#anyway was looking up emergency rations for the hell of it

[arctic-hands]

Anyone else with food allergies/intolerances ever worried about being in a disaster scenario (hurricane, war, displacement, etc) where you have to rely on other people (FEMA, charity workers, volunteer restaurants coming together out of the goodness of their hearts, etc) and then all the food being offered is stuff you can't eat, or is that just me?

[autisticlancemcclain]

The second he shuts his door, Lance feels like the weight on his shoulders gets four times harder to carry. He slumps forward, head on the frame, and sighs deeply to himself, sagging deeper and deeper into the hard polymer like if he tries hard enough he can sink right into it.

He’s tired. His bones ache. His eyelids are heavy as boulders, and his muscles haven’t been this sore in months. He wants to sleep for eight thousand years, right here in his doorway.

He sighs again, forcing himself to get up. He can’t do that. He’s the fuckin’ Red Paladin, he has an example to set. He needs to be the one to keep his head up, to keep something like a smile on his face, a facsimile of hope in his voice.

And, maybe, to keep the grease from his hair.

He forces himself upright, peeling off his armour and chucking it into a random corner of his room — he’ll pick it up eventually. Probably. He trudges barefoot to his ensuite bathroom, snagging two towels from his shelf on the way in and setting them on the counter with the rest of his products.

Routine. Routine. Routine is good, he reminds himself. And skincare will make you feel less shitty. You can do this.

He turns the water as hot as it can go, smiling tiredly to himself as he hears Keith in his head, grumbling about how he’s going to boil himself alive. The thought is as sad as it is comforting, and before he can stop himself, he reaches for Keith’s shampoo, squeezing a dollop into his hand and massaging it into his hair.

Keith’s shampoo is dogshit, really. It can barely even be called shampoo. Lance works very hard on his hair, and should not be putting this garbage product in it. It’ll only ruin his hard work.

But he fucking misses his boyfriend, dammit. And God only knows when Keith is finally coming back, so if rationing the bottle of the stuff is going to make him feel less like shit than so be it.

He spends a truly ridiculous amount of time in the shower, letting the steam and heavy pressure of the water soothe his sore muscles. He manages to convince himself to go through with his whole routine; shaving, scrubs, moisturizers and all. He is going to smell good as hell and his skin is going to be as soft as a fucking…smooth egg, or something. He doesn’t know. He’s too fucking tired for similes right now.

He emerges out of the shower with renewed energy and vigour, intent on treating himself tonight. He is going to use all his favourite products. He is going to put fresh sheets on the bed. He’s going to burn some incense. He might be shaving pieces of himself down to the fucking bone to fight this war, but he’s going to at least look good doing it, dammit. He deserves it.

He ties on his silkiest robe; a loose red one that falls down to mid thigh. He pulls out all his bottles and jars to start his routine but pauses before he can get started, glancing consideringly at his watch.

It’s only eight. He doesn’t usually call Keith until after he’s ready for bed, around ten. He leans back, peeking out his bathroom door and looking hard at his laptop.

It’s not like Keith would mind. If anything he’d probably be pleased. Why the hell is he denying himself, anyway? Why is he making himself suffer? What is the point of that?

No. Mind made up, he strides back out to his bedroom, face still clean and bare, opening his laptop and booting up Space Skype. He smiles when he sees Keith’s status set to online, putting through a call immediately. It barely even rings once before Keith’s face fills the screen. He smiles slightly, lifting his hand in a dorky little wave.

“Hey, baby.”

Lance barely holds himself back from bursting into tears.

“Hey, yourself,” he quips back, watery grin still in place. Keith must see the look in his eyes because his face creases in concern, and before he says anything more he turns to someone off screen, murmurs something, and then the screen wobbles as he gets up and heads out of what Lance assumes is the barracks. He turns down hallways and skirts past other Blades until he makes it to an out-of-the-way door that looks like it’s opened once a century. Keith sets his tablet down on the ground, motioning for Lance to wait a second, then slides out his blade, jimmying the lock open and ducking inside.

“There,” he says once he’s settled, back to the wall. He smiles at Lance again, indigo eyes softer than ever. “No one will bother us now.”

Lance wipes away the wetness in his eyes and tries to match his grin. “Good. I missed you today, Samurai.”

Keith hums. “Me too. That why you called early?”

Keith’s comment makes Lance remember that he’s not even started his routine yet, and he hurries to do so, pointing his laptop to the bathroom so they can still talk as Lance gets ready.

“Rough day,” Lance calls, opening his bottle of cleanser and working it into his forehead and cheeks. “Got back and I just wanted to hear your voice for a bit so I don’t kill someone tomorrow.”

Keith snorts. He shifts, placing his tablet somewhere so he doesn’t have to hold it, then puts his chin on his hand, watching Lance as he carefully applies a face mask. “Lotor pissing you off again?”

Lance scowls. “Like you would not fucking believe. Acts like he’s the goddamn head of Voltron, and Shiro lets him, for some reason. If I get one more snotty little piece of advice from His Royal Highness I’m going to stick my foot so far up his ass that he’s going to taste it.”

“Gross,” Keith says mildly.

“Good. That’s what I was going for. I hate him and his stupid fucking hair.”

Lance takes a deep breath, grounding himself, knowing that if he lets himself get worked up this night will go very south very quickly and he does not have the energy for that kind of shit. Plus, he just took off his undereye masks, and if he makes himself cry any worse than he already has, which he’s prone to do when he’s mad, then his eyes will get all puffy and his whole routine will be ruined. Not happening.

“I hope you don’t hate his hair like you hated my hair,” Keith teases.

Despite his mood, Lance can’t help but laugh. His boyfriend looks inordinately pleased with himself, goofy smile on his face, showing off his crooked incisors that Lance loves so much. The Cuban feels butterflies erupt in his belly, even though they’ve been together almost as long as Lance has piloted Red.

Keith’s good at that, though. Making Lance flustered, making him feel good. It’s like his number one priority shifted when they started seeing each other seriously, like all the intensity he usually had for missions and saving the universe was suddenly applied to keeping Lance happy.

It’s selfish, and he knows it, but Lance basks in the feeling.

“Nothing in this plane of reality can compare to your monstrosity, Mullet,” Lance teases right back.

Keith rolls his eyes playfully. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t seem to have that much of a problem when you’re yanking on it when we —”

“Do not tease me,” Lance orders, ears as red as his lion. “You are not allowed to do that when you’re thousands of lightyears away from me, you douchebag. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

Keith smirks. “I can make you finish no problem.”

“I am going to hang up,” Lance threatens. He’s no more going to hang up than fly to the moon, and Keith knows it, judging by his widening smirk even as he holds his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright. I’ll cut it out.”

Lance huffs, smile fighting its way on his face. “Jackass.”

He scoops up a bottle of body lotion and his laptop, carrying them both to the bedroom and setting them down on the bedside table. Keith says nothing as he digs through his drawers, looking for a clean set of sheets, content to just sit with him in comfortable silence as Lance makes up the bed.

God, Lance loves that man. So fucking much. He’s never had someone who can calm him down so easily, who can make his frustrations almost disappear in minutes.

“You know, the worst part of this whole Blade thing isn’t the near-death missions,” Keith says, speaking up for the first time as Lance smooths his final blanket over the bed and crawls on top of it.

Lance hums, crawling forward to grab the bottle of lotion and settling back onto the mattress, propping up one leg.

“Hm? What’s the worst part, then?”

“I can’t sleep for shit. Somehow, even though you are the worst blanket hog in the world and you kick me literally all hours of the night, I always sleep better when…”

Keith voice cracks and he trails off mid-sentence. Lance looks up from where he’s been rubbing lotion into his calves, just in time to see Keith’s eyes snap back to him, flush creeping up his neck. He clears his throat, twice, before speaking again.

“Uh, I miss sleeping with you. Is my point.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “I’m well aware, horndog.”

Keith glares flatly at him. “That’s not what I meant, you goober. I was trying to be sweet.”

“And you were almost halfway there,” Lance coos, but the fondness in his voice gives him away.

He misses sleeping with Keith, too. Keith talks in his sleep and constantly wakes Lance up, but now that he’s sleeping alone again, Lance would give his fucking right hand to hear muttered gibberish in the dead of night again.

Lance finishes rubbing the lotion into his legs and sets it back on the bedside table, leaning over the laptop screen to grab his hairbrush. He mutters a near-silent “Shit, sorry,” as he accidentally bumps the screen with his chest, catching the edge of his robe on the corner of the screen and loosening it. He adjusts the screen again, carefully grabbing his brush and moving back away so as not to hit it again. When he settles back onto the bed, he catches Keith’s eyes looking hastily back to his face, again. He shakes his head fondly as he untwists his towel from his hair and starts to brush through the damp curls.

Poor Keith. Must be hard for him to do anything…fun, ahem, in shared barracks. Rip to him, honestly, because Lance does not have that problem. Say what you will about the castle, but at least he has his own room and a lock on his door.

“You’re distracted today,” Lance comments, smirking slightly. He lets his robe slip down his shoulder, watching Keith’s eyes follow the movement.

“Am not,” Keith protests, whipping his attention back to Lance’s face.

Lance laughs, tilting his head back in a way that shows off his neck and collarbones, just to be a douchebag. This time Keith tries his damnedest to keep his eyes locked on Lance’s, but gives up when Lance stretches his legs out, falling back on the bed and letting the hem of his robe slide up slightly.

“You are a goddamn fucking menace,” Keith growls. “And an asshole.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lance says primly. He considers what else he can do before Keith snaps and steals a pod, storming his way to the castle to do exactly what Lance can tell he wants to do.

It’s never going to happen, Lance knows that, he knows Keith is too noble to abandon his post…

But God, it’s a nice fantasy.

“Have mercy on me,” Keith pleads, switching gears. “I’m a warm-blooded man, Lance. Well, half. There’s only so much I can take.”

Lance huffs a laugh, deciding to have mercy. “Oh, alright.” He straightens back up, pulling his robe back on properly — a tragedy, really, having Keith at his mercy like this makes him feel as powerful as flying a lion does — and places the laptop on his knees, tilting the screen so it’s only really showing his shoulders up.

He supposes the torture is a little mean.

Keith stares at him for a moment, then sighs. Lance tenses, because he fucking knows that sigh. He does the same thing when he’s being obnoxious.

He’s about to hear the cheesiest thing come out of his boyfriend’s mouth. He’s fucking sure of it.

“Don’t you fucking start,” Lance warns, but Keith is already grinning, theatrics are already in motion. (God, Lance has way too much of an influence on him, although honestly Keith has always been a touch dramatic.)

“It’s no better,” Keith laments dramatically, gesturing at Lance’s newly modest position on the screen. “You’re too beautiful. I’m doomed. I look into your eyes, darker than the darkest Earth and twelve times as hauntingly breathtaking, and Cupid’s arrow strikes my heart a million times over. I cannot bear it —”

“Feel free to shut the fuck up at any time,” Lance interrupts, face flaming.

That was the worst thing he discovered about himself, those first few months of them dating. How fucking quickly he folds. All Keith would have to do was put a hand on his thigh during dinner, slowly moving his pinky back and forth, visible smirk on his face, and Lance would go so red it would hurt, a little. Trying to explain that to the rest of the team without giving the two of them away was nearly impossible, and Keith was never sorry about it, and worse still Lance couldn’t stay mad at him.

He was and is the worst. Ugh. Lance is embarrassed about how much he loves him.

“Only because I think your poor heart has been through enough today,” Keith says. Some of the teasing has faded from his expression, leaving behind only softness, like before. “Tell me about your day, sweetheart. I can’t hold you, but I can maybe make you feel better anyway.”

The mention of what they can’t have makes his heart twinge a little, but Lance sighs anyway, pushing through it.

It’s not forever. Keith will come home to him soon.

He talks with Keith for the next two hours, ranting about the screwed up team dynamics for a while, and hearing Keith grumble about the rigidness of the Blades. They switch gears to lighter topics eventually, chatting and teasing and joking until Lance can barely keep his eyes open.

“Hey,” Keith says softly, after Lance has to blink himself awake for the fourth time in a row. “It’s late, Bluebell. Get some rest.”

“I don’t want to,” Lance complains, well aware he sounds like a petulant child and not caring. He does want to sleep — he’s exhausted — but all of his loneliness seems to hit him as once, reminding him how fucking badly he truly misses his man, how much he wants to sleep next to someone again, someone who helps with the nightmares and who he can hold close and who just makes everything less shitty. They have these nightly calls, of course they do, and they help, but they aren’t the same. Lance misses sharing space with him.

“I know,” Keith says quietly. He does know, and it’s evident in the longing in his voice. “I know, my love. But you need to sleep. Me too, honestly. We’ll be able to meet up soon, okay? I have a longer mission with someone named Krolia next week, and I won’t have much signal for a couple days, but I have some time off right after. I’ll come visit.”

Lance fights the urge to make him promise, knowing that’s not fair to either of them. “Okay.”

“I love you, Leandro.” Keith kisses three of his fingers and presses them to the screen. It’s cheesy as hell and Lance should be embarrassed, but he’s not; he’s close to tears for the third time tonight.

“And I love you,” he whispers, mirroring the action. He stretches out his goodbye as long as he can, forcing himself to hang up and shut down his laptop when the time comes. He sets it on his bedside table with a sigh, looking forlornly out to his room. He hesitates when his gaze lands on his closet. He fights for himself for a moment, wondering if it’s worth it. It’ll only hold the scent for so long, after all. He doesn’t want to waste it.

Fuck it. His day sucked and he fucking misses his boyfriend. He stomps over to the dresser, yanking open the bottom drawer and pulling out Keith’s shirt, pressing it to his nose and inhaling deeply, trying to pretend that Keith is only gone on a late night mission rather than stationed billions of miles away. He slides the shirt over his chest, crawling under the covers and sliding over to Keith’s side of the bed, squeezing his eyes shut and pretending that Keith will slip into the room in a few hours, exhausted, peel off his armour without bothering to put on pajamas, smiling when he sees Lance curled up in his space, sliding in behind him and holding him close.

He falls asleep to the imaginary feeling of Keith’s skin pressed to his and his snores filling the room.

———

based on this video

[shootingstarpilot]

you know what you should do to celebrate hawai'i, mermay, and the return of dracula daily?

whump helix. \:D/

(no i don't know what that has to do with any of the aforementioned celebrations but you should do it anyway)

...

You know what, you're absolutely right.

And it just so happens that I was researching adrenaline poisoning for COMPLETELY UNRELATED REASONS yesterday, and, well- Helix does seem like the type, doesn't he?

Helix hasn't slept in five days.

For the first three, admittedly, it was because of the clean-up.

Dukov had been rough. The intel from the Senate had been so bad he'd overheard Crys theorizing that maybe they'd intercepted a Seppie briefing instead, right before a sniper had nearly taken his arm off at the shoulder. Three days of mainlining stims until the situation had gone from cataclysmic to merely chaotic. Three days until both Needle and Stitch could get a few hours' sleep, after Helix's own customized blend of reassurance and orders had sent them to bed with minimal resistance.

He was feeling far too twitchy to sleep, anyway.

The next day had been the flimsiwork. His least favorite bit, and it had been easy to reach for another stim from his own stash. Just to power through.

(Besides. The others would get pissy if he finished off the unit's stockpile.)

He sets the last datapad aside and rubs absently at his forehead.

The headache is multiplying, and frustration grows with it.

A twitchy agitation pushes him to his feet and out of his office to find Needle splinting a sprained wrist, poking gentle fun at the blushing shiny whose name he cannot for the life of him remember. The sudden burst of irritation at the sound of Needle's snorting laugh takes him by surprise, and for a moment all he can do is blink owlishly at the pair until Needle glances up.

"Helix!" he exclaims, unfairly delighted, and Helix scowls at him reflexively. "Emerged from your lair at last? Hope you had a good nap-"

"Get some sleep when you're done with that," Helix snaps. "I'll take first shift."

"Stitch is already sleeping, I sent him off an hour ago-"

"Then join him. Get some rest. You should know better than to not take advantage of the opportunity."

Hypocrite, a little voice whispers. Helix squashes it mercilessly, stalking out of the medbay without waiting to hear Needle's response.

Gym. Yeah. That sounds good. He's spent too long sitting in front of a datapad today; he needs to work this twitchiness out.

Then caf, if he's gonna be on shift. Needle and Stitch need the rest.

(He's pretty sure he'd stashed another stim in his gym bag, too.)

And the night... passes.

His datapad never beeps.

Helix hammers at a punching bag until nausea begins to rise, at which point he realizes that he can't quite remember the last time he ate something, and- because he's a responsible medic- heads for the mess.

More time had passed than he'd realized, apparently. The mess is still empty, but there are lights on in the kitchen, and he can hear Terror's muffled shouting as he snags a ration bar off the all-hours table and makes his way out. They'll probably be seeing someone else in the medbay soon enough, if Terror's that loud this early, and he gulps down the ration bar before jabbing another stim into his neck.

Damn it.

The nausea hasn't abated by the time he reaches the medbay doors. He scowls at the wall for a moment, remembers to inhale, and kicks the door open to make himself feel better.

"You look like shit."

When did Needle get here?

Helix can't quite find the answer, but Needle's sure as hell here now- right in front of him, brow furrowed, and blocking his way to the caf machine.

"Move."

"No," Needle says blithely, and before Helix can react to that stunning indignity, warm fingers are curling around his wrist. He stills instinctively, and Needle graces him with a quirked smile before returning his attention to his pulse.

"Tachycardic," he sighs, dropping Helix's hand. "Consider me unsurprised, Dukov was bad. How much have you slept?"

Helix elects for the time-honored tradition of saying nothing.

"...Have you slept?"

Time-honored traditions have to start somewhere.

"All right," Needle says, and Helix isn't sure what happens next- only that suddenly Needle's arm is wrapped around his waist, and they're moving further down the medbay, and then he's sitting on a mattress he doesn't remember seeing-

"You know the drill," Needle informs him, and oh, yes, right, Needle's here too, isn't he? "Start coughing. I'll give you thirty seconds before I start a line-"

Then something clatters at the entrance to the medbay.

"Hello?" asks a wavering voice, and Needle swears under his breath.

"You," he says, poking Helix's nose, "stay right here. I'm just gonna triage, I will be right back. Keep coughing."

Helix glares at his retreating back until Needle vanishes around the corner.

Then it's just him.

There was- something he was supposed to be doing, right?

Yes. Tachycardic, Needle had said- cold packs can help, he knows. The vagus nerve. Right.

But Needle's gone.

He levers himself up and heads for the supply closet, ignoring the way the nausea sloshes in the pit of his stomach.

He steps inside. Flicks the light on.

And promptly vomits all the way down the front of his scrubs.

Something twigs at last.

"Well," he says eloquently, "fuck me."

That is the last thing he remembers for some time.

"You," a voice announces, "are such a bastard."

"Mmph."

"No, no, you don't get to do that. You're awake, I need answers, and to be frank I'm not feeling particularly merciful, you absolute- no. Okay. Name."

"..."

"Helix."

"That."

"I- fine. Nauseous?"

Helix takes a moment to assess.

"No."

"Jittery?"

He curls his fingers into a fist, testing.

"No. Jus' tired."

He can hear a steady beeping at his left, and waves in its vague direction. "Turn that off."

"The fuck I will," Needle snaps. "Consequences of your actions, boss, you're gonna have to deal with it. Where's your stockpile? I checked our stash, you didn't take enough from there to trigger this."

Helix pries his eyes open. Needle is standing at the edge of the bed, arms crossed, scowling at him.

"Not telling."

A muscle in Needle's jaw jumps.

"Stitch?"

The expression on Stitch's face when he peers around the corner is one of naked relief.

"Yes, Needle?"

"You're on Helix duty. Make sure he doesn't get out of bed, otherwise I'll have to kill him. I'm gonna tear his office apart."

"Tear my-"

"If you'd cooperate," Needle says, with gritted-teeth cheer, "then I wouldn't have to. But since you don't seem to appreciate the fact that you overdosed on your own stims, it looks like I'll have to do it myself."

He's gone before Helix can muster a response.

Stitch, meanwhile, has apparently taken Needle's threat to heart. He climbs onto the bed and splays starfish-style across Helix, wriggling up until they're nose-to-nose, and Helix's burgeoning indignation evaporates in the face of Stitch's too-wet eyes.

They stare at each other for a long moment, and then Stitch lets out a little sigh and tucks his face into the crook of Helix's neck.

Helix gives up considering standing.

"What happened?"

"Epinephrine overdose," comes the muffled reply. Inside his office, something bangs against the wall. "Needle found you in the closet. You were covered in vomit."

His scrubs are clean.

Stitch lifts his face and rests his forehead against Helix's. "Ventricular tachycardia," he says quietly, and Helix breathes out. "You went into v-fib. He had to shock you to get you back."

His face screws up before smoothing out with an all-too-familiar caution, and Helix, aching, rests a hand between his shoulder blades. "I was getting breakfast. Needle did it all by himself. You came back same time I did."

Another crashing sound. Something splinters.

"You should apologize," Stitch says sternly, and Helix chokes out a laugh.

"'m sorry, Stitch," he says, and tries his best to squeeze the hand Stitch is holding. "I didn't mean to."

"High epinephrine levels can compromise rational decision-making," Stitch informs him. "I know."

"If I promise not to get up, will you move?"

"Am I hurting you?"

"No, but-"

"Mm. Then no."

"Stitch-"

"Deep pressure therapy lowers heart rate."

"Is that what this is?"

"Yes."

"Not a hug?"

"That comes second."

"Okay, Stitch," Helix sighs. Deep pressure therapy or a hug, whatever it is- it's working.

He's asleep in less than a minute.

When he dips briefly back into the waking world, he can feel the dip in the mattress.

"Stims are taped to the bottom of my desk drawer," he says quietly.

"I know," Needle mutters.

Silence.

"How's my desk?"

"I'll get you a new one."

Another, longer silence.

Fabric shifts as Needle leans back, folding his arms across his chest. "I'll be keeping count."

"Okay."

Helix twists his head to the side, peering upwards.

Needle is staring at the wall.

"You don't have to get me a new desk," he offers.

"You're shit at apologies, you know."

Helix falls silent.

Then Needle sighs, too loud in the dull lights of the night shift, and Helix sees a wry smile twist across his face.

"Go back to sleep," he says, "and I won't ask for one."

Helix obligingly closes his eyes, and for once, doesn't say anything scathing when Needle's hand settles on his forehead.

Wait. One thing-

"Hey," he mutters sleepily. "At least now you know what it's like."

"What?"

But Helix is already asleep.

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

Get Out Of Here (Not Without You)

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Prompt - “I need you to trust me, there’s no time to explain,  just do everything I say and you’ll be safe.”

When you had first moved to Boston you knew then and there you knew your life would change, accepted into one of the top schools on a full ride scholarship, leaving your small town behind and being the first in your family to make such a huge decision. Of course you hadn’t quite expected how drastically your life would change, you hadn’t expected to be sat in your dorm room working on a paper that seemed so important at the time listening to soft music in the background before the radio to cut out abruptly with an emergency broadcast telling you to stay inside, hadn’t expected the flat hum of the phone as it refused to dial any number.

You still remembered those early days, sitting alone in your dorm room with no information on what was happening. You remembered the first bomb dropping, remembered how, even though it was far away, your whole room seemed to shake and you stood from your bed abruptly to run over to your window just in time to see the next bomb. You still didn’t know how you’d survived that but eventually you had to leave your room and that’s when you saw them, or more realistically it saw you first, its head cracking over in your direction before the rest of its body followed and you ran until your chest hurt.

You’d gotten lucky, you’d found one of the quarantine zones in the first month of the government having set them up, you’d been in here long enough to hear people’s horror stories of having to walk for miles, days on end, just to get here, heard how they had narrowly escaped the clickers. You’d only ever seen a handful of them and that had been in the first month of the outbreak, you couldn’t even imagine how they had evolved in the many, many years you’d been in these walls.

It seemed strange at first, hell sometimes it still felt strange, how the world in these walls never seemed to change. Here you were with jobs that provided ration cards, an apartment, if it weren’t for all the guards it’d be easy to forget about the outbreak.

Sometimes you were curious though, you’d stop counting how many years it had been since you first walked into the quarantine zone but it was long enough for you to forget what the outside world looked like. You’d heard stories about what they called the Open City but each one was even more unbelievable than the last, headless clicker roaming the streets, dead that had been set on fire still moving, hordes of them attached to each other as they made their way through the city.

You wanted to go outside, it’s not like you wanted to go very far either but it’d be good to remember what the old world looked like, to remember that beyond these worlds you once had a life, a life that was so different from this.

You had a gun stashed away underneath your floorboards, you remembered how fast the dead things moved all those years ago but it was a risk you wanted to take and there was only one person in the quarantine zone you knew that snuck in and out.

“Joel-” You started to argue but he cut you off before you could even begin.

“Don’t.” Joel said, shutting you down immediately, not even entertaining the idea for a second. “What makes you think I’d ever say yes to takin’ you out there?”

“I’d be with you, Joel, I’d be safe.” You insisted and watched as his face hardened and somehow felt like you’d said the complete wrong thing.

“I can’t keep you safe, Y/N! When I go out there I don’t have to give a damn about anyone else, if I take you out there-” Joel cut himself off as he sat heavily on the sofa and glared at you. “Don’t ask me again.”

“But Joel-” You tried again only to be cut off for a second time.

“What did I just say?” He snapped and you rolled your eyes as you sat down next to him, arms crossed over your chest and definitely not pouting. “Why you so desperate to get yourself killed anyway?”

“Why are you so damn sure I'll get myself killed?” You shot back before sighing and sinking further into the sofa. “I just, I don’t know, ok? Part of me just needs to see the outside world, it’s been so long. I know it’s dangerous, trust me I get it-”

“You don’t get it, Y/N/N.” Joel interrupted you again but this time his voice was softer as he leaned back into the cushions and turned his head towards. “There’s shit out there you don’t need to see, alright?”

“I wanna go outside, Joel.” You told him, lowering your voice to match his, not demanding anything but just repeating it. “I know it’s dangerous and I know I’m asking you to risk a lot but I really want to see outside the walls at least once more in my life.”

“There’s nothing good out there, not anymore.” Joel told you honestly and you nodded, you believed him, the second those bombs fell from the sky it felt like everything good had been taken with them. “You’re safe in here, Y/N, just…just stay in the walls.”

Despite Joel’s warnings you found yourself only a few nights later waiting until the guards’ shifted positions before you were sneaking out, knowing the way through information Joel had let slip across the years. It took a long time, there were a few close calls where you had to be as quiet as possible, but eventually you could see an opening to the city.

By the time you were out of view of the quarantine zone it was too dark to see much of anything, a strange feeling when years ago you had walked Boston’s streets at all hours of night and the streets had been lit up from streetlights, the lights from cars still out at that time, lights spilling out of bars and apartments.

The first thing you noticed was how quiet it was, the stories you’d heard made it seem like the streets would be filled with monsters, you unable to move past them, but the streets sounded empty and so did the building you entered, you weren’t sure how well you’d sleep out in the open city but you were going to hide away until the morning and explore as much as you could before sneaking back into the quarantine zone.

It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep that night and when you woke up the next morning to the sunlight on your face you felt a burst of excitement. Last night it had been far too dark to see anything and you knew you only had a few hours of daylight. It wasn’t long before you were up, double checking your backpack and making sure your gun was loaded before you were pulling the door open, waiting a moment to see if you could hear anything, and heading out into the city.

You paused in the doorway of whatever building you had entered last night and stared out, frozen in disbelief. Skyscrapers had collapsed, some falling into each other whereas others had crumbled into piles of rubble. Greenery covered almost everything in sight and you couldn’t help but notice how the world had never seemed so green before the outbreak, maybe you just couldn’t remember but the city had never felt so full of nature.

As you walked further into the city you saw all the cars, ambulances, police cars, all of them dusty and long since dead, covered with leaves and moss. Your stomach turned as you saw a stuffed bear laying abandoned on the floor, looking up to see a kid’s car seat bloody in the car. You forced your feet to move, surprised at how easy it was to walk through the city, there wasn’t a clicker in sight, you’d been walking for a good hour, making your way through streets and buildings to get to the other side when the way was blocked and other than seeing dead bodies you hadn’t seen much else.

You finally came across a building you remembered, it was the library. In the year you’d lived in Boston you had practically lived in this building, could still remember the text books littering your table as you wrote your papers. To see it now was strange, it was long abandoned and the building had its fair share of greenery growing around it.

You hadn’t even taken five steps into the building, eyes wide as you looked around, when you let out a scream, the sound muffled as a hand wrapped around your mouth and an arm wrapped around your middle, trapping both your arms to your side and stopping you from getting your gun.

“And you're dead.” You heard a voice hiss in your ear before you were shoved away, barely staying upright as you stumbled and turned around.

Joel was stood before you, gun slung around his shoulders as he glared at you and you glared right back even as your breath came out quick and fast and your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest.

“What the hell Joel?” You shouted, stepping forward to push at his chest but he caught your wrist and pulled you close.

“Me?” He questioned in disbelief and tightened his grip as you tried to pull away. “What the hell are you thinking? Clearly you’re not! Jesus Y/N, you could’ve got yourself killed.”

“I asked you to bring me and you didn’t-”

“Don’t you dare put this on me.” Joel told you, his voice cold as he continued to glare at you. “If you die, that shit ain’t on me.”

You knew Joel was only shutting down on you because you had scared him, he liked to think he had his walls up but you’d known him for years at this point and you could read him as easily as you could your favourite book.

Joel hadn’t exactly been looking for friends when you’d met him working the same job but you had been persistent and before he knew it you had wormed your way into his life, even after he swore not to let anyone else in, he couldn’t go through another heartache. At first he kept his distance, refused to answer any questions about his life before but eventually he started letting you in, there was still a lot you didn’t know about his life before but then again the people you were before the outbreak were whole different people so you didn’t mind.

At some point it became second nature to spend all your time with Joel, it was rare to see you without each other and you weren’t surprised when you started liking the man. Joel had been cold and gruff when you had first met him, most people took one look at the man and decided it wasn’t worth the energy it would take to break through that hardened exterior but you hadn’t even given it a second thought, hadn’t been concerned with how long it’d take him to relax around you, you liked cold Joel, he snapped and glared but you liked him.

“Joel,” You began, bringing your other hand up to his, brushing your thumb across his knuckles before pulling his fingers off your wrist, Joel not resisting and you figured maybe he was calming down now that he had you in his sights. “I’m sorry, ok? I know this isn’t a game, I know it’s dangerous but I had to see.”

“Yeah I know you did.” Joel sighed and brought his hand back up to cup the back of your head as he pulled you into his chest and you didn’t hesitate to cuddle into him, finally feeling your heart rate settle. “Is it what you thought it’d be?”

“It’s quieter than I thought,” you told him, pulling back only far enough so that you look up at him questioningly. “It’s weird too, I remember the streets were never quiet and now it’s deadly silent. I remember being in here during exam season and every seat was filled, even if people didn’t speak there was always noise, the turning of a book, somebody coughing, the scratching of pen against paper. The world really ended Joel.”

“You’re alright.” Joel assured as he pulled you back into his chest, wrapping his other arm around your shoulder and it was only then you noticed the tears slipping down your cheeks. It had hit you long ago, the reality of the world, but seeing it again after years of comfortable living seemed to shake you more than you thought it would. “You’re alright, Y/N/N.”

You nodded against his chest and wrapped your arms around his waist, taking a deep breath as you composed yourself. It wasn’t long before you were pulling back and looking around the library. Chairs and tables had been flipped, books and loose pages scattered across the floor whilst leaves and moss covered most of the surfaces.

“We should go.” Joel murmured but you shook your head, turning to look back at him with pleading eyes and he sighed before you could even speak. “One look around and then we go, stay close to me.”

“Thank you, Joel.” You said softly after a moment of silence and watched as he swallowed before he nodded at you and gestured for you to follow him.

Your fingers lightly traced the book shelves, somehow even after twenty years you were still able to find your way around, old, worn signs telling you you had remembered right.

“I used to study back here all the time, me and my friends would work on our papers and prepare for finals.” You told Joel and out of the corner of your eyes you saw him smile softly at you. “Back then it had seemed so important, you know? Like passing those exams or getting the best marks on our papers was the difference between life and death.” You chuckled as you ran your hands along a chair. “God, looking back now we were so stupid.”

“Nobody knew this shit was comin’.” Joel told you and you nodded, looking over at him to see him leant against a bookcase that looked ready to give out.

“It doesn’t even seem real, that life all those years ago.” You frowned as you moved around the table to go down another aisle and Joel nodded, opening his mouth to say something else before you interrupted.

“Oh my god!” You exclaimed, stumbling back into Joel’s chest and he didn’t hesitate to shove you behind him, gun raised before he saw a body on the floor, blood covering him and his chest practically torn apart. “What the hell-”

“Shh.” Joel shushed you, turning around to face you even as his wide eyes focused on everything but you, like he was looking for something.

“Joel-” You whispered but he shushed you again and you felt genuine fear fill you, your stomach dropped and you blood ran cold as you went to look around but Joel stopped you.

“Eyes on me, baby.” He murmured, keeping his voice soft and low, barely audible and you didn’t even have time to appreciate how good him calling you baby sounded as you took a deep breath and turned back to Joel with wide, scared eyes. “I need you to trust me, there’s no time to explain, just do everything I say and you’ll be safe.”

“Joel,” You whimpered and Joel cupped your cheek, bringing your foreheads together as he shushed you once more.

“I know you’re scared, baby, I know,” Joel whispered and you felt your eyes fill with tears. Joel was looking back at you and though he tried to hide it you could see he was scared and if something scared Joel you knew it had to be bad. “We have to be silent now, no more talking, trust me, I’m gonna get you home.”

You nodded and Joel wiped away the single tear that slid down your cheek, before he placed a soft kiss to your forehead and pulled away.

‘Stay behind me.’ Joel mouthed at you and you nodded, practically gluing yourself to his back as he moved, both of you stopping dead in your tracks as an inhuman sound came from behind one of the book cases. You felt your heart stutter as you looked at Joel but his focus was on the direction the noise came from before he turned to look at you.

‘Quiet.’ He reminded you and you nodded, biting your lip hard enough to draw blood to stop any sound from escaping. He tilted his head and you nodded again, keeping half a step behind him as you held your breath.

Just as you turned a corner you gasped but Joel turned and managed to cover your mouth just in time like he had been expecting the reaction. In front of you was, you couldn’t even describe it, it was monstrous, how that had once been human was mind blowing. Tears slid down your cheeks as Joel kept your mouth covered and the thing made its way towards the two of you causing you to screw your eyes shut.

You looked up at Joel when he tapped your cheek and Joel made a gesture where he pointed towards the clicker before he covered his eyes and mouthed ‘they can’t see’ before pointing to his ear ‘they go off sound’. You nodded and Joel removed his hand, watching how your face scrunched up in an effort to slow the tears and suppress any sobs.

He had to get you out of here, it was the only thought in his head as he kept himself between you and the clicker, making sure each step was silent. You’d managed a good few steps before the thing stopped dead in its tracks and turned sharply to face you and you couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath, that was enough for the thing to launch itself at the two of you.

Joel barely caught it, keeping his arm under its chin to avoid being bitten as he tried to get a good shot on his gun whilst also keeping one eye on you.

“Get out of here!” He yelled at you and he could see you frozen in fear. “Y/N, baby, you gotta go now!”

“I can’t leave you!” You called back and the clicker responded to the noise, trying to fight its way to you but Joel kept his grip on it somehow.

“Y/N I promise I’ll be right behind you!” He grunted as he tried to force the clicker back. “You gotta go!”

You waited another second before nodding and he watched you go with a sigh of relief, finally able to throw the clicker to the side. It only stayed on the floor for a second before it snapped back up and lunged at Joel.

Joel shot at it four times, each time missing its head with how much it was moving. Joel managed to shove it back down on the floor and shoot its chest before running the way you had gone, hiding behind one of the book cases and keeping as silent as possible. In the distance he saw you crouched behind one of the tables and took a silent breath as he peered around to see where the clicker was, the thing was up again and moving through the aisles, thankfully going the other way.

Joel stayed silent as he made his way over to you and saw you with your knees drawn to your chest and your eyes screwed shut. He lightly touched your knee and silently shushed you as your eyes flew open.

He pointed to where the clicker had walked off to and saw the gun clutched in your hands, gently prying it from you and seeing how much ammo you had.

‘You, go out the door, wait.’ He mouthed to you, motioning between you and the door before he watched as you shook your head. He nodded back at you before pointing to himself, raising the two guns he held. ‘I’ll distract it, you go.’

‘Joel,’ you mouthed and he could practically hear your pleading town as more tears slid down your cheeks. ‘I’m sorry.’

Joel just shook his head, you weren’t doing this now, right now he had to get you out of here and then he would deal with everything else. You weren’t going to die today, he wouldn’t let it happen.

‘Go baby.’ He mouthed and gestured for the door, watching as you took a breath, your mouth thinning into a line as you choked back sobs before you nodded at him. He cupped your cheek and you brought your hand up to his, hesitating for a moment before leaning forward.

It wasn’t exactly a kiss, both of you were too focused on being silent for it to be more than a brushing of your lips together but Joel pulled you closer anyway and held you against him for a second longer before he pulled back and brushed his thumb across your cheek bone.

‘Go.’ He mouthed again and this time you nodded more confidently as you stood silently and Joel followed after you, the two of you parting ways so Joel could grab the clicker before it got to you.

He knew how fast these things moved and if he had gone with you the door wouldn’t have even been able to open before it was attacking you, at least this way he could be sure you were out of the door and far away from this damn thing.

The two of you looked at each other and Joel nodded at you, he watched you take a breath before your hand touch the door knob and turned it, the sound causing the clicker to let out a loud noise that had Joel lunging for it before it could take more than a step in your direction. He wrestled the thing, trying to shove it as far away from the door as possible and out of the corner of his eye he watched as you left, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as he focused on the clicker.

It felt like hours before Joel managed to shove it to the floor, sweat pooling at his forehead as he shot both guns, using up all the rounds before he watched the thing finally lay lifeless, not movements coming from it. He took a moment to lean against the wall and catch his breath before he turned his head to the door.

After a few more seconds he made his way out of the building and scanned the area for you, frowning when he didn’t see you but the frown left as you peaked your head out from behind a car. In a few large steps Joel was pulling you into his chest and you were sobbing as you held onto him like he was your life line.

Joel’s hand rested on the back of your head as he held you up, his arms holding you close to him and he could feel your fingers digging into his back as you choked out apologies. Joel just kept shushing you as you continued to apologise, he knew he needed to move the two of you, he had no ammo left and the dark was starting to set in but he wanted to make sure you were ok first.

“Hey,” Joel said, pulling back and tilting your chin so you could look at him, he didn’t speak as he wiped gently at your cheeks, leaving his hands there as he spoke. “You have nothing to apologise for, alright? You needed to see for yourself what it was like out here, I get it Y/N/N, I do but you’re alright, I promise.”

“I should’ve listened to you Joel.” You sniffed and he smiled softly at you.

“You got an idea in your head, I should’ve known there was no stopping you.” He said and you let out a wet chuckle. “I’m not mad at you, we’re both alright.” Those words made your eyes widen and you pulled back abruptly causing him to frown.

“Are you?” You asked, tugging his sleeves up and inspecting it for bites before moving the collar of his shirt and checking there too. Joel chuckled as he caught your wrists in his hands, more gently than he had earlier and shushed you.

“I’m okay, promise.” He told you and your eyes ran up and down him before you sagged in relief, trusting that he’d tell you if he wasn’t. “Now will you please let me get you home?”

“Please.” You practically begged and Joel smiled softly at you before gesturing for you to follow him though there was no need to really, Joel’s arm was still wrapped around your shoulder and you had practically attached yourself to his side.

It was well into the night by the time the two of you got home, having Joel with you made it easier to sneak in and it wasn’t long before you were quietly entering his apartment. The walk home had been mostly silent, your thoughts running a mile a minute and Joel content with the silence and the feeling of you in his arms to tell him you were ok, that you were alive.

“Go clean up and change.” Joel told you as he closed the door and set his backpack down before moving to take yours off for you and then gently pulling your jacket off.

You didn’t say anything, just smiled over at him before moving into his bedroom and pulling out one of his shirts before shuffling into the bathroom. It was only a few moments later he heard the shower running and let himself collapse into the sofa, suddenly feeling drained now that he had gotten you back to safety.

He knew you were too damn curious for your own good, knew that you needed to see the world for yourself. He should have known you’d have gone out there with or without him, hell some part of him had known and that’s why he checked your apartment at five in the morning before marching back to his room and packing his gun, desperately hoping you hadn’t gone and got yourself killed.

Any of the initial anger he had felt seeing you gone had worn off long before he found you and now he could only feel relief. He knew you were terrified, the last time you had seen clickers up close was when the outbreak started, you’d told him about the bombs in the city and being scared at how fast the things were but this was different, this was twenty years of evolution.

Joel sighed and lay down on the sofa, throwing an arm over his eyes. You were fine, the clicker hadn’t gotten near you and he had got you home safe. He could hear the shower running and knew you’d be out any minute, dressed in his shirt and ready to fall asleep in his arms.

That thought sent his mind back to the kiss. God, it hadn’t even been more than a small brushing of the lips but God, it had left him breathless. He knew you liked him, he wasn’t stupid. At this point you had practically moved into his apartment, the two of you spent more nights asleep together in his bed than you’d slept in your own bed since being here. He just couldn’t put himself in a position to get hurt again but today had shown him how even if he went the rest of his life without telling you how he felt he knew if anything happened to you it’d kill him, so why not at least make the most of the time he had with you.

He didn’t mean to drift off, one second he was just resting his eyes and the next he was blinking awake when he felt something shift next to him. He forced his eyes open and looked down to see you had pushed yourself into the small space between him and the sofa, your body more on him really, and a blanket thrown over the two of you. Your hand gently ran across his chest before you lay it flat against him and cuddled into him.

Joel brought his arm around you and you glanced up at him with tired eyes but still smiled at him and he couldn’t help but return the gesture before he placed a soft kiss to your head.

“Go to sleep, baby.” He murmured and watched as your smile widened, eyes lighting up now that you were safe and could enjoy the way the pet name sounded coming from Joel’s lips.

“Does you calling me baby mean you’re ready to tell me you love me?” You asked, tone light and joking so that Joel didn’t freak out.

“Sure does.” Joel said back, your eyes widening and smile dropping when his tone stayed even and serious, his lips twitching upwards as he looked at your expression. He had thought on the way home how he could tell you and hadn’t come up with anything but you had given him an opening and he decided it didn’t need to be a big deal. He knew how he felt about you and now you knew too. “Go to sleep, baby.”

“Yeah,” You said, still looking up at him in disbelief before your lips pulled into a wide smile and you reached up to cup his cheek before pulling him into a kiss.

The angle wasn’t great for it but that didn’t matter as Joel kissed you back, the kiss soft but filled with lots of pent up emotions but there was no rush, the two of you were home and safe and had each other and plenty of time.

When Joel pulled away he couldn’t help but smile down at you, your eyes stayed closed for a few seconds longer before they fluttered open and you smiled back at him.

“God baby, I’ve wanted to do that for years.” Joel told you, causing you to laugh because he could have done that years ago and you wouldn’t have had any complaints. Despite how badly Joel wanted to keep kissing you, hell he could have spent the whole night like that quite happily, he could see the tiredness in your eyes and could feel his own exhaustion pulling at him so instead he pulled you into his chest and wrapped the blanket around you both tightly before pressing a lingering kiss to your head.

“Get some rest now, baby.” He murmured into your hair and felt you nod against his chest, fingers curling into his shirt as you let your eyes fall closed.

The room was silent except for the sounds of your breathing and Joel had thought you had drifted off until you spoke again, your voice was soft, barely above a whisper but you needed to say it before you fell asleep.

“I love you too.” Joel grinned down at you and kissed your head again, whispering the words back once more before he finally felt you relax fully against him as you fell asleep.

He found it quite easy to follow after you, heart light as the confessions were finally out in the open after years of skilfully avoiding talking about your feelings. His fears from earlier were gone now that you were home and safe in his arms and he swore to himself he would protect you from whatever else the world threw your way.

__________

Joel Miller Taglist (Click the link in my bio to add yourself!) -

@avengersfan25​, @happycupcakeenthusiast​, @cilliansangel​

Thank you so much for reading!🖤

[living-lucid-dream]

Blind Pico AU (part four?!?)

Part One

Previous

Next

Pico startles awake from a late afternoon nap. At first he can't figure out why he is so on edge, and then he realizes: somebody is in his house and it is definitely NOT Boyfriend. (Or at least, not unless Boyfriend suddenly decided to start wearing hard-sole dress shoes, which yeah, that'll be the day.) The person is approaching his bedroom, so he does the only reasonable and rational thing he can: he grabs his emergency gun from under his pillow and holds it at the ready.

The footsteps reach his door--and then a familiar voice is giggling, "Wow, for real, Pico?"

Pico quickly lowers his gun, mildly embarrassed that he forgot Girlfriend was coming over to stay with him while Boyfriend was prepping for another concert. He chastises her for "sneaking up on him", ending with "I could have fucking shot you!"

Girlfriend laughs at him again and says, "Yeah, sure. Except you were pointing the gun at your closet, you silly goober." She goes on remind him it's time for his eyedrops and asks him what he wants for lunch. ("I can make you a peanut butter sandwich or a can of Spaghetti-o's because that's all I know how to make. Or we can do DoorDash. Yeah, let's do DoorDash. What sounds good to you?")

Pico mumbles that she can order whatever she wants; he'll just have whatever she's having. Girlfriend lets out a happy little squeal and tells him not to worry, she knows just the thing~

While Girlfriend is busy ordering up some lunch (It's McDonald's. Pico already knows that there's no way it's not McDonald's), Pico gets dressed for the day. He has a serious struggle with getting his lower half dressed but he decides there is no way in hell he going to ask Girlfriend to help him. (The last time Boyfriend "helped", he ended up with his pants on backward and NO underwear. Boyfriend insists none of this was intentional. Pico has his doubts).

After getting dressed, Pico comes out of his room. Girlfriend starts to put his eyedrops in and asks him why he didn't ask her for help. He tells her "Girlfriend, I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself." She tells him she knows that...but his outfit clashes.

He feels his face getting hot (because he didn't choose clashing colors on purpose but it's not like he can use the goddamn color wheel to coordinate his wardrobe and seriously, isn't that the least of his worries?). He snarls, "Who cares? Not like I can see it anyway."

She says, "Well, I can and I'm not looking at that shit all day." Then she drags him back to his room and helps him pick out an acceptable color combination.

While Pico is changing his shirt, Girlfriend remarks that they should arrange his clothes by color so he doesn't have this issue later. ("That's what I do and it's never failed me!")

At first, Pico is surprised that GF came up with such a reasonable idea. Then he remembers: "Wait. Don't you only ever wear red?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

Pico decides to just bite his tongue, even as Girlfriend exclaims, "Wow, it's going to take WAY longer to do your wardrobe than mine!"

They end up making quite the project of it, with Girlfriend bringing their lunch (which is indeed McDonald's) back to Pico's room so they can work while they eat. Pico decides to organize everything by ROY G BIV, then by style, and then by fabric type.

As they work, Girlfriend is surprised to find a nice suit in the back of Pico's closet. She says she's disappointed that she and Boyfriend never get to see him wear it because she is absolutely sure he looks HOT AS FUCK. Caught off guard by her assertion, Pico mumbles that it was just some cheap thing he had to get for one of his "jobs" and did she seriously just mean to say "hot as fuck?"

Girlfriend laughs and says, "Oh, sorry; I meant SEXY AS SHIT!"

Pico has no idea what to do with this revelation. (Is she flirting with me? Should I tell her to stop? But what if she's NOT flirting and I sound like an asshole who assumes being nice is the same as "I want to have wild athletic sex with you right this very moment?" Jesus, first Boyfriend and now this....)

Girlfriend seems to notice Pico's discomfort. She quickly amends, "Seriously, though, you should think about wearing it sometime."

Pico tells her that he'll think about it, all right. Then he says, "Now let's get started on the sock drawer--and since I know you're going to tell Boyfriend that's where I keep my weed, tell him he'd better not steal any of it because I know EXACTLY how much I have in there at any given time!"

Much later, Boyfriend returns to Pico's apartment to find the two of them just finishing arranging his shoes. Girlfriend rushes over to him, almost knocking over a carton of Chinese food on the way. (They ordered dinner at some point during their project and Pico insisted on "anything BUT McDonald's." He could practically HEAR Girlfriend pouting, so he'd told her "Look, I like McDonald's as much as the next guy, but if I eat one more burger my sweat is literally going to turn into fryer grease.")

Boyfriend is riding high on another successful performance. "They were chanting my name at the end of my set--the whole crowd! Hell, they were calling for an encore!"

Girlfriend jumps into his arms and showers him with kisses. He then admits that he didn't actually get to do an encore ("apparently, they don't let opening acts do them. But the crowd wanted it!"). She gives him another kiss and says, "And how could they not?"

Pico clears his throat and says, "Yeah. Congrats, man."

Boyfriend and Girlfriend go quiet for a moment. Then Girlfriend says, "Babe, I think it's time to tell him."

Pico says, "What, the thing you two have been so cagey about lately?"

Boyfriend says, "Yes, that!" and agrees with Girlfriend that now is the time.

"OK," Pico says. "Spill it."

They then proceed to tell Pico that he means more to both of them than he knows; that Boyfriend never really stopped caring for him and that Girlfriend's feelings have grown to the point that they can't be ignored. ("It was seeing you keeping us safe while Boyfriend was battling that military guy...that...Tank Man! I may be a demon, but you made one hell of a savior!")

Pico asks them what, exactly, they are saying.

Boyfriend says, "We're saying we both wanna jump your bones!"

Girlfriend laughs as Pico sputters and turns red. "Well, yeah, we ARE saying that. But we're ALSO saying we love you and we want you to be with us and we really, really hope you want to be with both of us, too!"

Pico seems to take a moment to work through this in his head. "So...we would all be together...like, sharing each other?"

Boyfriend says, "Yeah, pretty much exactly like that!"

"And you're both OK with this?"

Boyfriend and Girlfriend assure him that they are.

Pico takes a moment to reflect, realizing that yes, he really does care about these two idiots far more than he could have thought possible. He realizes that he liked having Boyfriend holding him when he needed to be held and that he'd really felt something when Girlfriend was ribbing him over how he might look in a suit. So he takes a deep breath and says: "OK."

Boyfriend and Girlfriend both cheer and he can hear the two of them jumping up and down like a couple of morons. He lets them have their moment before saying, "So...now what?"

Girlfriend says, "Well, now I have to go home. Mom and Daddy are going to be expecting me to be home when they get back from the concert and they will freak out if I'm not there. But--" and here she squeezes both of Pico's hands in her own while her voice gains a sultry edge "--I think you two should take the rest of the night to...reacquaint yourselves!"

Pico's response is to basically go "Huh WHAA?" to which she absolutely cackles. She swoops in to give him a quick peck on the lips, gives the same to Boyfriend, and bids them both farewell.

Left alone with Boyfriend, Pico is suddenly nervous. Boyfriend assures him, "We don't have to do anything if you aren't ready, but if you are...."

Pico feels like his brain is broken. Words are not happening right now. He just stammers out, "I...dunno...?"

Boyfriend tells him that's fine and suggests they watch a movie together. Pico snaps out of it enough to say, "Hate to break it to you, Bee, but I don't think movies are going to be as fun for me as they used to be."

"Well, we'll pick one where you can just listen then!"

Pico decides that this is acceptable. They start the movie sitting together on the couch, Boyfriend holding Pico. After some time, they do begin to kiss...which turns into making out...which seems as though it might turn into something more until Pico's incision starts to hurt.

Boyfriend quickly leaves off, not wanting to hurt Pico. Pico tells him he's fine but he's not really sure he's ready to go that far yet. Pico then tries to apologize, but Boyfriend brushes it off, saying there's no need to apologize and he's more than willing to take his time. They end up dozing off on the couch together.

As they sleep, Pico's cell phone receives a text message from Darnell. The text reads: "Bruh, are you OK? Have you seen this shit?" Attached is a movie file labeled "Carrot Top".....

~

Uh...this piece ended up WAY longer than I intended it to be. My "summaries" are beginning to become closer and closer to "actual proper story-writing" and it is completely unintentional. Also on a side note: the scene between Pico and Boyfriend was much more detailed (and consequently, somewhat...erm...steamier), but I wasn't sure it was appropriate to include in a post labeled "For Everyone." If I ever DO turn this into a proper fic, that scene WILL be included! More coming soon!

[chaos-monkeyy]

My latest original smut work, and another one that I had a ton of fun with 😁 I'd love to know what you think!

Trans M / Cis M, Explicit (naturally), a little shy of 4.5k words. SciFi/Fantasy, age difference + military rank difference. Also posted here on AO3 with full tags; no archive warnings apply.

Opening teaser:

“This is callsign: Gremlin, I’m going down, repeat, I’m going down! Can anyone hear me? Need search and rescue, send help, I’m going d—”

His own panicked voice, nearly drowned out by the rattling of his ship as the raging storm tossed him around in the air like a child’s toy, was the last thing Kyl heard before everything cut off in a crunch and the world went black around him.

—

The next thing he heard was a forlorn beeping. Blinking groggily as he came to, Kyl lifted his head and looked around.

The beeping was coming from the console of his one-person scout ship and the world was white now, instead of black. Wincing at the bright glare from the snowscape outside, he squinted through the half-crumpled, tilted canopy while the beeping finally warbled itself into silence.

There was nothing out there. Nothing to see but empty, windswept snow stretching to the horizon, the sun riding high in a pale aqua-blue clear sky. The last flickering lights on the ship’s console died a few seconds after the beeping did. Kyl groaned, the sound coming out as a faint croak.

Well, shit.

After a moment of sitting there with his eyes closed against the bright glare, Kyl took a deep breath and unbuckled his harness. He moved slowly, gingerly, certain he had to be injured and just wasn’t feeling it yet— but, to his surprise and relief, he seemed to be fine. Aside from a few strained muscles, some bruises from his seat harness, and just generally being shaken up by the crash landing, at least. 

First things first, then. Take stock. Forcibly pushing away the anxious worry tickling in the back of his mind— why had base gone radio silent on him like that? Had they even heard his call for help? And what the hell was he going to do if they hadn’t?— Kyl wiggled out of his seat and started rummaging through the interior wreckage of his ship.

There wasn’t all that much to search through; he’d headed out on what was supposed to be a routine one-day scouting mission, back by suppertime. He had maybe a day’s worth of water and rations. Two days if he made the supplies stretch. Nowhere near enough to try hiking back to base from this far out, though. Especially not without proper cold weather gear. He didn’t even have a jacket. And where one unexpected, unprecedented, furious storm had hit… Who knew what could come next.

Aside from the food and water, he also had a first aid kit he luckily didn’t need, save for the metallic emergency blanket folded up in the bottom of the kit. Kyl shivered as he repacked the kit minus the blanket, squinting out through the canopy again. Another howling gust of wind buffeted past, swirling up the snow and rocking the downed space craft with ominous creaking sounds. The wind whistled into the cockpit as well, Kyl noted uneasily, cold drafts coming in through the cracked plastiglass canopy and the buckled metal alike.

Well, first rule of survival: stay put if you can. Even if his mayday hadn’t gotten through to base, they had his planned flight path. Someone would find him soon, surely— hopefully— and from what his scans had been showing before the sudden and violent storm had swatted him out of the sky, from what he could see outside… his wrecked ship was probably the only shelter he’d have for kilometers around anyway.

So Kyl found the least drafty corner of the cockpit, wrapped himself tightly up in the emergency blanket, and settled in for what he hoped to hell would be a short wait.

—

It wasn’t exactly short, but it wasn’t too long either, all things considered, before someone did find him.

A little under a day and half after the crash at his best guess, Kyl was jolted out of fitful sleep by a loud banging sound on the outside of his crashed ship. He froze, relief and alarm warring foggily in his brain— what if it wasn’t his people; what if it was someone, or something, else who had found him? They were still exploring this planet, after all— but then a muffled voice called his name.

“Gremlin? Pilot! Answer me, Kyl, burn you!”

Kyl nearly fainted with giddy relief. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.…

[iheart-nana]

xiii. pieces of my shattered heart

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN ─ pieces of my shattered heart.

❛ even in my worst times, you saw the best in me ❜

Narrator's Perspective

Taesung found himself lingering around the music club after the rest of his bandmates had left. He tried his best to explain to himself why he was waiting there. He had nothing to do after going home anyway. May as well hang around there for a while; But at the back of his mind, he knew he was waiting in hopes of seeing her.

As if she was listening to his thoughts, Yumi emerged from her usual practice room. Trying to act nonchalant, he pretended to look around.

"You're still here?" she asked. He turned to look at her, "Yeah, I'm just passing time."

"Oh."

The awkwardness in the air was painfully obvious.

"Why are you standing there like that?" he asked her.

"Like what?"

"Don't you have to go home?"

"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" she questioned suspiciously, "Are you in trouble? Doing something wrong?"

"Why do you assume the worst of me?" he demanded of her.

"Can you blame me?" she shrugged, "You're the spitting image of a delinquent. You look like the kind of guy who would beat up kids in a dark alleyway."

"Thanks for telling me what you really think of me."

"You're welcome," she answered with a sarcastic smile.

He scoffed, getting up and making his way towards the exit. Yumi was left confused at his strange behaviour, but still followed him out, realizing she needed to go home.

She saw Taesung standing sighing on the pavement. In a split second, before she could comprehend what was happening, he turned around rapidly, grabbing her by the waist and looking into her eyes with an unblinking gaze. The thumping of Yumi's heart sounded in her ears. The touch ignited a spark inside her as her eyes widened. She could hardly make sense of what she felt at that moment.

"Is she gone?" he asked.

"Huh?" Yumi squeaked out, conscious of the warmth on her face.

"The girl standing across the streets; Is she gone?"

"There's no one there."

She stumbled backwards as he let go with no word of warning. There was no way to calm the rapid beating of her heart. All she could think of was that she wanted to run away. She wasn't ready to face whatever the hell she was feeling.

"I have to study for a test," she yelped, breaking into a run.

She ran all the way home.

💿

Eunyoung stood waiting at the bus stop. She distinctly remembers going home alone every day in the past, but somehow, today Sunjae's absence affected her greatly. She missed his company, his sweet gestures and the way he made her laugh. The bus doors opened in front of her. There was no queue as per usual, but she couldn't get onto the bus. It felt as if a supernatural force was holding her back. In her hesitation, the automatic bus doors closed and the bus went on without her.

Her feet led her straight to the swimming pool. It was almost an unconscious decision. When it came to Sunjae, she seemed to act without thinking. She felt it was strange as she had always been a rational person, so why was she acting like this now?

On spotting one of the swim team members she interviewed, she went up to him and asked, "Hey, I was wondering if you've seen Sunjae?"

"You're looking for Sunjae?" he repeated, his voice laced with hesitation to answer her question, "It might not be my place to tell you this, but he was rushed to the hospital this morning."

Choi Eunyoung's Perspective

My breathing had become heavy, my vision blurred with tears and my entire body trembled in shock as I stumbled up the hospital stairs to see where Sunjae was. I could hardly believe it; I thought I averted his injury. How could this happen? How could I let this happen?

The lady at the reception told me that he had just come for a check-up and consultation and that she couldn't reveal anything more. After that, they practically kicked me out of the place and I was left sitting on the bench outside the hospital, my eyes spilling out buckets of tears.

The familiar pang of self-doubt twisted in my gut. A wave of nausea washed over me – a crushing failure to safeguard him. My mind spun, questioning my very presence in this past. Was I just a fabricated hope, a delusion of control? Was Sunjae's fate an immovable monolith, destined to crush him regardless of my intervention? The questions echoed in the hollowness of my chest, a chilling mirror to the grief that shattered me upon learning of his death. It felt as if my heart, once a fragile hope, had shattered into a million, irreparable pieces, each shard piercing through my skin as an unwelcome revelation dawned upon me.

Ryu Sunjae's Perspective

The palm of my father's hand crashed against my cheek, pain erupting on my face. Tears began to form in my eyes as I avoided his gaze. I had no desire to look at the disappointment in his eyes, which I already felt from within. The meagre physical pain couldn't compare to the storm of self-hatred that raged within me. Years of gruelling training, the sting of chlorine in my eyes, the ache in my muscles─ all replayed in my mind as if I needed to be reminded of everything I went through during my time as a swimmer that had now come to an abrupt halt. 

"You dare talk about quitting in front of me! If you ever say such nonsense again, don't you ever think of coming home!"

That was the last straw for Sunjae.  He ran blindly, the sting of tears mixing with the salty remnants of the pool on his face. He didn't care where his feet were taking him, just as long as they were taking him away from the crushing weight of his father's disappointment and the prison of his own unfulfilled dreams. His vision blurred to the point where he could no longer see the road in front of him.

Just then, he felt the touch of a familiar, delicate hand grab hold of his wrist and he came to a stop. As he wiped his tears, the sight of Eunyoung standing before him became increasingly clear. He was stunned, momentarily forgetting his sorrow that came crashing back in an instant. That was when he noticed the tears flowing from Eunyoung's eyes as she embraced him in a despairing hug. He could feel her sobbing against his shoulder, breathing heavily.

"Eunyoung, I─"

"I know," she cried as her grip around his shoulders tightened. 

Sunjae too began to sob uncontrollably, wrapping his arms around Eunyoung's waist. Words were unnecessary. In that embrace, Sunjae found a solace he hadn't known he craved. The weight of his father's disappointment, the crushing burden of his secret – it all seemed a little less unbearable with her arms wrapped around him. He clung to her silently in the middle of that dark narrow lane as the world around them seemed to dissolve.

☾⋆｡𖦹 °✩⋆｡° ✮

nayoung's notes: i just want to be hugged by sunjae. that is my new goal in life. this chapter was such a rollercoaster ride. hope you enjoyed!

delphi's notes: yumi's accusations are too funny istg. sunjae and eunyoung must be protected o((>ω< ))o

next chapter: saturday list of chapters here!

[obligatoryidolblog]

Pilgrimage

Genre: Smut? Weird? I’m not even sure what to call this

Pairing: Seonghwa/reader

Warnings: unprotected sex, lots of references to mental instability, lots of religious references?

Summary: When your midlife crisis comes a few decades too early, you run away from home and into a man who steals the last bits of your sanity.

A/N: This is a complete rewrite and rework of a blurb I wrote before.

Masterlist

Audiobook version above.

Steam wafts up from your coffee mug. You have no idea where the hell you are. That should worry you. Normally it would worry you. But tonight is anything but normal.

You think people can tell. Or it could just be that you are alone, doing nothing but drinking coffee and scribbling on a piece of shitty scrap paper from the bottom of your bag. You swear you’re not looking to be ‘picked up,’ man down the way. You’re just here because here is where you’re at. And no, young ladies next to you, you are not crazy, a prostitute, or an addict.

Well, to be honest, the crazy part is debatable. Like, you’re in your early twenties and you just ran away from home. Guess your midlife crisis came early. But let’s not think about that. Let’s think about the waitress.

Probably your age, but she looks tired, old. Cute, bobbed hair of a flat color obviously obtained from a box, a neat row of short bangs brushing her brows. She looks like a throwback to another era, her precise black eyeliner speaking to the mid twentieth century.

You want to talk to her, but she’s busy. That’s what you tell yourself, anyways. You could never actually strike up a conversation with her. ‘Painfully shy’ has never been a more apt description of a person. So here you sit, watching the waitress through the curtain of your hair, her plump frame hazed by lank strands.

She has an odd, almost imperceptible rhythm to her movements behind the long bar you are seated at. Water dispensing, coffee, check the window to the kitchen, take a breath, hitch her smile back up and do it all again. It’s hypnotizing. You want her to stop and just… scream. You can see it there, in her eyes. She wants out.

You want to tell her that you understand. You wanted out, too. You’d take her with you. Ride off into the sunset. Hit the dusty trail. Thelma and Louise, reborn. But things like that don’t happen in your life. You are having your breakdown, but that doesn’t mean she is, too. Maybe she is perfectly happy working the bar at this diner. Maybe you’re just trying to find some connection.

Your rational side is trying to emerge again. Can’t have that. This is your break from reality, and you won’t have sanity infringe upon it. If you stop and think, then all the running is lost. You have to keep moving, keep looking ahead, don’t stop, don’t think, don’t let feelings sneak up on you. Watch the waitress and dream. Everything else is behind you.

Yeah, that’ll work.

As you sweep your eyes over her stained uniform once more, you hear the ding of the door. You don’t turn, don’t look, lost in your wandering imagination. But you’re dragged from your downward spiral by the form that slides to the stool next to you. Glancing over, you find a sharp profile and incredibly soft looking hair framing it. This creature almost seems to glow with ethereal light. His eyes swing over to you for a moment and in that moment you feel… salvation.

He gives you a brief smile, then turns back to order a coffee from the now-forgotten waitress. You study him, no part of your sanity remaining to remind you not to stare at some stranger in a diner in the middle of nowhere like some kind of freak. Thankful to whatever god had sent him your way, he doesn’t seem to notice your intense stare.

His lips are full, softly flushed. You bet they’re soft. You bet all of him is soft. You bet he’d laugh at you if you hit on him. Hell, you’d laugh at you. Why are you so awkward? You have no clue how to even smile at him without looking scared. Dammit, you want to smile at him. You want to pull his glorious attention back to you and ask him question after question until you know everything about him. You want to touch him and see if his skin is as soft as it looks. You want to kiss him. You want to be bold.

But you’re still sitting there, mentally stripping him and running your tongue over his skin as he sips his coffee and looks at his phone, unaware. Good job. Even in the midst of your early midlife crisis you’re a pussy. You wish you could say you’re surprised by your cowardice, but it’s nothing new. This escape to the unknown is the biggest step you’ve taken in a long time, and even now you’re barely an hour from home.

You are apparently bad at having a breakdown, even. Again, no big shock. Your life has been one big string of failure and you suppose you can’t break that lovely streak. You guess that’s one thing you didn’t fail at. Should that be comforting? It really isn’t. Time to stop dwelling on this and focus on the matter at hand.

The man. He’s looking at you.

“Yes?” you rasp out, wincing mentally at the curtness your nervousness created.

“Can you pass the sugar?” he asks, his deep voice soft, just as velvet as you imagine his body to be.

“Oh… yeah,” you mumble, feeling your face deepen in color as you slide the container to him.

You have to get a grip on yourself.

Ha. As if.

Taking a long swallow of your own cold coffee, you set your eyes back on the waitress, trying to grasp the remaining frayed ends of your decorum, and fail immediately upon setting the cup back down, turning once more to the magnetic draw of the man beside you. You choke slightly as you find him still looking at you, his eyes catching yours and that feeling of ease washing over you again at the genuine interest in his dark eyes.

Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. Just smile at him.

A shaky smile curls your lips, and you raise a hand to wave lamely. Good job, fantastic, not weird at all. You feel the inward cringe only distantly, though, as the heavenly man leans closer with a chuckle, and your insides go to mush just as much as your brain has been. He waves gently in return and you feel your mental state topple sideways. No one should be that pretty, it simply isn’t fair.

“Are you okay?” he asks hesitantly, his brow wrinkling slightly, glancing at your bag.

Dragging your eyes away from him is way harder than it should be but you manage it. Oh. Oh yeah. Your bag was overflowing with the clothes you’d stuffed in it in your haste to get away. From what you still hadn’t determined. You had a nagging sensation that what you were trying to get away from was yourself, but you weren’t going to unpack that.

Instead you turn an embarrassed smile to him again and shrug, realizing that you’ve been staring at your bag for what must be a good thirty seconds. He must think you’re absolutely batshit. Which you couldn’t blame him for since you were pretty much coming to the same conclusion yourself. His voice and his eyes go even more soft and compassionate and boy, does that do a number on your heart rate.

“I’m… I guess?” you finally stutter out, “Are-… are you?”

A wide smile bursts across his face at your complete buffoonery, and the breath is knocked from your lungs. That perfect face, meant to be canonized in every holy work, cracks into something pained, his bright teeth shining as his eyes crumple. A glimpse of humanity infuses this divine being, and you weren’t sure what was worse - being in the presence of an earth-bound god or the knowledge that such sublimity could be contained in truly mortal flesh. Time slows, the frame rate of the universe moving at the pace of your broken, idiot brain as you simply bask in the mushroom cloud glow of this angelic man’s laugh.

Record scratch halt, the moment is fractured, and that mesmerizing smile ends as the waitress leans in to refill his cup. He flashes a small semblance of the world-stopping smile at her and you are momentarily numb, reminded that this celestial being doesn’t reserve its smiles for you.

He’s a stranger, you freak. Calm down. He could be an axe murderer for all you know.

His gentle, graceful eyes turn back to you, and all thoughts flee as he lifts his mug to you in mock salute and finally replies, “No. I’m pretty sure I’m not okay.”

White noise overtakes your consciousness for a moment, the thought that he just so brazenly told you, a complete stranger who was (you were pretty sure) clearly going through Some Shit, that he wasn’t okay… the bravery. The honesty. The pure terror of how to respond without letting him know that you are currently completely off your rocker.

“Er?”

Well that certainly didn’t do the job.

His smile widens back into that lovely grimace and you quickly look down, lest you lose your goddamn marbles again at the vision.

“Sorry, I’m being weird,” he says, embarrassment leaking into his husky voice, and this draws your amazed eyes back to his.

“Weird is kinda my thing right now,” you shakily reply, your own lips curling into what you hoped to god was a normal smile.

Turning fully to face you, he holds his graceful hand out to you, and feeling like an alien doing this for the first time ever, you reach out to shake it as he says, “I’m Seonghwa.”

“_____,” you reply, dimly aware that giving your real name to some rando in the middle of the night probably isn’t wise, but the ability to care is somehow lost to you, so you throw all caution to the wind. “Are you running away as well?”

He raises a sharp eyebrow and you can practically feel little cartoon hearts popping up and circling your head. The flash of his teeth as he smiles is doing a number on your pulse, and you can feel the first genuine smile in months stretch your lips in return.

“I’m not running away from anything,” he leans in and whispers confidentially, making your pupils blow wide and your pulse thrum in your ears. “I’m looking for something.”

Meeting his eyes much closer to yours, you are pretty sure you’re either falling in immediate, deranged love with this guy or you’re about to have a stroke. Odd how often those feel the same.

“Scavenger hunt?” your entirely cockeyed brain manages to force from your lips, and you’re simply glad you’re able to form words when the mere fact that he moved slightly closer to you sent the last few of your firing neurons into a frenzy.

With a cocked brow that could hold up the heavens, he pauses a beat, likely reevaluating the choice of speaking to someone clearly completely out of marbles to lose, he then replies, “Of sorts. If the scavenger hunt list consists of pieces of myself.”

And with that the last bits of your wits scatter like the dandelion fluff that currently seemed to have taken the place of your brain. His reality-altering smile breaks again and you have fallen so deep into the well of his starlit eyes that you can’t tug your gaze away to reduce the psychic damage taken by viewing such human artistry full on.

Shit. Here comes that love/stroke feeling again.

“Maybe you could help me,” he slyly adds, as if he hadn’t just slithered into your crisis of self like the serpent into the Garden of Eden.

“Uh,” you feel your lips fumble out, unable to even muster embarrassment at being struck dumb by this brash demon or angel or whatever the hell this man was; certainly not mortal, no matter what his deviously human smile indicates.

He had to stop looking at you like that, you simply wouldn’t survive it. With a devastating narrow of his eyes, the cunningness of Lucifer himself imbues this being, this self proclaimed Seonghwa, and your soul turns fully from any god ever worshiped. This man, if he could be demeaned to be reduced to such a lowly state as human, could require any act of you and you’d acquiesce with the devotion only known by the truly devout, or the fully deranged. Either of which could now be true of you, if the hallelujah chorus in your brain was any indication.

“I… yes?” you stammer, completely unable to give anything but full consent to the compelling creature, not even needing the quite possibly very important details of what he requested of you.

Seeing your immediate and unhinged acquiescence, Seonghwa’s face softens once more, and you feel absolutely none of the self consciousness that you should at his concern for your lack of self preservation. Who were you to preserve your lowly self from such a blessed being?

After a moment’s perusal, which felt like an eternity to your fractured mind, he leans closer to ask in a confessional booth whisper, “Do you know what it’s like to live solely for other people?”

His words flow over you like the preface to a homily that would drag you to your knees for eventual communion. Happily, devotedly, zealously would you live your life solely for him. But no, this was not his intent, and he continued on in his liturgy. 

“For years now, I have given every part of me to other people. I’ve sacrificed myself for everyone else in my life, and where has it got me?” he clarifies, looking down into the depth of his shitty, overly sweet coffee. You could practically see the wreath of thorns adorning his crown, wanting to ask to see his palms, to view his personal marks of stigmata. Not in doubt, as Thomas had, but to kiss his wounds, to bathe them in tears as Mary Magdalene had washed the feet of her savior. 

Raising his eyes once more to meet yours, the hymns of gloria return and you struggle to hear his low voice as he asks again, “Do you know what that feels like?”

Unable to defy his words, you hear the confession slip from your lips, “I’m not sure I know what it feels like to live at all. For myself, or anyone else.”

Rocked with the realization of what you’d just avowed, you still your breath, waiting for your penance for interrupting his gospel. But instead, his hand slides over to grasp your own, a benediction for your transgression against him. 

“That’s the same though, isn’t it?” he asks, his canon hard to follow through your crumbling sanity but you listen on as this prophet gives his revelation, “You aren’t living for yourself. Is it so bad to want to be selfish from time to time?”

The cardinal sin of greed could never touch this seraph, you were certain of that, so with a shake of your head you denounce the mere idea, “Of course not.”

The martyr smile breaks over his face once more, and you’re convinced that the flickering fluorescent diner light behind him is now a halo, enwreathing his pained visage. How did this radiant being come to find you in this dump of a pitstop on a side road of perdition? How did you, your piteous, splintered self come to be so blessed? Was it blasphemy to question such a consecration? How long have you been staring at him in adoration, like some sort of lunatic?

The agonized smile had fallen from the grace of Seonghwa’s face, and he now looked almost hesitant, his beatific lips twisting to the side before forming yet another question, “Do you have somewhere to be? Where are you running to?”

The question of the night, surely. The hymns fall to silence in your mind as you are reminded of your own trials. A manic giggle nearly bubbles up inside you as you weigh his words. Running to somewhere? Certainly not. Only away. Always away. The burning itch to escape chokes you once again, panic nearly closing your throat. You meet his eyes, and you know that he sees the answer before you can speak. 

“I’m just… I had to get away. I don’t… I don’t know,” you mumbled out, unable to order your disorderly thoughts, but of course he divined your meaning clearly. Of course this Seonghwa could look directly into your soul, know your inner workings before you know them yourself. 

A tilt of his head dims the harsh glow of the light behind him, his halo diminishing to something less holy, something less angelic as he takes you in for a moment. You want to curl in on yourself, realizing that you had rushed from your house in naught but sweatpants and a stained tank top, no thought of a bra or underwear even. Great, just like you to meet divinity in your fucking pajamas, your hair a mess, the sweat of the dread of eternity in your own skin still drying on you. 

“Then…” he slowly begins, the wily glint taking hold in his eyes once more, his purity darkening with infernal intent, “would you join me? I have a room. Allow… allow me to be selfish. Just this once. Perhaps even allow yourself to be selfish.”

As if taking off in the middle of the night wasn’t already your foray into the selfish, but that's beside the point when Seonghwa’s long fingers were now slipping over your wrist, trailing with promise of joyful sin, his now devilish eyes sliding down to the gleaming, damp meeting of your breasts peeking over the top of your soiled tank top. Oh. Oh, that’s what he wants. Again, the familiar sense of logic tries to take hold of your brain. Are you really going to go to a hotel room with some dude you just met and had a weird bonding moment with for like five minutes in a dilapidated diner in some podunk nowhere town? Is this what you’ve come to? Have you finally really gone around that particular bend? Is your rationality truly completely obliterated? 

More importantly, do you give even the slightest damn? Because truth be told, you already knew the answer. Yes, you were going to go with Seonghwa to this chapel he so graciously invited you into. Sanity be damned, long forgotten consequences be damned. The burning trail of his fingers over your wrist brings a doxology roaring through your mind that silences the voice of reason. This being could do as he pleased with you and you would give an acclamation to his hallowed self in response. So in your ecstatic trance, you feel your head nod.

Seonghwa stands, and your center of gravity follows the pull of his orbit, nearly tugging you off your seat. As if immune to your complete ridiculousness ever since he entered stage left and stole the scene of your mental breakdown soliloquy, he ignores your wobble, and holds his hand out again. The alien motoring your brain once more takes the controls as you stare at his outstretched hand in confusion, flabbergasted in your stupor to the fact that he clearly wants you to take it in your own. Levers finally pull, and your arm reaches out like a ventriloquist dummy hand, puppeted with a stick by the last shard of lucidity in your stupefied psyche.

The angel choir roars to a crescendo again at the returned touch of his skin on yours, and then falls immediately silent as you meet his eyes. Supernova consumes your body, and you are pretty sure he has to feel the way your body rocks with the sensation of acceptance of your fate, but he has the continued grace to not point out your overt strangeness tonight. What a guy. What a man. You could fling yourself into the sun, immolating yourself from either embarrassment or sheer manic joy, you can’t decide which. But for now, you settle for letting him lead you from the diner, your haphazardly packed bag left orphaned and forgotten by your seat, now a shrine to the moment of your newfound zealotry.

With the blind faith of a new convert, you allow Seonghwa to lead you out the door and towards the shitty motel in the next parking lot over. Thoughts of axe murders and caution now wiped clean from your stricken brain, you find no place for doubt in this creature as he leads your form behind him, stumbling with scarecrow grace to a hotel room door. Like a cartoon character trailing toes along the floor, carried aloft by the scent of a delicious meal, you inhale the mere presence of Seonghwa as he unlocks and opens the door and leads you in.

It is at the same time not your finest moment and the best second of your entire existence.

The door closes with a finality that resounds with every decision that had led you to be sitting in that shitty diner tonight. You, like Seonghwa, had not been running from something; fate had driven you with the crack of a whip made of panic, out of your room, out of your house, into your car, and to the exact place that would bring you into the same realm as this divine man. Hazily, you decide to check later if that diner was somehow a holy site, drawing unknowing pilgrims.

But this thought is blown completely from your brain along with any other semblance of lucidity when Seonghwa’s hands grip your hips and his full, rose petal lips touch yours. This sensation is what turns sinners into saints, what razes mountains to the ground, what made the prehistoric seas boil and churn until life emerged.

The stroke of his fingers are the brush of a divinely inspired artist on the canvas of your skin. His palms press into your waist as in prayer, rucking up the hastily thrown on tank top in their quest. A soft sigh escapes your afflicted lips as he removes his own, looking down to once again meet your gaze. A flicker of doubt passes across his eyes and you repent for causing such a man any duress. Trailing your hands up his chest, over his neck, and tangling your fingers into his hair, you give a Mother Mary smile. 

“Please Seonghwa, continue,” your absolution dissolving the confessional screen that hazed his eyes, “be selfish.”

A soft grunt escapes his flushed lips as you tug gently on the hair entwined in your fingers, pulling him back into the joining of lips, his tongue now sweeping through your mouth as the sense of exaltation returns. His legs step forward, driving you back to press against the door, fervor now taking him as he licks into your mouth, one hand slamming to press against the door beside your head as the other tightens on your waist, his nails digging penitent crescent marks into the plush of your skin. The flames of hell itself consume you as you press your body fully against him, returning his kiss with full devotion. 

His lips slip from yours, beginning a pilgrimage down your jaw to the crux of your neck. Turning your head to allow him more room, you distantly see the hand by your head has balled into a fist, dragging a moan from your lips as he spreads a burning need throughout your body, sucking a deep bruise into your skin. More, you want more of the proof of his presence left on your body, evidence of this miracle to profess to the world. Your grip on his tresses tightens and a guttural groan vibrates from him to you. Seonghwa’s hips press forward, the length straining at his zipper rocking against your hip. One of your hands tugs at his hair harder, the other traversing down, wriggling between the flush of your bodies together to slide over Seonghwa’s twitching, confined cock.

His teeth sink into the bruised skin between them in response, and you cry out, a sharp jolt of pleasure rocketing to your core at the sensation. He quickly pulls himself away from you, and you pant, forsaken, turning pleading eyes to him as he stands staring at your trembling form, begging for him to return his grace to your body. Heavy breaths escape him as he appears to attempt to gain control of himself, to seek for the return of self sacrifice and restraint, to return to sanctity. 

Oh no, that won’t do. You will not allow Seonghwa to nail himself to a cross for your sins. Stepping forward, you pull the ugly, filthy tank top over your head, baring yourself to him. His gaze drinks in the bared skin, his fear for his mortal soul wavering as you take his hand and bring it up to cup the weight of your breast. 

“Stop thinking, Seonghwa,” you murmur, running the fingers of your free hand under his t-shirt, savoring the smooth skin hidden beneath, “Take my offering.”

If your strange verbiage caught his attention he did not show it, though you guess it was no more strange than anything else you’ve said tonight. Instead, he makes a pained sound in the back of his throat, then drops his mouth to the peak in his hand. You suck in a sharp breath as he laves his tongue over your nipple, his hands once more placing a firm hold on your hips as you wind your fingers into his hair again. Your head tips backwards, cries of pleasure leaving you as he pulls your pearled nipple between his lips and sucks. Dampness collects in your folds, slipping down to sully the sweatpants that you had tugged on merely hours earlier in your fervent haste to run. 

“Heavenly,” Seonghwa mumbles around your flesh, “You taste like heaven.”

And he would know, wouldn’t he? Your soul soars at his words, and you tug his head away, your hands now at busy work pulling at his shirt, desperate to remove it and see the skin cassocked away from your sight. He quickly divests himself, and you are unable to refrain from darting forward to run your tongue over his collarbone. He hisses in a breath between clenched teeth, and you have a vision of his head tipped back, gleaming teeth bared as his eyes tense shut when you glance up from taking in the planes of his chest as you run your mouth over every inch you can reach. Pressing your breasts against him, you nip along his neck, putting your wandering hands to work now on the opening of his jeans. 

“Wait,” he pants out, a rough grip on your wrists now, “wait.”

You look up, frozen at his sudden return of repentance. But instead of a look of contrition or doubt, you find him tilting his lips into a devilish smile, his hands on your hips maneuvering you to stand before the bed as he drops to his knees before you. 

“Your turn,” he says, his tone now the reverent one, his eyes shining with wicked idolatry, “I want you to be selfish too.”

As he begins to slide your sweatpants down your hips, you feel a rush of sanctity infuse you, no longer the acolyte, but now the priestess in this mass. His covetous gaze follows the descent of your ratty sweatpants, as if watching the wonders of the creation, eyes locking on the glistening folds he uncovers and the slide of honeyed dampness coating your inner thighs. When you step out of the sweatpants, he leans in and presses a kiss to your thigh, then pushes your hips backwards. 

“Lay down,” he says, looking up at you with carnal intent, and who are you to deny him?

Placing yourself slowly on the scratchy, cum-stained comforter topping the stiff bed in this dusty motel room shouldn’t feel like laying a cloth atop an altar, but should and shouldn’t have no place in your fractured mind tonight. Draping yourself back, Seonghwa moves to the bed, spreading your legs with a smoothing of his palm over your sticky thighs and settles himself between them. Normal you, sane you, would be mortified to have a gorgeous stranger raking eyes over your bare cunt like this, but you are not that person now. You are Seonghwa’s version of you. God help you, you hope to never return to normal if this is what madness brings. 

“So ready to do anything I ask,” Seonghwa says, still gliding his hands up and down your inner thighs as his eyes drink in your form, “What if I were to hurt you? What if I wanted to do evil things to you?”

There’s a moral quandary in there, still tickling the back of his saintly mind, but honestly you are positive that in your current state you would acquiesce readily, no matter. Coherent thought had long fled the building, and you were fully immersed in your fallacious worship of this man. Nothing he could do to you could ever be evil, because he himself is wholly divine. He could make a sacrifice of you and it would still be an act of devotion. 

“I’m yours to do with as you please. Be greedy, Seonghwa,” you tell him as much, watching the racing emotions over his face at your words, first shock, then a deep seated hunger. 

“Be careful with your words, lovely,” he growls, leaning over you to prop himself on a hand, his lips over yours, “I’m likely to believe them tonight.”

You meet his intense gaze steadily, firm in your faith in him, and reply, “Take whatever you want, Hwa. I’m your disciple tonight.”

His lack of comment on your endless oddity continues as his eyes blaze and he drops to press a hot, spit slicked kiss to your hungry mouth. You return it with ardent devotion, and gasp in a lungful of musty motel air when he begins to work his mouth down your body, his destination clear as he makes quick work of devouring the skin of your neck, your chest, your stomach. He pauses when he reaches the juncture of your thighs, trailing his nose over your mound, inhaling deeply, bringing a shudder up your body and your fingers back to his hair.

The licking flame of his tongue between your legs is a pyre built to consume every wicked woman known to man. It slips between your folds, dragging over your clit as your back arches and a cry escapes you. His arms slide under your thighs, his hands wrapping up over them to hold them open as he delves his tongue into your hole, and a trembling takes over your body, yanking wildly at his sweat-damped strands. As he fucks his tongue into you, licking out the wet that is now gathering even quicker in your core, you chanted to the heavens, both curses and prayers, a creed of your worship of the tongue driving you to ecstasy. 

Moving to draw your clit between his lips, he gives a hard suck and the breath is driven from your lungs. Your walls clench around the lack of his tongue, and you gasp out a silent plea, looking down to find his eyes closed in avaricious joy as he flicks his tongue over the nub he is still suckling at. Writhing, you finally draw air back into your lungs, and cry his name out, pulling a moan from him that vibrates through your clit and sends shocks up your spine. An ache forms in your walls, yearning to be filled, to clamp down on more than your own juices. 

“Please,” you beg, caught in limbo and viewing heaven from afar, “please Hwa, I need more!”

He growls, pulling away with another long lick over your hole to your clit, then sitting up to yank open his jeans. 

“That’s right, want it all, don’t you?” he questions, shoving at the waist of his jeans and boxers at once, revealing a quivering cock, red at the tip and anointed with glimmering precum, tumescent in the low light of the hideous lamp on the dingy bedside table, “My impatient little plaything.”

The covetous note in his voice is matched by the way you eye his cock with eager desire. You want nothing more than to shove him back and lay his dick on your tongue like the eucharist, to take the communion of his heavenly body and worship him fully. But he clearly has other ideas, as he tucks his bottom lip between his teeth and grips the base of his cock and drags the tip over your folds. This draws a long moan from your lips, and you drop your eyes closed at the heat of his precum mingling with yours on your folds. 

“So wet, so ready for me to take and take and take,” he releases on a deep breath, tipping his head back and screwing his eyes shut again as he coats the head of his dick with your juices, “All for me, right?”

His eyes dart back down to yours, commanding your response, which you readily give, “All yours, Seonghwa, anything for you.”

His moral dilemma seems to have ended as he gives you a look of fierce infatuation, all doubt gone, and you drink in the lust pouring off of him. He leans over you once more, planting a hand by your head as he positions himself at your entrance, leaning down to feather his lips over your jawline. 

“I told you to be careful with those words,” he mumbles into your neck, “Anything?”

You are resolute in your conviction as you breathe out, “Anything. Make me yours.”

You gasp in a deep cry as Seonghwa pushes his way into you, moaning against your shoulder, “And if I want to cum in you?”

“Give me every drop,” you cry out, palms finding his back and your nails turning in to rake marks down his shoulders.

“Fuck, lovely,” he shudders out, drawing his hips back to drive into your heat with force driven by maddening desire, “Say it again.”

The thrust of his cock is a divining rod directly drawing every drop of essence from your core. He sets a fervent pace, the sound of your wet folds slapping against his base filling the room. He grunts with the effort of his passion, and you repeat a catechism of need for him, for his seed to fill you to overflowing, to be possessed fully by him and only him. The heavy stroke of his thick cock stretches the limits of your neglected pussy, and the fire building in your loins is only fueled by the thickly slurred whisper of his desires and passion in your ear, a rosary prayer that would serve as penance for Satan himself. 

“God, beautiful, you’re so tight, so hot around my cock,” his words flood your senses, driving you nearer and nearer your peak, “My own little toy to fill with cum, going to fuck it into you so deep…”

He trails off into soft moans, pressing blazing open-mouthed kisses across your shoulders as you drag your nails down his back harder, arching your hips as much as you can to meet his rough thrusts, so close to paradise, but just out of reach. You cry out, begging him once again for more, and he pushes himself up, hooking an arm under one of your knees, the new angle making his harsh thrusts now batter that spot inside you that stole the breath from your lungs. As a final blessing, he brings his other hand down to press his thumb to your clit, rubbing circles on it, the fires of damnation in his eyes as they met yours. 

“Fuck, cum for me, please cum for me,” he grits out between his beautiful teeth, his hips stuttering as he twitched inside you with each snap of his hips, “Squeeze me while I fill you up, beautiful.”

The last clear thought you have, as Seonghwa imbues you with his gracious self, suffuses your mind and body with every bit of himself, fills you to overflowing both literally and metaphorically, is “this must be what miracles are made of.” And the consummation, the sparkling moment of orgasm, your trembling body drinking in the baptismal font of his seed, is the purest form of communion. You quake with your release, clamping down around him as you buck and cry out to the heavens you have now reached. He jerks his hips against you, teeth clenched as his cum streams into you in hot torrents. 

The sacrament of your joining overflows, and he collapses against you, still deep in your leaking cunt as you both catch your breath. Your once flagellating hands now sooth over his rent skin, and he draws in a deep breath then rolls off of you, bringing a sigh to your lips as you feel him slip out of you and his cum begin to flow out onto the filthy comforter below you. His head turns to look at you, and you see the same satisfaction you feel matched on his face. 

“Are you… was that okay?” he asks, propping himself up on an elbow and cupping your face in his palm.

A laugh bubbles up from your chest and you pull him into a kiss. How do you explain that “okay” is not even close to what “that” was? You were born again, baptized and given new life by this man. 

Feeling him settle against you, pulling you close, you close your eyes and whisper, “That was glorious, Seonghwa.”

But this transcendence can’t ever last forever, can it? Certainly not for a half-crazed dumbass like yourself, letting a crack in your sanity widen to the point of idolatry. The early morning light streaming through the ratty curtains of this shitty hotel room wakes you to find an empty bed, the deity you had gifted your entire soul to the night before gone. No note. No traces of him to prove he existed aside from the marks on your body.

Figures, right?

Stumbling your way into your clothes, you try to be angry. With him or yourself, either would do. But mostly, you feel renewed, as if his cum drying on your thighs had glued back together the shattered pieces of yourself. Exiting the chapel of a ratty flophouse room, you see the waitress from last night exiting the diner across the parking lot. She glances over then waves at you, and dimly you are aware of the pity in her eyes. It would bother the you from last night, but this morning you simply smile and jog over, this new you absolved of the sin of shame.

“Hey,” she says as you approach, “I set your stuff behind the counter for you. Are you okay?”

You consider her well-intentioned question for a moment, then reply with the beatific smile of the resurrected in spirit, “Never better.”

[screechthemighty]

Yeah, soooo, this was supposed to be a fun little lighthearted chapter. That didn't end up happening, but there is a bit of silly, so...hopefully that makes up for the ending?? Anyways, told you this one might turn up sooner, lmao. AO3 link in a reblog, full chapter below!

the unknowable tomorrow | a tristamp fanfic part seven: wolfwood

note: this chapter also uses lyrics from "carry that weight" by the beatles. it also quotes the english dub of trigun stampede 1x4 and dialogue from 1x7 (so it's gonna be that kind of chapter). there's also references to parental/sibling loss (including livio's death) and child abuse, but neither are graphic.

.

Wolfwood emerged to the sound of whistling wind and the red light of a daytime sandstorm to his left. His other slides were shielded by a decently-sized but shallow rocky cave, sitting at just the right angle to block the wind.

“...okay…”

Wolfwood didn’t bother looking for the portal; he knew it’d be gone by the time he turned around. Instead, he started searching for signs of life. People haddefinitely already taken refuge here: there was graffiti etched into the stone of the longest wall, a neat pile of worm scales in a far corner, and one of the shorter sides had been shored up with metal sheets. There was even a map etched in among the graffiti, though it was so rudimentary that Wolfwood couldn’t guess how it lined up with the cities and towns he knew. There were settlements, though. The first seeds of civilization.

What, do I have to go to one? He rolled the lollipop in his mouth as he considered it. The flavor was a bit of a pick-me-up, but he’d absolutely kill for…

…wait. He was outside. He could smoke if he wanted to.

Wolfwood crunched through what was left of the lollipop and swapped the stick out for a cigarette as fast as he could. “Finally,” he said. He had to move further back in the cave to light it properly, but the first puff was absolute bliss. “Owe you one, gramps,” Wolfwood said.

Poor Roberto. Dragged into this shit when he’d had the good sense to try and walk away. Wolfwood exhaled another cloud of smoke and lifted the cigarette in a salute. “God grant you pardon and peace,” he said.

He didn’t even know if those were the right words, but he meant them this time.

Wolfwood kept surveying the area as he smoked. No sign of Vash–he didn’t even see carvings that matched his handwriting–so what was he doing here? Couldn’t have dropped me somewhere with better weather? He finished the cigarette, almost reached for another, but reminded himself that he had to ration those, too. Unless he wanted to start harvesting the worm tails himself. Been a while since I was that desperate.

“...ey…!”

That wasn’t the wind.

Wolfwood moved closer to the mouth of the cave. It was hard to tell with all the visual chaos of the storm, but one shape definitely looked like a person on a thomas. And he had a pretty good idea who it was.

“Hey!” Wolfwood yelled as loud as he could, half stepping out into the storm and waving his arms. “Hey! Over here!”

The shape changed directions. It grew more detailed as it got closer: a thomas, as he’d suspected, kitted out for long distance travel, with a figure wrapped in dirty white cloth astride it. The person’s face was obscured by oversized goggles and a hood, but Wolfwood knew.

Who else could it be?

“Here, get in!” Wolfwood stepped back as the thomas entered. It looked cranky as anything, probably pissed it had been dragged into this mess, and he didn’t want to risk getting nipped. “What the hell are you doing, wandering around in this?”

“Nico?!”

Wolfwood had known already, but hearing Vash’s suddenly more mature voice threw him off. It threw him off even more when the hood and goggles came off, revealing a face he almost recognized. Not that Vash had been a total stranger last time, but the haircut and the little bit of baby fat had made identifying him harder. This was closer to the Vash he remembered. He knew that dumb haircut, that face that Vash was finally starting to grow into, and definitely that smile. It was the rare, actually happy smile that Wolfwood had barely seen during the time they’d traveled together.

“Hey, ki-”

That was was as far as Wolfwood got before Vash jumped off the damn thomas to hug him. “Omph…easy!” Wolfwood caught him, barely. The sudden embrace made him realize how tall Vash had gotten. How old is he now? How long was I gone?! “Guess I don’t have to ask if you’ve been eating.”

“I’m normal sized for my age,” Vash confirmed. Did he sound so muffled because his face was buried in Wolfwood’s jacket, or was he crying? “It’s really you.”

Great. The old familiar Wolfwood is an absolute shithead feeling was back. “It’s me,” he said. “I didn’t mean to rush out on you. Sorry.”

“‘S okay.” Vash pulled away from the hug, not crying-crying, but definitely teary-eyed. “Was everything okay? You said it was an emergency.”

Right. The note. “Yeah, it, uh, sorted itself out.” Wolfwood gave Vash another once-over. “Seriously, what happened here? You doubled.”

Vash laughed. “It’s been three years. I’m a real teenager now.”

Wolfwood snorted. “Good luck with that. Three years…” Three years for Vash, seconds for him. The difference was disorienting. “What are you doing out here?”

“Oh, I was…” Vash suddenly went pale and spun around to check on the thomas…well, first on the saddle, then suddenly the mount, making sure that it was breathing properly, then back to the saddle. He moved a few things aside, revealing some kind of gadget with a blinking light sewn onto the saddle. “Okay,” Vash said, relieved.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a tracker. If mine’s on, Brad’s probably is, too, so they can find us once the storm’s over.”

Can I tack one of those onto you permanently? Wolfwood shook the thought away. “Brad a friend of yours?” he said. He barely knew anything about Brad, besides the fact that Vash seemed okay with him in the future. Maybe now was a good chance to learn a thing or two.

Vash nodded. “He’s from the crew.” He started tending to the thomas more thoroughly as he spoke, taking off its hood and offering it some water. It still looked disgruntled, but it accepted the drink. “He looks after me.”

Looks after, right. “Are they treating you better?” Wolfwood asked carefully. “They let you out of that room, at least?”

“Oh, yeah, I have my own room now!” Vash said. “With a bed and everything. I didn’t have to wear handcuffs anymore after the Plant. They just had someone keep an eye on me, and now they don’t even really do that anymore when I’m on the ship.”

“...that’s…” Not worth getting excited over. “...good.”

“Yeah, it’s been great! I’ve been helping out with the Plants. Guess I can do something after all…” Vash turned around and suddenly frowned. “Why do you look like that?”

Shit. Wolfwood’s neutral-but-paying-attention face was out of practice. “Look like what?”

“That.”

“This is just my face. Something wrong with my face?”

“You look all…” Vash imitated a frown. It looked a little exaggerated, in Wolfwood’s opinion. “...mad.”

“I absolutely do not.”

“You do!” Vash’s hand darted forward, poking between Wolfwood’s eyes, like he was trying to smooth the creases there. “You’re literally doing it right now.”

He’d left an opening by getting closer, one that years at the orphanage and weeks of pent-up irritation with Vash the Stampede wasn’t going to pass up. Wolfwood used the offending arm to pull Vash into a headlock. “There’s nothing wrong with the look on my face,” he said.

“Hey!” Vash squirmed against Wolfwood’s grip. “You can’t win an argument like this!”

“Sure I can.”

“That’s not how it works!”

“Sure it is. Say there’s nothing wrong with my face.” Vash pouted. “C’mon. I can do this all day, you know.”

Vash squirmed a bit more, then went for the sudden ragdoll technique. He went limp enough that Wolfwood almost dropped him, but he was an old pro at scuffling. Vash would have to do a lot more to get free. “Don’t be so dramatic,” Wolfwood laughed.

“Your face is dramatic,” Vash shot back.

“Wrong answer.”

“I’ll bite you.”

“No, you won’t.” Wolfwood was only half-confident in that, but he knew better than to show weakness. “Nothing is wrong with me or my face. Okay?”

“...nothing is wrong with me, either.” Vash glanced up, his big blue eyes suddenly very serious. “Everyone’s really nice now. I promise.”

Really nice now. It was the now that bothered him. But he wasn’t sure Vash was going to hear that, not now, anyway. They could keep fighting about it until the storm blew over, or…

He’s been with them for three years, not you. He’d had to convince himself that everything is fine.

“Okay.” Wolfwood sighed and relented…mostly. He couldn’t resist giving Vash’s hair a good ruffling before letting him go. “Okay, I believe you.”

Mostly.

Vash backed away, trying and failing to smooth his hair back down as he did. “Did you beat up the other kids like that?” he groused.

“I did not beat you up. But yes, absolutely I did.” It was never anything serious, especially not with the younger kids, but sometimes you had to swing them around a bit to stop them from being so stubborn. Remind them who had the height advantage and all that. “Start hanging out with other kids and you’ll get it.”

“All the kids I know are babies.”

“...babies? Seriously?”

“Yeah, three already.”

Every response he could think of to that didn’t feel appropriate to say in front of this younger Vash, so Wolfwood stamped it all down with a shrug. “Good luck to them, too.” He looked out the cave again. “How long do you think this is going to last?”

“No idea. We didn’t even realize it was coming towards us until it was too late to get away.” Vash looked out that way, too. “I hope Brad is okay.”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” He knew for a fact, actually, but he couldn’t say that out loud without raising questions. “You’ve got to be tough to make it in a place like this. And the winds don’t look too bad. Long as he hunkers down somewhere, he’ll live.”

He knew that one from experience. He’d lived through worse storms himself, even ended up basically buried one time. Him crawling out of the sand in front of the half-submerged Punisher had scared the shit out of some scavengers. That had been pretty funny. He almost told Vash about it, but held off when he saw how anxious Vash looked. Probably not in the right headspace to hear about Wolfwood’s nonsense.

Okay, he needs to be distracted. I can do that. “I never finished that story I was telling you,” he said. “Emperor’s New Clothes?”

Vash kept staring for one heartbeat, two, three, then suddenly perked up. “Oh, I remember! Everything happened with the Plant…that was a crazy night.”

“No kidding. I can finish if you help me make this place a little more livable.” He wasn’t sure how long they were going to be there, but they might as well be halfway comfortable while they were.

As always, being given an easy-to-accomplish task and the promise of a reward did wonders. Wasn’t long before they were settled down on a slightly battered bedroll, the thomas unburdened and napping nearby. Wolfwood started the story over from the beginning. It may have been only a few hours for him, but it had been years for Vash. He wasn’t sure how much the kid remembered.

Vash was still an attentive listener. Sat the same, too: knees to his chest, heels planted on the ground, arms wrapped around his legs. He was at the age where he’d either be helping run the orphanage or thinking about finding work somewhere else. They didn’t have to leave until they were adults, but a lot of the kids didn’t stick around past sixteen. He’d known a few as young as thirteen leave with a passing convoy. If you looked old enough and worked hard, people were willing to overlook a lot.

Wolfwood envied some of those kids sometimes. Under the table janitor work on a sand steamer was a hell of a lot better than where he’d ended up. Probably better than whatever they expected of Vash to let him keep that room he was so excited about.

“...so once the kid had said it, everyone else felt safe saying it,” Wolfwood finished. “And that’s why it pays to listen to little kids. They’re pretty good at cutting through the bullshit.” He didn’t know if that was the original moral, but that was always his takeaway. “And no one ever talked about it again after that, because God forbid a guy in power be embarrassed for five seconds.” He leaned back against the cave wall, his right hand fiddling with his lighter as he spoke. “Probably wasn’t worth the three year wait, huh?”

“No, no, I’m glad I heard the ending. Thank you.” Vash pressed his cheek against his knees and smiled. “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Yep, I’m definitely a shithead. “Glad to be back,” Wolfwood said. It wasn’t entirely a lie for Vash’s comfort; him being back meant the void hadn’t eaten him yet, and it let him know that the kid was okay…okay-ish. There was still the matter of the sudden change of heart that just happened to correspond to him spontaneously exhibiting Plant powers.

Incredibly useful Plant powers.

Vash’s smile faded. “You’re doing it again,” he said quietly.

Wolfwood sighed. “I’m not,” he said. “But if I were…I just want to know that you’re being treated better. It wasn’t right that they kept you in there. That’s not…normal. You know that, right?” No response from Vash. He pulled his legs closer to himself, looking so much smaller suddenly. “Did they at least apologize?”

“Yes,” Vash said immediately. “Yes, they did. It’s been better, really.”

It didn’t read like a lie. It read like Vash believed it, which didn’t necessarily mean it was true. Vash seemed to believe a lot of things that weren’t entirely true. Wolfwood could almost forgive all that wishy-washy crap about not killing anyone, but…this?

How can you be so passive?

How can you keep letting people hurt you like that?

His mind kept transposing Vash’s scars onto that much younger body. He hadn’t known it had been going on this long. The thought made his skin itch and crawl in sympathy.

“It’d better stay that way,” Wolfwood said. “You can’t blame me for worrying after I saw you all tied up like that. I nearly broke the window and ran off with you…a couple hundred times.”

Vash raised an eyebrow. “That window can hold up to the vacuum of space,” he said.

“I’m persistent.”

“Not that persistent. Where would you have taken me anyway?”

“I dunno. I would’ve improvised. We could’ve…” Wolfwood shrugged. “Tamed a grand worm and become sand pirates or something.”

It was the kind of off-the-wall shit they’d say at the orphanage when they were fantasizing about being proper adults. It had the desired effect of making Vash burst into giggles. “Sand pirates?!”

“What? I think it’d be cool.” Wolfwood realized he was smiling. He hadn’t even had to force it. “We could still do it. Nobody telling us what to do…total freedom…”

“Ship Three’s got air conditioning, though.”

“Good point.” Wolfwood pretended to think about it. “New plan. We hijack Ship Three.”

“No!” Vash protested, though he laughed harder at the thought.

“I get to be captain.”

“How come you get to be captain?! I was there first.”

“Because I’m older.” For now, anyway.

“Yeah, well, the Plants listen to me. So I should be in charge.”

“Is that right? What are you gonna do, stage a mutiny?”

Vash put on his best innocent face. “It’s not a mutiny,” he said. “We’re unionizing. It’d be a strike. One of my demands just…happens to be that I become captain.”

Wolfwood let out a startled laugh. So much for him being passive. “You punk. After everything I did for you!”

Vash stuck out his tongue in response, but… “You can be co-captain,” he relented, “if you keep telling me stories.”

“Deal.” Wolfwood shook his head in disbelief, but held out a hand for Vash to shake. “You could’ve demanded more, you know.”

Vash shook his head. “I don’t want anything else.”

Wolfwood couldn’t tell if that was sad or normal. Some kids really were that easy to please; some were only that way because they didn’t know any better. Vash was probably the latter, much as he hated to think it. “Do you think you could actually do that?” Wolfwood asked. “Unionize the Plants?”

“Maybe? I think they’d have to be really unhappy about something and so far they’re not. Not on Ship Three, anyway. Off Ship Three…” He gestured towards the mouth of the cave. “...you can’t really unionize against the weather.”

Tell me about it. Some things were just acts of God. Like a storm. Like landing on this shithole. You just learned to live with it.

“Do you want something to eat?” Vash asked suddenly.

“That’d be great. Skipped breakfast, actually.”

“That’s really bad for you, y’know.”

“Says the guy who went weeks without eating.” Wolfwood gave Vash a quick nudge in the ribs; Vash bit back a laugh at the touch and squirmed away. “What’ve you got?”

It wasn’t much. Some kind of mystery tinned synth-meat that was just the mashed together bits left over from making Plant-based food look pretty. Rough bread. It was a meal designed to travel well, not necessarily taste great, but Wolfwood knew better than to complain. The water tasted cleaner than Wolfwood was used to; guess the water Plant wherever Vash had filled up was doing well. He waited until Vash had taken his first bites before starting on his. He still kept an eye on the kid, making sure.

Vash was still eating.

Thank God, Wolfwood thought, and found he meant that, too.

The sky darkened as they ate. Vash moved closer as it did, the worried look on his face starting to come back. Wolfwood braced himself for more questions about Brad. Instead…

“Where did you learn that song?”

Song…? Oh, yeah, that. “One of my parents,” Wolfwood said. “My mom or my dad…don’t know which one. They both died when I was little. I don’t remember much about them, but…” He tapped his temple. “The song stayed, I guess.” It didn’t surprise him. You could teach a kid pretty much anything if you put it to a tune.

“Oh.” Vash’s arms hesitantly wrapped around Wolfwood’s arm, a clumsy half-hug. “I’m sorry.”

Wolfwood shrugged as best he could. “Don’t be. I’m lucky, compared to other people.” It was hard to feel sorry for yourself when surrounded by a bunch of kids who’d been through the same or worse. At least his parents had just been snatched away by sickness. He hadn’t been abandoned or sold off. When someone had raised a hand against him, it hadn’t been the two people who were supposed to love him. Some kids didn’t even get that. “I found new people. Things worked out for a while. The Lord works in mysterious ways.”

That one…he wasn’t sure he meant. Sometimes he believed it, in that ground-in-your-brain way of a kid who’d been raised with religion and wanted to believe. Sometimes he didn’t. Most of the time, he just wished those ways were less mysterious. “That’s what they keep telling me, anyway,” Wolfwood finished.

Vash nodded. “I’m glad it did,” he said. “Can…can I hear it again?”

“Yeah. Sure thing.”

If Wolfwood closed his eyes, he could almost pretend they weren’t in a cave. He could hear the creaking of a mattress underneath him, see all those tiny faces too scared or too wound up to sleep, one or two curled up right next to him, holding his hand or just settling for being close. Some of them were probably still there in the future, he realized. How old was the youngest when he’d left? Two or three? She’d be Vash’s age by now.

I wonder if any of them remember me.

If they did, it’d only be as he was. He preferred that. It was why he hadn’t shown his face around Hopeland. He could’ve; the Eye of Michael couldn’t control every second of his life, and his body matched his age enough that there wouldn’t be any awkward questions about that. But if he went, then they’d know. They’d see what he’d turned into.

Better they remember him as he was.

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, carry that weight a long time…

Wolfwood heard snoring when he paused to remember how the rest of the song went. When he glanced down, Vash was out like a light, still clinging to his arm. He waited a bit longer, humming the first part of the song until he was sure Vash was asleep. Only then did he carefully tug his arm free and lay Vash down on the bed roll. “You’re too trusting,” he whispered as he pulled a blanket over the kid. “I could’ve killed you by now, you know.”

For a second, he could hear Vash’s stupid little chuckle, his voice echoing around the worm’s innards: I mean, you haven’t shot me yet, have you?

Like he’d already known what was going to happen.

Wolfwood hesitated. Nausea swelled up in his throat just for a second.

Did he know?

The thought drove him to step away and have another cigarette. And then another one right for good measure, because his nerves had decided rationing wasn’t important right then.

“What’s the end goal here?” he said. He wasn’t sure if the Vash-sounding portals could hear him, but hey, who knew? He sure as shit had no idea what was going on here. “Either this is a mistake or you’re dumber than I thought. What am I doing here?”

He wasn’t sure who that last question was directed to. It felt like a general inquiry. Vash, the Eye of Michael, God…whoever wanted to answer first. He was willing to accept anything.

But no answer came. There was just the whistling of the wind and the smell of his cigarettes.

Wolfwood sighed and stamped out his last cigarette. Even if Vash forgot about all of this…even if there was some end goal that made sense…

I’m the wrong guy. You should know that.

And yet, despite that certainty, he went back inside. He checked that Vash was still asleep before he settled down nearby. He watched the blinking light of the tracker on the thomas saddle.

You’d better get here fast, Brad, wherever you are.

And Vash had better be right about you guys being better.

.

He woke up to the soft cawing of a thomas and Vash’s voice. “...not good for you to eat, you know that.” A protesting squawk echoed in the cave. “I’m gonna put your hood back on if you keep acting like this.” Wolfwood lifted his head in time to see Vash shoving the thomas’s head away as it tried to snatch some food from his hands. “I mean it!”

Wolfwood let his head rest back on his bundled-up coat. “See, this is why I never learned to ride,” he mumbled. “They’re annoying enough when they’re little.”

Vash perked up. “Good morning! I think. Uhm, the sun’s definitely up.”

“Sure is.” Despite that, Wolfwood closed his eyes again. “Storm let up?”

“It has. They might be able to start looking soon.” Wolfwood heard approaching footsteps, then smelled more jerky. “You might want to eat before Brad takes it all.”

The name got Wolfwood to open one eye. Vash stood in front of him with some kind of dried meat and more bread. “...the thomas? You named the thomas after your human friend?”

Vash grinned mischievously. “Yep.”

Wolfwood paused. Then snorted a laugh and took the offered food. “Oh, I bet he was thrilled about that.”

“He’s gotten used to it.” Vash sat down next to Wolfwood and started eating his own food, shoveling it down quickly as the thomas watched them both. “What are you gonna go?” he added around a mouthful of food.

Shit. I don’t know how to answer that. His gut said to start running. Get as far away from Vash before he made anything worse. But the logical part of him knew that he probably didn’t have a say in the matter. He’d be stuck until the next portal showed up, and he was increasingly convinced those things had an agenda.

I ask again: what’s the endgame here, Needle Noggin?

“Well, first I’m having breakfast,” Wolfwood said. He lay on his back as he took his first bites, staring up at the ceiling so that he didn’t have to look Vash in the eye. “After that…”

…damn it.

“Can’t just leave you in here, so we’ll figure out your Brad situation,” he said. “The human one, not that one. Haven’t planned much beyond that.”

You say that as if you’ve planned anything in years. Honestly, Wolfwood had been floating along the currents of other people’s plans since the Eye took him away. This was just the first time he didn’t grasp what the outcome was supposed to be. Or why he, of all people, was the person for the job.

“You could come to the Ship,” Vash said. “I mean, if you want to. Like I said, air conditioning. And, uhm, the food’s usually better. Usually.”

Damn it.

Wolfwood shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but…I’ve got other stuff I’ve got to do.” Don’t look at him. Just eat your damn jerky and don’t look at him. You’ll lose your cool if you look at him. “I do appreciate it, though.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Vash sounded less defeated than Wolfwood had expected. That didn’t stop Wolfwood from feeling guilty. He tried to shove that feeling down. It’s for his own good. You can’t be here. You’re not going to be any help…

“Hey, do you know anyone named Claudia?” Vash asked suddenly.

“...no? Should I?”

Before Vash could answer, his saddle started chirping. He perked up, shoved the last of his food into his mouth, and ran to it. “What’s that mean?” Wolfwood asked as he sat up.

“Someone else from the ship is close. Might be Brad, could be a rescue party…” Vash watched the flashing light for a moment before glancing out the cave entrance. “They’re close, though.”

Wolfwood checked outside, too. He couldn’t see anyone yet, but the storm had cleared enough to allow reasonably safe travel. If anyone wanted to find Vash quickly, now would be the time to do it. My time might be up, Wolfwood thought. Thank God for that.

Behind him, the thomas grumbled in protest as Vash started putting everything back on. “If you let me do this, you’ll get to go back to the ship,” Vash pointed out. “All your friends are there, remember?”

“That thing has friends?” Wolfwood turned back around to help Vash. “I mean…I’m one to talk. It probably has more friends than me.”

Vash laughed quietly. The chirping went from a steady beep-beep-beep to something more rapid. Vash looked excited, then…

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

…sad.

I never should’ve left that bathroom. But would Wolfwood have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t? He wasn’t going to be able to live with himself no matter what; it was just a matter of which path hurt Vash less. He thought he’d known which one that was.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

“Better if I don’t,” Wolfwood said. Reaching over to tousle Vash’s hair again was another automatic reaction, one he immediately hated himself for. “Don’t worry about me. You just get yourself out of here, okay?”

Out of here and far away from me.

“Okay. But…if you ever do need somewhere…we’re not hard to find. I’ll tell everyone you’re okay. Promise.”

Don’t do that. Please don’t do that. “Thanks, Vash.”

The chirping grew more insistent. Finally, finally, Wolfwood could hear distant shouting. Vash heard it too, from the look on his face. He started scrambling to gather up the rest of his stuff; Wolfwood helped, relief shooting through as he did. Relief…and a bit of nervousness.

I hope he wasn’t lying to me. I hope that place is better. I hope…

Please.

That one word was the most sincere prayer he’d offered in years. He just hoped God was in a listening mood today.

“That everything?”

“Yeah.” Vash double-checked anyway. “Yeah, that’s everything.” He nodded, then looked up at Wolfwood. “Be careful.”

“You be…” Wolfwood froze when Vash hugged him, then carefully returned the embrace. “...careful. I mean it.”

“I will.” Vash’s hug was tight, hesitant to let go. For a second, all Wolfwood could think was that this was why he’d told Livio to wait inside. That last embrace had been bad enough in private. It would have been worse with all those eyes on him. “See you later.”

Wolfwood hated himself for making that promise. He wouldn’t be making the same mistake twice. “You take care of yourself, kid.”

Not quite a goodbye. Even if it was for Vash’s own good, he couldn’t bring himself to actually say the words. But it was good enough.

He hoped it was good enough.

Wolfwood watched as Vash mounted Brad the thomas and rode out into the storm, bundled back up in his cloak and goggles. He watched as Vash turned into a silhouette and joined another distant silhouette. He waited, gaze fixed on the exchange until Vash turned and waved. Wolfwood waved back. His stomach still twisted with nerves, but they rode off without any incident. That had to be a good sign.

The feeling of something at his back was an even better one. If the portal was back, that meant his job was done. He should’ve been relieved. He was relieved.

And incredibly pissed off.

“You gonna take me back to July now?” He turned around to face the portal. “Seriously. This has gotta stop. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove…”

nico

“CUT THE CRAP, NEEDLE NOGGIN!” Wolfwood winced and glanced over his shoulder. No one came rushing back over the horizon, so he guessed that Vash was far enough away not to hear it. He turned back to the portal. “I get it. You see it in my eyes, whatever. You’re wrong. If you’re trying to prove something, it’s not working.” His hands started shaking. “There’s nothing to prove. I’m…”

I’m nothing like you.

The absence of the weapon on his back felt like an ache. It should have been there, as a sign for all to see. Sinner. Murderer.

I’m Nicholas the Punisher.

And yet Vash had still looked at him like he was something else. Same as he had in that worm.

If I did that…if all of this is the reason that he said that…

He was worse than monstrous if it was. At least all those other times, he’d made a choice. He’d decided to kill those people. Decided to turn Vash over. Now, he was trying to help, and he still may have destroyed him. He wouldn’t just be a monster then; he’d be a curse. A blight on Vash’s life. Maybe on the lives of everyone who’d ever known him.

He thought of Livio’s body falling over the railing. His fledgling-fragile bones as he clung to Wolfwood in his sleep. He’d tried to protect him, too.

Bang up job he’d done.

“Just take me back,” he whispered. “Take me back or just…swallow me up. Anything that keeps you away from me. It’s over. Okay?”

nico

It was the same thing on a loop, but Wolfwood could’ve sworn it sounded pleading. Maybe even afraid. Begging. As if there was a damn thing Wolfwood could do to help.

“Idiot.”

He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Vash or himself.

Wolfwood thought about not jumping through at all, but he knew he couldn’t stay here. All he could do was step through and pray that Vash came to his senses.

[senjuushi]

Noble Musketeer Story: Pennsylvania

Episode 1: The Outcome of the Match

—One day at the military academy.

Kentucky: Heheh, how’s this!? 

Springfield: That’s really impressive... You caught so much...

Kentucky: If you keep practicing and don’t give up, Springy, you could... ah, Master! Thanks for everything today!

Master: 

You got a good catch. 

Did you go hunting? 

Kentucky: Yep, I did! But today’s not just about hunting... truth is, it’s a showdown with Pennsylvania! 

Kentucky: We’d been thinking about making smoked meat, salted meat, that kinda stuff for rations to take on missions... And with a time limit of five hours, this was an all-out hunting match! 

Kentucky: Ah, but winning ain’t about the number of catches, y’know? The difficulty of catching it, how rare it is, freshness... the victor’s decided by looking at all of those points, yep!  

Springfield: It’s been five hours, but... Pennsylvania-san isn’t back yet, so we can’t decide the outcome yet... 

Master: 

I wonder why that is. 

Could something have happened?

Kentucky: I don’t think you need to worry about that guy. He wouldn’t have any problems in a forest this size. If anything, he just caught somethin’ big enough to eat up a bunch of time. 

Kentucky: But that doesn’t mean I’ve lost, y’know!? Look here at all of this magnificent prey! I’ve won this match for sure! 

In order to see the results of the competition, (Player Name) decided to wait along with the two of them for Pennsylvania to return.

—30 minutes later. 

Springfield: ...isn’t he taking a little too long...? Pennsylvania-san isn’t the kind of person to go against his word... something must have happened. 

Kentucky: Yeah, nothing’s for certain in the forest... He coulda lost his footing somewhere or gotten attacked by a big animal he didn’t manage to kill in one shot...

Springfield: ...I wonder if there are grizzlies in this forest. If there are, even Pennsylvania-san would be... 

Master: 

Grizzlies? 

Kentucky: The brown bears they’ve got in North America! B-But there shouldn’t be any in England... 

Kentucky: A-Anyway! I’ll go look for him! Master, you can stand by here with Springy—

???: —Awooooo! 

Springfield: ...! That was...! 

Master: 

A dog’s cry? 

Howling? 

As (Player Name) and the others look around, the brush leading to the forest begins to rustle and shake. 

Kentucky: ...Pennsylvania! 

Pennsylvania: ...hey, I’m back. Sorry for bein’ late. 

Springfield: Pennsylvania-san! Thank goodness... I’m glad you’re alright...

Kentucky: You’re super late! And you don’t even have any big game to show for it, so what the hell were you do— wait, what’s that? That tail. 

There’s a swaying tail peeking out of the low brush that Pennsylvania emerged from. 

Pennsylvania: ...oh, this guy, huh? Well... I told him not to follow me, but he didn’t listen. 

Pennsylvania chuckles. From behind him, the owner of the tail finally shows his face.  

Springfield: A dog...? It’s quite big for a dog, and kind of wild-looking...?

Kentucky: Woah, seriously!? Isn’t that a wolf!? 

Pennsylvania: Yeah, he’s a wolf. 

Springfield: I don’t think you should say that so easily... 

While the three of them stand there, shocked, several more wolves emerge from the brush behind the still-relaxed Pennsylvania. 

Master: 

It’s not just one! 

There are more!? 

Pennsylvania: Well, of course. Wolves travel in packs, after all. 

Kentucky: How are you so calm right now!? And why’d you bring a bunch of wolves back where you were supposed to be hunting, anyway!? 

Pennsylvania: I found this guy injured while I was hunting. 

Pennsylvania: After giving him first aid and sharing some of what I’d caught, it seems that he’s recognized me as a friend. 

Pennsylvania: I told them I had to go home since it was time for us to meet up, but the whole pack ended up following me here. They’ve been warned not to hurt anyone, so it should be fine, I think. 

Springfield: That’s good... I suppose...? 

Kentucky: Well, if they’re safe, then I guess...? Wolves are pretty smart. 

Russell: You all! What are you doing out here? 

Kyoudou: Are those wild dogs? Or are they strays? Their faces are awfully imposing, though... 

Pennsylvania: They’re wolves, not dogs. 

Russell: W-Wolves!? Don’t tell me, you brought them here from the nearby zoo...!

Russell: You cannot keep wolves in a military academy! Return them to where they belong immediately! 

Pennsylvania: Even if you say that... I met them in the forest, and they all just followed along after me. 

Russell: Th-The forest...!? 

Kyoudou: That can’t be...! 

Kentucky: Why? Is it weird that there’s wolves in a forest? 

Kyoudou: ...in England, wild wolves are supposed to have already gone extinct. If some have survived...! 

Master: 

It would be a major discovery!? 

We have to report it to the proper authorities! 

Russell: Yes, (Player Name), you’re correct. This is becoming a serious matter...! 

Russell: I’ll go and contact the World Federation of Wildlife Conversation. This could be a valuable discovery! 

Pennsylvania: ...this has sure wound up serious. 

Pennsylvania: Aah, that reminds me... Kentucky. On the matter of our competition, I only brought back a handful of catches. 

Pennsylvania: I shared what I already had with the wolves, and I didn’t want to use my gun around them. 

Kentucky: Then... I’m the winner of this round! Whatever the reasons, I still won! Men aren’t allowed to go back on their word! 

Pennsylvania: ...yeah. You won, Kentucky. 

Kentucky: Hell yeah~~~!!!

*scene changes to a hallway*

—Several days later. 

Russell: Pennsylvania-kun! And (Player Name)-kun as well, how perfect. 

Russell: A little while ago, Pennsylvania-kun received a letter of acknowledgment from the World Federation of Wildlife Conversation.

Russell: After all, those wolves were thought to certainly be extinct here in England. It’s quite an achievement for Pennsylvania-kun to have aided in their finding and protection! 

Pennsylvania: ...is that so? I’ll go and receive the letter, then. 

Master: 

That easily, huh?

Aren’t you happy?  

Pennsylvania: Mm... it’s nothing to make a fuss about. 

Student 1: Hey, did you hear? Pennsylvania-san, the Noble Musketeer, found a bunch of wolves that were supposed to be extinct! 

Student 2: The wolves are super friendly too. Some of them came to play on the grounds again today. 

Student 3: He told me he’s even been hunting together with them in the forest lately! Pennsylvania-san is really amazing. 

Springfield: Everyone’s talking about Pennsylvania-san and the wolves, huh...

Kentucky: Damn it!!! Even though I won the hunting match...! That guy always steals the show, in the end! 

Kentucky: I won’t forget this, Pennsylvania—!!!

[chargetheintruder]

Fair warning: I'm ill, tired and things look bleak.

Okay, so here's the short version of it: I'm sick, been sick for months and nobody at the local Emergency Ward wants to look where the pain actually is (colon, bladder and kidneys), they just want to rant at me when I have a panic over this mess (and never knowing what's really wrong with me) as the pain spreads and gets nasty, repeatedly.

Yeah, it gets more detailed below the break, but in general the idea is that the bastards are like "Life-Threatening shit ONLY damn it, go home and suffer there!" so I really can't use 9-1-1 on my own until I am literally near death.

No really, the closest rational explanation I've gotten from them is that I've had near-perpetual Urinary retention and urinary tract infections since I first got the first catheter in February this year, and that this comes with me passing more kidney stones now since I don't retain anything anymore. That's it . . . but their recent blood work can't find any of their typical infections. I do have a month's worth of antibiotics anyway and I've been working through them, but not much has budged.

For the past 2, going on 3 weeks, it's been intense bladder pain in the mornings (from the thing being over-active whenever I sleep, and only when I sleep), followed by constant pain in my colon and left kidney area all day into the night. Half the time I can't walk on my own until I get some pain relief in me--I use a cheap walker to get around my own apartment. I really don't have any strength or endurance left in me. Nausea and weakness are regular issues.

Using the telephone to try to get help is a problem because when I call people they're constantly demanding I SPEAK UP AND YELL AT THEM which is draining. And screw my own privacy in my apartment I guess. I don't know why my phone line is like this, particularly when I am attempting an important phone call involving sensitive info I DON'T want my evil neighbors or the evil landlords (the local Public Housing Authority) to know.

But yeah, the pain keeps getting worse, and I'm trapped in this building. I don't have a car, can't drive one anyway (no license), don't sprout the wings needed to fly across town to make it to doctor's appointments, and in general I am trapped in this building thanks to what should have been temporary nerve pain and weakness in my left leg from February. The pain in my left leg and torso gets worse, I'm more and more drained each morning . . . and I don't know how much longer I have left of life, before the infection takes me, or before I lose it from the bullshit I have to deal with from this building.

What little I do know is this: if a urinary tract infection goes on too damned long it becomes kidney disease. I could die of kidney failure and the local ER would swear up and down and sideways that "we didn't see it coming" (they didn't look for it?) and that I "never have anything life-threatening going on". Then again I could get shot by someone else's gun too, and those people would tell me "well, it's only a .22 caliber, it's small, it didn't blow your brains out, and well, it's not life-threatening, so well, we're injecting you with IV antibiotics and Voltaren, putting a bandage on it and well, sending you home in an hour, good luck!" (/Reagan, irony much) And seriously, they would.

And yes, I have tried to talk with a social worker about my issues with this building. She lasted all of 2 weeks (and one of them was the week of my birthday, and didn't count). She went on healthcare leave and won't be back until December of this year. Forcing me to start over a second time with a third new person. (the first one was a Quality Surveyor, a.k.a. an admin person who wanted to know what the hell was going on . . . at least until I told her, of course) And then there's the healthcare "provider" working alongside Medicaid in my state . . . and making damned sure I can't ever get a ride to any of my appointments. No really, do I call it in 2 days in advance, or is it 3, or is it a whole WEEK because you're that incompetent and can't even handle pronouncing "Carle" (hint: the E is SILENT, a common feature in Standard American English, whatever that is) never mind working with it in terms of scheduling rides to the place. Damned thing is a fraud, I swear. I can't be the only one who can NEVER get their transportation assistance system to work, ever.

Point is: I am severely tired. I can't even use the toilet in my own apartment because if I actually DO poop? The vile, smoking neighbor next door will go off any time, day or night, light up a cigar and smoke up all of his apartment and half of mine too. And the same guy? Dragged in a leather sofa from off the street at the beginning of this summer, and yeah, he infested all of his apartment and half of mine too with bedbugs. I told the damned landlord about this BACK IN JUNE and nobody did a damned thing. Pest Control could have been here three times already to take care of this?

They had to wait until tomorrow. Of course. They'll be here at the crack of dawn tomorrow pounding on doors and demanding access, of course. I have to deal with my bed being torn up and everything sprayed and my not having use of my apartment for half a day over this . . . probably repeatedly for the next four to five weeks, every Friday now? Yeah.

And this is with all of the health issues. My life is ruined and falling apart already. But nah, I have to fuck around with this too while I might fall over and die any time. Lovely, right? (/s) (sarcasm, not sepsis)

I am tired, I am physically ill and about to lose my mind. I'm alone in this world, surrounded by enemies (I've slowly lost my friends, half due to this building, half from the pandemic years). This is where I would tell you that I'm sorry I failed you, but in truth.

My body's failing me, and I've failed myself I guess. From not seeing into the future and somehow knowing that these neighbors would be the worst and that this building would be the worst.

[cryptometaphor]

Me: I've given it some thought. While Sarah isn't here, I was gonna refer to myself as a serial-killer socialist because it's fucking based

ACP cuck: It's not. Also this is recorded dumbass lol

Me: Noone gonna sit through three hours for a gotcha

ACP cuck: YOU wouldn't ya narcissist lol

Me: ANYWAY... Green-Leninism.

ACP cuck: (sighs)

Me: It sounds way nicer while still admitting that ok, there's gonna be moral disagreements that...

ACP cuck: You can't help yourself can you? Are you that worried Sarah would be abhorred by you that you gotta hide behind...

Me: Well see, it's a stated fact the cia knew the green party was a front for the Soviet Union.

ACP cuck: I don't care!

Sarah: I don't care either.

Me: Eek lol

Sarah: Babe you are the biggest most selfish asshole in the world. You think I don't know that already? lol

Me: I mean not too...

Sarah: Not to me exactly. You know Stalin believed in socialism in one country to advance communism realistically. It was admittedly a third position stance and to this day fascists clutch their pearls at it to justify themselves. You are a liberal. So you take it a step further "socialism in one person" which is of course, you. What benefits you? And you move onto "what benefits Sarah?" And if we're really lucky, "what benefits my friends and family?" I don't hate you for it. You've been hurt a lot, you've been betrayed a lot, taken advantage of a lot, you didn't have the same foundation I did and had to learn to lookout for yourself, same way I had to learn to lookout for other people. But I could never think you're a bad person and leave you. I would never, EVER do that to you. I love you. You deserve to be loved. I know you love me intensely. So much so, you'll ignore your entire upbringing and experiences. You're scared, but you try for me. I notice.

Me: So in a way, you get it. Like it's in your own rational self interest too

Sarah: Well no shit I get it lol. Like I never argued selfishness is irrational, it's just not sustainable. Societies emerge with or without us. Better we have a functioning one than a dysfunctional one.

Me: I've got a lot of job experience being in leader positions hon and I can tell you the more people in a room, the more miserable it is. Sartre pointed that out too: hell is other people.

Sarah: You're a great leader. You win second or third place in anything you do. You're a fucking Chad.

ACP cuck: Trying to butter him up too...

Sarah: Fuck you I don't need to butter up this man lol. He's strong enough to where he could live without me. I couldn't without him. I need him. At the end of the day, I'm the one whose selfish. But I accept it and improve my conditions. That's dialectical materialism. Not just be a nihilist about it. Jim takes the reactionary approach because he has no faith in other people. He's never had a reason too. But he puts his faith in me and makes me feel like the most special girl in the world. I mean I'm am little offended by him thinking he can't just be bold and blunt about how he feels sometimes, but he genuinely believes I'm the one meant for him "I don't wanna screw this up" and sees me as integral to his happiness and purpose. I see that. He doesn't even have to fucking say it. Just the way he looks at me. No girl in here knows how that feels. You cannot begin to imagine how it feels when a man just looks at you and you can feel the love. Jim is amazing.

Me: I'm only amazing because...

Sarah: Because you have me? Don't lie to me bitch. I will literally jack you off until you cry lol

Me: LOL I don't think that's how biology works babe...

Sarah: Oh it does. First time you like it, second time you still like it, third time you're like ok that's enough, by the fourth time you're saying stop, fifth time you're actually physically fighting with me to stop, oh no I ain't stopping boy. Not ever.

ACP cuck: Damn, you as psycho as he is.

Sarah: (posts the "you're God damn right" meme)

Sarah: Jim never had a chance to care about himself, I never had a chance to care about other people. That's why we complete each other. I've always had help and sympathy, it'll make you bitter and feel worthless, Jim's never had help, it'll fill you with contempt. But together, there's just genuine love.

Me: Baby you keep talking like that and imma marry you over and over again until you the one crying lol

Sarah: Do it pussy, ya won't lol. Propose to me at the bus stop, the grocery store, Target, flea market, wherever, anywhere anytime. I'm gonna say yes every single time.

ACP cuck: It's like seeing two people at the insane Asylum.

Other Sara of ACP: Joker and Harley Quinn except not toxic lol

[the-almighty-gob-john-langley]

It's Easter Weekend and I'm Stuck on a Crossword Clue. 2 Across - Q. Where Was Jesus Nailed?

It's a Jesus Weekend, and in my role as the ‘Almighty Gob’ I preach comments in typical form from the pulpit of satire. Amen.

Does anyone know what was actually good about Friday? Severe hailstones, perhaps? Our NHS still in dire straits, people continuing to use food banks, and migration sorted?

Never mind, it's all good on Good Friday because Jesus died for us, apparently, and this alone makes all the hardship and misery we now face in the world worthwhile. Knowing what we all know now it should come as no great surprise he was nailed to a cross at that time for what would become arguably some of the greatest crimes against humanity by humanity.

As someone who was brought up as a Roman Catholic, you may well be surprised to read such a bold statement from me. No doubt there will be those who deem me as blasphemous, even a heretic committing the most egregious of cardinal sins, and for this, I should be cast into the fires of hell forever.

To this very day, I still struggle to get my head around the fact that some people in the world choose to believe what's probably one of the best human-control fairy stories ever written. Let alone places called heaven and hell.

Anyway, here we are. It's Easter weekend and I'm stuck on a crossword clue. 2 across - Q. Where was Jesus nailed? This might take a while as it's several years since I last attended church and nearly all memories of religion have since faded. I may well have to put it down to another of the remaining unanswered anomalies. Such as how an ethereal being managed to have a son in real life; so the story goes, through a virgin woman. As stated (among a great many other things) in my book 'The Sexual Philanthropist' such an event nowadays would be a complete sellout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Better still, it would take one heck of an illusionist to put on a show where he was nailed to a cross, died, and then emerged within a few days full of life and firing on all cylinders as if nothing happened. Pretty damn impressive even by Netflix programme audience popularity. Beat that, Harry and Meghan.

So, what's changed since the Romans vacated Jesus’ territory back in the day? Not a lot really, as two-thousand years or so later quite a few issues related to religion lead the way where conflict is concerned. Such as the location of holy sites and acrimonious divorce-worthy narratives which totally screw the potential for any peace between Islam and Judaism. On one side of the religious divorce battle, extreme Zionists make protestations regarding how the Jewish state should be, while their Islamist co-respondents have their own version of liberating all that's holy to the Zionists, and preach hatred and violence as a means of winning the divorce battle by use of terrorism - and for which they are now proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

All of which brings me on to a growing bunch of airheads who deserve to have their colons cleansed using bleach and wire wool, as it's entirely pointless going any further up their bodies to their heads because compared to the more sane and rational of people in the world, these airheads have spaces in their brains that any alleged signs of previous rationality and commonsense appear to have vacated long ago - if ever there in the first place.

These are the pro-Palestine gormless idiots who espouse the boycott of Israeli goods and services and make two short planks look like the most sophisticated computer technology in the world while using their Apple and Android phones to touch base with other idiots of the same ilk and do their best to influence more normal people into not buying Israeli goods and services, they do so completely oblivious to the fact that the phones they are using include technology developed by Israeli companies. Will these pillocks give up their phones in protest though? Somehow I think not. Oh, and don't use Windows apps either folks. Guess why?

Any chance these lunatics may have a firewall installed on their computers? Take a guess at this too. If your mental capacity has provided you with the means to follow so far and you are not a boycott numpty, it shouldn't take long.

I bet many of them also drive cars, provided they could afford one in the first place. Well, it's more bad news, I'm afraid. It looks like webuyanycar.com and auction sites will be busy in future when the idiots put their cars up for sale because the navigation system was more than likely based on Israeli tech. Oh, and speaking of transport, I wonder how many will cancel their holiday flights abroad this year, since our airport security systems are packed with Israeli technology.

And before I forget. Should any of them, their relatives and friends have cancer they may as well go home, take shit loads of morphine and die in bed. Why? Because it's more than likely cancer treatments offered by the NHS will have been invented in Israel. Equally, anyone who has a stent implanted should get it removed with immediate effect as a boycott protest against Israel, which, by a strange coincidence also invented it.

Ever heard of a 'SniffPhone'? Probably not, but it's a piece of medical equipment that can actually 'sniff out' diseases. It works like a breathalyser and detects cancer of the gastric and lung varieties, as well as Parkinsons, dementia, MS and many other illnesses. What about the 'Pillcam', heard of this? Who'd have guessed it was an Israeli invention in the shape of a minicam that takes photos of the intestinal tract?

Still, as long as the boycott idiots remain all self-satisfied and happily virtue-signalling in blissful ignorance, why should they let facts get in the way of personal feelings and emotional incontinence, huh? Anyway, whatever else these lunatics do, they should not take my sardonic and non-medically trained advice. While remembering at all times that any such attempt at shortening their lives should not be conducted without first seeking the advice of a medically qualified practitioner, and preferably one outside the jurisdiction of Geneva.

With all that said, I now find myself back where I began, whenever that was two thousand or so years ago, and what was good about Friday, again?

[talesofsonicasura]

By The Sea, There He'll Be

CH 1: Stranded

The first official chapter to this story. I really don't know where I am going with this as I write. Maybe whatever my brain thinks is write. Like I said before, I usually write my fics in a Google Doc to go over instead of on here. Mainly cause it likes being a troll and post stuff too early. Minor nudity warning for this! Nothing explicit though.

Anyway, let's get started. This can be read gender neutral or preferred gender. Enjoy.

Monkeys. The only word to come to mind about this mysterious island. Everywhere you go, there was a monkey hanging about. Whether in the tree branches eating fruit, swing off thick vines, rummaging in the foilage and across your path. One of these little fellows were somewhere in the scenery.

At least they were nice enough to not mess with what little you had. What remained from the Tyrant incident was sandy water caked clothes(simple T shirt, jeans and sandals), emergency rations, some water bottles, a waterlogged bag and to your luck, a flare gun. Good way to signal for help if a boat or plane is nearby.

Despite all the insanity that happen back there, the thought of that massive Whale Shark remained. "To think a Mer of that size even exists, they practically swallow that nasty eel whole back there. Luckily I wasn't on the menu." Honestly the entire experience shot your nerves in all sorts of ways.

Terrifying but also thrilling. If you ever get back home, then this would be one hell of a tale that the kids will definitely enjoy. You already knew that a small pod of Whale Shark merfolk would be visiting Royal Seaheart Town soon. The young mers will get a kick out of it.

First thing first is to establish a camp of sorts. You had no clue what animals thrive here than just monkeys. The best place should be near the coast, a bit high up and have at least two paths for emergency escape purposes. Plus it'll be easier to fish for food or set home-made lobster cages.

You weren't going to set rabbit traps as a monkey could end up hurting themselves with it. And you got a nasty feeling that something very bad would happen if a one of these primates got hurt or worse. So no potential boo-boo for any monkey.

Thus walking around the shoreline since there was no reason to go deep in the jungle yet. It's important to find a spot and get a good handle on the situation right now. Although you had a feeling something was watching you, one that isn't a normal monkey.

From a mere glance at the a rock, specifically the position of its shadow, it must be morning. Enough time to find a place to camp alongside gathering more supplies. Might as well make the most of it. Your body is still hurting from the events yesterday but safety at the moment is important. Only then can you recover.

At least two hours had past since you woke up on this peculiar monkey populated island. Apparently there's a large mountain here from what you can glance far enough on the shoreline. It could be a good lookout for any planes that pass by.

Yet, there seemed to be no sign of a cliff yet. If this continues you might have to set up camp in the jungle since the beach had no natural cover. Taking a sip of your bottle, you were about to take a break when you noticed something odd.

At the far side of shoreline was something orangish brown that stretched past the tree. 'What in the world???' Curiosity taking over rational thought, you began to jog over to the strange sight. The closer you got, the more you believe it had been be a massive dune or something.

That is if dunes had fur and white spots... Holy shit. Very quietly going into the tree line once the realization dawned that this isn't a dune. It was the gigantic whale shark mer from the other day.

I- HE looked so much bigger in person when there isn't any heavy rain or rough waves obscuring the giant. Large powerful sunset orange lower shark body covered in white spots with thick reddish brown fur on the top and the underbelly alongside the two pairs of fins in a burning sunset gradient as it began with red then orange and ended at yellow.

Apparently the fur got thicker further up the body as it curled around the godly abs n torso but completely cover the arms and back like a... monkey. The fuck?! Yep, that is definitely a monkey from the nose, rounded snout and red on the area around said snout. Ears were blue with green outer top lobe, large spot like freckles, and a wild mane like frohawk.

The massive whale shark mermonkey seem to be fast asleep while sunbathing on the beach. 'I seen completely fish like mers alongside normal mers but not something like a Mermonkey. Especially a carnivorous one since monkeys prefer things like fruit, bugs or vegetation of some kind.'

You didn't know if he eats humans but no way in hell were you taking any chances. That is until a harsh tug on your bag nearly made you fall. Quick to turn around and see the fuzzy little culprit. A white furred monkey is trying to steal it! You quickly held onto your precious lifeline cause no way is this little fruit brain gonna make things worse.

Apparently the little fella had pals as two more monkeys came from the woodworks to help their friend. Despite the added strength, you weren't going give up without a fight. After a few minutes, the bag couldn't take anymore as it flew from both your grasps. The sudden loss making you fall backwards out of the jungle's thick cover.

It only got worse once the bag hit the whale shark mermonkey square in the FACE. Slitted blood red eyes immediately open to look down directly on your small frame. "FUCK!" You quickly try to run out of the giant mer's grabbing range.

Merfolk can take on a smaller human form when dried out on land but it takes at least 10 minutes to happen. Enough time to get the hell away from this mermonkey. A plan that quickly vanished as this whale shark is MUCH FASTER for one his size. He pluck you from the ground so fast that it stir the bloody sand around the beach.

The whale shark clearly being careful as the giant's fingers held onto the rim of your shirt than any flesh. Your tiny body held to meet the mer's massive freckled face. His eyes then took on a amber brown hue with the pupils widening to a rounder shape.

"Um...hi?" It's not the stupidest thing you said but it kept your heart from leaping out of your chest. The mer raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "I guess I must've picked up a stray on my way home. Thought the sea monster already ate the ship's occupants."

His voice rough, held a rough husky baritone, and a slight British accent with a slightly bored tone to it. Pretty sure your cheeks would've burn if you knew whether this mer is going to kill you or not. He must have read your thoughts as he spoke once more.

"Don't worry, I don't eat humans. They look too stringy for my tastes and aren't really filling or satisfying." The mermonkey unceremoniously dropped you onto the ground, your butt harshly hitting the sandy beach.

There goes the numbness from your bruised ribs with that drop. He clearly didn't know you were injured as he practically facepalm himself. Guess the mer forgot humans aren't usually at one hundred percent upon getting shipwrecked and washing up on a beach.

"For fuck's sake, hang on. I'll get you to a healer." How long does he think it'll take a Mer his size to dry?! That had been the initial thought until the whale shark suddenly burst into flames! What the fuck?!

Flames became steam in seconds as you somehow found yourself in the fur covered arms of the mermonkey. Ignoring the fact he could use fire magic, it did give you a good view on his land appearance.

He looked like any other monkey yaoguai only that his fur is now a reddish brown tint than the orange from earlier. A long tail swung behind him but you didn't dare look any further down. Clothes don't spontaneous emerge when a merfolk took on their land suited forms. So he's no doubt as bare as the day he's born.

Honestly no one would think this yaoguai is a merfolk at all. "More composed than I thought. Usually a mortal would freak out being in the arms of a naked man much less a 'demon'." You going to guess he had been on the misperception side of demon and yaoguai.

"I live in a town that's regularly visited by merfolk. Seen my fair share of nudity, although you are the first mermonkey type yaoguai." He let out a soft amused snicker. Pretty sure the mermonkey whispered 'Finally someone who knows the right terminology.' under his breath. That confirms that.

You realized that you didn't give the whale shark mer your name, well your nickname. "The people in my town call me the 'Reader'. What's your name?" A mischievous smirk cross the man's face upon the inquiry. Something that confused you until he spoke.

"I am the Great Sage Equal To Heaven, the Monkey King Sun Wukong." What?

Sun Wukong has officially appeared and Reader realizes they washed up on Mount Huagao. Did he accidentally take you to his home? Maybe, maybe not. I think it's easier to find yourself on an island as hidden like this under the right circumstances.

For my view on merfolk, they can on human appearances when they dried long enough on land. Fish tail flaking away to human legs and the remnants either crumble to dust or become broken off fish scales. It's a survival tactic to blend in with humans.

Some mers can look like the stereotypical fishmen similar to Creature From the Black Lagoon or One Piece variations than the normal merman/mermaid. It's completely genetic like Leviathan Mers.

Merfolk also have a potential to use elemental magic. The most common being water, ice and electricity while fire is the rarest.

That's it for now. Next chapter will be exploring more of Mount Huagao. Until next time folks, I'll see you on the journey westward.

[mephinomaly]

[TL] Amusement Park Show/Chapter 1

Season: Winter

Location: Light Music Clubroom

Koga: ♪~♪~

(Since it’s winter break, that shitty vampire bastard’s nowhere to be seen. Or those twins that I can never tell which one’s talkin’)

(I can monopolise this! Imma put my heart ‘n soul into this guitar solo…♪)

Rei: Yawnnn…♪ Dear me, how noisy. Is it time for lunch already?

Koga: Gah…! You’re here! Scared the shit outta me!

…Tch. Thought it was just me in here, but the damn vampire’s come here to ruin it.

You know it’s winter break, right? Go home and sleep. Keep usin' that coffin and you’ll ruin your health.

Rei: Oh, Wanko. Are you fretting over me? You act as if you dislike me but you’re actually a sweet child…♪

Koga: Hahhhh, why you lookin’ at me like I’m your grandson~! Are ya pokin’ fun at me, huh?

Rei: Good grief, Wanko is as hot blooded as ever. Why don’t you let Ritsu have a taste of your blood, hm?

Koga: Why the hell would I want Ricchii to suck my blood?! Damn, both of the Sakumas just love takin’ the piss outta me.

Besides, Ricchii only drinks from Anzu. Nah, more importantly, who even drinks blood in the first place?

He does nothin’ but talk about Anzu in class. He’s got shit like a body pillow ‘n emergency rations… It’s straight up impossible to like the guy.

Rei: It appears that after tasting Anzu, he’s become a slave to his passions.

It’s not as though I am uninterested in the taste that Ritsu so highly praises. I personally dislike blood though, it reminds me of rust.

Koga: I know if I drank blood I’d vomit~. Girls don’t want guys who do that!

If you’ve got anaemia, jus’ eat somethin’ nutritious

Rei: Hmm, what a frightening girl would be needed to tame Wanko here.

Well, if the little miss did not have the nerve that she does, I doubt she would be up to the task of being Yumenosaki’s producer.

Indeed, Miss Anzu is an impressive person…♪

Kaoru: Oh~? Were you talking about Anzu-chan just now? Is she coming here?

Adonis: Hakaze-senpai, please don’t stop walking so suddenly. Because of that, I couldn’t stop in time and bumped into you.

Kaoru: Ew gross. Who’d be happy that a guy bumped into you~?

Adonis: I-I see. I’m sorry.

Kaoru: It’s whatever, it was my fault anyway. More importantly, is Anzu-chan here? If you are, come out and play with your lovely oniisan ♪

Rei: Unfortunately, the little miss isn’t here. Though, I think she would have fled considering what you just said…

Kaoru: Eh, seriously? If it was another girl, it would have worked. I get it though. Anzu-chan’s a practical girl.

Am I putting you on edge? It’s OK, don’t worry, I’ll stop being scary so you can come out now~♪

Rei: I did say that the little miss isn’t here, right? Kaoru-kun, it’s still far too early to be acting a fool, hm…?

Kaoru: It’s a little embarrassing to be treated like an old man by Sakuma-san.

…But, I guess Anzu-chan’s actually not here. If she was, I’d be able to smell her.

Ahh, I can’t possibly be expected to be motivated if Anzu-chan’s not here~. Sakuma-san, is it alright if I go home?

Rei: Kaoru-kun, you’re free to come and go as you please…

Koga: Why’d you even come in the first place then Hakaze…senpai. Adonis too. I thought we had UNDEAD practice today?

Adonis: Has Sakuma-senpai not told you?

Koga: Huh? Told me what?

Adonis: Hakaze-senpai and myself decided that we should do a live performance at an amusement park, so we’ve come here to discuss it.

Koga: Amusement park? Live?

Oi, vampire bastard!! What story?! You haven't told me anything!

Rei: Is that so?

Wanko looked so happy playing the guitar. I thought we had spoken already.

Apologies, Wanko. It wasn’t my intention to leave you out. Come here, allow me to cheer you up…♪

Koga: GaaaAAH! Givin’ me candy ain’t gonna do shit~!

I’m not a kid. Bein’ treated like a dog is annoyin’, but bein’ treated like a kid is ten times more annoyin’!

Kaoru: Wan-chan, take a chill pill, ‘kay? If you keep being so rowdy, I’ll put a collar on you, understand?

Koga: GyyrAAHHHHH!

Kaoru: Woah!? Don’t try to bite me?! You’re so violent, Wan-chan~

Adonis: Oogami. Hakaze-senpai is just trying to get a reaction out of you, so you should stop being so loud.

Koga: (Heavy breathing) !?

Adonis: Oogami.

Koga: I get it I get it. I’m calmin’ down.

…You’ve helped me out, Adonis. You’re a good guy ♪

Adonis: You’re always taking care of me. If this is all you need, I will happily offer my hand out to you.

Koga: Adonis, you’re the best…♪

I don’t usually make friends with humans. I think it’ll be alright if you’re the only exception.

You can be my friend. You should take pride in that, Adonis ♪

Adonis: …You’re saying we’re friends, Oogami?

Kanzaki also said that we are friends despite my brusque nature… I’ve been blessed with such good friends.

Kaoru: …The kids are getting along well, don't you agree?

Rei: Are you envious, Kaoru-kun? We could do the same...♪

Kaoru: Okay so no. Being all buddy-buddy with guys isn’t one of my hobbies, got it~?

Though, I think I get what Kanata-kun was saying about his juniors being cute. Up until recently, I just thought they were irritating brats.

There’s more than meets the eye with Wan-chan and Adonis-kun, don’t you think? If they were as cheeky as they seemed, I wouldn’t be as attached to them.

I joined UNDEAD because I liked the feeling of being able to do whatever I wanted when I wanted, but recently, a sense of unity has developed…

I shouldn't like that kind of thing.

I wonder why I’ve changed my mind. I don’t hate it as much…

[milliumizoomi]

𝐼𝑆 𝑇𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝐻𝐸𝑅?!

TodoBakuDeku x Black FEM! Reader

AGED UP!!

Warnings: Fluff to Angst to Fluff, cursing, confused boyfriends, tw,, racism mention and hidden talents.

A/n: my motivation be dropping really fast but we back😩✨. also i got a lil lazy at the end so that’s mbb😭.

✗ 𝐎𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐃, you knew that this wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to find out like this and now they're calling and texting you trying to find out where you are and what exactly it is that they just saw on literally one of the biggest billboard TVs in the city.

✗ But I should backtrack and say what lead to this.

✗ It started about 4 days ago.

You came home from work to an empty house, as usual. You were used to this. Your boyfriends were pro heroes so this was normal. You walked to your shared bedroom and dropped your purse on the bed. You sat down on the same bed and slipped your heels off. You then flopped down and let your body relaxed. “Ugh.. today was stressful. Ima go take a shower the wait for the boys to come home” you said. You then got up and stripped. You then picked up your shower cap off the dresser and walked to the bathroom. You pulled your lace front into a bun and put your shower cap on and turned the water on then hopped in the shower.

20 minutes later, you got finished with your shower. You stepped out and grabbed your (f/c) towel and dried off. You then also took the chance to peel the shower cap off of your head. You set the shower cap on the shelf and wrapped the towel around your body and walked out of the bathroom. You got to the bathroom and grabbed your lotion off the dresser and started to apply it to your body. After you were done, you threw on a big t-shirt that you had bought some time back.

You walked into the living room to see none of your boyfriends are back. You shrugged this off and decided to make dinner. Today you thought you make ackee and saltfish. You knew that your boys enjoyed your food. Especially since they weren’t used to food like that. So you got to work.

About an hour later, you hear the front door jiggling. And then the sounds of gruff voices could be heard. ‘They’re home’ you thought as you covered the pot and walked to the front door. When you got there, you saw all of your boyfriends leaning on each other as support for taking off their shoes. “Welcome home,” you said to them. They all looked up, stunned. They didn’t even notice you were there.

“Oh hey angel sorry you startled us. Are you ok?” Todoroki said as he stood up and hugged your much tinier figure. “Yes, sweetheart I’m ok. And how are my other boys?” You asked teasingly. Bakugou grumbled and stood up and leaned down towards your shoulder. You could tell he was stressed. “Ease up ‘Suki babe I need to my hair outta the way,” you said as you felt Bakogou’s head resting on your hair. He lifted his head for a second and allowed you to move your hair then dropped his head right back onto your shoulder. Midoriya then walked up to you and snuggled his head into the top of your head. “Hi pretty baby.. you ok?” He asked as he continued to rest his head on you. “My baby m’ok but y’all look tired.. rough day?” You asked as u were still supporting all of these huge men whom were all 6 foot and over. He nodded his head in your hair, answering your question. You stayed like that for a while until you remembered. “..Did I turn off the stove?” All the boys perked up at you at your question. “WHAT THE HELL?!” Bakugou yelled as he bolted to the kitchen. “Oh crap..!” You said as he managed to turn it off before anything bad happened. “I can’t believe I totally forgot..” you sighed. “Well boys go clean up I’ll share your plates,” you told the boys. They nodded and headed to the bedroom.

‘They were off.. what happened today..?’ You thought. You had realized that their behavior was slightly off as soon as you walked up to the door and inspected them. Their body language was a little different. ‘But why didn’t they tell me..? Do they not wanna talk about it?’ You continued to ponder. You decided that you would ask them later. You shared their plates and placed them on the table. You then shared your plate and sat down. They all emerged out of their bedroom in their casual clothes. And by casual I mean shirtless with sweats on.

They came and sat down at the table. “Thanks princess, it looks delicious!” Midoriya praised. Bakugou grunted in approval and Todoroki nodded, indicating he thought the same. You all then started eating in silence. It felt awkward. You decided this would be the best time to talk about what may be bothering them,, so you asked. “My loves?” You started. They all looked up and you, letting you know you have their attention. “Did something happen..? I mean! The reason I was asking is that you guys seem to be deep in thought about something” you continued.

You watched as all three of the men looked at each other then looked back down at their food. You sat there confused. Where they not going to tell you? You opened your mouth to say something but Bakugou cuts you off, “Don’t worry about it Y/N.. it doesn’t concern you anyways” he grunted. This surprises you. You all had been keen on communication in this relationship and yet here they are shutting you out. “What does that mean Kastuki? Y’all know that we communicate in this relationship. I want to help you with whatever it is that is bothering y’all but how am I supposed to when you won’t even tell me?” You said, having your english slowly beginning to break because you were getting a little upset.

“Drop it Y/N. This isn’t something we wanna share ok” Todoroki said calmly. “But why? We’re supposed to be open about this stuff” You answered back. You weren’t going to drop this so easily. You wanted answers all while trying to stay rational, calm, and patient, but that was slowly dwindling. “At least explain to me why you don’t want me to know and I won’t push it! You aren’t giving me any answers here! How am I supposed to feel seeing the three people I love so much walk through that god damned door looking frustrated and shit huh?!” You say getting even more frustrated.

“STOP FUCKING ASKING! IT’S NOT LIKE YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND OK!” Bakugou yelled. “Now I don’t know who the fuck you raising your voice at ‘cause I know it ain’t me,” you said, trying to maintain your calm state of mind. “Yes! I am talking to you” Bakugou grunted out. “No the hell you not y’all know I don’t take disrespect from nobody,” you said while leaning your hand on the table and resting your face in your palm.

They stayed silent. “And why don’t you think I’ll understand?” You continued. They didn’t answer. “Well?” You questioned. You scoffed. “Wow ok, no answer tough crowd I guess..” you said, rolling your eyes. You looked over at Midoriya who was silent the whole time. You could see he wanted to say something by the look on his face.

“You got something to say don’t you Izuku? Go ahead say it. ‘Cause right now I’m trying to understand” you told him. He froze up at the sound of his name. You didn’t really use their real names much so it was a shock to not only him but the other two men as well. “B-babe.. well I— I just—“ he started. He then sighed and started again. “It’s something you wouldn’t understand because um..” he said and then mumbled something at the end. “Ima need you to speak up please ‘cause you mumbling and I ain’t hear what you said” you said. He froze for a second then said it again. “Because your not...” he mumbled again. “Izu I still can’t hear you” you told him. “BECAUSE YOUR NOT A PRO HERO!” He blurted out. Your eyes widened and you froze. We’re they seriously not gonna tell you what’s bothering them because of their job?

“Are yall fucking serious..?” You mumbled out. “We’ve lived together for so long.. we’ve been dating for so long and y’all trying to tell me the reason y’all can’t explain what the hell is bothering you is because I don’t have the same fucking job..!” You stated getting angry. “What does that even have to do with anything?!” You said, fuming.

And they just sat there. Staring down at the table. “I don’t give a damn about your job all I want to know is what’s wrong so I can help you!” You yelled out. “You should give a damn about our jobs.. all you do is leech off u—“ Bakugou started but stopped as soon as he heard what he was saying. The other two men looked at him wide eyed. They all turned to look at you. You stood there in shock. You then laughed, but there was no humor behind it.

“Wow.. this all started because I was trying to be a good girlfriend. And then the people I call so called boyfriends wanna tell me that I’m LEECHING OFF THEM?! THAT THE REASON THEY CAN NO LONGER TALK WITH ME IS BECAUSE IM NOT A FUCKING BIG SHOT LIKE THEM?! UNLESS YOU FORGOT I GO TO WORK TOO! I DON’T LEECH OFF NOBODY FOR SHIT!” You said, seeing red. How dare they. They know the shit you go through at your workplace. Having to deal with racism and things of that nature. You stood up from the table with the food that was barely touched. “Eat your food I’m going to bed.. do whatever the fuck y’all want ion care,, I won’t ask no questions no more. Thanks for telling me the reason though” You said as you walked off to one of the guest bedrooms to sleep.

They boys sat there in silence. They knew they were wrong for what they did and no doubt they felt horrible. “Fuck” Bakugou started, leaning down to hit his head on the table. “That was the worst conversation ever..” Midoriya said, pushing his plate away. “I feel really bad.. all she wanted to do was help” Todoroki chimes in. The guilt settles with them. “She.. she didn’t deserve that..” Bakugou said feeling extremely guilty. “Why did I say those stuff.. I’m a fucking idiot!” He continued. “Don’t say that Kacchan! Granted we didn’t act the best but..” Midoriya trails off. “We should go talk to her..” Todoroki says as he gets up. The other two men get up as well and they all walk towards the room you were in.

They stopped in front of the door when they get there. Midoriya knocked softly. “B-babe..? Can we come in?” He said silently. There was no answer. He looked back at the two males behind him then spoke a little louder. “N/N can we come in please we’re sorry.” Still there was no answer. Todoroki moved in front of him to test if the door was unlocked and it was.

He looked over at Midoriya and Bakugou, then looked forward and pushed the door open. The room was dark, with only a soft glow coming from your phone. Your back faced away from the door so you couldn’t see the boys when they came inside the room. “B-babe..?” Midoriya croaked out. You didn’t answer. “Babe we’re sorry please face us..” He continued. You stayed silent, not moving a muscle. The boys looked at each other and sighed in defeat. They moved to leave since they knew that when your mind was made up about something, there’s no persuading you.

“Hey..” you called out to them before they left the room. “Yes?!” Midoriya called out first. The three men turned around quickly, facing you. “Say that to me again.. and I won’t stay here..” you said as you turned to face them. Your eyes were red and your face was tear stained. You cry when frustrated.

The three men stiffened. The my knees what they did was wrong, but they had no clue it affected you so much. “Do I make myself clear..?” You asked seriously. “Y-yes babe.. we’re sorry.. just please don’t leave.. please” Todoroki said as he leaned down next to your bed and hugged you. You put your hand on his head and reassured him. “I’m not, I’m not. I trust you guys. You have me your word. I love you. All of you.” You tell them. Bakugou and Midoriya stood there, probably too overwhelmed with the situation. “Come on you two. Get over here.” You smile at them. The all laid in your bed together and fell asleep, the dinner forgotten on the table.

You woke up the next day to a cold bed. ‘Oh they probably went to work already..’ you thought. It was Friday. “Well.. time to get up” you yawned. You got up out of your bed and stretched. You took a shower, put your clothes on and made breakfast. You realized the dishes from the dinner you cooked yesterday were washed and cleaned already. You smiled at this and continued to finish getting ready for work. You finished your preparation and went to your car. You started the car and drove off to work.

When you pulled up, you got a text from your friend since middle school.

✗ Messages

[???]

— hey y/n! how you been?

[you]

— hey … ! ive been good,, hbu?

[???]

— ive been doing alright,, but i need to ask you a favor

[you]

— a favor?? what kind of favor??

[???]

— remember what we used to do in high school >:)

[you]

— lemme think abt it ok

[???]

— alr but lmk soon ok

[you]

— np xai yk i will

Read at 8:43 a.m

You spent the whole morning considering what your long time best friend asked of you. You really wanted to, but you weren’t sure. ‘It has been a while.. and I’d like to catch up. I wonder if they still act the same,, knowing those bitches they haven’t changed” you rolled your eyes and laughed.

A few hours pass and you get off work and get home. You slip your shoes and jacket off and walk to your shared bedroom with the boys. ‘Ugh..my head is killing me..’ you thought as you sighed and plopped down on the bed. You took your phone out of your back pocket and looked at the messages again. You really weren’t sure whether or not it was a good idea. You decided to take some more time to just think it over.

You sighed as set your phone down on the bed. You payed there for a bit just to relax. After a couple minutes you decided to go take a shower. “Ugh.. time to take a shower. Damn work took it outta me today. Wonder when them niggas getting home today..” you stretched and said. You laughed to yourself as you thought of how many times you’ve called the men you live with different names. It’s funny because they don’t mind it at all, so you get to basically call them anything you want. You shook the thought from your head and headed to the bathroom to take your shower.

After you finished, you walked out with a towel on and headed back to the room. ‘Ok I needed that..’ you thought to yourself. You made sure to dry your skin properly and continue to do your night routine. ‘Finally finished for the night.. god I’m tired but I still have to cook’ you thought.

You made your way to the kitchen to prepare dinner. You chose to make some fried chicken with rice and a homemade sauce you created a while back. You got the pots on the stove and started cooking. Like clockwork, the 3 men you shared your home with came through the door at roughly the same time as the day before. Right now, it was 8:39pm. You heard the front door and the muffled voices from the kitchen. You smiled to yourself knowing that they made it home safely. Being a pro hero does not mean you living to see tomorrow is guaranteed, so you were grateful. You heard their heavy footsteps and muffled voices coming closer towards you. You turned away from the stove to greet them.

“Hey how was work?” You questioned as you were putting a knife down. “Stressful” Bakugou said running his had over his face. He walked over to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, trying to look at what you were cooking. “Hey babe” Todoroki said sitting at the table. “Hi Sho. I’m guessing your day was just as bad as Katsuki’s huh?” You snickered. Todoroki shook his head with a soft smile on his face because of your antics. “How ‘bout you Izu how did the job go for you?” You said teasingly. He groaned and leaned up next to you on fridge. “It was stressful today that’s for sure..” he exasperated.

You couldn’t help but laugh at them. They look so out of place and annoyed. “Awe come on babe cut us some slack. Some of these people really know how to get on my nerves ok!” Bakugou groaned. The two other men nodded in agreement. You let out a final laugh before calming down. “Okok I will. I’m sorry” you said, still trying to calm down. The three men looked at you then smiled. This went unnoticed by you since you had shifted your attention back to the stove. Your mind was still lingering on the day before with the events that took place. You shook you’re heading to try and shake off the feeling since you opted to try and not think about it and got back to cooking.

“Oh by the way N/N, we have some plans we have to look over for the weekend ok? So we need to focus because apparently this new mission is a big job” Todoroki said. You nodded. You knew by the tone of his voice that he was serious, plus, you had no energy to say anything otherwise. “Dinner’s ready!” You said as you placed their food on the table. You could see that they’ve already started talking about what they had to do.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in you head. “Aye.. y’all.. I actually have something a friend wanted me to help them on this weekend. They didn’t say what it was but apparently it’s some sort of project” you tell them. You decided you were gonna help your friend since the boys are gonna be extremely busy. And that meant you were most likely gonna get ignored unintentionally, which is something you weren’t looking forward to anyways. And since they already started planning out what they were going to do about the mission, they just waved you off. You rolled your eyes and went to your shared room and grabbed your phone.

✗ Messages

— i’ll be there,, and expect me early cuz i may be leaving tonight or early tomorrow

Delivered

You put your phone down and started to pack a bag full of stuff you may need. ‘Should I leave a note when I’m going?’ You thought. ‘Naw whatever I’ll text them that I’m gone’ you decided. You continued to pack your overnight bag, making sure to put all the essentials in it. You look at the clock to see it was already past 10.

“Damn that took longer than I thought..” you said as you leaned up to stretch your back. ‘Where are those overworkers anyways? I thought they’d come in here and see me packing or sumn but I guess not’ you thought as your mind traveled to your boyfriends. You walked out of the room and into the kitchen to see they were already done eating. You rolled your eyes. “Of course those niggas are already working. Guess I’ll leave tonight. Got nothing to do anyways” you said to yourself.

You went back to your room and changed your clothes. After you were done, you made sure to grab your purse and put everything that may be needed in it. You wrote a note and stuck it the one place you knew they would all see it. The fridge. After you were done, you took all your stuff and grabbed your car keys. You walked out of the big doors and opened your car to drop all of your stuff on the passenger side of the car. You walked back around to the driver side and jumped in. You started the car and drove off, already knowing the address to the place you needed to go.

You arrived at the big house that was blaring with music. ‘A music video.. I knew it’ you thought. You and your friend, which was a well known musician. A famous one at that. And he wanted you to be in it since well, you’re a dancer and sometimes you sing too. ‘This was the project huh..?’ You thought as you shook you’re head and laughed silently.

“N/N YOU HOE YOU MADE IT!” Your friend, Xai yelled as he hugged you. You hugged him back. “Shut the fuck up bitch, yes i'm here. Now tell me what I have to do nigga” you said teasingly.

He rolls his eyes at you. “You know exactly what to do don’t act” he says walking away. You laugh. “Yeah yeah I hear ya. Now where’s my outfit. This is gonna be so fun” you said with excitement.

A few days later•••

And that is how you ended up with your situation. Apparently you went viral in that music video. You were one of the dancers and one of the background singers. You were dancing with your friend, who’s stage name was Xailli, in a scene and people found you captivating. So now your face was on some of the biggest billboards in the city. And apparently they, meaning your 3 boys, saw you and is now blowing up you’re phone.

“XAI! WHAT THE HELL! I DIDN’T KNOW THAT YOU WERE ACTUALLY PLANNING ON RELEASING IT SO QUICKLY!” You yelled at him on the phone. “I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE RELEASING IT EITHER!” He said frustrated. “Oh my god.. and now their blowing up my phone” you said. Right now you were hurrying to drive home.

“Omg I’m gonna get a fucking earful when I get home. And I honestly thought it was supposed to be a rough draft” you sighed. You never told the boys about your secret talents and now you were pretty sure whatever conversation that’s waiting on you wasn’t gonna be a pretty one. “Wait are they planning on releasing the rest?!” You asked expectantly. Xai scratches his head. “You know I’m not even sure no more I’d have to ask but since they can pull shit like this I wouldn’t put it past them..” he answers very frustrated. “Fuck..” you sighed.

“When I see your producers again they getting they ass beat. And why did they make us sign that NDA?” You asked. “Honestly I have no idea. I feel like they tryin to hide sumn but I don’t fucking know” he answered, visibly stressed. “Ah whatever.. I just pulled up outside the house so I’ll talk to you later ok” you said to him. “Alright laterrrrrr” he answered in a singsong voice. “Byeeeeee” you answered as you hung up.

‘Ah fuck..' you thought as you got out of the car and made your way to the front door. You walk up the stairs and go to open the front door when it swung open. You froze. ‘shit! shit! shit!’ You thought. You head was tilted down so all you saw were their feet. You were pretty sure they were starting down on you so you didn’t move an inch.

“Well?” Midoriya said. You didn’t even shift. For some reason you were so nervous that you didn’t even realize you were holding your breath. “Get your ass inside. We need to talk about something that I’m pretty sure you know about” Bakugou said, turning around. The other two men turned around and walked inside the house.

‘Why the actual fuck is this happening right now’ you thought as you walked in the house, head still facing the ground. You put all your stuff by the door and took you shoes off, then just stood there awkwardly. The three men stood in front of you, towering over your body.

“So.. you gonna start explaining? Because we sure as hell would love to know what we saw on the billboards all over the fucking city" Bakugou said. “And look up at us when we’re talkin’ to you” Midoriya says.

‘This is gonna be a fuckin' pain..’ you thought. You stood up straight and look at them dead in the eye. “What do you wanna know?” You asked. They all looked down at you knowingly. “We for one, why the fuck were you on a billboard today?” Bakugou asked. You sighed. “Ok I left you a note saying that I was gonna go to my friend’s house to help them with a project, given I had a feeling it was gonna be a music video but I wasn’t 100% sure” you said honestly. The three men looked at each other, then back at you. “Ok.. so then why didn’t you text us to tell us that’s what you were going to be doing when you found out?” Todoroki questioned. “I couldn’t. For some reason I had to sign an NDA, which I don’t normally have to do” you replied.

“They made you sign an NDA?!” Todoroki asks, concerned. “And you said they usually don’t make you do that..? Does that mean you’ve helped or does these types of things before?” Midoriya asks. “First yes Sho, I’ve been in helping in the music industry and in all my years of doing that I’ve never had to sign an NDA. And secondly, Yes Izu, as I said before I have been helping in this industry for a while.” You answered honestly. The three men stood there bewildered.

“So you’ve been helping with these kinds of things and never told us?” Bakugou asked. “Well yeah I guess.. it really wasn’t a everyday sort of thing. Whenever they called me to help I’d either tell them yes or no.” You answered. “Ok.. so what about the NDA?” Todoroki asks. “Well.. we did multiple videos, meaning music videos, and the producers released the video you saw today without Xai’s permission so I’m not sure what their gonna do now” you answered.

“WAIT THERE’S MORE?!” Bakugou yelled. “Uh.. yeah??” You answered in clear confused. “And they made you sign an NDA?!” Midoriya questioned. “Uhh yeah I’m sorry I don’t get it” you answered back visibly still confused. You looked at the three men who looked at you then looked at each other.

“Yeah we’re going down there NOW!!” Bakugou said, grabbing his jacket. “Wait wait WHAT HOLD ON I DON’T GET IT!” You yelled in confusion. Just then, your phone started ringing. You looked at the caller ID to see it was Xai. You answered it quickly. “Hey what’s up? You good why you calling again?” You asked. “No time to explain but you need to get over here quick. It has to do with the NDA. Turns out the producers and some people on my teams’ been pulling some shit behind the scenes,” he replied. You’re eyes widened at this and then mumbled a quick “thank you” then you hung up.

“They tried to fuck us over.. let’s go” you said as you rushed to the car. The three men looked at each other then proceeded to follow you. “I’m driving” Todoroki said as he took the keys from you. You all jumped in the car and he drove off. After you gave the directions and he got there, there was a spectacle outside. There were news reporters and paparazzi crowded outside. It was the house you shot the music video at, not Xai’s actual house. “For fuck's same how’d they find out already?!” Bakugou yelled. You sighed.

“I’ll handle this” you said as you got out the car. You walked up to the door but before you could get there, there were flashing mics and cameras being stuck up in your face. “Can you please get that away from me?” You asked as you tried to push forward but to no avail. “Excuse me but I think our love said to move back thank you,” Midoriya said, coming out of absolutely nowhere.

And the reporters just stood there in shock. Then the questions started bombarded all of you. You all managed to push through the flood of reporters, granted with Bakugou yelling curses for them to get out of your face. You all managed to get up to the front door. “XAI LET US IN! THESE REPORTERS OUT HERE ALL UP IN OUR FACE!” You yelled over the noise the door swung open and Todoroki pulled you up and walked inside the house with Midoriya and Bakugou quickly following. “Sho why’d you pick me up?” You asked. “I wanted to” he said nonchalantly. You rolled your eyes as he set you down.

“So where’s this Xai person and where can we find his management and team?” Midoriya said seriously. “No shit, they’re not getting away with this” Bakugou said. “I’m Xai and I’m talking to them right now, you can come along if you want to you know,” Xai answered. “You stay here” Midoriya said. “I ain’t staying nowhere,, let’s go,” you said, following Xai. The boys shook their heads at you and followed your lead.

✗ Eventually they got all the information they need and filed a lawsuit. Apparently what was happening was that Xai’s management was trying to squander the resources they have for this project they were currently doing for another. Basically copyright. And therefore they’ve made all who were there sign an NDA so that if this came out to them and those workers realized what they were doing then they wouldn’t be able to say anything.

✗ They got sued of course and Xai had to find new management. And you won the case and everyone was paid the money they deserved. You, on the other hand became a well know singer and dancer after that, with the help of the boys’ support of course. You were happy and so were the boys and you could honestly say that things couldn’t have turned out any better.

©Property of Miashimaa. Please don’t rectify, repost or modify without my permission. Plagiarism will NOT be tolerated.

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