#actor mark & reader

[theknightmarket]

"What do you get out of this?"

In which Dark finally reunites with his victim in the mirror. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - AO3 TW: cursing Pages: 27 - Words: 11,500

[Requests: OPEN]

As it often was, the manor was silent. The staircases lost their breath long ago, the floorboards coped with the expected and constant weight, and the doors fell into disuse to the point that they faded into the walls. Altogether, even the rats were too spooked to enter those abandoned hallways, for fear of exciting ghosts or ghouls from the mist. Nothing went in, nothing went out. 

And that was just how Dark liked it. Society had moved too fast for him, leaving him in the dust as some poetic punishment. Some part of him had always been alone, another part abandoned, and the last part dictated by it. He didn’t want any part in a thing that would only work against him, so he was content to stay in the confines of the manor, not that leaving it was ever an option. If he could, he would have by now; he would have escaped and found some quiet shelter where the memories of his actions couldn’t haunt him. 

From time to time, he would be reminded of the events all those years ago by three simple things. Or, rather, people. The first of which was anything but simple – Wilford ‘Motherloving’ Warfstache had not visited the manor in quite a while, instead, roaming both space and time, looking for his next interviewee. Dark had heard about a robot he constructed, or stole, that he used to get his next, for lack of a better term, victims. He knew of one person that had already perished from the faulty wiring, and he was not planning to be his next, the fact that he couldn’t die notwithstanding.

The second was someone less dramatic. In fact, despite him definitely being around, Dark never saw hide nor hair of him. Benjamin was an elusive creature, skulking around the corridors and making noise in the kitchen at the most random of times. When he had first arrived, he went about making meals and snacks for the ‘new masters’, but what with Wilford never being there and Dark not needing to eat, his habits were just that: habits. The faint smell of baking cookies was ever-present though, which made a venture by the kitchen a pleasant treat on a hard day. 

And, as he passed that room, it was indeed needed.

Because, for the third and final reminder, not only memories lurked around the corners, but consequences, too. Cruel, despairing consequences that almost had Dark turning tail and rushing back to his office. His still heart was in his throat as he moved through a hallway, unnecessary breath quickened when he glided under an arch, and, when he stepped foot into the foyer, he felt as though he would pass out then and there. 

At the side of the entrance, as it always had been, was a mirror, one that he had never touched or looked at in the last hundred years. Just the thought of it made the room seem colder, if it were possible, because one thing was undeniable; this one was his fault. He had trapped a dear friend in perpetual darkness for nearly a century, acted as though he had no knowledge they still existed, and went about his business. 

He wondered if you could ever forgive him. 

Although he would never know if he didn’t do the one thing that struck fear into his heart like lightning igniting the ground. He would have to talk to you. That was, if you even wanted to talk to him, because – despite Dark’s lacking social skills – he knew that conversations had to be a two-way street, and he wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to cross that line. 

But first things first.

Heaving a dramatic breath was harder than the 12 labors of Hercules, but Dark managed it anyway, if only to get over the first hurdle, and carefully brought his fist to the corner of the mirror. If this went well, he could finally get that nagging part of him to quieten down. 

One knock was easy. Simple. Almost instinctual. The second was much less so. The brief pause between sounds was empty of condemnation or acceptance, but the quietness that followed his next knock was damn-near painful. Was he doing something wrong? Had he already messed everything up? 

He supposed he did that when he locked you in the mirror in the first place. 

“Hello?” he spoke numbly. Some part of him wanted you to come right out and yell at him, curse him, do whatever just to show that you were open to confronting him. Another part perished the thought. It couldn’t bare you emerging from the darkness with unquenchable wrath towards him, a thirst for vengeance that he couldn’t manipulate his way out of – so give him the calm you, the one that would listen to him when he apologized, probably scold him some, and then let your relationship build back up again. Notably, that was the part of him that reminded him of what had happened every time he crossed the foyer. And then there was the smallest section of his heart, nestled at the very bottom and buried beneath years of guilt and denial… that didn’t want you to appear at all.

But that would negate his reason for being there in the first place, and fleeing with his tail between his legs was not Dark’s forté. So, crossing his arms over his chest and digging his heels into the floorboards, he stood his ground. 

“Hello?” he repeated, confidence creeping steadily into his tone. “We need to talk.” 

Technically, that was a lie. You didn’t need to talk, nothing bad would happen to you if you didn’t show up, but there had been a steadily creeping feeling of distress for Dark that urged him to take some action. Obviously, you wouldn’t be doing much initiating from behind the glass, so that left him standing before you. Hopeful, hesitant, alone. 

“I have matters to discuss with you.” He reasoned to himself that he could communicate, if not as a friend, then as a business partner. The cold logistics were his strong suit, after all, and it negated the risk of developing an emotional attachment. It did mean ignoring a large part of him – the part of him that wanted to make that connection – but it was better than the alternative. 

However, as he waited, it became apparent that he didn’t have to worry about that struggle. You weren’t going to appear, it seemed, the seconds ticking by on the grandfather clock behind him. The damned thing taunted him, and he was sick of it as soon as he noticed. If you didn’t want to talk in that moment, fine, but you wouldn’t be getting away with the silent treatment that easy. 

Besides, it wasn’t as though he had gone into this interaction with any kind of plan, and that was what he was good at, planning. So, the only reason why this hadn’t worked first try was because he hadn’t thought it out well enough. Tomorrow, then, you would talk, he would make sure of it. He couldn’t fail twice in a row?

He failed twice in a row. The next day, after Dark had knocked again at the wooden edge of the mirror, watched the glass in the frame shiver ever so slightly, you didn’t appear. You denied giving him even the slightest hint of recognition. 

“We need to talk,” he insisted, acutely aware that he was repeating words from before, but what else could he say? He wasn’t one for patience, and you would find him dead thrice over before he begged. No, you would have to take what he gave you, accept that he wasn’t going to throw himself before you in desperation. 

It didn’t make this any easier on him, though. The seconds that shuffled past him felt like wading through mud. They grated on his nerves, pulled at his skin, his hand leapt to his jacket to fiddle with the edges. Normally, it was enough to ground him and keep him from acting out, but, as before, Dark was not one for patience. 

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this,” he started, relatively soft in comparison to what he could be, “but we don’t have time for it. I don’t have time for it.” 

He understood that creating false urgency was somewhat backhanded, but he really did have to speak with you. Perhaps overexaggerating the situation, if it was needed, was something he was prepared to do. 

He pressed on, “I came here to talk to you and that is exactly what I’ll be doing. You’re not going to get me to stop just because you’re acting like a child—” nothing, “—because you are! You are a child, and, right now, you are not helping anyone by staying silent.” Still nothing. 

The air around him flexed and popped as Dark grew more and more agitated. Red and blue bent around each other like oil in water, droplets and sparks and smoke that curled over his shadows. He was racked with indecision, the three parts of him threatening to tear him apart, drawn and quartered, just to have their own way. He hated not being able to make up his mind, because that left him not entirely focused on the thing in front of him. In such an important moment, he had to be, lest he say some undesirable things. 

“What are you doing?” As such, it was unfortunate that he was indeed undecided, “Are- are you throwing a tantrum in there, are you sulking? I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me!” A crack spiderwebbed itself in Dark’s little bubble. The sound of a sharp fracture echoed through the manor’s halls. Despite Dark straightening his back, dropping his shoulders, adjusting his grip on his suit jacket, the crack remained. “Okay,” he huffed, “I accept that I’ve made mistakes, but they weren’t horrible. This was for the best, and, frankly, I believe you’re being selfish. Three lives are more important than one, and, yes, I admit that our method was… backhanded, but that doesn’t give you the right to ignore me for it.” 

He gave it ten seconds before squinting his eyes. Goading hadn’t worked, pseudo-apologies be damned, what else was he supposed to do? He refused to stoop so low as to concede his wrongdoings, far more there were in your opinion, leaving him with nothing. He stared at himself through the glass, clear as day, practically crystal. 

“Fine. Act like that,” Dark muttered, “You’re the one who’s trapped, not me.”

A beat passed. The glass didn’t change. Just plain indifference.

“Oh, be quiet.” With that spat towards the mirror, he turned on his heel and marched back to his office. 

Four times. Four times. When the clock struck nine for the past four nights, Dark would make his way towards the mirror in the foyer, disregard anyone and anything in his path, and knock on the wood, never to receive an answer. Four times over. 

And it wasn’t as though it was getting any easier to wait; self-restraint was being exercised more than patience, because it was all he could do to keep himself from shattering the glass even more than it already was. The other mirrors were not as safe. Those in the bathrooms, library, and two of the bedrooms fell victim to Dark’s frustration, leaving messes of shards and splinters where they used to hang. They were disposable, your mirror was not, nor the one that met his eyes across his office. It was cleaner, less fancy that the one in the foyer, and he found it the only one that he could handle being in the presence of, and the only one that could handle being in his presence.

Although, one living being did manage to hold his own in the same room. 

“Oh, Dark! I’ve been looking for you.”

Wilford had been flitting in and out of the manor recently, more rapidly than before but just as unreliable. Dark didn’t know what he wanted, but he wasn’t going to waste time asking him outright. The man could straddle a fence all he liked, he had more important things – not that they were working out any better. 

But now that Wilford was confronting him directly, he didn’t have a choice in talking to him. If only you saw it the same way…

“I’m where I’ve been for the past century, Wilford,” Dark responded, eyes not moving from the documents in front of him. 

“Hmm—” he pulled himself onto the desk, “—Is that so?”

He didn’t bother to hide his sigh as he dragged his glare up to his friend’s face. The look on his face spoke more words than he could be bothered to say. Confusion, annoyance, a general ‘get on with it before I kick you out’ sort of tone. 

Wilford was unaffected. “Well,” he drawled with that unpinpointable accent, “I’m just saying that there’s been a few times I’ve popped in when you haven’t been here.” His hands darted for the pen stand on the desk. “Though, the mirror was definitely a surprise.” 

Damn it. If there was one thing that Wilford and Dark had in common, it was a certain omniscience for things in the manor. Whether he had actively seen his attempts to talk to you didn’t matter, he would know either way, like a nosy child. He was quickly growing tired of childish antics, but that could have just been the permanent mood for the week. 

The weariness not only had Dark pushing his chair away from the desk to swing one leg over another, but it also halted his reaction time, if only for a millisecond – unfortunately for him, that was all the time Wil needed to notice. 

“What were you doing, anyway? You haven’t spoken to our friend in the entire time we’ve been here, and you weren’t there to worry about your appearance.”

His permanent sugar-coated smile turned sour, the edges pulling taught and his teeth sharpening. The knowledge of everything and everyone in the building doubled into annoyance at not knowing a secret. Wilford liked to be in on the joke.

Dark wouldn’t let him in that easy, not when his attempts had gone wrong every time. “We were only,” he paused, “talking.”

“You certainly were!” Wil’s chortle came out boisterous, clashing with the shadows of the room. “I can’t say the same about them, now, can I?”

Dark never liked giving in to his more dramatic urges, but rolling his eyes at his friend’s antics was the very furthest he would go. Always turning things into a joke, stripping them of severity and seriousness. Sometimes, on the very oddest of occasions, he could understand it. He’d seen his mental break when he stole your body, and he had accepted his denial for the next month or so, but there was a point when things had to matter. Getting you to talk to him mattered. 

Wilford looked over his shoulder at the mirror. His smile barely softened as he raised one hand to send you a wave. You hadn’t fully appeared, you never did in Dark’s office, but there was the faint outline of some shape that hinted you were at the very least listening in. Of course, you didn’t say anything back. Wil thought you were both similar in some respects - for instance, you were both as stubborn as a mule. You’d decided to look into the office, so you were interested in what was going on, and Dark’s last week of trying to talk to you proved his persistence. Another thing you shared was a hatred for Mark – and, no, he wasn’t going to censor that man’s name in his own train of thought, he was a big boy – so if you both agreed to work together, Dark might actually make some headway in his search for the criminal. You could finally put that combined pig-headedness to good use. 

“I’m trying to get them to respond, but they steadfastly refuse to.” Dark’s fluid complaint had Wil swinging his head back to him. 

“I can’t say I blame them.”

Alarm shot over one’s face while the other looked pleasantly calm. Siding with someone you refused to even look at him was a surprise, but it shouldn’t have been so shocking; the manic time-traveler was the definition of a wildcard, he always had been.

As he spoke, Wil snatched a pile of papers from a semi-open drawer to rifle through. “From what I’ve heard,” he began, “you were being quite rude last time. Calling them a child, really, what did you expect?”

“I was expecting some kind of answer.”

“Ah, so you were goading a response out of them. Not at all releasing any pent-up aggression, eh?”

Dark didn’t like this. He didn’t like the sudden turn of the tables. Wilford had gone from the eaves-dropping child to the parent giving their own a scolding. He didn’t like the loss of control he had over the situation. But what he disliked the most was the idea that he was lying about his intentions. Too many people had been accusing him of that, neither straightforward, and it was becoming an unfavorable pattern to him. 

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Wilford.”

“Oh, but I’m not insinuating anything! I’m only suggesting that this was not the most effective way of getting them to talk. If you wanted them to play nice, you’d better do so yourself.”

“I am playing nice.”

The words came out with his namesake in mind, a volume walking the line between a growl and a yell. His ashen knuckles became as white as snow against the edge of the desk, Wil was surprised he couldn’t see inactive veins underneath his skin. Although he didn’t meet his eyes, they were sure to be glaring daggers at whatever he was looking at. None of this worried him. Noisy neighbors, stray dogs, the occasional estate agent who thought this looked an easy sell – they all were topics of Dark’s anger. This, though, was something a little different. 

The blue and red that echoed around him fought against itself in a desperate attempt to both stay close to Dark and throw distance between the colors. The dangerous aura of power surrounding him was getter less and less stable with each passing day, and he had some theories on what could be causing it – undoubtably, it was you, that much was obvious. However, he didn’t know whether it was him going near you or staying away that created this unpredictability. What he did know was that he would have to sort it out soon, or risk something happening that was out of his control. 

The least he could do for now was rein himself in, so, almost begrudgingly, Dark straightened out the lapels of his jacket and contained himself to his chair. Wilford watched him all the while, not scared, but with a knowing look on his face that made Dark want to kick him out of the manor entirely. 

“I’ll try again in the morning. Now, I have business to attend to, and I would appreciate no distractions.” The excuse was not subtle, but it worked in getting Wil to slide off the desk and ready himself to leave to whatever time period tickled his fancy. Dark, meanwhile, immediately dropped his gaze to the paper in front of him, not sparing him a second glance. 

Wil called as he began to strut out, cheery as if nothing had happened, “And don’t forget your manners, Dark!”

He merely huffed in response. Pale acknowledgment he was known to give even in times of calm, though, a thing he lacked now was attentiveness. He directed all of his focus to ignoring Wil, meaning he also ignored his next words sent towards the mirror. 

“The same goes for you, old friend. It’d be nice if we all got along,” he spoke. Both his tone and expression were imploring, something you had not seen for a good while. Hell, any emotion beyond crazed carelessness was a rarity, so it would be a lie to say you were going to disregard the change in behavior that easy. 

You don’t say anything when Wil passed by, nor when he lets the office door fall closed. Normally, you would leave the second he did; you weren’t a fan of being in the same room as Dark for longer than entertained you, and, without someone who knew you were there, it became boring. Why this day was any different, you didn’t know, but your subconscious urged you to stay behind. Watch. 

You nearly laughed at yourself, even though it would give your position away. You yourself were practically a subconscious, a physical body long gone thanks to the very person in front of you. You couldn’t interact with the world outside the mirrors, you couldn’t leave the manor, you couldn’t do anything, that was his fault. 

The very faint lines of a figure dispersed like a cigarette’s smoke as you left the room, a single thought that sent you fleeing. 

Why did it feel like you were trying to convince yourself?

Nine o’clock. Wilford had tried to get him to come earlier, but a routine had been established, and Dark, although he would never admit it, did find himself using the time to mentally prepare himself. That, and his space-faring friend had only appeared ten minutes before to see the interaction through. 

Speaking of which, that very man was standing a few feet away from him in the kitchen’s archway, an encouraging and pleading grin marring his face. He hadn’t asked why it was so important to him that you get along, his sudden interest seeming suspicious, but he wasn’t about to try and get an answer out of two stubborn mules. 

His fist met the wooden frame three times. His feet shifted on the floorboards. He waited with bated breath. 

“I would appreciate if we could have a civil conversation.” 

One, two, three. 

“I��m sorry, but my mommy told me not to talk to strangers.”

It had been such a long time since he had heard your voice that Dark flinched at the sound of it. It was bitter and hostile and mocking and a part of him damn near blushed. He quickly shut it down with a swallow and grab of his lapel, but, for a brief second, he couldn’t deny that he was happy. You showed up. Progress.

But the look on your face didn’t suggest there was going to be much more. It was his job to fix that, and, from Wilford clearing his throat somewhere behind him, he was going to have to do that without getting into an argument. 

Dark thought for a moment. Just like before, it was difficult not having his full attention on something. He couldn’t lose this opportunity to talk to you, but it would help to collect himself. The best he could do that was by talking slowly and clearly, and under no circumstances could he lose his temper.

“I apologize for calling you a child. I had planned to talk to you, and it,” he sighed, closing his eyes, “annoyed me that I couldn’t do that.”

Good news: you were still there when he opened them again. Bad news: you looked expectant at best, still pissed at worst. 

“And what else?”

Dark squinted, back tracking the lecture he had given you and your history together. “I apologize for calling you selfish.”

“And what else?”

The corners of his lips tugged downwards harshly into a frown, the most he could do while he resisted rolling his eyes, but he managed to choke out, “What else? I apologize for everything I said last time I spoke to you.”

He wouldn’t deny that he felt smug. It wasn’t a look he liked for himself, but it was a good feeling. Knowing that you had outsmarted someone was enjoyable, and that someone being a person you’d recently got into a disagreement with was even better. 

He did not feel smug when you repeated for the final time, “And what else?”

In fact, he spluttered, a fish pulled out of water. What else could there possibly be? He hadn’t spoken to you for nearly a century, he can’t have done anything to insult you without ever interacting with you, could he? Or were you trying to outsmart him back? That sounded like you, you were the district attorney, after all. You were probably hoping he would admit to something that you didn’t know he did. Well, he wouldn’t play your game. 

“What else is there?” Dark asked, staring you dead in the eyes. 

You stared back. 

There was something about the mirror that made it impossible to look at you. Every second, the image of you was switching out between your hazy form and his own face. Both equally ashen, both equally annoyed, both equally inhuman. In one hundred years, the pair of you had gone from friends sharing a cup of coffee, talking over that one unenviable case, to bulls waiting to see who would make the first move. Neither dared move, not for fear, but for displaying weakness. 

Your pupils were the first to shift. While the rest of you remained stock-still, they dragged up and down his body. From the face to the suit to the legs, it was almost as though you were cataloguing everything that he had changed from what you used to look like – until you brought your eyes back up to his. 

“Well, thank you for apologizing for that.” 

That sentence had his shoulders relaxing somewhat. You had taken his olive branch, it was the second step in constructing a partnership that would, hopefully, turn out to be mutually beneficial to you both. Dark could move in the manor, sure, but you had the void, a place where he spent a lot of his time. Maybe he left some clues, or even a body—

“I don’t forgive you.”

You snapped the olive branch between your cold hands. 

“What?” Dark hissed, practically outraged, “I’ve already apologized for everything I did, what else is there?”

A strange sort of enragement flashed over your eyes at his words. You kept your cool, but there was no doubt that, had you the option, you would have strangled him. Although he didn’t know what he’d done this time, the snarl beginning to curl over your mouth and the flexing of your hands gave more than a hint. When you moved them to gesture wildly around the void, Dark thought you were going to give it a try anyhow. 

It didn’t make him think any deeper about it though, him simply answering to your silent point, “I’ve covered that.”

You let your arms drop to your sides. “Yeah, and then you had to apologize for it, so you obviously didn’t do a good job.” 

What was meant to be a helpful little chat, maybe that would grow into something else, was rapidly collapsing in on itself. A snake eating its own tail to satiate its hunger. Except, this time, it satiated nothing, save for the want to have the last word in an argument. Both of you suffered from that fatal flaw. Stubbornness ran like a virus through inmoving veins, without mercy or pity. Maybe if it had been only one of you, you could have gotten along, but that was not the case.

“I’ll reiterate, then,” Dark began as he straightened himself out, “Mark stole Damien’s body and one entity of this house commandeered Celine’s. That left three spirits wandering the void: Damien, Celine, and the remaining entity. Are you keeping up with me?” He needed to slow down. “Good. Now, and I feel the need to emphasize this, it was coincidence that your body was left unoccupied when you were shot. We didn’t plan for that.” He really needed to slow down. “We didn’t plan for any of this, but it’s what happened, and we took it in stride. The next course of events is simple. We appeared to you, you agreed to let us occupy your body, and so we did.” Pump the brakes, pull the plug, slow the roll. “Don’t talk because I know what you’re going to say. Two spirits in one body is pushing it, three is dangerous, but four? It’d be a waste of a perfectly good host; it would self-destruct as soon as the brain caught up.” Stop talking! “So, I’ll ask again. What else is there?”

Had he been alive, Dark’s heart would have been beating so hard that you might have been able to see it through his suit. Of course, he wasn’t alive, and neither were you, so he wouldn’t have been able to see yours trying to force its way out of your ribcage, either. If there ever were a chance that you would feel sympathy for this man, he had wiped it out just like that. His little monologue might have felt nice at the time, but you promised that you would make him regret it. Talking to you like a child, who did he think he was? 

“For someone so high and mighty, you sure are dumb,” you spat back. Explaining it in a more courteous sense had crossed your mind, but it was stamped out. 

An annoyed “What?” was the only response you received. 

“Do you think that I’m mad at you for stealing my body?”

“I wouldn’t call it stealing, but yes, I do.”

You scoffed. All that preaching and he wasn’t even right on what you were pissed at. “I don’t care that you, fine, inhabited my body without me—” Even giving that little leeway was painful to you, but you struggled through it, “—I’m mad that you left me in here.”

That gave Dark pause, something that no one had been able to do for quite a while. Sure, they could get him to quiet down, mostly through annoyance in Wilford’s case, but it was an achievement to get him to stand and contemplate someone’s words, genuinely. He didn’t understand what you meant entirely. 

“I couldn’t do anything else,” he settled for saying. 

“Of course, you could.” Your voice had fallen quiet. Where that had been fire and fury and blinding stubbornness, you seemed to have slipped into a smaller volume. Simple. If he didn’t know you any better – and after such a time, there was a chance he didn’t know you at all, anymore –, he might have said there was a hint of pleading. 

“Like what, for example?”

“You could have spoken to me, you- you could have stopped to look at me, for once!” You were rearing up again, the collapse of the walls hadn’t lasted very long, making Dark wish he hadn’t asked for that example after all. But even though you were on the offensive again, once the dam had broken there was going to be no fixing it. Going without anyone to talk to for so long completely disregarded all of your social skills, and, apparently, keeping your emotions and real opinions to yourself were some of those skills. “It’s been terrifying being trapped in this mirror, alone, in the dark, without anything to do but think. The number of times I’ve had to recount the night we died or else I’d do insane is too high for me to count.”

If you lost track of the events, you might end up wrongly forgiving some people and wrongly villainizing others.

Despite you showing a bit of weakness in admitting you were scared, Dark was not an emotional man. Hell, the only person he’d spoken to was an insane murderer, so give him some slack if he didn’t pick up on every feeling you showed. Thinking back on it, he would have accepted some of the blame instead of shifting it to others with a snarky, “I’m not the only one here, I hope you know.”

You bit back, “Wilford and Benjamin, how could I forget? Except Wilford actually has gone insane from denial, and Benjamin has said one thing to me since I’ve been in here, and it was an insult to my clothes. Neither of them is around enough to talk to anyway.” The last bit you muttered quieter to yourself, but it didn’t slip past Dark. 

“How would I be any better?”

“Oh, cut the self-loathing. It’s not a good look on you, and it’s pissing me off.” He had half the mind to ask what didn’t piss you off at this point – decorative language that you’d picked up from real estate agents notwithstanding – but he held his tongue. “I thought we were in the same situation, victims of Mark, together. Apparently, we’re not.”

And, with a shift of your attention to the edge of the mirror, you followed it up with, “You’re less like me and more like Mark.” 

That set Dark’s red and blue waves alight like a rabid flame doused in gasoline. The crack from before splintered itself along his frame even more so, sending high-pitched squeals into the air. All parts of him were having different reactions, from outraged to regretful to accepting, leaving the final physical output a frigid glare. Your own eyes flitted around him, watching the energy strike out of control, and, for a brief moment, you wished you had stayed silent. 

It was an odd feeling to see someone you once considered a friend – whom you knew fully well wasn’t that same friend – respond in such a way. The visage that used to belong to Damien sent your subconscious wanting to comfort him, but, the logical part of your brain knew he wasn’t the same. Trying to be kind to him now would be fruitless, and an insult to your past together. 

You let yourself sigh the smallest breath that you could when he managed to corral himself. The waves of light returned to the surface of his skin. He blinked.

“I suppose a century is bound to do some damage—”

“A fucking century!?”

That was the last straw for you. 

“You’ve been avoiding me for a century!?” 

You knew that you couldn’t force your way out of the mirror, but this delightful news threw all reasoning out of the window. The glass barely flexed with your shoulder pressing against it, nor the fist you chucked, or even launching a foot into it. With no clue, no night-day cycle, no nothing, you had no way to tell how long you’d been abandoned for. Only your shattered view to the outside world helped, and even then, nothing in the manor would change for you to tell how much time had passed. A vague internal clock was no help either, leaving you to a guessing game. A month, a year, maybe a decade or so. 

Instead, a goddamn century had passed with barely a word from this man who stood in front of you, wearing your friend’s skin and using your bones. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Pitiful. An entity with so much power that some part of him could help bring someone back from the dead. 

“You’re a coward, Dark.”

He was starting to dislike how he looked – not for any insecurities, but because whenever he was looking at it, it only meant that you were not there. His reflection tried to goad some spat out of him, but the only thing there was an emptiness that was quickly spreading to consume all the anger and resentment that had been there before. The voice that had originally urged him to talk to you was silenced, sure, but he didn’t feel any better. He felt worse if that were possible. 

A whistle broke the silence behind him. 

“That was quite the fit you two had.” 

Wilford stepped beside Dark, both gazing at the mirror, and just the mirror gazed back. It felt wrong. 

“Do you understand what I said before?” He punctuated his question with a twist of his heel.

“Oh, but you got an answer out of them this time,” Wil slapped a hand onto his shoulder, “that’s progress, friend!” 

“Progress is arguing to the point of storming off, then?” 

Walking away from the mirror felt, to Dark, too much like giving up. Having indeed received some kind of response, regardless of whether it was positive or negative, just made it more of a failure to leave without succeeding. At least when you hadn’t appeared entirely, he could blame it on you not wanting to talk – this time, though, you were there, and you had spoken, and, because of something he did, you left. 

Approaching the staircase closest to his office, he fought back the thought. 

“Progress is getting a verbal response,” Wil called after him, rushing to catch up, “and you can make more if you so choose, which I highly implore you to do.” 

With a huff, Dark caught hold of the banister. “Why don’t you try? They might be more susceptible.” 

Wil practically chased him up to the landing, refusing to let him go and sulk in his office that easy. “I spoke to them within the first year. The only thing stopping them from coming out to play more often is you.”

Having just rounded the corner and with his hand hovering over the doorknob, Dark found himself wishing that he were ever-so-slightly quicker. Maybe if he had skipped the last step, not paused at the bottom, or simply sprinted for his door – maybe he wouldn’t have had to hear that. Wil’s tone may have been sugary and light, but he wasn’t dumb. Saying such a thing had him struggling to maintain a cool exterior. Was what he did really that much of a problem? He assumed that your outburst had come from him finally showing to you, but had you gone so long without any interaction?

He twisted the handle. 

“Does it matter that much to you?” 

“Of course! The manor could use a little activity, I’d say,” Wilford spoke as though he’d already won the battle, and, as Dark stepped over the threshold, he had. 

A brief pause, in which he looked around his bleak office – the desk, the bookshelf, the mirror – and then he answered, “Alright. I’ll try once more tomorrow.” 

Wil practically erupted into fireworks. He clapped his hands together, spun around on the heel of his shoe, and announced, “Splendid! It’s a date!” 

He was gone a second later, leaving Dark to himself. The minimal amount of light that had breached the room was dispelled with a closing of the door. He had a lot of work to do, but, for once, it had nothing to do with tracking down Mark or keeping the authorities away from the manor. No, because this time, it employed the quant, little library that Celine had made for herself when she lived in the place. With no one having gone in or out in the past century, there wasn’t even dust along the shelves, nor disrepair of the books. Everything would be pristine, just how she left it. And, matched with the knowledge of where everything was, Dark knew that this would be a piece of cake. His plan would go off without a hitch.

Although, that had been his belief when he had prepared to confront you, and look how that had turned out.

Surrounded by darkness, listening to darkness, seeing darkness, you had a lot of time to think. For most people, the ennui of an eternity might soften them up, or make them think differently. Not you. In fact, you were certain in any and all of the convictions you had at the very moment of your death. Resentment built up under the surface of your skin like rot, and, without the ability to leave the void, you were never given a chance to clear yourself of it. 

There were the odd opinions that barely hardened, but there was also a good amount of them that solidified into steel. Kings of them all were the reasons you were trapped in the mirror in the first place. Though, as said before, you didn’t begrudge Dark for keeping you there, only that he ignored you. 

Mark, on the other hand, you would gladly beat with a stick the second you saw him, or even your bare hands if you lacked anything else. The thought of touching him made you grimace, but you would struggle through it, if only to see that monster of a man dead at your feet as he should have been years ago. 

That was the worst thing about the void, beating out the loneliness and the silence, was the fact that – if you were to look at a very specific place, your head placed just so and tilted within a fraction of a degree, you could see the familiar and infuriating face of one man. He was still dressed in a satin robe, splayed on the ground, arms held out like a false idol. 

Mark’s body had long since gone cold, abandoned just as you were, to the place in the mirror. When he had taken Damien’s body, he’d left his behind, a literal shell of a man. You would see it sometimes when you moved your head quickly. A flash, a strike of lighting. It was still there to this day, but you’d never gotten the bravery to get any closer to it. It wasn’t as though you could trip over it, so why bother?

Between reliving the memories of your demise and thinking of how much you hated those two figures, you wondered if this was a punishment. The body was placed there to remind you of your loneliness, while the mirror taunted you with a glimpse of freedom that you would never reach. It gave you the only sense of direction in the void; a roughly 3 by 2-meter screen with decorated edges that just hung there. You had once tried to knock it down, but that just served to dent the corner. 

You had… mixed feelings about the window. On one hand, it let some light in. It let you see your hands, your torso, the body at the edge of your vision, your legs. You could appreciate that part. And, although not overly effectively, it gave you a sense of self. You existed, you were present in time and space, you hadn’t just disappeared, as much as you were otherwise convinced – which led you to the other hand; it mocked you. Constantly. You could see out, people could see in, but it was rare that you acknowledged one another. Wilford waved at you a few times, and Benjamin had insulted the outfit that you’d died in. The one to give you the most attention overall was Dark.

Your head snapped to the mirror.

Dark. 

He said he would try again tomorrow, didn’t he? Was it tomorrow yet? You weren’t good at keeping track of time, it seemed, but the draining and filling of the light outside that you, for once, stayed awake long enough to notice, gave you some indication. Shadows danced from the windows, the rise of a sun, and the fall of a moon. A day had passed, it had to. Timing always got finicky after six o’clock, when you couldn’t discern when it was getting brighter or if clouds were just passing through. Just to be sure, you decided to watch the screen for a bit longer. He normally appeared when it was darker – you sometimes laughed to yourself about that kind of thematic symbolism – but maybe today would be different. 

The next minutes were not different, which was to be expected, so you sat yourself down for a little longer. The next hours were not different, but you had waited a century, you could wait some more. The rest of that day was not different, though you could assume that he was just busy – stuck in that suit all day, talking of nothing but paperwork, he had to be busy. 

But the day after that was not different, either, nor was the next. Flittering between the few remaining mirrors didn’t help, because, for once, Dark was not in his office. He had to be somewhere that you couldn’t access, and, for a moment, you wondered if this was his plan. Questions about his real intentions stuck into your mind like darts on a board; had he meant to trick you, had he wanted you to get your hopes up? The idea that it was all for fun briefly topped your theories, but it couldn’t be right. You didn’t think that fun was a part of Dark’s vocabulary, regardless of the nature of it, so you knocked it down to the bottom of the possibilities. 

However, after yet another fall and rise of the sun, you stood before the screen of the void. A prisoner staring out at the world through their iron bars. Only one notion remained, a small, simple notion that you had harbored since the beginning. 

He was a liar. He was a coward and a liar, and he never cared about you, not one bit. Everything was fake, he wasn’t sorry about anything he said, and he didn’t care about you being alone. He threw people to the wayside the second they weren’t useful anymore, and whatever he needed you for had solved itself, so there you go! Brushed to the side like an inconvenient pile of trash, because he was Dark, and that was what Dark did. A selfish, lying coward, he was worse than Mark—!

You lifted your foot. Glass littered the ground. You didn’t hear the mirror smash, and yet, the evidence was there. A slice of the screen carved out hastily and let fall to the floor of the void. The space it had occupied before was now empty upon you putting your hand through it. 

“Huh,” you muttered to yourself. You still weren’t full comfortable with the sound of your own voice. Too scratchy from disuse. 

The couple of shards of glass that were somewhat intact on the floor reflected something back at you as you moved. Carefully, you crouched down to cradle one, and then promptly fell backwards.

You couldn’t remember what you looked like when you were alive. When you thought of yourself, all you could see in your mind’s eye was a blank slate of a face and a line downwards, like a stick-figure. Staring into the thing in your hand, you questioned again if this were a punishment. 

Smoke. Smoke in the vague shape of a person. That was all you could see, and, no matter how you tilted or twisted the glass, that was all it would show. The billows of gas threw themselves around over one another, cascading down along the side of a face and then shoulders, like waterfalls creating a path with no end. A misty hand brought to your face conflicted with the image. It felt like there was something solid there, your hands felt solid, as well. You didn’t know what to trust, but that was the same age-old story, wasn’t it?

The tears looked like smoke, too. 

Nine o’clock. The day had passed painfully quickly. Normally, that would be a godsend, but it only reminded you of the hiatus when things actually happened. Not anymore. It changed very quickly back to what it had been before, like your mind was trained to accept abandonment. 

You weren’t mad anymore. At least, you didn’t think you were. The office had gone uninhabited for the past four days, so you didn’t have anything to direct your anger towards. It was more as though you were frozen, back to spectating the manor through a sheen of frosted glass with your legs crossed. You’d give anything to feel the snow again, or any change in temperature at all. The void was completely neutral – maybe 15 degrees if you paid close attention. It didn’t matter to you anymore.

You were drifting. Your train of thought kept straying from the subject, and reliving the memories gave you no satisfaction, no sadness, no fear. Frozen. To the point that you barely registered that someone was standing in front of the mirror. 

You wouldn’t admit that you clambered to your feet, nor that you jogged closer to the mirror to strengthen your image. Did you look like smoke to him, too? You shook your head, that didn’t matter. Attention roving his body, you inspected Dark for any sign of what had taken his time up so much. You got your answer quickly when your gaze landed on two books, one in each of his hands, though only the right was open. The other’s cover, meanwhile, was exposed to you. ‘The Lady in the Lake’ it read, in a striking, slightly yellowed font. On a positive note, you felt some sort of coherent emotion stirring within you. The bad news on that front was that it was anger that was returning. Had Dark ignored you, again, for a fiction book?

“Hello to you, too?” you risked speaking. No reaction to you; instead, he began muttering something that you couldn’t make out, not for lack of trying. You suddenly found a blockage between the words he was saying and your brain, as though he were speaking complete gibberish with English intonation. You struggled to rationalize anything until a mass of gray and red and blue flocked to the fiction book. A smoky substance danced around the cover, under and over Dark’s hand, like a swarm of flies. It wasn’t long before they drifted to the ceiling, leaving an empty space behind. 

And then something in the void changed. For once, something new was added, and it was right at your feet. You weren’t going to question what his book did – you were trapped inside a mirror, after all, less explainable things had happened. You damn-near cried again when your hand brushed the paperback while your heart went while in your chest. Had you been able to, you would have lunged at Dark to hug him, but you couldn’t – for one, the mirror, obviously, but you were still somewhat annoyed with him. You schooled your expression as best you could from awed to simply appreciative.

Dark, meanwhile, didn’t bother trying to hide his smugness. 

Tentatively, you drag your attention away from the gift and ask, “What is this?” 

“A book.”

Your chest instinctively cramped with a bark of laughter. Short, solid, and, to someone on the other side of the mirror, sweet. A grin spread over your lips with such a reaction that you hadn’t felt in years. That someone preferred this look to your spiteful sarcasm. 

You looked down again, finger spreading across the indented title, and then your eyebrows furrowed. You didn’t want to break this already brief moment, but you just had to know…

“What do you get out of this?”

Dark’s shoulders set straighter. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t sound defensive, just confused, which helped to settle your concerns, but it wasn’t enough. So, you prodded, “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything.”

The conversation may have been over, but the interaction was not. Dark stood there with his hands now clasped behind him and his book resting on the side table. A subtle smirk played on his mouth, though it didn’t exude the sadism you’d come to expect from it. This time, it just looked natural. He stayed unmoving as you looked him up and down, once, twice, before you let your own shoulders sag. Your posture bent and your eyebrows flattened. 

This was all reversed when Dark whirled on his heel and started to walk. 

“Where are you going?” Keeping your voice stable took all the energy in the world from you. 

“I’ll be back in a moment,” was the answer you received, alongside his disappearing steps as he took himself away from the foyer. 

You didn’t like that. It left a foul taste in your mouth – not for him leaving, but for the way that you felt about it. It stirred something in your gut and squeezed your heart with a vengeful vice grip. The next few minutes that Dark was away you spent arguing with yourself.

One side of you reminded you of how things had been for the past hundred years; you hated that man because he left you alone, he trapped you in this mirror, he stole your body. Without him, you would be dead and buried, allowed to rest, finally. And, with him, you were here. An endless void, eternally missing and ignored by the world. You should hate him. 

But the other side of you pointed out that you should hate him. But you didn’t. Dark had apologized, he’d given you a book, he was trying to atone for the pain he had caused you. Why go to all the trouble of ignoring him when he could be your only viable interaction? You were here to stay, so it would be a waste to disregard him that easily. Besides, you had another person to be mad at, one that was more deserving than someone who was also a victim of his actions. 

Weighing the options, you asked yourself if this was what Dark went through every time that he tried to make a decision. If it were true, well, you should have been grateful that he’d agreed on talking to you. It was difficult, and your conclusion definitely upset some part of your brain, but that didn’t stop you from making it concrete in your mind. 

That you would give Dark some time. 

Your body jolted in alarm at the knock that broke you free from your thoughts, but the shock was quickly remedied when you focused on the return of Dark at the front of your mirror. Likewise, he was brought to the front of your mind, and the choice to trust him was left to settle. 

“You’re back,” you stated. 

“No need to look so surprised.” 

Your eyes searched him efficiently as he situated himself. Though, it didn’t take long for you to see what was different. The most glaring thing was that he had retrieved both a chair and a new book from who knows where. He laid the seat surprisingly gently on the planked floor but did not actually sit just yet. Instead, he stayed standing, almost awkwardly, as if waiting for permission. 

A curious look you sent him bid him explain. “I thought we could read.” He cleared his throat, barely met your eyes. “Spend some time together. I think it would go better than talking, given our record.” 

Huh. You hadn’t expected that. You appreciated the book, you really did, but offering to read withyou? Briefly, you wondered if Dark had been replaced in the time he’d been away, it would explain all the weird personality shifts, but you weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

As you flopped to the ground, one leg crossed over the other, you hissed at the part of your mind that whispered that you should. It took you all of one minute to get it to quiet down, and, from that second on, you were engrossed in the book that you and Dark now shared. 

Nothing amazing happened during that first session. You read, he read, he asked what you thought, you told him it was good, and then you both parted ways. Such a pace was set for the next few nights. Nine o’clock became a very cherished time, not that either of you entirely noticed it. On your part, you didn’t even notice any of the times of day. Dawn, noon, evening – those were what you measured the passing of time by; now that you had a reason to do it down to the day, you paid more attention. Dark, meanwhile, had made it a habit to leave his office at 8:50, make it down in five minutes, and always be slightly early for the meeting. Maybe it was residual mannerisms from the 1920s, or maybe you were both still warming up to each other, but you didn’t start before nine. 

It was the fifth night that a little thing changed. A subtle volta in a poem that you would only understand if you looked hard enough, and, by now, it was definite that Dark was. He’d read this book before, he knew what was before, what was happening, and what was to come. He enjoyed rereading things in his free time for just that reason, but this was a new experience that added something else to the matter; you. Being aware of the plot meant that he could spare some of his attention to send your way. That attention was used to watch the corners of your mouth crease at a part you enjoyed, to watch the flickering light in your eyes flare when there was a twist, to watch your nose scrunch if you took in new information. Pride coursed through his abandoned veins whenever you expressed any kind of emotion, but it was what you said after finishing the most recent chapter that made him react differently. 

“I don’t like Eddie.”

Dark paused, a thumb brushing against the corner of a page. “Me neither.”

And that was it. That was all that was said before you drifted back into a white noise of flipping paper and shuffling. You continued to read, but Dark was caught at the start of the next chapter. His hand hovered over the edge of the pages, he willed it to move, but it steadfastly remained there. He tried to at least skim the ink printed words, nothing stuck, and his pupils ran in circles around the irises. 

You had agreed on something – together. Feelings about one person were the same. You matched. 

For the first time in a hundred years, Dark was hopeful.

It took a month for something substantial to happen again, not that Dark was complaining. He rather enjoyed having someone to talk to that wasn’t insane or his employee. He rather enjoyed talking to you, whether it was about the book or something interesting that had happened outside the mirror. It gave him a grim joy to see those sparks fly in your eyes when he mentioned how an aspiring real estate agent had tried to evaluate the place. You liked hearing about people the most, but they were few and far between. Most of the time, you settled for listening to him about the family of raccoons that lived in the wine cellar that Dark refused to touch. It got you laughing, and that was good enough for him. 

You had just wrapped up the third to last chapter of ‘The Lady in the Lake’, the theories you muttered under your breath as Dark marked down the page number had him chuckling to himself as he drew his chair back to the wall. It was originally from the library, but there wasn’t much point in dragging it up and down the stairs whenever the clock struck nine. 

After placing the book on the arm of the chair – thankfully wide enough that it wouldn’t topple off the side – he reeled back the eternal business at the back of his mind to the forefront. Something had gone wrong with his latest research, meaning he had to start again from photo-evidence. He didn’t like doing it, but he took it upon himself as a duty to the manor, to himself, to… you. If he knew where he was, he could protect the things he cared about. It didn’t help when he had to do it all over, but it was undoubtably better than giving up. He had made it this far, after all. 

However, the second that he was angled away from the mirror, your voice punctured the finality of the moment. 

“Hey, Dark?” 

He turned again with a curious hum. 

You were standing, as you always were after you finished for the night, but your hands were held cautiously together in front of you. Your pupils flitted about in your eyes, avoiding him, his now-concerned stare. You took in a breath and then made two, simple statements. “I just wanted to thank you, for the book and for spending time with me—” you briefly looked him in the face, as if to gauge his reaction, “—and I’m, uh, well, I’m sorry, for being so cold to you when you first spoke to me.”

His concern melted into understanding. “You had your reasons.”

“And so did you,” you rushed to continue, “and, and I ignored them because I was angry. A hundred years passed for both of us, I can’t think that it didn’t have some of the same effects on you as it did me. I assumed that you were just being petty when you didn’t come and see me, but… you weren’t, and I’m sorry for treating you like you were.” 

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone.”

The apologetic intent hung in the air between you for the next few seconds. Your eyes met, Dark willed the sincerity to cross between the glass, and it seemed like it did when you risked a tentative smile. He gladly returned it. 

You offered half-joking and half-genuine, “A truce?”

“If this last month hasn’t been a truce, I’m eager to see how you act when there is one.”

“Oh, be quiet.” 

Another agreement, even lighter than before. Dark couldn’t help but feel giddy, a jolt of adrenaline running through him. If his veins weren’t so vacant, a blush might have revealed more than he wanted to in such a peaceful time. Luckily for him, the fear of that escaped him, but, unluckily, it was because he wondered something else. 

This sounded an awful lot like a goodbye. 

“Is everything alright?”

Despite the grin that had grown on your lips, you cocked your head to the side in confusion. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

Another pause. 

“No reason.” Dark shifted an inch forward, like it would help him see past a disguise. It didn’t do anything, save give you a chance to poke fun at him. 

“Well, go on, then,” you gestured behind him, “go commit tax fraud or whatever it is you do in your study.”

Ah, much better. The feeling lifted from him as fast as it had come. 

“I’ll have you know that my paperwork is entirely sound and legal.”

“Hmm, keep telling the IRS that, you might just get away with it.” Your amused laugh faded into the void with your body, leaving the clean reflection of Dark himself behind. He was still smiling as he pushed a curl of his hair away from his eyes, an image he hadn’t seen in a good while. When you weren’t present, the mirror looked just that. A mirror. Nothing special about it, just a slab of glass in a frame. Not that it wasn’t, and he hated to say it, a very pretty mirror. Ornate, he would say. The glass, not as much, but the wooden border was. Nonsensical designs carved into the flesh of an oak tree, swirls and sparks and curves reaching around it like a snake. Whoever had been commissioned this had put in enough effort that it looked impossible to recreate. 

Dark brought a finger up to trail one of the indentations. A gorgeous cage for a gorgeous bird. 

Oh.

Oh.

He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever run in the halls of the manor, but he had already broken three norms, what was one more?

The manor hadn’t heard the rapid click of shoes for quite some time; leisurely walks or a slightly rushed jog, sure, but downright running through those halls was near impossible. Dark had done so on his way up to the library, and he was now doing it again to go back to the mirror. It had taken him fourteen hours, two glasses of wine, and reluctantly recruiting Wilford to find what he was looking for, but they were sacrifices he was willing to make. Even if it didn’t work, it was a step in the right direction. 

Maybe he was acting irrationally, and maybe he should have spent some more time making sure this had a sliver of a chance of working, however, he didn’t care. Cautiousness be damned, this could help you, and he was willing to do whatever it took to do that – he made sure that he sped up his pace so that he wouldn’t have to ponder the implications behind that. Rounding the banister, hope overtook him and propelled him forward away from certain important conclusions. 

“Darling, I have great news!” Skipping past that one, too. “Now, I know we’re not scheduled to meet until this evening, but this is more important.” He was too busy dodging the archway to the foyer to think about that, either.

He practically skidded to a stop in front of the mirror, only able to stabilise himself with one hand against it. The other was occupied by a book, but not one of fiction this time. No, Celine had left this one on a different bookshelf, the top section, at the edge of it. It seemed to thrum with energy in his hand, power growing underneath the leather binding the closer that he brought it to your prison. 

When he had properly calmed himself down – or, as calm as he could get when excitement lived in his heart – he knocked once, and then twice, and a third time when he couldn’t resist another. Nothing happened at first, but that was to be expected. It was barely midday, and an enthusiastic Dark was not a common sight. You were right to give showing yourself to him a little thought. 

“Darl—” he caught his word before it could throw itself out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he fixed his slip-up. “Old friend?”

An unabashed grin spilled across his lips when he saw the faint sign of smoke rising from the void. It was sometimes hard to make it out against the background, he thought that he was getting better, anyhow. Though, it would do him some good to practice if he couldn’t make you out after a few seconds. 

He stepped forward to look closer. If he’d taken his glasses down, it might have been easier, but it wasn’t supposed to be this much of a struggle to see you. The smoke had all evaporated now and yet he couldn’t see anything. 

All it took was another inch forward, the smallest step, for him to see what had happened; all it took was a second for him to get angry. 

You hadn’t appeared, but something else had. ‘The Lady in the Lake’ was laid out on the ground of the void, the title almost blazing with light on the inside cover of the book. A sombre idea that you were trying to give it back without confronting him crossed his mind, though it didn’t stick with the knowledge that you wouldn’t be so cowardly. Instead, it was pure rage that took its place at the sight of the next page over. Where it had used to be blank, slightly stained with the effects of time, it now had a hideous, taunting, crimson name besmirching it. 

Mark’s signature. 

Anyone else might have acted poorly, impulsively, and dangerously. Dark was not anyone. He didn’t act poorly as he inspected the view of the mirror for any more clues of what had happened, he didn’t act impulsively as he stalked from the foyer to his office – but, oh, did he plan to act dangerously. 

The wooden handle of a desk drawer splintered with his white-knuckled grip. He drew it open with trained coolness. Slowly, painfully slowly, he retrieved the map and rolled it out on the surface. The edge that he pulled his hand from was marked by a slit.

He was going to be dangerous, but he wasn’t going to be stupid. Not again. He had thought it a mistake. The hotel a few streets away from the manor wasn’t the place Mark would associate himself with. It barely passed the mantle of motel, let alone the fancy, ivy tower places he frequented. Knowing he wouldn’t be caught dead in such a place had him brushing the destination off as a fault in his research. Dark was a fool to believe he knew the man that made façades and disguises his life’s work. 

But that didn’t matter anymore. Whether he truly understood him or not, it didn’t matter to him, because he did know one thing. 

One hundred years was far too long, and he was going to make it up to you, even if he had to slit Mark’s throat himself.

[Being peer pressured into writing a multi-chapter shot is for the weak. And I, am very weak]

[zee-stars]

Reader and egos as love tropes

So basically I looked up love tropes and I'm gonna be writting the egos that I think fit into them :)

Rivals:

I'm thinking like Actor Mark after the events of WKM and like you guys go for each others throats but you were in love with him before WKM and you still kinda are.

Maybe also Dark but not so much in my brain.

God x worshiper:

Obviously god of night. He is literally a god and you are his worshiper. Do I even need to say more??

Has a dark side × loves them anaway:

Obviously Dark. Like you were there for WKM and after the events you always find a way to go back to him because you love him but he thinks you shouldnt cause hes evil and you're like "stfu"

Dumbasses in love:

Wilford x reader%

I think this one fits it perfectly. There is not much else to write about it. Just when I think of this trope that is exactly what I think about.

Sunshine x sunshine protecter:

Yancy x reader and probably Dark x reader.

I feel like for Yancy it could go either you being the sunshine or him being the sunshine I think it works both ways.

For dark he is definitely the sunshine protector. I can just imagine you're talking to someone and hes just standing behind you giving them a death glare.

Super cocky × tried not to fall for them but did anyways:

Illinois x reader. Man is so cocky. Like Imagine you are trying so hard not to think about him and his stupid smile or about how much you would love for him to hold you that you try to avoid him during adventures. He catches on to why its happening and then one day he just like kisses you or something idk. Idk about you guys but if that happened to me I'd just about die.

Friends to lovers:

Yancy x reader, Damien x reader, Head engineer x reader. I think this fits so many egos but these are my top three. Like when you first meet them you guys get along really well and become best friends but eventually you both catch yourselves falling for the other. Then you guys get together and you are the happiest ever.

Second chance:

Tbh I love this idea with Dark. Like Imagine you and Damien you're together or married if you would. But then everything goes down in WKM and you lose him. A while later you run into Dark and you instantly see Damien in him. At first Dark is against starting anything with you but he has Damiens heart and his heart calls for you so you start dating Dark and maybe get married again, if you will.

Fake Dating:

Damien x reader. This is before WKM. Imagine he is sick and tired of people trying to hook him up with their daughters or whatever at parties and one day he says he has a wife. Many people are shocked and they start bugging him about it. They ask for his wife's name and he says your name by mistake. They say that next party he has to bring you so now hes trying to explain what happened to you. You agree to be his fake wife for the night. You both have an amazing night and at the end of the night as he is bringing you home he starts confessing and stuff and then you kiss him.

Flirt x oblivious:

Illinois x reader. He is very flirty but you are kinda dumb and just don't pick up on it. He literally would say he loves you and you're just like "I love you too!" But he can tell that you mean it in a platonic way. Eventually when you confess to him this is how it goes.

"Look, I've liked you for so long but I was scared that you didnt feel the same way"

"I LITERALLY HAVE BEEN FLIRTING WITH YOU FOR MONTHS"

"Friends do that"

"I SAID I LOVED YOU"

"Friends do that"

"what about that one time when we were walking through a narrow path and we almost kissed while you were pressed against me?"

"Okay maybe friends dont do that..."

Overthinker x never thinks:

Head engineer Mark x reader. Let's be honest. There is not a single thought going on in Head engineer Mark's head. With the captain on the other hand thinks to much. There is not a single second that they aren't thinking about something. Especially when they think about something going wrong with the ship. Luckily for Mark the captain is there to think for the both of them.

"You do realize that it's not supposed to be like that?"

"What do you mean? Was it not always like that??"

Talks x listens:

Head engineer Mark x reader. Kinda goes back to the last one. I feel like there are many times that the captain and Mark are together and he will just be rambling.

"Oh, I'm sorrry captain, I dont mean to be a bother with my rambling."

"No, I want to know why you hope the new plant has a beautiful sky."

Long distance:

Yancy x reader. I'm thinking like during iswm. Reader is up in space doing Captain stuff and they miss Yancy so much. They told him that they were going to space camp cause they didnt want to explain what was actually going on. In case he started to worry. But they found a way to still keep in contact and write letters. It was tough not getting to see him in person but they knew when they got home Yancy would be able to come with them.

Temporarily one sided:

I feel like this one could fit many egos but I like Yacny x reader the most.

So you stayed in the prison with him and you guys were really close. You shared a cell and spent all day with each other. You had fallen for Yancy. It was easy too. He was clingy in a good way and always made you feel heard and comfortable. You didnt know how to tell him. He didn't realize you're feelings and he didn't recognize his at first. He didn't think it was love. He didnt really know what love was cause he had been starved of it for so long. Tiny helped him figure out and after awhile he told you.

Fell first x fell harder:

This but with Damien.

You and Damien were very close. He was you childhood best friend and now you worked by his side. His crush on you definitely started around you guy's teen years. Mark and William definitely teased him for it and Celine tried to convince him to tell you. But he never did. Around the time you guys graduated high school, you started to fall for him. You were completely smitten by him. Confused by how you went this long without noticing. It was hard to keep it in, so you told Celine.

"Omg finally. Tell him. He is in love with you and has been for years!"

After you did and you guys got together it was easy to tell that you were completely in love with him. You're guy's friends (Will and Mark) teased you by saying you were worse then Damien. It was true. You fell so hard for that man. (We all did. He's so pretty)

Workaholic x clingy:

I think this one fits Damien x reader and head engineer Mark x reader.

For Damien he is the workaholic and you are clingy. Like he'll come home from work and be like "I have work to do."

"Is it due tomorrow?"

"No."

"Then we can take a nap first."

And if the work is do tomorrow you'll but wrap up in his lap while he gets it done. Usually you fall asleep while he's working and he'll carry you to bed after.

For head engineer Mark you are the workaholic and he is clingy. You can not get work done around him. Especially if it's late at night. He will beg you to go to bed with him or pay attention to him and if that doesnt work he will pick you up and carry you to bed or away from your work.

That is all of them. I plan on writting actual stories for some of them so expect that. If there is any that you just want me to write let me know and I probably will if I wasn't already planning on doing it. Also I found the best photo of Damien earlier and I want to share it with you.

ISN'T HE BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I WANT TO GIVE THIS MAN THE BIGGEST SMOOCH!! God I love him so much.

[adalwolfgang]

??? 𝘅 𝗴𝗻!𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁𝘆-𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗦𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘂𝗽.

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.

𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 @randomwriter28 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.

Early this morning

When you knocked upon my door

He stopped walking, his hands falling to his sides.

“No?” He repeats the word. A word so simply but holds greater meaning.

Everything felt different. Something changed. You didn’t know what it was but you could feel that something was different, and yet familiar all the same.

Early this morning

When you knocked upon my door

“You heard me. I want answers but not the ones you think, Damien.” You crossed your arms over your chest, staring at him with a frown on your face. His eyes locked onto yours when you said his name. Or at least….his old one. The one he wished to never hear again. He let out a huff in annoyance, fixing his suit jacket before holding up both his hands.

“Fine, educate me then. Ask me whatever comes to your mind.”

Truth be told you didn't know what to ask him. You didn’t need to ask him anything. What was the point? You were stuck in this loophole for good. You swallowed what saliva was building up in the back of your throat to try and calm your nerves. Short glimpses of the manor, the dark events that took place, disappear just as quickly as they had appeared.

And I said hello Satan, ah

I believe it is time to go

“Why?” It was his turn to look confused. He squinted his eyes at you, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“You’ll have to elaborate, darling.”

You rolled your eyes and clenched your hands.

Me and the devil walkin' side by side

Me and the devil walking side by side

“Why did you leave me!? You said you’d come back and get me! You said we could fix this together! I waited for so long….but you never came back…You never did.” Your voice trailed off and quieted while you watched his reaction. He didn’t respond immediately but after a long while of silence, he looked towards the ground that you both stood on.

“I was. The day he took you, I was just coming back to you.” He raised his head and looked at you, the table and glass of wine disappearing as he appeared closer, standing in front of you. You frowned more, looking at him and feeling the familiarity of Damien in him.

And I'm gonna see my man

Until I get satisfied

"I can assure you that I was going to keep my promise but...I was selfish and too caught up in getting revenge that I didnt see to rescuing you sooner," As he spoke, his hand slowly raised, and ghosted over your cheek as if worried a single touch would shatter you like porcelain.

"Just give me a chance to explain everything," he hesitated for a moment, trying to choose his next words wisely.

"and maybe you will understand my side of things and join me."

You may bury my body

Down by the highway side

~Time Skip~

After Dark had explained all that has happened and who was the cause of it, you felt as if all your emotions were about to bust. You wanted to scream into the void of darkness that you were all too familiar with when being trapped in the mirror. Dark placed a hand on the small of your back before a new voice cutoff the almost intimate moment.

“They belong to me now, old friend.”

You both turned and looked as Mark stepped into view and grinned sadistically. You felt trapped between the pair.

“They belong to no one, you piece of shi-” Dark growled before being cutoff by your hand touching his chest. He gave you a look before glaring at the man on the other side of you.

“Oh, they haven't told you yet? Go on, Tell him!” a grim chuckle came from Mark. He was getting a kick out of this interaction. That was until he noticed neither you or Dark were giving him the reaction he was hoping for. Instead you both just stared daggers at him. Now it was his turn to be confused.

See, see, you don't see why

And you would dog me 'round

“Well?! Go on then! Tell him!” The ringing in your ears grew louder as Dark looked at Mark and growled, an animalistic sound you had never heard from him before. It quickly disappeared as Dark dropped the act, a toothy grin appearing, what seemed to be for the first time, on his face. Mark watched as Dark pulled you closer to him, you allowing it, before realization struck his face.

See, don't see why

People dog me around

“Why you little-” You watched as Dark didnt let Mark finish his sentence, quickly grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up slightly from the ground, cutting off his airways. Mark simply laughed while glaring at the both of you before his whole being disappeared.

It must be that old evil spirit

So deep down in your ground

Dark turned back around to face you, his hands laying limp against his sides. You walk up to him and pull on his tie, which takes him by surprise, before pressing a soft kiss to his surprisingly warm lips. He slowly starts to kiss you back, not long after resting his hands on your hips and pulling you closer. The kiss gets more passionate while his tongue teased your lips.

So my old evil spirit

Can Greyhound bus that ride

"Does this mean you'll join me?"

So my old evil spirit

Can Greyhound bus that ride

[mildly-intrusivethoughts]

Trying to Get You to Bed

A/N: I’ve been sleeping bad, so I decided to make some little fics on it. Made it GN for the besties. Enjoy <3 Word Count: 635

Wilford: “Oh dear!” Wilford was rambling on about who knows what when he finally notices how late into the night it had gotten. He turns to look at you, asking if you were ready for bed but sees that you clearly were. You had arranged yourself on the armchair with your legs propped up on one end of the armrest and your head on the other. You tucked your arms into your body so they wouldn’t dangle. He debated taking a quick picture but instead locked it away in his memory, deciding that it indeed was time for bed. He walked over to you and rubbed your shoulders, gently kissing the top of your head attempting to wake you up to go to bed. You turned away from him, mumbling “Okay, let’s go” but made no actual effort to get off the chair, instead turning in more to try to get comfortable. Eventually, he carefully picks you up and takes you to bed, kissing your face softly saying how silly you were, the words barely making it past your ears.

Actor!Mark: It was only 08:30 pm. You both were lounging in the living room, it was a quiet night. He was on one end of the couch looking over scripts while you were on the other side, browsing through your phone trying not to disturb him. Then with one long exaggerated sigh, he gets off the couch and stretches loudly, letting out a pleased hum as his joints crack. You look up from your phone with an eyebrow arched, “Where you going?” You can tell he heard you but he didn’t respond, instead he sauntered over to the few lamps that were on in the living room, twisting the knobs to ‘OFF’ one by one, till the only light from the living room came from your phone. His barely visible figure moved towards the doorway of the room. Realizing you hadn’t moved from your spot on the couch he finally responded back, “Well? Are you coming to bed?” and left the room. You quickly hopped off the couch after him.

Dark: It was late into the night and you were still typing away on your laptop. The emails seemed never ending and you couldn’t stop yourself from replying. Dark simply watched you from the other side of your office space. ‘Better to finish replying now than to open up to a full inbox’ you had told him, by this point it seemed like it was hours ago. There was something that frustrated him as he watched you hunched over your laptop, screen practically inches from your face. Your eyes were clearly strained, now that he remembered, weren’t you supposed to be wearing glasses? Glancing up at the old clock in the room, he decided that you’ve had enough. You barely glanced up at him over your screen. Before you had a chance to tell him you were almost done, Dark’s fingers slid up behind the laptop’s screen and began pushing forward, slowly closing it down until they barely touched down on your hands, “I think you’re done for tonight” he said. “I was almost done” you said, laughing a little as you were caught off by his actions. Dark stood unwavering, his aura growing slightly more intimidating as he pressed a little more lightly on the laptop. Your eyes met with his, hoping you could puppy eye your way for more time but there was no room to convince him you still had time for a few more emails. With a defeated sigh, you pulled your hands off the keys and slumped back into your chair as Dark rounded the table to your side. “Let’s go,” he said a little softer this time, pulling your hand to get you out of your chair.

[rat-that-writes]

Play-Wrestling the Egos | HCs

a/n: i finally acquired the braincell

taglist: @softladyhours @chaos-carnation

tw: 2 references to sex but theres nothing explicit

🖤Dark🖤

sometimes he cheats and uses the shadow void tendril thingies

but most of the time he likes to watch you struggle to push him off you

he lets you sometimes just to see you all proud and determined but then just squishes you again

if you get him while he’s not focused on Squashing You then you could maybe win if he’s tired

8 times out of 10 you are getting folded though

evil evil evil boy /aff

💙Damien💙

ALWAYS lets you win hes a gentleman

he loves seeing you so proud of yourself

although he does put up a bit of a fight so you’re even more proud when you do win

hes usually the one to initiate it

just tackles you into bed sometimes

one time you wrestled on the sofa downstairs and the poor butler almost had a heart attack he thought unsavoury activities were taking place

you both ran upstairs blushing and giggling

❤️Actor Mark❤️

always loses

even if he’s physically bigger and/or stronger than you he will lose every time because he doesnt know how to fight

he just pouts and tells you if he doesn’t get kisses he will die immediately

baabyyyyyyy you’re gonna mess up my hairrrrr

you could fold him like a wet towel and he couldn’t even do anything about it

sopping wet pool noodle of a man /aff

💛Illinois💛

“awww, darlin, you look so cute trying to be tough”

sometimes he lets you win because you look so cute all proud

but you also look cute all pouty when you lose

hes enjoying it immensely either way

but if you wear his hat he’ll be too distracted to win

but that involved stealing the hat first and he knows what you’re going to do if he gives you his hat

CHASE him for the hat

🤍Yancy🤍

lets you think you’re winning then BAM you’re underneath him and he is GRINNING

apologises with kisses

“i’m sorry angel i just love the squeaks you make when i flips youse over”

tell him hes mean and he will smother you in kisses

he will tackle you without warning if he’s consumed caffeine

🚀Engineer Mark🚀

its 50/50 with him

sometimes he’ll let you win and sometimes he will remind you about all those muscles underneath his space suit

“come on Captain, you can’t fight me off? you’re adorable. Maybe i’ll let you win next time.”

but if you REALLY try he will let you win because oh my god thats even cuter look at youuuuu

celci caught you two once and didnt speak to mark for 6 days she was absolutely disgusted /hj

to be fair she did also think you were indulging in unsavoury activities

🔪Murdock🔪

if you ask him if he wants to play wrestle he will chase you first

with no warning

“hey murdock wanna wrestle-“

*gets up and bolts towards you menacingly*

then when you’re too tired from running to fight back he gently holds you down and smiles so evil at you

awful bastard man /aff

but sometimes he lets you win if he’s really tired and you’re already in bed

he does little growls when he’s tired

he pretends to fall asleep once you think you’ve won then he flips you over and sleeps on you

nasty terrible boy /aff

🌌God of Night🌌

“why are you trying to fight me”

“because it’s fun!”

🧍🏻‍♂️

he doesn’t know what to do about this

you are pushing him and dragging him with all your strength but hes yknow a GOD so he’s just

🧍🏻‍♂️

eventually picks you up like a wet sponge and kisses your head

its like a “good effort” sticker

🏃🏻‍♂️Heehoo🏃🏻‍♂️

why would you even try this

he is winning the second you put your hand on him

you are getting tumbled around like sack of onion

one onion

your brain is the onion

if you let him he’d throw you up in the air like pizza pie

he makes sure to keep you from getting any bruises or injuries though

careful boy even if he is treating you like a tennis ball

[creat0r-cat]

Iplier Egos Head Cannon - What Song in "Encanto" Did They Get Emotional During?

Darkiplier

Surface Pressure

Deep down he really does care about his “brothers”

He thinks he needs to keep up the tough guy act to make them think he isn’t afraid

He is

He REALLY is

He’s worried about the space/time continuum, keeping order, and making sure the ipliers’ existence stays a secret

He tries not to let the others see the tears that involuntarily start to fall as Louisa sings about her struggles as the strongest sister

Wilford

He probably heard all of the songs before watching the movie

He wouldn’t really cry for any of them in particular (feeling that he doesn’t necessarily relate to any of them)

However

He would look at certain egos to watch their reactions during different songs

He would notice the small things that happen and slowly learn more about his “brothers” based on the musical numbers and their lyrics

After the movie, he’d probably go and visit the egos that had the worst reactions (who got the most emotional or those who would straight up leave the room)

He did get a little bothered listening to “Dos Oruguitas” though

He didn’t get emotional per say

But watching Pedro die with the love song in the background kinda reminded him of when he lost Celine

Fortunately, he opted not to dwell on it too much

Actor

Waiting On A Miracle

This boy is INSECURE because of his breakup with Celine

Is he good enough?

Has he done enough?

Is he really worthy of anything?

He wants to be better

He wants his life to be better

But everything seems to slip through his fingers, coming back to resent him later on

He just wants someone to open their eyes and see that he’s worth their time, even if that person is Dark

Mirabel dancing on screen, singing about how she wished to be noticed as part of the family, made Actor tear up, wiping them away before someone could see them

Eventually, it got to be too much (especially seeing how Mirabel was pushed away by her family after trying to help them) and he left the room, using the excuse of getting more snacks

As soon as he entered the kitchen, he had a silent breakdown

Googleplier

Surface Pressure

I can’t really hear Louisa sing “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service” without thinking about Google and his first objective

Yes, his secondary objective is relatively important, but the first one is.. Well it’s his PRIMARY objective

If he can’t do anything other than hurt people, then what is the point of him being there?

His optics widen and his mechanical heart speeds up

“How do you feel?” survey pops up and he clicks on one

“I’m in this picture and I don’t like it”

Bingiplier

What Else Can I Do?

He’s imperfect

That’s all I really need to say, but I’ll continue

He’s always compared to Google and he knows deep down that he’s worth more than his search bar abilities

He doesn’t want to be perfect like Google

He just wants to be himself, which is hard when everyone is always doting on him for every mistake he makes

Isabella creating spiky plants and beautiful flowers in front of him makes his optics widen and he slowly smiles, feeling an odd mixture of happiness and sadness as he watches her accept her imperfections in spite of her family’s expectations

Dr. Iplier

He doesn’t really get emotional during the songs

However

When it’s revealed that Bruno has been shunned by his family because of his gift, he smiled sadly

“How unfortunate,” he thought, “for someone to be abandoned because of something uncontrollable and never be spoken of again for fear of taboo”

He’s seen patients in the hospital who never have anyone visit them

He always feels sad when he finds out that someone has been abandoned

He secretly makes trips to animal shelters for that reason, to visit the abandoned animals and give them some love

He gets happy again when Bruno is reunited with his loved ones who welcome him back with open arms

Yandereplier 

Dos Oruguitas

He wouldn’t relate to any of the English songs enough to have a real reaction

He gets emotional during certain parts of the movie because he recognizes a lot of what’s going on in the Madrigal family (Toxic family roles and stuff like that)

He feels bad for the characters (especially Mirabel and Bruno)

But when “Dos Oruguitas” starts playing and we find out the heartbreaking truth behind Abuelo Pedro’s death

WHOOOO BOY the tears start FLOWING

He hates to imagine the pain Abuela went through, losing the love of her life

Yandere, being a very romantic man, can’t stand the thought of his own senpai leaving him

Like, she’s everything to him!

He’d become very protective of her after watching this movie, afraid of anyone taking her away from him

He’s fine with the movie though, loves the music for the most part

Yancy

Friggin ALL OF THE SONGS

He loves music and finds each of them so amazing

He also kinda relates to each of the English sung songs in their own way (except “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”)

WOAM: The want to be extraordinary and help others

SP: The need to be the tough one and look out for his fellow prisoners and weaker “brothers”

WECAD: The want to live life how he wants without being the picture perfect civilian that the world wants him to be

He thinks very highly of this movie and loves it to bits

He does eventually become frustrated with how often “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” gets sung by people both online and in real life

Like, he gets that it’s a catchy song, but still, give it a break

Illinois

Waiting On A Miracle

Yes, Illinois is a special adventurous and flirtatious boy 

But not everything is really as it seems with him

His whole “Everyone falls in love with me” act is a facade

He’s trying to convince himself that he’s loved / cared about by someone

He took up adventuring to be different

To be a conversation starter

To be interesting so that somebody

ANYBODY

Would look his way and want to be around him 

After all..

He wasn’t special or cool enough growing up to have many / any friends

He sees way too much of himself in Mirabel and ends up leaving the group for a few minutes to cry in the bathroom

Engineer Mark

Waiting On A Miracle

What else needs to be said?

If given pictures of Engineer and Mirabel everyone would say they were the same image

Insecure

Feels unwanted

Wants to be impressive and help those around him with his talents and ideas

Hides behind a false persona of happiness

THEY

ARE

THE

SAME

PERSON

He’s close to leaving the room but stays put, activating his space helmet which is also soundproof so no one can see / hear him start to cry

Poor man can’t hear “Waiting On A Miracle” without having a breakdown

[coff33notforme]

The Actor falling in love

A/n: Shorter break than expected, but I probably won't get back to posting regularly right away, I wanted to do some simple headcannons but this became a whole ass fic, so I'll probably do more headcannons with Actor soon. Enjoy!

Pairing: Actor and Gender neutral Reader

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, being intoxicated, swearing, and a pinch of angst

Mark wouldn't realize he's in love, not for a long time, it might even take years for him to realize. But once he did it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Marks been your friend for seven years now. Frankly he's surprised you've stuck around for that long, but hes grateful, grateful you've decided to put so much effort into the greedy person that he is. Especially considering you didn't have the humblest beginnings.

Mark was a piece of shit, well he was to everyone, but it seemed he had a specific hatred for you, he detested you more than anyone else. As though your mere presence brought him complete and utter anguish.

So why would you choose to stay with him? Why did you beckon him closer, despite his protest.

Yet, no matter how much he pushed you away from him, you always seemed to come back. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of letting someone in, letting someone see all of him not just the cocky, ignorant facade he put up. Yet you ignored the red flags, you broke down his walls without warning. And begrudgingly he let you in.

And soon he felt every time you had to leave he only longed for you closer, he wanted to pull you back into him and never let you go. As selfish as it sounded, you completed him, you made him feel loved for who he was, not who he was supposed to be.

Whenever he was with you he felt complete, not like the half of a whole he felt when he sat by himself, not a shell of a man, that he was when he was lost in thought.

And the more time he spent with you the more his admiration for you grew, when you entered a room his heartbeat quickened, when you flashed him a smile his cheeks grew red, and when your hand brushed his he felt his head became dizzy.

He had grown to care for you more than he had cared for anybody, he felt like a better person when he was with you, you didn't make him feel like a bad person, you forced him to accept the bad parts of himself with the good. And at first it was horrifying, but you made it seem worth it. And thats when it hit him.

Fuck, he was in love with you

At first he tried to fight these feelings whenever you were near, he couldn't stop the hammering of his heart in his chest. He contemplated running, running from it, from you. But he couldn't. He needed you more than he realized.

And he couldn't bring himself to just disappear from your life, he didn't want to hurt you like that. But he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t in love with you, so he had two choices, he had to leave or he had to confess. 

Mark felt a sensation of dread well up in his stomach, for days he contemplated every possible outcome, each scenario growing darker than the last. He had to tell you how he felt, even if it was selfish to hope that someone like you loved him, it was a risk he was willing to take, for his love for you was far greater than his fear of rejection.

He needed it to be casual, though his dramatic fantasy of kissing you on the beach the sun setting behind the two of you, the blend of orange, red, and pink creating the perfect backdrop. No, he couldn't get ahead of himself only to get his heart shattered.

He had invited you to dinner at his house, a simple meal shared between friends, everything was going well you’d spent the evening chatting, just enjoying each others company out on the balcony. That was until Mark had poured you two some wine, he just couldn't help himself.

It wasn't long till Mark felt like his head was lighter than air while his body felt heavier, as though he was glued to the chair.

While you talked you held your gaze among the stars above you twinkling brightly in the dark pool of blue. Mark couldn't help but zone out, enraptured in your beauty as you babbled on Mark didn’t even know what you were saying at this point.

But then you turned to meet his gaze, maybe it was the wine but he could have cared less that you caught him staring 

You tilted your head at him your eyebrows furrowing in confusion

“Mark, are you okay?” you asked, his head bobbled drunkenly.

“You're so pretty, my love.”  he slurred, his fears washed away by the wine in his hand. The man wore a lopsided smile, that tugged from one corner of his face to the other. Your eyes widened, before a sweet smile spread across your face as you chuckled lightly

"Okay, well I think you're drunk enough, time for bed." you whispered gently, taking hold of the wine in his hand and placing it on the table set up on the balcony.

You swung his arm around your neck hoisting him up as you dragged him off the balcony, though it took time and effort you managed to drag him into the kitchen, you propped him up against a chair, his body slumped over lazily while Mark let out a deep groan. You walked into the silent kitchen, opening a wooden cabinet to fetch Mark a glass of water that would, hopefully, sober him up.

You flicked the cold water on, watching the cup fill up as you glanced at the man slumped over on the dinning table. As the cup filled you switched the water off, walking to Mark you placed the cup down, taking a seat next to him as you pushed the water towards him.

Mark grumbled in response, lifting his head from the table to peer out at what had been shoved towards him, he frowned at the cup placed in front of him, sending you a fretful pout.

"What is this for?" he asked, his words jumbled together as he spoke.

"I need you to drink this Mark, or you're going to feel awful in the morning." you spoke in a hushed tone, like a mother cooing to her child. Mark frowned putting his head back down ignoring your concern. You sighed as you scooted closer to the stubborn man.

You lifted him up with a grunt, his body sat against the chair like he was a rag doll that had just been tossed across the room, in any other circumstance you would have found this amusing, maybe even cute. But right now Mark was being a pain in your ass.

"Mark, open your mouth please." without question the man opened his jaw, you grabbed the cup and placed it to his lips gently, pouring the liquid into his mouth.

"Swallow, all of it." you stated firmly. Again, Mark obeyed your instructions. Leaning back in his chair he threw his head back closing his eyes.

"If you want to sleep we have to go up the staircase." you said, earning another groan from the man. You deadpanned, feeling you, yourself groan at the man's antics.

Swinging his arm over your shoulder again.

Shit, This was going to be a lot harder

You thought to yourself as you gazed upon Mark's imperial staircase. Begrudgingly you began to drag the man up the stairs heaving, with each step, you looked up, you weren't even close to the top.

"Why are you so good to me?"

The question caught you off guard, it was uncharacteristically gentle, it felt sincere, which was a rare thing from the cocky man.

You looked down to Mark.

"What do you mean?"

There was a moment of silence, before the man spoke again.

"You're still here, my arrogant, selfish nature drives everyone away, they all leave. But not you, why?" his voice held a genuine sound of confusion.

"Well, I care about you, and I don't think any of those things about you. Sure you can be ignorant and sometimes even stubborn. But I still care a lot about you." and to this Marks head shot up a hopeful look dancing in his chocolate eyes.

"Do you love me?"

Your eyes widened, what could you say? You wanted to tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, you turned your gaze to the top of the stairs now nearing closer than before.

"I do, I love you Mark." you mentally cursed at how your voice wavered. Mark let out a dramatic sigh, catching your attention.

"Oh love, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words from you."

And with that you had reached the top, looming down the dark hallway you hobbled into Marks room. Flicking the lights on, you dragged him to his bed laying him down on his velvety sheets. He looked so peaceful, his dark eyes resting, his face softening as his chest rose softly. You smiled, turning to leave the actor to rest.

You stopped as you felt a hand wrapped around your wrist. You turned to see Mark peering at you behind heavy eyes.

“Where are you going?” 

"Downstairs to sleep."

Marks face fell, a pleading look in his eyes.

"You're not going to leave? Leave me?" he asked, his grip tightening.

You sighed, turning and crouching in front of the man.

"Of course not."

"Then would you please stay? Just for a little longer." he paused "I can't let you go."

You smiled, yawning feeling a bit tired yourself.

"Of course." you replied, standing up, and crawling over Mark as you laid beside him, resting your eyes, as you allowed yourself to fade into the darkness. It wasn't long until you felt arms wrap around you as, Mark's heart beat lulled you to sleep.

BRO THIS TOOK FOREVER, if you enjoyed please consider reblogging because that does more for me than just likes and I also like to read your comments in the tags &lt;;33

[am-i-late-to-this08]

BROKEN GLASS

DA X DARKIPLIER

My first da x darkiplier fanfiction so be nice 👍

Pt. 1?

Warning: swearing, panic attack, blood

"COME BACK YOU BITCH!" You punch the mirror out of anger, to no avail. "GET ME OUT OF HERE YOU FUCK! GET ME OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Your voice ricochets off the Walls of the mirror. "GET, Get me out." The blood in your ears defining you. "Please, please," You said as your voice faded into a whisper, your legs gave out underneath you and fell to the ground. "Fuck all of you." Tears cascaded down your face onto the tiles beneath. The entry was silent, only the echoes of your voice and damen-celine-mark things footsteps. That godforsaken bitch put you in here, whatever it is now, out there in your body you think? You don't know what happened, or where you are. You don't even know what you are anymore, only that you're stuck in a mirror. Stuck in this entry until someone has use of you.

No sense of time makes everything better. You think. The only thing keeping you sane is the ever increasing sense that one day you'll be useful to someone and get out. Your only purpose now is to watch as the years or centuries pass and wait. You've had a long time to think about what happened, and consider your life choices. All of this makes zero sense, but you know every letter of the books that were kept in the entrance room. The small bookshelf is slim pickings, a Bible, encyclopedia, a thesaurus, Shakespeare's greatest plays, molby Dick, smoke and mirror's (the irony),grimms fairytale and a book in Latin. You pick up molby dick off the coffee table and flip to the bookmarked page, somewhere in the middle. A sound of glass shattering catches your attention, maybe a raccoon or something like that. Instead you see yet another shard fall from the ever disappearing mirror. You fear once the remaining shards fall yet another confusion series of events may occur. "How do I know what I look like?" You ask yourself. After however long you have been in here, you lost any capacity to keep thoughts inside. Not like anyone will hear you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yet another scuffle draws your attention to the outside. "Look how far you've fallen." A smooth voice coos. "I can't believe you're still here. Good God." Damien's tone calls. "You..." I glare at the man before me. His gray skin contrasts with his white tuxedo, lines of blue and red etch him. "... You bitch." He looks you up and down disinterestedly. Dark circles line his eyes, or is it eyeliner? "That's gay." You whisper. His brow furrows. "Pardon?" You laugh. "You're wearing eyeliner. That's gay as hell. Or did Celine do that?" You ask. He simply shakes his head. Red copy's glitch around him as his eyes flash black. "Celine says hello." Your face goes blank. "So, what do you need from me? Wanna steal whatever is left of my soul? I can't think of anything else you can get from me." You grumble. "You always saw through me. I mean us." The last word emphasized by a distortion in his voice. "I need your help." He paused as his face softened. "You're the only person I can trust." Rage contorted your's. "Seriously?" You snort. "After how long? You ask me for help? Why don't you use my body for something useful, like digging a hole and dying in it?" You snap. Before he can respond you turn away as glass cracks underneath your feet. He sighs. "It been ninety four years. I thought you might wanna know." Ninety four years? Shit that's a long time,you think. "How's the colonial? Is he dead?" You ask. " No, he's alright. As alright as he can be, watching you die changed him. Now-now he's fucking insane. Worse than you, and your bad." He adds, avoiding your glare." Thanks." You mutter. "Nothing is going to get better if you stop being so goddamn stubborn all the time." The blue etchings glitch around him, Damien? "Go. Fuck. Yourself." You hiss, he recoils like he's been struck. "Alright." His tone shift's to calm. "Stay in here for the rest of eternity and rot more than you already have. I won't come back, not for a long time." His gaze finally meets yours, no emotion in his eyes. "If you want I can bring you something to pass the time. Or, I can get you out and you can help me. This is your choice." He adjust's his jacket, fidgeting around. " Go. Fuck. Yourself." You hiss again. He shakes his head and breaks contact." I'll come back tomorrow in case you change your mind." He looks you over one last time before walking away.

"Fine, I'll do it. Only if I don't ever come back here." You cracked,the thought of eternity in this place was worse than whatever he had planned you decided. "And this time, I won't be your pawn. I won't be killed ether. Last time it didn't end well." He nods. First thing in the morning he came back, all your rage yesterday disappeared and turned to grief." Do we have a deal? "He purrs, something shift's in his eyes. "Yes. But-how exactly does this work? Will I be possessing anyone?" You asked. Dark shook his head and laughed." No, it's hard to explain but you'll get your old body back. So, don't worry." He explained calmly." Okay, get on with it." You chime. He reached out his hand, his fingers dipping into the inky black in-between of the mirror. You follow his motion. His cold hands contrast with your hot and clamy ones, with a firm tug your hand is pulled through the black. All of a sudden every heartbeat sends waves of needle-like pricks and and pain through your body. You clench your jaw and hiss through the pain, his grip tightens. You feet come off the floor and kneecaps scrape against the remaining shards of glass. Just like it started the pain fades replaced pounding in your head and the stinging in your legs. You opened my eyes which you unknowingly closed. With your eyes glued to the floor you notice the diamond tiles are backward and the way your blood drips on the dusty tile. Once your breathing began to steady you lift your head, dark stood a few inches away with his hand reached out comfortingly. "Thank-thanks." You croaked, his smile brightened. The blood seeped out of the wound on your knees, bits of glass still stuck in your flesh. You looked down at your blood stained white dress pants, the outfit you 'died' in. "You're bleeding." Dark said, hand still in yours. He follows your eyes and pulls back his hand leaving yours cold. "Shit." He swears." What?" You ask, blood still dripping." Let's get you cleaned up, we need to go." He says huridley. " Okay, I doubt there's any clothes or a first aid kit here." You grumble." Right." A tingle goes across your kneecaps and the monotonous dripping stops. You look to see the open wounds close and the bits of glass fall into the puddle of blood. "Since when can you do that?" You blurt. He lifts his head and meets your eyes. "Practice." You scoff at his response.

[theknightmarket]

Something something Actor being the King in Yellow and Wilford being Ln’eta and Dark being Nyanlathotep from that Sucker for Love game.

My mind is crumbling.

[cleake]

Giving flowers to the egos

Engineer:

-He’s very surprised, he hasn’t seen flowers in very long time, he forgot how pretty they are, how they smell

-Is so happy you gave them to him, he sees this as a very meaningful gift

-“Captain, look how pretty they are! You have a good taste, Captain”

-He keeps them in his locker, and is very gentle with them, they mean a lot to him

-He waters them regularly, even if something important is going on, they have to be watered

-He likes to look at them, it calms him and makes him think of you, and how lovely you are

-When he’s sad or stressed he smells them, he loves their sent

-If you are in a bad mood he’ll bring the flowers with him and sit with you, offer you to take the flowers

-“They are so full of hope, it’s nice to stop for a moment and just appreciate our existence”

-If they die Mark will be so heartbroken, he’ll come to you and show them, with a sadness within him

-“I tried my best, I thought I did everything right. Why they had to die? I’m so sorry Captain”

-If he himself ever gets a chance to get flowers he’ll give them to you, he wants to do something for you too

Yancy:

-He too didn’t see flowers in a while, he always associated them with goodness and he isn’t like that, why did you gave them to him?

-He’s so confused he doesn’t really know what to do, he loves them, but thinks he doesn’t deserve them

-“Don’t people give flowers to each other as a reward? I don’t deserve them”

-Even thought he feels bad about getting them, especially from you, he keeps them in his cell, and keeps them alive

-When he feels lonely he looks at them, remembering you

-He shows them to his close friends, and tells them about you, can get a bit sentimental

-“They are so nice, look what they gave me, I can’t believe someone so good decided to give me them”

-He watches them a lot, he loves noticing the details on their petals

-If someone tries to touch them he’ll remind them that stealing is illegal

-“I don’t think youse’s know what this is! This is worth more than anything in this prison and it rightly belongs to me, so I ask you to keep youse’s handy hands off of them!”

-If they die Yancy will ask everyone for help, but gardeners don’t usually show up in prison

-He’ll write you a letter telling that your gift withered

-“I’m so sorry, I tried my best to take care of them, I hope youse’s are not angry”

-If he gets more flowers from you, he’ll watch them at all times, they mean more than they look

Dark:

-He hasn’t gotten a gift in a long time and didn’t see flowers much

-He is flattered that you gifted them to him, but at the same time doesn’t think of it as something big, humans give each other flowers all the time

-But as time passes he starts to think of them more as a sign of how much he means to you and it confuses him, he doesn’t think he means something

-But accepts that you think of him as something more, and something important

-He watches them a lot, he sees you in them

-They are new and bit unusual to him, but they give him a warm feeling

-He waters them regularly, knows how much water they need and puts them in sunny place

-He sometimes talks to them, about his day, thoughts and feelings, he feels less alone with them

-He tells them things that he wishes to tell you

-“Something so small and seemingly so unnecessary is so important to me, so calming and beautiful”

-He doesn’t let them die, and never will, they are his to hold and nothing will make him not to

-He is surprised that he attached himself so much to them, he never did to other things, why they were so special? Because they are from you?

Actor:

-He gets a lot of flowers, and buys for himself

-He likes them, he thinks they are a great decoration

-Flowers from you made him believe that they can also be a great calming factor, and something more personal

-At first they are indifferent to him, just some leafs to put on his desk, but after some time he gets more in sync with them, he noticed how he feels a bit different when looking at flowers from you

-They made him focus more on themselves, and he kinda got obsessed with them

-Every morning he checks if they are watered correctly, the butler could’ve made some mistake, makes sure that there is no dust on them, and that they get sun

-He talks to them, strokes their petals gently and thinks of you a lot

-“If I knew I would get so attached to a plant I wouldn’t accept it but here we are”

-He hides them from others, he doesn’t want anyone to destroy them

-They are always in his room, locked from others

-He takes good care of them and won’t let them die, they are too important

Illinois:

-He likes shiny things, but appreciates the simple ones too

-He’s close to nature, he likes to spend time in it

-Flowers from you are something important, it’s a thing that’s always with him, that it’s familiar and even though everything around him is changing he has something that always stays the same

-He is very fond of them, they mean a lot to him, and when he feels lonely he looks at them, and remembers you

-He is in a lot of danger on his adventures but as a professional he always comes out of it in one pice, and your gift does also

-He won’t let a single thing hurt the flowers, he keeps them in a safe place in his bag, and checks a lot if they didn’t got squished

-At night time he takes them out to look at them, sometimes he hymns to them, or talks

-He always has separate water for them, or will get it some way, they can’t die, they remind him of you and feels like you are with him

Damien:

-He appreciates flowers, and thinks they are very helpful for the nerves

-He keeps them on his desk, and when takes a break from work he looks at them to calm himself

-They are always in good condition, Damien is a good gardener and takes good care for them

-He doesn’t get to see others a lot because of his job, but your flowers keep him company, and he feels less alone

-He talks to them, sometimes reads his paper work

-When his sad he’ll look at your flowers, focusing his attention on them to stop worrying

-He loves how they smell, how they look, and feel, he can’t stop admiring them

-He feels like you’re with him trough the flowers and is in a good mood because of them

Wilford:

-He doesn’t really have time to take care of them, but always does his best to make sure they are watered

-He doesn’t really understand what is so special about flowers, but somehow the ones from you seem much more appealing them others

-He talks to them a lot, he tells them about his day, his feelings and memories

-He vents to them too, sometimes he feels like he can’t talk to anyone else than them, and they will only understand

-He treats them like human being, says good morning, goodnight, maybe he sees them as you too much

-He realizes that he pretends the flowers are you, and sees how much he’s hiding from you

-He loves them, and his indifference about flowers changed a lot

-He does sometimes forget to water them, and is angry because of it, he can’t see them die, they’re too important

[simpofmanymen]

Would you guys be interested in markiplier ego lore amv/lore edits? Like videos with music that also have the story/lore explained

Eg.

Just a random one might not be exactly what there like but a nice idea ya know

Ps. Does anyone got any tag tips? I’m not sure how to tag on tumbler I’m expecting it’s like TikTok and instagram

[mothgodofchaos]

Requesting a headcanon of how actor, google, night, engineer or necromancer would react if the reader gave him a gift that they have crochet? They're not the best of the best at crochet but they want to give to the egos. Would the egos chuck it out? Or would they secretly keep it?

Actor:

Why in the world would you put in effort into making him something handmade?

He asks if you couldn't find what you were looking for, not understanding that you wanted to make it

Accepts it with pride, and a bit of confusion

Only doesn't wear it because it's one of a kind, and wants to preserve it

Google:

Analyzes the crochet pattern intensely, appreciating the intricacy

Translates it into binary (which isn't hard), and prints out a page of binary and hands it to you

It's a weird reciprocation for the gift, but you can tell this is his way of trying to show his appreciation

Night:

What is this, human thing?

He accepts it as an offering, putting it in a storage place with all other non-perishable offerings

Might come back to it some day and reminisce of the time you gave it to him, remembering you fondly

Hardly anyone gives him things that made themselves

Engi:

Wears it proudly, anytime he has to go be in cryo to fix something

He does not like being cold, at all

Makes him feel like he's the captain's "favorite", even if you never said it

He might be, I'm not you /lh

Necromancer:

Tosses it away, he has evil things to do

EVIL MEN DO NOT WEAR MITTENS

Eventually you convince him to wear them when his hands begin to hurt from strong magic usage

Asks that you make him long fingerless gloves after his claws snag on the yarn

They cover the corruption on his arms, protecting his skin

Much happier now

[artsyfangirl]

Yandere Actor Mark @112-writes

He first met you through one of his performances. He remembers it like it was mere moments ago.

He had been backstage, discussing the details of the production with the stage crew, and a few costumers and makeup artists.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the room, he glanced around to check on everyone, making sure they were doing a satisfactory job, and then.

He saw you.

You, an underpaid stagehand, frazzled to the core and just trying to juggle everything being given to you.

In an instant, everything else was gone. The world could’ve ended in fiery chaos and he wouldn’t have noticed.

He’ll never admit (despite the at least twelve witnesses) that he openly stared for a few seconds, eyes widened. Everyone thought for sure that you’d done something wrong and were about to be fired when he straightened himself and started to approach you.

You were so caught up in your duties that you failed to realize he was in front of you till you turned your head and were met with his chest. He only saw it as even more endearing.

He immediately grabbed your attention by channeling his inner dominance, and gave a short quip about your state of being, before introducing himself. Though of course, that wasn’t necessary. Wait no never mind maybe you didn’t know of him. He doesn’t know, and never really cared to find out. After all, you know of him now.

You weren’t charmed by him immediately, he wanted you to fall for him by yourself. He wanted you to love him naturally, instead of being seduced by his powers. Deep down, he just wants someone to love him. To actually love him, and not just his power or looks.

But boy did he try everything natural to try and make you fall in love with him quicker. Anything you wanted, you got. And he was the perfect gentleman too.

Once he did have you, which took a while, Mark let you do whatever you wanted, really.

If you want to keep the relationship secret, then that’s fine with him. But if you want to be paraded around and shown off, well, he’s more than happy to do so.

You get everything you want. And if someone so much as acts rude to you, they’ll soon find themselves mysteriously fired from their job and their social life nonexistent.

He’s not above killing, he’s done it in the past after all, albeit indirectly, but he much prefers leaving his victims in ruins.

You’ll never leave him. If you try, you’ll find that circumstances just don’t allow for you to leave. According to how much you try to leave, he may even trap you in a story.

“Hello dear, how are you enjoying our trip?”*moment of silence* “Oh, come now, don’t be like that. After all, this is the world’s finest theatre! Though you certainly could perform better than the people they have on stage… oh, I have an idea!”

[groven4]

Markiplier Egos with an Asexual DA / Viewer

a/n: I decided to write this specifically as you coming out to them after you've already been dating for a while so it'd be different enough from the Aro hcs thing I already did. We cool with that? Alright.

WILFORD WARFSTACHE

Like I've already said, he doesn't care what your sexuality/gender is, he's immediately accepting of you and your identity.

That really doesn't change if you're dating.

Boundaries can take a lot of getting used to for him; he's a very physically affectionate kind of person.

He tries his best tho and always apologizes if he realizes he's touching you in a way that you've said makes you uncomfortable.

There's really not much else to it, things just continue as normal.

DARKIPLIER

Doesn't care. (supportive)

It really doesn't affect your relationship at all.

He doesn't usually like people touching him apart from specific circumstances with those he trusts, so boundaries aren't really an issue.

Again, not much left to say.

GOOGLEPLIER

He'd probably recite the definition of asexual except it's like the one for reproduction.

He's not being a dick for once though, he's just genuinely confused.

After explaining it to him, he finds the right definition and is kinda just like: "...Oh yeah, me too."

BINGIPLIER

"...Like a plant?"

Yeah, he doesn't get it at first either.

"Ooohhhhh! Same, brah. Same."

ACTOR

I can't not see him as a little aphobic before the events of wkm, but considering he's now lived for over like a hundred years or something, he outta be a little less ignorant now.

I mean, he might not fully get it at first still, but he'd try his best to for you.

He'd never force you into something you're uncomfortable with like that anyway. If you really don't wanna have sex, he's not gonna throw a hissy fit over it. (even tho that does feel like a very actor mark thing to do)

Just remember to assure him that it has nothing to do with him specifically or it's gonna make him insecure. He's a narcissist, the love of his life not finding him attractive is gonna make an impact.

Very respectful about your boundaries despite being a touchy kinda person. If you're not okay with certain kinds of touches, just let him know.

Overall, it might take a bit for him to adapt, but his effort is at least endearing.

YANCY

As previously mentioned, he'll most likely already be familiar with it due to his very inclusive friend group.

He's at least knowledgeable enough to know that asexuality is a spectrum, so he'd probably ask you to explain what flavor of it you happen to be.

Very supportive!

He's never really felt like he needs sex in a relationship anyway.

He's honestly just happy you gave him enough of a shot to wanna be friends let alone date him.

Would stab an aphobe for you<3

ILLINOIS

Honestly surprised at first, he had no idea that was even a thing.

He's totally okay with it of course! He just didn't know you could have a relationship where sex isn't like...mandatory.

Similarly relieved as I've described before when you explain it to him. It's a welcomed change to be sure.

He'll hold back on flirtatious comments if they make you uncomfortable.

Tries his best to respect your boundaries. He feels lonely if you don't cuddle him at night tho.

Sexual intimacy has become something he dreads with meaningful relationships. He likes getting to focus more of his time on you as a person, making sure you feel loved, and just treasuring your time together.

Overall really supportive.

HEAD ENGINEER

A little awkward around the topic of sex I imagine.

Mostly cus you're still the captain so power dynamics and all that.

You're already risking a lot just by being together romantically, that kind of workplace relationship could definitely get you both in some hot water. No matter how temptingly scandalous it can seem.

This was basically the stuff that first came to mind once you told him and he almost felt relieved because of it. I mean, that's certainly a headache you shouldn't have to risk dealing with now.

Outside of logistic nonsense, he's very supportive all around.

Like I've said, he can sometimes overcompensate when it comes to boundaries, so assurance helps if that's not something that bothers you.

He came up with this like dorky way of quantifying things where basically he says any energy he'd put into sex he instead puts into cuddling you twice as much and- just- yeah-

MURDOCK

Very calm and reassuring if he sees you were anxious while telling him.

Even if you weren't he's pretty chill about it.

Every action of his is typically very calculated no matter the situation, even if in more of a purposely sporadic kind of way. So needless to say, he's pretty good about boundaries.

I mean, if you're in the middle of making a quick get away and end up having to get uncomfortably close to hide or something, that can't really be helped, but yk. (he'd make it up to you later anyway, probably something dinner related)

[rat-that-writes]

cuddly affectionate hcs

a/n: what is up my crunky crew. i wanted a hug so i wrote this

tw: mention of horniness w/ illi, very very slight angst (mention of a fear w/ yancy), swearing + use of the word whore (not in a negative way)

🖤 Dark 🖤

this man acts like an actual housecat

he acts all uninterested about affection at first and probably teases you a little if you ask him for hugs

but as soon as you actually do hug or cuddle him? oh my god hes so touch starved he is not letting you go

he didn’t realise just how much he needed soft and romantic affection, it had been years

once he knows how much he actually likes hugs, he will just find you during the day and hold you

even if you’re busy, hes still gonna hold you

but only in private; he doesn’t like pda unless its hand holding or just a quick kiss

but as soon as you’re alone? it’s cuddle time babeyyyy

he likes resting his chin on your head or shoulders, especially with you in his lap

he will start subconsciously stroking your arms or waist if you’re laying down with him

he might purr…. if you get him relaxed enough

but be sure to never bring it up because he’ll try to conceal it next time

poor boy is embarrassed, bless him

💙 Damien 💙

he absolutely NEEDS cuddles when hes tired

you can easily get him to stop working and come to bed by just texting him “come cuddle?” he will be there in seconds

he loves to lay on you while you play with his hair

he will fall asleep in 5 minutes if you pet him honestly

is also like a huge cuddly house cat that constantly needs affection (Dark gets it from him)

he loves to hold hands

the size difference, the touch of your skin, just the image of your hand in his gives him butterflies

if your hands are ever remotely cold he is just !!! darling !! i must warm your hands up :))

he does like pda, but it’s best to keep things appropriate since he’s mayor and all

but he still can’t stop himself from holding your hand no matter who’s around

❤️ Actor ❤️

this man is so needyyyy

you often wake up with him half way on top of you fast asleep

he has cuddling stages during the night

usually you’ll go to sleep spooning or with your head on his chest

then if you wake up during the night he’ll be clinging to you like a koala (good luck trying to get up to pee if you need to)

and in the morning hes laying sideways over your torso like a beefy blanket

or hes just ,. on the floor. idk either man he just be like that sometimes

and if you can’t lift him up and put him back in bed, just join him on the floor

hell think its sososo endearing but is more concerned about your comfort

whenever you cuddle it will probably lead to making out

hes just so thirsty honestly

he loves spooning you and holding you tight

his favourite cuddle time is when he comes back from a day on set and you’re both sleepy and you fall asleep on the couch in each other’s arms

then benjamin wakes you and you both shuffle away to bed giggling

pda? oh baby! hes all about it

he does not care what anybody thinks he just wants kisses

but he will definitely adhere to your own boundaries

🤍 Yancy 🤍

you are this mans teddy bear

he hates sleeping without you now

if he’s on parole and you two live together/hes staying over, even if hes about to pass out on the floor he will not go to bed unless you do as well

hed rather fall asleep in an uncomfortable spot than get into bed alone

he holds you against his chest and kisses your head and neck so softly

he never holds you too tightly

he has a fear of accidentally hurting people, especially you, because hes so big and strong and rough but hes just a gentle giant once you get to know him

so he holds you so gently and sweetly as if you would break if he held on any tighter

pda he likes is kisses on the cheek and hand holding, not much more

he prefers keeping affection private, unless someone is trying to hit on you

he will literally just walk up to you and kiss you and smile at whoever was flirting with you

hes protective and doesn’t want someone taking you away from him

hell probably blush a little afterwards lol

💛 Illinois 💛

he makes a great pillow, honestly

his chest is comfy and warm and he puts his hand on your head if you sleep on him

is secretly a fan of sleeping with his head on your chest or stomach

he will never admit it but you have woken up to it multiple times

snuggling to keep warm on adventures is his favourite thing

hes pretty used to the cold, but if you’re not then he will gladly wrap you up in as many blankets as possible and hold you tight

he loves to fluster your and make you hide your face in his chest

he thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world

hes good with pda as long as you are

spooning often results in him getting hard oops

what can i say hes a horny guy

🚀 Engineer Mark 🚀

he needs cuddles so bad

hes stressed and works too hard and just needs some good love !!!!

he always peppers your face and neck and shoulders with kisses when you’re alone together

he wouldn’t mind a little pda but it’s all up to you really

he likes to let people know you’re together, with you being so strikingly beautiful and handsome and gorgeous

sometimes you have to remind him to keep it professional oops

“baby!! UM. I MEAN- CAPTAIN!”

“hey yn- AH, hey captain,”

“honey could you- CELCI GET OUT OF MY ROOM”

he doesn’t mean to be like that on purpose, he just loves you so muchhhh it makes him a little silly sometimes

🔪 Murdock 🔪

you would be surprised how much this man likes cuddling

cuddles and hugs make him feel like he’s protecting you and keeping you safe

he is secretly a little bit of a shy man with affection

he doesn’t do pda unless someone is flirting with you or making you uncomfortable

even then it’s just an arm around your shoulders or waist and a glare at whoever is speaking to you

in private he pretends he doesn’t need or even like affection, but when you do touch him he just melts immediately

he likes cuddling in bed facing each other, kissing softly every now and just being comfy and relaxed

he likes to shower with you; it’s not always sexual he just likes the vulnerability and warmth

he likes to go to sleep spooning you

he holds you pretty tight, not uncomfortably, but noticeably tight

you’re his teddy bear

🌌 God of Night 🌌

he ALWAYS wants you in his lap so he can kiss your neck and touch your thighs and waist

will show you off to the other gods every chance he gets and if there is no chance he will make one

expect cheek kisses every 4 seconds

if you’re a mortal, he would l o v e to spoil you and amaze you with all the wonders accessible to him

if you’re a higher being like him, he will constantly be ‘subtly’ showing off to you

(its not subtle AT ALL)

this bitch is the type to run up to you and spin you around and dip you down to kiss you in front of everyone

he is so smug too

hes like “everyone look at me. look at me and my SEXY ASS PARTNER. YEAH YOU WISH YOU WERE US. WE ARE SO HOT. FUCK YOU.”

is not afraid to stick his tongue in your mouth in public

an absolute whore honestly

he is all over you when you’re alone

just constant “darlingggg.. cuddle me…:(((“ he is silly

in conclusion: in public? mans is kissing you touching you showing you off and praising you. alone? DARLINGGG I NEED A HUG !!!!!

[creat0r-cat]

Iplier Egos x Reader HCs - Pregnancy HCs

Warning: LONG

Darkiplier

Well received

He’s happy to hear that you’re pregnant

Heck, he’s elated (but he won’t show it in front of the other egos cause edgy boss ego gotta keep his image)

More than willing to provide you with everything you need during your nine months

He can give you anything ;)

Isn’t really bothered by weird stuff like your cravings or increased/decrease in affection

Wilford throws you two a gender reveal party during your 5th month (Dark isn’t really one for parties but goes along with it for you)

You two are having a girl!

Dark starts to read books about how to keep boys away from his little girl (for the future)

Occasionally, if you two are cuddling, he’ll place his hands on your swollen belly and smile while nuzzling you lovingly

Is with you throughout the entire pregnancy (or as much as he can be)

Will hold your hand and whisper words of encouragement during labor

“It’s okay, darling. It’s almost over.”

“You said that three hours ago!”

“... I’m trying to help you.”

After an exhausting 16 hours of labor, you’re finally finished and the wails of a baby can be heard throughout the room

He’ll deny it, but Dark shed a few tears while holding his newborn daughter

Her name, decided by the both of you, was Celine Iplier

Wilford

WHAATTTTTTT

REALLY????

Happy mans

Jumping for joy and running around telling everyone he can find that he’s gonna be a dad

You find it adorable

Lots of kisses :3

He doesn’t mind your cravings and 9 out of 10 times he will try any weird concoctions you come up with

Is very impatient when it comes to finding out the sex of the baby

The egos make him wait an entire extra month to find out 

Bing and Google work together to throw the gender reveal party

Bing comes up with the idea to make him wait even more by making the inside of the cake blue and pink, the reveal balloons white, and more stuff like that

Wilford looks like he’s going to explode into glitter

Suddenly, Eric nervously comes forward wearing a pink Hawaiian shirt

“C-cong-gratulations.. I-it’s-s a g-girl.”

Chaos ensues

Key word: excitement

Likes to talk about dancing with his little girl when she’s old enough

It brings a smile to your face whenever he has these sweet lil’ gushes of happiness

He was doing an interview when you went into labor

Dr. Iplier began helping you through your labor pains and instructs Google to contact Wilford

Your husband teleports into the room in a panic

“Don’t worry, honey, I’ve gotcha!”

He happily holds his daughter, Willow Warfstache, in his arms quite a few hours afterward

“Wilford? Are you crying?”

“No, I’ve just got something in my eyes.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“TEARS!”

Actor

He just stares at you

“What did you just say?”

You repeat the news and he blinks, processing the information

“P-pregnant? Like, we’re going to have a kid?”

You confirm his question, now feeling very nervous

He is looking everywhere but at you, not being able to speak properly

“Y-you.. I.. we.. w-what..” 

With a sigh, he turns away and starts to leave

You call after him but he tells you he needs time to think

He doesn’t come to speak to you for a few hours

You’re in the living room of the mansion, a fire crackling in the fireplace while you read a book, trying to take your mind off of things

He walks in and sees you there and, after taking a deep breath, he goes to talk to you

“(Y/n).. darling.” 

“I’ve made up my mind, Mark, and I'm telling you now. I’m keeping this baby, whether you want them or not. I don’t care if you won’t want me around, but-”

He sits next to you, kissing you gently on the cheek and you turn to look at him

“That’s the thing, my dear. We’re going to be a family. I’m going to be with you every step of the way. I love you, and I’m going to take care of you and our baby.”

He meant it

He honestly did a pretty good job of it too

Sure he had a few things to gripe about, but he kept his word

You two don’t have a gender reveal party and instead keep to yourselves (for the time being)

Surprise! You’re having a little boy!

Has doctors come to the mansion when you go into labor

He’s starting to tear up and he’s more than happy to hold his son for the first time

“I never thought I could be so happy..”

Five years later, Actor is in a meeting with the other egos when there is a knock at the door

Google goes to answer when it suddenly opens and a little boy runs into the room

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Actor is shocked as (Y/n) quickly comes into the room, looking embarrassed

“S-sorry, we were going to surprise you when the meeting was over. David Iplier, I told you to stay in the hallway.”

Actor ruffles the boy’s hair, “It’s okay. I was definitely surprised.”

Just then they realized how silent the room was until Wilford let out a loud, “YOU HAVE A KID?!”

“Yes I do.” confirmed your husband, getting up and walking to the exit, “The meeting was basically over anyway so I’ll be taking my leave. Buh-bye!”

He took you and your son by the hand and departed, leaving behind a conference room full of shocked and confused looking egos

Dr. Iplier

Is very surprised but takes it well

“You really are full of surprises, aren’t you, (Y/n)?”

Honestly, he’s very excited and tells a few people at the hospital he works at as well as a few other egos

Being a doctor, he knows just what to expect from the pregnancy and, while he can’t always be home to take care of you (he does have a job after all), he does try his best to do what he can

Constantly checking up on you to make sure you feel okay

He’s the one to do the ultrasound on you and you can see his eyes sparkle when he sees his child for the first time

During the fourth month (when you can slightly begin seeing what sex the child is), he happily tells you that you’re having a boy

When one of the egos (probably Wilford but who knows) asks if they know yet, he’ll tell that ego about his son with a smile

Surprise, not surprise, he’s actually the one to deliver his own child

He was at work when an ambulance rushed in with you on a stretcher, obviously in labor

His eyes go wide and he runs to your side, grabbing your hand and giving you a quick kiss on the forehead

“It’ll be okay, (Y/n). Just breathe and get ready to push.”

The labor lasted around ten hours but it was worth it

Dr. Iplier was the first to hold his little boy and he was so incredibly happy

“He’s perfect, (Y/n).. thank you..”

“What do you think his name should be?”

“How about.. Liam? Liam Ipier.”

Google

Very surprised and confused

He wasn’t aware that he could get you pregnant

Yes, he knew he was very much like a human, but not THAT much

He does realize that the timing checks out though and knows that you wouldn’t lie to him about something so important

He’s happy and is sure to tell you that

He is also happy to do what you ask in order to make the pregnancy easier for you

Primary objectives are: 

- 1) To answer questions as quickly as possible 

- 2) To take care of his wife and future child

- 3) To destroy mankind (he has determined that this objective needs to be put on hold and possibly terminated though that last part’s still up for debate)

Will go with you to every doctor’s appointment and makes sure you feel okay

There are some very difficult parts of the three trimesters specifically when the baby is developing their more human-like parts

These complications were very much obvious during the third ultrasound

“It seems,” said Dr. Iplier in confusion, “that your child has some metal growing on her skin. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Yup! You and Google are going to be the proud parents of a little cyborg girl

By the way, Google is now 100% sure that the child is his because of this discovery

However, due to the fact that your daughter is part metal, it was pre-determined that she would have to be taken out via a c-section rather than a natural birth

It was just safer that way

When the time came and you went into labor, after a few minutes of waiting in the operating room, some surgeons came and introduced to the world a beautiful baby girl

Google smiled as he held his daughter in his arms for the first time and you watched his reaction from your bed with a smile

She was very small and had small plates of metal that were visible on both of her cheeks and on her upper arms

“Hey Google?”

*ping*

“How does the name ‘Eve’ sound for your daughter”

“I think it’s perfect, my dear.”

Bing

I doubt the baby was planned but he’s happy to be a father anyway

Secretly he’s wondering if he’s actually able to get you pregnant but whatever he has a feeling the kid is his…. somehow..?

Tries his best to provide for you when you need things but probably ends up needing help from the other egos for a few things

Tries to act more mature at the doctor’s office when you go for checkups and ultrasounds

He likes to cuddle you and especially kiss your stomach

“Just givin’ the baby some love. Can’t have them feeling left out.”

Like in Google’s HC, there are some complications and you two find out that the kid is a cyborg

Bing’s happy when you two discover as well that you’re having a little boy

“We can name him Bing Jr. and I can teach him how to skateboard!” He told you excitedly

You secretly doubt you’ll end up calling your son Bing Jr. but decide to let your husband dream before a final decision is made

Well the decision comes faster than you two originally thought because you went into labor three weeks early

Your son is born via a c-section prematurely and while he is put in an incubation chamber in your hospital room, you and Bing are very worried but believe that he’ll be alright

“Hang in there little buddy.” Bing says softly, putting his hand up to the clear wall that contained his son

As he said that, the little boy opened his eyes and began to softly cry

The doctor informed the two of you that he would have asthma, as his lungs weren’t completely developed when he was born, but that he had a very good chance of survival

When you all were finally able to leave about a month later, Bing was the one to come out of the hospital with little Bing Jr. in his arms

Yancy

PANIC

“Y-youse is pregnant?? Oh gosh, what will I tell Mr. Murderslaughter?” 

He’s starting to hyperventilate and you hold him tight, calming him down after a few minutes

Yancy knew that he had already gotten special permission in the past to get married to you, his now wife, outside of the prison and in a Church, but this would probably not fly

Don’t get him wrong, as he tells you, he wants the kid

He really wants the kid (he had secretly wanted to be a father for a long time), but he’s worried about how the other prisoners and especially Mr. Murderslaugter would think if they found out

You assure him that everything will be alright and you both nervously go to the warden’s office and tell him the big news

There was a large moment of silence before he orders you both into separate solitary confinement cells

You both spend around 24 hours there before you’re both ordered back to the warden’s office

Mr. Muderslaughter tells you that, while he is a bit upset that you and Yancy did that, realizes that this will be a learning experience for all of them should this happen again, whether it be through you or someone else

So, soon everyone knows the big news and everyone is actually willing to help out

A surprising amount of the other prisoners are fans of babies

Unfortunately, prison food couldn’t quell all of your cravings but you put up with it

Yancy, who was happy to hear all of the encouragement from his fellow inmates, was happy to help you around as your belly grew

He was certainly fascinated when the baby started kicking

“I think they're gonna be either a fighter or a dancer. What’da think, sweetheart?”

Surprisingly enough, your child went over their due date by three days before you went into labor

It was a long and painful twelve hours before your son was born

Yancy couldn’t hold back tears as he held the little boy who slept quietly in his arms

“He’s… so handsome.”

You giggled tiredly, “Yup, just like his father.”

Yancy smiled at you before his looked at his son again

“(Y/n)? Could we maybe name him Clifton?”

“May I ask why? I’m not saying no, m’just curious.”

“It.. Clifton was my dad’s name. I think it suits the lil’ guy.”

You couldn’t help but smile and as you looked at the sleeping child, you realized that he was right

“Clifton.. Yeah I like that name too.”

Illinois

He has very conflicting thoughts on the matter

Yes, he’s happy he’s going to be a dad, but that means he would have to temporarily (if not permanently) give up treasure hunting

“Darling, will this affect how I do my work? I mean, I can’t exactly go exploring with a baby.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” 

You’re a little hurt that his mind is elsewhere in regards to your big news, but honestly you should’ve seen it coming

Illinois looks sad, “With you being pregnant, I can’t just take you with me because something could happen to you and thus the baby.”

You frown sadly but then discuss a compromise with him

He can go treasure hunting by himself until you’re either five or six months pregnant then he has to come home (to LA where the two of you bought a house for when you’re not adventuring) and stay there until I’m well enough to take care of our kid on our own

He was hesitant at first but then took the deal

So yeah, he was gone for the first six months of your pregnancy, but he did make sure to call to make sure that you were okay

You told him unfortunately that you personally might have to retire from treasure hunting to be a stay-at-home mom and while he looked kinda sad about it, agreed that it was a logical decision

On a happier note, you told him that you found out that you two were going to have a daughter

He’s honestly very excited about that (he never knew he could be so happy about something like that)

When he comes back home, he’s pleasantly surprised by the sight of his VERY pregnant wife fast asleep on the living room couch

He can’t help but smile as he goes and gently wakes you up with a soft kiss

He keeps his word and stays with you for the next three months and is there with you when you go into labor

It was a tough 16 hours before your little girl was born and Illinois found himself on the verge of tears as he held his daughter

“She’s so beautiful..”

“So, what do you think her name should be?”

Illinois thought about it for a minute before responding

“Crystal. We met because of one, and now we’re closer because of one.”

You couldn’t help but smile as he passed the little girl to you and you kissed her softly on the forehead

“I like the sound of that.”

Engineer

PANIC

His mind is racing as he stares at you in shock

“I got the Captain pregnant I got the Captain pregnant I got the Captain pregnant”

Yes, he knows the two of you are married, there’s no issue with that, but YOU’RE PREGNANT???

“C-captain.. I-I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll help me raise this kid. They’re yours too.”

“Y-yup! That works!”

It was quite the surprise when it was announced six months later for everyone to hear

You and Mark had been on the low, you personally doing a lot of work at the home you and Mark shared on the colonization planet in order to not stress yourself out

However, someone (Gunther) found out when he came over for a surprise visit to see Mark and ended up seeing you working from a laptop

Gunther was about to say high when the then noticed the casual clothes that clothed your swollen belly

Yeah, Mark told him to not say anything as you two were trying not to make a big deal over it, but he ended up telling everyone

A doctor from the Invincible II had been checking up on you for the past few months and told you both earlier on that you would be having a little boy

When you finally went into labor, a c-section had to be done because the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck

Mark was very frightened when he found out but you reassured him that it would be okay, as the doctors knew what they were doing

When you two were presented with your new child, Mark started crying happy tears and he hugged you who held your little boy

“I can’t believe I got so lucky.. To have such a beautiful family..” He whimpered as you kissed away his tears

“Do you want to hold him?”

He did and when he held his son, Daniel Iplier, he smiled shakily and kissed the baby on the forehead

“I love you two… so much..”