#and every two hours we were in there feeding him but he was coughing up a storm

[halinski]

.

[foldingfittedsheets]

I got Leeloo when she was seven weeks old. The owner lied, or miscounted, and I got her a week too young. She was pretty well adjusted for all that, feisty and fierce as a kitten. I got her right as my ex and I were splitting. She was only a month or two old when we broke up. It was pretty wretched, finals week at college, both of us heart sore, and then we both came down with the mother of all coughs.

He was sleeping on the couch. I offered to share my cough suppressant and he set it on the table. We weren’t used to having a kitten under foot yet.

I was brushing my teeth when I glanced out the door and saw one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, my beloved kitten on her side seizing, the pill capsule punctured and empty beside her. He burst into panicked tears when I shouted and I practically shook him to get in the car while routing to an emergency vet.

We sat clutching each others hands in the waiting room. Neither of us had known who would get the kitten in the breakup. But sitting there, both of us sobbing, he said it should be me. The doctor told us she had a fifty fifty shot of pulling through. She’d almost asphyxiated, her tongue was blue when we’d gotten her in the door.

After what felt like centuries they came out and said she’d made it. She was going to live.

It was only a few months later that I noticed her not walking around. She barely played anymore. I took her to the vet again and they said she was just constipated and didn’t follow up. Another pestering a week later led to closer examination of her X-rays. Turns out, the asphyxiation had led to a very narrow blood vessel leading to the head of her femur dying. So her bone had snapped off in the joint.

Horrified at the amount of pain she must have been in I got her in for surgery to remove the bone fragment. In a human we’d stop being able to walk, but cats have enough muscle to overcome a simple thing like lacking the ball for their ball and socket joint.

The surgery was a shit show. They called me after putting her under anesthesia and cutting her up open only to realize they were missing a tool. Then they sent her home with an open wound instead of stitches and I had to bring her back yet again to go under and get stapled shut. Then they tried to charge me for all their fuck ups while I was already sobbing over vet bills.

I had a loft bed at the time. Usually she climbed a cat tree to join me in bed at night but after her surgery I made a nest on the ground so I could cuddle with her every night. Her dopey little face looking at me from her cone was worth my back hurting every day.

I felt so bad watching her try to eat with a cone that I hand fed her every meal. To this day she’ll go sit by the food dishes, looking at me longingly to remind me of my little nest on the ground where I’d hand fed her.

That was a decade ago. But she still remembers.

Today I got her new medicine for her horrible cough, fretting about her lungs collapsing. I lovingly rolled each pill and brought them to her an hour early because I couldn’t stand having medicine on hand that I wasn’t giving her.

It was only after she’s happily eaten her pill pockets that I remembered the pills saying to give them with food. So I walked back upstairs and stood beside the cat bed while she ate from my hand again, and when she was done she looked at me with love. Because she doesn’t feel good but I’m still here to hand feed her.

[corrodedcoughin]

little story about little Eddie and his 2 new friends | word count approx 2.5k | general audience rating | steve and eddie are kids and Wayne is a pushover

Wayne sometimes thinks it was a mistake, not taking in the boy. God no, he would never think of Eddie as anything other than an important and intrinsic part of his life, couldn't be without him, wouldn't want to be. 

No, what Wayne worries about is how his readiness to help Eddie feel loved might contribute to the boy's difficulty in making friends.

It was an innocent enough request, Eddie asked for a pet as all young children do. He was so small and so wide eyed, just a scrap of an 8 year old with more feelings than he knew what to do with. Wayne knew he'd never hold up against any request Eddie made but he liked to pretend to himself that he could. And while technically he never pandered to the boy, yes Eddie usually got what he wanted but in a way that suited their means. Or so Wayne tells himself. 

8 year old Eddie asked for a pet and a pet is what he got.

-

Eddie barrelled into the trailer door, backpack swinging off his arm and ready to be thrown into the corner. Planning to shoot off back out the door to do his usual; lift up rocks and inspect whatever bugs he could find, to grab sticks and imagine them as wizard staffs, to let his imagination finally run wild after hours of sitting still at a desk under too bright lights and too busy class rooms. In truth he wasn't really paying attention to the insides of the trailer, expecting it to be the same as always. It took a very pointed cough for Eddie to register that Wayne was unusually home from work, far earlier than normal, and a further loud clearing of the throat for Eddie to pay attention to what Wayne had placed on the kitchen table. 

Right in the middle of the table, sitting in a beam of sunlight, was a cage and in that cage was what would soon become, Eddie's very reason for being. He crept up close, almost as if scared that any sudden movements would prove the whole thing to be a cruel illusion. He was brought out of his reverie by a pink nose wiggling at the bars, whiskers attached and twitching as the rest of the rat appeared.

'is he-? is he for real?' Eddie said with a gasp, hands inching towards the door of the cage. 

Wayne had to suppress a laugh, trust this boy to be bowled over in wonder at a rat as if it were a puppy. He opened the contraption of the enclosure door and dipped his hand inside, allowing the rat to climb onto his palm. The guy from work assured him that this one was the most tame he had, inquisitive to a fault and oddly enough, desperate to be handled. Quite honestly, the perfect match for his well meaning but excitable nephew-near-enough-son. 

'Yeah, yeah kid it's for real. And he's a she.' Wayne lets the rat sniff at Eddie's hands, little pink hands finding a platform on Eddie's palms, clearly holding himself a still as possible but if Wayne knew this boy, and he did, he knows that Eddie is so close to vibrating out of his skin, that containing that much excitement must be killing him. 

'I don't care. Wayne, I don't! Can she sleep in my room? Does she know tricks? Can I teach her? What does she like? Can I take her to school? Please! Wayne!' He's started now, words pouring out of his mouth, tripping over himself to try and release every thought entering his brain at lightning speed.

'Woah, there' Wayne says pulling the rat up, cradling it in two hands, 'We got to be kind to her alright? She's only small. Doesn't know what loud noises are good and which are bad, okay?' He watches as Eddie nods vigorously, eyes never leaving the creature. 'Now you promised me you'd look after a pet so that's what's going to happen. She is your responsibility. That means cleaning, feeding and loving, got it?' Eddie nods again, tentatively reaching his hands up, the image of Oliver Twist springs to Wayne's mind. 

Wayne comes around the kitchen table, crouches down to Eddie on creaky knees and hands the rat over, filling Eddie's small hands with a heartbeat and fur. Eddie giggles, watching as the rat surveils the new patch of skin its found itself on. 

'Tickles, Wayne' and its said with such love and devotion Wayne almost feels his heart break 

'Yeah son. She does, doesn't she?' 

-

 Of course it takes less than a week and Eddie and Sam are inseparable. As soon as Eddie gets home he's itching for his furry friend, delighting in the way she scampers around the room, over his arms and anywhere she can get. No matter what though, she always comes back to him. She can be digging in to a particularly interesting crevice behind the couch but she'll always come running back when she hears Eddie make a noise.  

The thing is, Eddie is a pretty lonely kid. Not for lack of trying, don't get it wrong. Eddie tries to socialise he tries to talk to the other kids in his class, get them involved in his imaginary games and play pretend but being the new kid doesn't really do him any favours. Being the new kid that lives in the trailer park and a penchant for biting to show affection does him even less. 

To Eddie, its him and Sam against the world. He can come home and know that his best friend will listen to all his problems, will stay close and won't run away even when he's extra loud or being 'a lot' as his teacher like to tell him. He's so tired of being told to use his 'quiet hands', his 'inside voice' and every other subdued phrase they try to press on him. 

This particular day was a hard one, Sally Winters had said that Eddie was 'bad luck' and the word quickly spread around by recess. Eddie had thought he was making some progress with a couple of kids from the class, was thinking today might be the day that he finally got asked to play but that hope quickly got squashed. He had hopped up to the potential friends with a stick in his hand and a notion of being a pirate when they both looked at him like he was a monster, they couldn't get away fast enough. And Eddie couldn't find a place to hide quick enough before the fat and heavy tears fell from his eyes. 

It was a long day and home time was his only saving grace. 

Wayne knows somethings up, can tell in the way that Eddie isn't even really talking to Sam, hardly looking at the Tv despite the fact that Wayne very purposefully had put the cartoon Lord of the Rings movie on. The sure fire fall back he liked to keep in his back pocket. The trump card to get his kid happy. This time though? No luck. Looking at the kid makes a chasm open up in his gut, deep and full of overwhelming sadness that he just wants to stop, wants to find the solution to make this boy smile like the sun again. They don't talk much for the rest of the night but Wayne makes sure to stay close, stay awake in case he's needed. Eddie spends the time between dinner and bed sitting on the floor, side pressed up against Wayne's leg and playing fetch with bits of Wayne's whittling with Sam, not a word said. 

-

Eddie wakes up the next morning with a plan and a devil may care attitude. Oh so carefully he maintains his usual routine; says good morning to Sam, carts her around the trailer as he washes his face and wanders into the kitchen, placing her in her secondary cage so she can eat breakfast with Eddie and Wayne - Eddie was adamant that they couldn't have meals without her, 'she's part of the family!' and soft hearted fool Wayne Munson agreed and an additional cage was sourced. 

When breakfast is finished Eddie begins his usual rigmarole of dragging his feet to get out of his pjs and into his clothes, reluctant to grab his bag and go out the door. Same old protests as Wayne watches him walk out towards the school bus. 

What is a new addition to the routine though, is Sam Munson hiding up the sleeve of a school boy and about to go on a secret and very dangerous mission. A mission to survive the school day. 

Surprisingly, Eddie manages to keep Sam secret, keep her safe, the whole morning. He came prepared with snacks to make sure she was entertained and happy, he couldn't stand the thought of her being sad, her eyes get so big and her tail droops as well as her ears, it makes the whole of Eddie ache. But no, she's happy, or happy enough at least. 

So the morning goes without a hitch, Eddie making noises to cover up any squeaks and keeping a hand in his pocket to reassure Sam, stowed in the pocket of his hoodie. He knows he's seen as 'weird' so what's a few extra noises? They are let out for recess and Eddie breathes a sigh of relief, thinking this is his time to let Sam out, knowing she's desperate for some fresh air. Sure, she's peed in his hoodie pocket, but he can't really tell with it's dark colour and the layer of t-shirt between the wet material and his tummy. 

He runs off to his usual corner, stuck between a bush and a tree and gently tips Sam out of his pocket, she scampers around his feet and gratefully accepts a broken off bit of cracker between her hands.

'Thanks for coming with me Sam. Everyone is so mean, its so stupid. I don't care. You are a better friend than any of those losers' He crouches down, hoping to find a twig to play fetch with. A game that he delights in, is immeasurably proud of her for learning it so quickly. 'Gonna find you the best stick Sam. Promise. Best stick for the best friend' 

He continues muttering to himself and doesn't notice that he's getting progressively louder after finding a twig and beginning the game. Doesn't register that he's drawn unwanted attention with his happy shouts and encouragement until a body is crashing through the shrub he's hidden himself behind. 

Sam doesn't notice either until the unexpected form is right in front of her and she bolts, running as fast as her legs will carry her and Eddie is right behind her, muttering under his breath as he trips over his own feet in an attempt to catch her 'oh shit oh no oh no oh no' He's pushing himself as hard as he can but it doesn't count for much, he never was the fastest. He keeps trying though but then a faster body is accelrating past him, in a evident bee line for Sam. 

Without thinking, Eddie lets out a painful 'NO!' terrified of what might happen.

He knows people think rats are dirty, thinks they don't deserve love and don't deserve life. He doesn't want to imagine what this person's intent might be. Sam reaches a dead end up against the wall of the school and the body, the boy, stops infront of her. Scoops her up? Cradles her into his chest? Eddie...Eddie doesn't know what to think, he's prepared to fight this kid but then the boy is looking up at him with curious hazel eyes. Stroking Sam's head gently and with intent.

He holds Sam out, careful with his motions, trying to blow his brown floppy hair out of his face without disturbing the animal in his hands 'is she okay? is she yours? did I hurt her? she looks okay, is she?' Eddie gingerly steps forward and plucks Sam out of the boys hands, gives hera thorough inspection as the other boy continues 

'I didn't mean to scare her I swear! I didn't even know you had her! I won't tell, I swear I wont! You know...you shouldn't really have a rat in school. If I promise not to tell can I play with you? I'm Steve' 

Holding her close, Eddie squints at the boy, at Steve, and thinks. Thinks about how he looks nice, about how soft his hair looks and how he asked Eddie, Eddie!, to play, that he didn't give him a wide bearth and that he held Sam with such care. It isn't even a hard decision.

They spend the rest of recess together. Eddie shows Steve just how smart Sam. That she can play fetch, that she can run across one arm to the next, over your shoulders without losing balance. That she can twitch her whiskers and it seems like she's laughing at the joke Eddie tells her. That she laughs at the joke Steve tells her! Steve learns that she's named after somebody called Samwise and it doesn't matter that he's a boy because Sam is brave just like Samwise and smart and cares just as much. That Sam is Sam and Eddie is Frodo and together they can take on the world. 

Steve asks if he can have a name too and Eddie calls him Legolas, doesn't tell him why. Doesn't say that Steve reminds him of the pretty elves described in the books Wayne reads out loud to Eddie. It doesn't matter, not really. 

Recess ends and they shuffle back to the school doors, both of them lagging behind the others.

Eddie steels himself, knows he has to bring his misfortune up so that he can own in, so that his new friend doesn't find out from someone else. 'I'm bad luck you know. Sally...she said it. now everyone wont talk to me. I wont be mad if you don't either. I've got Sam. We'll be oaky! So you can just go, I don't care!' He knows he's getting wound up, he can't stop himself. He just wants the bandaid ripped off so he can start feeling sad quicker, get it over with sooner.

Before he can register is, Steve is wrapped around Eddie in a flash of a hug, careful to keep his tummy away from squashing Sam. 

'Not bad luck to me. See you tomorrow Frodo' Steve whispers next to Eddie's ear and shuffles through the school door. 

Eddie is in a daze of joy and happiness, thoughts rumbling through his head but none of them sticking as he journey back into his class room. Pure happiness radiating out of his body, he takes Sam out of his pocket and holds her up to his face 'Sam you made my bad luck go away!' kissing her on the forehead as he hears his teacher scream 

'EDWARD MUNSON IS THAT A RAT?!'

-

So Wayne thought the already unpopular kid having a rat would make things worse. Turns out, he was wrong. Very, very wrong. He might have to start pocket inspections before school though.

--------------------------------------

also on ao3 if that's the preferred reading format for you

[issacballsac]

DATE NIGHT

Gender Neutral Reader

After mustering all the courage he’s built up for exactly 1 week, 2 days, 7 hours, and 45minutes he’s finally landed a date with you—to none other than the Planetarium!

So here he was standing stiffly at your door. Seemingly overdressed he silently shifted in his formal clothing. His deep blue eyes shaking ever-so-subtly as his left hand reach to knock on the entrance.

A loud bang rang from the closed door followed by a couple curses as you swung open the door for your date.

“Hey, you ready?” You said between breathes, evidently having rushed before hand to prepare.

His lips cracked into a small grin, “Yeah, the place isn’t far from here!”

“Then what’re we waiting for?” Grabbing his arm and locking the door behind you the two of you began on your journey to the stars(figuratively speaking of course).

Practically bursting from the seams with excitement, Logan couldn’t contain the light that radiated off of him.

Teasingly scoffing at his explosive behavior, “Well aren’t you excited?”. A foreign grin spread across his face as his head whipped towards you. “Obviously!” He whisper-yelled, irises forming into the very stars he had adorned so much.

Subtly adjusting to your seat you reclined to face the man made sky. Logan’s shifting made it difficult to concentrate on any other star than the one right next to you.

The words of the operator were drowned as your other senses failed you, eyes zoning in on every detail of your date.

“You’re beautiful man.” Logan tensed in his seat slowly making eye contact with your fierce gaze.

Audibly coughing Logan immediately averted his eyes, “They’re going to show another nebulae soon.” He smoothly changed the topic.

“No amount of dead star dust could be more intriguing than you.” Intently staring at the dome he hesitantly took in minimal glances of you.

Breaking the tension you comment, “Maybe we should get some food after.” Logan sighs at your normal remark.

Another hour had passed before the show had ended. “Got any preference for food?” You turn to Logan for any and all suggestions. “Anything is fine, really.”.

Opting for smaller snack-type food you bought some popcorn for the two of you. “This has a lot of butter, but, it’s fine.” Your fingers shimmered with the grease of butter.

Waving the glistening nubs in his face tauntingly you grabbed another handful of popcorn. “If it’s that greasy to you I can just feed it to you.” His words worked faster than his mind, as just when he fully processed the extent of his words.

“Go ahead, it’ll protect my beautiful fingers!” Batting your eyelashes at your date as he fed you a piece of popcorn. “Still buttery as hell but it’s much better with you.”

“Does your confidence ever falter?”

“Never! So how about a real dinner?” He sighed with exasperation, it was going to be a long night.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

When you get a chance/if it speaks to you. Could I request a drabble where batmom is like visibly sick and comes down to start patrol anyways and Bruce is just unwavering in “nope. You’re going to bed. I’ll take the night off to be there/care for you. The kids can handle it tonight”

"Woah," Dick said, watching you pull your gloves on, "Mom you don't look so good."

"I'm fine, baby bird," you tell him, brushing his concerns away gently. . You had 12 hours before the fever and the chills would become an actual issue. You never got sick but when you did, everything went to shit.

"Ma," Jason started, glancing hurriedly at Bruce. He knew you were sick. Your eyes were glassy and there was a fine sheen of sweat on your ashen skin. But he also knew you wouldn't stay down. Not if they were going out.

Alfred noticed the boys. The worry wrinkles on their foreheads- and it would be touching if they weren't so damnably inept. None of the children were quite as... protective of you as your oldest two. Dick because he'd grown up with you and Jason because you were kindred spirits. But it would take an act of god to keep you out of the field where your baby birds had all gone. So he coughed slightly, attracting Bruce's attention and nodding to where you were gently but firmly telling them to go get their gear and stop worrying about you.

Bruce grunted and sighed, "What-" he turned to follow Alfred's gaze and stopped, switching from being ready to break up an argument to a mild panic. Even from a distance you didn't look well. And it worried him.

It was a hard life. And you'd had a rougher start than almost any of them. And it was wearing on you. The mental and the physical. You were still Cavalry. Ruthless and efficient but. You were sick more often. Healing took longer and longer with every injury. "Alfred-"

"I'll alert you if you're needed, Sir," Alfred said, frown deepening when the boys walked away in defeat and you wavered slightly, gripping the back of a chair to steady yourself."

"Thank you," he said before crossing the floor. And gently taking the small pack you were strapping to your thigh.

"Sweetheart," he murmured, "let's put you to bed."

"I'm fine I just need to get moving-"

"You're not fine," he chuckled wryly, taking your hands to remove your gloves. "I can hear the rattle in your chest from here." He laid the gloves aside and squeezed your bare hands. They were warm. Too warm. And he hated to think about how much acetaminophen you'd taken to deal with the aches. Or worse, that you hadn't taken anything and you were just going to suffer.

"I just need to get-"

"To bed," he said softly, unzipping your jacket and leaving you in your pants and thermal. "You need to get to bed."

"Bruce."

"I'm pulling rank," Bruce said, stroking sweat-damp hair off your forehead gently. "Shower. Food. Bed. And tomorrow we're going to the Doctor."

"You won't know if I don't."

"I'm staying with you," he said, rubbing your arms when you shivered. "You need rest, antibiotics, and fluids."

"The kids-"

"Will be okay. Alfred and Babs will keep eyes on them and if they get in trouble I'll be there." He took your hair down gently and pulled you against his chest. "We need you back in fighting shape, Sweetheart. And if that means I tie you to the bed and force-feed you tea and soup with antibiotics crushed up in it then so be it."

"You can try it-"

"Not to be that guy beautiful," he hummed, "But I think I could take you right now."

[oceanlue]

hey hey! could i get yv boys with sick s/o?

(p.s I love your posts <3)

(Awww thank you 💙💙💙💙)

When your sick 🤧🤒

💗Alphonso 🧁🍭

He will be there by your side until your feeling better

He will literally close his candy store that he has and make sure that you're feeling all right not 50% or 80% he will make sure you're 100% better like you're not coughing you're not sneezing or trying your best to get up he will make sure you are 100% better before you think about getting out of that bed

Even though he knows that he can't cuddle you because he might get sick he does give you headpats and rubs your back whenever you need to cool off

And of course he knows how difficult it is to feed your medicine that itchy disgusting medicine that you hate so much that he has to force it down your throat and not in a very naughty way,... as in He will force it down or so just to make sure you get better

" boo I know you don't like the medicine and neither do I but you have to take it in order for you to get better because I really want to get back to cuddling with you and to make sure I don't get sick as well now please boo take the goddamn medicine"

You did get better but karma got him and he got sick as well but that's a good thing because now you can take care of him

And this time you get to shove the medicine down and throat *evil laugh*

🧡Seth 🏕🍂

He knows how you got a cold

You two were dancing in the rain all night because it was a nice evening and you thought it was okay

But karma got your back and now you are sick in bed

But that's all right since you got a hunk of a man to keep you nice and safe he will literally grab so many blankets and pillows to make sure you're warm and safe and soft

And he knows the right way to give you the medicine without forcing it down your throat

Yes very nicely and he uses his dangerous weapon his "puppy eyes"

" come on sugar I know it tastes horrible but I really want you to get better please can you take this and after you get better we can go for a ride how does that sound sugar"

Who are you saying no to him you did as he asked and you did get better 99% better but he'll take it

Now when you're outside he makes sure you're dressed warm

And he did promise you he'd take you on a ride on the bike and he did

He just loves you that's why he'll make sure that you're feeling 100% even on your worst days

💚Finn🌻🪴

This boy will make sure that you're staying in bed that means no getting up to go to work or to push yourself even further

Since he knows a lot about medicine and her definitely make you a nice tea and a healthy breakfast kick up your immune system

He will also help you run a warm bath so you can feel warm

But expect a lot of tea basically every hour and expect to go to the bathroom because Damn does he make good tea

He will take your temperature more than once to make sure that it's not going up too high that you have to be sent to a hospital

Every hour he will come and check in on you if you're getting rest or sleeping

"don't worry my orchid it's not up too high in my opinion I think it's going down a little that's a good sign, but until it's on a normal temperature I want you to stay in bed and make sure that you're taking care of yourself"

He loves you too much for you to get yourself injured or hurt or sick even more

He will gladly close the shop if it means he has to stay with you, cuz he loves you

❤Auron⌚☕

Is not the best for taking care of people since he didn't really have any practice since he's not really that kind of person

But that doesn't mean he won't try his best he will do the things normally people would do that he heard of like soup tea and rest plenty of rest

He will make sure to check your temperature and make sure that it's at a normal level

He will keep his distance cuz he doesn't want to get sick since he's a CEO of a company and he needs to be there for his job

But will make sure that you are plenty taken care of he may be cold but he's not that cold

Cuz he cares for you and wants you to get better

"Well rookie your temperature is a good number in my case but it's a little too high for your normal temperature so until you get better I don't want you to move from the spot unless you have to go to the washroom, until then I want you to stay here make sure you drink your tea and eat the soup and I will be back later see how well you're better until then have a nice sleep"

Also I think it's because every time when he talks to you at work he gets a little bit of his sanity back, ...mainly because he has to deal with idiots and you are the only person that he tolerates besides Trish

But he loves you enough that he will care for you when you're sick and vice versa to him

-----------------

Hope you like it

Peace out

💙💙💙

[crystalas]

Birthday Wish part 4

I had orignally planned to space out submission to every week and stay a chapter ahead so I can have time to edit and add stuff between work. However I got sick with a certain world famous bug and currently stuck in quaratine. So i have plenty of time to type between fever sweats and coughing up a lung...anywhere where was I?

Oh yeah, things have been going smoothly for the Glamrocks, Gregory, Dewdrop the baby and the Day Care Attendant [sips tea] I better change that...

Chapter four: Storm Day Tournament

The minis had been watching the meal time with interest, they rarely got far enough from the safety of the vents to be involved and when Freddy noticed them staring from afar, went and found some toy plates and food for them to feel included. So, while Gregory and Dewdrop ate and the baby food discussion had gone on the three took turns tapping plastic food to their face in pretence of partaking in the meal.  After Monty had recovered from the random question of ‘if you were a baby food what you be?’ he looked to the three spider bots.

“Hey little guys!” he called, the three stopped ‘sipping’ their teas to look at him “Monty Golf is free if you want, you got two hours alright?” the three spider bots dropped what they were doing bopped up and down trilling in glee as they did. Trios and Un dashed up the slide and away but Deux stopped in front of Dewdrop who watched him, he then skittered over to where the microphone had been put down and brought it over to her as a gesture of apology. Dewdrop took the microphone with a gurgle.

“Thank you for the apology, Deux” Sun said warmly, and with that the bot was gone.

“There’s only us here, no one is gonna see them” Gregory asked. “Why the time limit?”

“Less of a limit and more of a time stamp, that way I can go back later and the security feeds can have a ‘coincidental’ issue due to the storm and I don’t have to shift through hours of footage I can just go from now to then.” Monty explained. Gregory looked to Sun and about to ask about their cameras when Sun answered.

“Moon has been editing the footage as we’ve gone along, if anyone checks they will just be blips and glitches where the Minis were. I’m not sure how but Moon has the skill down to a T” they explained.

<Thank Vanny for that> Moon grumbled <Seems only fair I put what ‘skills’ that bitch taught me to good use.>

<Language!> Sun snapped.

“Anyway, kid wasn’t there something you wanted to show us?” Roxy asked which made the boy beam with excitement.

“Oh yeah, we got it set up yesterday!” he said wolfing down the last of his fruit salad, “It’s in the Super Star theatre!”

Robots and baby alike followed Gregory who had grabbed a bag and led them to the theatre, just as they were about to enter the gloom of the theatre Sun put Dewdrop down took a step inside and being the dimly lit room, they changed into Moon. Dewdrop found this hilarious, Moon knelt down and held out their arms jingling the bells on their wrists as they did. Dewdrop took the hint and crawled up to them so Moon could pick her up.

The theatre had a small projector on the stage along with a game console, Gregory brought it to life and the cinema screen was suddenly filled with the familiar jingle of a racing game. Dewdrop found this amazing as Gregory clambered onto the stage.

“Welcome bots and baby to the first Storm Day gaming tournament!” the boy announced dramatically. “The rules are simple! We will take turns racing in pairs cos we only got two controllers and the winners of that first race will get to compete to be champion who will get bragging rights till the next storm day!”

“Sound fun!” Chica smiled.

“He’s so proud of this idea” Freddy laughed.

“As he should be” Roxy said.

Using plushies Gregory had put in the bag he randomly chose who will be racing who, so the order was thus:

Chica Vs Gregory [he used the sun plushie to represent himself in the draw]. Chica had lost but Gregory couldn’t shake the feeling she let him win to be a good sport.

Monty Vs Freddy, to which Freddy lost as racing games weren’t his strength.

“Suck it Fazbear!” the gator oh so graciously declared.

Then it came to Roxy Vs Moon.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this?” Roxy asked sweetly.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just there aren’t many games that require actual skill in the Day care, Snakes and Ladders and Ludo seem more your speed”

“Gregory?” Moon growled without breaking eye contact with Roxy.

“Yeah?”

“Hold my baby” Moon announced coldly holding Dewdrop out to the boy. With baby now on his lap he watched the two bots glare at each other before sitting down to race. The race began and there was silence between the two as they were hyper focussed on the game, by the second lap Moon had over taken Roxy by use of short cuts he had found on the first lap. The third lap Roxy had caught up but there was still a big gap between the two.

“What was that about me not having skill?”

“What you have is beginner’s luck, skill is knowing what you have…and when to use it” Roxy purred and activated her weapon that she had picked up at the second lap. Moon only glanced over to her side of the spilt screen and gasped.

“Don’t you dare!”

“All fair in love and war” she said and let loose the blue shell.

Moon gave a strangled shriek as he tried to speed up to out run the oncoming death but he was too far ahead of anyone to let them overtake and take the blow… he could only watch in dismay as his cart was thrown into the air in an explosion and as his cart bounced back onto the road Roxy’s cart zoomed past and over the finish line.

Roxy leapt into the air punching the sky in victory. Moon sagged forward letting the controller slip between lose fingers, Gregory walked over to him with Dewdrop in his arms. The baby cooed and patted the Day Care Attendant’s hat in what look to be sympathy but she was probably after the bell on the end.

“I love you too starlight” Moon sighed and took her from Gregory.

“To be fair you would have won if she hadn’t got that power-up” Gregory said.

“But I did and that’s all that matters!” Roxy declared “Now who’s next to get their butts handed to them?”

“That would be me!” Monty declared “But if anyone is gonna get their butts kicked its gonna be you!”

“Bring it, you over grown hand-bag!” Roxy snarled.

“Should we be worried that to two most competitive animatronics are playing against each other?” Chica asked, Freddy and Moon didn’t respond but merely picked up their respective child and moved themselves to the row of seats further back. “Yeah, I thought so” Chica mused.

So, the first round of the finales was set to go; the carts had been chosen, diapers had been changed, the race track randomly set, snacks were made and now the wolf and gator sat down and there was tension in the air.

Ready. Set. GO!!

And they were off and at the first line of power-ups there was already dirty tricks as the two would try to blow or push the other off the course. As they played, they would growl and hiss at each other while they elbowed and shouldered each other roughly to try and distract them from play.

“Quit it!” Roxy snapped.

“Hey weren’t you who said ‘all fair in love and war’?” Monty chirped back.

“You did say that” Freddy exclaimed.

“Be quiet!” Roxy roared.

“She’s kind of cute when she’s like this” Chica smiled.

“You have weird tastes Chica” Gregory mused.

Second lap and they were neck and neck, trading first and second place for nearly every corner they turned. Using every power-up they came across; the track was strewn with traps already.

“Come on Monty!” Moon crowed “Kick her butt!”

“That’s the plan!” Monty declared.

“Do it for Dewdrop!” Gregory shouted.

“I’M DOING IT FOR YOU, DEWDROP!” Monty cried, Dewdrop was just finding the whole thing entertaining as heck with all the colours, bright light, snacks and everyone cheering and making funny noises this was as far as she was concerned the best day ever.

Third lap and they were still tied dodging blows and avoiding traps, they were turbo charging at every available opportunity and then the finish line came into view. In their haste they had used everything up so now it was just a mad dash for the end

“Come on come on!” Roxy growled under her breath.

“I’m gonna win! I’m gonna win!” Monty cried.

“Like heck you are!”

and then…

There was an ominous loud clap of thunder and the powers flickered out for a minute, the screen went black. There was a beat of silence in the theatre before the game console came back to life…at the main screen. Roxy quickly booted up the game to find that the last race had been lost to digital limbo.

“Hah!” Roxy declared “I win!”

“What you talking about girl? I won!” Monty shouted.

“Ladies, ladies” Gregory exclaimed standing up “we will just refer to our judge and they will decide who won” and then gestured to Dewdrop who was now chewing on a rusk.

“The baby?!”

“She looks to be a wise, unbiased person. I trust her judgement” Moon said sassily. Gregory held out the Roxy Plush and Monty Plush in front of her and she regarded both equally; with baited metaphoric breath the two awaited her decision.

She reached for Monty’s plushie and he roared in triumph before hoisting Dewdrop up and holding them aloft up like a trophy to which Dewdrop giggled in glee.

“THE BABY HAS SPOKEN!”

“Put my baby down!” Moon snapped before Monty could do a victory lap of the theatre with her.

“Yeah, you still need to beat me ya know!” Gregory declared angrily, but the lights began to flicker once again and the game reset itself once more.

“I think we might need to put it on hold until we can secure a proper power source…” Freddy answered. Gregory looked at Monty who despite having a somewhat static face had managed to look smug as hell.

“Fine we will set it up in Freddy’s room and we are finishing this!” Gregory declared.

“It will have to wait as Monty and I need to recharge” Freddy said softly to which Gregory gave a groan.

“Later then!”

 While the Tournament raged inside, outside there sat a van in the Pizza Plex loading bay as a plan was forming between three humans, the inside of the van was filled with numerous tools and electronics gear as well as what looked to be a work bench. A heavy gush of wind rocked the van like a boat in choppy waters.

“Right, so we’re clear on the plan?” a lady said, she wore glasses and kept her hair up in a tight bun to keep it out of her eyes. “I keep the bots distracted while you two secure the item and get it here where we…”

“I got a question” a short balding man declared holding up his hand.

“Yes?”

“Two actually, one why are we going by these goofy names? And why am I fucking Balloon Boy?”

“Cos you’re annoying and you steal my batteries” the woman who was going by the code name Ballora declared “I also like the irony of old characters stealing news one, as well they might be able to trace us if we use our real names. I will be able to get rid of video but audio might be an issue.”

“Okay second, we are breaking into this place. Why not snag one of the head liners? You telling me there ain’t a fazbear collector who wouldn’t sell their kidney for an authentic Freddy Fazbear?”

“He’s got a point” the second man said who was going by the code name ‘Bon Bon’. Ballora gave a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Okay first: the main four are allowed free roaming which means that we would have to search the entire plex for just one of them in the very limited time window that we have, whereas the target we are going for is kept to only one section making it easier and quicker to find.” Ballora began as she started to get ready putting her gear into a backpack and shouldering a second smaller bag for lighter tools.  

“Secondly, we try and sell a whole ass animatronic we’re going to have the police down our throats before we could even exchange PayPal details. Thirdly the target is literally bleeding edge tech it has enough processing power to host two A. Is and is made from tough metal alloy that allows it bounce around light as a feather and still lift a tonne. Even scrapped this thing will be worth millions!”

“When you put it like that” Bon Bon said looking at Balloon Boy who rolled his eyes and grabbed his gear. “Looks like we’re stealing a nanny-bot!”

 Roxy and Chica went off to chill in Roxy’s green room if nothing more than to sooth her ego at being bested in what should be her game. Monty and Freddy left to charge which left two children and a Day Care Attendant who headed back to the Day Care. Gregory pulled out some of his homework he promised Vanessa he would do while Sun kept Dewdrop entertained.

“Come on Starling” Sun cooed “say Sun! Suuunah! Suuuunah!”

The baby laughed and babbled.

“Can you say Mooonah? Moooon!”

Dewdrop looked up at Sun and with a face that glowed with the pride of learning declared loudly.

“Saaamooo!”

“Suunah” Sun tried to correct.

“Samooo!”

“Moon?”

“Sammooo! Sammooo!”

<Look its close enough, I’d take it as win> Moon declared. Gregory chuckled as he tackled his maths homework.

 The three thieves had broken in and made their way to the nearest security room, avoiding the sparce security drones that ambled about with their flash lights. Ballora sat down in front of the computer, placing her laptop in front of herself and plugged it into the system.

“I can give you guys as long as I can maybe an hour tops, when I give the signal get going!”

The two nodded and got ready, she started to tap away quickly and smirked. The power went out, if any police looked into it, they would assume the storm had knocked it out. As the back-up power for the security booted it back up, she accessed it and started up her own programme.

“Okay robots, who here has played FNaF 3?” and with a click of a button the sound of Balloon Boy’s laugh echoed throughout the room.

 As Gregory finished his math homework Sun had put Dewdrop down for a nap, Gregory was about to ask if there was any fizzy fazz when the power went out and Moon was forced to appear. He looked up and around as if he could hear something.

“Gregory” Freddy called on the fazwatch. “Gregory, can you hear me?”

“Yeah…the power went out, are you okay?”

“Yes, I was able to get enough of a charge, but that is not why I am calling”

“There’s been a security breach” Moon growled. “Time to play”

“Moon I must ask that you stay there” Freddy said which got Moon picking Gregory up so he could hold out his arm and yell into the fazwatch.

“What? But I’m security!”

“Yes, but you are also the Day Care Attendant and while normally I would be okay with guarding Gregory myself and leaving you to your duties…I’m afraid you and Sun are the only one programme and built to look after Dewdrop”

Moon gripped his face plate with his free hand before giving a growl of resignation, it was true while the Glamrocks were able to play instruments built for them they lacked the fine motor control skills to do delicate things like handle small squishy infants and other such duties.

“Fine!” Moon snapped.

“Should we be worried?” Gregory asked.

“It is probably a malfunction due to the power going out, we will locate the source of the problem and sort it as soon as we can. Please Gregory could you remain with Moon until I can come get you?”

“Sure Freddy!”

“See you soon” and with that Freddy hung up.

“Well, it’s too dark to do any homework so…” Gregory began but was silenced when Moon produced a night light strong enough to light the table.

“Nice try kiddo” Moon said.

[whileiamdying]

Emily Brontë’s WUTHERING HEIGHTS; Chapter VIII

On the morning of a fine June day my first bonny little nursling, and the last of the ancient Earnshaw stock, was born. We were busy with the hay in a far-away field, when the girl that usually brought our breakfasts came running an hour too soon across the meadow and up the lane, calling me as she ran.

“Oh, such a grand bairn!” she panted out. “The finest lad that ever breathed! But the doctor says missis must go: he says she’s been in a consumption these many months. I heard him tell Mr. Hindley: and now she has nothing to keep her, and she’ll be dead before winter. You must come home directly. You’re to nurse it, Nelly: to feed it with sugar and milk, and take care of it day and night. I wish I were you, because it will be all yours when there is no missis!”

“But is she very ill?” I asked, flinging down my rake and tying my bonnet.

“I guess she is; yet she looks bravely,” replied the girl, “and she talks as if she thought of living to see it grow a man. She’s out of her head for joy, it’s such a beauty! If I were her I’m certain I should not die: I should get better at the bare sight of it, in spite of Kenneth. I was fairly mad at him. Dame Archer brought the cherub down to master, in the house, and his face just began to light up, when the old croaker steps forward, and says he—‘Earnshaw, it’s a blessing your wife has been spared to leave you this son. When she came, I felt convinced we shouldn’t keep her long; and now, I must tell you, the winter will probably finish her. Don’t take on, and fret about it too much: it can’t be helped. And besides, you should have known better than to choose such a rush of a lass!’”

“And what did the master answer?” I inquired.

“I think he swore: but I didn’t mind him, I was straining to see the bairn,” and she began again to describe it rapturously. I, as zealous as herself, hurried eagerly home to admire, on my part; though I was very sad for Hindley’s sake. He had room in his heart only for two idols—his wife and himself: he doted on both, and adored one, and I couldn’t conceive how he would bear the loss.

When we got to Wuthering Heights, there he stood at the front door; and, as I passed in, I asked, “how was the baby?”

“Nearly ready to run about, Nell!” he replied, putting on a cheerful smile.

“And the mistress?” I ventured to inquire; “the doctor says she’s—”

“Damn the doctor!” he interrupted, reddening. “Frances is quite right: she’ll be perfectly well by this time next week. Are you going upstairs? will you tell her that I’ll come, if she’ll promise not to talk. I left her because she would not hold her tongue; and she must—tell her Mr. Kenneth says she must be quiet.”

I delivered this message to Mrs. Earnshaw; she seemed in flighty spirits, and replied merrily, “I hardly spoke a word, Ellen, and there he has gone out twice, crying. Well, say I promise I won’t speak: but that does not bind me not to laugh at him!”

Poor soul! Till within a week of her death that gay heart never failed her; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay, furiously, in affirming her health improved every day. When Kenneth warned him that his medicines were useless at that stage of the malady, and he needn’t put him to further expense by attending her, he retorted, “I know you need not—she’s well—she does not want any more attendance from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a fever; and it is gone: her pulse is as slow as mine now, and her cheek as cool.”

He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him; but one night, while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying she thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of coughing took her—a very slight one—he raised her in his arms; she put her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she was dead.

As the girl had anticipated, the child Hareton fell wholly into my hands. Mr. Earnshaw, provided he saw him healthy and never heard him cry, was contented, as far as regarded him. For himself, he grew desperate: his sorrow was of that kind that will not lament. He neither wept nor prayed; he cursed and defied: execrated God and man, and gave himself up to reckless dissipation. The servants could not bear his tyrannical and evil conduct long: Joseph and I were the only two that would stay. I had not the heart to leave my charge; and besides, you know, I had been his foster-sister, and excused his behaviour more readily than a stranger would. Joseph remained to hector over tenants and labourers; and because it was his vocation to be where he had plenty of wickedness to reprove.

The master’s bad ways and bad companions formed a pretty example for Catherine and Heathcliff. His treatment of the latter was enough to make a fiend of a saint. And, truly, it appeared as if the lad were possessed of something diabolical at that period. He delighted to witness Hindley degrading himself past redemption; and became daily more notable for savage sullenness and ferocity. I could not half tell what an infernal house we had. The curate dropped calling, and nobody decent came near us, at last; unless Edgar Linton’s visits to Miss Cathy might be an exception. At fifteen she was the queen of the country-side; she had no peer; and she did turn out a haughty, headstrong creature! I own I did not like her, after infancy was past; and I vexed her frequently by trying to bring down her arrogance: she never took an aversion to me, though. She had a wondrous constancy to old attachments: even Heathcliff kept his hold on her affections unalterably; and young Linton, with all his superiority, found it difficult to make an equally deep impression. He was my late master: that is his portrait over the fireplace. It used to hang on one side, and his wife’s on the other; but hers has been removed, or else you might see something of what she was. Can you make that out?

Mrs. Dean raised the candle, and I discerned a soft-featured face, exceedingly resembling the young lady at the Heights, but more pensive and amiable in expression. It formed a sweet picture. The long light hair curled slightly on the temples; the eyes were large and serious; the figure almost too graceful. I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could forget her first friend for such an individual. I marvelled much how he, with a mind to correspond with his person, could fancy my idea of Catherine Earnshaw.

“A very agreeable portrait,” I observed to the house-keeper. “Is it like?”

“Yes,” she answered; “but he looked better when he was animated; that is his everyday countenance: he wanted spirit in general.”

Catherine had kept up her acquaintance with the Lintons since her five-weeks’ residence among them; and as she had no temptation to show her rough side in their company, and had the sense to be ashamed of being rude where she experienced such invariable courtesy, she imposed unwittingly on the old lady and gentleman by her ingenious cordiality; gained the admiration of Isabella, and the heart and soul of her brother: acquisitions that flattered her from the first—for she was full of ambition—and led her to adopt a double character without exactly intending to deceive any one. In the place where she heard Heathcliff termed a “vulgar young ruffian,” and “worse than a brute,” she took care not to act like him; but at home she had small inclination to practise politeness that would only be laughed at, and restrain an unruly nature when it would bring her neither credit nor praise.

Mr. Edgar seldom mustered courage to visit Wuthering Heights openly. He had a terror of Earnshaw’s reputation, and shrunk from encountering him; and yet he was always received with our best attempts at civility: the master himself avoided offending him, knowing why he came; and if he could not be gracious, kept out of the way. I rather think his appearance there was distasteful to Catherine; she was not artful, never played the coquette, and had evidently an objection to her two friends meeting at all; for when Heathcliff expressed contempt of Linton in his presence, she could not half coincide, as she did in his absence; and when Linton evinced disgust and antipathy to Heathcliff, she dared not treat his sentiments with indifference, as if depreciation of her playmate were of scarcely any consequence to her. I’ve had many a laugh at her perplexities and untold troubles, which she vainly strove to hide from my mockery. That sounds ill-natured: but she was so proud, it became really impossible to pity her distresses, till she should be chastened into more humility. She did bring herself, finally, to confess, and to confide in me: there was not a soul else that she might fashion into an adviser.

Mr. Hindley had gone from home one afternoon, and Heathcliff presumed to give himself a holiday on the strength of it. He had reached the age of sixteen then, I think, and without having bad features, or being deficient in intellect, he contrived to convey an impression of inward and outward repulsiveness that his present aspect retains no traces of. In the first place, he had by that time lost the benefit of his early education: continual hard work, begun soon and concluded late, had extinguished any curiosity he once possessed in pursuit of knowledge, and any love for books or learning. His childhood’s sense of superiority, instilled into him by the favours of old Mr. Earnshaw, was faded away. He struggled long to keep up an equality with Catherine in her studies, and yielded with poignant though silent regret: but he yielded completely; and there was no prevailing on him to take a step in the way of moving upward, when he found he must, necessarily, sink beneath his former level. Then personal appearance sympathised with mental deterioration: he acquired a slouching gait and ignoble look; his naturally reserved disposition was exaggerated into an almost idiotic excess of unsociable moroseness; and he took a grim pleasure, apparently, in exciting the aversion rather than the esteem of his few acquaintance.

Catherine and he were constant companions still at his seasons of respite from labour; but he had ceased to express his fondness for her in words, and recoiled with angry suspicion from her girlish caresses, as if conscious there could be no gratification in lavishing such marks of affection on him. On the before-named occasion he came into the house to announce his intention of doing nothing, while I was assisting Miss Cathy to arrange her dress: she had not reckoned on his taking it into his head to be idle; and imagining she would have the whole place to herself, she managed, by some means, to inform Mr. Edgar of her brother’s absence, and was then preparing to receive him.

“Cathy, are you busy this afternoon?” asked Heathcliff. “Are you going anywhere?”

“No, it is raining,” she answered.

“Why have you that silk frock on, then?” he said. “Nobody coming here, I hope?”

“Not that I know of,” stammered Miss: “but you should be in the field now, Heathcliff. It is an hour past dinner time; I thought you were gone.”

“Hindley does not often free us from his accursed presence,” observed the boy. “I’ll not work any more to-day: I’ll stay with you.”

“Oh, but Joseph will tell,” she suggested; “you’d better go!”

“Joseph is loading lime on the further side of Penistone Crags; it will take him till dark, and he’ll never know.”

So saying, he lounged to the fire, and sat down. Catherine reflected an instant, with knitted brows—she found it needful to smooth the way for an intrusion. “Isabella and Edgar Linton talked of calling this afternoon,” she said, at the conclusion of a minute’s silence. “As it rains, I hardly expect them; but they may come, and if they do, you run the risk of being scolded for no good.”

“Order Ellen to say you are engaged, Cathy,” he persisted; “don’t turn me out for those pitiful, silly friends of yours! I’m on the point, sometimes, of complaining that they—but I’ll not—”

“That they what?” cried Catherine, gazing at him with a troubled countenance. “Oh, Nelly!” she added petulantly, jerking her head away from my hands, “you’ve combed my hair quite out of curl! That’s enough; let me alone. What are you on the point of complaining about, Heathcliff?”

“Nothing—only look at the almanack on that wall;” he pointed to a framed sheet hanging near the window, and continued, “The crosses are for the evenings you have spent with the Lintons, the dots for those spent with me. Do you see? I’ve marked every day.”

“Yes—very foolish: as if I took notice!” replied Catherine, in a peevish tone. “And where is the sense of that?”

“To show that I do take notice,” said Heathcliff.

“And should I always be sitting with you?” she demanded, growing more irritated. “What good do I get? What do you talk about? You might be dumb, or a baby, for anything you say to amuse me, or for anything you do, either!”

“You never told me before that I talked too little, or that you disliked my company, Cathy!” exclaimed Heathcliff, in much agitation.

“It’s no company at all, when people know nothing and say nothing,” she muttered.

Her companion rose up, but he hadn’t time to express his feelings further, for a horse’s feet were heard on the flags, and having knocked gently, young Linton entered, his face brilliant with delight at the unexpected summons he had received. Doubtless Catherine marked the difference between her friends, as one came in and the other went out. The contrast resembled what you see in exchanging a bleak, hilly, coal country for a beautiful fertile valley; and his voice and greeting were as opposite as his aspect. He had a sweet, low manner of speaking, and pronounced his words as you do: that’s less gruff than we talk here, and softer.

“I’m not come too soon, am I?” he said, casting a look at me: I had begun to wipe the plate, and tidy some drawers at the far end in the dresser.

“No,” answered Catherine. “What are you doing there, Nelly?”

“My work, Miss,” I replied. (Mr. Hindley had given me directions to make a third party in any private visits Linton chose to pay.)

She stepped behind me and whispered crossly, “Take yourself and your dusters off; when company are in the house, servants don’t commence scouring and cleaning in the room where they are!”

“It’s a good opportunity, now that master is away,” I answered aloud: “he hates me to be fidgeting over these things in his presence. I’m sure Mr. Edgar will excuse me.”

“I hate you to be fidgeting in my presence,” exclaimed the young lady imperiously, not allowing her guest time to speak: she had failed to recover her equanimity since the little dispute with Heathcliff.

“I’m sorry for it, Miss Catherine,” was my response; and I proceeded assiduously with my occupation.

She, supposing Edgar could not see her, snatched the cloth from my hand, and pinched me, with a prolonged wrench, very spitefully on the arm. I’ve said I did not love her, and rather relished mortifying her vanity now and then: besides, she hurt me extremely; so I started up from my knees, and screamed out, “Oh, Miss, that’s a nasty trick! You have no right to nip me, and I’m not going to bear it.”

“I didn’t touch you, you lying creature!” cried she, her fingers tingling to repeat the act, and her ears red with rage. She never had power to conceal her passion, it always set her whole complexion in a blaze.

“What’s that, then?” I retorted, showing a decided purple witness to refute her.

She stamped her foot, wavered a moment, and then, irresistibly impelled by the naughty spirit within her, slapped me on the cheek: a stinging blow that filled both eyes with water.

“Catherine, love! Catherine!” interposed Linton, greatly shocked at the double fault of falsehood and violence which his idol had committed.

“Leave the room, Ellen!” she repeated, trembling all over.

Little Hareton, who followed me everywhere, and was sitting near me on the floor, at seeing my tears commenced crying himself, and sobbed out complaints against “wicked aunt Cathy,” which drew her fury on to his unlucky head: she seized his shoulders, and shook him till the poor child waxed livid, and Edgar thoughtlessly laid hold of her hands to deliver him. In an instant one was wrung free, and the astonished young man felt it applied over his own ear in a way that could not be mistaken for jest. He drew back in consternation. I lifted Hareton in my arms, and walked off to the kitchen with him, leaving the door of communication open, for I was curious to watch how they would settle their disagreement. The insulted visitor moved to the spot where he had laid his hat, pale and with a quivering lip.

“That’s right!” I said to myself. “Take warning and begone! It’s a kindness to let you have a glimpse of her genuine disposition.”

“Where are you going?” demanded Catherine, advancing to the door.

He swerved aside, and attempted to pass.

“You must not go!” she exclaimed, energetically.

“I must and shall!” he replied in a subdued voice.

“No,” she persisted, grasping the handle; “not yet, Edgar Linton: sit down; you shall not leave me in that temper. I should be miserable all night, and I won’t be miserable for you!”

“Can I stay after you have struck me?” asked Linton.

Catherine was mute.

“You’ve made me afraid and ashamed of you,” he continued; “I’ll not come here again!”

Her eyes began to glisten and her lids to twinkle.

“And you told a deliberate untruth!” he said.

“I didn’t!” she cried, recovering her speech; “I did nothing deliberately. Well, go, if you please—get away! And now I’ll cry—I’ll cry myself sick!”

She dropped down on her knees by a chair, and set to weeping in serious earnest. Edgar persevered in his resolution as far as the court; there he lingered. I resolved to encourage him.

“Miss is dreadfully wayward, sir,” I called out. “As bad as any marred child: you’d better be riding home, or else she will be sick, only to grieve us.”

The soft thing looked askance through the window: he possessed the power to depart as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten. Ah, I thought, there will be no saving him: he’s doomed, and flies to his fate! And so it was: he turned abruptly, hastened into the house again, shut the door behind him; and when I went in a while after to inform them that Earnshaw had come home rabid drunk, ready to pull the whole place about our ears (his ordinary frame of mind in that condition), I saw the quarrel had merely effected a closer intimacy—had broken the outworks of youthful timidity, and enabled them to forsake the disguise of friendship, and confess themselves lovers.

Intelligence of Mr. Hindley’s arrival drove Linton speedily to his horse, and Catherine to her chamber. I went to hide little Hareton, and to take the shot out of the master’s fowling-piece, which he was fond of playing with in his insane excitement, to the hazard of the lives of any who provoked, or even attracted his notice too much; and I had hit upon the plan of removing it, that he might do less mischief if he did go the length of firing the gun.

[moemoemammon]

Following that "least favorite" request could we get their reactions to being to told that they're their favorite, but to not tell the other brothers so their feelings don't get hurt? Maybe because they relate to them the most or just get along really well. Thanks!

You're My Favorite! But Don't Tell the Others-

(Feat. GN!MC and the Demon Bros)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Lucifer

There are no words to explain the overwhelming satisfaction ion Lucifer’s face after you tell him that. Of course, it’s only natural that he would be your favorite, all things considered.

The Avatar of Pride won’t ever forget this moment. He carefully considers your words and agrees not to tell anyone, as much as he’d love to bring it up, because he knows more than anyone what kind of chaos would ensue should the others (especially Mammon) find out.

But they can tell something’s up when the eldest has been heard humming all day. He moves about the house with even more grace than usual, and hasn’t scowled even once.

But the REAL shocker was when Mammon tried hiding a bill right as Lucifer walked in... and the eldest let him off with a warning. A WARNING! The brothers thought the Devildom must’ve frozen over, but you and he knew different.

“MC, I would like you to accompany me to Le Pluvier this afternoon, once you've finished your studies. I've already made reservations, so be sure to get ready on time. I've made sure to consider the things you might like to eat, so I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. Don't be late." "...I'm grinning? I don't know what you're talking about."

Mammon

The gigantic grin on Mammon’s face is so bright, it could rival the sun. You’ve seriously made his day. No, his year. Actually, he’s pretty sure he could ride this high for the next millennia! There’s nothing in this world that could dampen his spirits right now! 

He feels like he just won big at the casino! Of course he’s your favorite! He WAS your first demon, and now he’s gone and claimed his rightful spot as your number one! Good luck trying to keep him from saying anything. Mammon’s gonna throw it around in everyone’s faces for as long as he can milk it.

And you thought he was clingy before, just wait till you see how he treats you after hearing that. Despite always calling you his ‘servant’ or his ‘human’, you’d  think your roles were reversed. Mammon spoils you every chance he gets, buying you clothes and trinkets, filling the spaces in your room with the things he knows you like, monopolizing you completely until nearly everything you own is a gift from him.

Your words also help soothe that jealousy of his a little. Only a little, though. It’s easier to watch you talk to other demons when he knows he’ll always be your first man.

“Didja really have to stay after class that long? I know you were talkin' to that demon that lent you a book, but you outta ask ME for stuff! Tch... you're lucky I'm in a good mood today! But I guess I don't have to worry about some low level demon like that, seein' as I'm your favorite!"

Levi

Wait wait wait....Come again? Did you seriously just say what he think you said..? That had to be a mistake! Some kind of...uh..verbal typo! Because there’s absolutely, positively, NO WAY in all of the nine layers that he could be your favorite demon. And yet you still insist that you’re telling the truth, and Levi feels like he’s died and gone to heaven. 

Red faced and stammering up a storm, Levi looks like he might die. Is it really okay for a shut-in otaku to feel this giddy? Seriously, he hasn’t felt like this since he got his hands on a signed copy of a Ruri Hana audio drama! No no, this definitely beats that!

You’ve managed to inflate his nearly nonexistent ego, and now he feels like there’s nothing he can’t do! Maybe he could even go to Majolish right now?? THAT’S how good he’s feeling!

Almost as bad as Mammon in keeping it a secret. He doesn’t tell anyone right away, but they’re suspicious when they notice how much time he’s spending out of his room. And then when he and Mammon get in another petty argument, he drops the bomb that he’s your favorite demon in the entire Devildom, and you can guess how things go from there.

“Uuuoooo...!!!!! I've decided..! Since I've got a serious stat buff, I'm going to open a booth at the next convention coming up..! I'll sell my Ruri-chan fan art and spread her influence all over the Devildom! I'd never have the guts to do it normally, but I feel like I could do anything right now! Y-you'll go too, won't you MC?"

Satan

You nearly made this man spit tea all over his book, and now he’s coughing and spluttering and trying to figure out what could’ve prompted what he’s taking as a confession. You.. do realize what you’re saying, don’t you? And you know the kind of effect your words have on him?

Satan isn’t the type that wears his heart on his sleeve, so you have to look for his subtle expressions to tell how he’s feeling. But there’s nothing subtle about the redness of his ears and how he’s begging you not to look at him right now. For the sake of his sanity, give him a minute to recoup.

When he does recover, he agrees to keep it a secret for obvious reasons. And it’s hard to tell that he’s in a good mood, other than the fact that he hasn’t tried to pull any pranks on Lucifer lately. But Asmo sees all, and literally hounds him into spilling the tea.

He tells him a lie of course, but now the other brothers are noticing just how happy he is. Satan's smiling way too much today, isn't he? And he didn't even get mad when Beel got whipped cream on his jacket! Well, not THAT mad, anyway.

"Haaah... everyone's been harassing me all day, claiming I'm smiling a lot. I'm sure I look the same as I always do, but I'll admit that I've been happy ever since you told me that this morning. Wait.. you did think I've been grinning too, do you? I have??"

Asmo

Asmo always jokes about being your favorite and announces it as if the two of you are married, but when you actually confirm that his longing for you isn’t one sided, he ends up smearing lip balm across his cheek in shock. Did you... really say that just now? He knew it all along, but hearing it like that is just...!

Ooooh, he’s so happy he can hardly contain himself! Asmo throws his arms around you, peppering your face in kisses until you feel sticky from lip balm, wipes your face clean, then marks it up all over again. Good luck getting rid of him, because he might never let go.

Immediately posts it to Devilgram. Did you really think he’d let such a momentous occasion go unannounced? You must not have been paying attention to the kind of person he is! Asmo would put you on a pedestal in front of the world like a precious jewel if he were able, but this’ll have to do. He won’t hide his love at all!

Of course, the others don’t take too kindly to it, not that he cares. He never leaves your side, pampers you like crazy, and has even attempted to get you to move into his room. Lucifer put an immediate stop to that, though. Boo...

“I just can't get enough of you, MC! Just being near you gets me so excited that I can hardly stand it! You'll take responsibility for what you're doing to me, won't you? And in exchange, I'll take my time showing you just how much I love you. After all, you're my favorite, too!"

Beel

Beel never has a problem with choking while he eats, and it comes as naturally as breathing. Unfortunately neither of that applies right now, since you just made him choke on a meatball sub.

He usually takes your words with quiet acceptance, but this might be the most emotion you've ever witness from the stoic demon. His eyes are wider than that time that laid on an entire gingerbread mansion, sparkling up with such deep emotion you wouldn't be surprised if he cried. Instead he softens up and immediately embraces you.

...And doesn't let go. Sandwich long forgotten, he's been carrying you around all day, and ignoring any questions or protests from his brothers. Also insists on feeding you throughout the day. The food tastes better when he can enjoy it with you, so why not just bring you everywhere?

When he isn't carrying you, he's following you around subconsciously, either close up against you like a protective wall, or just far enough that you're within his line of sight. As far as not telling anyone, he... tells Belphie immediately. It was an accident though, since there's not much he keeps from his twin.

"MC, I won a meal ticket for Godevil Chocolatier. Let's get something for dessert today. Ah, you can get as much as you want, too. I really want to see what things you choose. They might become my favorites."

Belphie

There's nothing in this world that can wake Belphegor from his sleep, unless he allows it. No loud noises, no amount of shaking or smacking, and not even dragging him around the house. But the moment you whisper that he's your favorite demon, the Avatar of Sloth is wide awake.

Hey, you're not just saying weird things to get a reaction, are you? Because if so, this is a new level of cruel. Yet you confirm that you mean it and swear him into secrecy, and Belphie tries his best not to show how happy he is. A smile keeps creeping up on his face that he struggles to force down. It's annoying...

As funny as it’d be to tell everyone the news, he's good at keeping secrets. Instead, you've noticed that he's been sleeping a little less that before. When he does take one of his hundreds of naps, he finds some way to be closer to you. He's even been seen sleepwalking to your exact location somehow-

It's hard for him to believe that you're not teasing, though. How could HE be your favorite demon here? Belphie doesn't do anything special to win you over, yet after everything he put you through, you like him enough to deep him your favorite?

"You're weird, MC. I mean... me? I won't deny that I'm really happy though, but I guess I'm in disbelief. You should spoil me even more until I believe you. Lend me your lap for a few hours, okay?" "...I wonder what Lucifer would think if I told him, heheh."

[ranaiki]

jjk when you’re sick

a/n: random thoughts i had, kinda self indulgent. don’t have motivation for my big pieces and am stressed to the high heavens so y’all take this. Not proofread, we die like women.

-

inumaki, who comes to check on you with two bags full of everything you could need - medicines, food, water, gatorade - you name it. Who sits by your bedside, watching your facial expressions and body language for signs of pain or discomfort. Whispering “tuna mayo” with a concerned tone, tucking the blankets closer to your resting figure every time they slide off of you.

gojo, who pretends to act like he hardly notices nor cares that you’re bedridden and incredibly sick, but incapable of hiding the concern plain on his face. Stays in your room under the pretenses of bothering you, but checks on you every time you make a sound or move, ready to get anything you request of him.

megumi, who doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but does his best to be there for you and make sure you’re alright. Asks Inumaki and Panda for guidance before going to visit, and comes equipped with medicine and cold towels. Checks on you and makes sure you’re doing alright as he places the cold towel on your forehead, sits on the edge of the bed with his hand resting close to your body in silence as you rest.

itadori, who rushes to your room as soon as he hears you are sick. Doesn’t heed any warnings about being careful of getting sick himself, or being too energetic around you while you’re ill. Fusses over you - tucks you in, tries to force feed you/force you to drink and take medicine, asks over and over what you need. Peppers your face with kisses. Ends up sick himself a week later.

nobara, who brings you tons of junk food and snacks. Sits in your room with you and turns on netflix. Watches kids television (think disney movies) and snacks with you, though is pretty much the only one eating. Checks your temperature for you every hour, and picks up anything if you ask for it, but otherwise just spends time with you in your room.

maki, who knew you were sick long before you were bedridden or realized you were sick yourself. Who told you to go get some rest the day before you ended up coughing and barely able to move. Comes into your room after you’ve truly fallen ill and scolds you, but ends up helping you by getting you whatever you need and just generally caring for you. Asks Inumaki to cook food you crave rather than cooking it herself.

toji, who climbs into bed with you as soon as he realizes your sick. Pulls you close to his chest (if you have chills) to keep you warm, and just lays there for the day. Doesnt really offer medicine or food, but makes sure to keep you and himself hydrated as you both nap.

nanami, who is the most practical. Examines your symptoms, and decides to call in a doctor to check on you, make sure you’re alright. Follows any instructions he’s given to a T, even if you’re resistant. Will basically stick to you like glue until he’s certain you’re well enough to return to the way things normally are.

[littlemissnoname13]

Fortunate Misfortune (D.M x Reader): Chapter 15: Intervention

Summary: Where Draco receives an intervention from Astoria and the group gathers for one last celebration before Christmas Break

Warnings: Coarse language, mentions of food and death and parental issues. Its not too heavy hearted but still.

A/n: Lets pretend I never said the next chapters are going to be shorter. It just broke my heart to delete the things I spent hours writing. Thank you to everyone still keeping up with this chaotic mess of a series. The smut will be posted in a few hours.

Reblogs and feedbacks are always welcomed :)

Words: 3.2k (Er...)

Chapter 14| Masterlist |Chapter 16

“What is it, Astoria?” Draco patiently waited for Astoria to continue but she seemed to be too preoccupied glaring at Pansy to notice.

“What?” Pansy deadpanned.

“I said I want to speak to Draco.”

“Don’t stop on my accord.”

“I want to speak to Draco, Alone.” Astoria folded her hands across her chest and Pansy rolled her eyes at her, clearly irked. As nonchalant as she acted, it was hard to miss the way Pansy quickly scanned the side table to check if Astoria had everything she needed. Who would have thought Pansy Parkinson had a secret soft side.

“Yeah. I was just leaving anyway.” Pansy huffed before reaching for her bag hanging by the metal frame of the bed. “Don’t forget to take your hourly tonic. You always seem to forget about it.”

“Yes, mum.” Astoria waved her hands to shoo Pansy away and Draco found this new dynamic both annoying and amusing at the same time. In these last few days, they’d all gotten uncomfortably close to one another. It was bizarre having friends that weren’t friends with him due to his father’s connections for once.

“So…” Draco began when Astoria finally settled down and got comfortable on her bed again. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Two things actually. Astoria coughed and Draco reached for a glass of water to hand to her. “Let's start with the easier one first. I need your expert opinion on Blaise.”

“Why does EVERYONE recruit me for special intelligence on Zabini?” Draco snorted.

“Let me guess who this everyone is.” Astoria tapped her index finger against her chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Is this someone we both know?”

“Maybe. Although, her way of asking involved threatening, groveling and feeding me that off-putting sandwich that you two apparently swear by.”

“The usual?” Astoria sniggered loud enough for Madam Pomphrey to look at them from the far corner of the room and Draco quietly nodded with his lips twitching from a smile he was biting back. “I remember my first taste of the usual. I was staying at her house over Christmas when we were twelve I think. You see, her parents are never around-not even for Christmas actually and It was the only thing she could put together without triggering a fire hazard in the kitchen.”

“Wasn’t there at least one responsible adult to stop the fire hazard, if it’d happened?”

“Her Gran was napping in the living room at the time I think—I'm not sure. She used to stay over every Christmas up until our fourth year though.” Astoria sighed, restlessly fidgeting with her thumbs like the topic was making her mildly uncomfortable. “Y/n has been staying back at Hogwarts ever since her grandmother died.”

Sure, they’d talked about death earlier and had even poked fun at it, but deep down all of them were still fucking terrified of it. Even Astoria. Especially Astoria.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Where are her parents anyway?”

“I dunno. Paris, sometimes Arles. They keep travelling.” Astoria made air quotations when she said travelling. “Absent parents aside, we practically had to raise each other through the years.”

Ah, Parents, parenting. Toxic, absent, nurturing.

People always seem to overlook how someone’s relationship with their parents can impact their self-worth, their ability to navigate through life, and form decent human relationships. His parents were around, physically. Emotionally? Not so much.

He was his father’s sole heir and his mother’s darling boy and he grew up with an inflated self worth and a dire need to please his father. When he was younger, he wrote letters addressed to Lucius every time he performed well in a quiz or caught a snitch and waited for his now redundant eagle owl to bring back a response of “well done, son” or “I'm proud of you”. Lucius never wrote back.

The only letters he ever got were about galas, and charity dinners and how he was required to prepare himself for the succession of the Malfoy line and name. He was nothing but a vessel to carry Lucius’s line forward. He was isolated from all things familial or affectionate. But still, his parents were physically present at least and he’d never spent a Christmas at Hogwarts.

Draco was only able to nod while Astoria continued talking about every Christmas she’d spent with you and how much she hated the fact that she would be spending this Christmas getting treatment.

There was fondness in her sunken eyes everytime she talked about you. It was like she had slipped into a different dimension, a happier one at that. Where there were unlimited unappetizing sandwiches, no threat of fire in the kitchen and where blood curses did not exist.

Draco didn’t even realise Astoria’s fondness had liquified into tears by the time she got to the story about her previous Christmas where she’d put up a tent made of sheets in your room with you. Bittersweet tears that she proceeded to wipe with the corner of her blanket.

“Astoria..”

He was already terrible at comforting people. The heaviness he felt inside of him was nauseating and the best he could do was awkwardly place his hand on top of hers.

“I don't want to die.”

“You aren’t dying.” He convinced her, but it appeared as if he was convincing himself. Astoria knew better.

“Well, in case I do perish, I have something to say and you, Draco Malfoy better listen carefully.” Astoria sniffled a bit before clearing her throat to sound stern and assertive. Like a mother bear, defending her bear cubs. He could slowly see why Blaise and Astoria instantly clicked and wondered if they used their respective nurturing voices on each other while they were doing the deed. Yuck.

“Listening.”

“I don’t know what is going on inside that head of yours and I don't know if you are ever going to admit your feelings for Y/n— yeah, don't even bother denying because it's pretty obvious to everyone. But if you dare hurt her in any way or form, I sure as hell will come for you, I will haunt you.”

A hot flush invaded his alabaster face and his ears suddenly resembled ripened tomatoes.

It’s obvious? How is it obvious? Who is everyone? Crabbe? Goyle? My father? Longbottom? Dumbledore? The minister of magic?

“How is it obvious?”

“I’ve seen the way you’ve been ogling her.” Astoria’s facial muscles mimicked his gaze in an over exaggerated way. “I used to think it was wholesome at first, but then you started to undress her with your eyes.”

“I did not.”

“You sat squeezed in between the Weasley twins, you beat up Flint, you built a tea collection in her dorm room!”

“I may have had my own personal vendetta against ol’ buck tooth due to his excessive quidditch practice routine and I am happy to provide you with some tea bags too, if that's what this is about.”

“I feel like I’m teaching feelings to a cold unfeeling amphibian.” Astoria groaned and yanked a pillow from behind her to smother her face in. “How hard is it to express yourself for once?! Take it from a dying girl, life really is short.”

Astoria was using the dying girl angle like a dagger aiming right at the heartstrings. Trust the younger greengrass sister to always make lemonade out of lemons.

“It’s not simple.” Draco sighed.

“Why?”

There was no way he was getting out of this. Astoria would guilt trip him even further if he did.

“Look, I don’t know what y/n wants or how she feels about this, about us—if there is an us.” Draco began. “I’d rather stay this way than say something I can’t take back and lose her in the process.”

“Stay this way?” Astoria took a big gulp of water and put her pillow back, fluffing it to get more comfortable. “You know viruses are neither dead nor living. They are in this strange purgatory and by the looks of it, so is your relationship with y/n. Answer honestly Draco, do you really want to stay in this limbo between friend, hookup, lover forever?

He thought about it for a second. He didn’t want to lose you but he didn’t want to stay this way either. He wanted to call you his. He wanted to be yours.

“Life will not go around handing you things if you are afraid to even ask for them. It doesn’t work that way.” Astoria took another sip. “People will go their whole lives without even knowing you love them if you don’t tell them. It can be written on your face, you can buy them a dozen roses, you can serenade them with a string quartet, and yet, they will still be completely oblivious to your feelings unless you let them materialise into words,Draco.”

“But—”

“You will be stuck right where you are, right now at this very moment for the rest of your days, in that wobbly wooden chair wondering about all the what ifs in this life unless you stand up, step away and ask—just ask for what you want for once.”

Draco nodded his head stiffly and Astoria placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. A dozen roses and a string quartet seemed easier than asking for what he really wanted

“Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to ask a question about my wonderful boyfriend please.”

“Ask away.” Draco pretended to gag and Astoria rolled her eyes.

“What does Blaise want for Christmas?”

~~~

On the afternoon of the twenty-third, Draco stuffed his acceptance letter inside one of his blazer pockets and sat down to pen another letter.

Dear Mother,

Happy Christmas.

I hope father hasn’t been that big of a grump this year. In any case, Pansy and Blaise will be on their way to the Manor soon and they might just cheer you up.

I won't be home for Christmas, Mother. There’s something I need to do. I hope you’ll understand.

Love,

Draco

“Ready to go, Malfoy?” Blaise asked as Draco quickly sealed the letter and gave it to his owl. They had all unanimously decided to have a small celebration before everyone departed.

“I still think this is a rather juvenile idea.” Pansy folded her arms across her chest and stomped her left feet on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. To her horror, the heel of her shoe dug itself in through the snow, grass and soil.

Astoria covered her mouth and coughed as a means to hide her snort at the sight of Pansy freaking out over her brand new designer shoes.

The ground he was currently standing on had a concentrated scent of magic mixed with the scent of freshly fallen snow. This intimate christmas celebration taking place one day before everyone left looked like a cult meeting with everyone clad in furry mantles, cloaks and shimmering silver patronuses running, flying, sprinting out and about.

“Give it a try, Malfoy. The christmas cheer might just conjure a patronus.” Blaise encouraged in his infamous mother goose like voice as he wrapped his arms around Astoria from behind. Her Hummingbird patronus rested on her shoulder.

Blaise’s Borzoi patronus on the other hand was happily running about with Pansy’s Sphinx Cat.

“I'd rather not.” Draco scoffed at his best friend whilst lazily twirling his wand between his fingers. “I have accepted that I may never conjure a patronus.”

“Well, you are missing out.” Blaise shrugged and the silver Borzoi next to him encircled Draco like it agreed with him.

“Speaking of people that are missing out,where’s y/n?”

There was a slow, unexpected leap in Draco’s heartbeat the sound of your name. Astoria noticed the sudden shift in his posture and the way he had unknowingly placed a palm flat to his chest.

“Ask the universe and you shall receive, Draco.” Astoria smiled encouragingly, wrapping her left hand around Draco’s right hand and resting her head gently on his shoulder. Blaise now stood towards Draco’s left, his lanky arms huddling the three of them into a small cluster.

“Thanks, Astoria.” Draco looked down and smiled back at her reassuringly. Yes, he was going to be brave now. You were worth the fight and if he got his heart broken in the process, so be it.

“Look at you and that goofy grin on your face.” Blaise remarked whiling he shuddered at the sight. He was still getting used to the non-sulky side of Draco. “Think about whatever’s made you grin like that and conjure a patronus. I bet it's one of those Albino Peacocks you used to have at the Manor.”

“Five galleons says it's a ferret.” Pansy chimed in, looping her arm into Blaise’s.

“You're on.”

“I need better friends.” Draco scoffed and took a step forward holding his wand out. Maybe asking the universe for a patronus or even a silver spool of light from his wand didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Closing his eyes, he sucked in a breath and let his mind travel to the time he had been truly happy. That day, in your room after your failed attempt at giving Blaise a bouquet. He’d never seen someone so peacefully asleep before. It stilled him.

Expecto Patronum.

There was a spark at the tip of this wand. A measly spark. That’s all he got.

Reluctantly lowering his wand, Draco turned his head around to look at his friends.

“Not bad, Not bad at all.” Blaise commented, slow clapping his hand like those encouraging parents giving their children an ego boost when they hop on the broom for the first time. Pansy and Astoria shared their enthusiasm through “whoos” and words like “You can do it.” Yep, he really needed better friends.

When he turned back around to give the charm another go, he came face to face with you.

You were dressed head to toe in black, giving his own suit a run for its money. Your scarf was wrapped loosely around your neck and snowflakes had caught onto your hair you had left loose. His snow queen.

“Hi.” You looked up at him smiling and he just wanted to pick you up in his arms and spin you around. Never in his life had he cared about someone that way. It made him ache. It made him want to smile.

“Hey.” He whispered. He couldn't help himself from reaching for your mantle to tighten it around you to keep you from getting cold.

“Are you going to try again?” You asked him, eyes filled with anticipation and he shrugged as a response making you take a step towards him . He felt the tickle of your bottom lip on the shell of his ear as you whispered. “Try again, Draco.”

He didn’t need to be asked any further after that.

“Expecto Patronum.” He whispered, pointing his wand into the air with his eyes never leaving you and your frost flushed cheeks.

Everyone let out a collective gasp when spools of silver light spilled out from the tip of his wand and swirled in the air around him, reflecting the last rays of daylight in glittering particles. The silver wrapped around his body in swirls moving higher and higher into the sky.

First he saw the wings, then he saw the tail and just like that, he had somehow by the grace of the universe, conjured his first real and very much corporeal patronus that took the form of a Hungarian Horntail.

“Not the ferret I was expecting.” Pansy mumbled, with her eyes still fixed onto the sky.

Draco looked down at you again while his patronus dutifully assumed its place next to him.

Draco could still recall that day in his room, when he saw you in that lilac dress for the first time. Before you’d shown up to his room, he had been stressing over his fellowship application. You’d kissed him that day and he has decided that if death did come, he would face death valiantly as happy man that had lived a long fulfilling life. Your lips had touched his and he didn't need anything more.

You had been right all along. He hadn’t been using the right memory.

You grinned at him, and raised your wand up in the air. “Expecto Patronum.”

Pearlescent swirls spilled out from the tip of your wand and followed his patronus in the sky while he watched your face illuminate. He’d never seen your badger before, and he wondered what memory you used to conjure it up this time. Whatever memory that was, must have been a strong one by the looks of it.

Wait a minute..

Collective gasps echoed even louder this time, as everyone present started to tilt their heads upwards to look at the brand new patronus that had corporealised in front of his own in the sky.

Maybe the universe had spoken to him. Maybe this was a sign of encouragement.

Now more hopeful than ever, Draco dipped his head low so you could lift your chin up to meet his lips in a kiss that sealed it all.

Two Hungarian Horntails, face to face.

Saying things neither he nor you were brave enough to say out loud. Not yet anyway.

~~~

Astoria was the first one to leave followed by Blaise, Pansy and Draco. On the morning of the twenty-fourth, you found yourself standing outside four broomsticks. It seemed as if life was happening at full force everywhere around you, without you.

Children held onto their parent’s tumb for dear life as they tilted their little heads up to look at the Christmas lights in awe. Ornaments shimmered in tinctures of red and gold, carolers sang deck the halls and the distant scent of gingerbread from the bakery across the street wafted up your nose.

Christmas was all around you and yet, you didn’t feel like you were a part of it—you didn’t feel like you’d ever be welcomed enough to be a part of it. It was like you were a patch of unwanted grey shunned by all the glimmer and glitter.

Dragging your feet back towards the castle, you thought about the memory that had conjured your patronus. I.e. Draco clutching that kettle for dear life. You smiled a sad smile and unlocked the door to your room. You were going to miss him terribly over the break.

“Merry Christmas, y/n.”

Draco smiled from the other side of your door. He had the kettle on and it looked as if he was attempting to shrink a christmas tree he seemed to have stolen from the Slytherin common room to fit into your room. There was an abundance of yellow ornaments on the floor however, like he was trying to make the tree more Hufflepuff themed. “Sorry, I let myself in.”

“What are you doing here?” You blinked at him, confused.

His lips turned upwards to form a crooked grin before he awkwardly pushed his hands into his pockets. “I stole Christmas for you, Y/n.”

“You what?”

“I stole Christmas for—” The rest of his sentence never made it out of his mouth.

You had abandoned every question you had for him to throw yourself onto him. You were positive you wouldn’t hit the ground because it was Draco. He’d always catch you.

Draco lifted you off the ground and deepened this kiss, swallowing all your gasps and sighs before he gently tossed you to your bed. Maybe it was going to be a very merry Christmas after all…

Smut available here

~~

Series Taglist: @sycathorn-slush @badass-yn @louweasleymalfoy@writeandtranslate @silentkiller2374 @lilmissquackson@mzmalice3 @mvdbldd @emptycanvasthings @likediamondsandgold @hey-asstown @dr4cking @flacalatke @besutiful-y/n @i-have-my-issues @daniellarogers @kamalymaly @hallothankmas

~~

two more chapters!

I'm really sorry if the pacing has been a little off for this series. This was my first ever extended series and I hadn't considered that many things through.

The patronus scenes were taken out from their graduation scene that I ended up scrapping.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

A Failed Betrothal /Betrothal AU: Take Two

So here is the second part of the betrothal AU that I decided to name "A Failed Betrothal. This takes place before Part 1 which in hindsight should have been done first. Part 2 got too long so I cut it and started Part 3. I have no idea and nothing planned on how long this will go. Hope you enjoy ❤.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)

PART 2

Marinette also wasn't having a good day or a good week.

Lila Rossi had been up to her usual tricks. You know, spewing lies from her mouth. How she met these awesome celebrities during this trip and they worship the ground she walks on for her amazing and humbling help. There were stories of these charities, trips and galas that she had been to or was invited to. She has problems with her wrists and can't do simple stuff like carry her own bag or do her homework. She has tinnitus in her ears so she needs to sit in the front where the only seat available would be next to Adrien.

And for the finale.

The desert after feeding the class a banquet of lies.

"Mari...nette..has been bullying me, she...told..me not to tell anyone..*sobs*..that she would kill me if I did.."

Lila dramatically gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth. Turning on the waterworks for a more dramatic effect. They all ate it up, jumping on the ‘let’s hate Marinette, a bad person’ train.

"She is going to kill me now and I am so scared." That snake managed to snuck an evil smirk past her glaring, oblivious classmates.

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Marinette, at this point of her life, had frankly given up caring for them due to the class's lack of brain cells and Agreste's spineless 'High Road' Approach.

For Kwami's sake, she went through a brutal torture that was training in some jungle temple in Asia before Sabine Cheng, former mercenary/assassin, kidnapped her (Little Marinette took a risk. She ran away and followed her around until Sabine begrudgingly accepted that she was now the 6- year-old girl's mother because screw it, Tom said he wanted children.) to raise/train as her own while she settled down with a baker whose mother may or may not have ties with the Mafia and other illegal activities.

(Mother-daughter bonding days became much more fun once she had Guardianship of the Miraculous. Sabine was ,at first, furious at Master Fu for dumping everything on the girl and losing his memories before swearing to help protect the jewels. Adopted or not, Marinette is her daughter and no one should let a child, even one with training, fight a war. A good thing to come out of her reveal was that her mother was a great tiger to have as back-up. But now, her training regime had become harder and challenging.)

The point was that Lila Rossi would be dead and body missing since that first time she threatened Marinette in the bathroom. The Italian was in perfect health despite what she claims otherwise, because Marinette didn’t want to be the person she was raised to be and also she didn’t want to disappoint Tikki, she was fond of the little red kwami. But sometimes, she just wanted to give into the urge to kill.

She had met and dealt with unsavory characters of all types and she can safely say that Lila Rossi was a manipulator that thrives on attention and like a parasite, latches herself onto the fame of others. None of the unsavory people she had met get under her skin like Rossi had.

Marinette had enough self-preservation to drop the nice girl act and sometimes let the dragon underneath to surface. She stopped doing last-minute favors and giving away free stuff which Lila uses to her full advantage to further destroy her relationships with her ‘friends’. It was better than sticking her neck out for classmates that were no longer worth her time. Attempts to expose Lila had backfired due to the denial they are in, believing the liar to be a sweet, nice girl living the high life.

Adrien with his rose-tinted glasses firmly stuck to his eyes was not happy at all with her decision. That may also have to do where she suggested he shove his advice after he tried to reason her to take the high road for defending herself for the umpteenth time. She felt like the biggest idiot to ever have a crush on him. Every time, Rossi blames Marinette for a problem, he would shoot disappointed looks in her direction.

Alya being Lila's biggest guard dog tore into Marinette for her newfound 'bad' behaviour. The rest of Lila's supporters backed her up with "How could you do that to Lila","I can't believe you changed." Nearly all her so-call friends had turned their backs and lost all common sense to the Italian's manipulations.

(Alya was supposed to be her best friend, aren’t you supposed to listen to your ‘bestie’ over a complete stranger)

The designer took it all with a bored expression on her face, used to the lecturing which was a waste of time because her behavior isn't going to change, no matter what, Lie-la will keep up the act of being the bully's (*cough*Marinette*cough*) victim.

Her heart that cracks the tiniest bit at the accusations. A small part of her, she admits, is hurt that they think so low of her.Was she really that worthless to them? All those times and efforts helping them out on last-minute favors and giving them free treats. Were they not enough to earn their friendship? Their trust or at the very least, a benefit of doubt?

The only ones who didn’t join the berating to 'correct' the raven-haired girl’s attitude were Chloe (who had proven herself to have changed after the miracle queen incident and Lila stole the spotlight and Sabrina. There were a lot of apologizes, gifts and ‘making up to do’) Alix (she came to her senses when the supposed bullying started) and Nathaniel (Lila blatantly claimed to be the artist for the Ladybug comic to his face).

“Girl, Marinette, are you even listening to me?”Alya demanded.

“Maybe. Did you say anything that doesn’t have to do with Lila or how I did her wrong or how I am no longer the person you knew?”

Marinette knew that being sarcastic would backfire but nothing she does or says will change what they think of her. One word from Lila and they will turn back on her. As much as she hates to admit it, Lila’s threat has fallen through and she was alone. Mostly.

She still had Chloe, Nathaniel, Alix, Luka and Kagami as friends. The trust-worthy and loyal kind.

“Girl,” Alya says in a disappointed tone, shaking her head,“when I look at you, I don’t see that girl who stood up to Chloe the bully-”, Chloe snorted, she had changed but they were too blind and prejudiced against her to notice her efforts, “-Picking on Lila, threatening and harassing her. This isn’t you and you know it. Just get over your jealousy on Lila being close to Adrien and apologize to her.”

If Alya had talked to her in the past 12 months other than demanding things that took away her time or anything relating to Lila, she would know that her infatuation had turned into annoyance.

Marinette sighed, too tired of this routine, tired of trying to knock heads so the brain cells can work again. Apologizing would mean that Lila had won. She was petty and stubborn enough to allow that to happen. Lila said she will take the class and Adrien. Fine, she can have them but Marinette Dupain-Cheng will not admit defeat. Bigger men had fallen to the ravenette for lesser offences. A year has passed since the expulsion and the class still hasn't regained common senses, so they can deal with the consequences after the inevitable downfall of Lila and Marinette will be there to see them lay in the grave they dug.

Steeling herself for the pain that will come with the execution of her plan,

“What if I don’t. I won’t apologize to her because I have not done anything to her or even interacted with her. If I apologize, it would be insincere and a lie. And I hate liars.” The former assassin said evenly.

“Lila is not a liar. I don’t know why you are like this.” Alya said, frustrated.

Marinette knew there would be a small chance of an akuma with Gabriel Agreste having an important meeting to attend on this day that would last for the next hour. This was the small window of opportunity to start the plan and also further confirm the identity of Hawkmoth. Killing two birds with one stone.

“Alya, this has always been me, you just never took the time to get to really know the real me.”, she replied, the last part with an icy tone.

“Well-... I- ..You-, fine, then if you can’t say those simple three words, we can’t be friends. I clearly don’t know what a selfish bitch you are. God, I can’t believe I wanted to be best friends with you. You are now replaced by Lila because unlike you, she is genuinely nice and selfless.” Alya declared. The rest of Lila’s supporters murmured in agreement.

Phase 1, complete. Lure the Lie-la into a false sense of security by making her think she won.

Marinette tried not to show how hurt she was, to be replaced by the scheming bitch. But at the same time she felt relieved, she no longer had to walk on eggshells in fear of losing the friendships of people she used to care about. It felt final as she maintained her stoic expression, hoping they didn't notice the glassy sheen her eyes had.

“Then, it is official. We are no longer friends.”

They haven’t been friends for a long time.

Mme. Bustier finally walked into the classroom to start the afternoon classes, signalling the end of the conversation. After class, Marinette resolves to inform them that she was resigning as class president which she was sure the class will be glad for. She was right.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ladybug was, as the Americans say, pissed at Hawkmoth which was nothing new. He had sent out another akuma just as Marinette was back home and trying to relax after the stressful day. The akuma was not any of her ex-friends which she wasn’t sure to be thankful for or not.

Louise Martin was a boy about Luka’s age and mad at his friends who had blamed their fifth loss-in-a-row on him despite the fact that it was his skills that were getting them any progress. They were playing one of those recently released 5V5 skills and strategy battle games. (League of Legends or Mobile Legends. Take your pick, I am going with the latter)

He was akumatized into Hayakuma as proof of Hawkmoth’s lack of creativity. Hayakuma was a bleached out version of Louise’s chosen hero avatar, Hayabusa whose outfit was basically what the media portrays ninjas to look like with some samurai aspects.

Unfortunately, he also had the hero’s ultimate special powers which were making four shadow copies of himself and being able to switch positions with them. Thanks to Rattlesnake’s Second Chance, they know that he can only make a switch once every two minute. Hayakuma also wields a sword, showing off his skills.

Just lovely.

Hydra and Ladybug were the only ones able to counter his attacks with Hydra’s sword and Ladybug’s summoned one. (Let’s go with that headcanon(?)/trope that she can summon weapons for plot convenience and the others can too but just don’t have enough practise yet.)

The others managed to dodge and shield themselves from Hayakuma’s really sharp sword.

The shadows themselves were annoying as they would distract or hinder the miraculous users by grabbing them by their shadows and making them unable to move. Until Bunnix had the brilliant idea of shadow boxing which gave the heroes gain more even ground.

With how strong and handful the akuma was, it was code ‘all hands on deck’. Ladybug, Stinger, Rattlesnake, Hydra, Bunnix, Trickster. Well, nearly every hand. Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ was busy with the bakery. Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen or very late which had been the norm for the last year ever since Ladybug wanted to form a new miraculous team consisting of permanent heroes.

(He didn’t show up for the first few months because the first permanent member was Ladybug’s mother who did not like his attitude towards her daughter. He ran away with his tail between his legs once he found out how she was related to Ladybug. His face when he realized it, was something Marinette will cherish forever)

At least when Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ was around, he would not dare act out of line. When she is gone however, he is back to his old ways.

After saving one of Louise’s teammates from Hayakuma’s sword, they gathered the rest of the team and hid them someplace safe. Using Trickster’s illusions to trick all the shadows and the original to one place, the heroes were going to surround and ambush them and get the akumatized item. The plan would have been a success if it weren’t for Chat Noir hugging Ladybug from behind, making her miss her cue.

“Hey~ Bugaboo~ Did you miss me~? Your Chaton~?”

Thwack! Smack!

Chat Noir was on the rooftop, groaning pitifully in pain. Especially his crotch area. Ladybug glared at him and looked to the ambush point to see the illusions had disappeared and everyone else gone from their hiding place.

She sighed and turned on the comms, (Thank you, kwamis)

“Sting, did you venomed the akuma?”

“No, he escaped before I could. What happened, LB?”

“A certain cat got me delayed. What’s the status update?”

“Hydra is holding him off and Bunnix found that an umbrella is a good substitute for a sword. The rest of us are keeping track of the shadows. They split up but none of them are getting near where we hid the targets.”

“Where are you? I will meet you later with back-up.”

“Near Notre Dame and tell Mama Tigress I said hi.”

“Tell her yourself.”

She looked down at Chat No-, no he is not worthy of being a hero anymore with the amount of times he had derailed and hijacked the plans to defeat the akumas just so he can ‘earn’ Ladybug’s heart.

She looked down at Adrien Agreste, who was sitting and sulking like a child that was unfairly punished. (Once she got over her crush and started looking at the right things that she managed to piece together her ‘partner’s’ identity by accident. Tikki’s confirmation sealed the deal.)

“Chat Noir, this partnership of ours,” she said, gesturing to the two of them, “ is going to change tonight. Meet me at the ‘spot’ at 11 sharp. Now, go home.”

He left with a small glimmer of hope in his eyes at her words. She felt a little bad about the subtle manipulation but with the way things were now, it can’t go on. He was hindering more than helping and the people of Paris that weren’t shipping ‘Ladynoir’ saw that.

As she jumped towards Notre Dame, she called the bakery with her yoyo.

“Mama, are you free now? I need a little help with the akuma and can you bring the horse miraculous.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chat Noir waited excitedly at what they both dubbed at their ‘spot’, in the good old days when it was just the two of them. Maybe Ladybug was finally open to the idea of dating. Or maybe she must have seen what a great hero he is and was going to get rid of the team. Or realized that having her mother on her team was a bad idea. Parents are the worst and they both can be two rebellious teenagers in love. Like Romeo and Juliet. So romantic~.

He was so deep in his daydream that he didn’t hear his lady land.

“Chat Noir.” Startled, he nearly fell off the roof. No, don’t make a fool of yourself in front of Ladybug.

“Yes, Bugaboo.” Hoping she didn’t know that he was very distracted. His attention will always be hers 100%.

“Don’t call me Bugaboo. Tikki wants to talk to Plagg about Kwami stuff. So you go over and hide behind that chimney. Then, we can talk about why I told you to be here.” Adrien frowned and then smiled. His lady must be very embarrassed about her mistake that must be why she is taking her time. He tried listening to what they were saying but the kwamis were talking in their special Guardian Language. Was it him or did Tikki’s voice sound more like his lady’s voice?

Whizz!

Adrien was tied up with Ladybug’s yoyo. “M’Lady? Bugaboo!? LADYBUG! WHAT IS GOING ON?!! PLAGG-”

Ladybug cut in, “Adrien Agreste, you have been slack in your hero duty and choosing your own feelings over supporting your partner, me, the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous and current Grand Guardian, in the efforts to defeat the enemy of Paris, Hawkmoth. Due to those reasons, you are no longer worthy to be the Holder of the Black Cat Miraculous” in one swift motion, she took the ring off his finger, “As such you are hereby revoked of Plagg’s Ring.”

“NO, YOU CAN’T. YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I LOVE YOU AND I KNOW YOU LOVE ME BACK. WE ARE SOULMATES, WE ARE MEANT TO BE-”

Adrien went slack at Lady Tigress’s pinch on his pressure point.

“I don’t what you ever saw in the boy.”

“I don’t know either. I think I dodged a bullet here. Can you carry him back to his home? I think I have dealt with enough of him tonight.” Ladybug muttered, as she erased Adrien’s memories of being Chat Noir.

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Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe.

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(Part 3)

[dreamkidddream]

Hiya~ Can I request quote 9) "Are you jealous?" for Lucifer in Obey Me! pretty please😊

This was so much fun to write! Luci know that he gets jealous but never wants to admit (his jealousy is worse than Mammon but you didn’t hear it from me 🤭) and sorry this got kinda long! Reader is gender neutral!

TW: suggestive/spicy themes, but nothing extremely graphic is mentioned

Prompt: “Are you jealous?” with Lucifer!

Lucifer is pissed.

He’s tapping his foot, and constantly checking his phone, waiting in his study for you to either walk in or call him. It’s late, and you’re still not home yet. He asked his brothers where exactly you are, and when Asmo told him that you’re out with the same “friend” you seem to blow all of them off for some time now, it just makes his mood turn even more sour, the scowl on his face deepening.

Now, Lucifer is not opposed to you making friends, as long as they aren’t a threat to you, his family, Lord Diavolo and the other exchange students. He understands that it’s very easy for you to connect with others, intentional or not, and he encourages it to a certain extent. However, this same “friend” that you’ve been increasingly been hanging out with for the past couple of weeks is starting to rub him the wrong way. Of course he’s met this “friend”, a classmate from your Seductive Speechcraft class (which just made him feel more unease with you being with them), and they seemed harmless enough (for a demon at least). Annoying, but harmless, at first.

Then began the constant need for your attention.

It started with the messages and calls under the guise of studying, the “innocent” demon begging you for help so that they can pass the class, and you being the naive nice human that you are of course obliged their request. Then it escalated from once a week, to three times a week, to almost staying after school every day just to “help”. He didn’t like that, as it’s him or his brothers that always walk you home every time, and this demon (who he found is Yuki, a demon who feeds off of sexual energy nonetheless), is messing with the routine, but he kept his cool and forced his brothers to do the same. He- They weren’t happy about this, but at the end of the day, you’re still coming home to him- them, and nothing is changing that. Not to mention how he made sure that someone had their eyes on you, whether it’s Mammon, Beel, or even himself (which he preferred).

Until Yuki decided that you need to hang out more, without him or his brothers.

That’s when he made it known of his dislike towards them, and dislike is putting it lightly.

You started to come home right at dinner, right before Beel devoured your plate. Mammon obviously voiced his displeasure aloud, with the others silently agreeing or making passing comments, but Lucifer would just shut the conversation down before anyone gets too upset, mainly for himself. He doesn’t want to lose control over something trivial like this, he can’t, he won’t- he’s well above some minuscule pest like them, and it would be a waste of time and energy to be worried about someone who is clearly below him!

He’s already irritated with Yuki integrating themselves into your everyday life, but he’s also trying to fight the increasing sinking feeling in his stomach the more you both bond.

The more you two become more than acquainted with one another, the more Lucifer tries to fight and hide this feeling. He buries himself in more paperwork, practically locks himself in his study, avoids anyone’s questions or concerns, and has become overall snappier than usual. He’s even snapped on Lord Diavolo, Lord Diavolo of all people!

(Granted Diavolo just thought it was overall stress, so he just simply laughed it off, but it didn’t go unnoticed by everyone, including you).

Now Lucifer is not stupid, he’s a very intelligent and powerful demon, and he doesn’t have to say it to be known. He made sure to do some research himself on Yuki, and didn’t put anything past them. You’re still surrounded by demons who wouldn’t hesitate to swallow you whole if allowed, and some are still desperate enough to try anything, so he’s very cautious with others being around you.

Which leads to now, you being out again with that demon at The Fall. Ever since, Lucifer retired to his study, constantly checking his phone for any updates. He refused to look distressed in front of everyone, and he knows that you’re smart and not so gullible, you’ll be okay, you had to be.

It’s well going on 1 in the morning, and you still haven’t answered any of his calls and texts? You swore that you would always answer him, so something had to happen. What exactly were you doing? What exactly were you two doing? We’re you okay? Are you safe? Has that Yuki tried anything with you?

Were you two doing anything now?

All of these questions swirling around in his head, his worry only adding on to his frustrations and building tension going through his body.

He already marched down to the door, coat forgotten and tie undone, flinging it open and scowl so deep that his fangs were bared. That Yuki better hope that you come home in one piece and spotless, or else he will make sure that they regret being alive-

He couldn’t wipe the surprised look on his face when he made eye contact with you, who was matching his own expression, hand frozen in the air mid knock.

“Lucifer? What are you still doing up? Are you about to go somewhere?” His expression quickly morphed to one of high distaste, the irritation displaying clearly on his face and his grip tightening on the door.

“I was still awake waiting for you. Have you forgotten how to use a phone, or are you too good for one now that you’re with your ‘friend’. And I remember specifically telling you to let me know when you leave, did I not?”

“Oh. Well...my phone kinda died, but I was already on the way home and-”

“By yourself?! Do you know how irresponsible that is? Do you forget that you’re a mere human?”

His irritation is rising to pure anger at this revelation. So that demon didn’t even have the decency to walk you home? To make sure that you arrive safe? And yet you still have the nerve to spend time with them and practically ignore him?!-

“Well- um, Lucifer? Lucifer!”

He snapped out of his murderous thoughts, and stepped aside to let you in.

“Come inside now, it’s late, and we have much to discuss.”

Your face scrunched up, showing confusion in how he’s acting. You know that’s he mad about your phone being dead, but he’s mad enough to leave the door barely hanging on its hinges? But you knew that arguing or pointing it out would just make things escalate, so you just stepped past and began to make your way up the stairs.

You can feel his eyes bore into the back of your head, but you just didn’t understand why. It’s about more than just your phone, it seemed like he’s been on edge for awhile now. You want to approach him, to ask him what’s wrong, to have him open up, but of course Lucifer being Lucifer, it was to no avail.

You racked your brain as he lead you to his room and began the “conversation” about how irresponsible you were being (really it’s just him getting whatever he needed off his chest and not you giving any input). Was it because of you going out so late? No, you didn’t drink, you and Yuki stayed together the whole night, and you let him know hours before. Was it Yuki? Now that you’re think about it, he has been frowning more it seemed like every time you brought up their name-

The pieces are starting to fit together now.

Oh my Diavolo.

You couldn’t stop the words escaping from your mouth before you could realize it.

“Lucifer, are you jealous?”

He choked in the middle of his sentence, and the room went quiet. You’re pretty sure that you can’t even hear him breathing, and his face just went entirely blank, no expression whatsoever.

Oh no, you broke him-

A gust of wind erupted, so strong that you had to shield your eyes for a second, and when you removed your arm, you were met with massive black wings and a very enraged demon.

“Excuse me?”

You stepped back until you stumbled onto the bed, as he stalks closer and closer to you.

“Care to repeat yourself?”

You knew better than to respond, and you felt frozen on the bed. You also know that Lucifer won’t attack or try to kill you, but it didn’t take away from the fact that he has moments where he’s very intimidating, one of those moments being now.

He’s looking down at you like a predator would to its captured prey, his ruby eyes glowing deviously in the dim room. He didn’t stop moving until he was on top of you, caging you in.

“Me? Jealous?” He scoffed. “I am the Avatar of Pride, the most powerful being in this house, yet you assume that I’m jealous of a demon that’s beneath me? You insult me, MC.”

He took hold of your chin, “Do you not remember what I said when we made the pact? You are mine and mine alone. Not anyone else’s, but mine.”

You felt like your nerves were getting the best of you, but you couldn’t force yourself to tear away as he leaned closer. He sealed his lips against yours in a heated kiss, one that you gladly accepted, not before uttering the words that made your heart race even faster.

“Maybe I should remind you of who you belong to, hm?”

—-

“Had a fun night, MC?”

“Yeah, it was”, you coughed in your hand. “Very nice, very fun. We had a great time.”

“Hmmmmm...you and Yuki or you and Lucifer?”

“Asmo!”

He giggled, “I’m just saying dear. I don’t sense the pent-up sexual frustration from Lucifer anymore, and he seems back to normal and even relaxed. Though I must say MC, I wish that you had spent the night in my bed instead.”

“Of course you do Asmo.”

“Besides, I would have covered your hickeys much better-”

“ASMO-”

“MC, are you ready?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear has never been more true than now, as Lucifer appeared behind you both, placing his hand on your shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, yes, sorry.”

“Eh? Where are you two going?”

“Out.”

“And without me?!”

“Yes. Now, leave us be”. Lucifer moved his hand from your shoulder to your own hand, leading you both out the door. You two had plans for the day after the...eye-opening talk from last night, and he didn’t want to waste anymore time than he already had.

Bonus:

Asmo waited until he heard the door click, and then quickly whipped out his D.D.D. to text Yuki. He knew that the plan was going to be a success! A tense Lucifer made things more difficult for everyone, and he has too much pride to open his mouth so he decided to step in and team up with Yuki, who already knew about the whole ordeal.

Lucifer was already on the edge of snapping and letting his primal instincts take over anyway, so Asmo just gave him a little push in the right direction.

Thank Diavolo the plan worked, or else it would be hell for them both. He did owe Yuki some exposure on his socials in exchange for this and backing off of you now, but it was well worth the trouble.

[lifeofa-fangirl]

Enough Nothings

Pairing: Damiano x fem!reader

Summary: You and Damiano bond over the idea of a quiet night in

Word count: 1.5k

Warnings: None, pure fluff

A/N: I saw an instagram post from the Late Late Show where James Corden talks about how he met his wife and my mind went haywire thinking that this would be such a Damiano thing to do. Written in an hour or so, not proof read. First fic in years, let me know what you think! 

“Oh come on, having a little bit of fun won’t hurt you! Here, have a glass of wine, it might help you relax. And remember to enjoy this evening, you deserve it!”

 Before you could protest, your boss had grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter’s tray and shoved it in your hand. You opened your mouth, but before any words were formed, she gave you an encouraging pat on the back and disappeared into the crowd to mingle.

 You sighed as you watched her start to make the rounds, shaking hands left and right. She made it seem so effortless it almost made you jealous. Almost. Because as much as you appreciated her effort, appreciated that she had insisted you deserved a night out after all the hard work you put in for the charity organization, you still felt this was the last place you wanted to be right now. You would always prefer a quiet night in, cooking dinner and falling asleep in front of the television.

 Another sigh and you finally took a sip of your wine. ‘Come on, you can do this,’ you told yourself as you remembered you did enjoy the taste of the drink in your hand, although you rarely took the opportunity to enjoy it. ‘You’re not even 30 yet, you should be out and about every night. This can be a fun Friday night. Don’t be a party pooper.’

 You almost choked on your next sip of wine as you heard those exact five last words being repeated out loud behind you. Coughing, you turned around in surprise. You would recognize that voice and that Italian accent anywhere.

 “Victoria!” you said as soon as you confirmed your suspicion.

 Victoria De Angelis spun around on her heels when she heard her name being called. “Ah, there you are! We’ve been looking for you!” she cheerfully announced. As she pulled you into a hug, you realized she wasn’t alone. You also realized that her words hadn’t been directed at you, but at the man accompanying her. You recognized the singer of her band.

 “This is Damiano, the singer of my band,” Victoria confirmed when she stepped back from hugging you. You nodded your hello as Victoria introduced you to Damiano in return. You only heard half of her explanation about how she met you when the band had stayed in London for a couple of months, and you worked for the organization that was hosting that night’s charity event. You were too distracted by the way the man in front of you was staring at you with the beginning of a smirk.

 Damiano patiently waited for Victoria to finish and then accepted the hand you offered him, pulling it up to his lips without hesitation and pressing a small kiss to it. “Hi, pleasure to meet you. You might be the most beautiful woman in the world,” he greeted you, all the while never breaking eye contact.

 “Well thank you very much.” You offered him a smile in return and slightly twisted your head to the side to give him calculating look before adding, “That sounds like something you say a lot.”

 “I’ve never said it before in my life,” he shot back at you. There was a playful glint in his eyes as he spoke and that smirk never left his lips, but you also didn’t miss the sudden rosy tint on his cheeks.

 He could easily be feeding you lies, but somehow you were inclined to believe him. You didn’t offer a verbal response, choosing to shoot him an bright smile instead. Judging by his reaction, it did nothing to hide the matching tint that you were sure was now also on your own cheeks. Was it just you, or had someone suddenly turned up the thermostat?

 Not much later, Victoria had disappeared, most likely off getting into trouble. And you sat with Damiano in a dark corner of the bar. Getting tipsy on the sound of his laugh and how his touch gave you goosebumps. It was so easy to be around him. Within an hour and a half of meeting you were jokingly planning the rest of your lives together. Kids were a must, at least two of them, so they’d always have each other. Legolas and Bidet, he had already named his cats, and you insisted that the new kitten would be called Loki. The flower beds in your garden would contain many different flowers, so there would be something blossoming every season. Your bedroom needed a balcony, so he could serenade you from below. And you would need a big kitchen, with plenty of room for all the home cooked meals you were going to prepare.

 You found comfort in how he loved the prospect of a quiet night in. Glorious, he called it, the thought of chamomile tea and going to bed before eleven. You had quickly agreed, told him that at your age, you had very much passed the notion of going out every night. He was a couple of years younger than you but took it as a compliment when you teasingly called him an old soul in a young body.

 You didn’t realize how much time had passed until Victoria eventually showed up again. “Time to call it a night, lovebirds,” she teased you both with a grin. When you finally tore your eyes away from Damiano for the first time in a long while, you realized that there were only a couple of people left in the bar and the waiters had already started cleaning up.

 As the three of you stood outside waiting for a cab, the cold night air did nothing to get rid of Victoria’s words. Lovebirds, she had called you. Away from the secluded, quiet corner of the bar, you were starting to feel anything but, and much more like a fool. The harsh streetlights burned your confidence away and you just stood there, silently waiting as Victoria chatted away besides you. Sneaking glances at Damiano, trying to memorize the sharpness of his jawline, the glimmer of the tiny golden ring piercing his nostril, the brown of his eyes, convinced that you weren’t going to see him again.

 When your rides arrived, Victoria gave a quick side hug and a “We’ll talk later” before jumping into the first cab to get away from the cold night air as fast as possible, leaving you and Damiano alone on the sidewalk.

 You took a deep breath to gather your courage and were about to pull in Damiano for a hug as well, when you realized he didn’t seem to have any intention to move. Instead, he stood next to you, staring at the pavement and fidgeting with the rings on his fingers.

 “Damiano?” you wondered, carefully reaching out to touch his arm, trying to figure out why he looked like a nervous child suddenly.

 Damiano looked up at you when you called out his name. His nervousness reflected in his eyes and he bit his lip when he just stared at you for a moment. Then, with a steadiness in his voice that surprised you, he said, “I was wondering… Well… what about tomorrow, we do nothing together. You could come over to my place and we could just do nothing. And then maybe we could stay in and do nothing on Sunday as well. And on Monday, we can go to work and afterwards we can do nothing if you’d like. And I’m thinking that if we do enough nothings, if our evenings are enough of nothing, then maybe this can become something.”

 “What do you think?” he asked as he looked at you hopefully. And while he looked so very young under the streetlights, his old soul had just pulled you in. This was it. You were in. And by an absolute miracle, so was he. “That sounds like a fun idea,” you told him with a smile.

 He beamed at your answer, before the both of you got distracted by Victoria shouting for him to hurry his ass up and get in the cab.

 “Go!” You gave him a slight push towards the car. “She has my number, text me the details for your plan,” you told him with a wink.

 Damiano was about halfway to the car and you were about to walk over to the other ride, when he turned and came running back only to stop in front of you. Before you could react, he had put a hand on your cheek, and used the other to pull you close. The next moment his lips were on yours in a gentle kiss.

 The moment was over almost before you fully realized what was happening. “See you tomorrow, bella ragazza mia,” he whispered against your lips before running off towards his ride again.

 You watched in stunned silence as their cab drove off. Left with the tingling feeling of where Damiano’s lips had just been and the exciting promise of nothing ahead.  

[miraeluc]

you don’t return from a mission

prompt: “diluc starts to worry when you’ve been gone on a simple mission for more than two days so he decides to look for you himself”

pairing: diluc x gender-neutral! reader

word count: 1,1k

warnings: mention of broken bone?? reader is hurt (not too bad), it’s just cute tbh

genre: angst, fluff

he was worried sick.

it was unlike you to stay overtime on missions - you did your work and left, avoiding unwanted commissions from strangers

after 1 day he wasn’t too worried, maybe you got carried away

after 2 days he was already starting to worry, maybe you went somewhere more far away and are camping there?

you were supposed to go to springvale though

that’s not that far.

after 3 days he was getting physically ill from all the overthinking - he thought every single possibility of what state you may be in right now

he hopes you’re just camping somewhere

he decided he couldn’t wait anymore and decided to go out and look for you himself 

the next morning he awoke at 5am

he couldn’t sleep any longer so he got a backpack with emergency items such as a first aid kit and went on his (not so) merry way

he walked through windrise

just to make sure you weren’t there

sadly you were nowhere to be found 

he sighed and kept walking - now on the way to springvale 

he didn’t want to admit if but he was so terrified of losing you 

you were the first person able to break down his walls in years

the thought of you potentially being in great danger made him automatically increase speed

he walked through the small village

“hey, brook. have you seen y/n around?”

“master diluc? y/n? they came by few hours ago to cook some food! looked pretty... disheveled. they said they were on their way to clear some hilichurl camps.”

diluc cursed under his breath

“did you see what direction they went?”

“took off in dawn winery’ direction-” 

“ok. thanks.” he cut her off

he immediately started walking again, now getting more worried after brook described your appearance as ,,disheveled,, 

when he arrived at dawn winery there was no one outside

that was weird

there’s usually always someone out there

where is everyone????

he obviously tried to go in 

the doors were locked

that’s double-weird 

double-weird until he very clearly heard you grunt in pain in the distance, atleast

what was dangerous enough to make dawn winery shut closed without asking him first?

he didn’t have enough time to ponder over it because he was already sprinting towards the source of sounds coming from you 

his eyes widened and he faltered for a second as soon as he saw you, on the ground in the middle of three cryo abyss mages

he was, for the first time, relieved to be noticed by enemies - the three now floating towards him

he felt his anger picking up when he glanced at you, lying on the ground motionless

so, ya know what he did?

he released intense flames - knocking his opponents shields off, letting his phoenix finish them off 

he sprinted towards you, dropping to his knees and pulling you to rest your head on his lap 

“y/n, hang on for me, alright? don’t close your eyes”

his voice was shaking 

“d-diluc- i can’t-” 

was the only thing you managed to cough out, entrusting him to keep you safe, unable to keep fighting to stay awake, enduring that pain

you woke up to the sound of wood crackling beside you, residing into the warmth it radiated

curse those cryo abyss mages 

you slowly peeled your eyes open, flinching at the sight of barbara and diluc hovering above you 

where were you?

is this.. dawn winery??

what’s barbara doing here,,

you don’t know and you don’t care because you feel yourself getting engulfed by diluc’s arms 

“god, you scared me so much..”

he won’t mention that he cried in front of barbara because he was so worried

that would feed your ego a little too much 

“i’m sorry.. are they gone? i just wanted to defeat them before returning home..”

“they’re long gone..”

he sighed and pulled away from the hug, glancing at barbara who was waiting for your little moment to end before she could speak 

“how did that even happen? you can take down three abyss mages easily!”

“I had cleared three hilichurl camps already and I was weakened - those took me by surprise as I was making my way back”

“you need to be careful next time - i healed you to the best of my abilities, but damage that only time can heal has been left behind. you have a broken rib and you were shivering the entire time while you were out! we warmed you up as best as we could and you should be fine now, but i wouldn’t be surprised if you do catch a cold the next few days..”

she then paused and looked at diluc

“you need to take care of y/n until they get bett-”

“you don’t even need to tell me. i won’t leave y/n out of my sight for now.”

she nodded and stood up

“very well. then, i’ll leave back to mondstadt, i still have work to do.”

without another word she left, which made diluc’s attention go back to you 

he reached his hand out to caress your cheek

“i nearly got sick myself when you didnt return home after 3 days”

you broke out in a little giggle, stopping when your rib started immensely hurting but you then spoke

“oh diluc.. you know i usually take longer because i get carried away.. nonetheless, i’m very thankful that you came to my aid, no one else would have..”

“it makes me want to fire all my employees - they were all ju-”

you cut him off, pulling him down towards you to kiss his lips 

“i’m glad they did, i got to see you fight~”

he scoffed, a smile spreading onto his lips

“seriously? that’s what you’re happy about?”

“well you looked very hot..” you trailed off

he attacked your face with tiny kisses after-

you best believe he didn’t let you out of sight the following weeks

he mostly made you stay in bed

always bringing you tea and left to fetch medicine for you in case of need

he even waited in front of the bathroom door when you needed to use the bathroom 

he even helped you shower 

you don’t express it verbally, but you’re really thankful to have him

no one except him supports and protects you as much as he does

he could literally kill someone for you

(spoiler: he already did.)

he’s your little meanie

did i mention that taking care of you also meant lots and lots of cuddles?

he always says it’s ‘so i can warm you up’

...

you know it’s because deep down he’s still very worried about your well-being

even after you’ve returned to good condition he hesitates to let you go on commissions 

he usually accompanies you, just to make sure

you don’t mind 

going on adventures alone can get boring - so having him by your side makes it all better :)

additional notes: hey there! there’s my second drabble. (truth is, i actually dislike this one lol). to be honest, i got so happy at the positive feedback towards my kaeya drabble, so i’m sorry it took me a while to write another one and it came out short too :( - i was having a little struggle with some writers block lol. nonetheless i hope you enjoyed this!!

[tiredb0igivemesugars]

Cold basement floor

Summary: Y/n is taken hostage

📝Words📝: 1.7K

⚠️Warnings⚠️: detailed mentions of stabbing and pain. Knives, smoking and burns.

💙Pairing💙: none. Tony Stark as Y/n's father

📎Note📎: I know this is a lot different from my usual stuff but I still wanted to post this one, hopefully you won't think too ill of me after this

The big metal door swung open and then closed, the loud noise startling you. You weren’t actually sure if the door was metal since you couldn’t see but it sure sounded like it. A pair of heavy boots walked on the concrete floor. That you were sure of, you had felt the cold and wet concrete floor yourself. You shook out of coldness in the room. The cold shackles on your wrists and ankles kept you from moving along with making sure you got deep cuts on your skin from the edges. You had no idea how long you had been gone. You just knew you were starving. You heard the same broken water pipe dropping droplets of water on the floor, forming a puddle. The larger the puddle got, the deeper the sound was. You had momentarily considered drinking from the puddle, but decided against it once you deducted that you couldn’t reach it.

The man with the heavy boots walked around the room, his steps echoing throughout the room. The sounds from his steps echoed in the room, bouncing off the walls. They had blindfolded you, at least that was what you thought. The chains on your arms weren’t long enough for you to touch the blindfold but you could still feel the soft material wrapped around your head, covering your eyes.

A chair was dragged across the floor, a screeching sound now echoing in the room. The man sat down on the chair. ”Y/n now was it?” He asked. You heard as he pulled something out of his pocket. A lighter. Suddenly the room smelt of cigarettes. He was smoking. His mouth made wet noises as he sucked on it. The ashes made the quietest sound when they fell on the floor beneath him. You didn’t answer his question, trying to pay attention to every sound in the room and possibly outside of it. The direction of the wind changed. You felt it as the wind grazed upon your exposed upper arms. ”Your dad is not paying the ransom money,” the man said. His voice was rough, raspy even. He had no foreign accent so he wasn’t hydra. He sounded slightly surprised, like he tried to make conversation with you about the fact.

You listened as the man shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable in the position he had chosen for himself. ”You probably have no idea how long you’ve been here,” the man suddenly said. That he was right about. ”Three days. Three days without food or water. That does something to a person,” he continued. He stood up and began walking around the room. His steps became further away before they came back, this time closer. So much more closer. You pressed yourself against the cold wall, desperate to get away from him. The dust and pieces of rock from the wall dug themselves into your skin, making you feel uncomfortable. ”You see. Now when your dad isn’t paying up, we get to have all the fun we want,” he said. His voice so much closer. Closer than ever. You could even feel his breath on your skin. He blew smoke into your face. You coughed at the repulsive smell. There was a sudden pain in your forearm. A burning pain. You bit your lip, trying to not give in to the temptation to scream as the pain worsened.

The man suddenly yelled something to his accomplices, startling you. The metal door banged again. At least two other people came into the room. The sounds of their steps echoed in the room, fast and determined. Pairs of hands grabbed your shackles. ”No no please stop,” you begged. You trashed against their firm hold, ”no please don’t hurt me,” you begged. The cold metal against your skin was gone, now a hand was laid against your scalp, pulling on your hair. ”Let’s go,” a deep voice said and pulled you up by holding onto your hair. You cried out in pain. He began pulling you forward, out of the room. Your feet barely touched the ground as the man pulled on your hair. The cement was freezing cold against your bare feet as you were dragged out of the room. The hallway was filled with different noises. The sounds of different machines running and people screaming in agony. You too, screamed in agony as you were pulled into another room. You felt another pair of cuffs getting tied around your wrists, then suddenly, you were hanging from the ceiling. You panted, anxious for what was to happen next.

The number of steps had been reduced to one pair. Another cigarette was lit. ”Now,” the familiar voice said. It was the same man from before. ”We’re gonna have fun,” he stated, sounding ominous.

You breathed in deeply, trying to embrace yourself for whatever it was that was about to happen. You could hear a cart being wheeled towards you. The wheels screeched and screamed in pure agony. The man hummed a song as he touched every object on the table. Something thin made of metal. A big machine with the outer layer being plastic and lots of switches. A small plastic object with some glass on it. The man suddenly grabbed an object, it slid against the table as he took it in his hand. He took steps around the room, like dancing. His humming became louder and clearer. It was no melody you recognised, although somewhat familiar. He seemed to have stopped in front of you, there couldn’t have been more than five inches between his nose and yours. His breath smelled foul, the occasional hint of nicotine mixed with whiskey and something rotten. He licked your cheek before spitting on your barefoot. He smacked his lips together. ”Sweat, tears, dirt and maybe a hint of blood,” he spoke in a calm matter. You shuddered as the chills ran down your spine.

He pressed an object against your stomach. ”Do you have any idea why you’re here?” He asked. You could now tell that the object was a knife. Its sharp point was pressed against your skin, only the thin fabric of the open-back hospital gown separating it and you. You chuckled awkwardly, trying to hide your fear. ”I- I have no clue,” you answered. You wanted to make a joke, ease the pressure in your chest but you couldn’t. The fear that came with losing one of your main senses was too powerful. It kept you in check, woke you up to the reality that you had no idea what was going on. You had no idea what was to happen next. You could hear him breathe. Feel how the small air current changed with each of his exhales and inhales.

This room. This place you were in, had been in for three days, was his kingdom. He was in absolute control. You were powerless, like an animal in a cage at his mercy.

”You’re here as a paper we’re going to write the message onto. You can tell your dad that he messed with the wrong people,” the man whispered as he pushed the knife into you. You could feel your skin split as the sharp object was pushed further into you. It burned. You were on fire as you screamed. The pain was excruciating as it spread throughout your body. Over and over again, he sunk the knife into your skin and dragged it in every possible direction to inflict the most pain possible.

Once the pain in your body and throat became too much, you fell limp. Your mind was now up for rent. Owners from before had gotten their deposit back and now new inhabitants were to move in. Yet, no one hauled their sofa and dining table in through the doorway that was just a little too small. As minutes went on, you failed to react or really even register what was happening anymore. None of it mattered, you didn’t care. This pain that was being inflicted upon you was too much, why be around to feel it?

Eventually, it came to a halt. He stopped digging the sharp blade into you. The cart made a loud noise as he threw the knife back on it. ”Like a Christmas present,” he whispered in your ear, his rough hand caressing your wounds.

Tears escaped your eyes as you hung there, chest rising and falling as you failed to fully re-enter your body. His hands stopped roaming your body as he took a step back. The screeching noise of a chair being pulled filled your barely conscious mind. He seemed to sit back down, unmoving. Eventually, he moved. He moved and began humming the same tune from before. He grabbed the knife from before and you braced yourself for more pain. But when no pain came your breathing eased just the lightest amount. Yet, still, you hung there, from the ceiling on hypervigilance. This seemed to go on for hours. The man just humming the same tune over and over again as he sat there, most likely watching you.

There was a loud crash. It startled you as it seemed to do the same to the man. He pushed himself off the chair and hurried out of the room, yelling orders. You felt relieved upon hearing the loud sirens of the security system. Finally, you were going to be released from your nightmare. You listened as guns went off and people screamed, crying tears of happiness when you heard every metal door being opened systematically. Blood pumped into your ears as you listened to the nearing sounds of the doors opening. The hinges of the door creaked and you sighed in relief. ”Hold on, I think I got something,” the familiar voice of Steve Rogers aka Captain America spoke. ”Hello?” You called out once you heard no movement. ”Y/n?” Steve’s voice asked, confused and concerned. You cried out in relief. ”Can you please help me?” You pleaded, hearing how desperate and raw your own voice sounded. You heard Steve’s steps as his feet came in contact with the cold and damp floor. His hands undid your shackles before lifting you to carry you. You sighed in relief as your head fell on his shoulder. You felt the rhythm of his steps as he walked. The sounds of the fighting had stopped, feeding into your relief that yes, your nightmare was in fact, over.

”I’ll help you. Always will,” a voice said. Your blood halted. It wasn’t Steve’s voice.