#and not whether or not the monster of the week is going to eat them

[patolemus]

Sterek fic recs: High School AU Edition

In honor of my conversation with @darling-winnie about same age!Sterek, as well as my promise to @oldefashioned, here are some high school au recs!

1. Double Cherries (And 'Extra' Hoodies) by undercoverbastard

“No, no - wait - don’t tell me,” Stiles suddenly said, leaning forward and grinning at the boy directly on his right, eyes gleaming with joy and mischief as he spoke. “You want… a salmon burger, swiss, with fruit, and a vanilla shake. Eh?”

Derek scowled, shoving his menu at Stiles as he slumped back. “No,” he said plainly. Stiles pouted.

“Too bad! That’s what I’m penning you in for, Eyebrows,” Stiles said, scribbling on his notepad as he stood and began to walk away. Derek huffed, opening his mouth to give Stiles his actual order, but the only word he got out was ‘I’ before Stiles waved him off without even looking back at Derek or down at the notepad, stride unbroken, as he recited:

“Double cheeseburger, half swiss, half cheddar, no pickles, curly fries, side honey mustard, strawberry milkshake, extra thick, double cherries.”

+.+.+

OR: alive hale family, alive claudia, and high school friends stiles/derek - all wrapped into one, based on a joke from a TV show i watched when i was 7, and then got wildly out of control!

Notes: adorable, I love their banter and the conection they have. Alive!Hale family is always such a treasure, and Claudia and Talia's friendship is great here. It's completed.

2. i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me) by bleepobleep

Derek gets in an accident and loses a few years of his memory; suddenly everything is different— he's not a freshman loser anymore, but a popular senior, captain of the basketball team, a shoo-in for prom king, too, and he should have everything he's ever wanted— except he doesn't seem to be friends with Stiles anymore.

Notes: Derek is not having a good time. Pookie just wants to be with his best friend but it turns out they're not best friends anymore and the world doesn't make sense because of it. A little angsty but it all works out. It's completed.

3. Don't Kiss and Tell by Hedwig221b

Paige has finally got the boyfriend she always wanted. The only thing is, said boyfriend doesn't touch her, doesn't kiss her and spends all his time with Stiles Stilinski. You'd think they were dating, or something...

Notes: When I tell you I go feral for this au every single time I read it! Hedwig has the best unhinged obsessive sterek fics and I'll swear on that, don't even try to change my mind. Poor Paige is definitely being led on here, and both Derek and Stiles are assholes in this one, but they're in love and they're completely devoted to each other, so it's okay (I know it doesn't make sense now, but it will. Trust). It's completed.

4. But Then What... by Stoney

Senior year is almost over, and all Stiles needs to do is keep his head down to survive. A teacher calls in a favor, leaving him stuck tutoring Derek Hale, one of the most popular jocks in school and a member of a group of douchecanoes who have bullied Stiles for years. He's someone Stiles totally hates. Totally. Like, doesn't like him even a little bit. DEFINITELY isn't attracted to him.

Except that is a total lie. Fuck his life, seriously.

Notes: Typical Jock/Nerd enemies to lovers only it's Stiles being incredibly paranoid and angsty all of the time lol. They both had me shaking my head because my babies truly don't know how to communicate, but we got there! Eventually. It's completed.

5. Just The Same by foxlavander

Something is seriously up with the captain of the lacrosse team. There's just no way Derek Hale is human. *** “I was wondering if you're even human. You move so quickly. I mean, it's ridiculously fast. No human should be able to move that fast, y'know? It's unfair for us. I mean, it's obvious you work out, and I don't, so that could be why, but like...I was just wondering if you were human, that's all.” “Stop talking, Stilinski, or I'll—” “Put me on the bench all season?” Stiles asks knowing full well that Derek Hale can't threaten him with shit.

Notes: This one is so good. Stiles is onto you, Derek! But seriously, they're so awesome in this one. And Derek bakes and he wants to open up a bakery and it's adorable. I love them and I love the Hales, everything is great. Look out for the werewolf reveal! It's completed.

6. The In Which Stiles Is Secretly Magic series by apocryphal

All Stiles wants from life is to learn to control his magic, keep his grades up, and not die horribly while saving Beacon Hills from supernatural threats. It's all going pretty well until Derek Hale, werewolf extraordinaire, has to go and ask him on a date. That asshole.

Notes: The lore for magic users in here is honestly so good. Love the world building! The Hales are alive in this one as well, which for me is always a plus. A little bit (maybe more than a little bit) angsty but it ends well. There's a few things going on, but basically Stiles is basically Deaton's apprentice and there are Rules(TM) he has to follow as a magic user. He's pretty badass though! The series is technically not finished, but both parts in the series are completed.

7. cheer up, babe by graveltotempo

He was the basketball captain. And he was a cheerleader. Can I make it any more clear? OR: Derek Hale thought he had his crush on Stiles Stilinski under control. And then Stiles decided to show up to school in a skirt.

Notes: Derek spends all 20k words thirsting over Stiles, as he should. Stiles gets to wear a skirt and be generally awesome. They are disgustingly sweet together.

8. Made Your Mark on Me (A Golden Tattoo) by writteninthewolfstar

Beacon Hills High and Lycan Heights High are well-known enemies. Derek Hale, Lycan Heights' star quarter-back, is well-known for being aggressive and arrogant. Imagine Stiles surprise when he discovers that Derek Hale is actually his soul-mate.

Notes: This one is very sweet. There's insecure Stiles and absolutely lovely Derek. It's abo with Omega!Stiles and Alpha!Derek, and it's actually pretty wholesome. Derek is like public enemy number one of BHHS and a jock, Stiles is a loner, and when they turn out to be soulmates they have to navigate what that means for it. It has 13 out of 14 chapters, last updated in March of 2024.

9. too busy being yours to fall for somebody else by whiry

Stiles, worried that Scott may actually leave him behind because of his newfound popularity, is desperate to cling to something away from the drama of Lydia Martin's amazing parties and the woes of high school lacrosse. What he finds is Derek Hale, a guy who seemingly hates Stiles at first, but slowly, and insistently, becomes friends with him. As their friendship grows, Stiles starts to wonder if they could ever become something more or if pushing what they have will lead him to being alone for good.

Notes: Also very sweet! It's strangers to friends to lovers, and Stiles falls out of love with Lydia without even realizing because he's fallen in love with Derek. The Hales are alive in this one, yay! The way sterek bonds over music is also so good! It's completed.

10. Stupid Over You by Wolfspurr

It's a Friday night, and instead of enjoying any of the numerous things he'd rather be doing, Stiles has been roped into dinner with his dad at the Hale's. On the plus side, Derek Hale will be there. On the minus side, Derek Hale will be there, and Stiles already has a hard enough time not making an ass of himself in front of the hottest guy in school. There's no way this can end well.

Notes: Overall amazing fic! Stiles is his oblivious awkward self that we all know and love, Derek is completely smitten with him. All this wrapped up in a dinner with the Hales and the Stilinskis. That's it, that's the fic. It's completed.

11. Six Minutes by CosmoKid

“What do you want?” Derek practically grows when Stiles is near enough to hear. He can definitely feel the werewolf vibes coming from the guy as well as the fuck off vibes that roll off him in tsunami-sized waves. Stiles has one thing he needs to say to Derek, but he also has eight million questions to ask him about the werewolf thing and he can barely sort out his thoughts as it is, let alone when there’s a ridiculously attractive werewolf who’s basically Adonis staring at him. Derek takes another drag of his cigarette and raises his eyebrows at Stiles expectantly. He shivers and blurts out, “Six minutes.” That makes Derek smirk, but it’s so condescending that even Harris would be impressed. “No offense, Kitten,” Derek starts and Stiles just narrows his eyes at the nickname. Derek keeps his eyes trained on Stiles as if to dare him to challenge the nickname. Stiles bites his tongue and resists it. “But you’re not really my type.”

Notes: This is not your typical high school au, but it's a nice change of pace. It's got werewolves, which we love, and bad boy Derek. Stiles stood no chances lol. It's completed.

12. The covalent bonds series by HaldFizzbin

Awkward Nerd Derek has been crushing on Handsome Jock Stiles since forever—so getting paired with him on a Chemistry project is definitely the best/worst thing that's ever happened to him.

Notes: I went on a little Nerd!Derek and Jock!Stiles fixation the other day so here we have it. Derek is awkward and funny and insecure and we love him. Stiles is Stiles, and he's awesome. The series is not finished, but all the parts of the series are complete.

13. It's Always Been You, Dumbass by stilinskisparkles

“Alright, cool, we should go,” Stiles says breezily, dusting off his hands as he stands. “We should?” “Yeah!” “But… Do you even care about photography?” “Not as much as I should,” Stiles plants both his hands on the table, bracketing Derek in, “You’ll have to correct my miscreant ways.”

Notes: Stiles is helplessly pining, Derek is painfully oblivious and the absolute last to find out. Somehow, they still go on like three dates together. It's pretty great, and it's completed.

14. can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time? by whirl

There's something strange about Beacon Hills. Stiles can't really put his finger on it, but the way certain classmates look at him at school and the way certain adults look at him in the grocery store has him curious. And it's not the sort of pitying looks that his mom's coworkers used to give him, but these ones are longer, more searching, like they're looking for something. Not to mention the weird noises that sometimes come from the woods when he runs, too human to be animal and too animal to be human. Plus the way the Hales have seemed to sequester themselves to the wild and give Stiles serious Cullen family vibes. But Stiles, like everyone else apparently, ignores it. Until it becomes too great to ignore and he has to investigate for himself and find out what is actually going on in Beacon Hills. +++ Or, the one where Stiles and Derek meet, hate each other, slowly get to know one another, and fall totally head over heels for each other all while avoiding curious classmates, an angry ex-girlfriend, and, oh yeah, imminent death.

Notes: This one is kinda crazy but in a good way! It's 120k words long so be prepared for that, and Stiles finds out about werewolves. Derek, pookie, I'm rooting for you all the way! Also Cora, my beloved. I adore her. Stiles is pretty confused all the time for a while there. It's completed.

15. scary stories and roasted goods by graveltotempo

“I have more, you know?” grumbled Jackson, clearing his throat. “Okay, fine. Here’s another; a man goes is staying at a hotel for the weekend. On his way to his room, he notices a door with no number on it-” “An albino woman with white skin and red eyes committed suicide in that room years ago,” finished Erica, inspecting her nails with a smirk. “We know that too.” “A babysitter goes to put two children to sleep in their room and notices a large creepy clown statue in the corner-” he tried again. “Get out of the house, we don’t have a clown statue,” said Allison, tried to hide a laugh at the flustered expression on Jackson’s face. “Two roommates in a room. Sarah says that she wants to go to a party and Mary wants to stay home-” “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn the lights on?” said Derek, and Stiles laughed, looking at him with sparkling eyes. OR the cheerleading squad, the lacrosse team and the basketball team go camping.

Notes: Another cheerleader!Stiles and Jock!Derek. I love them your honor. It's all very sweet and Derek pines as he ought to do lol. Don't worry, there's light at the end of the tunnel. It's completed.

That's all I have for this one. I probably have more in my TBR but I guess we'll find out. If I ever get there. My sterek TBR only ever grows and I never seem to be able to finish fics as fast as I find them lol. Hope you guys like these!

[obs3ssedd]

bucky is the type to…….

bucky is the type to lie whenever he comes back injured. he’d never tell you right away—sometimes not for days, even weeks. the idea of making you worry puts a strange, uncomfortable pang in his chest, one he’d rather avoid. so, like any other normal day, he’d act like everything was fine, ignoring the dull, aching pain beneath the surface. he really thought he was getting away with it—until one night, you found out. the disappointment on your face hit him harder than any punch. when he admitted how long he’d been hiding it, he just stood there like a scolded puppy, silent. he didn’t argue. he let you take his hand and quietly followed you to the bathroom so you could properly treat his wounds.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is the type to be shy when you first start dating. after all, it’s been over 60 years since he’s even thought and actually been with someone. at first, he didn’t think you’d feel the same way about him—afraid you’d see him as a monster, like so many others had. but when you accidentally confessed your feelings one night, that tight, anxious knot in his stomach started to loosen. he didn’t know how to be a boyfriend at first. not really. he was nervous, like super duper nervous, scared he’d mess it all up. but with your constant reassurance, he slowly began to crawl out of his shell.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is the type to avoid using his metal arm when he touches you. he’d use it for everything else—cooking, cleaning, lifting—but not for you. not when he held your hand. not when he touched your face. at first, it confused you. you asked him once why he never used his other arm. he would be hesitant at first to answer, but eventually he told you. “I… just..don’t want to hurt you,” he mumbled. and suddenly, it all made sense. you hadn’t meant to giggle, but it was so endearingly sweet. “buck… you’re not going to hurt me. It’s okay, I promise.” he furrowed his brow, hesitating. but trusting your words, he would slowly lift his metal hand to your cheek, hesitant but calmly. the cool touch made you smile as you leaned into it, and a small, shy smile crept across his face, too. “I’ll believe you,” he whispered.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is the type to get jealous—and lie about it. he’s not great with emotions, and worse at hiding them. the way his jaw clenched, how his blue eyes darkened when you were talking to another guy—it was obvious. you were his. It didn’t take long before he strode over, slipping his arm around your waist. you felt the cold press of metal and instantly knew who it was. you would huff. he would grin. and the guy you were talking to looked visibly nervous. It only took a minute of bucky’s staring before the guy got the message and walked off. you turned to bucky with a frown, “really?” getting nothing back but a shit eating grin pressing a kiss to the top of your head, completely unbothered.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is the type to stay by your side when you’re hurt. even if it’s just a small injury, he’d be there—hovering, fussing, making sure you were okay. but when it’s something serious? he doesn’t leave your side for a second. whether it’s days in a hospital bed or routine checkups, he’s there. watching the doctors, asking questions, holding your hand through every moment. on late nights, he’d doze off in the chair beside you, still holding your hand, refusing to let go. some nights, when you saw how exhausted he was, you’d insist he crawl into the bed beside you. and after some reluctance, he’d give in—carefully curling around you, the safest place either of you knew.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is the type to put you before himself. always. It doesn’t matter how many times you ask him to take care of himself first—his answer is always the same: a gentle, polite, but firm no. you’re his world. he’d give anything to keep you safe. so, when he was framed for the murder of Wakanda’s king, he burst through your apartment door in a panic—packing your things without a word. you called his name over and over, but he wouldn’t stop until you grabbed his hand, forcing him to look at you. “please,” you said, “tell me what’s going on.” he finally explained. he wasn’t trying to run—he was trying to protect you from the chaos of his past, a past that never stopped haunting him. no matter what happens, your safety will always come before his own.

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !!

bucky is absolutely the type to be a total goofball. he’d bring back old-school charm straight from the 1940s—opening doors for you every time, scolding you if you even tried to touch the handle. “you’re taking away my job, doll,” he’d tease with that boyish grin. he’d drop cheesy pickup lines from the 40s like they were gold, insisting they always worked back then. you’d roll your eyes, calling him cheesy, but you’d be smiling every time. and yes—he definitely follows the sidewalk rule. always keeping himself between you and the street. old habits, after all, die hard.

smut bonus ~

bucky is the type to start off gentle. at first, he’d be cautious—afraid of hurting you if he let himself get carried away. his movements would be slow, careful, each thrust deliberate and controlled. he’d press soft kisses along your neck, working his way up to your lips, muffling the soft moans that escaped you. his cold metal fingers would trace your body like he was trying to memorize every inch of you—every reaction, every shiver, every sound. he treated you like something precious, something breakable. but the moment you whispered that it was okay for him to be rougher… you might’ve just unleashed something you weren’t fully prepared for. those gentle thrusts turned into something deeper, more desperate—like he’d been holding back since the very beginning. his breathing grew heavier, his groans low and rough in your ear, almost like growls. It wasn’t just desire—it was hunger. he still hesitated with his metal arm, unsure, afraid of going too far. but when he saw the way you reached for it—guiding it to your throat with a look that said trust me—he finally got the message. he applied just enough pressure. Not too much—never too much—but enough to make your pulse quicken and your body arch beneath him. and in that moment, he realized he didn’t have to be afraid of breaking you. you wanted all of him—even the parts he’d spent so long trying to hide.

[zzzssleeping]

Soft Love

Monster Trio x gn reader

The monster trio dating a chubby s/o.

Fluff, slightly suggestive, bisexual Sanji, reader being called "beautiful."

-> We all know Luffy loves food, he steals from everyone, with you? He shares. If you're eating, he's nearby, asking for bites. Cooking? He's there for a taste like a starving puppy. He notices if you’re eating less too, he assumes you’re not hungry, but the second he gets suspicious, he's putting an extra food on your plate.

That being said, he doesn’t understand body insecurities, like at all. Sees you frowning at yourself, he flops onto you dramatically, blinking up at you with confusion. "Oi, don’t make that face!" He huffs, catching you looking at yourself in the mirror with a expression that Luffy knows all too well.

"Luffy, I'm changing!" You scolded after he barged in without warning, making you jump.

You made sure to quickly hide yourself with a towel that seemed almost too small to cover certain parts. He didn't seem to care, not caring about your growing embarrassment. He walked forward to poke your cheeks, trying to make you laugh.

He doesn’t get why you'd ever feel anything but perfect, because to him, you are.

-> He absolutely adores your body. Luffy never understood why people make a big deal about weight. To him, you’re soft, warm, and comfortable. He takes full advantage, draping himself like a lazy cat whenever he gets the chance. It doesn't matter where you are or what you’re doing, if he wants to cuddle, best believe he's finding a way to relax with you.

-> Speaking of cuddling, he is loves it. When he’s feeling lazy, he tackles you onto the nearest soft surface, bed, couch, deck, or even a random tree. Try to move? He stretches his arms and pulls you right back, pouting. "You’re my pillow," he mumbles, nuzzling into you, try to get up, he’ll trail after you anyway, sticking like glue.

Congrats, your body is officially Luffy’s personal nap spot. Whether he's actually asleep or lazing around, he needs to have some part of him resting on you. His favorite spot? Thighs. "So soft…I’m never moving again," he groans, dozing off. Be careful, once he has you, getting free is impossible.

-> The first time he picked you up, you were shocked, but let’s be real, this man is strong. He lifted boulders, fought warlords, and punched a celestial dragon into next week. Carrying you? Easy. He'll throw you over his shoulder, cradle you in his arms, or even piggyback you for fun.

-> Having chubby cheeks is absolute chaos. Luffy will squish them, poke them, and, his favorite, take exaggerated ‘bites’ only because they look soft. He’s always tugging at your cheeks until you scold him, he grins innocently before peppering your face with kisses, making you forget why you were mad at him.

-> He gets defensive when people comment on your body, whether it's positive or negative. Someone tries to insult you, he might not catch on quickly, and once he does? He shuts that down. "Huh?! You must be blind, they’re perfect just the way they are!" He says it with so much confidence that the person usually backs off.

In a different scenario when someone flirts with you, complimenting your appearance? Yeah, he notices after a while. And he gets pouty. He doesn’t like people getting too friendly with you.

He'll probably watch for a split second between you and the person who seems way too close for comfort, catching the lingering stares, soft touch, confused on why the sudden interest in you, wasn't it obvious that you were taken? So, he’ll wrap his arms around you, tugging you against his chest with a mischievous grin.

"Oi, get your own!" He yells suddenly, sticking his tongue out like a brat before wanting to suddenly leave, tugging you to go someplace else.

-> His hands wander, running his fingers over your stomach, your hips, thighs, liking how soft and plush you feel under his touch. He’ll grin as he gives your sides a playful squeeze, kissing your skin like he can’t get enough of you. If you have a ticklish spot? He’s not letting that go, poking at it just to hear you laugh.

His hands always find their way to your thighs. He squeezes them, sometimes even buries his face between just because, not noticing the way you squirm.

-> Zoro isn’t the type to shower you with compliments, his actions speak for themselves. He’s a quiet admirer. You’ll catch him staring, his eyes lingering anywhere, watching the way you move. If you question on it, he’ll grumble, “nothin’...” and look away, but the red on his ears betrays him every time.

-> Like Luffy, he loves how soft you are. After years of training, his body being nothing but muscle, he enjoys the way you feel. Once the two of you get comfortable, his rough hands are always running over your skin, tracing lazy circles. Your body grounds him, makes him feel at ease.

-> He can fall asleep anywhere, now with you, you’re the ultimate comfort. He'll quietly put his head onto your lap, arms crossed, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Lying in bed together? Good luck trying to move, he pulls you against him, trapping you in his warmth. Try to wiggle, he tightens his hold with a quiet grunt. “Stay put.”

He secretly loves when you sit in his lap and Zoro acts like it’s no big deal, though the way his hands are on your hips says otherwise. You ever hesitate, he pulls you down himself, muttering with annoyance, “sit down. You’re not gonna break me, idiot.” Unlike most people, he enjoys feeling your weight on him.

-> Zoro is protective of his crew. With you? It’s on a whole different level. Anyone makes a rude comment, they’re getting the glare that makes people rethink their existence. He doesn’t tolerate any disrespect. Ever. Or you handle the situation, knocking someone down and standing your ground, his arms crossed with approval. “Hmph, not bad.”

He respects your strength, no matter your size. Once you start training with him, don’t expect him to go easy on you, he watches you push yourself, offering blunt but encouraging words. “You’re tougher than half the guys I’ve fought.” By some miracle, you manage to knock him down, he’s grinning.

-> When it comes to intimacy, which would take months, maybe years, Zoro makes sure you know you belong to him. He isn’t one for flowery words, the love bites he leaves all over your body speak volumes. He takes his time, kissing, sucking, grazing his teeth along your skin, humming in satisfaction when you make the sweetest noises for him.

-> Doesn’t matter who you are, you take control, don't be surprised when he's turned on. Try to push him down or straddle him, his usual smug confidence cracks slightly before he smirks, gripping your waist and pulling you even closer.

“Takin’ charge, huh?” He says with a grin. He’ll let you have your fun, for now. Don’t get the idea that you can control him because the second you get too cocky, he flips you over effortlessly, pinning you down.

Manhandling? Yes. Zoro knows he’s strong, and he’s not afraid to use it. Try to resist his teasing, he easily picks you up like you weigh nothing, tossing you onto the bed with ease. He lives when your breath hitches, the wide-eyed look you give him right before he cages you beneath him. Yeah. He enjoys making you flustered just as much as he enjoys having his way with you.

-> From the moment you two met, Sanji was captivated. Your softness, your stomach, the way you carry yourself, it drives him wild. But it’s not just your body he loves; he worships it, treating you like you’re the most divine being he’s ever laid eyes on.

He constantly compliments you, and not just flattery, his words are detailed, spoken with pure devotion. “Mon amour, do you have any idea how absolutely stunning you look today? Magnifique!” He never lets a day go by without reminding you how breathtaking you are because, frankly, he can’t help himself.

-> Sanji spoils you rotten. Cooking your favorite meals, giving you massages, doting on you, he lives to take care of you. You eat the food he makes, he’s in heaven. He watches you with his chin in his hand, heart-shaped eyes glowing as he sighs dreamily. Knowing you’re taking care of yourself, relaxing and enjoying life, brings him so much joy.

-> That said, he can be a bit much. If you’re not eating, he notices immediately. His brows furrow, then suddenly, he’s working harder than ever, determined to make you the best meal you’ve ever had. He won’t pressure you, he’ll gently encourage you. “Please, mon amour. Just one bite?” He knows it’s not always easy, but that’s why he’s here, to help, every step of the way.

-> If you lean more toward the masculine side, Sanji tries to stay calm. He still gets a little crazy over you, even though he treats most men more colder. As time passes, he becomes more comfortable with his sexuality, he stops holding back. He blushes when he compliments you, shyly ducking his head when he sets a plate of your favorite food. It’s a quieter affection.

-> In bed? Sanji is a worshipper. Your body is a masterpiece, and he treats it like one, his hands on your skin, his lips following, whispering sweet nothings. He doesn’t just want to make you feel good; he wants you to know how beautiful you are.

His favorite part of you? Your stomach. He’s obsessed. His hands constantly resting there, his lips trailing over your skin, nuzzling against you like it’s the most comforting place in the world. If you’re insecure about it, he gets angry. “How could you ever think something so perfect isn’t beautiful?”

Don’t think for a second that Sanji isn’t a tease. He loves pushing you to the edge, kissing you everywhere except where you want him to, smirking when you get impatient. Hearing you whimper his name drives him insane. He’ll take his sweet time, making you beg before finally giving in.

Yet, no matter how intense things get, he’s always gentle. Every reaction, he memorizes it all. And if there’s anything you don’t like, he stops immediately. That’s how much he cares. Sanji makes sure, in every possible way, that you know just how adored you are.

[dixons-sunshine]

Damn Tease | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: It was an extremely hot day in Alexandria. Luckily, there wasn't much to do, barely anything at all, so you and Daryl decided to do it while everyone else relaxed for a change. However, Daryl soon wished he hadn't offered, because you decided it would be a good idea to get him all worked up—and your tiny shorts and tank top certainly didn't help his mind stay on track.

Genre: Suggestive.

Era: Alexandria, no arc in particular.

Warnings: Swearing, suggestive themes.

Word count: 1.5k.

A/n: For @ghostboneswrites2's writing challenge! It's my first time ever doing one of these so hopefully I did it right lol. I hope you like this! By the way, to my fellow writers, please join if you feel up for it! You can find the post with the prompts and rules here.

The blazing summer sun relentlessly beat down on the world ravaged by the undead. It seemed as if though even the flesh eating monsters that roamed the earth every day had deemed the day too hot to go on their regular cannibalistic ventures, for no rotting corpse could be seen for miles and no loud groan could be heard in the near distance. The Alexandrian occupants had decided that the overly hot day would be spent lounging indoors or on their porches, the tasks of the day luckily not too much and could be left for the next day. However, Daryl had decided earlier that very morning that lounging indoors wasn't an activity that he wanted to partake in, so he went about completing the miniscule amount of tasks around the community. And since you didn't want to spend the day lazing around without him, you decided to join your partner on his stubborn venture.

However, as you brushed past the crossbow-wielding archer to grab one of the crates to bring into the pantry, your behind brushing ever so slightly against his front, Daryl wished you had decided to spend the day like the rest of the community. Although you were helping, and he certainly appreciated your help, you were being a major, hot as hell distraction, and he was two seconds away from dropping the crate of cherries he was carrying, throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you back to your shared house to indulge in the fantasies his mind was conjuring up the longer he stared at you.

Daryl felt like a perfect fool for even thinking of things like that while the two of you were supposed to be working. You barely even acknowledged his presence, too caught up with your own tasks to do so, and there he was, ogling you like an inexperienced school boy with a dumb crush on the popular girl. Admittedly, the outfit you had chosen to wear that day certainly didn't help his problem at all. The shorts you were wearing left just enough covered for his imagination to run wild, and your tank top hugged you in all the right ways, your cleavage covered but also showing just enough skin to have him licking his lips to keep them wet. Whether you had worn that particular outfit just to tease him and punish him for not complying with your request to stay indoors that day, he didn't know. What he did know, was that he desperately wanted to tear that shirt from your body, and work his way down to—

“I was thinking,” your voice rang through the air, effectively snapping the huntsman from his provocative train of thought. You had stepped back into the part of the pantry that temporarily housed the crates the two of you were hoisting and sorting out. “Tomorrow, when we go on that run, we should swing by that store we saw a few weeks ago. You know, the one that had all those kiddie pools? It would be nice to bring a couple of them back for the kids so that they don't have to suffer in this weather.”

“Yeah,” Daryl began, his eyes following you as you bent over to pick up your water bottle, your shorts riding up ever so slightly and driving him mad. He should just shoot himself at that moment and spare himself the misery you were putting him through. He cleared his throat, put the crate of cherries he held in his hands down on the ground and tried to focus back on the conversation at hand. “Yeah, sounds good.”

You smiled at him and took a sip from the water bottle that held some cherry flavoured drink you had made that morning with the same cherries the two of you were busy with in the pantry. You accidentally spilled some of the drink, and the droplets trickled down your chin and onto your chest, soon disappearing down your shirt. Daryl's eyes followed the droplets that trickled down your shirt, inhaling sharply when you tried to brush the wetness away, slightly pulling your shirt down and exposing some of your bra. God, you were driving him completely insane.

You looked up again and locked eyes with Daryl, and you smirked slightly at the sight of him. He was tightly gripping the shelf to his right, his knuckles turning white at the force he was bestowing on them. His breathing was heavier than usual, and he not-so-subtly adjusted his jeans. Good, your plan was working.

“Daryl, are you okay?” you asked him ‘innocently’, walking up to him and barely containing your smirk when you heard him inhale sharply. “You look a little flushed. Maybe you should sit down for a bit.”

Daryl licked his lips as he stared down at you, his vantage point giving him a clear view down your shirt. However, Daryl forced himself not to think like that. “Yeah, m'fine, Sweetheart. Why do ya ask?” he told you, trying to convince both you and himself. “And m'jus' a lil' hot, s'all. Nothin' to worry 'bout.”

“Are you sure?” you asked him while looking up at him through your eyelashes while maintaining your innocent act.

Daryl nodded quickly. “Yeah, m'sure. Ya dun' gotta worry 'bout me. I'll be alrigh'.”

“Okay, if you're sure.” You took a few steps backwards, sending him a mischievous smile. “By the way, you should probably focus more on sorting out these crates than staring at my ass. And my boobs, for that matter.” Daryl's eyes widened at your words. He started stuttering out words of denial, claiming he wasn't staring, but you simply waved him off. “No need to deny it, Daryl. Besides, I'd be offended if you didn't stare. I didn't wear this outfit for Spencer, after all.”

Realization dawned on Daryl. He shook his head and cursed himself for not figuring it out sooner. This was your version of revenge for him deciding not to stay in with you. Under no normal circumstances would you ever wear an outfit like that while doing chores around the community. It all suddenly made perfect sense to the archer.

“Ya did this on purpose?” Daryl asked in an accusing tone, shaking his head when you simply sent him a smug smile. “Yer a damn tease, ya know tha'?”

In a surge of confidence, you dipped down to grab a cherry from the crate Daryl had put on the ground. You stepped forward and looped an arm around Daryl's neck, staring deeply into his ocean coloured eyes as you slowly and sensually bit down into the sweet fruit. A mischievous, teasing smirk rested on your face as you heard Daryl let out a shaky breath, and you pressed your body impossibly closer to your partner's, successfully eliciting a small groan from him when you put just the slightest bit of pressure on his growing erection. “I know,” you whispered in a sultry voice, throwing the stem of the small fruit away to loop your other arm around his neck as well. “That's the whole point. Consider it payback for not staying in with me today. I had so much planned for us today, so many fun activities, but you just had to be your selfless self and do this.”

Daryl gulped and stared down into your eyes, his pupils dilating with each passing second. His hands rested on your hips, his grip tightening at your words. “Wha' activities did ya have in mind?”

Your smirk widened and you leaned up to let your lips hover over his, just barely grazing against his. Daryl's breathing stopped at that action, his eyes following your every movement. “Well,” you began in a seductive whisper, one of your hands trailing down his chest, his stomach and stopping just above the tent that was forming in his jeans. “Let's just say, it's not exactly something people would consider kid-friendly.”

Daryl's heart sped up at your confirmation. He pulled back from you and turned around to pick up the crate he had put down, before looking back at you expectantly. “We have a job to do. Let's get this over and done with, yeah? Then we can go home. The other chores'll have to wait 'till tomorrow.”

Your eyes widened at the pace he had started working at, the smirk on your face ever present. “What? I thought you wanted to get everything done today. Isn't that why you didn't want to stay in with me?”

“Jus' quit smackin' yer red lips and help me, won't ya?”

You giggled and sprung into action, eager to finish up with what you were busy with and to return home with your partner to do something way more exciting than sorting out crates. “Yes, sir.”

“Good girl,” Daryl praised you, sending heat straight down to your core.

Daryl was a selfless man by nature. But just that once, he wanted to indulge in something meant just for him, and that something was the two of you, naked as the day you were born, in bed, limbs tangled together. And Daryl would be damned if he let that opportunity slip between his fingers.

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Grace

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.6k (including lyrics)

Warnings: angst, implied smut

Summary: You like Dean. You like how he treats you. He’s one of the best boyfriends you’ve ever had. The problem isn’t with him. It’s you. You don’t know how much more of this you can take.

Square Filled: grace- bebe rexha (2020) for @spnsongchallengebingo

Author’s Note: this is based on the song Grace by Bebe Rexha

x

I knew from the moment that I met you this wasn't right But I couldn't leave you 'cause you treated me so damn right There was nothing wrong with you The truth is you’re a damn good guy But I knew from the moment that I met you this wasn't right

You bounce your leg up and down nervously while you wait for your boyfriend. You pick the remaining flecks of nail polish off your nails wondering if should do what you’re thinking of doing. Dean asked to meet at a park while he has some free time from hunting, but you’ve been waiting for at least thirty minutes.

“I’m here. Hey,” Dean says as he jogs up to you.

“Hi.” He reaches into his bag and pulls out a smushed bouquet of flowers. You take them with a small smile on your face. “Thank you, Dean.”

It makes what you want to do so much harder. You like Dean a lot, but you don’t think you like him enough to keep this relationship going. You’re not cut out for this. This is one of the rare cases where it’s not him, it’s you. He is such a sweetheart and treats you really well.

He buys you flowers whenever he can, he pays for everything you eat, he always calls you every night regardless of whether he is stuck in the mountains or just lounging at the Bunker, and he makes you feel like the only woman in the world. He’s truly one of the best boyfriends you could have asked for.

That’s why the problem is with you, not with him.

Dean is a hunter who hunts monsters with his brother. He is constantly on the road, always getting himself into trouble. He is constantly riding the very thin line between life and death. He’s very good at what he does and almost always comes home in one piece. At first, you thought you could put aside the fact that he won’t always come home to you at the end of the day, but it really hit you only a few weeks ago.

You want him to be home with you. You want to come home after a long day and see him waiting for you. You want to be able to snuggle up next to him every night and wake up to his face every morning. You want someone whose life isn't threatened every day.

You don’t want to worry about whether or not he’s alive or when he’s coming home or if you’re safe.

“Sam can hold the fort for a few hours, so I was thinking we could go to that restaurant you’ve always wanted to try,” he smiles.

You open your mouth to end this relationship but something entirely different comes out.

“Sounds great, Dean.”

And you had money and cars, looked like a star You loved me so good, I could cry Brought me roses and rings, such beautiful things But I was taught never to lie

Dean grabs a table by the window knowing you love looking out to people watch while you eat. He knows you so well that he orders for you when the waitress comes, and you watch with a pained expression on your face. You try to cover it up by fake smiling but if he truly knows you, then he’d see that something is wrong.

“So, how long are you in town for?” you ask once she leaves.

Hope blossoms in your chest. Maybe he’ll say something different this time. Maybe he’ll tell you that he’s done with this life and he chooses you this time. Though, you know that won’t happen.

“Just the weekend.” There it is. The hope fizzles out. “I gotta leave on Monday.”

“Right,” you whisper.

Dean hates the look on your face. You’re disappointed. He hates doing this to you, but Sam needs him. They’re in the middle of a war between the demons and the angels, and he needs to be back home to aid. If it were up to him, he’d stay but the entire world is counting on him and Sam to fix this.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“It’s fine.”

He knows it’s not, but there is nothing he can say that would make this better. He knows what you want to hear but he can’t say it. You look at your napkin and rip the ends off in tiny pieces. If you look at him, you’ll break down in tears and you don’t want to ruin your makeup. This only confirms that you need to get out of this relationship before you end up killing every part of yourself for him.

He’s trying, you can see it, so you’re not sure how you can do this without breaking his heart.

I knew from the moment that I left you, you'd be alright You're gonna find another lover, one who doesn't waste your time But every time you look at me, my body says one last night I swear I wouldn't leave with you But I just came to say goodbye

With Dean back in Kansas, you have a clear head. You know what you have to do. It’s not going to be easy but you have to do it. It’s shitty to do this over the phone whether that be by call or text, so you decided it’s best if you go to the Bunker in person. You write down everything you want to say on note cards. You’ve memorized every single word but you hold onto the cards in case you take one look into his big green eyes and forget everything.

It takes almost an entire day to get to the Bunker by car, but you make it without issue. You park outside the Bunker and turn off the car. You quickly skim your cards to make sure you have everything you need to say before getting out of the car. You can do this. All you need to do is tell him how you’re feeling. If he loves you, he’ll let you go. He’ll understand.

That doesn’t bring you comfort.

You knock on the metal door and wait for it to open. You put the cards in your back pocket thinking you can do this on your own, but that’s not the case. The door opens and you look into Dean’s impossible bright green eyes. Fanfiction green eyes as the fans call it.

“What are you doing here?” he smiles and pulls you in for a hug.

His arms are so strong and warm, and you find yourself melting into his embrace. That’s your first mistake.

“I just needed to see you. I hope this is a good time.”

“Yeah, we’re not busy. Come in.” Your second mistake is following him inside the Bunker. “Sam is out right now getting food.”

“Good. I kind of wanted to talk to you.”

Dean leans against the war table and pulls you into his arms. He slides his hands down your back to cup your ass through your jeans.

“I’ve missed you.”

He leans in and kisses you, making you forget a single word you wanted to say to him. It’s a damn good thing you brought the cards with you. You slide your hands up his chest to push him away from you, but you bypass his chest to wrap your arms around his neck. He feels too good to let him go. He’s intoxicating, poisoning your life, and making you want more.

“What about Sam?” you whisper against his lips.

“Fuck Sam. I want you as my meal,” he grins.

He lifts you up by your thighs, and you wrap your legs around his waist. Your third mistake is letting him bring you to his bedroom. Note cards are forgotten. Maybe you can give him one more night.

I hate to see the look on your face I wish I could make myself stay But our hearts don't live in the same space So tell me how to break yours with grace

You really shouldn’t have given him one more night. You need to do this now or else you��ll never do it. You’ve been up for the past hour trying to find the words while Dean sleeps soundlessly next to you. He shifts and presses his lips on your bare shoulder. You easily slip out of bed and start gathering your clothes, and Dean sits up in bed. The blanket falls, exposing his bare chest.

“Where are you going? Come back to bed.”

“Dean, we need to talk,” you say with your back to him.

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

It’s cowardly but you can’t do this while looking at him. “Listen, I don’t think we should continue seeing each other. It’s not you, I promise.” There’s no easy way to say this. It’s gonna hurt him even though you wish it didn’t. “I admire what you do, but I can’t keep wondering if and when you’ll come home. I deserve someone who will be home every night. I deserve not to fear for your life. I like you a lot, but I don’t think we’re on the same page.”

“Are you going to look at me?”

Your body feels like cement but you turn to face him. The tears start rolling when you see the look on his face. He can’t be mad at you for wanting what he can’t give you, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt any less. You hate the look he gives you.

“Dean, I’m sorry,” you whisper.

“So, is this goodbye?”

“I don’t see any other way for us.” Dean nods but doesn’t say anything else. You finish getting dressed and grasp the door knob. “I really am sorry, Dean.”

“Me, too.”

You swallow down your sob and leave his room. You’re not going to be okay for a long time, but you know this is for the best.

x

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[xjulixred45x]

Ror of ragnarok hades platonic reader but she's like nezuko from demon slayer and they have a father daughter bound

awww this is so cute!

Platonic! Hades and Nezuko! Reader

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: female

Warnings: not really, some depictions of death.

• It was quite unfortunate when these kinds of tragedies happened. Hades thought, looking at the remains of what used to be a small family home, with pieces still clinging to the foundations, and, most sadly, the image of a little girl, no more than twelve human years old, crawling out of the house, clinging to life.

• Beelzebub wasn't usually interested in his experiments once they proved incapable of killing him, so unleashing them on the Helhaim wasn't a rare occurrence. What was unusual, however, was that these monsters were intelligent (and sadistic) enough to go after humans. Mortals were easy prey, after all, and Beel had only created them for the purpose of killing. Which led to situations like this.

• Hades couldn't help but feel a part of him saddened as he watched the human girl, even with her own wounds, cling to the cold body of the human beside her. Hades assumed it must be her younger brother, which only generated a strange feeling of empathy for the dying girl. Of course, an older sister trying to protect her little brother from a great monster, even if it was ultimately futile, Hades saw himself reflected in that.

• Is there anything more natural than an older brother wanting to protect his younger siblings? Hades thought, watching the little color the human girl had drain from her face. Whether from blood loss or the cold, he couldn't say. She was going to die soon.

• Hades was the god in charge of Heilheim, the god of death. Even with all his power, he couldn't do anything to help this girl. However, he knew someone who might be interested in the idea… ironic, considering he caused the situation in the first place, but he was short on options.

• So, the god of Heilheim headed off in an unknown direction, with a small mortal in his arms, without really thinking deeply, only about the future that would protect this poor, helpless creature who had earned his sympathy.

• To say that the girl's process of adapting to her new life was difficult would be an understatement. Her awakening was harsh, surrounded by machines, strange creatures, and to top it all off, the god who had created the creature that killed her family in the first place: Beelzebub.

• Hades watched as, with a new vigor and strength unbecoming of a mortal human, the girl lunged at Beelzebub in a futile attempt to hurt him, or simply to unleash all the hatred the little girl had toward the Lord of the Flies. Even Hades had to intervene to prevent the young girl from overdoing her violence, nor did he do much to defend Beelzebub. He knew she needed this.

• The first few weeks were tense, as Beelzebub wanted to run a couple of tests after seeing the adverse effects of bringing a mortal back to life. He had inadvertently created a sort of demonic hybrid, and he wanted to know more. Obviously, this wasn't easy, as the girl still strongly disliked the Lord of the Flies. Ironically, she tended to behave better when Hades came to visit to check on her progress.

• Due to the procedure that turned her into a hybrid, the little girl could no longer speak very well, so Hades took the time to bring supplies (things like papyrus, ink, etc.) and had conversations with the girl that way. This way, he learned things like her name, her age, some requests she had (like braiding her hair, since she didn't want Beel to do it), and generally how to maintain her somewhat human nature.

• The girl, reader, slept a lot; it was a way to recharge without having to eat, unlike most of Beelzebub's other experiments. Hades would often find the girl solemnly following him around like a duckling, and when he finally settled down somewhere, the girl would make herself comfortable next to him, asleep. Hades had to admit, it was endearing, and it was fun to have some activity back in his castle in Heilheim.

• Though that didn't mean reader was free from scares. There were side effects to her condition that they didn't know about until they became dangerous, like her exposure to the sun. Hades could never forget the horrible burns reader had gotten on her face and arms one time when they went to Valhalla unprepared. Reader's screams of pain, and the time it took to heal was both unsettling and terrifying.

• Fortunately, Hades is many things, among them cautious. The next few times, he made sure to carry the reader in a container that would allow her not only to sleep, but also to avoid sun damage. Plus, it had the added bonus of allowing her to see his shrinking powers in action. What could he say? It's adorable!

• Any attempt to complain about Hades's treatment of the reader is, at best, dismissed, and at worst, met with exemplary punishment. Hades doesn't play games when it comes to his little monster. The same goes for a direct threat to her safety. Hades knows that the reader can defend herself well, but it's his duty as a father/guardian.

• The other gods don't know exactly how to define their relationship. Hades never thought he could have children or that he would love a child as much as he loves his siblings, yet here he is, caring for what to gods and humans alike is "an aberration of nature," yet who clings to him for care and protection. And he really can't complain.

_____________

(ESPAÑOL)

• Era bastante desafortunado cuando este tipo de tragedias sucedían. Pensaba Hades, mirando los restos de lo que solía ser una pequeña casa familiar, con pedazos aun aferrándose a los cimientos, y lo más triste, la imagen de una niña pequeña, no más de doce años humanos, arrastrándose fuera de la casa, aferrándose a la vida.

• Beelzebub no solía interesarle sus experimentos una vez que demostraban ser incapaces de matarle, por lo que soltarlos por el Helhaim no era una ocurrencia rara. Lo que, si era inusual, sin embargo, era que estos monstruos fueran lo suficientemente inteligentes (y sádicos) como para ir detrás de los humanos. Los mortales eran presa fácil después de todo, y Beel solo los había creado con el propósito de matar. Lo que llevo a situaciones como esta.

• Hades no pudo evitar sentir como una parte de él sentía tristeza al ver como la niña humana, aun con sus propias heridas, se aferraba al cuerpo frio del humano junto a ella. Hades asumía que debía ser su hermano menor, lo que solo genero un extraño sentimiento de empatía hacia la niña moribunda. Por supuesto, una hermana mayor tratando de proteger a su hermanito de un gran monstruo, incluso si fue fútil en el final, Hades se vio reflejado en eso.

• ¿hay algo más natural que un hermano mayor queriendo proteger a sus hermanos menores? Pensaba Hades mirando como el poco color que tenía la niña humana se estaba yendo de su rostro, ya fuera por la pérdida de sangre o por el frio, el no sabría decir. Ella iba a morir pronto.

• Hades era el dios encargado del Heilhaim, el dios de la muerte, incluso con todo el poder que tenia, no podía hacer algo para ayudar a esta niña. Sin embargo, conocía a alguien que si podría estar interesado en la idea… irónico, considerando que él ocasiono la situación en primer lugar, pero estaba corto de opciones.

• Asi que, el dios de Heilhaim se dirigió hacia una dirección desconocida, con una pequeña mortal e brazos, sin pensar realmente a fondo, solo en el futuro que le ampararía a esta pobre criatura desamparada que se ganó su simpatía.

• Decir que el proceso de la niña para adaptarse a su nueva vida fue difícil seria un eufemismo. Su despertar fue duro, rodeada de maquinas, criaturas extrañas, y para colmo, el dios que había creado la criatura que mato a su familia en primer lugar; Beelzebub.

• Hades vio cómo, con un nuevo vigor y fuerza no propios de un ser humano mortal, la niña se le abalanzaba a Beelzebub en un intento fútil de lastimarlo, o simplemente sacar a flor todo el odio que la pequeña tenia hacia el señor de las moscas. Incluso de Hades tuvo que intervenir para que la jovencita no se excediera con su violencia, tampoco hizo mucho para defender a Beelzebub. El sabía que ella necesitaba esto.

• Las primeras semanas fueron tensas, pues Beelzebub quiso hacer un par de pruebas al ver los efectos adversos de traer a un mortal a la vida. Había creado sin querer una especie de hibrido demoniaco y él quería saber más. Obviamente esto no era nada sencillo, pues la niña todavía tenía un gran rechazo hacia el señor de las moscas, irónicamente, ella tendía a comportarse mejor cuando Hades venia de visita a checar su progreso.

• Debido al procedimiento que la convirtió en un hibrido, la pequeña ya no podía hablar muy bien, por lo que Hades se tomaba el tiempo de traer algunos útiles (cosas como papiro, tinta, etc) y tenía conversaciones con la niña de esa forma. Así llego a aprender cosas como su nombre, su edad, algunas peticiones que ella tenía (como que le trenzara el cabello, ya que no quería que Beel lo hiciera), y en general no perder su poca naturaleza humana.

• La niña, lectora, dormía mucho, era una forma de recargar energía sin necesidad de comer a diferencia de la mayoría de los otros experimentos de Beelzebub. Hades encontraría a menudo a la niña siguiéndolo solemnemente como un patito y cuando finamente se quedará en algún sitio, la niña se pondría cómoda al lado suyo, dormida. Hades tenía que admitirlo, era entrañable, y era divertido volver a tener algo de actividad en su castillo en Heilhaim.

• Aunque eso no significaba que lectora estaba libre de sustos. Hubo efectos secundarios de su condición de los que no supieron hasta que se volvieron peligrosos, como su exposición al sol. Hades nunca podría olvidar las horribles quemaduras que lectora se había hecho en la cara y brazos en una ocasión que fueron a Valhala sin preparación, los gritos de dolor de lectora y el tiempo que tardo en sanar fue algo inquietante y aterrador.

• Afortunadamente, Hades es muchas cosas, entre ellas precavido. Las próximas veces se aseguró de llevar a lectora en un contenedor que le permitiera no solo dormir, sino no ser dañada por el sol. Además, tenía el extra de que le permitiría ver en acción sus poderes para encogerse ¿Qué podía decir? ¡es adorable!

• Cualquier intento de queja hacia el trato de Hades hacia lectora es, en el mejor de los casos descartado, y en el peor de los casos recibido con un castigo ejemplar. Hades no juega cuando se trata de su pequeño monstruo. Lo mismo si es una amenaza directa hacia su seguridad. Hades sabe que lectora puede defenderse bien, pero es su deber como padre/guardián.

• Los demás dioses no saben exactamente como definir su relación. Hades nunca pensó que podría tener hijos o que amaría a un niño tanto como ama a sus hermanos, sin embargo, aquí está el, cuidando de lo que para los dioses y humanos por igual es “una aberración de la naturaleza”, pero que se aferra a el por cuidado y protección. Y el realmente no puede quejarse.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[anim-ttrpgs]

Cover your eyes! Announcing the Gorgon Initiative for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

(promotional art by @theblackwarden, one of our team artists)

Okay so, we had a bunch of stretch goals in the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Kickstarter, and we actually did hit more of them than expected, but there was one of them we didn’t hit, the playable gorgon.

The gorgon being a playable monster type was stuck at the very back of the stretch goal list, mainly because we thought of it way later than all the other stretch goals, but honestly it was one of the possibilities that I was most excited for, and apparently, so were a whole lot of our fans. The gorgon monster type would perfectly round out Eureka’s roster of playable supernatural creatures, and we would really like to make it happen, despite not really having the budget for it since we didn’t hit the stretch goal.

Here are a few of what the gorgon’s key features would have been:

>Anyone who makes direct eye-contact with the gorgon turns to stone.

>A venomous bite, making them gorgon the second playable monster type to be able to inflict a poison effect.

>Cold-blooded. Won’t feel great in low temperature environments, but won’t show up on thermal sensors either.

>Scaly skin.

>Snake hair optional.

>Claws.

>Eating people like a snake.

And all this wrapped up in Eureka’s unique humanity-focused approach to monsters. How will your PC cope with their power to instantly kill anyone who looks at them wrong, whether they want to or not? That’s the kind of character development you can look forward to with a gorgon in the party.

So here is what we are going to do to make it happen despite the budget not accounting for it. It’s going to be a patreon initiative.

(promotional art by @qsycomplainsalot, one of our team artists)

If we can get up to 50 total paid patreon subscribers by the end of June, we will put the gorgon in the game. Currently, we have 33, so if y'all can manage to make that climb to 50 by July 1st, we will promise to make time and budget to add the gorgon in to the rulebook before final release. Ultimately, even 20-ish more patreon subscribers is less money than the stretch goal would have been, but we feel that it would be a good enough addition to the game to justify, especially because it's what the fans want, and because long-term patreon support is very valuable. You get regular Eureka rulebook PDFs as a part of the patreon, and even though there is also a free demo, the more more-updates copies or Eureka floating around, the better. We want people actually playing this game, and playing better and better versions of it. We’d release it all for free if we didn’t need the money to “earn a living.”

Supporting us on patreon isn’t pure charity either. At the $3 tier, you get access to our patreon discord server where our team discusses development of the game and gets feedback from fans, as well in a vote on which projects we tackle next.

At the $5 tier and beyond, you get that, plus regular PDFs of the most current and up-to-date version of our projects. In addition to a version of the Eureka rulebook with many more features than the current free version, there’s stuff you currently can’t get anywhere else, like Eureka adventure modules, short stories, and even a novella, all unreleased anywhere else.

So, sign up to our patreon, it’s only a few dollars a month, and help out with the gorgon initiative. At the time of writing this, we have 33/50 paid subscribers, and I’ll update the goal as we go.

And below the cut, I’ll show you the current changelog for the Eureka rulebook, so you can see what all $5+ patreon subscribers are going to get in the next big patreon update coming Thursday, June 6th. This changelog isn’t even fully conclusive, as work will continue on the rulebook throughout the week to make it even better before Thursday. That's a whole lot for just $5! I will also post the rough notes that exist for the gorgon mechanics as they appear right now.

(A new version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy will be coming to $5+ patreon subscribers on the first Thursday of the month every month until final release, and after that you'll start getting the beta versions of whatever our next project turns out to be.)

CHANGELOG

CHAPTER 1

Have started working on replacing the examples of play with updated ones that actually fit the current and slightly more stable version of the rules. These will be found in various chapters. You can see them in the table of contents.

Added a Foreword, a section on other media to offer you inspiration when playing eureka, and a section on some of the subtler themes of eureka

Copy-edited Foreword

A few minor clarifications in the Making Rolls section

Added a chart explaining the percentage chances of failures, partial successes, and full successes for modifiers from -7 to +7. 

Added Heat optional rule. A whole new set of mechanics for tracking how much police attention the investigators may be drawing, as well as how law enforcement will respond. Currently a work-in-progress, but mostly functional already.

CHAPTER 2

Added the Forgery skill to write-in skills

Many new snoops have been added. 

Removed the “Seating” stat for vehicles, you know how many people can safely fit in a car

Removed the placeholder boat entries from the item list because we did not hit that kickstarter stretch goal

Added Skateboard to item list. 

Added four-wheeler to item list. 

Added Acceleration values to all vehicles in the vehicle list. Acceleration is a new stat used with the new way that Speed is calculated for Chases.

Adjusted the Driving bonus of motorcycles and dirtbikes.

Changed Large Mansion cost to 25 Wealth Points in character creation.

Started copy-editing this chapter.

CHAPTER 3

Added vehicle crashes to irregular forms of damage section

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

Completely revamped the way that Speed is calculated. 

Added a mechanic to determine how many nodes ahead a fleeing character starts.

Added an optional rule for bringing an end to chases 

Added vehicle attack rules for use during car chases

Added more guidelines for how to make your own obstacles

Added recommended numbers of nodes for chases and recommended distance between obstacles 

Added the work-in-progress random obstacle tables

On-Foot Urban Chase Obstacles table is finished but not edited

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

Increased capacity of an unfurled thing from beyond’s ‘stomach’ from three to fourteen.

Thing from beyond can now more easily attempt to engulf more victims after already containing one or more. This now prompts an escape attempt by victims inside rather than automatic escape.

Thing from beyond can now get a bonus to mimicry attempts by consuming a sample of the intended mimicry target’s DNA. 

Thing from beyond can now attempt to mimic a person they have never seen or heard by consuming a sample of their DNA, but narrator makes a hidden roll about it, so accuracy of mimicry will be unknown.

Gave acceleration value to witch’s brooms and other flying transportation

Gave Acceleration of +6 to Superhuman Speed trait

Gave vampire small bat manifestation +2 Acceleration

Gave vampire wolf manifestation +4 Acceleration 

Gave vampire massive bat beast manifestation +4 Acceleration

Gave wolfman wolf form +4 Acceleration

Gave lycanthrope wolf form +4 Acceleration

Added ability to resist curses to fairy and witch

Added ability for fairy to transfer curses to different names as a means of protecting themselves from curses. This gives them more of an incentive to collect names. 

Added a tiny bit about the fairy world

Added Monsters Eating Monsters section to provide rulings for some edge cases where monsters might eat other monsters and what would happen if they did

ROUGH GORGON DESIGN NOTES

[Notes: Turn people to stone by looking them in the eye. Definitely not a power that the Gorgon can turn on and off, they will have to cover their eyes somehow, such as dark sunglasses or a veil, to prevent it happening to everyone they make eye contact with. Also works the other way around so you could protect yourself by wearing dark sunglasses. Still works even if the Gorgon is dead, like in the legends. Does not work through cameras, reflections, images, etc. Turning to stone is permanent, basically instant kill? Works like the witch curse except with infinite duration unless a witch undoes it like a curse. If there is no eye protection, could be a reflex roll on the gorgon’s part or on an aware victim’s part to break eye-contact quickly enough for the curse not to take effect. Also, they could have some kind of bonus to Threaten because all the legends say that they look particularly frightening.

Have claws and maybe scaly skin or scales in patches, maybe snake-like eyes and snake tongue that can taste air? Sharp teeth and maybe venomous snake fangs? People will really really want their gorgons to have snake hair even though in the legends, it was only Medusa herself that had snake hair. Compromise by making it an optional rule agreed upon by narrator and player that they have snake hair. Snakes may have venomous bite attack but the trade off is that it makes it way harder to conceal the gorgon’s identity as a Gorgon.

Gorgons do not regain composure points from turning people to stone, all other monsters regain composure points by *consuming* their victims in some way, except for fairies who regain composure from playing mean pranks because it makes them happy. Keeping with the rule of monsters eating people and also the fact that the legends always describe gorgons as having snake-like trait, maybe they swallow victims whole like a snake? Great horror concept but takes a long time. Could mechanically work very very similar to thing from beyond’s composure restoration where they gain 1 composure point each day for however many days. Could advise loose and bulky clothing to cover this up. Cannot really decide how to codify this because the most obvious way would make it pretty impossible to hide for a very long time. Could probably make multiple optional rules that regain composure at different rates and digest victims at different rates. One option that gets a lot more composure over time from a single victim like the thing from beyond but is very conspicuous that entire time. Other option that digests the whole victim extremely fast so they are only conspicious for a short time but ultimately less composure from a single kill. No option to regain composure from victim without killing them, like thing from beyond. No composure restoration from normal food but can eat it to stay alive, like the thing from beyond?

Do they have proper weaknesses besides just the normal things that everybody is weak to, like sharp objects? Probably should not have the Unkillable trait, but need to come up with at least one weakness that does not stray too far from the legends. Maybe they are cold-blooded, following the snake theme? Makes them very vulnerable to cold temperatures, and jackets and blankets don’t help because they don’t produce their own body heat. Big Physical skill penalties when they are in cold environments?

What is their second mandatory monster trait? They don’t *need* one but every other monster has their powers split across two monster traits.] 

Actually it would be pretty good if they had to make a Monster(fear) Composure check if they saw their face in the mirror

Their blood is either healing or poisonous depending on if it is from the left or right side. left side kills, right side heals. Make it  veinous vs arterial blood.....  But this would have no effect on vampires 

We have GOT to get the gorgon in if we have time, it’s such a good idea

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but our Kickstarter page is still the best place to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, and where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more than just status updates, going forward you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and it’s adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[rudimentaryflair]

Another thing I find interesting about Ren is that the horror movies he likes all contain stuff that he's personally really afraid of.

We all know that Ren is terrified of deep water. He always refuses to clean the aquatic zone in Jabberwock and he panicked when Haru nearly knocked him off the Darkwick jetty in Episode 3. He also can't swim. However, he's got shark stickers on his phone case and collects a lot of fan merch of NAW, an ocean-themed horror parody. It might not be his favorite movie, but it's definitely up there. Strange, for a guy with this particular fear.

Ren is also afraid of anything that might hurt or kill him. This might seem like a complete no-brainer, but if you compare him to the other ghouls, he's one of the few who can't handle being in danger. Honestly, I think the only other character is Kaito—but we've seen that he can capably fight when push comes to shove; he's just cowardly. Ren, on the other hand, exhibits the fear of someone who is genuinely out of his depth and has no tools to defend himself, almost like a civilian. To add even more context: he's attending Darkwick as a ghoul, which means not only is he getting up close and personal with potentially nightmarish creatures every other week, he's also expected to capture or fight them. Dying a horrible death is a much more real risk to him than it is for the average person.

So then why does he like watching horror movies so much? My theory is that it's a coping mechanism.

Ren specifically likes low-budget, bad horror movies. He says it's because they're funny, but I also think it's because he can easily tell the horror elements are fake. He nerds out about prop and set design, for instance; he likes knowing how the producers use CGI for the sharks, how the machinery and wires controlling the monsters are operated, how the prop master gets the gelatin brains to look so real… you get the point. In Episode 3, he was thrilled to be around all the skeletons in the underwater lair, but immediately backpedaled and became nauseous and panicked when he found out they were real. He's not into the gory, scary stuff; he's into learning how the gory, scary stuff is actually a collection of clever techniques that are ultimately harmless.

It's all a form of escapism. He has to live the real, scary thing every day, so the movies are a way for him to process and experience that in a controlled and safe environment. The distinct separation between fiction and reality is very important to him.

(This is a little unrelated and a bit of a stretch, but I also think it's another way for him to pretend to be normal. If you look at all the things he voluntarily does, it's like he's trying to mimic the life of a normal college student: go to class, work a job, go home, eat ramen, study. He gets upset when he has to do things that ruin that illusion for him, and in Episode 12, when Haru tries to reassure him that he's hard to kill because he's a ghoul, it makes Ren's mood worse instead of better. So, the horror movies could be how he pretends that all the terrifying anomalies are fake, and that those situations would never happen to him. Whether he's consciously aware he's doing that or not is a different story, but it explains an additional way they could bring him comfort.)

I'm under no illusions that most of this is headcanon, though. There's a good chance that the TKDB writers just thought it would be funny and ironic to give Ren juxtaposing characteristics, with no deeper meaning beyond that. But I'm delusional and love looking way too far into things, so here we are.

[the-music-maniac]

I've never been able to get over stories where the abused becomes the villain. True of any media that has this trope, really, but especially true of Sephiroth. He makes my heart hurt.

Created to be nothing but a weapon, abused and manipulated and experimented on from childhood. Sent to go fight Shinra's wars for them, desensitized to killing from a young age, but still managing to hold onto his kindness somehow. They made him into a legend larger than life for their propaganda, while simultaneously de-humanizing him in the worst ways, isolating Seph to the point where no one around him, not even his closest companions, even realized that he needed support. There's hints that no one around him really knew his background by the things they say - the only one who was aware of the extent of his mistreatment was his abuser. He was a high functioning individual - who would be arrogant enough to assume that The General could need help? Who would dare?

And I don't blame Angeal or Genesis or Zack for not realizing. Along with them simply not knowing there was an issue that needed addressing, Sephiroth probably kept it from them on purpose - whether by choice or necessity or outside influence or self preservation.

Sephiroth just wanted a normal life too. He didn't like having his picture taken, but endured because he had to, and because other people wanted it of him. He didn't really care to compete for the title of hero with Genesis, even though Genesis didn't seem to believe it. He took care of his troops, and we see in that one cut scene where he failed to save a soldier, that he still got upset over stuff like that. All those years of killing and losing his men to Shinra's missions and he hasn't truly become numb to it.

And then nearing the end, after first being told he's a monster by one of his former friends, and then later spending a week in that library not eating or drinking or sleeping, left alone to his devices because who would assume that the most competent general of their time can be in a vulnerable state, and shouldn't be left alone right now?

After learning the "truth" about his origins, and after a lifetime of systematic abuse, no longer believing he's even human anymore. And then the only person offering him a hand in his darkest moments is the one he shouldn't have taken. But at that point - could you blame him? Whether or not the post nibelheim Sephiroth is truly him or just a puppet for Jenova I'm uncertain about, but the end result is that from start to finish - Sephiroth never manages to break free from the whims of those who wanted to use him.

And because he gave into his worse demons - he won't receive a happy ending. He won't be saved. There's no comfort for him, no opportunity to rest and heal and grow. His childhood wish to live a normal life will never come to pass.

Watching Sephiroth's story unfold is like watching someone drown in front of you while surrounded by a crowd of people. And the one drowning doesn't even scream for help because he's been conditioned to believe that the suffocation is normal.

I will NEVER get over him. It doesn't excuse what he did after Nibelheim, I'm aware of that, but I can't help but remember that people only ever had praise for him while he was burning villages down in Wutai on Shinra's behalf.

It doesn't excuse his actions. But I will NEVER be able to forget all the ways the world failed him first.

[hauntedwitch04]

Proud of you

Dean Winchester x daughter!Reader

Words: about 1.3k words

Warning: I hate John Winchester and I'm not gonna be sorry about it. Just some sad memories of Dean, but mostly fluff

REQUEST: no requested

Author’s note: Hi! I'M NOT DEAD! I know, shocking!

It was a period full of exams, including the driver's license exam and four college exams, and I could not write anything. And just when I thought I could start writing again, classes started again, so… here I am! I'm actually in the university library and should be studying, but my panic attack said NO, so here you go! this is a short scene I imagined after doing my first drive with my dad a month or so ago, and I liked it too much not to write it down, I hope you enjoy it.

Requests are open I Ask

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Join the Taglist

Buy me a coffee - Patreon submission

Ever since you were little you have dreamed of this moment, yet now that you are here and experiencing it, you can't help but want to run away and run for cover in the calm, quiet safety of your bedroom.

You clutch the steering wheel of the car in your hands, which as much as your father loves her is considered your sister, to look straight ahead.

You feel your father's eyes scrutinizing you, sitting beside you, as he considers whether to tell you something or not. You see out of the corner of your eye Castiel's hand resting on your father's shoulder to restrain him from saying anything, knowing, and feeling the anxiety gripping your stomach at this moment.

You take a deep breath and decide to finally start Baby. You hear the engine roar, and your sweaty hands slide on the steering wheel as you lightly touch the pedals with your feet as your father explained to you just before, and a thousand other times before in motel and diner parking lots when you were bored while Uncle Sam found you a place to eat or sleep.

The car begins to move, and you feel a sense of courage and pride in seeing that you are succeeding for the first time in making the car go.

You slowly manage to move a few meters before misplacing your feet while shifting gears and bringing the car to a stop without warning.

Discouraged you abandon your head against the steering wheel, narrowly missing the horn as your father laughs lightly and rests a hand on your shoulder.

Castiel watches Dean get lost in his own thoughts as he watches you explain with a low stare that you are sorry and that you don't understand how it can take you so long to understand and learn how to drive, knowing full well that your father's mind is actually somewhere else right now.

Dean watching his daughter drive for the first time in the same car in which he had learned, could not help but think of when he had been in that position.

Dean had just turned 15, but on his umpteenth fake ID and driver's license it was marked that he was at least two years older, knowing that no one would dispute the fact, since he had been showing 17 for a year and a half now. He felt sweaty hands against his thighs through his jeans as he felt his father's gaze burn him alive.

"Will you move?" John said with obvious hatred in his voice. He had decided it was time for Dean to learn to drive, so that at night he could sleep and leave his son driving the car, as if he were at least twice as old as he was.

In part Dean knew that John wanted to do this so that he could be more independent of his sons and could also take solo trips without worrying about picking up, or having someone pick them up as had happened several times, Dean and Sam after leaving them alone for a week in a motel in a town they did not know. And the oldest of the Winchester brothers couldn't help but be glad to finally get away from the monster who had become their father.

Dean swallowed laboriously and then started the car. He had almost forgotten about Sam's presence in the car until he encouraged him in a feeble voice, only to receive a cruel look from John.

Slowly he made the car move inside the parking lot. It was now late at night and not a soul would disturb his first drive, or so he thought.

He was starting to pick up speed, imitating the people he drove in the many movies he saw while waiting for his father to return from yet another hunt, when suddenly a car comes speeding towards them.

Panicked Dean suddenly accelerated to escape from the high-speed encounter with that madman, only to brake abruptly shortly after seeing that he was inches from the wall.

Dean quickly turned to see how Sam was doing after all the commotion, but he saw that the fear on his brother's face had given way to a smile, not a complete one since he had recently dropped a tooth and had yet to grow a new one.

"Wow Dean, you were great! It was like being in one of those movies-" His brother was interrupted by John's voice, which like thunder crashed down on those poor creatures who had had the misfortune of being his children.

"Don't bullshit Sam, your brother was an idiot. Do you realize you could have ruined the car!" He said shouting and motioning for his son to get out of the car as he did the same.

"But-but that car was coming at us! I couldn't do anything else! It's only my first time driving!" He tried to excuse Dean as he tried to reason with his father, but nothing could change the man's mind, especially when it came to his favorite sport: mistreating the one person over whom he had full power and control, his own son: Dean.

"And if it were up to me it would be the last damn fool too, how can I count on you if all you do is make mistakes? Disappear from my sight before I decide to leave you in this parking lot, better yet, take the car and go back to the motel, I'll stop at the bar nearby."

Dean could not help but squint his eyes, already thinking about his drunken father arriving from the bar on the crack of dawn, and the beating he would receive from the man because of alcohol, although Dean knew it was not entirely the fault of the liquid that seemed to have become John's fuel since his wife had died.

Dean, in the end, had learned to drive thanks to a teacher who was more patient and kinder than his father: Bobby, who with all the calm and love his father had never shown toward him had managed to teach the oldest of the Winchester brothers to drive in one of the many cars he had in his "backyard." And it was then Dean himself, together with Bobby, who had taught Sam how to ride in the car.

This time, however, it was different: it was not his brother he was teaching to ride in a car, but his daughter, that is, blood of his blood, the result of yet another night of passion with a woman he met at a bar, for whom he could never thank enough whatever deity ruled up there. And be damned, more than he already was, he would never let his little girl suffer what he had suffered.

"Hey, it's okay. Nobody's perfect the first time, and this car is definitely not the best you can have for a first drive, but you did great. I had done much worse my first time, and I'm not kidding, I almost hit a wall." Dean says as he watches his daughter straighten her back and look into his eyes, her own eyes, as he smiles at her, gently, and then pulls her into a hug.

"Really?" The girl asks, as she pulls her father in turn into a tight embrace.

"I swear on Miracle." He replied, as the dog in the back seat barks in response, having heard someone calling him, and the girl can't help but giggle.

They remain embraced for a few minutes, until Dean finally finds the courage to say those words that are so simple and at the same time so important, and so necessary, that he had never heard her father say to her, but that would never deprive his daughter from hearing them from him every day as long as she had breath to breathe. Five words, but they had the power of a thousand.

"I am proud of you."

TAGLIST (updated 19 Nov 2023)

@cheyennep3107 @mortica-raven13 @theviewfromtheotherside @supernatural-lvr @imnotcryingurcrying @cursednevermore @itzdarling @deansbbyx @newtdumbledoorstarksoot @afcnds @sya-skies @evansstan-akya

[syrupfog]

When Sanji runs from Germa, he doesn't make it far. He hides away in the brig of a merchant vessel for a short time, but as soon as he's found, they recognize him, and don't want Judge's wrath coming down on them, so they dump him the next time they make landfall.

The island he ends up at is one that's felt the threat of Germa for years, and they too recognize him, whether Sanji tries to deny it or not. Afraid of the omen that they see him as, they send him to an old manor at the edge of town and lock him away. 

He grows up there.

Like the dungeon, he's again alone and despised. 

But he tries to make the best of things. He can see the sun here, can wander the halls without fear, can cook what he wants from what the town delivers to his doorstep, which is often a little rotten but edible. 

He lives.

He assumes this is as good as life will ever get for someone in his position. There is nowhere he could go that they wouldn't know and fear him, despise him; at least here he's free from his family. At least here he can breathe fresh air. 

And then, one day, a man appears.

"Appears" is maybe a generous word. He comes crashing through the front door, armed to the teeth (literally), a sword in each hand and one in his mouth. Sanji, who had been simmering a bouillabaisse, comes running at the noise, spatula in hand for defense. 

The man looks at him.

He narrows his eyes. 

He charges right at Sanji. 

Sanji yelps, ducks behind his spatula as if it will protect him, and cowers. At the last second, his childhood training kicks in. He manages to dodge a swipe and RUNS for it. 

The man, who has made a crater in the wall, follows.

The manor has a maze of rooms, but Sanji's closed most of them off. It's just him here, after all. He runs into one of the first doors he finds and is faced with cobwebs and dust as he slams it behind him. 

He hears heavy footsteps behind the door slow to a stop. 

"Open up."

Oh he is NOT doing that. 

"Hey," says the man who has broken into his home with SWORDS. "I'm not going to attack you." 

"I do NOT believe that," Sanji shrieks. There's a spider in here and he's trying not to run screaming back into the hall. 

"I should've knocked," the man says.

Sanji stutters. "Swords!" he manages to get out. 

"They said there was a monster," the man says. "Paid me fifty thousand to kill it." 

...Oh. 

"Well," Sanji says. "They're right, that is me." 

The townspeople have probably put up with him for long enough. 

He opens the door.

The man is down to just one sword. He eyes Sanji. "Don't look like a monster," he says. "What, you transform in the moonlight?" 

Sanji snorts. "Nah, this is all there is. Was just born a monster. Surprised it took this long for them to try to get rid of me." Cowards, he thinks.

Maybe he's a little bitter. Maybe something inside of him still dreams of something better. T

he man cocks his head. "Pretty shitty monster," he says, sliding his last sword back into its sheath. "I don't need beri enough to cut down someone who defends himself with a spatula."

Sputtering, Sanji realises he's still holding it. "Shut up," he says. "What would you spend it all on anyway? A FOURTH sword?" 

The man shrugs. "Or food," he says. "Got washed up here a week ago, didnt exactly have a lot of pocket change on me." 

And, well. That's the magic word.

"I have food," he says. The bouillabaisse is still simmering. 

The man grins. "Not going to turn you down," he says. "I'm Zoro." 

"Sanji," Sanji says. "If you're not going to kill me, what do you know about fixing doors?" 

"Absolutely nothing," Zoro says.

Zoro... doesn't leave. 

Sanji feeds him, and Zoro has NO manners. He eats like he's never known what it means to be full. He's not talkative, although he's quietly hilarious. In return, Sanji's conversation is stilted. He's not used to talking, especially not to a real person.

But Sanji feeds him and he feeds him again, and Zoro doesn't leave. He leaves his dirty shoes on the carpet and cleans his swords on the kitchen floor while Sanji cooks. When they do talk, the words jump between polite niceties and petty arguments. 

It's... It's good.

Sanji's so happy. He hates the way Zoro seems to live in a state of mess, even while having come into the manor with nothing but the clothes on his back. But he loves the arguments, the verbal sparring, every word an acknowledgement that he's not alone. 

It's too good to be true.

Zoro doesn't talk about himself much, just that he's got a crew out there somewhere. Sanji wonders but doesn't press, an instinctual fear that if he pushes Zoro will leave. Zoro doesn't ask him much either, except for when the food shows up. 

"Cook," Zoro says, "That's rotten."

Sanji picks up a tomato, blackened on one side. "We can cut those bits off," he says. The produce is actually better than usual. 

"They send you rotted mush every week?" 

"Sometimes they skip a week," Sanji says with a shrug. "On holidays, I think." He doesn't own a calendar.

Zoro frowns, but shuts up. Sanji makes stew. 

He makes chili. 

He makes ratatouille. 

They live in companionable silence. Zoro trains and Sanji yells at him to not use the kitchen utensils as weights. 

It goes like this, for weeks. Good weeks. 

But good things don't last forever.

Almost two months on, someone comes crashing through the front door of the manor. For a moment Sanji thinks it's Zoro again, somehow, but remembers Zoro's napping in a sun puddle. 

Knife in hand this time, instead of a spatula, Sanji sneaks around the corner to the front door.

There's... a LOT of people pouring into the house, but front and centre is a man with a scar and a straw hat. He points at Sanji with a serious expression. "Are you the one who killed Zoro?" 

Sanji blanches. "N-no?" he asks. His knife isn't going to defend against NINE people.

Suddenly, from behind him, comes Zoro's voice. "Shut up, Luffy." 

"Zoro!" the man shouts, bounding past Sanji and wrapping himself around Zoro an unnatural number of times. 

"Told you he wasn't dead," a man with a long nose says. "Townspeople are terrible liars."

"Come on, Zoro," a redhead says. "We've got places to be and we just spent two months tracking you down." 

Sanji's stomach sinks. 

Of course. 

These are Zoro's people. His crew. These two months have been the best of Sanji's life, but for Zoro they've just been a waiting game.

He's had people out here looking for him this whole time. He has a world outside these walls. He's going to move on and live his life and forget about this little moment in time. 

This moment that Sanji will think about, dwell on, treasure, for the rest of his life.

He steps back, considers hiding in the pantry until they're gone. Before he's able to entirely flee the room, though, Zoro turns to him. 

"Luf," he says. "This guy's coming with us." 

Sanji stops. "Uh," he says. 

"He's a cook," Zoro says. 

Luffy turns to him. "Yeah?" he asks.

"I-" Sanji shakes his head. "I can't leave," he says. 

"Yes you can," Zoro tells him. "You're staying here because you think you deserve this." 

Luffy, standing between them, looks back and forth. "Zoro knows what he's talking about," he says to Sanji. "I trust him. You coming?"

"I'm a monster," Sanji says, because that's what the townspeople call him. They sent Zoro to KILL him, they know he's a monster. 

"You're not," Zoro says. "Come on, Cook. Come with us. You can live, now." 

Sanji wants to live. 

It's all he's ever wanted. 

"Promise?" he asks.

"Fucking promise," Zoro says, and he grabs Sanji's wrist. 

Pulls him out the door. 

Into a world Sanji thought was beyond him. 

He follows nine strangers and a swordsman who attempted to kill him onto a ship and into the bright blue ocean and doesn't once look back. 

He lives.

[demigod-shenanigans]

Leo’s night off

Summary: Leo had been working on the Argo II’s engine non-stop for four days—and he’d been making great progress, thank you very much—but for some strange reason, his friends seemed convinced he needed things like “breaks” and “fresh air” and “fun”.

He’d reluctantly resigned himself to his fate of being dragged out of Bunker Nine for movie night once a week. He loved his friends. He liked spending time with them. When he wasn’t on tight schedules for impossible building projects that had the fate of the world riding on them, he was very much in favor of having fun.

Unfortunately, it was Piper’s turn to pick the movie, and her idea of fun apparently involved paranormal horror.

…at least he and Jason were suffering together, he supposed.

Word Count: 7.4k

Rating: Teen and Up (could probably be Gen tbh, rated that way for a bit of cursing and very vague descriptions of a few horror movie scenes)

My @pjo-equinox-solstice-exchange for @chaosdoesnotdefineme

I really hope you’ll enjoy this fic! Your prompt was pretty vague, so I went with some lost trio focused shenanigans.

I did check your blog and saw you’d reblogged a bunch of Valgrace art, so I’m hoping it was okay to include the ship, but I kept it relatively minor to be safe, with trio friendship being the main focus of the fic. Most of it can be read as them just being physically affectionate with each other. Also, you don’t currently allow gifts to your Ao3 account, so if you do want me to use the gift function over there, you’ll have to toggle that on first!

Anyway, that’s enough preamble from me, I think! Happy reading!

———

To say Leo had lost track of time would have, perhaps, been the understatement of the century. He’d been working on the Argo II’s engine for so long that he was no longer sure what time of day—or, quite frankly, what day of the week it was. His siblings came and went however they saw fit between their other obligations, helping as much as they could, but Leo wouldn’t have let any of them help with this part anyway. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them to handle complicated machinery—they were all children of Hephaestus, after all—but it was like that saying about too many cooks spoiling the broth. Except in this case, the cooks were inventors who each had their own ideas about the best way to build powerful ship engines, and the broth was an extremely delicate balance of highly explosive fluids that might wipe half of camp off the map if anyone so much as looked at it wrong.

Teamwork was great for lots of tasks, especially when it came to projects as big as the Argo, but this just wasn’t one of them.

Therefore, Leo had been working in the engine room mostly alone for a while, using a borrowed plate from the camp kitchens to summon food whenever his stomach started to complain and taking sips of water from a borrowed cup when he started to feel dizzy. The magic dishes were really handy. Maybe he should ask if he could add some to the Argo’s inventory for the journey. That seemed much easier than figuring out how to stock up on supplies when there was a good chance of supply runs ending in monsters chasing them out of random foreign supermarkets. 

Unlike eating and drinking, sleep was somewhat of a myth at this stage of building the Argo. Thankfully, Leo didn’t actually need tons of breaks while he was working. One neat thing about being a child of Hephaestus was that whenever Leo went into Project Hyperfocus Mode, he actually didn’t need much to sustain himself in general. He could go days without sleeping if it was necessary—and considering their looming deadline with the Argo? Man, was it necessary.

That Piper and Jason weren’t huge fans of this particular power of his was probably the camp’s worst-kept secret. Jason regularly dropped by to have lunch with him because apparently he was worried whether Leo remembered the concept of “lunch” existed, which was both extremely rude and also completely fair. Piper, for her part, had dragged Leo out of the Bunker more times than he could count, insisting he needed things like “fresh air” and “to see the sun more than once a week”.

What did she think he was, a wilting houseplant?

The one regular appointment they’d successfully talked Leo into to ensure he got out of Bunker Nine and did something fun regardless of how busy his week was was movie night on Saturdays. There were a few reasons for this. 

1) Jason’s knowledge of and taste in movies was absolutely abysmal, and as his best friend, it was basically Leo’s sacred duty to fix this. 2) They rotated who picked the movie, so he finally had an excuse to make Piper watch all of the Transformers movies with him. And, perhaps most importantly, 3) they’d chosen to have Movie Night at the Zeus cabin, so they got to piss off Jason’s absentee sort-of dad as an added bonus.

Yeah, yeah, and Leo supposed that maybe it was also just nice that he got to spend some quality time with his friends and could give his whirring brain a bit of a pre-scheduled break. 

Not that he’d ever tell that to Jason and Piper, though. They’d abuse the hell out of that knowledge to schedule even more weekly activities, and then Leo would never finish the ship in time for their trip.

“The world ended because I had too many board game nights and video game sessions with my friends” would probably not fly with the Judges of the Underworld.

All this was to say that, with Movie Night being scheduled and all, Leo probably shouldn’t have been surprised that one of his friends may show up to drag him out of the engine room for the event. But, well… there was the whole matter of him losing track of time (if he’d ever had track of time to begin with, which could be put into question more than a little).

So, when Piper waltzed into the engine room, loudly proclaiming, “yo, Repair Boy, put your tools away, it’s your night off!”, Leo startled so badly that he nearly did make the engine explode by accident.

Leo cursed, moving frantically to put out the small fire he’d started.

“Gods, Pipes, what did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that when I’m working?”

“Not to do it because it’s dangerous?” Piper asked innocently. “Hey, if anything, you should take this as a compliment! It means I completely trust you not to blow us both up, even by accident!” She winked at him. “Now come on, we’re gonna miss dinner, and if we do, Jason’s gonna pick the snacks all by himself. You know how that will end.”

Leo shuddered at the memory of the dried fruit chips, beef jerky and unseasoned popcorn that Jason had picked out the one and only time he’d been solely responsible for the snacks. After that traumatizing incident, they (Leo and Piper) had unanimously decided the three of them would pick all of their snacks together going forward. But if the camp store was closed by the time they got there… well, avoiding a repeat of that particular snack incident was as great a motivator as any for Leo to try and finish up as soon as possible.

“Yeah, no thanks.” Leo paused. “Hang on. Isn’t it, like, Thursday? Movie night is on Saturdays.”

Piper looked at him, appalled. “It is Saturday. I’m afraid to even ask, but how long have you been in here?”

Leo winced. “Wednesday? I think?”

“You think?”

“Listen, I’m shit enough at keeping track of what day it is when I have an actual schedule like we did at Wilderness. Here? Free rein, Beauty Queen. You’re lucky I even know what month it is.”

He fastened the last few components on the part of the engine he’d been working on, then started collecting his tools and stowing them away in his tool belt, since him leaving the Bunker was a thing that was definitely going to happen now.

A shadow of guilt crossed Piper’s face. “I should have checked on you sooner, but I knew Jason dropped by regularly, and with the drama we’ve had at the Aphrodite cabin this week, I kind of didn’t realize just how long it’s been since you showed up for a meal.” She bit her lip. “Jason didcome see you, right?”

“Oh, yeah, he totally did. Not sure how long ago it was, but we’ve eaten together twice since I started working on the engine earlier this week.” Leo strategically neglected to mention that he’d sort of promised Jason to go take a nap in an actual bed after their second lunch and then just… hadn’t. Piper didn’t need to know that. 

“Good. I’m glad. I’m still sorry I didn’t look out for you properly this week, though.”

“Eh. It’s fine. You’ve annoyed me out of the Bunker plenty of times since I started working on the ship. You’ll be forgiven for slacking off for one week.” Leo grinned at her. He wiped his hands off on a piece of cloth he’d pulled out of his tool belt, rechecked that all the engine compartments were stable and not at an imminent risk of exploding one last time, then gave her his full attention. “Now, I wanna hear about your cabin drama. I miss all the fun stuff while I’m holed up in here.”

“You wouldn’t miss nearly as much if you spent a bit more time outside,” Piper pointed out, but then she told him, anyway. “My siblings have been arguing a bunch. It’s been a mess.”

“Yeah? How big of a mess are we talking?”

“It honestly seemed like a stupid issue to me, which didn’t help my ability to manage it. Calix and Mitchell showed up to breakfast in the same outfit a few days ago, and they both got upset about it. Somehow, this devolved into an all-out sibling war. There were factions and everything.” Piper rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Shockingly, me snapping and yelling ‘who cares?’did not help. It just made everyone mad at me on top of being mad at each other. I’m starting to think that I may not be cut out for this whole head counselor business.”

Leo snorted. “Hey, don’t look at me! I’m pretty sure I was only elected head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin because my siblings knew I’d be way too busy to check whether anyone was doing their chores—not that I would have cared much about it either way. I doubt you’re anywhere near as bad at this as me.” He elbowed Piper. “So, did you get it sorted out, or do I need to prepare myself to dodge love curses and lethal hair brush throws at dinner?”

“I couldn’t get it sorted out. I had to ask Drew for help.”

“Oh gods.”

“She’s not…” Piper shook her head. “I mean, she did look very smug about the whole thing, but Drew knows her stuff when it comes to these things. Had the whole matter sorted in two minutes by giving Mitchell a shirt to go with the pants that ‘compliments the color of his eyes’ and pairing Calix’ shirt with a different pair of pants and a belt.” Her voice held something like begrudging respect for her sister, which Leo thought was weird considering the way their sisterhood had started out. Then again, his siblings were basically his construction crew. He wasn’t exactly an expert on normal family dynamics. “I may not have liked the way Drew ran the cabin,” Piper continued, “but she was right that I don’t get some of the things my siblings care about. I’m not planning to suddenly, like, get obsessed with expensive designer clothes or anything—there’s a reason I’ve never liked that kind of stuff—but I’ll admit that I could stand to be a bit more respectful of my siblings’ interests. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was genuinely glad Drew was around to help out with this.”

“Okay, who are you and what have you done to my friend?” Leo teased, pinching one of Piper’s cheeks with his fingers and gently pulling it sideways like it was a mask that he was expecting to come off.

“Leo! Ew!” Piper yelped, swatting his arm and then wiping at the grease stain he’d left on her cheek. “Okay, seriously, we need to get going. You desperately need a shower before dinner, and we were already going to be late.”

“Are you saying that I stink?”

“You’ve been hanging around in Bunker Nine for, what, more than three days now? Do you really want me to answer that?” Piper asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Besides, you’re covered in oil.”

Leo looked down at his oily, soot-stained work overall and winced. “…fair point.”

~~~ By the time Leo had showered, brushed his teeth and made his way to the dining pavilion in clean, comfortable clothes, he was starting to get seriously tired. That always happened when he came out of Project Hyperfocus Mode.

If this was his body trying to give him a sigh, Leo was expertly ignoring it. 

He made his way over to the Zeus table and slid onto the bench next to Jason pretty much automatically. 

“Hey Superman. Fancy meeting you here. How’s it going?” he asked, immediately digging into the cheeseburger he’d summoned. Man, he was way hungrier than he’d realized.

“Hey.” Jason smiled nervously at him, the way he always did when Leo insisted on sitting at his table. “It’s great to see you, don’t get me wrong, but are you sure we should be pushing our luck with the seating arrangement? Doesn’t that rule exist for a reason?”

Leo laughed. “Dude, didn’t you say your dad closed Mount Olympus specifically because he thought the gods were too involved in their kids’ business? Do you seriously think he’s gonna reopen it just so he can smite me for sitting at the wrong table?”

“He might,” Piper chimed in cheerfully as she sat down across from them. “It probably wouldn’t even make the top ten of the pettiest things Zeus has ever done. Besides, you are pretty annoying.”

Leo threw one of his fries at her in retaliation. “Shut up. You’re gonna scare poor Jason.”

“I’m not scared,” Jason insisted, although he did seem a little embarrassed. “It’s just that the sleepovers are already pushing it. And from the way the ceiling I always thunders at night, I’m pretty sure Zeus isn’t even a fan of me sleeping in there alone.”

“Yikes. Really feeling the love from your dad, hm?” Leo asked with a grimace, patting Jason’s shoulder. Then he turned to Piper. “Well, you heard the guy. No sitting here today. So: are we pissing off your mom or my dad instead?”

“My vote’s on your dad. I love my siblings, but after the last few days of warfare, I could use a bit of a break,” Piper decided immediately. 

“Not sure my sibs are the right call if you want a break from warfare,” Leo pointed out, gesturing vaguely in the direction of his eight year old brother Harley, who had just placed something that vaguely resembled a massive paintball gun down on the edge of the table, “but it’s your funeral.”

He grabbed his plate with one hand, then looped his other arm through Jason’s so he could drag his best friend along to the table that was technically intended exclusively for the Hephaestus kids (though Leo was pretty convinced that, unlike some gods, his dad didn’t actually care about this stuff). 

Jason didn’t seem entirely sure what hit him, but he just let it happen.

Since Leo had a bunch of siblings who were present all year round, he along with Jason and Piper made a bit of a tight fit for the very limited empty spots (and Harley’s contraption being in the table admittedly did not leave a lot of space for additional plates), but Jason immediately looked much more relaxed, so the change of scenery had clearly been a worthwhile endeavor.

“Leo! Hey! Good to see you,” Jake greeted him.

“You any closer to letting us back into the Bunker?” Shane asked immediately. “We’ve been working on the railing shields at the forge and I’m itching to see what they look like fastened to the hull.”

“You have? That’s awesome!” Leo grinned. He hadn’t even told them to do that, but apparently his siblings had found a way to pick up his slack without disrupting the delicate engine work. “Another day or two, maybe. I’ve almost gotten all the kinks worked out. I’m thinking we could try to figure out the loads afterwards?”

“Oh hell yeah! I’ve had a few ideas for-” Christopher started to chime in, but Piper lifted a hand to interrupt him.

“Okay, that’s enough work talk for the evening. This is the one night off we got Leo to agree to. You can do Argo planning literally any other time,” she said sternly.

“Ugh. Fine. But if we miss our deadline, it’s gonna be your fault,” Leo teased, turning his attention to the thing Harley was tinkering with. That Argo talk was banned didn’t mean he couldn’t grill his siblings about their other projects, after all. “What are you working on?”

Harley’s whole face lit up with excitement, but before he could say anything, Nyssa cut in. “Nothing anymore,” she said immediately, crossing her arms and shaking her head at their little brother. “Harls, what did we say about working on deadly weapons at the dinner table?”

“Not if they’re anywhere close to completion,” he said, pouting. “But getting to finish a project is the most exciting part!” He hung his head.

Nyssa’s expression softened slightly. “I know, buddy.” She reached out and ruffled his hair. “It’ll still be exciting after dinner, though. I promise. I’ll even help you test it, if you want.”

“Really?” Harley beamed. “Can Leo come?”

“I’ve got other obligations tonight,” Leo told him, gesturing towards Piper and Jason, “but I’d love to see it in action tomorrow.”

Harley pumped his fist—and, after one more stern glance from Nyssa, he finally put the weapon away. This put the Hephaestus table dinner destruction count at a new record low.

~~~~

It was well past nine by the time Leo and his friends started setting up inside the Zeus cabin. Piper and Leo had brought over sleeping bags as well as a vast collection of pillows from their respective cabins and spread them out around Jason’s sleep nook, flooding the neat, boring area with its’ white and golden pillows with all kinds of mismatched colors. A variety of snacks were spread out around them. It wasn’t exactly cozy—with the giant looming Zeus statue and the weird weather effects, Leo didn’t think it could ever be truly cozy in here—but it was probably the closest to cozy the Zeus cabin could get.

At least the white marble walls made for a great background to aim their projector at. 

The projector in question had been one of Leo’s earliest additions to Jason’s cabin, way before they’d ever started doing movie nights. Its regular purpose was helping Jason sleep. Most nights, it covered the walls in calm nature scenes—mostly videos of animals moving through the woods, sometimes wildlife documentaries—to provide a contrast to the thunderstorm hell of the ceiling. 

Right now, it was showing the menu screen for the movie Piper had picked out—something with the title of Bodies at the River.

The scene that the menu used as a background picture was almost as charming as the movie’s title. It showed a cabin in the creepiest woods Leo had possibly ever seen (which was saying something, considering he’d slept in a bunch of creepy-ass woods in his years as a runaway teen). In front of the cabin flowed the titular river. Leo couldn’t see any bodies at first glance, but there was a definite trail of blood that led into the water.

“Pipes, is this a horror movie?”

“Yep!” she confirmed cheerfully. “You guys aren’t scared of ghosts, are you?” Her eyes twinkled in a mischievous way that Leo didn’t really like. 

“I… don’t think so?” Jason said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. “Most of the ghosts I’ve met—or at least the ones I sort of remember interacting with—were Lares. They’re Roman house ghosts. Ancestral spirits. Generally friendly.”

But there was a tension in Jason’s shoulders, like there was something he was neglecting to say, or—more likely—some other, ghost-related experience that hadn’t been so pleasant but that he couldn’t quite remember.

“Well, this one definitely isn’t friendly.” Piper smiled. “Leo, how about you?”

“Me? Afraid of ghosts? Psh.” Leo waved her off. “I sleep in a dead guy’s bed, remember? Besides, we’ve had to deal with a bunch of evil people who came back into the land of the living in real life. Why would I be worried about fictional dead guys?”

He conveniently neglected to mention that the whole matter of inheriting his bed from a dead camper was half the reason he’d rarely—if ever—slept in the Hephaestus cabin since they’d gotten back from their quest. They didn’t need to know that.

“Great! Then let’s see if we can make you scared of ghosts by the end of the night,” Piper announced, sounding slightly too gleeful for Leo’s taste.

Oh that lovely note, she went to turn off the lights, then climbed into her sleeping bag and pressed play.

The beginning of the movie wasn’t too bad—just your average teenage protagonists being dumbasses and thinking an isolated cabin in the woods seemed like an A+ spot for a parent-free vacation. 

A few creepy things started happening around the ten minute mark, like furniture moving on its own, the missing person poster they found in the woods and a message that suddenly appeared on the bathroom mirror that looked like it had been written in blood. The protagonists, of course, ignored all the red flags and just set up for their party.

Leo lost his appetite around the time the first body was found with massive slashes across his chest. Jason inhaled sharply next to him.

At that point, one of the teens finally got their phone out and tried to call for help, but obviously they had no cell service. 

“So, this movie was clearly made by demigods, right?” Leo joked in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. “Because there’s no way in hell you’d get any other group of teens together anywhere and not have even one of them try to update their Instagram. If they aren’t demigods, someone would have discovered there was no cell service out there way sooner.”

”Oh yeah, totally.” Piper snorted. “They do such a good job sticking to demigod safety rules, and then the monster finds them anyway? There’s truly no justice in the universe.”

She leaned forward eagerly, clearly thrilled as she watched the terrified teens try to plot their next course of action. Should they try to flee? But who knew what might lurk in these woods. What if whatever had killed their friend was still out there? Maybe it was safer to bar the doors and wait for sunrise.

Leo was stressed as hell, knowing that whatever they’d decide, it would probably be wrong. 

Piper had explained to Leo once that the reason she enjoyed horror movies was that the anticipation was stimulating for her easily bored brain. “It’s like that rush of adrenaline I got whenever we were in life-or-death-situations on our quest, except my brain knows I’m just watching a movie and there’s no real danger, so I just get the excited, good stimulation brain chemicals and none of the fear ones.”

Leo, for his part, was definitely getting the fear brain chemicals—and apparently so was Jason.

Jason’s eyes were glued to the projection, but he had the expression of someone who couldn’t look away from an impending disaster, not that of someone who was having any amount of fun. His shoulders were tense, his hands clenched tightly around the popcorn bowl like he was preparing for a monster attack and the monster in question may or may not be defeatable via porcelain dishes to the face.

Leo wanted to say something else funny and/or comforting to make his friend feel better (since Piper, who was tapping rhythmically on her knees and grinning from ear to ear, was clearly not going to be any help), but unfortunately he picked just the wrong moment to try and do that. Right as he reached over to tap Jason’s shoulder in an attempt to get his attention, the ghost was properly shown for the first time. She had a pale, sunken face, red eyes and blood-stained hands that glowed faintly in the dark. Her hair and her clothes were dripping like she’d crawled right out of the river. At the same time, blindingly bright lightning flashed on the ceiling above them.

Leo would vehemently deny that this had happened later, but he did scream.

Unfortunately, it turned out tapping your friend’s shoulder during one of the worst jump scare moments of the movie and then screaming in his ear were not particularly comforting moves. 

Jason went rigid, then jumped with the speed and suddenness of a spring uncoiling, tackling Leo right in the chest and pressing him to the ground like he was an enemy that Jason had to incapacitate.

“Sorry! My bad! I wasn’t trying to- it’s just me!” Leo stammered out, words tripping over themselves in their haste to leave his mouth. He felt as startled as Jason looked.

His best friend stared at him, first confusion and then guilt abruptly overtaking his agitation. The second it seemed to click in Jason’s brain what had happened, he immediately moved off Leo, looking horrified. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to- gods, you really startled me. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

He offered Leo a hand up, which Leo took him up on immediately.

“Nah. My ego’s a little bruised from how easily you just managed to do that, but otherwise I’m fine. You did sort of tackle me into a mountain of pillows,” Leo pointed out, chuckling weakly. “You good?”

“Fine,” Jason confirmed, but he wouldn’t meet Leo’s eyes.

Piper cleared her throat.

“Are you guys done making out back there?” she teased. “Because you’re gonna miss one of the best parts.”

Leo exchanged a look with Jason. Both of them seemed to rapidly be arriving at the conclusion that this movie wasn’t going to have “best” (or, honestly, “good”) parts for either of them, but that they were going to bear it for Piper’s sake, anyway. If she could put up with Transformers for Leo’s and terrible 20th century romcoms for Jason’s sake, they could put up with a single horror movie for her.

The “best part” Piper hadn’t wanted them to miss turned out to be a second, even bloodier death scene.

Leo was mostly just glad his dinner didn’t decide to make a sudden reappearance at the sight. He wasn’t usually squeamish when it came to blood, but holy hell.

Jason gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze—which, judging by his ashen face, was probably as much for Leo’s sake as for his own. Thankfully, they managed to make it through this second attempt at comforting with zero tackles involved.

The movie just got worse after that—with Leo’s personal least favorite scene being one where a girl killed her possessed boyfriend in a desperate (as well as futile) attempt to save the rest of her friends. The scene dragged Leo right back to that unpleasant, hazy memory of being mind controlled at Medea’s department store. If it hadn’t been for Piper, either him or Jason might have ended up just as skewered as the guy in the movie.

Judging by how hard Jason was squeezing his hand throughout that entire scene and after, Leo was pretty sure he was thinking the same thing. 

If this hadn’t been a horror movie, the ghost’s backstory actually would have been kind of intriguing. Some jerks had killed her girlfriend over witchcraft accusations centuries ago, and she’d gone into the river to be with her, unwittingly binding herself to this place via her rage. She spent the whole movie testing whether people’s love for their significant others was strong enough to save them—strong in a way she herself hadn’t been. That was why the only couple who got away at the end was a pair of best friends who’d rather die than let harm come to the other person, even when things got really dire.

Leo kind of got why Piper liked the movie, at least thematically. Also, if anyone ever made him sit through another slasher movie, it would be too soon.

The final jump scare at the end of the movie, which featured the ghost seemingly breaking through the screen and addressing the audience directly, startled Leo so badly that he all but jumped into Jason’s lap. 

His heart was still hammering by the time the credits finished rolling and Piper finally switched the lights back on.

“Wasn’t this fun?” she asked, beaming at them. “It’s one of my favorite movies. Thoughts?”

“It was terrifying,” Jason said quietly. “It also made me feel kind of sad.”

Piper nodded sagely like she was teaching a course on this movie and deemed Jason’s reply an acceptable first impression. “Leo?”

“The effects were really cool,” Leo said noncommittally, because focusing on the technical aspects of the movie was easier than admitting just how much it had scared him. “I was expecting the ghost to look kind of stupid, but they seriously knew what they were doing. Hatedthe way the blood glowed when it was splattered all over her dress, that was eerie as hell.”

“Yeah, the effects really make or break paranormal horror movies, and I could gush about the ones used in this movie for days.” Piper’s eyes gleamed. “The patterns on her dress are based on foxfire.”

“The bioluminescent mushroom?” Jason asked, eyes wide. “I knew they seemed familiar.”

“Yeah, that���s the one! It fits extra well because foxfire grows on deadwood—particularly moist or wet deadwood like the one of the tree her soul is tied to.” She beamed. “And the imagery of that tree? Two separate stems growing intertwined, one still living and struggling for sunlight, the other rotten down to the roots, slowly dragging the living tree into the current with its weight? The way that it symbolizes Eleanor’s relationship with her beloved? Absolutely incredible.” She sighed dreamily. “I may disagree with my mom on a bunch of things, but there really is something kind of romantic about the thought of a girl loving me so fiercely she’d haunt the lands of those who wronged me for generations to come.”

“Right! So you clearly have issues,” Leo commented, nodding his head. Piper lightly swatted him with one of the pillows. “Hey!”

“You deserved that.”

Leo rolled his eyes, but he was grateful for the laughs after he’d just spent the better part of two hours terrified.

“How did you even get your hands on this movie? That has got to be R-rated for violence,” Leo pointed out. He loved hearing Piper talk excitedly about movie effects, but he’d much rather move on before she started to try and explain the exact making of the murder scenes. There were some things he’d just rather not think about too hard.

“I asked my dad to send me the DVD from home when we first decided we were going to do regular movie nights.” She smiled. “I talked my way into the cinema to see this movie when I was thirteen. Dad worked with the director once or twice afterwards. When he learned I was a fan, he got her to sign me a copy of the DVD and got me an earlier version of the script.” Piper ran her fingers over the neat black letters on the plastic hull, expression soft. “It’s one of the coolest things he’s ever done for me. And also the one time that it was convenient be doesn’t pay too much attention, because he didn’t even bother to check the age rating.” 

She chuckled.

“That was really nice of him,” Jason said, looking at her fondly. “I don’t think mom ever brought me or Thalia anything back from a set, but I was also way too young when I ended up with Lupa to remember much from before then.”

“Yeah, I really have two best friends who are children of celebrities. No idea how that happened either, but yes, they do make me feel weird about it occasionally, thank you for asking,” Leo joked, holding his empty cup upside down and speaking into it like it was a microphone.

Piper gave him another light swat with her pillow, but she was laughing.

“Anyway… thanks for doing this for me, guys. I could tell the movie wasn’t really your thing, and I vow I’ll find something less scary for you two cowards next time, but… this was the first time I got to watch this film with friends, and it meant a lot to me.”

“Aw, you sap.” Leo moved to hug her. “I’d say anytime, but it appears horror movies aren’t really my vibe. I’m glad it made you happy, though.”

Piper hugged him back, then grabbed Jason’s arm and pulled him into the hug, too. “Sorry. Mandatory trio group hug,” 

Jason chuckled. “I don’t mind. This is nice.”

~~~~

What Leo and Jason did mind, actually, was the ensuing walk through the dark, silent camp to get to the bathrooms. It was late enough that the campfire had died down and the rest of the campers had disappeared into their cabins due to curfew. Thankfully the harpies had been instructed to refrain from eating demigods if all they did was head right to the bathrooms and back, no matter how late into the night it might be. 

One serious downside the Zeus cabin had—in addition to the shitty weather effects, the massive statue and the general gloomy atmosphere—was that, because it had clearly been built as a temple rather than a living space, it didn’t have the small attached bathroom most other cabins came with. Due to this, they had to use the public washrooms to brush their teeth.

Usually, Leo didn’t mind this so much. Sure, a five minute walk outdoors when he had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night was annoying, but that was all it really was. 

Right now, though? Camp was eerily quiet, and during their walk Leo was reminded unpleasantly of the fact that the three of them were, technically, teenagers staying in a cabin in the woods with little to no adult supervision and a large body of water close by. He did not appreciate the similarities to the movie.

He felt that demigod alarm tug in his gut which kept him vigilant for any sign of danger. At the current moment, this feeling was incredibly stupid considering the massive, very much intact barrier around camp that kept monsters out, but he just couldn’t turn it off. 

He spent the whole walk jumpy as hell. At one point, one of them stepped on a twig, and Leo promptly made the reasonable self-defense move of bursting into flames.

“I mean, yeah, you will for sure be able to defend yourself against the evil twig that way,” Piper snickered. “It doesn’t stand a chance.”

Leo glared daggers at her.

Somehow, this wasn’t even their worst horror movie-related incident. When they passed by the lake—which usually had a nice, calming air to it, even late at night—bubbles rose up in the dark water.

Jason’s gladius was in his hand faster than either Leo or Piper could react, and only Piper’s quick thinking and her charmspoken “STOP” prevented Jason from rashly beheading some poor naiad whose worst crime was probably the gossip she was undoubtedly going to spread about this incident.

Her friend that had emerged next to her looked equally startled.

“Sorry, ladies,” Leo said, looping his arm through Jason’s and pulling him a little further away from the shore, “bad horror movie experience,” he tried to explain. “Uh. Have a nice night?”

“Stupid demigods. Can’t even moonbathe in peace,” the first girl muttered.

The two naiads gave them all disapproving looks before disappearing back beneath the surface.

“You guys are both morons,” Piper said, shaking her head, though there was a distinctly amused glint in her eyes. Now that the situation was dealt with and no one had been seriously hurt, she clearly thought the whole thing was hilarious.

They made sure to give the lake a wide berth in their walk back.

~~~~

The second they’d finished putting some minimum effort into tidying up their sleeping space and killed the lights, Piper immediately passed out. She snuggled up in her sleeping bag and happily, peacefully snored away, like they hadn’t just finished a borderline traumatizing horror movie less than an hour ago.

Leo could not relate. He’d come into this movie night exhausted, but since then, his body had been kicked into flight mode so hard that he wasn’t sure he’d ever remember how to feel tired at all. 

The smallest noises made him jump. Even Piper’s steady inhales and exhales, which Leo usually found comforting because the noise was so familiar, suddenly added to the ominous atmosphere. 

Leo felt like he needed to go for a run or something to get all of this anxious energy out, but a light post horror movie jog through the monster-infested woods at midnight didn’t actually seem like a very good idea to him for some strange reason.

Part of him maybe slightly longed to suffocate Piper with one of their many pillows as revenge for her movie of choice, but he was decently sure a less anxious, less sleep-deprived version of him would probably regret that, so he shelved the murder plans for now. Instead, he closed his eyes to try to at least pretend he was going to get any sleep whatsoever.

Bad call. The final death scene painted itself onto the inside of his eyelids in all its gorey details. 

Yeah, screw closing his eyes. He went back to staring at the ceiling and tried to get a handle on his breathing.

This, unfortunately, turned out to not be much better. The ceiling lightshow painted shadows all over the walls. And like that wasn’t bad enough, the second he’d gotten his heart rate to slow down a minimal amount, the room suddenly exploded into noise—first that of a lightning strike, followed by the loudest thunderclap Leo had ever heard in his life. 

He yelped, flinching violently at the noise. The noise was so loud and seemed so close by that he briefly wondered if maybe they had pissed Zeus off so badly he’d decided to come down from Olympus and blast the roof off this cabin, but thankfully nothing else happened, so that probably wasn’t the case.

Leo would have been mortified about his intense reaction under normal circumstances, but the mortification was slightly lessened by the fact that the noise had made Jason jump so hard that he was literally levitating a full foot above the mattress now.

“Gods of Olympus,” Jason muttered under his breath, which was the closest Leo had ever heard him come to an actual swear word.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Leo agreed, annoyed at how squeaky his voice sounded. “Screw your dad and/or whichever jerk installed this stupid lightning and thunder display.”

He sat up, giving up any pretense that he was going to get even an hour of sleep tonight. “You gonna come back down, or do I need to worry about you floating away on me?”

“No, I-” Jason took a few deep, slow breaths that sounded very forced, then slowly levitated himself back onto his mattress. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, clearly. And we’re obviously both huge fans of slasher movies,” Leo replied sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at his best friend.

A part of him was honestly relieved that Jason couldn’t sleep, either. The fact that the movie had rattled even Jason Grace—seasoned hero that he was—made Leo feel a lot less ridiculous about just how badly it had scared him.

Piper on the other hand was still happily snoozing away, despite the thunder and Leo’s yelp and Jason’s little flying stunt. 

“Okay, so maybe I’m not fine,” Jason admitted with a sigh. “My adrenaline’s all over the place. I feel like there’s some monster lurking in the dark that I’ll have to fight any second now. The shadows on the walls aren’t helping, either.”

“I’m so glad it’s not just me,” Leo told him. “I don’t even want to stab anything, I’m just super jumpy, but it’d still suck a lot worse if I was lying here waiting for some ghost to show up and murder me while you two were snoring away on either side of me.”

Jason looked at Piper’s sleeping form and shook his head. “I have no idea how she does it.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“Hey, Leo?” Jason asked, something almost hopeful in his voice. 

“Yes?”

“Any brilliant ideas on how to deal with this situation?”

“Nada, sorry. I’m too hopped up on anxious energy to have anything but panicked squirrel thoughts right now. I’d volunteer Piper for stabbing purposes, since this is technically her fault, but I don’t think she’d appreciate that,” he joked. “Do you think your usual way of dealing with your dad’s whole… shtick might help?” He gestured vaguely at the cabin around them. The cabin ceiling chose this very moment to unleash yet another lightning thunder combo on them. “Holy fuck, cool it, lightning guy,” Leo cursed at the ceiling. The ceiling thundered back disapprovingly.

Jason laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t think you’re helping.” But some of the tension had gone out of his shoulders. “And… I don’t know? I guess we could try one of the nature documentaries. I’m not sure you’d like it, but it might at least distract us for a while.”

“Good enough for me. Besides, Pipes is totally gonna sleep right through that.” Jason laughed again. It was a full, proper laugh this time, the kind that made Leo break out into a huge grin for having caused it. He looked at the empty space on Jason’s mattress—that spot that had been freed up by Jason sitting up—suddenly feeling strangely nervous for a reason he couldn’t quite explain. “Hey, is it cool if I sit there? That way we can just aim the projector at the opposite wall and neither of us has to do any awkward neck craning.”

“Yeah, obviously.” Jason smiled at him. “I’ll go start the documentary, but I’ll be with you in a second.”

He did just that, picking out a documentary about wolves like the predictable dork that he was. To Leo’s confusion, he didn’t immediately sit back down once he’d started it, though. Instead, he began rummaging through the mountain of stuff they’d lazily shoved aside earlier.

“Whatever you’re doing, you better hurry it up,” Leo teased. “You’re gonna miss all the best wolves.”

But when his best friend reemerged from the pile of their things with a very familiar magical tool belt in his hand, Leo immediately shut up.

“Tinkering is how you usually get out your excess energy, right?” Jason asked, holding the tool belt out towards Leo as he sat down on the mattress next to him. “I figured if we’re gonna watch the documentary for my sake, the least I can do is find something that would help you, too.”

“Dude, not to be dramatic, but I could kiss you right now,” Leo told him, delighting in the way Jason’s face lit up at the confirmation that he’d helped.

Leo immediately started pulling bits and bobs from his tool belt, his hands moving pretty much by themselves. Some of the anxious tension immediately drained from his body. 

In the end, that was how they spent most of the night: with Leo tinkering away on several small contraptions that were purely for fun and Jason spouting a bunch of random wolf facts to give additional context to this documentary that he’d apparently memorized word for word. 

Leo forgave the fact that Jason had picked out a kind of gross documentary about wolves hunting less than half an hour in, because Jason scowling at random deer and hares in the projection was both incredibly funny and also genuinely seemed to help him relax.

It was nearly 4 am by the time Leo finally managed to pass out, but by then he’d also mostly forgiven Piper’s movie choice. Horror movie aside, he’d had a wonderful time with his friends. Besides, goofing around with Jason and light-heartedly poking fun at all of his nerdy wolf knowledge had been such a great time that Leo had almost managed to forget about the horror movie altogether. 

And, well… if he went into a temporary coma with his head on Jason’s shoulder and missed all of the Argo-related deadlines he’d set for the next day in favor of catching up on sleep, that was a problem for future Leo.

———

Notes:

Special shout-out to @manygeese for the prompt idea of them watching a horror movie together, I was really struggling with the prompt I initially came up with but ended up really happy with this one :)

I feel like if the fic was narrated by anyone other than Leo, the Valgrace would probably be way more prominent, but Leo is currently still in denial about his feelings for Jason. Jason, on the other hand, is very aware he has a crush on Leo and deserves a medal for not imploding at Leo’s little “I could kiss you. Anyway, moving on”-moment, LOL

And Piper absolutely knew beforehand that neither of them is huge on horror movies and she did pick the movie at least partially because she was hoping they’d hold hands about it. (She did also just really want to see her favorite queer horror movie, though. It’s what she deserves.)

Also, I’m not the horror movie type. Bodies at the River is a horror movie that I specifically made up for a different horror movie watching fic (because Im not very familiar with many horror movies) and I decided it would both be a fun nod to that fic as well as convenient to recycle it here. That made-up movie working kind of well thematically was mostly a nice coincidence. Another funny coincidence: somehow, this fic ended up almost the exact same length as the first fic I used this fake movie in? No idea how that happened, but I do find it wildly hilarious.

Anyway, those were my rambles for the day, lmao. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all (and of course especially the recipient of this gift fic) enjoyed it! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[jogetsobsessed]

Picture Perfect - Edward Cullen

Standing in the kitchen you glanced through the open sliding glass door, a soft smile gracing your face as little giggles filled the air. 

You were so happy, watching as your little girl bounced around the perfectly trimmed garden, your boyfriend watching her every move, laughing as she squealed when a ladybug landed on her forearm. 

You hadn't realized it, but you had stopped preparing lunch for yourself and your daughter, floating over to the open door, leaning against the frame. Gazing out at your seemingly picture-perfect, all-American family. 

Edward could feel your gaze, looking up and meeting your eyes. Even though you had only been together for a few years you had become experts at all things with each other. Even you would always argue that he had an unfair advantage in knowing everything about you. But you did your best, learning everything about him, being able to read his expressionless face and know his feelings, even though he never wanted to share. 

After sharing a smile you turned and went back to finishing up lunch, eventually calling Edward and your daughter in. She reluctantly left the garden, only coming in after Edward did some major convincing. They sat together at the table, your daughter offering Edward some of her dinosaur-shaped cucumbers, which he as always politely declined. 

Luckily she was still at an age where she didn't pick up on certain aspects of her everyday life, like the fact she had never actually shared a meal with her father. And you were grateful for that, not looking forward to the day that you have to have the dreaded conversation with her. Not only were you going to have to explain that the monsters in fairytales were real, but that her father wasn't hers biologically. 

-----------

“Remind me when we go to the grocery store we need more bubble baths, we don't want the princess to freak out next time we promise her a bubble bath”. He laughed from his coveted spot on your shared bed. “We wouldn't want that to happen '', he chimed in, pulling the covers back as you climbed into bed. 

“You know she loves you right”. Your question caught him off guard, the words coming out of your mouth before he could enter your thoughts. 

“Where's this coming from”, Edwards' words were full of concern. 

“I just, I don't know. I guess it's because while we were eating lunch I was thinking about the conversation I'm going to have with her in a few years. About you know, everything. About you and your family and Jeff. 

“Y/N honey, you aren't going to have to go through that alone. I will be there every step of the way with you. Whether you like it or not, I am in your life Y/N”. 

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

Day had turned to night but you hadn't moved. 

You sat on the damp grass, staring straight ahead. Your body ached from head to toe and your eyes were straining to stay open. The pounding headache causes your ears to ring. 

It had been the worst week of your life. 

You had been woken by someone pounding so hard on your door you thought they were gonna break it down. It was the middle of the night so after grabbing a steak knife from the block in the kitchen you made your way towards the front door. Sleepily you called out, praying that it was just your boyfriend and that he had left his key somewhere. 

“Ma’am we are with the Clallam County Sheriff's Department, we need to speak with you”. It didn't take more convincing as you threw the door open, tears clouding your eyes before they could get a word in. 

The second you heard the infamous, “we regret to inform you” line you collapsed on the ground, your body letting out sobs that could be heard from the next county over. The painted noise drew out the sound of the sheriff's deputies informing you that your boyfriend had been involved in a car accident, and he hadn't made it. 

They had somehow managed to get you up from your spot anchored on the floor and moved you to the couch. One of them sat next to you, offering a comforting hand on your shoulder while the other asked if there was anyone they could call. 

Unfortunately, they were pros at their job, and death notifications came as a part of that package. So they were experts at understanding people through howling sobs. So as you croaked out your best friend's name, the deputy stepped outside, grabbing your phone which lay on the coffee table. 

Rosalie Hale broke just about every traffic law as she made it to your house in record time. She flew up the steps, almost forgetting to act as her human self. Rushing over to where you were still bawling she scooped you in her arms, attempting to comfort you. 

Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme had followed behind the blonde after she sprinted out of their shared residence with no explanation. Then cops approached Carlisle after he stepped out of his vehicle, recognizing him due to their overlapping career paths. 

“I didn't get to tell him”, you croaked out as your sobs turned to hiccups, still clutching onto Rosalie's ice-cold form. 

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

You thought about that day often.

The day that started off being one of the best days of your life. 

That was the day you found out you were pregnant. You had immediately called Rosalie and she had sat with you while you waited for the test to finish. And when you saw that the second line had appeared you cried happy tears as she brought you in for a sweet embrace. 

Later on, you realized how hard that must have been for her. But everyone would admit, you having your daughter and Rosalie getting to act as her godmother was good for her. In the years since your daughter's birth Rosalie had softened, she had a new purpose in life and she took her role as the favorite aunt very seriously. 

From that day the Cullen family as a whole brought you in. 

You had been friends with Rosalie since they first moved back to Forks, the two of you instantly forming a lifelong friendship. The bond that the two of you shared led to the family sharing their secret with you. While it took a while to get used to the idea that you were friends with a vampire you were able to get ahold of all your emotions because you weren't going to let anything get in the way of your cherished friendship. 

They supported you through your pregnancy, not letting you feel alone a single step of the way. 

You appreciate all the help and support you did. 

But deep down you knew that no love or support would ever begin to heal the aching in your heart. The aching that your child was going to grow up without a father. That your child was going to have to endure the unfair hardships that came with having a single mother. 

That was until a certain someone began making himself present.

It had started as seemingly convenient situations. 

The both of you coincidentally being the only ones in the living room late at night when you couldn't sleep, or running into each other on morning walks around the sleepy town you called home. 

Slowly you opened up to him. Voicing the fears and concerns that plagued your brain. Allowing him to comfort you through your darkest time. 

Honestly, you don't even remember when the friendship had crossed so many boundaries that it became a relationship. But at some point, Edward became stuck to your side like glue. He was there for every ache and pain, every craving. Caring for you unlike he had ever cared for anyone. 

When your daughter eventually came, something in Edward changed. 

He had been there for her birth, holding your hand as you squeezed it as your life depended on it. Sometime after your baby girl finally made her appearance he had slipped out of the room, becoming so overcome with emotions that he needed to be alone. 

He was in love with you, he had been in love with you since the day Rosalie had invited you over. But you were dating Jeff when he first met you. And now you were his. 

After some time the brain fog started to clear and you registered that he was no longer in the room. Asking Esme to go find him you relaxed once you heard his voice coming up the stairs. 

Everyone had cleared out, wanting to give the two of you a moment alone. 

Slowly he lowered himself next to where you lay, and if you weren't so tired you would have made fun of how stiff he was sitting. “There is someone I want you to meet”. 

You had never seen him so scared as you lifted your bundled sleeping daughter from your chest and held her in front of him. 

Carefully he took hold of her, terrified of hurting her. You almost burst into tears at the sight of the man you were falling in love with holding your newborn. He ran a finger over her soft cheek, in absolute awe of the tiny human. Reached down and admired her tiny hands, imagining what it would be like to be holding one of those tiny hands, walking her into her first day of kindergarten, or walking her down the aisle, her hand clutching his for support. 

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed your daughter's hand slowly open and grip his finger that had lingered against her tiny, once-closed fist. “I think she likes you”, you laughed out, Edward letting out a necessary breath that he had been holding in. “I have a feeling she’s gonna have you wrapped around her little finger”. 

----------- 

Boy were you right. 

From her first day on Earth Edward did everything in his power to make your daughter happy. 

He was one of her favorite people on the planet, and she was one of his. 

Edward had unspokenly assumed the role of “dad”, never having to ask if that was something he was okay with. Most people didn't even question it, you had been so early into your pregnancy when your boyfriend died that most assumed that your daughter was actually Edwards and that you had just moved on quickly. But what they didn't know wasn't going to hurt them. It was no one's business to understand the dynamics of your unique family. 

---------- 

Waking up to your alarm was easy considering you hadn't fallen asleep. 

Today was a big day in the Cullen household. 

Sitting up you saw that you were the only one in the bed, which was abnormal. Quickly getting ready while trying to keep the tears at bay you got dressed and made the bed. 

Walking through the hallways of the Cullen house you listened to see if your daughter was awake. Because for some reason she had been waking up at the crack of dawn for the past six months. 

Which is when having an immortal father who never slept came in handy. Edward would hear her stir and slip out of bed, meeting her in the hallway as she tiptoed out of her bedroom. Always posing the question, “Why don't we let mommy sleep a little bit longer”. 

Sure enough, you found the pair of them in the kitchen, Edward leaning across the island as your daughter shoveled precut bites of pancake into her mouth. 

“Good morning beautiful”, his hands found their way home to your waist and his lips to yours. The sweet moment didn't last long as a chorus of “Ewwws” that came from your daughter and her uncle Emmett broke you out of your sweet moment. Edward rolled his eyes at his brother while you crossed the kitchen to say good morning to your daughter. 

“Baby girl you need to hurry up and finish your breakfast, today is a big day and you gotta get ready”. Edward smiled at your words as he watched your daughter turn her attention away from the living room where the TV was playing the morning news and back to her pancakes. 

After she had declared that she was all done you scooped her up to go and get her ready, the Cullen/Hale women joining you as they watched their precious girl get ready for such a big day. 

--------

“Ok, I think we’re here”, Edward said to no one in particular as he pulled the car to a stop outside of the old worn-down buildings. His family pulled up in spots next to where you had been parked, none of them wanted to miss out on this monumental day. 

You and Edward stepped out of the car, Edward grabbing your daughter out of the back seat, and helping her smooth out the pretty yellow dress that she had insisted on wearing. 

Your boyfriend met you on the sidewalk, a proud smile on his face, he had been looking forward to this day for forever. “Ok baby, can you stand right here, we all wanna get some pictures of you pretty girl”, you cooed as you ushered her to stand in front of the same sign you stood in front of years and years ago. 

Reluctantly she smiled, eventually getting into the pictures, laughing as her uncles made funny faces behind her aunts. 

But after everyone put away their cameras and phones you saw her face drop. It was suddenly getting very real. A day that you and Edward had been preparing her for almost a year was here. She turned and looked at the front doors of the building before shoving the too-big backpack off her shoulders, shooting herself into her father's legs, wrapping her arms around. 

“I'm scared”, she cried out. You moved to crouch down to her level, but Edward stopped you, his face reading that he had it handled. So you took a step back, joining Alice and Rosalie as Edward crouched down to his daughter's level. 

“You have no reason to be scared honey-bee. We talked about this, it's just like pre-school except you're gonna be here a bit longer. But that means more time to make friends and you get to eat a really yummy lunch that Grandma Esme made”. 

“But Daddy, you and Mommy aren't going to be here. I’m scared”. She clung to your boyfriend, gripping onto his jacket like she was trying to make sure he couldn't get away from her hold. 

“My darling girl, I want you to listen. Take it from someone like me. I've been to a lot of schools``, he emphasized the word lot, which made the rest of you giggle, knowing that his version of a lot of schooling was much different than a normal kindergartener's parents' definition of a lot of schooling. “You are going to do perfectly fine. You are going to have so much fun. After school when Mommy and I pick you up you are going to tell us all about your day and then while you're telling us we can go and get ice cream, and eat it for dinner. 

“Can I get extra pink sprinkles Daddy? '' she sniffled, lifting her head to look her father in the eyes. Your kid didn't play when it came to her sprinkles. 

“Daddy will buy you all the pink sprinkles in the world if you ask him to”. 

Slowly she stood up accepting the comforting hug that you were offering and allowing Edward to slip her backpack on her shoulders. 

“Come on you big kindergartener, we don't want you to be late on your first day���, Edward exclaimed as he took your daughter's hand, you taking the other as the three of you marched into the school. Rosalie snapped a quick picture before they all left, whispering to Alice about how the three of you were the picture-perfect little family. 

[grace-mint]

A Fate Worse Than Death- Part 2

TW: Angst, mentions of torture and SA. Let me know if I miss anything.

Y'all I am so ready for this happy ending. (Spoilers: it will have a happy ending bc I can't read angst without happy endings). Also sorry it's a bit short, but I couldn't keep going without it getting way too long.

Rhysand hadn’t slept in three days. He could hardly eat or drink anything. He couldn’t get himself to care for himself, his main priority being the female lying in front of him. As much as his family tried, they couldn’t get him to eat. Only when Amren walked in and called him a ‘pathetic bastard,’ and stubbornly refused to leave until he ate, did he indulge her.

He sat in a chair in the corner of his and y/n’s shared room, far enough away from the bed, but close enough to keep an extremely close eye on her. He had smelled another male on her, dread sitting in his lower chest at the idea of what that may mean. Azriel had quickly captured her father, brothers, and the male he smelled after they found her, unconscious, and had them in his cells at the Court of Nightmares. He couldn’t get the image of Y/N out of his head. Her body was covered in blood, her arms and legs bruised and scabbed up, and her back. Cauldron her back. It was completely wrecked. Her wings were gone. It broke him to know that she lost an extension of herself. As anxious as he was for her to wake, he was grateful for the time it gave Madja to attempt to heal it. She told him it would scar, severely. The trauma her back endured from whips and knives. The trauma of her wings being cut out, in lieu of the faebane that was running through her system, was enough for her back to heal quite slowly. Madja had said it would take several weeks, if not months potentially, to fully heal. Her mind, Madja told him, was another topic entirely. Rhysand had known this, he would never expect her to bounce back from something like this. He cursed himself. Since she left for that mission he had cursed himself. 

She was fine for a day or two, keeping him updated through their bond. The third day rolled around, and instead of getting his usual ‘Good morning, my love,’ greeting he was used to, he was only greeted by silence. He didn’t think too terribly much of it, assuming she was busy, but when evening had passed and still no word from her, he began to really worry. A pit of unease sat in his stomach all night. He had tossed and turned, debating whether he should leave for the camp to make sure she was okay. He had talked himself out of it, telling himself he was being overprotective, and that she could take care of herself. And she could, she was a fighter, the strongest person he’d ever met. 

He told himself this again and again as he sat there in agony, watching his mate, who lay still on the bed. A knock at the door broke him from his trance. He looked up to see Azriel walking in. Az took a long look at the bed, a shadow covering his face, before he looked at his High Lord. Rhysand knew he must look like a wreck. Rightfully so. His mate had just gone through hell. No. She had gone through something worse than that, and here he was sitting, perfectly healthy, when he did nothing to protect her. 

“You need to get some sleep,” Azriel said softly. He was a man of few words, only knowing when the situation warranted it or he felt comfortable enough. “She wouldn’t want you to sit here, torturing yourself over this.” 

As much as he didn't want to think it, he knew Azriel was right. How could he help her recover from this… What could he even call it? Situation? Ailment? No, this was something much worse. This was the equivalent of a lost life. It was an Illyrian’s worst fear; their wings are sacred to them, and the lowest form of insult bestowed upon their race is defilement of their wings. Only a true monster could do something like this. Anger flared in his chest again, the thousandth time in these past few days, at the thought of her father. Even his father, cold as he might have been, would never even have the thought of using one’s wings against an Illyrian. He wanted to kill her father so bad. Better yet, he wanted to rip him apart, limb by limb. And here was Azriel, having the audacity to tell him to rest?

“Shut up, Az.” Rhysand snapped. “She’s just lost everything precious to her, and you are telling me to relax??” 

Azriel didn’t even flinch at the tone of his voice, instead he walked over and placed a hand on Rhysand’s shoulder. “She didn’t lose everything precious to her. She still has you. Take a bath at least brother. You deserve it.”

Rhysand sat for a few hours after Az left, his mind running a thousand miles a minute. Finally, with a sigh, he got up and grabbed some spare clothes, walking into the washroom. The bath, as usual, was already filled with steaming water. He looked at himself in the mirror. He did look rough. His face was pale and gaunt, deep bags underneath my eyes, and in the eyes Rhysand looked broken. Taking off his shirt, summoning his wings, he stretched them out to their full length. Rhysand stayed there for several minutes, imagining how life would be without them. He couldn’t. His soul revolted at the idea of losing them, and he quickly let them disappear, the ache in his chest growing. He knew Y/N was going to suffer greatly, she already had. Running a hand down his face, he undressed and slipped into the tub. The warm water felt wonderful, but he didn’t allow himself to enjoy it. Rhysand cursed himself, he was wallowing in self-pity. He was the most powerful High Lord in existence, blessed with the most beautiful, most intelligent, and the most perfect mate to ever live, and yet he was still too weak. 

Rhysand scolded himself once again, how could he be so pitiful when his mate is laying on their bed, still not awake. He got up from the bath, quickly toweled himself off, and got dressed. He walked back into the bedroom, hoping you might be awake, only to have that squashed by seeing you still sleeping. 

He sat back down in the chair he’d been living in. He would stay by your side until you woke up. 

----Y/N POV----

Hands were touching me, everywhere. They were running through my hair, down my front, my rear. I was screaming, or at least I was trying to. No sound was getting out. Panic wracked my chest, I was going to die. I was going to die right now. The hands kept exploring, and they reached my wings. Pulling on my wings. Pain sparked in my back where my wings were attached by powerful tendons and membrane. I yanked away, trying to escape. Not my wings, I screamed, the words still not escaping my throat. I shot upright, the screams finally tearing from my throat. I quickly tucked my wings around me, seeking their comfort. The dream was terrifying and all I wanted to do was to turn over to my mate and tuck myself in his powerful arms. But as I went to tuck in my wings, terror struck my whole being. I couldn’t feel my wings. I looked over my shoulder and saw nothing. Another blood curdling scream left my throat. I threw myself out of bed, attempting to run to the bathroom, but I couldn’t make it. I fell, my body off balanced without the comforting and natural weight of my wings. 

“MY WINGS. MY WINGS ARE GONE.” I sat on the floor, sobs wracking my body, the pain in my back that I started to feel was agonizing. I was dying. That was the only possible answer. 

“Shhhh, my love. It’s okay I’m right here.” I felt a hand on my cheek. I flinched away, throwing myself as far as possible from the touch. 

“Go away! Leave me alone! Don’t take anything more from me!” Sobs broke through each of my words, the syllabus coming out choked and teary. 

Y/N, darling, it’s me, it's Rhys. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll stay on the other side of the room, but you must calm down. A voice struck through my jumbled thoughts. Rhysand. That was my mate. Yes, I’m your mate. Rhysand. You are in Velaris, in the townhouse. We are in our bedroom. 

I look up, seeing my mate in a chair across the room, like he said. His eyes were frantic and wild. He looked pale and distressed. “Rhysand?” 

“Yes, my heart. I’m right here.” He slowly stood up, walking over to me. “Can I help you up?” 

I nod, not finding the energy to answer. He slowly and carefully, with attention to avoid the searing pain in my back, picked me up. I don’t know how he knew where it was so painful, but I was eternally thankful as he set me back on the bed.

“Rhys, my wings are gone.” My voice cracked with my words. “Someone took my wings.”

“I know, I know. I’m going to make them pay severely. Your father will die the slowest and most painful death. I swear it to you.”

At his words, the memories came rushing back. My father, my brothers, the male who used me. My head snapped up to my mate. “You need to leave.” His face fell, “Leave? No, I don't want to leave you. You’ve been passed out for nearly 3 weeks. I can’t leave.”

“Get out. Go, I don’t want to see you,” as I said the words, my heart roared in protest. I wanted him to stay, but he couldn’t. He can’t see me like this, weak and a failure. 

“Y/N, please.” He begged.

“I won’t ask again, leave.” I spat the last word out. I saw him flinch, and I wanted to leap up and beg for forgiveness, but what would he think if I told him what I let them do to me. 

Rhysand, begrudgingly left, reluctance to leave evident on his face. I felt awful for kicking him out, but I needed to be alone, for his sake and mine. 

I slowly stood up, wobbling, and tried to walk to the bathroom. I almost lost my balance, before deciding to just say screw it and lowered myself to the floor. I crawled to the bathroom, placing my hands on the counter, heaving myself up. The sight in the mirror shocked me to my core. My face was extremely sunken in, my body frail and bony, and my wings. The absence of my wings was devastating. It felt utterly wrong. I was wrong. 

I stared at myself in the mirror for a very long time; I hated every second of it, but I couldn’t bear to take my eyes away. A knock on the doorframe forced me to wrench my eyes away. There stood Cassian. His eyes full of sorrow and anger. 

“I heard you were awake and wanted to come check on you.” His voice was soft, as if talking to a frightened child. I just stared at him in silence, before turning my gaze back to the mirror. What was the point of life anymore? I was robbed of any dignity I had left. From now on my life be pitiful looks and watchful eyes from those who knew me. 

“Stop looking at me like that.” I say, without turning to look at him. “Stop it. Stop treating at me like I’m an object about to break.” 

“It’s okay to break, Y/N. None of us will blame you. Whatever you need or want, we will be by your side. If you want to wallow, we will be there. You want to yell and scream? We’re there to take the brunt of it. If you want to burn the world down? We will be there to light the matches.” His words went in one ear and out the other. 

I looked at him once again, with no emotion in my eyes. I saw his wings poking out from behind his back and jealousy reared its ugly head in my chest. “Leave. You think you can just come in here and flaunt your wings around and act all high and mighty. You are nothing more than a bastard who crawls at his High Lord’s feet.” 

There wasn’t a single part of my soul that believed the words I spit at him. In fact, I hated myself for saying them, but I wanted him to feel just a fraction of the eternal soul crushing pain I was feeling at the moment. Cassian’s expression didn’t waver at all though, instead he just tilted his head to look at me. 

“Is that the best you can do? That all you got?” He was goading me on, and I knew it. But this conversation had exhausted me enough. “Goodbye Casssian, “ I said in dismissal. I didn't bother to see if he left, I simply turned my head back to look at the mirror, to look at the ugliest creature in the world. Me. 

----Rhysand POV----

Cassian walked back into the kitchen, his face grim. “She called me a bastard, said I crawled at your feet.”

“She doesn’t mean it,“ Rhysand said, somewhat softly. He knew Cassian didn’t believe 

her, but he wanted to remind him.

“I know. Just hurts to see her like this.” Cassian and Y/N have always had a wonderful

relationship. He was able to be the older brother she never got to have. 

Rhysand poured another shot of whiskey, handing it to his brother. “She kicked me out. You should have seen her when she woke up. She was terrified. She was terrified of me.” His voice was broken. Pain seeping into his words.

“She just needs time.” He knew Cassian was right, but the ache in his chest was overwhelming at this point. Not to mention that the bond had gone numb on his mate’s side. He knew it would be bad, and he was expecting this, but he just didn’t know how to help her.  “She was looking at herself in the mirror when I was up there.”

Rhysand looked over at his brother, “Can I see?” Cassian nodded his approval as Rhysand entered his mind, finding the interaction between Cassian and Y/N. The lack of emotion in her eyes and face was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever seen. She was so gaunt and thin. She was a shell of herself. And Rhysand would stop at nothing to help her find her way home to him and his family.

[tigergirltail]

TIGER HRT CHAPTER 5 - MONTH 4 - COMMUNITY

FIRST - PREV - NEXT

It took another month after my check-in, after starting the correct dosage, for my transformation to stabilize and stop hurting all the time. My bones have settled down, my tail is getting long enough to get in the way which is honestly more exciting than annoying, and I've even got little bitty claws pushing out of my fingers! The mechanisms for retracting and extending them haven't grown yet, though, so I just… am sharp now.

It's actually become kind of a bloody inconvenience, and I use the term 'bloody' very literally. The first few times I went to go scratch an itch, I'd end up drawing blood, and having to go clean myself up and put on a bandage. I thought about clipping my claws, but I have no idea if that's going to stunt their development or have consequences when I can finally retract them, and it's not something that seems worth bothering Dr. Erian about. The biggest problem is that sometimes I'll move my arms in my sleep, and there's no way of telling what'll be in the way. I've already had to conduct emergency repairs on three plushies, and my bedsheets are kind of a write-off.

I was a little afraid of the pain subsiding, if I'm being honest, because it means going back to work, which means existing in a public space with my half-human half-something-else face. It's still cold enough that I can wear a scarf and toque over the more off-putting features, but that won't last much longer and it's not something I can do indoors. I'm just going to have to face the truth…

I don't pass as human anymore.

My first day working in-person again, my supervisor walks into my office with the intention of welcoming me back, but what actually happens is he stands in the doorway dumbfounded before asking, "Now what in the world happened to your face??"

For all the time I had, I never actually managed to think of a clever lie, so I just tell him it's a side effect of some new meds I'm taking. Technically not a lie, if you ignore the word 'side'. Fortunately, he doesn't ask what's wrong with me. I'm not looking forward to having to tell someone who doesn't get it that Being Human counts as Something Wrong.

Work has been alright, though, if a bit dull. My coworkers mostly leave me to my own devices to get things done.

It's doing anything else that becomes an issue.

I get lots of stares in the grocery store or the mall. I'm not sure whether it's the inhuman face that does it, or the fact that I nearly always wear t-shirts and my fur is now growing up to my wrists. I think it's growing faster now that it's run up against peak arm hair territory. Either way, I basically don't dare set foot outside without my partner in tow. Nobody's tried anything yet, but I see them shying away from me, and just the other day a little kid called me a 'monster'. It's… still eating at me.

I never could take being the centre of attention.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. I don't know whether the tactile senses of my hands have changed or it's something psychological, but that thing cats do where they knead something with their claws? "Making biscuits" I've heard it called?

It feels soooo niiiice.

Last weekend I went to take an afternoon nap, and ended up spending a solid half hour just squishing my blahaj with my hands (or would that be 'paws' now?) All the stress from the previous week just… melted away. It was like an ASMR video for my sense of touch.

Is it bad that I'm really enjoying being a little more cat-brained?

I've also become RAVENOUSLY hungry. As in, "destroy an entire rotisserie chicken in one sitting" hungry. The meat cravings have kicked in, HARD, and I've basically lost my appetite for bread and pasta. You really don't realize how much human food is grain-based until you stop wanting to eat it…

All the big changes hitting at once are getting hard to withstand sometimes. There are nights when I go to bed absolutely euphoric about how it's finally happening, I'm finally embodying everything I'm supposed to be! But there are also nights when I cry myself to sleep because oh gods, what was I thinking, why am I doing this to myself, I look and feel like a godsdamned circus freak, and it really doesn't help to remember that white tigers are pretty much universally victims of inbreeding and abuse.

In a moment of weakness, I catch myself eyeing the remaining contents of the HRT bottle. I ran some numbers a little while back and figured out that at the recommended dose, this bottle is an entire 18-month treatment, give or take. Well, 12 months now, I guess, since I was accidentally taking a triple dose for the first three months. The fact that it's a diluted Fifteen Minute formula means that if I just brace myself and chug the entire rest of the bottle, that would finish out the treatment in one go, wouldn't it? It… probably wouldn't even hurt as much as doing Fifteen-Minute from the start, right?

My partner walks in on me holding it and staring at it, and asks what I'm doing, so I explain my thought process. They just silently put one hand on mine and use the other to gently remove the bottle from my grasp.

"But I -", I begin to protest.

"No."

"I keep getting stared at and -"

"No."

"That one little girl called me a monster!"

"No."

I start crying, and I can't help raising my voice. "If I just finish it all NOW then maybe -"

"NO."

They set the bottle down and pull me into a tight hug, pinning my upper arms to my sides. "I love you very much, and I don't want to see you hurt yourself. You went into this knowing it was gonna suck for a while, and right now it sucks, but it's not worth risking your life over."

I don't have a counter-argument. I just lower my face onto their shoulder and sob. "I just… I don't want to keep doing this alone anymore! I need… I need help! Support, guidance, SOMETHING!!" I cling to them, digging my fingers, my claws, into their back. "I don't want to be the only one…"

"You aren't.", they reassure me quietly. "Didn't you tell me yourself that there's a bunch of people doing this? We even saw a whole crowd of them at that seafood place."

"Y-yeah, but I don't know anybody local!"

"Then find them online. It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

"It's… It's just not the same…"

They pat me on the back. "Just… try. For me."

They let me cry into their shoulder for another several minutes before I let them go.

Back at my computer, I sit down and start searching for a humanity removal therapy support group. A Discord server, a Facebook group, a Tumblr sideblog, ANYTHING. Gods help me, I'm even looking to TWITTER for help. Even as a human I was a solitary creature, and tigers are about as solitary a creature as they come, so it takes a lot of effort to bring myself to reach out. I end up doing it right before I go to bed, just firing off a few quick messages to some figures in the community, then forcing myself not to look at social media the rest of the night. For all my growth, I'm still a bit terrified of being noticed.

By the time I wake up, some of them have gotten back to me. I… wasn't expecting it to be so fast.

It turns out there's a private group chat where a bunch of them hang out on the regular to talk about what they're going through. They sound open to the idea of bringing me in, but want to get to know me a little better first. I don't blame them for wanting to keep to themselves. I get to talking with one of them, a lamia-to-be, and through our conversations I get the distinct impression that, well, I'm not alone in feeling alone. Somehow I manage to convince her I'm worth knowing and having around, and she sends me an invite to the group chat server.

Time to face the mortifying ordeal of being known.

I go through all the typical new-to-the-server motions. I read the rules page - it's the usual "don't be a dick" type stuff, with some bonus content applicable to our unique situation, like not stereotyping based on species, and a reminder to not present your own experiences with humanity removal as universal fact. Then into the welcome channel to type up a quick introduction:

"Hey all, I'm Alexis, transfem (she/her), 38, 4 months white tiger HRT. Interests include gaming, tabletop RPGs, costuming, and witchcraft. Looking forward to getting to know everyone!"

A few people react with heart emojis and tiger emojis. Discord only has the standard orange tiger as an emoji, but, you know, close enough. One person reacts with a witch emoji, and it gives me a laugh.

There's a channel for serious questions about the transformation process, so I decide to hop in and fire off a quick one:

"Not that I mind this, but why am I so hungry for meat now? It hit around the 3 month mark and now I can eat an entire roast chicken in one go"

Over the course of the next hour or so, a few people weigh in. The consensus is that my body is entering a 'bulking up' phase, and needs a ton of protein to generate muscle. Just out of curiosity I go to do an online search to confirm something, and yeah, tigers are a lot more proportionally muscular than humans are. Someone else suggests taking calcium supplements to help with bone growth, unless I'm prepared to drink a LOT of milk. I am in fact prepared for that, but it couldn't hurt to drop by the pharmacy.

It also turns out that the server isn't just for people who have started their HRT, but for aspiring humanity-removers as well. There's even a channel specifically for advice navigating the whole process, including how to convince your medical provider that you're for real and you won't immediately regret it when the itching/soreness/bleeding kicks in.

One of the regular posters is a teenage girl with a corvid avatar who asks a lot of questions about what it's like to become nonhuman. Surprisingly, she's not trans like most of us are, but she is queer. It sounds like she's not in a stable situation, though - she asks at one point if anyone can think of a way to get the meds without her parents noticing.

The problem is, even if that's a possibility, someone would notice when she starts sprouting black feathers and a beak.

---

(guest cameo from @ariathelamia!)

[disasterchild20]

Dating Him Would Include

James

Him showing off with a snitch

Stealing his hoodies, especially his quidditch one, and him loving it

“You comfy, Love?”

“Very… plus it smells like you.”

Cuddles. Lots of them

Always makes sure that pranks won’t get you

The marauders teasing him for it

Is always touching you in some way. Whether it be holding your hand, or gently brushing arms

Always checking in on you when he sees you, asking how your day has been or if you need something

Surprising you randomly with small gifts; flowers, chocolates, ect

Sirius

I’m always serious jokes

Arm always round you

“Siri, can you please be serious for one minute?”

“But, Darling, I’m always Sirius.”

Likes it when you play with his hair

Gets you to do his eyeliner

Randomly pulls you onto his lap, burying his face in your neck

Loves it when you ramble about what you’re passionate about

You wearing his quidditch jersey on game days and not giving it back

Painting each others nails

Remus

Sharing books and reading them together

Reading aloud to each other

Stealing his sweaters

Him pulling you into his chest when you’re sitting on the sofa together

Burying his face in your hair

“Is that my sweater?”

“…maybe…”

Eating chocolate in his dorm together

Telling him he could never be a monster

Nose kisses

Peter

Cuddles. Lots and lots of cuddles

Raising his sweet draw in his dorm

Him cuddling into your chest/neck

“I’m bored.”

“Okay… you want cuddles, don’t you?”

Loves you running your hands through his hair

Will kiss your cheek every time he sees you

Loves making you blush

Marauders all calling him a love sick puppy

Always asks for your help with homework or revision just to spend time with you

Evan

Always needing to be touching you in some way

Wraps his arms round you from behind and burying his face in your neck

Neck kisses

Him lying on you for cuddles

“You’re always so warm.”

“And you’re always so cuddly.”

“You playing with his rings

Love playing with your hair

Sneaks into the kitchen with you to bake cookies with you

Gets you flowers every weekend

Regulus

Speaks French to you

Forehead kisses

Let’s you draw on his hands and arms

“What are you drawing today, mon ami/e?”

“Stars and flowers, they represent you and me.”

Him letting you paint his nails, returning the favour

Takes you star gazing, telling you what stars are where and the stories behind them - making you wear his quidditch jumper if it’s cold

Writes you poetry, slipping them into your books

Links pinkies on the table when sat with you

Loves you playing with his curls

Barty

Loves putting his face in your neck when cuddling

Let’s you choose what earring he wears that day

Loves it when you read to him

Interested in your rambles

“Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, continue, I’m interested.”

Writes little notes and slips them into your pockets or bag

Let’s you do his makeup

Makes sure you’re eating while revising or doing homework

Asks your opinion on his outfits

Severus

Takes time to explain the theory behind potions to you

Loves holding hands

Plays with your fingers

Studying under trees together

“Told you this place is a perfect place to study.”

“It is, thank you for bringing me here.”

Blushes whenever you kiss his cheek

Sneaks snacks into your bag

Legs touching when sat together

Compare notes after class to see if the other has something different

Frank

Rambles about different plants

Let’s you name his plants

“This is Sally.”

“Okay, Sally can go between Brian and Samantha.”

Knuckle kisses whenever you’re holding hands

Gives you a flower everyday for two weeks leading up to your birthday

Helps you with Herbology if you need it

Buys you a small plant because you like helping him with his

Napping together

Cuddly when sleepy