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helliontherapscallion · 4 years

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(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Thursday (Part 1)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday (Part 2) Friday Saturday Sunday

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: swearing, homophobia (f slurs and d slur), panic attacks, toxic friends, mentions of attempted suicide/getting told to kill yourself

Word count: 6,377

(A/N): ok, so I definitely got carried away with this, so I had to split Thursday into two parts. If I kept it in one part, it’d probs be like 10k-11k words long lmao

You woke up feeling strangely more refreshed than usual. Glancing at your clock, you saw that you actually woke up about thirty minutes before your alarm went off. You got a whopping twelve hours of sleep, a stark contrast from your recent sleep schedule consisting of no more than four hours a night. You felt like you could rule the world with how much energy you had. Sure, you felt anxiety pooling in your stomach like you usually did and you had a terrible dream about Haley rejecting you and getting completely outed to the entire school, but that did not stop you from throwing your covers off your bed and walking down the hall to the kitchen with the most confidence you’ve had since starting high school.

When you got to the kitchen, you saw a dead looking Uncle Schlatt slumped at the table chugging coffee and a chipper Philza trying to make conversation. Usually, you would’ve joined Schlatt in being dead inside, but today was different. You were filled to the brim with energy that you haven’t had in years. As you walked through the door, their heads turned towards you.

“Mornin Dad, mornin Uncle Schlatt!”

Your uncle merely grunted before going back to guzzling down his coffee. Your dad smiled at you, “well, looks like someone’s well rested.”

“Yeah, I got like twelve hours of sleep last night.”

“Glad to hear it, hun. You really needed it.”

“Glad to hear someone’s feeling well rested,” your uncle grumbled into his coffee.

“Schlatt, don’t be such a downer all the time,” Philza rolled his eyes at your uncle.

“Fuck you Phil, I’m a ball of fuckin sunshine. Ain’t that right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah, Dad, I don’t know what you’re talkin about. Uncle Schlatt’s the heart and soul of this house. Even if he doesn’t live here.”

Schlatt gave a booming laugh, “suck it Phil. And that, (y/n), is why you’re my favorite niece.”

“At least I’m someone’s- wait. I’m your only niece.”

“Still my favorite niece!”

You grinned happily, that was better than nothing. “Love ya, Uncle Schlatt!”

Your uncle’s cocky grin turned more sincere and he diverted his full attention to you, “love ya too, kid.”

“Love each other quieter, you woke me up.” Wilbur’s tired voice complained as he walked into the room and slumped into his chair next to Schlatt. Schlatt clapped a hand onto his shoulder and rustled his hair.

“My man! How’s Sally, huh?”

Wilbur flushed red and started sputtering as Philza turned his confused gaze to his son. “Who’s Sally, Wilbur?”

You couldn’t leave your brother high and dry when he accepted you for being yourself so readily yesterday, so you quickly jumped in for him. “Sally’s just one of his friends at school. They’re job shadowing together for their project. Right, Wilbur?” You turned towards the flustered man with a somewhat forced smile and raised eyebrows. He looked at you with immense relief and nodded vigorously, his hair flopping onto his forehead.

“Yes! We’re planning on job shadowing our band director, he said that it’d be a good idea if we want to major in music.”

“Oh, why didn’t you tell me about her before! You should invite her over for dinner, I’d love to meet her!” Oh, your dad did not buy your terrible excuse for Wilbur, that man is like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out lies. Poor, poor Wilbur.

Despite the blush remaining on his cheeks, Wilbur seemed to think that Philza actually bought his weak excuse. “I’ll invite her over soon. Does Friday night next week work?”

Philza grinned cheekily, “yes! I can’t believe you haven’t brought her over sooner if you’re close enough to job shadow with her!”

At this point, Schlatt’s face was cherry red with his almost failed attempt to hold in his laughter. “I’m not missin this. Me an’ Tubbs are comin over next Friday.”

Wilbur still hasn’t noticed that they hadn’t bought it, you thought he was more perceptive than that. Eventually, Philza started to make breakfast and conversation lulled into a comfortable silence as everybody waited for Techno, Tommy, and Tubbo. Deciding to pull out your phone, you scrolled through your notifi- wait. Why did you have forty-two messages from Adrian and Sammy? Why did they make a groupchat with everyone except Annie? Furrowing your brows in confusion, you opened the group chat. What you read made your breathing catch in your chest and your skin blanch, it wasn’t a dream. Everything was real.

Sammy <3

(y/n) you fucking pervert

How could you do this to us????

Adrian <3

We’ve given you everything and yet you’re still a disgusting person.

Fucking faggot

We thought we could fix you, but you’re broken

You’re always going to be

Sammy <3

And now, you’re gonna go to hell with all the other dykes and fairies.

It’ll probably be heaven for you, surrounded by perverts like yourself

You’re staying far away from Annie

Adrian <3

You’ve put her through so much shit and now this

We swear to god if you talk to her again we’re gonna make you wish you would’ve gone through with killing yourself freshman year

We’re leaking the pictures slut

You felt your anxiety melt away into betrayal. So they were yours and Haley’s stalkers? How dare they try to leak Haley’s pictures. They could leak yours, you didn’t give a shit if yours were leaked. You could learn to live with it, you always did after all the shit you put yourself through throughout the years, but Haley’s? She didn’t do anything. Even if her rejection was painful, you still deeply cared for her. She didn’t deserve that. You, however, did for not being normal. For making people around you uncomfortable with your presence.

(Y/n)

That was you guys?????

Why the fuck would you do that

I trusted you

All of you

Sammy <3

We trusted you too dyke

But you’re a two-faced bitch

And to think we actually thought you were our friend

Were you only friends with Ann and I so you could get into our pants?

I’m disgusted

You’re a fucking pervert.

Adrian <3

We shouldn’t have talked you out of suicide freshman year

You fucking deserve it

Make Annie’s life easier and just swan dive off a roof

You’ll be doing everyone a favor

(Y/n)

Listen, I don’t care if you leak my pictures.

Just don’t leak Haley’s

She has no part in this

I’ll leave you guys alone if you delete Haley’s pictures

Hell, I’ll do anything for you if you could release them after the final volleyball match today

It’s Haley’s time to shine and she deserves the attention as team captain

She’s worked so hard to get there all of high school and leaking my nudes would take the attention away from her

Let her have her moment

Sammy <3

For once she has a point

She probably manipulated the poor girl

Who knows what the fag would’ve done to her if we didn’t expose her

Adrian <3

Fine, we’ll delete Haley’s pictures and we’ll wait until after the game

But we’re leaking yours

You deserve it for what you did to Annie and Haley

“Kid, are you okay? You’re kinda pale over there buddy.”

Looking up from your phone, you saw everybody’s eyes on you. They each looked concerned, but Wilbur even more so. He was the only one in the room at the moment that knew about your panic attacks. He stood up from his spot and walked over to you with long strides.

“She just remembered the homework in stats that we forgot about. Techno asked us in the group chat about it, we were just about to go and see if he could help us.”

“But Wilbur, I thought you took statistics last year.”

“No, that was algebra two, I’m taking stats this year,” that was a lie, he was in pre-calculus this year. “C’mon (y/n), lets go finish that assignment.”

He grabbed your shoulder and hauled you into a stand before grabbing your hand and practically dragging you up the stairs and into Techno’s room. Said pink-haired teenager looked up angrily. “What’d I say about kno- (y/n)?”

Wilbur closed the door and locked it behind him. He dragged you over to Techno’s bed and sat you down on the edge before kneeling down to look you in the eyes.

“(Y/n), can I touch you? Is that alright?”

After you shakily nodded, he grabbed your hand and placed it over his chest. “Breathe with me.” Like yesterday, you tried to copy his movements, but it wasn’t working. Your panic attack was just getting worse by the minute. Techno pushed Wilbur aside and took his place kneeling in front of you and grabbing your hand, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

“(Y/n), can you tell me five things you can see around the room?”

When you didn’t move your wide eyes away from Techno’s face, he frowned and gently squeezed your hand. “You can get through this. What’re five things you can see around the room?”

You reluctantly tore your eyes away from his face and peered around the room. You hadn’t noticed that your blurred vision had tunneled until you realized that you couldn’t see anything in your peripheral vision. Your unseeing eyes flicked around the room.

You tried to swallow, but you couldn’t do anything through the lump in your throat. With a shaky voice, you gasped out “I-I can’t breathe. I-”

“Deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Follow me.”

You tried to breathe with him, and you eventually got to the point where you could speak. Your eyes flicked around the room once again and slowly recognized your surroundings.

“You… Wilbur… Desk… Window…”

“That’s good, just one more.”

Your eyes flicked around the room, “...Book.”

“Look back at me, you’re doing so good,” when you looked back at him, he had a small smile on his face. “Nice job. Now, four things you can feel. Can you do that for me?”

You shakily nodded and looked at your hands and around your surroundings. “Bed… Pants… You… Carpet.”

“Three things you can hear?”

“You… Birds… Breathing.”

“You’re almost there, I’m so proud of you. Two things you can smell?”

“Toast and… and burning?”

Despite his confusion about the sudden burning smell, he continued to smile at you. “Good, last one. One thing you can taste?”

You licked your lips before scrunching your nose slightly, “...snot.”

“Wilbur, can you go get her a few kleenexes and a glass of water?” Techno asked his brother without taking his eyes off you.

Wordlessly, he swiftly left the room. “Are you feeling better?”

You panted as you reached up to rub at your teary eyes, “yeah, how’d you know what to do?”

His smile turned slightly bashful, “I did some research last night. I’m glad I did, that was a bad panic attack. Can I- can I ask what caused it?”

You pulled out your phone and handed it to him, letting him scroll through the messages while you brought up your knees to your chest and rested your chin on your knees. You felt tired after that attack, however you had a little bit more energy than you usually did. Only a little bit more. It was probably because you slept for half the day and through the night yesterday. You watched your brother scroll through your texts with tired eyes.

He was emotionless as he scrolled, making you somewhat scared about what his reaction would be. He probably hasn’t gotten to the whole “go kill yourself” or the stalking parts. Judging by his set jaw and labored breathing, he was pissed already and he didn’t even get to the bad parts yet.

In the middle of his scrolling, Wilbur came back with a box of tissues, a glass of water, and a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast. When you hardly moved to grab them, he sat on the bed beside you and handed you a tissue. After cleaning up, you took the glass of water and started to slowly sip at it. “Thanks, Wil.”

He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close to him. When he looked over Techno’s shoulder at your phone, you saw his eyebrows furrow. “Tech, what’s-”

He was interrupted as Techno shoved your phone into his hands and stood up to start pacing around his room. “Read it yourself.” He sounded more monotone than usual. He was absolutely furious.

You watched Wilbur’s face as he read through your messages. Unlike Technoblade, he looked furious. His eyes were set ablaze as his entire face turned an angry red. “(Y/n), what the absolute fuck? Why didn’t you tell us this was happening?”

Shrinking in on yourself and pulling your knees closer to your chest, you murmured out a small “sorry.” You saw him quickly turn his head to you as his face softened. He pulled you into a full hug.

“This isn’t your fault. None of it is, it’s all their fault,” he spat with disgust. “How’d they even get your nudes? Did you send them to anyone?”

You leaned your head against his shoulder, “that’s the thing, Wil. I’ve never taken nudes before. They took them through my window. I deserve it.”

You felt him freeze up and heard Techno pause his pacing to stomp over to you. He tore Wilbur’s arms off from you and held you out at arms length by your shoulders. He looked the most angry than you’ve ever seen him with his furious eyes burning into your own and his mouth set in a firm frown. It was terrifying to see him that angry.

“(Y/n), you don’t deserve a single fucking thing that’s happened to you. You were manipulated and gaslit by a group of self righteous assholes. You. Do. Not. Deserve. Anything. That. Happened. To. You. Do you understand me?”

Despite your fears of him, you were determined to protect your friends. “But I do deserve it though. I was a bad friend to them. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t be a good friend to them when they were always helping me. I’m just not a good person in general. I deserve it for not being normal.”

“(Y/n)-”

“Technoblade, that’s enough.” Wilbur cut him off with a firm tone, putting a comforting hand on your arm.

“No it isn’t Wilbur. It’s not enough until she realizes how fucking toxic they are. What they’re doing is gaslighting. You’re in a psychology class, you should know what that is. Give me the definition of it. Now.”

“It’s when someone manipulates another person for their own personal gain… I’d know if I’m being gaslit, and I’m not. They’re just telling me the truth, they keep me in check. I could put more effort into my appearance and personality. I could stand to lose a couple of pounds.” “How do you not- ya know what? Listen. Just listen. That’s the definition of being gaslit. They’re constantly putting you down and making you self conscious about every. Little. Thing because they need to put someone down to fuel their own damaged egos and they laugh at you when you show that you’re hurt by their comments. That’s not a healthy friendship, (y/n). It’s toxic.

“Real friends would never, and I mean never, do that to you. Real friends would never tell you that you looked like shit when you’re as beautiful as Aphrodite. Real friends would never out you to the entire school when you weren’t ready. Real friends would never tell you to lose weight because they wouldn’t care about what you look like. Real friends care about your well being and they look out for you. They love you for you.”

You fell silent as you contemplated his words. Were they really that toxic? You were planning on being a psychology major in college, so why didn’t you notice that they were actually always against you? You learned in your class that manipulative people are naturally cunning and sneaky, but you couldn’t help but feel stupid. You thought that they were helping you when they were clearly toxic. It was right under your nose and you didn’t even see the signs. What kind of psychology student were you if you couldn’t recognize the obvious signs of manipulation?

On one hand, you were filled with betrayal. But on the other hand, you felt molten hot anger overwhelm and swirl around your entire body like a cyclone absolutely decimating everything in its path with its violent winds hurling in a blind rage anything and everything without a care of the outcome. You felt the burning hatred of a thousand suns rise up from deep within your being, filling you with a hatred that you didn’t know you were capable of.

They fucked up your entire life, not you. They were the ones with the ugly personalities, not you. They were the ones that needed to improve themselves, not you. They were bad friends, not you. They laughed at the pain they brought upon you purposefully. They completely humiliated you. They betrayed your trust. They took pictures of you without your consent. They fucked up your relationship with Haley. They violated Haley. They fucking stole her dignity from her with those disgusting pictures they took of her. They were truly vile creatures undeserving of any mercy. Not that you were actually considering being merciful, that would be too good for them. They deserved everything you were going to throw at them. You were going to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of your past self.

You felt yourself practically vibrate with fury as you held Technoblade’s intense gaze with one of your own. “Those bastards fucking used me for years. Literal years and I thought they were there for me,” you gave a sardonic laugh, your voice shaking with anger. “I-I’m gonna fuckin kill them the next time I see their sorry asses. Make them feel what it’s like to get tossed out of a car. Make them feel what it’s like to constantly get beaten down.”

Techno’s hands gripped your shoulders in a vice grip as his eyes sparked with a crazed delight and he grinned widely at you, “that’s the spirit! You’re gonna rain hellfire upon them, beat their asses (y/n)! Fuck em up! FUCK! EM! UP!”

Wilbur, always thinking about potential consequences and the voice of reason, spoke up with hesitance. “As much as I love that you’re finally realizing that they’re toxic as hell and want revenge, you’d have to wait at least until tomorrow. If you did it today, you wouldn’t be allowed to go to finals. Besides, I don’t think that you should even fight them. You would be out- wait. They’re the ones that opened the car door and fucked up your back?” Seeing you nod, his face darkened in anger. “...(Y/n), you’re gonna fuck em up as soon as you can tomorrow. We’ll back you up if they try to gang up on you, we aren’t eighteen yet, so it’s still legal. ”

“YES, SUCCUMB TO THE ANARCHY! WE’RE GONNA FUCK EM UP!”

“YOU ARE NOT FUCKING ANYONE UP ANYTIME SOON, TECHNOBLADE.” Philza’s voice boomed from behind the closed door. Said door swung open to reveal your father’s angry form and your uncle’s intrigued, slightly proud form.

You three stared at the two for a while with gaping mouths, your previous intensity substantially diminuendos into a quiet shock. No one fucks with an angry Dadza. Techno was the quickest to get over the shock. “...How long were you standing there?”

Your father sneered. “Well, long enough to hear that you three are going to fight someone! Why the hell would you do that?”

Your brothers looked at you in a silent question. Shaking your head, you answered in a small voice, “there’s just some people messing with me at school. They were just worried about me. We weren’t gonna actually fight someone, they were just talking about how it’d be nice to get some revenge for me. I was just about to tell them that I could handle myself and we didn’t need to fight.”

Immediately, your dad’s stiff stance relaxed slightly as his eyes pierced into your own, searching them to see if you’re lying to him or not. You felt a cold sweat drip down the back of your head at the intensity of his gaze, you hated when he did that. It always made you feel like he was staring right at your soul. Eventually, his gaze softened.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped you through it.”

“I didn’t want to bother you. Plus, it’s nothing I can’t handle by myself.”

“But you looked really panicked earlier hun. Are you sure you can-”

“I just forgot about my stats homework until this morning and I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it done in time, but I did! No worries,” you spoke a little faster than usual. You prayed that he wouldn’t see through your lie.

“...Alright. Just let me know if it gets to be too much for you and I can talk with your principal about it. Now go eat something and get ready, you only have,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, “an hour before you have to be at school. Hurry up or you’re going to be late.”

Your dad turned around and walked down the hallway away from the room. Schlatt, however, loomed in the doorway for a while before he came into the room and closed the door behind him. You three watched him warily as he eyed you and your brothers.

“...Ya know, I approve,” after seeing your confused looks, he chuckled and spoke again. “I approve of you three fuckin em up. I heard part of your conversation, and those snot nosed brats deserve it for what they did to my favorite niece.”

You three stared at him with shock, making him laugh at you. “Close your mouths, you’re gonna catch flies.” He paused for a second before leaning towards you and whispering “now, you didn’t hear it from me, but the key to a good punch is following through with it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t tuck your thumb in, that’ll break it. Make sure you center your hit on your index and middle fingers, they are the strongest points of the hand. If you need to, go for the eyes, nose, and groin.”

“I-thank you Uncle Schlatt. I really appreciate it. Just- please don’t tell dad?”

“Of course not! I mean, if you don’t fuck em up enough I will. (Y/n), when you’re done, I want details.”

You saluted sarcastically, “yessir, will do!”

He gave a boisterous laugh, “you better. Now go get ready.”

As he was about to walk out of the room, he suddenly paused and his hand shot to his pants pocket. He pulled something out before putting it into your hand and turning again to walk out of the room. “This is from Tubbo and Tommy. They were worried about you.” In your hand laid three of your favorite candies. You felt your heart swell at their innocent, caring natures. They were honestly some of the sweetest kids you’ve ever met.

“Well boys, you get first pics!” You held out the candy to them.

Wilbur looked at you with knitted eyebrows, “but they gave those to you.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten through that panic attack without you guys helping me, so take this as a temporary thank you.” You watched as they glanced at each other before reaching out to grab a piece of candy.

“Alright, I’m gonna go get ready, you guys can take the bathroom before me. Love you guys!”

You went into your room and made sure your curtains were closed before turning to your closet. Humming in thought, you picked out a white button up and the nicest sweater you owned. You put on the collared button up then slipped the sweater on over it so that the collar poked out of the neck. You smiled at yourself in the mirror, feeling more confident in yourself than you’ve felt since you started hanging out with them. Fuck them, they always lied to you. You looked great in anything you put on. You felt elated and basked in the spectacular feeling of being able to like what you wore.

While you waited for your brothers to leave the bathroom, you pulled out your phone and scrolled through your contacts before you stopped on one: Haley’s. The girl that stole your heart and relentlessly stomped on it until it was a red puddle at her feet. Despite the pain, you still loved her. She was your everything. Your thumb hovered over her icon, contemplating on texting her. You had to tell her that she didn’t have to worry about her pictures anymore.

(Y/n)

Haley

I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I have good news

You don’t have to worry about your pics anymore

I took care of it.

You don’t have to reply to this

Just know that I took care of it and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

You sat on your bed staring at your phone screen waiting for her to open your messages. You stared at the ‘delivered’ icon at the bottom of your message, waiting for it to say ‘read’. You stared for about ten minutes before you gave up, putting your phone in your pocket and standing up with a sigh. She would see it eventually. Just as you reached your door, you felt a vibration in your pocket. You whipped out your phone and smiled at Haley’s face on your screen. She was calling you.

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself down, you clicked the answer button, “hey Hales.”

“(Y/n), what’d you do?”

“I took care of it. That’s all you have to know.”

“I think I should know more. What’d you do?”

You paused for a moment before you hesitantly said, “I asked them to delete your pictures and they have to, it’s part of our deal.”

“...You found out who they were?”

“Yeah, but that’s not important. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“(Y/n), don’t tell me what to worry about. Who are they?”

“...Fine, it was Adrian Schnieder, Annie Lockhart, and Sammy McConnor. Ya know, you’re scary when you’re mad Hales. Remind me not to get on your bad side again.”

“It was them? You hang out around them all the time, I thought you were good friends. Why would they do that?”

Even though she couldn’t see you, you shrugged. “I dunno. I think they were just jealous. They’re assholes and I can’t believe I haven’t noticed it a lot sooner. I’m sorry they put you through that, you didn’t deserve what they did to you.”

“God (y/n),” she sighed out, you imagined that she was running a hand through her hair. “I can’t imagine how much that hurt you. You four were really close.”

“I know, but it was a long time coming. Like I said, I should’ve noticed that it was them. They’ve always been toxic as hell.”

“How’d you find out? What happened?”

“Did you hear about what they did to me yesterday?”

“Should I? If you’re not comfortable talking about it, that’s totally okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t wanna.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re gonna hear about it eventually, shit spreads like wildfire at Klinkver. Long story short, they outed me to the entire school and thought that I was only friends with them to get in their pants. They basically told me to kill myself,” you added nonchalantly. “But that’s not the important part about this. They told me that they were the people that took those pictures of you.”

“...(Y/n), how could you say that’s not important! They fucked up your life and all you care about is my pictures? What’d they say they’d do with yours?”

“I asked them to not leak them until after the match tonight so you could have the spotlight. You deserve it after all the hard work you’ve put in to get team captain. Zuri was hard to beat and you deserve the recognition for that.”

You heard her take a deep breath through her nose, “(y/n), for once in your life care about yourself over others. You’re gonna be exposed to the entire school and it bothers me that you’re being so nonchalant about that.”

“They’ve put me through worse. Besides,” you wove a hand in the air, “it’ll all blow over sooner or later when another person gets their nudes leaked. You remember how fast people forgot about Marlene’s nudes when May’s got leaked like a week later.”

“Still, it’s degrading to have people see you like that. No matter how fast they get over it, it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve seen you. You can’t come back from that sweetheart.”

You felt your heart skip a beat at the nickname. Even if she called almost everybody that, you felt special. “I don’t care if people see my boobs, it wasn’t even a clear picture anyways. It was hella blurry.”

Your door swung open for the second time today. There stood Tommy, his eyes peering innocently at you. “Dad wanted me to tell you to hurry up.”

You smiled at him, “thank you buddy. Let him know I’ll be down in a minute. Oh, and thank you for the candy, it really made me happy.”

He beamed brightly before he sprinted down the stairs. “Was that Tommy? Is he gonna be at the match tonight?”

“Of course, he and Tubbo are our team’s mascots after all. They would never miss a game, especially our final match.”

“I can’t wait to see them, but we need to talk about this. It’s more serious than you paint it as. How are you not pissed at those dumbasses? You trusted them and they betrayed you.”

“Oh, believe me I’m furious. Heh, I’m actually kinda shaking right now because of how pissed I am. But for now, I’m just gonna imagine their faces on the ball so I can keep my mind off them until tomorrow.”

“...Please don’t tell me you’re gonna do something stupid tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t call it stupid per se, they deserve it for what they put you through. It’s more getting justice than being stupid.”

“(Y/n), I swear to god if you start a fight just to get back at them for me, I’m gonna slap you. Think about yourself every once and a while, they put you through so much. If you feel comfortable, you’re gonna tell me everything they did to you tonight on the bus coming home.”

“So we’re gonna sit together?” You tried and failed to stomp the hopeful tone from your voice.

Her laugh sounded angelic in your ear, “of course we are silly, you’re my best friend. I gotta go, my dad’s calling me. I’ll talk to you later!”

“See ya!” When you hung up, you danced around your room with joy. You- no, they- didn’t ruin your friendship with Haley after all! Oh, you felt like your heart was going to burst out of your chest with joy. Even if she didn’t like you like you adored her, you still cherished your friendship. Looking back, Haley and the team always had your back, they genuinely cared about you. They were perhaps the only ones you would fully trust in the future.

“(Y/N), HURRY UP YOU’RE GONNA BE LATE!” Tommy’s voice outside your door shook you from your happy dance. “Coming!”

You ran to the bathroom and hastily went through your routine. Despite your rushing, you tried your best to look presentable. You were going to prove those snakes wrong, you were beautiful no matter what you wore or how you looked.

After running down the stairs with your bag, your dad stopped you before you could run out the door with your keys. “You look nice today hun.”

“Thanks Dad, I just wanted to dress up a bit for finals today. I’m honestly really pumped to play tonight.”

“That’s good,” he smiled at you before pulling you into a quick hug. “Just take it easy today, you need to save your energy for the match tonight... Listen, I don’t know what happened to you this morning and I don’t know exactly what’s going on in your life right now, but just know that I’m always gonna be here for you. Whether you need help with homework, advice, or if you want me to beat up someone else’s dad for you,” he chuckled, “I’ll do it.”

You closed your eyes and leaned into his touch, happy with the contact. You two stood in the hall for a moment before he pulled away and told you to leave for school.

The drive to the school was uneventful with your brothers mainly holding up the conversation. As you pulled into the parking lot, you realized that you needed to catch up on two full days of stats homework.

“Hey Tech?” He hummed, looking over to you.

“Sorry, but would I be able to maybe copy your stats notes from Tuesday?”

“Yeah, I’ll give em to you so you can copy it before school starts. We’d have to go to Mr. Mullins for yesterday’s notes though. We can just ask him about it before school starts.”

As you pulled into a space and moved to leave the car, a hand stopped you. “(Y/n), if any of those two-faced bitches bother you at all, let us know. Don’t deal with this on your own, we’re here for you,” Wilbur said genuinely.

“Yeah, if they say anything bad about you, it’s on sight.”

You laughed, “thanks guys, I’ll let you guys know if they do anything. We gotta get going though if Tech and I wanna get those notes done.”

In the school, you and Techno successfully got your notes done before the first bell rang. The rest of class went by without a hitch with you actually somewhat understanding mostly everything being taught. You even got a question right when you were called on! Turns out not feeling weighed down by toxic people helps a lot with concentration.

The only block you were dreading was the second block. You were sure that if you even glanced at Annie and Adrian, you’d go apeshit on them. Luckily for them, they didn’t show up to class today. They were probably comforting Annie after you “manipulated” her, you thought with an eye roll. Today was just another work day, so you pulled out your laptop and opened Google Docs. You saw Annie’s and Adrian’s unfinished and you were slapped in the face with inspiration.

They were still expecting you to finish their essays, so you were gonna finish them alright. You were going to completely rewrite their essays all about how they were terrible homophobes and how LGBT+ people are always facing some form of discrimination amongst their peers, complete with attached screenshots of them calling you slurs over text. You’d even write a little note at the beginning that would tell your teacher that they didn’t write this, but they made you write it so you deserved the credit for it. You didn’t care that this would take a while, the satisfaction that you would get would be worth it. This was going to completely screw up their grades, this essay was worth twenty five percent of your overall grade. Mr. Todd was really laid back, so he only had a few rules in the classroom. First was to respect your classmate’s time and work, second was to clean up after yourselves, and third (“the most important one” he said on the first day of school) was that he would never tolerate racism, sexism, transphobia, or homophobia in his classroom. Your masterpieces you were writing would definitely earn them a failing grade, a good scolding from Mr. Todd, and maybe a visit to the principal’s office. This would be first in a long line of gifts you have in mind for them.

At lunch, you were slightly stumped as to where you should sit. You didn’t really know anybody in your lunch period, so you just sat at the empty table Adrian, Annie, and Sammy left for you today and ate while working on your masterpieces. Finding sources was extremely easy for you, you remembered doing extensive research about discrimination when you first found out that you weren’t the straight girl you thought you were. Luckily for you, you still had the old Google Doc full of sources you wanted to save for later. Thank you, freshman you.

Third and fourth block went by relatively quickly, you completely finished the work in both classes with plenty of time left for you to continue typing up the essays. You had gotten Adrian’s completely done and Annie’s thesis written. Oh, revenge is sweet. You weren’t even done with what you had in store for them.

You had their parent’s phone numbers and you got Adrian’s boss’ number from Marlene, who worked with him as a waitress. Annie’s parents were total sweethearts that would be absolutely fuming if you showed them what she said to you. You weren’t sure about Adrian’s or Sammy’s parents, but you were going to send them screenshots anyways. If Adrian’s parents were as bigoted as he was, you still had his boss to fall back on. You could email the screenshots to the principal and the athletic director so that you could have something to rely on if Sammy’s parents had the same beliefs as she did. She valued cross country more than everything, so you could fuck that up for her. Revenge never tasted so sweet to you before, it felt like you were high with how giddy you were. Techno and Wilbur were going to love this.

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havin-fun-imagining-twd · 3 years

Text

It’s not the end of the wor - oh.

Word Count - 2,600

Perspective - 2nd person

When - after you have your chat with Dale in “Deserved” (Quarry era); in the show, the episode “Vatos.” For the rest of the Slowpoke Series, here’s the Masterlist.

Relationships - you and the gang! (as always, of course! The specific gang members start with just your big bro and Carol in this installment, before we get most of the fam all there for the setup of the next story. This little drabble is just a quick follow-up to “Deserved” Pts 1-2 and is a transition to the next part - in which I promise we’ll see Dary-bear returned to us, but homeboy’s busy in Atlanta rn, so we gotta wait)

Genre - no idea, my friends, but this one errs on the fluffier side, I reckon

Pronouns - kept it neutral, but there’s a heavy implication that you are a woman. In addition, your character has that nagging feeling you may be familiar with where you just want to make sure that your eyebrows look okay.

TWs - discussions of spousal and parental abuse including the reveal of parental abuse of a major character, and some language.

*points to whoever gets the little Easter egg joke thrown in there :D *

“Heya, weirdo.” Shane sounds a touch awkward.

“Hiya, loser.” So do you, for that matter.

“Can I come in? Lemme take a look at that jaw again?” he asks.

You shrug to yourself and unzip your tent, taking off the one earbud you had in and turning off your mp3. He steps in, sits down, and you extend your chin for him. His fingers barely touch your rapidly forming bruise as he looks at it and frowns.

In a gentler tone than your big brother usually used, he tells you “I meant it when I said you did good, alright? You did very good.”

You tilt your head slightly. “It was reckless and dangerous and risky.”

“Yes,” he admitted, then he paused. “That ain’t what Dale was tellin’ you in there, was it?”

“No, not at all He was just sort of lettin’ me work it out, with a touch of philosfofy – oh my gosh, why in the hell can’t I pronounce that word today? Philo-sophy.”

“Might can that be another migraine comin’?”

You raise your eyebrows, impressed. “Look at you, all up on your pre-migraine stuff.”

“Ahem, that’s the ‘prodrome phase,’ weirdo,” he drawls, winking. “Let’s hope the weather’s cooler tomorrow so you can sleep when it hits.”

Bless his heart, he was definitely trying to be sweet. “I love you, too, Shaney,” you smile. You hope that you were just tired, and wouldn’t get another migraine so soon. Please, you beg silently. Headaches, whatever, but migraines? Not conducive to the end of civilization.

You attempt to tap where you’d gotten smacked as delicately as you could, since it was already aching. “Does my jaw look real bad, or nah?”

“It looks like whenever I’ll see it, I’ll feel good about how Ed looks.”

You try not to wince. And there had to have been something that you had intended to say in reply but you end up staring into space for a few moments instead. “Um, you, um, you seen Lori? Is she mad?”

“Not about Ed.”

Hm? That was a weird response. “What do you mean?” You thought you’d noticed tension between them earlier, but didn’t think much of it. Friends fight.

“She thinks I lied about Rick, pretty sure.”

“What would make her think that?” Shane had no reason to lie about believing his best friend dead. Then it occurred to you “Wait, she don’t think I lied too, right?”

Your brother shook his head and insisted “No way, it’s fine.”

A silence settled between you two. “What about Carol?” you asked nervously. “You talk to her?”

“Yeah.”

A little too quickly, you rush to ask “How is she? And how’s Sophia?”

“Hey, they’re fine, Y/N, it’s okay. And for a while, they’re gonna be safer, too.”

“But what about when he’s up and walkin’ again?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, okay?”

You exhale. “Well, what did she say? What did Carol say?”

“She apologized –”

“ – Ugh, of course she did,” you whimper, burying your face in your hands before flinching “Ow!” when you accidentally rub the side of your jaw that got hurt.

Shane also flinched when you accidentally pressed your injury, but continues with what he was saying “ – She also thanked me. Thanked us.”

“Well, what else was she gonna say?” you start, feeling your emotions get the better of you again. “Apologize, then roll over, just like she’s been groomed to –”

“No, that’s not why,” Shane replied, and firmly, too. “I promised her that he wasn’t gonna put a hand on her or Sophia ever again, whatever it took. And I meant it, I mean it. He ain’t hurtin’ them again,” he insists, a little louder than he ought.

“How are you gonna promise that, Shane?”

“However I gotta. I don’t know her situation, but I know that women like that hear that shit all the time and learn not to trust it from the cops. But so far, I backed up what I said, so...”

Yeah, he sure did. He’d almost beaten Ed to death, before stopping himself and promising him that he would do it the next time that Ed laid another finger on anyone else.

Your conversation with Dale kept running through your head. “How’s that different from mob justice?”

“It ain’t a mob, it’s just me. And c’mon, he’s an abuser. You think he’s gonna change?”

“What are you, the Punisher?”

“What’s your suggestion, then? A restraining order?” he spits out.

Yeah, he’s definitely mad. You don’t blame him. It’s personal.

You try your next statement in a different tone of voice. “I’m worried about you.” It's been harder and harder to see him, if that makes sense. Well, it doesn't, but, um, you guess it's that he's been somehow less recognizable? Less like himself. Sure, everyone has changed after what happened to the world, but...whatever, you don't know.

“Well, I appreciate your worry.”

Yeah, right.

“Don’t patronize me. There ain’t nothing wrong with me worryin’ about you when I know this shit is personal.”

“Then don’t preach at me,” he snaps back. “And please, keep your voice down.”

You say nothing in reply, you only lay down and stare into space.

He does the same. You both need to breathe for a minute. That’s all it took to calm down, really. Quick to get angry, quick to cool off.

Your mama had taught all of you that. Just stop for a while to settle down, like taking a tea kettle off the burner. It’s funny: you and your siblings aren’t all fully blood related, but you all were taught and used the same coping mechanisms, even your sister who joined you as a foster when she was 15.

“I also, um, I-I accidentally let it slip to Dale that mama was...treated bad once,” you tell him.

You hear his breath catch for a moment. Next he says “It’s okay. Not the end of the world.”

“But I didn’t say nothing about you,” you assure him quietly.

He thought you’d spilled his secret, too. Yeah, nope. Unless Dale assumed your mom’s first husband was Shane’s bio dad, then no. You knew well how people could immediately put up defenses around or prejudge those who came from a bad situation, because they labeled them as loose cannons or damaged goods.

“Hey,” he repeats, turning to you. “It’s okay. And it wouldn’t be the end of the world even if you had.”

You bite your lip and make a goofy sort of face at him. “Maybe use a different phrase than ‘it’s not the end of the world,’ hm?”

“Aw shit,” He bursts out into a laugh at that one. “Fair play, okay. And hey, sorry for gettin’ all...”

“Huffy?”

“I got real huffy. And don’t ever apologize to me for remindin’ me about...” he trails off again. He’s fiddling with his ‘22′ necklace he always wears.

“What? About morals, Shaney?” you say, pursing your lips.

“You are a pain in my ass.”

“Well right now, I am a pain in my jaw, tell you what.”

He sighs, and speaks all gently again. “Wanna go check it out in the RV mirror?”

“Only if you promise I won’t run into nobody on the way,” you groan, and very dramatically. You aren’t really being too serious. Yeah, you don’t want to have to show your face, but also it’s not the end of the wor – oops. You mean to say: it could be worse.

“You will run into everybody,” Shane assures you.

Now it’s your turn to sigh. “Ugh, I wish I could scurry off on another hunt with Daryl right about now.” You wipe your eyes and heave another big sigh. “Do my eyebrows look okay?”

And to that, Shane doesn’t seem to know how to react at first. You’d think he wasn’t used to hearing those sorts of things after growing up with sisters and dating so many women. “Eyebrows, really?”

“Says Mr. Shaves-His-Chest,” you drone, smug expression on your face. You grab your eyebrow pencil from your bag along with your tweezers. Eh, you rethink the tweezers but keep the pencil. Why get fancy, just keep your brows looking naturally full and you’ll be chill.

“First you wish you could run off into the woods with the redneck, then you worry about your appearance in the same breath; should I worry?”

“I don’t give a hoot about how Daryl Dixon thinks I look, oh my gosh,” you snort, crawling out of the tent. “But by the way – that choke hold was illegal.”

He crawls out after you, stands, and stretches his back. “And I told him he could file a complaint.” He pauses then asks “Want me to show you again? Especially how to fight off somebody bigger than you?”

“Show me all the moves, man. I don’t want to get a cool bruise like this ever again without puttin’ up a better show.”

There was something about his voice when he answers “Yeah, I don’t want you to find yourself in that position ever again neither,” that makes you put you reach up to put an arm around his shoulders for a moment. He returns the gesture, mumbling “Love you, weirdo. And from what I saw, you weren't too bad.”

“Love you, loser,” you smile back at him."Th-thank you."

Aaaand as he takes his arm off, he musses your hair. You should’ve seen it coming. “Never mind, I loathe you forever,” you pretend to pout, stomping away to the start of the path down to the quarry. Amy radioed when she and her sister went fishing, so you wanted to give them a wave.

“Hey, where you going?”

“I’m wavin’ to Amy.”

“What are you, twelve?”

“Psht, says the one who keeps his chest smooth like a prepubescent boy’s.”

Next, you swallow and try to look casual as the two of you walk to the RV. It’s the first time you’ve seen anyone other than Dale since the incident with Ed earlier that day.

Was that Jim all the way up there? Yeah, that was definitely Jim. But what’s he doing?

Looked like he was doing some sort of digging. Digging a toilet, maybe? Kind of a hot day for it, but that was certainly admirable.

Eliza and Sophia are on some crates in the shade, thoroughly absorbed in whatever they’re coloring. Carl catches your gaze and squints, making that “I got-my-eye-on-you” gesture before cracking up and waving. And the next thing you knew, little Luis is running over and asking if you broke you fingers ‘when’ you punched Ed (ughhhhh). Miranda makes an apologetic face at you, and Mr. Morales just mouths it’s okay.

Jacqui walks over and takes your hand in hers, nodding and pecking a quick kiss to your head before returning back to her crossword book. And as you pass by Lori and Carol doing some mending on the “couch” (which is just the backseat from one of the cars that you all used when the weather was dry), you feel your cheeks grow warm and you duck your head in embarrassment and shame.

Lori’s smile is laced with pity, eyes lingering on your jaw, and Carol smile is...you aren’t sure. She looks ashamed, too, you guess. And she shouldn’t, but it doesn’t surprise you.

Then oh no, she’s getting up and walking towards you. “Dale went to go talk to Jim, if you were looking for him,” she lets you and Shane know, not looking Shane in the eyes as much as she is you.

“Nah, someone here,” he begins, clearing his throat, “Wanted to use the RV mirror to fix their eyebrows. Not namin’ names.” And with a wink, he opens the door so you and Carol can walk in, then leaves and gives you two some privacy.

Her hand reaches out as she delicately examines your bruise. Her eyes are wet.

You manage to whisper “I’m so sorry,” before your bottom lip gets all wobbly again.

“No. You and your brother have nothing to be sorry for, Y/N,” she murmurs in her quiet way, eyes glued to that red, black, and blue mark.

“I lost my temper.”

“Well,” she said, her smile sad, “I don’t blame you.”

You weren’t able to formulate an answer at that moment. Carol sees this, takes your hands and quietly thanks you. “Sophia thanks you, too, you know. She actually smiled at your brother after she found out what you and he did.” After placing a soft, motherly kiss on your forehead, she clears her throat, wipes her eyes and smiles. “So, what’s this about your eyebrows, now?”

After you hugged again, cried a little, and made up, you’re sitting with her and Lori on the couch, helping them with the mending, and chatting about the little birthday celebration for Amy that would finally be tomorrow.

“If Glenn is up for a quick run tomorrow, I wanna try to find sprinkles. Amy mentioned wanting cupcakes with ’em,” you mention, tongue halfway out of your mouth as you try to get the stitching on the patch you’re sewing even. “Is that dumb of me to try?”

“Oh Y/N, honey, don’t ask that poor boy to go on another run again after the past two days he’s had, because you know he’ll say yes,” Lori protests, a knowing sort of grin lighting up her face.

“What do you mean? Oh, well I guess,” you consider. “Glenn is sort of a people-pleaser...” And he’ll be really tired after coming home this afternoon or tonight, you suppose.

“That’s not quite what I meant.”

And before that insinuation can fully form in your stomach and fill you with nervous dread, you see a waving hand come into your peripheral vision. You turn and look.

Holy Moses in a basket.

Amy and Andrea are carrying practically a whole school of fish! How did they catch so many in only a couple hours? Was that even possible? And were there were that many fish in the quarry?

The ripped knees on the pants you’re repairing forgotten, you cough out in astonishment “Guess the quarry-monster didn’t scare the fish away,” and raise your arms in a touchdown pose. Mr. Morales comes from around the clothesline, catches your eye, gives you a fist-bump, and exclaims to everyone “Oh baby, will you look at that?” His smile is a mile wide, and he laughs out in glee “Hey, check it out!”

Lori drops her own mending and flat-out claps at their achievement, and a few others join. You sure as heck do, then stand up to go to Amy.

Andrea, satisfied, hands Mr. Morales one of the bunches of fresh fish. He’s practically bowing to them as he praises “Ladies: because of you, my children will eat tonight. Thank you!”

“Thank Dale,” Andrea insists, “It’s his canoe and gear.”

Amy does a little victory dance as she chugs what’s left in her water bottle. You join the dance, obviously, then watch as Eliza and Sophia follow suit from their little coloring corner.

Jacqui, beaming, high-fives Andrea, and Carl has finally found his words by the time he calls out to his mom in excited astonishment to “Look at all the fish!”

Mr. Morales has having fun holding up the catch to people, and you squeal when he does it to you. Luis runs over next to Carl and, darling little savages they are, they poke the fish and sigh “Whoa.”

“Yeah whoa,” Lori agrees. “Where did you two learn to do that?”

“Our dad,” Amy announces proudly.

“Cool! Can you teach me how to do that?” Carl asks. They’d just had a fishing lesson from Amy a few days ago, actually, but now it would be perfect to expand upon!

“Sure! I’ll teach you all about nail knots and stuff,” Amy answers, then quickly remembers to check with the parents “If that’s okay?”

Carol shrugs and smiles, while Lori nods her head, saying “You won’t find me arguing,” while Miranda and Mr. Morales echo “No objections here.”

You’re still standing and talking with Amy when Dale comes back down from the hill where he’d been talking to Jim.

“Hey Dale,” Andrea calls out. ��When’s the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace!” she jokes.

Wait, what’s wrong? Why does he look so pale? Shoot, is he okay?

“Dale, are you alright?” you ask him. Did he need water? Was he having chest pains? Was his pulse steady?

“I, uh, I don’t want to alarm anyone,” he starts, putting a hand on your shoulder and nodding his head. “But we may have a bit of a problem.”

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beepboop358 · 3 years

Text

A Prom in S4 Theory & Music Coding Predictions

Some leaked set pics indicate that there MAY BE a junior/senior prom at Hawkins High, which they are calling the "Lover's Ball". It's unclear if this prom will be included on screen, or if it will just be mentioned as an event coming up at Hawkins High because this flyer could just extra set decor. Regardless if the prom happens on screen or not, there will probably be some tension about 'who's asking who' to the prom that we will see in s4. Given that this picture was just leaked a few weeks ago, it probably falls closer to the end of the season sequentially.

Having a big school dance in s4 is suspiciously close to how they had the Snowball scene in s2. This would certainly follow the even/odd season patterns, (and actually add to the list of the patterns), which kind of makes me think we will see this prom on screen, or at the very least it will be mentioned in the course of the season.

The Duffer Brothers love Steven King and reference his work and especially 'IT' a lot in the show, but they haven't done anything with Carrie yet so maybe we will get a Carrie moment this season at the prom...

Carrie was on the video store fridays movie inspiration board for ST4.

At the "Lover's Ball", there will be definitely be some music coding relating to Byler. Since music coding is kind of a key thing in the show, I've been rifling through 80's songs to try and find some that may fit with s4's themes/character storylines (and I may do a seperate post about that later), but for this post I'm just gonna focus on what they might use at the prom for relating to Byler.

Since the season is most likely going to take place in 1986, I only selected songs that had a compatible release year so it would be historically accurate. (these songs would also be great for a byler playlist!)

Some strong contenders for the songs that might play at the prom to reference Mike and Will's relationship could be:

"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986)

This song is honestly too good of an option for them not to use. I'm reallllyyy crossing my fingers for this one.

It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small

"And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid (don't be afraid) To let them show your true colors True colors are beautiful (you're beautiful, oh) Like a rainbow Oh oh oh oh oh like a rainbow"

If this world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear You call me up Because you know I'll be there

"Heaven" by Bryan Adams (1984)

This first verse is literally just the story of Byler... 😭 The rest of the song applies but that verse verse is just sooooo accurate. (I'm crossing my fingers for this one too)

"Oh thinkin' about all our younger years There was only you and me We were young and wild and free Now nothing can take you away from me We've been down that road before But that's over now You keep me comin' back for more

Baby you're all that I want When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe We're in heaven And love is all that I need And I found it there in your heart Isn't too hard to see We're in heaven

Oh once in your life you find someone Who will turn your world around Bring you up when you're feelin' down Yeah nothin' can change what you mean to me Oh there's lots that I could say But just hold me now 'Cause our love will light the way"

"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (1986)

This song is on Will's Spotify playlist, and I thought it could also be used at the prom since it's a romantic song. I see it as an 'entrance to the prom' moment song, almost like a 'first look' - like the Mike and El moment at the snowball when she first walks in, but with Mike and Will this time. I think the lyrics clearly hint to this kind of 'first look' moment as well.

"Watchin' every motion in my foolish lover's game On this endless ocean, finally lovers know no shame Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn around and say...take my breath away"

Watchin' every motion in this foolish lover's game Haunted by the notion, somewhere there's a love in flames Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn my way and say...take my breath away"

"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (1981)

This song was originally meant to be included in the snowball scene from s2, but it ultimately was not used and "Every Breath You Take" was used for this scene instead. Since it was intended to be a part of the s2 dance, that's why I think it may be used at the prom this season. (you can read the scripts on 8flix)

——— I forgot to include this explanation originally BUT, I think this song might be used to show some anger/resentment between the two, and to show a decent amount of tension, depending on their development this season. Like maybe Mike is kind of leading Will on in private by continuing to initiate intimate scenes between them, but in public Mike is still trying to put on his “straight boy act” and kind of being a jackass about it, and this song could be used to show the tension between them that has caused.

"And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, (Oh lord)

Well, I was there and I saw what you did I saw it with my own two eyes So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been It's all been a pack of lies.

Well I remember, I remember don't worry How could I ever forget It's the first time, the last time we ever met But I know the reason why you keep this silence up

No you don't fool me The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows It's no stranger to you and me"

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (1986)

Some of the lyrics in this song just SCREAMS byler, just look at the 1st, 2nd and 4th paragraphs. I would be suprised if they didn't use this song in either s4/s5.

Love, I get so lost sometimes Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart When I want to run away I drive off in my car But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return The grand facade, so soon will burn Without a noise, without my pride I reach out from the inside

In your eyes The light, the heat (in your eyes) I am complete (in your eyes) I see the doorway (in your eyes) To a thousand churches (in your eyes) The resolution (in your eyes) Of all the fruitless searches (in your eyes)

Love, I don't like to see so much pain So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away I get so tired working so hard for our survival I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

"Heroes" by David Bowie (1975)

David Bowie was bisexual. A cover of his song “Heroes” is used in the show twice already, sung by Peter Gabriel. The song plays when they pull Will's fake body out of the water in season one and Mike cries in his Mom's arms, with some very queer-coded lyrics in the background, and after Hopper's letter in s3 (which is very Byler-centric)

"I will be king. And you, you will be queen 'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact. Yes, we're lovers, and that is that. Though nothing will keep us together. We could steal time just for one day We can be heroes forever and ever. What d'you say? I, I wish I could swim, like dolphins, like dolphins could swim I, I can remember (I remember) Standing by the wall (By the wall) And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads) And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall) And the shame was on the other side. Oh, we can beat them forever and ever. Then we could be heroes just for one day We're nothing, and nothing will help us Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay But we could be safer just for one day"

I just thought the above songs might be some highly likely possibilities given that they fit the year of the s4 and also make references to not only love, but the idea of hiding, pain, shame, longing, etc., and can make some (partially stretching here) references to other things in the show such as:

RAINBOWS and TRUE COLORS, SHINING THROUGH (rainbows imagery is always associated with Mike & Will in the show and a is symbol of lgbtq+ pride, True Colors shining through = who you really are on the inside finally coming out)

IF THIS WORLD MAKES YOU CRAZY ("crazy together", "only love makes you that crazy" and references the "world" motif in the show)

YOUNGER YEARS, ONLY YOU AND ME, YOUNG, WILD AND FREE (references "not wanting things to change" and wanting "to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter, and the "But we're not kids anymore" comment during the Byler fight)

ENDLESS OCEAN and SWIM, LIKE DOLPHINS (references water's significance in the show)

FLAMES (Will in front of the burning car in s4 teaser?)

LIES and LYING (Mike lying to El about how he feels)

INSTINCTS RETURNING, FACADES BURNING, WITHOUT MY PRIDE, I REACH OUT FROM THE INSIDE (Mike's feelings for Will are his instincts, the facade is the act he put on in s3 to seem straight, burning could reference Will & fire, and I think the last 2 lines of that 2nd verse reference vulnerability- perhaps in an apology/confession)

I GET SO LOST (confusion about his sexuality, feeling lost without the other) and SO MUCH WASTED TIME (known each other since kindergarten but were unaware the other felt the same way/was dealing with same things, they could have been even closer)

KINGS and QUEENS (the d&d game mike wrote where he has king Tristan give him a medal in s1)

STEALING TIME (references "turning back the clock, to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter and the time theme in s4 and time is central to the s4 plot)

AND WE KISS - AND THE SHAME (references the shame they both feel about being gay since it was so stigmatized in the 80's)

Byler @ Prom Possibilities:

If Mike and Will did dance together at the prom, they will probably get bullied because they live in a small conservative town. They will probably either run out, upset, or Eleven will step in to protect them which could lead to the Carrie moment.

Or Mike and Will will not dance together in the actual dance room, but instead sneak off to somewhere else in the school and have a private Byler dance moment where they can't be teased and it's just them together.

OR Mike and Will are still acting weird at this point in the season because neither of them is communicating what needs to be said out of fear, or one of them has confessed or done something to indicate how they feel, but the other hasn’t so everything is weird between them. There would be lots of tension from this and we would get lots of longing looks and adoring moments between the two of them from the sidelines. (I think this one is the most likely)

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can-youimagine · 4 years

Text

Bracelet (Diego Hargreeves x Reader)

Requested by @irenne-stans: I’d like to request a Diego Hargreeves x reader Set in season 2 the reader is close friends w/ the academy (especially Diego) and gets sucked into 1963.when the reader first sees Lila very close w/ Diego her first instinct is to fight and Lila would say like “he’s clearly over you is even made me a bracelet” the reader responds w/ “shitty bracelet he made me his girlfriend” or something like that oh and the reader wins the fight or Diego pulls the reader off Lila. while the others just watch

TW: season 2 spoilers (but you read the request), feminine reader, swearing, hella canon-divergence, poorly written fight scene, wound description

Word Count: 2,333

A/N: I started writing and realized I changed the request a bit (I have horrible reading comprehension), sorry!

Masterlist

It wasn’t like Diego to be this clingy. Ever since his father’s death, he started spending every moment he could with you. You chalked it up to be some sort of existential crisis, especially when he asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was ending in less than a week?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “I don’t know. I guess I wouldn’t do anything differently.”

“The whole world is ending, and you aren’t going to do anything different,” he asked in disbelief.

“Fine, I’ll play your game. I’d spend more time with you.” You punctuated your sentence with a quick kiss. ”Now, shh. This is my favorite part.” You settled back into his chest and turned your attention back to the screen.

“I’ll spend more time with you, too,” he whispered into your hair.

He kept to his promise, going so far as to drag you with him into a portal to God knows where with much protest from his siblings. The last thing you remember before crashing to the ground was Diego telling you he loved you.

Now, you sit on a rather stiff couch, while the man who graciously let you live with him. He goes on and on about a secret alien race, ‘just like you’. You nod. It was easier to tell him what he wanted to hear than to try to do anything about it.

Luckily, Five showed up not too long after you. He explained everything, from the last apocalypse to this one. While he went off to find his siblings, he left you to listen to one of Elliott’s crazy rants.

“I got an update on another one of them. Escaped from the mental hospital,” Elliott says, as he tosses the newspaper in your direction. “Know him?”

You gasp when you see the picture. “Diego.” Your voice is barely more than a whisper.

“You know him,” Elliott presses. “He’s like you.”

You ignore him. Diego is here. He’s alive, and he’s here. His hair is much longer than it was, but he still looked exactly the same. “Oh, God. I have to find him.” You threw the paper back to Elliott before grabbing your shoes. “How far away should he be?”

He doesn’t have time to answer before you are out the door. “My God, Diego. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” you wonder, heading down the street. You don’t have much time to wonder before you see him sitting in a definitely stolen car. You shout his name, causing him to turn to you. As soon as he sees you, he clambers out of the car.

“(Y/N)!” The joy on his face is unmistakable. Though, you don’t get to see it for long, as he immediately wraps his arms around you, pulling you as close to you as he can, before kissing you. When he pulls away, he holds your face in his hands. “You’re here.”

That’s all it takes for you to start crying. Every emotion the two of you have felt since arriving comes pouring out of you. He gently brushes away your tears, ignoring his own. You almost forgot how good it feels to be in his arms, to just be with him.

Unfortunately, you don’t get to stay there for long. A woman, who you hadn’t noticed in the car earlier, clears her throat. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Fuck off,” Diego groans.

“You’re no fun,” she pouts.

Diego rolls his eyes. “Killed the mood, didn’t she?”

You chuckle. “A little, but God, is it good to see you again.” You look passed him to the girl in the car. “I’m (Y/N).”

“Oh, so you’re (Y/N). I was starting to think he truly was insane.”

You give Diego an inquisitive look, which he dismisses. “I was in there for a while. I could only think about you. Where were you?”

You explain where you were and everything that Five had told you, to which Diego can only respond with, “Again?”

“Looks like you gotta be a hero again.”

“So you’re where he gets it from?” the woman interjects.

Diego closes his eyes. It takes all of his self-control not to snap. “Lila-” Luckily for her, Five manages to find you before he has a chance to finish his sentence.

“See you’re pulling your weight around here, (Y/N).” He turns his attention to his brother, “And you are making my life incredibly difficult. Now let’s get you inside before someone sees you.” He turns on his heel and heads back toward Elliott’s.

“Ooh! I’m coming, too!” Lila says, hopping out of the car. Before anyone has a chance to stop her, she bounds up the steps. “Well, you comin’?”

You shrug and lead Diego into the building, but not before stealing another kiss. By the time you get in, Elliott is screaming at Five about the film he asked him to about earlier. Five, rather uninterested in the whole conversation, allows Lila to knock Elliott out before instructing you to tie him up while Five sets up the projector to watch the “Frankel Footage”.

You and Diego are too wrapped up in, well, each other to pay attention to the film. However, when you hear the gunshot, you both turn your attention to the screen.

“Is the guy with the umbrella…” you trail off, uncertain of if you really want to accuse your boyfriend’s father of murder.

“Dad,” Five and Diego say in unison.

“What the hell was that?” Lila asks, backing away. “What the hell was that?”

None of you know how to explain what happened. When you don’t answer immediately, she rushes off to hide in the makeshift darkroom.

“I’ll go calm her down,” Diego says.

“(Y/N), help me find Dad,” Five commands.

“We’re just gonna leave him?” You point to Elliot.

“We’ll just be in the next room.”

You nod and grab the phonebook. You flip through the ‘H’s. “No Hargreeves. Any other suggestions?”

“D.S. Manufacturing.” He moves to look over your shoulder. “There it is! Diego and I are going to see if we can get anything out of him. You need to stay here either to calm down Elliott or Lila. I’m not sure who needs your help more.”

You nod. “Be careful.”

“I will be. You may want to tell your boyfriend that.”

“I will.” You walk over to the closet. “D, we found him.”

“I’ve got to go, Lila. Family thing,” he explains to her before turning his attention back to you. “She’s starting to get some of it. Just keep her sane.”

“I will. You be careful.”

He rolls his eyes. “I always am.”

“Yeah. It’s not like I’ve ever had to stitch you back together right before I go to work.”

He kisses the top of your head. “I’ll be careful. Promise.” He holds his pinkie out, something the two of you started doing early in your relationship.

You lock yours with his. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good. Now, go, be a hero.”

He kisses you again before heading out the door.

Once he leaves, you tell Lila that you are going to make something to eat since she probably hasn’t had anything. She just nods, obviously uncomfortable with you. Eventually, hunger wins, and she comes into the kitchen with you.

“Y’know,” she says between mouthfuls of pancakes, “I thought that that man was insane -- daddy issues and all that -- but now,” the rest of her sentence is drowned out by the food. “So, what’ the deal with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“He just kept telling anyone who would listen about how great you are, how much he missed you, all that shit. So, what’s so great about you?”

You grip your glass a little tighter and plaster a smile onto your face. “I-”

“Not that it matters. You never bothered to look for him.” You try not to let her get to you. You try to be the bigger person, but as soon as she says, “Besides, we were basically a thing at the hospital. Why else would he take me with him? He even made me this bracelet.” She waves her wrist adorned with a string of beads in front of your face.

“Quite a shitty bracelet,” you respond, taking her empty plate from her. Once you turn around, you mutter, “He made me his girlfriend.”

“Oh yeah. Seems to be working well for you. You couldn’t even be bothered to-” Something takes control over you. You slap her as if on instinct. Surprisingly, she seems rather unphased, coming back at you twice as hard. You try everything Diego taught you, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s almost like she grew up in a bootcamp.

Just as she moves to hit you again, the door opens, and Five whistles. “As wonderful as it is to see you two bonding, your boyfriend needs some help.”

She hits you one last time before running down the stairs. You follow her to a horribly wounded, but conscious, Diego.

“Fuck,” you both say.

“I’m fine,” Diego says.

You roll your eyes. “Stand straight.”

He tries but fails. “Fine. Patch me up, Doc.”

You take his shirt off and lead him to the couch. You inspect the wound, which doesn’t seem to be too serious.

“I need disinfectant, bandages, some clean cloths, water, and some sort of painkiller,” you instruct. Lila and Five get to work gathering what you need, while you stay with Diego.

“Seems like I should have warned you to be careful,” he jests.

“I’m not the one bleeding out on a stranger’s couch,” you counter.

“You were the one almost pushed over a banister.”

You keep your eyes trained on his stomach, looking for any other scratches.

“You gonna tell me what happened?”

“It was nothing. I was being stupid.”

“No shit.” He laughs bitterly. “You can either tell me now, or I’ll ask her.”

“All out of painkillers,” Five interrupts, “but I’ve got everything else. Lila is untying Elliott.”

You thank him before telling him to go supervise her. Once he leaves, you get to work and hope that Diego has forgotten about the fight.

“You’re really not going to tell me?” he finally asks once you’ve cleaned most of the blood.

“You’re going to laugh.” You put some rubbing alcohol on the wound, causing him to hiss.

“I’m not much of a laugher.”

You roll your eyes. “Fine. I was jealous.”

As if to prove you right, he laughs. After an unamused look from you, he stops. “Sorry, but why? You know I love you.”

“I know.” You throw the cloth onto the couch. “I know. She was just talking about being with you and the bracelet and-”

“(Y/N), that bracelet is shit!”

“I know! I just -- I guess I just thought -- I thought I lost you, and the thought of you having this life that I couldn’t be a part of killed me. I know it’s stupid and selfish, but I just didn’t want you to have moved on so fast.” You didn’t realize you were crying until you feel Diego wipe away a tear.

“I will never move on from you. I love you, (Y/N), and I will make you a million bracelets to show you that. You have nothing to worry about.” He kisses you gently, ignoring the pain in his side. “I love you, and if we were back home, at our home, I’d show you.” You smile slightly. “Thatta girl. I told you, you’re stuck with me.”

“Good.”

You finish patching him up in silence. He has quite a few bruises that will still be there for a while, but there’s not much you can do about them. Since he doesn’t feel up to walking upstairs, the two of you stay on the couch. With Diego next to you, you sleep soundly for the first time since you came here, but he can’t stop his mind from reeling.

He feels horrible about everything that happened. He just wishes that he could have been there as soon as you first became jealous to hold you and tell you that you had absolutely nothing to worry about. He can’t stop thinking about the bracelet. You both know that the bracelet is the least of your worries, but something about it keeps eating at him. He suddenly gets an idea.

He climbs off of the couch, careful not to wake you, and moves over to the pile of cloth. He digs through the pile, looking for some sliver of white fabric in the pile, but he comes up empty. Instead, he grabs one and washes it until the water runs clear. He rips it into three small strips and begins braiding it the way he’s seen you and his sisters do a million times. When it somewhat resembles a bracelet, he ties it around your wrist, cutting it so that it fits perfectly.

When he tries to lay back down next to you, his elbow knocks against you, causing you to wake up. “Diego?”

“Yes, doll?”

“What’re you doing up?”

“I wanted to make up for earlier.”

“Diego-” You move your hand up to rest on his cheek, but you stop when you see the cloth. “What’s this?”

“I thought you deserved your own bracelet. This one is a bit more personal, though, not some mandatory arts and crafts project.”

You examine it. It’s lumpy and poorly braided and a rather ugly bronze color. “Where did you get this?”

“Before you freak out, I cleaned it.”

“You got it from that pile, didn’t you?”

He nods sheepishly, feeling rather foolish for thinking that you would like a blood-colored bracelet. “I’m sor-”

“I love it, and I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You curl back into him, laying the arm with the bracelet on his chest where you can both see it.

#diego hargreeves x reader #diego hargreeves imagine #tua imagine #tua x reader #tua spoilers #the umbrella academy imagine #the umbrella academy x reader #umbrella academy x reader #umbrella academy imagine

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maniacwatchestheworld · 4 years

Text

The DA Y/N OC Hunger Games Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 || Part 4 | Part 10 | Part 11

You know what time it is? IT’S TIME FOR PEOPLE TO DIE! Time for round 3 of the DA Y/N Hunger Games! :D

We're really starting to run out of people, aren't we? The less people there are, the shorter each round is, and I can already feel it in my bones! Pretty soon here, I'll have to start putting multiple rounds in each post. We haven't gotten to that point yet, but I sure can feel it comin'!

But enough stalling! Here are the results of round 3!

Rosie ( @lostanddrowned ) twiddles her thumbs. Daffodil ( @shattered-da ) does something really cute.

Buff friend and cute friend hanging out together? I can dig it. They can be friends! And hey! They also both have flower themed names! So that's neat!

Y/N ( @dormats-town ) finds a pitchfork, which they figure is great for lobbing at enemies.

Oh yeah. Like you need to give the one who killed Abe with their bare hands an actual weapon! Pointy farm tool, but still an adequate weapon. This can only end well, amiright!?

Dee isn't sure whether to cry, laugh, or tear their hair out.

Dee! Calm the fuck down! You’re not helping! You're such a disaster right now! Or should I say... A Deesaster!? Yes boo me. It only makes me stronger!

Wilford Warfstache ambushes Damien and eviscerates him!

Jesus Christo, Wilford! That was absolutely brutal! Woof! Why'd you have to do that anyway!? Sure, Damien may have been topping the kill count leaderboard, but it was all in self-defense probably. Besides! He was your buddy! The past version of your bestest buddy at that! (Well, presumably at least.) HOW COULD YOU!? Actually thinking about it, maybe Wilf really was just jealous of Damien's kill count and wanted to usurp him before he could kill anyone else. Yeah... Actually that sounds about right! Nice to know that Wilford is finally getting into the spirit of things at least...?

??? ( @youraverageauprocrastinator ) is determined to survive this.

You've gone from liking this place to hating this place to being determined to survive in this place. MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY, WON'T YOU!? (I kid. Your indecision is understandable.)

Dylan ( @the-mirror-realm ) finds a sword, shiny and sharp. A rather nice find!

And the rich just get richer, don't they. Hey! Look at that! Their mun told Dylan to arm themselves, and arm themselves even further they did! Who needs a slingshot when they now have a fuckin’ sword! Sure, a slingshot may help with stoning people from a distance. But a pointy metal stick is much is more useful when killing people!

Celine tries to get others to notice her. Athena (Post-WKM) ( @withjust-a-bite ) looks on the verge of snapping.

... I'm just imagining the two of them standing next to one another, like... Just... Celine, are you TRYING to get yourself stabbed!? ... On second thought, I could see her being into people who could kick her ass. Which must be hard to come by given how good she is with an axe.

Y/N ( @the-tragic-hero-and-you ) kind of wanders off and gets lost, never to be seen again.

Their mun said that having her characters die is what she does best? Looks like she wasn’t wrong, I guess! Y/N has wandered off, never to be seen again. Dead. Looks like their mun got exactly what she wanted. And this way of going out actually sounds pretty appropriate for them, tbh. I sure hope they weren’t serial killed... And right after they were beginning to befriend Daffodil too! They never did figure out what the hell was going on, did they...? They shall be missed. Probably

(Actor) Mark is only looking out for himself.

Hey! Mark! Asshole! Maybe turtleneck Y/N back there wouldn’t have wandered off and be dead right now if you weren’t being a selfish prick and only looking out for yourself! I'm sure that they're rooting for you to win from the other side, but still. Bastard.

Seth ( @who-killed-the-da ) catches a strange glow in the corner of their eye and discovers an ancient scepter! Arcane magic courses through their body as their fingers touch the carved wood.

Oh! Huh! Would you look at that. Seth here may have just gotten one of the most overpowered and broken items in this game! So this should be fuuuuun! As if they needed any more help with killing people considering that they already have a kill count with Arthur... Quick! Someone kill them before they kill everyone! I kid! That was in self-defense! I can’t imagine that Seth’s going to be going around killing a lot of people now.

In a fit of frenzy, Alice ( @chelseareferenced ) creeps up on Darkiplier and snaps their neck!

Jesus fucking Christ, Alice! That took a surprising turn! Your frenzy is really paying off immediately for you here isn’t it!? And would you look at that. Both Damien and Dark died in the same round. Tough break for him today! Dark died as he lived. Completely useless. u.u Also, shouldn't Dark's neck already be broken...? I guess that it's just double broken now! He has no neck now and his head just flops around. (You're welcome for that mental image.)

Y/N ( @ask-the-mirror-da ) thinks about what they did to end up here.

You did nothing, sweetie! Keep going! You're doing great!

Lillian ( @indic0lite ), still trapped, screams for help, but nobody answers...

Sad days right here. Oh the humanity! Won't someone help them out!? ... Please? Before the bleed out or starve or one of the scary people comes to kill them...? ;^;

Veridia ( @ask-the-femaleda ) looks for her next victim...

Okay, so Damien may be dead... But at least she's taking it well...? This is what a healthy coping mechanism looks like, right?

Something inside Gray ( @without-celine ) snaps! Gray is now frenzied!

Uh oh! That's not good! Looks like Damien wants to try his hand at murdering people again! Damien! Calm the fuck down in there! If you give the two of you a heart attack, I swear to God... Quick! Stop him before he gets carried away again!

Bethany ( @ask-bethany-and-dark )'s corpse writhes with maggots.

Thanks for that mental image, game! I definitely needed to know that!

William's bad brain turns him into an absolute pain to deal with.

Uh oh! Bad brain strikes again! Will has now officially become Annoying. Or perhaps he's simply become just as annoying to everyone else as Mark has always seen him! Either way, what a lovable guy! Such a shame that he’s an asshole now.

Y/N ( @purple-anxiety-blog ) wishes she could go home.

Don't we all?

Well, that's it for round 3, everyone! Exciting stuff indeed. There were some very interesting kills this round! Is anyone going to make Damien proud by beating his current kill count? Let's find out! Next time! On this blog! Probably!

#DA Y/N battle royale #hunger games simulator

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ziracona · 3 years

Text

[The Kid -- (FGO AU) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ?]

Not surprisingly, Ritsuka doesn’t have a lot of information on the building, but she’s got more than I expect, and some pretty solid-sounding educated guesses. Mostly, I’m just worried about my end. That we might not have enough firepower to push through a bunch of mages, especially if I can’t start getting more mana from her. If I fail, and go down in there, I’m getting resummoned to living hell, and she’s probably dead. That’s about the last thing I want, so I need a good plan before going in. Lucky for me, reckless but effective underdog plans are kind of my thing.

Snacking on her rice porridge, I try and work through that while absorbing information. …Figure the first thing I should do is see if there are other servants already summoned in there. I should be able to sense that, once I’m a little less dead. If there are, freeing them would add a lot to our fighting forces—wait, no, they’ll probably be about dead, and she can’t heal them because she doesn’t know how. And she can’t anchor more than one probably, since she’s doing it totally solo. So, they’d just die and vanish... Though, she did say…

“Hey,” I say, interrupting a breakdown of personnel she knows of in R&D. She’s actually really good at this planning stuff too—drawn me a little chart and everything. Her profiles might not be the most photo-realistic, but damn if they aren’t still effective in their own way at conveying what people look like—I’ve seen some of these mages, and I can pick them out from her little doodles on sight. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a few things I want to ask—one I meant to ask a while ago; they know you did this?”

Ritsuka looks surprised, then nods, chagrined. “Yeah. I mean, probably. I was able to cause a really good distraction, but there was no way to block the cameras, and I had to use my own card and get recognized to make it in the front at all, so, they do or they will really soon. That’s why I came here, instead of my apartment,” she adds, gesturing to the motel, “I tried to pick a list of hotels and motels I wouldn’t pick from usually, and then I chose one randomly from that list, and paid in cash. I hope that’s enough to make me harder to find.”

I don’t know if it will be myself, but I’m impressed she thought that far ahead. Maybe she has a knack for life on the lamb herself. Not a bad little escape plan.

“I’m kind of worried about Mom and Dad,” she adds quietly, glancing at her hands, “I haven’t talked to them at all, because I thought it would put them in danger, but what if it does anyway?”

Oh. I watch her, and the pain and fear there she’s trying to be brave about. She…isn’t just nice, and good, and a bleeding heart; she’s sacrificed a lot personally to help me.

“Won’t happen,” I promise firmly, “We’ll take care of things before that.”

“You sure?” she asks worriedly, trying to stop her eyes from getting misty.

I nod. “Promise. They won’t go there first. They’ll be lookin’ for me, and worried about me comin back right now. Then they’ll try to locate you. Family is more useful if they can just tap the phones and see if you contact—probably won’t even risk spooking them for a while. We got some time.”

That reassures her, and she looks a lot better. Returns my nod.

“…Wait, when you said ‘distraction’ a minute ago,” I say, that little detail clicking late.

“Oh,” she says, “Yeah. Well. I needed the power to go out in the building, and people to not be guarding you so I could get in. I couldn’t bypass doors or alarms, because I don’t know magic or tech stuff, so I had to make sure the whole building was on emergency protocol to make it easy for staff to evacuate to get in there at all. I couldn’t do that any fancy trick way, so, I looked up how to make a bomb and blew up a storage wing on the second floor I knew was empty.”

Holy shit.

“I-I checked the building schematics and asked several people you had to pay online to make sure it wasn’t a big part of the structural integrity!” she defends anxiously, misreading my response, “I made sure I wasn’t gonna knock down the building or kill somebody!”

“No—I’m impressed!” I say, lighting up, “That’s genius!”

“Really?” she asks.

“Hell yeah!!” I say, “Smart to not pick ground floor either. Means they know the threat came from inside the building—it’ll throw ‘em into a panic. And taking out the power? –You taught yourself how to make a bomb?”

“It actually wasn’t that hard,” she says, flushing, “…kind of scary how easy, actually. I had to get components from all different places, and pay in cash so my bank wouldn’t get suspicious, but. It was easier than I thought.”

Damn, she does have a knack. A strong one.

“You’d’ve made a damn fine outlaw,” I say.

For a second she seems to be unsure if that’s meant as a compliment or an insult, and then she hesitantly grins back. “Yeah? Huh. I’m not used to people thinking I’m good at stuff.”

From the far-away look on her face I don’t think she really meant to say that out loud, so I grin and answer before she has a chance to realize it. “Guess you never found something that interested you before.”

She glances at me and nods. “So, what else did you want to ask about?”

“Oh—your circuits. You said you possess a lot of mana?” I ask, “You find out any more about that while doing research there?”

“I did,” she says, passing me my eighth chocolate and unwrapping one for herself and munching on it, “Basically, they told me I’m super weird, and it’s like my body is tapped into a family lineage crest with more magic than it knows what to do with. But I don’t even have a mage crest!”

Not totally sure what that means, but I nod like I do because I get most of it from context.

“So, they say it’s like if I had a connection to a big like, whole lake full of mana. Waaaay more than even mages from good bloodlines have. But my circuits aren’t designed to access it all.”

“So you can’t get at it?” I ask.

“Well, this is gonna sound stupid, but it was the version that made the most sense to me,” she replies, “One of the assistants told me it was like if you had a whole lake of mana, but you could only get any of it out with a garden hose. It’s all there, but it’s just…not designed to be used all at once. They don’t think I could probably ever throw it all into one big spell attack, even with years of training. But, I’d have the most amazing mage stamina they ever saw. They said in a Holy Grail war I might be ridiculously weak at offering any combat support, but I could support all seven servants at the same time on my own if I tried, and then some!” She flashes me a big grin, very proud of that.

Interesting. “So. It’s not tirin you out?” I ask, “Our contract?”

She shakes her head. “I can barely tell. I can’t tell at all energy-wise. I just can feel there’s a connection there, kind of like an invisible thread.”

“Wow. You know most mages can barely support a servant outside a situation with extra support like the grail offers during a war, right?” I ask her.

She blinks at me. “For real?”

I nod. “I hear it’s exhausting.”

She stares at the far wall, then extends her arms and looks at them in wonder.

“You think you could support another?”

Ritsuka glances back from her hands. “Another servant—spirit?” she corrects. It’s cute—girl keeps refusing to call us that even though I do it so automatically. I nod. She nods back. “Yeah, easy.”

“How many you think you could do at once?” I ask.

“Uhm. …I don’t know. Twelve?” she guesses. Holy shit that’s a lot. “Probably more. But definitely at least that many if they all feel like this does. Why?”

I glance down at the little hand-drawn map sitting on the bed. “Because if they already got more servants in there, and we pick ‘em up as we go, a lot of our problems with this plan go away.”

“But, I can’t really support any of them,” she says worriedly, “I’m barely giving you enough to heal you slowly. None of you will be able to use much magic to fight.”

“True,” I reply, “But one of us can do a hell of a lot even without access to a noble phantasm. And more importantly, they won’t know how limited we are. That’s an edge.”

She thinks that over. “…Yeah. I. I guess it is…It’d throw them off, and make them feel overwhelmed and probably get them to panic.”

I nod. “Only problem is healing one of us enough we can get going.”

“Oh yeah,” she says, hopeful expression falling.

“I know you don’t know that kind of spell, but if there’s somewhere we could get stuff to do it for us—some mages use Mystic Codes or enchanted objects, right? I don’t guess you know of any—”

She’s shaking her head. “I’m sorry,” she says miserably, “I don’t even know where in Ur-shanabi something like that might be stored.”

Damn. I was really hoping. …

“I’m sorry I’m useless,” she says quietly, looking down at her hands and the seals there.

“You aren’t,” I reassure her, “I’m just as useless at magecraft as you—more. You’d have been better off with a caster. They’d actually know how to help. But we’ll figure somethin’ out.”

She’s still looking at her hand. Straightens up a little and turns it to inspect, then looks over at me. “Could I heal one of you with a command spell?”

“Yeah, I think,” I say, “But only twice, before being out of ‘em for good.” Mages all consider the last one one you don’t use, anyway. It’s the safeguard—the threat you keep so if your spirit turns on you, you can put us down. The loaded gun. I don’t bring that up though, because she probably knows, and as long as I’m up, she ain’t gonna need it, even if one of the others decides to cause her trouble.

“Right, and there might be more than two in there,” she says unhappily, lowering her hand.

I’m thinking back hard as I watch her, running over everything I’ve ever heard from a mage or a caster about how any of this works. I want to help. I want this to work, but I also want to repay what little I can. I wish Geronimo was here…

“…I know there’s supposed to be ways to fix the problem you’re havin’,” I offer after a second, wishing I knew more and had more to offer, “Someone who knows magic should be able to teach you to use it better, and that’d fix the problem, but I can’t do that. …What you need is someone who can. … You got any idea how to summon one of us? I could help you find a leyline, and-”

She’s shaking her head again. “I don’t know how at all. And it’s not something I can just look up. …I could try, but. I don’t have any artifacts, or practice, or knowledge, and it would probably just be dangerous and I’d draw attention to myself.”

I think hard. “We could try.”

“How? We don’t even have a source of power? You need a lot of mana at once to try and summon a heroic spirit without something like a grail present. I saw a little part of the summon circle at Ur-shanabi once and it was HUGE. I’ve never even felt so much magic in one place—”

“Wait, all you need is a big burst of mana?” I ask, suddenly excited.

“What? Uh—yeah, but I mean big. Way big! Big like I couldn’t do—”

“—But I could!” I insist.

She stares at me. “But…how? You can’t use a noble phantasm without disappearing, because I’m bad at supplying mana.”

“No, no other spirit could use their phantasm like this. Me? I can,” I say proudly, a slow smile starting.

“What?” says Ritsuka, “How? That’s impossible—what do you mean?”

“You know, I’m starting to think this whole thing bein’ you and me was for a reason,” I say instead of answering outright, snagging another little chocolate from the tray and giving her a smile as I do, “See, I don’t really have a noble phantasm, actually.”

“Wait, what??”

“Well, I do, but only kinda,” I explain, “It’s not an object or a chant, it’s the act of me firin’ my colt a specific way, so, it’s a noble phantasm technically, but it’s technically also just a skill, and it’s more technically a skill than a phantasm.” I am so god damn proud of myself right now—the look on her face is amazing. This feels great! “Not having a traditional one ain’t always the best thing, because it means mine is a real split-second kinda deal, but it’s damn powerful for that split second. And since my phantasm is more just a part of me than a specific act or item, it costs way less mana than any other noble phantasm I ever seen—or know of.”

“Wait for real?” she asks, gaping at me as her eyes light up.

I nod. “Sure is. I think with a little more rest, I could pull it off once without exhausting my core. If you can set up a circle, you can use the quick burst of mana from it to try and summon someone else. We’ll have to practice, because it’s a split second and you’ll have to call to the throne exactly when I use it, but I think we could do it.”

“Whoa.” She says. Her eyes are shining and I see the faint trace of a smile starting to form as she looks over and meets my gaze. “That…could work. I mean—I don’t know how to summon a spirit properly, but I know in theory how it works. Do you think that’s enough? You really think we could do it?”

“Well, I don’t see a reason not to try,” I say.

“But—how will I be sure I’ll get someone who can help?” she asks.

“Well, any numbers help, and any spirit’s gonna be pretty interested in this not happening to them, so I think anybody you summon would help us. It’s more complicated than that, though. Being summoned….it works multiple ways. Most of the time, you got no choice, except if you go willingly or unwillingly—you go either way. But occasionally they’re set up so the mage and the spirit both have to agree. I’ve never been on the mage end of a summons, but on our side you can usually sense the intent of a call. Occasionally we even get to choose if we want to answer. Since you and I ain’t gonna have anything close to the power to drag a spirit from the throne, it’ll be one of those, which is great, because it means if anybody shows up, they’ll have come because they heard you and wanted to come help. Just be honest and specific in what you need, and who you are. I think you’ll get lucky. I’m pretty sure if I heard someone like you asking for help plain and simple and I could do it, I’d take the pact.”

“Really?” she asks like it means something big to her.

“Yeah,” I say, and I mean it.

She smiles at me. “Okay. Great! I guess we have nothing to lose. I’ll try to set something up, and you just focus on feeling better and getting that energy back.”

“Will do,” I agree with a smile, watching her hop up and snag all her notes and diagrams and start trying to organize them. “You’ve done a lot too, though,” I add, “Make sure to get yourself some rest as well.”

The gal glances over and returns my smile. “I will. Thanks. But I’m okay—I took an accidental power nap on the floor, so I’ve got like eight more hours in me.” She proudly makes a muscle. “You want some tea before going back to sleep?”

“Sure,” I say, bemused as she vanishes back down the little hall.

This has all gone some kind of way, but, I’m surprisingly…Hopeful.

I remember the coin then, and that feeling bottoms out. Please don’t have been summoned yet, I pray, feeling a little sick.

I want so bad to think he’s not here yet, but I got a bad feeling. Did I sense him, when I was in Ur-shanabi, and I just can’t remember because I was so weak, or am I just paranoid and afraid? I don’t know. God, I hope at least he hasn’t been there anything close to as long as me. I hope he hasn’t been summoned at all. I should be trying to guess at the others, but there’s just way too many of us could be most of them. Clay pot means older ages spirit, letter means…well, recent enough for paper to survive, and shuriken means one from the east, but the earring could be anybody, and I can’t focus on it anyway. Why did it have to be somebody I know? And like? I’m trying to remember for sure how he died.

…I’m…I’m pretty sure he was bled to death slowly by a nun that was supposed to help him.

Why did we all have to die so terribly? I don’t like to think of him like that, but in my head it’s all I can see now. That terrible workshop, with its cold metal and saturated mana in the air that makes you sick with the taste of every breath, people walking by all the time to look at you like an animal in a cage. …Bolted down to the floor and cut up everywhere, half-awake in a massive puddle of his own blood. I don’t want to see that; I don’t want it to happen; I don’t want it to happen to him. He’s been through enough shit—he’s my friend.

But I got a bad feeling.

Please don’t be here, Robin. Please, God, don’t let them have picked him to summon yet.

A really bad feeling…

#fate go AU #fate series #fate go #fate grand order #fanfic #fate fic #fgo #fate AU #fate Billy the Kid #Ritsuka Fujimaru #billy the kid #writing #The Kid #The Kid (fic)#I love that Billy’s phantasm is ranked higher in damage than an A+ Phantasm but because it’s so tied to his skill instead of deeds it costs #only about the mana of an E rank phantasm short king is right

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randthings · 3 years

Text

How I’d improve Breath of the Wild

Firstly, yes I know this game’s immensely popular, and some people say, it’s a masterpiece, but I feel like it could’ve been a lot better.

(p.s: this will go off the No Budget rule and some elements of Master Mode will be included)

Part 1: Main story stuff

For the most part, everything will sort of play out the same way, except for a few things

- There would be a time limit

Everyone in the game goes on and on about how Calamity Ganon’s coming back soon so KEEL HEEM NAOW, so I thought that an in game time limit would work towards that whole deal. The time limit in game would be...lets say 1 year, 1 year should give enough time to fight the blights, get the master sword, do as many shrines as you can, do the champions ballad, do some sidequests, and find as many korok seeds as possible. When the last month before the end of the year comes, you either need to make your way to Hyrule Castle to fight Ganon or just wait for the end. (The time in game will go a bit slower than in the original game)

-Blood Moons

Blood Moons play the same but they stick around for a while, and a random town will be attacked by a group of monsters (indicated on the game map by a red marker over the town), you can go to said town and help fight off the monsters if you want to, and if you happen to be in a town that’s being attacked during a blood moon, well that’d just be real convenient

-What happens at the end?

If you’re in Hyrule Castle, like the original game, you need to make your way to the Sanctum and the fight will preetty much play out the same way, what happens if you aren’t will be explained in the Calamity Ganon section

-Zelda

Everything happens the same for her if you’re in the castle (helps in the Dark Beast Ganon fight and all that). If you’re not, then she’ll be out of commission until you beat Dark Beast Ganon..which leads into

-The Bow of Light

Buried in the lower parts of Hyrule Castle, you have the option to go and grab it in the same manner that you get the shield in the original game...that’d be a problem because a Gold Lynel would be guarding it.

- Calamity Ganon

If the time limit runs out before you’re in Hyrule Castle, Calamity Ganon rises with an army of his minions backing him, they’ll leave Hyrule Castle and start wreaking havoc until you defeat Calamity Ganon.

All towns will have a randomly generated amount of monsters in them with the peoples of each town fighting against them. Calamity Ganon himself will likely try to hunt you down, and it’s best to keep him away from any town so the goal for that would be to keep him near Hyrule Castle, if you don’t have the Master Sword and/or the Bow of Light then welllll you’re in for a horrible time.

-Dark Beast Ganon

When you beat Calamity Ganon (castle or no castle) you’ll be transported to Hyrule Field and the fight begins, like I said, if you don’t have the Master Sword and/or the Bow of Light, prepare to die because Dark Beast Ganon’s comin for you and ONLY you. His attacks will include the beam attack alongside clawing, stomping and some good ol’ fashioned om nom nomming, his attacks will also be a little bit faster. If you make it into the castle and do the whole Calamity Ganon fight, Zelda will be there to assist.

-Endings

Ending 1: Pretty much the same ending as OG BOTW (plus the extra scene if you found all the memories)

Ending 2: Same only there’ll be some damage done to Hyrule, and you’d have to help rid a few towns of any leftover monsters in the post game

Ending 3: Congrats, you didn’t do shit and Ganon’s destroyed everything, G R E A T J O B H E R O :D

Ending 4 (Age of Calamity influenced): This’ll be the fun one, if you do a set amount of side quests for every race in the game (Human, Zora, Goron, Rito), they’ll join you in attacking Hyrule Castle via a side quest I’ll title “All Hyrule, United”

That ending will be explained in Part 2 cuz...god damn this felt long

#botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild

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blackcloverdatabase · 5 years

Text

English Translation of Novel 2: Chapter 4 - Captains’ Dinner Party (Part 2 of 2)

(No illustration this time since, sadly, there’s only one illustration per chapter.)

Here is the second half of chapter 4! Less goofy antics in this one since more time is spent fighting in this chapter, but still a fun time with the captains, Julius, and a very stressed out Marx.

And if you haven’t read part 1 yet, you can read that here.

--- Captains’ Dinner Party: Part 2 ---

“Th-the Wizard King! YOU……!! Where have you been loitering about this whole time!!?”

Marx screamed, halfway to tears. He knew it was just a projection of Julius, but he was just about ready to fling himself upon him.

“Ha ha, sorry, sorry. I got too absorbed in analyzing these golems over here.”

“Too absorbed my foot! Everyone’s been waiting for you! Where are you!?”

In response to Marx’s desperate screams, Julius looked a little troubled.

“……I’m in the dungeon, the same one where we had restrained those members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. I made a barrier and then reconstructed some of the old golems.”

‘……I see. That room was a blind spot. It certainly is very large and sturdy. That barrier is probably why I couldn’t reach him before,’ Marx thought to himself.

“It’s just, uh… remember how I told you that there’s a magic space inside the body of that golem? I was wondering what that space was like, and while I was looking at it, I accidentally got inside……”

As he spoke, Julius’s voice sounded more and more embarrassed.

“I used up my magic power…… so now I can’t get out… I’m stuck inside.”

“………………..”

In that moment, Marx didn’t feel anger, nor sadness, nor pity. All he felt was “nothingness”.

“That’s why, uh, this is hard for me to say, but…”

Julius glanced at everyone in the room before scratching his head again.

“……Could you… all come… save me?”

“Kah kah! So, it’s safe to say that… those golems are on the other side of this door, right?”

“That’s what he said…… Ah, but, as expected, we’ll have to go through that barrier. There’s a crazy amount of magic power comin’ outta that thing.”

The captains had arrived at the door to the dungeon. While Jack and Yami were talking, the other captains stood motionlessly. Julius was behind that door. All of them prepared for battle as they approached the door to the dungeon without a word, each of them holding feelings that could not be said.

“Jeez, I’m not even going to bother reminding you that you’re the Wizard King! Still, please don’t forget that you’re a 42-year-old man! You’re getting old! You should take better care of your body……”

“……Yes……yes……yes……yes……”

……Actually, Marx had been lecturing Julius through his communication magic throughout the whole trip to the dungeon, so it wasn’t that quiet, after all.

“Hey, Julius. This barrier, it locks people inside, but those comin’ from the outside are free to enter, right?”

“Huh? Y-yeah. That’s right. I have the switch to operate it. “

“……I see.”

‘In other words, once we step foot inside that barrier, we have to defeat the golems and free Julius, or else we’ll never be able to get out……. Well, if push comes to shove, I could always use my Dimension Slash to tear through the barrier, but that would be a bad idea. If I fail to take them all down with that attack and one of those golems ends up escaping, everyone would be pissed.’

While Yami was thinking, Nozel asked in his usual icy tone,

“Do we know our enemies’ numbers and what their abilities are?”

“There are ten golems. What I’ve confirmed about their abilities so far is that they are immune to magic, and they can copy the abilities of other magic users. When you attack them with magic, they are able to analyze it, granting them both immunity to that attack and the ability to copy it. Being hit by an attack just once is enough for them to use it just as if it were its own. By the way, no matter how beat up the golems are, it seems to have no effect on the magic space inside them, so you can attack them without worrying about me.”

Julius answered smoothly without a moment’s pause. Everyone couldn’t help but wonder how he got trapped even though he knows so much about the golems.

“Also, this fact might be the most troublesome thing about them, but-”

It sounded as if Julius was about to say something vitally important, but,

“……Huh, wait, sir!? What happened!?”

His transmission was suddenly interrupted. Marx repeatedly tried to reestablish a connection, but to no avail. No matter how many times he tried to reconnect, there was no response.

“……Woah. What, you can’t get through? Now that’s creepy. Usually, in scenarios like this, you discover that the guy you were talkin’ to died a weird death.”

“D-don’t say something so ominous! I’m sure that our connection just became unstable like it was before!”

Marx snapped back at Yami’s joke with a pale face. Vangeance stood behind him, contemplating out loud,

“It’s also possible that his magical power has been completely cut off…... this is a scenario I’d rather not contemplate, but staying in that magic space for too long may leave some kind of negative effect on the human body… Either way, we should save him as soon as possible.”

As he spoke, Vangeance pulled his grimoire out from its pouch.

“Nonetheless, there is still much we don’t know about the enemy. None of us know what exactly is going on inside, so we cannot create a clear strategy. Be on your guard.”

“…….Hmph. So, you think you can take the lead for this battle just because you’re the captain of the Golden Dawn?”

Nozel sarcastically retorted while he took out his own grimoire.

“In short, we should destroy them in such a way that they are not immune to. Attacking them with an object like what we did with Poizot should be sufficient…… I can destroy golems with abilities such as these by myself. Why don’t the rest of you go back and continue eating your dinner?”

“W-what are you saying, Nozel-san!? The Wizard King asked for ‘everyone’ to save him, so we should all go save him!”

Rill responded with desperation in his voice. Charlotte spoke up from behind him with a sigh,

“……Rill. Do you want to save the Wizard King, or is it that you don’t want to go back to the dinner party?”

“O-of course I want to save the Wizard King! A-also…… I don’t want to get stabbed.”

Their exchange of words may have sounded like they were fooling around, but both of them were holding their grimoires, taking a stance with no openings as they faced the door to the dungeon. Everyone was ready for battle.

“…….zzz…….zzzz……zzz……zzzz”

….Except for Dorothy. All that could be heard from her was the sound of her snores. She reached this place while asleep, and she opened her grimoire while asleep, too. Since she’s a person one cannot hope to understand, Yami just categorized her as an anomaly and said,

“Alright. Is everyone done preparin’?”

Yami asked as he drew his sword. After confirming that everyone nodded their heads (except for Dorothy) he put his hand on the doorknob.

“Then, let’s all remember to be on guard.”

He said idly as he threw open the leaden doors.

…In truth, they were all a little off guard.

No matter how strong the enemy was, they were seven captains of the Magic Knights. There was no way they could lose. None of them were flagrantly unprepared. However, they came in with the assumption that they “couldn’t lose”, which gave birth to inattentiveness.

……If it weren’t for that, then, surely, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

[Sensing, magic response.]

A shrill voice screeched the moment they all leapt into the room. It was the golems, pitch-black skeletons, and, just as Julius said, there were ten of them. They were scattered throughout the room, but once the captains were reflected in their silver eyes, they swarmed toward the intruders with lightning speed.

“Ewww, these guys are way creepier than I thought they’d be! I, like, don’t want to have anythin’ to do with them! Hey, like, one of you boys do somethin’!”

“Kah kah! And I don’t want to have anything to do with your girly-girl impressions, either!!”

While Yami was joking around, he ran straight for one of golems. Jack leaped up from behind him.

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash”

Yami started by swinging his sword straight toward the enemy. A sharp black blade extended from his sword and struck the skeleton with dreadful force. The blade sliced the skeleton in two, but still, the skull continued to rattle.

[Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ii-I-iit, it hurts, storing in, memory-y.]

“Slash Magic: Death Scythe!!”

The skull and the rest of the body that was still attached to it was cleaved in two by Jack’s aerial attack. However, they weren’t finished with their attacks. He attacked a second, then a third time. He continued his downpour of blows until, in the blink of an eye, the skeleton’s body had been cut into little pieces.

“Kah kah. I see. After it has been hit by magic, it can copy it…… but if we cut it up this much, it won’t be able to move anyway.”

Jack analyzed the situation as he landed. Just as he said, the skeleton, cruelly ripped to shreds, moved a little with a creak before ceasing to move completely.

“Now, what do we do with the rest of them~”

Rill prepared his brush and palette as he aimed for the skeletons. Vividly colored paint-like magic danced around his palette, steadily gathering around his brush. He created a torrent of color, as thick and long as a serpent.

“Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction”

Waving his brush like a baton, he fired a torrent of magic at the skeleton, which wrapped around its body in a flash. The magic then slowly converted into stone, encasing the skeleton’s body inside and sinking into the ground. What was depicted upon the earthen canvas was a single painting of a spring.

[It hurts-ts-tsts-, storing-ing-ing in mem-memory……]

As it was enveloped into the center of the painting, it became completely restrained. Before long, it became utterly silent.

“A-fu-fu-fu~ It seems that completely restraining its movements before it copies your magic is also effective~”

Rill said with glee.

“……As I said, this is just like that time with Poizot. Don’t leave things only halfway finished.”

Charlotte chided Rill as she walked past him, slowly lifting her hand toward the skeleton.

“Briar Creation Magic: Limb-Cleaving Briar Lance”

As she cast her spell, countless thorns shot out from behind her with bullet-like momentum. Dozens of sharp thorns pierced its body, and the skeleton, along with the painting, shattered into pieces.

“What would you have done if it broke out of its restraints? If you’re going to fight, do it right.”

“It was fine. Restraining them is a more sure-fire way to bring them down, after all.”

“…Hmph.”

As they argued back and forth, the two moved on to their next target.

And then, finally, in the back,

“Mercury Magic: Silver Spear”

Nozel fired spears of mercury in the back to support the four in front. The spears pierced through the skeletons, stopping them in place and creating a gap which allowed either Jack or Yami to slash through them, Charlotte to pierce through them, or Rill to make them part of his paintings. Thanks to their downpour of attacks, half of their enemies were already shattered to pieces.

“……Amazing!”

Marx exclaimed, watching the situation from the back. Though they knew little about the enemy, they didn’t falter. They instantly identified the enemy’s weakness, established a strategy based on it, and each one of them performed their role with ease. It was a brilliant performance, a suppressive attack that demonstrated the experience they’ve gained from countless battles. There wasn’t a bit of awkwardness or strain in their teamwork. Each of them understood how the others wanted to move, reading two, even three moves ahead. There was a sense of unity Marx could feel as they fought.

‘As one would expect, there’s nothing that can stop the seven of them, though one of them is asleep…...’

As Marx watched in relief, Vangeance, who was observing the state of the battle from the back, yelled,

“Three golems in the 12-o’-clock direction are amplifying their magic power! We don’t know what they might do, so bring them down quickly!”

However, before anyone could react to his instructions,

[Initiating synchronization between all devices.]

When one of the golems said this, the eyes of all the golems that had been defeated began glowing red. The eyes of all the golems that were still alive then began to glow the same color as well. All of this happened in an instant. It truly was just a single instant, but……

[……..Synchronization complete. Now returning the pain.]

The five remaining golems cast their magic all at once.

[Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash]

[Slash Magic: Death Scythe]

[Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction]

[Briar Creation Magic: Limb-cleaving Briar Lance]

[Mercury Magic: Silver Spear]

The golems fired all the captains’ magic right back at them.

“Seriously…… hey!?”

Yami muttered in shock while dodging the golems’ attacks. The golems they hadn’t attacked yet were using their magic, which means…

“……T-these guys, aren’t they afraid of copyright infringement!?”

“Kah kah, this isn’t the time to be joking around…..I don’t really get it, but it looks like these guys can use any attack that was used against any of the other golems, just as if it was hit by the same attack.”

Jack said when he landed near Yami after dodging the golems’ attacks.

“And now, that means all the spells we just used are no longer effective against any of them… right?”

‘And no matter what attack we launch from here on, if they “synchronize” again, they’ll become even more powerful…,’ Yami thought.

Everyone understood this from the previous attack and switched to fighting defensively. Of course, not all options were lost. They can hit all the golems with a wide-range attack like Nozel’s “Silver Rain” and Vangeance’s “Great Tree Misteltein” and use objects to attack any golems that are left. However, if they do that, they’ll destroy more than just the room they’re in, they’ll destroy the barrier and beyond. Unlike the time they partially destroyed the area when they captured Poizot, there’s a risk that they’ll cause the room to totally collapse.

The most certain way to defeat the enemy would be to restrain them and then destroy them all at once, but all their restriction spells were no longer effective.

Except…

“……Everyone! Just one is fine! Defeat one of the golems and bring me its skull!”

Marx shouted to the group once he made his realization.

“What’s with you all of sudden? If you want a skull, there’s a golem we already beat over there…...”

“No, I need something intact! If it’s damaged to that degree, I don’t think it will function!”

“……Function?”

Yami said as he furrowed his brow. When he saw Marx’s earnest expression, he scratched his head as if he thought the request was a pain in the ass.

“……Jack, Charlotte! Help me out against this guy who’s the closest to me here! Everyone else should keep the other golems from gettin’ close!”

The others swiftly moved into formation in accordance to where Yami pointed his finger. No one asked any questions or demanded any explanations. Marx, the Wizard King’s one and only trusted aide, the capable man who assists the Wizard King in his duties on his own, said he wants the skull of one of the skeletons. That’s all the reason they need.

“Slash Magic: Schack Knife”

Jack made the first strike. He slashed the skeleton a countless number of times, just deep enough to create small fissures throughout its body. In response to his attacks, the skeleton headed toward him with fearsome speed.

“Briar Creation Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Tree!!”

Charlotte fired her magic in response, but it didn’t do much damage. Her briars made a direct hit on the skeleton’s body, but the skeleton knocked them all away and continued charging forward. However, her briars also hit its face, obscuring its vision for just a moment. And, in that moment,

“Alright, well, sorry ‘bout this. I’ll be takin’ your head.”

Yami appeared behind the skeleton, sword in hand.

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Magic Blade”

He swung his black blade across, cutting the skeleton at its neck, and, with a second swing, its detached torso was slashed in two.

Jack’s attack was used to attract the skeleton, then Charlotte used her magic to obstruct its field of vision, giving Yami a chance to land the finishing blow. To make sure this sequence of events wasn’t interrupted, the others held the movements of the other four skeletons at bay. Though Marx had requested the skull himself, he was once again struck with admiration for their skill.

“Here, bowlcut. It might still be capable of movin’, so be careful.”

“Ah……yes!”

The skull was casually tossed to Marx while he was lost in thought. It certainly was still rattling about, but that was no problem at all. As long as he had a model to work with……

“Uwaah……Sorry, Yami-san! There’s two golems headed straight for you!!”

Rill yelled out in a panic as two golems ran straight toward Yami. Since Yami was occupied with Marx, he was slow to react.

[Painting Magic: Spring of Restriction]

“!!”

The golem that Yami had just slain fired Rill’s magic straight at him.

‘Looks like the wounds I gave it were too shallow,’ Yami thought.

“……Tch!”

Yami leaped to the side to avoid it, but the colorful torrent of magic struck his leg, stopping him in place and binding him to the ground. While he was immobile, the two other golems prepared to fire their magic at him, but,

“Time Restraining Magic: Chrono Stasis”

In a single instant, the golems were captured within spheres of magic, and they stopped moving completely. Or rather, they were forced into complete suspension.

……There was only one person capable of this.

“Hey there, looks like I managed to make it in time.”

It was the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono. He gallantly appeared on the scene with his usual gentle smile.

“I was able to see what was going on from within the golems, but… um… y-you did a great job, everyone! Very commendable! Yeah… uh, yeah.”

……Well, he was acting a little more awkward than usual.

“T-the Wizard King!? How…!”

Rill exclaimed in surprise. Everyone else stared in astonishment behind him. He was trapped inside one of the golems, so how did he get here…?

“……I got him out.”

Marx answered everyone’s questions with an exhausted look on his face. He held the skull in his hands, his fingertips curled around its lower jaw.

“I was told that, when you press this part of the skeleton, all the contents of the magic space inside it are ejected…. Well, I’ve never done it before, so I was anxious about what would happen when I pressed it, but….”

The finger that pushed the skull’s lower jaw was still shaking. It was clear how anxious he was.

“But, you couldn’t have known which skeleton he was inside of…. Ah!”

As he was talking, Rill made a face of realization. Marx nodded his head before continuing,

“They said they would ‘sync’. In other words, ‘each of them sustains the same state’. Based on that, I thought that maybe they shared the same magic space… and it seems I was correct.”

‘Or rather, I’m really, truly glad that I was right. I was practically gambling,’ he thought. If he was wrong, then it was possible that Julius would have been trapped in one of the already shattered skulls. Just thinking about it made Marx shudder. No, it’s possible that they would have been able to restore the skulls back to normal after the battle, but who knows how long that would have taken? Plus, Yami probably wouldn’t have been rescued. In any case, he was incredibly glad that his plan succeeded…

[It hurts……ts…..ts-ts-ts-ts, storing, storing in memory-y-y……]

“!!”

Just as Marx had sighed in relief, the skeletons which were sealed away began to tremble.

“W-wait, sir!? They’re moving! The skeletons are moving!?”

“H-huh? A ha ha, I guess I was weakened more than I thought!”

After Julius replied to Rill, he turned toward everyone and said,

“Everyone, on my signal, I’ll release my spell! Immediately afterwards, everyone should attack togeth-

“No need.”

Yami interrupted Julius’s instructions, taking a stance with his sword.

“I’m gonna slice them in two, so all you need to worry about is stoppin’ them if any of them are still movin’.”

A tremendous among of magic power rose from his blade like black smoke.

“Kah kah! Hey, Yami, what’re you planning to do this time?”

“What, you ask? .......As I said, I’m slicin’ them in half. Those skeletons.”

Yami answered Jack’s question and aimed for the remaining four skeletons.

“And the space around ‘em.”

“Darkness Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash”

With one swing of his blade, the four skeletons, as well as Julius’s magic, was sliced in two. The skeletons continued to rattle about, but,

“Everyone, stay where you are!”

Julius shouted, firing off spheres of magic with unmatched accuracy. They hit the skeletons, causing them to shatter without a trace.

“……It’s…over.”

After examining the black dust left behind by the attack, Marx sunk to the floor in relief. This time, it truly was over. The only problem left was……

“Y-Yami! What was that magic you used earlier!? To slice through my magic like that… it’s amazing! It even broke the barrier…… Hey, show it to me one more time! One more time!”

…how to scold that old magic maniac.

“I’m really sorry!! I never thought things would blow up like this……”

Julius was surrounded by everyone else, offering his most sincere apologies.

“Kah kah. I don’t really care~ Thanks to this, I got the chance to slash some guys up.”

Jack happily informed him, glancing at the skeletons’ remains gathered in the corner of the room.

After the battle, everyone collected the skeletons’ remains and repaired the dungeon room to ensure that no evidence remained of the battle that took place. Of course, they did all this without calling for the Magic Appraisal Division or the disposal team. They didn’t want to make this a big affair, or rather, they didn’t want anyone else to know that the Wizard King, the man who stands at the top of the Magic Knights, got himself into such a mess.

“A ha ha… your criticism is helpful, but….”

“No buts! Things turned out okay this time because all the captains happened to be here, but what would you have done if all this happened and you were all alone!? This is why I keep telling you! You need to be more aware of the fact that you’re a 42-year-old-man!!”

“…… Yes……. yes……. yes…… yes……”

Incidentally, Marx continuously scolded Julius the whole time they were cleaning up. Marx was telling Julius everything that needed to be said, so the others felt no need to say anything as they waited for Marx’s anger and disgust to subside. In fact, they may have even felt a little bad for him.

“……Now then, everything has been put in order, so I’m leaving.”

“H-huh!? You’re going home already!? What about the dinner party!?”

Julius uttered in shock at Nozel’s words. Nozel responded with his usual cold expression,

“Because of the time it took to dispose of everything, the food has likely cooled, and the drinks have presumably become lukewarm. There’s only so much time we can spend here at headquarters, so I believe it would be prudent to suspend this party.”

“…………”

He was right.

“Moreover…”

He paused and turned around, facing everyone once more.

“……You understood once you saw our battle earlier, correct? Even without throwing such parties, we captains are able to come together and acknowledge each other’s true strengths.”

“………”

Julius’s mouth hung open at Nozel’s surprising words.

“Of course, I refuse to recognize anything else aside from their strength. First of all, I am opposed to sitting at the same table as any captain who is not a royal or a noble. I still do not agree to the idea that the rank of Captain should be given to such riffraff……!”

He realized that he allowed something akin to rage leak into his words and then coughed as if to regain his composure.

“However, I am aware that, regardless of my stance on the matter, all the people here have the strength necessary to be a Captain. Moreover, it’s a fact that they are capable of fighting beside me…… as long as that fact remains, then that is more than enough.”

“……Well, that was a roundabout way of puttin’ it, but I agree with ya.”

It was Yami who interjected. Nozel glared at him, but he went no further before taking one step away.

“Our everyday relationship definitely sucks, but we can work together when we need to do, so you don’t need to worry ‘bout helpin’ us out with our private lives.”

He looked Julius in the eye and said, as if it should be obvious,

“The Order of Magic Knights you created isn’t that weak.”

A gentle smile appeared ever so slightly on his face as he said this.

“Yeah…… you’re right.”

Julius replied, returning Yami’s smile. After making his moves both officially and unofficially in these past few weeks, there is one thing Julius has become aware of. They are – the Magic Knights of Clover Kingdom are - even more steadfast than Julius ever imagined. It seems that he never had to play any tricks on them at all. They’re perfect as they are.

He knew that they had the power to repel any hardship that comes their way, and, he can feel that, little by little, they’re growing stronger. Knowing that is enough.

“….. Now then, can we leave?”

Julius was immersed in warm feelings, but Nozel’s frank words wrenched him back to reality. He lightly scratched his cheek as he said with a wry smile,

“Y-yeah. That’s right. This isn’t really the right atmosphere for a party, either… And, as Yami said, it doesn’t look like there’s any need for me to interfere in your personal relationships with each other. Ha ha, the cooperation you all showed earlier was magnificent!”

……Well, the truth is, Julius already knew that. Private lives aside, they demonstrate a tremendous ability to cooperate the battlefield. He has known this for a very long time now. He didn’t prepare this dinner party to confirm that……

“……What’s wrong, Julius? Do we have somethin’ on our faces?”

“Ah……no……”

Realizing that he was subconsciously observing the captains’ faces, Julius hastily averted his gaze.

After the Star Festival, the Crimson Lions and the Purple Orcas will have new captains, and they will be back to having nine captains. In other words, this was the last time the seven of them will be able to meet like this. He wanted to watch them all eat and drink together at least once. All that official business he told Marx about didn’t matter to him.

The real goal of this party was for everyone to get along and eat together.

“……Its nothing. I’m sorry for causing you all so much trouble.”

However, this wasn’t the time nor place where such private thoughts could be said, and it’s true that both the food and the alcohol have reached a questionable state. For now, he’ll give up without a fuss.

“……Plus, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to watch you all fight together.”

“Huh? You say somethin’?”

“……N-no. It’s nothing.”

Julius answered Yami’s question with his usual gentle smile.

In truth, Julius could have escaped from the magic space and defeated those skeletons by himself. Moreover, he was lying when he said that he ran out of magical power. If he had, he would not have been able to escape from that magic space, and he wouldn’t have been able to cast his spells twice afterward. He believed in the strength of his captains, and he knew they would work together. However, he wanted to confirm in practice how well the captains could cooperate with one another after losing Fuegoleon and Poizot. And so, he came up with this little “adventure”.

It was terribly unscrupulous of him, but it’s unlikely that this group would have the chance to work together like this anytime soon. Joint exercises take a lot of time, people, and energy to set up, and such exercises wouldn’t show their true power. For starters, no one else would be able to compete with them. In that sense, these golems were a unique opportunity. He had to take some scolding, but, in return, he got the chance to watch them in combat. It was a cheap price to pay.

……Well, his dinner party has also washed away, but there’s no helping that. He’ll set another one up the next time he gets the chance.

As Julius was thinking, Yami was staring at his face and said,

“Somethin’ about you feels fishy…… Mind if I get serious and read your ki?”

“N-no, ha ha! Nothing will come of that even if you do! More importantly, look, if we’re leaving, let’s hurry up and get out of here!”

The instant Julius made this suggestion in a panic, Nozel bowed his head and said,

“Well then, I’m leaving.”

Without hesitation, he turned his heels and walked toward the exit. It may seem rude to simply leave like that, but considering that it’s Nozel, he did a good job sticking around.

“Well, that’s too bad! A fu fu, to think such a special chance to eat with everyone would get suspended! I wanted to talk some more~!”

“Kah kah! Is that so? Then, you can sit next to Charlotte next time, too!”

Rill and Jack exchanged words with each other as they followed behind Nozel.

“……Nonsense. Do you really think I’d put up with your foolish attempts at entertainment a second time?”

“……zzz……zzz…….zzzz…….”

The other Captains also headed toward the exit as they chatted with one another. Not a single one of them wanted to continue the party. Everyone must have hated it after all. Charlotte even said that it was “foolish”. However, that, too, is fine. You certainly can’t say that their relationship with one another is “good”, but that’s exactly why they should clash with each other, argue with each other, and elevate each other. Cultivating one’s character through friendly rivalry is how the Order of the Magic Knights was established. Julius had meddled because he was afraid they were dragging each other down instead of raising each other up. If its ever needed, he’ll enact an even larger plan.

However, based on what he felt earlier, that won’t be necessary. The Captains are serving as exemplary models to their squad members for how such friendly competition should look. It may not be long before the entirety of the Magic Knights does the same. If they can raise each other up and act as one, then they can surely overcome even a tough situation like what lies ahead…….

Julius thought to himself warmly as he followed behind them.

“…..Like I said, you’ve been grinnin’ like a maniac since earlier. It’s scarin’ the hell out of me, so can you stop?”

Yami said as he walked beside Julius. Julius realized that he let what he was thinking show on his face again. He maintained his expression as he turned toward Yami,

“Hm~? It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how much you’ve all grown.”

“……What the hell?”

Yami said with a snicker. Then, he suddenly made a startled expression and said,

“H-hey, are you serious? I vaguely felt this earlier, but have you been thinkin’ lewd thoughts about me……!?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about telling you this for a long time, but those jokes of yours trouble the people around you more than you think.”

Julius replied with a wry smile as he placed his hand over his chest.

“E-everyone!”

Marx yelled out as they were leaving. For some reason, he was sweating, and his lips were trembling. He wore a pained expression, as if there was something important that needed to be said… but he didn’t want to say it. However, before long, he steeled his resolve and spoke,

“I was thinking… about how to make the drinking party more… exciting, and,”

He tucked his quivering hand into his robe,

“I reserved a private room… where we could sing while we drink after dinner.”

And pulled out a leaflet for a certain bar.

“………”

For the second time that evening, everyone froze in silence. Marx truly was a capable man, and a very diligent one at that. Because he’s so capable, he arranged for the possibility of an afterparty. As a result……

“Wha……What are you doing, Marx-san!? Trying to make the party exciting with people like this…… that’s impossible, you know!!?”

Those insulting words came from Rill, who clung to Marx as he pleaded, his eyes wide with panic.

“Also, singing!? Are you insane!? Doing that with these people…… paints such a chaotic picture!”

“There’s no helping that! This was a last-minute decision, so I couldn’t find a reservation anywhere else! With people like this, I couldn’t simply reserve a restaurant that’s open to the public! We would disturb their business!”

Jack approached Rill and Marx with a glint in his eyes as they continued their insulting exchange.

“It’s fine, Rill~ You can sit between me and Charlotte. I can listen to all you’ve got to say. Kah kah,like what you really think of us, for example~”

Jack said as he put his hand on Rill’s shoulder.

“Hey, Jack. I never agreed to going to such a place…..”

Charlotte retorted with an indignant look on her face.

“Huh, what’s with you? Sounds interestin’ to me. I’m going~”

“……Wha?”

Charlotte whipped her head around and responded in a voice several notes higher than her usual range when she heard Yami say he was going. Then, she lightly coughed and said,

“W-well, as I said earlier, since it’s hard to say what a group of stupid men might do…... I-I’ll come, too!”

Hearing this made Yami and Jack turn pale.

“……L-like I said earlier, what’s with you today!? You’re after my life, aren’t ya!? If you’re gonna kill me, just make it quick! Just stop doin’ all this weird stuff to keep me in suspense!!”

“C-calm down, Yami! You just need to offer her something as a sacrifice…. Okay, let’s offer her the deer kid!”

“You bastards… stop fooling a-……! I-I understand. If that’s what you say, then I’ll grant your wish and end your lives right here. Prepare yourself…… Rill.”

“Wait, why are you starting with me!?”

“Ha ha! Everyone, let’s calm down for a bit.”

Vangeance interjected with a wry smile just as a chaotic atmosphere began to drift in the air. He then turned toward Julius.

“The one who proposed we have this dinner party was the Wizard King. I believe that deciding whether we go to the afterparty or not should be left to him.”

With those words, everyone’s eyes were on Julius.

“…..Hmmm. Let’s see.”

Rill’s eyes were full of tears. Nozel’s eyes were full of disgust at the idea of having to go. Marx had a pleading look in his eyes. Yami’s eyes were telling him to do whatever the hell he wants. Looking at all the different thoughts reflected in their eyes, Julius happily scratched his head and said,

“…Well then, we’re all here, so let’s go.”

And so, the afterparty from hell began.

--- The End ---

Afterparty!? With singing!? Ahhhh, this chapter ends too soon….

Did anyone else find Nozel very relatable in this chapter? The dude just wanted to go home.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. My next target is the 3rd novel, the Book of Yuno. So, expect to see a translation for chapter 1 of that book next week!

#Black Clover #Order of Knights Book #Yami Sukehiro #Julius Novachrono #William Vangeance #Nozel Silva #Charlotte Roselei #Jack the Ripper #rill boismortier #dorothy unsworth #marx #my translations

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adverb-slut · 5 years

Text

Empty Wallets and Empty Stomachs (Fanfiction)

Hiiiii, another AO3 repost from me, mainly ‘cause I’m trying to spread out my stuff on both platforms. This is a short four-chapter story that I’m going to post all in one go (that’s why it’s so long) since I think it’s hard to navigate between different chapters on Tumblr. If you’d like to read this story on AO3, click here. I apologize in advance for the really bad title; I just couldn’t think of anything better at the time.

Title:

Empty Wallets and Empty Stomachs

Summary:

No summary, really. Just chilling with Mammon and Beel and MC and being dumb. Mostly just MC and Mammon go shoppin’ and you cook with Beel. Other shenanigans ensue.

Genre:

Humor/Fluff/Slice of Life

Rating:

Word Count:

6645

Additional Note:

Sorry to take too much of your time up with the super long stores, but again, on AO3, this is formatted and was originally meant to be a four-chapter story! :)

Chapter 1

“ … and that, class, is the true nature of the Twin Paradox. As you can see—” Your professor, a gangly demon with round glasses and a haircut that reminds you vaguely of the Backstreet Boys, is promptly interrupted by the low gong of the school bell, signaling that class is over.

Upon hearing this, you whip out your D.D.D and make your way to the door as your teacher calls, “Don’t forget to read Chapter Seven, Section Nine through Twelve of your Physics IV: Mind Over Matter textbook for class on Wednesday!”

You scroll through the messages on your Chat app, doing your best to keep one eye on your D.D.D and one eye on the sea of demons bustling to get to their next class.

Lucky for you, Physics is your last class of the day. As you make your way to the House of Lamentation, you notice that you have a missed call dating back an hour ago from Mammon.

Feeling it’s too late to call back, you decide to send a text instead.

Mammon MC: You called?

MC: What’s up?

You see an ellipse bubble pop up immediately, indicating that Mammon is typing.

Mammon: MC HOW DARE YOU MISS MY CALL

Mammon: You can miss everyone else’s calls, but not *mine*, got it?

Mammon: I have important things to say, y’know!

You feel a smile grow on your face and shake your head.

MC: Important things? Like what?

Mammon: WELL, it just so happens that I get paid today!

You stare at the message in confusion. Paid? Before you can question his statement, you remember that Mammon frequently did various modeling jobs to make cash. It was supposed to be a way to earn a little spending money and pay off his debts, but unfortunately for his creditors, the latter very rarely happened.

However, you are still unsure as to why Mammon is telling you this. You send a confused-looking sticker.

Mammon, surprisingly, doesn’t respond right away. You close out of the Chat app and begin to put your D.D.D away. As you fumble around for a pocket to put it in, you crash headfirst into someone.

Oh, crap, you think. The demons at R.A.D normally don’t bother you, but that’s because you usually don’t headbutt them accidentally.

“I’m so sorry—” you start, but your apology is cut short as the demon turns around. “Beel! I apologize; I didn’t see you there!”

Beelzebub pivots to face you. “Oh, hi, MC,” he says, greeting you with a melancholy nod.

You cock your head curiously. The sixth-born demon’s face is set into a sorrowful frown, and the five-pound bag of Scummy Bears that he’s holding is only half empty. “Is something wrong?”

He looks down and shakes his head. “Nothing you need to worry about.” Beel looks back at you. “Are you going back to the House of Lamentation?”

You want to ask him some more questions, but at the same time, don’t want to pry. “Yep!”

“Let’s walk together, then.” He flashes you an unconvincing smile as the two of you begin to make your way down the R.A.D halls.

Unsure of what to say, you keep silent, smiling internally as Beel walks slower than his usual long strides so that you can keep up with him. By now, most students have either gone to their dorms or have made it to their last few classes; the only sounds that echo through the hallway are you and Beel’s footsteps.

You keep your silence until the two of you near a trash can in the hall, where Beel dumps what remains of his bag of Scummy Bears into the garbage.

You gasp and your eyes widen. What in the Devildom just happened?

Beel puts a hand over his taut stomach in response to your astonished look. He peers at his feet as he explains, “My stomach feels queasy. I can’t eat right now.”

In the few months that you have known Beel, you can hardly remember a time where he has turned down food, let alone thrown it in the trash. Whatever problem Beel is facing, you wager it has to be serious.

Beel turns away and continues to walk down the corridor. You want to grab his hand and get him to stop, but knowing Beel’s strength, you know that there’s no way that you could physically do that. Instead, you run in front of him and put your hands out, causing him to halt and tilt his head in confusion.

Furrowing your brow, you poke Beel in the chest. “Tell me what’s bothering you, Beel. It’s not good to keep things bottled up.”

Beelzebub still won’t meet your eyes. “I know.” He sighs, as he glances up and notices that you still haven’t left his path. “I’ll tell you later.”

You don’t want to push the soft-spoken demon and step to the side. “I hope you do.”

As before, you and Beel continue to the House of Lamentation in silence. Once you two arrive, Beel heads directly to him and Belphegor's room without his usual stop to the kitchen. You shake your head and make your way over to your own room.

Dumping your backpack onto the floor, you head over to your downy bed, breathing in the floral scent of jasmine and roses. Only Asmodeus uses that scent of detergent, so he must be on laundry duty this week. You mentally thank him for using such a pleasant scent, unlike the strange musk of the sandalwood and papyrus fabric softener that Satan had used two weeks earlier.

Your laundry-related musings are interrupted by rapid, deafening knocking on your door. You hope it is Beel, finally ready to talk about whatever is bothering him, but you know better than that. Beel, for all his muscled glory, has a very quiet, almost timid knock. The only demon in the House of Lamentation that has a knock so boisterous, so cacophonous, so incessant is …

“How come you’re not dressed yet?” Mammon demands, walking straight into your room as soon as you open the door. “Didn’t you get my messages?”

“I haven’t checked my D.D.D in a bit,” you admit, pulling the device out of the pocket of your uniform. You open the Chat app, noticing that you indeed have some message notifications from Mammon.

Mammon Mammon: HUH? How’re you confused by *that*?

Mammon: Getting paid means I’m going shopping! And you’re comin’ with me!

Mammon: Be dressed by the time I get home from *barf* tutoring!

Mammon: Curse Lucifer and Satan for making me go to that crap, by the way.

Mammon: I mean, who *cares* if I have a D- in Statistics?

“I don’t think I can go shopping today, Mammon,” you sigh. Grabbing your backpack from off the ground, you begin to rifle through it until you find your Physics IV textbook. “I have a lot of homework due soon.”

“Homework, shmomework,” Mammon chides, yanking the book from your hands. “There ain’ t nothing wrong with not doing it once in a while.”

You give him a look. No wonder he has a D- in Statistics.

Mammon grabs your hand, leads you off the bed, and pushes you over to the closet. “Tell ya what, if you come with me, I’ll be super generous and buy you anything you want from the store—only something super cheap, though, but still!”

You want to protest, but figure Mammon won’t let this go. Instead, you get dressed into something more casual than your uniform and step out of your closet.

The second-born, who was absentmindedly flipping through your Physics textbook as you changed, immediately sits erect once as you appear. “I swear that I wasn’t going through your things,” he claims. “Much.” He gives your outfit a once-over and two thumbs-up. “I always forget how nice you clean up for a human, MC! You’re officially fashionable enough to stand by my side!”

You blush ever so slightly, but before Mammon can notice, you busy yourself by emptying your backpack of any school-related content. That way, you have an empty bag to carry as you go shopping. “And if I don’t want to stand by your side, Mammon?” you tease.

The demon’s face flushes with a blush even deeper than yours. “O—of course, you want to be by my side! I’m the Great Mammon, don’t you forget that!”

You smile as you take out your last notebook from your bag. “Okay, I’m ready to go shopping with you,” you say, putting your backpack on. “Let’s go.”

“Say it with a little more enthusiasm, will ya?” Mammon complains as he opens the door to let you through.

You shake your head, smile, and decide to tease him some more. “Fine. Let's go!”

“That’s not the part I said to be more enthusiastic about!”

Chapter 2

“Are you serious, Mammon?” Leviathan growls. “I already checked ahead—the Ruri-chan figurine, if you buy it in the Majolish collectibles department, is only four hundred and fifty thousand Grimm. I’m not paying you a cent more.”

Mammon waves his hand nonchalantly. “And if I ain’t mistaken, Levi, ya want this figure today, right?”

Levi grinds his teeth. “Right.”

“Well, then! Ya want me to go buy it for you today, you pay me my two hundred and twenty-five thousand Grimm labor fee!”

“I’m not paying you that much Grimm extra.”

“Then go buy it yourself!”

“I can’t. I have to finish this gaming campaign today. I already put it off long enough, and it’s not my fault that the Ruri-chan neko maid figure releases today, too! It's gonna sell out, fast!”

“Then pay me my damn labor fee!”

“You just made that up, and I already told you—I’m not paying you that much, you ass!”

And on they go.

You’ve been listening to the two brothers argue for the past fifteen minutes. You had thought by now maybe Mammon and you would have gotten a start on his shopping, but no, he had insisted on barging into Levi’s room to see if he could make a little extra Grimm off of his younger brother before the two of you left.

“You’re scum, Mammon, you know that?” Levi growls. He turns to you, pouting. “What about you, MC? Will you buy my precious Ruri-chan figurine for me?”

You sigh. “Give me the money, Levi. If I see the figure, I’ll buy it.”

The third-born demon grins. “Thanks! I knew I could count on you.”

He rummages through the pocket of his coat and begins to count out the right amount of Grimm. Once he has enough bills, he hands the stack to you, but before you can grab it, the money is intercepted by Mammon.

“I’ll hold onto that for you, MC,” Mammon assures, a coy smile lighting his face. “You don’t have any pockets in that sweatshirt.”

You smile sardonically and pull Levi’s money back. You know better than to trust Mammon, the Avatar of Greed with money of all things. Secrets? Maybe. Schemes? Definitely. Being a tsundere idiot? There was no one more capable. But money? You’d be rivaling him in idiocy if you did that.

“It’s fine; I got it,” you promise, sliding the money into the deepest pocket in your backpack.

Levi scowls at Mammon as you two leave. “Please die.”

“Here we are, MC!” Mammon grins, waving his hand for you to take in all the scenery. “The most expensive shopping district in all of the Devildom!”

You look around at your surroundings; it was a horribly gaudy site. There are huge building complexes, studded with stores selling items from the most famous brands in the world. What really brings out the garishness of the location is that every store seems to be covered in gold.

There’s a gilded Ralph Goren shop, a Chanhell showroom that sparkles with a yellow brighter than the sun, and even a Burbury emporium that glitters with a fine flaxen coating.

“Why … why does everything look like this?” you can’t help but ask.

Mammon, who had been staring lovingly at the lurid buildings, looks over at you, pulled out of his reverie. “What? Oh, the gold? It’s just to show how expensive everything is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, MC,” Mammon explains, suddenly grabbing your hand as he leads you further into the shining abyss. “All this stuff—” He gestures toward all the name-brand stores. “You can find in any of the regular couture shopping districts in the Devildom. However, the stuff sold here specifically—the very same stuff in all the other stores—is more expensive. The buildings are all covered in gold to represent that. It’s great, huh?”

You dig your heels in the ground. “Wait … you mean … you’re only shopping here … because it’s expensive?”

“Duh! Things that cost more make ya look cool.” He yanks your hand harder to get you moving again. “Not that I need help looking cool or anythin.’”

“Of course.”

Wow, you realize. He really lives up to his title of the Avatar of Greed.

“Oh! Look over there! Silver-plated spurs! Let’s go see if they have ‘em in bronze or somethin’—silver kinda clashes with my look, y’know? And holy crap, they’re selling diamond insoles for your slippers in that store! Can’t imagine they’d be comfortable, but still, why wouldn’t you want ‘em?”

Before you know it, you and Mammon are standing in line for the register at Versucky, with the second-born demon holding at least seven or eight different, high-end items, all of which you wonder if he has any use for.

“I know what you’re thinking, MC,” Mammon says, looking at your confused expression. “How much money does the Great Mammon make from modeling if he can afford to buy this much stuff?”

You want to point out that that was not in fact, what you were wondering, but he barrels on ahead.

“Well, a lot, of course, ‘cause y’know, I got all this.” He gestures toward his body sensuously. “But still, even if it’s not enough, I got my beloved Goldie!” Mammon shuffles all his desired items to one hand, and with the other, whips out a shiny black credit card from his pocket.

Your eyes widen. “Didn’t Lucifer confiscate that from you two days ago?”

“Yeah,” Mammon admits. “But I found it. He left it in one of the oysters in Levi’s aquarium—don’t ask how I figured it out.”

You shake your head and can’t help but smile at his rebelliousness. You wonder how Lucifer is going to punish Mammon for his craftiness this time.

As you and he reach the front of the line, Mammon suddenly drops everything he’s holding. “Oh, crap.”

You reach to pick up all the items that had tumbled to the ground. “What?”

“Well … “ Mammon scratches the back of his neck, a slight blush coming over his tan skin. “I just realized that I promised I’d buy ya somethin’ if you came with me, and heh, here you are.”

“It’s okay, Mammon; you don't need to get me anything,” you reassure him. You hadn’t really expected him to keep his end of the bargain, and honestly, you didn’t really care. You hadn’t actually needed anything from the store, and in fact, the only reason you had tagged along was, well, for the company … and the fact that Mammon wouldn’t have shut up if you hadn’t.

“No, it’s not,” he says. He grabs your wrist and leads you out of Versucky. “I said I’d buy ya somethin’ and that’s what I’m gonna do. Here, we’ll buy whatever you want first, so then I’ll know how much Grimm I have left to spend.”

“But you don’t have to worry about how much money you can spend,” you remind him. “You have Goldie.”

Mammon’s blush deepens. “W—well, yeah, I know!” He looks down, grinding his heel into the ground. “But I just remembered that Lucifer put a control lock on her that notifies him every time she’s being used, and then he’ll know I took her back.” His head whips up immediately. “And just so y’know, it ain’t like I’m afraid of him, or anythin;’ I just figured not using her would be the smarter thing to do, that’s all!”

You smile at his display. “If you say so.”

“Wh—what! Ya don’t believe me?”

“No, no, of course, I do.”

“You—you better!” He coughs and tries to regain his composure. “Now, where do you wanna go? Unless ya wanted to shop at Versucky, ‘cause I guess we could go back in there.”

“I’m not really sure,” you admit. Even in the human world, you weren’t very familiar with couture brands, and you’re even more lost in the Devildom. Your eyes scan the apparently endless miles of gilded shops until you spot a strange blip of steel gray in the sea of gold. “What’s that?”

Mammon squints in the direction you point. “Never seen that store before in my life. Kinda gross, though. The whole ashy color scheme really clashes with the rest of the buildings here.”

To be honest, you find the dull color of the edifice somewhat soothing compared to the sheer gaudiness of its surroundings. You begin to make your way over to it, Mammon in tow.

“Thrifty’s Cheap Finds,” Mammon reads as you near the building. He dry heaves. “Cheap finds? What is this? Some kind of lame way to attract broke-ass degenerates like …” He trails off when he sees your raised eyebrow and blushes. “I wasn’t gonna end that sentence with ‘you,’ I swear! Calm down!”

You shake your head and don’t respond as you enter the store. As you begin to wander around the shop, not even Mammon can keep his jaw from falling open in wonder. Inside Thrifty’s Cheap Finds is everything from hairspray to mattresses to books to cookie sheets—all of them branded with human company labels.

“No wonder everything here is so cheap,” Mammon realizes. “No one in the Devildom wants human stuff. Well, unless you’re Satan and Lucifer and like all that antique crap.”

You resist the desire to glare at him and instead pore through everything in the shop, your eyes never failing to examine each item. It’s been months since you’ve been home and seen any of these types of knickknacks.

A wave of homesickness washes over you as you finger a timeless gingham tablecloth, as Mammon ambles off to the electronics section, which is filled with ancient-looking cellphones and computers.

You swallow the feeling away before it can cause a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. You wander farther down, realizing that all the mismatched pots and pans mean that this is the cooking aisle.

You pause in the section of this aisle that displays cookbooks and remember the miserable look on Beelzebub’s face earlier today. Perhaps, you wonder, there is something in here that would cheer him up.

The cookbooks are all in disarray, and you shuffle through the many stacks of them several times before you find a book that you think Beel would like. You flip through the cookbook and nod in approval; the pictures are large and detailed and the human recipes are quick, simple and hearty—perfect for the always hungry Avatar of Gluttony.

You flip the book over and read the price tag. “Nine thousand Grimm.”

You worry that that’s too much, especially since you remember Satan once mentioning that books from the human world usually weren’t economical. You haven’t really gotten the idea of how much a single Grimm is worth yet, and you keep hearing Mammon’s voice in your head, insisting that whatever you buy today be cheap.

“Hey, what’cha got there, MC?” Mammon asks, materializing as if on cue. “This what you want?” He grabs the book from your hands and gives it a mildly disgusted look. “A cookbook?”

“It’s for Beel,” you say, defensively.

Mammon raises an eyebrow. “The only demon ya should be buying stuff for is me, but I’ll let it slide this time.” He too flips the book over. You grimace nervously as his eyes widen when he sees the price.

“I’ll put it back if it’s too expens—” you begin, pulling it away.

Mammon blushes. “Ar—are you kidding, MC? When I said to buy something cheap earlier, I didn’t actually mean it! Hell, I’m willing to splurge on ya if you really want somethin!’ You didn’t actually have to go find something this dirt-cheap!”

Huh, so nine thousand Grimm is considered inexpensive, you note. You smile at Mammon’s uncharacteristic generosity. “It’s okay, I really do want this.”

He runs a hand through his hair and tries to regain his composure, but to no avail. “Y—you sure? I mean—if ya wanna get somethin’ from Ralph Goren or somethin,’ I’m cool with that!”

You hold the cookbook to your chest and nod. “I’m sure.” You grab his hand and lead him to the register.

As Mammon pays the nine thousand Grimm to the lanky demon clerk, he shakes his head and looks at you. “You really are something else, y’know that, MC?”

Chapter 3

As soon as you and Mammon return home, you walk over to Leviathan’s room and knock on his door. Hung on your wrist is a bag from a store called, Look At Me, I’m a Stupid Otaku (or at least, that’s what Mammon had told you the building sign had said. You don’t know how to read Japanese.), which held a Ruri-chan figurine. “Levi? It’s me, MC.”

“Come in,” the third-born demon calls.

You open the door, only to see Levi slouched over on his computer. You take the figurine out of the bag. “Where do you want this?”

“Oh, is that my darling Ruri-chan?” he asks, his eyes never leaving the screen. “You can bring it here. Sorry, I’d come over and get it myself, but there are only two minutes left on this boss stage, and he still has half of his HP left.”

You bring the figure to his desk and leave it next to what looks like a box of granola bars. “Super high-energy chocolate-covered cricket snacks,” you read. “Now with extra protein.” You blanch because despite living in the Devildom for a while, you still have yet to become accustomed to the food.

“Yeah, sometimes when I’m really in the gaming zone, I don’t leave my room for days, not even to get meals and stuff lololol, so I keep those here if I get hungry.”

“Can I have one?” You are planning to check in on Beel after making this stop to Levi’s room, and realize that it would be better to show up with food.

His eyes glued to his computer, Levi nods. “Go for it.”

As you reach into the box to take one, Levi suddenly turns toward you, even though you can see the timer counting down on his game. “Better take the whole box. Beel’s not gonna be satisfied with just one.” He sighs. “Everyone’s been kinda worried about him, you know? He’s been down all day, but he’s not saying anything to anyone, not even Belphie.” He perks up. “But! If there is someone who can make him feel better, it’s you, MC!”

You smile at his worry for his brother. “Thanks, Leviathan.” You stuff the box into your backpack.

He nods, before turning back to his game, frowning when he realizes that the onscreen timer read 00:00 and he hadn’t been able to finish off the boss. “He’s in the gym.”

“Of course,” you say, as you leave his room.

Just as Levi had said, you find Beel in the House of Lamentation’s fully-equipped gym.

The sixth-born demon is sitting cross-legged in front of an elliptical, a towel slung across his shoulders. Unsurprisingly, his twin—Belphegor—is with him, napping with his head resting on Beel’s lap.

Beel frowns nervously when he sees you. “Oh, hi, MC.” He sighs. “ I guess you’re not here to tell Belphie how cute he looks sleeping like this. ”

You cock your head curiously. “I can if you want me to.”

Beel shakes his head. “I was just checking to see if he's awake.”

“Ah,” you realize, sitting down next to him. “Is there something that you don’t want Belphie to hear?”

Beel nods but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, he fiddles with the hem of his rather tight-fitting tank top. You try not to stare at the bulging silhouette of his abs that show through. “It’s funny,” he begins. “When either of us is upset, I get less hungry, but Belphie becomes more sleepy.”

You remember learning of the twins’ connection a few days earlier. The two had a bond so strong that they sometimes shared each other’s feelings, and if one had an extreme emotion, the other would often experience it, too. You put a hand on his arm. “What are you so upset about, Beel?”

He groans. “It’s nothing, really.”

You decide to try a different tactic. “You’re worrying your brothers,” you admit gently.

“I know.” Beel takes a deep breath. Twisting around, he pulls out his navy backpack from behind the elliptical. After rummaging through it for a moment, he pulls out a telltale Physics IV: Mind Over Matter textbook. He flips to the end of the book and releases a packet of paper, which he hands to you.

You examine it for a moment, surprised to see in obnoxious red ink, the phrase F - sprawled across the front. Maybe stick to lifting weights, meathead is written underneath it. Although the words cause your blood to boil, you swallow your anger and calmly move your hand up to Beel’s shoulder. “You’re upset because you did bad on a test?”

Beel slouches, his back sliding down one of the supports of the elliptical. He continues to fiddle with his shirt and doesn’t meet your eyes. “It’s not just that,” he confesses. “If I fail another one, my professor is going to make me repeat the subject.” He sighs. “Belphie’s always helped me study in Physics; we almost always have the same class schedule—except I take Weights and he takes regular P.E—and he always made sure I knew the material.”

“But Belphie doesn’t go to R.A.D this year,” you realize. “He’s supposed to be enrolled in a human school for the exchange program.”

“Yeah,” Beel sighs. “I can’t ask him to learn the information at home with me—I know he would if I asked—he’s already been through so much this year.” He gulps. “Lucifer is going to be so mad when he finds out I’m failing.”

“Why can’t you just get a tutor, like Mammon does?”

“You see how everyone makes fun of him because of that.”

You want to point out that Mammon usually brought the teasing upon himself and justified it with his unrelenting moronness, but an idea strikes you instead. “Hey, I 'm in Physics IV, too. Why don’t we study together?”

Beel’s face lights up. “Really, MC? You’d do that?”

You laugh as you hear his stomach growl in excitement. “Of course!” You remember the cricket snacks you took from Levi’s room and begin to take the box out of your backpack. You see the cookbook you bought for him and take that out, too. “You’re hungry, now?”

He grins sheepishly. “Yes, I’m famished!”

“Look here, I brought you snacks,” you say, handing the box to him. “Thank Levi next time you see him.”

Beel immediately rips open a package and begins to eat. “Hi wroh.” He swallows, and repeats, “I will. Thanks to you, too.” He looks at the cookbook in your hand curiously. “What’s that?”

You place the book in his lap, balancing it precariously on Belphegor’s head. “It’s a cookbook from the human world. I bet it has all kinds of recipes for foods you haven’t tried before.”

Beel grabs another cricket snack as his eyes widen. “I haven’t eaten many human foods before. Let’s look at it together.”

You nod, opening the book and flipping the page as Beel munches.

“Haha,” he laughs. “Angel Food Cake. Maybe we should make some for Simeon and Luke.”

You smile and turn to the following page. The next recipe is for Devil’s Food Cake. “Or maybe you can make this one for dessert someday. Or this one—look—Deviled Eggs.”

“Those look good.” Opening another snack, Beel suggests, “Hey, MC, I’m on dinner duty tomorrow. Want to help me cook some of these foods? Or maybe, I can cook and you can help me study?”

“That sounds like a good idea, Beel,” you muse. “What do you think we should make, then?”

“Well, Satan won’t eat animals, Leviathan refuses to eat seafood, and Belphie—” He pats his brother on the head. “—doesn’t like to eat beef or veal. If we use any of those, we probably have to substitute the meat with other things.”

You and Beel pore through the cookbook for several hours, finally deciding on Deviled Eggs as appetizers, Garlic Parmesan Risotto and Savory Mashed Potatoes for the main course, and Black Forest Cake for dessert.

“This will be fun,” Beel promised, yawning. “I’ll pick up the ingredients after school tomorrow.”

You curse the contagiousness of yawns as you yawn, too, feeling your eyes grow heavy. You can feel Beel’s head rest on your shoulder as he begins to snore lightly. Without thinking, you lean your head to the right, feeling Beel’s under you. You promise yourself that you won’t fall asleep as you close your eyes and mutter, “Sounds … like a … plan.”

Chapter 4

“I’m gonna kill him,” Mammon whispers, his voice low and colder than ice as you, him, and Beel huddle over your D.D.D. “I’m really gonna kill him.”

Beel frowns at his elder brother. “Why are you so upset? You’re not even in the picture.”

“Yeah, if anyone should be mad, it’s me, Beel, or Belphie,” you comment, zooming in on the photo, which had been taken yesterday.

It was from when you and Beel had fallen asleep together as you two pored over the cookbook you had bought for him. Strangely enough, Asmodeus—who had both taken and posted the photo—was in the picture, as well; he was posing as if he had been napping sweetly on your shoulder the whole time. To everyone’s surprise, the only one “awake” in the photo appeared to be Belphie, who had wriggled his way from lying in Beel’s lap to having his legs rest on his brother while his torso and head were sprawled all over your lap. He was too deeply engrossed in reading Beel’s new cookbook to notice his brother taking the picture. Asmodeus captioned the photo, Just getting a bit of beauty sleep with my babes 😘.

“Yes, you should!” Mammon says. “ Why aren’t you, by the way? This photo is a total invasion of your privacy!” He whirls toward Beel, his eyebrows downturned in anger. “And what’s the big idea, Beel? Sleepin’ on MC’s shoulder like that?” He puts a hand on your head patronizingly. “You shouldn’t touch anyone like that without their permission!”

Beel smiles. “Well, I think MC looks cute in this photo! And it’s not my fault that we fell asleep like that.”

Mammon rolls his eyes. “Well, I’m still gonna kill Asmo for postin’ it.” He taps on your Devilgram feed to unlike the photo. “Anyway, why’d ya call me here?” he asks, gesturing toward the Hall of Lamentation’s kitchen.

“No one called you here,” you remind him, taking a seat at the kitchen table. You reach down, grab your backpack and pull out the cookbook you had bought for Beel, as well as your copy of Physics IV: Mind Over Matter.

“Yeah,” Beel agrees, his mouth downturned in a frown. “You just heard that MC was going to be in the kitchen helping me cook and decided to come along.”

Blushing, Mammon takes a seat next to you. “Maybe I just wanted to help ya cook, Beel.”

“No way.” Beel sticks out his arms, barring him from entering the kitchen. “You’re not helping me cook. If you cook, I won’t eat it.”

“Okay, okay, fine, jeez.”

As you flip through the cookbook to find the recipes that you and Beel had decided to make yesterday, Mammon grabs your Physics textbook, whipping through it boredly. “Why’d ya bring your textbook to the kitchen? You having trouble in Physics and want to study here or somethin’? ‘Cause if you are, never fear—The Mammon is here!”

You look at Beel—who glances at you nervously—from the corner of your eyes. You yank the textbook away from Mammon. “You’re not even taking Physics.”

“Yeah, I’m taking Chemistry, and have a C in it, so I’m still passing—so what?”

“How are you supposed to teach me Physics when you’re not even in it?”

“MC! Don’t doubt the Great Mammon’s abilities!”

“Oh yeah? Does the Great Mammon know the formula for … angular acceleration?”

“The change in angular speed divided by the change in time,” Beel pipes up, as he hovers over the stove, checking for the water to boil for his Deviled Eggs.

Mammon laughs and waves his hand at his brother. “Don’t be ridiculous, Beel.” He turns to you. “C’mon, MC, don’t mess around with me. I know ‘angular acceleration’ isn’t even a real word.”

You turn to the glossary in the back of your book and point to the term with the formula next to it, which Beel had recited. “Seems like the Great Mammon’s abilities have failed him.” You watch Mammon blush furiously and smile. “And besides, Beel and I are having a Physics study session, since we’re both in the class.”

“And we’re not getting much studying done with you here,” Beel quips. He retrieves four dozen eggs from the refrigerator and begins to carefully drop them into the boiling water on the stove with a ladle.

You do a double-take and glance at the cookbook. “Beel, the serving information here says that to serve eight people you only need sixteen eggs, at the most.”

Mammon and Beel shake their heads.

“If my brothers are going to get a chance to eat anything, we’re going to have to make this many,” Beel decides. He hoists up a giant pot of potatoes that had been already boiling on the stove and plops it in front of Mammon, handing him a potato masher. “Mash these.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want me to cook anything,” Mammon whines.

“Yes, because whatever you make tastes gross. Mashing the potatoes isn’t cooking anything, so you can do just that.”

Mammon grumbles something that sounds curse word-y, but stands up and begins to work the masher into the potatoes. “Just for that, I’m making ‘em creamy. No lumps.” He whispers to you, “Beel loves lumpy potatoes.”

“Fine, Belphie will like it smooth, anyway,” Beel assures. He walks over to the refrigerator and yanks out an entire wheel of parmesan cheese. He sets it in front of you and hands you a cheese grater. “Can you shred this cheese, MC? I’m about to start getting the arborio rice for the risotto ready and the whole process is going to take a while.”

Your eyes widen. He wants me to grate the entire wheel of parmesan. “Sure, but what about our … you know, study session?” You had promised to help Beel with Physics, and you were by no means going to forget about it.

“Ask me questions as we go? Sorry, I didn’t realize how much there was to do,” he says sheepishly.

You nod, laying your Physics textbook flat open to Chapter Seven, which was your assigned reading for your next class.

You cut off a block of cheese and begin to run it against the serrated surface of the cheese grater for several hours, asking Beel problem after problem from the book. He stumbles on quite a few of them, but you correct him only if you know how to—after all, you yourself aren't a master in Physics. The ones you don’t are questions that you skip, mentally circling them to come back to later.

Every so often, Beel grabs a scoop of the mound of grated parmesan that you have shredded and adds it to his pot of risotto. Surprisingly, Mammon also throws several handfuls of cheese into his potatoes, as he mashes them until they are so smooth that you were sure that not even an ant would be able to find the tiniest lump.

Beel doesn’t notice that Mammon adds the rest of the ingredients in the recipe to the potatoes—copious amounts of cream, whole stalks of herbs, salt, and more butter than you have ever seen in your life, and stirs them together.

“Beel says he won’t eat anythin’ I make ‘cause he’ll hate it,” Mammon explains to you when you stare at him for disobeying his brother’s explicit orders of doing nothing but mashing the potatoes. He smirks. “But wait ‘till he gets a load of these. They’re gonna be great.”

You roll your eyes at the mischievous demon, wondering how his little fling with deviancy is going to bite him this time.

“Okay, time to assemble the cake,” Beel announces, plopping all forty-eight freshly-piped Deviled Eggs onto the table, along with a steaming casserole filled with Garlic Parmesan Risotto. “MC, can you sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top?”

As you begin to do just that, he brings over three round German chocolate cakes, a bowl of whipped cream, and a dish filled with cherries macerated in sugar. One of the three cakes is already topped with a layer of cream and cherries.

“I hate cherries,” Mammon grumbles.

As if on cue, Asmodeus walks by. “That’s why you’ve never popped one.”

You stifle your laughter as Mammon’s face turns a very unbecoming shade of red. “Asmo!” He sprints after his brother, leaving you and Beel alone in the kitchen. “I was already gonna kill you once, but now I’m gonna kill you twice! C’mere, you bastard!”

You turn towards Beel, who is putting the third layer of cake onto the growing tower and covering it with whipped cream.

Putting his spatula down, Beel looks at you. “MC, thanks so much for helping me today—with the food, with the studying, with everything.” He looks down. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

You smile at him. “It’s no problem, Beel!”

“No, really,” Beel insists, staring into your eyes with an intensity that sends shivers all the way down to your toes and causes you to flush pink. “I feel so much more confident now in Physics. I think if I took a quiz today, I’d at least know enough to pass.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” you say honestly.

Beel grins and carefully lifts the Black Forest Cake by its base and puts it on a cake pedestal. “It’s time to put all this food in the dining room,” he says. He then notices Mammon’s mashed potatoes. He frowns as he sees the green herb fragments, signifying that his brother had done something other to the potatoes than simply mash them as he had told him to. He dips a spoon into the pot and tastes them. Beel’s face becomes a blazing inferno. “I’m going to eat him.”

“What?” you ask, noticing the sudden shift in his mood.

“Sugar.”

“Sugar?”

“He put … sugar … in the Savory Mashed Potatoes.”

THE END

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me shall we date mammon #obey me shall we date beel #obey me beelzebub #obey me shall we date beelzebub #obey me beel #fluff #humor #brothers #fanfiction #fanfic #adverbslut_writes

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kateofthecanals · 5 years

Text

Okay let’s talk about The Scene™

So lemme preface this by saying that I know there are a lot of you out there who are just happy to have SOMETHING and would rather just take it for what it is, and that’s totally fine, I get it. Part of me would love to do the same, but.... if you’ve been following this blog for more than a millisecond, you already know that’s not how I roll. ;-)

I’m going to break down the scene moment by moment and give my thoughts along the way. Join me, won’t you?

For starters, let’s set the scene. It’s after the battle, winter is officially over, all the dead have been burned (you know, that famous Northern tradition...?). Sansa has a good sob over Theon’s corpse. Remember how I said a few days ago that they were just playing hot potato with Sansa at this point, passing her around all the eligible bachelors of Winterfell? WELL...

Next we cut to the Great Hall where things are kind of... awkward? Everyone’s just kinda sitting around, keeping to themselves... Jon is sitting between Sansa and Dany and staring at Dany with these dumb puppy eyes, which, lbr, sums up his whole character.

Now you know how Ghost feels, ya dick...

Sandor is doing what he does best -- sitting by himself, stuffing his face with booze and (presumably) chicken. Gendry asks him if he’s seen Arya, and apparently Sandor knows that they boned?? How?? Who the hell would have told him that? Melisandre? Anyway, Sandor throws him shade for wanting to get some puss so soon after the battle and it’s like... Bro, maybe YOU need to get laid too JUST SAYIN.

Dany decides to liven up the party by announcing that Gendry is now legitimized and the Lord of Storm’s End... thereby making him a contender for the Iron Throne lmao you dumbass. Everyone raises their goblets to Gendry Baratheon, and Sandor’s like “whatevs” and goes back to his chikin cuz he a rude boi boi.

Meanwhile, Sansa exchanges a pointed look with Tyrion and I have no idea what it was supposed to mean but I am sure there was like two paragraphs of “subtext” in D&D’s script about it that we were supposed to magically pick up on.

Tormund then raises his horn to the Dragon Queen, but Dany (rightly) counters by raising a toast to Arya, “the hero of Winterfell”. Sandor’s only slightly more impressed by this.

“Okay I’ll give ya that one--BUUURRRRRP.”

Sansa is all smiles but then she looks over at Dany and she stops smiling and gets up and leaves without explanation and inexplicably disappears UNTILLLLLL...

Tormund hits on Brienne but she swerves him, and Jaime gets up to follow her, and we all know they’re going to do it. Tormund is heartbroken, so naturally he pours his heart out to his BFF... Sandor. This is the second time tonight Sandor is listening to a guy lament about his sex life. Naturally Sandor is annoyed af.

He’s seriously considering jumping into the hearth rn...

Tormund gets over Brienne pretty quick, though, when a couple of Northern groupies approach the table and are like WILD THANG I THINK I LOVE YOU and he’s like SOLD!

Meanwhile, we finally see Sansa again, standing somewhere nearby watching all this like:

Again, I must reiterate that we haven’t seen Sansa since she randomly left the table after looking at Dany like 5 minutes ago. Is this where she’s been? Has she been discreetly watching Sandor this whole time??

Tormund’s like YOU COMIN’ CLEGANE? And Sandor like NOPE still got some drinking to do. So Tormund fucks off with his groupie and the other one pops a squat next to Sandor and proceeds to hit on him.

Gotta get dat Hounddong...

Sansa is still watching Sandor, looking at him like he’s GODDAMN SNACK

“Has he been here the whole time?? Weird...”

Groupie #2 tries to make a move but Sandor tells her to fuck off and she does. Sansa is like (Now I make my move...)

Sansa sits down across from Sandor and says “She could have made you happy. For a little while.” Sandor replies, “Only one thing could make me happy.” When she asks what, he says, “That’s my fucking business.”

Now, I know some of y’all are thinking this is a callback to Sandor telling Arya that fucking Sansa “bloody” would have been at least “one happy memory.” Buuuut I honestly think he was talking about Cleganebowl here. The implication is that not even the offer of free sex is enough to satisfy the Hound’s lusts. Which... sigh, okay, look, y’all know my stance on (book)Sandor’s sexual proclivities, so him blowing off a random groupie is NOT, imo, out of character for him. And if this were indeed the books, I definitely think his line about “one thing” that could make him happy, especially directed at Sansa, would indeed mean what I think y’all want it to mean. But this is GoT, so... no.

Now, him saying “That’s my fucking business” at first made me a little annoyed, but, hey, he’s always been rough-tongued with her. What really counted here, to me, is that she didn’t react to it. While she would have been justified in being like “don’t speak to me that way, asshole”, her face kinda said to me that she knows his gruff exterior is just that, and she knows better. And he knows she knows better. They have history. She’s seen him at his most vulnerable. She’s not gonna give him the satisfaction of reacting to his shittery.

At least, that’s my headcanon. In D&D’s head, she probably thinks his asshole ways are super Badass now or whatever...

Anyway, after a few seconds of eye-fucking, Sandor says that there was a time when she couldn’t look at him (which... wasn’t really a thing on the show?). She says she’s seen much worse than him since. He then proceeds to say that he “heard” about what happened to her (really? how? when? from who? Bran??) and that he heard she’d been “broken in rough”.... and.... just.... excuse me while I vomit??? Now we know that Sanford has no skills at speaking to rape victims, but this was just soooo unnecessarily vile. Especially considering this is the girl whom he had spent TWO SEASONS protecting, one of those incidents being an ATTEMPTED RAPE??? The Sandor I know, the Sandor who told Sansa “no one would ever hurt you again or I’d kill them”, would rip Ramsay’s dick off with his bare hands.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. I should have been there.” -- what Sandor SHOULD have fucking said.

But Sansa assures him that she took care of Ramsay himself. He asks how, and she says... “Hounds.” This makes him laugh, which... that’s nice? I guess?

I hope D&D don’t think they are gonna retcon Ramsay’s murder and claim that that was a direct reference to her connection with the Hound or anything because it totally fucking wasn’t.

But anyway, yay for Sansa making Sandor laugh and smile. He then says, “You’ve change, little bird.” She doesn’t respond. Then he goes and makes things worse by saying that none of that would have happened to her if she’d just come with him when he left King’s Landing.

Um, first of all, NOT TRUE AND YOU KNOW IT, and second, EXCUSE me, are you GUILT-TRIPPING A RAPE VICTIM?? Are you really “I told you so”ing her????? What the FUCK???

Oh but if you thought it couldn’t POSSIBLY get worse than that, then you don’t know D&D. Sansa then reassures him and the world that if she hadn’t gotten raped and abused and manipulated, she would have stayed a “little bird” forever. Yep, there it is -- Sansa NEEDED to be traumatized in the worst possibly ways in order to be strong. FUCK. THIS. SHOW.

This was all said during The Hand Touch. Complete with a little thumb rub. Yes, I flailed when that happened and scared my cats. I have been watching the gif of it over and over it again. But watching it again in context.... what was the point?? Are we supposed to infer that she’s assuring him that she made the right decision? Why? He doesn’t seem like he NEEDS that reassurance. The whole exchange just makes NO DAMN SENSE. I know we loathe the Sansa Apology Tour, but even her apologizing for not going with him when she had the chance would have been 18764% better than THIS.

So then some more eye-fucking ensues, Sansa slowly rises to her feet, complete with a subtle little lip lick, and slinks away in a very “come follow me” way.... but he doesn’t.

So again, I have to ask, WHAT WAS THE POINT? Sandor’s two previous conversations leading up to this revolved around sex, Sansa was pointedly watching him reject another girl’s advances... and now you’re still gonna give me blue balls??? The 2 people in Winterfell who could use a good, consenting lay the most, and they just... walk away?? Sandor is bouncing off to what is probably his death, he even said in Season 4 that banging Sansa would be his only happy memory, she’s RIGHT THERE caressing his hand and licking her lips... but he’s just gonna sit there drinking alone all night??

Like literally you don’t even have to show anything (even though the Jaime & Brienne scene is exactly how the Sandor & Sansa scene should have ended), just have her get up and then he sits there for a second before saying “ah what the fuck” and gets up to follow her... and that’s it! We’d get it! And then HOORAY for Sandor & Sansa getting laid finally! Would that have been so hard??

But nah. Tbh this scene seemed like a throwaway, in the same vein as the Ghost scene -- just get it out of the way as quickly as possible so we don’t have to deal with it ever again. It’s more than I expected, but it’s also just as bad as I expected.

I can’t believe I waited 5 years for a SanSan reunion and they just used it as another excuse to justify Sansa’s rape.

#sansan #got spoilers #got season 8 spoilers

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real-sotenbori-hours · 5 years

Text

Receive You: The Madtype - Majima Goro x Fem Reader, Part 2

Warnings: NSFW, smut, public masturbation, public trysts, profanity/blasphemy, a touch of B&D and a light dash of fluff…

You’d have never thought to check that camera to ensure that it’s inoperable because it’s always been. You were so distracted by those infernal gloves... it just didn’t occur to you... how fucking long has that camera been actually functioning?!

Well, fuck... he knows. He definitely knows. Or, he will... It’s fine. You’ll just act like nothing happened and hustle through your shift with your focus on your patrons. It’ll be fine.

Your nervous energy is rushing through you in a flurry. You do one more lap around the bar to confirm that everything’s ready. Checking the clock, you realize that service starts in fifteen minutes and you’re still the only one there. As you reach to text Majima to make sure he’s okay with you opening alone, your phone sounds.

A text... from Majima. “Y/N-chan, we’re doin’ a private event tonight. I figured I’d work it with my best girl, so I gave everyone else the night off. Go ahead and open up in 10, I’m on my way back.”

This is... unexpected. Unprecedented, even. But you’re glad you don’t have to worry about hiding your now heightened tension with Majima from anyone else... at least for tonight.

You pop into the bathroom to check yourself, making sure your hair and makeup are on point. Check.

Okay, deep breaths. Nothing happened, everything’s normal.

It’s showtime.

You fling the door open and slink on out, ready to do some big numbers tonight. You unlock the doors, opening them to expose the gaggle of well dressed men waiting outside. You bow slightly with a smug grin on your face, “Irasshaimase, okyakusama.”

The men return the bow, nodding in approval as you lead them to the largest VIP booth in the lounge. You take their first round of drink orders and assure them that Majima will be there to greet them momentarily.

Turning on your heel, you’re met with an arm around your waist as Majima suddenly appears at your side, beaming.

“Gentlemen, thanks fer comin’! This here’s the star of my bar, Y/N-chan. Ain’t she amazin’?”

The men all nod and toss compliments your way to which you blush and thank them, eager to make and retrieve their drinks as quickly as possible.

As you try to pull yourself from Majima’s grasp, he pins you to his side once again, gripping you. You try to play it cool, returning the squeeze... despite the fact that the glove wrapping itself around your waist was the very one that hugged your hand and grazed your most sensitive spots just earlier...

Your thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

“We’ll get to talkin’ in just a minute. Y/N-chan and I will return with yer drinks.”

The men all nod and grunt their thanks as Majima turns with you still at his hip, stepping forward, bringing you with him. You have no idea what to make of this but you couldn’t care less, as being pressed against his side had you spinning already.

He walks you behind the bar and directly into the liquor room, shutting the door behind him. Deep breath. Act normal, act normal, ACT FUCKING NORMAL.

He releases you and turns to face you, smirking.

“Everything alright, Y/N-chan?”

You try to fight it, but your eyes widen anyway. “Yeah, I’m fine, Majima-san... I’m great. Why?”

“Ah, ya just seem a lil’ on edge is all. Like yer nervous about somethin’...” his eye narrows, watching you like a hawk.

You shrug. “Nah, I’m not nervous, why would I be nervous?”

He starts slowly pulling his glove off, watching you absentmindedly wring your hands at the sight.

He holds it up, turning it over, stroking the leathered fingertips with his bare hand and then spears you with an expression so intimidating, your heart stopped.

“They look good on ya.” He chuckles darkly.

You feign confusion, hoping you misheard him. “Pardon?”

“Nah, you heard me.” He grins, maniacally. “My gloves... they look good on ya.”

“...”

“That was a helluva display, Y/N-chan... sexiest thing I ever seen.”

“...”

“Maybe you’d like to show me again? Maybe sometime soon when I can join in?” He steps closer, brushing the glove past your cheek. You’re spellbound. “I...”

He grips your face in his other hand and leans forward, placing a kiss on your cheek and laughing. You melt into his arms, wrapping yours around him, hugging him tightly, burying your face in the crook of his neck, inhaling him as deeply as possible. “I’m sorry, Majima-san... I just couldn’t help myself.”

He grips the back of your neck, speaking into it, “Oh yeah? Well don’t ya worry, Y/N-chan. I got just what ya need. I’m happy to indulge ya.” He pulls back, rubbing his thumb along your bottom lip.

You gaze up at him, aching for him more than ever before, unabashedly letting your face express it. He leans forward and kisses the tip of your chin as you arch your back, desperate to rub yourself against him.

He meets you, pressing himself up against you, just barely satiating your burning desire... or fanning the flames. Now you wrap your fingers around the back of his neck, pulling yourself up to his ear to whisper, “Fuck, Majima I want you so bad...” he moans, turning his head to bring his mouth to yours as you grab his face, holding him still. You lick the shell of his ear, giggling, “Oh, but not now. I have drinks to make.”

He stops, shooting you a look of shock... and awe. You kiss the bridge of his nose and slip free from his grasp, laughing.

You head for the door, smirking over your shoulder at him as he follows, wrapping his arm around the front of you, resting his fingers just over your stomach. He slips his other hand into your hair, grabbing a fistful as he licks up your neck, stopping below your ear. “This ain’t over, ya lil’ minx.”

Rolling your head onto his shoulder for just a second, you grip his thigh and then place your hand on the door, preparing to open it. “I’m countin’ on that, Majima-chan.”

You quickly make the first round of drinks, carrying them over to the secluded booth housing Majima’s business associates. Somehow he’s already seated in their midst, as if he fucking teleported. You set the tray down, acting as if there isn’t an electric current pulsing through you just from being under his gaze.

As you lean forward to hand a libation to each of his oblivious guests, you catch Majima staring right through you, slowly running his tongue along his bottom lip. Your cunt twitches and an unmistakable blush erupts on your cheeks as you try to hide how frazzled you were rapidly becoming. You straighten up, holding the empty tray in front of you as you smile politely.

“Anything for you, Majima-san?”

He smirks. “You know what I want, Y/N-chan.”

You nod with a grin and head back behind the bar, trying to steady your breathing with each step.

Reaching for a whiskey stone, you take the tongs and grip it, carefully setting it into the bottom of the glass. You look up to find him leaning over the bar, grinning, “Y/N-chan, let’s break out the new stones fer my friends! I’ll show ya where they are, follow me.”

He slips around the corner and grabs your wrist, dragging you playfully behind him as you try not to giggle. Bringing you down the same hallway leading to the back office, he stops at the supply closet just before it. He takes a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks the door, twisting it open and pulling you inside with him. You have no idea what to expect.

He switches the light on and shuts the door, strolling ahead, locating the velvet case on the second shelf to the left. He grabs it excitedly, opening it as he walks back toward you. “I love these. Used ‘em at The Grand. Been meanin’ to roll ‘em out. Take a look.” He sets the box on the table beside you and pulls a sphere from its foam bedding, balancing it in the palm of his hand before you, letting it fall into your hand. You nod, impressed. “Gorgeous pattern... and heavy! I bet they stay colder for longer.”

You return it to the case as he nods in agreement. “Yer absolutely right, Y/N-chan. Quality should never be sacrificed.” God, he’s amazing... no, don’t think about it. TRY to be a professional, for fuck’s sake. You have a job to do.

He closes the case and turns to you, pushing you up against the door with that gloved hand at your neck. He pulls himself in close, looking you up and down and pecks your lips. “Y/N-chan, you been drivin’ me crazy fer too fuckin’ long... but today was the last straw.” You grab the back of his neck again and this time, you’re stealing the kiss you’ve been craving. You draw him closer and he jerks forward, sliding his tongue between your eager lips, heads bobbing as depth is sought, he tangles his other hand in your hair, engulfing you in the kiss you’ve wanted more than any other in your entire life.

You grip his hips, dragging him closer to you, begging for tighter quarters. He obliges, completely pinning you to the door, subtly rubbing himself against you as you moan, neither of you prepared to break apart just yet.

You suck his bottom lip as he sucks your top, both of you returning to a full fledged kiss, tongues dancing rhythmically as his hands wander down your waist, gripping your ass... he groans, burying his face in your shoulder, “FUCK, Y/N-chan... you don’t know how long I’ve wanted this...”

Haha.

“Oh, but I do, Majima-san... bet I’ve wanted it longer than you have...”

He slaps the door lightly and laughs, snaking his hand between your legs and cupping. You gasp, yearning for more pressure, bucking your hips in his hand. “Fuck, yer so warm I can feel it through my glove...”

“Majima-san, yer killin’ me... we got guests to serve...”

“Yer right, Y/N-chan... but lemme tell ya somethin’ real quick...” He leans into your ear, whispering, “I’m gonna devour ya like yer my last meal... and I can’t fuckin’ wait to do it.” You sigh, baring your neck to him as he pecks a trail from your nape to your lips and steps back, turning the doorknob.

You grab his face for one last passionate kiss, tugging at that pouty bottom lip and he returns it feverishly, groaning against your lips, rubbing your chest beneath those fucking gloves. You cradle his face with both hands, deepening and prolonging the kiss that much more, inching your hips forward to meet his again, unable to stop yourself. “Mmmm, Majima-san... I can’t get enough of ya...” he interrupts your musing by sliding his tongue back into your mouth and returning his hand to your throat, tightening his grip only to evoke a moan from deep within you. His eye glosses over as he narrows it, glaring into yours, smirking. “I had no idea you were so deviant, Y/N-chan... yer my kinda woman... and I’m gonna give ya everything.” He kisses the tip of your nose and pecks your lips again, stepping back towards the door.

You quickly compose yourself, snagging the case of stones as you slip out the door, walking them to the bar.

You glance over at the booth and are relieved to see a large spread of Takoyaki among a din of happy customers eating, talking and laughing. You bring two pitchers of water and set them on opposite sides of the table, bowing and returning to the bar to prepare the round of whiskeys.

Majima appears at your side once again, running his hand along your lower back. “Y/N-chan, pour one for yerself and come toast with us.” You seldom drink while working, but you know better than to argue. You grant yourself an ounce and place the bottle back atop the shelf. He pecks your cheek and slides back over to the table.

Returning with the full tray, you set a glass before each guest as Majima lifts his. The men follow suit as Majima laughs and exclaims, “To our bright days ahead in Kamurocho!” A deep swig is had by all as you savor the sweet burn of cooled whiskey, reminding yourself not to relax too much as there’s still much to be done. The party of men thank you graciously as you collect the empty dishes, knowing full well that business shall now be discussed. You take your cue and head back behind the bar to clean and restock.

Collecting all of the clean glassware, you return them to their respective shelves and decide to check the liquor room for backup bottles of Majima's favorite high end whiskey in case he'd like more rounds prepared for his guests. Once inside, you glance over at the usual shelf and see not a single remaining bottle in stock. Strange. You descend the stairs to the cellar, double checking for a couple of straggling bottles, coming up empty. You were certain there had to be another case and as you glanced around once again, a hand cupped your mouth as another planted itself firmly against your stomach.

A warm and deliberate tongue ran up and along your neck as the heat of his breath tickled the inside of your ear, setting your entire body ablaze, once again. “Y/N-chan, gimme just a few more minutes to lose these guys...” he kisses your neck, sucking lightly, feeling up your chest again as you fight the urge not to collapse, breathless. You slip your fingers into his hair, gripping hard enough to tug him closer. “Majima, I can’t wait much longer... yer killin’ me...”

He turns you around and pushes you against the nearest wall, lifting and hooking your leg around his waist as he slides his hand down the front of your tight black pants, stopping directly at the center of you, letting those leather clad fingertips sit against you as your eyes widen. You gasp and grab a hold of his shoulders, desperately trying to close the distance, yearning for more contact. He remains still, chuckling at your need as you grind along his fingers.

“Majima, please...”

He leans in and pecks your lips, stroking you slowly with his index while slipping the tip of his middle into you, laughing. “Y/N-chan, I’m havin’ trouble focusin’ on this deal...” he pecks your lips again, lingering to speak against them. “...I just need a lil’ something to keep me motivated...” you lean forward, aching to kiss him again and he meets you, sliding his tongue back into your mouth, gripping your thigh with aggression.

You couldn’t care less about anything but what’s happening in this moment. You pull your shirt up, exposing your chest, restrained only by wired lace. His eye widens as he sighs, kissing down your neck to your bra as you begin rubbing your breasts, your nipples already standing at full attention. He sinks his teeth into your flesh, sending your eyes rolling as he rubs you with more pressure, gripping your thigh even harder.

“M-Majima, don’t... don’t st—-”

His hand ceases movement and he releases your leg, setting it straight, grinning. He pecks your lips again and pulls his hand free from you, kissing his glove slowly and lightly, watching you closely.

You roll your eyes in frustration and he giggles, grabbing your throat as he continues savoring you. “Now we’re even, Y/N-chan.”

You groan, “Even? What the fuck for?!”

He smirks and presses further into your throat, hissing, “Fer touching yerself to me... I woulda had ya a million years ago had I known ya felt this way about me... but no, ya had to be coy until ya couldn’t be... and now I wanna punish ya fer makin’ me wait...”

You grab his stupid face and take his lips again, breaking away to get your word in. “I was trying to be a professional, idiot... I didn’t think you’d wanna cross that line...”

He giggles again. “Professional idiot, alright... why the fuck wouldn’t I wanna cross every damn line with ya, Y/N-chan? Yer a sexy, smart, knock-out of a woman and I’ve confided quite a bit of things in ya, haven’t I? Ya don’t think I care about ya on a deeper level than just bein’ yer boss?”

You shrug. Since when do fantasies come true? “Well, better late than never, Majima-chan... how ‘bout we close up and we’ll make up for lost time?” You grip your breasts slowly, shooting a feral grin at the man for whom you’ve longed indescribably, the man who’s wanted you just as much, all along. You’re gonna give him every bit of your love, holding nothing back.

He takes in a deep breath, adjusting himself as he shakes his head, walking back towards the stairs. “FUCK, yer gonna pay fer this, Y/N-chan...”

Your eyes remain locked until he’s out of sight, leaving you in panting, frenzied ruins. That man and everything about him is exhilarating. You can’t fucking wait to get him alone, fully... but for now you have to compose yourself yet again and get back to business.

***

I’m working on Part 3 right now! I also have another Majima fic ready to upload, probably in 3 parts ‘cuz there’s just too much smut to put in one damn post ;)

Apologies for the crazy long delays... I’ve been writing SO MUCH and I’m trying to put variety into my writing, so that’s costing me time. Also I got promoted at work and with that comes more responsibilities I must attend to on my (otherwise) nights off... I’m stoked on it but of course that stuff also cuts into my writing and editing nights LOL

ANYWAY, please let me know if y’all wanna be added to my YAKUZA tag list and/or my LOKI tag list... more Loki on the way and more Yakuza in the queue! ALSO... FUCKING PROMPT ME, PLEASE! Love you all!

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dngrdyke · 4 years

Text

May The Best Bitch Win Part 2

"Let's go, bitches!" Dyke whooped. "Last one to the Hub has to clean up after the party!"

Poison rallied the engine. "I can't wait to beat your ass twice!"

Dee said nothing, and instead sped off without warning, making Faggot yelp and grab her waist tight.

A vague "motherfucker!" was heard and soon the Trans AM was catching up on her right. On her left, Ghoul and Cola were keeping pace, seemingly effortlessly.

Assholes.

The convoy made it to the Hub just as another gang pulled up. Dyke skidded to a stop in front of the leader of the pack, followed closely by Ghoul. Poison rocked up a split second behind and climbed out.

"I wanna rematch! You've less mass so you go faster!"

"I have better mass," she grinned, kicking down the stand and flicking her hair out of her face.

"Why'd I join a posse with a bike," Faggot mumbled as he climbed off shakily. Dyke killed the engine.

"The Fabulous Killjoys, huh?" one of the other gang scoffed. "Seems like a buncha kids to me."

"And who the fuck are you then?" Poison asked, coming over to stand beside Dyke with a hand on his hip.

"The Angels of Road Slaughter. I'm Roadkill. This is my second, Rock Machine. You gotta be Party Poison, or is it bootyshorts there beside ya?"

"The name's Dyke. Pretty sweet ride ya got there, Roadkill. What is it, a Chopper?"

"Yeah, got her from some Blind warehouse a while back. You don't have a bad bike yourself."

"Power cruiser, baby. I'm gonna smoke all you bitches outta here."

"Nobody's smokin' me out unless it's your little friend there," Roadkill said and winked at Poison.

"I think that's enough conversation for one day," Doctor D said, materialising out of nowhere. "At least while your old man is listening. The afterparty is a different story. Don't gotta pay attention to no-one at a party."

Dyke glanced at Poison, who was looking anywhere but at Roadkill, who was looking directly at Poison. You coulda cut the tension with a knife.

"Oh, hey, D, you'll never believe what happened earlier," Dyke said, seizing her chance to escape the awkward situation unfolding before her. "C'mon, let's get a soda and I'll tell you. Ya still got orange?"

He took the hint. "Sure do, DB. Come on in. I got a tape just about to hit replay so you can pick the next one."

He turned himself around and went back inside. Dyke took Faggot's arm and squeezed gently. He glanced at her and nodded.

"Jet, you wanna go over your battle plan?"

"I- yeah, good call." He silently thanked whatever god there was.

"I'm coming too!"

"Yeah, same here!"

Kobra and Ghoul followed, with Cola shaking his head and coming in the rear, saying nothing.

"Y'know, Roadie, a soda sounds pretty good right now," Rock Machine said. The rest of the gang murmured their agreement.

"Fine. We'll get some soda then. See ya later, prettyboy. You're gonna eat ass on the track."

Dyke bit her lip as she walked away, trying hard not to laugh. Doctor D looked back at her with a glint in his eye.

Poison ran up and draped his arms around Dyke and Jet. "Those are some hardass motherfuckers."

Dee snorted but covered it up with a cough. It was a talent of hers.

"Anyway, DB- you said you had some crazy story to tell us."

"That I do, Doctor D, that I do." She ducked out of Poison's grasp and lead the group walking backwards. "So I was headin' out to the Rendezvous- thanks for those supplies, Cola- and I saw these two assholes without any masks on takin' the kidneys outta some Drac. Y'all know I hate Blind as much as the next person, but you just gotta show some respect, ya know? Anyways, I pulled my guns on 'em and told 'em if they didn't scoot asap I'd shoot. They left together on a bike but they kept the kidneys for some reason. Dicks." Dyke turned back around and smacked her face into the beads that hung over D's doorway. She moved them out of her face and went straight to the kitchen- the only place with a working refrigerator. She took out an orange soda and cracked it open. Everyone else just stood, watching her.

"What? Somethin' on my face?"

"Dyke... Like, no offence or whatever, but how in the hell are you still alive?" Faggot asked. His eyes were huge, as if her head would explode at any second.

"DB my good friend, I'd bet my left arm that you just had a clap with Scarlet Ripper and the Mongoose," D said, running a hand through his hair.

"Those freaky-ass motherfuckers you were talkin' about earlier? Then why ain't I dead?"

"You musta got lucky," he sighed. "I gotta go tell the world to start showin' up. You gonna choose a tape?"

She chugged her soda and tossed the can into the trash. "I nearly died today. Of course I'm gonna choose the fuckin' tape."

"And it's Doctor Death-Defying back at you desert-dwellers with a whole new tape. But first, a drag race update from our very own DB."

Dyke's eyes widened and D motioned to the mic. Go crazy, he mouthed.

She grinned.

"Well hello there, desert kings, queens and everything in between. Tonight's gonna be a clear night with a high chance of road dust. Anyone willing to eat my shorts in the drag race better hurry up and get here, else someone'll take your spot. So far we have tension brewing 'tween the Killjoy squads and the Angels' racers. Who knows what's gonna happen next? Not me, but 'til then, here's Quiet Riot to keep ya kickin'."

D loaded the tape and set it playing.

"Not too bad for a first-timer."

She shrugged. "Sometimes you want the attention. I'm gonna go take a smoke break, see who else is here. We should get goin' soon."

Outside, the Angels were milling around on their bikes with some sodas.

"Hey! Dyke, wasn't it?" Roadkill jogged over to her.

"That's me," she said lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. "You need somethin'?"

He scratched the top of his greasy, black hair. Roadkill sure lived up to his name.

"Party Poison he, uh... he knows I was just dicking around, right? Well, kinda, anyway. Mostly."

"Probably. He's not pissed or anything, if that's what you're worried about. He just hasn't had anyone 'cept the mirror flirt with him in a while."

"Ah," he said and nodded, then "can I bum a smoke?"

She said nothing, but instead drew out the pack and offered it to him.

"Hey, thanks. You know you look like him though, right?"

"Long story. Might tell you one day."

"Hey, Dee! Doc says we're ready to go!" Faggot yelled out a window.

"You two gonna come out and watch?"

Dee knew from experience that he had the Girl scooped up in his arms and was making faces at her.

"Be right there. Oh, and Jet says to meet him out back with the bike."

She stubbed out the cigarette under her foot. "You comin' to the afterparty?"

"Wouldn't miss it, DB."

Jet was standing with his arms crossed when Dyke rounded the corner, pushing the bike.

"Poison wanted me to ask you if Roadkill was being serious. He said he has a nice butt."

"Kinda serious. He would. It could happen."

"God-fucking-damn it."

"Racers!" the crackly sound of Doctor D's PA system came towards them. "If your bedazzled ass isn't at the starting line, go put it there or get it kicked out."

"My ass isn't even bedazzled..."

"C'mon, Jet. We got a race to win."

They took their places at the starting line, Jet with his lanky frame scrunched up behind Dee. She had the motor running and her legs on either side of the bike for balance. Doc had better start the party soon, she thought.

She scanned the crowds lining the track and saw Faggot with the Girl on his shoulders. He grinned and waved, then took the Girl's hand and waved with that.

She smiled.

"Alright racers, I want a nice clean match. No bashing, slashing or body flashing, ya hear? And that includes you audience members, too. We don't care how well God has made you- this is a road race. Save it for the afterparty! But I think that's all an old man like me's gotta say so... On your marks!"

Dyke snapped back into reality and tensed her legs. A few of the racers revved their engines. Road Kill caught her eye and winked.

"Get set!"

She flexed her fingers and tightened her grip on the handlebars. For her, driving gloves weren't just a fashion statement.

A foghorn sounded and Dyke kicked off. "Heads down, elbows tucked in, DB and Jet Star take an early lead," the Doc's voice came over the roar of engines. "But look's like Party Poison and the Kobra Kid are close behind. Damn! Road Kill and Rock Machine leading by a hair."

"We need more speed!" Jet shouted in her ear.

"No fuckin' shit!" She sped up, taking back her spot. No way was she losing to some short, ratty-ass clown. Or Poison either, for that matter.

"Nice view, Dyke! You steal Poison's ass, too?"

"Jet, honey?"

"Yeah?"

"You remind me to break his nose at the afterparty."

"Sure thing, Dee."

She pressed harder on the accelerator. "C'mon. Please. Carla, if you can hear me..." she mumbled.

The bike, against all odds, against all the laws of physics, went just that much faster.

"Holy shit!" Jet shouted. "Dee, we- Dee! We're gonna die!"

"No way, Jet Star! We're gonna win!"

They could still hear Doctor D's voice narrating the race, but quieter now as they sped further away. "And that's DB with Jet still in the lead! I didn't know her bike could even go that fast- but don't tell her that, else I'll lose the use of my remaining working limbs."

"We almost there, Jet?"

Dyke was trying to focus on keeping the bike going as fast as possible. Sure, she had here eyes on the road, but it was a kind of tunnel vision. She didn't care about anything that wasn't directly in front of her.

"Not sure... maybe- yes! I can see someone with a flag!"

Dee whooped. The engine whined.

"Shit, will we make it?"

"If we believe, Jet! Just pray and don't stop 'til we cross that line!"

Sure enough, Jet started to mumble something. Whether he was praying or cursing her, Dyke didn't know.

She couldn't speak Spanish.

She saw Road Kill out of the corner of her eye and her face hardened. They were so close. She could almost taste it.

A rush of colour. The flag was waved. They did it. They did it!

She screamed. "Jet! Jet! We did it! WE DID IT!" She gently lifted the accelerator and braked hard to skid to a stop. Down went the kickstand.

"Did we do it?" she asked doubtfully, looking between Jet's face and the person with the flag.

"Only one way to find out, Dee. We gotta wait for the rest of 'em."

The Trans Am and Road Kill's Chopper had come in neck and neck, while someone riding solo came in just before them. The only people the two had been keeping an eye on were Road Kill and Poison. Other than that- who knew?

The crowd at the starting line started to make their way to the finish. Some people had spread out along the track, but most had stayed at the start where they could see everything that was going on.

"Alright, alright, simmer down you folks."

Doctor D spoke through a megaphone. Where the hell was he getting all this stuff?

"After careful consultation with our flagboy V, it would appear that Dyke and Jet Star have stolen the scene and come in first place!" There was a mix of cheering and groaning from the crowd as accessories were exchanged. Faggot ran up with the girl on his hip and threw an arm around Dee.

"I knew you could do it, you old bitch!"

"Hey! Poison's older than I am!"

"Dee! Dee!" the Girl giggled, clapping.

"Now that first place is settled, in second place we have Maximum Voltage, riding solo."

The crowd clapped half-heartedly. Nobody knew who this Max guy was.

"Wait... Maximu-?" Dee started. She was cut off by the Doc shushing the crowd again. The flagboy whispered in his ear.

"And in an exciting turn of events, in third place is Party Poison and the Kobra Kid tied with Road Kill and Rock Machine!"

More accessories were exchanged. Dyke was even sure she saw masks being swapped.

"Yeah, yeah, all prizes will come in due time, but for now I think we all just need to party."

Dee and Jet were swarmed with people congratulating them, and all thoughts of Maximum Voltage were pushed from her mind.

"We did it, Dee. I can't believe we actually did it!"

"Fuck, me neither! Hey- careful, these pins are sharp. To the afterparty!"

#danger days #danger days oc #frank iero #gerard way #mcr #mikey way #my chem #my chemical romance #ray toro #the adventures of dyke and faggot #killjoys #part 2/2

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