#and yet there are people who will let me meow at them on the internet. so maybe all is not lost

[that-starlight-prince]

There are some things that are bad. But never forget that there are also some things that are good

[riskyraiker]

Music to your ears

Sub!Schlatt x Dom!reader

AN: HELLO! I finally write something for the big guy! And a lot of people on Tumblr say he's a top but to me he's the tough guy who loves being a bottom. If you have requests for Schlatt OR TED i can do them. There is a list pinned on my profile of what i write, go check it out!

Reader is GN, but called mommy. No specific anatomy described

Tags: Sub Schlatt, Mommy kink, Dom reader. Blowjob, degrading, overstimulation and praising.

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

You and Schlatt are dating but sometimes his internet persona got onto your nerves. "Look at this bitch, so dumb!" There he went and made fun of everyone who made a dumb mistake he saw in the tiktoks he was reacting to. You are there too, because Schlatts fans love when you guys make content together. But right now it wasn't so fun for you. Having a dirty idea sounded fun at least and so you did it, you whispered dirty things into his ear. "How 'bout I turn you into a bitch just for me?" You did get a reaction out of him so you acted quick, smooched his cheek and left saying you're tired and thirsty. You didn't hear him speak until you left the room, you got your phone and watched his stream. He's red as a tomato yelling at chat that he's not blushing and you loved when he got flustered. Forgetting the stream, laying on the couch, putting your phone down and turning the TV on. Not long after you could hear Jambo and [REDACTED] meowing next to you wanting food. "Sup little fellers. Hope your dad won't kick me out after that trick I pulled." Lifting Jambo up into your arms, [REDACTED] following behind. You walk to the kitchen, putting the cat down and getting their food from the cabinet. "There you go little guys. Better not be hungry now." Surprisingly Schlatt had ended stream few minutes ago and quietly walked into the kitchen right behind you so you wouldn't manage to run away from him. Not until his hands wrap around your waist and get a good hold, pinning you against the wall. There's an intense but lust filled look in both of your eyes. "How fucking dare you pull such a trick on stream! Are you that greedy?" Schlatt wasn't actually mad, but just embarrassed and quite horny. If he gave you an attitude you gave one back "Me greedy? You're the one who has been whining the past week for a man to rail the shit out of you when you see even one clip of them!" As if you would be a bottom. Never! That man was more submissive than you would think. Schlatt is of course taller than you, but he doesn't have you under his control.

“You like the idea of being dominated and I would love the idea of having you whining under me.” You spat back and that made Schlatt freeze. Taking the chance, you kiss him and push him against the opposite wall. “Let’s see who’s greedy now, pretty boy” You both continue to make out for a while until your mouth is on his neck. Sucking, kissing, biting and licking on every part you can, marking him up. Small whines leave his throat, he has his mouth shut tight as possible but it doesn't help. Schlatt's cock already hard, yet you give his crotch zero attention. His hands are on your hips holding you still and to keep you close. “Hands off, I'm gonna test you and see if that little whisper of mine will stand.” Schlatt lets out a whine and puts his hands on his head, holding his hair. You start to go lower, exploring his body with your hands, lifting up his shirt and kissing his v-line. Pulling his trousers down along with his boxers, his cock sprungs free from the tight space. You grab his cock and squeeze it from the base and watch as precum slides from the tip. Giving the tip a small kiss you take it into your mouth, and immediately sucking hard. You earn a loud moan from the action, so you start bobbing your head. Schlatt’s hands find their place in your hair, but you stop once you feel them. “Toots, don't stop now..” Schlatt whines and doesn't realize his mistake. Taking the cock out of your mouth, “Did I say you could touch me or hold my hair? You slut.” Schlatt can't process your words and tries to move you by tugging your hair. You rise from your knees and grab his chin firmly, but not hard enough to hurt him. “Did you even hear what I just said? No. Touching.” Schlatt just looks slightly over you, but you go on your toes to claim eye contact. “I'm sorry..so sorry, mommy” You let go of his chin and go back on your knees. “That's what I thought. You better behave or I'll leave you like this.” Schlatt whined once again and tried his best to keep still.

You don't start to suck him off immediately, but you jerk him off slightly at first, just to get a reaction out of him. Once your mouth is back on him, the melodies his throat creates are pure heaven to your ears. Schlatts hips twitch a little, but you push them back, Schlatt his his lower back on the corner of the kitchen island. "Toots..fuck. D-don't stop. I'm abo- Ngh~" God you would give him what he wants, but you're not here to pleasure him like he deserves it. You're here to teach him a lesson. You slow your movement to brutally slow and squeezing his cocks base lightly. The slutty moan he let out is like out of a porno. "I'm not here to blow you off and give you what you want, Jay. Like I said before, I'm going to make you my bitch. So you take what I give you and won't cum until I say so, you understand?" Schlatt being so fucked in the head can't even speak properly, focused on your hand squeezing his cock and barely listeting to your words. "You understand?" You repeat and this time Schlatt hears it. "Yes mommy, i'll be good." Now that's more like it, you could almost call yourself a brat tamer if you're able to have Schlatt like this.

"That's my good boy." You put your lips on the tip and licked the slit, until taking him in your mouth much as possible. Hollowing your cheeks, you start to move. Schlatts eyes widen at the sensation and brings his hand and biting it to quieten himself. You notice and pull his hand down by his triceps since it's the closest thing you can grab. Schlatt took the hint and let out the noises he made, making you more horny and closing your eyes. "Fuck, Toots I'm so close, please let me cum!" Now that was your cue to slow down, making Schlatt wonder why stopped. Realization dawned on him as he remembered your words. "I'm going to make you my bitch." You weren't going to make him beg for release, were you? Oh you absolutely were as you took his cock out of your mouth with a single pop. A single whine was what schlatt let out and leaned his head back. You just kissed his thighs, balls and his lower stomach, waiting for his orgasm to slide away. And not long after your mouth was on him again. Schlatt craved his orgasm so much that tears started to form in his eyes as he tried to stay still as possible. "Toots, this isn't fa- ahhah, isn't fair." Schlatt's mumbling echoed to deaf ears as you sucked him off hard as possible and stopping once again when Schlatt's body language showed he was close.

After five minutes you gave Schlatt the chance to prove himself. You could've went for longer, but won't be too cruel. "Now is your chance to prove that you deserve to cum." The second you stopped talking Schlatt's mouth was spilling words out so quick you couldn't even make out what he said. "Jay, speak clearly or I will continue the next five minutes this same routine." "Mommy please. I- I can't take it much longer" The tears bubbling in his eyes, threatening to fall. "I'll let you come if you say what you are, whose are you and where you belong." Schlatt whined and opened his mouth to talk, but struggled with the words. "I'm yo- I'm a your bitch, only yours, and I belong under you. Now Toots please!" Schlatt begged as you were satisfied with the answer. "That's better, my own bitch. Such a good one aswell. Now from now on I expect you to behave." Schlatt didn't have time to even nod as he felt your warm mouth around his cock. Far too overstimulated and tortured he couldn't help but let the tears of overstimulation fall and moan. His throat his hurting already, but he doesn't care. There's much better things going on. "Toots I'm going to cum! Im goin- nngh" You tried to swallow much as possible but few drops slided on your jaw and you neck, some fell on the floor. "That's my good boy." You rose from your knees, put your hands on his cheeks and swiping tears off with your thumbs. "You okay? I didn't go too far, did i?" Schlatt nodded his head and let the words fall out of his mouth. "I'm fine, Toots. Great even and you could never go too far with me." He smiled and put his head on your shoulder best he could. You cleaned everything up and cuddled with Schlatt the rest of the evening. "You know Toots. I think we should do that again sometime." You raised a brow. "I thought you would never ask."

That day wasn't the last time you were in control..

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

AN: OMG I HAD TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS😭😭😭yet i hope you will enjoy this!!!! Love you all🫶🫶

[filthyjoetini]

Stumblin' In

a/n: Well...it's been...a while. heh. Sorry. I've been going through a lot. On here (the accusations...) as well as in life. Latter keeps me busy to no end. It's exhausting...but I'm back. beta-reader, editor, partner in crime: @barfightzanddiscolightz

warnings: mentions of previous injury, rpf, fem!reader, cuteness overload

wordcount: 2.2k

part 1 - part 2 - part 4

Part 3

You let yourself fall face down on the sofa with a loud sigh. The last few days had been nothing short of exhausting. Your back and neck still hurt, and the concussion had caused some nightmarish migraines that had left you unable to work. So, you spent your days in your dark living room, accompanied by your two cats, Freya and Kiro. Freya, a chubby lady with a moustache who you had had to put on a diet, was sitting on the back of your sofa, silently judging you. Kiro, your long-haired void of a cat, sat next to you, purring in your ear.

When you had come home from the hospital almost a week ago, they had greeted you with loud, screaming meows as if they had been starving. Your dad had been looking after them, cuddling them and feeding them generously. You also knew that he had given each of them a little treat every time before he left. So much for starving. Total drama queens - Both of them. But that's just Freya and Kiro, you wouldn't trade them for any other cats in the world.

Today had been your first day back at work and you wished you hadn’t gone. Your migraines had stopped the day before, but your body was still killing you. Groaning, you pushed yourself up to sit properly on your sofa, your legs sprawled out on its long chaise longue. You took a blanket from the basket beside it and pulled it neatly over your legs. Kiro immediately took this as an invitation to plop down between your legs. You were about to open one of your newly ordered books when your phone buzzed. A new message.

Huffing annoyedly, you picked up your phone from where it lay beside you to check who had the audacity to disturb your precious reading time.

It was Joe. Forgotten were your pain and shitty mood.

He hadn't texted you in days and, not wanting to appear desperate, you hadn't texted him either. That's just the way you were, constantly thinking that you were annoying people with your presence.

Pushing the negative thoughts to the back of your mind and grinning to yourself, you quickly unlocked your phone and read his message.

Bambi on ice! How are you?

You rolled your eyes at his new name for you. You got it, you're a klutz.

Hello to you too, Joe... I'm fine. How are you?

I'm good. Very busy. That's why I haven't texted you the last few days. I'm sorry about that.

Oh... you don't have to apologise. It's fine.

No. I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I'm working abroad at the moment, and I only have internet when I'm back in my temporary home. And then I get flooded with messages and things to check as soon as my phone connects to the internet. I didn't mean to forget about you.

You read the last sentence he wrote not once, but twice... no screw it, five times. You'd be lying if you said it didn't affect you. The slight pink tint to your cheeks betrayed you and you were glad no one was around to point it out. You had to change the subject. This is too much lovey-dovey bullshit. You were not ready for this... yet.

How are you supposed to do your hacking without internet? Must be difficult.

Perfect.

All Joe did was send a series of eyeroll emojis that made you giggle.

It's a top-secret mission, you know. We're doing it the old-fashioned way. Infiltrate and then destroy. 😉

All right there, soldier. Top secret. Got it.

But I'll be back in four days!

Amazing! Quick in and out then?

Yeah...something like that. Hey... I was wondering if you were up for that date you owe me when I get back?

You stared at his question and the blush crept back into your cheeks. Here you were again. Back to the subject you had hoped to avoid, at least for a little while longer.

While you had agreed to go on a date with him, your motivation was more to please him and get off the hook so you could get inside your house. You were knackered and just wanted to rest. Days had passed, and you had been beating yourself up about agreeing. You weren't dating at the moment. You found contentment in the way your life was going. Nevertheless, you had promised him, and breaking a promise was not your style.

Swallowing hard, you let your fingers tap out your response.

Sure! Just let me know when and where and I'll be there 😊

Great! Can't wait!

Me either!

Listen, I gotta go now. Duty calls! Text soon?

Of course! Good luck with your mission.

Thanks! Bye, darling xx

Bye Joe xx

---

Fuck. You had an official date. With Joe. You needed to tell a certain someone.

"Brother in Christ. How are you?"

Of course, your best friend would pick up like that. You pushed yourself up a little, which made your legs move, much to Kiro's displeasure. The cat glared at you, and you quickly apologised with a kiss to his head.

"I'm fine...guess what!", you tried her, gnawing on your bottom lip.

"You finally managed to put your summer clothes in the basement?" she guessed.

"Well, yeah...but that's not what I wanted you to guess.", you snorted and then blurted it out: "I-have-a-date."

"What?"

"I HAVE A DATE!”, you repeated, almost shouting. Since your neighbours were all half deaf anyway, you didn't care that you had just raised your voice.

“Ouch, don’t yell at m- WAIT! You?! Have a date?!”, she sputtered.

"Yes!”, you replied in a breezy voice.

"With who?"

"Joe.", you replied so quietly that she almost didn't hear it, but her gasp gave her away.

"Joe. As in 'your knight in a beige cable-knit jumper'-Joe?"

"Yes!”, you squeaked out, earning a glare from both your cats.

"Holy shit, babes! This is like one of those romance films we sometimes watch on film night.”, she gushed, clearly very excited for you.

"Ugh, yeah. I know.”, you groaned. "I need your help. I don't have anything to wear!"

"Lies! Your wardrobe is bursting at the seams."

Which was true, but she didn't have to expose you like that.

"I know. Can you help me put together an outfit? I will repay you fabulously!"

"Ahhh... just deduct it from the mountain of drinks-debt I owe you. I'll be there in 20 minutes!"

"Wait! The date's not even se-", you started, but she had already hung up. Typical her.

18 minutes later your doorbell rang and there she stood in all her 'hair in a messy bun, oversized jumper, leggings with a questionable stain and the oldest trainers she could find' glory. Her face was sporting a huge grin.

"You look absolutely insane." you pointed out as soon as you opened the door, chuckling. She snorted and pushed past you, heading for your room. You quickly followed, knowing full well that without you, she'd start pulling out pieces of clothing from your closet and throwing them on your bed.

---

She had been rummaging through your wardrobe for almost two hours now and had mentioned that you had 'too many things' at least 20 times, accompanied by an eyeroll, whilst you made yourself comfortable on your bed. Your cats had decided to join you for a while, but the mess she was making was too much for them and they went back to the living room.

She was standing on one of the shelves in the closet, trying to get to the top shelf. It was the most hilarious thing you had ever seen, you had to snap a picture. Without thinking, you sent it to Joe.

Who’s that?

My best friend. She’s a madwoman.

I can see that, and I see how she’s your bestie. You both like to put yourselves in dangerous situations. I bet she’s pulled a Humpty Dumpty before as well.

You snorted at his text, earning a raised eyebrow from your friend who was still standing in your wardrobe. When she saw you were on your phone, she gasped and jumped out of the wardrobe. She quickly made her way over to you.

"Who are you texting?", she demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"Nobody."

"Bullshit.”, she claimed, holding out her hand to you. "Give me the phone."

"No.”, you giggled, trying to crawl away from her, but to no avail. She was very quick and snatched the phone out of your fingers. Her eyes went wide.

"BITCH! Stop sending pictures of me to your boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!", you argued, snorting and laughing at the face she was making.

"He better be after your date...", she muttered, tossing your phone back at you, which you almost caught with your face. "I've got your outfit."

With a huge grin, she walked back over to your wardrobe and picked up a few stray clothes. Then she laid them out orderly on your bed. It was perfect. Totally you. Totally the opposite of Joe. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.

“Thanks babe.”, you smiled, pushing yourself off the bed and engulfing her in a tight hug.

"Anytime, love.”, she grinned into your hair and returned your hug with an even tighter one.

"Coffee and biscuits?", you asked her as you pulled away and her face lit up all over again. She didn't even answer your question but ran off to the kitchen.

"You better have chocolate chip cookies!", you heard her yell, knowing she'd already opened your cupboard where you stored your sweets. When you heard her excited squeak, you knew she had found them. Shaking your head at her antics, you made your way to the kitchen to join her. You wouldn't trade her for anything in the world, either.

---

When your best friend left, it was already dark outside. You opted for a light dinner which consisted of a piece of sourdough bread, half a tomato, a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and three green olives. Everything was neatly arranged on the plate. Girl Dinner was served.

Walking over to the sofa to read for the second time that evening, you placed your plate on the small table in front of it, sat down and draped a blanket over yourself. Picking up the plate, you leaned back against the headrest and popped an olive into your mouth. Freya and Kiro soon joined you and tried to beg you for some of the sourdough. Kiro was particularly persistent, but so were you. When they finally realised you weren't going to give in, Kiro trotted off to sulk under one of your chairs and Freya retreated to her place on the headrest.

You were just about to open your book when your phone again alerted you to a new message. Thinking it was your best friend letting you know she had gotten home, you leaned forward to grab your phone. But it wasn't your best friend. Joe had texted you again.

Did you have dinner?

Uh... yeah. Why?

Oh, just checking. What are you doing?

I wanted to read, but a certain someone keeps interrupting.

Oh! My apologies. What are you reading?

This. *attachment*

Ooh. This looks interesting. What's it about?

Instead of telling him, you took a picture of the summary on the back.

It sounds very interesting. I'll stop bothering you now. Go read!

You're not bothering me, Joe.

Your last message stayed unread, and you frowned at your phone. After a couple of moments, you put your phone aside and finally started reading where you had left off.

---

You were about to take a sip of the tea you had made yourself an hour into reading when your phone beeped again. You wondered who it was. It certainly wasn't your best friend. She had let you know that she had arrived home shortly after Joe had dropped the conversation. You had a hunch, though.

Turning your phone around, you saw that Joe had sent you a picture. With a gentle tap to the screen, you enlarged the photo. It was a book, but not just any book. It was the same book you were reading. Smiling to yourself, you tapped on the picture again and added a heart reaction to it.

Then another message from Joe.

Now we can have our own little book club.

Those nine words instantly made your heart flutter.

Just the two of us?

Yep.

Count me in...

Brilliant! I was hoping you'd say yes. It'd be a shitty book club if I was on my own.

Yep. The discussions would be very one-sided.

And boring. OK, I'll let you read. I'm sure you're way ahead of me. I just got it and I gotta catch up so we can discuss it on our date.

I'd love that. Talk later?

Of course we will. Happy reading! Bye, darling xx

You too! Bye Joe xx

Grinning from ear to ear, you put your phone down and picked up your book up again. You’d never been happier that you had so mindlessly agreed to a date before.

---

Taglist:

@ohmeg @daleyeahson @lma1986 @palomahasenteredthechat @mandyjo8719 @aysheashea @littledemon-lilith @freakymunson @sidthedollface2 @i-wont-run-this-time @miserybeans @kylakins88 @thehillzhaveeyez @punctualhowell @icallhimjoey @ghostinthebackofyourhead @siriuslysmoking @cancankiki @definitionwanderlust @1paire2vans @theonewiththecrackedmind @fromasgardandback @captainonaboat @josephquinnsfreckles @emilyslutface @alessxa

there's still some spots left on the taglist :)

[xplrvibes]

Have you seen KAt is getting slaughtered for going to Zak BAgans? People are saying that she is proving herself to be the actual clout chaser and a clingy bitch who refuses to move on from her ex by going there. I've been telling people to calm down because she has not produced any content from there yet, for all we know any video she makes might just be a vlog style video of getting a tour with friends or something which could be kinda fun. Sam and Colby don't own the location after all, other people can go there.

(Combining asks since they are basically about the same topic)

I actually haven't seen anyone talking about it, but I honestly haven't been looking so that may be why.

I will say that I'm not surprised about this one - certain people have been waiting for an opportunity to go after her with both barrels because "she wrote mean songs about the meow meow" or whatever for a while now.

Do I agree? Not really. I don't even think she filmed anything there to begin with but if she did...eh. who cares. It's one of the top rated attractions in Las Vegas - going there and then filming it to be able to write off your entire trip as a business expense seems like influencer 101 to me lol. I don't necessarily see that as an indicator that she's looking for clout or anything like that.

(Taking that picture and posting it could be seen as petty, of course, for a few reasons - but then again Sam does petty shit too so as the saying goes "good for the goose, good for the gander." 🤷‍♀️)

Slight sidenote here, but let's be honest - that girl could make a "telling my truth" exposè and probably rake in a ton of clout off the backs of the side of the internet that loves drama and tea and shade - especially after the Conjuring. She really could've capitalized on that if she wanted to. The fact that she hasn't cashed in on that opportunity yet says a lot. Her songs that she wrote are more about her experiences in the breakup and the aftermath and how she felt and she honestly took it way easier on him than she could have. Anyone running around upset about those songs or using them to say she's ruining Sam's life clearly weren't alive for the "Alanis goes scorched earth on Uncle Joey" era and it shows lol.

Now having said all that - if she came out with a video where she spent the entire time openly mocking snc and calling them frauds...who am I kidding, even that I'd find funny. I'd understand the anger some stans would have a little more, I guess, but I personally would still think it was funny.

But since I doubt she's going to do that, I'll say certain people are barking up the wrong tree on this one.

[catluver3]

Wed. 9/4/2024 pt2

Writing is so fun! Well, I've written stuff in the past before.. From small snippets of my original characters to almost full blown stories!! I wish I had finished them but just like my art and everything in my life, I loose the motivation eventually. 

I'm at work now and it's a bit earlier than I would like to be here. My head hurts and I honestly just want to be back home, watching those 'lost media' documentaries on youtube. Recently finished one about some weirdo, I say 'I would never fall for something like that!' But the internet is just an endless spiderweb that grows with each second.. It's scary to think about it in a way.. It's cool, almost like space!
Talking about space, Sunday, I went to movies with my mom, sister, and my friend! We went to go watch the alien movie and it was so good. I definitely recommend it to anyone who still is indecisive about watching it!! It had the perfect amount of thriller in it and I absolutely fell in love with Andy, something about robots in movies squeeze at my heartstrings! The human/alien baby thing was honestly just disturbing... Had me on the edge of my seat ahah! 

It's slow once again at work, that's why I'm able to write another entry:3! I feel so tired if I'm being honest, I feel tired all the time after 3 pm. I just want my boyfriend if I'm honest, I want him to come by my work, to take me away to his house and just lay on his bed while I pet away at his cute little cat. 

The cat is so shy yet so cute to me, his fur is so soft like a silk blanket and his face is like a LPS toy head. Round and small with big eyes that just seem to stare into your soul! He rarely lets me pet him.. Always hiding away on the second floor or meowing away at the top of stairs, all I can do it coo at him. He also has a dog, such a big dog with the whitest fur. I'm not a big fan of dogs and if I'm honest.. I'm kinda eh on him after incident I had with him. 

I was laying face down on the bed and the dog jumped up, the nail went straight into my nose and cut the inside. I bled and cried to my boyfriend... I don't know why I cried? I mean it didn't hurt much but it did surprise me, my boyfriend was sweet to me after. Rolling me up in his blue blanket and cuddling me!! I love that, I love being babied and sometimes babying him!

If I didn't have to work, I would be the happiest girl ever! Well, I don't mind working. I just hate the customers.. I need to get my drivers license soon!! I've had so many weird encounters with people at work, mostly old men that just don't know how to shut their mouths! I've had one ask me if I could kiss my boyfriend with them? Like excuse me? I just didn't answer him but I did laugh awkwardly. Fuckers kept trying to find me the entire time they were sat down here! Like just eat your food, pay, and get out! 
My brain is currently working up so many things to talk about yet I can't seem to put everything into text! If I did, this would be like 20+ pages long! 
I wouldn't mind talking about my childhood but even then, I'm just now starting to actually remember it! I cried in front of my therapist talking about it and I still feel embarrassed just thinking about it.. I've always been such a big cry baby. Sucks but it makes me, me! 

See you tomorrow. :)

[littlewalken]

Aug 30

Let this picture of a cat in a bathtub serve as the reminder of why we are doing this in the first place. This was one of the pictures lost in the mess, we had Taffy's meow ma Peaches, aunt Macaroni, and her mother Champagne and she knew Pebbles who just crossed the rainbow bridge a few years ago.

All those years ago people trusted my sister and her reporter friend with situations. No matter how I feel about her I am in want to respect that.

Eventually I'll probably post some of the concert pics with water marks on them, fuck you tshirt bots, but for now I'm already starting to get feedback from people who are beside themselves to see some of their precious moments again.

I'm also looking for her old reporter friend. If she's still around this whole mess would make a great book.

It's also still a mess as several of the bands are still unidentified or she got a partial name. For example Tank is actually Glitter Tank Police and I had to use my facial recognition skills to decide it was the same members or at least a couple of the same members.

The list of people I haven't contacted yet is still a page long, counting unidentified people and those who have fallen off the face of the earth.

Really could use an IRL friend to help me finish at least making contact but I can't trust none of y'all on the internet.

Keep you pants on.

[five-rivers]

Stars Aligned Chapter 3

(Please do not ask when the next chapter will be, I do not know. Links to AO3/FFN will be included in reblog.)

.

Here’s the thing. The very, very, stupid thing. Despite all his planning for this trip, Danny had no idea what his birth family looked like. Presumably, they also had no idea what he looked like.

As much as Danny would like to blame this on a wizardly aversion to the internet and photographs, he couldn’t. Danny could have sent them a picture of himself through the mail at any time. Even if wizard mail involved owls for some unexplained reason. But he didn’t. Because he was dumb.

And his equally dumb wizard family had also failed to send any pictures.

What were they thinking? Did they assume they’d somehow recognize each other on sight? Was that a wizard thing? Did they expect to spontaneously develop blood-relative telepathy? Was that a thing?

Danny did not know what to expect. He honestly didn’t know enough about wizards.

The end result was that Danny was standing in the middle of the wizarding world’s equivalent of an airport, which involved way more open fires than could possibly be safe, and people stepping into those open fires, which, again, could not possibly be safe. Of course, Danny had done it, as uncomfortable as it was for his core, and anything that used internal combustion was technically also using fire as a means of transportation, so Danny might have been a bit of a hypocrite, but still.

But, back to his dilemma. He, a dumb teenager, could be expected to do dumb, thoughtless things and make easily avoidable mistakes. It was basically a requirement. His actual family, who probably could have realized the error, didn’t want him to go and could be forgiven for any oversight. But dumb wizard birth family had at least one semi-competent adult in it. Supposedly.

Despite himself, his desire to kidnap his brother increased. Even though it would most likely cause an international incident.

He sighed. Maybe he should just follow the crowd and see if anyone stopped him. After all wizards might have magic blood-relative detection something or other.

He trudged along, pulling his trundle suitcase behind him. Silver lining was that whatever happened, he didn’t have to spend hours in a metal tube breathing recycled air. Silver lining. Silver lining. Silver—

Ah. Hm.

Danny blinked at his name written in large letters on a square of poster paper. His first and middle names, that is, and his bio-family’s last name.

He was highlytempted to turn around and go back home, but there was his twin, holding the card and looking fragile and hopeful, standing next to a tall woman with greying black hair.

He sighed. He was doing this, then.

“Hi,” he said, “you must be Draco. I’m Danny. And, uh, you must be Narcissa Malfoy?” He sort of held his hand out, feeling awkward.

“You can call me mother, Deneb,” said Narcissa. She sounded slightly tearful.

“It good to meet you, Deneb. Er. Danny.” Draco’s eyes flitted up to his mother.

“Yeah, um. Please don’t take this the wrong way, Mrs. Malfoy, but I don’t actually know you. And I’ve got a mom.”

“Yet,” interjected Draco. “You don’t know mother yet. That’s what this visit is about, right?”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’m… really looking forward to it.”

Draco looked relieved. “Excellent. Well, then, Looky can get your luggage and we can floo home.”

A very small, rather wizened person stepped out from behind Draco’s legs.

Okay. Danny had questions.

.

Danny did not particularly care for the answers to his questions.

.

Draco didn’t know why his twin had stopped talking to him before they’d even gotten home. He had, to some degree, expected rough spots. Merlin knew his family didn’t get along perfectly. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t hoped he and his twin would have a special connection. That they would mesh.

That… wasn’t happening. In fact, this was rather… awkward. Painful, almost.

He thought back to what they had been talking about. He didn’t think he’d said anything particularly objectionable. Had he hit on some chip on the shoulder those squibs had inculcated in him? Well, he thought, rather shamefacedly, he shouldn’t think of them like that. They hadn’t been the ones to abandon Deneb – Danny – just for not being immediately magical.

“Right,” he said, as Danny stepped (jumped, looking slightly disturbed) out of the fire. “Let me show you your room. We’ve had the house elves clean it out.”

Something on Danny’s face went dark, but he visibly controlled himself. “Thank you,” he said. “And, um, thank you, Looky. For your help.”

Draco frowned. He was confused, and he didn’t like feeling confused. He knew muggles didn’t have house elves, of course, but still. The concept wasn’t that hard to understand, was it? Although, it was possible Danny had never come across house elves at all, even second or third hand.

He supposed they might be unsettling if they were the first magical creature one came across. Ugh. He’d never tried to put himself in the position of someone learning about magic for the first time. Why would he? That was mudblood business, and he’d never associate with one of those.

But Danny was in that position, just about.

That meant it was Draco’s job to help Danny understand.

.

Danny was hoping he was misunderstanding something and that wizards did not, in fact, practice slavery.

This seemed to be a forlorn hope.

“So,” said Draco clasping his hands behind his back in the doorway of ‘Danny’s’ room, “er, house elves. You’ve probably not seen them before.”

“Can’t really say so, no.”

“Probably the first magical creatures you’ve seen.”

“Um,” said Danny. “Also no. I did have to go get a wand and stuff, and you’ve got to go to a wizard town to do that. I saw a bunch of different stuff there.” He didn’t really want to explain the ghosts, but… “Also, my parents study ghosts.”

“You mean, your adopted parents.”

“My parents, yes.”

“I didn’t know squibs could see ghosts. Well, they never seemed to have any trouble with it, so…” He shrugged.

“I… see.”

Danny doubted it, somehow. “But you were saying? About house elves?” Benefit of the doubt, he reminded himself.

“They’re servants,” said Draco. “Magically bound to serve certain families.”

“Magically bound,” repeated Danny, liking this less and less.

“Yes, it’s very old magic. An ancient agreement between our race and theirs, and the individual families and the house elves in question.”

“They can’t, like, opt out or anything?”

“That would defeat the point.”

“Okay,” said Danny. “So… Do they get, you know, paid at all?”

“Of course not,” said Draco.

Danny closed his eyes. “Okay. Um. Draco.” How to put this in a way that wouldn’t immediately alienate him. “Isn’t that slavery?”

“No,” said Draco, immediately. “They want to serve.”

“Well, they might say that to you, but human slaves used to say the same thing, because they’d get in trouble if they didn’t.”

Draco opened his mouth, closed it, and then said, confidently, “It isn’t like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“They aren’t human. They want to do this.”

Danny was no stranger to dealing with inhuman mindsets (but he most definitely did not have one himself). Even so…

“I think my point still stands. Like, are there very many house elves in this situation?”

“I don’t know,” said Draco. “I suppose so. Most families of substance and breeding have at least one.”

“Okay. Ah. Look. I’m not even sure where to start with this. Slavery is bad, right? We can agree on that.”

An annoyed expression passed over Draco’s face. “Yes, we can. That’s a given. But that’s for humans—"

“Great. Let’s start there. It’s bad for any human, right? Even, like, no-majs, or stupid humans, or—”

“Muggles,” corrected Draco. “No-maj is the American term.”

“When in Rome, I guess, sure. Muggles, then.”

“Yeah,” said Draco, uncomfortably crossing his arms.

Oh, Ancients, there was something there. Which Danny should have expected, given his birth father, whom he had yet to meet, threw him out of the house literally at birth.

Wizard supremacist weirdos corrupting his poor twin brother.

“Then what makes house elves so different?”

“Like I said, they want to do this. It’s in their nature. You wouldn’t, I don’t know, decide a dog was unhealthy because it barked instead of meowed, would you?” He spread his hands in frustration.

“I’ll give you that, but Looky looked actively afraid of you. And what was she even dressed in? That can’t be comfortable.”

“Giving them real clothes would free them – only if it’s their master, which in this case is Father.” He shifted slightly. “Except for Looky, I suppose, who is technicallymine. Great Aunt—Oh, you won’t know her. Why do you even care?”

“Why do I care about other people suffering? But otherthan that, what’s the difference between a house elf and a human servant? Like, would you treat a human servant like that? If you were a servant, wouldn’t you want to be treated with respect, even if being a servant was all you’d ever wanted?”

“But I’m not a servant.”

“But if you were. Can’t you just try to imagine it? A little? Please?”

“I… fine. But don’t bring this up to Mother and Father. They wouldn’t be pleased.”

“Okay. Deal.”

“Deal,” agreed Draco. “So. Do you like your room?”

Danny looked around. “Yeah, actually. It’s nice. Bit different from what I have at home, but, yeah. Good, um. Good floors. And wallpaper. And, um. Do all wizard paintings move like that?” He genuinely hadn’t noticed until just now, intent on the house elf problem.

“Yeah,” said Draco, seemingly relieved at the more normal topic. “It’s an enchantment on the canvas and paint.”

“Seems like it’d be hard to work with,” observed Danny.

“Well, the spell isn’t finished until after the actual painting part is done. At least, that’s my understanding.”

“I see, that would be easier.”

Silence.

“Would you like to see the peacocks?”

“Sure, why not?”

.

It took a bit of time to get bundled up in coats (cloaks in Draco’s case) because it was cold outside, but once they did…

“Wow. They’re albino peacocks.”

“Yes.”

“Wild.”

“No, they’re quite tame.”

“Oh, it’s, um, it’s an idiom. Like cool. Or wicked, I guess? Do British people use that?”

“I’ve heard some people use it. But Mother and Father are… not particularly enamored of slang.”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’ll remember that.”

They continued walking through the garden, towards the pond. Danny tried not to dwell on how much labor it would take to keep the grounds here so pristine.

“What do you do for fun in America?” asked Draco, out of nowhere.

Danny blinked. “Different people do different things,” he said. “Uh, a lot of things I usually do won’t work here because of the whole magic and electricity not getting along well thing. Have you ever heard about video games?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is it anything like quidditch?”

“I have only the loosest of understandings of what that is. It’s that broom sport, right? The one where you fly?”

Draco looked scandalized. “… Yes,” he said, finally. “I’m going to have to teach you how to use a broom before you have to go back to America.”

“The flying type of broom?” asked Danny, teasingly. Sure, he already could fly, but whatever.

“Merlin, yes.” Draco rolled his eyes. “I’m part of my house’s quidditch team. Letting you leave without some understanding of the rules would be a crime.”

“Draco, are you a jock?” asked Danny. “What is this world coming to. Related to a jock.” He shook his head dramatically. “I’ll never live it down.”

Draco nudged him slightly. “I’m not a meathead beater, at least,” he said. “I’m the team seeker.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Draco’s smile slowly slid off his face.

“What?” said Danny.

“It’s just… you should. You should have grown up here, with family, as part of this world.”

“I did grow up with family,” said Danny. “Just not direct blood relatives. It kind of sucks that we didn’t get the chance to grow up together, but, like, I’m not really impressedby your parents so far.”

“Mother was very upset when she heard what Father did.”

“Sure, but she also kind of ditched us as soon as we got back here.”

“She has a delicate constitution? I’m sure she’s just trying to decide how to act… giving you space to make you feel more comfortable?”

Danny shrugged. “Well, we’ll see what happens. I’m going to be here until the end of the break, after all.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Hogwarts, just for the rest of the school year? I’m sure they’ll be better than any alternative in America, when it comes to catching you up. Father has friends on the board of governors and the Ministry Department of Educational Oversight. It would be easy for you to go.”

“My friends are all back home,” said Danny, “and magic or not, what I really want to do with my life is become an astronaut, and I need ‘muggle’ grades and school for that.”

“A what now?”

“An astronaut?”

Surely, Draco had just misheard him.

“Is that some sort of muggle thing, then?”

“I- Do you not know what an astronaut is?” asked Danny, flabbergasted. “Really?”

Draco’s eyebrows were furrowed. “No, I don’t.”

“How about cosmonauts? Do you know about them?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is this related to the Argonauts, somehow? That Greek thing?”

“No,” said Danny. “I mean, the root word – But no. Not the same thing at all. How do I even… Do you know what outer space is?”

“Astronomy is a class at Hogwarts.”

“Not a very good one,” said Danny, “if you don’t know what an astronaut is. I think I’d die.”

“It’s a very good class. Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in Europe. And I know what outer space is. It’s the space up above the atmosphere, where the planets and stars are, and stuff.”

“Okay. I mean. I’m not trying to make you feel bad or anything,” reassured Danny, sensing that he had ruffled some feathers. “I’m just… an astronomy class should teach about astronauts. Astronauts are people who’ve been to space. Outer space.”

“That’s rubbish,” said Draco. “You can’t go to space.”

Danny refrained from informing Draco that he had, in fact, been to space. “Well, I want to go to space,” said Danny, “and other people have been there.”

“No one’s been to space,” said Draco. “Unless maybe someone apparated there by mistake, but how would you even do that?”

“I don’t know what apparating is,” said Danny. “Some kind of teleportation?”

Both of them stared at each other, each one probably at a loss for words regarding the other’s ignorance of things they themselves considered common knowledge.

“Yeah, more or less,” said Draco, finally. “But you can’t get to space. It’s impossible.”

“It isn’t. There are people up there right now,” said Danny. “On the International Space Station. Which is… it’s sort of a little house. In space.”

“There’s no air up there.”

“They bring the air with them.”

“Wouldn’t it explode?”

“They figured out how to make it so it wouldn’t explode. It’s very, um. Sturdy. Rigid. The space station is airtight.”

“And you’re saying that there are muggles in it. In space. Outer space. Right now.”

“As we speak. I mean, I guess some of them could be secret wizards, but considering your reaction, I’m doubting it.”

“Muggles. In space.”

“Yeah. We made it to the moon, too. But that was—”

“The moon?”

“Yeah?”

“In the sky?”

“That, uh.” He looked up, as if expecting to see the moon despite the thick cloud cover. “Yeah. The moon.”

“You’re telling me,” said Draco, in a hushed voice, “that there are muggles on the moon. Right now. As we speak.”

“No, that was before we were born,” said Danny.

“What.”

“Yeah, some people went, but it was really expensive, so they haven’t been back. Which I think is silly, because can you imagine the scientific advancements we could have made? The resources we could have brought back?”

“The moon.”

“You seem really hung up on this. Are you okay?”

“You- That- The moon. And muggles in space?”

“Yeah,” said Danny. He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, you see why I need to go back. I’m sure Hogwarts is great and all, but I really want to be an astronaut.”

“Can you see them through a telescope?”

“See what?”

“The muggles in space.”

“On a clear night, sure, if you know where to look.” Before the Accident (the Big One, the Unaliving, the Green Flash, the Knockoff Origin Story), Danny usually checked the internet for the times the ISS passed overhead. But he’d developed a ghost power that gave him a pretty good sense of where anything in the sky was, so long as he concentrated for a few minutes. “It orbits the Earth every ninety minutes or so, although it doesn’t always catch the light enough to see properly. You can actually see a lot of satellites.”

“There are more of these things?” hissed Draco.

“Not with people on them.”

“I’m getting my telescope,” declared Draco, starting to stride back to the house.

“We won’t be able to see anything now,” said Danny.

“It’s enchanted to see through cloud cover and ignore non-reflected sunlight. It’s top of the line.”

Danny had never wanted a physical object so much in his entire life.

“What? What? Magic can do that?”

[procrastination-queenie]

Kitten |JJK

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Fem. Reader

Synopsis: The reader is a cat lover and Jungkook is a sucker for her.

Note: None of the photos used is mine.

Warning: none, just heart-wrenching fluff and love for animals.

Word Count: 2,148

You must've been cursed; that must be it. Since you were a child, your heart has been cursed with softness. Yup! You're were so soft and sensitive, your little heart could never understand the concept of being cold. This was no different when it came to animals. You appreciated the existence of such pure souls in this cruel world. But then you're a child how could you understand the term or the concept of being cruel. Well, humans were the embodiment of that term, you were convinced. Convinced that a man who hit a poor donkey so harshly is cruel, a woman who shooed a starved kitten is cruel, a man who kept his dog out in the streets during cold nights is cruel, a family who abandons a disabled or an aged dog is cruel. Your poor little heart can't take it.

You remember the incident of the donkey and how his owner mistreated him; you instantly turned to your dad demanding that he must take an action and I quote "daddy, you must hit the man because he's being mean to the donkey!" Which he replied to saying "yes, dear of course; I'll do that." But as any parent would in this situation he promised you empty words, passing the terrible incident and driving away. "Why aren't you doing anything?" The baby you pouted in anger as your car moved away. "Sweetie, I promise I'll return to shout at the man for committing such a terrible act." And of course, as any child would, you trusted your dad to handle the situation.

You just couldn't grasp the mentality of these cruel people, more importantly, your mind couldn't help and create weird scenarios in your head such as: what if this kitty is lost? She must feel cold! She must feel hungry! She must be afraid! And your poor heart was the victim of these thoughts. Your Heart was soft to the point that you would literally shed tears if a cat or a dog looked at you cutely. You would coo at him/her then start crying because and I quote, again "It must feel terrible that they can't express to us how they're feeling, I mean what if he/she is trying to tell us something, but we can't understand him/her!" you'd say with tears flowing down your baby face. You couldn't even bring yourself to categorise animals under the subject "it" when talking or referring to an animal you would always address it according to its gender because you believed that they feel the same way humans feel, and they deserve to be appreciated and loved.

It didn't help that your parents were very strict about their "No pets" rule. You have always wanted to care for a soul; however, that was a big no from your parents. This led to you taking interest in every living animal that passed you by in the streets or was owned by your friends to fill this void in your heart. For instance, you will never forget that one time when you said: "hello kitty!" enthusiastically to a street cat while walking around with a friend of yours. The poor thing stood in its place stiff like a statue of a pharaonic cat as you addressed it. "Oh look, it turned to me when I said hi kitty because it knows it's a cat... Awww!" You said with the same enthusiasm to your friend who witnessed the whole thing wondering if you're sane enough to be let out in the streets or not. "Oh Lord, give me strength!" She said walking away from you. "Bye kitty!"

Today like any other day, you agreed with your fiancé, Jungkook, that you'd meet after you both finish work to have lunch together. "Same as usual?" Jungkook croaked an eyebrow as his eyes scanned the menu for the millionth time in hopes to find a new item that he might like to try, but this was an old restaurant, it never really added anything new to the menu. You hummed looking out of the window next to you. It was raining lightly and the weather was getting chilly by the minute. After placing your orders, Jungkook started telling you about his day as usual as you waited for the food to arrive. "… and Jimin-ssi broke the record today for falling out of the chair. Seriously how could he keep falling out of a chair this easily, I mean the chair was right there!" He laughed looking at you expecting you laugh as well but it seemed that your mind was elsewhere, or your eyes were elsewhere. "Jagiya, what are you looking at?" He turned his gaze to where you were staring. There, by the bus station was a shivering small black kitten that looked like it wanted to fall asleep but couldn't because of the cold. The poor thing was shivering wildly. It also looked like it was malnourished. He looked back at you to find you frowning with pouty lips and teary eyes. "Kookie!" You whined and looked at him, pleading to let you go help the kitten. He already knew what you were thinking, and he loved you for it. Your big heart that spread warmth and generosity in abundance was always something that left him in awe. "You know they won't allow me in with her!" Your puppy eyes were killing him, already. He chuckled, "you know already that it's a girl?" He was constantly shocked by how you could tell whether the animal you were talking about was a boy or a girl, and you rarely guessed wrong. "You know the deal." You chuckled standing up. You took off your scarf and went outside.

You approached the poor kitten slowly so not to startle it. "Hey, baby! You cold?" Your voice took an entirely different tone as if you were talking to a child trying to coax it. "It's okay, I am not going to hurt you." You said heart aching at the way she tried to step away from you. You wrapped her into the warm scarf, petting her to calm her down and to let her know that you didn't intend on hurting her.

Jungkook made his way to you with an umbrella and both of your food, in his other hand that he told the waiter that he would take it away instead of eating in the restaurant. His heart swelled at the view of you gently brushing your finger behind its ears. He sighed taking a seat next to you. You pulled a piece of chicken from your plate, feeding it to the kitten. "Awww, she must have been so hungry." You said as the poor thing devoured the chicken in seconds. "Where's your mummy?" You spoke to the kitten, it only meowed back at you which made your eyes teary. "What if she's lost!" You pouted looking at Jungkook. "Awww Jagiya I am sure her mum went to get her some food." He said scratching the back of his head, not really knowing what to do. He just hated to see you this sad. Your pout intensified as your head made up scenarios such as what if the kitten's mum got hit by a car? Or what if she's not returning? and so on. "We could wait a bit if you want? You know, to make sure that she's safe." He said shrugging. You smiled at him thankful that he put your heart at ease, seeing that you can't find it in you to leave the poor kitten alone. You kept on feeding the kitten as a couple of hours passed by, and yet her mum didn't show up. "Jagiya, you have nothing left to eat!" Jungkook frowned at the empty plate, noting in the back of his head to order you something else when you go home. "It's okay I am not that hungry." You said gaze and mind lost in the petite kitten that now found warmth and comfort in your lap, engulfed by your cosy scarf.

Jungkook knew that you won't eat if another being was hungry, even if you were starving. He smiled, a light bulb appeared above his head, "you know..." You reluctant tore your gaze from the kitten to look at your fiancé. " We can take it home." He smiled widely. "It's a she!" You scoffed then gasped after you realised what he was saying. "Are you... saying that we can keep it?" Your eyes widened at his suggestion. His bunny-like features lit up as he simply shrugged. You shrieked in happiness, "Kookie you're the best!" You said planting a kiss on his cheek. You apologised for the kitten afterwards for startling her, "awww, sorry baby!" You patted her.

You couldn't wipe the smile off of your face as you went to the vet first thing to give her the required vaccinations, clean her up and trim her claws. "We should buy her a few toys, too!" You said lost in thought as you waited for your kitten to finish. Jungkook looking at you in awe, he couldn't help how cute you looked. "… Because you know how mum and dad feel about pets." You were babbling, turning your head towards Jungkook, missing the way he leaned in to capture your lips with his. He kissed you softly and passionately that you were lost when he pulled away. "W-what was that for?" You whispered, his forehead resting on yours as you opened your eyes slowly. "Nothing, you're just so cute I couldn't help it." He chuckled.

"Mr Jeon, Mrs L/N, your pet is all set, did you settle on a name, yet?" A nurse came out holding the kitten in a blue blanket. You grabbed her gently as Jungkook shook his head, "Nah not yet." He turned to you, "do you have anything in mind babe?" You nodded eagerly like a child, "yeah I have a few! But we need to settle on something." You looked at Jungkook who chuckled at your child-like behaviour.

Apparently, on your way to the vet you went through the internet looking for a unique name for your kitten. "I like blackie" Jungkook said eyeing the rest of the list, "I like it to, but I feel like it's racist." You pouted hating the idea of naming her "blackie" because she's black. Jungkook chuckled, "okay, how about Luna?" You hummed, then claimed that it was not unique enough.

"What about Twinkie?"

"Doesn't seem like a girl's name!"

"Babe you're the one who made this list!" He looked up from your phone to see you looking at the kitten instead. "Well, they sounded pretty when I wrote them down, but now that we're serious about keeping her, I feel like I'm picking my child's name. Kook this is a huge responsibility!" You pouted looking at him. He laughed at how you were taking this so seriously, but he understood, you have always wanted a pet, and now that you were having one it felt surreal.

"How about Selena?"

"Sounds posh for a cat!" Jungkook erupted in laughter. Oh God this was going to be fun, he thought shaking his head.

"Did you get it?" You jumped in anticipation as Jungkook returned home with your kitten's gift. He chuckled, "Yup" you jumped from your seat running over to him to see it. It was a collar with her name engraved on a golden piece. "It looks beautiful!" You squealed. "Yeah, baby it does." He said kissing your forehead. There laid the name "Angel" in a neat font. You know it's not that unique but you truly felt that the name suited her perfectly. She stood there looking up at both you and Jungkook, head tilted to the side wondering what's going on. You put the collar around her neck as she kept staring at you with her baby blue eyes that made your heart melt. "I think am in love!" You whispered in awe with teary eyes, Jungkook laughed loudly, thanking God for gifting him with a precious hearted partner as you.

That night you and Jungkook went to bed with Angel sleeping cosily between the two of you. "Thank you." You whispered, patting Angel's soft fur. "What for?" Jungkook looked up to you with doe eyes filled with puzzlement. "For allowing me to experience this, I mean you could have said no to taking Angel in." You whispered, refusing to think of what could have happened to her if you left her that day on the streets. "Babe, it's nothing. I don't even know why we haven't thought of it earlier, you know I don't mind pets." He said shrugging. "Still, thank you. I wanted this for so long." Jungkook looked at you with a soft gaze. He kissed your forehead, muttering a "good night", contentment filling his heart for the new addition to your little family.

[cindersandroses]

Digital Get Down, Chapter 1

AUTHORS: cindersandroses ( losille2000 and cinderella1181)

CHAPTERS: 1/?

PAIRING: Actor!Henry Cavill/ Plus-Sized OFC

GENRE: Romance/Fluff/HUMOR

FIC SUMMARY: When SuperHank met OrcPrincessPeach on the World of Warcraft message boards, it was love at first raid. Now, almost a year later, they’re ready to take the next step and meet in person. Half a world away from each other, both decide to meet in Atlanta for DragonCon, since she was already going to be there for her work as a game designer at Blizzard... never mind that she is a devout nerd. They both have to face the fact that reality is very different from a digital world.

RATING: Mature

AUTHORS NOTES: This idea happened while we were floating around our pool a few days ago. I don’t foresee this being very long, but as always, if you want more, we will write more.

Also on AO3!

Chapter 1

SuperHank: Hey girlie girl, I did it! I got the pass for DragonCon. After almost 10 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days, I’m officially coming to meet you!

OrcPrincessPeach: Yay! Are you sure you can afford it... and the airfare?

SuperHank: Dollface, for you, I would move the oceans and walk to you. I can’t wait. August seems so far away.

OrcPrincessPeach: Be still my beating heart, you sappy romantic. I can’t wait to see you.

SuperHank: Same here. I gotta go raid. I will talk to you later. I’ll text you before I go to sleep. Have a good day at work.

OrcPrincessPeach: I will see you later tonight!

Opal closed the laptop and smiled to herself, trying desperately to keep a squeal of delight from escaping her lips. Nothing ever made her feel as amazing as talking to Hank did, even when it meant little sleep and getting up well before the sun to do it. But Amber, her roommate, would be the first person to yell at her for making too much noise in the morning… especially since it involved Hank, whom Amber did not particularly like for some reason.

Nevermind that he and Amber had never actually talked to each other. And, in fact, Opal had only ever talked to the man herself, too. Well, “talking,” in so much that they called each other, texted each other, and chatted on the World of Warcraft message boards about everything and nothing at all. There was the one time, though, when she had been “talking” with Hank, that she may have gotten too loud during a little early morning (for her, anyway) phone sex.

So maybe Amber did have a point.

Opal’s cheeks heated at the thought, replaying the memory in her head as she pulled on her most adorable red peep-toe pumps. All the boys in her programming pod at Blizzard loved it when she wore them; they always made her feel like she could take on the world. Because, seriously, who was going to mess with a woman wearing sky-high red heels during the day? It was amazing what she could convince her fellow game designer nerds to do when she wore these heels with this outfit.

She smoothed her otherwise fairly normal navy blue sheath dress over her slightly rounded belly and wide hips. These clothes were her armor against the world, much like how her orc character dressed in the game. Opal and her orc both needed the image that they could take on the male-dominated World of game design, when in reality, she could very much be a shrinking violet. Especially when it came to her body.

Hence why she had only shared very, erm, specific photos of her body with Hank, and him with her… in the best light, angle and pose. He had an amazing body, and she, well, she didn’t have an amazing body. It wasn’t terrible, per se. It did the things she needed it to do, but she certainly could have spent more time at the office standing desks or in the employee gym. But her red pumps wouldn’t allow her to do either.

So she just had to hope--and pray--that when he saw her in the harsh light of day that he didn’t run away screaming. Because there certainly had been a few online boyfriends before this who had done just that.

Opal left her room and carefully made her way downstairs to get her bag together for work. Tycho, her rather large ragdoll cat, was laying on the back of the couch, half on the black bag and rubbing his chin on the rigid canvas handle. Clearly, the bag was his now, just like everything else in the house.

“Hey, you better move it, buddy. I gotta get to work so you get good gushy food.” She pointed at him.  “Be gone when I get back in here.”

Tycho rumbled a low meow in response and didn’t move.

“Freeloader,” she mused.

She headed into the kitchen with a huge smile returning to her face and butterflies making her slightly queasy. After almost a year, she was finally… finally… going to meet the boy she’d been dating online. Most people would take that as a sign that this was all it would ever be--online and still fairly impersonal.  To be fair, though, Hank had planned to come and see her once before, but work had not let him.  And it wasn’t like they were on the same continent, normally. They were halfway around the world from each other. But this time, he swore up and down that this was going to be it. They were going to cohabitate in the same hotel suite for a long weekend, and make good on all the very dirty promises they had made each other in the ten months they’d been “together.” Of course, she was well aware that he still may cancel, but for now, she was going to live in her dreamworld.

Amber was already in the kitchen as Opal made it into the room. Her roommate sat bleary-eyed at the kitchen table and stared at her cell phone screen.

“You already made coffee?” Opal asked.

The brunette nodded and motioned her head towards the almost full pot.  “Yeah, cause I didn’t have to get up at a stupid time in the morning to talk to my internet boyfriend.”

Opal rolled her eyes. “Amber, it’s not that bad.”

“Really, Opie? What time did you get out of bed this morning?” she asked, her eyebrow peaked.

Opal sighed. “Six.” Amber shook her head.  “It’s not normal. How long have you been ‘dating’ this dude?” she asked, emphasizing her point with air quotes and all.

“Almost a year, but he and I are finally meeting. We’re going to meet in Atlanta for DragonCon. It’s a halfway point between us, we figured it would be neutral territory,” Opal explained.

“Is Con really ‘neutral’? You’d live at a con if you could.”

Opal ignored her comment. As far as she was concerned, it was neutral… and certainly big enough to get lost in the crowd if things didn’t go well. She certainly didn’t want to bring him around her house if Amber planned to be there to scare him away.

Opal continued with a light, dreamy sigh. “It’s going to be super exciting. I’m ready to meet Hank. He is a fantastic guy; he is kind, funny, loves his family.”

“Sounds like you’re describing a labrador. Next thing, you’re going to tell me he is loyal and in love with you,” Amber replied, shaking her head. “You can’t be in love with someone you have never met in person.”

Maybe Amber was right, after all. How much could someone truly know a person from what they say alone? It’s merely a facet of who they are. Actions were also huge, and he had not yet proven anything to Opal in that category.

But still, Opal was sure Hank was different. She’d had a lot of online boyfriends throughout her life--her life revolved around the computer, so it was only natural. And comparing all the other examples with her current love interest, this just felt different. Like… it might actually be real.

“You can love their heart, and I adore him. He is pretty great. I’m just hoping he’s the one.” Opal grinned.  “We would have an amazing story to tell our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.”

Amber pressed her lips together into a terse line and returned to whatever was on her phone. “Well, when this all bursts in your face, Opie, you just come home to me and remember that I love you no matter what.”

Opal smiled. “I know, Amber. You’ll pick up all the pieces. But I don’t think that’s going to happen with him. I don’t know. He’s different.”

“Does he know?” Amber asked, the cup of coffee close to her mouth.

“Um... know what?” Opal asked.

“That you’re not some skinny bimbo?” Amber asked, motioning in her direction. Amber’s eyes scanned her body slowly, critically. “All the people on the internet have this idealized image in their head that the person they’re talking to is Giselle Bundchen, not Ashely Graham or Tess Holliday.”

“They are both gorgeous and many men are in love with them,” Opal defended. “And they’re both married.”

Amber shrugged. “I’m just preparing you for it, if it happens. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

This conversation, though, was hurting her. Hank wasn’t the direct cause of it, just a reason for Amber to start this. She knew Amber had her best interests at heart--no friend wants their friend to get hurt--but the way she achieved her goals, and the words she used, were not nice.

Opal sighed. “Look, he knows I’m fat. He knows I have curves and I’m not a size two. He and I have had several conversations about the fact I’m not some little skinny thing. He said he adores my heart, and he doesn’t care what kind of body it comes in.”

He also said he preferred thick women because he didn’t feel like he was going to break them when things got… athletic. But Amber didn’t need to hear that, either.

“My god, if that isn’t a line,” Amber scoffed.

Opal shrugged. “Amber, stop! Your thinly veiled attempt to fat shame me isn’t going to work. I’m going to go to Atlanta, I’m going to meet him, and I may even sleep with him.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “You won’t have sex with him. You’re a 32-year-old virgin.”

Opal shrugged. “You know, stranger things have happened.” She twisted the top on her thermos. “I’m going to be late for work, I’ll see you later.”

She walked back into the living room, removed the cat from his perch, picked up her bag and headed out the door to work. As she walked the block to the bus stop, she pulled her phone out and put on the playlist Hank had built her. She smiled as the songs began to play, each one having a special meaning to both of them. He was always adding new songs with little notes about why he added them.

These little love notes never failed to make her happy again. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if they ever stopped.

She knew what Amber said shouldn’t bother her as much as it did, but she was self-conscious. Her body had always been something that set her apart and had made her shy when it came to men. Of all the potential dates she’d had with online boyfriends, she had only been on three real dates in her adult life. All of them turned tail and ran once she said she was a virgin. So for those very few that were able to get past the body issue, those three considered her lack of experience to be insurmountable.

Hank didn’t make her feel like that. He didn’t seem to care, or if he did, it wasn’t a deal-breaker. If her lack of experience didn’t do it, there was a very real possibility that her other image issues would be the end of it.

When she arrived at the bus stop and sat down, Opal made the decision to push Amber’s nagging voice out of her head. She wasn’t going to let Amber break her confidence. Hank adored her, for who she was, and that was all that mattered.

She turned her music all the way up to block out the self-doubt and scrolled through her playlist, looking for her favorites. At the bottom of the list, added only a few minutes before, was a new song. Opal giggled and clicked on the song, closing her eyes to listen to the electronic 80s synth and Richard Marx croon, “Right Here Waiting.”

[phantoms-lair]

Serious Freakzoid thing (Freaking Out) Part 3

It was a familiar chiptune that woke Dexter up, one he had set to play when his custom GUI loaded. He forced his eyes open and realized he was one the floor. What was he doing there? 

Seeing the side of his computer opened jogged his memory of the Pinnacle Chip going nuts. Or did it? The computer was functioning perfectly now, humming quietly along with the screen. He looked at the hand where he'd grabbed the chip and saw no sign of the massive electrical burn that would have had to be there. 

An electrical burn is a burn that results from electricity passing through the body causing rapid injury. Approximately 1,000 deaths per year due to electrical injuries are reported in the United States, with a mortality rate of 3-5%.[1] Electrical burns differ from thermal or chemical burns in that they cause much more subdermal damage.[2] They can exclusively cause surface damage, but more often tissues deeper underneath the skin have been severely damaged. As a result, electrical burns are difficult to accurately diagnose, and many people underestimate the severity of their burn. In extreme cases, electricity can cause shock to the brain, strain to the heart, and injury to other organs.[3] 

What....? Dexter shook his head, trying to figure out where that had come from. 

He shook his head and Mr. Chubbikins meowed and rubbed against him. Dexter reached to pet him when a strange feeling shot through his head.

Pheomelamine is the pigment responsible for the ginger color in cats. 

A huge 80% of all ginger cats are male

♪ Cat *wink* I’m a kitty cat. And I dance dance dance. And I dance dance dance ♪

Words and images flooded his head and all of a sudden it was hard to think, to focus. He saw Mr. Chubbikins and for a moment didn’t recognize him as his beloved pet, but simply a cute cat.

“Kitty Kitty Kitty,” he cooed in a tone that wasn’t like him at all. It was certainly enough to scare off Mr. Chubbykins, who nyoomed under the bed. The disappointment of the moment was enough to bring him to his senses.

He turned on his heels and ran to the bathroom. He examined himself in the mirror, trying to see if there was something wrong with his head or eyes. He ran through the Stroke checklist, but passed the standard tests. “Am I just going insane?” he muttered to himself. “Next I’ll be seeing little blue men.”

As he said this he felt a gentle buzzing on his skin. Looking down he saw a wave of electricity passing him over, leaving his skin blue in its wake. He whimpered, his mind trying to wrap around what he was seeing, What on Earth could turn his skin blue?

Cyanosis refers to a bluish cast to the skin and mucous membranes. Peripheral cyanosis is when there is a bluish discoloration to your hands or feet. It's usually caused by low oxygen levels in the red blood cells or problems getting oxygenated blood to your body.

No, this wasn’t cyanosis. Even he knew enough to know humans didn’t turn that particular shade. And why the heck did these...data pieces keep forcing their way into his brain?

His thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on the door. “Hey Dorkster, open up. The rest of us need to use the bathroom too!”

It was all Dexter could do to keep from hyperventilating. He couldn’t let his family see him like this! They already thought he was weird! What could he do? Disguise himself?

He felt the lightning tingle again, around his eyes and the top of his head. A glance in the mirror revealed his hair had become black and spikey, while a domino mask appeared about his eyes. As his panic rose, he felt a strange bubbling feeling in his mind. His thoughts broke apart and drifted away, no matter how hard he tried to hold on to them. Why was he trying to hold on to them anyway?

“Come on, freakazoid, open the door!”

Oh right, Duncan. Huh, Duncan had always been upset Dexter wasn’t like him, big and strong. If everything was changing, maybe he could change that?

He grinned as he became taller and gained a physique not seen outside comics. Duncan would be so happy! He opened the door with his grin growing ever wider. “Let’s Wrassle!”

~~

Roddy took a deep breath as he stopped the car, ignoring the ache in his ribs it caused. There was no ambulance or people screaming, so hopefully no one had been seriously injured. It was a small comfort, but it was there. He grabbed his old Apex employee card and the cane he hated but needed to be mobile right now.

He made his way to the front door carefully, avoiding icy patches on the walk and steps (oh how he’d come to loathe steps) and rang the bell.

He heard some movement inside and the door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with a smile that seemed almost grafted on.. “Can I help you?” “My name is Roddy McStewart, I work for Apex International, creators of the Pinnacle Chip.” He handed the man both his Work ID stating he was an employee and his driver’s license. “We received a signal from a newly installed Pinnacle Chip of a malfunction and I’m here to take a look at it.”

“On Christmas Day?” she asked, surprised.

“We all do what we can to make a living.” He gave her a sad smile.

“Well, okay then. Dexter’s room is upstairs, second door on the right.” Roddy blinked. Just like that? Still he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Even if it involved stairs.

He was nearly bowled over by a teenage boy running past him, yelling about something blue. Roddy looked to the woman who’d opened the door, but she'd just called up to ‘Dexter’ that he had a guest.

Odd Family he thought, as he made his way up the stairs.

~~

This was some quality family bonding he thought as he sat on Duncan’s back locking up one of his brother’s legs. That’s what it was, right? That’s why it was okay for Duncan to get physical with him.

“I give! I give!” Duncan called out.

But he knew this game. It wasn’t over because the other person gave up. You had to make them say something. “Sing ‘I’m a tugboat, Call me Mel’.”

“I’m a tugboat...call me Mel...I can’t, I don’t know the words?”

“That’s a tough one since I just made it up.” He admitted, but let Duncan up since he had tried.

Duncan tore out of the room, so he knew he’d done a good job, until he heard his mother’s voice coming from downstairs. “Dexter, you have a guest.”

Dexter. That’s right, he was Dexter. And with that realization the floating feeling he had vanished as his thoughts coalesced and his body condensed into the body he’d always had. He fled back into his room and huddled on his bed, too freaked out to try and do much more.

There was a knock on the door and a red-haired man entered. He glanced around seemingly surprised at the computer, still humming along. “Are you Dexter?”

“Yeah, who are you?”

“Roddy McStewart. I’m here about a malfunction with your Pinnacle Chip, but everything seems to be-”

“That was real?” Dexter blurted out. “Ever since that happened...I think I’m going insane.” he clutched his head.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Roddy asked. The room wasn’t a mess of shrapnel as he feared, but it was obvious something had happened.

“After I installed it the cat jumped on the keyboard and it started going nuts. I tried you yank the chip out to save the computer-”

“Are ye daft boy! You could have electrocuted yourself!” 

“I know, I wasn’t thinking!” Dexter snapped back. “I grabbed it and I thought I got shocked and blacked out, but my hand was fine when I woke up. And...thoughts keep popping in my head.”

“What kind of thoughts?” Anything besides a broken computer was well out of his wheelhouse, but Roddy couldn’t just leave the kid when he was so upset. Especially given the concern he now had with the lad’s mother sending him up to see her teenage son without any supervision.

“I dunno, random facts? It’s like articles and videos are just pulling themselves up in my mind. And then everything goes fuzzy.” Dexter didn’t mention what had happened in the bathroom. There was no way that was anything other than a hallucination.

There was the beginning of an idea forming in Roddy’s head, but he wasn’t ready to admit it was possible yet. That the reason Dexter’s computer had been spared was the Pinnacle chip had found a better storage solution for its mass internet download.

Before he could even think of how to check or even explain the door burst open and a taser fired directly at his chest. Roddy’s world exploded in pain, both from the electricity and his ribs from the body spasms, and everything went black.

~~~~

I’m trying to do more of a buildup to Freakazoid’s development and not him just being created fully formed by the accident. In the first episode Dance of Doom Freakazoid states that he and Dexter are two aspects of the same person so I wanted to show how he comes from Dexter.

[laylacooke]

New Moon Rising || Ariana, Alcher, & Layla

timing: Friday, 9/20 parties: @letsbenditlikebennett, @zahneundklauen, & @laylacooke summary: Ariana, Alcher, and Layla bond over dinner. warnings: death mention tw by all three characters

Nothing felt right. It’d been nearly a week since she read that news article about Winn and Ariana still felt numb. At least she had since seen Ace, but how weary she was didn’t seem to fade. No amount of woodworking projects, new recipes, or distractions seemed to do the trick. Diving into solving who killed him with Blanche helped to an extent, but they’d yet to find Winn’s ghost. Since she’d stopped by Kaden’s, she had seen Celeste a few more times. She seemed like herself and somehow, it had her reeling even more so. It couldn’t really be Celeste, but this figure sounded like her, acted like her and even smelled like her. Right now, it was the only thing pushing her forward. She idly fidgeted with the little wooden bat she’d been carving. Both vegan and regular chili were already on the stove. She’d made two macaroni and cheeses as well. The potatoes and veggies would work for both of them. The table and chairs she’d made looked nice in her dining area and she wanted to be excited she was having guests over. She had been so before, especially since Alcher and Layla would get to meet, but she couldn’t muster it anymore. Her energy seemed to be getting lower and lower though she tried to perk up and turn it on when she heard a knock at the door. 

Layla had been free from cat life for a little while, but the news she had come back to had sent her mood plummeting. The news of Winn’s death had been unexpected, and so badly she had contemplated going back to Cordy and seeing if the witch would turn her back into an animal. She hadn’t even had a chance to go apartment hunting with Winn, and now, she was lost on what to do. Thankfully, Ariana had given her an escape and offered up dinner. The trailer had been lonely without her, and while Ulf had given her the option to move into the house, it hadn’t felt right with Ari not being there. At least she had still had Indy with her. The one thing in her life that hadn’t moved on or away. With the small dog in tow, Layla found herself standing outside Ariana’s new place trying to decide if she had wanted to go in or not. Everything had felt off, since she had returned to werewolf life and laying low had just seemed to come naturally to her, “Should we go in, Indy? Or just grab some food from the grocery store and head back to the trailer?” She looked to the small dog in her arms hoping for an answer.

The first time Alcher had woken up in a place she didn’t recognize hadn’t been too much cause for alarm. The second and third times, however, were. She had always been extremely careful to make sure she did not lose track of time or herself, that she did not lose herself completely to the beast. Was this the work of the beast? Or was it coincidence that the full moon had just passed? She could not be sure, but she did know that she was going to try and get to the bottom of what was happening-- after this dinner with Ariana. It was important to gain her full trust, and the fact that she was bringing another wolf for her to meet. Layla was her name, and by the sounds of it, she, too, was a young wolf. This meeting tonight would be important. It would make or break Alcher’s ability to take these two into her fold. If she wanted to help them, she needed them to trust her and accept her first, and Alcher was nothing if not patient. 

When she arrived at the address Ariana gave her, she smelled the other wolf before she even saw her. She stood up ahead, on the sidewalk, looking up to the apartment. There was a dog beside her. Her father had always warned her of the danger of keeping a dog as a wolf-- they would end up dead, eventually, and the bond between the two would be broken. Still, these poor children were so lonely, weren’t they? Without a true pack, they sought companionship in domesticized cousins. She came up beside the red head. “I think,” she spoke softly, “we shouldn’t leave our friend waiting.” 

With the full moon having just passed, Ariana could hear the other wolves before they knocked on her door though it took them longer than she would have expected. She knew Layla walked up first when she smelled her and Indy arriving. Part of her reached for the door, but she’d give Layla a minute. It was hard to determine just what was holding her back though she did frown and gave both pots of chili another stir. A quick peek out her window told her the area was still foggy and the sky still darker than normal. Everything just seemed wrong which mirrored how she’d been feeling lately. People kept dying or getting hurt and it was hard to focus on what good could come of that when she felt like she was clawing away with nothing to hold on to. She shook the darker thoughts away, afraid of what they might bring. She hadn’t seen Celeste again since she’d left Kaden’s, but that was not a scene she could stomach happening in front of her again. When the knock finally did come, she threw on her most convincing smile and opened the door. “Come in,” she greeted warmly and gestured toward the living area, “I’ve got classic chili and mac and cheese going for me and Alcher. Got some vegan versions for you, Layla. Then some cast iron roasted vegetables for everyone because vitamins or something.” She gave them a quick little tour of the apartment and directed them to the barstools. “Did anyone want a drink? I’ve got water, White Claws, orange juice, milk, La Croix, and Sprite.” 

Layla could smell the other wolf before she had even gotten close, so the words hadn’t come as a surprise. Looking over, the redhead nodded softly. It wasn’t long before she was being escorted inside with Indy in tow. Ariana’s new place was nice. And it was something she had hoped to find with Winn’s help, but all the cat bullshit had gotten in the way, and before she could go apartment hunting, or even just see her friend one last time, he was gone. Thankfully it was an evening being spent with her best friend and apparently a new friend. One whose name had sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place at the moment, “I know it’s a pain in the ass cooking two meals, but thanks, Ari. I’m more so just grateful for the company and not constantly hearing myself meow.” She laughed softly, “I’ll go with water.” Turning her attention back to the other person, she stuck out her hand, “I’m Layla, and this is Indy.” She showed Alcher the small dog, before sitting him down on the floor to go play with Luna. 

Alcher’s smile was warm and soft when Ariana opened the door to greet them. Despite the ache in her shoulder from the silver knife, and the strangeness of waking in places she did not remember going to, the smile was genuine. She was happy to see Ariana, smiling and sweet, after everything she had told her over the past few weeks. Someone hunting wolves, full moons being taken from them, and now the passing of a wolf whom Ariana had known-- Alcher wished she could take Ariana’s pain and carry it with her, but in all her years, that was the one thing she’d never figured out how to do. So, instead, she would be here to support her. And now she was finally meeting the other young wolf, Layla. They’d talked once on the internet, and now Alcher’s suspicions were confirmed. Though her brow did furrow at the mention of vegan food. They would have to deal with that discrepancy later. She first needed to bond with the girl. “We’ve met, actually,” she said to Layla, taking the offered hand, “online. I may have told you a different name, however. I go by Ada in public.” A grin. “But for my friends and for those I can trust, it is Alcher.” She turned back to Ariana, enjoying the smell of the food wafting around them. “It all looks wonderful, Ariana,” she said, heading towards the kitchen. “Water will do for now,” she answered. “So, tell me-- how did you two meet? Have you both lived her long?”

Ariana was quick to grab water for both of her friends. Somehow, playing the perfect hostess was enough to keep her mind idly occupied. At least until she remembered everything that had happened. It was hard to swallow back the lump in her throat, but she did as she handed them both glasses of ice water. “Here you go,” she said as she slid over coasters for them to use, “And I’m definitely gonna be that person with the coasters. Countertop isn’t wood, but most of the other surfaces are and I made them myself so…” As she realized the pair had chatted online, she noted, “Funny, a conversation was what inspired Alcher and I meeting. I’ve dubbed myself White Crest’s official trail guide… although that sounds like a good way to get axe murdered so maybe not though I guess I do have a one up on most.” Unless they were a hunter which apparently, she was shit at realizing ahead of time. At least the hunters she knew in town seemed to care for her. At the question of how her and Layla met, she briefly paused her stirring, “Oh uh, that’s a funny story. I’ve lived here about six months, Layla a little less? I may or may not have sniffed her out.” She’d let Layla tell the rest. It wasn’t entirely necessary to advertise the other wolf had been dumpster diving. 

That’s why this woman had seemed so familiar. Layla had talked to her already. Social media had a funny way of connecting people, “I don’t think I ever got your name actually, but it’s nice to meet you, Alcher. I’m Layla.” She turned her attention to Ariana, taking the glass of ice water, “Thanks, Ari, and coasters I can do. Everything looks amazing, by the way. I think Ulf would be proud.” She smiled before taking a sip of water and sitting her glass down on one of the recommended coasters. What the conversation had shifted to was something that Layla hadn’t let enter her mind in quite a while. She had gotten comfortable living in White Crest, and it had come to feel like home despite all the heartache it had brought, “Uh, yeah. Sniffed me out alright.” She laughed softly. Though her situation wasn’t funny, it was amusing to think how afraid of Ariana she had been, “I didn’t really have a home at the time, and Ariana found me rummaging for food behind one of the small restaurants in town. And the rest is history!” Layla wasn’t quite sure about Alcher yet, especially after the way she had been questioned by the other wolf when they had first started talking online. There were still lingering threats on her life from people in her past, and she was slowly learning that trust wasn’t just something to give out so easily anymore.

Alcher watched the two girls interact for a moment. They were familiar with each other, and they were obviously friendly, but there was just the slightest hesitation on Layla’s side, which meant Ariana was the wolf with more experience here. It made sense; Ariana had told Alcher she was born a wolf. From what she’d gathered, Layla was bitten. Which meant she could never be as much of a wolf as Ariana or Alcher. That wasn’t her fault, though, and as long as she wanted to try and be a better wolf, then she would have Alcher’s support. Smiling, she nodded between the two. “I’m glad you two met, then, and that you have each other,” she said. “I assume you’ve since found a place to live, like Ariana?” turned her gaze towards the young wolf she’d met earlier. 

Ariana was glad Layla felt comfortable enough to share exactly how they found each other. She knew it could potentially be embarrassing but it was good her friend was embracing her previous struggle and hopefully learning, too. There was no reason for any wolf to be alone in the world and she held Layla very near and dear to her heart. She put the finishing touches on the meals before she started to serve them. “Thanks,” she replied with a soft smile, “I’m sure he will be when he gets a chance to stop by. It still feels a bit weird not having you guys right there, but it’s nice being close to school. Blanche lives right across the hall, too, and I made friends with one of my neighbors, Grace… which is actually a funny story.” The part about Layla being a cat wasn’t all that funny, but as she set the plates down on the table by the kitchen, she said, “When you were still a cat, I happened to win a cat whistle in the craft fair prize. Tried to use it to lure you, but well, turns out it was a whistle for fae cat. It’s since been destroyed, but Grace happened to run into me with well… entirely too many cats around. Putai--” She cut herself off realizing it was probably best to not mention Kaden to Alcher until she knew she wouldn’t seek him out to hurt him. “They eventually left seeing as this place isn’t currently cat central.”

Ariana gestured toward the table and joined them. “I’m glad we found each other, too,” she commented with a wider smile now. “Who else would ride shotgun in my Barbie car with me?” She did miss being able to just hang out with Layla, but she supposed they were due for a sleepover one of these days. She knew Layla wanted her own place and was in the works of finding one. She’d let her explain all that to Alcher though.

“I’m glad we met, too. Ari pretty much saved my life. What about you two? How did you meet?” She looked from Ariana to Alcher back to Ariana. Noticing it was dinner time, the young wolf found her seat and sat down. Everything had smelled good, including the non-vegan food. It had been hard to contend with cat and werewolf cravings as a cat, often snacking on mice or canned fish when she could. The Pièce de résistance was the cooked salmon Deirdre had served up, even though Anya had nearly made her cat life a living hell, “It smells amazing, by the way. Like I could seriously eat it all. I mean…Sorry, cat life still has its lingering effects…” She bit at her bottom lip embarrassed, but perked up at the mention of Ariana’s neighbors and a fae cat whistle, “A cat whistle? That’s a new thing. I swear the people who judge the town contests must be spying on us, because they always seem to put the most ridiculous, but relevant things in our lives.” Layla looked to Alcher. “Did you enter the craft fair?” 

Alcher was enjoying watching the two interact. It was more than good that they were friends and seemed at ease with each other. It made her job easier. If one trusted her, the other would soon follow. Layla would be work, but Ariana was already warming up quickly. Either way, they were both worth it, and they were certainly in need of some guidance. Not eating meat, trying to turn people out of fear, turning into cats...yes, they certainly needed a guiding hand. That was what she was here for. She settled into her seat and smiled across at the two. “It’s wonderful to hear about how close you two are,” she commented, “though turning into a cat sounds...perilous. I’m glad you’re back to normal, now, and that we get to meet.” Gave a gentle smile at Layla before helping herself to the food Ariana had provided them. “I did not, and from what I’m hearing, I should thank the stars for that. Do all contests here give out strange prizes? I’ve heard other people complaining of them, as well,” she commented, glancing between the two.

There was a soft smile on her face as she took her seat and answered Layla’s question. “We actually started talking about hiking online,” Ariana explained, “And I offered to show her the trails since well, you know I know my way around the woods here. Obviously, we were pretty quick to sniff each other out.” From that point, Alcher had seemed to want to look out for her even if they didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on the Ace situation. She had almost regretted bringing it up, but she wouldn’t be swayed from protecting someone she cared for. Too much had been lost recently, she wasn’t about to lose someone else. She shook away that thought and took a few bites of her food. She laughed a bit about the cat whistle, “Yeah, apparently not a thing for real cats, but yeah, I’m glad you’re not a cat and have decided the prizes in this town are just sketchy. Plus, I’m pretty sure they ate the chair I made. Like I could have put that on my Etsy shop, so rude.” She shook her head and added, “Alcher, everything in this town is strange. Prizes included.” 

“I’m glad I’m back to normal, too. I don’t recommend cat life at all, and if it’s something that happens, I suggest staying away from Deirdre’s house. Her cat, Anya, is a nightmare and like oddly, super smart.” She shrugged off the cat and the bad memories as she reached for some of the food Ari had made for them, “You know, as long as I’ve been here, I still don’t know my way around. Maybe we could all go for a hike one day?” She looked between the two wolves. If Ariana had trusted Alcher, then getting to know the other wolf was something she wanted to invest time into. “Maybe you could show me a thing or two, Alcher?” Layla looked to the woman with a smile as she scooped veggies onto her plate. The one thing the teenager was starting to long for was a pack out of the loneliness she was beginning to feel. It seemed like just a few months back, the wolves of White Crest were onto a great thing, but a thing that never came to fruition. However, with Alcher around there was a chance that maybe the three of them could make magic happen.

“Hmm,” Alcher sighed, “you’re right, Ariana. This place is strange.” She took a moment of silence to contemplate more words before adding on, “But that’s part of the charm, isn’t it?” Smiled toothily at the two of them before continuing her meal. As she expected from the smell, the food was wonderful, though the idea of the non-meat meal still made her insides burn. A problem for another day. “I would love nothing more than to go on a hike with the two of you,” she finally said, sitting back. “I’d like to think I know my way around the woods a little better now.” She looked over to Layla, giving a short nod. A thing or two was putting it lightly-- this wolf needed work. But that’s what she was here for, right? To get them back on track. And these two had lost so much and so much of their packs already, they would perhaps need Alcher for longer than she usually stayed. “I believe I can do that,” she answered simply, putting a gentle hand on Layla’s shoulder. “In fact, I’d love to.”

The thought of all of them hiking together brought Ariana a sense of content that she hadn’t felt in entirely too long. All her life, she’d longed to be part of a pack and while she’d found other wolves in White Crest, it had always felt like a struggle to bring them all together and now so many had left. Or worse. Winn’s death was still entirely too fresh. She shook it off and took a moment before she smiled. “A hike together sounds perfect,” she responded, “There are some really amazing trails here though I tend to avoid any that go near the lake after the whole Squidward thing.” After taking another bite of her food, she added, “I’m sure you do. I was pretty quick to learn them, too. I’ve always enjoyed hiking.” No matter where she and Celeste had gone while on the run, they always found some trails to enjoy. As much was a matter of necessity come a certain time of the month, but all the memories she had with Celeste and how delighted wildflowers made her was something she’d always cherish. The wistful feeling wasn’t entirely unfamiliar though she’d rather try to keep creating new memories to cherish. “I’m sure there’s a lot we could both learn from you,” she turned to Layla and explained, “Alcher travels a lot to help other wolves, so I’m sure she has lots of tricks up her sleeve.” She smiled brightly for what felt like the first time in too long. This was nice. They were building their own little wolf family though she couldn’t help but wish Ulfric and Winn were here, too.

Scooping some of the vegan dinner options onto her plate as well, Layla was set. All the food had smelled and looked amazing. Her stomach rumbled at the sight of it, and as she listened to Ariana and Alcher speak of hiking and learning how to wolf, she dug in. Eating with a fork and at a table, rather than just shoving her face in a bowl of food was something she had definitely missed, “A hike it is then. You guys just let me know when and where.” Speaking of the woods, maybe before she met up with them, she could slip off to visit Celeste. It had been far too long since she had gone to pay her respects, and she had a lot to talk about with the woman. Though there had been so much on the forefront of her mind, not a day went by that she didn’t think of her in some way. Whether it be big or small, the hunter with a soft spot for werewolves, had been one of the biggest reasons Layla had survived, but out of fear of upsetting Ariana, she rarely brought her up. Instead, she focused back on the conversation going on in front of her, “Really? Where all have you been, Alcher? I mean if you don’t mind me asking.” She took another bite of food.  

Normalcy was relative, but as Alcher glanced around, she found that the only word she had for this moment was normal. How long had it been since she’d sat at a real table and shared a meal with other wolves? Even back in Canada, moments like these were rare. She’d taught that rather feral pack how to behave properly, but they were more wolf than human-- much like herself-- and they did not sit down at tables to eat meals. She looked fondly at the two wolves now sitting beside her. “Oh, many places,” she said, “though Maine was my first stop in the U.S. I lived in Poland most my life, it’s where I--” she paused, distinctly, allowing herself to remember these two were wolves. They were owed the truth, but trust was something Alcher held close to her heart. “It’s where I was raised after my family died.” She let the words come stiffly before moving on. “I was born in Germany. I’ve been to, let’s see now-- France, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece...Spain, Portugal, England and Ireland. And Scotland, in all technicalities.” She looked at the two. “Have either of you ever been out of the country?”

It was funny how realistically; this whole setup was all Ariana had longed for as she was growing up. As much as she loved Celeste, she longed for that sense of belonging with wolves, too, and it was her sister who had paid for that desire with her life. It felt wrong to enjoy this knowing what she sacrificed by refusing to leave this town. The deeper she found herself in the supernatural world, the more Ariana realized she had no clue what the hell she was doing, but she wanted this. Maybe it had been the question of the places she’d been that brought up the feeling of nostalgia. All those places she had gone had been with Celeste and she missed so many of those memories. “I’ve never been overseas, but I lived in Mexico and Canada both for a while,” she answered with a bit of wistfulness in her tone. She’d loved Canada and running through snow under the bright light of the full moon. “I did always want to go to Romania with my sister. Maybe I’ll still do that one of these days.” She realized she didn’t know if Layla had ever been out of the country and now, she was curious for the answer, so she watched her friend intently as she moved some food around on her plate with her fork.

Layla listened to the older of the two wolves explain her past. At the news of Alcher’s family, the redhead’s eyes fell, “I’m so sorry to hear about your family.” While she still had both of her parents, she had experienced death before of someone she was extremely close with; her grandmother. The one person that seemed to always be there for her growing up. Sitting silently, she took another bite of food, as she listened to Ariana talk about her travels to Canada and Mexico learning information she didn’t know, “Sounds like you both have been to some pretty cool places.” Traveling out of the country was something Layla had experienced, but it had been when she was small and could barely remember it. In her mind, it didn’t really count, “When I was like super little, I vaguely remember traveling out of the country, but I don’t really remember where we went or how long we were there.” Her parents, as hunters, had done a lot of suspicious stuff, and much of it, she struggled to remember, which had probably been for the best; especially since she didn’t quite trust Alcher to know about her hunter background yet. Instead, she would cherish this get together for what it was; new and old friends having a nice meal together.

As Alcher looked across the table at the two young wolves, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hopefulness. They were young, malleable-- but they were also smart, and loyal. And they had already found each other. She could make this a good home for them, of that she was confident, and perhaps, along the way, she could make them good for this home. Teach them what she knew, how she lived. How to protect others, how to destroy those who might threaten them or their pack. So, it was with a small smile that Alcher lifted her glass to the two, a very human sentiment, and said a small cheers. “Here’s to hoping things only get better from here on out,” she said, “and at the very least, we can have each other.”

[diamondcamefromhell]

Timeless love

Jaskier x female!reader part 4

[PART 1]  [PART 2]   [PART 3]

Summary: This is an AU, where Y/N is a young woman, trying to make ends meet with her freelancing writing job. She lives in her small Nottingham studio apartment along with her cat Apollo. Things change when one evening as she is waiting for her taxi, she meets what she thinks is Joey Batey, but the man in front of her is convinced he’s Jaskier, a character from her current favorite show. Y/N now has to figure out what to do.

Warnings: Swearing

Word count: 2,124

A/N: first of all, thank u for positive reviews and kind comments on this story so far, again, it is kind of a slow burner, everything is moving slowly but this is what the story really is, as its taking place in our world, where no dragons or strigas exist and the biggest monsters are, well.. humans? ya kno

but anyways, any and all feedback is appreciated <3

I have to cut our loses. We spend a good hour outside, wondering around my apartment building. But we find nothing, not even a smallest hint of what happened to make Jaskier end up here. The bard stays quiet for most of the search, as I can tell he is still very much worried about me.

He only speaks when he sees a car pass by, as it startles him so much he immediately jumps behind me. I explain to him what it is, or try to, and he relaxes a little. Still flinching whenever a car goes by, though.

We rush inside, before Dave decides to visit again, as I lock the door. Apollo comes to greet us, meowing, but I ignore my friend, as anxiety washes over me and I can barely contain it. I know my companion feels it, as he glues himself to me, following my every step as I rush to the kitchen.

I see Jaskier sit at the couch again, not saying anything. I want to break the silence, but know my voice would shake, and I didn’t want to worry him even more. I throw some toast in the toaster, I will offer him a meal as an apology. I put butter and cinnamon on toast, bringing it to him. I set the plate on the coffee table, sitting down.

“I’m sorry.” I apologize, as the man looks at me. I can’t put my finger on it, but his expression makes me feel weird.

“Don’t be, I over-stepped.” I shake my head, pressing my lips together. I am willing to swallow a bit of my pride for this man.

“No Jaskier. I just… I made a promise. To the stars.” I close my eyes, scared of him judging me. This way, at least I don’t have to see it. “That I would make it on my own. Whatever that it may be. I don’t like it when people help me or try to be nice to me. Makes me feel… weak.”

“But everyone needs help from time to time.” There is no judgement in his voice, so I open my eyes. He gives me a kind smile, as Apollo jumps in my lap, purring. “You are helping me, does it mean I am weak?”

“No.” I say, biting the inside of my mouth, trying to stop the water works from leaking.

“Then why are you weak, if I help you a little?” I can’t answer that, so I just look down, at my cat, who is now napping, soundly. He has a point. “You’re being unfair on yourself. Allow me to say this, Y/N, even my great friend Geralt needs help sometimes. And he’s the bloody Witcher. It does not make him any weaker, if anything, it shows strength.”

“I know.” My voice shakes a little, as I wipe my nose. My eyes may be dry, but nose was runny. “It’s just, I prefer to be alone.”

“I used to say that.” His mind drifts far away. I cant help but admire how beautiful he manages to look. “But I hated nothing more than being alone.”

“I have Apollo.” I argue. He sighs, looking at me.

“Y/N.” He speaks to me like I am a child. We lock eyes, and I see so much care in his gaze, I want to run away. But I stay. “You need people.”

“Either way.” I say, ignoring him. I am barely holding back the tears. “Eat your meal. I have something to show you.”

I spring to my feet. Showing him moving pictures may be a good enough distraction for now. Introducing him to some of the great Internet, so we can avoid the sensitive topics. I look down to see my hands still shaking, so I rush to the bathroom.

There I see Jaskier clothes in a pile on the floor. I sigh, folding them, as tears escape my eyes. I turn on the faucet, making sure the bard can’t hear my heavy breaths and sniffling. It takes me a couple of minutes of crying to clam down. I wash my face, avoiding looking in the mirror. I stop the faucet and flush the toilet, purely because I am scared to go out just yet.

When I do, however, he doesn’t look at me, and I feel relieved. I rush to the bed, grabbing my laptop, soon landing next to him. Our legs touch and I feel the build up static shock me, so I jump back. He giggles, but I ignore that, opening up the computer, entering my password in a quick move.

One glance at him, and I see how mesmerized he is, my heart feels like it will burst. I take a couple deep breaths, wondering what I could show him.

YouTube and Netflix both were dangerous, as they could have his show on the main page, I still bite the bullet, turning the screen from his eyes, going to youtube. As expected, my feed is filled with recommended videos from Joey Batey. I stare at Jaskier for a moment, wondering if somehow he could be Joey, just very confused and lost one. But then I remember the Instagram story, and know I’m grasping at straws.

I search for cat videos, not sure what else to show him. What would interest a man who thinks he is from a fantasy world?

“Look.” I say, pressing play. It seems like his eyes are about to fall out as he stares at the screen, I giggle landing my hand on his. “Relax.”

“What is this magic?” I pause the video, pulling my hand away. Our eyes meet.

“This, Jask, is video. Moving pictures, if you will.” He still seems confused. “We have these things called cameras, that can take not-moving images of a moment, so you can cherish it, or can take moving things, like this cat video. There is even more, people create characters and stories and film them.”

“Do you have a camera?” I nod, putting laptop on the table, as I rush to get my Canon. I come back, turning it on. I decide to use the view finder. I sit next to him. “Here.”

“How do I use it?” He asks, twisting it around, before he begins staring at the screen.

I explain. Then he takes some pictures, of my room, me, my laptop and Apollo. I take some of him, and we even try to take some together, as we both laugh, trying to fit in that small space.

Then I show him some films. I start with my personal favourite and a classic – Titanic. Stopping whenever he get’s to confused, explaining things. We move to more and more films, only taking a break when we both get hungry.

I take the chance and sacrifice my wallet and order us some pizza, which he seems to like. He tries his first fizzy drink, Sprite, and at first he hates it, but I see him sip it more and more as the day progresses.

It keeps up for a couple of weeks. We spend days watching movies as he slowly learns more about the way my world works. We spend some of my savings as I order different take out, but eventually he helps me cook some dinner for us. He slowly, but surely adapts.

Until it all crashes down.

I go to use the bathroom, leaving Jaskier at the laptop. When I come out, however, he is on his feet, anxiously walking around. I stop, my heart dropping to my feet. I see Joey’s face on the screen. No, not his.

I see Jaskier. A video of him, in the tavern, signing.  

He probably went to YouTube And found a video of himself. And a whole lot of questions.

My gaze goes from the screen, to the man, who has stopped pacing, and now is staring at me. His eyes burn, as I see betrayal written all over it. I don’t know what he even thinks is going on and I don’t know how I can explain it to him.

“Jaskier, please.” I point to the couch, but he just shakes his head. I put my hands behind my back, so he wouldn’t see them shake.

“What does that mean?” He asks, as his voice breaks. I feel my heart shatter.

“Please, sit down.” I try to plea, my voice slightly shaky.

“Just tell me what it means!” I flinch at his yell, fighting back the tears. No matter how much it hurts me, I know that he was hurting so much more.

“I don’t know.” I say, and that is the honest truth. His shoulders hang low. “Jaskier, I don’t know.”

“I’m a character.” His voice fills with disgust, as a sudden rush of bravery washes over me. I step to him, grabbing his shoulders.

“You’re so much more than that. You’re here.” I plead again, forcing him to look at me. “You’re you.”

“I’m not even real.” He hisses, escaping my grip. I wrap my hands around myself, as I continue staring at him, as he walks around. Looking for something, anything probably. Wanting things to make sense.

“Then am I crazy and just imagining you? Dave saw you too, Jaskier.” I raise my voice, which makes him stop pacing. Our eyes meet. “You are as real as me. This world just isn’t yours. How that happened, I don’t know, and we will get you home.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” There is so much hurt in his voice that I want to hide under my bed. Run away. Escape. But I choose to stay, for him.

“There is no easy way to say something like this. I don’t even know what this is!” My voice cracks, and that makes Jaskier’s expression soften a little. The storm is passing. “Yes, I recognized you as Joey because he plays you. But you are more than Jaskier we can see on tv. You’re more.”

“Y/N.” Tears escape and that completely washes any and all anger the bard might have had. He comes to me, pulling me towards himself, until we are in an embrace.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” I sheepishly say, as he rubs my back. “Hiding it wasn’t right. But explaining this… it’s just unexplainable.”

“I can’t expect you to have all the answers.” I shake my head, as he hugs me tighter. I hear him sigh. “I’m sorry. I scared you. You were trying to protect me.”

“You had a right to be mad.” I say, as tears finally seem to stop. I wipe my eyes and nose to my sleeve, but Jaskier doesn’t let me go just yet.

“You’ve been nothing, but kind to me. You gave me a home.” He lands a kiss on my forehead, as my heart melts. “I should be thanking you.”

He now lets me go. I wrap my hands around me, as I watch him go to the laptop, give it one final look, as he closes it. My heart breaks and I know he probably will look at it more. When I leave him alone, or at night. He will hurt himself more but he will never show me.

Because he knows it would hurt me too.

“When you said who you were, Jask, I didn’t believe it. I’ve seen the show. That’s how I knew about Geralt and Yen.” I confess, as he looks at me. His face expressionless. “That’s also why it was so easy to take you home. It felt like I knew you. Because if you were who you said you are… I’ve seen you. You were already part of my world.”

“You liked me?” He asks, crossing his arms. I can’t help but smile.

“I did. You were truly my favourite.” That makes him smirk, but his eyes remain sad. “Getting to know you, only furthers that.”

“I want to watch the show.” He says, and I knew he would. I bite inside of my mouth, as I think about it.

“I can’t stop you from watching your own story, Jask.” I say, hugging myself tighter. “I cant try and protect you anymore.”

“Watch it with me.” Our eyes lock as my heart skips a beat. He seems so sad and scared.

“Of course.” I say, swallowing back more tears.

So we watch it. We watch his story unfold. I avoid looking at him during these eight hours, scared of what he may look like. After the finale, I pause the show before another one starts. There is silence between us as I finally look at him.

He has tears in his eyes, and for a second time today, I feel my heart shatter.

[PART FIVE]

~~~~~~~~~~

TAG LIST [if you want to be added or removed from this list, let me know <3]

@ultracolorfulnerdcollection ; @viyamystic ; @sleepyblossom ; @killjoy-acid-crash ; @halszka-potter <33

[kewltie]

Two months into dating Mina, Eijirou finally got his first invite to her apartment, but it’s nothing to celebrate or write home about when he’s just coming over to pick up her new kittens and catsit for a next few days while she’s away on girl’s holidays with her friends.

It’s a big responsibility and a chance to curry favor with Mina if he manages to pull this one off with no hitch in his plan. Mostly, as long as he doesn’t fuck up too much.

Mina had fallen hard for this pair of kittens since the moment she’d picked them up from an animal shelter several weeks back. Naturally, she didn’t plan to take in two kittens right off the bat, but reportedly the shelter workers there had warned her that if she wanted one of them, she has to take the other too. A two for one package deal, because they are inseparable; furiously protective and territorial of each other.

Dangerously codependents, one worker had even insisted, because they were found abandoned by the roadside together, soaking wet and terribly emancipated but curled up around each other for warmth and comfort. Taken to the shelter in hope of finding their forever home, they were inconsolable when apart and more than one hand were scratched when someone tried remove one of them from the other.  

They trauma bonded together it had seemed, after surviving alone with nothing but each other for so long.

Mina heard the sob story and ate that shit right up.

Now, she’s the owner of two rambunctious and overzealously gay kittens apparently, flooding her social media feed with pictures of her newly acquired feline babies at every chance. It’s clear that in the hierarchy of her heart, Eijirou was demoted to make spot for these kittens but he’s not taking it lying down.

Determined to raise some good solid boyfriend points with Mina and earn back his rightful place as her number one, Eijirou intends to show her how good he is with her babies. He arrives at the footstep of her apartment with all the internet knowledge of caring for kittens, brimming with excitement and hope. This is going to go great.  

Famous’ last word, because the moment Mina opens the door to let him in and he’s not even over doorway of her entrance, he’s hit with a high pitch wail and something small and furry scrambling between his legs. Eijirou’s feet dance around the furry cannon ball.

“Hurry up and close the door!” Mina yells at him as she bends over and picks up a howling golden-brown spotted eight months old kitten—who is not only very large for a kitten but lean and tall with large pointed ears.  Like a miniature leopard.

All the pictures Mina had posted of him didn’t do him any justice. He’s absolutely gorgeous, exotic even, with a third of his genes pool donated from a cat in the wild; a second generation Savannah cat who will only get bigger from here and Mina is holding him like he’s just a baby. “Kacchan!” Mina scowls as he jumps off her arms and makes a dash for the living room. 

Eijirou quickly closes the door behind him and follows Mina’s heavy steps. “Sorry, he doesn’t like strangers,” she says, and then pauses as thought to think about it. “Well, actually more like he doesn’t like people in general except maybe me, but then again I think he only tolerates me at best.” She frowns but doesn’t look to hurt about it. “The only thing he seems to care about is Deku and turning my apartment into his own territory.” 

“That’s, uh, overly ambitious of him,” Eijirou replies as they make their way into her living room. There’s a large pink luggage spinner lining one side of the wall and a pet carrier beside it.  

“Isn’t it?” Mina muses, sounding delighted by the prospect.  She always did have a strange fondness for the weird ones. It’s what makes her so amazing. Nothing fazes her.

“So where’s the better half of your furry tyrant?” Eijrou asks, scratching his cheek as his eyes scan across the colorful decor of the room. 

“Oh, Deku?” Mina gestures toward her leopard printed couch where two fur balls are huddling together on the seat. “Where he always is. With Kacchan.” Kacchan’s large body is pressed against a smaller grey mass, squishing his friend against the cushion with all his weight.

The smaller kitten doesn’t seem to care though, enduring it with great dignity as it pokes it head out of Kacchan’s fury cage. He looks curiously up at Eijirou with his bright green eyes. Eijirou notes how Deku’s solid grey fur contrasts greatly with Kacchan’s more flamboyant coloring and patterns.

A solid color grey kitten with large green eyes. Compare to Kacchan, Deku doesn’t seem so special in appearance. He looks like just any other kittens Eijirou had seen before. Precocious and commonly cute in the way all baby animals are, but nothing too impressive. Almost boring and too normal. There’s nothing particularly unique that make him stand out.

But the moment those woeful green eyes land on him, Deku lets out soft meow, tail quivering behind him as he cocks his head thoughtfully at Eijirou and Eijirou’s heart is ensnared in an instant. “Oh my god,” he breathes, bracing a hand over his heart.  

“Isn’t Deku the most precious thing?” Mina’s lips twitch in amusement. “Back at the shelter he actually got plenty of people interest in adopting him but when anyone tried to pull him off Kacchan, he won’t stop crying so they just don’t even bother anymore.” “

“And Kacchan?” Eijirou’s arches a brow as he slowly inches closer to the couch. Just a little touch. A tiny little bit of a touch.  He just wants to stroke the head of Deku. “What did he do to make him so unadoptable alongside his partner?”

“Oh,” Mina says, laughter alight in her voice. “Don’t you know that Kacchan is a lover and a fighter? He sticks close to Deku and protects him from you, me, and anything that breathe basically.”

Eijirou freezes in place at her word and Kacchan’s red eyes narrowed in contempt, his tail flicking irately back and forth behind him as he arches body in an attack mode. “Um, does he still--“ he gestures wildly with his right hand a scratching motion, “do the thing--?”

Mina giggles. “Yea, so you better back up and give them some room. They’re not used to you yet so Kacchan is cautious.” Hastly taking several steps back, Eijirou’s eyes squint as Kacchan hisses, arching his back as though he’s rearing up for an attack.

That go way beyond cautious, he thinks hysterically, but just as Kacchan about to launch himself at him Deku, who was quietly watching their silence battle with curious amusement, uncurls himself from the couch and plops himself right next to his partner.

He smacks his paw right at Kacchan’s face, catching the other kitten offguard, and Kacchan rears back immediately. He howls in pain and turns to Deku with a look of utter betrayal. With his ears flattened down and tail a stiff poll behind him, Kacchan growls menacingly at Deku.

The sound is layered with so much anger and force that Eijirou worries over the smaller kitten but Deku only curls his tail around Kacchan’s own, bumping his head against Kacchan’s chest and purrs happily in respond to the aggression.

And with just that, Kacchan’s aggressive demeanor deflates completely and he, too, lets out a low purr to match Deku as they cuddle up once more, ignoring Eijirou and anyone else in the room completely like they’re the only one in the world.

Eijirou’s eyes widen as he turns to Mina with his jaw dropped. “Wait--what the hell was that?!”

Mina walks up to him and bumps his shoulder with a grin. “Yea, that’s precisely why they were warned to be inseparable,” she says. “Have fun with them this weekend.”

[plutoisaplanet16]

21 Reasons to Love Someone

(Damien Haas x reader)

#1. Their Smile 

Word count: 1,644

Warnings: none (SFW)

Buy me a coffee

Two words: Defy Media.

     At first excitement coursed Damien’s being as he thought about the prospect of having a job where he could sit around and play games all day. However, it did not take him long to feel the same way everybody else in the office did. You knew the pressure took a toll on him when the first thing he did after work was sleep. Damien’s personality shined through on camera, but being the entertaining ball of sunshine for so many videos each day overwhelmed him. When he came home he would say a mindless “hello y/n” and perhaps jokingly say “hello my baby geese” to Freyja and Zelda, but after that he would close the door to the bedroom and plop down on the bed. Sometimes he wouldn’t even bother to take his shoes off. Usually you would just leave him alone for a couple hours until you finished making dinner or the postmate had arrived.

“How was work?” you would ask as you handed him his meal.

He would always tell you, “It was good, but I won’t go into detail. Too much happened today; I’ll probably miss something if I try to tell you.”

     Damien would always laugh it off and pretend like it was nothing, but you knew better than to buy into his nightly act. After nearly a year and half of dating, you knew what Damien did when something bothered him. Comedy was his coping mechanism, but after the bright laughter ceased, his face fell into a blank expression: the sparkle in his eyes dulled, his normally rosy complexion seemingly drained in an instant, and lastly, silence filled the room. It was quite frankly the most bizarre phenomenon to behold. All you wanted to do was grab his soft face and kiss his forehead to try and convince him that everything would work out, but this wasn’t a fanfiction or a cheesy romantic comedy. People are more complicated than that.

     So that’s how you ended up awake at 3:17 a.m. scouring the internet for Harry Potter house robe cat costumes. Your dry eyes and blurry vision did not deter you from finding that one Esty shop that would grant you wish. Was each costume going to be $45 plus shipping? Yes. But did that stop you? No. This was a mission of love, and for Damien, you would go any distance to see that adorable goober genuinely smile.You were just about to place the order when Damien’s arm pulled you closer into his chest as he looked over your shoulder. Without thinking, you stupidly threw your phone across the room. Luckily it landed in a soft, plushy chair in the corner of the room. 

“Y/n, what was that about?” Damien shook his head. 

You struggled to find an answer, “Um...uh...”

“Do I even want to know?” he chuckled, “As long as it’s not Tinder I don’t care enough to lose any more sleep.”

“I would never cheat on you!” you exclaimed.

He sleepily mumbled, “I know. I’m too sexy.”

     You laughed to yourself as you left the bed to go retrieve your hopefully-not-cracked-phone. You quickly placed the order and crawled back into bed. It was rare that Damien ever complimented himself like that. It reminded you of the Damien you knew before Defy... the Damien who ruffled his hair and smoldered at the camera for a selfie. It was so nice to hear Damien still have his moments of confidence. It gave you hope that your plan would actually work.

5:15 pm. It was almost time.

     You had just finished making dinner, and you rushed to set the table neatly. To be honest, what you made shouldn’t even really be considered dinner because it was more or less a buffet of different movie food such as: M&Ms, twizzlers, chips and homemade dip, tiny sandwiches, and of course popcorn. You arranged them into a deliciously looking spread in the finest plastic bowls the dollar store had to offer. (Neither one of you would really want to do dishes anyway.) Once it looked perfect you turned towards the living room to hunt down Freyja and Zelda. You had the costumes neatly folded on the top of the  grey, cloth couch. Luckily Freyja was napping on the cushion below them; you petted her gently and unfolded her Ravenclaw house robes. She yawned and stretched right as you were about to wake her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she sniffed the robe. Freyja backed away and her big, glossy eyes moved back and forth between you and the costume.

“It’s for Daddy, okay? Work with me here, please Freyja.”

     She meowed back like she understood, and from then on she was compliant. Next, you had to hunt down Zelda. It honestly amazed you how well that chonky cat could hide. You called out her name for what felt like forever until you yelled that Damien would be home soon. A small meow came from underneath the couch.

“Just what am I to you guys?”

Zelda came out and before she even knew what was happening, you squeezed her into her Hufflepuff robes, “Finally.” 

      Everything was almost perfect; the last thing you had to do was put on your own house robes and get all eight Harry Potter movies out of storage. Sure you would never be able to finish them all in one night, but both of you would give it a valiant attempt. Digging the movies out of the bin would prove to be a challenge because both of you were giant nerds that for some reason decided to just throw all your nerdiness into several boxes and NOT label them. In the fourth of six boxes is where you found the first three movies, and the rest were at the bottom of the fifth box. You decided that after all this was over you and Damien were sure to be doing some serious decluttering for the next week or so. Meanwhile, you had to go light some spooky looking candles, somehow avoid going ahead and digging into the scrumptious food, and put the first DVD in the console. 

     As the first movie finally loaded, Damien unlocked the door and walked in, “It smells like a theatre in here. What happ-”

     He stopped dead in his tracks when saw you with the Sorting Hat on your head and your Harry Potter robes. His face was full of wonder and confusion as he took a couple seconds to slowly look around and examine his surroundings. He giggled at the spooky yet romantic lighting as well as Hedwig’s Theme rattling the walls of the apartment. You hoped you two wouldn’t get noise complaints...again. Damien walked closer towards you, but soon Freyja and Zelda ambushed him by rubbing themselves up against his legs.

He looked down in disbelief, “Freyja...Zelda? Y/n?”

“I’m glad you know all our names,” you teased.

“What is all this? Their costumes? The candles? The food? Harry Potter?” he sat down on the floor next to you.

“Listen Damien, I know something has been up with you these past couple of weeks. I know you love Smosh and your job, and it doesn’t make sense to me why you would be hiding how you really feel from me,” you said.

“Y/n,” he sighed, “It’s complicated, okay? Half the time I don’t even know what’s going through my head when it comes to talking about my day. You are right. I love my job, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. However, I’m having a tough time right now. There are a lot of videos we film in one day, and for someone like me it can easily become too much. The biggest issue is our parent company itself never listening to us; it is so frustrating. I don’t like spreading that kind of negativity so I shove it away, but it seems it has still affected you. It’s hard for me to talk about, and honestly, I just want to figure it out on my own. I don't want to bring you down with me.”

You were kind of hurt that he didn’t feel comfortable telling you everything but you had to respect him, “It’s okay Damien. I won’t push you, but please let me in on some things. I hate sitting here watching you be miserable not being able do a single thing about it. I want to help you, and that’s why I did all this. Sometimes you walk in here, and it’s like I don’t even know who I am looking at. I believe you will find your footing at Smosh, and everyone will soon adore you. I know it didn’t take me long to fall in love with you.”

Damien blushed, “Oh really?”

     He smiled. He actually smiled. It was a complete 100% authentic goofy Damien smile that spread from ear to ear. He felt happiness deep down inside because of you, and that is all you could ever ask for. Being the ooey-gooey romantic person you are, you threw yourself onto him and gave him a big kiss on the forehead. No, that kiss wouldn’t really fix much, but it made both of your hearts melt. When you pulled away you looked at his face again; he was still smiling, but it wasn’t the same as it was a moment ago. Instead of bright and bubbly, it was a small adoring grin. His eyes bore into yours, and it was like everything else around you two disappeared. 

“Y/n?” he asked.

You answered, “Yes?”

He pulled you into his chest and tightly wrapped his arms around you. His soft heartbeat became like white nose to you, “How come you fell in love with me so fast?”

You pulled away from him and kissed his lips, “How could I not with that smile of yours?”

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

Hello! This is my first Smosh fanfiction I have ever wrote. I’m not new to the fanfiction writing world. I’ve had two wattpad accounts and even wrote on a BTS fan app for a while. I dropped this hobby of mine to focus on my senior year of high school. Recently though I have come back to writing due to being stuck in the house and my school year being pretty much over. I decided to start this prompt series because I was bored and itching to write something again. I hope you all have enjoyed this short imagine. It is part one of a twenty-one part prompt list that I have made up myself.

This specific list will, for now, only include past and present Smosh members, but if you would like to see any of these prompts for other fictional characters or  real people please let me know in my inbox! I have no requests, and I would certainly love some. Thank you all for reading this! 

[spacegaywritings]

Warming Paws and Melting Walls (3/8) “Making Adjustments”

General

Summary: Emile lets Remy take Virgil to work. Negotiations ensue.

Tags: Emile, Remy, cat virgil, mentions of kidnapping but no actual kidnapping, nervousness, cat treats, boxes, cute shit, snuggles, crushing on your boss, arguing with cats, remy is being salty all the time, swearing, bitch bitch remy, phone calls, mentions of work, ew social, Remy hates people but he is valid, loneliness, pining, subtle lovey lovey.

Virgil and Emile are referred to by they/them pronouns.

i do not think there is any to be applied. If you need me to add anything, please contact me here or on my tumblr (spacegayparty, spacegaywritings)

ao3: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 // all.

tumblr:  1 / 2 / 3 (you are here) / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8.

  My KoFi  - Support me ♥ or Commission me

Story under the cut // Word count: 4,4k

   “No.. I can’t. You don’t get it, I cannot come for the life of me!”

 Remy gripped the phone in his hand tighter. His knuckles turned white. Not once in his life had he even dreamed of a scenario of this sort. No nightmare could ever reach into the depth of his personal fears like this. He was enraged, somewhat nervous. One of his hands was on the couch scratch the smooth, cool surface.

Reality was much crueller than imagination could ever be. Real life wrote stories that nobody could come up with - history was the perfect piece of evidence. People fighting alligators and smuggling foxes or colour-coding genitals. Human society was so fucked up, people did not even realise it. The most unbelievable shit happened all the time.

 Right now, it was happening to him. Despite this, he tried, he really tried to get this right.

 “Remy, you can’t just tell me you are not coming and then not give me a reason. Is anything wrong? Do you need help?”

 Emile’s voice dropped from a somewhat sharp and scolding sound into the usually concerned sound. That pal was just made to care about others, weren’t they?

Even now they were more supposed to get upset and threaten him, when they were just worried about him. Remy wanted to roll his eyes at the display of pure wholesomeness but he did not have it in him to tease them about this.

 “Okay, listen here. I know that is a shit thing to do. You guys are not prepared to be without me but I got some kinda emergency here, honey. I can’t handle work right now, not with them around. Or not around - Sorry, boss.”

 The man carefully brushed over the kitten in his lap, the shivering little thing meowing pitifully. They were wailing out the feelings Remy gritted into his teeth.

 “Alright, alright- wait. Wait a minute right there. What do you mean? Is anyone holding you against your will? Remy, I am concerned about you.”

 Remy blinked for a moment at how much the whole conversation as much as Emile’s reactions to his words were a fucked over roller coaster that went back and forth and off-track periodically but irregularly so. It was unpredictable and honestly so draining. But understandably, the pal had some worries for their employees, especially Remy since he got into big piles of sick days due to his chronic migraines and physical issues. Still, it was a little absurd to expect him to be kidnapped. He was way to sassy to stay put.

 “Uh, I mean, I would like to go to work but staying at home always sounds nicer than, like, being productive. Sounds like a big nappy time to me, if you are asking me, honey.”

 Right after saying that, Remy realised that he was still sort of talking to his boss and probably should choose his words with at least a BIT more care, as of this moment. Emile was nice but they were not some dumb idiot who would let Remy do whatever with them.

 “Uh, okay. Let me explain, honey. I picked up this cat and I don’t know, like, whose it is and I put up those papers and put ads on PhotoAlbum in several groups (it was a lot of work, sweetie. Would not recommend. Totally busted my weekend! So rude.). I also posted to some page that deals with missing animals of this area and all that kinda shit. I still got, like, a sweet nothing and the cat is really sad and they won’t let me go out. I am - I don’t want to leave the cat alone. You know, Virgil might all up and fuck over my flat and I have nobody to babysit them - catsit them? Whatever.”

 Silence engulfed their phone call for a moment.

Remy was met with nothing but more little mewls which he quickly stilled by brushing further over their soft fur. Were cats supposed to have more dense fur than this? It felt a little thin, especially for winter coming up. Was that a black cat thing? The vet had not mentioned anything about that. Just to give the cat a stable and proper diet at, like, a scheduled time because stability. Which made sense and all but... Ugh, maybe he had to go there again or ask the internet or just get a book.

 Emile cleared his throat after a while.

The doctor really did know how to get some attention. For some unknown reason, it felt like one of the hottest things to Remy how the man could just draw the attention back to him with the most subtle gestures on this fucking planet. They were still considered to be nice and soft and all that kinda fun stuff when they were actually not just sweet and adorable. Emile could be serious and it was almost frightening to know them in control. 

 "Remy, if neither you nor your cat - " 

 "Virgil. Their name is Virgil." 

 "Alright. If you are healthy and so is Virgil, I don't think I can excuse you at work. As much as I would like to, you are our one and only receptionist." 

 Remy's heart fell and he let out an audible sigh. It felt like pushing bricks through his windpipe when he could have breathed regular oxygen. 

Whether his employer was hot or not, he couldn't just treat them like a friend or talk to them like some guy he wanted to hook up with. Okay, he kinda did but he tried to not listen to those thoughts. For once in a lifetime, Remy actually felt somewhat bad talking to Emile. He wanted to tell them off and never like his boss again. His chest was a fierce burning and he wanted them to regret being inconsiderate of the little kitten. 

 Didn’t they know Virgil was an abandoned stray? They were confused and all alone in the middle of winter in a big, heartless city!

 "I appreciate your honesty, still. But Remy, listen. If your cat is new and you are scared of leaving him -" 

 "They. Virgil gets they /hem pronouns because they are a special person and deserved not to be misgendered." 

 "Alright. If you don't want them to be home alone, how about we make work a little more home for hi- them." 

 Remy pressed his lips into a thin line. For a moment, he hummed in deliberation. 

 "What do you mean?" 

 Virgil meowed on his chest and patted the phone in interested. Remy was sure they wanted to play. Emile received a little thud on their end.

 "We keep your door closed and a little darker and hang up signs for people to try and be quiet so they can sleep. Cats sleep almost all day. Much more than we need." 

 The receptionist nodded but realised that Emile could probably not see that. 

 "Sounds okay." 

 Emile let out a hum. 

 "You would really do that? I'll get ready and come over with them." 

 His boss let out a laugh. Remy's queer heart was blooming in delight. Maybe they were not bad. They just had obligations too and these needed to be fulfilled. Other than Remy, Emile was running a business and needed his employees. Remy only had a void on his lap and softness in his heart.

 Of course! Why didn't Remy think about that. Any kind of doctor needed to take an oath, swearing to protect all life. Emile had to prioritise their clients. 

 The cat meowed and Emile giggled again. 

 "Hello Virgil! See you later, I hope" 

 Remy's heart was beating so fast, he nearly swooned loud enough for Emile to hear him. His eyes closed and the sugar-sweet smile on his face refused to leave. Instead, it revelled on his lips for another few moments. 

 "I'll pack up and see you in a few." 

 Emile smiled, unbeknownst to Remy.

 “Can’t wait to see you at work, Remy.”

 *

 Upon arrival, Virgil ducked away and cuddled up to Remy's chest. They were snuggled up under his jacket which they shared with Remy. Such a humble gesture. Whenever the cat heard a sound, they cuddled closer and flinched away from any source of sound other than Remy. 

His footsteps? All okay. 

Someone coughing? Fucking illegal. 

 Remy was more than happy to know he brought about as much food and little things for Virgil to ease up and calm down. It should ease them up. But he couldn't change the smell and make it more comfortable for the cat to relax faster instead of hiding away a lot. 

It was still a wonder to him that Virgil was so trustworthy with him but then again, they all assumed they had been socialised before. But he didn't find a single person claiming to own the little void. Not yet, at least.

 The man walked over to his little "office" only to be stopped from stepping inside. 

A sign, as promised. But that one wasn't for the others to be quiet. It was for him to move into the bigger office. 

 “Reception moved to the main office.”

 .. The main office was much bigger and Remy didn't know how Emile made it a usable working space for him and at the same time an adequate living space for Virgil but he would give it a try. If not, he would need to get some student to catsit his baby for a few hours every day. It wasn't like he desperately needed these bucks, anyway. It was okay. And he was willing and happy to spend it on his Virgil when they needed it more. He himself was glad, already. He had books and nice things but Virgil had nobody and had yet to be picked up by their original home.

 A happy void was a good void and he wanted his void to be their best at all times. At least for the time being.

 Virgil meowed and pawed at Remy. There was hesitation in their movement and after that, they stayed quiet as if to wait for their friend to reply to their request. The man just gently hushed the kitten by stroking over their black fur and humming a bit, quietly so.

The surroundings were so white, so new and it smelled of stingy disinfectant sprays and other things. One of the walls was pastel pink. It was not just cold but also warm but not warm like Remy was warm. Or Virgil, for that matter. He was just glad to wear his sunglasses loyally.

 Virgil curled further into the black jacket.

 “It’s okay, Queen, you will be fine”, he promised.

 He made it to the office. The only time he had been in this place was when he had applied for this position not too long ago. A few years, maybe. This was Emile’s personal office. He was standing in his office and his things were in here. Emile usually did not have too many things around but the pictures and the pastel walls were giving off a warm vibe. Again, it was not the Remy-kind of warmth but it was warm nonetheless and it made him feel funny things he could not quite place.

Sometimes he forgot there was more than his own working space. That, and the fact that Emile had his own practice close to his home. He had probably been here early and had used the time to move furniture and accommodate Remy.

 Literally, what kind of employer would ever do this?

 This office was innocent and playful like going to the kindergarten or being on a swing. It was simple and natural. Natural despite pastels being a little less naturally occurring, especially in a city like the one they were living in. Still, it was a soft colour and had some sort of soothing effect on him.

 Remy carefully nudged the door close behind him and brought Virgil over to the table where he was supposed to sit and work. The desk was larger and the wood looked like oak, perhaps. He was not the type of guy to know much about things. He just liked books and partying. He was a simple soul.

 But his boss? He seemed to mind. Emile must haven taken time to invest in a certain vibe this office would convey. Maybe it was a psychology thing It calmed him down for sure.

 Now, while the walls and pictures screamed Emile, they also hummed Remy’s tone. His desk was filled with little pictures and decorations he had brought to make himself more at home.

That was about the only delight he could relish in, working as an assistant or secretary or however people wanted to call his profession. Whatever, he was just there to welcome clients and give them some treatment plans he had printed according to Emile’s orders. Sometimes he would make appointments with people and negotiate about finances and payment plans. He checked prescriptions and other things, too. He mostly took care of all the social interactions beside the actual treatment Emile gave.

 Yeah, Emile had it all figured out and believe it or not, Remy was actually great at keeping some order together and be somewhat effective with people. He kept track of every person and their schedules. He just knew which days to propose and which days, dates and times were impossible due to things such as soccer practice for the kids or school or religious rituals and family traditions.

 Say whatever you want, Remy was good enough at his job to keep it yet still flip off enough people.

 However, now he needed to settle down and enjoy the new space.

Or, well, absolutely hate how much it smelled of Emile and how it felt warm like them and their sweaters. Having the hots for his boss or uh, higher-up, was definitely the best thing to ever happen to him. Maybe not the best but it was entertaining to say the least. Virgil, on the other hand, was quite..quiet.

 The smol kitten was put onto the desk with care. Remy was handling a precious piece of creature right there after all. He watched them for a moment, the cat just crouching down and looking at him with wide, heterochromatic eyes.

Right into his heart and soul.

 “I love you too, royal stray. Now let me work before I get fired, Queen of salt”, Remy offered and let his bag down.

 He made some space, turned on the computer and gently nudged the cat. Virgil refused to budge and stayed put in front of the keyboard.

 “Kitten, I gotta work. Wanna sit on my lap? You can cuddle with me while I work.”

 Remy looked at them but there was no answer. Were cats the clever ones? Or was this dogs?

Well, whatever, it’s not like Virgil would just suddenly all up and speak actual words. This was not a magical place after all, it was just a boring office.

Or a warm office, actually. Not that it really mattered. (It did, to him.)

 “Caaat, come on, I need to work.”

 Remy put his arms around Virgil to at least type his log-in data into the computer and get his whole shit set up and finally started. After some time, he could start receiving calls and schedule things again. It was bad enough he was so late. He probably had a ton of emails to check about how some people needed to reschedule something or needed an extra appointment, maybe even an emergency one.

 People, right?

 Nothing was ever right with people, it was inconsistent. Apparently, cats were not really as consistent either.

Maybe living things just sucked and Remy did not know how to deal with that.

The black blob of fur was still unmoving and even with the arms awkwardly surrounding them, they would not take any more action than purring.

 Purring. Fucking purring.

 “Virgil, come on. Quit your bullshit and move, you are not supposed to be comfortable in my working space.”

 “Meow”

 “Yeah, meow you too, little bitch.”

 Remy rolled his eyes, looking for his brain so he could interrogate why the fuck he was actually arguing with a cat. Like talking to his brain was actually more sensible than discussing things with a cat and somewhat expecting a rational answer.

 “Okay, Queen, how about that: We can find you a box. You like boxes and I should have a box here - for paper. I swear, I will go totally feral if they threw this away. Anyway, I will just take away the paper and you can get all comfortable in the box, just like at my place.”

 Virgil looked at him, purring and vibrating in interest. The sparkling eyes fixed on the man and Remy nodded. The void seemed to be pleased by this suggestion. Remy was allowed to breathe around the feral beast for a little longer. Great. 

The secretariat let himself drop into his swivel chair and he quickly rolled over to the printer and took the stash of printing paper out for the sake of making space for his kitty friend. Damn yes, he was glad Emile had not thrown this away. He would have trusted them to do such things.

 “Oh Virgil~”, he purred out in a voice akin to songs more than simple words, “come here, kitty kitty.”

 The kitten looked over, tail swishing around for a moment. They looked as if they were ready to get up and maybe even cooperate for a second. What a day of fucking miracles.

 Remy experimentally patted the box and Virgil slowly moved over, purring still and with passion It sounded like the whole room was driven by the engine that was nothing but Virgil’s curious sounds. They were unique and even if Remy was sighing in exasperation at how much time the cat took to INSPECT AN EMPTY BOX OF CARDBOARD, he was smiling.

 Eventually, Virgil was done sniffing and patting the box with paws and nose. They actually stepped into the small space and settled into the space like cat pudding.

Wasn’t there some stupid shit of cats being liquid? He did not remember it quite well but he was sure there was something like that.

 “There you go, little void. I got a treat for you, you are doing so well.”

 He quickly pulled a little snack out of his bag and handed it to his kitten who took it immediately.

Virgil’s nose was twitching for a moment and their little teeth crunched on the small treat as if this was the most festive and fancy meal they would ever receive. Those teeth looked like straight out of some vampire novel.

But was that shit really so tasty for cats?

 ..He kinda wanted to try that but he was human and he would probably hate that shit. He also kinda felt odd about the idea of eating Virgil’s food. He had his own food, seriously. He had such dummy thicc ideas sometimes.

 “You are the best little void”, Remy cooed and softly bonked their heads together.

 Virgil’s insistent purring gradually seeped into the human. Closing his eyes, Remy just stayed in place and brushed his hand through the little kitten’s charcoal fur for a little while longer. It was warm. Warm like hugs were warm and drinking hot chocolate or similar drinks that made him feel fuzzy and sleepy.

Maybe he met the kitty cat in winter, so he would be warmer and not the cat themself.

  “You two sure look comfortable!~”

 Remy ripped himself away from the dark kitten, his head whipping around so quickly, he could hear it giving off the sound of something breaking. Oops, neck. Sorry, not sorry. His reaction was so quick and violent, someone might have thought he was a teenager whose parents walked in on him pleasing himself. As expected (yet somewhat at the same time, not really), the boss themself was standing there and looking at Remy and Virgil cuddling. Emile chuckled but apologised at the scare they had driven into the others.

 The coffee-lover could do no more but raise an eloquent eyebrow instead of stuttering up some weak apology. He was not about that kind of speech anyway. Too much work. Instead, he was the type of person to, well, arch an eyebrow at his boss.

Virgil’s colourful eyes were focused on the intruder. They stared into Emile’s soul. 

 “Virgil is doing okay”, he replied as he pulled up his work email account and scheduling programme to put the things together.

 Oh dear coffee bean, he still needed to check voice mail for all the info he had missed. Emile pressed their lips into a thin line for a moment before letting them pop back out.

 “You know, you can tell me these things first things in the morning instead of not coming and sending me ominous texts. I am more than inclined to helping you when I know that you are in need of certain accommodations.”

 Remy nodded but kept his eyes on the screen. For a brief moment, the man glanced over at his boss and clicked his tongue. He acknowledged them for just long enough to be somewhat polite.

 “Thanks.”

 He shrugged and Virgil meowed…in agreement?

 “Aw your kitten is so cute! Where did you get them again?”

 The doctor came into the office and slowly approached the kitten. Their back arched a bit, making them smaller. Virgil shrunk away from them and their ears changed position.

 Remy gingerly grabbed the little box of void and pulled them closer in. The kitten’s eyes widened and their body tensed, seemingly jumping into a position to pounce onto the intruder or flee within the blink of an eye. If need be, they were prepared.

The man gently eased the kitten with small movements. He brushed the fur down until the void was in a more regular position but their small muscle strands were still obviously tensed up under his displays of affection.

 “They are shy. I found them around the trash in a side alley on my way home”, he explained curtly as he gently consoled the kitten who settled into the box once more.

 Safe box, good box.

Best little void.

 Remy was so proud of them for relaxing and trusting him. The flee stance was away and the cat did not look like they were a small kindergarten kid some big adult suddenly started yelling at for apparently no understandable reason. The kitten was doing well.

 “It’s okay, little Queen, bad Em will bow to your wishes, little darling.”

 Emile straightened their posture and smiled at the two before them, waving.

Could they do anything better than wave? They felt like an outsider watching an intimacy they would never be a part of. Like a child watching the perfect family from the other side of the window.

It was so warm and so far away. The own world was so cool.

 Yet it was another kind of warm. Not smiles and soft words warm, it was more than reassurance and paid trust. There was a whole relationship in this warmth. It had established within just a few days. The time span was so strikingly short, the individual was genuinely shocked to have missed so much of Remy’s life in just a moment.

 Emile pressed their lips together again and sighed.

 “I just wanted to let you know that you can have the office if that helps. I will stack cat food and toys for the kitten, if you want to. I hope that helps you accommodate. But I need you to help me plan the refurbishment of your old office, then. Got any time during lunch break?”

 Remy shrugged.

 “I mean, if I do not have to catch up on anything else, sure. I cannot go out with Virgil. This is too much for them.”

 He glanced at them and gently pulled the kitten-box closer to his stomach.

 “You okay there?”

 Virgil meowed and was rewarded yet another pat on the head. The cat pushed against the gentle hand, eyes squeezed shut. Remy looked at them instead of his boss.

 “Okay, good. Now let me work, you demanding little bitch. I got your business to handle and finances to take care of.”

 The cat slowly blinked at him and he chuckled. Emile cleared his throat.

 “Good then. I’ll leave you to it.”

 “Yeah whatever”, he cooed before he redirected his attention to the screen before him where he started scanning the first emails with plan changes. His right put down the notes of it with little abbreviations. Mrs. Shuster was probably running late again. He really needed to have a talk about this with Emile.

 Talking about this, the pal was still standing there, abandoned eyes on the unattending Remy. He was patting Virgil with one hand and started clicking and reading at incredibly fast speed with his other hand.

Emile did not notice they were staring, standing still as they were captivated by the simple scene before them. When Remy’s cool eyes, shaded by sunglasses, suddenly looked at them, they realised they had yet to leave.

 “Anyway, I gotta get this stuff done. Need anything else?”

 His boss shook their head with a smile softer than butter in the sun.

 “I will leave you two to it. See you later, Remy, Virgil.”

 They nodded their head at each name and looked at the two. The void was basically invisible under the desk and in Remy’s lap.

Just safe and protected as the needed it.

 Emile left, swallowing the odd tightness in their throat.

[yasuda-yoshiya]

Opinions on Ciconia Phase 1!

All is in the name of guiding humanity down the right path...

This should be obvious, but there will be plenty of spoilers below, so please don’t read if you haven’t finished the game yet!

While I was reading, I felt like I had a bit of an up and down relationship with Ciconia. I felt really excited and impressed by the first few hours of the game - the setup of the intro with the whole military propaganda was intriguing and effective, Miyao and Jayden's dynamic was immediately super endearing and adorable, and the whole plot with Meow and her date with Jayden had me absolutely bursting with joy! I still can't quite process how happy I am that Ryukishi committed so hard to "gender weirdness" as a permanent WTC fixture here and that Yasu's story absolutely wasn't a one-off at all, and the whole framing of the plot was so heartfelt and sincere and sympathetic - Meow's gender ambiguity and her relationship with Jayden is completely accepted and celebrated by both the narrative and the entire cast, and the whole situation is framed as something totally sweet and wholesome without a single joke at their expense. Meow herself was incredibly cute, and Jayden's initial surprised reaction to her and his whole phase of overenthusiastically trying too hard to be accepting with Miyao about it in a way that ended up making him uncomfortable ("Yeah, I have a female alter, but I'm still ME, just treat me the same way you always did!") hit the perfect spot of how an awkward but totally well-meaning person really would react in that kind of situation - on the whole, I was and still am delighted that Ryukishi went so far with this!

I can definitely understand people having reservations about some of the specifics of the execution, and there are definitely valid concerns to be had with some of the CPP stuff to be sure - but at least for me personally, just the broader picture that Ryukishi chose to spend so much time having his characters explicitly working through and talking over gender issues in such an unambiguously accepting and humanising way made me so happy; I hadn't remotely anticipated that from Ciconia at all, but I genuinely felt that he did it with a lot of heart and the dynamic between Miyao/Meow and Jayden is still probably my favourite part of the VN overall! (And I also really appreciate that Miyao and Jayden were still definitely framed as being extremely flirty and gay as hell even after Meow entered the picture, since I was afraid we might end up losing that part of their dynamic at first! But no, Jayden's really obviously super in love with both of them and it's adorable.)

Unfortunately, after the very strong opening, I kind of felt a bit let down by the next ten hours or so running so hard into PLOT PLOT PLOT, with Meow almost completely disappearing for no obvious reason and the emotional core that had been originally set up being basically dropped for a lot of RGD-style political intrigue and mysterious apocalypse cults that I felt weren't really given enough context for me to get particularly invested in. It felt to me like there was a very long stretch where the plot basically amounted to a series of increasingly large-scale disasters interspersed with very samey and insubstantial discussions between Miyao and the other faction leaders about how powerless they are and agonising over whether there's anything they can do; since the whole plot takes place on such a macro scale and doesn't really take much time to meaningfully develop the faction leaders as individuals all that much beyond their basic personalities being likable on a surface level, it felt to me like the whole big series of incidents and disasters weren't really fleshed out enough or given the personal and emotional grounding for them to be individually interesting, so it all just sort of blurred together and started to feel kind of tedious.

So, around that point I was feeling more than a little disappointed by Ciconia! And yet... somehow, by the end, I felt like it genuinely did manage to gradually win me over, and the whole ending sequence hit me really hard in a way that I honestly hadn't expected it to. While I do still feel like that whole aforementioned section definitely could have been handled better and not been so dragged out (even just interspersing some of the cute character stuff from the postgame tips would have helped break it up a bit... which I kind of strongly suspect was originally the intent ala Higurashi, and I'm not really sure why they didn't go through with it), after a while I found I was genuinely won over by just how sincere and determined Miyao and the other kids were to avoid fighting each other and to find a peaceful solution, even with all the obstacles in their way. (I think I specifically remember the part where Miyao took over the COU newbie kette's gauntlets to help them intercept his own missiles where I found myself getting genuinely emotional and realising that, huh, I guess I really do care about these kids and this plot after all!)

It's funny, for a long time I felt kind of bemused - from a storytelling perspective - by just how solid the alliance between the kids was and how it totally lasted to the end. There were a whole bunch of incidents like the issue with the ABN/ACR conflict over the crop supplies that I was sort of expecting to lead to the group inevitably falling apart from distrust or suspicion or paranoia in the typical WTC fashion... but they never did! At first I was genuinely confused - like, you have the perfect setup to finally set up some conflict here and let things start to get interesting, Ryukishi! Why are you just sticking with the status quo! - but after a while, I sort of got the feeling that that was kind of the point; that these kids really did earnestly believe in each other and respected each other's common humanity and *did not want* to fight under any circumstances, and how tragic it was that even with their resolve being that strong and lasting through all those rough moments, that they ultimately weren't given any choice in the end. I felt that the game genuinely did sell me on the idea that the image of them all holding hands and chatting with each other to the end in the public bath VR room was their "real selves" - that that really was their true nature, and that those were their true feelings, that ultimately said much more about them as people and meant so much more than the arbitrarily tragic road they ended up being forced to go down entirely against their will.

I think I was kind of thrown for a loop with Ciconia because I generally expect Ryukishi's stories to follow a trajectory where the characters gradually reveal their flaws and their inner "ugliness" as the story goes on (albeit generally in a way that's still very sympathetic and humanising, of course) - but while that did sort of happen at the end here with things like Chloe and Aysha’s turnarounds (and may well happen some more in the future given that we know there were traitors in the order), in this case I honestly felt like the purpose of the story was more about bringing out the kids' inner goodness. They really were good kids! None of this was their fault! They really deserved better! And while I think I normally wouldn't be all that into a story with that kind of straightforward message (you know, me generally being a cynical loveless husk and all), in this case specifically I felt like Ryukishi really managed to convey that specific sort of feeling of loyalty and connectedness and breaking down of boundaries that comes from Internet friendships in a surprisingly touching way.

And I think in that context, even the fact that we don't ever get to see the different factions getting to know each other all that well or forming any particularly deep connections or relationships with each other beyond their political solidarity... also sort of works, honestly? Even just that very casual kind of connection, of these kids just screwing around in an improvised chatroom with a dumb name and babbling at each other about things that don't even particularly matter, the kind of interaction we've all probably experienced at some time without even thinking all that deeply about it - even just that is enough for those kids to meaningfully connect with and humanise each other, to understand on a deep level that the kids from the other factions are basically the same as them, and to want to value their common humanity over everything else. Even something that simple is enough for these kids who don't even know each other all that well to form a strong sense of solidarity that lasts through a hell of a lot of difficult times that could easily have driven them apart - to form a sense of loyalty and shared understanding with each other that feels more real and matters so much more to them than any arbitrary national loyalty possibly could. Maybe I'm just being overly sentimental, but I honestly think that message is kind of beautiful, in its way.

It also feels very relevant to me in... I guess, capturing that unique contemporary feeling of being a young person in the current political climate, and that frustration of the Internet generation being the most interconnected and least bound by national boundaries that we've ever been, and yet being forced to watch mostly powerlessly as the people in power push more and more towards stupid narrow-minded nationalism and xenophobia at a time when humanity most needs to unite against serious existential threats to the planet? So I think in that particular political context, I honestly ended up feeling really moved by just how unambiguously compassionate and sympathetic the narrative was towards these kids - that Ryukishi ended up so firmly deciding to emphasise their "goodness" and how real and precious their bonds were with each other, over anything else. It's not really the kind of story I expected from WTC, but I was legitimately touched by how much the kids' feelings around the bonds they made over the Internet being more "real" than their material reality were treated as being so totally valid - like, yes, the idea of the factory future is treated as a viscerally disturbing one, but the narrative also completely holds up the feelings that led the kids to idealise that future as 100% legit, with genuine emotional truth behind them! It doesn't feel dismissive or patronising at all, and it honestly did give me a bit of that same feeling I got from Umineko and Yasu's story from EP7 in the sense of that totally accepting and non-judgmental message of... "Even if some aspects of what you feel might be ugly, even if some people might be disturbed by you idealising something like that - it's okay to feel that way. Your pain matters. The things that led you to feel this way, to see the horror of a future like that and still long for it on some level, are completely valid. You're seen. You're understood."

And that's honestly come to feel genuinely precious to me as I've had time to reflect on Ciconia and the response it inspired in me; that it did make me feel "seen" in some deep way, maybe on a broader generational level rather than on an intimately personal one like Umineko did, but that still has a lot of value to me too. Ciconia feels very different from Umineko or Higurashi, but it's really got a lot of heart, and I personally felt in the end that the earnestness and overwhelming good nature of the intention behind it was enough for me to forgive any awkwardness in the execution. (Ryukishi is such a good guy! I love him!) So, all in all, I really appreciated Ciconia, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!