#I went out for a few dinners this summer with people that have very clearly never waited on anyone in any way and holyyyy shit

[angelusteal]

It really should be mandatory to do both retail/customer service and online customer service.. Knowing what it's like being on the receiving end really does help you a) treat workers better and b) get WAY better service imo

[diqldrunks]

DATE ME TO SCARE THEM — R. CAMERON

summary: rafe cameron didn't do girlfriends, or make deals — so why did he agree so quickly to being your fake boyfriend — for the sole purpose of pissing off your parents? (based off the song 18 by anarbor)

a/n: this is very different from the original which got lost when my acc got terminated

cw/tw: none! this is really short but other parts will be much longer!! asks for rafe (in this au and others) are open!! anons are welcome!

word count: 0.8k

DMTST — PART ONE

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:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ

you and rafe had been sitting on the beach when you asked him.

it was late summer, and the sun was slowly setting. the two of you had spent the entire day together, and the entire time, rafe couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done something to upset you.

you had barely said 5 words to him that hadn’t been prompted by a question he asked you; there was an air of awkwardness surrounding the two of you and any interaction you had, and rafe hated it.

he spent ages going over anything and everything he had said, trying to figure it out. he'd eventually decided he'd had enough, and when you were reapplying your lip gloss, he decided to speak up.

"sweets," he asked, using the nickname he began using years ago after he realised the extent of your sweet tooth, "everything good with you? anything going wrong in your little world that i can help out with?"

the two of you had met two years ago, when your parents had dragged you to an overly formal dinner at the country club after you had moved — you were sat across from him and one of his sisters, sarah. together, the three of you tried to tune out the insufferably dull conversations that were happening — with one of ways being rafe and sarah explaining kildare to you, introducing the concept of ‘pogues’ and ‘kooks’ (with sarah later introducing you to some of her kook friends without rafe’s knowledge).

after a couple of these dinners, the three of you became friends — with it soon becoming commonplace for you to spend days and nights at the cameron’s’. you spent mornings in town shopping, afternoons on the boat and evenings at parties. though you met other people your age — both kooks and pogues — and became friendly with them, rafe and sarah were always the ones you were closest to.

over time, sarah became more distant, and your afternoons on the beach as a trio became just you and rafe. your parents weren’t that happy, having voiced their dislike for the boy, but as they worked away for business a lot, they didn’t have a chance to stop it. this month, they were away again, in chicago this time for a series of conferences, but were coming back in a few days.

they had phoned you a few weeks ago, and were clearly excited to be talking to you — one of their business executive friends had a son, and, although they didn’t say it explicitly, they expected you to go on a few dates with him. his name was matthew, and he was coming to outer banks with his father a few days after your parents return.

you were anxious and angry, and for days had been racking your brain for a solution — one that you could make last as long as you matthew went back home. you had eventually came up with a plan — it was risky, and frankly just a terrible idea, but it should work. you just had to get rafe on board.

you looked to rafe, his hair almost glowing gold from the sunlight.

"i need you to be my boyfriend."

the brunette paused, one of his hands frozen in place as it hovered over the cooler from where he was about to grab a second beer.

he was silent for a moment, his eyebrows slightly raised so the ends of his hair began to cover them.

"i'm sorry sweets, i need to what?"

this time your voice was louder than before, but still quiet enough that rafe had to try and block out the sound of the crashing waves to hear you clearly. "i need you to date me for the next two weeks — three at a push."

you take a quick look at rafe before turning you attention back to the hands in your lap as you continue to talk. "it's my parents — they're coming to visit for a few weeks and the last time i spoke to them, they were trying to set me up with one of their business friend’s sons — a guy called matthew-"

rafe ran a hand through his hair. "god sweets, do i really have to get dragged into this? your parents despise me-"

"that’s why this is so perfect rafe. they are setting me up for misery — let’s be real, matthew’s going to be as dull as a rock. i want to throw this stupid idea back in their faces — make sure they won’t do this again."

"you’re gonna use me to piss off your parents, sweets?" rafe smirked, remembering just how much you're parents hated him. "fake date me just so you can scare them?” rafe pauses, pretending to think. god, he was insufferable. “i don't know, seems like an awfully one sided deal..."

you needed rafe to agree, otherwise you risk sitting opposite full matthew at the country club for dinner. "rafe cameron i will literally do anything for you to agree."

rafe smirked. "if you say so sweets."

rafe taglist (lmk if you want to be added!); @izabellaemerson @spiderflunk @kitty-m30w @vincapandora @uraesthete @wickedtactics @harmoneeee24 @starkeybae @fairydvstss @alexiskirkland @devils-blackrose @makaylalovessmut @winterrrnight @clearbolts @slayystuff @neilove @littlemissborntolose @emyslittlebubble @ldrsog @stargrltara @isabelllauer @alexasznisforever @zizuras @sadgirlelenora @djosfuture @leaskisses444

[everythingmp3]

𝕞𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕´𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖 ୨୧

adult!Van x fem!reader (smut)

when your friend mentions that she´s been seeing someone, you don´t picture the person she introduces you to. after a few weeks of being around Van, tension builds and something is bound to happen.

minors dni. warnings: oral (reader receiving), infidelity kind of

(disclaimer: more plot! i felt like doing something slow burn-ish, and it´s basically just Van being pretty desperate.. i think adult Van is for sure the type to get tangled up in dating drama, so here you go!)

it was summer, a particularly hot one. you were back in your hometown for three months and spent most of your time catching up with old friends, which was an easy way to always have something to do; they dragged you to the lake, camping, out to clubs, to dinner. it was everything you needed after a few very stressful months before.

during the first week of being home, one of your friends told you about someone she´d been seeing, and you were curious to know what kind of person she´d go for. your friend group was diverse but still, you did not expect someone like Van to walk in that night she introduced her to the group. she was quite a bit older than most of you, rather reserved, and painfully your type. you masked your attraction well but you were immediately very affected by Vans presence, unbearably so.

the weather did not help at all; she was dressed in a white tank top, her freckled shoulders and arms on full display, her long red hair framing her stunning face perfectly, one hour into knowing her you were secretly already crazy about her. the following weeks Van came around a few times and it always went the same way: your friend talking to people, all bubbly and excited and Van just sitting there with an unconvincing smile, an air of "i´d rather not be here". it was odd, you couldn´t understand how they´d ended up dating, they were both lovely people but did not seem like a good fit whatsoever. the group was big enough and dinners included enough drinking for the strange lack of chemistry to go unnoticed, except by you.

your interest was clearly piqued by Van and a few times you swore you´d caught her looking at you too, but each time you tried to return her gaze, it escaped you, so you often just ended up studying her expression for a while, curious who this hot stranger was behind the tough exterior. after a month of multiple dinners and hangouts that included Van, you grew increasingly excited each time she was around, you tried to talk to her a few times, you often lingered around wherever she was standing, you weren´t too obvious about it, but Van noticed, and you had no idea, but it was killing her.

she couldn´t think clearly whenever you were around; your gentle face, your beautiful laugh, the way you kept paying attention to her when everyone else seemed to overlook her, it all made her feel weak and trapped, since she couldn´t just go after you, not before resolving whatever mess she was entangled in. unless she wanted trouble, unless she was willing to take that risk, which deep down, beneath all that repression: she was.

the night that things changed, it was August. summer was coming to an end, everyone had gathered at the house of your richest friend, around 20 people, any drink you could want readily available, great food spread out over a large dining table outside, the summer heat retreating and the relief of a cool breeze sweeping in. it was perfect, and yet, as always, Van seemed to be somewhere else mentally, her expression neutral at best, a hint of something else in there, maybe anger, maybe sadness, you couldn´t really tell.

around 12 am everyone was pretty drunk, you´d had a few glasses but you were sober enough to catch Van looking pretty rough next to your friend who was absolutely shitfaced, blissfully unaware of the gloomy vibe radiating off her date, so Van quietly left the table. nobody noticed. nobody but you. a few minutes passed, five, ten, fifteen, and you grew worried at that point, wondering if she was actually ill and needed help, so you slipped away too.

the house was massive but you managed to find the bathroom, the door was closed so you knocked, listening for a response but none came, so you cracked the door open, realizing it wasn´t locked, a sharp tone hitting you all of a sudden: "please no, not now" Van said, her hands gripping the sink, gaze cast to the floor. you backtracked "oh okay, i didnt mean to-" the second she realized it was you, her vibe shifted, she stood upright then, "oh its you, sorry i thought you were-" she didn´t complete the sentence but you knew she had almost said you friends name. you didn´t know this but she´d had a little crisis in there realizing she was behaving like a messy twenty year old with her dating habits, instead of a person in their forties, berating herself about being a in a mid-life crisis, until you interrupted the thoughts.

you walked in then, eyeing her, trying to figure out what was going through her mind, "yeah just me. listen, are you okay? you looked a little out of it all night", she almost couldn´t bring herself to look at you but she did, seeing you that up close only making her already red cheeks feel even hotter, "oh, dont worry, i just had a tough day". you smiled to yourself, suppressing a laugh, she questioned you, "what´s so funny?" her tone a little more annoyed than she intended, "i mean, it wasnt just today, was it? i´ll be honest, you always look like you´re being held hostage sitting next to her", Van rolled her eyes but couldn´t really deny it.

"well maybe i am?" she said, a little defeated, you were amused by her being all dramatic, "oh really? that bad? why are you still with her then? you aren´t even girlfriends, are you?" she shook her head, "no but it´s. you know. complicated. i have no idea how to break it off, the night we met i was alone and sad and drunk and it felt good to be wanted but. yeah i´m kinda lost here, it´s so dumb" she looked at you then, seeing you nod, your faint smile, irritated by your charming aura "and you´re not making it any easier by the way" she said, you piped up then, "me?? what the hell am i doing?", her gaze was charged, fixing you, "you know."

you kept protesting, "no, please enlighten me", you might have been doing it on purpose, pushing her, and she could tell. "oh come on, you keep staring at me, all the time, and it´s not very subtle" you grinned then, "only because you keep looking first". she knew you were right, she knew she´d been the one who started the whole catching glimpses from across the table thing. you continued, "besides i´m not dating anyone, i can look wherever i want. you´re the one who should be more discreet" you teased, she shook her head, clearly riled up, "stop that".

you leaned against the wall then, the door closed by that point, looking at her with a hint of satisfaction, getting more words out of her than during all the weeks before, "you know i could just leave, make this easier for you, i wouldn´t mind, i can go home".

her tone was low then, stern almost, "don´t".

"i shouldn´t go?", she shook her head "no".

"you´re sending mixed singals here, Van"

hearing you say her name, your soft voice, it was too much, her whole body reacted to it like she was being called closer. you could tell it had struck a nerve, she was looking at you from where she was standing as if she wanted to lunge at you, first it looked aggressive, then it registered as what it really was; hunger. she looked starved and you realized your barely clothed body was only making it worse, your exposed thighs illuminated by the dim light in the expensive bathroom, your bare neck, your chest, the faint glow that the sun and sweat had left, your scent, it was like you´d purposely walked into a trap in that room, of course, of course Van wouldn´t handle it well, being enclosed with you like that. it struck you all at once, and you couldn´t deny it, how hot she looked checking you out like that, one last time she tried to stop it.

"dont give me that look" she pleaded, but you were beyond hesitation by that point, staring at her in a way that gave her the final push she needed.

she stepped closer to you then, so close you could feel her body heat, could feel her bare knee grazing yours, her hands on your arms then, running over your skin, a shiver down your spine, "god you´re so fucking beautiful" she whispered to herself, already turned on just from touching you lightly, your face giving away how good it felt to have her that close, your lips parted, her fingers running over your upper arms, to your shoulders, your neck, mesmerized, "Van.." you begged, she was breathing heavily enough for you to hear it, "you know how hard it´s been for me? to be around you all the time, to feel you looking at me with those eyes? " she was breathing against your lips then, "tell me i´m right" she whispered, a hand on your chest, "admit it, you’ve wanted me all along"

you couldn´t take it anymore, no time for words, you grabbed her face, pulling her in for a kiss, feeling her push you against the wall with how eagerly she leaned into it, immediately kissing you hard enough to force you into submission, and you gladly let her take charge; mouth open, sounds escaping you during the split seconds your lips were separated, which only fucked with her head more, she was clearly starved because she waited until the very last moment to stop devouring you and catch her breath, only pulling away once your lips were swollen red and your body was practically melting into her, her hands resting on your waist as you both tried to remain somewhat composed, you thought that was it, you thought that brief moment of transgression would stay brief, but Van had other plans.

she leaned closer again, whispering, "can you be quiet?", thinking of the people down the hall. she knew that once she´d get a taste of you, she wouldn´t be able to stop, so it was on you, to control yourself, it was on you to make sure you two wouldn´t be caught. you said yes, semi confident in your ability to keep it together, as she was already fumbling with your zipper, pulling your shorts down almost violently as she got on her knees, you had no time to process, looking down at her, shaking your head, a barely audible "what the fuck are you doing" directed downwards, watching her look up at you as her strong hands grabbed your thighs, her expression had shifted from aggression to desperation, she was begging you, "please let me taste you" voice all sultry and needy, there was no way you could have said no to her then, so you nodded, feeling your body heat up even more as she ripped your underwear down too then, kissing your inner thighs while pushing your legs further apart, feeling you tense up "jesus fuck"... you were done for, and you knew it.

she bit your soft skin out of sheer desperation, leaving slight teeth marks, you knew she´d found you attractive but that level of need was a shock. she pushed her face between your legs in a way you´d rarely felt someone do, like she actually wanted to be suffocated by the sensation of your wetness, like she wanted to be buried in you, as intensely as possible, not giving a fuck about getting enough air, her fingers digging into your flesh as she pulled you down onto her face, your back against the wall, pulling one of your calves over her shoulder to get more access, groaning into you as her flat tongue ran over over warm cunt to lap up what had collected there, kissing your aroused lips feverishly all over before diving in, intense, fast movements, immediately making it hard for you to remain quiet, an unexpectedly loud moan echoing through the tiled room, which made her squeeze your thigh very hard to signal to you "shut the fuck up", which you tried, your palm over your mouth then, muffling the cries, as she held you in place, eating you out like she´d been waiting for years, not just a few weeks, switching between licking and sucking your clit, fully driving you mad with arousal, her own sounds only a non issue because you were practically sitting on her mouth, whenever you thought she might slow down she just kept going and going, humming with pleasure, your taste even better than she´d imagined, the heat of your cunt mixed with the velvety slickness, the feeling of it all over her lips, her tongue, all of it making her delirious, wishing she´d have given in sooner, making up for it by leaving no part of your cunt neglected, your hand was wet with your own spit by that point, trying hard to keep it together, she could tell you were unravelling, holding your increasingly weak legs in place over her face, her chin glistening at that point, you tried to be quiet as possible as you whined "jesus fuck im gonna-" voice cut off from another wave of pleasure.

she spoke up for a second "it´s okay, cum on my face, i got you", you didn´t need to be told twice, your hands in her hair, holding onto her, pushing her over the edge too as she focused solely on your clit, sucking hard enough to almost make you black out from it, not letting go until your knees buckled and you almost slid down the wall, biting your hand as you came against her lips, her hands still supporting you, probably having left a few bruises which you didn´t mind at all. once you were truly finished she let you go, letting you collect yourself, as she got up from the floor, a deeply satisfied grin, a glow to her, the face of a woman who´d gotten exactly what she wanted, taking in the sight of you all disheveled, your clothes still on the floor.

"here let me help you with that", she reached down, pulling up your underwear, gently, a contrast to the way she´d ripped it off, followed by your shorts, even buttoning them up for you, facing you afterwards, adjusting your fucked up hair a little, "here you go, that´s better", a tenderness to it, that she just couldn´t deny herself.

you were regaining some strength then, "i dont think anyone has ever been that desperate for me" you said, a pleased smile, pride swelling in your chest, thinking of her kneeling in front of you like she was worshipping you, Van looked at you, clearly very enamored, "no? that´s hard to believe, look at you" gesturing towards you, you were increasingly charmed by her, "right, sure", she laughed, "i mean it. if we weren´t here.." her hands roaming your body, "yeah, what then?", she grinned, "well, this would´ve just been the start" you were turned on again by that, pulling her closer, chest to chest.

"yeah? you wanna fuck me, is that it?" she was thrilled by your shamelessness, "i mean, obviously", you smiled, hands in her hair, eliciting a sigh, already having clocked that it was a weak spot for her, "hm, i think we can do something about that" your voice syrupy sweet, killing her, you thought for a second as she kept caressing you, "okay, here´s the plan. you´ll go back out there and tell them you´re tired and going home. i´ll ask if you can give me a ride because I need to be up early tomorrow, and then we´ll leave together. and the rest, well you can use your imagination" she laughed, shaking her head "you´re not wasting any time here, huh? and i thought i was the desperate one" you shrugged, unapologetic,"you think i´d just let you go after all that? too late, sorry" she smiled, "yeah. yeah it is", a shared agreement in the air.

she almost left the room then, before you pulled her back around by her wrist, "you´re forgetting something", she looked confused, "jesus christ, do you want her to taste me on your lips, when she kisses you goodbye?" you went over to grab a paper towel, drenching it in the sink, before walking over and holding her head in place while wiping her mouth and chin clean for her, Van just letting you boss her around for a moment. you threw the towel away, looking back at her after, she seemed at a loss, fully at your mercy.

"you´re gonna be the fucking end of me" she uttered.

"we´ll see" you said, smiling, patting her on the back, before pushing her out of the door, impatient, eager to see what else the night had in store.

[thebeckster]

HYPOTHERMIA....!!! I'm not super familiar with the 3oT characters, so I'll either let you pick who you want to whump, or I'll just say Lynn, because it's super cool that this game gives the player a little sister!!! And she looks so sweet.

Thank you for letting me play with the Whump Wheel! Giving Lynn a chance to have a Bad Day was actually a lot of fun! Y'all know I love the angst!

This one does have a happy ending! But obvious Content Warning for a near death experience.

Without further ado, Lynn experiencing some Hypothermia.

🥶🥶🥶🥶

Lynn had visited her sister's farm enough times over the years for things to get boring around the farm and even in the surrounding towns. Every year Lynn spent two weeks with her sister, one week during her summer break, and one week in winter break. It was a way to keep the two sisters close when they lived so far away from each other. It gave Lynn a chance to escape her parents (something she craved the deeper into teenagehood she crept). It gave her parents some quiet time alone. And spending time with Holly wasn't as awful as it could be. As far as older sisters went, she was pretty cool about a lot of things and Lynn knew she wouldn't narc on her to their parents if something """scandalous""" came up in discussion.

Still, Holly had a farm to run, which kept her plenty busy even in winter, and Lynn found herself bored to tears after a couple days at her sister's. She couldn't find anyone her age in the towns to hang out with. The schools here were on a different schedule and all her friends were in class all day. The adults were all working, and she didn't exactly fancy spending an afternoon sipping tea with the retirees.

So when Holly asked Lynn if she wanted to do anything that day, she had declared she was going to go for a walk. Maybe explore the wilder areas of the mountain.

Holly had pulled a face, biting her tongue from saying something too patronizing. "There are some hiking trails, they should be clearly marked with red flags. Please stick to the trail, people can get lost out there. It's going to snow this afternoon, too. Watch the weather."

Lynn barely resisted rolling her eyes. She was quite familiar with the marked hiking trails, thank you very much. Flatly she said, "I will, I promise."

Holly nodded and smiled. "Think you'll be home for lunch?"

"Nah. I'll probably just get something while I'm out. I'll go to the tea shop."

"Dinner then. I'll have it ready by six. Something piping hot to warm you up after your hike."

So that was what Lynn set off to do after breakfast. She bundled up a little, it was cold out but not frigid, laced up her snow boots, and set off from the farm. She found the hiking trails easily enough, there were other tracks of boot prints to follow from marker to marker. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and winter birds were flitting overhead looking for something to eat.

It was a pleasant walk, and Lynn had every intention of wandering the trails for a few hours, meandering into Tsuyukusa for lunch, and then heading home before the weather moved in. She could see the storm that would bring the promised snow gathering over the ocean, but it wouldn't be here until much later.

She stuck to the trail, enjoying the relative silence and solitude of a winter forest, until an interesting set of tracks crossed her path. She crouched down to identify them, it looked like paw prints, maybe from a fox or a wild dog? They crossed her path and went deeper into the woods. Just at the edge of her vision she could see disturbed snow. Curiosity piqued, Lynn stepped off the trail to investigate.

The disturbed area was relatively small, but something had kicked up dirt and fallen leaves from beneath the snow. There were a few flecks of red dotting the snow. So a successful hunt then? The fox prints carried on deeper into the woods, interrupted here and there by drag marks.

Lynn wondered if the trail might lead her to the fox's den.

She hesitated, looking back at the marked trail. She shouldn't go too far, but really she'd be able to follow her own tracks back anyway. She just wanted to see where these fox tracks led.

With her eyes trained on the ground, she followed the tracks deeper into the woods, careful not to disturb the fox prints. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going or the woods around her. She hadn’t noticed that the tracks led down into a ravine until it was too late.

Lynn teetered, her arms pinwheeling as she tried to regain her balance, but she fell and she slid down the steep incline, tumbling and bumping as she went. She rolled to a stop at the bottom, thankfully unhurt, as best as she could tell – a little bumped and bruised, but not seriously hurt.

“This is what I get for going off trail,” Lynn groaned, pushing herself up on shaking arms. “Holly’s never gonna let me hear –”

Crack.

Her heart stopped. Lynn froze. She looked down, gingerly brushing away from of the snow on the ground to reveal a sheet of ice. Cold, dark water burbled underneath, and fractures were spiderwebbing out from around her.

She barely had a chance to register the situation when the ice gave way beneath her, plunging her into icy cold water.

Fortunately, the water wasn’t deep. It was just a shallow creek, only about a foot deep.

Unfortunately, that was more than enough water to soak Lynn through, and shock the breath from her lungs and leave her sitting there for several agonizingly long seconds as she tried to get her body to work properly.

Coughing and sputtering, she stumbled out of the creek, shaking the water from her as best as she could.

“Oh that’s not good,” Lynn said to herself. She was already shivering, and somehow felt colder in the air than she had been in the icy water.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lynn had some information of what to do in this situation. If one was lost in the woods, they should stay put. But Lynn wasn’t lost, she knew where the trail was and how to get back to that, she just needed to get out of the ravine. And if she just sat there, waiting for someone to miss her, she’d be there for hours, and she’d probably freeze to death. She knew moving would keep her warm, considering her clothes were soaked. So she took a minute to wring the water out of her coat, someone not particularly easy when her fingers were beginning to hurt from the cold and go numb.

She looked up the ravine, she could see where she’d fallen down. It looked climbable. But after several minutes of effort, getting a few feet up only to slip and slide back down, Lynn had to accept defeat. The ravine couldn’t go on forever. There had to be a shallower place to climb out. She picked the direction that felt right to her and started walking.

She was shivering violently by the time she found someplace that looked climbable, and she couldn’t feel her fingers or toes, except for when she tried to move them. Then they hurt. Still, she bit down on the pain and crawled out of the ravine and managed to get back up top. She looked around for one of the bright red trail markers, but saw none. Just bare trees and empty, snowy woods as far as she could see.

A snowflake melted on her nose. She blinked at the sky, confused. Had the storm arrived already? Had she been walking for hours and hours? Or was the weather moving in faster than anticipated? She didn’t know. She hadn’t been watching the skies or the time. She bowed her head against the falling snow and continued walking.

If she back tracked to where she fell, she’d be able to find the trail.

The wind picked up, howling forlornly between empty trees. The cold wind cut right through Lynn, buffeted her around, pushing her against rough-barked trees and tripping her over hidden roots and stone. A steady snow had turned into a storm.

Lynn was so cold.

She felt frozen through, even her beating heart couldn’t produce warmth for her blood anymore. The numbness had crawled up her legs and arms, making her hike through the woods significantly more difficult. She looked and looked desperately for a flash of bright red, for a sign of the trail markers. She had to find one soon. She’d been walking for so long.

Lynn wasn’t as cold anymore. Her clothes must have finally dried. Her walking must have generated some warmth in her muscles. She almost felt hot, pain prickled all over her body, she would have unzipped her coat, if she could have coordinated her fingers to do so.

She was tired. She was so tired. Lynn must have been walking all day. The snow was not letting up. She could not find the trail. She was lost. Lost somewhere deep in the woods on the mountainside and nobody knew where she was, where to find her. Maybe she should have stayed put, down in the ravine, closer to the trail.

She didn’t have much of a choice now. She couldn’t take another step. She just needed a moment to rest, to gather her strength. Five minutes, then she’d keep going. Holly must be so worried by now.

Lynn heard a voice. Someone was talking to her. Slowly, painfully, she opened her eyes. A white fox was right in her face, its paws on her legs, its breath warm on her face. It looked right at her with intelligent, frightened eyes.

“You must get up! If you stay here, you will die. Get up!”

Lynn blinked at the fox, confused. She understood what it was saying, she knew that it was right. If she didn’t move, she would die, but somehow that did not spark any urgency in her. Her body felt like it was made of lead, she couldn’t move it even if she wanted to. She was so cold. But at least she had stopped shivering.

Her eyes closed and her head fell. “Can’t… tired…”

The fox’s head butted against hers. Its voice echoed in her mind. “You must get up! Help is close, but you have to get there.” It pressed its forehead against Lynn’s for a moment. “I will show you the way.”

Some new energy filled Lynn. Not a sudden surge of vigor, as if she wasn’t on the brink of freezing to death, but just enough to get her moving again, to push to her feet and stumble after the fox. Every step was agony, knives of pain shot up her legs, and she fell often. But the fox never left her, guiding her steadily, nudging her back to her feet.

Finally the trees thinned and eventually ended. Without that little bit of shelter, the blizzard tore at Lynn even harder, but there was hope. Lynn could see lights, buildings. … Westown buildings.

That was the wrong side of the mountain.

How?

It didn’t matter. Lynn stumbled through the snow to the closest building. She tripped up the porch and collapsed against the door, knocking as best as she could, praying whoever was inside could help her.

The door opened, dropping Lynn across a threshold of warmth, and that was the last thing she remembered. She closed her eyes and gave into the darkness.

When she woke up, she was warm and comfortable. She could hear someone beside her, shifting in a chair, sniffing, whispering. When she finally managed to crack her eyes open, Holly’s face swam into focus.

“Hey, big sis.”

[bubblewonderabyss]

When/if the tADC cast is shown in human form, I really hope they don't visually resemble their avatars, for a few reasons -The program forces them to forget their own names, clearly anonymity was a priority here -The avatars are clearly reflecting their personalities, not their physical bodies -It's such an overdone and frankly kind of lazy trope in the trapped-in-a-video-game genre, I'm tired of it

(Nothing against those who do draw them that way of course, it's just not my preference)

And since I hate complaining without offering an alternative, here's my (PROBABLY WILDLY INCORRECT) speculation on what they might have been like when they were human under the cut

(cw: self harm, animal death)

Pomni -Had long blonde hair which she wore down, she would have preferred it short but [insert loved one here] loved it, so long it was. Also doubled as a convenient curtain when she was outwardly freaking out -On the skinny side, flat as a board even, strong legs though -Well dressed in an understated way, she didn't like to stand out -Was really into gymnastics as a kid, moved onto jogging once she got older and busier -Ate a lot of neon colored tv dinners/poptarts/fast food as a kid, avoided it like the plague in her teen years and beyond because "it's gross" -Had a rabbit once, but it escaped and what was left of it was found in her back yard a week later, she never had the heart to get another pet after that -Part of a friend group, but didn't hang out with most of them individually -Watched American Idol religiously

Gangle -Chubby and really tall, yet always felt small, so her posture was really bad -Either lived with her parents or spent most of her time holed up in her apartment, didn't get much sunlight either way -Dressed modestly to cover up some self inflicted scars -Anime was not really part of the western cultural consciousness in the late 90's, most people assumed it was either just kid stuff or just porn, so she probably didn't have many friends outside of a few fellow anime fans -Very quiet and withdrawn but could talk for hours about her new favorite anime (and yes, she preferred subs to dubs) -Loved trying different kinds of snacks -Her keys had a shit ton of keychains and charms attached -Drew a lot and kept it all in a big binder

Zooble -Kinda short -Exceptionally good posture -Moved around a lot as a kid, their favorite place was an apartment one block off from a park where they met their best friend -Alt fashion sense (mostly hand me down clothes so they had to get creative anyway) with a preference for button up shirts -Socks MUST match, down to the brand -Mall crawler, but rarely bought anything -Bead collection -Read so many sci fi books

Kinger -Dad bod -Could see fine but kept his reading glasses in the front pocket of his (usually hawaiian, sometimes plaid) shirt at all times -Was something of a chess and checkers legend at his local library, the "I bet you can't beat that guy" guy. Would let his opponent win if they seemed like they were really stressing about it though -Big nature guy, went hiking or camping once every couple weeks at least -Had a pottery kiln in his garage -Met his wife at a movie theater and movies were the go-to date night ever since

Ragatha -Average proportions, other than being slightly 'blessed in the chest' -Her least favorite season was summer, because she couldn't wear her sweaters then -Her parents loved her but were on the strict side -Most of her disposable income went to her porcelain doll collection, which she hid from friends and family because "it's creepy" -Didn't realize wanting to kiss girls wasn't a universal experience for the longest time -Had a busy social life, was rarely home because she always had someone to see and somewhere to be -Dated around a lot but never settled down with anybody -Was big into fantasy stuff, especially the renaissance faire

Jax -Average proportions, like imagine a Normal Guy (non-hollywood version) he looked like that -Dyed his hair an unnatural color like green or pink -Struggled with an eating disorder, less because he hated how he looked (though he might have) and more to assert control in a life where he had very little -Wore band shirts of bands he didn't listen to as a little private joke. His actual music taste leaned more classical but he wouldn't tell a soul about that -Quite friendly and social, but couldn't maintain more than a couple close friendships at a time -Loved baseball -Watched every horror movie he could get his hands on

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Chickens/Spirit of Blue Sky

Well look at that, a full trailer for CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET is finally here.

CHICKEN RUN is a long-time favorite of mine. I caught it in theaters back in the summer of 2000, at the age of 7. I must've watched the VHS copy I had multiple times. I even had, of all things, a CHICKEN RUN lunchbox depicting Rocky the rooster in the sky on his tricycle. To say I loved this movie is understatement, and to this day? It still *slaps*...

When I learned that CHICKEN RUN was getting a sequel way back in... I want to say late 2017? Early 2018? I was definitely curious and cautious. I was later dismayed to hear that Ginger's voice actress Julia Sawalha wasn't returning because apparently she was told that she was too old. She's going to be 55 in a few days... But her replacement, Thandiwe Newton, is 50. Soon to be 51... That's some nonsense that I'll never understand to this day.

That being said, a new CHICKEN RUN was cause for celebration anyhow. After some character posters and small clips and reveals, we finally have an idea of what this movie is going to be like. I'm definitely surprised that Mrs. Tweedy is back, instead of putting the chooks up against a new menace, and it appears to be retreading similar factory-farming perils and escaping a dinner plate fate stuff. This time, as the trailer and poster emphasize, with the mechanics reversed: A break-in movie rather than an escape, we went from THE GREAT ESCAPE and STALAG 17 homages to James Bond and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. "Chicken: Impossible"?

It actually makes a lot of sense. CHICKEN RUN is clearly set in middle-postwar England, a dreary midcentury setting that many peg at the late 1950s judging by the old tech and such, but it's actually set in - at the earliest - November 1961. How's that? Well, I am nerdy about certain things, and I know that the song Rocky is listening to in that scene where he pedals by the Mrs. Tweedy's Chicken Pies billboard came out in November 1961. That song, Dion's 'The Wanderer', was a #10 hit in the UK. So, CHICKEN RUN is set either in late 1961 or sometime in 1962. I'd imagine it doesn't go farther than that, at least not to the days The Beatles had finally made a splash. (Their first official single, 'Love Me Do', released in October 1962.) It's a small detail, I get it. I'm sure the filmmakers behind the original didn't think about it as much as I do, they probably thought "Oh, a '50s song, let's have him be listening to that!" Or maybe they did overthink it, too!

So... CHICKEN RUN 2 going for a mid-1960s James Bond spy movie vibe, completely with a very '60s spy movie-looking evil lair-like place, checks out. Either way, I'm game to see it. It'll hit different seeing it on a small screen, but that's just how it all goes, doesn't it? Aardman's previous feature, FARMAGEDDON: A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE (which was very similar to CHICKEN RUN), played theatrically in the UK a few months before COVID hit. Here in the states, it hit Netflix on Valentine's Day 2020, just a little before the outbreak. Even in a world where COVID never happened, it probably still wouldn't have had a chance at hitting theaters. (Though the weirdest thing is, Lionsgate at one point was going to release it theatrically, like they had done w/ the first SHAUN THE SHEEP movie. If you saw EARLY MAN in theaters in February 2018, like I did, you saw a FARMAGEDDON teaser before it. It had no release date, but still...)

Anyways, heck yeah CHICKEN RUN 2!

Other cool news this week, Annapurna Animation has upped their game. Big time. After saving the scrapped Blue Sky Studios swan song NIMONA, with much of the same crew back to complete it, they have expanded and not only kept some key people from NIMONA (like director Nick Bruno and producer Julie Zackary), but also some former Blue Sky veterans... Like none other than Chris Wedge himself! Director BUNNY, ICE AGE, ROBOTS, ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, EPIC! The last thing he directed was a live-action movie with some VFX creatures for Paramount, called MONSTER TRUCKS... He'll be back to direct a new animated feature called FOO. It's been ten years since he directed/finished an all-animated movie, so I'm very pumped about this.

Nick Bruno has an original movie in the works there, along with more projects, so that's great. I wonder what his NIMONA and SPIES IN DISGUISE directing partner Troy Quane will be up to, then. Annapurna is also making an animated feature out of a game they released, STRAY, a tale of a stray (what else?) cat in a techy future. And that game came out rather recently, too, so it's cool to see the movie taking off this quickly. Coincidentally, Blue Sky at one point was considering adapting the creature creator game SPORE into a movie... I've never played the game, but I'm a sucker for weirdo futuristic stories and settings. NIMONA's take on a futuristic world was really cool, so Annapurna has this game down pat.

So let's see... Wedge, Bruno, Zackary... In addition to more Blue Sky alumni like Erica Pulcini, Robert Baird, and Andrew Millstein... Yeah, the spirit of Blue Sky Studios lives on at Annapurna Animation, and I think that's very nice. Annapurna took over and completed what was to be a Blue Sky feature film, and they have now landed some of the studio's key people. There's something kind of sweet about that, honestly... I wonder if this means certain canceled Blue Sky projects, such as the musical FOSTER, could live to see another day... Disney heads, namely Bob Chapek, made such an obtuse decision shuttering Blue Sky, so it's fantastic to see that NIMONA was saved by Annapurna and some of their existence as well...

[gregorygerwitz]

I’m a useless lesbian so tell me about Erin, Hailey, and/or Kim in the hockey au!!! 🏒

oh god that's multiple people I have to figure out, huh? uh... I honestly hadn't thought about Erin and Hailey yet. in theory, they have a place in this universe, but it's hard?

Erin

I don't want to keep using the "Jay's girlfriend who left him" thing for Erin because, as much I use it as a plot point, she deserves better than that. I think she'd still have grown up around the Voight family, still had her teenage rebellion, still wanted to do something to pointedly distance herself from her mother and keep something solid under her, if that makes sense? I don't know if I'd make her do the whole Follow In Hank's Footsteps And Be A Cop thing tho.

It would be neat to see her interact with the law in other ways, though? Maybe she went to school, got a degree, isn't exactly a lawyer - because woah that's a lot of school and not quite what I envision for her - but like... I don't know where I was going with this. Maybe some kind of social service job? Maybe doing a community outreach thing? Helping teens who are in a rough spot like she was, running a substance abuse help center? Something like that. Still helping people, just without the badge, if that makes sense.

It's a rich boy Mouse AU, maybe she's loosely friends with Greg because one of her programs benefited from a charity gala one year and they're the same age (canonically!!!) so they ended up talking at the event and now they're Facebook friends and wish each other happy birthday every year and meet up for drinks every few months to catch up.

Hailey

Another difficult one. Because this is very much so a Moustead AU, not Cozy Trio (as much as I love them, I took on too much with YOTP this year and I feel burnt out, so I'm taking a break).

As much as I don't want to do it (because I'm already basically doing it with Chefs AU eventually), it would make a lot of sense, in this universe, for her to be a part of her parents' restaurant, in some way. Not in any meaningful way, at first, but maybe she's the one who suggests expanding? Buying a space in the little arena that the Mice play in and selling food there during games to make a little extra money for the business. And, because it was her idea, it's hers to run with over summer breaks and when she finishes high school - whether it succeeds or she crashes and burns with it.

So she knows Jay, very loosely? Because he was at practice for a few of her location scouting trips, and she was just a kid, and there's no games during the summer so he only saw her on scattered afternoons when he went to skate. She doesn't actually run the little outlet of the restaurant, so to speak, full time until the summer before Jay and Greg meet and start to get together. But like... they know each other's names? And he'll get a late dinner from her if the game goes into OT? They've talked and they're friendly but they're not friends.

Kim

I'm still figuring out the exact details of Kim. Because @fighterkimburgess mentioned that this could easily be an actual siblings AU (Greg and Kim as half siblings because Gregory's a whore), and they're right. And if that's the case for this AU, I want it to be closer to the Gerwitz Siblings AU instead of something where they meet later in life? Where they were kinda-sorta raised together near the end of their teens but aren't as close as they are in that one?

Because it's kind of obvious that Kim is only included in the family for the sake of appearances, and Greg is very clearly being groomed to take over the family business and, presumably, he's the one who will actually pass on the family name to kids (he won't, he's very gay, but it's cute that everyone thinks that), and she definitely falls off the public radar a bit more when she starts dating Adam Ruzek, a player on her father's minor league hockey team. Her decisions don't matter in the grand scheme because the entire family legacy isn't on her shoulders, so she's kind of lucky, in that respect.

She gets to date Adam, and cheer him on openly at games, and be happy. Unlike her half brother, who is closeted, and when he does start dating someone, he can't be open about it, and he can't just start suddenly showing up at games and cheering on the Mice louder than everyone else when he's openly frowned upon the fact that his father bought the team at all. Kim gets it easier, and she knows that, and she's thankful for it. (yes, Burzek is here, because it's me, but also because canon gave us them literally playing hockey with Mack and I was supposed to let the opportunity pass me by???)

[ ask me about the hockey au ]

[milky04moo]

Arranged Marriages~ S.Black

Prompt: ‘I cant marry her she’d kill me in a week’

word count: 715

Being a part of a pureblood family was never fun. Between all the glamorous dinners and arranged marriages it was not something you were ever into. However being the oldest child in your family meant you had to partake in theses stupid traditions and that is how you ended up it this situation. Sitting next to the one and only Sirius Black and his friends on the way back to Hogwarts. 

To say the summer was eventful was an understatement. Your surprise engagement to the eldest Black son meant lots of parties organised with your families and not a lot of time to come to terms with the big news yourself. You knew that a lot of people from pureblood families were married off young but you were only eighteen for heaven's sake, surely too young to be married and you knew what was expected of the marriage. You were so young and there was so much you wanted to do in life but now you were stuck. You were sure Sirius was not happy about this engagement as surely it would ruin his reputation he had at school though he had not expressed his disliking out loud you could sense his distaste for being married to you. 

As you sat watching the scenery fly past the window you felt yourself drift off softly fiddling with the engagement ring that sat on your finger but as you felt yourself drift further into sleep you hear a voice slightly louder than they were talking before.

‘So engaged huh? How do you feel?’ It was the infamous James Potter. One of the few  people Sirius trusted you knew that due to the fact that they were basically attached by the hip from the first day of first year.

‘it’s so stupid. Stupid pureblood bullshit, all to keep the bloodline’ Sirius replied and for the first time he voiced his opinion on the situation.

‘It could be worse mate, they aren't the worst person to be married to’ a soft voice interrupted. Remus. The only person in their little group that actually welcomed me when they heard the news. Although this isn't the first time Remus had been nice to me. Lets just say second year charms were a little less boring with him as a partner though his friends weren't happy to be away from him.

‘I can't marry her she’d kill me in a week’ he exclaimed in a hushed tone as to not wake me but little did he know i was already awake and listening to the whole conversion. You knew the reputation your family had in the wizarding world was not a good one. It was one of the main reasons you had very few friends. You hoped sirius would’ve had some sympathy for you as you were almost completely cut off from the family when they discovered you were sorted into Hufflepuff, but clearly that was foolish of me to think he would realise I was not like my family.

‘You know what her family is like! They’re all killers!’ he continued.

His friends went quiet when they realised you had woken up and heard what Sirius had said. You stood up swiftly and excused yourself.

‘y/n-’ he started when you cut him off

‘Don't bother Sirius it's good to know you didn't have the balls to say it to my face but hey at least I know your real opinion of me’ you scoffed walking away to find your real friends. 

You didn't make it far when a hand grabbed your wrist making you stop and turn.

‘You know I didnt mean in y/n. It's hard for me to wrap my head around this whole marriage

thing, i mean we are so young and we have to spend the rest of our lives together so… i'm sorry I know you're  not like your family.’ he started ‘this ring shows the promise we are about to make to each other, til death do us part or whatever the saying is so please forgive me we can make it work i promise’

‘We’ll make it work’ I replied as he pulled me into a tight hug and walked back to his friends . And he was right you did make it work

[devoraqs]

there's more to life than we can see

Pairing: Ilyacha (Julian x Alexander)

Wordcount: ~1670

Summary: After work one day, Julian and Alexander go on a walk

(Title from Where Do We Go From Here? from Amélie)

---

It was with heavy, tired feet that Julian and Alexander shuffled out of the clinic that evening, and with a slow, laboured heave that they closed the door behind them as another few doctors took over for the night shift.

Julian stretched himself out, his back clicking with a satisfying ‘pop’ sound, some of the tension from their day’s work dissipating from his shoulders. “Home?” Alexander asked, pulling his leather hair cord free and shaking his curls out from where they’d been tied back into a bun,  “Home sounds like an excellent idea,” Julian replied, an easy smile making its way onto his face, “home, then dinner.” Alexander offered his boyfriend his arm, and they set off back down the winding streets of the South End.

It was a pleasant evening in late summer, one where the heat had just started to cool off after a clear cloudless day. As such, they elected to take a longer route home round the canals, the “scenic route” as Julian called it, taking in Vesuvia as it wound down for the day and before it would wind back up with its nightlife. Alexander couldn’t help but think back to how, only three summers previously, any ‘scenic routes’ in this part of the city would have had to have been referred to as such with a generous helping of irony, the people poor and hungry and their homes flooded and dilapidated as they so widely were. Now, Vesuvia was in much better shape. Not perfect, mind, but markedly better thanks to Nadia’s careful and in-depth ministrations.

The city was breathing freely again, in a way that it clearly needed. 

That didn’t mean that people weren’t still ailing though, and Julian as one of the city’s most renowned (and beloved) doctors often had his work cut out for him; Alexander was only too happy to lend a hand wherever needed, especially on longer, busier days like today.

Alexander was largely silent on their walk, happily content to listen to Julian talk about anything, everything. He was still not a particularly loquacious person, and likely never would be even if his words didn’t twist themselves into awkward knots in his throat that much any more, but he enjoyed listening to Julian, who always seemed to have things to say that he was excited to share with Alexander. It was one of the things he loved about him, one of the things that reminded him that he was loved. 

And, if the gradually refilling gaps in his memory were anything to go by, it was something that he’d loved about Julian for far longer than the three years they’d been together. That fact blossomed warmly in his chest as he thought of it, and he couldn’t resist the small grin that tugged at the corner of his lips.

“...and I tell you, Sanya,” Julian went on, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bird that big- oho, what’s that smile for?”

“What? Oh…” Alexander felt a small wash of heat creep over his cheeks, “it’s nothing I… it’s very sentimental. Actually, do you mind if we halt for a moment, I’m gasping for a smoke.” 

They’d come to stop on the arc of one of the bridges criss-crossing over the canals. It was a newer one, made of chiselled sandstone that had begun to glow a pleasant orange-pink in the setting sun. It was warm to the touch when Alexander leant on it, before fishing his tobacco pouch from his satchel. (He was immensely thankful to his 7-o’clock-in-the-morning self for pre-rolling a few cigarettes before they’d left, rather than having to fiddle with the paper and leaves with tired fingers.) A twitch of his fingers and a soft blue spark, then the cigarette was alight. He took a long, deep drag and sighed out the smoke, leaning forward on the stone wall and letting his weight rest on his forearms. 

Movement to his right and Alexander glanced over; beside him Julian had assumed a similar position. His eye was closed peacefully, enjoying the warmth of the sunset on his face. The golden light made Julian’s hair shine a fabulous burnished copper. 

With his free hand, Alexander reached out and linked their fingers together. Julian cracked his eye open, and squeezed his hand lightly.

“What was your oh-so-sentimental thought?” he asked after a few moments of comfortable silence,

Alexander laughed softly, bashfully, “Just that I love you, which you already know. Nothing groundbreaking, I’m afraid …And that I’ve loved you for a long time. Longer than the last three years.”

“I love you too, Sacha,” Julian replied, squeezing his hand again, then bringing their joined hands to his lips to brush a kiss over Alexander’s knuckles.

They fell back into silence, Alexander taking puffs of his cigarette til it was a smouldering stump. With another flick of his fingers, he singed it into a scattering of blue ash that dissolved into the air.

“Useful trick, that,” Julian remarked amusedly, to which Alexander hummed in response.

The sun had sunk slightly further into the horizon now, painting the skies fantastic shades of orange, yellow, and lilac that rippled where it reflected in the water of the canals below. Alexander was someone who had his eyes turned to the skies so often, but he was always focused on what happened after a sunset. It wasn’t often that he really found himself looking at one, especially not one as picturesque as this.

Julian had clearly been thinking something similar, “Vesuvian sunsets really are beautiful, aren’t they.”

“Like Nalban ones,” Alexander said suddenly, the words tumbling out his mouth before he knew it, “there was a lookout point on one of the mountains above Loch Domhainn where you can see where the loch flows into the sea, and it looks like the sea and the sky are one, framed by the peaks of Beinn nan Craobhan Giuthais and… gods strike me.”

His arms suddenly felt weak as the memory, a new memory that was somehow decades old, bubbled to the forefront of his mind. Julian quickly bent to steady him as he lurched forward, “Come on, up we come, good lad,”

 He was slightly concerned, but behind the flicker of worry was an expression of wonder and excitement, “Nalba. Sanya, you remembered something new?”

Alexander nodded, breathless. Usually his memories returned in drips and drabs while he was sleeping, not quite as dreams, but as if he was experiencing them anew. It was very rare that something came back to him in waking, it made his heart pound and his head spin, “If I close my eyes, I can…I can see it, Julian,” he said quietly, doing just that and letting himself savour the newfound familiarity of the sight. 

Dark peaks of a purple-headed mountain capped with brilliant white snow made the colour of fire by the sun’s glow, at its feet a black loch of icy water that flowed into the Polar Strait. If he focused just so, it was as though he could feel the chill of the gaoth a deas streaming through his hair, even as Vesuvia around him remained warm and windless. 

When he opened his eyes again, Julian was facing him, and he was aware of the warmth and strength of Julian’s hands lightly clasping his upper arms lest he accidentally pitch himself off the bridge into the canal (again).

“I think I want to go. To Nalba. To Prydain,” he said finally, “I think I’m ready to go back, and find my father.”

“Are you sure?” Julian’s forehead had creased with worry, his voice low and soft. 

There were things that Alexander knew he remembered that he himself didn’t yet, things that would cause such apprehension, but he wasn’t swayed,

“I’m sure. There’s so much I still don’t know and… well… I’m tired of not knowing. Maybe going there, actually setting foot in the land I was born in… “ he trailed off before he had a chance to muddle his words again, took a deep breath, then righted himself, “I think it’s, you know, the next step. To being me again. More ‘me’ than I am now, I mean. Not the man I was, but… by the gods this must sound ridiculous, but I think that in order to become the man I want to be, I need to know who I am first.”

“And what man do you want to be?”

“I’m not sure I even know yet,” Alexander sighed softly, turning back to the sunset, “gods strike me, I’m not making a single lick of sense am I. Julian please tell me to shut up and that we need to go home to make dinner and not spend our evening with me being maudlin and cryptic on a bridge-”

“Alexander,” Julian interrupted, laying a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. He turned him to face him, and his expression was solemn, “If you want to do this, then do it. And I promise, I’ll be with you every step of the way, no matter what.”

Alexander’s breath caught in his throat, and he felt a rush of affection for the man in front of him. He reached up and threaded his fingers through Julian’s hair (so soft, and still gleaming that wonderful copper colour), and gently pressed their foreheads together. One of Julian’s arms came to rest around Alexander’s waist, the other on the nape of his neck.

“I love you,” Alexander murmured again, and gods strike him, he knew he’d never tire of the way something in him fizzed and sparked whenever he said it.

In response, Julian closed the distance between them as he pressed a soft kiss to Alexander’s lips.

When they resumed their walk a few minutes later, Alexander’s mind would be positively buzzing with ideas and anxieties about this new plan, but for now, with the sunset streaming over him and Julian like the peaks of that mountain, he could think of nothing else but how bright their future could be.

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 130

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 130: Another World

The familiar queen bed, the familiar decorations. Everything about the apartment was exactly as Lin Qiushi remembered. Lin Qiushi took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He tried going to the living room first.

"Mrow…"

A faint catcall suddenly came from the living room. Lin Qiushi looked up and saw Chestnut perching on the corner of a sofa, looking exceptionally sweet. Chestnut tilted its head, watching Lin Qiushi with emerald eyes, and chirping out a litany of meows like it was urging Lin Qiushi to do something.

Lin Qiushi was more than familiar with this call; he looked at Chestnut's food bowl and sure enough, it was completely empty of dry food. The cat wanted Lin Qiushi to quickly refill its bowl.

If this were reality, the first thing Lin Qiushi did would surely be feeding Chestnut, but he was quite clear on the fact that he had entered a door. As a result, he did not take immediate action, instead looked around the apartment first.

The interior of the apartment was exactly the same as when he'd moved out. There were even some freshly washed shirts drying on the balcony and fresh fruit in the refrigerator. The entire house was filled with the breath of life.

Lin Qiushi took a large lap around the apartment and slowly approached the door. He took the doorknob and twisted it lightly open.

A crack appeared in the door, enough for Lin Qiushi to see what was beyond.

The sight that met Lin Qiushi's eyes was a long corridor, with door number plates hanging on both sides. It was no different from Lin Qiushi's memory.

Chestnut began to meow again. It hopped down from the couch and came over to Lin Qiushi's feet, rubbing and bumping its body against Lin Qiushi's ankles. Lin Qiushi looked down and stared at Chestnut for a long while, before slowly bending down to pet the cat in front of him.

Soft fur and warm skin. It had to be said that the moment he embraced Chestnut, Lin Qiushi let out a huge sigh of relief. He took Chestnut in his arms, scratched under its chin, and called out Chestnut's name.

A satisfied rumbling came from Chestnut's mouth, and the creature looked to be in perfect bliss. Still holding it, Lin Qiushi went to the kitchen and fetched the cat food, filling up the entire bowl.

Chestnut hopped down from Lin Qiushi's arms, stood in front of the cat bowl, and began eating with vigor.

Lin Qiushi watched it eating and remembered something. He fished his phone out of his pocket and called a number, but as it went through, the display showed that the number that Lin Qiushi called was not connected. When he heard this spoken through the phone, sweat began to dot Lin Qiushi's palms. He looked through his call log with a number of awful possibilities surfacing in his mind—most of the numbers in the log, Lin Qiushi still had some impression of. Many key people were missing though…every member of Obsidian had disappeared, and Ruan Nanzhu was naturally included.

And when Lin Qiushi called Ruan Nanzhu's number just now, it showed that this number didn't even exist.

A feeling like suffocation churned in Lin Qiushi's chest, and he was forming all sorts of bad conjectures. In the end Lin Qiushi changed out of his pajamas and left the apartment. He took the elevator all the way down and came to the entrance of his residential complex.

The time was mid-summer, and it just hit 6PM. Everybody was leaving work, and the busy sight of people come and going was everywhere he turned.

Lin Qiushi stood at the entrance, called for a ride, and headed straight for a location outside the city.

The taxi cab driver was a chatty middle-aged man who kept saying this or that, here and there. Under normal circumstances, Lin Qiushi would most likely offer him a reply or two, but today his mind was a mess. From start to finish he didn't say a single world, lips pressed tightly into a thin line.

An hour later, the cab arrived at the location Lin Qiushi gave him.

Lin Qiushi paid and got out of the car. He saw the mansion standing grandly before him, looking the same as it did in his memories. Orange lights spilled out from the windows, indicating there were people moving about inside, but this didn't bring Lin Qiushi any relief. In fact, the sense of dread in his heart just got worse and worse.

Lin Qiushi took the few steps forward to get to the doorway. He rang the mansion doorbell.

"Who is it?" Moments later, from the other side of the door came the voice of an unfamiliar man.

"I…" Lin Qiushi said. "It's me, Lin Qiushi. I'm looking for Ruan Nanzhu."

It went quiet on the other side, before the person said, "you've got the wrong place. There's nobody named Ruan Nanzhu here."

The moment he heard this Lin Qiushi felt his mind explode with a ringing buzz. With the last of his willpower he forced himself to calm down, saying, "I'm sorry, would you mind opening the door? There's something important I have to…"

The door was opened, and a tall man he did not know appeared before Lin Qiushi. He looked at Lin Qiushi and asked, "what can I do for you?"

"I…I have friends who used to live here…" Lin Qiushi said, wondering about the best wording. "They're named Ruan Nanzhu, and Chen Fei, Yi Manman…"

"I'm sorry," the man said. "You've got the wrong place. There's nobody you've mentioned here."

Behind the man, Lin Qiushi could see the inside of the mansion through the open door. What was most shocking to him was that everything inside looked exactly as he remembered—even the color of the carpets were the same as his memories.

But despite the identical scenery, the people Lin Qiushi was looking for were gone.

"Are you alright?" Lin Qiushi's expression was probably too distressed, so the man asked him that question.

Lin Qiushi forced himself to smile.

"I'm fine…Sorry, for bothering you."

He turned around and left this place. The man watched him go with a light furrow in his brow, clearly wondering what the heck Lin Qiushi came for.

After leaving the mansion, Lin Qiushi called another car and returned to the city. His manner sitting inside was dazed; he was having hard time accepting everything that was happening here.

Ruan Nanzhu, who had gone into the door with Lin Qiushi, had disappeared.

No matter how normal this entire world seemed, this single fact was enough to trip Lin Qiushi into the most indescribable sense of terror.

Back at his residential district, he stood in his doorway watching people come and go. Lin Qiushi had a feeling like he'd been abandoned by the world. What was supposed to be a rich and active city scene only made him feel utterly incompatible with his surroundings.

Lin Qiushi stuck a hand in his pocket and discovered, to his surprise, a pack of half-smoked cigarettes. He stared at the cigarettes in his hand for a while, before lighting one and tucking it between his lips.

The taste of tobacco tendriled into his mouth. It was different from the drying sweetness of candy, and was actually a bit grating. Lin Qiushi only took one inhale before stopping, extinguishing the cigarette in annoyance and tossing it into a trashcan nearby.

It was at this moment that Lin Qiushi's cell phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out and, when he saw the number displayed onscreen, fell into a deep silence.

There was a name above the number, a name that should not be appearing now—Wu Qi.

Lin Qiushi stared at the name on the screen, and very slowly pressed the call button.

"Oi, Qiushi, where are you?" came Wu Qi's loud and carefree voice.

Lin Qiushi's throat bobbed. "I'm at home. You…"

For a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Why are you still at home? Didn't you say we're going to get dinner? Get down here," Wu Qi said in a strange tone.

Lin Qiushi, "I said we're going to get dinner?"

Wu Qi, "yeah, didn't you say we're getting skewers tonight! Damn, you haven't forgotten have you?"

Lin Qiushi, "…where are you now?"

"I'm in front of your neighborhood," Wu Qi said. "What is it? Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm fine. I'll…be right there," Lin Qiushi said. He hung up the phone, looked outside into the district, and sure enough saw Wu Qi standing casual as anything at the residential entrance, head down and playing on his phone.

Lin Qiushi stuck the phone in his pocket and quickly ran over to Wu Qi.

"That was quick," Wu Qi said after seeing Lin Qiushi. "You didn't have to run. It's so hot, look how you're sweating."

Lin Qiushi made a noise of agreement, gaze falling on Wu Qi's face. The same appearance, the same mannerisms, and even the same tone of voice. The person in front of him was definitely Wu Qi. Wu Qi walked in front, telling Lin Qiushi everything that was happening in the office, and even reminded Lin Qiushi a few times to go get a check-up.

A fine sheen of sweat had once again appeared on Lin Qiushi's forehead—it was just that he felt cold all over, and even his perspiration was cold.

They came to the grilled skewers place in front of the micro-district. After taking a seat, Wu Qi ordered the food.

Lin Qiushi hardly said anything the entire way. Wu Qi noticed his odd state, and asked dubiously, "Qiushi, are you okay?"

Lin Qiushi, "I'm…fine."

"Is it too hot? Or are you not feeling well?" Wu Qi turned to the store owner and ordered a few additional bottles of beer. Popping one open with familiar motions, he poured Lin Qiushi a full cup. "Drink some, and cool down a bit."

"Wu Qi," Lin Qiushi said, "what's the date today?"

"The 16th," Wu Qi said. "Why?"

Lin Qiushi blew out a breath.

"Nothing."

The dishes they ordered came quickly. Wu Qi could tell that Lin Qiushi wasn't in a good state, but he could also see that Lin Qiushi didn't want to answer any of his questions, and so could only let it go.

Lin Qiushi didn't have much of an appetite. All his attention was on the street beside them, but by the time they finished eating and left, something that was supposed to have happened still had not.

The year that Lin Qiushi first entered the doors, he came out the door and ate at this grilled skewers place with Wu Qi. At the same date, at the same time. But the car accident that was supposed to happen in the street did not happen. Everything was just so peaceful. It almost seemed like there had been an illusion in Lin Qiushi's memories, and he'd become a strange sort of dreamer, making up things that didn't exist at all.

"Wu Qi," Lin Qiushi suddenly spoke up on their way back. "How's your girlfriend been recently?"

"Her? Why are you suddenly bringing her up?" Wu Qi was a bit bewildered, but still answered Lin Qiushi's question faithfully. "She's doing pretty well. What's up?"

Lin Qiushi, "…nothing."

"Hey, you've really been weird tonight. What the heck's going on?" He looked at Lin Qiushi with furrowed brows, eyes filled with concern. "Are you really not feeling well? If anything's happened you gotta tell me."

Lin Qiushi nodded yes.

Wu Qi walked Lin Qiushi to the first floor, and only left after seeing Lin Qiushi upstairs. Lin Qiushi got back to his front door, got out his key, and opened it—but his expression just looked lost.

It was all too absurd. Wu Qi was still here, and his girlfriend was fine. So why was Ruan Nanzhu gone? Lin Qiushi changed shoes and went inside, spotting the backpack on his sofa. Thinking of something, he dashed over to the backpack and pulled out everything inside.

When he saw those things, Lin Qiushi let out a violent breath of relief—there were, objects for daily use aside, three very special items inside. The first was a plain old notebook, the second was a baby's skeleton, and the third was a silver gun. Only after seeing these three items did Lin Qiushi feel a sense of reality again—he was definitely inside a door. Everything around him was on the inside, only that the inside of this door seemed perfectly identical to the environment he lived in.

It was truly too terrifying, Lin Qiushi thought. But if this was the inside of a door, why was it that Ruan Nanzhu and the people from Obsidian were gone? Where had they gone…and why was he all by himself inside this door? And given the givens, didn't that indicate that the rule of the doors was no longer applicable?

Even if one person remained, they won't enter a state of invincibility. If they committed any mistakes, they faced death as a finale.

Chestnut slowly prowled up to Lin Qiushi and hopped into his arms. Petting Chestnut's soft fur, Lin Qiushi observed how sweet Chestnut's behavior was, feeling momentarily discombobulated.

Ding dong, ding dong. The hour hand pointed to ten, and the clock on the wall rang out its crisp melody. The sky outside was already dark, leaving behind sparse lights that gave off a sense of life.

Lin Qiushi picked up the remote control and turned on the television, getting ready to choose a channel. As he flipped through them, he spotted a familiar face…Tan Zaozao.

In the advertisement, Tan Zaozao wore a long red dress—elegant and beautiful, just like a blooming flower. She looked exactly as she did when Lin Qiushi had first met her.

Wu Qi was still alive, and Tan Zaozao was still alive. Every dead person had now returned. Lin Qiushi didn't know what this meant.

Everything that seemed unremarkable and ordinary was actually filled with a weird sense of disharmony. As if the calm before the storm, the tiny stirrings on the ocean surface seemed to foreshadow some oncoming terrible truth.

The TV noises were monotonous as it cast its light over Lin Qiushi's face. It had been a long time since Lin Qiushi spent a night all alone like this.

Ever since he and Ruan Nanzhu made their relationship official, they'd spent practically every night together; all they had to do was open their eyes to see each other's faces.

Now, however, silent solitude had returned.

Lin Qiushi's only company was a cat named Chestnut.

The night deepened. The lights outside the apartment extinguished one by one. Lin Qiushi sat on the sofa and, unknowingly, fell asleep.

Ding dong, ding dong. The hour hand met the minute hand; twelve AM came.

The program on the television suddenly flashed with white static. The snapping, sizzling sounds it made woke Lin Qiushi from his dreams, and when he opened his eyes, he discovered the TV had changed to another channel. Only, there weren't any channel logos. It looked to be playing some sort of historical program, stopping on a set of very old-looking stairs.

The scene felt slightly familiar; Lin Qiushi had a faint recollection of seeing it somewhere before, though he couldn't place it at the moment. Then it changed, and a man wielding an axe appeared right before Lin Qiushi's eyes.

With a malicious grin on his face, he followed the stairs up, footsteps finally stopping in front of a particular room. Arm outstretched, he began to bang on the wooden door.

"Wang Xiaoyi, open up. Wang Xiaoyi, open up—"

"Help me, help me—" came a woman's terrified pleas for help from inside.

When the man heard this voice, his expression only grew more savage. Guffawing loudly, he hauled the axe in his hands up into the air and brought it crashing down on the wood of the door. What was already a flimsy door splintered open, and on the other side of the crack was a woman's face, covered in tears.

"Help me, help me—"

The man made to swing the axe again, but it got stuck inside that hole. Seeing this, Wang Xiaoyi quickly shoved open the door and dashed outside. The man's attention was so fixated on that axe that he didn't notice for a whole moment that Wang Xiaoyi had gone.

Wang Xiaoyi stumbled down the hallway, crying desperately for help as she ran along. And just when the tension ratcheted up to breaking point, a door suddenly opened, saving Wang Xiaoyi by pulling her inside. And inside the door…appeared Lin Qiushi's own face. Standing beside Lin Qiushi was clearly the first version of Ruan Nanzhu he'd met.

Indeed, what was happening on the television was everything that had happened in his very first door.

A man in their group had gone crazy, and it was Lin Qiushi who'd saved the girl being pursued.

But when the scene in the TV cut again, in the very next moment, the girl that Lin Qiushi had saved was being split in half by a shovel. Red and white formed liquid splatters on the snow. She stared with huge eyes colored with resentment, so vivid that it was spine-chilling even through the screen.

Lin Qiushi tried to change the channel, but found that the remote control had stopped working. He even pulled out the power cord of the television, but the scenes continued.

The screen was frozen on the moment of Wang Xiaoyi's death when, all of a sudden, a knock came at the door. Lin Qiushi sat on the couch, not moving, but the knocking continued. It got gradually more violent, until it seemed keen on smashing the door apart.

It was very loud; logically speaking, even if Lin Qiushi didn't open the door, it would be enough to disturb other people. However, the knocking continued on for minutes without anybody reacting in anyway. Lin Qiushi looked out the window and saw that all the lights in the residential district had been extinguished. As if, once twelve AM hit, this had become a whole other world.

The person knocking was growing increasingly impatient. Lin Qiushi slowly approached the door, and through the peephole, saw the person outside…It was a man holding an axe, exactly like what Lin Qiushi had just seen on the television.

He seemed to know that Lin Qiushi was watching him from the other end, and so increased his efforts to bang down the door. Through the hole, Lin Qiushi could even see the fresh blood dripping from his axe.

Lin Qiushi stepped back, taking a deep breath. He went to the kitchen and took up a knife hanging on the wall for self-defense. When he got back to the living room, however, he found that the floorboards were already soaked in a pool of dark red blood. Lin Qiushi searched around, and found that not only was the television still on, but it was also pouring out fresh blood by the liters. And Wang Xiaoyi, who had been dead inside, was starting to twitch. Her skull, split in half on the ground, lifted up, and with pale dead eyes stared out of the television right at Lin Qiushi. Her mouth split at an odd angle, and her hand came reaching.

At such a sight, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but curse. The worst didn't stop there, because Wang Xiaoyi's bloody hands were able to burst right through the television screen and extend outside.

At precisely the same time, the man with the axe began to swing it at Lin Qiushi's door. He broke open a huge hole in what should've been a solid metal security door, eyes peeking inside. When he spotted Lin Qiushi standing in the living room, a strange, spine-chilling cackle left his mouth.

Truth was, any normal person who saw such a sight would probably have already gone crazy with fright; they might've been so scared that they'd jump off the building without the ghouls needing to do anything.

But how many such terrifying scenes had Lin Qiushi seen? He remained calm, and stood in a spot slightly farther from the TV. As he stared at the almost-broken door, an idea popped into his mind, though he didn't know whether or not it was an idea that would work.

The murdered Wang Xiaoyi had almost made it out of the TV, and outside, the man once again swung his axe down. When he did so, however, the axe seemed to get stuck inside the door, and as soon as Lin Qiushi saw this, he pulled open the door, dashed through the threshold, and began sprinting like mad for the elevator.

Because his axe had gotten stuck, the man's motions were stalled. Lin Qiushi threw himself into the elevator and pressed the first floor. Right before the elevator doors closed, the man appeared on the other side—Lin Qiushi even spotted his twisted expression through the crack.

"Fuck."

Lin Qiushi held the kitchen knife and wiped at his face with his free hand. Then he grabbed his phone, once again hitting Ruan Nanzhu's number. This time, what had been an unconnected number managed to connect, and Ruan Nanzhu's voice came from the other side in a rush.

"Qiushi? Is it Qiushi?"

"Nanzhu—Nanzhu—" Lin Qiushi was covered from head to toe with sweat, and he asked quickly, "where are you? Where are you?"

"I'm inside the door," Ruan Nanzhu said. His voice sounded a bit distorted. "Qiushi, how are things on your end? Are you alright?!"

Though he wasn’t saying anything about his own situation, Lin Qiushi could very faintly hear a woman's grief-struck sobbing on the other end—so he knew that Ruan Nanzhu likely wasn't in a good situation either. He hurried to say, "I'm great, don't worry about me. I'm hanging up first, take care of yourself!"

He was scared that Ruan Nanzhu would be distracted by being on a call with him, and so made the decision to hang up.

Ding dong, the elevator reached the first floor. Holding his breath, Lin Qiushi watched as the elevator doors before him slowly opened.

[Ch. 129] | [Ch. 131]

[agathasangel]

you just don’t know it yet but baby, i’ve already got your heart (diane sherman x fem!reader NSFW)

both an anon and @magnifique-monstre  requested yandere prompt 6 and 17 (i think?) so I’m gonna combine them because they would go together well

prompt 6: “Pretend you never saw that. I can’t stand it when you look so scared.”

prompt 17: “I’m the only thing keeping you safe from a filthy, disgusting world.”

warnings: everything, basically. it’s pretty fucked up actually. TW for drugging, stalking, dubcon, emetophobia warning (just one mention), kidnapping, etc. also teacher!diane

summary: Diane Sherman was your Professor, and then your girlfriend, and then your caretaker. As the days start to become hazy and mixed up with one another, you wonder if Diane is trustworthy. 

Every day was basically the same. Wake up, take your meds, have breakfast with Diane. Then you would either accompany Diane to school or she would take you to the doctor’s or sometimes, if you felt up to it, she would take you on some sort of outing. She never liked to leave you alone and protectively followed you nearly everywhere you went. She took you home, and you would rest by her as she worked on her grading. At night Diane would make dinner for the two of you, the two of you would relax together, she would make sure you took the medication you needed at night and then you fell asleep in her arms.

It was nice. But you noticed that you started to forget things. You sometimes forgot how you even knew Diane, you even forgot your whole life before you met her at times. You were supposed to be on medical leave for a semester, which turned into a whole year, and- how long has it been now? You had no idea. You thought it was still summer, but the days started to blur together. The next year may have started, you had no way of knowing. Diane taught year round, so you went to school with her either way.

You remembered how everything started, though. You were a freshman, and you had moved across the country for college. You felt alone, and scared. You took a Chemistry class because you had to take some sort of science course, and it was the only one available when you signed up. You dreaded going, until you saw Professor Sherman. You struggled a bit in the class, so you went to her office hours. It was also a good excuse to talk to her, you thought. 

She was a lot nicer than some of your other professors, and she helped you through the problems you struggled with.

“You know, students don’t usually like to come to my office hours, so feel free to show up whenever you need me. Alright, hon?”

“Of course. Thanks, Professor.”

How did it turn into this?

Oh, right. You and Diane started to get closer, and you started to come down with lots of rashes, general pains, and you started getting sick to your stomach more and more. 

One day, you emailed Diane to tell her you couldn’t make it to her lab because you had thrown up that morning, to which she responded by asking what dorm you were in and if you needed anything.

It might be nice if you could bring me some saltines or something to settle my stomach? I have nothing in my dorm and can’t really stand up yet. Don’t worry about it though. I don’t want to get you sick, and are you even allowed in the dorms?

- (y/n)

I’ll be fine, and it really isn’t a big deal. We’re both adults, and I just want to help you.

- thinking of you, Prof. Diane Sherman

Next thing you remember, Diane showed up to your dorm a few minutes after your lab would have ended and brought not just crackers, but ginger ale, soup, water, blankets, and several different medicines. You talked for a while too, but couldn’t for the life of you remember what about. But you did remember that she stayed with you as long as you needed her, and promised to come back if you needed it.

You didn’t get better. You managed to get through your finals and pass your first semester classes, but you ended up having to spend much of Winter break in the hospital. Your parents came to visit, as did Diane. Diane actually came back every day, making sure you were okay.

You remembered that because of the silver necklace Diane gave you that Christmas that you still wore every single day. You felt bad when you got it because you didn’t think to get her a gift, but she told you not to worry about that, this was just a little thing that made her think of you. Besides, you were in the hospital!

“You know (y/n), I don’t have anyone else to visit over the holidays. I’m glad I get to be with you. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”

You started feeling a bit better and were able to come back for your second semester classes. You didn’t have Diane as a professor anymore, but you started to become friends. You would get coffee, or dinner. One night she asked you to come home with her, and be her girlfriend, to which you immediately agreed.

You slowly spent fewer nights at your dorm and more nights with Diane, and then you got sick again.  After that, she convinced you to move in with her full-time, and you’ve been living in her house and sleeping in her bed ever since. 

Right now, you were sitting in Diane’s and your bed, as she made dinner. You struggled to remember what happened next. This was when everything started to blend together. Your illnesses worsened even more shortly after you moved in with Diane. You remember being confined to the very same bed as Diane helped you do your finals from home, as she explained the situation to your parents and easily charmed them, convincing them you were in great hands.

“(Y/n), time for dinner!”, Diane called. She then walked to the bedroom to check if you needed any help.

“I’m fine, actually. I’ve been feeling a little better.”

“Good. Such a brave, good girl. Now eat up, alright baby?” cooed the older woman as she led you to the table and sat you down.

“Well, physically I’ve been feeling better, but-”

“What? What’s wrong? Have I not been paying enough attention to you? Are you feeling sad? anxious? My poor baby-”

“No, none of that. I’ve just been- forgetting things. Like, big chunks. My memories are so foggy. It’s hard for me to think at all sometimes.”

“Oh, honey, that’s just a side effect of your medication. It’s okay, it won’t last forever. And I’ll help you fill in any gaps you need until then. But you don’t need to worry. Not when you’re with me. Okay angel?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Oh, we’re in that kind of mood, are we?”

“Is that okay?”

“Very, very, okay, little one.”

Mommy was what you called Diane most often during sex. It turned her on immensely, and it excited you as well. 

Diane grabbed you and brought you to the bed, tearing off your clothes.

“Are you still feeling good?”

“Yes Mommy.”

“Such a good girl for me. Such a good girl for Mommy.”

You spread your legs for her and she started touching you. But then-

“Mommy stop please. I can’t do this, Diane-”

“Alright. I’m sorry, I’ll go get your meds.

Diane went to the bathroom to get your meds and sleep aids.

“D-Diane?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why can’t I remember things? I can’t even remember some things about my family.”

“A side effect of some of your medication sweetie. I told you that.”

“You did?”

“Yes. I will tell you this, my love. People have hurt you, in your past. I remember when we met you were having such a difficult time. You wanted friends, you had so much trouble making friends. The other students were so mean to you. Your parents they- they acted like having to come see you when you were in the hospital was some kind of inconvenience. It was awful. You were so lonely.”

“I know I was lonely.”

“Yes, sweetheart. You needed someone. You needed me. I have to be the one to take care of you. I am the only person that can love the way you deserve to be loved. I’m the only thing keeping you safe from a filthy, disgusting world. And I need you too. I need to love and protect you.”

“Yes, Diane. I need to sleep now.”

“Alright. Come here, darling,” said Diane. She held you until you fell asleep.

Next thing you knew, you were tied to the pole in the basement with several ropes. Diane was tying more and more ropes around you, around different parts of your body. The world felt heavy, blurry, fluid. 

“Please stop, Diane. Why are you doing this?”

“It’s for your own good, darling. Trust me. You need this.”

The ropes began to cover your entire body. Your face, eyes, neck. Especially your neck. There was a sharp sting on your neck.

Your eyes flew open, and you awoke in a cold sweat, and screamed. 

It was just a dream, I’m safe, thank God. Diane would never-

But then you noticed Diane. She was holding a small syringe, that seemed empty. And your neck stung. She was startled by your scream, clearly not expecting you to have woken up.

“Pretend you never saw that. I can’t stand it when you look so scared.”

“What did you do to me? What was in there, Diane?”

“You need it, sweetheart. I know you don’t like needles.”

“No. Why didn’t you tell me? What’s going on?”

“You need this. You need me. Your-”

You searched for the syringe and found it. There was a thick, black residue on it, and you sniffed it. It gave you a head rush.

“You’ve been drugging me. This is why I’ve forgotten things, isn’t it?”

“Come on, angel. You know I wouldn’t”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, just go back to sleep.”

You did feel tired. So tired. And you couldn’t even remember what you and Diane were even fighting about. So you went to sleep in her arms.

The next morning, Diane made you breakfast. 

“How did you sleep, (y/n)?”

“I don’t know. I think I had a nightmare but I can’t remember-”

“Oh no! At least you can’t remember it, right?”

“I- I guess so.”

Diane felt relief that you didn’t remember what happened last night. Her plan was working. You would be hers, her precious girl, forever. All that work to find you, to make you trust her, making you sick, making you need her. She knew everything about you. You were her perfect girl, and she was yours. And you always would be.

[thekillingjoke-haha]

Angel With A Shotgun

Summary: The Novak family was big talk,but not nearly as famous as the L/n’s. Togther they can be unstoppable,so what say family ties like guns,drugs,money,and murder?

Paring: Michael!Dean x Male!Reader

1900's Mafia/Gangsters AU

A/N: this is a Micheal fic,but its him in Dean's body so like...idk its the same snake different skin. Also Chuck is referred as Charles

Warning:Blood,guns,knives,gore,torture,swearing. Homophobic comments like just a few. No proof reading

⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑆⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑈⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑉⑇⑈⑆⑉⑆⑉⑆⑈⑇⑉⑆⑆⑆

The Novak's that a family that was one of the most feared yet respected. The way people talk about them down south you'd think they were inspiration for the Bible itself. A man by Charles or Chuck Novak is the head honcho with five sons to help him run is kingdom.

The youngest is Castiel he was probably the nicest of all his siblings,but also the most protected with three other brothers, Gabriel is the definition of trouble and if he slipped up head could easily get lynched good thing he puts that silver tongue to work. Raphael was one of the more head strong,but sadly he was shot when several rivals attacked at on of their bars. Lucifer is the second oldest and the most hot headed with a temper to match the black sheep in his family if you will, then last,but not least Michael he was something else entirely the play boy,a demon is a flat cap and tailored suit.Now that the Novak's have been introduced the world's most feared gang the L/n's is one family not to be fucked with.

(Father's name) leading his kingdom no...empire with his wife (Mother's name) and togther they had only two sons. The second born William and the oldest M/n. William wasn't much involved with the criminal side of the business,but his big brother was the prime example of a gangster. No one besides the L/n gang has seen him he stays out of newspaper coverage and that only allows his terror to run ramped. A man with no face and a title of Satan himself made the oldest Novak just a little timid when he found out. "WHAT THE HELL!!!" Michael threw the newspaper on his fathers desk in anger the older man looked up after glancing at the paper. "I'm due to be wed to a L/n and none the less a man! I can be hanged for so much as saying I do and it IN THE FUCKING BULLETIN!!!" He was seething with hatred in every word. Michael will admit it hurt a lot finding out he was to be wed by the slight disgust look he got while grabbing the paper before getting coffee. "I wanted to tell you sooner,but you were handling something. There's no way out of this a deal was made before you were born me and (Father's name) have been waiting for his wife to bare a girl or your mother to do the same,but your mother's untimely passing and (Mother's name) having gone unfertial our oldest are due to wed." Chuck sighed taking off his thin wired glasses.

"You two were once friends,but I guess time got rid of those memories." Chuck sat down his spectacles down looking at his son. Michael turned to father with shock evident in his eyes. He was friends with M/n L/n the man with no face. Everything was too foggy. The shorter male stood up to a shelf in the office and grabbed a small match box opening it looking around before pulling out a picture. Handing it over to his son he sat back down. "He was one of the only people you'd go to when you were a baby. Heavens he was probably the only person you liked,but when he was five and you were three the fact that our business was centered around blood and there's on bonds it became a fight,mafia versus a gang, and you guys saw eachother less and less till around the time Luci was born not at all." Chuck sighed. The young man was in shock a little boy maybe two or three was cuddled up to a baby in a pale blanket that he remembered was blue fully awake and if the picture could come to life he's sure the boy was humming all while rubbing the infants back.

"No ones seen a picture of him in twenty six years and he was on his fathers hip with a match box car. He's in town and should be coming for dinner here by himself in three days time. So til then keep your brothers in check we don't need them to shoot the young man with a stray bullet." With that Charles dismissed his eldest son as the green eyed boy stormed off in a huff. Michael started to do digging. M/n L/n was in headlines weekly in every post known to man from shootings,assassination,and gangbanding to rumors of his love-life,what he wears,and people claiming to have met him. One thing caught his eye that made him falter. "Gangsters M/n L/n Captures Murderer" that when he started reading the full paper that crumbled a bit due to age. Maybe he's not so bad the guy he caught never saw a courtroom,but met a far worse end all because he caused problems with his people. It was admirable the brunette knew he'd do the same,but not just for anybody. Marriage wasn't settling well with him that didn't mean it felt completely wrong.

One day later

Looking in the mirror Michael watched as his maid adjusted his tie while another smoothed the wrinking in his white button up and vest of his three piece suit. As the oldest he had business to handle people to keep in line. When their hands left his body they scurried out of the room rushing to be down stairs before him. His dress shoes met the floor as he grew closer to the door his youngest sibling ran up next to him. "Can I come,please!" His raven head of hair and doe blue eyes almost made him cave,but with a firm look he gazed down at him. "Sorry little raven,but I have things to handle another time." The pout on Castiel lip didn't move as he held up his hand his pinky out. "Promise?" Interlocking with the ten year olds pinky. "Promise." With that he happily skipped away to play in the garden.

Out the door he went. His flat came on his head and coat thrown over his shoulder his effects tucked in his waistband. Screams caused him to smile as he stood before the butcher on payroll. He wore the man's leather apron having abandoned his tailored suit jacket in the front of the deil. "Were is my money?" He cut the man some more as he continued to scream in pain the white fire from the rusted meat hook in his shoulder flaring with each jerked motion. "Help please!" He yelled all of a sudden in the past hour he hasn't called for assistance. "No can do." A deep voice said behind the oldest Novak turning around sharply his green eyes clashed with e/c. The man looked like anyone off the street his shoes tattered and clothing dirty form labor no bet. "I came for my five notes." The didn't seem fazed at the torture. "Fuck you gypsy scum!!" The pig of a man responded as the tall s/c man crept closer gripping a knife Michael was using. "I just unloaded a load of meat in the summer heat that would give the devil a sweat and all I asked for my effort was five notes nothing more nor less so cough of the money that you clearly owe both of us or I'll carve it out of you and make you squeal like the piggy bank you are." His tone dropped further the blade under the man's fat chin and the Novak felt aroused at the threat. This guy meant every word when the hanging man spat in his face the off color of snuff and blood made the normally clear liquid seen and thick. Let's just say Michael sat back crossing his legs in a attempt to compose himself as the man hit pitches not even the girls in the church choir could master. The heavy weight man forked over the money then some I got my full and he ended up giving the mystery man a hundred notes if he made the pain stop after pocketing the money he shot the man.

He turned around and began to leave when the brunette stopped him. "Wait! I give you my thanks friend he was stubborn for a hour almost" The h/c man turned looking at him giving a smile tilting his head for the Novak to follow as he stepped out the deli. Scrambling he walked down the street next to the man their attire clashing a well tailored suit next to rags that looked more like a potato sack then cloth. "Glad I could help a fine looking fella like yourself." His flirtatious grin caused butterflies to run ramped in Michael's guts. As they walked down the street they slowly moved from the good side of the town to the slums. No cars drove on the gravel a fire hydrine spat out water for all the children playing around it,women hung up clothes on wire between tenements and men looked more like the mysterious gypsy next to the Novak. Speaking of the mystery man he went to each crowded tenements door and knocked the women or young men of the families came to the door and he handed over twenty notes each. The women cried and clung to his tall figure and the boys almost men looked at him in wonder like a hero before running off to tell the adults of the place. "Why did you do that?" Michael asked as they walked out of the town. "You worked for that money and gave it all away." He was confused he's never seen a man work for a family that wasn't his own.

"They need it more. Schools out the children don't get meals and the men work hard to feed them at least a meal a day. I'm alone here no lover or children with the energy and muscle to work." Novak wasn't sure before,but he was sure now this was love and it felt better then any harlot he could spend the night with. "Thats very admirable of you." Michael complmented which was not a normal accuracy. "It was truly nothing to admire,handsome. I'm not saying I'm amazing,but sometimes I'm decently above average. That's what people need someone decent enough go care."

Before he knew it they were back on his side of town and getting closer to the business. "It's been a pleasure,Mr. Novak." The man dripped his head as he turned to leave somewhere. "You know who I am and I don't even get a name." He turned back around and got closer to him his chest pushed up against his till he was pinned to the wall he leaned down his lips so close to his face just out of reach. "I'm N/n,but you can call me the man of your dreams." Michael almost leaned up to peak his lips when the warm body pulled away taking with it the lust filled tension. N/n turned and left out of sight that night was full of the man tossing and turning dreaming of the e/c man that made him feel high as the clouds above. N/n smiled as his men drank around him he finally saw his baby boy all grown up and he's taking what's his this time.

Two days later=Six Hours Before Family Dinner

The buzz of the New Yorker coming to Kansas was the rage. Any man that was new in town was watched like a hawk by commoners and the Novak's. Michael was no longer looking forward to this marriage he didn't want this man no matter who he was. N/n stole his heart like a petty thief and ran away from him. No one in Kansas knew who he was a s/c skinned,h/c haired,e/c eyed gypsy was all he had to go on no last name just a image that burned bright in his mind. Michael sighed as he left his office and went down to the bank he needed enough cash on hand to throw away on booze and maybe angel dust. People parted for him like the red sea and he easily got money when gun shots went off. The teller in front of him fell to the ground wounds ridding his body and Novak turned to see men...no boys with guns.

"Everyone get down on the ground. We've come only for the money we won't hesitate for blood as well." The group chuckled as the leader smirked people shook as they easied to the ground all except Michael who stood tall. "Ah! If it isn't Michael Novak no men to protect you now." A man he didn't realize came behind him hit him over the head with his gun causing him to fall to his knees. "Pathetic." The band of thugs leader grabbed the Mafia bosses chin looking and the blood coming from his brow. Someone stood from on their knees a flat cap covering their hair and a long trench coat that was only slightly open. "It would be in your best interest to leave,boys." They all train their guns at the man. "Why's that,you motherless bastered?" The man turned his gaze upward deadly sharp e/c orbs looked at him and Michael was in shock it was N/n. "Cause I have twelve guns ready to blow holes in you and your men." After his words ten men stood up all wearing the same clothing flat caps,overcoats,and suspenders with a Tommy on every man except the leader. The cowardly man looked frightened looking around keeping his gun on the s/c man. "I only count ten I still have the upper hand." N/n gave a devilish smile that made Michelle gaze on love struck and excited for what's to come. His gray trench coat hit the floor and two sawed-off shotguns in each hand. "Upper hand you say?" He pulled both triggers the left one killing the man sending himself flying back and the right killing the man behind Michael blowing his brains painting the tan walls this made the others fire as well. The bodies of the criminals and one civilian litter the floor.

N/n sent the men off to get the people out as he walked up to the bleeding Novak. "Thank you." His green eyes gleamed making the standing man give a grin as he held his hand out to help him up. "Consider it a gift from M/n L/n." The gleam disappeared from his eyes his soon to be husband was in town has been in town and set his men up to keep him safe. "Now if I'm not mistaken you have a dinner to get ready for,pretty boy." He takes the handkerchief out of his waist coat dabbing the blood away. "Will you be there?" Michael voice sounded weak so full of hope. "You can count on it. We'll be seeing eachother alot more." The man stood up and quickly left and not a moment later Mafia men came in running tending to the boss. Looking longingly at the piece of cloth (Your Initials) were sowed into the reddend white square of fabric.

Family Dinner was about to start the Novak's sat at the table Charles sitting at the end his three eldest sons to his right while his youngest sat to the left two spots were available one across from Michael and the other on the opposite end of Charles. A maid came in the dinning hall and cleared her throat. "The L/n's are here." Two young men came through the door one taller then the other the shorter of the two sat across from Michael while the other sat at the other end of the table closest to Michael and the other man. Charles smiled at them both and Michael was in a state of shock. "M/n been a long while hasn't it?" The oldest Novak looked at the man infront of him waiting for a response when the man he thought to be just a gangster working under the L/n's answered. "That it has Chuck. Sorry father couldn't come he had some other business to handle." N/n or M/n now to Michael's knowledge said before placing a hand on the man beside him. "This is Benjamin or Benny my right hand man don't mind him." The man gave a nod of acknowledgment his blue eyes piercing. "Heard about the blood bath at the bank quite impressive from what Michael has told me." A side smile and a teasing look was turned the mentioned Novak's way. "Saw low life scum trying to rob the place and touching what's mine,their little toys they call guns were child's play compared to my men." M/n sent a wink addressing the men hitting Michael from behind.

"Are you a knight that saves people?" The youngest asked his blue eyes wide in wonder. The s/c males eyes turned to the child a warm smile gracing his lips. "Sometimes when I want to be." A bubbly giggle rang out. "You saved Mikey making him your prince." Those words caused different reactions from all the men. Gabe covered his mouth trying not to laugh at his older brother,Lucifer grinned leaning over to his brother. "Did he have to kiss you sleeping beauty?" He chuckled lowly making kissing noises in his ear,Micheal was beet red as he couldn't bear to face any of them,Chuck smiled looking at his son and son-in-law,Benny nudged his boss sliding something to him while everyone was distracted. "Yeah and I'm gonna make him my king and take him to my castle." M/n leaned towards the boy and whispered in his ear. "We'll ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after." Castiel was gobsmacked as he gazed at his brother all giddy he was gonna live a fairy tale like in all the books their mother use to read. "Um if you'll excess me. I need some air." Micheal stood up and not long after M/n followed when given a reassuring nod from Charles.

The garden of the estate was beautiful in the moonlight and it wasn't hard to spot the oldest Novak on a bench on looking the pond that reflected the night sky. "You knew the whole time who I was." Micheal didn't look up at the man as he sighed. "Yes I knew who you were...we were once closer then the stars and the skies itself." The L/n sat next to him on the bench looking forward. "Chuck knew as well." Michelle turned in shock at that statement a goose chase for nothing. "He didn't know what I looked like now,but letters everyday asking about you seemed to do the trick." Those e/c eyes turned to look into those apple green ones. "Learning from a young age that in you grasp was the person you were due to wed was shocking I almost hated you,but the moment you grabbed my finger as if I'd slip away made me realize it can't be so bad." M/n held out his hand palm up so the younger male rested his hand in his grasp. "I was afraid at first you'd hate me. So I swore to protect you always. Some of my men live here with their families and they keep me posted. Just last year a rat was found on you door step admitting his faults."

Micheal remembered that the maids came rushing to get the family and a man bloody and beaten spilled his guts about planning to cross the family having been hired by a rival Mafia to get information to attack them at a weak state. "I know this won't mean munch to you know,but maybe at some point you'll be happy to carry my last name and call yourself my husband." In M/n hand that wasn't interlocked with Micheal's he opened a box revealing two wedding bands both were silver while one had a gold trim and the other had a f/c trim. "No matter what,Novak,I'll be there when yiu need me through it all most of the times guns blazing." M/n chuckled lightly taking in a deep breath. "Just ponder on it,pretty boy,I'llbe here waiting." as he slipped the ring on the silent man's finger before doing the same with himself he gently kissed the top of his head as he stood up and left wanting to give him space. Micheal smiled at the ring that perfectly fit his finger. The one man he felt attracted to was his guardian angel always there no matter what.

Lifting his hand up he kissed the metal band as a laugh left his lips. "My angel with a shotgun."

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A/n: Second Male reader and I had to spell check for almost 50 she/her in her so I think I got them all lol.

@spnquotebingo

Quote: "I'm not saying I'm amazing,but I'm decently above average."-Blacklist @spnquotebingo

[unbridgeabledistances]

ian + mickeys neck (was thinking of the drunk ian fic and wondered if you would be interested in pursuing this idea further?) <3

anon i am CRYING thank u so much for this!!!! i have been feeling like i need to make my contribution to the “mickey’s neck” discourse for a while lmao and this is my opportunity (esp bc ian holding mickey in the 11x12 stills wrecked me)

in the spirit of following up 11x10 i decided to write this based on an amazing post @mickey-millagher made/a prompt that @pombby sent me about ian teaching mickey to swim at a public pool during lockdown at some point early s11- i hope u enjoy<3

(this is the tiniest notch steamier than what i usually write but it isn’t smutty fyi- tw for descriptions of choking😌)

--

There was no one at the park— the air hung heavy and humid over the empty picnic tables and wooden benches that punctuated the fields of dying grass. As much as people on the Southside were definitely not taking any part of this lockdown shit seriously, it didn’t surprise Ian how silent the public park was— there was still a scarcer number of people out on their stoops or lounging on street corners this summer. Ian guessed that the few people who didn’t think that this was a hoax realized that this COVID shit was serious enough that they couldn’t afford healthcare if they got it, or whatever— but regardless, that meant that this Southside summer was weirdly stagnant somehow, and felt different from the noisy and crowded rhythms of summers past.

It was the late morning, just as the air started heat like a convection oven as the sun rose over the skyline— and Ian had his heart set on teaching Mickey to swim today. The conversation had come up last night at dinnertime, when Debbie was complaining about the heat wave— and they had all started reminiscing about the rickety, tin-sided pool they used to put up in the backyard years ago until Carl had taken a hatchet to it when he was 11 when he was trying to tear it down. Sitting next to Mickey at the kitchen table, thighs pressed where their chairs were scooted close together, Ian had suddenly remembered his words from their road trip to the border, years ago now:

“You could try swimming across the border.”

“I never learned how, man.”

And he’d immediately opened his mouth, not catching the words before they moved from his brain to his mouth, and asked Mickey in the middle of the dinnertime chatter: “Hey Mick, did you ever actually learn to swim?”

It was funny, and arbitrary, and stupid; they were married now, but for some reason this small fact about Mickey, the fact that he used to not know how to swim and by now he might have learned without Ian’s knowledge, made something warm pool in Ian’s stomach. He’d known Mickey, and had been itching to be closer and closer to him, for a full decade—and there were still so many things that he didn’t know. And this was proof, this question that Ian still didn’t have the answer to about some weirdly fundamental aspect of Mickey’s identity— he was always going to want to keep asking things about Mickey. And he was always going to get to.

Mickey had looked him with daggers in his eyes, then flickered a defensive glance at all the smirks growing on Ian’s siblings’ faces. “Fuck you. I was doing plenty of other shit in Mexico, didn’t really get the chance to lounge on the fucking beach.”

Ian had reached under the table and placed a hand on Mickey’s knee—a peace offering, an apology for whatever Mickey-can’t-swim quips Carl and Lip would inevitably think up as a low blow the next time they all butted heads at breakfast time— but as the chatter about backyard pools and heat waves continued at the dinner table, Ian felt an idea stirring.

Which is why the next morning he’d woken his husband up by pressing a tender kiss to his jawbone, both of their skin damp and clammy from the heat in the stuffy bedroom, and whispered into his neck:

“I wanna try something today.”

Mickey’s mind had immediately veered in… other directions, his eyebrows raising in vaguely disappointed disbelief when Ian had explained his idea to go to the public pool and teach Mickey to swim with an exuberant grin on his face; but after some very enticing morning persuasion that had a lot to do with the fact that Mickey was still half asleep while Ian had pressed kisses down his spine and dragged him out of bed and handed him a pair of swim trunks, now they were at the public pool in the nearest park at midday, with Ian leading the way and Mickey dubiously and sleepily straggling behind him.

Ian slid open the lock on the chain-link fence that surrounded the pool, the same pool that was usually crawling with groups of teenagers smoking weed and toddlers in floaties who were sticky with melted ice cream on a summer day like today. And maybe he was just all hopped up on nostalgia, but Ian was feeling cheerful— there was a lightness to the blinding summer sunshine, radiating through him as it pooled on his skin, that made him feel weirdly exhilarated and giddy about teaching Mickey to swim in this grimy Southside pool, just because he could.

“I still can’t believe you never learned how to swim.” Ian said it over his shoulder as he strode through the gate, holding it open for Mickey.

Mickey just flipped him off, following behind him and setting down two towels and the 6-pack of beers he’d grabbed from the fridge as they’d shuffled out the door minutes before. Ian grinned. He knew the beers would be warm and syrupy in minutes—the air was muggy and humid, without any hint of a breeze for relief. Ian could already feel the sweat dripping down the back of his t-shirt; he peeled it off as he walked over the sunwarmed concrete towards the pool’s edge, crumpling the shirt and throwing it on top of the pile with the beers and the towels. Mickey was hesitant, not following Ian to the border of the water just yet.

“Seriously. I can’t count the number of times I was shoved into our bacteria-infested backyard pool when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure that Frank tried to drown me in there at one point.”

Mickey just shrugged noncommittally, his fingers slack around the bottom hem of his shirt and his eyes zeroing in on the pool of water. Ian thought Mickey would say something in reply— but the only sound in the air was the faint shouting of kids playing a basketball game the street over.

Holy shit. Ian had been so buoyant and excited about his nostalgia-fueled idea of going to the public pool on a summer day and teaching his husband to swim, dragging Mickey out of the house without a second thought, that he hadn’t realized it until now— Mickey was scared.

Ian swallowed down the grin that was threatening to overtake his face— one he knew that Mickey would immediately notice and hate, because he it drove him crazy when people gave him shit in vulnerable moments like this, when Mickey couldn’t do something. So instead Ian kept talking, hoping his chatter would loosen some of Mickey’s nerves.

“Didn’t you and your brothers ever go down to the other pool over on Trumbull?”

Mickey met Ian’s eyes then, raising an annoyed eyebrow. “Clearly not.”

And, okay. This was understandably bringing up some childhood shit. Ian tried to snap Mickey out of his head— he strode over to where Mickey was standing, a good six feet from the poolside, and snaked a hand onto the back of his neck, squeezing gently in what he hoped was a grounding and comforting touch that would drain the trepidation from Mickey’s defensive stance.

“One summer Debbie was so afraid of getting drowned at the public pool that she learned how to hold her breath for 4 minutes.” Ian grinned at the memory of Debbie dunking her head in a tub of water in the kitchen, making him and Lip time her. “Honestly, it was probably for the best you never went to the public pool. It was a shit show.”

Mickey scoffed, but the lightness was back in his eyes. “If I knew how to swim back in the day I probably woulda been the one doing the drowning.”

Ian barked out a laugh— and why did he immediately turn back into his 15-year-old self, with a god-awful crush on Mickey Milkovich, whenever Mick said shit like that? He pressed his lips into a smile, squeezing Mickey’s shoulder once more for good measure.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, king of the Southside. You ready to get in the water?” Ian’s hand trailed down from its grasp on Mickey’s shoulderblades, dropping to encircle Mickey’s wrist and guide him towards the water.

Mickey immediately recoiled, yanking his hand from Ian’s hold and taking a step back, squinting and holding up a hand to block the bright rays of sun out of his eyes now that he wasn’t standing in Ian’s shadow.

“Fuck d’you mean? I’m not just gonna fucking hop in there and drown. You gotta show me what to do.”

Ian grinned again, without being able to hold it back. He knew what Mickey was like when he was afraid of something— defensive and grumbly and avoidant to touch. He rolled his eyes. “Can’t really teach you to swim when we’re not in the water, Mick. C’mon.”

Ian walked over to sit on the edge, then slid his torso down into the pool. The water was lukewarm and tepid, barely providing any relief from the sticky air— but it felt nice. Ian let out a little breath of relief from the heat as he waded over to the shallow end. Mickey was still standing by the mound of the towels the ground, watching him warily. Ian raised his eyebrows.

“You coming?”

Rolling his eyes, Mickey aggravatedly pulled off his shirt, tossing it behind him— sunrays bounced off of Mickey’s pale skin, owing mostly to the fact that Mickey had barely left the house in the last few weeks because of their prolonged “honeymoon.” He slowly walked to the very edge of the pool and, in a movement that made Ian’s heart grow ten sizes, hesitantly dipped a toe into the water like a cat trying to paw at something. A corner of Mickey’s mouth flickered downwards almost imperceptibly, a worry line sprouting on his forehead.

“I don’t know, man.”

Ian breathed out a laugh. Leave it to Mickey Milkovich, shit-talking king of the Southside, to be afraid of the shallow end of a public pool. Ian reached out a hand in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, still smiling like a sappy motherfucker at his painfully endearing husband.

“C’mon Mick, just stand here with me first.” Ian was waist-deep in the shallow end, the water pressing against his upper thighs— he knew that at this height the water would be at Mickey’s waist, right where his swim trunks met his hipbones.

Mickey’s brows furrowed from where he was still perched on the concrete lip of the pool ledge, his two feet firmly rooted. “Explain what I gotta do first. To swim, or whatever.”

Ian blew out a breath, still grinning like an idiot. “It’s not that hard, Mick. You just gotta circle your arms and circle your legs. But you have to get in the water first.”

Ian treaded over, pushing through the water to where he could rest his upper arms on the edge of the pool beside where Mickey was standing, staring up at him with what he hoped was a convincingly pleading face. Mickey’s eyes were still fixated on the water, lapping at the pool’s edge from where Ian had rippled through it. And suddenly Ian had an idea.

With a teasing grin, he reached a wet hand out from the water and encircled it around Mickey’s ankle, splattering the concrete with drops of water. Mickey immediately jerked like an electric shock had jolted through his body.

“You gonna come in, or do I have to make you?”

Mickey tried to shake his ankle out of Ian’s grasp, but Ian had hold of him with an iron fist. Mickey leaned over and tried to swat at Ian’s arm without losing his balance on the pool’s edge.

“Cut that shit out right now, Gallagher.”

Ian just grinned, squeezing Mickey’s ankle like he was about to tug him in. “Come on, Mick.”

Mickey’s eyes widened and, just as Ian had imagined he would— he started to freak the fuck out.  

“Ian stop that shit right now, I swear to god I will fucking murder you if you—”

They were at the 6-foot marker in the pool, right where it was deep enough for Mickey to stand on the very tips of his toes; and with this knowledge, Ian tugged at Mickey’s calf— causing him to falter, his arms circling like a cartoon character before he lost his balance and crashed into the water on his side.

Ian immediately placed his hands on Mickey’s hips, standing him upright before his head even fell under the water— but Mickey was still sputtering and splashing, like the drama queen that he was. Once Mickey regained his composure and realized he was easily standing on the bottom of the pool, his head bobbing just above the water, he swiftly splashed healthy burst of water into Ian’s face, the chlorine stinging his eyes and nose.

“Fuck you, Gallagher!”

Ian coughed at the water that had shot up his nose, but immediately splashed Mickey back—and then, because there wasn’t any way this whole pool situation was going to go anyways, he and Mickey were immediately engaged in a life-and-death splash battle, circling each other in the middle section of the pool.

Ian was laughing so hard he felt a stitch in his side— and Mickey was finally grinning again, water dripping down his cheeks and clinging to his hair. After a few minutes Ian threw his hands in the air in surrender, the water cresting at his shoulders.

“Truce!”

Mickey splashed one more surge of water at Ian’s chest for good measure, grinning like a kid in a candy store— then he took a step closer to Ian, eyebrows raised.

“Truce.”

Ian beamed down at him, pressing a quick peck to the top of his damp hair. “Sorry for throwing you in the pool.”

Mickey rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“But in my defense, it had to happen eventually.”

Mickey shoved him squarely in the chest, taking a step back. “You ruined the fucking truce.”

Ian gave a smug smirk. “Do you wanna learn how to swim, or not?”

Mickey flicked another burst of water at him, just enough to cast a slew of droplets onto Ian’s cheeks. “Alright. Get coaching, Michael Phelps.”

Ian hadn’t really considered how he was actually going to teach Mickey to swim— but it couldn’t be that hard, right? He tried to think back to when Lip had taught him how to tread water, on an equally as sweltering day in the backyard pool, when the yard was packed with lawn chairs and drunk neighbors and smelled of ashy barbeque smoke.

“Okay. So you’ve gotta move your arms in circles, kinda, to stay floating. And your legs too.”

Ian swam over to the deeper end of the pool, just an arm’s length away from where he and Mickey’s feet could touch, and tried to demonstrate how to tread water. “I feel like the easiest way for you to learn is just by doing it. C’mere.”

Mickey looked at him reluctantly, brows furrowed again in an outward display of his bundled nerves. “No fucking way.”

Ian sighed in exasperation. “C’mon, Mick. I’ve got you. I’m not gonna let you drown, you can hold on to me the whole time.”

Mickey raised an eyebrow— but then hesitantly took a step towards Ian, the water reaching up to the bottom of his chin.

“Alright, good. Now step where you can’t reach and try to tread water like I did.”

Mickey stepped forward again, then started to circle his arms under the water— and he was doing great, for a second, before he seemed to get too in his head about the mechanics and started to grit his teeth.

“Little help here, Gallagher?”

Ian grinned and stepped forward. “Here, you can hang onto me.” He stood where Mickey could reach and grab onto his shoulders if he needed to— but Mickey seemed to regain his confidence, and was starting to steadily, if a little bit clumsily, tread water.

He kept it up for a while, until Ian could see that he was overexerting himself— waving his arms under the water with a little too much gusto, brows furrowed and his teeth digging into his lower lip in concentration.

“Mick, you’ve got it. Chill out for a sec.”

Ian reached an arm out, a branch for Mickey to grab on to— because he had been joking before, yes, but he really didn’t want Mickey to fucking drown— and when Mickey grasped onto it, Ian pulled Mickey towards him in the water, kicking backwards so they were suspended in the deeper end of the pool with Mickey clinging to Ian’s neck.

Mickey looked nervous as Ian veered them towards deeper waters, his eyes darting from side to side where they were floating, his fingers digging into the back of Ian’s neck— and Ian smirked at how freaked out he seemed, standing only a few feet from where they could both confidently stand on the tiled pool bottom. But Mickey didn’t resist, or try to propel himself back into the shallower waters— he let himself cling on to Ian, fingers interlaced behind the tops of Ian’s shoulders, as he kept them afloat. Ian laughed softly in a warm, wet gust across Mickey’s cheek. “You okay?”

He could feel the heat radiating off of Mickey’s body, squeezing up close against him— and Ian couldn’t help it, the wave of fondness that came over him as he looked down at where Mickey was pressed against his chest; trusting Ian to keep them above the water, trusting Ian enough to go along with his stupid plan to teach him to swim in a public pool on a random morning just because Ian wanted to. Ian couldn’t help but feel warmth in his stomach at this simple moment, at the two of them bobbing in the pool— at teaching his husband to swim, something Mickey’d never gotten to do as a kid but something that they had the rest of their lives to do together.

“Maybe we could teach Franny to swim next summer. If we have our own place.”

As he said it, Ian hoped that Mickey could see the flood of hopes that he had for them in his eyes— that he wanted a place with a pool, and a balcony, maybe a backyard, and maybe even a fucking garden—he’d always wanted to grow tomatoes. More than anything he wanted to build something sturdy, that could stand up to whatever ground would inevitably shift beneath them in the years to come— he’d been thinking about that a lot these days, especially with all of the pandemic shit that had pulled a rug out from under this entire neighborhood.

Mickey’s gaze flickered up from where it had been boring a panicky hole in Ian’s sternum, meeting Ian’s eyes at the phrase “our own place”— and Ian instantly knew that he got it, that he could see the dreams that Ian was building for the two of them right in front of their eyes. That after months and years of obstacles and chaos and other voices infiltrating their heads, now it was just them— now it was just Ian and Mickey, clinging to each other and drifting through the calm, chlorinated waters.

And maybe it was their proximity, or the intensity Ian knew he was pouring out in his gaze, but instantly the air between them shifted as Mickey looked up— starting to hang heavy like the press of the humidity in the air. Their faces were centimeters apart— and Mickey’s lips parted slightly, his eyes now cast downward at Ian’s lips. Ian could smell the sweet, warm beer on Mickey’s breath, mingling with his own; he looked at Mickey, whose arms were still wrapped around his neck, water dripping down his face from the hair that was fanning over his forehead—and Ian just had to pull him in, had to place a hand in the damp hair at the nape of Mickey’s neck and tug him closer, backing them against the tiled wall of the pool.

Ian could taste the faintest bitterness of chlorine on Mickey’s lips, from the water droplets lingering there, as he took Mickey’s bottom lip between his teeth. Mickey’s hands were still limply wrapped around Ian’s neck, keeping himself afloat— even though Ian had backed them against a wall in the shallow end of the pool again, and Mickey could probably touch his toes to the ground if he wanted to.

Ian raised his hand from under the water, wanting Mickey closer— he pressed a hand to the side of Mickey’s neck, slick with water, and slid a thumb over Mickey’s collarbone, pressing down with the pad of his fingers.

And Mickey gave a little involuntary noise from the back of his throat, sending a jolt down Ian’s spine.

Ian’s hands circling Mickey’s neck was definitely not a foreign concept while they were kissing—  it was something they did a lot these days, especially as their hours in bed had taken a turn from the crazed, I-missed-your-body-so-fucking-much sex they were having in the beginning days of being in prison together and those early months after Mickey had gotten released— but both in prison and during this fucking quarantine, they’d gotten a bit more experimental, and a bit more reckless—especially before Ian had gotten his warehouse job and they were still on their structureless “honeymoon,” spending entire days lounging in bed.

It was those days of lazy, languid kisses, after years and years of already knowing each other, that Ian realized that he was maybe a little bit obsessed with Mickey’s neck. He’d always joked about liking Mickey’s legs, and that was true too (if he was being honest, there wasn’t a part of Mickey’s body that didn’t make his blood run hotter)— but the first time Mickey had grabbed Ian’s hand and put it up to his neck while they were tangled together, pressing down until Ian’s hand covered most of his throat, Ian knew that they’d opened Pandora’s fucking box.

By this point, Ian’s hand was pretty much always on Mickey’s neck at some point while they were fucking or even just making out— if he was being totally honest, Ian’s hand was on Mickey’s neck more often than not in lots of contexts these days, once they realized how much they both loved it. But there was something about this current moment, of Mickey wantonly desiring a point of contact there, right now, while they were very randomly and decidedly making out while floating in a public pool on a lazy weekday afternoon, that made Ian’s blood run hotter than usual, and rush quicker through his veins.

Ian let the pads of his fingers creep up the velvet skin of the side of Mickey’s neck, pressing a little deeper, a prelude— he could feel the vibration of Mickey’s heartbeat starting to flutter from where Mickey was still pressed against his chest, still clinging to his neck in the water.

They’d already extensively discussed limits and everything, Mickey would tap his wrist twice if shit got too intense— but even with that in mind, Ian pulled apart from Mickey for a second, trailing ghosts of kisses up the side of his neck and nipping at the underside of Mickey’s jaw. Mickey stretched his neck back and gave a little involuntary sputter of a moan, bubbling out of his mouth before he could stop it. He fisted a hand in Ian’s hair, at the nape of his neck, and leaned forward again to press their lips together with more fervor.

Ian pulled back again, his upper back resting against the concrete lip of the pool. Mickey looked disheveled and wrecked, half-dry chlorine-crusted hair sticking up from where Ian’s other hand had been cradling the back of his head, his blue eyes gleaming and catching the over-bright summer light. Mickey was still clinging his arms around Ian’s neck, holding on— they were in a fucking pool, and Mickey still couldn’t really fucking swim yet— and even though they were standing in a place where Mickey’s toes could certainly touch the ground, the whole thing felt weirdly insular and intimate, like they had to cling to each other.

Mickey raised his eyebrows at Ian, like he was daring him to keep going.  

Ian leaned forward, breathing heavily into Mickey’s mouth, but not pressing their lips together yet—and he reached a hand up again, against Mickey’s tender skin. Mickey’s legs were wrapped around Ian’s hips now, locked like a vice to keep himself upright in the water— and he pressed a little harder, gently pulsing at the sides of Mickey’s neck, in tandem with their lips pressing together over and over again as the warm waters surrounded them—the whole thing, the whole combination, made Ian feel indescribably floaty and weird and warm and blissed out; his skin stinging like ice and fire at every point of contact, electricity  zapping his nerve endings wherever his fingertips met Mickey’s skin. Mickey fisted his hand harder at the back of Ian’s hair, nodding slightly—and they were definitely not going to fuck here, in the filth of a Southside public pool, but this insular closeness, the knowing what they both wanted to right now, was equally as thrilling and fulfilling to Ian in the moment. He could almost feel his own heart beating, reverberating as it pressed against Mickey’s chest, vibrating straight through Mickey and back to him as they clung to each other in the water.

Mickey’s body was thrumming, letting out little gasps of breath between kisses and touches—and Ian pulled back and dragged his lips down the side of Mickey’s neck, inhaling the sunwarmed skin. Fuck. He was never, never going to get enough of this.

**

Later, they’d dragged their water-heavy limbs back through the still summer streets to the Gallagher house, their skin pink and their bodies exhausted from soaking up the sun— and they’d collapsed into bed, feeling the dried chlorine coating their skin.

Ian reached a hand up, rubbing a thumb over Mickey’s cheek, their bodies pliant and fatigued— and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Thanks for letting me teach you how to swim.”

Mickey had smirked. “Yup, that was definitely the only highlight of today. Swimming.”

[milkacchan]

Request for anon: Can I have Present mic, Aizawa, and all might where they learn their young student is fatherless? Like... their father walked out/went to prison when they were young. I'm sorry if this is time consuming, but I can't stop sobbing over my father.

I'm the situation baby but remember it wasn't your fault

I changed it up a little bit with Mics- I hope you don't mind

Present Mic:

• from the getgo something was wrong

• The moment you walked into class he could tell

• You looked like shit

• Dark bags under your eyes, hair messily brushed, just to get it out if your face, and your eyes were a light red.

• You didn't look particularly happy to be there either

• something turns in his stomach, a gut feeling that something really had went down

• And he hated seeing his students upset

• but he was relatively close to you to begin with, his felt different

• He felt like he had to do something

• Everyone settled into their seats as the bull rung but his eyes remained on you

• You honestly didn't pay attention during the lesson

• He could tell as much

• class finishes and the bell rings but you sit still, and it's not until most of the students have trickled out of the room do you start packing up

• He walks over and kneels in front of the desk "You okay there? You don't look so good," he looks concerned and his heart drops when he sees your lip start to quiver

• It takes you 0.27 seconds to break and you're frantically wiping your eyes as sobs wrack your body

• He's got his arms wrapped around you in seconds and you're leaning into his shoulder.

• He isn't sure exactly how long you're crying for but eventually you calm down enough to get out a coherent sentence

• "My-My dad was arrested Friday night. He won't tell me why- he won't let anyone else tell me why and I don't know what else to do," you cry, "I miss him so much and its only been a few days- I don't- I don't have anyone else, Mr. Hazashi,"

• And you're crying again.

• He has you take the rest of the day off, in fact he takes the day with you

• He calls in a sub (you don't know what strings he had to pull for that but you don't ask, at this point you don't care) and you two dip

• He takes you to get food, real food, that'll make you feel better

• He knows that'll help a little

• and after that he takes you to get something sweet- that tends to help mood and blood pressure and anxiety

• So he does his best with you

• He nutures you the best way he knows how

• if you need anything and I mean ANYTHING this man has you covered

• He does his best to step up in any way he can

• first off he extends his assignment deadlines and cancels two tests. Who needs them anyway.

• And you eat lunch in his classroom because he can well tell you don't want to talk to anyone else right now

• He closes it off (seemingly) so in reality its just you and him

• He'll probably tell Aizawa too but on the downlow (just so he knows)

• When holidays roll around, the dorms close.

• In this case- he let's you stay with him. He has an extra bedroom. He doesn't want you to stay in an empty house.

• You also get his phone number (which you gladly use) for anything really

• Bored? He'll deliver some shitty puns.

• Confused about homework? Text him.

• having a mental breakdown? He's got you covered.

• You got memes? Please for the love of God send them to him.

• The dynamic eventually shifts to a VERY father daughter relationship.

• He knows he'll never replace your dad. He understands that wholeheartedly, but he wants you to have someone

• He actually gets a letter from your dad, thanking him for taking care of you

• but he really doesn't mind

Aizawa:

• He had a feeling that there was something going on at home. Or rather, a lack of something.

• He's dealt with it in the oast- with himself and with past students and current ones

• Shinsou

• I mean, aside from that fact whenever parents were mentioned, you'd either stiffen up or wrinkle your nose

• You didn't really like the subject of parents

• There was an essay prompt about parents (nothing too personal) nd you ended up writing it on the extinction of dinosaurs and why God fucked up instead

"It'd be absolutely stellar to see huge lizards roaming the earth and occasionally stepping on people, you know? Jurassic park was onto something."

• Man's couldn't even fail you on it because it was written v well

• Anyway, he doesn't pry too much. He just silently figures it out by process if elimination and pattern.

• He doesn't really care too much

• In the sense if it doesn't define you and he doesn't help you because he pities you

• he helps you because he seems potential

• He takes you under his wing with shinsou

• Yall spend a whole summer training

• And that's when it all came out

• It was an accident really.

• Shinsou was tired, exhausted really

• and when people get tired- that tired- sometimes they spout random shot they wouldn't usually say

• and thats what he did

• he went on about his home life

• and if he could, you could too right?? You could trust them.

• "My dad walked out when I was a kid. Little, like 3. I have a few pictures of him holding me, but I guess it wasn't enough. I don't have any desire to meet him. Not anymore. But it left me feeling like I did something wrong? I guess? Which I suppose is why I train. Because then I feel strong. Which is a good difference from how it usually feels."

• He knew it.

• He called it.

• He was right again.

• He reassures you that you are good enough, strong enough, and his decision to leave had nothing to do with you

• and when he saw you give him a soft smile, he warmed.

• I mean really, it only goes up from there

• he'll deny it, or grumble under his breath, but he seems you two as his own

• Like these aren't my kids but they are my kids

• When dorms close on holiday yall get to stay because that's where he lives too

• Like if you chose too

• he's not gonna force you to stay but if you don't want to go home, you don't have too

• He has that power

• He will buy you food

• all you gotta do is ask

• and he'll roll his eyes and grumble something he doesn't really mean, just secretly happy that you feel comfortable enough around him to ask for something

• lmao family group chat

S: 'Hey Mr. Aizawa I found this cat. Hold on lemme send a pic'

A: 'Dont need a pic. Bring him home'

Y: 'What if he's ugly??'

A: 'gremlin. Bring him home.'

Or

Y: 'Hey I saw this tweet that said 'kids be like watch this and do a half roundhouse spin kick clap and waste my fucking time' and it make me think of you.'

S: @ mr. Aizawa when he has to watch deku do sumn

Y: Lmaoooo like when he threw the baseball

S: LMAOO

A: Me watching you too try to figure out how to beat me in training

Y: Yikes bro

S: That was a rough one

• Does he regret giving you and shinsou his number??

• Maybe

• Not really

• Lmao super secret lunch movie days

• Every week on wendesday yall watch a movie. Usually it takes 2 or 3 days to watch the movie since lunch is only 70 minutes

• @ you accidently calling him dad one day and shinsou snickering but it stuck

• dadzawa lmaoo

Allmight:

• Man's has 2 underlings.

• You and Deku.

• Picked you up when he started teaching at UA

• Ion know let's say one day you popped off bc he said some dumb shit and you were like no sir that's clearly wrong

• schooled him in his own damn subject

• the other kids were like 😳

• what the fuck

• Anyway

• He see's you have potential

• And though he's not the best teacher, you seem to respond better to the way HE was taught

• So tbh its easier to teach you

• 'okay, now I want you to beat the shot out if that wall,'

'Okay lmao bet'

• Midoriya is like, hey mayhaps we should analyze the situation

• N ur like noe

• You just don't give a fuck

• about anything really

• other than moving up the ranks

• But even then- its not a super super big deal, you're just gonna do your best but you aren't gonna stress

• However he noticed a pattern w you (even before Midoryia brought it up to him)

• You don't let anyone in

• Midoryia knows a bit more than the other students but that's really only because he's always with you

• a good majority of the week he's w you

• but its not really a deep connection

• you don't rely on either of them

• You do your best to do things on your own.

• He knows midoryias life story

• he knows why he acts the way he does

• but he doesn't know why you do

• he has a gut feeling it could be the same as midoryia

• I mean he already had one kid who's dad dipped

• he'll surely be able to figure out you too??

• So he makes himself a promise that he'll figure it out and he'll become someone you trust

• And he does just that

• When you tell him about your nightmare of a family history he's like mm, makes sense

• but he's happy that you trust him!!!

• He's a BIG suckered for movie nights

• he's got popcorn, snacks, candy, chocolate, soda- he's prepared

• list of movies lined out all ready

• I lowkey feel like he'd be into lord of the rings or fast n furious

• fast n furious at LEAST

• He's really into American action movies

• and he has no problem sharing those movies with you

• he doesn't have a whole ton of money, like he's not rich, but if you or midoryia need something he's definitely there to get it for you

• even if ur like fam no you don't need too

• he'll buy yell food a lot

• a l o t

• and cards

• when you and midoryia get him a father's day card he thinks he's gonna cry

• You guys also have a group chat

• 'da faemilee'

• Y: "Hey dad do you have milk?"

A: "???? Do I have milk????"

Y: "ya I'm looking in your fridge n ion see any???"

A: "How'd you even get in????"

Y: "Izuku."

I: "lmaoo"

Or

Y: Izuku you dumb bitch I left for ONE day

Y: And you got into a fight with Bakugou

I: He wanted to throw hands. I just did what you would do.

A: He's got you there

Or

A: What do you guys want for dinner

I: Sushi

Y: Chicfila

Y: Izu square up

I: K

Or

Y: Izu is fighting kacchow again

A: Beat his ass young midoriya

Y: Lmaoooooo

[kikilefangirl]

Finest

Logan Howlett x Reader

(Word Count: 1628)

“This exercise requires you to be self reliant in order to escape. While we are a team in and out of the field, each of you must be comfortable and connected with your gifts, individually.” You called out.

All of your students seemed to be a mix of over confidence, no confidence, or outright fear. You frowned.

A demonstration would be best.

“Pay attention everyone, when the test starts you’ll be on your own.” You told them.

Concentrating on the potential energy around you, you tapped into it with a stream of golden light. You collected a portion of it in your hand, and willed it into a broadsword. The energy hummed through your body as you moved with it, slashing in a downward arc through the air.

“Make your gift work for you in the moment,” With a swift motion the blade morphed into a shield, and then With a breath, you let the energy dissipate into nothing at all.

“And know when not to use it. You’ve got two weeks to prepare. And I’ve opened up office hours everyday up until then. Got it?”

The kids gave enough yeses and nods for you to dismiss them early. Once they were gone, you heard a drawn out huff from the back of the room.

“Logan!” You broke out in a wide smile and ran over to him. You knew better than to hug him, so you opted for a light hit on the shoulder.

“Charles didn’t tell anyone you were coming!” You exclaimed.

“Didn’t tell him.” Logan explained. You rolled your eyes because that was such a Logan thing to do.

Taking him in, you noticed his hair was a little shaggier than the last time you saw him, and his clothes looked like they’d been worn completely down by cold weather. He’d probably been up in the wilderness for all this time.

“I brought you booze. Most people say thank you.”

That was how you and Logan ended up drunk off your asses in your bedroom before dinner.

As a teacher you were given some grace with your room choice, meaning a larger room far away from students. You were free to do whatever and whomever, so long as you kept to yourself.

That was also the reason why you were dancing on Logan in a t- shirt and panties with the music blasting in the background. You felt his hands roam all over your body as you whined to the beat.

He was currently the one with the bottle, too. You drunkenly swirled around and took it from him. The liquor burned down your throat, but the feeling dulled when Logan slammed his lips on yours.

You felt like your body was on fire. Partly from the alcohol, partly from Logan’s hands and his kisses. He had you pinned against the wall farthest from the door, and you couldn’t concentrate on anything but Logan nor he you.

...

You woke the next morning to a hard body intertwined with yours.

Your room was an absolute mess, but you settled on resting your head on Logan’s bare chest. You’d get up later.

Your hair was matted in the back and the hair around your perimeter had reverted back to their coils in spite of the gel you used the day before. Plus, drunk you didn’t wear bonnets.

“Morning.” Logan said. His rough voice was throaty and tired. A pounding headache made you close your eyes and nestle in closer.

You were grateful not to see the two of you together anyway. It was never for long and never more than a fun way to spend time before you went your separate ways.

You and Logan were tumultuous at best.

The last time you saw him you were cussing him out and leaving him stranded in the city after a night out. That was two months ago. Last summer you decided to try dating, but the truth was if it wasn’t one thing, it was another, making the two of you very touch and go.

“I have a class in an hour.” You admitted.

Logan peered down at you. The corners of his lips were down turned, and his eyebrows were knitted together.

“The rug rats can live without you for a day.” He said, pulling you on top of him. You yelped at the sudden movement, but guessed that was an appropriate response to the naked girl lying in bed with him, telling him she was leaving. Even if it was for kids.

“I don’t use sick days on anybody but my mama, my daddy, and my brother.” You explained. You pecked his lips and got up.

“I fit in one category.” Logan said with a satisfied grin. You scoffed at him as you gathered your shower stuff.

“I don’t use sick days on you, Logan. Never have, never will.” You replied with a sarcastic smile.

A frantic banging on your door made both of you go quiet. Logan sniffed the air and snarled.

“It’s pretty boy.” Logan growled out. You huffed in annoyance––between him and Scott (and Jean for that, matter) nothing ever got done unless you did it. It was one of the many reasons Logan was a recurring guest at the mansion and not an occupant.

You swung the door open to a wide eyed, modest Scott, who quickly turned into arrogant, incensed Scott at the sight of a very naked Logan in your bed.

“Not now. What’s going on?” You demanded. Something wasn’t right if Scott was coming to you so early.

Bobby’s name was all he could say.

...

The scene that awaited you at the front door was heartbreaking.

Bobby was pacing up and down the balcony freezing anything he pointed at as he walked past. Blasts of frost shot from his hands in all directions. It was wild and uncontrolled. By the door, what looked like his parents and a brother were shouting his name in frustration. Bobby wasn’t the type to lash out for no reason, he just wasn’t that kid.

“I’m not leaving! This is my home!” Bobby cried out.

You sighed and cut your eyes to the professor, who was ushering children and staff away. A warning would have been nice, Professor.

I do apologize, this was...unexpected.

His voice rang out in your head, and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Beside you, Logan drew his claws, but you put a hand on his chest. Bobby’s parents were clearly afraid of mutants and Logan was a walking stereotype of a scary mutant. Definitely not helpful.

Stepping forward, you used your powers to create a bubble around you and Bobby. Nobody needed to get hurt accidentally.

“Bobby! I need you to listen to me,” You started. The boy looked up at you tearfully, and you could see them freeze as they fell.

You took his hand, that along with the rest of his body fluctuated between ice and flesh, and held it. The cold stung, but he needed to feel your human hand.

“They’re taking me away!” He hollered. You narrowly dodged a blast of frost from your head. You held on tighter.

“I know that isn’t fair, Bobby! I know! But you have to calm down. Breathe, Bobby.” You pleaded with him. The less his parents saw him so out of control, the less likely they would send him to some camp or home for wayward mutants.

You took a deep breath, and Bobby did the same. One after another. In and out.

Slowly, his human form stabilized and his body temperature was so cold you could see his breath. You gave him a hug when his ice hand had fully reverted back to his human one. The boy clung to you for dear life, and you felt horrible for him.

“Bobby, don’t forget what you learned here, and keep in touch. When you need any of us, we’ll be there.” You said softly, pulling out a small coin and a business card. Bobby took it, confused.

“Whenever you don’t feel safe, call the number and the place they tell you to meet, then show them the token. Emergencies only.”

You walked Bobby down to his parents and they left shortly thereafter.

Watching them go sucked all the air out of you, enough for you to lean on Logan. In public. The Professor was next to the two of you.

“You are one of our finest, Y/N.” He said.

“Maybe, but it wasn’t enough.” You countered. You didn’t feel like an educator. You felt like you were fighting a losing battle and not too many of your kids would make it out unscathed.

“Social services could get ‘em.” Logan suggested.

“They might bite if they see a white boy, but the second he goes full icicle, all bets are off.” You lamented the fact that there were very few people looking out for mutant children, and you weren’t going to put Bobby on anyone’s radar unnecessarily.

The Professor nodded, before heading off to deal with the fallout with the student body. It was never easy losing a student in such a way. You weren’t prepared to do that just yet, so the two of you went back to your room.

You stayed in Logan’s arms until dark. It was the first time you and him had a rational understanding about what each of you needed in the moment.

“When I head through the city, I’ll stop by and check on the kid on my way out.” Logan said. You side eyed him.

“Play nice.” You warned. Sometimes cases required a delicacy Logan didn’t have, but his willingness to do it was a new thing for him. Far be it from you to stop him from doing something good. He finally saw how important your job was and how much you cared for your students.

You planted a kiss on his lips. And his nose and his ear and neck, among other things.

“That means I’ve got you at least one more night. Better make it count.”

[thinwhitewritings]

A Shot and A Story - Ashton

Summary: Based off of that one video of Ashton bringing a fan on stage to take a shot with her for her birthday - can’t stop thinking of it and I need it. 

Warnings: Alcohol, drunk endeavors, lots of touching, crowds, mini makeout sesh

Rating: 18+ (no smut, a lil kiss kiss and some adult stuff but not smut)

This is unedited because I’m impatient. Enjoy!

You’d been dying to go to a concert for your birthday. Especially your twenty-first. A drink in your hand with music and friends - how could it be better? So, your friends all pitched in to get you guys floor seats to a 5 Seconds of Summer concert. You had all seen them live on your own but this would be the first time you went as a group, and it was beyond exciting, especially since they just so happened to have a show on your birthday. 

The only drawback had been it wasn’t in your hometown. You had to take a small trip to get to the city where they were performing, and somehow your parents had booked a hotel for the four of you who were going, a birthday gift they’d called it. You were surprised either way. The group checked into the hotel, which was just down the street from the venue, a few bars littered along the street - which you would hit at some point. If that was before or after the show, you didn’t care. You were here with your favorite people and going to see your favorite band for the first time in a very long time - and got to get drunk all the while. 

Your friends had brought goodies along, including a sash, mini shots to sneak into the venue, and a sign that said ‘She’s 21 today, get her drunk!’ They claimed it was for the bars, but one of them decided to sneak it with you to the show. You’d gone to dinner and gotten plenty of attention in the form of a free drink from a guy across from your table, and a free dessert from the restaurant. You felt on top of the world, and the night was just getting started. 

You made it to the show with ease, using the opening act to get drinks from a bar in the arena, coming back to your spot just as the lights came down. Screams erupt from the crowds around you, and you felt the excitement from your chest to your toes. The band came onstage with energy, opening up the show with enough motion and lights to blind an entire highway of cars. Song by song passed, your friends making sure you continuously had a drink in your hand. About halfway through the first half of the show, your friend broke out that magical sign, holding it above all of you as you sang along and bounced and screamed. They’d just wrapped up Empty Wallets when Luke speaks up. “Hey, wait, wait - who’s birthday is it?” He asks, pulling an in-ear out and coming to the edge of the stage, pointing in your groups direction. Before you can get a word out, they begin shoving you forward, Luke laughing as they beg for him to get you a drink. 

“Who told you there was alcohol up here?” Ashton remarks, now moving out from his drum set holding up a red solo cup. 

“Ash, you’re very clearly holding an unmarked beverage. In a solo cup of shittin’ things.” Michael laughs. 

You’re trying to pay attention, but a security guard has moved the barrier so that he can lead you to the stage ramp - and it hits you, holy shit this is actually happening. You’re thanking the buzz that’s in your veins for the lack of nerves you have once you’re on stage all of them greeting you with wide smiles and cheers. “Ok but really, to... no one’s surprise, there is alcohol up here.” Calum points to the bottle towards the back of the stage, Ashton quickly grabbing it as the others start asking you your name. One of them asks to double check that you are in fact 21 before pouring out alcohol in front of a whole ass arena. Once it’s in Luke’s hand, he’s moving to Michael’s side, leaning into him as they both assess the card. “Yep, that is definitely today.” Michael confirms. 

“And that is 21 years from today - we are clear for take off everyone.” You haven’t said more than five words but you just feel blissfully happy. A hand comes up to your back and you jump a little, not expecting it, but are greeted with Ashton at your side. He’s leaning into Calum’s mic for everyone to hear. “This might look like water, but I promise everyone that this is 100% tequila.” Screams come from the crowd as he hands over the plastic cup, raising it. You take it and match him, about to take the shot before he stops. Under the immense amount of sound and projected discussion from the other bandmates, Ashton leans to your ear, his free hand taking your wrist carefully and very lightly. “Wait, let’s link arms.” He pulls back with a look of ‘you wanna?’ and you give a wide grin and a nod of your head. With ease, your arms are intertwined and you are nearly chest to chest with the drummer. A few more cries leave the massive audience you have before they all give you a hug, a few birthday wishes before dismissing you off stage. 

Your friends are all shaking your arms and bouncing incessantly when you return asking how you felt, and generally freaking out. The only thing you could get out was “Please tell me you have that on video.”

. . . 

After the show, you decided to run over to one more bar before you headed in for the night, really wanting to make the night well rounded and capture all of the experiences you could. Getting to the bar you realize that it’s actually more of a club. And when you get in there, you almost immediately lose your friends. You’d managed so well up until now, but you figure that you’re better off trying to find them at the bar, since there was only one of them. 

So you navigate your way there, and flag down a bartender for a drink. As you finishing up your payment, you could’ve sworn you heard your name. You turn your head a few times, looking in the crowd for your friends’ faces - only to come up with one that wasn’t in your group. It’s Ashton, approaching with what seems like a crew member behind him, both of them with a glass of beer in their hand. “Hey! It’s the birthday girl!” He greets, swinging an arm open to offer another hug, which you happily take. You back up, holding your drink before leaning towards him, his head dipping to listen to you. “Where’s the other guys?” He gives a nod, a hand running through his hair. 

“They were kind of exhausted, and bailed on me. They’re holed up at our table. No fun if you ask me.” He taunts, giving you a smile which you return. He moves to introduce the guy behind him, to be met with a stranger. You can’t help but laugh as he exasperatedly turns back to you. “What the hell, do I smell or something? I showered before I came here.” He jokes and you can’t stop the smile on your face. 

“If it’s any consolation, my friends and I got split up the second we got here. So it’s kind of a miracle that you managed to have him around that long.” Ashton laughs at your words, and you find a hand on your back again as he leans in. 

“He probably went to our table. Do you wanna go check with me?” You give a nod once he’s asked, and he grins, hand unmoving from your back. He proceeds to guide you to the table he speaks of, a few more familiar faces which all light up at the sight of you. A few utterances of your name come through again, greeting you happily. 

You sit with the group, meeting Sierra and Crystal while you were there, finding yourself somehow completely comfortable with this group. Afterall, you practically grew up with these guys, even if you’d never met them until tonight. A few rounds go by, and you’re finally starting to think about calling it a night. You’re looking at your phone, seeing that your friends have all said to just meet at the hotel, as they’re not having any luck finding each other, let alone you. You try another text - seeing as this happened because you couldn’t get any messages through - and hope that if any of them go through it was that one. That you were safe and had plenty of stories to tell. You’d been chugging water after the third round, telling Ashton that you’d needed to head home tomorrow and wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be sick for the drive, which he then cut you off in response. He however, had still been drinking. So as you lean into him to speak, his arm wraps around you, staying planted as you speak. “Do you know where the bathroom is?” You ask and he nods, the hand holding his drink points in the general direction. 

“Do you want me to walk you over there?” He questions, and you look at him, seeing his features in the very dim neon lights. His hand feels firm, but his thumb is slowly tracing an up and down line into your skin, and you’re trying your best to soak it in. This had to be a dream. The whole time you’d been at the table, his hand had jumped around, on the booth back just above your shoulders, on your thigh, pushing hair out of your eyes - any way he could linger on you he had. Which is why you let him escort you to the bathroom. 

The walk over was pretty uneventful, aside from Ashton spilling the rest of his drink due to someone elbowing his glass. He was annoyed by this, but didn’t let it show in his expressions. In the hallway of the restroom, it’s rather dark, give for the slight light shining through the cracks of the closed bathroom door. You’d turned to Ashton to tell him he could go back to the table, but he’d thrown his beer glass away, and was facing you fully. The hand that had been in yours, now slinks up to your waist, the other matching it. He can see you’re about to say something and leans to your ear to speak. “What is it beautiful?”

Suddenly, you don’t want him to go back to the table. When you see his face again, his forehead is nearly on yours, your breath hitching. “N-Nothing. I just...” You shake your head minutely, being careful not to move too much in the crowded space. Your eyes meet as music blasts around you, not letting you be able to think. His face suddenly is encased in light as the bathroom door swings open. His eyes shift to the door and he looks back to you. “Bathroom’s free.” He points out, and in the boldest move you’ve ever made, you grab his hand on your waist and pull him into the bathroom. 

Ashton shuts the door and locks it with a click, being quick to move back to where you had been positioned before, but this time, takes no time to cup your face and pull your lips to his. Your eyes shut as your own hands move to gently hold the bottom of his arms, as his tongue dips along your bottom lip. Hands move from your face to the back of your neck, your energies moving so simultaneously. You finally pull back from what seems like forever to someone banging on the door. The two of you had both looked to the door and you laugh. “Let me use the restroom, and then we can go back.” You offer, slowly pulling away to move to the stall, and Ashton’s head tilts, looking to your backside. 

“And by back, you mean my hotel room, right?”

So much for your parent’s hotel room ‘gift’.