#ch: shorty

[hachiibun]

❗ PLEASE NO REBLOGGING TO NON-KINK BLOGS ❗

I'm honoured to have collaborated with the incredible @onetrickponi to celebrate a certain gravity-manipulating shorty's birthday! This has been in the works for a while now, and we're both really excited to finally share this with everyone!

Without further ado, we'd like to present Vigil.

— ♠ —

“I’ve always wanted to die in a church.”

Beside him, Chuuya snorts. “I thought you wanted to die in the Ooka.”

Dazai wrinkles his nose. “Not since it became a tourist trap,” he replies. “That wouldn’t be a peaceful death at all.”

“The amount of thought you’ve put into this disturbs me,” says Chuuya, his own nose creasing. His, however, is due to a low seated, buzzing itch along the bridge of his sinuses that has been lingering since breakfast.

Chuuya won’t give it the satisfaction of culminating into a sneeze, however; instead choosing to quash the soft tingle into oblivion with the sheer force of his willpower alone. Anything else would be unacceptable.

(—as well as fucking candy to the idiot next to him, if Dazai ever gets wind of…whatever this is.)

Chuuya swallows against a spark of itch that ignites in his nose and grits his teeth. When he thinks he can speak steadily he points to the pews with a gloved hand. “Find the flash drive,” he orders. “We’ve got a window of thirty minutes at—the fuck are you looking at, shithead?”

Dazai cocks his head to the side, blinks, and answers with, “Just admiring your striking resemblance to a cherub in this light.” It’s smooth and practiced, like most of Dazai’s bullshittery.

“Why, you–” Chuuya cuts himself off and exhales slowly through his nose. He tries not to wince at the slight whistling sound it makes. With a sharp sniff he stalks off to the sanctuary and begins sifting through the drawers there. Dazai scurries off to the apse with an excited noise, muttering something about how angelic his corpse would look strung up along the mosaics.

Chuuya’s nose gives a foreboding quiver.

It isn’t like Dazai hasn’t ever heard him sneeze, or vice versa. They’ve been working together too long for that. They’ve seen each other express every bodily function possible to man (in addition to the ones that aren’t).

And Chuuya might have even been okay with his current predicament, had it not been for a quip Dazai made last week about Chuuya being a “weakling.” It had stung because Dazai, whose lack of self care is, frankly, appalling, can operate seemingly unbothered by even the most serious neglects of basic needs. Chuuya’s seen him run at peak wit on days of sleeping ninety minutes a night, seen his hair and skin glow on a diet of crab cakes and sake…while on the other hand Chuuya’s the one with the—

Don’t say it. As if ignoring the problem will make it go away. It hasn’t worked with Dazai, so Chuuya is a fool to think it will work with his increasingly sensitive airways.

Chuuya rifles through some bibles, sparing a glance or two at Dazai before deeming it okay to swallow a couple of sneezes and throat clears into his sleeve. He’s perfected the silent stifle over time, which is a feat in and of itself since Chuuya tends to sneeze harshly, loudly, and in multiples. Perhaps the intensity is Corruption at work, but regardless, Chuuya enjoys scaring the living daylights out of people. Usually.

The flash drive is proving to be elusive. The Port needs it, badly, if they have any chance of winning over the west side gangs of the Pier. Chuuya jams a gloved knuckle against the side of his nose as he hitches, squints, and glares at the church pews like they personally offend him.

“Oi, Chuuya,” Dazai whisper-calls from somewhere behind a cupboard. “I think someone’s coming. You find it?”

“No,” Chuuya snaps. The dust of old, flaky books is making his already irritated nose twitch. He shakes his head and the tickle abates. Cocking his head he realizes that Dazai is right; the sound of slow footfalls is getting closer to the vestibule. “Shit.”

Dazai scurries lightly over to where Chuuya is glowering at nothing in particular, and takes him by the arm. “There’s a little den area over there,” he nods to a veiled corner, “where we can stay hidden until whoever it is leaves,” he says.

“Or we can just come back in the morning,” replies Chuuya, snatching his arm away.

“Mori-sama will be disappoinnnteddd,” Dazai sing-songs. Dammit. He knows how to hit Chuuya where it hurts and they both know it.

Chuuya sighs. “Fine.” He stalks over to the den and crouches in the darkness with Dazai just as the cathedral doors swing open. The gibbous moon twinkles through the stained glass windows enough for the two of them to make out one of the western gang’s right hands.

Dazai crouches low and squints through the shadows. “Maybe he’ll show us where the drive is,” he whispers.

“Shut up, slug.”

Dazai holds up his bandaged hands in a familiar, placating gesture. They watch the guy glide down the stone nave, rummage around some boxes along the altar’s steps, sift through a stack of papers, and make himself comfortable on a nearby cushion.

Well, there goes Chuuya’s hopes of a night in. And now with Dazai sitting so close, he’s bound to find out Chuuya isn’t in as good of shape as he claims. Chuuya’s not going to waste all of his energy hiding it, but he’s also not ready to be discovered because he couldn’t keep his damn nose under control.

He’d never hear the end of it from Dazai.

So when he feels a trickle of damp at the edges of his nostrils he takes a slow breath in and times a much-needed sniffle with their visitor’s dropping of a folder. Dazai shoots him a curious, but unsurprised glance, which Chuuya pointedly ignores.

The sneeze teasing the swollen membranes of his sinuses, however, is much harder to ignore. Chuuya knows he can stifle it, but he also knows that doing so won’t exactly solve the problem. The irritation needs somewhere to go, or it’ll just build fruitlessly until he lets them out proper.

He breathes carefully, making sure to hitch silently as he bunches up a handful of fabric from his jacket. Chuuya ducks his head in preparation for the sneeze (or sneezes, if this is indeed a…cold).

Dazai raises an eyebrow as he watches Chuuya curl into himself and shiver with two inaudible stifles. When Chuuya uncurls Dazai can see the bleary, hazy look of someone who still has desperately to sneeze but is trying very hard not to.

“Can you stop, Chibi?” whispers Dazai. Chuuya shoots him a look that is equal parts furious and embarrassed. It’s adorable. But…

“Frankly, I’d rather not get caught because you couldn’t tame your little nose there,” Dazai continues. “Are you suuure you’re good?”

Chuuya gives a curt nod. Which should be reassuring, but Dazai’s smile falters because this is actually very bad. He recognizes the lack of quip, even while hiding like this, means that Chuuya does not trust himself enough to speak. He’s seen it before.

Dazai flicks an errant strand of hair out of his eyes and sighs. “Maybe we really will die in a church, if you keep this up.”

Chuuya’s returning grin is feral. “Y-you wish.” No way in hell will he allow Dazai the satisfaction. The carpets blanketing the enclosed den mean that they can whisper without much of an echo. It’s a small relief, since Chuuya can feel the congestion crawling and pattering away in a far back place of his nose, dormant but threatening.

He focuses on how intently Dazai is eyeing him, knowing well what Dazai isn’t saying. Engaging would be easy, but it would be messy and they’re supposed to be currying favor with the west side gangs, not killing them (or in Dazai’s case, very emphatically bonking them on the head).

Chuuya’s right eye waters with the sharpness of the tickle, as the itchiness swells and becomes decidedly less dormant. He bites his lip. If this keeps up his nose is going to turn into fucking Krakatoa.

Dazai watches Chuuya massage his flaring nostrils through the fabric of his gloves and grins with as many teeth as he can muster. Chuuya’s losing battle with his nose is even more hilarious than the fact that he’s currently sitting on a pile of Communion pamphlets.

It won’t be long now, what with the way Chuuya has gone stiff and rigid. Dazai counts backwards from five in his head. He gets to two before Chuuya’s lip trembles as the itch erupts and overwhelms him.

“Gnt!” Chuuya’s able to pinch that one into submission, though it makes his head throb and the pulsating trickle along his nose intensify with unsatisfied need. “Gnt! Nt! H’Gnt!”

He starts to lower his hand, before—“Gnt!” Jesus fuck, can’t he be done?

The answer is no, apparently, because Chuuya feels his eyes begin to flutter shut and his chest start to jump with silent, building hitches.

Before he can sneeze again, however, he feels a tap on his shoulder. It successfully distracts him from the budding sneeze as Chuuya whips his head around to stare at Dazai’s familiar, shit-eating grin.

Dazai uses the finger he’d tapped Chuuya with to beckon. “C’mere.”

Chuuya sniffs carefully and squints. “Why?”

Rolling his eyes, Dazai grabs him (gently, Chuuya notices, which okay, is a little odd) and smashes his face into his long overcoat (a little less gently).

“Mnflgl?” Chuuya questions.

“Sneeze, Chuuya,” Dazai orders. Chuuya tries to shake his head because one, Dazai’s forgetting how harsh his sneezes are—sure to give them away, and two, Chuuya might hate the guy but he’s not going to sneeze on him.

Dazai seems to read his mind. “The fabric will muffle the sound,” he replies. “And you’ll pay for my dry cleaning.” Chuuya can hear his smirk. Asshole.

But he also wants very badly to sneeze. No; at this point he’s desperate to sneeze. His nose feels like one of his gravity bombs, pulsing, thrumming, and the itch is all consuming. It would feel so good to just let a few out. He really shouldn’t.

“I know you need to,” whispers Dazai.

So, against all logic, Chuuya does.

“Hep-MPPH! MPPHT! H’MPPH!” Somehow, the fabric dampens the sound better than Chuuya thought it would. So he decides he can sneeze a little more.

“Hh…hh…MPPHT! PHT! MPPHT! Hp!…H-Hep-MPPHH!”

He’s beginning to feel dizzy. It’s worth it, though, as the stuffy, spider-crawling prickle along his nose subsides for the time being. God, he’s never had to sneeze so badly in his life. Makes sense it’s now, when he needs to be quiet.

And Dazai—the utter prick—is patting his head, like Chuuya’s some sort of mutt. “You’re a mess, you know that?” he’s saying, fondly, as Chuuya shakes with sneeze after sneeze. It’s a wonder the gang’s right hand hasn’t discovered them yet.

Slowly, Chuuya comes up for air. He thanks some leviathan god that it’s dark, so he doesn’t have to look at what he’s done to Dazai’s coat. He’s not even going to look at Dazai, because this is probably one of the most humiliating things to happen to him in…well, not as long as Chuuya’d like to admit. This is Dazai, after all.

“Bless you,” Dazai says quietly. Chuuya’s head snaps to him because Dazai sounds wrong. Odd. Genuine. Ah, that’s why it took so long to place. Dazai rarely does sincere, and the few times he expresses genuine emotions tend to signify nothing good at all.

“Thank you,” Chuuya mutters between a clenched jaw because he may have made a mess of himself but he still has manners, goddammit. He blinks the remaining wetness from his eyes as he peers at Dazai for a suspended moment.

“Oh, and if you’re curious, the guy left five minutes ago.”

And the moment is over.

Chuuya jumps up. “You utter assho-ho–” He’s cut off by the familiar needling sensation at the back of his nose. Oh no you don’t. Jamming a fist under his septum hard enough to bruise, he points a finger at Dazai.

“I despise you,” he hisses. “All thihh…th…hih…”

Dazai holds a hand to his ear. “What was that?”

Chuuya shakes his head with a tickly sniff in hopes that his nose will make up its mind and move from where it’s currently settled—in the burning, stinging place between sneeze and not sneeze that’s driving him even more up the wall than Dazai is.

Dazai cocks his head at just the right angle that a piece of hair falls into his eyes. “That sneeze looks troublesome,” he observes. “Is it stuck? Like Chuuya’s growth spurt?”

Chuuya growls and kicks a nearby chair leg for good measure, now that they don’t have to concern themselves with being quiet. The sound is hollow and echoes across the large cathedral chamber.

There’s a wrinkled, damp spot on one side of Dazai’s overcoat that Chuuya pointedly avoids looking at. The crazy bastard had let him do that, all for, what? Funsies? To torture him? Chuuya will unpack that for later. It never bodes well to try to make sense of Dazai’s brain. Besides, the much-needed sneeze is still eluding him. If he could just–just…

“Hih…Hept! Hh…Fuck! Shit!”

Dazai sighs. “Okay, I can’t watch this,” he says, striding over to Chuuya. “Stay still, Chibi.”

Chuuya glares at him, irritation evident in his eyes and in his raw, wide-blown nostrils. “If you’re doi’g anythi’g other thad helpi’g, Dazai, I will obliterate you,” he says darkly, throat crackling and sore.

Dazai grins wide. “Relax,” he says. He wiggles a finger. “I know Chuuya’s sneeze spot.”

“What the fuck even is a—” Dazai presses a finger to the bridge of Chuuya’s nose, in the center, and gives it a circular rub back and forth. Chuuya stumbles back and manages a wavering, shaky curse in French before he snaps forward with a fusillade of unrestrained sneezes.

“Hih-ASHHHu! Hep’ASHHU! AHSSHU! AHSSH! AHSSHH! AHSSHU! Merde!…Heh-heh…hih’ASHHU!”

Chuuya sneezes and sneezes, for once uncaring about decorum. It’s a miracle his hat doesn’t fly off. He’s so overcome with finally scratching the itch in his nose that he almost doesn’t feel the tap at his shoulder. Dazai’s extending a packet of tissues that look like they were newly purchased.

“Goodness! I don’t know whether to bless Chuuya or call an exorcist,” he remarks.

“Shut up,” Chuuya mutters around a tissue. With that annoyance out of the way, it’s seeping in just how awful he feels. He sighs, heavy, and rubs at a temple. “Nom de dieu…”

“I really don’t know how someone so little can sneeze with such ferocity,” continues Dazai, ignoring Chuuya. It’s easy to say the man was put on this earth for the sole purpose of making Chuuya’s life miserable. “Hih…ASHHU!” Chuuya’s head gives a throb and things slide out of focus for a minute. He coughs, rough, and pushes some sweaty hair away from his face. How unsightly.

“Oh, and Chuuya?” Dazai makes a burlesque of leaning in and peering at him. “The next time you’re sick, call in, okay?” And then he reaches one lanky arm over and pats Chuuya’s head.

“I never said I was sick,” Chuuya snaps, jerking out of reach. Dazai makes to poke his nose again, but Chuuya evades him with a hoarse snarl. “Stop.”

In response, Dazai gives him a condescending look that Chuuya knows well. It’s the one where he purses his lips and crinkles up his large, dark eyes. The one he knows infuriates Chuuya the most. “Please,” he says, waving a hand. “I knew before we even got here. Just wanted to see how long you could keep it up.”

Chuuya opens his mouth to utter some expletive, he doesn’t know which one yet, but the sneezy feeling decides to return—bristling like a thousand tiny whiskers along the rims of his inner nose. Stifling it to refute Dazai’s point will only make his head pound harder, so Chuuya wrenches to the side with a sneeze. Which, naturally, makes him cough.

“Hmmm, you really don’t sound good, Chuuya.”

“Fuck you.”

Dazai makes a face. “Ew, no thanks. But since you’re already paying for my dry cleaning, why don’t I treat you to a nice bowl of leek soup and tea?”

Dazai is so confusing at times Chuuya could strangle him. Or at least blame him for the acute emotional whiplash.

“Hh’ASSHu! AHSSH! J'en peux plus…” Chuuya twitches his nose to the side and straightens his hat. “Whatever—let’s just find that drive and get the hell out of here so I can go to bed,” he grumbles. It’s not exactly a refusal (because tea does in fact sound nice), but Chuuya is more than done with this place.

“You mean this?” Dazai wiggles a little USB between two bandaged fingers. Chuuya sputters. “Yup. Found it ages ago and switched it with a fake.”

“AAH?!”

— Fin —

[fairyceridwen]

😧

[faerie-somnium]

EEEEYOOO TYIES chapter 2 is officially sent to betas in time for the start of school

[uddermyname]

Good evening. I'd like to ask about how you view Riddle x Azul. You mentioned them switching and I agree with that wholeheartedly, and I was curious as to what you mean by "Oedipus vibes" because I honestly hadn't thought of it that way, but I am quite interested now.

ok ok ok ok ok here's a very exaggerated and hyperbolic shitpost explanation SPOILERS FOR BOOK 6 BTW

context for some parts: halloween part 1 | part 2 / gym / book 6 chp 67 tower 3 ch 16-17 / glorious masquerade Team A: Azul, Deuce, Epel

so it's criminal by britney spears + riddle and azul's interactions in this fic (mind the tags) "Blood in the Water" by Nehasy + and throw in a lil of neito monoma's neurosis and you got the perfect riddlexazul/azulxriddle the arrangement doesnt matter here i'll just use the term broadly for the whole dynamic

just the entirety of azul and riddle's interactions are so good when you start looking, being DUO magic (doesnt help riddle was my first ssr so of course i tried to focus on his duo with azul) partners, and Book 6's chapters with them. they're clearly fire and water, two sides of a coin, etc. etc. and yet clearly spur each other on so well because of it. as said by azul he wants to be seen as riddle's rival, someone equal to him that he wants to be respected by yet also grow with

the oedipus part comes from my giving azul a DUMPTRUCK mostly but if them getting close physically can def see azul feeding into that for riddle, teaching him all the ropes and riddle just. soaking that positive affirmation up. truly an eve and the snake situation, falling for temptation. and with how deep riddle's mom issues are any positive attention will be compared to his mom and that's a very sexy concept. azul being the whore/madonna complex in comparison to riddle's mom. he's openly greedy, unrestrained, and emotional yet also suppresses himself cuz of his own insecurities. they're very good foils to one another

even better i guess if you can imagine riddle's mom having a similar pear shape and damn riddle you never stood a chance get rekt shortie

[currebunz]

Ch.2 Run as fast as you can (Trigun x reader)

Buy me a coffee

//Paring: Vashxreader

Multiple drones had appeared, swarming the control room of the tower. They were like insects as they moved in droves and were fluid as water. From the looks of it, they were running independently. There was probably some internal network feeding them directions. As of right now, you couldn’t really focus too much on that. Vash was on the offense, shooting them down with one bullet. Roberto and Meryl had hid behind cover, leaving you to throw your knives at the drones.

“You think they turned on with the generator?” Vash asked.

“Yep, these things don’t run independently. Watch” you replied.

You waited for a group of drones to get close, striking the floor beneath them with a knife. As the floor collapsed, none of them attempted to divert their direction.

“Hey old man! Shorty! Use the control panel and divert the power to utilities!” you shouted.

“How are we supposed to do that?” Merly squeaked.

“Just press anything” Roberto grunted as he covered Meryl.

As the two worked, you and Vash were pushing back the drones. You were nearly out of knives, leaving you no choice but to get serious.

“Vash, give me your shoulder for a second” you said.

“Huh? My shoulder?” Vash asked.

You didn’t answer him, running behind him and jumping onto his shoulder. Using him as a spring, you jumped over the gunfire and closed the distance. The armor you wore on your shoes was strong enough to damage the drones with a kick. You could still hear the gunshots as Vash switched to covering you while you fought. In between hits, you managed to pick up and pry out your thrown knives. Eventually, the drones stopped. They powered down and ceased to move. You dusted off your shoes and put your knives away. Vash also put his gun away, staring at you in awe.

“You’re pretty good” he said.

“So are you, you’d make a good partner” you praised him.

Vash had a slight blush on his face, laughing awkwardly. You weren’t sure why but you weren’t about to ask. Now that you got what you want, it was time to go.

“Well, it’s been…. Interesting. But there isn’t anything left in this tower. I’ll be on my way” you began.

“Uh wait, where are you headed?” Vash asked.

“The terminal, why?” you asked.

“Well, if you don’t have a ride. You could come with us” he offered.

You glanced at Roberto and Meryl, not that they could see your face.

“What about them?” you asked.

“They’ll understand,” Vash reassured you.

Although you weren’t convinced, you would rather ride in a vehicle for once. You agreed, sitting in the back of the truck with Vash. He appeared relaxed, not minding the large space between you both. You could see Roberto looking at you through the rear view mirror.

“Does it ever get hot with that mask on?” he asked.

“Nope, it’s actually relaxing” you quipped.

It started as an awkward ride, but the group easily fell back into their own conversation. You found it odd they could be so relaxed around a stranger. Weirdos didn’t last long out here, that wasn’t your problem.

The first stop was at Jeneora Rock, no one had anything to drink so you were all thirsty. The town was better off than most, but it wasn’t anything impressive. The moment you had stepped into a dinner, Vash was recognized right away. You had stood aside while they talked, looking down when you felt someone pull on your cloak.

A little boy with a cage was looking at you, holding it up for you to see the insects inside. You squatted low, poking at the insects.

“You are quite the collector,” you said in a playful tone.

“Yep!” the boy grinned.

He scampered away quickly, leaving you back to your brooding. You noticed Vash was looking at you with a kind smile.

“We’re going to have a seat, if you want to drink with us,” he said.

“Only if you are paying” you mused as you brushed past him. While eating, you learned more about Vash’s reputation.

It was hard to believe he was such a strong force of nature despite being so meek and good natured. He had such a good boy vibe you weren’t convinced he could hurt someone. The people in the dinner could agree as they only had good things to say about Vash. They were obviously struggling as the water wasn’t clean.

“Oh, also Vash. Could you see the plant?” Rosa asked.

He had agreed, leading your group to approach the plant. It was red, you’ve seen it before. Whatever Vash was going to do, he was stopped by some policemen. They didn’t pay you any mind as they dragged Vash away and beat him.

“Not going to intervene?” Roberto asked.

“Not my problem” you told him.

Roberto sighed, stepping in to suggest the policemen challenger Vash to a duel. Well, it sounded more like a threat the way he said it. Either way, the leader Chuck Lee agreed to the duel. They chose the highest point, making it easy for everyone else on the ground to watch.

“Where are you going?” Roberto asked as he caught you walking away.

“I’m gonna go higher up, the VIP seating” you joked.

He made an unagreeable sound but he didn’t argue. You had gone higher up, standing on top of some kind of tower for electricity. You reached under your cloak, taking out your bag. While the duel was just starting, you used this time to mount your sniper. If things went south, you’d have to intervene. To your surprise, things turned south quickly.

Chuck had fired a cluster shot into the air, something you wouldn’t have even imagined to do. There were too many to shoot them all down and you didn’t have anything to combat this. You looked at Vash, he had easily taken down Chuck and was aiming his gun at the cluster of missiles.

“No way…” you were in awe, was he really going to shoot them all down?

“Eh? I’m out of bullets?!” Vash shouted.

Your hopes were quickly dashed. He shouted for someone to give him a spare bullet, crying loudly and sniveling. Meryl had managed to find a bullet and tossed it to him, but Chuck had shot at Vash and the bullet bounced out of his reach.

“You’ve got to be- ugh!” you lined up your sniper.

Just when the bullet reached the edge of the cliff, you fired off. Your bullet grazed the edge of it, knocking it back toward the cliff. Vash caught it just in time, loading his gun. He had thrown a rock into the air and shot it, each fragment hitting the missles. You were still amazed even though you were annoyed.

“He really is trouble” you sighed as you put your sniper away.

By the time you reunited with everyone at the dinner, a gun was drawn on you before you could get through the doorway. You recalled Chuck had talked about the bounty, so it wasn’t too shocking that they wanted to turn Vash in. What was shocking was how fast Vash could run. He took off with incredible speed, but it looked more like he was barely holding on as he tried to jump around the town.

“Shouldn’t we help him?” Meryl asked.

“Can we count on you to not try and take the bounty?” Roberto asked.

“I’m not interested in turning him in. But it’s kind of funny watching him like this” you laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes” Roberto sighed.

His plan was to pull Vash somewhere to hide. You guys waited until he passed through an area high enough the others wouldn’t be able to follow so easily. You managed to pull him up, avoiding the people long enough they searched somewhere else.

“Thanks, I owe you one,” Vash smiled at you.

“Actually, two,” you said.

You noticed he had the same stupid grin on his face as when he first met you. Although, Roberto began speaking and you looked away from Vash. The plan was to sneak out without alerting the townspeople. That was the plan but they had caught you all at one of the exits. You reached for your knives but Vash grabbed your wrist.

“Hands up where I can see them!” Rosa ordered.

You sighed, he really was trouble. You complied with her demands, sitting on your knees with your  hands behind your head. They didn’t take your weapons since you couldn’t reach them without getting a bullet in your head. You weren’t concerned with their talk on morality, tuning them out as you noticed a truck in the distance. Oh, it was definitely headed your way. You waited for it to get close, preparing to jump out of the way.

Vash had protected Rosa and her son despite the threat she posed. Roberto had saved Meryl and you had backed into the dust. You tried looking for Vash, but he had snuck away to steal a Thomas. It was obvious he was leading the assailants away from Jeneora Rock.

“Come on, we have to go after them!” Meryl shouted.

Although you would have normally left them alone, you still had a goal to pursue.

“Fine! Let’s get them!” you ran to the truck.

Meryl drove while Robert held on for his life. The ones who had been driving the truck earlier were the Nebraskas, there had been a report earlier that they escaped prison. Vash was dodging them, but not fighting back. The ride was too bumpy to get a clear shot, so all you could do was watch. But Vash never fired back at them. Their truck eventually ran out of power, stalling in the sands.

The bigger one, Gofsef still grabbed Vash’s Thomas. The chase wasn’t over yet. It wasn’t until the pack Gofesf grabbed slipped from it’s belts and ended up making the giant smack him in the face did Vash get away. He continued to run, until there was a great distance from the Nebraskas.

Of course, everyone’s first question was why he hadn’t fought back. Even though Vash answered, it wasn’t satisfying to hear. Not wanting to kill and choosing to run.

“There is always going to be conflict, so how long do you plan on running?” you asked.

He didn’t look up, but you could see he was conflicted.

“You’d be surprised how long I can run,” he joked.

“You can run for the rest of your life for all I care, but the people you meet are put at risk too. How do you plan on taking responsibility for that?” you said coolly.

Vash finally looked up, his eyes staring at your mask.

“I-” he began.

The radio from the truck began to buzz loudly as an emergency report came in. Jeneora Rock was under attack by the Nebraskas. Vash gave you one last look before jumping on his Thomas and turning back to Jeneora Rock. You grabbed Meryl and dragged her to the truck.

“He’s not going to wait for us to cause trouble,” you mused.

Luckily, you caught up to Vash and arrived back at the town. You ran with him where the Nebraskas were dragging the plant away.

“Don’t hurt anyone!” Vash said in his haste.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” you argued.

Vash had saved Rosa, but the Nebraskas weren’t going to just leave now that Vash was back. Gofesf’s punches weren’t difficult to dodge, there just wasn’t a lot of space for two people to jump around. Vash dodged skillfully and ungracefully, bumping to you at one point.

“Oh, sorry” he said as you both were chest to chest.

His hands were up as if he was being held at gunpoint. You had your hands on his coat, holding on due to the sudden contact.

“Don’t be foolish” you said as you pushed him back to dodge the fist coming at you both.

Vash caught himself, ducking down as the fist retracted. It came at you again and you leapt forward, turning as you expected it to recoil. Vash grabbed your hand and waist and turned you out of reach.

“Don’t grab me like that!” you yelled.

“Sorry!” Vash squeaked.

He didn’t let go, lifting you up as he jumped over the fist once more. When your feet touched the ground, you grabbed Vash and dipped him low as the fist recoiled in an upward motion. Vash made a nervous sound, almost like a giggle as he held onto you.

“I’ll drop you” you warned.

Another fist later you lifted him up and he spun you again. When Nebraska had grown tired of you both, he had Gofsef aim and fired his RPG at you both. Vash threw you to the opposite side, he fell over the edge of the platform.

“Vash!” you shouted.

When the dust cleared, Vash pulled himself back up. Not a scratch was on him. You let out a sigh of relief. You were still annoyed Vash refused to fight, that was until he drew his gun to shoot Nerbraska’s bullet. It was the first time he had shot towards someone.

“You could have done that a long time ago” you sighed.

The platform started to shake, reminding you of all the damage Gofef’s arm had done. It started to sink, breaking off a little ways back. Nebraska had made it to the safe side, but Gofsef was slowed down by the plant. The giant was trying to carry it back to safety. He chucked it into Vash’s arms as the platform collapsed. Luckily, Gofsef’s hand had shot back onto the part you were standing on.

“Dammnit!” you grabbed it, feeling it pull you toward the edge.

Vash dropped the plant, grabbing you to keep you from going over. Although you had him, the giant was too heavy for you two to pull up.

“We’re gonna fall!” you groaned.

“Rosa! Please! I need your help!” Vash yelled.

She rallied the others to help pull, enough that you could hold the cord instead of being a human chain. Once Gofsef was safe, you wanted to get way from the crowd.

“Ah, thanks for that. You jumped to help him” Vash stopped you.

“It wasn’t anything special” you argued.

“But you still did it” he insisted.

Damn, he had caught you there.

“Come to think of it, I never got your name,” he said with a chuckle.

“Just call me Seven, it’s the only name I got” you told him.

It was true, you were called seven for as long as you could remember.

“Okay, well, thank you Seven” Vash sounded a bit happier.

You wanted to comment on it but Rosa invited you all to beers. No one could deny her, at least to have something to drink. Meryl was gone after one drink, ranting to Roberto while he barely listened to her. You stared at the drink in front of you, seated with Vash and the Nebraskas. It wasn’t that you couldn’t drink. But the mask made it a bit difficult.

You turned toward the wall, tilting you mask back enough to drink some. When you turned back around, Vash was staring at you again.

“Pervert” you scoffed, earning a pathetic whine from him.

Gofsef looked at you and then to his drink. You recalled he was the “son”. Although he looked big, you figured he was still young at heart.

“I got you big guy” you said as you poured his beer into your mug.

“Gof” he grunted.

You took that as thanks.

At some point, Vash had left. You stayed behind a bit since he wasn’t the one who owned the car. Roberto excused himself for a smoke, Rosa wasn’t going to let him smoke with her son in the room.

“Why do you wear that mask?” Meryl asked after sobering up.

“It’s part of my orders to,” you said plainly.

“What a strange order. Why would they make you wear that?” she sighed.

“I… I don’t know. I just know I’m not supposed to show my face” you said wistfully.

You were distracted a bit as you recalled the orders given to you when you first met your partner.

‘Wear this, I don’t want to see your face’ he had said.

You never got an answer why, you never knew what was so wrong about showing your face.

“That dumbass” you sighed.

Gofsef got up, approaching you quickly. You didn’t move but you were mildly concerned with his urgency. He picked something off you, glaring at it. You looked at the strange machine, your stomach dropping.

It was a small drone. Lost Technology.

Soon a bunch of them came in, swarming Gofsef. Meryl shouted for Vash and Roberto to come back to the dinner. As the two entered, the drones turned red and began to beep. Gofsef pushed past everyone and ran outside, jumping to the ground as they exploded. Despite the tragic scene before you, your mind was stuck on who the devices belonged to.

“It’s too late, we’re too late…” you muttered.

[sondrox]

Infernal Tales Ch. 9 - Happier Untitled

FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13958950/9/Infernal-Tales

AO3: Infernal Tales - Chapter 9

Synopsis: Something else I wrote on a rant or else I would fucking explode.

Charlie knew it as soon as she opened her eyes that morning.

That day was not going to be her day.

She didn’t know why and she couldn’t just shake the feeling of it, despite she couldn’t wake up in a better way.

Wrapped tightly, arms crossed, next to the best girlfriend in all of creation, just right in the place where she could fulfill her biggest dream yet.

Contrary to her habits of being the first to get up off bed, springing out like a bunny to get ready with her day, Charlie just laid there.

That on its own was nothing strange, sometimes she just stayed in bed a little longer just so she could see Vaggie sleep and so she could be the first thing she saw in the day. More often than not the mere thought of doing that was enough to make her giggle like a little girl.

But that day her eyes stared past her into an empty spot in their room.

She zoned out for who-knows-how-long, only returning to herself when Vaggie roused her.

“Hun, are you alright?”

Charlie coughed a few times as she recomposed herself. “Ye-yeah! Just, you know, finishing booting up!” She ran her fingers through Vaggie’s hair with a smile she had to consciously form up.

“Heh, right. Let’s get started. Last thing we want is for everyone else to oversleep.”

The couple walked together into their bathroom, as it was their habit. Despite the seemingly spicy scenario. For both of them it couldn’t be further from that.

And for the first time in a long time, it was…rather mundane, not to mention how quiet it was.

Vaggie was the first of them to catch up on this, and the fact Charlie was not singing something or even humming a melody, despite her girl’s mind was an endless stream of artsy ideas. One Vaggie had had to learn to keep up with, and to some degree, she enjoyed it, despite how troublesome and taxing it may, and actually is sometimes.

The second thing Vaggie caught as off was when they had their breakfast together.

Vaggie cooked for the both of them. When your significant other has more money than you can spend, your options to show your love language are narrow, but if Vaggie’s learned anything from Charlie is there is always something that can be done about it.

Their usual breakfast would consist of them discussing their schedules for the day, while Charlie praised Vaggie, telling her she was better than a five-stars, Michelin star, star in the sky, star anything, chef in hell.

But right now, Charlie could only stare at the plate in front of her.

“Did you hear me?”

“What!?” Charlie rose up her head suddenly, almost falling off her chair.

“I said, since extermination is no more for now, a lot of sinners should be willing to give the hotel a try. Surely you must be excited.”

“Oh!” Charlie cleared her throat and tried to muster her best smile, but she could only raise her cheeks. “Yes! We are gonna be drowning in guests any time soon.”

“What?”

“Swimming! I meant swimming. Ha-ha. Nothing we can’t take together.”

For the first time in that day, Charlie strived for something and reached her hand to grab Vaggie’s hand and squeeze. Vaggie reciprocated, stroking her thumb over Charlie’s palm. The hellborn felt she could melt right then and there, but Vaggie then withdrew her hand.

“About that, I’m going out with Angel and Husk. We are going out to get supplies for the new wave of guests. As you said, they are coming here any time soon, last thing we want is…”

Charlie couldn’t really hear anything else afterwards. Next thing she knew Vaggie was leaving, and Charlie was left with Alastor and Niffty at the hotel.

Left was a pretty accurate word, as shorty after the trio left, Alastor left her to fence for herself under the excuse he needed to catch up with a few “old friends”, and Niffty rushed at the speed of a bullet to chase and kill insects, not before telling her that some of the new guests that had arrived after the extermination day had not come for breakfast at the dining room.

Charlie gave herself the task to prepare the rooms for the upcoming new guests, while at the same time checking on those guests.

Normally she would be bouncing with excitement as she went through each room. Preparing and making sure every little detail is perfect. Decoration, notes of encouragement on the most unexpected places or leaving a welcoming gift, which included but was not limited to food, a phone, and a ticket for them to invite anyone they wanted to the hotel. A “bring-a-friend-to-redemption” kind of coupon.

But right now, as Charlie sat on her desk, she struggled to even write the most simple and generic notes she could think of. Simple things that could easily make her day failed to spark the slightest of emotions within her.

A simple “Good job” was too much for her to believe.

But when it came to checking on their current residents, Charlie couldn’t not find them.

She tried knocking on their doors, and when they didn’t answer she entered as carefully as she could, only to find each room raided and left ramshackle.

Everything that could be taken off the ground and carried was gone. The bed sheets, pillows, blankets, bathroom products, most of the furniture. The decoration Charlie had set up was gone as well or broken and torn apart on the ground.

Charlie would have thrown herself to the ground in a corner as inconsolable crying ball of sadness. But that day, all she could think of was she knew this kind of events was a tangible possibility. Many of the sinners she took in would only use the hotel as a means to get free food and shelter, and just leave without a second thought after a while.

Vaggie had warned her of that, Alastor had told her he expected just that. And there was a time where the thought of Angel being a potential perpetrator of just that floated in a corner of her mind.

“Niffty?” She whispered bluntly and in a second she appeared crawling over her. Charlie simply grunted and picked her up by her sides. “Think you can…clean this?”

Nifty said something she couldn’t make of it as she nodded frantically and got to work.

After a while, Vaggie, Angel and Husk returned. Charlie broke it down to her girlfriend with surprising calm, trying to make it sound like no big deal.

“Did they try to hurt you?”

“No.”

“Did they steal anything else?”

“No.”

“Are you okay?” Vaggie grabbed her by her shoulders fondly.

Charlie blinked puzzledly.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I…we will just try harder with our new guests!”

Vaggie’s eyes grimaced as her eyes deviated for a second. “Sorry hun, we didn’t get anyone to join us today.”

Vaggie prepared herself for an awful reaction from Charlie, she would tell them they could try together another day. Maybe even letting her try one of her musical ideas, if that’s what it took to spare her the—

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”

“Charlie, is okay if you get upset once in a while.” Her brow frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She run her fingers through Charlie’s hair, but she stopped her as gently as she could. “Charlie…”

“Do you mind if we call it a day?”

…

Vaggie, unlike Charlie, was fluent in silence. When the hellborn closed the door and they saw each other face to face, Vaggie understood what she had to do.

Charlie, of course, didn’t. She walked to the kitchen and began to prepare their dinner like it was their habit at the end of a long day of having their work not being reciprocated by no one.

No one, except…

Vaggie took Charlie’s hands and forced her to put down the knife and plates.

Her not questioning her and her adamant reaction just gave Vaggie proof Charlie needed to clear her head.

She walked the two of them into their bed until they two laid down.

Before Charlie could say anything, Vaggie extended her arms and wrapped them around Charlie’s head, bringing it closer to her chest so Vaggie could rest her own head on top of Charlie’s.

“Vags…?”

“Shh…it’s alright.”

Charlie thought Vaggie would try to rationalize how this day had been a good day. Truth be told, they knew that was not Vaggie’s strongest suit, and she would end up laughing to not make Vaggie feel bad, ending up with her being the comforted one with tickles and affirmative words, when Charlie needed to be the comforted one.

They spent the next twenty minutes in that position in silence, only with a calm, yet heavy breathing and rickety pants and gasps filling the room. Vaggie didn’t try to kiss her, look at her face and tell Charlie everything would be okay, or pull away, all she did was wrap her up in her arms, without an ounce of selfishness in it.

She just held the person who deserved heaven more than anyone in this pit until her muffed gasp calmed down, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep in between her arms.

Vaggie chuckled to herself at the thought of Charlie insisting tomorrow they should have changed clothes to sleep, but that was a trivial issue for future Vaggie. For the time being she limited herself to put Charlie down on the bed and she laid next to her looking at her until she fell asleep too.

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

Can you guess the quote I sneaked into this chapter? That quote and shit happening in life inspired this.

[boxboysandotherwhump]

Sam on the drip. (Sam signs pt. 2)

Taglist: @vickytokio @ashintheairlikesnow @thefancydoughnut @malcolmisthebrightestboy @redwingedwhump @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @finder-of-rings @orchidscript @hackles-up @generoushelpingofwhump @sad-boys-anonymous @whump-it @whumpsday

CW: weird wru fuckery, creepy handlers, nudity

Mister Wilson enters the tiny back office Sam finishes the paperwork in, a plate of pretzel rolls in one hand and a can of coke in the other. 

“Here, eat up little one.” 

Sam stops writing. The pen bleeds a tiny spot of blue ink into the cheap printer paper, right in the middle of a half finished word. 

Designation preference: Plat   Romant-

There is a spot of ink next to the brown flaky blood stain from early tonight. “I’m not hungry.”

Mister Wilson puts the plate down in front of him, right atop the questionnaire. “Trust me, little one. You’ll want to have something in your stomach when we start the drip. A wipe is no walk in the park.” 

“I thought- I-” Sam swallows, his throat suddenly sandpaper dry. “Will it, uhm, will it, like- hurt?”

With a scrape of table legs over the linoleum floor, Wilson sits down, eyebrows raised in a comical customer service smile. “All the products wru uses in training are tried, tested and one hundred percent cruelty free. Is what I’m supposed to tell you, but to be honest kid- I have no bloody idea. The only thing I do know is that your body will fight it. No matter how bad you wanna get rid of your past, turns out the subconscious is a little bitch latching onto existence, no matter what.”

“Hey there, little one, don’t cry. Tell you what, no matter how rough it gets, once you wake up you won’t remember a thing of it. We will have a great time training together and then it goes straight to your new life. Destination happiness with no pit stops, alright?”  

Sam rubs at his eyes furiously enough an eyelash comes loose and sticks to his thumb. 

“I’m not crying.” he sniffs and adds, hesitating, “Do you promise? That it’ll be alright, after.”

He feels stupid, like when he was small and stuck in summer camp, too afraid to join the night hike so a counselor had to comfort him, holding his hand during the entire hike. 

“Pinky promise.” Mister Wilson beams and taps the pretzel roll plate. “But now, eat up.”

When Sam reaches for the plate he notices the eyelash. Face growing hot with embarrassment he closes his eyes, purses his lips and makes a wish.

Please let me be happy.

When his eyes flutter open, Mister Wilson's face is so close to Sam’s,  his breath tickles the tip of Sam’s nose. 

“Good, you’re adorable.” 

Flushing a deeper shade of red, Sam grabs a pretzel roll and stuffs it into his mouth, choking on the too large bite. 

“M not.”

Tossing his head back, Mister Wilson erupts in warm rich laughter that does nothing to help calm Sam’s nerves. “Let me decide what you are.”

Guess, that's the idea here. Sam stuffs his face with another pretzel roll, flushing his meal down with the coke. After the last crumb is dutifully eaten, Mister Wilson puts the contract down in front of him. 

“Sign here and we can get going.” 

Barely looking Sam scrawls his signature onto the dotted line and gets up. A shaky inhale. “Kay. Let's do this.” 

They have to switch elevators twice until they finally reach the ground level, where the training rooms are. The hallways are a winding maze of white walls and cold air. Every step they take echoes, Sam’s sneakers a soft pat next to the harsh click of Mister Wilson's boots. 

More clicking comes from behind a corner. Another handler emerges, grinning at the sight of Sam.

“Wilson. You got another trainee?”

“Sure do.”

Halting in front of them, the handler smiles down at Sam: “Number and designation?”

“Uhm.” Sam falters and sees the smile slip from the handler's face.

“He doesn’t have a number yet.” Wilson interjects. “We’re just on our way to the wipe.” 

“Oh, well that explains the clothes.” The handler yawns. “My bad, shorty. Guess my brain’s still half asleep. Have fun.”

“Ah, uhm, thank you?”  

Chuckling, Wilson tells Sam not to mind his colleague while they make their way down the hall. When they enter the room where Sam will be erased for good, his heart beats so fast he fears to pass out. 

It’s oddly warm in the near empty room. The entire thing is tiled in white ceramic, glittering under the fluorescent lights. There are some cabinets on one wall, and a small freezer.  In its center stands a padded stretcher, restraints dangling from it to fix someone's feet and hands in place. Next to it, the drip. Mister Wilsons hits the power button on it and gestures to a bench near the entrance. 

“Strip and put your clothes there. I’ll give you a uniform in a sec.”

Sam does as he’s told, hands shaking as they pull his cat shirt up over his head. The kitty's face in its center is weirdly deformed, staring up at him one eyed from where he tossed it on the bench.  Everything had happened so fast after that fight, Sam had really run to WRU still wearing his pajama shirt. Headless, panicked. He hadn’t thought this through at all. 

Behind him, Wilson pulled a bag from a freezer, hooked it up to the Iv-machine. 

Sam really just signed his life away in a frumpy, fucking cat pajama. A hysterical laugh bubbles up his throat but all that comes out is a sob. 

Tears roll down his eyes as he yanks down his shorts and tosses them on the bench. 

Mister Wilson looks at him, eyebrows raised. “Do you want a sedative to take the edge off?”

Fists shaking at his sides, Sam nods, earning a humoring smile from Mister Wilson. It doesn’t escape Sam how Wilsons eyes linger on his crotch. 

“What?”Sam hisses, shame and rage and panic chasing each other in circles inside his head until the room spins around him. He flops down on the bench, knees pressed together to hide from Wilsons curious eyes.

“I’m only surprised you have a dick and a-”

“I’m inter.” Sam snaps, curling up on the bench, protecting his naked body from Mister Wilson's eyes. Boots click click click over the tile floor and a warm hand finds its way into Sam’s hair, down behind his ear, where it starts to gently rub over soft skin.

Sam blinks up, new tears falling.

“Hey now. It’s a really great surprise, if that's any relief.”

A watery laugh escapes Sam upon the absurdity of it all. 

“I’ve never trained an inter pet, but I’m looking forward to it. What makes you tick,” his hand brushes over Sam’s cheek nearly touching his lips, wanders further up, gently tugging a curl behind his ear. “What makes you feel good.”

Breath catches in Sam’s throat.

Smiling, Wilson hands Sam a pair of black shorts. They are soft under Sam’s fingertips as he slips into them hastily. He eats a tiny white pill from Wilsons fingertips and the harsh white world of WRU’s training facility grows fuzzy around the edges. His thoughts slow down, flashes of fear and anger getting lost in the fog. 

A warm rough hand wraps around his wrist and pulls him forward. Climbing onto the stretcher is difficult with his limbs hanging by his sides like heavy noodles but with Mister Wilson's help, he manages. 

When Wilson grabs one of the Mitts with a rattle of chains, Sam whimpers and pulls his hands under his chin.  

Wilson smiles. “These are only to protect you from hurting yourself when the drug hits.”

Another whimper. Wilson grabs one of Sam’s hands, gentle but steady and forces them into the Mitt. 

“Don’t forget little one, you signed up for this.”

Head lulling Sam mumbles: “Though’ forgettin’ s the point of t’is.”

Grabbing Sam’s other hand, Wilson grins. “I can’t wait to start our training.”

With his feet buckled in tightly and his arm cleaned, the preparations are done. The needle glints in Wilsons now gloved hands. Sam turns his head, eyes shutting so tight stars dance behind them.

His arm is grabbed, hands squeezing in gentle affection. “Ready?”

A shaky nod. A quiet whimper. 

Steel breaks his skin, the needle slides home. 

A heartbeat, freezing liquid floods his veins. Another, his brain melts into weeping white. 

No past.

No future.

No dreams. 

No self.

White noise. 

[mama-qwerty]

Handy List Of Tumblr Writing Snippets

A Snippet is a bit of writing that is either unfinished--a start that didn’t go anywhere but I liked what I had--or something short and doesn’t really fit into any story or timeline I’m currently working on. Eventually they may find their way to ao3, but for now, they’re Tumblr Exclusives.

UPDATED September 21st, 2024

Some links will take you to @the-knucklesverse - a blog dedicated to talking about, well, the Knucklesverse

~~~~~

The Knucklesverse Guide - An explanation of all Knux’s from the Knucklesverse au

Who is Callie? - an introduction to my OC in case you don’t know who she is

~~~~~

There’s Something About Scarlett pt 3

There’s Something About Scarlett pt 2

There’s Something About Scarlett - inspired by the There’s Something About Knuckles youtube series

Rescue - from my Knuckles MacPherson au

Comfortable Silence - Knucklesverse

Robo Knuckles - from Discord

The Garden - from Discord

A God’s Grief - from Discord - Knuckles angst

Stolen Opportunity - Part two of the previous idea

Signing Off - an idea inspired by @quazart - Part one

Two of a Kind - from my Dread au

The Convention - from my Knuckles MacPherson au

Gone to Ground - from my Knuckles MacPherson au

Returning the Favor - Knucklesverse

A Brush of Comfort - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Dread’s Regret - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Boom Blows - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Dark Deception - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Deep Thoughts - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Seeking Counsel - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Stronger Together - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Dressing Up - from Discord - Knucklesverse

The Standoff - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Corruption - when the ME becomes corrupted, it affects her guardian badly

Overload - Knuckles experiences a sudden surge of chaos energy

A Bad Idea Made Better - based on an ask - Knucklesverse (kinda)

Same Difference - from Discord - Knucklesverse

New Beginnings - a gift for @doomfox - Cal and Wade ring in the New Year

Playing A Round - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Poking and Protection - a commission from @biconic-disaster25

You’re Not Me - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Weird Company - a gift for @anartistwhowrites 

Unintentional Insult - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Dress to Impress - Callie and crew are out to find Cal a wedding dress

An Evening Yule Remember - a quiet evening at the MacPherson house, as they decorate for Christmas (a little Callie x Wade as a bonus)

The Bonkening - from Discord - an idea started by @nights-nonsensical-ramblings - Knucklesverse

A Dark Discussion - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Callie’s Arrival - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Little Z’s Arrival - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Soft Comfort - from Discord - Knuckles needs a little comfort

Blind Stare - from Discord - Tails and Knux have a chat

Surprise Save - from Discord - Sonic gets his butt kicked but has a surprising helping hand

Alone Together - from Discord - Knucklesverse

Little and Broken - supposed to be a Shortie from an ask by @wingsofthesun but turned into something more - Eclipse angst

Drained Chaos - from a chat with @mcfanely about Knuckles having his chaos energy drained - Knuckles angst

When Eclipse Met Callie pt 4 - the gremlin saga continues

Base Instincts - something something all the Mobians on Earth revert to their more basic animalistic instincts

Lost and Found Ch 1 - A ‘what if’ au inspired by a story by @appendingfic - What if Callie adopted Knuckles instead of the Wachowskis?

Darkling Wade - What’s Right In Front Of You - Wade and Callie were just friends before he turned into a Dark, but now they wonder if there’s something more

Darkling Wade - At the Lake - The MacPherson clan--plus one--head out for a little R & R

Darkling Wade - The Hiss - Wade’s one and only time he’s ever hissed at Callie

When Eclipse Met Callie Pt 3 - Eclipse endears himself to Callie 

Darkling Wade - Instincts - Life as a Dark brings some unexpected surprises. Like instincts Wade can’t ignore, or control.

Darkling Wade and Callie - Qwertyverse Edition - a kind of au of my Qwertyverse, in which Wade and Callie are dating when he becomes a Dark

Darkling Wade and Callie v1 - an au of sorts based on an ask and back and forth with @stillafanofsonic and @doomfox

The Curious Case of Miles Prower - a little snippet thing based on the adorable de-aged Tails au from @dakt37

The Rock - Life in the MacPherson household is always exciting with Eclipse around.

When Eclipse Met Callie Pt 2 - the gremlin returns

The Spat - a few months after Eclipse joins the MacPherson household, he and Silver have a disagreement, which escalates to an injury

When Eclipse Met Callie - a Tumblr prompt from @stillafanofsonic asking what would happen when the gremlin and librarian meet

Sonic Babysits - a Tumblr prompt about Sonic babysitting Tom and Maddie’s new baby, his little sister

Sonic’s First Birthday - a Tumblr prompt about Sonic’s 1st birthday with Tom and Maddie

After Treatments - Shadow hates doing his treatments, and reacts to them poorly.

The Bite - Part of my upcoming Shadow story - Maria tries unsuccessfully to get Shadow to his scheduled testing

Meeting Shadow - A tentative start to my upcoming Shadow story, in which Maria first meets the little hog

Shopping with Silver - When Callie and Silver hit the grocery store, all goes well until Silver runs into a couple of unfriendly townsfolk - Silver angst

Meeting Robotnik - A continuation of the previous bit, where Robotnik shows up at Callie's searching for Sonic

Meeting Sonic - A retelling of the first movie, in which he meets Callie instead of Tom. Here's how that first meeting went, as well as his blast

Hide the Hog - Maria cares for a baby Shadow, who likes to play a certain game when he's in a good mood

Two Dorks Fail at Flirting - I have an upcoming fic in which Callie and Wade develop a mutual crush and start dating, but this is a quick little "stick a toe in and see how it feels"

~~~~@katlyntheartist drew an adorable comic based on this snippet, with absolutely wonderful expressions, and it captures Wade and Callie's awkwardness PERFECTLY! Check it out, and give her a follow because she really is so freaking sweet and talented!~~~~

Chaotix & Callie - In an early version of an upcoming story which introduces Silver, I had Chaotix come into play. Here's a really short snippet that I thought came out cute

The Reluctant Tutor - Due to their inability to make sound decisions, the Wachowski boys are in need of a tutor. Callie is called in to assume the role, and here's the tentative start to that fic. Unknown if I'll ever finish it

Mom's Done - Sometimes motherhood isn't all rainbows and unicorn farts. Maddie has a rough morning

I think these are all I've posted. (My tag isn't working well, apparently.) If there are any I'm missing, please let me know and I'll get the list updated.

[sooshii]

New chapters up!

Confidence time aaaaand GO!

Chapters 5 & 6 are posted for AU FF7-fic Re:Memories of Fate!

Since ch 5 was a shorty, I decided to also post chapter 6. Ch 5 is a Tseng pov, and ch 6 is a little fluff between OC Lena and Aerith (also get a peek into Lena's past some).

We love worldbuilding -crawls back under rock- Updates biweekly!

[chen-chen-chen-again-chen]

WIP Wednesday + fic drop

Thank you for the WWIP tags all you lovely souls: @bookish-bogwitch, @cutestkilla, @martsonmars, @artsyunderstudy, @whogaveyoupermission, @fatalfangirl, @larkral (I answer your call of a forceful tag! I'm sure it was a firm, grounding touch ❤️).

I have TWO things for you today. One of them is not actually an WIP, but a little shortie from the Rosethorn girl universe that you can read on AO3 right now! No fancy art because my brain is being Bad Brain right now. Thing 1:

They were all children once

Rating: Gen

Words:  823

Chapters: 1/1 

Part 3 of Rosethorn girl

Summary:

Salisbury House thinks of the children that it's sheltered throughout the years.

Part of Carry On Countdown 2022's Day 13: Devotion.

I will also stick stuff about JELLY BABIES (a wee snippet & overly-emotional blather) under the cut. Next chapter with these sweet baby gays should be coming out tonight!

Ch. 10 (!!!!) of Jelly Babies is almost good to go. I THINK I will try to post daily until this bad boi is done?? I have a buffer of about 3-4 chapters, but I am human, so absolutely no guarantees. I do have an outline and a rough idea of where it's going to go, and I hope (DEAR GOD I HOPE) that it'll wrap up before the end of December. We shall see.

Thing 2. Here is a VERY SHORT SNIPPET from tonight's chapter:

“What?” Gregory asks, confused. He squints up at it. There’s some plants there that look familiar, a bunch of leaves with small white berries, wrapped up with a red ribbon. It looks like the stuff he helped Ioanna gather up the other day - 

“That’s.” Swithin clears his throat. “That’s mistletoe.” 

I just want to say a big, sloppy, huge, emotional, tearful, Gregory-esque thank you to everyone who has engaged with this work. Honestly, every time I write something (especially in fandom spaces), my go-to thought is, "This is so weird. This is just a lark. It's okay if no one reads it - I'm just happy that I wrote it and put it out into the world." But then y'all show up waving homemade signs and cheering and crying and Embracing the Weird and I am eternally grateful to exist in this corner of the internet with you.

I mentioned this before in responses to some comments, but I feel like writing and sharing "Jelly Babies" re-set some kind of button in my brain and my body so that I am actually able to experience joy again. And I hope that in some way, it brings you a little bit of joy and warmth and sweetness and the conviction that (as Dr. Chuck Tingle says) Love is Real. We're all just wee humans dealing with this hard shit and trying to make it through the day.

Whether you've been working joyfully or slogging away or unable to make anything at all - whether you're on top of the world or just struggling to make it through the the next minute - you always belong. You always deserve a hug and a hot drink and a rest so that you can sit down and take off your heavy boots.

Thank you. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hello tags!  @captain-aralias, @excalisbury, @facewithoutheart, @hushed-chorus, @ionlydrinkhotwater, @johnwgrey, @moodandmist, @nightimedreamersworld, @raenestee, @sailorblossoms, @thewholelemon,  @you-remind-me-of-the-babe  

[omgjwon]

𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

- 𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐈 (니키🌿)

ch.1 dream 1

synopsis : you suddenly start constantly seeing the same boy in your dreams, thinking it was just a coincidence you eventually just forget about it. but what will happen when that same boy appears at you school one day?

dream 1 : into the fields 🥝

You felt the long grass tickling the skin of your exposed calves as you ran through the fields not knowing where the field ended nor where it began.

As you were running happily through the field you turned around.

To your surprise you saw an unfamiliar face of a boy who looked the same age as you.

you examined his features his soft pale skin , alluring eyes, perfect lips and the pretty moles that were scattered all over his face.Somehow all of his features complimented each other which made you feel quite attracted to him.

You could feel your cheeks start to turn rosey when he made eye contact with you and smiled, before you could even process what happened you could slowly feel yourself falling to the ground.

You felt your knee smash against the ground before the rest of your body slapped against the rough dirt shorty after.

suddenly you felt your head start spinning and all of a sudden everything went black.

You woke up with a gasp, the room was completely silent except for your excessive heavy breathing.

You looked around, you were no longer in a field in fact, you were back in your room in your bed. “What the…” you muttered quietly after a minute of confusion you finally came to the conclusion that you were dreaming

You reached for your phone which was placed on your bedside-table and checked the time

6:35 am

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< taglist >

taglist : @str4wb3rryc0ww

[putschki1969]

undefined

Hikaru YouTube Channel Old & New Introduction Video

On November 1st, Hikaru launched a new YouTube channel titled “Hikaru ch.” Be sure to SUBSCRIBE! On that day, she also uploaded her very first video which contained a brief introduction. However, shorty after, the video was removed/made private; Today, Hikaru uploaded a new introduction video. I thought I’d merge the two videos in case anyone had missed the original upload. The main difference is that in the new video, Hikaru does not mention Kalafina or H-el-ical// by name, she just refers to being active as a singer for the past 13 years in a vocal unit/solo project. Interesting...I wonder if there are any legal issues involved...Is she no longer allowed to explicitly talk about those activities? That would be pretty wild. She does mention both Kalafina and H-el-ical// in her Twitter bio though and it’s also in her YouTube Channel description. Maybe she just wants to avoid saying this stuff in her YouTube videos...

[my-chaos-radio]

Release: April 29, 2013

Lyrics:

Hello, wherever you are

Are you dancing on the dance floor or drinking by the bar?

Tonight we do it big, and shine like stars

We don't give a fuck cause that's just who we are

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, them crazy, them crazy kids

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, we are the

We are the crazy people

I see ya in the club showin' Ke$ha love

Trippin' on them bitches that be hatin'

Catch a dub, catch a deuces

Ya'll hatins useless

It's such a nuisance

Ya'll chickens keep your two cents

And keep your dollars, keep your loot

I'm fresher than that Gucci

Them boys, they want my coochie

I say nope, I'm no hootchie

Your homegirl hatin', I say who she?

Ke$ha don't give two fucks

I cam to start the ruckus

And ya wanna party with us

'Cause we crazy m-therf-ck-rs

Hello, wherever you are

Are you dancing on the dance floor or drinking by the bar?

Tonight we do it big, and shine like stars

We don't give a fuck cause that's just who we are

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, them crazy, them crazy kids

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, we are the

We are the crazy people

You see us in the place trippin' off the bass

D-D-DJ rock a beat, make the fucker shake

Like an earthquake, like an earthquake

Booty pop

All my shorties on the dance floor, make your hearts stop

Stop your Cardiac

Sippin' Cognac in the back

Th-they ch-chasin my kitty cat

They know my zodiac

I'm no virgin or no Virgo

I'm crazy that's my word doe

It's Ke$ha in the casa

They be let-lets make it loco!

Hello, wherever you are

Are you dancing on the dance floor or drinking by the bar?

Tonight we do it big, and shine like stars

We don't give a fuck cause that's just who we are

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, them crazy, them crazy kids

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, we are the

This is all we got and then it's gone

You call us the crazy ones

But we gon' keep on dancin' till' the dawn

'Cause you know the party never ends

And tomorrow we gonna do it again

We the ones who play hard

We live hard

We love hard

We light up the dark!

Songwriter:

Hello, wherever you are

Are you dancing on the dance floor or drinking by the bar?

Tonight we do it big, and shine like stars

We don't give a fuck cause that's just who we are

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, them crazy, them crazy kids

And we are, we are we are, we are we are

The crazy kids, we are the

We are the crazy people

Benjamin Levin / Henry Russell Walter / Kesha Sebert / Lukasz Gottwald / William Adams

SongFacts:

👉📖

[luckyshotwrites]

Ch. 6 // Fool Me Twice! // Day 4

Contents (Warnings): Slight Vore mention, a wee bit more details regarding characters, slow spice burn.

Wordcount: 3,972

Side note: This will contain experimental writing, first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. For those third person moments all their text will be italicized and have the characters name in Bold at the start. There may be other characters I write for in the future using this method but we’ll see...

__________________________________________________

(Sept. 11th, Sunday)

Wicks was gone all night and sent me a text saying he should be back before I get out of work today. What kind of job makes him stay overnight? I asked myself out of frustration. I felt embarrassed that I slept with the lights on last night. I know if Alexander wanted to he could probably find me or kidnap me after work. I knew he didn’t because of work rules. I tried to cling to that, even though that was going on at work, it could have been worse…

I threw back the orange juice straight from the carton. 

I slammed the bottle down and held in my whimpers. Dang it, I don’t know if I can do this. It’s bad enough with that weirdo, Alexander. I glanced down at my arm and slowly moved it to my mouth. I closed my eyes and licked myself. Then I threw my arms up.

“I DON’T GET IT, I TASTE LIKE NOTHING! WHY!!!” 

I got up and started to pace around. Should I quit? Or find some kind of loophole? I tapped at my head, come on brain. I know I don’t use you much but can you use that stored energy to give me an idea of what to do before work, PLEASE!

…

I arrived seeing the two yet again. I didn’t want Alexander to say anything or tease me once I got near, so spoke first.

“Do either of you know when the rest of our second shift is coming back?”

It caught Alexander off guard. His smile dropped. 

“Lev comes back tomorrow, Zilla comes back when you are both off, Wednesday, and Claudia, I have no idea.” Drake replied. 

“Thanks Drake,” I said as I swiped my card first. “oh…I forgot you have the same days off.” I shivered saying that toward Alexander.

"I had those days off first, shortie," he said in retort. Then his head twisted back, "hold on, Lev’s coming back tomorrow!" 

Drake scanned in, "yeah.” He sighed, “I'm glad I’m not gonna be involved in that mess tomorrow..." He glanced back at me, “sorry, Lynette.”

I gave a shake of my head. “Want to switch days off?”

Drake chuckled, “no way. I like my Monday and Tuesday, I need at least one day of the week away from Alexander or I’d go crazy.” Drake was the best in my opinion even though he denied me a day of freedom.

Alexander squinted at both of us. If I could remove Alexander, it’d actually be fine here. I thought walking ahead, “have fun, guys.” I said begrudgingly.

I felt relief working on my own today. 

“Heya, Lynette.” Viola said. She was mopping the back where I stood and got close to my feet.

“Hey, Viola, nice to see yoooo-” I squeaked out. She picked me up with a single arm, mopping with the other. I was so stunned I didn’t move. She put me down after a few more seconds. I pulled down my shirt which moved up and she continued around me. 

I then looked down then back up. “You-you could have told me to move.” 

Viola peered up, “I figured it’d be easier to lift you and do it under you real quick instead of dancing around each other.” Standing so close to her, I could tell she looked a bit older than Drake, Alexander and I. Maybe in her late twenties. “You’re a lot lighter than I expected too.”

I cracked a half smile, “thanks?” She seems honest and to the point. I thought. She also hadn’t said anything off putting unlike Alexander. 

“How long have you been working here, Viola?” I tried to make conversation as there weren’t any customers yet. 

“I started a few months after it opened, around the same time Alexander joined, almost 3 years ago.”

“Oh cool,” I said. Trying to search up more conversation topics. I expected her to talk more about it or something.

“Hey, Lynette,” she said to me. “Did you already talk to Edgar?” 

I raised my brow, then straightened up, “OH shoot. I forgot-”I glanced back at her. 

She held up a hand, “don’t worry. I’ll keep watch.”

I went through the kitchen going to Drake to ask him about Edgar, but a the harmonic voice caught my attention.

“LYNETTE~” 

I turned to see him near the ovens. I hadn’t said much to him since I was hired, and I almost forgot how different he looked in our uniform. He definitely looked like some sort of manager, his hair tied back and in a bun, a perfect posture, plus seniority. He looked maybe in his late thirties. I noticed his smile flashed more as he was whipping up the pizza’s. I tried to match his smile, seeing Alexander not that far from him.

“Hey, Boss.” I gave a small wave. I looked over the few things in the kitchen, there were a lot of fridges and what I assumed was a giant freezer. Though, as far as I knew, they made everything fresh or got market ingredients. I passed Drake who was beating up dough. As I got closer, Edgar had his attention on me, yet he was perfectly saucing the pizzas.

“I wanted to give you a congratulations yesterday!” He said with enthusiasm. “Not only are you one of the first humans to stay working here that I’ve hired, but!” He had the cheese next. I noticed the sauce seemed to sizzle when he did it. I figured the pizza stones underneath them were hot. “A few friends of mine were speaking very highly of you and your service during their visit.” 

“Really?” I uttered in disbelief.

He smiled at me, “yes! So, it makes me very glad that you are sticking true to your word and if you keep it up, I might even consider doubling your end of the year offer.”

Much like before my heart thumped loudly. I almost forgot how to stand for a moment but luckily the counter was nearby. 

“After your half way evaluation, of course.” Egdar said looking up at me, he then narrowed his gaze. “You’re not going to faint are you? Your heart sounds erratic.”

I squeaked, “no.” I held my chest and nervously chuckled. “I-mmm.” I took a few extra breaths, standing up, “I’ll do my best, sir.”

His reddish hue continued to look over me, he leaned toward me. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright, dear?”

I nodded, “yeah, uh, thank you for the opportunity.” 

He bobbed his head as well, “that’s all I wanted to really say, did you have any questions for me?”

I had a lot but now that there was a chance with more money on the table. I held my tongue. “None at this time…am I allowed to go back?”

“Of course, and if you are feeling unwell. Sandra isn’t here today but Tristian should be back there.”

I left after that in a daze for the rest of the time until break. I thought of calling Wicks but I figured he’d be busy. I heard the other two come in as usual. Great…he gave me an even bigger reason to stay.

“Hey, Lynette, you like video games, right?” Drake called out.

I looked over at them, “yeah? Why?” 

He beckoned me over. Alexander glanced at me but neither of us prolonged any eye contact. As far as I was concerned, he was an obstacle.

“So, there’s this game, called Identity-”

I perked up, taking a seat and facing Drake. “OH, yeah, I played Identity 5 royal.” I held up a finger, “Though, I haven’t got through strikers yet.” I couldn’t talk Video Games with Wick as he didn’t like them much.

Drake got excited too, “it’s awesome right! I’ve been trying to get Alexander to play it.”

I then gestured to both of them, “I forgot you guys mentioned videogame stuff before. I didn’t think monsters would like them.”

He pointed to himself and Alexander, “our lives aren’t as magical as I think you assume, games are cool.”

I chuckled, “oh yeah right, you can’t tell me they're not that different when-” I glanced at Alexander.

He knew what I meant, “that's not really magical.” 

“Ha,” I gestured to him, “a normal human body isn’t like yours, so yes it is.” I realized the sass after I said it. I looked away.

Drake interrupted Alexander before he could speak, “compared to the rest of the crew, we aren’t very aren’t too different body wise, trust me.”

“So are the others full on-”

“They all have human forms that work as disguises but that’s it.” Drake explained.

“Disguises? So you both aren’t?”

“Nope. This is our natural resting appearance.” Drake smiled.

I felt a plethora of questions flood into my head. I wanted to know more and found myself overwhelmed with what to ask first. I didn’t realize at the time that to them I looked like my brain shut off completely with a dead stare. They exchanged looks, wondering what it was that caused the factory reset.

“Hey,” Alexander said and it knocked me out of thought. “Your break is over.”

I then lowered my head. “Ah, so it is.” I sighed. “I’ll see you both later.” I left back to my post, distraught.

Alexander

Alexander exhaled. He moved his hand to his empty stomach. She was right in eating range. He grumbled in his thoughts.

“It’s cool she’s a nerd too, right?” Drake asked, “or are you still thinking of her as a snack?”

Alexander snapped out of it, “there you go again making it seem like I’m the bad guy.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Drake teased. “I know you get those unstoppable cravings, I get like that when the crescent moon’s on the rise.” 

He gave a snap of his fingers, catching Alexander's attention again. “You know Lev’s coming back tomorrow, so why don’t you try getting on her goodside?”

“Get on her good side?” Alexander questioned like Drake asked him to control the weather.

“If you keep playing the game you are now, I think Lev’s going to steal her from you. But, if you’re nice, she might start offering herself up willingly.” 

Alexander got excited thinking about it, then squinted at Drake’s smile, “you’re teasing me.” The soft ping went off for both of them. They got up. “She’s not going to get along with me and I can’t get along with her.” 

“Fine, but don’t text me all pissed tomorrow because you didn’t get her.”

He crossed his arms and grumbled, “shut up.”

…

Alexander wasn’t needed on registers today, Viola and Lynette seemed to be handling them well enough. He also liked being back there as besides the amount of orders coming in and out, he could talk easier back there. So much better than being stuck next to that obnoxious scent all day and having to wait to eat her. 

Speaking of the devil, Alexander tuned to Lynette's voice calling out to Drake. “Hey, Viola’s going to be the only one there for a bit.” After she pulled back, Drake was about to relay the message to Alexander but he smugly smiled.

“I heard.”

Alexander finished up the pizzas he was making and went to lunch, Drake went not long after leaving Edgar and Tristian back there by themselves. 

Alexander checked over all the rooms, immediately. Her sweet scent was too faint, almost nonexistent. 

That brat, she lied to him. She knew I’d come looking for her. He met with Drake again in breakroom one. 

Drake glanced at his friend, “what happened?”

“She lied, but it doesn't really matter much,” Alexander grabbed the nearest table and moved it closer to the door, then the chairs along with it. 

“She’s gonna notice us.”

Alexander chuckled, “and what? She has to scan out for lunch.” He plopped down on the chair closest to the door, leaning his back on the chair confidently. Drake sat to the one beside him as Alexander would now be able to easily focus on the door. The time clock was outside it, so he didn’t think he could miss her. 

They chatted for a while, Alexander continuously watching the hall and the time. 

Alexander stared at the clock, “she has five minutes left before she’s late to lunch.” He looked excited.

“I’m so glad I’m not a human.”

Alexander’s eyes were glued to the door, “I refuse to believe she’s a simple human. I’ve never eaten anyone like her before, she’s way too satisfying.”

“But don’t you only like the taste of humans?” 

“You’ll see once you bite her” Alexander glanced over at Drake for a brief moment.

“Yeah, and get absolutely bodied by you after, no thanks.” Drake replied, drinking his blood pouch.

“You don’t take a whole lunch period drinking blood.” 

The black haired boy shook his head, “it still counts for “eating” remember. So we both can’t attack her.” Drake then raised his brow, “now that I think about it, you probably shouldn’t consider her a meal every day either, you’ll become addicted.”

Alexander chuckled, he squinted closer at the door ,“it can’t happen with me, my taste buds reset pretty much every day. I think the only reason I get so hungry with her is because my body remembers that feeling afterward, plus her smell is so alluring.” He then looked at his phone and the clock, “seriously…it’s already after, how did she not pass--” He threw himself up. He didn’t have much time either. He got to the door, her scent was in the hall, but stronger as he approached room 3. He threw open the door and searched it.

…

Lynette

I heard a lot of movement in the other room, I saw him through the glass of the door attached to room 4. I hurried across to room 2 as quietly as possible. Then, I waited for a minute or two to head into room 1. But, before I could hop over, the door flew open. I didn’t realize there was a way to make them open faster. It was probably how he got me yesterday. He was huffing and puffing, locking eyes on me. I felt like a convict who had a spotlight beaming on them. 

“HOW LONG WERE YOU ALREADY ON LUNCH!” He shouted, extremely annoyed. 

The door behind me opened. I ran into room one. I saw Drake near the exit into the hall again.

He gave a small wave to me, then gestured back as Alexander ran in too. I wanted to bolt through door one into the hall, but I knew I wouldn’t make it. I darted through some tables, nearing the couches. I heard the tables screeching as they were pushed apart behind me. 

I faced him, trying to bait him to charge so I could avoid it. He pounced forward and I tripped over myself in an attempt to move. It caused him to miss me and go over me. 

I stumbled up, but he was faster and caught my wrist. I wasn’t on my own two feet anymore. His grip tugged me closer to his hunched form. I partially faced him, now on my tippy toes. 

He brought my arm up near his mouth. 

I glanced at the clock, and shouted. “IF YOU EAT ME YOU HAVE TO PLAY IDENTITY 5!”

“What-” It stunned him. Then before he shook out of it the soft alarm rang.

He glanced over at it. I could see as he stared back at me that he realized what I did. He grit his teeth, his form going back to normal. He shut his eyes and let go of my hand causing me to fall on my butt. He didn’t say a word more as he walked away. I thought he was filled with anger. Little did I know, Drake could see Alexander was flustered and embarrassed by my trick. 

I stood up and motioned at Drake’s table, "may I?" I asked him.

He agreed and glanced back at the timer, seeing my name on their board. "3 minutes, you went to lunch not long after us huh?" 

"Yeah...” I relaxed back. “I used you as a decoy, I knew he'd be listening."

“No, I'm sorry.” He confessed about the trick Alexander used on me yesterday. He then sighed, “I’m also sorry I underestimated you." He finished his drink, "I told you when we met you’d have a 0% chance against him, you definitely proved me wrong."

I slumped in the chair, "That’s it though, at this point I can only time him out. I’m guessing he can sense me somehow, so I can’t hide from him, and he is physically stronger and faster than me.” The words pittered with defeat onto the table. “I don’t think I can win anymore.” I uttered in response, “All he has to do to counter me now is go to lunch in the middle of the bracket.” 

Drake nodded along, “I see your point. Then the others add chaos into the mix.”

I sank even further, “there’s no guarantee they’d attack me right? Wouldn’t they do what Alexander did? Get someone else hired?”

“You are a human working here, so why bring one every week when you know…” Drake then apologized, “Lev’s a human eater like Alexander and if Alexander wasn’t lying about your taste, you’re screwed.”

“I DON’T TASTE LIKE ANYTHING!” I shivered after saying that and rubbed my arms as they got goosebumps. “I’ve tried.”

“It’s different to us monsters.” Drake smirked, “do you really think he eats you just because?”

“I-I don’t know. I wouldn’t know.” I said. “You guys are the first I’ve ever met.”

Drake got up from his seat as he had a minute left, “well…” He pushed his hair back from his face, “Huh…” He scanned over me.

“What?”

He smiled, “I know Alexanders been very predatory with you, but you’re probably the only human I’ve seen him interact with besides customers for more than a few minutes.” He walked off before I could ask anything more.

How could he not interact with people? We’re everywhere…right? The thought then occurred to me. How many people around me are monsters!?

…

Viola left for the night and so did the boss, leaving Drake in charge as usually closing up for the night. I was helping clean tonight as Sunday was told to me to be the worst day. The customers weren’t that bad but the amount of people that stayed last minute and left trash was. 

I cleaned up the tables, as Alexander was taking out the trash then mopping the main floor. I finished getting the last bit of dishes in the tub, they were piled up high because I didn’t want to make it into two trips. 

I tried to hurry them to the back and I didn’t realize Alexander made the dry path I had to take narrower.

“I mopped that-'' Alexander cut himself off. He dropped the mop, catching me as I almost slipped back. The plates at the top tipped toward me so I had to hold them down with my chin. I could feel the leftover sauce and crumbs under my chin. It made me whimper and cringe, I could feel some of it slop onto my shirt. He glanced down at me, “I was right by you when I mopped, I’m surprised you didn’t notice-” His tight grip loosened, he turned away immediately and he put me back on my feet. 

“Go take them to wash.” He ordered sharply.

I was heavily embarrassed. “Sorry and thank you.” I got the stack repositioned on another table, quick, and tried to follow what I believed to be the dry path. Still disgusted as I could feel the greasy part of my shirt pressed on my chest.

Alexander

 He gripped the mop tight. His abdomen groaned loudly, fortunately Lynette was too far away to hear it. He held his head up, hand over his lips as he could feel the excess saliva building in his mouth. 

I don’t even like normal food but seeing her covered like that… Inside he was struggling to keep himself contained. It was like trying to capture a wild boar with a fishing line. A second longer and I might have done it. For the sake of his job, he couldn’t, but if I was a customer he wouldn’t have hesitated. 

He started to imagine keeping Lynette in him all night, it only made his hunger worse. He didn’t even consider the fact that having someone in him for more than eight hours upset his stomach. 

TAP                                       TAP                                        TAP

The tapping of the door knocked him out of thought. He saw the man outside and was about to point at the sign, but the low grumble called his attention. He smirked and opened the door to greet the guy. 

“Hi, sir.”

“Hey, I know you’re closing but my girl wanted me to come get your pizza for her, can you guys just make one real quick for a big tip? A small-” The guy stopped, he noticed Alexander looked a bit taller than before. Then before he could yell out or step back Alexander’s hands went over the man's mouth, keeping him from yelling, and brought his head into his mouth.

…

Lynette

Alexander peeked into the kitchen, “Leaving for the night.”

“Have a goodnight.” Drake gave a wave not looking up as he waited for the dryer.

“Night.” I said as I saw Alexander was much taller. I tensed up, glanced over at Drake. 

“I’m here right now right?” 

It dinged and he put the dishes away, “are you okay?”.

I pointed back as I scrubbed the last of the dishes. “I thought…I saw him leave…uh…bigger?.”

Drake raised a brow, “You think he ate someone? I mean, it’s not against the rules to eat customers or to eat people out of the Pizzeria, unless there’s a lot of other humans around.” He shrugged, “Besides that, coworkers can’t eat each other out of work or our “special” lunch period.” He then thought about it. “Unless both parties agree.” 

Why would anyone agree to that?! 

“That’s good to know, I’m glad I can’t get eaten in the parking lot.” 

“You can, just not by us.” Drake laughed as I passed him the wet dishes to put in the drawer. “The odds of another monster coming up and eating you are slim to none. There’s so many choices around here and not that many monsters, like I’d say a little less than half the population here would be eaten once in their lifetime, but their memories are usually erased after so they won’t remember.” 

“Seriously?”

He nodded, “yeah, so maybe someone did eat you prior and erased your memories after.” I handed him the last few dishes, he packed them then studied over me. “Alexander does talk highly of you so maybe not…”

“He talks highly of-oh-gross.” I muttered.

He went to wash his hands in the sink after I finished doing mine, “If you want, Lynette, I can put these last few dishes away, and you can go home and get some rest. This is my Friday, so I don’t care if I have to stay a while longer.” 

“You sure?” I asked. 

“Yeah,” Drake said, waving me off, “and good luck tomorrow~.”

“Right.”

My shift was ruined, I still felt greasy even though I washed it all off, and worst of all I would have to deal with the mysterious Lev tomorrow on top of Alexander. I looked at the time clock, holding up my badge. I took a deep breath before I swiped it out. Hey, brain, it’s me again, let’s have another chat tonight.

…

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What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)

[queasyghosts]

ch 7 shaman king

lets goooo ren intro pt 2!!!

he’s so small here, he’s like those toy cake toppers lol

everyone looking around like why the fuck does that kid have that huge ass weapon lol did he seriously cut that car in half wtf ? idk why theyre still hanging around? id be calling the cops on this shorty wtf

tiny bbs look at them!!! aaa 

love yoh was just like no. point blank thats it. also look at manta’s and ami’s reaction XD

this whole chapter was honestly just ren being a spoiled brat lol like yoh is challeging his whole ideas and ren is like well okay ill just unalive you and take your ridiculously powerful “weapon” then no big deal and yoh is like bro wtf no >:0 hes my friend f u

another really cool scene of bason and ren <3

in reaction, another cool scene between yoh and ami too! <3 yoh is like well we aren’t going to be friends i guess >:( 

this whole scene below was kinda confusing tbh but i can see what ami is trying to do after manta gave them the warning. manta being the yoh & ami team’s logic and reason.

totally completely forgot that ren actually unalive??? knocked out yoh wtf 

this chapter felt so quick aaa ;o;)/ i want more noooooo lots of cool poses and scenes in this chapter though : )

[dreamingon-forever]

Black Tea is Fine Ch.5

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44651227/chapters/112689874

Preview:  "Looks like even when school's dismissed our afternoon tea traditions still continue, right, Levi?" Hange asked with a happy sigh, breaking the silence.

"You call this a home?" Levi's eye twitched as he took in the appalling sight before him. A stack of unwashed dishes laid forgotten on the kitchen sink right next to a pile of both new and used dish rags on the counter. While overfilled compost, recycling, and garbage bins were stacked to the brim, sitting by the door untouched. Which by the sheer volume of items threatening to topple over with the slightest of tremors, he could only assume had been cumulating for at least the past two weeks. It also was an indication to him of how much takeout and microwavable meals the woman had on a daily basis. Along the way endless books of every possible size and assortments laid haphazardly all throughout the apartment, alongside random clothing articles thrown and draped across any available surface.

And what made it all worse was the satisfied and proud smile that the brunette next to him wielded at the sight.

"Ah! It's not as bad as I thought I left it! You're lucky you came on a clean day, neat freak." She beamed at him as she discarded her bag next to the trash, kicking her shoes off without much though before heading to the couch, patting on the empty spot next to her for Levi to join her.

"Are we seeing the same thing or are your glasses broken, shitty-glasses? What part of this is considered clean?" He asked in absolute disbelief, willing himself to turn away from the sheer absurdity of the place, but his eyes stubbornly stayed open and continued taking in the disaster before him. There was something both horrifying yet fascinating about how much one could neglect their place yet be blind as to how bad it's gotten. Shitty glasses was definitely a different species of human. "You're an abnormal for thinking this is clean." He mumbled, feeling his skin crawl at the mere thought of how long it could have been since a deep clean had been done of the place.

Hange pouted at the short man who stood frozen at the doorway. "Oh come on! Moblit had come during worse and he never complained as much as you. At least try to sound somewhat thankful to be invited to someone's home." Hange said, chucking a throw pillow at the man to stop him from scanning her place.

"Moblit receives more and more of my respect by the passing day. If I had known the state of you place I wouldn't have agreed to come over, four-eyes. It's not my intention to catch something incurable from you." Levi grumbled as he threw the pillow back. With a sigh, he took his shoes off and placing them neatly by the door, following it up by picking up Hange's recently recklessly thrown ones and placing them just as neatly next to his. With a quick inspection of the couch, Levi reluctantly deemed it 'clean' enough before taking a seat next to the awaiting bespectacled woman. A wide and victorious grim etched on her face.

However, not even five seconds passed before Levi sprung back again, a deep frown carved on his otherwise youthful looking face. "Nope, we're not doing anything until this place is in acceptable conditions for a human to live in." The man said with finality as he stalked towards the kitchen in determination, opening up the cupboards in search of cleaning materials. The sight causing a groan to tumble out of Hange, causing her to slitter down her couch in defeat. "I knew it was a bad idea suggesting you to come over. You're such a clean freak!" She groaned into the apartment. A 'tch' was heard before a pair of latex gloves and a brand new sponge slapped her on the face, causing her glasses to almost fall off if it weren't for the woman's reflexes.

"Hey! Newsflash shorty, glasses are expensive to replace!" She grumbled in annoyance at the man who stood with his back against her kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at her.

"Newsflash, so is medical treatment for infections caused by mold, shitty-glasses. Now get off your ass and start cleaning. We're not discussing anything until we can actually see the floor."

To show her how serious he was, he put on his own pair of gloves and wrapped one of those silly cloths around his face before walking to the overflowing containers by the door. "I'm taking these out first, I can't stand being reminder of the type of processed shit you put in your body." With a cuss, he closed the door behind him, leaving Hange alone in the silence of her apartment. Before she could even think of using the time to lay down, the door reopened to show a menacing Levi staring at her, the man already having read her thoughts. "And no, you do not get to rest while I throw away your shit. You better have your clothes put away before I come back or I swear your beloved Sawney and Bean will join Erwin on his funeral on Saturday."

Hange's eyes widened. "Why would Erwin have a funeral on Saturday?" She asked confused. Levi froze for the smallest of a second at the slip of his tongue. "Never mind, just have it done." He muttered quickly, closing the door behind him again, leaving behind a very confused Hange.

Unsure of what happened and feeling as if she were being left out on something important, her hands pulled out her phone in search of her colleague's name.

To: Erwinnnn

"Hey, so why do you have an upcoming funeral???" Hange quickly messaged Erwin before getting to work.

_________________________

By the time Levi deemed her home approved, the sun was already setting. And although the view from her cozy apartment didn't rival the one from her classroom at Paradis High, the bright pinks and purples still permeated brightly over the city view she had. The two exhausted colleagues now standing next to each other against the railings of her balcony as they sipped on some green tea the woman had in her cupboard. Both now changed after having taken showers from having racked up endless sweat from the cleaning job. Levi sporting a pair of shorts and a lose t-shirt Hange had offered to him while she sported nearly the same except for longer sweats.

A gentle breeze caressed them, releasing the tension their bodies carried after hours of cleaning in a manner that matched up to the janitor's clean standards.

"Looks like even when school's dismissed our afternoon tea traditions still continue, right, Levi?" Hange asked with a happy sigh, breaking the silence.

At her words, the grey-eyed man's hand halted, the cup pausing right before his lips. Levi threw the woman beside him a glance, meeting her eyes as they caught the sparkling afternoon colours. All vibrancy reflecting against the brown eyes behind her lenses, bouncing the colours back at his cold grey ones. The sight before him captivating him so much he almost loosened the grip on his cup. Looking away hurriedly, the man cleared his throat, nonchalantly taking a sip of his tea. "It was your turn to provide the tea anyways. It would have been unfair for you to skip out just because of some school fire." He mumbled, envisioning the woman's smile without even turning to her.

"So... what was it you wanted to talk about? I'm sure it wasn't an invitation to just get me to clean your house, right?"

Hange bumped their shoulders playfully, the slight touch sending shivers up the man's arm. Although he chose to blame it on the afternoon breeze instead. "Ah, but what if that was my plan after all? Let's be honest, no one cleans better than you, shorty."

Levi let out a tch, slightly moving away from the woman as he became aware of how close they stood. Hange wasn't even fazed by his detachment. "Do I look like room service to you?" He grumbled, taking a sip of his cup.

"Room service would at least smile at their customer." Hange said, sticking her tongue out at the man, her free hand reaching out to him to try and force a smile on his lips, which he easily intercepted with a swat of her hand. "No room service could be paid enough to deal with your mess, four-eyes." He muttered.

Hange simply smiled at him. "I don't know about that, you looked right at home cleaning my place even thought I didn't pay you." The brunette paused for a second, her finger absentmindedly running on the rim of her cup before continuing. "I can even say you'll make the perfect househusband." Hange joked in amusement as she winked at her companion. Before he could comment back, the woman stretched animatedly, turning away and headed for her balcony door. "I'm getting cold, let's continue the conversation inside." She called out to him.

Levi stared at the now navy blue sky in solitude for a second before following after Hange.

As he entered the now livable apartment, he spotted a familiar mop of hair sticking out of the open refrigerator door. "Hmm... might have to order in again." She muttered as she shifted through the mostly empty compartment.

"Move over shitty-glasses. We're having none of that shit today. Not while I can help it at least." Unceremoniously he pushed the squatting woman away, toppling her over to the side in the process. Almost causing a small smile to appear on his lips at the displeased look she sent him, but with a subtle cough he managed to cover it up. He wasn't close enough to her to let her see that side of him.

Yet. A small voice added in his mind. With a shake of his head, he pulled out the necessary ingredients before heading for the stove.

"Omurice sound good?" He asked. To which Hange responded with a loud whoop.

Hange took a seat on the kitchen counter as she watched the man cook in silent awe. At which Levi was sure had been the longest the woman had ever stayed silent for in her life. They stayed in a quaint and comfortable silence for a few minutes longer before Hange eventually broke it, knowing that Levi was awaiting for her to voice out her concerns. "I think I have an idea of how the fire started... and who started it." At her words, Levi's movements halted, the eggs he'd been beating momentarily stilling as he threw a quick glance at her before continuing his movements. "And?"

Biting her lower lip uncomfortably, Hange started. "Eren had been arguing with Mikasa and Armin about some bully that had been bothering Armin lately. The other two tried talking him down from doing anything on the matter, saying that he'll just make matters worse if confronted. I thought that was the end of it as it seemed Eren agreed with them in the end. But..."

Levi skillfully stirred the egg mixture on the pan. "I'm guessing the brat did it anyways?"

Hange nodded. "Right. When classes finished and I dismissed everyone for lunch I decided to take a nap. But before I lost full consciousness I noticed Eren coming back into the class and looking into another student's bag. I thought he was just picking up someone else's stuff for them. But the item he took out I'm pretty sure was of a cigarette pack."

Levi quirked a brow. "You think he smokes?" He asked, slight concern laced in his voice. He wasn't particularly fond of the young boy, as he knew his cousin had endlessly been pinning after the clueless boy to no avail. But he had given the boy a word or two of advice as he reminded him a bit of his younger self, not wanting to see him fall into the same path he'd taken. And as emotionally constipated as Levi was, he wasn't completely oblivious to miss the way the boy looked up at him like a mentor from time to time.

He hadn't been aware he'd been holding a breath in until Hange shook her head, letting a momentary relief to flood through him. "No, but I think Armin's bully does. I have a hunch that Eren wanted to get him in trouble by placing the pack somewhere visible so that they would have no choice but search for it out in the open, only to have a professor spot them holding the pack. Somewhere like the fields by the gym where they would have class later in the afternoon."

Levi silently placed the two plates of omurice on the dining table, signaling for Hange to bring utensils both for of them. Hopping off the counter, she pulled out the needed material before joining the man at the table that usually housed her laptop and a takeout dinner. "Except the physics class were using pyrotechnics for their exothermic reaction filed lesson that day."

"-And they might have accidentally set the pack of cigarettes on fire. At least now we know why Eren was so stressed in finding you." Levi finished for her. As he signaled for the woman to dig into her food. A moment of silence fell over them as he watched the woman take her first bite of his cooking. And for some unknown reason, he felt nervous at what her reaction would be. But he didn't have to ponder much as Hange did a little happy dance in her seat at the flavour that filled her mouth. "Oh my God, Levi! You're actually perfect. You can't deny you're househusband material now." She moaned out with her mouth still full.

"Tch... even when you're eating you're a mess." He grumbled before standing up and reaching out to wipe at the woman's mouth with a tissue paper. Carefully and meticulously wiping around her lips. Unaware of how his movements made the woman's heart stop for a second, her eyes wide at the unexpected closeness from the man.

"So, what do we do? Do we blame Eren for the incident?" Levi asked as he sat back in his seat.

Hange cleared her throat, blinking away her momentary confusion. "No. He wasn't in the wrong other than maybe stealing someone else's property. But I think that the possession of cigarettes and bullying is of graver matter. I'm sure the firefighters already figured out the source of the fire, so it makes no sense trying to hide the truth from Shadis. And knowing him, he'll take this as his opportunity to finally get rid of Eren as he'd been getting on his nerves from day one." She sighed, pushing her food around the plate.

Levi followed her hand's movements. "You're not going to let that happen though, am I right?" He asked, already interpreting the woman's thoughts. At his words Hange smiled. "You know me too well, shorty. That's why I needed to talk to you. If we can somehow convince Shadis that giving Eren communal service around school will be enough then maybe we can save him from expulsion."

Levi raised an eyebrow at that. "And what? Have me babysit the brat for extended hours?"

"Come on Levi, I know the way he looks up at you. Don't let him down." Hange said, placing her hands together in a pleading manner. Her brown eyes looking into his pleadingly. "I won't be able to live on knowing I let down a student when I had the information to help him." With a heavy sigh, Levi relented. "Whatever. As long as you can get Shadis' and Eren's parents approval then I'll do my part."

Hange squealed in glee and jumped out her seat to evolve the man in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She laughed gleefully. Only to suddenly release the man after realizing her actions. "I'm sorry! Excited, I forgot!" She breathed out, expecting the man to lecture her about her lack of boundaries again. But instead, the man simply pointed at her plate of food. "Just finish it up, four-eyes."

With a smile, the woman nodded and chowed down on her food, happiness swelling within her. "I'll make sure I get everyone to agree!"

________________________

With a sigh, Levi turned and tossed relentlessly. Sleep not coming to him at all at the unfamiliar environment. Not that a sleepless night was foreign to him to begin with.

He had stayed a little later than he intended to, and Hange being the hospital host she was, got him to agree in staying over at her place for the night. He would have declined if it wasn't for the fact that they'd carpooled to her place in her car, so he had no choice but to stay.

Despite the uncomfortable feel of the couch and the cold night wind sifting in through the open window, the warm feeling he'd been feeling in his chest the whole night did not dissipate. As tired as his body felt from the events of the day, his mind kept itself awake with thoughts of the woman he'd spent almost his whole day with. Images of the sunset reflecting in her eyes flashed in his mind, followed by thoughts of her happy face at tasting his food for the first time. Of the woman as she teased him by calling him the perfect househusband, and most importantly, of the hug she'd impulsively given him. The one that made his heart beat erratically every time he thought of it.

With a groan, Levi placed his arm over his eyes. "I do not have a crush on four-eyes." He tried to tell himself.

But even he knew it was a futile attempt. He already held feelings for the damn mess of a woman.