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kuzann · 9 months

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Escape from the Holidays

My Holiday Truce present for @deuynndoodles! Sam and Tucker get Danny away from the Santa argument for some much-needed relaxation. 💜 Also on Ao3!

Danny trudged his way through the fall season, doing his best to ignore the Christmas merch that was already showing up in stores by Halloween. Holiday creep was annoying in general, but for Danny it acted as an omen of things to come once December rolled around. As the weeks ticked by the knot of stress and anxiety grew in the pit of his stomach; the worst month of the year was approaching and there was nothing he could do about it. He would simply have to endure whatever misery the yearly argument brought just as he did every year.

December 1st arrived. The more restrained organizations of Amity Park at last began to put up their Christmas decorations. FentonWorks lit up in red, white, and green just like the rest of the neighborhood and, like clockwork, the Santa argument began. Danny was long past caring whether Santa Claus was real or not; the only thing that mattered was the fact that the argument made every single December a writhing mass of stress and mess cleanup.

Five days after the start of December he and Jazz sat in the living room after being summoned for a family board game, only for the Santa argument to overshadow everything before the game could even make it out of the box. Jazz hid her face in her newest psychology book while Danny glowered at his parents and wished he’d thought to grab his phone before his dad pestered him into coming downstairs for ‘family time’.

He was just checking his watch for the dozenth time when the front door slammed open. Sam and Tucker hurried into the living room, still breathless from running over. The sudden intrusion put a temporary pause on the argument as the Fentons turned to their new guests.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, there’s a ghost attacking the docks!” Tucker said, still a little breathless from the run as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

“You gotta hurry before he gets away!” Sam added. “He’s trying to steal a bunch of shipping boxes!”

“No ghost is making off with holiday gifts while the Fentons are on the job!” Jack declared as he and Maddie drew their concealed weapons. They barged out the door past Sam and Tucker and out into the snowy night.

“Nothing stops the holiday argument like their mutual hatred of ghosts,” Tucker said with a knowing smile.

“Well, we better get going,” Danny grumbled as he stood. “So who is it this time? It’s the Box Ghost, isn’t it?”

“It is, but he’s not our problem tonight,” Sam said with a proud smile of her own. “Come on, you really think your parents can’t handle the Box Ghost?”

“Well since my mom’s out there I guess I shouldn’t worry...” Danny admitted with a small smile. He was already starting to feel a little better now that he didn’t have to witness the Santa argument. “We do need to figure out something for dinner now, though,” he added as he shared a glance with Jazz.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re coming over to my house and we’re ordering takeout,” Sam said.

“We call it Operation: Get Danny Away from the Stupid Santa Argument,” Tucker added with a grin. “And Jazz too, if she wants to hang out with us.”

“Well given that I’ll be all alone here after you guys leave...” Jazz began. “You’re sure you’re okay with me joining in? I’m not gonna cramp your style or anything?”

“Any Fenton who isn’t part of the Santa argument is welcome in my book,” Danny replied.

~~~

Sam’s parents were surprisingly pleasant when the four of them arrived; Danny was under the impression that they didn’t care for him or his family, and tonight he had the sneaking suspicion that Mrs. Manson was going to rub being a superior parent in his parents’ faces at some point in the near future because of all this. Jazz lingered to give them a full rundown of her college plans when they asked what she was up to as a matter of courtesy, which gave Sam ample opportunity to get her other guests upstairs and into her room without any further delay.

Her room was dimly-lit by warm red string lights she’d added recently. The effect was almost cozy, despite Sam’s likely intent of using them to boost the goth look to her room. It was certainly more calming than the sea of Christmas lights that decorated most of the city. The curtains were already drawn when they arrived, blocking off any view of the city beyond. Closed, comfortable, and warm.

“So what kind of food are we feeling like tonight?” Sam asked once they were safely in her room.

“Something other than pizza,” Danny replied as he flopped down on a massive black bean bag chair. “I think I’ve finally had enough pizza for a little while.”

“I could go for some Thai food,” Tucker added as he dropped onto the oversized bean bag next to Danny.

“I know a great Thai place.” Sam turned to a nearby bookshelf and took a binder labeled ‘Restaurants’ from it, then leafed through until she found the page she wanted. “Here we go,” she said as she took the menu from a sheet protector within.

“So organized,” Tucker said with a chuckle as Sam passed the menu to them.

“Well when you have dietary restrictions it helps to remember the places that can accommodate,” Sam said.

“Smart,” Danny said. He leaned in, bumping shoulders with Tucker as he read the menu as well. “Think I’ll pick the pad thai with chicken.”

“Red curry with beef for me,” Tucker said.

Danny leaned back against the bean bag and closed his eyes as Sam left to ask Jazz what she wanted. It was quiet in Sam’s room—soundproofed to keep her and her parents’ music tastes completely separate, for everyone’s sake—and no holiday music reached them here. He could almost pretend that this was just any other month and that he didn’t have another miserable holiday season to look forward to once he left. The ball of stress that sat sharp and heavy in his chest slowly began to unwind.

His phone buzzed with a received text. Danny opened his eyes and checked it: Valerie had made it to her grandparents’ house and was asking how he was doing. He smiled and texted back: [Glad ur safe. Sam & Tucker rescued me from Santa argument so doing good]

“Val checking in?” Tucker asked.

“Yep, she’s safe at her grandparents’ house,” Danny replied. Worry over Valerie staying safe on the slippery roads had been sitting at the back of his mind ever since she left the previous day, and it was good to have it resolved for now.

Sam returned with Jazz in tow. “Food’s ordered, now we just have to wait.” She strolled over and dropped down onto the unoccupied side of the bean bag. “Did I miss anything?”

“Valerie made it to her grandparents’ house,” Danny replied.

“That’s good. The roads are pretty treacherous this time of year,” Sam said. She stretched, then fell back against the bean bag, bumping shoulders with Danny. “She’ll be here next time we do this.”

“Next time?” Danny raised his eyebrows with the question as he looked at her.

“Yeah we were thinking once a week,” Tucker added. “Maybe more often. Depends on how stressed out you get.” He gave Danny a playful poke on the forehead.

“We couldn’t just sit back and let you be miserable for the whole season,” Sam said. “Besides, it’s nice to get a break from the holiday rush.”

Danny smiled, and he let out a long slow sigh as he sank into the bean bag a little further. “Thanks, guys.” He pulled the two into a hug. “This really means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it, dude,” Tucker said as he and Sam returned the hug. “So what should we do while we wait for the food to get here?”

“I found this card game called Five Crowns recently,” Sam said. “Let’s try it out.”

~~~

The Jacks were wild by the time the food arrived at the front door. Danny and Tucker were almost tied for last place with scores exceeding one hundred points while Jazz sat squarely in the lead with only thirty-five. With two hands to go there was still a chance that Sam could unseat her as the to-be winner, but only time would tell.

Sam brought the food up and the four of them sorted out their meals from the bag. They dug in, chattering all the while about school, video games, movies, future plans. The cards had been laid aside for the moment, to spare them the possibility of getting messy from the food.

Danny forgot the date after a while. It felt like any other night of the year, which was exactly what he needed. He was finally at ease as they set the remnants of dinner aside and picked up their game again.

~~~

Jazz won the game in the end, despite a valiant effort to defeat her on Sam’s part. Danny ended with a ridiculous sum of four hundred and twenty-six points. He didn’t mind. It was the simple act of playing the game that he’d enjoyed, win or lose.

With the game over they set about finding other ways to occupy the time. Sam brought up a new fantasy RPG she’d bought recently and asked if they wanted to do a joint save so they could enjoy the story together.

The three plopped down on the big bean bag chair again with Danny in the middle and took turns on the controller, laughing and riffing on the game’s sillier story beats and praising it for the things it did well. Meanwhile Jazz sat at Sam’s desk with a book open before her, a small smile on her face as she kept half an ear on their fun, chuckling every so often at one of their jokes.

Hours drifted past, carrying them late into the evening, and at last the three began to nod off. Sam and Tucker each rested on one of Danny’s shoulders, the book Sam had been perusing laying open across her lap while Tucker’s PDA had almost slipped out of his hand as he slept.

Once she was sure they were soundly asleep Jazz took a nearby blanket and draped it over the three, gently tucking the edges around them to trap in the warmth. Danny was truly fortunate to have such good friends. Getting him away from holiday stress was exactly what he needed, and with them whisking him away like this every few days he would be able to weather the season much better than he had in previous years.

Jazz tiptoed back to the desk and sat down again. She would wake them in a little while to take Danny home, but for now all she wanted was to let him sleep peacefully for as long as he could.

#Danny Phantom #phandom truce 2023 #DP Events #Phanfic #Danny Fenton #Sam Manson #Tucker Foley #Jazz Fenton #Fluff

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anewp0tat0 · 1 year

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yea no I lied, I couldn't leave before doing this cause obviously I'm obsessed. obviously.

here's what I could research about the staff highlighted to be working on Black Butler season 4 in the time and patience that I had right now.

Kenjiro Okada: Director

I did some casual gathering on the good ol Wik. I don't recognize a lot or any of the previous works that he has been a part of, but it is a plenty some, so feel free to take a look for yourself. for a better idea, I took a glance at him through IMBD as well. I gotta be honest, not to cause any concern but just to be blunt, it's not the best look. when briefly checking out the works that he's done, a good some of them only make it up to 6 stars. only a few actually make it up to 8. but of course this could be due to a couple different factors, such as the source materials being not well known, or just not that great to begin with. after all he works mainly with adaptation. this could be his big break idk maybe :>

further on that, here's something I borrowed from Wiki.

honestly, this could be a potential concern as well. we all know that an unfortunate part of the fandom, especially over in japan, is into things the rest of us would rather not see in anime. I don't know why else yana would continue to add fan-service time and time again(I'd rather not think of her personal preferences). so if this person is really interested in pandering to the fanbase, it may lead to some scenes being uncomfortable... as usual. but, I shouldn't focus on the negative, all in all this looks like it will be a good thing! all we want from an anime adaptation is for it to be faithful to the manga, and especially after season 1 and 2, I think this assurance is much needed. besides, this could be an indication that he will be working closely with Yana, and projects that do so have succeeded *points to campania*. I'm optimistic, and I sure hope that we're in good hands.

Hiroyuki Yoshino: Head Writer

so unless I'm looking at a different Hiroyuki Yoshino it looks like this guy is a voice actor and singer first... interesting. as far as I can see it, he hasn't voice acted anyone in Black Butler.

oh no yea completely different guy, my bad! very different. the Real Hiroyuki Yoshino(screenwriter) was the screenwriter for Book of the Atlantic! sorry. we're all good here, perfect in fact.

unless he decides to substitute someone else for the double charles :] I still remember that. I don't remember if they're in this arc and personally I wanna keep it that way.

more info.

Yumi Shimizu: Character design

I'm not really jumping out of my seat to research this one, no offense to the designer, but I don't think we'll be seeing much character design other than Yana's. as for the artistic style of the anime, we already saw the teaser, and I think we're happy(I am really trilled that they released the announcement at the same time as the teaser, the announcement alone would not have had the same huge impact. plus it reduces the fear of cancelation ;] not putting that out there).

more info.

Ryo Kawasaki: Music

this is someone I really wanted to look into cause the music will matter a lot to me.

I found it, here's the soundtrack for the upcoming season 4.

with a background of jazz and band(popularizes to fusion genre apparently), this guy doesn't appear to fit with previous Black Butler soundtrack history. but I think that this is an indication that the mood and music of this season may be different of the rest due to it now being a sports show lol. and I think that's good! if done right I think the tone change will be hilarious, or, if everyone hates it, it's easily distinguishable from the rest.

I think this will be fun. here's more. also he looks awesome. impressive guy. man I'm praying for a killer new opening GOD.

I still wonder who the composer for the more classical score that I saw in the teaser is, if not him. it was nice :>

and finally:

CloverWorks

they're doing Spy X Family, did The Promised Neverland, Shadow House, many more that even I know of, we're good!

their page

a lot of y'all are very savvy at research, so if anyone wants to add on or contradict, go ahead! have a very, lovely day, everyone.

#kuroshitsuji #black butler #cloverworks #kuroshitsuji 2024 #2024 anime #kuroshitsuji anime #black butler anime #masterpost #not the most serious thing though I mean I used Wikipedia and NOW im calling it a nigjt #some of these people I couldn't find pictures of that I was sure was them during the 2 minutes I looked through google images #and maybe they want it that way so I'm leaving it as it is #long post

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outerbankies · 2 years

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ooo bestie would love to know more about the deb!!

*jazz hands*

—

new light: fade into you — rafe cameron

new light masterlist

summary: To spite your parents, you ask Rafe Cameron to escort you to the debutante ball.

warnings: no warnings except the usual + poorly researched debutante conventions! bc i know nothing besides whatever is portrayed in gossip girl, the summer i turned pretty and southern charm!

a/n: takes place in high school, whenever these things usually happen; unless of course that is not new light canon compliant, because we live in a fantasy world ❤️ also this blurb has a little more background into the deb ball, if you’re interested! just a lil something for y’all while i work through the more complex pieces coming up!

“If we have to break form one more time, our dance teacher’s gonna kill us.”

You sigh, slipping your dress strap back up and over your shoulder, placing your gloved hand in his again. “I know. Sorry.”

Rafe quirks an eyebrow. “Why are you buggin’?”

“My straps keep falling off my shoulders,” you whine. You’d stomp your foot, too, if you weren’t worried you’d step on your friend’s toe in the middle of the dance floor.

He cocks his head, his eyes lingering on your décolletage. “S’not supposed to be like that?”

You look down, and one of your straps has already fallen down your shoulder again. “No.”

Ready to accept defeat and any riot acts from your mom over it later, you startle when Rafe’s hand leaves your waist momentarily. He must notice, because his hand freezes. “May I?”

“Yeah,” you breathe quietly, still weary of the fact that you’re both dancing in front of everyone on this island, all eyes on the debutantes and their escorts.

His touch is light as a feather, as it has been all night—save for when he’d led you down the stairs in the heels he’d eloquently called ‘death traps.’ Rafe held on a little tighter then.

“There,” he says, looking back into your eyes. He cracks a tiny smile. “I’ve got you.”

“Thanks,” you say.

“Don’t even,” he shrugs, taking your waist again. “Surprised that dress slipped by your mom’s tailoring workshops. This is the best tux I’ve ever worn.”

You stifle a giggle, knowing it’s not appropriate at the moment. But you remember those workshops, and you remember Gretchen goading you into sneaking over to the guesthouse where the guys were being fitted with her so she could poke fun at them. There was nothing funny about how your mouth dried out, seeing Rafe standing in a cummerbund that should look god awful on him, on anyone. But it had somehow exaggerated his body line in a way you hadn’t thought possible, and you’d hurried back to the main house without so much as a quip about their bowties leaving your lips.

“Probably the only tux you’ve ever worn,” you point out, reaching out to smooth a lapel, even though it’s perfectly folded.

“I was a ring bearer when I was 12, actually,” Rafe says. “Check your facts, Y/l/n.”

You roll your eyes at that, turning to look across the dance floor. Kelce and Margot are across the way looking at you, and both of their heads turn away as soon as you make eye contact. When you furrow your brows, your date takes notice.

“What?”

You turn back to Rafe, and he’s already pushing your other dress strap back up again. “Nothing. And sorry about your shoes, again,” you say, eager for a subject change. “I’m going to make you accept money for them at some point.”

It’s Rafe’s turn to roll his eyes. “When will you let that go?”

“When I can go back in time and prevent my 6-month-old golden retriever from destroying your nice shoes.”

“They weren’t that nice. These are better, anyway,” he says, looking down. You do too, struck momentarily by the image of your waists pressed so closely together, his shoes not even visible underneath the bustle of your white dress. You don’t know if you’ve ever been this close to him before, even in the dance classes.

“I still feel bad.”

“You’ve gotta relax, kid,” Rafe says quietly, almost a breath above you. You allow yourself to sag in his hold momentarily, exhausted from dancing for so long, from all of the preparation in general. “There you go.”

“When are they gonna start letting other people in?”

“Are you not enjoying my dancing?” Rafe jokes, pretending to be offended for all of two seconds.

“You’re doing great,” you say sincerely.

“Yeah? Like, all of it?”

“All of it?”

Rafe bites his bottom lip, looking around the room before he’s locked in on you again. Another dress strap falls, and another warm hand snakes up your back. “I was nervous when you asked me.”

“Oh, like you didn’t think you’d be an escort this year,” you say, calling bullshit.

“I didn’t,” he insists. “But Margs got Kelce and you were stuck with me, weren’t you?”

You don’t want him to realize how true that is, because with Rafe you can’t always tell when the joking ends and the self-deprecation begins. “I was stuck with way worse before I asked you.”

His eyes light up. “Oh?”

“Griffin. Matteo wouldn’t have been so bad, maybe,” you consider, even though you know Matteo wouldn’t be pulling up your dress strap the way Rafe is now. “You were a steal in comparison, bud.”

Rafe smiles, big and unabashed. “I’m blushing.” And he is, bright pink dusting the tops of his cheekbones. “Hopefully I can meet expectations.”

“The flowers you sent were gorgeous,” you say, omitting the part where they were the only debutante flowers that had made it past the stairs in your house. Rafe’s pink peonies were in a vase on your desk while all of the others remained arranged around the dining room and other living spaces—wherever your mom wanted them, really. “And you even took off your shells for me.”

Before you can decide against it, your hand that’s meant to be on his shoulder moves to his neck, your fingers slipping under his shirt collar just slightly, where the cowrie shell necklace usually rests. You wouldn’t be surprised if he had a tan line.

“M’not an amateur,” he teases, and the vibrations from his vocal chords make your hand recoil, moving back to his shoulder. “But I might embarrass you later, once the DJ gets here and I can break out my flask.”

“Rafe Cameron,” you say, scandalized. And your wandering hand gets the better of you again, feeling for his breast pocket. When you find it empty, Rafe’s already looking down at you once you meet his gaze again, a glimmer in his eyes.

“You really think I’d jeopardize the sanctity of this event for reindeer games?”

You quirk an eyebrow. “Literally yes. That’s exactly what you would do.”

He tugs you into him then, so close you’ve definitely broken form. But as you look around you see other couples have, too, as the rest of the invitees start to make their way onto the floor. “Nah, wouldn’t risk it tonight.”

“Who has it then?”

“Top.”

You search for your other friend, to find him twirling Emily around as things start to ease up—all of the formalities of the evening done and dusted. “How’d you bully him into that?”

“Drew straws,” Rafe says shortly. “Hey, look at that. We survived.”

You know he’s referencing the fact that the formal dance is over—that you’re free to break apart and mingle, do whatever it is you’re meant be doing right now. Your sure your mother is in a beeline, ready to go over exactly how your walk could have been more graceful, or how your shoulders should’ve been looser. Or god forbid, your dress straps. Which mysteriously have not bothered you in ten minutes and counting.

“Y/n?”

Rafe’s looking down at you, the two of you still holding onto each other. If anything, the crowding of the dance floor had only pushed you further into your friend’s embrace. “Hm?”

“You good? Lost you to space for a moment there.”

“I’m good,” you say. “Tired.”

His eyes soften in understanding, and you’re practically standing on his toes at this point, he’s so close to you. “Too tired for our after party?”

“Way too tired,” you immediately clarify. Rafe doesn’t seem surprised—it’s not unlike you to skip out on shenanigans. “Plus, I know my parents will want me accounted for.”

“Well you are the most accomplished debutante in Kildare.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you groan, hiding your face in his chest, where he smells less like sand and surfboard wax than you’re used to. You’re not sure if you like it or not.

“Did you hear she wants to write children’s books when she’s older? Or that she helped organize a beach cleanup last summer?”

“Rafe,” you say, borderline begging.

His smile doesn’t dim, but it loses its mischievousness momentarily. “Bet for the life of them they can’t figure out why she wanted Ward Cameron’s boy parading her around these hallowed halls.”

“Could’ve been any one of us debs asking you,” you say. “Small island. You would’ve ended up here somehow.”

“No,” Rafe says easily.

“No?” you challenge. You realize now you’re still dancing with him, and that your friends are either looking for you or making fun of you, and that the string of pearls your dad gifted you this evening are starting to feel a little tight around your neck. Rafe’s fingers grazes them as he slips your dress strap back into place one more time. “Why not?”

“I would’ve said no to anyone else.”

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x y/n #outer banks #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks imagine

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gaychocolatehomicide · 8 months

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People You Want to Get to Know Tag Game

I was tagged by @inquisimer !

Hello new friend!! Sorry for the delay, this is the second time I'm typing this out because Tumblr ate the first one! Thank you so much for tagging me! (Also, I have no idea how much enthusiasm is appropriate here, so I'm just gonna go for "a bunch" and you can let me know if I need to back off lol)

So! Into the thing!

Last Song: Top of My School by Katherine Lynn-Rose -- This one has had a grip on my spine since I first heard it. Gotta love that kid burnout 👉👉

Favorite Color: Purple! I also love seafoam/mint and like 85% of my stuff is one of those colors. My brother says it makes it easier to buy stuff for me!

Last Movie/Show: I've been watching Dimension 20's Fantasy High and I'm 4-ish episodes into The Seven, which is also in that universe. Cannot recommend it enough! (Also, Persephone Valentine is in it so there's another reason for any girl likers to check it out)

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: oh boy so I've got a ton of sensory stuff that makes food Complicated for me, but if we except all the stuff I can't eat, sweet > savory > spicy. Salty should go between sweet and savory tho imo

Relationship Status: happily coming up on 3 years with my wonderful partners! They both have tumblrs but I'm not gonna tag them for privacy reasons (their preferences). I just refer to them as my boyfriend and my noodle associate, respectively.

Last Thing I Googled: Thorn (letter) -- I needed it for a thing I was writing lmao. Fun fact, I have the long s (this guy: ſ ) saved as a text shortcut in my phone so I can use it to harass my friends

Current Obsession: I've been playing BG3 and Pathfinder: WOTR, but I can feel the Fire Emblem obsession creeping up on me again. I've been working on a couple old fics from 3 houses and some more recent stuff from engage and I can just... Feel it.

Last Book: I'm reading and annotating a memoir for my boyfriend, and I'm reading the Alana the Lioness books by Tamora Pierce for my noodle associate (very important part of their childhood). On my own I'm reading the Federalist Papers because I'm that kind of nerd (and I teach history but thats beside the point)

Looking Forward To: it's about to be AP season at my tutoring job and I'm so freaking jazzed to get to teach my favorite subjects instead of just SAT Reading/Writing all day every day. Like dgmw I love teaching grammar as much as the next language nerd, but I miss talking about the absolutely out of pocket things historical figures got up to.

If we're mutuals and I didn't tag you, I still love you, but the template said pick nine so I grabbed folks off the top of my notifs

No pressure to anybody, but I'd love to learn stuff about you! 💜💜

Blank template under the cut

Last Song:

Favorite Color:

Last Movie/Show:

Sweet/Savory/Spicy:

Relationship Status:

Last Thing I Googled:

Current Obsession:

Last Book:

Looking Forward To:

Tag nine people whose answers you're interested in!

#tag game #entirely too much text - another novel by Tad #new friend new friend new friend!!!#sorry this took me literally like a week #im indecisive and also my memory is Not Helpful lmao

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victorluvsalice · 23 days

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-->While Smiler was bopping away, Victor had finished his upgrading, so I had him transportalate down to the greenhouse, change into more appropriate clothes, and start tending all the plants (a process made a little bit harder today by his bees being angry about life and stinging him occasionally). Alice, meanwhile, was stopped from going out to shower in the rain (Erratic Sims…) and forced to finish her breakfast and take a quick wolf nap to calm her instincts before I sent her out to feed Toothy the cowplant and the poor starving chickens. Fortunately going out in the thunderstorm didn’t make her scared (one of the few perks of a Sim being Erratic) – though it did break her umbrella, so that wasn’t great. Despite this, though, she got everybody fed, cleaned out the coop, and got all five eggs waiting in said coop without incident. Feeling both proud of her for staying on task and bad that I'd made her work in the rain, I then directed her to head inside and up to her and Victor’s bedroom, before having her change into her outfit with the Delicate “bad mood calming” bracelet and start working on her latest book again (the mystery “Who Stole The Tarts?” in case you need a reminder – I did!). She plugged away at that for a bit while I checked in on Victor – he’d finished all his tending, so I decided to have him super-sell his garden –

After he’d bonded with his bees to stop them being so angry. And after he’d evolved his taro root. And after he’d gathered soy wax off his soy plant. And after he’d gotten a pee – which involved him magically fixing the downstairs toilet because at some point it broke (I think the moment he tried to sit down on it, in fact). And after he’d given Surprise a lecture on scratching the furniture. I’m saying it took a WHILE to get to super-selling all that produce. XD But he did get there eventually, poor guy!

-->And then I looked at Alice again and noticed her Fury was getting really high because, despite her bracelet’s best efforts, her “gotta be outside” werewolf instincts were giving her lip. I quickly sent her out into the backyard (fortunately the rain had calmed down to a drizzle at this point, AND her umbrella was back in good repair) and had her somber howl to lower her Fury – then, deciding I wanted to be extra safe on a party day, sent her back up to the séance room to meditate the rest of it away. Smiler, meanwhile, was finally allowed to stop dancing for the camera (I’d left them like that for a while because, uh, it was just easier ^^;) and upload the video to their production station so they could start editing it and adding effects and transitions and all that jazz. Victor, for his part, finished his super-selling at last – I immediately made him Repairio the wind farm (those things break SOOO MUCH) and smash up a twisted tendril growing outside Moory’s pen before having him harvest the prairie grass in said pen. XD No rest for the wicked – or the magical! Though he got a pretty good harvest out of the prairie grass – not only did he bundle up plenty of hay, he also found a bottle of potato nectar – and a bottle of VITALITY nectar. AKA the nectar that can deage Sims and bring ghosts back to life. O.o So yeah, that right there? That is the GOOD stuff. Have to remember to get him to store it in the aging racks later!

-->Anyway – while Victor was getting that done, Smiler uploaded and hyped their finished video (just in time for it to be included in the royalty money for the day, nice), then ran downstairs to lecture Shock for scratching furniture and drinking from puddles. I couldn’t get a good picture of either as Shock kept running away from Smiler to do something else as they tried to lecture her (like going to drink from puddle in the bathroom while Smiler was trying to tell her no scratching the living room chairs), but the lessons DID take, and Shock has learned not to do either thing anymore. Hooray! I then had Smiler mop up all the puddles around the place and take a quick shower as I checked in on Alice – to my delight, she was completely Fury-less! Yay! :D And even better, I quickly discovered an activity to keep her busy while I tried to wrangle Smiler and Victor (Smiler, finished with their shower, was trying to mold the clay blob in the bathroom from last episode while Victor wanted to chat with them) – the laundry! The hamper was starting to look a biiit full, so I had her search everyone’s pockets, then load up the washer with the clothes and a chrysanthemum and set them tumbling. Victor and Smiler had headed back up to Smiler’s room to dance to the tunes coming out of their radio at this point, so I just had Alice head up and join them for a little dance party –

#sims 4 #the lazy save #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler always #yeah Victor had a little bit of a time of it this morning #there was a LOOOT of tending to do #and bees to look after #and needs to fulfill #but he did eventually get to reap the profits of his hard work #again not like this family needs the money but #also I'm glad I caught Alice when I did #she's already wrecked one party thanks to an uncontrolled transformation #I did not want it to happen again #hooray for my mods that allow werewolves to meditate their Fury away!#very useful Waffle's Mix-Ins thank you #though I would also like to get her some Moonstone jewelry at some point #that would be helpful too!#(actually they could all use some since it drops thirst decay for vampires and makes spellcasters less prone to overload)#(we'll see what happens and if I find any while out and about!)#but yes your very typical busy morning for the group #is it any wonder I just had Smiler dance for ages while I tried to wrangle the others?#it's not like they don't enjoy it XD #if it wasn't for my fear that the game would go right back to pestering me about making Victor Paranoid again #(because of all the haunted house stuff)#I'd turn on self-discovery moments and see if they got Dance Machine #maybe I'll stick it on a future Smiler ;)#queued

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ddeongies · 3 months

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i know your goal in every fic u write is to write the hottest yeji in existence and i gotta say u are hella succeeding 🫡 she's a serial woman lover but she respects them all like pls can i be one of those girls 🫢

u know, the thing i love about yeji is that she's highly aware of her good traits---she knows she's hot, cool, pretty, smart and all that jazz. and nothing's more attractive than a woman who's confident of what she's worth. but i am also in love with the fact that she's not letting all that in her head. she still has her insecurities, that she thinks rj might not be into her the way that she's into rj, she thinks she's no match against yunjin. and i think that her humility and confidence (ugh the same way how yeji is irl) is such a huge bonus point for me. reading nmau is just me switching on who to simp on every pov switch.

okay the end part of the chapter...goddamn!!!! everything was going so well 😭😭😭😭😭 i think something just happened with yunjin with her acapella group thing (im not sure is chaewon there? i have to check again hahaha) but smth that had upset yunjin that made ryujin worry for her bff. AND THAT'S WHAT YEJI SAW. yeji ur drunken haze has fooled u pls pls think straight. but tbh if that happened to me i'd probably do what yeji did as well bc i'm petty and hurt and a jealous little girl 😭😭😭😭 i know you'll fix it. i just have to pretend idc abt nmau so the next chapter comes faster (pretending is impossible).

the pacing is delicious as always and i know the payoff would be satisfying soon. enjoy itzy's concert!!!! pls dont die on us when u see yeji's comh stage and all the other deadly stages. -🌼

i'm so glad to be succeeding at my one goal in life 🫡 writing the hottest yejis possible is what i live for 🫡 (who wouldn't wanna be one of her girls tbh she's so......)

confidence is sexy and arrogance is not!! i think she definitely toes that line like she loves herself and is confident in herself, but that doesn't mean she's entitled to anyone's affections and doesn't mean that everyone will love her as much as she loves herself! but yeah the combination of humility and confidence is directly inspired by irl yeji, it's def one of my fave things about her like that energy is just so incredible idk she's awesome lol (also writing nmau is just me switching who i'm simping for every chapter so i feel you on that LOL)

we'll have to see what happened next time!! i'm loving hearing different theories tho lol 😈 but yeah ryujin may have said "this is why alcohol is our friend" but it isn't always!! sometimes it doesn't really help! all will be revealed and i promise i will fix things :) nmau isn't an angst fic but stuff do be happening!

manifesting i feel ready to post chapter 9 on ryeji day 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 pray for me. life is busy rn but i would love to post more choreo in the next week or so and then nmau on ryeji day..... just gotta WRITE

i'm glad the pacing is working for you!! :) my goal here is to do a slowburn that's hopefully on the realistic side like... sometimes it takes a little bit to get into/figure out a new relationship, but that also doesn't mean like 100k of miscommunication and stuff just to drag it out idk! just attempting to go for something natural and cute!

literally seeing them in less than 24 hours as i type this..... my friend and i just watched all the mvs in chronological order and then 8 episodes straight of itzzz we are READY (i am not ready i am so so so scared, sorry in advance for not finishing my wips before i die :/)

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half-deadmagicperson · 1 year

Text

And He Answered

Chapter 6

Words: 1384 (this chapter)

For @phicphight

Prompt by @erebecula (Mermaid AU, where instead of being ectobiologists, Jack and Maddie Fenton study wildlife from under the sea— specifically mermaids. Amity Park is next to multiples large lakes and rivers, the Ghost Zone is underwater, all the ghosts are mers, and Danny is struggling to find a way to explain his sudden aversion to any things water.)

This one is more to bridge over to more plot.

First | Prev | Next | AO3

Danny held his new sword in glee. With a cheerful grin, he started thrashing it around to defeat an invisible foe. The blade felt less like a separate object than it did an extension of himself. It was perfect.

The swirl of a whirlpool formed behind him as a figure floated through. A purple cloak flowed through the water, and a hand reached out to touch the young boy.

"We meet again, Daniel," a smooth voice came from behind. Danny whipped around to find its source. Despite the boy's attempts to look threatening, the man couldn't help but laugh at the shocked expression he wore.

"You? You're the guy from my dream."

"That I am, Daniel, you may call me Clockwork."

"Princess Dorothea said you were a myth."

"Sometimes myths have truth behind them. I do recall at one point you thought that mers were a myth, yet here we are."

There were a few moments of silence while Danny was lost in thought. The young boy looked at the ground.

"Why?" Danny's voice came out small. He looked up to meet Clockwork's red eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why am I like this? Why did you make me like this?"

"Well isn't it obvious? You'll understand soon. Hindsight is a powerful thing, Daniel. Everything is as it should be."

Danny was left alone in the dome with his thoughts and a kickass sword.

A gasp and shatter of plates soon interrupted his thinking as he saw the form of a mer retreat through one of the whirlpools. 'What was that about?' Danny thought, forgetting about the fact he just pulled a King Arthur and removed a sword of destiny out of a rock. He should probably go home.

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

The trip home was a lot less turbulent than the way there. Danny said good night to Cujo on his way to shore. He pushed his body onto the sand in a more secluded area of the beach. Jazz had hidden a bag of clothes for him in a bush.

After drying off and getting changed, Danny trudged home, still carrying the sword. There's gotta be a way he could hide this thing. He couldn't exactly walk into his house with a magic sword gifted to him from the people his parents hated so much.

The sword must be more connected to him than he thought because it shrank into a bracelet. Danny held the metal up to inspect it. It was covered in mer runes which roughly translated to "Truth" or something. Danny wasn't too sure.

He walked into his house and greeted his family. His parents apparently hadn't noticed his absence because they were too busy working on a new project.

"Check this out, Danno!" His dad said and held up a box, "It's a mer translator!"

"That's great Dad," Danny replied, trying to sound excited.

"That's great Dad, fear me!" An electronic voice repeated. Danny's fear levels momentarily spiked. Jack examined the box, perplexed.

"Guess there must be some bugs! Don't know why it'd think yer a mer!" His dad concluded before running the box over to the table.

His mom walked up from the lab. She smiled once she spotted Danny. Ginger hair flowed out of her hood as she pulled it down to greet her son.

"Oh Danny! Good you're home! How was your time with friends?"

"It was good. We got some Nasty Burger," Danny replied.

"Did you feel that earthquake earlier? Apparently, it's been happening all over the world."

That can't be good. This whole Bermuda thing must be bigger than he thought. Danny recalled to himself the large crowd from earlier. They were from all over the place, meaning the entire planet was being affected including the water.

Danny glanced down at the bracelet on his wrist. What did he get himself into?

"I'm gonna go up to my room," he announced before storming up the stairs.

Upon entering the room, he closed the door and started fiddling with his new accessory. How is he supposed to save the world? He's starting highschool in two days. He doesn't even know if he has proper powers or anything. Why couldn't it be someone who's powerful and confident? Why couldn't it be Important Lady or that buff dude? Why did it have to be Danny?

Jazz knocked on his door. Danny got up and let her in. One look of concern from her was all it took for him to start sobbing. His sister pulled him into an embrace and whispered encouragements into his ear.

Once he was more composed, Danny explained his situation. He told her about the prophecy and the sword. He told her how he wants to help, but he doesn't think he's strong enough. The blue man (Clockwork?) had told him that all is as it should be, but Danny didn't feel that way.

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

Danny felt better when he woke up the following morning. Most of his day was spent preparing for school tomorrow. Yesterday's events had forced their way out of his mind, until his daily swim.

Today, Danny wanted to see if his parents' wetsuit material worked in terms of surviving the transformation. He was getting sick and tired of losing a bunch of shorts and tops. He ran into the water with his black and white outfit that Jazz helped him peice together. They had designed it to work with his fins, but also could cover him up when he got back to land. It looked more or less like a dress on him with the open back and the skirt-like bottom, but if it works it works.

Once he reached the deeper water, his transformation came to a head. Good news! The new outfit worked. He rolled the bottom part up to make it more shirt length before going to find Cujo.

He was surprised to see that Cujo wasn't the only one to greet him in Lake Amity. Princess Dorothea was stroking Cujo's head when she noticed Danny.

"Greetings, Young One!"

"Hello, Your Majesty," Danny replied with a small bow.

"I came to inquire about your health. The tremors are said to be returning later this very day. The arch's will be closed soon, and I wanted to make sure you made it to safety.

"Oh, uh, thanks for coming to check up on me! But, with as much as I'd like to go, I can't. I still have responsibilities here at home. I'm starting highschool tomorrow."

"High School? Isn't that a land concept?"

"Er, yeah. It is."

"Then why must you do it?"

"Because I'm not just a mer. I'm a land person too." Dora gasped.

"How is that possible?"

"I'm trying to figure that out myself. I think it was Clockwork, the blue guy with the purple cloak. He told me yesterday that everything was as it should be, but I don't see how this is how things are supposed to be."

Dora recovered from her brief shock in order to tell Danny about the meeting going on in the dome. He agreed to go with her.

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

The Important Lady with four arms approached the stage again.

"Citizens of the Seven Seas and beyond!" Her voice was just as loud as the first time, "we are here today to announce our savior has been found!"

The crowd roared and cheered. A sense of dread filled Danny as a young girl swam up to the podium.

"This young lady here saw who pulled the sword out of the stone," Important Lady continued, Danny should really learn her name. The audience murmured as the girl went up to speak.

"Last night I was bringing some plates to take over to me mum's in the Atlantic when I saw the stone was out of the rock," she started and pointed at Danny, "AND I SAW HIM WITH IT!"

All eyes turned towards the poor, young boy. Danny swallowed hard. This is gonna be interesting.

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

"Arise, Dark King, Arise!" A sinister voice spoke towards the recently opened gate. He squinted when he noticed a dark spot start to grow.

"Oh, sugar cookie!" Was all he said before a stampede of undead pirates ran him over. A cackle came from the gate as a final figure slithered out of the prison. Pariah Dark was here.

#danny phantom #phic phight 2023 #phic phight #dp fic #and he answered

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livseses · 8 months

Text

Fuck, shit, as well as damn it ("blast it all to the lower depths" as Ny would say). Idk if we posted this nonsense already. But fuck it. Gonna post it anyways.

Lol

Lmao

Fucking ha even

So we got

DID

(Pt: So we got DID)

We found out from our therapist the other day that she had updated our diagnosis. She went on leave for a few months, and we had a wonderful substitute therapist who had experience treating DID. After she had gotten back she consulted with said substitute and they both agreed that our symptoms matched up more with DID than OSDD-1.

We were fine with this, and she explicitly said that it was due to the memory issues. When we walked through the DES and diagnostic criteria, we didn't think our memory was "beyond normal forgetting". 8-9 months later, and a fresh set of eyes on us, and she got enough of a picture to check that box.

The only real complaint is that we don't know when we would have found this out, because it had come up from an unrelated conversation. But we've come to trust her well enough to believe that it was a simple mistake and not something more abusive of her authority.

But it's left us in a funny place. We've always thought our memory was shit, but not that shit. ADHD working memory out the door, and SDAM tossing the video feeds into the garbage. Nothing dissociative for the most part. Just weird brain quirks with memory.

But after getting hit with this, it's been, like I said, kinda funny feeling. Hell, read the first paragraph. We had agreed yesterday to pick my girlfriend up from work today, and didn't remember that until after the missed calls. That kinda shook us.

We've had missing days a plenty. Times where we were jazzed by the realization that Friday was one (1) day closer than we thought. Times where we were the opposite of jazzed because we missed a class (or a fucking final exam) because we thought we had another day left in the week.

We don't remember more than a handful of experiences from before college, and they dwindle the further back we go. But we know the facts. This kid with our deadname did/said/experienced X, Y, or Z. That kind of stuff. That's always been our memory. That's always been "normal forgetting".

Appointments, obligations, scheduled tasks. They all get missed until we can't do anything about them. We rely on routine. Therapy a 4 pm on Tuesdays. Oh it's at 3? Or on Monday? Guess we're not going. Need to call the doctor during business hours. But it's the weekend so we can't. Oh now it's the evening so we can't. Whoopsie, it's Saturday again and we need to call the doctor during business hours. Oh and file those papers before the kidos arrive at preschool. Gotta remember to file those papers. But it's time to prep for class and all the prep is done so we're incredibly bored and twiddling our thumbs. Kiddos are here but FUCK forgot to file the papers. Maybe after class? Oh yeah, all the tables are clean and nothing else to do but head home so that we can scream and panic because we need to file those papers in the morning before the kiddos get to class.

I don't recall telling this story before. Wait no, the bored look in your eyes reminds me that I saw that look last time I told you this story again.

It's strange and surreal right now to hammer home that yeah, this isn't "normal forgetting". Fuck I remember thinking that maybe the ADHD memory poo would count enough for criterion B. How much does our memory suck and we've just compensated hard? How much do we forget that we forget?

There's something important I need to stress btw. All of this ramble, all of these memory issues, all of this forgetting and amnesia? All of it is irrespective of switches and headmates (save maybe the lost days). DID and plural memory issues almost always treat forgetting as something done between members. It's so frequently held that the memory is held by someone else.

While that's true in many cases, it's absolutely not universal. Our Dx comes from our recurrent gaps in our recall that's not consistent with ordinary forgetting. Not an inability to recall the memories of other headmates. Hell our most recent experience with that was when Ny agreed to pick up my gf, and she forgot; we all forgot.

Maybe that's a nitpick. Maybe I'm being particular. Maybe I'm annoyed. I don't know that our treatment would be any different if we kept OSDD-1 under the notion that DID required intra-idenity amnesia.

But yeah memory is fuck. Ramble is done. I hope this isn't something we posted yesterday or something. But if it is, that's pretty fucking funny to us.

-Faye

#faye post #actually plural #system stuff #did #osdd

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lowkeyclueless5137 · 2 years

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I was rereading your twst one shoots when I got to the Castle of Illusions AU and as I read on I began to think.

It is merely a question and not a request. But can you make this exact AU, as in an epilogue of sort or something but take place in the newest Masquerade event? Because considering the change they have now, and how 4 of the dormheads are invited to that event by Rollo, it would make some interesting interactions.

Of course it is just a question and I don't really thought you will take it. But I am just curious. I also alright with just listening (reading) to your thoughts about it.

:0 the first miniseries UwU

The event is not yet over(heck it's not even halfway done...) I cannot do anything with it for now, just to dunk it in crack. U-U

Spoilers for the masquerade event under the cut :3

For this one, Vil, Leona and Kalim are sitting out of it and skulking.

Don't worry, most likely Idia or Azul FaceTime with them or make photos for them. Lots of accidentally 'where tf are y'all' in the dormleaders gc.

Maleidiazu galore✨

Riddle's just in there, squaring up with Rollo spiritually.

Rollo would be took aback by Malleus's appearance. He knew that Fae looked... More alike to humans, not like THAT. Malleus's tail is just wagging around non-stop bc he is just so happy to be invited somewhere and see a new place.

Since the event is far from over and we don't really know exactly what Rollo's up to, we will keep it neutral.

Although I wanna have evil Rollo and the boys to be saved by the goat.

Since they are keeping their rainbow gems around, they use magic to make them apart of their masks. Rollo takes note of the fact that 4 guests have this wierd gems, which makes him more suspicious of them.

Making a tour and the flyers(Riddle and Malleus) have no problem climbing up the tower.

Meanwhile, Idia and Azul still suck hard at PE. At this point, Azul is just invisible so that no one will notice that this boy takes an eternity on those stairs to the tower. Idia isn't that lucky, so everyone is pretty much looking at this pathetic lil man climbing the stairs.

Malleus is just admiring the gargoyles on the roofs as the others simply stay in the bell tower and try to call him over.

Riddle goes to pick him up, since it was the only one besides Malleus who has wings. When going down the stairs, Idia just makes an indestructible bubble and throws himself over with it.

Noble bell college students are scared from this guy's stunt.

While exploring the city, for now everything will stay close to the cannon. Malleus befriending the goat, Idia being salty for not ending up in a team with one of his boyfriends, Azul being a big bro to Epel and Deuce.

Rollo is sus, but for now he stays a bit further from Malleus, who just intimidates people around with his hugeass wings and tail.

But also a lot of crack can happen:

Rollo: *sneeze*

Azul, invisible: Bless you...

Rollo, looking around: God?!?

Idia, after hearing they gotta go and interact with people: time for my secret weapon! *summons his bubble*

Ruggie: You will hamsterball your way around?

Idia: I will hamsterball my way around!

Goat: *exists*

Malleus: is this a new friend?

Rollo: I believe we don't see the things from the same angle...

Riddle, flying up to his level: Try me...

Leona, at NRC: What are you doing?

Kalim: Calling Riddle! I wanna hear what they are doing in there...

Vil: Kalim... It's the 30th time you call...

Kalim: BuT wHaT If tHeY geT LOsT?!

Idia: Malleus... I don't like this dude... He's suspicious *pointing towards Rollo*

Malleus: Now now... It's rude to accuse people, let alone our guide and the one who invited us in here, of being suspicious...

Azul: No... He's suspicious... I heard him talking about 'purity' and all that religious jazz...

Malleus:....

Azul: Yeah... I don't feel safe near THAT guy...

Everyone: where's Malleus?

Malleus, up on a roof with a gargoyle: :3

Everyone:.... Ri-

Riddle: No <3

Azul, invisible: >->

Idia, holding him by the arm: No... You cannot check if that sus guy has a bald spot under that hat.

Azul: But what if he has a bald spot?

Rollo: What if I had a WHAT?!

Yep... Just chaos in general :'3

#twisted wonderland #asks :3 #Castle of illusions au #twst glorious masquerade #Smol spoilers for the event :3

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randomvarious · 11 months

Text

London Hip Hop Playlist

Something that Brits really seem to go absolutely fucking nuts over are breakbeats. They singlehandedly invented jungle and drum n bass with them, as well as the genres of breakbeat and breakbeat hardcore as well, and out of breakbeat also came big beat, which was that fun party stuff that was huge in the late 90s and early 2000s that was made popular by people like Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, and The Prodigy.

But another thing that Brits naturally applied breakbeats to was hip hop, which, after it had managed to make its way from New York, led to the formation of a UK-specific genre in the late 80s called Britcore. And Britcore featured people (almost strictly blokes) spitting furiously over slammin' breakbeats. Basically, if you love old school rap records like I do, you are *really* missing out if you never messed with any of this stuff at all, because while the US continuously led the way, the UK was cooking up some seriously overlooked unique fire on the back-burner that never really managed to make it into the American hip hop diet.

So, here's a bunch of dope rap tunes from London that span from the late 80s to mid-90s, a lot of which are Britcore tracks. And my #1 favorite among all of these is, hands-down, "Doomsday of Rap," by Hijack, which isn't just the greatest Britcore song that I've ever heard, but is also, to me, just one of the best pieces of old school hip hop that's ever been made, period. In fact, this tune, which lays ferociously raw lyrics over a sample of the Incredible Bongo Band's iconic "Apache," actually helped Hijack to catch the ear of none other than Ice-T, who then signed them to his own Rhyme Syndicate label. And "Doomsday of Rap" is probably one of the least obscure songs among this set here, but considering just how irresistibly good it is, a Spotify play count of around 75,200 still feels a bit low.

Another banger on here, though, which does have an obscenely low play count is Kobalt 60's "Kaos From Order," which seems to sample its breakbeat from Tom Jones' "Looking Out My Window," and also adds these forceful "ba-ba-ba-ba" male vocals in the second verse too. And I have no idea where those specific vocals come from, but they really enhance this whole track, overall, which is only sitting at a little under 1,900 total plays.

I also included a couple cuts from a slick-tongued ragga hip hop star originally from Jamaica named Daddy Freddy, too, who moved to London and then made some choice tracks, like "Go Freddy Go" and "Haul & Pull." The version of "Go Freddy Go" that I've added has about 16,700 plays, and a remix of "Haul & Pull" that was done by Bobby Konders has about 32,900.

This playlist is ordered as chronologically as possible.

Lady Sugar Sweet - "Sugar Sweet" Thrashpack - "Trigger Happy" Hijack - "Doomsday of Rap" MC Duke - "I'm Riffin" MC Duke - "Gotta Get Your Own" Hardnoise - "Untitled" SL Troopers - "Movement" Standing Ovation - "Onslaught" Daddy Freddy - "Go Freddy Go" The 3 Knights - "Burial Proceedings" Militant Posture - "Dawn of Terror" Brothers on Organised Missions - "B.O.O.M." Brothers on Organised Missions - "Delivering the Answer" Kobalt 60 - "Kaos From Order" Daddy Freddy - "Haul & Pull" Killa Instinct - "Un-United Kingdom"

And, of course, there's a YouTube version of this playlist too, which includes a couple more gems that aren't on Spotify, like a tune that's actually not Britcore, but takes a page out of Pete Rock's relaxational jazz-rap stylebook instead: 499's "Don't Categorise Me," which has around 11,600 plays across a bunch of different uploads on YouTube.

Demon Boyz - "Rougher Than an Animal" 499 - "Don't Categorise Me"

And this playlist is on YouTube Music as well.

So, with the unveiling of this playlist, we start with 68 minutes worth of tunes on Spotify, and 78 minutes over on YouTube. And because the YouTube version has that 499 track, I definitely recommend you check out that version rather than the Spotify one 😊.

Enjoy!

More to come, eventually. Stay tuned!

Like what you hear? Follow me on Spotify and YouTube for more cool playlists and uploads!

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steddieworks · 2 years

Text

finally safe for me to fall - chapter 7

hi!! I'm so sorry for missing my usual update last Sunday, but I hope this chapter makes up for that! it's been through two different versions but i'm pretty happy with the final result!

read on ao3

Summary: The twins get sick, so Eddie takes care of them. But who will take care of Eddie? ... Steve will, of course.

Warnings for this chapter: swearing, non-explicit depictions of sickness/illness

Words: 9.1k

It’s a month into Eddie’s role as babysitter when something inevitably goes wrong.

It was only a matter of time, really. With the weather getting colder, all the kids at school seemed to have been coming down with one disease after another, whether it be a cold, the flu, or a stomach bug. Eddie had been incredibly diligent with passing out vitamins and allergy pills every morning before school, taking hand sanitizer with him to pick-up, and keeping them fed the healthiest foods possible.

And still, it wasn’t enough.

Eddie is humming to himself as he folds the last of the laundry, this time a load of the twins’ clothes, when the phone rings. He doesn’t think much of it as he answers, still in a rather pleasant mood, having done everything on his to-do list already for the day, and it’s only noon.

“Hello?” he says when he answers the phone, balancing it between his ear and shoulder.

“Eddie, honey?” Steve’s voice fills the line, and Eddie perks up immediately.

“Hi,” Eddie says around a little smile. “Uh… everything okay? You don’t normally call me during the day.”

“Well, actually, no,” Steve says with a sigh. “It’s nothing too bad. But the school just called and the twins are both sick. Ivy’s running a fever and Jazz has thrown up twice apparently.”

Eddie’s stomach sinks at the thought of his girls being sick. “Oh, god. I- I should’ve known! Jasmine didn’t finish her eggs this morning, and-”

Steve cuts him off with a gentle voice before he can spiral further. “Hon, it’s not your fault they’re sick. But I need you to go to the school and pick them up, okay? I have back-to-back meetings with investors from now until four, so I won’t be home until five at the earliest. I’m so sorry.”

It’s easy for Eddie to shrug that off. This is his responsibility, since, after all, it’s the very thing Steve pays him for. “No, of course, of course. I don’t mind at all. I’ll go grab them and take care of everything before you get home. They’ll be right as rain when you get here, okay?”

It sounds like Steve’s smiling when he replies, “thanks, Eddie. Let me know if you guys need anything, I can bring back something for dinner if you want.”

Eddie agrees to let him know before hanging up and grabbing his coat and his keys. Time to go get his kids and play mommy-nurse for an evening.

~~~

It’s worse than Eddie is expecting. Jasmine is so pale she favors Eddie more than her father, a fact Eddie ignores, lest he start thinking about how nice that would be, to have a child that looked like him. Ivy is nearly asleep in the nurse’s office, so drowsy with fever that she can barely walk. He takes Ivy out to the van first, buckling her in and checking that she’s alright before going back for Jasmine. He thanks the secretary and the school nurse profusely before heading outside, shushing Jasmine gently as he carries her to the car.

“I don’t feel good,” she cries against his shoulder.

“I know baby, I know. We’re going to get you all fixed up when we get home, though, okay?” He reassures, petting her hair as he gets her in the car, buckling her up to match her sister.

The drive back to the apartment is short but stressful, Eddie hyper-aware of any jarring movement that might make them toss their cookies, but luckily, they make it back home with no accidents. They’re both in varying stages of crying by the time they get upstairs, Eddie carrying Ivy with one arm while Jasmine trails after them, clutching desperately to Eddie’s hand. It’s a bit of a struggle, but they make it.

“Alright. Ivy, honey, we’ve gotta get you in a cool bath to get this fever down, okay? It’s not gonna feel very good at first, but I promise it’ll make you feel so much better,” Eddie explains as he carries her to Steve’s bathroom, since it has the nicer tub.

“I don’wanna,” she whines against his shoulder, her tears already soaking a sizeable patch into his shirt.

Eddie sighs. “Baby, I know. But if you’re a brave girl and take your bath, I’ll get you a treat when we’re finished, okay?”

Ivy sniffles, but nods.

Jasmine, who had followed them into the bathroom, says, “what about me?”

Eddie smiles at her as he sits on the edge of the bathtub and turns on the tap, testing the temperature before putting the plug down. “I didn’t forget about you, love. I don’t think your fever is as high as sissy’s, but as soon as I get her in the bath I’m gonna get the thermometer to check, okay? And if it is, you’ll need to take a cool bath too.”

Jasmine frowns, but nods. She sits on the closed lid of the toilet, staring down at her feet. Eddie bites his lip to hide the quiver there, because he truly hates the fact that these girls are so miserable and he can’t just wave his hand to put a stop to it. That just feels completely unfair.

“Alright, hon, let’s get you in the bath,” Eddie says, helping Ivy strip down to her underwear before helping her into the water.

She immediately lets out a cry, and Eddie’s omega cries back, so full of pain he almost feels sick himself. “Baby,” he says tearfully. “I know, I know it’s chilly.”

“It’s too cold,” Ivy cries, shaking her head. “It’s too cold, Mommy.”

Eddie doesn’t even register what she said at first, too wrapped up in trying to soothe her. When it hits him, he just feels even worse. “I know,” he says. He knows that it’s not actually that cold, he’d run the warm water far longer than he should have, if anything, but at least this way it must be working. “Can you be a very good girl and sit right here until I get back with the thermometer and some ginger ale for you guys to sip?”

Ivy doesn’t look happy about it, but she nods. “Y-yes,” she chatters.

Eddie offers her a small smile, brushing her hair back gently. “Very good. I’ll be right back, okay?”

She nods, and Jasmine does the same when Eddie checks in on her before leaving the room. He rushes to the twins’ bathroom, where he knows a thermometer lives in the medicine cabinet, and then he stops back by the kitchen to grab a can of ginger ale out of the fridge and a straw out of a drawer. It had been more of a purchase for himself than anyone else, as he got frequent nausea spells leading up to his period, but it was coming in very handy right now for sure.

When he gets back to the bathroom, the girls are talking quietly, but he can’t make out what they’re saying. He hears Jasmine mumble something that sounds like, “-wish he was, though,” before he steps through the door and they go quiet.

“Alright, Jazz, come here, honey,” Eddie says as he goes to sit back on the side of the bathtub, holding the freshly opened can of ginger ale out for Ivy to sip from while he gestures the thermometer at her sister.

Jasmine comes to stand beside him, obediently sticking her tongue out for him to place the thermometer underneath. The room is silent for a moment, except for the sipping sounds from Ivy, before the thermometer makes a quiet beeping noise. When he pulls it away, he frowns down at the tiny display screen.

“Is it very high?” Jasmine asks softly.

Eddie shakes his head. “Not too bad,” he says. “It’s at ninety-eight-point-four. If it gets above a hundred, we’ll need to take a cool bath, okay?” he tells her firmly.

She nods, then points to Ivy. “Can I have a sip of that?”

Eddie nods, checking that Ivy is finished before handing it over. He doesn’t figure it makes sense to have them stop sharing things now that they’re sick - whatever it is, they’ve both got it.

“Can I get out now?” Ivy asks quietly.

“Let me see if you still feel so warm,” Eddie says, leaning in and placing a hand on her forehead. She’s still a little warm, but not nearly as hot as she was when he picked her up. He nods, turning to gesture at the towels. “Yeah, honey. Jazz, will you hand me one of those? Thank you, love. Let’s get out, Ivy.”

Ivy stands on shaky legs, and Eddie gets her wrapped up as quickly as possible before taking both of them back to their own bedroom to find a suitable pair of pajamas for each of them. As soon as they’re dressed, Eddie directs them to get into bed.

“Can we…” Ivy starts, sounding a little timid.

Eddie quirks an eyebrow. “Can we do what?” he asks.

Ivy glances at her sister before looking up at Eddie, her eyes wide and watery with sickness. “Can we go snuggle in Daddy’s bed? He always lets us sleep in his bed when we’re sick.”

“Yeah,” Jasmine agrees. “Can we, please?”

Eddie hesitates. He hadn’t asked Steve for permission to do that, but… on the other hand… being around their father’s familiar scent would likely make them calmer, quicker to recover. He thinks that outweighs whatever weirdness he feels about it.

“Okay,” he agrees. “Come on, bring your stuffies and let’s go to his room.”

The girls cheer quietly, clearly relieved to be allowed to have this. Eddie is glad they asked, because he never would have let himself think of it personally. They gather up their favorite stuffed animals and Eddie marches them through the house to Steve’s room, and naturally, with his massive, tall bed, Eddie has to help them up.

“Alright, lay down, get comfy. I’m gonna go grab each of you a popsicle. Have you had lunch yet?”

They chorus a quiet “no,” but Eddie catches the way Jasmine wrinkles her nose. “I’m not hungry,” she admits.

Eddie nods. “Okay. Your tummies are probably too weak to handle anything much right now, anyway, but a popsicle will definitely give you enough sugar to keep you going, and the cold will help keep your fever down.”

The girls nod, and off Eddie goes, back to gather up popsicles, towels to hold them with so their little hands don’t get cold and sticky, and some crackers for them to nibble on when they get to feeling better. He has a feeling this will be a long evening.

~~~

“Eddie? Girls? I’m home!”

Steve’s voice rings through the apartment, dragging Eddie from his half-asleep state with a bleary blink of his eyes. He startles when he remembers where he is and what he’s doing, or, well- meant to be doing. The twins are passed out on either side of him, and he vaguely remembers how they got there. He brought them popsicles and as soon as she finished hers, Jasmine was passed out. Ivy took some coaxing to get to sleep, crying because she felt so bad. Eddie’s heart broke a million times over seeing how miserable she was, and he’d sort of unintentionally began to release calming pheromones, rubbing his cheek against the tops of their heads in an attempt to soothe. Try as he might, though, he could tell it wasn’t really working. After all, he’s not their mom, his omega pheromones aren’t what they’re familiar with.

Still, he tried. For nearly an hour he soothed them and hummed and tried to be what they needed until they fell asleep, and eventually, he drifted to sleep as well.

“In here,” Eddie calls back quietly, hoping not to wake the girls. He sits up slowly, brushing a hand over Ivy’s hair, checking her temperature with the back of his hand before turning to Jasmine to do the same.

“Oh,” Steve says from the door.

Eddie glances up with a sheepish smile. “Hi. I’m sorry about- all this. They wanted to sleep in here, and-“

Steve shakes his head, dropping his coat onto his dresser and toeing off his shoes before making his way to the bed. “No, it’s fine, Eddie, really. God, they really don’t feel well, do they?” He has the most devastated look on his face as he comes around to the side of the bed, stroking a hand over Jasmine’s hair like Eddie had just done. Steve glances up at him with a soft smile. “How are you feeling?”

Eddie shrugs. “I’m fine. Too soon to have caught anything from them, probably, but, um…” he debates on what he’s going to say next. “My immune system is usually sort of weak this time of month, so…” he watches Steve’s face carefully as he waits for it to click.

It takes a second, but when it does, Steve frowns. “Oh, Eds, why didn’t you tell me you were- what do you need?”

It makes him flush a little, the way Steve is immediately trying to take care of him- as if that’s even his job. “It hasn’t started yet. I’m cramping a little, but it probably won’t be bad until tomorrow. But I really don’t need anything, and I can still take care of the girls and everything.” Eddie offers him a sweet smile.

Steve’s frown only deepens when he hears that. “Well, sure, but who’s going to take care of you?”

Eddie gives him a look of surprise, unprepared to answer that. “Um…”

“Have you eaten anything today?” Steve asks, taking charge in that distinctly alpha manner that Eddie’s omega thrills at.

“I had breakfast with you guys, and then…” Eddie realizes with no small amount of surprise that he hasn’t actually eaten anything since then. “Oh. I guess that’s it. But I’m okay, though, really, I-“

Steve sighs deeply, his hands on his hips in this way that just screams disappointed parent. “Okay. Here’s what’s going to happen. I am going to go make you some dinner. You can lay here for as long as you like, but you need to try to eat a little bit before you go back to sleep.”

Eddie is already shaking his head, trying desperately not to appear as lazy as he’s feeling right now. “Oh, there’s no need, really, I’m-“

“Going to lay right there until I get back,” Steve says firmly, his narrowed eyes leaving no room for argument. His face softens for a moment and he reaches out to brush a strand of Eddie’s hair back. “Let me take care of you, honey. You’re taking such good care of the girls, so let me take care of you.”

And how is Eddie supposed to deny that face? He can’t. “Okay,” he finally says, voice soft. “Thanks, Steve.”

Steve just smiles, forever sweet and endlessly kind. “I’ll be right back. Gonna make some soup for you and the girls. I assume they haven’t eaten either?”

Eddie shakes his head. “No, just some popsicles, that’s all. They didn’t feel well enough to eat.”

Steve nods in understanding. “Alright. Well, sit tight. I’ll be right back.” He gives Eddie one last look, like he’s checking to make sure he’s going to stay put, and then leaves the room quickly.

Eddie sighs, laying back in bed as he listens to the tell-tale sounds of Steve putting together some food. It’s a casual kind of domesticity, the kind that Eddie has been wistful for ever since he presented as an omega. He smiles as Jasmine rolls over in her sleep, curling up against his side with a sleepy noise. Normally he’d be feeling a little sorry for himself, wistful for things that don’t truly belong to him, but today he lets himself be content. He closes his eyes and pretends that these are his pups, and that his mate is in the kitchen making food for them, and even allows himself to think of Steve’s bed as his nest. It’s a dangerous daydream, one he knows will probably only hurt him more in the long run, but he lets himself have it for now.

He doesn’t realize he drifted off to sleep until a soft voice is coaxing him awake.

“Eddie, honey? Wake up, I’ve got some food and water for you.” Steve’s voice is like a familiar friend, and Eddie unintentionally curls close to the gentle hand in his hair. Steve coos, and it’s the sweet sound, more than anything else, that wakes Eddie up.

He startles away from the warmth of Steve’s hand, blinking blearily up at him. “Huh?” he mumbles, rubbing at his eyes. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to go back to sleep. It’s just so… warm,” Eddie apologizes, a little pathetically.

Steve is smiling down at him, a broad, pleased thing that just makes Eddie’s heart race. “It’s okay. Can you sit up for a few minutes? I brought you some soup and some ice water.”

Eddie nods, shifting gently to sit up against the headboard, absentmindedly reaching out to stroke through Ivy’s hair where she’s snuggled in against his side. “Want me to wake them up too?” He asks as he watches Steve stir a bowl of soup on the bedside table.

Steve shakes his head. “Eat first, and then we’ll wake them up. The soup’s still on the stove, so it’ll stay warm.” He cradles the bowl with a tea towel, handing it to Eddie carefully. “Be careful, it’s really hot,” he warns softly.

It’s silly, but for some reason, the thoughtful gesture almost makes Eddie tear up. He doesn’t think he’s had soup brought to him in bed since he was a tiny child, before his mother died. His uncle Wayne probably would’ve if Eddie had let him, but Eddie was more the “suffer in silence” type when it came to illnesses. He’s not sure why it feels so normal, so right, to let Steve baby him like this while he’s sick, but it does. It doesn’t make him cringe or feel helpless like it probably would with someone else, it just makes him feel… loved.

His face must be flushed with the absurdity of that thought, and Steve frowns at him from where he’s perched at the edge of the mattress. “Are you alright?” he asks.

Eddie nods, slurping at the hot chicken noodle soup to hide his face. “‘M fine,” he mumbles into the spoon.

Steve’s eyebrows furrow, and before Eddie can flinch away, Steve’s hand is coming up to feel his forehead. “You don’t feel like you’re running a fever, but your face is red…” he says, looking perplexed.

Eddie shrugs, goes in for another slurp of the soup because this shit is delicious. “Probably just, uh… steam from the soup?” he suggests lamely.

Apparently it’s not too lame, because Steve just nods in understanding. “Yeah, that makes sense,” he agrees, although it really doesn’t. “Here, have a sip of your water. I’ll go grab some pain medicine in just a second.”

Steve holds the glass up, nudging the straw around for Eddie to sip from, and Eddie feels like he’s blushing even harder with the way Steve is staring at his mouth as he sucks on the straw. He pulls away, clearing his throat. “You really don’t have to do all of this,” Eddie says, avoiding Steve’s gaze.

“And you really don’t have to fight me on it every time,” Steve counters lightly. When Eddie looks at him, though, he’s got a pained look in his eyes. “Sweetheart, I really don’t mind. I…” He looks down at where Jasmine has suddenly shifted in her sleep, rolling over towards Eddie, burrowing her head into his side to mirror her sister. Steve smiles at her, his gaze flicking up to Eddie’s. “I like taking care of you. Maybe it’s just some alpha, hetero-normative bullshit, but…” Steve shrugs. “I like that I can… you know, provide something for you.”

His face is probably red enough to match Eddie’s at this point, and something about the sentiment, or the dual embarrassment, makes Eddie smile. “Okay,” he concedes. If Steve wants to do this, Eddie is going to let him. He can’t think of a good reason why he shouldn’t, besides the obvious issue of his pesky little feelings, but really that’s not that important. They’re under control. Really, they are.

“I’ll be right back,” Steve says after a few moments, standing and making his way to the bathroom. A confused noise traps itself in Eddie’s throat, and he has to hide his face once again when Steve glances over his shoulder at him. “Just gonna grab some ibuprofen,” Steve reassures.

Eddie nods. “Okay.”

He eats his soup slowly, vaguely aware of the cramping in his lower stomach, a sure sign of his upcoming monthly cycle. He’s luckier than most omegas, though. His cycle has never been as miserable as he’s often heard described by his omega friends, usually just two or three days of bleeding and some cramps, nothing like the puking and migraine-filled periods he’s heard about. Eddie is grateful for this for a number of reasons, the main one being, of course, that he has no real need for cycle-management birth control, which he’s heard can make heats more erratic as a side effect. He’s incredibly thankful that’s not a problem he has to deal with.

“Here,” Steve says, returning from the bathroom with a small handful of pills. “I don’t know how many you usually take, but here’s four.”

Eddie smiles at him and holds out his bowl of soup so they can trade for a moment. “I usually only take two at a time,” he says as he plucks two of the tablets out of Steve’s hand. “Thanks,” he tacks on before he pops them in his mouth, reaching for the glass of water that Steve is already holding out for him.

Steve watches him with a small smile, handing the bowl back as soon as Eddie’s done with the medicine. “Are you feeling very bad yet?” He asks, perching himself on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Jasmine.

Eddie shakes his head. “No, not yet. It’ll probably kick in sometime tonight or in the morning. Getting a head start on it with the medicine and stuff really helps,” he says, glancing up at Steve with a sheepish, but grateful, smile.

“I’m glad,” Steve says, reaching out and brushing a hand through Eddie’s hair. “I can’t stand the idea of you being in pain.”

And there it is, once again. Steve saying something so impossibly sweet and caring, something he can’t possibly mean. Eddie has half a mind to call him out on it, but instead he just smiles and rolls his eyes. “Well, don’t worry about that. I feel fine, really. Besides, I have this Harrington-special soup, however could I be sick if I have that?” he jokes, grinning at Steve.

Steve laughs quietly, considerate of his sleeping daughters. “Oh, of course, yeah. Should I send your compliments to the chef?” He’s got such a flirtatious look in his eye, one that Eddie really can’t help but flirt right back with.

“Oh for sure. Let the chef know that I give him a five-star review, ten out of ten, would recommend.”

“I’ll pass the message along,” Steve says, still playing along. He drops his hand to Eddie’s knee then, rubbing circles into it with his thumb. “Any other messages for the chef?” He says, his voice light, even as his eyes dart away from Eddie’s as if he’s… nervous?

Eddie pauses, not sure how to respond in the face of what seems to be actual, genuine flirting. He knows what he’d like to say, what he’s wanted to say since day one, but as for what’s appropriate…

“Can you two be quiet?” A little voice suddenly interrupts Eddie’s entire train of thought, nearly making him spill his soup in his surprise.

Steve and Eddie both glance down at Ivy, who has lifted her head to glare at them both. “‘M tryin’ to sleep over here!” she grouches.

Eddie has to bite his lip to stifle his laugh, and Steve appears to be having the same struggle beside him. “You’re right, honey, we’re sorry,” Steve appeases her gently. “Are you hungry, Ivy? Could you eat some soup?”

At that, Ivy lifts her head for real, blinking her eyes open blearily. “Soup?”

~~~

They make the twins get out of bed to eat, because they both know they’re just asking for disaster if they give two six-year-olds bowls of hot soup on a mattress. Steve insists that Eddie can just stay in bed and rest while he deals with the twins himself, but Eddie’s not having it. He finishes his soup quickly and follows them into the kitchen, making the girls a glass of ginger ale each while Steve ladles their soup into their bowls. They work together in tandem, never bumping into each other unless it’s intentional, and when they’ve got the girls everything they need, Eddie feels a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over him.

“I’m gonna go sit down for a minute,” he tells Steve, his voice a little weak.

Steve, who had just been explaining to Jasmine that yes, she would feel better if she ate some soup, looks up with concern etched into his eyebrows. “Are you okay?”

Eddie almost rolls his eyes at the outpouring of worry and concern that Steve always seems to have for him, but he refrains. “Yeah, just feel kind of light-headed all of a sudden.”

“Go lay down,” Steve suggests, his voice noticeably lacking any alpha-lilted order that would take away Eddie’s ability to choose for himself. When Eddie starts to shake his head in protest, Steve gives him a look, dropping his hands to his hips in a clear picture of disapproval. “Honey, I’ve got this. Just go lay down for a bit. We’ll be back in there as soon as we’re done.”

It takes Eddie’s brain a second to catch up. Steve wants him to- “You want me to… your room?” He stumbles through the question, staring at Steve in surprise.

Steve looks vaguely confused for a minute. “Well, yeah,” he says, like it’s obvious. “I can’t very well take care of you if you’re on the other side of the apartment,” he says with a little smile.

Eddie feels his face flush, so he nods and turns to go back to Steve’s room. He may be a little bit embarrassed and ashamed to be sleeping in an alpha’s bed when they’re not even mated, but the biggest part of him is thrilled. Steve’s scent is so strong in this room, stronger than Eddie has ever gotten it, and he doesn’t stop himself from snuggling into the sheets, shoving his face into the pillow he’s almost positive is Steve’s favorite, the scent of alpha cloying his senses. It’s perfect, and his omega is practically purring with joy.

Apparently, he’s sleepier than he’d thought, because the next thing he knows, he’s waking up to something pressing against his back. He must make a noise of some sort, because the next thing he knows, a soft voice is shushing him.

“It’s just me, babe.” Steve’s hand strokes over his hair, and Eddie presses himself into the touch helplessly.

“Where’s - girls?” Eddie mumbles, turning his head and blinking, trying to find Steve.

“They’re here,” Steve assures him.

Eddie sits up a little, his panicked heart settling a little when he lays eyes on the twins. Jasmine is pressed close to his side, her gaze focused on the television on the other side of the room, which Eddie realizes now is playing a movie on a near-silent volume. Ivy is on the other side of Jasmine, holding her stuffed animal to her chest and looking up at Eddie with a little smile.

“Did you take a nap?” She asks sweetly.

Eddie smiles at her. “Yeah, I did. Didn’t mean to, though,” he says, glancing over at Steve. “Was I asleep for very long?”

Steve shakes his head. “Not at all. The girls finished their soup, I took their temperatures again and gave them some medicine, and they wanted to come snuggle.” He smiles over at his daughters, and Eddie’s heart does that stupid clenching thing it wants to do whenever he sees the love Steve always lavishes onto his kids. He wishes, selfishly, that it was lavished onto him as well. Then he feels guilty for thinking that, when Steve is clearly already doing so much to take care of him as it is. He should just be grateful for that, rather than be selfish and wish for more.

“Daddy? Can we sleep in here tonight?” Ivy asks suddenly, interrupting Eddie’s little mental pity-party.

Eddie glances up to see Steve’s reaction. The man smiles at his daughter, nodding easily. “Of course. We’re overdue for a slumber party, I think.”

Ivy smiles, then turns that sweet little puppy dog gaze onto Eddie. “You’ll stay too, right, Eddie?” she asks, and if she wasn’t so precious, Eddie would probably be more annoyed by the coyness. Maybe he’s crazy, but he’s almost positive she has a knowing glint in her eye, like she knows what this is doing to Eddie’s heart.

“Um…” he says awkwardly, glancing up at Steve uncertainly.

Steve smiles, an eerily similar expression to the one Ivy wears. “I don’t mind,” he says softly. His hand comes up to brush through Eddie’s bangs, and Eddie can’t help it when he tilts into the touch. “How about you go get your pajamas on? Then it’ll be a proper sleepover.”

Eddie flushes, but nods. Really, how could he turn him down with a face like that? “Okay, I’ll be right back,” he says, rolling off the bed with shaky limbs. He takes a second to stretch from where he’d gone a bit stiff, and he can’t help but smirk a little when he catches Steve watching him. “Alright. Pajamas. Girls, do you need anything from your room?” he asks.

“Can you bring me my pillow?” Ivy asks.

Jasmine lights up at that, finally tuning into the conversation. “Ooh, yeah, can you bring mine too? And my fluffy blanket?”

Eddie laughs, but nods. “Sure, I’ll-”

Steve interrupts him then. “You just go get dressed, honey, I’ll grab their stuff. Any other requests, ladies?” He’s got his hands on his hips, once again in that decidedly parental pose, and Eddie tries to hide his smirk.

The twins confirm that all they want is their pillows and blankets, and Steve follows Eddie out of his bedroom. “I really opened a can of worms with that one,” Eddie says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry about that.”

Steve just laughs, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. It’ll kind of be like making a nest,” he says thoughtfully.

And of course he has no idea what that’s going to do to Eddie’s heart. How is he supposed to predict that those words will make Eddie’s chest clench and his head swim with images of a domestic fantasy where he’s allowed to have that?

He tries not to indicate just how much those words sting. “Huh. Yeah, I guess so,” Eddie mumbles quietly. He gestures pointlessly at his bedroom. “I’m gonna… um…”

Steve nods, but there’s a fissure of concern under the carefully neutral mask on his face. “Okay. I’ll grab the girls’ things quickly.”

Eddie just nods, stepping into his room and going to rifle through his pajama drawer, almost on auto-pilot as he changes out of his jeans and into the soft flannel bottoms Steve had bought him, along with their matching shirt. He forces himself not to think about the idea of making a nest with Steve, something he doesn’t deserve and will never have anyway. He’s never even had a proper nest, not really. The one partner he’d had… well, they hadn’t wanted him to have a nest, even if it was something he technically needed. So his pipe dream of having one with Steve is stupid - Eddie doesn’t even know how to do it properly.

He tries to push that thought out of his head, but from there his mind spirals to his other omega failings thus far. He’s old for an unmated, childless omega, and even though he’s helping rear Steve’s pups, he’s not their mother. Fuck, he couldn’t even comfort them properly with his scent - something any decent omega should be able to do on some basic level for any pup, even if they’re not biologically related. And Eddie can’t even do that right! What a poor fucking excuse for an omega. What a lousy, pathetic-

“Eddie?” Steve’s panicked voice comes from the doorway, jolting Eddie out of his nervous, near-manic state. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he’s breathing hard, probably not far from hyperventilating. “Honey, what’s wrong? You smell-”

And Eddie can’t cope with the idea that Steve just knows how fucked-up he is. How pathetic. So of course he has to go and prove it by bursting into tears.

“I- I’m sorry,” Eddie chokes through quiet sobs, reaching up to cover his mouth in a poor attempt to muffle the sound. “I…”

Steve drops the handful of bedding bundled up in his arms, stepping into Eddie’s space with no hesitation. “Oh, come here, babe,” he says, wrapping Eddie up in his arms easily.

Of course Eddie, the pathetic omega he is, nearly falls into the embrace, his face immediately tucking into Steve’s neck and breathing in his scent deeply. He can’t help it, really, but he’s aware that that’s probably a shitty excuse, no matter which way he twists it in his mind. “I’m sorry,” he says, a bit more firmly after a minute of sniffling. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”

Steve strokes his back, his hand leaving a trail of warmth in its wake. “Okay. You seemed fine a minute ago, but then your scent… it got so sour all of a sudden, like… well, like an omega in distress. Are you… Like physically speaking, are you okay?”

Eddie appreciates how carefully Steve phrases that. “Yeah,” he answers, because that’s technically the truth. He should probably pull himself out of Steve’s grip now that he’s admitted that he’s fine, but when he goes to retract himself, Steve is not having it, holding him even tighter instead. “I’m fine, Steve, really, I just…” He doesn’t want to lie to Steve, so he settles for a half-truth. “I just started thinking about how earlier, when I tried to calm the girls down, I… well I couldn’t. Not like…” He sniffles again, the tears welling back up in his eyes.

“Not like what?” Steve asks softly, petting Eddie’s hair.

“Not like their mother could,” Eddie whispers after a moment of silence. “I tried- I really did! But… I don’t think my scent will ever be a good enough substitute for the real thing,” he admits. He’s ashamed to bring this up to Steve, in a way. He’s sure there’s some trauma associated with the absence of the twins’ mother, and he doesn’t want to drag Steve down with him during his breakdown, but he also doesn’t want to lie about how he’s feeling, not when it concerns the kids, at least.

“Well… You did everything you could. And honey, I’m just thrilled that you love them that much- that you would share that with them? That you would try to scent-soothe kids who aren’t biologically yours? Eddie, that means the world to me.” Steve pulls away just a bit, finally reclaiming his personal space when Eddie peels himself away from his neck. “Okay?”

And while that sounds nice, it feels like… like a gesture of placation. Eddie feels the tears swell again. “I’m sorry,” he says, his voice cracking. “I’m a bad omega.” His voice comes out a sob, and he tries to pull away from Steve fully, intending to go wallow in self-pity on his own, but Steve pulls him into a crushing embrace, tucking him back against himself with ease.

“Eddie, no,” Steve says, his voice firm in a way that almost suggests anger. “You are not a bad omega. “I can’t even believe… Don’t even say that, okay? You…” Steve’s voice cracks then, and Eddie realizes belatedly that Steve is shaking. “You’ve been so good to my pups, Eddie. You’re such a good omega. Such a good mom to them.”

And fuck if that doesn’t make Eddie’s omega sing. Still, he has to choke down his sobs to even respond to it, swiping at his eyes with a weak hand. “Really?”

Steve kisses his forehead. It’s a completely unmistakable press of lips to skin, and Eddie nearly melts against Steve at the touch. “Of course. I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job with them, Eddie. They love you, and they can tell how much you love them. So… biology or not… you are the closest thing to a mom they’ve got. And I won’t hear any more of this “bad omega” bullshit, understand?” His voice goes hard and stern, and pathetically, Eddie feels a little turned on by it. “I’m serious, Eds. I won’t have you tearing yourself down about your abilities, okay?”

Eddie nods. He’s not promising that he’ll never feel that way again, but he certainly won’t go around voicing it in Steve’s presence anymore. “Okay,” he says quietly.

Steve gives him one last forehead kiss, a long, lingering thing that makes Eddie’s skin flush. Then, he steps back. “Alright. Grab your pillow or whatever else you need to sleep with, and let's go. We’ve got a nest to build with the kiddos, and we’re missing out on all the good snuggles.” He’s got a smile on his face, but Eddie can tell it’s somewhat strained. He curses himself in his head for making Steve’s life more difficult, for making him feel like he’s got to be some sort of emotional support for Eddie’s little meltdowns. Still, Eddie keeps that self-loathing to himself, as he’s pretty sure Steve won’t approve of it.

Eddie grabs his favorite pillow off his bed, then turns around, giving Steve a shaky smile and following him down the hall. “Sorry about all that,” Eddie murmurs as they’re walking through the kitchen. “I think it’s just, like… My emotions are scattered this time of month, you know? I’d like to think I’m not always that much of a mess.”

Steve glances at him over his shoulder, and this time his smile is more relaxed, more genuine. “Honey, I promise it doesn’t bother me. It’s normal to have emotions. Bottling them up until you have a breakdown is definitely a problem, but we can work on that.”

Before Eddie can disagree, or say anything that makes him sound less like an emotionally stunted mess, they’re stepping back into Steve’s room, where the twins loudly complain that they thought they’d died or something. Eddie smiles to himself as he climbs up onto the bed in the face of their whining.

“We didn’t die,” Steve says, rolling his eyes as he hands out their pillows and blankets, helping them get comfy.

“Were you two smoochin’ or somethin’?” Ivy asks, narrowing her eyes at Steve.

Eddie nearly chokes on his own spit. Thank god he was sitting down and wasn’t drinking anything. His eyes, undoubtedly wide and panicked at even the accusation, flit quickly to gauge Steve’s reaction.

Steve, who is looking back at him already and appearing to be hiding a smile, or maybe a smirk. “No, you nosy girl. We were not "smoochin’ or somethin’". Mind your business.”

Ivy shrugs, snuggling under her blankie and allowing it when Steve climbs onto the bed beside her and opens his arm for her. She cuddles up to him and says, “I was just asking! You guys were gone for ages!”

Steve rolls his eyes, sending a sly wink in Eddie’s direction. “Well, I can see you’re feeling much better, missy, since apparently you can interrogate me on my whereabouts.”

The conversation moves naturally to what the meaning of the word “interrogate” is (“they’re six, Steve, of course they don’t know what that means!”) and why they can’t stay up all night watching movies (“I have work in the morning, and if you guys are just so sick, you should go to sleep. Oh, you feel better? Then you’ll go to school tomorrow!”)

By the time the twins are actually asleep, Eddie is exhausted and not far behind. Steve flicks the lamp off on his side of the bed, casting the room in almost pitch-darkness, save for the soft blue light of the television.

“You want me to turn that off?” Steve asks, his voice soft.

Eddie shakes his head, then remembers that Steve probably can’t see him. “No, it’s fine. The girls need a nightlight anyway, right?”

“Right,” Steve says, and sounds like he’s smiling. “You feeling okay?”

Eddie rolls over onto his side facing Steve, and despite the fact that they’ve got the twins between them, he feels impossibly close to him. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “I don’t feel like I’ve caught whatever crud the girls have, at least.”

There’s a ruffling noise, like Steve is nodding his head against the pillow. “Your period will probably start tomorrow though, right?” He doesn’t sound embarrassed to ask about it, and the thought that he actually cares about the answer makes Eddie feel warm.

“Yeah,” Eddie says. “There was enough cramping today that it wouldn’t surprise me if it started at some point in the night, to be honest.”

Steve makes a soft, sympathetic sound. “That sucks, babe,” he says. Eddie tries not to blush at the pet name; he’s noticed Steve sprinkling that one into conversation more and more frequently, and as much as he tries to convince himself that it’s “unprofessional,” he likes it too much to say anything. “Wake me up if it does, okay? I can go get you medicine, or a drink, or whatever you need.”

Eddie grins into the pillow, is grateful that the darkness of the room gives him some cover, and prays that the television screen isn’t highlighting the stupid smile on his face. “Okay,” he says, even though he knows that he would never, in a million years, wake Steve up for something like that. Still, the sentiment that Steve would take care of him if he did? That’s enough to make Eddie’s whole body feel like it’s been dipped in molten lava.

“You need anything right now?” Steve asks after a couple minutes of silence.

“Mm. No, not that I can think of,” Eddie replies. Jasmine makes a snuffling sound in her sleep, and Eddie reaches out to feel her forehead. “Jazz’s fever seems to be gone.” He reaches out to check Ivy’s as well, and in some shitty rom-com move, his and Steve’s hands brush over her head. “Oops,” Eddie says on a quiet laugh.

“Ivy’s is gone, too,” Steve says, and Eddie can tell he’s smiling.

Eddie yawns. “Good,” he mumbles. “Hated seeing them sick. Glad they’re feeling better.” His eyes flutter close, and he knows he’s gonna be out within a few minutes.

“They had the best mommy taking care of them,” Steve says, his voice so soft and far-away that it could be a dream.

“Mm,” Eddie hums in response, just in case it was real.

“Goodnight, Eddie. Sweet dreams.”

Eddie’s out within seconds.

~~~

When Eddie wakes up, he’s immediately aware of two things.

One, it’s still very much nighttime, given the darkness behind the curtains and the sleeping bodies next to him.

Two, he’s hurting. Bad.

“Oh, fuck,” he whimpers, curling up on his side, facing away from the bed and cradling his stomach with one arm. At least he was right about what time it would probably start, he thinks to himself bitterly as he waits for this cramp to subside.

He doesn’t think he’s making all that much noise until he hears a soft voice behind him.

“Eds? Honey, you okay?”

Of course it’s Steve. Of course Eddie woke him up by accident. God dammit.

“Yeah,” Eddie grits out through his teeth. “I’m fine. You can go back to sleep.”

Eddie feels the bed shift, and he squeezes his eyes shut right as the movement sends a wave of nausea through him. The beginning is always the worst for him, and he tries to frame it like this in his head, so that it doesn’t seem so never-ending. Sometimes that sort of thing works. This is not one of those times.

“Here,” Steve’s soft voice is now directly in front of him, making Eddie jump a little. “Shh, it’s just me, babe. It’s a heating pad. Can I lift up your shirt?”

Eddie can only nod and whimper, curled up in the fetal position as his body spasms with pain. “Sorry,” he mumbles as Steve slides the heating pad under his shirt and turns it on a medium setting.

“For what?” Steve asks, looking confused. The television screen is washing him out, but Eddie can still make out his features, even in the weak light.

“Waking you up,” Eddie says, grits his teeth as his stomach clenches. “Didn’t mean to.”

“Babe, I told you to wake me up so I could help you,” Steve says, lightly chastising. “I’m gonna go grab you a ginger ale and some crackers. Do you think you could take some more ibuprofen?”

Eddie nods. “I could take some morphine to the neck if you had any,” he jokes weakly.

Steve laughs quietly, brushing his hand through Eddie’s hair. “Noted, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be right back.”

Although he hates to see him go, Eddie is relieved that Steve is going to find some things that will hopefully bring him a little bit of relief. He’s hurting badly enough that he’s not even worried about being annoying or getting on Steve’s nerves with his neediness, which is a true testament to how bad he feels. Eddie squeezes his eyes shut and tries to breathe deeply, hoping that might distract his body from the cramping pain.

“Alright, I’ve got crackers, drugs, and ginger ale,” Steve murmurs softly once he comes back into the room. “Can you sit up for just a minute?”

Eddie nods, pushing himself up and leaning heavily against the headboard. Steve passes him a cracker and watches him as he eats it. Eddie struggles to swallow around the dryness, but Steve prompts him to take a sip of ginger ale, which helps it go down. They repeat this process three or four times before Steve finally hands him some medicine. “Thanks,” Eddie murmurs before he takes it.

Steve’s holding the can of ginger ale for Eddie in one hand while his other travels up to cup Eddie’s jaw. Eddie nearly chokes on the pills at the closeness, the intimacy, of the move, but catches himself just in time.

“I’m sorry you don’t feel well,” Steve whispers.

He’s so close. Their faces are only inches apart, and if Eddie holds very still, he’s almost positive he can feel the warmth of Steve’s breath over his face. And in this liminal space in the dark, Eddie craves…

“It’s okay,” Eddie whispers back, like they’re swapping secrets. He watches the way Steve’s eyelashes flutter softly and yearns for something he can’t have, something he feels guilty for even wanting.

Steve’s thumb is swiping over the line of Eddie’s jaw so gently, back and forth, back and forth. And Eddie knows that he’s seconds away from doing something very, very stupid. “Eddie-“ Steve breathes, like he can read his mind. His eyes are intense, and even in the dark, Eddie catches the way they flicker between holding his gaze and staring at his lips.

Subconsciously, Eddie’s tongue darts out to wet his lips, Steve’s gaze tracking every movement.

It’s like time slows down for a moment.

Softly, quiet enough that Eddie could honestly be imagining it, Steve whispers, “oh, fuck.”

At the same time, his hand finally takes a firmer hold of Eddie’s face, tilting his chin up just so.

Steve leans in, and Eddie is certain his heart has stopped working altogether when he feels the barest brush of-

“Steve,” Eddie forces himself to say.

This is wrong.

“Yes?” Steve breathes, and his lips brush against Eddie’s with the word. If he just leaned in a bit more-

“We can’t,” Eddie replies. The words hurt, god they hurt. He’s just a centimeter or two away from getting everything he’s ever wanted, but of course he has to go and ruin it for himself.

Steve jerks back like he’s been burned, his face frozen in something like confusion or hurt. “Fuck, Eddie I’m sorry, I didn’t- I thought…” Steve shakes his head, and Eddie notices that his hands are shaking as well as he goes to set down the can of ginger ale. “I’m sorry,” Steve repeats.

With that, he stands and retreats to the bathroom, leaving Eddie sitting there staring at the television and hating himself for making Steve look so crestfallen.

Which lasts about five seconds before Eddie thinks, fuck that.

He’s careful as he climbs out of Steve’s massive bed, and he feels slightly unhinged as he walks quickly and quietly over to the bathroom. Steve had left the door open a crack, and through that, Eddie can see him braced against the sink, breathing deep, heaving breaths. Eddie slips in silently, gently pressing the door closed behind him.

Steve’s head snaps up, meeting Eddie’s gaze through the mirror. “Eddie, I’m really sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking, honestly, and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I guess I thought-“

Eddie doesn’t let him finish that thought. He crosses the small space between them while Steve talks, and as soon as he’s close enough, he reaches out to touch. One of his hands finds a gentle grip on Steve’s hip, while the other goes further up, cupping Steve’s jaw in an imitation of the way he’d held Eddie only moments before.

He doesn’t overthink it. He doesn’t think at all, honestly. Eddie just closes his eyes and leans in, pressing his lips to Steve’s with a gentleness he didn’t even know himself to be capable of.

He doesn’t drag it out. He wants to- God, he wants to slide his tongue inside and bite and suck until Steve’s lips are wet and pink, but he doesn’t do that. Steve’s mouth is soft and warm and perfect, but Eddie doesn’t even give him a chance to reciprocate before he’s pulling away. He doesn’t go far, resting their foreheads together, his eyes still closed.

“We shouldn’t do this again,” Eddie murmurs.

Steve makes an affronted noise, and Eddie knows he’s about to protest. He doesn’t give him a chance to do that, either.

“I’m serious,” Eddie says quietly. “I work for you, Steve. And… and it just wouldn’t be right. But I couldn’t…” Eddie laughs once, humorless, before pulling back and looking at Steve. He knows the smile he wears is sarcastic and sad at best. “I didn’t want you thinking that I didn’t want you to. And… and I’m selfish. I just wanted to know…” he trails off, sighing.

Steve looks devastated. There’s no other word for the look on his face. His eyes are glassy and downcast, and he sucks in his bottom lip, and Eddie nearly winces at the way his teeth dig into the plush pink skin of his lips. “Yeah,” he says, despondent. The cloying, rotten scent of an alpha in distress is filling the air, and Eddie tries to hold his breath. He knows part of that scent is probably his own, their designations proving, as always, that they can never fully hide how they feel.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie says, and he knows both of them can hear how little he means it. “I probably shouldn’t have…”

Steve gives him a sad little smile. “I’m glad you did,” he murmurs. “I wanted… I wanted to know how you tasted, too.” He says the words Eddie couldn’t get out himself, and Eddie knows he’s going to be thinking about the way Steve looked when he said that for weeks, maybe even years.

It makes it worse, of course. Knowing that Steve wants him like that, finally having that confirmation. It’s still not exactly what Eddie wants- it’s not the pipe dream of a family and an alpha who wants to claim him and give him pups, but it’s something. And Eddie honestly isn’t sure which part hurts more- knowing that Steve wants him sexually, or knowing that they can’t have that.

“God,” Eddie groans, pulling away. “I- I’m sorry. I know I just made things… difficult.”

Steve is already shaking his head. “You didn’t. I’m the one who sort of… started all this. And you’re right, I shouldn’t have done that. I know it’s…” he sighs, sags back against the sink and runs a shaky hand through his hair. “Definitely inappropriate, given the circumstances.”

Eddie nods, chewing his lip nervously. He still kind of feels like he did something wrong, even though Steve doesn’t seem particularly mad about it. “Right,” Eddie says quietly, trying desperately to fill the silence between them. “Can we maybe… just not talk about this?”

Steve looks a little offended at first, but his face clears and he nods, looking away. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” he agrees.

And yeah, that’s not great to hear. Some part of Eddie thought that maybe Steve would argue, would fight for him. Which is ridiculous, and stupid, to expect. “Right,” Eddie repeats. “I-“

They’re interrupted by a sound in the other room, which Eddie is secretly very, very grateful for.

“Daddy?” Ivy’s confused voice calls from his bedroom.

Steve closes his eyes for a second, sighing deeply. When he opens them, Eddie offers him a weak smile. “Duty calls,” he jokes lightly.

“Yeah,” Steve says with a little smile in return. As he steps around Eddie, he reaches out and squeezes his hip. A little surprised breath, almost a gasp, sneaks past Eddie’s lips at that, and Steve gives him a sad look of repentance. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs.

Eddie doesn’t know what he’s apologizing for. Still, he nods, and watches him go, forcing himself to pretend that his heart isn’t in his throat, his ribs aching around the empty space in his chest.

#steddie #steve harrington and eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #alpha steve harrington #omega eddie munson #single dad steve harrington #babysitter eddie munson #alpha beta omega dynamics #abo dynamics #finally safe for me to fall #fsfmtf #the twins get sick in this one #original harrington children

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wetbloodworm · 2 years

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haley talked about a thing last night in call and i was jazzed then and i'm jazzed now

for the zenith-in-fallen concept, ivan having an Issue with zenith being there because his whole THING is keeping the planes in order. i LOVE that and i don't necessarily have a whole lot to add here but i wanted this written down somewhere i can see it again instead of this only being a conversation we had out loud. i have swiss cheese brain i can't be trusted to remember this if it's not written down. i can't be trusted to remember this if it IS written down but at least i can come back to it fhsdkfjsd

i rolled a religion check on my lvl 10 sheet for zenith to see what the chances are of him having any idea of who ivan is as a god. he rolled a 19! which feels about right, his intelligence isn't super high but he HAS done a lot of looking into how the planes work in his quest to come to the material plane. once coming to this one and learning how to read he's also been researching more as he has the time to get more understanding, both for fun and also to see if there are any quicker ways for him to get the rest of him over here instead of just his avatar. i wouldn't control all of what zenith knows but a 19 with ivan being a fairly obscure god makes me think that zenith might at least know that there's some god of the planes that maybe he has to be a little wary of? doesn't know a lot of details, but there's at least one god out there who isn't going to like what he's doing? that feels reasonable to me. wouldn't recognize ivan in the portrait in mel's house even a little, wouldn't immediately assume the god they're meeting is the One, but once he's pinged onto the fact that ivan is onto him like fucking INSTANTLY (rolled a 22 insight check just now lol) he might have his suspicions. especially if they get the conversation we had in fallen where ivan explains a little bit about his role. that conversation being had while ivan is making direct eye contact with zenith and zenith is just SWEATING

EITHER WAY at the least, ivan knows what zenith is and where he's from, zenith knows ivan is a god and that he suspects him. zenith would be on extra good behavior around ivan, which both means trying very hard to appear human and also just... being a good kid dfhjdfk one part 'THERE'S NO REASON TO SUSPECT ME' and one part 'if you can't be convinced otherwise, there's at least no reason to view me as a threat'. yes i'm here illegally but i'm not doing anything WRONG. i'm just vibin' and making friends and saving the world. i'm just a little guy! no need to worry about me and what i'm doing.

god also zenith internally like 'if i save the world can they still kick me out?? surely not. people like people who save the world. maybe that gives me immunity?? i'll have to ask the raven queen about that. can you talk to your friend.'

also a note for my reference, haley commented that if zenith HAD been my pc that ivan would've become his personal villain and god i fucking love this whole thing so much. i love this.

on a related note for this whole zenith-in-fallen concept, i feel like he'd be more likely to come out to the party about what he is voluntarily. partly because if mel knows what he is right off the bat, he'd be nervous about that info coming out somehow out of his control. one person knowing makes it more likely for other people to know, and it'd take time for him to start trusting mel at all so he'd just be. very wary. i can also see that being a conversation, a kinda-gentle 'you're working with these people, maybe consider not hiding this from them, it'll be fine'. really just the more gods/beings that they encounter that can tell what he is/what he isn't and zenith eventually being like 'okay shit i gotta be the one to tell them so i can control how this looks somewhat'. better than malice calling him out in front of god and everybody

#zenith tag #dnd tag #fallen au tag

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thatyamiguy-blog · 2 years

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It’s a living (Ben 10)

it was a nice and peaceful day in Bellwood for a change, though considering it wasn't the main stream universe's Bellwood that made a degree of sense. In fact even as the main verse Ben sat across from his counterpart, enjoying the Mr.smoothies of universe 23 they could both relax as Seven-seven and Tetrax had decided to stay on earth and work as a team with 23, so were out patrolling. "So, not that it's not awesome to see you from time to time..but usually you showing up means something about to go all fucky fucky...Sooo what brings you here?" 23 asked. "things don't ALWAYS go bad when i show up!" Ben protested, huffing a little. "Mmmhmmm..So you showed up and I get attacked by my future team mates..you show up and the Ben war..you show up and Mad Ben.." 23 said, counting off on his fingers. "..Damn uh.. well I promise, no world ending stuff this time." Ben said, sweat dropping. "I uh.. ok so i told you I recently moved out and got my own place right?" "And yet you haven't invited me back once." 23 said and blew a raspberry to show he wasn't really offended. "eheheh well fact of the matter is I mightttta gone a little beyond my means and kinda sorta..I'm like a week from getting kicked out." Ben said, poking his fingers together sheepishly. "Heh, and what, you want a place to crash?" "welll more thinking maybe since I've been helping you and all that jazz, you could spot me a couple of grand to get me in the clear and stuff?" Ben asked hopefully. "eh..I learned the hard way not to loan friends money Ben. it's why me and my Gwen aren't on speaking terms." 23 said, then took a big drink of his smoothie. "however, I AM willing to help you MAKE the money you need, and more." "...Doing what?" Ben asked, confused. "Cuz gotta say, I've tried the retail thing back home and when you have to stop doing stock to fight alien invaders, you don't keep your job for long." "Pffft as if I'd let you work retail! Nah man! You know I've leveraged my frame and endorsed a TON of things right? Part of how I'm rolling in dough? Well I got this one wanna be sponsor who I'm not big on the product, but they are offering a crazy amount of cash. I figure they'll settle for the Ben of anther universe, you do the gig, we split the money 50/50, and everybody wins." 23 said, taking out a note pad and a pen. "Look uh, not to sound ungrateful, but if I'm the one doing the modeling or whatever, shouldn't I get more then half? and what are you writing down?" Ben asked. "That's how much your half of the deal will be, and I think you'll find it more then fair." 23 said and smirked. Ben frowned and picked up the piece of paper, looking down, then did a double take as his eyes went wide. "Holy crap! what am i modeling off? Missiles?!" he asked, his voice going higher then normal. "nah, no weapons of mass destruction in that sense.. though bet you'll still clear rooms." 23 said and gave a impish grin. "You'll be working for huggies." "..Say what?"

After half a hour of back and forth, and Ben admitting he really didn't have a better option, the two took off, transforming into XCLER8 and Speedyquick instead of hailing a cab and made their way to the huggies headquarters. since 23 was used to this sort of thing Ben mostly let him talk over the contract and tried not to get boarded out of his mind as they talked returns and profit margins, only tuning in when the executive they were talking to (who if Ben didn't know better, he'd swear was this universes version of Charmcaster) brought up diaper usage. "Of course seeing your other self in our new line of Lil' stinkers would do wonders for our promotion of them, but if we could show them being used it would really help sell other points. we're taking photo shoots for magazine spreads and of course some tv and internet ad's. the more you and your client can promise us in terms of selling these diapers are for big babies who need to be put in their place, the more zero's we can add to your check." She said, smiling. "Wait..as in..you know.." Ben interrupted before 23 could talk, and unable to say what he was thinking, and blushing badly, he make fart noises with his mouth. "Heh, yes, we want you to go dooty in your diaper." Hope said, smirking and watching the two boys reactions. "N-No way! I mean I'll wear them and crawl around and stuff, but I'm NOT taking a dump in diapers!" Ben huffed and crossed his arms, shaking his head and well, looking just perfect for the target audience. "Maybe I should give you and your client a moment to talk this over. we can make a deal without the diaper usage but it's going to cut into the bottom line." Hope said and got up and left the room. "Can you BE anymore of a brat?" 23 hissed at Ben. "But..but..she wants me to-" "Yes, I know. I was there. Look Ben, I'm putting my neck on the line for you here, if my other sponsors hear about what a crabby brat your being here, it could affect me. Also your the one who came to me for help, so wouldn't like crapping yourself in huggies and making a boat load of cash once be better then doing a bunch more commercials to make the same amount? And who the hell from your universe is gonna see you doing this anyways?" 23 asked. "But I don't wanna poop in a diaper!" Ben whined and shook his head. "and you can't make me! so th-" he started to add, then suddenly he was yanked out of his chair and over 23's laps. "W-what are you doing?! and when the hell did you get so strong!?" "I've been working out since the mad Ben thing. and I'm gonna do what anyone does with a whinny brat.." 23 said and smirked, tugging down the back of Ben's pants. "I'm gonna spank you." Yanking Ben's skid marked stained briefs up and giving the bigger boy a wedgie and exposing those cheeks, 23 paused. "Last chance to be a good boy and let me handle this." he said. "Y-You don't have the balls!" Ben cried out, his voice carrying. "I gave you a chance." 23 said and shrugged, then brought down his hand on Ben's bubble butt over and over, turning the cheeks nice and red as Ben bawled like a baby.

Since the office wasn't sound proofed, and many people knew that both of the Ben's were in the office, it attracted A LOT of attention as the bigger Ben's voice filled the floor with the sounds of wails and there was the unmistakable sound of buns being tanned. Hope smirked as she listened, feeling she had pegged the relationship between the two boys right, and waited till there was just the sound of the bigger Ben sobbing before going back into her office, and fighting back a chuckle as she saw the bigger boy in the corner, his pants in his chair and his undies still hiked up. the boy had his nose to the corner and his hands on his head, and was whimpering and sobbing gently. "I'm sorry for that, somebody needed a attuide adjustment." 23 said. "oh don't be! I just wish we had recorded that! would of been perfect for the set up of a commercial!" Hope said and chuckled. "well I can always spank him again." 23 offered, chuckling to as Ben whined loudly from the corner. "So, may I assume that your both on board with widdle Benny making uh-ohs and tinkles in his diapers?" Hope asked. "I dunno, Ben, are you ok with messing your diapers?" 23 asked. "Y-Yes! No more spankies!" Ben cried out, his hands going from his head to covering his poor buns. "i think that answers your question." "excellent, then I'll draw up the contract, and if we hurry we can have Ben in the studio in about 2 hours. Make sure he gets LOTS to eat, we wanna show off how the Lil' stinkers hold up to even the biggest messes." Hope said. as 23 and Hope chuckled, Ben whimpered and found himself sucking on his thumb having ALL the regrets.

a hour and half later and a semi pot belly Ben was leaning back in his folding chair, in front of the set and belching off and on. He still hadn't been able to reclaim his pants though he'd been allowed to tug the wedgie out at least, though this just got loads of comments about how diapers might be a good full time choice for him. Ben had swallowed back any come backs or threats he had in mind as every time 23 was quick to pat his still sore booty. going on Hope's advice 23 had forced Ben to chow down, though while the catering table was set up with all sorts of awesome snack foods, including Ben's favorite, chilli fries, it was the large pyramid of at least 23 jar's of prune baby food that 23 had directed Ben to, helping the bigger boy and spoon feeding him as the crew setting up the large nursery chuckled. "Come on ben, one jar to go. you can do it." 23 was saying, grabbing the last jar and smirking at Ben's baby food covered face. "D-Dude..I'm not joking..if I eat one more bite I'ma hurl." Ben whined. "that's what you said two jars ago." "by all means, call my bluff, just when your wearing baby food on your shoes, remember i warned you." Ben said with a weak smile then a LOUD and nasty belch. 23 made a face and waved the air in front of him. "Man, if it smells that bad now.. Maybe i should excuse myself to the other room when you crap yourself." he teased. "N-no way..if I'm doing this..you're watching AND smelling!" Ben whined and Belched again. "Can i get something to drink?" he asked. instantly he realized he should of worded his request better as 23 got a large baby bottle filled with what was hopefully milk, and popped it in Ben's mouth. it only took a few sucks on the nipple to realize that of course, it was formula, and Ben scuched up his face. "Hehehe I have to say Ben, you are JUST too cute like this. I might have to try and lock you into a long term agreement here." 23 teased then winced at the glare Ben gave him. "Kidding! Kidding!" pushing the bottle out of his mouth, Ben went to say something but was cut off as Hope strolled onto the set. "Ok people, time to make some magic. baby Ben, we need you in wardore." she said then pasued. "Oh, Do you know how to put a diaper on?" she asked, suddenly looking sheepish. "N-No." ben whined and a loud toot came out his bottom. "Oh er..I don't think we have time to teach you before you unload." Hope said, holding her nose. "it's ok, I'll diaper the big baby." 23 said happily. "of course you will." Ben muttered, but let himself be lead off to a side room where there was star on the door, with his name on it. "great...I'm about to become famous as a diaper boy.." Ben whined. lead inside 23 just chuckled. "Mr.Devil, he's ready for his close up."

The diaper was MASSIVE, and for a second both boys just stared at it, wondering if Ben was gonna be able to even walk in the thing. it was easily the equal to 10 normal diapers layered together and was a soft baby blue (whether that was a marketing choice or just when they had been making these things expect 23 to model them, neither boy was sure) anther loud toot from Ben's back door which sadly filled the small dressing room had both boys holding their noses, and broke them out of their trance. "I..I don't wanna do this. I'm scared." Ben whined, looking at 23 with pleading eyes and starting to squirm in a way that told him their deadline was coming up fast. "Sorry buddy, we signed the contract. but I'll make sure this goes as fast as possible. all you have to do with whimper and cry, and act like you've been acting, and I'll be doing the voice over." 23 said and reached up, patting Ben's head. Ben whined but let himself be laid down on the teddy bear print changing mat on the floor and just lifted his arms to let 23 tug his shirt off. "we're gonna have to enroll you in a exercise program if we need to keep feeding you like this." 23 teased, noting that while Ben wasn't chubby, he had enough pudge on him to look a bit like baby fat, and the baby food in his tummy wasn't helping. Sliding Ben's undies off 23 tossed them in a trash can behind him, then unfolded the massive diaper as Ben whined. "W-why'd you toss out my undies? A-and were are my pants? F-For after?" he asked, feeling so small and helpless as 23 lifted Ben up but his legs to get the diaper under him. "hush, you let me worry about that..though..heh.." 23 paused the look down at Ben's exposed crotch. "Didn't know you shave." "I uh..haven't gotten my pubes yet.." the bigger in so many ways, but not where it counted boy said. "well that explains your cute widdl-" "Watch it!" Ben huffed and for the first time moved to use his Omimatrix. "Ok ok..Sorry." 23 said sweat dropping. "I've had THREE girls interested in me by the way, so it can't be THAT small!" Ben added and 23 smirked and powdered him lots. "And how many of them saw you down there?" 23 asked, as he tugged the diaper up. "and of those that saw, how many stayed interested?" with the diaper tapped up Ben sat up with a bit of effort, but was blushing and wouldn't look 23 in the eyes. "L-Let's just get this over with." Ben huffed and tried to get up on his own, only to keep falling back on his puffy butt. "That's what I thought." 23 chuckled and then held out his hands, Helping Ben get to his feet. the bigger boys BIG diaper had his legs spread and Ben was barley able to waddle, several times needing to stop and take 23's hands as they made their way out onto the set. 'If i make it though this I'm moving to a smaller apartment so i never have to ask this son of a bitch for a favor again.' Ben thought.

Hope grinned ear to ear and had some of the photographers snap shots of Ben needing help with walking, before coming over with a baby blue bonnet and bib that had white text in comic sans, that read BRAT. Ben would of argued about the add ons, since he was pretty sure that hadn't been in the original deal, if it wasn't for the fact he was using every ounce of control NOT to mess himself too soon and have to start all over. "There we go, don't you just look adorable~" Hope teased and tickled Ben's chin. "A-Ah.S-Stop that..w-we hafa hurry up..I..I can't.." Ben whined and rubbed his tummy, a muffled fart coming out and making hope take a step back. As they started to film, Ben for the most part blissfully blacked out, but of course got to watch the commercial after, with everyone praising him on what a good boy he had been.

"Hey everyone, Ben 23 here, and bringing you yet anther great product. So, brats, we all know one and we've all thought about putting them in their place, but where do you even start to get what you need for it?" Came 23's voice, on a screen of black. "Well the answer for that, Is huggies. That's right, the same company you've been trusting to look after your little bundles of joy is here to help you put those same bundles of joy turned into over sized brats back into little baby's." the screen came into focus and there was Ben, a glazed look in his eyes and holding his tummy, in all his big baby glory. "Most of you know about my other universe counterpart, but what you don't know is that he's a grade A BRAT. as a favor to his friends back in his verse, we're giving Baby Ben the punishment he deserves. isn't that right baby ben?" 23's voice asked as Ben whined and pouted. "Pwease, no wanna go poopies! I'm sowwy!" Ben cried out. "now now Ben, you don't want anther spanking do you?" 23's voice asked, and it was the yelp of fear that sold it as Ben totally lost control. the camera zoomed in as the back of Ben's diaper rapidly started to expand, and loud gross farts were heard. Ben for his part was face down ass up, and pounding a fist on the floor as he filled his diapers, crying and howling but really, it only made the shot better. "Lil stinkers is made with a new material that allows for up to 40 times the normal amounts of waste, which means even with 22 jars of baby food in baby Ben's tummy these diapers won't leak, or your money back." 23 said. the diaper only started to take on a dirty stain of brown in the back as the material reached down to Ben's knees. "with our new smell block guards in the diaper, you'll only get the faintest whiff of the the mess the big babies made. Sure it spares the brat but if your brat is anything widdle Benny here, you're gonna be punished enough changing him." with a few last sputtering farts Ben was apparently finished and sucking on his thumb as he got up on his knees, looking to the cameras. "C-Change pwease?" Ben whined. "Oh silly Ben, if we just changed you right away, where would the fun be in that? with added rash protection built into the diaper, along with bratty baby brand powder, Our little Benny can go 12 hours without a change!" hearing that Ben bawled again, both hands coming up to his eyes and there was just no two ways about it, he looked like a giant baby. "See you in 12 hours little guy! enjoy your poopie diaper." 23 said cheerfully. Ben's cries were muted as they went to the last of it. "Lil stinkers by huggies. put your brat back in diapers, and in their place. Available at a super market near you in two weeks."

Ben naturally wasn't actually kept in the poopie diaper for 12 hours, though they did take the chance to get all the pictures they needed for him in his poopie diapers, with 23 posing in some of them with him. Such as having Ben in his arms, Ben over his lap and pretending to give him a messy spanking, and of course 23 pulling the back of the diaper open as Ben sat on his ass, hugging a teddy bear and sucking on a pacifier and 23 holding his nose. If 23 was being truthfully though he was glad he was wearing his baggy pants as the site of Ben like this almost had little hearts in his eyes and he was tempted to try and keep Ben like this. Still a contract was a contract, and once they had enough footage they got Ben changed into a clean diaper but out of the bib and bonnet, and with his t-shirt back on. Ben was actually in the crib that was part of the set up when he came out of it, the staff and Hope and 23 where having a few drinks. "C-Can somebody come let me out? And.. get me big boy undies and pants?" Ben called, using the crib railing to haul himself to his feet but swaying dangerously if he let go, so knowing he couldn't get out. if the crew heard him, they ignored him and kept talking among themselves and laughing, annoying Ben. "I SAID, SOMEBODY LET ME OUT!" Ben yelled and stomped a foot, slipping and falling on his padded rear. "oh great, the baby is awake." 23 said, smirking and winking to the crew who all laughed. "Your not freaking funny! Let me outta here NOW or I'm going way big!" Ben growled and started to fiddle with his watch. "Way big?" a crew member asked. "as in he's gonna be a big boy?" "No! as in the alien who's 100 feet tall!" Ben huffed and got the watch ready to go. "-sigh- I'll handle this." 23 said and walked over, holding his hands up. "heyy heyy..it's OK Benny. we don't need to bring aliens into this. you're all done here and we'll cash your check at the first bank of Ben then you can go home. OK?" "i want outta this diaper, I want outta this crib! and i want big boy undies and pants!" Ben huffed, keeping his hand over his watch. "heh, your terms are agreeable. we only re-diapered you because you were out of it, and I don't really wanna change anther poopie diaper." 23 lied. He would of totally loved to keep changing Ben's diapers but clearly the little guy had been pushed to his limit.

As it turned out they couldn't find pants in the studio for Ben, or a pair of undies so the poor hero ended up standing in line with 23 at the bank in his t-shirt and diapers, which normally would of caused problems but with 23's technically owning the bank, it was brushed over. The first thing they did after getting the check cashed was go shopping and get Ben a pair of sumo slammer boxers, then off to the food court for him to get the taste of the baby food and formula out of his system, though he wasn't able to eat his full order. 23 joked about how they should of gotten him a happy meal as he wiped up the chilli stains off of Ben's face. after that it was time to go home and Ben gave 23's hand a shake. "..ok, you saved my ass from having to move back home..buttt don't expect me to come back here till this ad campaign is over and done." Ben said. "heh, come on, didn't a SMALL part of you have fun?" 23 asked. "hahahaha NO. Today was the most horrible day of my life, and with the shit I've been though, thats saying something. Maybe you can come over to MY universe sometime and be a diaper boy for me though." "heh. or just show up with a diaper bag." "..Shutting up." with that Ben went back to his home universe, very much richer. Or so he thought.

as it turned out their money while looking the same on the outside, was made differently and raised all sorts of flags when Ben went to go and deposit it in his universe. there was a public cry of outrage that a hero like Ben would try and destabilize a local economy like that, and there was talks of official charges of counterfeiting and maybe even jail time. Not even able to get his cash back, and the Plumbers having to give him the cold shoulder publicly to save face, Ben decided to take a little bit of a vacation (2-7 months while the plumbers legal team got him out of the mess) back in universe 23, figuring that 23 owned him, AND wanting to give him a piece of his mind.

"baby Ben! back so soon?" 23 asked, delighted as a red faced Ben made it to his pent house. on the way over Ben had been recognized, teased and scolded for not being in his diapers and had seen billboard with him in all his blacked out diaper baby glory. "ha.Ha. we have a problem." Ben said, and then nodded to 23's couch. "mind if I take a seat?" "Only if you promise not to make a puddle." 23 joked, but moved aside as Ben came in and flopped down. Ben spent the next 10 minutes explaining out what had happened, as 23 looked upset and shook his head. "Man, that sucks. I'm sorry, i didn't know!" 23 said. "well, I need a place to stay for a little while till i get the OK to go back..so I was wondering if y-" "would put you up here for a few months, heh,. that can be arranged. don't think you'll be able to get a place on your own here unless you just did more commercials though, rent in the city has gone up since i live here." "Not like i have a penny to my name anyways, and was gonna ask if you'd rent me a place..Buttt staying here I guess won't be so bad." Ben said with a little smile. "there is a small price I'd like you to pay..But in return for humoring me on this onnnne tiny little thing, I swear you'll want for nothing while staying with me. all the junk food you could want and any video games, the whole nine yards." 23 said, blushing a little now. "..why am i getting a bad feeling about this?" Ben asked. "well see.. they didn't need the stuff they used in your commercial after you left..so they gave it to me for free..and you were just SO god damn cute.." 23 said, getting up and leading Ben to yup, a recreation of the nursery from the set. "FUCK NO!" "oh come on Ben! i promise! no baby food this time and pop in your baby bottles! Pleasssse?" 23 asked, bringing his hands together. "why in the world would i agree to do that for a few months? I could just go do anther commercial, then get my own place here!?" Ben pointed out. "one, because as your agent I control whether you do anther shoot, it's actually part of the contract, two, if I tell my bank not to cash your check who else do you think will cover that much. three, and this is the kicker. where else can you go to with ease to hide out? you really think mad Ben is gonna welcome you with open arms?" "..Fuck my life!"

And so one week after promising himself he'd never be a big baby again, Ben found himself in two of the thick blue diaper's and in a t-shirt top, crawling behind behind 23 and pouting like crazy. "Don't you think top is over kill?" Ben whined. "I'm the one paying for them. so just shush and look adorable." "Not funny." Ben pouted and then realized it would be harder then hell to get off and on the couch's and just sat on his diaper butt in the living room. "So what d-" "I want chilli cheese fires, I want a two liter of coke, and I want the latest sumo slammer game five minutes ago!" Ben huffed then grinned. "..Demanding aren't we?" "and i quote: I swear you'll want for nothing. I want all of that." Ben said smugly. "you know, i could of just spanked you." 23 teased, going to grab the phone and make the food order. instead of Ben telling him off however, the threat had a amusing and smelly effect instead. Ben froze at the memory of that and then well, with him being double diapered it was a little hard to tell since there was no smell, but 23 could of sworn Ben just got a little taller. "heh, Did somebody just make me a present?" "NO!...yes." "Good boy. I'll change you after you eat, if your a good boy." 23 said and winked. "...this is gonna be a long 2 months."

the end?

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