#I watched an interrogation video that really bothered me

[buckttommy]

I feel sad.

[whorergal]

SHE'S MINE (PART TWO)

summary: after you've been attacked, the group becomes cautious and confused, now being targeted as well. but you still can't get over the fact that ghostface had helped you and why you think you know who it may be. and maybe you wouldn't mind keeping a secret.

warnings: scream vi spoilers, language (cussing), blood, gore. it follows the plot loosely.

pairings: ethan landry x fem!reader

authors note: hiiii i really hope u enjoy :-) also i have no idea if mindy shared the apartment with tara, sam and quinn but if she didn’t, we're just going to pretend she does and i also altered ethan's motive a bit too for this (lowkey was inspired by don't blame me by taylor swift so if you like listening to music when reading, i recommend that song for this part)

❗️: you can find part one here and part three here if you need it :3

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The hospital visit wasn't as long as you anticipated. Two of the stabs you endured hadn't cut deep so they were able to stitch it upon your first visit and they closed up that same night—it still hurt like a bitch. Your previous stab wound was the worst one overall as the stitching process was a lot more painful because your skin was sensitive as it had been punctured once before.

When you were released, Sam took you under her care. She didn't feel safe having you and Anika alone in your apartment since the attack so she offered her, Tara, Mindy and Quinn's home to you two. It didn't really matter for Anika as she was always there in the first place but it bothered you.

You didn't mean to feel unappreciative but you hated being controlled by useless fear. Whether or not Ghostface attacked you in your home, he would find them someway or another; it didn't matter where you were. But, you agreed in order to clear her conscious.

They didn't ask much questions when you were in the hospital. After the second Ghostface left the apartment, you remembered blacking out and waking up in the hospital bed with Anika by your side. The doctor wouldn't let anyone come in since you were preparing for surgery but decided to let Anika stay since she was your roommate.

Her story was that your security system she had built when you two first moved in had went off when the second Ghostface broke in. Her and Mindy didn't tell everyone before leaving because they didn't want to risk not making it in time. The frat house was only a block down so they just ran their way to your building, ultimately finding your unconscious body on the kitchen floor.

Anika told you that they had met Ethan at the entrance of the building when the ambulance was called and said you called him, which was true but you wondered what took him so long. You were highly suspicious of him but you didn't want to be because he was your best-friend, you couldn't imagine him having anything to do with this.

Ever since that night, he was around, a lot. He even skipped his Econ classes to keep you company because Sam didn't want you to be alone and everyone else was busy.

You didn't ask him about what happened. You were afraid of what the outcome would be. But you knew you had to do something in order to understand. At least interrogating the truth out of him (because he couldn't lie to you) would give you peace of mind—well, depending on the answer.

"You don't have to be here, you know." You broke the silence, watching him write notes from the lecture he was missing.

"But I want to be," he told you honestly.

"E, you're missing Econ. You have an exam this week."

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He looked up from his notebook, putting the lecture video on pause to give you his full attention. "I don't want anything to happen to you again."

"Ghostface rarely attacks in the daytime," you joked.

"Still, Y/N/N." He was being serious. "Your stitches haven't even fully healed yet."

"This isn't the first time." You sighed. "Plus, Ghostface never attacks the same person twice."

"Says who?"

"Says Mindy."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't want to take any chances."

It went back to comfortable silence. You went back to reading your book for your English class while he continued to write his notes. After a couple more minutes, you decided to ask the question that had been eating you alive.

"What took you so long?" you asked randomly.

He furrowed his brows, turning to look at you. "What do you mean?"

"When I was attacked," you clarified. "I called you and you said you and Chad were on the way. Anika and Mindy beat you to it and Chad wasn't even with you when you arrived."

Ethan looked away, his face becoming pale. "Well, I went to go find Chad when you were on the call but I couldn't find him so I decided to leave. I didn't realize how much time I wasted until I saw police lights outside your building."

That was the first and final conversation you two had about it. You gathered what you knew from it but, again, you didn't want to believe he was Ghostface. Unless he wasn't and used the costume to throw the other one off. But where could he buy a replica of it that quickly and still be able to make it in time to save you? It didn't make sense.

You kept this realization to yourself. You felt guilty for it, especially because if he was apart of the plan in harming your friends, this smudge of proof could be enough to hold him accountable before it was taken too far. Of course, you didn't listen to yourself and decided to keep his secret that he wasn't even sure you knew because of how much you liked him.

On the third day of your recovery, your stitching was finally beginning to heal. It hurt to bend down and sometimes walk because it worked the muscles underneath the wound but you couldn't stand doing nothing anymore.

You made the excuse that you were planning to meet Ethan at his dorm for the night because you promised to help him with Econ. Sam wasn't exactly keen on the idea, wondering why he couldn't come to meet you here but you told her you were beginning to feel claustrophobic and wanted to get out. She didn't say much in defense and reluctantly agreed.

They all offered to walk you there just in case something were to happen but you brushed them off. If your assumption about Ethan was correct, he wouldn't let anything happen to you.

The subway was packed because it was nearing Halloween and it took you awhile to finally make it inside one. And the thirty minute ride to campus added onto the time. It was around twelve at night when you arrived at his dorm.

First, you decided to knock. Nobody answered. Then you remembered he had an Econ lecture to attend for the night and took out the extra key he had given you awhile ago and unlocked it yourself.

Honestly, you were glad he wasn't there because it would make your digging a lot more easier.

You searched through everything he owned. Through his drawers (which you highly regretted), under his bed, inside some of his unpacked bags—everywhere but you couldn't find anything that incriminated him.

It had been what felt like hours, but was really only thirty minutes, when you gave up. Your phone was going off but you didn't pay any mind to it because the group had consistently texted you ever since your attack; you just assumed it was them checking up on you and then getting paranoid because you weren't answering. Even if you knew you should've checked, you didn't bother as you were going to head back to the apartment anyway.

You quietly snuck out of the room, making sure the coast was clear until you turned your head to the left and saw Ghostface, waiting there for you. When you tried to scream, they grabbed your face with their hand, restricting your voice from releasing.

They were strong, being able to grab your entire body with their one arm and toss you carelessly back into the room.

You hit the floor, wincing at the impact because of your stitches. Ghostface shut the door behind them, looking down at you. They stalked toward you very slowly as you made sure to keep your distance from them.

Using the dresser that stood behind you, you lifted yourself up with your available arm as the other clutched your stitching instinctively to keep you balanced. It was a silent stare-down until they reached for their mask, untucking it from the behind. Then, they pulled it off.

You stared in shock. "…Ethan?"

"Y/N." He didn't have much expression on his face. He looked out of breath as you could see sweat shimmering on his face from the lighting.

"Oh, my god," You breathed out. Although you suspected him this whole time, finally being able to know it was the truth hurt you more than being stabbed. "You're Ghostface."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ethan ignored your statement as he furrowed his brows.

"I knew it. I knew you were the one who saved me," you confessed. "That's why I'm here."

"You shouldn't be here," he told you, shaking his head.

"You're trying to kill me and our friends and you're telling me what I shouldn't be doing?!"

"Y/N, there's more to this than you know."

"That much is obvious," you snapped. He tried to step toward you but you backed up. "Stay away from me."

"Please, just listen to me," Ethan began to plead.

"You let them attack me!"

"No, I didn't!" he declared, lowering his voice when he saw it made you flinch. "They promised to leave you out of it. That was the only thing I told them to do."

"They?" you repeated in confusion.

He thought over his response for a second. "Look, what I'm doing—what I've done—is for a good reason. You have to understand."

You furrowed your brows. "What have you done, E?" You couldn't help but use his nickname; you couldn't help but try to hear him out.

"Y/N." He walked toward you slowly and this time, you didn't back away from him. "You're the only thing I care about. If it means I have to kill a thousand people to keep you safe, then I'd do it."

"I don't understand." Your voice was almost a mumble.

"I agreed to do this before I met you but when I did, it all changed. I-I tried to convince them to stop. I wanted to try and be good—for you but she found out and threatened to kill you if I didn't continue with the plan so I did with the exception that they would leave you out of it," he explained softly. "I did this…for you."

You looked at him like he was insane (he kind of was). "You'd kill our friends?"

"If it meant that you'd be safe."

His words didn't completely register but when they did, you couldn't help but feel guilty. You had a crush on him for so long and here he was, basically confessing his love for you in such a fucked up way. You hated yourself for finding him even more attractive after hearing him say those words.

"Ethan…" you whispered his name.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked. "Can I please kiss you?"

You didn't give him an answer as you closed the space between the two of you.

It seemed wrong—no, it was wrong. Kissing him while he still wore the Ghostface robe, one that he wore while taking someone's life.

You knew he wasn't wearing this costume for fun. They only ever wore it for a purpose. Even though your mind was totally blanked because of how dumb his lips made you, when you pulled apart, you began to think about where he had come from and who he had just killed and why you weren't more concerned about the matter.

He chased after your lips, kissing you again with more force this time, even pulling you closer by the waist. You only pulled away because you were receiving a call.

You pulled your phone out from your pocket, the reality setting in when you saw Sam's contact. He looked down with you, not doing much in keeping you from answering. It took you a couple more seconds of contemplating until you decided to click the green button, putting the phone to your ear.

You took a deep breath before answering. "Hello?"

"Y/N, what the hell?!" Sam hollered into the speaker, her voice mixed with relief and annoyance. "Why weren't you answering? Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," you replied rather nonchalantly. "I had my phone off. What's wrong, Sam?"

There was a short beat. "Ghostface attacked us."

You furrowed your brows, glancing at Ethan. "What?"

"Yeah, he killed Quinn and…"

"And?" you repeated instantly. "Who else, Sam?"

"Anika…" Sam's voice was barely above a whisper. "Y/N, I'm so sorry. I-I tried to help her."

You shut your eyes, feeling tears starting to build. There was silence on the line and you were sure it was because Sam didn't want to say anything knowing you would be taking her death as personal as Mindy did.

Suddenly, your stab wounds began to throb which made you let out a grunt. You knew better than to cry over Anika only because it would achieve nothing. Yes, it was messed up that you were now standing in the room with her murderer, watching him undress himself of his black robe that he wore while killing her but you realized nothing you could've said or done—whether you got to him before she died—could've changed her outcome.

You watched him pull out a hunting knife from his back pocket, the silver glistening with dried blood. That blood probably belonged to Anika and Quinn. It made your throat go dry.

"Sam," you blurted quietly.

"What, Y/N?"

You were going to say it; tell her the truth. It was the right thing to do. Ethan, even if you liked him a lot, had just murdered your best friend and one of Sam's. They deserved the justice of their murderer being caught.

But when he walked back over to you, his eyes scanning your expression, you had already picked your choice.

"Y/N, what? Are you okay?" Sam's voice echoed in your mind.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just…" You tried to find the words. "Is everyone else okay? Did you get hurt?"

"We're fine. Mindy got cut but she's fine," Sam answered softly. "Can you come down here? I'd feel a lot better if you were here with us. Plus, I'm sure you can comfort Mindy than the rest of us. She doesn't want to be anywhere near Tara or Chad."

You let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. Ethan and I are on our way."

"Ethan?" she questioned.

"Yeah. Remember I told you I was going to meet him at his dorm? I was with him the whole night," you lied.

"Oh, okay." Sam sighed into the speaker. "That's good to hear, actually. Mindy thinks Ethan was the one behind all of this but if you were with him then it checks him out."

"Don't worry, Sam," you said. "We'll be there shortly."

"Okay, see you soon. Be safe."

You nodded, even though she couldn't see you and then hung up.

"You kept my secret?" Ethan asked.

You shook your head. "I shouldn't have. You killed Anika and Quinn."

He bit his lip, nodding calmly. "I know, I know. It wasn't exactly my first choice. But I had to for saving you the other night."

"Yeah, I know," you mumbled. "But did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" He furrowed his brows.

"What you said about wanting to be good?" You repeated his words. "Because that's the only reason I saved your ass. I should hate you. You killed Anika."

"Y/N/N," he said softly, walking over to grab your hands. "I only did this to protect you. They made me think my original motive was right but it's actually fucked up. I realized that the moment I met you. So, yes, I do mean it. And I'm sorry about Anika. I didn't really want to do it either."

You mulled over his words, looking down at your connected hands until you finally spoke. "Okay. Then, I'll help you," you informed him. "But, in order for me to do that, I need to know everything."

Let's just say it was an interesting conversation.

[imagine-lcorp]

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa (One Shot)

Request

Can you do something absolutely adorable with " I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" where either Lena or Reader dresses up as Santa at Christmas night to hide presents under a tree and their child sees one kissing the other in a santa suit and comments on it the next morning at breakfast. Maybe the adults do more later. The child is asking if their parents are breaking up because somebody kissed Santa. Cue awkward Lena x R trying to either avoid or come up with an explanation to what the child saw.

A/N: Hello, my darlings! So, i guess Christmas time has officially started, and here it is to the last month of this year. Thank you for this great request, just in time for the holidays, I hope you enjoy it! Love y’all!  

Lena Luthor x R//Word Count: 3,181 -------------------------------------------------------

"Why am I doing this, again?" You asked as the cold winter wind made your teeth rattle.

"Because you love our kids and you want to see them happy." Your wife answered with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I'm starting t-to question that."

"No, you don't." Lena  chuckled.

"No, I don't." You sighed and smiled.

It was a little past midnight when you found yourself walking outside your home, trying not to slip and fall on your face. You felt your body shiver, your fingers were cold, and you couldn't feel your face even when you were engulfed in a Santa Claus costume. Red suit, velvet cape, red and white hat, black boots, and a thick white beard that covered half your face, and you carried a bag with the gifts you had prepared for your kids. Still, couldn't feel warm.

But you only had yourself to blame for that.

The winter holidays had started a couple of weeks back. You and Lena had made plans to be able to spend as much time as possible with your two little kids at home. You had been enjoying yourselves so far with your own little home rituals, coffee and pancakes for breakfast, finishing chores during the morning until it was time for lunch, playing with your kids outside after it, watching movies in the afternoon, and playing some more until It was time for bed.

You had also spent so much time decorating your house and setting your Christmas tree. Lena had bought an excessive amount of decorations since your kids were babies because she wanted to make the holidays super special for them always and, needless to say, your kids were always excited by all of it.

However, they were their mother's children and something started to occur during this particular Christmas This time around they had started to question the nature of Santa Claus himself and Lena, who had dedicated her life to science and truth, was pretty adamant about keeping the illusion for the sake of your children's dreams and hopes. That's when you came up with the brilliant idea of catching Santa.

The plan was simple, you would put a camera on the living room during Christmas Eve, go to sleep and, while your kids waited for their gifts to be dropped, you would have video proof of Santa working his night shift. Very simple indeed, but people had their doubts.

Your children complained first. Little (Y/D/N) was the first one to come up with questions. She was your eldest child and the most cautious, most like Lena, who wanted to observe as Santa visited your home. She wanted to stay awake the whole night, hiding in the shadows were she could watch the whole thing. Sweet (Y/S/N), your youngest, seconded his sister's ideas. He too wanted to stay awake and watch how Santa used his powers and, of course, what he had brought to him as he had been a really nice boy, only bothering her sister once in a while. Lena also had her doubts about your plan but she wasn't about to discuss them with you in front of her kids.

After putting your kids to bed, that's when the real conversation started. Lena was on interrogation mode the moment she closed your room's door behind her.

"So, what are you exactly planning?" She had asked with a raised brow.

"Okay, just hear me out." You had raised your hands at her. "I got an idea."

She had been skeptical at first but she warmed at the idea. You were going to put a camera on the living room looking right at where your chimney was placed. There was a window close to it, so you would use it to enter the house. With a costume and the help of her image inducer, you would pretend to be Santa and edit a video with you falling from the chimney, leaving the gifts, eating a cookie and leaving. Just like Santa would do. Easy peasy.

What you forgot to take in account was that you would have to sneak around your own home, in the middle of the night with a blizzard outside, just to reach a window.

But you didn't mind because, like your wife had said, you wanted to make your children happy.

"Remember, you need to stand by the chimney so the camera spots you." You heard Lena over your earbuds.

"Got it." You replied and followed your plan.

You walked slowly, rounding your house, trying not to trip on the snow. A few lights were on in the living room so you could see in and out of it, making it easier to sneak inside the house. When you reached the window closest to the chimney, you left the gift bag on the floor for a moment and took a deep breath. You raised your hands towards the window, searching for the lock and tried to pull it open. Once, twice, thrice, until it was clear it wasn't going to open. You couldn't figure out if this was due to your cold fingers or if the window had been closed shut without you noticing.

"Love?" You called your wife.

"Yes?"

"Did you close the window?"

"Close? No, I checked it twice before we went to bed. Try again."

So you did, but it didn't open.

"It's stuck." You sighed, feeling a bit tired already. "Love, I don't feel my fingers anymore so, do you think you can come and help me?"

"Oh, darling. Of course, on my way."

"Love you, thank you."

"I will have to go to the window in the dinning room, I don't want the camera spotting me too." Lena whispered as she opened the door to the hall, walking on her tip toes, trying not to wake up your kids.

"Okay, gotta walk a little more." You said as you grabbed the gift bag.

The dinning room window wasn't far from where you were, only a few meters away. When you got close you saw Lena's shadow behind the curtain and you smiled as she approached. She pulled the curtain aside just in time to see you walking straight towards her.

"Oh goodness, it's freezing." She said as she opened the window, letting the cold wind rush inside.

"I know." You say letting out the steam of your breath.

You raised the gift bag first, moving it slowly inside. Lena helped you with it and then did the same with you as you jumped inside. She grabbed your hands and felt how cold you actually were. Another minute outside and you would have been turned into an icicle. She kept her hands on yours, trying to give you some warmth.

"Thanks." You shivered. "Are they still upstairs?"

"Yeah, sleeping like rocks". She smiled and moved her hands to rub your arms.

"Good, I just need a minute."

"You're going to need more than a minute, darling." She smirked. "But if you hurry, we can do something to warm you up in less than that."

You stopped for a moment, processing her words. She didn't need to say more. "Gotta work."

You pulled her towards you, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, smiling and pulling away to take the gift bag again. As you turned around with a smile on your face you headed towards the chimney, ready to complete your task. You could heard your wife chuckling as you marched on, activating the image inducer and transforming yourself fully into good old Santa.  

You walked into the living room, placed yourself near the chimney and, like an action stunt, you rolled on the floor near it. With a little jump, to give it an extra effect once the video was edited, you stood on your feet and approached the Christmas tree. No present had been damaged in the process and you proceeded to pull and place each one of them underneath the tree. In less than a minute you were done and, with a satisfied smile, you went to take a cookie from the plate your kids had set on the coffee table, with a handwritten note that indicated such delicacies were destined for, and only for, Santa. You laughed the traditional ho, ho, ho's, ate the cookie and finally turned around.

"How did I do it?" You asked once you were back into your wife's arms.

"That was pretty impressive." She said smiling.

"Now that the deed is done, I remember you saying something about warming up in this cold winter night."

"I did." Lena nodded and leaned to give you a long sweet kiss on the lips. It was enough to feel the heat blooming under your skin.

A moment later, while you moved through the house trying not to make any noise, you reached your bedroom, closing the door behind you. Your wife helped you get off the Santa costume between kisses and before you went to bed you asked her if the video would be ready for the next day. She assured you Hope, her AI, would get it ready in no time.

Needless to say, with that settled, you had a great Christmas Eve. Then Christmas morning came in the blink of an eye.

It was the screaming and jumping that woke you up first.

(Y/S/N) had entered your room, jumping into your bed as you laid still in your wife's arms.

"Santa was here! Santa was here!" He chanted as you felt his little body fall on yours with the force of a hammer.

"Easy, buddy, easy." You said with a groggy voice as you tried to seat. "What are you doing so early?"

"Santa brought us gifts!"

"Yes, he did, my darling. " Lena caught him in her arms, she dragged him between you two and started to tickle him for a second, causing him to burst out laughing.

"Where did you left your sister?" You placed a kiss on his head once he calmed down. "Hope she isn't opening her presents without us."

"She's in her room." He answered.

"Still sleeping?" You looked at Lena with a raised brow.

"What if you go and wake up your sister, then you can see what surprises Santa left for you." Your wife prompted your son.

"Yeah!" He beamed and, after turning to hug you both, he went to wake up her sister.  

You kissed your wife good morning, not really wanting to get up. You were still dwelling on the night you had with her, a very wonderful, magical and warm night that could only be compared to paradise. But duty called.

After leaving your bed, you and Lena headed to the kitchen. As you poured some coffee for the two of you, Lena checked on Hope, her little device placed on the kitchen counter, to see if the video was finished. It didn't disappoint. While you watched a few seconds of the video, you could almost swear that wasn't you but the actual Santa coming down the chimney with his bag of gifts.

"What do you think?" Lena asked as she held the tablet with the video playing.

"I think we caught Santa." You stood behind her, leaning with your chin on her shoulder. You smiled then and kissed her cheek, hoping it was enough for your children too.

A moment later, you heard your son walking down the stairs with another set of steps right behind. You walked to the living room, waiting for them. Your son was still jumpy, while your daughter, that seemed unusually tired, was rubbing her eyes.

"Merry Christmas." You said as you waited for them.

"Merry Christmas!" Your son exclaimed launching himself towards you. You hugged him and kissed his little head again.

"Merry Christmas." Your daughter replied and stood awkwardly at the end of the stairs.

Your son then went to hug Lena and she lifted him in her arms.

"Are you ready to open your presents?" She asked your kids.

"And then we can watch Santa!" Your son but screamed at your wife in excitement.

"Oh, yes." You smiled. "Seems we caught something on camera, but first your presents. Let's see if you were a good boy this year."

"I was!"

"Of course you were, my darling." Lena kissed him one last time before putting him down and he ran towards the Christmas tree.

"What are you doing, sweetheart?" You said looking at your daughter, who approached you shyly. You took a step towards her, grabbing her head and placing too a little kiss at the top of it. "C'mon, let's see what Santa brought you."

You let her go to join her brother and looked at Lena with a questioning look in your eyes as you daughter sat silently near the Christmas tree, watching her brother grab his presents. Your wife seemed as confused as you but she didn't voice her suspicions, so you had no other choice but to join your kids in the living room, wanting to see their reactions to the gifts you and Lena had prepared for them. You hoped your daughter's expression would change after opening hers. Lena sat on the couch nearby and you sat with your children on the floor.

(Y/S/N) was the first one to open his presents. He teared the wrapping with his little hands and screamed once again after seeing his long waited green lightsaber. He had become a fan of sci-fi movies recently and wanted nothing more but to be one of those intergalactic warriors so, to prepare him for her cosmic duties, you and Lena had agreed that would be a good present. Thankfully, he loved it and started to play with it right away. Other gifts were temporally forgotten as he ran around the living room.

On the other hand, (Y/D/N) seemed a bit hesitant when she started to open her first gift. It was a big box and she started to tear the wrapping little by little, as if afraid she would break whatever was inside. Her eyes were bright and a wide smile appeared on her face when she realized what was inside, a pair of skates she had been asking since the summer. However, her smile didn't last long.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Lena finally asked, watching her daughter's expression change so suddenly. "Isn't this what you asked Santa for?"

"Don't you like them?" You asked too.

She nodded but said nothing, something that finally made your parent instincts kick into action.

"Hey, what's wrong?" You approached her and repeated the question as you caressed her cheek. "You know you can tell us anything."

Lena had already seated herself at the edge of the couch, waiting for her answer while your son, unaware of the tension you were feeling, played with his new toy on the other corner of the room.

She looked at you both, fear and uncertainty clear in her eyes. "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus."

You were startled for a moment. That was not an answer you had been prepared to hear and you found yourself confused.

"You saw your mommy kissing Santa Claus?" You raised your brows in surprise and turned to look at Lena, who had the same expression. "Like when? How?"

"Last night. I wanted to see Santa, so I came down the stairs when I heard the noises. He was there and he gave mom a kiss." Your daughter said and pointed at the exact spot where you and Lena had been.

You let out a long sigh after realizing what had happened. (Y/D/N), your precious and smart little girl, had sneaked the night before, surely standing in the stairs without you noticing as you played your part and, after that, she had seen you kiss her mother. She had returned to her room after witnessing such thing, that's why you didn't see her when you and Lena went back to your own bedroom.

"Are you breaking up?" Your daughter looked as if she was about to cry.

"What? No, no, no." You closed the distance between you and your daughter and wrapped your arms around her.

"Of course not, sweetie." Lena left the couch, seating next to you.

"Then why was mom kissing Santa?"

"Well, uh..." You looked at your wife, trying to come up with an answer but she returned the same look.

"Mommy kissed Santa?" Your son had stopped playing with his lightsaber and was very much aware now of what was happening.

"Well..." You started and you children stared at you expectantly. "Remember Santa has superpowers, right?"

Two little heads nodded at you and you looked at your wife for some help.

"Like superspeed, so he can deliver his gifts all over the world in one night, or when he comes down the chimney when he's really big?" She added as she gestured your son to join your little circle on the floor.

Again, two nods.

"Well, he has more superpowers and one of them is, uh, he may kiss you to make you forget...that you saw him." You said with a shrug and you looked at your wife who was amused at your answer.

There was a moment of silence in which your children seemed to ponder what you had just said. While your son looked a bit confused, your daughter frowned and looked at the floor, probably trying to make sense of that new little piece of information she had about Santa Claus.

"So, mom doesn't remember?" (Y/D/N) turned to look at your wife.

"I remember having a weird dream." Lena hummed. "But nothing about seeing Santa last night."

"Then, why Santa didn't kiss me too?" Your daughter inquired.

"Maybe because he didn't realize you were watching him, darling."

"And good thing he didn't. We don't want you kissing an old man." You added with a serious tone.

"Ewww." Your kids said in unison.

Lena and you laughed at that but, after it, your daughter looked like herself again, all signs of worry gone from her little face.

"Can we watch Santa's video?" Your son asked, reminding you of the video Hope had been editing all night.

You and Lena agreed. She went to take the tablet and you and your kids watched in wonder as the video played exactly as you had planned. Hope did a wonderful job at detailing your costume and at showing all the magical things Santa was supposed to do. You let your kids repeat the video as many times as they wanted, and with the crisis averted, you grabbed your wife's hand and kissed her knuckles.

"So, you don't remember kissing Santa, uh?" You said playfully and in a whisper.

"I don't." Lena smiled. "But I do remember having a wonderful Christmas Eve."

"As you should, and I'm going to make sure you too get a Christmas you will never forget." You said as you leaned to kiss her.

Having this moment with them was the best gift you could ever have.

[mazeinthemiroh]

hiiii id like to request a reaction for ateez members pls. can it be about the reader dating a member but her bias was someone else in the group, idk it seems like such a fun concept if u could please. it could be fluff/ angst whatever u want

and can the hongjoong one be a mingi bias whereas the mingi one is a hongjoong bias (my bias and bias wrecker is showing severely hehe)

everything else can be whatever u want :))

ateez when their s/o's bias is another member

genre: fluff, crack, slight angst?

word count: 1.2k

warnings: cursing, they vary in length tbh so sorry about that

author's notes: oh boy have i been waiting for this request! this is such a fun concept and i really enjoyed writing this so thank you for requesting!! hope you're doing well and hope this is to your liking! let me know what you thought love <33

hongjoong

"and that one rapper? he's so hot! i think he's actually my favourite."

hongjoong was watching one of your old youtube videos; a reaction video to ateez. this is when you first heard about them and wanted to get into their music years ago. who would've thought that life would end up here? you dating one of the members of ateez.

hongjoong giggled at your statement, "awww you loved me from the very beginning" he teased as you read your book on the other side of the room, half embarrassed and half entertained that he was watching that video.

"actually i was talking about mingi," you said cheekily, not even bothering to look up from your book.

all you were met with was silence. too much silence that consequently caused you, after long last, to raise your head and investigate.

and what you saw was a half glare and a big pout on hongjoong's face.

"aww baby don't be sad," you giggled as you went over to him and wrapped your arms around him, "your my favourite now!" you started placing your lips on his neck, trailing then softly in just the right spots, softening him up again.

"and you always will be~

seonghwa

"so." seonghwa's voice sounded from next to you. you were both cuddled up on the couch together, watching an uninteresting sitcom to pass the time. there was something quite dangerous about the smoothness of seonghwa's voice, but you couldn't quite place what.

"when were you gonna tell me yunho was your bias?"

your heart dropped. you quickly glanced at his face to see a unimpressed expression looking back at you.

"h-how did you even-"

"lockscreen."

oh shit. you were fairly new into your relationship with seonghwa, so forgetting to change your lockscreen to something that didn't scream 'i love jeong yunho so much #slay' would've been wise.

"you idiot," seonghwa teased and chuckled lowly, looking back to the tv screen, shaking his head. you pouted and nudged him in response.

"hey! call me an idiot and i'll keep the lockscreen as it is!"

yunho

"well this is awkward."

san said with a massive beaming smile in his face as he continued to go about his day, washes the dishes innocently as if he wasn't the main cause of an argument.

yunho tutted and looked back at you disapprovingly whilst you stuttered and trained to explain yourself.

"she's an admirer, what can i say?" san mused loudly to himself, making yunho gnash his teeth in frustration.

"shut it, you," he hissed at his roommate who merely chuckled in reply. he had never seen yunho jealous before and, to be honest, he found it highly amusing. mostly because yunho looked like a hurt puppy who had lost its way home.

"this doesn't mean anything," you say to your sulky boyfriend, slide your hands of his shoulders, "i love you the most. on the world."

"that's debatable-"

"san!"

"okay, okay..."

yeosang

"jongho is just really cool, okay?"

you sat opposite your boyfriend in a cafe as he took a long slurp of his coffee, not once breaking eye contact with you. he had been interrogating you about this topic for quite some time now, ever since he found out you had a soft spot for jongho.

"cooler than me?" he clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and twisted the coffee cup in his hands, looking at you with immense interest.

"i never said that," you retorted, "you're just... different!"

"different how?" yeosang pressed on, not giving you a very easy time as he humorously continued to question you.

"well... i just love his voice," you said in a dreamy voice, "like every time i hear him singing i feel i'm ascending into the heavens!"

"well you'd say the same with me if i got more lines!" yeosang threw a used napkin at you and chuckled at his own joke.

san

"what do you mean i'm not your bias?"

your disheartened boyfriend had the biggest, plumpest pout on those lips of his as he looked at your with shiny puppy eyes. this was all news to him and honestly he felt like his whole world fell apart. "i'm dating you am i not??"

"yeah but-" you tailed off innocently, but there was nothing you could say to calm this man's humorously dramatic expression.

"who's your bias then?" he demanded, feigning anger with the twinge of sarcasm in his voice. you knew better to keep your mouth shut.

"if its wooyoung i swear to god, y/n-"

"it's not!"

"..."

"..."

"... you liar!"

he playfully grabbed a pillow and started hitting you with it as you giggled mischievously. you couldn't help but laugh at his childishness. it was no big deal, right?

mingi

you, mingi and hongjoong sat in the living room together in silence. for hongjoong, he just went about his business, laptop on his lap as he typed away doing some sort of work. but you and mingi were avoiding eye contact, avoiding talking. avoiding literally everything except breathing.

it was only a matter of time before hongjoong caught onto this. and as he looked from you, to mingi, and then back to you again, he knew there was soemthing wrong.

"what's up with you guys?" he asked suspiciously, lowering his laptop screen slightly.

"nothing, nothin-"

"y/n loves you more than me."

"wha- mingi!" you lightly slapped his arm defensively, "mingi is mad that you're my bias. that's all. nothing deep." your voice was high and strained as mingi crossed his arms Iver his chest.

"wait," hongjoong started grinning proudly, "... i'm your bias?"

by this time mingi was fuming and glaring daggers into hongjoong, striking fear into the leader.

"ehem that's not important," hongjoong coughed nervously, "that doesn't mean anything!"

"exactly!" you chimed in, "see mingi?"

you nudged him gently now, but the gaze he gave you in return did not look so convincing.

wooyoung

"i get it, he's more handsome than me."

this made you laugh. not because it was true or you were making fun of your boyfriend, but more with how you couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

but after the minutes went by and the unusual coldness and silence from wooyoung continued, you realised that he was actually upset about this.

"oh woo, don't be like that," you leaned over to grab his hand, "you're not being serious are you?"

"well you like my best friend more than me. why wouldn't i be upset about this?" he lucked his dry lips and cleared his throat, his eyebrows furrowed.

"because you're my number one," you leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. and then another. and then another. so many sloppy kisses had been peppered all over his face by the time he started giggling and smiling again. you had won him over!

jongho

"seonghwa looks like such an angel," you stared with sparkly eyes at the screen in front of you as you watched the new ateez music video for their latest comeback.

jongho couldn't help but notice that your attention was mostly fixated on seonghwa in the video. you complimented his handsomeness, his voice, the lines he had, the way he fit the concept perfectly. he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

"yeah seonghwa looks great," he muttered and cleared his throat, watching the music video with you.

"you look handsome too," you quickly added, realising you hadnt said anything about your actual boyfriend because eoyu were too busy gawking over your bias.

"oh no its too late for that now!" jongho said playfully and poked your side, causing you to let out a half yelp, half laugh.

"i'm sorry baby, i just got... distracted?"

[waiting-on-a-dream]

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 (𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝟑 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚)

Suzume: When is Taro-kun coming for me?

Haruto: Um.

Suzume: Is he coming?

Haruto: He's on his way. In the meantime, let's talk about what brought you here in the first place.

Suzume: How long before he gets here?

Haruto: Let's see if he can get here after I extract your music video. During your last interrogation, you said that you had to kill to protect your boyfriend.

Suzume: Yes. She wouldn't stop bothering him.

Haruto: Stalking?

Suzume: Hm, yes.

Haruto: Really?

Suzume: Taro-kun told me he told her to back off multiple times, but she kept trying to flirt with him. It made him uncomfortable.

Haruto: That's what he told you?

Suzume: What?

Haruto: Taro-kun sounds like a strong guy. Why did he need you to handle things for him?

Suzume: He didn't. I just did it for him.

Haruto: Why?

Suzume: To protect him.

Haruto: Is that all there is to it?

Suzume: Yes. I want him to be happy.

Haruto: I think you did it so he would appreciate you.

Suzume: ...

Haruto: Am I wrong?

Suzume: You don't know what you're talking about.

Haruto: Don't I?

Suzume: Taro-kun appreciates me as I am.

Haruto: Your trial 1 music video indicates otherwise.

Suzume: He- He gets angry sometimes, that's all.

Haruto: You guys argue?

Suzume: It's easier to let him get it out of his system.

Haruto: So you let him yell at you.

Suzume: We tolerate each other's outbursts.

Haruto: I'm sure even you recognize signs of abuse.

Suzume: I'm not an angel either.

[Bell rings, mechanical sounds in the back.]

Haruto: There's plenty you haven't told me yet.

Suzume: Let my music video speak for itself.

Haruto: Fine. Prisoner 004, sing your sins!

[MV description - SEVER]

"Being with you, my heart goes aflutter.

Is this what love feels like?

I've never felt anything like it."

The MV starts with Suzume hanging onto her boyfriend's black silhouette as they walk through the monochrome maze of mirrors from her first MV. She's properly drawn and coloured, her face fully visible. All the mirrors they walk past are shattered.

"This feeling, I think I've gotten addicted to it.

The rush, the pain, the happy bappa-bump of my heart.

Am I doing it wrong?

I wish I could give you a happy love story."

A scene of Suzume and her boyfriend sitting side by side in a living room, watching TV. A few love letters, decorated with pink hearts, are laid out messily on the table in front of them. The frame glitches, revealing the letters to be overdue rent bills. The wallpaper begins to peel off, revealing moldy walls beneath.

"This isn't like any generic love song,

there's a problem in the shape of me.

But you don't see it. You don't see it so it'll be alright.

Until someone comes along to ruin our love."

The camera cuts back to Suzume and her boyfriend's silhouette in the maze. A gold silhouette appears, wearing matching pendants as Suzume, down to the piece of morganite. Suzume gasps, gritting her teeth as she stares down the gold silhouette.

"Why are you okay with this?

Even though she won't leave you alone.

If its for the sake of protecting you, I'll do anything."

The camera seems to be in Suzume's pov now. She stalks closer to a blonde woman in an alleyway. Clouds shroud the moon. The woman fixes her hair, turned away from Suzume who slowly creeps up behind her. Suzume raises her bat. She goes for the legs first.

"Is this okay? For me to be your knight in shining armor.

I hope I didn't do anything too wrong."

Suzume raises her head, breathing heavily, golden glowing liquid splashed across her face. The camera zooms out to show a gold silhouette lying on the ground, bleeding the same golden liquid. The frame glitches, split seconds of the golden liquid being shown as blood and the silhouette as the woman.

"I didn't think you would go this far," Taro presses his fingers to his cheek, deep in thought. Its the first time his face is being shown.

"The rush, the pain, the happy bappa-bump of my heart.

This happy love story, don't let it end yet.

What do I do? I've never felt anything like this."

Suzume's eyes widen, expression morphing into one of uneasiness. Taro turns away from her, distracted with something else. "DON'T LEAVE ME" flashes all across the frame. She reaches for a boxcutter in her jacket pocket, clasping her fingers around it.

┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊

[djservo]

HI CAS!!! you beat me to it for real i also completely forgot about the month ending oopsie <3 but i'm here to ask about your july reading/watching and what's on the list for august??

FEELS SO GOOD TO FINALLY WIN ONE <3 here's july's (vaguely red-themed) shelf:

I have no idea how i read 7 books this month like they were mostly all under 200 pages but that still averages to almost 2 books a week which does not sound right when I reflect on my month but Ok sure we'll go with it

Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas

it didn't really click as I read it but then I watched the film adaptation (Head On '98) and let it all marinate throughout the month I think the distance has made me appreciate the story much more! reminded me a little of Camus's The Stranger (<- girl who has only ever read The Stranger LOL 🫥) in that cold disaffected "why even bother" way, but infused with that self-destructive 90s gay angst + Greek-Australian culture clashes. the film was better to me at constructing the differences of the worlds Ari (the protag) inhabited - the visuals and sounds of Greek language + spaces juxtaposed with 90s electronica + seedy alley hook-ups whereas the written form seemed more focused on illustrating Ari's disillusionment/attitude. there's another book by Tsiolkas I'm curious in (The Slap) but it's like 450 pages and IDK if his style of writing will grip me that long / if it'll feel Worth It by the time I finish ykwim... TBD

Pageboy by Elliot Page

I wanted to like this so bad but it was kinda a mess to get thru :-( nonlinear form so it was hard to follow along as it hopped back and forth from childhood to adulthood and I know that's probably an intentional/artistic choice but there wasn't really a clear thread pulling these drastically different parts of his life together where it justified this random shuffle - mostly just took me out of each stage of life he constructed. it feels unfair to criticize a memoir for content because ofc there's no right/wrong way to reflect and write about your own life experiences but I mostly agree with Nin's review on goodreads re: lack of introspection, especially since this memoir touted itself as an interrogation (as the book description puts it) of his inner journey. there was this one part where he brings up his second-ever experience at a gay bar (with Alia Shawkat!!) but abruptly stops himself and is like "but that's a story for another book" and I was like WHY THO!! this is 10000% a story for THIS book WDYM 'another book'!! sighhhh sigh whatever I still love him and will probs pick up this taunted "other book" when it comes out bc i'm a cuck

Try / Guide / Period by Dennis Cooper

the final 3 of the George Miles Cycle, read obsessively within the span of 2 weeks bc I couldn't bring myself to escape his world!! feels wrong to lump them all in one but I'll be here all day if I talk about them individually, so As A Whole I'm just really in awe of Cooper's style and characters and world-building and blurring of lines of surreal horror and violence + occasional earnest smatterings of autofiction + humanity stripped to its core. one review said the last book read as if it was collapsing into itself, and I think that translates to the series as a whole because his form seems to get more experimental as the series goes on. and while each book felt so distinct in their own tone/form, they all ultimately dissolve into like a singular bare naked truth amidst bleak depravity at the very end, which I really liked. since finishing the cycle I've immersed myself completely in interviews + videos + just about anything i can find about Cooper and realized it's been a minute since I've been this bewitched by an author — so fun!

Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker

in the same realm of Cooper with dark/taboo themes + sexual transgression + teen angst. I feel like I might have been put off by this if I hadn't read Cooper first because things get so blunt and nasty at times, but I feel like I'm better at kind of poking through the rubble of like graphic depictions of moralistic decay to read between the lines/understand the bigger picture of inner-adolescent-torment. I remember watching Welcome to the Dollhouse ('95) when I was like 11 and it just seemed cool and punky and kinda funny kinda weird but then I rewatched it in my 20s and was stunned with how bleak and heavy it was and I feel like there's something there with my feelings towards these angsty teenage requiems, like there's a sort of shock value that doesn't really click when you're younger and in the thick of it because you aren't fully privvy to the extent of how harmful power dynamics work or something .. IDK much 2 think about....

Desire/Love by Lauren Berlant

not too long or dense to make your brain fog, but Freud/Lacan-packed enough to make you feel a little stupid for not reading more Freud/Lacan. I love when I read a nonfiction book and end up adding 458349 of its references to my TBR, it's truly the gift that keeps giving! kinda enlightening, kinda disheartening. made me think of when I read Venus in Furs in college and it rocked my world and put me into a crisis about love + desire + fantasies + the projections we place onto people + whether or not anyone can truly See and Love a person for who they are or if we're all just doomed to subconsciously inject our own imagination of who they can be in our lives ...... light summer reading!

viewing-wise I've taken on the thankless task of watching all 48534 Friday the 13th movies so once I finish I'm sure I'll need a slasher break. a friend and i are also summer buddy reading starting with A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (my first Woolf!), then pivoting to a sorta dark boyhood in classic lit theme with Quarry by Jane White, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I'll probably read other books on the side myself (I'm in the middle of Looking For Mr. Goodbar right now) but I'm excited at the thought of a themed plan + discussions for the month(s) ahead! i forget sometimes how rewarding it feels to experience and unpack a book with someone else <3

[dreamii-yume]

okay, i’m caught up with mikoto’s case now, but i hope that i’m not annoying you by constantly flooding your inbox. here goes my early analysis. hopefully i still got the edge for this kind of thing lol.

personally, i still think my former theory is still up for a possibility, because i find some loopholes/suspicious words and actions in both the voice drama and mv. here are the ones that bother me the most:

1. the inconsistency of what john said between the voice drama and mv. in the voice drama, he promised to disappear if we vote for mikoto being forgiven, but at the very start of the song, he clearly said that “you” (even mikoto himself) can’t get rid of him now. considering that the prisoners are probably able to lie in the interrogation but not in the mv (because it was extracted right from their brain), i want to think that john lied to us just to keep mikoto safe. and if this turns out to be correct, then we can say that he has a tendency to lie just to protect mikoto, and resulting that we can’t trust him when he desperately said that he was the one that did the killing. because there’s a chance that he was lying about that just to protect him.

2. how john was really adamant on taking the blame and insisting that he was the one doing the killing, but can’t even answer on how many did he kill because the reason was that it was vague since he was JUST born. honestly, this one is really sus to me. if he was lying, then why would he lie about not knowing something he had openly admit? but if he said the truth, then it would lead to another questions of why or when he was born. why? what was the trigger for his existence? yes, john was born to help mikoto unburdened his stress, but what was the breaking point? and also, when was he born? from his answer, we can deduct it’s probably right before, during, or even AFTER the killing happen.

3. some suspicious phrases from john. first, when he said that he’ll “take it from here”, probably talking about the breaking point that i’m questioning above, but isn’t it weird if he just woke up then suddenly killing the innocent passerby or random people because of simple reasons that they’re annoying?? it’s even weirder because mikoto will gain nothing by them being dead while john’s only purpose was to protect mikoto. mikoto himself doesn’t even know that they’re dead or that he killed them, so obviously it’s not a way to help him let off some steam. so, i still think that the phrase refers to after the killing happen, john was made to take the blame and took the sin of killing from mikoto, he’s made to deal with everything from that point.

second, when he said mikoto’s “already broken”. i’m probably overthinking on this one, but isn’t john’s purpose was sort of like to prevent that to happen? to protect mikoto from stress so he wouldn’t be broken. but if he was already broken, then what else is he protecting? probably the aftermath of him being broken.

third, the apologies at the very end of the mv. was it an apology because he made mikoto’s life harder by killing, or was it an apology because he failed to protect mikoto (1st trial)? for me personally, either is possible. but he also did say something like “if only i was never born”, so the latter was a bit unlikely.

4. the mannequins. i haven’t watched every second trial mv, but from what i remember, they mostly show the victims at the end of the mvs. but not in mikoto’s mv. they only showed the beaten up and bloodied mannequins throughout the video, but not a single living person. and, you know, we mostly see things from john’s perspective this time.

sorry that it’s a bit long, i hope you or anyone else could discuss with me about it, whether you agree or disagree about it 💙

-🍂

Don’t worry about the long message, Darling ☠️ I’m guilty about my hyperfixations too lmao

Personally, I’ve became a Mikoto/“John” apologist now so I’m a little bias, but I’ll try to stay in a “neutral” side here and explain why I think what I think lmao

1. I, too, am suspicious of “John” saying that he will disappear after Mikoto is voted innocent lol Like—Boi, is it really that easy? I doubt he can disappear just like that, because “John” was born out of Mikoto’s stress, so in order for him to disappear, we need to get rid of things that causes Mikoto’s stress. In this case, it’s Milgram itself and his surroundings, and it’s not like Mikoto will feel better if he left Milgram, you know? I think what “John” is trying to say in his interrogation is that he will at least slowly disappear if Mikoto is innocent, but I don’t think he’ll disappear completely. I choose to believe that “John” is not lying, because he understands that by coming out more often, he’s just causing Mikoto more pain. I’m not very knowledgable about DID myself, but I truly believed that the “Original Mikoto” can disappear if he got too stressed.

Also I think “John” is saying “You can’t get rid of me now” in the MV is for both us and Mikoto is genius, but I’m leaning more to the fact that it’s for Mikoto. This is because he knows that Mikoto doesn’t wish to hurt anyone, but at this point, “John” is pissed and tells Mikoto to just leave it to him if Mikoto wasn’t going to do anything. Of course, I’ll keep in mind that he could be lying in his MV too, but my dumbass will choose to believe in him lol

2. I think the reason why “John” can’t say who or how many he killed is because to him, the people he killed are just faceless nobodies. He doesn’t care about those people, because his priority was to protect Mikoto. The mannequins even feels like a symbolism for that, static and humans with no faces—Just like how “John” sees them. It’s not really known what triggered his birth in the first place, but maybe something especially traumatizing happened to Mikoto during those times? Who knows lol But I think he was born at that exact moment, at least that’s what he said during the interrogation.

3. His first line in the MV was interesting, but the english subs are kinda lacking the emotion of what he actually said. Instead of “I’ve got you, leave it to me”, he was more frustrated in Japanese and saying something that goes more like “Ah! Fuck it, let me do it for you” lol

And Yeah, “John” is definitely saying sorry for making Mikoto’s life even harder, because killing those irritating people was probably the only thing he knew of what to do at that moment. In the interrogation, I did remember “John” being confused when he born, I think it just came second-nature to him on what to do.

4. And yep, I’ve said it before but I believe the mannequins are symbolism of “John” not knowing the people he killed. They’re all the same and faceless to him lol

Theorizing is fun! Obviously, we don’t have the same idea now, but it’s great sharing what I think with people lol

[stray-kaz]

Reparations: a Bucky Barnes x reader FF : Three

Guilt gnawed at Bucky’s insides. He was supposed to be concentrating, but he only thought of you instead. He had slept better than he had in years with you next to him, but when he had woken up to see you crying, deep, wracking sobs, his heart had sank.

A hand reached out and smacked his shoulder; he jerked and raised baleful eyebrows at Sam.

“What?” he snapped.

Sam waved a hand in front of his face.

“You went all spacey, bionic man” he said, arching one eyebrow back. “What’s up with you?”

Bucky clenched his jaw, considered whether or not it was worth the potential ribbing if he told Sam about waking up with you, and bit the bullet.

“You told You-Know-Who about my bad landing” he began, and was immediately cut off.

“‘You-Know-Who’“? Sam retorted, trying not to laugh. “Voldemort?”

He lost his control when Bucky’s dark eyebrows drew together in a frown of confusion.

“Who?”

“Harry Potter?”

He shook his head, agitated.

“Haven’t read it yet. You know who I mean” he muttered, glowering. “She came over to check on me and saw how tired I was. She made me go to bed...and she stayed with me.”

He did his best to ignore Sam’s rounded ‘o’ of surprise.

“I slept better than I have in years. But when I woke up, she was crying.”

Sam frowned then, hesitating.

“What?” Bucky asked. “What is it?”

“You know she hasn’t dated a man since her husband died” Sam said pointedly.

Bucky conceded the hit with a duck of his head.

“She was probably feeling guilty about sleeping over with you and maybe enjoying it. She misses her husband, she likes you, she’s probably confused” Sam explained. “After all, who wouldn’t be confused if they liked you?”

He danced away from Bucky’s half hearted punch and stepped back with a faint smile.

“Seriously, Buck. It’s her history. It’s not you. Now pay attention, will you?”

Bucky nodded, but he knew it was him. It was always him. Always the Winter Soldier.

“And where were you all last night?”

You glanced up as your bedroom door swung inward, admitting Natasha and Yelena without your say-so. You raised your eyebrows, attempting to stonewall.

“What do you mean? I was asleep all last night.”

Yelena pursed her lips and Natasha smirked, no holds barred.

“I asked where you were, not what you were doing” she retorted, just a little smug.

You felt your face heat up as you struggled to find an excuse.

“Don’t bother” Natasha interrupted your train of thought. “I am a master interrogator. Don’t try to lie to me.”

You sighed and nodded.

“I was at Bucky’s” you admitted.

The sisters’ eyebrows shot up and they both sat down hard on your bed.

“Details, please” Yelena instructed.

You shrugged, shaking your head at them.

“There aren’t any, really” you said honestly. “I went to check on him after Sam showed me the video of him jumping out of a plane sans parachute. He was exhausted. I told him he needed to sleep and I would stay with him, so I did. Only sleeping occurred.”

“One hundred percent truth?” Natasha asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“One hundred percent.”

“Well, that’s boring, but I’m glad you took a step in the right direction. Baby steps are still steps.”

“Tiny ones” Yelena muttered under her breath.

You rolled your eyes at her and she shrugged loosely in response.

“I only want to hear the exciting stuff, so sue me” she said flatly. “I have no love life. I’m too busy for that. I live vicariously through you and your odd little friend-mance with the White Wolf.”

“And you don’t think I’m too busy for that?”

She shook her head at you.

“You work admin.”

You sighed and rolled your eyes.

“It’s a little more complicated than that” you mumbled.

“A little.”

Natasha reclined on your bed, watching the miniature squabble unfold. She wondered when Bucky would tell you his biggest secret to date, if he would tell you. If he would want to risk losing whatever was shyly budding between you and him for honesty’s sake.

“He must know what you feel for him by now” she said suddenly. “I mean, you went to him like a bat out of hell when you thought he might be hurt and then you took him to bed.”

She waved a dismissive hand at you when you looked like you were going to try protesting.

“Semantics” Natasha told you. “He’d have to be an idiot not to understand.”

“He’s an idiot” Yelena butted in. “A beautiful woman dragged him to bed and all he did with her was sleep. He’s dumb.”

“It’s not like I threw myself at him” you protested, already aware of just how weak an argument this was even as you were saying the words. “All I did was tell him he was perfect and then undressed in front of him. I wore his henley to sleep in.”

The two women stared at you, all eyebrows raised. As you replayed what you had just said out loud, you groaned and covered your face with your hands.

Yelena mouthed ‘wow’ at her sister and Natasha stood gracefully and made her way to you, wrapping her arms around your hunched shoulders.

“He is a man” she murmured into your hair. “And what’s more, he is a man from the 40′s. You have to beat him over the head with the truth before he gets it.”

You nodded and then jumped slightly when an unexpected hand clamped down on your shoulder and squeezed.

“James isn’t Jack” Yelena said quietly. “Bucky is flesh and blood. And vibranium, but that’s not important. What is is that he’s here and the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

You lifted your head to gape at her, and she shrugged, tossing her ponytail.

“What? It is true.”

Natasha waved her out and she closed the door behind her.

“Call Bucky” Natasha told you firmly.

“He’s away” you reminded her. “He’s working.”

She just reached behind you for the cell phone sitting on your desk and settled it in your hand.

“Call Bucky.”

She patted your shoulder and wandered back out of the room, leaving you to stare down at your phone’s black, blank screen.

You took a deep breath and called him.

He answered after the second ring, but he sounded breathless and irritable.

“Yeah, doll?”

“I need to talk to you, James. I have to see you.”

“Okay... But it’ll have to wait. I’m not actually in the country right now...”

He trailed off and you knew it was because he couldn’t tell you where he was.

“All right” you murmured into the phone. “Let me know when you’re home.”

You heard a heavy breath and closed your eyes, imagining the worst.

“Sure thing, doll. I’ll be seeing you.”

He hung up and the connection turned to fuzzy static. You turned and dropped the cell phone back onto your desk. Now all you could do was wait for him.

Tagging: @hoodedbirdie​

[monocytogenes]

Ask game! Ask game!

👩‍💻 share a snippet that you worked on for a long time or struggled with

Okay so--you know those moments when you set up a scenario and then you're midway through the scene going 'how the hell is my character going to get out of this?' Yeah.

So, one of things I do in my agent!Pravin fics is really think about what kinds of fights he could conceivably survive, and how he'd go about that. Video game mechanics being what they are, there's multiple instances ingame where he's shooting and stabbing dudes who use lightsabers, and I'm like--nah, realistically, I think he'd get cut in half in under a minute.

This brings us to a WIP where Pravin's facing down Ardun Kothe, the enemy spy who, along with his team, exploited that mind control shit Pravin had in his brain (that he was ranting about in the other WIP I shared with you.) In canon, the guy's an ex-Jedi who fights you with a lightsaber and, being a Jedi, has a whole smattering of telekinetic powers. So yeah I was like, nix the lightsaber, but then I got about to the part in this snippet where Pravin cusses him out and then I was like--okay, how the fuck is he going to escape, haha.

Picked at it for a while before I wound up literally reading about interrogation techniques and came up with this solution. Kothe's line about his actions being "unforgivable" is a reference to some actual dialogue, and I thought, ohhh. I think Pravin can lean on that to distract and rattle him.

Also, the ticking clock element here is on account of Pravin having called an airstrike on his own position in order to put a stop to Kothe's plans and hopefully murder him in the process. In canon another character does that; I was like 'nah, this seems like the kind of batshit insane thing Pravin would do himself given the mental state he's in.'

(A quick warning--Pravin uses some really explicit language below.)

As he squeezed the trigger, with preternatural precision, Kothe lifted a hand and caught the bolt, the energy fizzling out ineffectually against his palm. “Well, well,” Kothe said, with all the mild disappointment of a mechanic assessing a cracked repulsorlift engine, “This explains a few things.” Pravin backed up a step, keeping his weapon pointed, his hand trembling slightly. “So you found a way to overcome the restraints. Alright.” He gestured vaguely at Pravin’s bloodstained jacket. “Should I bother asking where Wheel and Saber are?” “I don’t think you’d like the answer.” Kothe sighed. “Seems I was right about you.” A laugh, half-hysterical, escaped Pravin’s throat; the fury rising to choke him against his better instincts. “Tell me, Ardun, does it hurt?”

“To be betrayed?” “No, bending over to suck your own cock, you sanctimonious cunt,” Pravin hissed before he could stop himself. “How clever you are, how smart! What else could have possibly come of mucking with my brain to make me your slave?” Fear tightened his throat in the wake of his outburst but, to his surprise, Kothe faltered a bit. “I know that much was unforgivable. But I couldn’t risk this op.” Rationalizing. He can fizzle a kriffing bolt with his hand and he’s rationalizing. A snippet of interrogation training swam to mind, much as it had when he’d stood on the bridge of that dreadnought and asked Jadus question after question about his plan: attack his pride. Invite him to justify his actions. Let him try to vindicate himself. “Couldn’t you?” Pravin snapped. “I ran from my country, I turned my back on everything, and what the fuck did I get? I risked my life, I brought Chance back to you when he couldn’t speak a word to me, and you lot raped me over, and over, and over. Like it was easy. Like you enjoyed it.” “I didn’t enjoy it, Legate—” “Then why did you keep doing it?!” he shouted. “Because this is bigger than you and me!” insisted Kothe. “Because I’ve watched war tear this galaxy to shreds, and I’d do anything to keep peace alive.” Pravin brought up his other hand to grip his pistol, a deliberately-clumsy gesture that allowed him a glance at his chrono. Six minutes had elapsed—that meant he had nine to book it out of the facility if he were lucky, four if he wasn’t. He hoped he’d destabilized Kothe enough. “Anything?” he sneered. “Anything.” “I see it now, why you failed as a Jedi, why they kicked you out. You sound just like a bloody Sith.” “That’s enough—” Kothe went for the gun at his belt. With his dominant hand occupied, the man wasn’t fast enough—a flick of a trigger, and a bolt connected with Kothe’s shoulder, punching a hole through flesh.

[rustyscreech]

I watch a lot of videos dunking on incels and pick up artists because it's never not funny to dunk on incels and PUA dickheads, but something has kinda started nagging at me

it's a pretty common, almost cliché observation in both the videos and comment sections that "these guys say they're attracted to women, but clearly hate them" usually followed by like "haha they should just date other men" and honestly that doesn't bother me keep it up its funny every time

it's just that, I don't doubt that these are heterosexual men who are not attracted to men, right? I don't doubt that they are, in some way, genuinely attracted to women, sexually romantically whatever. I'm not convinced they'd be this passionate and insecure around women if they weren't.

I'm also not convinced it's...like, only because they view women as lesser. that's obviously a huge part of it, no doubt. no doubt a huge part of the PUA worldview views attraction to women as a commodity (they literally call dating a marketplace, so)

I guess the bit that's nagging at me is like, how can PUA people and incels transform attraction, which is so often described as, ya know, caring and yearning and love and good feelings, into this nightmare or pursuit? just such a huge internal contradiction to most normal people, to the point the observation itself is trite

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. maybe it's just my instinct to sympathize. I'm not trying to make excuses for any of these guys. I guess I'm just sorta...confused. confused why people who dunk on them don't linger on that contradiction beyond calling it hypocritical (which it is). I feel like there's something there. I feel like it's worth interrogating for the truth. Attraction is a weird, complicated topic, and the fact that some people's attraction turns them terrible is something I think is worth questioning

[airconditioner-tm]

Nobody wants to know :short story

All I could feel were sticks and thorns digging into my back. Above me there was blue. I stood up feeling ever increasing pain in my legs. I examined the scratches and bruises on them and my torn shirt. I called Hanna, because she was the last person I remember. Eventually I gave up. I saw a crossarm in the direction of the sun, so I walked towards it, shielding my eyes from the glaring sun.

Standing bare foot on my front porch, I opened the door. I did not feel like showering or changing yet, so I turned on the tv and flopped onto the couch. Flipping through the channels I saw a news report from our town. I could tell because they always put this ugly logo in the top corner of the screen.

"-was brought to the morgue and is now being autopsied let's talk to the fa- “I was about the flick away, until I caught a glimpse of Hannas mom. Well Hannas entire family, but her mom stud out the most, because she always wore these crazy up dos. Hanna right I should call her, but then an image flashed onto the screen of the forest floor.” we won't stop searching until we find her killer and they rot in prison forever.”

So, Hannas is dead, she hasn't run away, she didn't forget to call me she's dead, cold, and dead.

She was murdered last night, Nov 12th. Her body was found in the forest, not too far away from where I woke up, by a lady on her morning jog.

That night the entire town was in disarray, since Hanna was kind of the town sweetheart. They held a short wake for her. I considered going but decided a sea of her dad’s political opponents feigning empathy wasn’t the right way to mourn her. I did join the townspeople when they all ran into the forest looking for the crime scene. The police tried to stop us, but we marched like we were on a witch-hunt. We found the crime scene where her corpse lay before. I saw a scrap of my shirt; evidence must have missed it.I picked it up and stuffed it in my pocket.

In the aftermath the police had presented a few suspects, Jasson her boyfriend, he sucks but definitely not a murderer. Another was that her father did it, to get sympathy votes. The most widely accepted theory was, that she was killed by an opportunist, a stranger.

First, I looked at the evidence available in news reports and articles, it was about as useful as an umbrella in the sun. I tried to talk to Hannas family. They said they didn't want to talk about Hanna, that they wanted to move on and proceed to slam the door in my face. I would have to get the videos of their interrogation. the police wouldn't give them to me repeating “the case is closed leave “as they had many times before.

I got the tapes. I didn’t bother picking the broken glass out of my hands or checking if the police had followed me. I went straight to my Couche and turned on the tv. It was 9 hours of recording, all in the same room with the same investigator. I was enthralled watching them. It was so obvious; it was like they were taunting the investigator proud of their crime. I still need something more to show everyone their guilt prof no one could dismiss.

I stood in the snow outside Hannas's house. This is where the prof laid; I knew it more than I knew my own mind. Everything sat the way it always sat. Her favorite cat plushie longed on her floral duvet. we made it together in 5th grade. She loved it even with its barley hanging on button eyes and crooked smile. All of the Fotos of us where neatly hung on the wall above her bed. I ransacked her room rummaging through every shelf draw and cupboard. I found nothing, not a single piece of proof. I stood opposite the cat plush. It smiled at me, grinned at me, mocked me. When I grabbed it felt warm, I dug my overgrown nails into the fur and ripped it. There was blood when I ripped it, it lay on my hands it was all over me like when I woke up that morning in the forest but once again it wasn't my own.

This is really short because there was a 750 word limit

Feel free to give me some advice

[hologramcowboy]

I would reblog this instead of being anonymous but I don’t want Elta stans after me I don’t have the patience to deal with them. But this is a response to hisproudyang response to you. This person can clearly see this is an anti danneel blog I mean did they not see the pinned post? Why seek out an anti blog to look at posts they clearly don’t agree with? It’s easier to focus on what posts they like. Also they need to accept the fact not everyone likes Elta. We are able to see who she really is behind the mask she wears. It’s not hard to see how toxic she is at all. Not hard to see how rude she is not only towards Jensen but towards his fans and other people. It’s all there if you really want to see it. But as long as they keep her on a pedestal as some goddess who married Jensen they will always be in denial. They won’t see that she is a human she isn’t perfect and she isn’t a nice person. Also saying 12 years of marriage and kids don’t mean nothing. Doesn’t matter how many years someone is married or how many kids they have people get divorced. Even when people think there hasn’t been any signs or that the couple seem in love and happy. 

They want receipts for what we have been saying that they are saying isn’t true. If Tara was still around she could give tons of receipts to prove our point. But okay if they want receipts I will do my best to provide some info. As for the Rust interrogation I can’t say what he says there I have not seen the video. But from what I heard he basically needed comfort from her but she couldn’t be bothered by it. He apparently says something about her being afraid to fly. I don’t know for sure I didn’t see the video. Listen to his last appearance on Inside of You podcast(I think it was said there). He talks about how upset he was with Dean’s ending for the finale. He mentions he went to Danneel about it telling her how he felt. He literally says her response was go talk to Kripke. She was basically dismissing him in his time of need. Now if I was married to Jensen and he comes to me saying how upset he was about Dean’s ending I would comfort him. I would remind him that Dean is truly never dead. That he will always live on forever with him. Then if I feel he still needed encouragement I would tell him if he needs a different view to talk to Kripke. But of course all this after I had comfort him. See that is what spouses do they comfort each other. They don’t get dismissive and tell their spouse go talk to someone else. If Jensen had said something like that to her people would jump on him in a instance. For about the kids being in school during pandemic watch his last appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. He says when they moved to Colorado for the pandemic that there was a school still open during the pandemic. Cause he goes on to talk about the teacher giving the kids a ski lesson. 

I would say more information about what we are saying about her but, I already made this too long. The evidence is right there in front of you all you have to do is look. Listen to what comes from both of them cause sometimes they give you the receipts you need. The proof is right there take the googles off and look. 

So sorry I made this super long I got carried away. Plus it irks me when people deny what is in front of them.

"See that is what spouses do they comfort each other." People who love each other, no matter what form of relationship they are in, they comfort each other, it's the most natural instinct. Danneel's actions and words contradict the image she promotes. She's always objectified Jensen and turned him into a status symbol token instead of loving him. We point that out, that discrepancy, people get mad and it makes me wonder if they even care at all about Jensen or about healthy relationship dynamics.

[jimintomystery]

A Recipe Written in Mama's Ragu

I got to feeling restless, so I started a re-watch of the Game Grumps playing Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. I guess I'll run through my thoughts on Chapter 1 (episodes 1-15).

[Above: She's only happy when she's helping a complete idiot, and he's...well...]

It's remarkable how much smoother the story begins when you already know everything. In my first go-around two years ago, nothing made sense and by the time Monokuma showed up, it felt like a fever dream. Like Arin and Dan, I was interrogating the dialogue for clues about how everything got this way, which was frustrating when the kids mostly focus on understanding (and re-stating) Monokuma's rules.

It's also clear that the game loses Arin very quickly. Arin's whole mindset about playing games is to skip the tutorial, let the environment show him what he needs to do, and then figure it out because he's The Video Game Boy. So once the Grumps find Sayaka's dying message, Arin wanders off to look for how he can present his evidence and start the trial. But in Danganronpa the trial can't begin until you click on a predefined set of hotspots to get all the evidence items, whether you understand their significance or not. Whether the player can solve the murder has very little to do with how Makoto solves it, which leads to Arin shouting "IT'S LEON!" for half the trial to no avail.

Ironically, the most damning evidence in the trial isn't explicitly identified during the investigation. The case against Leon would be circumstantial, if not for the question of whether he unwrapped his toolkit to disassemble the bathroom doorknob. And even so, Makoto is exonerated too easily--the kids decide he wouldn't have bothered unscrewing the doorknob since he knew how to jiggle it. The kids just assume Makoto wouldn't be crafty enough to go to such extreme lengths to frame Leon, which is incredibly naive. I have to think Celeste picked up on this and and realized she could run circles around these rubes.

I have a special place in my heart for the Grumps' voices for all the characters, so it's pretty funny watching these early episodes where they still haven't worked it all out. Dan's take on Kyoko and Byakuya really carries this series for me, but at first she's got some kind of stuck-up Valley Girl thing going and he's all over the map. And of course, it's not until episode 3 that they hit on "Maizono = paisano" and give Sayaka a silly Italian accent.

This part of the story focuses almost exclusively on Makoto and Sayaka, which really swerved me. Everybody else comes off as superficial assholes, and the whole "Sayaka is the one kid who knew you in junior high" angle felt very contrived to me. I didn't have high expectations for the plot or the character development in this story. So I never saw it coming that Sayaka was the first to die, or that she got killed because she was the first to attempt murder, or that she'd be ruthless enough to frame Makoto. That's when the plot slapped me in the face and told me there's more to this story than watching the dumb hijinx of shallow teenagers stuck in a dating sim gone wrong.

It's probably not a coincidence that I got into the story just as Kyoko emerges as a major character. I cannot overstate that the kids in Danganronpa are constantly saying really stupid things. During the trial it is proposed that Sayaka was killed with a sword and the killer wanted to remove evidence she was in the room, which is absurd since her corpse is still there with a kitchen knife in her belly. In my first watch, Kyoko stepped up to cut through the bullshit just when I needed it most. Before long, when anything dumb was happening I would start wondering where Kyoko was, and hoping she'd show up to advance the plot. As she might say, I fell right into the mastermind's trap...

(Oh, there's a reference to Frank from House Party in episode 4. I lol'd)

[causewhywouldnti]

My thoughts as I’m watching 24 seasons of law & order svu:

Season 15

15x01/02, Munch and Amaro in the beginning are the only good things this episode. Okay, so, from the Fanfics I expected this episode to be much more graphic. Not that I mind not seeing Benson be tortured. But maybe there’ll be flashbacks. Honestly, her talking about Stabler was fitting, absolutely hate, that he wasn't in this arc.

15x04, what the heck Brian?!? Was that interrogation scene supposed to be a dig at the Benson/Stabler relationship? Tucker is still unlikable. At least the episode finally showed the Cassidy/Benson relationship, because you could easily forget about it in season 14.

15x05, Munch’s goodbye party was a nice start. And I agree with Munch on Cassidy and Benson: they both could do better! I really like the actress, despite the story, I’m happy that she got to come back.

15x06, poor Barba, just trying to help out a friend.

15x07, Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks, did not expect to see them, great casting!

15x09, Thomas Sadoski!

15x10, of course they had to show a fast-forward to Lewis getting out.

15x11, sad to see Cragen go.

15x14, Noah’s first appearance.

Apart from the opener of this season, I really didn‘t care about any of these episodes…

15x15, that’s Cassidy’s favorite Comedian?!? But that is the first episode I was interested in since the opener.

15x17, will you look at that, they actually called Elliot by his name and not just refer to him as the former partner. Kind of want Declan Murphy to come back again.

15x19, first of, love the actress who played Jenny. Second off, what a good episode, that really showed the consequences of what happened to her as a child. Also, the fact that the victim gets notified whenever a video/image is downloaded is horrifying. So far the best episode of the season for me.

15x20, got my wish, Lt. Murphy is back. Well, to end the episode like that was certainly a choice.

15x21, I hate that it bothers me so much that the blood pattern on Benson's face changed. Did I mention that I like Murphy? Because I really do! The one time, Tucker actually wants to help Benson, and she shoots him down. Hearing Amaro say he’s been here for almost three years was surprising. I really, really, hope, that they won’t ruin Murphy!

15x22, same with Brian and Olivia, Amaro and Rollins were not set up at all.

15x24, nice to see Munch again. Pretty sure that’s not how foster parenting works, but sure.

Favorite Episodes: 15x15 and 15x19

15x19 was definitely my favorite thing of this season. The Lewis arc was a lot less graphic than I thought it would be. I do appreciate Olivia seeing a therapist, and I liked Murphy as a character. Would have actually liked him to stay on. Apart from that, I would really like to have had Stabler in the Lewis arc and just generally in the show.

[whiteqnn]

PURE [3] - Corpse Husband x Fem! Reader

A/N: Over 1 thousand notes. You guys are insane. I can’t see any other explanation.

Thank you so much for all the love and support under the previous parts, all those comments just absolutely made my day! I would never expect this story to receive such a positive feedback, which I’m extremely grateful for! 

Anyway, I decided to add some additional plot to this story - mainly, the sudden criticism and hate directed on Y/N after the last Among Us stream. I thought it would make things more interesting.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the third part ^^

part 1

part 2 

part 4 

part 5

PURE [3]

Y/N stared at her phone screen, reading through the latest tweets of her friends inviting their fans to watch their streams. It was Thursday evening and just as it was planned, everyone was getting ready for another game of Among Us. Just as she would do if it wasn’t for all those comments...

The last stream caused sudden, unexpected amounts of attention on her social media. She probably shouldn’t be that surprised by it, given the fact that by appearing in Sean’s and Felix’s videos she wasn’t all that strange to their fans. But people who watched Rae, Toast, or Corpse’s streams didn’t know her. And apparently, some of them weren’t that happy to see a new face among the group of well-known gamers. 

She always tried to avoid the unnecessary spotlight as much as she could, preferring to stay hidden somewhere behind other, much more popular streamers. And it never bothered her. She was never one to enjoy too much attention anyway.

That’s why when she discovered how upset, or even angry, some people were when she played with all those famous streamers, she was quite shocked, to say the least. 

Like all those comments under Poki’s tweet, in which she mentioned who’s gonna be playing this time...

“Duh, why’s that Y/N chick supposed to play with them again? There are at least hundreds of other, much more popular streamers I can think of who would be better than her.”

“Who the fuck is she anyway? Why’s she there?”

“lmao, some random girl who got lucky enough to know jacksepticeye. Don’t get why she’s playing with them though.”

“NOT HER AGAIN. I SWEAR TO GOD SHE WAS SO FUCKING ANNOYING LAST TIME”

Sure, she wasn’t as famous as Felix, or Sean, or Rae, or anyone else for that matter. Her audience wasn’t very small, but it was nothing compared to the number of fans other YouTubers had. It was understandable that most people didn’t know who she was, and didn’t understand why she was there in the first place.

She was, in fact, just some random girl who was lucky to have Sean as her friend. But in a group of such great and well-known streamers, she definitely stood out like a sore thumb. 

Y/N almost jumped in her seat when her phone beeped with a new message, Sean’s nickname showing up at the top of her screen. 

Jackaboy: We’re starting in a few kiddo

Jackaboy: But join the call now so we can both make fun of Felix

After the last game, she was so excited and couldn’t wait for this evening. She looked forward to cooperating with Sykkuno again, to arguing with Toast, to laughing with Sean and Felix, to murdering other people with Corpse... Yet now, all this excitement seemed to vanish just like the mood to play, let alone talk with other people. They would surely see right through her and try to make her spill the beans, which would ruin the stream. And the last thing she wanted was to ruin their game.

Jackaboy: You there Y/N??

She sighed, thinking of some believable excuse that wouldn’t arouse suspicion, but her mind was flooded with all those comments and DMs she received over those past days, which expressed nothing but hatred towards her. 

Y/N: I’m really sorry Sean, but I don’t think I will be joining you today... I don’t feel very well. 

She waited for Sean’s reply impatiently, expecting him to send her some angry emoji or tell her to move her ass and join the discord call. What she didn’t expect though, was that he would facetime her. 

Her first instinct was to throw her phone across the room as if it would make Sean stop calling. He wouldn’t stop unless she’d tell him the truth. 

So she cleared her throat and plastered the widest smile on her face, before answering his call.

“Alright, what is going on?” Sean asked right away, staring at her with his brows furrowed. He wasn’t in his recording room, but in his kitchen, which meant that he left his stream to call her. “And please don’t tell me you’re sick cause I won’t believe it anyway. And neither will Pewds.”

“I’m tired, Sean... I was working late again and I really need to rest.” she lied, trying to keep her voice steady and calm. She really didn’t want Sean to interrogate her now, not when his fans were waiting for him. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else though. Please tell the guys that I’m sorry”

“Y/N, c’mon, cut this bullshit. What’s wrong?” he asked softly, moving his phone closer to his face. “You know you’re a terrible liar, just tell me what happened. If you don’t wanna play then neither do I.”

“Sean, please don’t do it” she shook her head with a sigh. “Your fans are waiting for you, I’ll be fine.”

“Well they’re waiting for you too you dummy, I already promised them you’ll be playing with us tonight” he stated matter of factly, rolling his eyes. Y/N remained silent for a moment, and Sean suddenly furrowed his brows, narrowing his eyes at her in a suspicious look. “Did someone tell you something rude last time we played? Who and what?”

“What? No, Sean, oh my God. Everyone was super nice, it has nothing to do with the last stream... not with you guys, at least.” she mumbled under her breath, dropping her eyes from Sean’s confused face.

“What do you mean not with you guys? Y/N, what the hell happened?” he demanded, slowly getting more and more worried. She wouldn’t tell him though, too scared that Sean would just laugh it off, even though he also sometimes had problems with dealing with hate. And just as if he was reading her mind, Sean sighed, his face softening in a sad smile. “You’ve read the comments, didn’t you?”

She felt so stupid for being so easily offended by comments of some random people on the Internet, that she just nodded her head meekly, still looking anywhere but at the man. 

“Look kiddo... I’m not gonna tell you to get yourself together and just ignore them, cause it won’t help, and I know cause I’ve been there. Hell, I’m still there.” he chuckled to himself and continued “Anyway, you really shouldn’t be worrying yourself about people who don’t even know you. They don’t know you, Y/N, why would some complete stranger’s opinion matter to you?”

“They said I shouldn’t be playing with you guys... that I’m nothing but a burden and you should be playing with someone who’s at least recognizable.”

“Well excuse me Miss, last time I checked I could choose who the fuck I want to play with.” Sean scoffed, clearly irritated by such comments “You’re one of my best friends Y/N and I don’t give a fuck what some haters say. And neither should you.”

“Maybe you should just invite someone else... It would make everyone happy.” she muttered almost inaudibly, but Sean almost barked at her when he heard her words.

“I told you to cut that bullshit, Y/N! Everyone couldn’t wait for this game and now you wanna back out? C’mon, kid. Do you have any idea how heartbroken Sykkuno’s gonna be? When you left so quickly last time, he kept complaining that he has no one to team up with.” she couldn’t help but smile at that, letting out a tiny giggle. “And Corpse? Have you even seen his last tweet?”

“What? No, I- I don’t follow him...” she said, wondering what Sean was talking about. She quickly searched for Corpse on Twitter, still being on facetime with Sean, and her heart almost dropped when she saw the last tweet.

@.Corpse_Husband Really excited for tonight’s Among Us stream, 8PM PST.

Jacksepticeye

Valkyrae

Pewdiepie

Pokimane

Sykkuno

Disguised Toast 

Logic 

Mr Beast

and, hopefully, my partner in crime - Little Y/N 

:)

She stared at the screen with her eyes widened, and her lips corners curling up in a small, bashful smile. It was so nice of Corpse to mention her as well, especially with the nickname that he seemed to like so much since their last game. 

“God, if you could see yourself right now. How’s it that my pep talk didn’t do shit, but Corpse’s tweet magically made you smile, ugh.” Sean reminded her of his presence, and she quickly returned to the call, trying to somehow control her burning cheeks. 

“It’s not like that, Sean, I really appreciate that you’re trying to cheer me up... I just didn’t expect your friends to like me...” she admitted quietly, and if Sean could, he would probably strangle her at that moment. 

“I JUST TOLD YOU THAT SYKKUNO KEPT BUGGING ME ABOUT YOU FOR TWO FUCKING HOURS. YOU THINK HE WOULD TALK ABOUT YOU IF HE DIDN’T LIKE YOU?!”

“I just... what if they’re just being nice, but they don’t actually want me to play with them?”

“I’m done.” Sean groaned, shaking his head furiously. “Alright, here’s what you’re gonna do. You stay away from your phone, join the discord call, say hi to everyone, and we’re all gonna have fun, okay? If not, Pewds is gonna murder you, cause he was already growing impatient even before I called you.”

“I’m still not sure if that’s a good idea, Sean...”

“But I am sure, Y/N! Now come on, we’re playing in five. I’m telling everyone you’re joining as well.”

And before she could even reply, he hung up. Y/N groaned, rushing to her computer to turn it on. Now it would just be plain rude not to join the game, especially after Sean wasted his time talking with her, while he should be talking to his fans. Just as he suggested, she kept her phone far away from her desk, deciding to stay away from Twitter and all those comments for a bit. Maybe it would help her clear her mind and at least try to have some fun. 

An invite to the group call was already waiting for her, along with a message from Sean with a code to the game. Y/N put her headphones on before joining the call and quickly typing in the code. 

“... so let me repeat myself. I ALWAYS sound guilty, no matter what. Please, guys, don’t vote me out!” 

Y/N shook her head with a smile on her lips when the first thing she heard after joining the call was Felix’s pleading voice. Clearly, he was already trying to save his own ass even before the game began.

 Y/N could hear Sean’s loud voice as he commented on Felix’s plea with some snarky remark, later also catching the sounds of Rae’s laughter. Everyone was already there, they’ve been clearly waiting for her to join. 

“Hey, look who’s finally here! Hi Y/N!” Poki noticed her presence first. 

“Hello everyone” Y/N said, as shy and quiet as usual.

“Oh, Y/N! It’s so great to see you again, I was worried you weren’t joining us tonight” Sykkuno said, a pout clear in his voice. 

“WELL ABOUT DAMN TIME” Felix all but yelled, making her roll her eyes with a smile. “What did I tell you about being late?!”

“Give her a break Felix, her mic wasn’t working again... Luckily, I was there to save the damsel in distress” Sean said, and even though she couldn’t see him, Y/N was almost certain that he was smirking. 

“Yeah, I’m really sorry guys to have kept you waiting so long...” Y/N said, feeling genuinely bad. Maybe Sean was right after all? They could have just invited someone else, and yet they decided to wait for her.  

“It’s okay, you’re here now and it’s all that matters” a deep voice sounded out, and whether she liked it or not, Y/N grinned like an idiot with a blush rising up her cheeks. 

“Shit, here we go again...” Felix sighed, making everyone else laugh. Y/N bit at her lower lip, feeling her heart thump in her chest as she felt a sudden wave of courage, deciding to speak up despite her initial shyness:

“Well... I couldn’t just leave my partner in crime alone, right?” she asked, and she could swear she heard Corpse stutter as if he completely didn’t expect her to say that.  

“Ah yes, after all, killing wouldn’t be the same without her, right Corpse?” Toast teased, repeating Corpse’s words from the last stream. Everyone in the call laughed, Y/N included. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, even though just mere minutes ago she was on the verge of crying. “It’s good to have you here, Y/N/N. Maybe I’ll actually get a chance to finally kill you this time.”

“Jesus Christ, Toast. You sound like a psychopath. Hey, I’m happy you’re here, lemme stab you in the back, please?” someone whose nickname was MrBeast spoke up with a chuckle, before directing his next words to Y/N “I believe we haven’t played together before, I’m Mr Beast, it’s really nice to meet you Y/N”

“Yeah, pleased to meet you!” another player, Logic, spoke up “I also didn’t have a chance to play with you yet, but I’ve seen Sean’s last stream... Let me just say, that Toast murder was absolutely perfect!” 

“Wow. And here I almost managed to block it out. I’m fucking traumatized Y/N, you should be ashamed of yourself” Toast scoffed over Felix’s laughter. 

“You should be proud of yourself!” Sean interfered “Just so you know lads, Y/N may seem like a little angel, but she’s a little demon. You’ve been warned.” 

“Yeah, she’ll charm you with her voice only to snap your neck next second.” Felix scoffed.

“Just like she did with Corpse!” 

“Charm?!” Y/N gasped, her cheeks burning.

“I don’t recall Y/N killing me...” Corpse said in his low voice. 

“I love how that’s the only thing he denied” Poki pointed out in a teasing voice, which only made Y/N sink further into her chair. 

“Can we please start the game now?” she asked in a pleading voice, hoping that everyone would stop making fun of Corpse and her. She could only imagine how uncomfortable he felt, for some reason being the target of their jokes... They must’ve made him feel awkward, right? 

“Jack, did you tell Y/N how we’re playing tonight?” Sykkuno asked, and she sighed in relief that they dropped the jokes. 

“Oh, right! So there’s this mod called proximity chat, where we’re able to hear each other as we pass by another person, and it seems quite fun so that’s what we decided to try out tonight.” Sean explained to Y/N, and before she could ask another question, he added “I’ve just sent you the link, it’ll take a minute to install it.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you Sean” Y/N said, before downloading the mod and quickly installing it. When everything was set and ready, she pulled up Among Us again and typed in the code, and the game finally began. 

“Woah”

“Holy shit!” 

“Guys this is so cool!” Sykkuno exclaimed, his voice so happy and excited that Y/N couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Okay, I’m scared now. I feel like encounters with Imposter are just gonna be perfectly cut screams” Felix chuckled, as they left the dropship and moved down the map. That’s when Y/N gasped in surprise, upon seeing the locations completely different than those she was used to.

“Wait- is that a different map?” she asked through her mic, hearing Toast’s distanced, devilish laugh. There was only Rae and Sykkuno beside her, as everyone else have already split up to do their tasks.

“Oh yeah, that’s Polus, it’s much more fun than the one we were playing in last time.” Rae explained happily and Y/N groaned. She didn’t know that map.

“Great. I don’t even know how am I supposed to do tasks in here...”

“Oh, it’s not that hard. They’re in most cases similar to those you already know, they only look a little bit different.” Sykkuno said in his kind voice, before asking “Do you want to team up again, Y/N?”

“I thought you would never ask Sykkuno” Rae chuckled under her breath.

“Yeah, that would be great! I need someone to show me around” she smiled. The trio finally moved from their spot beside the dropship and went to the left where, as Y/N later realized, was electrical. She quickly did her task in there, being under the watchful eyes of both Sykkuno and Rae.  

Before the latter could do his own task, the first body was reported.

“The body is in the lab” Felix said, and Y/N couldn’t help but smirk as she saw that it was Toast who was murdered first. One less person to accuse her or try to frame her, if he was the Imposter. 

“I just ran towards the lab from the left side, I only saw Poki on my way there” Corpse said right away, and the accused girl was quick to try and defend herself:

“Okay, I wasn’t in the lab, I was doing that engines task which is next to the lab.” 

“Did you see someone else there?” Jack questioned. 

“Nope, just me and the engines.” 

“Okay. Sykkuno, where are you?” the lime astronaut was next on Jack’s list of suspects, which made Sykkuno groan. 

“Why do you sound so suspicious right away?” he asked in disbelief, causing the rest to giggle “I was with Y/N and Rae all this time, we were all doing our tasks in electrical.”

“Is that true Y/N?”

“Yes Sean, that is true” she rolled her eyes with a laugh “I don’t even know this map, I have to stick with someone so I don’t end up like Toast.”

“Alright, what about rest? Logic? I think I saw you in admin but then you disappeared somewhere.” Felix said.

“Yeah I’m with Mr Beast in the office”

“That’s right” Mr Beast confirmed, which didn’t bring anything new to the investigation, so everyone decided to skip.

“Wo- Okay where are we now?” Y/N asked in surprise, when the new round began in some completely new place Sykkuno didn’t manage to show her yet. She could hear as Corpse laughed at her shocked voice, which made her smile widely.

“Yeah, I’m also not used to this new map yet” he admitted, his black astronaut walking up to her white one “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“Sure!”

-

*Meanwhile Sykkuno*

“Okay this is bad guys, we lost Y/N” Sykkuno said to his mic, running around the map to find the girl he was earlier teamed up with. “I thought she followed us when the new round began, but she must’ve gone the other way... What if she’s dead already? Not good, not good...” 

-

"Woah! This looks amazing! Is there some task here as well?”

“Yes, there’s temperature recording right here” Corpse said, standing by the lava pit, watching as Y/N’s character ran back and forth over the pool of lava. 

“I wonder if you could jump into it. What do you think, Corpse?” she asked curiously, standing close to the edge. 

“Not that I’m aware of it...” he mumbled coming closer to the edge as well “Why would you jump into it?” he asked with a half-smile on his face. 

“So Felix can’t stab me in the back.” she whispered, even though there was no one around them. 

“You think it’s him?” Corpse mirrored her voice, and she hummed in response “Why?”

“He’s constantly suspicious of everyone, last time we played he also kept interrogating us all, without even telling his own location.” she stated as if it was very obvious. Corpse couldn’t help but let out a laugh “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

“Not at you, Y/N. I’m just impressed by your investigation skills” he admitted “In that case, we better both jump in. Felix likes to frame other people.”

“You wanna jump into the lava with me?”

“Sure I do.”

“There you are!” Sykkuno’s lime astronaut came out of nowhere, followed by Mr Beast. Two of them walked up to Y/N and Corpse, and before the latter could even say anything, Mr Beast snapped Y/N’s neck.

“WAIT, NO-”

“OH GOD, OH GOD” Sykkuno yelled in panic.

“KILL HIM CORPSE” Mr Beast screamed, frantically running around.

-

“What the heck?” Y/N stared at her screen in shock, her dead body laying over the lava pit. Mr Beast had already fled to the left, leaving her, Sykkuno and Corpse standing between two of them. None of them said anything for a moment before the black astronaut finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N” he kept repeating, regret clear in his voice. “And Sykkuno, I- I can’t even express how-”

He was cut off by Felix’s scream, who reported the bodies before Corpse could kill him as well.

“IT’S CORPSE ALRIGHT” Felix yelled right away “HE’S STANDING OVER Y/N AND SYKKUNO, HE HAS THEIR BLOOD ON HIS HANDS”

“That is- I did not kill them” Corpse replied, calm as ever, as opposed to his frantic apologies. 

“Then why were you standing there?! Without reporting the bodies?!”

“I was... mourning their death.” he replied, which caused the whole group to burst out laughing. “Seriously guys, you think I would murder Sykkuno? And Y/N? I would never even think of hurting them.”

“The simp is strong, we get it, but it doesn’t really save your situation” Rae laughed. 

“Let’s kick him out guys, he can’t even defend himself” Sean chuckled, and everyone else didn’t need to be told twice. Soon enough, Y/N watched as Corpse’s black astronaut was thrown into the lava pit... Oh, the irony...

The game continued with her wandering around the map, doing the rest of her tasks to at least support somehow her fellow crewmates. She stumbled upon Corpse’s ghost at some point and laughed wholeheartedly when he started circling her little character in something she read as an attempt to apologize. 

A little while later another body was reported, this time it was Felix who lost his life. Y/N didn’t really focus on the conversation this time, glancing at her phone instead. There was this urge to reach for it and check how people reacted to her joining the game, but she kept repeating Sean’s words in her head. There was no point in worrying about the opinion of somebody who doesn’t even know her... or at least that’s what she tried to convince herself to think. 

Her attention was brought back to the game when she heard the sound of a new message from someone who was also dead. She clicked on the chat, seeing that it was one of the Impostors.

Corpse: :(

Corpse: I’m sorry 

Y/N thought it was sweet of him to apologize for it, even though it was his main goal to murder everyone after all. She believed he was genuinely sorry for it, just like she was each time she was an Impostor and had to kill somebody.

Sykkuno: Welcome to the afterlife, Corpse!

She laughed at Sykkuno’s constant happiness, which was evident even in his messages, before typing one as well:

Y/N: We’re all corpse here

Sykkuno: Oh, so it means we’re all really cool then ^^

Y/N: Fair point

Corpse: See Y/N

Corpse: I told you I would jump into the lava for you 

Y/N: You didn’t exactly jump...

Corpse: :(

Y/N: But let’s say it counts as well :)

Corpse: :)

Before they knew, the voting ended. Mr Beast was thrown into the lava, which ultimately lead to the victory of crewmates. Y/N cheered happily, when the blue sign appeared on her screen, right above everyone else who was innocent. 

“Yaaay, the first time I wasn’t killed in the first game!” Sean announced enthusiastically, his astronaut running around the dropship.

“Yeah, and the first time it went so fast...” 

“Right? Corpse, I’m disappointed in you. What happened to the King of Impostors?” Rae asked.

“Well.. no matter how good you are, you can’t always win, right?” Corpse replied calmly.

“Hmm, you seemed kinda absent-minded during the game, though...” Poki suggested with a smirk hiding in her voice, and Rae was very quick to pick on it.

“Oh, you’ve noticed that too? Almost as if he was distracted by something” 

“I don’t know what are you talking about” he chuckled nervously, and Y/N just sat in her chair confused about what was going on. “Anyway, who’s up for another round?” 

“Yeah, I have an idea” Sean said, effectively shutting everyone up “What if we play something along the lines of hide and seek? Let’s have one impostor, and everyone else needs to get their tasks done before he finds them.”

“That is...” Felix took in a dramatic breath “THE BEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD ABOUT”

“Yeah, I think it will be fun” Sykkuno replied. 

“It sounds really cool, but let’s maybe tell who’s the impostor? I think it would be more fair” Rae suggested. 

“I think it’s a good idea” Sean concluded, before changing the settings for one impostor only. Y/N waited patiently for the game to begin, and when she saw that she was a crewmate again, she sighed in relief. Only to gasp in a panic a second later...

“It’s me.”

Everyone stumbled out of the dropship as Corpse admitted that he’s the impostor. It seemed that knowing exactly who can murder everyone made the whole game a little bit terrifying...

“I don’t know where the heck I’m going” Y/N mumbled to herself with a nervous laugh when instead of doing her tasks, she searched for the perfect place to hide. When she entered security, she spotted Mr Beast fixing the wires, so she decided to join him.

“OH SHIT- god damn it, you scared me to death!” he all but yelled when she appeared next to him, doing her tasks. 

“Sorry” she giggled, quickly finishing the wires, before speeding out of the room. On her way to weapons, she stumbled across Felix’s dead body, and could hear some screaming in the background... but didn’t recognize who was murdered next. 

Y/N managed to do most of her tasks without meeting Corpse, whom she hoped not to see probably for the first time since they played together. She was just leaving decontamination when she heard Sean’s panicked laughter:

“...tee, bitches love me?”

“Wrong.” Corpse’s voice almost made her squeak in surprise, only to really scream when he suddenly snapped Sean’s neck. 

“Retreat, retreat!” Y/N laughed as she sped past oblivious Rae and Logic, Corpse hot on her tail. She quickly returned to the decontamination room, hoping to flee from her inevitable death, when Corpse’s black astronaut walked in, and the door closed. 

“Please don’t kill me” she chuckled, even though there was no hope for her. 

“Finish my lyrics, and I’ll let you live...” he began, and Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion “ I spilt wine...”

“Wait- what lyrics? You sing?” she asked, completely dumbfounded. Corpse was silent for a moment as if he didn’t understand her, before bursting out laughing “What’s so funny again? Corpse, come on!” 

“Yes, Y/N, I do sing, I was actually hoping you’ve heard some of my songs...” he admitted, still chuckling to himself. She felt a blush rising up her cheeks.

“Oh- I- I didn’t, I-... but I will, okay? I’ll do it right away!” she promised, quickly jumping up to grab her phone and listen to Corpse’s song. She was genuinely shocked, she would never expect him to sing! 

 She unlocked her phone with a wide, somehow nervous smile on her face, which, however, dropped the moment she saw her notifications. Hundreds of notifications. 

“You there, Y/N?” Corpse’s voice reached her after a moment, when she still didn’t say anything, just kept looking at her screen. “I hope my music isn’t so bad that you passed out from listening to it...”

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, her phone gripped tightly in her shaking hands.

“Um, Y/N?” his voice became more worried now “Is everything okay?” 

Y/N cleared her throat and quickly wiped her eyes, closing them for a moment to steady her breathing.

“Yeah, all good Corpse” she forced herself to smile, so her voice wouldn’t sound weird. “Look, um, I need to leave, can you tell the others bye from me?” 

“Is something wrong?” Corpse asked confused.

“No, of course not!” she laughed through her tears “Something just came up and I really need to leave.”

“You sure you’re-”

“Bye Corpse. It was nice playing with you.” 

-

A/N: I hope you guys are not too disappointed in me... It didn’t turn out as I initially thought it would. Isn’t it too dramatic? And is this hate plot fine? Or is it not? What do guys you think? 

TAG LIST IS CLOSED!

@slytherin-chan @pillowjj @afuckingunicornn @love-and-virtues @ignooynim @crapimahuman @hannahjsworld @laugh-like-the-moon @fallengoddess772 @kingric03 @dolphinpink310 @paigeyisme @bunnychano3o @dxrtygxrl28 @z-nyx @baby-iyania @trashygeek

[waiting-on-a-dream]

𝙰𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 (𝙷𝚊𝚔𝚞 𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗)

"A second interrogation?" Haku asks calmly from his seat, hands laid out flat on the table non-threateningly.

With the other prisoners, Haruto is always secretly on edge, as if they might attack him at any moment. But with Haku, he somehow knows the boy isn't interested in resorting to violence. Or maybe Haku just wants him to think that. Being a guard is exhausting.

"I watched your music video, and now I have more questions for you."

"Ask away."

"Have I ever told you how much I love your cooperation?" Haruto sighs in relief, throwing his head back until it rests against his chair.

"Is that one of your questions?" Haku asks blankly.

"Nope. I'm just voicing my gratitude," Haruto chuckles.

Haku doesn't seem to know how to respond to that, as he stays quiet.

"Question 1, tell me about your brother."

"That's not a question," Haku pipes up. Because he's so smart.

"Just answer," Haruto sighs again in defeat.

"He's talented. He plays the violin very well."

"And you play the piano?"

Haku nods. "Yes."

"Did you and your brother play duets a lot?"

"I enjoy practicing with him, so yes."

That explains the duet in his music video then. "What else can you tell me about him?"

"He's weird," Haku looks down at that.

"How so?" Haruto perks up, interested.

"Well, he isn't very good with people. He doesn't know how to talk to them. Though they're often approaching him because of his talent."

"Does he rely on you to talk to them for him?" Haruto tilts his head, still curious.

"He usually runs away and waits for me to apologize on his behalf for being unsociable," Haku replies without blinking an eye.

"Does that bother you?"

"Not really. I just don't want him to be uncomfortable."

"You really care for him a lot, huh?" Haruto chuckles.

"He's my precious little brother after all," Haku's face remains impassive. But his words say a lot in of itself.

"That's good to know. Tell me about the school you attended before this. It was a prestigious music school if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes, its called Maestoso Music Academy. I'm taking a course for a piano degree there."

"Your brother studies there as well, I assume?"

"Yes, he's taking a course for the violin."

"Ah. What's the environment like?"

"It's...competitive. Everyone is good at what they do, whether through hard work or a natural-born talent, or both."

"Did you make any friends there?" Haruto pauses. He can't imagine Haku befriending anyone besides the brother he dotes on so much.

Haku pauses as well, as if he needs a moment to recall. "Yes. I made two friends in my class. We would often study together."

"Were they friends with your brother as well?"

"He had his own friends from his course."

So they aren't (so) co-dependent as Haruto thought. Wait. "Were any of them too competitive with him? A bad influence on him perhaps?"

"Not that I know of," Haku blinks.

Haruto decides he can rule out Haku's brother's friends as potential victims. Maybe. "Alright, last question. If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do?"

Haku contemplates the question for a moment. "I'd attempt to play a really difficult piano piece."

"That makes sense. And if you get it right?"

"That would be impossible to achieve within one day. But hypothetically, I'd die happy," Haku blinks, a ghost of a smile on his face. Is he smiling just thinking about it?

"Life goals, am I right?" Haruto grins.

"..I guess so," Haku's blank expression returns.

Haku has the same expression all the time. Its no fun.

"Thanks for answering my questions. Your interrogation is done."