#and then it’s like. Oh we’ve lost it. Oh the weather was bad. Oh it’s. Still in Montana

[victory-cookies]

my pakige…

[chrisevansonly]

𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬

ʚ harry styles x female reader

ʚ you know well enough no matter how hard you try, your daily walks in london with harry will never be private

ʚ slight angst but not really? protective H, but also some good ol sweetness

ʚ not requested, just felt like writing a little something and it’s pretty bad but idk🙃

The weather in London had been surprisingly nice so far for fall, the sun shining and gentle breeze filtering through the still changing leaves was enough of an incentive to get you and Harry out the door for your daily walk. Luckily not far was a fall market, so the plan was to grab your oat latte’s from your favourite cafe and head towards the vendors stands.

“You ready to go H?”

Your hands fixing your vest as it rested over your (harry’s) oversized sweater, opting to dress a bit more comfy and casual

“M’just grabbing my phone then i’m good”

Soon enough he wandered into the front entrance, sunglasses in hand, as he smiled, pressing a kiss to your lips

“Ready”

“Shall we?”

Taking your hand he nodded, opening the door to your apartment and leading you out, making sure to lock the door before you both took off down the elevator and out onto the somewhat quiet streets of your neighbourhood. Thankfully you didn’t need to go towards super central London otherwise you’d have avoided the market all together.

“Seems quite quiet today don’t you think baby?”

Harry hummed

“A bit, but you know it’s never really quiet for us” his voice held an anxious undertone which made you frown

“I know, but i’m safe with you and we know what to do if it ever gets too crazy”

Three weeks prior the two of you had been caught downtown where it was way busier than expected and you ended up seeking refuge in a small boutique until Harry’s security team could show up, needless to say your boyfriend was not impressed and you stayed at home the next couple days afterwards.

“I’m still sorry for that”

A frown etched across your face once again

“My love you don’t need to apologize for something you have no control over…i’m safe, i’m not hurt and you aren’t either…I promise you do not need to apologize to me”

Even if you both were hesitant around pda, Harry leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to your lips, eliciting a happy sigh from you. The walk towards the market was nice, not many people, and when you arrived it wasn’t packed either.

“Oh H look they’ve got the chilli oil we’ve been trying to find”

Harry followed you towards the stand, eyes still scanning the area to make sure the two of you were okay

“Why don’t we get a few of them?”

You smiled

“Good idea!”

Paying the lady she bid you both goodbye as you kept wandering. A few people starting to notice Harry Styles was now walking amongst them, it wasn’t until you took his hand and squeezed it that he figured out you were starting to get uncomfortable.

“I think i’ve got everything,can we go?”

“Course we can”

His arm wound it’s way around your waist, tucking you into his side as you walked away from the farmers market, his fingers tapping your hip gently as a way to calm both himself and you down, both of you not a fan of the constant shadows that followed the two of you around. It wasn’t until a few voices begun to call his name that he stopped turning to face them

“Can you guys please not do that? It’s making my girlfriend and I uncomfortable.”

The two people with camera’s that had been following you stopped, both of them looked to be in their teens, it almost made you feel bad but at the end of the day, some people did forget Harry was human and wasn’t mean to be followed around like a lost dog.

“Oh sorry!”

“We didn’t mean too!”

Nodding he sent them a brief smile

“Thank you, enjoy your day.”

You smiled at the two teens as they walked away, obviously feeling bad for upsetting Harry

“You alright lovie?”

He nodded

“Yeah, just-I just hate that”

“I understand, we’re almost home and then it’ll be just the two of us”

He was more than happy to get home and cuddled up on the couch, the two of you going through another rerun of gossip girl as the weather begun to get colder. You’d bring down the fluffiest blankets and set up some snacks just to have a quiet afternoon which were always your favourites.

“I’m sorry about that again by the way”

“Not your fault baby, it happens, i’m used to it, and you always keep me safe so really, everything is okay”

Hearing confirmation was enough for Harry to press a kiss to your temple as you continued making your way home, excited to get out of the public eye and just enjoy some quality time away from the constant watching eyes.

[the-al-chemist]

Tango for Tongues

A/N: For @hphm-ship-week’s prompt “Dance”. Excuse the gross title. This is a Diego story.

Warnings: a would-be teenage lothario, awkward kisses, a plot twist…

Spring had sprung. The nights were getting lighter, the frost had thawed, and the first flowers were starting to bloom. But the warmer weather and longer days were not the talk on anyone’s tongue at the castle. No, the students at Hogwarts had only one thing on their minds: the upcoming Celestial Ball.

With Ball Fever taking the castle by storm, Diego Caplan had seen a unique opportunity arise. It turned out that Jae Kim was not the only wizard in his year with entrepreneurial spirit, for Diego had managed to make a small fortune in the last few weeks. While Jae had been brewing beautification potion — or at least stewing something that could pass for beautification potion — Diego had been giving his female classmates private lessons on his specialist subject.

Kissing.

And he was something of an specialist, if he did say so himself. He had kissed more girls than any of the other boys in his year group. A Sickle a lesson was a fair price to pay for such a level of expertise. Clearly, the girls thought so. He was fully booked until next Thursday.

His next client was due to arrive at any moment: Belladonna Beauchamp. Hers was not a name that Diego recognised, and as he waited for her to arrive, Diego found himself hoping that she was decent looking — not that he wouldn’t give her a quality service if she wasn’t, of course. Thankfully, when the door opened, in walked a remarkably pretty girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, dressed in a Ravenclaw uniform. She was rather petite, and not overly familiar looking. Probably a third year.

“Hi, are you Diego?” she asked.

“I certainly am. Belladonna?”

Belladonna nodded, her hair tumbling around her shoulders as she did. Diego held his hand out towards the chair opposite him, and she took it. As she handed him a single silver coin, he took a better look at her face. Her skin was so clear it almost seemed to glow, and her lips were so full that Diego was surprised that no one would have kissed her before.

“Are you nervous?” he asked. She giggled slightly.

“Um, a little. We’ve played spin the bottle in my dormitory a few times, if you could imagine that...”

Diego could definitely imagine that. In fact, it was only the sound of someone coughing in the corridor outside that distracted him from imagining that.

“But I’ve never kissed a boy before, not properly,” continued Belladonna. “This will be my first real kiss.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be worried about,” Diego reassured her. “Kissing is very simple, as long as you don’t overthink it. It’s like dancing — just trust your instincts and follow a lead. That’s where I come in. I’ll lead, you follow. Ready?”

Belladonna nodded her head, and ever so slowly, Diego leaned in and kissed her. She returned his kiss, her lips closed. She was not bad, especially for a relative beginner, and he told her so once he had pulled away.

“How do you feel about trying again, with tongues this time?”

“Hmm…” Belladonna’s teeth grazed her bottom lip for a moment before she smiled, revealing a set of perfectly straight white teeth. “Oh, go on then.”

This time, when Diego kissed her, she did not only kiss him back, but she did so passionately. It was like a tango between them, and he wasn’t even sure that he was the one leading anymore. By the time her hands came to rest on either side of his face, he was so lost in the kiss that he almost forgot that he was supposed to be teaching her — not that she needed much instruction.

“Are you sure you’ve never… UGH!”

As he pulled away to ask his question and opened his eyes, Diego was filled with revulsion. If it weren’t for her hands holding him still, he would have recoiled from Belladonna.

Except it wasn’t Belladonna that was sitting with him anymore.

Gone were the bouncy blonde waves and chocolate-brown eyes, the peachy skin and full, tempting lips. Belladonna’s face had grown sallow, her nose crooked, her hair black and lank and greasy. This wasn’t Belladonna.

This was Professor Snape.

As Diego swore and retched, Snape doubled over laughing, cackling and snorting. He screwed up his face and it changed again, becoming heart-shaped, framed by a shock of raspberry-pink hair.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake!” Diego half-shouted. “Tonks!”

Outside the door, a second peal of laughter sounded, and in walked Tulip Karasu. Tonks winked at her.

“Told you it would be worth lending me your spare uniform.”

Tulip smirked. “Yes, you were correct. That was fantastic.”

“But, really, Diego?” Tonks sighed. “I can’t believe you fell for it again.”

Neither could Diego. He hadn’t believed it last time, or the five times before that. He scowled at the pair of them, both now almost breathless with laughter.

“Haven’t you run out of Sickles yet?” he grumbled.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Clearly bored of him, the girls left the room, arm-in-arm. Before the door shut behind them, Tonks turned back around and blew him a kiss. “Until next time, lover boy.”

There would not be a next time. Diego would make sure of that. He shuddered as he looked at the chair Tonks had left vacant.

Perhaps he ought to just give dancing lessons instead.

[forget-you-morelike-fuck-you]

Heartwork- E.M. Pt. 8

You get another call from a long lost friend.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 9 - Epilogue Masterlist

TW- Cursing, mentions of cheating, a bit angsty, pining

Pairings- Eddie X Reader

Word Count- 1,773

(Gif not mine, credit to owner!)

The next several days are spent lonely. Work and home, that’s it for you, except the dozens of calls to Eddie trying to talk. There’s a lot of worrying, a lot of crying, and a lot of missing Eddie. 

Maybe he didn’t think you wanted to kiss him? Maybe he didn’t really want to kiss you? Maybe it’s something else entirely... You want to know so bad what happened that night, but the only one who can tell you is avoiding you like the plague.  

As a week of not hearing from Eddie approaches, you sit on your couch, staring out your window. Another thing you’ve been doing a lot this week. You don’t know if it’s just to pass the time or if you’re hoping that Eddie spontaneously shows up with an explanation and an apology. Let’s be real, it’s probably the latter.  

Work is a good distraction. You pore over credit statements and numbers day after day, fixing problems and finding better solutions, turning it into a game. Numbers don’t lie. Numbers don’t leave you wondering what you did wrong.  

You get a call Friday from your mom, asking you to come to dinner, and you oblige, telling her that “No, Eddie won’t be joining me this time.” 

Through dinner, your parents can tell something’s wrong, but they don’t push it. Instead, they try to make conversation to help distract you. “Y/N,” your dad says, cutting through a piece of meatloaf. “We got a call last week from Y/BFF/N. She was looking for you. Did you get to talk to her?” You look between your plate and your dad. You try to think of a good excuse as to why you haven’t talked to her without airing out Eddie’s dirty laundry.  

“No, I didn’t even know she called. My answering machine broke last week. Took a few days to get it fixed,” you explain. 

“Oh,” he says. “Well, she gave us her new phone number. I’ll give it to you and you can call her. I’m sure she’d love to speak to you after so long.” You nod at that, giving a small, tight smile. The dinner table is quiet again for a few minutes before your mom gives it a go. 

“Well, how’s Eddie? I’m sure you two have been having a lot of fun in this weather. What have you been up to? Any rock shows in town worth seeing?” You grit your teeth, trying to keep calm. You appreciate your parents trying to pull you out of your bad mood, but God damn are they doing a terrible job at it. 

“Um, no. We’ve been busy this week at the bank. I haven’t gotten to go out.” You manage to sound mostly casual, though you’re sure your parents can see through it. They’ve always been good at reading you like an open book. “But I’m sure we’ll get together again soon.” You can feel your parents giving each other a look, communicating about you without speaking as they have since you were young, but you ignore it in favor of focusing on your dinner. 

The rest of the evening goes by without having to talk about Eddie or Y/BFF/N or any other touchy subject at the moment, which you’re grateful for, and you finally drive back home in silence. You can’t even listen to music right now without thinking of Eddie. Not that you weren’t already.  

When you get back home, you park yourself at your spot on the couch once again, staring out the window, thinking of Eddie when the phone starts ringing. You practically sprint over to the phone, picking it up to put the receiver to your face, hopeful that Eddie will be on the other side. 

“Y/N?” Your smile falters. It’s not Eddie... It’s Y/BFF/N.  

“Y/BFF/N? Oh, um, hi.” You don’t know what to say.  

“Hey,” she says. You can hear her smile on the other side, and you give a sad smile of your own. “How are you? I’ve been thinking about you lately.”  

“Oh, I’m- I’m good. I guess you heard from my parents that I moved back to Hawkins,” you muse, chewing the inside of your mouth. You’re going to have to tell her that you know what she did. You didn’t ask if Eddie had already told her, but you guess not if she’s called you again. 

“Yeah! That’s so great. I’ll have to come see you next time I come to see my parents,” Y/BFF/N suggests, making your brow furrow. Would you even want to see her? Would Eddie see it as a betrayal? 

“Yeah, maybe...” You don’t want to give a definite answer, but you also don’t want to come off as cold. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. My answering machine was broken last week and I’ve been waiting on a part to get it fixed.” 

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m just excited you answered this time. I didn’t know if you would. Your parents told me you’ve been, um, hanging out with Eddie. I don’t know what he told you, but I hope you can believe that I did what I did for good reason.” You let out a sigh, eyes floating up to the ceiling as you form your reply. 

“Y/BFF/N, all I will say is that I don’t want to get involved. I don’t want to pick sides. You were my best friend for years. But Eddie is my best friend now.” You try to sound firm, but you can’t help but remember the state Eddie was in when he called you that day after talking to her. His bloodshot eyes as he sank, defeated, into your sofa when he arrived. 

The line is quiet for a moment before you hear her take a breath. “I- I understand. Eddie was... is a good man. He just didn’t understand what I wanted.” She tries to explain. Your face scrunches in confusion, and annoyance laces your voice as you reply. 

“Didn’t he give up the band for you? And quit doing Hellfire? And buy a sensible car? And get a sensible job?” 

“Well, yes, but-” 

“But what? It wasn't enough? But Jason Carver and his rich, stick-up-their-asses parents are? Don’t you remember the hell that Jason put us through in high school?” The anger builds in your voice. Any chance for a cordial conversation is gone now. Screw not picking sides, you’ll pick Eddie’s every time after this sorry excuse of an explanation. 

“Y/N, it’s not like that anymore. Jason is so good to me. I love him more than I ever loved Eddie. I need you to believe me!” She sounds close to tears now, but you simply scoff. 

“Yeah, Y/BFF/N, I do believe you. And I also believe that that’s why you decided it was a good idea to fuck him in the same bed you and Eddie slept in instead of having the decency to break up with him before shacking up with the biggest asshole this town had to offer.” 

“But, Y/N-” 

“I’m not coming to your wedding, Y/BFF/N. Not after you broke my best friend’s heart. And just so you know, Eddie is the kindest, most amazing man I have ever met, and if I ever had the elite privilege of being loved by him, I would hold on to that love until the day I died. So, it’s your loss, really. Good luck with your life. Please, don’t call me again.” With that, you slam the phone back down onto the dock, practically shaking with rage. You let out a groan in frustration, pacing back and forth in your living room as you try to calm down. It’s such bullshit. Eddie deserved so much better. You wish you could show him how much better he deserves. Why does he have to keep avoiding you? If you knew where he lived, you could just show up there and demand to talk to him, but he’s never invited you over. 

You stop pacing as a thought comes to mind. Eddie may not answer his phone, but someone else might. Your eyes dart to the box of mementos in the corner that your mom gave you last weekend at dinner and go over to it, moving things out of the way until you find what you’re looking for. 

Your sophomore yearbook. You flip it over and open the back cover, your eyes scanning over the messages from former classmates until you find the one you’re looking for. “Hey loser, I know I’ll see you later but I wanted to write in here anyway just in case I get abducted by aliens or something. X- Ed.” Beneath the chicken scratch of his handwriting is his phone number. You remember asking for it because you kept losing it when he would write it on sticky notes. You go over to the phone with the yearbook in hand and dial the number, hoping Eddie’s uncle still lives there. After a few rings, a gruff voice sounds through the receiver. 

“Hello?” You let out a sigh of relief. It’s Wayne. 

“Hi, Mr. Munson? I don’t know if you remember me, my name’s Y/N L/N. I’m one of Eddie’s good friends from high school,” You explain. 

“Oh,” Wayne says, sounding much lighter than he did in his greeting. “Yeah, of course I remember you. What can I do for you, young lady?” You flounder, thinking of an excuse to ask what you want to ask. 

“Well, I, uh, I moved back to Hawkins recently and reconnected with Eddie, and he was over at my house last night and forgot his jacket. I was gonna return it today but I can’t find the paper he wrote his address on, and he’s not answering his phone. Can you give it to me?” You squint your eyes, hoping Wayne doesn’t think you’re some creepy stalker or something. 

“Yeah sure, get you a pen and some paper and I’ll let you write it down again,” You breathe a silent sigh of relief and get a pen to write down Eddie’s address.  

“Thank you, Mr. Munson. It’s so good to hear from you again!” You’re beaming at the success of your plan. 

“Any friend of Eddie’s is a friend of mine. You call me any time, sweetheart. You have a good night, now.” 

“Thank you! I will. You too, Mr. Munson.” As the line clicks off, you give yourself a small fist pump as you look at the address now written in your old yearbook. You waste no time gathering your essentials and walk toward the door.  

Time to go see Eddie. 

@corrodedcoffincumslut @haylaansmi @bebe07011

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 16: The Bad End

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs| You've reached a Bad End (Also on AO3!)

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

These caves all look the same, with rock all around, but Chase and Stacy seem to know where they’re going. They keep going down for a while, until, suddenly, they stop in the middle of a stretch of tunnel. 

“Here we are,” Chase says. He pushes on part of the wall, revealing that it’s fake, a bit of painted plaster covering up a cave entrance. He pushes it inward and slides it to the side.

Jackie blinks and then looks at the construction grinning. “Damn- that’s a pretty good decoy! I would have no idea if I wasn’t looking for it! How you guys don’t get completely lost in here is beyond me!”

Stacy grins. “Thanks. It took us forever to make. And we’ve mapped the tunnels out.” 

“They’re in our brains now,” Chase laughs. “But I’m still new to them so I’m not quite used to it yet. Come on.” 

The group steps into a small antechamber, where there’s a man sitting on a folding chair and reading by the light of a lantern. A big piece of plywood blocks the other entrance to the room. 

“Hey, Quinten,” Stacy says. “We’re back. This is Jackie. The weather is nice upstairs, a bit of a breeze.” 

That last part must be some kind of code, because it makes no sense.

Jackie carefully follows the others in and waves at the new man, Quinten. "Yo!" He tries to smile. He then looks at Stacy in a bit of confusion. ...it was kinda nice outside? He guesses?

“Hey.” Quinten waves. He folds over a page corner in his book and stands up, going over to move the plywood— And then there is the sound of footsteps down the tunnel. Stacy and Chase tense. Chase reaches into his jacket and pulls out a handgun. Stacy carefully leans out into the tunnel, peering towards the sound… 

“Stacy? Is that you?” A voice calls.

 Stacy relaxes. “Trisha. Hi.” 

Trisha, Bro, and the rest of the group are approaching the hidden entrance from the other end of the tunnel. 

Trisha waves. “The weather is nice upstairs, a bit of a breeze,” she says. 

“Yeah, all of you get in here,” Stacy says, gesturing.

Jackie stiffens and unconsciously goes to hide behind Chase as they tense towards the footsteps. Then his faces brightens as he sees Bro with the others. “Chase!” 

Bro blinks and then looks relived. He hurries over and scoops up Jackie to hug him, breathing against his shoulder, “You’re okay…!” 

Jackie blinks in a bit of confusion but he hugs Bro back and pats him. “Yeah bro I’m okay!” As the hug ends, Jackie can see the pain in Bro’s eyes and he immediately gets concerned. “…what happened? What’s wrong?” 

Bro flinches slightly and looks away, gripping his hands into fists. “…they got Alt… I couldn’t stop them…”

Jackie gasps, his eyes wide. 

“Alt?” Stacy repeats. “Your magician friend?” 

“Your brother,” Chase says quietly, eyes wide. “Oh. I-I’m so sorry.” 

“I said we would get him back,” Trisha tells the two of them. 

Stacy nods, determined. “We will. Come on, get in. We’ll talk about it in here.” She finishes pushing the plywood away, clearing the entrance.

Jackie carefully leads Bro inside and guides him to sit down, acting like a worried dad. “Okay- tell us what happened…” 

Bro lets himself get lead in and sits himself heavily on the floor. He shudders. “We…appeared in this rundown street- everything looked abandoned. And then… your doppelgänger found us, Jackie. But he got… mad when we called him that. Told us to call him Error.” He grips at his arms. “He grabbed Alt and put a knife to his neck and I just… froze. I didn’t know how to help-“ He knits his eyebrows together, “then something really weird happened! His eyes went from black to white and he suddenly let Alt go- told us to run. So I did- and Alt seemed to know where to go! We found the entrance to underground and I… I thought Alt would glitch down right beside me down the stairs! He stayed for a second to try to buy us time with a shield and then- the door slammed. And no matter what I did I couldn’t get it open!” Tears fill up his eyes again as he adds quietly. “…h-He told Error he’d go with him if he left me alone… I… I couldn’t stop him.., a-and now.. now they…!” He hiccups a bit and hides his face. 

Jackie looks at him in shock but slowly goes to pull him into a hug. “…we’ll find him Chase… we always do, right?”

As Bro talks, the group files into the antechamber and blocks off the entrance with the fake wall. 

Most of them head past into the main cave but Stacy and Chase linger. 

“White eyes…?” Stacy repeats, looking at Chase. “Do you think… Jack?” 

“Must have been,” Chase agrees. “He’ll show up sooner or later.” 

Bro looks back up at the others with wet eyes, “…Jack? I,.. I didn’t see anyone else- but… Alt did seem to call to someone besides me…?” He shakes his head, looking miserable. 

Chase pauses, staring at his other self. “Listen… Chase. It’s weird to call you that, but… Chase. I-I know how you feel. Something similar happened here. Henrik, my friend, stayed behind to get me and my friend Marvin away from somewhere we were stuck. That’s how they got him. I-I know it feels horrible. I know that… you think you could’ve done something more to save him. It sucks. It fucking sucks.” He takes a deep breath. “But we’re gonna get your brother back, okay? W-we know stuff now that we didn’t back then. And you guys from another world can probably do a bunch of stuff that he won’t expect. We can do it, man. I promise.”

Bro listens to Chase and holds his arms. He’s quiet for a minute before he nods. “…okay… I… I trust you guys.” He sighs and then grips himself harder. “I’m just so… angry that he did that! How could he do that?! We could have gotten out together! I could have helped! He’s so vulnerable to t-this kind of stuff! The mind control shit! He just…! I’m supposed to protect him…!” He finally cries out at the end, burying his face into his arms. 

Jackie holds his friend close and rubs his back, at a loss for words. “…y..you did your best Chase… I know Alt knows that… he wants to protect you too.”

"Heh." Chase gives a sad smile. "Some people love their friends and family more than anything. Even their own safety." He sighs. "If it makes you feel any better, corruption takes a long time. It's strong, because of that, but i-it means we have some time." 

Bro nods, “that… does help me feel a bit better.” 

Stacy walks into the main cave. "We'll talk about it right away. I'm sure Jack's back by now. Probably looking for us."

Jackie helps him up and Bro blinks at Stacy- now taking her in. “Oh…other Stacy- uh- hi?” 

Stacy smiles at Bro. "Hi." 

Bro feels his cheeks heat up a bit as Stacy smiles and he looks away quickly. 

Jackie looks at Stacy, “oh yeah? Where would Jack be then?”

She looks at Jackie. "I'm not sure. He can be anywhere, really. I'm trusting that he'll find us." 

"Come on," Chase says, and steps into the main cave. 

The cave is massive, an almost perfectly regular dome shape. The ground is packed dirt, and there are small alcoves around the edges of the main area. There are people hanging out, sitting on top of boxes and playing games, lying on blankets reading, running laps around the perimeter of the cave for exercise. A few nearby wave and greet Stacy when they see her. Some wave at Chase, too, but less of them.

The two of them look around the cave as they walk in, mouths open in awe. 

"Woah! This place is so big!" Jackie exclaims excitedly.

"I know right? It's so lucky that we found it," Stacy says. "We have about... eighty people in here so far? There's this big long cave at the back where we sleep, and over there is where we keep the medical supplies, and there's the one where we keep food and weapons--" 

"And there's the one where you locked me up for weeks," Chase says, chuckling. 

"Don't just say that without an explanation!" Stacy gasps. 

"Right. Yeah." Chase rubs the back of his head. "I told Jackie this, other-me, but uh... I was corrupted for a while. If they'd let me go I definitely would've told A--him everything, so they made the right choice. And it worked out in the end!"

Bro's eyes widen, "Oh... woah. I mean- they told me the others were being controlled but... they said everyone but you. I just thought... you were lucky I guess..." 

Jackie frowns and looks but at Chase, "... how did you get... un-corrupted?"

“Yeah.” Chase laughs awkwardly. “No. Not lucky. Uh… Jack uncorrupted me. He… it’s hard to explain, he like… went into my brain… and I had a weird symbolic dream where he helped me get rid of it… He started calling that place the ‘mindscape’ recently. So, long story short… magic.” 

"Ah- magic. That usually seems to be a the solution." Jackie laughs. Bro hums in thought at this.

“Oh, there he is!” Stacy points. “He’s with Sam, cmon.” She starts walking.

Jackie and Bro quickly follow after Stacy.

The group weaves around boxes and people until they reach a big crate. Sitting on top is… a giant eyeball. About the size of a basketball, with a green sclera and blue iris. An optic nerve extends from the back like a tail, little zaps of lightning dancing along it. The eye turns around to look at them. 

“Hey Sam!” Chase says. “Hey Jack!” 

There is nobody standing nearby.

Jackie and Bro jump slightly at seeing the big ol' eye. "Woah..! That one is... so much bigger than the one I've seen before." Bro whispers. 

"Wait you've seen one of these guys before?? I mean... they look like the robots in the superhero world!" Jackie asks. 

"Oh yeah uh- in Distorter's world- Their Jack has a little Sam too." 

"Oh wait yeah! That weird Anti had one! The one with... all the screens and stuff!" 

"ohhh yeah!" Bro chuckles. "They were very small- but cute." He looks at the bigger Sam, "N-Not saying you're not... cute?" He laughs nervously. 

Jackie blinks and looks around, "Uhhh... where's Jack exactly? I don't see anyone else?"

Sam flicks Their nerve-tail happily. “Oh! Watch this,” Chase says. “Sam, show them how you can change size and stuff.” Sam tilts up and down, like They’re nodding, and slowly shrinks down to the size of a baseball. 

“Oh. Right, we forgot to mention,” Stacy says. “Jack is… invisible. And most people can’t hear him. Or touch him. But he’s really there.” 

“Well now we sound like we’re fucking crazy,” Chase mutters. 

"...only slightly," Jackie says with a small laugh. 

Sam lifts into the air and flies in a circle around a specific spot in the air.

Bro watches Sam shrink and fly around the specfic spot and hesitates before waving at it. "Uh... hi? Jack?" He laughs, pushing back his hair. "I feel like I'm losing my mind...!" 

Jackie turns to Stacy and Chase, "How come you guys can see him but we can't?"

“I couldn’t see him before either,” Chase says. “But then after the uncorruption I could. Maybe he needs to possess you guys.” 

Stacy shakes her head. “No, I don’t think that’s it,” she says. “Sam gave me the ability to see him. Maybe They could do the same for you?” 

Sam tilts to the side, considering. They fly up to Bro and Jackie and hold out Their nerve-tail, like a person asking for a handshake.

Bro and Jackie exchange uneasy glances. Then, Bro steps up and says quietly. "... I just wanna say for the record- this is one of the weirdest things we've done yet-" He then hesitates before holding onto Sam's nerve-tail.

Bro feels a weird tingling sensation travel up his arm. “Did it… did it work?” A voice says. “Can you see me?”

Bro jumps at the new voice and looks towards it with wide eyes. "Uhh- I can hear you! So that's something?" 

"Oh my god what?" Jackie says, blinking and looking around almost comically. He then pushes Bro slightly so he can touch Sam's tail now too.

Jackie feels the same tingling sensation. Jack laughs. “Well that’s better than nothing,” he says. “Dunno why Sam can’t do that for everyone, it would make things so much easier. Nice to meet you guys!”

Jackie gasps, "Woahhh! Ghost voice!" 

Bro laughs, "Nice to meet you too. Would be nicer to see you, but I guess we'll take what we can get!"

"Yeah, even just talking to people is good. You have no idea how long I wandered around for without being able to interact with anyone." Jack laughs, and then sounds serious again. "Other Chase. Bro, right? I saw what happened with Alt and you and Error. I-I'm sorry I couldn't hold him back longer." 

Bro blinks, "Oh! That was you!" He smiles sadly. "I... it's okay. You helped us a lot- we... probably would have been been fine if... A-Alt hadn't..." He closes his eyes and takes a shaky breath. 

"We'll get him back," Chase whispers softly, looking at Bro. "And You did your best, Jack," Chase says. "There's only so much you can do with you being, uh, a coma ghost."

"ohhh is that why can't see you? You're in a coma?" Jackie winces and sucks in air through his teeth, "Jesus man... that really sucks."

"Yeah, um... I'm kind of disconnected from my body," Jack says. "I can only really interact with electrical stuff. But, thanks to me being like this, I can go basically anywhere. Including the Place where Error took Alt. I-I almost headed there right away but I wanted to be sure you other guys were alright, too. Uh... Sam said there would be a fourth guy, too? Is that the dangerous guy They mentioned?" 

"Magnificent," Chase says. "Jackie told us his name and some of the stuff he can do. He sounds pretty similar to him. In what they do, at least."

Bro's eyes burn with anger, "Fucking Mag... what is he gonna be doing with all of this?" 

"Nothin' good, I can tell you that much." Jackie snorts, crossing his arms. He looks back at Sam and tilts his head, "...how come Sam knows so much about all of us already? Like- its the first time we've been someplace where everyone knew we were from a parallel world right away."

"Oh, Sam sees everything," Jack says casually. 

Sam bobs up and down in the air, agreeing. 

Chase looks back at the others. "Trust me, the rest of us don't get it either. Jack, Jackie, and I knew Sam the longest, and we still don't know much about Them. Jack only started being able to understand what They're saying recently. We're all still adjusting to this, but basically, Sam's fucking powerful." 

Another bob from Sam.

"...damn- that's sick as hell." Jackie laughs and smiles at Sam. "Good on ya- Sam." 

"I guess- being a giant eyeball makes seeing everything a lot easier." Bro chuckles.

"Ba-dum-tss," Chase says. 

"Ayyyy~!" Jackie says, pointing finger guns at the two Chases. He high-fives Bro. 

Stacy rolls her eyes fondly.

Bro laughs a bit more before his face falls to something serious. "So... You know about us and Magnificent... do you know how we can find Alt? How we can... fight against these corrupted guys? I mean Error... he was crazy powerful... I can be too but... I dunno if we can take on a whole bunch of corrupted puppets, and Mag, and An- the... leader." 

"Yeah I'm not like Alt and Bro- I'm... just a regular guy." Jackie sighs, "...I... I dunno how to help..."

"I mean... we can give you a gun," Stacy says. "That tends to help regular guys like us." 

Jackie hums, "...not usually a gun person but I think I can work with that."

Chase laughs at that. “Well... Error will have taken him to the Place. I know that's a vague name, but I didn't come up with it. It's a sort of pocket dimension where he lives. All the corrupted, too. That's where they..." He swallows nervously. "Th-that's where you get corrupted." 

"I've been able to get in and out," Jack says. "But it's tough for other people. The Place tends to shift around. I-I could, at the very least, check on Alt and make sure he's okay."

Bro does seem a bit pale and nods vaguely in Jack's direction, "u-uh yeah that... that'd be good I think... we... gotta come up with a way to... to get in there."

"The entrances shift around, too," Chase says. "The places where they connect to this world. But I-I remember the signs of them, and some spots where they often show up." 

"Getting in isn't the problem, it's getting out," Stacy says. 

Sam looks at the spot where Jack is, tilting to the side. 

"No, I know," Jack says. "But I've never tried it before." 

"Huh?" Chase looks at Jack. "What're you talking about?" 

Jack sighs. "I... theoretically, I could control the Place like An--like he does. We're the same, after all."

"You are?" Jackie asks with a bit of disbelief. "... is he a coma ghost thing too??"

"...kind of," Jack says reluctantly. "I, um... we're... the same person... technically."

"...oh-" Jackie replies quietly. "...that's... huh." 

"Yyyyeah, I know," Jack says. "It's a long story." 

Bro thinks about this, "... if we could get A- him... out of the place then... maybe that could work? Because I doubt it would work if he's in there and can control it right back... right?"

Stacy blinks. She grins. "That's a fucking great idea. Jack, is that true?" 

"I think so. I think he just kind of... leaves it on autopilot when he leaves. But how do we get him out?" 

Chase frowns. "He's been gunning to get me back. Maybe... if he found out I would be somewhere, he would come to get me personally?" 

"You're not using yourself as bait, Chase," Stacy says firmly. 

"I don't have to actually be somewhere," Chase says. "Though... I guess it would help..."

"...what if it was someone that looked like you?" Bro says quietly. "Someone who could take some of the corrupted on?"

Stacy and Chase look at him. 

"Are you sure?" Chase asks. "He"... usually possesses someone when he leaves the Place. Someone pretty powerful." 

"You mean Voice," Jack says. "Course I do. The guy summons endless knives and stops time on anything he touches. That's pretty OP." 

"...fuck that is really hard to fight..." Bro sighs. 

"Do you have powers, other Chase?" Stacy asks. "If Jackie is the 'normal' one, that implies that you aren't." 

Bro ruffles his hair. "Uh yeah... back home, I'm a superhero. I can fly- and have like, super speed and super strength. Stuff like that. I can channel my energy into different parts of my body and sometimes can like- shoot it out like a bullet. Oh! And I can heal pretty fast." He sighs and crosses his arms, "...I might be able to catch this Voice off guard... but I dunno if I could like- hold him off..."

Stacy blinks. "Flying would be helpful. I don't think any of them can fly." 

"They can't," Jack says. "You don't need to actually fight him, other Chase, you just need to keep him distracted for long enough. I-I could... probably help Alt get out from the inside." 

"And we have a whole group of people here who can help with the distraction," Chase says, gesturing around. "You don't have to do it alone."

Bro blinks and then grins, "Well then... sounds like we have the beginning of a plan then! I'll lure him out and then we can get Alt out of there!" 

Jackie frowns and then sighs, "...I feel like I should comment that feels very risky but... I can't think of any other plan. Plus, I trust you, bro." He knocks his fist against Bro's arm. 

Bro laughs, "Thanks mate." 

"It is pretty risky, riskier than I'd like," Stacy says. "But I think it's better than all of us rushing into the Place. We could really get lost forever in there." 

"That's settled, then," Chase says. "We should talk to the rest of the people here and see who's able to help. I guess I need to stay away?" 

"Ideally, yes," Stacy nods. 

"I can go check on Alt right now, if you guys want," Jack offers.

“Sure, Jack. That’d be awesome if you could,” Bro says, rubbing his arm anxiously. “We’ll start ironing out more details. 

"I'll go right now, then," Jack says. "Goodbye, I'll be back." 

"Aaaand he's gone," Stacy says. 

“Maybe… hm… maybe me and other Chase should swap clothes? Would they notice that?” Bro asks.

Chase nods. "Swapping clothes would be great. I... I like to keep my arms and hands covered." He looks down at Bro's hands. "If you're not wearing gloves he'll know right away that you're not me." He takes off one of his fingerless gloves, showing that he has a strange, oval-shaped scar on the back of his hand. "See?"

Bro's eyes widen but then he nods, "Okay... good to know. I have some in my bag but... they're like really bright. Superhero costume and all that." He grins sheepishly. 

Jackie peeks over curiously, "...how'd ya get a scar like that?"

Chase flinches slightly. "S-side effect of the corruption." He rolls his sleeve up to his elbow, briefly showing a row of identical scars along his arm before rolling it back down again. "It changes you physically. For me, I got these markings all up my arms and down my spine. Once I was uncorrupted, they disappeared and left these behind." 

"Eyes," Stacy says. "Markings that looked like eyes. Moving and everything. Fucking freaky." She glances at Chase. "I never wanted to see you like that," she whispers. 

"I... appreciate that," Chase replies in an equally quiet voice.

Jackie and Bro both shudder at the image. "Uh... noted- sorry...." Jackie says quietly. 

"Let's... focus on finding clothes then, other me. You can... uh- prep me, I guess. On what to expect." Bro mutters.

"No, it's okay. Everyone here knows, it's only fair that you do, too," Chase says. "Come on. We have some clothes in storage you can use. I'll fill you in while we look through there."

 ----------- 

Error takes Alt to a small room, made smaller by the fact that a chain link fence divides it into one-third and two-thirds parts. Even though there's no visible lights it's still bright enough to see. Alt is guided into the larger part. 

Alt keeps himself small as he follows Error- Chase's words echoing in his ears. ...he's gonna kill him when they meet back up. 

"Wait here," Error says. "I'm sure he'll be here soon." And then he turns around and leaves, closing the door behind him. It blends seamlessly into the black wall... no, wait. It's gone. The door is gone. There are no other doors.

Alt makes a face at Error as he leaves, silently mocking him behind his back. But, he stops when he realizes the door is gone. ...okay- that's a problem... but! Bet they don't have any barriers set up for a glitch here! He grins and then tries to see if he can glitch out of the well- where the door used to be at least.

It’s like the world has disappeared except for this room. This limitation… it reminds him of that world… with those horrors…

Alt staggers back as he realizes he's blocked. Then, his stomach drops into cold dread. ...it's just like- the place Notarzt kept him. ...fuck. He really really fucked up. He super duper fucked up- He grips at his head, starting to feel panic wrapping around his throat. He didn't realize it would be like there!

Time passes. 

It’s unclear how much. But eventually, Alt realizes that there’s something strange on the other side of the fence. A patch of air seems to shimmer, looking darker than the rest of the metal walls.

Alt is pacing back and forth, trying and failing to stave off a panic attack. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the patch of air and squints at it. He frowns and then glitches to try to be a bit closer, wondering what it could be.

The patch suddenly jumps back in surprise, and suddenly it's clear what it is. A man, sitting cross-legged on the ground. He's wearing a cape that makes him blend into the background. Magic, no doubt. Underneath the cape he's wearing a button-up shirt, nice pants, and socks, no shoes. He's also wearing a green collar and a green mask shaped like a cat. His brown hair is long, shoulder-length. He stares at Alt... no. Wait. He can't be looking at Alt. 

The mask has no eyeholes, only black ovals in the shape of them.

Alt gasps and jumps back too and stares at the man with wide eyes. He shakes out his head and then tries to get close again, looking at him in confusion. "...m...marvin...?"

The man shakes his head vigorously, scooting back across the floor for a second. He definitely looks like he's staring at Alt, tilting his head up as Alt gets closer.

Alt blinks in surprise and then holds up his hands. "I-It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you... are you... okay?" he suppresses a shiver- eyes fixated on the black spots on his mask.

The man nods. He shifts position slightly into something more like a crouch, folding his arms on top of his knees.

Alt knits his eyebrows in concern. "Oh... well.. o-okay. What are you... doing here?" He asks quietly. He also notices the collar and grips up at his neck, trying to mask his discomfort. He... almost looks like...

He tilts his head. It's hard to read his expression with the mask, but he seems nervous. After a moment, he makes a gesture. Two fingers from his eyes to Alt. A nonverbal sign of keeping an eye on things.

"..oh.. you're... watching me." Alt says, his shoulders sagging. "I guess that makes sense... you probably are working for him, huh?" He sits down on the floor. "...did he take away your voice?" He asks quietly. "Or are you not allowed to talk?" His voice has dropped down to something tinged with righteous anger, but also sympathy. He's dealt with puppet masters enough to know what to expect.

He holds up two fingers. The second option.

"Ah... figures." Alt tsks, anger on his face. He studies him up and down. "... he's keeping you as... a... a pet." He spits out the last word like it's poison, gripping his hands into fists.

The man lets out a breath. He nods, seeming almost relieved that Alt has said it out loud.

Alt's eyes spark with anger as he grits his teeth and glitches in place. "...that's... that's so fucking cruel-!" He yells, suddenly glitching to his feet. "W-Who are these motherfuckers that they get to just-?! Decide that for us? To r-reduce human fucking beings into- into fucking house pets?! It's wrong! It's fucking sick and-" 

Alt suddenly laughs, pushing back his hair and grabbing at it, "T-That's what they're gonna do to me, isn't it?! T-Turn me into a f-fucking pet or- or worse!" He laughs hysterically, teetering between laughing and crying. "I-I shouldn't have left Chase I...! Why did I do that?! S-Sure he won't be exposed to this and m-maybe now Jackie will be safe but i...! I-I-!"

The man leans back a bit. He stares at Alt during his panic, uneasy. Then he opens his mouth. "I-it's n--" 

A door opens. The man stiffens and immediately shuts his mouth again. The door is on his side of the chain link fence. In walks a man, who closes the door quickly before Alt can even think of trying anything. The man is wearing a black hoodie and has a slit throat. It's immediately clear who he is. 

"You're not having a good time in here, huh?" Anti says. "I didn't think you'd fall to pieces so quickly."

Alt stiffens and quickly glitches back, staring at the other him with wide eyes. "...y-you're...!" His panic is taking his breath away, making it hard to breathe.

"You in another world? Apparently," Anti says casually. "I never would've thought it." 

Alt glares at Anti and bares his teeth. "Me neither. I'm nothing like you."

Anti looks down at the man still sitting on the floor. "Were you two talking?" 

The man hurriedly stands up. "No, Anti," he whispers. 

"Hmm. Go keep an eye on our other visitor, okay, Cat?" 

"Yes, Anti." The man--Cat--disappears in a puff of smoke.

Alt watches Cat leave with a pain in his chest before looking back at Anti with hatred. "... you're a sick motherfucker."

"I've been told that," Anti says, unfazed. "Even by myself. So this is nothing new, really."

He stands there, staring at Alt, arms loose at his sides. "I want to ask you some things. I want to learn more about your world. And your life in it. Error told me you have a brother, and that's weird, because I don't have one, so there must be a lot different. Where did you come from?"

"From your mother's arsehole." Alt spits, glaring at Anti with disdain. "I ain't telling you shit."

Anti looks taken aback. "...that's not even how it works, you idiot," he mutters. "Alright. Fine. There are other ways. How good are you with electricity?" 

The floor suddenly starts to glow, and-- ZAP!

Alt's teeth grit as the electricity courses into him and he staggers a bit. But, then he glares at Anti, green electricity sparking in his eyes. He doesn't give him a response.

"Worse than I can," Anti says, which is true, given he hadn't flinched at all. "But there's something that could be worse for you, isn't there?" He tilts his head, thinking. "Hmm. This might be easier if... yes." 

There's a horrible sound of metal on metal, and the ceiling of the room starts to lower, but only on Alt's side of the fence. It's gaining speed as it gets closer. The room was maybe eight feet tall before and it's already gone down to seven.

Alt flinches hard as the horrible screeching sound and covers his ears, only to look up and see the ceiling lowering. He panics and tries to glitch away- only realizing at the last second he's glitching onto the corner of the room Anti is in. So he glitches over and then goes to the farthest place he can away from Anti.

He ends up in the opposite corner of the room, but the whole ceiling is lowering, so there's no escape here. Six feet--five feet--four feet--then it stops. "I can't see you all the way over there," Anti says, ducking down to see Alt. "Come closer." Another screeching sound, and the far wall starts coming closer, making the room smaller, pushing Alt towards Anti.

Alt grits his teeth at Anti and then yelps out as the walls start to close in. Now, he glitches onto Anti's side but keeps his distance as he spreads out his arms, "There! You can see me." He growls.

"Heh." Anti grins. "Perfect. Are you going to actually talk to me now? Or should I try something else? It'll only get worse, you know."

"What good is knowing about my world going to do for you?" Alt bites out, "I could care less about how you work! I already know what you are- a low pathetic puppet master who gets himself off by controlling others. A fucking demon! I'm the opposite of you- and that's all you need to fucking know!"

Anti just smiles. "My opposite already exists. You're not my opposite, per se, you're more like... a different shade of a color. A more pleasant one. Supposedly." He rests his chin in one hand, cupping the elbow of that arm with the hand of the other. "I'm curious about how different things are. What you've gone through. Not to use it against you, don't misunderstand. To... compare." He laughs. "I'm not good with describing this sort of stuff. Thoughts and all that."

"Just because you're a twisted version of me doesn't mean you get to know what I've been through." Alt growls, "I'm not telling you anything. You don't get to know about my brother- about my life! I'm telling you nothing- got that?! Nothing!"

The smile on Anti's face fades. "Fine. I can take it, then." His body fizzles with black static and he lunges for Alt. 

Alt staggers back with wide eyes and tries to glitch away, thinking he might be able to escape. 

But, their glitches collide and there's the sound of screaming. The static pushes and pulls like taffy- parts of it trying to tear itself away. Then, the static mass combines and stills- before it glitches like a broken screen and starts to jitter back into the form of a man. 

At first glance- it doesn't seem too different from the Antis that stood before. Same brown hair- a black hoodie, ripped clothes. But, it lifts its head and the black static doesn't fade from it's left side, a glowing green scleraed eye peeking out from the shifting mass. The same static makes up its left hand- and other parts of its body and clothes. A red wound weeps from their neck. Static and glitches buzz around like angry bees as they clash and butt into each other. Their hoodie best shows their fusion- the black hoodie having colored sleeves and a glitched frowny face- their ripped jeans having spots of glowing paint across the fabric. 

The fusion stumbles and goes to grip at its head, heaving in panic. "N-N-Nnnnn-no! No no n-n-n-not aga̸i̶n̶! G-G-ge-t-t-t Ö̴̠́U̷͔͑T̶̲̈́!̷̙̈́!̶̝̿!̶̟́" It screeches, digging nails into its head, like its trying to rip itself back apart.

"Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?" The words tumble from its mouth as one hand grabs the wrist of the other. "Wh-wh-wh-why are you different?!" The bitterness is a tangible taste in its mouth. And the byproduct of the bitterness, the seething hate and anger, is a fire in its stomach. The static fingers on the left hand turn to claws, digging into its own skin. "Why?! Why?! W̵HY̧?̧̢͝!̶͡ It's not f̕͞ąir!̶̀" 

And yet, this feeling is familiar. This merging, this... crowdedness, that comes from there being two where there should be one. It's familiar. Discontent wrapped up in a shell of static. No no no--the Severing, the Split, it was supposed to--this wasn't supposed to happen again! But--no, it can't end yet. It can't end yet. It needs to... know something? Is that it?

The merged being barks out a laugh, digging its fingers in harder to its wrist- feeling the blood wanting to pool. "Y-Y-You lonely b-bastard! Only m-m-making friends by c-corrupting them! Y-Y-You don't d-d-d̷̛̳é̸͉s̵̝̔ë̸̮r̸̙͘v̸̻͋e̷͝ them! A sick freak like you could n̵e̵v̷e̵r̸ be their friend!" 

It recognizes this feeling- this self-loathing. it hates it- it hates itself. It laughs wildly, glitching like crazy as it pries its hand from its wrist and then digs its claws into its slit neck. "Y-Y-You shouldn't be near them- You only m-m-make everything w̵̿̉o̵͓̍r̴̐͑s̶̅͂e̶͆͠! E-Everything would be b-b-better if you just didn't ë̴́̌x̵̛̄ĩ̷̃s̷̎̃t̸̥̋!" It screeches. "A-A-All of this would be better if they never m-m-met you!" 

The fusion screeches. "It's not ḿ̧e!̡ It's ţ́̀h̶e͡͡m̛̀!̨ It's Y̶O҉U̸!̵" Its head shakes side to side, black static pixels drifting off. It glitches wildly around the room before falling to its hands and knees. "It's you it's you it's you its you its you itsyouitsyouitsyouitsy̵̛͢oui̕͠t҉̛̀s͏y̴̨o̸͝͡ui̵̕͝t̀͢͡s̀̀͠--" 

Then, as abruptly as it happened, the fusion falls apart, the black static peeling off like a second skin, forming a shivering lump on the floor that slowly regains its form--Anti's form. 

Alt is left where Anode (how did they know its name?) was kneeling before. 

Anti lies on the floor, breathing heavily for a moment. That... was like... It was too crowded again. Thoughts coming apart like pieces of paper thrown in a bowl of water. He didn't want that. He didn't want that. But then he remembers Alt. He abruptly glitches upright, pressing his back up against the nearest wall, glaring at Alt. "What... the fuck... did you do just now?" he hisses. 

Alt is a shivering, sobbing mess on the floor, the tears on his face still somewhat static. He retches and throws up that black static onto the floor- gasping in pain and agony as he tries to get the feeling out of him. He hardly acknowledges Anti- just stuttering and crying as he grips at his throat like he can still feel it gaping open. He can't breathe- His mind was torn open and laid bare and it hurts and aches and he feels similar to that- that thing!

Anti narrows his eyes. "Why are you crying?" he growls. "You--you're a whole person, with a brother and friends and magic that didn't happen because some fucking eldritch eyeball tore you apart by accident. You can touch, you can talk, you can be seen. You have a job and a boyfriend and you were able to stop with your fucking shit crimes a-a-and—and—and—" His body trembles and glitches with rage. 

Abruptly, he turns around, throws open a door that wasn't there before, and walks through, slamming it behind him. It becomes part of the wall again, leaving no way out.

Alt trembles and curls up on himself as Anti yells at him. He couldn't try to get out even if he wanted to. He just curls up as small as he can and now that he's alone- he lets himself break down completely. 

Of course Anti only saw the good now -ignoring the being on the streets for years- the part where he became a villain and almost killed his friends over and over. The mind control- being turned into a puppet- a pet. Being a fucking experiment for a fucked up cooperation. None of that matters does it? None of it matters... He wants to go home...

"...Alt?" Someone walks through the wall where the door was. 

Anti is back. Though... he looks different. His clothes have changed, now he's wearing a white hospital gown and a pair of pale blue leggings, no shoes. And the eye with the green sclera has switched sides, being his left instead of his right. And the throat slash has closed up, leaving a dark green-black scar that fades into the surrounding veins. And the static that shivers around his limbs is white instead of black. 

...is it Anti at all? 

"A-are you... okay?" Anti? asks. "Can you... can you hear me?"

Alt stiffens and glitches to sit up and quickly scrambles away and into a corner, curling up as tight as he can. "W-Who-a- g-get a-away from me!" He tries to cry out but his voice breaks at the end and he just curls back up, trying to hide.

The man backs away, raising his hands. "I'm sorry! I'm--I-I didn't think--I'm sorry." He shakes his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. I-I'm not even capable of that, I haven't figured out how to be physical here yet. I'm... My name is Jack. I... saw you and your brother earlier. I tried to help." 

Jack? That name was strong in Anti's memories.

Alt slowly peeks through his arms to look back at Jack. "J...Jack?" He breathes. He remembers the white eyes on Error and he slowly nods. "Y-Yeah... I... I r-remember that..." He doesn't move to uncurl himself. "...h-how are you... h-here?"

Jack laughs gently. "I'm just about the only person who could get in here without him noticing. I can be invisible and pass through objects. In fact, I have to be outside of this Place." 

Alt blinks and looks at Jack and then slowly nods, "...right cuz you're... you're half of... of his soul. So you...." He shudders and holds himself.

Jack blinks. "You know about that? Uh, y'know what, I'm not gonna ask about how you know that now." He sits down next to Alt. "I'm here to check on you. Your brother and your friend Jackie are working with some friends of mine to get you out of here."

It takes Alt a second to acknowledge the last statement and he laughs, though the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "...'course they're looking for me... i... I knew they would..." His smile then fades as he curls his knees to his chest. "... Jack... when you see my brother... can you tell him... i-I'm sorry I was an idiot." He pushes his hair back and grips at it. "...I don't think I'm gonna g-get out of here unscathed... and... I... I should have stayed with him... A-Anti might k-kill me or... or worse-" He laughs in the way you do when you're scared but its all you know how to do, tears lingering back in his eyes.

"What? No, I-I'm not going to--I mean, th-there's not much I can do, but--" Jack shakes his head. "Alt. Please. It's going to be okay. I won't let him kill you. A-and if... if something worse happens... I think you mean the corruption... It takes a while to take effect. Y-you won't lose yourself so quickly. And even if you do, we can undo it. We can undo it. It will be fine. I-I can stay with you, if you want. I might have to go invisible for a while, but I'll stay with you."

Alt is quiet for a while- maybe too long, not looking at Jack. Then, he laughs again and grips at his head, tears slipping down his face with more intensity as he whimpers out. "...i... I'm s-scared, Jack... I'm so fucking scared I... I-!" He hangs his head, "I don't want t-this to keep h-happening! Why d-does it keep happening?!" 

"I don't know," Jack whispers. "I don't know what you've been through. I can tell it's probably some pretty terrible stuff. I'm not going to tell you that it all happens for a reason. I'm not going to tell you that you're strong enough to get through this, though I'm sure you are." He half-reaches out. "But I am going to tell you that it gets better. Even when it feels the most hopeless, even when you feel like you can't do anything against all the terrible things that happen to you, it gets better. It's hard to see it, I know. But things get better. You're able to make things get better, often, but even when you're not, just getting through it is enough. It's enough, Alt. It's enough."

Alt is quiet again, soaking in Jack's words. He eventually nods and wipes at his face. "Y-You sound like... s-someone else I know... A good friend of mine." He chuckles hollowly. He looks at his hand, as if expecting it to turn into static. "...better doesn't stop what's gonna happen though but... I... I won't have to f-face it... alone. I guess..."

Jack nods. "I'll stay. A-and I'll try to do everything I can. I know Anti won't be able to see me or hear me... but you were able to see me out there in the real world. Maybe you'll be able to see me here now." He gives him a small smile.

Alt knits his eyebrows together, looking back at Jack, "...Yeah I can see you...? I-I've been able to see you this whole time..."

Jack laughs a little. "Most people can't. In fact, there are only two people besides you that can see me and hear me all of the time. Their names are Chase and Stacy, they're some of the friends I mentioned who are looking for you. In here, I can choose to be seen or not, but out there, I'm invisible all the time."

"Oh... t-that explains why Chase-- my Chase seemed so confused when you were helping us." Alt chuckles quietly. "... he must have thought I had like.... p-psychic powers or something. I mean I have magic but i... I'm not that good."

"Hah. Your Chase is so much buffer than mine." Jack blinks. "I, uh... didn't mean to just blurt that out."

Alt bursts into giggles and shakes his head. "N-No you're right! Everyone keeps mentioning that!" He laughs. "It's cuz he's fighting bad guys all the time!"

"Man. I gotta build up some muscle once I get my body back," Jack mutters. "Jackie used to work out a lot, too, he was also fighting criminals--and running from the police. Vigilantism is still illegal, hah."

"Heh- I dunno how Chase got the city to be okay with him but... they are. Maybe it was worse before we found each other again." Alt hugs his legs, "...he's the best person I know. Even after everything we've been through." He smiles fondly.

Jack smiles. "I only talked with him for a minute, but he seems like a great guy." He shifts his position a little, getting more comfortable. "I'd love to hear more about him. Why don't you tell me a little?" 

That might help him take his mind off things for a while. Maybe not completely, but anything would be good. 

Alt blinks, a bit surprised. But then he laughs and rubs his wrist as he starts, “well… we didn’t always get along, but…”

----------- 

The hallway Magnificent walks down goes in one direction, without any others branching off. It curves slightly, gently sloping downward for a while. Until he reaches a section where the floor is covered in cables. It's like the ground is lifted from the worst-organized computer room in the world, though the cables are just loose, not connecting to any devices. Clearly a serious tripping hazard.

Magnificent almost trips then teleports to be on my even ground and looks at the floor with a mildly disgruntled face. 

“…cute.” He snorts. 

Then, he remembered Anti mentioning cables. He follows their path-

He comes to a four-way intersection, the walls lined with metal doors that all look very secure. 

One of them creaks open, and a man walks out. He wears a white coat and a pair of glaseses with cracks in the lenses. Cables and wires wrap around his limbs and torso, and there's a thick black one around his neck. He starts walking down the hallway towards Magnificent, and then stops when he sees him. "Hello? Who are you?"

Magnificent blinks at the new comer then grins, “oh… isn’t this rich?” He laughs. “You can call me Magnificent, pet. What are you called, hm?”

The man raises an eyebrow. "That's your name? Aaalright." He walks closer. Magnificent can see his had bright, acid green eyes. A branching scar goes up the left side of his face. Lichtenberg figures, they're caused by electricity, aren't they? 

"I am Surgeon, I am in charge of this section."

“How fascinating~” Magnificent giggles. “What happens in this section exactly? And don’t worry- I was invited by your master. He told me I could look around.”

"By Anti?" Surgeon flinches slightly before becoming calm again. "Well, if that is the case." He gestures at the doors. "This is where the corruptors do the corrupting, of course. Inside some of those rooms, there is someone undergoing the process. Some are empty, though." He leans over to the nearest door and pulls it open. The room beyond is dark, with vague shapes hiding in the shadows.

Magnificent grins wide and prowls closer, peering into the room curiously. “So- there are more corrupters than just Anti?”

“Well it all comes from Anti, of course,” Surgeon says. “He chooses the targets, and he gives us the corruption to use. But yes. Anti is busy he cannot spend so long on the process. Some of us have the power to share it. I was the first, I am told.” He reaches into the room and the lights turn on, though he didn’t flip a switch or anything. 

The walls of the room are lined with screens and speakers. In the center are a table and chair, both equipped with chains. Along the edges of the room are tables full of items. Some of them are obvious: knives, rope, heavy objects you can swing, syringes with strange liquid inside. Others are not familiar, but a lot of them look sharp and dangerous.

Magnificent whistles, equal parts amusement and amazement. “My my! What a set up!” He giggles as he runs his hands across the tables and items, looking a few of them over. “Quite the operation he has here~! How curious…”

“It has been a long time in the making,” Surgeon says, staying in the doorway. “Though it helps that the Place can provide whatever he asks for.” He looks back into the hallway and suddenly starts. “Oh! Katzchen, what are you doing here?”

Magnificent pauses in his browsing to peek back out at who Surgeon is talking to.

“Come, come, see this new, ah, companion,” Surgeon says, reaching to the side and pulling someone over to the doorway. 

A man, wearing a cape and a green cat mask without eyeholes. The man Alt met earlier, Cat. He stumbles a little when Surgeon pulls him but turns to face Magnificent, freezing in place when he “sees” him.

Magnificent eyes widen a bit as he sees Cat. But then he grins and laughs, prowling closer and observing the mask. “My my… isn’t this a sight to see~?” He purrs. He looks at his collar and flicks it with a chuckle. “How fitting.”

Cat stumbles back a bit, reaching for his neck. 

"Ah--please do not touch him," Surgeon says. "Anti will get very upset.”

Magnificent holds up his hand with a laugh. “Apologizes. I just can’t resist such a pretty kitty~” He hums in amusement. 

“Though... Katzchen, why are you out here? Anti is home, you do not need to keep an eye on things." 

Cat doesn't answer. He keeps facing Magnificent, seeming a bit uneasy.

Mag tilts his head at Cat and then chuckles. “Were you told to watch me, Kitten?”

Cat hesitates, then nods. 

"Ah, that would explain it," Surgeon says. "I suppose Anti wasn't sure where you would be, or that I would be here. I think I can handle it, Katzchen, but I know you will not leave, so you can at least relax. This man, Magnificent, was wondering about the corruption." 

Another slow nod from Cat. He does seem a bit calmer, but still slightly on edge.

Magnificent chuckles, “Such a paranoid kitten… but oh so loyal.” He sighs dramatically- “if only my cub was half as loyal as you!” He eyes the two of them and hums in thought. “Tell me you two- does working with Anti provide you with any… power per se? Any- unusual abilities?”

"Heh. Oh yes." Surgeon smiles. "Look down." 

Something wraps around Magnificent's ankle. One of the cables on the ground, moving like a snake. It quickly lets go before he can kick it off, and all the cables on the ground move away from Mag in a circle. 

"That is me." Surgeon extends one arm, and the cables around it wind tighter. 

Mag stiffens for a second as the cable wraps around him then he chuckles. “Oh! Very impressive.” 

"Fehler calls me Wires because of it. And then, well, I'm told Katzchen had his own magic beforehand, but I do not remember the specifics, so I only know about his teleporting and camouflage." 

Magnificent eyes Cat again curiously. Can he sense any power off of him? He’s starting to feel that need- that hunger.

Yes, there's a magical signature around Cat. A sour power that's almost overpowered by a secondary signature, something dark and twisted. Come to think of it, a similar twisted energy is coming from Surgeon. And it feels like there are more signatures like it dotted around. Underneath all that, the Place has its own energy, a faint, shifting power that feels far away and hard to grasp.

Mag’s eyes flash hungrily. Surely Anti wouldn’t mind if he had just a taste? He teleports to try to grab Cat’s arm and see what power he can drain from him.

Cat yelps, backing up but not moving fast enough to avoid Magnificent latching onto his arm. Some of that sour magic drains into him, though that twisted energy stays where it is. 

"What the fuck?!" Surgeon gasps. All the cables on the floor suddenly rise up and lunge for Magnificent, wrapping around him, trying to pull him back. "What did I just say?! Agh, Anti is going to be so upset with you!"

Magnificent shakes himself out with a laugh and lets the cables grab him. He smirks at Surgeon. “I’m sure he’ll understand~! Lighten up, Schneeple.”

"Huh? What did you call me?" Surgeon blinks, looking genuinely confused. But Cat inhales sharply.

“Schneeple- short for your last name, I’m presuming.” Mag chuckles. “But if your master is worth his salt- I know that would not be your name anymore. Still- always fun to see puppets squirm. Test the strength of your loyalty and all~”

"Oh." Surgeon blinks again. The cables fall away from Magnificent. "Well, I think you are misunderstanding something. I do not remember most of my life. I woke up in the Place a while ago with Anti there, watching me. So, yes, perhaps that was my name once. I do not remember it. He has only ever called me Surgeon."

Magnificent dusts himself off and smirks. “He’s made a very good puppet of you then, Surgeon. He must be proud~”

Surgeon nods slowly. "I suppose so... I think he is more proud of Fehler, though, since he is the most like him." 

As Surgeon talks, black static gathers behind him and Cat, and Anti forms. "Doesn't mean I'm not proud of the rest of you," Anti says. 

Cat yelps, and Surgeon gasps and spins around. "Ah--h-hi, Anti," he says. "Your, ah, guest w-was asking about the corruption. I think he did something to Katzchen, too." 

Anti looks at Cat. "Really? You look fine. How do you feel?" 

"F-fine, Anti," Cat stammers. 

"Really?" 

"Really. M-maybe a bit... low energy." 

"Well, that's probably fine, then," Anti says, and looks over at Magnificent. "What did you do?"

Magnificent smiles and tilts his head at Anti. “Oh- I just had a taste of his magic. Forgive me for my overindulgence~ I just wanted to make sure I could stay in top shape. Just in case I can assist in any of your devious plans while my own puppets are lingering around this world~” he giggles. “You have quite the tight setup Anti. I’m very impressed. Able to corrupt without being completely involved… ah- I like playing with my food too much to do such a thing but- it must be very efficient~!”

"You can absorb magic?" Anti's eyes light up.

“Oh yes- it’s one of my many talents~” Magnificent chuckles darkly. “I no longer have human needs besides the need to sleep- magic supplies me with the energy I need.” 

"Fascinating. Well, I guess if Cat is fine, it's fine. I didn't feel our connection weaken, and that's what's important." He nods, indicating the doors. "Efficiency was the idea. If I'm going to corrupt a lot of people, it needs to be efficient. And fast. The process takes a while and I can't spend all my time working on it." 

He looks at Cat and Surgeon. "You two can go, by the way." 

Surgeon nods. "Come on, Katzchen," he mutters, grabbing his arms. "I want to see Grau." 

Cat nods and lets himself be pulled away. 

Magnificent watches the two of the go and smirks. “…very well trained… fascinating to see really.” He tilts his head back at Anti and smirks. “Well? Did your other puppet manage to capture one of my kittens?”

"Ohhh yes." Anger flickers across Anti's face. "Error found your Alt. He's supposed to be me, but--but--" He shakes his head. "That fucking guy," he mutters. "Of course it's different in other worlds. Of course it is. Even the other me's don't get it."

Magnificent tilts his head more, “oh? Was it too jarring to see my cub being so different?” He chuckles.

"Very," Anti bites out. "But--that's not important right now. That's not important." 

“Oh a sore spot I see.” Mag giggles. 

Anti takes a deep breath, folding his arms. "I saw some of his memories, and I have a question. Your magic. You hypnotize people, don't you?"

The mad magician’s eyes light up as he grins, “Why yes I do~! One of my specialties. I’ve had Alt under my thumb more times than either of us can count~”

"Perfect. Because I'm wondering something. The problem with corruption is how long it takes. True, time is strange in this Place, but it still takes weeks at the shortest. I wonder if, perhaps, we combined our efforts..." Anti trails off into a meaningful silence.

Magnificent grins even wider. “Oh… I’m very curious to see if I could be of aid~! To see my cub as loyal as your puppets?” He giggles wildly. “What a sight that would be!”

Anti grins. "You want me to drag him down here? Not personally, I'll probably ask Error, but we could try things out."

“Oh I’d be more than happy to try~” Mag laughs.

Anti nods. "I'll get him down here right away, then. Let's set up one of the rooms." He should try not to be too vicious. No matter his feelings about the unfairness of it all, it wouldn't be good to ruin things so quickly.

[misschf-aisa]

I have an epic tale that is my day yesterday. I think it would be good for me to write it all out as if someone was going to read it, but in a place where it will be lost as soon as I post it. Tumblr is the perfect black hole for this space shot.

I should provide context, but it would only make the story longer and I just don’t have the energy. Okay, maybe a little.

Friday my dad, who is 78, said he’d gotten a voicemail, his oncologist wanted to see him for a checkup at noon Monday. Bad weather was in the forecast for Monday morning, but weathermen are notoriously unreliable so I just said something about if it’s icy you’ll have to reschedule. He was like, of course, and we went about our lives.

Today is Monday and I woke up to a world covered in a good quarter inch of ice. Nothing awful, we didn’t lose power, just enough to make the dog not want to go outside to do her business. (I made her go outside against her wishes, for which I was glared at while she crouched and pooped, but it wasn’t in the house.)

It crossed my mind to check in with dad, but no one would go out in this weather, right? Yeah, you see where this is going.

I got a text around noon. Dad had skidded into a ditch and couldn’t get the car out. Help. I ground my teeth a little, but managed to refrain from texting questions about what the hell he was doing in his car on a day like today. That wouldn’t be helpful, especially after he said it had really scared him. So okay. I glance out the window and my little Fiat is encased in ice. Dad never really fit comfortably in it anyhow. I call my oldest son who just moved to town from Washington state after mustering out of the Navy. He says his 4WD truck is in the garage and he’ll come pick me up.

Oh, I forgot. I have to go because I’m the one with the AAA (thanks @l82theparty) and I’ll need to show them my card before they’ll pull him out of the ditch.

Hey, it would be smart to call AAA now and get the ball rolling since there are probably a shit ton of people in ditches today. So I call dad for a more specific location so I can tell AAA where to find him. He says his GPS just keeps giving him the street number, which is one I don’t recognize. Can he give me a cross street? No. Can he give me a landmark? The route between his house and the doctor’s office is pretty easy to recognize, we’ve done it a thousand times for two rounds of chemo and one round of radiation. No landmarks, just this street number. Okay, we’ll try sharing his location. Nope, that is way too technologically advanced. On the up side it killed time until my son showed up in his truck to collect me.

Some more questions with dad on the phone and we’re still no closer to understanding where he is. So I plug the street into the map just to get an idea and that’s when things begin to go sideways. This street shows up outside of town. Way outside of town. It’s between towns so that I can’t even tell you which little town it’s close to because it’s really just not. We follow the bouncing ball down the highway, past the casino on the outskirts of town, past the toll road, out to a place we’ve never heard of. It took us an hour to get this far, for the record.

I’ve decided my GPS has screwed us so I call dad again, confident we’re going to have to go back into town and comb the streets between the cancer center and dad’s house. But I ask him about the landscape he’s in, and he’s confirming everything sounds right. We drive up and down scary hills covered in ice, then some twisting roads also covered in ice, and Dad is on the phone saying that totally sounds right. To my son’s credit the truck only slipped on these roads a couple of times while he gritted his teeth and complained that he should have put something heavy in the truck bed.

We pass a dead end sign, and Dad doesn’t remember seeing one of those. I’m starting to believe we’re fucked. We pass another sign that says no outlet, and dad doesn’t remember it. My son gives me a look, and I shrug. Then we hit a patch of road that is a skating rink and the kid manages to slide himself onto a patch of grass as we both stare at my father’s car at the bottom of this icy hill in the middle of fucking nowhere. At least we found him, right?

Son and I slip and slide on foot down to the car where dad is fine, he’s got the heater on and the radio, just feels foolish and can’t get out because there’s a tree against the driver’s door. Because, dear reader who has made it this far, he’s not in a ditch. He skidded onto the side of the road where the land drops off into a ravine that was maybe 50 feet deep? I can’t say for sure because when I looked at his front tire and how close it was to the drop off it looked more like the Grand Canyon to me.

Okay dad, we’re not going to touch the car. You’re safe, don’t jostle yourself too much, I’m calling 911 for the first time in my life.

(Why is he in BFE? Oh, sorry, that’s Butt Fucking Egypt if you’re from around here. And I still don’t have an answer for that one.)

Meanwhile I look at the icy incline behind us and tell my son no tow truck is ever going to make it down that hill. A nice young Wagoner County Sheriff’s deputy shows up and his answer is to call a wrecker. I mention that no tow truck is ever going to make it down that hill and he gives me a look so I carefully inched my way back up the hill to sit in my son’s truck and wait.

About 20 minutes later it started to rain. About 30 minutes later it’s raining hard. Still raining hard another half hour or so later when the tow truck arrives on the scene.

Would you believe the tow truck driver said his boss won’t let him take his truck down that hill? He says he wouldn’t leave a person down there though (damn human of him) and the deputy, my son, and the tow truck driver trek down to Save Dad.

I watch from the top of the hill because they don’t need any women down there spouting truths and whatnot and getting in the way. I watch them pop the trunk and get my dad’s walker out. I’m standing in the pouring (so cold) rain watching through a layer of fog that has developed as shadowy figures hunch around the two open doors on the passenger side, I’m assuming they’re figuring out how to get dad out of the car on this side.

I can’t see, so I move over and step into a puddle of ice cold water. It’s not really integral to the story, except I was expecting to be pulling dad out of a suburban drainage ditch so I wore the wrong shoes. My nylon running shoes and my wonderful thick warm socks sucked up that icy water and held it like a lover. It was like the opposite of napalm; instead of fire sticking to my body it was ice cold water.

Meanwhile the boys have come far enough up the hill I can see they have dad sitting on the little bench on the walker and my son is walking backwards pulling it while the deputy and tow truck driver are each pushing a handlebar. My son falls down once, then gets up again. I’m not sure how, but they all manage to get back up that hill and get dad in the truck. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but now I know exactly how much cold rain is required to saturate my rain resistant coat.

The story ends with my son managing to get the truck turned around and safely off of the ice sheet it was resting on. We’re all home and dry and safe and warm. My girl cooked me dinner and made me a hot toddy and snuggled me in warm clothes and an electric blanket. Dad’s car has probably depleted its battery by now because we were all three sitting in the truck when my son asked if he should try to walk back down and turn off the hazard lights. We left it.

So, how was your day?

[blindrapture]

SUNDAY JUNE 26TH, 2011 ("Fears. There's the rub.")

[This is another one where the formatting on tumblr just won't work right. I recommend the Website version for the ideal read.]

10:30 AM In case you’re wondering, that last bit wasn’t, like, some demon sneaking in and writing “Rapture is coming” into my journal while I was asleep. No. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about what Rogers had said. So I just.. wrote it down and thought. I haven’t been talking much lately. I’m just.. I dunno. Lost in thought.

11:02 AM - Rabbit holes are key to Rapture - Rabbit holes are growing (according to Harlequin) - All this was started by…? (“Doctor Cloud?”) - This is not Rapture. Rapture is coming. I’ve done some thinking. And I’ve deduced that oh my god I need more information. I need to learn more about the things. The monsters.

Except they’re not monsters, are they? That’s what Mist the Harlequin told me. She called herself a “goddess.” Or something. But is that true? Is that false? I really don’t know. I have no way of knowing. Rogers said something about fears. Do gods have fears? I need to look into this more.

11:11 AM I wish I could get some answers. I’m gonna ask the generic family about things. About Rogers.

11:20 AM Alright, they don’t mind me writing this stuff down as we talk. “Rogers was a very good child. The doctors told us he was” mumble “we still don’t believe that. He’s just… a savant.” They might be right about that. He certainly knew a lot more about what’s going on than anyone I’d met. “We, I.. we don’t know who would want to kill him. He had no enemies, nothing to hide.” Meredith is crying. “On the way down here, Rogers was” interrupted, that was Bill, Richard doesn’t want him talking about that. Noted. “Can you not ask about Rogers, please?”

I asked about the Exodus. About America. “We heard about the Exodus when we were nearing London a few weeks ago. London was quite.. impossible for us to enter. So we turned back and found some flyers about the Exodus and Liverpool, and.. here we are. “We don’t have any real reason for going to America besides survival. England is theirs now. Staying for much longer would be stupid.” I asked about “them.” “Rogers knew a lot ab” Bill was interrupted again. Richard “Rogers called them.. there was this phrase he used a lot. Some old English word.. and then ‘abomination.’ So we just call them abominations.” ..Eldritch? When I said that, Bill’s face lit up. Hit the nail on the head, I suppose. “Whatever they are, they’re abominations, they are not of this world, not of God. They shouldn’t be here. But they are.”

I asked about the rabbit holes. “Portals to Hell, I say. I don’t care for them; we try our best to avoid them at all costs. Y’know the first one I went in took me to a world of nothing but toilets? It was this big city, industrial, completely normal. Except every time you thought you’d see a human, there was a toilet, instead. Not of this world! Ridiculous.” They have to get going somewhere soon. My last question: Camper Festival. “I’ve heard of that. I’ve heard the name, not much about it. But it’s really good. I hear it’s the best thing to come out of this apocalypse, lots of the oldies, the kind of music they don't make anymore. Listen, we’ve really got to get going.”

12:39 PM I’m looking around town. Donnie didn’t want to come. She said she’s feeling a little under the weather. I’ll make sure to look for medicine of some sort.

1:16 PM I couldn’t find anything. Returned to the inn. Wednesday can’t come any faster.

1:30 PM The innkeeper’s calling another headcount meeting.

2:00 PM Innkeeper says we’re all here, except for the deceased from yesterday. She gave her usual precautions, and said we’re having a five o’ clock curfew this time. Some people argued that the Massacrer will just kill people before then; curfews don’t matter to psychos. The innkeeper stood her ground.

2:34 PM Donnie’s really got a bad cold. She has a nasty headache and can’t stop coughing and sneezing. And I have no idea where any medicine is.

3:07 PM Taking another look in town. There’s gotta be something.

4:10 PM Noth … ..okay. It was that same old woman again. She was standing in the inn hallway. Now she’s gone. o_o; ..anyway, I found nothing. It’s nearly curfew.

5:49 PM Donnie doesn’t want me hugging her. She doesn’t want me catching whatever it is she has. Jordan is a sad spidercat now. ._.

7:24 PM I’m wondering a lot of things. What kind of cold might Donnie have? I mean, chances are it’s just a normal flu, but.. considering all these foreign creatures leaking who knows what into the atmosphere… I’m gonna try not to think about that. >_<

8:52 PM SCREAM WHERE

8:53 PM All the people are coming out of their rooms. Who screamed?

8:54 PM Innkeeper’s doing her headcount.

8:56 PM A lady from down the hall is dead. Her head was cut off entirely. Cleanly, too. I get the feeling it was our Masky. But that may be stating the obvious.

10:02 PM We were all questioned. I was here with Donnie; Donnie attested to it and I have this journal here, too. So every night, someone dies. But we’re getting out of here, and there’s gotta be somewhere around thirty of us. I think we’ll be fine. Either way, I’m getting some goddamn sleep.

(Attached: “Ah. Fears. There’s the rub. And the perfect jumping-off point for me to share another anecdote that this brings to mind. I mentioned some logs back that I had done some time in Aegyptus. Well, when I first arrived, date something like 90 CE, I knew nothing of the local languages so I feigned myself a mute and took residence in Memphis.

I hid in an abandoned store for a few weeks, stealing food and learning bits and pieces of dialogue from observing the locals. My clothes, I found lying on the street. Probably stole them too. I didn’t know how long I intended on staying, only that I refused to leave that time period, not when I knew at that point what I had just discovered– but that’s a story that requires far more context and so will have to wait awhile.

Before I knew it, I was standing before the the Great Temple of Ptah, listening to two people nearby speaking in English.

---Amazing what they do for us.

--- Pfft, yeah. All this effort. We don’t even care.

--- It’s not like we can just tell them we don’t want it.

--- Well, yeah, they’ll likely fight another war or something.

I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from until

I looked up and saw two people standing atop the front gates. Having no way to get up there, I called up to them, asking if I could speak.

Within a second, one of them suddenly appeared in front of me, the other one still climbing down. The one who had teleported bore the head of a jackal as a mask, the one climbing down wore bright white clothes with a long black beard.

The jackal-faced man asked me what I wished to discuss, throwing in a ‘mortal’ for good measure.

-- Ah, so you’re Fears, I said with much relief. This, however, only offended him.

--- What? ’Fears?’ Is that what they’re calling us now? Hey, Osiris! They’re calling us 'Fears’ now! Osiris, out of breath by the time he got to the ground, wiped sweat from his forehead and rolled his eyes.

--- Cute, but I wish they’d stick with 'god.’ I’m getting tired of all these epithets, and why do people insist on calling me a 'Lord?’ I decided to clarify.

--No, nobody’s calling you that yet. I, uh. I’m not from around here. I actually just wanted to know why you guys are speaking in English.

The two gods looked at each other in confusion. Osiris said, --- We’re not, foreign one. We speak in the ancient tongue known only to us gods. Your puny ears interpret it as whatever you’re used to.

Jackal guy added, --- But what is 'English?’ That doesn’t sound like the name of any language I’ve heard of.

-- Never mind, you answered my question, we’re good.

I didn’t want to say I was from the future; that struck me as kind of a no-no with time traveling.

--- Say, you’re a god too, aren’t you? The jackal guy asked, sounding enthusiastic.

I looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one in sight.

--..yeah. I’m Thoth.

The two of them gave a look as if they knew my secret.

--- You look awfully young today, Thoth, said Osiris. Last I saw you, you were on death’s door.

I just lowered my eyes. He laughed.

--- Unless you’re gifted with the ability to traverse time itself or something?

The two of them laughed at this until they saw my expression. Jackal-face asked if I really could. I quietly nodded. They looked at each other with awe then proceeded to ask me all kinds of questions, to which I replied by asking if we could go somewhere more private.

Before I knew it, we had been teleported to some glade within a forest who knows where. Awaiting us was a woman in a single large green garment. I was formally introduced to the whole lot: Jackal-face was known by many names including Anubis and Hades, Osiris also had the name Dis Pater, and the woman called herself Aura.

Anubis told Aura of my abilities, and I clarified that it’s not so much an ability as more of.. a possibility.

-- And I certainly can’t choose where or when I go. I go where the Empty City takes me, I guess.

Then I realized it wasn’t called that yet and the others assumed I was being poetic.

-- So what do you guys have powers over?

--- I see to every soul in the afterlife, every being that has passed away comes under my rule, declared Osiris.

--- I control the gales and the airs that come with it, followed Aura.

--- I judge people, added Anubis.

--- He and I, Osiris clarified, work in tandem. He’s the groundskeeper for the afterlife, to wax words. He is responsible for making sure none of my undead might have too much power.

-- As for me, I.. wander throughout space and time, writing and observing. I take it you guys have encountered me before?

Aura smiled and pointed at my book. --- Many times. You would never explain why your appearance altered, but you would always have that same tome.

-- Did I ever show any powers?

--- Not often. Sometimes, you could snap your fingers and take a human’s memories away, she said.

--- Oh, shouted Anubis, and you seem able to communicate with Olympus itself!

-- Olympus?

--- It’s one of the great mysteries of our kind. A sprawling jungle of houses built with materials no human has ever aspired to. It accompanied us on our journey from the stars, though we know not its ontology.

Sounded like the Empty City to me. I thought for a bit about what else to ask.

-- ..is there a god in this time by the name of Ptah?

Osiris recognized the name as belonging to the one he called Hephaestus, and then he and Anubis left to go and get him, leaving Aura and I alone to question each other.

--- Are there still gods in your time?

-- Uh-huh. You change quite a bit, though. I’m still trying to figure out who Anubis is in the future.

--- Of course we change, for many of us embody the nature of change itself. We have powers unrivaled by any beasts of the cosmos; such powers as us cannot stay stagnant.

-- Tell that to humans in power.

--- Ah, but we aren’t humans, dearest.

-- Many of us were, I’d imagine.

She looked at me funny. That’s when Anubis ran in, requesting that we come with him. Ah, but unfortunately even to proceed with this anecdote would require much context. So I’ll have to leave this note at the conversation above and urge the reading return to Jordan’s journals.”)

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[rafor]

Chapter 36 - You can't go - The Glitch

“Who is the father of your son?” I asked Freya, hoping to learn more about her past. She shook her head and said, “I’d rather not talk about that.” I persisted, saying, “Please, you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone. I just want to help you feel better.” She sighed and said, “It’s not a secret, really. Many know about it. But I don’t want to change how you see me.” I frowned and said, “What do you mean? Do you think I would judge you for that? You’re still a queen in my eyes, no matter what.” She gave me a sad smile and said, “I know, you’re too kind. Even after I told you to stop calling me that, you still disobey my orders.” I shrugged and said, “Maybe it’s a habit by now. I’m sorry.”

She seemed to relax a bit and open up to me, like she did on the first day of training when we were on our way to the arena. She told me her story in a soft voice. “I lost him shortly after Vesper was born. He left one day and never came back. I sent everyone to look for him, but they only found some charred bones that they said belonged to a dragon. I couldn’t even recognize him. Since then, I’ve been alone.” I felt a pang of sympathy and said, “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry for your loss. How did your son cope with it?” She shrugged and said, “He never cared. He never asked about his father or showed any interest in him. Even when he found out the truth. That he was dead and not just missing. He didn’t react at all. He just told me calmly and went on with his life. He’s such a screw-up, just like his mother.” I shook my head and said, “Don’t say that. You’re both fine. You’re strong, brave, and smart. And I’m here for you until they come for me and take me away. Until then, I’ll do anything to help you. Don’t worry.”

She suddenly changed her expression and looked at me with alarm. “Oh no, how long have you been here already?” she asked. I blinked and said, “Uh, I think a couple of weeks." She gasped and said, “They should have been here by now!” I felt a surge of fear and said, “Don’t worry, maybe they got delayed. The weather has been bad in the south lately.” She shook her head and said, “No, that’s not an excuse. They should have made it anyway, or at least sent a message back. Or we should have heard from Aura herself directly in the palace.” I asked, “What do you mean by that?” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the palace, which was a labyrinth of corridors and rooms. She ran so fast that I had to fly sometimes to keep up with her. She seemed to glide through the air with her wind powers. She finally stopped at a room that looked like an office full of papers and started rummaging through them frantically. I asked her, “What are you looking for?” She said, “A message from Aura. She must have sent one.” I asked, “How do you know that?” She explained, “She always does when she receives one of our messengers. There has to be one here somewhere.” I said, “Okay, I’ll help you find it. How can we tell it apart from these other papers?” She said, “It’s usually written on paper with red and pink borders. It’s easy to spot. Like this one.” She showed me an example of a letter that said something about “confirmation of the peace treaty between the cities”. I was curious about it, but she snapped at me, “Stop wasting time! Search!” I nodded and said, “Right, sorry. Let’s look for it.”

I had spent an hour rummaging through the room, looking for the elusive message. I tried to tidy up as I went along, not wanting to create more chaos in the midst of confusion. Finally, I gave up and said, “We’ve checked everything. There’s nothing here. Please, let it go.” She ignored me and continued to sift through the same pile of messages again, as if hoping to find something new. Then she stopped and said, “The messenger never arrived.” I knew that was not true because Akira had told me otherwise. “I’m sure he did. Maybe Aura just didn’t write anything this time?” I suggested. She shook her head vehemently. “She always writes something. She never misses a chance.” She picked up the most recent message from Aura and handed it to me. “Look at this. When did you send the last messenger to the Kingdom of Aura? And when did he come back? This is over a month old. How often do you usually exchange messages?” She said, “Every couple of weeks or so. Whenever a messenger returns, we send him back after a few days.” I said, “Then there should be a newer message than this one, right? This is just a reiteration of your old plan.” She snatched it back from me and scanned it quickly. “Oh, I remember this one. The messenger delivered it to me personally.” I said, trying to sound hopeful, “Then maybe she’s changed her way of communicating, don’t you think?” She said sarcastically, still clinging to her side of the argument, “The messenger should have been back by now anyway. It’s taking too long.” The discussion was going nowhere, so I said, “You told me it takes about a week to get to the city. And another week to come back. Maybe they had some delays or complications along the way.” She looked at the papers again, searching for something else. She found a report and handed it to me. “Look at this! You’ve been here longer than you think.” I took it and read it. It had the date of my arrival written on it, and indeed, I had lost track of time. I had been here for a month already, and that was not normal. I felt a surge of worry too. It had been a while since I heard Akira’s voice in my head, calling me or telling me anything. I wondered if something was wrong on the other side. But I also knew that Sol and Cyrus should have made it by now. I said, “Damn, I didn’t realize how much time had passed.” She yelled back at me, “You think?! Neither did I!” I tried to calm her down while hiding my own anxiety. I said, “Okay, listen, there must be an explanation for this. Don’t panic. Maybe we can send another messenger, or I can go back myself.” She replied instantly, “We don’t have another one who knows the way to the Kingdom of Aura!” Surprised by her answer, I said, “Don’t you have a map or something? I can read maps.” She said, “The maps that show the kingdom are inaccurate and outdated. You wouldn’t be able to follow them. And I’m not going to send you on a suicide mission. I don’t want you to get lost forever in this vast world.” I said, “Fine, then what do you suggest we do?” She was silent. She didn’t know either. I said, “I have another idea. What if I look for someone here in the city who might know the way there? There has to be someone. I’ve seen merchants coming and going sometimes, claiming they have goods from the Kingdom of Aura.” She said, “Merchants are not trustworthy, and I wouldn’t rely on anyone here for such a journey.” I said, “Maybe they could just tell me the direction, and I could take notes and follow them.” She said, “That’s impossible. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get to a place you’ve never been before with just some vague instructions? It’s impossible.” I gave up. She was right. It was too risky and uncertain. I thought there was nothing wrong with asking for some help from someone who knew the area better than us, maybe even offering a reward for their guidance, but no, she wouldn’t agree to that either. She wanted me there, safe with her.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Stories Told on Hallow’s Eve

Pairing: original characters

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

Word count: 378

A/N: Welcome to the last week of Frightful October. The theme is Hallow’s Eve, and this is a wrap up drabble for my interconnected stories of this month.

The King’s Sorcerer | The Huntsman | Gatekeeper | The Secret Library | Stories Told on Hallow’s Eve

“Is that all there is to the story, Grandmamma?”

Looking up at his older sister Luna solemnly and blinking back his tears, Misha then turned to the closed book. “Is it?”

Little Effie balled her hands up in annoyance. “Surely, there must be more! It can’t just end there, can it?”

“We’ve heard about a sorcerer and his shifter, and the Huntsman who travelled into the Enchanted Forest.” Luna counted out the adventures on her fingers.

Misha grinned and sat up straighter in his bed. “And then we went to Hell!”

“And through the gateway to the Ancients!” Effie chimed in, climbing above the blankets she had been tucked under and standing like a strong warrior. “Where a demon and a dark elf tried to stop the bad prophecy.”

“But they didn’t,” Luna lamented, slumping with her thoughts. “And then Airi found the Secret Minder.”

“Why did it have to end there, Grandmamma?!” Misha wailed dramatically as children often do, and his siblings sobered a little, Effie climbing back under the covers with a sniffle.

“That’s not the end of the story, right? There’s still Calamity and the Queen to meet!” Luna asked once more, her expression mixed with grave determination.

The weathered woman, who had been smiling softly at the siblings’ objections, finally shook her head. “Of course, that’s not the end, my children. There’s always something more to be told.”

“Oh, goodie!” Effie said with a clap of her hands. “Can you read us more now? It’s Hallow’s Eve still, Grandmamma!”

“Yeah, can’t you tell us one more story?!” Misha begged, and Luna’s eyes grew pleading.

However, no one could shake the matron before them from her decisions. She had closed her book, and whilst reading, she had never allowed the children to see that the pages she had turned were completely blank. Her red hair was now long gone, silver locks framing her finally aged face. She turned her weakening body towards the doorway, hushing the children’s protests with a promise to return to the story where she left off one day soon.

Until then, she left the three to hope that not all had been lost in the Temple of Secrets and that Calamity’s birth would mean more than the end of the world.

_________________

Thank you to everyone who supported this series.

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

[Frightful October Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist]

[aeoki]

Magic Lantern - Monument: Chapter 5

Location: Magic Lantern Stage Characters: Sora, Natsume & Tsumugi

< One week after. The start of “Magic Lantern Fest”. >

Sora: “♪~♪~♪”

Tsumugi: “Everyone! Thank you for coming despite the bad weather! We welcome you all~♪”

Natsume: “We’ll show you the best kind of magic that’ll make you forget the melancholic weathER!”

Sora: “Welcome! To ‘Switch’s’ concert! Thank you for coming to see Sora and the others!”

ᵴᴏᴙᴀ ᴉᵴ ᵴᴜᴘᴇᴙ, ᵴᴜᴘᴇᴙ ⲏᴀᴘᴘ𐰛 ᴛᴏ ᵴᴇᴇ 𐰛ᴏᴜ ᴀᴌᴌ ♪

Tsumugi: ……!? Did Sora-kun just chant a “spell” like Natsume-kun?

Natsume: YeAH. I’m honoured to see that you’ve become a master in “imitating” mE. I don’t think Sora did that intentionally, thouGH…

As a magiciAN, he’s my “disciple” who has always watched me and followed my teachings, after aLL.

If anything, it would be even stranger if he didn’t use the same magic as mE.

Tsumugi: He must have felt a bit hesitant around you~ Thinking that it’s impossible for the disciple to surpass the master. He’s a kind child but he does take a step back from everything else around him.

Natsume: YeAH, he’s too much of a good bOY – it kinda irks mE.

By the way, I don’t think you’ve noticed, but Sora has been copying you tOO, Senpai.

I tend to act lazy and cool, but I actually have a bad habit of putting on a front to fool whoever I’m talking to in order to cover up what I laCK.

“Switch’s” unique production also started as something as a deceptive trick in the beginniNG.

But that was the result of me pushing myself to the limit, in order for me to catch up to my brothers in the “Five Oddballs” as quickly as I couLD.

But you’ve been studying at an idol-training school ever since you were a child and you’ve steadily learnt everything properly starting from the basiCS, Senpai.

That’s why, despite your pathetic image, your singing and dancing are actually quite “stroNG”.

Tsumugi: Oh, this is pretty rare to see you give me a compliment, Natsume-kun.

Natsume: If I kept hitting you all the time, you won’t be sturdy anymore and would end up breakiNG. I’ve got to give you a piece of candy every once in a whiLE.

Anyway, Sora observes that “good part” of you and imitates iT. He looks at when you need to stEP, what sort of expression you should have on your faCE, the angle of your fingertiPS…

How to sing in the right tone for the song, adjusting the tone of our voice to match up with the audienCE – and a lot of other aspects tOO. He perfectly copies it like it’s the most natural thing in the world and then arranges it in his own wAY.

This word has been overused way too much and it’s lost most of its valUE, but if I had to describe Sora in one word, it would be a geniUS.

Tsumugi: What are you saying at this point in time? Sora-kun has always been an outstanding child.

Natsume: You’re rigHT. We’ve had such a special and brilliant treasure in our hands, but we’ve just let it go to waste all this tiME.

The rest of the world probably sees Sora as the youngest child in the weird three-people unit callED “Switch”.

While that is true, he’s more than thAT.

He’s an extraordinary and wonderful child who is by no means inferior, even if he’s being compared to geniuses from ES or Yumenosaki that are like glittering staRS.

The rest of the world doesn’t see him that wAY. That’s our responsibility as the people who were in charge of“Switch” up until todAY.

Tsumugi: Yes. But today will be different. We have the power I gained from ES and the power you gained from Yumenosaki, Natsume-kun.

Let’s turn that into fuel and raise him to the top of the world – we’ll make him shine even brighter than the sun.

Me and you– no, we’ll put all three of our powers together.

Natsume: It’s only a matter of faCT. That’s why we’re holding thIS “Magic Lantern Fest”.

We’ll shine a light on something that was buried in misfortune and show that it’s precious and valuabLE – That’s what this ceremony is fOR.

Tsumugi: Yes. It’s our first performance under Sora-kun’s leadership – we really hope it’ll be a success. We want to make his wish a reality and we want to grant his innocent wish.

In order to achieve that, I’ve actually immaturely abused a bit of my power, you know!

For example, I asked “Knights” to help promote the concert as an apology since they made a mess during “Next Door”!

Natsume: Isn’t that something they should have taken the initiative to do insteAD? That would only be reasonable, rigHT? How arrogant of “Knights” – just because they’re populAR…

Tsumugi: We let them do whatever they want since they’re earning a lot for us, so it’s “even”.

“Double Face” is difficult to use, after all~ We have to make sure “Knights” continues being our top earner.

No. We’ll set things up so that everyone can profit by making the idols in our agency work comfortably… 

That’s my job as the vice president.

I don’t have the ability to be shrewd and I can't vigorously cut my way into my surroundings to make a profit like Saegusa-kun, who’s in the same position at CosPro, though.

What I have right now is perfect for me.

I enjoy my life every day. It’s quite fulfilling.

Everyone worries about me and says, “It must be a lot of work”, but this is what I’ve always been wanting to do.

Rather than kicking the enemies away as a hero, I’ll plough away at the fields so that everyone has something to eat every day.

Even if I can’t change the world, I wanted to use the life I’ve desperately protected all this time…

To prevent people from dying from starvation.

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[camapuri]

The Longest Night

Aziraphale gets stranded in the English countryside in a blizzard. Fortunately, Crowley comes to the rescue. Written for the 2023 holiday party on @sendarya's discussion server.

As night fell on the English countryside, a lone pair of headlights cut through driving snow.

Crowley squinted out at it and growled.

“What do you think, girl? Are we going to make it through this?” he asked, patting the Bentley’s dashboard.

The Bentley had been purring along for the last hour as the pace of the snow quickened, but her wheels were beginning to lose traction.

He was so caught up in his grumpiness at the storm, that he nearly missed seeing the lone passenger sitting at the bus stop as he zipped past.  A moment later, when his brain caught up with his eyes, he slammed on the brakes and threw the car in reverse.

As he’d thought, a thoroughly bedraggled Aziraphale sat at the bus stop, hunched against the snow.  At the sight of the Bentley, his eyebrows lifted hopefully, and when Crowley leaped out and sprinted around the car to open the door for him, a grin lit his entire face.

“Get in, Angel,” Crowley barked.  “You can’t be sitting at a bus stop in weather like this!”

“Well, if you insist,” Aziraphale said, already settling himself in the passenger seat.

“What were you doing out there?” Crowley demanded as he slid into the driver’s seat.

“Well, if you must know, I was out in the countryside on assignment, and I found the most fascinating little bookshop.  I must admit, I rather lost track of the time. And the weather.  And the bus schedule.  I do believe I must have missed the last bus,” Aziraphale said, looking bashful.

Bashful was one of Aziraphale’s cutest looks, and Crowley didn’t want to be caught staring, so he fixed his eyes back on the road.

“What were you doing here?” Aziraphale asked.

I was looking for you because the snowstorm of the century is predicted tonight, and I knew you were out here, and I know you don’t pay attention to practicalities like weather, and I didn’t want you getting stuck in it, Crowley thought.

But what he said out loud was, “Ngk, I had an assignment, too.”

“It really is dreadful out there,” Aziraphale observed, peering out the window.  “Do you think we’ll be able to get back to London?”

Crowley had been wondering about that too.  It was only three months since he’d tap danced his way into a church to save Aziraphale from Nazi idiots.  Only three months since they’d performed the bullet catch trick.  Something had changed between them that night.  They’d never discussed it, but there was a charge to their interactions now.  Crowley didn’t understand it, and it made him nervous.  Above all, he didn’t want to spook the angel, and he didn’t know how a night stuck on the road in a snow storm would play.

But it turned out that the Bentley made the decision for them, skidding off the road just as they passed a building with a sign swinging out front that announced itself as the Red Lion Inn.

“Oh bugger it all,” he exclaimed, as he jumped out to make sure the car was OK.

It was undamaged, but it was also thoroughly stuck in the snow.

As he had raised his hand to miracle it free, another hand landed on his.  He turned to see Aziraphale, very close, and felt a blush creeping up his neck.

“I think we can leave it till morning, don’t you?” Aziraphale said, nodding to the Bentley.  “It would be a terribly difficult drive for you in this weather, and we’ve landed in such a perfect place.  An inn!  What providence.”

Crowley wasn’t sure what he thought about providence, but he worked his shoulders and then nodded, “Yeah, alright.  We can see if they have a place for us to wait this out.”

They met the innkeeper at the door.

“Ah, hello gents—you’ve arrived just in time!  I was about to lock up!  Didn’t think anyone would be out in this weather.”

“Well, we were trying to get back to London, but we’re rather stuck,” Aziraphale said, gesturing to the Bentley.

“Oh yeah, I see.  Bad luck that.  Well, come in,” he said, holding the door for them.

They entered into a cavelike room with a roaring fire.  Tables hugged the walls, and a sofa stood, welcoming, in front of the fire.

“The rooms are full, but you’re welcome to spend the night in the common room here, if you like,” said the innkeeper.  

“Oh, that would be lovely.  Thank you so much,” Aziraphale beamed at the man as Crowley’s stomach did a little somersault.

“I was just about to head up to bed after I locked up.  Solstice, you know?  Longest night of the year.  And with this snow storm, no one is coming or going.  I thought I’d get a little extra rest.   Anything I can do for you before I head up?” the innkeeper asked.

“No, we’ll be fine.  Thank you again,” said Aziraphale.

As the innkeeper’s steps receded up the stairs, Aziraphale took off his coat and shook the snow out of his hair, chuckling softly.

“Do you know what this reminds me of?” he asked.

“What’s that?” Crowley asked.

“That night in Job’s basement.  Marooned by a storm,” Aziraphale said, smiling with a far-off look in his eyes.  

He snapped his fingers, summoning a fine bottle of wine and two glasses onto a nearby table.  He filled the two glasses, and then plumped down onto the sofa.

“Ah, that’s better,” he purred.   And then called over his shoulder, “Coming?”

“I don’t know…d’ye think we should…” Crowley stammered.

“Like the inn keep said—it’s the longest night of the year and there’s a driving snowstorm outside.  No one upstairs or down is going to come looking for us tonight.  We’re snowed in.  They’re snowed out.  We might as well get comfortable,” Aziraphale said.

Firelight glowed through the angel’s hair and turned his skin rosey.

“Comfortable, yeah,” Crowley repeated, and as he stood looking at the easy way that Aziraphale rested on the couch, he made a decision.  He slowly raised his hand and removed his glasses before joining Aziraphale.

The angel held his gaze a beat longer than usual, before handing over a glass of wine.

“Cheers,” he said, holding his glass up, “to the longest night of the year!”

“Cheers,” Crowley said, reflecting that even the longest night of the year could feel bright when shared with the right company.

[blue-eyed-bloodstains]

What color are your eyes? blue

Is anyone you work with currently on maternity leave or vacation? I haven’t worked in over 5 years

Favorite boy’s name? Riley

Baked macaroni and cheese or regular? regular, not a big fan of baked.

What’s the first thing you learned how to draw? probably whatever any kid does?

Name one of your friends’ children: Trinity

What was the name of your 5th grade teacher? honestly I can’t remember and I wish I could cause she couldn’t stand me for god knows what and I couldn’t stand her because of it lol

Sterling silver or titanium? my skin is iffy with silver and gold, the whole turns green thing but I love silver anyway!

How many hours do you work in a day? I haven’t in over 5 years

Have you ever been to a casino? several times just walking through or at the bar in Atlantic City plus seeing Evanescence live, but I’ve never gambled

Who wrote the last book you read? I honestly can’t remember...it’s been a long time, trying to push myself to pick up again 

What’s the middle name of your bestfriend? girl - Spencer, guy - doesn’t have one

What’s your favorite food? sushi always, any seafood really!

How far away do you live from the closest aquarium? oh god I don’t even know lol I just had to look it up and closest to me is Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. so from where I live in PA, that’s an hour and a half drive so not too bad, pretty much the same drive I make to visit my dad and stepmom in NJ

Favorite girl’s name? a few...Vada, Kairi, Riley, Neveah, Shay

Name one of your candle scents: I need to get more candles but there’s lots in Yankee Candle I would load up on! vanilla, lavender, ocean/beach are a few

What’s the name of your favorite restaurant? there’s some good local ones around here for different foods

Are you in a relationship? If so, how long? yeah, Feb 13-14 marked 7 years together, we’ve been engaged for 2 years as of Christmas last year

Who in your family has a birthday in January? sigh this had to be a question....my cousin Tony, Jan 16 who this year just three days later went missing and on Jan 21 was found dead in a park sooo...as of now? none that I can think of... :(

When was the last time you lost power? How long was it out and the cause? umm few months ago maybe, we do on rare occasions when weather is real bad here which happens often given the area. it’s usually a few hours, worst case near half a day/overnight depending on when they can get it back

Do you know any twins? I used to in school

What’s your favorite flower? white rose

Pick 3 random colors: navy, olive, beige

Would you ever dye your hair that color? well beige is basically light brown, close to blonde soo done that...olive, no and navy...maybe especially with my blue eyes and pale skin 

Do you own any underwear that color? beige yeah

Can this be used as a last name? the colors? I hope not that’d be weird lol I know Olive can be a first name but not last

What’s your favorite country song? oh lord where to start? so many

Do you drink alcohol? heh...let’s not go here right now...

Do you use any food delivery services such as UberEats, DoorDash, etc? we live on DoorDash literally every single night, neither one of us cook

What color is your mailbox? your typical generic black one

What age did you lose your virginity? 19, three months shy of 20

Dogs or cats? both

Do you know anyone who’s been to prison? ohhh yeah, try most of the family...granted mostly jail but some were prison stints too

What’s one thing on your shopping list? CLOTHES. neeeeeeed clothes.

Freeze tag or musical chairs? freeze tag, I love tag and miss it

Where did you go on your last vacation? LA with my fiance

Have you ever been stuck in the mud? no thankfully

What was the last thing you took a picture of? screenshotted something important on my phone

Name someone you work with: I don’t

How far away is the closest Walmart? about a 10, 15 minute drive it’s close

Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell or McDonald’s? Taco and McD’s, never liked Chic-Fil-A much

Did you ever get an allowance as a child? once for all of a few weeks lol mostly we’d just go to the mall and get a video game or something for a good report card or honor roll

What food do you see the most of at baby showers? I’ve never been to one so not sure

Do you know the capital of your state? Harrisburg

Have you ever rode on a motorcycle? yeah more than once, loved it

When’s the last time you ate any type of sweet? last week, finished off a tin of Lindt chocolates I’d forgotten about and found while looking for something 

Pizza rolls or bagel bites? oooo both and now I want some!

What kind of flooring is in the room you’re in? carpet 

Is the internet connection good where you live at? yeah 

Do you need to do laundry? no just recently did it

What’s your favorite scent? coffee, vanilla, lavender, ocean breeze, Old Spice, sizzling steak or barbecue

Have you ever lived in a hotel before? no

What kind of pets does your grandmother have? none

Do you follow any type of trials? no

What’s the last show you really got into that you have to wait for the next season of? The Umbrella Academy Season 4, and the last part of The Final Season of Attack On Titan grrrrr both of which are this fall sometime 

SpongeBob or Patrick? Sponge, though Patrick has his moments

When’s the last time you saw fireworks? sometime last year. we can see em outside our front door over the skyline of Reading, our house is way up in the hills overlooking it 

Have you ever witnessed a car accident? several

Do you own a pair of fuzzy socks? no

What kind of ice cream is your favorite? oh god you’re killing me! Rocky Road, Banana Split, Coffee, Cotton Candy, Pina Colada...(yes obviously some of these are italian ices but still count lol)

Have you ever been skinny dipping? no

Sprinkles or frosting? frosting, I don’t mind sprinkles but meh I loooooove me some frosting though

Do you like mushrooms? I looooove mushrooms oh my goddddd

How many tattoos do you have? one on the inside of my right wrist

Do you own any type of hand sanitizers? just a mini travel size one from when COVID first hit

Have you ever worked in a grocery store? no

What’s your Subway order? it varies, I usually go for a BLT footlong, tuna footlong or Italian footlong

When was the last time you used the bathroom? why the fuck would you wanna know that...? O_O

Do you know how to roller skate? uhhh not really. actually I kinda skipped skates and went to blades, which I can just barely do only on a rink but I haven’t since I was like preteen

Can you read sheet music? no I wish

How old is your youngest sibling? I’m an only child

Do you have an Amazon account? no

What day is payday? I don’t work

What’s one food your family has at Thanksgiving? stuffing

Do you like painting? if I had any clue how to, I’d love it

Have you ever been swimming with dolphins? no I would love to though that looks like so much fun

What’s your favorite snack food? ANYTHINGGG. I’m a snack food junkie! I swear I could live on the shit if I could, especially popcorn

You’re watching Law & Order, is it the regular or SVU? SVU and wowwww timing cause there’s actually a marathon right now playing XD

What were you doing last time it snowed? not sure, we didn’t really get snow except a dusting all last winter

Do you have to sleep with a fan on? yes

Chapstick or lip gloss? both but it’s been a minute since I wore lip gloss

When was the last time you took a shower? seriously getting personal here man, get out of the bathroom! :P

Do you know how to play basketball? for fun yeah, was on an all girls team once in 5th grade but hated the competitiveness and the glory hounds

Name one thing you put on a salad: on, not in so I’m assuming dressing? balsamic vinaigrette

Do you own anything that’s your favorite color? oh yeah lol

What’s the last thing you ordered from a Mexican restaurant? quesadilla

Do you carry a purse or a backpack? purse

What kind of soda is your favorite? any kind really, love soda

Have you ever cut yourself shaving? a few nicks every now and then....

Penguins or pandas? they’re both cute Do you like your in-laws? not quite in laws yet...but yeah I love his parents to death, they’re amazing and we mesh so well

What do you usually do for Christmas? usually visit family, his one day and mine the other

Have you ever used any type of Aromatherapy? no

Toe socks or ankle socks? ankle Who’s your favorite Pokémon character? just Pokemon or the characters too? wayyyy too hard no way that’s asking me what’s your favorite song? 

What’s the temperature range in your area? not sure what you mean by range but..currently it’s 81 degrees F at 6:03pm, it’s gorgeous out

Does your trash need to be taken out? no already did it

Nachos or chips and salsa? chips and salsa baby!

What’s the name of your pets? Danyell, female tabby cat

Have you been around anyone that creeped you out? several times

What’s your Chick-fil-A order? I never eat there

Regular or pink lemonade? either one, just pray I avoid heartburn

Do you know anyone who’s lost their house in a natural disaster? no

What’s your favorite candy? pretty much anything! I’m a sucker for raisinets and sour gummy worms though Chinese or Japanese cuisine? Chinese

Colored pencils or sharpies? colored pencils

Do you own a pair of Crocs? hell no never

Have you ever been to DisneyWorld? sadly no

Does anyone in your family have a birthday in February? not that I can remember right now

How long does it take for your phone to fully charge? I always have it on the charging cord when I’m home, which is always..but if it needs a quick charge, doesn’t take too long. maybe 45 mins and it’s good to go

What color is your hairbrush? black

Is there any movies out that you want to see? yeah several and a few coming soon too

Do you know how to run a cash register? I did while I was working...but it’s been 5 years since I last worked, so I’d definitely need a full refresher

Chicken or beef noodles? both

What year did you get your drivers license? 2010

Do you have any piercings? yeah, the usual one in each ear and a belly button ring

What kind of makeup do you wear? eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick/gloss..sometimes eyeliner

What’s your Taco Bell order? party pack (12) of soft taco supremes, add/extra tomato with a large Baja Blast

Do you wear any type of shimmer spray or glitter? no

Have you ever lived in a trailer/doublewide? no surprisingly..though some places I’ve lived we used to call vertical trailers cause they may as well have been 

What’s your boyfriends/girlfriends middle name? fiance, and his middle name is Robert

Are you into anime? hell yeah I love anime!

Pizza or nacho lunchables? pssh are you kidding? there’s never been any contest, PIZZA!

Have you ever been to a strip club? no

Do you know how to play any instruments? I used to play clarinet and bells in school, 1 year for each...other than that no

Have you ever been inside of a courtroom? yep several times especially this past year with my DUI, and even been through a TRO trial I had against mom...

What kind of restaurants do you eat at while you’re on vacation? I never get to go on vacation, but I’d usually try out local spots especially ones they’re well known for

Did you ever participate in any pageants when you were younger? hell no thank god, I can’t stand seeing what the parents put those poor girls through it’s sick

What kind of cheese is your favorite? I’m Italian/Irish mostly..cheese is life lol I love all of it

Does your phone have any cracks or scuffs? only a slight one on the screen protector of it, the phone itself is fine from that and the case 

Have you ever had a professional massage? no

Which would you rather have, twins or triplets? less would be easier so twins but whatever I’m meant to have, are my kids 

Do you drink energy drinks? Monster and Starbucks Doubleshots

Can you swim? the basics yeah, for some unknown reason my body refuses to learn how to just lay back and float though lol

Make the perfect taco salad: never had one but basically a taco supreme without the tortilla lol

Have you ever lived with friends or a roommate? friends yeah once or twice

Who in your family has a birthday in March? my dad, March 8 and my stepsis March 10

What kind of pasta do you like? GIMME ALLLLLLLLL THE PASTA

Do you know how to play volleyball? for the most part yeah...I’ve taken a straight within inches, full strength spiked ball to the face like a pro too :| 

How much decorating do you do around the holidays? none, we barely even do a tree anymore really..well at our house anyway, family always does

Have you ever been on a cruise? no and I want to soooo bad...straight to open bar for a mai tai and lounge by the pool on the top deck in the sun 

At what age did you learn how to tie your shoes? uhhh it was kindergarten so hell...I was maybe 4? 

Oreos or chocolate chip cookies? both

What did you dress up for Halloween as a child? lots...pumpkin, chicken, Jasmine from Aladdin, Marill from Pokemon..that’s all I can remember out of em all 

Can you count to ten in Spanish? yeah

Name a character from your favorite TV show: Jude Harrison

Do you like going to arcades? yeah I’m a gamer always have been

What was the last personal care item you bought from the store? pads

Airplanes or helicopters? planes

Have you ever been camping for more than a week? never more than a few days

What kind of meat do you like the most? most of it

Do you actually stop and pet dogs you actually see? I say hi and call to em, smile and compliment them to the owner if there is one but no, I don’t pet without permission just in case

Have you ever been in an ambulance? yep several times

What’s the craziest thing you’ve found at a hotel before? when we got to the room on vacation in VA a few months into dating and he was showing me his “stomping grounds” from when he was stationed in Newport News for the Navy, I happened to look in the drawer of the nightstand and there was the bible (usual) but next to it was this coin purse which looked full. curious, we opened it and it was full of like, four different brands of condoms lol the irony of the bible being next to it was amazing

How far is the closest Target? about 15 min drive, not too far

Snakes or spiders? oh dear god snakes, get the fuck away from me with the latter! I’m severely arachnophobic!

What’s your Panera Bread order? depends..usually a flatbread pizza and I always get their chicken noodle soup, best damn chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had! whatever they do to it is amazing

Do you have any cool keychains? my fiance brings home a few from the jobs he’s sent to sometimes, they’re all on my carabiner that holds my keys 

How old is your oldest living grandparent? none biologically, I forget how old my dad’s mom is

Do you watch movies? doesn’t everyone?

Who in your family has a birthday in April? my fiance’s mom April 12, my grandfather (RIP) April 13, my fiance April 23, my cousin Jakey April 30

Have you ever had your nails done professionally? a few times

What color Christmas tree do you use? green, we always get natural

What’s your go to dipping sauces? ranch or ketchup

Do you know how to properly pack a U-Haul truck? no

What was your least favorite math? honors level Algebra 2...furthest I got before graduation, moved around so much and repeated Algebra so much I never got to take most of the others everyone else did like calc or trig

Have you ever been published in a magazine? no

What color is your snow gloves? don’t have any

How old were you when you last went to the dentist? 17...yeah I know it’s disgusting, overdue is not even the word 

Do you own a printer? yeah never really use it

What’s your Applebees order? depends on what I’m feeling...but one thing’s for sure going on that damn table and that’s my spinach and artichoke dip!! 

Do you bring home seashells from the beach? yeah always

What kind of video games do you play? pretty much anything, more adventure/rpg..think Zelda, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, etc. but I love all games

Is anyone in your family in law enforcement? not anymore, some have history though.

How long ago was the last funeral you attended? January 29, 2023 so this year...my cousin only a year older than me, murdered days after his birthday the week before it...

What color is the blanket on your bed? my weighted blanket is like a burnt orange color

Where did you get your name from? mom loved my first name from the get go and at the time it wasn’t as popular like it was as I got older through school. my two middle names, one is hers and one is my great grandmother’s first name. last name is sperm donor’s last name unfortunately...can’t wait for our wedding so I can finally rid myself of it once and for all

Do you wear lipstick? when I put on make up yeah, which I rarely do anymore except going to see family for holidays or date night which rarely ever happens too...

What’s a fruit you dislike? can’t think of one, I love fruit

What kind of donuts do you like? not a big fan but when I do eat em on occasion, boston creme filled for sure and of course I’m east coast so I gotta reference Dunkin Donuts here! :D

Do you know how to braid hair? no

What’s one accessory you wear? occasional earrings or necklace..other than that it’s just my engagement ring which I always wear it’s not an accessory

How many hoodies/jackets do you own? many, I love hoodies (and yes most are his that I wear more)

What was the last name of the road you lived on? not putting that out there

What brand of chocolate do you prefer? Reese’s

Nike or Adidas? either one

What will your future wedding colors be? not sure yet...can’t even plan cause he’s barely ever home and we’re struggling to try and even save up..

Do you have a phone mount in your car? need a car after what happened last year but yeah, once I finally get a new one (hopefully soon), I’ll definitely have one. otherwise I just prop it in the cupholders lol

Make the perfect omelet: eggs, bacon, sausage, bell peppers, diced onions, ketchup, salt, pepper

[antaniashanae]

It’s A Celebrate: Let’s Dance!

February brings several things to celebrate, but I want acknowledge the Black Kings and Queens, Happy Black History Month to you. I honor you. I appreciate you. I celebrate you. Continue making great strides in your communities and legacies. We’ve come a ways, yet, the road is still ahead.

I’m reminded of a time when I attended Indiana State University, a PWI, somewhere in the valley… I sorta ended up there because my mom would not allow me to go to Tennessee State University, my dream school. It was “too far”, she said. Anywho, the Black population was so small at ISU, but every social group made sure black students could celebrate Black History Month in an elaborate way. I was a member of the choir, Ebony Majestic. It seemed like there was always an event for us to sing at during BHM. I was also a member of NAACP, Black Student Union, and S.I.S.T.E.R.S T.O.O. (a black sisterhood program). I feel as though I’m leaving a group out… Oh, Pharmacy club! 🥹 Listen, homegirl was BUSY.

I was glad to be a part in the groups that didn’t let me forget to celebrate my culture. It reminded me to always take pride in being a Black woman . The resilience I have is to be celebrated. My accomplishments and even my failures are reasons to celebrate. To understand the importance of this month is to know YOUR WORTH. I’m certain the Ancestors are proud.

February is also HEART MONTH! Many of you know how much this means to me. My mother has heart disease and has had her Mitral valve replaced. If you stood close to my mom, one would assume she had on a loud wrist watch, but it’s the device that has a similar sound. We learn a lot through the health of others. We learned so much about heart disease through my mothers health screenings and regular doctors visits.

It’s been my mission to ensure I educate those of the things I’ve learned along the way. Our heart is connected to so many other functions throughout our bodies, this also includes our teeth! Yes, our oral health is connected to our heart health. It is imperative that we’re brushing, flossing, and taking care of our teeth to the best of our ability. Bad dental hygiene can cause inflammation in your heart valve—leading to strokes and/or heart attacks. Brush your teeth for at least 3 minutes. The average American only brushes for 45 seconds. We must change this!

I wanted to start this month with a dance. Not only is it a personal form of self care, it is also great cardio. While Dallas is experiencing the strangest weather, I’ve been indoors reviewing emails, reading books, sorting last weeks laundry, and trying to maintain my workouts. What better way to get the heart pumping than by DANCING!? Short story: One of my birthday gifts to myself was this $500+ Apple Watch. I previously owned a FitBit, but after 2 years, it died. This also effected the logging of my workouts, so I sorta quit altogether. I lost my motivation when I no longer had my Fitbit. I don’t stay down for long, tho, because I actually enjoy the gym. I’m obsessed with my watch and being able to monitor my movements and choose from various exercises (dance included), I haven’t missed a beat!

Ladies:

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. There are ways you can prevent this, one being dancing. I urge you all to get up and dance for at least 30 minutes a day this month. I will come back with heart disease awareness info throughout the week, so be sure to tune in! Let’s reduce our risk of heart disease by moving. 🏃🏾‍♀️ 🚴 🏋🏾‍♀️ 💃🏾

If you’ve ever been CPR certified, you know the relevance of this song:

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[doneyousowrong]

chapter one.

tw: cursing, bullying (?) wc: 2.4k

p.o.v: lia

The weather seemed to match the way I felt. All the anxious and degrading thoughts in my mind were perfectly paired with the clouded, rainy sky. New school, new friends, new life. It was all undoubtedly terrifying, as it was necessary.

I took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob of the room where my first class of the year would be. My eyes darted around the place, when i finally landed on a familiar face, letting go of the air I didn’t even know I was holding in.

�� Took you long enough — I was caught off my thoughts by my best friend’s look piercing through me, clearly annoyed.

— They had to make a fresh pot, took longer than I expected — I replied in a defensive way, taking a sip of the coffee in my hands and sitting on the chair next to her, putting my things down.

— I’m so excited! — She squealed, almost jumping out her seat — I saw literally the cutest guy coming in and I talked to this girl who said all our classes are really good. Why do you look like that? — She frowned at the sight of the ‘not very amused’ expression on my face.

— I'm just really scared, Ollie. All these people seem so cool and outgoing and, honestly, it’s kind of terrifying — I shrugged — I just have a weird feeling, you know? Like, deep in my guts, that this won’t be such a good year.

— That’s probably all the coffee you’ve been drinking. Let go, Lia! People can surprise you. You can’t just follow me around all the time like a lost puppy, and don’t get me wrong, I love being with you, but you have to meet new people. — She argued, making me sigh.

    Maybe she was right. After all, Olivia was a master when it came to making friends. She was just so easygoing, conversation never died with her. In high school they called her a “people magnet”, because everyone was just so drawn to her. But can you blame them? She was the coolest person I knew. First day of college, there she was, all confident, with a full face of makeup, dressed in leather from head to toe. And Olivia was definitely one of the most beautiful people you’d ever lay eyes on, people would talk to her just for the pleasure of admiring her perfect features.

     Suddenly, the teacher came in and closed the door behind him, asking for the students to be quiet.

— Hi everyone, I’m Gary — He stated, with a rather cute smile on his face. — I know it’s hard, but don’t stare too much ladies, I am taken — He said pointing at the ring on his finger, making everyone giggle.

— See, this is going to be fun — Olivia whispered to me, smiling from ear to ear.

    I couldn't help but let out a tiny giggle, which led to me and Ollie talking shit about all the tedious professors we’ve had during school life. I was finally feeling a bit at ease, but my peace was quickly cut short when I heard the classroom door being slammed open. A boy came in like it was nobody's business. His golden brown locks falling onto his forehead, his denim jacket sliding off one of his shoulders, and utterly avoiding any type of eye contact with the teacher.

— U-Uhm... Excuse me? — He coughed, absurdly annoyed — Are you by any chance aware of your time tables? You can't get in class this late.

    At this point everyone was dead silent. Eyes would quickly shift between the professor and the boy.

— I was caught up in a personal matter. Why don't you just go back to doing your shitty job and leave me be? — He answered cockily while putting his stuff down on the desk behind me.

— Oh you better keep that attitude of yours for your bitches, I’m not putting up with your shit. You may get your things and leave, please — Professor Gary replied, very annoyed.

     If my anxiety levels were bad before, now they were catastrophic. Tension made me nervous, that boy was being so disrespectful. Sure, I don't really think there's a need for being this strict with 'lateness' of any sort, but he was so egocentric towards someone who was just doing their job. I looked at Ollie with a “I told you” look and she rolled her eyes.

— If you want to take this matter to the headmaster, he will surely tell you how my family’s generous donations are more important to this school than your position here, unless you think differently and still want to take a chance… — He said with a smug face that made me wanna punch him right there and then.

The teacher basically shrug it off with a scoff, accepting his defeat.

    After what felt like hours of this weird tension that was left in the room, the bell rang and it was lunch time. Olivia and I got up and packed our things. As I was leaving the classroom to go to the cafeteria, that jerk boy bumped so hard on my shoulder on his way out, like I wasn’t even there. That made Ollie's blood boil. She had a thing for bad boys, but she spent the last three hours saying how annoyed he made her feel, talking to the teacher like that, flexing his money.

— Are you fucking blind? — She almost screamed at him.

    At this point I was sweating cold. I could feel my limbs shaking and my fingers going numb. He slowly stopped at the door and turned around to face both of us, including my 'scared to death please don't eat me' face.

— What did you say? — He asked, almost baffled

— You heard it. You come in here thinking you're better than everyone, and just bump mindlessly into people? — She replied, completely red from all the anger that was taking control of her body.

— Ollie, just let it go. It was an accident — I tried to make my way out of this discussion.

— You heard your friend, it was an accident — Now he just sounded straight like a serial killer.

     To say I was uncomfortable was an understatement. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. Suddenly a beautiful blonde girl showed up at the door.

— Baby, I’ve been waiting for so long! — She whined, throwing her arms around his neck.

— Sorry Princess, some mindless fucks were obsessing over me — He explained after giving her a peck on the lips.

— Oh, in your fucking dreams! — Ollie said, ready to throw hands.

— Let go, Olivia! — I said through gritted teeth, basically holding her back.

— Come on, Jakey, we’ll be late — The girlfriend pulled him out of the classroom, thankfully.

Ollie basically ran out of the room, as I followed her. She busted open the bathroom door and started endlessly ranting.

— I mean, the audacity! Men are all animals! Wait until Steve hears about this. They think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and no one's goi- Lia? Are you alright? — She stopped suddenly when noticed my concerned face.

— I'm fine! Jut a bit shaken up. I told you all I wanted to avoid was drama...

— Oh love... I'm sorry that happened. I should've kept quiet — She reassured — But that boy! The nerve! — She kept complaining like her life depended on it.

Can't deny that it made me laugh.

— Come on, let's go have lunch — I said laughing while she still complained

I was in for a long day.

p.o.v: Olivia

Lia was blabbing about some random topic while eating, but my eyes were glued on that Jake boy across the cafeteria, boiling with hatred.

— Ollie? Are you listening? — She snapped her fingers in front of me, gaining my attention.

— Sorry, I’m just so angry right now — I whined, reaching for her plate of fries, only to earn a slap on the hand.

— He’s just another idiot, world’s full of ‘em. Probably just another rich ass kid with an attitude. — She shrugged and kept eating.

— The boy he’s with, that’s the cute one I told you about — I changed topics, while giving him a soft smile.

Suddenly, my smiling face turned into a concerned frown when I realized he was approaching our table.

— Lia, don’t panic, he’s coming here, act normal — I said through gritted teeth.

— What?! — She looked at me with wide eyes.

— Hey! I’m Mark — The boy smiled while taking a seat in front of me, next to Lia, holding a hand up for me to shake.

— Olivia, nice to meet you — I replied with a smile, shaking his hand — This is my friend, Lia — I told him while pointing at her.

— Hi, nice to meet you! — She said, looking rather uncomfortable and he flashed back a smile to her.

— Jake told me about your little encounter earlier, and I’m sorry about that, even though I had nothing to do with it. He’s just like that, don’t worry about him. — He smiled apologetically.

— It’s all good, really, we won’t be on his way anymore — Lia stated quietly, looking down.

I looked at her with a sad look, feeling sorry for her. I wish she would stand her ground more, not letting people get to her so easily.

— He better be out of our way. Next time, I won’t be so nice — I corrected her and directed the speech to Mark.

— Don’t worry, he won’t be doing anything. — Mark said laughing. — Well, I’ve gotta get going, I have a class in five minutes. Pleasure meeting you guys! — He waved off.

— See, now we have a new friend! — I squealed almost excitedly.

— Yeah, he does seem great, his taste in friends is what really takes the cake — She said ironically.

I rolled my eyes and sighed at her statement. Why can’t she just accept that there are good people here? I understand where she’s coming from, but it would be a lie if I said it didn’t make me a tad bit frustrated. My personal goal was to make her look at things differently, so we can have an enjoyable year together.

The bell rang suddenly, announcing our next class. We got up and walked towards the exit, when I saw Lia being stopped by supposedly Jake’s girlfriend, and I felt my hands slowly forming a fist as I watched the scene unfold.

— Hey sweetheart, so here’s the thing, next time you feel like rubbing your ugly body against my boyfriend, remind yourself of who you are and who I am — The blonde girl stated, blocking the exit.

I couldn’t stand the sight of it, I quickly walked towards the two of them, and I’m sure if I was in a cartoon, you’d be able to see smoke coming off my ears.

— Okay, that’s fucking enough. — I almost yelled.

— And who the fuck are you? — She asked.

— I’m the one who’s gonna punch your fucking face if you don’t get the fuck out of here. — At this point, Lia was holding me back once again in the span of five hours.

— Baby, let it go, they’re not even close to being worth this fuss — Jake slipped a hand around his girlfriend’s waist.

— Are you serious? Again? Stop harassing people for no reason — Mark arrived almost baffled. — Come on Lindsay, let it go.

— Yeah, you better get the fuck out of my friends face — I yelled.

— Olivia! — She pleaded, very embarrassed and annoyed. — Don’t make a scene, just let her talk.

I couldn’t stand it anymore, if I stayed there any longer, I’m sure I’d end up on the floor on top of her, beating the shit out of her pretty face. I stormed out of the room, bumping my shoulder very hard against her. I got into the bathroom and quickly grabbed my phone and dialed my friend’s number.

— Steve, I can’t fucking stand this anymore! — I cried.

— What happened? — He said through the phone, with a concerned tone. — I thought you were excited about your first day.

— So did I, until these two fuckers showed up and started bickering with us. They’re so ignorant and it’s making me so angry! — At this point my tears were forming a pool on the floor under me, filled with rage. — I swear to god, I was ready to throw hands, if Lia hadn’t held me back…

— Liv, you know you were gonna go through hardships eventually, although you didn’t expect it to be so early on, I’m sure you’ll do fine. You know how to stand up for yourself and people respect you, just ignore them for your own good, they only do that because of the effect it has on you. — He advised wisely.

— You’re right, you’re always right. I miss you so much, I demand you to come back to this hemisphere. — I wiped my tears.

Steve was one of my best friends, and he was currently studying physics abroad, in the States. Lia and I have been suffering with him being away and it has only been a couple of months. It’s good to know he still always has a shoulder for me to cry on (even if it’s virtually).

We said our goodbyes and I hang up. I was startled at the sudden opening of the bathroom door, only to meet Lia’s gaze.

— Come on, we’re late. — She said apologetically, while motioning her arms for me to get up the bathroom floor. — Thank you for standing up for me…

— Anytime.

[wearywinchester]

Excuses

Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Sleeping arrangements become more than just occasional with the green eyed Winchester.

Requested by Anonymous: “How are you doing sweetie?? May I please request a dean and reader one shot in which you somehow have to sleep in the impala and Sam is there too so you share the backseat with Dean, and you both have feelings for each other but haven't said anything about it yet. And both of you loved it so much that they started making excuses to sleep next to each other every day!!”

Word Count: 6.8k

Warnings: mild angst, nightmares, swearing, fluff, kissing

One

It’d been a long day. A long day of driving, of getting lost on the way to this hunt, of trying to figure out how to read that stupid map and make sense of where you were going. Of getting lost again, making bathroom stops at gas stations and asking for directions there. The three of you stopped somewhere to eat which always made Dean tired after he threw down a burger and fries and a slice of pie.

And now it’s raining.

Those great big gray rain clouds gathered and gathered over the course of a short period of time, the occasional crack of thunder sounding to bring it all together. It wasn’t a downpour, at least not yet, but it only worsened everyone’s exhaustion and the chilly fall weather made it all the more enticing to go ahead and get some sleep for the day. You’d been a few miles from the town you’d driven all over to find, but your obstacles weren’t quite finished yet.

Dean’s huff cut through the Impala as he flipped his phone shut with some anger behind the gesture, the action hanging up his phone call.

“You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me. Son of a…” he trailed off as he checked the time, then peered through the windshield at the rain clouds. “This is just great.”

“What?” Sam asked, closing his laptop as he looked at his brother with a raised brow.

“Because, Sammy, the only two motels within miles of this stupid town are full. I mean really, is this place seriously such a hotspot?” He grumbles, dragging his hand down his face. He feels Sam’s amused stare on him, he can feel it and he sees it when he looks over at his brother. “Not funny, Sam.”

“What? ‘S not so bad,” he shrugs, that amusement spilling out in his laugh. “You act like we’ve never slept in the car before.”

“Don’t worry, Sammy, Dean’s got a bad back,” you say, a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. “Can’t get around like he used to.”

Sam chuckled and Dean rolled his eyes as he pulled off the road into a more than vacant lot, his head shaking and you know he’s got those discontented dimples going on at your words.

“Shut it, sweetheart, I’m twenty-six. And last I checked, so are you,” he says, looking over his shoulder at you with that famous Winchester smirk. You roll your eyes almost immediately, of course you do, your lips pursing as you look at him.

You mocked his words and heard him chuckle, Sam shaking his head at the back and forth banter.

“I call backseat,” Dean says, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a knowing smile as he looks at you then back at his brother.

“Oh c’mon, you called it last time!” He complains, a huff leaving his lips.

“Yeah, well, remember what I always said?” He asks, his smirk more than evident as he awaits his brother’s response.

“Shut up,” he huffs, lips pursed as he rolls his eyes and puts his laptop up on the dash. “I’m not saying it, Dean.”

“Shotgun shuts his cakehole,” he says, his laughter immediately and not at all music to Sam’s ears as he flashes his brother a narrowed stared and discontented mock of his words as he gives his shoulder a shove.

Dean’s laugh travels all the way to the back as he gets out, closing the front door in favor of opening the back as he slips in next to you, shrugging off his twin dampened jacket and tossing it in the footwell. He debated throwing it at Sam just to get him riled up but he figured he’d cut him a break somewhere, if only just for the night.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Dean smiles, and you’ve got to bite the inside of your cheek to stifle your smile.

He snags one of the blankets from the footwell and hands it to you, and you don’t fail to see the way he gives you more room than he does for himself. Despite his relentless teasing of his baby brother, he was different with you in an instant and the difference was beyond noticeable to everyone but the two of you.

It took a whole lot of moving around to get even remotely comfortable, took a few huffs and puffs from Sam before he’d finally fallen asleep. But that felt like ages ago and now here you are, stuck in your own mind as Sam snores in the front seat and Dean’s at arms length. You’re stuck in your head about him and the way you’re only bound to get closer as the night draws on.

In fact, you’ve been thinking about it for what had to be the last restless hour. It was only a matter of time until you got too uncomfortable slouched against that door and half of you wanted so badly just to give in and do it all ready, but the other half was screaming just the opposite. You were making yourself crazy just thinking about it.

But trying not to think about it was a whole other challenge in and of itself.

You leaned up against the door and he leaned against the other, your legs half stretched and uncomfortable as you tried to make a single bench backseat work as a makeshift bed for two. Especially when sharing it with a green eyed hunter just over six feet tall. You weren’t going to lie, it was uncomfortable as ever and you knew the next morning you’d wake up with the worst neck pain and a stiff back. But the way your heart had been racing at the mere thought of sleeping any closer to the older Winchester had you rethinking things.

You tried to focus on the patter of the rain coming down against the car, soft and constant along with the occasional crack of thunder. You tried to focus on the sway of the wind pushing on the car and sifting through the surrounding trees, or the sound of Sam’s snoring that was next to impossible to overlook. You tried to focus on anything, everything, other than the fact that these circumstances just weren’t working to be on opposite ends of that backseat.

You were trying to gloss over and avoid the certainty that this level of comfort, or lack of comfort, wouldn’t last very long. To be crammed against the door of the Impala, crumpled and curled up was absolutely ridiculous and you knew that. But the tension nagging away at you was making sure you don’t forget those feelings bubbling away.

It was less than ideal, and it wouldn’t last. It didn’t.

“Sweetheart?”

His voice was soft and low, almost unheard over the thunder and rain. But you heard it, of course you heard it, shifting your gaze to meet his own. He laid there, leaned up against the other door with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg outstretched and tucked under yours, the other bent with his foot on the floor.

You hummed softly, your brow raising in curiosity.

“Quit movin’ so much, you’re shakin’ the car around,” he says softly, and you don’t fail to notice the smile tugging up at the corners of his mouth.

“Oh shut up, Winchester,” you murmur, biting the inside of your cheek but it does very little to stifle your smile.

You can hear the quiet rumble of his chuckle just before Sam’s snoring got a little louder as he moved around in his seat, a telling sign he’d been stirring a little at the quiet conversation. Dean moved a little in his spot, his gaze on you as his smile softened and his teasing fell away for a moment.

“You uncomfortable over there?”

You laugh softly, your eyes falling closed for a moment. You shook your head, “‘M fine, Dean.”

You hear the beginnings of a scoff, you hear the quiet of his laughter mingled with some thunder booming about outside. You know he rolled his eyes without even seeing him do it. But what you failed to see was the way he looked at you when you weren’t looking at him, the gaze he’s got on you, soft as the smile sitting on his lips. You don’t see the way his gaze lingers on you for a few seconds more.

It’s quiet for a few moments, quiet as the two of you lay awake. Quiet for a little while longer.

“C’mere,” he mumbles.

You crack open an eye to see if he’d actually said it, opening your eyes fully once you met his gaze. You opened them fully and furrowed your brows softly in disbelief that you even still heard it. You felt like you hadn’t, that maybe your mind was playing tricks on you since you’d been tired. But that smile he’s got on his lip, borderline teasing as he looks at you, you know he’d gone and said it with that smile he’s got.

You raise your brow then, almost challenging him to repeat it just for the sake of reassurance because your heart was racing a mile a minute. But he didn’t say it again. Instead, that smile quirked up just a little more as he uncrossed his arms, an open invitation for you.

You can’t seem to stifle a soft smile as you push yourself off the door and move over a little more, settling yourself to lay on his chest. It’s a million times more comfortable, Dean’s chest, his arms, it’s all leaps and bounds more comfortable than the hard and unforgiving Impala door. He’s warm and he’s secure and you try to ignore the rush of jitters pulsing through you at being so close to the older Winchester.

A part of you thought you were dreaming, that you’d wake up and find yourself still pressed against that door on your side of the backseat. You’d pinch yourself if it wouldn’t be too obvious. But instead you lay there, head over his heart as your arm folds to rest your hand on his chest. You try not to let the newfound weight of his arm on your waist spike your heart rate any more, you try to ignore the way he toys with a loose string on your jacket.

“See, I don’t bite,” he says, his smile in his voice.

“That’s debatable,” you murmur, feeling his chuckle rumble against you.

You smile to yourself as you laugh through your nose softly, tucking yourself against him just a little bit more.

“You’re somethin’ else, Y/n/n,” he says, and you feel his arm tighten some more.

He knows you’re tired, can feel how relaxed you are against him as you lay there. He’s quiet for a moment as he snags the flannel blanket from the drivers side footwell, opening it some before splaying it over you. He feels that feeling he’s always got when he’s with you, he feels it fast and heavy as you lay on his chest, all over as he thinks about that smile you gave him. He tries not to think about it too much or else he’ll get himself in trouble, resting his arm around you again.

It might have been a little uncomfortable laying pressed against that door and he knows his back will scream at him for it when morning rolls around. But it’s a whole lot more tolerable when he’s got you laying tucked into him. He may have been rough around the edges, may have been gruff as ever. But you put him in a tailspin and soften him up more than he lets himself be.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” he murmurs, eyes falling closed.

“Night, Dean.”

Two

You sit up a little as you wake up, propped up on your elbow as you scan the room, eying up your surroundings to make sure you were still there, still in that old bedroom at Bobby’s. It took a few moments to adjust, eyes squinting in the darkness apart from the soft moonlight streaming in through the sheer curtains. You certainly were still there, you knew that much, but you were still coming down off of that nightmare that plagued your dreams and ruined your sleep schedule.

It was because of that hunt. All of it was and you knew it for a fact. That damn wendigo left you a little more shaken than you would be if it were a spirit or a shifter, or even a rugaru. Those you could handle because those were among the easier hunts you’ve been on, some of the easier monsters to take down. But this was much different.

You’d never been taken on a hunt before, never been so far into harm’s way that you thought you wouldn’t make it out alive. That wendigo snatched you right from that off the beaten path trail you’d been on, swept you away through the trees and leaves and tied you up in some darker than dark cave underground. Something abandoned and filled with rocks and cement walls. You were taken and left there all by yourself to be subject to that monster’s feeding time.

You’d never been taken before, never been closer to finding yourself six feet underground in more than just a literal sense.

You took a deep breath as your heart pounds in your chest, wiping the sweat off your forehead with the back of your hand. You were safe, you were at Bobby’s right where you were supposed to be. That hunt was over and done with, but it hadn’t quite been done toying with your mind.

It took you a few minutes to mull things over in your distracted mind, took you a few moments to think about things that you’d already made a decision on but wanted to dwell on them a little bit more. It took you a few seconds to make up your mind on the matter.

You pushed back the tattered blankets and swung your feet over the edge of the old bed, bare feet pressing to cool hardwood floors as you stood up. It’s noticeably a little chilly now that you’re not under the blankets anymore but that was the least of your concerns as you walked to the door, pulling it open.

You’re a little cautious as you step into the darkened hallway, a little on edge as you wrap your arms around yourself but you’re out at ease at the sight of that wooden door at the end of the short hall, floor boards creaking under the press of your foot falls as you pad over to it in an instant with near unbalanced steps as you walked.

In a matter of seconds you’re outside the door, hesitancy tugging at you momentarily as your hand lingers on the doorknob. It only lasted all of two seconds before the thought of going back to your own bed pushed you in the right direction, twisting the knob. You poked your head in at first, the green eyed hunter right where you knew he’d be.

If you hadn’t been so groggy and tired, if you hadn’t been so rattled in that moment, you might just have noticed the way he’d gravitated towards the edge of the bed. If you weren’t so oblivious in that moment, you might have noticed just why it was he’d been laying to one side of the bed rather than taking up the mattress for himself. But you were too caught up in your own mind to notice it.

You padded your way over to the bed with quiet footsteps, unaware that Dean had been only half asleep for reasons unknown to you. For reasons revolving around you. He couldn’t quite get to sleep with the knowledge of what happened to you that day, couldn’t quite find it in him to relax.

You were quiet as you pulled back the covers just enough for you to slip into that vacant side of that borderline twin sized bed, letting the blankets fall over you with a burst of cool air followed by the warmth that belonged to the one already under the covers. You didn’t care about this thought or the next worrying away at you as you wrapped your arm around him and tucked yourself closer without a word. You were too tired and on too distraught to care about that.

You felt him stiffen for a moment at the new presence behind him before he stirred, before he knew just who it was without even having to open his eyes. He settled just as quickly as his arm encircled you and tugged you all the more closer, tugging you away from the not so distant edge of the bed as he let out a soft hum and a yawn.

“Was wonderin’ when you’d sneak in here,” he murmured, that ever familiar smile in his words no matter how deep and grumbly his voice was. He hears the softness of your half laugh as you nod against him. But he knew you weren’t quite yourself. “Nightmare?”

You hum softly as you nod, shifting a little as he rolls on his back more. You nestled against his chest as your arm remained around his waist and your legs tangled with his, his arm around your shoulders. He mirrors your hum, soft and understanding as his other hand runs over your head and down to your cheek, the pad of his thumb brushing over your skin and over the butterfly bandage you’ve got on it for that cut you’ve got.

He ran his hand up and down your back for a little while, the breeze that blew in through the open window sweeping across your skin and combatting the heat in your cheeks. You felt the side of his face pressed to the top of your head, felt his breath against your hair.

“For what it’s worth, sweetheart, you gave that nasty son of a gun a run for its money,” he says, smiling softly when he hears your snort.

“I’ll bet,” you murmur softly.

“‘M serious,” he defends, squeezing his grip around you for a moment. “Remember that time you took down that vamp nest? Got ‘em all but that one Sammy did. Hell, you can kick my ass into next week.”

You smile at his words, tipping your head back to look at him a little better. “Still might if you give me a reason, Winchester.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up at that, at your humor that’s coming right back. All you needed was his presence but he’d never give himself that much credit, not in a million years did he ever hold himself in that high of a regard to think it’d be him that brought you around. It was very much true but he’d never believe it because that’s how Dean Winchester is and always will be.

“Oh, I know you will, sweetheart,” he says, his chuckle rumbling in his chest as his eyes fall closed for a moment.

He notices the way you play with his necklace for a little bit, twirling the charm between your fingertips and toying with it in an absentminded habit you’ve come to develop each and every time you fall asleep in the hunter’s arms. Lately it’s been a little more often than not but neither of you bring it up.

“You did good today, you know,” he mumbles, “always do.”

You smile softly at his words. “You did, De,” you mumble, “always do.”

He chuckles softly, bittersweet. He didn’t feel that way, not at all. You went and got snagged by some stupid monster when he shouldn’t have let it happen in the first place. He let you get swiped and swept off to some cave in the middle of the woods all by yourself and he’ll be damned if he ever thinks he did good that day.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I would,” you say, smoothing your hand over his chest as you nestle against him. He knows that there’s nothing he could do to sway your mind on that, he knows that and he’s just going to have to deal with it.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be right here,” he says quietly. “Don’t go slobberin’ on me.”

“Oh shut up, De,” you complain, swatting at his chest lightly as he laughs. You smile softly, head shaking. “Night, Winchester.”

You feel his kiss press to the top of your head after a while, the tip of his finger tracing along your shoulder out of habit at this point. You feel his grip around you tighten just a little more as he rolls onto his side just a fraction, his hand running over your head. You could’ve made it through the night by yourself, you could have stuck it out on your own and fallen back asleep at some point. But you didn’t need to do that, you didn’t need to stick it out and be tough because you’ve got that green eyed hunter.

You made that excuse to go spend the night in his arms even though you didn’t need one.

Three

It’d been a long week, well, technically not quite a week but that didn’t really matter. This witch had drug you all over the place in a trail of hex bags and their targeted victims. You initially stopped at Bobby’s along the way just to get a little rest before you went the extra miles and hours to get to that town she’d been wreaking havoc in. Sam stayed back with him to recuperate after that last hunt, leaving him with a broken arm and a busted ankle.

Even when you got there you didn’t have much time to rest, too busy following leads and playing detective to fuss over getting the rest the two of you probably should have gotten.

She was a tough one, put up one hell of a fight because she wasn’t quite done with her path of vengeance. She wasn’t finished and she was determined to get rid of the people getting in her way. It was one mishap after another and you were absolutely astonished that the two of you walked away with only minor injuries. She did sneak a hex bag in both your pockets, a curse that twisted up your insides and caused easily the worst pain you think you’d ever experienced, but that was quickly remedied with a little distraction and Dean’s lighter.

It was chaotic and exhausting, a hunt you were more than content with putting behind you because you don’t think you could handle another trick that day.

You’d gone out to dinner at a little diner in town, one that quite possibly had the best burger and fries you’d had in quite some time and maybe even ever. Dean was the first to agree, uttering those words around a heaping mouthful of it without a beat of hesitation. He was tempted to order another one but the soreness that curse had left on his stomach, the residual cramps from that dreaded hex bag, it had him rethinking. But he did throw caution to the wind and have a slice of pie though, you knew that would happen because there was no stopping him from indulging in a homemade slice of apple pie.

You finally found yourselves a motel to spend the night at, but things were a little different now. Had Sam been here, the three of you would have rented out two rooms, one for you and the other for them. That’s how it’d been for a while. And for a while, on the occurrence that Sam wasn’t along, you’d get one bed, and Dean would get the other. But as time goes on, the plans change a little more and more.

You heaved a sigh as you shrugged out of your fed suit, the one you’d been wearing for far too long and you’d had enough of playing dress up for the day. The fluorescent lighting didn’t do much to soften the dark circles under your eyes but you were almost too tired to care, not too tired to stifle your groan at the sight.

You pulled a t-shirt over your head, an older than old Zeppelin shirt of Dean’s that you’ve been snagging from him ever since you were teens. He never minded it, not even a little. He might’ve grumbled about it here and there years ago but he’s come to see just how much you like it and he can’t find it in him to complain about seeing you in his clothes.

You tugged on a pair of leggings and sighed, turning on the tap and cupping your hands under the cold water. You bent over the sink and splashed your face a few times, a startling bit of refreshment that you really did need after the day you’ve had. It staved off your fatigue for a few moments, but you were much too tired for it to last more than a lingering handful of seconds before it’d settled in.

You gathered your dirtied clothes off the floor and crumpled them in your palm, twisting the doorknob and pulling it open.

Dean’s own suit had been tossed in a heap on the floor at the foot of his bed, discarded in favor of his usual night time attire of a simple t-shirt and his underwear. He was a simple guy, didn’t care for pajama pants too much even when it’s cold outside. He dug through his bag a little more and tugged out the rest of that half eaten candy bar he’d stuck in there earlier, an aha leaving his lips at the finding.

You look at him with a raised brow as he takes a generous bite out of it, nearly tearing off some of the wrapper in the process.

“What?” He asks, curious and confused at that moon you’re giving him.

“You trust that thing after it’s been in the bottom of your duffel bag since yesterday?” You ask, amusement and teasing in your words as you squint up at him with a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

You hear that incredulous scoff that you were very much expecting, his brows furrowing. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with my bag, sweetheart,” he says, finger pointed at you as he speaks around a mouthful. “Nothin’.”

You laugh at his words, shaking your head as he stuffed the rest of it in his mouth, crinkling the wrapper in his palm before tossing it in the trash can by the side of the bed.

“Whatever you say, Winchester.”

You move to sit on the bed next to his as your gaze settles on the tv, his eyes flickering to you. You miss the narrow of his gaze as he brushes off his hands, you miss the way he watches you and wonders if you’ll get the telepathic hints he’s giving you and move over to his bed. He wonders for a moment if you’re going to spend the night in your own bed and he’ll spend the night in his. It’s totally fine if you do, he won’t say anything, but he finds himself hoping that’s not the case.

Over the last few weeks he’s found himself realizing just how much he wishes you wouldn’t stray far when it’s time to call it a day. Hell, he knows why, he knows exactly why. You’ve been dancing around in his mind and taking up residence there for years and years; you’re his sweetheart.

He calls you that all the time, you know that just as much as he does. It’s a nickname he throws your way without second thought and he’s sure you don’t think much of it, he knows you most likely don’t. But you’re his sweetheart, the one that makes his heart race even when he thinks he’s too tough to even admit it to himself. Having fond feelings for someone wasn’t really his thing, was something that terrified him even just at the mere thought.

But there you were, taking that tough and gruff side to him, taking the walls he’d guarded himself with and knocking them to pieces with a simple pretty smile of yours.

His gaze lingers on you, at the way you shift around on the mattress and try to get comfortable as you watch some tv. You weren’t as comfortable as you could be, but you weren’t about to push the envelope.

He doesn’t say anything for a little while and neither do you, letting the lack of conversation eat away at you a little more and a little more with each passing minute as the two of you stew in your own thoughts. The very same thoughts on the very same matter if you’d just wise up and realize it.

After a little while, his throat clears, drawing your attention. “‘S a little cold out there, don’t you think?”

You look over at him, watching as he scratches the back of his neck, eyes flickering to the tv only momentarily. It took you a few moments to read his mannerisms, his body language because Dean Winchester can never just outright speak his mind on anything unless it’s in the form of anger or sarcastic wit.

He sees the softness of your smile, sees the knowingness behind it as you look at him.

“Yeah, little bit,” you say, not quite ready to jump the gun on assumptions. He nods, leaning back against the headboard.

“Yeah, I mean,” he shrugs, throat clearing as he fumbles around for a moment before resting his arm behind his head.

You can see the way he’s holding back with something, with the way he’s getting and you can’t refrain from rolling your eyes at it. There’s absolutely no way your assumptions are wrong at this point and you know that with all the certainty in the world. Dean Winchester wasn’t that hard to read, not to you, and with the way he’d been skirting around his words was telling enough for you.

With a laugh you shake your head, grabbing his attention as you get up and take all but two steps before you’re at the edge of his bed, climbing under the covers against his side. You see the way he’s biting the inside of his cheek.

“‘M that smooth, huh, sweetheart?” He says, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

“Actually, just couldn’t bear to watch you embarrass yourself any longer, Winchester,” you jest, pulling a narrowed gaze from him as those dimples form by the corners of his mouth.

You laugh then, that laugh that sets his heart ablaze and that smile that drives him crazy even if it’s playfully at his expense. It melts away that faux annoyance he’s got going on as his arm wraps around you, tugging you closer.

His gaze drops down to your shirt, his, that smile of his coming back just as quickly as it’d left. “‘S that my shirt?”

“Mhm,” you say without a care in the world.

“I never officially gave that to you, you know,” he says, toying with the hole in one of the cuffs over your shoulder.

You look up at him, his gaze not at all filled with any annoyance, more so filled with something softer, something you couldn’t seem to put your finger on. Whatever it was made your heart spike and race in your chest, made the heat in your cheeks grow if you think about it for too long.

“And you’ll never officially get it back,” you counter, his chuckle immediately as you drop your gaze and toy with the charm on his necklace again.

“I’ll bet,” he murmurs, and you’re quiet then, you can hear that smile in his voice.

You fumble around with that necklace, twirling it between your fingers as that metallic charm slips through your fingers, only for you to pick it up again. You fumble with it like you always do, like you always do out of habit now with the dozens of opportunities you’ve had to do this very thing. It’s something he can’t ever fail to notice.

You try to steady the race of your heart, but you find it terribly hard to do that as you lay there in his arms. You feel his lips press to your forehead, an action that has you daring to look up at the green eyed Winchester. His gaze falls upon yours in that moment, his smile softer than you’d seen it as he looks at you for a few seconds more. Your breath hitches when he kisses the very tip of your nose, something that steals the breath from your lungs for a brief few moments.

And your heart beats a mile a minute.

You tip your head back a fraction, gaze on his as you watch that smile linger on his lips, lips that linger over yours. His breath is warm as it sweeps across your skin, mingling with your own and without the chance to overthink it, you lean up a little bit more and kiss him.

You part after a mere handful of seconds to bask in the fact that that actually just happened, to realize this wasn’t just some dream before he went and dipped back down, kissing you again and for a whole lot longer than the last.

His hand settled on your cheek as he kissed you, lips tasting of the chocolate from that candy bar you’d teased him over just a little while earlier. His ring was cold against your cheek as it brushed over your skin, his nose bumping against your own as he tipped his head to the side a fraction to kiss you just a little bit more, just a little bit longer.

He swallows thickly as you part, kissing you once, twice more as he rests his forehead against yours. He doesn’t stray far as he revels in the fact that maybe, just maybe this’ll work out for him. He knows it will because of the way you steal a kiss and give him that pretty smile that makes his heart race but not as much as the feel of your lips do.

His best friend, his sweetheart feels the same way about him and he knows he’ll never quite grasp that.

“Smooth, Winchester,” you tease, pulling him from the thoughts that revolve entirely around you.

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he lets them fall closed, but he can feel your gaze on him for a little bit longer before you lean up and kiss his cheek. You miss the way he smiles as you sink to rest your head on his chest, his eyes still closed as he still can’t quite grasp what they’re saying on the tv. He’s too caught up in kiss swollen lips and the way you’ve tucked yourself against him.

He presses a kiss to the top of your head, humming softly. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Night, De.”

Four

You’d found yourselves in a predicament, one you’re not quite sure how to fix without a few of hours sleep to help you think a little clearer again. Bobby tagged along on this hunt, on this fun house of spirits that littered that abandoned mansion. Or maybe it was an old hospital, you weren’t really sure.

Either way, you were in a predicament.

Sam and Bobby had split up from you and Dean, the two of them leaving in search of the graves of these vengeful spirits while the two of you covered home base and tried to make a little progress with them. It was a good idea in theory, but most of the time they always end up just being in theory. It wouldn’t have been so bad if you hadn’t gotten lost trying to find the pair, but you did and now you’ve got nothing else you can do besides set up camp along the side of a quiet stretch of country road.

Dean’s cell had died and yours was just about there and you were too tired to drive around in the dark in search of a motel in a state you didn’t know your way around. Maybe if it’d been earlier, maybe if it hadn’t been so dark outside the mere idea would strike a little more appeal to you, but it wasn’t and therefore it didn’t. You were tired and you were aching, those spirits having roughed the two of you up more than enough in one day.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t have murder in their mind, but rarely did you ever get so lucky on that.

The gloomy weather only added to your desire to get some sleep, that fleece and flannel blanket you’ve got in the back sounding much more comfortable with each passing second.

You were too tired to climb over the back of the front bench seat, almost too tired to get out and do it that way but that was easily the better choice, even if you got rained on a little bit. You closed the door with a sigh, Dean having locked his side while you locked yours. He was already in the process of shrugging off his rain dampened jacket, tossing the tattered leather over the back of the front seat as yours was soon to follow.

Neither of you bothered taking off your boots, not after that one time that werewolf tracked you down and put up a fight, Dean having gone out with just his gots and got the job done with muddied feet.

Dean sank down a little bit more, snagging the spare pillow from the footwell for events just like this and putting it behind his head as you grabbed that blanket you’d been thinking about for the last hour since you’d gone and lost those two. But you were too tired to think about it a moment more as you unfolded that blanket.

“C’mere, sweetheart,” Dean mumbles, grasping your hand and tugging you down to his chest.

He hummed in contentment as you settled down against him, tugging that ridiculously comfortable blanket over your shoulders as he moved to lay on his side a little bit, as much as he could, tipping you against the back of the seat. He’s got a habit of doing that now, one he doesn’t quite realize the way you do. He does that to protect you even if he’s unaware, because protecting you is like second nature to him. Always has been.

You’re tucked between him and the seat, the warmth of his chest and that blanket working wonders to stave off that cold winter weather as you hide away along the side of that road with the rain coming down steadily against the car, the patter of it all the more soothing to your fatigue.

You can’t help but smile as you look up at him, his legs all tangle up with yours.

“What’s got you so smiley?” He asks.

“Because,” you shrug, your eyes falling closed. “We’re back where we started.”

You think back to that night, the one where Dean couldn’t find a motel with a single vacancy for the life of him. The night where you, him, and Sam had to resort to a night in the Impala for a not so ideal sleeping arrangement, not at first. That night where the rain was coming down and the thunder was rumbling, where the cold was seeping in and the lightning was flashing around you.

You thought back to that night, the first time you’d ever slept in Dean Winchester’s arms. The night that changed everything even when you hadn’t known it. The night that started a habit of finding excuse after excuse to tuck against one another for the simple reason that it was just better that way, no questions asked.

You felt his chuckle rumble in his chest. “Couldn’t find a single open room in that damn town.”

You smile softly, hand on his chest as you lay there for a little while longer before you lift your head. He brought his hand up, thumb swiping along your cheek as you looked at him. In a matter of moments you kiss him, his own soft smile pressing into your lips as you sink down against his chest, kissing him once more. But even as you lay back against him he dips down and finds your lips once more.

“You think they’re still out there lookin’?” You mumble as you nestle against him, his lips lingering over your forehead as your eyes fall close.

“Let ‘em,” he murmurs, holding you a little tighter than before and you smile softly.

You didn’t have to make up excuses to sleep in each other’s arms, you’ve done enough of that already, but you never really had to anyway.

—

Tags: @flamencodiva @stixnstripesworld @elegantbutedgy @humanmistakes @agalliasi @campingmonkey @deandaydreaming @lanea-1 @akshi8278 @kidd3ath @taikawho @happyt0exist @lyarr24 @awkward-and-indecisive @ajreturnstocringeyaccount @malindacath

[storiesforallfandoms]

vulnerable ~ captain jack sparrow;pirates of the caribbean

word count: 1845

request?: yes!

“♥️Hi, I wanted to request something for Jack Sparrow if that's okay? So, I was watching potc dead man's chest, and noticed how at the end where Elizabeth kisses him, Jack is so soft and gentle with her, he barely moves, he looks so vulnerable and small, it touched my heart. So I wanted to ask something like that, where when the reader first kisses him he's surprised and vulnerable, maybe never thought she would like him back. something with angst, an emotional Jack, but a happy ending, thanks <3″

description: in which he becomes vulnerable when she kisses him and admits her feelings for him

pairing: jack sparrow x female!reader

warnings: swearing, an attack that leads to a sinking ship

masterlist (one, two)

If there’s one side of Captain Jack Sparrow that was never shown, it was his vulnerable side.

Being vulnerable only got you one thing when you were a pirate, and that was killed. You had to be tough as a pirate, especially as an infamous captain. Sure, Jack had his less than serious moments, but no one saw that softer side of him. He wouldn’t let anyone see it as long as he lived.

Until (Y/N) joined the crew.

She had stowed away on the Black Pearl the last time they were docked. Pintel and Ragetti had found her hidden among the barrels of rum below deck. They brought her to Jack, expecting their captain to throw the stowaway into the water and leave her for dead.

“I’m not trying to steal!” she insisted. “I was just trying to get away. Please, I can be of some use. If you don’t want me here, I’ll depart when you find land next. You’ll never see me again.”

Jack studied their stowaway. She was small and he could see in her eyes that she had definitely had a hard life wherever she had come from. She wasn’t a threat, and he felt like he wanted to protect her.

“She’s not a threat,” he decided. “She can stay.”

Captain Jack Sparrow had a way with the ladies, everyone knew this. He could get under the skirt of almost any woman he wanted just with a few sweet nothings whispered in their ear. But what he felt for (Y/N) was different. He found his chest would warm whenever she was around, and he’d easily get tongue tied.

He wanted to vocalize these feelings to her, but every time he tried he would chicken out. Instead he would find some way to open himself to (Y/N) more, to show her the side no one else ever saw. In return, (Y/N) told Jack all about herself, and they became the only two people on the Black Pearl to know so much about one another.

Then came the day of the attack.

They were sailing on a beautiful day. Not a single cloud in the sky, nor anything in their sights. (Y/N) was stood at the bow, watching as the Black Pearl peacefully move through the calm water.

“Peaceful days scare me,” she said, startling Jack who had been approaching her.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked.

She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. “I just knew.”

He stepped up onto the bow next to her. “Why do peaceful days scare you?”

“They are so few and far between that I always expect the worst to happen,” she explained. “Either the weather is bad, or something bad is happening. We have yet to have such a calm and peaceful day.”

“Maybe we’re just lucky today.”

(Y/N) looked up at him with a skeptical look. “Maybe.”

They were silent then, but it was a comfortable silence. Jack looked over at (Y/N), who was now gazing out over the water. The breeze blew her hair slightly, giving Jack a better look at her face. Despite her feelings on peaceful days, her face looked relaxed and at peace in that moment.

Jack’s mouth moved before his brain could comprehend what he was doing. “(Y/N).”

She looked up at him. “Yes Jack?”

He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Gibbs shouting. “Captain! Enemies along the horizon!”

Jack and (Y/N) shared a look before racing for the wheel where Gibbs had been standing. Jack took the telescope from his first made and looked through it at the oncoming ship.

“Not necessarily an enemy ship, Gibbs,” Jack said, trying to zero on the flag the ship was flying but was unable to get a good look at it. “Might just be someone else sailing today.”

But then the sound of a cannon rang out and the water beside the Black Pearl shook violently.

“Shit,” Jack hissed. “Get to the cannons! Return fire!”

“Is that a good idea, Jack?” (Y/N) asked. “They’re so far away, we’ll be wasting ammo.”

“We have to show them we aren’t going down without a fight,” Jack declared.

His men loaded the cannons and fired back at the ship. The giant masses landed just inches from the enemy ship, causing the water around it to build up in massive waves and disrupt the ship’s course.

“Again!” Jack called. “Just one more this time!”

As they fired another shot at the ship, another cannonball landed in the water next to them as well. Anyone above deck was thrown to the ground as the ship tilted due to the waves.

“Jack, we have to retreat!” (Y/N) insisted as she tried to get to her feet.

“There’s no retreat,” Jack said. “They’re advancing on us fast. By the time we even turn to get away, they’d be on us.”

“Well what do we do then?”

The next cannonball hit the ship directly, putting a massive hole in the side of it. The Black Pearl began to sink into the water began to fill the deck.

“Abandon ship!” Jack called. “Go to everyone below deck and make sure anyone who can be saved is saved! Abandon ship and swim to the nearest land or boat you can find!”

He turned to (Y/N). There was so much fear in her eyes and she looked close to tears. Jack cupped her face in his hands, trying to remain calm himself.

“Find land, get help,” he told her. “For yourself, don’t look back for us.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “If I get anywhere, I’ll be sending the first boat back looking for you and the others.”

“We’re pirates, (Y/N). No one will care about us. No one will want to save us.”

“I will want to, and I will save you.”

Before Jack could argue further, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Every ounce of fear or worry slowly dissolved then and Jack relaxed into the kiss. He put one hand on the back of her head while holding her body close to his with the other. They were so lost in one another that they didn’t realize the entire front of the ship was submerged in water until Gibbs called out for them again.

(Y/N) pulled away first. Jack gently caressed her face, his face mirroring the fear in her own. Except he wasn’t afraid of the enemy ship or the attack; he was afraid of never seeing her again.

“I will find you,” he promised.

(Y/N) nodded. “I will find you, too.”

The two of them jumped ship as another cannonball landed next to the sinking ship. (Y/N) reached for Jack, who had been next to her moments before, but found herself thrown around in the chaos of the sinking ship and the still attacking enemies. She tried to open her eyes to look for Jack, but the water stung so bad she was unable to see.

She broke through the water a few times, but continued to be shoved back down by the crewmates or by the force of the sinking ship. Finally, she began to swim away as fast as her body could take her. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she knew she had to get away before the Black Pearl took her down with it.

(Y/N) swam and swam until her arms and legs grew too tired to swim anymore. When she was finally far enough away from the chaos, she broke through the water and inhaled the fresh air into her lungs. She could no longer see either ship, or her crewmates. She wasn’t sure if she had swam away that far that she couldn’t see them, or if they had all gone down with their beloved ship as well.

Her body ached, but she did everything she could to stay above water. There were no signs of land or another boat anywhere. Not even any debris for her to float on. Just water as far as the eye could see. (Y/N) felt a lump grow in her throat and all she wanted to do was cry. She had lost the people she cared most about, she had lost the place she considered home. She had lost Jack.

(Y/N) was floating for some time when another boat sailing through the water spotted her. They got close enough that one of their members could reach into the water and pull her out. She nearly sobbed with relief when her tired body was able to relax against the ship’s floor.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” one of the crew members asked, kneeling down to peer into (Y/N)’s face. “Have you been hurt?”

She shook her head sheepishly, still regaining her energy. “I...I was on a-on a ship. We were...we were attacked.”

“Another from the shipwreck!” the crewmate called. He turned back to (Y/N) to add, “We’ve rescued a number of your crewmates, they’re all below deck receiving any medical attention they may need.”

It took a moment for his words to get through her head. When they did, she jumped up as fast as she could and made her way below deck. Many familiar faces were sat together or laying in the beds provided, but not the familiar face she was looking for. (Y/N)’s heart squeezed with sadness as she desperately looked for Jack among her saved crewmates.

She tried not to let her disappointment show as a call was heard from above ship. “We’ve got another! Says he’s the captain!”

(Y/N) turned to watch as the crewmates brought Jack down below ship, his hair and clothes clinging to him from the water. She contained herself for just a moment, waiting to see if Jack needed any medical attention. When his eyes locked on her, however, he broke free from the grasp of the crewmates and ran to her, taking her in his arms and kissing her deeply, there in front of all of his men.

“I thought I lost you,” he breathed between kisses.

“I thought I had lost you as well,” she responded. “When I came down and didn’t see your face. I was so sure - ”

“Shh, love,” Jack said, placing a finger against her lips. “No need to worry now. We’re both alright.”

“Oh Jack, the Black Pearl,” (Y/N) said. “I’m so sorry about your ship.”

Jack chuckled. “My ship? Don’t apologize for that. My only worry was you, and you’re okay now.”

“Well,” came Gibbs’ voice, tearing the two away from their moment. “I never thought I would heard the great Captain Jack Sparrow say he cared more for a lady than his own ship.”

“What can I say, Gibbs?” Jack said, putting an arm around (Y/N)’s waist and pulling her close to him. “She brings out the softer side in me, and maybe I’m much better for it.”