#but yeah day 1 is a bit weird like it's just them in the woods with no distractions

[beybuniki]

they should go on a fishing trip pt.1

[s-coquette]

principles (1/?)

simon riley x reader

word count: 2.9k

summary: your new college roommate simon riley is a hardcore stoner who thinks he can get his way with you easily, to his suprise you don’t bend to his will.

Moving out to college is harder than expected, finding a place to stay was even harder. With some negotiation your mom managed to find a place nearby, the rent was pretty low considering it was so close to the school and it made you suspicious. Of course there was a twist, you were told that you’d have a roommate. But when you waltzed up to the fourth floor with gruesomely long steps without an elevator, carrying all of your belongings with yourself, that was the last thing on your mind.

Double checking the apartment number ‘17’, and sure enough this was it. It was under the surname “Riley”.

You gently knocked on the dark slightly chipping wood to hear a loud manly grunt and something glass or ceramic tipping over and breaking, before loud footsteps followed it.

Suddenly, you regretted your choices, maybe it was best to suck it up and pay for a dorm, who knows what kind of serial killer or rapist was waiting in this apartment. The feeling of dread curled in your lower stomach and you thought about turning around and making a run for it, that was quickly cut off when the door swung open.

Your eyes stood still at the sight, a larger than life man, his forehead was behind the doorway from his pure height. It made you wonder if he smacked his head a lot on them when he was living his day to day life. He wasn’t scrawny by any chance, a wall of muscle essentially, rippling under the tight black shirt he was wearing, trying to mind the various mysterious stains it held. He had a simple dark gray hoodie that looked like it was lined with a warmer material inside, the hood over his head.

Your eyes struggled not to move downward and look at the pair of gray sweatpants that hugged his waist perfectly, they looked pretty ratty and old but god did they fit him. His jawline was strong, it looked like it had been carved out of stone, a light stubble adorning it. His nose was large and somewhat crooked with a small scar on it, probably from being broken. Beneath his hood you noticed he had short cropped blonde hair. His most striking feature were his brown eyes that looked like they were dripped right out of a honey pot, adorned with blonde wispy eyelashes.

“You my roommate?”

Was the first thing he uttered to you, making you snap out from your gaping, a small

“yeah…”

In response.

“Right then…”

You jumped when he grabbed your suitcase effortlessly, like you didn’t just almost lose your arms trying to haul it up yourself.

The inside of the apartment was relatively big, you tentatively step inside, noticing the various stains on the carpet. It was spacious but it wasn’t clean, he kept things tidy but it looked like it never gets cleaned well.

“So, uh, this is gonna be your room, mine is right next to it.”

As you fully walk in, it hits you. A weird ass fucking smell. You furrow your eyebrows and continue to see your bedroom, it was an alright little room, it even had a small white closet that had a layer of dust on it same with the creaky old bed with a metal frame. It wasn’t very big but it had a nice window with a view of the town.

You set your things on the bed, plopping your laptop along side them.

“Uhm. It’s nice to meet you?”

You turn to look at your new roommate, his stare frankly creeped you out a bit. He looked just as weirded out, you reach your hand over and he does the same, the weight of his giant palm engulfing your entire hand almost making your knees buckle.

You exchange names and he darts out, likely to escape the awkward situation. Well at least he wasn’t trying to kill you? You look on the bright side of things and close the door to your new bedroom and hear the faint clicks of a lighter followed by a small groan. Oh so he smokes! That was the strange smell. You never grew up around people who smoked much, and if they did they’d do it outside. Of course the smell would be unfamiliar.

You quickly make sure to text your mom about Simon, just in case anything were to happen. You unpack your bags, wiping down the closet a little inside before setting your clothes in. Letting out a little sigh before moving to the bed, putting on your own sheets since it was bare and draping a blanket over it.

Opening your large suitcase and letting one side fall to the ground with a thud, you sift through it and find some pyjamas, just some basic fuzzy shorts with a giant T-shirt, it was the first thing that popped up. Letting out a breath of relief after travelling for 3 hours in a pair of jeans in this weather.

You hear coughing from the other room and shake your head, he keeps smoking even if it’s bad from him! That cough will only get worse with time.

You slowly pad into the hallway, it was his room next to yours with the bathroom right across. Not looking for that right now, you knocked on his door, not wanting to barge in.

A loud “Yeah?” could be heard, he sounded oddly happy..

“Can I come in for a sec?”

You yelled, making sure he could hear you through the loud metal music playing in his room.

The music goes to a sudden stop, and you hear him getting up and walking to the door, swinging it open and staring down at you, suddenly intimidated by his presence. You stare up at him, his arm leaning on the doorway while he looks down as to not hit his head. His eyes are weirdly red… Was he crying? He only cocks his eyebrow, questioning you without a word.

“I- Uhm, I wanted to make something to eat- Would it be okay if I used the kitchen?”

His eyebrows fall and he almost staggers while leaning away.

“Yeah, sure, go at it. You live here too now.”

His voice sounded weirdly raspy, but that didn’t deter the shiver that ran down your spine from the way he talked, deep voice with that cocky accent.

You only nod in response, muttering out a small thankyou, and turning around on your heels, scurrying off to the kitchen.

Simon shut the door loudly, letting out a sigh and falling back into his messy bed. He usually kept things pretty tidy but now he let himself go. Underwear and shirts, socks, everything strewn across the bed. His desk with his computer was probably the cleanest thing in the room. It was all illuminated by bright green LED lights, the blinds tightly shut to stop any sunlight from seeping through. He just wiggled his way to the headboard of the bed that was set low on the ground, looking at the ashtray on his bedside and the half smoked joint that was still letting out a little smoke flutter into the space of his room.

Pushing the hood that was making him sweat off his head roughly, he yoinked it between his pointer and thumb, taking a deep puff. His friends would probably consider him the luckiest guy around, a cute little chick moving in with him, all shy and polite. Sure it made his cock hard imagining her bent over his table, taking it with no complaints but begs for more.

But she was probably like every other whore that went to that college, he’s seen his fair share of them. All dumb bimbos begging for attention from a big guy to fuck them senseless, and who was he to deny them?

You stalked the kitchen, looking for food that wasn’t instant noodles and letting out a sigh, an opened pack of cheese, some water and monster in the fridge, a probably mouldy loaf of cut bread on the counter, and the cupboards filled with instant noodles and some spices. And not to forget some protein shakes that you were not well versed in to even touch. How does he keep his muscles if all he eats is instant noodles! That can’t be good for you…

Scratching your head while trying to orientate yourself in the new kitchen. You weren’t used to this, it was your first time being away from home. You think it probably hasn’t sunk in yet, that you’re on your own finally. Dreaming of this day was finally over, but it still came with so many new fears. First off your roommate was scary as fuck, you are a girl essentially living alone with a big ass creepy guy, you’d have to navigate the town all by yourself, you didn’t have a car so public transport was your only option.

Lost in your thoughts you quickly turn down the boiling water to stop it from overflowing, dumping two packs of noodles in, not sure how to cook them since you’ve only eaten them a couple times.

You dump them in one bowl and realise that you probably overestimated how hungry you are.

Standing on your tip toes, you reach up to find another bowl.

But quickly yank it away when a much larger one reaches for it instead, grabbing the plain white ceramic bowl and setting it down on the counter next to you.

“Need to invest in a ladder if you’re gonna be livin’ with me.”

He said, eyes twinkling with something mischievous.

You stutter, kind of flustered about the interruption.

“Well, you’re gonna have to stop smoking cigarettes if you’re gonna be living with me!”

You shoot back, a playful jab at him back. He only smirks and leans against the countertop.

“I’m not smokin’ cigarettes, hun.”

His irises eyes were mostly overpowered by the blacks in his eyes, leaving a tiny ring around it, a sly grin tugging at his thin lips.

Your eyebrows furrowed, trying to decipher what he just said. You never grew up with any knowledge about drugs, you went to school PSA’s and all that about safety but it never occurred to you. You brush it off, he was probably thinking about cigars or something.

“I made too much, do you want some?”

You offer, not wanting to sound too overbearing. He eyed your bowl, spicy noodles with some cheese slapped on top, melting away quickly. He only shrugged, as you were about to tell him off he interrupted you again.

“Sure, why not.”

You scowl and huff, yanking the bowl and pouring the rest of the noodles in before adding the spice packets in and laying on the rest of the cheese on top.

He grabs the bowl and fishes out a fork from the drawer.

“Should keep you round’. All my ex’s were too dumb to cook anything. One of them even burnt the noodles.”

He snorts, mixing it around with his fork.

“I’m not the one who should make up for your horrible choice in women.”

You shoot back, a snarky tone to your voice.

“Yeah? I think you’re already doing it. Maybe you’re better at bj’s than all of them too.”

He abruptly leaves and you stand there, stunned. Thinking of what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into.

The next morning is a little different. You wouldn’t let one comment like that deter you from your new life and getting to know your new roomie.

Though trying to sleep at night is going to be difficult. The constant sound of yelling and curses thrown at his friends through the mic on his headset were active until about three in the morning when he finally decided it was time for bed, or his friends had gone to bed.

You’d bare with it though. Yesterday you poked at him with some more questions while he was splayed out in the living room watching some game on the TV, black socked feet crossed on the coffee table as if he was still the only person living here. You scoffed and chided him only to get a snort in return. You asked him where he went to school, he replied “The same one as you,” with a look in his eyes like it was really that obvious.

You started your day fresh. Taking a shower in the pretty clean bathroom, setting your shower gel and scrub next to his, hanging up your loofah where he just had a normal sponge. Out of curiosity you reached of his body wash, opening up the plastic cap and taking a whiff. It was a generic axe shower gel but god was it nice. That strong masculine scent made you smile, would he smell like that if you got close enough?

You put it back and splash your face with the flowing water, reaching for your cleanser and washing your face.

It was time to get acquainted with your surroundings, what better way to do that than going to the store and buying some food to stock up the empty fridge you now shared.

Throwing on an old T-shirt and some shorts, you slip on your banged up converse and head out. Luckily the store isn’t too far away.

Picking out some basics, you quickly stock up a full cart. Slightly dreading your way back home you decide you’ll power through it. You even got yourself some new bedsheets and a cute bedside lamp that glowed bright pink when turned on.

You only realise you might have overestimated your strength when you pick up the bags. Letting out a big sigh, you suck it up and clamber your way back home. Climbing to the fourth floor and taking pauses almost every five steps.

You push the door open and don’t bother kicking your shoes off before lunging to the kitchen and shoving the bags on the island. A loud breath of relief escaping you, your arms tingling almost as if they fell asleep, fingers stinging from the plastic bags.

“Strong little lady, huh? Aren’t you supposed to be going to classes or somethin?”

You jump when you hear Simon’s voice, raspy like he’d just woken up. You turn around about to quip something back but your jaw gapes at the sight.

Simon standing at the doorway to the kitchen, the same black shirt as yesterday only in a pair of loose boxers. His thighs are as toned as every part of him is, his feet clad in some mismatched black socks. His hair looked a mess, even if it was cropped short, it was splayed flat on one side, probably the one he sleeps on. It was one in the afternoon, and he’d just woken up.

He quirks an eyebrow at you again, as if he’s taunting you for staring. You turn around and starts unloading your groceries.

“Not strong, just didn’t have anyone to call and it would’ve been embarrassing to leave all of this in the bottom of the stairs. And classes start in a week, didn’t you say you also go to this college?”

You mumble, staring at him through the corner of your eye.

“Sounds like you’re asking for my number. For your information, I haven’t been to any classes in a fucking while.”

You could hear the grin in his voice, as he strolled through the doorway, ducking down as to not hit his head. He reached down to scratch at his stomach, lifting up his shirt as If to tease you.

You ignored him. That’s until you felt his hand grip your ass cheek. A yelp escaping before you could help it, turning around to slap him before he stops you abruptly. Simon raises his hand with your phone in hand.

“Unlock it, I’m giving you my number, you should be flattered.”

You stutter, realising he was only grabbing your phone. He was actually just trying to cop a feel but he wouldn’t admit that.

You grumble something and open a new contact shoving the phone in his hand, turning around again to put some drinks in the fridge. That should be last of it.

Turning around to grab your phone back you see him scrolling through it, an amused grin playing on his face.

“Simon- Give that back-“

You cry out, reaching for it only for him to put it above his head.

“Who’s Jordan?”

You jump up, trying to ignore him, but he presses.

“I see your favourites folder has some nice pictures.”

“He’s my friend from high school, okay? Can I get my phone back now, please?”

You yell out, jumping up and down, clearly frustrated with him.

“Since you asked nicely.”

He hands it to you, a sly grin in his face. You push past him and land a punch to his shoulder which was more like a light graze to him.

“You stink! Take a shower.”

You growl out, stomping to your room. You hear his snort again, making you slam the door to your room shut.

Simon has never really witnessed a chick that didn’t want his cock, they act interested once they see the biggest guy at the party. Hell, even his cruel teasing get them off. Maybe you’re just playing hard to get, trying to make him work for it, or maybe you’re just a virgin that doesn’t know any better.

He looks down and brings up his shirt, sniffing it. Damn, maybe he should take a shower.

hihiii i wrote this on a whim after having a lovely conversation with @soap-ify in the replies on one of my posts lmao

[literallylexa]

Dr. Monster (Dean x Sam x Cas x Reader)

Chapter 1: “Monster Town”

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Saving people, killings things, it’s the family business. During one of Sam and Dean’s hunts, they came across a smaller town in Oregon. Strange encounters happen is this town frequently, however there hasn’t been any killings or missing persons until now. The boys find their way to a veterinary hospital and find the cause of it…

This story does NOT go along with the SPN series. I may change some parts and pretend like some people didn’t die, or some things didn’t happen lol. This story is about YOU. This is going to be a longer storyline. Has a bit of a mystery aspect to it. Specific chapters will be for certain romantic interests which I will put in the beginning of each chapter. This story is about (Y/N). Think of it as an entire season about YOU! Still developing a storyline but has lots of ideas. Super excited I haven’t made a fanfiction in years. Please send in any suggestions or ideas and I will try to incorporate it to the story!

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Another day. Saving people, killing things, it’s the family business for the two hunters Sam and Dean. Sometimes the boys have a break for a couple days to a week, but that’s if they’re lucky. Most of the time the end of the world has suddenly fallen upon them, but maybe the boys get theirselves into these situations too.

“So,” Sam begins, taking a long sip of his morning iced vanilla oatmilk shaken expresso, shaking it slightly to mix the drink back together. “In a town in Oregon, lots of people have seen strange encounters.” Sam reads. “However there are no missing persons or murders. Until just recently. A girl was found dead. Heart ripped out. Could be a werwolf.”

Dean sighs and rolls over in bed, clearly feeling tired from the long drive last night. “Another case? We just finished one.” Dean whines, covering his eyes from the rays of sunshine coming in through the small holes on the dusty motel curtain.

“Just listen. So people have been seeing weird things at night. Like for example this guy wrote that he came out of a bar, and saw a full size, standing up and everything dog eating a cheeseburger.”

“Must have been a damn good burger.” Dean mumbles, slightly peaking interest. “What’s in that burger?” Sam laughs, “They do have one of the best cheeseburgers in Oregon.”

“Perfect. We can eat a cheeseburger while ganking a werwolf….okay yeah let’s go.” Dean immediately starts packing his things excitingly.

The boys arrive in the late evening. “Let’s get some burgers.” Dean drives into the parking spot at the diner. “Mountain Diner.” Sam reads aloud. The town was set next to the mountains, already high in elevation. Snow tipped mountains can be spotted in the distance, along with the forrest that surrounds the town. It was a breath of fresh air, something that the city could never provide. Sam and Dean always enjoyed spots like this, calm, quiet, away from the city and everything that comes with it. However, they still have a worry about what comes out of the woods at night. As long as Baby is with them, they’re safe. The diner smelt like beer and grilled food, almost making Dean’s mouth water from the aroma. Dean skips to the bar, with Sam trailing behind. Sam liked to see Dean this happy, after everything that’s happened, after everyone they’ve lost. Sam’s mind sometimes travels to what if they weren’t hunters anymore, what if they could stay in one town and life our their lives there. Before he thinks too much, he always snaps his head back to reality, and forces a smile. Around 9pm the diner begins to get full. People coming in large groups ordering shots and getting drunk. Lights turn low and the music genre changes. “Guess this is the bar too.” Dean laughs, “I’m already loving this town.” Sam chuckles. “One drink won’t hurt.”

“What? Sammy wants to drink?” Dean is flabbergasted. Sam never drinks while on a case. Maybe a beer with some food but never hard liquor.

“I think it’s good to have a break every now and ya know, we can’t save the world all the time.” Sam says. Sam has been reminiscing about the past. What life was for the short period of time when he was in collage, with Jess. He’s been longing to be that happy again.

“Cheers to that.” Dean smiles, handing Sam a shot.

As the night ends, Sam and Dean decide it’s time to turn in. They will work tomorrow, finding out who’s the werwolf. As the boys are heading to Baby, a loud scream rips through the air. Even with the boys being a little drunk, they immediately snap out of it and run over to the sound, guns in hand. There lies a women on the floor with a bite mark on her neck.

“Vamps.” Sam grinds his teeth.

“I thought you said it was a werwolf?” Dean raises an eyebrow.

“Not anymore.”

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“Fucking vampires!” Dean throws his duffle bag onto the old motel bed. The aesthetic of this motel was actually very nice compared to previous ones. Walls were wooden, almost rustic looking. Plaid curtains cover the large window facing the woods. As they walked through the motel room, the wooden floor creaks below them.

“Yeah tell me about it.” Sam sighs, running his large hand through his soft conditioned hair. He looks through their weapons bag. Dead man’s blood, syringes, machetes, silver bullets, and silver weapons. Seems about right.

“So first a werwolf, now a vampire. What the fuck is going on?!” Dean exclaims.

Sam’s brows furrow together, creating wrinkles on his forehead. “Maybe we should talk to the locals, they’re the ones who are only seeing things at night. I mean…all the sudden two killings back to back? That makes no sense.” The Winchesters turn in for the night, a long day of head of them tomorrow.

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The boys hit up the local diner to begin the morning. Seems like at all times of the day the diner was busy. “Welcome to the diner…looks like we have some new faces here. Is it your first time visiting?” The waitress asks. Dean smiles “Yes it is. We are actually just following up on a murder, happened last night.” Sam and Dean show their badges.

“Wow the FBI is here for that? I’m pretty sure the police have already taken care of it.” The waitress continues to smile. “We never have any kind of stuff like that happen here, must have been some kind of freak accident.”

“Not sure about that since there has been two killings in the last couple days. The boss just wanted us to investigate due to the nature of this town, weird sightings and all.” Dean smiles back. “Have you seen anything yourself?”

The waitress holds her notebook to her chest, looking up at the ceiling deep in thought. “I guess now that I think of it I do remember this one encounter. It was just a couple days ago. I was walking home one night and I seen blood on the side of the road. There, I see a large, like really large dog, wolf type of thing laying there, blood all around it. Maybe got hit by a car. Could have sworn it said help me. Like a human. Actually no I’m certain it said it.”

“A large dog?” Sam questions, “Did it look like a human or like an animal?”

“An animal, obviously.” I ended up taking him to the local veterinarian. Uh… Dr. (Y/N) if I remember correctly.”

“Then what?” Sam asks.

“I don’t know, the Doctor took the dog back and helped it….listen there is a lot of weird stuff in this town. However nothings has ever hurt us. We kinda just turn a blind eye to this kind of stuff. Everyone takes care of each other here. Nobody would kill anyone. We’ve just had some back luck recently. Freak accident.” She tries to reassure Sam.

“Where is this animal hospital at?”

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“Don’t you find it weird that two of the stories we have are both of a dog or wolf, but yet it was a vamp who murdered that girl last night?” Sam asks. “What is this a supernatural hot spot?” Dean raises an eye brow.

The Winchesters arrive at the animal hospital. The parking lot and lobby is dead, not a car in sight besides Baby, and a (your car). “Must be the Dr’s car.” Dean says. A small bell rings when they enter the hospital. A sterile smell fills the air, tiles on the floor recently waxed and cleaned. Colorful pastel walls surround them. A door behind the reception area opens, revealing a woman. “Hello, how can I help you?” The woman asks. Her (long/stort) (h/c) hair frames her face perfectly, matching her beautiful (e/c) eyes, making eye contact with the boys. She wore (f/c) scrubs that were a little tight exposing all of her curves. Sam and Dean almost let out a gasp, their palms getting sweaty, their confident demeanor loosening from the godess in front of them. You must be Dr. (Y/N)?” Sam speaks up clearing his throat. It’s not often for a woman to get Sam worked up as he is right now, just talking to her. Her voice was like music to his ears. Sexy, sweet, calming. He could listen to her talk all day long about nothing.

(Y/N) slightly smiles, her soft, glossed lips touching making Sam and Dean drool imagining what those lips could do to them. “Yes I am, how can I help you?” She asks again.

“Yes uh my partner here and I are part of a wildlife rehabilitation rescue program. We had heard of an injured animal?” Sam says. (Y/N) seemed shocked, however she quickly covers her expression and puts on a smile once again. “Ah yes uh, nothing too bad of an injury, just a little scratch. They are back into the wild now, all safe and healthy.” She says a little too quick, almost acting like she is hiding something.

“Good to hear it is doing better. Would you be able to describe the animal for us to we can put out a watch for it?” Sam asks.

“It was a wolf. Just a typical wolf you’ll see from out these woods. You guys aren’t around here I’m assuming?” (Y/N) tries to end of the conversation, nervously twirling her hair.

“Unfortunately not. Have there been any other hurt animals? Any cattle mutilations? Or anything like that?” Dean asks, savoring the look of her. His eyes darken as he looks up and down her frame, taking in the sight of this beautiful woman. He loves a woman in scrubs.

“Stuff like that doesn’t happen here.” (Y/N) says defensively. “Do you have anymore questions for me or can I get back to my job?”

“No Doctor, that is all we needed. Thank you.” Sam smiles and nods his head. Sam and Dean end out of the hospital, looking at each other with a raised eye brow. (Y/N) let’s out a deep sigh, watching the boys get into their car and drive off.

“Hunters.” (Y/N) sighs and locks the door, picking up her phone to make a call. The encounter today with the strange men made (Y/N) nervous. Sure, they were tall, sexy, mysterious- but they were also hunters too. (Y/N) knows all the fake badges, stories, false identities, as she’s ran into these type of people before. She can take care of this town by herself, she has a special kind of help.

“Hello?” A man says on the other line. “Did you hear about what happened at the diner yesterday?” The man asks.

“Yeah. That’s not the only thing. Hunters are here too.”

“Hunters? Damnit…Have you spoke to them?”

“They were just here asking questions about Jake. Maybe we need to stay low for a while.

“No. We are not going to hide anymore. If the hunters are here to kill us, we will have to kill them first.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We need to stay as low profile as possible I just want to help-“ (Y/N) gets cut off by a blood curdling scream through the phone. It was her friend. Her body is immediately set into motion, checking her friends gps signal, grabbing a gun, and setting out to the woods.

••

“She’s definitely hiding something.” Dean immediately says when they are out of eye sight. Sam agrees, nodding his head. “I’m just still confused on why there was a vamp killing and then one wolf. I mean, and then this whole town is weird. They just look the other way.”

“Our only lead is (Y/N). I say before she heads out we force her to tell the truth. Silver knife and dead man’s blood just in case.” Dean explains.

“Really? You just want to barge in there half- cocked?” Sam questions, almost angry.

“Clearly nobody else knows what’s going on except (Y/N). She could be the supernatural being!” Dean stops Baby on the side of the road.

“What if there are others?” Sam asks. “Maybe we can just follow her home and confront her tomorrow. What if there’s another killing tonight? We need to keep an eye on (Y/N). Then we can rule her out.” A fast movement catches the boys attention. They peer into the forest besides them. A scream rips through the air, almost sounding animalistic. “That didn’t sound human.” Sam and Dean arrive to the location. Another man is dead, however his head is chopped off. “Fuck.” The boys say in unison. (Y/N) arrives to the location as well, chest heaving up and down as she was running. Sweat rolling down her face. She gasps at the sight of her friend. Sam and Dean point their guns at her “Stop where you are at.” The boys check the body. They lift up the man’s lips and expose the mans teeth. “Vampire.”

(Y/N) stares at Sam and Dean, debating on what to do next. She doesn’t do much hand to hand combat, there is no way she could win this fight. Especially comparing their size to hers. “You killed him.” She whimpers, heart racing.

Sam and Dean are confused. “We didn’t kill him. He was like this. Do you know this man?”

“Yes I do. I know what he is, and I know what you are too.” (Y/N) raises her gun. “You’re hunters!” She yells out. The boys are wide eyed, confused in the situation. “And what are you?” Sam asks.

“I’m human. I’m just a doctor.”

“And how do we know that?” Dean questions.

“You don’t. But both you and I know there’s something out there killing people.”

“This man was not a person. He’s a vampire.” Dean kicks his head facing (Y/N).

“Not all monsters are evil.” (Y/N) says, aiming a gun at the men. “Monsters protect this town; they protect me. Now, I don’t know what you guys brought with you when you came here, but you need to leave. Right. Now.” (Y/N) clocks her gun, aiming to kill.

“Are you a hunter?” Sam asks putting his hands up into the air. “We can work together, kill whatever killed your friend and that woman last night.” Sam takes multiple slow steps towards (Y/N).

“We can handle what’s going on here. You need to leave.”

“We?” Dean questions. Sam continues to walk closer to (Y/N).

“I’m not alone. If you hurt me you’ll have monsters come hunt you, wherever you are. I take care of them, and they take care of my town.”

Sam and Dean take a glance at each other. Is she really human? They haven’t been able to do any tests on her. Dead man’s blood, salt, holy water, silver. “Put down the gun.” Sam asks, being face to face with (Y/N) at this point. He looks down at her with a gentle smile on his face, reaches out a hand to hers. The second they touch, (Y/N)’s (e/c) eyes glow, and she falls to the ground. Images of hell, Lucifer, fill her brain and then, she only sees black.

“She’s not human. Not fully at least.” A raspy voice wakes up (Y/N). His dark blue eyes burn into her soul and he looks at her. Almost too closely. Their lips were itches apart, Castiel could see every detail on (Y/N)’s face. Her eyes rip awake, locking eyes with Castiel. (Y/N) blushes. Another sexy man? Castiel takes off the bondage from (Y/N)s mouth. “If you’re going to kill me do it already.” She spits out. Castiel stands up and looks at Dean. “You’re not getting off that easy.” Dean smirks, making (Y/N) stand up, pressing her body against his as he walks her over to Baby. “Get in.” A bolt of lightning strikes through (Y/N)’s body as it’s pressed against the unknown hunter. She silently curses herself out for even getting aroused. Before she sits in Baby, she takes a look at the three men behind her. All very attractive men in their own way. Something felt different about the man who wore the trench coat. (Y/N) doesn’t tell many people, but she can spot humans from the supernatural. And there was nothing human about that man. Why are hunters with a supernatural being?

“Now are you going to tell us what the hell happened back there? Your eyes glowed.” Dean says, driving down the road back to the animal hospital.

“I saw hell. Lucifer. Demons.” (Y/N) says confused. “Who are you?” She questions.

“I’m surprised you don’t know who we are. Pretty much everything supernatural knows us. I’m Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean. And that’s Castiel, he is an angel.”

“Wait. You…oh my god.” (Y/N) sits back. “Aren’t you the guys who opened hells gate like…twice and let Lucifer out the cage?” (Y/N) gasps. “I hear countless of stories about you. I just didn’t expect-“ (Y/N) catches herself before she rambles on about how she didn’t expect them to be so handsome. Sam and Dean scratch the back of their hands while Castiel sighs, face palming. “Unfortunately but hey what’s done is done.” Dean chuckles.

(Y/N) knew exactly what happened back there. Sometimes when she touches somebody she can see their past, or sometimes the future. She’s not sure what she is, psychic or something. Not to mention her relations to monsters. She has always had a soft spot for them, well…some of them. She wasn’t going to share anymore information to the Winchesters and the Angel then she has to. (Y/N) knows that everyone who gets involved with them ends in a bloody death. However; she has also heard amazing things about them. How many people they’ve saved, helped. Maybe they could help her too. She felt drawn to them in some type of way. (Y/N) knew that she shouldn’t be involved with them but she couldn’t help herself.

“So what’s the plan.” Sam says to the group, interrupting the silence.

“(Y/N) are you willing to work with us? Do you have any idea who could be killing people?” Castiel asks with a firm voice, not blinking as he looks at (Y/N). (Y/N) sighs. She knows she shouldn’t be involved with them. But she can’t help it. “Let’s go up to the hospital and think of a game plan.”

Baby’s engine roars, and the four of them head down the road.

🩷•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••🩷

Let me know how you guys liked this first chapter! Who and what is (Y/N)? Who will she choose? Who is YOUR favorite?!

🩷•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••🩷

[peachesofteal]

Witchling / Chapter 1

I have actual work I'm supposed to be doing but here we are.

Morpheus/reader 2.5k words Warnings: E for Explicit, Minors DNI. Explicit sex, fingering, creampie (in this economy?), creampie eating, NO HEA, angst, sweet then sour, Morpheus kind of manhandles you. You try to stay away from other magical beings, on principle.

“Can I help you?” the man standing in the middle of The New Inn seems completely lost. He looks around at the faces in the room, before stepping towards where you stand behind the bar. 

“I am looking for someone.” He tells you. His voice is hypnotic. You catch yourself staring at him before you quickly look away. Something on the tip of your nose tingles. It’s the feeling you get when there’s magic nearby, and you study the strange man more intently. He’s different.

“Who? Maybe I know them?” 

“His name is Hob Gadling.” His blue gray eyes catch yours, turning to face you fully, and your breath leaves in a whoosh. He’s beautiful. 

“Ah, the professor.” You collect yourself with a nod. “He’s over this way.” You drop your rag and lead the man towards a back room, where Hob sits next to a roaring fireplace. “Let me know if you need anything!” you call over your shoulder as you make your way back to the bar. 

“Heterochromia.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your eyes.” He answers, gaze not leaving your face. It’s startling. You glance at Hob over the shoulder of this stranger. He gives you a weird grimace as if to say, ‘sorry, my mate here is a bit weird’. 

“Thanks, poppet.” Hob interrupts as the strange man is about to open his mouth again and slides a bill across the sleek wood grain of the bar. You toss it in the tip bucket behind you with a grin. 

“My pleasure, professor. Sir.” You hesitate on the last word, unsure. 

“Morpheus.” The name falls over you with a shiver. Morpheus. He’s magic, for sure. Just the sight of him tells you he’s not of this realm. But who is he? And what? 

“Morpheus.” You repeat it back to him, and he gives you an approving nod. Hob pulls him away to settle in a booth far in the corner, but he turns to look back at you once more before sitting. You can’t help but stare at him, he’s captivating. 

 

“Aristotle called it heteroglaucos.” You whirl from where you’re placing pints into the dishwasher. 

“You’re back.” You wipe your hands on a towel as you approach him from the other side of the bar. 

“I am.” 

“Another round?” you reach for two glasses, clinking them together accidentally. 

“Yes.”

“Same thing?” He hesitates, looking towards where Hob is sitting. 

“Yes.” You pour the beers, trying to nonchalantly study him out of the corner of your eye. You place them on the bar and tell him the total. He blinks at you. You repeat yourself, eyebrows raised, nose tingling again. He looks back towards Hob again, who is rising from his seat. 

“Hob will purchase them.” You begin to explain that the professor doesn’t pay, but he collects the beers from the bar and walks off. Hob steps up, slightly exasperated. 

“Professor, your friend is uh…” 

“Odd.” He finishes for you. You laugh out loud, the sound reverberating above the commotion in the bar. The professor’s friend, Morpheus, turns in the middle of the floor to look at you. Your cheeks heat as you feel his gaze on your body. “Don’t worry about him. He’s harmless.” He winks, and then slides you another bill for ‘your trouble’. 

 

“So, Morpheus.” He’s standing next to the end of the bar as he waits for the professor, who stepped outside to take a call. “It’s Greek, yeah?” He regards you curiously before answering. 

“Yes, that is correct.” 

“That’s cool.” Morpheus smiles at you. It’s small, only the very corners of his mouth tilt upwards, but it fills you with butterflies. Jesus. This man is like a modern day Adonis. With a weird Hades vibe. It’s hot, you decide. Very hot.

 

Of course, they’re the last two when it’s time to close. You can’t be too mad. It’s Hob, after all. 

“All set?” Hob and Morpheus stand at the front door, waiting for you as you pull on your denim jacket. You wished you had brought something warmer. It’s blustery out, a bitter winter cold that cuts into your bones. You hate the cold. Hob catches your eye as you give them both a thumbs up. The professor always waits for you at the end of the night if he’s here, ensuring that you lock up okay and at least leave the parking lot safely. It’s very sweet. You’ve definitely worked for worse owners. 

You fit the key into the locks as they stand away from you, voices soft as they murmur to one another. You turn silently, taking the opportunity to watch them. They speak with familiarity, warmth bleeding into their tones as they exchange words, the professor chuckling softly. 

“So, soon then?” he asks. 

“Perhaps.” Morpheus answers. 

“You know where to find me.” Hob says. 

“Indeed.” Morpheus turns to you. “Hob has informed me you live nearby.” You glance at the professor with wide eyes. “I would like to walk you home.” What. Your stomach flips. Hob gives an encouraging shake of the head, winking as he turns his back to trek over to his apartment. You gulp. It’s not ideal, seeing as you were raised to keep your distance from any other magical beings. The professor is an exception of course, as rare as they come. However, you can’t find it in you to rebuff him. You give Morpheus a feeble grin in agreement. 

“You are cold.” He observes, no doubt noticing that hands that are shoved in your pockets, your shoulders that are shaking in the frigid air. You shrug. “It was warmer out, during the day. I didn’t think it’d be this cold at night.” You try to explain for the lack of preparedness. He frowns, and then begins shucking off his coat with haste. “Oh, oh no. I couldn’t.” you push a shivering hand out to him, a signal to stop, but he ignores you.  “I insist.” He holds it out for you, motioning for you to slide your arms into the sleeves. You’re blushing like an idiot as you turn into it, and his hands linger on your shoulders a moment longer than necessary. 

 

“Some cultures once held the belief that heterochromia signified the afflicted was a witch.” He says casually. Oh shit. 

“Well, that’s pretty silly.” Your voice wavers, only slightly, but you know he can hear it. You clear your throat and attempt to change the subject. 

“So, have you known Hob long then?” 

“For many years.” His fingers brush against yours. Just the singular touch, and you can feel warmth pooling deep inside you. “Many centuries, in fact.” he glances at you, and you look at him with wide eyes. I knew I smelled magic. 

“You’re like Hob?” you supposed that made sense. After all, the professor did give you the same kind of tingly feeling on your magic-dar. Maybe not as intense, but still equitable. You slow to a stop in front of your door. 

“Yes.” His chin tilts slightly, exposing some of the skin under his jaw. It’s smooth, nearly as white as snow. He looks down at you, pillowy lashes fluttering against his skin, pink lips curving into a smile. You return it tenfold, the butterflies in your stomach thrashing violently. “And what are you like?” he steps closer. You can feel his breath in your hair, and your nose is tingling so much it could be on fire. 

“I- um. I’m nothing.” Yikes. You stifle a groan. Real convincing. Fingers stroke down your cheek to grasp your jaw, tilting your head up towards where his lips hover just above yours. 

“I believe you are more than nothing, witchling.” Stunned, you sputter, and then he’s pressing his lips to yours, face cradled between his hands. Your eyes fly open with shock, and then close just as fast, melting into the kiss. It’s fervent, and he breathes in your whimper as he parts your lips with his tongue. 

 

By the time you make up the stairs, he’s already peeled both jackets, your shirt and pants off you, while also losing his own pants, his shirt, and his shoes. He bends you over the bed, your back arched, his fingers slipping across your ribcage and beneath your thong, dipping into the wetness that waits for his touch. You stare up at him nearly dumbfounded. He’s porcelain, flawless, chiseled like a perfect piece of marble.

“Fuck.” You hiss, and your cunt clenches around the finger that thrusts into you. He plays you perfectly, like a lover you’ve held forever, like a musician and his favorite instrument. 

“You are ready.” His mouth murmurs against the dampening hair against above your ear. You make a noise in your throat that sounds like yes, hands pulling at him. He folds your thighs apart, moving your knees towards your chest, opening you up for him to take, to own. Your magic flutters in your chest, reaching for him, for whatever it is that crawls under his skin. His hand pins one of your wrists above your head, and he stops for a moment, holding himself still. Something flickers across his face as he peers down at you. A hint of sadness. A whisper of longing. As soon as it comes, it goes, and his teeth nip into the curve of your jaw, before he’s thrusting into you, filling you to the hilt, grinding himself into the heat of your cunt. 

“Oh my god.” you choke, your spine curving as your body reacts to being stuffed full of magical cock. 

“I am no god, little one.” He says from above you, voice proud, eyes glinting in the dark. His mouth sweeps across yours softly for a brief moment, and then he begins to fuck you. Hard. 

He fucks like a god, though. His fingers stroke your clit as he plunges his cock into your cunt over and over, your body trembling as you rocket towards your orgasm, your magic bubbling over inside of you, a celestial high filling your body with the power of a nova. Your skin erupts with light as you come, shining like a star in the night. He rears back, holding your hips firm with one hand, the other still stroking your too sensitive clit. 

“My eyes have seen many things, witchling. But a woman glowing beneath me as she comes on my cock is certainly new.” You shudder. 

He shifts your body, thrusting deeper, pushing his cock against your cervix, and you cry out into his neck, tongue tasting the silk of his skin. He moves inside of you frantically, muscles hard against the softness of your body. “Where?” he grits out, and the image of him filling you with his come flashes in your mind. Your walls clench, and he mutters a curse in another language. 

“Inside me. You can you come inside me. I have a IUD.” You whisper, fingers tightening in his hair. He pounds into your cunt relentlessly until he’s gasping, mouth formed into a small O as he hovers above you, flooding you with his warmth. 

You heave a sigh as he pulls out, lips skating down from your mouth to hover just above your cunt, long white fingers splayed across your lower belly.

“Be still. I wish to know the taste of myself as it spills out of you.” You don’t even get a word out before you feel his lips against you folds, tongue plunging inside of you, swirling where he’s mixed with you. He moans, sucking and flicking his tongue until he’s bringing you to another blinding orgasm. 

 

It’s the creak in the floorboard that wakes you. 

“Morpheus?” you call out to the dark, hand stretching across the bed. It’s empty. You frown as you leave your room, pulling on a too big sweater and flicking on the hall light. “Morpheus?” you call again. Maybe he left? It wouldn’t be the first time someone fucked you and then left in the middle of the night. Your nose tingles in the direction of the study. 

When you open the door, your jaw drops.

Morpheus stands in the middle of the room, your family’s book of shadows in one hand. Your family’s precious, ancient, secret grimoire. The spell book that was written by your ancestors, was inherited by you, that was bound with your blood for its protection. 

“What are you doing with that?” you ask. How did he find it? When he looks up at you, you’re surprised to see his eyes clouded and cold. His other hand holds a leather pouch. “Morpheus.” You call his name, and your feet hesitate on the threshold of the room. 

“Were you aware there are spells in here that can imprison an Endless?” 

“What? No. What is an Endless?” You reach for his arm. “Morpheus, what-“ 

“Do not touch me.” You step backwards, reeling from the rejection, and shocked at the feel of the pure power pulsing from him. “I was once imprisoned by such a spell.” 

“What? My family would never imprison someone.” You protest. He scoffs. 

“You are all the same.” What? Who is ‘you’? You motion to the book, hands shaking. 

“Morpheus. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I need that back. It’s my family’s. It’s mine. It’s enchanted with my blood, I can’t-“ your voice falls away when he opens his coat, sliding the grimoire inside. You notice immediately the inside of his coat is not a coat at all, but a galaxy. A night sky, shining with stars. You startle, reaching out to grab for the book when his fingers curl around your wrist, squeezing. It doesn’t hurt, but you hiss anyway.

“Stop!” you shriek, and he uses your arm to push you away from him before releasing you. 

“I thank you for making this easier than I anticipated, witch.” Witch. The word slaps you across the face. The trauma of your early years falls over you with ease, the teasing, the taunting, the pain. The insults and physical violence that was applied to you so liberally casts a shadow over your youth that you still live in, to this day. 

“Easier than you anticipated?” you ask him, the desperation of the confusion you feel bleeding into your voice. “Wait.” Pieces start to click together one by one as you solve the puzzle. “You planned this?” He leers at you, giving no response, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen a face so thunderous. You watch as he reaches into the pouch, pinching something between his thumb and forefinger. Suddenly, there’s a tornado of sand in the study, whirling at his feet, slowly evaporating him, and the book, into thin air. “NO!” you scream, running towards where he was once standing, but it’s useless. He’s gone, and it’s gone with him, just like that. You slump on the floor, the burning ache inside of you sizzling alive at the loss of the spell book. It incinerates your bones, traveling through your body as you scream into the carpet. The enchantment sears your flesh, the skin on your arms and hands melting away as if you were halfway inside a furnace. You collapse completely, face falling into the floor, body writhing in pain. Above the scorching ache, something else rings true. He planned this. You sob loudly. He used you. Your mind grows hazy, and all you can see as you drift off into unconsciousness is the image of his face, filled with unadulterated rage. 

 

I write some other stuff here.

[ll-bowman]

Thalassophile Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Masterlist

WC:1.7k

CW: feelings of being an outcast, feminine descriptions, boats and deep sea imagery, horrendous flirting

Every few weeks you sail back to a nearby island to restock and try to socialise with more things besides orca vocalisations. The sky is cloudy and the cold wind rushes onto your cheeks making them feel numb and prickly. The seagulls mew as the sound of ships loading and unloading their catch and loading other goods is abundant. The wood dock transitions onto grey cement that leads towards the bustling port town. 

A few locals smile at you and you smile back, a slow familiarity building from your routine stays in town. When you make your way up to the checkout after getting your usual groceries you see the warm smile of an older lady that is always kind to you when you come in.

“Hello dearie, back on land for a few days?” She smiles, her skin creasing along her mouth as she moves your items along as you put them in your bags.

“Yep, I need some interaction that isn’t books and whale sounds.” You laugh politely 

“Maybe you’ll find yourself a companion.” She says laughing as she hands your receipt.

“Maybe, has to love the sea just as much as I do.” 

Her lips quirk up, a look of mischievous glee evident. “Those strong dock workers like the sea quite a lot dearie, look good too.” You smile and give a nod before taking your groceries and leaving.

 As you walk towards your boat to drop off your goods, what Ms.Goodfry mentioned pops into your head. Making your head turn as you watch the crews of various ships now winding down as the sky turns dark. Groups of men and women walking into town to have a drink after a long day.

Your heart aches a bit at the sight. Wishing you had the ability to create those bonds, feel like you fit with other people and not just critters in the ocean. Adjusting your bag you clear your throat and walk back to the boat. Putting your canned goods and produce away as you tidy the cabin up. Deciding to at least be around others you pack your sketchbook and head to the pub in town. Even if you couldn’t have those connections for yourself you could fake it by observing. 

 The pub is bustling for a friday night, which is to be expected you suppose. The air is thick with laughter and the clinking of dishes. The interior is full of stained wood accents and warm light. You walk to the bar island, sitting on a chair you pull your sketchbook and pens out while you wait to order. 

  The time passes quickly as you trace the pencil lines and add shading to the scientific sketches. 

 Eventually a man behind the high top comes across from you, wiping his hands on a towel. He's tall and broad shouldered, shirt hugging his chest with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Arms covered in blonde hair and veins tensing as he moves about. Sunned skin with mutton chops decorate his face. Even just looking at him makes you feel warm and intensely aware of your body.

“Ello Luv, what can I get for yeh?” He asks, voice a deep British accent. It makes you shiver.

“Oh um can I just get whatever is on tap and do you guys have food here?”

He smiles and reaches down, grabbing a laminated menu and handing it to you. While you take a look at the menu he begins filling a tall glass with the dark foamy liquid. Your eyes skirt across the options and decide on what you want. Gods know you haven’t had one in a while. Can’t exactly make a good burger out at sea.

“Finding anythin to yer liking?” His baritone voice questions.

“Hmm yeah can I get the house burger and fries?” 

“Of course, that one's really good, ere's your beer.” 

You take it from his hand,fingertips lightly touching as you do. You suddenly feel intensely cold, like someone opened a window or a door. Goosebumps and hair standing up on your arms. Before you can look around to see if someone did let in a chill, it's gone. You feel normal again. Weird

You look up at the bartender, his eyes are curious and he looks down at your arms, now covered in goosebumps. 

“You alright there, Dove?” 

“Oh um yeah just felt like there was a breeze or something.” You smile politely as you take a sip of your beer. It's odd you've never had so many terms of endearment let alone from someone you just met. Maybe that's just how he is.

His eyes search yours before offering a small smile back.

“Names John by the way, are yah new to town or just visiting?”

That's a nice name.

“A bit of both I'd suppose. I live out on the water most of the time, marine biology keeps me busy. I come back every couple weeks to spend some time around others.” You say, more relaxed in his presence.

“A real sea lady then? What's your speciality?” He asks, eyes warm and kind.

The question gives you a bit of a start. No one has asked about your interests since college and even then it was from others in your field. Your shoulders ease down a feeling of relaxation that you haven't felt around many others overtakes your nerves.

You talk for a while, time slipping like sand through your fingers. Your food comes and between other customers John comes by many times, checking in. You talk about your work, where you grew up. He tells you he used to be in the British Air Service until he got honourably discharged due to some kind of injury. The food is incredible, truly something that warms you and admittedly makes you want to just bottle that feeling up. But you think the best part is watching John, his frame moving quickly from person to person. His hearty laugh rings out when a patron he knows says something. It seems he’s relatively close with the other workers as well, a collection of certainly different men working beside him in the busy location. As you finish your beer you think to yourself, Maybe I could have something here, something besides the ocean.

The pub is still incredibly busy as you gather your things. A part of you wishes you hadn’t already paid so you could say goodbye to John without seeming odd. You idle there for what feels like minutes, rocking from foot to foot, hand clenched on your bag. You decide he must be busy and you’ll come in another time. You sigh a little resided but still very content from talking for so long with him. The cold chill fills your bones once again as you step outside the warm interior of the pub. It’s peaceful here, the streets are full of warm streetlights and lit windows in family homes. It feels like you could make a home here, enough moving around from job to job. Your daydreaming is interrupted by someone calling your name from behind you. You turn around seeing John lightly jogging towards you.You smile and walk towards him before he closes the space between you. 

“Luv you forgot this.” He says raising his hand out to you. You look down to see your sketchbook in his large hand. Damn is he just large everywhere?

“Oh jeez I can’t believe I left that!” You exclaim while taking the book gently from his hand. 

His smile is big, cheeks bunched under his beard and eyes crinkled at the edges, hands tucked into his jean pockets. You feel shy under his gaze, like when you had a crush on an older boy in school. Even if you’re now in your 30s.

Your body feels warm, in contrast to the chilly night air. Truly it feels like you’re still inside the pub. Cheeks now feel like they’re burning up.

“Thank you for coming after me, you didn’t have to do that. I could’ve come in the morning to pick it up.”

“It’s no problem, we aren’t open til later in the day and I didn’t get to say goodbye.” Even in the dim light his eyes are warm, gentle. Like a warm spot you find in the cold ocean.

“I didn’t want to take up your time, Fridays are busy.” Lie, you wanted to spend forever talking to him.

A silence consumes the air, the distant sound of laughing from distant parties making their way home is the only thing that breaks the stillness between you. It isn’t awkward in the slightest, it's like you don’t need words. You hope he feels what you feel. The anxious excitement in the back of your throat begging to come up and show how much you already like him.

You clear your throat. “Thank you for speaking and keeping me company John. I really appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure, dove. To be able to talk with such an intelligent beautiful woman was an honour.” He says while reaching a hand to your face. Skating a warm palm against your cheek, taking his finger and sweeping a loose hair strand behind your ear. The action makes you swoon like a teen and you swear your heart misses a beat.

“Could I walk you home?” His hand retreating as he tilts his head in question.

“Only if you don’t mind.” And with that you turn together and walk to the dock, to your anchored boat to say farewell.

You stand next to the cabin door and smile softly at John, cheeks flushed and warm. 

“I’m off tomorrow night, would you like to go out for dinner with me?” Your heart freezes then restarts again

You feel like you can’t speak for what feels like minutes but what is only a few seconds.

“I would love that, John.” You laugh nervously, unused to someone actively pursuing you.

His cheeks scrunch again, smile wide as you exchange numbers. Waving shyly as he walks back up the doc as you cup your own warm cheek, absolutely giddy at the thought of tomorrow night.

You get ready for bed dazed and fall into bed, smiling as you fall asleep.

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 1 Season 1

! This is a backstory. There are more chapters to the actual fic. Check my masterlist !

Pairing: (eventual) Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: The beggining of the story. How did Y/n Henderson get herself into this mess? How did she deal with the loss of a dear friend and how will she survive the bullies and monsters?

Warnings: swearing, blood

Notes: Hello! I know that I didn't really move the story along that much, but it was already getting a little too long so I decided to leave it like this for the second chapter. Thank you to all the new people who have been liking the story! Stay safe out there and I hope you enjoy! 💕

Gif not mine

Season 1 Prologue << New Journey Masterlist >> Chapter 2

You finally arrived to Hawkins Middle and waited for the bell to ring. It was around lunch time now, so you decided to go inside, find Dustin and get him home to relax.

Kids' voices could be heard all around the school, making you reflect on your own days here. You were about to enter the cafeteria when a voice distracted you.

" Miss Henderson." you felt like you were busted, even if you didn't go here anymore.

" Mr. Clarke. Hi, hello!" you were feeling a bit anxious. Sure, he's one of the nicer teachers you've ever had and Dustin adores him, but he was still a teacher at this school, you don't know how he would feel about you taking Dustin with you.

" What a surprise. May I ask why you are not in your schools halls?" his voice had hints of playfulness, but he did seem truly curious.

" I, uh... I came to check on the boys. I don't know if you have heard about Will.." you told him reluctantly. You were sure Joyce or anyone would want rumors running around, but you figured with Hopper asking people about Will's whereabouts, some would already know. Hawkins was a small town with many people who love gossip.

" Yeah, the principal informed me... Do you have any news about him?" he sighed. A teacher never wants his kids to get hurt.

" Not much.. Hopper just found his bike in the woods. Uh, the chief, sorry."

" It's okay." he looked at you and then his eyes fell on the door behind you leading to the cafeteria "So, you're here to take Dustin, huh?"

' Damn he's smart' you had hoped to get past him and then sneak Dustin out.

" Yeah.. I hoped to take him home to relax a little."

" This sure has been stressful on the kids.. Why don't you take them all with you? I'll cover for them here."

" Are you sure?" you did not expect him to go along with your plan and even let you take them all.

" Yeah, they need a rest. I've heard the chief can get pretty harsh with his questioning." he winked at you and you smiled.

" Oh, you have no idea. Thank you so much!" you started walking backwards, heading for the door.

" No worries, miss Henderson. Tell their parents all is covered here with their absences. Take care!" he turned around to leave and you smiled to yourself. Nothing is better than a teacher who truly cares.

You finally opened the door and searched all the tables for the party. There were so many kids and so many high-pitched voices you were getting a headache. When your eyes finally landed on your brother's hat you quickly walked to them, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself.

" Hey kids." you crouch down, your elbows on the table. They turned to look at you, their expressions confused. You smirked when you saw Dustin's bite fall from his fork.

" What are you doing here?" he asked, putting his fork down.

" I am here to bust you out." you joked.

" What?" Mike said.

" Hopper came to question me too.. I know about Will and I know how you guys feel right now, so... I'm here to take you home."

" But what about school?" Lucas asked and the others nodded.

" I spoke to Mr. Clarke and he agreed to let you guys leave, he's got it covered."

" Oh, that's awesome!" Dustin said a little too loud, resulting to some kids turning to give them weird looks. You knew how judgy kids could be in this grade.

" Why don't you try being a little more quiet? Your friend is supposed to be missing. I thought I'd find you guys crying your eyes out." you started making your way towards the door, the kids behind you.

" We know Will. He's going to be alright." Mike said confidently and got out of the room.

You had to admit that they were stronger than you gave them credit for. Your anxiety was eating you alive ever since the police came to question you.

After you dropped all the kids to their homes and explained the situation to their mothers, you and Dustin arrived back home. Before you could even say a word, Dustin had gone to his room, closing the door behind him.

You knew your brother well enough and that wasn't normal for him. Maybe the rest of the party wasn't as anxious as he was, but Dustin was certainly worrying a lot about his friend. That's why you wanted him to come home from school. After losing the friends he had made back home, you knew he had a fear of being alone, of losing people.

You decided to do some chores around the house, before going to speak to him, you knew he needed some time to process his emotions. You made some food for you to eat, cleaned the plates and the kitchen counter, placing everything back to their place. Lastly, you gave Mews his food and headed to knock on your brother's door.

" Hey, buddy? Can I come in?" you heard a mumble from inside the room and took it as a yes. You opened the door and saw your brother lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. You made your way to him and sat down on the bed, rubbing his stomach.

" Mike is so sure Will is going to be okay, but... What if he isn't? What if something terrible has happened? What if-" Dustin started expressing his thoughts immediately, without you even asking him, but before he continued you stopped him.

" Hey, no, no, no. You can't think like that.. It's perfectly okay for you to feel sad, but you can't give up on him that easily." you watched him sit up, frowning.

" I don't know.."

" Will is going to be okay. They are gonna find him and before you know it you'll be playing d&d again, alright?" you rubbed his arm, reassuring him.

" Promise?"

" Promise." you smiled down at him and hugged him. You hated what was happening. You just hoped you could keep that promise

___

You were cleaning one of the tables at the diner. It was around seven in the afternoon, the sky already pitch black. Some people decided to stay a bit longer at the diner than usual since of a rather heated conversation you didn't really want to be a part of.

They were discussing the disappearance of Will. By now the whole town has heard about what happened, Hopper even organized a search party for Will in the woods to try and find anything that could help them, maybe even find Will. You were hoping for the latter.

When you mother had arrived home, she told you she would be going to help as well. She was so sad when she found out about Will. Your brother wanted to go as well, but both of you and mom made him promise not to go out alone until this whole thing has been resolved.

She was worried about you too returning alone from your shift, especially now that Jonathan can't ride you back, but you promised her you'd go straight back home as fast as you could.

" I bet the kid ran away back to his father. A woman alone can't raise a kid, they can't give them the protection they need." you rolled your eyes at one of the comments an old costumer made. That's what you had to deal with all afternoon. People making speculation about a family they didn't even truly know. You had to control yourself so many times to not start yelling. You were just glad it was almost time to leave.

" I'm surprised you made it till the end of your shift." you heard Donna say. She was one of the other waitresses here and the oldest. Mr. Miller and her have worked along side for almost 30 years " I thought that by now you'd be done with all the bullshit you've been hearing and got the hell out of here."

You chuckled at her comment "You have no idea how much patience I have. Also I need to be paid." she laughed at your comment. Donna was really sweet. You remember was warm she was to you on your first day here, making you feel welcomed.

" Amen to that." you approached her behind the counter, setting down the disk you had on your hands "They really don't know what happened to Willy, huh?" she asked as you followed her to the kitchen where you would clean the dirty dishes you had collected.

" All they know is that he didn't come home last night... The police has the same theories our 'beloved' costumers have, but I don't buy it. Will doesn't trust Lonnie anymore."

" Yeah, pretty sure no one ever did." she remembers Lonnie and knew about what had happened. Donna was the kind of woman that knew everything going around this town, but never gossiped unless she could trust you.

You finished with the dirty pile and it was finally time for you to go home. You quickly changed your outfit in the bathroom (not making the same mistake you did yesterday) and bid your goodbyes to Donna and Mr. Miller.

The ride home was more scary that you had thought it'd be. You were constantly checking around for anyone or anything coming close to you. You passed the familiar houses, seeing that most of them didn't have their lights on. You guessed they were out to search for Will. The moment you stepped inside your house was when you finally felt safe. You were just realising how fast your heart was beating.

" Dustin, I'm back!" you took off your jacket and called out for Dustin, but received no answer back "Dustin?" you said once again as you were walking towards his bedroom.

You opened the door and saw the room empty. Your heart was beginning to beat like crazy again. You noticed a little note on his bed and your eyes widened at the words.

' Y/n, I'm sorry, but i couldn't stay behind and do nothing. We'll be okay.'

" Son of a bitch." your body took action before you could even think about what you would do. You put your jacket back on, grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen and rode again into the darkness, barely noticing the rain that had just started.

You didn't really have a plan. You knew they'd be out in the woods, but you had no idea where to start. You hoped you'd be able to find a footprint or maybe their bikes on the side of the road, but no luck. The rain was getting stronger by the minute and it was getting hard to see. After thirty minutes of searching any signs for their path on the road, you decided you were just wasting time and you should also go in to find them. But before you could stop your bike, a raccoon ran to cross the road out of nowhere, giving you no time to dodge it carefully. The force of your brakes made you lose your balanced and you fell on the wet road.

" Ah, shit." you could feel your knee bleeding from the harsh fall. After a moment of collecting yourself, you cursed the damn raccoon and got up, making your way to a nearby tree so you could place your bike there.

You sighed, putting your hands on your hips, as you debated your options about going in or not, when you heard noise coming from next to you.

You turned and looked around, flashing the light towards the sound. You saw no one and nothing there. You approached carefully trying to understand what had caused it. Suddenly, you heard a branch breaking from behind you and you yelped. But again you saw nothing.

" If it's that stupid raccoon, I swear to God.." you whispered to yourself.

You were taking a last look around you, when you heard growling. Every single hair on your body went up, fearing for your life. Last year a hunter had reported the appearance of a black bear in the woods. They never found anything, but you were now dreading the thought of the bear being real. You felt it coming closer by the second when lights were shown into your eyes.

" Fuck! Who is that?!" you yelled shielding your eyes from the lights. If someone was playing a joke on you, you'd go mad. But luckily a very familiar voice was heard.

" Y/n, why are you out here?" it was your brother. His light along side Luca's light from their bikes was what had startled you.

You looked at them, your eyes finally adjusting to the light, and scoffed "What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You think this is okay? Dustin you promised you'd stay in! Do you understand it's dangerous out here?!"

" We're sorry, okay? But we couldn't stay inside while everyone was doing something to help!" your brother protested and you bit your lip.

" Never, and I mean ever, go behind my back like that, okay?" you saw them nod their heads and you took a deep breath "Where's Mike?"

" I'm here." you heard him say as he got out of the woods and next to his friends, but he wasn't alone. A kid around their age was hiding behind him wearing his jacket.

" Who is this?" you asked confused as you looked at the shaved child.

" We'll explain everything when we get to Mike's, come on." Lucas announced and after some minutes you carefully made your way in, trying not to wake anybody up.

You got down to Mike's basement and while you were all getting settled in, you started asking all the questions that were running through your head.

" So, you just found her there?" you hadn't realised at first that she was a girl, but after a careful look it was clear to you. From the moment you saw here first till now as she sat on the couch, she looked frightened.

" Yes! That's what we've been telling you. We went out to look for Will, but found her instead." Mike told you and you just shook your head.

" This is insane.. " you whispered under your breath and locked eyes with the girl "Sweetie, is everything okay?" you tried to go closer to her, but she flinched at your movement. You stopped and took a couple steps back "Shit.."

" Is there a number we can call for your parents?" you heard Mike speak up, but the girl didn't flinch at him, which raised even more questions.

" Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?" Dustin said from beside you and you hit his arm, silently telling him that was inappropriate.

" Did you ran away?" Lucas joined in right before Mike asked again.

" Are you in some kind of trouble?" the girl hadn't said a word, just looking back and forth between the boys as they spoke.

" Is that blood?" Lucas pointed to the girl's dirty shirt, when you've finally had enough.

" Hey, stop it! You're making her even more scared than she already is."

" She's scaring me!" Lucas protested looking up at you.

" I bet she's deaf." Dustin told you, then clapped his hands together to prove his point. But the girl reacted to the sound, making you roll your eyes at your brother's words "Not deaf."

" Okay, that's enough! All these questions are not the right way to approach this situation." you informed them.

" And how do we get her to talk?" Lucas asked sarcastically, but you ignored him. You tried to get as close to the lost child as you could so you didn't scare her even more. You crouched down so she wouldn't have to look up at you.

" Hey, can you tell me your name, dear? We just want to help you." you gave her one of your sweet smiled, but got nothing in return "Okay that was my best shot." you sighed and got up again.

" She's shivering." Mike noticed and went to find some clothes for her to wear. While he was looking around, the storm outside was getting bigger, the thunder scaring the girl.

" It's okay.. It was just a thunder." you tried to reassure her, when Mike finally returned holding a couple clothes out for her.

" Here, these are clean, okay?" the girl reluctantly took the clothes from Mike. You observed her as she wiped some of the droplets on her face, before she placed them on the couch. She took off Mike's jacket and went to take off her clothes right there.

Exclamations of surprise left the boys' mouths and you just rolled your eyes "My God, relax. Not here sweetie. The bathroom would be a better choice." you expressed your idea outloud and Mike agreed.

" Yeah, yeah.. Um, follow me." Mike headed to the small bathroom and the girl followed behind silently.

" Did you have to be so weird about it? Poor thing, I don't think she understands anything of what's happening." you looked over to them and heard a small 'no' and 'yes' from the girl. That made you feel like you were making some progress and let a small sigh of relief.

" It's not out fault that she did that!" Lucas said shocked over this whole situation.

" This is mental." your brother said when Mike returned from the bathroom.

" At least she can talk." Mike told you when he stepped into your little circle.

" She said 'no' and 'yes'. Your three-year-old sister says more." Lucas said, sarcasm filling his words.

" She tried to get naked." Dustin said and looked at all of you, before Lucas continued.

" There's something seriously wrong with her. Like wrong in the head."

" Okay, I think you guys are exaggerating. Maybe she doesn't know how to react around people.. Especially strangers." you tried to justify her actions. She's so young and she's somewhere she doesn't know, you wouldn't want to be in her shoes at all.

" She just went like..." Dustin said from next to you as he tried to imitate the girl's movement when she tried to take her clothes off and, in the process, knocked his hat from his head.

" Yeah, she doesn't know how to react, because she escaped from Pennhurst and I'm sure of that." Lucas pointed out and you groaned at his comment.

" From where?" Mike questioned, clearly getting as annoyed as you.

" The nuthouse in Kerley County."

" You got a lot of family there?" Dustin teased Lucas once again.

" Bite me."

" Hey! Stop it you two!" you pointed at them, your expression harsh.

" Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy." Lucas said looking up at you. You could see in his eyes that he wasn't joking, he was serious about the girl and also scared.

" Why she went like..." Dustin did the same movement as before.

" She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho."

" Like Michael Myers." Dustin added to Lucas's comment.

" Stop assuming things about people. And let's not jump into any more theories." you told them.

" We should have never brought her here." Lucas said.

" So, you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?" Mike nearly yelled at him, you worried about his parents or Nancy hearing you.

" Yes! We went out to find Will, not another problem." Lucas's fought back and you've had enough.

" Hey! I am not going to make another comment about your behaviors, alright? We have to help her, she's lost and scared. It's the right thing to do." you looked them all in the eye, Dustin nodding his head.

" We should tell your mom." he said after you.

" I second that." Lucas' spoke as well.

" Finally we agree." you sighed at their idea.

" Who's crazy now?" Mike told you all.

" How is that crazy?"

" Cause we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?" Mike argued back at Lucas's question.

" I remember." you said sternly, sending a look towards Mike.

" Yes.. So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your guys' mom..."

" Oh, man." Dustin sighed.

" Our houses become Alcatraz." Lucas looked like he had a profound realization about the whole thing.

" Exactly. We'll never find Will."

" First of all, it's not your job to find Will." you protested, trying to put some sense into their little minds.

" We won't stop looking, Y/n.. If you want us to be safe, come along, but we're not stopping." Mike looked at you with the most serious expression you've ever seen him have.

" You- Okay.. Okay! Let's get back to the issue at hand. Listen to the plan, alright. She stays here for tonight-" you started laying out the plan you had on your head.

" Mike is gonna have a girl here-" Lucas said shocked but Mike stopped him.

" She's right. The storm is too strong for her to go out again."

" Tomorrow morning you're gonna have to take her to your mother without raising any suspicions of you guys being out tonight, because all of them will freak out, especially our mother." your yours were mainly headed towards Mike, but you could she Dustin agreeing to your little comment about your mom. She cared a lot about the too of you and that made her sometimes a little too protecting.

" I'm going to have her sneak to the front door. Mom will know what to do after that. She'll go back to Pennhurst or whenever she comes from and this story will be done, so we can focus again on Will." Mike finished your plan.

"God, this is crazy..." you said under your breath as you watched the boys make a small fort like bed for the girl to sleep in. You decided to go check on her. She still looked a bit frightened around you, but you gave her your best smile hoping she would start trusting you. All you wanted was for her to be safe again.

After everything was set up, she sat on the bed looking at Mike who was talking to her alone. The rest of you were putting your jackets back on, even though they were still wet from the rain. Dustin put his hat back on and you headed to the stairs. You were the first one to get up to the main floor of the house, looking down at Dustin and Lucas who were staring at the other two.

" Do you really think she's physco?" you faintly head Dustin ask.

" Wouldn't want her in my house." his friend answered.

" Hey, come on, let's head out." you called out for them and after a second both of them were next to you.

You walked to the door, when you heard a light switch turning on.

" Shit, go, go, go!" you whispered and quickly opened the door, motioning for them to head out. You made it safely out, without anyone seeing the three of you.

The rain was still falling down heavily, so your ride back to your homes was slow and steady. You dropped Lucas off and after five minutes you and Dustin arrived home. You went in, taking your wet shoes and jackets off, before placing them in the laundry room. Luckily your mother hadn't arrived yet, so you were in the clear. You both got ready for bed in silence, the shock from the night filling your heads.

You were thinking about everything that had happened while taking off your clothes, when suddenly you remember something that was left unexplained. Your blood stained knee made itself aware to you. You had completely forgotten about it, since it didn't hurt that much and also because of the girl that you found in the woods.

You put on your pyjamas, your eyebrows scrunching as you headed to your brother's bedroom.

" Hey.."

" Hi." he answered you without looking up at you, he was busy fixing his school bag for tomorrow.

" Did you guys maybe, uh... hear a growling in the woods while you were out there?" you knew the question sounded weird, but that moment had really terrified you. You didn't even know what it was.

" Growling?" now he turned to look at you.

" Yeah.. did you hear something or saw a big animal?"

" No, other than the girl, we didn't see anyone else. Are you okay?" you could see him worrying about the sound you had heard, but you decided to dismiss it.

" I bet it was nothing.. Probably that damn raccoon that scared me in the road." you giggled and your brother smiled at your comment. You didn't want him to have more worries in his mind and it probably really wasn't something huge anyway, just your scared mind playing tricks on you.

" Goodnight, buddy."

" Goodnight." he answered back and you both headed to your beds, unawared of the actual danger of the situations you had gotten yourselves into.

~~~

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[sadruru]

A little bit about the events in Barovia: I'll describe a bit of what happened to Light and her company. 1. In the Baron's mansion we had to fight the guards who were looking for Viktor Vallakovich for some reason. We killed them. Nita didn't like it, with low HP she freaked out and decided to lift the couch instead of Ismark. Failed her athleticism test and got a bleed. Light decided to help and angrily healed her.

2.I didn't tell you last time, but this guy's name is Albian. A red-haired guy with green clothes and green eyes. He's a warlock, but he's not an elf. He was originally born human, but Light somehow managed to talk to him separately and found out that his special appearance is due to a pact, just like his hat. Berries and flowers constantly grow on the hat, and he can't take it off for long. Albian didn't say who he made the pact with, and Light didn't insist. But she quickly realized that it seemed to be one of the very powerful fairies. He also talks weird. Like a storyteller from a fairy tale. And he gave everyone nicknames. He calls Light a blackberry. We offered to help him find Victor, his friend (yes, in our game, he is Victor's good friend). We agreed. But he only whispered what he looked like in Light's ear. I was shocked by such an act, blushed and banged my fist on the table for a long time. Yeah, I like watching them as a funny couple.

3. Light ran off in embarrassment with Tyrin, a priestess of Suna, the goddess of love and beauty. Somehow, miraculously, things had devolved into a rather personal conversation. Light told a bit about herself. The half elf tried to convince the fairy that she should try to open her heart again and not remember the past. Light really wants to go home.

Even I myself was amazed by this kind of conversation, even though this is my first time playing DnD. We talk to each other a lot. It brings out our characters more. And it seems like Light really fell in love~

4. …But someone clearly has trust issues, and there are many reasons for that. Because of the Shadow Plan, the fairy has emotional problems. She never feels happy or cheerful. Sveta dislikes people very much… She killed those who betrayed her and felt nothing, no conscience torments her. It scares her. I've noticed that a lot of my characters have trust issues. I need to think about it…

5. We fled the city from an angry mob of peasants. We stopped for the night in the woods on the way to the Abbey of St. Markovia. We even found Victor! Now we have a long rest. Turns out Albian can do different hairstyles (he has 2 younger sisters). Light got brave and asked him to braid her hair. He agreed.

I'm really glad he's being nice to her at all. But I've been told that he and Victor are in this story for a reason and could be very disappointing…

I love the drama and the glass eating. Thanks. I wish I hadn't been told that... 🗿

6. Right now, Light wasn't thrilled with her appearance. But Albian hinted that Victor might be able to tell her something about her problem. I already know what's haunting her. I'm freaked out by that fact. Maybe later I'll drop a hint who exactly.

7. Darcy is our dhampir. The whole group wishes she and Ismark were together. He's really paying attention to her. Albian's finished with her hair. Even added flowers.

Light is cute~ But Albian is blind and can't see that she really likes him 🗿🗿🗿

And me, of course. Some memes!~ I once stayed up all night and day. I turned into the Joker. I told jokes, screamed about crazy ending theories, about Victor, Albian, myself, panicked. The Dungeon Master just silently read my ramblings with interest... and smiled. Shook my hand in messages. I'm really scared now and I'm wondering what's going to happen next. What did I sign up for?!..

[mariana-oconnor]

The Boscombe Valley Mystery pt 1

We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought in a telegram.

Watson's back living with his wife at this point. I assume he means Mary and he's not got married again without mentioning it.

'Have just been wired for from the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect.'

The word 'tragedy' does not fill me with optimism. But I suppose maybe if the tragic part is already out of the way before the story even starts, this might be less tragic than some of the others (Greek Interpreter, I'm looking at you).

But the airy tone and positivity here 'Air and scenery perfect' is such a wonderful juxtaposition with 'tragedy'. Hey Watson, want to investigate a horrible death? It's a beautiful part of the country.'

"What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "Will you go?" "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at present." "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, and you are always so interested in Mr Sherlock Holmes's cases." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained through one of them," I answered.

Yeah, Mary wants him out of the house. But Watson doesn't seem enamored of the idea.

And Watson being cute with his wife is such a weird thing to see here. In fact this entire exchange is strange. We don't usually have Mary on the page, and the fact that they're here having a nice chat over breakfast and Watson's flirting like 'of course I'm interested in Sherlock's cases, they're how I met you.' He's being quite smooth here. Gonna give him that.

But Mary absolutely wants him to get out from under her feet for a bit. And he doesn't take a lot of persuading, but more than I anticipated.

It's kind of nice to see this little slice of domesticity between them.

We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had brought with him.

An entire carriage to yourself? On a train in the UK? Wow. Excuse me while I try to imagine this...

"Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days."

How the turns table!

Watson, not reading the paper? Unthinkable!

"The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man."

So we have a dead man and a son convicted of his murder. And Holmes is once again saying that boring crimes are more difficult to solve.

"The men had known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible."

I'm not the only one getting vibes, here, right?

"One was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr Turner."

I am instantly suspicious of this old woman. Who is she? What was she doing there? What's her name? How is she connected?

Watch her just be a random bystander who happened to be taking a walk.

"A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers."

Moran, you say?

It is not looking good for young Mr McCarthy, I have to say. But do we trust Patience Moran who heard some bad language and went running to snitch to her mother.

"There are several people in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect in connection with 'A Study in Scarlet', to work out the case in his interest."

Is that a whiff of romance I smell in the air?

And Lestrade! Hi Lestrade. Good to have you back.

"...in this season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and inference."

Watson, you look a right mess. Oh, I'm only saying this to demonstrate my observational brilliance.

Lol. This is not objective, Holmes. You use the word 'slovenly'. You know what you're doing. Although I cannot deny that after some of Watson's descriptions of perfectly nice people, he kind of deserves this a bit.

I also feel like maybe this is the sort of thing a spouse is supposed to mention. Like 'James, dear. Your beard is a good quarter inch longer on the left side than the right. Maybe you should check that?'

"On the inspector of constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts."

Omg I've been spelling deserts wrong in this context for my entire life. Wtf. I mean, it makes sense because 'what I deserve', 'my deserts'. But I've only ever heard the one s word pronounced as dezert, not dizert so I just assumed. Wow.

"He appeared to be much surprised at seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, for my father was a man of a very violent temper."

Methinks the man was waiting for someone else and did not want his son around to see the meeting.

"He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some allusion to a rat."

Was it a giant rat, perhaps from overseas? Say... Sumatra?

"It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which followed."

I always get so annoyed when people say this in mysteries. Like, my dude, if you don't know who killed him and you don't know why then you have no idea if it was related to your argument or not. Maybe someone overheard/saw your argument and went up to argue with him about the very same thing. You cannot know. Either you don't know why your father was killed or you do know why your father was killed, you cannot have it both ways.

"The Coroner: 'I understand that the cry of "Cooee" was a common signal between you and your father?' "Witness: 'It was.' "The Coroner: 'How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?'"

I mean... it's not exactly a top secret password? It's not like 'The fourth hawk hunts the night fox on the road to Atlantis'. It's a word. That is used in a certain context. Being used in that context. Unless coo-ee wasn't a phrase until after this?

OK, researching it has brought me dangerously close to spoilers, but I scrolled back up quickly enough that all I saw was the name of the story.

But apparently it's a Native Australian term originally, which I feel will be relevant because the two really good friends have come over from Australia. The wiki article says that it wasn't unknown in London in 1852 which is significantly before this story was written and set, but maybe it would be strange in a rural context. BUT if the guy is Australian why would he only use it with his son?

He was talking to his 'friend' from Australia.

Is this going to be a 'they're not really friends, they just know each others secrets' kind of situation?

"'Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was gone.'"

Weird to see the word 'plaid' here as I've never heard an English person use it, I don't think. But it doesn't seem to be being used to describe a pattern, but a specific item here. Which research tells me could be the full kilt with the bit over the shoulder and everything - that would be a strange thing to be lying around in the grass - or it's a type of jacket... so it's just another way of saying coat?

Now we have a mysterious missing piece of grey fabric that may or may not have been a coat. Implying that the younger Mr McCarthy missed a whole ass person while he was cradling his father's dead body. Not that I can blame him for that.

Though I suppose it could have been a dog or an animal of some sort that grabbed the item.

"Both you and the coroner have been at some pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him credit for having too much imagination and too little?"

Like I said before, you can't have it both ways, Watson.

But I like Holmes's point: it's both too weird and too useless for him to have made it up. If you're going to make up a story, you make it believable and relevant to your innocence.

"And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the scene of action."

Reading time now. Shhh, Watson!

[stardustedknuckles]

Oh noooo, all these Fluff Prompts are way too cute, how am I expected to choose- maybe 1 and 7 together? Beauyasha of course :3

"You look really good in my clothes" and "I could just stare all day"/"creep."

I decided to stay in the canon timeline because I don't do enough of that. post-canon, Yasha and Beau join Fjord and Jester on their ship the way the gods intended and it's always a bit tricky, starting a new chapter of an adventure, but some wonderful things remain constant. Few hundred words.

It was nearly evening when Beau slipped away from the general vicinity of everyone belowdecks, and the sun was in a full and splendid set when Yasha came to find her. Her boots approaching on the wood were soft but deliberate over the sound of the water around them, and something in Beau warmed at the quiet request implied. She didn't turn from the view or the cold breeze stinging at her exposed skin, just patted the ledge beside her and dangled her feet as Yasha made her way up to join her - but not before a rustle and the smell of home as her girlfriend's coat settled on Beau's own shoulders with the sort of warmth that surprised her with the knowledge she had been cold at all. Beau gathered the front in one hand and shivered gratefully as Yasha's leg pressed against hers, and when one great arm rested over her shoulders she abandoned all pretense of stoicism and melted against her side with a long exhale.

"Hey, babe. You feel like contemplating your whole life too?"

"My whole life? Whoof, that's a lot for one sunset." Yasha squeezed her gently. "I mostly wanted to contemplate you, if that's okay."

Beau peeled her eyes from the peach-bottomed clouds over the fading horizon and roved them over Yasha now instead. The cacophony of color around them made pink and purple shimmers of the silver in her hair, violet eye shot bright orange with fading sun and the shadows around her small smile hazy with the last rays of light. "Shit," Beau remarked. "I think you're onto something. I'd definitely rather think about my hot and amazing girlfriend. Sold."

Yasha smiled wider. "I can say I do recommend it." Her lips brushed Beau's forehead, and between the heat of her body and the smell of the too-large coat, the thing Beau had felt wobbling inside of her - the dam bending that had prompted her to seek out solitude - gave a decisive lurch. Beau blinked hard against her blurring vision, but Yasha's face was six inches from her own and her perception doubled when it was about her. "Baby?" Her free hand lifted to Beau's face, fingers calloused and almost reverent where they alighted on her chin and cupped her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Beau lifted a hand to her eyes, exceedingly careful not to nudge Yasha away as she wiped the first tears on the pad of her thumb and sniffed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm actually maybe better than I've ever been?" Yasha's concern faded but didn't vanish completely, a kind of understanding filtering in that brought a fresh ache rippling through her stomach. "It's just weird, I guess. Kinda fucked up, like I'm not really used to feeling this good. I guess I'm just…processing. Life after the Nein, missing people like Veth and Caduceus, you know, who like me too for once…it's still all new." More tears gathered, but Yasha was prepared this time and curled a gentle knuckle to catch them.

"Were you hiding up here? Did I ruin it?"

Beau managed a soggy chuckle and tilted her hand into Yasha's palm with a sniff. "You didn't ruin anything, Yash. I'm glad you're here."

"Okay, good," Yasha breathed. "Because this is a really bad hiding spot."

As though to emphasize her point, a voice came from six feet behind them both. "Grub's up soon!" Marius called. "And we got bacon too."

"No," Beau corrected over her shoulder. "People who have killed something get bacon. If you're good you can have some cinnamon in your oatmeal."

"Oh come on," Marius grumbled. Then, voice growing closer, "Everything alright? You sound -"

"Fine," Yasha said flatly over Beau's head. "She sounds wonderful. Just we're, you know. Enjoying the sunset and the fresh air. Alone, together. We'll be down for dinner, uh." She glanced at Beau. "When we get there."

Beau could hear Marius's lifted hands in his voice as it receded. "Okay, yep. No problem. See you…whenever."

Yasha's gaze stayed focused on his direction for another moment, and then she met Beau's and they both cracked a small smile. "Fucking Marius," said Beau.

"Useless," Yasha agreed. Her thumb stroked Beau's chin. "You look really good in my coat, by the way."

Being held like this, complimented and wanted so plainly - it was still so new to Beau, fresh every time. Only the knowledge that wanting was itself a rebellion of sorts for Yasha, a kind of trust, kept her from a reflexive shrinking from the intensity of her quiet and simple affection - or you know. From crying again.

A hundred deflective innuendos perched at the tip of her tongue, but all she said was, "oh yeah?"

Yasha nodded. "I could just stare. Allllll day."

"Creep."

The delighted chuckle Beau got in response put the sunset to shame, and she was already tilting her chin when Yasha leaned in to press that smile to her own.

"Feel better?" she asked, after. Her fingertips scratched lightly over the fuzz of Beau's undercut, making her a puddle in a new kind of way. "Or, um. Worse? You said you felt really good, but…"

"Better," Beau confirmed. She squeezed Yasha's knee and smiled. "I might go to the crow's nest next time though, heads up. Not hiding from you, but for Marius's sake, y'know, maybe where he can't ask stupid questions."

Yasha nodded seriously. "That's very kind of you."

"Kindest in the realm, remember?"

"Remember? I always knew."

They stepped together off the wide railing of the ship, Yasha's hands reaching to adjust the coat around Beau's shoulders but making no move to reclaim it.

"You know," Beau said, "I almost believe that."

"That you're the kindest person in Exandria?"

"That you had my number from the word go."

"Oh that. I certainly had something. I mean look at you, baby. You've always been incredible."

Beau stuck her arms through the sleeves of Yasha's coat and gave an obliging twirl, gratified and a little stricken by the way Yasha was watching her with open adoration when she stopped with her arms still out. "Don't got a mirror handy. Feel free to tell me how incredible I look."

The sun was well blow the water now, the shadows digging in deeper around Yasha's expression but only serving to make her softer around the eyes. "You look like someone who wants a piggyback ride to dinner, yes?"

Beau lifted her arms higher. "You fucking know it, baby."

They were both giggling when Beau leaped up on her girlfriend's offered back, and as one they headed towards the open galley door and the food and friends waiting below.

[theowritesstuff]

Head Over Heels

Book 1 - Chapter Seven: The Bathtub

Steve Harrington x gn!reader (eventually)

Head Over Heels Masterlist

A/N: This ones kind of boring, there’s no Steve, but I promise there’ll be some fun Steve moments in the next chapter!

Summary: The group of you gather with Hopper, Ms. Byers, and the kids, and figure out a way to find Will.

Warnings: blood, mentions of weapons and traps, mentions of killing the demogorgan

One of the women working in the police department had given Nancy a towel with some ice for Jonathan to hold against his knuckles. Yours weren’t half as bad as his, having only hit Steve once. They were a little raw, but you hadn’t broken skin.

You remember seeing a flash of Steve’s face as he got up and ran from the cops. He was bloody, blood covering the left side of his face, a little bit dripping from his nose. He deserved it though, after spray painting on the movie theater sign and insulting the Byers family.

The three of you sat at one of the unoccupied desks in the office area. The officers had handcuffed Jonathan’s hands, in fear that he would try to fight back.

When Ms. Byers came in, followed by Police Chief Hopper, you were ready to be scolded for fighting, for the box of weapons and traps the officers pulled out of your car, probably for hanging out in the woods behind the Harrington’s house.

What you didn’t expect was for Ms. Byers and Hopper to tell the other officers to uncuff Jonathan, and take the group of you to Hopper’s office. Nancy took the photo out of her bag and handed it to Ms. Byers.

“This is gonna sound crazy, but that’s what we were looking for. We think it took Barb, and Will. We went to the woods to look for it, then Nancy and I crawled through a tree and found it.” You told them.

“It wasn’t human. It was like… a monster or something…” Nancy trailed off.

“We think it can smell blood, and that’s how it finds it’s victims.” Jonathan says.

“We were gonna use the stuff in my car to catch it, or at least try to catch it.” You say, leaning back in your chair.

“That’s actually not the craziest thing I’ve heard this week.” Hopper sighs. “You say blood draws this thing?”

“We don’t know.” Jonathan shrugs.

“It’s just a theory.” Nancy mumbles.

Ms. Byers takes Jonathan back out into the hallway, leaving you and Nancy with the chief.

“You guys didn’t have to do this alone, you could’ve come and asked for help.” He tells you.

“Yeah, and you wouldn’t think we were nutcases, huh?” You ask sarcastically.

Hopper is about to respond, when you hear shouting coming from another room.

“Gimme a minute.” He says, then leaves the two of you alone.

“I’m sorry I got us into this mess.” Nancy says softly. Her eyes are glued to the floor, like she’s afraid of looking at you.

“I’m hiding a kid in your basement.” You tell her.

She turns to you, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

You can’t help but laugh. “I’m hiding a kid in your basement.” You repeat yourself. “I figured ‘Hey, we’re hunting down a monster, and may not survive the next couple of days, why not tell Nancy I put a girl in her basement?’ It’s not really a big deal when you think about everything else going on.” You laugh.

You explain to Nancy how you found Eleven, then hid her in her basement with the kids. You told her that you thought she might somehow be connected to everything going on, but you just couldn’t figure it out.

“I found her the night Will went missing.”

“Yeah, that’s weird.” She said.

You could tell she was thinking, trying to piece together this puzzle in her mind.

“C’mon, we gotta go.” Hopper says as he pokes his head back into the office. “You kids are going home, we’ll get your car back to you after all this is over.” He says to you.

You and Nancy gather your things, including the box from the army surplus store, and follow Hopper back out to his car. You, Nancy, and Jonathan squeeze into the backseat of Hopper’s car, you in the middle, Nancy on your left, and Jonathan on your right. Ms. Byers sits in the passenger seat, constantly glancing out the window at the passing trees.

He drives you back to yours and Nancy’s houses, but parks further down the road. He steps out of the car with Nancy, as you’re about to get out, she stops, blocking your way.

You furrow your brows, then look out the window by Jonathan. You can see small figured walking back and forth between the Wheeler’s garage and a car.

“Slight change of plans guys.” Hopper sighs.

“No, I have to go home. My mom, my dad are there.” Nancy tries to step forward, but is pulled back to the car.

“Listen to me! The last thing in the world we need is them knowing you’re mixed up in all of this.” He tries to reason with her.

“Mike is over there!” She exclaims.

“They haven’t found him. Not yet at least.” He points up at a helicopter flying around over the fields.

“For Mike?” Nancy asks, shocked.

“Come on, get in the car.” He pushes Nancy back in the car, once again trapping you between her and Jonathan.

“Eleven…” you whisper to yourself.

“Eleven?” Jonathan asks.

“It’s a long story…” You sigh. “I found a girl, Eleven, and she said bad people were looking for her. And now there are government people snooping around the place I was trying to hide her.”

“We need to find them before any of them do. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?” Hopper asks the three of you.

“No, I don’t. I don’t know. We haven’t talked a lot. I mean, lately…” Nancy sighs.

“Is there any place that your parents don’t know about that he might go?” Ms. Byers asks.

“I might…” Jonathan says, looking out the window.

You turn to face him as he turns to look at the rest of you.

“I don’t know where he is, but I think I know how to ask him.” Jonathan tells Hopper to drive back to his house, and soon the five of you take off down the road.

Everyone rushes out of the car as soon as it’s parked at the Byers’ house, racing to the door. Jonathan hurriedly explains that the kids use walkie talkies almost all the time, and that there was a good chance one of them might have one. If you were able to find the right channel, you would be able to communicate with them.

You and Nancy stop when you see the wall covered in Christmas lights, each one with a letter of the alphabet underneath it. The others all rush past you, you grab Nancy’s hand and pull her further into the house. You throw the box of traps down on table, and start looking for the walkie talkie. You search everywhere for it, pulling out every drawer and opening every cupboard.

“I got it!” Ms. Byers calls out from a room over.

She gives the walkie talkie to Nancy, who plays with the switches, then speaks into it.

“Mike, are you there? Mike? Mike, it’s me, Nancy.” There’s no answer. “Mike, are you there? Answer. Mike, we need you to answer.” Still nothing. “This is an emergency Mike. Do you copy?”

You can tell Nancy’s starting to get more worried. If Mike didn’t answer, there would be almost no way to find him.

Hopper sighs, then grabs the walkie talkie from Nancy’s hands.

“Listen kid, this is the chief. If you’re there, pick up. We know you’re in trouble and we know about the girl.” He says. After no answer he tries again. “We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over.”

He puts the walkie talkie on a shelf after there’s still no answer. You all look around at each other, waiting for someone to suggest something.

“So what do we do now?” You ask.

“Yeah, I copy. It’s Mike. I’m here. We’re here.” Mike’s voice is fuzzy through the walkie talkie.

Nancy sighs in relief as you grin at her.

“We’re gonna get them back.” You tell her, squeezing her hand in yours.

Mike tells you where they’re all hiding, and promises that they’ll stay put until you come to get them. Hopper goes alone, leaving you, Nancy, Jonathan, and Ms. Byers at the Byers’ home.

Nancy spends the first ten minutes pacing back and fourth, the walkie talkie clutched to her chest.

“They’re gonna be okay Nancy.” You tell her.

She sits down next to you on the couch when her heartbeat steadies a little bit. You all sit in the living room quietly, until you hear a car pull up outside. Everyone stands up, then runs to the door. You stop when you see Hopper and the kids get out of the car.

“Mike?” Nancy breathes out. She runs to him, and wraps him up in her arms. “I was so worried about you!”

“Yeah, uh, me too.” He says.

“Y/n?” Eleven asks softly when she sees you.

You practically run to her too. You kneel down on the ground, so you’re her height, and pull her into a hug.

“Are you okay?” You ask her, pulling away to look at her face.

She nods and gives you a small smile.

“Is that my dress?” Nancy asked, staring at the young girl. She turned back to you, as you covered your mouth, trying to hide your laughter.

You all headed back inside to try and think of a plan, a way to find Barb and Will and bring them back. You crowded together in the living room, listening as the kids explained what they knew.

“Okay, so in this example, we’re the acrobat. Will and Barbara, and that monster, they’re this flea.” Mike held up a piece of paper with a drawing on it, using a pen to point at what he was talking about. “And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding. Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space.”

“A gate.” Dustin says.

“That we tracked to Hawkins Lab.” Lucas nods.

“With our compasses.” Dustin explains. “Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle.”

“A gate? So the tree…” You trail off.

“Was a tiny gate…” Nancy finishes for you.

“But it disappeared when you came back out.” Jonathan says.

“Is this gate underground?” Hopper asks.

“Yes.” Eleven whispers.

“Near a large water tank?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know all that?” Dustin stutters.

“He’s seen it…” Mike murmured.

Joyce moved so she was leaning closer to the kids. She looked at Eleven, and softly asked “Is there any way that you could, that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-”

“The Upside Down.” Eleven says. She nods her head.

“And our friend Barbara? Can you find her too?” Nancy asks the girl.

Eleven nods, then grabs a walkie talkie, and moves to the dining room table. She switches the walkie talkie on, static fills the room. She pulls the chair at the end of the table out and sits down in it. She takes a deep breath, then closes her eyes.

You all stand quietly around her, watching as her eyes move back and forth behind her eyelids. The lights flicker for a moment, and the static becomes quiet. Eleven opens her eyes, and looks at Ms. Byers.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers.

Ms. Byers grips Jonathan’s hand. “What? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I can’t find them.” Eleven’s voice cracks, you can see tears start to form in her eyes.

You move towards her and reach a hand out to her arm in an attempt to comfort her, but she bolts from the table.

“I know she says she can’t find them,” You turn to everyone else, and look at their disappointed faces. “but she’s trying her best. We shouldn’t put so much pressure on her. We can think of another way to get them back.”

The boys explained that El’s powers worked like a battery, use them too much and she’d need time to recharge.

“How do we make her better?” Ms. Byers asks them.

“We don’t. We just have to wait and try again.” Mike answers.

“Well how long?” Nancy asks.

“The bath.” El stands at the foot of the staircase. “I can find them. In the bath.”

Dustin calls the kid’s science teacher to ask how to recreate a sensory deprivation tank, like the one El’s used at the lab. He writes down all the things you’ll need, then hangs up the phone.

“Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?” He points his pencil at Ms. Byers.

“I think so, yeah…” She looks at Jonathan, who nods.

“Good, then we just need salt. Lots of it.” Dustin says.

“How much is lots?” Hopper asks.

Dustin looks back down at his notes, then back up at the chief. “1,500 pounds.”

“Who the hell has that much salt?” You ask.

Hopper and the kids all piled into his car, while you, Jonathan, Nancy, and Ms. Byers all got into hers. You drove through Hawkins, pulling up to the school. Hopper and Jonathan went to find the salt the school used for de-icing the road, Nancy and Mike went to look for a hose, Dustin and Lucas set up the kiddie pool in the gym, and you and Ms. Byers took El to an empty classroom to get her ready.

You found what looked to be a science classroom, and led both of them inside. El took a seat on one of the stools, while Ms. Byers looked through different cabinets and cupboards.

You sat down next to El, and gave her a small smile.

“How are you doing?” You ask her.

She nods her head. “Good.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to visit you too much. Sorry I left you with the boys.” You scrunch your nose at her, causing her to let out a small giggle.

“They are my friends.” She says.

“Alright, I found this. It should help keep it dark for you.” Ms. Byers walks back over to the two of you.

She hands El a pair of safety goggles with tape over them.

“You’re a very brave little girl. You know that, don’t you?” She asks El softly.

El looks away, at the ground beside her.

“Everything you’re doing for my boy… for Will…”

El looks back up at her.

“For my family… Thank you.” She whispers.

You take El’s hand in yours, holding onto it tight. “We are gonna be there with you the whole time. And if you get scared, just let me know, okay? If you see any bad people or monsters, let me know.”

El looks at you uncertain, she still looks scared.

“Did you know I can fight monsters now? I fought one with a baseball bat.” You tell her. You let go of her hand and pretend to swing a baseball bat.

The slightest smile grows on her face as she watches you pretend to fight an invisible monster. Even Ms. Byers can’t help but softly laugh.

You turn back to El, and take her hand again. “Are you ready?”

“Ready.” She says.

You walk with her, hand in hand, back to the gym. You can see her fidgeting with the goggles in her other hand nervously.

When you arrive, she hands you her goggles, and crouches down to take her socks off. She takes the black watch off her wrist and hands it to Mike, then holds her hand out, waiting for the goggles.

Before you hand them to her, you pull her into one more hug. You have one arm wrapped around her back, and the other hand cradling her head. You whisper the same thing you told her at the Wheeler’s house in her ear. “I promise, everything will be okay.”

She pulls away, and nods at you, then takes the goggles from your hands. She puts them on, and you slowly guide her into the pool.

You all sit in a circle, surrounding the pool, and watch as she lays down in the center. Not even a minute later the lights flicker, then turn off.

She floats for a few minutes, then she starts breathing heavily. “Gone. Gone. Gone.” She repeats over and over, her voice starting to crack.

You reach out for her, holding onto her hands in the water.

“It’s okay El. You’re okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m right here. We’re all right here.” You tell her softly.

Her breathing slowly starts to even out. “Castle Byers. Castle Byers.” She says. “Will?” You hear her ask.

Ms. Byers gasps beside you. “Tell him, tell him I’m coming. Mom is coming.” Ms. Byers tells El.

“Hurry…” Will’s voice squeaks out of the walkie talkie.

“You tell him to stay where he is. We’re coming. We’re coming, okay? We’re coming honey.”

El’s breathing speeds up again, then all of a sudden she sits up and tears the goggles from her face. She pulls on your arm, pulling you closer to her. You wrap your arms around her as she shivers from the cold. She holds onto you tight, afraid to let you go.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” You tell her softly stroking her hair. “You did amazing El. You were so brave. Are you okay?”

El nods, but you can hear her start to whimper. She turns her head and cries into your arm. You slowly pull her out of the water, and wrap her up in a soft towel.

You walk her over to the bleachers, where you sit her down. The boys all gather around her, checking in to make sure she’s okay. She leans her head on Mike’s shoulder, and rests her eyes.

“I’m gonna go talk to Nancy. I’ll be right back, okay?” You tell El.

“Okay.” She says, nodding.

You find Nancy out in the hallway, sitting down against the wall. She’s got her knees pulled up, and is staring ahead. Her eyes are red, bloodshot, and her cheeks have tear stains running down them. You slowly walk over to her, and take a seat beside her.

“I can’t believe she’s gone…” Her voice croaks out. “She’s gone, and it’s all my fault.” She lays her forehead against her knees, hiding her face.

“It’s not your fault, okay? I shouldn’t have left the two of you there.” You tell her.

She looks up at you and shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have brought you guys to that stupid party.”

Jonathan walks in from outside, and takes a seat on the other side of Nancy. The three of you sit in silence, until Nancy speaks up again.

“We have to go with them. Follow them.”

“What?” Jonathan asks.

“Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there. We can’t just sit here and let it get them too. We can’t.” Nancy says.

You furrow your eyebrows. “If your blood theory is right… We could lure the monster to us… We could distract it long enough for them to get Will.” You tell them.

They both turn to you, the dots connecting in their heads.

“That might work…” Jonathan agrees.

Nancy shakes her head. “I don’t want to distract it. I want to kill it.”

HOH Taglist: @nptnewr @rishlurh @scoobiessnacks @wisdomcrys @parker-natasha @missbunsworld

[kaizenkhaos]

Harringrove Week a go go!

Day 1 and I had an idea for this pretty early on but then the idea of Billy rewriting the Little Red Riding Hood story came to mind and that is where I went with it ^^

Prompts used are the fairy tale of course but also a couple of others thrown in for good measure. And maybe some horror references ;)

"Little Red Riding Wolf?"

Steve looked down at the scribbles on the piece of paper, baffled as to where the thought had come from in the other teen's head. He looked so god darn pleased with himself too, leaning back on his chair, two legs up, and smirking, hands behind his head as if he was in a Lazyboy. Steve on the other hand was stood up straight, his thigh touching the desk in front of Billy as he scanned across the lined papers, trying to make any ounce of sense of what he'd written.

"Yeah," Billy scoffed, putting his chair down with a thud and snatching the piece of paper from him, waving it before shoving it in his pocket.

"Why should the wolf get the shitty end of the stick all the time? Like, where are the stories about his experience? And why does it always have to be Red Riding Hood? Where is Hawkin's originality?"

He had a point. Most people in their class when given the assignment of rewriting the classic fairy tale of Red Riding Hood had focused on reinventing the heroine herself, or on the grandma or woodsman. No one had really mentioned the wolf, except for Billy and that really made Steve wonder about the guy. He himself was rather aloof but he did try and pay attention to his class mates and Billy, well...he was a bit of an anomaly. He had the ability to make girls weak at the knees and boys follow him around and he had sure as hell done the job of pushing him off the last steps to the throne. But there seemed to be so much more than that to the guy. Like he was an iceberg or something. Most of him was hidden depth.

Apparently though, whilst Steve was pondering, Billy hadn't stopped talking about his idea. How the wolf should have been given at least a perspective or something and been allowed to tell his side of the story.

"But," Billy paused, making sure Steve was actually paying attention to him before continuing, clicking his tongue and then leaning back in his seat, lounging again before his feet went smack bang up onto the desk "why stop at telling just the wolf's side of the story man? Why not have the *wolf* be the Red Hood?"

Steve looked at him and then nodded, pulling up a seat from nearby and spinning it around. Straddling it as like he was riding a horse and then leaning on his arms, resting himself on the back of the chair. The distinct feeling of them not moving for a while came over him. Not that he cared; they both had a free period and Billy didn't seem to be in a hurry to go away. Besides, he couldn't remember when he'd seen the guy so animated about anything. Other than tormenting him in various manners.

"So what I'm thinking is, that Little Red Riding Wolf lives out in the wood. Nice cabin, near a lake. Great for fishing, seeing the moon out on clear nights and the ladies dig it. He pretty much minds his own business. Eats the local deer and rabbits and helps with population control. You know, the good shit. Anyway, one day Wolfie is out in the woods...."

"Wolfie?" Steve snorts, his mouth curling into a smirk as he tilts his head in a way that makes Billy just frown. An almost pout drawing his lips together.

"Yeah Wolfie, now shut up man, I'm getting into the good part. So Wolfie is going into the woods, minding his own business as usual when fffffssstttt!"

Steve raised an eyebrow as the animated teen makes a rather weird noise and flings his arms up, like he's trying to be Michael Freaking Myers or something.

"This guy and girl appears. The girl is screaming her head off, like top of her lungs, blue murder kinda thing. Well, behind her is a Woodsman that Wolfie is pretty sure he's smelled before. Not down the lake but whilst venturing. Now, he also remembers that he'd had some rumours about a guy being in the woods, some kinda psychopath. But Wolfie knew these woods like the back of his hands or so he thought. So why'd he not seen him before? I still need to work out that part but what I do know is that he's a Killer of the serial kind."

So Billy was actually going with the whole Halloween vibe, though it also made Steve think of that other film. The one with the camp. Maybe it would come to him but he couldn't help but think Billy had been on some sorta horror binge recently or something. Or maybe the macabre just appealed to him.

"So Wolfie watches as this guy goes after this girl and he doesn't really know what to do. Well the next door, a police woman turns up at Wolfie's house. Now, before you laugh and scoff at me Steve hear me out. This is a fairytale so he can talk okay? Don't ask me how. Some magic mushrooms or some enchanted shit."

Now that did make Steve laugh. Trust Billy to have something like that in there, though he couldn't talk. It had briefly crossed his mind before he'd started to just think about Disney and Looney Tunes. Even Muppets. They didn't need an explanation for people to believe the animals could talk, so why should Mrs Petunia get to judge on that sorta thing?

"Okay, sure man," Steve nodded, looking at Billy still with amusement but he had to admit, he was really getting into this story. His look telling Billy to continue.

"The police officer is the start of some really shit times for the Wolf. Cos it turns out that people have been goin' missin' and the town, well, you know how it goes right man? Wolf in the woods..... Forgot the fuckin' psycho with the chainsaw who is apparently a nice man who lumbers wood for a living. Can't possibly be him...."

A hint of bitterness in his voice but Steve doesn't comment. Just lets the guy continue with his steam of consciousness.

"Wolfie tells her about the guy in the woods, but the officer seems more interested in him and his hut in the woods and after that, Wolfie knows he has to do something. So he dons a red hood, don't ask me where he got it from Harrington, I'm working on it, and goes all vigilante. Little Red Riding Wolf."

A silence descends across the room as Steve waits for more and then realises that was it.

"So Harrington, whatcha think?"

"I....wasn't sure at first where you were going with it to be honest. But..yeah man."

A genuine smile crossed his face as his bright eyes catch on Billy's the pair sharing a look as Steve nodded and said softly,

"I like it. Can't wait to read it."

[sugar-vi421]

𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐌𝐄 | 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯

Bus Ticket.

tw: strong language.

  THE FIRST DAY IN ROSEVILLE

I Close my car door with my keys in hand, you could hear the jingling sound from them as I walk up to the front of the house. The House had looked a bit different than I remembered...there was fresh new paint on the front door and there was no chipping in the wood. I step up on the stairs to porch and to my surprise I didn't hear one creak. Mom must have gotten this place fixed up after Grandma Millie passed, who knows...maybe she wanted to sell it.

I take a breath in, smelling in the scent of cut grass making me want to sneeze a little.

It's kind of weird being back here, now that I've gotten older, I notice the house is a bit creepy, especially since the backyard is a big open space that leads right to the woods.

Grandma Millie told me to never go into those woods and that it was dangerous...

But I was a kid, and I didn't believe her-

"Hey excuse me ma'am!"

I turn around and see a moving service truck parked with the back open and 2 workers in their uniform, I ordered a service due to the fact I had a bunch of boxes, and I didn't feel like going back and forth on a 1-hour drive for a couple of boxes.

It was already 7 pm, and yes I decided to go later in the day because I forgot to pack all my stuff.

"All of your things have already been placed in the house, I just need you to sign here confirming we were here." He said in an annoyed tone basically shoving the clipboard and pen into my hands, I sign on the line, I gave him back the pen and he just walked away.

Rude much.

I went inside and like he said, everything was there. I look around and it looks exactly how I remembered it; I take a step back and I accidentally bump into something-

"Ouch"

-or someone...?

"I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention"- The man just let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head,

He was a hot mess.

"Oh no its okay, I was just looking around the house. It looks the same, but the vibe is oddly different?" I smell the fresh paint on the walls, I look around the room one more time and in the corner of my eye I see an outline for a tiny door opening under the stairs.

Strange, that was never there before.

"Yeah, especially with that new guy in town...people think its not safe anymore and I agree. It's a bit weird that you decided to return to Roseville now with everything going on." He said while his smile faded as soon as he mentioned that it wasn't safe.

New guy? Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

"Wait what are you talking about?" If I knew about this, I would've said no and stood up my own parents that evening. I don't care if its mean or whatever you probably said behind that little screen of yours.

He laughed and I just stood there feeling left out which I was, when he noticed I wasn't laughing he slowly stopped smiling.

"You really don't know? I shake my head no and he gripped part of his sleeve, he went to say something but stopped. Almost as if he was trying to find the right words to say.

Been there, but he really needs to start explaining who this guy is.

                              - ??? POV

                              9:54 pm

I rummage through my purse looking for my bus ticket I had just bought earlier,

God, I need a car...

Wow Sabrina, only if you had listened to your sister and took her offer on getting a ride.

But no, of course not.

The bus pulls up and I still can't find my ticket, I stop digging through my bag and look around quickly, I see my ticket on the floor, I run to grab it and as soon as I did, I turned around to see the same bus I needed to get home on leave.

Just my fucking luck.

Groaning I start walking, its about to be 10pm already and I just walked out from this horrible first date, it wasn't even the place that was bad, He didn't even offer to pay...He just said bye and walked out to his fancy car. Hopefully I can walk fast and get home...with a nice warm relaxing bath waiting for me.

The streets were empty, no one is usually out at this time. All I can hear are my heels clicking as my foot hits the ground and the things in my purse moving around when I walk.

Then I hear a pair of footsteps walking behind me, I don't look back however because they are a bit far away and what if they missed their bus like I did?

The footsteps started to get louder meaning they were getting closer.

I turned around to look behind me and I see a man with a hoodie on, I couldn't see his face because he was looking down, but I did see something sticking out of his pocket, it was metal because I can see the light from the streetlamp reflecting off from it but when I saw the back handle connected too it my heart dropped immediately.

This was not happening to me.

Please no.

I quickly turn back around and picked up the pace which I was walking.

But so did the man.

I saw a few lights and see a building up ahead, but I needed to make a turn.

He was getting closer, and my heart was racing faster.

I started to run, I ran and went right, and I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, the building was about 2 blocks away and all the houses I've just past either had for sale signs up or the lights were off.

I slowed down and looked behind me to see the man was gone, I stopped to listen, and he was gone. I sighed out of relief.

I turned back around.

And there he was standing with the same knife I saw earlier, but this time he had on a hooded robe with a rubber white mask with black eyes, nose and mouth all black, the robe was black as well so all you could really see was his mask and the knife he was holding.

I started to slowly walk back, and he walked towards me,

Then I ran.

At this point I'm crying and running for my life in heels, I ran back to where the bus was and decided to go around so I can go to the nearest open building and ask for help.

However this is when my heel decided it didn't want to continue anymore, I tripped as one of the heels on my shoes snapped in half, I got up quickly as I saw the man getting closer as he was walking towards me, I take off the shoes and started to just run but he swinged his knife at me as I got up and slashed me in the arm. As a reflex I hit him with my bag in my other hand making him drop his knife.

He went to look for his knife as it landed somewhere in a bush, and I just took off.

Thank God.

I saw a police station up ahead; from any other view you'd see me just running with my hand on my arm bleeding with no shoes on and messed up hair. I looked crazy.

I got to the doors and opened it just shouting for help, the officers at the front saw me and immediately rushed to my side asking me what happened, and they saw the long cut on my arm and sat me down.

They patched my arm up and gave me some painkillers with a small cup of water. I had no idea of how I was going to get home or when for that matter since they wanted to ask me a few questions about what happened to me.

But I was just glad I was safe now.

"There have been multiple reports of missing persons over just this past month, and sadly the ones who were left have been found dead with numerous amounts of wounds, specifically stab wounds.

Earlier today there was a paper written by Jed Olsen, some of you may have read this paper already today but according to the article this new killer has been revealed with the video surveillance at what seems to be a victim's home, the camera was set by the killer and left there for the police to gather as evidence. The Surveillance shows the victim being stabbed while trying to escape the grasp of our newly town stalker. We have no more information for the killer now being named by the media as..."

...

"The Ghostface."

"Please remember to get home safely, lock all your doors and to be home at 9pm as the police have set a town curfew. We don't want any adults and children getting hurt. Be safe everyone."

I listened in on the news that was playing from the small tv in the corner, everyone's attention was on it and oh my god.

That's him-

I started to shout, and everyone looked at me.

That's the guy who just chased me and tried to kill me...

                                  - Luci's POV

"Wow I had no idea this town had changed from being the perfect place to raise a family into a place where no one is truly safe anymore..." I looked down and my hands just to realize how happy I was to return and now...not so much.

It's really shocking, a serial killer of all things?? Did I jinx myself-

I swear I need to stop doing that.

Even better that I work for the FBI investigating these types of people. How Fitting.

"Yeah, it's a shame really. I must go now but be careful out there! It was nice seeing a fresh face for once." The guy laughed as he walked out, halfway to the truck he looked back and waved and I waved back.

Speaking of serial killers and all of that...I wonder what I'll be working on when I start.

Should be totally unrelated to that stalker guy.

I hate saying stalker guy, he needs a name.

                      A FEW HOURS LATER

                                    10:32pm

I just finished a warm shower after getting all my boxes and bags unpacked and I settled in what used to be my old parent's room for when they used to stay over. I couldn't bring myself to take my old grandmother's room.

I sit at my desk and grab my laptop from my bag, I search up this infamous stalker only to see 12 people found dead either in their homes or in their own office within 2 months.

Wow this guy must have been doing this for a long time before Roseville. Not one clue to who he is except for those cheap videos he sends to the police.

I take out my phone and download an app linked to Roseville news reports so whenever he decides to strike again, I'll know, or for any reason I'll just get the notification. I scroll on random apps on my phone for a few minutes until I start yawning.

I look at the time and it's getting late I should get some sleep.

I put down my phone on the side table next to the bed and put it on the charger, I unfold the blanket I packed with me and set the bed, lifting up one side of the blanket I get under, turning to the side table turning of the lamp and getting in a comfortable position heading to sleep.

1:34 am

Ding!

"23-year-old, Sabrina Madden was found dead in her bedroom by her boyfriend, after reportedly being followed and attacked by a man with a white mask earlier that night. Swipe right to read more."

– ROSEVILLE NEWS.

- an

Finally I got done with this chapter and really I just wanted to point out something that may be a little confusing, when the guy is explaining about this killer that's out and about, the part where this girl getting chased didn't happen yet. To them Ghostface isn't revealed yet and its just been a few people who have been found yk. The chase actually happened when luci is unpacking her things and the notification is later that night so I just wanted to clear that up since I confused myself when re- reading this over lol. ANYWAYS give me feedback if you feel you want to share anything!! <3

TAG LIST :

@infinitewhore @mama-miya @m4gn3ziu @sleepyashe

note to be tagged again <3

[daxwritesstories]

Assistant Yasmin - Episode 1

Summary: Yasmin starts her new job as a live-in assistant for a CEO. When she arrives though, she finds that this "CEO" is not at all what she expected him to be like. She must find a way to get along with him if she's going to survive this new job.

Scene 1

EXT. Highway - Day

Opening shot is of Yasmin’s car driving on the highway. It is a nice vehicle but it’s not too flashy. 

Yasmin: Yeah, they’re gonna house me and all of my meals are covered. None of it comes out of my pay. It’s a pretty sweet gig.

INT. Yasmin’s car

Yasmin is driving with one hand and holding her phone up to her ear with the other. She is an average-looking woman dressed in business casual clothing. She’s neatly groomed, her long brown hair is curled at the ends and she wears minimal makeup. She has a naturally pretty face, with big brown doe-eyes.

Yasmin: And the pay is great for an assistant job, considering all the accommodations.

Yasmin pauses.

Yasmin: It is a little weird that his parents were the ones who hired me. But you know how rich people are. They gave me the job almost immediately after the interview and I wasn’t just gonna say no to that kind of pay. I didn’t even have to negotiate a higher salary.

Yasmin glances around as she listens to the other person.

Yasmin: I know, but it’s only one city over. It’s less than an hour drive so I’ll come back to visit as much as I can.

Yasmin pauses and listens to the person on the other end of the phone.

Yasmin: I’m gonna miss you too. But like I said, I’ll come visit you when I have days off.

She pauses again.

Yasmin: I promise. You know I always keep my promises.

Yasmin pauses for a moment and then laughs.

Yasmin: Okay, well I’ll talk to you later. Okay. I’ll let you know how it goes. Okay, bye!

Yasmin hangs up and puts her phone down on the passenger seat. She focuses on the road, glancing at the GPS on her car’s screen. The route on screen shows that she is almost at her destination.

Scene 2

EXT. Givenchy Residence parking lot - Day

Yasmin’s car pulls into the parking lot of a luxury apartment complex. She carefully parks and gets out of the car. She walks around to the trunk. After opening the hatch, she lifts a relatively small suitcase out of it.

INT. Givenchy Residence lobby - Day

We cut to Yasmin opening the first set of glass doors that lead to the lobby, pulling her suitcase with her. She stops at the second set of doors and presses the button for the tenth floor - the top floor.

Yasmin waits after the buzz and soon a second buzz is heard. 

Valerie (through intercom): Givenchy residence.

Yasmin: Hi. My name is Yasmine Post. I’m–

Valerie (through intercom): Oh! You’re the new assistant. Please come on up. Tenth floor and it’s the door on the far left.

Yasmin: Thank–

The intercom buzzes again, cutting Yasmin off. There is a clicking sound as the second set of doors unlock.

Yasmin: …you.

Yasmin seems a bit taken aback but she shrugs it off and opens the door.

INT. Givenchy Residence elevator - Day

Yasmin stands silently alone in the elevator, watching the different floor numbers light up. The elevator itself is pristine and has an expensive, modern look to it. The lights on the floor numbers shine brightly as if they are brand new.

Eventually the tenth floor -the highest floor- lights up and the doors slide open in front of Yasmin. She steps into the hallway and takes a moment to look around. 

INT. Givenchy Residence outside hallway - Day

There are only three doors on the entire floor with a lot of space between them. The walls are lined with a clean white wallpaper that has a pattern of golden embellishments on it. The doors are made of sturdy wood and have shiny golden handles.

Yasmin walks to the end of the hallway, towards one of the doors. Unlike the other two doors, it has a golden plate bolted to it that reads “Givenchy Residence”.

Yasmin knocks on the door. She only has to wait a few seconds before it opens. A woman wearing a light blue dress with an apron overtop answers the door. Her short red hair is neatly curled to frame her face and she is wearing pink rubber gloves.

Valerie: Miss Post. Welcome! Please come in.

Yasmin steps into the penthouse and rolls her suitcase in. The front door leads to a small front area that is walled off from the rest of the apartment. An archway across from the door leads out of the front area but it is difficult to see what is past it.

Yasmin: Thank you, Miss…

Valerie: You can just call me Valerie. I’m one of the maids. Please just leave your suitcase by the door for now.

Yasmin: Okay…

Hesitantly, Yasmin leaves her suitcase against the wall near the door. 

Valerie: And you can leave your shoes on, just wipe them on the mat first. Please and thank you.

Looking a little overwhelmed, Yasmin wipes her dress shoes on the front mat. Valerie waits for her to finish before speaking again.

Valerie: Great. Please follow me.

Yasmin follows Valerie out of the front area.

The archway leads to a living area with expensive-looking, maximalist furniture. It’s all made of dark wood with hot pink upholstery and embellishments. The coffee table is so large that it almost looks like a stage. The television takes up half of the leftmost wall. There are various sculptures and paintings situated around the room. It’s all extravagant.

Yasmin looks around, wide-eyed. She is obviously impressed by the lavish penthouse.

Valerie talks to Yasmin as she leads her through the living room.

Valerie: Thank goodness you’re here. The last assistant quit so suddenly that Mr. Givenchy is very far behind on his work. I apologize for dumping a bunch of work on you on your first day, but you will have to help him catch up.

Yasmin: It’s alright. I signed up for difficult work.

Valerie stops for a moment and seems to ponder what Yasmin said.

Valerie: Yes! That is what you signed up for. Remember that.

Yasmin: What?

Valerie ignores the question and continues walking, Yasmin follows.

Valerie: Mr. Givenchy should be in the kitchen eating lunch. Hopefully that means we’ll catch him in a good mood.

Yasmin: Huh? What do you mean?

Felix (from the next room): You expect me to eat this garbage?! Rats wouldn’t even eat this shit! It tastes fucking awful!

Yasmin looks shocked. Valerie sheepishly smiles, avoiding eye contact.

Valerie: There he is…

INT. Givenchy Residence kitchen - Day

Cut to the kitchen where Felix and Kirk are having an argument. Kirk is standing behind the counter and Felix is sitting at the small dining table. Gwen is also there, standing in between them, watching the argument unfold.

The kitchen is just as fancy as the living room, fit for a professional chef. The counters and island are all quality granite and they look recently polished. The cupboards and drawers are a stylish black and red, giving a modern look to the area.

The small dining table is situated near the bar. It is circular, made of dark wood, and has four chairs surrounding it. Felix is lounging in one of the chairs.

Kirk: You’ve only had one bite. How on earth do you not like it already?

Felix: Because it tastes like shit. I don’t need to have another bite to know that.

Kirk: I don’t get paid enough to take your insults. If you don’t like it then don’t eat it.

Felix: You get paid plenty. Now make me something else.

Kirk: I’m not your food slave, brat! Make it yourself.

Kirk turns around and starts untying his apron. Instead of responding, Felix picks up a handful of mashed potatoes from his plate and throws it at Kirk. The food lands right on the back of Kirk’s head. Kirk freezes in shock.

Yasmin and Valerie walk into the room right as the food is thrown. Yasmin covers her mouth in surprise and Valerie just sighs.

Gwen: Sir, please don’t throw–

Felix: Shut up!

Gwen immediately stops talking and her posture shrinks.

Felix: Fine. Don’t make me anything else. It’ll probably just taste awful too.

Kirk doesn’t say anything, he just huffs and storms out of the room, fuming. He doesn’t acknowledge Valerie or Yasmin when he passes them.

Felix turns his attention to the two women. He frowns as he looks at Yasmin.

Felix: Who’s this?

Valerie: This is Miss Yasmin Post. She’s the new assistant your parents hired for you.

Felix: Huh.

Felix stands up and we get a better view of what he is wearing. He has an expensive-looking, pink fur jacket on and some sort of black top underneath. He also wears a lighter pink mini skirt overtop of sheer leggings. The outfit is complete with pink platform heels.

Felix himself is a short thin man with blonde hair and a couple of piercings on his eyebrow and nose. He wears a bit of colorful makeup.

He walks over to Yasmin, wiping his dirty hand on Gwen’s apron on the way. He stops in front of Yasmin and looks her up and down.

Felix: Well it took you long enough to get here. I have, like, ten things that needed to be done yesterday.

Felix looks over at Valerie.

Felix: Has she been shown her room yet?

Valerie: No, you said–

Felix: Whatever. You can just bring her stuff to the room. I have work that needs to be done.

Felix motions at Valerie to go and then speaks to Yasmin again.

Felix: Jasmine, was it?

Yasmin: Yasmin.

Felix: Yasmin! Okay, let’s go to my office.

Yasmin: I thought you were eating lunch?

Felix: Don’t question me.

Yasmin immediately adjusts her attitude.

Yasmin: Right. Sorry.

Felix starts walking out of the room and Yasmin moves to follow him. Before she can take a step though, Valerie grabs her arm.

Valerie: Good luck.

Valerie lets go of Yasmin and leaves to go back to work.

Scene 3

INT. Felix’s office - Day

Felix walks into his office, followed by Yasmin. 

The office is nicely decorated but there isn’t much to it. There are two desks, one notably fancier than the other, and a large bookshelf covers the back wall. There is also an expensive-looking couch near the bookshelf and an intricately designed rug on the floor.

Felix gestures to the less fancy desk.

Felix: That’s your desk. Last assistant left most of their stuff so feel free to use it.

Yasmin goes to sit down at her desk. Felix sits down on the couch instead of at the other desk. 

Felix: So, I have a long list of emails that need to be written up and sent off. I sent it to your computer so if you could just write all those for me that would be great.

Yasmin: Erm, okay.

Felix: And after that’s done I need you to go over the payroll statements and make sure all the payments went through. That was supposed to be done, like, three days ago but I’m sure it’s fine.

Yasmin: Okay…

Felix: Oh, and then there’s a bunch of price changes that need to be done, but you can just save that for last since it’s not as urgent. And that’s pretty much everything you need to know.

Yasmin: Yes… sir…?

Felix: “Sir” is fine. Or you can just call me Felix. That’s my name.

Yasmin: Do your assistants usually call you by your first name?

Felix: Only the ones who’ve lasted longer than a couple weeks.

Yasmin looks confused by the remark but she brushes it off.

Yasmin: Okay. And… what are you gonna do?

Felix: Dunno. I’ll probably just listen to music. Just give me a shove if you have questions.

Felix pulls a pair of earbuds out his coat pocket. 

Yasmin: What? Aren’t you gonna do any work?

Felix: Don’t feel like it.

Yasmin: But I thought this stuff had to “be done yesterday”. It’d be faster if we both worked on it.

Felix: Maybe. But I’m the one paying you so you don’t get to boss me around like that.

Yasmin: I wasn’t trying to–

Felix: Don’t care. 

Felix puts his earbuds in and lies down on the couch. Yasmin is flabbergasted but doesn’t argue. Instead, she just sighs and opens the laptop on the desk in front of her.

When she opens the laptop, she notices a sticky note attached to the screen. She reads it and realizes that it’s the username and password for the laptop.

Yasmin: You shouldn’t leave passwords out in the open like this.

Felix turns to look at Yasmin and takes one of the earbuds out.

Felix: Huh?

Yasmin shakes her head in frustration.

Yasmin: Nevermind.

Yasmin takes the sticky note off of the screen and crumples it in her hand.

Scene 4

INT. Yasmin’s room - Night

Yasmin is lying on her new bed, talking on the phone. She seems distraught.

Yasmin: No, I’m not exaggerating. He’s a fucking nightmare. He basically wants me to do all of his work for him because he’s too lazy to do even a little bit of it himself.

Yasmin pauses. She looks around the room, obviously still taking everything in.

Yasmin: No, he literally would not do any work. He just listened to music all day. I think he even fell asleep a couple times.

She pauses again, listening more closely to her phone this time.

Yasmin: I guess you’re right. Yeah, it could have just been a bad day. But you should have seen the way his other staff were acting.

INT. Givenchy Residence hallway - Night

Cut to Valerie walking down the hallway towards Yasmin’s room. We can hear Yasmin’s voice through the door as she continues to talk on the phone. Valerie goes to knock on the door but stops when she catches onto what Valerie is talking about.

Yasmin: Yeah, I don’t know, Bria. I don’t think I can do this. I get why the last assistant left so suddenly. This is too much to deal with.

Valerie appears to be saddened by what Yasmin is saying. She drops her fist and looks down at the floor thoughtfully.

Yasmin: I know, I know. It’s only been one day. I guess I could sleep on it…

Valerie suddenly straightens her posture and has a determined look on her face. She raises her fist again, prepared to knock on the door.

INT. Yasmin’s room - Night

We cut back to Yasmin lying on her bed.

Yasmin: Yeah… It’s just that–

There is a knock at the door and Yasmin stops talking mid sentence. She glances at the door.

Yasmin: Uh… I’ll have to call you back. Yeah, sorry. Talk to you later.

Yasmin hangs up the phone and sits up on her bed.

Yasmin: Uh, yes! Come in!

The door opens and Valerie steps into the room.

Yasmin: Hi Valerie.

Valerie: Hello. I just came to see if you’ve settled in.

Yasmin: Oh yes, the room is very comfortable. Thank you.

Valerie: Good.

Valerie glances out into the hallway, checking to see if anyone is around. She sighs.

Valerie: Can I talk to you for a moment?

Yasmin: Um… yeah. Of course.

Valerie turns and closes the bedroom door. She then walks over to the bed and her demeanor completely changes. She suddenly seems panicked.

Valerie: Please don’t quit. I’m begging you.

Yasmin takes a moment to process what Valerie said before responding.

Yasmin: What?

Valerie: Forgive me, but I overheard your phone conversation. Please just give it a week, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.

Valerie sighs again.

Valerie: Look, I know that Mr. Givenchy can be a difficult person but you seem like the type of woman who can handle it. Please. We went five days without an assistant before you were hired and nothing got done. That’s an entire business week of no work! His father is going to take the business away from him if this keeps up.

Yasmin closes her eyes for a moment, taking everything in.

Yasmin: Wait. His father?

Valerie: Yes! His father owns a few businesses and he gave him ownership of one of the smaller companies to see if he could handle managing it. He’s supposed to inherit everything from his father one day.

Yasmin: Oh. I… didn’t know that.

Valerie: I’m not asking you to feel sorry for him. It’s just that if his father takes away the company then we’ll all be out of a job.

Yasmin: Oh…

Valerie: You understand why I’m desperate, right?

Yasmin sighs and thinks hard for a few seconds.

Yasmin: Yeah…

Valerie looks at Yasmin with eyes full of hope.

Yasmin: Okay, fine. I’ll stay for a few more days and see how it goes.

Valerie happily pulls Yasmin into a hug.

Valerie: Thank you so much!

Valerie seems to suddenly realize what she is doing. She quickly lets go of Yasmin.

Valerie: Sorry. That was very unprofessional.

Valerie stands up and straightens out her clothes.

Valerie: I’ll wake you up for breakfast tomorrow morning. Try to get some sleep.

Valerie quickly leaves the room, politely closing the door behind her. Yasmin is left alone, stunned by everything that just happened.

Scene 5

INT. Givenchy Residence outside hallway - Night

Valerie exits the penthouse and steps out into the hallway. She locks the door behind her and sighs. She seems stressed out. 

There is a quick buzzing sound and Valerie quickly takes her phone out of her dress pocket. She turns it on and we see a close up of the screen. There is a notification from a security camera app that says “Motion Detected”.

Valerie taps on the notification and waits for the app to load. When it does, we see a live feed of the front of the apartment building. On the video, we can see Felix walking out of the front doors. 

Felix is wearing a much flashier outfit than before, a shiny, holo fabric dress. He gets into a fancy sports car that is waiting for him. As soon as he closes the door, the car drives away.

Valerie lets out a sad sigh and locks her phone. She puts her phone back into her pocket and walks towards the other end of the hallway.

Scene 6

INT. Yasmin’s bedroom - Night

The door to Yasmin’s bedroom opens, waking her up. It’s dark in the room and Yasmin has to wait a minute for eyes to adjust.

Yasmin: Who’s–

Felix: It’s me.

Yasmin: Felix? What are you doing? It’s so late.

Felix closes the door behind him and approaches the bed. He is wearing the same outfit he was wearing during lunch. Yasmin sits up and looks at him.

Yasmin: Why are you still dressed?

Felix: I wanted to see you.

Yasmin: You wanted to see me?

Felix climbs onto the bed. To Yasmin’s surprise, he straddles her legs.

Felix: Didn't you want to see me too?

Yasmin: I… um…

Felix: I know you’ve been thinking about me.

Yasmin: How…

Felix: I know a lot more than you think, Yasmin.

Felix leans forward as if he is about to kiss Yasmin.

Scene 7

INT. Yasmin’s bedroom - Morning

Yasmin awakes to a knocking at her door. She jolts awake from her strange dream, looking very confused about it. 

The knocking happens again and Yasmin looks over at the door.

Yasmin: Yes?

Valerie (through the door): Good morning, Miss Post! Breakfast is ready!

Yasmin sits up in her bed and sleepily rubs her eyes.

Yasmin: Thank you, Valerie! I’ll be down soon.

Valerie (through the door): Great! Oh! And would you mind waking up Mr. Givenchy? He hasn’t come out of his room yet.

Yasmin’s eyes widen at the request. She quickly shakes off the fear and collects herself.

Yasmin: I’d be happy too.

Valerie: Thank you so much, Yasmin! Breakfast will be waiting for you downstairs.

Yasmin throws the covers off of herself and gets out of bed.

We cut to a shot of Yasmin’s back as she rolls her tank top over her head. We then see the tank top land on the carpeted floor. 

We cut back to Yasmin. She looks at herself in the mirror as she hooks up her bra behind her back. She then picks up a hairbrush from one of the side tables and starts methodically brushing out her long hair. 

We cut to a side shot of Yasmin’s hips as she finishes pulling up her trousers. She buttons them up with practiced ease. 

We cut to Yasmin pulling her blazer over her shoulders and straightening it out. She looks at herself over one more time in the mirror for any imperfections.

After getting dressed, Yasmin stares at herself in the mirror. She has a determined look on her face.

Yasmin: I’m not a quitter. I can do this.

Yasmin straightens out the collar on her blazer and checks her hair, moving a strand that fell out of place. She closes her eyes, taking a moment for herself, before leaving the room.

Scene 8

INT. Givenchy Residence hallway - Morning

Yasmin stands outside of Felix’s bedroom. She takes a deep breath in and knocks on the door.

Yasmin: Mr. Given– I mean, Felix! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!

There is no response. Yasmin frowns in confusion and knocks on the door again, harder this time. To her surprise, the door drifts open when she knocks. She pauses for a moment, conflicted, but then gently pushes the door further open.

Felix’s bedroom is dimly lit by the sunlight shining through the curtains on the singular window, which stretches from the ceiling to the floor. 

The room is larger than Yasmin’s. It has a king-size bed with silk sheets and covers and has a small frame overtop. See-through curtains hang from the frame. The room also contains a fireplace, various couches and chairs, and a desk with a laptop.

The light switch is a dial instead of an actual switch. Yasmin doesn’t seem to think much of this, slowly pulling the dial upwards. The lights quickly brighten.

There is movement in the bed and we hear Felix groan.

Felix: Ugh, it’s too early.

Yasmin: It’s nearly 10 AM.

Yasmin glances around the room, her eyes focusing on the walls. She notices that there are a lot of posters of women wearing next to nothing, in compromising positions.

Felix: Like I said, too early.

Yasmin is still staring at the posters.

Yasmin: Breakfast is—

Felix: Is ready. Yeah, I know.

Felix throws the covers off of his body and sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He is wearing an oversized t-shirt that goes about halfway down his thighs. He notices that Yasmin is staring at the posters.

Felix: What are you looking at?

Yasmin: You… like this kind of stuff?

Felix chuckles and ruffles his hair.

Felix: Are you asking me if I like girls?

Yasmin seems to suddenly come to her senses. She looks at Felix in shock at what she just said to him.

Yasmin: No– I– I meant—

Felix: I’m bisexual. I like both.

Yasmin just stares at Felix, speechless.

Felix: You know, you’re the first assistant I’ve had who didn’t immediately ask why I dress the way I do.

Yasmin hesitates for a moment before responding. In the meantime, Felix stands up and looks in the mirror. He lazily fixes his hair with his hands.

Yasmin: It doesn’t matter to me what kind of clothes you wear.

Felix smirks and turns to look at Yasmin. He speaks in a teasing tone.

Felix: You sure?

Yasmin doesn’t respond, confused as to what he means. Felix rolls his eyes and pulls on the end of his t-shirt.

Felix: So what about you?

Yasmin: Huh?

Felix: Do you like girls or boys? Or maybe something in between…?

Yasmin: Uh…

Yasmin’s eyes dart back and forth as she thinks of an answer.

Yasmin: I’ve never really thought about that.

Felix gives her a confused look. 

Felix: How old are you?

Yasmin seems taken aback by the question.

Yasmin: Y-you should never ask a woman her age!

Felix giggles.

Yasmin: I–

Felix: Okay, let’s go get breakfast.

Felix walks out of the room, nonchalantly passing Yasmin without a word. Yasmin seems annoyed but she swallows it down and follows Felix out of the room.

Scene 9

INT. Givenchy Residence Kitchen - Morning

Yasmin, Felix, and Gwen are sitting at the kitchen table. None of them are speaking to each other and the tone is awkward.

Kirk walks over to the table, carrying two dishes full of various breakfast foods. He places one in front of Felix and one in front of Yasmin.

Kirk: I hope today’s meal is more to your liking, sir.

Felix glares at him and picks up his fork.

Felix: We’ll see…

Kirk forces a smile and returns to the kitchen. Felix immediately starts eating but Yasmin politely waits for Gwen’s meal to be served. Eventually Kirk returns to the table with two more plates.

Kirk: Where is Valerie?

Gwen: She’ll be here in a moment. She’s just taking care of something first.

Yasmin: Will you be joining us, Kirk?

Kirk: No. I always eat before work. It helps me focus.

Yasmin: Ah, that makes sense.

Valerie suddenly comes rushing into the kitchen. Everyone looks over at her, except for Felix.

Valerie: My apologies for being late. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.

Yasmin: No, it wasn’t long at all.

Valerie: Good!

Valerie sits down next to Gwen.

Valerie: Bon Appetit!

Yasmin, Gwen, and Valerie all start eating their meals. There is a long silence before Valerie speaks again. 

Valerie: You slept in again, Mr. Givenchy. 

Felix: Yeah.

Valerie: Did you sneak out again?

Felix: No.

Valerie sighs. 

Valerie: You don’t have to lie. I got the notification from the security camera. 

Felix: Okay. I snuck out. So?

Valerie: If your father hears about this—

Felix: Then I’ll deal with him. 

Valerie stops mid-sentence. She appears to be frustrated. 

Felix: It doesn’t bother him as much as you think it does. 

Valerie: You don’t know tha—

Felix: And neither do you. He’s my father and I know him much better than you do. 

Yasmin: I’m sorry, what’s going on?

Valerie hesitates for a moment before answering. 

Valerie: Mr. Givenchy has formed a bad habit of sneaking out at night to go to a nightclub. 

Felix: It’s not just “a nightclub”, it’s a VIP invite-only club. 

Valerie: Yes. Pardon my generalization.

Felix: It’s this whole underground scene! It’s so cool. You should come see it some time. 

Valerie: You don’t have to do that. 

Felix: Hey!

Valerie: I’m sorry, sir, but it’s very unprofessional to force your hobbies upon your assistant.

Felix: I was just offering.

Yasmin: It’s alright, Valerie. I can say no when I need to.

Valerie: Good, good.

Felix stopped talking. He stares at Yasmin for a few seconds before going back to eating. This makes Yasmin nervous. She glances around the table but it seems that no one else noticed.

Scene 10

INT. Givenchy Residence office - Day

Yasmin is sitting at her desk, typing on the computer. Felix is lying down on the couch again. 

Felix: Don’t listen to Valerie. The club I go to is an amazing place. I mean, you should see the shows they put on. 

Yasmin responds half-heartedly.

Yasmin: I’m sure they’re great. 

Felix (sarcastically): Well don’t sound so enthusiastic. 

Yasmin: Sorry. I’m busy trying to do your work. 

Felix: Why don’t you come with me tomorrow night? You can get in if you’re with me. 

Yasmin stops typing and gives Felix an annoyed look. 

Yasmin: I don’t think we have time to be going to clubs. You’re already a week behind on your work. 

Felix: Ugh! Who cares about work? It’s so fucking boring. 

Yasmin: You should care. It’s your father’s company. 

Felix: Oh. So Valerie told you about the situation. 

Yasmin: Yes, she did. And I think you should be trying a little harder. It’s not just your livelihood on the line, you know. 

Felix: You just believe anything anyone tells you, huh?

Yasmin: Well I’m more inclined to believe Valerie than you.

Felix frowns, clearly upset. 

Felix: How dare you talk to me like that. I’m still your boss, no matter what Valerie says. 

Yasmin: Then why don’t you start acting a bit more professional? So far it just feels like I’m your babysitter. 

Felix sits up and turns to face Yasmin. 

Felix: You want me to act more like your boss? Okay, fine. 

Felix stands up and walks over to Yasmin’s desk. He leans one hand on the back of her chair and looks at the laptop screen over her shoulder. After reading it for a moment, he points at the top of the screen. 

Felix: You made a mistake here. And make sure to capitalize the first word on every row. It makes it much more readable. 

Yasmin: If I do that I’ll have to adjust over a thousand rows.

Felix: So? Do it anyway. 

Yasmin: And why should I?

Felix leans further down, next to Yasmin’s ear. 

Felix (whispering): Because I said so. 

Yasmin freezes up, eyes wide with shock. Felix seems slightly surprised by her reaction but maintains his composure. He doesn’t make another move, waiting for Yasmin to do something instead. 

After collecting herself, Yasmin scoffs. 

Yasmin: What do you think you’re doing?

Despite acting offended, Yasmin doesn’t make any attempt to move away from Felix. Felix carefully examines her face. 

Felix: Are you blushing?

Yasmin: What? No! Get away from me!

When Felix doesn’t move, Yasmin gets out of the chair. 

Yasmin: Is this really how you treat your employees? It’s very unprofessional. 

Felix squints thoughtfully. 

Felix: Come here. 

Yasmin: You’re out of your mind!

Felix: Come here. 

Yasmin scoffs again. 

Yasmin: This is ridiculous! You know, I told Valerie that I’d stay for a few more days, but I don’t think I can do this. You’re way far out of line. 

Felix: Yasmin.

Yasmin: I’m quitting! This is a terrible work environment. 

Felix: Yasmin…

Felix takes a step closer to Yasmin but she doesn’t seem to notice. 

Yasmin: No wonder you can’t keep assistants around for more than a couple weeks. This place is a circus. 

Felix: You’re not listening, Yasmin. I said, come here. 

Felix suddenly grabs Yasmin by the neck. He grabs her waist with his other hand and turns her around so her back is facing the wall. He pushes her up against the wall, holding her in place by the neck. 

Felix: You’re a poor excuse for an assistant if you can’t even handle a day and a half of work. 

Yasmin is rendered speechless but her demeanor has changed. She is no longer angry, just a bit dazed. 

Felix: What? 

Felix leans in closer, talking into Yasmin’s ear. 

Felix: Now you have nothing to say?

Yasmin whimpers and Felix pulls back again. He looks her in the eyes, not blinking. 

Felix: I knew it. You’re enjoying this. 

Felix cocks his head, waiting for a response. When Yasmin remains silent, Felix smirks. 

Felix: Go on, defend yourself. Or… am I right?

Yasmin just swallows nervously. 

Felix: You are enjoying this, aren’t you? Why don’t you just admit it?

Felix tightens his grip on Yasmin’s neck and her breathing becomes heavier. Her eyes follow Felix’s gaze as he looks her up and down. 

After a moment of contemplation, Felix takes his hand off of Yasmin’s hip and places it on her shoulder. He gently pushes down on her and Yasmin slides down the wall until she’s sitting on the floor. Felix remains standing, letting go of Yasmin’s neck in favor of lightly holding her jaw. He doesn’t have to move her though, she is already looking up at him. Felix giggles.

Felix: You’re pretty cute.

Felix bends forward, his face just inches away from Yasmin’s.

Felix: So, what do you say? Can you admit that you like me pushing you around like this?

Yasmin hesitates, but then nods. Felix smiles sweetly at her, pleased. Despite her stubbornness, Yasmin subtly smiles back. She seems to have completely forgotten her anger.

Felix lets go of Yasmin’s jaw and stands up straight again.

Felix: I think you should reconsider my invitation. I really would love to show you around the club.

Felix turns around and heads for the door.

Felix: Just make sure you finish up the work before tomorrow night.

Yasmin: What?!

Felix giggles and opens the door.

Felix: I have to go do… literally anything else. Bye!

Felix rushes out of the room before Yasmin can argue.

Yasmin: Ugh!

Yasmin rubs her forehead in frustration. She sighs and she stares at the floor, thinking hard about something.

Scene 11

INT. Yasmin’s room - Night

Yasmin is pacing around her bedroom, talking on the phone. She’s wearing her pajamas.

Yasmin: You were right, Bria. I think I can do this.

Yasmin pauses to listen, staring out the window at the city lights below.

Yasmin: No, he’s still awful to work with. But maybe a challenge like this is what I need. I mean, the reason I left my last job was because I was bored. It was so monotonous. Just the same thing every day.

She pauses again.

Yasmin: No, nothing happened! Why would you think that?

She nervously runs a hand through her hair as she listens to Bria talk.

Yasmin: I was just in a bad mood yesterday. That’s all.

Yasmin bites her finger and her eyes dart back and forth. She seems a bit freaked out.

Yasmin: Maybe it’s just from moving to a new place. It’s probably giving me mood swings.

After listening to Bria talk again, Yasmin relaxes and giggles.

Yasmin: Yeah, I’m all out of sorts. I’ll have to come visit you whenever I get a day off. Maybe it’ll clear my head.

Yasmin giggles again.

Yasmin: Okay. Well, I’ll let you go so you can go to bed. Okay, talk to you soon! Goodnight!

Yasmin hangs up and sets her phone down on the dresser. She walks over to her bed and sits down on the side of it. She has a thoughtful look on her face, as if she is trying to figure something out. 

Eventually she gives up on her thought process and reaches to turn the light off.

[happyocelot]

I wrote this a few weeks ago, but never did get around to posting most of it here. Just some fluffy InuKag...

Chapter 4: Inuyasha and the aftermath of the fight with the Band of Seven.

I firmly believe that Inuyasha was very traumatized after almost losing Kagome and the others while fighting the Band of Seven. It's my headcanon that he was especially edgy and nervous around fire after Renkotsu.

Let me know what you think! :)

Quiet and homey and cozy, flames popping and crackling, sending little embers into the dark star-studded sky.

He and his friends hunched around the warm orange fire, letting their catch for the day slowly roast, the wind carrying in its currents a delicious charred aroma.

It was the first time anyone had traveled with him. Because they wanted to. Because they liked him. They laughed and bickered and Kagome would pass around her weird future food and he and Shippo would always battle for the potato chips and cup noodles.

Fire was warmth and home and friends and Kagome.

He thought it would always be that way. Should always be that way.

He didn't know when that had changed.

Because right now, Kagome was hunched in front of a fire, slow-roasting wild mushrooms, and a gust of smoke wafted right into his face. His hypersensitive nose twitched.

The familiar, nostalgic sight failed to soothe him.

***

The wind was black and putrid. Smoke and flames danced across the temple, taking huge bites out of the wood and fusing night with day.

Shippo's terrified sobs were like sharpened knives in his skull and diamond-hard drills in his stomach.

Kagome wasn't moving, Kagome wasn't breathing, Kagome was gonna die and it was his fault for going after Jakotsu instead of staying with her –

"Inuyasha? Dinner's ready." Miroku passed him a skewer of roasted mushrooms, thankfully oblivious to Inuyasha's inner turmoil.

He bit into the mushroom's blackened flesh and tried not to gag at the taste of ash.

***

"Inuyasha! I'm gonna take your seconds if you don't want any!" Shippo gloated, waving around a chunk of roasted food and taking a loud, crunchy, exaggerated chomp, shooting a confident, secure glance at Kagome, seated to his right and chattering away with Sango, her fingers combing through Kirara's fur.

Inuyasha didn't respond for a while, staring straight ahead at the blue base of the flickering flames. He blinked golden, blinding sunbursts out of the darkness of his eyelids.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, kid. Here."

He thrust his own roasted skewer into Shippo's flabbergasted face.

"Uh...? Are you sure?"

"Yes." Inuyasha cupped his chin in his hands and surreptitiously let his long fingers clamp over his nose. A casual gesture. Now he couldn't smell it, and no one would notice.

"Well, if you say so! Finders, keepers!"

"Shippo-chan," Kagome scolded, fixing the fox kit with a firm glare. "Inuyasha needs to eat too. Give it back to him."

"Nah, it's fine," he said. "I don't wanna eat. Not hungry today." He crossed his arms and tossed his silver hair, letting out a huff that would hopefully fool them.

Now it was Kagome's turn to look flabbergasted. "Really? You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He turned his back to his friends and leapt onto a high-up tree branch. "Good night."

***

Sango had just gotten kindling, heaving a load of firewood from Kirara's back onto the thick grassy ground.

Kagome leapt up with a beam, using those matchsticks from the future to start a fire –

Fire.

Flames.

Black, suffocating smoke.

He could see scorch marks lining her palms already –

The world was tilting sideways, Kagome was going to get hurt, she would be smothered in smoke and burned to ash, she didn't even have his Fire-Rat Robe on her, he couldn't –

He had to act fast.

He rose to his feet, striding towards the girls, towards that damned matchbox in Kagome's hands, a bomb packed in a tiny container, one that could take away everyone he loved.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing? Inuyasha?"

Kagome and Sango were both staring at him, and with a start, he calmed his breath and glanced down at the matchbox he'd snatched from Kagome's – thank goodness – unscathed fingers.

His hands were shaking like the ground after an earthquake, like a leaf in a hurricane, like water in a whirlpool.

"S-sorry," he muttered, shoving it back at her and turning away so that she couldn't see his reddening eyes.

***

She found him later that night. Of course she did. Climbing all that way to join him on his perch upon the tree.

He turned his face away from her and to the blistering wind. She didn't need to see him this way, when he was being such a weak little loser. He was supposed to protect her.

She entwined her unburnt fingers with his. He squinted even harder into the windchill.

"Hi."

"What is it?" He had been effortlessly gruff to her before, in those early days they'd been traveling together, but now his throat tasted as saline as ocean water, and he couldn't muster even an inch of bravado.

She swung their hands together, and his hold on her fingers tightened so much that they turned purple.

He paled. There he went again, hurting her with his negligence.

He tried loosening his death grip on her hand, but she didn't seem to want to let go for some reason.

"Inuyasha? You know that our injuries from Renkotsu weren't your fault, right?"

"Tch." A lump in his throat was expanding rapidly and his eyes blurred into a crystal mess. "Y'know that ain't true, Kagome. You don't have to sugarcoat things."

He would have forced his face to weather the cold air yet more as suitable punishment for his incompetence, but Kagome cupped his chin and nudged him to meet her gaze.

He could see only a dark-haired blob through his sticky eyelashes, and she finally let go of his hand.

Good. He squinted his eyes shut.

She rubbed his ears in small, light circles. So that was why she had let go of his hand.

How did she not find his failure to protect repulsive?

"If anything, I'm downplaying things, not sugarcoating them."

He sniffled mucus back into his sinus, hurting his nose even more. He was not going to cry after he failed her.

"W...what...d-do y-you mean?"

It wasn't working.

Her warm hand was back on his face, tracing his eyes, brushing the tears away.

"If you weren't there, we would have choked to death in the smoke."

He let out a shallow, jagged breath. She was damning him with profuse praise, trying to make him feel better when he deserved none of it –

"It wasn't your fault, Inuyasha. You're the reason we lived."

"No, that was..." He sniffled again. Stupid snot. "Myoga-jii – "

"And you. Especially you. You've saved us so many times, and you did it again last week."

Kagome laid one kiss on his right ear, then another on his left ear.

He did not deserve this praise.

"Yes, you do." Her voice was stern. Damn, he'd said that aloud, hadn't he?

"Don't beat yourself up. We wouldn't be anywhere without you. Okay?"

"..."

"Okay?"

Persistent lady. He exhaled another jagged breath.

"O...okay."

She still believed in him. For some inexplicable reason.

He couldn't let her down.

"Good." She hauled him down from the tree. "Come on, even Shippo-chan's been worried about you. He saved you some food."

Inuyasha finally managed a watery snort. "That brat did?"

His eyes cleared just in time to see Kagome shoot him a mischievous smile.

"Just for tonight."

[survey--s]

617.

1. Who was the last person you forgave? How long did it take you to forgive them? I don't remember the last time I felt like I had to forgive someone, to be quite honest.

2. Is going mushroom hunting in the woods something that would interest you? Not really. I wouldn't trust myself to know what was safe.

3. What is your favorite junk food? How about your favorite health food? French fries or proper "chippy chips". Health-wise, I love mango, watermelon and aubergines.

4. Are you listening to anything right now? Do you normally listen to music while you take surveys? I'm watching Below Deck: Down Under. I prefer to watch TV over listening to music but it depends on my mood.

5. What were you doing the last time you hung out with a friend? I went out for coffee with Susie on Sunday morning.

6. Is there anything about you that might cause others to dislike you? Yeah, I'm autistic and I can struggle to relate to people sometimes. I'm not great at reading social cues which can cause problems.

7. Is there anything you’re really particular or specific about, anything that has to be done a certain way every time? Yeah, most things hahah. I'm very routine driven (again, autism) and that's another thing that can cause problems - if things aren't done according to my routine then I can find it really stressful and overwhelming.

8. Are there any chores you need to get done today? We need to sort the bookshelf in the living room so that the BT engineer can access all the sockets tomorrow. I can't do anything about that until Mike's back though as I can't move it alone and the stuff on there isn't mine to move.

9. Where was the last place you went shopping and what did you buy? In person? I went to the supermarket on Sunday to get coffee, muffins and some other random bits. I have my main food shop arriving in an hour though.

10. What was the last big change you made to your physical appearance? I haven't made a big change to my appearance in ages.

11. Are you more likely to shut people out of your life or try to fix things no matter what? I don't really shut people out but equally I'm not someone who's willing to fight for someone who's clearly not that interested.

12. Where was the last place you went out to eat? Is going out something you enjoy or would you rather cook at home? A local pub yesterday. I love going out for meals but it's so expensive these days - I only went yesterday as my mum was paying LOL.

13. If you have any pets, do they seem to notice when you’re sick or sad? Archie definitely seems to understand when I don't feel very well, he always comes for a cuddle and doesn't ask to go for a walk or to play or anything, he just curls up next to me the entire time. The cats don't really give a shit LOL. Layla actually used to sit with me when I had my periods - and always on my stomach so maybe she realised on some level.

15. Is anything you’ve done lately going to matter in a year? Where's question 14? Anyway, yeah, I hope so.

16. What was the subject of your last phone call? I have no idea, I pretty much never talk to anyone on the phone.

17. Are your hobbies something you’d rather do alone or with others? It depends on the hobby. I do surveys and watch TV alone but I love shopping and walking dogs with other people. When I ride I prefer to be with other people too, but more for safety reasons than anything else. I'm rubbish at riding and having a conversation at the same time, hahah.

18. Is there anything about yourself that you’re trying to improve? No, not really. I generally can't be bothered to do much self-improvement, if I'm being honest hah.

19. What are you doing today? Not much. I had a lie-in, took the dog out to explore a new walk, had a shower and since then I've just been watching TV and messing about online. The food shop is arriving in an hour so and then...that's it really.

20. What did you dream about last night? I can't remember it now but I remember waking up and thinking it was a really weird dream.

21. When was the last time you visited with relatives? Do you see extended family often? I saw my mum yesterday but most of my family live in Australia and I've not been back there in about a decade now. It's just too expensive and takes up too much of my annual leave. I last saw some of my Australian family pre-COVID when they visited for a few weeks.

22. What was the last relaxing thing you did? My whole day has been pretty relaxing - I slept in, had a lovely walk with Archie, had a shower and I've just been chilling ever since. I could easily take a nap if I didn't need to sort the shopping soon lol.

23. Will this weekend be better than last weekend? They'll probably be about the same.

24. When was the last time you were there for a friend? I guess just in general recently for Susie - she's been really struggling with Reuben and how tying it is to have a new puppy - especially when she never wanted him in the first place lol.

25. Do you have any jewelry you almost never take off? I never take any of my jewellery off/out unless I'm changing it.

26. What are some of your favorite words? Discombobulation, charisma, eclectic, antidisestablishmentarianism.

27. Do you have any journals from when you were younger? If so, do you ever go back and read them? Nah, I chucked them all out when my parents moved up here. I did re-read them at one point and just cringed - I was so dramatic as a teenager lol.

28. Are there any holidays you used to celebrate, but no longer do? Halloween and Easter, I guess.

29. What was the last occasion for which you dressed up? Uhh. I honestly couldn't tell you - probably my own wedding lol.

30. Is there anything you wish you could say to anyone? Yeah, I guess so.

[violetjedisylveon]

Playdate

Summary: Gailine comes over for a playdate with Enzo!

Word count: 2k

Warnings: i think this is the least traumatizing chapter yet

A/N: okay, I lied, I'm being nice to Enzo for 1 maybe 2 more chapters. Then it's trauma time baby! I have no art to offer(I've been drawing only gay monkeys for the last couple weeks)but I did make some memes! By the time most people see this, I'll be in my first day of college! Yay! Not yay I'm stressed tf out. May or may not have a chapter during September, it all depends on how college goes. I hope silly memes are compensation for maybe no chapter during September.

Meme dump

Eda raises two gods AU Masterpost

________________________________________________________________________________

Enzo woke up to something nudging their face. They groaned and sat up to see whatever it was.

A Cat Snake.

A Cat Snake that looked like glowing blue ice with big purple eyes and… a rolled up piece of paper tied to one of her horns?

They knew this Cat Snake.

Syvne.

Gailine's Cat Snake.

What's she doing here? How did she even get inside?

As if to answer their silent questions, Nibs slithered up alongside Syvne and rubbed their cheek against the other Cat Snake. The patternless Cat Snake gave them a cheeky grin and tongue flick.

"The owl lady's right, you are a shit." Enzo said, tapping their Cat Snake's snout lightly.

Nibs hissed playfully and slithered into their lap, then climbed to their usual perch on his shoulder, where she nuzzled their cheek. Enzo gave her a few chin scratches and returned their attention to Syvne.

"What are you here for?" They asked.

Syvne stretched up and bent her head down, she wanted them to take the bit of paper she had.

"Is it a message?" Enzo inquired, untying the paper from Syvne's horns.

Syvne nodded and blepped happily.

Why would Gailine send a message to me? Enzo wondered as he unrolled the tiny scrap of paper. What could she write on this?

The scrap was almost blank except for a very small rune in the center, so small Enzo couldn't tell what it was for.

That question answered itself quickly, the paper started talking.

"Hi Enzo! It's me! Gailine! From the slayground a few weeks ago, you remember that, right?! Course you do, how could you forget, we rode a Forest Ground Bat! Oh, she's doing good too, I keep seeing her whenever I go in the woods. Mama says that the bat is worried about me or something, which is a little weird but I like having a Forest Ground Bat friend! She's got babies too! I think I can convince her to let me see em soon, I heard baby Forest Ground Bats are super cute and fuzzy!" The voice suddenly stopped before a dull smack sounded.

"Blegh, I got distracted again, why do I keep doing that? Bleh. Okay Gailine, focus, focusss!"

There was another pause, Enzo glanced at Syvne, who was oblivious to her owner's previous struggle.

"What was I talking about again…? Uh… oh yeah! Do you wanna play again?! It was really fun last time, except for the part that wasn't but that was only a little, and I'm all better now so we can play again. Mama won't let me ask your mom about it cause she thinks I'm gonna scare her or something, so I asked you! Syvne can bring the message back, or you can just ask your mom and she'll tell my mama! You should probably tell your mom though, that might be important and- oh, the paper's almost full! Bye! See you later!"

With that, the paper fell silent.

Syvne looked at Enzo expectantly, waiting for their response. The unblinking, piercing purple gaze was slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh… i needa talk to Eda…" they stuttered.

Enzo stumbled out of the owl lady's nest and down to the kitchen. She was cooking something, it smelled good.

King was unsurprisingly, already hounding Eda for the not cooked food. He really is a little glutton. Enzo chuckled and scooped his brother off the floor.

"Hey King, are you being good?" They asked as they gave him some belly rubs.

"Yes!" King squealed.

"Good, you don't wanna bug Eda while she's cooking." Enzo told him.

Their little brother made himself comfy on his head, getting a gentle hiss from Nibs as he nudged them off her perch.

"Morning Starshine, sleep good?" Owl lady asked them.

"Yep." They chirped.

Enzo snuck around the table and peered over the owl lady's arm to get a peek at what she was cooking. Griffon eggs and sausages. Something was baking in the oven too.

"Think you can get the biscuits out of the oven, Starshine? They're done." She said.

"Sure can!"

They grabbed the smaller of the two new pairs of oven mitts; Datura had sent a bunch of handmade stuff over to them, Eda said she liked to create, and had plenty of time for it. Almost everything in the Werebeast's house had been handmade.

Enzo cracked the oven open just a bit to let the hot air escape before pulling the door down all the way. They pulled out the first tray and made sure King was secure on his shoulders before pulling out the second.

"Thanks a lot, Starshine." Eda told them with a pat on the head.

Enzo beamed and set his oven mitts in their proper spot. Datura had put a design of constellations and comets on theirs, Eda's had a bird theme.

"You can sit down now, Starshine, I'm almost done." Eda said with a smile over her shoulder.

Enzo nodded and took their seat, setting King down in his high chair.

Eda piled the food onto plates and set them out in the middle of the table next to a pitcher of blood orange juice. Enzo grinned at the sight of the lightly pink biscuits, those ones had blossom bat fruit syrup in them! A few of them were red, those were Eda's spicy ones.

As soon as the owl lady sat down, King attacked the plate closest to him with ravenous fury. Eda snorted at his antics, Enzo grabbed a couple of biscuits, and some of the other stuff, but they were mostly here for the biscuits.

"You've got a second noodle there, bud." Eda pointed out.

Enzo glanced up, Syvne tongue flicked down at him cheerfully. They felt their muscles tense, they weren't really nervous, but some part of their mind told them to brace for anger or punishment.

"Nibs get a mate already?" Eda joked.

"Eda!" Enzo groaned.

"I'm just sayin' they look pretty fond of that snake." Eda said with a shrug.

"Nibs is not having babies! Nibs is a baby!" Nibs hissed in his ear for that.

"You are!" Enzo argued.

Nibs hissed again, something about having babies if she wanted too.

"Uh oh, you've got a rebellious little noodle." Eda snorted.

Enzo rolled their eyes and appeased Nibs with a bite of sausage. Syvne was content sitting on their head.

"Seriously though, do I need to snake proof the house?" Eda asked.

"No, Nibs let Syvne in. She had a message."

Eda's gaze was suddenly too intense, Enzo looked down to their plate.

"It's… uh… Gailine… she wanted to know if… if we could play again… her mom said not to bother you with it, so she asked me." Enzo smiled weakly at the end, hoping Eda wouldn't be mad at the secret message.

"Sure, if you wanna play today, that's fine with me." Eda said nonchalantly.

Enzo blinked up at her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can tell Clover after breakfast and see if she wants to bring Gailine or if I should pick her up." Eda nodded.

A giddy, bubbly feeling warmed their insides and Enzo felt like bouncing all over the place. Instead of doing that, they just tapped their feet excitedly.

They were a little too excited to finish breakfast and the owl lady could tell. She sent them upstairs to go get changed, and to have their concealment stone. Syvne didn't seem to be a very big breach in security though, the blue Cat Snake only had eyes for Nibs.

XXX

Enzo tapped their foot nervously as they waited for Eda to get back with Gailine. Their ears flicked up at a soft landing outside, and a dull thump quickly followed by an assurance of being okay.

"What's this? A new friend? Hoot! Hoot!" Hooty said loudly.

"What kind of demon is that?!" Gailine gasped loudly.

"Some kind of bird worm tube thing with, uh, legs… sometimes." Eda answered.

"Explain. Now."

Enzo snickered at Gailine's eager demand.

"Uh, maybe another time, it was a pretty wild night." Eda said, tossing open the door lazily.

Gailine's already wide smile broadened even further, if that was possible, when she spotted Enzo.

"Enzo!" She cheered and tackled the other child with a crushing hug, sending both kids tumbling to the ground.

Eda hauled both kids onto the couch to wait while she tossed together some snacks. Gailine's loud purring was the only thing Enzo could hear outside of the endless barrage of questions.

"Eda says you guys went to the swamps to meet your grandma, and that she's a fricking Werebeast! Those are the coolest! What sorts of animals did you see there? Did you see any Morass Auro? Solanum Frogs? Did you see them puff up and get all goopy? I read they do that when Swamp Cats try to eat on or snakes try to eat em. Did you see the Swamp Cat Snakes? I read everything in those swamps grows plants on them and can do some level of photosynthesis! Isn't that amazing! Animals making food from the sun! I wonder what it tastes like! Did you see any Sheep Slugs? Or Timidia slugs cause they're so shy and pretend to be parts of water plants or trees- there's Cockatrice in the swamps! Did you see any? Eda says your grandma hunts them for fun, and cause she likes the taste! Which is super awesome!" Gailine finally stopped and took a breath, her tail swayed eagerly, thumping the couch with a strong, rhythmic consistency that matched her purring.

"Uh… we visited a colony of swamp cats to check on the kittens and-" Enzo broke off as Gailine pulled one of the thickest books they had ever seen in their life out of nowhere.

She thumbed through the pages then trilled and showed him what she'd found. It was a page all about swamp cats, the first page of many on the life stages of swamp cats. Enzo only figured that much because of the pictures, they couldn't read it.

"What stage were the kittens at?" Gailine asked.

They pointed to the first image, it looked the most like the ones they'd been checking on.

"You saw the really little babies?!" She squealed, leaning into their face.

Enzo leaned back a smidge.

"Yes…? Is there something special about that?" He asked.

"Is there something special?! Swamp cats are some of the most protective parents ever! They live in one of the most dangerous places on the Isles and they attack anything that gets within a mile of their nurseries! It took Melusine Philyra literal decades to earn the trust of enough colonies that they didn't all attack her! It's so cool that you got to see the buds, they're so cute." Gailine gushed.

"Philyra?" Enzo echoed.

They knew that name, they'd heard it somewhere… at some point within the last couple centuries.

"She's only the greatest beast keeper ever! She's been studying all the animals for over three centuries! She's a vampire so she's got all the time to do that stuff!" Gailine paused, glanced around real quick and leaned in, motioning for them to do the same.

"I heard that her autobiography has records of life on other islands, and she's got an entire book series on her studies of Titans!" Gailine whispered eagerly.

"Whoa, that's, uh, really cool." Enzo said, hoping they didn't sound nearly as awkward as they thought they did.

"Yeah it is! But I can't find any good copies anywhere! They don't have it at any of the libraries I visit with Mama, she took me to all of 'em looking for it, but apparently those books are forbidden for some stupid reason that makes no sense." Gailine pouted.

"I'm sorry about that, bummer."

"Huge bummer." Gailine agreed.

An ear flicked towards the kitchen and her eyes gleamed mischievously.

"Can you keep a secret?" She asked with a conspirator's grin.

Enzo feigned thinking.

"I'd say I'm pretty good at it." They whispered.

Gailine giggled and cupped her hands around their ear.

"I've been stealing any pages of them I find at the old stuff shops Mama goes to and putting them together myself." Gailine whispered.

The Ocelat sat back with a satisfied grin, crossing her arms with an incredibly proud expression. Enzo giggled, it looked a lot like Este when she'd pull a clever prank.

"I'll help you, Eda gets all sorts of old stuff, she keeps the papers she has in the basement." Enzo whispered.

Gailine literally vibrated from how hard she was purring.

"Geesh kid, you're gonna kill my couch." Eda called from the kitchen.

Both children glanced at the small dent Gailine's tail had left and erupted into a fit of laughter.

________________________________________________________________________________

The snakes are gay! Syvne is disaster gay, Nibs is functional oblivious gay

Gailine has little chill and less concept of personal space or boundaries, she's very cuddly and physically affectionate, gives tons of cuddles and the best hugs! She's also a problem magnet.

The biscuit bit is partly sponsored by my childhood. My grandma makes the best biscuits, she doesn't flavor them or anything, I added that for fun, but they are so delicious and familial wars have been fought over them. I love those things.

In case you are wondering, Eda did hear the kids, and she approves of the shenanigans.

Like I said at the beginning, I've started college and have less time to do all sorts of stuff so there might not be an update for a while as I figure it out.

I've found that drawing gay monkeys + lil baby I made for them(I got into lego monkie kid guys), is both relatively easy and very relaxing so I'm probably gonna stick to drawing some more of those and maybe some Star Wars stuff cause Ahsoka is coming out tomorrow and I am so psyched! It's gonna be the best fucking thing ever and I will take zero criticism on it! It's Ahsoka, it'll be perfect.

I'm sorry for the delayed update and lack of art. I'm trying to figure out how to use Adobe stuff for some animation, and trust me, the first thing is gonna be stupid and easy, but it's gonna be this AU. Most likely.

I hope you all have a good day, whatever that is for you!

VJS Out!