#and am either made to be sick or i try to escape and usually the vessel i choose to flee on just misses me

[autoneurotic]

ik i take anti anxiety/sedater at night to sleep better and not get anxious about nightmares etc, but i still catch myself feeling dread throughout the day as if i will be going to a real, physical place instead of To Bed

[prongslvl]

TAKE A BOW — count vronsky

PAIRING alexei vronsky x fem!reader

SUMMARY a letter of invitation that causes vronksy turmoil in the arms of his affair, leading him into madness.

a/n: my first request! also my first time writing for vronsky, so if my characterization seems off i am so sorry! i also tried to make my writing sophisticated (?) to fit the vibes of the movie. thank you for the request, reader! happy reading.

you were never one to believe in baseless rumors, especially when they came from mouths you had no interest in or connections with. 

it's been a month or less since alexei vronksy, the man who asked for your hand in courtship, was the city's topic. the relationship between you and alexei was quite known because the man himself announced that your hands were his to hold. that's why the women at parties gather around you, either asking questions or expressing their sympathies. it only made your heart shatter and your head dizzy.

you followed the advice of your father to stay at home and try to contact the count. your mother tells you to ignore their words.

you tried, you really did. 

eyes closed from the sympathetic yet mocking eyes of the people, ears shut at whispers, and mouth closed to refrain yourself from lashing out on an aristocrat's wife. 

you knew there was nothing left to do to stop all of this when your father himself, who also helped with looking for answers with his men in petesburg, revealed that these lies that ran through your mind were indeed factual. it took several days of weeping, anger, and devastation before you eventually calmed down and collected yourself, to say the least.

your family was respectful enough to leave you alone with your endeavors, with maids and butlers taking turns to give you a little bit of nutrition every day. they report to their master how his daughter was stuck in her bed, lost in thought, and refusing to consume anything. 

how could you, really? 

the man who swept you off your feet came back home to you in the form of a rumor that was later revealed to be true; an affair with a married woman. your father knew karenin through business, and you can only recall his stoic expression from when you met him as a child. 

alexei has always been a man of escape; he finds ways to relieve himself of the pressure of being a count, an army officer, and the child of a countess. he told you countless times, 

"you are my escape; you are my happiness." the same words he spoke to you as he slid the gift into your hand he brought for your birthday.

it became a habit to look at your hands, specifically the finger where a ring from vronsky lies. everytime you remove it out of disgust and hatred, your pathetic little love-sick heart desperately looks for it after. it was a cycle—a cycle your mother knew you'd be stuck in forever if she didn't interfere. 

when you finally gathered up the strength to dine with your family, who acted as if nothing had happened, they carried on with their usual conversation. they didn't take notice of you before your mother suddenly brought up your brother's upcoming wedding anniversary. she reminisces about the grand wedding when her eyes land on you. it wasn't hard to understand what she was doing; even with your dazed state, you were able to get the idea. 

apparently, a man in yaroslavl wished for your hand in marriage way before alexei did. you only had a bit of memory of the aristocrat; you were too busy fawning over count vronsky to remember.

"he is a good man. his father was of great help to us through the years. he'd be more than thrilled to be wedded to you." your father says it, and your mother nods along with a caring smile. 

"but my heart doesn't yearn for him, father. how can i wed a man i barely know?" 

"we are not forcing you to marry him right away, darling." your mother placed down her utensils as she spoke, saying, "feel free to go at a pace you deam correct." your mother was quick to reply, holding your hand. at this point, you have nothing but yourself to lose. all of your decisions up until now were only based off of count vronsky and regret is an understatement.

"i'll think about it, mother. thank you to both of you." your voice was meek, strained from all the tears you'd shed for the past week. 

.

.

.

nothing could've prevented him from seeing your name with another man, much less being supposedly about to be wed to one. vronsky's calloused fingertips carefully caress the name of the women he bestowed his life and soul to and whom he also betrayed by receiving this letter from the love of his life. 

arms snake around his torso, a slim figure resting against his back. he could feel her breath against his bare body. "you're taking quite a while to get back; is something the matter?" he folds the letter immediately, almost crushing it between his palms in anger. without hesitation, vronksy removes the same hands he desperately craved throughout his journey. 

he felt anguished by the memory of you. the thought of your smile directed at some bastard aristocrat made his vision blurry. he saw you as a challenge, a spite against your father, who wronged him long ago. "you were nothing but entertainment," he tells himself. '"but how can mere entertainment is causing him so much pain?"

a click of a door made him realize his current position on the cold floor of the hotel; he was on his knees, holding the letter for dear life. the silence in the room made it clear that anna had left. who would want to stay with a man she sacrificed everything for, only for him to grovel at another woman?

at that moment, it didn't bother him. everything that happened in moscow, that led to petesburg was gone like the wind. your name was a mantra inside the army officer's head, as if repeating it over and over again would make you appear in front of him. 

vronsky glances at the letter once again, his eyes scanning for when and where this matrimony will begin. it was back in moscow in about a month, when you'll be forever stuck with a man who isn't him. when he finally got up from the ground, put on his uniform, and bought the earliest ticket to moscow, it was like anna never came into his life. 

he could feel the distasteful eyes of men who used to laugh next to him and women who followed him around like a shadow. now that he was out of the hotel where he stayed with anna, it made it obvious for him to realize how fast the news got to you and how long you've been planning this marriage. he doesn't know if he was angry at you or at himself. but one thing alexei knew was that this wedding couldn't happen. 

alexei wasted no time getting to your home, getting on his horse as soon as he left the train station. 

he rang, knocked, and even shouted your name. it took a few more screams before you finally appeared before his eyes. 

you gasp as he kneels to your feet, grabbing onto your dress with his fist. no words can describe what you feel at the sight of him trembling and practically digging his fingers into your dress at how tight his grip was. 

"please, don't do this." alexei's voice whimpers, looking up at you with the same eyes that captivated you in the first place. "i'll do anything that you wish. "i've created a mistake that has hurt you—hurt us, so please..." he took your silence as a chance to stand up on his feet and caress your cheek. 

"leave him," he finishes, tears stained and weak. 

his words felt like knots in your stomach, but it wasn't butterflies that caused it. it was different from what you've always felt when he gently cups your cheeks and looks at you with such intent that any lady would be weak in the knees. 

the calloused hands that lay on your skin felt like poison. these same hands that grab on to you so dearly and so desperately are the same ones that held that women. you didn't feel anything but disgust.

"what you did didn't hurt you, count vronsky. you hurt your mother, your men, the people who treated you as a friend, and..." your lips tremble as you continue, "and the women who actually loved you. not temptation nor a challenge. i loved you like my other half." 

alexei's eyes wagged at the word 'loved', preparing a response, but your words cut him off before he could blabber on. 

"but you have proved me wrong." he could see the eyes that held love for him fueled with anger. you removed his calloused fingers from your face, creating a distance between the two of you. 

"please, my lady, you are—" 

"you're happiness?!" his voice somewhat triggered you to shout, with veins popping out of your neck at how loud you were. the people who tried their best to sneak glances at the commotion finally had the reason to stop and look at the two of you. 

"how many times have you told that woman the same thing, alexei!?" a hand lands on your bare shoulders, and you see your fiance with a worried expression on his face. "i no longer have a reason to let you take my hand, so please, count vronsky, muster up all the pride that you have left for yourself, and leave." 

you intertwine your hands with your future husband, who looks down at you with a worried smile and then a scowl at the dazed man. as you were about to close the door, a strong force stopped you. 

"i will not allow this, never." vronsky's voice was mixed with loathing and somberness, the two combinations that covered his heart as he stared at the hands that used to hold his. 

"i believe you do not have a say in this." your fiance retorts. 

the blonde man scoffs, "my very being is my right." 

"and i'll use my every being to get rid of everything that you have, up until you come crawling back to me, just like you always do." 

his tone, sweet yet laced with venom, made your grip on your fiance's hands tighten. alexei tries to touch you once more, and your instinct to step back comes over you. a bitter laugh came from his mouth, and his eyes fixed solely on you as he slowly left. you let out a breath you weren't aware you were holding as you followed his figure disappearing from the distance. 

[delimeful]

in sickness and in health (8)

warnings: captivity, arguing, remus talking about remus things, panic, gratuitous amount of puns, lmk if i missed any

-

“What’s going on?”

The impromptu staredown between all three humans was interrupted by Roman hurriedly leaning obnoxiously far over the counter, bodily blocking Patton’s view of the two borrowers.

“Patton!” he blurted, clearly aiming for a casual air and instead landing somewhere in the realm of ‘stewing in blatant panic and guilt’. “Hello there, what an unexpected and lovely surprise to see you here, in… the kitchen of your own home.”

Next to him, Virgil heard the small, distinct thwap of his fellow borrower’s palm meeting their face.

“…What’s going on?” Patton repeated, sounding far more awake this time.

“Extremely normal, non-fairy-related things,” Roman answered, visibly sweating.

“Extremely bloody Dionysian orgies,” Remus said at the same time, considerably louder.

Virgil could see just enough of Patton’s expression to watch the way it crinkled in a sort of morose confusion.

“In the kitchen?” he asked, voice pained, as though that was his main problem with the suggestion.

“If there aren’t any knives involved, can any orgy really be called Dionysian?” Remus replied in a faux-wise tone, lifting his arm to make a deeply inappropriate gesture in accompaniment with his words. This technically cleared the way back to the wall, but as it turned out, only for a moment.

Before either of them could get too hopeful about any chance of escape, Remus ended the gesture by quickly clapping his hands over the both of them in a makeshift dome shape.

Next to him, the other borrower only flinched a bit, but Virgil couldn’t help the outright squeak he made at the sudden limbs dropping down over them.

There was another pause from the humans above them, this one distinctly more harried.

“Um, guys?” Patton’s voice had gone from confused to concerned. “What was—?”

“Broken whoopee cushion,” Remus insisted. “Filled it with mayonnaise, you know how it goes.”

“He sneezed!” Roman added, his voice sliding up a few pitches. “Gesundheit, Remus! Totally nothing strange about that— Padre, wait!”

There were big steps drawing closer, now, and Remus’s hands cinched in a little tighter around the two of them. They were forced to huddle even closer together, and the other borrower’s bony elbow collided with his side in a way he wasn’t convinced was accidental.

He shot them a glare, which they returned with an expression that was equal parts indignant and frantic. After a second, they forced a barely-there whisper through grit teeth. “It’s your human. Will he hurt us?”

“How am I supposed to know?!” Virgil hissed back, just as quiet. “I didn’t ever get caught before you showed up!”

Not while the human was conscious enough to remember it, anyhow.

The other borrower’s eyes narrowed into slits, reminding Virgil that he probably shouldn’t be antagonizing the guy that already proved themself willing to try and murder him once. Before they could respond, though, the conversation over their heads continued.

“Guys,” Patton said, sounding stern. “What have we said about wrangling critters in my home?”

“That it was a firmly banned activity after the Great Frog Croak-tastrophe?” Roman guessed sheepishly. “And, y’know, that was certainly a fair and just ruling for that situation, however—!”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t wanna hear it,” Patton replied, unwavering. Virgil could practically envision the way his human was standing from his tone alone: hands on his hips, eyebrows raised expectantly. “Frog or not, I’m sure whatever you two caught will be much hoppier once they’re released safely outside, right Remus?”

“Eh, you might not feel the same after you see them, Pattycakes,” Remus warned. “I know I’m usually the harbinger of pests, wrangler of rats, champion of centipedes, but not even I know what to do about these guys.”

There was the shuffle of clothing, like Patton was shifting in place, and he sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to figure it out together, huh?”

There was a moment of hesitation where Virgil assumed the twins were exchanging a wordless meaningful look, as they so often did, and then the distinct slide of glass across a countertop.

The moment the hands around them twitched, Virgil shifted into a crouched position, drawing his legs under him and preparing to bolt the moment there was space, even if it was probably totally futile. Next to him, he could feel the other borrower doing much the same.

Rather than lift off of them, however, the hands shifted to pinch even closer together, forming the shape of a spade, like a pair of nut shells that had been glued back together at the edges, leaving a hollow space inside. The two of them were forced to scramble upwards into the hold or get limbs stuck in between the sides of Remus’s palms as he scooped them up off the counter completely.

Virgil’s stomach dropped at the upwards movement, completely out of his control, and he reached out and latched onto the side of the other borrower’s shirt with a white-knuckled grip. They were still at least a little concussed, and Virgil wasn’t letting them get separated now, not when he’d already gotten himself into the most terrifying situation in his life saving them. Wherever they were going, they’d at least be stuck in it together.

To his surprise, the other borrower gripped him right back.

After only a few seconds, they were lowered and deposited onto a familiar smooth surface. Virgil grit his teeth at the feeling, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. He’d just gotten out of this stupid glass pitcher!

He didn’t get much time to seethe indignantly, however, because the moment Remus’s hands pulled away, there were much bigger problems to face.

Three of them, to be precise.

Heart in his throat, Virgil slowly lifted his head to look up at the face of his human, warped through the curve of the glass.

With a confused furrow to his brow, Patton moved to take a step closer, and then stopped short as the sight before him properly registered. His hand flew up to cover his mouth, his eyes widening with surprise. “Oh my!”

“I toad you so,” Remus interjected unhelpfully.

Roman cuffed his shoulder, and Remus immediately jabbed two fingers into Roman’s side in retaliation. It was only a firm warning look from Patton that kept them from devolving into another slap fight during the most terrifying moment of Virgil’s life.

Virgil shifted to stand, shuffling back until he didn’t have to crane his neck so painfully to make eye contact. Humans were so big, and it had never been more evident than it was now, staring up at giants.

Staring up at Patton. He was pretty sure he’d had a nightmare that had gone exactly like this. Well, minus the concussed would-be assassin. And the frog puns.

Patton, for his part, had developed a genuinely distressed twist to his features as he took in the sight of the two of them. After a moment of wavering, his gaze settled firmly on Virgil, sending a prickling sense of alarm up his spine.

“Hello again,” said Patton, smiling at him.

Virgil froze. The borrower behind him froze. Even the twins froze for a moment, before their heads both snapped around to stare at Patton with eerie synchronization.

“You know them?!” two voices asked, in two very different tones.

Virgil felt dread drop into his gut like a stone down a sewer grate. There was no way.

“I know one of them,” Patton answered, unperturbed by everyone’s shock. “That’s the little guy who helped take care of me while I was sick!”

He lifted a hand in demonstration and wiggled his fingers, the healing burns on them still visibly shiny.

The twins gaped. “He what?”

Behind him, in a far more bewildered tone, the other borrower echoed them: “You what?”

“You shut up,” Virgil muttered sourly without turning to look at them. His heart was practically shaking in his ribcage, knowing that the human had remembered all along, that Patton had returned home well-aware of the intruder in his walls.

The realization felt chilling, like a thimble of icy water had been dumped down his shirt. Patton hadn’t acted strange at all, hadn’t cast any speculative glances at the walls or scanned any shelves for undersized intruders. The twins and their ghost-hunting equipment clearly hadn’t known the truth, so why would Patton? Virgil hadn’t even suspected.

Who knew what would have happened after Roman and Remus left, and it was only the two of them, with Virgil blissfully unaware of the danger he was in?

Well. Caught like this, he supposed he was going to find out soon.

Patton’s smile faded, carefully watching the way Virgil’s chest was visibly shuddering with too-shallow breaths.

“You thought I froggot, huh?” he said, looking inexplicably sad. “I thought about it while I was in the hospital, and I kinda figured we’re really not supposed to know about you guys. That means it was pretty darn brave of you to try and help me anyways.”

Virgil swallowed, fear sticking in his throat. He didn’t know what to say. He certainly didn’t feel brave.

The other borrower stepped up to be at his side, ignoring Virgil’s reflexive attempt to shoulder them back behind him.

“I suppose the saying is true, then.” They paused, narrowing their eyes in a silent challenge. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

The encompassing flourish they made was a little wobbly, as though their balance was still off, but it got the point across: Patton had recovered from his illness, and they were stuck in a pitcher on his counter.

Virgil’s incredulity at the other borrower was enough to snap him out of the worst of his frozen terror, his head whipping to the side to stare at them.

They were insane. They had to be, using such sharp words and an even sharper tone with a human. This was just about the worst time to instigate an argument. The two of them were stuck in a pitcher on his counter!

Unsurprisingly, neither of the twins looked particularly happy with the accusatory turn the conversation had taken. Patton had been their friend for a long time. They had always jumped at the opportunity to defend him from harm in the past, and Virgil doubted that would change now.

For all their tomfoolery, the two of them could be downright vicious when they were angry. If they were willing to tear fellow humans a new one for messing with Patton, it was gruesome to imagine what they’d do to a pair of borrowers. They’d already been terrifying enough when they’d only been curious about him.

Before either of them could begin to speak, however, Patton nodded once, almost to himself, and pivoted to face his friends.

“Howsabout you two get started on cleaning up the living room so we can settle down and get some proper sleep?” he asked, the request firm enough that it was clearly more of an instruction than a suggestion.

Both twins started protesting immediately, looking extremely put out at the idea of abandoning Patton with their exciting new find. They were talking over each other, the words tangling and becoming an indecipherable mess by the time they reached Virgil, but he was fairly certain he heard phrases like “—but I’ll only lie awake haunted by fairy law and order,” and, “—you can’t keep me away from my new pyromaniac bestie!” in the mix.

“Mhmm, yup, we can discuss all of that later,” Patton replied stoutly, ushering the two of them towards the entrance to the kitchen with insistent sweeping gestures, like a shepherd with his herd. “There’ll be plenty of time to talk over breakfast in the morning, but it’s getting late, so hop to it!”

“We’re being banished with frog puns! This is an amphibian atrocity,” Roman bemoaned.

“Froggin’ unbelievable,” Remus agreed. 

However, even with all their complaints, they seemed to understand that Patton wasn’t budging this time, and reluctantly allowed themselves to be shooed out of the kitchen like the world’s noisiest sheep.

At Virgil’s shoulder, the other borrower took the opportunity to lean in while the humans were across the room.

“You ‘didn’t ever get caught,’ hmm?” they asked, still far too smug considering the situation they were in.

A muscle in Virgil’s eye twitched. Despite everything, he wasted a moment considering the merits of trying to inflict another head injury on his fellow captive. They’d been a lot more tolerable with the beginnings of a concussion.

“Do you want to go back to trying to stab each other?” he snapped instead, stepping pointedly away even as he made the thinly-veiled threat. “Because it seems like you want to go back to trying to stab each other.”

“Oh, I’m so terrified,” they replied drolly, crossing their arms. “Won’t someone save me from the horrible Monoxide assassin and his entirely genuine threats?”

Virgil stared at them for a moment, disbelieving. “You know, I think I actually liked you better when you were trying to murder me in cold blood.”

“Don’t lose hope. Maybe I’ll try again later,” they retorted with a dangerous glint in their eye, and then they were both falling silent as Patton approached once more.

Out of the corner of his eye, Virgil caught the contemplative frown that flashed over the other borrower’s face, the only glimpse of their consternation at facing down a human. They may have had plans aplenty to deal with the twins, but Patton was clearly more of an unknown to them.

…Virgil knew Patton. He’d spent enough time watching the human to get attached, grown familiar enough with Patton’s life to cheer on his efforts and fret over his disappointments. He should be able to find the right words to get them out of this, convince his human the way the other borrower had effortlessly fooled Roman, but… he couldn’t.

It was impossible to think up a strategy for this situation. How could he possibly reconcile Patton, the guy who helped organize weekly PTA bake sales and volunteered to look after kittens he was allergic to and cried when he saw roadkill, with a human who knew, who would keep them trapped, who needed to be pleaded with for their release?

How was he supposed to bargain with a monster if he couldn’t even accept that the monster existed?

“I’m sorry if the twins frightened you,” Patton said, voice lowered to a softer volume. “They tend to be very exuberant, but they don’t mean any harm.”

The other borrower looked as though they were on the brink of scoffing at the very idea that they couldn’t handle Roman and Remus, a defensive slant to their shoulders.

“Why?” The word tumbled from Virgil’s mouth without his permission, his shoulders hunching under the undivided focus of Patton’s gaze.

“Why what?” he asked, tilting his head slightly like a confused dog.

“If you knew,” Virgil forced out, fingernails digging into his palms, “why didn’t you tell them? Or— or look for me?”

Understanding settled onto Patton’s expression, and he hummed thoughtfully, as though considering how to phrase his answer.

“If you wanted to be seen, you would have come out and said hi,” he finally said, simply. “You saved my life by calling for help. If you wanted to stay a secret, the least I could do is make sure to keep that secret safe.”

Virgil blinked up at him, trying to force the words into a configuration that made sense. Humans didn’t just let mysteries exist, especially not ones that were so easy to grab ahold of.

“I won’t lie and say I’m not awfully curious about you,” Patton continued, and his hand was reaching out for the handle of the pitcher and surely, this was the moment that it all came crashing down—, “but you can’t force a friendship. Especially not like this!”

Slowly, in gentle increments, the pitcher was shifted to lay on its side, the open end facing away from Patton. It was practically a straight shot to the closest wall entrance, their freedom waiting where the back of the counter met the kitchen wall.

They’d been prepared to make a break for it at the earliest opportunity before, but now, with escape dangled in front of them, both borrowers hesitated. Virgil exchanged a dumbfounded look with the other borrower, trying to stomp down the insane hope bubbling in the back of his mind.

“If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me!” Patton finished, making sure the glass was stable and settled before releasing it and stepping back. “Otherwise, my lips are sealed— and I’ll make sure Roman and Remus keep the secret, too.”

He made a zipping motion over his mouth, eyes crinkled with amusement at the edges, and then turned and walked out of the kitchen without a single glance back.

Virgil hadn’t uttered a single plea, and yet, the path back to the walls was right there. He looped the other borrower’s arm over his shoulder and led them, step by faltering step, across the counter, even scooping his bag up as he went. Nobody came rushing in, nobody stopped them from taking those last few steps into the safety of the walls.

He’d expected to face a monster, and instead he’d been offered kindness, unasked for and freely given.

They were both quiet as they shuffled further into the familiar cramped space, as though a single sound would shatter the illusion of this impossible release. The other borrower pulled away after a moment, their pain of their concussion likely more manageable in the dark. The silence stretched, relief and exhaustion weighing on them in equal measure.

Virgil yawned despite himself, absently wondering if they were going to continue that semi-murderous argument about cults and who wronged who, and if the other borrower would be willing to reschedule it to sometime after they’d slept.

Ahead of them, a third figure stepped out of the shadows, quickly looking them over as though checking that everyone was still intact. Oddly enough, they sort of smelled like gunpowder.

“Hm. That certainly didn’t go according to plan,” they said bluntly, the oversized pack on their back jingling slightly as they stepped forward. “Still, we all survived, so I suppose introductions are in order.”

[sunflowersandsapphires]

With your steady hand

Of Oak and Ivy, Chapter 3

Series Masterlist         Next Chapter

pairing: Matt Murdock x fem!reader 

summary: Matt and Foggy go head to head in a prank war, much to your dismay.

warnings: Swearing, fluff, descriptions of homesickness

a/n: Did I mean to make everyone cry in this chapter? No. But here we are. (Honestly, from what I can remember, crying was a popular pastime my first semester of college.) We get a little Foggy vulnerability as a side dish for the Matt and Reader vulnerability. I had a great time with this chapter so I hope everyone enjoys!

w/c: 5.6k

Worrying your bottom lip between your teeth, you pushed the food around your plate indifferently. Your stomach balked at the idea of eating, but you were aware that you needed to. The only thing you’d eaten in the past 48 hours was dry cereal, and that had to be bad, right? 

“You ok?” The quiet, concerned voice of Matt from beside you made you jump. In your groggy haze, you’d completely forgotten he was next to you, and, honestly, that you were out in public at all. 

“Yup. Fine. Just not hungry.” Was the bland response you gave. It didn’t appease either of your friends, both of them frowning with worry. You’d been acting…off for over a week now. The cheerful, silly personality that Matt had unwittingly fallen for retreating into a worn out husk of a law student. Though he couldn’t see, Matt would bet dollars to donuts that the bags under your eyes were prominent given how sluggish you’d been recently. Not to mention that you hadn’t spoken up in any class the past few days, which was extremely out of character. 

Though Matt was too afraid to admit that he could tell, he knew your blood sugar was extremely low right now. Oddly enough, you weren’t lying when you said you weren’t hungry.

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok?” Foggy prompted, seemingly following the same train of thought that Matt was currently on. “You didn’t eat much. Did you catch that flu that’s been going around?” 

You shook your head, giving a thin smile. “Nah, just not hungry. I’m ok, guys, promise.” 

But neither guy was convinced by your lackluster argument. After studying quietly in their room, and neglecting a plate of takeout, you muttered something about having chores to do and headed home—much to the dismay of your friends. 

“Ok, what the hell is up with her?” Foggy scoffed, feigning annoyance despite the obvious worry in his tone. 

“I wish I knew.” Matt affirmed, falling backwards on his bed and throwing his arms over his face. 

“She said she wasn’t sick. Did something happen?” Foggy questioned. 

“She might be stressed, midterms will do crazy things to people.”

“Yah, but when she gets stressed about school she is usually all…ramble-y and stuff. Not like this. It’s like she’s not even here.” The air in the room swished as Foggy gestured wildly, his passionate concern aggravating his already violent hand movements. 

“I know, Fog.” 

“You should try talking to her. She’s more likely to tell you.” Foggy accused, rolling his eyes. 

Matt just snorted in disbelief. 

“You laugh, but we both know it’s true. You have a ‘special connection.’” The blond’s voice swayed on the last two words, as if he were a middle schooler pointing out Matt’s crush. 

“Bullshit.” Matt snarked. 

“You wound me, Murdock. You think the heart eyes you two are always making at each other can escape my powers of observation?” What?

“How on earth does a blind man make ‘heart eyes’ at someone?” Matt chuckled, trying to cover up the way his chest was pounding at the thought of his feelings for you being returned. 

“Uh, you tell me, dude! It’s goddamn unbearable. Not only are 90% of the women on this campus ogling you at all times, but you’re too infatuated with our mutual friend to even notice, and you refuse to date her. How am I even supposed to flap my wingman wings?!” 

“I told you, Foggy, she deserves better than I can treat her.” Matt groaned at his roommate’s insistence. 

“Yah, yah, lie to me all you want, Murdock, I’m taking notes for my best man speech at your wedding.” Foggy shook his finger at Matt who smirked. “Seriously, though. If anyone is going to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on with her, it’s you.”

“Hmm, I know she works tonight, I’ll see if she’ll talk to me about it during her shift.” Matt plotted aloud. 

“Keep me updated, man. I worry about that little jitterbug. She’s too sweet for this cruel world.” Foggy sighed, running a hand through his long hair. 

“Unfortunately, I think you’re right about that.” 

Breathing shakily, you ripped the elastic out of your hair and began massaging your temples, to no avail. The pounding ache that had settled over your skull remained, increasing the likelihood that you’d burst into tears from ‘pretty likely’ to ‘it’s a miracle the breakdown hasn’t started yet’. Feeling a lump build in your esophagus, you turned to Jen, who was working at the bookstore with you as you slowly fell apart. 

“You ok, babes?” Your roommate prompted, attentive gaze not missing your glassy eyes and choked inhales. 

Not trusting your voice, you shook your head, looking at her pleadingly as your lip quivered. 

“Aw, love!” Jen pulled you into a hug, siphoning tears from your eyes almost immediately. “What’s wrong? Still missing your mom?” 

“Mmm hmm.” You choked out around a sob. Squeezing you tightly, she hummed in understanding. 

“Why don’t you go sit in the back for a little bit? I’ll be fine holding down the fort.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Positive, babes. Go watch a movie or something. I’ll yell if I need ya.” 

Nodding dolefully, you rubbed at your damp eyes and padded to the closet-sized employee break room in the corner of the bookshop. 

Twisting his cane in his sweaty hands, Matt blew out a breath before entering the quiet store. His walk over from campus had been tumultuous despite the short distance. It had quickly occurred to him that cornering you at work might not be the best plan of action, unless alienating you whilst ruining the beautiful trust you currently held for him was the goal. 

Against his better judgment, he shoved open the door, trying not to wince as the bell chimed to signal his arrival. Hesitating for a moment, Matt realized it wasn't you at the counter, but your roommate. 

“Hi Matt!” Jen greeted him. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too, Jen,” Matt smiled, though the knot of nervousness in his stomach was expanding after hearing your soft cries coming from the break room. “Is, uh, is she working tonight?”

The older girl hummed knowingly, “Yah, she's in the back.” Matt thanked her but she called after him before he could find you. “Just, be gentle with her, ok? She's having a tough week.”

Nodding in understanding, Matt gave what he hoped was a comforting 'I promise not to spook our mutual friend' thumbs up, setting off to keep you company. 

Knocking on the open door lightly, Matt heard you sniffle and scrub at your face in an attempt to look put together before responding. “I'll be right out, Jen—”

“Not Jen.” He answered simply. “Just a friend who thought you might want some company.”

Your muffled footsteps wandered towards him, pulling the door ajar when you reached it. 

Matt's confidence stumbled, your salty tears and wavering breaths immediately setting him on edge. “Tell me to fuck off and I'll leave. I just thought—” His words were interrupted by a grunt of surprise as you fell solidly against him, arms winding around his waist. 

“Hey,” His hands slid up to anchor you, one sprawled over your shoulders while the other stroked your hair to offer succor when you began to tremble with renewed sobs. “Hey, you're alright, I gotcha. I gotcha.”

Wiping your face with one hand, you stood up, removing your arms from around him.  “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry all over your shirt. Shit, I'm so sorry, Matty.”

“Don't worry about that, sweetheart.” Matt's hand drifted to your clammy cheek, swiping a stray tear away when it fell. “That's why I'm here. You…” He paused, choosing his next words carefully. “You seemed like midterms were weighing on you, and I thought you could use some extra support. Let's go sit, yah?” Tenderly taking your hand, he let you guide him to the musty couch, closing the door behind you. 

As Matt collapsed into the ancient cushions, he could feel the plumes of dust rising from the impact. Scrunching his nose against the resulting tickle, he eagerly enveloped you in his arms, pressing a kiss to your head when you settled against his chest. “Did you want to talk about what's going on? You had Foggy and I quite worried when you ran out on us this afternoon.”

Exhaling shakily, you unconsciously arched into his touch, his hands rubbing slow circles into your lower back. “I don't know, Matty. I...it's a long story, I'm sure you don't want–” 

Feeling you tense up beneath him, Matt could practically hear your thoughts as you distanced him from the root of your vulnerability. “Don’t shut me out, sweetheart, please. Anything you want to share I will gladly listen to.” 

“It’s stupid. You’re going to think I’m a baby.” You murmured, tracing the buttons on his shirt. 

“I would never, bubs, you know that. You’re the strongest girl I know, that’s why I’m so worried about you.” 

“You don’t have to worry about me, Matty.” 

“Well, tell me what’s up with you and maybe I’ll stop.” He smirked at you and you groaned, though your lips twitched marginally.

You muttered something under your breath and, though he could hear you just fine, he scrunched his brow dramatically. “You’re going to need to speak up, dear, I didn’t catch that.” He cupped a hand around one ear, grinning when you rolled your eyes and shoved him. 

“I said…I really miss my mom.” You admitted feebly. 

“Aw, sweetheart, that’s not stupid at all!” Matt’s expressive face pinched in sympathy as he waited for you to continue. 

“I’ve been talking to her over the phone pretty frequently but it’s not the same. She’s all I had growing up, I’m not used to her not being…here. God, that’s so childish!” 

“No, it’s not. I may not be homesick for the orphanage, but I haven’t had the easiest time adjusting either.” 

“Really?” 

“Yah, bubs, really. There are things about this new freedom that I enjoy, of course, but I do miss the familiarity of my old routine. It’s not childish, I promise.” Running his hands over your arms, he smirked. “You know what is childish?”

“What?” 

Bending at the waist, Matt drew his cane from the floor and turned it to display the two plastic circles that had been haphazardly slapped on the black foam handle. Taking the cane from him, you traced a finger over the new decorations and giggled. 

“What the fuck?” Disbelief and humor slowly halting your tears, you looked eagerly to Matt for an explanation. Two standard googly eyes, placed at a lopsided angle, wiggled at you as you passed him back the item in question. 

“My thoughts exactly.” Matt chuckled. “Foggy bought a bag of googly eyes at the dollar store and has been sticking them to everything in our room. I had to pull a pair off of my glasses before coming over here.” 

“You should’ve left them on. Let everyone know what a serious law student you are.” You snickered, snuggling against Matt’s chest again. “Why, exactly, did he choose to do this?”

Matt chuckled, “I think it was his idea of a prank. Pretty minor offense, though. He’s told me horror stories about the things he and his brother used to do.” Shuddering, he bit his lip to keep from purring as you began rubbing his back. “It’s kind of…sweet though? I think it’s his way of showing me I’m like family.” 

His throat clenched as he spoke that realization. You smiled, squeezing him tightly. “That is sweet, Matty. I hope you realize how much we care for you.” 

“We?” The dark haired boy can barely contain his tease as he gave you the most innocent glance he can muster. 

“Shut up, trouble. You know I care about you. Even if I’m not putting googly eyes on all your stuff. To be fair, though, I don’t think I’ve ever pranked anyone.” 

“Really?” Chuckling incredulously, Matt was surprised that you’d never played a practical joke, given your adorable goofiness and slight pettiness. 

“Not that I can recall. Is that weird?” Your mind was quick to plummet back into anxiety, worrying that Matt would be alarmed by your lack of a normal childhood. 

“Of course not, bubs. It just seems like something you’d find funny, is all.” 

“Aren’t they…mean?” The hesitation in your voice didn’t surprise him, his heart suddenly swelling with an intense desire to shelter you from anything harmful. 

“Sometimes, but not the ones I’m planning.” He assured you. 

“What did you have planned?” 

“Well…” Matt eagerly divulged his schemes, egged on by your renewed giggles and steady heart. If pranking Foggy would make you happy, he’d gladly involve you in it. 

A few days later, you were practically glowing with excitement as you “studied” beside Matt. Echoing footsteps in the hallway outside the door sparked a gasp and you spun towards Matt eagerly. 

“Is that him? Is he here?” You nearly squealed. 

Chuckling at your darling, albeit very caffeinated, display of giddiness about a terrible prank, Matt shushed you. “That’s not him, sweetheart, but you have to keep your game face on.” 

Raising your arm in a mock salute, you jested. “Sir, yes sir.” 

Dutifully returning to the book on your lap, you took a few inadequate notes on the chapter before the door unlatched, Matt threw you a grin. “Act natural.” 

Foggy traipsed into the room, immediately picking up on the unusual vibes in the air. 

“Hey…” Looking between you and Matt skeptically, he dropped his book bag to the floor unceremoniously before crossing his arms over his chest. “Didn’t know we had a study group meeting today.”

“Oh we don’t, I was just bored so I called Matt to see if the two of you wanted to hang out.” You shrugged nonchalantly, turning a page in your Civil Procedure book. 

Matt was absolutely floored when the lie slipped between your sweet lips with sincerity. Given all the energy you’d exhibited before, he’d assumed you’d reveal the prank far too early. Trying not to look at you with the surprise that overtook his mind, he added, “I told her that I was studying for CivPro and invited her over. Is that a problem?” 

Foggy narrowed his eyes at the pair of you, clearly not convinced something fishy wasn’t afoot. But his disbelief didn’t save him. Vaulting himself onto his semi-lofted bed, an inglorious noise shattered the tense silence in the room. 

As you burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, Matt was forced to continue to prank on his own. “Oh my god, Foggy, we have company.” 

Turning beet red, the blond spluttered in response, “That wasn’t—I mean, I…SHUT UP!” Ripping back the covers, Foggy found the culprit instantly and hurled it towards Matt. 

With a smug grin, Matt tilted his head towards the scrap of thin rubber. “What is this, Fog?”

“You know damn well what it is, you ass!” Foggy scowled, hopping off his mattress to point at Matt accusingly. “A Whoopie Cushion?? What are we, five??”

Still in stitches, you were leaning against Matt who was holding you up with a single arm. Foggy was unamused. “You know, I expect this childishness from Murdock, but you?” The long-haired law student bit out your last name as if he were a teacher scolding you for distracting the other students. “I expected better of you. Fuck this, I’m leaving.” 

That broke you out of your state of humor. Launching yourself off of Matt’s bed, you stumbled towards your sulking friend with less grace than intended. Your over caffeination and extended time sitting had quickly drained the blood from your head. “Foggy, wait—Woah…” You swayed on your feet. Thankfully, Foggy caught you before you could hit the carpeted cement with your entire body weight. 

“Christ, jitterbug, you don’t have to pass out on me to keep me here.” He sighed, handing you gratefully back to Matt who pulled you into a seated position at his side once again. 

“Sorry,” You apologized sheepishly, “Got light headed. But please don’t leave! Matt was just teaching me how to prank someone.” 

“She’d never pranked anyone before.” Matt explained further. 

“Never?” Foggy whistled. “Fuck. Guess you’re forgiven then. Murdock, you’re still on my shit list.” 

“For a Whoopie cushion? I’m sorry, are you not the roommate who covered a blind man’s stuff in googly eyes?” 

“Et tu, brute!” Laying a hand across his chest in mock offense, Foggy’s eyes glimmered as he continued to play up his innocence. “I’ve already told you. That was our mischievous ghost roommate, Steve.” 

“Ah, right. Then I guess we can blame him for the Whoopie cushion too.” Matt raised an eyebrow, silently challenging his roommate. 

The blond mirrored him, accepting the challenge with an even tone. “I guess we can.” 

Looking between the two of them, you felt a lick of apprehension roll up your spine. This was far from the end, that much was clear. 

Dashing up the musty staircase, Matt fumbled with his keys. Slamming open the door, he ran his hands along the spines of books beside his bed, snatching the correct one. The book was tossed haphazardly onto the bed as Matt stripped out of his rain-drenched shirt. 

Last night had quickly gotten away from him. Originally planning to stay up late and study for his final midterm, he’d parked himself in the library with a thermos of coffee and his American History textbook. Given your tendency to unwittingly distract him, and his roommate’s constant foghorn-like snoring, alone in the library was the most appealing option if he wanted to pass this exam. However, his sex drive was not as devoted to his academic success. A bubbly girl from his history class had greeted him, offering to help him cram for the looming test. He’d gratefully accepted, but they’d only made it through a single chapter before she’d invited him back to her room. 

Exhausted from his strenuous activities and the resulting lack of sleep, he’d inevitably overslept. His internal clock was apparently not as effective as the blaring alarm that he normally used. Sprinting home through the deluge of rain, he had mere minutes to change and get to Legal Methods.

So here he was, relinquishing his soaked through button up to the floor as he plucked the first shirt from his dresser. Flinging on the shirt–which had short sleeves for some reason–and his raincoat, he flew out the door and towards his class. 

He was barely late, but you still looked at him smugly when he finally plopped down beside you, eliciting a few laughs from other students in the classroom. 

“About time you showed up, trouble. How was your night?” You murmured, trying not to draw any more attention to the two of you. 

He didn’t need sight to know you were dramatically wiggling your eyebrows at him. “You heard about that, huh?” He asked, blushing furiously. While he was depressingly still hung up on you, the raw animalistic desires that composed his Id could only be suppressed for so long. 

“Oh Foggy spared no detail when we got coffee this morning.” 

Trying his damndest not to feel miffed that you’d had coffee with only his roommate, he aimed for a nonchalant tone. “Coffee with Fog, huh?” 

“Well, it could have been both of you if you’d answered your phone.” You chuckled softly, shaking your head at the subtle pout on Matt’s face. “Don’t worry, trouble, you’re still my best guy.” 

For a moment, all Matt could feel was the stutter of his heart. “Oh–uh, that’s,” He stammered, face glowing with a crimson blush. You giggled at his response.

“So is the raincoat a permanent fixture or did you just forget to take it off?” 

Matt rolled his eyes, “Well, someone started talking to me and I got distracted.” Unzipping the vinyl jacket, he began to pry it off when a choking sound from you halted his movements.

“What?” He muttered, with feigned exasperation. 

“Is that a new shirt?” You bit your lip to keep from laughing, already speculating just who had purchased that garment. The button down looked nothing like the simple ones Matt usually donned, and he usually dressed more conservatively in longer sleeved garments–there was no way he had purchased this fabric of his own free will. 

Unlike the dark sweaters and monochrome shirts that made up the rest of his wardrobe, this shirt was…colorful, to say the least. The pattern was a horrendous combination of flames and hawaiian style flowers. A ring of scarlet cartoon hibiscus blossoms sat atop Matt’s waistline, composing a base for the flames, which looked like they’d been pulled off of a racist’s motorcycle. 

Matt ran a hand along the hem, tilting his head in confusion. “This isn’t my shirt, is it?”

Stifling another round of giggles, you shook your head. “I don’t believe so, no.”

“You’re laughing. Fuck, what does it look like?” 

“Um, it’s got flowers and…fire on it? Definitely not your style.” 

“Shit!” Matt hissed, zipping up his coat as quietly as he could. “Foggy must’ve put it in my dresser.” 

You bit back a smile, turning your attention to the professor who had begun looking for students to pick on. 

After a few hours of legal jargon flowing in one ear and out the other, Matt could barely sit still—his mind already planning the trip home to inspect the rest of his clothes, which he assumed had also been replaced. Though he’d been willing to beg for your assistance, he’d only needed to ask for you to come with once before you agreed sincerely, clearly pitying him and his ugly shirt. 

Sure enough, when they’d returned to his dorm and examined the contents of his dresser, it was filled with clothes that were most certainly not his. The textures were all wrong and you confirmed that they were all garishly patterned. 

With a low growl, Matt slammed the drawer of his dresser shut, making you jump. 

“Hey, it’s ok, we can just ask Foggy to put your stuff back!” You reasoned, placatingly. 

Shaking his head with a snarl, he clenched his fists. “Oh no. This means war.” 

You gulped, not finding an ounce of sarcasm in his words. If you were Foggy, you’d be begging for forgiveness about now. 

The next couple weeks passed in an agonizing blur of lengthy readings and lonely work shifts. Matt and Foggy had doubled down on their efforts to out-prank each other, and it was beginning to take its toll on their relationship.  

As the weather turned chilly and fallen leaves began to carpet the ground, you were finding it difficult to be in the same room with the two of them. After the wardrobe incident, Matt had sulked for two days, refusing to hang out with Foggy until he'd had his revenge. Armed with a box of hot pink hair dye and a few permanent markers, Matt was sure he'd be able to make Foggy look as ridiculous as those shirts made him feel.  If your shocked reaction was any measurement, he'd say the effort succeeded. 

Of course, Foggy rewarded this behavior with a prank of his own. Finding and removing his formerly pristine school supplies from mounds of loose Jello had been a horrendous sensory experience that Matt NEVER wanted to repeat. That was approximately 4 days ago and Matt was STILL finding dried bits of lime jello in his pen caps. 

The two continued to trade practical jokes, currently locked in a battle of removing each other’s furniture. He was still working on his most recent prank at your next study group session. With the help of a floormate, Matt had been able to move Foggy's desk, chair, and mattress to the roof of the dorm. Sweating profusely while he heaved the plastic covered mattress up the last flight of stairs, he didn't hear you approaching. 

“Whatcha doin'?“ You asked cautiously, taking in the manic determination on full display. 

”Pranking...Foggy.” He managed. Fuck he needed to hit a gym. 

“Well, that was a given. Do we think that this is still within the realm of friendly teasing? Or...” 

“He can sleep on a bed...when my stuff...stops smelling like it's made of fucking fruit.”

“Hmmm. Ok. I'll be in your room then.” You replied, your words tinged with a disappointment that Matt wasn't anticipating. It irked him, pulling at his stressed consciousness uncomfortably. How come you hadn’t shown the same reaction when Foggy had moved his things across the hall a week ago? Shrugging off the guilt he felt, he mustered up the strength to shove the mattress up to its destination.

Huffing breaths as he shuffled down the stairs to you, he couldn't shake the lingering irritation that your tone had implanted in his psyche. You were sitting on folded legs in his bed, textbook open in your lap. 

“Ready to study?” You questioned, not glancing up from the text. 

“Depends, am I going to get a lecture?” 

“On intentional torts? I'm not an expert, but I can definitely try--” Your innocent tone did nothing to soothe his growing frustration. 

“That's not what I meant and we both know that.” He bit out, “If you have a problem with it, you can just say so, I'm not made of glass.”

“There's no problem, Matty.” Your heart stuttered and his anger sparked. 

“Bullshit.” He scoffed, pacing in front of you. 

“I don't know what's up with you and Fog, that's your business, this just seems...extreme, Matt.”

“He took my clothes, that wasn't 'extreme' to you?”

“I didn't say that! I'm just saying this isn't an effective way to communicate that you weren't comfortable with him touching your stuff.” 

Rolling his eyes, Matt yanked the door open. “On second thought, I think I'm good with this chapter of torts. I'll see you in class next week.”

“Matt,” He couldn't bear to focus on you, your rapidly crumpling body language, the lump of emotion in your throat. 

“Please. I don't want to lose another friend.” He pleaded.

Sighing in defeat, you closed the book and left without a word. 

Matt breathed shallowly, matching his inhales to the pattern of your retreating steps as he cursed himself for turning you away. Setting his jaw, he swiped away a drop of moisture from his cheek and set off for the stairs. 

It was hours before Foggy got home, out with a group of students from his Modern Dance class. Walking carefully into the dark room, he flipped on the lights and hunkered down on his bed, stripping off his dirty socks before opening his Property textbook. 

“Hey Matt, have you started on the Property essay yet?” He asked the stiff lump of a man who lay in his own bed facing the wall.

“No.” Came the gruff response of his surly roommate.

“Shit, I was hoping you'd have started with our jitterbug so I could mooch some tips off you two geniuses.” 

Matt didn't so much as snort in response to the bad joke. Instead, he abruptly rolled over and snatched his cane from its place beside the door. 

“I'm going for a walk.” Matt remarked, icily.

“Oh, uh, ok did you want—” 

“No.” Shutting the door firmly on his way out, Foggy blinked at his shadow as it disappeared. 

“Goodnight to you too, I guess” He scoffed, turning back to his assignment with a roll of his eyes. 

Setting your jaw, you blew out a breath and knocked on the door. When you received silence in return, you rolled your eyes and knocked with more vigor. “Matthew, Franklin, I know you’re in there!” 

A very apprehensive Foggy appeared as the door slid open. Shoving past him and into the room, you gave a furtive smile. “Hello, how are you, I'm also well, thanks for asking.” You rattled off, collapsing into Matt's creaky desk chair. 

Foggy was still hovering nervously by the door, avoiding your stern gaze, while Matt courageously pretended not to notice your presence--fingers running over lines of braille in a thick book. Folding your hands together, you plastered on a sardonic grin. “Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, I would like to kindly request that you two get your shit together.”

Your blunt words and brash tone ignited defensiveness in them both. Foggy spluttered and Matt turned to face you with a look of indignation. 

“What are you–” “We weren't–” 

“Cut the crap.” You interrupted the pair, leaning against the frame of the chair and crossing your arms. “You want to fight with each other? Let a stupid prank war drive our group apart? Fine. But the least you can fucking do is grow some balls and tell me that yourselves. I'm tired of the sulking. So, what'll it be? Are we done?” 

Both boys sat sheepishly in their own silence. Foggy kicked his feet as if he were a toddler on a swing, Matt looked like a kicked puppy—crimson blush glowing on his cheeks as he pushed up his glasses. 

After several moments of hesitant silence, Matt spoke up. “We aren’t done.” 

Nodding in relief, you jerked your chin at Foggy, “Fog, you agree?”

“Course I do! There’s no way I’ll graduate without the two of you. It’s in my best interests to keep you happy.” It was clearly meant to seem like a joke, but the way Foggy’s voice trailed off at the end made you tilt your head.

“Hey, you know that’s not true right? You’re plenty capable of doing this on your own!” Frowning, you watched as Foggy’s face crumpled before your legs were moving of their own accord, carrying you to his side as he turned his glossy eyes to his bedspread. “Hey, Fog, I’m serious!” 

Running a hand along his shoulder, your heart split in two as fat tears slipped down his face. 

“Fog, buddy, you’re so smart!” Matt chimed in, crossing the divide between the two beds and settling on the blond’s over side. Tugging Foggy to rest against your shoulder, Matt’s head stacked against yours atop Foggy’s blond hair–the three of you melding together into a stressed heap as the heightened emotions of the past week culminated. 

“It’s true, don’t deny it.” Foggy lamented from his place on your shoulder, strands of his thick hair sticking to the glistening trails that ran across his blotchy cheeks. “I have no idea what I’m doing, I shouldn’t be here! Maybe my parents are right and I should drop out to work in the family store instead.” 

“The hell you should! You’re just as capable of this shit as we are.” You assured him, rubbing a hand up and down his sweatshirt clad arm. “And you’re not the only one worried about passing. I freak out about that every day!”

“Yah, but you’re not the one who failed the Civil Procedure midterm.” The long haired boy sobbed. 

You froze, second-hand anxiety rippling through you like a stiff breeze. Matt’s head lifted from yours and cocked towards his roommate. “Oh Fog, why didn’t you tell us?” 

“You were mad at me and we weren’t hanging out anymore and–and–” The poor kid was bawling, fists clenching around the worn fabric of his pajama pants as feelings of terror and embarrassment welled up in his chest. 

“It’s ok, bud, just breathe.” You soothed shakily, trying to model steady breaths for him. Sensing your intentions, Matt smiled encouragingly. 

“That’s it, dude. You got it.” When the blond’s breathing evened, Matt nudged his shoulder gently. “I’m really sorry that I pushed you away. I was acting like a fucking middle schooler instead of being honest with you. Just know, you can always always come to me, even if we’re fighting.”

“Same here.” You added, studying Matt’s blank eyes for a moment, “That goes for both of you.”

“Can we go back to being best friends now?” Foggy sniffled, pulling back to look between you and Matt warily. 

“We never stopped being best friends, silly,” Pulling Foggy into a tight hug, you huffed a chuckle as he sighed in relief. 

“Well, ya could’ve fooled me.” The words were muffled as Foggy continued to press his face into your cardigan. 

The bed stirred underneath you as Matt shifted uncomfortably. Clearing his throat, you could see him building up the courage to confess, “I’ve never, uh, I’ve never really had…friends before.” Matt’s words were calculated, trying not to reveal too much anguish as he spoke. “I had a mentor for a bit, at the orphanage, but that was it. So, I’ll admit, I’m not the most…practiced at this.” 

“That’s ok, Matty. We can teach you. Right, Fog?” Taking the raven-haired boy’s hand, you waited for the other’s assent.

He nodded viciously, swiping a hand over his damp face. “Of course.”

Squeezing Matt’s hand, you giggled. “You’re stuck with us now, Matty.”

With a satisfied grin, Matt threw an arm over Foggy’s shoulders. “Thank god. Who else will put googly eyes on all my stuff?”

Foggy smiled as you giggled, but his face quickly fell as you brought up studying again. “As for that test Fog, we can go through it together. There’s plenty of time until the end of the semester and we have two other exams. You can do this.” 

“You think so?” Biting his lip, Foggy glanced between you and Matt. 

“We know so, bud.” Matt promised. “We’re in this together. Right, jitterbug?” 

“Ok, where is this ‘jitterbug’ nonsense coming from.” You scoffed, biting back a smile at Matt’s hearty laugh. 

“Don’t ask me, Foggy started it!” Matt chuckled.

“Sure, pass the blame to the crying kid!” Rolling his eyes, Foggy elbowed Matt in the chest.

“You’re not even crying anymore!”

“You’re both deflecting!” You butted in, earning new excuses from both boys. 

As the three of you argued, you remained a knot of limbs–shadows and pink rays of light dancing across your smiles as the sun set.

Thank you for reading!!

Bonus Content: the shirt referenced in Foggy's second prank!!

Taglist: @eugene-emt-roe@abbyhaslongshorts@mrs-bellingham@abucketofweird@yeonalie@jadeunstablexx@spider-murdock@0ctober-writes@danzer8705

[matthyeu]

 1:27 am ― sqr.

pairing ⇢ shen quanrui (ricky) x gn!reader 

genre ⇢ fluff

warnings ⇢ none

word count ⇢ 882

synopsis ⇢ after a rainy evening, you're left in your bed in the midst of night with a need to go outside and a neighbor who's willing to drive you around. (fluff)

usually the sound of rain puts people to sleep. it was peaceful, the pitter patter of the droplets hitting the cement at a rapid pace. 

that wasn’t the case for you. rain made you excited, ready to see the new world unraveled by the water decorating the earth (not to mention the fresh feeling you received when you inhaled the new smell of rain on the earth). 

at times like these, you would go outside, but considering it was the dead of the night, you refrained from doing so. it was far too dangerous to be going out on your own. you never knew what sick person could be waiting outside for people like you who wanted to wander into the unknown. 

instead, you resorted to looking outside your window at the new world you weren’t able to encounter. pulling away at your curtains, you rested your head on the window sill as you looked down from your room on the second floor of your home. while semi-blocked by the raindrops racing down your window, you still could see how the water beautifully spread around your front yard garden. 

you were about to go back to bed after admiring the world the rain brought from your room when you spotted another figure across from your room, your neighbor ricky who also happened to be looking out of his window. 

smiling, you waved to him. to which, he waved back with a small smile. before you did go back to bed, however, you noticed he was quickly typing something on his phone. was he trying to text you? no, he didn’t even have your number. 

he pressed his phone against the window. it held a message that was slightly hard to read because of how small the screen was. you had to squint to read it. 

wanna go for a late night drive with me? 

you thought about answering it with a simple nod, but soon decided you wanted to answer in a similar manner, pulling out your phone to type up a simple ‘yes.’

when you pressed your own message against the window, he gave you an ‘okay’ sign with his hands before disappearing from his window. you also went to your closet to put on a jacket in preparation for the likely cold weather that came after the rain. 

you carefully tiptoed down the stairs to escape the house, cautious to not knock anything over as you made your way to the door. if your parents knew what you were doing in the middle of the night, you would never see the light of day again. 

the breeze hit you immediately as you closed the door to your home. still, the fresh smell of the rain was worth it all. 

once you opened your eyes from taking in the air, ricky had already pulled up to the front of your home with his car. 

getting into the passenger seat, you quickly pulled the seatbelt across your body to maximize safety. though, since you two were likely not going too far from your neighborhood, it probably wasn’t needed. the slippery roads did make you think twice, however. 

“thanks for this ricky,” you mentioned as he began driving down the road, “i really wanted to go out, but it was hard since it’s.” 

you paused to read the time displayed on the clock. “1:27 in the morning.” 

“yeah no problem. i noticed you liked going out after it rains, so i thought i’d offer since i couldn’t sleep either,” he explained as he made a turn out of your neighborhood. 

“is it obvious?” you asked as you looked out at the scenery. it was so much prettier when you were closer to it. 

“a little,” he admitted, “but it’s a good thing. most people find sadness in the rain,” 

you shook your head. “it’s not like that for me at all. i think it’s beautiful really, the water falling on everything makes it shine in this way nothing else can shine. it’s not the same as spraying it with water either. everything just has a new beauty after being rained on.” 

“you really like the rain huh?” 

“i mean look at it!” you exclaimed, pressing your finger against the window to point at a patch of plants outside where the car had stopped at the red light, “isn’t it just the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. it’s glistening, ricky!” 

he turned his head quickly to see what you were pointing at but quickly turned back to focus on the road ahead of him. “i guess it is.” 

“don’t even get me started on the smell of it. it’s just the most peaceful thing in the world, being able to take in the smell of fresh rain.” 

ricky rolled down the window as you spoke, allowing the fresh breeze you preached about to seep into the car. both of you took a deep breath to take the air into your lungs. 

“yeah i guess that is really peaceful.” 

“right?” 

you placed your arm over the window, sticking your head out to take it all in, the world left behind by the rain. it was a whole different experience at night, and you were glad you were able to experience it with ricky. 

[queenhunter102]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (part 5)

(Part 4) (PART 6) Aegon slouched into his chair glaring at his spent seed in his hand, he had half a mind to chase after you to smear it down your face, he hated when his seed went to waste, at least with is smeared across your face it would be something pretty for you to think about when you continued you tasks for the day. Aegon begrudgingly got out of his chair and walked to his bathing chambers walking to the cold fresh water before gently wiping his cock and hands clean thinking how he could annoy his brother, how to drive him mad with the thought that Aegon was able to pleasure himself with the view of you working in front of him. He smiled as he stuffed his cock back into his breeches walking back into his chambers, he eyed his bed tempted to know if you smelled half as pleasant as you looked, he walked out of his chambers on the hunt for either you or his brother. Aegon after scouring the keep for the two of you, he couldn’t find you anywhere he could smell you, by the seven he thought he may have heard you, but he hadn’t seen you, but Aemond, Aegon found him rather quickly finding him in his usual couch, tucked away under a window. He smiled as he made his way over to his brother, practically bouncing on his feet, he was ever so pleased to ruin his brother’s day, “Aemond brother, I have seen that little servant of yours” he said in sing song voice, as he approached Aemond, who sat on his chair his long hair hiding his face, “Is that right brother?” Aemond says as he flipped a page, sounding bored of his brother already “Oh yes, you know they are so very pleasing” Aegon said, as he sat down on the arm rest of the couch his brother sat on, giving Aegon a full view of Aemond face. Aemond hummed as he flipped another page, “I am pleased to see you have found another pillow to chase brother” he said, again sounding bored, Aegon’s face gained a rather large grin as he spoke his next words, “Yes, they seem…rather intent on my actions, even allowing me to go as far as touching them bare” It was lie, a bold lie, but a lie all the same, Aegon watched as his brother paused in his reading, Aegon’s smile growing brighter, as Aemond’s body tensed, as rage passed through him. “Is that so brother?” Aemond asked through gritted teeth, Aegon turned his head away looking out the window from his little perch on the arm rest, nodding as if it was such a grave and serious matter, “Yes brother, they seem to be desperate and needy” He said, as Aemond stood dropping his now discarded book to the couch. “Excuse me brother, I have believe something requires my full attention” Aemond said as he stormed out of the room.

You had been on your feet all day, walking back and forth between the chambers, your arms ached as you walked finally sinking to your knees, a breath of relief escaping your feet felt if they were given a voice that they would scream, you picked up your scrubbing brush as you began to try and clean the blood that seemed to appear at the will of the gods. As you scrubbed you heard angry footsteps rushing down the hall, you lifted your head when you saw Aegon run down the hall laughing, sporting a bloody nose and a bruise that seemed to become darker with every passing moment, “BROTHER!” Aemond yelled, as he chased after Aegon, his fist bruised, bloody and cut. “Yes brother dearest?” Aegon said, as he came to a dead stop at the stairs, staring down at you on the floor on all fours, and he smiled one of the sweetly sicking smiles, the one he would use to convince young sweet thing to climb into his bed. You stood quickly, grabbing the pale of water and your brush before quickly pulling to the side trying to get out of the way of whatever the brothers where fighting over, “Oh brother, look -” Aegon began to yell, before Aemond’s fist caught him in the jaw. “I care little for your words as of now brother” Aemond said, grabbing Aegon by his tunic and shook him, “How dare you defile what is mine Aegon” he said gritting his teeth, giving him another punch, before dragging him down the stairs, Aemond’s eyes caught sight of you, he gave you a glare that put the fear of the gods into your heart as he passed by. You pulled in on yourself a little to shield yourself from his glare, you stared at his back as he walked down the hall, wondering what you had done to incur his wrath, you sighed as you sunk back to you knees scrubbing now the bloody line, hoping that you would be able to clean the blood out before Taryn screamed at you. as you tried to scrub the blood out the floor, you heard another set of footsteps this time fairly lighter than Aemond or Aegon, you lifted you head to find R’hillor in incarnate Taryn walked towards you, you closed your eyes as you continued to scrub the floor. He stopped in front of you holding his hand to you, you pause as you look at it unsure what he wished for “I want your hand, or do you wished to experience pain again” he near barked at you, he quickly gave him your hands, as he instructed watching as he flipped them over eyeing. He then dropped them like they were on fire “Pathetic, they are soft, and un-bloody” he said, as he kicked the water bucket over, “labor with speed wilding, I do not wish to explain how you have failed your duties to my lady” he said as he walked away.

Taglist : @prettykinkysoul,

[factual-fantasy]

30 asks! :0000 Mostly Mario stuff :}

My hopes were dropped even lower tbh

Hot take, but I don’t like the personality they’ve given Peach. She just feels like a cookie cutter tough woman character that you see in like every movie now a days. It feels like they didn’t put any heart into her. They just made her a tough woman lead and called it a day. She’s more than that you guys common!

Peach is already full of personality, why change her? She’s sassy, she’s classy, she’s emotional, she’s unique. Why changer her? Why make her dress up in armor wielding an axe to go fight Bowser? That’s not what she’s like, If anything she’d strut out there in her dress and all to go fight Bowser.

Here’s an idea you guys, keep Peach the way she is in canon. Why? Because that’s the personality she’s had for years. It would also make her much more interesting in the movie. And get this! We already love canon Peach.

Aside from that. I wasn’t a fan of the whole go-cart thing, it felt out of place for what the rest of the trailer looked like. But idk maybe it makes sense in the movie. Jeez, there’s a lot about these trailers that I don’t like-

BUT, I can say that I LOVE what they seem to be doing with Mario and Luigi. Mario reaching out and grasping Luigi’s hand, that whole scene makes me think that we might get some brotherly moments between the bros. Which I am all for!

@theflamingflamingos​

Like if you drew my version of Donkey Kong. Where he’s big and red with long fur, or drew the designs I made for Peach and Daisy’s dress’s, that wouldn’t be so cash money. 

I wouldn’t be happy if someone drew fanart of something I designed basically. Which includes my Mario AU..

@dark-cynder49

The things I had in mind was if Mario and Luigi are in a public place, Mario would try to keep people from interacting with Luigi. Like, if someone tried to talk to them, Mario would step forward and do all the talking and answer questions on Luigi’s behalf. 

If Luigi just needs some time away from all the noise. Mario will find a way to get him out of there, even if it means he needs to cause a scene to allow Luigi to escape unnoticed.

Sometimes though that doesn’t Work. Sometimes Luigi cant get away or his anxiety just keeps rising.. if that happens Mario will discreetly hold his hand, and squeeze it tightly. Just knowing that Mario is there usually keeps him calm enough that they can wait out the stressful situation and get away.

Now when they’re in private? Luigi’s anxiety is a lot easier to deal with.

Mario can openly hold Luigi’s hand and comfort him without any risk of judgmental stares. Mario can talk to him in what ever language he wants because no one can hear them. Usually Luigi just parks somewhere on like a couch or a bed, gets some water and they ride the out anxiety together.

Heh, and here Mario thinks he’s not the best brother he can be, smh.

@justapikachu1​

Oh I’m sorry, buuuuuut Peach cant use Power-ups in this AU. So no cat Peach this time.. 😅

Also I don’t know anything about Cappy or his species, so he has not been added to my AU...

aaaaa, they cannot use Power-ups either! In my AU only humans can use powerups. Peach and Daisy are not human, and obviously neither are the Toads-

I think if the poison Mushroom was a thing, it wouldn’t be a Power-up or anything special. Just these bright toxic Mushrooms that make anyone who eat it very sick..

I have played none of those games, and thus am unfamiliar with the villains and did not add them to my AU..😅

SNIGF, U FOUND/LIKED SOME THINGS CUZ OF MEEEEEEE WAAAAAAAA

XD I love drawing sad brothers what can I say?

mmmmno, not really :/ I’m still trying to fix my FNAF AU and save my energy for those long comics.

I’m not familiar with that.. Power-up..? I didn’t know it existed and thus, didn’t add it to my AU..

I have some ideas in mind for those actually! Although they’re not super ironed out..

The Shy guys might be this spooky tribe in the woods somewhere. They don’t work for Bowser, they just kind’a do their own thing. And I imagined that they’d be cursed, or at the very least people fear them because of all the horrors and death that seem to follow them..

The chain chomps were supposed to be giant hunks of metal, that Kamek used his powers to cast a curse on. This curse brought them to life. The curse of hunger.

The Piranha plants are supposed to be just a rather dangerous species of plant that live all over the place. But Bowser feeds the ones that grow near his kingdom. Thus making them bigger.. and bigger... and bigger. Until their roots are strong enough that they can relocate themselves where ever they want..

Aw, thank you! :D

Also, my only tips is to use references of the real deal. Because I myself also struggle with the Koopalings/Bowser and have to heavily reference in order to get them to look right 😭

Uhg, that’s frustrating as always. 

Report them if you can, comment that its stolen if you’d like, thanks for letting me know.

They are all Bowsers blood children in my AU. And they have no role in his army or anything like that.

My idea is that there is a hidden home/castle somewhere on Bowsers land that is guarded heavily by Blue shelled Para troopas. In this home is where his kids, Kamek and Kammy all reside. Where they are kept hidden and safe from anything or anyone that might try to harm them.

I don’t have any plans for them in this AU, although they do exist!

@fruitcakei​ 

XDDD Norton is trying to protect you from the angst-

@the-cosmic-stars​

I’m not familiar with any of the Mario Galaxy Power-ups.. But! Rosalina does exist in my AU! Although the story of her game does not take place. :(

I actually have some sketches in my folders of her that I should get around to drawing sometime.. 🤔

@aimless-aimz​

Daisy and Peach think the Boos are little pests. They cant actually really hurt anyone, but they love to sneak into their kingdoms and scare their civilians. Super annoying 🙄

As for if you’re not scared of them, they might be offended or upset. In which King Boo well.. he doesn’t like people makin his Boos upsetti spaghetti

@caronaro123

XD If you tried to hug them or befriend them, I imagine King Boo would be suspicious of you and keep you at arms length. Or just trap you in a painting-

I imagine the Toads know of the Mega mushrooms and can tell them apart from regular trees.. but I doubt they would have a way to move the wild ones since they don’t have Yoshi’s anymore. So they probably have a garden of Mega Mushrooms somewhere in the kingdom just waiting to be tested on.

Buuuuut, they were saving those for another day. Assuming just by size alone, that they weren’t safe to test within Kingdom grounds.

That’s when Mario and Luigi would stumble upon one in the woods without knowing what it is and.. I think you know the rest XD

@wadofgum​

Aw, thank you! Also yes! ✊ Another follower dragged into the Mario fandom by my works XDD

Some of the Boo might be offended to an extent. Like what, we’re not scary to you? Huh? Why aren't you scare of us??

But also some of them might be flustered or surprised. If someone came in and just gushed about how cool they were, they might be inclined to show off a bit. Maybe try to make even scarier faces to look cool.

All in all, I think they’d spare you, and let you leave the Mansion unharmed out of flattery.

hmmmmm not necessarily..

While yes he would have a fever, which would make them think this is just an illness.. 

Mario’s skin would also begin to burn and fry. Like a sunburn that keeps on burning and burning.. His hair would be singed and start falling out, he would light fire to anything he touches..

Yeah, I think they’d know <XD ...

@shinygazelle744​

Ah, unfortunately Mario only gets his Tanooki abilities when he consumes the Tanooki leaf Power-up. And the form he gets is 100% the animal form. He cannot change it to be anything else.

Without the Power-up in his system, he’s just good ol Mario :/ he doesn’t get the privilege of having just the tail and ears at any point XD

(And also, if you spelled it right- yes and no. The real world animal, Tanuki, is how you spelled it. But for some reason Nintendo spelt the Power-up as “Tanooki”??)

Either they throw so many fire/ice balls that they eventually just, use up all the flowers power..

Or, they take a huge blow of physical damage, and the fire/ice flower consumes all of its remaining energy trying to protect them from the hit.

Yeah, it was pretty rough. There were two whole days where Mario was too cold to really do anything other then sleep. And even after he warmed up.. he was too exhausted to move, so he just kept sleeping.

As for the toads.. I think Toadsworth would have been pretty upset at the scientists. And he would tell them that they needed to pace their research better as to not overwork Mario.

He also probably wanted to be present for more of the testing. To insure their hero’s were being given proper treatment. You know, he wanted them to be treated like hero's who were graciously offering their bodies for scientific study. Not guinea pigs.

@milk-powrit​

I don’t actually know anything about the paper Mario games.. and I didn't have intentions to bring any characters from the spin off games into the AU. Excluding well known spin off characters like Waluigi and Wario of course,

Basically, I don’t know anything about Mr L. And considering if from the paper Mario series.. he might not have a place in the AU..

I haven’t actually thought that part out yet. And I’m not sure I’ll ever find an explanation.. its as much of a mystery to me as it is to the characters I guess haha <XD ... 

@kirbyparadise​

Well thbnk you for sayinh kind things about me and my art which make me wanna make moraaaaa

@journey-of-aris

Aw! I’m so glad I inspired you! And these plush toys are awesome! Keep it up! :D

[oldbutnotyetwise]

Night Thoughts

     The last few nights I have been waking up in the early morning hours, usually between three and four.  I raise my hospital bed up to the seated position and take one of my ALS medications, hoping I am able to swallow it without choking.  I need to take two during a day, and they can’t be near eating times, so the middle of the night and middle of the afternoon is normally how I do it.   My hospital bed moves much quieter since I had Ravi my PSW lubricate the moving parts.  Prior to that all the creaking and groaning made it sound like a big old door in a haunted mansion every time I changed positions. 

     Normally I am able to get back to sleep but as of late sleep has been evading me in the early morning hours.  I lay there flat on my back because that is the only sleeping position available to me these days.  I watch all the city light seeping in through our windows and lighting up the bedroom walls to the point you would think it was dawn.  We are twelve floors up but still the city light reaches us, there is no escaping it.  As I lay there I see the occasional flashing lights reflect off the walls from the nearby fire station as the Paramedics respond to their next emergency.  Apparently they aren’t sleeping either.  I miss our home up north where the light seeping in our window was a softer, kinder light.  It told me how full the moon was or if it was cloudy, it was a soothing light.  City lights just seem cold and harsh.

     I close my eyes again, trying to block out the light but then I become more aware of the hum of the city.  They say the city never sleeps and I think they are right, maybe the city can’t get used to its own noise either. I can hear the passing traffic and a humming sound.  Not sure if that humming sound is from the city or from living inside a Condo, there is never silence here.  I do so miss the deafening silence that living on our farm brought us, I know this may not make sense to you, but the silence up north was quite loud, all enveloping.  The silence up north feels like being wrapped in a big warm blanket and sitting in front of a fireplace, feeling the warmth, as you watch the flickering flames.

     As I lay there I hear Robin stir from her sleep, I hear her slide open the drawer on her night table and a few seconds later I hear the familiar opening of the flap at the end of the medication box, then the crinkling of the foil and plastic medication wrapping as she retrieves her Migraine medication from it’s packaging.    This is not a good sign, it means her always challenging day is probably going to be even more challenging.  There is no phoning in sick and taking a day off when your husband is disabled, you just have to push through and get things done.  My heart aches for her, I miss the days when I looked after her when she wasn’t well.  Pulling down the blinds, covering her with blankets, bringing her ice packs wrapped in towels, warm soothing teas, and sometimes just holding her trying to offer her gentle comfort in the midst of the Migraine storm that was battering her.  I am no longer able to look after her like that, it seems so unfair to me that all the looking after is now a one way street, she has to look after me, and after herself.  I am glad that she has drifted back to sleep, perhaps she managed to get the meds in early enough to divert the storm.

     I’ve been awake for an hour now so I sit back up and decide to read, perhaps that will tire me out and let me find my way back to sleep.  As I begin reading it occurs to me that although I didn’t do this intentionally, this is the third book in a row about someone going on a journey or pilgrimage.  There is something ironic about reading about these great journeys when here I am limited to where my wheelchair can take me.  On the other hand this ALS journey is certainly a different kind of adventure, just not one I would recommend.  After a few chapters I settle back down and attempt to sleep again.

     I lay here, being cruelly tortured by this body of mine.  I can feel an itch on the top of my head and another one far down my right leg.  Both screaming at me to scratch them, but neither in a place I can reach anymore, it is my own body mocking me, cruelly laughing at me while I lay here helpless.  Okay, just don’t think about it, think about something else, but that doesn’t work, the harder I try not to think about them the more they push themselves to the centre of my thoughts.  In addition to that I have my almost constant headache, not a head splitting one but rather a dull constant ache.  I know that the headache is probably due to dehydration, it is hard for me to take in enough fluid when I can only take it in small sips or risk choking.

     I have suffered from sleep apnea for a long time, prior to getting my CPAP Machine I would have nightmares where I was drowning, gasping for air.  I would wake up trying to catch my breath and having to calm my racing heart.  Something about the positive air flow causes my airway to stay open and helps me get a better sleep.  I had taken my CPAP off to read and as I am no longer able to put it on myself, I tried sleeping without it. I remained in a mostly seated position as this helps me to keep breathing, but still every few minutes I stop breathing and wake up again.  It is apparent that a return to sleep is not going to happen this morning.  It is also quite apparent that ALS has made my sleep apnea much, much worse.

     I think about this not breathing thing.  Last time we spoke to my Doctor, The Killer Blonde, I had explained having trouble with something ALS patients call Acid Tears where one or both of your eyes suddenly start to burn and tear up.  She made some inquiries about it and learned that it is likely caused by a buildup of CO2 in my body.  Apparently my body is no longer able to expel all the CO2 and this cause some kind of Acidic buildup which seeps out of my eyes causing the burning sensation.  I may be due for a new machine called a BiPap which pushes air in and then sucks it back out, hopefully reducing the CO2 buildup.  I have seen other ALS patients using them, just another stark reminder of the onward march of this disease.  

     After she mentioned the build up of CO2 I am suddenly aware that my breaths have become much more shallow.  I had been a runner for most of my life so my breathing and lung capacity had always been above average but these are no longer Runner’s lungs, they are now ALS lungs, now below average and continuing on their downward spiral.  I believe my breaths are a third or half of what they once were.  This must have been gradually getting worse for a long time and I just didn’t notice it.  Just more breakdown between the brain and the muscles that keep a body functioning.

     I’m still awake when I hear Robin get up and go to the washroom, I recline my bed until it is flat and when she returns she climbs into bed with me.  The hospital bed is small and narrow, definitely not made for two but we snuggle into each other, my right arm wrapped around her, her right leg draped over mine.  Although normally this is the best part of the day, today Robin is softly crying into my shoulder, overwhelmed at the thought of having to get through another challenging day when she feels so poorly.  This is a reminder that heroes don’t all wear capes, they too struggle and get overwhelmed.  I admire Robin so very much for how bravely she faces our challenges.  Some mornings as we lay in each others arms, our tears intermingle, not because one of us don’t feel well but rather because of what we know is coming.  I will share something with you, something that surprised me, and may surprise you as well.  It is not this dying thing that is the heart wrenching devastating thing that we are facing, the dying thing will probably be quite easy.  What is rocking our foundation is the knowledge that soon our paths will part for the final time, Robin will continue on her path alone, and I will go through a door to the unknown.  

     As Robin and I lay together I can feel the fasciculations -the muscle twitching I can’t control beginning.  They start and stop twenty four hours a day now.  I can feel my right thigh twitching, Robin’s leg is draped over it so I know she must feel it too.  Oddly, I can feel the right side of my stomach twitching as well, not a place where I think of having a muscle but obviously there must be something there.  I used to spot the drug addicts walking down the street by the way they twitched, seeking out their next fix, now I am just like them twitching in my bed or wheelchair.  Their twitching stops after they get their fix, my twitching is more unpredictable, coming and going however it pleases.  

     This morning Robin doesn’t fall back asleep, she is too upset, but we both take comfort in the arms of the one we love,  Soon the time comes and we get up, she fights her battles, I fight my battles and together we fight our battles.  We still have some fight left in us, and although we know in the end we will lose, we aren’t ready to quit.  We are like that outmatched boxer, bloodied, bruised and swollen, being battered by our opponent.  The bell rings, we get up for the next round on weary legs, staggering to the middle of the ring hoping our opponent can’t see how close he is to winning.  We know that more hurt is coming but still we move forward.  We are tired and growing weaker but we don’t want to quit.  For now, we fight on.  

[jokers-bat]

All My Joker Headcanons (that I have so far, mostly involving 2004 Joker and UTRH Joker)

Warning, this is long but I hope you like it anyway!

2004 Joker

Likely has experience in gymnastics or dancing at some point in his past (possibly in childhood or teen years). That, or he was a theater kid.

Is capable of doing SOME good…As long as there’s something in it for him!

Can wear shoes and/or socks but prefers not to because he’s more confident when barefoot.

Chaotic evil…With maybe a small pinch of empathy?

Takes very good care of his hair. Will sometimes steel shampoo, conditioner, hair brushes, combs and other hair products to keep it clean and healthy. 

You know he’s sad or upset when he goes for hours without laughing. 

He’s often mistaken for being clueless or ignored and dismissed as some find him annoying, but he’s actually very observant and a lot smarter than others give him credit for. 

Knows Arkham Asylum inside and out…No matter what kind of cell they put him in, he always figures out how to escape. It’s like a game or puzzle to him!

He’s your best chance at escape if you and him are ever imprisoned somewhere.

He and Penguin are rivals…But he is the closest thing to a friend he’s ever had and he’s not good at expressing that.

Side note to that, he’s not good at socializing or at making or keeping friends. He’d rather pull pranks than simply ‘hangout’ with people. He’s surprised when Harley or his thugs sticks around but is secretly relieved that they did and do.

…Sometimes he’s lonely…

Still has no memory of the whole ‘Gotham cemetery’ incident, but he doesn’t like people touching his neck now. The idea of someone putting their mouth on his neck terrifies him. Penguin and Batman are the only ones who understand it though. 

Hides in his room or cell when he cries. He has a lot of bad memories with people seeing him vulnerable and doesn’t trust anyone to see him in that state. 

Under The Red Hood/Death in The Family Movies Joker 

Remember that friend your mom used to ask if you’d jump over a cliff for if they told you to do it? Yeah, HE’S that friend! 

Whatever you do, DO. NOT. Tell him you’re not afraid of anything! He will take that as a challenge and try to figure out what scares you! 

Don’t TELL HIM your phobias either! Chances are, he’ll use them to prank you. 

Side note, nothing scares Joker…Nothing really grosses him out either…You could get sick and throw up on or near him and he won’t judge you for it, but he’ll NEVER let you forget it either. 

Nuclear evil and a certified asshole.

If he considers you a friend, he’s your bodyguard for life…Seriously, he’ll offer to kill anyone who bullies or harms you. 

Not gossipy, but loves witnessing drama and absolutely will not help the situation. For example:

Y/N: “Joker, do something!!” 

Joker: “I am doing something!” (heats up popcorn in the microwave) 

He loves his crowbar and thinks he can solve most problems with it. Usually anything that could involve hitting someone with it or use it to break into something.

You know it’s bad and/or you’re in big trouble if Joker is concerned.

Secretive about his own past. Open about his brief time as the Red Hood, but nothing before that. Either he doesn’t remember his life before that or he keeps it to himself. 

Finds everything funny. Life is never boring for Joker!

No one knows if he feels sadness, fear, or regret. If he does feel them, he doesn’t show it…

Reliable horror movie buddy! Will watch scary movies with you any day and will aways bring snacks.You’ll scream, but he’ll laugh. For him, horror is comedy!

When you call him, his response is somewhere along the lines of: “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!” or “It wasn’t me!”

Never give this man anything made out of glass!

One of the few who can stay calm and level-headed in serious situations. 

Usually gives unhelpful and borderline homicidal advice. Some highlights: “Why don’t you just send him a text that says ‘Fuck you, I’m staying home today?’”, “We can always kill him.”

Other comments he’s made: “I don’t know whose crazier. Me, or the people who hangout with me.”, “Why would you trust ME with anything?”

Joker Headcanons in general: 

Being friends with Joker is not easy.

He’s the biggest asshole you’ve ever known but he’ll remember your birthday, your favorite treats and your interests till the day he dies. 

Halloween and April 1st are always an adventure with Joker! 

He might not have accepted Batman’s offer to redeem him in TKJ, but he appreciated it. The man he was before may be gone, but there’s just enough of him left to know Joker couldn’t change that easily. 

That same part of him hates himself and what he’s become more than anything else. 

More than likely has a lot of unresolved issues. Past traumas, possibly mental health issues, etc.

Even if Joker did accept Batman’s offer and genuinely wanted to redeem himself, he has so many bad habits to get rid of and even more demons to face. Not necessarily impossible, but would be extremely difficult and might not be completely successful. 

If he has any family, he doesn’t have contact with them. Mostly for their own safety, not putting it past his enemies to go after them for revenge against him, but more so because he doesn’t want them to know who he is or what he’s done (basically, they think he’s dead and don’t know he’s become the Joker). 

Even if someone DID care about Joker and he cared about them, he’d drive them away because, one, he doesn’t himself (either he’ll hurt them or they’ll somehow get hurt because of him), two, he knows he’s dangerous and that he’s an evil monster and doesn’t think anyone could or would actually care about him, and finally, being hated and feared is easier than navigating relationships. 

He does in fact have feelings for Batman but it’s very complicated.

Joker should really have a non-lethal, non-criminal hobby-and he probably does…But he doesn’t have enough free time to do them…

He’s the guy who’d piss off politically powerful people just for the fun of it.

[non-un-topo]

oh please please tell us about the next qq fic 🥺🥺🥺

Hello, beloved!!! Thank you for enabling me lmao!!

So I desperately missed writing little queer quartet adventures, but was basically brain dead and fell into a heavy post-fic depression after my last mystery fic. But I've been spinning this idea around in my head for a long time now and will very soon have time to write!! Bits and pieces will likely change, but I can tell you some things so far.

Putting this under a read-more actually because I kind of rambled and I don't want to clog the dash lol

It will take place in India in the mid 1400s. The quartet will have come from Bulgaria, escaping the consequences of a certain mistake that Quynh might have made in battle. Not a small mistake, either. They make it to northeast India and have to stop because by that point they're penniless and starving. Conveniently, there happens to be a noble Hungarian family who has settled there for not-yet-known reasons, managed by the lady of the house, lady Morana, because the lord is off fighting the Ottomans. Anyway, Morana is causing problems with the locals by demanding that they mine for ~~something, ohh~~ even though she hopes she's being a good person by supplying them with jobs and extra food. But whatever she's mining for --- which she has not actually specified --- must be really valuable because she's offering all of the house's gold and riches as a reward to whomever finds it. She has men overseeing the mines who sift through all the resources people find, who might call on anyone at any time if they happen to find the thing. Anyway -- the quartet sees this noble family (and later a very sick population of locals) and think, "hmm. We should con them and redistribute the wealth." Naturally.

Somewhere along this line (I'm still figuring it out) they, or more specifically Yusuf or Quynh, realize the lady might be looking for a fabled substance that can turn iron into gold. That's right: the philosopher's stone. So this is sort of how they try to con her. Yusuf takes on the role/disguise of an alchemist and makes fool's gold, Nico has to pretend to be a leper for a little while. It's a whole thing.

But before all of that, Quynh and Andromache both get jobs working for this family because... food and money are needed, stat. Even though Quynh is morally opposed and grumpy about it, she gets a job as a servant, hoping it will put her closer to the lady of the house so she can learn her secrets (like wtf are you digging the land for, lady). It doesn't quite. Turns out Quynh is hired specifically to assist the lady Morana's daughter, Jana, who is blind. Jana is not helpless like her mother thinks, and she is very smart and well-read. She and Quynh develop a nice little friendship and do anarchy. Andromache is hired as a swordsman to train the eldest child of the noble house, Henrik, who is 16 and acts like it.

I could talk a lot about the OCs because I just spent a few days developing them, but I'll keep it under wraps for now unless anyone wants to know dsfgfd. I just figured the canon characters are probably a lot more interesting.

Andromache will eventually get to beat up the bratty young lord (for a good reason).

Yusuf will put his artist skills to good use, and miiight come across some problems as he pretends to be an alchemist (I mean, lying about the fact that you have THE miraculous alchemical substance has consequences).

In befriending Jana, Quynh may also befriend a Mysterious Character who also works for the household, ohhhh. I was thinking a lot about GoT and HotD lol. Many mysterious spy-like characters there.

And Nicolo will discover some things about medicine that will have lasting benefits. (He might also have to amputate something in order to look like a convincing leper, but he'll get better lol).

I can tell you there will be alchemy (well, not really but you know), lepers, moral issues / grey morality, OCs I am kind of proud of, drama as usual, and very many typical queer quartet shenanigans and jokes.

Anyway uhh yes! There it is... <3 I'm still figuring out the plot and doing my research, but it's definitely cooking. It will also switch POV between the four characters, which I don't think I've done before in one fic yet! I'm aiming for Quynh to be more of the focus though. If this ends up being like 40,000 words and super niche or disorganized, oh well. I'm just happy I have a new idea <3 Thanks again!!

[mistfulcake]

Platforms Of Fate (Often considered the 1st in the series.)

----

Chapter XX, im just writing moments and then threading them together to form a story :P

----

"Will you die at the hands of god or the strings of fate in which he has made a trap out of.

The spider or the web?!"

Theo yelled out. His throat threatening to crack and croak with every emotion that he could feel in his voice. He could feel his breath rasping, his pained expression almost begging for some hope in the others eyes.

"Because I'm not dying to either. I'm sick of being treated as if I'm someone that needs help..." He stopped yelling and mulled over his words. An uncomfortable silence took over the tense atmosphere. Theo sighed and glanced away from the group.

"Maybe I do need it. But that's not the point, are we really going to let some... Sick bastard that plays dolls with us, make us lose that hope? That same hope that we might escape this hell? Because I sure as hell am not."

He turned back to the broken hourglass, glaring at its taunting glow. The same one that would soon start the Events as if nothing ever happened.

Everything he suffered through, every bad thought, every single ideation back then.. was nothing compared to The Platforms. His eyes that hid under a visor could see this unfairness. No one needed to be forced to heal with more trauma.

He clenched his hand and ran across his shrinking platform. Running, but not from his problems. Not this time.

No longer being afraid to jump.

Platform to Platform.

With only three feet of space left, he prepared his body in case he fell down the void. Ran up to the bigger platform and-

Jumped.

Theo soon landed on the big grey platform with a thud, and glanced at the group. Smacking the dust off his pants, he realized he was shaking. His heart felt too fast, and his mind spun.

But it wasn't enough to deter him.

Caleb looked at Theo as Hash was still treating his injuries. "Hundreds of people.. maybe even millions have been trapped here. Do you even think we have a chance?" Caleb winced as he silently gave Hash a stare, Hash getting the message and shrugging nonchalantly.

"He's right. We don't even have our powers.. that some of us had before we came here. Strategically, we are making the wrong choice." Hash added on, they finished cleaning the wound and helped Caleb stand up.

Theo tapped his foot, glancing at the duo, Mar, and finally Neptune. His gaze drifted away to the void down below.. "I'm getting out of this hell, and if we have to defeat some omnipotent being than so be it. Because I won't give up, not if we all aren't guaranteed freedom. Let's try. At the very least." He sighed.

The rustling of the temporary tree next to them helped the silence that followed after.

Hash stayed quiet until they nodded, "I might be making a mistake. But I'm willing to trust you, Theo.. I think we all are learning to."

"..if Hash says it's good to go.. I'll try as well." Caleb muttered as he gave a thumbs up at Theo.

"I trust you too then. Not because I'm feelin' peer pressured or anything..." She coughed and turned her gaze towards him. "Okay maybe a little..." Neptune crossed her arms as she chuckled. "But something tells me we can do this."

"Theo, what's trust?" Mar looked up at the rest of the group, slightly confused about the sudden mood. Her usual hat was by the pile of leaves.

Theo looked at Mar and smiled, unsure about how to explain it to a kid. "Trust.. remember when we looked at the stars when it was night time, and you said that they would help you find your family?" The kid nodded and focused on Theo, tilting their head.

"The stars loved you enough to lead you to me. You knew you could rely on the stars. That's trust." He softly explained as he kneeled down to put their hat back on them. Mar laughed and peeped at him from behind it.

"So trust is like the stars?"

"As long as you believe in it." Theo replied back.

----

(KAHDKDHD OC BRAIN ROT RN.!!! I THINK THIS IS THE CHAPTER BEFORE MISTIC!! [Mistic's name is undecided as of now but I will try and see if it's great!])

(Also I love Theos adoptive brother role in the narrative, it really shows he has a soft spot just like he did with his old siblings

I decided to end it here because I needed some fluff and esp sleep since it's two am. That's why the writing is a bit... Meh.. at the end :')

See y'all!!)

Also no beta or revision for this so it's kind of dookie :'P

[mymadmedleyw]

another song inspired fic-ish something, ~1k words

featuring before fall scene for Pariah from Fright Knight's pov- or at least practising before invasion

She, for a moment, stopped, the end of the sword hitting against the ground with a clang. Hiding tiredness, she only took a short breath, blowing out of her face some shorter hair that fell ahead, escaping from the bun she tied in the rest on the top of her head. Then, with a frown, shaking her fingers, she clenched around the weapon again, trying the strength of the hold.

“Are you sure you want to come?” Fright Knight asked, keeping back to make an even straighter remark. She paused, glaring at him with a pointed look. “Considering your state,” he added, trying to overlook her stubborn behaviour.

“What state?” She asked in an annoyed tone - more like in tiredness than due to the note.

“Your constant sickness lately,” Fright Knight worded. She grimaced. Then after stretching in and out her fingers, she finally grabbed over the sword again.

“Did I ask you to worry about me, hm? Did I give you permission for that? Or asked you to do such an unnecessary thing? Because as far as I remember, I did not.”

Fright Knight bowed a little, recognizing he made her upset - not that it wouldn’t have been usual. Compared to them, ghosts, she had a very different way of thinking with what, of course, sometimes he couldn’t agree. But soon, getting to know his new ruler better, he recognized the great potential in her sharp mind, fascinatingly structuring the coming plans…

But, unfortunately, her partly humanness had just as many drawbacks as benefits. There was her indestructible hardheadedness. And while the signs were apparent over her state, undeniable - even against her attempt to hide her recurring troubles - he should have known his place and not worded it for her, especially not such plainly.

“No, of course not,” Fright Knight said, but it couldn’t let him rest. “What if you get injured?”

“I won’t,” she huffed with a manner that, for once, just enlightened how young she was - merely old enough to be called an adult.

“My–”

“I know what I am doing, alright?!” She closed the debate with a tap on the floor with her feet. Then with a sigh, she cleared. “I’m not–There is no other way, no other path but this, okay? Do you understand me? None. There is no other choice but to win. If they figure out about it, they–” she bit her lip, silencing a part, then started again, “They couldn’t know about me either. ‘can’t know who I am. Total reign is the only way to keep them back.”

For the first time, not just her true outlook was in sight for him, but her fears too, reflecting from her words reverberatingly.

Some elemental scare glinted in her eyes despite the usual ghostly red shine. And then it became clear: she wasn’t talking about the ghosts as ‘they’, but by winning over the entire realm, somehow, it could mean an escape from them too.

“Who?” Fright Knight asked.

“The Observants,” she whispered out without a sound.

Silence fell over them in the abandoned hallway for a long second. Then in a recall, the memory of her sudden appearance returned: a human - hybrid - ending up in the ghostly realm at the end of her living state. And the first occasion when she had a chance to change on her fate, she did, without any hesitation, like there would have been no other choice but to commit a gore-ish deed. Like, her life would have depended on a certain step…

Fright Knight eyed her long now: the seemingly fragile outline, her sickish paling skin, and the desperate, hidden shine in the sometimes shifting eyes. He had never asked how she had gotten in this realm, nor what was behind her, but now he might have seen.

“You… you are ridden by them.” It clicked with its weight. Who was she that, as partly human, was capable of being sought by the Observants? What must she have done that she needed a constant disguise to avoid the prying eyes that could identify her otherwise?

“I always was,” she said briefly with a frown. “But seemingly, that state would never change. Believe me, whatever crime I committed before or whatever crime I am committing now–” she swang in the air the sword now, visibly ending her short break, “--is nothing against what about they shouldn’t ever know. Now, do you want to debate my past further, or should we continue practicing? Because, in case you forgot it, knight, there is an invasion to be done in the coming day - as much I can recall from my calendar, at least.”

Fright Knight lifted his sword, flames flaring up. As always, he exiled every personal opinion again about her steps. Yet, it was in the back of his skull, as a constant company with them in every swordplay in the past days, coming up when she took short breaks, shrugging down her near-collapsing states. And even if she did nothing that could have underpinned his suspicion, he noticed - the same way as her more frequent inquiries about that Clockwork.

Her stubbornness swelled and grew as much as the nuance detail she tried to hide as the weeks passed. She was… poisoned by someone. At first, catching the symptoms and her odd glowing despite the crown, the loyal fear was there that someone must have hurt her, as an exceptional human and living being in this realm as a trophy for some territorial ghost, but the time didn’t add up. She knew about it, knew about it even when she had ended up here - which could have explained her actions since then too.

To be feared then as a tyrant over the entire realm would bring that no one would dare to go after her. And if the plan worked out, she would be… safe - saved by the general scare as ‘her’, being King had induced across the ghostly realm.

The only missing puzzle piece was what she wanted from the sought-after ghost, named Clockwork. But unfortunately, for that to understand, he had to wait until that spectre showed up - or the human becoming that ghost would die and form as one of them.

- - -

(might be read as playing after another fic or this)

[adenthemage]

tell me about the works in progress you have

Oh shit thanks for indulging me anon!! I've been super busy with work lately, but has that stopped me from starting new projects? No because i am a foole. So I have a decent bunch of them stacked up atm

Seeing as I am in tmnt hell with no end in sight yet, a majority of it has been centered on fanworks for that! In the art department I have:

-draw the rottmnt gang in your outfits

-just. SO many screenshots I wanna redraw

-animating rottmnt boys as youtubers I think are funny (<- this one is VERY CLOSE to being done, I just have a few segments I'm dragging my feet on. I have the boards I just don't wanna liiiinnnne)

-animation sent to a Thriller remix focusing on the 03 villains. This one is heavily inspired by a PHENOMENAL Jojo animation of which I will be plastering all over the promo for when my version is finished. I don't even watch Jjba (yet) but I am obsessed with that video. Part of me is excited to finish just so I can show more people that video. I am stealing so many techniques from it

-I have a TH storage account full of characters I mean to draw as warmups, but I keep forgetting. They're either set to be sold (and adding art gives them more value) or I just don't have anything for them to do yet and they need a little detail (sometimes drawing helps me flesh out a character's personality and backstory, by way of it reflecting in their design)

-Another TOH six fanarts! The video of me speeddrawing the first one went viral on both Youtube and Tiktok, so I had plenty of character requests to fulfill. I've decided on the ones I want to do, but it's been hard getting motivated to work on it-- presumably because I've moved fixations and brain gets very mad when I think about anything else

On the writing side, I've found myself being a bit more engaged with a little community that's made up of a lot of talented fic writers! I've never had the skill or motivation to finish a fic, but recently I've been trying my hand at fixing that, largely because of their influence. I have a few I'm considering polishing and one I'm nearly ready to actually post!!

-Fire and Stones is, I guess a character study, and the one I'm hoping to post very soon. It examines Agent Bishop in phases of life that aren't really represented in the show, with an emphasis on his odd relationship with death and all the different ways he's experienced it (as in every conceivable way except actually dying, himself.) I'm a little iffy on the first chapter because it takes place so early on, there are no canon characters even alive to interact with. I worry it won't be as fun or engaging as the next two, of which I'm actually pretty happy with! (This is rare as I am a very opinionated mfer and my own work is not immune to my strong need to critique.) I guess I'm just overthinking it because I intend to post it publicly and I'm a little nervous about it. I've never shared any of my fanfiction before!

-a new piece that spawned from Fire and Stones is a "sickfic" that begins hitting the usual fluffy beats with a hint of strangeness, and then quickly devolves into angst and political drama as the sick character in question becomes sure they were actually poisoned and this is an attempted assassination. It will be fun, if I can manage to stick with such a long pace.

-There is also a fic set in the 2012 tmnt universe, heavily inspired by another fic out there where Donnie and Mikey run away and start their own life and begin to heal. I absolutely adored it, and after discussing it with a buddy we were like 'what if they hid out in EPF with Bishop lol' and then it spiraled into a found family drama hoorayyyyy. Most of what I have so far is just waxing poetic about utrom Bishop, though, because I like him and am apparently allergic to writing povs in anyone else's voice.

-ok so. Confession time. I like Rick and Morty. During one of the season finales a villain gives Morty the option to join him and escape Rick forever, and genuinely I feel it is ooc that Morty did not take them up on it, because they were RIGHT. Anyway I have the beginning of a canon divergence fic where he does accept the offer. I actually really like what I have so far! It's just one scene, but at the very least I might try finish the one setup chapter. I might never do more, but I really like what I do have and wouldn't mind showing it off.

-I have a little self-indulgent story about Naruto OCs learning the basics in genin training. I have one scene done but it kinda tapered off in the next rip

I love all my projects but I am always so tired from work I just end up not working on them. But I hope I can have some cool stuff to show sooner rather than later! May it bring someone joy

[mentally-creative]

Imma do a quirky thing and start posting my little stories every day

Starting with my Winchester Mansion based story:

It started at a party. It always starts at a party. I met a guy and we got some drinks, the usual, but I made a grave mistake after meeting him. I left my drink unattended on the coffee table to go to the bathroom. He didn’t give off psycho vibes so I just drank it. After a few more sips of my drink, I blacked out. Now I know what you’re thinking and no I wasn’t drugged for the sake of sex but something much worse. When I finally came, I found myself in a living room. I looked around and the house’s layout made zero sense. Staircases lead into walls, doors with nothing behind them, windows to inaccessible rooms, the list goes on and on. I didn’t know what to do but I knew one thing for sure, this is not where I passed out. My head was pounding. Great not only am I drugged and brought to a maze house but I’m also hung over. Just then I heard another voice call out “Is anyone out there? Hello? Am I alone?” I couldn’t just leave this girl hanging

“Hello?” I called back

“Oh thank God!” she yelled “I’ve been in here for weeks I think”

The panic started to rise inside me at her words

“Weeks?” I manage to choke out

“Yeah, this sick bastard has me chained up in here. He keeps telling me that help would be here today. I’m guessing that's you?”

“Doubt it. I’m super hungover and lost”

“I think that's the point,” she says so matter-of-factly it’s almost startling.

“Ok. I’m going to try to get you out. Just keep talking about literally anything and everything.” I call to her

“Ok I can do that,” She says before droning on and on about her life. I follow the sound to a door. No way it was that easy, and it wasn’t. I swung the door open just to be greeted by a brick wall. Wonderful.

“My name is Sabrina by the way,” she said pulling me out of my focus

“Kat.”

“That’s such a pretty name” I thank her and she's back to just talking. I spot one of the window rooms and I see the top of someone's head at the edge of the glass. The closer I get to the glass the louder Sabrina gets. Of course.

“Sabrina?” I call to the girl in the room she notices the shift in volume and looks up.

“Kat?” she asked her eyes were so wide I thought they might pop out of her head.

“Hey, there are no doors.”

“You think I didn’t notice that?” Sabrina’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Just then a voice seemed to come out of nowhere “Hello Kat. It seems you’ve met Sabrina.” He lets out a laugh. “How about you check under the window sill there?” I look and I find a note, a hammer, and a knife. The note said, Hello Kat. I have given you everything you need to escape our lovely Winchester Mansion. All you have to do is make a choice. You can either break the glass and stay with Sabrina or you can kill her and escape. Have fun. XOXO Gavin. So I did what I had to. I don’t remember much but I do remember the glass shattering and blood, lots of blood.

“So Miss Blancher, you’re telling me that you did in fact kill Sabrina Waterhouse?”

I shudder at the memories “Yes but only because I had to”

“Ok, Katrina Blancher you are under arrest for the murder of Sabrina Waterhouse. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law” he said putting my hands behind my back.

[whoreanghae]

please stay ; jeon wonwoo 

genre - fluff, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers

wordcount - 1.5k

disclaimers - lowercase is on purpose. fic under the cut ^^

a/n - this is my first, very simple but the wonwoo brainrot would not quit!

“im sick of your shit y/n, i really am.”

it seemed like all of the time spent with your boyfriend ended with an argument. dont get it wrong, you love him, but hes great at finding issues in every little thing you do. at first it was things like not texting him when you wake up in the mornings, or getting coffee with a friend from one of your classes, but recently he had thrown a tantrum over every move you made. the current argument at hand being the fact that he showed up at your apartment unexpected and you had only made enough dinner for yourself.

“i don’t understand what you expect from me!” you raised your voice, growing annoyed at his constant outbursts. “will there ever be anything i can do that will satisfy you?” he had an icy glare as he stepped towards you, while you were trying to act unbothered even though he had at least 6 inches of height on you.

“well maybe if you just did things right once in a while, i wouldn’t have to put you in your place so often.” there was a bitterness to his tone, and not an ounce of love to be heard. 

tears started to form at the corners of your eyes, but you wouldn’t dare let them escape. wouldn’t dare let him win. 

“i’m sure my ex wouldn’t have let it get this far. maybe i made the wrong decision all along.” 

he had a wry smile on his lips as he leaned against the wall, drinking in your shocked and hurt expression. he had always had this smug aura around him, but this was worse. this was cruelty. he was getting pleasure from your pain.

you tried to speak, but you weren’t able to form words. none that you wouldn’t regret anyways. “i… well if thats how you feel…” you looked down at your feet, hoping that if he doesn’t see the hurt painted on your face he won’t get the satisfaction he craves.

he laughed. “you know what? maybe i’ll call her. im sure you’d be just fine too, i’ve seen you with those singer fuckboys you think are your friends. you should call one of them, maybe you’ll be a better woman to them than you were to me!” he pulled out his phone and started typing something as he walked towards the door. 

“wait, ‘were’? what do you mean ‘were’?” you knew what was coming, but your brain didnt quite process it in the moment. 

he looked up from his phone, the same sick smile not leaving his lips the entire time. “god, you really are stupid, aren’t you?” he let out a laugh that felt like the twist of a knife. “we’re done, idiot! don’t bother calling me either, i already deleted your number.” he chuckled as he opened the door and disappeared without another word.

as your apartment door shut, everything hit you like a tidal wave. you crashed onto your sofa, sobbing into your hands and struggling to catch your breath. your entire world was in slow motion until a knock at your door brought you back to reality. you stood up, vision blurry from the tears, and walked over to the door. you opened it to be greeted with somehow the first, and last person you had wanted to find you in this state.

“oh my god y/n, what happened? are you okay?” wonwoo said, concern laced in his voice as he stepped towards you and put a hand on your arm to calm you. you tried to act like nothing was wrong, but everything was so fresh and wonwoos concern just made you unravel all over again.

you and wonwoo had been friends since you quite literally bumped into him whilst rushing around the city one day when you were running late to one of your classes. you had been speedwalking through the streets, rushing to get to your campus in time. you slept in, but you just had to stop at your usual coffee shop before class. being somewhat in your own world, you accidentally bumped shoulders with wonwoo and ended up spilling your fresh iced coffee all down the sleeve of his shirt. apologizing profusely, you quickly asked if you could send him money for the drycleaning, or just pay for a new shirt. he laughed the same laugh that would still sound like music to your ears months later. he assured you that it was fine, and even said that it was his fault. his one request was that you give him your number so that he could get you a replacement coffee sometime when you both were free. so you agreed. from then on, one coffee turned into two, which turned into three, which turned into movie nights and impromptu 2am drives when you can’t sleep. you never would’ve thought that your clumsiness would lead to meeting your best friend, but some would say it was fate.

you tried to tell wonwoo everything, but the only words that you could muster up between sobs were “he left me.” he stepped forward to give himself room to shut the door behind you two. wrapping an arm around your shoulders, he guided you towards the sofa. at this point he had entirely disregarded the reason he came to your apartment in the first place. you collapsed into wonwoos arms as you reached the sofa. he held you close as he whispered reassurances into your hair. 

just being in wonwoo’s presence helped to calm you down, so within 10 minutes you had been able to collect yourself and you were able to tell wonwoo the whole story. he was visibly angry, but tried to hold it in so he could comfort you and not stress you out further. after telling wonwoo everything that happened, you realized that you weren’t quite sure why he showed up in the first place. but its not like you were going to complain.

“i should’ve asked before, but what did you come here for anyways?” you said, quirking an eyebrow at him. he simply shrugged. “i came here before practice to grab the phone charger i left here on saturday, but i’m happy i came when i did.” the fond smile wonwoo had on his face made you feel like the only person on earth. 

“oh, you have practice?” you tried to mask the disappointment in your voice. you knew how important wonwoo’s job was, and you didn’t ever want to come in the way of that. but a part of you hoped he wouldn’t leave just yet.

“not anymore,” he said, looking down at his phone screen, “i just told the guys that something important came up. they’ll understand.” he smiled the same smile at you that he always did before. but this time it felt.. different? “unless you just want to be alone? i can leave if you want.” 

you looked at your hands for a moment before looking back up and meeting his gaze. “...please stay.”

that was all he needed to hear. wonwoo shrugged off his jacket and put it on the back of the sofa. you watched his actions intently. for some reason, the actions you had watched countless times before had started to stand out more than usual. the way he nudges his glasses up his nose, the way he runs his hand through his hair, why were these things so prominent to you now? you pushed these thoughts to the back of your head as you watched wonwoo open netflix on your tv. he scrolled through the options until reaching your favourite movie, the one you had made him watch with you too many times to count.

“wait, i thought you said you were sick of this movie?” you tilted your head towards him. he looked over at you, the same fond look you’ve been basking in since he showed up at your door. “but it reminds me of you, how could i ever get sick of it?” 

you playfully hit his arm and turned away to hide the rosy haze shading over your cheeks. he just smiled, knowing that he couldn’t see himself in any other position than he was right now. 

he put his arm out, inviting you to his side of the sofa. you obliged, scooting over to insert yourself under his arm and wrap around his side. he rested his arm around your hip as he quietly spoke. “listen, even if i have seen this movie thousands of times, i’ll be damned if i don’t see you smile at least once today.”

and he succeeded. you couldn’t do anything but smile as you sat snuggled into your best friends side, forgetting the earlier parts of the evening ever happened. soulmates were real, and you two were living proof. he was your soulmate, whether platonic or not.

[purple-babygirl]

First of all… who told you that you could toy with my heart over your latest work: SamBucky and the injuries Little. Talk about the angst but fluff. Just mwah!

But will all that angst especially with Sam and Bucky—they are just a perfect combo, btw. I now am needy for angst to fluff (oops…). All I can think about is an insecure little who think that her daddies don’t love her after a misunderstanding, so she pack up her things and runs away. (But a happy ending is ensured) when Sam and Bucky are able to find her

Love you.

Pairing: SamBucky x little!f!reader

Word Count: 2,796

Warnings: polyamory, ddlg dynamics, a dash of angst, and a pinch of fluff

A/N: Hello, Nonnie! Thank you for reading, and thank you for sharing this idea with me and allowing me to toy with your heart over it!💜💜 I was a puddle writing this one. I'm really sorry if this took me too long; I hope it's to your liking and I love you too *ghost kisses*💜 please enjoy xx

~~

unwanted

“That's enough. Go to your room.” Sam demanded angrily, looking down at the cheerios covering the kitchen floor that he now would have to clean up.

“Papa-”

“All you do is cause trouble and I'm done! To your room, now!”

She's been bad again. It was the third time this week. She has been disobedient and impatient. Whenever Papa and Daddy told her to do anything she somehow managed to mess it up. Sam had told her not to touch anything but she wanted to help nevertheless. She couldn’t reach the cupboard though and ended up spilling the box of cereal all over the place.

Her gaze dropped and she walked to her room without another word and a few minutes later, Bucky came to give her lunch and collect her phone and tablet, taking away her screen time for the day.

“But daddy-”

“No, doll. I'm taking them away. You never listen anymore and it needs to stop.”

Papa and Daddy are mad at you. They don't love you no more. They're sick of you. You never listen and you're always bad. They could be so much happier and calmer if it wasn't for you always riling them up. They were done. It needed to stop. They don't love you no more. They don't want you no more. They don't love you. They don't want you.

She sat wallowing in her room, tears gathering in her eyes as her own mind attacked her. Maybe it was all true. All she does is cause trouble.

So maybe if she left…

She got up and got her big girl backpack out of the closet.

Maybe if she left Papa and Daddy would be better off without her.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gathered and pushed items into her bag.

Maybe if she was gone they would be less angry.

She zipped the bag up before sloppily slipping her socks on and picking up her stuffed friend.

Maybe if she escaped the house she could escape her thoughts too; leave them all in her room and go.

She wiped her cheeks, tiptoed out of her room, found her shoes by the front door and quietly got into them. She could hear Daddy and Papa lowly laughing together while they got things done in the backyard. Leaving really was the right decision then; they were happier without her.

Taking one, last, tear-blurred look at the house, she stepped outside and quietly closed the door behind her. She held her small white bunny to her chest and sniffed before taking off, walking to the only place that would bring her comfort.

~

“She's going to be so happy. I can't wait to see her face.” Sam smiled proudly, hands on his waist as he took one last look at the swing he and Bucky have put together for their baby girl in the backyard.

“I really hope she likes it.” Bucky smiled back in agreement before opening the door for Sam and walking inside behind him.

They felt they were too hard on her that morning and she was usually a good girl, only intending to do good for her Daddy and Papa. So they decided to build the swing earlier than they’d previously planned to lighten things up again.

“Is it just me or is it awfully quiet in here?” Bucky murmured, bringing the water bottle down from his mouth and looking around the living room in slight suspicion.

“I mean, she is in a timeout and you did take away her phone,” Sam reminded him, trying not to let himself panic as he got himself a water bottle from the fridge.

But it wasn’t that. Bucky could still hear her presence no matter how quiet. He could hear her crayons gliding on paper when she would sit down to color. He could hear her hum as she organized her toys around the table for tea parties. This quietness wasn’t normal.

Bucky jogged up the stairs to her room and just as he feared, she wasn't in there. Her sandwich was untouched. Her closet was open and her backpack and favourite blankie were missing.

“Sam!” He called for his husband, taking long strides to their bedroom to find she wasn't there either.

Sam ran up the stairs at Bucky's freaked tone and saw him pacing through the hallway.

“She's not here.”

“What?” Sam’s heart sank into his stomach.

“I can't find her.” Bucky shook his head at Sam, running his fingers through his hair in growing panic.

“Hey, calm down. We're gonna find her.” Sam rubbed a hand down Bucky's back, trying to hide his own fright for Bucky's sake as his mind ran to every single place she knew how to get to on her own.

“How? How are we gonna find her? We don't even know where she went or if she's okay-”

Sam put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder, the other cupping his cheek.

“Hey, breathe,” Sam instructed, slowly breathing so Bucky could copy him, trying to send away the panic attack ready to take over him. Bucky nuzzled his palm, his breath coming out shaky.

“That's it, Buck. In and out.” He moved his hands to Bucky’s.

“But she was so little when we sent her to her room and she probably doesn't even have any ID or money with her-”

“Bucky,” Sam squeezed his husband’s hands.

“We can't lose her, Sam. I can't- I took her phone away- if she's in trouble, she won't be able to-”

“Bucky, baby, we're gonna find her and she's gonna be okay. I promise.” Sam reassured him with words he himself wasn't sure would turn out to be true, his large palm stroking up and down the tense muscles of Bucky’s back, “I need you to keep breathing for me.”

Bucky tried to manage his breathing, slightly calming down to the thought of getting to hold her again.

“She couldn't have gotten that far, so we're gonna look around and I'm gonna call Steve, okay?” Bucky nodded at Sam's words, glossy eyes closing as Sam planted a kiss to the side of his forehead, “okay, baby. Let's go.”

~

Sam took the car, driving slowly, roaming the neighborhood to see if she was anywhere around the area. He was asking anyone and everyone who passed by his car if they've seen her. But apparently, no one has. Not even the old couple at the end of the street with the dog she loved to pet so much.

Bucky chose to go on foot as he walked in the other direction, preferring to depend on his enhanced senses instead of talking to other people. Even if he did talk to them for help, no one would understand that while her picture looked like that of a grown lady, she was a mere baby. They would never understand their panic.

Sam rubbed his forehead in frustration, leaning it against the wheel. He’d just hung up with Steve. He said she didn't come to his place; didn't even stop by. In fact, he hasn’t heard from her at all and got worried when Sam called. He took an uneven breath, trying to maintain his cool before he lifted his head up and started the car again.

~

Leaning back on the big tree, she wrapped her soft blankie tighter around her frame. It was getting kind of chilly and she was starting to regret leaving now that it wasn't that sunny anymore. The tears drying on her cheeks made her shiver even more and she sniffled, kissing her bunny's head and tugging the stuffed animal under her chin. She hoped Daddy and Papa were feeling better now that she was no longer there with them.

“Doll?” She heard Bucky's voice and before she could wonder if she'd imagined it, she was pressed to a hard chest.

“Oh, thank god,” Bucky sighed, kissing the side of her head over and over again, his hands tight around her back, holding her and her bunny close to his frantically beating heart.

“Baby, why'd you leave like that? We were so worried! We looked everywhere, we called everyone.” Bucky kissed her forehead a bunch before “-oh right!”

He got his phone out of his pocket with one arm, the other still firmly holding her to his chest. She kept holding onto her bunny, not really getting what was happening. Was she in trouble for leaving unannounced or not? Why would Daddy and Papa want to find her? She was nothing but trouble.

“Sam, I found her! We're in our secret place in the park.”

At Bucky's call, Sam took a sharp turn, stepping on the gas to get to the park as fast as he could.

“Are you okay, doll? Are you hurt anywhere?” Bucky asked her after hanging up, anxiously checking her head, face, arms and legs for injuries.

She shook her head silently, fresh, hot tears burning at the brims of her eyes.

“Thank god.” Bucky hugged her to his chest again, “we were so scared, doll. We were so scared.”

He kissed her damp cheeks and chin as she kept biting her lip, quietly sniveling.

She'd scared them. She'd worried them. Why was it always that she did something wrong while trying to do anything right? She was no good.

“It’s okay, love. I found you. I’m right here.” Bucky kissed her eyelids, then her nose, thinking she was crying because she was lost alone.

He pulled her on his lap and adjusted himself in her place, his back to the tree trunk as he held her close, fearing she’d disappear if he were to loosen his grip around her.

“Sugar!” Sam’s voice echoed through the empty part of the park when he saw her burrito-wrapped body in Bucky’s lap.

“Papa’s here, doll. It’s okay.” Bucky whispered to her when she didn’t stop crying.

She turned around and her eyes met Sam’s watery, brown ones.

“Hey, sugar,” Sam greeted softly, getting down on his knees before her.

Her lower lip jutted out further as new tears soaked her pretty face. It hasn’t even been a whole day and she’s missed Papa and Daddy so much. How was she ever planning on running away from them or being without them?

“Aww, no, no, baby, it’s okay,” Sam cooed, bringing her to his chest and engulfing her in a protective hug.

Her blanket fell in Bucky’s lap and she dropped her bunny to cling to Sam, barely quieting her sobs.

Not able to hold himself together any longer, a tear escaped Sam’s eye his gaze met Bucky’s. He buried his nose in her hair and squeezed her closer to him, sighing in relief that they’ve found her. His mind kept torturing him with scenarios of her getting hurt and not getting help. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if they’d actually lost her.

“You’re okay, sugar. Papa’s here with you. I’m sorry it took us so long, baby. We were looking in a lot of places.” Sam sniffled, pulling back to pepper featherlike kisses all over her face.

“You wanted to find me?” Her small, brittle voice asked, doe eyes staring up sadly.

“What? Of course we wanted to find you, baby! Why would you think otherwise?!”

“But I was bad. You w-were done. It needed to stop,” she repeated his and Bucky’s words on him and Sam felt shame cover him from head to toe, Bucky not any different as he bit down to stop his tears.

“Doll,” Bucky went to hold her hands only to find they were freezing.

“Shit! She’s too cold,” he told Sam, who immediately started taking off his jacket.

“Dada, bad word,” she softly reminded Bucky, covering her mouth with her hand before Sam got out of his jacket.

Sam slipped his warm jacket on her and pulled the zipper up, her small hands disappearing inside the long sleeves.

“Good girl, sugar. It is a bad word.” He rolled the sleeves back just enough to get her palms out so she could still hold her bunny.

“But you don’t see me asking daddy to leave because he was bad, do you?” Sam asked tenderly and she shook her head no.

“Exactly, I’m not. You know why?” Sam pressed kisses to both of her hands multiple times, rubbing them between his palms to warm her up.

“Why, papa?” she asked as he carried her in his arms; Bucky gathering the rest of her stuff.

“Because I love him so much." Sam wiped her tears. "And both me and daddy love you so so so much, sugar.” He pressed a firm kiss to her temple.

Bucky handed her the small bunny back after patting any dust or leaves out of it.

“We never want you to go, doll.” Bucky pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

“Even when I’m really really bad?”

“Even if you’re really really bad,” Sam guaranteed, kissing her temple again.

“But- I thought papa and daddy would be happier and not so angry no more if I left,” she mumbled innocently as Sam started walking to the car with her in his arms.

“That could never be true, doll. We’re only happy as long as we have you,” Bucky reassured her, opening the backseat door so Papa could slip in with her on his lap.

“And you still love me?” Her pout, teary puppy eyes and words were just killing both men inside.

“Of course we love you, doll! We will always love you. We can never afford to lose you,” Bucky told her, his eyes searching hers to offer them comfort.

“Baby, we love you so much it’s uncountable, remember?” Sam ran his thumb over the knuckles of her stuffie-holding hands.

She nodded, her eyes teary but her smile comforted and reassured. “I love you too, Papa,” she mumbled, grabbing onto Sam’s thumb, her eyelids barely staying open.

“I’m sorry I left,” she sniffled.

“It’s alright, baby. We’re all together now and we're going home.” Sam kissed her forehead once more, wanting her to forget all about it and know everything was okay again.

“Told you we’d find her,” Sam said, drawing Bucky inside the car by the cheek and brushing his lips against his.

“You did.” Bucky nodded, pressing his forehead to Sam’s and kissing him again.

Bucky pulled back and smiled adoringly at her sleepy eyes fighting to stay open as she leaned onto Sam's chest before getting in the driver’s seat to take them home. Sam was caressing her hair and before she knew it her eyes were fluttering closed.

All the crying all day had drained her and her body could finally give up and relax now that she was in Papa’s hold; she was out like a light.

“You’re so important to me and daddy, sugar. Never ever forget that,” Sam whispered against her forehead before pressing a slow kiss to her skin.

She might've had no idea how adored and cherished she actually was, but that was okay. Sam and Bucky had a lifetime ahead of them where they could show her again and again that they loved and needed her just as much as she did them.

~

“Dada! Papa! Wake up! We have a swing!”

She’d fallen asleep pretty early in the car last night and neither Sam nor Bucky had the heart to wake her up when they got home. So they took her shoes and socks off and tucked her in in their bed.

Now they had to deal with her waking up way too early. She’d gone to the bathroom on her own like a good girl before her stomach hungrily grumbled. And when she got to the kitchen for a cup of water and maybe the plate of fruit in the fridge, her eyes fell on the swing showing outside the small window on the kitchen door.

Bucky rolled over and opened his eyes first, her jumping on her knees on the bed beside him pulling him out of his dreams. Sam, however, didn’t move a muscle. The man slept so soundly that sometimes Bucky was jealous. How heavy of a sleeper could a person be?

“Yes, we do, baby.” Bucky chuckled. “Me and papa built it just for you.” He smiled sleepily at her excited face before annoyingly poking Sam’s back, “Sam, wake up.”

“Tank you, dada.” She settled back on her ankles though still buzzing with joy.

“You like it, sugar?” Bucky opened his arms wide for her.

“Yes, I love it.” She nodded happily before perching herself on his hard chest, cutely kissing his jaw, “and I love you, dada.”

“Sam.” He affectionately punched his sleeping husband’s shoulder, smirking when he heard him groan, “she likes the swing.”