to respond clearly. “It’s popping candy. I thought it’d really add to the experience.”

“It’s certainly explosive alright,” Alina mused but she seemed intrigued enough to try a second bite. “It’s a bit much at first when you’re not expecting it but it does grow on you.”

The Darkling didn’t seem to agree and poked the sponge. “It looks like slime.”

“Oh yeah in Ketterdam we have slime all the time, it's actually an important part of our culture.” Wylan humorously countered, rolling with the critique, and Kaz had to respect his tenacity.

The judges agreed to disagree on their love of the cake and moved on.

Inej was next and she proudly presented a delicious smelling cake. She'd gone for a simple decoration of a tea infused glaze and candied lemons. She enthusiastically told Alina about her Suli heritage and how the recipe was one passed down through generations and eventually taught to her by her mother. The pride she held for her roots was evident in every word.

Kaz thought he saw her expression slip momentarily into a small look of sadness when she mentioned her parents and he made a mental note to ask her about it later when the cameras weren’t around.

Anika leant in frame briefly and whispered something to Alina who turned to Inej mid cutting up the cake and gently spoke, “Earlier you mentioned making an icing to go with this? Why did you decide to leave it out?”

Inej’s hands gripped her apron awkwardly as she replied, “I cooked the icing.”

The Darkling paused mid chew to look at her with concern. “You cooked the icing?”

“Yeah, by mistake. I was stressed.” She defended.

Alina looked between the two and tried to ease the tension by placing a comforting hand on Inej’s arm. “Well, I don’t think it needs it. This is superb without it.”

The beaming smile that broke across her face left Kaz speechless at his bench.

It was like experiencing the full force of an eclipse: one second he’s admiring sheer joy on Inej’s face and the next he’s being overshadowed by The Darkling’s looming figure.

Judgement time was here.

His fruitcake stood proud on a stand in front of him, he’d used pineapple pieces set in the cake to look like flowers that he’d only enhanced by delicately piping icing around them. It was some of his best work, a mix of traditional fruit cake and an upside down cake.

Silently the Darkling cut into the cake and offered a slice to his co-judge. He may have been silent but Alina’s bright excitement over his decorating skills and use of some of her favourite spices from growing up (intentionally chosen, of course) caused her to rattle off a small series of compliments.

“I really like the mix of flavours here, the alcohol to fruit ratio is really well balanced so it’s not too dense. Aleksander, what do you think?” Alina turned her attention to her co-host who was still looking at the bake critically.

“It’s a bit dry,” The Darkling conceded and then scowled as if the next words he was going to say tasted bitter in his mouth. ”Barely though, aside from that it’s pretty faultless.”

Kaz couldn’t help the smirk that curled up the corners of his mouth and when The Darkling grudgingly held a hand out for him to shake. He looked down at the outstretched hand and momentarily allowed himself to feel the small sliver of disgust that crept down his spine before taking it and shaking firmly.

One down, two more challenges to go.

Thankyou so much for reading!

[sourholland]

Glamorous || Tom Holland

Part Seven

| Series Masterlist |

Summary → In this Princess Diana retelling, you are working in a nursery school as an aid in London, as well as a part time nanny. With slight aristocratic ties, you choose to live a more normal and mundane life. When the Prince of Wales comes to know you and bring you into the spotlight, everything changes. Truths coming too late, lies straining your relationship, and the impending future of the country falling on your shoulders. Is this really the stuff of which fairytales are made?

AN → I am so sorry for how long this took to get out, I am so upset about the wait. I hope you guys aren’t toooo mad. Writing this chapter, I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift. I recommend Illicit Affairs, Better Man (Taylor’s Version), All Too Well (Taylor’s Version), and Dear John.

Pairing(s) → Prince!Tom x Princess!Reader

Warnings → Language, Infidelity

Word Count → 2.7k

January, 1983 - This isn’t what love is

“I mean, he makes me feel bad for being who I am,” you sobbed into the receiver of the telephone. “Your soulmate isn’t supposed to make you feel like that, right?”

Dressed to the nines in a blue satin gown, you paced your Halifax hotel room whilst on the phone with Helen. In less than ten minutes you’d go downstairs with Tom to attend an official dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Canada.

“Do calm down, darling,” she told you through the receiver. “I hate that you are feeling this way so often now.”

“Nellie, I think there’s something wrong with me, I think I might really be going mad.”

In the few short months since Henry was born, you had fallen into absolute agony. Constant parties and political affairs, you were staying home and disregarding everyone but your son. They wished for you to leave him constantly, traveling all of the time with no way to see him. It would not happen, though. The only reason you were in attendance of the Canadian dinner party was because Tom agreed to have you back in Kensington Palace the next day.

“You’re going to be fine, Y/N.”

This was what they always said, or that you truly were going mad. This was what his mother called you in secret, you knew it as well as the rest of the family.

A man came to your door and told you the Prince would be to fetch you in a moment. Bidding a quick farewell to your sister, you walked to the mirror and attempted to wipe your tears. The reflection before you was someone you couldn’t even recognize anymore. There were deep indigo crescents underneath your eyes, covered by makeup. The weight you’d lost from stress was noticeable, though.

Tom came in, adjusting his cufflinks and immediately sighing when he saw you in shambles. He didn’t understand, he wouldn’t ever understand.

“What is it?” He snapped, “why’re you crying?”

“I miss the baby,” you sniffled, meeting his eyes.

“I told you—”

“I know what you told me, that doesn’t mean I cannot miss my son.”

He bit back a snide remark and held an arm out to you, touch cold as ice—much like his heart lately. When Henry was just born, there was a short and brief period of bliss, and then you had become too emotional and overly maternal. He loved his child more than anything, you weren’t sure it was true to say the same about how he felt about yourself.

The short walk to the grand staircase was silent, reaching the top you felt the immediate presence of everyone. Cameras flashed, people chatted, both you and Tom smiled to convey false happiness. He gave you a look, seemingly to tell you to keep yourself together. The tiara atop your head seemingly weighed an extra ten pounds.

For hours you spoke to many high ranking officials, letting them dote upon you and speaking fondly of the man you love. There were many uncomfortable comments made about how well you’d lost all of the baby weight, and the way your figure had returned to normal. This only made you want to cry more, the idea of all of these older men staring at your body and judging whether or not you looked well enough to them.

Tom spoke admiringly to many people, acting as if what you were in was a healthy marriage. He told them that he was enjoying married life tremendously, and that a baby was exactly what he wanted for your growing family.

“I’ll tell you, she’s gorgeous—I mean really!” A man, probably older than his father told Tom as he gazed at you. “I can only imagine how you feel.”

This made Tom slightly uneasy, but he couldn’t do much other than thank the man. It left him to wonder how you were truly being seen. Many were fawning over you, the press surrounded you no matter where you went. Even when it was both you and Tom, everyone preferred you to him. This made him jealous, the feeling of inferiority.

-

He kissed you chastely, both of you a bit tipsy off champagne and needing something the other couldn’t give. The hotel suite was cold, his embrace warm.

“I want you,” he murmured into your hair.

Does he? Or is he settling while she’s not here?

Threading a hand through his hair, you felt the tears begin to fall. He didn’t notice, stepping back when he realized you were crying. His lips were swollen, cheeks flushed with desire. He was so beautiful, you loved him.

“What’s wrong, love?” He sighed.

“Tell me I’ve got it wrong,” you stifled out. “I just feel so disposable to you, Tommy.”

He’s so much more mature, so much older. This was like your own personal living hell, watching life pass you by in silence. It was clear this wasn’t love, or was it? No matter what you offered him, it was never good enough.

“I love you,” you told him candidly. “Can you say the same?”

“Sure, yes.”

Sure. It was as if the moment had stopped, the clock finally ceased ticking. With those two words, you wiped the tears collecting at your cheeks and walked barefooted out of the bedroom.

-

February, 1983 - Clandestine meetings and stolen stares

It was a letter you’d never let see the light of day, one that would set the press absolutely wild. It was from Sam, addressed to you discreetly and handed to you personally with directions not to show it to anyone.

Dear Y/N,

I’m writing to you to say that I’ve met someone mum and father approve of beyond measure. They’re very pleased, and I truly do like her a lot. However, I needed you to know my feelings for you before I move forward.

Y/N, I have loved you since the moment I met you and I say this without hesitation. I’ve tried to let it go, and I’ve tried to suppress it, but I fear I cannot let another person into my heart without first telling you how I feel. And I know you love my brother, he is your husband and that is that. This does not mean that I cannot tell you how much more you deserve, and I do not mean myself. I mean normalcy, nothing of princes and princesses.

Could these words potentially put me into exile within my own family? Perhaps. I could not go on in silence, though. I adore you, I will always adore you. This is most likely a selfish decision on my own part, but without telling you, I fear I would not be able to give myself away in entirety.

I ask that this is all of the matter, and you keep these confessions close to your chest. With this, I’d also like to inform you of the talk making its way through the family. They have been calling you mad, Y/N. Do not let my brother’s insolence destroy your mental.

I hope this will not change your feelings for me, as a brother-in-law and friend. I hope that you’ll meet this new woman in my life as well, her name is Elizabeth. I know she’s adored you for a while, but I think you’d like her. I think she may be the woman I marry.

With love,

Sam

Apart of you wished you’d met Sam instead of Tom that night so long ago. Maybe then you’d have fallen for him, maybe then you’d have really enjoyed that fairytale wedding.

Tears escaped viciously, rubbing at your eyes and cradling the letter. You know he isn’t in love with you, you know he’ll find a woman and live and die for her because he is Sam, sweet and selfless Sam who loves wholeheartedly and with every part of himself.

And you’ll watch, wishing you could’ve fallen for the right man.

-

Early March, 1983 - I am a mother before I am the Princess of Wales

“Has it not occurred to you that this is a serious overturn of protocol?” One of the many royal advisors asked as you finished packing Henry’s toys.

“I have told you, I have told my husband, for God’s sake I’ve even told the Queen! I am not going on this tour without my son, I refuse! Now, we leave in less than twelve hours, is it really so dire that I am continually berated about the choices I make as the mother to the future of this establishment?”

This was the last time anyone pushed you to change your decision to take Henry with you to Australia and New Zealand. It was horrible enough that for a portion of the tour, he’d be in New South Wales with a nanny to watch over him whilst his parents were whisked away. It was six weeks of back to back press, and with the monarchy struggling to stay afloat in Australia, you weren’t sure you’d be able to cope with the pressures.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon when the private plane landed on the strip, you rubbed Henry’s belly and knew you’d have to say goodbye for a while. A woman came to you, curtsying and beginning to reapply your makeup for the cameras that would crowd you and Tom outside.

“It’ll be alright, Henry,” you cooed as she covered your under eye bags. “We’ll be back together very soon, I love you.”

The airy lavender dress you had on was not doing much to help with the heat, as it was sweltering even inside of the plane. Tom fixed himself and you picked the baby up swiftly. The nanny followed quickly behind you, ready to take the baby in her arms once a few photos had been taken of you three as a family.

The roar of the crowd could be heard by the opening door, folding downwards for you to walk down. Tom went first, you following steadily with a stirring Henry in your arms. The cameras began to click incessantly, a sleek black vehicle ready to pull you away.

Reaching the ground, Tom held your elbow and waved to the cameras. You smiled, feeling a the sweat begin to collect at your temples. Henry began to cry, your maternal instinct immediately kicking in. You held him close, kissing his temple and rubbing his back.

“We’ve got to go, Y/N,” Tom whispered to you, urging you to pass the baby over.

He watched the tears begin to well up at your waterline, face softening when he saw you kiss the baby feverishly, cooing something like ‘Mumma loves you, Henry. Dada loves you. We’ll be together again, I promise’.

Handing the baby over, you inhaled deeply and watched him be taken back up the steps. Giving a lasting wave, you let yourself be guided to the car where you sat promptly. Tom came after, saying nothing to you while the car pulled off.

-

“And are you happy to be in Australia?” The radio host asked, the boxy microphone in front of you.

You and Tom were sat in a glass box sort of studio, being broadcasted over Australia as your first duty of the tour. The man had a thick white mustache and a tan shirt on, much like Tom’s.

“I’m very pleased, truly! To be able to spend the next few weeks in Australia will be absolutely thrilling.”

All of the questions they were supposed to ask were pre-written and approved by the institution. It wasn’t until a woman came in through the door to the studio and sat when Tom became increasingly more frustrated with you.

“I’m such a large fan of your family!” She smiled, “I’m wondering how you’ve found motherhood so far? Have you had any difficulties?”

There’s really hundreds of rules you’re supposed to follow as royalty, but the one you remember learning only days after your engagement was to not under any circumstance make yourself human. The ploy is that as royals you are always pristine and put together, you never speak of hard times or struggle. This woman, pregnant and glowing, asking you to do exactly what you’re not supposed to do.

“It’s the greatest gift I’ve ever been blessed with,” you breathed. “But of course, there are hardships. There are times when I’m absolutely exhausted, but get one good look at his face and remember what I’m here to do. And that’s to be the best wife, mother, and person I can be.”

“Does being royalty change any of that?” She leaned farther in, Tom stiffening beside you.

“I don’t think of myself as royalty, before I’m anything, I’m a mother.”

-

“Tom, please!” You shouted from the other side of the suite, sending all of the staff away to speak privately.

You would be on your way again, off to another city with more press. Things were scattered about the room, left unattended recently by the staff. Another argument, just as it always seemed there was.

“I cannot do this right now,” he murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You would never say these things to her.”

It came out like a whisper, but he heard it. You watched his features soften, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking up at you sullenly. You wouldn’t cry, you cried too often these days. Tom sighed, urging you to speak.

“Why can’t we just be normal, even for a day?” You wondered out loud, but you knew the answer was simple.

You aren’t normal.

“Y/N, we can’t keep going on like this, you know that! But every time I try and relate, you shoot me down, send me away.”

“Because I don’t wish to spend my time on the countryside, where she is! Where I’m patronized and berated! Where you go to escape me, to escape our baby—”

“You know that’s not true,” he stopped you. “I am many things, but I am not what you’re making me out to be.”

Anger radiated off of you, flushing your cheeks and making your throat constrict. Tom had a crease between his brows, sorrow written all over his face. The sun came swiftly through the sheer curtains, a telly going static in the corner of the bedroom.

“I hear the things you say to her in the night, when Henry’s gone to sleep and you’ve said you’re turning in,” you whispered softly. “You write about her, to her—long words of endearment like lovers. Tom, I’m not pushing you away, I’ve only ever wanted you! It seems you have only ever wanted her—”

“Y/N, I love you! I love our family, I want you,” he confessed breathlessly. “I only want you.”

The words took a second to register in your mind, his lips parted and turned downwards. Was it possible that he was telling the truth? He loved you, could he truly? There was nothing more that you wanted.

“I love you, Y/N…”

Maybe this would be another case of your blind optimism, or maybe he wished to do as he always did—to give love and so easily take it away. His arms at his sides, face flushed. You wished to see through him, to know what he was thinking, but you couldn’t. Tears streaming down your face, he continued to tell you he loved you.

“I want this marriage to succeed, for us and our son,” you sniffled. “I love you, Tom.”

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you, letting your head rest on his chest. Perhaps he could mean it, perhaps she was in the past. His hand running up and down your back, he kissed your head and whispered into your hair.

“I love you,” he repeated.

Did he?

taglist - @ninacotte @justapurrcat @golden-hoax @allthisfortommy @spideyspeaches @norietorie @veryholland @teenagedisxster @itsallyscorner @tomsirishgirl @runawayolives @devcarlsons @thecodyexpress @kassey @casualprincess77 @outshineallthestars @readheadwriter @cleverzonkwombatsludge

[helliontherapscallion]

The Warden (Adrenaline Junkie Part 3)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 8     Part 9     Part 10     Part 11     Part 12     Part 13     Part 14     Part 15     Part 16     Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: Major angst, The Warden, swearing, fighting, very graphic description of injury/gore (I put astericks around the graphic parts so you can skip it if you’re uncomfortable), death, grief

Word count: 2,201

(A/N): I took a few creative liberties with The Warden since we don’t know much about it.

The thing towered above you at at least twice your height, if not more. It’s mouth was shaped in a permanent gaping frown with grotesque pointed teeth curled in different directions. You heard a soft dripping from the bioluminescent drool seeping endlessly from its mouth and dripping onto the cold stone floor. Good god that thing could swallow you whole and still have more room for two other people. It had similar tentacle-like structures to the blocks on the ground protruding out of it’s head. It had no eyes that you could see, so you figured that it used a type of echolocation or vibration system to navigate. You willed yourself to be brave enough to look at the rest of it.

It’s chest had a huge hole in the middle, showing off what looked like something writhing around bound by its cracked, off-colored ribcage. The trapped beings glowed and flickered rhythmically. You couldn’t make out any defining features to identify them, but you thought you saw hollow eyes peering at you between the battered bones like an innocent prisoner’s dead, hopeless eyes staring at passersby from their damp prison cell after getting the death sentence. Almost begging for you to run. The creature’s clawed fingers dragged against the stony floor as it lazaly swung its arms back and forth. It looked like it could absolutely decimate you with a single flick of it’s finger.

You were paralyzed in fear as it lumbered closer and closer to you. Holding your breath and grasping your sword so hard that your grip was shaking and your knuckles turned white, you watched with wide eyes as the creature paused right in front of you, it’s stalks twitching slightly on its head. The surrounding tentacles on the ground glowed and twitched in response. Did it somehow communicate with the blocks? 

It continued to shamble past you as you watched its every move. It didn’t notice you! Feeling a massive wave of relief, you quietly sighed out the breath you were holding in and let your body relax. You waited until it trudged a little further down the cave before backing away slowly, being extremely mindful of your surroundings. You didn’t know if it tried buffalo wings before, but you weren’t planning on sticking around to find out. 

You shivered as you felt something tickle the ends of the feathers on one of your wings. Without warning, the entire cavern lit up as the blocks thrashed about. Paling, you realized that your wings must’ve brushed one of them. 

You heard the booming stomps of the creature stop before it started moving back in your direction faster than before. A harsh cacophony of several different voices screaming got louder and louder. You could never out run it, so your only chance was to out speed it by flying. Luckily the cave was wide and tall enough for you to fully spread your wings and fly high. You frantically flapped and propelled yourself through the cavern in the direction you came in. It started to sprint faster. It was gaining on you, and faster than you thought it could move with its large stature. You flapped your wings faster than you’ve ever flapped before as you heard it coming closer. 

You felt something claw your calf, causing you to whip your head around. Your eyes met with the creature’s outstretched arm blindly grabbing at the air around you with blood- your blood- dripping off from it’s claw. Yelping, you tucked your legs into your body and prayed that you could fly faster. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-

Your body was jerked back as you felt its giant hand crush the bones in your wing. It started to swing your body about like you were nothing but a ragdoll in the grasp of an over hyper child. Your body bounced off from the stone walls surrounding you. You felt your ribcage shatter and heard ringing in your ears as you hit the walls repeatedly. It’s shrieks mixed with yours as your entire body erupted in pain. 

Abruptly mid swing, you felt the muscles in the base of your wing tear away from your back with a sickening rip. Screeching in pain, you were flung through the air before your back roughly collided with one of the stone walls. Your body was pulled down by gravity until you landed on a hard surface. 

Clenching your eyes shut with tears streaming down your face, you heard the horrific screaming and rumbling footsteps get closer to you. You prepared yourself for your painful death. 

Only, it didn’t come. You heard scratching coming from… from below you? How the hell- 

You opened one of your eyes and looked around. You landed on a ledge several meters above the cave floor. Holy shit, lived! There was no way it could reach you now. 

You took a few moments to catch your breath as you slowly moved to prop yourself up against the wall. Pain erupted from your right shoulder and wing as you tried to move yourself. Gritting your teeth, you shifted to use your left arm to push yourself up. Once you slumped against the wall, you closed your eyes. That thing almost killed you.

***************WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF INJURIES***************

With every painful shallow breath, you felt a grinding sensation in the entirety of your ribcage. You definitely broke most of them. You felt something warm trickle down your face and back. Reaching up with your left hand, you wiped at the substance and looked at it. It was your blood, and a lot of it. Groaning in pain, you sat up slightly and reached around to feel the wing it grabbed. Your hand grasped at nothing. Furrowing your brows and ignoring the pain, you twisted your upper body to try to find your wing. Finally, you grabbed something.

That something certainly wasn’t feathers. 

What you grabbed was sharp, cutting your palm. Hissing, you grasped the shaft of… whatever it was and moved it down. Your hand finally met feathers, but it also met with an open wound. You felt stinging as your fingers poked into your open back. Pulling it back, your hand was slick with your own blood. Painfully craning your head around to inspect it, your gaze wasn’t met with anything except for something white and jagged jutting out from where your wing was supposed to be. 

You let out a choked sob as you came to the sinking realization that that damned thing ripped your wing completely off your body. It fucking ripped it off. 

*******************GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OVER*****************************

You could still hear its raged screams and the sound of its claws scoring the stone wall below you. You tried to stand, but you couldn’t move your legs. You probably either dislocated or broke both of them.

You used your good arm to drag yourself over to the ledge of the platform. Peering over, you saw it trying and failing to climb up the wall. Your blood dripped from your forehead and onto it, causing it to stop and open its mouth to collect it. You cringe in disgust as it greedily drinks your blood and tears. Looking somewhere else, you saw feathers littering the floor and the occasional blood splatter. Your blood coated the walls where you were flung, decorating them like a fucked up version of a cave painting.

The monster closed its mouth and turned around with a new sense of purpose. Your eyes followed it as it shambled across the cave and stopped to pick up something laying on the floor. You felt nauseous as you saw that it was your wing. It disappeared into the cave, dragging your wing behind it. 

Feeling bile rise up in your throat, you gagged as you puked up a grotesque mixture of your breakfast and blood over the ledge. The blood wasn’t good. After it was finally over, you laid limp and sobbed. Why did this have to happen to you? You didn’t do anything wrong to deserve this, did you? You were probably going to die here. Alone, injured, and afraid. You didn’t want to die anymore. You didn’t like the feeling of adrenaline rushing through you anymore, it was the only thing keeping you conscious. You wanted to pass out. You were in so much pain.

Your ribs grinded painfully as your chest heaved, but you couldn’t control your sobbing. It was a never ending cycle of sobbing because of the pain and pain coming from your chest shuddering. You wanted to make it stop, but you couldn’t. You felt a pulsing feeling in your back as you were bleeding out onto the stone, the blood slowly framing your broken form. Finally, you felt lightheaded as your vision started to spot. You thanked whatever god was above as you passed out. 

Above the cave, the sun was setting and your family was worried. You were usually very punctual about being home on time, especially after a skeleton nearly killed you. Philza was tensely cooking dinner while his sons were sitting at the dinner table thinking about where you could be. Mobs were already spawning outside, so Techno thought you probably decided to spend the night in the cave so you wouldn’t have to run into any mobs. Wilbur thought that you were on your way home. Tommy thought you were dead, but his brothers reassured him that since they didn’t receive any chat notification on their arms, you were still alive. 

Meanwhile, Philza was worried sick. His mind contemplated countless possibilities of where you could be right now. You could be dying in a hole somewhere because you didn’t look where you were putting your feet. You could be bleeding out because a zombie attacked you while you were on your way home. You could be burning in lava right now. You could be poisoned by a cave spider. You could be fighting an entire fleet of pillagers you could’ve run into on your way home. There were a countless amount of possibilities racing through his mind.

Before he knew it, dinner was done and you still weren’t home. Dinner was laid out on the table in front of everyone and you still weren’t home. Dinner went by slowly without you here to carry the conversation. They finished their dinner and you still weren’t home. Your plate was still in your place and your food was freezing cold by now. 

The boys congregated in the living room where they would wait for you to come home. They expected you to come bursting through the front door any second now sheepishly grinning at them saying you lost track of time. But that didn’t happen.

As the night moved on, Philza started restlessly pacing, Techno’s eyes were lazaly scanning the words across the pages in his book without him processing the words, Wilbur sat fiddling with the ends of his sweater, and Tommy sat wordlessly staring at nothing on the wall. 

“Where are they? I told them to come home before the sunsets. They’re always home on time.” Philza broke off into mumbles, constantly running his hands through his blond hair. His wings started to puff up in fear.

Techno broke Philza’s rapid mumbling. “Dad, they’re probably camping out in the cave. They’re smart enough not to try to come home when there’s mobs out.”

“...I hope so, Techno,” Phil sighed out. “I hope so.”

Hours passed by with nothing coming from your end. Philza ushered his sons to their rooms for the night with some difficulty about an hour ago. Now, he sat on the couch with his head in his hands, rubbing his sleep deprived, bloodshot eyes. By now, the sun was almost up. 

Feeling a familiar tingle on his forearm, he shot his head up and stared at the message he had nightmares about receiving since he adopted you and your siblings:

(Y/n) succumbed to their injuries whilst evading Warden.

Letting out a sob, he fell to his knees and let the tears stream freely down his cheeks. His precious child just lost one of their lives. When he heard thudding footsteps rushing down the stairs, he knew his sons also saw the message. He felt three pairs of arms wrap around him, causing him to immediately comfort his sons. Their sibling just died for the first time, after all. He pulled back to wrap his wings around his sons in a tight embrace. 

Techno buried his head in his father’s shoulder as tears silently flowed down his cheeks. The voices were screaming at him for letting you die. Wilbur hugged both of his brothers and father as he softly sobbed with them. While he still felt grief, his first instinct was to give his family comfort. Tommy’s harsh sobs racked his body as he squeezed Philza’s midsection in desperation. He can’t believe that he’s closer to losing his older sibling permanently. He felt closest to them out of all his siblings.

Until (y/n) respawned in their bed in a couple of hours, the family sat on the floor in the living room to grieve their child and sibling together.

Taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@acecarddraws  @goldenstarofthunderclan

[clockworklozenges]

So, a good five or so years back, I played in one of the best worst DnD games I have ever been in. The DM had bought the Libris Mortis book, which, if you were unaware, was a 3.5 splatbook adding in a lot of undead stuff, including some monsters and undead player races and stuff. Wanting to try it out, me and my gaming group decided to play things from it, our then DM deciding to run a completely homebrewed session. This proved to be a...

Terrible Idea™

(for the uninitiated, never homebrew something you do not fully understand unless it's just cosmetic. If you want to make all elves worship the god of garlic bread, Ultimo-Metatron-Omega, go ahead, but unless you know how the game works, don't make mechanical changes). So we all picked stuff from the books-one player played a skeleton Sorcerer who in life was a tribal shaman, but an attempt at healing went wrong, turning him undead as his life energy was replaced with negative energy, explaining why most of his spells were necromancy and suchlike.

Another player played Krug, an antipaladin in very spiky full plate. He was a zombie made by a necromancer of a paladin who was fighting him, but his allies killed his would-be master before he could assert control, and not wanting to just off him, his allies just...yeeted his body into a portal and hoped it'd re-kill him. It did not kill him hard enough. It did, however, explain his stats which...oof. He had already got debuffs to some stats due to being a zombie, and rolled abysmally. Fortunately for the player, he played mostly to socialise, so didn't much care.

I played... Count Nox Feratu, the Campire. As in, a vampire with a very camp German accent, which I did not break for the whole time I was playing him. To the point where "ach, nein, I haf bin heet! Heal me, meine freunde!" was par for the course. My overly camp vamp was a wizard, but due to level adjustment was a bit of a shoddy one. For backstory, he'd been ousted from his clan for ineptitude, and had sworn revenge. I was going for a swordmage build but never got there. All his spells were utility or just necromancy spells.

Our last player played...sigh...Damien Bloodmoon, cleric of Nerull, God of murder and undeath. He was one of the clerics from the book's murder Domain, meaning that he got buffs to damage. He was a vicious arse both in character and out of it, and was so dripping with edge compared to the paladin with the same IQ as a horse after its trip to the glue factory, the shaman who thought killing fixed people and the Campire that if you gave him a pat on the back you'd have finely diced your hand into a red mist. Not going too outlandish with his backstory of wanting to dominate the world as his undead thralls, Damien F***ing Bloodmoon had only taken spells which either charmed live people, dealt negative energy damage or messed with ability drain and suchlike, which he used with aplomb on townsfolk on our way to our objective. He was also, importantly, playing an elf of some sort, I forget which kind. Meaning that of the party, only one was alive.

So, just as an aside, for those of you that haven't played 3.5e DnD or have only played 5e, in Libris Mortis, undeath was gone over in detail, and had a litany of pros and cons. For one thing, undead had only the HP they had-folks like Damien F***ing Bloodmoon could be 'dying', and had some time to be stabilised before meeting the reckoning of Papa John and dying proper. Undead did not, it was just how much you had and if you ran out, poof, you're dust, bones and fertiliser again. You were also harmed by positive energy, so healing spells hurt you, as did potions of healing. However, undead were kind of hardy - poison immunity, some had resistance to non-magical melee damage, stuff that drained your ability scores and levels didn't work on them, some crits wouldn't do extra damage, and the best part- negative energy healed undead. Meaning all the spells our party had which damaged others like the living Damien Bloodmoon were curative ones for us. Keep this in mind.

So, we began our quest, learning of a necromancer a nearby town was plagued by. After using our skills (to whit: Damien Bloodmoon charming and drawing the life force out of random villagers and the only potion seller in the town whilst we went shopping. Krug got a snazzy hat, which we put on top of his helmet, and we chatted to townsfolk as I looked alive enough to pass as human and the shaman had a fake beard and toupee that people were too awkward to point out was fake so went along with it) we learn that the necromancer has a base of operations in the cemetery. "Oh ja, zo original, dahlink. Ve vill need to educate zis guy on vhat is chic and vhat is just shabby!"

So we head there and the nightmare begins. Damien Leads the charge, using all of his knowledge to deduce that the shambling horde moving towards us were stronger-than-your-average-bear undead, and he was right. These were powerful armoured zombie mages of some sort, casting ability draining spells, negative energy ray spells and even having auras of negative energy that dealt damage on a failed Fortitude save. Even their punch and quarterstaves did negative energy damage as well as the usual bludgeoning or unarmed. However...only one of us was really in danger and the DM's face fell when the squishy casters walked up and began shanking their super-special homebrew zombie wizards, being healed by the damage of their attacks as we cut them down.

Like I said, one of the benefits of undeath is that negative energy actually heals you. So the strikes of the magic staves and punches that hit us did some basic damage. Which was then immediately healed by the negative energy their weapon strikes and spells were doing.

However, you'll recall that Damien Bloodmoon was an elf. And not dead. Being a Cleric of a death god doesn't mean that you have the abilities of an undead. That meant that even with the DM being merciful, by the end of the first fight he was covered in blood, mud and withered away to just above half his original strength and constitution. More were patrolling, so we had to run. But that posed a problem.

Remember Krug had heavy armour? And recall his awful stats? He in fact, hadn't got enough strength to wear the armour he'd been given for backstory. He didn't, according to the DM, have enough to remove his own armour. And we attempted to, but also failed our checks according to the DM. And Damien Bloodmoon refused to help, simply blaming Krug and his player. Krug's player thought it was hilarious, and Krug only had enough Intelligence and Wisdom to say his own name, so saw no problem. And Krug, Nox Feratu and Shaman realised that there really...wasn't a problem.

For us, at least.

We slogged through three combats dragging Krug and wading through the mud with him. His speed was so slow that for every step he took, we took about ten. The DM was confused and infuriated that his encounters weren't working, but refused to change them. So we had fun role-playing. Or at least three of us did.

Damien Bloodmoon refused to roleplay, and none of his ranged spells could affect the zombie mages. When he went into melee, he came out wounded as all hell. He went down twice, and it was only the healing supplies of the shaman that saved him.

All the while, he was... Let's say not best pleased. Damien Bloodmoon was getting increasingly wounded, exasperated and longing for the sweet embrace of death as reprieve from the humiliation. His player was getting increasingly redder and rage-filled as time passed. Each fight ended with our characters stronger than ever and his a bloody pulp on the floor, with poor in-character knowledge (and terrible rolls) preventing him from realising why.

Eventually, we reached the final boss, pausing only to paint Krug's armour in contact poison just in case, and to find a stick to help the now-partially-crippled Damien Bloodmoon, cleric of death and murder, walk after being beaten up by angry zombie wizards for hours. And it had, indeed, been hours. Among us, only Damien had a bonus to strength, and we had two swords, a mace and a staff between the four of us. Meaning it was re-death by a thousand cuts for the enemy and a slog and a half for us.

We reach the necromancer and, having taken so long due to dragging the oblivious Krug with us, his big ritual is complete- he raises a fist-sized black onyx egg aloft, crackles with arcane power and causes the bones around him to coalesce into one massive creature - an undead, giant-sized rust monster, radiating an Aura of pure negative energy. Krug opened his arms wide, eager for the metal-eating monster cockroach to free him from his poison-painted metal prison. It ignores him as he's still very far away. Me and the others have our weapons and armour devoured.

Our DM was very much a stickler for note-taking. So because Damien Bloodmoon hadn't written 'clothes' on his sheet, his armour being eaten by the monster left him naked and afraid.

It became clear that the DM had done another f***y-wucky. See, the Aura of negative energy healed me and the Sorcerer by more than its other attacks did. So whilst Damien Bloodmoon was naked, soaked in mud and bleeding to death almost crushed to a pulp in the fetal position, rocking backwards and forwards as his player seethed with hatred, the Shaman and the Campire set about beating the thing to death with our bear hands and a stick.

The session ended once we killed the necromancer, or rather when Krug walked up to him, closed his arms and just crushed the noodle-armed bad guy to death with the weight of his ridiculous armour and poisoned him with its paintwork.

We never revisited the game afterwards. We were told later on that the DM wanted us to use the non-undead races. But at no point had he said as much, even when we asked him about our characters and the restrictions on them. We also learned a valuable lesson. DM for the players who are there, not the ones who you have an idealised mental image of. Tailor your game, otherwise you'll get a sitcom featuring a camp nosferatu, a shaman with no healing, a paladin who could barely move and a Cleric of murder who was ironically the only one at risk of actually dying.

[redstoneverdict]

@petrichormeraki brought up how the dream smp would be in shambles after tommy goes “missing” and now I can’t sleep so here we go

It wasn’t no surprise that tubbo was the first one to find out tommy was gone, having found logshire in rubble with a tower standing tall in the ruins. “ No, Surely not!” Was all tubbo could muster before falling to the ground in shock. A thousand thoughts racing through his head at once. Where is Tommy,What happened here, why did he exile him, why didn’t he come visit him sooner. He looks at the base of the tower and notices how there isn’t a scattered aray of items laying around. Tommy was gone long before tubbo arrived. There was no there to hear his desperate scream.

Phillza was the next to learn the news. Tubbo went to phillzas house as soon as he could walk and knocked on the door in a daze. “ He’s gone, t-Tommy’s gone!” tubbo choked out before bursting back into tears. It didn’t take long for phillza to piece what happened together, but he managed to stay strong for the younger boy untill he left later that night. It wasn’t untill after tubbo had left phillza finally let himself cry. He couldn’t believe it. He sat by and watched as he let another one of his sons die. He punched the wall as silent tears fell

Ghostbur went to visit tommy in logshire but was left confused when all he found was a tore up tent, a tower and rubble. The blown up bits leaving him with a feeling of dejvu and a feeling he dosnt want to think about, so he goes to technoblades house. He finds him going though his chest, mumbling about how he swears he had more stuff, and that something must’ve gotten into them. He starts chatting with Technoblade about his day before mentioning how weird it was when he went to logshire. Techno stiffens up when he hears about the crater and the tower, and Wilbur is once again left confused when Technoblade runs out the door towards logshire after the tells him that he couldn’t find tommy anywhere.

One by one the rest of the server finds out about what happened. Most are filled with shock, not believing that Tommy could really do that, that he had to be around somewhere, but as the days went by they come to accept the fact that he’s gone. Some are filled with grief . For not standing up for him more, for not checking in to see if he was ok out there all by himself. He was just a child after all. Only a few knew what dream was doing out there to Tommy, knew of the psychological abuse dream was puting him trough.

Bad stared at the disc in his ender chest, one of Tommy’s original disc and the one he tried to give him for Christmas. The one Tommy had to give back and beg him to hide when dream came. He puts his head in his hands, remembering how he just stood by and watched it happen, being to scared of someone who was once his friend. He wonders if he should tell someone what he saw, what he knew, but the thought of dream coming after him and skeppy next was to much.

It was discussed wether or not they should have a funeral, but there was nothing to bury, instead he got a tombstone next to the lman-tree. Everyone visted at least once, apologizing for not being there, saying things that will be forever left on deaths ears. No one wants to think about how jshlatt died surrounded by people, and Wilbur in the arms of his father, but Tommy had died completely alone in the outskirts of the smp.

Tubbo vists the grave the most out of the sever. Talking to the grave as if Tommy was still there. Telling him about his day, what’s going on with everyone, on bad days he just sits there leaning against the tombstone and listens to the 2 disc that skeppy and bad gave to him, the ones that where once Tommy’s. He looks down at his hand and fidgets with the compass new Wilbur gave him. He had managed to fix it as best as he could, but the arrow spins around wildly. Of course what would you expect it to do when the person it’s supposed to point to isn’t around anymore. He leans back and lets the notes of mellohi fill the silence.

———————————————————————-

Tommy is exhausted, his legs trimble with every step, his eyesight becoming blurry and his head filled with a constant fog. He lost track on how long he’s been traveling, having given up after the first few nights of running, trying to get as much distance between him and dream as possible. He really hopes that dream takes the bait, and believes he’s dead and doesn’t come looking for him. He looks into the bag of supplies he took from technoblades house before he left, having gone through most of them, with only an old steak and a few pork chops left. He doesn’t know how much longer he can go, the last night was rough with mobs and he barely made it out alive, but anything is better then facing dream again. He wonders if anyone misses him yet, but shakes it off. “No” he thinks to himself “ they probably haven’t even noticed I’m gone”. Tommy rejust the bag over his shoulder and continues walking into the wilderness

[theresnosafeharbor4myships]

Overheard - Chapter 2 (also on 9L)   (Chapter 1 here)

Daryl ignored the overheard conversation for two whole days. At least that's what he told himself. It wasn't the cause of him offering to keep night watch again to avoid spending the evening alone with Carol after the kids went to bed, it wasn't why he snapped at the crew when they didn't get as much of the walls secured as they'd planned to that day, it wasn't why he'd smashed his own finger with the hammer as he fixed one of the garden planters, and it most certainly wasn't why he now traipsed around the compound late into the night when by all rights he should be sleeping. No, he'd forgotten all about that little tête-à-tête. He glanced down the block to the house where he knew Carol, Lydia, Judith, and RJ slept and an empty room awaited his presence. It looked closed up tight and secure, windows darkened just like every other house on his block. You're the only dumbass too afraid to walk into his own home, that sneering voice mocked. Dammit, he needed sleep, especially since he expected yet another grueling day of fence-mending and trap-checking tomorrow and he knew the kids would be up bright and early as per usual. Sighing deeply, he bee lined for home, sure he could slip in unannounced and settle in for yet another restless night of thinking about the woman sharing his home and owning his heart but still eons away from where he wanted her. It wasn't until he opened the front door that he saw the oven light on. Carol stood at the island, busy when she should be sleeping.

He turned away quickly. Damn this... What had she called it? An open-concept house? No way he could sneak to his room now. He closed the door behind him, set his crossbow down, kicked off his shoes, and shrugged out of his jacket and vest, hanging them on the peg on the wall. He started to move in the direction of the stairs, sure she’d stop him to chat, but made the mistake of actually looking over at Carol and found himself arrested mid-step.

A spread of foodstuff lay on the island, and her hands deftly went about their work, but it was the way she looked in the soft light, her hair on one side pushed behind her, long gray locks cascading down the other, that left him frozen in place. She wore a fitted red tank top with spaghetti straps, and he knew if he could see the bottom half of her she'd be sporting those ugly, careworn pajama pants she loved so much. Her skin looked invitingly soft, and when she peered up to find him there, a smile broke over her face. He could barely breathe. "Hey." "Hey. Whaddya doing?" "Making lunch for tomorrow. Lydia and Judith are going to teach RJ how to feed the chickens and gather the eggs before school and weapons training, so they'll be up extra early." He barely heard what she said, his thoughts a million different places, and about half of those in places they shouldn't be. All he could see was her in the home they shared, mothering kids that weren't theirs, distracting as any minx, and stealing his breath and his thoughts like a perfect thief. Maggie and Aaron's refrain, a broken record in his brain, played again. “…times I thought Carol was about to make a move. Been thinking the same thing about Daryl lately.”

He couldn't take it anymore. Before he knew what he was doing, the words had already come out of his mouth. "Do you like living here?" Carol looked at him quizzically, then glanced around the darkened house. "It's better than most of the other places I've lived," she stated as she wrapped up the kids’ lunches. He took a few steps closer. "Do you like it here with—" He nearly said 'me,' but recovered before the singular word slipped out of his mouth. "—the kids and me?" She kept glancing up at him as she finished putting the food away. "Yeah. I think it's good for Lydia. No one else could understand what she's been through better than you and me," she admitted quietly. "Being around Jude and RJ has helped her open up and allowed her to be a kid—when she lets herself. And you know how much I love Judith and RJ. I wouldn't want them with anyone else." He kept moving slowly towards her, unsure what compelled his feet to close the distance between them even as he felt mystified by the direction of his questions. What was he doing? "And me?" he heard himself ask quietly as he rounded the island. A teasing glint entered her eyes. "You have to ask after all this time? You know I liked you first." Her words took him back to another lifetime, another home they'd shared. A time when his mind had first begun thinking about her constantly, when he’d started wanting to care and protect and provide for her, wanting her near. Wanting her. Nothing had changed since then, unless he counted how strong those feelings had become over the years. She expected him to bashfully retreat—he saw it on her face—maybe give her his usual 'stahp' so she could chuff a laugh and they’d go on as they had been for yet another decade. But that overheard conversation had played like a broken record in his head for days. He’d envisioned all the ways he could find out the truth of their words, and laughter was the farthest thing from his mind.

"Carol," he said lowly. His eyes dropped to her shoulder, and of its own volition his hand rose until his fingers trailed over her soft, cool skin, a slow back-and-forth graze across her shoulder. The air around them sizzled, and the voices of his friends, which had accompanied him for days and somehow compelled him into this moment, suddenly dissipated until only the internal drumming of his own heartbeat remained.

He lifted his eyes back to hers, and she peered up at him with desire. "Daryl." He heard his name ghost from her lips, and though he barely knew what he was doing, the sound drew him closer, closer, until his lips finally met hers.

He'd imagined this moment in myriad ways, most of them flushed and frantic and fast. Now that he was here, he wanted to make it last forever in case this, the greatest risk of his life, ended in spectacular shambles.

He moved his lips slowly, deliberately taking his time, and Carol let him. She turned towards him more fully, and his hand cupped her shoulder before sliding down her back, holding her in place, though she seemed content enough on her own to match him, her hands against his chest sending fire spiraling through him.

He eased away just enough to look at her, to make sure this was real. The heat in her eyes and the wonder on her face told him everything he'd ever wanted to know.

He kissed her again, gently, languidly, until it wasn't enough. She slid her arms around his neck, feverishly pressing into him and his hands roamed from her shoulder blades to her hips. Instinctively, he lifted her as her legs wound around him, and he started to move towards the bedroom.

"Too far," she mumbled against his lips, the hum of her voice and the friction of her body against him causing his blood to rage within him.

It was only a few steps to the living room, but they barely made it before she started removing his clothes, and he was more than happy to help. Somehow they missed the couch and ended up on the floor, but he couldn't care when her lips and hands and skin were touching him all over and she urged his own roaming hands to continue mapping her body. And moments later when he stared into her eyes, he knew he'd never be the same.

*****

Daryl took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart, before he opened his eyes and looked to his left. His arm was falling asleep where it pillowed Carol's head, but he didn't dare move. Her eyes were closed, cheeks tinged pink, a look of contentment on her face.

He couldn't believe what had just happened.

For the first time in his life, he didn't care that he'd completely lost control, let loose every emotion he felt, every word that formed on his lips, every thought about Carol that came to him. Didn't care that he lay completely exposed, both physically and emotionally. Because she had done the same, and it was glorious.

He took a final deep breath, his heart rate finally returning to normal, when, in one smooth move, Carol rolled towards him onto her side and tucked herself against him, slinging one leg over his. His arm curled around her, and he trailed his fingertips across her hip as she placed a kiss over his heart.

"So that was fun," she purred playfully, eliciting an amused huff from him.

"Best thing that's happened to me all day," he admitted.

"Daryl Dixon, are you

flirting

me with?" she asked coyly, clearly pleased.

He raised an eyebrow in response, one side of his mouth turning up in a lopsided smile, and she kissed his chest again.

"Why now?" she asked softly. "I mean, what made you...?"

He flushed a little, embarrassed to admit the truth. "I overheard Aaron and Maggie talkin'. Seems they've been waitin’ for us to get together for a long while and think we've been taking our time."

Her eyes smiled at him. "They're not wrong. We should stop waiting."

"I think we just did," he reminded her.

She moved over him, straddling his hips, seduction written all over her face.

He wanted to. Hell, he'd been waiting 10 years. He could spend the next 10 years making up for it. Still... "Carol, I don't think I can--"

She set a finger over his lips. "Shhh....we'll take our time," she promised as she leaned down to kiss him.

And they did just that.

[lady-charinette]

For whenever you have time: Marichat choosing each other over each other (Ladrien) could be hurt/comfort or fluffy/funny but like I just really love it when that happens. Thanks in advance 🥰😉

A/N: Alright, I wrote this at the speed of light because a scenario immediately formed in my mind. I hope you like it anon! If this isn't what you had in mind feel free to specify what you want me to write in another ask and I'll write it better! :3 Get ready for a world of HURT! and fluff

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"Adrien, I'm...sorry." the spotted heroine returned the gift box but Adrien didn't take it immediately.

The teen model's eyes were burning, but he tried not to let the sorrow swallow his heart until he let her speak. "W-What for, Ladybug?"

He knew from the look in her eyes how sad she felt, knew the look well from all the times his lady would despair over whether or not she was a good enough hero to protect Paris.

He wished he could protect her heart too.

"I'm sorry, I...can't. It's not right. I'm sorry." those were the only words her mind was capable of forming on their own and her hands clasped together tightly after Adrien took his gift from her hands.

He gazed at the half opened box, at the letter in it, his letter, and at the red rose tucked safely into its side.

His lips formed into a thin line. "Its okay Ladybug, I understand." the smile was the smile he reserved for his photo sessions, for the cameras who only activated when he seemed happy.

There were no cameras around them now, but Adrien felt like he needed her to know he'll be okay.

Even if that was a lie.

Ladybug's own lips trembled and her eyes shone with unsched tears.

He wished he had his mask to hug her in comfort. Protect her from himself and the pain he caused.

"I understand, really. You're a...hero after all and I'm...just a civilian." the smile was firmly in place, years of careful practicing in front of the mirror ensured that, but he felt his resolve wavering in the face of her despair. "I, um, I better get going. I still have Chinese lessons! Bye, take care Ladybug!"

If she hadn't been preoccupied with having rejected her secret crush, Ladybug would've remembered that Adrien didn't have any Chinese lessons today as he ran back to the mansion.

"Plagg, claws out!" The words brought a wave of freedom to him as he leaped onto the side of the mansion, away from prying eyes, especially hers.

Once he reached the highest point on the roof, he held his gift in his hand. "Cataclysm," the command was a soft whispered order, and the destructive power rushed over the gift box in sickening tendrils of black.

It crumbled to dust and fell from his fingers like sand, the wind carrying the remains of his confession as if it never existed in the first place.

He didn't know when his transformation had dropped, he only felt a familiar warm ball of fur nestle into the crook of his neck, purring loudly to soothe his holder.

Adrien held onto Plagg as the world around him turned dark.

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Marinette had never expected to feel the crushing sensation in her ribs and her entire body. There was no akuma to punch the air out of her lungs, no Lila who tripped her and she fell down.

Tikki was gently stroking her friend's head, trying with all her tiny might to comfort her chosen as best as she could.

She was so old, so ancient, but the pain of witnessing love breaking before her eyes was always so painful for her. Especially love as pure as Marinette's was.

Tikki could only hug the girl as she sobbed her heart out for rejecting her crush for her duty and all the little kwami could whisper was "I'm sorry, Marinette," over and over again.

Kwami and chosen held each-other close, drawing comfort and strength from one another as the girl's heart lay in pieces.

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Pots too old and cracked to use were organized into a corner to discard later, new pots were moved into another space on her balcony to relocate her plants.

If Marinette's mind was kept busy, her heart would be too focused to mourn.

Marinette had thought tending to her plants on the balcony would soothe the ache in her chest, but all it did was add aches in her arms as she moved around heavy plants and pots.

When she lifted the large weeping fig into her arms, her legs shook from the weight of it as she tried moving it to the other side of her balcony.

Leg giving out under the weight, Marinette yelped as her hand slipped and she threatened to fall along with her plant.

Closing her eyes to brace for the impact, Marinette froze when the plant in her arms crashed into something else than the floor.

A slight huff was heard from behind the big plant, and Marinette wondered if the weeping fig had come to life to weep with her over her failed love life.

Instead, she saw a shock of blonde messy hair peek over the green leaves. "Careful princess, that was a close call." her eyes widened at finally recognizing the bright green eyes framed by the familiar black mask.

"C-Chat Noir?"

The hero took the heavy plant from her slack arms and effortlessly held it. "Where does this belong to?" almost robotically, Marinette pointed to the place she wanted to put the plant and Chat Noir carefully lowered the plant down onto its designated area. "Phew, that's a big plant, must have taken a while to grow right?"

The lack of puns didn't shock her as much as it should've, his presence on her balcony was enough of a shock to her system. "Chat Noir, what- what are you doing here?"

The bright green eyes, now that she had time to look at them better, seemed a little red and puffy, but he turned his head too quickly for her to be sure. "Patrol. Just strolling by in this Parisian night." he glanced at the scattered bits of earth on the concrete and empty pots near Marinette's feet. "Gardening work at this hour?"

She finally fell out of her stupor, shoulders sagging as her gaze fell to the floor. "Y-Yeah, I uh, I noticed a lot of my plants were um, everywhere so I tried to remove them- no I mean, move them around. But also remove some because some of them were, um, wilted and..."

Chat Noir observed the way her hand clutched at her other arm tightly, the way her shoulders were hunched and her head bowed. She looked like he had felt on the rooftop of his home, destroying the remains of his heart.

"Marinette," the use of her name made her head snap up, "Everything alright?"

That question seemed to be the only thing that had kept her tears at bay, until they finally flowed freely down her cheeks.

-A few moments later-

"I'm sorry for keeping you Chat Noir." Marinette wiped at her tears, her eyes red and puffy as his looked when he first landed on her balcony.

The hero shook his head, hand comfortingly placed on Marinette's shoulder, squeezing now and then to offer the comfort he could provide with his own heart in shambles.

"You're not, trust me princess," He offered her a sad smile. "Actually, I felt the same today."

Marinette's head shot up to him, eyes searching for his amidst the messy blond locks. "The same? What do you mean? Did...did you have your heart broken too, Chat Noir?"

The imperceptible nod of his head made the burn in Marinette's heart worse. How could someone hurt his feelings like this? Despite all the bravado and smugness he displayed whenever they faced akumas, she knew he was a kind boy deep down.

Marinette's own hand found Chat Noir's shoulder, normally held high and proud but now low and hunched. He looked as miserable as she felt. "I'm so sorry Chat Noir." she felt the tears beginning to return and threaten to spill from her eyes again.

Chat Noir smiled, his hand lifting to clasp over her own on his shoulder, squeezing in appreciation. "Its not your fault." Marinette wished it was, so she could take the blame for breaking his heart, that way the resentment growing in her would be aimed at her, not the girl who broke Chat Noir's heart.

She might have had her reasons, but Marinette still felt sad for her partner.

"I'm sorry for getting your heart broken, kitty. If anyone didn't deserve that, its you." Her words were softly spoken but sincere, it made his lips pull up into a genuine smile.

Chat Noir nudged her shoulder with his gently, "On the contrary princess, I know one other person who didn't deserve getting her heart broken."

The meaningful look in his eyes made her heart feel just a bit lighter and Marinette laughed, "I did deserve it, I wished I didn't have to do what I did."

"Then...why did you?"

Marinette bit her lip. "Because...its complicated but...I just had to. There's something else keeping me from being honest with him and...I can't afford to hurt him like that."

Chat Noir wrapped one arm around his knee, keeping the other on top of Marinette's hand on his shoulder, "You know, if I had heard this a few hours ago, I would disagree but...having listened to you, I think I can understand a little bit where my l-I mean, the friend who rejected me came from."

His friend lifted her head curiously, tears dried. "What do you mean?"

"Well...I think you're right, but I also think, if you did tell him the truth, he would've understood. He sounds like an understanding guy to me, at least." Somehow Chat Noir felt like he resonated with the boy whom Marinette had rejected, he hoped the guy understood and didn't resent Marinette for her actions. "Keeping secrets from each-other may be neccesarily at times, and you feel like the only way to keep from hurting people you love is by keeping secrets, but sometimes telling the truth might hurt worse in the end. But it will get better later on, trust me. Even if the truth hurts worse than a lie, I think the truth can be forgiven easier."

He spoke from the heart it seemed, Marinette had to blink rapidly to keep the fresh tears at bay, but for some reason her heart did feel lighter as she listened to Chat Noir.

He was right, hurting Adrien with a lie is far worse than the truth. But she hadn't thought of it like that, she only wanted to keep him away from danger.

Marinette bit her lip, fingers squeezing Chat Noir's shoulder. The hero turned his head to look at her curiously. "Thank you, Chat Noir," Marinette spoke softly, those words alone seemed to heal some of the wounds in Chat Noir's heart.

He nodded, squeezing her hand back.

Marinette had more to say though, "I think... with you too, I think I can understand the girl who...who rejected you a bit better. Maybe she had her own reasons for doing what she did, but thinking that she didn't want to hurt you with the truth, she lied."

Chat's ears sperked up at this, "...You think so?"

She shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe she saw no other way but to lie to keep you safe."

He hummed thoughtfully and stared up at the sky. Yeah, that did sound like something Ladybug would do. Especially since she didn't know he was Adrien and a miraculous holder himself, she would hurt him at the cost of her own feelings to protect him.

He shook his head, who was he kidding? His lady didn't feel that way for him, but he knew it was true that she tried to protect him from danger. His lady was just like that.

Chat Noir gazed back at his friend and classmate, who didn't seem as dejected as when he first saw her on her balcony. "I hope the boy who rejected you knows what he missed."

Marinette laughed out loud and Chat Noir couldn't help but grin, "I doubt that Chat Noir."

He rolled his shoulders, "Well, maybe this tom will have to pay him a visit and teach him a lesson then."

Marinette shook her head, her hand falling away from his shoulder. Chat Noir reluctantly let her hand go, even if he did miss the comforting warmth it gave him.

But the smile she bestowed him with seemed to give his heart all the warmth it needed to melt. "Thank you, Chat Noir. You really are my hero." she grinned playfully, but he took her words to heart, even if they were exaggerated. Chat Noir he couldn't save her from a broken heart, just like she couldn't save him, but at least they could help pick up each-other's pieces.

"Heh, always happy to rescue you, princess." The playful glint in his own eyes was something he hoped conveyed just how deep his appreciation for Marinette's words rang.

She nudged his shoulder playfully and that seemed to spur his next words into action. "Even if you don't have the mouse miraculous anymore, you're still a hero in my eyes."

Marinette seemed to blush at his words, and he marveled at the way she always grew shy at compliments from her friends. He hoped with these compliments that Marinette could grow to see what an amazing person she really was.

"I'm happy to help and, even if I'm just a civilian, you can come to me if you ever need to talk, Chat Noir." his heart felt as light as a feather at her kind offer.

Marinette tried to concentrate on cooling off the sudden inferno in her face.

'No, I'm just comforting him. This doesn't mean anything. He's my friend.' Even as Marinette's thoughts circled around those words stubbornly, her heart couldn't help but pick up speed when Chat Noir's gaze softened while looking at her.

"Thank you, Marinette. I appreciate it." his words sounded so sincere, so soft spoken. This soft side of Chat Noir came out in brief instances, short glimpses between akuma battles and their de-transformation period that allowed for calm and peace.

Even those instances were rare, but here, transformed but not in battle, mask up but a different mask down, he felt so raw to her. Like she caught glimpses of himself he didn't often show to others, not even Ladybug.

Marinette shook her head, trying to will those thoughts away. How could she be thinking that? He was her friend and partner. And she'd just had to turn down Adrien today as Ladybug, had to turn down the dream she'd always had.

Chat Noir noticed her dampening mood and his lips pulled up into a small smile with the idea forming in his head.

He jumped down from the balcony railing, like a cat off a high shelf, soundless and effortless.

"Hey, why don't we watch that movie you mentioned a while ago? The one with the witch and her familiar?"

Marinette blinked, but before her brain could process at what instance she specifically told Chat Noir of her movie preferences, she was already heading towards the hatch to her room.

"Oh! Thats right, I did want to watch that. Wait here Chat Noir, I'll get everything ready." With that, her head disappeared beneath the wooden door, sounds of rummaging through her room audible from the half opened window.

Chat Noir sighed deeply, letting the cool night air fill his lungs and soothe the burn in his heart.

He hadn't planned for his night to go like this, especially since Ladybug had turned him down today. Certainly hadn't expected Marinette to have more than a willing ear to listen and send him on his way.

She listened, and comforted him and offered solace at a place he least expected.

He always thought Adrien Agreste was a boy Marinette Dupain-Cheng could grow to like as a friend at least. He was grateful for their friendship, as distanced as it seemed sometimes. He was grateful she didn't dislike him after some of his social blunders.

Chat Noir gazed up towards the sky, twinkling dots greeting him back. He wished every day would feel as peaceful as he did in that moment.

And it was thanks to his amazing friend.

The hatch opened and his head whipped towards the pile of blankets, projector and white sheet hiding one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

With a chuckle, he helped her set up everything for their movie, pulling the white sheet taut and connecting the string attached to its ends to either side of the roof and chimney down to the edges of the balcony. It covered up nearly the entire front view of the balcony, but he felt like this was their own cocoon of privacy. Of something that felt like comfort and home.

Even the cookies, croissants and other pastries she brought smelled like the home he remembered being in before his mother disappeared and Chat Noir tried not to let the glistening in his eyes show too much.

Tucked tightly into the blankets and nestled next to each-other, Marinette pressed a few buttons on the yellow beamer and the white sheet came to life with moving pictures and sounds.

Chat Noir had thought his heart would burst simply from this, it certainly felt full enough to, but when Marinette had slowly moved closer to him during the movie, subconsciously on her part, his beating heart felt ready to explode.

Shoulders touching and head nestled against the side of his, Marinette felt safe in a way her suit didn't make her feel and she partly blamed the atmosphere, partly the purring cat next to her.

Chat Noir knew they were friends, but as he allowed some of his weight to settle against his classmate and his chest vibrating with purrs, he couldn't help but feel like this would've felt different if Nino or Chloe had taken Marinette's place.

Marinette's own thoughts swam with much of the same sentiments as the boy nestled against her side was experiencing, her heart warm and alive as it hadn't felt in a while.

She felt like despite all her duties and problems, she could take on the whole world.

Marinette hadn't remembered the fact that she only mentioned that movie to her friends during lunch, to Alya and Nino...

...and Adrien.

As the city of Paris darkened with the passing of time, the little balcony above the bakery was alive with quiet laughter and flickering lights.

Thanks for reading! :)

[joshstambourine]

What Friends Do pt. 3

Warning: Cursing

Word count: 3382

Synopsis: Josh and Jake are surprised when an old friend stumbles back into their lives, taking their world by storm with old feelings, new feelings, and problems they never would have expected.

Josh Kiszka x Fem!Reader x Jake Kiszka

Josh sat rather quietly at a booth in the corner of the rather cheery and noisy diner, his eyes sticking close to a book he held in his hand. Despite how energetic and wild Josh was, he was still an avid learner. He craved to be absorbing knowledge whenever possible, so he read. Sometimes history, sometimes philosophy, religion and myth at other times… it was whatever tickled his fancy at that moment really. Just recently Josh had picked up an interest in true crime, he wasn't normally that kind of guy really, but after reading a small portion of the book he was now holding he quickly became hooked. It had something to do with the psychological aspect of it all, and the sheer ingenuity of the author who put so much work into writing it.

Josh's chin rested in his hand as his eyes scanned page after page without a need for pause, well except for when the waitress came to see if he needed his coffee topped up. To which Josh was quick to give a wide smile and push his mug to her, "Thank you." He simply hummed, as the young woman poured the coffee she couldn't stop smiling.

"You're Josh right?" She lightly asked him, clearly a little nervous. "...like Josh Kiszka?"

Josh looked to her with his own smile, "Depends on who's asking." He mused lightly, trying not to make a big deal out of the inquiry.

The waitress let out a quick laugh, her eyes focused on her hands as she poured. "I didn't come to bother you, I just uh… I'm a huge fan and I was hoping you could sign something for me?" She quietly asked, looking up at him again.

Josh glanced at her name tag, "Of course… Annie?" He lightly asked, giving a small point to her badge. She began to nod quickly, suddenly jerking the pot of coffee back up realizing she had spilled a fair amount on the table.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed, "I am so sorry!" Annie quickly exclaimed. 

Josh lightly lifted his book and his arms with a rather melodic laugh, "It's totally okay! Don't worry!" He tells her, his hand outstretched to take some napkins and help her wipe up the mess.

"I'll get a cloth---" Annie uttered, clearly in a shambles over what had just happened. She was still muttering to herself as she quickly went around back.

Josh watched as she ran off giving a soft smile, 'What a sweet girl…' he thought before noticing a young woman walking towards him, she wore an expression that told him she had watched everything that had just happened by the way she was trying not to laugh.

"What did you do to that poor girl?" (Y/N) laughed, "She was shaking like a leaf!" She continued, not finding it funny that the girl was such a mess --- (Y/N) thought she was adorable. No, what (Y/N) thought was hilarious was watching people lose their cool around a guy she knew for a fact could belch the entire alphabet and then some.

"I didn't do anything!" Josh quickly responded as he wiped the table, "She asked for an autograph and just---" He then gestured to the table. 

(Y/N) shook her head in disbelief, "Have you told her how good you are at armpit farts yet?" She quickly inquired, coming to sit across from him, pulling a few more napkins to help him clean up.

Josh quickly pointed to her, "I have not, but you know that she would just climb right onto my lap if I did." He explains, "Ladies find that irresistible."

"Oh really?" (Y/N) raised a brow,

"Oh yeah, didn't you know that?" Josh replies in a spitfire way. "It's all women want these days."

"Ah yes, who needs love and affection when your man can armpit fart?" (Y/N) mused out loud glancing up at Josh, his gaze was on the young waitress who had come back rather quickly with a cloth.

She immediately began to wipe down the table, "Again I'm so sorry about that. I can't believe I did that---" Annie explained with an exasperated tone to her voice. "To make it up to you I'll cover your meal." She continues before pulling back.

"Oh no!! You don't have to do that!" Josh quickly exclaimed,

"No I insist." Annie says,

"No really hon, don't worry about it, he's rich he's got it." (Y/N) told her with a warm smile.

"(Y/N)---" Josh whispered in a quick way, though he was smiling. "Please, don't worry about it, Annie! Um here," He says taking one of the few napkins left in the holder. "(Y/N), do you have a pen?"

"Oh yeah---" She quickly says, going to pull one from her bag. "Here."

Josh quickly took it and began to scribble some things down on the napkin.

Annie's eyes were now on (Y/N) in a curious way, "I'm sorry, I don't think we met." She uttered, not remembering (Y/N) being here when Josh had sat down.

"Oh no I just got here…" (Y/N) admits, “We had lunch plans.” She continued.

"Oh! I'll get you a menu then," Annie quickly says, "Did you want anything to drink? I--- there's still coffee I didn't spill all of it!" She laughed awkwardly, "Oh---! I hope I didn't ruin your date or anythin---"

She was cut off by (Y/N) snickers, "God no! Don't worry about it! Josh is just an old friend--- this actually fits better than anything I could have imagined honestly." She mused. "But a coffee would be wonderful." (Y/N) told her.

As she said this Josh turned to hand Annie the napkin, he had not only signed it but also drew what appeared to be a coffee cup. "I'm not an artist--- well I mean, that kind at least." He lightly admitted.

Annie's cheeks were a bright red at this point, "N-no this is amazing!" She quickly sputtered out, "Thank you so much!" She continued, clearly over the moon with the simplest act of kindness really. Annie’s eyes lingered on it for a moment long before tucking it away into her pocket, “I’ll get you that coffee now!”

(Y/N) gave a small nod as a thank you, watching Annie run off. “What a cute girl!” She hums, glancing at Josh. “You clearly just made her week.” She points out to him, snatching her pen back from him.

Josh shook his head a little, “It’s still mind boggling to me that that's all it takes for me to make someone's day. Well at least people who know who I am.” He uttered out, folding a corner down in his book and placing it off to the side.

(Y/N) smiled as he said that, “I mean hey, it means you guys have been doing something right.” She tells him, fingers pushing back her hair a little as she leans on the table, “I take it Jake will probably be here by the time we’re leaving?” She mused as she had begun to look around the diner. (Y/N) enjoyed the warmth the restaurant had, it feeling like she was in a small town again --- that was probably why Josh liked this place, that it reminded him of Frankenmuth.

Josh softly laughed, “Yeah I can only assume, you know how he is---” he starts, moving to take a sip out of his mug. “Well--- actually he may surprise us, you also know how he gets when you’re involved.” He snickers, well aware of how much effort his brother used to put into getting dressed up and being several minutes early for her.

(Y/N) rolls her eyes a little, “Josh it’s been like six years---” (Y/N) scoffed, “You can’t honestly think he still feels like that.”

Josh began to shrug as he swallowed, “I mean I don’t know, he was pretty awestruck seeing you yesterday.” He mused,

His saying this made (Y/N) frown a little, “...ah… yeah I don’t think that look was awestruck.” She uttered under her breath, beginning to rummage through her purse. 

Josh watched her from the corner of his eye, seeing a few items being shuffled around. It wasn’t long before he frowned a little, eyes lingering. (Y/N) finally pulled her phone free and saw his eye line, “What?!” She quickly asks, bringing the bag back to her side. 

Josh’s eyes met (Y/N)’s he had chosen not to say anything, perhaps he was wrong about what he saw. He certainly hoped so, “Nothing.” Josh smiled at her, “It’s just good to see you.” He tells her honestly. 

Josh certainly had missed having (Y/N) around to chat with like this. It wasn’t really a surprise when she packed up and left to go to college, she had different goals than Jake and him… though clearly things had changed seeing that she was back here starting her own career as a musician which was commendable, but also sad. Josh knew she never wanted to be a musician. (Y/N) from the time he had met her wanted to become a force for good in the world, perhaps some sort of court justice; just something that could make a change for the better. Of course Josh had always wanted something similar, but felt his being a force for good came through the music he made.

“It’s really good to see you too Josh.” (Y/N) responded with eyes full of affection, things fell quiet for a moment. (Y/N) had a lot she wanted to say to Josh, and clearly Josh also had a lot he wanted to say as well… but neither of them knew where to begin which made the air between them feel rather heavy. 

Even Annie felt the tension and reluctantly slipped in as she gave (Y/N) a white coffee mug and a menu, “I’m just gonna leave this here… I’ll be back in a minute.” She uttered nervously before scrambling away.

Josh took a deep breath as he sat straight with his mug in hand, “So…?” He started,

(Y/N) took her glass and unknowingly did the same thing, “So what…?” She repeated,

“Music?” Josh lightly inquired, with a sly grin.

(Y/N) began to sigh very loudly, even throwing her head back a little. “Yes Josh. Music.” She droned, “I’m getting into music. Don’t you rub it in my face too, my parents have already done that enough.” She replied.

Josh shook his head, “I’m not gonna rub it in your face! I’m just confused, after so sheer much disdain for it all… now you’re here?” He slowly says with a clearly confused expression. “I just don’t get it (Y/N).”

“Plans change Josh, what can I say?” She responded, in a tone that clearly displayed she didn't want to be talking about this. 

Josh raised a brow, his expression told her that he didn’t believe that. “You? Changing plans?” He scoffs, “(Y/N) your stubborn as a fucking mule, you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes.”

“Bullshit.” Josh quickly tells her, “What happened? Did you fail your classes…?” He lightly suggested, making (Y/N) scoff as she shook her head. “You know I don’t care what it is just --- just can you enlighten me a little.” Josh continues beginning to lean over the table, his gaze curious but still warm, he did care… and (Y/N) knew that.

(Y/N) had seen the look in his eyes many times during their younger years, it was a look that still made her heart ache a little. She glanced down at the mug in her hands beginning to take a sip, Josh stared at her for a few more seconds, before looking into his own glass with a slightly annoyed look.

“(Y/N)?” A soft voice called from the back of her mind,

“Yeah?” She could remember responding, now recalling how Josh’s head was laid in her lap at this moment. (Y/N) ran her fingers through his soft hair, it was longer than… without the tight curls just... free. (Y/N) was looking up at the stars twinkling softly over head, needing something to keep her attention from just staring at Josh. 

Josh and (Y/N) used to sneak out in the middle of the night to walk together, just to talk and do silly things. They of course would sneak out to go to different parties and things, but the times they would sit alone like this were the most picturesque moments.

“You know that I don’t care, right…?” Josh softly told her, “About all that stuff…?” He continued, glancing down (Y/N) eyes met his. It was the same look, he wanted to be reassuring but the way he stared, told her everything she needed to know. “It doesn’t make me think any less of you…” He continued.

A soft smile had crept across her lips at that moment, “...I know Josh.” She lightly responded, remembering how her heart fluttered as his hand took her softly to hold over his chest. Moments like this with Josh were sweet to look back on, he really was a good friend when (Y/N) needed him the most, however… they were also a touch embarrassing to look back on. At times she couldn’t believe she entrusted him with so much information about her life.

“(Y/N)?” Josh continued,

“Mhm?” She responded,

“...Is superman’s ability to fly a feat of strength or actually a super power?” Josh uttered thoughtlessly as he gazed up at the stars,

“...Josh, you’re an idiot if you think it's anything other than a feat of strength.” (Y/N) responded without having to give it another thought. Maybe it was embarrassing to have shared so much with Josh, but… he was her best friend after all.

(Y/N) glanced up from her mug to look at Josh across the booth from her. She took in how his features had become more defined during their time apart, and how his hair curled and fell around his face. Josh had grown into even more of a handsome man than she could have ever expected. (Y/N) couldn’t help it, she could feel herself start and couldn’t stop it --- the same words leaving her lips as before, though she knew it wasn’t true. “I know Josh.” She smiled.

Josh raised his eyes, “So?” He lightly prodded, “What happened?” He lightly asks,

(Y/N) gave a light smile, she was going to lie through her teeth… she knew he would know but she wasn’t ready to admit why she was actually here. Not yet. “...It just wasn’t for me.” She tells him, “...I guess I didn’t realize how much I actually loved singing and performing until I wasn’t doing it anymore.” She told him, her chest feeling heavy with anxiety as Josh looked back at her.

His lips parted to say something, but seemed to pull back on the reins --- something (Y/N) had never seen him do when they were young. Josh smiled at her, he knew she was lying. (Y/N) hadn’t changed as much as he thought, she was making the same face she used to when she would bluff during their poker games. Josh just couldn’t bring himself to press the question; he had a feeling he knew what it was, and it was something he couldn’t just broach on the first time seeing each other in years. “...well… as long as you’re happy now.” He tells her honestly.

(Y/N) continued to make the same face as she nodded, “Of course I am~” She cooed, “I’ve got my hobbit back.” She continued.

Josh laughed a little as his eyes caught sight of an approaching figure, it made him smile a little as he waved. “Look who finally decided to show up!” He mused, “And before the diner closed too.” He continued, watching as Jake shook his head in an unamused way. 

Jake wore a set of sunglasses on the top of his head, alongside a white shirt with dark red half sleeves, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. “Don’t even start…” He lightly said, going to slide into the spot beside Josh.

“Whoa hey now! That spot is saved.” Josh says rather seriously, pointing to sit with (Y/N) across the booth. It was (Y/N)’s turn to roll her eyes, she had heard him say this before. Once Jake had sat down Josh kicked up his feet so he was laying across the whole side of the booth, “My feet thank you.” He hummed.

Josh stared at his brother with clearly tired eyes, “....Dick.” He simply says, earning him a wide grin from Josh.

(Y/N) narrowed her eyes at Josh knowing exactly what he was doing, she shook her head as she looked to Jake. “Hey…” she lightly started, noticing the bags under his eyes. “...oof… rough night?” She inquires,

Jake nodded as he rubbed his eyes, “You could say that.” He muttered, 

“Okay, sorry for the delay, it's been busy today. What can I----” Annie had returned and immediately stopped, “Another new person okay!” She uttered, “Do we need another menu?” She asked, clearly looking a little exasperated.

“No, that's okay… I’ll just have a cup of coffee.” Jake says, 

“Not hungry?” (Y/N) lightly asked, with an air of concern. Jake didn't respond, his arms simply crossing. (Y/N) didn’t continue to ask anything, she just looked down at the menu quickly, “Uh… I’ll just go with the number three.” She simply says.

“Okay… and for you?” Annie asked looking to Josh,

“Mmmm… the same.” He tells her.

“Alright, well I’ll be back! AGAIN with the coffee I guess.” Annie lightly uttered, turning on her heels.

“That girl deserves a big tip.” (Y/N) utters beginning to dig through her purse again before pulling out a small silver flask. Josh was quick to raise a brow but grin as he pushed his mug to her, excited by the idea of a morning pick me up.

Jake on the other hand looked at her with distaste, “Jesus (Y/N), it’s 11 in the morning.” He whispered,

(Y/N) looked at him before laughing in disbelief, “You expect me to take that from you? Really? I watched you do several shots before our finals.” She chuckled, beginning to pour a little amber liquid into her coffee as well as Josh’s. “Scratch that, you made me join you in doing several shots before our finals.” She continued.

Jake quickly pinched the bridge of his nose knowing she was right, he had a hard time not laughing a little. “That-- that was different. I was stressed.” He tells her,

“Mhm.” She nods, clearly not paying attention to his excuses as she sipped her spiked coffee. “I also remember something else happening that day… what was it…” She uttered in a clearly loaded way, she knew what happened but wanted to trudge it up as painfully as she could.

Josh took his mug, “He puked all over Rebecca M.” He chimed in adding a bit of sugar to his coffee, making (Y/N) grin and Jake snicker a little more clearly, still embarrassed by that. “And then she wreaked of gin for the rest of the day.” Josh cheered.

“Oh god she was so mad…” Jake laughed as he rubbed his eyes, 

(Y/N) scoffed, “Of course she was Jake! I don’t think anyone enjoys being thrown up on.” She and Josh began to laugh a little making Jake hide his face away more. They barely noticed as Annie placed the new mug on the table, and snuck away yet again. (Y/N) without a thought poured a touch of the alcohol into Jake’s glass.

The dynamic had always flowed differently when it was the three of them; something about it encouraged more laughter and pulled more memories of funny times, it was how (Y/N) remembered it being with the Kiszka twins. Clearly she had been right to think that despite what had happened between her and the two of them as individuals they could always come back to times like this when they were all together. 

[obsessive-ego]

Sneaky but not really

Musical beetlejuice x reader

Beetlejuice first sleepover with you

Soft, lewd jokes warning, sort of, you know how bj is

Love at first strike was the perfect way to describe your relationship, well at least to beetlejuice. After a scare gone wrong the ghoul was head over heals for you, long story short you were Delia's niece, after a few moments upon meeting lydia, the kid tricked and locked you in the basement, where said ghoul was waiting to 'introduce' himself to you. When he jumped out from the darkness you reacted poorly and sucker punched him in the jaw, with a hard thump the demon hits the floor, of course you felt awful about the whole thing, hitting someone you didnt even know, but as you went to help the poor man up his only response was "damn sugar, hit me again".

The rest was history, you visited lydia and beetlejuice like clockwork, you enjoyed them both, having a similar sense of humor really helped, hell you even joined in on Beetlejuice's lewd humor when lydia was out of ear shot, the ghoul adored this, you were perfect for him, funny and had the balls big enough to hit him, no one's ever done that before.

...

"Please please please, come on baby, dont you trust me?~" beetlejuice pleaded clinging to your leg like a child

"Beej, no, it's not that I dont trust you its just-" you trail off glancing to lydia for some help, the kid just stifles a laugh at you.

"What's wrong y/n? He'd be the perfect little house guest, you live alone right? What's the issue?" She shrugs

You sigh, beetlejuice has been begging you forever to let him sleepover and looks like he roped lydia into it, or she just thought it was funny to watch you flail.

"Come on babes, itll be great, we'll watch movies, order take out, suck face-"

"What?"

"Nothing"

You scowl, and pinch the bridge of your nose, taking a deep breath, then a long sigh

"Fine"

The weight from you leg was lifted in a flash and the ghoul was right in your face "REALLY?! Great choice, you are never gonna regret this sweet stuff" the ghouls cups your face and gives you a quick kiss before disappearing leaving you dazed and confused, what have you done.

...

As you walked home you couldnt help bit feel dread creeping up on you, hoping you never reach your destination, it's not like you didnt want beetlejuice to come to your little home, it's more of you were nervous being alone with the demon in such a personal space, you liked him yeah, more then you're will to admit, this whole 'sleepover' is gonna be more then awkward. The dread sinks in when you stand infront if your little apartment building, you sigh and head inside, at your door your hands tremble with the keys, your nerves reaching new heights, you wanted to vomit, you wanted this whole thing to be done and over, stupid undead bastard who wormed his way into your heart.

Home sweet home, you toss your belongings aside and shamble your way to the living room, plopping down on the couch you swallow hard, as the conversation you and beej had before leaving the Deetz house flood back into your mind

'Now all you gotta do to get me into your little home is say my name 3 times, 3 times in a row spoken, unbroken, okay? I'll be waiting sugar~"

You knew he was teasing you, the ghoul could probably tell how the whole pet name thing effected you, since no ones ever done that to you before. Taking a deep breath of air and jumping up from the couch you decided it's now or never, and you knew if you didnt summon him he'll be twice as annoying the next time you saw him.

"BEETLEJUICE"

You could feel the air get heavier

"BEETLEJUICE"

The temperature around your body drops, you take a deep breath trying to steady yourself

"Beetlejuice" you clamp your eyes shut, not really sure what's gonna happen next, since you weren't exactly told much past the whole how to thing.

"Its showtime~" a gravely voice purrs in your ear and you nearly jump out of your skin, you curse and turn to the culprit, beetlejuice, he was here, it was really that simple.

"You came-" you stutter in disbelief

"Oh doll, your sweet voice would make anyone cum as fast as I did~" the ghoul coos as he cups your face, you flinch at the joke, yes you sure walked into it, giving the demon a perfect set up, beetlejuice howls with laughter at your reaction.

"Babes you make this too easy, but ya know I like easy gals" he gives you a wink followed by a loud cackle.

You regain your composure and clear your throat "well this is it, my home" you give a half hearted gesture, the ghoul whistles in response as if he was impressed by your little home.

"So babes, how bout you show old mr beebleboose where the magic happens~" the demon coos wiggling his eyebrows, you couldnt help but snort a laugh, as you give the demon a soft shove.

"All right sugar, what's the plan tonight? Shitty horror? Take out? Tonsil hockey?" Tips of pink gracing the demons hair as he purrs that last part.

Again a you snort out a laugh "2 out of 3 there beej"

"Sucking face while watching bad movies? You really know how to spoil a ghost" beetlejuice cackles, leaning in close as he makes kissing sounds.

You push the ghoul off, as you chuckle, embarrassed, yet amused at your pal's constant jokes.

You pull out your phone to order a pizza for the two of you, you knew the demon can and will eat anything so you knew he wouldnt really care WHAT you ordered. Beetlejuice perks up at your actions, he wasnt a fan of cell phones, he hated when your attention wasnt fully on him, but after some trial and error he learned to adapt to subtlety messing with you in that state of distraction.

The ghoul places his arm around you shoulder and leans in to you, watching you tap away on your phone, he never really got the whole technical thing, the ghoul was more into making you nervous, in his current position, pressed up against you, he could feel your warmth, he could hear your heart pounding, and he could see your fingers fumble as you try to type, the ghoul huffs out a small chuckle when he sees you puff out your cheeks as you try to focus and steady your hands to finish what you were doing.

...

The two of you chatted and joked about as beetlejuice told you stories of scares he pulled off with lydia, he was practically glowing green with excitement as he told you in great detailed of how amazing and scary he was and how you need to see him in action more often, the demons mood was contagious you couldnt help but laugh and hang on practically every word. The two of you are interrupted with a knock on your door,

You get up from the couch without much thought, beetlejuice jumps up quickly after you, and pulls you to the front door, you make a noise of surprise at the sudden action.

"Watch and be amazed sweet stuff, its show time" the ghoul swings open the door to see the delivery guy.

"Pizza for l/n"

"Thanks man" the ghoul takes the pizza and hands it to you.

"Oh! Babes what did you order anyway?" The ghoul asks before snapping his fingers, a familiar tingle goes through your body, you go stiff as beetlejuice puppets your words

"Oh you know honey, the usual, pepperoni, bacon, and tarantulas" you say in a cheery tone.

"Tarantulas?" The delivery guys asks

"You never tried one? They crunch real nice" the ghoul goes to pull out a live rather large tarantula from his coat pocket, you flinch at the sight, not being a fan of bugs. Beetlejuice, without hesitation drops the spider into his mouth, the crunching noise alone made the colour drain from your face, but your reaction was nothing in comparison to pizza guy. The poor guy looked like he was gonna vomit, frozen in place with the scene in front of him.

"Where are my manners? Want one?" Beetlejuice leans forward into his victim dangling a new larger tarantula in the poor man's face.

"Open wide~" he coos

At that The pizza guy's legs finally give out, causing him to drop to his ass, the man screams and scrambles to his feet, stumbling and fumbling all the while getting away from your home.

"Such a beautiful sound~" beetlejuice sighs, as he slides the spider into his coat pocket "save him for later" he mumbles before turning to you

"So? How was I sugar?" The ghoul was beaming at you with a big toothy grin, desperate for your approval.

You snort out a hard laugh "you're disgusting beej, amazingly disgusting" you cackle

The ghoul bows at your praise "thank you doll, you are too kind~"

God did beetlejuice live for your praise, the attention you gave him, he wanted you so badly, he wanted you to say 'beetlejuice, I see you, I accept you, I fear for my safety around you'. But you were dense and a coward, and he sure as hell didnt want to make the first move, so this, this was fine for now, you praising him and spending time with him, will just have to do until you proclaim your undying love for him.

..

The two of you hang out on the couch, you in your pajamas, beetlejuice leaning into you with an arm around you, you never really fought this, beej was the touchy feely type and he claims how he just likes how warm you are, so you just went with it. As your movie marathon runs late you begin to nod off, you finally commit to bed time when you nudge Beetlejuice's arm off and stand up, the ghoul makes a noise of annoyance at your absence.

"I'm going to bed" you yawn out "night beej" you wave goodnight before heading to you room, the ghoul growls at this, he didnt really want to stop hanging out with you, but unfortunately breather need sleep, the demon flows you to your room.

As you climb into bed beetlejuice phases through the bedroom door

"Oh no!" His voice alerts you to his presence

"Theres only one bed" he continues in a false worried tone, you know your brows together

"Beetlejuice I can make up the couch for you if you like, I know you dont sleep-"

"OH NO THERE'S ONLY ONE BED AND ITS A SINGLE" he repeats as if a louder volume will change anything.

"Bee-"

"I guess we'll just have to share y/n, please be gentle with me~" the demon coos as he slumps onto the bed

You give him a soft smile at this awful little show, but as nice and warm as the idea of sharing your bed with him would make you feel, you weren't exactly ready to agree to that, anxiety and nerves beat away any romantic thought.

"Beej, come on-"

"Cum on what?"

You snort out a soft laugh, you always walked into a set up for him without a second thought.

"Beetlejuice, no offense, but I dont feel comfortable with that, you know, sharing a bed with you, I mean, like, you know" your voice shrank as you spoke, you didnt want to sound rude, not that hed ever mind, the ghoul sits up and stares back at you with a wide toothy grin.

"I getcha sweets, not till marriage, right? You never struck me as the old fashioned type, but I can wait till we tie the knot~" he winks that last part, you can feel you ears burn with embarrassment, all of his flirting jokes did make you blush, but the marriage jokes were the big guns, you adored the demon, and the idea of being married to him made your heart want to rip it's way out of your chest.

Without another word beetlejuice vanishes before your eyes, and a soft "goodnight" is whispered in you ear, causing you to shiver.

...

Finally after all that time begging you finally let beetlejuice into your home, just you and him, such a high level of trust you have in him, the ghoul himself is filled with delight at the thought, here he was floating next to your bed, watching you slept so peacefully, completely unaware of the dead man watching you.

"Ya know sweet stuff, you look real cute when you sleep~" he purrs, pink hue gracing his hair in streaks.

It goes without saying the demon was a creep, so it was no surprise he would watch you sleep. The ghoul stares at you for hours, taking in all the little things about you, the little things of being alive, how your chest slowly moved up and down as you slept, how you're lips were slightly parted, those sweet little sounds you'd make during your slumber.

As the time went by the ghoul's mind began to wander.

"Bet it's real warm under those covers huh?" He mused

"Y/n is such an oblivious little breather, they probably wouldnt even notice little old me sliding in next to that soft, warm, body of theirs" he whispered to himself, the thought alone of pressing himself up against your warm body was enough to get the demon drooling.

That was all the convincing he needed, slip in to cuddle for a bit, then slip out before you wake, easy.

With a snap of his fingers the ghoul's trade mark striped suit disappears leaving him in a pair of striped boxers, with another snap beetlejuice reappears next to you in bed, the wave of warm washing over him was delightful, so toasty warm, so soft and comfy, he could get used to this, with a soft sigh the ghoul cuddled up to you, without a second thought he gets carried away, wrapping him arms around your body, you respond with some unintelligible noise as the demon pulls you into him.

Beetlejuice, now completely pink, gives your forehead a kiss before whispering a soft

"goodnight y/n"

This was heaven, or as close as a born dead demon straight from hell was gonna get at least, everything felt so good, your soft body in his arms, your warmth, your scent, your soft comfy bed, he could really get used to this. Beetlejuice didnt have to sleep, but did to pass the time when bored, but tonight he fell asleep for a more soft reason, yes the ghoul has had more flings and one night stands then he could remember, but this, he never spent the night in another's arms, someone who genuinely liked him and wanted him around, the ghoul couldnt help but doze off with this level of comfort, as cheesy as it sounded, it was true.

...

Unfortunately him dozing off was a less then great idea, beetlejuice was a heavy sleeper, more so then you were.

"BEETLEJUICE!"

The ghoul shoots up at your rather loud call, beetlejuice looks up at you to see a rather embarrassed, confused you, clenching the blanket to your chest, though you were full clothed.

"Morning sweetheart, you sleep well in daddy's arms?" He purrs, busted the demon Hope's to flirt his way out of getting trouble.

"What are you doing?!" Your voice trembles as you're pretty sure the ghoul can hear your heart pounding like a jackhammer.

"I couldnt help myself it's so chilly at night, and you're so warm" the ghoul shrugs "Oh! Right I forgot my little y/n is an old fashioned little breather, guess we gotta get hitched now huh?" The ghoul winks at you.

You felt like your heart was gonna explode, you just woke up and he's pulling this? Honestly part of you wasnt surprised he'd worm his way into your bed, and tease the hell out of you, then it hits you. You stare at the ghoul, his torso exposed, completely bare, revealing a rather hairy, scared up upper half, while his waist was hidden below the covers.

"Beetlejuice, please, please tell me you're wearing something below the waist" you turn your head away not wanting to look at him, you knew beej is a creepy pervert, but he wouldnt sneak into your bed completely naked, would he?

Beetlejuice let's out his awful cackle, causing you to flinch.

"Babes do you really think, I'd slip in next to you in bed balls out? Please, I am a perfect gentleman, I already vowed to marry you after I slept with you" he snorts out a laugh.

You return your gaze to the ghoul to see he has removed the covers to reveal a pair of boxers resembling his suit. You sigh in relief, the demon only smirks at your reaction.

"Like what you see?~" he wiggles his eyebrows and bites his lip while giving his hips a quick jerk upwards.

"Beej please, i guess it's fine if you want to sleep with me, as long as you're respectful, I mean you're gonna do it anyways so" you trail off clearly embarrassed at his lewd motions, but finding it easier to ignore them and continue on with what had transpired.

"Whoa, you mean it?" The ghoul sits up, wide eyed and pink at your words

"Yes, as long as you're not gonna be gross about it- FUCK"

Beetlejuice lunges at you, pulling you into a tight hug, this was all too much for first thing in the morning, yes it felt nice to be held, but youd be lying if waking up next to beetlejuice didnt scare the shit out of you, but sleeping together, as warm as it made you feel, its gonna take some getting used too.

"How bout we get some coffee?" You ask timidly.

Beetlejuice pulls away, a big dopey grin plastered across his face, patches of pink slowly taking over his scratchy facial hair.

"You read my mind doll".

One of these days, you should really ask him what pink ment for him, maybe comfort? Really happy? Who knows

Bonus

After a rather embarrassing morning for you, the two of you make your way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Beetlejuice didnt exactly drink coffee, just really milk and sugar with coffee in it, not that you minded

The two of you sat in silence at your little kitchen table, you scrolled through your phone checking weather and other nonsense as you take a sip of your coffee the ghoul cuts the silence

"You think Adam will be my best man at our wedding?"

You nearly choke on your drink.