#Of course at some point they have to admit to themselves that Adam is a good guy and also just as in love with Michael as vice versa

[cakerybakery]

“So why are we here, again?” Lucifer questioned, looking up at Adam from his seat on the bench next to him.

Adam used his soda to point at Alastor with a knife, hunting down one of the animatronic victims at mall’s Murder Zone Arcade. “He’s been all cagey and aggressive lately, so I figured he might have some fun at the murder house. Maybe even make a new friend since Charlie says he’s been more distant than normal since I nearly killed him during our fight.”

Alastor laughed manically as he plunged his knife into the animatronic human’s heart repeatedly and some prize tickets spewed out.

“Well, he does look like he’s having fun.” Lucifer winced as the realistic blood sprayed across the floor. “But why are we here?”

“You know your kid can’t stomach this place, and if he goes off the rails too much he needs someone that can reign him back in before he starts destroying shit he’s not supposed to.”

“Right. Do I have to stay here the whole time, or…?”

“Go on. Just be back in an hour. I want to go check out the music store.” Adam called after Lucifer as he took off to check out the theme park in the mall.

It took a few hours for Alastor to wear himself out and Lucifer was itching to go home so Adam grabbed his shopping bags and boyfriend so they could go up to the fence that marked the arcade’s outdoor zone from the rest of the mall.

“Time to go, Al.” He called and Alastor looked over from his conversation he was having with another serial killer about stabbing techniques to get the most out of the motion.

Alastor glared at him but said his goodbyes and desolved into a shadow that moved across the floor and under the fence to he could reform by them.

“You have a good time, kid?” Adam asked as they walked towards the exit.

Portalling back to the hotel in the mall was rude, according to Lucifer. It inconvenienced others and sometimes they accidentally walked through the portal and Lucifer would have to send them back. It was better to do it outside.

“It was an enjoyable day, I must admit. Although,” Alastor jabbed his cane into Adam face, “I don’t recall changing my mind about the nicknames, Adam.”

He snorted at the threat and pushed the cane out of his face, “right, I forgot. Sorry about that, Alastor.”

Alastor was only about a hundred years old but he thought he was so grown up. Of course, Adam had thought the same when he was that age.

‘The folly of youth.’ Adam chuckled to himself.

It was funny. Back in heaven he thought himself as young and hip. The cool dad. In hell he felt a little more his age. The grey strip in his hair probably helped. As did the reading glasses he started to need.

These days he looked at sinners as less of degenerates and more like kids fumbling around trying to figure things out, but that was probably Charlie’s fault. All her preaching about sinners having made mistakes and if they truly learned and wanted to be better didn’t they deserve the chance to try and better themselves?

He supposed they might. If they actually wanted to be a better person, if they actually put in the effort to better themselves, souls were eternal. Always capable of change. Took falling for him to realize he wasn’t just inherently doing good because he was an angel.

Of course some folks didn’t want to change. That was fine. Alastor seemed one of the sort that wanted to be in hell. That relished in causing pain and destruction. But not everyone was happy in hell.

When you took away hope, when you made bettering yourself pointless, you got people that stopped caring. That stopped trying. That just tried to survive and live their afterlives the only way they knew how.

Adam wondered a lot these days about his fall. Which of his actions were wrong. Was it just the big things, were there little things? When he was alive could he have done better by his kids? By Eve?

Probably.

He did his best with what he had at the time. It was good enough to get him into heaven, but he believed that made him perfect. There was a lot of that in heaven. He was never forced to look at himself as he truly was. An imperfect being that made mistakes sometimes. That hurt others sometimes.

What was the difference between him as an angel and an average sinner? The scales tipped him just enough to give him a halo and wings. He’d done just enough right to make it before the pearly gates.

How many monster in hell were not born but made? How many sinner could have been saints if they had different chances in life? One can talk about choices but if the choice is to steal or starve, is it a choice? Why is it a sin to survive? Not everyone is some poor, if only they had other options, but not everyone is unrepentant either.

Sinner or winner most everyone is somewhere in between.

Charlie was looking for the saint in the sinner. Maybe what she should be looking for is what’s tipping the scale towards hell instead of heaven. A bit more reasonable than just blinding throwing darts at a target and hoping she stumbles into how to reform someone. She already knows not everyone is looking to go to heaven. She’s just having trouble instilling hope in the hopeless. In reaching those that have a chance of being reformed.

Lucifer and Alastor were already starting to get on each other’s nervous by the time they made it out to the sidewalk.

He handed Lucifer his bags then flicked both of them on the back of their heads. “Knock it off you two. Alastor stop trying to antagonize Lucifer. Lucifer stop being antagonized. You’re like a million years old. Act like it.”

“Yes, you should be a good example for- OW!” Adam flicked Alastor again. “Would you cut that out?!”

Lucifer laughed and Adam flicked him too.

“Enough.” Adam scolded. “You two. I swear I’ll leave you at home next time Lucifer.”

He gasped, “but the train!”

One of his boyfriend’s weird obsessions was the train at the theme park in the mall. Adam didn’t get it, but it made the guy happy.

“Then behave. Let’s head home.” Adam waited for Lucifer to open the portal and turned to Alastor. “would you like to help me make supper? I was thinking steaks. Got some deer in the freezer I can toss on the grill to warm up for you. Be like it’s still alive.”

That seemed to work and his smile reached his eyes when he agreed.

Maybe next time they could come as a group. Niffty would probably like the Murder Zone Arcade too. The others would likely prefer the theme park.

Could be fun. He’d have to suggest it to Charlie later.

[lowkeyerror]

The Family Business Ch.13

WandaNat x Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Ch. Notes: short

Summary: Fisk gains a new unexpected ally that deeply affects a member of the family.

An: Short filler Ch. but with a warning. Sorry for the mistakes, just wanted to get something out for yall. Also fear not, we will be getting the very essential "date" chapter soon, but first some world building yknow.

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

With the way life had been treating you lately, the ups and downs, you felt as though this should be harder. You felt like there was a funk or depression that should be settling into your mind, but there wasn’t. There should’ve been anxiety building up, but all you felt was calm.

After the beating you suffered you thought you’d be more on edge. However as your body healed itself, you found yourself at ease. There was something smug about your survival. Perhaps it had to do with the blossoming relationship that you had been reveling in.

Throughout the years you had prided yourself on changing and morphing into someone with a tough exterior and an even stronger interior. While you never regretted becoming that way, you admit that in it you lost some of your personality.

You were so much more than a victim of the abuse you had suffered at the hands of your mother. As you grew, after separating yourself from her you were set on not ever being a victim again that you hid everything that you thought made you vulnerable.

Your likes and leisurely activities all of sudden seemed like weak points. The only one who was able to make you let your guard down was Pietro.

Now however, having Wanda and Natasha by your side, you find yourself on a path of rediscovery. You feel like you’re coming into yourself again. The women are the perfect models of work life balance and you think it’s everything you’ve been missing.

The can go into the office work diligently and complete their jobs, but also clock out and relax. The enjoy themselves and they enjoy you.

Wanda personally loves seeing you open up a bit more, after seeing how much of yourself you pushed down. Natasha finds herself collecting bits and pieces of information about you that she plans to commit to memory.

In the very back of your mind you think about how quiet the streets have been. You expected Fisk to brag about your beating just like he did with Dragos. However there had been no commotion, and the intel that you were getting didn’t indicate any attacks soon.

It was eerie and you would've dwelled on it in the past, but Natasha and Wanda reassured you that everything was under control. Natasha constantly let you go over her team strategies to show you she was utilizing the soldiers given to her.

They tried to keep you out of the office for your recovery, but you just found yourself working from home until your ankle was healed. As soon as you were able, you stepped back into the office.

While you had made nearly a full recovery, you could not say the same for Dragos. It pained you hear that doctors have reported a stagnation in his progress. Flora relied that certain doctors were starting to suggest pulling the plug as a feasible option. The entire family was adamant to oppose any talk of such actions.

“Baby?”

Your eyes leave your compute to see Wanda and Natasha entering your office.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Natasha speaks, “We were wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?”

You nod, “For sure.”

Wanda clarifies a bit, “Like a date, Y/n.”

Your eyes widen a bit, but you nod excitedly at the prospect, “Even better, of course.

“We’ll go home, get ready and go from there?” Nat suggests.

“Can’t wait,” a small smile plays on your lips.

Everything about this has felt casual and you love that, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t want to have the typical romantic experiences. This would amongst the first few dates you three had gone on.

Pietro storms into the office breaking up the relaxed atmosphere they had been sitting in. The man looks like he is complete emotional distress.

“I need to talk to Y/n.”

His sister wants to question him, but with one shake of your head she pulls her wife out of the office.

“What’s wrong, Piet?”

He doesn’t hold it together much longer as he signals he needs a hug. You stand up quickly and wrap your arms around him. You feel his tears hit his shoulder and admittedly, your worry multiplies.

“Monica,” he says in his broken tone.

You rub his back soothingly, “What about her?”

He pulls away, “ Two months we lasted, Y/n. I had asked her to be official she said yes, but she’s ended things with me.”

“Oh Piet.”

He shakes his head, “It’s worse than that. She indebted to Fisk, Y/n. She owes him money and favors, she never told me because he’s never come to collect. But now, he’s cashing in.”

You frown deeply, “So she’s protecting you.”

“I need to be protecting her,” he grits his teeth.

You feel for your friend, you don’t believe you have the right words to bring him comfort, “ But you don’t know how.”

Pietro has a new fire in his eyes, “With a bullet in his skull. He’s tried to take everything from me. Papa, you, and now the love of my life.”

You knew the man could be hotheaded at times, and for once you knew he had every right to be. Yet, you couldn’t justify him doing something irrational.

“When the time comes, he will be dealt with,” you say.

Pietro shakes his head, “Nothings happened since your attack, everything is settling. This war will drag on and on if we let it."

“We can’t tear apart the city for no reason, Piet. It’s a bad look from us,” you try to reason with him.

“I know that, but it’s not what I want to hear.”

He slumps down on your office couch with his head in his hands. You sit next to him and rub his shoulder.

“How about we do something tonight, like old times? Something so that we can feel normal for once,” you suggest.

“I can’t even text her because what if she becomes a pawn in this scheme,” he sighs.

“ We’re hanging out tonight. To take your mind off of this, even if it’s only for a moment,” you speak sincerely to him.

He nods slowly in agreement, “Fine, but only because I don’t want to be alone and maybe I’ve missed you. Wanda too, I miss when timed were simpler.”

You get a little excited, “Tonight, me, you, Wanda, Natasha we can do something together. It’ll be reminiscent of old times.”

Pietro agrees and you let him stay in the office as you work. You texted Wanda and Natasha filling them on the details. They were understanding about having to cancel your plans. Natasha also took note of Monica as one of Fisk’s new allies.

The three of you brainstorm to come up with some plans to help your friend for the time being. The night still had promise and none of you wanted to waste it.

Unfortunately for you all, the air was about become ten times more suffocating and no one would see it coming.

Fisk knew you all would become complacent sooner or later, drop you guards prematurely. He was watching unfold and getting ready to strike again, however this time, he planned for the kill shot.

Taglist: @natashaswife4125 @autorasexy @alexawynters @blkmxrvel @toouncreativeforausername @likemick @sgm616 @bstvst @dorabledewdroop @sapphic-simp4015 @natty-taffy @justarandomreaderxoxo @mmmmokdok @tarathia @bgwlsmahf25 @lezzylover @og-kxsh-420 @vanessashands @untoldreader @sxlfishbrokenheart @marvelgirlx @elle161989

[enhastolemyheart]

kinktober day 1 — car sex with heeseung

nsfw content minors dni.

Pairing racer!hee x afab!reader

Warnings profanity, kissing, alcohol consumption, fingering, one night stand(?), french kissing, hee calls reader 'pretty girl' and 'baby', reader moans alot (lmao), not fully proofread

Requested @ anon

Word count 1.6k

Kinktober masterlist — here

You didn't fail to notice the glances that the ace racer gave you ever since the after-party started.

Heeseung has won the race. As always.

You had originally come to support Beomgyu, all because you best friend is dating him. You don't really like all these illegal racing shit anyways. You always thought they were nothing but a time waste, not really worth it in the long run.

But, your best friend had been begging — almost to the point where she got on her knees — to convince you to watch a race with her. Just one. She's been at it for months; ever since her and Beongyu got together, she went to all of the race he participated in, and she would try to convince you to accompany her.

After a month of pleading, you finally said yes, but only for once.

As you made your way to the track, your best friend filled you in on who are competing and who go to just watch and have fun at the after-party. Your eyes widened a bit when you noticed the crowd formed. You and your best friend find the best spots to spectate the race from, courtesy of Beomgyu of course.

There were three cars lines at the start, one red, black and yellow. Your best friend had mentioned that Beomgyu was the owner of the yellow one. Each car looked expensive as fuck. You wouldn't be able to afford a single one of these, in your lifetime.

After the race was over — the red car driver had won by the way — everyone gathered around the rather tall man who came out of that gorgeous piece of metal.

"Hah, of course Heeseung has won the race." Your best friend exclaimed. "He is like the ace in everything. Wouldn't be surprised if he's like- you know absolute sexy in bed."

"Ew, " I grimaced. "You are dating missy, how can you say that?"

"Oh. I'm speaking for you honey, he'll be into you."

"Yeah whatever. Not interested." You gave her a pointed look, "He's probably like one of those snobs who's like so full of them themselves 'cause his ego get boosted twenty four by seven."

You didn't get a response from your best friend because Beomgyu — who had come second — had shown up, dragging her away to the mini club nearby where the party was being held. Shaking your head, you give the man of the talk one lady glance, only to see him groping a woman's ass as she most likely components him and tries to get in his pants. Ignoring the feeling inside, you maybe way to the club with your best friend and her boyfriend.

And that brings you here. Seated at the bar, downing a hangover-inducing drink.

You walked in with your best friend but soon after some alcohol consumption and very scandalous dancing to explicit songs, she has disappeared. With her man. You don't even want to know what was happening with her right now.

You nonchalantly scan the bar, putting your drink on the bar counter. Your heart thumped a bit more loudly as you met eyes with Heeseung. His lips carried a smirk add he looked at you through his eyelashes, making eye contact as he took a sip of his drink.

He looks at you with a small smirk. You can't help but internally gag. You will admit that he looks hot, his blond hair with a faded blue shade. His olive skin looked a bit glossy from the lights of the club. His Adam's apple bobbing as he downed his drink in a single gulp.

He locks eyes with you as he makes his way to you. It's as if time has slowed down, it's only you and him. The music blasting in the room has gotten muffled somehow. He gets incredibly close to you. Noses grazing each other, eyes piercing eyes. Then, his lips turn that smirk wider.

You can feel the heat radiating off his body and his musky scent sends you into a frenzy, but you try to stay unaffected.

"hey." He calls out, head tilting to the side as he takes your appearance in. He couldn't help biting his lips when he saw you in the tight pink dress, covering almost absolutely nothing. Your bust is almost out for the world to see, arousing him; and your cute little thigh keeps him out of focus, thinking of all the things he could do to you in just one night.

"I'm Heeseung." He smiles at you putting out his hand. Your heart fucking melted at the site of his smile. He is mostly on the sexy side of the personality you would say, lips always in a coy expression, his hair styled and that delicious looking neck inviting you to just simple liter kiss and marks all around it. He's dressed in a basic tee and jeans, but the racer jacket he is wearing, only adds to his 'fuckboy' aura, but something about his smile tells you that he's not all the hard and tough acts he keeps for everyone to see.

"I know." He only chuckles at your remark, taking another impossible step closer to you, hand going to your chin and thumb grazing across your lip. He stares at it like he wants to kiss it, ruin that gloss your wearing. "You must be Y/n right."

"How'd you know?" your brows furrowed.

"Beomgyu told me about you." Of course he did, you internally roll your eyes. You know you said that Heeseung is a bit overrated; but the way he is looking at you right now, like he wants to kiss you and how good he can make you feel, only gets you wondering what he really is like in bed.

"can I kiss you, pretty girl?" he asks you, bringing your face closer to his using the grip on your chin. And when you don't say anything, he leans in, super slowly, meeting your lips in a kiss.

The kiss felt calm but rushed at the same time. It felt like... he had been wanting to do this for a little while. caught up in the euphoria of it all, you press your palm against his nape, the other one going to his bicep that flexed under your touch. Fuck.

His hands wrap at your waist and pull you closer to his body, hips meeting. He requests for entrance and you allow him, tongues lapping up at each other fighting for dominance.

What in the fuck are you doing? You don't know and you blame the alcohol, but it feels way too good to stop right now.

"Do you trust me pretty girl?" He asks in between wet kisses on your neck. You whimper lightly at the sensation, tugging on his roots, "No, not really."

He lets out a deep throaty chuckle before pulling away but still holding you close to himself. "Come with me. I know where we can have fun without getting disturbed." His smirk widens.

You couldn't stop the moans that spilled out of you as you both humped against each other in Heeseung's sexy car. Your mind is going crazy thinking about how hot and hard is member is.

"fuck baby, You feel so good." Heeseung slurs from under you. You lean into him, face into the crook of his neck, pressing open mouthed kisses against the supple skin.

"Touch me, hee." you moan, and Heeseung thinks he'll be close to cumming in his pants if you speak like that, "Fuck baby. Of course." His lips meet yours into a messy and wet kiss. Hands going to the dress zipper on you back taking it off. His eyes turn boba shaped because of the view. Fuck, where have you been? He thinks to himself.

His hands roam all over your body, goosebumps rising in its wake. "You're driving me crazy, pretty girl." he rasps before his hand seeps lower and lower, reaching the hem of your underwear.

"Can I touch you, pretty girl?" He asks as he gently glides his thumb under the hem. You sigh leaning back, head meeting the headrest of the passenger seat. His fingers seep inside, eliciting a whimper from your lips as you clench around nothing. Hoping it was his dick your were sitting on.

You hold onto his forearms as he glides his digits across your lips, spreading your slick around. You bite your lower lip in anticipation, rolling your hips forward letting him know you want more. And he obliges, his index finger pushes past your lips into your clenching velvet-like walls. "Fuck baby you're so tight with just my finger. How will you be manage to take my dick huh?"

His words make you clench, resulting him to grunt softly. You take a long breath morphing into a moan as he fastens the pace. You practically scream at the top of your lungs at this point. "Heeseung! Fuck yes!"

He get too aroused with your moaning and clenching and that oh so beautiful fucked out face. He determines to get you to cum. It's his new favourite thing now. To pleasure you. "Hee!" you moan as you come undone. Slick sound audible as he get you through your high.

You giggle lightly at the ecstasy you're experiencing. Pulling him in for a kiss. He takes his hand out of your mound and put his fingers into his mouth, all the while maintaining eye contact with you. You blush uncontrollably at the sight whining for him to stop. "Seriously Heeseung, stop it."

"You taste too good baby." You mouth can't form any words and it doesn't matter 'cause he pulls you in a messy kiss, tasting yourself.

"how was that?" He asks you, softly rubbing the outside of your thighs. You smile, "It was really good." He hums in contentment.

"Now, it's my turn."

a/n thank you sm for reading! This is my first ever Kinktober saur hopefully it's upto the mark! thank you anonie for requesting. REQS ARE OPEN. slots for hoon are filled.

taglist: @seungiesluv @jak-ey @unlikelysublimekryptonite @seungcore @heeseungshim @arizejkt19 @manasasugarbaby09 @wildflowermooon

[animeyanderelover]

Anon: Yandere headcannons for Maki, Nobara, Mai and Mei Mei from JJK?

I already did Hc's for Nobara in a previous post.

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, overprotective behavior, manipulation, blackmailing, gaslighting, control, isolation, abduction, bribery, some spoilers for Anime only fans

Jujutsu Kaisen Hc's

Zenin Maki

💚Despite her tough exterior, Maki is the kind of person who tries her hardest to solve her problems by herself without having to involve someone else. This mindset of hers can be observed in the way she handles her own feelings as well as in the way she treats you. She isn't one to fool herself so of course she is aware of her own feelings and whilst she doesn't show it, she feels ashamed of the way she thinks and feels of around you. Adamant to remain strong and independent though, she refuses to indulge in those longing emotions which results in her initially trying to avoid you. The way you perceive her behavior around you may lead you to believe that she doesn't like you but it is actually the complete opposite. Maki likes you a little bit too much but doesn't want you to be involved as she knows that this isn't really your fault. As headstrong as she is though, sooner or later she has to acknowledge that avoidance doesn't solve her problem.

💚​Despite the straightforward attitude of hers that will scold and chastise you whenever you do something stupid, Maki is protective to the marrow of her bones. Especially if her darling is a non-sorcerer who doesn't know about any curses nor and can't fight against them either. She doesn't see the need to let you find out about them either as you live in your own world and she doesn't want to shatter your view of the world. Her work and her private life she spends with you should not mix and on occasions where it does happen, Maki is quite unhappy. She normally doesn't lie to you but the world of sorcerers is one of the few topics where she will keep the truth from you and as long as there is a way to conceal the truth, she will do it. Just because you don't possess Cursed Energy nor have such a strong body as she can is not an excuse for her to go easy on you. She doesn't believe that babying you would do anything for you and you have due to that your fair share of freedom with her.

💚​Even if her clan has tried her whole life to drag her down and shame her for her lack of Cursed Energy, their words and insults have never truly broken Maki nor have they scratched her confidence. She has no such insecurities as her twin sister has and is fairly relaxed when you hang out with other people. I do think that she would be more prone to feel jealous if the two of you aren't a thing yet but would feel more inclined to feel possessive if she is your partner at that point already. If you are hers after all, she doesn't have to worry about anything anymore and will be brutally honest and straightforward with the other person who tried to charm you. You are hers so they should just get lost before they embarrass themselves even more. If she is feeling jealous during the time where you aren't hers yet, she is more prone to some passive-aggressive comments and sharp glares, although she is unwilling to admit her true feelings and tries to play it off if someone asks her about it.

💚​She draws a clear line with the problems you require her help with or the problems you can solve yourself if you remain stubborn and determined enough. Her own life of constantly standing up for herself has influenced her which is why it is essential to her that you also learn to remain strong against unfair standards and harsh expectations. That said, she is extremely skilled and freakishly strong, especially after having gotten complete possession of Heavenly Restriction. She will defend you against everything you can't fight against such as curses and possibly sorcerers who target non-sorcerers. She doesn't hold back against someone if they charge at her with the intent to kill and judges based on rational observations. The fights she fights for your protection very rarely offer the possibility to let her opponent stay alive and she has never felt particularly inclined to let them keep their lives either. She has already lost Mai. She won't allow anyone else to die from the people she cherishes.

💚​An abduction is something she has promised herself to never do as she sees this as a bigger low than killing someone which is more commonly practiced in her profession as a sorcerer. It isn't like Maki is overly paranoid either as she grants you a lot of personal freedom. Abducting you might encourage you to rely too much on her as a result of isolation and she despises the thought of robbing you of your freedom and independence as she stands firm in her belief that even if you don't have any Cursed Energy, you should still be able to handle your own challenges and problems. You are supposed to attend school, graduate and eventually get a job and then earn money yourself whilst Maki will do her own thing to pay her attribute to the shared life. The worst that happens in emergency cases is that she either has you transported to a safe place or that she locks you up in your own home.

💚​Panda and Inumaki are teasing the living daylight out of her as soon as they figure out that she has some feelings for you and she can only lash out on them whilst trying to stop the blush from appearing on her face. Yuta is more directly encouraging in his support but she warns all three of them to not band together to set you two somewhat up. She wants to win your heart without any help, even if those people are her friends. Whilst you have no problem introducing her to your friends, it is a tad bit more difficult for her to do the same, especially since a talking and thinking Panda isn't exactly what a non-sorcerer is used to. She isn't a huge fan of any overly sappy dates as she thinks just hanging out together is already more than enough, although she will accept it begrudgingly if you have put a lot of work and effort into a special date.

Zenin Mai

🔫​The same experience can influence people quite differently and that is obvious when we look at Maki's younger twin sister. Mai has been forced to become a sorcerer, the very thing she never wanted to become after Maki's betrayal and it has transformed her into a rude and crude person. Whereas Maki allows her darling a lot of freedom, Mai feels an inherent need to have her darling under her control. Maybe it is simply to keep control over at least one thing in her otherwise terrible life where she is always the one who has to obey, something that allows her heart and mind to feel a little bit of peace by knowing that she at least will always be the one with the leash in her hands in this relationship. You are the last person she rely has ever since her older sister broke her promise which has pushed her to be naturally very obsessive and clingy around you, always in the need to know what you are up to and with whom you spend your time with when she isn't around.

🔫​She hides her feelings partially though but not because she feels guilty or responsible like her sister does. No, she doesn't show the full extent of her feelings to retain the facade of being in control around you. She can't show any weaknesses, even around you as there is a deep-rooted fear that if she would rely on you, you would leave her too. This time she will play the strong part though and have you rely on her, even if she does it in very rude ways. She likes to put you down and belittle you as soon as you get into troubles and likes to use the shame and guilt of yours to boost her own confidence to convince both of you that she is better and that you need her. Differently from Maki who encourages you to be independent, Mai goes for the exact opposite as she wants you to depend on her. It is all for her own ego so that she can feel better about herself despite her shitty life. If she realises that though, she is far too selfish to stop herself.

🔫​Yet her confidence is mainly only for show and for nothing else. Mai feels inferior and insecure deep down which makes her much more paranoid and prone to experience jealousy than Maki who is always laid-back. Jealousy can transform someone into an ugly green-eyed monster and you witness this horrifying transformation with Mai. All of your friends and acquaintances are scared away due to her condescending and snarky attitude as she pushes all of them away from your side, leaving you standing there alone awkwardly. It is a terrible thing to do yet when you try to confront her about it, she reflects all of those accusations back at you and turns the tables quickly. Her words cut into your heart and confidence as she lashes out on you, her judgement clouded by bitterness and paranoia until you have no courage to bring the topic up around her anymore.

🔫​She has always been weaker than other people and she knows that yet she would never allow you to find out about any of this. You don't know who she is and maybe you are a non-sorcerer yourself, someone who can't see curses and use Cursed Energy at all which would make you even weaker than her. It isn't something that should bring her as much satisfaction as it does yet Mai needs to feel superior and stronger when it comes to her darling and in such a scenario that would be the case. You don't know about curses yet she might just inform you of their existence simply so that you can be scared and she can play the hero by admitting that she can exorcise them, although she keeps quiet about the fact that she isn't very strong in comparison to other sorcerer though. She just can't let you know that as it would destroy the image she tries to uphold when with you. At least in your eyes she wants to be seen as someone strong and dependable, even if her methods are crude.

🔫​Interestingly enough the one freedom she insists you to keep is your ability to have your own home, although her reasoning is more cowardly. She just wants an escape from her own clan and she uses that by occupying your own home as much as she can to escape from the harassment and the discrimination. If you were to ever meet her family, she knows that you would see her for the pathetic girl she is deep down and she is paranoid about that, convinced that you would abandon her too if you were to see how weak she really is. You have the choice to walk away after all. She on the other hand is chained up to a family that doesn't love nor want her, never able to attain her freedom. That is why she keeps your relationship a secret from her clan and always stares you down with such a condescending glare if you dare to ask if you could meet her parents.

🔫​She puts you down with her comments, humiliates you and even mistreats you. Mai is a terrible partner but she is too afraid to stop her behavior. Too afraid that if you were to see her for who she really is, you would laugh at her and dismiss her just like everyone else in her clan has done so far. In her mind even her own sister left and it has awakened the impression that she can't even trust those she thinks are closest to her. She is pushy and demanding of love, something she has rarely received from people in her life and possessive to the point where she feels neglected the moment you dare to ignore her for someone else. Perhaps in her eyes her behavior is justified as she has gone through so much already and will have to endure even more so she deserves you. She deserves a person who will only love her and who will never betray her. Even if her words are hurtful and even if she does terrible things to isolate you, she can always tell herself that she isn't the worst person you sometimes blame her to be. Because she is convinced that she has seen worse.

Mei Mei

💴​Mei Mei finds her darling rather fascinating. As a non-sorcerer you have on first glance nothing notable on you as you are by all means a rather average person. However, as someone who has only ever expressed interest in money, this is what makes you so interesting to the sorcerer. There is no profit to gain from you nor would you be valuable on a battlefield yet even despite knowing all of that, she finds her gaze constantly drawn to you. Money is the only thing she has ever valued in her life yet you catch her attention in ways that no one has ever done before. As an openly selfish woman who is not afraid of admitting that to other people, Mei Mei indulges in whatever is of interest to her and you are no exception to that. Even upon noticing that her interest is turning into something else, she does not stop herself. She simply doesn't care about it as she has no such things as morals nor does she feel any shame for her obsession. Instead she finds the situation rather entertaining.

💴​The only morals she has depend on the money she receives for her jobs yet Mei Mei still seems to have certain standards she likes to present herself with to others. She has the luxury of time and money which allows her to take things slow and easy in regards to you. There is no need for desperation or any haste, she can take her time to get to know you and gauge how you react to her. Her Black Bird Manipulation allows her to keep an eye on you even whilst she is away to earn some money and then there is Ui Ui who would do anything for her, although he expresses some jealousy and outrage for your inability to recognise her true greatness. With her calm and analysing demeanor, Mei Mei oozes with confidence that she will have you for herself one way or another and this can be rather intimidating. Her words targeting your insecurities are like poison that slowly infects you and like the cruel predator she is, she treats it almost as if it were a game and it might as well be.

💴​Perhaps it is much more common to be the other way around and this is what Mei Mei would like to see just as much. You pale in comparison to her and you are often reminded of that when you two spend time in public. You feel inferior and almost unworthy in company of such a beautiful and rich woman and whilst Mei Mei is at least not as mean as to encourage your growing jealousy, she never does anything to ease it either. She finds it rather adorable when you turn a tad bit more jealous and possessive after all. She on the other hand doesn't have to overthink as much if it is the other way around. Most people are barely worth of her attention as they would neither have any worth to her life nor to yours. Her voice is always calm and her every gesture dismissive as she expresses her opinion honestly to such people, questioning them for the lack of value she sees in them. Whether her words humiliate someone to tears or fuel someone's anger, she has already won but everyone is free to amuse her for a bit more with their pathetic attitude if they desire to do so.

💴​Normally she doesn't lift a finger unless there is profit to make so it truly is a honor and sign of the worth you have to her that she exorcises curses who could be of potential risk of you without any money involved in the first place. Non-sorcerers are not worth her effort and time though as she knows of multiple other ways to take care of such people without having to stain her own hands. That is what money is for after all. Whether she bribes or blackmails someone, money has never failed to do the job for her. Maybe you have a different opinion and will accuse her as a corrupted woman but your view on the world is rather naive. You're pure but qualities such as kindness and honesty have never won a fight before. If you were part of her world, you would have died long ago as only those strong and smart enough to pick their battles wisely reach the top. Luckily you don't have to worry your silly head about anything because you have her to do that for you.

💴​Mei Mei is generous enough to offer you the option to move in with her. In her mind it doesn't even matter for how long you have known her by now. The only aspect she cares about is that she has known you long enough by now to realise that you really are too valuable for her to let go of you. Feel free to reject her offer yet be aware that you are already beyond saving. The sly smile on her face when you deny her her question is already a telltale sign of her intentions but she lets you squirm around anxiously for a while, your helplessness a relish in her eyes before she sets things into motion. Your bank account, your home and all of your possessions are stripped away from you, leaving you with little to no choice but to crawl back to her. She's already awaiting you though. You know that she is responsible because she hasn't even made the effort to hide it from you. She has intended for you to know simply so that she can shatter your ideal view on the world to prove that ultimately money rules over everything, even the law.

💴​There has never been a moment where she has yelled at you as Mei Mei has never lost her composure before. She retains such an incredible level of control over her which only humiliates and humbles you whenever you lose hold of your temper. Your self-esteem crumbles as her condescending words spoken with such a calm tone make you feel very small in front of her. She gives you the feeling that you are the only one who causes all of the problems. Worst is that all of this is in a way true as Mei Mei really doesn't have to do too much because she knows that you can never escape or run away from her. Are you not tired of those tedious struggles of yours? What is it that you could possibly desire from your old life? She is rich and can provide you with all earthly possessions that many people could only dream of and all she asks of you in return is to stay in her mansion and be her most valuable possession. One that may not be made out of diamonds but gold but holds more value to her heart than all the riches in the world.

[writersdelight]

Hiii! I hope you're having a good day. I absolutely adore Husk, I just wanna smother him with hugs 😆

Could you write one with him and reader that takes place the night before extermination day? They love each other but are scared to admit it. Ultimately Angel Dusk convinces him to confess since 'tomorrow is never guaranteed'.

Lots of fluff and love please! Thank you! ❤️

“ I don’t know what to say..”

Husk/Reader fluff before the Extermination. Not long.

Word count: 842

———————————————————————

-> Content: Fluff, I hope this is tooth-rotting fluff, swearing, mentions of dying, not-proof read (we die like Adam)

-> Author’s note: My first request! Ajdjdgj. I don’t think I’ve written fluff ever, but I swear I tried my best. Tysm, Anon! I’m having a great day.

———————————————————————

Husk hadn’t been interested in making his feelings known during his life and that was all the more prevalent in death. When living in a place like Hell, you gotta be safe, keep your card close to your chest or someone will take advantage of you. He knew that all too well.. but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have certain soft spots..

He liked how you were so genuine, it’s part of what he loves about you. He knows he loves you- he’s good at understanding people and that includes himself. Even if it’s something.. that’s hard for him to admit. Something about the prospect of letting someone in like that is unnerving.

There was only a day left until the Extermination. The rest of the hotel residents were celebrating, trying to live it up before the battle tomorrow. There were some residents who were calmer.. one was Angeldust or well.. Anthony. He appreciated the change he saw in Angel.. Though in the moment with Angel at his bar, he knew the other could tell something was on his mind.

“ …you thinking about tomorrow, whiskers? It got you worried?”

“ ‘Course not. I’m just thinkin’ of how we might run out of booze at this rate.”

Husk laughed the question off, gesturing the empty bottles around the bar. Angel knew that he was lying. With the entire exorcist army about to be on their doorstep, there was practically no chance any of them would making it.. even you. He both loved and hated that you’d be fighting by his side. He loved your passion, the way you wanted to protect your loved ones, but that’s just it: he wants to protect you. You’re safest far away from there.

“ That’s bull and you know it. You’re worried.. but I don’t think you’re worried about you. I think it’s someone else. Someone special to ya~”

As he danced around outright saying the name, he gestured with all four of his hands over to you. You were wrapped up in a conversation with Cherri Bomb at the moment, talking about who knows what. Husk’s gaze followed Angel’s movements… he wasn’t wrong.

“ ……..………”

“ I knew it! You ain’t denying it.”

Angel had a grin on his face as if it was the most satisfying moment in his afterlife (though it certainly wasn’t).

“ You gonna make a move before it’s too late? Say something you need to?”

“….. I don’t think there’s anything I can to say. It’s.. complicated.”

Angel looked at him, taking the situation more seriously than he had before.

“ ….Husk, Buddy, tomorrow ain’t guaranteed. We both know it... so why not go tell your special little someone how you feel..? What’s there to lose?”

———————————————————————

The party had died down, most people were talking amongst themselves at this point… He had to gather himself to work up the nerve to go through with the confession. He knew that he loved you, he was almost positive you felt the same way, but that didn’t take the edge off of this type of deal. He took a breath before walking over to you..

“ Hey.. you mind joinin’ me upstairs?”

He wanted to be somewhere more private for this. Just the two of you.

“ I don’t mind at all.. something up?”

“ Nothin’ to worry about, doll.”

He guided you to the stairs. Once you two were at the top, he led you straight to his room.. you had never been in there. It was.. sort of nice. Certainly dingy. It’s exactly what you thought a man like him would have.

“ …what is this about?”

“ ……….”

He took a moment to figure out his words.. how can he say this? There are so many wrong ways to put it and the possibility of doing it right was slim to none.

“…..we might die tomorrow-”

“ I know that. There’s no where I would rather be than here. Someone needs to show these angels what happens when they pick a fight.”

You interrupted.

“ This isn’t about the damn fight- this is about you. Doll… I.. got feelings for you- I love you. I need you to know incase we’re both double dead tomorrow..”

He was almost surprised to hear the words leave his own mouth much less the surprise you felt.. your eyes met his in the moment after he confessed. There was a silence.

You had felt the same way, how couldn’t you? But putting it to words and saying what you both knew aloud..?

“ I-”

Husk couldn’t finish his sentence as you moved, tightly hugging him. You could feel him loosen up slightly, he had been so tense.. slowly he hugged back.

“…I feel the same, Husk.”

He smiled a bit.. his wings wrapped around you, pulling you closer. It was like you two were the only people in all of hell and that’s the way he likes it. You’re one of the best things that’s happened to him.

Tomorrow may not be guaranteed.. but you two will always have tonight.

[tumblingxelian]

I have to admit I'm impressed with how awful a father CRWBY made Taiyang while giving him a veneer of reasonability.

To the point that his ability to just spout off things reminds me of an Aunt and Uncle who have no idea just how badly they are painting themselves.

As in - when he makes a judgement call about how Yang lost her arm that fits it into his "Over dependence on his semblance" it's incredibly telling about him not ever actually asking anyone about what happened.

It means he never talked to Yang about it, or even you know offered because while Yang wouldn't have said everything she'd probably have said a little.

Or talked to any of the students who probably got information about what happened from Blake when she dragged Yang to safety. Which wouldn't have been much but probably included the fact that Blake was attacked by someone, Yang intervened.

Given that students presumably died when Beacon fell and that Yang was a first year student... Like by itself, Yang being alive enough for a teammate to save her is a victory.

Nevermind context of her going up against someone that fought Blake, who came back injured herself, and Adam probably did get ID as going around killing students. So the fact that Yang was vastly outclassed would have been known, you know if Taiyang asked at all about "What happenend". Or worse - he did and still blames Yang. Like what did he expect her to do - leave Blake to die? Yang got Blake enough room to run, Blake used the opportunity to get both of them out of there but Yang bought that opportunity for Blake.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to the Belladonnas actually talking to Yang. Because I don't think it's an accident that we didn't see said interaction before we started being shown in detail the grease fire of the Xialong Rose family.

From my perspective Tai is a rather interesting execution on the archetypical father on these fronts. IE, he's not a classic bad father the way Jac is, or the classic emotionally distant husk archetype. Yet to me, he is still 100% a big problem and done a lot of harm to Ruby & Yang with lackluster parenting & 'teaching'.

As outlined here.

I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of people struggle to actually see him as flawed even when e gets basic facts wrong.

Another reason is just how much undue credit men are given by default that women have to earn. Hence lots of people shrugging off Qrow's drinking or Ozpin's manipulation, or Ironwood's authoritarianism until they couldn't anymore.

Though being more charitable, I would also note how CRWBY often play these characters against their more traditional archetypes to help offset the audiences presumptions.

For instance,

Ozpin is a mysterious headmaster of an adventurers school but he's the 'fun' headmaster who both helps the kids go on adventures but unlike certain other headmasters sends an adult escort with them.

Or Ironwood, he's a big military hard liner who wants more tech, bigger weapons and to throw his military around. But he asks about the kids, he jokes casually, he's not just some General Ripper.

& Qrow of course is the bitter veteran and mentor, who is super badass & drinks/smokes, but in contras, he's also seemingly functional, friendly and clearly has a good rapport with his nieces.

Its easy to see why people saw those aspects and were willing to ignore things like:

Ozpin sending teenagers into terrorist dens, Ironwood backstabbing his allies while making himself out to be the victim, and Qrow's blatant dependence on alcohol to function.

Cos CRWBY made them characters & not archetypes.

So when the shit hit the fan and subtext became text, subtly problematic behavior became blatantly problematic and festering problems once seen as comedic now had real weight.

I feel Tai fits the same mold, he's on the surface 'functional', he definitely cares, and even seems to do some 'fun dad' stuff. He just also as no idea how Yang's Semblance works, & was absent or otherwise none functional for so long its left deep scars on Yang having to keep the family together & Ruby outright says Yang raised her.

He's in many ways a more realistic and nuanced portrayal of a dysfunctional or toxic parent who may not obviously have issues the way an open abuser like Jac, or an absentia parent like Raven might but can still do harm.

Also excellent breakdown on how the surrounding context of the Fall of Beacon. Team RWBY are first years, Blake is an incredibly experienced combatant, Yang had been put through the ringer. Literally everything was on fire and even people like Ozpin died.

The fact the whole team made it out at all is nothing short of a miracle. But accepting that "Sometimes bad things happen" is a surrender of power, its an admission that there was nothing to be done and that is terrifying. Especially for a man whose had two of the most important people in his life vanish on him without a trace.

He wants there to be something in Yang to blame because then there is something that can be done about it. Add in his clear and overtly stated projection of Raven onto her, and hos incoherent his reads on her personality are given Yang's addressed stuff like stubbornness & strategy well before this.

& you get a parent making being dismembers in a no win situation against a more powerful opponent the victims fault while giving vague, generalist advice to feel like they're doing something.

Gosh I want them to just adore her, and her to adore the Belladonna's.

Thanks for the ask, and good luck on that essay you mentioned, remember to tag me ;)

[the-path-to-redemption]

There need to be some clarification regarding Blake speech. In True Colors this is what she actually said after deaft of Iliad and the twins

"Humans didn't do this. We did this. Faunus. We did this to ourselves. We're just as capable of hate and violence as the humans but I don't think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out. So why are we letting Adam do it for us? By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we're not proud of the choices they make, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

This is the message Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him. But we can stop him! You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem, and I can't give that to you. I don't know how to make hate go away, I don't. But I know that this kind of violence is not the solution.

I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and protect Haven Academy is asking you to put your lives at risk, but that's what's at stake. So I'm going, and I'll stand by myself if I have to."

I do find that last section really ironic because in the next episode the people of Menagerie armed themselves with orange version of WF logos and somehow convinced convinced the second most racist nation against Faunus to stop Adam group. Instead of just striaght up arresting all of them.

Another thing to critique is that we haven't actually seen WF attacking other faunus both before or even during the series. Other than Blake family and I guess the faunus protest but that's more disrupting than physical harming faunus do their peacful ideologies.

I applaud you for going back to that tone-deaf ass speech, anon.

Let's just dissect this shit yeah? Because wow, this is a speech that is for sure written by writers who do not understand how systematic racial oppression works.

Long Post Ahead

"Humans didn't do this. We did this. Faunus. We did this to ourselves. We're just as capable of hate and violence as the humans but I don't think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out. So why are we letting Adam do it for us? By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we're not proud of the choices they make, then we have no one to blame but ourselves."

Blake. B L A K E. You do know that the primary reason that the Faunus even respond to their oppressors or humans in general with scorn is because they've been OPPRESSED, right? We're talking about generations of people who were enslaved, abused, isolated, murdered, and so much more still having to live in a society that can legally deny them entry to establishment based on their race, and somehow it's THEIR fault that humans don't like them?

Of course they would be capable of hate and violence, those ideas were put upon them through hate and violence from humans. The Faunus is doing it out of a reaction because the governments that should have protected them willingly look away while slavery is happening right under their noses. Accusing the Faunus, especially the ones of Menagerie who migrated there to escape racial conflict, for not saying anything while human communities continues to treat Faunus like shit is fucking vile. Of course they wouldn't. Why would they say anything about their people reacting to violence with violence when the systems put that hatred against them there in the first place? Asinine shit.

"This is the message Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him. But we can stop him! You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem, and I can't give that to you. I don't know how to make hate go away, I don't. But I know that this kind of violence is not the solution."

See, this part right here could have worked. Blake understand that there is no simple solution to solving racism, and she does admit that she doesn't know how to make that hate go away. That's good character! They could've taken this to her not wanting her friends, the people she cares about in the WF, to be remembered as faceless masses of violence and hate in the conflict, but to be remembered as the people they are as well. But to say that violence isn't the way to do it at all like her and her limp-dick father has been preaching to oppressed people is straight-up fucking ignorant, especially after V2 where Blake herself admitted that being peaceful protesters didn't help them and her father had to be replace by Sienna, whose methods did bring results.

Even real-life revolutionists who conduct peaceful protests carried firearms or a defensive weapons because they knew that being pacifistic all the time is naive and could very much get them murdered by anti-protesters or worse, the government. Stop fucking expecting marginalized communities to beg for their safety and livelihood from bigots, separating us into "good ones" and "bad ones" when those people want ALL of us dead.

"I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and protect Haven Academy is asking you to put your lives at risk, but that's what's at stake. So I'm going, and I'll stand by myself if I have to."

Girl, you are part of the problem. You are guilt-tripping marginalized people who just wants to be left alone after lifetimes worth of systematic abuse to risk their lives defending a kingdom that wouldn't even spit on them if they were on fire. You're right, anon, it's a fucking miracle that the Mistrali legal forces didn't fucking apprehend all of them when they stormed over Mistral with torches and weapons.

This whole plot line is fucked and so tone-deaf that I vomit every damn time.

[karouvas]

@clotpolesonly @mirror-bawl

I wanted to reply to both of your tags so doing so together. • Agreed about Gansey trying to be his better self for Adam’s sake, I think it would have been a combination of Gansey’s malleable personality and how he’s used to reflecting what people want to see in him for their own comfort especially when he likes someone as much as he likes Adam, and then also he’s genuinely being inspired by what he sees / values in Adam to be better. Sort of simultaneously showing the bad / good in adansey how they both play off and enable each other’s predisposition to be performative / put on masks and at the same time inspire each other to work on themselves and be better genuinely, at least that’s how I see that dichotomy.

On a related note that part where Ronan gives his ‘Adam would hate Gansey on fire’ hypothesis I do think he’s more correct than incorrect, and in some ways I find his read of their dynamic more reliable than either Adam or Gansey (who tend to be very delulu about it in one way or another) but I still feel like his perspective is worth questioning a little here. I think Adam would have a layered reaction to Gansey on Fire that would include hatred but wouldn't necessarily be only hatred, in the the vein that Gansey's President Cell Phone persona evokes repulsion and a kind of infatuation/attraction from him simultaneously. Also worth noting that Gansey on Fire is positioned as kind of separate from ‘Angry Gansey’ because of course Adam does bring that out sometimes. I feel like the difference is that the former Gansey is sort of casually arrogant and would be uncaring about the effect of his actions or words on others, whereas the latter might make a mistake and be cruel but never doesn’t feel like shit for it or doesn’t try to be another way. (I do really like that each Gangsey member sort of has a ‘favorite’ version of Gansey I’ve mentioned that before and might go into more detail about it but that’s for another post). • On Gansey seeing Adam as a real boy… yes I totally think that has to do with it and so does Adam’s hyper competent and controlling nature although Gansey would not admit to himself that there’s a side to it of Adam being willing to do the dirty work for him. I also think dynamically Gansey right now is used to the master-dog dynamic he has with Ronan, which is a loving relationship in a way that’s a very important departure for him from his dynamics with his family, but also there’s that Gansey being asked to manage or control Ronan aspect there which works for them and their dynamic but as the sole friendship you have … and then meeting someone like Adam who Needs to be allowed to work with you as a partner and is more comfortable with you relying on him than the other way around which has it’s own problems but! The different type of support there would be so appealing / grounding. Gansey at this point in TRB also sees Adam as perfectly controlled in comparison to Ronan, but doesn’t quite see the neuroses and mess that creates that control similar to how he can’t parse that in himself. Which in the long term makes a messy out of control Adam less palatable to him than an out of control Ronan but in the moment means he’s allowing himself to lean on perfectly controlled (lol) perfectly logical/rational (lmfao) Adam Parrish..

[hellhousehaunts]

Fall of usher house au

(Note: I’ve changed some things up but i still hope you guys enjoy!)

-i don’t know how it happened, i just did first with Sara and now me, let me tell you what happened detective from the beginning-

2023, April 5th.

Paul sat in the church watching the pastor speak for his two friends. He wasn’t sure how this happened. Well he was, but he didn’t want to admit, it’s been a week since Sara and Tony now Alex and Adam he knew he was next he wasn’t sure how or when but he knew. Paul felt as though someone was watching him, he turned looking up at the balcony in the church and tensed.

There he was again, Paul keeps seeing him…well everyone did.

“You ok uncle Paul?”

Mitchell, Sara and Alex Son asked. Paul blinked and looked at Mitchel nodding “uh yeah i’m fine” he said before turning back around towards the preacher.

- we didn’t know it at first but something was coming and we couldn’t stop it. We didn’t know how it even began but it did-

Two weeks before

“What the fuck do you mean you won’t call him? Do you know who the fuck i am?” Alex said rudely over the phone it was two weeks before the opening and Alex was freaking out.

“Yes put him on the phone now”

“What’s going on”

Adam asked as he walked into

“Ill tell you what going on this incompetence shit won’t help me”

Alex said before huffing and walking off, Adam rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room and back where the others were. He knew everyone was stressed he was to. It was the upcoming 20th anniversary of hell house and everyone was on edge.

The anniversary is important and they wanted it to be perfect but that also came with a price.

-a price in deed one we weren’t sure any of us could handle -

“What’s he stressing about this time?”

“Someone being incompetent“

“Of course everyone is always incompetent in Alex eyes “

Tony said huffing as he was looking down at his clip broad as he. Alex may have been the owner but Adam and Tony were the two to make sure things ran smoothly and they also made sure money was being handled properly, while still pocketing some for themselves. Plus if they were sleeping together behind the scenes no one needed to know that.

“How are the lights coming along?”

“Ask Paul?”

Tony said pointing his pen towards the basement and Adam nodded walking past Tony down to the basement where Paul and Sara were checking on lights and goofing around a bit.

Sara and Paul were an honest pair with a bit of a secret. Sara had been married to Alex since they were in college and had a son together and Paul was Alex best friend who has been around since high school.

But one thing no one knew is Paul was in love with Alex and Sara was cheating with well…a woman named Diane. These two got along well but people could always tell something was off.

“ how’s things going down here”

Adam asked startling the two, Sara laughed as Paul jumped .

“Fine, how’s everything up there”

Adam signed at the question.

“Alex is on rampage…incompetent people apparently “

-it was funny. Alex always complained about people not listening but he was the one who never listened…I think that’s what got him killed-

Sara sighed, her husband had always been so uptight about things. Specially when it came to the haunt.

“Of course he is, so how long will it take before he calms down”

“I give it two hours “

“Incompetence remember? I say 3 or 4”

It was a thing inside the friend group that they would bet how long it would take for Alex to clam down. Paul won most of the time.

-funny enough i won. It took him 4 hours to calm down and funny enough that bet would be the last one i would ever make with my friends-

[rosalind-hawkins]

Yay, my first ever ask to someone!

Because I know you love him as much as I do, I'm sure you'll probably won't even have to think very long about the answers: Of course, I'm choosing Duke for the character ask game :D I'd be very much interested in 4, 9, 10, 11, 21, 22, 24 – but of course, choose wichever ones you like or make it everything <3 And for the freebie question a little headcanon: What would be a typical phrase you imagine him saying all the time?

OMG Honored to be your first! <3 <3 <3 And you're right, I always love talking about Duke. Sincerely shocked how little attention he gets overall. And as predicted, I answered way more questions than you asked lol. Enjoy!

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

The cheerleaders. I just, oh boy, wow. Please tell me those girls put those uniforms on themselves and he didn't ask them to. That would be so cringe. >.<

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

So, his English VA, Marc Thompson, does the audiobooks for the Star Wars "Fate of the Jedi" book series that my husband and I are listening to, so I find myself frequently picturing Duke in Star Wars outfits during my Duke Devlin Star Wars Storytime. XD

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Cherry Pie by Warrant, cause I imagine him jamming out to it in his classic car. See also Question 12.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Fandom doesn't do enough with him for me to have an answer to this question, but I have seen people giving him new outfits, which I adore. Yes, dress this boy up, he loves it!

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Yes, I appreciate the YGOTAS theme song jokes as much as the next dude, but if you try to find Duke scenes on Youtube, that's all you can find. :(

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Absolutely. I headcanon that he's really tidy with his personal space, and we could take turns making dinner (thank you Season Four for telling us that he's a good cook).

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

Quite possibly, yeah. I have some creative indie side projects of my own, and I feel like he'd have good feedback if I needed another set of eyes on some new character designs or plot-points. I will also be hitting him up for haircare tips all the time lol.

11. Would you date this character?

If I weren't married and I had a chance, absolutely yes. Don't know if it would work out long-term, but it would be fun.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I headcanon that he's a big Adam Lambert fan and sings his music in the shower (and everywhere else he sings). Try listening to the Adam Lambert cover of Holding Out For A Hero and try telling me it doesn't have Duke-like levels of drama and flare, I dare you. Other AL songs I think he'd specifically jam to are Fever, Strut, The Light, and Pop That Lock. I don't always have headcanons for a character's taste in music, but I just get really strong vibes on what he's into. I also think he'd listen to a lot of classic rock.

Another few songs that will go on my Duke playlist when I get around to making it: You Put A Spell On Me and Dangerous Hands both by Austin Giorgio, Fangs by Neoni, 100 degrees by Kenzie, basically everything by Steven Rodriguez (there's not a lot, but it's all so sexy), and Play With Fire by Sam Tinnesz ft. Yacht Money.

Okay, I admit defeat, Duke Devlin Playlist Post coming soon. (Songs he listens to, not songs about him.)

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I'm not going to pick just one, I can't, but I'll give you my top ships: Mastershipping (Kaiba), Minorshipping (Ryou), Snareshipping (Joey). Poly ships: Mumbleshipping (Kaiba + Ryou), Rollshipping (Joey + Ryou), and Petshipping (Kaiba + Joey). Okay, that's just... all my Duke ships. XD But they're all so good!

I'm intrigued by the idea of Ishizu x Duke, which doesn't have a name. I'm not sure they really know what to make of each other, but I think that keeps them intrigued with each other. I think a first date with them, or even just a flirting scene, could be real fun. She's serious and scholarly, he's fun and free-spirited. They could balance each other.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

Him and Tristan, Chaseshipping I think. I think they could be friends just fine, I just don't see the chemistry there.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I'm leaving out ship characters for the sake of this question.

I actually think he and Mai could be really good pals, they'd go shopping and talk about bfs/gfs and have a good time. They also both own convertibles, so you know they have some of the same tastes.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

One thing that's always fun for me is Duke's flirting. Can't say I'm a master of writing flirtation, but I do my best to make Duke look like a master of it, because he is. I do generally just love writing him so much, though. He's one of the least angsty characters that I write, so he always puts me in a happier headspace.

In my fic Rock Bottom, he's a solid friend to Seto without being too nosy, which Seto appreciates so much. They understand each other on an intellectual level, but even after Seto's like "no thanks" to a relationship, Duke makes it clear that he's always free to change his mind in a no-pressure way. He's supportive but not nosy. I've got a chapter coming up (spoilers) in RB Season Three where Seto just needs somewhere to chill and lay low, hide from reality, and Duke's like, "I won't say a word to anyone that you're here, it's fine, no explanation needed, just take a deep breath pal." Doesn't ask what's going on, just takes him in for the night. (Also negotiates him into cuddles, but that's separate lol.)

He's just there for people, doesn't need answers (unless things are bad enough that some kind of involvement is just necessary).

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

I like when people fill out the details of him balancing his responsibilities between his game shop and managing DDM, or flesh out his relationship with Pegasus even if it's not central to the story. There's just so much more to this boy that we don't get to see, and that stuff just feels like such a necessary backdrop to the rest of his life.

23. Favorite picture(s) of this character?

DSOD did this boy right. He's just so pretty. :')

But also, look at this boy pretending to read while he eavesdrops. And he set up that hammock so dang high off the ground? Looking down on everybody? No, boy has the high ground, tactical advantage. I love him.

And wait, what's that? The most Mastershipping moment in the entire anime, you say? Show me!

Oh. Oh dear. ;P But, for so many reasons, I'll genuinely never get over this scene.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

I'm gonna try to stick to canon behaviors and traits for this and not let headcanons influence it too much.

ZEN/Hyun Ryu from Mystic Messenger has the same "I'm pretty and I know it" vibe as Duke and shares the casual-but-constant flirting behavior (also ponytail bros). This is a fun comparison for me because their hair and eye colors are also exact opposites.

From Nanbaka, I'd have to go with Uno, who can be abrasive at times with his enemies/rivals, doesn't let his friends fight alone, and shares the "ladies love me, I know I'm pretty, look at how well I take care of my luscious long hair" confident attitude. Also like Duke, there's a good few times where a friend is doing something/rash or unwise, and he tries to talk reason to them. Also obsessed with games, so they have that hobby in common. He also compulsively flirts with every woman in the vicinity (except the warden, because she's terrifying and he knows better). Real smooth operator, even with the dudes.

From UtaPri, I'd have to go with Ren Jinguji. Look, they're even hammock bros! Exceptionally confident, but also a bit mysterious. Flirty with the ladies, not that he even needs to try that hard. Actually pretty laid back and down to earth most of the time.

He also just moves the way I imagine Duke moving, with that fluid grace of a man's who's totally comfortable in his own skin. Just look at him!!!! LOOK AT THE HIP! *chefs kiss*

Another thing all these boys have in common is a strong fashion sense in addition to a strong sense of showmanship (ZEN as an actor and Ren as an idol, this is obvious, but Uno just can't help showing off lol), two great traits that Duke also has.

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

Honestly, I can imagine him using "yo" a lot, not exactly a phrase, but a slang term. If anyone tells him something like "that's not cool anymore" he just responds with "it is when I say it ;)"

If we're leaning into my headcanons of him as a good cook, maybe he sometimes uses "now we're cooking with gas!" He probably has to explain this to Tristan and/or Joey, which launches him into the discussion of gas vs electric stoves. He's a strong believer in gas stoves being superior. I wouldn't say he's a snob when it comes to cooking, but there's certain things in the kitchen that he has a strong opinion on.

Bonus Headcanon

Duke Devlin's top Halloween Costumes: some kind of imp/demon/devil (let your imagination run wild with this one, because he definitely did), one of his Monster World OCs, the Phantom of the Opera, vampire, ninja.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Welcome to the Academy, young apprentice. All of your belongings have been placed in the dorm, where you can move in when you're ready. Do you have any questions?"

Ewan Maricourt beamed with pride when introducing his school to a promising new apprentice. Pleasantview had a strong generation of magic users at present, and Ewan couldn't be prouder of them. As much as he was wary about his son's demon boyfriend and affinity for blood magic, Theo was talented and he brought out the best in his son's spells. Adam producing the Maricourt wand at his age was a point of pride that Ewan made sure to mention at length to the other parents of students. Remy was also doing well, even if she wasn't as engaged with the subject matter as her brother. Elowen also stood out in class. As much as Ewan was relieved to be divorced from her, Edana raised her children to be exceptional magic users.

"No, I think I'm good," the student said, appearing to look at the school with what could only be described as apathy. "Once you've seen one school, you've seen them all."

"Attention, students! We've got a new student joining us today. Please welcome to the Academy, Hayden Hanes. They scored extremely high on our entrance exam and will be an excellent candidate to join the Pleasantview coven upon graduation. Please make them feel welcome."

Ewan left the students together to introduce themselves and retreated to the staff quarters to collect his thoughts. No one had ever looked upon his academy with apathy. No one. Not even when he was a student himself. Hayden's exam score was the only reason that they'd been admitted mid semester. It wasn't uncommon, Adam's boyfriend had had a similar entrance to the school, but Hayden's lack of academic knowledge was still baffling. Theo had had to be introduced to basic magical theory and academic structure when he joined at age six. Hayden was sixteen and had about the same level of academic experience. They knew very little about how to set up a cauldron for potions, but their potion work was exceptional. Their abilities rivaled Ewan's himself, which was incredible for a teenager.

"Hi, I'm looking forward to working with all of you," Hayden said with confidence. "I've heard a lot about some of you. Some of you even practice old, extinct magic from what I hear. It's rare to meet someone else who can perform blood magic."

"Of course they're only interested in Theo," Lexy sighed. "Every single person who walks through the door only wants to talk about Theo and blood magic. He's turning our school into a side show."

"I did some blood magic too," Adam insisted, missing Lexy's point. "And Hayden can too, apparently. Maybe the one holding the school back is jealous people like you."

Remy tried to listen to her twin, but she was distracted. Adam had finally decided to raise his voice since reading their parents the riot act at the Maricourt meeting and now he couldn't be stopped. It was always "Theo this" and "Theo that" and "isn't Theo great?" It was enough to make a sister want to vomit. Adam was insufferable and Theo only made things worse.

But this new kid had potential. Maybe Remy could get on Hayden's good side and have them tutor her so she could finally make Adam shut up about her skills. Hayden was also easy on the eyes. She wasn't about to cheat on Malika, but a girl could still appreciate beauty when she saw it.

"Thanks for coming, Edana. I need your opinion on something."

Edana Darktide-Traver glared at her ex-husband, but couldn't deny being curious as to what could possibly need her input. Since the meeting, things had been frosty between the ex spouses. Adam's outburst had divided the two, as most of his blame had rested on his mother, while Ewan seemed to get a pass despite sharing her opinions on Theo.

"It must be something important for you to call," she said. "Do you have another bastard kid that you found out about?"

"No, it's this new student," Ewan replied, ignoring Edana's comment. "There's something off about them and I just can't figure it out. Everything about them is weird and I can't put why finger on why exactly."

"A new student? So what? Expell them if you don't feel right about it. This isn't my problem."

Edana turned to leave, but her ex-husband reached out for her before she could exit the strange conversation.

"No, I mean it, Edana. I-I need your thoughts on the matter. You've always had a gift for seeing the intentions of others. If there's something dangerous about this student, I know that you can feel it."

"Oh? I wasn't able to see your intention to throw me under the bus with the kids. We both went to that meeting and Adam's only angry at one of us."

"You got carried away by yourself," Ewan snapped, crossing his arms. "It's not my fault that you were so hard on Adam."

"You were just as hard on him! You know what? Figure out this mystery on your own, Ewan. I'm done with this. We're not married anymore, and I'm not in your coven. I'm done with you."

"Edana, wait! I'm not wrong about this kid, I know it! I-Remy has a crush on this kid! It was clear as day from the moment they locked eyes. We need to get ahead of this for our daughter's sake."

Edana's eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't seem like he was lying, but this too could be a trick. Ewan wasn't above lying to get what he wanted and he knew that she would do anything for her children. However, it would be just like Remy to rush into something with someone completely inappropriate; Watcher only knew that Adam was doing the exact same thing.

"Fine," she conceded, grinding her teeth to keep from hexing her ex. "What else is weird about this kid?"

"They can execute dangerously powerful magic, but they don't have a clue about the correct stances or potion etiquette. They were bored looking at the school for the first time and said they'd seen several other impressive magical schools."

"So? The whole world doesn't revolve around Pleasantview, you know. There are other schools."

"Name three," Ewan replied skeptically. "No, that's too hard. Name one. There hasn't been a school to rival ours in centuries. Centuries. It's weird."

Edana frowned, but refused to indulge her ex.

"You're thinking about time, aren't you? That demonic bitch and her inept warlock got to you with stories of time travel and alternate universes? Well, they're wrong. Time doesn't work that way. This kid isn't a time traveller or whatever else you think. They're unimpressed with your school because it's tired and dated, not because they've walked the halls of ancient schools of magic."

"They have no guardian," Ewan insisted. "Their emergency contact can't be reached. I'm not even sure that they paid their tuition fees, but the office insists their story is true."

"So this sixteen year old is mind controlling your staff? Can you even hear yourself? Give me something tangible to work with instead of your guesses."

"Just...just keep an eye on them," Ewan said at last. "I can't prove it, but I know we need to look into this kid more. Call it a hunch. Please?"

"For Remy's sake, I'll try," Edana sighed. "I don't want her to stumble because of your poor parenting."

"Hayden" made sure to memorize every picture on the walls as they made their way toward the dining hall. Many of them were familiar.

I met him more than once. I went to her father's funeral. That guy was such a pain in the ass, the stories don't do him justice.

"Okay, warlocks. How do warlocks act? They're all about the wands and crystals- no that's just that specific coven. Think. You can do this. How many warlocks have you watched? Tons. Just wave your wand around and act pretentious, it's only for a little while."

Hayden pressed their palms against the wood table, drawing their focus to the mission at hand. Just laying their hands on the once living wood of the table, they could feel the remnants of what had once been. This had once been a mighty tree until it had been ripped from its roots and hacked apart to serve the dominant species of the planet. The tree still remembered the nest of birds that returned year after year to shelter in it. It remembered the way that sunlight felt against its bark, the way squirrel nails dug into its bark as they fought in the branches. It was a carcass now, empty of life, the cold darkness of death filling its every atom.

I could change this. It's too easy, really. Would it look like magic to the witches? It's not a bad idea to get some practice in.

Under their fingertips, the wood of the table began to awaken. Death had held it for centuries, but a faint ripple of energy pooled beneath their hands, echoing the faint memory of life and the ebb and flow of the ocean's waves.

"What are you up to? Can I join? You look lonely."

Remy blinked, trying to formulate a response to this reply.

Lukas snapped to attention, embarrassed to have been caught off guard. They had a purpose here and the intoxicating memory of sunlight and waves had left them vulnerable. They were trying to pass as a warlock, while trying to dispel Death's power simply because they were nervous. Of course warlocks didn't have the ability to regenerate life in the way they did. This young witch had interrupted them before they blew their own cover, inadvertently helping their mission.

"I was just thinking," they replied smoothly. "Thinking about the universe and the magic that governs it. Do you know how many generations of witches and warlocks came before us? You can feel their energy in the air around us, even if their names have faded into history. They're never fully gone from this world. Death thinks he's claimed them for himself, but the remains of their lives echo forever around us."

"Yeah. That's for sure. My dad may have written a paper on that, I'm pretty sure," she lied, watching the being beside her react to her reaction. "Do you want to talk about it over some coffee?"

"What is she doing? She can't possibly be flirting with the weird new kid. Isn't she dating your aunt or whoever?"

Adam watched as his sister continued to edge closer to the mysterious teen.

"They're practically running away from her, I think we're safe," Theo noted. "Do you get a weird vibe from that kid too? There's something not right about them."

"Yeah. Maybe they're some rare kind of demon. They looked like they were staring at you in class this morning, maybe the sovereign sent them to report on you. I know I've heard that name before, I just don't remember from where. Have you heard of a Hayden Hanes before? Maybe they're distantly related and famous or something."

"I've never heard of it before," Theo replied. "It sounds fake."

"I'm kind of seeing someone actually," Lukas replied truthfully. Their relationship with Death had started the instant they came into existence and would endure even when the sun burned itself out. Humans could never measure up to a deity who returned their intense romantic feelings and had known them for millennia. Death was everything to Lukas and that would never change. He had even given his weary consent to this plan as long as no one mysteriously vanished and Lukas never embarrassed their teenage children with this scheme. Seeing as their twins attended another school entirely, Lukas was confident that they would never suspect their parent was wandering around Pleasantview disguised as a teenager.

"Oh yeah, me too," Remy said quickly. "Me and Malika have been dating for a while now. My parents hate it, so naturally I'm probably going to marry her someday. Unless I can find someone they hate even more."

She chuckled nervously as her brain tried desperately to think of something cool to say to salvage this conversation. Nothing came to her.

"Hey Theo. Hey Adam."

Travis Maricourt walked by Theo and his boyfriend, interrupting their view of Remy and her poor decisions.

"Oh! Travis! I need to talk to you! How did you do on the deadly curses exam?"

Theo scurried down the hall after the teen, dragging Adam with him.

"So where are you from?" Remy asked, clearly not taking the hint that Lukas wanted some privacy to practice their disguise.

Lukas paused, thinking of how best to answer that question. It was a fairly innocent one that they needed to have a consistent answer for.

"My dad's side of the family is from Pleasantview," they said truthfully. "Are there still Brokes around? It's been a long time, they may have all died or moved away by now."

"I don't think so," Remy replied. "I've never heard of any at least. Are they magic users? Maybe they moved to a different country's coven. You could always check the records. Maybe you have a cousin or an aunt or something that your dad doesn't know about."

"Hmm. I think it's been a little too long. My grandmother's name was Brandi. She went missing long before I arrived in the world and it devastated my dad. I don't think he'd appreciate me tracking his relatives down."

And it would be thousands of years too late. My father died eons ago along with any remainder of the Brokes.

"Are you really close to your dad?" Remy asked. "You must miss your parents. Boarding school is hard on everyone. I know Theo's parents really struggle with it and so does he, even if he won't admit it. It's okay to miss your parents. Unfortunately for me, my dad works here along with my half-sister, so I see them all the time."

Lukas paused, tracing a pattern on the table with their finger.

"No, I don't speak to my dad," they answered. "We had a falling out a long time ago and he said some horrible things. I'm close with my other father though. It doesn't matter. I have my own family now."

Remy gave them a strange look, and Lukas kicked themselves for nearly blowing their cover once again.

"I mean, I have a found family," they corrected. "My...boyfriend and friends."

Certainly not my husband and three kids. Nope, no one needs to know about them. Or my two ex-wives and kids with them.

"Travis, can I borrow your notes for the test on Friday?" Theo asked frantically. "Adam and I skipped class to, uh, study for another test."

Lukas' attention snapped from Remy and zeroed in on Theo's conversation. Here was the reason for this disguise in the first place. What was the little demon up to? What business did he have with the adopted son of a reaper and the biological son of the very witch who tried to destroy the Grim Reaper? It was suspicious and Lukas vowed to keep an eye on any further interactions between the two.

"Hayden?"

"Sorry," Lukas apologized. "I got distracted. You were saying?"

"Come hang out with me and Malika this weekend," Remy repeated. "You can bring your boyfriend and we could double date. There's a new horror movie coming out that we could see."

"Why not make it a triple date?" Lukas pressed. "Bring your brother and Theo too. The more the merrier, you know?"

"You mean hang out with my brother? I guess," Remy replied. "Theo and Malika don't always get along, but you're new here so I think they can share a movie theater for your sake."

"Awesome. It's a date then."

[meltthefrozenheart]

The importance about subverting antagonism and villany in Frozen, and to not expect a major Bad Guy in the story

One of the most common theories that were also used before F2 came out is expecting a "Villain" to be introduced and being a threat for the protagonists, and despite all the interesting ideas, I think many still miss the point with this franchise: it's not about good and evil, it's all about the protagonists struggles and doubts.

The first movie played its cards by using Elsa difficoult situation as the main threat of the story and subverting the classic "Wicked Witch" trope by making this threat caused by Elsa's fears and insecurities. Along this thread, we've then the misdirection created by making the Duke of Weselton look like a parody of the classic "Disney Villain", which further helps hiding Hans true intentions through the whole story, also playing with a classic chromatic "black vs white" distinction for the two characters, and of course not forgetting about much more secondary threats like the wolves and Marshmallow.

In F2 case, the matter is even more subtle, using the events of the past and a not clearified conflict that enraged the Spirits of the Enchanted Forest. The Spirits work as the main threat of the story, a physical obstacle that, in this case, Elsa's powers can overcome while following a mysterious voice, but in the end the true threat comes from the Dam that King Runeard built in order to harm the Enchanted Forest and the Northuldra.

But, in both movies the true villain is actually Fear, as Jennifer Lee admitted herself: in F1 it was Elsa's fear of not being accept, in F2 it was Anna's fear of change.

Because breaking the tropes is foundamental part of what Frozen does and it's meant to allow the story to take a different direction, I think they could play with this whole idea of "villains and antagonists" a little differently.

Through the two movies we've seen a series of different characters, but also two very different contexts: the 1st one is about the sisters reinteracting with the outside world, following the more "adventurous" pov of Anna, in the other one we see them explore something related to their kingdom past, with a more "mysterious" vibe related to Elsa.

Personally, I would love to see Hans return because I think these protagonists need a different form of tension in their arcs, firstly because we clearly need a different vibe, having someone that you can't trust because you know he has his own goals, and second because F2 has already shown us a situation where the whole cast of new characters are all allies of the protagonists.

Thirdly, because Hans has a direct and personal connection with the protagonists, and it would be perfect considering that Anna is now engaged to Kristoff, and Elsa is at the fullest of her own power thanks to her connection with Ahtohallan and the Spirits. And in Elsa's specific case, considering that she's a sort of "superhero", we've already seen her spending her whole time in F2 fighting forces that are her equal (the Spirits of nature), and the psychological threat was her true enemy in the 1st movie.

I'm of course speculating, we should need an actual context, but thinking about how adamant the directors are with these matters and how F2 was very "reference heavy" regarding the 1st movie, and how much they care to maintain the focus on these characters, most importantly Anna anad Elsa, I don't think they would overcomplicate themselves with some "Evil, Big Bad Guy" as many speculate about ...

[imaginethatneathuh]

Siempre: Chato Santana/El Diablo - Suicide Squad 2016

Teen!Chato Santana (El Diablo) x teen!afab!trans masc!reader, friends to possible lovers, romantic

Chato goes to a party, dragging you along, but you both end up leaving early and spending time alone together.

Editing by the incredible @dragon430. Seriously, could not have done this without her.

TW/CW: racism, transphobia, depressing thoughts, self-doubt, mentions of arson/murder, classism, paranoia.

Word count: 8.4+ K

• 

After all the years you’d known each other, Chato knew that parties were not your scene. They’re too loud, have too many people, or are just irritating. You preferred solitude and silence to all the hustle and bustle of parties. But, as much as you disliked parties, Chato also knew that if he pulled out his puppy-dog eyes, he could get you to do just about anything.

You didn’t even have to admit your weakness to him. He knew you too well for you to hide it. And, as good of a friend as he is, he often used it to his advantage to get what he wanted.

Frequently, he’d wondered why you’d fold. But when he got close to what he knew was the answer, he set the thought aside. Chato knew, deep down. He just didn’t want to think about it and what it meant. He refused to acknowledge it for both your sakes.

Slowly though, his resolve was weakening.

The more he used your weakness against you, the closer he got to leaving the answer bare for both of you to witness.

On any other day, you’d be sitting in your room, probably doing homework or reading, but once again, he exploited your weakness. He’d been so adamant and sincere, using his beautiful eyes to entrance you like he knew they would. And, just as he predicted, you couldn’t say no to him. So, Chato had, with all his wicked ways, convinced you to go to some rando’s house for a party.

You’d complained the whole way and even before leaving, but, he’d just flashed you that smirk, something odd but calming in his eyes. It was as if he was saying “don’t worry, I’ve got you”.

It had worked, just like it always had and always will.

The house you were going to was in a wealthy part of L.A. with big houses and pretty lawns. The assholes who owned the place probably hired people like you and Chato, blue collars, to do the yard work and clean their pools. Because, of course, they want to spend all their money on a fancy house and an extravagant pool and bar to one-up everyone else but couldn’t stand to lift a single fucking finger to do any work themselves.

But, maybe that was just the bitterness, resentment, and a tiny speck of jealousy talking.

Though, even if it was, your point stood.

As much as you hated to admit it, this was a part of L.A. people like you and Chato would never be able to get to unless you worked there or were just passing through, as you so regretfully are now.

The two of you, despite your better judgement, walked up to the lavish, clean house. It almost felt like another dimension. Too clean and polished—too different from what you were used to. The neighbourhood had an entirely different culture, and it resonated so deep you could feel it in your bones, setting your nerves alight and urging your flight response to kick in. Every piece of you screamed to leave and find someplace else to go to, and you really would’ve done it if not for Chato. Though, even having him with you wasn’t enough to soothe all your unease.

As you looked around, you noticed the stupid shit that you’d never get to enjoy like them. The people who lived here had nothing better to do with their money than spend it on trivialities like a plain, white-person lawn and fancy door-knockers. While people like you worried about how you were gonna keep a roof over your heads and feed yourselves. It was constant, the fear of which paycheque wasn’t going to last till the next one.

But these people, they did whatever they wanted with their money. Could spend it on whatever their hearts desired. They never had to worry about shit except for when mommy or daddy would hand them their next allowance big enough to buy three of the apartment complexes your family lived in, pushing you out in the process.

It boiled your blood.

And la chica who’d invited Chato was one of ‘em. She was so bored with her perfect life she’d been handed that she’d decided to have some stupid house party and invite a bunch of strangers, probably like Chato, kids who were “different” to her.

She’d obviously only asked him because he seemed “dangerous” and “exotic”. According to Chato, she’d all but said it outright, and when you’d heard that, you’d rolled your eyes so hard that Chato saw nothing but the whites.

Because, you know, it’s not like it’s fucking L.A. or anything and Hispanic/Latino American were everywhere. They were dime-a-fucking-dozen like Black people in Chicago or Detroit, not that little Miss Priss stepped out of her privileged bubble enough to actually know that. Which is exactly the type of person you hated.

Your dislike was something Chato typically shared. Usually, when shit like that happened, he’d tell them to fuck off or blow him or something like that. But, surprisingly, Chato had accepted the invitation this time around.

Told you he just wanted something to do. 

“Besides, Chaparro, if we go together, we can hang out and bullshit. You can even annoy me into doing my fucking homework if you want. Got my permission an’ everything,” he’d said.

Though that’s not to say that he wasn’t unsure of his decision. These types of places and people unnerved and irritated him just as much as they did you. He knew he wouldn’t blend in, but, he supposed, that was the point of inviting someone like him as much as he hated to admit it.

If anyone were to ask, he’d choose to stick to boredom as the motive for his uncharacteristic behaviour. But, the fact of the matter was, you were an even better one. Besides, it was worth being uncomfortable and a little on edge if he could get you to have some fun.

And maybe he’d get really lucky and hear you laugh. Get you to bury your face in his chest to stop and hide yourself from everyone else’s eyes, saving the sight of your joy for only him to see. Feeling comforted in the safety of his arms as he can wrap them around you and blame it on the need to keep you steady from your rippling giggles.

That was the dream, anyway. One you were none the wiser to.

Because, in your mind, he could have chosen anywhere, and he didn’t. It was odd, though not entirely out of character. He did like to party, but the crowd and type of people were a big leap out of even his rather large comfort zone.

You knew his choice of location would nag at you all night. But for right now, you chose not to question him. After all, there’s no need to ruin his night, so you’d just let it go and bring it up some other time.

Maybe he just needed a change of scenery or a reason to fight and blow off some steam (literally). Maybe he wanted to show off a little for you or maybe even get you to calm him down. He liked it when you did that, even if he’d never say it.

Whatever the reason, he’d already started to regret his decision, and he hadn’t even made it to the front door yet.

Chato warily watched his surroundings, searching for anything off amongst the well-manicured bushes.

Maybe this was a setup, and when he got too close, a couple of cops would jump out of the bushes, ready to accuse him of something.

It was a stupid worry but a worry, nevertheless. One that rarely left him.

Chato had expressed that anxiety and paranoia to you once or twice, usually when he was stoned and his lips were looser. You’d do what you could to relieve that almost instinctual panic whenever you could. But, sometimes, no matter what you did, nothing seemed to help. This is one of those moments. In a place like this, that people like you could be shot at for just looking in its direction. And all you could do right now was stay close and check on him.

You could imagine that you’re sharing the same thoughts about this whole party. How maybe it was some fucked up prank by the girl who’d invited him. You may not have known her, but from the sounds of it, she seemed like she would pull something like that for her own amusement.

But you knew a bit better than that and beat that thought away. After all, unlike at home, the cops didn’t hang around here that much. No easy way to fill their quotas. But even knowing that didn’t make you feel any better. You knew it wouldn’t make him feel any better, either.

The grim and fearful look on Chato’s face told you plainly what he was feeling. And despite his hands being stuffed into the pockets of his well-worn jeans, you could see them pressing against the fabric, clenching. You knew his knuckles were probably pure white right now, maybe even purpling from his crushing grip.

“Chato.”

He hummed in acknowledgement.

“Will you relax?” You asked, setting your hand on his upper arm. The leather sleeve of his letterman was alarmingly warm. “I swear, you’re more freaked out than I am, and you’re the one who actually likes parties.”

Chato chuckled lightly and glanced over at you; an intense stare that threatened to burn the door down softened as it landed on you. The tension visibly evaporated from his muscles, the extra heat going with it as he threw an arm over your shoulders, continuing his trek to the house.

“Don’ want nothin’ to happen to my favourite person, is all,” he said before looking around again.

His paranoia, while slightly endearing, also worried you. The whole reason you agreed, ignoring the puppy-dog eyes, was because Chato wanted to relax. If he wasn’t, there was no point in being here.

You slipped your own arm around his waist, listening as the asphalt lightly crunched under each step. It was far less than you were used to but still enough to temper your nerves.

“Don’t worry about me, bud. I ain’t a baby.”

Pulling away slightly, you walked along a small crack, trying to do anything to keep your thoughts off of how many people you were gonna find inside. But, you didn’t get far before Chato pulled you close again, like a bungee cord snapping you back to safety.

“I know, Chaparro,” he said, lips twisting into his signature smirk that’s usually paired with the nickname. “I know. You got those big kid pants on.”

You giggled lightly at that, the familiar joke enough to settle your thoughts.

He was good at that. Calming and comforting you, that is. If there was one person you trusted, who you wanted to be comforted by, it would be him. Always.

•

The two of you made your way through the fellow party-goers with red solo cups filled with who knows what. Probably soda or alcohol. Maybe both.

There were mostly rich kids with a few people like you and Chato hanging around. It was almost painfully obvious which was which. The poor kids didn’t have pristine or strategically ripped clothes or nice accessories. The rich kids did. You were pretty sure you saw some kid with a Rolex, for fuck’s sake. What teenager has a fucking Rolex?

You died a little inside as you watched the people around you. The differences were too obvious to be anything but disheartening.

But, despite the cups and people, it wasn’t like all those parties in movies and shows with so many people it was impossible to walk around. There were still enough to make you regret coming, though.

And while the number of people was less than expected, the loudness made up for any absences, especially near the TV where a bunch of people crowded around two others playing some racing game. The sound system was expansive, too. Wires and speakers were strung and stationed everywhere to give the sound that extra boom it needed to be heard by everyone in the house.

In short: it was sensory hell.

Turning to Chato, you watched him grimace.

There weren’t a lot of kids like you roaming around. But the ones that were looked as uncomfortable as you felt.

None of you had any idea how to act in this strange and alien world.

If the cops received complaints about this place, you all would be the first to go. They would probably think you were drug dealers or some shit. Anything they could to make the trip worth it.

“We can leave if you want,” you whispered into his ear, a hand on his chest to keep yourself steady as people hustled by. “I know I want to.”

Chato shook his head. “No,” he swallowed before taking a deep breath. “No, I can’t just leave without at least saying ‘hello’ to Leina. I did agree to come, after all. And Abuela always says: you should always thank your host.”

You gave him an inquisitive look. Not about his abuela’s saying but about the name he dropped. It sounded vaguely familiar and ignited a tickle in the back of your brain, trying to drag up any memories you had of it.

He turned slightly as he felt your gaze on him, and he, undoubtedly, froze that very second. For a moment, he was lost in your eyes, and scarily enough, he wanted nothing more than to stay lost and forget the world around him, around you both. To hold you tight in his arms and never have to let go, to feel your gentle, loving hands caress his inked skin hidden to all but you, to kiss those lips taunting him to do so, and, Dios, did he want to. But he knew that wasn’t possible, so as quickly as he had fallen, he dragged himself back up and into reality.

At your pressing and slightly confused stare, he feared that he’d made things awkward in his silence. He quickly reminded himself again and again of his place in your life. That place was not of lovers permitted to fall into each other but as friends who shared jokes and homework answers. That was all he was and all he could be, no matter how else he felt.

“La chica, who invited us?” he clarified after finally finding his voice and forcing himself to focus on literally anything but your lips.

You mouthed an ‘oh’ before nodding. “Oh, yeah. Her. Lo siento, couldn’t find the effort to care to think about remembering her name.”

Chato chuckled to cover up the cough to clear his suddenly dry throat. Shaking his head, he pulls you ever closer, close enough to kiss, not that he could muster the courage to do it. “That, mi amigo, was a very confusing sentence.”

You couldn’t help the shiver that ran down your spine at his warm touch. If you could, you would spend all day wrapped in his arms, safe and secure, with no other worry in the world. And while you get that sometimes, you can’t help but want more. To see his eyes filled to the brim with adoration of the romantic sort while his lips whispered sweet nothings for you alone to hear before he lowered himself to kiss–

Mentally, you slapped yourself for thinking about him like that. 

You’d recently found your mind wandering to it more and more, and you weren’t entirely sure how to stop it. Usually, a nice mental slap to your face was enough to clear the haze, but that took a while to get through, so you can’t really do that here. Thinking quick on your feet, a trait you rarely possess, you quickly covered it up with a smile and let him keep you close.

His eyes never left yours, making no move to pull away, and you’re almost tempted to risk everything and close that little gap between you both.

Right up until some asshole bumped into you. This resulted in Chato quickly switching into “asshole mode” himself, as you’d affectionately started to call it.

“Oye, gilipollas, watch it!” he shouted at the boy, arm unravelling from your waist to be shoved in the other guy’s direction.

The other boy shrunk back, obviously not used to people being so aggressive. He was scrawny and wore baggy—and clearly expensive—clothes.

You didn’t know why that had set Chato off. It was a slight bump, if that, and an accident. But Chato had been on edge even before you got here.

That moment, just a few seconds prior, had been the calmest he’d been since arriving.

Besides, right now, the only thing that mattered was making sure Chato didn’t get hurt or arrested. You couldn’t bear the thought of that happening.

“Chato,” you said, pulling at one of his outstretched arms. “Let it be. He didn’t see us. It’s fine.”

“The fuck it is!” he snapped, lips curling into a snarl that had the other boy practically pissing himself.

His letterman jacket started to smoke as it smothered the flames beneath, and you took it as a sign to stop him before he decided to burn the whole place down.

Grabbing Chato’s shoulder, you yanked him back, glare turned at him with enough fire to counter his powers. “Fucking chill, Chato.”

If you were anyone else, he’d have burned you for that. But it was you, and hurting you was the last thing he’d ever do. You knew he’d never be able to live with himself if he harmed you. Chato hadn’t ever said it, but he didn’t need to.

A few other teens had started rubbernecking which earned them a sharp glare from you. They got the picture and swiftly went back to minding their own business.

Chato, meanwhile, roughly pulled away from you for fear of hurting you, mumbling in Spanish under his breath as he paced in circles. It worked to calm him down a little, and thankfully, the other boy ran off, taking the hint to run while he still could.

You turned to face your still angry friend, staring for a minute to measure his state.

He rolled his shoulders back, refusing to meet your gaze. He was embarrassed for losing his cool like that. But he was the hothead. Still, your disappointment was too painful to meet.

“Maybe we should leave,” you said, resisting the urge to cover your eyes. His heat waves could be pretty powerful at times like this.

“No,” Chato responded, tone clipped but noticeably calmer than before. “Estoy bein.”

You nodded.

When Chato wanted to do something, he tended to be rather stubborn about it. It was easier to let it be and watch him; pull him out when you needed to and all.

“Okay. But let’s not do any drinking tonight.”

Chato rolled his eyes, but his annoyance was betrayed by the small smile on his face. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like your concern for him. “Whatever you say, jefe.”

To be frank, he hadn’t wanted to drink anyway. He didn’t trust whatever the alcohol would let slip especially after the last time when he’d almost confessed. Besides, when he was with you, he didn’t want anything else to take up his time. You were it for him, all he needed.

•

A few minutes later, Chato saw Leina talking to some people. They put scraps of paper into two hats, one blue and the other red.

Leina happily, and awkwardly, waved them away.

Chato gently touched your back and guided you over to her. He did not want to deal with her alone. The first few times were more than enough.

“Hola, Leina,” Chato said with a strained smile. It refused to meet his eyes.

Leina looked over and grinned. “Chato, you made it!”

He nods stiffly, not really looking at her. His hand dropped from your back, and he tucked it into his pocket.

Oddly, your back felt cold without his hand there. No, not cold. More like empty. You chalked that up to Chato’s powers and his supernatural warmness. Something in the back of your mind said otherwise, but it was easy enough to ignore for now. You’d gotten rather good at that, actually.

Ignoring it, you stood there and crossed your arms. Your eyes fell to the floor, trying to stay out of this interaction as much as possible.

You weren’t the one invited anyway; Chato was. He had just brought you along. So, technically, it was up to him to make introductions.

It’s one of the informal norms you’d learned about in some random book you were reading. And, at times like this, it was one you were willing to abide by if it meant you wouldn’t have to talk to this chick.

“And who’s this?” Leina asked.

Mierda.

You could feel her looking at you, but your gaze remained rooted to the ground.

“Y/N, my best friend,” Chato said. “We rarely go anywhere without each other.”

His gaze drifted over to you as he watched a small smile creep onto your face.

His words were enough to give you the courage you needed to glance up at Leina in all her rich, white bitch glory.

Leina looked you over with a critical and clearly judgemental gaze. Her genuine smile had turned into something strained and oddly malicious. Something felt wrong as she looked at you. You couldn’t fully describe what, but everything felt off in your stomach. It was almost like a mouse faced with a cat, but the mouse wasn’t quite sure if the cat was hungry or not.

Deciding to push that aside, you squared your shoulders and put your hand out in greeting.

“Hi, Leina. It’s nice to meet you.”

Leina hummed with that fake smile on her face. “Why’s your voice so high-pitched? I thought you were supposed to be a boy?”

Your jaw clenched, hand dropped in an instant at the obvious jab.

It wasn’t the worst you’d gotten, but it hurt nonetheless. It wasn’t like you didn’t know.

“I am. Unfortunately, I’ve got a girlish voice. Genetics: They suck,” you joked, trying to play it off.

It came off as awkward, which was pretty much your life’s synopsis at the moment.

“Riiight, sure.”

Her sarcastic tone grated your ears like nails on a chalkboard. But again, you pushed it aside with little but a slight wince.

Chato wanted to stay and have fun. And if you had to put up with Leina’s bullshit for him, you would.

At not getting the rise she was aiming for, she quickly turned her attention back to Chato. “You gamble?”

“¿Qué?” Chato asked, confusion lacing his voice at the switch in her attitude and the abruptness of her question.

Leina giggled and set the hats she’d been holding on a nearby table. “Are you willing to gamble? We’re gonna play 7 minutes in Heaven. Everybody puts their name in a hat. One person from each hat gets chosen to go into the closet together for 7 minutes. Or do you need that translated?”

You rolled your eyes and folded your arms again. As much as you wanted to say something, you knew that Chato preferred to stand up for himself.

And, as always, he did.

“Translated? Seriously?” he spat. “You do realise I was born and grew up here, right? Right here, in California. In Boyle Heights, actually.”

You smiled slightly at his snappiness and let your softened gaze wander to him.

The light from the floor lamp not too far away was at the perfect spot to illuminate his head, making it almost seem like a halo was sitting on his buzzed, black hair. His eyebrows furrowed as he glared at her, and there was a slight scrunch to his nose.

It was cute.

No, bad Y/N.

You mentally slapped yourself again before directing your ire back toward Leina.

If what she’d said hadn’t pissed you off so much, you might have felt bad for her.

Most people who angered Chato didn’t usually do it again. There was a damn good reason for that. The guy could get scary.

Watching him for a beat more, you did have to appreciate how good he looked when he was angry at other people. Sometimes, it’s a little sexy… not that you’d noticed.

Leina raised her hands in surrender, Chato’s glare too scalding for her to do much else. “I figured, I just thought—”

“It doesn’t matter what you thought. You’re wrong.”

“Okay, sorry,” she grumbled. “Do you want to play or not?”

Chato deliberated for a moment, letting his anger subside.

This wasn’t about him or what he wanted. Not tonight, anyway. Tonight, he wanted to make you happy and comfortable.

So, he looked over at you expectantly. “You wanna?”

In his eyes, it wasn’t worth it. Not only had she slighted him, which he was used to, but the comment about you had already got him going. Anything revolving you getting hurt always did. He’d have much rather watched Leina burn than stick around. But, he figured, you might want to hang out and have some fun for once. It was your decision. Who was he to take that opportunity away?

You shrugged. “Sure. I don’t get it, but why not, right?”

Leina’s strained smile came back, clearly more eager for Chato to play than you, as she stuffed a piece of paper in your hand without even a glance.

You wrote your name down with the pen she offered. But, as you went to put the scrap into the hat distinctly labelled “boys”, Leina stopped you.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “That’s for the boys, not girls.”

You laughed through your nose a little, already expecting the comment but hoping it wouldn’t come. Sadly, the universe did not answer your prayers. “I am a boy.”

“Hmmm, pretty sure you’re not, though,” Leina said with that smile that didn’t reach her cold, conniving eyes. “Boys don’t look like that.” She gestured up and down at you as if you didn’t know your own body.

Closing your eyes for a moment, you squared yourself. It was just a stupid comment, after all.

Frankly, you were more worried about Chato’s reaction.

You looked over at Chato. His nose was twitching, jaw clenched with a deep-set frown on his face that was so close to turning into a snarl you could count on one finger how long it’d take for that to happen. A light amount of smoke lifted from his shoulders.

His fuse had already been burned rather short today. A few seconds longer, and he’d blow.

You wouldn’t allow that to happen. You couldn’t. It’s what you were there for. To protect him, even from himself and his own short temper.

Without another word, you turned back to her, put the paper in your mouth, and chewed.

Leina jerked back slightly at the rather odd behaviour before a wad of wet paper got spat at her scrunched-up face.

Chato himself was shocked by the action. His fuse had been doused by the hilarity of it.

And this is why I love you. he thought.

“Thanks for the party, perra, but we’ve got to get going,” you said with a smile, wiping the spit from your mouth as you walked away.

Chato followed quickly, desperately trying not to laugh but mostly failing as some quiet chuckles slipped past his bitten bottom lip.

Leina just stood there, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. The wet wad fell to the ground with a small splat.

•

Right as the two of you headed down the stairs, Chato let loose all his muffled laughter.

“That was hilarious, Chaparro.” He stood there with a grin on his face, crinkled in both his nose and around his eyes, as he looked over at you.

Dios, it was cute.

“I mean, the fucking look on her face! That alone was worth coming here.” His hands flailed everywhere as he spoke, that pretty grin of his plastered on his face.

A smile of your own ghosted over you, but it refused to meet your eyes. “Glad you found it amusing.”

Chato’s eyebrows furrowed, his grin faltering into a frown at your expression. “Hey,” he said, “you good, homie? ‘Cause, you lookin’ a little lost up here.” He gently tapped your temple for emphasis.

You shrugged.

Truth be told, no, you weren’t okay. But Chato didn’t need to know that.

After enough years of hearing mierda like that, you were used to it. A little time disassociating usually did the trick, though. At least, until it happened again.

One of Chato’s warm hands laid on your upper arm, squeezing gently. You pretended not to notice, hoping he’d leave it be, but he didn’t.

Fingers drift down your arm, the heat leaving goosebumps in their wake until they eventually settle around your waist. “N/N,” he whispered softly, pulling you closer to where the heat penetrates through the gloom and cold shrouding you. The warmth was appreciated in both aspects. “You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”

“Estoy bien, Chato. Prometo.” The words fell from your lips, well-practised in both Spanish and English.

“Then why are you crying, mi todo?” He gently wiped away a tear you didn’t know you were shedding.

You leant into his hand with nothing more than a heavy sigh. That only furthered to worry him.

“N/N, talk to me,” he begged. “Please.”

You meet his eyes, and it felt like you were going to break. The heavy weight that had long since settled on your shoulders seemed impossible to lift right now with his gaze fixed on you. His warm, black eyes searched yours, pleading with you to talk to him as he pulled his hand away to settle on your arm.

Chato wanted to know. You could see it. He wanted to lift some of that weight, shoulder it with you instead of letting you do it all by yourself. You knew it because you felt the same. His problems were yours, and yours were his. Always.

“No lo sé. I’m used to it, but I guess stuff piles up.” You laughed a little at the situation as you wiped more tears away, the first one acting as a catalyst to bring forth the rest. “I’ve heard all of this before, and something this small is what gets to me. Kinda pathetic.”

Chato shook his head. “You are the furthest thing from pathetic, N/N. The fucking furthest. I never met someone so strong, besides maybe mi abuela. But this isn’t about her.”

A small, sad smile surfaced on your face at the comment.

This stupid idiot really loved his grandma.

Chato pulled you into an unbreakable hug, arms tensing to keep you secure in his embrace. The weight of him against you was like Heaven with the leather and cotton of his jacket wrapping you in his scent. Add to that Chato’s unnatural warmth, and you could stay like this for eternity.

“I could burn the whole place down if you want?” he asked, mumbling it into your ear.

You knew if you gave him the go-ahead, he would. But there was no point. It wasn’t the adults’ fault or any of the other teens there. If you were going to exact revenge, you’d do it on the person who wronged you in the same manner as she had. A true eye for an eye.

Then, of course, there was the irrational fear that someone could find out and take him away from you. The thought of that terrified you to the core and outweighed any need for revenge immediately, so you shook your head.

“Okay.” He pulled away slightly as his hands found their way to your cheeks, cupping them silently. “La opción está sobre la mesa. Just say the word, and they’re goners.”

You shook your head again before reaching your hands up and holding onto his wrists. “No, Chato, but thank you.”

The two of you pause, getting caught up in each other yet again. It was as inevitable as the day and night at this point.

“Your eyes remind me of dirt,” you mumbled, trying to pull yourself out of the intoxicating aura of the heartthrob known as Chato Santana.

Chato, surprised, busted out laughing.

Dios, how you loved his laugh. His smile. His, well, his everything, really.

“Lo siento. ¿Qué?”

You shrugged, smiling. “Your eyes remind me of dirt. Like, rich, fertilized soil. The kinda soil that is so dark and rich with nutrients, life is bound to grow there. Like in the Amazon or Nile. They’re so pretty. So… I don’t know, just so you.”

Chato’s grin only further widened, despite the weird compliment. In fact, it was rather tame in comparison to some others you’d given him. “You are so weird, Chaparro.”

“You say it like you don’t love it,” you said.

Chato rolled his eyes, playfully annoyed. “Gracias, N/N.”

“De nada,” you said. “Now, I have to ask, are you okay? After what Leina said to you?”

Chato snorted, accompanied by another eye roll, of course. “La perra es estúpida. Real insults come from family, not some random bitch. It was more annoying than insulting.”

You hummed but watched for any signs of him lying. After a moment of awkwardly (at least on your part) staring into his eyes, there didn’t seem to be any. Thankfully.

He grabbed your hand, letting a smile surface again. “Now,” he said, “how ‘bout we get out of here? Have some fun elsewhere?”

You squeezed slightly before nodding. “Let’s.”

•

Laying on your back with your head pressed against a tree trunk, you stared up at the cloudy, smog-ridden L.A. sky and wondered what it would have looked like before the Industrial Revolution and massive amounts of smoke were introduced to the atmosphere. Was it as entrancing as you’d read? With colours and detail you could only find in remote locations now? Then again, the way some people wrote about the stars way back when, you’d write about Chato and his stupid, pretty eyes now. You couldn’t see what was so hypnotizing about the stars when you had him. Then, you wondered if you’d always have him or if he’d leave you alone with the stars trying to match the way he shines. 

Thankfully, your position was very uncomfortable and pulled you from your thoughts. You shifted slightly, grunting at the pain that jolted down your spine. At least it distracted you from the pain that had embedded itself into your heart, though.

“¿Estás bien, Chaparro?”

“Sí,” you said. “Think I’m gonna get a kink in my neck from laying like this, though.”

You rub the back of your neck, squirming at the discomfort while trying to find a more comfortable position to lie in. At least the grass was soft. Though, the tree roots were not.

Chato nuzzled into your stomach for a moment, his nose tracing a path that sent shivers through you. But before you had the time to relish in the affection you so adored, he pushed himself up, sitting on his haunches between your legs.

As soon as his warmth left you, you regretted saying anything.

You propped yourself up on your elbows, frowning. “What are you doing?”

Chato smiled down at you, a street light glinting off his dark eyes and adding sparkles brighter than the stars themselves. “Tryna make you feel comfy, duh.” He slipped off his letterman and folded it into a very flat pillow. He only wore a tank and his silver cross under it. The metal glint drew your eyes to his toned chest it dangled in front of, like a magician's pocket watch, threatening to hypnotize you. For a moment, you thought about grabbing it and pulling him in. “Don’t move,” he said, leaning closer to you.

“Whatcha gonna do? Suffocate me?” You joked, trying to distract yourself from the closing distance.

Chato paused for a second, hand lingering in the air as he pondered your words before slipping the jacket behind your head. “Nah, not my style. If you died by my hand, which’ll never happen, I’d make it quick; so you don’t hurt too bad.”

“Awww, Chato. How sweet.” You playfully jabbed his stomach.

Tried to, anyway. But he was faster.

He knew you well enough to know what was coming. He always did.

Chato’s other hand came down by the side of your head as he caught your wrist in his dominant hand. Despite the roughness of the grab, there was no malice or harshness to his grip. In fact, it was rather comforting, especially after he started rubbing your skin with his thumb.

You wondered then what it’d be like if he was holding your hand instead of your wrist. Maybe he’d rub your fingers or the back of your hand the same way he did your wrist. Maybe kiss it every once in a while? Just to spice things up.

You could only hope.

“Careful, Chaparro; the Devil burns hot when he’s angry,” Chato whispered lowly, the sound reverberating into you.

It did something to you, his tone and even just his words. Something you knew wouldn’t be approved of.

His eyes found yours. And in the light of the street lamps, you could’ve sworn, on all that was unholy and sinful, that there was something behind his eyes. Something that you’d seen before on quiet nights in hidden places and parks like this. Something that sparked a fire in you.

He was good at that. Annoyingly good. Even if he didn’t realize it.

Chato loosened his grip slightly but continued to hover over you. He relaxed a little, too, the untensing of his muscles only bringing him ever closer. Too fucking close, just like at the party. If he got any closer, you were pretty sure you’d break and end up with your lips on his.

You flattened your hand, palm facing his chest, and he rested on it. His tank top was the only thing between the two of you. If you really wanted, you could have even slipped your hand underneath it.

You didn’t, of course. That would defeat the purpose of putting your hand there in the first place.

If it weren’t for the streetlight, you would have thought he was blushing.

You let yourself wonder, just for a moment, if he liked the touch and the closeness and the everything as much as you did.

Chato’s eyes flickered to your lips. Though just as quickly, the trailed back to your eyes, a hint of fear in them. From what, you couldn’t tell.

Even with the white tank top between your hand and his abs, you could feel the lean muscle beneath (or would it be above? Inside? You weren’t sure.). You’d always thought about the calories he had burned every day by running as hot as he does. It did him well. Too well.

You considered pushing upward. Maybe kissing him like you’d always wanted to, feeling him against you as you wrap him in your arms.

But then you’d lose a friend. A good friend. A lifeline. Someone who’d been through everything with you and stuck by you no matter what. You couldn’t. You already had so little. If you lost him, too, you’d have nothing.

“Chato,” you mumbled, not sure what else to say.

You weren’t exactly thinking straight right now. In more ways than one.

Chato just hummed; his eyes flickered to your lips again, almost as if he couldn’t resist. “What is it, Chaparro?”

You tried to think of something to say, but all you could think about was kissing him.

The thought was going to drive you mad one day; you knew it, too. When all you could think about was whether or not his lips would feel nice against yours, if he’d be gentle or rough, if he’d kiss you like a starved man or like you were a delicate flower, it was bound to drive you loco. Would he touch you? Maybe caress your cheek or squeeze your side? Would he want more? Would it mean anything to him?

How couldn’t you go mad when questions like that consumed your waking and resting thoughts?

“N/N?” he asked.

“Hmm?” You looked into his eyes, his warm, soft, and caring eyes. You’d be lying if you said they weren’t one of your favourite traits. “Sorry, you’re eyes are just so… enchanting? Is that the word? No lo sé. They make me feel safe and warm like a hearth. Like I’m home… And they’re so…” Your voice quiets as you trail off. Gently, you cup his cheek, your gaze wandering over his face. He leant into it, eyes fluttering shut as his breathing slows. On instinct, you spoke the words in Spanish. “Tan bonito…”

There was a pause before anything else was said. Chato was so enthralled by your touch, he couldn’t think for a moment.

“Eres bonito,” Chato whispered, breath fanning across your face. His eyes ever so slowly cracked open.

They were still barely open as your eyes locked, hazy with you.

You gasped slightly at his words.

You wanted to believe him, but how? How could someone like him believe that? After all, your body and mind don’t exactly match up. Not in the way you wished they would. And, he’d never shown any interest, not in you or any other guy. Hell, he rarely showed interest in girls.

“Don’t say that,” you whispered. You pulled away from him and his infernal warmth, resting your back against the tree. Chato’s jacket was a rather comfortable seat.

Chato sat up, watching you.

As soon as the words left your mouth, he wanted nothing more than to pull you close and repeat them until you believed him.

“Not to someone like me,” you continued. You refused to meet his eyes and hugged yourself, seeking what little comfort you could find without his warmth. “You want to say that to someone normal. Not a fucked up freak like me.”

“Freak?” He asked. “Chaparro, I was cursed by the Devil himself. If either of us is the freak–” he gently tilted your face to look at him, “–it’s me.”

Your hand found his wrist and pulled it down. Still, you couldn’t muster the courage to let go of it. He was your lifeline, whether you liked it or not.

“You’re just built a little different in a way the rest of the world doesn’t like. That’s all.” He rested a hand on one of your calves, thumb tracing over the bone as his fingers squeeze the flesh in a gentle hold.

His words, as simple as they were, felt good in your chest. But, well, he could be insulting you, and you’d probably still enjoy it as long as he was the one saying it.

You bit your lip and looked up at him. “The same could be said about you, Chato.”

The two of you shared a sad smile, his laced with an underlying concern that you couldn’t quite describe. But you had a feeling there was something similar in yours.

The both of you were trying to lift the other up even if neither of you believed what you were saying.

“You’re not just pretty, you know?” Chato said. “You’re the handsomest guy I’ve ever been lucky enough to see.”

You laughed. “Pretty sure that’s not a word. Also, we live in L.A. There are plenty of attractive men and women around.”

“Not to me, mi cielo.” It was his turn to cup your cheek. The two of you couldn’t keep your hands off each other. Not for long, anyway. It was almost like an undeniable want that burned bright in you both. “While sometimes I had a hard time seeing what I loved about you, I always found it again. I always wanted to find it again. Even when we were fighting over stupid shit.” He smiled gently. “When we were kids, I needed you. I needed a friend. But, as we’ve grown up, I can’t help but want you. I know I shouldn’t. I know I should want some chica with a nice set of tits or a nice ass. But, at night, all I can think about is cuddling with you until we fall asleep or sitting with you on the couch watching something stupid. Sometimes, I think about kissing you and showing you just how much I- well, how much I love you. I dream of it, actually.” He laughed a little at the admittance.

“That’s a little embarrassing,” you said with a smile. You meant no offence and thought it was mind-numbingly sweet. And, truth be told, you often did the same. You were fantasizing about it not that long ago, actually. But still, hearing him say that out loud. It was frightening.

You knew what you were, and it wasn’t a girl or a woman. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t force it on yourself. It wasn’t in your nature. You already knew Chato got shit from his other friends about your friendship. And you were pretty sure his abuela would kill him if she thought something was happening. If things between you progressed, who knew what would happen? Times may be changing, but not that much.

The risks of being trans are enough to scare anyone. It routinely did that to you. You were afraid to even leave your home most days. If someone were to be with you, it’d be like putting a target on their back. Add to that being gay? It was a recipe for disaster.

A disaster you didn’t want Chato to have to go through. He had enough to worry about with his pyrokinesis.

Chato rolled his eyes. “Hush, N/N,” he said. “I’m trying to tell you something important.”

Rubbing the wrist you were still holding, you slide your fingers down until you can slightly grip his hand. You wanted to touch him, feel him close by. Even when he was the source of your discomfort, he felt like the best medicine for it. “I know, I just- I think I’m in shock.” You looked up, relaxing a bit as he rubbed your knuckles.

Dios. That was nice. Real nice. You weren’t sure the two of you had ever done that. Held hands so gently. Sure, you hung on each other like no other, but this just felt different.

“Do you– How do you feel?” he asked like he didn’t already know.

Maybe he just wanted you to say it. In that case, you were happy to oblige.

You almost laughed but held it in for his sake. “Chato, I practically hang off you. I compliment you at every turn. I write you stupid letters and give you whatever gifts I can. You’ve had my heart for years, and no matter how I try to take it back, you rarely let me keep it for long.”

Chato’s face split into a grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling at your confession.

“¿Lo dices en serio?” he asked, slipping into his mother tongue out of habit. After all, his abuela had made sure Spanish was the first language he was taught.

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then, can I kiss you?”

You paused for a moment and began to fall into yourself again.

A kiss would make it real. It would solidify things. Speaking them gave them a reality, but acting on them cemented them in this world.

“Chato, I- I don’t know. If anyone finds out—”

“Just one then. Just one kiss. Sólo uno. Then, fuck, we don’t gotta talk about this again until you’re ready. If you ever are.” He sounded so desperate, like a man begging for his life.

You bit your lip and looked deep into those beautiful eyes of his, searching for something. What, you didn’t know. You rarely did. Maybe it was sincerity this time, to make sure he wasn’t fucking with you.

“Okay,” you relented. It wasn’t like you didn’t want this, too.

As soon as the words left your lips, Chato went in. He wasn’t going to waste this chance or wait too long and give you time to go back on it. Chato had wanted you for so long. Well, long in comparison to his rather short life so far.

But in his rush to not waste the opportunity, he kinda fucked up.

While Chato had made the smart decision to tilt his head, he didn’t do it enough. That lead to his nose deciding to awkwardly press into the side of yours which felt weird on your nostril. He also applied a little too much pressure parting his lips enough to scrape against your teeth since your mouth was open.

Despite the surprise and awkwardness, you wanted this, too. Even as the overactive part of your brain kept listing off reasons to not do it. So, you kept going and trying.

Eventually, Chato pulled back and sighed.

He knew it was bad. After all, he’d never done this before.

Still, he met your gaze despite being embarrassed.

You laughed. “Ya know, I don’t think that’s how they do it in the movies,” you pointed out.

Chato couldn’t help but smile.

Of course, you’d play it off like that. It was you, after all.

“We could always try again?” he offered.

You shook your head. “Maybe some other time. I think I need to process these very sudden developments and revelations.”

He nodded before standing. “We should go,” he said. “Abuela is probably losing her mind from worry, and I know for a fact you got shit to do tomorrow.” He offered you his hand. “Speaking of which, can we can do this again tomorrow?” There was a light in his dark eyes, the kind of light that, when it surfaced, seemed to light up the whole world.

You took it and pulled yourself up, taking his letterman with you. “I’d like that. But, we should keep this quiet. Until it’s safer.”

Chato nodded before kissing your cheek. “Whatever you want, mi amour,” he whispered.

[emperorsfoot]

Only parts of DC's take on MOTU I've read are the crossovers with Thundercats and Injustice (Latter sucked) but I recall one of them opening with Adam fighting Faker inside the Palace and it seeming like that Faker actually did replace him and rule for a bit, due to some civilians commentating afterwards that they preferred how Faker ran things because they "Kept us safe". I like this idea of Faker actually replacing Adam and now having to put their all into playing the role including... 1/3

This is actually one of the things that I feel is missing from several iterations of the franchise, not just DC and Revelation.

Other characters being allowed the chance and time to grow.

In the DC run of the comics, (Eternity War, to be specific), there is a wonderful scene between Adam and Rattlor where Rattlor tells Adam that he values Adam as a leader, and that Adam treats his soldiers with more respect and dignity than King Hiss treated Rattlor. This is a small scene to wrap up an equally small subplot of the Snakemen working with Adam and Teela to liberate Eternia from the Horde.

But imagine if they had allowed that subplot to be a full arc. The Snakemen must come to the difficult decision to work with He-Man against a common enemy invading their planet. Slowly, over the course of several battles, the named Snakeman characters observe Adam's leadership, how he treats his warriors, how he treats his wounded, how he cares for his wounded. And then coming to the big cathartic moment when they finally admit to themselves that their own leader, King Hiss, was not a good ruler. Then growing to be comfortable enough with this revelation to be able to tell Adam himself! To tell their former enemy, He-Man, enemy of the Snakemen, that he is a better leader than the Snakeman king. Gosh I would have loved it if they gave us an arc like that!

Or in the 2002 reboot, we know so little about all the Masters aside from Adam, Teela, and Man-at-Arms! We know Ram Man fought with Randor during Keldor's rebellion because we see him in the flashback (although he has no speaking lines), and we know he is afraid of the dark because they make it a plot point in one episode, and we know that he can be seduced by singing and magic because that was also a plot point in another episode. But 2002 doesn't even tell us his name! Ram Man is an ensemble cast member who appears in more than half of the 2002 episodes, yet he's so underdeveloped that the 3 facts I just listed about him are all we know about him in 2002. Imagine if they had developed him more! Why is a grown man in his 40s afraid of the dark? Not just afraid of the dark, but paralyzed with terror of the dark? How did he become one of Randor's warriors? He's clearly not as well educated as the other Masters, is he from a poor family? Did he join the military for financial opportunities? Ram Man is just one example, but truthfully, all the ensemble cast needed more attention.

In the Classics-Line the situation is even worse! Most of the lore from Classics-Line isn't even in the comics! Most of the lore from the Classics-Line is given to us in interviews with Scott Neithlitch. There's a couple panels in one of the Ultimate Battlegrounds where we see that Man-at-Arms has been transformed into a Snakeman and the dialogue implies that things have been this way for a while. But this is the first the reader ever sees of Snakeman-at-Arms, and then he dies in the same scene. Teela is shown having a very emotional scene where she cries over her father's dead body for 1 whole panel, then Snakeman-at-Arms is never discussed or mentioned again. But imagine if that was a full length arc we could have gotten. How amazing would that have been?

Anyway, back to your original Ask: I would love to read a series about Faker impersonating King Adam and growing as a person either by choice of necessity. Since canon will never give us what we want, I encourage you to write it yourself! Take that passion and write it into a fan fiction!

I'd love to read it!

[stilemawillow]

MTIJ | Ch.29 Dear Diary, Why Do I Have Feelings?

|mtij masterlist|

pairing: levi ackerman x reader

word count: 7.9k

summary: a girl with a variety of hidden complexes has to live with a french asshole for nine months. easy? on the surface. problematic? definitely. romantic? not too much, or at least they’d make it a point to say so everytime when asked. the end? please, their dynamic isn’t as simple as that.

he wants to say i love you but keeps it to goodnight because love will mean some falling and she's afraid of heights r.i.d

Vacations. Something so planned yet at the same time unplanned. Going to the beach was one thing, something unexpected happening as a result of that – another altogether. Vacations were meant to please, excite, aid the successful achievement of relaxation and all sorts of good things, only good things, good things all over. Mountains were fresh air, beautiful landscapes and so so many opportunities to stargaze. Beaches were sand, breeze, cocktails, hot girls in bikinis and seagulls all around. None of that sounded like it could do any harm, no? Of course not. Vacations were meant to create memories and be fun, a break from a dreadful 9-5 routine. So why wasn’t I having fun?

I got it! I got it! Asshole-me piped in an overzealous manner inside my throbbing head. It’s because who you like to think of as our asshole is in this picture with his hand around this blonde bimbo’s bare waist. Bingo. Jackpot. Bullseye. All those pleasant victories in life. A million dollars in cash falling out of a slot in a casino. Somebody winning a poker game. An old lady in a godforsaken village with too much time on her hands getting a check for half a billion. World peace. A child saying its first word, making its parents cry out of happiness. All my overdramatic self and I could do was cheer till my throat hurt. Inwardly, of course. Because you’ll never ever admit you’re jealous, asshole-me remarked. Well, no, but I couldn’t embarrass myself by throwing a tantrum in public either – I was Rolland Raven’s daughter and, in his presence or not, wouldn’t allow disgrace to befall our manipulative family and its name.

I stared at my phone’s screen with pursed lips and fervent eyes. The image my shrunken pupils couldn’t unglue themselves from featured a small beach bar. Palms in the far back, a child on its way to trip in the bottom left corner and a seagull eyeing its inanimate victim in the upper left one. They seemed like good pizza rolls. In the centre, like a Renaissance painting, stood Uncle Nick and Uncle Terry, George Tanner Senior – the bearer of the pizza rolls, my obviously sunburnt father, Natalie, a guy who I guessed was IT based on how dreadfully skinny he was and of course, Levi. The intern was on a small stool with a drink in one hand and a pretty little girl pushed into the other. Her bikini-clad breasts were pressed against his naked chest and her bright smile struck me as immensely fake all the way from New Jersey through the phone I was gazing at. Levi’s twitchy fingers were hesitantly ghosting over her skin, but had I not paid attention to the detail, I would’ve immediately assumed they were pretty close if not straight-up dating.

You’ll wonder what of that wasn’t fun for my pretentious highness and I’ll tell you that maybe it’s the one where my father was the one to send me this picture instead of the intern who I’d been texting for the past two days non-stop. Or maybe the part where the raven-haired asshole hadn’t once mentioned the blondie to his right during those two days. Not wishing to be overdramatic, I kept looking at my phone with a listless expression instead of scowling for being held in the dark about some random chick the intern had met on their vacation, but I could feel my stare growing emptier as my interest in today’s good weather and opportunities to have fun gradually evaporated.

“I ordered the drinks,” Adam said while sitting down across from me. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?” His voice snapped me out of the trance. I placed my phone face-down on the table. There were no benefits whatsoever to us looking at the stupid picture so there was no use in showing it to the world either. I smiled as a nasty ball of phrases got stuck in the back of my throat. Ignoring it, I tried to be as benevolent as possible considering I had literally nothing to be mad about. Levi was just an intern, just a friend. The girl next to him and their relationship were none of my business. I wasn’t his girlfriend or secretary.

“I’m sure.” I nodded. Adam huffed, tucking a wavy lock of his ebony hair behind his ear and making me sigh on the inside. Usually, I’d make fun of Levi for not sending me the picture himself, tease him about the blonde and feel absolutely nothing because that’s how it’d been between us. We did things and whether the other liked them or not was unimportant because we didn’t feel much for each other. Now, of course, here came this thing – I didn’t want to ask and tease, too fearful of ruining his vacation by repeating all over again past mistakes of shoving my nose in personal matters.

“You don’t look too well,” Adam remarked, icy blue orbs scanning my face. I kept smiling and it might’ve made him uncomfortable enough to dismiss the topic altogether. He didn’t make a second comment on it. My hands played with the silver on my ring finger, cold and reassuring. As if.

The next day, to nobody’s surprise it would seem, my mother took her leave with a bang grand and startling enough to make my eyelids snap open faster than the speed of sound. A grunt left my parted lips and I slapped a hand to my face to use as a comb. My bladder called for release, but my body decided not to function, so I ended up tumbling to the floor and greeting it with a kiss. Not a good start to any day. My eyes teared up and my wrist hurt, and I could feel my left leg was still on the bed, strangled by the sheets. It took me a minute and a few curses to get up and make an appearance in front of the bathroom mirror.

I washed my face and combed my hair, then approached Levi’s room with a nonchalant call of his nickname only to choke on a horrified gasp at the sight of the empty interior. Half-asleep mind going back to the strange dream I’d had, I stared at the dust coating the parquet and the pristine bed covers with vacant eyes. I closed the door slowly, heavy sigh slipping out as I reached the conclusion there’d be no need to make Earl Grey today along with my coffee. It left a bitter taste in my mouth to break a routine like that. Felt weird, too. Weirder even than the fact I’d made both drinks instinctively this Tuesday after they’d already left.

I would’ve taken my phone to the kitchen if it hadn’t been for the disappointingly low battery percentage that forced me to leave it to charge in my room. In five minutes, I was sitting at the marble counter with a steaming coffee in front of me, zoning out and pondering the fractions of my dream I could recollect. My bedroom had been stuffy and the hallway had been glowing with early sunlight. An instinctual turn to the guest room. Empty insides. I’d looked through the wardrobe for his clothes, searched for the books he stacked by the desk, the paperwork he always assembled neatly on top. There had been only dust.

I could recall sitting on the bed and opening the nightstand’s first drawer to find a glistening silver ring inside. Not the one I wore. The one he’d been supposed to wear and had probably thrown out. Then there was my father materialising at the doorstep, telling me to get out, breakfast was ready, my boyfriend was waiting downstairs (not Eren), my lecture was starting in an hour. No intern. He’d left long ago. He’d left long long ago. No trace of him anywhere.

I put down my coffee with a snort, letting the cryptic paranoia win. My feet padded up the stairs to the guest room despite the raw cynicism begging to spill from my mouth. I barged into Levi’s room and opened the wardrobe. It was full of suits and long-sleeved shirts, pants and T-shirts folded neatly and laid at the bottom. Half of his books were stacked in alphabetical order by the desk and there was no paperwork on top of it, but the pedantic color-coordinated arrangement of pens made up for it. I sat on the bed and looked around – the golden glow matched that of my faded dream, but the air was still heavy with Levi’s lavender shampoo and strong cologne. My hand reached for the nightstand. I didn’t know what I was expecting or hoping for, but the theatrical display was cut off by my own coarse laughter. The derision in it was great enough to make my fingers withdraw.

Nothing, nothing, nothing. I’m going fucking crazy. I tumbled sideways onto the pillow and sighed. God, so we finally agree on something! Asshole-me made me scoff. I stayed just long enough to feel the immense need to leave, overborne by the realisation the intern wouldn’t enter and scold me for invading his privacy or question the whereabouts of his morning cup of tea. With all my insolence, I took a brook from the pile by the desk and returned to the kitchen, ready to start the day with some French lessons and a dose of caffeine. I was in the middle of the second chapter, where the main heroine was telling the story of how she’d gotten smitten with her late husband, when I heard my muffled ringtone echo in the empty house. My memory served as a bookmark and I rushed upstairs to answer the call without checking the ID. I expected Adam, Annie, Melinda or even my father, but asshole-me insisted otherwise. Neither of us believed he’d be calling.

“How’s my princess doing at six in the morning? I hope I woke you up.” It was weird. Weird, refreshing and warm somehow. He sounded bored. No other way for it to go. I bit my bottom lip and snorted. I had a role to play here.

“You did, asshole, much like you do every other day.” My white lie probably went unnoticed because he only huffed, satisfied with himself. I faked a grumpy voice while asking: “What are you doing up this early?” It wasn’t curiosity. It was carrying the conversation.

“Making myself a tea and your father – a coffee. He’ll need it after yesterday’s cocktails.” His heavy sigh signalled to me who’d been the responsible babysitter while everybody else had been drinking. Uncle Terry and Nick loved to get carried away. Levi had enough experience with babysitting anyway. I wondered whether he’d tucked any of them into bed and whether they’d been wasted enough to commit atrocities, but asshole-me put the questions to rest by taking the wheel.

“On the topic of cocktails, my caring father didn’t forget to inform me of the White Woman you drowned. Tasty or is blonde not for you?” My back was leaning against the wall as the raven on the other end of the line clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. I imagined his face – sunburnt, scowling and tired. Maybe the lilac crescents would still be visible. If they were, had the pretty blonde noticed?

“Hold back the malice, princess. The cocktail was a Grasshopper, whatever that means, and the girl is an intern that flew in from Germany. Your father probably forgot to tell you that.” I felt the irrational need to roll my eyes so hard they got stuck in the back of my head and saved my all future conversations about this other intern we’d most certainly lead. I attempted, failed and fixed my gaze on the TV.

“Like he forgets to tell me he loves me. Both still seem pretty significant,” I shot out condescendingly, making Levi sigh. 6 a.m. or not, I wouldn’t let go of my demeaning confidence. I paused, thought of the tiredness in his voice and gave a sigh of my own. “Since I don’t want to ruin anything for you this early in the morning, I’m just going to say I hope you’re having fun. Don’t think about work. It’s not what you’re there for.”

“Interesting you should mention work. How’s the job at the supermarket going?” I decided not to take it personally after the conversation we’d led this Monday. I knew at least one passive joke awaited.

“Balanaces out as always. Okay paycheck and a not okay boss.” I shrugged, avoiding the mention of Adam’s name and waiting for my raven-haired friend to slip him into the conversation himself. We hadn’t talked about it properly. Maybe we had to at some point. Or maybe not, I squeaked mentally. A serious talk about Adam and I would result in nothing at all. Worse, likely an argument.

“And your suitor?” It was expected, light-hearted and unbothered as could be. I tried to picture his face but something hindered the image. I concluded the less I reacted, the less he would make such comments, hence why I refrained from sighing or making a sour face at the wall for fear he’d sense.

“Adam’s also fine, thank you for asking. He took me out yesterday,” I informed casually. Then again, I hadn’t meant to. I panicked about it, asshole-me shrugged her shoulders in oblivion and we both anticipated the intern’s reaction, knowing the spoiled princess points might’ve been boosted to a 40/100. Levi, however, did exactly what was expected of him – no more and no less.

“So now I get to call him your boyfriend?” The mocking inquiry didn’t harm my pride, but it made my defences rise. Maybe it was the unreasonable dislike for the word I harboured, still considering it a title only Eren was worthy enough of.

“You’re insufferable. No, you don’t get to call him anything besides his name because we’re not together.” My tone was spiteful, I was shaking my head, struggling not to glare or overreact. The joke didn’t deserve a temper tantrum, much less actual anger. As the mind-reader he was (or simple a good judge of conversations’ quality), Levi sensed my tone and took a risk by diving into unexplored territory.

“Maybe you should be. I don’t think even Leonheardt would blame you if you started dating. In most cases, you need a new guy to forget the old one.” The calming voice over the line I matched to a pair of beautiful narrowed eyes, ashen hues pinned to the floor. The advice towards the end had been strangely soft, almost knowing, as if having been tested, failed, succeeded and acknowledged. My heart clenched but I didn’t let it show.

“Thanks for enlightening me, Sherlock, I hadn’t thought of it that way,” I sassed sarcastically, making the raven sigh. Alongside the sound I imagined a pale hand going up to his hair to brush it away from his face. I moved the phone away from my ear to huff before pursing my lips with a half-hearted glare. “Also, you’re literally the last person I want to hear this from. I could start pushing you into getting with every girl that hits on you, but I don’t because I’m a good friend,” I boasted fakely, making the raven-haired intern snort in mild condescension.

“A best friend, rather. Only a friend wouldn’t comfort me as passionately as you have.” It was an accident, I could tell, but it made my windpipe constrict. My mouth clamped shut in shame so similar to fear it was uncanny. On the one hand, he was clueless how his albeit correct grammar in English added a nuanced subtext to the sentence. On the other hand, he was right. “Sorry. I know you don’t like it when I---” He tried hitting the pause and restarting but it was too late. I’d already turned into a ball of insecurity and I’d rather resent myself than him for it.

“Yes, I don’t. It’s whatever, no need for apologies, asshole. It happens, we slip. If I apologised for every time you didn’t like something I said we wouldn’t be talking at all.” My voice was nonchalant and it spoke of benevolent forgiveness but I could feel my resolve crumble while looking at the wall our rooms shared. A slimy ball of distaste formed in the back of my throat, crawling up to the tip of my tongue when I heard an ecstatic female voice call Levi’s name in the background. I spat the ball out and it hit the phone before dropping in my lap. “Sounds like better company has made an appearance. My highness better go.”

I hung up before he could respond, heart hammering and eyes closing in exhaustion. This wasn’t how the call should’ve gone, but it was inevitable, as with every other conversation we’d led. My shoulders slouched as I tried not to think about the happening at the hotel they were staying over at where the beautiful blonde had called Levi’s name in a way I’d never get the guts to. I remembered the photo and my shoulders tensed. She looked like a supermodel, just shorter. The perfect girl you come across randomly. You pass her on the street and hate yourself for not talking to her, but know you would’ve fumbled it even if you did. You see her in the background of a selfie your best friend sends you from the airport – a stranger that’s gorgeous in and out of the picture. You wonder what her name is. You remember her from time to time, give her without her consent as an example of the fact God has favourites. That type of looker. If attraction overruled duty, I might take second to last spot by the end of this vacation. Then again, why should I care?

“We need to talk.” Annie’s gaze was made of steel and her resolve had chained me to the table before she’d even spoken. My eyes briefly darted up from my phone to observe her somber countenance prior to dipping again in impatience. Levi hadn’t texted me once today after the phone call. I’d been sure he would. Now I was starting to doubt my judgement.

“What about?” The little icons on the screen pissed me off. The lack of notifications pissed me off. Why? I wasn’t sure. The fact I was frustrated pissed me off too. I put the phone on the table face-down. My best friend’s eyes were an icy hue I seldom enjoyed crossing paths with and her arms were folded across her chest, like a strict mother about to scold her child.

“Ackerman.” The surname immediately made me think of Mikasa, which, in turn, brought Eren to mind, but before I could say anything, Annie cut straight to the chase: “Do you like him?” The pronoun made me switch gears, but while I was busy processing, asshole-me took the reigns and spoke instead.

“Excuse me? Do I like him? Annie, have you gone mad?” My tone told the long tale of how offended I was to be asked that. I blinked at the blonde across from me, hoping to have misheard her but it was a petty attempt at avoidance – there was nothing wrong with my hearing and Annie hadn’t stuttered. She rolled her eyes before brushing her bangs behind her ear with a scoff.

“I’m perfectly sane and my question is logical when you think of all that’s happened between you two in the past few months,” she reasoned calmly, almost coldly so, in a manner I recognised as impatient to get this whole topic over with. She crossed her legs and stared at me with a self-assured pout. “Now give me an answer.” The command was imperative enough to mak me bite back whatever I’d planned on saying. Attacking her and dodging the question would prove her point, so I took a deep breath and resorted to the truth. How humiliating.

“… I don’t.” The pause made the blonde quirk a skeptical eyebrow, but maybe it hadn’t been the pause at all – no, it had been the words after it. My gaze locked with hers and my composure didn’t falter once. “I mean it. I thought I did for some time. Even back when Eren and I were together. It was a fear of mine, that I might like him, but I was proven time and time again that it wasn’t like that. It hit me hard around my birthday but…” My eyes dipped to the table as I stopped my hands from impulsitvely reaching to fidget with the pendant of the necklace Levi had given me.

“But?” Annie pushed, gentle and cold, not exactly willing to believe just yet. I understood her. Truly, I did. I’d be the same in her place, but I had the unfortunate luck of being in my own, confused but adamant to give her a satisfactory honest answer. No, I didn’t like Levi. I liked to think I did, but Eren was still on my mind. Levi was the perfect thing to keep him away. I was manipulative and disheartened, needing a way out of the emotional tangle I’d gotten myself into. A pitiful smile crawled over my lips.

“But I can’t like him. I mean, I don’t. I’m not jealous of Petra or Natalie, or his current blondie. I’m sad because I enjoy his attention. I got used to it and when it’s not there, I get frustrated. That hardly translates as liking him. If anything, I’m using him, which is, again, pretty villain-y of me.” I bit back a sour chuckle and looked up at Annie with her elbows propped on the table – she’d picked it up from Erwin. Her expression was worried.

“Are you sure?” She inquired softly, but I was capable of sensing the urgency in her tone, like she couldn’t hold back her latent joy. This had been the answer she’d hoped for, not the one she’d expected, and she didn’t like that it was too good to be true, too cold to be me, too easy to get to be honest. I had no way or intention of making her doubts dissolve.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. There was a stir in my chest. Guilty conscience. Or something. I didn’t know.

“Because you just avoided answering me,” she retorted, making my smile widen as I snorted in satisfaction. I loved it when Annie tried to be all clever and insightful with me, and I had to admit it worked most of the time, but now she was following a gut feeling she couldn’t back with proof.

“I have Adam to distract me and I’m still sad when Eren gets mentioned, so I don’t think I have the emotional capacity to fall for my father’s intern at the moment, much less when he’ll be leaving in four months. I’m neither that dumb nor masochistic,” I explained as plainly as I could, hoping to get through to her and save us further worries and questioning. My smile had tamed its smugness but Annie was clearly set on pushing me into a confession of something I’d hardly considered a possibility.

“And you still make out with him and act like you’re a couple.” The statement, in a world where I was raised by Jared Raven, would’ve left my mouth and slapped Levi across the face. But this wasn’t that world and I was the one who got slapped. Unfortunately, it was insulting of Annie to say it but, fortunately, it didn’t upset as much as I’d anticipated it would. Maybe I’d accustomed to thinking it, too and having asshole-me rebuff it completely, much like she’d rebuffed the whole concept of me having romantic feelings for Levi. The same mean voice that told me I had weeks, in the beginning, before falling for him. A brain of her own, always going against me.

“We’re not a couple and the physical contact is because I don’t have Eren and I don’t want to be whoring around, throwing myself at Adam,” I justified with an innocent expression. Annie’s resolve was shaken to the point she reclined in her chair and groaned in obvious defeat, making me bite back a smirk.

“Fine, you’re my best friend and I choose to believe you, but I assure you nobody else would, no matter how convincingly detached your arguments are.” I threw her a conceited look and she snorted prior to meeting my gaze, a new question at the tip of her tongue. “On a similar topic, Ackerman’s somebody who can get chicks wherever he goes, but he only has eyes and ears for you. Sounds like love to me.” Her nonchalant manner of stating it only proved she was yet to change the topic and went about pursuing answers a different way.

“Sounds like care to me. He’s told me he cares and just this morning we re-established our friend labels, so I’m hardly inclined to believe he has feelings for me other than that.” I shrugged, reluctantly leaning back and tilting my head at Annie challengingly. She was far from manipulating me into admitting anything, but she thought otherwise, as shown by the next argument she blurted out.

“So what’s his excuse for kissing you?” Oh, how sardonic a question. She was smirking and I tried not to give the reaction she awaited – embarrassment and being flustered on the topic of something I myself considered confusing. I took a big breath and flashed a big benevolent smile before licking my lips in mild spite. Innocent until proven guilty, so please let me be innocent despite the evidence.

“Ask him, not me,” I countered calmly, knowing Annie was bluffing to check how vigorously I’d defend myself in case I’d been lying for the past few minutes. She was disappointed, to say the least, almost making me smile at the weird reaction. Any person in her stead would beam in exultation.

“All I’m saying is,” she began diplomatically,” you’re oblivious dumbasses and you need to start noticing it, taking into account how intelligent you are otherwise.” Her position remained in the same spot. Levi and I were idiots, who, in her opinion, liked each other. How stupid a notion. I might’ve had my period of infatuation, but my father’s intern would never get to his and that was something I believed as unconditionally as I’d believed in the Tooth Fairy as a kid.

“Oh, shut up. I don’t want to hear this from you, Miss No-I-Won’t-Accept-Erwin-Likes-Me-Until-He-Straight-Up-Offers-Me-Marriage,” I drawled mockingly, making the blonde snort so violently my nostrils gave hers their condolences.

“Go suck a dick.” My best friend’s love confession came in its usual harsh manner, so cordial and forced it made me laugh before I shot it down.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to teach me how first.” She threw herself across the table at me, pretending to choke me while seething with embarrassment. I cackled and the bullet was dodged when she joined me. Some questions were answered. I only hoped I’d given the appropriate answers, not the versions best suited to my pitiful nature. But manipulating myself into believing something I knew was a lie wasn’t possible. Right?

Later the same night, I received the following message:

I need a break from this vacation.

If it wasn’t obvious enough who it was from, clearly enough attention was not being paid to the whole of this. When my father’s intern texted me, I was brought back to my conversation with Annie. I’d been honest with her. I knew the signs of liking somebody and they were nowhere to be found. No butterflies, no heart palpitations, no obsessiveness, even normal things like a healthy pinch of jealousy were absent.

You’re a fucking idiot, asshole. Who gets tired from relaxation? I pressed send, absent-minded and thoughtful, trying to compare my feelings for Eren to those for Levi. I wasn’t dumb – I knew different kinds of love existed, but if I had to measure scores and grade my own feelings, those for Eren – albeit faded – still won. Strange.

I obviously do. I don’t feel comfortable wasting my time like this. I picked up my phone when it dinged, letting me read the ridiculous reply. How introverted and workaholic of him. Both traits were justfied, though. Everything about him was justified by past experiences whereas with Eren the unexplainable was also unexpected, always a surprise. The spurts of rage in our junior year, his unreasonable obsession with boxing, his fits of suspicion and accusations, the tic he developed back in middle school – all things I couldn’t explain no matter how much I analysed them.

What do you say about a movie marathon when you come back? I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to rid you of even more work. I sent the text and dropped the phone on my stomach, plopping back on my bed with a sigh. Levi was different from Eren – his whole character was a set of action-reaction workings. I was poor as a child with a mother who worked too much to clean – so let’s be obsessed with everything being clean. My mother’s my reason for living, she’s sick and money’s the solution – so let’s work myself to the bone. Attachments hurt because I’ve gotten burned and I dislike them – so let’s be hostile to everybody to prevent them. If I do it, it’ll be done right and it’ll succeed and if not, only I’ll be to blame – so let’s be a control-freak. Petra’s death and Kuchel’s condition were things he blamed himself for despite that.

It’s a deal if you leave the organisation to me. The message snapped me out of my daze. I was thankful he hadn’t called me because he’d most certainly ask why I sounded weird and I didn’t want to explain it was because I was admiring the way in which a machine with so many broken parts worked flawlessly enough to deceive the majority.

Oh, no! I don’t know what I’ll do without my right to make popcorn and pick the movies. The sarcastic reply didn’t match the expression on my face. You know mom and dad will be visiting their usual hotel around that time, right? Double-texting – oh, the humiliation.

Doesn’t make a difference. First, there was something warm in my chest. It was cute how, bit by bit, native English speakers were corrupting the strict Subject-Verb-Object structure he’d been taught at school. Then, there was that other thing. He was lying. I wondered if he also felt a little pinch when I lied to him as well. I doubted it. Wouldn’t have an inch of skin left to pinch.

It will for me because I’ll be able to scream at the TV. The short reasoning left me staring at the ceiling mindlessly. The buzz of Levi’s reply distracted me. I processed now what we’d been texting about. A movie marathon sounded good. The fact he’d agreed was good too, slightly suspicious taking into account he’d most likely want to work instead, but still good.

Fine. Day of return or the one after? It was unlike Like, this question. I didn’t dwell it on and hummed in thought before deciding I didn’t want to think anymore at all. My head was about to blow up with all these feelings I was trying to decipher.

We’ll decide on the move. I think you should be going to bed now. A headache was pushing at my temples. The best course of action was to cut this short. He’d rest and I’d fetch myself an aspirin from my father’s office. Sweet dreams, asshole. I was staring at the message, characteristic but not sarcasic, when his reply popped up – longer than expected. Also wittier and slightly flirtatious, upon further observation.

Make sure yours have me in them. I have to babysit you constantly, after all. Goodnight, princess. I blinked at my phone for the overall of ten seconds before turning it off and pressing it against my chest. A wondrous grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. No signs of love – no butterflies, no giddiness, no accelerated heartbeat. Why the smile though? I buried my face in my pillow. My feet kicked around.

“(Y/N), stop squealing in the middle of the night! I don’t need this six hours before my alarm rings!” My mother’s reproachful shriek made my feet halt in the air as if held up by invisible strings. I hadn’t realised I’d squealed. I propped myself up and clamped my mouth shut in shame. I didn’t know what got into me, acting like… like this, whatever this was.

“Sorry, mom!” I called sheepishly, having done the damage already. I plopped down but there was no squealing this time. There was only more of that grinning I didn’t understand. No lies there. It frustrated me that I didn’t know myself well enough, wasn’t smart enough to understand it. Pointing out the many things I lacked, however, didn’t help me understand it either.

“I watered the garden, baked a fucking batch of cookies, roasted a whole-ass chicken, cleaned the whole house and I’m still bored,” I groaned into the speaker and Levi took some time to process everything I’d said. True to my words, I’d started the day with a shower and a deep-clean of the house. Once all the germs had been annihilated, I’d decided to cook, then when the house stank of food and I’d opened the door to the backyard, I’d seen the rose bushes were in need of watering, which was exactly what I’d handled next. Now I was bored out of my mind, a pair of sunglasses perched atop the bridge of my nose as I lied in the grass, looking like I was about to invent a new kind of snow angel without the snow.

“Good afternoon to you as well,” the raven-haired intern greeted flatly. I only groaned again, eyes straying towards the roses surrounding me and the pool to my left – beautiful but not entertaining. I pushed my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose and scratched the back of my neck where the grass tickled it.

“Good afternoon, asshole. I want you to tell me a story.” The command was met with silence, muffled waves crashing into sand, some clearing of the throat, a single sigh devoid of positive emotions and the cry of a hungry seagull. I cringed, nose scrunching up at the noise before it made me realise Levi was on the beach, probably lying on a towel and dealing with me instead of having fun.

“There was once an eighteen-year-old princess who---”

“An actual story,” I cut off quickly, not appreciating the sarcasm. The raven snorted in that specific way I knew was always accompanied by a narrow of his eyes. I wondered if he had sunglasses on and if he did – would they leave a ridiculous mask while the rest of his face reddened in the sun? Maybe he’d put on sunscreen. I couldn’t help smiling at the image of his red nose and on top of it – a thick layer of white cream. The thought – logical even in being unreasonable – that followed made my smile turn upside down. It went like this:

If he’d applied sunscreen, who’d been the one to get his back? The pretty German blondie?

“It is an actual story. I thought your highness liked being the main character.” His mockery put my train of thought back on track only so it coud then start a self-deprecating game of Cards Against Humanity with asshole-me. Funny how I was isolated to the point I had to listen to my own conscience insult me.

“I get tired of being me. I don’t want to listen about myself right now,” I said pointedly. Maybe I was jealous he was on vacation with my father when I had to stay at home and be a self-taught maid on minimum wage of zero dollars per hour, but I couldn’t help it – the intern had gradually shifted our family’s dynamic and it frustrated me that he’d managed it in less than six months without even trying.

“Fine, something else is it then,” he concluded with a sign of defeat. I listened intently, pressing the phone closer to my ear. “I really wanted a pet when I was younger, but my mother said we couldn’t afford it. One day, there was a downpour and I was returning from high school. Tucked by the entrance was a drenched kitten. Meeting you reminded me of that.” The small addition made my eyes close in mild bashfulness at the expected softness in his voice. He cleared his throat and proceeded while I imagined him in the grass next to me though he’d refuse to sit down. “Anyways. I took pity on it and took it inside. I kept it a secret for a whole week before it took a shit in the middle of the living room and blew our cover.”

“And Kuchel?” I bit back a chuckle at the conclusion of the story. I could imagine a young Levi bathing and taking care of a little black kitten (no other colour made sense), having to shush its meowing as he went to sleep because his mother could hear. It was a cute little picture, an ebony-haired teenager feeding a charcoal-coloured ball of fur in secret. The notion seemed simple and pure. A small act of kindness which had formed a bond.

“What do you think?” He asked, voice devoid of snark. As brief as my conversation with Kuchel had been, I gathered she was probably the kindest and most selfless person I’d ever talked to. Needless to say, she’d passed down a big part of that to her son, but he, defensive and skeptical, had decided to cover it in multiple layers of indifference and reluctance. He saved it up, but his mother gave it away like she had an endless reserve.

“I think she agreed to keep it. She probably pulled the usual parent-speech and said it would help you become more responsible,” I said, confident in my logic but earger to receive confirmation. It reminded of a childhood memory. Hitch and I had been arguing and I’d run to my father for support, only to be told I’d been wrong. Bawling in outrage, I’d felt my father’s hands take mine as he prompted me (“Come on, princess. Anything at all.”) to say something. The only thing six-year-old me had come up with (“I love you.”) had been typical and childish. His smile had turned into a grin, soft and ground and his response (“That’s right. And I love you, (Y/N), because you’re my most important thing, not because you can subtract numbers.”) had made it one of my fondest memories of my father, so uncharacteristically loving it could make me laugh now.

“It doesn’t take a lot to figure out my mother. Yes, we kept the fur ball and I took care of it for a while until Isabel’s allergies made us give it away. My best friend – Farlan – took it in.” The explanation prompted a mental note of the name I hadn’t heard until now.

“What did you name it?” I piped, realising I’d missed the most important part of the story. Levi kept silent – strangely so. He was hesitant, I realised, probably because he didn’t want me to hear it. If I had luck, it would be something stupid and cute, like Mr. Snuggles or Fufu.

“… Pluie.” The pitiful yet stoic utterance came as a shock, the rude awakening that he, too, had been a naïve teenager once upon a time. I laughed so loudly I heard a bird take flight from the branch of a tree a few feet away. My stomach twisted in amusement.

“You seriously named the cat rain?” I spoke between fits of giggles, sensing Levi’s annoyance rise to boil on the other end of the line, like a kettle threatening to burst. My ear became collateral damage as a result of the spillage.

“I was a fucking fourteen-year-old, don’t give me shit about that,” he scolded, imperative tone with an embarrassed tinge that only made me laugh harder. I rolled around the grass, clutching my phone with one hand and my abdomen with the other. I imagined Levi’s constipated expression – tired and as far from amused as a face could go – with his sunglasses on his nose and the breeze making his locks sway slightly. I wondered if he’d give up on me completely and end the call, but he waited for me to calm down and speak again instead.

“… I love it,” I concluded warmly after a small pause. He sighed but I couldn’t pinpoint the kind of face that went with it. A smile stretched my lips when an idea hit me – so innocent and naïve it couldn’t go unspoken. “If I visit France someday, I want to see him.”

“He’s a really vicious cat, but I’m sure you’ll get along since you’re both spoiled,” he hummed, nonchalant and in the mood to humour me. I snorted, a bitter smile surfacing as I gazed up at the sky – so beautiful it annoyed me to look at. It was a strange logic, but the blue reminded of the specks and thinking of them reminded of the fact I couldn’t see them, wouldn’t see them for four more days. I let my lids drop to avoid the sight.

“Very funny,” I stated, a scornful type of ice dripping off my tongue – as fake as my Aunt Petunia’s smiles if not directed at darling George. I paused, reaching for my sunglasses and let my thoughts drift in a brand new direction. “If you had your own house one day,” my voice was curious like a child’s, “would you take Pluie back?” I needn’t ponder the answer because he’d give it any second now.

“Of course. He might be an annoying fur ball I’ll constantly have to clean up after, but he’s a good companion.” I imagined him still lying on his towel, warm sand tickling his feet like the grass tickled mine, with his firm gaze glued to the horizon. His expression wouldn’t fit the sunscreen smeared on his face, making it almost comical. I wished to bear witness to it. Alas, I was in my backyard, rolling around in the grass like a dog and praying not to die of boredom. The roses and the empty pool kept me company, but neither provided comfort – Levi’s voice was there for that.

“I don’t know why but imagining you with an animal is nearly impossible,” I half-mocked, half-admitted, hoping he would come to notice neither. Instead, he noticed both and, as always, wasn’t one bit moved by the lack of subtlety in the tactless display.

“That’s because Pluie is the only animal I tolerate. Others require too much care and effort. Some are also exceptionally nasty,” he explained, simple and succinct, and him to the point it made my smile like he’d told a joke. My lids fluttered open and I lifted my left hand to my face. The silver band reflected the sun into my narrowed eyes.

“You sound like a terrible person when you talk like that, asshole. Thank God for Pluie,” I joked, mesmerised by the ring’s sheen. Holding the phone between my ear and shoulder, I took it off and held it up. When I squinted, the miniature circle seemed to encapsulate the great blue sky and all its clouds. I speculated, like a scientist on the brink of a great discovery, if this was how majestic everything would look as seen thought the silver band. The house would be a palace with sculptured and paintings, the garden – a vast field of exotic flowers, the roses – whole worlds of aroma, the plain grass – God’s rendition of the most simplistic of loveliness. It was either the wonder of happiness borne of marriage or just a hallucination my mind graced me with prior to a stroke.

“I hear you judging, but you’re not an ardent animal lover yourself.” Levi’s words made me blink like somebody had clapped their hands in front of my face, waking me from a trance. The silver ring slipped from my hold and rolled in the grass. I mindlessly propped myself on my elbows to look for it.

“That one wasn’t up to me. I wanted a dog when I was little, but my parents were too busy almost getting divorced to care and when that died down, they didn’t trust me enough with a pet. By the time I got into high school, I got used to the idea. That’s that.” My hands roamed the ground, feverishly seeking the ring. My panic dissipated when I felt it – an instant sedative.

“If you come to France, I could let you take care of Pluie,” the intern suggested ever so kindly. I collapsed next to my fallen sunglasses, slipping the ring back on my finger with a huff. The urge to be leading this conversation with him face to face was burning, insistent and annoying.

“Your offer is too generous. I doubt there’s a future for me in France besides being Pluie’s caretaker and that wouldn’t pay much, would it now?” I mocked weakly, voice soft and casual.

“I’ll make sure I support you properly, princess. It’s only my duty as your friend.” The stiffness in his timbre was odd, like something having found shelter in the wrong place. Maybe the universe was laughing at my expression or maybe it was just the echo of asshole-me cackling so hysterically she almost choked. Served her right. I was silent and tense all over and the intern was attempting to become the one snack I couldn’t afford to have. I was on a fucking diet for fuck’s sake. Then there was that voice again – the perfect blondie – calling his name.

“And I can hear your new friend calling in the back. We should probably---”

“Hold up. Don’t you dare hang up like last time,” he cut off my haste, threatening without actually telling me what the consequences would be. “We’ll talk about this when I get back. Don’t jump to conclusions, princess. Understood?” He was the strict babysitter and I was the child, even though I didn’t feel like one. I felt like I did that one time Eren told me (“I don’t see the point in me flirting with others when I have you.”) not to worry about other girls, when he held my hand and looked into my eyes, promising (“I love you so fucking much you have no idea.” “Die for me and all that jazz, yeah?” “No. I’ll live for you because that’s way harder.”) he loved nobody but me. Only me.

“Understood, asshole. Have fun.” I smiled despite the little gnawing feeling at the back of my mind. I felt calm and at ease when he hung up even when the blondie kept calling his name. I trusted him like I trusted Eren because he’d had eyes only for me. Little spoiled me. How I’d fucked us both over. How mean. Levi, I was sure, didn’t have eyes only for me even if Annie would argue herself to the moon and back disproving it, but I trusted him just as unconditionally. That part was my own duty.

tag list: @unloved-cadillac ; @donaldthrts

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Father of Darkness

https://www.patreon.com/empyreaniris?fan_landing=true

https://starr-fall-knight-rise.tumblr.com/post/182501791735/master-post

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jzEIdDAB4omdO2JcQVMObfrhLJ5kX4ONmSsLypM1ks0/edit?usp=sharing

There was no horizon. Spreading towards infinity, the vast wings of space stretched on to infinity dappled with stars like the crest of a bird. Bits and pieces of discarded metal and scrap  floated in the vast deadness, slowly churning in gentle spirals  shadowed by the stark light of the distant sun. A large piece of this metal, the size of a partial ship’s hull, turned in one slow rotation, convex side spinning to the concave side and revealing five  silent passengers, impossible to notice in their matt suits against the slick gray metal.

Like five misshapen space barnacles, they clung to the side of the debris effectively avoiding their enemy’s radar. No one spoke, fearing that their radio signals would be intercepted,, but that didn’t matter so much as at least three of them had an alternate form of communications.

Admiral Adam Vir turned his head to look at the saint of Anin, who leaned heavily against the metal, her back adhered to the scrap by a series of magnetic grapples that lined the back of her suit. In one hand, she held the shaft of a spear, its cool metal reflecting the distant light of the sun.

“You ready?”

The impression he got was of her humming, a soft sort of noise that Drev liked to make when they were pleased . It was a common sound to hear Drev make when they anticipated a good fight, “The day I  am not ready, is the day you push me off the spiral tower.” She said, the grimm glee seeping into her thoughts.

ISunny liked to fight, but choosing between a world of glorious battle, and a world where her children would grow up to be happy was a no brainer even for a member of the most warlike race in the universe.

“Get  room for you two.”

The two of them turned to look reproachfully at Celex, who floated not some distance away. He wore no space suit, and his long, technicolor hair flowed around him in a halo. His face was partially in shadow.

The other two figures remained oblivious.

Adam made a face at Celex, and then raised his hand for the benefit of their silent partners, who perked up at his signal, and readied themselves to move. He kept his hand up as the piece of metal continued to rotate, giving the order only when their rotation brought them into the perfect position.

As one they fired their engines, briefly, shooting off into the blackness on a gentle trajectory forward.

All except for their fifth party member who  gently began to drift off course, having timed their momentum poorly. Adam reached down and grabbed their third party member by the massive tank on his back, shoving him back into position.

Seeing the gesture, Sunny turned her head and he could practically hear the raised eyebrow in her voice, “Do you really think bringing him along was a good idea. He has about as much combat experience as a kitchen sponge.”

“Probably less,:” Adam admitted, “It was either take him voluntarily or live with the aftermath of letting him follow us by himself because you know that’s exactly what he would do.”

Good point.

Adam kept one hand clasped tightly around the crash handle on the back of their fifth man’s tank as they continued to ease forward . Up ahead something glittered against the backdrop of darkness , icy bluish metal marking it as a Europa  hydrostorage vessel. It should have been in orbit around Europa, but sometime in the last week, the little station had found its way out here, into the quietest part of the system where it was unlikely to be disturbed.

The ruse might have worked if they hadn’t picked a more obtrusive vessel.  The bluish metal, and the big water drop logo on the side was obvious even from this distance, and the outer coating of the station was designed specifically to make the  hull more visible in a low level lighting situation. However,, whoever had decided to hijack the vessel had clearly weighed the cons of its visibility with the pros of having access to nearly several years supply of water right at their fingertips, a decision that Adam could admire in a tactical sense.

Plus the Jovian system was so large that, without the right tip, they would never have  found this place to begin with.

He lifted a hand in another signal for their silent companions, who all readied their grapples in the moments that it took to float nearer to the station. Adam still kept a hold of their fifth companion as he reached out and allowed the grapple to adhere him to the hull proper.

Adam didn’t hear the grapple take, but he could feel the vibration as it passed up through his arm.

This was it.

They waited there for a minute, heads tilted, waiting for any sign that someone inside the ship might have sensed or heard something, but the minutes ticked by and there was no response.

Adam signaled over to their second silent partner who nodded and moved forward attaching a device to the outer edges of the small personnel airlock. A light blinked on, flashed green, and then the door opened, allowing the five of them to pass into the airlock unchallenged.

Inside, the compartment was filled with a sudden hiss as air began rushing in through once sealed vents. Adam’s own breathing, which had been the dominant sound up until that point became less and less prominent.

He gave another hand signal switching communications to  low sound speakers.

Adam cranked up the voice receptor in his SE suit settings,and the others did the same.

He turned to look at their fifth companion, finally able to see the face behind the opaque faceplate.

Older, tanner, and rimmed by rather goofy looking orange spectacles.

“You stay in the middle, got that. Don’t raise your weapon unless it is absolutely necessary and follow every move that we make, just because you’re human now doesn’t make you invincible.”

Krill narrowed human yees, “I seem to recall having said something similar to you on more than one occasion.”

“Yes, but I have been human for longer. You are only here to act as our field medic. If anything goes wrong, it is your job to  duck and stay out of the way.

Krill nodded, lips pursed tightly, though he did his best not to make any disparaging comments, for which Adam was at least partially grateful . Bantering with Krill was all well and good when their lives weren’t at stake, but now was different, and Adam was the one in charge.

Even so, Krill had still managed to get his way in some aspects, bullying his way into the mission. His insistence was stupid, and illogical, a fact that Adam had taken no time in pointing out, though krill insisted that, since he was human now, his job was to be stupid and irrational.

However true or untrue that was, it was clear the little doctor was coming.

Both of him.

After a few tests, some trial and error and at least one accident, they had learned that krill’s ability to manifest his Anima self was  distance based, and could only be maintained in a certain radius from his comatose Vrul body. This had been even more of a reason for Adam to tell him no to going on the mission, but that had worked out about as well as you might expected.

So here Krill was, decked out in his new suit, and wearing himself inside a reinforced specimen container on his back. Adam might have won the argument if it wasn’t  for that damned piece of equipment which was basically perfect for this particular mission. In the end Krill had gotten what he wanted and Adam was forced to babysit.

He motioned with a meaningful look to Ramirez to keep an eye on krill  and then turned them towards the next room.

Sunny stacked up on his right shoulder as they peered into the deserted hallway.

Tilting his head to the side, Adam couldn’t sense  anyone moving within their general vicinity, and raised a hand to motion the others forward. He could sense a sort of distant thrumming, but the sound was too far away at this moment, and too low for him to make anything out.

Together they moved quietly into the hallway and up the dark corridor, keeping their footsteps silent.

Ramirez trailed at the back of the group watching their six and keeping krill as safe as he could.

They passed multiple doors, Adam peering in to check in each and every one of them as they passed, but to his relief they were all silent and dark. The humming in the distance grew with every footstep. If their tip was right, this was supposed to be the hub of Void operation in this area, which meant there was always a possibility of running into Kazna.

It had taken several of them to go against her the last time they met, but this time Adam was prepared.

They came upon the first guards almost halfway into the ship, guarding an open hallway  with clear boredom plastered on their faces. The hallway was dark, the lights dimmed, and the distant humming had grown into a sort of unnerving eerie chant.

Celex got one and Adam got the other.

Sunny shifted impatient at their backs as Adam stole up the hallway with Celex.

Before they knew what hit them, the first man had been clubbed over the haad, and the Tesraki was choked into silence.

Unlike in the movies, their blows had to be lethal as knocking someone out generally tends to last only a few seconds if not just a few minutes.

Adam motions the others forward as the sound of the chanting solidified.

“Oh great one, oh ruler of the blackness.”

Adam motioned Sunny forward and she took point, leading them up the hallway in a rapid but silent sweep. Adam kept at her shoulder and Celex followed. Ramirez shuffled up the hallway sideways keeping one eye on the hallway behind them.

“Oh great one who came before.”

A humming rose up into the room.

“Oh lord of the night and all those who dwell within.”

Red light tinged in orange bled in a slowly spreading puddle down the hallway, lapping at their boots as Sunny came to a gentle stop, raising her hand to slow them.

Adam pulled up at her back, leaning forward to peer into the room with her.

“Father of darkness comes to us!.”

Orange light flared, falling over their faces in a ruby shroud.

Sunny  cursed silently in her thoughts and Adam tried to strike down the Nausea that filled his throat.

Everett was here, and he was back to his old tricks.