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fandoms-writings · 2 years

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Masterpiece

Part 1 | Part 2

Pairing: bartender!bucky x college!reader (age gap of 10-ish years)

Word count: a little over 8K (sorryyyyyyy)

Summary: you’ve been dating Bucky for a few months now, and it’s your final art show before you graduate, and he’s excited to see your final piece.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY MINORS DNI Bucky (he needs his own warning in this one), pet names (sugar, baby, sir, daddy), alcohol and weed consumption, tiny bit of self doubt from Bucky but it doesn’t last long, he’s head over heels guys, smut at the end, like, detailed smut. If you don’t wish to read it, I’ve put a divider where it starts 😌 fingering, oral (f receiving), Bucky talks a lot in bed, unprotected sex (protect yourself irl please)

A/N: this is my first time like really writing smut so please bare with me but i hope you love it 🫶🏼

If you enjoy the story, please consider supporting me on my Ko-fi <3

Series Masterlist || Bucky Masterlist || Main Masterpost

Bucky adjusted the cuff of his sleeve around his wrist, fidgeting with the fabric as he glanced at the clock for the thousandth time in the past hour.

He was meeting you at the final art show of your school before summer -it was your final show. You were graduating in just a couple weeks and he wanted to be by your side for all of it if you'd let him.

Though he didn't know anything about art - other than the fact that he loved watching you paint. You got this look on your face when you were focused and it was as if you were oblivious to anything else going on around you. The way your brows would just slightly crease in the middle as your eyes locked on to the colors you were working with or the canvas set on the easel. Sometimes the tip of your tongue would prod at your bottom lip or at the inside of your cheek while you decided what little details needed more of your attention.

There had been countless nights of you working on your final pieces for this exhibit being put together by your professor where Bucky got the opportunity to keep you company. You liked to paint in the bar while he worked, using the paints he'd gotten for you for Christmas. He'd come around to the corner that everyone knew was now yours where he'd make you take a much needed break, usually getting you to listen if he had a small plate of food from Sam. You'd usually take that time to ask him what he thought of what you had so far, even though he wasn't sure how much of a help he actually was.

Most of your paintings were of his regulars and every single one blew him away. But you never let him see the final piece, so he was excited to see tonight what you'd made.

After clasping his watch around his wrist, Bucky took one last glance at himself in the mirror to make sure he looked alright.

He hoped he wasn't over dressed in his suit, you hadn't told him exactly what kind of attire he should show up in, other than he needed to dress nice and that he should wear maroon. He'd had Natalia go with him to pick it out - he hadn't needed a suit in years so he didn't exactly have one ready. She'd helped him pick it out but now that he was looking at himself, it felt like too much.

He wasn't really sure what you saw in him if he was being honest with himself. He was a little over a decade older than you and it showed. He'd started sporting more gray in his beard than he liked to admit and there were permanent wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. The smile lines and the frown lines both sunk a little deeper into his cheeks. He preferred a night in, reading a new book, over a night out.

Maybe I should lose the tie? He thought as studied his appearance.

He reached up to pull the fabric around his neck loose when there was a knock at the door.

"Bucky!" Ana's voice filtered through the door, "Are you ready? We've gotta go if we're gonna catch the subway in time!"

Pulling open his front door, he realized maybe he wasn't too overdressed. Ana was in a baby blue floor length, thin strapped dress with a slit up her thigh, though it didn't look too uncomfortable - in fact, it looked incredibly soft - and a pair of strappy heels. Her girlfriend, Val, was in a pair of pin striped pants, a black turtleneck, and a pair of nice white shoes to finish the look.

"Oh don't you look nice!" Ana claimed after taking in his suit.

"Really?" He asked, "I feel like it's too much." He looked again in the mirror by the door, tugging at the tie. "Should I forget the tie?"

She pondered for a moment, looking him up and down, taking in the charcoal black slacks and matching coat, the maroon button up shirt and the black tie around his neck.

"It depends," She started, "Do you want to look like a businessman? Or do you want to look like a sexy dilf?"

"I, um, I don't know," He felt his face flush as he stuttered for an answer, "I just don't want to over do it."

Ana smirked, "Loose the tie, bring the jacket, but don't wear it."

He nodded before pulling the tie off and shucking the jacket, carrying it over his arm. He grabbed his keys and went to follow them out before Ana's hand popped up in front of his chest.

"And undo the top button," She declared. "Actually, the top two."

The outside of the building was rather plain in Bucky's opinion. The sunset was reflecting off of the large floor to ceiling windows that were framed in black, and he could see the exhibit all put together on the other side of the glass.

There were already several people filling the space, but you'd told everyone you'd meet them outside. Bucky watched the crowd pass by on the sidewalk as Ana and Val discussed their plans for tomorrow night.

He'd never been to something like this. Sure, he'd accompanied you to the art museum, but this was for you. He came to support you specifically and he felt like maybe something was missing now.

Should I have brought flowers? A gift? He gnawed on the edge of his bottom lip as he looked around. Usually there were vendors out, selling little nick nacks or souvenirs. Really just anything to make a living. And among those was typically a flower cart. But as he looked around, the carts of random items were nowhere to be seen, packed and gone home for the night.

He let out a disappointed sigh through his nose and turned his attention back to the door right as you walked out.

His mind stopped working as he saw you, time freezing for him as he took you in.

You were wearing a beautiful long sleeve dress with a shawl collar, its color split down the middle. The left side was a deep black, the right matching the same maroon as his dress shirt. The waist was cinched in just enough high on your waist to accentuate the curves you already had and the flared hem stopped just below your knees. There were black strappy heels on your feet and your hair was styled perfectly. And to top it off, you were wearing the simple rose gold necklace he'd seen you wear everywhere you went, the jewelry resting on its claimed spot of your collar.

He didn't take another breath until your eyes landed on him and you gave him that amazing smile of yours, your lips lined in the same deep maroon. You weaved yourself around the people lingering at the front of the building until you stopped just short before him. The heels you were wearing gave you a little bit of height, but he was still taller than you by at least half a head.

"Hi," You breathed it out as if the sight of him had stolen your breath too.

"Hi," He couldn't stop the corners of his lips from pulling up as he gazed down at you. "You look stunning."

You didn't fight the grin that took over you as you muttered a 'thanks' and ducked your head. You reached for his arm, setting your hand against it as you looked back up at him, "You don't look too bad yourself."

Ana clearing her throat had you two whipping your heads to her and Val, "While you do look amazing," She stated with a pointed finger at you, "It's getting chilly out so maybe we can take this love fest inside?"

Bucky's cheeks flushed and he stifled his laugh as you tried to glare at your roommate while being obviously flustered that you'd walked right past her. You straightened your back and squared your shoulders.

"Only because you asked so nicely," You bit back. The small venom in your words didn't hold any actual mal intent, and everyone in your group knew that as they laughed. Ana and Val lead the way, holding the door open for you and Bucky.

At the feeling of Bucky's hand resting on the small of your back, you glanced over your shoulder, giving him your small smile again before turning and leading him inside.

The inside was dark, the walls a dark gray, almost black. Each art piece on display had a warm off-white spotlight shining on it. Bucky expected the space to be louder than it was, just by seeing how many people were here, but he was pleasantly surprised when everyone's conversations were mere murmurs and mumbles as you all passed by, most of them drowned out by the subtle music playing over the speakers.

You took him on a tour around the gallery, arm in arm and pointing out pieces that were made by your friends. They were all wonderful and amazing pieces, but he really just wanted to see your stuff, but he remained patient while you were stopped by peers and professors from your college along the way, only speaking when you introduced him. This was your night, and he wasn't going to take that away from you by stealing conversations. He also didn't know much about art, only really about how much time and effort went into each piece - thanks to you and Steve - so he wasn't about to pretend he knew what he was talking about.

Looking ahead to the direction you were leading him before you got stopped again, he could notice one of the paintings he'd watched you paint. You'd been sitting in your chair on the other side of your living room while he was watching a show - well, he was supposed to be watching a show, but he couldn't take his eyes off of you.

"Bucky?" Your voice caught his attention again, along with a tug on his sleeve, and he looked over to you. You had a worried look on your face, but the girl who'd stopped you just a moment ago was still there.

"What, sugar?" He asked.

"If you're bored, you can go on ahead, it's okay," You were trying not to let too much of any emotion into your voice with how quiet you were being. Something about the way you said it made Bucky think he's not the first person you said that to. But who in their right mind would make you feel like you had to say that? Who would be so disinterested in you before him that now you had the instinct to tell him not to wait for you? It was unacceptable.

"I'm perfectly fine where I am, don't worry about me," he grinned down at you, trying to ease the sudden anxiety coming off of you in waves. You smiled, letting your shoulder relax as you turned back to your friend Zoe, who could only help but smirk at the two of you.

"Hey," she said, gaining both of your attention, "My roommates and I are having a small party to celebrate today, you should come. Both of you."

"Oh, I'd love to, but," You turned to Bucky, "Don't you have to work?"

"I do," He grinned, "But I can always take off early, meet you there. If you want?"

"Who would close the bar?"

"Hey, give Sam some credit, he knows how to close the bar on his own. He's a big boy."

You laughed at that before turning to Zoe, "We'll be there."

You went your separate ways, linking your arm with Bucky's and leading him down the hall where your artwork was on display. "You sure you want to party with a bunch of youngsters, old man?" You leaned in and asked, earning a laugh from him before he sighed.

"Oh, I don't know. I may have doomed myself, huh?"

"Mhm, probably." You hummed with a giggle before turning him to an open room with statues in the middle, your pieces lining the walls on the other side.

You knew the second he saw it, almost as soon as you walked in, because he took in a sharp breath, eyes locked on the other side of the room.

"Whoa," He breathed out, hesitating to take another step closer. Your nerves grew with his sudden change of movements and you couldn't help but squeeze his elbow.

"You like it?" You asked, and he must've sensed your worries through your voice because he whipped his head to you.

"This is incredible," He said while pointing at it.

It was a combination of different sized canvases all painted in his bar, placed strategically across the whole wall. Each one contained a different scene, but they were manipulated just enough to where if you stood at the right angle, they created one large picture. All of his regulars, your friends, his friends who worked with him, all there. In the center was him, with a cocktail shaker in his hands and a smile on his face.

"What was your theme for this?" He asked, finally walking closer to see all of his favorite faces on the wall.

"I chose community, family, a support system," You explained, "And you have such a strong one, I couldn't help it."

"You missed someone, though," He said, his voice dropping in disappointment and you couldn't help it when the smile on your lips fell.

"What? What do you mean?" You looked from him to the wall, searching the faces for who was missing. You were there often enough that you knew everyone who was a regular. You knew. There was no way you missed anyone.

"You," He looked at you with an exaggerated pout, "You're not in here."

You couldn't help the coo that you let slip from your lips and you held in a laugh, "Aw, I'm sorry. I'll have to paint one and fit me in somewhere."

He smiled at that, "I know where you can go."

"Oh yeah? Where's that?" You asked as he pulled you close with one hand and looking at the painting, pointed to a spot with his other.

"Right next to me."

"Bucky!" You called out as you padded down the driveway straight for him. You'd exchanged the dress and heels from earlier for a more comfortable outfit, joggers covering your legs and a loose long sleeved shirt keeping you warm.

He braced himself, steadying his feet and holding out his arms before you crashed into him. Your giggles flooded his ears as he stumbled backward but held on tight to you, keeping you both from toppling to the ground.

"Hi, sugar," He chuckled into your hair. You smelled like weed and beer and he could only imagine what he'd been missing as you squoze him to death. You nuzzled your nose into his neck, inhaling and getting one more squeeze in before you pulled away.

"You always smell so good," You had a half pout on your face as you pulled back, "It's not fair."

He let out a hearty laugh at that, "How's it not fair?"

"Because I know there are girls out there that see you at the bar and then get a whiff of your cologne and a look at your face and then they want you, but they can't have you, cause you're mine," You rambled and he laughed, doing his best to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at you calling him yours.

"I still don't understand how it's not fair to you, but alright."

"It's not fair because I wanna smell like you all the time," You mumbled before turning and tugging him toward the house.

"You know all you have to do is ask and that can be arranged, right?" He asked, watching you walk in front of him.You peaked over your shoulder at him with an amused but curious look in your eyes and he smiled. "It's kind of a perk to, ya know, dating me. If you ask, I'll give you anything."

"Anything, huh?" You cheekily asked as you opened the door to the house, the music spilling out into the garage as you led him inside.

"Don't make me regret saying that," he chuckled.

You led him to the kitchen, getting him a drink that you made incredibly strong. To get him caught up is what you claimed it was for. Though by the way your eyes were rimmed red, he'd be right to assume you were more stoned than you were drunk.

He thought that he'd stand out too much at this party, being a decade older than pretty much everyone there, but all of your college friends were good about including him. Inviting him to play drinking games, roping him into conversations he actually enjoyed, and even offering him what you'd smoked. He'd taken a couple small hits, but he wanted to be able to drive you home later so he kept it light. He'd actually driven for you, and he never really pulled his car out of the garage - it was easier to walk the city.

He liked being here with you, even if you were on the other side of the room, dancing your heart out with your friends. He got to sit back and watch, reveling in the warmth that spread through his chest - whether it be from the small amount of liquor or from seeing you so happy he wasn't sure - but he'd welcome it regardless.

He loved seeing you so carefree. Usually, you constantly had your head in your paints and pencils, working on your next piece. And he was so proud of you, don't get him wrong, but he was glad you were letting yourself go, even if it was just for the night. He was sure you'd be right back to it tomorrow - well, maybe in a couple days, he was sure you'd probably have a killer hangover in the morning.

The music changed and he watched as you stole the blunt from Zoe - though she was too preoccupied to really notice. You waltzed over to him, taking a long drag and then holding it out for him, but he declined and you passed it onto the next person before you placed yourself on his knee, wrapping your arms around his neck. He wrapped his free hand around you back, holding you steady as you nuzzled into his neck again.

"You look good out there, sugar," He muttered so only you would hear, not that anyone here was in their right mind enough to pay attention to the two of you.

"Mm, it was a good song," You mumbled, raking your fingers through his hair. He'd wanted to cut it a few weeks ago, but you gave him those puppy eyes of yours, claiming that you liked to play with it and tug on it. And who was he to take that from you? So he let it keep growing, and even though he didn't really enjoy having to actually try to get it to lay right, the feeling of your fingers running through it was more than worth it.

"You ready to get going? Or did you wanna stay longer?" He asked, shifting so he could press his lips to the side of your face.

You hummed in thought before you slightly pulled away, just enough to get a look at him.

"What're we going to do when we get home?" You asked and his heart jumped at your words. He loved when you called it home. You still were across the hall, but you were over so often, your things littering his space, it was basically your home too. He loved it.

"Whatever you want to do," He whispered against your lips before gently closing the distance for a quick kiss, tasting the weed and alcohol on your tongue.

"Anything?" You asked, and if the way your fingers tightened on his hair didn't tell him what you wanted, the fiery look in your eyes sure did - the sparks there igniting the fire in his own body.

"I said anything, didn't I?" He asked with a smirk and you smiled, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth.

"We should get going then," You muttered before placing a heated kiss upon his lips. It only lasted a moment before you jumped up from his lap and he leaned to try to keep your lips on his. "Let me say bye first, kay?"

"Alright, sugar, I'll be here when you're ready." He watched you saunter off to your friends, getting lost in the crowd as he adjusted his suddenly too tight pants.

"Isn't she a little young for you?" A voice asked to Bucky's left and he turned his head with a scowl on his face.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He asked. The man - boy, really - next to him smirked.

"Name's Flash," He cockily said, his nose tipped up in the air.

"What's it to you?" Bucky asked, taking the last swig of his beer, and setting down the bottle a little harder than he meant to.

"Well, shouldn't she be with someone a little more her age?" Flash asked and Bucky huffed a laugh before standing to his full height, watching as Flash's eyes widened once he towered over the boy.

"Maybe she would be if boys your age knew how to treat her." He turned at the sound of your voice getting close and found you trotting up to him.

"Ready?" You asked, a large smile on your face. He smiled, leaning down, pulling you into a dizzying kiss. You let out the tiniest whine and he smiled against your lips before backing away. He peaked over his shoulder at Flash whose face was red as a cherry.

"I'm ready, sugar. Let's go home," He turned back to you, offering his elbow for you to take, reveling in the feeling of your delicate grasp on his skin.

Regardless of how he handled that situation, he couldn't help but think about his thoughts earlier that day. What did you see in him?

He glanced at you, walking beside him to his car. You were rambling about something, but in your drug induced state, not much of it made sense to him. He helped you into the passenger seat before making his way around the front to climb in the driver's side. When he got the car started, he noticed you'd gone quiet and you were staring at him, your lids half closed in your relaxed demeanor.

He chuckled and started the car, "What're you lookin at?"

"You," You drawled out, reaching over to wrap your hand around his bicep and laying your head there, never looking away.

"What're you doin that for, huh?" He looked to the road, pulling out of the parking spot and starting the way home. Your fingers trailed across his chest, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake that crawled throughout his entire body.

"Cause I can, and I like lookin' at you," You lazily slurred, pressing your lips to the skin of his arm. "You're handsome," You muttered into his skin before tilting your head up again, "and sexy."

"Mm, I'm not too old for you?" He asked, keeping his tone light. He knew you'd already talked about this exact thing, back during christmas, but Flash's comment was seared in his head.

You sat up, your brows scrunched as your intense gaze burned a hole in the side of his face.

"What did Flash say to you?" You demanded and he couldn't help the upward movement of his brows.

"How did you know?" He asked, stopping at the red light and turning to you, the red glow against your skin making you look ethereal in your sudden frustration.

"Because he's an asshole and can't keep his mouth shut or his opinions to himself." You stated, "What did he say?"

He sighed, looking to the road, watching the light. "He made a comment about how you're too young for me."

The light turned green and he slowly went through the intersection as you sighed.

"If you were too old for me, I wouldn't be with you," You stated. He glanced between you and the road, seeing nothing but sincerity in your face and he smiled.

"Yeah?" He asked, "You aren't scared of being seen with an old man like me?"

You laughed at that, "You aren't that old!"

"Oh, c'mon! I've got gray hairs already!" He laughed back, getting more giggles from you in return.

"I like the gray hairs!" You collected yourself before leaning in, your hand on his leg making him jump and almost swerve the car. Your lips brushed against his ear as your fingers moved along his thigh, getting dangerously close to where he really wanted you earlier. "Plus, you actually know what you're doing when you fuck me."

He swallowed as he tilted his head to make room for your lips on his neck. You weren't usually this forward, but oh man was he loving it.

"If you don't stop, I'm gonna have to pull the car over and deal with you in the back seat," He gruffly muttered as you lips sucked on that spot on his neck.

"Mm," you let go of his neck, "Maybe I want you to." He stopped at the next red light and turned to face you, seeing that spark from earlier back in your eyes and he groaned.

"You're gonna be the death of me, ya know that?"

You giggled and bit your lip, dragging your teeth in the enticing way that you do and he knew he was done for.

"You did say we could do anything I wanted," You whispered, your hand squeezing his thigh again and he shook his head.

"I did say that, didn't I?" He laughed at your giggle and when the glow against your skin turned green he took off.

"How about, if you're good till we get home, I'll do that thing you like," He suggested, noticing how your thighs clenched in your seat and your hand tightened around his leg again. He took a glance at you to see all teasing gone from your features and he knew he had you.

You silently watched him from your seat, eyes darting over his features to see if he was just toying with you. When he got to the next light and stopped, he turned to you again.

"Well? You gonna be good, sugar?"

The second he got the door open, Bucky pulled you inside, closing the door and locking it as he pressed you against it, molding your lips together.

With the promise of doing what you loved, you held yourself together on the way home and you were good, so he was going to keep his end of the deal.

He threw his keys to the counter, hoping they didn't knock anything down as one of his hands gripped the side of your neck and his other wrapped around your waist. He dragged his teeth along your bottom lip, pulling a whine from your throat as he did so and he couldn't help the groan that shook his chest.

He let go of your neck, tapping your butt with his hands, telling you to jump. You'd done this dance so many times it was like second nature catching your legs and wrapping them around his waist so he could take you to the bed. You tangled your fingers in his hair, tugging on the strands as he walked you to the bed, gently laying you down. He untangled your legs from around him and tried to pull himself away from your grasp, chuckling at your whines of protest.

"Hold on, sugar," He muttered against your lips before you finally let him go. He stood, bringing each of your legs up so he could pull off your shoes, throwing them to the corner of the room. He felt you tug on the hem of his shirt and he smirked at you. "C'mon now, you know the rules."

You put on a fake pout and tugged on it again, "Come back."

He grinned at you, "How do good girls ask?" You narrowed your eyes at him before quickly sitting up to grab his collar, pulling him back down with you and pressing your lips to his again.

"Please," You whispered in his mouth and he couldn't help the chuckle he let out, getting a giggle from you in return.

"You're a brat," he said into your skin as he moved to your neck, dragging his lips across the spot where your neck met your shoulder, another sinful whine filling his ears, driving him mad.

"You like it though," Came your breathy reply. He sat up, holding the hem of your shirt and looking at your face. You were already gone, lost in the moment and he tugged on the fabric to gain your attention.

"Can I?" He asked and you rolled your eyes, a lazy smile growing on your swollen lips.

"You know you don't have to ask, anymore," You claimed as you arched your back to help him take your shirt off.

"I know, but it's the gentlemanly thing to do," he leaned down, tracing kisses down your sternum, and nipping at the flesh of each of your breasts. He reached behind you, pinching the clasp of your bra to open it, pulling it forward and dragging the straps down your arms before tossing it anywhere else.

"I don't know why you wear that thing," he muttered, moving from one to the other, his breath leaving a hot trail across your skin. He watched as your skin prickled with goosebumps and he couldn't stop the smile that grew on his face, "It can't be comfortable."

You giggled when he dragged his scruff across your side, "I'm not explaining it again."

"Fine," he softly bit down on your hip, "keep my girls locked up and away from me, why don't you?"

"Your girls?" You asked, lifting your head to look at him and whining when he looked up at you through his lashes, refusing to let go of your skin before he was sure there would be a mark there in the morning.

"Yeah, my girls," He declared, reaching up with his left hand to gently squeeze your breast, "They're mine, aren't they?" He reached around your leg with his other hand and grabbed your thigh, giving it a squeeze before he crawled back up to you.

Your hands came up from the bed and tugged his shirt up, ignoring his question. He sat back, pulling the offending fabric over his head and he went to throw it but remembered earlier and he looked at you before holding it out to you.

"You like how I smell right?" He asked, and at your shy nod, he set the shirt against your skin, "You keep that, and when it doesn't smell like me anymore, I'll give you a new one. How's that sound?"

You giggled at him, shaking your head but gently pulling it to hide your face, "Okay."

"You can't use it to hide from me though," he pulled it from your face, crowding you again and dragging his nose across your cheek, "That's not fair."

You leaned up, pulling his lips down to yours and tossing the shirt to the side. He rested the weight of his hips on you and groaned when you thrusted up, pressing on him in the best way.

"You owe me," You whispered against his lips and he chuckled.

"I know, sugar, I promised, didn't I?" He pulled back, sliding his fingers into the waistband of your joggers, "Have I ever broken a promise to you?"

You shook your head as you leaned up on your elbows, watching as he leaned down and traced the lines of your legs with his mouth, following the descending pants. Once he threw those god knows where on the floor - he'd find them for you in the morning - he shuffled so he could lay between your legs, pressing an open mouth kiss to your clit through your panties. A groan shook through you as your hips tried to follow him when he pulled back.

"Don't tease me like that," You pouted with a whine, "I was good for you."

"I know you were," he said the words into the little amount of fabric still covering you, letting his warm breath fan across, driving a shiver up your spine. "You were so good for me, weren't you?"

You nodded, biting your lip as you watched him, eyes following his fingers as they slipped between you and the fabric before he pulled it back and let it gently snap back at you. When your narrowed eyes snapped to him, he let out a laugh before finally doing what you wanted.

Once he had that out of the way, he resettled between your legs, wrapping his hands around your thighs and glanced down, a smile growing on his face before he looked up at you again.

"All this for me?" He asked, leaning his head closer, but when you didn't respond, he froze, his mouth hovering over you, watching you. "Sugar," he drawled, knowing you weren't too far gone to have forgotten the rules - not yet.

He started this little rule with you when he found out how shy you could get in bed. You'd never been with someone as vocal as he was, and you'd come up with this rule together that if he asked you something, you had to reply.

Huffing a breath out, you finally responded, your voice barely there, "Yes."

"Good girl," He smirked before dragging his tongue through your folds, groaning when the taste of you hit his tongue. He watched as your jaw went slack when he got to the top, latched his lips around your bundle of nerves and gave it the tiniest suck. A low groan crawled it's way out of your throat as he refused to look anywhere but at you.

He only pulled his tongue off you for a moment, to angle himself back down before this time fully attaching himself to you, burying himself in you. He held your thighs, gripping them as they tried to flex around his head. Normally, he'd be perfectly fine with it, having your legs wrapped around his head, but he wanted tonight he wanted to hear you.

It was like this room became his church, you were his deity, and your moans and cries were the choir, reverberating off the walls and flooding his senses as he recited his prayers between your legs.

He noticed your arms shaking from holding yourself up and released one of your legs, reaching up to press the palm of his hand against your chest, gently pushing you down. "Relax, sugar, let me take care of you, yeah?" He muttered against your folds, groaning into you when you whined, pressing your hips into him.

He could stay there forever, with your legs over his shoulders, his tongue playing with your center, the taste and sound and smell of you completely taking him over. Your fingers found their place in his hair once again and tugged on the strands, earning another groan from him as he buried it between your fold, sending the vibrations through you.

He adjusted his arm over you to lay across your stomach, holding your hips down as his other one released your thigh and moved to join his mouth, his fingers prodding at your entrance before sinking into you with ease.

The gasp you let out made him dizzy as he slowly pumped his fingers in and out, slowly dragging the pads of his middle and ring fingers along your walls, in search of that spot.

He knew he found it once you mewled out his name, oh James, and he felt the spongy spot, pressing down on it, your legs clamping around his head. It's not like you didn't call him James in other situations, but there was something about the way you sang it here, in his bed, that made a shiver run through his spine, the ego boost it carried going straight to his head.

“Right there, sugar?” He smirked against your skin, not giving you a moment to respond before he reattached his mouth to you, pumping his fingers in time with his tongue rolling against your clit, the pads of his two fingers brushing against that spot over and over and over.

Spurred on by your chants of oh god, right there James, please, please don’t stop, he worked in tandem with the rhythm your hips had chosen. He knew you were close by the way your walls fluttered around his knuckles and the certain way you scratched his arm as it held your hips stiller than you wanted them.

Without removing his fingers, he pulled his lips off of you, releasing your hips and reaching to catch your hands, holding them both to your stomach as he pulled himself up just enough to be above your chest. You were watching him with glazed over eyes, your lips parted and your chest heaving as he leaned his head down to catch one of your nipples in his mouth, sucking on it before grazing his teeth over it. You whined when he released it, but immediately let out a loud moan when he caught the other one, doing the same thing to it.

"James," you gasped out, "I'm close."

"Oh sugar, I know. I can feel your walls fluttering," He said as he leaned up to hover his mouth over yours, "Do you wanna cum on my fingers and my tongue, or do you wanna cum on my cock, hm?" He knew you hated when he made you choose like this, as if your brain was clear enough to make a decision. You did your best to look angry at him, but with the way his fingers were moving in and out of you, you couldn't keep the facade up longer than a moment before you moaned again.

"C'mon, sugar, tell me," His lips brushed against your lips, "Tell me what you want."

Your panting breaths were fanning against his lips as you fought off your climax, finally giving him an answer. "I want both," You mewled out.

"Both?" He asked as he moved back down, "You're greedy tonight, aren't you?"

He didn't know where it came from, the name that rang in his ears, nor did he expect it to have the effect on him that it did. But when the words please, daddy fell from your lips like a prayer - a prayer only he could answer - his brain short circuited.

You'd never called him that before - hell, he'd never been called that before but by the way he was now painfully erect and he was having trouble holding himself back - he wanted to see what other names he could pull from you. What else would you call him while so lost in what he was doing to you that you didn't even notice what you'd let slip.

"Fuck. Say that again," He gruffly demanded, holding himself above your core.

It was the fact that you didn't even hesitate before please daddy, don't stop, fell from your lips that had him devouring you like he was a starving man, replacing his fingers with his tongue. You tried to snap your legs around his head but he wrapped his arms around the backs of your thighs to hold them open.

It wasn't long before he had you falling apart on his tongue with a shout of his name, drinking down everything you had to offer and helping you ride out your orgasm before he finally let you go. He crawled his way up your body, dragging his lips across your stomach, your ribs, your breasts, leaving a wet trail up until he reached your mouth, crashing his lips to yours.

Your hands flew up to grab his face, pulling him as close as you could get him. He prodded your lips with his tongue, all but begging for entry. When you granted it to him and tasted yourself on him, you let out a long whine.

Your hands left his face and reached for his belt, tugging on the leather strap. He chuckled at you, "So impatient," before he stood from the bed and finished pulling his layers off.

Reaching for your legs, he made sure he had a good grip on you before slowly pulling you to the edge of the bed where he rested the underside of his cock against your soaked folds, groaning with his head thrown back as you reached up to drag your nails down the skin of his chest.

Bringing his head back down, he pulled your legs up, wrapping them around his waist, as he told you to be good and hold them there. Your legs were shaking in protest, but you did as he asked, bringing a smirk to his face as he reached for the side of your neck, stroking your cheek with his thumb before grinding himself down on you.

He watched your eyes flutter as you fought to keep them open, trying to keep your eyes on him as he stroked himself over you, the head brushing against your clit.

"Don't tease me," You whined out, your grabbing hands growing more desperate to get more of him touching you. You just wanted to feel his skin on yours, in any way he'd offer it. "Please."

He gave the side of your neck the smallest squeeze, watching as you reveled in the pressure, your eyes almost completely closing. "Please what?"

He thought you were going to respond with the same name from earlier, he was silently praying for it to tumble from your lips again, but what you said was so much better.

"Please, sir," You all but cried for him and he couldn't ignore the neediness in your voice, even if he wanted to take a minute to just bask in your attention and the names you called him.

"I got you, baby," He said, pulling away from you just enough to angle himself at your entrance, holding himself back from slamming into you in one go. He knew how sensitive you could get and wanted to make sure you would be okay before he had his way with you.

"Oh, sugar," he groaned out, squeezing your neck again, "You're always so warm." His breath faltered when you raised your hips, pushing him further into you. Your legs tightened around his hips, pulling him even deeper and he let go of your neck, moving to feel any of your skin he could reach, squeezing everything he could in his hands as he slowly started pumping in and out.

You sighed, finally having the friction you needed, dropping your hands to where his had stopped on your hips. He collected your hands in his own, bringing them together over your stomach and holding both of them in his left while his right one reached down, this thumb pressing slow circles of your clit and earning a sinful moan from you.

God, he loved being in you, but he wanted more - needed more. He brought your hands over your head, pinning them to the mattress as he crawled over you, angling your hips up to rest on his thighs, going as deep as he could - and by the sounds that escaped your throat, he could tell he was in the perfect spot for you.

He rocked into you, finding the rhythm that made you cock-drunk and hitting that little spot for you every time. Your pleas filled his head please, right there, oh god right there, don't stop and he swore he could get off on your voice alone as it sang for him.

He released your hands, grabbing both of your hips to pull them to meet his thrusts, refusing to take his eyes off of you as you cried out for him, each of his thrust earning a louder and louder cry. He would watch you like this all day if the world let him, it was one of his favorite views. But there was one more that he loved just a little bit more.

He slowed down, slowly dragging himself through your walls and you whined again, moving to reach for him but his voice stopped you.

"You wanna ride me, sugar?" He asked, smirking when your eyes flew open with determination. He knew you loved it as much as he did when you rode him - possibly even more if he was being honest.

You nodded your head, wincing when he pulled out of you to crawl up the bed, resting his back against the pillows in front of the headboard. Holding his hands out for you, he helped keep you steady as you took your place over him, sinking back down on to him, the gasp you let out making him twitch in you.

"C'mon, baby, I wanna see you cum again," He said, releasing your hands once you were fully seated and moving to hold your hips again. Your hands grasped at his chest, scratching his skin as you began to rock yourself.

It only took a second for you to find your rhythm, your fingers moving along his skin up to his hair and pulling him up to your neck where he sucked on the skin there. He wrapped one of his arms around your back, holding you to him as the noises you let out made him dizzy with need.

"Jamie, please," You panted, pulling his head back and he knew what you were asking for. He nodded, leaning back and planting his feet on the mattress before thrusting up, meeting your own movements at the perfect angle.

Your hands landed on his stomach to hold yourself up as he held your hips, pulling you down on to him. He knew you were close again by the pitch of your moans and moved his thumb to stroke your clit again.

"C'mon baby, give it to me, let me see it," He urged you on and you shook your head, refusing to stop.

"You first," You squeaked out and he smirked.

"I'm right behind you, I promise," He moaned, squeezing your hip when you slightly changed the angle, the pressure low in his belly growing and growing.

"Let go for me, please sugar, let go," he begged, putting just enough pressure behind his thumb to drive you over the edge.

You cried out as you fell forward, barely catching yourself and it only took him one, two, three more thrusts with your walls fluttering around him for him to follow you over that edge, the white hot pleasure flooding his system as he wrapped his arms around you and held you to him in a death grip.

Neither of you moved for a while after, catching your breath as your muscles spasmed before relaxing. When he finally calmed down, he reached his hand up to rest on your head and you nuzzled into his neck. He turned his head as much as he could to place his lips against your temple, whispering promises of a love he never intended on breaking.

The feeling of your lips against his skin stretching into a smile made him sigh, but it was the returned promise of I love you too, Jamie that stole his breath away.

The warmth that spread through his chest was a welcome one, and he knew that no matter how many times you told him that, his heart would always have that same reaction.

And he couldn't wait to feel it again.

As always, thank you for reading! Comments, reblogs, and likes are always appreciated <3

If you want to be updated when i post a new story, please follow my library blog and turn on notifications @remis-library

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x y/n #bartender!bucky #bartender!bucky x reader #bartender au #college au #college reader #bucky x college!reader #bucky smut #bucky fluff #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fiction #bucky fanfiction #mcu fanfiction

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sitkowski · 2 months

Text

inclination ( noah sebastian x matt dierkes )

pairing: matt dierkes x noah sebastian (background nicholas x noah!) cw: 18+ MDNI ⚠️ intercrural sex, biting, chastity devices (cock cage), mention of safe words, partner sharing. matt's…matt, who thought he'd be nice here? word count: 1k author's note: he made it out of the bathroom, but he's not done yet. more brain worms, please enjoy. divider by @saradika-graphics

⇉ masterpost || taglist signups || locked mini series masterpost

Matt almost said no to being involved in whatever kinky shit Nick and Noah have going on. As a matter of fact, he did say no when Noah first asked him. The last thing he needed to do was play along with whatever game they were playing. He knew too much already, when they were all crammed together in the van or the motel, and Noah looked like he was three seconds away from crying every five minutes. And Nick couldn’t keep a secret to save his life, he’d already told Matt about the whole cage thing, if not to keep him from wondering why he was being so mean to Noah on a regular basis during the tour. He knew that Noah had to do certain things to get Nick to use that key around his neck.

So yeah, Matt caved. Like he always did.

They were leaving for their flight early in the morning, but everyone was still going out to the bar down the street from the motel. Which was fine, Matt knew how to corral them all and get them to the airport on time. He had a birds eye view of Noah and Nick going down the hall to the bathrooms, to Folio going after them, and then Jolly when Folio came back out. He herded them all out the door at a reasonable hour. And when Nick told Noah that he was going to watch a movie with Jolly and Folio back at the motel, Matt knew it was his turn.

He follows Noah to his and Nick’s room, leans against the door and watches as Noah paces a bit while he shrugs out of his jacket. His eyes are wild and unfocused, and Matt almost feels sorry for him. Almost.

“I’ve gotta give you credit,” he says. “I really thought you would have safe worded out by now, you’re a fucking mess.”

Noah freezes and turns to look at him, and he sees that bratty little attitude he sometimes gets. “Yeah? You gonna make it worse?”

The corner of Matt’s mouth tilts up. It’s obvious that Noah’s patience with the night is wearing thin, but that’s not really his problem. He waits, staring at him until Noah starts to look a little uncertain before he pushes off the door and crowds himself into his space. It doesn't matter that he’s got to look up at him. “You know I’m the one who’s gotta tell him if you were good or not, right? The last stop before you get out of that pretty little cage of yours, Sebastian.”

“Shit,” Noah whispers.

Matt smirks. “Yeah, shit.”

He starts to say something else, maybe apologize, but Matt doesn’t let him. Instead he drags him into a kiss. He figures it’s only polite to do so. When Noah tries to sink to his knees, Matt shakes his head.

“That’s not what I want from you.” Noah opens his mouth to ask, but Matt shushes him. “Where’s your lube?”

“We can’t—”

“Don’t worry, I know what we can and can’t do. I already asked. We’re not gonna fuck…exactly.”

He thinks Noah might argue, and if he did he’d think of something else. He’s not here to make him do something he’s uncomfortable with. Just like everyone else, Matt knows the safe word. Noah doesn’t use it. He backs away, grabbing the bottle of lube that is right on the nightstand and brings it back, holding it out expectantly.

“You gonna let me see it? I know no one else has.”

Sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, Noah undoes his pants, pushing them and his boxers down around his thighs. The cage isn’t what he thought it would be, for some reason he was expecting something steel and unforgiving. Noah’s is a pale blue color and silicone, with a little gold padlock. He knows that the key is always around Nick’s neck. Matt stares until Noah starts to blush and fidget, curling and uncurling his hands at his sides.

“It’s cute,” Matt says, not entirely sounding nice about it. He taps his fingers against it, and then pulls back to gesture towards the dresser. “Why don’t you bend over that for me?”

Noah moves like he’s told, and Matt undoes his shorts. He sees the way Noah’s shoulders lose the tension in them as he waits for whatever Matt’s going to do. He hadn’t been lying, he had no intentions of fucking Noah. Maybe because Nick would kill him. But he pops the cap on the lube, slicks his fingers and strokes himself idly, letting Noah wait. To his credit, he doesn’t move past letting his head fall forward between his shoulders. Matt slides his cock between Noah’s thighs, and he hears his sharp intake of breath.

“Oh,” Noah glances back, and then shifts around to close his legs around him. Matt hisses at the feel and Noah smirks. “Okay, c’mon.”

Not wanting him to think he’s got any kind of leverage here, Matt grabs him by his shoulder and hip, rocks against him hard. The friction works in the best way, and beneath him Noah slumps forward even more. His hips knock into the dresser with each thrust, and Matt swears under his breath. Every time his cock brushes against the cage, Noah whimpers and Matt feels a thrill up his spine. He leans over, arm braced beside Noah’s head. He grinds into him, and when Noah turns his head and sinks his teeth into his arm, Matt is almost surprised that’s what makes him come.

Matt pulls away and Noah stays there, gasping for air. He can’t help but move enough to look down at him and the mess he left on his thighs. “Might wanna clean up before your boyfriend gets back.”

“Fuck…off…” Noah manages, lifting a hand and flipping him off.

Matt chuckles, fixing his clothes before he reaches out to ruffle his hair.

“Might wanna hydrate too. I think you’re gonna need it.”

⇉ taglist:

@deathblacksmoke @ladyveronikawrites @baddestomens @malice-ov-mercy

@circle-with-me @dominuslunae @sorrowsofsilence @collapsedglasshouses

@vinyardmauro @thatchickwiththecamera @th4t-em0-k1d @collidewiththesavannah

#bad omens fic #bad omens fanfic #noah sebastian x matt dierkes #noah sebastian fic #matt dierkes fic #.ficbysitkowski

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emry-stars-art · 1 year

Text

*banging my hands on the table* WE GOTTA PUT THE CATS IN THE ROYAL AU

(once again thank you to @jtl-fics for like, most of these ideas and for the scene at the end)

The kitchen has two cats that hang around regularly, who are both unofficially adopted by Andrew. He likes them simply because he’s a cat person as we all know, he likes giving them treats and scratches etc. Obviously this means Abram takes a liking to them as well

Andrew names one King, she’s not the brightest bulb in the toolbox but she’s real good at sniffing out mice so the kitchen staff like her. Andrew makes the distinction between her and his brother by calling them “King” and “human king” respectively. Aaron hates this. Mostly because when Andrew is talking about the cat he doesn’t care to specify that, and certainly not when talking to Abram or Aaron. Part of the joke straight up is to act like the cat is the real king. Which means that sometimes someone will overhear a bit of gossip or unfortunate news about “King”, straight from the prince’s mouth, in passing. The most memorable of those being the one time Andrew made a comment to Abram about King being pregnant again (“King’s rather been sleeping around, don’t you think?” “Surely it isn’t my place to say, prince. How many children do you think by now, though?” “Oh, a dozen, at the very least.”) and a passing gardener missed any and all context about it. I don’t know how it gets cleared up but Andrew doesn’t let it go for a very long time, it’s hilarious to everyone in the royal family’s circle because they all know how faithful and monogamous Aaron actually is. I guess hilarious to everyone but Aaron, sorry Your Majesty

Abram calls the other one Sir because of his temperament, Sir is very hissy. Instead of Aaron, though, Abram gets to torment Day. Day hates this cat’s name, he pretends to hate the cat, too, firstly because Abram is supposed to call him “sir” because of how far Day outranks him. Until now Day didn’t actually mind Abram using his name (better than Abram calling him “my Lord” or even being too scared to address him at all, which is how they started out) but then this cat comes along and Abram addresses it with the utmost respect and formality. Specifically when Day is around, just to piss him off. Secondly because then when there’s official people/dignitaries/etc around, like for meetings or summits, and Abram actually does have to use Day’s title? Day gets so confused because Abram is saying “sir” a lot, so that damn cat must be around, and there CANNOT be a cat in this room during this meeting

Abram goes “You’re looking a little pale, sir, perhaps you should step out for some fresh air?” And Day almost strangles him in front of their oversea trade partners

And lastly because sometimes Abram will do things like this:

(Find the royal au writing masterpost here 💕)

#Kevin was shocked #doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have taken a compliment on his new coat gdi abram #someone give this man compliments 😤#fan art #my art #aftg #all for the game #neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #king #sir #royal au #chibi #comic #promise I didn’t mean to make it look like Abram teleports into the room #I forgot to have him halfway in the door/on his way by #and then it was too late 😔#lol

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khaire-traveler · 2 years

Text

Deities & Entities Masterpost

Deity Work

"Deity Work" info

"All Or Nothing Myth" info

"Some Things A Deity Will Never Do" info

"You Can Casually Work With Deities" tip

"Tips For Working With Deities" tip

"Deities, Entities, & Spirits... Do You Need Them To Practice Witchcraft And Magic?" info

"What Do They Want? Hints For The Headblind" tip

"Different Types Of Deity Work" info

"How To Stop Working With A Deity" answered ask

"Sometimes Deities Leave You" tip

"Being Called By A Deity" answered ask

"Deities Reaching Out To You" answered ask

"Asking A Deity If They Want To Work With You" answered ask

Deity Worship

"Deity Disconnect Got You Down?" info

"Bonding With Your Deities" info

"Inexpensive Offerings" info

"On Offerings And Altars" info

"You Just Gotta Do It" tip

"Falling Out Of Practice" tip

"Do We "Work With" The Gods?" info

"Thanking The Theoi In Ancient Greek" info

"Fun & Easy Habits To Develop As A Pagan" tip

"The Gods Are Within Daily Life" info

"Why Water Is Not A Lazy Offering" info

"Subtle Worship Master List" info & tips

Reassurance

"The Gods Don't Judge Small Behaviors" reassurance

"The Gods, Your Potential, And Your Limits" info

"Your Deity Relationships Are Valid" reassurance

"Loving Yourself As Offering" tip

"The Gods Love Transfolk" ask response

"Faith Can Be Inconsistent" reassurance

"Gods Make Worthy What They Touch" reassurance

"Gods Cheer For Us" reassurance

"You Get Who You Ask For" info

"When You Just Can't Worship..." reassurance

"When You Feel Like You're Asking Too Much" advice

"Actually, Your Deities DO Love You" reassurance

Spirit Work

"A Bad Spirit" info

"When You Shouldn't Be Working With Entities" tip

"How To Know If An Entity Is Who You Think It Is" info

General

"How To Pray - Resources" info

"Deity Tip - Reaching Out" tip

"Deity Tip - Offerings" tip

"Pagan Pro Tips" tip

"How To Tell If You've Received A Sign" tip

"Deity Communication 101" info

"So You've Been Contacted By A Closed Deity..." info

"Deity Deep Dives Masterpost" info

"Respecting The Gods" tip

"Ways Gods Can Contact You" info

"Trying To Narrow Which Deities Are Contacting You" tip

"How To Get Started With Deities" info

"Meditating With Your Deities!" info

"The Gods Do Pass Judgements" rant

"There Is A Middle Ground" ramble

"It's Ok For A God To Be Upset With You" ramble

"How Do I Get Started With Paganism?" answered ask

"How To Offer To The Theoi" info

"Yes, Because I Want To" ramble

"Is It The Gods, An Imposter/Trickster Spirit, Or Your Own Trauma?" info

"Bigotry Is Not Authentic" rant

"The Gods Hear Our Silent Prayers" info

"The Nine Muses" & "Offering Ideas For The Muses" separate posts

"Sniffing Out The Bullshit: Spotting Misinformation" info

"Low Effort Ways To Connect With The Gods" tips

"Removing Offerings From Altars" info

"Finding A Deity You Fit With" tip

"Ask What An Entity/Deity Looks Like" tip

"Training For Trancework" info

"Ways To Connect With Your Deities" tips

"Dreams From Deities" tips

#deity worship #baby pagan #beginner pagan #deity work #pagan tips #paganblr #witchblr #baby witch #beginner witch #paganism #masterpost #theoi

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isa-ghost · 6 months

Note

was reading through your q!phil hc masterpost and was wondering if you could add any of your codebreakers/etoilza headcanons into the fray…? :3

YESSSS I CAN'T BELIEVE IT TOOK THIS LONG TO GET ASKED /LH

qPhil headcanons masterlist

RESTATES for my and your convenience (heads up, there are a few suggestive/mildly explicit mentions!!):

--He's FWB with Etoiles. Extremely QPR, Etoiles is an aro king --He and Phil started out as friends and that has Barely changed if at all, but sparring matches get a little too homoerotic sometimes and neither of them can resist the other when they're popping off extra hard. Things have. Escalated a few times. If yknow what I mean. Of all Phil's harem members polycule partners, he & Etoiles have absolutely ZERO emotional investment in the Spicy(tm) things they do together. It's simply a very intimate way of showing each other their respect & admiration for the other. What they have going on is a "*spanks you* good game, let's hit the showers team" kinda deal. They're the type of mfs to finish in bed then shake hands like "gg." Casual sex is >>>> to these two, but it happens waaay less between them than it did Phil & Fit, Fitza was habitual (pre-Pac). Codebreakers is a once in a while thing --Etoiles has 100% asked Phil who fucks the best out of the polycule bc like everything else, it's a competition & he Must win, he Must have the best dick game. This amuses Phil very much --Phil is attracted to Etoiles the same way he's attracted to Fit, HOWEVER, the reasoning is different. Etoiles has raw skill and talent, but it's the way he wields it and demonstrates it that makes Phil wanna act up. Also Etoiles is fucking hilarious. Who can resist a good sense of humor? Those dramatics make Phil swoon --Etoiles is one of the people who is best at catching Phil's Tells for when something is wrong --Etoiles is one of few people who can convince (or goad) Phil into doing something he normally wouldn't, especially if he's drunk --Speaking of Phil being drunk around Etoiles, the way he can still absolutely body someone or snipe smth from miles away makes Etoiles want to kiss him stupid --Etoiles left a scar on Phil's back during Purgatory when he killed him Day 1. Phil didn't know for the longest time, but it took him a while to show him his wings after that. --Phil was genuinely afraid of Etoiles (& Fit) for a while after Purgatory --Sometimes Phil's laughs and startled yelps sound almost like squawks. Also his hiccups. It's very rare, but whenever it happens, he gets teased for it. Especially by Etoiles. --Phil goes back and forth on gifting one of his shed feathers to Etoiles --Technically all of the Polycule vs Ender King hcs apply to Etoiles in some way --Phil could listen to Etoiles teach him about French culture for hours

And now the new stuff :D

Etoiles's dramatics can get Phil in tears laughing. His sides and stomach will hurt before it's over, and Etoiles can go on for MINUTES. Sometimes he'll keep going purely because it has Phil dying so hard and he loves seeing what a kick Phil gets out of it

Etoiles is (playfully) salty that Phil is such a My Kids Come First kinda guy bc GOD does he want Phil to be down to do dangerous pvp and dungeon busting shit without the "euuu we gotta make sure it's safe" aspect more often. He wants that Angel of Death. Etoiles is the #1 Dadza (Derogatory) islander /lh

See, Fitza is more explicit and deadass about their,, Time together. Codebreakers is more subtle. Yknow that "media literacy is knowing when something that isn't gay sex is gay sex" post? That's Codebreakers. Sparring, dungeon busting, whatever high-risk high-exertion thing they're doing together. That.

It should go without saying how down Etoiles would be to throw hands with Ender King. It would be the most exhilarating fight he's ever had

Phil's still lowkey lost about the whole resistance thing. And schedules lately have not been kind to the two of them, so he hasn't had a chance to talk about it with Etoiles as extensively about it as he'd like to

Btw he's secretly concerned as hell smth bad is gonna happen to Etoiles if more of his body becomes corrupted by code :)

They 100% refer back to the time Etoiles said this regularly, and similar things like it. The same can be said for Fitza but my god the extent to which these two are more than willing to kill for each other. OUGH.

Phil does not realize how much pent up stress and emotion he can vent out via sparring or hitting something really fucking hard. Etoiles is going to fix that one day.

Phil's Etoiles impression has made Etoiles attempt to learn how to mimic Phil in retaliation but he cannot for the life of him get the hang of Phil's fuckass accent. Geordies stay winning to this man's dismay

Etoiles is frustratingly yet fascinatingly hard for Phil to clock sometimes. It's difficult to gauge exactly how he's feeling or what he's thinking. And yet as inconvenient that can be sometimes, something about it is incredibly attractive to Phil at the same time. Which is funny because unpredictability is usually not something his survivalist brain would like. Something about how he trusts Etoiles and therefore his being a wildcard is not so scary,,

Etoiles 🤝🏻 Chayanne - Wanting Phil to take them on a flight

I don't know if I'd call Etoiles an anarchist the same way I would Phil, but either way he is SO DOWN to fuck with the Feds if it entails any kind of pvp or the need to be geared up

Ok listen I have to call back to the gay sex subtext thing. Things that are more sex than gay sex to Codebreakers: Sparring, adrenaline, battles of wit, flexing powerful gear, thinking too much about what an absolute potential killing machine the other is, watching one another be in The Zone during a fight

Phil has more physical strength than skill with weapons and Etoiles has more skill with weapons than physical strength. Ok now imagine that while they're in a 2v# fight

I would not put it past Etoiles to pull a Missa and say smth wildly out of pocket and suggestive so fast in French that Phil doesn't catch it.

#qsmp #qsmp philza #philza #q!philza #qphil headcanons #qsmp etoiles #q!etoiles #etoiles #codebreakers #qsmp codebreakers #q!codebreakers

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spaceistheplaceart · 2 years

Text

Body Swap - How Do I Talk Like That? Part One

can you tell I got a little lazy on this one? aha

masterpost

Summarized ID: Reigen cleans up his appearance and tries to teach Mob about customer service. It makes Mob nervous and he's not quite getting it. Then, the customer comes in.

FULL ID UNDER CUT:

(I'll be referring to Reigen in Mob's body as Reigen and Mob in Reigen's body as Mob.)

A short compilation of Reigen fixing his appearance. He brushes his hair to the side, buttons up his PJ shirt, rolls up his sleeves, and sprays some deodorant under his arms. Then, he comes out of the bathroom and asks: "Well? How do I look?" Mob is reading a book at his desk, and Dimple is looking at Reigen.

Reigen stands with his arms out, waiting for a response. Dimple says: "You're still a kid in PJs, Reigen." Reigen looks to the side and clicks his teeth. "Tch."

He comes over to Mob, who is still reading a "how to" book. He leans over his shoulder. "So, you think you're getting the hang of it?" He asks.

Mob replies: "Not really. It looks complicated."

Reigen asks: "Which part?"

Mob points to a page, his finger is blocking some of the text. "Well... It says phrasing is important, and it ggives an example, but I don't see how this is rude."

The page reads: "Writing is very important. The key is nuance. How you phrase your sentences can make... difference between sounding... you care, and sounding like... of a jerk.

"You have to log out first."

"logging you should... that problem!"

Reigen puts a finger to his chin in thought. "Well, Mob, using 'you' in a request can sometimes be seen as rude, like you're ordering them around." He points to the page. "Also the tone of it. See how it's a period and not an exclamation? That makes it come off coldly."

Mob looks up at Reigen, sweating a bit. He's tense, but his expression is still stiff. He looks back down at the book. "Then, um... Tip #10 says to solve problems in new ways for each customer? I'm not sure I could exorcise spirits in..." He looks to the side, thinking. "Uh... for you to... I mean..."

Reigen interrupts: "Ignore that tip, we aren't doing that."

"Oh." Mob responds. There is a sweatdrop on his cheek. His eyes are a bit wider.

Reigen puts a hand on Mob's shoulder, his other gesturing as he speaks: "The main thing you gotta worry about today, Mob, is just trying to finish the sale. Be polite, figure out his problem, get the where and when... and then help him select a package! After that, It'll all fall into place."

Dimple says: "You're making him nervous."

Reigen leans over to look at Mob's face. He does indeed look a little nervous. Reigen asks: "You'll be fine. You've watched me work enough years, right?"

Dimple responds: "I don't think he's been taking notes, Reigen. He's got a whole life to worry about, why would he be watching YOU so intently?"

Reigen puts his hands on his hips. "Fine! Alright, alright, I'll just teach you a few things-- stepping stones, really. The basics."

He waves his hand. "Ok. Posture. Stand up, Mob."

Mob stands up. Reigen waves around his hand again, the other in his pocket. "Great! See, look at that, you're as straight as an arrow! Already, you've got a basic nailed down naturally!"

"Oh, Thank you, Master." Mob says.

"Now try giving your best smile!" Reigen beams, giving Mob an example of a nice smile. There are sparkles around him. The smile is cute! "Like this!" He says.

Mob tries to mimick it, but the smile is creepy. All his teeth are drawn in, and his eyes are squinted nearly shut. He's sweating and there's a wrinkle on the corner of his mouth. "This?"

Reigen looks unsure. "Ah... could use a bit of... improvement."

"You look like a serial killer." Dimple says bluntly.

Reigen glares at him and smacks him with the back of his hand. He drops his hand and stares in shock at Dimple. "Wait, did I just touch you?"

Dimple hides behind Mob's shoulder, glaring at him and sweating. "You do that again and I'll kill you."

Reigen looks at him deviously. There's a sparkle beside his head and his mouth is curled up into a cat's smile, much like a :3. He stretches out, dropping the expression, and cracks his knuckles. "Alright. as I was saying..."

We see the silhouettes of Mob, Reigen, and Dimple, as Reigen talks to Mob for a while.

"You think you got it?" He asks. Mob looks down at him, expression blank. "...Yes."

He sits down, and Dimple floats over with a mocking expression. "Don't worry, Shigeo! All you have to do is be good at talking and read the room. You're super good at that, aren't you?~"

Mob glares at Dimple, sweating and annoyed. "No, I'm not. But Master is counting on me, so--"

Reigen pinches his brows together. "Mob, Mob! Adding all this pressure will just make things worse!"

He places a hand on Mob's shoulder and looks him in the eye. "I have complete faith in you?"

Close up of Reigen's face. He looks very nervous, indicating that he probably does not have complete faith in Mob.

Mob looks at him through his brows/hair. "... Thanks."

The door opens, both of them turning to look at the source of the noise.

We see on the top of the head of the client, who has side swept hair and is coloured red. Dimple smirks from the top left corner of the panel and says: "Showtime."

END ID

#mp100 body swap #mp100 #comic #mob psycho 100 #op art #this has been sititng in my art folder for a while so i cleaned it up pa bit and decided to post #here ya go!#long post

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cap-ironman · 9 months

Text

2023 Cap-Iron Man Holiday Exchange and Community Gifts Creators Reveals & Masterpost

This year, 39 wonderful works were created for our annual event!

Thank you all very much for participating, whether it was by writing, arting, submitting the prompts for the Community Gifts, cheerleading the creators, beta reading, leaving comments on works or guessing the creators! We hope you had lots of fun.

Here, finally, is the masterlist revealing the creators of each work created for the Cap-IM Holiday Exchange and Community Gifts event! Please remember to mind the tags and warnings for individual works, and leave kudos and comments on those you've enjoyed!

Drumroll please!

★ 10th Time's the Charm by zappedbysnow for Neverever (Avengers-ambiguous fandom, art)

When you've been trying to propose for months and villains keep ruining your moment, you just gotta take the chance at any opportune moment.

★ All We Doby Naivelittleprincess for tinystark616 (MCU, 9556 words)

Tony doesn't mean for anyone to find those recordings. Steve doesn't mean to see them. Between the two of them, there were never the right words spoken, so this just might be a blessing in disguise.

★ annex 11 by soliloquent for Cap Iron Man Community (MCU, 1300 words)

Trapped together during a snowstorm in the middle of a mission, Steve attempts to soothe Tony’s growing anxiety, only to discover that Tony had the solution all along.

★ Arm Candy by KandiSheek for BladeoftheNebula (MCU, 2329 words)

When Tony off-handedly asks Steve to be his arm candy for the night, he's not expecting Steve to actually follow through.

★ Arrangements by Neverever for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 2692 words)

Tony has a no-strings attached, no-personal information, all-sex relationship with Steve. But things can change, can't they?

★ Behind the Mask by gottalovev for starvels (Marvel Noir, 8156 words)

The circumstances on how Tony met Captain Steve Rogers on the eve of Operation Rebirth were strange enough, but the captain's secrets have secrets, and it's driving Tony crazy.

★ Can I stay here forever (I need you in my arms) by Mistymoon27 for Nixie_DeAngel (MCU, 1047 words)

Cuddling together under the stars out in the country, either on vacation or stranded on mission.

★ Christmas Stockings by superdecibels for robertdowneyjjr (MCU, Art)

Steve makes stockings for their little family and Tony falls a little more in love with him for it.

★ Conductivity by felisnocturna for Cap-IM Community (1872/616, 4243 words)

The train taking Tony to California breaks down in the seemingly abandoned ghost town of Timely. Or: After Steve's death on the courthouse steps, Tony is about to witness another tragedy. This time, he sees it coming, but even that might not change anything - not least because he is pretty sure that it's all just a hallucination.

★ Father and Sonby Perlmutt for starksnack (MCU, 5205 words)

Peter should have seen it coming. All hell breaks loose when his secret identity as Spider-Man is revealed. His parents take the news about as well as you'd imagine, and it escalates all too quickly. But his family wouldn't be his family if they didn't work through it. Together.

★ The first time I met you (I already had a drawing of you) Laslus for zappedbysnow (MCU, 2397 words)

Kissing Tony was a bit like sparing, pushing and pulling and stumbling against furniture. He had no idea why a billionaire cared enough to be this strong, and it was hard to keep in mind he had to pull back his own strength. or Tony meets a cute artist in at a Gala event, Steve tries to get over Iron Man, and Bucky just enjoys watching his best friend be a little stupid sometimes.

★ For You, I Willby tinystark616 for Becci_chan (MCU, 2350 words)

It's Steve's first Christmas away from Tony after the events of Civil War, and Steve misses him every single day. Little does he know that Tony misses him too.

★ A ghost for Christmas by gottalovev for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 8125 words)

When she died, Peggy left Steve an old house in Connecticut. When he decides to spend Christmas there, Steve finds out that it's already inhabited... by a very handsome and kind of annoying ghost.

★ Hot Rod Red by FrankTheSnek for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 37,070 words)

Steve has been single since the abrupt end of his engagement 5 years ago (despite the efforts of his friends). When he accidentally stumbles across an attractive cam model online, the idea of having a virtual booty call on hand seems appealing. The only problem, Tony is far more charming than Steve would have imagined and there is more to him than a pretty smile and a nice body. Too bad all their interactions are just part of Tony's job… or are they?

★ I have promises to keep by Missy_dee811 for gottalovev (Ultimates, 2290 words)

After a mission goes south, Steve and Tony trek through the woods to a safe house to which Tony has a personal connection.

★ i’m fine all alone (but it’s nice to be here with you) by soliloquent for Thahire (MCU, 9467 words)

Two months after the Battle of Earth, Tony, grappling with post-retirement uncertainty and an identity crisis, invites Steve on a Christmas trip to Jamaica.

★ in the storm, we stay clear by Thahire for KandiSheek (MCU, 4432 words)

Beside him, Tony’s getting comfortable, too, unknotting his tie with one hand, the other tapping away on his phone. The light from his phone illuminates his profile. Steve forces his gaze way when he realizes he’s been staring at Tony’s mouth for a solid five seconds. It’s going to be a long wait.

★ Let's to Sea by Ginevra_Benci for a_freaking_lenon (MCU, 8177 words)

Samuel Wilson, Lieutenant, Royal Navy, is the newest crewman aboard the Starry Shield. The famed pirate hunting vessel, captained by the famed Captain Rogers and locked these several years in eternal pursuit of the legendary Iron Captain, is... not what Sam expects. The legendary Iron Captain, when Sam finally meets him, is even less so.

★ loaf actually by robertdowneyjjr for Naivelittleprincess (MCU, 2165 words)

After his embarrassing attempt at cooking for their team holiday potluck dinner the year before, Steve is afraid to try again. Luckily, he has Tony to help him out this time around.

★ Lost Causes (or How the Avengers Didn’t Ruin Christmas) by Fluffypanda for littleblackbow (Avengers Assemble, 2875 words)

Sam, Scott, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Hulk go on a quest to save Steve's Christmas present for Tony (which they totally didn't destroy).

★ Love makes fools of us all by BladeoftheNebula for Ginevra_Benci (MCU, 3,682 words)

“I am doing this to protect you. I rather take the ‘long may he reign’ part pretty seriously, unlike you.” Steve plucked at the material again. “And you could’ve told me your father’s jester was nearly half my height.” The bells jingled when he huffed, making Tony’s smile wider. "Where would be the fun in that, my love?” Tony murmured, grinning as he stepped in the great hall, the room falling silent at his presence. Steve would do anything to protect his King - no matter how humiliating.

★ Magical Moments by Becci_chan for soliloquent (MCU, 5081 words)

It hadn’t been Steve’s best idea when he’d asked Tony to go with him to the Christmas market. Steve had only needed someone to keep him company, because sometimes crowded places still made him nervous. And because he liked Tony. A lot.

★ make this gingerbread house a home by starksnack for Reioka (MCU, 5000 words)

Steve is determined to make this Christmas the best one Tony has ever had. With gingerbread cookies, home alone, and maybe a little mistletoe.

★ may the angels bow down for you by soliloquent for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 2000 words)

He hides. When the Demon gets loud, when He drinks His poison and tries to hurt him with His palm, or His words, or His power—he hides. Burgundy. Oak. Shattered glass.

★ (my heart is burning) holes in the ground by felisnocturna for Cap-IM Community (Noir, 1317 words)

In the end, it's a scent that leads them back home, like Ariadne's thread in a labyrinth of illusions.

★ a relaxing morning in by starvels for Carsonian (616, 2349 words)

Steve and Tony try to have a relaxing morning in. The universe conspires to bring them to Northern Saskatchewan instead.

★ Reverseverance by Veldeia for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 24,041 words)

Steve wakes up to find out that he's gone through something called a severance procedure, which splits a person's consciousness in half. While he's stuck spending all his time in what's essentially a luxurious prison, his other half, the part of his mind that has all their memories, goes to work in the outside world. Steve may not remember a thing about who he is outside, but he knows one thing for sure: he doesn't want to live like this. Not even with Tony, the fellow inmate who's caught his eye. They have to find a way out. Preferably together.

★ Since We've No Place to Go by Carsonian for superdecibels (MCU, 5,904 words)

Friends with benefits Omega!Tony and Alpha!Steve confront their hidden feelings for each other when they get snowed in together.

★ sixth time is the charm by a_freaking_lenon for Laslus (MCU, 1437 words)

Older Peggy keeps trying to set dates for Steve that keep failing until she sets him with her godson Tony.

★ Softer Landing by Naivelittleprincess for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 2410 words)

In which there is a snowstorm, Tony has had a terrible week and Steve might be an idiot.

★ Something On My Mind by Thahire for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 2179 words)

During a team game of Never Have I Ever, Tony finds out that Steve has done—some things with men. Things spiral from there.

★ Soothe My Darker Thoughts With Your Warmth by Nixie_DeAngel for picturecat (Marvel 3490, 1329 words)

Some days Steve's go on a darker path than he'd like. Lucky for him, Natasha is there to remind him that sometimes peoples brains are wrong and dumb and she's always right... (at least always right about how she feels about Steve.)

★ Take My Handby littleblackbow for ishipallthings (Avengers Assemble, Art

Steve is assigned to protect Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, the famous inventor. Proud to a fault, Tony is reluctant to accept his bodyguard, but somehow, there's this one request he just can't deny.

★ temporary configuration of disrupted stars by picturecat for Perlmutt (MCU, 3043 words)

There's a lot for Steve to learn about the 21st century. And himself.

★ Unexpected Thaw by Neverever for Missy_dee811 (Ultimates, 3808 words)

Steve has a rough ride through the multiverse and ends up questioning his relationship with Tony.

★ Walk the Forbidden Road by Reioka for Fluffypanda (MCU, 13,239 words)

Tony is the last person willing to partner with Steve to hunt vampires. Steve should be grateful. And he might be, if Tony wasn't such an asshole.

★ where you already belong by ishipallthings for Mistymoon27 (MCU, 1380 words)

Tony looks down, and blinks in surprise when he sees Steve Rogers’ ever-blue eyes gazing sleepily back at him, his head resting lightly on Tony’s chest. “Well,” he says finally, wincing a little at the dryness in his throat. “I’m not sure I ever figured you for a cuddler, Cap.”

★ Working Late by tinystark616 for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 1632 words)

Some nights, Tony stays up late, building and rebuilding and upgrading his suits, until Steve walks into the workshop, usually already in his pajamas, and wraps his arms around Tony, kissing him until he forgets what he was doing and then dragging him to bed.

★ You Can Take My Breath Away by FrankTheSnek for Cap-IM Community (MCU, 6587 words)

Tony has been impotent since his abduction in Afghanistan. Years have passed and he's grown to accept it, but things start to change when Steve enters his life. It's more than physical need reawakening, and Tony doesn't know how to handle it. He's forgotten what intimacy feels like, and it's a damn scary thing.

Were your guesses right? Are you surprised at something? You can post your reactions in our Cap-IM Discord server here!

And finally, if you participated in the event, feel free to post your work wherever you want now! We will be reblogging every tumblr post tagged with #capimexchange in one of the first five tags.

Thank you for a great event to start 2024 on!

🖤 Navaan, Neverever and starksnack Your 2023 Holiday Exchange and Community Gifts mods

#stevetony #stony #superhusbands #capimevents #capimholidayexchange

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whoishotteranimepolls · 4 months

Note

A defense for Rayleigh, Benn, and Marco:

I think for a ton of people, it boils down to their sheer capability. Yeah, these guys are older. They've been through and seen a lot. They probably each had their share of making stupid decisions, but at this point they can get it DONE. You know that vague, general lecture that people sometimes give about "as you get older, financial stability looks a lot more attractive than a handsome face"? It's kind of like that. These guys are skilled. None of them's a captain, but they each honestly could probably be if they wanted to. They choose to be chill when everyone around them is freaking out. They're the voice of reason on literal battlefields. They're strong as hell. They've wrangled unruly, energetic captains (well, Rayleigh and Benn at least) for decades. They're out here deciding to hang at a bar or in a cabin by the mountains and let the next generation get up to mischief, watching and smiling and swooping in to help out when absolutely needed. There's something insanely hot about that, and maybe you either just really get it or you don't and there's no in-between, but to me, that's what makes them winners in these polls.

(Don't want to ruin the good reputation of OP fandom as horny freaks though, so I'll end with "also I'd willingly call any of them Daddy" cause, pineapple hair or not, those guys are physically fit and I gotta give poor user whoishotteranimepolls some new material for the masterpost!)

For context their referencing this post

So basically, it's just like the other responder. You get tired of trying to fix every guy you come across and decide you want a man to fix you, and these guys seem like good options because they're competent. They're older. They got their lives together for the most part so that they can take you on as a fixer-upper. There's no way you'd be as bad as their captains, so they can definitely handle you with all your problems and issues

Now that I think about it, maybe I can use horny jail as a threat for other fandoms because they know One Piece runs that asylum, and they would be trapped in there with you

#defend your blurbo response #benn beckman #silvers rayleigh #dark king rayleigh #marco the phoenix #one piece #anime #not a poll #nsft #spicy

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tildeathiwillwrite · 9 months

Text

Merry Whumpmas 2023 Day 28: Scars

Week 4 of this bullshit. Only 3 more days left to go! Enjoy.

This is a direct continuation of Day 6: No Where to Go.

Hero x Villain Masterpost

TW: painkillers, anesthesia mention, death mention, surgery, burn scars, mentioned abuse

Hero awoke slowly, their thoughts moving sluggishly through their tired mind. Their eyelids were heavier than bricks, but they forced them open, unease and uncertainty roiling in their stomach. The harsh lights overhead hurt their eyes, and they squinted, trying to filter out the brightness and make out their surroundings.

“Oh, you’re awake now.”

Hero turned their head, finding Villain leaning over them. They realized they were sprawled on a flat, uncomfortable surface. Villain’s head was bowed, their concentration intent upon Hero’s side. Hero tried to see what they were looking at, but they couldn’t raise their head.

“Sorry, I guess I didn’t sedate you enough,” Villain mumbled, reaching for something out of sight. “You were already unconscious, so I had to estimate. I think I gave you enough analgesics though. Does it hurt?”

Hero realized with a sudden jolt of fear that they couldn’t move anything but their eyes and head. Were their arms tied down? They couldn’t feel any restraints… “N… no…” they whispered through numb lips.

Villain nodded, distracted. Their hand returned, now clutching a pair of tweezers with gloved hands. The gloves were splattered with blood. “That’s good. Let me know if that changes. It’s not gonna be fun once they wear off.”

Hero swallowed, eyes darting about the room. The walls were exposed brick, and the only lighting appeared to be the one directly overhead, illuminating Villain’s work. Whatever that work was. Was the blood on their hands Hero’s? The only exit appeared to be a door to Hero’s right, behind Villain.

Metal clicked on metal, and Hero’s eyes darted back as Villain exhaled in relief. “Got the bullet out. Now I just gotta stitch you up and give you some more analgesics and maybe some anesthesia.”

Their words sounded almost foreign to Hero. The only thing they understood through the hazy fog was that Villain… seemed to be helping them? “O… okay….”

Villain worked in silence for a few minutes. Hero still couldn’t see what they were doing, so they gazed at Villain instead. Sometime between when Hero had passed out in that dark alley and when they’d woken up in this room, Villain had removed their mask. Their hair had been hastily pulled back, and Hero could clearly see their profile.

They looked normal enough at first, but as Hero’s eyes adjusted to the harsh lighting, they noticed the long, dark scar snaking down Villain’s face. It was old, blending in with their skin tone, but unmistakably a burn scar.

As if in response, the skin on Hero’s upper back tingled, where one of their allies had grazed them during a training session. They’d been drilling reflexes by launching small fireballs at Hero nonstop until they got hit. Once they did, the ally chastised Hero and ordered them to go to the medical bay. They didn’t even help Hero to their feet.

The incident had been almost a month and a half ago, and the burn still wasn’t fully healed. The affected skin itched constantly, especially when Hero tried to sleep. But Hero’s team leader refused to give them anything besides a small amount of aloe on the grounds of ‘building pain tolerance.'

It was all bullshit, as Hero later learned when they broached the idea of taking a break from the team for a little while. None of their ‘allies’ had responded well.

Hero closed their eyes. They didn’t know how long they were trapped in the team headquarters before escaping and fleeing to Villain’s section of the city. They barely remembered most of it, and they didn’t want to. But thinking of it brought images of Whumper, of them beating and belittling Hero for their weakness.

But Whumper was dead now.

Villain had shot them.

Villain had saved Hero.

As if in response to Hero’s thoughts, Villain spoke. “Alright,” they said softly, “I’m done.”

Hero opened their eyes. Villain massaged the sides of their temples, bloody gloves removed. “You’re one stubborn person, Hero,” they said, mouth cracking into an exhausted grin.

“Uh… tha… thank you….”

A look of concern crossed Villain’s face. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, both from the gunshot and…” they gestured to the various cuts and bruises all over Hero’s body. “Honestly, it’s a miracle you woke up at all. I patched up the worst of it, but you’re gonna be recovering for a while.”

Hero blinked, the memory of their team leader fresh in their mind. “Are… are we… safe… here…?”

Villain glanced over their shoulder to the door. A beat of silence passed before they answered. “Yeah, pretty sure. We’re in one of my safe houses right now, no one saw us come in. And the only one who saw you come to me is now dead in an alley which—” they grimaced— “isn’t going to bode well for me whether or not your former team connects the dots.”

“...I’m… I’m sorry I…”

Villain held up their hands, scowling. “Do not apologize. You needed help, you still need help, and I promise you: I’m not gonna let those assholes lay a finger on you. Understand?”

Hero nodded to the best of their ability. Their movement was still limited, but they had begun to regain sensation in their fingers and toes. They wiggled them experimentally. It was like moving someone else’s hand.

The motion caught Villain’s eye, and they smacked the side of their head. “Right. Analgesics. I’ll be right back, you do not want the painkillers to wear off anytime soon.”

Hero watched them leave. They slowly exhaled, trying to calm their racing nerves.

They were safe.

Villain had promised.

Everything would be okay.

Part 1 | Part 3

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britt-kageryuu · 5 months

Text

It's kinda Stupidly Late into the night, and Leo decided since sleep is not his friend tonight, he'll stream to any fans that might also be also awake at this time. Apparently there were quite a few people watching, though many might be in Europe or Asia for all he knows. River and Shelldon were charging so no one was really moderating the stream or chat.

His model is in royal blue sweatpants with subtle Hamato Clan symbols as a pattern, a loose white tank top with a cartoony trans pride turtle graphic, his long tailed mask, and bunny slippers that had their ears tied with blue ribbons, and little felt swords on the sides.

He's laying on a huge multicolored beanbag chair that was made to hold Raph, and the background was set to a light blue tye dyed starry void. With sparkles!!

"I sometimes wonder how worth it, it would be to just be a normal turtle just swimming in a pond somewhere, probably annoying the other turtle species, maybe bask on the back of one of Dees' distant cousins, until they try to eat me." Leo rambles while staring at the ceiling. "If I would even care about anything else? Not care about my family... now I'm just making myself depressed. Gotta remember that as a normal turtle I wouldn't be able to be with my Bunny Boy." He let's out a sigh, and kicks his feet a bit, then lifts his legs, and stares at his slippers while wiggling his feet.

Chat is filled with random spam of emojis, hearts, random messages that just get lost right as they pop up. Though an ad for Grandma CJs Bakery pops up with a note about international delivery.

Leo turns his head to the side, and drops his legs back down. A few seconds later Donnies model in just his purple hoodie, purple socks, and black shorts, walks into the scene before just flopping onto the beanbag on his plastron next to Leo, letting out a noise that was a cross between a groan and a hiss. His rear end is unintentionally facing the camera, and his tail seen drooping across his legs.

"What brings you to the studio at this dreadful hour mi hermano?" Leo asks while trying to sit up, though it's a bit hard with the beanbag, and his brother on the other side of said beanbag.

Donnie lifts his head to look at Leo with a slight glare that loses some of the effect without his mask with his eyebrows. "If you must know. I had a dream I was getting married to someone, but every time I looked at the other person, they kept turning into someone different." He looks more disturbing as he talks, "Then they turned into Dad in a skimpy wedding dress!!! I ran away, crashed into Ke- someone also in a wedding dress, then woke up after falling out of bed." He then tries to bury his head in the beanbag while letting out another odd sound.

Leo just stars at Donnie while his face cycles through a few emotions just processing what he just heard. He then leans off to the side reaching for something while trying to not get up. He pulls himself back with a couple things not mapped to a model in his hands.

"Would you like to look at random memes while drinking your favorite drink, or do you want to continue trying to smother yourself out of despair?" He offers, while lifting what is apparently a tablet, and drink containers.

Donnie quickly grabs the drink and has a hard time turning over, but makes it, and leans onto Leo who looks up something on the tablet.

They spend then next number of hours reacting to various memes that the viewers don't get to see, though they could kinda hear some of the audio when they switch over to video meme compilations. They laugh, cringe, and have weird looks while watching. Occasionally one of them gets up to get more drinks, or head to the bathroom.

Though at an early hour probably close to 6-7 Mikey comes in with a slightly disappointed look and askes what they want for breakfast. The stream ends shortly after.

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

Masterpost

I was going to have Leo call Donnie 'My Purple Twin' in Spanish, but Google translate would give me different ways to write/say it depending on how I asked it.

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desultory-novice · 2 months

Note

Noir, how do you feel right now? You're more energetic than usual

[Cheery Noir]

"I'm in a great mood! Have you looked around? The sun is shining and it's so warm and there's grass and trees here! I haven't seen a hint of snow! Snow's really pretty, honestly, and I don't mind it but I haven't seen this much greenery before! Even when I was little I don't think I saw a lot of greenery outside those 'species-something-or-other' chambers where they let me play around!" (Who? Dunno!)

"Everyone at home is always looking for green places! Sometimes they make artificial indoor gardens or snow gardens or trash gardens! And warm places too! I know Adeleine would talk about the beach! I didn't think it was such a good idea because it was probably cold there too, but Raquelle said we should try it! Wait for the brightest, sunniest day and the three of us could head out and...!"

"...Raquelle...?"

"W-Why does my throat feel so tight all of a sudden?"

"Oh! I'm wearing something around my neck! What is it? Like a necklace? That's funny cause I don't wear jewelry! I don't even have any. Oh, wait. Maybe she put it on me as a joke? She's always teasing me like that. (C'mon...) I hope it's not embarrassing looking at least!"

"Huh. Is it...stuck...?"

"I-I can't seem to find the clasp thingy holding it on... Or maybe I'm just struggling cause of these thick gloves...? I hadn't stopped to think of it before but why am I wearing gloves? It's not cold here!"

"Um...gimme just a moment, phone person!" "I gotta call you back once I figure this out!"

Noir proceeds to (immediately) get distracted by something else Needless to say, he forgets to call back

Noir's Field Trip Masterpost

@kirbyoctournament

AN: One more from the belated "Cheery Noir" pile and the surprise return of the sadly-never-to-happen beach trip from the old OC Takeover Week...!

Also be sure to stay tuned for the rest of today...! We have ~content~!

#Noir Fontaine #Noir's Field Trip #Kirby OC Touranment #Raquelle (Dark Rimura)

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daitranscripts · 1 day

Text

Iron Bull Conversation: Specialization

Reaver

Iron Bull Masterpost

Iron Bull (romanced): Hey, kadan. Wow. (Sniffs.) Wow. Iron Bull (not romanced): Hey, good to… Hunh.

Iron Bull: You using a new soap or something? Got one of those scented bath things? Because I don’t want this to sound weird, but you smell really good. Almost dragony. All right, that sounded weird.

PC: I’ve started training as a reaver. Part of the process involves drinking dragon blood.

Iron Bull (romanced): Okay, that probably explains how incredibly hot you smell right now. Iron Bull (not romanced): Ah, okay, that’d do it.

Iron Bull (Qunari PC): I mean, we all smell a little bit better than the elves and humans, but you’re just working it now.

Iron Bull: I’ve heard about reavers. Brutally efficient, get meaner the more they hurt? Warriors after my own heart.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: Are you a reaver? [2]

Investigate: Why do you like the smell? [3]

Investigate: So you’re fine with reavers? [4]

2 - Investigate: Are you a reaver? PC: I’ve noticed that your fighting style has a lot in common with a reaver. Are you…? Iron Bull: No. Guess I just stumbled on a similar style. I’ve always been good at reading people. Part of that is knowing how to make ’em flinch. They can hit me. They can hurt me. But they can’t beat me. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: Why do you like the smell? PC: Is there any reason dragon blood smells good to you? Iron Bull: Nothing I know of. Always had a thing for dragons, though. Most Qunari do. Maybe there’s something tying us to them, deep in the blood. Or maybe it’s just that dragons are really badass. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: So you’re fine with reavers? PC: You don’t have any trouble with reavers, then? Iron Bull: Not with their fighting style, anyway. I care more about the why than the what. So… why’d you start drinking the blood?

Dialogue options:

Flirt: I did it for you. [5]

General: I like inflicting pain. [6] +Iron Bull slightly approves

General: I needed more offense. [7] +Iron Bull slightly approves

General: That’s my own business. [8]

5 - Flirt: I did it for you. PC: Maybe I wanted to smell better for you.

Iron Bull (romanced): Don’t do that, kadan. You wanna put on perfume or something, go ahead. But don’t ever change yourself for me. [back to 1] Iron Bull (not romanced): (Laughs.) Well, as somebody who spends a lot of time downwind, I appreciate it. [back to 1]

6 - General: I like inflicting pain. PC: I like the raw ferocity of the reavers, the way they tear into enemies with abandon. Iron Bull: Yeah, that makes sense. As Inquisitor, you’ve gotta keep track of the diplomatic crap, the tactical planning… Sometimes you just wanna cut loose and rip someone apart. Just make sure you come back. [back to 1]

7 - General: I needed more offense. PC: The things we’re fighting these days hit hard. I needed to hit harder. Iron Bull: Yeah, that makes sense. That’s why I focus on offense most of the time myself. Every warrior gets hurt. The good warriors fight better that way. We can always patch ourselves up once the other guy’s dead, right? [back to 1]

8 - General: That’s my own business. PC: I made the decision. That’s all you need to know. Iron Bull: Sorry. Just curious. [back to 1]

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dai #dragon age transcripts #dai transcripts #dragon age dialogue #dai dialogue #dragon age inquisition transcripts #dragon age inquisition dialogue #the iron bull #iron bull #long post

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asordinaryppl · 3 months

Text

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 14: DREAM CATCHER - Episode 20: To The Outside World

Staff: We will now announce the results. The following participants have succeeded…

Muku: …

Staff: No. 3462

Muku: — —

Staff: Everyone who heard their number, please remain, as we will hold a meeting after this.

Staff: We ask everyone else to leave the room. Thank you very much for participating in these auditions.

Participant A: *sigh*... Excuse me.

Muku: … Excuse me.

Staff: Ah, you, No. 3333–

Muku: …?

Staff: It’s a shame that you’re a little too young for this, because you made the selection process difficult until the end. We hope you will apply again next time.

Muku: — Yes. Thank you very much!

kazunari miyoshi ☆: r the audition results out yet? Tenma Sumeragi: will he know immediately? Yuki: p sure he mentioned they’ll have them leave on the spot Kumon: i hope muku passes~! △△△: i hope so too~!

Muku: …

Muku: the audition just ended △△△: good work!! kazunari miyoshi ☆: good work~! Yuki: how did it go? Muku: i didn’t pass Kumon: EHHH!? really!? kazunari miyoshi ☆: their loss~

Muku: “but i made it to the final selection amongst 4000 applicants and i was able to give it my best shot, so i have no regrets”

Muku: “i’ll do my best to grow as an actor until i get my next chance”

Kumon: “is that so…… let’s do our best together!”

Kazunari: “you’ll def pass next time mukkun!”

Yuki: “if that’s how you feel after trying your best, your challenge was a success”

Tenma: “you worked hard”

Misumi: “muku, you did great~”

Muku: Ehehe…

Banri: IC. Well, one of the factors you gotta keep in mind during auditions is luck.

Tsumugi: It’s true that they often look into factors they don’t specify in the recruitment requirements of what actor they’re looking for at the time.

Tsumugi: If you made it to the final selection under such circumstances, it means you have the skills. Your hard work until now has paid off.

Muku: Thank you very much.

Muku: Actually, Kyu-chan and I were talking about other ways for us to grow as actors…

Kumon: There’s only so much we can do by practicing on our own, so we want to try taking on “challenges” outside like everyone else!

Banri: Practicin’ with the other troupes isn’t really considered the outside world, eh…

Tsumugi: Since you want to grow as actors, how does a workshop sound?

Muku: A workshop?

Kumon: Oh yeah, they sometimes announce stuff like that on Veludo Way’s bulletin board.

Muku: Yeah. I’ve never participated before though…

Banri: Ah, in that case, Andromeda Company contacted us ‘bout a workshop for actors a while ago.

Banri: The instructor is the director Miyazaki-san, who was also the instructor in a directors workshop I participated in along with Director-chan.

Banri: He’s got a kind face, but he’s damn strict.

Muku: Ehh…

Kumon: Damn strict…

Banri: Well, no one’s forcing you, but his comments were all on point, and I sure learned a lot.

Muku: I-I’ll give it a try!

Muku: It makes me nervous, but I want to take on “challenges” to grow myself further, too.

Kumon: Yeah, me too! I’m nervous, but… If I’m with Muku, I think I can do it!

Kumon: We’ll get better and give everyone a shock!

Banri: I’ll forward ya the info, then.

Tsumugi: Do your best, you two.

Muku: Yes!

Kumon: Let’s do our best, Muku!

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

#a3!#translation #a3! translation #muku sakisaka #kumon hyodo #banri settsu #tsumugi tsukioka #yes the formatting change in the chat is part of the game. no i don't know why. there's no indication they may have started a video chat #0 days since dimi's last day of leaving comments in the translation like a fanfiction dot net author in 2015 (i fixed it)

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cat-eclipse-m · 5 months

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intro/masterpost

PRONOUNZ?: meow/star/xe/it online and they/he/she irl tysm

LIKEZ?: the arts, generally (includes music, drama, art, etc), soft plushies, fidget items, baggy clothing

AESTHETIC?: my fav aesthetic gotta b scene/grunge with a mix of neon but i normally wear casual/streetwear

~ i use :3 XD X3 XP :P etc a lot and unironically heeheef // helpful when using tonetags like /j /srs /sarc so yk thx ^3^

WOAOAHIA - me when my friends reblog my posts;

~ personas importantés ~ (MOOTz)>>>

~ @26-cats-in-a-tr3nchcoat

~ @radio-to-trenchcoat-demons

~ @radioactive-mammothade

~ @buffporcupine

~ @muldersfav

~ @just-type-it

~ @555cat

~ @tinybitofhope

~ @agentldiddy

~ @fartcowboy

~ @aspenii

Thumbs.png <3

some tags i use; (i use these all the time)

#SONG SKR1PTZ!! - song lyrics i write

#M1K3-RIGHT'D!! XD - general things, stuff like claiming my own art, music, etc.

kitties are so precious :3

are my posts viewer friendly? well... they can include;

~ suicide/suicidal ideation

~ self-harm/scars/bruises/cuts/physical trauma

~ gore/blood/gutz

~ murder/violence/weaponry

~ harsh language/profanity

~ suggestive??? <(by this i mean i culd post abt shirtless gay men wait wh-)

augh han lee... yor so hawt...

OBSESSIONS; (COLOURCODE: WEBTOONS // VIDEO FORM MEDIA // HOBBIES)

kill the dragon (ktd), one coin clear (occ), my s class hunters (msch), school bus graveyard (sbg), clinic of horrors (coh), hand jumper (hj), interpretation of the shadows (iots), bugtopia/monsters n girls (idolomantises), not so slient (nss), jackson's diary (j'sd/jd), batman: wayne family adventures (b:wfa), nerd and jock (with olga + tiger) (naj+ot)

helluva boss/hazbin hotel (hellaverse), arcane

drawing, listening 2/creating/writing music (lyrics), making comics (sometimes)

you heard what he said, get 'im!!!

MASTERPOSTS BELOW!!!;

SONGSCRIPTS MASTERPOST

ONE COIN CLEAR/OCC MASTERPOST

RANDOMS/SONA STUFF

MY OWN WIP WEBTOON

MLP:FiM MASTERPOST

KTD MASTERPOST (YEA YOU LOVE IT YOU HATE IT IT'S BACK!!!)

HELLAVERSE MASTERPOST

throws up ugushxwesd

thkxs guys, love you <3

#m1k3-right'd!! xd #song skr1ptz!!#gwebby webby's chompable art #art #fanart #drawings #my own webtoon :3 #starting before i die xd #ktd #kill the dragon #hellaverse

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huffle-dork · 4 months

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 7: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Once they're on the other side: they're immediately met by a strange site. It seems to be a huge cavern filled with low floating greenish brine. And what looks like a huge gigantic ribcage of a long dead creature smack dab in the middle like a pathway.

Once Marvin sees he gasps and the merboys grab the visitors nearest to them and quickly dash them all behind some rocks.

"Whoaa—" Jackie marvels at the ribcage before getting pulled away. "Hey! What the hell?!"

"Marvin!" Mer-Jackie whispers in a hush, "I thought you said you were taking us straight to that arch thing! You put us right in the getting-eaten-territory!!"

Marvin looks freaked out, "I-I I didn't mean to put us here! I-It shouldn't have put us here!”

Jackie's eyes widen and he immediately regrets shouting. He pokes his head over the rocks but JJ grabs him and drags him down again.

"I-it must have been a mistake," Schneep whispers, trying to see if he senses any especially large creatures nearby. "Perhaps something interfered with your powers? Like—like how radio waves interfere with each other sometimes and make static?"

I don't think they'll understand that, JJ points out.

Marvin growls and shows off his fangs. "I-It's okay... we can't panic we just... gotta figure out how to get a-all of us to the arch without a-alerting mesmers or ghost leviathans or getting in the brine..."

"And... crabsquids." Jamie adds nervously.

"That's a very long dangerous check-list..." Chase mumbles.

Mer-Jackie swims up like Jackie did to look at the area. "... I don't see any ghost leviathans yet... but those things are sneaky..."

JJ also looks over the rocks. He vaguely remembers Anti showing him some pictures of stuff from Subnautica... if he's correct, the ghost leviathans are huge and glowy. Yeah, no sign of them. We just... have to be quiet, he says. With all of us, we can keep an eye out.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Schneep asks. "I am, apparently, made for this environment." He flicks his tail. "Maybe I should go first? Even with the... you know." He waves his hand in front of his face.

"Technically you and JJ are safe here. Ghost rays also live around here," Henrik says. "So... maybe that could work."

"We can form a group," Jackie mutters. "Like a little ball. The ones who are more vulnerable to the poison brine stay in the middle, and the rest stick to the edges.”

"Can't you simply make another warp gate?" Schneep asks Marvin.

"If he could, I'm sure he would've suggested that," Jackie says.

"Oh- y-yeah lemme see-" Marvin says as he quietly tries to open a new gate- they can be kinda loud. However, when he tries, he gets a shock of green electricity up his hands and he yelps. Then, he full blown starts to panic, his voice raising. "i-I-i! I can't m-make another gate!!"

"Shit- I didn't think we were near the no-warp zone!" Mer-Jackie curses.

"I-I don't think we are! I just... i-I can't make one!" Marvin screeches in distress. Jamie surges over and grabs his arm, trying to shush him. Chase also comes over and tries to quiet him, "M-Marv calm down, we'll figure something out!"

Alt suddenly pales and curses, "...ah shit- m-maybe my glitches...?"

"Alt!" Bro hisses, "I told you!!"

"I know I know I'm sorry!" Alt whispers.

Marvin doesn't seem to hear his brothers though as he looks up at Alt and suddenly snarls. "Y-You! Your f-freaky powers messed with mine!" He then bursts out from where Chase and Jamie are holding him and goes to tackle Alt to the ground with a yell. Alt squeaks in response and tries to push him off but he's a bit freaked out. "I-I didn't think it'd hurt you! I-I'm sorry!"

Jackie blanches and rushes over to Marvin and Alt. The mandibles on his back instinctively shoot out and grab Marvin on either side. "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything!" Jackie says, trying to pull Marvin back.

Jackie, be careful! JJ says, also jumping in to help. He casts a protective shield in between Alt and Marvin, hoping to push Marvin's hands away.

"I think JJ was right earlier, I think we should be quiet!" Schneep says, trying to be heard without raising his voice too much. He keeps trying to sense nearby souls.

Marvin is snarling like a terrifying predator eyes trying to go pink behind his mask. Alt covers his head and then blinks as JJ shields him.

Bro gets in between Marvin and Alt and pushes Marvin back with a snarl. “Back off!”

Anti and Mer Jackie growls at seeing Marvin get pushed and Chase has to grab them both to make sure they don’t go after them too.

Then, there’s a terrifying roar coming from the expanse before them- the area starting to show a blue glow.

Bro freezes, “…that’s bad news isn’t.”

The way Marvin and Reaper Jackie freeze seem to answer their questions.

Jackie lets go of Marvin and backs away at the sound of the roar.

Ghost? JJ guesses.

Schneep's eyes widen. "That feels big." He feels around the rocks. "I-is there anywhere to hide?! Any—any small crevices? If not, fucking run."

“Marvin, which way is the arch?!” Henrik asks sharply.

“I don’t know!” Marvin squeaks, “That’s why I was hoping we’d just warp there! I haven’t been over there lately this place is like a fucking maze!!”

“S-So run then?!” Bro asks.

“Swim!” Mer-Jackie yells as a bright blue horrifying fish with a hammerhead like head barrels towards them through the murky water, trailing blue like ribbons and roaring so loud they can feel its vibrations in the water.

Bro sees this terrifying thing coming and for a second he freezes- but he sees Henrik is too. Without thinking he barrels into Hen right as this thing sails over top of them and ends up crashing the two of them back down into one of the rocks. Jackie and JJ dive down, swimming as fast as they possibly can away. Meanwhile, Schneep is gone the moment he feels the vibration of the roar. Just completely out of sight, having leapt away. Alt glitches away and has to right himself as he feels a bit dizzy doing so.

The rest of the boys manage to dodge okay while Marvin panickedly look around. He spies something in the distance and spurs down, "I-I'm starting to remember! Swim down towards that smaller set of ribs!" Bro helps Henrik up and grabs his hand to help him follow. Mer-Jackie does the same with Anti and Chase grabs Jamie- just because their tails make them a bit slow. Jackie and JJ swim after them. Schneep waits until the group is on the very end of his soul sensing range and then leaps over to them from his hiding spot in that strange cooler section of water near the ground.

Luckily for them, the Ghost Leviathan is clumsy and sped straight past them- too big to turn back around to chase them in time. By the time it does, the merboys have all swam down into a lower section of the briney falls. They all stop to catch their breath.

"F-Fucking hell..." Alt gasps, "T-that thing was terrifying...!"

“That was so loud," Schneep gasps.

If I wasn't running on pure adrenaline and terror that might have been cool, JJ says. But again. Pure adrenaline and terror.

"I-is everyone okay?" Jackie asks, looking around. "Schneep? You kind of disappeared for a moment there."

"I was in a cooler section of water, I think it was perhaps some sort of mist," Schneep says. "It must have hid me."

“That is the brine-“ Henrik explains. “Ah but no worries for you… it can be your protection here. It is too close to the ground for the ghosts to go towards.”

"The brine..." Schneep repeats. "Brine. Brine. Briiiine." He giggles a little. "A funny word."

"Oh god the near-death experience made you loopy," Jackie comments.

"I tend to disassociate when too upset, actually," Schneep says casually. And then break down, but that doesn't need to be shared. "I just think it is a funny word."

“You sound like Alt when he’s loopy after glitching too much.” Bro snickers. Alt frowns and flicks Bro. Then he laughs. “It is a fun word though- don’t get to say it often. Briiiiine-“

“Okay that’s enough,” Chase laughs.

Alt swallows and then timidly goes up to Marvin. “…I’m so sorry I caused this I… is there any way I can help?”

Marvin looks away and rubs his wrists. “…we probably need to just… give it a bit… I-I self repair… whatever you did will get out of my system somehow…”

"Sorry I grabbed you, too," Jackie mutters. "Panicked."

No harm done, it all seems! JJ signs cheerfully.

“Let’s not get too dragged down gang,” Bro tries to say lightly. “We can get through this! Who knows how to navigate down here?”

“Probably Marvin… the rest of us don’t come here…” Anti grumbles. He seems to be swimming a bit slower as he wraps his arms around himself, “p-probably because it’s f-fucking freezing down here…”

“Is it?” Marvin says, flicking his tails. “… I never noticed.”

“It is kinda chilly…” Chase agrees, rubbing his arms.

“I think it’s bracing!” Mer-Jackie grins. Anti whacks him with one of his tails.

JJ shrugs. Seems perfectly fine to me.

"Me too," Schneep adds.

Jackie frowns. "Maybe it's a bit chilly."

"Perhaps it has to do with the temperatures our, ah... fish... samples? The temperatures they can live in," Schneep says.

"Then why am I cold?" Jackie asks. "I thought I was some arctic creature!"

You're also a lobster, JJ says, amused.

"Ssshut!"

“What’s a lob-ster?” Jamie whispers with a tilted head.

“Some weird human thing I’m guessing.” Anti grunts.

Marvin stiffens a bit and his eyes turn slightly pink as he drones, “The chelicerate is a predatory animal that patrols the warmer waters found near thermal vents.”

“Ohhh so that’s why!” Mer-Jackie grins, “Your species hunts in warmer waters. Guess not everything is icy over there.”

“Huh. Guess that explains it,” Jackie says. “Weird that there’s some animal that sticks to a vent when the rest of the water is so cold. Like—you think they’d evolve to tolerate the cold, then.”

“There are animals like that on Earth.” Schneep shrugs. “I suppose it just shows that if life is possible, it will find a way.”

“S’also why i’m miserable…” Anti pouts. “I need a thermal vent…”

“I think there’s some on the way, Anti.” Marvin tries to smile at him. “C’mon.”

Marvin starts to lead them down further into the cave, swimming right above the brine as it swirls like a cloud on the sea floor. The area is beautiful in an eerie way. Above them they can see ghost rays swimming, letting out an ethereal ghostly song.

Alt grins and nudges JJ, “Look! It’s you!”

JJ looks up at the ghost rays. “Ooooo.” He waves at them, grinning wide. Prettyyyyy.

“So how far d’you think we are from that place?” Jackie asks. “And can you describe the stuff to avoid? Heard you mention… mesmers and… crabsquids?”

“I think a crabsquid is described in its name,” Schneep points out.

“Hey, you never know.”

“I mean other Schneep’s not wrong,” Chase laughs, “They’re… big creatures with long legs like a crab. They emit emp blasts.”

Alt pales at this, “Oh they do? …gotta make sure to avoid that…”

“Mesmers are smaller but I think they stay mainly around those bones…” Mer-Jackie says as he looks around.

“There are also the river prowlers…” Henrik points out. “But maybe they will avoid us because we have one with us?”

The corridor is starting to get darker, bits of bright blue light shining on the cave walls.

But suddenly… there’s the sound of a drone of some sort… and something foreign calling out to the group. Strange creatures… come closer… don’t be afraid… come over this way….

Schneep stops swimming momentarily. “Do you all hear that?” It’s a voice. How unusual… he doesn’t think he can sense any strong souls. He turns to face that way just in case.

“Hmm?” Jackie also turns towards the pull.

JJ frowns and quickly shoves the voice into the back of his head. Anything that talks to you like that can’t be good.

Anti hears the voice in his head and freezes, then shrinks up and curls to put his hands over his ears. “No! No no g-get out!”

Henrik quickly swims over to see what’s wrong. “A-Anti??”

Alt shudders as he hears the voice and hunches up, his tail starting to light up with sparks.

Those who feel the pull turn to see creatures with beautiful swirling wings flowing out of the darker water, coming towards them. Once they hear it and look at the colors- it’s impossible to turn away. They feel themselves drawn forward towards that beautiful light. It’s just… so pretty…

As the boys are drawn in they see the water around their vision swirling with beautiful pastels green purple and blues- the effect getting stronger the more they turn towards the creatures. Stronger the closer they get… they want to get closer.

Oh… that’s beautiful. Jackie has never seen anything so beautiful. He grabs onto Schneep’s shoulder. “Wish you could see this,” he whispers.

Schneep frowns. “Why? What is happening?”

JJ looks back at the others. His eyes widen. No no no! It’s just like those spirals in that SCLERA place! He darts forward, keeping his eyes down and squinted, and grabs onto Jackie, trying to pull him back. But Jackie just frowns in annoyance and shoves him away without even looking.

Bro looks over and gets drawn into the swirls of color. “…wow…” he laughs dazedly and starts to swim forward. The Mesmer beckons him closer.

Marvin and Reaper Jackie, who are leading the pack, look back in confusion as the group starts to disperse. “What are you guys doing?” Marvin squeaks in concern.

Henrik gasps, “It is a swarm of mesmers! E-everyone do not listen and do not look! Try to get away from them!”

But, it seems Chase and Jamie have fallen for the voices too. Floating together towards one Mesmer, Bro going towards another.

The Mesmer drawing Jackie in seems pleased. That’s it child… very good… don’t resist… don’t look away.. come closer… let me show you something beautiful. The mesmers drone to their prey.

As Jackie nears it- it suddenly opens up its mouth and 4 sharp toothed tentacles try to snap shut around his face.

JJ cries out. Schneep, get him away from there! he signs. He backs up, concentrating, and sends out a spray of magic, aiming mostly for the one that's trying to eat Jackie but hoping to catch others in the crossfire. But nerves cause his magic to go wide by a long shot.

Schneep leaps out of Jackie's grip and grabs his tail from behind, pulling him away and downward.

Jackie yelps and finally looks away, down at Schneep. "Dude, what the fuck?!"

"Try to think clearly, Jackie!" Schneep shouts. "Do you think this is normal?!"

Alt doesn’t know why he’s able to avoid this so well but he dives towards the Mesmer drawing in Bro and tries to shock it.

The Mesmer trying to draw in Bro dodges Alt’s attack and swims away, dragging Bro to follow closely after it. He grins in delight and doesn’t take his eyes away.

“C-Chase! Wake up!” Alt tries to call, grabbing onto Bro’s arm. But he makes the mistake of looking up and- fuck! Another comes up a bit closer to get in Alt’s line of sight- and Alt looks directly at it. He feels his senses leave him completely. The drone overtaking everything else.

yes… don’t resist now… come come… I’m very friendly… come see my beauty…

Alt’s shoulders slump and he breathes out, relaxing. “Okay…” he lets go of Bro and starts to swim dazedly towards the one pulling him away.

“No! D-Don’t!” Marvin tries to warn but he swims back- terrified of the swarm as it brings back memories. Without his warps- he feels powerless.

JJ sees Alt get taken in out of the corner of his eyes. He gasps and sends a spear of icy magic towards that mesmer.

The ice shreds through the Mesmer, leaking yellow blood into the water as its fishy body is cut in half. Alt stops swimming but- his eyes are still swirling with its colors. He still feels entranced. He doesn’t seem to notice anything else around him. He can’t even bring himself to keep his tail swimming so he starts to fall through the water.

Mer-Jackie roars and tries to tackle the ones targeting his brothers. As ReaperJackie tries to tackle the Mesmer drawing in Chase and JJ- another one gets right in his face. His eyes immediately start to swirl and he lowers his mandibles and hands.

oh… we remember you strange reaper… you were quite the tasty meal… will you let us feed on you again? In exchange we will let you gaze upon our beauty for as long as you can…

Mer-Jackie breathes, his head lolling a bit on his neck. “Y…yeah…” he whispers- going in a tight circle as the Mesmer makes its prey follow it docilely like a game.

“J-Jackie!” Henrik shouts. Anti is still too freaked out to do anything- his body shaking against his will.

Bro gets close to his Mesmer- staring at its wings with delight in his eyes- its mouth starts to spread apart- fangs glistening in the dull cave light but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Jackie shakes his head. Huh? What was he doing? Schneep has pulled him close to the ground, almost to the brine, and as he looks up he sees the teeth and fangs on the mesmers. "Holy shit!" he gasps. "Th-they're gonna—we got to do something!"

Schneep reaches to a side for a weapon—and pulls out his trusty scissors. "Tell me where they are and I will go there."

"You can tell where people are, right?!" Jackie says urgently.

"Yes!"

"There's one right in front of Bro, i-it's the one closest to someone, it's about to fucking eat him!"

"Got it!" Schneep disappears, and reappears in the water right above the mesmer, stabbing downwards. Schneep manages to skewer the Mesmer and it shrieks in anger and tries to wrap a tentacle around Schneep’s arm.

Jackie looks around wildly, trying not to look directly at anything. He sees his hybrid counterpart try and get close to one of the mesmers, only to get caught in its grip. He has to do something! Closing his eyes, he charges through the water with a yell, hoping to pin the mesmer.

By some miracle, Jackie’s hybrid instincts kick in and his mandible crushes the Mesmer into one of the stalagmites. Mer-Jackie is still entranced though, just slowing to a halt and sinking a bit through the water- not knowing where else to swim.

Marvin yelps and dives down to catch him, holding his twin close to his chest.

Schneep stabs the mesmer’s tentacle as soon as it latches onto him, then leaps behind Bro. He grabs onto him and starts pulling the same way he did with Jackie. JJ grabs onto Alt where he’s floating and starts swimming away. Jackie backs away from the crushed mesmer, breathing heavily, stunned at his own capabilities. He sees the other two and Marvin grabbing the mesmer victims and dives down next to Marvin to help.

The Mesmer Schneep attacks screeches in pain and swims away. And soon, Bro is able to shake out of the trance and blinks up at Schneep as they’re pulled away. “H-huh? Schneep?”

Chase and Jamie have neared theirs, Chase reaching out towards it. The Mesmer snaps out its jaw and bites down hard on Chase’s arm. He’s snapped out of trance as he yells in pain. This is enough to make Anti uncurl and roar in anger. Sending a fire ball out to blast and kill their Mesmer. Jamie blinks in slow dazed confusion and Chase tries to scoop him up, looking for a place to take everyone to hide.

Henrik seems to pick up on this and looks around and points down below where the brine makes a couple waterfalls, seeing a plateau of safe rock just below the streams. “D-Down there! Hide behind the brine, I think there’s a cave there!”

Chase and Marvin nod and hurry down, curving around the stream and finding safety behind the falls. As soon as the three others hear Henrik shout, they move in that direction as well, JJ taking Alt, Schneep taking Bro, and Jackie taking mer-Jackie- seeing Marvin have some difficulty carrying him.

They’re all taken down under the falls and luckily, enough of them glow enough to shed at least some light in the shallow cave.

Henrik leads in with Anti and sighs shakily. “W-Who’s hurt?”

“I-I got bit,” Chase says and Henrik swims over and rummages through his bag, finding some creepvines and wrapping up Chase’s hand.

Marvin is shaking but stays outside the cave to watch out for any more signs of trouble.

Bro settles to the ground, still a bit disoriented and spacey. “What… what happened…?”

“Mesmers…” Henrik snarls, showing a bit of anger.

Jackie shivers. “I-I thought you said those things stick around the bones. I figured we’d gone far enough away from them to not have to fucking worry.”

“Maybe we weren’t far enough away… or we were too interesting to ignore…” Chase mumbles, frowning at the still tranced Jamie.

JJ shakes his head. I don’t like that. I don’t like things that… mess with your head.

Jackie gives him a strange look. “Uh… you mentioned… something called Distorter once…”

JJ pales a little. Lets just say that if Distorter was a hybrid, he would definitely be one of those things.

“I see…” Jackie mutters.

“I-I think we are all safe?” Schneep says, holding tight to his scissors still.

Bro sees Alt still tranced in JJ’s arms and he hurries over, trying to shake Alt awake. “A-Alt?! Alt hey!” But Alt’s head just dazedly lolls backs and forth. “T-The fuck?!”

Anti looks at JJ with probably the most sympathetic look he’s given yet. He then swims over to Jamie in Chase’s arm and frowns, “I don’t get it… w-we killed those fuckers right? Why are they still… caught in this?”

Jackie frowns. "Maybe—maybe we just need to snap them out of it?"

"If Alt is not being snapped out by Bro shouting at him, what will snap him out of it?" Schneep asks.

"Uhhhh... we could slap him?"

Schneep frowns disapprovingly.

JJ looks out through the brine waterfall, checking that there are no threats. There aren't, but something could show up at any moment. He pulls back. I think we should move on. We can carry them with us.

Henrik snaps out of his focus as he finished Chase’s arm and nods to Jackie. “A-Actually yes! The only thing I have found to work is… t-temporary pain. I do not know why… but the trance only lingers if a Mesmer is killed while their victim is in trance.”

"Huh. Weird." Jackie pauses for a moment. "Maybe it's something like... the signal is able to continue in their head? Sort of... sustain itself? I dunno, I know there are a lot of mental magick spells like that.

“That is a good theory…” Henrik muses.

“Anyway." Jackie swims over to Alt. "Sorry, Alt." And he slaps him across the face.

Alt immediately exclaims in surprise and grabs his cheek, the colors immediately clearing from his eyes. “Ow! Jesus!”

Schneep can't help but laugh a little at the sudden slap noise. "Ah—sorry, that is not funny. Just—the noise without context."

“Oh thank god…” Bro sighs in relief. “T-Thanks Jackie I dunno if I could have done that.”

Alt massages his cheek with a confused frown then sits up with a gasp. “T-That weird fish! It.. it-“ He looks visibly pale as he swallows shakily. “…f-fucking god damn it…”

"No problem." Jackie nods at Bro. "You okay, Alt? I don't think I hit you too hard, but I also feel stonger in this merman form so I might not be a good judge.”

Alt tries to nod but he’s visibly shaken. “Y-Yeah I’m… it s-stung like a bitch but I’m… I’m fine.” Bro frowns and brings in Alt for a very gentle hug. Alt shudders and flicks his tail to try not to spiral.

Anti frowns at Jamie and then slaps one of his tentacles against his face. Jamie makes a noise of surprise then sits up, blinking up at his brothers in confusion.

Mer Jackie is still under too but he seems to slightly be waking up, not down as long as the others. “…m..Marv…?” He mumbles, blinking like it’s still kinda hard to see.

"Oh! Hey, other me!" Jackie looks back at mer-Jackie. "Marvin? He wants you!"

Marvin perks up and swims back quickly to his brother, bending down. “J-Jackie?? Are you okay?”

Mer-Jackie grins dazedly, “Didn’t get bit this time…!”

Marvin snorts and pushes his face away playfully, “Yeah… thank the stars we weren’t alone again…” Marvin sighs and lightly taps mer- Jackie’s cheek to wake him up too and the colors start to completely clear from his eyes. He pushes himself up and shakes himself out like a dog. “Fuck dude! I hate fucking mesmers…”

“….t-those things are really strong for s-something so small…” Bro mumbles.

“It is because their calls can reach your mind…” Henrik says with a shudder. “They are smarter than most prey here… maybe not as smart as a sea emperor or a warper but… smart enough to draw fish into their thrall.”

"Not smart enough for me to sense their souls, apparently," Schneep grumbles unhappily. But if those emperors and warpers are stronger, he'll probably be able to sense them, at least?

Do you think covering our ears would protect us from mesmers? JJ asks. I know it's not a good idea to cover your ears while swimming somewhere dangerous, but I'm just trying to establish how they work.

Schneep nods. "Rules are always good to know."

“I… I think we’re for sure out of their territory though…” Marvin says quietly, “I think I-I’m starting to remember the way. We should be safe…” he looks to JJ and shrugs, “Covering your ears won’t work against them… cuz it’s in y-your head… and to be honest it’s about to get kinda dark … but only for a little bit. There’s river prowlers ahead and… i-I think that’s it until we swim up…”

“We just gotta try our best to lay low and not draw too much attention,” Mer-Jackie says with a shake of his tail as he swims up from the ground. “…sadly though just us being here brings a lot of attention… so we just gotta be brutal enough to send fish swimming’ scared~!” He grins.

"Hell yeah, I can be brutal." Jackie flashes a dark grin. "Let's move. The sooner we head out, the sooner we get there."

JJ nods slowly. That does make sense... Schneep, perhaps you should stay in front? Maybe it'll discourage the river prowlers from getting close to us.

"I'm willing to do that, but someone should be next to me," Schneep says.

Marvin nods, “I’ll stay by other Schneep then… Since I mostly know the way.”

“Alright- let’s keep it going then!” Bro tries to say brightly, hoping his enthusiasm is contagious. Mer-Jackie grins at him and nods.

The boys all filter back out into the main cavern past the brine and Marvin starts to lead them down a bit more in the lower parts. The brine still flows but- now there seems to be a big island below surrounded by the mist. Big funnels puff warmer water into this area like heated vents. And strangely to the right are large glowing pillars… and what looks like massive metal cables sunk into the cavern walls. And under them, by the vents and in between some more falling brine… is a decently sized skeleton. Not the size of the rib cages they saw… but pretty big. This thing must have been at least 100 meters…! It looks big enough for you to even swim inside of it.

"Whoaaa," Jackie whistles. He's so tempted to swim through that skeleton but they have to stay focused. "I so wish you could see this, Schneep." He diverts down to one of the funnels, enjoying the warmer waters.

"Describe it for me," Schneep says.

"Well, this whole place has been pretty green. The brine is green, and it looks like rivers and waterfalls. There are these glowing pillar things and this huge ass skeleton!"

And these strange cables, JJ adds.

Alt looks down at the skeleton and can’t help but shudder. Bro whistles too, “Damn that thing is sick! What is that thing you think?”

The merboys (except Marvin) all pause to look down and then they gasp. Anti seems palest of the all as he stammers out, “T-That’s… that’s a sea dragon…! What… what was one doing down here…?”

"A sea dragon?" Jackie repeats. "Oh, like—oh."

"Perhaps it was looking for food?" Schneep speculates. "Well, in any case, if it is old enough to just be bones now, whatever killed it is definitely no longer around. So we don't need to worry."

Mer-Jackie stares at the skeleton and hums. Then starts to swim and gestures for the others to follow as he talks, “you know- Zara told me a story once. About how this planet got the khaara… said the architects that lived here came here to look for a cure and captured a sea emperor. But it was old… and they didn’t know how to hatch its eggs… and a sea dragon was really similar to the sea emperors so they took one of its eggs and… she got angry and attacked a big base of theirs. And… it broke the base and spread the disease into the ocean. Causing the outbreak almost a 1000 years ago…”

"Outbreak? Oh, so it's some sort of disease?" Jackie asks. "Or, well. It was almost a thousand years ago, so I'm guessing—hoping—it's not around any more."

"I'm sure that would've come up with the list of dangers," Schneep points out.

"Oh yeah! You guys don't know about that!" Mer-Jackie says. He then laughs and shakes his head. "We don't really get what it is but yeah its not around anymore. Except the time that Chase got it."

"It is a strange disease..." Henrik mumbles, "It nearly wiped out the whole planet I am told... it was only about a 100 years ago that someone from Alterra fell to the planet and got the cure from the sea emperors... they were the only one who had the cure surprisingly. It is something they produce naturally. ...which is probably why they took Jack... just in case it ever returned..."

"I'm... sorry that happened to you guys... that your brother went missing..." Jackie says slowly. "And that bit about Chase getting it, too. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Chase says, having swam back to swim with the others. He smiles tightly. "We got it fixed really fast... but that’s how we found out what warpers could do. They were made to get rid of the khaara... or creatures that were too sick with it since they didn't have a cure. But, things had been so peaceful here for so long no one had seen a warper act aggressively. So we were all pretty shocked when Marvin suddenly warped me into the grand reef." He rubs his arms, "It's okay though... we're figuring it out. And... we have Jack back now... we'll figure out how to wake him soon..."

Anti seems to be sinking a bit as he's swimming, looking like he's having trouble staying awake as Chase says this.

JJ notices Anti sinking a bit and ducks down, shaking him a little.

Anti blinks sleepily at JJ and tiredly bares his fangs at him. His Jamie comes up and subtly grabs his arm, looking at JJ gratefully.

JJ looks back at the cables again then asks, What are those? Man made? Or... alien made?

Marvin seems determined to get past this part as quickly as possible and bites but a growl of frustration at people getting distracted. But as Jamie mentions the cables Marvin freezes almost robotically. He doesn’t look that way but stammers out. “..a-alien-made- don’t… don’t go that way-“

JJ looks at Marvin, puzzled. Then nods slowly. Alright. We'll avoid it if there's danger. Let's keep going.

Marvin shivers and nods, quickly swimming away from this corridor as fast as he can.

Alt looks curiously at the path with the cables. Wonder what’s over there that’s got Marvin so spooked?

The merboys shake out their fear as they see their brother booking it away. “M-Marvin! Hang on!” Chase shouts and tries to follow.

Jamie looks at where Alt and JJ are looking and flicks his tails sadly, whispering. “…I think over there is where the bad man kept Marvin… that’s why he’s scared…”

JJ looks at his other self and softens. He nods.

Jackie and Schneep also glance back at the corridor with the cables. "I get it," Jackie mutters. "I really get it."

"I think we all understand that response," Schneep says.

Alt seems to shiver at this too and nods, holding his arms. "Yeah... w-we get it. Let's not dwell on it."

"I agree with Alt, let us not dwell," Schneep says.

Let's hurry past, JJ says. Onwards we go.

They all speed away from the skeleton and weird cables, coming towards an expanse of even more green brine waterfalls. Marvin starts to swim upwards quickly, a very steep expanse- swimming towards a strange tree with white tips that glow brightly in the darkness.

JJ unconsciously starts to swim faster, looking up at the tree with wide eyes. That's so pretty! he says. Why is there a tree here? A glowing tree?

Marvin pauses in his faster swimming and slows down, twitching a bit to answer JJ's question. "Oh... those are ghost trees I think... they're our way of finding where this arch is... t-there's a whole area of them... I dunno why but they grow down here..."

"Maybe it's cuz of that biggg pink one that has that giant egg!" Mer- Jackie says, swimming up towards Marvin and startling him some. "Maybe these are just its baby trees!"

Marvin laughs a bit, "Maybe..."

"Oh, a giant egg? How fascinating." Schneep chuckles. "In all honesty, that would make sense, if there is one big tree it is probably sending out some sort of seeds--or, well, it is not likely seeds because this is underwater, but something like that. But eventually it lands and new trees go."

“Ah… I heard that those are… more ghost Leviathans…” Henrik says quietly, adjusting his goggles. “Their parents come here from the void to lay their eggs because the tree somehow provides nutrients to the eggs…”

“Yeah well- never seen one hatch before.” Mer-Jackie says with a shrug.

"From the void?!" Jackie repeats. "The hell is that?! Doesn't sound good."

“Oh… yes-“ Henrik coughs, “The life on this side of the planet is only contained in a crater… if you travel outside the crater’s safety- then you meet a spot that is almost devoid of life… and here is where the adult ghost leviathans live.”

"What about Jackie?" Schneep asks. "His fish species isn't from the crater."

I suppose there's another bit of life in that arctic area, JJ figures.

Marvin twitches a bit and slows, eyes turning pink. “4546B’s craters edge is inaccessible because of its depth, freezing waters and lack of life. The voids connect the warmer waters to the colder waters of Sector Zero, where another crater breeds more life. The Void of Sector Zero contains the Void Chelicerate. A rare mutation of the chelicerate that prefers to roam in dark, open waters at the edge of the sector. Like the Ghost Leviathans of the warmer sectors of 4546B these creatures roam the dark waters searching for microscopic fauna to eat.” He then shakes himself out of it and blinks. “Huh… didn’t know about that…”

"Oh." Jackie pauses. "...huh."

"So the planet is mostly uninhabitable except for some craters," Schneep sums up. "Fascinating."

Marvin looks up at the cavern and sets his face in a determinated look. "...we're almost there but... when we get to the ghost forest... w-we gotta be careful... there's another ghost leviathan up there... i... I dunno how we'll avoid it though... the area is... p-pretty open despite all the trees..."

A lot of things named after ghosts in this area, JJ comments, looking down at his own body. Probably because they're translucent and/or glowing.

"Another one of those giant things?" Jackie mutters. "Okay, we'll have to hurry through, then. Fast and quiet."

Marvin nods, “Yes… the arch is at the highest point of the cave… we’re almost there.”

Now they can see bigger branches of ghost trees underneath an arch where one more big waterfall of brine falls.

JJ gasps. Oh, this place really is so pretty! He looks at all the ghost trees and underwater waterfalls in awe.

Schneep sighs. "I am usually okay with not seeing things, but this universe in particular is proving the exception."

JJ winces. Sorry, Schneep.

"No no, is fine, it's not anyone's fault. And I am not going to stop you from saying it's beautiful just because I cannot see it."

Alt swallows nervously, “…I really hope this arch thing works…”

"It'll work," Jackie says, unusually optimistic. "And if it doesn't, we just have to wait for another rift, and try to find another way in the meantime."

Alt giggles, “That’s pretty positive coming from you, Jackie.”

Jackie tries for a smile. "W-well, I think we have to be, in this situation. I mean... if we don't have optimism, what do we have?" He shakes his head. "I don't want to... I don't want to feel hopeless, you know?"

Alt smiles shakily but Bro nods enthusiastically. “yeah! Good srat, dude!” He bumps into Alt. “We got this!”

Alt shakes his head with a laugh.

JJ nods. How close are we to the arch?

Marvin slows and holds out a hand to everyone to stop. Just before them is a smaller cavern that seems to be source of the brine rivers and falls. It has a shallower tier of pools weaving through taller ghost trees. At the edge of the pools- there’s one more huge waterfall- and what looks like a broken metal door behind it. But swimming just in front of it is another Ghost Leviathan.

“…it’s just up there- right in its path.” Marvin says quietly, trying to hide his shaking.

Jackie quickly stops swimming, holding his arms out to stop anyone behind him. "God they really are so big," he whispers. "Okay. We have to get around that thing, avoiding all the brine except in the case of Schneep and JJ, and to that metal door behind the brine waterfall. The--the brinefall. It is... right in front of the door. Ooookay."

JJ frowns, staring. There must be a way through. Maybe we can wait for it to leave? Or, well, I suppose Schneep could just appear right by the door... right, Schneep?

"Yes, I have no doubt I could appear right there, no matter where it is," Schneep says. "Ever since I got control of my powers I haven't had difficulty reaching a location within, ah... 'eyeshot.'"

"Okay, but the rest of us can't do that," Jackie whispers. "And you and Alt can only take a few passengers while glitching. And your glitching feels terrible. No offense."

Schneep shrugs. "None taken. By the way, the leviathan cannot see or sense us over here, right?"

“I’m not so sure…” Marvin whispers. “I-I think we might be far enough away…”

“…you all only need Marv and yourselves to go to this arch thingy right?” Anti says sleepily. He looks at the others and then puffs out his chest, light shining brighter in his eyes. “…then we’ll distract the thing while you get inside. That way you all have time to get to the thing using your majic whatever.”

“But I.. I can’t warp right now-“ Marvin emphasizes.

Mer-Jackie shakes his head. “Anti’s right! If Alt and Schneep can just pop over there then we’ll only need to distract it for a second! We’ll drive it away! The others can stay over here where it’s safe- or oh! we can all meet up at the cove tree over there.” He points over to a spot of glowing blue in the dark back the way they came. “It’s completely safe over there!”

Anti cracks his knuckles then grins at Reaper Jackie. “I’ve been itching for a fight… I’m actually looking forward to this. No more swimming away scared…!” Reaper Jackie shares his grin and grows out his claws. “Agreed.”

Jackie nods as he listens to Anti and mer-Jackie talk. "Hell yeah. I bet I could be helpful in this." He grins, and his mandibles snap a little. "I've been in a lot of fights—though I've never fought a giant glowing fish."

I'd be surprised if you had, JJ says.

The merboys all laugh at this. “It does sound strange like that doesn’t it?” Henrik chuckles.

Chase, Henrik and JJ look nervous. But eventually Chase sighs. “…alright bros just.. be careful. Don’t try to kill it- just… distract it long enough for them to get inside and then come find us.”

Bro looks at Alt and Schneep, “…you both okay with this?”

Alt seems nervous, flicking his tail as it sparks slightly. “… glitching feels wrong here but… I-I can try…”

"I am okay with it, yes," Schneep says.

"How's your powers?" Jackie asks.

"I have been able to jump normally so far, I do not think there will be trouble."

I could be helpful, too, JJ continues. My magic might not be so helpful with the arch, it'll be more useful as a distraction. I could also help heal people up if they get too hurt.

Bro nods, “If it seems like it’s going after us Jackie, JJ, me and Alt can help keep it back- but we should all focus on getting in that tunnel! Soo! Let’s get it rolling!”

Chase swims up to the boys and smiles warmly. “just in case this works and we don’t see you again… this was fucking weird but… nice too. S’nice to meet humans who… relate to what we’ve been through.”

Jamie beams. “If you ever can come back… somehow- it would be nice to meet again!”

Henrik smiles, “But if not… please be safe. I do hope you all get home.”

Of course! JJ beams. You've all been so kind.

Jackie leans close. "Even Anti?" he whispers.

JJ nudges him playfully. Yes, even him. When you don't trust people, trust is the kindest thing.

Anti blinks at this and then hides his flushing face with one of his tails.

"Sure." Jackie looks at the others and smiles. "Yeah, I'd love to come here again if possible. I have a lot of stuff going on back home that I want to take care of first, but eventually."

"I agree, it's been strange, but nice." Schneep nods. "So... goodbye." He grins. "Until we may meet again."

“Goodbye-“ Henrik smiles and Chase, JJ and Henrik all go towards the cove tree.

Anti and Mer-Jackie grin at the others. “I guess we should do that too and shit.” Jackie laughs. He turns towards them. “This has been super cool and I’d love to show you so much next time! If you can. But until then- let’s fuck shit up!”

He goes to hit Anti’s shoulder and braces to swim. “We’ll get its attention! Try to swim or warp past whatever it is you do!”

Anti looks at the others and nods. “…bye.” Then he and Jackie rocket towards the ghost leviathans, both of them roaring loudly at it. The ghost Leviathan roars and races up to meet them.

Jackie watches them go, wanting to go after—and starting to for a moment—before he thinks better of it. After all, if they're going to leave, they have to all leave together.

Alt startles and goes to grab some of the others. “Link up! I can get us up there!”

Marvin swims back and holds his hands close to him. “No way! I-I’m not getting near your weird powers again!”

“Why didn’t you say anything about that before this?!” Alt snaps in frustration.

"Marvin, you don't really have a choice," Schneep points out. "We need you up there! Are we just going to swim there? Right by the fight?"

You could bring him, JJ suggests.

"IIIII don't think he would like that."

"We don't have a lot of time!" Jackie says. "Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it fast!" He turns to look at the fight.

The ghost Levithan rushes to meet the boys and mer-Jackie rushes to try to spear it with his mandibles. But it moves too quickly and grabs Jackie by his tail and then tosses him into the cave wall.

“Jackie!!” Anti screams and then turns to growl at the ghost Leviathan. He builds up fire balls and starts to loop around the bigger fish, pelting it with fire as it screeches in pain.

Bro yells out, “Fuck! Jackie!”

“M-Marvin come on!” Alt urges, going to grab his arm. But Marvin lashes out and scratches at Alt’s arm with his claws, his eyes going a bit pink and his voice sounding a bit more robotic. “No! I-I-“ he looks back to where Jackie fell and then speeds over to try to get to him.

Alt grabs his arm and yells out in pain before trying to yell out after him. “M-Marvin!”

"Fucking hell!" Jackie shouts. He swims after Marvin.

"Wait, hold on!" Schneep swims after him as well, in case they need to make a quick getaway.

Marvin is too fast- having been here before he knows what to dodge and where to go.

Alt and Bro try to follow after the others but can’t catch up to Marvin.

Luckily Anti is still keeping the Ghost Leviathan occupied but it already seems like he’s slowing.

Schneep tries leaping closer to Marvin, but his targeting is slightly off. He has to swim the rest of the way.

Jackie curses under his breath. He's not going to be able to catch up! So he instead turns to look at Anti and rushes over, determined to help. "Hey! Ghostie goo!" he shouts.

“Jackie?! The fuck are you doing?!” Bro shouts and spurs after him.

Jackie’s shout distracts the Ghost Leviathan enough for it to look his way- and Anti lands a fireball in its face. It roars in pain and runs into some of the trees around as its vision is affected.

Marvin races over to Mer-Jackie and tries to shake him awake. Orange hybrid blood clouds in the water from Jackie’s bitten tail and a spot on his head where he hit the wall. Marvin blinks tears out of his eyes as he tries to wake his brother up. “j-Jackie?? Jackie! W-wake up!!”

Schneep stops next to Marvin. He reaches out, and feels the slightly warm blood in the water. "Jameson?!"

JJ hurries after everyone else, quickly catching up. He looks at mer-Jackie, assessing the damage. Head wound—tail wound—if there's ever a time for healing magic, it's now. This will take a minute, he says, eyes glowing blue as he grabs onto reaper Jackie's arm. A film of blue magic starts to cover his wounds, healing them slowly.

Marvin slightly snarls at JJ as he comes closer, almost curling up around Jackie protectively. But he blinks in surprise as he sees the wounds start to close.

Alt spurs over to the small group surrounding Reaper Jackie and then floats a bit away from them and uses his magic to create a shield around them.

JJ smiles at Marvin reassuringly. This is what my magic does, he says. Meanwhile, the wounds seal up.

"We have to get there soon! While it's distracted!" Schneep hisses.

Jackie grins and decides to put these mandible things to use. He swims up to the ghost leviathan and latches onto its side, serrated edges digging into its flesh and then quickly letting go. He swims downward immediately after. The Ghost Leviathan roars in pain and is immediately diverted off course and starts to swim away from its territory with fervor.

Bro blinks at Jackie’s attack and laughs, ramming against its tail slightly as it swims. “Yeahhh!! Dudes you guys fucked that thing up!!” Bro says, turning to Jackie and Anti.

Anti grins, the water bubbling a bit hot around the edges of his mouth. “Fuck yeah. I needed that.” He looks at Jackie though, “You were very impressive though… you know- for a human.”

"Ha! I'll take it." Jackie grins.

Alt braces his shield, thinking about Schneep’s warning and then gasps as he hears the Ghost Leviathan swimming away. He laughs in disbelief and lowers his shield. “I… I think we’re good to breathe for a second Schneep… it’s swimming away!”

"What the—oh, it is!" Schneep gasps. "Amazing! Driving off something so big. Truly a marvel."

Anti grins and then swims down back to everyone else, Bro follows close behind.

Marvin watches the magic with muted fascination and wonder, slowly getting closer and reaching out like he wants to touch it. “…y-you didn’t have to do this… w-why are you doing this?” He asks JJ. “…does it hurt you?”

JJ smiles at Marvin gently. No, it doesn't hurt me. It tires me out, if I use a lot of it, but it doesn't hurt me. As for why... well, I don't like seeing people hurt. Most people don't. Jackie is a good man—or, a good hybrid. He doesn't deserve to be hurt. He nods at the magic. You can touch it. But it won't feel like much of anything.

Marvin does go to touch it and just marvels at the sight of it. He feels over Jackie’s tail and balks as he feels the skin being healed over so fast. He laughs a little. “…that’s amazing… s-some white suit machines can do stuff like this… b-but I don’t think they’re this fast… or through. T-they still leave scars…”

He frowns as he sees the large scar on Jackie’s side and thoughtfully touches parts of his jaw.

Jackie notices the scar when Marvin does. He narrows his eyes slightly, wondering if the white suits were healing their own actions... and hating them just at the possibility.

If the wounds were worse there would be scars, JJ says. But lucky they weren't, and I got here quickly. He rubs his neck.

Anti lands down, looking a bit worried. “Is Jackie-?” Then he stops himself and blinks in surprise as Jackie looks almost completely fine. “W-Woah…”

Bro grins, “Yeah JJ! Way to go!”

JJ grins, a bit shyly. I'm just doing what I thought would help.

Schneep nudges him slightly. "And that is an admirable thing--not to mention it must take a lot of magic to heal."

Not that much, really. Though... he hopes that he doesn't have to use magic for a while. Just in case.

Soon enough the injured reaper opens his eyes, his wounds pretty much healed. He blinks in confusion then grins dopily- though he might just be dazed still. “…did we win?”

"Yes, Jackie, we won!" Schneep says, laughing.

Marvin snorts through his nose and playfully slaps mer- Jackie. “You fuck… you gave us all a fucking heart attack-“

“I didn’t ask to be bit and thrown across the cave!” The reaper protests.

Alt and Bro laugh.

“…just in case that thing is still around, why don’t you two join us inside the tunnel? Maybe Marvin will be able to warp again once we’re gone.” Alt says.

Jackie nods. "Yeah, we should get out of here quickly."

Anti shrugs. Mer-Jackie smiles and tries to get up but still seems kinda weak so Marvin grabs him and puts his arm over his shoulder. “…yeah okay I-I’m sticking with Marv…” the reaper laughs.

Marvin doesn’t really look at the others as he hurries towards the metal doorway. “c-c’mon then…”

Alt starts to follow closely behind, followed by Bro then Anti dragging behind the pack. The other three hurry after everyone else.

The cavern clearly looks like an underground cave that has slowly filled with water over the past century. The way is twisted and a bit confusing- branches of ghost trees jutting out and parts of the path looks like it’s made of its branches. Eventually, Marvin swims up a walkway made of wood before floating in front of a large impressive structure. It houses a glowing green field of energy, shining like light on top of water- inside a metal diamond frame. It looks completely foreign and alien to anything they’ve seen so far.

Such strange architecture, JJ comments. And then they arrive at the glowing green field. His eyes widen. How strange! Is this what we're looking for?

"Maybe?" Jackie says. "Certainly looks like fucking... alien stuff. Just by design."

Schneep slowly reaches out, and JJ pushes his hand to the side so that he touches the frame instead of the energy field. That probably wasn't something they wanted to do.

Marvin does exclaim as Schneep reaches out but relaxes as JJ diverts him. “y-Yeah this is it… it’s programmed to take people to… hq I think. Down in the lava zone. But… I think it can be programmed to go other places…?”

He looks at Alt finally and nudges his head towards the structure. “Wanna give it a try?”

"You got this, Alt!" Jackie says encouragingly.

Alt swallows shakily and then nods. He goes to place a hand on the structure and closes his eyes, feeling out the energy inside it. His tail sparks up as he tries. And trying to access the tech- trying to insert some of his own magic into it to find a grip- god it hurts! It’s a rush of a foreign alien language that makes no sense- just jumbles of words and symbols and things he couldn’t possibly understand. He digs claws into it before breaking off connection with a yell and falling down to the ground, clutching his head.

“Alt!” Bro shouts in concern and tries to swim towards him- but as he gets too close he gets mildly shocked and he spurs back. “What happened?!”

“T-Too m-much-“ Alt whimpers, his eyes filled with green light rippling just like the portal. His voice echoes slightly with static, sounding robotic. “D-Don’t under s-stand… too much p-p̵̯̕o̵͙̾ẅ̸̥e̵̪̊r̴̤̄”

JJ gasps. He starts rushing forward as well but then Bro gets shocked back and he stops.

"Too much power?!" Schneep repeats. "What does that--"

The swirling mass of energy seems to glitch slightly- and seems to start to darken… in the middle- it almost seems like a crack is forming.

Jackie gasps. "Look!" He points at the energy... at the spot where it's darkening. "Is that--"

If it is, we have to link up! JJ says.

Alt’s head snaps up and his eyes widen. “W-What?! D-Did I do that?!”

“I-I dunno- we probably just have really bad luck!” Bro shouts, holding out a hand to Alt.

Anti pushes Marvin and Reaper Jackie behind him, growling at whatever this growing mass of black energy is.

“W-what is that?!” Marvin gasps.

The cavern shakes and the rift cracks open even bigger, glitching more and the water around the boys starts to get drawn in.

“It’s the rift! I… I guess this was all for nothing huh?” Alt says a bit tearfully. He looks to the merboys and smiles as they start getting pulled. “…thanks so much for trying to help us…”

"Yes, thank you so much," Schneep says. "Get out of here as soon as we are gone!"

It was nice to meet you! JJ adds.

"Maybe we'll see each other again!" Jackie shouts. He grabs onto Alt, and JJ grabs onto him and Schneep. "It wasn't all for nothing, Alt! We spent time with these guys, at least!"

Alt blinks and then smiles with Jackie and nods. “y-Yeah…”

Jackie smiles back at them. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Schneep adds.

JJ nods a farewell.

Mer-Jackie tries to swim closer, looking like he wants to help but Anti holds him back with one of his tails. “W-We’ll see each other again! I-I just know it!” The reaper shouts after them.

Bro grins, “I hope so! Take care of each other, okay?”

Anti blinks and then smiles giving them a nod. “…we will.”

The rift expands bigger with another crack and the pull is too much to resist. Down down the boys are pulled… falling through twisting caverns and caves that echo into nothingness.

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