#at first i was panicking a little thinking 'oh no what if stuff disappears :(' but now i am simply having fun saving stuff

[boygirlctommy]

also heres some animatics i have saved :]

[bimobuddy]

Cut the Cat-itude

sfw Hazbin TK fic

Lee!Husk, Ler!Alastor

CW: feet, kinda? It's more 'bean' related since they're paws

Summary: Husk is grumpy and doesn't think Alastor's jokes are funny, but the Radio Demon is determined to get a chuckle out of him.

Husk groaned and let his head thump against the bar counter. Alastor must have been in some sort of mood that day, he hadn't stopped telling awful jokes all morning. First most people were laughing with him, then it was just Charlie and Nifty, and now even Charlie was trying to excuse herself because "Oh you know, Hotel Stuff, ahaha.."

Husk looked over at Nifty who was still giggling away at everything the boss said, but then again he didn't know what went on her feral little head. He reached for his drink again only to have it yoinked away by a familiar looking shadow.

"Hey!" He sat up, reaching for it back, but Alastor's shadow just grinned and stretched upward, holding it out of reach. Husk grumbled. He knew this game. "I ain't flyin' for you, give it back." The shadow wiggled it over his head, taunting.

"Alastor, put this damn thing on a leash. Only you would somehow manage to lose control over your own shadow." He muttered the last part.

"Oh Husker, I didn't 'lose control' over him, he's free range." The host grinned, looking at Husk a bit longer than usual. Husk didn't know why he was staring at him until it suddenly clicked and he sighed. "Was that supposed to be another joke? Al, that wasn't even a real joke."

"Oh you're right, that was a total cat-astrophe!" A laugh track played off his cane, followed by Nifty who enjoyed the joke a little too much, "Ahahahahaha! Becahause he's a cahat!" She laughed. Husk folded his ears back and groaned.

"Oh relax, old friend, I'm just kitten around!" He grinned at Husk, who frowned in response. Alastor strutted up to the bar and leaned against it. The Shadow disappeared, taking the bottle with him, only making Husk grumpier.

"Clearly those weren't funny enough for you.. maybe I ought to put my thinking-cat on and come up with some more!" He let out a laugh, followed by the classic laugh track again. "Or maybe you just don't have a sense of humor. I mean just look at darling little Nifty, she's hiss-terical!" Of course this was followed up by Nifty losing her absolute mind.

Husk only sighed and rolled his eyes. "You done yet?"

"Not yet. What's a cat's favorite book? The Great Cats-by! Oh, why did the cats ask for a piano? To make mew-sic, of course!" He laughed and looked back at Husk, who somehow looked even grumpier than he did five minutes ago.

Well this wouldnt do.

"Why don't you cut the cat-itude, dear friend?" He snapped his fingers and two shadowy tentacles rose up from the floor behind Husk. Before he could react, the wrapped around his upper arms, hoisting him up about a foot off the floor, and proceeded to wiggle the tips into his underarms.

Husk had started to kick, biting his lip, cheeks puffed out, as he didn't want to give Alastor the reaction he wanted. The Radio Demon didn't seem to mind though.

"What's a cat's favorite cereal? Mice Crispies!" The tentacles wiggled down his ribcage, starting to get little huffs and muffled noises.

"If cats taught schools, what do you think they'd be called? Purr-fessors!" The tentacles traced and wiggled down his sides, causing him to hold his breath, his face and ears going red from how hard he was fighting back his laughter.

"What do you call a cat that likes to bowl? An alley cat!" Finally the tentacles found their way to his tummy and he couldn't take it anymore. Husk tossed his head back and laughed, reflexively flapping his wings to try an get away, much to the delight of the Shadow, which had been trying to make him fly earlier.

"Ahahahahahaha! Ahahalast- Alastohor!" He tried to growl to cancel out the laughter but it came out as more of a panicked, choked giggle.

"See, I knew you'd come around!" Alastor said cheerfully. "Now, why dont cats shop online? They prefer cat-alogues!" Husk's laughter kicked up a notch when one of the tentacles started to wiggle into his lower belly, where there was a bit more pudge. His tail whipped around trying to smack it away but it was no use.

Husk suddenly made the mistake of trying to kick out at Alastor, across the counter. A third tendril rose up and caught his ankle before he made contact, as Alastor leaned back just a bit. He stepped to the side a little to make eye contact. "Now, Husker, is that any way to thank someone who's only trying to make you smile?" He chuckled.

The third tendril started to wiggle into the heart shaped pad at the bottom of his paw. Husk, a little startled, let out a high pitched, squeaky giggle that did not sound like himself at all.

Even Alastor was caught off guard enough for the tendrils to disappear and let him go, letting him drop with a soft thud. Husk groaned as he hit the floor and panted. "Damn you, Alastor.." He grumbled, sitting up.

"Too late, we're already in Hell!" Alastor laughed. Husk chuckled a little then quickly stopped himself. But of course the radio host heard it. "Oh? Did I finally get a genuine laugh out of you?" He asked, leaning on his can to be eye level with the bartender.

Husk sighed, folding his ears down. "Shut up... I gotta get back to work." He muttered, starting to wipe down the counter.

As Alastor turned to walk away, Husk called out again. "Slapstick Comedy. Just for future reference, so you don't have to tickle me next time, I tend to like Slapstick Comedy."

------

Author Note

Aahhhhh I couldn't figure out how to end this naturally I'm sorrryyyy!!!

Though I do already have another idea for a Lee!Husk fic that I'm gonna start writing immediately after posting this one, so I MIGHT post it tonight, but it might wait until tomorrow, we'll see :)

[kimbapisnotsushi]

some of the best/funniest moments in house of many ways, the final book in the howl's moving castle trilogy:

charmain convincing peter that waif is magical just so that he HAS to share food with her

when aunt sempronia and mrs. baker check on charmain after a few days and mrs. baker says that she feared charmain left a window open, charmain goes "no no i closed it" and then IMMEDIATELY goes, in her head, 'fuck. peter is DEFINITELY opening it'

peter nearly coming in on aunt sempronia's and mrs. baker's visit and being HORRIFIED by their "respectability" and charmain shooing him off by pretending he's waif, made even funnier when you remember that at this moment the kitchen is being invaded with angry kobolds and peter had to WAIT with them for charmain to finish

honestly the entirety of the visit had me in hysterics it was amazing

okay this isn't even funny but when you reread and realize aunt sempronia was 100% serious when she said nobody needed to fear for charmain when waif was around --

"i told them that you were in charge and they had to wait until you had finished being polite to those witches." "witches!" said charmain. "one of them was my mother!" "well, my mother's a witch," peter said. "and you only had to look at the proud one in silk to see that she was a witch."

peter getting defensive about gardening i LOVE this kid

charmain suggesting that peter sit on the trolley to find out where things disappear to when they put stuff on it

the supremely random fact that, for some reason, people of high norland are great on clocks and charmain's house itself had seventeen of them

waif running after charmain every time charmain tries to get her to stay at the house on her first day of helping the king in the library

the fact that princess hilda and the king wanted to poach HOWL?? howl jenkins pendragon??? the most pathetic cringefail man in all of ingary??? which sure they don't realize. but the idea that they want to after everything WE know is so fucking funny

sophie struggling with the butter dripping down her fingers

"charmain could not think why mrs. pendragon was staring at him in such horror. he was surely a truly enchanting child. and what long, curly eyelashes! 'with my husband and his fire demon,' mrs. pendragon finished. her face had gone fiery red, and she glared at the little boy across the toddler's head."

"i have no opinion of men's ability to manage anything." - princess hilda 2023 (or 2008, when this was published)

anyways this entire thing with 'twinkle' was fucking hilarious oh my god

SOPHIE STAMPING HER FOOT AND CALLING HOWL "disgustingly pretty" WHEN HOWL ASKS HER IF SHE THINKS HE'S PRETTY AT ALL

the whole pipe scene when charmain gets home and everything is flooded. also, charmain using a bath brush as a wand

howl sitting very politely on the roof waiting for charmain to rescue him while charmain is panicking about getting him down

THE FACT THAT HOWL IS APPARENTLY SCARED OF HEIGHTS BUT CLIMBED THE ROOF ANYWAYS JUST SO HE COULD TALK TO CHARMAIN IN PRIVATE

bakery apprentice timmy cuddling waif when charmain comes back out to the front and her thinking it means they won't be lifelong enemies after all

all the rocking horses. for protection, obviously

prince ludovic using the kobolds to steal the money from high norland and timminz going "well, nobody asked" when charmain wanted to know why he hadn't told anyone

when all the lubbockins reveal themselves and literally everything dissolves into absolute chaos, particular moments including: - the king and princess hilda shouting "not in the library!!" so imperiously that the lubbockins actually changed direction - "i had a miserable childhood, nobody loved me" and "don't listen to him it's all a pose" - morgan revealing that prince ludovic wears a wig - HOWL SWITCHING PLACES WITH MORGAN, NOT AS TWINKLE BUT HIMSELF, SO THAT LUDOVIC FINDS HIMSELF WITH AN ARMFUL OF HOT WIZARD WHO IMMEDIATELY PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE. FUCK YEAH HOWL - to which ludovic whines "how DARE you do that!" and howl goes "bad luck" and punches him AGAIN - waif committing murder, twice

peter barreling into the room long after everything had ended and feeling quite proud of himself for finally getting some magic right, about twenty pages from the end of the book

and when he DOES come barreling in he immediately narrows in on charmain ("i knew she was making a stupid fuss, she's never sensible about things")

[gothushi]

partially because it's been the flavour of a lot of my interactions with your bots : But which of our boys would be absolutely a *mess* when they find out you're pregnant? Who's the most likely to be just constantly trying to spoil and protect you? And... who is most likely to run? (not ACTUALLY run, but sort of wants to at the beginning)

(brought to you by a recent interaction with one of your Seb bots panicking over a pregnancy)

THISSSS ive been wanting to delve into the boys being dads and dealing with pregnancy but ive nvr done it before nor have i read much in terms of tht.

for the boys most likely to be very protective.. spoiling u a lot… i think we know the obvious answer. rob. and in other terms, nikolai. those two are definitely the most territorial of the boys and charlie is just under them. all three would actually be completely overjoyed, but also violently protective. rob wld refuse to leave on any work trips longer than maybe a few days, nikolai wld be by ur side constantly, and charlie trusts u enough for him to be away for work during the day but once he’s home he’s all over u glued to ur side to do anything u need. even in the early stages of pregnancy, nikolai especially is very territorial. keeps u behind him, hand on u at all times, keeps u marked as his, growls at any others who get too close to u. some feral vampire thing. rob constantly babies u. always massaging ur sore muscles, rubbing ur feet, he takes over the cooking and cleaning even when u tell him he doesn’t have to. charlie does the same, fusses and snaps at u to stay down, sit, stop getting up, ask for things, but he does it all with love even if he sounds kinda angry.

also, speaking of charlie. i think if it were in the early stages of ur relationship he’d be scared at first. he didn’t have anyone to care deeply abt before, so the thought of smth so intimate happening, u carrying his child, has him a bit terrified, and he doesn’t necessarily run but he does pull back a bit, is more snappy, stays at work longer, he’s smoking more often, until u just end up breaking down bc u think oh god he doesn’t love u anymore he regrets it. but once that happens he snaps out of that headspace and completely switches up, confesses his genuine undying love for u as he had before, reassures u that this is really what he wants, he was scared. it takes a lot for him to admit that. babies u, does everything the others do in the end.

i think simon wld actually run. if we’re talking in the midst of brendan stuff, he’d easily shut down his brain and just disappear. completely go ghost on u and u just have no idea what happened. u worry that he’s dead or smth, yk? but after a couple months he comes back, completely broken as a man, tired and wanting to just live his life again free of this mess. (i fesr all the boys would eventually be sweet, caring, rub ur sore muscles, cook meals for u, look up things that can help, all of em. some just lean more some ways.)

ernst wld just looove to start a family. i think he’s such a girl dad. he’d cry like a baby when u tell him. wld be so attentive to ur every need, wld know a lot of different remedies and things to make u feel better bc he researches everything easily, remembering little details abt what u like. same with father anthony. ugh just looooves to be a dad.

depending on where we’re at in lukes story is how he’ll react. if it’s earlier in his career, before his eye injury, he’d probably be pretty fucking terrified. i don’t know if he’d go as far as to ghost u bc i mean .. u know where he lives. u know his game and practice schedule. so. can’t rly do that even if he wanted to. but he’d be a bit distant, more harsh, more anxious around u. he’s absolutely terrified of passing on his condition, terrified of ruining someones life, and he doesnt rly know how to like … love smth like that. he’s still got his own issues w u, how’s he supposed to raise a kid? but, it gets worked through. similar to charlie, u either end up breaking down or just straight up snapping on him. gets his head outta his ass real quick. if it’s a bit later after he’s retired, recovered from surgery, adjusted to his new life, he’s thrilled beyond belief. granted, if it’s too soon after everything happened and he’s dealing with everything he’ll probably panic a little but then just sob bc he loves u so much and he wants a family so bad no matter how scared he had been

now seb.. it’s kinda same how w luke, it depends on where ur at in his life. early on if he’s still dealing with severe issues, bad anxiety, his bipolar and anger problems, i mean, he’s just a mess. walks right out and u don’t hear from him for a few days. it takes a long time probably to get everything straightened around again .. and get him into some therapy and on some medication. but, again like luke, if it’s a bit later on after he’s opened up abt his issues, after he’s accepted help and has slowly learnt to cope, regulate his emotions, found some meds that work for him, i mean.. tbh i think he’d be pretty damn happy. i think he’s such a girl dad too. wld probably take a little while to like … remember everything u need help with.. and by god are ur mood swings throwing him for a loop. often jokes ‘is this how i was?’

[nowoyas]

Koi no Yokan 7: it's good to have a project (Nishinoya Yuu/Reader)

First - Prev - Next - M.list - Ao3

Summary: Karasuno High School hands back final exam results.

Warnings: blanket series warnings

Words: ~2700

It's a bit of a good news-bad news sandwich on test result day. Two rows ahead of you, you watch Yachi physically vibrate in her chair. It takes until she gets her exam back and she neither despairs nor sighs in visible relief that you connect that she's not worried about her own results.

Good news: you passed all your exams well enough. Your scores are more than comfortably high, not exactly topping the class but not embarrassing if someone were to catch sight of your paper. You've even got a few points over Yachi when you compare scores, a fact which makes you swell just a touch with pride.

That was the first set of good news.

The bad news comes when classes let out. You follow the dark aura and scent of despair out of the classroom with Yachi, and the source of her anxiety makes itself known: Tsukishima is openly laughing at Hinata and Kageyama while Yamaguchi is silently disappointed beside him. Hinata looks dead. Kageyama looks as grumpy as usual, if not a bit more so.

At the sight of both of you, Hinata visibly flinches. "Yachi-san… [surname]-san… How'd you do?"

"Fine," you shrug. "What's the damage?"

"One failed exam each," Yamaguchi says. "Hinata failed English, Kageyama Modern Lit."

"What!?" Yachi goes pale. "B-but—but we worked so hard on English! You were so confident!"

He refuses to meet her eyes. "I… I pleaded my case with Ono-sensei, but… I accidentally filled in the answers off by one and didn't realize until it was too late to fix it…"

"Oh, no. Let me see."

She looks over the test paper, looking closer to tears by the second. "But… Hinata… they're all correct… They would've been right…"

"I'm so sorry, Yachi-san… all your hard work went to waste…"

Tsukishima just laughs. "Looks like the king and the shrimp won't be coming with us to Tokyo after all. How sad."

"D-don't make fun of them!" Yachi cries. "They worked so hard for this!"

You nod to Kageyama. "Show me?"

As the others bicker, you look over Kageyama's paper. "So, what, you spent all your time focusing on the stuff you were already sort of good at and didn't spend any time on the other areas you'd be tested on?"

You don't get a response. When you look up, mysteriously both Hinata and Kageyama have disappeared.

A long sigh. "Which way did they go?"

Yamaguchi points down the hall. "I think they were headed towards the faculty floor."

"Got it. Hold this." You pass off Kageyama's test paper and march after them.

You find them—where else?—harassing the vice principal.¹⁴ Without a second thought, you've grabbed both by the necks of their uniforms and roughly pulled them back. "You're both acting stupid. Stop that."

"B-but [surname]-san—if he doesn't take it off—"

The VP looks increasingly distressed by the second. You shove your way between the two boys, press a hand firmly to each mouth. "I am so sorry, Sensei. They're a little stupid, but I promise they're good people. Just, uh, a bit panicking right now. I think they're asking if you'll make an exception for them for when they have to take their make-up exams so it doesn't conflict with club activities."

He clears his throat, adjusts his toupee. You pointedly avoid looking at it. "There will be no exceptions. What club is this that they're so worked up about? Volleyball?"

You bow your head. "Yes, sir. I understand. It's a shame, but—"

Kageyama struggles under your hand, whatever protest he has muffled. You smile at him coldly, pressing your hand against his mouth harder.

"—as I was saying, it's a shame, but we're just going to have to work hard together so you two do well on your makeup exams, right?"

The two nod reluctantly.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble, Sensei. It won't happen again. Are you two going to behave if I take my hands off your mouths?"

Two more reluctant nods. You remove your hands from their mouths, but keep them resting on their shoulders. "Now apologize for troubling him."

"We're sorry…"

You bow to him, drag the two off before they can protest or bother him any more than they already have. By the time you get them back to where you'd all been before they ran off, the other three haven't dispersed. Yachi is still despairing; Yamaguchi is looking over Kageyama's exam. Tsukishima apparently just doesn't have anywhere better to be.

"Why do they look like you just ripped them a new one?"

"I found them harassing the vice principal," you say.

"If he won't rescind it, then…"

You bap the back of his head. "Whatever's going on in your head, quit it. Use that energy to figure out how you're going to pass the retakes. Okay?"

"Right…"

"For now, pretty sure all of us need to get going. Practice and all that. And…" Fuck. Practice, where you'll hear from Tanaka and Nishinoya about their exam scores. You can't take any more bad news today. "…once we know the extent of the damage, we'll come up with a game plan after practice."

~

You step into the gym with a heavy heart. Hinata and Kageyama gave their news, sure, but you're genuinely sort of afraid for the news from Tanaka and Nishinoya.

No. They'll be fine. I mean, they were working so hard, and—

Still. Hinata and Kageyama worked hard. So—

The third step into the gym sees your breath leaving your lungs and your feet leaving the floor, a full tackle that you were neither expecting nor prepared for.

"[name]-san! I passed!"

The world spins around you—you yelp as you're fully spun and set back down, bracing yourself against an exuberant Noya. "Hello to you too—you what?"

"I passed!"

You blink, the realization taking a moment to sink in. Then, you're flinging your arms around his shoulders with a squeal, hugging him tight. "You passed! That's amazing! I told you you were gonna be fine!"

The noise that comes out of his mouth is stammery and stilted, and you pull away. "Uh, Senpai? You good?"

Ah. A forbidden red stains his cheeks as he collects himself. "Uh, yeah! Yeah, no, I—I'm good, uh—"

You arch a brow. "You're being weird."

"Not weird! Just—you know. Marry me."

You stifle a laugh, put a step or two of distance between you. "Keep working hard, ask another nine hundred and seventy-three times, and sure. I'll think about it."

~

The other bit of good news is that Tanaka also passed his exams. That leaves you with just Hinata and Kageyama to drill for the next week. As the other first years talk in Sakanoshita, you lock in, dutifully copying their exams by hand. Noya's here, too, as is Ennoshita—every now and then, someone tries to pull you into the conversation, but you're busy and they're just going to have to get that.

Yachi is in the middle of some heartfelt speech about how this must be the reason she's in the advanced courses and of course she'll help when you rip a page out of your notebook. She startles—quite comically—and you sort of feel bad for interrupting her as you hand a paper over to Hinata.

"Here."

"Here…?" He looks it over slowly.

You're already scribbling the same thing for Kageyama on the next page. "It's a list of focus points for studying and a suggested amount of time to spend studying on each topic. I based it on the composition of the original exam and what you got actually wrong, after re-grading your exam based on you marking answers correctly. Study lengths are based on a rough idea of how much free study time you actually have between now and the make-up exam, assuming a decent sleep schedule and going to bed early the night before your retake. Also, assuming you actually take regular breaks and only get sidetracked once or twice. If you have any questions you've got my number also. I can make some practice exams for you guys, but I need more time for that."

"[surname]-san…"

"Kageyama-san, if you'll hold for a little, I'm making up a list for you, too. They're personalized so I can't just give you both the same list. Also, you know, different subjects."

"This is amazing," Hinata breathes. "You did all that that fast?"

A shrug. "I was working through them in my head a little during practice, since I got to see your tests right after class let out."

"I'm not quite as good at studying, but I can help out, too," Yamaguchi offers.

"R-right, yeah, we'll all help out!" Yachi says. "I want to go to Tokyo with everyone, so, I mean, if [surname]-chan needs any support—"

"I'm not, like, supplanting you," you say mildly, not looking up from Kageyama's list. "Just giving direction. It'd actually be useful to have multiple of us working on helping out. I can't host for studying or anything, and these two tend to get distracted with proximity and are working on different subjects, so it's better that we split them up anyways."

"Oh, that makes sense! Then…"

"Who do we actually have to help?"

You glance up. Yamaguchi, Noya, Ennoshita, and Yachi are on board to help out. "Cool. We'll split up, then. Yachi-san, you're good with English. You take Hinata?"

She nods.

"Great. I'll handle Kageyama-san. As for the rest of you—"

"I'll help with Kageyama!" Noya interrupts, speaking quickly.

You roll your eyes. "Yeah, you would say that. You did do a good job with Modern Lit when you were focusing on it, anyway, though I think you're probably better at language learning in the long run."

Yamaguchi raises a reluctant hand. "Um, I could probably… help Hinata?"

Ennoshita glances between you and Noya, looking tired. "Are you able to handle Nishinoya?"

You scoff. "He's hardly an issue."

"Guys, I think that means she—"

"If he gets in the way, I'll go for the gut," you finish.

Noya freezes, looking at you like he's experiencing just the slightest twinge of fear. You smile sweetly, turn your attention back to the others. "In any case, if your only worry is whether I can corral this one and tutor Kageyama while actually being useful, go ahead and help out Hinata."

"Alright then. I'll help with Hinata."

So it becomes this again: you, getting rid of your time by tutoring another easily-frustrated volleyball guy. Noya makes it fun, you keep it on track, and you walk away from Sakanoshita that night with the promise given that you'll have practice exams ready for them as soon as possible.

"You can, like, sleep at some point, you know?" Ennoshita comments as you begin the slow walk home.

"Huh? I'm sleeping fine."

"You're just taking on a lot, aren't you?"

You shrug. "It's fine. I don't sleep a lot anyway."

And you don't: you're going to be up, sitting with your bedroom door cracked and the light off, listening out until you hear your dad's keys in the door, heart not slowing enough to sleep until you know he's home. You've got plenty of time between dinner and then, and it's more than enough to dig up a few practice exams and cobble them together into something closer to what the boys need.

It's better than your normal night. Better than cooking and cleaning until the house sparkles, better than studying until you give yourself a headache, better than moving to set down your pencil and remembering no words, just the disappointment that came with a bad report card, just the tragedy that followed.

Keep your grades up, keep him alive, keep vigilant.

And now: keep being useful for the team.

~

So you keep working hard. You earn another joking marriage proposal tying your shoes, still more at random, and get detailed reports from the others on how Hinata's doing and what areas it would be good to test him on. You lock in hard, determined to prove… something. That you're just as good as Miss Professional Posters, maybe. But the less-than-two weeks you get to get these boys ready for their retakes is used well enough. Lunch on the roof when the weather's good, Noya being serious in his aid as the two of you lean over Kageyama and his notes and help him out. Noya takes him before practice in the club room—a realm you are not to enter—and afterwards, you pile into Sakanoshita with the blessing of the coach and continue drilling him.

Each night, more work. You get Yachi's number, talk on the phone with her over dinner or scrubbing a bathtub or making sure your father's futon is clean about how Hinata's doing, and for a week and a half, you don't have time to think and life is easy. Your birthday comes and goes, you selfishly request another Soba picture from Noya as your one and only birthday present and don't mention why.¹⁵

So you're actually a little sad when the day comes to leave for the Tokyo camp. For a week and a half, you had a project. You leave a reminder note in the genkan, right next to where your father usually puts down his keys: leaving for Tokyo tonight. Be back the day after tomorrow.

You don't expect him to notice.

Kageyama and Hinata show up to the departure. It's five in the morning, and they're here. Their exams are in four hours, and they're here to watch the rest of you leave for Tokyo.

"So what part of 'get good sleep the night before' means 'be here at five AM' to you two?" you ask, rubbing sleep from the corner of your eye. "Just for future reference so I can avoid it."

"W-we're going to study before the exam!" Hinata protests.

You sigh. "I can't fault you for enthusiasm, I guess. But the sleep advice was for a reason. You two went to bed early last night?"

Two determined nods. "Of course!"

"Good. You've both been working hard, so mark your papers carefully and don't rush, alright? You have enough time, and rushing is just going to screw you up."

"Right."

"You hear that, Hinata—"

"Kageyama-san," you interrupt sharply. "No fighting before six AM. You boys ate breakfast?"

Half a second's guilt has your hand plunging into your bag. "Ridiculous, both of you. Here."

"You're like, really responsible," Hinata comments as you thrust two protein bars at them. "Are you really the same age as us?"

"Not unless we share a birthday, I'm not," you reply.

They each take a protein bar, nodding their thanks.

"We'll see you later today. Make it count."

You climb onto the bus, sit away from Shimizu and Yachi in the single seat across the aisle, and pull out a book.

There's no way in hell you sleep on the way.

Footnotes

14. OVA content, baby! They're technically non-canon but they're fun so I'm keeping what I like and scrapping the rest.

15. I waffled on this one for a bit but for later plot purposes I did actually need to establish this reader's birthday. Officially, it's July 7th. I did like, a whole birth chart and shit for this reader that I immediately lost and then made different decisions about her personality as a reader, but what I do know for sure is that I did all that work to come up with the ideal date (shit like wanting her to have a doubled birthday like Noya's on 10/10 and her needing to be a certain age by certain plot points) and then looked at the date on my monitor and it was, in fact, 7/7. In a sense it's sort of neat that the reader's birthday was also the day I did a lot of the work making her into a real character.

Tags: @deeplightgarden @idonthaveanameideayet @dusstory

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Malleus Draconia Lab Coat Personal Story: Part 1

"Allow me to reward you"

Part 1 (Part 2)

[Botanical Garden – Temperate Zone]

Cater: Hmm, where oh where is the little duskweed-chan～

Cater: Man, Crewel-sensei sure does make it hard on us, telling us to go find our own ingredients for the experiment.

Cater: Malleus-kun, your class has the same assignment, right? You having any luck finding the herbs you need?

Malleus: I only have the fireweed left to find. It seems they can be found in the subtropical zone, so I shall harvest them there.

Cater: Ah! Wait, around this time, the subtropical zone is…

[Botanical Garden – Subtropical Zone]

Malleus: …Oh.

Cater: Oh man, I was a little too late…

Malleus: What is this, Diamond? Water suddenly started spraying everywhere.

Cater: That's a sprinkler. They're there to simulate rain to help water the plants.

Cater: This zone has designated squall times, in order to mimic closely a real subtropical place. You didn't know?

Malleus: …

Cater: Man, your lab coat is drenched. You okay?

Malleus: I can dry off with magic quick enough. There is no issue… Ah!

Cater: Hm? What's wrong, why're you panicking all of a sudden? Did you have your phone in your pocket?

Malleus: No, nothing like that.

Cater: What's that… A watch? No. Huh? …Wait, is that a…

Malleus: This is something that Lilia brought home as a gift for me from another country.

Malleus: I had taken quite the liking to this thing… I did not intend to get water on it.

Malleus: …Ah. It is no longer working. And I had been taking care of it for some time now.

Cater: Yeah, I bet it'd be hard to find another of that if it breaks. I don't think I've ever seen it sold in stores, even.

Malleus: …

Cater: But I bet you can fix it with magic, can't you?

Malleus: …This little thing is not a magical device, it is purely mechanical.

Malleus: I do not know much about technology. I cannot fix something I do not understand.

Malleus: ….........

Cater: I see… Hey, huh? Malleus-kun, did that hurt you that much? You seem real down.

Cater: Hmmm. But, yeah, I guess I'd get it, if it was something you really treasured.

Malleus: …Diamond, do you know anyone who may be able to repair it?

Cater: Repair it? Yeah, I mean, when it comes to devices like that, the first person that'd pop into my head would be Idia-kun, but…

Cater: I'm pretty sure he'd run away if you reached out to him, so… Who's more realistic…? Hmm…

Cater: Ah! What about Deuce-chan from my dorm?

Malleus: Deuce?

Cater: Yeah, Deuce Spade. He's a first year in Heartslabyul. Apparently, he's actually pretty good at tinkering with stuff.

Cater: I just learned about it recently, myself. We had an audio system in the lounge that wasn't working, and he fixed it for us～

Malleus: I see… Good to know. What class is Spade in?

Cater: I'm pretty sure he's in Class 1-A.

[class chime ♪]

Cater: Hey, Malleus-kun, where're you going? Wait, you're not…

Malleus: I shall go call upon Spade. After all, they do say one should strike while the iron is hot.

Cater: Eh, really? But if you suddenly appear in front of the first-year classroom…

[Malleus disappears]

Cater: Ah, fast! He's already gone!

Cater: …Oops, Deuce-chan, forgive me ♪

[Classroom]

Classmate A: H-Hey, Deuce… I was just told out in the hallway to come get you…

Deuce: Me? By who?

Classmate A: That's the thing… It… It's Malleus Draconia!

Deuce: Ehhh!?

Classmate B: Th-That Malleus Draconia!? The guy who's one of the top five mages in the world?

Classmate C: I heard that he's descended from fae, and when he gets angry, he'll transform into a dragon and breathe fire…

Classmate D: Why would the Dorm Leader of Diasomnia come all this way to one of the first-year classrooms!? You gotta be kidding me!

Ace: Deuce… What kind of stupid thing did you do to get called out by a super scary upperclassman?

Deuce: I don't know! There's no reason he'd need to call me out, uh… Well, no real reason.

Ace: What, so there really is a reason?

Deuce: But if he's calling me out by name, and run away instead… That'd make me a huge coward. That's not what a real man does.

Deuce: I'm sure Draconia-senpai feels the same, and that's why he called me out in a fair and square way. I just gotta grit my teeth and take him on.

Ace: There it is, Deuce's delinquent side. If you don't know why he's asking for you, you probably shouldn't go, though.

Deuce: Ace, I don't need your help. Well… Maybe you can at least pick up my pieces afterwards.

Ace: I mean, I wasn't gonna help you in the first place, but… Aaaand he's gone.

Ace: Deuce… I'll never forget you.

Classmates: [nod, nod]

[Interior Hallway]

Malleus: So, Spade, you came.

Malleus: Let's move to somewhere quieter. Follow me.

Deuce: …Right.

Part 1 (Part 2)

Requested by Anonymous.

[lulutaylorsimaginarium]

THE CHAIN

Summary: When the guys get stuck in a situation and hunted down by a drug lord. Frankie makes a call he really doesn’t want to make to the only person that can help them

Warnings: “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the right age to handle mature themes. We handle our own triggers with kindness and grace

AN: Mind any grammar mistakes even though the story has been checked. The author is dyslexic and it is the wonders of her brain.

PART ONE - PART TWO

PART THREE

 

Suddenly someone clapped in her ear rocking her out of sleep and out of the passenger seat as she heard him snicker. Gabby stared at him before taking a deep breath

“Was that necessary?”

“I was just checking you weren’t dead. I’ve never known anyone who could sleep almost thirty hours straight”

“I’m jet lagged, Garcia”

“Oh I’m sorry Ms ‘The Hague’ ”

“Where are we?”

“Bolivia”

“Why are we going around?”

“The scenic root?”

“Isn’t that insult to injury”

“Also it wouldn’t be expected” he said jumping back out of the car “Your rendezvous with your boyfriend is going to have to wait a little longer”

“He’s not my boyfriend. We’re not twelve”

“What is he? Your co-worker. Your lover?”

“You’re very interested today”

She was actually happy about it. The longer she could keep Seb out of this thing, the better. She didn’t want him involved at all. If she led Rojas to Seb and the worst happens. Gabby would never forgive herself.

She opened the car door and hopped out walking over and standing next to Benny before he handed her a bottle of water.

She didn’t know how thirsty she was until she started drinking.

“What’s the plan?”

“We’re saying with the vans and you and Pope are going into La Paz for supplies”

“What?”

“Since you’re so rested and all” Pope smiled

“Maybe you’re the one that should stay and get some sleep since you’re such a grumpy bum today”

“That’s what happens when you’ve been driving for thirty hours, Babe”

“Frankie’s been driving for thirty hours and he’s not a prick”

Any worry or tension that Frankie may have had about Gabby being mad at him disappeared instantly.

“We can’t all be Saint Frankie. Come on, let’s go”

“We’re walking?”

“It’s only a mile”

She stared at him in shock and suddenly felt tired again.

“Get road trip food” Benny called out to her as she started walking

“No”

“Flamin Hot Cheetos!”

She couldn’t help but laugh. On the run with millions of dollars and the guy wants Cheetos. There was a sweet innocence there. That or vast amounts of stupidity.

 

They walked that mile in silence, the first half was tense but the last half mile was peaceful. She stayed a step behind him, maybe a few steps behind. She was sure Santiago had been in worse situations then this.

Who was Gabby kidding?

She had been in worse situations then this but she didn’t know her way through it, and he probably did. As much as she hated to admit it. Gabby needed to follow his lead.

They headed to a small corner store she headed for the snacks and Santiago went for practicality.

She was out of the store by the time he was finished. He panicked for a second before he spotted her standing in front of a store window looking at a lavender dress. It wasn’t like it had flowers on it or anything but it was far more feminine then he had seen Gabby be.

“It’s a bit” he started

“A bit what?”

“Girly”

To his surprise Gabby laughed and shook her head

“I do get girly on occasion, Santiago” she chuckled before strolling off slowly “I promise”

He watched her for a few seconds before following. She stopped in front of a drug store and pointed

“We have stuff, Gabs”

“Band-Aids. Sinus medication. Ibuprofen. Do you really wanna be running from bad guys with a head full of snot or sore back” she smiled and looked at his legs and back up to his face “Or knees”

Santiago narrowed his eyes playfully at her

“I hate it when you’re right”

“Get used to it”

He stayed outside and kept an eye on her but also on the street too. He didn’t think that Rojas was on to them, but he wasn’t going to let his guard down until they were free and clear

That was going to be a long time.

She stepped out of the pharmacy and went to walk farther down the street before he grabbed her elbow and pulled her in the direction of the vans

“We need to get back”

“We don’t have enough”

“Do you really want to carry anymore back all that way”

“Okay, good point but can we just stay a little longer. Get something to eat that’s not freeze dried. Get a cup of coffee?”

“We have coffee”

“That’s not coffee. That’s swill”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were such a coffee snob”

“Come on. Half an hour of stillness will do you some good. Watch the world go by. Get out of our own heads”

“One coffee?”

“A single one”

“For the woman who slept for thirty hours?”

“Ugh, this again?”

“No. It’s actually impressive considering your head was on a shaking window”

“I’ve slept in worse places. Trust me”

“One coffee?”

“Yes”

“Would seem to be a good cover story if people ask”

“We’re just a couple of tourists” she chuckled “See, I’m smart sometimes”

She playfully twirled once before walking ahead down the cobblestone street.

“Ain’t no doubt about that” Santiago muttered to himself as he kept an eye on her.

He shook his head and mentally slapped himself

He had a job to do.

 

#

 

Her hair seemed more red in the sunlight.The sun was working its magic. Gabby had no clue she was under such scrutiny. She would have been uncomfortable if she had. She wasn’t one who enjoyed being the centre of attention. She was too busy enjoying the rays. Her head resting on the back of her chair, feet resting over the one another and empty coffee cups in front of them.

He playfully knocked one foot off the other and smiled

“Are you right?” she asked trying not to laugh

“We have to get you new shoes. You can’t go where we are going where ballet flats”

“Wow fancy. A man who knows what ballet flats are”

“I’m serious. You can’t run in them”

“I have hiking boots at Seb’s uncle’s farm. Stop worrying. It will all be okay”

Santiago frowned at her as she lifted her head off the chair, looking over at him.

“Is he older?” Santiago asked “Sebastian?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Is he?”

She smiled this smile that was cheeky and almost child-like

“Why would you ask that?”

“How much older?”

“Does it matter?”

“Decade?” he teased “Over a decade?”

“Santi” she warned

“Tell me”

“Sixteen years”

It was more than he had thought, more than he had guessed. Suddenly he wondered what the attraction would have been. How he had charmed her. Gabby wasn’t easily charmed.

“Wow, really?”

“Don’t do that. He’s a good guy. When you’re in some shithole in a part of the world no one cares about, life can be different”

“Hey” he said holding up his hands “Honey, I’m not judging. I’ve worked in places like that too. I get it. Comfort is comfort”

She let her head full back on the chair and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“I’ve missed it here”

“Bolivia?”

“Latin America. It’s different here. It’s simple”

“You like simple?”

“I love simple” She looked over at him and moved her glasses to the bridge of her nose “What?”

“Nothing” he chuckled “We should get back to the guys”

She nodded her head knowing he was right. They still had enough daylight for a few more trips into town for other supplies, but it was nice for a few minutes to pretend that they weren’t in the situation they were in.

 

#

 

Frankie, Benny and Will waited at the vans for them. They knew that Santiago and Gabby’s trip would take a while and it wasn’t because of the walk into town. It wasn’t difficult to see why Santiago gave Gabby a hard time, most of the time. Anybody who had seen kids in a playground, could see what was going on. Santiago was just falling short of pulling her hair.

After all he had a mostly working pair of eyes.

They all did.

She was beautiful and not just the packaging.

They just didn’t know if the attraction was mutual.

“Hey” Will said grabbing Frankie’s attention “Why doesn’t she drink?”

Frankie chuckled bitterly before taking a deep breath

“When they took her. They had her for almost month. The company she was working for at the time wasn’t going to pay the ransom. The US certainly wasn’t going too. So they had her for a long time. You’ve seen how fiery she is and that’s just with Pope. Imagine how Gabby would be when she was fighting for her life”

“They picked the wrong gal”

“They wanted her alive and there were only so many times they could knock her over the head. They kept her sedated by pouring homemade booze down her throat. Kept her quiet, kept her compliant” Frankie shook his head “She hasn’t been able to touch it since”

“Jesus Christ” Benny barely muttered

“Did they?” Will began to ask but couldn’t finish the question

“A bunch of men living in the jungle, who haven’t seen a woman in months? Yeah, they did. The only reason she is here right now is the fact that she refused to let them get the better of her. Gabby refused to die. The way I found her. She will never be in that state again as long as I’m breathing”

Will swore under his breath.

Even though they had known the sugar-coated story of how Gabby and Frankie met. The whole truth was a little too difficult to even want to understand.

“Heads up” Benny warned quietly

Santiago and Gabby appeared on top of the hill they were on.

She searched through the plastic bag she was holding before handing the bag to Santiago and throwing Benny his bag of chips, as if it was a football. She started laughing as she did it.

“She’s had Cuban coffee” Santiago explained

“Dude, I can see colours” she laughed

Frankie laughed but frowned “Where did you find Cuban coffee?”

“Café. It was on the menu. The cups were cute”

Frankie looked over Santiago “Fun walk, was it?”

“Interesting”

Before she knew what was happening Will had wrapped her up in a hug that came out of nowhere. Not that she minded.

“Aww” she cooed “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good” he answered kissing her on top of her head

“I should leave you more often”

“Don’t you dare”

“See Garcia. I’m easy to love”

He didn’t say anything. What could he say? The others just tried not to laugh.

[usagiverse]

Am I? Wow thanks for the welcome, and for that I noticed my username, was little weird read the name lol, but is fine call me Nerish.

I think you have a very adorable and cool drawing style, I really like how they all look so fluffy, and I think the expressions are really good. I want a Yuichi axolotl plush.

About the timeline, the antagonist make me feel curious if it's focused on the turtles enemies in which case it might refer more to Big Mama or Draxum, if it's Usagi Yojimbo I just think of Jei, if it's Space Usagi I think of Akira, losing that hand must have been a more satisfying scene than it actually was.

But, yes I meant more like Princess Miya (lovely name), the magical girls gave me Madoka Magica vibes, just me? I just can't with the designs are so pretty.

For the Usagis I hope they can fix their things, I understand the Miyamoto's POV, but how feels Yuichi? i'm just curious, for now I stop here, also goodluck with your anon doesn't eat the other user, your last update of princess Miya was most adorable, I think like Raph I want to put myself on the waitlist.

Nerish.. of course you're one of my earliest followers... (everyone is!)

Oh yes, an Axolotl Yuichi plush would be so good! And very sensory appealing, with his fin-like ears and cheeks. Yes. I want one too... For the timeline, I did just answer an ask about potential characters which do include potential villains! I have not yet read Space Usagi, but that might be an interesting one.. yes.. -takes notes- We'll see Neko Ninjas, Big Mama, (I don't think Draxum would fit well into the story, since he's a Yokai extremist-- he would have no reason to attack or prey on the people he swears to protect), the Krang will make an appearance in terms of the bad future from the movie (What are the Usagis up to in that time? How did they handle the Krang?) and yeah, you know, some of the feudal lords like Hebi and Hikiji, Jei, and some other stuff. It might be cool. Final Question : How Does Yuichi Feel? Well, at first, it seemed fine. Miyamoto (8) asks Yuichi (30) if he will be his sensei. Mizuki and Shuji are supportive, after all it's the Usagi way, so they tell their kid to ask Yuichi. Shuji thinks his brother is a much better samurai anyway. Miyamoto looks up to his uncle because of this fact (he adores his father as well) and this is when the two of them are the closest.

-- Miyamoto (9) watches Yuichi and Shuji (31) leave one day before scheduled training. Miyamoto is a little less than a year into his training, but he still isn't allowed to go on these particular errand runs with the twins. They are usually quick about it, but also extremely careful. Maybe when Miyamoto has more training, he can join them.

-- Some time has passed, and Yuichi (33) seems.. different. Maybe it's the bandage over his eye. The now open wound. The warm blood dripping down his face. Maybe it's the faces that Miyamoto (11) makes. Maybe it's the fabric on his skin, making him feel clammy. Claustrophobic. Annoyed. Panicked. Something is wrong. A voice in his head echoes the thoughts he relayed to his nephew. Miyamoto is doing his best, working as hard as he can, trying to get better, trying to please his Uncle. Why is he so different now? Miyamoto doesn't understand. He's in disbelief, he's angry and frustrated.

Being the oldest is hard. The weight of the world sits on your shoulders, and it's a task that even the strongest Samurai can't handle. But he has to. He has to protect his family, but he needs to teach Miyamoto. If he fails as a Sensei, then he's failed as an Uncle. A Brother. A Son. A Samurai. With Miyamoto's sudden disappearing habits, Yuichi is scared of what will happen if Miyamoto doesn't come back. Would he be the reason his brother no longer has a son? He would fail his family. He would have no honor. It's a crushing thought.

[journey-to-the-attic]

Can't wait for the new chapter!!!!

While I wait for the chapter however, I keep thinking of an IK who's actually a hybrid between and angel and a human (aka her mom was an angel and fell in love whit her dad and stuff and that's why she left in the first place)

I keep imagining that one day,as she's hanging out whit the bros and Solomon wings just suddenly pop out of her back and she's like "oh" while the brothers are FREAKING.OUT.

ATHEY CALL UP SIMEON AND DIAVOLO OUT OF PURE PANIC AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT TF IS GOING OUT WHIT THEIR HUM- ERR..ANGEL?

also if you could write some hcs abt this?? If you want to ofc ^^ ♡

one minute ik's having a perfectly nice day and the next she's on the floor because those wings are HEAVY

this is a super interesting concept!! i'd be happy to brainstorm some ideas ^^

there are Implications and Logistics of ik's mother being an angel, so let's imagine there's some kind of god barrier override that would let a low-level angel (i.e. one that god isn't paying much attention to) sneak out of the celestial realm without being noticed, and that's how that happens

(the idea that an angel snuck out of heaven, made it down to earth, then saw ik's dad and was immediately like 'oh but i must' is so funny)

(given how he fares in the ddvd au, this seems to just be the effect zhao has on demon and angelkind alike)

either she somehow sneaks back to the celestial realm or is still living in hiding on earth, but it doesn't really matter much for the purposes of ik being a hybrid

i imagine that being exposed to the magic of the devildom and other angels for a long time has 'awakened' her more angelic traits, so to speak?

anyway first things first

ik is panicking because she can't actually balance with these massive fucking wings on her back, so she literally can't stand up until simeon manages to get her to retract them

everyone else is panicking because shit this is really bad actually

like, if word gets out to the celestial realm - who knows what could happen?? the high council could very feasibly declare ik under their jurisdiction, being part angel, and then it'd just be free reign for whatever they wanted to do

there's solomon, who could claim guardianship since ik's still part human, but he's just one human - plus, with how autocratic the celestial realm is, it's very doubtful they'd listen to him

so, while diavolo, lucifer, solomon and simeon are deliberating how to handle the whole situation, ik's trying to figure out what the HELL just happened

they're fledgling wings, so they're covered in silvery down and can't actually be used to fly yet, but they're still so heavy

ik does not want this (no offence to her angel friends), and to be honest she'd be a lot happier if the wings disappeared and never came back

it kind of sucks for a while - whenever she gets stressed out, the wings unfold, and every single time they bring her straight down to the ground

sometimes it feels like she's suffocating in them and it just makes things worse

some of the brothers are more conflicted about this than others - but it's not like this changes the fact that one of their own is in distress, so ultimately they're still all focused on taking care of her

asmo knows what it's like to hate your wings, so he's extra careful to be there as soon as ik gets stressed. he very affectionately calls it 'going feathery', and he'll stay there for as long as ik needs until the wings go away. sometimes he'll brush the feathers

lucifer's mainly just worried about ik's safety, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy teaching her the ropes of having feathery wings. he promises to teach her to fly properly once her flight feathers come in, and the fact that he seems to be looking forward to it makes ik feel a little better

mammon's VERY insistent that this doesn't change anything. see, he can still pick ik up just fine, even with the extra weight of the wings! so don't be sad, because it's not as if this matters a jot to him!

there's a sort of identity crisis to be had here... ik doesn't know how to see herself anymore - human or angel? she's lived her whole life fully believing she was just human, but now that the wings are such an invasive part of her life, she can't just ignore the angel part

solomon does his best to reassure her - as far as he's concerned, she's still an essential example of humanity, and so will always be firmly under his protection

but luke does a better job, because his view of the matter is very simple: to him, there's no point in putting her in either camp exclusively. ik is his best friend, and that's the important part, whether human or angel

(though a part of him is kind of happy about the news - even if he feels really bad about it)

ultimately, this is the view the others decide on too

ik being part angel doesn't change anything about what she did - because you don't have to be an angel to keep choosing kindness the way she does

it's a bit of a weird situation overall, because there's not exactly been other well-known hybrids that they could seek out advice from; if they do exist, they have to have been lying very low to avoid the celestial realm's persecution

that's all i have for now!! sorry it was mostly more angsty things, but there's a lot to do with this prompt, so i'd be happy to talk more about it in future!!!

[camels-pen]

vague DP x Noragami crossover time~

Hiyori is terrified of Danny; something about him rubs her so so wrong. She tries her best to be nice, but she is the equivalent of a shivering chihuahua puppy in his midst. Danny feels kinda bad about that, but he can't really turn it off without turning human so he tries to stay as calm as possible around her.

Yukine, on the other hand, loves him. He thinks Danny's so cool and keeps bugging him about stuff from America and trying to show off how much he knows about the culture (a very impressive amount actually), and goes nuts seeing all the things Danny can do with his ghost powers. Danny feels the same about Yukine, gushing about his Shinki abilities and urging him into telling stories about his adventures and Japanese culture. These two become good friends.

Yato is kind of indifferent, and then the tiniest bit jealous once Yukine starts looking up to Danny. After getting to know him a little more, Danny has a hard time believing someone like Yato is a real "god".

It doesn't take long for Yukine to start looking up to Danny, just seeing how easily Danny can take care of Ayakashi (named "Phantoms" in the anime, heh) impressed Yukine enough to ask for advice. Thus, Yato's "oh hey potentially a customer!" doesn't last more than a day or two.

Danny does accidentally hang out with Hiyori in human form, and she does not recognize him in the slightest. She also isn't afraid of him at all in human form.

Important note: Danny, to this trio, only know him as "Phantom"

Side idea: I,,, am gonna be honest, I dunno how the naming system would work realistically, but somehow with some word, Yato gets cut off from saying the whole word of something and Danny gets a funny feeling in his chest! By the time he feels two hands holding him tightly, he realizes that he is A) not in ghost form, B) not in human form, and C) he was-

"A Thermos?" Yato asked. "Bit of a random item, but- HOLD ON YOU'RE A SHINKI?!"

Danny did not, in fact, know he was a Shinki.

The idea is: Yato, being a "god of calamity" (if this isnt actually true, F to me), and Danny, being... whatever the hell amalgamation of ecto-energy and ghost shit and human being that he is- they both sort of? overlap? If that makes sense. And so, even though Yato did not intend to call a Shinki, nor did he know Danny was a Shinki (and that he had apparently bestowed a name at some point and completely forgotten about except- that's impossible what the fuck) he had none the less a new Shinki in his possession. One that turned into a thermos.

Idk how this would go plotwise, but Yato would immediately turn around and go "hey, Yukine, isn't this great? We can use Danny to keep food warm in the winter-!" and then he gets wrestled to the ground by Hiyori of all people, who was previously keeping a good distance between her and Danny and also panicking a little bit because it seemed like his smell completely disappeared what-

And Danny is just "what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck" and "did my parents sell me to the calamity god at some point???"

The answer he gets is no, but he's never totally sure and is always suspicious about it.

Some more notes:

-> He freaks out Hiyori because he smells like an Ayakashi

-> Yukine is a little bit drawn to him due to their similar (enough) circumstances.

-> Yato doesn't give much of a shit beyond the usual, at first, because he's used to the presence of death and Ayakashi near him. And Danny's existence isn't much of a surprise to him after hanging out with a sort-of Ayakashi (Hiyori) for so long.

-> After transforming into a Shinki for Yato, Danny can, in fact, blight him! When he changes back to his non-thermos self though, he does not blight Yato.

-> Danny offers to teach Yukine math one (1) time when Hiyori is unavailable and it ends with both of them getting repeat lessons. Danny thinks its a rip-off that he's not in school and yet he's still doing homework.

[derryqueenx]

Just Fantasy

A Used As Bait fic

If you were to look up the definition of 'horrible person' on the internet it would probably say something to extent of: someone who starts a fanfic, gives you multiple chapters of build to the big crescendo, writes a cliffhanger chapter, and then disappears for 2 years.

And for that, i am very sorry. I honestly wasn't going to finish this, but every couples of weeks i would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, panting and panicking our precious little flower that is Vince Noir still stuck with Lyle and remember that i'm that one that put him there and i should probably get him out sometime soon. And then, i went back and re-read the previous chapters to get myself caught up with what exactly was the trauma that i put him through and voila! here's a new chapter some 2 years later...

IM HERE TO RESCUE YOU VINCE!

For those who need a recap, or those who may only just now be stumbling upon this, you can find all the previous Used As Bait chapters here

“And how was your day today?” Lyle asked from the kitchen, the smell of grilled onions filling the room from the pan in which they were currently grilling. Homemade burgers it seemed was on the menu tonight. Beef, buns, lettuce, tomato, cheese… the lot. Including those onions. Something Lyle knew Vince didn’t like, but he didn’t care. Lyle liked onions, so onions they were having.

Vince wasn’t going to complain, though. If the onions made Lyle happy, then so be it.

Vince shrugged, thinking back to his adventures for the past 9 hours alone.

He cleaned, he tried his hand at cooking – someone really should have told him how to use an oven before today – he tidied himself up before Lyle came home. All the usual things. “Nothing too extraordinary.”

Oh, and the visit from Akala.

“Your Shaman popped in for a visit, though.”

The sound of the tongs scraping against the pan echoed through the air, Lyle’s breathe caught in his throat as he must have swallowed down the wrong pipe, coughing and spluttering suddenly as his arm came up to cover his mouth, eyes shooting across the room to where Vince sat on the floor. “What?”

Vince started to move on instinct to go and help Lyle from his coughing fit, but when he saw Lyle’s concerned eye he opted to stay right where he was. “Oh- your, uh, Shaman.. Alkana? Kalana?”

“Akala.”

“Yeah, him.” Vince beamed. “He was here earlier.”

Lyle’s lips thinned. “Why? What did he say?” He began walking away from the stove, hands coming to rest on the counter before him to almost stop himself from toppling over from shock any second.

“Nothing really. He was a bit weird at first, asking me a lot of dumb questions. But he said he just wanted to check in on me.”

Lyle took a deep breathe, eyes never leaving from Vince as he studied him. “And what did you say to him?”

Vince could tell now that he’d done something to upset Lyle. He didn’t mean to. Lyle asked about his day so Vince told him? Vince swallowed, taking a somewhat shaky breath himself as he pondered his answer. He didn’t need to lie to Lyle because he didn’t say anything wrong, right? “Um..” He started.

“What. Did. You. Say. Vince?” Lyle repeated, more emphasis plastered behind his words now.

“Well, nothing, really. I told him I was okay – that we were okay. There was nothing to worry about. I don’t really know why he was here to begin with, actually… he didn’t take anything with him for potions or Shaman stuff, ya know?” Vince tried to soothe it over, ensuring Lyle that everything was fine because he truly believed it was. Akala was Lyle’s Shaman – they were friends. Friends don’t betray friends.

“And what? He just left? Just like that?” Lyle probed deeper, clearly sensing some sort of threat or danger that Vince didn’t see.

Vince nodded. “ Just like that.”

“He didn’t say anything else to you? Think hard here Vince, it’s important.” Lyle’s knuckles were nearly going as white as Vince’s were on the apple he threatened Akala with only hours earlier from where they gripped onto the counter top, clearly trying to remain calm.

Vince did think. Hard. What was Lyle wanting? Nothing stood out to him from his conversation with Akala that would cause any need for concern from the other man.. “I swear, that was it. He said sorry and then he just vanished.”

“Sorry?” Lyle’s head cocked to the side.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry for what?”

Vince shrugged. “I dunno – for stopping by unannounced, I suppose? It is a little rude.” He pressed. “What if I was in the shower? Blimey, I don’t want him seeing me like that!” Instinctively Vince began covering up, bringing his hands to his chest to further prove his point of discomfort.

Lyle didn’t seem to believe it. He paused, humming to himself as his gaze fell somewhere between Vince and the bench counter he was leaning on, pondering. The silence continued on for a few seconds, Vince left awkwardly unawares as to what was going through Lyle’s mind and why he was so interested in this briefest of conversations – maybe Akala wasn’t allowed to be here? Was Vince not supposed to have talked to him? Was it a test that he had failed?

The silence ate away at him, so in response he ate away at his bottom lip, chewing at it nervously as he waited for Lyle to snap at him or berate him – just something.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he decided that anything was better than nothing, even if was in the wrong if would rather Lyle just tell him already. “Are you okay?” He nudged, his fingers fidgeting on the carpet beneath him.

Lyle seemed to remember his presence, being snapped out of his train of thought with a deep inhale, like he had forgotten to breathe. He looked up, offering Vince his best smile as if nothing was wrong and he hadn’t had just spaced out. “Everything’s fine, dear. I’m just going to make a quick call, alright?” He said, making his way out of the kitchen, hand reaching into his pants pocket to pull out his phone, clearly moving on from this conversation with Vince and proceeding it with someone else.

Vince opened his mouth to protest, to question further about Lyle’s odd behaviour, but he knew better than that. Lyle had given the instructions about what was going to happen from here and those instructions didn’t involve Vince.

As he closed his mouth, ready to sit in silence until Lyle returned, continuing with the destruction of his bottom lip in nervous habit, he heard the muffled voice of Lyle from down the hall. “-‘ve got a problem…”

-

At least 30 minutes would have had to have passed before Lyle emerged from the bedroom again, his demeanour carrying even more worry and urgency than it did before. Vince looked up when he heard the other man come back suddenly, waiting to be yelled at for leaving his spot when he realised Lyle had left the stove on about 5 minutes after he initially walked away, but no such outburst came. Instead..

“Go grab your things. We need to leave.”

It took a second for Vince to understand the words properly, as he stared dumfounded at Lyle. “Huh?” He said like a proper ballbag.

Lyle made his way to the pantry, pulling out a duffle bag that Vince had never seen before, seemingly with stuff pre-packed and ready to go. He didn’t spare Vince another glance, simply repeating with more authority, “Get your things!”

Vince knew he was walking on a thin string right now, as he slowly started getting up to his feet, but he still wasn’t quite sure what Lyle was wanting him to do. “But I don’t have any-“ He began.

“I put a bag away for you in the wardrobe in the bedroom, above the shoes and next to the watches. Hurry!” He insisted, spinning back around but still not looking at the confused raven haired man standing in the living room watching it all unfold and still have no clue what was actually going on.

Why did Lyle have a bag for him? When did he put that together? Where were they going? Why all of a sudden? Who was on the phone? What the hell is going on?!

Sensing the urgency and realising he wasn’t going to get any answers any time soon, Vince scrambled from the living room and down the hall to their bedroom, making his way to the wardrobe in search of the bag. After not really being sure what type of bag his was looking for, Vince felt pretty confident he’d found the right one when a very out-of-place floral decorated bag showed itself to him in the exact place Lyle told him to look. “There’s a few shirts in there! Put one on!” Came Lyle’s voice again, sounding like it had moved from the kitchen and somewhere else further down the house, but Vince didn’t focus too much on that and moreso on the instructions. Put a shirt on.

Ever since day 1 Lyle had never let him put on a shirt unless he had guests coming over and he needed to look ‘presentable’ or to ‘stop wandering eyes’. Based on the urgency of the situation, Vince didn’t think they had anyone coming over, in fact, Lyle specifically said they were leaving so why would he need to put on a shirt?

Surely Vince must have misheard him. “Wait… what did you say?” He shouted back, hands moving on their own to open the bag and peak inside. After a couple moments of silence, Vince assumed Lyle must have been somewhere else in the house and unable to hear him, so not wanting to dare put on a shirt if Lyle didn’t actually tell him to, Vince made his way out of the bedroom for validation of the demand. “Lyle?” He called out just as he made his way out from the hallway, reemerging into the living room where he expected to see either an empty space or Lyle fussing around still.

Well, he did see Lyle.

But he wasn’t alone.

The voice rang through the air, as smooth as it ever was, almost a fairytale that Vince hadn’t heard since he was a child, the sound of it causing goosebumps to raise on his fair skin as he stared into those brown eyes in pure shock.

Howard breathed, ever so quietly, as though he was afraid speaking too loud would scare him off like a lost and wounded animal. “Vince?”

-

HA. Imagine dropping a chapter out of nowhere and STILL leaving it on a cliffhanger. Couldn't be me.

[elmaxlys]

Crazy dream. So I was this guy, a trained spy, cropped black hair, an easy smile, dressed in leather, 10 years in couple with this girl, Barbara, brown haired, plump lips, flat chested, who's an enhanced human (she was able to fly). Most people had super powers where I lived, but I didn't. So one day after work (Barbara worked in a high ens hotel), we met with our friends in a karaoke room of the hotel (with permission of course). So it start like this: the room is equipped with lights that make powers null for safety purposes. Except that my trained ass immediately saw this room full of part time superheroes (Barbs and her friends) now vulnerable and I kind of panicked. I went "you realize that if anyone attacks the only who can fight without superpowers is me, right ?" and sure I was well-built but officially I only knew basic self defense. And we were a dozen. They said "why would anyone attack us?" and there we went to sing. I didn't sing, I was on edge the whole time and then I said I'd go outside to breathe some fresh air - bc frankly it was getting way too loud with everyone getting drunk and stuff. So as I get to the entry hall, there are the two old ladies always sitting there. I greet them, they barely acknowledge me, the usual. Just before I get to the door, it opens and a lady, wavy blonde hair cut under the ear, with fur on her coat, gets in and says hello loudly, spinning a little, and then goes her way. I exchange a look with the old ladies and then get outside. As I walk to the parking lot, I seen another lady looking just like that first one. I think "Huh. Weird." but keep going, just more alert. Then I see another. And another. And I go combat mode. Something is seriously wrong. If it's someone with a duplication power...

I rush back. The old ladies are still there but they also look alarmed. (it's subtle, they're almost expressionless at all times). With that confirmation, I go back outside: I can't charge in alone without knowing what's going on. I disappear in the shadows and circle the building. There are the blonde lady everywhere. There are screams and sounds of fighting. I think: if their power is disabled then the ladies' will also disappear when she gets inside. But it doesn't. Everyone is outnumbered and overpowered. I keep watching from afar, evaluating what's going on as I can, and that's how I see her. Translucent, floating above the fountain in the garden, her black hair floating around her. She's smiling but it's cold and cruel. I recognize her. I don't remember her name now that I'm awake but I knew her. We'd met. She owned the hotel and the building where Barbs and I lived. I retreat.

Early in the morning of the next day, I go to the hotel, smiling like an idiot, officially here to pick up my girl. I smile and wave to the two old ladies who don't look like themselves but robot version. I pretend not to notice and greet them warmly and loudly, not paying attention to their lack of response, like usual. I walk down the halls like a happy idiot, humming to some tune, twirling my car key around my finger. I get to the room where Barbs and her friends where partying when they got attacked and knock. There's noise inside but no one answers. I open the door. Everyone is still there but they're. Objects or animals. Wrong looking. I recognize some of them, the others I'm not sure. I see Barbs. I don't say anything. I must keep looking like a helpless powerless idiot. I say something like "Huh. They must have left", scratch my head and turn back. I'm about to close the door behind me when She appears right in front of me. "Oh, Miles," she greets me. "What a pleasant surprise, I haven't seen you in a while." and I say "yeah, hi! I'd been meaning to contact you, by the way, regarding some.. stuff that's been going on. See, Barbs and I, well we decided we'd separate." I scratch my head again and give her an easy smile. I know She likes me a lot, and she frowns at what I say, I can tell she's angry. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that, are you okay?" she' s not sorry at all. She's seething. She eyes the place where Object Barbara is. I wonder if Barbara can hear me as she is. Regardless I have to keep going. My life depends on it. "Oh yeah," I answer, "we still get along, it was a mutual decision, but we decided it'd be better, for the kids and stuff.." She smiles sympathetically before she gets the implications. "So yeah, we're gonna be moving away." She looks even angrier somehow, yet her face does not budge, stuck on a pleasant smile. I say to her basically we'll be gone from our flat in a week tops. She asks if we need help to move and I say it's fine, that it's basically all packed already. Then I make a move like I'm going to go but then change my mind. I move toward her and lower my tone like I'm saying a secret. I say something along the lines of "could you maybe... let Barbs keep working here despite her not living there anymore?", her face lights up (it's fake) and she dismisses it with a move of her hand. "oh of course, it goes without saying!". I thank her, give her a wink, and go my merry way.

There isn't personnel left in the hotel. Everyone has been turned into a fucked up looking animal or an object, not any less fucked up looking.

Idk how I saw that? But I saw Her at her home, taking care of a Fucked Up Duck. Like. Blue and flat, plastic looking. Still floating on water, still saying Kwak, but her eyes so human looking. Clearly a kid. So cute. So heartbreaking. She feeds Baby Duck, She caresses her gently. She talks to her softly. Then She gives it a little sweet kiss and gets up, smoothing Her black straight skirt, and walks away. She goes down a dark hallway and goes inside a room full of vivarium. In each (and there's a lot), there is a different fucked looking insect. She feeds them, takes one or two on Her finger.

I am back to my apartment building. It's empty. There are weird insects everywhere. There was no traffic on the way. I understand She plans on changing everyone. I don't get why She let me go. But I'll definitely take advantage of it.

I made sure to throw away all my belongings and hurriedly packed all of Barbara's, then I hid. I disappeared from public sight. In truth, I was staying in the other flats in my building. I had to stay close to keep an eye on things. It did not make things easy but I had ways out. She did come to check whether I told the truth. When She left, She looked both satisfied and frustrated.

She kept sending her goons in the various apartments. Did She look for me? Probably. Did she suspect something from me? I had no idea. It turned into a mockery of hide and seek, where I had to constantly evade the scrutiny of Her Fucked Up robots and machinery.

At some point, She and I were the only last humans in the city. The city was closed off. I couldn't find help, I shouldn't expect any. Our color was blue. The most powerful neighbor was Red. We also were next to Green, and Yellow was a little farther. Did they know what was up?

She stayed in the hotel. It was Her castle, Her headquarters. I knew I had no choice but to try something there. I managed to get inside. The old ladies, still Fucked Up, were still there. They didn't react, their hands still. She had gone away to Her house so I had mostly free access to everything. I only had to avoid Her Fucked Up goons and machinery. Easy. I got to Her office cleanly. It was messier than I had expected. Her desk was positioned right by the window, so She could see outside when working. Nice for me to control my surroundings. I started ruffling through Her stuff. Nothing of note, nothing telling me how to undo Her curse. I found a little toy mirror. I picked it up and it trembled in my hand. Oh. It was someone. Used to be. I shushed it, promised I'd help. My eyes scanned the desk with even more fervor. I had no way to know what object was someone and what object wasn't. But the little mirror was. I found a plastic crown clearly meant to be attached to something (it had a plastic part to be inserted). I eyed the mirror. They were the same size but the mirror did have a hole where the crown could fit. In a hurry, as I heard steps outside the door, I put it in. Mirror buzzed again. It now was a proper mirror, golden and ornamented. Its eyes opened and it told me "My power is to give someone a power when they hold me and say my name." The voice was feminine. I asked what the name was and she answered "Winx". They were unlocking the door. So I walked over to the window, looked down at the three stories fall that awaited me. I held Winx in my hand and said: "Winx: flying" and jumped. It worked. I was able to fly. There was a lot of wind and as it was my first time flying, I had a lot of trouble. An umbrella was flying near me so I grabbed it and used it to hide my body from sight. I asked Winx to give me invisibility and she said "Not a good idea." I looked down and understood that she could only give one power at a time. If she gave me invisibility, I'd crash down. "Right, let's not," I told her. But someone saw me. And I hit a tree. In my surprise, I let go of the umbrella and Winx to grab the branches so I wouldn't get impaled. The umbrella flew away with Winx inside. Now that I wasn't touching her, I couldn't communicate with her anymore. "People" were pointing at me and coming after me. I had to get away before She got there. I went down to the ground and ran like hell. I evaded everyone and managed to reach the spot where the umbrella had touched ground. I grabbed Winx and asked for invisibility. Boom, I disappeared. I went missing again. The searches intensified: it became harder and harder to hide but now I had Winx on my side, providing me the powers needed each time to escape or be undetectable.

She was definitely after me: because I took Winx? because I was the last human in her controlled realm? I had no way of knowing but Winx had some insight to offer. Having been turned into an object, she knew what it was and what it did. She told me that the object I called Fucked Up were indeed incomplete: if I offered them something and they accepted, they'd regain some of their human attributes. In her case, communication and her senses. The people that mostly seemed like people still might become human again. She didn't know anymore but this was bette than anything I'd gotten so far.

I did such excursions again and again, planned each time better than the last, leaving less and less traces. I collected objects from various rooms, the ones that reacted when I touched them. Not all of them accepted anything I gave them. For some of them it was enough to say hello. For some - a doll and a pen - a kiss did the trick. Others I had to find something they'd lost. The others I had no way of knowing and no matter what I tried it wasn't enough.

I had saved around a dozen of small objects and they were "living" in the various empty apartments of the building I still hung around in.

One of them (the pen) used to work in the backstage of the hotel and knew all kinds of passages: including some to reach Red country. Carrying Pen and Winx with me, I went through the passageway. I reached a corridor with hm. labels? on doors (like, not on the door but sticking out? like a label you put on a book to keep your page?), in that corridor I encountered a man. A real man, not a Fucked up one. He was well dressed, his light brown hair combed back. He greeted me when he saw me. I asked him where he was from and he said Red. I said I'm from Blue, which alarmed him immediately, confirming what I suspected and they knew what was going on. He informed me that it was now a purpler blue than before, which I had noticed on the labels. He took me to a Red door and made me go through the border. Now that I had been authorized, I could go through the border on my own whenever I wanted until they revoked my authorization. It'd be useful to flee when needed.

He told me they didn't know anything except that She had taken over and the population had disappeared. I told him she had changed them into objects and the only way to bring them back somewhat was to offer them something and they accepted. He said "Damn..." and I was like "I know, right". Anyway we became allies and later tentative friends as our meetings accumulated. His name started with R (my brain offers me Raul and Russel but I think it wasn't any of these). Thanks to him, I got a lot more help and ressources. We contacted Yellow and Green. Green refused to help but Yellow was less on the fence about it, attending our strategy meeting in one of the common room of the border corridor.

One day as I was in the common Purple-Blue/Red/Yellow room with R and a Yellow ambassador, the Purple-Blue door opened to let Her come in, followed by a tracking machinery. While Yellow ambassador distracted her (he greeted her, talked to her about what she was doing there etc etc etc), R rushed me to a side room and told me to hide. There was literally only a table and a closet. He opened the closet for me so I went in. I could hear Her voice. She was saying that she was following a runaway and that her best hunting hound (the Fucked Up machine) had lead her there. They said oh that's regrettable, we'll look with you. So they let the hound do its job and followed it from room to room until it stopped right near the table I was hidden under (yeah I had moved from the closet to there bc it'd be easier to run without being seen from the under the table. they'd definitely spot a closet door opening :v). It beeped at it mistress and She asked what it was. It beeped sadly or confusedly. It kept scanning me but nothing showed up. It knew I was there but I wasn't. (big thanks to Winx for that) and so R looked under and said "there's nothing there" (he still thought I was in the closet, he didn't know about Winx) and so the Yellow ambassador checked as well and confirmed. So She leaned to look. She was staring straight at me without being able to see me. Still, I was pretty shaken. I held my breath, not moving a muscle, not moving a single hair, knowing anything would give me out. She came back up and the machine beeped insistently that I was there for real and She leaned back but still didn't see me. She inhaled sharply and thanked the two men, saying they needed to notify her if any Purple-Blue man was seen anywhere in the corridor rooms. They assured her they would.

I came out of under the table when I was sure they were far (they accompanied her back) and I ran like hell out of there, still invisible.

I turned the old ladies back at some point. They still appeared somewhat robotic but she blended in the background so well, everyone was so accustomed to them being there not moving nor saying anything that no one noticed a thing. They did spare me a glance, the only way I knew they were truly back, but they kept behaving like they were still Fucked Up. They didn't want to move.

I woke up as I was turning everyone from Barbara's friend group back.

For the stats: a man named Miles

[greentrickster]

Please tell us more about the Phoenix write/LMK crossover I am begging you. It’s so interesting. Like how does Phoenix’s Phoenix blood affect him? Is it only help healing from injuries or is it full on if they die they will get revived?

Thank-you so much! And with this ask, this AU officially requires its own tag, so it is now and forevermore The Monkey King's Ace Lawyer AU! And I think at first it just manifests in Phoenix healing slightly faster and cleaner than usual, but nothing to particularly write home about. Heck, Phoenix himself isn't even aware of his heritage, it's pretty far back, so everyone just goes, "Oh yeah, he's just lucky, it's Phoenix, he's indestructible, haha." The most he's ever noticed is that he tends to get pretty warm while he's recovering if something especially bad happens to him, like, say, eating that danged necklace or falling off a bridge. (...assume a lot of the usual AA stuff happened here, but dialed down to LMK levels of violence, injury, and such. Also, full-on scrap the Dark Age of the Law, Phoenix was just busy learning Celestial, Demonic, and Underworld legal systems (and also coming to terms with, 'Oh, hey, all of this is real'), LMK is hardcore enough, I'm not dropping AA levels of hardcore on top of that.)

Anyway, no one realizes anything until some nonsense happens during one of the times the city gets squashed or- oh! Actually, let's say this happens during the Spider Queen invasion! The AA gang, as with everyone else in the city, are trying to run away from and fight off her spiderbots, and they're doing pretty well on account of being used to dealing with crazy nonsense at this point and Trucy's magic giving them an edge.

Except then Phoenix gets bitten, starts to transform, everyone's panicking- and he spasms.

Eyes snap open bright red-

Vanishes into a ball of fire-

-and reappears perfectly fine, possibly looking healthier than usual, even his clothes are all mended and tidy.

There's a moment of stunned silence.

This moment is broken by some reminder that oh, right, city's still undergoing a spiderpocalyse, time to Get Moving.

Afterwards Phoenix manages to track down Monkey King on the grounds that he has no idea who else to ask about this, and our favorite simian is just, "Oh, yeah, the phoenix thing. Why did you think I hired you?"

"...because I'm a good lawyer with reasonable rates?"

"Close, but mostly because I figured you'd be able to actually survive the job, what with the whole phoenix ancestry and all."

"The WHAT-?!"

Now that his inheritance has fully awoken, any injury Phoenix gets disappears in a little lick of flame and he's completely fireproof (and also immune to overheating or freezing). The 'disappear into a ball of flame and emerge in perfect health' ability is one that he has to activate himself - the first time was instinctive against supernatural attack, now he says it's like flexing a muscle he hadn't realized he had until now. He's not properly immortal like Sun Wukong or a celestial or a pure phoenix, but the 'he's basically indestructible' joke has just become very, very literal. There are things that would kill him, but the list of those things just became a heck of a lot shorter.

Also, he has absolutely no offensive abilities from his heritage, it's all healing, so he's no more useful in a fight than he was before, just far more likely to survive one.

Thanks for the ask!

[bluiex]

Bluie got this first so now its the blogs turn kjf. This is the Mumbo moves into the village that is slightly off au of Father Spore

I still like the uncanny valley feel to this place Mumbo moves into. He can't quite put his finger on why everyone just seems a Little Off. Scar though seem the most normal until he smiles or grins. Its a little to wide, and theres something about the way he looks at Mumbo sometimes makes a chill run down his spine

I also like the thought that they all can control when they release spores, so touches and stuff aren't going to infect unless they want it to. Better to keep those moving in from suspecting something so they can slowly work to make them one of them

As Mumbo is setting up his place, Scar had swung by to greet the newest member of the community. Tells Mumbo he likes to meet everyone and make sure they are settling in. Or have everything they need, its something a mayor should do. Which Mumbo thinks is fine, this place is a smaller community, of course Scar would want to do this

After helping Mumbo unpack for awhile, he goes to leave. But stops at the door, suddenly looking and sounding very serious

"Oh Mumbo? Its best you don't wonder out after night falls. Understood?"

Mumbo freezes staring at Scar, the man was so happy and jovial moments before. Now he was staring at Mumbo stern and serious. A chill runs down his spine

Nodding stiffly "Yah, sure. Understood."

Everything about Scar softens as he smiles again. "Good. If you need anything just ask!"

Waving goodbye Scar disappeared shutting the door behind him. Mumbo was now wondering what he had gotten himself into

Time had passed and within a few weeks Mumbo had settled into the town nicely. Making friends with almost everyone there

One day he goes out to gather some supplies he needs for a project. Losing time as he does, something he regrets as he's trying to get home as the sun is setting. Scar's warning still hanging heavy on his mind. Clutching the shulker box Grian gave him as he rushes towards his house

Panicked, knowing he's not going to make it but hopefully nothing bad would happen

He was wrong, starting to feel like eyes were on him as he made his way through the center of town towards his house. And then he sees it, glowing eyes starting to circle around him. Clutching the box harder his breathing picks up. Unable to see WHAT the eyes belonged too but he knew it wasn't good. There was no lights here, why was there no lights in the town at night?

Mumbo could feel whatever it was circling him closer and closer. One voice that sounded familiar but SO wrong tells him he'll be okay. They won't hurt him, but Mumbo isn't so sure about that

Backing up he bumps into something solid. Hands suddenly on his shoulders and spinning him around. It was Scar, but he hadn't heard Scar come up behind him

"Mumbo, calm down its okay, you are okay"

Scar soothed him, even if Mumbo could see some disappointment in his eyes

Mumbo quickly apologized telling him he was getting stuff for a project and lost time and didn't mean to be out so late. Scar softens and tells him its okay but he can't have him remembering this. Which confuses Mumbo

Suddenly Scar blows something in his face telling him to sleep and everything goes black

He wakes up at Grian's place, asking what happened. Grian tells him he overworked himself and they found him near exhaustion and it was easier to take care of him here. While he appreciates it something seems wrong about that but he can't figure out why. He shrugs it off as Scar stops by, and both doting on him

Mumbo won't find out till later that it was the people of the town out at night, in their actual forms as sporelings. Not having to keep up an appearance of being normal during the day -@spacecatdet

hehehehe and i love it so much- everyone this is amazing

[asksquidbeakagents]

Homecoming

Lana glanced back down at the note with her family’s address on it, despite the fact that she knew she already had the address and Octavio’s message memorized.

She looked up, glancing around the trolley. It felt almost weird to hear people around her talking Octarian. The last time she had heard someone speaking Octarian... Cod probably when she first escaped the metro and Marina was teaching her to speak the inkling tongue. Honestly, most of her surroundings felt weird, but familiar at the same time. She hadn’t been home in a while.

She toyed with the paper in her hands as she thought about how her family would react to seeing her again. And that wasn’t even starting to get into all the other stuff she’d have to tell them eventually. Living with Agent 4 and the original Agent 3, saving the world from Tartar, shell even her job at Ammo Knights.

“Now arriving at Great Pacific Station.”

Lana quickly pushed herself to her feet, rushing off the trolley.

It wasn’t a quick walk, mostly due to Lana taking a couple wrong turns, but eventually she reached the address she had been given. A nice looking home, decorated for the holidays with a candle burning in the front window. Before she could think about it, she marched to the front door, ringing the bell.

Lana stared at her hand as she pulled it back, suddenly panicking. What if this was some sort of prank? What if they weren’t happy to see her? What if-

She didn’t have much time to think about what ifs though as the door opened and her father opened the door.

“Hello, how can I...” He trailed off, staring at Lana with wide eyes.

The pair just stared at each other in silence, the moment seeming to stretch into infinity before her father reached out, resting a hand against her cheek. “Lana?”

“Hey Papa,” Lana said, tears starting to gather in her eyes.

Her father pulled her into a tight hug as tears started falling down both their faces.

“Kai, who was at the- LANA!”

Lana smiled as her mother pulled her into a crushingly tight hug while Maya and Caspian bounced around them, asking questions so fast she could barely make out what they were saying.

“You’re home... You’re actually home,” Her mother said, pulling back. “When you disappeared... Oh Lana.”

“Let her breathe Adriana,” Kai said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“We just missed you so much,” Adriana said, resting a hand on her chest.

“I missed you too Mama. All of you. I have so much to tell you guys.”

Kai watched as Lana told her little siblings about some adventure she had gone on with her new friends, smiling before turning to the front window.

Picking up the candle, he blew it out. After over four years his prayers had been answered, his eldest daughter finally returned to them. The light had finally guided her home. 

[kkyaka]

Through Thick And Thin

Summary: Being stuck in your apartment together reveals some painful truths for Connie

Pairing: Connie Springer x black!fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of quarantine and lockdown but no mention of a sickness or anything like that, lots of angst in the beginning, a bit of miscommunication, decent amount of panicking on Connie’s side, mentions of food, working through relationship problems, reader is insecure at one point, some body worship, lots of communication, a lot of fluff, swearing, work-related stress for both parties, smut: unprotected sex, fingering (f), oral (f+m), mirror sex (sort of), groping, lots of making out and kissing, hair pulling on Connie’s part, tittyfucking (so reader has tits big enough for that), reader is picked up twice, little bit of suggestiveness, I think I covered it, if I missed anything let me know

Word Count: 17,461 (*sighs*)

A/N: *eye twitches* I’ve been working on this for like a month? I think 💀. I’m glad that I’m done with it, and I didn’t think it was gonna be this long, but I’ve been having really bad Connie brainrot for some reason lmao. Anyways, hope you enjoy and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

Having to be on lockdown is what it takes for Connie to realize the state of his relationship with you. No one’s really sure how long the quarantine is supposed to be, but Connie’s not incredibly bummed by it. He’s already been to the store to stock up on a few things that the apartment needed, and when he gets home, he notices that you aren’t there. He doesn’t think much of it, figuring that you’re still at work, so he busies himself with putting away the stuff that he got.

It’s a couple of hours later when he hears the door open, and he walks into the living room to greet you. You close the door with a heavy sigh, bags in your hand, and you jump when your eyes land on Connie, sending yourself back into the door. “Oh, my God. You scared me,” you breathe. “I thought you would be at work,” you say, making no move to hug him or anything as you walk towards the kitchen.

Connie finds it a bit odd, but he brushes it off, thinking that you’d want to set the bags down first. “Well, they sent us home early, y’know? Cause of the lockdown,” he answers, and he notices that you seem a lot more stressed? Or maybe upset? He can’t really tell, but seeing how you let your head fall forward lets him know that there’s something wrong.

“Right.” Your voice is tight, and he assumes that you’re upset about it, so he tries to lighten the mood. Especially because ever since you walked in, he noticed that it’s taken almost a suffocating turn.

“Hey, I mean, that just means we get to spend more time together,” he tries, and you finally turn around to look at him in the eyes, but you’re not smiling. In fact, you don’t even look happy about it. You don’t respond, only shaking your head as you scoff, and when you try to walk away, Connie’s quick to stop you. “Hey, hey, hold on. Is something wrong?”

“I don’t wanna talk about this right now, Connie. I’m tired.” That’s all you give him, and he lets you walk away. He watches you disappear down the hall, hearing the bathroom door close soon after, and he leans against the island in the kitchen truly stumped. He doesn’t know what else could be wrong, standing there for a while as he racks his brain trying to figure it out. The best thing he could come up with is that maybe you had a bad day at work or something.

But then he realizes that it’s Saturday, and you don’t work on Saturdays. He thinks that it’s possible you could’ve had a bad encounter with someone while you were out, but the first thing you always do is tell him about it when he gets home. And then he realizes again that he can’t even remember the last time he’s sat down and talked with you. A whole bunch of nerves and feelings bubble up in his chest, but he tries to remain optimistic. He’ll just give you your space, and then reach out to you a bit later.

~

Connie checks the clock on the wall to see that it’s been roughly three hours since you’ve gotten home, and he hasn’t seen you since you walked away from him. He got distracted while waiting, deciding to watch TV to try and pass the time, but now the sun is going down, and he still doesn’t know what’s going on with you. He’s starting to get hungry, so he figures he could try and break the ice by asking you if you’re hungry too. He sighs heavily when he stands, wondering if he should brace himself for what this conversation could turn into.

It doesn’t help that he’s never seen you act this way, and to say the least, it’s definitely alarming. When he walks toward your shared room, he sees that the door is closed, but the bathroom door is open, and he wonders how he missed you going into your room. He softly knocks on the door before pushing it open, and his eyes land on you laying down on the bed, your back facing the door.

He can’t tell if you’re asleep, so he keeps his steps light, walking over to your side of the bed. Your eyes are open, but you don’t look at Connie, and now he’s definitely worried. He crouches down so that his face is level with yours, and he can’t help but feel a pang at his heart when he sees the look in your eyes. It’s like there’s nothing there; your eyes are usually full of emotion, but right now, they’re devoid of it.

“Hey,” he says quietly. “I was starting to get hungry, so I wanted to ask if you were too.”

“I can eat.” There isn’t even emotion in your voice, no tremor, no nothing. You almost sound like a robot, and it makes Connie frown.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and you look away from him, taking a while to figure out how you want to answer that question. “I wanted to give you space, but I wasn’t sure—”

“Space is your favorite thing in the world, huh?” you accuse suddenly, and you sit up quickly which makes Connie move back a little. “You still haven't figured it out yet?”

Connie keeps his eyes on you as confusion consumes his thoughts. “Did you have a bad day? Or—”

You scoff distastefully before standing. “Forget it, Connie.” When you walk out of the room, he follows, keeping up with you before grabbing your arm softly. You let him turn you around, and he rests his hands on your arms, but you don’t look at him.

“I honestly thought space would help,” he tries. “I just didn’t want to make you feel pressured to tell me what was wrong.” When you do finally look at him, he can see tears brimming in your eyes, and his face changes as he looks at you. “I’m sorry, okay? Can you talk to me?” He leans down to kiss your forehead, but his eyes widen when you back away out of his reach.

You shake his hands off of you, and your reaction gives you enough time to get away from him because Connie stands in the hallway frozen. He’s at a total loss, and he has no idea how to approach the situation. He can hear you in the kitchen, moving things around, but he can slowly feel things falling apart as the image of you backing away from him replays in his head.

He’s about to turn around when he spots the guest bedroom door wide open. His frown deepens as he walks to the door, and when he walks into the room, he’s stopped by a box. He looks around the room, seeing that these are the boxes you both used when you first moved in with each other. But the difference is that they’re filled and labeled. Connie sighs as he runs his hands over his head, getting a horrible feeling in his chest. In the moment of shock, the only emotion he’s able to register is anger. He storms down the hall, and into the kitchen where you’re looking around in the fridge.

“You’re really gonna leave without an explanation?” He watches you freeze before you stand fully, closing the door to the fridge, but as you turn around, he doesn’t give you a chance to answer. “How long were you planning on leaving, huh? Is there someone else? Because that’s—”

“I thought that’s what you wanted!” you scream, and all of Connie’s bravado goes out the window. You hold back your tears as you look away, taking a deep breath. “Please don’t tell me that you haven’t seen what’s happened to us.” Your voice lowers as you speak, and you can’t even bring yourself to look at him.

“W–What are you talking about?” he asks, taking a hesitant step forward, and you’re glad that the island is between the two of you; although, you don’t really like how it reflects what you’ve become.

“Connie, this is the first conversation we’ve had in weeks,” you say. “I can’t even remember the last time we slept in the same bed or the last time we had dinner together. I can’t remember the last time we talked on the phone when one of us was away.” You’ve started talking, and you don’t think that you can stop until it’s all out. “You’ve been working late, crashing on the couch, and repeating that process for so long, I just—” Your breath catches in your throat, and you can’t stop the tears from falling. “I assumed that you didn’t want me anymore, and that was your way of telling me that you were bored of me.”

“Baby, you know that’s not true,” Connie whispers, holding out one of his hands.

“How in the fuck was I supposed to know that?!” Connie jumps at your exclamation, feeling so much guilt swallowing him whole. “You’ve been finding every excuse to blow me off, whether that’s work, hanging out with your friends, or you’re tired.” You wipe your face quickly when more tears fall. “Do you know how shitty I’ve been feeling?”

You let out a broken sob, throwing the bag of chips you had in your hand on the counter before walking away. “I can’t do this right now,” you say, and it’s like deja vu as Connie once again watches you disappear down the hallway, but this time he hears the bedroom door close. Connie stands there looking at the chips for who knows how long before it sinks in. He staggers to the couch, and he slowly sits down, putting his thumbs under his chin as his fingers rest against his nose.

Connie didn’t know what he was expecting, but that interaction was not it at all. The whole thing replays in his head, and he wonders how so much happened in so little time, and how in the world he let it happen. He was frozen the entire time you were talking. He’s never seen you that hurt before, and it was his fault that you were feeling that way.

Why wasn’t he aware of any of this? Why didn’t he ever stop and think about what he was doing? He started picking up more shifts at work to ease your burden since you were complaining about how stressful work was. You reassured him that he didn’t have to, but he loved his job, so he didn’t have a problem with it; he just didn’t know that he had gotten carried away. The extra shifts were killing him more than he let on, which is why he was almost always getting something to eat on the way home and crashing on the couch so that he doesn’t wake you.

This whole time, he thought he was being good for you.

Tears prick at his eyes as he lays down, letting the silence heighten his hurricane of thoughts. He doesn’t even know if there’s anything he can say to you because it looks like your mind is already made up. And it’s not like he would blame you, wondering if he even deserves a chance to try to fix this. He’ll obviously let you decide, but that doesn’t mean that waiting to hear what you say about that is going to be a smooth ride.

He sees his phone on the coffee table, and he grabs it, squinting when the light hits his eyes. It’s well past dark now, and he doesn’t have it in him to turn on any lights. The first thing he does is look through his messages, seeing that it’s been about a month since he’s texted you, and it’s been even longer since he’s called you. He curses loudly as he locks his phone, fighting the urge to throw it across the room. Instead, he sets it back down before rolling over on his side.

Connie’s eyes burn when he blinks, sitting up to see that the sun is coming up. Of course, he didn’t get any sleep; the anxiety that you could be gone when he woke up kept him up all night. This might seem a little selfish, but he wants to at least get a word in before you leave him for good. He’s uneasy as he walks through the apartment to go to the bathroom, not even sparing the bedroom door a glance. He can see that his eyes are bloodshot in the mirror, and he quickly looks away from his reflection.

He doesn’t know if that was a good idea because his eyes land on a sticky note on the mirror. He feels his heart break, even more, when he realizes that it’s something he put on there when you were going through a hard time at work. It was that period of time that he decided to pick up more shifts, and for some reason, the fact that it’s still there gives him hope, in a way. After he’s done in the bathroom, he moves back into the living room and finds home on the couch again.

To be honest, he doesn’t know how to approach this. The last time he came to you, it resulted in a fight, but he’s worried that if he doesn’t go to you first, he’ll miss his opportunity. The fatigue hits him when he sits down, so he relaxes against the couch, letting his head fall back. His eyelids are so heavy, and he fights sleep for a while before he finally gives in, but just as his eyes close, he hears a door open. He lifts his head up quickly, looking over his shoulder to see you coming into the room.

He doesn’t know what to say, opting to just watch you, the air in the room feeling awkward. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” you ask, your voice sounds rough like you’ve been crying, and all Connie wants to do is pull you into his arms. Your eyes are just as red as his but puffy, and he exhales as he shakes his head.

“No, of course not. I couldn’t really sleep that much anyway.” You play with your fingers, looking down at them before you look at him again, this time gesturing towards the couch.

“You mind?” He instantly shakes his head, moving over to the other side of the couch to give you space as you sit. “Connie, I know I didn’t let you get a word in last night, but before you do, I just wanna say that I’m sorry.”

Connie looks at you like you’ve grown two heads. “Why are you apologizing? This is all my fault.” You shake your head gently, getting ready to argue, but he stops you softly. “I’m sorry, okay? I thought that I was being a good boyfriend when it turns out that I was being the worst person on Earth.” That seems to be enough to placate you for now because you don’t say anything, and Connie takes that as a sign to keep going.

“I was just trying to help you out since you were stressed at work,” he starts, “but in the process, I ended up biting off more than I could chew, and you were affected by that.” He wants to reach for you and touch you, but the image of you pulling away from him stops him. “I’m sorry that I didn’t see how you were feeling, and I’m sorry that I made you feel like you weren’t wanted. I can assure you right now that that is not in no way true. Like at all.”

He feels a weight fall off his shoulders when you give him a small smile, and silence falls on the two of you again, but he doesn’t really know what to say. He doesn’t think he’s really done some “convincing” but he’s also having a hard time trying to put into words what he wants to say.

“So, you want to try and fix this?” you ask, looking down at where your hand and his hand are next to each other, but separated by the small gap in the cushions.

“More than anything in the world,” he answers immediately, and he meets your gaze when you look up at him. “If you decide that it’s not worth it, then I totally respect your decision.”

You chew on your lip as you divert your gaze once again. You’re scared. Mostly because you’re thinking ahead, wondering if this would be worth it once the lockdown is lifted, but you shake it off, focusing on what you do know, which is the present. You solidify your answer by slowly moving your hand forward so that your fingers touch. Connie looks down, a smile forming on his face before he looks at you again.

“So, what do you wanna do first?” he asks.

“Eat or sleep, whichever one comes first,” you answer, making the both of you laugh quietly.

“Well, whatever you want to eat, I’ll make it,” he declares, standing up, and you huff softly before you tell him what you want. You decide that it’ll be better to eat before you fall asleep because you do not want to wake up hungry. You relax onto the couch, turning on the TV to try and pass the time as the noises Connie’s making in the kitchen fill your ears.

You know that this can’t be fixed overnight, and you know that there’s still a lot for the both of you to talk about, but it does feel amazing that you’ve both gotten this far at least. You eventually change the track of your thoughts because you’re starting to slightly spiral the more you think about the situation, and luckily Connie walks in with a plate.

You thank him as you take it, and he sits next to you, keeping that distance between you, but it doesn’t feel as forced. You both eat in silence, finding a random TV show to watch, and you can feel how the tension in the room is starting to ease up. It’s not necessarily gone on your part, but it doesn’t feel like it’s suffocating you.

Connie takes your plates after you finish eating, and you pull your legs up onto the couch, resting your head on the armrest. You don’t remember when you dozed off, but the feeling of something landing on you has your eyes opening. You open them in time to see Connie draping a blanket over you, but he doesn’t realize that you’re awake, focused on making sure that every part of you is covered.

You try to tell him that he can take the bed since you were in it last night, but your eyes fall closed, and the fatigue only allows you to emit a low hum instead of words. You hear him chuckle, feeling the couch on the other side dip when Connie sits down. “Sleep tight, baby,” is the last thing you hear as you let the sleep take over.

It’s been about a week, and you and Connie are still sort of tiptoeing around each other. Connie doesn’t want to push anything, and he knows that this will take longer than a couple of weeks, but he misses holding you. Every time he thinks about it for too long, his hands get all twitchy, and if he’s being honest, he’s scared to try and initiate anything like that. He still thinks about that moment when you pulled away from him, when he didn’t understand how bad things were, and it eats at him.

Now that he’s stuck at home, he thinks of ways that he could try and make it up to you. You’ve given him a second chance, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to mess it up. Although, sleeping on the couch really isn’t doing well for his back. You offered that you could sleep on the couch, but Connie was pretty vehement about letting you keep the bed. At least it’s better than sleeping on the floor.

You won’t lie and say that this week has been a substantial improvement, but it doesn’t feel like anything’s really changing. You’re sitting in the guest bedroom, looking around at the boxes you packed up. It took you a while to even bring yourself to do this. Obviously, it’s not everything you own, but it’s most of it. You were going to take them out when you got a day off work, but then your plans were changed. It’s not like you wanted to leave, but you felt like that’s what Connie wanted.

You sigh heavily as you mentally struggle to open the box, having your hand on one of the flaps, but not pulling it open. You’re scared of what it could mean if you do open it, anxious that doing so would cause another rift between you two. You’re not sure Connie would let that happen, and you don’t want that to happen, but with the way things are going, it might be the outcome.

You can hear Connie coming down the hall, but you don’t look up from where you’re staring at the box. You can hear his footsteps slow as he gets closer to the doorway. “I’m not leaving, don’t worry,” you say as soon as he gets there, pushing down any doubts he might’ve had.

He doesn’t say anything, taking a few steps forward. “Are you…gonna unpack these?” he asks carefully, and you shrug, looking at him.

“I’m kinda scared to, honestly,” you admit. “I’m just worried that I’ll jinx us or something,” you say with a pitiful laugh. “I’m not saying I want that to happen, it’s just—” You stop, shrugging again at the loss of words. “Something I was thinking about.”

“I’m not gonna let that happen,” he says. “I mean, I know there’s not a lot that I can do since we’re stuck here, but I’m going to do everything I can—”

“That’s just it, Connie,” you interrupt, and he frowns. “Don’t get me wrong, this past week has been amazing considering what we used to be, but I don’t think we can go back to being healthy if you spend every waking moment trying to make it up to me.” You sigh, resting your elbow on the box, and pressing your forehead into your hand.

You can see him sit down in front of you, still keeping that short distance. “Okay, but isn’t this whole situation my fault? Or I was at least the cause of all of this—”

“Connie, this relationship is a two-way street,” you say, meeting his eyes again. “I could’ve said something to you a long time ago when I felt we were drifting apart, but I didn’t. Maybe if I had, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad.” You know he’s going to try to argue the same thing, so you stop him before he can. “I shouldn’t have let you take those extra shifts because of me. I think that’s what really started all of this.”

“But we love each other, right? So, we make sacrifices for each other.”

“It’s not a sacrifice when it’s killing us both,” you counter, giving Connie a small smile, and his shoulders drop. You reach for his hand, and he lightly holds your fingers. “I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to sacrifice so much just to make me happy. I can see now that you didn’t have to do that, but I wasn’t in the right headspace to say no.”

He slides his hand into yours, and you give it a small squeeze. “Do you think you can forgive me?” you ask, and he tilts his head to the side.

“Of course, I can. Do you think you can forgive me?” He glances to the side before you answer. “I know you probably won’t overnight. I did a lot more damage to you than you did to me.” You squeeze his hand this time.

“Of course, I can.” You give him a reassuring smile. “If you promise to lay off of the gestures for now,” you add, the fact that they were all adding up over the week was making you feel overwhelmed.

Connie chuckles but nods anyway. “Yeah, I can do that.”

After a month of being stuck in your apartment, you’re sure that you’re going to die of boredom. The news said that it was only going to be a couple of weeks, but every time you watch it, there’s another week being added on. But it’s not like you hate that you’re stuck at home; you and Connie have come really far over time, and it almost feels like when you both first started dating.

You’ve been trying to find things to do while you have nowhere to go, and Connie’s been trying his hardest to keep you both entertained. You both are sitting in the living room, Connie finding a deck of playing cards in his car. Maybe it’s because you’re just that bored, but it’s been keeping the both of you entertained for a couple of hours now.

“You remember when we first met?” Connie asks out of the blue, shuffling the cards.

“Of course, I do,” you laugh. “I was playing cards, and you said that if you lose, I give you my number, and if you win, I give you my number.” You can’t help but laugh again as you think back to that moment, being in a college and being dragged to a party by your friends. You weren’t really feeling it, finding an empty room with some cards, and that’s when you met Connie.

“It was such a lame thing to say,” he says, cringing a little.

“But it worked,” you respond fondly, and he sets the cards down, an equally fond look in his eyes.

“Yeah, it did,” he whispers, and he seems to zone out, but he quickly refocuses, clearing his throat. “Do you mind?” he asks, pointing next to you, and you shake your head, scooting over a bit. You’re confused at his actions, watching him as he moves to sit next to you.

“Are you okay?”

“Can I hold you?” The question comes nearly right after you ask the question, and it takes you back a bit. He’s not looking at you, and you can’t remember the last time he was nervous to ask you something like this. Matter of fact, he usually doesn’t ask; he usually just does it.

Your voice is soft when you give him the okay, inching a little bit closer to him, and you let him move you into his lap. His arms make their way around you as his face falls into your neck. His grip is tighter than you expected but not uncomfortable, and he takes a deep breath. One of your hands rests on the back of his head while the other rubs at his back.

“Is everything okay?” you whisper, and you can feel him nod against you.

“Yeah,” he answers. “I just missed this.” You relax against him, resting your cheek on his head, and you hear him sigh heavily again. You missed this too, of course, you did. You learned pretty early on that physical touch was Connie’s love language, and you hadn’t realized how much you’d been craving it until now.

“Me too,” you murmur after a while, and you both sit there in silence holding each other. You don’t know how much time has passed, but you frown when you hear Connie sniffle. You try to move so that you can look at him, but he holds onto you tighter keeping you still. You continue to move your hands over him softly, but he keeps sniffling, so your concern is only fueled.

You finally manage to pull away, and you can see the tears that are in his eyes. You grab his face gently, angling his head up so that he can look at you. “What’s wrong?” You run your thumbs over his face, and his hands come up to rest on your wrists.

He hesitates for a second, huffing softly before he shakes his head. “Sorry,” he says. “I think I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Because of this?” you ask honestly, a small chuckle coming from you.

“Yeah.” You raise your eyebrows at his answer. “I was so fucking scared when you told me how you were feeling. It was like I was watching things fall apart around me, and I thought I couldn’t do anything about it.” He sighs as he lets his head fall down for a split second before lifting it back up. “I just realized how long it’s been since I’ve gotten to do this, and I almost lost the chance to do this for the rest of my life.”

He sniffles again, shaking his head. “I’m just glad that we’re fixing things because I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You smile widely, biting your lip gently to try and stop the tears from falling.

You don’t say anything, pulling him back into you, and you feel him softly kiss the junction between your shoulder and neck. “Me too, Connie. Me too.” You run your hand over his head, and you notice that some of his hair is in between your fingers. “You’re growing your hair out,” you comment, moving back to look at him.

“I just haven’t felt like cutting it,” he responds, and you roll your eyes. When you meet his eyes again, he’s looking at you like he wants to ask you something, so you look at him expectantly. “I wanna kiss you.” You suddenly find yourself nervous at his declaration, shying away from him slightly.

“You can do that if you want to.” He looks at you like he’s surprised to hear that, and you can see a little bit of uncertainty in his eyes, but before you can question it, he’s cupping your face in his hands. You can feel your heart racing a little, feeling like you’re at the beginning of your relationship again. Your mouth parts just slightly as he starts to lean in, but to your surprise, he tilts your head forward, feeling his lips on your forehead.

He rests his forehead against yours with his eyes closed. “The last time I tried to do that, you pulled away,” he says. “I’m glad you didn’t this time.” He sounds almost relieved, his body slumping a little once he finishes saying that, and you remember what he’s talking about. You know he doesn’t blame you considering the circumstances, but it was mostly a reflex at the time because the gesture didn’t feel right coming from him at the time.

You move to kiss him on the forehead, watching his eyes open and widen. “I love you, Connie.” A loving smile appears on his face, and he goes back to holding you tight like he was before.

“I love you, too,” he echoes, resting his face in your neck again. “I love you so much. Thank you for giving me a chance,” he whispers. “I know I keep saying it, but I’m just so grateful.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance too,” you say softly. “Even though I was horrible to you, you never stopped trying to figure out what was wrong.”

He hums, pulling away again so he can look at you again. “Well, you had your reasons,” he says lightly, and you huff a little before you look behind him, giving yourself some time before you say what you want to ask him.

“Do you wanna turn in early for the night?” you ask nervously, knowing your question is pretty loaded, and you meet his eyes, which have a wavering but hopeful look.

“Are you sure?”

You nod quickly. “I’m sure. And the couch is really uncomfortable,” you add, making the both of you laugh as Connie agrees. You stand first so that he can, and he holds your hand as you both walk to your room. It still feels a little bit awkward, at least for you, because it’s been so long since you’ve shared a bed. Sometimes you would let Connie take the bed while you slept on the couch, but neither of you has slept together.

You crawl in first, moving over to your side of the bed as Connie slides into his. You get comfortable, wondering if Connie feels just as awkward as you do. You lay down on your back, staring at the ceiling, and you hear Connie sigh, glancing at him from the corner of your eye. He doesn’t make a move to touch you or anything, and the longer you lay there, the more you realize that you miss him holding you.

You know he’s not doing so right now for your sake, so you roll over onto your side, facing him before you start to shift over. He looks at you, but instead of saying anything, you just lay your head down on his chest. “Is this okay?” you whisper, and you feel him move his arm so that he can rest it around you.

“Yeah,” he answers. “Is this okay?” It’s his turn to ask, and you nod as Connie pulls the blanket higher up your body.

“Yeah. It is.” His other hand is resting by your head, so you grab it, interlacing your fingers with his before you kiss his palm softly. “Goodnight, Connie.”

He pulls your hand up out of view, and a short second later, you feel his lips on your hand. “Goodnight, baby.”

It seems like after sleeping in the bed together, you’ve had more energy. You were feeling pretty lethargic as the days went on especially since you couldn’t find anything to do around the house. You don’t know if it’s because you’re piecing your relationship back together or just because of Connie, but there are no complaints from you. Your boss has been trying to move your work online, and the last thing you need is for you to be tired all day.

You still have about two weeks before you’re going to be staring at a computer screen for a while, but you are in no rush to start that. You’re walking into your room after coming from the bathroom, and you see Connie sitting on the bed.

“Why was the mirror covered?” he asks, pointing over his shoulder, and you stop walking, looking past him to see the full-length mirror uncovered. You panic slightly, curling into yourself a little bit as you rub your arm.

Connie frowns when he sees your demeanor change, and he stands, making his way over to you. You look away from him as he comes closer, flinching a little when he touches your arms. He’s quick to pull away, but you grab his hands.

“Sorry,” you say. “I’m okay with you touching me, it’s just…um…” You trail off, feeling embarrassed that you have to explain yourself, and you could’ve avoided this if you had just taken the sheet off, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. “It’s just been hard to look at myself lately, I guess,” you admit quietly, and Connie’s hands were rubbing over your skin, but they stop at your words. “Like I said before, I thought you were bored of me, so…”

You bite the inside of your lip, feeling like you might start crying, and Connie pulls you into a hug. You release a shaky breath as you relax into his arms, and you feel him rest his chin on your head. “Shit, sweetheart, I’m sorry,” he says. “Fuck, I’m so sorry,” he adds, his voice a little bit lower, and it sounds like he’s almost mad at himself.

“It’s okay, Connie,” you try, but he’s quick to cut you off.

“No, it’s not,” he says, his voice hard, and you feel like you’re about to erase all of the work that you both have put in. Your lip quivers as a few tears fall, and Connie pulls away from you just in time to see them fall. He wipes your tears, effectively preventing you from looking away from him. “Would you feel better if you punched me?” he whispers, and the question takes you by surprise so a laugh bursts out of your chest.

You wipe your face as you shake your head. “I don’t need to punch you, Connie,” you say, sniffling heavily. “I’m just in my head.”

But it’s his fault you’re in your head. He doesn’t say it out loud, but he knows the look he gives you tells you exactly what he’s thinking. “I would feel better if you punched me,” he presses softly, and you laugh again as you rub your thumb over his cheek. He smiles as you laugh, but he drops it shortly after, turning a bit serious as he grabs your hands. “But, on a serious note? Have you been okay with me touching you?”

You’re a bit surprised at the question, but you nod quickly. “Yeah, of course,” you answer instantly, hoping that you’ve stopped some of his worries. “It hasn’t really crossed my mind lately, but I guess I just get uncomfortable if you look at me too long,” you admit. He just stares at you, and you feel a pang in your chest when you see the pain in his eyes. “Connie, don’t beat yourself up, please,” you try, but you’ve known him long enough that it’ll be a while before he stops kicking himself.

He glances behind you before giving your hands a squeeze when he meets your eyes again. “Can I try something?” he asks, and he starts walking backward towards the bed before you can answer, taking you with him.

“Uh, sure,” you answer, a frown on your face. He steps to the side when you get to the bed, and he gently pushes you to sit down. You’re stunned to silence by your confusion as you watch him walk out of your room. You move further up the bed, setting your pillows against the headboard and leaning back on them. You can hear him shutting drawers in the kitchen, and he comes back into the room with a lighter and two candles in his hands.

He sets one on your nightstand and his before lighting them both. He sets the lighter down, and you watch him close the door, and then turn the lights off. You can only see his dark silhouette as he walks back to you. “What are you doing?” you finally ask, letting him pull you down so that you’re laying down on your back. He sets one leg over you, and when he leans down over you, the only thing you can make out is the small light reflecting in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, and you lift your arms up so that you can rest your hands on his face. “I don’t know how you could think that I could ever be bored of you,” he says before you can speak, and you relax a little at his words. “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve met in my life.” You feel your face growing warm, and you can see him turn his head to the side to kiss your palm. He kisses the other one before he grabs your hand. “Is this okay?”

You nod because you’re at a loss for words right now. “I probably spent about two hours trying to find the courage to talk to you at that party back then,” he chuckles. “You basically intimidated me.”

You find yourself giggling, and he smiles when you do, continuing his kisses down your arm. “Intimidated? Because…?”

“Because you’re fucking beautiful,” he declares, his voice strong even though he’s keeping it low. He rests his weight on his elbows so that his face is directly in front of yours. “And I’ll tell you that for the rest of my life.” You bite down on your lip softly as your hands wrap around his neck. “Can I kiss you?” You find yourself smiling at the familiar question.

“On the forehead?” you jest, and you can see him shake his head. You glance at his lips before you look at his eyes, and it’s only seconds before you’re nodding. His kiss is soft and much quicker than you expect, but it still takes your breath away nonetheless. It’s been months since you’ve felt his lips on yours, and it’s almost enough to make you cry.

He kisses you again, this one being longer than the first, and you find yourself chasing after him when he pulls away. “I love you, and I know this won’t magically make you feel better, but I have and will never get bored of you, and you will always be the best thing my eyes have landed on.”

You feel tears pooling in your eyes, and you can’t fight it when your breath catches. You can see him frown, but you kiss him before he can get even more worried. “I love you, too,” you whisper, sniffling as the tears fall down your face. “Thank you, Connie.” He kisses over your tears, and he holds you in his arms when they keep going. You can’t stop crying, and all you can do is wonder why.

“Sorry,” you breathe, your face in Connie’s neck, which is getting soaked with your tears. “I dunno why I can’t stop crying.” He falls over to the side gently, and you instantly curl into him.

“It’s okay, baby. Just let it out.” He rubs over your back, and you calm down a few minutes later, but neither of you moves. You wipe your face after a while, and Connie pulls the blanket up and over the both of you. You feel him kiss your forehead, and you take a deep breath, feeling the fatigue catching up to you from the crying.

“I’m gonna fall asleep,” you warn, feeling like Connie must’ve had more to say or do, but he only tightens his hold around you.

“That’s okay. I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life,” he repeats again, and it makes you smile, a couple more tears slipping from your eyes when you close them. You lift your head up lazily to kiss whatever part of his skin you can reach.

“Love you,” you murmur, and if it weren’t so quiet, he probably wouldn’t be able to pick it up.

“I love you, too.”

You’re standing in the doorway of the guest room, staring at the boxes you packed up. It seemed like it was so long ago, but you feel like you’re finally at a good place to unpack them. Although, you’re not sure if you can do it by yourself. You know Connie was playing with his friends today, so you didn’t want to interrupt. You decided that you would just wait until he’s free, but you hear his footsteps when you’re about to walk away.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, wrapping his arms around you as he pecks a kiss on your temple. You keep your eyes on the boxes as you relax into his hold.

“I think I’m ready to unpack these,” you answer. “Just not by myself,” you add, your voice a little bit lower.

“I’ll help you then,” Connie chirps, and you turn around when his arms slip from around you.

“You don’t have to do that. I know that you were playing with your friends,” you say, but he waves you off.

“They’ll be fine without me. Seriously.” He doesn’t really give you much time to argue because he’s walking back into the living room to shut down the game. You still can’t bring yourself to walk into the room, waiting until Connie gets back. You hear him bantering with his friends before you hear his familiar gait coming down the hallway. He grabs your hand, and you look at him. He gives you a reassuring smile and squeeze of your hand, and that helps you step through the door.

Once you get into the room, you slide the boxes that you first packed up over to Connie, knowing that it might be too hard for you to touch. Connie spends the entire time talking to you, which happens to be the best distraction for the most part. He jumps from one subject to another so quickly that you almost can’t keep up, and it keeps you occupied and it keeps the air in the room from turning sour.

Some of the boxes you had opened back up because there was stuff in them that you needed once you and Connie were starting to sort things out. Other boxes were filled with clothes you weren’t wearing at the time or some that you figured you were never going to wear. Connie just happened to be opening the box with the clothes you didn’t think you were going to wear.

“When did you get this?” he asks, and you look up, his body obscured by the dress he’s holding up. “This doesn’t look familiar.”

“Oh, I bought that on a whim,” you say. “Thought it would be nice for our anniversary or something,” you continue quickly, suddenly feeling embarrassed to admit that, and you focus your attention on the stuff in front of you.

“Are you still gonna wear it?” When you look back up, Connie’s put the dress down, so you can see him. “You know we can still celebrate it without going out,” he offers. “If you’re ready for that, of course.”

Your lip turns up in a half smile before you get up. You walk over to him and sit down next to him, taking the dress from him and looking over it. “Yeah, I’m ready,” you say when you look at him again. “It might just take me a while to feel good about myself when I wear it,” you say truthfully, and Connie rests his hand on yours.

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to,” he starts, “but I would love to see you in it.” He kisses you soundly on the lips before he goes back to unpacking, and you look over the dress one last time. You’ve been sorting your clothes into what you’re going to keep out and what you’re keeping in the boxes, and you think about it for a minute before you set the dress in the keep pile.

~

Now that you’ve gotten even further in your relationship and established that you’re okay with Connie touching you, his physical touch goes up by a milestone. It doesn’t matter where you are, Connie is almost always there with either a hand on your or an arm around you. Since you cleared out most of the guest bedroom, you decided that you would set up a small, temporary office since your boss finally figured out everything.

The both of you are upset that you have to start working again mostly because that means there’ll be less time that you spend with each other, but you both know that it’s not the worst thing in the world. You’re also glad that you don’t have to meet with everyone every day; only having to if everyone isn’t on the same page.

Connie checks in on you every now and then, bringing you snacks and sometimes making dinner if you’re not feeling up to it. He makes sure that you’re not overworking yourself, and it feels nice to have him there with you because some days are definitely harder than others. Some days, Connie will have you move your work somewhere else in the apartment just to get you a change of scenery so that you don’t get burnt out so fast.

It’s been about three weeks since you started working from home; the lockdown’s been lifted, but most of your co-workers don’t want to leave the house, which is totally fine with you. And even though Connie’s been the biggest help since you’ve started working again, he sometimes tries to keep you hostage.

“Connie, I have to work,” you laugh. You tried to slide out of the bed without him knowing; your alarm usually doesn’t wake him up because he sleeps a little bit heavier than you, and he grabbed your wrist before you could get out of the bed.

“Don’t leave me,” he mumbles, and you shake your head. You try to get up again, but he tightens his grip on you before moving to wrap his arms around you.

“Connie, if I bring my laptop in here, will you let me up?” He doesn’t respond, his face still flat against the bed, but he lets you go which is enough of an answer. You roll your eyes as you stand, raising your arms towards the ceiling to stretch, moving to the bathroom after. You grab your laptop and a couple of other things you need, and then you make your way back into your room.

Connie’s somewhat awake, his back against the headboard, and he blinks slowly as he watches you walk back into the room. You set your stuff down first and then climb onto the bed, which leads to Connie immediately pulling you in between his legs. You chuckle, pulling the blanket over your legs before grabbing your laptop and getting to work. He wraps his arms around you, and his breathing is soft and even, but you can’t tell if he’s dozed off again. He feels warm against your back, and you almost decide not to work, but you focus just a bit harder.

About fifteen minutes later, you feel Connie’s head land on your shoulder right as you found out that you don’t have that much work to do. You rest your hand on his head, turning yours slightly to press a kiss to his hair. “Baby, you’re gonna hurt your neck if you keep doing that,” you scold, but all he does is groan, staying still. You run your fingers through his hair for a while before you return it back to your keyboard.

You feel him nudge your head with his soon after, but you ignore it at first until he does it again. You scoff, getting ready to ask him what’s wrong when he grabs your hand, putting it back on his head. “I need this hand, Connie,” you laugh, but he just responds with a short hum of protest. “I don’t have a lot of work today, so if you let me work, then I can get done faster.” You can feel him sigh heavily, his body knocking into yours gently, and you smile, kissing his forehead before you get back to work.

You’re quick to finish up your work especially since you’re in bed, making you more motivated since you can just lay back down once you’re done. Of course, your co-workers prolong your work time mostly because they don’t know how to do their job. You sigh heavily as you run your hand over your forehead; it was all going so well, and now your stress levels are about to hit an all-time high.

You jump a little when you feel Connie’s arms tighten around you. “You okay?” he asks, his voice raspy, and you scoff as you shake your head.

“It’s my fucking co-workers again. I swear,” you groan, and Connie kisses your forehead. “I was just about to finish.” He hooks his chin over your shoulder, and you can feel his hands rubbing softly over your body. “I’m sorry, it’s gonna be a few more minutes.”

“It’s okay, baby. Don’t worry about it,” he reassures you as he starts to massage your shoulders. “I’ll make breakfast while you finish this up, okay?” You nod, smiling when he kisses you on the cheek. And then he has to maneuver from around you, which takes a minute and ends with the both of you laughing loudly. He finally manages to get out of bed, and then you have to get back to work.

It’s about another fifteen minutes of frustrating work until you’ve finally had it. Instead of doing more work, you just decided to type up tutorials for your co-workers on how to do their job and send them before promptly logging off. You don’t know why you didn’t do that a long time ago, maybe you were afraid of losing your job or something, but at this point, you couldn’t care less.

You’ve been dealing with this shit for so long, and you don’t know why you put up with it for so long. You close your laptop, moving it to the side so that you can get out of bed. You stretch when you stand as your phone pings with a text. You chuckle when you see that it’s Pieck; the only person that you work with that doesn’t want to make you pull your hair out.

You can still hear Connie cooking as you walk into the kitchen, texting Pieck and asking her to let you know if you’re going to be fired any time soon. You set your phone on the counter, and Connie turns his head just as you get to him. “Hey,” he says, getting the last of the food off of the stove. “You finished already? I thought you had a good amount of work to do.”

“I sent them an email with a basic “fuck you” but in professional terms,” you say, and he laughs heartily, his head falling back.

“Nice.” You laugh along with him as you take the plate he hands you, taking your seat at the island at the same time he does. It’s been so long since you’ve felt like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. You didn’t realize how much your job was actually draining you, but it’s not like you could’ve just quit. Connie notices your silence when the conversation starts to die down, and he places a hand on your knee to get your attention. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” You sigh, looking down at your empty plate. “I’m just…thinking, I guess.” He scoots the stool closer to you, and he grabs your hands. “I’m just kinda having second thoughts, I dunno,” you say, sighing again at your loss for words. “I’ll tell you when I actually know how to say it. I promise,” you add, squeezing his hands to emphasize it. “Plus, my phone is staying on silent for the rest of the day just in case one of those bitches tries to snitch and tell my boss,” you continue, which makes Connie chuckle.

“Well, I’m glad you finally said something because they aren’t really the best people,” he says, leaning forward. “Who knows, though, maybe doing that means something good’ll happen.” You hum softly, standing up and resting your hands on his shoulders while his move to your waist.

“Yeah, I hope so, but anyways,” you start. “Thanks for making breakfast.” Your hands move to his neck as you lean down to kiss him.

“Of course,” he mumbles, barely giving himself time to answer before he kisses you again. You feel his hands tighten on your hips as you take a step to get closer to him. His arms wrap around you when he deepens the kiss, and you slide your hands into his hair. You feel your body starting to grow warm as the kiss gets more heated, and you moan softly as you melt even further into him.

He sighs quietly as you feel his hands run down your body and under your shorts. He pulls away from you to start planting kisses down your neck as his hands grope at your ass. It’s been a long time since you’ve felt this overwhelmed by Connie touching you, and you’re pretty sure it’s because he hasn’t touched you like this in so long.

Your body feels like it’s on fire, like your heart might beat out of your chest, and you feel your legs threatening to give out on you. You wrap one arm around his neck while your other hand tightens its grip on his hair as he marks your skin. You shakily say his name, and he groans against your skin, one of his hands grabbing your thigh.

“Mm, c’mere.” He adjusts himself in the seat before he grabs at your legs, lifting up one of them, and you follow, straddling him. His lips are back on yours once you get comfortable, and you run your hands down his chest as you start to roll your hips. His hands move to your hips to help you, and he moans, his head falling back as his eyes close.

It’s your turn to let your lips roam, his skin feeling hot against them, feeling his adam’s apple bob when he swallows. You gasp when he suddenly bucks his hips up into yours, which turns into a moan shortly after, and Connie stops you.

“Hold on,” he whispers, both of you breathing heavily. “How far do you wanna go?” he asks. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally fine with what we’re doing, but I just wanna ask you.” You take a second to consider his question, wondering what you’re ready for. If you’re being honest, this could be enough for you, but deep down, you know it’s not.

“Um,” you start, your fingers playing with the ends of his hair as he looks up at you, patiently waiting on your answer. “I’m okay with this too,” you say, and you look away from him as you try to say what you want to say next, suddenly feeling nervous. “But, I wouldn’t mind if we touched each other?” You pose it as a question so that he feels like he can choose whether that’s what he wants to do as well.

You feel his hands twitch at your sides as he swallows heavily. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay with that,” he responds with a nod of his head. You nod after him, and both of you soon start laughing softly, effectively avoiding the air between the two of you taking an embarrassing turn.

He gives your hips a squeeze before he leans forward to kiss you again, taking some time to get you to melt into him again before he stands, holding you in his arms. You wrap your legs and arms around him as he keeps his lips on yours, blindly walking to your room, having the path memorized. He holds you as he moves further onto the bed on his knees before setting you down carefully on your back.

He keeps his face in your neck as he runs his hands under your shirt, and his touch causes goosebumps to rise over your skin. “Is it okay if I look at you?” he asks into your skin, and that’s when you realize why he hadn’t moved his head since he laid you down. You feel your heart swell at how considerate he’s being, and in any other scenario, his question might’ve brought tears to your eyes.

“Y-Yeah, you can,” you answer softly, and he kisses over your face, his eyes still closed.

“You sure?” Thanks to him, over the course of the quarantine, your confidence has increased for the most part. It’s still a bit hard to be completely naked around him, but you’ve gotten to a point where you don’t need the mirror covered anymore.

“Yes, I’m sure. Wanna look at you too, Connie.” You feel him smile against your skin, and he lifts his head, his eyes finally meeting yours.

He smiles widely, just looking over your face before he speaks. “Hi,” he whispers, and you can’t help but giggle, his forehead falling against yours.

“Hi,” you echo, sighing softly when you kiss him, and he grabs your hands, lacing his fingers with yours as he rests more of his weight on you. The weight of him and his body heat is making you warm all over again like you were in the kitchen, and you push your hips up into his. He moans, grinding down against you which causes you to make the same noise.

He kisses all over your neck as his hands trail down your body, finding their home on your shorts. You don’t even let him ask for permission, instantly lifting your hips to give him the okay. He sits himself up so that he can take them off, and he’s quick to catch your thighs when you make a move to close them. He uses one of his legs to hold yours open while his hand pulls the crotch of your panties to the side.

He releases a deep groan as he looks at your pussy which is shiny with your arousal. “God, you are so beautiful. I’m the luckiest fucking guy in the world,” he whispers in awe, and you feel your face grow even warmer, your hands shakily digging into the sheets. You feel like your body melts in relief when he runs his fingers through your folds to get them covered in your juices.

He hasn’t touched you in so long that it feels like you’re drowning in the feeling of his touches. He moans as you watch him slide his fingers into his mouth, watching his body shake as if he’s anticipating this even more than you are. He pushes softly at your clit before making small but firm circles as he pushes his fingers inside of you.

He starts slow as he moves in and out, gradually picking up the pace, and your eyes flutter closed. You start to squirm, especially when you open your eyes again to see that Connie’s looking right at you before his eyes trail down your body. One of your hands holds his wrist while you rest your other arm over your face.

You can hear Connie moving as he continues to make your legs shake, and you feel him grab your hand, pulling your arm away from your face and putting it above your head. You struggle to keep your eyes open, but you can see that Connie’s adjusted himself, and now his top half is parallel with yours again, his face near yours.

“Don’t hide from me, baby,” he says, giving you a kiss that makes your heart flutter. “I wanna see how good I’m making you feel.” You can’t find it in yourself to fight him, and you moan loudly when he curls his fingers, pressing right into that sensitive spot inside of you. Your eyes roll back, your body arching as a part of you tries to move away from the stimulation.

You shakily call out his name, feeling your orgasm coming faster than usual, and you try to reach for his shorts, but you can barely get a grip on them. “Want you to feel good too,” you breathe, and he smiles at you, keeping up his pace, feeling his palm meeting your pussy with every thrust of his fingers.

“I know you do, but I wanna make you cum first,” he tells you, and you’re not far from it, pulling Connie down so that you can kiss him as you feel that knot threatening to unravel. You can’t keep up with it for long, and you don’t need to tell Connie that you’re about to cum when he presses even harder on your swollen clit. You release a choked version of his name as your nails dig into his arms, finding yourself at a loss for words as you cum.

Connie smiles as he watches you come undone on his fingers, continuing his movements until you push at his wrists. Your chest is heaving, and you let your body relax as the last of your orgasm runs through you. You watch as he licks his fingers clean, and soon after, you’re pulling him down to meet your lips, tasting yourself on his tongue when he kisses you soundly. “How was that?” he teases when he pulls away, and you laugh softly, still feeling your heart beating rapidly in your chest.

“Amazing,” you say honestly, taking another deep breath as Connie’s smile widens. This time it’s your turn to reach in between his legs, and just as you expected, he’s hard, and you can even feel how warm he is through his shorts. “I wanna touch you,” you mumble, and he braces both his hands by your head when you pull down the fabric covering him.

You feel your mouth water just looking at him, squeezing your legs at the sight of his dick especially since it’s been forever since you’ve seen him. You push at his chest softly, and you sit up when he starts to move. You pull his clothes even further down his thighs, and he nearly jumps away from you when you take him into your mouth. He’s almost all the way in your throat, and it takes him by surprise so bad that he’s close to falling over.

“God, baby,” he moans, and you can feel him trembling when you run your hands under his shirt. He groans when you look up at him, biting his lip as he gently grabs your hair in his hand. Your mouth feels even more heavenly than he remembers, and that means that this is all going to be over before he wants it to be.

He wants to push you off, but he doesn’t have it in him, his hips occasionally bucking into your mouth. Goosebumps break out over his skin when he feels white, hot pleasure shoot up his spine, a sign that he’s close. He tightens his grip on your hair just a little to give him some room to pull out of your mouth, his eyes catching the string of saliva connecting his head to your lips.

His hips are still moving a little as he catches his breath. “I’m not gonna last long if you keep doing that,” he breathes, and you smile widely, falling back on the bed.

“Well, what do you wanna do?” you ask, and he watches your shirt rise up when you lay down, and when his eyes land on your nipples peeking through your shirt he gets an idea. He must make it obvious or either he was staring for too long because the next thing he knows, you’re sliding your shirt up and over your chest. You cup your tits in your hand, and all Connie can do is watch you as his mouth falls open. “What are you waiting for?”

Your words jump him out of it, and he takes a deep breath before moving further up your body. He pumps himself once he gets to your chest, only doing it a couple of times because the image under him is almost enough to send him over the edge. You push your tits together right as he slides between them, and he lets out a broken whine, Connie finding it almost comical at how good it feels. It’s like there’s a part of him that wants to laugh, but it’s stuck in his throat.

His hips start slow, but it doesn’t take long for him to pick up his speed, and you squeeze your tits around him a bit more when he does. He lets his head fall forward as he groans, and he’s so upset that he’s going to cum so fast. He moans even louder when he feels your tongue darting out to lick at his tip when he thrusts, and his hips stutter out of rhythm. “C-Cut it out,” he whines, his hands gripping the sheets so hard that his knuckles turn white. He knows you’re not going to listen, but it’s not like his words mean that much anyway.

In fact, you only make matters worse, or better, when you start to swirl your tongue around him when his hips start to slow as he feels that knot in his stomach building. It feels like his orgasm comes out of nowhere, and he quickly pulls out from between your tits in enough time to cum all over your chest.

He strokes himself through it, groaning with every exhale, and he finally slows down when he tingles with oversensitivity. He exhales heavily as he sits back on his haunches, letting his head fall back. He looks down at you when he catches his breath and both of you let out a soft laugh.

“That was amazing,” he sighs, and you silently agree with a nod, a lazy smile on your face. “Hold on, let me clean you up,” he says, pulling his clothes back up before getting off the bed. He walks out of your room, only taking a second to get a towel. He wipes you down carefully, getting in the bed after setting the towel on the floor, and he wraps his arms around you so that he can pull you into him.

You yawn as you snuggle further into him as he pulls the blanket over your legs, and even though it’s still pretty early in the day, the only thing you want to do is lay down. You’re technically done with your work today, so you really don’t have anything else to do today. Connie turns on the TV, so it looks like he has the same plans as well, and when he throws the remote to the side, he kisses your forehead.

You smile, lifting your head up so that you can kiss him, moving your arms so that they’re over his shoulders. He cups your face as he kisses you deeply, his hand moving down to press on your back, and he pulls away right before you both get heated. You can’t help but giggle when he rubs his nose against yours, and you run your fingers through his hair.

“I love you, baby,” he says sincerely, and it makes you feel warm all over.

“I love you, too, Connie.” You don’t really look at the TV when you put your head on Connie’s chest, mostly focusing on the sound of his heartbeat, which ultimately puts you to sleep.

~

When you wake up, it’s still pretty light outside, so you assumed it’s the late afternoon, but Connie’s gone. You stretch when you sit up, yawning as you get out of bed and head toward the living room. You find Connie sitting on the couch, but you’re confused about what he’s doing because the TV’s not on.

“Baby?” He jumps when you call him, barely looking over his shoulder before he looks ahead again. “What’s wrong?” You sit down next to him, and you see that he’s holding his phone in his hand. You don’t say anything as you wait for an answer, and you place your hand on his arm. He grabs your hand, giving it a good squeeze before he speaks.

“I go back to work tomorrow,” he says after a heavy sigh.

“Oh,” you say softly, visibly deflating as you look in front of you. Hearing that did make your heart drop for a split second, but then you remember to think positive. “Well, it’s not going to be so bad this time, right?” you offer, turning your head to see that he’s looking at you, and he looks even more scared than you feel. “You don’t have as many shifts as before, yeah? So, it’s not as bad as you think.”

He still looks upset, your words barely looking like they’re convincing him. “Connie, nothing is going to happen to us, I promise. I’m not going to let you work yourself to the bone again, and it’s not the end of the world that you’re going back.” You cup his face in your hands, and he gives you a small nod.

“I know,” he finally says. “Things are better now. It’s just a little nerve-wracking, I guess,” he admits. “And I’m gonna miss you.”

You snort, rolling your eyes. “Connie, you won’t be gone all day. And you’re not even working every day.” The pout he has on his face doesn’t let up, and you laugh at his expression before you try to kiss it away. “It’s not gonna be how it was before. Okay?” He nods, still looking pretty upset, but it’s not bothering you because you know he’s upset that he won’t be here with you anymore.

You kiss him again, and when you try to stand, he stops you. “Connie, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving, and you have to get up tomorrow.” He falls over so that he’s face down in your lap, and he doesn’t say anything for a while.

“Let’s just order something. I don’t want you to leave,” he mumbles, and you roll your eyes again as you rest your hand on his head. He uses his phone to order the food since yours is in your room and he’s holding you hostage. The only time he gets up is to get the food when it arrives, and you both eat on the couch before you turn in for the night.

He holds you the entire night, and it takes a huge amount of effort to even get him out of the door the next morning. “Connie, you will literally be back tonight,” you laugh, even though you’re not really trying to pull him off of you. You’re both standing by the front door, and Connie’s got you in a hug that you don’t think he’s going to end any time soon. “You’re going to be late.”

He sighs heavily but he finally pulls away, giving you a long kiss before letting you go. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Connie. Now go,” you emphasize, lightly pushing him out the door, and you laugh softly at the pitiful look on his face. “Have a good day, okay?” He gives you one last kiss that makes you laugh again, and then he’s disappearing down the hallway.

Connie’s never been more anxious to get home. Of course, before lockdown, he wanted to go home, but things are different this time. He won’t be tired when he gets home, which means that he’ll get to spend more time with you, which is what he’s really looking forward to. Although, he’s got a new manager that’s making him a little worried. He’s heard from some of his co-workers that he’s unnecessarily strict, and that makes him nervous.

It’s not because he’s always slacking off or goofing off, but his current manager knows everyone well, and it’s usually pretty nice to deal with. Connie just hopes that this new manager doesn’t cause any problems for him. He texts you on his lunch break, which gives him hope that everything will be fine when he gets home. He knows that the situation that you both were in before won’t happen, but that doesn’t mean he’s not nervous.

That night when you finally voiced what was wrong still haunts him every now and then. Even though you’ve reassured him multiple times, there’s still a small part of him that’s scared that he’ll wake up one day and everything will be back to the way it was.

His first day back at work seemed to go by faster than it usually does, and he’s obviously not going to complain about it. He texted you when he got off, but he didn’t get a response, so he just chalked it up to you being busy with something. He gets home, and he calls for you as soon as he opens the door, but there’s no answer.

He slows his movements as he closes the door, hearing absolute silence in the apartment, and his heart starts to race. He tries to keep himself calm as he walks towards the hallway, and he nearly slumps in relief when he sees you in your room. But then, his relief is replaced with worry when he sees that you’re sitting on the floor by the bed, your knees pushed up to your chest with your head down.

He’s moving towards you in an instant, bombarding you softly with a bunch of questions. He crouches down in front of you, his hands on your arms, and he feels those same emotions rising in his chest as back then when you lift your head up, and there’s tears staining your face. “I’m back, right? I didn’t work overtime this time,” he says quickly, thinking you’re upset because of work, but he made sure to be back on time.

You huff softly, shaking your head as you wipe your face. “Connie, relax. I’m not upset because of that,” you whisper, moving your arms, and Connie can see that your phone is in your hands. “I just got off the phone with my boss.”

He feels a spike of anxiety rush through him as he tries not to assume the worst. “Is everything okay?” he asks, cautiously, and you chuckle softly, nodding as you run a hand over your head.

“Apparently, someone did snitch on me, but Pieck vouched for me,” you start. “I told her my side of the story and the shit I’ve been dealing with, and she gave me the week off,” you say in disbelief. “And she’s giving me a promotion.” You hold back a sob as you let your head fall again. “I’m just so fucking relieved. I hated my job for so long that I didn’t even know what to do anymore.”

You let your legs down so that Connie can give you a hug. “That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you,” he says, kissing your forehead. “You deserve it more than anyone.” You pull away slightly so that you can look at him, a watery smile on your face, and he wipes the tears from your face.

“And that means that I won’t be working on our anniversary,” you add softly, and Connie feels a surge of happiness, but then his smile drops. He quickly pulls out his phone, and you frown as you watch him tap at the screen.

“Fuck!” he swears quietly, and he looks absolutely devastated when he looks at you again. “But I do.” He looks like he might cry, and you quickly try to comfort him.

“Baby, it’s okay. You don’t work the next day, right? So, we can just celebrate it then.”

“It’s not gonna be the same,” he counters, shaking his head. “That’s our anniversary.” He sighs heavily as he looks at his phone again. “I only work till five, so I can get some food on the way home, and we can still have dinner,” he offers.

“Aren’t you gonna be tired?” you ask, and he shakes his head instantly.

“I’ll never be tired when it comes to you.”

You give him a soft smile, and you eventually give in. “If it isn’t too much trouble, then that sounds like a plan,” you respond, and your smile widens when Connie pulls you in for another hug, his laugh echoing off the walls. He kisses over your face, which makes you laugh as well, pushing at his shoulders for a bit before he finally pulls away. “Okay, okay. I’ll make dinner while you get in the shower. Sounds good?” Connie nods, getting out of your space so that you can get up, but he stops you before you can move.

“I love you,” he declares, but he keeps talking before you can, wrapping his arms around you again. “I know I always say it, but I really do. You’ve been nothing but amazing this whole time, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had just left.” You give him a warm smile in return, letting your arms rest on his shoulders.

“I love you, too, Connie,” you say. “And I could say the same thing about you, you know? I’m glad that we worked things out, and now we know our limits. There’s nothing that can break us now,” you say positively, and Connie can really only respond by kissing you, feeling like there isn’t another way to tell you how much he truly loves you. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy, and he knows that it’ll take a lot for him to be upset now.

If Connie’s ever thought about committing murder, it would be in this very exact moment. Yes, he knew that he would be working on his anniversary. You’ve obviously made plans to accommodate that, so there’s no complaints. No, he did not know that his new asshole manager would be working today. He didn’t accommodate for that. He’s watching the clock, feeling like he could wring somebody’s neck right now.

He can’t even check his phone, and he didn’t even get a chance to do it because his lunch break was cut short. Sasha knows about everything, and she’s been spending the past couple of hours trying to make sure that Connie actually goes home to you instead of a jail cell. “I said I’d cover for you, just go,” Sasha says, but Connie shakes his head.

“And then you take the fall for me? No, that’s not fair,” he argues. As much as he wants to get home, he’s not going to let his friends take the flack. So far, everything’s fine; he’s still getting off at his scheduled time. He takes a deep breath, hoping that it’ll help him do his work faster because he hasn’t been able to pay attention since his lunch break.

Connie just hopes that you’re doing fine. You were asleep when he left, and he didn’t want to wake you up, but now, he wishes that he had. He at least wants to give you a confirmation that he’s going to be coming home with dinner when he said he would, and he feels himself getting worried. He once again has to calm down before he starts to think the worst.

You woke up in bed by yourself this morning, which was a little bit disappointing, but you know that Connie didn’t want to wake you. You slept in a little bit longer than you usually do, checking your phone to see that Connie hasn’t texted you on his lunch break like he usually does. You frown a little, but you just assume that he’s got a lot to do at work.

You get out of bed, walking to the bathroom, and your eyes widen when you see that the mirror is covered in red sticky notes, the pieces of paper making a heart. You scoff in surprise, looking over the whole thing, and you see a pink one in the middle with something written on it, so you pull it off.

Can’t wait for tonight! I love you!

You feel excited for what tonight holds as you read the sticky note, and you can’t remember the last time you’ve felt like this. You sort of wished that you were working so that you could have a way to quickly pass the time. Now, you’re just stuck finding something to do to try and tide you over until Connie comes home. You don’t have that much time left, but there’s no way that you can go back to sleep now. So, you just spend the rest of the time, cleaning up the place and getting it ready for tonight.

~

Connie nearly groans in relief when five o’clock hits, and he starts to pack his stuff up. But right as he starts to clock out, his manager stops him. “You still have another two hours.”

Connie freezes, laughing a little. “There’s no way you’re serious,” he says. “The schedule said that I was only supposed to be in ‘til five,” he argues.

“I changed it this morning.” Connie's mouth falls open, and he feels himself getting angry all over again.

“That’s fucking bullshit. You’re not supposed to change the schedule the day of,” he spits, and Sasha quickly walks up, trying to efficiently diffuse the situation.

“You stay ‘til seven or you’re fired,” his manager concludes before he walks away, and Connie sits back down in his chair in disbelief.

“Seriously, Connie, just go. I said I’d cover for you,” Sasha pushes, but he shakes his head, and Sasha takes in the look on his face. Connie doesn’t know what to think, he doesn’t have anything running through his head. He can’t check his phone, he can’t tell you what’s going on. He can’t leave because that means he and Sasha could get fired, and he needs this job.

“Connie.” He comes to, realizing that he’s crying, and Sasha puts her hand on his shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. If it makes you feel better, just leave a little bit closer to seven.” He’s not really listening, wiping the tears on his face, and Sasha eventually has to get back to work before she’s reprimanded.

The next two hours go by so slow yet so fast. Connie didn’t even realize that the time has passed until Jean walks up to him. “Dude, get outta here. I called my friend, and he’s got some food to-go for you.” Connie slowly gets up, and then it seems like it kicks in. He quickly packs his stuff up, getting the address of the restaurant from Jean before he hightails it out of there.

He tries to call you, but you don’t answer, and he can feel himself starting to panic. He races to get the food, and he tries to call you the entire way home. When he gets there, he doesn’t even bother taking the elevator, racing to your apartment. He opens the door, but he doesn’t see you. The light in the kitchen is on, but he doesn’t hear any sign of you.

He sets the food down before he races to your room, and his heart drops when you’re not there. He checks the guest bedroom and the bathroom, and you’re nowhere to be seen. He feels the bile forming in his throat as he starts to fully panic, running his hands over his head as he starts to cry. This has to be a dream. He’s going to wake up any minute now. He keeps pinching himself, closing his eyes as he prays for it to be a dream.

In the midst of his panic, he doesn’t hear the door open and close. “Connie?” you call out, seeing that there’s food on the table. You don’t get an answer, and you walk into your room to see Connie in disarray. “Connie! Are you okay?” You set down what was in your hands as you pull his hands into yours. You keep calling his name, holding his face in your hands, and he finally opens his eyes.

You urge him to sit down, and he seems to calm down when he looks at you. “You’re here?”

“Yes?” you answer. “I went to go get the mail,” you say, gesturing towards the stack of envelopes on the bed.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he whispers and you sigh.

“I’m sorry, Connie. I left it here, and then I started talking to our neighbor. She gave me some wine when I told her it was our anniversary.” You reach behind you, showing him the bottle, and he nearly collapses on top of you.

“I thought you left because I wasn’t here when I said I would be,” he sighs, and you pull him into a hug. “My manager changed the schedule this morning, and I didn’t know, and I couldn’t tell you. I thought I fucked everything up. I thought—” He cuts himself off, biting his lip as he starts to cry again.

“Connie, please look at me.” He listens instantly, and you feel your heart break when you look at his face. “I wouldn’t leave, okay?” you reassure, wiping his face. “And Eren called me and told me what happened. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you, but I kept getting distracted. I’m not mad or upset or anything.”

Connie could nearly cry in relief again, but he opts to laugh instead, a loud sniffle following. “I didn’t see Eren at all today, so I didn’t know,” Connie says. “I really thought that this was the end.”

“Connie, it’s not the end of the world that you didn’t come home when you said. I even offered to celebrate it tomorrow.” This whole situation just made you realize how much pressure Connie’s been putting on himself, and you internally shake your head. “Connie, I love you, and I’m telling you now that it’s going to take more than you being late for this to be over.”

“Really?” he whispers, his eyebrows raising slightly.

“Yes, Connie,” you chuckle. “Compared to how we used to be, this pales in comparison.” He grabs your hands, giving you a small chuckle. “Are you okay? You really scared me.”

“Yeah,” he answers with a nod. “I’m sorry, I feel better now.”

“Well, we can have dinner tomorrow if that’s okay with you,” you try, but Connie shakes his head quickly, holding your hands.

“No, I wanna do this tonight. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

“Are you sure?” He nods quickly, making you smile softly. “Why don’t you get in the shower while I fix up the food?” He kisses you instead of answering with words, the gesture taking you by surprise slightly.

“Thank you so much,” he breathes when he pulls away, resting his forehead against yours. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, but promise me that you will stop putting so much pressure on yourself. This isn’t good for you.”

He nods. “I promise,” he says, and you kiss him softly on the lips then move to his forehead. You let him go so that he can go wash up, and you move into the kitchen to look at the food he brought. You set up the table which doesn’t take long since you’ve already cleaned up the place before you get dressed.

You’re wearing the dress that you specifically bought for this occasion, and you’ll admit that you look better in it than you thought you would, but you don’t spend too much time looking at yourself in the mirror. You wait in the kitchen, sitting down at the small dining table that the both of you had bought when you first moved in.

You start to feel nervous for some reason, but you don’t get a chance to question why because you can hear Connie’s footsteps coming down the hallway. You stand when he comes into view, and the both of you look at each other. “You clean up really nice,” you compliment, walking up to him and rubbing your hands over his arms.

“I knew you would look good, but you look even better than I can imagine,” he responds, which makes your face warm.

“You really like it?” you ask quietly, and he grabs your chin gently when you look away.

“Yes, I do. You look amazing,” he presses, and he leans down to kiss you, his arms wrapping around you when he meets your lips as yours wrap around his neck. He moans softly when he deepens the kiss, his hands running over your curves, which are accentuated by your dress.

You pull away, breathing heavily as you chuckle. “We should at least eat first,” you say lightly even though your body feels warm all over, and Connie’s really only focusing on your swollen lips as you talk. He lets you pull him towards the table, and his eyes run down your body as you walk. You have him sit down while you grab the wine, and you pour yourself a glass before you hand it to him.

The conversation flows nicely, Connie easily changes the subject, but then you notice that once you finish dinner, he’s not talking as much. “Connie? Are you okay?” you ask, finishing off your wine, and he gives you a shrug before he laughs.

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” he starts, and you eye him cautiously. “I’ve been hard as fuck for the past ten minutes.” Your brain stalls a little at his words, but then when you process it, you laugh a little.

“Are you serious? I’ve just been sitting here,” you say with no heat behind your words. He nods quickly, and you can finally see how much he’s fidgeting. You shake your head as you scoff in amusement, standing up so that you can clean up the table, but he’s quick to stop you. “What?” you question softly. “I was trying to clean the table.”

He pulls you into him, his hands resting on your ass. “You’re really going to do that after what I just told you?”

You smile as you innocently roll your eyes to the ceiling before you throw your arms over his shoulders. “Yes. What else was I supposed to do?” you question and Connie’s face falls a little before he squints at you. “You don’t want dessert?”

He leans down so that his lips brush over yours. “I want you. Pretty sure that’s the same thing,” he whispers, his voice making you hot all over as you shudder. Connie kisses over your face, his kisses following the path of your jaw to the column of your neck. He yanks the fabric of your dress up to your waist, and he grabs a handful of your ass, feeling his fingers brush your pussy.

“Is the dress r-really doing it for you?” you ask shakily, feeling like your legs might give out at any second as you feel your arousal pooling in your panties.

“Fuck, yeah,” he groans, grabbing your legs and picking you up. He puts his lips on yours, and you moan into his mouth when you feel his dick pressing into you. His tongue explores your mouth, and you feel your toes curl as he continues to rub over your core through your panties. He walks to your room, kissing you until you’re breathless, and he groans when you suck on his tongue.

He sets you down suddenly, but then you realize that you’re nowhere near your bed. When you look at him, he smiles at you before turning you around, and your eyes meet your reflection. Connie sets his chin on your shoulder as his hands run over your body, going in opposite directions. “This,” he starts, pinching at your nipple softly, which makes you jump, “is what I’ve had to look at for the past hour.” He plants his lips on your neck again as his other hand plays with the hem of your underwear. “I’d be crazy if I wasn’t affected by this dress.”

You can only respond with a gasp because he makes his way down, his finger rubbing at your clit. You quickly grab his wrist, and you watch his fingers move, and instead of making you insecure like you thought it would, it just turns you on even more. You meet his eyes in the mirror as he bites at your earlobe, the feeling of his fingers sliding in you making your eyes flutter.

He eventually slides your panties down your thighs to give him some more room, and your other hand finds home on his neck as your head falls back to rest on his shoulder. You moan loudly, having a hard time keeping your hips still, and he wraps an arm around your waist to hold you still, holding you hostage to the pleasure of his fingers.

“You’re fucking dripping, baby,” he whispers against your skin, and that’s more than obvious. You can see the way his fingers shin whenever they slide out of you, and the squelching would be more than enough to know that if your eyes were closed.

Your back arches when he presses at your g-spot, and you whimper as you try to move your face into his neck. “Connie, I’m—” You cut yourself off with another moan, and he pulls his fingers out making you relax a little as you sigh. You watch Connie in the mirror as he licks his fingers clean before he grabs your dress and pulls it over your head. You watch him play with your tits, the tips of his fingers circling around your nipples before he pinches them softly.

“Lemme eat you out first, ‘kay?” It’s not like he needs you to respond, and he walks in front of you, getting on his knees. He helps you step out of your panties, and he grabs your thighs, moving you closer to his face. He lets his nose fall into your bush, and you feel your face getting even warmer when you hear him inhale deeply. “Been wantin’ to taste you so bad,” he mumbles, and it’s not even a second after he speaks that you feel his mouth on you.

You jump at the sudden stimulation, putting your hands on his head. He digs his hands into your ass, keeping you flush against him, and your legs start to shake when he sucks at your clit. He fucks you with his tongue, and you can’t fight it when your eyes roll back as your mouth falls open. You pull on his hair hard when his tongue flicks at your clit, and he moans loudly against you, the vibrations only making it better.

The more you pull on his hair, the more enthusiastic he becomes, and it gets to a point where your legs are shaking uncontrollably. “Connie, ‘m gonna fall,” you moan, and he just digs his fingers further into your skin.

“I’m not gonna let you fall, baby. Jus’ hold on t’me,” he says against you, and you can barely hear him, but you have to hold onto the mirror for support, your top half almost parallel with the floor. As you feel your high approaching, you can only call Connie’s name, and you’re pretty sure that most of your weight is on his face. “Look at yourself when you cum,” he tells you, knowing your tells, and you try to listen, but it’s hard, your eyes continuously opening and closing.

He sucks at your clit one more time, and that sends you over the edge. You go silent, giving Connie’s hair a harsh tug before you have to let go and hold onto the mirror, watching yourself come undone. Your legs shake violently, your pussy gushing all over his face, and he licks it up like there’s no tomorrow. He braces a hand on your stomach while his other one rubs over your ass.

You can barely move away to give him a chance to breathe, but you manage to back away, both of you breathing heavily. You look down at him, seeing that his nose and down are covered in your cum, and he licks around his mouth to get as much as he can. “Holy shit, Connie,” you breathe, having to hold onto his hands as you wobble, and he finally stands.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he mumbles, pushing you towards the bed before he strips, and you can see a huge dark spot on his underwear even though he’s still hard.

“Did you…?” you question, pointing towards it, and for the first time in a while, you see him blush as he glances to the side.

“I won’t be cutting my hair any time soon,” is all he responds with, and you laugh softly. Once he’s naked, he sits down first, grabbing your hand to pull you in between his legs. “Want you to ride me. Is that okay?” he asks, and you nod silently, willing to do anything he wants at this point. You feel yourself getting even wetter just from the excitement of him finally being inside of you.

You can’t remember the last time you’ve felt the stretch, but you don’t think about that too much as you lean down, letting a glob of spit land on the head of his dick before you stroke him and smear it all down him. He groans softly, letting his head fall back before he lifts it back up to watch you. He pulls you down by your neck to kiss you, and when you feel him pulling at your hips, you let him go.

You straddle him, putting your knees on the bed so that you can hover over him, and it’s like time slows down. It’s just the two of you, being closer to each other than you’ve been in such a long time; it’s almost overwhelming. He places one hand on your hip, the other one lining himself up, and you start to sink down, biting your lip at the short resistance you feel.

You keep going, both of you moaning as you sink down and start to suck him in. Connie always stretches you out so well, and you feel so satisfied already just bottoming out. You rest your hands on his neck, running your fingers through his hair as his hands run over your back. He’s got his eyes closed with his head towards the ceiling, so you lift yourself up, slamming yourself back down just as fast, and you smile as his reaction.

His hands grab your ass as you bounce, his eyes rolling every time he makes an attempt to open them. “F-Fuck, you feel so good. Oh, my God,” he moans, and you gasp when he takes over, fucking up into you.

“C-Connie!” Your nails dig into his skin, feeling like he’s kissing your cervix with every thrust, and you let your head fall on top of his. Your back arches when he continues to stimulate that spongy spot inside of you and takes that opportunity to press his hand to your back, keeping you there so that he can close his mouth around your nipple.

He goes back and forth between the two; sucking, licking, biting, all of it getting you closer to your climax. He brings on hand to your clit, rubbing quick and firm circles over the swollen bud, and you rest more weight against him as your pleasure mounts, nearly panting like a dog.

“Jesus, I’ve missed this.” Connie wraps his arms around you, burying his face in your chest. “I love you so much,” he says a little bit louder, and you repeat it, your pussy so sensitive it makes tears prick at your eyes. There’s no way you have enough time to tell Connie that you’re cumming, only moaning his name as you do. You pull at his hair again, feeling like that’s the only thing that can keep you grounded because it feels like you’re floating.

Connie cums right after you, pulling away to kiss you as he paints your walls white while he rides out your highs. You keep moving until the sensitivity borders on painful, breathing heavily as you fall against Connie, who falls backward, making you let out a soft moan since he jolts inside of you. He rubs over your back and your butt as he lazily makes out with you, both of you being able to feel each other’s heartbeats due to how fast they’re beating.

You let your head fall into his neck when he pulls away, and you shiver a little as the sweat on your body cools down. There’s a throw blanket on the bed, and Connie reaches above his head to grab it, throwing it over you. “I love you, Connie,” you whisper into his neck as one of your fingers run over his collarbone. “I’ve never been happier.”

He wraps his arms around you under the blanket, tightening his hold before he speaks. “I love you, too. I’m glad you gave me a second chance,” he says. “Because you always make me the happiest man in the world.” You huff at the cheesy line, but you’re smiling widely.

You both don’t move for a while, just basking in each other’s warmth and each other’s touches. You don’t know what would’ve happened if you both weren’t stuck at home, but you’re both glad that you were given a chance to work things out. You snuggle into Connie a little bit more as fatigue overcomes the both of you slowly, and that last thing you both think is that from now on, you’ll always be together through thick and thin.