#I didn’t expect her to talk to it wow I would never I’d just cower in fear

[coconut530]

SPIDER AND STAG

[hamburgerhelpersotherhand]

Infatuation P11

Joe Goldberg x Reader x Love Quinn

Warnings: Violent scene description, death.

Notes: Wow, this seems really out of nowhere to post. Anyway 🤪 I don’t want this sitting in my drafts anymore so I’m going to let you all know if I edit it before the next update. Just... take it.

I spent the better half of the day looking over my shoulder as I worked. Candace’s sudden reappearance isn’t going to be swept under the rug just like that... she’s a dead girl walking and I’ve never been a fan of the zombie genre.

By the time I was counting the money from the cash register, Love seemed to have grown a smile. Though, I could still see the sleep deprivation in her eyes.

“Will,” She leaned forward on the counter, perching her head up on her hand. “could we do something tonight?”

At that moment, I really wish I could’ve said yes. But... I couldn’t afford to get distracted.

“Maybe another night? I’m...” I thought quickly, placing coins down and counting.

“We need to talk.” She leans forward to catch my sight. About what exactly, I want to ask but before I can even get a word out, Forty walks in with his mouth open.

“Will, would you be a doll and help me with something.”

I don’t say anything, only thinking to myself: why here and now? Forty has some of the worst timing... and then I spot Candace. Right behind Forty, with a white smile I hated to see.

“Oh, Will. This is Amy.” Love gestures toward Candace and my stomach turns and probably does some flips while it’s at it. If I wasn’t so used to staring into the face of death, I would of probably thrown up by now.

But, there’s no way.

“She’s Y/N’s friend.” Forty finishes. I bite the inside of my cheek. No fucking way she’s here unprompted. I’ve been so incredibly meticulous about everything including my online presence.

I look to Love’s face and she seems to spot something.

“Are you okay? You look kind of pale.” What? She’s not going to ask if I’ve seen a ghost?

“Yeah— no, yeah. I’m alright.” I smile wide, wiping my brow as I do. “It’s just—“ I turn to ‘Amy’. “Is Y/N still in town?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m here.” She looks me in the eye. For a moment, I feel myself crack under the pressure.

Hold me back, I might just kill her now.

“What do you mean?” Love looks to her.

“I was supposed to pick her up the other day, but she hasn’t responded to my messages since.” Candace looks at me with those dead soulless eyes of hers.

So, she’s the mysterious driver. When did she start driving that type of car? Since she’s decided to pursue a career in stealthily ruining my life?

What the fuck am I going to do about her and what the hell am I going to do about you?

“Will,” Love suddenly says, bringing the conversation back and snapping me out of my thoughts. “didn’t you see Y/N?”

“Y— no. No, I know it was late by the time I got there, but I passed a bus on my way.” I remember the way your soft face felt in my hand. “Could she have taken public transport? Maybe a cab?”

“I highly doubt it.” Candace replies immediately. I’m sweating, but I’m trying not to lose my cool.

I finally finish sorting through the change, no doubt making some mistakes. But with that done and out of my way, I need an excuse to slip through the cracks.

“Listen, I’m sure she’s just disappearing again. You’ve told me she’s done it before, I don’t see why she wouldn’t do it again.”

Love shifts around, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “I’m calling Lucy.”

And there she goes. Love leaves the room after her statement, and I know she’s feeling worse. Why did you even bother coming back? You’ve literally disrupted everything in our lives... it’s going to be difficult to fix, Y/N. There’s no simple way around this, we just have to make it through alive.

~

Love remained in another room at Anavrin until it closed and the street lights turned on. She quietly spoke into her phone, observing the floor pathetically.

She spoke with Lucy openly, though she avoided the topic of your sudden disappearance.

The conversation eventually dies down, and she says her goodbyes.

“I need to show you something.”

Love sets down her phone and looks to Amy. She hadn’t noticed her enter the room.

“You surprised me. What is it?”

She continues once Love’s attention is on her. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but do you mind if we discuss it in the car?”

~

And just as expected, Forty’s one-off comment about needing help wasn’t easily forgotten by himself. I was dragged out of Anavrin rather quickly. Though, in a way, I appreciated the easy excuse to get away from such a venemous snake as Candace.

Forty never let up, no matter how obvious I made my lack of care, he remained just as motivated and just as annoying.

“Listen, this is probably my most prestigious and ambitious project to date.” Forty’s arm swings itself over my shoulder, bringing me in as he repeats the same garbage he always does. I’m glad to see that spirit remains.

“They’re wanting to make it into a movie, can you believe that?” Forty’s arm lifts itself, only to fall down on my shoulder like a pat on the back.

“I’d love it if you could... you know... help me out. A genius writer isn’t a genius without their ghost writers!”

That’s... not what that is, but I get his point.

When I looked at him, his eyes were wide and his bottom lip stuck out comically. He was pouting? No, it’s more of a puppy dog look. The lazy man’s pretty please.

I should have time for this, even if I’d rather stop by the nearest gas station and get you dinner.

“Earth to Will, I need you focused!”

~

Love wraps her arms around herself, feeling very out of place.

Amy continues to fumble with the lock, until she hears a click. She perks up and gives Love a nod.

The storage lockers were easy to access, surprisingly so. But none of this felt right.

“Wait.” Love says suddenly, halting all movement. “I don’t want to do this.”

“But you’re just a door away. Please, Love, you’ll want to see this side of him.” Amy pleas.

What side of him? The side that owns this locker she so happened to know about?

“No, I don’t. And I don’t care for it either.” Love says, though she looks unsure of herself as she fiddles with her bag. Perhaps a part of her would rather be unaware of something as vile as Any had dared describe in the car.

“Do you hear yourself? You sound ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous? Thats coming from someone with bold claims.” Love retorts. She catches herself for a moment, seeing a glimpse of someone she repressed long ago. She’s not that person anymore, she swore to herself she never would be.

Despite Love’s reluctance, Amy lifts the door up and pockets her bobby pin.

Hearing the doors roll up, you had expected Joe to step in. But he was nowhere in sight. Instead, you jumped at the image of Love and Amy, pinching yourself to truly believe they were really standing there.

You wanted to speak, to shout, to cry out... but your voice was far too gone. Your throat was hoarse and bone-dry.

“Oh my god.” Amy hurried, observing you inside the glass box. “You’re still alive— she’s still alive!”

Love remained silent, her jaw hung open in utter disbelief. Will... Will had told her you left.

He lied? Or Amy isn’t who she says she is.

But why would he? It... it must’ve been for a good reason, right? Will isn’t this kind of person, right? Maybe— maybe he got himself into something. Love clutched her keys between her fingers, her knuckles turning white as she focused her burning stare into the back of Amy’s head.

“Y/N. Can you hear me?” She says, hitting the glass.

You’re barely responsive, a mixture of dehydration and lack of nutrition hitting you all at once. The sheer excitement from seeing them took a lot out of you.

“We’ll get you out of there.” Amy states, turning her head to face Love.

Love jumps at her sudden movement, grip shaking as she stares into Amy’s eyes.

“Help me, would you?”

Love slashed her keys in Amy’s direction and she tumbles back. Without a second thought, Love does it again, this time catching her straight in the neck.

For a moment, Love realizes what she’s done. With the way you began to pound on the glass and the look of complete and utter fear Amy is giving her, it’s kind of hard not to. Love stares at her keys, stuck inside the side of Amy’s neck as a thick stream of blood flows downward. She grips her own neck, holding tightly as her mouth puckers like a fish out of water.

Amy doesn’t want her to pull them out—the keys- and Love notices that. But she does. She yanks the keys toward herself and watches Amy slap her hands down around her own throat.

She’s silent, surprisingly silent despite the gurgling.

Love watches Amy hit the ground and crawl toward her feet, all the while a pool of blood forms beneath herself.

When Love looks toward you, you’re curled up in the corner of your glass cage, arms covering your eyes as sobs shake you violently. She didn’t want you to witness this side of her, truly. But even more so, she had never wanted it to come out again.

However, Amy was a threat to the three of you. Love knew you were locked up somewhere, how could she not? She knew that Will— Joe- had done this in the past, but it could be different now— it could be better. A private detective isn’t just for show. But Amy didn’t have to get involved— didn’t have to go sniffing around and finding your location before she could.

When she notices you peek past your elbows, she feels her gut clench at the sight of the way you cower at the sight displayed by her feet. Watching someone bleed out is hardly a pretty sight and Love understands.

Knowing full well that she can’t turn back, Love wipes her keys and drops the rolled up door.

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

Used To It (M.YG)

Warnings : mentions of an abusive relationship, fighting, swearing

Synopsis : he needed a girl to leave him alone, she wanted people to know she was over her ex. they needed each other, so they agree to pretend to date. but was it ever pretend?

Word Count : 2537

“I need you to be my girlfriend. Just until graduation.” I’m not sure what was going through my mind when I agreed, but it honestly worked out for me. I had just gotten out of a rocky relationship; a breakup that spread across the campus as fast as a wildfire. Jackson seemed to move on quickly, being seen with a new girl every week, whereas I tried to keep a low profile and focus on my studies so I could graduate next year. Because of that, everyone thought that I just couldn’t move on. Girls would talk about their nights with Jackson near me, expecting a reaction from me to no avail. So the fake relationship helped me as well.

           I barely knew Yoongi when he asked me to act as his girlfriend. I knew him through mutual friends and had met him on a few occasions, but he always seemed standoffish, so I never pursued a friendship with him. “This girl in one of my classes won’t leave me alone. I figured having a girlfriend would change that.” He told me. Yoongi was similar to me in the way that he just wanted to focus on graduating, seeing as his graduation was less than a year away. “And you said you were tired of people thinking you weren’t over Jackson.” He continued, but I was already sold.

           “Can you at least seem happy to be with me.” I joked as the two of us took our seats at a table in a café just off campus. We decided to start with being seen together so our relationship would seem more believable. I’ve been spending almost everyday for the last 3 weeks with Yoongi, mostly consisting of us studying, but I don’t think I’ve seen him smile once.

           “That’s not my style.” He said casually, opening one of his notebooks he had with him and started looking over his notes. I sat back in my chair and just watched him for a bit before opening one of my textbooks. I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t handsome. It was obvious just by glancing at him that he was a good-looking guy, and girls let him know. Either he never noticed the stares and the whispers, or he just really didn’t care.

           “You should have some water.” I softly said some hours later, placing the cup of water I grabbed for him in front of him. For the first time since we sat down, he looked up at me with a tired look in his eyes. “I know you have an important test tomorrow but take care of yourself.” I smiled at him and took my seat again.

           “Thank you.” He said with some semblance of a smile on his face. “Oh wow I didn’t realize the time. I should walk you back to your dorm.” He started closing his books and packing them away in his bag before chugging the water I gave him. I chuckled to myself and packed my books away as well.

           “You don’t have to, Yoongi.” We both stood from the table and he shook his head.

           “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you walk back alone.” Hearing him say boyfriend out loud caused my stomach to flip, but I chalked it up to the amount of coffee I had drank throughout the day. Still, I didn’t argue further and the two of us headed out into the night and back to campus.

           I should have known then that this wasn’t a good idea. From the beginning I had feelings for him, but I still went through with acting as his girlfriend as if I could just walk away when it was all over.

           “So we breakup and you just think you can go and date?” Jackson said as he plopped into the seat across from me. Yoongi would be back in a couple minutes as he had just gone to the bathroom, but I take it from the look on Jackson’s face that he knew that. “You’re my girl.” He really emphasized the word ‘my’ when he spoke, and it caused me to let out a small laugh.

           “Ah yes, because you’ve been alone these last few months.” I scoffed and tried to get back to my homework, but it was hard to focus with his gaze on me.

           “You know those girls don’t compare to you.” I looked up from my books again.

           “Well that sucks for you. Yoongi is a better boyfriend than you’ll ever be.” I could see the look of anger cross his face as I said that. He stood from the table abruptly and yanked the book out of my hands, throwing it the floor in a rage before roughly taking my face in his hand.

           “You are MY girl. No one else can have you.” The venom I had grown used to over the years we were together dripped from his lips. I spent years cowering in fear every time he’d speak to me like that, but I knew he wouldn’t try anything with all these watchful eyes staring at him.

           “Actually, she’s my girl.” My stomach did flips when I heard Yoongi’s familiar voice dripping with anger. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your hands off her.” He stepped in between Jackson and me.

           “You seem proud to have my sloppy seconds.” Jackson smirked, but before he could cross his arms over his chest in victory, Yoongi punched him in the face, causing me to leap from my seat and in between the two to stop Yoongi.

           “Hey, hey, look at me.” Yoongi kept looking past me at a now bleeding Jackson, so I placed my hands on the sides of his face and made him look at me. The anger in his eyes dissipated when they met mine. “Let’s pack up and go somewhere else.” He just nodded, apologizing for causing a scene. “Jackson’s the one who should apologize.” I smiled, swinging my bag over my shoulder.

           “Was he always like that?” Yoongi hesitantly asked as we started walking nowhere in particular.

           “Not in the beginning. But the last year of our relationship, I suppose you could say he was abusive and controlling. That’s why I broke up with him.” Yoongi stopped in his tracks.

           “Wait, you broke up with him?” I chuckled and nodded, continuing to walk backwards so I could still see Yoongi. “That’s not what I should have gotten from that.”

           “It’s fine. I’m not traumatized or anything. Shit happens. You just gotta move on.” Just as I finished my sentence, I tripped over a rock and Yoongi was quick on his feet, wrapping his arms around me before I could hit the pavement. He unwrapped them from me just as quickly when I got my balance back.

           “Be careful.” He said simply and the two of us continued walking, my heart threatening to beat right out of my chest.

           I sat on my bed, scrolling through all the photos the two of us took on my phone. A few were sent to me from the others, gushing about how cute the two of us looked together. I smiled as the tears streamed down my cheeks.

           “I still can’t believe the two of you are dating!” Hoseok exclaimed as our group sat around a table, waiting for the food we had just ordered to arrive.

           “Yeah, I mean you two are as opposite as they come!” Jimin added, shaking his head. “Y/N is so bubbly and smiley all the time. And Yoongi-hyung barely ever smiles!” I linked my arm through his, causing him to look down at me but I just smiled.

           “You get used to it.” I spoke. “Regardless, he’s really cute. And he’s a good boyfriend.”  

           “Just good?” Yoongi joked, raising a brow at me.

           “He punched your abusive ex and he’s just a good boyfriend?!” Taehyung exclaimed. I chuckled at the memory that seemed like it happened a couple days ago but actually occurred a month ago.

           “Whoa he did what?!” Jungkook asked.

           “Oh yeah, it was really sexy actually.” I told the table, causing Yoongi to get slightly embarrassed and playfully push me away. “What? It’s true. I could have jumped your bones right then and there. No one has ever stood up to Jackson, let alone punch him.”

           “Jump my- oh my god, Y/N.” Yoongi shook his head, but I could see a small smile dancing across his lips.

           “You’re breaking Yoongi-hyung!” Jungkook joked, pointing out the fact that Yoongi just smiled.

           “Who would have thought Yoongi would have a soft spot.” Jin teased, reaching across to poke his shoulder. Yoongi smacked his hand away and dismissed having a soft spot for anyone. But I knew I was slithering my way through his cold exterior, and that thought alone gave me butterflies.

           Just until graduation. I kept repeating to myself. At the time it seemed like I had all the time in the world to make my way into his heart, but it seemed like the months passed all too quickly. “You aren’t going to watch your boyfriend graduate?” My roommate asked when she saw me sitting on the couch, the ceremony just an hour away.

           “I think we broke up.” I whispered, the tears still falling. She immediately brought me into an embrace. It was never supposed to be like this. Everything was pretend; we were supposed to just go back to our normal lives as if nothing happened. But I grew attached to having him by my side throughout the 7 months. I fell in love with him.

           “You didn’t have to come with me.” I thought out loud as we drove to my cousin’s wedding. Yoongi glanced over at me.

           “I’m supposed to be your boyfriend. These things are what boyfriends do.” I nodded, keeping my head forward. We’ve been acting for 5 months now and in my opinion have grown quite close. He’s really been my rock during these hard times. He’s let me complain about Jackson and didn’t judge me when I cried about missing him when I was drunk.

           After we parked, the two of us walked towards the doors of the venue side by side. As we got closer, he grabbed my hand and linked my arm through his own, causing me to look up at him. He was already smiling down at me and opened the door for us to walk through.

           We spent the time before the ceremony mingling with my family, introducing my new boyfriend. Everyone was surprised to see me with a guy that wasn’t Jackson, so sure the two of us were getting married after graduation. “Well, if I play my cards right, the next wedding we’ll be attending is ours.” Yoongi said to my uncle who asked about how serious we were. My heart swelled at the idea of walking down the aisle to him at the end of it, but I caught myself before I got too into the idea.

           “Everyone seems to love you.” I whispered as we took our seats minutes before my cousin was to walk down the aisle.

           “The competition wasn’t hard.” He joked and I playfully slapped him in the arm, causing him to burst into a fit of laughter. It was the biggest smile I’d seen on his face and I swear time stopped as I stared at him in awe. It’s been known that he’s a good-looking guy, but seeing him smile like that, I couldn’t help but fall in love in that moment.

           A harsh knock at the door pulled me from my memories. My roommate had left soon after giving me a hug, wanting to go watch her boyfriend walk the stage. I stared at my phone for a second, the lock screen being a picture of Yoongi and I at my cousin’s wedding, dressed to the nines. Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again so I shouted a quick ‘coming’ as I stood from the couch. I’m not sure who I expected to see on the other side, but it definitely wasn’t Min Yoongi.

           “You didn’t come to the graduation.” He said, not moving from the doorway even though I moved aside to allow him in.

           “You said you just needed me until graduation.” I reminded him. We never discussed when this would actually end, or if I would attend his graduation, so I just assumed he wouldn’t want me there and stayed home.

           “Fuck that.” He said, finally stepping in my dorm so I could close the door. “I got used to having you there these past months. You came to all my events. You were there to get me out of my head and remind me to take care of myself.” His voice was in between being angry and being soft. I was confused as to what was happening, but he kept talking, and I held onto every word. “I don’t want to go back to a life without you by my side.”

           “What are you saying, Yoongi?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, feigning annoyance at his presence in hopes of protecting my heart.

           “I’m saying I’m in love with you, dammit!” He threw his arms in the air before dropping them back to his side and looking at me with an intense look in his eyes. “I’m in love with you and I want you to stay by my side.” He practically whispered, stepping closer to me. I dropped my arms to my side as he placed a hand on my cheek and brought his face closer to mine. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” He whispered and I nodded just in time for him to close the space between us. 7 months I acted as his girlfriend, slowly falling in love with him, and I only dreamed of his lips on mine. The feeling was so much better than I could have ever imagined.

           “I take it you two made up?” My roommate giggled from the doorway. I wrapped my arms around Yoongi’s torso and rested my head on his chest.

           “Yeah.” I said, still in a daze from the kiss we just shared. Yoongi kissed the top of my head and my roommate just shook her head and went to grab something before leaving again.

            “So, I was originally going to move in with Jin after graduating, but I’d prefer to live with you so I can still see you everyday.” I smiled up at him.

           “Are you sure? That’s a huge step, and we kind of just got together.” I laughed.

           “Well, honestly I’ve considered you my girlfriend for 7 months now. I don’t think this was ever really pretend for me.”

           “Me neither.”

           “So is that a yes?” I couldn’t help but laugh at the hopefulness in his eyes and the excitement in his voice. I’ve gotten so used to his melancholy ways that seeing him like this was different.

           “Yes.” He pulled me in for another kiss in that moment, and for a minute I could have sworn I was floating.

           “I love you.”

           “I love you too, you idiot.”

[dreamerhideout]

i love you so

summary: after recovering from a messy break-up with your high school sweetheart, you’d never expect to find happiness in someone who bumped into you on the subway. but that’s where jake sim comes in.

genre: fluff, hurt/comfort, office!au

characters: jake x reader, mentions of ex-boyfriend!jay

warnings: partially proofread, but besides that, none

word count: 1946

a/n: this was supposed to be an entry for the “and then we met” @enhypenwriters writing event, but i think i lost the muse for this a bit too fast (plus, school swamped me again.) i literally wanted to base it off this song by the walters until it dawned on me that it was a heartbreak song :/ hence i made a few adjustments. i’m not quite sure if i’m fully satisfied with how this turned out, but i hope you still enjoy it~

more under the cut!

your heels clicked on the platform as you weaved your way through the crowd of people. it was a bustling monday morning, and waking up half an hour late was not how you expected to start your week. bingeing on this one political-drama show the night before began to feel like a regrettable choice, but there was no time to dwell on that when you see your train pulling up at the platform.

“oh damn, i’m so sorry.”

maybe it was because of how distracted you were from your surroundings that you hadn’t realized that someone bumped into you. as a result, you barely noticed that your coat had gotten stained from the coffee in their cup.

you gave them an apologetic smile, too rushed to get pissed. “no worries.” pausing for a second, you registered the culprit to be a man with a head of chocolate-brown hair and slightly frantic eyes before jogging towards the open subway cart door. once you got on the nearly-stuffed train, your eyes peered down towards your coat. sighing, you swiped at your coffee-stained coat with your finger; perhaps you’d be able to get it cleaned at the office later on if you weren’t getting your ear chewed off by your manager.

-

“we have a new employee joining us today.”

exiting the bathroom door with a slightly-scrubbed coat in hand, you heard your manager call out, then the chatter in the room subsiding. she was standing beside a man that you wouldn’t have vaguely remembered seeing before if it weren’t for the small smile he gave you.

“hi everyone, i’m jake sim. i’ll be working under the research department starting today. it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

you recognized that voice a little too well, then glancing at your dampened coat. who knew that the man you hastily bumped into this morning would be working at your office?

“jake will be occupying the desk next to (y/n)’s, and he’ll also be under my supervision as he’s still on trial for the next two weeks.” almost instantly, your manager turned towards you, who was still standing in front of the bathroom door.

“oh, yes,” you replied, eyes widening slightly. you went towards your cubicle and motioned to the empty desk beside you for jake to put his things, “over here.”

he walked over and placed a box filled with his belongings on top of the table, then unpacking. “well, i never thought i’d see you here,” he chuckled, “really sorry for what happened earlier, by the way.”

“eh, it’s no big deal.” you draped your coat over your chair for it to dry, “i managed to scrub off most of the stain, so it should be fine.”

“are you sure it isn’t ruined?” he turned to face you, slightly quirking an eyebrow.

you grinned in response, “positive."

jake had placed some stationery into a pencil holder before extending out a hand towards you. “i know i’ve introduced myself earlier.” he smiled rather awkwardly, “but for the sake of us being desk-mates, i’ll do it again. i’m jake.”

your hand met his for a quick shake, a knowing smile on your face. “(y/n). nice to meet you.”

-

if you were sure about one thing, it’d be that time flies by when you’re drowning in deadlines. the sun had already disappeared, yet you still sat hunched over your laptop, fingers typing away at a report due tomorrow assigned a few hours ago. you would have argued with your manager on the matter, but the glare she gave you as you were about to open your mouth was enough to make you shrink back into your seat.

out of habit, you grabbed your phone and unlocked it, expecting to see a message notification from jay, your boyfriend, who’d usually come to pick you up from work. when you didn’t receive one, however, it only dawned on you once again that you weren’t even with him anymore. he was the reason why your routine for the past few months had been working and binge-watching on repeat, with the occasional cry session if you were feeling really out of it. moving on after said breakup had been difficult, especially when it involved the very person who vowed to marry you on the day of your high school graduation.

“working overtime?”

you peered up from your head in your hands to see jake. he had pushed his chair back and was looking at you past the divider. it was way past office hours and you swore that you heard the last of your coworkers’ chatter out the door a few hours ago, but you must have been mistaken.

“yeah.” you gave him a grim smile, “some stupid report i was told to do today.”

“ouch,” he winced, closing his laptop. jake then studied your expression, picking up on how exhausted you looked. “tell you what.” he stood up and began slipping items into his backpack, “what if we went home together? maybe i could grab you something on the way back to make up for earlier.”

you looked up from your screen to see a cheeky smile on his lips. the offer did seem tempting, but you were ways away from actually completing the report. “oh that really isn’t necessary...” you threw him a small smile as you waved a hand rather dismissively, “i might be here for a long while, and i wouldn’t want to hold you back from going home.”

“i insist, (y/n).” jake zipped up his backpack after tossing in a file, “i wouldn’t mind waiting since i have nothing due tomorrow.” he then propped an elbow up on the divider, leaning on it as he carefully took note of the obvious strain on your eyes as well as how you had a slight pout on your lips when you were focused, “and besides... you kinda look like you could use some company.”

a small hum was heard from your mouth until you finally sighed in defeat; he definitely wasn’t wrong about company. “if you say so, then.” you stretched your arms, turning away from your screen, “maybe having you around will make me work faster?”

“how so?”

“you know how sometimes kids won’t work on their homework unless there’s an adult cowering over them like a hawk? yeah, that.” 

jake brought a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh, which ended in him snorting instead. you could feel a smile creep up your lips.

-

the trip home was the most fun you’ve had in months. it didn’t occur to you that jake would be such an avid chatterbox, but you were sorely mistaken. he always had a conversation topic up his sleeve, whether it was about daily adult struggles to his childhood back in australia. you also noticed how he absolutely could not shut up about his beloved dog, layla; it’s a wonder how he had an entire album filled with hundreds of her pictures on his phone. slowly but surely, you also began juggling the conversation; it was as if you had reverted to your bright, happy self pre-breakup. talking with him really felt like reuniting with a long-lost friend, and it was only a matter of minutes until you had reached your apartment's front door.

jake had wanted to use your bathroom for a bit, but it ended with you suggesting for him to stay for dinner which consisted of microwaved pizza and sweet tea. you placed the pizza on the coffee table in front of the tv, then starting up the series you were bingeing on the other night.

“is that designated survivor?” jake sat on your sofa before grabbing a slice of pizza from the plate.

“mhm,” you replied, mouth stuffed. swallowing first, you then replied to him, “the synopsis made me curious.”

your remark was met with silence as you saw jake’s gazed fixed intently upon the screen. it wouldn’t have occurred to you that you’d be having a coworker (who was insanely attractive, nonetheless) over for dinner, but it didn’t bother you at all when jake made offhand comments about the characters and scenes of the series. it also occurred to you quite late that you hadn’t gotten napkins out for the both of you.

“hold on, lemme grab something.” you stood up and went towards your cabinets in search for napkins. jake’s attention broke from the screen to follow your figure before his gaze momentarily landed on a photo frame by the side of your sofa. it was a picture of you and your ex-boyfriend, with his arm wrapped around you as you both smiled brightly for the camera.

“i didn’t know you had a boyfriend?” the man teased as he saw you walk back towards him, napkins in hand. your expression dropped when you realized that throughout the time you’ve been trying to mend your broken heart, you had forgotten to put away that photo.

“we broke up.”

guilt flashed across jake’s face as he realized he had overstepped. “oh wow, i’m sorry... i shouldn’t have brought that up.”

“it’s fine. i guess i must’ve forgotten to put that away.” you smiled at him and placed the napkins on the table before flipping the frame down. taking a seat, you sighed as you tried to focus on the show playing in front of you; you could feel bits of dread wallow in the bottom of your stomach.

there was a moment of awkward pause as neither of you knew what to say. just as you were about to ask jake to leave since you could feel dread clawing at your insides, he suddenly spoke up, “you’re... really strong, though.”

turning to face him, you stared at him quizzically, “really?”

“yeah.” jake could feel your eyes on him, “i mean, if it weren’t for me finding out, i would’ve never guessed that you were going through that.” he grabbed another piece of pizza before meeting your gaze, “you’re a great person, (y/n). i think you should know that. and if you’d need someone to talk to about him... although i don’t really know the guy, i’m all ears.”

the way he gave you a soft smile at the end made your heart slightly flutter. maybe it was because there was this very charming man consoling you on your last breakup, but it was more on the fact that you knew someone had your back in your times of healing. “thanks, jake.” you smiled back, feeling your heart lighten. “i appreciate it. a lot.”

jake felt his heart flip at the sight of your smile. it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen you smile the entire day; it was a different kind as he could see some weight visibly lifted from you. you were pretty cute when you smiled, the way your eyes crinkled at the sides when you did, and he wondered how he hadn’t realized that sooner.

“uh... jake?” you waved a hand in front of his face to break him away from his stare. he quickly snapped out of his reverie, ears tinting a shade of pink.

“oh, yeah, sorry about that...” he murmured nervously, scratching the back of his head, “guess i got a bit distracted there?”

“i noticed.” you giggled in response, turning your attention back towards the tv. you saw how he stared at you after you spoke, eyes lost in a dream-like trance, and you felt your heart go fuzzy.

perhaps you were still healing, and you might need a little more time before jumping into something new. but rest assured, you knew that jake would be waiting on the other side no matter what.

[dystovian]

Could you do Bucky Barnes or Loki with “You are love in its best form.” Or “Let. Her. Go”

The Best Form of Love

Summary: in which a confession is whispered in the small doorway of a library.

Pairing: Loki/Reader

A/N: 😩 yes! set in a world where loki doesn’t die bc wtf 😁👍

The first time you met him, you didn’t speak. No, you barely even looked at each other, because with one look you knew you were unable to handle him. Yes, you totally could take him in a fight, you were confident in that. But his first words to you had you red from head to toe, goosebumps rolling over your body.

“Why, you’ve got a smile on you, don’t you now?” Simple quote, really, it was. But the way he delivered it, the way he carried himself really did not help your case. By the gods, you were truly fascinated by him, this God, so truly and utterly reeled in.

Months had passed, and you barely spoke since then, cocky remarks thrown here, more comments about you thrown there. And, without fail, they got you every time.

“You read, too? You’ve been made for me, darling.” Your grip on the book tightened, and you glanced up at him before quickly shutting the book, but you stopped yourself, you weren’t to run away this time. So you stood your ground, only to quickly cover your face with one hand in hopes to hide the blush that escaped you.

He grinned, seeing his gentle hand reach to grasp the book from you as your other hand covered the other part of your face, almost as if to shove the blush down. My gods, you were truly perfect, he thought.

“I...thank you, Loki. But I’m simply doing research, it’s nothing! Really.” You nodded, clasping your hands together as you stood. What a mistake though, as you were simply just too close to him, nose almost touching his chest.

“Well, you truly looked great doing it! You’re passionate about this topic, no?” Holding the book with his hands, he lifted it with one, and shook it gently.

“Yes, I guess I am.” A nod, once again.

“Right, if you don’t mind, why don’t you tell me about it?” He laughed softly, and moved swiftly to sit beside where you just were, patting the bench and grinning. These little meetings occurred mostly every week, with an occasional empty library due to busy schedules.

But, then he stopped coming, you heard not a peep from him during meetings, not once did he lean your way and murmur something about how Steve should get that stick out of his ass. Not once, did he bump into you in the halls, and laugh when you would stutter. Not once, did he compliment you. You were terrified, rightfully so. Had you done something to upset him? Or perhaps, he’d grown tired of the little thing you were having, and decided to toss you aside? It’s not the first time that’s happened, and you cursed yourself for letting yourself get so attached.

Then, the next week. He was completely gone, you almost cried when Natasha told you he and Thor had just left for Asgard for a few months. You nodded, thanking her for informing you, knowing you wouldn’t have heard it from anybody else. For the next few months, they walked on eggshells around you, gently speaking to you during breakfast, and even offering to skip sparring time with you, which you found odd. It’s not like he insulted you before he left, tore your heart out and stomped on it. No, you were just mad, he couldn’t have said anything, perhaps explained himself? Or, no, maybe he should have apologized, because there was no way you would let someone do that to you. Right?

And then, he was back, and he was acting like nothing had ever happened. It infuriated you, it really did. How could he, all this time you had suffered within your thoughts, thinking he hated you. And he waltzes back in to your daily routine, slips in a compliment, and expects you to just giggle, and be okay with it. No.

“We need to talk.” You said, arms crossed as you blocked him from leaving the library.

“Well, by all means, darling, go right ahead.” He smirked, clasping his hands together as he waited. He paused, face falling for a second when he realized you barely even flinched at the pet name, not a single dash of red appeared under your eyes. Lord, he was in some deep shit, huh?

“Want to explain the whole disappearance stunt you pulled? Ignoring me, acting like I’m not even there, and then ditching Earth the second you see the opportunity? What am I, disposable? Well, I’m not, and if you think you can continue this little thing you’ve got going you’re terribly mistaken.” Letting it out was truly a weight lifted off your shoulders, you should have confided in somebody while he was gone and maybe your time alone would have been less stressful.

“Wh- I. What? No, no no no, I promise, you’ll never be disposable, I can assure you, that I’d never toss you assid-“

“But that’s the thing, Loki. You already did! You barely even acknowledged me the week or two before you left, it’s like we didn’t even know each other! I thought you hated me.” The last part really slipped out, you’d rather spend a day with Ultron than ever admit an insecurity to somebody. Your hands covered your face as you shook your head. “Look, just drop it, ok? I’m just gonna go-“

“No. No you aren’t. I won’t let you leave this library thinking I hated you, or could ever hate you in the first place. Darling, you showed me nothing but compassion, and kindness from the day we first met. Gods, I think if I ever showed hatred toward you I might as well let my father punish me for eternity. I can’t stand you hurt.”

“Then why, why did you ignore me like that?”

“I was trying to work up the courage to tell you something. And every time I looked at you, I cowered away. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at you for very long. I was terrified.”

“Scared? Loki, I promise, you can tell me anything, I wouldn’t judge you, not a bit.” You were shocked, you were never one to judge someone, so why was he so frightened?

“And I wouldn’t doubt that about you for a second,” he chuckled, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear with one hand, and cupping your cheek with the other. “You’re so kind, you are love in its best form. And I love you.”

“Oh! Oh, wow. You love me? ” Maybe your brain was a bit slow to catch up to things, this definitely wasn’t your most graceful moment. But wow, he loved you? Oh man, all this time you were yelling and fussing at him and all he wanted to do was confess. Now you felt bad. He pressed a thumb into the creases on your forehead in an attempt to both ease your worries and bring you back to earth.

“Don’t fret. I understand if you don’t feel the same, really, I can get why. So, if you’ll excuse me...” You pulled him back to you and hugged him, you would not let him leave thinking you didn’t love him. So you said it right back, your hands gripping the back of his shirt, and smiling into his chest.

[the-beetle-and-the-shadow-offi]

Season one: Episode one: The Castlemaster

Felicity breathed in deep as she hit the sand, inhaling the salt breeze. It was nice to get away from her hectic family, even if she temporarily had traded them for a busy beach.

She set down her beach bag and stretched. She wasn't far away from Granveston Main Street, and with thirty bucks and four hours, Felicity was ready to enjoy her day.

Screaming interrupted her dash for the waves, and she slipped to a stop, ankle deep in the waters. At first, all she noticed was that people were screaming and running. Then she noticed the growing mound of sand behind them.

Felicity started to back away, thinking that she needed to get out of the area and help some other people, when the most horrifying thing about the sand monster revealed itself.

The monster, who was shaped like a young girl on a moving sand throne, raised a fist and launched a beam of sand at a running passerby, turning them into a sand sculpture. They were then washed away by the ocean.

Felicity took off running, her water shoes digging into the sand. She left the waterfront and rounded a corner, where she found a group of cowering people huddled in front of a building.

"Why don't you go inside?" She asked, out of breath and confused.

Someone pointed to the door. "It's abandoned, and locked."

Felicity walked over and checked the lock, then checked around. "I don't normally do this, but everyone stand back."

Felicity took a step back, then kicked the locked knob off the door with a jump. She rubbed the back of her heel as the group of people filtered inside.

"Well, that was an impressive use of destruction," a raspy voice said from behind her.

Felicity spun around, panicking. When she didn't see anything right away, she looked around in confusion.

"Come to the alley, slow poke!" The voice called.

Felicity hesitated. Then she proceeded with caution.

She wasn't expecting a floating cat holding a ring to be the one who'd been calling her.

<On the other side of the beach>

Diego Hart was not having a good day. First, his dad woke him up early on the last Saturday of the summer. Then, he was dragged out to the beach, where it was hot, scratchy, and all people did was scream and splash.

And then there was this monster thing.

That was unexpected, but also very inconvenient.

Or was it?

Diego had broken away from his family, equal parts intentionally and accidentally. He hadn't meant to separate, but when you get a chance to get away, well, he wasn't one to say no to fate.

Which put him here. Face to face with a large pinkish... bug? It was flying, so he guessed that was right, though he didn't see any wings.

"Hello, Chosen! I am Tikki, and I will be your Kwami and companion through this next stage of your life!"

"You're helping me get through my last two years of high school?" Diego asked, bewildered. "And what's with this 'Chosen' stuff? Being the chosen one never ends too well in books and movies."

The creature—the kwami—Tikki—blinked. "I chose you to wield my miraculous! The Miraculous of the Ladybug, of creation and healing!"

Diego scrunched his nose. "That sounds like a girl's power."

Tikki crossed her arms(fins???) and pouted. "There have been many male wielders of the Ladybug miraculous. You would be following a legacy, rich with creation and life, and it is not a 'girl's power'."

Diego shrugged. "Can I have an explanation for what exactly all this is?"

Tikki quickly explained the situation, the Miraculous, and his powers. She also told him he may have a partner.

"If Plagg found a suitable one, that is. The Black cat is a tricky one to hand out, and since we can't trust our Guardian.... Well, Plagg is in for some searching." Tikki turned back to him. "I was lucky to find you so quickly! Your use of the beach umbrella was very clever! I knew you were the one at that moment."

Diego felt his face heat up as he recalled the moment the kwami was speaking of. The monster, Castle Crasher, had almost caught up to him, so he had pulled a big beach umbrella out of the sand and used it as a shield. It wasn't something especially creative, but it had just made sense.

"That was just a use of resources," Diego attempted, but Tikki waved him off.

"We can't waste anymore time! Say 'spots on'!"

<With Felicity>

"Claws out?"

With a yelp and a flash of green light, Felicity was transformed into a black cat superheroine. As she examined her new look, she found that her hood covered all her hair, her mask covered all her recognizable features, and she could feel that she was more athletic than she already was.

"Wow," she breathed. A distant crashing brought her back to earth, and she slid her baton out from it's place on her thigh. Guided by a deep instinct, she swiped her thumb across the surface, and it opened like a slide phone.

Another swipe, and it closed. Her fingers found a button, and pushed it. She let out a yelp as it extended and speedily carried her upwards.

"S-stop!" she cried. The baton-staff thing stopped at her cry. She clung to the pole, trying to catch her breath, half wondering how the staff was balancing on it’s tiny surface.

The ground shook, and the staff fell forward. It hit a roof, and Felicity managed to roll forward on impact and get to her feet instantly.

“Woah.”

<Diego>

Diego skeptically examined the dark red magic fabric that now covered his arms.

“I guess it’s plenty tough,” he muttered. Then he pulled out his… weapon. “A yoyo…. I’ve never even touched one of these before… How does it work?”

He tentatively dropped the yoyo down and swung it back and forth a bit. As he got more comfortable with it, it felt more and more natural, and he executed more and more complicated maneuvers with the yoyo.

At the height of the activity, he threw the yoyo forward. When it wrapped around a building ornament and pulled him forward, he was jerked out of his reverie, and he realized just how absurd his situation was.

<Felicity>

Felicity looked up from trying to track down the villain to see a red and black speck in the sky. She narrowed her eyes to see it was getting bigger. It was only when she heard a voice yelling “I’ve been kidnapped by a yoyo!” did she think maybe she should move.

She came to her conclusion too late, unfortunately, and before she could make a move, she was crushed under a warm, red and black weight.

“AGH!”

She pushed against the weight, unable to get a good look thanks to her hood. “Is this some part of the akuma’s powers? Because it’s dumb. Stupid sky debris.”

“I’m not dumb!”

Felicity’s eyes widened at the sound of a fellow teenager. A male one, specifically. With a burst of strength she hadn’t possessed before, she kicked him off and jumped to her feet.

<Diego>

Diego clutched his stomach, reeling from not just one, but two sudden impacts in thirty seconds. He finally peeled apart his eyes to see the cause of the second impact, or rather, who had so forcefully kicked him off.

He got it, it was rude to lay on top of people, but he hadn’t meant to!

He looked her over. On the small end of the average spectrum, or the large side of the petite spectrum, wearing a black suit with a hood over her head, white, and very angry. Or scared. He wasn’t sure which.

“Is there a word for someone both angry and scared?” he wondered, only realizing too late that he’d said it out loud. “I mean--! Uh…. You must be the Black Cat! Tikki told me about… your kwami, I guess. Are we allowed to talk about the kwamis?”

The cat let her guard down, just a little bit. “Plagg didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t tell me about another wielder, though. Who are you?”

He mentally stopped in his tracks.

Don’t say Diego, don’t say Diego, don’t say Diego!

“I’d prefer to go by Escarabajo, if that’s okay.”

“Ah, I figured you were Latino.”

Diego pouted. “I thought I masked it well….”

The cat looked at him. “It’s… a work in progress, Escarabajo.” She turned as a rumble went through the building. “Focus on the akuma, we’ll talk later.”

She took off on her staff, and Diego—no, Escarabajo—followed.

<Felicity>

As long as no one asks me for a name, I’ll be perfect. If I’m given one, that’s different, but I won’t pick one for myself.

She stopped on top of a street lamp, marveling at the ease that she now balanced with. She scanned the streets, pointing out the street that had many sand figures.

“That’s where we need to go, Escarabajo.” She said, turning to see him hanging upside down, looking rather surprised by his new predicament.

He looked at her, his eyes wide. “I could be Spider-man….”

Felicity harrumphed and crossed her arms. “I’m no Mary Jane.”

<Diego>

In his haste to explain as quickly as possible that that wasn’t what he meant when he said that, he’d let go of the yoyo, and fell. Luckily he managed to land on his feet.

“Ow...” When he looked up again, the cat was offering a hand up, though she looked rather exasperated.

“Come on, you can play around later. Let’s deal with the sand castle monster.”

Escarabajo stood up and followed after her.

Following the sound of screaming and a trail of sandy figures, Escarabajo and the feline girl beside him soon caught up to the monster. The girl looked to him, and it slowly dawned on him that she was looking for him to direct her. He hastily thought out a plan and whispered it out to her.

“Can you sneak up on the monster? Tikki says there should be an object that, essentially, controls them and their powers. If we destroy it and capture the nasty butterfly--” Here he made a vague questioning noise before continuing “--We should be able to stop it. I’ll have to purify it. Haven’t quite figured out how.”

The Cat looked at him, her eyes narrowed. “Well, read your manual then. I’m gonna go find the object. I’d bet my tail it’s either the bucket or the shovel.” She leaped away, and Escarabajo nodded absently.

In light of her words, he took the yoyo off his belt, and thumbed it open. As if Tikki had overheard, which she probably had, the user’s manual was highlighted. As he skimmed over the most pertinent sections, he kept an eye on the Cat.

<Felicity>

Felicity snuck up on the villain just fine. She had quietly jumped from one building to the next, to a streetlamp, to the ground, all without any real noise.

The catch was when, despite her best efforts, she disturbed the very edge of the sand. And that alerted the akuma to her presence.

As the akuma stilled, Felicity attempted something she’d never done before but had full confidence she could pull off in the suit. She did a back flip on to a small billboard, and jumped behind it. She held her breath as the villain rumbled closer and closer. The villain missed her by a hair, and continued on it’s rampage.

Felicity kicked into gear. Plagg had said that because of her age, she could use her special power three times, and she knew exactly what to use it on.

She ran parallel to the villain before leaping forward. “Cataclysm!”

She broke the chains holding up a large sign, causing it to fall down and cut off the path the villain was taking. She repeated the process two more times, then dove out of the way, waiting for Escarabajo to do his thing.

She peeked up, and spotted the shovel and pail. She risked glancing behind the villain, and saw Escarabajo coming up behind. She crouched down farther, waiting for the right time.

<Diego>

Escarabajo had watched the Cat’s movements with awe. She was so fluid and confident looking. He noticed, of course, the tenseness she held whenever she was a misstep from being turned to a sand pile, but the grace with which she threaded around the villain was astounding.

Then Diego reminded himself that he was graceful, too. One of the most graceful in his gymnastics class.

“Yeah, it’s just another gym class,” he muttered before jumping into action.

He swung on his yoyo, catching up to the Cat. He saw her trap the villain on three sides, then dive for cover. He threw his yoyo in the air as he got closer, yelling, “Lucky Charm!”

He grabbed the tiny box out of midair and kept running. He glanced around the area, and spotted a few items he thought he could use. He quickly grabbed a red can and a fallen branch with his yoyo. He slipped behind an advertising sign, and took a moment to look at the box in his hand, just to double check.

Yep. Matches.

He poured the liquid over the stick in his hand, and threw both the stick and the box over to where the Cat was, keeping a few matches for himself. He hoisted the can up, then swung forward. As he swung behind the villain, he poured the liquid out of the can, creating a line of gasoline behind the villain.

Then he struck and dropped the matches he was holding.

<Felicity>

Felicity felt the air heat up, and knew she only had a short window. She struck the match, lit the branch, and jumped out of hiding. She swung the branch like a sword, cutting off the sand holding the shovel and pail.

She threw the pail to Escarabajo, and stomped on the shovel. Escarabajo threw his yoyo through the bucket, bursting straight through the bottom before pulling back.

Then he opened up his yoyo, and swung it at the black butterfly that left the broken bucket. The yoyo closed automatically over the insect, and Escarabjo brought it back to him.

He gently pushed the center dot on the yoyo.

<Diego> He watched the butterfly fly out, purified to a bright white. He speaks without even thinking.

“Bye, bye, little butterfly.”

Then he takes the empty matchbox that the Cat offers him, and throws it up into the air, yelling out the curing spell.

As magic ladybugs zip through the city, the Cat heroine walks up beside him, attentive and curious.

“So that’s how we avoid legal trouble. Nice.”

Escarabajo had to take that in, then he glanced at her. “I guess. It’s pretty and convenient.”

She snorted. “Well, was pretty decent working with you. See you around.” She made to leave, but Escarabajo shouted after her.

“Wait! What’s your name?”

She shrugged. “What do you want it to be?”

At his stunned expression, she turned around and leapt away.

Hearing the beeping coming from the studs attached to his wrists, Escarabajo followed her example, swinging up and running across rooftops before people came out to investigate. He made it to the beach and ducked behind the portable toilets before being blinded by pink light, and returning to his normal self.

Tikki flew out of the studs and into his hands. “You did a good job,” she whispered to him. “Now, I need someplace to hide.”

Diego offered her his beach bag.

Tikki hidden, and his Miraculous secured safely on a lanyard, Diego quickly returned to his family.

<Felicity>

Felicity whispered “Claws in” not too far from where she’d cried “Claws out”. Despite not being tired at all, she decided to go home. After all, she could only be gone for so long after something like that before her parents found out and flipped.

Plus she had to get ready for school on Monday, and that was gonna be a pain.

<Chapter Fin>

[connordavidscamera]

Party Invites and Coffee Companions | Connor Brashier

A/n: this is for the absolutely wonderful @queenmendes​ who just needed some frat boy!connor. Also, Connor was supposed to be an asshole and then as I wrote it, he just wasn’t? Don’t know what happened there lol, I’m sorry. And it’s based off this photo:

Summary: Connor invites you to a party, but things get a little heated when one of his frat brothers starts hitting on you. (College!au)

Warnings: unforgivably beautiful frat boy!Connor is a warning in itself. Also jealous/protective!connor also I guess this could be considered angst? But like… not really? But it’s not really fluff either? Honestly it’s just a mess like the rest of my life, what else is new?

Word count: 3.3k

***

“Y/n, hey, wait up!” A familiar voice says from behind me and I stop just outside the door of the lecture hall. “Hi,” he says softly when he’s finally beside me.

“Hi,” I say back softly, starting to walk again.

“Where you headed?”

“Coffee shop. Need an afternoon pick me up.”

“Mind if I join you?” he asks, hands in his pockets.

“Not at all.” I swallow the nervousness that’s threatening to build – just like it does every time I’m with Connor.

It’s no secret that’s notoriously gorgeous. Eyes this beautiful shade of blue-green that can change from the lighting or depending on what color he’s wearing. Today they’re bluer because of the royal blue button up he has over a plain white shirt. His hair looks messed up – but in an attractive way, like he’s been running his fingers through it. Which he has because I could see him, out of the corner of my eye, doing it every few minutes in class.

“So,” I say to fill the silence because with me in the conversation, any silence is awkward and I am determined to not do that now. “What did you think of lecture today?” Wow, stupid question, y/n, way to fucking go.

He chuckles and like, did I just feel my legs buckle? “You want the truth or a lie?”

I hum, “A lie.”

“I was rivetted,” he answers casually, opening the door to the university center, gesturing for me to go in before him.

“Oh, thanks.” I look down, walking in front of him.

“What about you? What’d you think of it?”

“Honestly? I found it hard to focus.” Which is true. Because how can anyone focus when a literal Greek God sits in the seat diagonal from you? You can’t, okay? Believe me, I’ve tried. It’s impossible. Half of my notes consist of his name written in various different fonts across the page.

He nods, “His voice is so monotonous, right?” he says before reaching the front of the line and turning his attention to the menu just above the barista, who is absolutely blushing because of the man in front of him. Not that I blame her.

“What can I – I get for you, sir?”

“Large coffee, black. And whatever she’s getting,” Connor nudges his head toward me, pulling out his wallet.

I shake my head, “No, Connor, you don’t have to.”

“I want to. Just order, please?” he pleads and I don’t think I’ve ever seen his features quite this soft. So of course I cave in and order.

I try to protest again when he hands the girl his card, still paying no mind to her blushing, flustered state. but he just shrugs me off with a smirk, taking his card back.

“Do you need a receipt?” she asks, her voice a little less timid than it was a second ago.

“No,” He waves a dismissive hand to her and walks over to the side to wait for our drinks. I thank her again before following him. “Do you have another class today?” he questions, hands back in his pockets.

“Um, no. I was actually planning to go to the library to try and finish up my English essay. It’s much easier to get things done in there than at my dorm.”

“Roommate problems?” he raises a questioning eyebrow.

“No, it’s not that. She and I are actually really close. We’ve been friends for years. That’s the problem. She’s very much a distraction.”

He nods understandingly. “I get it. I can never work at the house. The guys fuck around too much for me to get anything done.”

“You don’t live on campus?”

“Large black coffee. Regular vanilla latte,” the barista calls out and we both move forward to reach for our drinks. But Connor reaches for both and our fingers brush against each other when we touch my cold cup. It’s a struggle not to flinch against his touch.

“Um, I live just off campus. In the Omega Sigma frat house.”

“Oh, you’re in a frat,” I say, actually a little shocked. He didn’t give off the frat vibe. But then again, what do I know? We’ve only had a handful of conversations. In fact, this is the longest we’ve ever been together without being in class.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” he chuckles, handing me a straw.

“No, I didn’t – sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m kidding,” he cuts me off and I’m oddly grateful for it. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d join one either. But it’s not too bad.” He clears his throat. “Hey, I know you said you were going to the library, but do you think we could sit for a minute?”

Well how can I say no when he just bought me coffee? “Sure.”

“The corner table good?”

I nod, “Yeah, perfect.”

He leads the way, sitting in the actual corner seat. I sit in front of him and stir my coffee a little with my straw. This should be weird, sitting with him like this when we’ve never been together like this before. But it’s oddly comfortable. Although, a part of me is still wondering why he even wants me to sit with him. I mean, it’s not like I’m a dazzling conversationalist.

We just sit in silence for a minute and I’m internally screaming as he takes the lid of his drink and just takes a sip of his plain, black, hot coffee. And he doesn’t even blink an eye. Who does that?!

“Do you have pla –”

“Brashier!” Someone calls from behind me and I try not to jump at the loud voice.

He forms a close-lipped smile and nods in the voice’s direction, “Sup, Craigen.”

“I need your notes for psych. I missed the first thirty minutes.”

“It’s a fifty minute class,” he points out.

“Yeah, that’s why I need your notes.” He says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. But then his attention is on me. “Shit, where are my manners. Hi, I’m Brian,” he extends his hand to me with a wide smile. “I’m Connor’s roommate and best friend.”

“Best friend is a little bit of a stretch,” Connor says.

I take Brian’s hand to shake and give a polite smile, “Y/n.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” I take my hand back.

“Brash, did you invite her to the party?”

“Party?” I look back to Connor with a raised eyebrow.

He glares at Brian. “I was about to.”

Brian cowers back, holding up his hands. “Sorry.”

“Don’t you have a class you need to get to?” Connor asks, running his finger around the rim of his coffee cup.

Brian checks his watch. “Fuck, yeah I do. But seriously, Brash. Those notes?”

“They’re in the room. I’ll give them to you when I get back to the house.”

“You’re a fucking angel. I gotta run. It was nice meeting you, y/n. I hope to see you around soon.” He says before rushing off, not even giving me a chance to respond.

“He’s friendly.”

“He’s annoying,” Connor says back.

“So… a party?”

He sucks in a breath, “Yeah. The house is throwing this party on Friday. It’ll be really casual. Just a punch people looking to get drunk and destress since midterms are coming up. And it probably doesn’t sound that appealing when I say it like that, but it really will be fun. And I don’t really know if parties are your thing but I’d really enjoy it if you came.”

I nod. He’s right though, parties aren’t really my thing. I mean, I’ve been to a few, but I was never the type to go and get drunk. But maybe it would be a good idea – to destress, like he said. And I mean, if he’s gonna be there, I wouldn’t totally mind spending a little more time with him.

“So, would you like to come? It-s – it’s totally up to you, though. You don’t have to. You probably already have plans, so if you can’t, don’t worry about it. I just thought I’d ask.”

“I’d love to come,” I say finally, taking a sip of my drink.

“Really?” he clears his throat, “I mean, yeah. Cool. Um, if you want to give me your number, I can send you the address.”

“Okay.” I don’t tell him that he could just write it down for me, even though he absolutely could. He hands me his phone with a sheepish – if I’m reading him correctly – smile. I type in my name and number and hand it back to him. “I should, I should get to the library,” I say after another couple minutes of silence. “Wanna find a comfortable place to sit. I might be there for a while.”

He nods, “Yeah, no of course. I’m keeping you from your studies,” he stands. “Um, I could – I could walk you there, if you’d like? I parked close anyway.

He still wants to spend time with me? What is his deal? But then again, who am I to deny the company of the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on? “Well… if you’re going the same way, I don’t see why not,” I say nonchalantly. Even though on the inside my stomach is doing backflips.

---

I’m brushing out my hair when my phone dings with a message.

Hey it’s Connor! :)

I smile to myself and finish brushing out my hair before texting him back, not wanting to seem too eager to talk to him.

Hi! I type back simply.

It doesn’t takes long to respond again.

I have the address for you.

Friday night comes faster than expected – and after another impromptu coffee “date” with Connor after lecture. And even though Connor said it was casual, and I know I could have stayed in my outfit from earlier. But I change at least three times.

“Okay, what do you think?” I ask my roommate.

“It’s cute. But I’ve also said that about the last two outfits were cute. So who’s the boy? Why are you getting so dressed up?”

“It’s not dressed up, is it? Should I change the cardigan?”

“No, I mean why have you changed so many times? Who is he?”

I sigh, “Okay. You know, Connor Brashier? He’s in my Tuesday/Thursday lecture. I’ve told you about him once or twice.”

“He’s friends with Shawn, right?”

I shrug, “I think so.”

She smiles, “He’s a cutie. Good choice. You planning on doing anything with him?”

“I’m just going to a party.”

“Yeah, to see him.”

“No. He just invited me. He said it would be a good way to destress.”

“But you like him.”

“Okay, I’m leaving now. I’ll text you when I get there.”

“Have fun, be safe. Call me if you need a ride back.”

---

I’ve barely been in the house for two minutes when I hear my name being called. “Y/n! You came!”

“Oh, Brian. Hey!”

“I’m so glad you could make it. Connor’s gonna be so excited to see you. Can I get you a drink?”

“Um, sure, yeah.”

“Follow me,” he holds his hand out for me and I take it, walking closely behind him. He’s in the middle of pouring my drink when Connor finds his way over to us.

“Hey, you came,” he says to me, placing his hand on the small of my back and I think my heart stopped beating for a moment.

“Yeah, I did,” I smile and turn to look at him. He’s wearing a black hoodie and olive green pants with a backwards baseball cap. I didn’t think it was possible for him to look any more beautiful. But god he does. His eyes are greener today. I don’t know if it’s because of the pants or because of the awful lighting in the room, but they’re green and he looks so good. His hair flips out a little under his cap and it’s so fluffy. It looks like it would be so nice to run my fingers through. And I wonder what it feels like to do it. His face, it’s more open today. Softer, maybe. His freckles stick out a little bit more, especially one right by his nose and one on his cheek.

“You look pretty,” he compliments when I take my drink from Brian.

“Thank you,” I say, to both of them.

“I’ll leave you two alone, but I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Brian says, pushing just past Connor.

“It’s kind of loud in here, you want to head outside?”

I nod, “Sure!”

We make our way outside, it’s a little less loud, but there’s still a lot of people out here.

“Pretty good turnout, huh?”

“It’s actually kinda small compared to our usual parties.”

I stare, wide eyed at him. “You mean they get bigger?”

He takes a sip from his cup with a certain nod, “Oh yeah. Last month, we got the cops called because it got so big.”

I laugh, “I heard about that. My roommate was at that one, actually.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, she came for Shawn.”

He chuckles, “Why am I not surprised?”

“Shawn bring a lot of girls back?”

“I wouldn’t say he brings a lot back. But they definitely attach themselves to him. He plays music when the bar down the street does open mic night. Girls love musicians.”

“And what about you?”

“What? Do I love musicians?” he jokes and I can’t help but laugh.

“No,” I say back. “I mean, what do you do? What makes girls attach themselves to you?” Besides your gorgeous face and fluffy hair.

“Girls aren’t exactly beating down my door,” he says softly.

“Somehow I find that hard to believe. And you’re avoiding the question.”

“Okay,” he takes in a breath. “I do photography. Film, mostly.”

“What kind of film?”

“Anything. I started with skimboarding, and just progressed from there. Sometimes I film the parties – the guys just fucking around in the house. Compile it all together just for fun.”

“Can I see some of what you’ve done?” I ask, genuinely interested in this boy and his hobbies.

“Um… yeah.” He pats his pockets and curses. “Fuck, I left my phone in my room. Give me second?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, just… wait here. I’ll be right back.”

“Now what is a pretty girl like you doing standing out here alone?” A voice says from my left where the door to the kitchen is. I startle a little before forcing a tight smile.

“Um, I’m waiting for someone. He’ll be right back.”

“Well, I’ll keep you company until he comes back. Does that sound okay?”

I want to say no because I don’t really like the way he’s looking me up and down. But I go against my better judgement and allow him to stay. “I guess that’s okay.”

“I’m Tim, by the way.”

“Y/n.”

“Pretty name,” he takes a swig of his beer, looking me up and down again before taking a step closer, to which I take a subtle step away.

“Thanks.”

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Don’t really come to a lot of parties.”

“Well I assumed. I definitely would have remembered you if you had.”

I want to roll my eyes.

“Can I get you a drink?”

I hold my cup up for him to see. “Already got one, but thanks.” I look around the backyard at all the people talking and laughing and I hope Connor comes back soon. Because Tim’s just taken another step closer to me and I’m really not –

“Little close there, aren’t you, Tim?” Connor’s voice sounds from behind the tall guy and I feel myself let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Just making small talk, Brashier. No big deal.”

“Right,” Connor says, squeezing between us, his hand gently grazing my thigh as he pushes me behind him. My breath hitches but I don’t thing either of them notice. And if they do, they ignore it. “I think you should go find someone else to talk to.”

“I don’t think that’s your decision to make. That should be up to y/n. What, do you make her decisions for her? Because she’s her own person and she can make her own decisions.”

“I know she can. But I’m this close,” he pinches his fingers together, “to punching you for getting too close to my girl. So let’s make a good choice, Tim, because it’s not looking too good for you if you keep on the path you’re on.”

I try not to let it get to me that he just called me his girl. He’s doing it for Tim’s benefit, I tell myself. He’s just trying to get him off my back.

Tim laughs, like actually laughs. “God, Connor. It’s a party, man. You need to loosen up. Maybe y/n can help you with that. She looks like a screamer. Could be good for your ego,” he says earning a hard shove at his chest from Connor.

“Con, no. Stop,” I reach for his arm, and I know this is serious and I shouldn’t be thinking it, but… how his muscles feel really nice. Even when they’re covered by his thick hoodie.

“Yeah, Con, stop,” Tim mocks. “Listen to your little girlfriend.”

“Tim, fuck off. I swear to god, I will punch you.”

“You’re gonna risk getting kicked out of the frat for a stupid girl?”

“Watch it,” he warns, taking a step closer to Tim who has somehow stepped farther from this scene that’s developed. I yank on his arm, my chest pressed firmly against his back.

“Connor, calm down. It’s okay.”

He turns his head toward me, the bill of his cap barely missing my face. His jaw is clenched tight, but his eyes show nothing but compassion. “Do you want to get out of here?”

I nod, “Please.”

“Let’s go,” his hand is back around my waist as he leads me the opposite way of Tim. He rounds the corner and we leave out the side gate. Only once we’re far enough for the bass of the music to not shake the ground we’re walking on does he take his first full breath. I do too, relieved that he’s no longer heaving. “I’m sorry,” he says finally and stops walking, his hands in his jacket pocket. “For what happened back there. I just – Tim’s not a great guy. And I know, I know it’s not my place to tell you or anyone else who you can and can’t talk to, but just know that I was doing it to prot-”

I cut him off with a soft kiss on the cheek, and we’re both blushing when I pull away. “Thank you.”

He clears his throat and looks at the ground, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “Oh, um… you’re welcome.”

I check the time on my phone, “Do you want to go somewhere?” I ask.

“Sure, where?”

“I don’t know. We could go get coffee at the diner downtown. They don’t close until one.”

He smiles despite the tense situation we were just in, and I smile back. “Is coffee gonna be our thing?”

I shrug, “That depends… do you want us to have a thing?”

He swallows and nods, fixing his cap on his head and pushing his hair behind his ears. And oh my goodness this man has the cutest ears. “I want us to have a lot of things… I mean, only if you want to, of course. I just – I don’t know, maybe we could hang out a little more. Preferably away from the frat house.” Away from Tim, he wants to say. “I want to get to know you. As more than just a classmate, or coffee companion.”

I can’t help but laugh as I take his hand, leading him in the way of my car. “I don’t know, coffee companion sounds like a pretty good gig.”

“What about a coffee date?” he asks with a smirk.

“Well… I think that sounds even better.”

***

I hope you enjoyed! Like, reblog, and leave feedback!!

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* bold wouldn’t let me tag

** if you want to be added or removed from any list (permanent, Shawn, Connor,  We Were Us, or Not So Brash Brashier’s) just let me know

[freshtomatoesddd]

My Self-indulgent TyZula Fanfic.

Hello, i know i’ve been off this account for what seems like a million years. But firstly, if like you to know that this is no longer an art blog. Now, i will merely post my self indulgent TyZula fics. But what is TyZula? Well, it’s a ship that consists of Azula and Ty Lee, both from Avatar: The Lat Airbender. If that’s not your thing, then don’t read it.

The fics takes place after book 2. Anyway, here’s chapter 1.

TURTLEDUCKS

  Turtleducks, the perfect amalgamation of everything Azula hated within an animal.

They are small, defenseless creatures, completely reliant on their environment to survive. When they are hungry, they beg for food. And when they are scared, they simply swim away, afraid to even face whatever it was that frightened them so. What pathetic creatures.

And to think that Zuko takes a liking to them. But then again, that’s not very surprising. Much like the ducks, he too is defenseless, he too begs for food and shelter, and he too runs away from his problems. When father challenged him to an honorable Agni Kai, he cowered before him, begged for his forgiveness. What a fool her brother was, and still is.

Though, it’s quite ironic for her to be calling him a fool, when she’s the one feeding these sad creatures. If it weren’t for Ty Lee, she’d have attended to the many other things her father assigned her.

However, Azula had agreed to accompany Ty Lee in the feeding of these ducks, no matter how insignificant they may be. And much like Zuko, it seemed Ty Lee’s taking a liking to them. Something to do with how ‘cute’ they are. Though, Azula was sure that ‘cute’ meant defenseless.

     “Isn’t this fun, Azula?” Ty Lee asked.

Azula didn’t bother to face her. She wanted it to be over with, for Ty Lee to just dump the bread into the pond and take her somewhere more enjoyable, have them do more stimulating activities. Right now, that’s all Azula could think about.

     “No, not really,” Azula answered.

Ty Lee spoke as she cocked up a brow, “Why not?”

Her question was so simple, yet Azula couldn’t answer.

She wanted to tell Ty Lee, of all the reasons she absolutely loathed being in this very spot. From the sheer boredom of sitting around and doing nothing, to how it would remind her of her mother sitting here all-day round with Zuko, showering him with the love she never got.

All of it she wanted to spit out and get it over with, but they had no time. And Azula couldn’t bear to weep over her sob story right now, it would be a waste of energy.

     “I just don’t like it. This is such a waste of time; we could be doing something better.” She said with a scowl, eyes glared at the ducks as if they were plotting her murder.

Ty Lee tilted her head; intrigue ran through the girl’s face.

     “Oh? Like what?” Again, she asked her such a simple question, yet Azula couldn’t seem to answer it.

There were a million and one things Azula figured Ty Lee and her could do. They could go for a walk, visit town square and perhaps even get their portraits taken. They could be eating, talking, hugging. Quite literally anything else other than to sit around and feed these parasitic, ‘cute’ looking ducks.

This was terrible, absolutely abhorrent. What benefit do they gain from doing such things?

     “Azula, I can’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me.”

     “I want to do something else,” the princess answered in a whisper.

     “What? I can’t hear you.”

Azula gritted her teeth. “I want to do something else.”

Finally, she was able to fully push out those words.

“Well, what do you want to do then?”

Again, what was she supposed to say? The princess already knew what she wanted, but how is she supposed to convey such thoughts?

Agni, now she was thinking like an idiot. Words! she needed to use her words. What kind of foolish question was that? If she wanted something, she should say it out right.

A sight left the girl's lips; Azula couldn’t help but notice how easy her life would be if people just knew what she wanted. Then, she wouldn’t have to waste her breath, or any of her precious time chastising an incompetent soldier, or telling Ty Lee how she wanted to hug her.

She took in a breath, as Azula never thought she’d utter such words in her life. With a heat arising from her neck, her face followed suit. The royal felt the seeds of regret brew inside of her.

     “I want to…hug.”

A few moments of silence passed by, nothing said between the two of them.

Oh Agni, Ty lee must think she’s crazy, absolutely pathetic. What kind of a fool would ask for a hug? How sad is that? She was stupid to even bring that up.

     “Wow, I didn’t expect you to actually say it,” Ty Lee giggled, “This is the first time you’ve asked for a hug.”

Azula averted her eyes from the acrobat’s grey stare.

Again, her face felt heated as her fingers tapped furiously on the grass. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ty Lee, she simply couldn't. Not in this state.

     “No, Azula, it’s fine. I’ll hug you, okay?”

     “Okay,” Azula spoke. Yet, her voice was neared a whisper, almost inaudible.

Ty Lee inched closer, and as if to fluster the princess even further, the girl couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of a blushing Azula.

With the two of them mere inches apart. Ty Lee wrapped her arms around the princess as she rested her head on the princess' shoulder. The Azula reciprocated the hug, though her hands were hesitant, as they merely hovered above the brunette’s back.

     “Relax, Zula. That’s kind of the whole point of a hug.” The brunette stated.

     “Okay,” was all the princess said, finally able to lay her hands atop Ty Lee’s back.

The brunette hummed at the sensation of Azula’s hands against her skin. A little detail that made Azula’s lips quiver; her arms had to readjust so as to prevent the evident fidgeting.

The princess pulled Ty Lee closer, savored every bit of the other’s presence.

Her head felt empty when Ty Lee was around. No matter how much trouble she found herself in, if she was there, Azula can take it. Because how was she supposed to worry, when she’s not thinking of anything?

The warmth in her face had now settled down, and turned into a fleeting sense of giddiness she couldn’t put her hand on. What was this feeling called? If only she knew.

Now, i’d like you to know that i’ve written 6 chapters, currently. And if you’re interested, feel free to read the rest here :p

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665366/chapters/67698398

[genshin-citrus]

Childe X Lumine lemon

Some Lumine X Child thanks to a discord conversation, Basically Lumine trying to top Childe for the first time, enjoy~

____________________________________________________________________

Lumine stared down far into blue eyes as cool and deep as the oceans wide. Shoving the taller man back onto the bed, she hesitated, before with forced intensity “I-I want to see you beg for it! You… Fatui… bitch?”

The man beneath her tried and failed to hide his amusement at the red faced girls menial attempt. “You, haven’t actually done this before have you?”

Lumine blinked in embarrassed rage “s-shut up!” she turned her head away from him, glancing back with her eyes every so often, face beet red.

He started to giggle “now at least that was a bit better haha, much more so then, what was it? Fatui bitch?” he couldn’t help but smile, seeing this warrior of immense prowess, the savior of Mondstat, traveler from a distant world one of the few he honestly considered his equal… an embarrassed gushing mess atop him. Oh what fun he could make of this

“You know, you had a good start but your follow through was lacking”

She snapped back to face him “i’d like to see you do better” she almost instantly regretted her words, as a long slender smile formed across his face, that all too familiar dark look in his eyes.

In a flash she was pinned down, only the glint of his eyes towering above him visible as she adjusted to the change in lighting. His hand was firmly planted on her shoulder, his knee just inches from her torso between her thighs. “Wh-?” was all she got out, before his lips crashed against hers with the force of a tsunami. 

As he pulled away, he saw the mess of a girl melting into him. He knew he would absolutely make use of this in one of their future sparing matches, a dirty but worthwhile trick. 

He used his free hand to caress the side of her face, resting just under her chin gently tilting her head up to look into his eyes once more. “Words aren’t everything Lumine, sometimes actions are all…” he traced his hand down her neck “... that…” he lightly gripped her throat, leaning his face in closer “...matters”

With that final word he let her rest back onto the bed, moving to stand at her side, unbuttoning his coat to be folded to the side for later

Lumine sat breathless for a moment, watching him strip much to his amusement before snapping out of it and bolting upright “w-wait a minute!” she said as forcefully as she could muster, moving her leg off the wet spot that had miraculously formed beneath her legs on the bed “I thought it was going to be my turn to be on top?”

Childe glanced at her with a neutral face, “well?” he stopped unbuttoning his undershirt and leaned back into his stance casually

“Well what!” Lumine said, climbing onto her knees on the edge of the bed putting her at eye level with him

“When are you going to take control? Or are you about to admit defeat so easily?” he said, a cruel glint in his eye. He lightly pushed Lumine back as he said this

Within a blink the traveler shot up and was behind Childe, shoving him a bit too forcefully to the bed, as he rolled over he watched as Lumine attempted to climb on top of him. Not one to loose so easily, he wrapped his arms around lumine and picked her up, much to her surprise, and pinned her to the wall, her legs still wrapped around him.

“Well? You call that being domineering? Maybe I should have expected as much from an outworlder, all talk no su-” he was cut off abruptly by Lumine slipping to his side and suplexing him backwards onto the bed once more

Lumine forced his arms above his head, pinning his legs with her knees, and staring down at him for a moment, the amusement momentarially replaced by surprise

A flash of green and a tearing sound filled the room as anemo flooded downwards, ripping Childe’s pants off in a display that would give Venti nightmares. 

“Now thats more like it!” He exclaimed, his member now pointing stiffly upwards towards the mess that had become Limune’s undergarments. 

The girl looked down on Childe with newfound vigor. “Why don’t you get these off me like a good boy, so I can show you how us outworlders do it!” she managed without a hint of fabrication in her voice. 

Childe could only look on in admiration at how quickly she had turned this around on him “By all means~” he said before promptly pulling one hand free, conjuring a knife of hydro energy and slicing off the soiled underwear, exposing her dripping opening beneath

Lumine sat back for a moment, and stripped off her dress, eager to continue. She unclipped her bra and threw it past Childe’s head before seductively leaning in and dragging her tits across his stomach and chest, up to Childe’s face.

It didn’t take him a second to begin groping her rear with one hand and her beautiful chest with the other, guiding one nipple to his mouth earning a long groan from the recipient. He shifted his hips to allow her to line them up better, intent on making the most of this night. 

Lumine pulled herself up slightly so she could gaze underneath herself. She firmly grasped Childe’s hot throbbing appendage in her hand earning a shudder from the Harbinger. 

This was the one area of life Childe had… very little experience in to say the least, he may act tough at the start, but honestly he wasn’t really sure how it was all going to play out. His secret was his feigned confidence that had gotten him so far in his life thus far. Now all coming to a point as his former adversary rested the tip of his cock against her burning hot opening

“Jeeze I didn’t know you had pyro powers in there!” he laughed earning a giggle from Lumine

“You’re not too cool yourself Mr. Freeze to death” she lowered herself down slightly letting his tip sink in just enough to coax a moan out of the pair of them. 

Fighting the instinct to buck his hips upwards, Childe let Lumine sink ever slower downwards on his shaft, relishing every second he was clamped in the tight warmth.  Finally after a painstaking eternity, she knocked her hips against his, filled entirely by the larger man's appendage, and thusly giving Childe the time of his life

“O-oh Lumine~” he exclaimed almost involuntarily “you feel… like warm soup after a long trek through the snowy mountains of Snezhnaya…” 

It was Lumine’s turn to giggle, the reverberations of which sending shockwaves through her body and Childe’s member causing him to moan. “That was about the corniest thing you could have said” she smiled down at him before lifting off him a bit, the wetness making his shaft slick.

“Well I~” He was cut off as Lumine slammed her hips down with the force of a blacksmith's hammer, sending him into pleasure shock for a moment. Seeing this reaction, Lumine repeated the action, ever so slowly moving further up his member. 

The look of pure ecstasy on both of their faces was telling enough, Childe gripped what ever he could above him, scrunching up the sheets in his hands all while occasionally flailing his legs about as the pleasure was almost too much to bear. 

Lumine was having a similarly wondrous time, but what really sent her off, was seeing the mess that used to be the proud harbinger Childe. She quickened her pace causing him to loose control and let out a long and intense moan, filling the room with ecstatic noise to match the wet slapping

Childe began bucking his hips upwards wildly, one hand moving to caress Lumine’s bouncing teat above him, he had never felt intercourse in such an intense and primal manner as he did now… maybe he would have to let Lumine top more often…………

As her motions became more erratic, she slammed her hand down next to Childe’s head. “I’m gonna, Chil- Childe I’m gonna!~” 

“M-me too! Fuck you feel so good Lumine~ shall we cum together?”

“Better do it soon~!!!!” she cried as she threw all her body into her bounces, slamming their pelvises with the force of a battleaxe “I’m GONNA!!”

He grabbed her hips and forced her down onto him “CUMMING!!!!~” he cried, a flood of his essence painting her insides with love

“She gasped as she felt the hot ropes hit her core pushing her over the edge, she wrapped her arms around him and forced them as close together as she physically could, the pulsating of his member getting more powerful as she clamped down on him. 

He throbbed for almost a minute before finally settling back, feeling her rest atop him. “... whew.. Y-you really…. Wow… ah… oh wow…” he was cut off by Lumine rushing up and kissing him deep, slowly sliding his dick out of her and letting the combined contents of their lovemaking drip out above his pelvis. She pulled back after a moment “you *huff* really give me *huff* a nice workout you know *huff*” 

Childe wanted to say some witty reply but his mind was blank, all he could do was hold her closer and let her rest her head on his shoulder

…….

……..

……

Meanwhile in the other room

Pimon sat with pillows pressed against their head, a horrified look on their face cowering in the corner of their room shaking, desperately trying to unhear all their Pimonial ears had heard.

[hilarioushilarity]

(not) lost in translation pt. 2

{I am a lying liar who lies, 2-3 days my ass. You can read Part 1 here.}

The second time Alexei meets Kent Parson is at the All Star weekend that season.

When Mama and Papa had flown back to Russia, Alexei had rapidly realised that he was effectively a thousand miles away from everything he had ever known, and that:

1) Nobody around him spoke Russian; and 2) He couldn't speak English.

Alexei hates English. With a passion. He's not stupid enough to tell anyone this particular fact, but he thinks it every time he sits down for his English classes and wrestles with prepositions and adverbs, or heaven forbid, attempts to conjugate a verb. Every rule had a million exceptions, so what was even the point of the rule? English as a language was just unfair, he had decided, and he tells Mama this over the phone one month in.

She is sympathetic, in her typical Spartan manner. "You'll learn," she tells him. "Practise for at least three hours every day."

Alexei is appalled. "Mama, when am I meant to get three hours of practice each day?"

"There is always time."

He honestly doesn't know what else he expected. "Okay Mama," he says, and then turns the conversation to how stupidly big portion sizes were in America. Criticising the diets of North Americans was always guaranteed to catch her attention.

To his dismay, his father just laughs at him.

"Papa." Alexei may or may not be whining.

"Your Mama told you to just find time, didn't she," he says, when he's finally stopped cackling for long enough to take a breath.

Alexei hangs up on him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Papa says, when he calls back a minute later. The wheezing laughs have stopped, which is a relief.

"Okay," Alexei says warily.

"I mean it." His father is abruptly serious. "I'm sorry for laughing, you're in a tough situation right now. English is not an easy language to learn." They both know that his father never truly gained fluency in it - never had the chance to need it.

"It's really hard, Papa." He doesn't think he's just talking about English anymore.

"Things worth doing usually are, Alyosha," his father says gently.

Alexei chews his lip. "I don't know if I'm doing anything right."

"Are you playing good hockey?" Papa asks.

"Yes, Papa."

"You aren't bullying anyone on the ice?"

"No -"

"Working hard? Doing your English lessons? Going to all your practices on time, practising anything your coach says you need to work on?"

"Yes -"

"Then you are doing it right. And I am proud of you."

His father's voice is warm, and it curls around Alexei. He suddenly, desperately, wishes he could hug his father tightly. "Okay Papa."

"Now go and practice your English," Papa says, and Alexei does.

So hockey is the only thing he has besides torturous English lessons, and he devotes himself to it. He racks up goals and assists every game, plays a clean defensive game, and keeps his stats glowing. English smalltalk remains his nemesis but he's getting there, one pleasantry at a time. Before he knows it, he's being invited to the All Stars Weekend. He dithers over the invite for a few days, until the head of Capitals PR eventually corners him on his way out of the locker rooms.

"You should go," LaRue tells him. "It's good for building up your fanbase." He continues to go on at depth about social media presences and ticket sales. Alexei dutifully nods his way through the lecture, and ends up promising to go just to escape.

For some unknown sin in this life or a past one, he is roomed with a D-man from the Aeros who talks loudly and snores louder than a chainsaw. Alexei realises this on the first night when he lays in bed, staring at the ceiling as the red digits on the bedside clock tick over from 11 to 12, then 1. There's a snore once every three seconds, accompanied by whistling through some gap between teeth. Alexei kills half an hour searching up English sayings to describe snoring and deciding that his roommate "snores like a foghorn" before he finally gives up and rolls out of bed.

The hotel they've been put up in has an indoor gym and swimming pool. Alexei slings on a towel, sneaking out of the room before taking the lift down. On first glance, the gym is deserted, because any sane person is currently asleep. Alexei, running on no sleep, does not qualify.

Except, when he's halfway through his reps on the elliptical, a quiet voice behind him says: "Um. Hi, Alexei?"

Alexei turns around and comes face to face with Kent Parson.

What they are is nebulous at best. More than acquaintances - Kent Parson had talked to his Mama and Papa and his Mama had said Kent was a Very Nice Person. But less than friends, certainly. After the draft, Kent had gone west to the Aces and Alexei had gone east to the Capitals. He hasn't really kept track of Kent's career, but he would have to be under an actual rock to not know Kent is the only other rookie at the All Stars weekend and the NHL's current leading scorer.

"Hello," Alexei replies. There's a drop of sweat slowly rolling down his face and he's painfully aware that he probably stinks a little.  Meanwhile Kent Parson looks fresh as a daisy at one in the morning. The limits of his smalltalking abilities in English remain breathtakingly small despite the benefit of six months of English tutoring, so he kind of hopes Kent takes pity on his poor, sweaty form.

Kent does not. "It's been a while. Good to see you."

Goddamnit, they're smalltalking. "Good to see you, too."

Kent looks unbothered at the lack of scintillating conversation. He rolls onto the balls of his feet, fiddling with the strap of the duffel slung over his shoulder. "So uh. How's your mum?" he says, then immediately blanches. "Shit. I didn't mean - I just -"

"Good," Alexei says, mostly to put him out of his misery. "She good."

Kent looks earnest. "Oh, that's really good to hear." And then he seems to waver a bit.

"How is family?" Alexei says, when the silence stretches on. "They come visit after draft?"

"Ah yeah." Kent visibly brightens up. "They did! It was great, we had dinner and hung out a bit, and I gave my sister your mum's autograph - she's so cool by the way, but I bet you already knew that - I'd love to thank her again."

There are just - so many words. Alexei takes a few seconds to work through the sentence. "Glad to hear sister like. Maybe you see Mama again at game with Aces?"

"Definitely," Kent says, and Alexei's heard so many people say that over the past six months, but he thinks this time he could believe it. "So, uh. What's keeping you up?"

Only the loudest snorer on the entire American continent. "Roomie." Alexei searches for the words. "Snoring like foghorn."

Kent winces. "Jeez, I know what you mean. Did you try poking him to get him to roll over?"

"To scared to poke," Alexei admits. "Big guy."

"Who are you rooming with?"

"Winkler?"

"Fuck, yeah, he's a big dude. Better not poke him."

Alexei sighs. "Snore so loud - and whistle too. Like train." At Kent's blank look, he tries: "Choo choo?"

"Choo - oh god, you mean like a steam engine?"

Alexei pulls out his phone in answer. "How spell that? Steam engine?" He dutifully plugs in the letters Kent rattles off, and hits translate. "Oh. Yes. He steam engine."

"Heh," Kent says. "I double dog dare you to say that to him." He must catch the look of utter incomprehension on Alexei's face, because he quickly backtracks. "Not up with the slang yet? Sorry. I meant, you should tell him that."

"But why?" Alexei doesn't want to get punched.

"As a joke," Kent adds hastily. "It's funny, because we know it's stupid so we wouldn't do it."

English was just ridiculous. "Okay," Alexei tries. "Double dog dare you cycle on elliptical, see who faster."

"That's not..." Kent trails off. He smiles, then shakes his head. "That's not how it works. But we'll work on it," he assures Alexei, with a firm pat on his shoulder.

It's worlds away from the way the Caps' coach tends to roll his eyes heavenward when Alexei goes left when he should go right, or his English tutor, who is nice enough but is prone to banging her head against the table a little when Alexei fumbles the conjugation on a verb. "Not now," Alexei says. "Later?"

Kent checks his watch and he actually looks surprised, like the complete lack of other people didn't clue him in. "Wow, it's pretty late, isn't it?"

Unbelievable. "Why you up?"

"Got caught up practising."

Alexei sideeyes him. "Practising?"

Kent flushes a little. "Practising my stick handling. Shooting accuracy."

Alexei can't help but boggle at him. "You practising? At 1AM?"

"I couldn't sleep," Kent says, a little defensively.

"You crazy," Alexei decides, but there's a lot of fondness that must be apparent to even Kent, who looks less offended than he does a mildly grumpy, like the family cat when he accidentally stepped on her tail as a child. "But you wipe ice with everyone, so you champion crazy."

"Damn straight I'm the champion crazy," Kent says, planting his hands on his hips like a dork. "Yeah, laugh it up, I'll definitely be wiping the ice with you."

Alexei pretends to cower. "Okay, Kent Parson, I try best not cry on ice then."

"You will be bawling your eyes out," Kent says with promise, and then looks so affronted when Alexei just doubles over, breathless with laughter.

"I believe you," Alexei says to the ground, from where he's still bent over trying to catch his breath. "Cry many tears."

"You better," Kent says, but then he's laughing helplessly too, dropping his duffel. "Oh god, I really am champion crazy."

Alexei reaches over to pat him on the back. "Is okay, still like, even if Kent Parson practice hockey at one in morning."

"You don't think I'm too crazy?" Perhaps it's meant to be joking, but Alexei can't help but look up sharply.

"Never. You think Crosby best because he slack off?"

"I don't think he's ever stayed up until 1 because he was nervous about All Stars," Kent says, then bites his lip.

"You nervous?" Alexei asks. Kent hesitates. "Why you nervous?"

"I just - it's been a lot," Kent finally says. He's looking to the side, staring at the elliptical. Alexei waits, and Kent says in a rush: "I feel like I have to be the best, or - or else -"

"Not have to say what," Alexei says gently. "Not make you say."

Kent scowls. "It's stupid. Everyone's thinking it, they just don't say it. That I'm the second choice."

At the Draft, Alexei had known vaguely that Kent Parson and another boy called Jack Zimmermann had widely been slated to go first and second - in either order. It was true that every analyst had put the latter in first place, and that when Aces called Kent Parson's name there had been a slight pause in the audience's murmuring. Kent's smile had been strained as he left their table.

Alexei's stood across from Kent on the ice before. He's watched countless hours of tape of the Aces' play and by proxy, of Kent. Kent Parson on the ice is a force of nature, skating circles around defence and sinking pucks into the net as easy as breathing. And in his heart of hearts, he thinks the margin between first and second had been far smaller than most people thought.

But now, under the harsh gym lights that highlight the remaining softness of his jaw and the dark patches beneath his eyes, Alexei realises that Kent's still just a kid. Alexei's just a kid. They're both just teenagers. And there's very little of the player who had breezed past Alexei at the last Caps game with the Aces, or of the player who had mercilessly crushed their four game winning streak without batting an eye. Under the padding and past all the hype, Kent was far from the figure he cut on ice and as vulnerable as any other human.

"Even if people say second choice, what matter?" Alexei says. "You first. You here now. Play well. Maybe bit annoy on ice but not bully. And seem nice, polite to Mama. Thinking of sister even at draft. Get autograph for her. That matter. Not other people."

He hopes he hasn't overdone it - perhaps Kent wasn't looking for a heart-to-heart in the hotel gym at 1AM. But instead of taken aback Kent looks - a little watery.

"Why you cry?" Alexei is horrified.

"I'm not crying," Kent sniffs. "I'm not."

Alexei bites his tongue. "Uh okay." He politely looks away as Kent wipes his eyes.

"I'm not saying I can't cry," Kent begins, which Alexei takes as his cue that it's safe to look back at him. His eyes are just slightest bit red, and even that's only if you know what to look for.  “I just try not to cry in front of others.”

"Okay," Alexei says cautiously.

Kent takes a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Welcome," Alexei replies automatically, then says: "But. For what?"

Kent stares at him. "For - listening? For not being an asshole about the fact I'm still some nervy rookie?"

Christ. People thanked each other for things like that in America? "No need thank," Alexei says. Then, desperate to change the subject, he adds: "So we agree! No need for nervous! You real KVP."

"The what?"

"KVP." Alexei gestures. "I see on Twitter - they calling you 'the Real KVP'".

"That's not - " Kent splutters. "That's my name, Alexei."

Alexei tries not wince. "Oh. Oops, sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Kent brings out his phone, thumbing at something on the screen. He eventually holds out his phone, open to a websearch. "See? It's a joke on MVP. That's 'Most Valuable Player'."

"Oh," Alexei says again. "Make sense. Sometimes miss reference - thank you for explaining."

Kent stows away his phone, corners of his mouth twitching upwards again. "You've only been in the US for what, six months? Your English is great. If you put me in Russia I would probably just turn around and go back to the US."

"You miss good food then," Alexei tuts. "Russian food is best food."

"Hell no, I've seen what you guys count as soup. I'm not touching borscht with a ten-foot pole."

"Borscht is best soup!" Alexei tries to sound outraged.

"Look man, all I'm saying is that anything that pink should not be eaten."

Blasphemy. "You try pirozhki then? Small, baked -" He gropes around for the word, then gives up and calls up the translator app on his phone. "Dumpling."

"I've never had that," Kent says, but he at least looks intrigued. "What did you call it? Pay-roz-kay?"

His accent is actually appalling. "Pirozhki," Alexei corrects.

Kent frowns. "Poe-roz-ki?"

"Pirozhki"

"Poh-rosh-ki?"

Alexei nods in approval. "Good, sounds good."

"I like the sound of baked dumplings," Kent says. "Mm. Pirozkhi. I might go see if there's any places that do it in Vegas."

"Let me know if yes." Alexei nudges him. "I come try when Caps play Aces."

"You got it."

Alexei cuts off any further conversation with the embarrassingly loud yawn that escapes him then.

"Shit, it's like 1:30AM." Kent winces. "We have to get up at like 7 tomorrow - today? Holy crap we better go to sleep."

Alexei levers himself up, gathering his towel and bottle. "Hope not fall asleep on skates tomorrow."

"How about I check you if I see you dropping off," Kent suggests, then snickers at Alexei's raised eyebrow. "Bad idea?"

"Sure can check me?" Alexei makes a show of looking Kent up and down. He holds his index finger and thumb about ten centimetres apart. "So small."

"You asshole," Kent says, but he's laughing. "I'm not short, you're just a giant."

"If say so," Alexei shrugs. They start towards the elevator banks. "If help sleep at night."

"Fuck you, I sleep really well at night," Kent says petulantly. Alexei eyes the shadows beneath his eyes.

"I believe, I believe," he says instead with his best shit-eating grin. They get in the lift. "Okay, floor?"

Kent reaches over and pushes the button for 15. "You?"

"Twelve. Thank you." Kent nods, and they start moving up.

"So see you tomorrow, yes?"

"Yeah." Kent shoulders his duffel a little more firmly. "Be prepared to cry like a baby."

Alexei flaps his hands, just as the lift doors open on his floor. "Yeah, yeah, I cry so much."

The smile Kent gives him is small, but very real. "Good night Alexei."

"Good night," Alexei says, stepping out and turning to wave goodbye. The doors shut on Kent's smile, and Alexei stands there for a second, the airconditioning cool against his slightly sweaty neck.

"Hopefully not cry too much," he says to himself, before heading back to his room.

[possum-rat]

Resident J.D commits a War crime then unalives

Warning: mentions of Explosions, and other stuff Previous Next

"PEOPLE OF L'MANBERGs.And TommyInnit and WilburSoot- once we find them and expel them from our great nation! Yes, yes! Ah... the sun rises, over another beautiful day in our country. The sun rises on another chapter in our nation's history- the next page of will be reading... 'till the end of time. I reckon our nation needs to expand! I reckon we've... we've done our country a great disservice. I reckon we take down the walls- EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! I'm launching a public works project- funded by our meth lab that we run- All citizens of L'Manberg, are REQUIRED, REQUIRED! To help TEAR DOWN the walls of this country. Thus ends... the second presidential speech. Let's get to work. Oh wasn't there another kid? (Massacred version of your name) was it?"

The words aren't the best way to wake up. As (y/n) brushes their hair from their face they groan in annoyance. "Jesus Christ. What the fuck is going-" they begin before clapping their hands to their ears as something begins to play. Somehow.

"If he said help me kill the president

I'd say he needs medicine

Sick of screaming let us in

The wires got the best of him

All that he invested in goes

Straight to hell

Straight to hell

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

Straight to hell

Straight to hell

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

He told me I should take it in

Listen to every word he's speaking

The wires getting older I can hear the way they're creaking

As their holding him

Well I could see it in his jaw

That all he ever wanted was a job

He tells me to be raw

Admits to me that every little flaw

That never let him sit upon the top"

"Okay, what the hell?" (Y/n) murmurs as they duck into the mineshaft cavern thing. As they reach the cave itself they duck to get through the tiny door that Tommy had provided apparently not taking into consideration the fact that (Y/n) isn't entirely human, and therefore taller than the average height their age.

as they walk deeper into the cave they dart toward a small hole in the cave. Pressing their hand into a small hole beside the one their in they press a small wooden button.

As they pull their hand back leaning against a small section of wall the floor spins revealing a small room. A bunker if you will. Reaching toward a wooden armor stand. Enchanted netherite armor shining slightly in the darkroom.

As (Y/n) begins to pull on the armor. Adjusting the straps mounted beside their ribs they tighten it to what's needed. Then pulling on their gloves they turn toward the portal infront of them. As they enter pulling on their helmet a voice asks "(y/n?)" a small smile spreads upon their face. Upon reaching the nether they type in the chat, whispering to Tommy Wilbur and Technoblade specifically:

<y/n> I'll be back in a few just need to do something important really quick.

Running toward the community Portal (Y/n) feels adrenaline filling their veins. Everything seems to be more serious. Dangerous even. As the portal comes into view (Y/n) slows down muscles aching heart slamming against their chest. They pull out their potion of invisibility. Uncorking the vile they down it in one gulp. As the slight fowl taste, they pull a face then replace the bow with their crossbow which is able to shoot arrows.

The familiar message of waiting appears infront of (Y/n). As they reach the familiar land they had been exiled from they sigh and begin running toward the White House.

"Funny isn't it?" A voice murmers "it's like history repeating itself. Someone entering the White House..." (y/n) feels their shoulders tense up slightly. They murmer below a whisper "But I'm not killing him. Seriously injuring him? Yeah sure. But not killing him." As they reach the garden of the White House they duck into the small kitchen. Pulling off their armor they begin searching. Almost instantly (Y/n) hears the Yelp and tinkle of glass breaking. Jogging toward the sound (Y/n) sees Quackity.

Arm outstretched in an attempt to protect Tubbo who's cowering. Squatting down out of sight (Y/n) types to the two males.

<Y/n>Get out into a different room or meet me at this location. *insert location*

Quackity begins backing up arm still infront of Tubbo as Shlatt roars drunkenly "YEAH YOU BETTER LEAVE." before something incomprehensible. Followed by "Phattest ass.🥴"

as the room is just about empty (Y/n) stands up stretching and yawns loudly.

Shlatt whips toward the sound and freezes. His pupils turning rectangular in shock. He stand their in shock making the whole thing a little awkward before in freezing and shouting "YOU! I EXILED YOU WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?" (Y/n) laughs doubled over before coughing "Bruh. You should have expected this. I'm pretty good at making bad decisions!"

Pulling out the crossbow they continue talking as if nothing going on. "You know? Not a fan of dictatorship. 'Ts never been...what's the word? Uhh for me? I guess. I mean I don't even like democracy but here I am." As shlatt goes silent there's some aggressive typing before (Y/n) says tiredly "Look dude. I'm trying to have a moment here-"

"HA- D'You think you can overpower me? I've called for backup. YOU'LL DIE!" he laughs. (Y/n) sighs before notching an arrow of Wither effect. A special type. Not enough to kill but still enough to leave the victim with about 2 to 1.5 hearts. "Dude. I don't care. I can literally just disappear Never be found again." (Y/n) sighs.

The shouts from down the hall makes (Y/n) smile. As the arrow clicks into place they hear a ferm voice. Sam. "(Y/n) put the crossbow down." He says calmly. (Y/n) smiles simply and hums quietly to themselves

"If he said help me kill the president

I'd say he needs medicine

Sick of screaming let us in

The wires got the best of him

All that he invested in goes"

A tall silhouette covers the light on the ground. A few more footsteps before (Y/n) takes aim at Shlatt's forehead. "Well...I guess this is a temporary goodbye." They pull the notch and the arrow flies. (Y/n) sprints toward the window crashing through pulling an Ender pearl from their inventory flinging it forward.

they squint as the harsh rays of the sun beat down on their face. It didn't help that small shards of glass were embedded in (Y/n) still healing face. Upon reaching Pogtopia they stumble into the cave and laugh. Not the type one would consider completely normal. It's probably the emotional constipation (Y/n's) put themselves through so they don't grow attached to anyone/thing.

Wilbur's worried face pops into view at that moment. "(Y/n)? What the hell did you do?" (Y/n) then calms down slightly before murmuring "Just shot the president with a poisoning arrow. As you do. He won't die, severally injured yes." At that moment Technoblade Thomas and all the other inhabitants of Pogtopia arrive. (Y/n) bows and disappears into Pogtopia.

-------

As Shlatt is surrounded by basically everyone in the world (Y/n) is zoned out. Standing beside Eret and playing with Her cape. The long black fabric the inside the colors of the Bi flag. The small thin layer of strings on the bottom of the cape. As (y/n) fiddles with it they grow ever more anxious as Shlatt grows ever closer to Fundy. (Y/n) suddenly drops the cape sprinting infront of Fundy as Shlatt slams the bottle down. They then return to where they were murmuring "Yeah he's dead." As soon as those words leave their lips, Jschlatt freezes and drops and dies. Rather anti-climatically.

"Wow. Uh. I- Uh what now?" (Y/n) asks as everyone's gaze turns toward they begin fiddling with their hands nervously. (Y/n) begins to fiddle with the glass ripped clothing over their burnt arm. Eret simply leads them out of the small area and walks toward the Podium. He then takes a seat amongst the chairs and gently takes (Y/n's) arm asking quietly "Is this okay? Can I help you?" (Y/n) freezes at the genuine kindness feeling their eyes begin to water. So to avoid any confrontation they pull an invisibility potion out.

--

As everyone begins taking their seats (Y/n) sits beside Eret on the ground and near Fundy. Placing a small clay Fox ring beside Fundy they continue fiddling with Eret's cape. Even as the speeches go around (Y/n) can't help but feel that some things going to go very wrong. Letting go of Eret's cape they silently dart up toward the Podium. Pulling out an Ender Pearl they take aim and launch it.

The feeling of being sucked then dropped overwhelms (Y/n). As the world blurs (Y/n) shakes their head before speed walking toward Wilbur. Following him the two of them duck into a small hallway. (Y/n) ducking to fit. They eventually ask quietly "is the weight of it all finally too heavy?" Wilbur jumps slightly but turns toward them an unreadable smile upon his face.

"Everything is temporary, L'manberg was merely one of those things,” Wilbur states in a calm tone. "You of all people should know. That good people-Good things don't last. They give up on you. So you have to remove things that mean Value." (Y/n) tenses up and begins to tap the wall beside them anxiously. Not realizing that their tapping "don't leave. Not again."

Wilbur smiles sadly and begins to rant. (Y/n) feels their heart beating faster and faster. (Y/n) holds out a hand hesitantly before deciding against it as Wilbur is facing the other way. "What happened to you?" (Y/n) whispers. "What about your son? You're just going to leave him? Wilbur you promised." Wilbur turns and scoffs. "(Y/n) awe. I didn't realize that you thought that i'd actually keep the promise. Things change. PEOPLE change." He clarifies. "You don't get to change Fate. Look, Tell Fundy I'm sorry. Well- Why don't we sing the anthem again. For old time's sake. "

(Y/n) simply stares in shock. Voices of the dead whisper harshly While faint whispy figures float around. "You should have expected this. Nobody sticks around. They all are going to leave you." (Y/n) Faint footsteps grow louder and louder. (Y/n) whispers "Wilbur. Step away from the button. We don't need another J.D Wilbur please." Wilbur turns his eyes wild, toward (Y/n) and says "Philza." (Y/n) falls silent before drifting toward Wilbur. Falling silent (Y/n) fiddles with their protective gloves, mentally arguing with the dead.

A sudden movement and a Click causes Philza to clamp his hands over his ears while Wilbur does the same. (Y/n) didn't notice. However, the literal Earslitting sound did. Panic filling their head they feel as though the world is tilting. Almost as if the world were a snow globe and a small child was shaking it violently. (Y/n) feels their back slam against a wall sending a flash of pain against their spin. Shaking they watching horror as Wilbur says something. Wait. Why can they hear him? They could hear him a second ago?

Philza turns to on of the crows that had followed him and points toward (Y/n). The bird obliges gliding toward them and fluffing up it's feathers catching (Y/n's) Attention. They offer a violently shaking hand toward the bird. It nuzzles it's beak into their hand. (Y/n) takes the invitation to pet the bird.

After who knows how long it removes itself and flies up. (Y/n) frowns slightly wondering why the bird had flown. Glancing up they see Philza. His mouth moves rapidly but no sound comes from his lips. (Y/n) lift their arms feeling exhaustion pulling at their muscles as they do so. Pressing their hands to their ears they blanch. Pulling their hands away to reveal dark crimson standing out against their (S/c).

Flicking their gaze up to Phil. He crouches holding out a hand. (Y/n) takes it skeptically before a faint voice. One that was declared dead a few minutes ago. A simple word. "GLATT."

(y/n) flinches violently causing Philza to glance toward them worriedly. His blond eyebrows furrowed. He then is surrounded by a sphere of black tones of birds lifting the two of them up and toward the group of civilians staring in a mixture of longing and sadness at the wreckage of what was once home.

(Y/n) feels Phil's hand let go of them and they stumble unsteadily before grabbing onto Bad's upper arm. He turns toward them pure white eyes meeting Grey-ish-(E/c). He mouths something but stops concern filling what's visible of his face.

Pulling their hand back they glance at the ground sheepishly before turning and stumbling off.

[nychwrites]

Winter’s Warmth — a Daichi and Michimiya fanfiction

Notes: I'm not good in writing fluff and this is my very first Haikyuu fanfiction, so I'm so sorry in advance if it's so-so 😂. I was experimenting with this, but here you go! 💓

Daichi Sawamura, class 3-4, Karasuno’s boys’ volleyball club team captain. Ever since they won the ticket to nationals, he’s been the talk of the town; girls here and there swooning over him and how he’s responsible, handsome, smart, and athletic in one.

What they don’t know, however, is that the Sawamura Daichi is also dense as fuck.

“It’s been a while, huh,” Yui Michimiya commented, gesturing to herself. “I mean, we never got the chance to talk after nationals...”

Daichi leaned against the window sill, arms crossed. “Yeah. How are things going?”

“Uh—the volleyball club seems pretty well ever since I retired,” Yui commented. “They’ve set their goals higher and the new captain is much more capable than me.”

“Don’t say that, you’re the best captain they can ever ask for you know,” Daichi replied casually, frowning a bit. Yui’s heart, however, started pounding like crazy.

The casualness between the two captains is something Yui grew up with. She’s used to being around him and the other third years in the volleyball club, not really minding that they’re, indeed, of opposite sexes. Besides, volleyball has always been the foundation of their friendship.

And well, her feelings for Daichi probably stemmed from that, too.

She knows to herself that she should’ve suppressed her feelings as soon as she felt it. It’s in Daichi’s nature to be caring and uplifting, knowing that he’s the volleyball team’s captain. However, some things just cannot be helped; best example, Yui’s situation.

I mean, what’s not to like about Daichi? He’s smart, athletic, caring, a huge gentleman, and selfless, although it’s nulled whenever he’s with his team—usually, his nagging side shows up instead.

Despite that, he’s an overall good guy. It’s a shame if nobody notices his good traits.

“Michimiya? You good?”

Yui snapped back in reality from fawning over Daichi. “Oh! I’m sorry, just thought of something,” she replied sheepishly. “So we’re graduating soon, huh...”

‘I haven’t even confessed to you,’ Yui wanted to add, but she couldn’t. Even if she tried, she knows she can’t. Even if she’s in her death bed, or if she’s in the highway to Hell. Heck, she’d rather die than to confess!

Ever since they’ve settled comfortably into the ‘friendship’ label, she can’t picture herself from beyond that. Sure, she fantasizes from time to time about being in a relationship with him, but she knows that with their current situation, that’s a bit of a stretch. She doesn’t even know if she’s worthy of being his girlfriend, even; she thinks that he’d rather date Sugawara or Azumane...

‘No. No more of the self-deprecation, Yui!’ she thought to herself. ‘At least ask him if he likes someone!’

With a determined stance, she slapped her cheeks as hard as she can, catching Daichi by surprise. “W-Woah! Are you really okay?”

Yui let out a heaved breath that she didn’t realize she was holding in and faced Daichi. “Uhm, S-Sawamura, do you, uh... l-like someone r-right now?”

Sugawara, who was just passing by, suddenly butted in with a, “Good luck, Daichi!” and walked away like it was nothing, leaving Yui confused and scared.

‘What did he mean by good luck?’

Daichi, on the other hand, was plain confused, both from the question and Suga’s sudden “good luck”. He considers Yui as a good friend, that he’s sure; but why the sudden question? And what the heck is up with Suga? Did Tanaka and Nishinoya cause ruckus again? Or, perhaps, did Hinata and Kageyama bother the vice president again? Or—

‘Ah, right. They’ll be in Ennoshita’s hands from now on.’

“U-Uhm, i-if you don’t wanna tell me, I’m fine with that,” Yui suddenly said, which snapped him out from his train of thoughts. He looked at her once more, and for the first time, saw her in a different light.

With a quickened heartbeat, he saw a different Yui Michimiya standing right in front of him; someone that wasn’t his “volleyball buddy” right from middle school. He saw the woman that she was now, with her beautiful short hair, soft, sparkling eyes, her cheeks flushed red and the sunlight reflecting down on her.

It was all too sudden.

“I-I’m sorry for asking!” she suddenly screamed, turning her body away. “I-I gotta go, b-bye!” With that, she ran away.

Daichi stood frozen, both from the shock at seeing Yui run away so suddenly and from the realization that he had.

“Oi, Daichi you stupid motherfu—“

“Suga, not too loud!”

Even with the noise his friends were making, Daichi’s head was still in the situation he was in a hot second ago. He suddenly realized the time when Suga would purposely leave him and Michimiya alone when they were talking, even dragging Asahi away from him—despite his confusion. His mind also wandered off to the time when Karasuno and Shiratorizawa played each other for the Spring Qualifiers, and how Michimiya gave him a charm. His reminiscence even took him as far back as middle school, when he and Michimiya first met and got closer to each other.

‘Why did I realize this just now?’

Those three years of junior year, and an additional three years of highschool. That’s six years in total. That’s how long it took him to realize that he, indeed, likes Michimiya.

“...chi. Daichi!”

“Huh, what?” he absentmindedly asked, turning to face his friends; a fuming Sugawara and a scared-looking Asahi, holding back the former.

“You idiot, why didn’t you run after Michimiya?!” Sugawara exploded, eyebrows knitted.

“S-Suga, give it a rest,” Asahi interjected unsurely. “You’re just asking to get bitten.”

Daichi casted a glare at Asahi, which made him flinch. Sugawara ignored the two, and placed his index finger in Daichi’s chest. “Everything that I hold from now on reeks of dumbass energy.”

“And everything that I look at is stupid,” he retaliated, staring down at Sugawara, who boldly stared back—even glaring. “Why’d you care, anyway?”

“For being a team captain, you sure are being careless right now,” the vice captain shot back immaturely, not wanting to back down.

“What’s that have to do with this?” Daichi asked in disbelief.

“Because! A leader has to be responsible and cleans up every mess being made!”

“We’re outside of the club! We’re graduating soon!”

“And so? That doesn’t deny the fact that you’re still Captain!”

‘Jesus, they’re like Kageyama and Hinata,’ Asahi thought, now letting go of Sugawara and standing in an awkward middle.

Asahi opened his mouth, wanting to stop their fight, but Daichi beat him to it and said, “It’s not like I’m not going to go after her, anyway. I’m just... thinking.”

“Wow, you sure are smart,” Sugawara commented sarcastically. “What, gonna think hard enough for her to magically run towards you?”

“Shut up,” Daichi growled, making Asahi cower. “I’m just... I wanna say the right words to her,” he added with a sigh. “I know... I’ve been dense and all—“

“That’s hardly news,” Sugawara butted in with a snicker.

“—but I think it’s about time I make it up to her,” Daichi continued. “I always had this gut feeling that she liked me, but I discarded those thoughts even way before I could even think about it deeper. And it’s not like I could ask her about it so casually, y’know?”

“But if you had the idea, wouldn’t it be better for you to clear it up?” Sugawara mused. “I mean, I’m surprised how you can disregard thoughts like that so easily. If it were me, I’d think about it for a week!”

“Oh, like how Shimizu held your hand?” Asahi perked up. “She’s really unpredictable.”

“Yeah, but she’s kinda like a sister to me now,” Sugawara immediately replied. “And I’m pretty sure she’s like the female version of Daichi. Unbothered by her fans.”

“Heard that,” Kiyoko spoke, suddenly appearing behind the three. “What’s with the serious talk?”

“Daichi’s got love problems,” Asahi explained. “Now, he’s conflicted about it.”

“Ah, no wonder why Michimiya look troubled earlier when I passed by her,” Kiyoko commented. She placed a hand on Daichi’s shoulders and demanded seriously, “You should go after her.”

“That’s what I’m gonna do, just dunno how I’m supposed to approach her,” Daichi said with a sigh, slumping his shoulder. “These things aren’t fit for ‘casual talk’ you know?”

“But you can casually cheer her up, can’t you?” Kiyoko pointed out. “That must mean a lot to her.”

“Yeah, but... this is ‘love’ we’re talking about,” Daichi countered. “It’s a gamble saying things recklessly and complacently just because I can expect something from her. I’ve only realized I like her a few minutes ago, but what if it isn’t en—“

“Just hearing you worry is enough proof that you’re sincere with her.”

They all fell silent when Kiyoko pointed that out, to which made her laugh.

“C’mon now, don’t start wimping out,” she said with a grin.

“Shimizu... I owe you a ton,” Daichi said sincerely, tapping her shoulder. “I gotta go, then,” he announced, turning his back on his peers. He started jogging away from them, raising a fist and grinning widely at his friends—his clubmates who stuck with him and the team for the past three years.

They raised their fists back, not minding Sugawara saying, “He doesn’t even know where Michimiya went.”

‘This is my last year of highschool, and it’s possible that we might never see each other again. If I screw this up, I’m done for,’ Daichi thought, repeating it over and over again as he combed through the entire campus and asking a few third years he could recognize. Eventually, his legs led him to gymnasium one, where squeaks and balls hitting the wood floor can be heard.

He slowed down his pace from a jog to a brisk walk, peaking between the open space of the steel door. He saw the basketball team with their passing drills, and on the other side is the girls’ volleyball team with their receiving drills. He suddenly remembered his own team, suddenly remembered the same determination they all shared even when it seemed like the whole world was against them.

“S-Sawamura?”

“Oh!”

Daichi almost tripped over the flights of stairs when he suddenly heard Michimiya’s voice from behind him. He had to subtly clutch his chest out of fear before facing her, and before he knew it, he had to clutch it again.

‘She’s so damn gorgeous.’

“Uh, hi,” Daichi greeted awkwardly. “I was, erm... looking for you.”

It was just one sentence; one that Yui heard a lot from Daichi over the past six years, but it had a different impact this time around. It was a cold February, and Daichi stood there in the warmth of his jacket and scarf, and the growing feelings he had for Michimiya that had seemed to triple each passing second he spent staring at her.

“O-Oh, what’s up?” Yui asked, trying to be casual, but her heart was beating loudly and frantically, as if it were going to pop out of her ribcage.

“This past six years... you always heard me out, I could confine to you whenever I had troubles—although often it was the other way around—and overall... you’ve been a big help. I don’t even know where to start because I’ve probably done a lot of awful things that seemed normal and right to me,” Daichi rambled. “I’m just—I realized something, you know? Something that’s a given, but something that I didn’t realize sooner.”

It was a cold February. The air was ringing and it was hard to breathe, layers and layers of cloth still can’t mask the coldness of two degrees Celsius and not moving for even a second can make you frozen solid. However, with each words Daichi spoke, Yui felt warm.

“Sawamura...”

“I like you, Yui... and I’m sorry that I hadn’t realized it sooner. I’m sorry for wasting six years,” he breathed out.

It was winter when Sawamura Daichi confessed his love to the person who has been in love for him for a long time. Compared to him, her love was way heavier, it was deeper and it was more intense. Suppressing it for a long time, then off to sending signals only to be ignored, then making efforts for him; Yui did so much for Daichi, not minding that it wasn’t possible even in the slightest for him to reciprocate it or to even notice it in the least.

But they’re here now, standing one meter apart and feeling the warmth of their hearts overpower the coldness of Japan. Until the very last minute, Yui was convinced that she doesn’t have a chance, as Daichi thought that he probably wouldn’t be given a chance.

But here they are now, with no gaps between them, bodies connected and pressed against each other gently, her slender hands wrapped around his back firmly and face buried in his chest, hot tears flowing down the sides of her eyes.

“Y-You dumbass...” she choked out, voice muffled, “W-Why...”

Daichi chuckled quietly, burying his head on Yui’s shoulder, gently caressing her hair. “I’m really, really sorry, Yui...”

“You don’t have to say sorry,” she replied back almost immediately. “Whatever you have to give, I’ll accept it wholeheartedly.”

“In that case, I’ll start giving you only the best, then.”

It was winter when Sawamura Daichi and Michimiya Yui finally, after six years, met an understanding and their hearts started to stand in the same path. For years, it’s always been Yui staring at Daichi from afar, only wishing to see him up close where they could walk away from that stranded spot together. When that day finally came, it wasn’t them walking away together; they stayed in the same stranded spot, hands clasped, leaning against each other as they send warmth to the other.

It was winter, but it didn’t feel too cold like the past six years. It was winter, and it was warm.

I hope you liked it! Hehe 💓

[justaghostingon]

The Proposal: The Third Attempt

Finally you get the fluff you were promised

The ring hadn’t been lost, Kodya thought as he pulled out the box in the safety of the bathroom. That was a good thing at least. Although with the water and  the geese’s attacks...Kodya wasn’t certain how a good shape it was in.

Not that it mattered, he sighed as he leaned heavily against the sink. His perfect date had been ruined. Between nearly drowning, Don third wheeling, and freaking geese, he’d never even gotten the chance to propose.

Still, he probably should open the box and check to see just how bad the damage was. Like ripping a bandaid off. He took a deep breath and leaned back, planting his weight on his feet as he tentatively flipped it open.

The ring looked a whole lot better than he was expecting, still gold and glittering in the light. Kodya held it up close to inspect it, but the only damage seemed to be a slight scuff on the edge. Huh. That wasn’t so bad. But then again, not all damage is visible on the first glance.

And then there was Nephthys, who had always been so careful not to take her jewelry to the pool. He wasn’t sure what damage water did that made her remove her otherwise constant earrings, but he should probably find out.

He pulled out his phone and hit the very familiar number. “Nephthys!” he cried as soon as he heard the beep, not bothering to wait for her to speak first. “I need your help!”

“Sure thing!” She giggled. “How’d the proposal go?”

“Oh, well.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t actually done it yet?”

“What?” Nephthys screeched into his ear. “But you had the perfect date planned and everything!”

“I know, but things went crazy, Don wouldn’t stop third wheeling, I nearly drowned, we got attacked by killer geese. Everything that could go wrong did and there was never the right time and -” he took a great shuddering breath, “-and now the ring is scuffed and wet and I just don’t know what to do!”

“Ok,” Nephthys said slowly. “I can see that a lot has happened, and I want details later, but right now tell me about the ring. It got wet in the lake correct?”

Kodya nodded. Then remembered that Nephthys couldn’t see him nodding and said, “yeah.”

“Gold jewelry isn't damaged by water itself, but impurities like salt and chlorine can damage the stuff that holds it together. The lake is freshwater, so you should be fine.” Kodya sagged with relief at her words. “As for scuffs, there are a few home cures for minor damage I can send you, anything else will have to be taken to a specialist.”

“That would be fantastic Nephthys.” Kodya sighed. “I guess I’ve got time now, seeing the big day fell through.” He could hear the disappointment in his own voice as he spoke.

Nephthys giggled. Kodya bristled, hair on end. “It’s not funny!” he snapped. He’d lost out on proposing to the love of his life on the perfect date because some stupid geese had decided to go homocidal on him... and yes it did sound kinda funny when he put it like that, but it wasn’t!

“Sorry, sorry,” she said, and Kodya huffed. “It's just that the perfect solution just fell into my lap a few hours ago!”

“Unless you found a way to time travel, I don’t see how anything could possibly fix this,” Kodya growled. “Today has been an unmitigated disaster!”

“Even a reservation for two at the Ritz for this evening?” Nephthys sang.

Kodya opened his mouth, and found he couldn’t speak. Nephthys giggled. “You...you’re serious?” he managed to choke out. “The Ritz? That super fancy restaurant that’s impossible to get a reservation on short notice? How?”

“I helped out the owner a little while ago,” Nephthys replied and Kodya could hear the smile in her voice. “Her girlfriend was so grateful she gave me this reservation as a reward. I was going to invite a friend to keep me company while you were out on your perfect date, but I had a feeling I’d need them for something else instead.”

“I-I couldn’t...it's your reward,” Kodya stuttered. But Nephthys only laughed.

“Oh please, I’ve had to listen to you talk about this boy for five years Kody. Five years! The least you could do was make all my suffering worth it by marrying him!”

“I-” Kodya started, then gulped. “Thank you! Thank you so much Neph!”

A giggle was all he heard as she hung up on him. Kodya stared at the ring in his hand. He had another chance. Maybe fate was smiling on him after all!

He snapped the ring box shut and ran down the hall. “Gyrus!” he cried out excitedly. Gyrus stuck his head out of the kitchen, a cup of yogurt in his hand and a spoon in his mouth. “Get your best suit! We’re going to the Ritz tonight!”

“What?” Gyrus pulled the spoon out of his mouth as he cocked his head to the side.

“The Ritz!” Kodya fist pumped in the air. “Neph got us in! Date night is still on!”

Gyrus didn’t quite seem to understand, but he grinned and pumped his fist in the air. “To the Ritz we go!”

---------------------

Kodya knew, on principle, that the Ritz was going to be fancy. But he didn’t realize how fancy until he and Gyrus were following a waiter wearing a three piece suit across a fine red carpet. All around them women in fancy dresses sat across delicate tables from men with black ties and styled hair.

Kodya tugged at his own suit sleeve, a faded blue, and wished he’d decided to wear a tie. A lifetime of hatred for the glorified strangling devices seemed trivial under the weight of the heavy glances from the people around them.

As if sensing his distress, Gyrus drew closer to him. “Looks like Mr. Heartbreak steals from more than old ladies,” he muttered in his ear as the waiter ushered them into their seats.

“Shut up,” Kodya grumbled, his cheeks heating. “That is not what’s going on.”

“Oh it most certainly is,” Gyrus leaned on his elbow, a dopey smile on his lips. “Unfortunately for them, you’re all mine.”

“Oh stop.” Kodya was definitely blushing now. “If anything, they’re wondering what I’m doing with someone as gorgeous as you.”

Now it was Gyrus’s turn to blush, cheeks turning as red as a strawberry. Contentment washed over Kodya. He’d never get tired of watching the red seep over Gyrus’s skin. Absently his mind flashed to the ring, now safely stuffed in his pocket. Should he take it out? He was planning to save it for desert...

“Drinks for the happy couple?” the waiter asked dryly.

“Oh! Um,” Gyrus blinked, looking for all the world like a man coming back to reality. “We’ll have number 34. Please.” He smiled up at the waiter. The waiter raised an eyebrow, but went to fetch it.

“What’s number 34?” Kodya asked, scanning the menu.

“I have no idea,” Gyrus rubbed the back of his neck. “I panicked. But it's kinda our lucky number isn’t it?”

“How do you figure?” Kodya placed his chin on his hand.

“Oh you know.” Gyrus peaked at him through his bangs. “The day we met was the 34th boat ride I’d been on, the day you asked me out was the 374th day, the day you kissed me was the 102th day of us dating, the day you moved in was the 1,088th day of knowing each other, they’ve all been multiples of 34, so I’ve kinda always thought of it as our lucky number.”

“That’s really brilliant Gyrus,” Kodya smiled, because it was. He’d never be able to think of something like that. Gyrus blushed again, and oh wow, the lavender in his eyes really sparkled in the chandelier light. Kodya leaned forward, basking in their warm glow.

“Drink 34, two virgin pina coladas.” The waiter placed two drinks before them complete with little umbrellas. Kodya stared at the bright, childish cup, uncomprehending. He glanced up at Gyrus and saw his own confusion mirrored on Gyrus’s face. Their eyes met.

Gyrus gave a little snort. He tried to hold it back, shoulders shaking, but it did no good. “Hahaha!” Gyrus threw back his head, laughing long and loud. Kodya shook his head and began laughing along.

------------------

They put more thought into the rest of their meal. Gyrus got a fancy pasta whose name Kodya couldn’t pronounce, but when Gyrus held a bite up for him to try he discovered it tasted better than any pasta he’d ever eaten. Kodya’s own meal contained a really fancy stake in some of the best sauce he’d ever had. Gyrus agreed with a wide smile and sauce on his chin.

Kodya  rolled his eyes as he beckoned Gyrus closer so he could clean it up, but inside he felt warm and content. Everything was absolutely perfect right now.

He felt the ring in his pocket as he watched Gyrus mop up the last of the pasta with his bread. Gyrus looked up at him and gave a sheepish grin. “Do I have something else on my face?”

A sharp crack filled the air. Kodya jumped and Gyrus dropped his bread. What? Kodya glanced around, looking for whatever had made the noise. A crash in the kitchen perhaps?

Gyrus went still, eyes wide as he stared at something over Kodya’s shoulder. Kodya twisted in his seat just as two more cracks echoed over the room.

Three men in masks stood at the entrance to the Ritz, looming threateningly over the cowering Maitre d’. The one in the center held a large burlap sack, while the other two held guns in each hand, one of which was still smoking from where he’d shot at the chandelier.

“Everyone put your hands in the air!” The one with the still smoking gun cried. Kodya watched as the patrons raised trembling hands to comply with the man’s words. Even the waiter lifted his hands, still supporting drinks above his head.

“That’s more like it!” The man cried. “Now all you fancy rich folk are gonna put that fine jewelry in my friend’s bag here, and bring about some equality to the people, thanks to the gang of three!” He crossed his arms in triumph as his partner opened the bag wide and leered at a woman in a fine red dress.

“Really? Today?” Kodya shouted, blood boiling in his veins. “You had to do this today?!”

“Kodya stop!” Gyrus hissed, but Kodya was too furious to listen. He slammed his hand down on the table and stood up.

The leader turned the gun on him and Gyrus yelped, but Kodya ignored him in favor of shaking his fist at the leader. “I have spent the whole day trying to make today perfect for Gyrus, and you come barging in, citing some bogus excuse like equality for the people as if you’re not the ones ruining the night I’ve spent months planning for!” He slammed the fist down on the table, sending the dishing clattering.

Silence echoed throughout the room. Gyrus looked between the men and Kodya, face pale. All three crooks stared at Kodya, open mouthed. Kodya crossed his arms and glared right back. Finally the leader lowered his gun. “You ok dude?”

“No I am not!” Kodya snapped. “Everything that could go wrong did!” He held up his fingers and began to count down. “Falling in the lake, getting third-wheeled, getting attacked by geese. Geese!” He threw up his hands. “And now for the cherry on top, a literal robbery at the one good thing to happen all day!”

“Kodya,” Gyrus murmured, voice full of concern. Kodya avoided meeting his eyes in favor of glaring down the crooks.

The men looked down, ashamed. “Well geez,” the leader shuffled his feet. “We didn’t mean to ruin your day like that.” He glanced at his friends. “Should we just leave?”

“If you don’t mind!” Kodya said as he sat back down. Gyrus pulled close to him, slipping an arm around his shoulders and glaring at the crooks too.

The three thugs looked at each other. The leader sighed, and began to shuffle out. His friends looked at each other, but shrugged and followed suit.

Gyrus’s head turned to Kodya, eyes shining. “Kodya.” He beamed as he snuggled closer. “That was the coolest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”

Kodya puffed up his chest. “Anything for you Gyrus.”

The room erupted into cheers. Kodya feels his cheeks redden at the extra attention. But then again, he had just done something heroic. If there was ever a time...

A cry came from outside, and another shot. But Kodya was going to ignore it in favor of relaxing into Gyrus’s side. Those fools could do what they liked, right now Kodya had more important things to worry about, like the beautiful man next to him.

“Police!” An officer pushed themselves into the Ritz. “Everyone stay put! This room is now a crime scene!”

“Oh come on!” Kodya threw his hands in the air.

--------------------

It was late by the time the police finally let them leave, but not after a hundred questions to see if Kodya had any connection to the men who had attacked. Gyrus was the only reason they weren’t held longer. He’d pointed out how absolutely stupid it was to think that Kodya was connected given how upset he’d been, and their were multiple witnesses to prove the point. If they wanted to keep questioning Kodya against obvious alibi’s they’d need a warrant or to let them see a lawyer. In the end the threat of more paperwork and obvious lack of connection had caused the police to gruffly send them on their way.

Kodya and Gyrus changed out of the fine clothes in silence, leaving them abandoned on the floor in favor of something more comfortable. Gyrus then wandered out while Kodya lingered in their room. He pulled out the ring, still hidden in the pants of his good trousers and held it up. It glinted in the light, unblemished thanks to Nephthys’s advice. It looked perfect.

Anger twisted in Kodya’s gut as he looked at the ring in his hands. A part of him wanted to chuck it out of a window and scream. His grip tightened on the ring.

But he couldn’t do that, not really. Not when Gyrus was in the next room, probably just as disappointed as he was. He slipped it into the pocket of his sweatpants with a sigh. There would be other days to propose to Gyrus. He could come up with other plans. For now though, he needed to find a place in the house Gyrus wouldn’t check.

Gyrus was in the living room, curled up on the couch with a book like it was any other, ordinary day. Kodya bit his lip as he entered, unsure if this was a sign that he wanted to be left alone, or if he wanted Kodya to come and sit by him like normal. He opted for the latter, settling himself awkwardly on the couch beside Gyrus.

“You know,” Gyrus said as he turned a page. “You don’t need to try so hard.”

“What?” Kodya jumped as his heart raced. Had Gyrus figured out he was going to propose? He’d been so careful! He searched Gyrus’s face for some kind of sign, but the man didn’t look at him.

“What you said in the restaurant, about trying to make today perfect,” Gyrus elaborated, eyes still trained on his book. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t need anything special, because every moment I’m with you is already perfect.”

Gyrus turned the page again, but Kodya could see the red on his cheeks. He felt lightheaded at the revelation. Any moment was perfect eh? He reached into his pocket to feel the velvet of the box between his fingertips.

“Please marry me!” He cried as he shoved the ring forward towards Gyrus. He ducked his head to hide the flaming blush across his cheeks and waited, body tense, for Gyrus’s reply.

Gyrus didn’t say anything. As the silence stretched on Kodya risked a peak upwards. Gyrus sat across from him, mouth open and a luminescent blush on his cheeks.

“I,” Gyrus gulped. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Oh no, Kodya’s heart sank. Did Gyrus not want to get married? They’d talked about it before and he’d seemed to like the idea. Had he done something to make him change his mind? Or did he just not want Kodya anymore? Kodya’s lip trembled. But no, Gyrus had been so happy recently. He wouldn’t fake it if his love was gone. He wasn’t that cruel.

Gyrus was still babbling on, oblivious to Kodya’s internal struggle. “I mean, It explains why you were so upset today. And I know we talked about it, but it's been so long, -“ Gyrus ran his fingers through his hair as he gasped for breath, “104!”

Kodya blinked. What?

“It's been 104 days since we talked about marriage!” Gyrus pouted. “That’s not a multiple of 34! I wasn’t expecting you make a move on a day that didn’t match!”

“Do you want me to ask again later?” Kodya furrowed his brow.

“NO!” Gyrus yelped, one hand reaching out to grab Kodya’s wrist so he couldn’t put it away. “I want to marry you!” He said, eyes softening as they met Kodya’s. “More than anything in this world.”

“Oh,” Kodya said, all coherent words leaking out of his brain in favor of re-playing the phrase, “I want to marry you,” over and over again in his head.

With trembling fingers he slipped the ring onto Gyrus’s left hand. It practically glowed against his skin, and both Gyrus and Kodya stopped to admire how perfect it looked on his ring finger.

Kodya raised his head to meet Gyrus’s lavender orbs. “I guess 104 will have to be our new lucky number.” He smirked as he linked their fingers together, enjoying the feel of metal against skin.

“I can live with that,” Gyrus grinned, and pulled him down for a kiss.

[thewaterisblackwithvenom]

My initial impression of Kieran was that he was an anxious, weak nerved kiss-up. I mean he doesn’t make any attempt to fight back when Arthur captures him, even if he stands there and does nothing. Dude’s got a gun. Makes zero attempt to go for it. My initial thoughts was he was too cowardly to even fight back, when in reality Arthur was running for him with a lasso. His hands are literally full. Who Arthur is doesn’t really matter; he doesn’t have a weapon drawn and is clearly trying to take him alive. Unless he’s a massively terrible shot, he could’ve easily shot Arthur. Clearly he’s more afraid of what Colm will due to him than just dying(which makes sense, especially with how he went out : )))) ), so it really would’ve been in his best interest to die trying to kill Arthur instead of being captured, most likely killed, and most likely tortured beforehand. Far as I can figure, reasons for just surrendering would’ve been

Fear (logical, but with his biggest fear being whatever Colm would do to him, doesn’t seem as likely, even if he was straight up panicking)

Pacifism (not saying he’s a pacifist, but he’s definitely not a fighter by nature, despite his will to live) 

Once he’s captured, he holds out for about a month in sh*t conditions. He breaks once they turn their violent attention to him, but even then he still tried to hold out. The only reason I can think of why he wouldn’t just talk is fear of what Colm would do to him if he made it out alive. If he was scared that the Van Der Lindes would kill him after he talked, he could’ve stayed quiet longer, I guess, though really who could hold out when you’re being threatened with castration lmao.

After the fact, I expect my initial impression to be right. It wasn’t. I mean, I was 100% right about him being a genuinely nice person, not exactly cut out for outlaw life, and not a rat or weaselly person. Things I were wrong about were his general demeanor. 

He’s a naturally positive and friendly person. Despite being constantly picked on and flat out threatened, he’ll even greet Sadie(who is probably most likely to kill him in the beginning, let’s be honest) with a level of confidence I didn’t expect. He doesn’t slink around her with his head down, but is 100% aware that she hates him, and I’ve never heard him try to change that. He’ll greet her, but goes out of his way to let her know that “I’m here and realize that you hate me so I’m giving you space”. Anyone else who calls him “O’Driscoll”, he’ll get upset and correct them. Sadie straight up tells him to die and he doesn’t say boo. I love that he is aware of her pain and doesn’t try to change her feelings about him just so he can sleep better at night. He plays the long game; respecting her boundaries, and not giving her any other reasons to hate him, hoping that someday she’ll maybe at least not despise him for just being connected to her enemies in the past. He could b*tch and moan about how he had nothing to do with Jake’s murder; he wasn’t there, he didn’t pull the trigger, and he didn’t want that to happen. He really is innocent. But he leaves that and her the f*ck alone, the only contact he initiates is just general politeness. She makes real threats, and he has ever reason to believe her, but he still has the balls to not cower around her. If anyone else in the gang makes any kind of “O’Driscoll” comment, he gets genuinely irritated and corrects them, even if it’s hopeless. Not just the women, who(save for Sadie and Mrs. Grimshaw) aren’t a threat. But he’ll get upset and snap back at Arthur and Javier that he’s not an O’Driscoll. I don’t believe for a second that Kieran thinks he could beat either of them in a fight. He’s not a fighter, and he’s also not stupid. He’s survived about half his life being beaten around. The reason he’s survived could be luck, but also him knowing how far he can press his luck with very dangerous people. I used to find it amusing in the beginning when he’d snap back, because like. Lmao, you really wanna get upset with Arthur? Seriously? Dude. Don’t go there.

He stands up for himself, and is confident enough in himself to be as bold as to say to Arthur’s face, that he’s not a bad person, and that’ll he’ll warm to him eventually. That also caught me off guard, because I was under the general assumption “god this kid is me. anxious af, doesn’t like people, just likes horses”. I projected far too much lmao, because despite him feeling more comfortable with horses, he’s pretty outgoing, in a confident way. If people are just indifferent to him, he has no problem going out of his way to greet people with confidence. When he’s being bullied, he’s ballsy enough to stand up for himself, and when people are genuinely nice to him, he’ll show signs of being flustered/anxious, likely due to the fact he probably has very little experience with kindness. Whatever kindness he experienced outside family was most likely fake and extremely conditional. He never made any comments about having relationships of any kind with anyone. His life has been about survival. He knows how to not press his luck with the wrong people, knows basic social manners(how to be friendly without being overbearing, how to give people space, and even when he helped Molly out of the stagecoach), but I feel like he has the least experience in healthy relationships. Relationships where someone is actually nice to him. That’s also why I’m 1,000% peeved that we didn’t really get to befriend him. Watching him come out of his shell more was so nice. Save for his massive guilt about Jack(which wasn’t even his fault anyway), he was finally starting to feel like he belonged there. Sh*t hurts man.

I think the thing that caught me most off guard was his level of confidence that you really get to see in his fishing side mission.

Arthur says that he’s(Arthur) not that great a fisherman, and Kieran, not missing a beat, comes back with “But I am! *laughs* I’ll teach you something.”, all of which happens seconds after Kieran is done straight up mocking Arthur’s teasing of him. If I hadn’t spent 5,000 years wandering around camp, and getting to see everyone’s personalities that you’d miss if you flew through story mode, that mission would’ve made my head spin. If your impression of Kieran is “soft scared horse boy”, there’s so much that happens in like, a minute that’d throw you off.

Arthur asks Kieran if he’s going fishing

Kieran, likely caught off guard by someone going out of their way to interact with him in a non-hostile way, says yes

Arthur, incapable of just being nice to him follows up with a threatening tone “... or running back to Colm O’Driscoll?”, bc f*ck this guy actually knowing I’m starting to warm up to him, I have to be a Big Tough Outlaw bc I am a Bad Man

Kieran, irritated and a bit nervous now, snaps back that of course he’s not 

Arthur responds by bumping his fist against Kieran’s shoulder/chest, gives an amused chuckle, and responds with “pffft, I’m just joking w/ u lol relax”  (I love this interaction because it really shows, at least to me, that Arthur is genuinely starting to like Kieran. instead of continuing along the lines of “watch yourself”, his tone and body language gestures that “I don’t mean it, I’m just messing with you”. Even if he’s still being an *ss, it’s not like his previous interactions. The playful physical contact, non-menacing laugh, and “I’m just kidding w/ u” comment are all friendly gestures. He wouldn’t do any of those if he actually didn’t like Kieran. Arthur’s not a touchy-feely “I’ll fake like I’m your friend so I can slit your throat later” kind of person)

Kieran’s nervousness instantly melts away and he responds with “wow. ur so funny. hah hah. rlly had me goin there. ur hilaaaaarious.” he’s 100% done and just rolls his eyes at this point.

Arthur just goes “shut up”, and I love the way he says it this time bc he’s more like. Offended/irritated that he’s being sassed instead of actually meaning “shut up or else”. He’s all “>:((( shut up brat” and it’s cute lmao. 

Not two seconds after Arthur tells Kieran to shut up, he absolutely doesn’t and invites him fishing. Like, a genuine “hey wanna go fishing?” and not like, a “desperate for your approval, please give me more opportunities to prove myself to you”.

Arthur says he’s not a great fisherman, and Kieran responds with “Yeah but I am!”, laughs, and says he can teach Arthur something.  I found this part super fascinating, because as someone with severe anxiety, my response would’ve been totally different. I’m confident in a few areas; I know what I’m good at, and what I’d be semi-competent at teaching people, but if someone-- especially someone higher on the social ladder than I am-- said that they weren’t good at something, that I was really good at, I always try and downplay things so as not to make the other person feel like they’re lesser than me. I like to think my art skills are decent, so if that kind of situation came up “I’m not a great artist”, my response would be more like “Heh neither am I, but I know some tricks that have made things a lot easier. I can show them to you!” Kieran straight up told Arthur Morgan that he’s a great fisherman, and could teach Arthur something. Former O’Driscoll, teaching Dutch’s right hand man something. That was a cocky move, even if it’s true. I love that he has the confidence to flat out say that without even backpedaling. Kid knows his worth and isn’t afraid to just blurt it out.

Arthur responds with a friendly “Sure”. Not like an “yeah alright fine”, but more like how he responds to people who considers friends. Come to think of it, other than certain instances where Kieran pushes his luck here, Arthur is friendlier/less hostile and grumpy with Kieran than he is with Sean lmao. Granted, Sean is uhhh, overbearing and obnoxious, but Arthur sees him as a younger sibling, not an ex-O’Driscoll. 

On their way to the beach, Kieran brings up past vs present. “who would’ve thought we’d be going fishing together when it wasn’t that long ago that I was tied up on the back of your horse begging for mercy?” He says it with such a light hearted tone like it wasn’t even a big deal. He could’ve died from dehydration/starvation/the cold, and he’s literally like “isn’t life funny?” Don’t know whether to be impressed that it didn’t leave him with serious trauma and resentment or said that maybe he doesn’t see it as that big a deal because he’s had worse. Either way, the way he says it is interesting to me.

Ofc Arthur has to remind him “how do you know I’m not dragging you away from camp to kill you?” bc again, can’t let this kid know I’m actually starting to like him. He Must Know that I am a Big Bad Threat.  “..because I saved your life”  “ya and every day I don’t kill you I’m saving yours” “you don’t mean that” “yes I do I am Serious so shut it” Kieran knows Arthur well enough that while the threat is still a touch unnerving, he has the guts to point out that he doesn’t mean it. he knows Arthur well at this point, and despite the slight possibility he might actually mean that, he choses to believe it’s just Arthur being... Arthur.

Throughout the trip, Kieran opens up about camp life and his past, and in general Arthur doesn’t have anything that nice to say. Arthur’s genuinely a nice person, but I wouldn’t call him “soft”, so that doesn't’ surprise me. Despite this, he’s not exactly mean to Kieran like he used to be. He’s not remotely sympathetic, but at the same time he wouldn’t be for really anyone else, either. Maybe the women bc women, but. However, towards the end, when Kieran talks about losing his family and being on his own since then, Arthur does comment along the lines of “well, look at it this way, you’ll never be alone again”. I could be misinterpreting it, but I think that’s Arthur’s way of saying “you’re one of us now”. Can’t really say anything nice to him or show sympathy, but “you’ll never be alone again” could’ve been his way of trying to comfort him in an offhand sort of way.

Not what Arthur meant, but I couldn’t help but laugh when Kieran was like “do you think Dutch trusts me now?” me and Arthur both laughed, sad thing is I laughed bc I’m like “yo Dutch don’t even trust Arthur lmaooo, shoot for something actually obtainable Kieran”

This is already five pages longer than I intended it to be lmao, but literally my entire point is that my impression of Kieran had been that he was a soft, nervy person with low self confidence. The way I see it, all the evidence proves that he’s a lot more than a lot of people give him credit for. 

He is a sweetheart by nature; I really don’t think there’s a mean bone in his body. He’ll stick up for himself and get irritated, but I can’t think of a single instance where he did or said anything mean-spirited. He’s helpful for the sake of being helpful, and is grateful for any actual kindness shown to him. He grows to genuinely care about the gang’s overall well being, and goes so far as to flat out state he’d give his life for Jack’s if he could, despite Jack being a brat to him in the beginning. But despite the fact that he’s a kind hearted individual, he will stand up for himself, and if the follower glitch dialog is accurate, he will engage in combat if he has to. A lot of his dialog is pretty snarky too, which I thought was interesting. I thought he’d be a lot more jumpy and nervous during a shootout, but again I was wrong.  To me all evidence points to his anxiety/nervousness all being circumstantial. It really only presents itself when his safety is actively being threatened, and in foreign situations(people going out of their way to be friendly to him; catches him off guard). So yeah, I think you could technically call him an anxious person and it be somewhat accurate, but he’s not anxious like people today are. His anxiety isn’t “across a broad range of circumstances”, as are anxiety disorders. I think it’s more accurate to say that Kieran is a pretty self confident, moderately outgoing person with a bright personality, despite the sh*t he’s been and still going through. And that’s what I love about him.

I started out feeling bad for him, with a touch of amusement, just for the fact that I really did pity him. He just seemed like such an unfortunate person. I felt really bad having to bring him in, because my general impression was that he’s really not meant for the outlaw life and was probably a nice person. Hated having to bring him in, but having read his bio before playing the game, I was at least relived that his position as part of the gang meant that me bringing him in wasn’t going to result in having to be the cause of his demise. Him being tied up for weeks made me feel really bad since I couldn’t do sh*t to help him out any, because Arthur didn’t give a damn. Poor thing didn’t even have shelter when it rained in 40℉ weather, and didn’t even have his coat on. Once he was free to move around, I was a bit surprised at how confident he was in greeting Arthur. Save for Tilly, in my game, Kieran greets Arthur more than anyone else in camp. Always bright and cheery. Seeing as how I spent most of my time in camp on the outskirts doing chores(see also: avoiding Dutch lmao), running into Kieran a lot was unavoidable, especially because Arthur’s morning routine is cooking breakfast by the campfire. Eeeevery morning, there’s Kieran. Literally can tell what hour it is by where Kieran is and what he’s doing, and vice versa. If it’s 2pm, I know exactly where Kieran is. With how much time I spent at camp, it didn’t take any time at all before I was very familiar with him. I never had any negative feelings or suspicion towards him, but other than our shared fondness for horses, I had no real reason to like him(pity isn’t exactly a reason to like someone after all). But I grew fond of him so quickly ever since dragging him down from Colter, especially after he saved Arthur. He was brave enough to stick up for himself, brave enough to risk his life saving Arthur, and brave enough to state that he’s “one of you now”. He does more than his fair share of chores every day, stays out of everyone’s way, and remains bright and friendly despite his sh*t circumstances. Oh and he loves horses. Those are the reasons I grew attached to him, and still am. I thought he was just 1889 me, but now I realize he’s a lot of what I wish I was. I love his confidence, despite the fact that he has no one backing him up. Ever. I have supportive people backing me, and yet if someone says sh*t to my face it’s going to make me seriously question my worth. Kieran Duffy fights back anxiety, plants his feet and defends himself. I’m f*cking proud of that boy.

Oh my GOD this is embarrassingly long lmao, but I f*cking love Kieran Duffy with all my heart and I feel like so many overlook how strong he actually is. He’s not an ~anxious soft boy~. He’s sweet, and kind, hard working and self reliant, open and honest, confident and snarky, and is just overall such a lovable, wonderful person. He’s not a weak little snitch, nor a skittish people-pleaser. He wants to be liked for who he is, and while he’s always trying to prove himself, he plays the long game and lets that happen naturally. He’s not a boot licker like Micah. I hate that a lot of the gang gave him such constant sh*t, and that despite the fact no one liked him, Micah was treated like “one of the gang”, when he said so much sh*t. Motherf*cker made comments about throwing out the women since they were “dead weight who you can’t even f*ck”, and older “less useful” members like Uncle and Swanson. Meanwhile Kieran works himself to death on a daily basis, but all the Big Men of camp pretty much hold his past over him constantly, despite the fact that he didn’t have a choice, and wasn’t even really part of the gang. It’s just really sh*tty and I hate it lmao.

I’m going to shut up now and pray to GOD this doesn’t make it into the tags or so help me I’ll tag it later lmao. 

[squirrel-moose-winchester]

Chapter 22

Title: Falling for the Holidays 

Pairing: Dean x Reader AU

Word Count: 1903

Summary: With October ending and the holidays underway, that only meant one thing for Dean Winchester. It meant returning to his childhood home and spending time with his family. It meant listening to his parents, especially his mom, ramble on and on about when he was going to find himself a nice girl, bring her home for the holidays, and then eventually get married and have children.  However, Dean wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment, so in order to get his family off his back, he comes up with an elaborate scheme! But like the saying goes, “sometimes lies become truths.”

Warnings: I don’t even know how to warn this chapter... maybe... “OH SHIT!” Can that be a warning? Or maybe it’s Angst? lol. You’ll see what I’m talking about.

A/N: I fucking LOVE how I didn’t have to mention a certain someone’s name for everyone to already know who it is. I mean, yeah, it’s obvious, but it makes me so happy to see the rage you all have. LOL. Maybe that makes me weird, but fuck it. You guys are AWESOME! Like… I couldn’t ask for a better crowd to be reading this fic. You guys crack me up, and it makes my heart sing! So thank you everyone for the comments and the feedbacks. You have no idea how much joy it gives me. I love you guys!! xx

“Ketch?” You called, not expecting to see him.

“What, you thought that you’d come and stalk Y/N, now?” Dean hissed.

“Stalk?” Sam jumped in, a little alarmed.

“What? No. I’m here to spend Christmas with my family. My twin brother, Alexander, lives around here,” Ketch defended, his British accent catching the Winchester’s interest.

“It’s true,” you validated. “He told me before that he’s got family here.”

Dean scoffed, not wanting to accept his excuse.

No one noticed Lisa cupping her searing cheek with her hands as she looked up at Ketch with surprise. Ketch met her gaze, questions flooding his eyes and face. “What’s going on here?” He asked.

“None of your damn business,” Dean hissed, taking your arm and moving you behind him as he took a step forwards. “I don’t care for what reasons you’re here, but you better stay away from Y/N, you understand me? That’s right, she told me about your little confession. News flash, she’s taken!” Dean grabbed your hand, lacing his fingers with your and presenting your connected hands to the English man.

“I see. Congratulations,” he forced a smile, “I guess, the best man won.” It was obvious to everyone that Ketch was annoyed, but Dean didn’t care. If he had to, he’d most likely fight Ketch to protect you. There was no doubt in your mind. You’ve witnessed Dean pummel perverts at bars that tried to lay a hand on you, or any of the other guys. You’ve seen Dean jump into fights to help his friends. Dean was a lover, but he was a fighter too… at least when he had to be.

“Who are you?” Sam blurted, curious to the mysterious stranger that his brother and his brother’s girlfriend seemed to know.

“Ah, I’m Ketch. I’m a friend of Y/N,” he answered.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Ketch, but we all have to get going,” John stepped in, uninterested with the newcomer. There were other things more important at the moment, and when the time comes, if needed, Ketch would be dealt with… later. “Lisa… if you don’t mind, we’ve still got questions to ask you, and I’m sure you’ve got some too. Why don’t you drop by at the house? We’ll sort everything out, and I promise—” John looked over at you with stern eyes that made you go stiff, “I promise that everyone will behave.” He turned back to Lisa, offering her a soft smile. “You don’t have to come by right now, but the sooner the better.”

Lisa nodded in response, her eyes reverting back to yours. Your body slumped after John scolded you for the first time, but when Lisa looked at you, you stood tall with your chin up high, letting her know that you weren’t in the slightest bit regretful of your actions. You were letting her know that you weren’t afraid and that you weren’t going to take any of her crap. Ever.

John held out his hand in front of Dean. “Keys,” he demanded. Dean gave his father a puzzled look, but did as he was told anyways, dropping them into his awaiting hand. “The two of you, get in the truck,” he ordered. “And we’ll see the rest of you at home,” he told Mary, Sam, and Jess.

In the truck, you were sandwiched between John and Dean. The silence was uncomfortable, and you felt like you were about to get an earful. “Dad—” Dean started but was instantly cut off.

“What happened back there?” John asked.

“Lisa was just—”

“No. I want to hear it from Y/N,” John cut Dean off again.

“Dad, c’mon—”

“Y/N?” John called your name.

You cowered at the sound of his voice. It was deep and held so much authority. “Uh… she just… she just wouldn’t tell the truth,” you started. “Sh-she was so adamant on making us believe that—that Ben was Dean’s son and… I just… I just snapped. And I’m sorry if I embarrassed you back there. It wasn’t my intention, but if I’m honest, I’d do it again,” you admitted, your voice coming out stronger and much more certain. Dean was actually surprised. “She was practically asking to get the truth smacked out of her—”

Suddenly, you and Dean jumped at the loud roaring that was John’s laughter. You and Dean stared at him wide-eyed and confused. “That’s my girl!” John boomed, taking a glance at you before ruffling your hair. “You’re definitely Winchester material.”

“What?” That was all you could say, completely dumbfounded. Dean didn’t even know what to say, just as stunned as you were.

“Have I told you the story of how Mary punched a girl that tried to hit on me?” John grinned fondly.

“No…” Dean replied.

“Well, this girl, I can’t remember her name, but she kept trying to hook up with me even though she knew I was taken. Mary would let it slide because she trusted me, and I only had eyes for my girl, so at one point, Mary was so fed up, that she walked right up to her and said, “have some dignity and back off my man,” and knocked her right in the nose. This was at our senior prom. That was the moment I knew your mom was the one for me.”

Yours and Dean’s jaw dropped. You didn’t know Mary could get violent like that. “Wow.” Dean muttered.

“Yeah, it was pretty great. I don’t condone violence, but that was the sexiest thing I ever saw,” John confessed.

“Now that you mention it, seeing Y/N riled up like that, was pretty hot,” Dean smirked as you smacked him on the chest with the back of your hand, the three of you laughing.

“Wait, so are you telling me that you’re not upset about what I did? I mean, violence is never the answer, but I just blacked out for a second, and suddenly my hand was on fire.”

“You’re right. Violence is never the answer, and you’ll definitely need to work on that, but I’m glad to know that my boy has a woman that is willing to go that far for him.” John smiled down at you, sincerity plastered all over it, and you couldn’t help the heat blooming in your face.

Dean’s arms wrapped around your shoulders, bringing you closer as he pressed his lips against your temple. “My girl,” he whispered before placing a kiss at your temple again.

Once everyone was home, the atmosphere was a little tense, knowing that Lisa could show up at any minute. Dean was sitting in his room, looking through the DNA tests over and over, and you figured he needed some time alone to think, so you headed down stairs to look for your phone. Maybe playing one of the many random game apps you had would ease your mind off the whole mess.

When you couldn’t find your bag anywhere, you realized that you probably forgot your it in the truck.

“Hey, Sweetie, where you headed?” Mary caught you, snagging the keys from the tray that held all the other keys.

“Oh, I think I left my bag in the truck,” you answered honestly.

“Okay. I’m about to bake some cookies if you want to help,” she beamed.

“Ooh! I’d love to! I’ll be quick!” You chirped, rushing out the door.

When you got to the truck, the seats were empty. Opening the door, you checked to see if it had fallen on the ground, but there was nothing. You frowned thinking about where was the last time you had it. The diner…

Running back into the house, you told Mary about your tiny dilemma and that you were going to back to the Diner to look for your bag. When she offered to accompany you, you respectfully declined, letting her know that it was going to be quick. But you did ask if you could borrow her car, knowing Dean would probably have a heart attack knowing any one else other than his dad or brother was driving his truck.

Mart was more than happy to let you borrow her car. You exchanged keys and ran back out. Sticking the key into Mary’s car, you drove off to the diner quickly, yet safely. Arriving at your destination, you gave a small wave to Jody as you entered. She was currently helping a customer.

“Sorry, I forgot my bag,” you whispered, even though you knew she wouldn’t be able to hear you, but luckily she knew how to read lips. Jody gave you a thumbs up and you smiled.

The booth you and the others were sitting in was empty and you found your bag on the ground with a few items scattered on the floor. While you were under the table picking up your things, you heard two voices talking, your attention caught at the mention of your name.

“This is your fault! Why is Y/N here?” It was Lisa’s voice…

“Hey, don’t put all the blame on me. You showed up unannounced, and if it wasn’t for that brat running off, maybe that kiss wouldn’t have happened,” an English accent replied. “So really, this was your fault. You came and interfered and only made things worse. You rekindled the flame, so to speak.”

Lisa scoffed in offense.

Your eyes widened and you felt your heartbeat pick up. What in the hell were you listening to right now?

“I wouldn’t have shown up if you had done your job right the first time. If you want out of this, then the deal was to get Y/N out of the picture!”

Get out of this? Get out of what? What was Ketch trying to get out of? What could Lisa possibly have on Ketch that they needed to have you and Dean apart?

“I will. It’s just going to take some time. Haven’t you heard, slow and steady wins the race?”

“Oh please. Don’t give me that bullshit. Ketch, he brought her home for Christmas! It’s too late for that. You already lost that race. Ben was our last chance at this.”

“Was? What do you mean, was?” Ketch questioned.

“Dean knows…” Lisa confessed.

“Knows? Knows what?”

“That Ben isn’t his. He was demanding me to tell him, and when I tried to make him believe that Ben was really his, that bitch slapped me!” Lisa grumbled.

You were chewing your bottom lip as you listened to their conversation.  

Ketch chuckled, soon followed by Lisa’s disapproval. “This isn’t funny Ketch. This is your problem too. If I don’t have Dean, then Ben is forever your responsibility. You’re going to have to continue paying child support. You’re his biological father! Ben is your son!”

Your jaw dropped and you felt your heart sink into your stomach. You thought you were going to be sick. That was the confession Dean wanted to know, the confession he was begging for, the answer everyone was so curious about, and here you were…

Somehow, you’ve managed to find out the truth…

“Hey, Y/N, found your bag alright?” Jody popped out of no where, smile on her face.

“U-uh, yeah. A few things fell out so I was just picking them up,” you rushed, quickly getting onto your feet.

When you stood, you noticed Ketch and Lisa standing in their booth, peeking over the divider, with shocked eyes.

Fuck.

Did you like it? Please reblog/share and leave some feedback. It gives me fuel and I love seeing what y’all have to say! It literally brings me great joy!

Say Something Nice Here!

[moonlightreal]

Winx Club season 8/25

In which it all goes down.

25 The White Fox

Underwater! Subnautica Below Zero!  Crystal Sirenix!

We’re searching for Sky, who is… in a cave!  With air!  But he’s hurt his leg and will certainly freeze before long.  The water is rising!  “Time to face the truth Sky, you’re in trouble!”

The girls swim, dodge some underwater falling rocks.  Flora sees a passage and the girls swim down it.

Water rises!  Sky is done for!  But the girls are here just in time!  Bloom surrounds Sky in a bubble of fire and they all blast up into the air.

On land, Bloom uses her Dragonfire to warm Sky up and he’s ok.  Bloom says, “I couldn’t live without you.”  “Neither could I.  Literally.” heh.  I wonder if these eps had a different writer or Sky’s voice actor was having a good day or something.

Oh wait, spoke too soon.

Bloom: “what are you doing here?  You weren’t supposed to follow us to Dyamond.”

Sky: “I wanted to be with you, Bloom.”

Bloom; “But that is not a reason to-”

Sky: “come on Bloom, we never get to spend any time together,”

Bloom: “You’re right, Sky.  But… there’s no time to talk now.  Tell us what happened.”

If this season wasn’t about to end, I suspect I’d end up shouting at Bloom and Sky to discuss their relationship like adults, just like I was with Musa and Riven.  Sky is passionate about being a Specialist going on missions, so he should understand Bloom has the same feelings about her missions with the Winx.  They have that in common.

Sky tells them about the fox and getting attacked by Icy and then Bloom tells Sky to go stay safe and let the Winx handle the Trix.  Sky is so not happy about being left behind because he’s injured.  Tecna repairs his suit--  ‘Thanks Tecna!  that’s the second time already!  I’m starting to like it!”

Tec: “Don’t get used to it.”  Heh.  I wonder if any of the boys has enough magic to learn the suit-fix trick.  Helia can do a little magic, can’t he? Maybe I’m misremembering.

So Sky can come along, “But you have to stay at a safe distance, all right?”

Sky: “Prince’s honor.”  And he does a little salute.

Elsewhere, Icy and the fox have come to the crystal-flower tree, now frozen in a thick layer of ice.  Icy puts her hand to the trunk and smiles, then sits down with the fox beside her.  “Remember this place?  I’m… just happy to be with you again, Sapphire.”

Return to flashback!  The two girls playing under the tree.  The older one says, “We could stay here forever.  It’s our own special place.” The little girl in funny shorts twirls and says, ‘But why?  The magic universe is full of wonderful places!”

“But on Dyamond we have everything we need.  We never have to leave.”

“Don’t be so sure about that, Icy!  Life is full of surprises!  One moment the sun is out, the next--”

Doom approaches, but we just learned that Icy is the timid, frizzy blonde older sister.  Well, I knew but the unspoilered would have assumed Icy was the silver-haired girl.  So, Icy and Sapphire.  So somewhere, parents named their firstborn “Heart of Ice”?  That is supposed to be Icy’s real name from season one.  Don’t quote me on where I read it, but it was canon at least 4kids canon which was the only one we had before canons started popping up like weeds in springtime.  I think the other two are “Lady of Darkness” and “Mistress of Storms” or similar, they’re not terribly inspired.  

Also: is it really a retcon when Icy had no backstory before?  Hmm.

Back to doom?  Back to doom.  The foxes flee!  Wind blows and darkness falls as purple stormclouds cover the sky!  The two girls cling to each other in panic.

The lightning strikes, and there appears… well the first thing you see is the skull helmet.  Red hair, purple lipstick, very pale skin.  Antlered skull helmet and feathers.  Necklace of claws.  Staff that’s a branch with things hanging off it.  Tattered dress.  Four ice golems behind her.  I think she looks like a hagraven from Skyrim but  she’s called the “Shaman Witch.”

Little Sapphire asks what we’re all thinking: “Who are they?”

The Shaman Witch lands and thwomps the end of her staff into the ground.  Ice spreads over everything.  There are a whole lot more ice golems now as this person advances upon the cowering girls.  Ice spreads from her feet.

Shaman Witch: “Good day little ones, I hope you can help me.  I’m looking for the castle where the queen of Dyamond lives.”

Ok those words, and her posh British voice, do not match her image at all!

Icy grabs her sister, shushing her.  Don’t move, don’t say a word.

Little Sapphire’s having none of it.  She pops out, “What do you want with my mother? The queen doesn’t talk to witches!  Because you ARE a witch!  I see it!”

Icy grabs her sister, ‘Stop, Sapphire!”

Shaman Witch: “Sapphire.  What a beautiful name.  Strong and fierce like a wild beast!  Go and join the other cubs!”  And she lightnings Sapphire into a fox.

Then she comes for Icy, “What’s your name, princess?… I hope you’ll be more more obedient, Icy.  Today Dyamond will have a new queen.  I expect you to obey.”  and she asks the way to the castle.

Icy points.

Shaman Witch and her golems go wreck the city.

Icy cries.  She picks up a last crystal flower.  She walks to the overlook-- the same one the Trix were watching from last episode, and the mountain the Winx were on is the remains of the royal city.

Icy: “Shaman witch, you have conquered my kingdom and transformed my sister, but I promise I’ll break that curse!  Hear that, Sapphire?  I’ll be as brave as you were!  And I’ll become a stronger witch than she is. And when I’m the strongest witch of all I’ll come back, and I’ll save you.”

Back in the present Icy magics the fox and creates a hologram of little Sapphire.  But it’s just a hologram, they can’t touch.  “The truth is, I’m still not strong enough to break the spell of the Shaman witch.  I didn’t want to come here, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. Forgive me Sapphire.  I was forced to come back to Dyamond but I’m not ready yet.”

The fox cries.

Icy: “But I’ll catch up with you soon.  And you’ll be returned to normal, sister.”

Aaaand here’s Darcy and Stormy with the question we’re all asking: ‘I thought WE were your sisters!’

Icy: “Companions, allies, friends maybe.  We call ourselves sisters, but we’re not. She’s the only real sister I have, Sapphire.”

Icy’s voice actor nails this line.

That answers something I’ve been wondering about since season one: were they biological sisters?  Back when 4kids canon was the only canon there were mentions of which of them was oldest and youngest suggesting they are bio-sisters, but was that 4kids or straight from Rainbow?  Who knows.  I only know season one as I saw it and what i saw was suggestions that they are biological sisters but no confirmation.

Stormy: “I thought there were no secrets between us.”  

Icy takes to the air for a mini tour.

Icy: “This was my kingdom a long time ago, but a merciless witch conquered it.  My family, the people of Dyamond, everything has been turned into ice. These totems are the work of the witch, they’re symbols of her dark power, eternal and unbreakable.  The guardians of her frigid spell!”

Darcy gets why Icy didn’t want to come, too many bad memories.  Stormy: “too much pain… bleck!  All this sadness is making me sick!”  Heh.

Icy’s plan is to get the new powers Valtor has promised them and maybe then she’ll be strong enough to bring life back to Dyamond-- and if Valtor double crosses them they’ll defeat him.  “The most important battle is here.  The reason I became the witch you know, I did it for her.”

Or you could get the stars yourself and use your wish, Icy.  That’d probably work.  

Sapphire tugs at Icy’s cape.  She knows where the prime star is!  Off go the Trix! It’s down a crevasse, across a bridge into this crystal cavern with an iced over building in it.  And there’s the star, floating in its hamster ball.  But when Icy grabs for it, it zaps her and flies away down a small tunnel.  With Icy down, Stormy sees her chance.  She tries to zap the tunnel wider and ends up destabilizing the whole cavern!  

Ok, what-all do we have to talk about?  Icy sure changed personality fast, exactly like Tinx at the end of Wow from evil to wimp in one quick move!  Also, Icy is sad about her kingdom being buried in ice but was unbothered by the same thing happening to Domino.  And in eight seasons of watching the Winx help people, Icy hasn’t once thought to ask Boom—who helped reverse the exact same spell on her own planet—for help?  My head’s spinning here.

I sense there will be followup posts deconstructing Icy’s brand new backstory further.

But we’ve got more episode to go!  Topside the winx and Sky are flying when snow blasts up from the crevasse.  Sky notices and now the girls know where the action is.

Down below Icy’s yelling at Stormy for nearly bringing the mountain down on their heads, but her zapping hasn’t widened the tunnel.  Icy realizes that the building is filled with the Shaman Witch’s magic.  So this is her lair?  And where IS the Shaman Witch?  She wanted to be queen of Dyamond but instead she wrecked the place and vanished.  Maybe the people of Dyamond put up a good fight and the realm got so busted up that the Shaman Witch realized there was nothing left worth being queen of and she went off to conquer someplace else?  I mean, a queen of a destroyed city and zero subjects isn’t worth much.

Also: Is the Shaman Witch the ice witch of the Three Ancestors, before she met the other two?

Sapphire runs off down the tunnel to get the star.

Winx arrive, not knowing any of this!  Battle is joined!  Crystal Sirenix powers are strong, but this cavern is not real stable!  Rocks fall, threatening to trap Sapphire in the tunnel.

Darcy and Stormy seem to have gotten used to this “sister” thing real fast once Sapphire became useful.

Everyone else flees the crumbling cavern, leaving Icy to get her fox sister out of the tunnel.  Icy calls Sapphire to come out, but Sapphire wants to get the star.  Icy calls, ‘Forget the star!  it’s not that important!” and uses magic to pull Sapphire back.  They fly up into the air.

Stormy: ‘tell me you got the star!”

Icy: ‘No, but I saved what really matters.”

Bloom gapes.

The star rises out of the crevasse.  Stella’s happy, but I think the Trix may have a better claim.  The star case appears for more poetry.  “Behold the seventh and final prime star revealed, holding a greater power than all the others, the star of the bond that lasts forever, the love of two sisters who stand together.”  the star flies to Icy and Sapphire.

The Trix gloat. The Winx are confused.  Icy gets all evil-eyes again.  She and the Trix, and Sapphire and the prime star, leave through a portal.

Stella is confused! “What do those three know about sisterly love?”  but Bloom says it’s not all over yet.

Team Trix appears still on Dyamond.  Stormy asks why they haven’t gone back to Valtor yet.  Icy tries the prime star’s magic, and it erases Valtor’s mark from their hands.  Darcy and Stormy hug and chant, ‘Freedom, freedom, freedom!”  heh.

Icy tries to use the prime star to change Sapphire back—and it works!  They hug, but Sapphire changes back into a fox.  The prime star wasn’t strong enough.  Icy breaks down crying.  But she promises again, her voice getting eviler as she gets her determination on, to become the most powerful witch and come back to save her sister.

Nighttime Alfea with a big moon!  The star case is pontificating, the last star has been found but the winner has not yet been decided.

Stella: ‘Four to three to Valtor!  The star case may be magical but it can’t do math!”

But the other girls realize Valtor only has three stars, it’s Icy who has the tiebreaker.  Bloom feels that icy won’t give the star to Valtor. “It’s what I’m hoping.  Because today I saw a spark of love in Icy’s heart!  Winx, we’re not just going to stand here and wait. we’re going to attack Valtor’s palace and take his prime stars. I have a plan.’

Episode end!  What a ride!

...hang on, they can just go to Valtor’s asteroid?  Why haven’t they done that already?

Also with the whole “secret of sisters” thing it seems like Icy was the only person who COULD have gotten this star.  Or Bloom, if Daphne existed in this timeline but she maybe doesn’t.  So… the Wishing Star set this up.  The Wishing Star wants good things for Icy/Sapphire/Dyamond’s people if they’re frozen instead of dead, and set this up.  But with one episode to go I’m pretty sure Dyamond doesn’t get saved yet.  Hmm.

Also, did Icy start out as a fairy?  If Sapphire said “our mom the queen doesn’t talk to witches” that suggests that they’re fairies or nonmagical girls.  It also suggests that Dyamond is a pretty magically bigoted place.  

This sudden batch of backstory just came out of nowhere with no foreshadowing and no conclusion.  My first thought was that the writers were setting up for season 9: Icy finally realizes the Winx like to help people and asks Bloom to help her save her sister.  The Winx and Trix have to work together defeating the Shaman Witch and her minions while Darcy and Stormy try to mess up the alliance because they’re jerks, and in the end Icy restores her kingdom and family and settles down to be a princess.  Except Icy is a jerk too, but that’s a different subject.  But they never foreshadow future seasons…

No.  Wait.

This isn’t setup for season nine, it’s setup for MOVIE FOUR!  Just like Politea’s story kind of appeared out of nowhere in season 5.  Whaddaya think, does that make sense to you?  We haven’t heard anything solid about movie 4, and with how things are in Italy now who knows what the future holds for Rainbow, but maybe that was the plan.