#and i'm going to be stuck in this body until i die. Cool

[mxltifxnd0m]

beach confessions 𓍼 i. lahey

summary: a beach day with the pack

pairings: isaac lahey x reader, isaac lahey x fem! reader

word count: 5.5K

warnings: no use of 'y/n', an au where allison didn't die or where she and isaac were a thing, tooth-rotting fluff, some swearing, mutual pining, suggestive content, kissing

a/n: it kinda seems that the teen wolf fandom is a little dead, and the isaac lahey fandom is even deader, which is sad bc who doesn't love isaac lahey, but I'm posting this regardless bc I worked hard on it

but if isaac lahey has no fans, it means i'm dead

please reblog and comment! i love to see what you guys say ;))

𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

Salt air filled your lungs as you climbed out of Lydia's car. The two-hour drive with Allison and Lydia was filled with singing, gossiping, and laughing. Lydia was ahead of Stiles's blue Jeep as they drove along the highway to the coast. Even when driving, Lydia led most of the conversations, never letting the car be left in a dull silence.

Summer had finally arrived, and school had finally come to an end. It was a long school year with supernatural threats looming over the pack almost every month. Summer break was a reprieve from the constant dangers that Beacon Hills seemed to attract.

The six of you, Scott, Stiles, you, Allison, Lydia, and Isaac, decided to head down to the beach to cool down from the blistering heat wave that struck your hometown earlier that week. As much as you loved Lydia's pool, you craved to be by the beach, wanting to feel the ocean breeze through your hair, the sun kissing your skin, and feel the coolness of the water wash over your body as you dived under a wave. The sand was the only part of the beach that you never enjoyed, having found it in places where it was unwanted. Still, you could overlook the sand and bask in the beauty of the beach and what it had to offer.

You remember a time before your world had turned upside down by the mere existence of the supernatural, that every summer, you and your family would go down by a spot on the beach that your mom and dad had discovered back when they were dating and spend the entire day there, splashing around the water, building sandcastles, or seeing who could ride the biggest wave on their boogie board with your siblings and cousins until your dads had to carry you on their backs because you were exhausted from the day.

So you decided to plan out this day with the help of Lydia, and it took little to no convincing to get everyone on board with the idea of a day at the beach. You would have driven to the spot since you knew where it was, but your parents had taken your car for a road trip they were doing with the rest of your family. You opted to stay home with your friends and told your parents that you would join them next year.

But now it led you to the beach, and you could hear the ocean calling your name as you helped Lydia and Allison unpack the car. Yesterday, the three of you spent the day shopping for snacks and supplies that you didn't already have. You stuck all of the heavy stuff, like the chairs and canopy tent, in the back of Stiles's Jeep while the drinks and snacks were in Lydia's Prius.

The boys were parked right next to you guys, and they were also unpacking their car very loudly, you may add, with Stiles complaining about how heavy some of the stuff you guys brought was.

You rolled your eyes at Stiles's whining, but you knew it was because he was stuck driving his Jeep for two hours straight (even though he didn't allow anyone else to drive it besides himself).

You turned to the boys with an amused smirk on your face. "Suck it up Stilinski. You won't be complaining once you get into the water."

Stiles scoffed and grumbled to himself, Isaac and Scott stifling their laughs at his words, being able to hear his words loud and clear because of their enhanced hearing.

Your eyes shot to Isaac, hearing his poor attempt at concealing his laughter. You felt something in your chest flutter as you saw amusement glint brightly in his eyes, which seemed to shift between shades of blue according to his mood. Right now, they match the color of the clear blue sky. Isaac must have felt your gaze on him since he made eye contact with you and winked at you.

You rolled your eyes at him to hide the fact that you were staring at him. You looked at your friends, their arms filled with various items you guys had taken from the car, and nodded.

"Let's get this show on the road!" You said, smiling, and started to walk away from the cars and down to the beach. The rest of your friends trailed behind you since you were the one who knew where the spot was. You walked for a couple of minutes until you made it to a flight of stairs.

Lydia called your name out. "You didn't mention there were stairs?" Her voice was tight with slight apprehension.

You looked back at her with pursed lips. "I didn't?" You asked with a cocked head.

The rest of the pack shook their heads. It was comical how their heads nodded in synchronicity. At that, you had to press your lips together to suppress the chuckles threatening to escape your mouth.

You hummed. "I could've sworn I told you there was some to get down to the beach."

"Well you didn't." Stiles said.

"It's only a flight of stairs."

"Oh."

"'Oh.' is correct, Stiles. But I do have to warn you guys that the stairs are steep. Now enough chit-chat, it's supposed to get hotter and the water is calling my name." You said before heading down the stairs that led down to the sandy beach.

It didn't take long to find a spot to set up camp since the beach was pretty vacant, with a few people and a family occupying the beach. You picked a place close to the stairs since the odds of someone (one of the boys) forgetting something in one of the cars were pretty high. But you also chose to set up near a fire pit, having made Stiles pick up some firewood before you left the beach.

Once you had set down your stuff, everyone else followed suit, setting down the snacks, chairs, and the canopy tent that you now had to set up. With some fumbling and Stiles not listening to your directions, all six of you were able to set up the tent for shade and set up the four beach chairs you had brought.

You all had agreed that you guys would trade off the chairs and sit down on an outside blanket that you had brought, as well as your towels. The boys were eager to jump into the water after stripping themselves of their shirts, but you quickly stopped them.

You waved the sunblock you brought in the air. "Nuh-uh. You guys need to put on sunblock because I don't want to hear groans of pain when you guys get sunburnt." You pointedly looked at Stiles and Isaac since they were the palest of the boys (you don't think Scott would burn; if anything, he'd probably just get tanner).  

They reluctantly agreed, and Scott took the sunscreen from your hand. Lydia had also brought her own and began to lather herself in sunblock. You let the sunblock be passed around to everyone first while you set up the cooler and organized the snacks.

When you were done organizing the snacks, you pulled off the white collar shirt that was acting as your beach cover-up and jean shorts. You crouched down and looked through the bag that was on the blanket for your hair ties to put up your hair. A tap on your shoulder got your attention, making you look up from your bag. You turned around to see Isaac holding the bottle of sunblock, looking a little sheepish.

"Could you do my back?" Isaac asked. You caught his gaze roaming your body before his eyes darted up to meet your own.

You looked around to see that Scott and Stiles were running toward the water, with Allison and Lydia following their lead but walking instead of sprinting behind them. You raised an eyebrow at the sight of Lydia walking towards the water.

Huh, I thought Lydia would have wanted to stay and tan first. You thought to yourself before looking back at Isaac.

"Yeah, let me grab my hair ties real quick." You sent Isaac a quick smile before turning back to your bag and pulling two black hair ties. You rolled them on your wrist before Isaac handed you the sunblock. Isaac just stared at you expectantly as you uncapped the sunblock.

"Hey wolfy, I'm gonna need you to turn around if you don't want a bad sunburn on your back." You quipped as you gestured for him to turn around with your finger.

Isaac rolled his eyes at your nickname for him, but you saw the corner of his mouth twitch up, and he turned around to face the water. You put some sunblock in the palm of your hand before closing it and tossing it on a nearby chair. You stepped closer to Isaac as you rubbed the sunblock on your palms, warming it up before starting to rub it into his skin.

You saw some of the muscles in his back twitch when you placed your hands on his back, beginning to rub in the sunblock. You've never seen Isaac shirtless before, and it was hard not to keep your eyes from roaming his back as your hands trailed over his broad shoulders and back.

You could feel some of the muscles he had gotten from lacrosse. You were close enough to see the freckles that were spattered about his back. You were tempted to trail your fingers over them, connecting them with an invisible line that was drawn from the tips of your fingers.

You cleared your throat before ripping your hands from Isaac's warm skin and stepping back from him.

"All done." You managed to say without choking on your spit.

Isaac turned around and sent you a thankful smile. The sight of his smile made your heart flutter.

"Uh, did you want me to do you?" With his words, you choked on your spit. You had a coughing fit, trying to clear your throat.

"Umm, what?" You asked him once you calmed down.

Isaac's eyes went wide with realization. "Oh god, I didn't mean it like that. I-I meant did you want me to do your back? Like with the sunblock?"

You blinked at him before nodding. "Yeah, if you could that would be appreciated." You sent him an awkward smile.

Isaac mirrored your smile and grabbed the sunblock from the chair you had tossed it on, and you turned around. You pulled your hair up to get it out of the way. You heard Isaac open the sunblock, and you jumped at the feeling of the cold sunblock on Isaac's hands.

You felt him pull away. "Sorry." He said.

"S'fine. It was colder than I expected it to be." You shot him a reassuring smile over your shoulder.

Then you felt his hands on your back, beginning to rub the sunblock into your skin. You tried not to shiver at the feeling of his warm hands going up and down your back. You could tell Isaac was trying to be respectful and avoiding the straps of the halter bikini top you were wearing.

"Hey, Isaac." You called to him. He hummed in response.

"You're gonna have to put the sunblock underneath my bikini straps."

"Oh, I wasn't sure if I could."

You chuckled at his hesitance. "You're fine, Isaac."

With your permission, his hand slid under the straps, and you felt goosebumps on your arms at his gentle touch. Issac's hands seemed to linger on your back before you felt them pull away as he stepped back.

"Thanks Isaac." You told him as you turned around and shot him a smile.

He nodded. "No problem." Isaac shoved his hands in his pockets as you pulled your hair out of the bun and began to part it down in the middle and start braiding the two sections. It would be a little complicated to French braid without a mirror, but you could do it.

You saw a confused look on Isaac's face as you began to braid the left side of your hair and moved to sit down on a chair.

"I'm braiding my hair before I put on sunblock so I don't get it in my hair." You offered an explanation, and his face morphed into one of understanding.

"You can go and enjoy the water, I'll meet you guys out there." You jerked your chin out to the water as best as you were halfway done with your braid.

"Nah, it's fine I can wait," Isaac said in a nonchalant tone as he moved to sit in the chair right next to you.

You were done with your first braid and moving on to the second one when you raised your eyebrow at him. "Okay then... how was being stuck in a car with Stiles?"

You heard Isaac huff loudly. "If Scott wasn't there, I would have found a way for us to crash."

You couldn't help it, and a loud laugh escaped your lips.

It's no secret that Isaac and Stiles have a frenemy dynamic with one another. Stiles's sarcasm had finally met its match with Isaac's sass and dry sense of humor, and it was amusing to see them snap back at each other. At first, there was animosity between them. But after everything that had happened in Beacon and being forced to work together, they grew to like each other (even if they wouldn't admit it). Now, there wasn't any venom behind their words, and they did it to annoy each other.  

"I don't think it was that bad." You said once you calmed down from laughing. You finished your braid and tied it off.

"You try sitting in the car with Stiles rambling for almost two hours straight." Isaac scoffed.

"I have. I've learned how to tune Stiles out when he gets into a talkative mood. You learn how to soon enough my dear Padawan." You sent him a wide grin as you grabbed the sunblock and began to put it on your arms and legs.

You saw out of the corner of your eye that Isaac mouthed out the word 'padawan' with furrowed brows. You rolled your eyes at him.

"I have to get you to watch Star Wars so you can understand my references."

"Over my dead body."

You were done with lathering your body in sunblock, so you got up from the chair and stood in front of Isaac. You leaned down in front of him, resting your hands on the armrests, a sly smile on your face. Isaac's eyes flickered down to your chest before they roamed your face.

"Fine, how about a little wager then?" Isaac's blue eyes met yours, his eyebrow raised in wonder at your words.

"I'm listening." He said with a growing smile as he leaned closer to you. You tried not to let Isaac's closeness affect you as you swallowed thickly.

"Who ever gets to the water first, gets to pick the movies to watch for the next movie night." You proposed.

When Isaac first became a werewolf, neither of you knew each other well or got off on the right foot at first (you may have stabbed him in the leg with your pocket knife when he broke into Scott's house to try and kill Lydia). But when he started to be a part of the pack, he would reluctantly get rides from you. You apologized to him one day when you were taking him to Scott's house after school, and from there, your friendship grew.

Both of you seemed to be drawn to one another, and you have no clue how it started, but the two of you had movie nights to try to distract your minds from school or the next potential threat to Beacon Hills. These were the nights that you looked forward to since it was just the two of you in your living room watching these movies, and sometimes you guys would talk through a movie if it was boring. This was also the moment where you realized that you had liked Isaac.

The realization hit you like a truck, and ever since that day, you have felt like you didn't know how to act around him, but you have tried to act as normal as you could around him. Luckily, Isaac didn't seem to catch on to the change in behavior from you. But the girls and Scott noticed (curse his werewolf senses) that you liked Isaac, but you made them swear they wouldn't say anything to him.

Isaac smirked. "Deal. You ready to lose?"

Your smile slowly grew. "I'm so not sorry for what I'm about to do."

"What?"

You pushed the chair backward by the arms of the chair, causing Isaac to topple backward in the chair and hit the ground. You laughed at Isaac's pained groan and quickly sprinted away from him and towards the water. You heard Isaac shout after you, and you risked a glance over your shoulder to see Isaac sprinting.

You pumped your legs faster, but it was difficult to run through the sand. You noticed as you ran towards the water that Stiles and Scott were engaged in a splash war while Allison and Lydia were in the water until it hit their thighs. They had yet to be fully submerged as the waves were pretty calm at the moment.

You made it to the water first and turned around to see Isaac slowing down and walking down to where you were on the shoreline. You sent Isaac a cheeky grin, doing a little victory dance as he approached.

"You cheated." He said, a slight pout on his face as he caught his breath.

"You're a werewolf. You had an advantage. I just evened the playing field." You said while shrugging.

Isaac rolled his eyes, but a smile began to grow on his face. "Then, I'm so not sorry what I'm about to do." He parroted the words that you said earlier to him.

"Isaac. No." You said warningly as you narrowed your eyes at him, backing away from him slowly.

Isaac sent you a wolfish grin before he quickly grabbed your waist and hoisted you up on his shoulder like you weighed nothing. You let out a shriek of surprise as your world turned upside down, as you found yourself staring at Isaac's navy-blue swim trunk-covered ass.

It's not a bad sight, though. You thought to yourself before you realized Isaac had walked further into the water.

"Isaac! Put me down!" You exclaimed as you slapped at his back, the skin turning red as you did.

"What was that sweetheart?" The nickname made your face warm, but you scowled as he pretended not to hear you.

"I swear to God, Isaac! Put me down!" At this point, Isaac was about hip-deep in the water.

"Put you down? Okay, whatever you want, sweetheart." You could hear the smug smirk that was on Isaac's stupidly attractive face. Before you could respond, he threw you off of his shoulder and into the ocean.

The cold water was a shock to your senses as you were enveloped by the salty water. You quickly regained your bearings and stood up in the water. You wiped away the water that clung to your eyelashes and glared daggers at Isaac as he clutched his stomach, laughing his ass off at you. But you couldn't help but smile at the sound of his laugh, your chest warming at the sight of Isaac's flushed cheeks as he calmed down from his laughing fit.

"You're in for it now, Lahey." You growled playfully before splashing water at him. He flinched at the sudden feeling of being sprayed with the cold water.

"You're on." Isaac smirked before you guys had your own splash war.

While you were messing with Isaac, you didn't see the matching smirks that Allison and Lydia were sporting as they saw you play around with Isaac.

"How long do you think it's going to take for them to admit their feelings to each other?" Allison asked Lydia.  

Lydia hummed before responding. "I have a feeling it's going to be soon."

Scott and Stiles somehow made their way over to where you and Isaac were playing, and it became a battle between Scott and Stiles and you and Isaac. You guys obviously won after a couple of minutes of nonstop spraying water at one another.

"Allison, Lydia!" Scott called to them and waved them over. "Let's play chicken!"

"I call Scott!" Stiles quickly said as he swung an arm over his friend's shoulders.

"What? Dude, no." Scott pushed him off. "You're too heavy."

Stiles gaped at his (supposed) best friend, making you giggle. "You're a werewolf and you say I'm too heavy?"

Scott rolled his eyes at Stiles's dramatics. "I don't have super strength."

"Yes you do!"

"As cute as the two of you bickering like an old married couple is, we want to play the game now." You cut in before Scott could retort.

Lydia nodded. "She's right. I'll go with Stiles, Allison with Scott." Then Lydia paired you with Isaac.

You turned to Isaac, trying to hide your nerves as you smiled at him. "We got this." You said as you held up your hand for a high five.

Isaac nodded, reciprocated your high five, and grabbed it. "We got this."  

You all got onto the boys' shoulders as you guys readied yourselves for the game. You felt Isaac grip your thighs as he adjusted you slightly on his broad frame. You swallowed thickly, but you noticed that Isaac's curls were flattened on his head and were getting into his eyes. You carefully brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Thanks." You heard him breathe out, making you smile.

"No problem." You patted the top of Isaac's head, fighting the temptation to run your hands through his wet curls.  

Isaac had to resist gripping your thighs tightly as he felt the heat of them surround his head and neck. He could only think about different scenarios where they were around his head for a different reason. Isaac had to move his hands to rest on your knees, close his eyes, and take a deep breath to rid his mind of those thoughts.  

"Ready?" Allison asked the group. Everyone nodded in response.  

"Okay. Go!"

The fire burned bright as Scott threw another piece of firewood into the fire pit in front of you.

The rest of the day flew past you as the six of you enjoyed the beach. After the multiple rounds of chicken fights, you guys swam around for a little, trying to dive under the large waves that began to form. Once you felt tired of swimming, everyone headed back to the tent, and you distributed the sandwiches that you made the night before to everyone.

Conversation flowed as everyone ate and started to snack on the fruit and chips that were out from the cooler. You sneakily took pictures and videos of everyone on the digital camera you brought to document the beach trip. You had even filmed the boys boogie-boarding when they grabbed the boards from the Jeep.

As the day progressed and the sun began to fall, you put on an old red henley that once belonged to your dad and some comfy shorts once you had rinsed off the saltwater on your body.

After everyone was rinsed off and in their comfortable clothes, you had Isaac and Scott grab the firewood from the car and start to prep the fire pit. You had brought dinner to cook over the fire, which was hot dogs and some sweet corn you would roast if anyone wanted. You also brought ingredients for s'mores because what's a summer night without them?

You continued to snap pictures of the pack enjoying the food, and the smile you had since you swam in the water never left your face as everyone had fun. You could tell everyone needed today, needing to spend the day acting like teenagers and not detectives of the supernatural or the saviors of Beacon Hills.

After everyone had their fill of s'mores, Stiles had run back to the Jeep to grab a bottle of whiskey he was able to nab from his dad and showed it to the group like an eager kid showing his parents what he drew in school.

You raised a skeptical eyebrow at Stiles. "Aren't you driving?"

Stiles shook his head. "Nah, Scotty here is gonna drive back. Besides, it's not like he'll be affected if he drinks." He said as he patted Scott's back as he sat back down next to him.  

You made an 'okay whatever floats your boat' face at Stiles and snapped a picture of him with the flash on as he took a swig of the liquor, his face grimacing at the burn of the alcohol. The bottle was passed around the circle, and you took a sip of the whiskey, but when it made it back to you again, you passed on it, not wanting to get drunk.

You, Scott, and Isaac were the only ones sober. Allison was leaning on Scott, clearly buzzed. While Stiles and Lydia were slowly getting tipsy as the bottle of whiskey kept being passed around. A warmth settled in your chest as you looked at your friends, and the warmth expanded down to your toes. You looked at Isaac, who was sitting next to you all night, his shoulder brushing against yours, when either of you shifted in your seat.

Not that you noticed (but you did) that Isaac was very fidgety right next to you, always playing with something in his hands, and he would look away quickly when your eyes met. A shiver racked your body as the breeze whipped through the beach.

You felt Isaac shift next to you, and then a jacket was draped over your shoulders, snapping out of your daze from staring at the fire in front of you. The smell of sandalwood, clean linen, firewood, and something that was just Isaac invaded your senses. You turned your head to see Isaac looking at you with a soft smile.

"You looked cold." He gave you a half-shrug before tuning back into the drunken babbling that Stiles was spewing.

You thanked him before sliding your arms through the sleeves and wrapping yourself in the jacket, letting Isaac's scent comfort you further. You looked up at the moon shining down at the crashing waves of the beach, and you decided that you wanted to take a bit of a walk along the shore to stretch out your legs.

You slowly got up from your seat, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asked lowly.

"Oh, I just wanted to walk along the shore to stretch out my legs." You told him softly.

"Can I come with you? I don't think I can hear Stiles blab anymore."

A soft chuckle left your lips. "Yeah, you can."

Isaac smiled at you and followed you as you walked away from the group. Your and Isaac's departure didn't escape Scott or Allison's gazes. But they shared knowing smiles with one another before responding to Lydia and Stiles.

The two of you walked side by side in comfortable silence, content with listening to the waves crash into each other. You would steal small glances at Isaac, only to find him doing the same, making your cheeks warm as you looked away from each other with shy smiles on your faces. Your hands would brush against each other as you walked, making you feel giddy.

You guys walked for a couple of minutes before you sat down on the sand, not wanting to go back to the rest of the pack just yet. Isaac sat down right next to you as you stared out at the water, admiring how the moonlight made the surface of the water glitter like tiny diamonds were floating in the water.

You let out a content sigh as your head fell onto Isaac's shoulder, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hitting you. Isaac shifted closer to let your head rest comfortably on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around your shoulders.

"Have fun today?" You asked as you lifted your head up from his shoulder to rest your chin on and look at him.

Isaac hummed as he turned from the water to look at you. He was closer than you anticipated, his nose almost brushing against yours. One side of his face was dimly lit by the soft moonlight. His eyes were more of a cobalt blue because of the night sky.

Your gaze roamed his face, taking in the sharpness of his cheekbones, how the salt water made his hair curly and fell into his eyes slightly. You studied the slope of his nose and how it led down to his cupid bow, and your eyes were stuck on the fullness of his bottom lip.

God, he's so pretty. You thought to yourself until you realized that Isaac was calling out your name. He was speaking the entire time you were admiring him, and a smirk rested on his face.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." You said with a sheepish smile on your face.

"Tired?" Isaac questioned instead of repeating his words.

"A little. But did you have fun today?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I hadn't been to the beach before so it was cool to come here with you guys."

You were a little shocked at Isaac's admission. "You've never been to the beach?" You asked quietly.

"We never had the time to when I was younger." Isaac cleared his throat. "Besides, my dad never really liked the beach."

You knew that Isaac's dad was a piece of shit (your words, not his), and so this shouldn't have been a surprise to you, but you weren't expecting it.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun today." You sent him a tender smile; Isaac mirrored your smile before the both of you fell quiet, letting the waves lapping at the shore fill the calmness that settled between you.  

The two of you were just staring into each other's eyes, inching closer until your foreheads rested against one another. Isaac took the hand that wasn't over your shoulder and grabbed your hand.

Your heart started to beat faster as Isaac leaned closer, his nose brushing against yours in an Eskimo kiss. A smirk grew on Isaac's face, and you knew it was because he could hear your heartbeat grow faster.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked gently, feeling his breath against your lips.

Instead of verbally answering, you pressed your lips against his in a soft kiss. Isaac's lips were warm, and you could taste the whiskey that he had taken a few swigs out of earlier. You pulled away, your eyes closed and your forehead still against his, breathing shallowly.

"I really like you." Isaac breathed out. You opened your eyes to find his already on you, and you could barely see the blue in his eyes because of how dilated his pupils were.

You felt your lips pull into a wide smile at his words. "I sure hope so, because I don't know what I do if you kissed people that you don't like, like that." You couldn't help but tease.

You felt Isaac huff against you and opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, you cut him off with another kiss, this one harder than the last one. He melted into the kiss as he let go of your hand and cupped your cheek, his thumb swiping the apple of your cheek as you leaned into his touch.

You don't know who pulled away this time, but Isaac still had his hand on your cheek as you looked at him.

"For the record, I like you too." You said.

"And here I thought you were just kissing me because you hated me." Isaac teased.

A light laugh left your lips as you shoved him slightly. "Shut up. You're a dork."

Isaac chuckled as you pulled away from him and stood up, brushing the sand off of your butt. You stuck a hand out for Isaac, and he took it as he stood up, not letting go once he brushed the sand off.

"Let's go. We have a long drive home, and everyone is gonna crash once we get to my house."

"Could I crash in your bed?" Isaac asked jokingly as you guys walked back to the firepit with the rest of the group, his hand still in yours.

"Sure, just no funny business." You wagged a finger at him, sporting a serious face.

Isaac chuckled and nodded. "No funny business." He made it a point to cross his heart.

"Good." You stopped and leaned up on your toes to peck his lips, but he caught your neck and pulled you in for a passionate kiss. You couldn't help but smile against his lips and melt into it.

You were so glad you had planned this beach day.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 1)

It wasn't long after Uzi restored N and V's memories that N began to stay over at her “apartment.” more often.

It started when he sheepishly knocked on her door one morning, chassis slightly steaming and looking guilty, tail laying flat against the floor.

“H-H-Hey U-U-zi” His voice was so glichy it was nearly impossible to hear what exactly he was saying, his visor angerly blinking, warning him that he was overheating, as if that wasn't immediately obvious.

“Holy shit! N!” Uzi was immediately concerned, leaning in to help her best freind and to lead him inside, she went to grab his hand to help him. Only to be immediately burned, the temperature of his plating feeling like a stove top.

“Y-y-eah, I'm kinda h-h-ooo-t right now.” He explained as if he wasn't about to melt in front of her. She sprinted to her room, grabbing the canister of oil she'd been sipping on and shoving it in his mouth.

He drank it deeply, emptying the entire container rather quickly, steam plumed around him and he sighed, his joints groaning from the quick constriction back to form.

“Oh wow, that was a little closer than I would have liked. Thanks Uz!” He brightened immediately, tail curling up and beginning to wag, a beaming smile on his face.

“N! What happened? I've never seen you that hot before!” She motioned him in, looking into the hallway to make sure nobody saw him enter. It wouldn't help the already rampant rumors about her. About them.

“Uh, V is in one of her moods after I tried reminiscing with her, she shoved me and I fell into the sunlight.” His explanation was not lacking in enthusiasm, seemingly not thinking about how close the death he just came.

“And she didn't get you oil because…?” Uzi questioned, trying to not notice how he looked around her house in awe, glancing around at everything.

“Oh, because the oil we have is old and a little chunky, it would have taken too long to cool me off before I started to go offline.” He explained, picking up a picture of her father and her, when she was a pill.

“Awww, baby Uzi!”

Blushing, she swiped the picture out of his hands and put it back down.

“Bite me! I'm not cute!” She snapped at him, only for him to laugh lightly, as if that action itself proved whatever point he was trying to make.

“Whatever you say!” He grinned, walking off to pick up another trinket off the shelf and turn it in his hands.

“This isn't the first time you've been here, you've seen it before, also you almost just died. Priorities!”

“I actively avoid thinking about the times I almost die. Also look!” He brought her attention to a picture of her, in a toddler body, bashing her dad in the head with a wrench.

“Looks like you were good with tools even when tiny!” He cooed at her image, Uzi grumbled, trying and failing to swipe the picture from his hands.

“Also, I was unconscious for most of the time I was here. I didn't get to see all your adorable droneling pictures!” He threw his hands up, tail wagging wildly.

Adorable?

“N!” She shouted in indignation, fists balling up and stomping her foot like the was throwing a tantrum.

He put the picture back on the shelf, giggling at her, if he was anyone else she would have bitten back a little harder, but he was incredibly difficult to stay mad at, especially with that crooked, dopey smile.

“Well, I guess I'm stuck with you until nightfall…” She murmured, honestly she had started to become nocturnal herself, being unable to touch sunlight after her strange, fleshy transformation at camp, switching over seemed to be the better option.

“I was about to get ready for bed, if you wanna-”

“Sleepover!” He shouted immediately, looking like he just got the best Christmas gift ever. Uzi couldn't help but smile at him, he was always so endlessly positive.

“Uh, yeah… I guess.” She turned to look aloof, but to also hide her growing fluster, which had been growing more and more common since prom.

She drug him into her room by the arm, partly just to get him away from more of her pictures. And slammed the door behind her. Sighing softly.

When she opened her eyes again, N was sitting on her bed, well more laying, as he was a little too tall to comfortably sit upright without touching the ceiling, and was looking at her nightmare board.

“Mmm. This looks like repressed memories.” He said off-handedly, and he was partly correct, some of them were nightmares, some were things she'd rather be only in her nightmares.

“Just nightmares N.” She replied, going into the corner of the room to find a comfortable shirt to change into. Only to look at N, to realize he was still in his overcoat and hat.

“You want to wear something more comfortable then that coat?” She asked, still pulling through the mountain of clothes.

“Huh? Oh uh, if you have something that fits me.”

Fair enough, he was quite a bit taller than any other worker drone. Especially her.

But luckily, she had hoarded clothes over the years, and finally fished something out that was way too big for her. But would probably fit him just fine. A thin lilac shirt that said. “My Girlfriend Thinks I'm Tall.”

The universe really wanted to shove this crush in her face today. Didn't it?

Whatever, the universe could bite her.

“Here.” She threw the shirt up at him and continued to search for something that suited her. Finally, she saw a faded yellow shirt that read; I'm a Big Freakin’ Ray of Sunshine

Perfect

She turned, only to find N standing naked in the middle of her room, the shirt folded in one hand and his coat draped over the other.

“N!” She immediately whipped around to face the wall, her temperature rising quickly, a violent blush taking over her face.

“What?” He hummed, seemingly unperturbed by being nude in front of her, taking his sweet ass time putting the shirt on.

“You're naked!”

“And? The only difference between us is armor plating.” He responded, pulling the shirt over his head. His voice laced with confusion.

“Still! You don’t see me stripping in front of you!”

N paused for a moment, seemingly pondering this. Before he clicked his tongue.

“I wouldn't mind it, you seem to forget that none of the corpses that make up the spire have clothes.” That made her jump, sometimes she forgot he was a disassembly drone, with his cheerful, loving attitude. And it made her feel a little weird, did all of the worker drones really look so similar?

Did he not think of her as different?

“N-No, I don't care how many you've seen. I don't want you to see me.”

She heard N make some kind of noise, then heard him step out and close the door. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, shit, she didn't realize N would be so nonchalant about it.

She quickly got changed, and reopened the door for N, who met her gaze with a slight blush, and who's hands were shifting against each other awkwardly. Clearly, he'd known he'd said something wrong and overthought it.

“Erm, sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, and I didn't mean to imply that… you look like every other worker drone. Because you don't- uh…” He broke from her gaze for a moment, and his tail flicked irritability. What she could see of his visor he was? Blushing? Maybe?

“You don't look like anyone else. You look like you, and you are my best friend.”

Or maybe he did.

“It's okay, you kinda walk around without pants anyway.”

“So does V!” He defended, before they both dissolved into laughter, awkward moment being pushed aside.

“Come on, let's choose something to watch.” And they walked back into her room, N following as she pulled put a drawer, letting him look at the movies she had.

“A lot of them are animated, looking at live action humans is a little freaky to me.” She admitted, watching as he held each box in his hands. Reading the description of each.

“Oooh, this one is about robots!” He grinned, showing off on of the boxes to her.

“Wall-E? I haven't seen that since I was little.” She vaguely knew it was sappy though, which knowing N, he may have picked up on as well.

‘Yeah sure…” She picked up her homebrew laptop and shoved the disk into the reader, before looking around for a place for both of them to sit.

Her couch was currently covered in railgun parts, where she has been trying (and kinda failing) to repair it after it exploded, she'd nearly had to start from scratch.

But then that left her bed… which would probably end up with the both of them being in pretty close proximity, even more so with how excitable N could get.

N made the choice for her, climbing up to her bed and giving her his hand to help her up.

She blushed, looking away as she took his hand as was hoisted up quickly enough to disorient her, thankfully she didn't loose grip on the laptop.

She landed in his lap, she could tell that much by the ambient warmth radiating from his core, she felt him lean down over her shoulder to start the movie, some of his silvery hair tickling her cheek.

Ah, shit this escalated, does he realize how close we are right now?

Apparently not, as he readjusted himself he forced them closer, Uzi leaning fully against his chest, his head looming above her as she was curled on his lap.

She was extremely happy he couldn't see her visor, which she was sure was nothing but purple at this point.

Still, she eventually relaxed into it, realizing that this was one of the only ways they'd both truly fit on the bed while still being able to see the screen.

She just… didn't remember the movie being so… romantic?

The way Wall-E swooned over Eva's sleek design, melted at her voice, showed her his collection of weird human things… for once she could kinda relate, looking up at the disassembly drone, who's eyes were locked onto the screen.

“Awww, he likes her!” He pointed out when Wall-E tried to hold her hand, and all Uzi could do was shake her head, of course he'd be into romance, that was just so… N.

“Kinda reminds me of when we first met.” She said without thinking, before her words caught up with her and she realized what she was implying.

Luckily, either N didn't call her out or simply didn't notice.

“Yeah… her arm cannon thing is really similar to your railgun.”

Oh thank Robo-Jesus that's what he took from that.

“I don't think you were swooning over me though, with me trying to kill you and everything.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

“Uh- Pfft, I wouldn't swoon over anyone N.”

Yes. Nice Save.

“Thad?” N mentioned, eyes still trained on the screen. Although his tone had shifted slightly, although she couldn't fathom why.

“Ew. No. Sports Jock is not my type, he's just not mean to me.” They both jumped when a lightning strike hit Wall-E as we was trying to recharge her.

“I'm not sure what I'd do if you suddenly went offline like that.” N's voice was uncertain, like it was something he'd been thinking on.

“You worry about that?” Uzi replied, trying to ignore the way her core sped up, but wait his did too.

“Of course, with everything going on I'm afraid someone is going to get hurt in a way I can't fix…” One of his arms wrapped around her, seeking comfort, making her jump slightly.

She wasn't used to other people caring about her to this extent, in the way she knew N did, he was her ride or die and she knew that, and it was worth so much to her.

“If you're talking about V, she can kill us both before taking a breath.”

But showing him that was too scary.

“I don't worry about her as much as I worry about you.” His head rested on hers for a moment, as he watched Wall-E hold onto the side of the spaceship for dear life.

She felt herself smiling, face warm. He was such a wonderful friend, he was one of the only people that truly cared about her.

“I'll be fine… Bite me….” He chuckled, sensing no aggression behind her words. And they fell into comfortable silence, getting reabsorbed back into the movie.

Uzi found herself melting pleasantly in his warmth, she'd expected him to be warm, with his constant need for oil, but had expected it to be more unpleasant, instead it was lulling her to sleep quite rapidly. She felt… safe. And that was weird considering she was cudd- uh leaning against a drone who could end her life before she could even finish her next thought.

But she knew he'd never do that, he would rather melt into a puddle than lay an aggressive hand on her, and in a way that made her feel special, even though he would do the same for any of the worker drones in the bunker.

“Oh she looks really upset…” Her eyes refocused on the screen, Eve shouting at Wall-E while her words faded into the background, showing he wasn't listening.

“He did follow her into space.”

“For love!”

“She doesn't know that, although pretty sure she'd still be mad if she did… it really wasn't a smart decision.” Uzi deadpaned, groaning at N's partly fake offense.

“Love is always the best decision!”

Then please don't let me go

She shook off that thought with a shake of her head, settling back against his chest, realizing his arm was still around her and his head still laid on hers.

They were actually cuddling now, there would be no denying that. But Uzi couldn't bring herself to be upset by it even if a part of herself was screaming about her “reputation.” and her “critical lack of edge.”

“Am I putting you to sleep?” N asked, his voice soft and soothing, it sent pleasant streams of data straight to her core.

“I've already seen the movie, and… you're really warm.” She admitted, looking up onto to find he was looking back at her.

“You don't have to stay awake for me then.”

His eyes were honey, pure and sweet and looking down at her like she was a precious gem. She smiled, eyes dimming as she fell into sleep mode. Was this still just a crush? It didn't feel like one, with the way her core felt full and heavy like it was about to come out of her chest. Was this what love was like? She didn't know, she'd never felt anything close to it before.

[Sleep Mode] appered on her visor and N felt her relax fully into him, letting out a content sigh that made yellow spring to his cheeks. His attention slowly turning to the movie again.

She nuzzled into him in her sleep, making the robot equivalent of a squeak as she did. His core felt light, and a small laugh fell out of his mouth.

He worried about her constantly, with her strange powers and her transformation, she'd put herself in danger, always bravely going into it with so much confidence it tended to rub off on him even if he was nervous. But he still worried, she was still a worker, still small, still so much more fragile. And recently, he'd seen her lacking in confidence, terrified.

Even if she would tell him to bite her if he dared ever call her any sort of fragile. She meant so much to him, his closest friend that he could always count on to be patient with him. She could be prickly, sure, but that was more of a shield she put up to protect herself. Much like the padding of optimism he'd wrapped himself in.

He was really upset knowing how the rest of the colony treated her, as if she was some sort of diseased stray cat that needed to be avoided. It was awful! Uzi had the potential to be so sweet, and it was sad to see her having to create this shell to hide that part of herself.

“Mm… N…” She mumbled in her sleep, and he subconsciously pulled her closer, he'd stopped paying attention to the movie long ago, that was okay, he was recording everything anyway, he'd be sure to pay more attention then.

He was going to make his best freind feel wanted. Like he'd wanted to feel, like she made him feel.

Sleep mode came quickly for him too, until all the sound that escaped the room was the sound of the laptop, until that too died down to nothing.

Next ->

[xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx]

Mcr headcanon: y/n (gn) is starring in a horror movie and they’re character d!es in the movie.

Like they d!e in a HORRIBLE way, like horrifying way, how do the boys react to it?

TW: mentions of a fictional character's death, mentions of food, mentions of jealousy

Gerard

I'm literally on my way back from a Yosakoi festival after getting up at 3am (it's 9pm currently, I had 4 hours of sleep), and my feet have been in soaking wet shoes for the past 10 hours (I think they're starting to develop gills) because the rainy season decided to made a comeback and they had to cancel the fireworks because of that (at a festival that's called a "fire carnival" of all events), and you're coming with this? Not formatted properly because I'm literally sitting in a bus, that's driving through the Kyūshū night while I have glitter stones stuck to my face and two braids with Yukata-hair-accessories on my head.

WC: ???

Assuming Gerard knows what's gonna happen, he's probably looking forward to it. He's sitting in your living room, watching the screen attentively, the snacks you were sharing long forgotten as his eyes follow the action. He's leant forward, ellbows on knees, asking "oh, is this where it happens?" in an almost gleeful voice. Depending on how sudden the scene happens, he either gets jumpscared or just follows the story like the most interesting lecture. Either way he ends up laughing, and leaning back into the couch once it's over, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and kissing your forehead. "Well done," he'll tell you with his lips pressed to your forehead.

Would he watch that movie again: sure! It's a good movie! Next time he'd like to discuss the foreshadowing of the ending through the use of colours and the weather in the early scenes of the movie.

Mikey

Mikey loves horror movies, and that his s/o is staring in one is just a major plus to him. He has a lot of experience with horro movies, so he catches on pretty early that your character is going to die, even if you didn't tell him. He would low-key get excited about it. A voice in the back of his head tells him that 15 or 20 years ago the idea of watching a character that has the face of a beloved person die on screen would have terrified him, even though he was very well able to tell fiction from reality, but now he just enjoys the action, as he feels you cuddled into his side. He might even go as far as offer ideas for even more gruesome deaths, or ways to make the character's death even more painful for the audience.

Would he watch that movie again: absolutely! Has the potential to become a new favourite of his.

Side note: my seatmate just fell asleep on my shoulder. I shall not move until she wakes up.

Ray

Ray would generally be pretty chill about it. He grew up with horror movies too, and he is used to seeing you on screen, so he isn't all too bothered by it, but probably more bothered than Gerard. He doesn't show it all too openly, only pulls you in after the scene is over and praises your work. The only indication that he is more affected by it than he lets on is when he pulls you in a little tighter that night, holding you close to his warm body with his nose buried against your neck. (Seatmate just tried sitting up, and failed. Head is back on my shoulder.)

Would he watch that movie again: he wouldn't necessarily bring it up by himself. If he wants to see you act, there are other movies you're in, where you get a happy end, or at least don't die (he prefers watching those over watching your character die, even if he has to suffer through watching you kiss another actor or actress in front of the camera. It always makes him a bit more self-conscious watching you kiss those perfect people, even if it's not real, and he get a bit more clingy than usual for a few days afterwards.)

Seatmate sat up again, is leaning towards the other side now.

Frank

Frank plays is cool, but isn't. Like the others he has seen enough horror movies and has seen you enough on screen. He's even okay with your characters making out with other characters on screen, even though he does have a (well controlled) possessive side that usually tries to act up when some person is hitting on you. (Seatmate's head is back on my shoulder. She's so cute.) So he knows he shouldn't feel that pit in his stomach opening, it's just fiction after all, you're right here next to him, babbling about how hot the studio was that day while playing with his fingers. Still he closes his eyes at the last shot showing your character staring up right past the camera with lifeless eyes. He has watched your characters die on screen before, but something about the way this is portrayed hits different. "Whoa, that looked pretty real," he'd chuckle, his voice a little more shaky than he'd like to admit, "rad acting there!" Luckily you know him well enough to see through his facade. You know he's self-conscious about his feelings towards this scene, so you don't address it directly, but you scoot a little closer to him at night, and he takes the invitation, and wrappes you in his arms (which is rare, since he usually needs a little bit of space to fall asleep).

Would he watch that movie again: only if you asked and he couldn't come up with an excuse not to watch it. He'd rather not see this last shot of your face again.

And since nobody asked, you get a picture of our banner

[becca-e-barnes]

Hi Becca! I would literally die for you blog. It’s my go to any time I need some good self care😉. You’re incredibly talented!

But I’ve had this idea bouncing around in my head. It boils down to just Bucky and cock warming. Like the reader is on him begging for more but he is just having way to much fun playing with their clit to start moving. Making them cum on him with out thrusting once.

Just an idea I thought you might like. I love you work, have a great day!!

I'm really glad you've been enjoying my stuff so much!! That's so sweet!💗 and I keep getting told I can get ✨filthier✨ so I'd love to mess with this is little bit

Because I love the thought of Bucky making you start off with a dildo that's just a little bit smaller in size than he is. Maybe one of those dildos with a suction cup on the bottom so it's stuck on a wooden chair.

"Good girl, take it all." He encourages, kneeling between your legs, watching your cunt greedily swallow the toy. It's a sight he doesn't often get to see and he's really not sure why he doesn't make a point of watching it more often.

You whine quietly, feeling the toy bottom out. Your ass makes contact with the cool, varnished wood beneath you and you can't help but roll your hips a little, enjoying the feeling of the tip rubbing against your velvety walls.

"If I wanted you to fuck yourself on that, I'd tell you to. Did I tell you to?" Bucky's voice has a sharp edge that almost knocks you out of your daze.

"N-no... But-" You begin, trying to justify your movement but he cuts you off.

"No. So don't. I want you to keep your cunt stuffed and take what I give you." He watches up at you as he presses your knees apart, keeping his eyes on your face until he can't bare it anymore.

You gasp quietly at the feeling of his hot breath on your exposed, slick sex and there's nothing you can do but whimper at the feeling of his tongue gently grazing your clit.

Fuck, it's good. It's not long before he's licking you like he's starving, lapping and sucking gently on your clit before forcing your legs wider apart to lick your arousal from the base of the toy.

"Bucky, please. Please let me move." You didn't mean to sound so pathetic but with each lick, you get closer and closer to an orgasm you won't be able to stop. An orgasm you've been warned you're not allowed to have.

You're almost surprised he takes pity on you, giving you permission to get off the toy. He removes it from the chair and sits down in it's place, offering his cock as a replacement.

You sit back down as you had earlier with your back to his chest but you can't help but feel amazed at how much better his dick feels. He's slightly bigger and while that's nice, nothing beats the way he throbs inside you and the hot, breathy groans against your ear at the feeling of your body taking all of him.

"Such a good girl." He smirks against your neck, littering your skin with kisses between his soft praises. You feel one of his hands on your chin, gently directing you to look to your right, over in the direction of the full length mirror.

The reflection you're looking at makes your walls flutter involuntarily because fuck, you really are stuffed full of his cock and he's making sure you're not able to fully enjoy it yet.

With one hand still holding your head in place, making sure you keep watching, Bucky's free hand trails down between your legs, flicking and rubbing your clit again.

"Oh f-fuck." You whine, watching Bucky's smirk widen. You can't sit still. You just can't. You want to grind your hips and take what you need and in that moment, his pleasure and all the instructions he's given you come second. You need to get off, consequences be damned.

"Don't even fucking think about it." He warns, delivering one harsh slap to your clit. It's not overly hard but it's enough to shock you. "You know you're not allowed to cum. I want to feel this pretty pussy dripping first. Don't worry though. Once you're wet and messy enough, I'll fuck you stupid on the carpet, right in front of the mirror. Want you to watch yourself cum so hard you forget your own name."

[optimist-pine]

Dermatillomania (Daryl Dixon x Reader)

Summary: Dealing with the aftermath of the fall of the Greene Farm in a way your therapist would not approve of.

Warnings: Typical TWD content! Dermatillomania (BFRB's, self-inflicted injury), mentions of death, etc.

Word Count: 719

Era: Follows directly after the season 2 finale

A/n: Just a personal vent... Dunno if anyone else relates.

It hadn't been easy to stop necessarily, but anything other than going cold turkey hadn't really been an option. When you absentmindedly find yourself starting to pick, a quick reminder that it could get you killed is all it takes to shut it down. Most of the time anyways... Tonight though? Oh, tonight you've fallen into old habits so fast and hard that you're stuck there in that state, in the worst session you've had since it all began.

You're tucked away in your own little corner of the ruins and firelight, shadowed enough that no one's really paying attention to what you're up to. At some point, your arms have come out of the sleeves of your coat and it's shrugged loosely around you, leaving skin exposed to the chilly air. You don't notice.

It's all catching up now, all replaying in your mind like the final straw has been plucked. That horrible night at the quarry, the panic when what had been a safe place was so quickly turned into a graveyard. Leaving Jim to die. The terror at the CDC of almost being murdered as a mercy. Leaving Jacqui to die. Sophia... Dale... The farm could've been a safe place, you'd truly believed it until they were somehow just - everywhere. Patricia, Jimmy, Shane... Leaving Andrea to die...

You can feel how it's all too much for your mind to handle, how it's trying to relieve the pressure in this way. It's no good, but your body doesn't know better and you don't know how to make it stop. You can't make any of it stop. Your fingernails desperately search raw skin for any bump, or blemish, or imperfection. They're everywhere. Maybe you'd feel ashamed if bigger and uglier emotions weren't cramming it out of the way.

The cold air cools drops of hot blood on your skin, you can feel it, and yet you feel separate from it simultaneously. Like the same way you breathe without thinking about the breathing part. The fire crackles low and leaves rustle out in the trees as the others hunker down. Nobody's really sleeping though. Not tonight.

Daryl's keeping watch on the perimeter when his eyes settle on you. Your fingers pause in their assault; you can't continue with an audience. Please just look away so I can keep going, some darkness in your mind pleads. But no, you scramble to pull the coat over yourself to conceal the evidence.

"What's this?" He asks, his voice low enough that the others won't really notice.

"Nothing. I'm fine." You can't meet his eyes, shame has finally pushed its way to the forefront now.

You don't try to stop him as he slides the coat off your shoulder, revealing your handiwork. Even in the darkness, you're sure the ugly redness has to be so obvious. You're not only weak, you're weak and stupid.

He pulls your backpack over and digs through it. "Your first aid kit in here?"

You nod once, but that only initiates the tears. What feeling are they from? Anger? Guilt? Fear? This was always the worst part, hating what you've done and wishing for nothing more than to go back and undo it. After everything that had happened... pathetic.

Daryl finds the antibacterial spray and gets to work. His care and surprising tenderness only make you feel that much worse. You were so incapable of handling yourself that you've got a full-grown man treating you like... like the broken thing that you are.

After that he takes a couple of bandages and wraps them around your upper arms, fingers steady and slow. "Leave 'em alone an' let 'em heal. You're tougher than that." He packs up the supplies, helps you fit your arms back into the sleeves, then waits. You're not sure what he expects from you, but then he mimes a zippering motion. You comply and close up your coat. With a single nod, he turns and returns to his watch of the dark surrounding forest.

Maybe you're just thoroughly messed up, but you trade the repeating images in your mind for his words. The past. You have to leave it alone. You have to let it heal. You're here, now, in the present. Alive. You would be tough enough to stay that way. You would.

[wh3nturtlesfly]

Hi sorry if I'm doing this wrong, I don't know how requests work but I would love to see a hero x villain piece where they're stuck in a log cabin together cause of a snow storm! Bonus if the hero has injuries the villain has to take care of 🤭 thank you, your writing is amazing :)

Thank youuu, and I’m SO SORRY this took so long to answer, I hope its still alright, and again I’m sorry for such the long wait!!

The world outside was a slur of white. Flakes passed across the windows with a crystalline grace. They swirled amongst gusts of wind, all of which sent drafts through the old window panes. Frost continued to spread along the corners of the glass and even indoors Hero’s own breath clouded.

They winced when Villain pressed a damp cloth to their abdomen.

“Stop struggling, you’ll only make it worse.” they said, never looking up. The cloth had been white just moments before, pristine as it was taken from the closet and dunked into a bowl of warm water. Now it was caked with crimson. Hero bit their tongue to keep from grimacing.

A patter of water droplets returned to the bowl as Villain wrung out the towel. With a sigh they looked once at Hero’s wound before dunking the fabric back in.

Hero allowed their eyes to trail downwards and for the first time took in the true extent of their injury. A gaping hole served as the aftermath of a dodge executed too slowly. The cause still lay on the floor, having been torn out the moment they stepped indoors. Its blade glinted beside the fireplace, the silver tarnished by scarlet blood.

“Do you mind me asking what you were thinking?” Villain didn’t look up but Hero could only imagine the wrinkle in their brow. Their voice sounded tired. Whether they said it or not, the subtext hung above both their heads. How could you be so stupid?

Hero winced through another wave of pain. “Supervillain’s plan-” they grit their teeth, “I couldn’t just stand by when I figured out what they’re going to do.”

“And you just happened to graze over the fact that Supervillain might suspect you’d come after them?”

“I didn’t think they’d send their lackeys after me.”

“Yeah, well you guessed wrong.” Villain’s jaw was set, but there was concern laced with their words. With a quiet splash they deposited the rag into the bowl and felt for a roll of bandages at their side. It was a shock to find Hero’s skin was nearly as pale as the fabric, still carrying a bluish tinge from the cold.

They looked out the window in hopes of distracting their mind. The cloth was rough against their skin, a contrast from Villain’s cool fingers. “If you’re thinking of running off I would advise against it.” Villain spoke up just as they secured the last of the bandage.

“How’d you know?” Hero was only half joking.

A half hearted attempt at a laugh fell from the Villain. “I know you,” their chuckle faded into wariness. Outside flakes swirled in their frozen paradise and they couldn’t help but gaze out into the raging storm. “Nothing will stop you. Even bleeding and on the edge of consciousness, you would have kept crawling until you died had I not found you.”

Hero shrugged, “That’s just my job.”

“Your job is to help this world. If you go out there now you’ll die, and that sure wouldn’t be very helpful would it?” Villain turned away before they could get a response. Depositing the bowl and rag on a nearby counter, they felt for the kettle at their side.

Steaming water poured from its spout. Villain filled two cups nearly to the brim, just enough space left to insert a tea bag into each. Color began to flow from the thin paper, creating swirls of red. Red. Villain forced themself to look away from the Hero and the soiled cloth they had discarded.

“To help regulate your body temperature,” they explained when they handed Hero the cup. The scent of berries and spices drifted from the beverage’s surface. It almost made the whole exchange feel normal. Cozy even. Villain raised their hand just before Hero could take a sip.

“Careful, it's hot.”

They were met with a chuckle and despite the warning Hero downed a fair portion. It splattered across the floor a moment later.

“Ack! It burns!”

Villain didn’t try to hide it as they rolled their eyes. “A simple cup of tea, and even then you have no self preservation.” That got them a scowl in return, though Villain’s attention had already fallen onto something else. Outside the wind had grown and whistled loudly against the windowpane. Nearly everything was covered in white, not even the nearby trees visible in the storm. “It’s getting bad out there,” they sighed.

“Guess I’m lucky you found me then.” Hero took another drink, though more careful this time. The distant look in their eyes was all too recognizable.

“I told you. You’re not going out there.”

“What makes you think you could stop me?”

“You wouldn’t get three feet from this cabin without succumbing to the cold and snow. Not that I’d ever let you reach that point regardless. With your wounds you are in no shape to face it out there, much less enter battle.”

Hero scoffed, “A little storm doesn’t scare me.” Their voice faltered as they looked to the ground, “Not when there are worse things.”

Tea untouched in Villain’s hands, they forced themself to take a sip while also processing the statement. They knew the detriments of going out in Hero’s shape, and as such they would never let them leave until they had healed somewhat. But after that- Was it selfish that they didn’t want the Hero to cross Supervillain’s path? If this is what had come of the first time, Villain hated to admit they feared what would happen the next time. And still, to keep Hero locked away, even if it meant they could be safe-

“We have two nights left at most. Storms of this level will continue for some time, and I assume we’ll be trapped through most of the day. However,” Villain raised their gaze, “If the sun does make an appearance, it may be possible to set foot outdoors a few mornings after.”

Hero’s head cocked to the side, “What are you saying?”

What were they saying? Villain opened their mouth to speak, then closed it again. This was their nemesis, someone they had fought before. They had quarreled time and time again, but the moment Villain had seen Hero, shivering as flakes covered their nearly unconscious body, they had to help. Something about seeing their nemesis, bloody, freezing, scared. Though they would never admit it, Villain hated to see the Hero hurt.

With a deep breath, they squared their shoulders and faced Hero. “Once the storm ends, you can leave. Your wounds should be decently healed by then. But until then, you must stay. Rest, and gain back what you’ve lost.” Villain gripped their mug tightly, “I know how important this is, for you and the world, and I could never take something like that from you- but, I do have one condition if you do decide to go.”

Hero was hesitant. Curious yet unsure as they gazed into the eyes of the criminal.“And that is?”

“You must take me with you.”

[chim-aera]

be good to me

I feel heavy, tired. like dew laden grass wet and scraping stuck to the back of my ankles like plaster of paris, like paper mache dripping and course, glue running down my thighs making every step more and more difficult.

I want to be light. deer light, fawn fast. rabbit racing. I want to bolt and run and run and run. through meadows and glades, let me be Atalanta let me be free. but I sink knee deep into the earth and Gaia gently lifts me out of her mires, setting me carefully onto my own trembling two feet.

everyone is moving quicker then me. flitting like bejeweled little dragonflies into their next chapter, their next page, while I'm left stuttering, stammering in between inkwells trying to wipe the murky stains across my palms trying to force in my own meager scribbles to fit somewhere, anywhere, then my own fragile mindscape.

I'm tired of being a poet im tired of being pathetic

I haven't picked up the pen in months, ages. too long, yet not long enough. I try to hold them down, clench my teeth like stark white enamel shining sentries yet the melonchaly worms its way out of my throat until it's spat into my palm all convoluted and chipper like an owl hacking up a pellet and instead spitting out its own beak.

I'm so tired.

I want to be loved.

gods damn it.

I want to be loved.

I always figured I'd prefer a dear destruction, enjoyable and pleasurable, soak me in honey, bitter with aconite, smile and call me darling as you drown me alive. as hands, rough and tender, crush my windpipe, as it was nearly done oh so long ago.

pull me down by my hair, yank me up by my chin, hold me down. with force, with chains, push me into the floor, the earth, Gaia winces, for I'm no Daphne, be it may, but no bark, no wooden armor will grace this fragile form of mine. no, I'm out in the open as all the hounds' fair game.

call me pretty as you summon forth my destruction, yet put me back together with soft words and praises. I'm used to sewing needles and crimson thread. the seams crude and trying, like everything I ever do if you dare to look close enough.

gods. gods I dont think I want to be destroyed anymore.

I want to be held. I'm tired of this awful, putrid self induced purgatory, let me for once, be held gently, caress my face, cup my cheeks in warm or calloused palms, let me nuzzle into them, desperate, like a cat melting into a caress. let me need you. will I let myself need you?

I've spent a lifetime picking myself apart with embalment tools. scalpels and pliars, neatly dissecting my diversities my dualaties until they were lined up in pretty little jars. an emotional, egregious apothecary if you will. I don't want this anymore.

hold me.

be good to me.

I'm resourceful, yes. like a fox, like a scholar, like a poet, like a fool. I've survived this long on clever little lies and armor sewn from hellebore, ivy coating my skin as a second layer of poison yet it only weakens myself.

I will exist. I will persist.

but gods, I am fragile.

unwind my paper wings, my metal key, see how battered my skull is. my mind clouded and clogged up with words and screaming. insults and fears toxic and tiring. my hands shiver, my body creaks, I want to collapse, into the cool dark dirt. into pillows, down soft and cottony, into someone's arms. hold me gently, hold me firm..

gods, I want to be protected.

that's all I've ever longed for.

but I sheathe my own sword. I've always been my own knight, my own champion, as meager a job I do, i keep myself alive. perhaps this is how Joan of Arc felt, I am not righteous but I understand that madness we deem holy that drives you forward into myth or misery.

In the end, she didnt want to die. no prophecy can warn you of how it feels to be aware, conscious as your soul slips agonizingly slowly from a mortal shell into that shadowed little waiting room we call the afterlife.

I don't want to go out like that.

please.

please.

as much wildness as I still cling onto. the sharpness of my words, the bite in my voice, the curve to my jaw, my teeth, my hands. my fierceness, my sensuality, hides sensitivity. It's armor too, a mask of itself, all honeyed kisses and fae fake frivolity

I'm so scared

I've always been. fear sets into my skull like a second soul. but will I ever discover how to soothe it?

please, please I'd let you destroy me if you asked nicely enough. I'm so used to people wanting to, theres some sick joy in watching something already so broken shatter into nothingness just to pick itself back up on trembling, trivial tenacity isn't there?

kintsugi.

let me dip my scars in gold, glaze my fractured fragments in ichor.

but as pretty as it may be, no amount of metal changes the fact that vase is still broken.

that I'm still broken.

gods. please.

I want to be held gently, because they want to.

"be good to me, I beg of you."

I'm so good at begging.

so please, please.

be gentle, I break easily, and I'm so tired of forging myself back on Hephaestus's irons.

I just want to be held.

please, be good to me.

[final-girl96]

Ageless Secrets Charter Five

“Yn, you need to move!” I looked up at Joel and shook my head. “He's still down there. He's still in our basement. Tess couldn't–we just left. We could have helped him when we went back to Detroit. I could have helped him. I went back to the house. But I got scared and ran; I left him there all alone. He's my nephew, I should have helped him.”

“There was and is no help. That thing in the basement isn't him anymore. Now, go into the living room.” He was right; I know he was right. But it still hurts hearing it. I nodded, took a deep breath, and forced my legs to move. A few minutes later I heard rustling in the kitchen and then a gunshot at the same time as a loud crack of thunder rocked the house. I sat on the couch, knees pulled up under my chin. “It's taken care of,” Joel said, walking into the living room and standing by the window.

“I'm sorry,” I whispered. Joel looked over at me and shrugged. “You did nothing wrong. We've all lost people.”

At some point I had fallen asleep. I woke up laying on the couch with a blanket over me. I blinked the sleep from my eyes, slowly sitting up, and looked around. Joel was sitting on the chair in the corner, eyes closed, breathing even. I looked towards the windows to see it was still dark outside. Standing up off the couch I stretched my body out, hearing the pops of my joints. My bladder felt like it was going to explode so I went in search of the bathroom.

When I found It I tried the light switch out of pure habit. To my surprise the light turned on. “Oh shit.” Out of curiosity I tried the sink to see if there was water. “Holy shit!” Cold water sputtered out of the faucet running clear. “Well, damn that's fucking exciting!” I quickly peed then ran out to the living room but I stopped at the kitchen and turned the light on. I can't believe we hadn't noticed before. Maybe because it was dark but this place was oddly clean.

I turned the light off and ran into the living room. “Joel!” I shook his shoulder but he didn't wake up. “Joel, wake up!” I shook harder until his large hand was wrapped around my wrist. “I think we need to get out of here, Joel.” He let go of my wrist and slowly opened his eyes. “Joel, someone lives here! There's water and electricity. Not to mention in the light this place is very clean after being abandoned for seven years.” He looked at me before running his hands over his face.

“Joel! Are you fucking listening to me?!”

I went to shake him but his large hand came around my wrist again..”I fucking heard you. There's a generator in the basement. It was on when I went to kill that infected. The guy was a runner so he didn't die too long ago. Probably locked himself in there after getting infected.” Joel let go of my wrist and sat down. “You couldn't tell me that earlier?” I asked. When he didn't answer I scoffed and walked away. I walked into the kitchen and started going through the cabinets. This guy had food; a good amount of food. I grabbed a couple cans of ravioli and searched for a pot.

When I came back into the living room Joel was standing by the windows. “Here,” I said, handing him a bowl. He looked over at me and down at the bowl. “Don't act like you're not hungry. We're going to be stuck here all night with the way that sky looked. Hell, it's still raining.” Joel took the bowl from me and started eating. I sat on the couch, setting the bowl on the coffee table in front of me, and began untying my boots. “Don't take your shoes off.” I rolled my eyes and ignored Joel. When my shoes were off I tucked them under, pulled the blanket over me, and grabbed the bowl.

“What did I just tell you?”

“Oh, my god, Joel. We can't go anywhere. And there isn't a soul insight. So sit the fuck down and eat you damn food.” I started eating and ignored his grumbling. When I was done I picked my book backup. The rain started to make things damp and cool. I pulled the blanket closer, tucking it in around me. I was almost done with my book and it was a good thing I brought the next one, which is unfortunately the last one.

An hour later I started to get hungry again. It sucked that I couldn't just snack all day long. But there was plenty of food here in this house. I marked my page and set my book down, and stood from the couch. “Where are you going?” I turned to a dress Joel. “Into the kitchen to find something to munch on,” I told him. “You don't need anything to munch on.” I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“For fuck sake,” Joel mumbled. “I mean, we don't need to be eating all that food. You need to be careful what you eat…” I groaned, cutting him off. “Yes, Joel, I know what I need to watch out for. I wasn't born yesterday. Jesus christ.” I walked into the kitchen and started going through the cabinets. Joel was treating me like a damn child and it was pissing me off. Tess already has that fucking covered. I slammed the cabinet door shut and sighed. My appetite is gone now.

The rain was still coming down pretty hard. I stayed in the kitchen just to get some space from Joel. His presence alone made shit awkward and uncomfortable sometimes. At least when it's just the two of us. When he's with Tess he's more relaxed and he doesn't tense up when she touches him. All I have to do is stand close to him and he gets tense and moves away. He listens to whatever she has to say and shuts me out.

Of course he would go for her. She's closer to his age, knows what it's like to lose a child, she's tough and doesn't need anyone to protect her. I'm just a kid to them even though I'm twenty-two and have proven to them that I am more than capable of handling myself. Maybe I should stay here in the house or maybe Billy and Frank would let me come stay with them in one of the houses there. Yeah, I think I might do that. If Bill agrees to it of course. What the fuck am I even thinking? Tess would probably just come after me.

[mydetheturk]

Title: Hell, I'm Dead Anyway

Author: mydetheturk

Rating: M (for safety)

Word Count: 2,710

Warnings: Vomiting, Panic Attacks, Crying, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Wolfwood's Going Through The Horrors, Hallucinations

Summary: Wolfwood cracked too many ampules. Meryl and Vash can only keep him comfortable while he recovers.

~~

Day 3 of @mashwoodweek! I chose "Ghosts" for reasons that will be Revealed in the fic. There's also a sprinkling of the poetry prompt "Tell me every terrible thing you've done, and let me love you anyway."

Title is from The Dark Tower Vol 2: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

(read on AO3)

There's some content warnings in the replies, if you're reading in the dash view and want to have some idea as to what's going down.

~~

Meryl worries, when her boys get into gun fights. Vash can dodge anything when he wants to, but Nick… Nick tends to soak up the bullets and crack an ampule and chug whatever serum is in them. And this last gun fight had been. Bad.

It'd been bad.

Nick had cracked the glasses at least twice that Meryl had seen, and Vash admitted to seeing another two, not to mention what might've happened when the three had been separated. When Meryl had found Nick again, he was leaning against a horse hitch and standing over black sludge, surrounded by bodies of some of the bounty hunters after Vash.

He'd thrown up black sludge before collapsing, all before Meryl could finish calling out to him.

Meryl's panicked scream had brought Vash running.

That was a couple of hours ago.

Meryl isn't sure how they got Nick in their motel room without anyone seeing them or Nick getting covered in vile, black goop. Meryl's been holed up in the bathroom with him, making sure he doesn't die. Vash hasn't been allowed back in since Nick looked at him with hazy, half-lidded eyes and stopped breathing out of panic. It took about thirty seconds of stillness before Nick sucked in a ragged breath and vomited up more of the black goop, the tears in the corners of his eyes spilling over.

Vash had bolted, and he's been pacing back and forth in their motel room since, bringing Meryl whatever she's asked for. She's only seen something like this once out of Nick since they stuck together after July. It almost killed him then, and it feels like it's killing him now.

It's been a while since he last coughed up the black, rotten goop, and while his vision isn't totally clear, Nick actually looked at her when she called his name, so Meryl's taking it as a win.

“Nick? Baby?” Nick's so pretty eyes blink at her, unseeing. Meryl puts her hand on his cheek, and he pulls back weakly. “I'm going to have to get Vash in here. I can't move you myself. Okay?”

“Shl'dn' touch… hurt you…” Nick wheezes, and Meryl's heart cracks.

“You can't hurt a kitten right now, baby,” Meryl says. She kisses his sweaty forehead.

Nick's too hot, but they don't have a tub with their room, just the tiny closet that holds the toilet and sink. Meryl and Vash will have to get whatever they can to get him cooled down. She just needs to get Nick on the bed, first.

Nick hacks up another lungful of bile into the toilet, wheezing weakly. Meryl runs her hand across his shoulders until he slumps back.

“'m good. Be good. Won't run again,” he whispers. He's staring out past Meryl, at something only he can see. “'m sorry.” His hands keep clenching and unclenching and small shivers wrack his frame.

“Child assassin, made to grow up too fast,” Nick had told her, drunk on bathtub gin and grief. Meryl's put those words in a little box to examine when she has moments to herself. Trying to demand anything of Zazie doesn't work, but what the Worm's Voice has implied has been horrific.

“Vash!” Meryl calls over her shoulder. She doesn't want to corner Nick in the tiny bathroom, but they've gotta get him cooled down.

Vash nearly runs Meryl over in his haste. He's glowing slightly, whorls flickering into existence from his eyes outward. “Is he–”

“He's too hot. It's making him delirious,” Meryl says. She tries not to think about the couple of pictures of tiny baby Nico Miss Melanie had shown her with golden eyes too old for his soft baby face. She doesn't know how successful she is with controlling her voice, given how Vash pales with her words.

“Will – will he let me touch him?” Vash whispers. He hovers at the door, not wanting to put more stress on Nick.

“I don't think it's gonna be a will he, Vash. I think you’re just going to have to,” Meryl says, just as quiet. Nick's lips are moving but no words are coming out, and he's staring not at her but past her. His whole frame trembles and his breath keeps skipping. “We need to cool him off.”

Vash takes a couple of deep breaths and steps in, deliberately making noise. Nick twitches back, eyes flicking in Vash's direction. He's ashy under his tan, the ever so faint freckles just darker than his normal skin tone standing out.

Meryl doesn't know what ghosts he's seeing.

But she wants to find the remains of Millions Knives and use the Punisher's laser to make sure he isn't coming back. She wants to find whoever Legato is and hurt him for hurting Nick.

“I'm so sorry, Nicholas,” Vash says. He kneels down, and Meryl scoots out of his way. She can't really haul Nick around the way he can her – he's too dense and she's too short. “I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe.” Vash keeps his words low and soft and unhurried as he carefully takes Nick in his arms. Nick tries to get away, flinching and spitting and full of panic, but there's only so far he can get in the confines of the bathroom.

Nick's crying silently by the time Vash gets his arms around his torso.

“I know, I know,” Vash says. “I'm sorry.” He presses his cheek to Nick's. “I'm standing up now, Wolfwood. There we are.” Vash rolls to his feet, dragging Nick with him. Meryl moves up as well, drawn to them magnetically. Nick can barely keep his feet under him, he's shaking so hard. Vash keeps murmuring to him and there's a sound Meryl can feel coming from Vash's chest. “We're gonna walk now. I've got you. I'll let you go in a moment.” Vash backs them out the door, staring forward at the back wall of the bathroom the entire time. He keeps going until the backs of his legs hit the bed and then Vash turns, shifting Nick until he's the one with the mattress in the back of his knees. Meryl helps Vash manhandle Nick into the bed proper; Vash's hands don't linger the few times he touches Nick's skin.

“Can you run water as cold as the sink will get it, Vash?” Meryl says once they've got Nick as comfortable as they can. There's an expression on his face that says he can tell more about what's happening than Meryl can. She's not sure he'll say anything, though.

Vash uses his prosthetic fingertips to shift Nick's hair off his forehead. Nick’s eyes scrunch closed and he tries to pull back, but he doesn’t make it far. Tears streak in varying directions across his face, across the bridge of his nose when he looks away from Vash. “Yeah. Just a second.” With a heavy sigh, Vash grabs up some fabric – a towel, a spare shirt, things like that.

Meryl takes a moment to get Nick's shirt the rest of the way unbuttoned, exposing his torso to the hotel room. Placing her hand over his heart, she feels the way it jumps a little and his breathing catches. He’s scared and verging on passing out from his panic and what he was seeing.

Meryl's breath stutters on an exhale.

He's so stupid.

She lost Vash once, no matter that he came back; Meryl can't lose Nick too. Her breath hiccups and she chokes back a cry.

“Hey.” Vash taps her shoulder with his flesh hand, the glove off so she can see his hand fully when she turns her head to look at him.

“Yeah?” Meryl hates how small her voice is.

“Nicholas is stubborn,” Vash says. “I'm sure he'll pull through.”

Meryl wants to believe him. She does.

But the sense-memory of when Nick killed the man that had been the boy Rollo to save Vash's life rolls through her bones anyway. She doesn't want that for Nick.

Instead of voicing this, she holds out her hands for whatever Vash had taken with him to the bathroom. The fabric in her hands isn't super cold, but it's cooler than the air around them. Carefully, Meryl drapes the smallest pieces of fabric over the pulse points of his head and arms, saving the wet shirt (which is one of Vash’s) for Nick's torso, folding it in half and laying it across his chest.

It's not heat exhaustion or stroke, but she's not sure how else to handle it. They'll have to try getting some water in him at some point so he doesn't get dehydrated.

For now, it's all she can do.

“I'll make sure the bathroom is clean,” Vash says. “We don't want the lady at the desk getting angry with us. Innkeepers talk.” He says this lightly, but there's a look in his eyes. Meryl's sure the same look is in hers.

She pulls her eyes away from Vash's far too blue ones and casts a glance around their room. Something is missing. With a second, more thorough look, Meryl realizes what it is.

“We left the Punisher,” she says with dismay. It's been a few hours – she hopes no one stole it since they retreated to the motel room. Honestly, she's not sure how someone could; the gun so full of what Nick claims is mercy but is in actuality a horrifying number of bullets weighs more than Nick and Vash combined.

Vash's face falls, empty.

“I'll get it,” he says. “Stay here, I'll be back soon.”

“Hurry,” Meryl replies. She doesn't think the hunters who'd been after Vash earlier would strike again, but she doesn't want to risk it with Nick as bad off as he is.

“Of course. I always do.” Vash grabs the coat Nick's been wearing since July, sliding his arms through the sleeves like he never left it behind. Running his hand through his hair, it spikes up slightly. With his hair back and Nick's coat, he doesn't give off “Vash the Stampede.” It should hopefully be enough.

Nick's breathing evens out while Vash is out getting his gun. When Meryl checks on his pulse, it's still a little off, but going stronger than it had been.

Meryl drops her face into the mattress beside Nick's hip. “You're an idiot,” she whispers. She refuses to acknowledge the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes. “You stupid idiot, you can't do this to me.” She takes the closest hand in hers, threading their fingers together. Nick mumbles something incoherent.

Meryl's still refusing to cry when Vash comes back with the Punisher slung over his back. He looks a little worse, eyes red rimmed and tear tracks through the iridescent scales that show up when he starts glowing.

“How's he doing?” Vash asks. The Punisher makes a soft thump when Vash sets it down. The belts aren't quite right, but Meryl knows Nick will want to make sure his gun is fine when he wakes.

“Better,” Meryl says. “His heart though...” she trails off, biting her lip. There's nothing she can do; she's not a doctor, and Vash's 'profession' when he's going undercover is a Plant Engineer. Not to mention whatever he's got going on inside of him isn't going to be the same as Nick, who's definitely got something going on that a normal, unmodified human wouldn't have. There's no scars, but Meryl watches how he stretches his back, and it's unsettling to see how flexible it is. Sure, Nick broadened over the last couple of years, but there's something going on underneath.

Vash furrows his brow and moves to the other side of the bed they have Nick on. He places his ear to Nick's chest, eyes closing as he listens.

Vash blinks up at her after listening to Nick's chest for a moment. “I don't know if I can do anything for this, Meryl. His best bet might be...” Vash trails off.

The doctors at the Eye.

“Fuck,” Meryl says.

“Yeah.” Vash swallows. “That. That about sums it up.” He lets out a little giggle. It sounds about how Meryl's feeling.

Meryl laughs, a little hysterical thing. “It's going to be so fucking hard to make him not drink that fucking serum.” She's not even sure if there's a single member of the Eye that Nick trusts. From what Vash remembers of the fight on the sand steamer on their way to July, they were holding Nick's brother hostage as a way to make Nick work with them. Most of the people experimented on straight up die.

Vash stands back up and walks around the bed to wrap Meryl in his arms. She finally lets herself cry over the whole situation. “We'll let him heal,” Vash says. He's got that blank tone to his voice again. The one that makes Meryl sad and pisses Nick off. “If he gets worse, we'll head Home. Luida might be able to do something.”

Meryl's met a couple of the doctors on the ship. She hopes someone there can help.

At the moment, all they can do is wait and periodically cool the fabric they draped over Nick.

Meryl gets out her stack of reports and settles herself in the chair beside the bed. Vash cleans the bathroom within an inch of its life and then methodically cleans the Punisher before doing maintenance on his Colt. Both of them keep a desperate eye on Nick while they work. Its a little while longer before he finally slides into proper sleep, his breath deep and even. Something in Meryl's chest untangles at that. She hopes he's not having nightmares. Nick had looked at Vash and seen someone else. Meryl's pretty sure she knows who, since she sees blond hair and a beauty mark on the wrong side in her nightmares too.

Setting aside her reports, Meryl leans on the bed, pillowing her head on her crossed arms so she can stare at Nick. She loves an idiot with a sacrificial streak an ile wide and another idiot who has no sense of self-preservation when it comes to the people he cares about.

She closes her eyes. Just for a minute.

A shaky hand petting Meryl's hair makes her jolt up. The hand in her hair falls.

“Ow.” Nick's awake.

Nick's awake.

Meryl dives into his stomach, not giving a damn that she's sobbing all over him.

“Ow. Shortie, what's–”

“Don't do that to me again!” Meryl sobs.

The door creaks open, Vash stepping through. “I'm back,” he calls quietly. “The innkeeper was kind enough to give us something when I mentioned Nick's not...” He trails off, finally processing the scene before him. “Nicholas,” Vash breathes. The bag in his hand clatters to the floor and he joins Meryl in clinging to Nick. “Wolfwood – Nicholas, Nick.” He keeps repeating Nick's name, as though his brain has gotten stuck on Nick and Nick alone.

Nick makes a noise but doesn't shove either of them off of him. Not that he could at the moment, not with the grip Meryl's got in his shirt and the almost bruising clutch Vash is using.

Meryl sobs herself out, Vash close behind. Nick shakily holds on to both of them, bewildered.

“You can't do this to me – to us,” Meryl croaks when she thinks she can talk a little bit without bursting into another round of tears. “You could die and I can't lose you too.” Her voice cracks on her words and Meryl clings into Nick's chest again.

Vash pets Nick's cheek with his flesh and bone hand, thumb going through tear tracks and giving Nick a watery smile. “I can't lose you either,” he says. “Please. Don't make me lose you too.” He buries his face in Nick's throat.

Nick makes a noise at both of them. “'m sorry,” he rasps. “Didn't mean to scare you.” He doesn't say it won't happen again. Meryl knows it might.

He didn't promise her this after that time when they were without Vash, either. As long as people he cares about could be in trouble, Meryl knows Nick will do whatever he has to to keep them safe.

She just hopes it doesn't kill him in the process.

[neonshrike]

I see you ask and raise you:

Director's Cut - scene or line from your work that made you just like...in awe of your skill, where like you thought what you did deserved a big pat on the back

That one goes to Chapter 13 of Soundbite. There's a lot of really good moments, it's the final battle! Lucille, Scott, and Hope fighting together and then her showdown with Daniel was good, I think action is what I'm best at writing. I have two favorites though, both were pretty major twists and memorable moments.

Might be a long post, I get pretty into it when I'm talking about my creative process and background stuff, this ask game is one of my favorites.

She could hear Scott and Hope trying to get into the suite to no avail. He could grow to giant size, but it would draw too much attention and potentially destroy the entire place while they were inside. Even if he chose to transform, Bruce wouldn’t be able to make it to her in time. Just as she felt the sting of thinking about the last person she cared about, a glass cage came down and trapped her inside, Lucille became stuck in her feelings and was too panicked to react and move out of the way. She looked around, thinking this was one of his final tricks until the air stayed the same, thin as if she were at a high altitude, but still breathable. She started to take slow breaths, but wondered what could have caused this until her earpiece came back on. “Are you in the glass?” Kurt asked her through the comms, sounding both worried and relieved at the same time. “Please, did it work?”

Kurt saves Lucille! He's usually just the "guy in the chair" and away from all the action, but I wanted him to have a cool moment where he uses his skills to save the day. It really just cements how much they care about each other.

I think it's a little hard for Kurt to be able to actually help out with Lucille and relate to her struggles since he isn't a superhero, just a normal guy with a computer, but he still can make a huge difference and he is a vital part of the mission and her life.

“They’ll remember me through you.”

These are Daniel's last words, gloating to Lucille that even though he's about to die, he's going to win in the end. Because of him, she is who she is today and if it weren't for the terrible things he did, Lucille wouldn't have met everyone. If she becomes a famous hero, he's woven into her origin story and it's almost impossible to separate him from it. It's kind of a bittersweet victory that way.

Scott and Hope flew inside and grew back to normal size, hoping to see if Lucille was okay. Both of them came closer to her, concerned, but she rushed to Daniel’s side to assess his condition. They followed and their eyes widened at the sight, Daniel was almost unconscious, his heartbeat and breathing slow and quiet. His body was pale and frozen, and his eyes struggled to stay open as they looked over at the two Avengers. The corners of his mouth twitched up. “No, no,” Lucille sighed, lifting him up a little, ready to jump out and carry him away. “You can’t die, you can’t just leave this behind.” She stopped as Daniel took a loud, sharp breath and the sound of his heart turned to silence. Her body tensed up for a moment, then Lucille frantically checked his vitals for any sign of life, but when it became clear that he was dead, she set his body back down on the floor. She froze, still kneeling as her vision blurred and all the noise she was hearing started to fade. Scott had to pull her from the floor and into his arms as Hope went to purge the research files and any record of his progress with the Pym Particles.

I think they could have found a way into the room, but it made the most thematic sense for Lucille to be alone with him. She's had enough help up to this point, this was her time to shine.

Lucille feels like she lost because he's not alive to pay for what he's done. It's not the happiest ending, and she's in a lot of pain and denial for what just happened. Scott knows that letting her stay in her feelings isn't good for her, he might have felt the same way after Natasha and Tony's deaths. Hope is a little bit more focused and since it's her family's work in danger, is the one to finish the job.

[kobblefort]

Blackfaint: Rat World Forever

This is what happens when I click on the "PETITIONS" button, which no doubt is alerting me that the newly established farmers' guild wants a hall. I don't think your average player of the greatest simulation game of all time Dwarf Fortress is ever going to see this. It's kind of cursed, but it's kind of magical. I can't dismiss it, which will drive me crazy since it does that little "shimmering" animation. I suppose I'll just have to assume that making the guild hall nice enough will make it stop. I don't know, I'm not in a hurry to please them. Now if there was a herbalists' guild, though? Those are the guys holding it down.

Another strange mood takes another rat straight to the clothier's shop that made Eeteek go berserk and start the fight that ended in their death. I suppose Vatekeek Learnedmaligns thinks it will be fine for him which in my opinion is the proper rat world attitude.

Also, things were going too well for a minute there, so here come 9 lesser rodent people. I was telling this to someone earlier but I think that rats are pretty cool in real life. Rats are like dogs stuck in rodent bodies basically. But mice are horrible little skittering creeps that will randomly run out from the walls just to die in the middle of your fucking floor like oh do you mind if I randomly die here, if I just roll over and die in the middle of your fucking floor, well I'm going to do it if that's alright, actually me and my 100 little cousins thought it would be cool to just scamper around as fast as possible at 3 AM and then randomly suddenly die, there's no way to get us out besides doing chemical warfare on yourself, blame yourself for living in a garage even though it wasn't your idea and you didn't want to do it. So basically mice fucking suck and the rodent men, naturally, are mice, compared to us, the superior rats. And we're really gonna need to figure out a way to make sure they end up dead on the floor. Which should be totally doab

This sucks man

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. The violence is fast and extreme and really fucking bad and we don't have nearly enough graves to start burying everyone. The only people who can really fight are the miners, and the mouse people brought actual steel spears this time: that's a huge advantage in range and damage. We're down to 13 rats. Considering I was thinking that we would actually get to 50 and then maybe that would let our rats elect a mayor of some sort which would maybe let me use the Nobles & Administrator screen and its myriad functions, this is a pretty fucking shitty result. I guess worrying about the surface first was the wrong move but honestly it was a blind 50/50 anyway. It might be worth it to just say fuck it and lock off the caverns for a while. There's no way with this few rats that we could easily set up any kind of bulwark, we still have 100-something food, I don't know I'm kinda just feeling pretty gutted over how fast things went to shit like from okay to terrible in an instant, I know I just did that "rat world forever" bit like 30 seconds ago in your time and 30 minutes ago in mine but yeah I'm not feeling it.

This fucking asshole pays me back for being nice and refusing to Cask of Amontillado his ass by flipping out and dragging our population down to 10 so far, maybe more. Even with a copper pick splitting his leg open he still crawls along trying to fight anyone who gets near. He struggles on and on until finally an herbalist Ch'tk Sinscaly who's tired of this shit walks over and strangles him to death.

Wow, I wonder why. Next fortress, workshops are DEFINITELY going to be set up for easy cask-of-amontillado'ing.

This asshole is here now. I don't know. The caverns are already sealed off, so who cares. I've never seen something break through sealed doors, but now I definitely am not going to unseal them. It kills the last few mice in a matter of seconds and then sets about lazing around right by the entrance to the cavern to make sure we never go back in there again.

Yeah come on in guys don't mind the other 10 notifications. Sure we can host some fucking elf poets and shit. Whatever. Is one of you naked? Lol, cool.

Oh yeah don't mind all the bloody fucking warm corpses starting to stink on the ground. Yeah this guy failed to Express Himself so he went around killing people. You get it. Right. Sorry we don't have time to watch you fucking dance or whatever we have to feed and water the grievously injured. But yeah stay as long as you like. Actually you know what though try not to eat too much. Just gonna say it we're not gonna have this food forever.

No Thicivi I don't think it is and you might not actually be a very adequate observer.

This shit happens downstairs which sucks. RIP our first forgotten beast I guess. Gotta watch out for those steel spears man. They're bullshit.

The bodies are just sitting on the floor because we're using the empty tombs for people whose remains we can't recover. I just had an idea, because I hate the caverns now and want all mouse people to suffer. What if we just drowned them. Right? Hear me out. It's a pretty common and kind of grim trap in the real world to drown mice by making them take bait in the middle of a bucket on a thing they fall off of into the bucket. Well what if we brought the bucket to them? And by which I mean dug a bunch more aquifer taps that led straight down into the cavern layer and just flooded it to hell? I think it could be funny. If we were always doomed to never make it here then why not do something fucked up like that.

Look at this face in the cistern. It's like an omen. I didn't make it on purpose but now it's here. Telling me "this is a place of great suffering." And you know what my reaction to that information is? Yeah I hope there's more.

So here it is. An absolute mess of exposed aquifer surface area, leading to little narrow high-pressure tunnels that terminate with one little spigot into the caverns.

And it's working. It's working fast. Yes, I used DFhack to speed it along - two injured miners were not about to hustle on it and I wanted to see it start happening already.

Maybe this was just a party that got out of hand. You know? Maybe this was just a shitty idea. Leaving the warband to settle down? Fuck that. Other people make fortresses. Ratfolk take them. This was never a fortress. This was just a big bucket to drown a bunch of stupid fucking mice in.

The ten of us left can head back to Malignreasons, wherever she's camped now, apologize for our stupid little excursion, take the flogging we're given and go back to doing what ratfolk are really supposed to do. None of our original seven have even survived, besides K'keek Vicescourge, after all - with their untimely deaths they left all the shame and humiliation for us. Rat world was pretty cool for a second there, it really was, but it's time for us to get back to our real lives. Real rat lives.

You can see there in the center, the rodent men scrambling for high ground as the water comes up to their knees. Their home ruined, some of them washed away to be drowned in their cages. Of course it's inhumane, but was the way they jammed us with spears and chopped us with axes humane? Besides, humane? News flash, we're fucking rats!!

Everyone starts filing out. Some head back toward the warband, some just head whereever their feet take them. Everyone but K'keek Vicescourge, who spends a bit more time here. Carving stone coffins that will never actually be filled. The guests just stand in the sad, empty dining hall, completely dumbfounded. And K'keek starts on one last project.

With a ghost at her back, in the worst mood of her life, but still compelled to carve it and place it. The first statue ever made at Blackfaint. And the last one. The only one.

She's ready to go now.

Rat world sucks.

Rat world forever.

[morganaspendragonss]

Hello, I adore your writing! I was wondering if you could do sick or injured TK but he’s hiding bc he just feels like he doesn’t deserve to take time off or look after himself and he maybe collapses and Judd is super big brotherly, protective, sweet and bandages him up or takes him home to look after him? If it doesn’t inspire you it’s absolutely no problem, keep up the amazing work you and writers like you are so appreciated more than you know!

if you're still here, anon, hi! and thank you so much for this prompt! i'm sorry it took me forever to get to :(

in the week running up to christmas, i am going to try to post a prompt fill every day, but i can't promise. maybe i'll only get this one out lmao. we shall see. either way, hope you enjoy!

ao3 | 1.2k

There’s some sort of irony, he thinks, that in the same year he almost freezes to death, he might actually die of heat. Summer in Texas is no joke, but there’s no way TK is going to admit to struggling to anyone, not when he knows all the jokes they’d undoubtedly make. Besides, he’s sick of being, well, sick, and he doesn’t want to see the inside of any kind of medical facility for the rest of the year unless it’s to do with his job. In which case he sees one nearly every day, but details.

And it’s just… After January, TK had to take months off while his body recovered from the accident, while he gained his strength back and learned to live with the side effects he seems to be stuck with now. One of those being migraines, which is why he doesn’t think much of it when his head starts pounding and he can’t really move his head without feeling an overwhelming dizziness and nausea. He’s been told countless times by Tommy to take time off if he needs it and TK knows that’s the sensible option, but he feels like he’s wasted half of this year at home and he hates these new limits that have been forced on him. If he is physically able to get through this, then he will.

Still, as the day goes on, he’s becoming less and less sure that he can. It’s like someone is running a drill right between his eyes without pause, but TK knows from experience that there’s no stopping a migraine once it’s begun. The best thing to do is ride it out, but today’s is worse than any he’s experienced before. The sun is unrelenting in its intensity and neither team has had much time for rest today, which means no time under any sort of shelter or even a minute to take a sip of water.

But he just pulled the rig back into the station, a blessed wave of cool air hitting them as they exit, and TK plans on making the most of the reprieve, however brief. He makes a beeline for the kitchen, grabbing a towel and running it under the faucet, then takes his water bottle from the fridge and heads up to the bunk room.

Once in bed, he pulls the sheets up so they cover his eyes and lies as still as possible, resolved not to move until another call comes in.

It works for about five minutes until TK is sweating through the covers and he throws them off, panting as a sudden breathlessness overtakes him. There’s a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knows means nothing good, but he’s afraid to move – things will only go one way from here, but TK would really, really like to believe that for once it won’t.

But, of course, it does.

The churning in his stomach increases with his heart rate, and TK eventually has to throw himself out of bed and stumble to the bathroom, cursing his bed being furthest away from the hall. He barely makes it in time, the first heave taking over his body no sooner than he drops to his knees by the toilet.

And, because his body hates him, it fights against what it so clearly wants to do. Strings of bile dangle from his mouth as he heaves, his abdomen cramping painfully and his breath coming in short, sporadic gasps.

It takes a long time and several rounds of throwing up in the bowl for the nausea to subside, and with it, it takes all of his remaining energy. The smell coming from the toilet is awful and it threatens to turn his stomach again, but reaching up to flush is too much for him. TK sits in a heap on the bathroom floor, head slumped at an angle that’s sure to hurt if he stays here long enough, but he can’t care. He doesn’t have the energy; his limbs are all so heavy and his eyelids just want to droop closed, but he’s still on shift, he needs to be alert, he needs—

“Strand!”

TK’s head jerks up from where it’s dropped to his shoulder and the pain in his head strikes a new peak. He just wants to curl into a ball and die, but whoever called his attention won’t let him; he’s grabbed by the shoulders and shaken like a ragdoll, as much as he tries to get his body under some sort of control. 

Something is held to his lips and when the water hits his throat, he greedily gulps it down, only to immediately have to force himself above the toilet as it comes straight back up again. When he comes back to himself, he registers a touch on his back, and TK manages to moan and twist in their grip until their face swims into view.

“Judd?” he slurs.

“Yeah.” Judd squints at him, then sighs and shakes his head. “Tommy sent me to check on you before she left; EMS crew got sent on a call ten minutes ago.”

“What?” TK scrambles to push himself to his feet, but his limbs betray him and if not for Judd catching him, he would have collapsed back down.

“Man, you’re a stubborn bastard, Strand,” he huffs, not letting TK go so as to keep him in place. “And you’re a damn fool if you think she didn’t know something wasn’t up. She had her suspicions too, and I think we’ve just confirmed them.”

TK rolls his head in an approximation of a shake. “It’s just a migraine. Get them all the time now. Fucking ice.”

Judd snorts. “That’s one way of putting it. But this ain’t no migraine, it’s just a nasty bit of heat exhaustion. Though, you’re lucky we figured it out because if we’d waited for you to tell us you’d be heading straight to the hospital.”

The word hospital filters through the mush that’s become TK’s brain and his eyes widen, locking with Judd’s. “No,” he says. “No hospital. I don’t… I can’t.”

“Hey, relax.” Judd rubs his arm and then, making sure TK isn’t just going to crumple, lets go and eases himself down to sit next to him. “You’re not going to the hospital, but only if you’ll let Gracie take you back to our house while this thing runs its course.”

“Can’t…”

“Can. Grace is downstairs now and she’s told me that if I don’t bring you out, she’s going to come up herself and make sure she doesn’t leave without you.”

“I’ll throw up if I get into a car.”

Judd shrugs. “I mean, take a sick bag, please, but I got a baby daughter. That car’s seen worse.”

TK sighs and squints up at Judd. “You’re not letting this go, are you?” he asks, though, in truth, he doesn’t really want him to. He can admit it now; he feels like shit, and having someone take care of him is kind of exactly what he wants and needs right now.

“Nope.” Judd grins as he stands to help TK up. “This is how we do.”

TK wouldn’t change it for the world.

[countrymusiclover]

22- Memories and Tricky Games

Part 23

Family is More than Blood

@secretdreamlandmentality

Mystic Falls - current timeline

Klaus followed his two daughters, Henrik and Andrea into the gym, hearing that there was another monster attacking the school. Once they were inside the room he could see the Hope Parker girl and Lizzie backed into a corner. “On second thought, be as loud as you want. Because we are so screwed.”

Hope frantically gulps. “Uh, it feeds on secrets, right? So let me have it, all of it.”

“I prefer to die with dignity.” The siphon blonde rolled her eyes.

The strange girl beside her replied. “Okay, fine, I'll start. Um I stole your jade butterfly clip in fifth grade.”

Lizzie gasped. “I loved that clip!”

The monster wearing a cap growls towards them where Hope begins panicking. “Well, Andrea had a crush on Josie for a week a few years ago.”

“Read my lips: my sister and our cousin are never happening.” Lizzie scoffed at her friend. “I don’t know why you didn’t just tell your parents or something because your mom has been going crazy trying to figure out who you are.”

The brunette glared at her hating to hear that she was mentally hurting her mother’s mind. “I didn’t want to hurt Landon and Josie. But I never thought that mom and Henrik would even slightly remember who I was.”

“Well it happened, Hope…agh!” The Gemini blonde screamed when the monster shrieked giving her the chance to see the Mikaeslon family watching them not sure how they could help. “Hope, they’re here except for your mom so just spit it out.”

“I won’t do it, Lizzie!” She snaps back.

Klaus and Lizzie made eye contact and he could hear her heartbeat quickening in her chest. “Okay, um, I accidentally killed your hamster. I siphoned you to cheat on finals.”

“What?” Hope spun on her feet.

The Saltzman blonde shut her eyes briefly avoiding her gaze. “And I actually think you're kind of cool.”

Yet the creature still made its way forward not affected by anything the girls had administered meaning they needed a new plan. Alina and Missy intertwined hands with Henrik and Andrea being siphoned so the twins had magic. “Let’s just do the siphon spell or the freezing one.” Alina suggested to the group unsure of what would actually stop the monster.

“If it has a heart I can just take it out and that’s the end of it.” Klaus added on trying to listen but couldn’t hear that the creature was alive meaning they were still stuck.

Lizzie and Hope bumped into the brick wall trapping them in between the wall and the monster causing Hope to begin panicking not wanting to admit what would most likely kill the monster in front of the pair. “Okay, it's not working. It's not gonna stop until everyone knows the secret we've been keeping from them: that I'm back.”

“Let 's try Magia tollox de terras. Magia tollox de terras-“ Missy began saying until the gym doors behind them bursts open revealing Josie.

The dark haired siphon eyed the monster in front of the group. “I'm back, too.”

“What are you going to do, Jo.” Andrea asked the siphon still remaining by her cousin's sides.

The monster turned around to the witch screeching down at her until Josie raised her hands up not afraid as she blasted the monster with a powerful spell. “Harae-tamai Kioku Yomigaerashi-tamae!” Thr monster bend over, holding its stomach.

“Jo!” Lizzie called out when her twin collapsed onto the floor.

Hope shifted her focus towards her father who blinked a few times at her while he slowly walked towards the girl. He raised his hand up and touched her face with the other teens watching him. It was rare to see the great Klaus Mikaelson shed a tear but he began crying in front of his daughter. “Raelyn was right….you’re my daughter.”

“Holy cow!” Andrea blurted out falling backwards on the floor.

Missy removed her hand from her sister’s rushing to check on Josie. “Josie….woah…uh.” She grunted when whatever spell she had done took over her body and she fell onto the floor too.

“Sissy!” Henrik broke into a run tackling Hope in the tightest hug the young boy possibly could crying into her chest.

Hope fell down on her butt embracing her brother in a warm tearful hug laughing at finally being able to hug him once more. “Hi Henrik…I’ve missed you so much.”

“So you were telling the truth all along, Lizzie…How could you think we wouldn’t want to know that our older sister was actually alive!” Alina stood beside their father raising her voice towards her sister flashing her werewolf eyes being frustrated like her father.

Hope dropped her gaze sadly. "Alina, I'm sorry…wait Where's mom?"

"Mom, I don't know. She's supposed to be-" Alina got cut off and collapsed suddenly.

Klaus ran a hand through his blonde curls answering his eldest daughter’s question. “Don’t worry she may have made a reckless decision but I know where she is. She went to the Malivore pit….bloody hell.” He groaned feeling a headache stumbling backwards, having Josie’s spell finally take effect.

Hope bent down seeing her family shortly taking a nap from the magic they were blasted with. “Lizzie, if your dad comes back make sure he doesn’t get angry that we left for Triad headquarters.”

“Why would auntie Raelyn jump into the portal if she knew what would happen to you?” Lizzie asked, standing beside her.

Hope shrugged her shoulders. “I have no clue. I just hope that she is okay.” Unfortunately that could be far from the truth when they would see where she ended up.

Raelyn’s pov

I blinked silently at the guy in front of me. My hands were clutching the crossbow still in my hands. Even though I knew that he was still alive I never dreamed I would be seeing him again. “How the hell are you awake?”

“No answers for free, Rae Rae. You should know that by now. So my question is what exactly are you doing here.” He gasped covering his mouth. “Did old Ric change his mind about you?”

Shaking my head, I scoffed at my cousin. “No he didn’t. And for your information I have no clue why I am here. All I know is that I went through a portal and somehow ended up here. Now answer my question: how are you not desiccating?”

"It's what I like to call the supernatural hunger games. There's a witch, vampire and werewolf that got dumped down here and they woke me up to have a little play thing." He responded back to me.

Scanning my eyes over my cousin I could tell it really had been ten years for him. He had a beard growing on his chin and the top of his head had some gray hairs forming by the looks of it. "When you say there's other people here who exactly put them here and why?"

"Old Alaric Saltzman obviously." Kai shrugged his shoulders, noticing the crossbow. "You do remember that will only kill me for a short time right?"

Rolling my eyes I vamped past him still holding the weapon in my hands. "It doesn't matter if you're bound to this world or not. I'm only concerned with getting out of here."

"You really think that I haven't tried that over the last ten years?" Kai dryly chuckled, making me pause. "I'm assuming you know what it takes to escape a prison world."

Glancing over my shoulder I stared at him, lowering the crossbow I was holding. "I actually do. The Ascendant, Bennett blood and a celestial event. So I am getting out of here before you and whoever else is here can kill me."

Kai raised his hand before I could move fast enough, freezing me in place. "Immobilus…Awe don't be so sure of yourself Rae Rae. It’s rude to leave without meeting the other guests first. Come on out, my murderous friends!" Kai called out walking up behind me grabbing my shoulders while I was forced to remain there.

I grunted dropping the weapon in my hands letting it clatter on the ground. I elbowed my cousin in the gut quickly using the chance he was holding his stomach to vamp away from him. “Argh!….who the hell are you?” I screamed, feeling someone vamp behind me twisting my arms around my back holding me against whoever it was.

“Names Diego. What do you want me to do with her Kai?” He asked where I could hear him growl meaning he was the werewolf that he had mentioned earlier.

My psychopath cousin shoved his hands with a slight tilt of his head smirking. “Hmm give her a taste of what happens if she helps us manage an escape but tries to leave us here.”

“Just remember you don’t have your little blood cure here to save you.” Diego growled into my ear lightly scraping his teeth against the veins on my neck where I gulped nervously knowing if he bit me now I wouldn’t make it once his venom was inside of me. I’d never see Klaus or the kids ever again.

Diego pushes me back towards Kai who holds my face in his hands pressing his forehead against mine. “Now that we’ve made that clear. You, my siphon cousin, are going to help us escape this prison world whether you like it or not.” He shoved me away from him and shoved a piece of wood into my gut before Diego and himself left the room.

“Sometimes I really do hate him!” I grumble under my breath drawing the piece of wood out and throwing it across the room, praying that Klaus and the kids would figure out I was here before Kai and his fellow prisoners decided to kill me.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[tophthedaydreamer]

my thoughts on guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 (part two!)

spoilers ahoy!

At the end of part one, I began discussing the humor, which I'll continue to do so here. As I said before, the guardians just kept arguing but it wasn't funny. It felt serious. And there definitely should be times when they have serious arguments, they're under a lot of stress what with Rocket dying and all. But like, a lot of their interactions felt like this. Even their attempts to be funny kinda felt like annoying incompetence at times. There were few jokes that made me laugh, whereas with the first two I'm usually cackling. Vol. 1 and 2 are hilarious in my book. Yondu at the jewelry shop. Rocket's obsession with stealing mechanical limbs from people. "I'm gonna die here surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." The dance battle at the end of Vol. 1. The whole bit with Taserface! And the iconic "I'M MARY POPPINS, Y'ALL!"

I think the humor struggles in Vol. 3 because all the funny moments are put on Drax and Mantis. They make for some great comedy, as we've seen in Vol. 2 and the Christmas Special. But they can't be the only ones who carry the comedy, even if they're very likeable. Quill is mostly working through his issues with Gamora's semi-death, which I am glad is treated seriously. But that means he has less funny bits. Gamora is.... low-key annoying because she is a lot more rude than I was expecting. Sometimes I thought she hated the guardians (I understand why she's hostile towards Quill, with him insisting they were once madly in love). It felt a little out of character for her to be this mean, as she's supposed to be Gamora from Vol. 1. Idk, I guess the Ravagers rubbed off on her lol. Sadly, Gamora wasn't very likeable for me, but she did improve as the film went on. Groot exists. He does some cool stuff but mostly sits in the background waiting for the next battle.

Later I realized why the humor felt off is because Rocket isn't present. In the first two films, he's often the one who instigates a lot of the comedy. He bounces off of each guardian really well and is just a fun character. It's no wonder why he's a fan favorite! I understand why he's stuck in a coma, it's the whole point of the story for guardians to save his life, but I'm bummed out he was in it for so long. My sister suggested the idea of him being awake while his kill switch is slowly shutting his body down. There could still be that urgency, but also Rocket funny moments. I think the heist at OrgoCorp would've been a lot funnier if he was around. It could also make for some more drama. It would be interesting to see more and more of his past being dredged up against his will, as he tries to brush it off like it's no big deal, all while trying to ignore the increasingly unstable state of his body. He's not okay, but he's trying so hard to be. Until he finally collapses when the guardians make for Counter-Earth. I love the scene where Rocket reunites with Lylla. It's so powerful, and if I hadn't been watching with my family I probably would've cried hehe. All the flashbacks of Rocket's past was heart wrenchingly well done, holy cow. Props to Bradley Cooper for letting out one of the most primal screams I've ever heard in my life. Baby Rocket is such a tender soul that I wanted to go into the TV, beat up the High Evolutionary and take Rocket and Batch 89 home with me. My maternal instincts were going haywire lol.

I think the third act of the movie is the best part because Rocket's back and the guardians are kicking bad guy butt and saving people (in this case, clone kids and animals!). The High Evolutionary is such a slimy, horrendously vile villain that it feels so good when the guardians beat the crap outta him. We also get genuinely sweet Dad Drax moments ("You weren't meant to be a destroyer. You were meant to be a dad.") as he takes the kids under his wing. And we get some great Rocket moments as he discovers he really is a raccoon and lovingly carries the baby raccoons (ouuughhh my heart!!!). "The name's Rocket. Rocket Raccoon." is such a powerful line. All this time he thought he was a monster, but now he's embracing what and who he truly is!!!! I like how he insists the guardians save the animals too, and they do. And most of all, I love that Rocket lives. I'd read an out of context spoiler when Vol. 3 first came out back in May that Rocket dies. How unsatisfying would it be if he did? It honestly would feel like the High Evolutionary wins if Rocket dies. Movies nowadays kill off main characters for the shock and drama (even if it doesn't make sense). I'm so glad that Rocket is alive and he gets to flourish leading a new team. I'm honestly very satisfied with each guardian's ending. Quill reunites with his grandfather, Mantis goes on a journey of self-discovery, Drax becomes a father again, Nebula builds the home she never had, Gamora finds a new home with the Ravagers, and Groot and Rocket guide the next generation of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Overall, I rate this movie a 8/10. It has its rough patches, but the final act wraps it up nicely.

(also sorry I forgot about Adam. he's neat. I wish he got more screentime. Everytime I see him I think of Eustace lol)

[feralnumberfive]

Honestly I feel like Five’s powwrs are more powerful than Viktor and I kinda started to explore them more in my own fanfic.

For me, I believe his powers kinda work like this

1: he can control all aspects of space-time including black holes, wormholes, white holes.

2: white holes are shockwaves of energy but I feel like Five’s powers with time go far greater than just the classic thing you notice so I researched some time abilities and wondered what would happen if he was able to rapidly accelerate and slow down aging + being able to have “temporal shockwaves/energy manipulation” (so basically time itself is an energy he manipulates) which can cause things to rapidly age or to de-age.

3: I always noticed when he time travelled, there was always some sort of electrical component to it and I just kinda started thinking that the more he exerted his powers, the more that they began to go out of control, creating and drawing energy from lightning storms to him making his own electrical storms

4: listen, Five could probably be way stronger than EVERYONE because he has the power it rewinding time to the point where nothing exists. He can create Time loops, he can freeze time, he can age things and people rapidly, kill people by aging them until they turn into skeletons and then dust. He’s more of an apocalypse creator than Viktor.

5: I do think he can teleport objects + people too! Honestly when you start to research time manipulation (which is what five’s powers ARE), you realize that he is significantly more powerful than everyone

Oooooh these are all really interesting anon! I especially like the idea of Five controlling/manipulating temporal shockwaves to age or de-age people. I personally believe at some point, though I don't think the show will actually show this, Five will be able to freeze time. We can see in S1 The Handler freezing time when she meets with Five, and since Five's powers are the same as the briefcase I feel that he can definitely do that since he now knows how to rewind time just a few seconds. The idea of Five killing someone by rapidly aging them is brutal and awesome! I think another cool aspect to think about (which isn't necessarily a power of Five's) is that Five in the comics is stuck in his 10 year old body because his cells don't grow or die so his body is frozen in time so physically he's immortal unless he's prone to growth of diseases in his body

Five's, along with his siblings, powers could be explored greatly since we really haven't seen many upgrades in the family. With the show ending however, I unfortunately doubt we will ever see any of the Umbrellas get more power upgrades. Maybe we'll see power upgrades in the comic, but that could take forever to see. I doubt S4 will explore their powers more (especially since I'm just presuming everyone gets their powers back at some point in S4) but hey there's still slight hope that they will!

[aemiron-main]

I have a few questions actually Mr...Aemiron? sure, anyway- my first question is 1: what specific powers do you think will is going to have?

2: will we see new monsters? if so, what will they be?

3: are the kids gonna still go to school?

4: what characters are you absolutely CERTAIN will die?

5: also this isn't a question but how COOL would it be to see Mike with a SWORD?!??! I MEAN IT WOULD BE SO COOL TO SEE MIKE ACTUALLY DO SHIT FOR ONCE.

6: and my last question, how do you think El is going to die?

AAAAA HELLO LMAO!!! <3 MR AEMIRON IS SO FUNNY BUT IN A SWEET WAY LIKE ITS WONDERFUL but please feel free to just call me Em or call me whatever you want LMAO like im happy to be called anything i just dont want you to feel like you Have to be formal ANYWAY IM RAMBLING LETS GET INTO YOUR QUESTIONS! 1.) OHOHOH THIS IS A QUESTION IM STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. Personally I think a lot of will's powers are going to be tied to the fact that so far he's the only person we've seen whose physical body can do the same thing in the real world and in the upside-down at the same time, and so technically that may also fall into time travel because if the upside down is really stuck in time and doesn't just look like it's stuck in time, then therefore, Will has been able to exist in two times at one during his upside down episodes in s2. I also think he might have healing powers, with him being referred to as a cleric regarding dnd (but also a wizard sometimes so hmm but i think its more that will the wise is a wizard whereas mike sees will himself as a cleric- and mike as a paladin- and so that would align w will having cleric-like powers). 2.) Absolutely. I feel strongly that we will totally see new monsters, and that one of them is going to be some sort of weird dragon creature, like what Nancy mentioned about a huge creature with a gaping mouth. 3.) THIS IS A GOOD QUESTION: I think it could go either way but seeing how the school gym's been converted into a relief centre for the time being, and how the storm was approaching the characters at the end of s4 and how the duffers talked about jumping right into the action in s5, I don't think they'll be in school because I feel like a.) theres too much happening and b.) story-wise, the duffers have already set it up in a way where them not going to school isn't a plothole/their absence wont really be questioned because even though the whole town doesn't know about the supernatural side of things, they DO know about the earthquake destruction. 4.) HMMMM I can't say I'm absolutely certain of anyone's death except for Vecna's (and even then i wasn't really certain of his until they had Will emphasize that they have to kill him and then thought more about the ways in which Henry's tied into Will's narrative and why he's gotta die/Will deserves to kill him), but I'm starting to wonder about a steve death considering that fire and rain, a literal song about death and mourning and suicide (which could tie into steve sacrificing himself and getting himself killed), played during steve's six little nuggets speech. I'm also definitely starting to lean towards the idea that Mike is going to die briefly and then come back to life because a.) s5 is seeming like it's going to tie back to s1 in a lot of ways/parallel it, which means that since will was the one who seemed to be dead in s1 and mike was searching for him, the roles will likely be reversed in s5 and b.) mike has too many death flags waving about his head for him not to die in some way but I can't see them killing him permanently. 5.) IT WOULD BE SO COOL IT WOULD BE AMAZING I WANT MIKE TO GET BACK TO DOING THINGS BC USUALLY HE DOES DO THINGS LIKE HES SMART HE FIGURED OUT THE UPSIDE DOWN AND THE HIVEMIND BUT SEASON 4 WAS MOSTLY GAY PINING TM FOR HIM SO HOPEFULLY IN S5 HE GETS TO GAY PINE WITH A SWORD!! 6.) I don't think that El will die in s5, I think that in a metaphorical way, the identity of "Eleven"/that superhero persona that's been forced onto her is going to die by the end of it once everything is saved and she has her independence and freedom! In regards to El's eventual death because she is a human being after all, though, I like to think that she'd be somewhere after living a long life, surrounded by people who love her in a place that makes her happy!