#but also I don’t wanna leave out anything important ya know??

[artofapeach]

Felt like drawing Olivia

[maddogofshimano]

Majima Goro Presents: The Do-Or-Die Beach's Heart-throbbing Scratcher Struggle!

if you’re a Majima fan, you’ve probably already seen the newest Majima card floating around. so, uh, yeah, this is the tie-in event with the sexy summer banner! and it might be a little more picture heavy than usual for NO particular reason! also there’s going to be LORE!!

Summary: The Majima Family has won a bid to run a beach clubhouse for the summer, on the condition that they build it in a single week. The Majima Family is in high spirits though, as this is a chance to finally show off to their boss. A sudden contest declared by Majima dramatically raises the stakes--it’s do-or-die time!

One early summer day, after Majima Goro had launched Majima Construction... The members of the Majima Family arrived at a certain beach.

[chainsaw noises] Minami: Nishida no aniki! I cut all the lumber ya asked me to, I think it's good!

Nishida: Ah! Thanks! Gary, could you carry that lumber over there?

Gary: Roger! Over there!

Nishida: Well then Minami, next if you could do this. Minami: Leave it to me! [more chainsawing] Nishida: ...As usual, our boss is being unreasonable. Nishida: It's really fortunate that we got the rights to manage a beach house, but because of that we have to get it done in just a week. Young Majima Family Member A: Leave all this timber to me! I'll get all of them moved!

Family Member B: Leave all the high up work for me! High up places are my specialty, you see! I can handle it all on my own! Nishida: ....Somehow, there's guys like that who are awfully motivated. I wonder if something's going on... Minami: ...Nishida no aniki! I've finished it! Minami: Ya want me to haul this lumber over to the assembly site? Nishida: Mhm. Over there. I'll help with this once I'm done. Minami: No way! Leave it all to me! I can handle this kind of thing all on my own! Nishida: No way, that's impossible. No one but Gary can handle this size of log on their own...

Minami: Grrr.... Nishida: Eh... seriously... Minami: ....Guhhh..... [Minami makes it 4 steps] Minami: ....Gah!

[and then collapses] Nishida: Minami!? Are you okay!? [and he's back up] Minami: I'm totally okay! My foot just slipped a lil, that's all... Nishida: Well that's good... don't get too reckless, okay? Minami: I won't.... sorry, I just wanna do my best on gettin' this impossible beach house construction job done. Minami: I've been slackin' on all my other jobs just so I'd be in flawless condition and be able to give it my all.... Nishida: Eh? Wh-What do you mean by that? Minami: I want the boss to recognize me already, so that I can make my way up the Majima Family. Minami: But lately with how big that Family's gettin', there ain't been so many opportunities for him to see me out there working my ass off, ya know? Minami: So, if I wanna get promoted quick and be important in the Majima Family, I gotta work extra hard in places like this where the boss can see me!

Nishida: ...I see. But, no matter how big the Family gets, he's still keeping an eye on all of us, don't you think? Nishida: So even if you don't do anything impossible right now, it's fine if you work hard regularly... Minami: No way... I know it's Majima, but even he can't keep track of every member of the family's work... Minami: It's not just me sayin' it either, you know. Other junior members have been talkin' about it. Minami: "If you want to show Boss Majima your real power, your chance should come in a brawl or a raid, but he's always on the front line and handles it all himself before you ever have an opportunity to show him anything good". Minami: That's why everyone's so excited to be here with him watching us directly, even if we had to cut corners elsewhere. Nishida: Ah... now that you mention it, there were some strangely enthusiastic guys here... Minami: You see? And I'm not gonna lose to them, so I'm going to show the boss what I'm made of even if it seems impossible! Nishida: So that's how it is... but... either way, he's not here right now, right? Minami: Eh?

Nishida: Earlier he said he was going to go wander around the neighborhood by himself and took off. Minami: ...S-Seriously!? So he didn't see me at all... Minami: What the hell... so I've been doin' all this bullshit for nothing... Nishida: (You want our boss to see you, huh. It's certainly true that the family has gotten a lot bigger, and it's a patriarch-dictator type system...) Nishida: (And it's unclear on if he's watching and evaluating anyone... no wonder the younger members are anxious about it.) Nishida: (I'd like to do something to ease some of that worry... But what would be good to do?) Majima: Everyone! Your boss is back~! Stop workin' for a bit! Nishida: Ah, rumor has it that he's returned or something. [we cut over to Majima] Majima: Heheheh... Hey guys, come see some of the real nice stuff I bought~! (Tl note: 😳 😳 😳 )

Minami: Boss! What's the nice stuff?

Majima: Gimme a second! What I have here... is these scratchers!!!!

Nishida: Oh, those scratchers! The man in the shopping district had them, right? People around town have said it's very popular due to the great prizes. Majima: And how! On my neighborhood stroll I found a store with a shit ton of 'em! So I bought them all! Majima: These are somethin' that can be handed out at a newly opened beach house... Majima: Combining the popularity of a beach house with the popularity of these scratchers... a sure fire flood! of! customers!

All Majima Family Members: Woooooah~! Minami: I get it... Exactly what I'd expect from the boss! You sure have a head for business~! Nishida: ................ Majima: Heheh, what's wrong Nishida. Is my great idea sooo good that you're left speechless? Nishida: No... it's just... the plan was to have the beach house's opening in a week, right? Majima: ....Yeah. What's that got to do with anythin'? Nishida: .....I'm pretty sure that..... the last day the scratchers can be turned in for prizes is.... tomorrow? Majima: .........Haw!!?? You're sayin'... I won't be able to hand these scratchers out to customers!?

Nishida: ...Y.... Yes sir. Those scratchers... on the back... didn't they write the prize exchange period? Majima: The exchange period on the back...? Majima: ...No fuckin' way! Winning scratchers really do gotta be cashed in by tomorrow! What the hell am I supposed to do with this, Nishida!? Nishida: I don't think I'm the person to ask... Nishida: Wait, that's it! If they're going to go to waste anyways, why don't we hand them out with flyers for the beach house or something? Majima: Dumbass! I paid for all this shit, why would I give 'em out for free? Nishida: Th-That's true~.... Majima: On the other hand, just cashin' them in for prizes is boring... There's gotta be some interestin' way to use them... (Tl note: Majima's beautiful smoky eyeshadow remains. he got the waterproof kind)

Majima: ......That's it! Nishida: .........I have a bad feeling about this. Minami: Eh? Majima: Scratcher! Struggle! Minami: What's a... scratcher struggle? Majima: Simple! I give all of ya a couple of the scratchers, and then ya fight to the death over 'em! Majima: This way, the scratchers get used, I get to enjoy watchin' it, and you all have fun too! Three birds, one stone, right? Nishida: ....Of course it's something like this~. Majima: Ya get to keep whatever scratchers ya steal, or course. And, furthermore! An extra prize! Minami and Nishida: Extra prize...? Majima: I'll be giving the executive position next to mine to whoever collects the most scratchers!!!! [everyone shouts YOSHAAAA!!!] Family Member A: ...Next to the boss.....! Family Member B: Executive position!? Gary: Woah! Let's have some fun! Nishida: The executive position... next to the boss!? So you could become captain from this!? Nishida: Until now the lieutenants were different based on Boss Majima's mood, but... To actually become captain... Minami: ...Becoming the Majima Family captain... this is my big chance...! Minami: ...Nishida no aniki. I'm sorry, but I can't give this fight up for anyone, even you. Nishida: ...That's how it goes. But, I won't lose this. I joined this family so that I could make my way to the top. (Tl note: NISHIDA LORE NISHIDA LORE NISHIDA LORE)

Majima Family Member A: ....I'll be able to show the boss my real strength and climb the ranks... this is a huge chance... I'll definitely become the captain.... Majiima Family Member B: No, it'll be me! I'll become the captain!! Minami: ...The other young guys are real enthusiastic about this. Minami: But I can't lose... this fight... I'm gonna win it! Minami: (In this fight, the person to really watch out for is obviously Gary. Being the former underground martial arts champion isn't just for show....) Minami: (If you try to take him on, it's going to take forever and if you're not that good you'll lose...) Minami: (The other one to watch out for is Nishida no aniki... Fighting isn't his strong suit, but aniki's willpower is incredible....) Minami: (If ya don't know that and try to take him on sloppily, you'll lose as much time as with Gary.) Minami: (To win this, the best plan would be avoiding a fight with either of them....) Majima: Hehe, everyone's got the spirit now! Majima: ....Alright, all the scratchers have been distributed... One last thing before we start! Majima: Since we ain't got a lotta time, this is goin' on for one hour only! During that time, fight to the death over those scratchers! [the music gets intense] Majima: Your life is slipping through your fingers! The beach's heart-throbbing scratcher struggle! BEGINS!! Majima Family: Roooaaaaar!!!!

[EVENT HAPPENS]

[fighting sounds] Family Member A: Guah!

[he hits the ground] Gary: Scratchers have been received! Now, who wants to die mad next? (Tl note: he says 憤死 which is dying in a fit of anger or indignation, keeping up with his not quite correct threats) Nishida: Gary's amazing... Family Member B: ...Nishida no aniki, you couldn't beat him either?

Nishida: Yeah... He got me pretty good. The best I could do was hold out against him. Family Member B: Seems like Gary's the obvious choice in this fight. Nishida: ...I wouldn't say that... Minami: I won't lose...! Nishida: With Minami also giving it his all... who knows. Minami: Haa... Haa...

Minami: ...Gary's collected a ton of 'em. But still... I can't lose this... Family Member C: An opening!

Minami: ....! What openin'... there ain't one!!!! [MInami takes him down] Family Member C: Augh! Minami: Hell yeah! Your scratchers belong to me now-- [the wind howls] Minami: (...! Fuck! All the scratchers he had just got blown away...) Minami: Hey, wait a minute! [Minami chases the scratchers off to some rocks] Minami: (....! If they go past that rocky area there's no way I can get them! I gotta do somethin' to grab them before that...!)

Minami: Aaaaaaaaaa! [a crashing sound] Nishida: M-Minami!? [back on the main beach area] Majima: That's enough!!!!

Majima: Everyone gather up! It's time for the count! Everyone who's got scratchers, get over here! [and back to the rocks] Nishida: M-.... Minami! Are you alright!? You hit those rocks really hard, so... Minami: ...I'm.... I'm okay.... I was able to... collect the scratchers without... inci... dent..... [he collapses] Nishida: M-Minami!!!! [and back to the beach] Minami: ...Has my head stopped bleedin' yet?

Nishida: Yeah... seems like it's stopped. Nishida: Though, the way you charged into those rocks... you really are impossible... Minami: Those scratchers are gonna decide the Majima Family captain... I couldn't bear to miss out on a single one of 'em. Minama: Haa... But, I was able to collect them no problem~. Not collectin' these would have been the real stupid thing. Gary: My two friends! It seems like the results are in! Majima: Everyone! Let's start with announcin' the results...!

Majima: In the end, there were only two people who were able to not only protect their scratchers, but keep collectin' more... Majima: Gary! And, Minami! Majima: So then... Of those two, one collected more scratchers.... Majima: I'm givin' them a position....!! The glorious first prize goes to~~..............!!!! [the music cuts out] Minami: ........

Gary: ........... Majima: ............ Majima: Minamiiii!!!! Ya did it!!!!

Minami: I-I really did it!? ......Woooaaaah! Fuck yes!!!!

Majima: Ya beat Gary by just 5 tickets. You're the winner! Good job Minami!

Gary: OH MY GOD!!!! I was defeated!!

Nishida: ...5 tickets...so bashing into that rock really did it, huh. He pushed himself to the his absolute limit... Majima: ...So then, Minami. Ya feelin' good right now? (tl note: with this art and this particular line of dialogue this is indistinguishable from a porno scene)

Minami: I'm... so happy! I'd gladly give my life to support you and the family! Majima: This position's a big deal. Ya put it all on the line when it seems like I'm watchin', but are ya really qualified if ya cut corners when it seems like I ain't? Minami: Eh...? Majima: ...What're ya 'eh'-ing about. Did ya think I didn't know? Majima: Ya got involved with those chinpira and so skillfully shirked your job, do I have that all right? Minami: I-I'm sorry... The family has gotten so big, so I thought there was no way you'd see that.... Majima: Dumbass! I saw every moment of ya slackin' on your other jobs all so you could go all out on this beach house! Majima: And it ain't just Minami! I saw alllll of you fucks doin' it! Do ya think ya can hide your laziness from me? Whole Family: S-Shit! Majima: ..........Minami. If ya take this serious, then I'm sure you'd do a great job in this real important position. Majima: ...I got high hopes for ya! Ya gonna let me down? Minami: ....Thank you so much! I, as captain... will absolutely make sure you see me meeting your every expectation....! Majima: ..........Haw? Captain? What are ya talkin' about?

Minami: ...Eh? You were gonna make me captain, right...? Majima: That's stupid! Why would I do that! Minami: Eh... but you said whoever won the scratcher struggle... that they'd get the position next you you? Majima: .......Idiot! The position in the beach house!! Majima: I'm the owner, so the next executive position's the manager! I was talkin' about the manager position! (tl note: PUT MINAMI IN THE SUIT GIVE HIM HIS OWN Y0) Minami: M-... Manager....? Majima: Of course! It's a good position, the work is intense!

Majima: The beach house is gonna be open for 2 months... Did ya think it was just gonna lie idle!? Family Member A: Ehhhh..... The scratcher struggle was for the beach house position...? Family Member B: ....So we... beat ourselves to a pulp... all for... Nishida: ...The position next to the boss... was something like that, huh..... hm? Young Member A: ...I thought this would be my chance to show the boss... but we lost to Minami... shit! Young Member A: I better start training so I can win when there's a real opportunity to become captain! Young Member B: ...Yeah. And the boss is always watching, so we can't slack off on our jobs... Young Member A: ...Mhm. We should really improve our value there... otherwise we'll never win against guys like Minami and Gary. Nishida: ............. Minami: ....Nishida no aniki... did you hear that? Seems like I have to be the manager of the stupid beach house... Minami: Haa.... I thought I was going to be captain... But I'm manager of the beach house... Nishida: That's some bad luck, Minami... Minami: Tell me about it... Haa.... But, I shoulda known it wouldn't be that easy to become captain. Nishida: Yeah... But now do you understand that our boss is always keeping an eye on people? It'll be good if you work hard at this manager stuff. Minami: ...You're absolutely right... It's just like you said, seems like the boss is gonna be watchin' how I do my job... Minami: So I'm absolutely gonna show him how good I am by doin' this manager work!

Nishida: Yep, that's the spirit! Nishida: ...That also is exactly what our boss planned. Minami: Eh? What do you mean? Nishida: Oh, just... This seemed like a completely bullshit contest, but somehow it ended up having a positive impact on the family. Nishida: It was a great chance for not only me, but everyone, to understand our personal strengths and look at ourselves in a new light-- Nishida: Our boss was able to get a good read on everyone, the younger member's worries were dispelled-- Nishida: And thanks to all that, it seems like everyone's going to work hard on their usual jobs too... Nishida: ...And I think our boss knew all of that was going to happen. Minami: Eeehhh... Ain't ya way overthinking this? Nishida: ...No, that's what I truly believe. Our boss knows us really well. Minami: ...If you're saying it aniki, maybe that's true. Minami: ...Well, either way, I now know that the boss is watchin' me a lot-- Minami: If I diligently do all my jobs, then I'll be recognized by the boss... and someday I'll really become captain!

[END]

BONUS TIME

I held a poll the day before it ended and was very very close to correct (please forgive my invisible name I was sent to the White Baba zone)

okay here’s the cards, Majima Goro “The Mad Dog of Summer Looks” and Minami Daisaku “The Ruffian of the Scorching Sun”

of particular note, that Majima card has 69,692 HP

the real funniest thing about this lore reveal to me is that I run a yakuza TTRPG thing with some of my friends, and since I needed to have a little more to work with for the Majima Family I was like okay uhhhhhhhh the captain's seat is empty and has been for ages and nobody's sure when that's going to change. also you, player character in the Majima Family, basically just woke up and were told that Majima picked you to be a lieutenant for no stated reason seemingly arbitrarily so I spent all this time waiting to get the Real Lore and it is EXACTLY what I was already operating off of! net zero information, basically!! I love it

[fanfiction-blep]

Just watched Avatar 1 again Quaritch is sooooo fucking hot like damn

Can you maybe write something about human Quaritch (when you take request from of him in human form) how he fell in love with a scientist fem!so and him just being totally in love and love sick for her

Hope you had a good day ❤️

Honestly I am conflicted about human Quaritch. But here I go. Also I turned this super angsty and I’m not sorry. I might write more on this I just wanted to get something out for you guys I’m going though the backlog of requests. Have a good day anon!❤️

Human Miles Quaritch X Human Fem!Reader

Warnings: fluff, pining, mentions of injuries. Angst.

I don’t see him being super lovey dovey as a human

However.

Let’s say your the “one” and he hates that he fell for you you were a science ‘nut’. And he would do anything for you.

He’s the “I’ll kill anyone that touches you” kinda guy.

He’s the kinda guy that sees a flower and brings it back to you cus he thinks you’ll make it look pretty.

He’s traditional in some sense. He believes in wooing a women. So he’ll leave you notes.

“Come see me after lights out” and you would. You would sneak out and talk and drink.

More thank once he had you sat on his knee and arm around your waist head turning to look at you once in a while. He would try and convince you to spend the night in his quarters.

His drunken confession would be that “I won’t be making love ta ya yet darlin’ I just wanna hold ya”

You weren’t a doctor. You weren’t trained in medical science. Yet every time he hit injured he turned up at the door of your lab or even your quarters.

Eyes sparking with joy when the door opens to show your angered form. “Again!” It wasn’t a question at this point. You almost think he was doing this on purpose. You just didn’t get why.

He would sit so still when you patched him up. Whether it was a graze or fill gash that required stitches. Even when you have to use a needle to pull the edges of the torn skin together, he doesn’t complain. He sits there legs spread eyes focused on you, a dangerous smirk on his lips. When you were done he would sit up throw you a wink and mumble “thanks sweetheart” walking away.

He would always find reasons to want to be around you. Picking things up when you drop them. Grabbing things when you can’t reach, almost acting as a shadow.

He asks you random questions. Basic stuff but if it isn’t obvious that he should know he will either radio you or find you somewhere.

“How many hours in a day on Pandora again? Never adjusted..” “36 colonel…” “thanks darlin’”

When you disappear into the mountains with Jake and the others he’s restless. He doesn’t like you being so far out of the way. Somewhere where he can’t protect you.

He will try and ask about you in subtle ways. In his replies to Jakes reports he will try to ask how the group as a whole are doing. “Is the group functioning to the east capacity” Jake maybe be a golden retriever boy but he isn’t dense. He will reply to all the important information and then pushing his luck he will add. “(Y/N) is fine”

When he fly’s out the drag you all back to hells gate and Lyle gets a little rough with you… he goes insane.

When his eyes meet yours he stiffens. You were standing behind grace. Arms folded over your chest and a obvious bruise on your cheek. He does his best to keep his composure but when you are all taken to your cell he stops you pulls you to one side.

He traps you between his arms, back flush against the wall. “Who hurt you” “Lyle” you bite back his expression scared you he looked like he was about to explode. “I’ll fucking kill him”

He kept you by him for the rest of the evening his hand resting on the base of your back. Something so subtle and gentle but you don’t know how to feel. You don’t know how you feel. And when Jake and the others break out, you run.

And it breaks his heart. You grab a mask and you bolt for the ship. Knowing he won’t shoot, knowing he will avoid trying to hit you. In hopes it will save your friends. He stands there. Staring at the spot where he lost sight of you.

And he wonders where he went wrong. He waits until it hits him. He never once said the words “I love you”

[mymoodwriting]

Request for Anon (Yandere Sugar Daddy NCT U) 9k, assault, verbal assault, physical assault, slut-shaming, public humiliation, bullying, name calling, smut, unprotected sex, fingering, penetration, blowjob, handjob, creampie, gang bang, breeding, pregnancy scare, forced pregnancy, non-con, kidnapping, yandere, bad ending, blatant disregard for womens reproductive rights

“Leave me the fuck alone!”

    This wasn’t the first time you had answered the phone in such a manner. Screaming into the little speaker, hoping to blow out the eardrum of the annoying caller, and then hanging up. It was a very frustrating ordeal.

“Damn girl, what’s your problem?”

“It’s nothing, Mina. Just trying to get my point across.”

“Is someone bothering you?”

“Bingo.”

“Then why haven’t you blocked their number?”

“Oh I have, but obviously they still know mine. So whenever I get a call from a random number, I answer by screaming.”

“And how long have you been doing that for?”

“Uh… a little over a week now.”

“Seriously? And they still haven’t gotten the message?”

“Nope.”

“You know, what if those calls are important?”

“I don’t have any jobs or internships or anything that I’m waiting to hear back on, so it’s highly unlikely that’s the case.”

“Maybe you should change your number.”

“That would mean spending money I don’t have.”

“Really? Says the girl who has paid her tuition in full and doesn’t owe a penny in student debt. All because of some mystery job she won’t tell me about or share!”

“Well, you know me.”

“Yeah, I do.”

    You and Mina were close friends, having met here at Uni your freshman year and sticking together through it all. Now you were at the start of your final semester, ready for one last ride before starting a new chapter of your life. Of course the campus was jammed back as new students were moving in, and freshmen were trying to navigate this new place and find their classes. It was a really beautiful day too, and you had yet to start any of your classes, so you were in a pretty good mood. You knew you probably wouldn’t feel the same by the end of the day, but it was best to make the most of it now. That is until you were suddenly yanked back, and came face to face with someone you really didn’t want to see.

“You’re such a fucken bitch.”

    Jeno’s words dripped with venom. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. He was also the last person you wanted to see right now.

“What the hell are you doing here!”

“Why aren’t you answering our calls?”

“Oh, I am answering. I just don’t wanna hear what you have to say!”

“That’s not solely for you to decide!”

“Yes, it is. If I want to end things, I can, and I have.”

“Without a proper explanation? You’re kidding, right?”

“Does it sound like I am?”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Leave. Before I call security.”

“We are not leaving until we talk.”

“We?”

    You heard it then, the terribly familiar sound of a car engine, two car engines to be specific. You looked over and saw the vehicles pulling up, two gentlemen exiting each one, and making their way over to you. In the moment you attempted to run off, but Jeno grabbed your arm and dragged you towards them.

“There she is.” Ten teased. “Where ya been hiding love?”

“Fuck off! I want nothing to do with you! Any of you!”

“Yeah, we got your text. Now explain yourself.”

“What’s there to explain? I’m breaking up with you, period.”

“See that’s the thing.” Johnny grabbed your chin and forced your eyes to meet. “Where did that silly idea come from?”

“My head. Or is that too hard to comprehend.”

“Easy now, princess. You’re begging for punishment if you keep acting like this.”

“I’m not playing any games here.” You pulled away from Johnny. “We’re done, now leave.”

“That’s hardly an explanation.” Jaehyun hissed. “Do the last four years mean nothing to you?”

“Are you really all that dumb? Our relationship was just an exchange of goods and services, nothing more.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve told you all about my dreams and aspirations for the future before. When did I ever include you in them?”

Yuta scoffed. “So you really just whored yourself out to us for four years so we could pay your tuition? And now that it’s all been paid off, you’re done with us?”

“Bingo. Maybe you’re not that stupid.”

“This was all just a fucken game to you?” Jeno yelled. “Four years?! A fucken game!”

“Not like you ever made a serious move, did you now? Any of you for that matter. So don’t come bitching to me about a broken heart or broken promises. It’s not my fault you caught feelings when I wasn’t sending you any fucken signals.”

“Yeah? What about all the nights out? The dinners, the trips, the clothes and accessories?”

“Dinners, and trips, you invited me out on. I never asked to go anywhere. As for the clothes and other stuff, that’s all at your place, isn’t it? I never kept any of the fancy expensive stuff you got me, did I? Nor did I ask for anything. I owe you nothing. You got what you paid for, more than that actually, but I’m fine leaving things as they are.”

    Your words had certainly stunned them into silence. And you also meant everything you said. It was certainly fun to be with them, to get a little slice of that kinda life, even if it was just for a while. You knew it wouldn’t last though, and that’s the mentality you kept, the one that kept you from falling for them. They were just rich guys wanting someone to mess around with, and now that their no-strings attached fuck buddy had left them, they were panicking. You said your peace, having to spell it all out for them. It was good to get it off your chest though, and with that you’d make you exit. Or at least that was the idea.

    As you turned around to leave, you felt a hand grab your arm and yank you back with enough force to drop you to the ground. You couldn’t get back up as they surrounded you. By then your whole argument had been noticed and a crowd of students and faculty had gathered around. Having this conversation out in the open was already embarrassing, and all the attention was making it worse. Although they were about to increase that exponentially.

“Whore.” Jaehyun spat. “Any money spent on you was clearly a waste. The only way you could think about getting through uni was to spread your legs. I bet you slept around with your professors too.”

“Excuse me!”

“Do you even have any brains?” Yuta questioned. “Or are you just playing pretend so you can wear a cap and gown, and show off some piece of paper.”

“Fucken-”

    You tried to get up but Jeno got his foot on your chest, pinning you down. You struggled to get him off, but he was putting all his weight on you. When your eyes met him you could see he was still pissed, and if possible, he was way more enraged now.

“You found someone else to spread your legs for, didn’t you!” Jeno yelled. “Whoring yourself out for whoever can benefit you the most!”

“Get off of me!”

“Why? Don’t you like having men on top of you?” Johnny kicked dirt at you. “Fucken slut.”

“Ya!”

“Just do what you do best.”

    Yuta and Ten started yanking your legs apart, and you kicked and screamed at them. Although you stopped when Jeno put more weight on you and you struggled to breath. You were clawing at his leg, but he was relentless.

“What’s going on here!”

    Two officers from campus security approached and all the boys stepped back. Jeno moved away and you took in a deep breath, sitting up and coughing a bit.

“We’re leaving.” Ten smiled. “No need for an escort.”

“Hold on now, you can’t-”

“Just let them go.” You spoke. “I’m not gonna make a big deal out of this.”

    The officers didn’t do anything more, and so the boys walked off. Soon enough you heard those damn engines again, but you didn’t dare look over at them. For a moment after they were gone everything remained quiet and still, and then Mina came over to help you stand, the crowds starting to disperse.

“What the hell was all that?”

“Remember when I told you I got a sugar daddy…”

“Yeah, daddy, as in one, not five! Also, I didn’t believe you.”

“Well I wasn’t lying.”

“Clearly. And you couldn’t share any of them?”

“They’re not exactly easy to deal with.”

“Is that why you’d always ditch me? Disappear on weekends? Why we couldn’t ever really share a meal together? You were off with them.”

“Yeah…”

“You really are stupid.”

“Ya!”

“Girl, when did you ever have time for yourself? Or anyone else in your life who was actually important? Here I thought you were just so focused on studying and busy working to pay off your tuition. I wasn’t wrong on the latter, but still.”

“Are you... mad at me?”

“No, not really. Just processing out loud... you did tell me about this, somewhat, I just didn’t think you were for real.”

“I know. If you had told me the same thing I wouldn’t have believed you either.”

“But you’re really done with them now?”

“Yup. I didn’t think they’d throw such a fit though.”

“A fit? I’d call that harassment, and assault. Shouldn’t you press charges?”

“There’s no point. They’d get good lawyers, and it’d just be a waste of my time. I don’t want anything to do with them anymore, so I’ll let it go.”

“Fine, but you are getting a new number after class. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

    That morning certainly killed the mood, but you went about your day trying to make the best of it. Of course your chest hurt pretty bad, but nothing some quick pain killers couldn’t deal with. Like you had promised, after all your classes, you and Mina went to change your number. Then you went about the grueling task of messaging friends and family to let them know you had a new number.

“Shall we go out for ice cream? You know, since you’re free now.”

“I could use something sweet.”

    You knew there would still be issues. If they made such a big show at your campus, who knows what else would happen if you met out on the streets. With that in mind you didn’t go anywhere off campus alone, and you didn’t visit any of their favorite places or usual hangouts. You thought you had it figured out, but there was something you couldn’t avoid. Everyone else.

    Word spread fast about that day. About how a girl got harassed by five guys, and all the slurs and insults that they threw her way. A few days later everyone seemed to know your name, and had an idea of the type of person you were. When you went to class all the others would purposely sit away from you, only Mina ever sat next to you. Then there were the whispers and chuckles. Every time you raised your hand to ask a question there was always some comment about you sleeping around with the professor. Regardless of who it was. It was frustrating, but you just pushed through. Although Mina certainly wanted to pick a fight with everyone.

“Just let it go.”

“How are you so okay with this?”

“I’m not, but it’ll die down eventually. As long as I don’t engage with them I won’t add fuel to the fire. So don’t pay them any attention.”

“They are slut-shaming you and saying all kinds of shit.”

“And I just have to make it through this semester. After that I can move forward and really build my life. I’m not gonna let some idiots who have nothing better to do ruin that. Besides, I’m sure they’re all just jealous I could actually get a Sugar Daddy, and five at that.”

“You’re not wrong there. Those people don’t just throw money at anyone.”

“I appreciate you ready to fight for me, but this ain’t worth it.”

Mina sighed. “Fine, but if you ever wanna start swinging, just let me know.”

“Will do.”

🖤

    You were right, in part. The teasing did die down, and you could go about your life like normal, but there were still a handful of dicks who found things funny. And one ballsy little fucker who decided to go a step further. As one of your classes ended, and you were gathering your things, another of your peers accidentally spilled their drink all over you.

“Oh shit, my bad. You must be used to getting soaked though.”

    That bastard and his friends snickered to themselves. You knew everyone got the joke, some chuckling too, but of course no one was gonna say anything or take your side. So you just did your best to clean your face, and then whipped around to look at your attacker. Of course it was a boy and his friends, although he got quiet now that you were staring at him dead on.

“Your mistake, right?”

“Yeah. I can be clumsy, you know.”

“Right. So then just pay up and we can call it even.”

“Huh?”

“You said it was your mistake. So pay for it.” You held out your hand. “I think a hundred dollars should cover my hair and clothes.”

“A hundred dollars? You play around with some rich boys and now you think you’re worth all that?”

“So you’re not gonna pay me?”

“Fuck that.”

“Fine then, but we are gonna call it even.”

“What?”

    Without missing a beat you swung at him and clocked him right in the face. He fell back onto his friends, and you noticed a bit of blood from his nose.

“My mistake. I guess we’re even now.”

“You bitch!”

    Not once in your academic career have you ever wound up in the principal’s office, this was the student dean’s office, so not the same but still. You had no problems with words, but things getting physical was crossing a line, and you weren’t going to sit still. You were still drying off as you sat in the dean’s office, listening to that jerk go off about how you were a monster and whatever. You weren’t going to apologize until he did, but that was definitely not gonna happen when his parents walked in. You couldn’t believe he actually called for help like this, and now they were demanding your expulsion. That someone violent like you shouldn’t be at such a place.

“Are you kidding? Are you even looking at me? Your son started this, and couldn’t apologize or pay up for his mistake!”

“A mistake isn’t met with physical violence!”

“He started it!”

“Please, everyone calm down.” The dean spoke. “We can resolve this without yelling.”

“I want that girl expelled.”

“That seems a little too-”

“Do you know how much we give to this school so-”

    The conversation stopped short as the door opened. You couldn’t imagine who else would join this conversation. When you looked back your eyes went wide, and you stood up.

“Sit down, baby.” Johnny said. “We’ll get you cleaned up later.”

“How-”

“Who the hell are you gentlemen?!”

“Y/n’s sponsors.” Jaehyun smiled. “We heard there was a commotion involving her, and by the state she is in, I’m not very happy. What is being done to remedy this?”

“She hasn’t apologized for hitting my son!”

“Has he apologized for his actions?”

“Exactly who are you to be making such demands?”

“Ah, right. I’ve not introduced myself. I’m Jung Jaehyun. These are my friends, Nakamoto Yuta, Johnny Suh, Lee-”

“I know those names…”

“Good. Then apologize before you’re buried.”

“Excu-”

“Or shall this be resolved outside this room?” Ten smiled. “I have no problem doing it that way too. I might actually prefer it.”

    You didn’t care much for an apology, you got to punch the fucker in the face, but getting one was the cherry on top. You didn’t apologize either and the situation was left at that. Now that you had a moment you wanted to go clean up, and the boys wound up dragging you into a gender neutral bathroom. Johnny locked the door, and leaned against it, guaranteeing privacy. You were ready to start screaming and fighting but Yuta turned the sink on, getting the water warm and grabbing paper towels. They weren’t saying anything, and you could silently be grateful for that. You washed up your hair, using the hand dryer to dry it off as best you could. Jeno gave you his jacket afterwards since your shirt was still dirty.

“Alright, what the fuck do you want?”

“We owe you an apology.” Yuta said. “For everything.”

“Go on then.”

“We’re sorry we attacked you the way we did that day.” Jeno began. “We were out of line and completely in the wrong for that.”

“Assholes. You know this is all your fault right? Everyone keeps calling me names because of you! And this was the first time someone dared to take it a step further.”

“We never meant-”

“Then what did you think was gonna happen when you screamed out that I was a whore in the middle of campus?”

“…”

“Good try, I guess.”

“You were right.” Ten admitted. “Four years is a lot of time, and yet throughout it all you never made a move to suggest you wanted anything more from us than attention and money. We never did anything to give you the impression that we wanted more from you either. I’m sure if we had, you would have said something sooner. So you were right, we had no reason to act the way we did. We’ve been seeing each other for a long time and you broke it off so suddenly. Our judgment became clouded, and we let rage overtake us when we should have been better. We can’t simply undo what we did, but we are sincerely sorry for our actions.”

“Hm… was it really that hard to take a moment and reflect?”

“Yeah…” Jaehyun added. “We’ve had such good times together, it was hard to believe you’d just leave us like that… but why was it so sudden? Why didn’t you just talk to us?”

“I… I wasn’t entirely sure how… we weren’t really boyfriend and girlfriend… and it’s not like we had agreed to anything specifically when we started this whole… thing… all I could think of was a break up text… I also didn’t think you’d explode at me the way you did… I mean, I always thought you had girls lined up that you played with or whatever… I didn’t think you’d care that much…”

“Well, as you can see… we care a lot…”

“Yeah… how did you even know I was in trouble?”

“We might have… been paying someone in the administrative office to keep tabs on you for us…”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Johnny commented. “We’ve practically been with you throughout your whole academic career. You’re a good student, so we never imagined you’d get into any kind of trouble, but just to be safe. It worked out for us in the end. We’ve been wanting to talk to you, to apologize, we just didn’t really know how to approach you.”

“I see.”

“Which brings us to our other point. Do you think we can do this properly?”

“Do what?”

“We understand that you don’t see us in your future, but can we at least end things on a good note? We’ve been with you for four years now… we were all kinda hoping to see you graduate you know…”

“What exactly are you suggesting here?”

“One last dinner… one last trip…” Yuta mumbled. “That kinda stuff… let us see this to the end. We can just be another part of your Uni days and nothing more.”

“Hm…”

“Can you at least give us that kinda closure?”

    You weren’t really sure how you felt about all this. You had already cut them out of your life, but they were clearly still hanging on. At least they had apologized, and did help you back there in the dean’s office. Truth was the way you handled things wasn’t all that great either. You had been worried that if you just talked to them they’d find some way to convince you to stick around, but that really wasn’t your life plan. Now they understood that, so maybe things could end differently. You also didn’t want to part ways with them on a bad note.

“Just until graduation?”

“We really wanna see you with that cap and gown.” Jeno admitted. “You’ll look so gorgeous.”

“Alright, we can somewhat continue as we were, but after my graduation, we’re done. Understood?”

“Got it.”

“Can we take you out to lunch then?” Ten asked. “Since you’re done with classes for the day.”

“You know my schedule too?”

“We were trying to figure out a way to talk to you…”

“Fine, let me just go change clothes first. I’ll meet you at my usual pick up spot?”

“That works for us.”

🖤

    It had been a while since you last hung out with the boys, so there was a bit of awkwardness. At least this was just lunch to ease back into things. They took you to one of their usual spots, getting a private room and ordering your favorites.

“So, you really just clocked him in the face, huh?”

“He could have paid up. I wasn’t going to let him do that without consequence.”

“Good on you.” Yuta cheered. “Although tryna get you kicked out, that’s ridiculous.”

“I can’t believe he called his parents. Such a momma’s boy.”

“Says the sugar baby.”

“I didn’t call you to come save my ass.”

“Ah, so you agree.” Johnny teased. “We did save you?”

“Well… I wasn’t entirely sure how I was gonna deal with that just yet…”

“We saved you. It’s okay to admit that.”

“You guys just wanna brag to my face.” 

“Is that so wrong?” Jeno teased. “Maybe you can shut me up with a reward.”

“You think you deserve a reward?”

“Don’t I?”

“Hm… what did you have in mind?”

“I have been missing you a lot.”

“Really? You? Or is it someone else?”

“Huh?”

    Jeno had been at your side, and he was leaning in close asking for his reward. Now that you were teasing him back you leaned in too. You placed a hand between his legs, slowly moving it closer to his crotch. After breaking the ice, it was kinda easy to slip back into old dynamics. Besides, maybe you had missed something about them too.

“Oh… you want a reward out of this too, huh?”

“I’ve been good, haven’t I?”

“Easy now.” Jaehyun pulled you away from Jeno. “We’re just having lunch today, baby. Besides, are you still taking the pills?”

You sighed. “I stopped taking them when we parted ways.”

“Then we should probably get you back on them before we start playing. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“We still have some.” Ten offered. “They should work just fine, right?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Excellent. I’ll throw in a pregnancy test or two, just to be safe.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, you took a break from the pill, just a precaution.”

“Fair.”

    Things weren’t exactly like before. They were more respectful of your time. Before they’d always be calling, wanting every moment of free time you had. They’d pick you up Friday night from school, keep you to themselves all weekend most of the time. You only ever got a pass during exam time, and when you had the guts to ask for a break. Usually you didn’t, not wanting to upset them and possibly lose out on your tuition money. It was exhausting, but it was all for a better life. At least that’s what you told yourself. This time around they were more like friends, checking in on you, and asking how you were doing.

    They definitely wanted to see you, but on your own terms. So occasionally you’d go out for lunch, maybe dinner, but nothing too extravagant, as you knew they were gonna go all out for the last trip and dinner. At least with these little outings they always brought you back to campus unlike before where you’d spent the night with them until Sunday afternoon. Things were better this way, kinda making you wish the last four years had been like this too. Although you were actually surprised when they brought up the last trip.

“Spring break?”

“Yeah. Let’s have a blast and unwind before you give it your all for graduation.”

“Uh… well… the thing is…”

“You don’t like it?” Johnny questioned.

“I had already made plans with my friends for spring break… and I thought you’d want to go out on a trip like after my finals…”

“Ah, right. You didn’t intend for us to still be in your life by now.”

“Then how about we split it.” Yuta suggested. “First half of your break, you hang out with your friends. For the second half, we get you all to ourselves.”

“Hm… switch it.”

“Huh?”

“You get the first half, my friends get the second half.”

“How come?”

“Cause you guys can switch your plans around easily, my friends can’t.”

“Fair. So we’ll pick you up Monday morning?” Jeno asked. “Or can we come get you Friday night?”

“Oh, wanna kick things off early?” 

“If you can handle it.”

“Sure. I’ll pack some things after my class.”

“Can’t wait.”

    Even if you were acting cool, you were excited for this trip. They always treated you so well, spoiled you like a princess. This wasn’t gonna be any different. They had been modest so far, but now was their chance to do things like back then. They picked you up in a party bus, starting off strong with drinks, and congratulating you on your midterm exams. Of course karaoke and good food followed, and you were out celebrating until early hours of the morning. Somehow you all made it back to the penthouse sweet. You had a few more drinks before you made it to bed, half dressed with the boys piled around you.

    The morning was a hangover times six, although some of them had it worse than you. Thankfully breakfast was brought up, and hangover cures, so you just had to get up and put food in your mouth. When that failed Johnny was more than happy to feed you, the one of the bunch that could really handle their liquor.  You also needed to get yourself together. The party had only just begun, not to mention all the plans you had with your friends later on in the week. For now though, you just needed to make it through breakfast.

“Had a little too much?”

“I’m good…”

“Your face says otherwise.”

“What’s it telling you?”

“You wanna throw up?”

“I don’t want a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Then some ice cream to help soothe your throat.”

“Ice cream for breakfast?” Jaehyun questioned. “Isn’t that a bad idea?”

“This week is all about bad ideas.”

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” You asked. “More drinks?”

“We want you sober for all the memories we are gonna make. So no more drinks, is that okay?”

“Just fine.”

“Good. We were thinking of some tourist attractions, and some trips to the museums.”

“Jellyfish!”

“Yes. The aquarium is on the list.”

“Awesome!”

    Once you were all better you headed out, taking a limo into town. You had a chance to relax now that you were on break, and really take it all in. This was one of the last times you’d be around here, planning to go home after graduation. The whole day honestly made you feel like a child, indulging in everything you wanted to do or eat. To many you looked like a little sister with her brothers, or maybe just a lucky girl with her friends, but either way, you were glad you didn’t attract any negative attention. Some did recognize the boys, but that never became a problem, so you had nothing to worry about.

    You got to have lunch in the aquarium, watching all the fishes swim, almost feeling like you were in the water with them. The penguins were great too, and the jellyfish, and dolphins. You totally walked out with two or three plushies. For dinner this time you returned to the hotel, having some quality food, but as said before no drinking. Jeno and Yuta still felt the need to embarrass you and make a toast to your health and success in school. They even had a dessert brought out with a candle to once again congratulate you on surviving midterms. Although once back in the suite you better understood why there was a drinking ban.

    As soon as you set foot in the penthouse Johnny picked you up in his arms, taking you to the bedroom. He saw you down and laid you back, his hand caressing your cheek. You could feel one of the others getting your shoes off, and you knew where this was going. It had been a while, but you had been waiting for this. Besides all the attention and money, there was another benefit to having five sugar daddies. No one could ever take care of you the way you did. Johnny leaned down to kiss your lips, his hands reaching down to your shirt, although you stopped him.

“I don’t think you asked permission.”

“I’m not asking tonight, baby.”

“No?”

“You have any idea how bad you’ve been?”

“Me?”

“Breaking up with us.” Jeno hissed into your ear. “Hiding away and trying to leave.”

“I thought we-”

“Sh, unless you wanna cause more trouble.”

“Tonight you’re gonna give us everything we are owed.” Yuta added. “So you better take it all with a smile on your face.”

    Suddenly Johnny had your hands pinned above your head as Jeno pulled up your shirt. He reached over to unhook your bra and push it up, exposing your breasts. He kneaded them for a moment and you bit your lip. His hands were cold, but he knew how you liked his touch. Then you felt hands getting you out of your skirt. The second your panties were exposed there was a hand grabbing your crotch.

“It did always hurt that you never invited us back to your dorm.” Ten commented. “Didn’t want you getting exposed to your roommate?”

“She knew… about our arrangement… sort of…”

“I didn’t say you could speak, baby.” Ten slapped your inner thigh. “Bad girl.”

    You bit your lip, instinctively trying to close your legs but Ten pulled them apart. The boys stripped you out of your clothes, leaving your panties on for the time being. Jaehyun had taken to holding down your arms as Johnny started kissing down your chest, Ten’s hand squeezing your thighs. Yuta and Jeno were already shedding articles of clothing, getting you all the more excited.

“You’ve been a good girl and taking the pills we gave you, right?” Jaehyun asked, and you nodded. “Good. So we can have all kinds of fun tonight.”

    For as long as you had been with them, you had always taken the pill. They didn’t always take you raw, but it was better to be safe than sorry. You were also glad they didn’t play around with that kinda thing, wanting to be safe with you even if they were gonna fill you up to the brim with their seed. Tonight was going to be no different, you figured they’d be desperate to do so. Even if they wanted to tease, they couldn’t help themselves for too long. Soon enough you were all naked, and you were getting attacked with kisses from all angles.

“Who’s first?”

“The eldest.”

    They still cared to make sure you were nice and wet, Johnny stretching you out a good way before giving you everything. It had been so long for you too, abstaining from sex to focus on your studies. You also hadn’t slept with anyone else but them for four years, and weren’t entirely sure how to get laid anymore. Even if it hurt at first, your body was quick to remember this familiar stretch, and feeling. Johnny hadn’t forgotten your body though, doing everything just right, doing it just how you liked it. Not to mention the others knew what to do while waiting their turn. Playing with your tits, stealing kisses, rubbing your clit, using your hands or mouth to warm up. You were gonna wear yourself out long before them, and they really loved when you became putty in their hands.

    Even with all the distractions you couldn’t ignore Johnny as he was the one pounding into you. He was always so rough and precise with his movements, hitting your sweet spot just right. Of course you had been getting yourself off in your dorm, but nothing could compare to one of them taking you over to the edge. You could tell when Johnny got close, he got sloppy and so desperate, trying to hold out to make it all last, but spilling inside you was just as rewarding. The warm feeling between your legs was already making you head spin, but you knew Johnny lost a bit of his touch if he didn’t get you off. He wanted another go, but Jaehyun was already shoving him out of the way.

    His turn was spent and Jaehyun would take pride in finishing you off. He had no problem slipping into the mess that was becoming of your cunt, eager to add to the mix. Of course Johnny wanted to give you a taste too, having you use your tongue to clean him up. If you had taken him all at once you probably would have choked as Jaehyun was giving you everything. He was making it very obvious he had a lot of pent up frustrations he was taking out on you. If he made you feel this good, you wouldn’t mind him holding off more often. Although he wasn’t gonna get the satisfaction of making you cum either as Jeno started playing with your clit, pushing you over to the edge before Jaehyun was even close.

    You squeezed Jaehyun tight, feeling as you were leaking out cum, your head thrown back as your mouth hung open in bliss. You vaguely heard Jaehyun scolding the other boy for taking what was his, but it wasn’t so bad if he got to fuck you while you were so sensitive. He moved with your climax, trying to keep you riding that high for as long as you could, but as you started to come down he got relentless. You couldn’t help but whimper, but that wasn’t gonna make him go any easy. In his own desperation he got close, unable to hold back before cumming inside you, making you overflow.

“Such a messy slut, taking two cocks so well.”

“Let’s make it three.”

    Jeno wanted to go next, but Ten kicked him off. He stuck two fingers into your mess, swearing cum on your belly, and then sticking the digits in your mouth.

“How’s that taste?”

    He swirled his fingers around before pulling them out with a pop. He could be real mean, playing with you when he wasn’t even filling you up. Your whimpers were adorable to him, especially when you got needy enough to start shaking your hips. Now you were begging, and he was happy to give you what you wanted.

“Whore.”

    Hearing those words outside the bedroom certainly wasn’t fun, but in the bedroom, even if it was said with the same level of vileness, you’d happily accept it. Four years, the same five dicks, you were certainly a whore for them. Ten was certainly on the more elegant side, working you over along with him, knowing how to get you on his level so you’d both climax together. Even being a little out of practice with your body, he could still play you like an instrument. He always held your hands when he had his way with you, wanting more than just your cunt to squeeze him tight, he wanted to feel the rest of your body shake. You’ve left him with marks before, and he’d happily welcome them now.

“At a girl, still know who owns you.”

    You swear you saw white when he made you cum, drool slipping down your face. It was only your second orgasm, but you knew they could get more out of you. As many as they pleased. There was a safe word in place, but in all the years you had known them, you never used it. They seemed to know your limits as well as you did. Before you could even properly come down Jeno was already kissing at your chest, sucking on your nipples as he edged himself inside. The noise that was heard as he pushed aside everyone else’s seed to get in, an all too familiar sound you did quite enjoy to hear.

“You’re already so full, baby, can you take more?”

“Yes…”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

    These sheets were gonna need to be thrown out when you were all done. You were already creating such a mess, and it wasn’t much compared to other nights. At least not yet. Jeno was practically digging into you, pushing in as cum came out. They had all had their turns before, being first or last or in the middle, so they wouldn’t complain about what stage they got to you. There were five of them after all, so they had to be good about sharing. Jeno was eager to make you unwind, so he gave you plenty of attention elsewhere. Twirling around your clit with his fingers, seeing it get red and swollen, another hand on your hip, keeping you from escaping him. He did it well enough you came first, already so sensitive, and he soon followed.

    You felt so fucken full you swear you were gonna burst, but you were just out of practice. Yuta peppered you with kisses, telling you how well you were doing. His fingers dipped into your sloppy cunt, having you get a taste of it. You certainly didn’t expect him to kiss you after, but they didn’t just play around with you. They had each other after all. You were already so overstimulated and lost, Yuta was kind enough to give you a little break before taking what was rightfully his. He had no problem playing around with your cunt for a while before dipping into the mess. He fit in nicely, having a pretty good idea how to keep you happy despite your state. He was ruthless, just as frustrated as Jaehyun, taking it all out on you and sparking you back to life. You really missed them.

    Now either the orgasm or Yuta made you pass out, but either way, you blacked out for a while. When you came to you were lying on the floor with your legs up in the air, clearly having fallen off to the side of the bed. Although Jeno was happily sleeping on your tummy, sighing dreamily and clearly cozy. You giggled at the sight. Sometimes you really did forget they were all close to your age, and yet living such different lives. You let Jeno stay for a while before you realized this position was very uncomfortable. You poked Jeno’s face to make him open his eyes.

“Why didn’t you pick me up? Do you think this is comfortable?”

“You looked cute, almost like you were drunk.”

“But I’m not.”

“Well, maybe not drunk off alcohol.” Jeno giggled and got up. “We were all out of it.”

“Obviously.”

    You got up, sitting down properly, well aware that you were leaking cum all over the floor, but that wasn’t for you to worry about now. Some of the others were lying in bed, and you crawled up to join them, pressing lazy kisses to exposed skin. This was all a little break for everyone. The night was still young, and even if you were four orgasms in, it was just one for each of them. They were greedy, and would certainly get what they wanted out of you, whether you were conscious or not. Waking up with a cock inside you wasn’t new, but certainly something you could picture for a night like this.

🖤

    You didn’t actually wake up properly until the afternoon. After that you knew the next day would be nothing but a lazy day. Somehow you managed to get up and get into the shower, knowing you needed a deep clean. Although you dozed off until Yuta found you sitting in the tub. He had the energy to join you and help clean you up, which you were grateful for. You returned the favor as well, the two of you the first to eat lunch from room service, waiting around for the others. When you were well enough you stepped out of the penthouse so they could clean up, heading to a park to enjoy the weather and sun. 

    The rest of your little trip was like that. You had some more fun at night, but not too much. Besides, you’d be going off with your friends, and you didn’t need to be completely worn out. Overall it was a good trip, a good last trip, one you knew you’d never forget. When the time came they dropped you off back at Uni, wishing you well with your friends, asking you to let them know if you needed anything. You thanked them for the adventure, glad you could still have all that. It felt more authentic given that this was really you going out with them as friends, not getting paid for your company.

    Of course at some point your friends had to ask about your little trip. Anyone who knew you now knew about your sugar daddies, so there was no point lying about it. You spilled what you were comfortable with, and just enjoyed your time with them. You couldn’t believe this was your last spring break, but you were so happy to have them with you. It was hard to fall asleep Sunday night, knowing what awaited you the next day, but you had enough good memories to get you through the door. So come Monday morning, you weren’t actually dead as you got to class, unlike most of your peers.

    The professors weren’t all going to be kind, so it was back to work like before. This was the final stretch for you, focus and study hard, and you’d be graduating. A part of you couldn’t actually believe it, but you had to, you couldn’t fuck this up. So you put a lot off to the side, including the boys. You still texted them, but you couldn’t do any mini dates, and they were very understanding. Even if you were the one working your butt off, they were just as nervous and as excited as you were. Although all that focus distracted you from something that was just as important.

“Holy shit, I’m late.”

“What?”

“I was due like last week. Fuck.”

“Aren’t you on the pill?”

“That’s not foolproof.”

“Fair. Are you sure it isn’t stress though? I’m pretty sure I’ve missed a period or two cause of classes.”

“I don’t think I have before…”

“Well you are gonna graduate in a month. That is if you pass your finals.”

“Don’t fucken jynx it!”

“I’m just saying. You’ve probably never been stressed like this before. Athletes wind up not having a period for months cause of the stress they’re under.”

“I’m not a professional athlete.”

“Then go buy a pregnancy test and see if one of your sugar daddies is gonna be a father.”

“I wouldn’t fucken tell them. We’ve always been careful.”

“Then it’s just the stress. Problem solved. Also, don’t you have class soon?”

“Fuck. I do. I’ll get a pregnancy test later.”

“Cool, see you later.”

    You really didn’t think you’d be pregnant. You were careful, for the last four years, and you were very sexually active. Mina had a point though, you were under a lot of stress with graduation, but you had to be sure. Thankfully instead of buying one you remember the boys had given you some when they got you the pills. After classes you returned and used one of the tests, relieved to see it came out negative. So it really was just stress, and you were quite amazed it could do that to your body. Regardless, that was one less thing to worry about.

    To a degree you did feel bad you couldn’t see the boys after spring break, it had been quite a trip considering it was the last, but your academics were important. They wished you luck with finals, and you were ready for the last major exams of your life. You waited anxiously for the results, overjoyed that you had passed, and you were going to graduate. You had to celebrate, doing so with your friends. It was only once things wound down that you called the boys wanting to share the news.

“So, how did it go?”

“I passed… I’m graduating!”

“I knew you could do it.” Jeno cheered. “Our baby is so smart.”

“We’ve got to celebrate.” Johnny added. “Shall we pick you up?”

“I’ve already been partying, and I’m kinda spent. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Nah, it’s okay, you should rest. Don’t drink so much, okay.”

“I haven’t had a drink, can’t risk becoming a drunk mess before I take the stage.”

“Can we take you shopping!” Yuta asked. “Get you a nice dress for graduation?”

“I’d love that actually. Perhaps the one thing you guys can get me that I’ll keep.”

“If we don’t rip it off you.”

“True. Tomorrow then, shopping day.”

“We can’t wait.”

    Shopping wasn’t something to make a big deal out of, but how could you all not be excited. You’d be walking across the stage in the outfit you bought today, it had to be perfect. Not to mention the five guys buying it might wanna destroy it later, so you had to get good pictures first.

“We were thinking, after the ceremony, we’d take you out to dinner.”

“The last dinner.”

“Of course.” Ten smiled. “If that’s okay.”

“Yeah. It seems like a fitting end for us.”

“You better not cry.”

“I won’t.”

“Hm, guess we’ll see about that.”

    The big day brought on a lot of nerves, you could barely sleep the night before. Although when the sun was up, you and Mina were already getting dolled up, and she loved your outfit.

“You look hot.”

“Thanks.”

“So you really can’t come with me for dinner.”

“I already promised the boys. It’s the last one. Besides, I wanna see what kind of graduation present they get me.”

“Oh, they’ll probably give you a lot of money. Maybe a house.”

“That’d be awesome.”

“You better tell me immediately.”

“I’m sure I won’t be able to keep it a secret from you, so don’t worry.”

    Even if you looked stunning, it was mostly hidden by the gown. Still, you looked incredible and you couldn’t believe you had made it to the end. When you headed to the ceremony you looked around taking it all in. Even if you wanted your family there, you knew things had come up so they couldn’t attend. It’s why you were so happy to see the boys, knowing they were there for you. Although they did embarrass you a bit, Jeno and Yuta having a big congratulations sign, the others swinging around noise makers. Of course it dragged to wait for your name, but when it was your turn up on the stage you had the biggest smile, finding the boys in the crowd to show off too.

    You had tears in your eyes, so happy that all your efforts hadn’t been in vain. The boys had made their way over to you, embracing you in their arms, congratulating you over and over again. They said your tears were cute, but they were very proud of you. They even had flowers and a graduation bear as a present for you. They wanted pictures too, so you did your best to get rid of the tears and fix your makeup. After celebrating with your other friends and seeing the ceremony to the end you headed off to eat. You weren’t really hungry from all the adrenaline, but it was your last meal with the guys, and a very important one at that.

“You looked so beautiful up there.” Johnny complimented. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you could be there.”

“Us too.”

“So, what did you get me?”

“After you eat.” Ten said. “So be a good girl and have your fill.”

“I’ll burn a hole in your wallet tonight. Just watch.”

“I’d love to see you try.”

    There was something so peaceful about this meal, and exciting. They all asked about your plans going forward, what you wanted to do. Of course this was where you’d part ways, but you knew there was always a chance you’d run into each other again. Despite all the good things, you couldn’t help but wonder what your present was. After dessert they finally presented you with a little box. Now your heart was racing. It could be a key to a car or house, or maybe a card to a bank account they had made you. Still, you thanked them all and opened the box. Your smile faltered as you stared at the contents, dumbfounded.

“It’s… it’s a pregnancy test…”

“Surprise!”

“I… I don’t understand…”

“Well, you always talked about your future.” Jaehyun explained. “And how we weren’t a part of that. It really hurt, but you were right. So we figured we should include ourselves in your future.”

“I’m not… following…”

“You’re late, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I took a pregnancy test already. It came out negative. The stress-”

“The one I gave you was fake.” Ten said. “It’s meant to come out negative.”

“What… what are you…”

“The best way to become a part of your future is for you to have our kid.” Yuta stated. “Of course we’re probably not gonna know which of us is the biological father, unless you had like quintuplets, but we can raise it together.”

“What…”

“Of course we’ll cover all the expenses.” Johnny assured. “So you don’t have to worry about food, or a roof over your head, nothing. We’re gonna be a big happy family now.”

“You’re… you’re lying… you… I’m on the pill!”

“Those were also fake.” Jeno added. “A placebo thing, right? Like sugar.”

“You planned this!”

“How else were we gonna be part of your future?”

“Truth is we always imagined a future with you.” Ten admitted. “After about a year, we realized how great you were, how perfect you were for us. So when you suddenly broke it off, we couldn’t believe it, but you were also right. We never really let you know we wanted you, so that’s on us, but we’ve rectified that now.”

“You’re fucken lying!” You stood up. “You did not get me fucken pregnant!”

“Shall we go confirm that?”

    You were furious, and you hated that they were throwing this idea out so casually. You took the pregnancy test and stormed off to the bathroom. They had rented out the whole restaurant, so you didn’t have to worry about anyone else. You nervously used the test, scared to look at the results, but they were clear as day.

“Positive…”

“Congratulations!!!”

    The boys had followed you to the bathroom, cheering and letting off confetti poppers. You stayed frozen in shock, trying to process this.

“It’s wrong… the test…”

“You can try again.” Jaehyun threw more pregnancy tests on the floor. “Better to use more than one anyway.”

“You… you…”

“Even if there wasn’t a baby inside you right now.” Yuta explained. “We’d have plenty of time to impregnate you now that you’ve graduated.”

“No… no you’re all fucken nuts…”

    You threw the test in the trash and intended to leave, only for Johnny to grab your arm, holding you back. Jeno was all over your belly, grabbing it and making baby noises.

“Easy now, baby. Now that you’re carrying our kid, we gotta take special care of you.”

“I am not having this baby!”

“That’s not up for debate.”

“It’s my body! And you fucken-”

“You think you can just play with us for four years?!” Jaehyun grabbed your chin, making you face him. “Four years, baby doll. That’s a lot of time to fall in love with a beautiful body and the girl that inhabits it. We weren’t playing, and we’re not gonna let you either. Your future is ours.”

“Fuck you! I didn’t consent to this! I’m not-” Jaehyun’s grip got tighter. “Let go…”

“You gotta be careful baby, don’t want you hurting yourself or the kid. We have a nice place picked out where we can look after you.”

“Let go!”

“Listen closely, darling.” Ten had Jaehyun let you go, stepping before you. “If anything happens to that baby, you are going to pay dearly for it. And don’t get any silly ideas in your head, you’re still young and very fertile, we have no problem tying you up and breeding you every night if something happens. So be a good girl, and smile, you’re gonna be a mother.”

“You’re crazy!”

“And you’re very hormonal, must be the baby. We should get you home.”

“No, no! Fucken let me go!”

“I can’t wait for the pregnant waddle.” Jeno cheered. “You’re gonna get so big!”

“I wonder if it’ll be a boy or girl.” Yuta said. “Maybe there’s more than one in there!”

“That’d be so cool.” 

“We’re gonna be dads!”

“I can’t wait!”

[puppyluver256]

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[hxney-lemcn]

Oopsie — Peter Maximoff x gn! reader

summary: Peter found your fanfic (idk how else to summarize this 💀)

tw: descriptions of panic (possibly panic attack?)

a/n: idk how I feel about this one.

wc: 1.1k

Master List

“Give that back, Peter!” I shouted, standing on my tippy toes trying to reach the notebook he held over his head.

“Why do ya want it back so badly, huh?” Peter asked with a smirk. “What are you writing about?”

I don’t think my heart has ever beat as fast as it is now. I could feel my blood rush as panic coursed through me. No, I didn’t use it as a diary or anything…or maybe I was in a convoluted way? When I felt down or needed to vent, I would write scenarios with my favorite characters. The thought of anyone, especially Peter finding out made me want to change my identity and leave the country. He would never let me live it down and some of those stories were extremely personal to me. 

Panic continued to clench at my heart as Peter opened the notebook, still holding it above his head. Pure desperation took hold of me as I jumped, using his shoulders to propel me higher. 

“Whoa there,” Peter laughed, zipping away to the other side of the room. “You really don’t want me reading this. It can’t be that bad.”

“Peter, please,” I begged, trying to stop my voice cracking from the tears that threatened to fall. His smile fell and he looked at me with furrowed brows. Either he read some of it using his super powers to give him more time or he felt guilty due to how desperate I seemed, but I didn’t want to find out. So as a last ditch attempt, I shot a beam of darkness at the notebook, disappearing into the shadows only to reappear in my hands. Before Peter could utter a word I disappeared into the shadows, only to reappear in Jean's room. 

Jean gasped in surprise. I typically didn’t use my powers that often. I wasn’t a part of the X-Men, but I was friends with Jean ever since I first attended the school, which meant I was basically a part of their group. Having the powers of umbrakinesis, at the beginning wasn’t so special. I could manipulate shadows. Didn’t seem like much. Until Professor Xaviar taught me about my true potential. I could travel through shadows, and even manifest the dark particles into a physical form. It was a good defense, creating weapons made out of dark particles, but I wasn’t the fighting type. So I never really used my powers. There was no need to.

So when I not only traveled to Jean through shadows, but also had the most panic stricken face, she led me to her bed. Her work was left forgotten on her desk. 

“Hey, hey it's okay,” She cooed. “You’re safe here.” Jean rubbed my back as she sat next to me. 

I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. I felt so silly getting worked up over such things, but at the same time it was something deeply personal…and embarrassing. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Jean asked. I bit my lip, contemplating if I could stomach saying it out loud or letting her just read my thoughts.

“Could you just…look?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t rude too. 

She nodded, a gentle look in her eyes. I trusted her with the knowledge of the contents of my notebook. Especially when she’ll see how important it is to me. A scowl took over her face after a minute.

“That idiot,” She huffed.

Even after what just happened, I couldn’t help but vouch for Peter, “He didn’t know…”

“You’re letting your crush on him talk,” She rolled her eyes. 

I felt myself warm at such a blatant accusation of my feelings. She wasn’t completely wrong. I was smitten over the silver haired mutant. I found his dorkiness charming, and he just had the cutest smile. He made it so easy to be friends with him, including me in everything, and not to mention his casual affection. An arm around my shoulders here, ruffling my hair there. It was something I wasn’t used to. Yeah Jean would include me in stuff as well, but her affection was more reserved. 

And yes, Peter can be annoying. Prime example would be his incessant talking. He could talk about anything and everything, yet not say a thing of substance. Which I personally didn’t mind, but Jean and Scott found it grating from time to time. 

“I’m just scared he’s gonna think I’m weird now,” I finally confessed. “I mean…it is weird, but…”

“It's not weird,” Jean consoled. “We all have our hobbies, and yours helps you emotionally.”

I fiddled with the notebook pages, “I guess.”

Suddenly, an urgent knocking sounded through the room, followed by Peter’s voice, “Jean! I think I seriously messed up!”

Once more, a frown found its way onto Jean's lips before she sent me a concerned look. She shuffled me into her bathroom, ‘I think you should hear what he’s gonna say.’ I nodded anxiously, staring at the white tiles as she closed the bathroom door. I sat on the toilet seat as I heard Jean open her door.

“What’d you do this time, Maximoff?” She asked.

I could practically hear the nerves in Peter’s voice as he replied, “I-I swear I didn’t know it was such a big deal. I thought we were messin’ around like usual, but then they started to really freak out. I thought it was just some work stuff…but I read some of it, and I won’t say what it was, but I realized I definitely shouldn’t have read it and now I can’t find ‘em.”

“Slow down Peter,” Jean sighed. 

“I can’t!” Peter’s voice broke. “The look they gave me before they left…I can’t get it outta my head. I gotta apologize, but I’m no good at those.” He let out a frustrated groan before finishing, “I always ruin stuff.”

It was silent for a few seconds before Jean finally spoke, “I’ll give you guys some time to talk it out.”

“Wha?” 

The bathroom door opened on its own and I slowly peaked my head out. Peter stared at me with those big puppy dog eyes that melted my heart and I watched as Jean left her own room. I felt a bit bad that our drama made her leave her own room, but was side tracked as Peter started apologizing rapidly.

“I’m so sorry (y/n),” He said. “I-I didn’t know. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m such an idiot.” He brushed his hand through his hair tensely. 

I let out a quiet sigh, “It's okay.”

“It’s not!” Peter refuted. “That was your personal info!”

I bit my lip, “I mean yeah…but I forgive you. As long as you never speak to another soul of what you read.”

“Read what?” He asked with fake cluelessness. “I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.”

A bright grin fell onto my face, happy that he didn’t seem to be judging me.

“But…y’know, just for the record, if you wanna cuddle…” He opened his arms like he was gonna go in for a hug. “I’m always open.”

I rolled my eyes, but failed to hide my amused grin, “Whatever Quickie.”

[emmyrosee]

…that being said, I have a new thought for today and I’m so sorry for it but I NEEEEEEDDDD to get it out of my system I just wanna be pampered a bit ☹️☹️

okokok so today I went shopping and I got a ton of clothes and I was so happy cause usually clothes shopping and dressing rooms aren’t fun experiences but it actually went really well!! So!!! Fashion show/try on haul when you get back home for your favourite hq guy :) whoever it is, he’d definitely hype you up ask for a spin, overall just keep the high of having a successful shopping experience going with all the attention he’s giving you. (…maybe he insisted on paying for everything before you left, maybe you also threw in an outfit you knew he’d really like on you 👀)… that’s all!! just a funky little thought I had after shopping 😋

anon <3

*deep inhale* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

No because listen. LISTEN TO ME. gonna do atsumu bc we’re married but just so we’re clear, there were several other candidates just begging to be picked- also this got a hair suggestive bc I am a slore so proceed with caution

Like bdosnsoSNISNEOSNSOSNSOSN-

Okay. I’m good.

Like the morning you decide to go out, he’s leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee and his credit card in his thick fingers, sweatpants low on his hips and lips in a smirk as you hustle around the kitchen to get ready. He taps it against the counter for your attention. You give him a playful glare and sigh, “I don’t need it.”

“It’s not about needing it,” he mimics back. “I can’t go with ya, so I want you to pick out things you think I’ll like too.” He lowers his head to peer at you through his brows, “and I know you know what I like.”

“Behave!” Regardless of your scold, you take his card from his fingers and lean in for a sweet, quick kiss which you allow to turn into a more strong, loving one. You nip at his lip when you pull away, “you’ll have fun; the boys need you.”

“They don’t need anything,” he chuckles, taking another sip of his coffee. “They can survive one day without their handsome, sophisticated leader.”

“There is not one thing in that sentence that’s true.”

He snarls and lunges at you while you cackle, clearly deadset on turning him feral and working up his playfulness just before leaving- asshole. “Don’t be a brat, ‘s not fair to do that to me.”

“You know I can’t make any promises!”

And with that, you blow him a kiss and scurry out of the house, leaving him pouty until he has to get ready for the boys.

It isn’t until hours later that you finally come home, arms full of shopping bags and panting with effort; he makes his way over to give you a hand (which ultimately just means he’s left carrying all the bags), and you’re quick to bring him up to the bedroom, only prompted with the words “fashion show.”

“Sit,” you command, and he does so eagerly. He folds his hands in his lap and lets his eyes glaze over your form as they’ve done so many times before. You sink your teeth into your lip to hide away a grin, “I went crazy.”

“Oh thank god, I was getting used to having a foot of closet to myself.”

“You wear a jersey, you don’t need a foot of the closet. Anyways.” Your hand reaches into the bag and pulls out armfuls of clothes, and he beams because he knows the absolute trials you go through sometimes with outfits, so the idea that you were able to completely stock up on things that are going to make you feel as confident as you deserve to feel makes his heart skip.

The outfits you got, too, are amazing.

There’s a few for more important things, like meetings for work or outings with him at sponsor events, then more casual things, like when Rintaro comes around or hanging out at Osamu’s shop. There’s some sleepwear and a dope new hoodie he’s gonna steal from you, all of which he hoots and wolf-whistles at, but it all comes together when you come out in this goddamned dress.

His jaw slacks when you come out in it, eyes settling on the way it squeezes the meat of your hips a little too tight, and he swallows to combat his cotton mouth and shifts his sweats to conceal anything that might give him away. The color makes the undertones in your skin pop, it’s on the shorter side and it shows off the sexy thighs he loves to mark up, and you look exactly like a picture he would’ve kept under his mattress as a kid.

“This one was a tossup,” you confess, turning to look at yourself in the full-length mirror. Your hands smooth out the fabric, “because like. The color is absolutely divine, but like… I don’t know, it looks kinda tight-“

“Is it comfortable to wear?”

“Yeah but I feel like it looks tight-“

“I feel like I want to toss you on this bed.”

“Atsumu!” You gasp, immediately turning towards him. He shrugs cockily and stands back up wrapping his arms loosely around your waist.

“I’m a simple, perverted man; I like you in tight clothes. Is that wrong?”

“Of course not, but…” you fiddle with your fingers, “this isn’t the thing I bought for you; I bought this just for a night out, you weren’t supposed to… reach to this.”

“Guess that says more about me than it does about the things you wear,” he says simply, and when you open your mouth to speak, he quickly crouches to grab the back of your thighs, pulling you up and wrapping around his waist with ease, threads popping on the dress and his own wide grin spreading over his face as you giggle and toss your arms around his neck.

“You’re so annoying!” You scold around some giggles, and he chuckles before, indeed, dropping you onto the bed and silencing your squeals with a kiss.

“Tell your girlfriends ‘tough luck,’” he purrs, sponging kisses down your neck while you lace your fingers into his hair.

“This outfit’s for me, now.”

[odetodilfs]

omg thank u for doing my request (the sza song)🫶🫶🫶. i loved it.

do u think u could do like a part 2? kinda. based on the same song but a different section of the lyrics. the lyrics are

‘Just tryna be your everything

Main one ridin'

How you frontin' on me and I'm the main one tryin'?

How you blame it on me and you the main one lyin'?

How you threatenin' to leave and I'm the main one cryin'?

I can't lose when I'm with you (Like you, like you)

How can I snooze and miss the moment? (Like you)

You just too important

Nobody do body like you do’

if you do decide to do this i was thinking it could be a part 2 and be what happens when javi and reader actually go out on their public date. this part of the song is more angst tho so if u follow the song it wouldn’t be as fluffy.

again thank u for doing my first request 🫶

I try to make an effort

Heyyy!! I loved writing this part 2!! It's my first time writing angst though, so my apologies if it's not good enough!

Pairing: Javier Peña x m!reader

Warnings: F slur in spanish, NSFW mentions

Pure angst and fluff but ending is mentioning NSFW Link to part one

Spanish spoken so translations are at the bottom!!

It had been a week by now and Javi’s eye had almost fully recovered, yet he had been showing less affection to you, you noticed he was no longer as clingy and complimenting you that much, in general: it felt like he didn’t love you anymore. “Mi amor, have you booked the table at the restaurant?” you asked him, you wanted him to say yes but he just said, “Sorry, uh- I’ll do it later okay?” he said as he returned back to his police business, you stormed off the room and started to sob on the way to your room. Javier had honestly been a bit of a dick to you all week and this was just the outbreak of your rage, you lay in bed and hugged the pillow as you started to cry, but not before making the door slam loudly. You waited for what felt like an eternity but Javier still didn’t come: you were convinced he didn’t care about you anymore. You really did try to be the perfect boyfriend for him, you tried to have his clothes always carefully laid out for the next day. He had also started being distant towards you then when you pointed it out he always would say how he was just stressed and that you were overexaggerating everything, that he was okay.

You kept thinking about all the sweet memories you two had until the doorknob turned, “Mi amor...” he said, sitting on the bed with you, “Go away, please, I know you don’t want to be near me,” you said

“No, I want to be close to you-” he started telling you “You don’t you keep saying I exaggerate when I worry about you, I keep trying to be perfect for you and this week you’ve done nothing but ignore me, if you don’t want me anymore that’s fine!! I can just get another man” you shouted, Javier stood up, “Si piensas que soy así de reemplazable, no te equivocas” he said, walking out of the room. 

You felt guilty, you had been way overboard with this one, with that last comment, you were considering letting him go, that comment clearly hurt him, of course it did, he had been living on just hookups for years, countless women comparing him to other men they’d slept with, you fucked it up big time. But you had to try something, he was too important for you, you loved him too much. So you stood up and got out of the room to try and find him.

You found him in the living room, tears down his face as well, “You don’t need to apologize” he said, “I do, I’m just… I just wanna know why you suddenly grew so distant from me, Javier, I love you more than anything in the world” you said, “If you really want to know, then let me tell you” he started, “I was just speaking with a bunch of colleagues the other day and talked about women, and obviously since I’ve dated you I’ve been quiet on that topic, so one of them nudged me and said, “Oye Javier, ya no hablas tanto de mujeres, ¿te nos volviste maricón?” and so I just have been feeling so paranoid, I’m sorry, I realize I should’ve told you” he apologized profusely.

You went in and kissed him tenderly on the lips, both of you spilling even more tears, “Oh Javier, that must’ve been so hard, I get what you did now,” you held him to you, “I’m so fucking sorry” he said, crying and holding your face in his hands,

“I just wanted to say, you’re not replaceable” you said, “I don’t know how I could live without looking at those pretty eyes of yours every day, or the way you hug me from behind when I’m doing anything” you said as you held his hand, “Te amo, Javier, más que nada en el mundo” you said as you kissed him again, 

“Yo también te adoro” he said as he kissed you sweetly then picked up the telephone, “What are you doing?” you asked, “Booking the table, for tonight” he said, you felt immense happiness wash over you, he started speaking, “Hola, si, buenas tardes” he greeted, then waited for an answer, “Llamo para una reserva para dos, a nombre de Javier” he explained, “Ah okay, muchas gracias, ahí estaremos, adiós” he hung up, “We’ve got ourselves a table at 8pm” he said excitedly, “That 's… in half an hour!” you exclaimed, “Take your time baby, make yourself look pretty, not that there’s much of an effort to be put, you fine ass man” he complimented you and kissed you on the lips, you both when in the room to change, goddamn it, if you didn’t have the date you would’ve pleasured this man so good.

You were both a little late to the restaurant but it wasn’t too late, so they still let you in, you noticed a lot of couples, and the fact that it looked more like a bar, there were lots of men and women sat together in pairs… hold the fuck up… had Javier taken you to a gay bar? “¿Amor, es esto un…?” he nodded with a smile and you immediately went in and kissed him, in front of everyone, you didn’t care, in fact, one or two couples smiled as they saw you kissing, they were happy to see more like them. You were sure a lot of people were wondering why Agent Peña was in a gay bar kissing you, but you figured they’d let it pass as he’s obviously not gonna give them away. You sat down on a table and a waiter took your order, he held your hand and looked you in the eye, “¿Te gusta mi amor?” he asked with a smile across his eyes, “I love it, Javier” you squeezed his hand, “I know you don’t want me to risk myself, so I went ahead and looked for places like this, we can love each other freely here” he said, “Gracias, de verdad” you smiled, “It’s nothing my love, and the fun doesn’t end here, just wait till we go home after dinner, you’re gonna have a very good time before we sleep” he smirked. This was definitely getting better, and you couldn’t be happier than now, he was the one for you, and no matter how many risks that implied, you were going to stick with him till the end.

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

Translations:

"Si crees que soy así de reemplazable, no te equivocas" - "If you think I'm that replaceable, you're not wrong"

“Oye Javier, ya no hablas tanto de mujeres, ¿te nos volviste maricón?” - "Hey Javier, you don't talk much about women anymore- did you turn into a (f slur)?"

"Te amo Javier, mas que nada en el mundo" - "I love you Javier, more than anything in the world"

"Yo también te adoro" - "I adore you too" “Hola, si, buenas tardes” - "Hello, good afternoon" “Llamo para una reserva para dos, a nombre de Javier” - "I'm calling to reserve a table for 2 for Javier" “Ah okay, muchas gracias, ahí estaremos, adiós” - "Okay, thanks, we'll be there, goodbye" ¿Amor, esto es un...?" - "My love... is this a...?"

[justicerikai]

Charisma House - Superhuman Sharehouse Story “Charisma” - #84 What must be done

Please read alongside listening to the drama track on Youtube.

Let me know if I missed something!

TL note:

What does Amahiko mean with "burners" & "lingalamambo"? Good question! I don't know either.

Ohse: (Amahiko-san seemed like a whole different person from the way he was strangely nervous while staying at his parent’s house.) 

Iori: I’m baaaack. I went out to do some shopping.

Amahiko: Iori-san, please leave that to the people of the house.

Iori: I am a slave so pay no mind♪

Amahiko: ….

Amahiko: Such a handful… I will bring these in then.

Iori: Wait!

Amahiko: ?

Iori: Aren’t you curious about what I bought? Wanna see? 

Amahiko: Pardon?

Iori: Ta-daaah! Enoki!

Amahiko: ….

Amahiko: Enoki, right.

Iori: ….! Eeh, then this, eringi!

Amahiko: Uh-huh.

Iori: ….! Shiitake!

Amahiko: ?

Iori: Cucumber! Eggplant! Gourd! Banana!

Iori: ASPARAGUS!!!

(Iori throws everything away and takes an athletic stance.)

Iori: COME!

Iori: AMAHIKO-SAN COMEEEE!!!!!

Amahiko: I will provide the payment later.

(Iori stomping around)

Iori: NOOOO!! COME ON!!!

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai: Amahiko-san/Amahiko!

Amahiko: !? What are you all doing! Running around like that---

Sarukawa: We’re all gonna take a bath together

Amahiko: A bath, at this hour.

Fumiya: Bathing, Amahiko.

Ohse: Indeed, a bath.

Rikai: We’re bathing, Sensei.

Iori: Your local slave shall also participate!

Amahiko: I-I see… Enjoy yourselves.

Fumiya: No, not just us.

Sarukawa: We are ALL bathing, Amahiko!

(The five of them all stance up and beckon him with both hands) 

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai, Iori: Come! Come! Coomeeee! Sensei! Amahiko!

Amahiko: Then I’ll go ahead and inform the servants of the house to prepare the bath.

(The five of them all founder on the floor)

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai, Iori: COME OOOOON!!!!

Iori: He’s not going with the flow!

Rikai: The bait’s ineffective!

Sarukawa: This sucks! What a sham of a Minister of Sexy Affairs!

Fumiya: Retire, bonehead

(The five of them all complaining)

Terra: Um, what is everyone doing?

Fumiya: Ah….

Fumiya: Not enough Amahiko….

Terra: Huh?

Iori: Before I knew it, my whole body came to yearn for those acts of sexual harassment…! 

Terra: EEEEH!?

Sarukawa: How bland it all feels now that it’s gone…!

Rikai: He got domesticated right under our noses…!

Ohse: Oh heavens, how terrific

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai, Iori: World Sexy Ambassador!

Terra: WUH???

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai, Iori: Sigh….

Rikai: (It’s the kind of sight everyone’s familiar with.)

Rikai: (The time we spent together on the regular was detrimental to our sanity, if anything.)

Rikai: (But once we saw what we had lost- how much of it was indispensable, important to us, it all became clear.) 

Rikai: (Regardless, by then it had far been too late…)

Terra: (I mean, yeah but. I think this and that are like, two totally different things---)

Rikai: (And then separation came suddenly.)

Terra: (EEEH!?)

Rikai: Phew~ Great job there.

Fumiya: Big thanks.

Iori: Where are we off to next?

Sarukawa: We gotta head back soon, yea

Rikai: ?

Iori: ….? Amahiko-san?

Amahiko: …This will be it for me.

Amahiko: I must go my separate way from everyone.

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Rikai, Iori: Eh?

(They all run up to Amahiko)

Rikai: What do you mean, Amahiko-san

Iori: I don’t get it…

Fumiya: Why

Sarukawa: What’s gotten into ya…

(The four of them are flustered)

Ohse: ….! It’s inevitable.

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Rikai, Iori: ?

Fumiya: Ohse?

Ohse: Amahiko-san can’t keep doing whatever he pleases forever. 

Ohse: He’s a person with a responsibility, with a duty he must fulfill.

Ohse: The home of his family is an important place he has to go back to.

Sarukawa, Fumiya, Rikai, Iori: …!

Rikai: That can’t be… 

(Fumiya grabs Amahiko)

Fumiya: Cut the crap, Amahiko. What’re you pulling this for now

Fumiya: We’re already too far gone, our bodies won’t survive without you.

Terra: HUH!?

Iori: How cruel! Take responsibility! For molding our bodies into this!

Terra: Waitwaitwait

Sarukawa: The fuck’s supposed to pleasure us now, huh!

Terra: What are you on!?

Ohse: Amahiko-san… I’m sorry…

Ohse: I… actually overheard the conversation with your father…

Ohse: You have no choice but to stay, isn’t that right?

Amahiko: ….? What is this about?

Ohse: Eh?

Amahiko: That’s entirely unrelated. 

Ohse: EH!?

Rikai: Huh.. T-then, um Amahiko-san, why must you go your own way then?

Amahiko: The reason I must leave you all behind, is…

Amahiko: For the sake of my long-cherished dream!

Amahiko: To participate in the Sexy World Cup!

Terra: Hah?

Fumiya: Sexy World Cup….!

The five of them: It’s, coming, no? It has to… 

The five of them: Or did it already? Wait holy shit… Here it comes!

Terra: Uuuh, uuum what? I’m like, so lost it’s making me puke.

(Luxurious, sparkling sound)

Amahiko: A sexy carnival held once every four years.

Amahiko: When this Brazilian tournament is around the corner, naughty rascals gather from all over the world to show such parts and these kinds of parts.

Amahiko: And from doing that and this sort of thing in public, there will be one sole champion.

Amahiko: The “Perfect Ecstasy”

Amahiko: The burners amuse themselves with lingalamambo and guzzle down lemonade.

Amahiko: Everyone- No, the whole world lays the sex within itself bare, to confront and release-

Amahiko: A halelamaya from head to toe! 

Amahiko: A grand meeting of the Amorous Congress! That is! THE WORLD SEXY CUUUUUP!!!!!

Terra: I dun’ get it.

The five of them: I see!

Terra: HEY!

Amahiko: I will certainly be crowned with victory.

Amahiko: My life’s purpose of cultivating sexiness was all for the sake of this.

Amahiko: A dream that I have to fulfill, no matter the sacrifices.

Amahiko: It’s been the only thing on my mind lately, which in turn might’ve made me nervous.

Ohse: So it had nothing to do with your family.

Amahiko: They’re completely irrelevant.

Amahiko: The needed preparations will be done after this, and the departure abroad will happen without informing my family.

The five of them: Thank god!

Terra: Hell no!

Amahiko: However, there’s no doubt the professor will track us down if we all stand out from departing together.

Amahiko: I cannot bear the thought of being a burden to everyone.

Amahiko: Thus it is for this reason that we must separate.

The five of them: ….

Amahiko: “As to why I am so hung up on winning this tournament, I couldn’t have told you myself. However, I have a hunch that I understand now. Perhaps my answer lies within all these lovely days I spent with everyone.”

Amahiko: “The joy of others accepting you for who you are, the amalgamation of impulses that stimulates one as a person- it was impossible for me to not grasp the source of my own libido.”

Amahiko: “Everyone, thank you for everything that you’ve done for me. Keep in mind to nominate me.”

Amahiko: “World Sexy Ambassador, the Minister of Sexy Affairs.”

Rikai: F-from… Tendou Amahiko.

Fumiya: (And that is how we all ended up going our separate ways.)

(Sarukawa, Fumiya, Ohse, Rikai, Iori all crying) Terra: THIS MAKES NO SENSE!

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 15: PAINFUL RE:BAKE - Episode 9: Bring On The Risk

Azami: …

Azami: (Yeah, this pay’s no good. What landmine did I step on this time?) 

Azami: (Thanks to Ibuki’s advice, my followers have been steadily increasing. But all the job offers I’ve been getting are crap.)

Azami: *Sigh*...

Sakyo: Oi, can I use this for my nighttime skincare?

Azami: Sure, but… What brought this on?

Sakyo: I’ve got a shooting tomorrow.

Azami: Ohhh? Movie or TV drama?

Sakyo: Drama.

Sakyo: … I thought of takin’ a page from Nanao’s book and trying film acting, so I got in touch with Kamo, from when we did Yin Yang Midnight, and he introduced me.

Sakyo: I’m just something like an extra, though.

Sakyo: I only say two lines, but I’ll be shown on the screen, so I gotta be in pitch perfect condition.

Azami: The most important thing in skincare is routine, you can’t just fix yourself overnight.

Sakyo: … I know that.

Azami: … Well, you leave me no choice but to teach you a special kind of skincare.

Azami: Just to keep it real with you, spending money on cosmetic surgery is the quickest and easiest way to go on about this.

Sakyo: That’d be a damn waste if it’s something that can be achieved with routine.

Azami: Only people who actually put in the effort can say that.

Sakyo: Ugh–

Azami: Use this. It’s a special luxury pack. It’s expensive, so don’t let it go to waste.

Sakyo: How expensive are we talking?

Azami: 3000yen per piece.

Sakyo: That much…?

Azami: Duh.

Sakyo: Can’t I use it 3 times?

Azami: Quit while you’re ahead. You don’t have any other choice, do ya?

Sakyo: … You’re right. Thanks.

[Flashback starts]

Ibuki: Seeing the person behind an account leaves a big impact on people. You don't have the luxury of picking your methods if you wanna gain followers, y'know?

Ibuki: Social media is an unpredictable place, it’s not so simple that you’ll be discovered just because your makeup skills are good.

[Flashback ends]

Azami: (... I don’t have any other choice, either.)

-

Sada: Sorry for keeping you waiting. My meeting went on a little longer than expected.

Azami: Thanks for agreeing to meet me despite being busy.

Sada: Please, I could say the same to you. I’ve been interested in what you do, so I’m happy you contacted me.

Sada: Thank you for attending that hair and makeup class. … So, are you going to accept my part-time job offer this time?

Azami: Uhhh, there’s that too, but I wanted to talk to you about something else…

Azami: I’ve been thinking of taking up some kind of big challenge like working outside of the troupe, in order to hone my hair and makeup skills.

Azami: I’m happy ‘bout the part-time assistant job offer, but… Is there anything else I could do to gain experience?

Sada: I see… I also saw what you’ve been uploading on Inste under the name “ZAMI”.

Sada: I found you amazing back when you were in middle school, but it seems your technique and sense have improved drastically since then.

Sada: But you’ve got me curious now. If you’re looking for such a big job, why won’t you put yourself out there a little more?

Azami: …

Sada: The thing with asking finding a fitting someone for a job is…

Sada: We don’t make an offer until we know what the candidates’ personalities, beliefs and sensibilities are like.

Sada: It’s important for us to want to work with this person.

Sada: Your work as a makeup artist is interesting, and your sense comes through, but no one can tell what you look or act like.

Sada: So… Why don’t you upload pictures featuring you? I think it could work in your advantage, since you’re an actor.

Azami: Well…

Sada: I mean, you could have your own reasons. Maybe you don’t want people to judge you by your age, or you just want them to look at your makeup skills.

Sada: Social media isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, after all.

Sada: But there are many people your age– high school students– who do well as professionals, right?

Sada: Your same-age rivals are faring much better, because they use social media in a more effective way than you do.

Azami: ——

Sada: There is a big challenge that’d be perfect for you, if your feelings of not wanting to lose to them are that strong.

Sada: … Well, I was given this offer, actually. But I think it’d be more interesting if you participated, and you’d also gain experience from it.

Sada: Problem is, if you mess things up it'll bring down your image, you'll risk facing strong backlash on the internet... Climbing back up will be a hurdle. Are you still in?

Azami: … Of course I am.

Azami: The higher the risk, the higher my gain. If I can also get more recognition from this, it’ll contribute to the Autumn Troupe.

Azami: (And, if it’ll bring all the pain it can, the way Banri-san requested, then even better. Bring it on.)

Sada: I see. You have my full support, then.

Sada: I’ve had high hopes for you for a long time now. In return, if you succeed, you should introduce me in your social media too.

Azami: ‘Kay.

Azami: (... That’s sly. Just what you’d expect from a freelancer.)

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) sada's name is 英, which has various other readings (such as akira, aya, shigeru), i'm not actually sure whether this is the correct one, so i miiight be wrong...? but i couldn't find his name voiced anywhere

[lovesosweeet]

better left unsaid // cth

chapter thirteen

in which orion has leukemia, and calum doesn’t know.

calum hood x fem!oc

read other chapters

august 3, 2018 los angeles, california orion

I've not left the apartment since I got home from the hospital two days ago, except to take Duke out a few times a day. The nausea has been unrelenting the entire time and I feel like I've been hit by a bus. I don't even sleep in our bed. I spend the whole time on the couch.

I'm grateful that I've only vomited once, but I haven't eaten a full meal in several days. From being stressed about Cal leaving to getting started on chemo, food hasn't exactly been appealing. I can tell my weight is going to plummet over the next several weeks, but it's hard to fight the feeling that I'll throw up anything I eat and also that adding anything else to the chaos in my stomach already is not a good idea.

Duke has been a great cuddle companion and has barely left my side. Calum called again yesterday but hasn’t yet called today. The time zones make it so confusing and I keep forgetting whether he’s ahead or behind of me in time. He texted me a few hours ago—it was just a selfie of him and Ashton backstage, letting me know they were about to perform. Once they finish the show tonight they’re flying to New Zealand, which I know he’s excited about.

It’s been long enough now that I think he should be off stage soon, if they aren’t already, but I know they’re going to be kind of chaotic afterwards because they’ll be rushing to the airport. I don’t plan on calling him at all; his schedule is so insane and busy, and I know he will do his best to call me as much as he can. I’ll call him if it’s important enough, but so far nothing has happened that should mean I call him.

This morning I woke up to a banging on the apartment door and to my dismay I found my moms had ordered groceries for me. It was just a bunch of easy to make foods — cans of soup, frozen pizzas, instant ramen — but it still frustrated me that they would do that without asking me. I don’t need their help.

I grumble silently, dragging the food inside with Duke sticking his face in the bags. “Nothing for you, sorry buddy.”

Once I get the frozen food into the freezer, I go to flop back on the couch. My body aches so much. I don’t feel like I can stand for more than a few minutes at a time. I’ve debated checking with Macy to see if she would be able to walk Duke for me, but I’m scared to rope another person in on my secret. I’m on the couch watching more Girl Meets World when Emelia texts me.

From: emi✨ how ya doin today? need anything?

To: emi✨ yuck. am fine. just don’t wanna move ever again.

From: emi✨ do you want me to walk duke for you? i can come by after work!

I want to say yes, but she’s already doing so much. She’s the one who will be driving me to and from chemo next week, and she’s already planning on coming over again tomorrow to keep an eye on me. I’m hoping I feel okay enough to hang out with Macy in a few days like we’d planned… I decide I am just going to suck it up. I can handle it. What's the worst that can happen?

I text Emelia "no" and then muster as much strength as I have left to get off the couch again. It's time to take a shower, I decide.

It takes me a somewhat shameful amount of time to get to the bathroom and turn on the water. I crank it all the way up because I'm freezing. Before I get in, I grab a pair of Cal's boxers and one of his hoodies to put on when I get out, and then I hook my phone up to the Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to music.

The sound of Maisie Peters' brief but iconic discography echoes in the room while I step under the hot water, and I instantly feel better. Washing my hair feels weird because it's so much shorter than it was when I last washed it. I pump out far too much shampoo for the amount of hair I have left, but it smells nice, so it's fine.

I'm singing the words to Worst of You when the music is replaced by ringing. Someone is calling me, and, if I had to guess, it's Calum. Of course, he calls right during the first time in the past several days that I can't answer. Quickly, I rinse the shampoo from my hair and try to scrub my entire body, undoubtedly missing a few places, but I just want to get out.

Tossing the sweatshirt on over my wet hair and clumsily stepping into the boxers, I grab my phone off the counter and hit the button to call Calum back. While it rings, I wrap the towel over my hair and walk out of the bathroom, plopping back on the couch.

"If it isn't my favorite girl on the planet," Calum answers.

My mood instantly lifts but I roll my eyes. "I'm telling Joy that she's not your favorite. She won't be happy."

"That's different and you know it."

I smile. I love that he loves his mom so much, but being ranked higher than her is really such an honor. She's a wonderful lady.

"Sorry to miss your call, I was in the shower."

"No, it's fine! We're driving to the airport now and I just wanted to say hi really quick."

"How was the second show?"

Calum starts talking about a technical issue that I don’t really understand but try to listen intently. Something about the sound in his earpieces cutting off and no one believed or understood him so he had to play the whole show not being able to hear anything. He said the fans made him a sign to remind him of his lyrics (a common trend) and someone threw a beaded bracelet onstage that had a C and an O with a heart between them.

“It’s yours now,” he says. “It won’t fit me but it’ll fit your tiny wrist.”

I smile. It’s a cute memento and I am glad the fans are kind of warming up to me. I try to avoid looking for their opinions and thoughts on me but it’s a bit inescapable if I go on any of the 5SOS pages to check for updates.

“Can’t wait to have it,” I tell him.

“Did I tell you I’ve flown Mum out to Auckland? We’ll get there around the same time.”

“No! You didn’t tell me, but I’m jealous. I miss her.”

“She misses you too. She said they’d love to come to LA for Christmas, too, so we can maybe start planning that?” He says it like a question. “I know it’ll probably be you planning it because I know you love planning but it doesn’t have to be just you.”

My heart gets warmer at the thought. I love hosting and spending time with our favorite people, especially for special occasions. It could also be the first time we get to introduce our families to each other. We only have one guest room, but Cal’s office/studio could fit an air mattress for Mali if she doesn’t bring a partner. My family could just come up for the day, or maybe Cal and I could sleep on the couch and give my moms and brother our room.

Then I remember treatment plans and all of the uncertainty in my future and my head starts to spin. Will we be able to host if I’m going through treatment? Maybe Cal should just go to Australia for Christmas without me, and I’ll stay here and get treatment or just spend it with my own family. I try not to think on it too hard, but there is still, devastatingly, a chance that Calum won’t be happy when I tell him I’ve been lying.

He wouldn’t break up with me over it, I don’t think, but sometimes when he’s mad he does lose sight of rationality. It’s not a unique trait to him. We all do it. He’s never gotten mad at me—we’ve had fights and arguments but he’s never been angry with me specifically, more a situation or something that just frustrates him. I don’t know how he’s going to react, and maybe that’s part of why I didn’t want to tell him at all. I am 98% sure Calum would’ve opted out of tour for me, but that other 2% gnaws at the back of my brain.

Would he have ended it then and there? Why go through the heartache of being with someone you know will die soon?

“Orion?” Cal’s voice interrupts my spiral.

“Sorry, what?”

He laughs. “I said you’d probably want to be in charge of planning Christmas.”

I laugh nervously. “Yeah, I mean… probably.”

He’s silent for a minute. It’s a short pause and with anyone else, it wouldn’t matter or stick out, but with Calum, it does. “You okay?”

I hate how easily he’s able to read me without even being able to see me. I quickly try to come up with an excuse. “Yeah, just been having a hard time sleeping. The apartment feels so empty without you.”

Calum pauses again, and I know it’s because that idea makes him a bit sad. “Would you feel better if Em stayed there? That could be fun, a four month sleepover with your bestie.”

I purse my lips, holding back that Em has already stayed here one night of the three that he’s been gone. “Maybe.”

He sighs. “I’m sorry you’re feeling lonely. Let me know if there’s any way I can help. Even if it’s just to fly home for a day whenever we have a break or to fly you somewhere for a day. I don’t care. I want to see you, especially if you’re down, okay?”

I want to shake my head but he can’t see me. “Cal, it’s fine. We’ll be fine. Just might take a bit to get used to.”

“I don’t want you to get used to a life without me, O. I’m here, forever, okay? Whatever you need, I’m there.”

With each word, I can feel my heart ripping down the middle, inch by inch. I don’t know how it’s still whole.

“I love you,” is all I manage to say. I’m choking back tears, the guilt is so much. How can I keep this up? How can I hold this in?

“I love you, too.” He sounds sad now. “Love, we’re almost to the airport. Do you want me to call you again once we’re through security? We don’t have to stop talking.”

I clear my throat. “No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. Just text me before you take off.”

“We’re both gonna be fine. I’ve gotta go. I love you.”

I feel my tears slowly trickling down my face and I don’t bother to wipe them away. “I love you. Bye.”

Then we hang up, and I can really start sobbing. Duke runs over, his ears perked up. He’s not sure why I’m crying and he hops up next to me, sticking his face by mine. When he starts licking my face, I stop him. I’d read something about how all bodily fluids post-chemo are essentially poison. I don’t want to get Duke sick, too. I can’t handle that. We can’t both be sick.

I pull Duke close to me and squeeze him as much as I can without hurting him. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this, but I know I will, at least for now. I’ll have Em and my moms and Ash and Duke and everything will be fine. It has to be.

next chapter

a/n: spoiler next chapter will have a bomb drop hehehe

[aeoki]

Seven Bridges - Hate Control: Chapter 13

Location: Tanabata Fest Stage Characters: Adonis & Kouga

TL Note:

For those who don’t know, “Dekosuke” (lit. forehead boy) is the nickname Kouga uses for Mao.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< At that time. Downtown (“Tanabata Fest” Venue 3). >

Adonis: …………

Kouga: A–do–nis?

Why do ya look so dejected, huuh? It finally cleared up and we can see the Milky Way – It’s all gonna be ruined if you’ve got such a gloomy look on ya face.

Is it bothering you that Sakuma-senpai and stuff are comin’ here late?

They’ve got their schedules stuffed with that stupid programme and it looks like they’re leavin’ the school events to us current students.

But thanks to Anzu fixing that “Tanabata Fest” proposal up real good, it’s turned into a large-scale event that’s got not only ES but the entire local area involved. 

It’s got a lotta attention from the public so there’s no choice but to take part, right?

If only those seniors skipped out on that impertinent variety show work and met us earlier.

Adonis: They can’t do that. People will lose faith in them if they abandon a job they’ve already accepted. Cancelling last minute leaves a bad impression.

Kouga: I didn’t say that – Now, you’re speakin’ even better than I am.

Adonis: Thank you, Oogami.

Kouga: Huuh?

Adonis: I was feeling down but you were worried about me and talked to me a lot, didn’t you?

Kouga: Bah, I didn’t mean to do that!

In reality, “UNDEAD” is just me and you if our seniors don’t get their asses here and it’s only gonna cause problems for me if you’re useless!

Adonis: Right. It’s fine – I’m in perfect shape.

Sorry. There was something on my mind – My head wasn’t in the right place. I’ll buy some meat from that stall and remotivate myself.

Kouga: If you eat somethin’ heavy like that, your stomach’s gonna hurt.

Adonis: It’s fine. I’m confident in my digestive strength.

Kouga: You just wanna eat meat, right~...? Fine, now you’re soundin’ more like your usual self ♪

…Anyway, what was on your mind?

Adonis: Narukami.

Kouga: Everyone’s been worryin’ ‘bout her this time round. That’s not Ari’s~ usual self.

Adonis: Yeah. But it can’t be helped. The wall in Narukami’s heart is thicker than I had thought and I wasn’t able to ask about the details.

That does irritate me though.

But I’ve got the basic gist of it. It seems the cenotaph in the school that’s supposed to be demolished is something important to Narukami.

Probably even more important than Narukami realises.

Kouga: Cenotaph, eh? I heard Anzu or Dekosuke[∗] who’s the current student council president did their best to stop it, but it looks like it’s still gonna be demolished, huh.

Adonis: If anything, the removal was done so unnaturally quickly, it felt like it was wiped off the face of the earth.

I heard this from Anzu but apparently, the removal was already underway by the time the first proposal was submitted.

It seems they had already spent the money on the construction fees and they also had to send a request to the local municipality, so it wasn’t possible for them to stop the removal.

Kouga: Sure sounds suspicious. They didn’t hafta rush that – and I’d forgotten that we even had a cenotaph at our school in the first place.

Was it somethin’ that they had to remove otherwise it would end up bein’ a bother or somethin’ even worse than that? It’s just an object.

Adonis: This is also what Anzu told me, but it seems there is a cave underneath the cenotaph…

On the outside, they made it look like they got rid of it to avoid the ground from caving in.

Kouga: An underground cave?

Adonis: From a geology perspective, the ground around Yumenosaki is fairly weak. We learnt that in class.

If there’s a cave underneath then all the more to fear of the ground collapsing in.

Kouga: Hmm~ I don’t really get it. Sure, it’d be an issue for the entire region, but what’s the cenotaph got to do with that?

Adonis: I don’t know. That’s the reason they had for pushing ahead with the construction. That’s all.

Kouga: Hmm~... It all sounds weird and odd – like somethin’ ain’t right. Sounds like some kinda conspiracy. It’s not connected to some sorta crazy story, is it?

Adonis: Even if it was, it has nothing to do with us.

Kouga: Not exactly. It’ll be somethin’ to do with the school that we’re goin’ to every day.

Adonis: I’ll rephrase that: It’s something we shouldn’t get involved in.

We’re students and idols. We should live up to our duty. Meaning, we should be focusing on our studies and idol activities – nothing else.

Kouga: Yeah but–

Adonis: This country is a peaceful one.

So it might be harder for you to understand, but it’s really too big –too much – for one person to face “those sorts of things”.

We’re taught at school that we can do anything. We’re taught we can be anyone we want to be.

But reality isn’t like that.

Kouga: …That doesn’t sit right with me.

Adonis, what’s your dream? You probably want to be like your cool mum and make all the poor kids who have faced tragedies smile by singin’, right?

But are you gonna get scared and run away when a big chunk of reality looks you dead straight in the eye?

You’re someone better and cooler than that, right, Adonis?

Adonis: Oogami.

Kouga: Keh, this is disgustin’, dammit! It’s so irritatin’! Sorry, Adonis. I was in a bad mood so I ended up takin’ my anger out on you!

Adonis: You don’t need to apologise, Oogami. I’m confused.

Kouga: Shaddap~! Stop treatin’ me like some kid who doesn’t know what’s goin’ on! I hate that part ‘bout everyone from “UNDEAD”!

It’s true I’m stupid and inexperienced. I ain’t anythin’ close to someone amazin’ like Sakuma-senpai or a proper person like you or Hakaze-senpai.

That’s why I’m doin’ my best here to be a better version of myself, but don’t you dare hug and comfort me and say that that path is dangerous!

Adonis: I always have a difficult time understanding what you’re saying.

Kouga: Ha! Well, sorry I suck at explainin’!

Adonis: But, oddly enough, I understand what you’re feeling.

We’re the same species of animal. That’s why I can understand your soulful cries.

I too want to learn from you and cry out.

I want to howl with all my strength. For my important friend who is hurt and tired.

At the very least, I want to tell him that I’m right here. So there’s no need to be anxious.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[sticktopia]

Welcome to the Garden (Sanctuary AU)

The Garden. A pocket dimension that sits on the line between life and death. This little world is designed to house and heal broken souls. Those who have died under tragic circumstances, or have many regrets are called to this realm. Once they let go of their trauma and regrets, the soul can pass on to its next life. That is the role of The Garden.

Gold (Chapter 13)

When Dandi and Gold got back to the house, everyone seemed to be in a panic. Dandi and Gold looked at each other with concern.

“How much you wanna bet they're looking for you?” Dandi joked. Gold giggled and she held Dandi’s hand. The two then walked into the house. The first one to meet them at the door was Razzberry. She looked slightly frazzled.

“Dandi! Thank goodness you're here!! We can't find Gold anywhere! Everyone is looking for her but we can't find her anywhere! Oh hey Goldie how ya doing? Anyway-Please help us find her!!” Razz rambled. Gold stared at Razz dumbfounded. Did they not realize that they just said hello to her?

“Ok, Razz, say that again but slower.” Dandi said, her free hand on her hip. Razz blinked and thought about what she said.

“Oooooooohhhhhhhh. OH!! OOOHHHHH!!!” Razz suddenly turned her back on Dandi and Gold.

“GUYS!!! DANDI FOUND HER!!! IT’S OK!!!” Razz suddenly shouted, causing Gold to release Dandi’s hand and place her hands over her ears. Dandi facepalmed and laughed. Everyone suddenly came running, swarming Gold with their affection. Telling her how worried they were and to never run off like that ever again.

“Ok ok! I won't run off again! I promise!” Gold laughed as she was smothered by hugs. Dandi chuckled as she watched everyone smother Gold.

“Ah, she’s lucky to have so many people care about her.” Dandi glanced to her left, seeing Rico standing with his arms crossed. She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips.

“Well, that kid’s gonna need all the support she can get.”

**********

“So where exactly did you run off to Gold?” Scarlet asked as the children lounged around in Gold’s room.

“I went looking for Aster. When I didn't find him in the house, I went to look for him in the forest.” Gold explained as she laid upside down on her bed.

“Why would Aster be in the forest?” Ember asked, sitting on the floor next to Gold’s head. Gold simply shrugged.

“I dunno. I first met Aster outside. So I thought he would be outside.”

“Well, Dandi, Razz, Momo, Bel, Rico, and Aster normally live on the fifth floor. So you could have just gone up there.” Sage pointed out.

“Well no one told me that.” Gold huffed. “Like you guys not telling me what you meant when Sage was leaving.”

The room was suddenly tense. The other four seemed to be avoiding talking about anything that had to do with “leaving”. Gold sighed and turned onto her stomach. She propped her head up with her hands, looking at everyone in the room.

“Well I know what it is now. Dandi explained it to me.” Gold said. Everyone could no longer look at each other. Gold huffed and sat up.

“You know, Dandi also said something else to me. Something I think is important.” Gold stood up on her bed and placed her hands on her hips, taking on a powerful stance.

“Change cannot be stopped! And sometimes we need to accept that it’s happening! And, um, yeah! We have to accept it with open arms!” Gold said as she jumped off her bed. The kids watched as Gold darted full speed at Sage.

“Gold-Hey-ACK!”  Gold suddenly tackled Sage into a hug, almost knocking the older boy off his feet. “Hey! What gives?”

“You may be leaving soon! But it doesn't mean we have to sit around and be sad! Let's go do something fun! And then no one has to be sad!” Gold begged, looking at Sage with large hopeful eyes. Sage stared down at the ten year old. Sage then began to shake. Gold hugged the boy tighter.

“Please don’t cry Sage! I-” Sage suddenly started laughing. Gold’s eyes widened as she turned to look at everyone else. They all seemed to be just as bewildered as she. Sage suddenly wrapped his arms around Gold and spun her around, earning a surprised squeak from the girl. Once Sage stopped spinning, he hugged Gold tightly.

“You're right! Dandi’s right!” Sage laughed, holding Gold close. Gold couldn't look up to see Sage’s face, but she could feel the older boy’s tears falling onto her hand.

“S-sage…?” Iris stuttered, unsure if she needed to comfort him or step away. Sage then released Gold and looked at all his friends. He had a big smile on his face as tears streamed from his eyes.

“Gold is right guys! Every time someone left, we sat around moping till they were gone! And we weren't even there to say goodbye to them! So now’s the time we fix that!!” Sage said boldly, even as his body shook with sobs, he continued to give a motivational speech.

“It’s time we change things up! Let's have fun and celebrate that I'll move on to a happier life instead of mourning my leave! Today, we party, tomorrow, we party! And even when I'm gone, please, still party for me.” Sage suddenly grabbed Gold and placed her on his shoulders.

“Whoa! Sage!” Gold laughed as he hoisted her up.

“Let's have fun!!!” Sage declared as he ran out of the room. The others followed cheering and laughing happily. As the small group of kids ran down the hall and onto the first floor, the whole house seemed to light up with joy. The childrens’ laughter could be heard across the garden, making the whole land lush with life. When they finally made their way outside, they had a small following of joyous spirits. The garden was full of laughter and glee, it truly was a party, just as Sage had said it would be. There was no sadness in the air. There was only happiness and love. Sticks of all kinds came out of their shells, dancing and singing, laughing and playing, it was paradise. By the end of the day, Sage’s flower had fully bloomed. Just as dusk set in, Sage’s chest began to glow.

“Whoa…” Sage gasped as he lit up the darkening sky. The crowd cheered as the gates at the end of the pathway Gold originally entered opened up, revealing a bright light. Dandi suddenly stepped into view.

“Good evening everyone! Let's give a round of applause for our youngest members!” Dandi loudly announced. The whole garden erupted into cheers for the five children that stood before Dandi.

“Thank you all for being here as we say goodbye to Sage, our oldest child. He has been through rough times, but he has made it to the other side! Once a poor servant to the royal family, now the warrior to the land of the dead. Sage, our wonderful child, we love you, and wish you luck in your next life.”  The crowd cheered, tears filling their eyes and smiles on their faces. Dandi then rested her hands on Sage’s shoulders.

“Any parting words for us Sage?” She asked. Sage sniffled before taking in a breath.

“Th-thank you all for taking care of me! I'm truly grateful for all of your support. But I’m most grateful for these four standing here with me tonight. They have been with me through thick and thin. They have supported me as I have supported them. Scarlet fed me when I couldn't eat, Iris cheered me up when I was sad, Ember always kept me in line when I got a little too out of hand, and Gold.” Sage turned to Gold and held her hand. Gold’s eyes widened, looking at Sage’s hand and then up into his eyes.

“You are the reason we’re here now.” Sage said softly.

“Gold is the reason we are here to party now! Without her, we would be sitting around, moping and just waiting for the time to pass. So let's give Gold a big thank you for turning our lives around!!!” Sage said as he and Scarlet lifted the ten year old girl onto their shoulders. The crowd cheered for Gold as she sat on the oldest two’s shoulders. Gold was slightly embarrassed, but she smiled, knowing that she changed everyone’s outlook on this purgatory life they lived. When Sage and Scarlet placed Gold down, Dandi placed Sage’s glowing flower on his chest.

“It’s time to go babes.” Dandi said as she held out her hand to him. Sage nodded and looked back at his friends who were standing around him. Sage then ran to them, hugging them all and thanking them for everything.

“Thank you… Thank you all. I'm gonna miss you guys so much…” Sage sobbed.

“Oh shut up! Don't make this harder than it needs to be.” Scarlet huffed.

“We’re gonna miss you too Sage!” Ember cried.

“We’ll never forget you!!” Iris tearily promised.

“We love you Sage.” Gold said, being the last to let go. Sage nodded and went back to Dandi. He took her hand and looked back at everyone.

“Good bye everyone!!!”  Sage called as he and Dandi walked into the light. The whole crowd bid their farewells as the duo disappeared into the light. The light faded away and the party continued on. But the four remaining children still stood under the archway, waving at the gates of the garden.

“I miss him already.” Iris said, trying to stop the tears in her eyes. Gold chuckled and side hugged the lavender girl.

“It’s ok Iris, You still have us.” 

**********

The next few days were a little rough for the little group. Sage, their leader, being gone was something they all needed to get used to. Gold did her best to keep everyone’s spirits high. From baking cookies with Orchid and Jean to camping with Aster and Razz. Today, the four kids were going to help Clover and Momo pick some fruits and veggies for that night’s dinner. Ajax, and Five decided to tag along, in case they needed more people to carry the baskets of produce. Ember stuck close to Scarlet’s side, never looking in Ajax’s direction. Gold and Iris still didn't understand why Ember hated Ajax so much. But they had no time to think about it as they got to the produce patches.

“Alight. Who’s ready to help out?” Momo asked as she held out baskets.

“We are!!!” The kids cheered. They each took their own basket and lined up. Momo then assigned each child to an adult.

“Alright, Clover, you and Iris can go get lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Five, you and gold can get strawberries, raspberries, and kiwi. Scarlet, I'm gonna need you to help me with the watermelon and honeydew. And Ember can go with-”

“Miss Momo Ember can’t go with Ajax!” Scarlet suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked at Scarlet with confused looks.

“Why’s that?” Momo inquired. Scarlet opened her mouth to speak, but she quickly closed it again. Scarlet looked down at Ember, who had a silent pleading look on their face. Scarlet cleared her throat.

“B-because Ember feels uncomfortable without me. So they need to stay with me.” Scarlet said. Momo looked up at Ajax who hugged himself and looked away.

“I-it’s fine. I can do whatever you need me to on my own.” Ajax said, trying to shake off the kind of shame in his aura. Momo sighed and placed a hand on Ajax’s shoulder.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. How hard can getting apples be?” Ajax said with a shrug.

“If you're sure. Just be careful about the river. The current is very strong and it can quite literally sweep you away.” Momo said as she turned back to the rest of the group.

“Alright everyone. You’ve all been assigned your jobs. Meet back here in about 30 minutes.” Gold took hold of Five’s hand, following them as they went over to the fruit bushes.

“Hey Gold?” 

“What?’

“Do you know why Ember doesn't like Ajax?”

“No. I think Scarlet does though. She's been really mean whenever Ajax tries to get close to her or Ember. But every time we asked why, they never told us.” Gold said as she and Five made it to the raspberry bushes.

“That’s weird. I wonder what they're hiding.” Five murmured as they started to pick raspberries off the bushes. Five and Gold continued to chat casually as they picked fruits. When they moved onto the kiwis, there was suddenly screaming. Five and Gold looked at each other with wide eyes. They dropped the baskets and ran towards the source of the screaming. When they got there, they saw Clover and Scarlet running along the fenced off riverbank. They quickly joined the pair running.

“What’s happening?!” Five asked between breaths.

“Ember fell into the river!!! They’re being swept out by the current!!” Clover shouted. Looking ahead, Gold could see Ember’s small form splashing in the water, getting farther and farther down. Her heart was pounding in her ears as her brain screamed at her to do something. But Gold didnt know how to swim! Her jumping in would make the situation all the more dangerous.

“Where’s Momo and Iris?!” Five asked as they noticed the two weren’t there.

“Those two ran ahead to try and catch Ember down the-IS THAT AJAX?!?!?!” Everyone stopped running as they saw Ajax suddenly jump over the fence and into the water below.

“AJAX!!” Five shouted as they looked over the edge to see Ajax, using his bandana to hold onto a tree root.

“Ember!!” Ajax shouted, reaching out to the child. Gold could only watch with wide eyes as Ember tried to make their way towards Ajax. The red hollow head reached as far as he could to reach the distressed stick. Ember tried reaching out to him, but the water was too strong, it was pulling them away. So Ajax did the next possible thing, he let go of the bandana and went after the child. The moment was tense as both Ajax and Ember disappeared under the waves. No one moved, no one breathed. There was suddenly a loud splash. Ajax emerged from the water’s surface, Ember in hand. He coughed as he held onto another tree root.

“We gotta help them!”  Scarlet cried, beginning to climb the fence. Both Clover and Five grabbed Scarlet and pulled her away.

“We don't need you getting caught in the current as well!” Clover shouted.

“But-Ember!!!” Scarlet cried out. Another splash was heard, causing the small group to look. Iris had jumped into the water with a vine around her body. On the other end of the vine was Momo holding it tight. Iris landed next to Ajax, holding out some excess vine.

“Hold on tight!” Iris said as Ajax took hold of the vine. Ajax wrapped it around his hand and wrist tightly and nodded.

“Pull us up!!” Iris shouted. Momo then immediately began hoisting the three up and out of the water. The remaining four quickly went to help Momo pull them out of the water and back onto the ledge. Once on dry land, Ajax laid Ember down on their back.

“Kid! Kid! Wake up!” He said, trying to shake the silent child awake. Scarlet froze in her place. She was horrified, the youngest member of the group was laying cold and still. Scarlet was close to fainting when Ember suddenly coughed back to “life”, spitting up the water and gasping for air.

“Oh thank creators!!!” Ajax gasped as he held Ember close to him. Ember continued to cough, accepting Ajax’s help and comfort as he patted their back. Everyone let out breaths of relief as Ember cried out with life.

“I-Im ok! Th-thank you!!” Ember cried, jumping up and hugging Ajax tightly. Ajax laughed as tears of joy ran down his face.

“H-Hey, it’s nothing, kid. I'm just glad you're ok.” Ajax said as he hugged the child as well. 

“Whoa…” Everyone turned to look at Iris. Her chest was glowing, revealing that it was her time to go.

“Wh-what?! You're going now?!” Gold gasped, walking up to Iris.

“I-I guess I am…” Iris mumbled as she looked at everyone. Scarlet and Ember looked at each other sadly. Making Iris feel a little sad herself. Gold then took Iris’ hands and held them.

“This is great! Now you can go be with Sage again!!!” Gold said happily. Iris’ eyes lit up as gold said that.

“You really think so?!” Iris asked, bouncing on her toes.

“Once souls become connected, they are destined to meet again.” Momo said, helping Five hoist Ajax to his feet. Iris smiled and gripped Gold’s hands tightly. The thought of seeing Sage again made her heart feel full.

“Let's go then.”

**********

When the group made it back to the house, they saw all the other sticks standing near the bush arch. Iris felt nervous about leaving. She didn't know what to expect on the other side, but all she knew was that her new mission was to find Sage.

”Iris,” Dandi said with a bow. Iris bowed as well.

“Miss Dandi.” Iris said. Dandi smiled softly and placed a hand on her head.

“It’s rare to have two souls leave so close together. But we’re happy to know that you've made it to the next step in the cycle.” Dandi said, leading Iris to the arch.

“Friends, it seems that we have another child leaving. So let's please give a loving goodbye to our little ray of sunshine, Iris.” The crowd cheered, shouting how they all loved Iris and how they were all going to miss her.

“Thank you everyone! I’m really going to miss you all too. I hope that one day, when you guys move onto your next lives, we can meet in the land of the living and all be friends again!!!” Iris said with a big smile. The crowd cheered as Dandi placed the flower in Iris’s hair.

“You look beautiful, Iris. Are you ready to go?”

“One more thing.” Iris suddenly turned and hugged her friends tightly.

“I'm gonna miss you guys! Make sure you guys never forget me alright? Or else I'm gonna hunt all of you down and kick your butts!” Iris said. The remaining three children laughed as Iris said that.

“Of course. But you better not forget us as well!” Ember said, looking up at Iris hopefully. Iris giggled and ruffled Ember’s damp hair.

“Like heck I'll forget you guys.” Iris said as she took a few steps back.

“See you around.” Iris said before cartwheeling back over to Dandi. The three children laughed as Iris happily took Dandi’s hand. And together, they happily walked away into the light.

**********

Ever since Ajax saved Ember from the river, Ember had been more open to the hollow head. Maybe even a little happier to see him. Of course, Scarlet was still quite wary of him, but even she was less aggressive than she was before. Gold liked that her two remaining friends were getting along with Ajax. Even Ajax seemed happier now that they weren't as negative around him. Today, Ajax was showing off his strength to the kids by doing push ups with them on his back. The three kids cheered him on as he began to reach the 80s.

“Keep going Ajax!!” Gold shouted as Ajax kept going.

“Im going im going!” He laughed. Aster then walked into the room.

“Whoa. What’s happening here?” The purple stick chuckled as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Mr Ajax is showing us how strong he is!!” Ember said excitedly. The kids laughed as Ajax kept going.

“How many have you done at this point?” Aster asked with a laugh.

“Ah about 93.” Ajax said as he went on. Suddenly, Razz poked her head into the room.

“Guys, it’s time for, What’s going on in here?” She chuckled as she watched.

“Proof of strength.” Aster simply explained. Razz scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes.

“Well, we’re having burgers for dinner. So if you guys don't come down now, I don't think there’ll be anymore left.” Razz said.

“No!! We wanna eat!!” Gold and Ember shouted. They were about to hop off of Ajax’s back when Ajax suddenly stood up, holding all three kids on his back. The three shouted and laughed as they held onto each other.

“To the dining room we go!!!” Ajax shouted. But before he could take a step out of the room, Razz put her hand up.

“Hold your horses Muscle Head. You gotta put a shirt on at least.” Razz said, holding her arm over the door. Ajax sighed and kneeled, letting Gold, Ember, and Scarlet off of his back.

“Alright alright fine. I’ll put a shirt on.” He said as he went over to his closet. As Ajax walked away, Gold and Scarlet were about to go ahead, but Scarlet stopped when she noticed that the youngest stick wasn't coming with.

“You coming Ember?” Scarlet asked, taking Ember’s hand. Ember shook their head and pulled their hand away.

“I’m gonna wait for Mr Ajax.” Ember said with a smile. Scarlet paused, looking down at Ember.

“Uh, yeah. Alright, we’ll save you a seat.” Scarlet said as she slowly walked away. Gold watched Scarlet’s change curiously. It was strange to see Scarlet so quiet with her fiery personality. Gold decided she had to get to the bottom of it and quickly caught up to Scarlet.

“Scarlet, is something wrong?”  Gold asked as she matched Scarlet’s speed. Scarlet simply glanced down at Gold before looking straight ahead once more.

“It’s nothing.” Scarlet nonchalantly said. But Gold didn't believe that it was “nothing”.

“Are you sure? Ever since we've been spending a lot of time with Mr Ajax, you've been kinda cold.” Gold pointed out. Starlet sighed and paused. She looked at Gold with sad eyes.

“When Ember came to the Garden, I was the first person they ever spoke to. I was the only one they were comfortable with. They always needed me. But now that they are spending so much time with Ajax, it feels like Ember doesn't need me anymore. Like they forgot that they were my friend first…” Scarlet said, playing with her hair. Gold had learned to pick up on that. Scarlet was scared. Gold hugged Scarlet, trying to make her feel better.

“W-well, it’s like Sage and Iris leaving. Just because they’re somewhere else doesn't mean that they stop being our friends. Right?” Gold said, looking into Scarlet’s eyes. A small smile came to Scarlet’s face. Scarlet chuckled and ruffled Gold’s hair.

“Yeah you're right. Ember will come back eventually. She always does.” Scarlet said as she continued walking. Gold smiled as Scarlet felt better. Both girls then made their way down to the first floor for dinner.

**********

When Ajax and Ember came down for dinner, Gold waved them over.

“Over there Mr Ajax!” Ember said, pointing at Gold’s waving hand. Ajax chuckled and grabbed a plate.

“We gotta get food first kid. Ajax said as he started grabbing things for Ember. Scarlet watched intensely as Ajax took her usual job of doing things for Ember. It irritated her. But she couldn't let that show on her face. When Ember and Ajax did eventually come to sit down, Ajax dropped Ember off by Scarlet and went to join his brother on the other side of the table. Ember hopped into the seat in between Gold and Scarlet, beaming with joy.

“Mr Ajax is so cool! I can't believe that I thought that he was a bad guy!” Ember giggled as they took a bite of their burger. Gold looked over at them with a confused look.

“A bad guy? Why did you think that?” Gold asked, looking up at Ajax, watching him laugh with Five on his right and Clover on his left.

“Well, I thought that he was the guy who killed me.” Ember quietly admitted. Gold coked on her food, coughing as she forced it down her throat.

“WHAT?!” Gold gasped.

“Shhh!!” Both Ember and Scarlet shushed Gold, they looked to see if the adults were listening, fortunately, the adults didn't seem to mind Gold’s little outburst. The two of them sighed and put their attention back on Gold.

“That’s why we weren’t too fond of the guy. He looked like… The dark lord.” Scarlet whispered that last bit. Gold tilted her head in curiosity, not really understanding what the two were talking about.

“Who’s the dark lord?” Gold whispered back.

“He was a really bad guy. He and another stick called “The Chosen One” traveled around the internet destroying places just because they could.” Scarlet quietly explained. Ember nodded vigorously.

“Yeah!  They attacked my home and killed me. It was really scary.”  Ember said as she looked down at their burger.

“Many sticks here were killed by those two. So that’s why not everyone was excited to see Ajax when he first appeared.” Scarlet explained, rubbing Ember’s back comfortingly. Gold hummed as she took on that information.

“That actually explains a lot about everything that’s happened so far.” Gold said with a shrug. “But why did you hide it? Not even Sage or Iris knew about it.”

“I… wasn't comfortable telling them… I wanted to tell them. But I just wasn't ready… And then they left… I wish that I told them about it while they were still here. But they're gone now…” Ember sniffled and wiped a stray tear away.

“It’s ok Ember. At least You told Gold right?” Scarlet pointed out. Ember nodded.

“Yeah, at least you know.” Ember said as they smiled up at Gold. Gold smiled as well as the three of them continued eating.

**********

“Ember! Let's go get breakfast!” Gold heard down the hall. Curious, Gold followed the voice, seeing Scarlet standing at Ember’s door.

“Don’t tell me you're still asleep! Come on kid!”

“They went downstairs already.” Scarlet jumped and turned to face Gold.

“Ah, Gold. What do you mean they went downstairs? Scarlet asked as she regained her composure.

“Ember woke up early and went downstairs. They were in the bathroom before I was. They said that they were going to help the adults with something.” Gold explained to the older girl. Scarlet stared at Gold hard and long. It made Gold squirm in her place.

“A-are you ok Scarlet? You've been acting weird since Ember fell into the river.” Scarlet shook her head and sighed.

“N-no, I'm fine Goldie. I just can't believe Ember woke up on their own…” Scarlet stuttered. Gold shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, I guess that means Ember’s getting used to being by themself. I think that's a good thing. That means they don't have to worry all the time!’ Gold said enthusiastically. Scarlet suddenly pushed past Gold, taking the ten year old by surprise.

“Whoa! S-scarlet?” Gold quickly turned on her heel and went to follow the older girl.

“Did I say something wrong? Why are you so angry?” Gold asked as she followed scarlet to her room. “Scarlet-”

“Leave me alone Gold,” Scarlet said coldly, entering her room and locking the door behind her. Gold stood there dumbfounded for a bit. She had never seen this side of Scarlet before. It was so different from her bright smile and confident personality.

“This isn't good.”

**********

Gold ran downstairs, calling Ember’s name.

“Ember! Ember!! Something’s wrong with Scarlet!!” Gold cried as she ran into the kitchen. Gold looked around to only see adults. Ember was nowhere to be seen.

“Wh-where’s Ember?” Gold asked.

“Ember? Oh they went with Ajax to the Flower Forest.” Jean said casually.

“What do you mean something’s wrong with Scarlet? Is she sick?” Orchid asked with concern.

“No? I mean, Scarlet went to wake Ember like she always does. But when I told her that Ember went downstairs earlier, she got really mad and locked herself in her room.” Gold explained to the pink mother. Orchid looked up at Momo and Momo nodded.

“I’ll try talking to Scarlet. Aqua, can you take Gold to the Flower Forest?” Momo asked as she put the tray she was holding down.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Aqua said as he removed the apron.

“Let’s go kid.” Aqua said as he took Gold’s hand. The duo quickly exited the house and sped walked their way to the flower forest. As they approached the forest, they could see Ajax walking out with Ember on his shoulders.

“Ajax!” Aqua called out, jogging up to the pair.

“Oh, Aqua, Gold. What are you two doing here?” Ajax asked as the two approached.

“We need Ember. It’s a bit of an emergency.” Aqua said.

“Emergency? What happened?” Gold then explained everything that happened earlier. Ember processed what Gold had said, looking at the ten year old with concern.

“Why would Scarlet be upset that I woke up early for once? I only wanted to do something nice for her.” Ember muttered as they gripped the flower crown in their hands.

“I dunno. But we gotta get to the bottom of this. And only Ember can help.”

“Let's go then.” Ajax said as he shifted Ember into his arms and took off running. Aqua picked Gold up and started running as well. Then they got back to the house, Ajax took Gold from Aqua and dashed up the stairs. When he got there, he could see Dandi and her helpers all standing at Scarlet’s door, trying to coax the tween out of her room.

“W-we’re here.” Ajax said as he put the two children down. The six of them looked over at the pair.

“Good thing too. There are loud thuds and crashes coming from inside. We need to get in before Scarlet hurts herself.” Razz said. Ember nodded once and walked up to the door. Dandi and her gang backed away, giving them space. Ember stood at the door, taking a breath as their shaky hand knocked on the door.

“Leave me alone!!” Scarlet screamed, making Ember flinch.

“S-scarlet…?” Ember quietly said. It was quiet for a bit, Ember continued to speak.

“I-I’m sorry for upsetting you. I didn't know that me waking up early would cause you to break your room. Please come out. I didn't-”

“Why don’t you go be with Ajax instead? You seem to like him a lot better than me anyway.”  Scarlet’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door. Ember took a step back, tears filling their eyes. But they shook their fear and placed their hand on the door.

“S-scarlet please! You were my first friend here! No one could ever come above you!” Ember pleaded, falling to their knees. Ember rested their forehead on the door, clutching the flower crown close to their chest.

“I don't know why you're so upset, but I want you to know that you’ll always be my best friend. I just… I want to finally grow up and be like you… I want to be strong and confident like you are!” Ember shouted, clenching her fist on the door.

“I want you to rely on me like I rely on you! I want to be strong so you don't have to be strong by yourself! Sage and Iris aren't here anymore, But we are! Me, and gold, we’re still here! And I want to help you like they did! I don't want to be the one that needs protection all the time!” Ember was crying now. Their whole body shook as they sat on the floor.

“Please come out Scarlet… Please come out, and don’t be sad anymore…” Ember begged. The air was tense as everyone awaited Scarlet’s answer. It felt like hours till the door unlocked. Ember gasped, looking up to see Scarlet’s puffy eyes and cracked face.

“S-scarlet!!!” Ember cried, jumping up and tackling the tween into a tight hug. Scarlet quickly returned the hug, sobbing “Im sorries” and “I love yous” as she held the smaller child.  

“N-No! I’m sorry Scarlet! I never should have left!! I’ll never do that ever again! I-I’ll-”

“No! No! Ember no please, you're your own person! I can't cling to you forever…”Just like you said, you have to grow up as well.” Scarlet said, cupping Ember’s face.

“I can't keep holding you back… It wouldn't be right…” Scarlet cried. Ember sniffled, holding Scarle’s forearms.

“But life wouldn't be right without you either.” Ember laughed through their tears. “You're the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Heh, you are too Ember.” Scarlet said as she embraced Ember once more. As the two kids sat in each other’s arms, the cracks on Scarlet’s face started to repair themselves. Everyone watched in awe as the pair began to glow brightly. They released each other and looked down at their chests.

“I guess it’s time for us to go now.” Ember said with a teary smile. Scarlet sniffled and nodded.

“I guess this is where the curtain calls.” Ember laughed as they and Scarlet rose to their feet.

“What a rare sight.” Momo said as the two held hands, facing the rest of the sticks in the hall.

“You two are deeply connected. You must have met in another life. How wonderful.” Dandi said with a smile.

“Come now, we must bid you all a proper farewell.” As the adults ushered Scarlet and Ember downstairs, Gold stood off to the side. She smiled softly, knowing that her friends would finally be free, and happy. But it also pained her, knowing that she was the last and the only child left in the Garden. Tears began to fall down her face as the realization dawned on her. She had been so caught up in helping her friends that she didn't even notice her own descent into sadness.

“Y-You guys are so lucky.” Gold softly wept.

“I wish I could be happy too.”

Gold stood far away, watching as Scarlet and Ember left the garden, hand in hand with each other. She was happy for them, but she also hated that they had all left her. She tried following Dandi’s advice. “Accept change with open arms” but how could she now? She was all alone, all her friends were gone.

Gold gasped as she felt something creeping up behind her. She whirled around and saw nothing standing behind her. Gold suddenly hated being in this cramped space. She squeezed her way through the crowd, wanting to get out and away. Thoughts scrambled Gold’s brain, causing her to simply walk aimlessly. She felt as if she were sleepwalking. She didn't even know what was happening anymore. All she knew was that she had to get out of there.

Chapter 12-(Chapter 13)-Chapter 14

[dokujirai]

#71 海 (Ocean) Superhuman Share House Story 『CHARISMA』

TL Note:

Suikawari (スイカ割り: watermelon splitting) is a popular game in the summer where they split a watermelon in half whilst blindfolded.

Watch the track here.

Kei: Shit, ‘s hot…

Ohse: I’m gonna die…

Terra: I’m burning up…

Rikai: But it’s a great change of pace!

Amahiko: ECSTACY---!

Everyone: Yaaaaay!

Iori: We’re finally at the beach!

Terra: Last time we were here, we fell off the cliff with our bikes!

(Everyone laughs)

Iori: Everyone, I have your drinks right here!

Iori: Water, soda, barley tea, iced coffee, beer

Iori: Anything else you guys want?

Iori: Oh also, I can make some shaved ice if you want, just let me know.

Iori: We can also have Nagashi Soumen--

(Iori goes lightspeed while everyone watches him)

Everyone: Oooooooooh-- WAAAAAAAAA!!

Kei: Io!

Iori: Hm?

Kei: What was that move ya did just now!?

Kei: Ya were movin’ so fast, it looked like there were 4, no, 5 of you!

Iori: Looks like the Spirit of Service has surpassed a need for a physical body!

Terra: Don’t do weird things like let the “Service Ghost” possess you.

Fumiya: I’ll take some strawberry shaved ice, Iori.

Terra: Don’t use him.

Amahiko: You don’t have to move around so much like that, please just enjoy the beach.

Iori: Got it!

Iori: Well then, I’m off to go catch some fish and shellfish for a barbeque!

Amahiko: You didn’t get it, did you…

Iori: Selflessness! Contribution!! SERVICE!!!

Iori: BURDENS!!

Rikai: He dived into the ocean while shouting “burdens”...

Fumiya: He looks like he’s having fun, it’s fine.

Terra: Hey, I need one of you to go to the bathroom with me.

Fumiya: To the bathroom? Why?

Terra: I need a bodyguard.

Terra: Whenever I go anywhere, people just keep flocking to me ‘cus I’m so beautiful. I understand how you guys feel about me, but it’s just kind of a pain.

Amahiko: I understand, Terra-san.

Amahiko: I shall go with you.

Terra: Come on, Fumiya-kun.

Amahiko: Eh?

Fumiya: No way, that’s too much work. Go do it in the ocean.

Terra: Moron.

Amahiko: Terra-san, I volunteer a-

Terra: Rikai-kun?

Amahiko: Eh?

Rikai: Please go to the restroom on your own.

Terra: Haaaahh~?

Amahiko: Terra-san, I will go with you.

Terra: Shouldn’t you guys be happy you get to feel like my fake boyfriend?

Amahiko: Terra-san, Amahiko will do it.

Terra: Are you even listening to me?

Amahiko: I heard you loud and clear, Terra-san!

Terra: Come on, don’t ignore me.

Amahiko: I’m not ignoring you, Terra-san.

(Terra goes on about how this is Fumiya and Rikai’s chance to be his plus one)

Amahiko: Terra-san. Terra-san? Amahiko is right here. Can you see me? Terra-san! TERRA-SAAAAAAAAAN!

Kei: Hey.

Ohse: Hm?

Kei: What’re ya doin’? We came all the way out here to the beach, go hang out with everyone else. 

Ohse: You too.

Kei: Come on, own up to your feelings.

Ohse: No, I can’t.

Kei: Don’t ya know you’re gonna regret it? 

Ohse: Nope.

Iori: What’re you two doing?

Iori: Come on, let’s go!

Kei: Shuddup! Leave me alone!

Rikai: Ohse-kun

Ohse: Please don’t mind this piece of shit.

Terra: You look pale, you’re too weak.

Ohse: Then when I die, please let the ocean take me.

Iori: Saru-chan, come on, let’s go!

Kei: Lemme go, quit botherin’ me!

Iori: Aww~

Rikai: That’s unfortunate.

Rikai: I was hoping we could all partake in splitting a watermelon together.

Kei: WATERMELON SPLITTING~!?

Terra: Hm? What’s up?

Kei: W-w-what didya say!?

Kei: Are ya really gonna split a watermelon!?

Rikai, Terra, & Iori: Mmhmm.

Kei: Now!? Like, right now!?

Rikai, Terra, & Iori: Mmhmm.

Kei: That!? THE watermelon splitting!?

Iori: What do you mean by that?

Kei: Ya mean to tell me y’all’re gonna play one of the most legendary, greatest summer games in the world? THE watermelon splitting game? And ya’ll’re gonna play it NOW!?

Terra: What else is so important to you besides splitting a watermelon?

Iori: You have a really high opinion on it, huh.

Rikai: Yes, exactly, Saru! Then, come along with us!

Kei: Hell no, loser.

Rikai: Eh? Don’t you want to?

Kei: Course I don’t wanna go play some dumb game, what do I look like, a kid?

Rikai: You said it was a legendary game, did you not? You want to play it, don’t you? Be honest with yourself!

(Kei starts hitting Rikai)

Rikai: H-hold on, don’t hit me! Hit the watermelon!

Terra: Why are you guys fighting?

Terra: Oh well, let’s just go Iori-kun, ghostie--

Iori: HAVE A DRINK!

Ohse: I don’t need it.

Iori: You need to hydrate yourself!

Ohse: I can’t.

Iori: Take it, I’m your slave!

Ohse: I’m just a piece of shit.

Iori: I’M A SLAVE!

Ohse: I’m a piece of shit!

Iori: TAKE IT!

(Iori and Ohse start fighting as well)

Terra: … Why?

Amahiko: Summer-- tis the season of liberation.

Amahiko: What’s wrong, Amahiko?

Amahiko: Aren’t you excited, Amahiko?

Amahiko: Such a dangerous swimsuit you’re wearing for someone your age.

Amahiko: HUUP!

Kei: What is that guy doing over there all by himself?

Terra: His crotch glowed just now.

Amahiko: ECSTACY! BOBONGARINGA!

Kei: Rikai, hurry up and call the cops.

Rikai: Understood.

Iori: Oh, where did Fumiya-san go?

Everyone: Huh?

(Everyone races out into the ocean to save Fumiya)

Terra: Ugh, what the heck are you doing?

Iori: Fumiya-saaaan!

Rikai: Are you alright, Fumiya-san?

Iori: Are you okay?

Fumiya: Hahaha. Sorry ‘bout that.

Fumiya: Looks like I got swept away.

Fumiya: I can’t swim. Sorry guys. Thanks.

(Terra, Rikai, Amahiko, and Iori pass by a group of girls who are laughing)

Rikai: Guh! Uuuuuhhh…

Iori: Rikai-kun, why’s your face all red?

Rikai: U-u-umm! It’s not red at all!

Terra: It’s cus there’s a bunch of girls here in swimsuits, isn’t it?

Rikai: Guh! Y-y-you’re wrong!

Rikai: I wasn’t looking at anything!

Rikai: Please don’t make others sound like perverts when they’re not!

Terra: It’s fine to just look for a bit.

Rikai: You would have to ask for their hand in marriage if you were to do such a lewd thing!

Terra: Marriage!? Yikes!

Iori: Rikai-kun, what’s your type?

Rikai: T-T-T-T-T-TYPE!?

(PPPPPPPPP)

Rikai: You shouldn’t inquire about such secrets like that so carelessly!

Terra: “Secrets” he said.

Iori: Do you wanna go hit on some girls?

Rikai: FUAAAAAAAA---!

Rikai: “HIT ON SOME GIRLS”!?

(PPPPPPPPP)

Rikai: Th-that is…

Rikai: There’s no way I would do something so depraved and obscene!

Rikai: What are you even saying!?

Rikai: You are disturbing order! Disturbing order, you hear!? Order!

Rikai: AAH-- AAH-- AAAHH-- AAAHH! AAAH!!!

Amahiko: You’re the one who is disturbing the order here.

(Ohse runs towards them)

Ohse: Fumiya-san is…!

Terra, Amahiko, & Iori: Hm?

Terra: Heey, what do you think you’re doing!?

Fumiya: Hahaha. I floated away again. My bad.

Fumiya: Watch out for sharks.

Fumiya: Sorry guys, thanks again.

(Montage of everyone playing suikawari, eating barbeque, and playing in the water)

Rikai: Well, everyone, let’s dig in, shall we?

Fumiya: Hey, is there any beer left?

Terra: Ito Fumiya.

Fumiya: Can I get a beer?

Terra: No, you can’t!

Iori: Of course, we have some! You can’t have any though.

(The rest of the day has passed, and the sun is starting to set)

Rikai: It’s about time we start heading home…

Everyone: Eh?

Iori: Already?

Fumiya: I guess so…

Rikai: Well, we don’t have to, but… what do you all want to do?

Everyone: …

(Everyone starts slowly leaving the beach)

Kei: Oh!

Everyone: Hm?

Kei: Isn’t there supposed to be a festival today?

Amahiko: Eh?

Ohse: O-oh, that’s right!

Ohse: There is going to be a festival near the house, tonight.

Terra: Really?

Rikai: C-can we go?

Rikai: Can we really go like this?

Terra: Let’s go! I love festivals!

Iori: I guess we’re going! We can all wear yukatas.

Amahiko: How delightful.

Kei: What a pain in the ass.

Iori: That was fun, wasn’t it?

Kei: There’s gonna be fireworks, right? We gonna get there in time?

Terra: Wait, what’re we going to do about yukatas? We didn’t bring any.

Iori: I’ve already made some!

Everyone except Iori: Seriously!?

Rikai: How splendid, Iori-san!

Ohse: Amazing.

Fumiya: Thanks, Iori.

Amahiko: Sexy.

Iori: Waaaaa! That was the first, direct compliment I’ve gotten from him! I love being a slave!

(Everyone laughs together)

– つづく TO BE CONTINUED –

[ocean-park-avenue]

Do I Wanna Know? - Joel Miller X Reader (TLOU)

(Originally posted on AO3)

Chapter 2: September, 2031

Word count: 4,092

Warnings: Light violence.

After two days of planning and finalizing, you and Joel were ready to head out, though you still had your doubts.

According to Tess, her plan was simple; you and Joel were to sneak out of Boston’s QZ tonight and then meet up with an acquaintance of hers to get a car. You’d drive the rest of the way to Dallas which would take about a day or two. Tess also said she had some contacts in Texas if they needed help with infiltrating the camp. After getting the supplies, you’d split with Joel, him going back to Boston and you to find wherever your father was hiding out.

It didn’t sound very simple to you, but Tess assured you that everything was being handled and you wouldn’t have to worry. That didn’t stop you from double checking everything Tess said was true, and packing extra.

Annoying thing was, every time you were packing your extra equipment, Joel spotted what you were doing and chastised you about how you didn’t need that much stuff, it would just slow you both down.

You’d continued to argue with him about how overpacking wasn’t a bad thing, but Tess had put a stop to it soon. You couldn’t imagine how you were going to deal with him alone for a few days, trapped in a vehicle together.

Now, as you and Joel waited in Tess’s apartment until night fall, you decided to double check your supplies for the 100th time. Tess had gone to get food for you all before leaving, so her apartment was eerily quiet as you both sat in silence.

You rustled in your backpack for the essentials: one clean outfit, a flashlight, rubbing alcohol and rags, a makeshift first aid kit you made, extra ammo for your pistol, rifle ammo, and just about as much preservatives as you could fit into it. You also checked for anything you might’ve missed, but everything was there.

You glanced over to Joel for a moment, who was lazing on Tess’s couch with one arm draped over his eyes. His breathing was slow and steady, which lead you to believe he wasn’t actually sleeping. You wondered how a man like him ended up getting stuck in a situation like this and what Tess might’ve done for him in the past for him to owe such a large favor. So you asked.

“Why are you doing this for Tess?”

Joel perked up. “Are you talking to me?”

“Who else is in here?”

Joel stayed quiet for a moment, only moving to adjust his position. “She did something important for me.”

“What?” you asked with more curiosity than you wanted to lead on.

“That’s none of your business.”

You scoffed. “What kinda excuse is that?”

“It’s not,” he replied. “I just don’t wanna tell ya.”

You mumbled to yourself as you went back to checking your bag. The eerie silence came back into the room a few minutes later. Your attention went back to Joel for just a second, only because of your boredom, when you realized he was starring at you under the arm he had blocking his eyes.

“What?” You asked bluntly.

Joel moved both his arms to rest on his stomach and exhaled as he looked away from you. “Nothing.”

Better be nothing, you thought as you stuffed everything back into you backpack.

Just then Tess walked in through the apartment entrance with a plastic bag over her shoulder and her crutch in her hand. She hobbled over to the couch. Joel automatically sat up at her arrival and made room for her. After sitting, Tess opened the plastic bag and threw a wad of paper at you and Joel. You guessed it to be the food she’d picked up.

You unwrapped the paper and we’re greeted with the most unappetizing burrito you’d seen.

Tess laughed at the face you made and dug into her own burrito. “It’s not the most appetizing thing but it’s better than nothing.”

You couldn’t argue there and took a bite of the sad burrito.

“Just making sure,” you started. “Your friend is set to meet us at 12 at night, right?”

“Yes, I’ve already gone over this. You’ll both take the south tunnel and meet him at the school.”

“Alright, just checking.” You took a second bite if the burrito. It wasn’t half as bad as the first bite.

“Tess, are you sure we’re gonna have enough gas to make it to Dallas?” Joel said, having not even touched his food yet.

“You’re starting to sound like her,” Tess said chuckling to herself. “While you may not have enough gas to get there an back, there’s gonna be a gas tube. I’m sure you’ll run into some car that still have gas in ‘em.”

Joel hummed in approval, but didn’t say much else the rest of the night. You and Tess on the other hand spend the time until midnight talking about past adventures you’d had with each other. Though you didn’t mention the times you’d shared with Tess that were more than intimate, you didn’t want Joel to know anything about it.

Soon enough, the time came and you had to leave. Tess was only able to go as far as the tunnel entrance.

“I’ll see you soon, so don’t worry to much about me,” Tess said as she brand you in for a hug. She squeezed you tight and you patted her back.

“I don’t ever worry about you,” you said, and Tess chuckled against you.

“I’m more worried for him cause he’s the one who has to deal with you for a few days,” Tess said as she let go of you. You pinched her side and she winced.

“Watch my place for me,” you said as you heard Joel grunt, pushing aside the large bookcase that lead to the tunnel.

“I will. Maybe I’ll even water your dead plants, bring some life into them for once.”

You flipped Tess off as Joel walked into the dark tunnel. After waving one final goodbye, you pushed the bookcase back into place, leaving yourself in darkness for a few seconds until Joel turned on his flashlight. You did the same and shone the light straight at his face. He blocked the light his his hand and squinted.

“Think you could point that somewhere else?”

“Oh,” you brought the flashlight back down. “Sorry.”

Joel didn’t say anything as he continued down the dark and damp hallway. You quickly tailed after him, not wanting to be left alone.

You both walked silently until you reached the outside of the tunnel. Joel peaked his head out before giving the all clear, and climbed out. You struggled a bit but were able to get up.

After moving the cover back, you noticed Joel had wandered off a little further than you’d like.

You jogged up to him and said, “I’d appreciate if you stayed beside me. I don’t need to get lost outside.”

“Then keep up,” was all he said.

You glowered at him, but you didn’t think he noticed.

You both walked along side each other for a few minutes, passing through buildings to shorten the distance to the school, when you realized how quiet it was.

Seeing as you hated silence, you decided to spark up a conversation. “So, Joel is it? What did you do before you met Tess?”

It took a moment before he responded. “Same thing. I’m a smuggler.”

“Yeah, I grasped that.” You thought for a second before asking, “What about before? I doubt you’ve been a smuggler since Outbreak Day.”

This time he didn’t respond.

You sighed in annoyance. “Are you always this boring?”

“Are you always this talkative?” He retorted.

“No,” you said with gritted teeth. “But I’ve gotta say something to end the silence. At least when I worked with other people, they’d talk to me once in a while.”

“I ain’t other people.”

“Yeah, I get that but—“

“Quiet,” he suddenly said in a low voice.

“Oh, now you’re tell me to be—“ Before you could register, Joel cupped his hand over your mouth and yanked you to the side of a building.

You were about to protest when he lowered his mouth to your ear and whispered, “Be quiet, now.” You didn’t know the reason he said it until you heard the faint clicking from behind you.

Your eyes widened and you tried to turn your head to get a good look but as soon as you tried to move, Joel planted his other hand against your upper arm to keep you from moving.

You looked up at him so see the hard look on his face, his eyes focused only on the clicker mere feet from you. You sucked in a sharp breath. The clicker looked around and stood there for what felt like hours, looking around for something fleshy to eat no doubt. But finally, after seeing there was nothing around, it went back to whatever hell hole it called home.

You felt Joel relax behind you, letting go of the breath he was holding. He released you from his grip and you stood back from him as you tried to control your breathing.

“What the hell?!” You whisper yelled.

After checking that the clicker had finally disappeared, he turned to you, an angry expression on his face.

“Are you an idiot? When I say quiet, it’s for a goddamn reason,” he said in a rather harsh tone.

“Well, how bout instead of covering my mouth, you actually tell me bout the darn thing. Maybe then I’d listen to you.”

Joel exhaled as he ran a hand over his face. “Let’s keep moving.” With that, he began walking again, and it was like the conversation never even happened. And this time, the walk was quiet until you reached the school.

The school looked to be unused, as it was covered head to toe in vines and leaves. Apparently, you were to meet Tess’s acquaintance on the far side of the school. You and Joel looked around for an entrance into the gated area. There was a fenced in gate you could see, but the lock was on the other side and couldn’t be reached by hand on your side. You then spotted a gap on top of the fence where there was no barbed wire.

You pointed to the spot and said, “Here. Help me up and I can try unlocking the gate.”

Joel exhaled deeply as he walked over to you, grasping his hands together to help you up. For the split second you stood in front of him before placing your boot in his hands, you noticed how tall he was compared to you. You’d never really counted yourself as short before but, standing now in front of him, it felt intimating.

“What?” Joel asked, eyeing you suspiciously while you didn’t move.

You shook your thoughts away. “Nothing”, you said and placed your boot in his hands. He hoisted you up with little effort. You were able to pull yourself up the rest of the way and landed feet first on the other side of the fence.

You walked over to the locked gate, scanning over the now old and rusted lock. Grabbing your lock pick out of your bag, you began to work, concentrating to hear the small clicks from with the lock.

“Where’d you learn to pick locks?” You heard Joel ask from the other side of the gate.

You didn’t look up at him, still concentrating on the lock as you said, “I had a habit of getting into places I shouldn’t have when I was younger.”

Joel didn’t say anything else as you continued to work. Soon enough, you heard the final click and lock fell of the fence. You pushed open the gate and bowed in front of Joel as you said, “Ladies first.”

Joel rolled his eyes, ignoring your comment as he continued into the school’s gated area. So much for lightening the mood.

You followed Joel to the front entrance of the school. He tried pulling the door. It didn’t budge. “Care to work your magic again?” He asked as he turned to you.

“It might take a while. I’m not as experienced with these types of locks.” You responded.

Joel sighed and mumbled under his breath, “We ain’t got time for this.” He began walking away, supposedly looking for another way to cut through the school.

“Hey!” You said when you caught up to him again. “I said it might take a while, not all night.”

“Keep your voice down,” was all he said as he continued scanning the side of the building.

“Are you always this grumpy, or did you wake up of the wrong side of the bed?”

He didn’t respond.

“Are you going to be like this the whole trip? Cause if so—“

Joel stopped walking and turned back to you. “If so what?” he challenged. “It’s not like your going to bail and I’m stuck with you, so why don’t you shut it and get used to it.”

The way he spoke sent chills down your spine, and not the good kind. You didn’t look him in the eye as you felt him stare down at you.

He heaved a sigh before continuing to look for an entrance. You stood there for a moment, silently, as you held your tears back. You told yourself there was no point in crying, he obviously didn’t have an ounce of empathy left in him. All you could do now was suck it up for a few days, just until you reached Dallas, then you’d be rid of him for good.

Joel voice brought you back from your thoughts. “Come ‘ere. I’ve found a way in.”

After shimmying your way through the small window Joel had pointed out, you both finally managed to enter the school. It was dark and quiet, both of which you hated. You and Joel turned on your flash lights and looked around. You seemed to be in a classroom of some sort. Desks and chairs were flipped upside down, and blood splatters covered the floor. You tried not to step in it.

After exiting the classroom, you found yourself at the end of a corridor. More chairs and desk were littered about, with the occasional blood trail leading who knows where.

You kept your guard up as you continued down the hall, while Joel strolled along as if he owned the place. Part of you wished you could be fearless like that, but you knew that kind of courage was only brought on by years of being alone.

You continued to say quiet, the only sound being you and Joel’s footsteps along the hallway. That’s when you heard it, the undeniable sound of infected. You both stopped in your tracks. Joel grabbed his pistol from his back and cocked it, while you brought the rifle from around you shoulder in to your hands. You loaded a bullet into it, remaining perfectly still.

You heard it again and you both turned your attention towards a classroom to your right. The infected’s moans sounded louder and more clear this time. Joel placed a hand on your shoulder and brung you down with him to couch behind a fallen over desk.

You both peaked over the desk as a runner came out of the classroom door. It’s frantic movements irked you as it walked in the other direction away from you both. You sighed in relief. Joel brought his attention back to you as he whispered, “I’ll deal with that one. Stay close behind, in case any others come.”

Before you could say anything, Joel began moving slowly as he approached the runner, low and quiet. You followed after him, mimicking his quiet steps. You quickly checked the classroom where the runner had come from but quickly turned your head back to Joel where you found him strangling the thing to death. Joel looked merciless as he choked it. It struggled against his arm until he snapped its neck and its body fell to the ground with a thud.

You gulped as you looked at Joel. The sheer strength he had in him was terrifying and you instantly began to regret getting on his bad side.

Joel called your name quietly, signaling you to follow. This time, you stayed a bit further away.

You continued throughout the school, Joel leading the way until you came upon the main foyer of the school. A banner with the words “Prom Night 2013!” was sprawled across the wall. It made you think about how your life would’ve been without the apocalypse. Would you’ve went to a high school like this? It was hard to think about.

You looked to the man in front of you who had stopped, probably checking around for an exit. You didn’t feel very comfortable around him but that still didn’t stop you from asking, “Did you ever go to high school?”

Joel looked at you as if he was studying you. He must’ve been bored enough to answer because he responded with, “Yes, but it was years ago, even before Outbreak Day.”

You were surprised he’d even answered after his outburst earlier. Cautiously, you continued the conversation. “What was it like?”

Joel scratched his head. “Like any other high school. Average, I guess.”

“Oh,” you said quietly.

You met Joel’s eye for a moment and could’ve swore you saw a tinge of emotions behind his eyes. Just as you thought he might say something more, the sound of infected brought your attention to the right. Three runners appeared from around the corner of some lockers, along with two clickers. Your breath hitched at the sight. You readied your rifle and raised it, but Joel lowered it a second later. You were about to ask what he was doing, when another swarm of infected came around the corner. You inhaled sharply.

You looked up to Joel who continued to stare coldly at the infected in front of him. You started to back up slowly towards the stairwell behind you, looking for any means of escape. Joel noticed you from the corner of his eye and followed your movements. You never took your eyes off of the infected, fearing that they would notice you both at anytime.

“On my signal, run up the stairs to the left,” Joel said quietly. You nodded, as if he could see you.

You both slowly made your way up the stairs, but you both froze when you stepped on a bottle. The clinking sound it made when it fell to the ground was enough to draw the infected’s attention. They all whipped their heads around to the noise, and not a second later, came running at you.

“Run!” Joel managed to say over the screaming sounds the infected made.

You didn’t waste a second as you frantically ran up the stairs to the left, Joel swiftly following after you. The stairwell you followed lead to another hallway. You jumped over and ran around the debris that littered the floor. You couldn’t hear much over your pounding heartbeat, except for the infected. You weren’t even sure if Joel was still following you until he yelled for you.

“Turn right! Into that classroom,” he instructed.

You geared yourself to turn right, almost falling into the door as you did. Quickly, you looked around for anything to block the door when your eyes stumbled on the nearest desk. Heaving, you began pushing towards the door just as Joel made it inside. You made quick progress with it with Joel’s help. Not a second later, the infected began banged on the door, shrieking and crying out.

You took the moment to catch your breath and steady your heartbeat. While you took your breather, Joel was already looking around the classroom for anything to use.

“That ain’t gonna hold them for long. We need to move,” he said.

“Move where? There’s no where to go,” you replied, still catching your breath.

Joel glanced down at the window. “There.”

You walked over to the window and spotted the pick up truck he was looking at.

“That’s gotta be our ride.”

Joel hummed in agreement.

He continued to glance around outside when suddenly you broke the window with the butt your rifle.

“What are you doing?” he asked suspiciously.

“Getting outta here,” you responded.

Before Joel could ask anymore questions, you took the rope you had in your bag and tied it around the heaviest desk you saw, which you guessed was the teacher’s. You pulled on it hard to make sure it would support your weight and threw it out the window.

“Huh,” was all Joel said as he watched you being to climb down the rope.

“Told you there was no such thing as overpacking,” you quipped and began your descent.

Once you reached the ground, you looked around for any sight of Tess’s acquaintance, but you couldn’t see anyone around. Though you did spot a note on the truck’s hood.

“Truck’s here for Tess’s friends. If you make it, tell Tess this is the last thing I owe her for and she can go fuck herself.

Jeb”

You chuckled to yourself as you pocketed the note. Tess would have a hell of a time chewing this guy out when you got back.

You heard footsteps approach from behind you. Expecting it to be Joel, you turned to face him. “Took you long enough— AAAHH!”

A runner charged at you with full force, knocking you and it to the ground. It clawed and chomped at you, doing anything in its power to sink its teeth into your flesh. And just as you thought it was going to bite you, a gunshot sounded out and the runners blood sprayed across your face and arms. You closed your eyes and mouth in time so nothing made it in.

When you opened your eyes, you were met with a calloused hand, ready to help you up. Joel looked around once more to check if anything else had heard the gunshot. Nothing came, and when you placed your hand in his, he hoisted you up swiftly.

“Are you okay? Bit anywhere?” He asked, searching your face for anything other than fright.

“Y-yes, I’m fine. Not bit.” You managed to get out.

After giving you a once over, Joel moved onto the truck while all you could do was lean against it to collect yourself.

Joel looked around for whoever you were supposed to meet but saw no one. “Where is he?”

You took the note from out of your pocket and handed it to Joel, not saying anything. After reading it over, Joel groaned in annoyance and handed the note back to you. You didn’t take the note, so Joel just sunk it into his back pocket and entered the driver’s door to the truck.

It took a moment before you heard the familiar sound of an engine starting up. It was Joel’s banging on the truck door that brought you back to reality. “Get in,” was all he said.

You obliged and headed for the passenger seat. Once in, Joel kicked the car into gear and speed of down the nearest road.

As you drove, you stayed quiet and looked out the window. You could feel Joel’s eyes on you the whole time, but you didn’t care. You needed time to register what happened still. It’d been a while since you were tackled by an infected. The last time it had happened, you’d barely made it out alive with your companion. You were so used to sniping them from far away, you forgot how terrifying they could be up close.

“It’s gonna be a while till Philly. We’re gonna have to go around any big urban areas so we’ll probably get there by morning,” he explained. “You should sleep.”

You didn’t respond as you continued to stare out the window at the dark of the night. You heard him sigh but he didn’t say anything else.

While Joel was right about the sleeping part and you knew you should, you were still a bit shaken up. You tried to focus on the positives; you were safe in a car, on your way to see your dad again after so many years. While you tried to focus, your eyes became droopy and by the time you were out of Boston for good, you’d finally managed to fall asleep.

[randomshenaniganery]

What if I rewrite the winx club out of spite from the later seasons and heteronormativity?

legit tho let me rant about how much i hate the timmy and tecna ship 

Firstly, pairing up every single girl with another guy is very ew.

Second, pairing the nerd with another nerd basic it feels super lazy and really forced like even in season one its so weird I just never shipped them because there is no chemistry their conversations is literally oh i dont like dancing much oh yeah me too not into it cool cool. Like they sound like ok acquaintances at best in actuality they’re just awkward introverts stuck in the same couch and felt like they should talk to each other. 

third, tecna has not shown any interest in s1 like the most they’ve done is her saying hi to Timmy, and the girls going OOOOoooooOOOOOOo look techna its Timmy. Now, I’m aroace and let me tell you how fucking annoying it was to grow up and girls would INSIST you have a crush and they will NOT leave you alone. THIS feels like that, nothing in Tecna’s actions show that she’s romantically interested and since this is a cartoon where any kind of special interaction is enhanced by close ups and long staring she didn’t have any of that in s1 it came out of fucking nowhere in s2 and hit me in the fucking face.

fourth, I hate the way tecna is in s2 the way she acts towards Timmy in the early episodes is so fucking weird. She’s projecting this romanticized version of Timmy in this weird VR headset and Timmy is just like oh hey tehna wanna hear about literally the only thing we talk about it because neither of us seem to have any kind of other interest? Then later in the episode where the Trix break into the school she gets mad at Timmy for not standing up to the Trix and its like BITCH??? YOU couldn’t defeat them what makes you think HE CAN???? Like do you want him to DIE. YA KNOW LIKE SKYE??? HE LEGIT JUST SAW SKYE DIE HE’S NOT GONNA STAND UP TO THEM WITH HIS TINY ASS LASER GUN.

She just suddenly loses her critical thinking skills and starts projecting this romance on Timmy.

Fifth, Timmy also seems very chill about Tecna they really felt like friends in s1 just vibing talking about interests that no one else in their friend group shared

lastly, there’s that stupid episode where Tecna goes why do u only talk to me about technology. BITCH WHATE ELSE DO U LIKE HMM???? The show never bothered to establish anything outside of tech and logic for you at that point. 

My solution:

we’re going to recycle that tecna projecting weird shit into Timmy because I think that this can become an important lesson to other people to not romanticize your crush. Don’t attach random traits to real people and get mad that they don’t act like the way you’ve envisioned them. 

I’ll make them date for like three weeks before they realize that they were more comfortable as friends break up and become really close sharing interests and being supportive without the pretense of forced romance. You get the message of not every person of the opposite sex is a potential partner and the second message that you can break up with someone cordially and still be friends it’s not impossible.

Also maybe give tecna an interest outside of technology for example if she’s into logic maybe she likes mysteries and thrillers because using logic to find out the killer and solve problems sounds like something she could do and it would be useful for plot related stuff.