#coping until next patch

[ameamedraws]

This has definitely been done before but I started drawing mydei’s profile and the picture drew itself

[chloe6994]

Arcane Headcanons: Mel, Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn Bandaging a Hurt Reader

Mel Medarda

Calm and Composed: When Mel finds you hurt, her face remains calm, but her golden eyes flash with worry. She doesn’t panic; instead, she swiftly gathers supplies, taking charge with her usual elegance.

Gentle Touch: She kneels beside you, her hands steady as she carefully cleans your wounds. Her touch is feather-light, ensuring she doesn’t hurt you more than necessary.

Reassuring Words: Mel speaks softly, her voice soothing as she reassures you. “You’re stronger than this wound, my love. Just hold on for me.” Her words feel like a warm embrace, steadying you.

Attention to Detail: Every movement is precise. She ties bandages with neat, perfect knots, making sure nothing is left untreated.

Comfort Aftercare: Once she’s finished, she pulls you close, draping a luxurious blanket over you both as she strokes your hair. She pours you a glass of water or wine and sits with you until you fall asleep, her presence unwavering.

Jinx

Panicked and Guilt-Ridden: Seeing you hurt sends Jinx spiraling into panic at first. She stares at the blood on your skin, her hands trembling as flashes of her past haunt her. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to let this happen!”

Frantic But Determined: Despite her anxiety, she grabs her makeshift medical kit (which probably has questionable supplies like duct tape and loose bandages). Her hands shake as she starts cleaning your wounds, muttering to herself about how she’ll “fix you.”

Protective Rambling: Jinx talks a mile a minute while she works. “Next time, we’re strapping you in full armor! Or bubble wrap! Yeah, bubble wrap! You’re not leaving my side again!” It’s her way of coping and trying to distract you from the pain.

Messy But Effective: The bandaging process might be chaotic—she ties the bandages a little too tightly or uses too much tape—but it’s full of love and determination. She won’t stop until she’s sure you’re safe.

Endearing Snuggles: Afterward, Jinx collapses beside you, clinging to you like a lifeline. She refuses to leave your side, even if she’s still buzzing with nervous energy. “Don’t you dare scare me like that again, okay? Promise?”

Vi

Focused and Protective: When Vi sees you hurt, her heart skips a beat, but she immediately goes into action. “Alright, sit tight. I’ve got you.” She carries you to a safe spot if needed, her grip firm but careful.

Skilled Hands: Growing up in the Lanes, Vi knows how to handle injuries. She cleans your wounds quickly but thoroughly, her hands practiced and efficient. “This’ll sting a bit. Hang in there, babe.”

Fierce Reassurance: She keeps talking to you the entire time, her voice steady and grounding. “You’re tougher than this. Just a scratch, yeah? You’re gonna be fine.”

Soft Side Shows: Despite her tough exterior, Vi’s hands soften when she ties the bandages, making sure they’re secure but not uncomfortable. She presses a kiss to your forehead once she’s done.

Protective Vow: After you’re patched up, she keeps an arm around you, her jaw clenched with determination. “No one’s laying a finger on you again. I’ll make damn sure of it.”

Caitlyn

Efficient and Professional: Years of training in the Enforcers have made Caitlyn incredibly skilled at first aid. The moment she sees you hurt, she moves quickly, her expression calm but her eyes filled with concern. “Let me take care of this.”

Tender Care: Caitlyn’s movements are precise yet gentle as she cleans and dresses your wounds. She talks to you softly, her accent making her reassurances even more comforting. “You’re doing so well, darling. Almost there.”

Problem Solver: She keeps the atmosphere light, offering logical solutions to distract you. “After this, we’re investing in better protection for you. Perhaps a personal shield? Or maybe I’ll just keep you in the precinct with me.”

Personal Touch: Once she’s done, Caitlyn makes you tea and insists you rest. She’ll sit beside you, her hand resting on yours, ensuring you feel safe. “You don’t have to be brave alone, you know. I’m here.”

Steadfast Companion: She checks your bandages regularly and doesn’t leave your side until she’s certain you’re recovering. If she’s working, she’ll send you frequent messages to make sure you’re okay.

Each of them brings their unique personality to the task, showing their love for you in their own way.

[viviale]

𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒.

— 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬𝑺. logan howlett x reader. fluffy headcanons. i'd love to take some of his pain away :(

𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓 who is grateful for his healing factor. he is, really. but he still feels pain. and yet, knowing he won't be affected as much as his colleagues without the ability to heal, he lacks the instinct to protect his body. it doesn't matter that much to him. he's grown used to pain being a constant in his life, be it the soaring ache of his claws ripping apart the skin between his knuckles or emotional pain — the mistrust he harbors for the outside world due to him having been used, rejected or abandoned by others for his whole life.

— logan who accepts it to be a part of his character. he may even value it to an unhealthy degree, retrieving to sacrificing himself for others all over again without it ever being acknowledged. he is his pain, and it is his healing factor that nurtures it. his healing factor that enables him to leave behind any limit and fight, not for himself, not really, but for the x-men. the x-men that he doesn't truly feel he is a part of. logan howlett who is grateful for his healing factor — it is a crucial part of his character after all. makes him who he is.

— logan who is way more affected than he ever thought he would be by wounds that do not heal as easily as skin. by pain that isn't as much of a common occurrence in his daily life as the one of a broken bone.

— logan who hates to admit it, but gets terrible motion sickness. it's embarrassing, really. he, the wolverine, worn out by a short flight in the x-jet. it's not as if it's his first time on a plane, either. during his years on special forces they had made the soldiers fly a lot. and it made him just as nauseous then as it does today. it's always the same torture. until... it's not. today, it's the comfort of your body next to his own. your delicate hand lying on his tigh, reassuring him with your mere presence. a silent i know.

— logan who has tried to cope with motion sickness countless times, finding new techniques that never work. today he knows he won't need them anymore. because concentrating on your face makes him forget about the speed of the jet, about the height and the harsh movement. because you make everything slow down, and he loves you for it.

— logan who reaches down to intertwine his fingers with yours. they jot together perfectly. and at this moment he doesn't mind the pain — not as long as it is the best feeling in the world to be patched together by you.

— logan who used to think that while broken skin might heal, broken hearts rarely do. he's not as convinced anymore, now.

— logan who could endure any pain knowing you will await him when it's over... his bleeding heart in your gentle hands.

[1yr4sp10d3]

hellohello girl your mark post was just UGH😫😫 yes had me thinking about it for DAYYSSSS then my acc got randomly deleted thats neither here nor there!!

your honor, if i may be freaky on record and request some mark smut where the reader is busy, homework/work work or like hero work wtvr and mark is just so in love and so needy and SUCH a nuisance and maybe reader’s a lil mean so she gives him her free hand and says go wild

i just know mans would not hesitate popping fingers in his mouth until they’re pruney *the jury gasps*

a/n: sorry this took so long i’ve just been busy with gymnastics practice and homework and stuff with school, and im on spring break now so im free but i have to clean my eoom so my friend can come over on thursday so we can go to the beach and have a sleepover 😟 so im putting off cleaning by writing a bunch of asks in my inbox 😭

You were sat on your bed, back propped on the headboard, working on some homework you needed to finish up on. Mark was laying on his tummy towards the foot of the bed, on his phone, sighing loudly every once in a while when you weren’t paying attention to him.

After a bit, you turn to look at him with an unimpressed look on your face. “What do you want?” You ask, annoyed by his silent complaining. He just shrugs slightly, having the nerve to play dumb.

“I dunno.” He says, staring at you with those wide puppy eyes, like you’d hung the moon and the stars just for him. Your face scrunches up.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

You side eye him.

“Like you’re about to cum in your pants from me just looking at you.” You say, shaking your head in mock disappointment. His face flushes and he splutters indignantly.

“Am not!” You just roll your eyes. “Yeah, okay. Get over here.” You say, snapping your fingers and to the spot next to you, on the side that you weren’t using to write. He automatically put his phone down, crawling across the bed to you.

He settles next to you, curling into your side and resting his head on your shoulder, peering up at you. Big brown puppy eyes staring up at you pleadingly, and you coo, placing a hand in his lap.

“Oh, you poor thing.” You murmur mockingly as you feel the tent in his sweatpants. How long had he been sitting here, suffering silently? Probably a while, if the damp patch in his sweats was anything to go by.

“There you go, baby. Is this what you needed?” You ask, smiling as he nods his head and presses his face into your shoulder.

You gently help him push down his sweats, humming as his cock springs free, hand and leaking, the tip flushed an angry red.

You wrap your hand around him, listening to him let out a small little noise. You thumb at his tip for a moment, pushing around the slick precum that had built up before loosely wrapping your hand around him, smiling gently at him.

“There you go, baby. Take what you need.”

He lifts his hips up, shallowly thrusting into your hand until he cums all over himself. It didn’t take him long, since he was already so worked up and sensitive. He cums with a whiny moan his eyes rolling back slightly as he presses his face into your shoulder, his hips giving a few more shallow thrusts.

You pull your attention away from your work fully for the first time, coping and pushing his hair from his forehead.

“Poor thing.” You say teasingly, taking in his wrecked appearance, giving him a kiss on the forehead before letting him curl up into your side.

a/n: can you tell i have NO idea how to end this stuff? Also, sorry if you can tell i kind of like not unmotivated but like idk how else to describe it. this did kinda give me inspo for another freaky mark fic 😈😈 kinda like this but leg humping 😈 not foot stuff!!! i don’t like that. but leg stuff. i hope im not the only person who thinks its kinda hot 😈😈

[bebefatima888]

Hi! I really liked your last post about the Linkuei trio. I think you portrayed them very well. I was wondering how they apologize after an argument? Do they let it go? Or do they try to fix it?

ᡣ𐭩‧₊˚ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ♥︎ ⋅ ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊ ♡︎ ୨ৎ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ♥︎ ⋅ ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊ ♡︎ ୨ৎ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ᡣ𐭩

Hi anon and thank you! 🩷 That means a lot. Sorry it's taken me a bit since I've been dealing with exams and wanted to post something substantial for you, since it’s a kind of “spinoff” of them making you cry on accident.

The Lin Kuei Trio Arguing With You HC's (Part 2)

ᡣ𐭩‧₊˚ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ♥︎ ⋅ ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊ ♡︎ ୨ৎ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ♥︎ ⋅ ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊ ♡︎ ୨ৎ⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ᡣ𐭩

Bi Han:

REAL arguments with him only last a few minutes, and after both of you suffering through a long day; but it would take him even longer to get over your spat. He'd never admit this even to you, but Bi Han takes everything you say straight to his thawed heart, even if you didn't mean it.

Is the type to storm off if things get bad and you start to raise your voices. He never wants to let it rise to that degree but doesn't know how to mitigate the situation without walking away.

He'll be disgruntled for a while but won't be spiteful or passive aggressive towards you. Though you'll definitely feel guilty when you don't see him in the evenings as much and his brothers ask you if he's alright.

Just needs some space to cool off and it's best you leave him be until he's ready to apologize. If you were solely in the wrong he'd still want to apologize first.. It's strange but he'll feel pathetic if you had to apologize to him before he does to you.

I feel like he'd have an avoidant attachment style, so the instant he feels your bond straining he tells himself he doesn't need you as a way to cope with his hidden anxiety about being unable to make-up.

The best way to patch things up with Bi Han is to go about your normal routine as a way to reconcile. Greet him when you pass by during the day, like you always do. He'll come around, and quietly appreciate that you're still here. 💙

Kuai Liang:

Is quick to let it go, there's nothing that could keep him away from you for long. Petty arguments aren't something he'd tolerate since he's fully aware it's unhealthy. If it's a substantial conflict, however, he will stay with you until you two resolve it.

You would have to ask Kuai upfront for some space and time to clear your mind. He'll be patient but start to get nervous the longer you keep to yourself.

Due to his arguments with Bi Han growing up, where his older brother's pulled away from him into adulthood, Kuai is afraid you may keep a grudge against him forever. Hence why he's eager to swiftly snuff out any miscommunications or disagreements with you before they blow out of proportion.

If it takes longer than a few hours for you two to feel better, he won't let it rest into the night. Will seriously have you both stay up to discuss what happened, what he should do next time, etc.

It will either be through careful conversation or until one of you falls asleep (you) for there to be resolution, in his eyes at least.

Kuai would dissect the conflict so rationally that he almost forgets to apologize until you say it first, after that things go back to normal the next day with both of you exhausted but content. 💛

Tomas Vrbada:

Ok, I'm not going to lie to you.. He's stubborn. Not in the same way as Bi Han, but in like the youngest sibling type way where he can be a bit whiny when you two have a real, heated fight.

Doesn't seem to understand it's an argument at the start, which is where things can get misconstrued and lead to hurt feelings. Tomas is also very expressive, so there'd be times where he flashes a look that you (understandably) take the wrong way that leads to even more strife.

It takes longer than needed to resolve your conflict because of this, and it can lead to indirectly involving his brothers when they overhear you two arguing. And then look to each other in confusion about what the quarrel's even about.

Both of you agree at least on taking time off from the fight and resolving it later, to which things naturally fizzle out anyway, or just agree to disagree and move on because it's just not worth it.

He's of course eager to let it go with no hard feelings, but he will be a bit sore since he's not used to arguing like that and isn't sure how to move on from it, even after saying sorry. Regardless of who's in the wrong, he'll insist you don't need to apologize.

Since he's afraid of things flaring up again, he'll be a bit withdrawn with his affections if he isn't sure things are a-ok now. Would be up to you to carry things on from there so he can happily follow your lead. 🩶

[vieoeil-riae]

maybe you're a bit of a crier (honestly who can blame you, getting pulled into a videogame set in ancient china but with gods and demon and etcetera tends to give you a nice constant emotional base of 'oh what the fuck') but you've managed to cope. well, cope enough, but at this point that's the best you could ask for.

but the destined one didn't seem to be one for tears though, the word neutrality might as well have been tattooed into his brow bone. sometimes an irritated frown, cheeky smile or confused quirk of his brow graced his face, but never tears.

that was until the two of you hit a rough patch in your journey. you got separated in a dense forest full of yaoguai, battle whisking the destined one away while you tried to stay out of the conflict - edging your way through the brush in an attempt to remain unseen.

unfortunately, this led you straight into the sights of a band of wolf guai. that went about as well as you'd expect. you managed to avoid being harmed, just barely, by talking like a madman - rambling and spouting enough nonsense that they decided it would be funnier to keep you around for a while before they made you into dinner.

you were on the brink of tears while they dragged you away, but through your blurring vision you had enough sense to start dropping small items and digging scars into the dirt with your heel to create a trail. fighter or not you weren't about to just give up.

an hour or so later, the destined one backtracked to where he last saw you. his nose twitched in building tension as he realised the extent of your absence. you weren't anywhere around here and it was very unlike you to stray far from him, a sinking feeling clawed its way down his throat.

the fight had gone poorly by his standards and he was sporting enough injuries to feel a constant aching as he moved through the trees with mounting unease. the thought of you being hurt made his lips twitch into a heavy frown, you were much too soft to deserve being hurt, too nice to be gone.

you were one of the few people who'd treated him like a true equal despite his muteness, you took the most time to understand him and the thought of you never talking to him again hurt more than he thought it would.

scrapes littered the path, obvious next to faint paw prints. wolves. his lips curled into a snarl and his eyes stung as he took off along the same path.

for you, it could've been worse. yeah sure you were tied up and sitting against a log in the middle of a yaoguai camp, but hey at least you weren't comedically tied to a spit over the fire pit! ...yet!

it'll be fine, you're sure of it, your monkey will find you before sunset and then you'll have dinner together. for now, you'll just keep retelling the stories of any wuxia novels you could remember with as much drama as you could manage.

"oh, Great Leader! I thought you'd never-!" you're cut off by a resounding howl from the other side of the camp. the wolves around you, recently enraptured in the climax of your story, locked onto the sound immediately, bounding towards the fray without a backwards glance.

god you hoped that was your monkey, because if that was something else you were probably so fucked. at least your toes were warm by the fire?

the destined one tore through bodies like sharp wind through the trees, his staff battering flesh until it dissipated into black ash. he was going to find you, and it was going to cost any wolf guai in his way their life.

you recognised the familiar battle cries the second you heard them, slumping against the log in unquestioning relief. your monkey was here and without a doubt going to make sure you were safe.

the chitters and howls and screeches drew nearer, your heart pounding just a little faster every time you heard his familiar cry. he was more vocal than usual, actually.

one lone wolf scampered into the small clearing with a limp and a nasty snarl, freshly bloodied teeth sickening against the encroaching dark of the evening. your heart leapt to your throat, it's not that you haven't seen a sinister grin like that before, but because your monkey had always been beside you when you'd seen bared teeth. suddenly, it sets in just how safe you felt with him around.

your lips wobble just a little as the wolf's eyes find yours, your eyes sting with tears as it stalks towards you. it's not death you're afraid of, but the brief thought you'd never see the destined one again.

but the wolf is felled in a single hard strike, hard enough to knock the thing across the clearing and into a tree trunk with a morbid crunch of bones before it fell apart into dust.

you looked up, relieved at the sight of the destined one quickly making his way towards you, slightly bloodied as he was. you let out a sigh of relief, letting your shoulders come down from around your ears.

"hey, I was just getting to the good part." you smiled.

he dropped to his knees beside you, staff falling to the floor with a thud. you opened your mouth, about to ask after him, but were pulled into his chest by strong arms before you could.

stunned for a brief moment, your eyes widened. it wasn't that he was touch averse, but he seemed to have manners that always put a bit of physical distance between you two.

now, you could feel the hair on your head move, caught in his fur as he buried his face into your temple - your own forehead tucked into the crook of his collarbone, feeling the warmth of his rushing blood. his arms tightened and surprisingly, you felt a minute shake rock his shoulders.

your eyebrows pinched and you, sadly, pushed him away. his arms resisted, but gave way for you - who just wanted to see if he was okay.

utter relief was splayed out on his face. your jaw dropped at the sight of the watery glisten streaked down his cheeks, trailing into his fur, but you composed yourself.

one hand slipping from the (actually pretty poorly tied) rope and finding his face, your thumb stroking away the fresh tears, you spoke softly, "hey, hey, I'm okay. you got me, I'm safe."

his hand, larger than your own, covered yours. you sat in front of him, unharmed, and the enormity of his want to never lose you again hit him like an avalanche. he grinned widely as he pressed your hand further into his face, another tear slipping from his eyes as he closed them to bask in your warmth.

you were stretched awkwardly, but you made no attempts to move. both too afraid to break the moment of near uncharacteristic vulnerability, and wanting to stay in his arms just a little longer.

"so," you nod your head to the still-roaring campfire, "waste not want not? how about we have dinner?"

his shoulders slumped as he opened his eyes, a warm smile settling on his lips as warmer eyes settled on your own. he huffed through his nose, amused by you. he looked more expressive than before, more relaxed too.

"are you gonna untie me or am I gonna have to figure out how to help with dinner one-handed?" you tease, and he straightens like a board. a bashful look overtaking his face when you tease further, "or maybe you like the look of it too much to take the rope off?"

you snicker as a very flustered monkey starts to untangle you.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

inspired by @s0rr3l 's art of pretty monkey crying (very cool, very expressive!!)

hope you like it! *drops this and runs*

[goatcheesecak3]

Adam's Post Trap Coping Mechanisms Headcanons

Adam Faulkner-Stanheight x GN!Reader

Fic type: hcs, fluff

Warnings: brief mention of bullet wound

Caring for Adam involves a LOT of physical touch, he needs to be held, almost urgently, while he cries, feeling you rub his back and gently shushing him

He's hates his bullet wound, it reminds him of the worst day of life and he so desperately wishes it wasn't there. Every night you carefully rub ointment onto it to help reduce the scarring, all while reminding him how brave he is, and how proud you are of him.

He can't fall asleep in silence at all, in fact he's terrified of dark quiet rooms. You sleep with a small lamp on, and talk to him until he falls asleep every night. Sometimes you make up a story for him, which at first he thought was childish and silly, but he's come to find it comforting. His favourite is stories are about aliens and spaceships, he's a big sci fi nerd

Something else that he once found juvenile and immature but now loves, is stuffed animals. You bought him a cuddly monkey, since that was his favourite animal when he was a child, and now he can't sleep without it.

His comfort film is Alien, not the typical comforting film, but Adam isn't the typical guy. He loves to snuggle up under a blanket and fall asleep to the reassuring sounds of evil beasts being slaughtered - maybe it's cathartic for him.

If Adam's had a rough day, the best way to make sure he doesn't spiral is to really baby him, make his favourite food (pancakes with lots of chocolate sauce), put on his favourite film, and make him an Irish coffee with LOTS of cream and sugar.

When his panic attacks get bad, he loves to be held while you call him soothing nicknames. Just to name a few of his favourites,"my sweet boy," "honeybunny," "baby boy," and "sweetpea"

When he goes through really rough patches, he struggles with washing himself, being in a bathroom is just too scary for him. It helps a great deal if you run him a bath and stay with him, washing his hair and kissing his cheek the whole time.

Helping him with his laundry means so much to him, especially if he's had a particularly hard day. You set out a clean tshirt and pj bottoms for him, and even get him a pair of fuzzy slippers. He looks so sweet in his pjs, you can't help but smother him with kisses.

Another thing that he originally deemed as "too childish" for him, were fidget toys. He's still too embarrassed to take one out in public, but in the evenings, keeping his hands occupied with a stress ball or a rubber animal stuffed with orbeez really seems to soothe him. There's a drawer in his bedside table filled with different types of fidget toys for him to grab whenever he feels like it.

A/n hello!! Sorry I haven't written in a while, my joint issues have been flaring up more than usual for the last month, and typing has just been far too painful :^( on the plus side, I've got a physiotherapy appointment in the next few days, so if all goes well I'll be able to use my limbs properly soon!! I hope everyone is doing well :^))))

[neonacity]

JUST MY LUCK | NA JAEMIN x F. READER | CH. 2

Summary: you were tired of life. He is hope personified. What happens when destiny decides to give you one last chance in the person of Na Jaemin?

Genre/Warning: mentions and allusions to suicide and self-harm. Cursing. Alcohol is mentioned and consumed. PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS IF THESE ARE YOUR TRIGGERS. Minors do not interact.

Cavity-inducing fluff. LEGAL age gap. Reader is in her early 30s and Jaemin is 25. Silly 00' line banters. Basically just Jaemin being a green flag because he is my safe person and this is how I cope.

[ chapter 1 ]

“You know, I admire the way these kinds of situations always find you,” Jeno casually made a popping sound out of the metal spoon after shoving a mouthful of ice cream. “It’s like you’re a magnet to—”

“Catastrophes? Damsels in distress? Drunk women?”

Haechan finished the sentence for him after grabbing the tub of Ben and Jerry’s from Jeno’s hand and hoisting himself to sit on the counter beside him. Jeno glared at him but didn’t say anything even as the latter stole his next bite—with the same spoon he was using no less.

“Damsels in distress sounds like a long shot. Didn’t you say she almost hit you with her wine bottle?” Renjun asked from his position by the table where he was currently sitting across a tired-looking Jaemin. The boy had his hands on his hair, grasping it lightly by the roots.

Jaemin did the first thing that came to mind after he got you safely in his truck—bring you home and think of the next steps from there. Now, he wanted to bang his head against the table as a still unconscious you lay snoozing on the stuffy sofa that he and his roommates managed to get from an online marketplace. Your appearance stood starkly against its dull, ugly yellow fabric with your still too pristine suit dress and coat despite your nosedive towards the cement earlier. No, your presence itself looked way out of place in their apartment altogether.

“Yeah. And she tried to pay me off for the inconvenience.”

Haechan looked up in interest.

“Did you take it?”

Jaemin finally shot his head up and glared at his friend. “No, you idiot. If I did, did you think she would be here?”

“Well… she does look loaded,” Renjun said thoughtfully as his gaze travelled to where you were peacefully sleeping. “Looks like she’s a corporate woman.”

“Why didn’t you just bring her to her home. She must have had an ID on her or something,” Jeno asked this time around. It took Jaemin a few seconds before answering, frankly because he didn’t know if it is alright to share the reason why you were here in the first place. You were drunk, yes, but it was also obvious to him what you wanted to do before he pulled you back.

You were aiming straight for the highway.

Clearly, you were going through something, and while he could easily take a look at an ID to know your address, he really wasn’t sure if your home even is a safe place. What if you have an abusive partner who was the reason for all these? He couldn’t risk it, so here you are, looking way too innocent for what you have almost done just a few hours earlier.

“Look, I’m not sure if her home was safe. She seemed to be… going through something.”

Renjun raised his brows at his answer. Jeno and Haechan looked at each other.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed before leaning back into his seat.

“She looked very intent to walk towards the highway, okay? So I stopped her because what else can I do?” All three boys gaped at her, until a soft rustling sound made all of them turn to look towards the patch of space they call a living room. You were beginning to stir under the blanket, eyes blinking up in confusion. You were obviously disoriented and you squinted at the light, quiet and tensed.

Then, all of a sudden, you sat up and clapped a hand to your mouth. The boys jumped in surprise from where they sat, jolted by your sudden movement.

The retching that followed launched them off their asses in a snap.

“Shit, she’s puking. Get her to the bathroom!”

“She wouldn’t make it—”

“Not on the rug!”

All four scrambled, Jaemin going directly to kneel in front of you to rub your back. Jeno, in his panic, grabbed the nearest thing that could excuse for a bucket and shoved Renjun’s prized vase into your hands. You grabbed it without another word and hurled your guts into it.

“You ass, that’s my vase!” Renjun shot a dirty look at Jeno above the retching noises you were making. He then looked at you and winced before finally moving to hold your hair so it wouldn’t get in the way.

It felt like every bone in your body turned to mush when you were finally done. You wiped your lips with your sleeve and finally looked up, bleary-eyed at the four faces peering at you.

You blinked. They blinked back. You tried to speak but your throat was still burning from all that puking.

“Um… Hi,”

“Who are you?”

The three hovering above you all turned towards the one still kneeling by your side as if he was the one who held all the answer. You eyed him, while trying to ignore the taste in your mouth. It took a few seconds for your brain to finally catch up and remember snippets from your drunken episode—as well as the brief flashes of the face of the boy who pulled you back.

“You…”

Jaemin, not knowing what to say, simply gave an awkward smile. There isn’t really a manual that teaches you how to talk to a suicidal woman whose plans you just botched. He doesn’t have any idea if you even remember what you were trying to do, so instead he spoke to no one in particular.

“You need water.”

Jeno and the rest, who were watching silently until then, finally snapped awake.

“She needs water,” he repeated, turning to Haechan who looked confused for a second before rushing to get a glass from the kitchen. Renjun, meanwhile, reached out to pluck the vase from your hand with a disgusted look.

“I will have that please, thank you,” he said before going to the kitchen as well, muttering to himself about his ruined centerpiece. Jeno, realizing he was just the only one left with you and Jaemin, looked back to his friends before making a hasty excuse of helping Renjun wash off your puke and as well.

That left you and your ‘savior’ alone, a rather awkward moment because honestly, how do you even approach this? Should you thank him? Should you curse? You were still mulling over things, looking at anything other than him when he straightened up and offered his hand.

“I’m Jaemin.”

Despite yourself, your gaze immediately moved to meet his. You realized it was your first time properly looking at him, and it hit you how young he looked, at least compared to you. You could feel a little bit of shame now for letting someone like him see you at your worst, let alone have him stop you from doing what you intended. He seemed to pick up what you were thinking because when you finally muttered your name, he didn’t push for you to say anything more. Unconsciously, you tried to make yourself a little bit more presentable by tugging at your clothes.

Jaemin followed your movements silently and noted how different you are from your inebriated state. You are more withdrawn, which he guess is understandable for a full grown woman sitting in the middle of the dingy living room of men fresh out of college. In his peripheral vision, he saw Renjun, Jeno, and Haechan peer from the corner of the kitchen watching. When he waved towards them, Haechan almost dropped the glass of water he was holding and Renjun, his precious vase.

“These are my roommates. That’s Jeno, Renjun, and Haechan. Don’t let them bother you, they usually act like idiots.”

“Hey. That’s not very nice.”

Upon the introduction, you watched as the shortest of the three finally come over to where you are. He had short cropped hair in a light, candy pink color; an interesting hue which he carries quite well with his soft boyish features. You figured he is Renjun, what with his arm cradling his vase like a baby.

“I’m really sorry about your vase. I will replace it for you,” was the first full sentence that you said, one that seemed to have given the other two boys the confidence to finally join the party. Jaemin seemed to have relaxed a little bit too with the assurance that you have not gone entirely non-verbal.

“When Jaemin told me that he needed help because he has a woman with him, I didn’t believe him, y’know. Not that it doesn’t happen too often, you see my bro here is a lady killer and—”

Whatever it is that he—you assumed Haechan—wanted to say was cut off by a sly but sharp blow on the ribs by the one beside him, a lean boy with sharp defined features complemented by his short haircut and black hair. Jeno threw a quick look over at Jaemin before clearing his throat and taking the glass from Haechan’s hand to finally hand to you.

“Here. So uh… don’t worry about us. We’re kind of like good guys. Haechan is just a big mouth.”

“Who are you to say—”

“Do you want something to eat?”

Jaemin, who looked ready to strike someone, talked over before another commotion could start. You blinked at him before something unexpected bubbled out of you.

A laugh.

It wasn’t a loud one, but you could still feel your body trembling a little from it. It was so out of touch that these strangers probably think they've plucked a mad woman from the streets, but at that moment, you didn’t care. You just felt so… tired. Oddly enough, in the company of these boys you don’t even know, you feel like you wouldn't be judged.

��Wow… you’re really pretty when you laugh,” Renjun said as he smiled at you genuinely. His words didn’t feel patronizing at all with the way his eyes crinkled on the sides.

“I tried to kill myself today,” you said neutrally then, as if you were merely sharing your name. All boys froze again, shocked by your bluntness.

“But your friend here stopped me," you continued. "I guess I have to thank him for now. Or else I wouldn’t have been called pretty again for another day.”

At that, Jaemin’s face seemed to light up a little despite your dark take in humor. You reached out your hand to him then and he took it, almost naturally.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for not letting me die.”

*******

“So… do you have, like… somewhere you can go home to?”

Jaemin tried his best not to sound weird as he watched you pull your coat around you. Your head still feels like it was pumped with cement, and while he and his friends are really nice boys, you couldn’t impose anything more than you already did. Jaemin understood this, but still, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of worry for you.

You tried to give him a smile, even though you were still having trouble meeting his eyes. “Yes… I have a flat downtown. Well, at least according to my map location.”

“And you have someone who is waiting for you there?”

You paused. You used to share your apartment with your fiance, but you doubt he will ever have the guts to show his face there ever again. Still, the thought of him almost made you want to throw up again.

“Yes. I have. I’ll be fine," you lied. Actually, maybe a hotel will be better off for the night.

Jaemin didn’t look convinced. He stared at you, his brows raised imperceptibly. After a beat of silence, he pulled his phone from his jean pocket and handed it to you.

“You can share your location with me.”

You blinked.

“What?”

“Share your location with me. You can put your number in there and just share the status of your ride.”

Well, you weren’t expecting that. Before you could even say anything, he pushed his phone towards your hands. You stared at it for a moment before giving a little exasperated laugh.

“Are you always this pushy?”

“Only to women whose lives I just saved.”

It was your turn to raise your brows out of amusement. For the first time since you’ve properly met him, Jaemin smiled. And what a damn beautiful smile it was. He was handsome in the way youth made someone perfect and full of promise, and you caught the way your heart caught in your throat. You’ve truly lost your mind, haven’t you?

With a slight shake of your head and a wry smile, you typed your number and handed his phone back to him. He gave it a ring just to make sure you gave him the right one, an act that you couldn’t help but roll your eyes out of amusement.

“I’m not going to try to kill myself again, you know.”

Jaemin smiled. The way he looked at you almost made you want to run.

“I know. Get home safe… noona.”

That was it. You raised your arm to hail a cab that seemed to have turned the corner at the right time. You wanted to escape from there as fast as you could, but before you hurled yourself inside, you stopped and turned to look at him again. It felt so off, but as your eyes landed on him, you felt an overwhelming emotion. If not for this random stranger, you would have been long gone. You still didn’t want to live, but at this moment at least, you are okay with being alive.

You didn’t know what you were doing yourself, but before you knew it, you walked back towards him and grabbed his hands. You squeezed them between yours before quickly grabbing something from your coat pocket and pushing it against his palm.

“Thank you.”

You were gone just as fast as you crossed the threshold. Jaemin watched, slightly stunned, as your cab drove off.

It was an accident that he met you today, but he has a pretty good feeling that it wouldn’t be the last time your paths will cross.

*******

“You look terrible. Woman, where have you been?”

“Good morning to you too, Seoyeon.”

You didn’t even spare your best friend a glance as you sipped on the last drops of coffee from your takeaway cup before dropping to your seat in your private office. It was fifteen minutes before 9am, early for checking in, but late in your standards since you’re usually the first one on your floor. The woman, already sitting on one of your guest chairs, eyed you warily as you started to open your screens on autopilot.

“I have been trying to call you since yesterday. I thought you literally died.”

Well, that was the plan, you said wryly in your head as you pursed your lips. You would have uttered it out loud, but you didn’t want to give the poor woman a heart attack so early in the day.

“Sorry about that. I was drunk. Didn’t notice the time.”

Seoyeon only gave you a look before finally sighing. You saw in your peripheral vision the way she leaned back on her seat again and it sent a feeling of doom and gloom straight to the pits of your stomach.

“You didn’t have to go to work today, you know. Everyone would have understood…”

You flinched. Yes, everyone. One of the most, if not the only rational thing you did yesterday was to send a message to your guests that your wedding is cancelled, and you’re sure everyone and their mother must have heard by now. That’s on top of you being bypassed the promotion everyone thought was going to you and you are no doubt currently the poster child of a woman who has hit rock bottom.

But that is exactly why you are here. Because as much as you want to curl under a blanket and rot there, there is still a streak in you that you can’t just ignore. You may have been cheated on in all aspects, but you would rather chew glass than let anyone pity you.

“And what, leave all the work to you? I can’t not disappear when our big launch is coming,” for the first time you turned to look at your best friend and finally gave her a smile. Seoyeon knew exactly the message behind your words and she reached out to hold your hand and give it a squeeze. She didn’t need to say anything and yet you both understood.

“A workaholic as always, huh?”

“Mm. I may be a woman scorned, but a woman focused still,” you laughed softly. Seoyeon did the same until her face fell a little bit.

“Well… About that…”

You frowned. The other girl bit her lip and tried to look away.

“We might have a little problem. The catering company just called me and said they were short on hands. Apparently there was another gig that offered way more money and a lot of their part-timers quit last minute. So now they are short-handed for the crew.”

You paled. Less than two days from now, your department will be launching a new product—a new line of champagne—and you’ve been planning for it for months. You can’t afford to have one less man missing from the project which has already been task-divided months before.

"Can’t they find replacements? Surely there are lots who would want a job?” You asked, fully forgetting for the first time your personal woes.

“They said they started posting for it, but it's high season right now so a lot of crew in the field may have already been booked.”

“How many are we missing?”

Seoyeon sighed. “About twenty.”

“Shit. That’s a lot.”

You stood up and started pacing. There is no way you can pull off the launch party in an acceptable way with that much of a missing headcount. Some high-profile guests are expected to come, fussy ones too, including the mayor himself. You were on the verge of calling your client when an idea made you stop. Seoyeon looked up at the way you froze.

“I have an idea…” a stupid one, you followed through in your head. Before your bestfriend could even open her mouth to ask, you pulled out your phone and stormed out of the room.

“I need to make a call.”

*******

Jaemin was in the middle of fixing their dishwasher when he heard his phone ring. Hearing the vibration from the countertop, he reached out and felt for his cell without even looking up from what he was doing. It’s been almost three days since their jurassic-model dishwasher broke down—haechan stupidly stuck a fork on one of its grills—and he swears Renjun will go mad if he has to scream at them again for leaving dishes on the sink.

Seeing the broken metal lodged inside, he started pulling on it and answered the call without looking at the screen.

“Hello?”

There was a slight pause. And then…

“Hi. Is this Jaemin?”

The moment he recognized the voice, his head snapped up and hit against the countertop with a resounding clang. He gave a soft curse as he straggled backwards, phone almost falling from his grasp.

“Hello. Hi. Yes, yes, this is Jaemin.”

From the other end of the line, you were stuck in the middle of your own dilemma as well. After the blur of last night, the only thing that you managed to text him was a dry “I’m home,” and you haven’t had the heart yet to check if he has even replied. The truth is that, while thankful, you are incredibly ashamed of what you’ve put the poor guy through, so you told yourself there is no way you will let your paths cross each other again.

So why then are you calling him now like the idiot you are?

Jaemin, meanwhile, seemed to be more worried than mad about the unexpected call. He frowned slightly after the line went silent.

“Hello? Is everything fine?”

His voice slapped you back to reality. You cleared your throat softly and racked your brain to recite the lines you’ve been practicing for the last five minutes.

“Uh. Yes. Do you need a job?”

Great. What a well-spoken lady you are.

This time it was him who seemed to be at a loss for words. He recovered quicker, fortunately.

“A… job?”

“Yes. I—well. Something came up at work and we need some additional hands to work on our event. Our contractor had their part-timers bail out on them and I’m quite desperate about where to get additional hands.”

Jaemin let that sink in. To be honest, he wasn’t expecting to hear from you again—not because he didn’t want to—but because he knew it might be weird for you given your unlikely encounter. The fact that you are calling him now AND offering him a job even, is the last thing he was expecting.

“What kind of job are we talking about?”

You straightened your spine at his question, hopeful for the first time.

“We need servers. And some people to man the bar.”

Jaemin leaned against the countertop as you continued rattling off what you need. He has a hunch you are offering help as a way of payment; after all, you did try to pay him off back when you were drunk. That or his broke ass came off so strongly during your short stay here. At that thought, his eyes landed on the broken dishwasher in front of him and winced. To be fair, he couldn’t really blame you if it is the latter.

“How many people do you need?” he asked, cutting you off gently.

“Uh… about 25. Maybe thirty-ish. But any additional headcount will help. I will still make some additional calls and—”

“No need. I can cover everything. I’ll call you again.”

You paused. He could almost feel your surprise from the other end of the line and he couldn't help but smile.

“You know twenty people?”

“Well, are you okay with frat guys?”

“Oh.”

At that, Jaemin finally laughed. “Don’t worry. They’re all good blokes. I personally know them.”

For some reason, that last bit did comfort you. Heavens, what is this boy doing to you?

“Okay then. I’ll uh… wait for your call.”

“I’ll give you a ring before the day ends.”

“Wait! Jaemin.”

The sound of your voice calling his name made him stop. There was an odd feeling blooming at the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t quite understand. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until you spoke again.

“Thank you. I owe you one again.”

*******

The dazed look was still on his face when he walked into the living room. Jeno, noticing his expression, stared at him from over the comic book he was reading. Haechan and Renjun, meanwhile, were both in the middle of a game of jenga.

“Do you have anything planned on Saturday?”

“Yeah. Eat a three course meal of instant ramen because that’s the only thing we can afford,” Haechan said as he poked a block out of the way. “Why?”

“Well, put that on hold. We have a job.”

This time, Renjun looked up as well. “What are you talking about? I’m not doing the mascot gig at the yogurt place again.”

“It’s not that,” Jaemin said, wincing as he remembered the disaster of that day again. He cleared his throat.“Noona called. She has something for us this weekend.”

The three looked confused. Jeno straightened up from the couch.

“Who? Pretty noona from yesterday?”

Jaemin rolled his eyes at the name before throwing his phone at his bestfriend.

“Yes. And call the hyungs. We need all of them.”

[inkedinfusions]

── 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 | eren jaeger ⟡ chapter 19

⊱𖣂⊰ | In which you fall into a fictional world with the key to Pandora's box. ── ★ ˙ ̟ . 🗝 .ᐟ.ᐟ masterlist ⊰– prev   next–⊱

── 𝟏𝟗 | 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡

⟡ chapter word count: 3.7k

⟡ content warnings: blanket warnings, overall sense of doom but thats just how reader rolls atp

⟡ a/n: Hello everyone! Finally, I get to plant the seeds for many things to come. Can you believe that this talk, eren and reader's talk by the sea and then at the basement were all not in my outline? Never ever have I outlined one of their talks, they always just take the reigns and starts conversing. Anyway, a bit of light angst that was put to a stop by reader, but wasn't completely resolved, so keep an eye out for that ;). On another note, I changed the names of all the chapters!! They were boringgg,,,, I'm specially proud of 'the belly of the beast' and 'cassandra and atlas'. Also new format! what do we think?

Thanks for reading!

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 only a few torches left alight in the hall, the earlier atmosphere of calm chatter left behind when everyone retires for the night. You linger in the halls as you so often do, walking amongst the wood lined pathways, gusts of warm air intermittently hitting your face.

Dinner and its subsequent clean up was, as many things in the military are, efficient. With not that many people present it wasn’t that much of a chore to put everything back in place, nor was it too time consuming.

You come upon one of the doors that lead outside, and it opens with a creak when you push it, warm air immediately replaced by a cool breeze. The patch where wood and stone meet earth is marred by dirt, grass all but gone from the path many before you have traversed.

The night is as many others; crisp, serene. It does not care for your woes, for your worries, for your victories. It simply is, a perpetual cycle against the turmoil that awakens every time an unknown variable rises to meet you.

In your pocket lies the lone button Zeke had left for you to find, yours in nothing but name, ties too intangible to mean anything to anyone but yourself. The thread Eren had given you twists and turns around it when you take it out onto your palm, almost swallowing it whole. It is tangled—has been for a few days, but you have done nothing to either unravel it or wind it up further.

You had simply dropped it into your pocket once more, only just unearthed today, when that which runs through your mind is composed more of questions than it is of answers.

A year upon your arrival, there is nothing you cling to more than your name, the only vestige of home. Yet one of your first actions here had been to denounce it on the brief stint where you had declared yourself Ymir before Yelena, only to abandon the notion seconds later.

After that, you had taken the last name of the soldier you pretended to be the daughter of, too insignificant to remember. And besides, with Zeke by your side, it hardly mattered what your fake ties were, as only the Warrior’s was worthy of mention.

When you had tried to recall your true last name before, it had been as if your tongue had become as twisted as the thread around your button, only that your brain became foggy too, and any attempt to further recall it would only trigger mild migraines.

So you stopped, figured it was a coping mechanism unconsciously developed, and moved on to greater things that squiggles on a page. It wasn’t until Jean had asked that you had truly realized just how deep the failed recollection went.

You sigh, leaning against the threshold of the door. You would look quite strange here, if anyone should spot you—standing still on the edge of the door frame, eyes as lost as castaways at sea.

You had panicked before—you had reigned it in, sure, but nothing explained the sudden wave that washed away the splotches covering your last name. You haven’t forgotten it, no, for you have kept rotating it in your mind, spacing out in favor of always keeping it within your sight. There is no need to be so paranoid now, you suppose, as you have two witnesses that can remind you of it should you forget again.

But you don’t want to let it slip through the cracks of your consciousness again. It feels wrong, but weirdly, so does to present yourself with it.

Maybe it's because of the identities you have forged this past year. Maybe it's because of all the lies you have to keep track of, of the people with similar yet fundamentally different truths you have presented them with.

You shiver, this time not because of the evening air, but because of the eyes that watch you just beyond the treeline. A blink and your assessment is wrong—whoever that is, they hold no eyes.

Another and they disappear, leaving behind only the goosebumps beneath your skin, the faint whisper of their presence in the night air. The door creaks again when you return inside, heart stuttering with a faint sense of loss that travels through your veins.

This world does not obey the rules you are accustomed to, for physics, the law of matter, and paradoxes behave differently under the watch of a tempered goddess. And so, with a heavy spirit, you resolve to talk to the one person who could give you the insight you never thought you'd have to request.

You pass by some soldiers that linger on the stairs, surely getting in conversations before curfew starts, and so you speed up your walk, not wanting to be out after hours. It is not long before you stand in front of his door, and you swear the wood itself mocks you when you hesitate to knock.

Why? Well, you choose not to examine it too deeply. Still, you can’t help but think of red when your knuckles rap against the wood.

“Hi,” you say when the door opens, revealing Eren on the other side of the threshold. “Can we talk?”

His eyebrows raise slightly, then furrow. “Sure,” he says, stepping out the side to let you through. “Did something happen?”

You stand in the middle of his room with fidgeting fingers, the placement of his furniture mirroring your own. “You could say that,” you gesture with your head. “I'm not…” you sigh. “Hold on, let me just…think about how I’m going to say this.”

You look down as you speak, mentally separating what you know versus the conjectures you have. Mindless steps take you to the foot of his bed, where you sit while you meditate on the order of points you want to hit.

Five, maybe ten seconds fly past when Eren joins you on the bed, sitting on the head of it. Close enough to talk without having to raise your voice, far enough so that your hands have no chance of meeting, not even by accident. You don’t like how that’s the first thing you notice about his placement.

You turn your head to look at him. “Does the last name L/n mean anything to you?”

Unfortunately—or fortunately, you still haven't decided—his eyes flash with no recognition, only confusion. “No,” he says. “Should it?”

You shake your head. “No. No, that’s why this whole thing is weird.”

“What then?” Eren asks, hair untucking from behind his ears when he leans slightly forwards. “Do we have to talk to this L/n guy? Who even is that?”

“Me,” you put out bluntly, ignoring the sharp thunder of pain and ache and unease that travels along your nerves. “That’s my last name.” Another tug, sharper than the last.

“But you say you didn't—”

“I know,” you interrupt, irritated, but not at him. At yourself? No. Maybe. “I remembered it while we were preparing dinner. It just…there are so many things that don’t make sense, and this just elongates the list of things that aren’t supposed to…supposed to be.”

You massage the bridge of your nose, as the sereneness you had tried to copy from the night begins to unravel. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

“What?” you hear Eren say, a hint of betrayal in his voice. “You’re going to give up after remembering your last name?”

“Not—not like that!” you are quick to correct, lowering your voice at the last syllable, when you remember you have probably already broken curfew. “I’m literally not supposed to be here. Like, at all. The story I read? Yeah, well, it never ever mentioned me or a L/n or a finale that didn’t end in tragedy.”

You scoot closer to the wall behind you, letting your head rest against it. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to fit into this.”

There is a brief silence that is only filled with the sound of fluttering trees outside his window, interrupted by creaks of old wood.

“...When you say you are not supposed to be here,” Eren starts tentatively, “does that mean…are you from the future?”

That brings you out of your spiral of unknowns. “If I’m what?”

“From the future,” he repeats. “Wha—Hey, why are you looking at me like that? It makes sense! You said you read stories, right? Well, history books could easily fit into that. And—and you said you are from somewhere I wouldn’t know and that you can’t return to! So the future!”

You look at him dumbfounded, and although his explanation somewhat lessens the weight on your shoulders with how ridiculous it is, you can’t possibly fault the logic behind it. You get it—one would default to time travel before ever considering the possibility of world travel.

“That’s—that's not it,” you say, cracking a small smile. “I can see why you’d think that though.”

“Then?” he questions, beginning to count with his fingers. “So no future, no titan, no visions—maybe some weird Founder Ymir stuff?”

“No,” you shake your head. “Can’t do that, unfortunately.”

“I mean, maybe it's not something you do consciously?”

You shake your head once more, before your eyes light up with the realization of why he put forward that theory specifically. “Oh right!” you snap your fingers, “I haven’t told you yet! I’m not Eldian.”

“Eh?” he exhales, confused. “...Marleyan?”

“Not that either. I’m…well,” you tilt your head to the side. “Promise not to think I’m crazy.”

Eren slumps against the wall behind him. “I think we are way past that at this point.”

You hum in response. “I’m like, ninety percent sure I’m from another world. Or universe. Timeline maybe? I'm not sure.”

There is almost no overthinking behind your words this time. It's weird, finally admitting to it out loud. The most you had gotten to say was of the ‘story’ you read, both to Zeke and to the Scouts. But now that you’ve crossed off one more lie by omission with someone—well, you can’t deny how at ease it makes you feel. Given all that has and will happen, of course.

Eren recovers from his stupor moments later, and you relish in the way his face creases, a stark contrast to the blank expressions he wears on the day to day. “I think I would’ve liked it better if you were from the future,” he says with a strangled voice.

“If it makes you feel better, I kind of am. From the twenty-first century, to be exact.”

He shifts in his position, quiet. “That’s so weird,” he mumbles.

If you were on the side with the pillow, you think you'd throw one at him. “You can turn into a fifteen meter titan. Hell, titans just up and disappear when they die. You can see past people's memories.”

“...Fair enough. So?” he turns to look at you. “What about your last name had you so freaked out you came to talk to me?”

You ignore the faint heat that rushes to the tip of your ears at the reminder. “Call me paranoid,” you say, “but I’m beginning to think my arrival here was not random at all.”

“How come?”

“If I'm being honest with you? A hunch.”

“A hunch,” he repeats.

“Yes, a hunch.” you straighten up, a smidge defensive. “I wake up in the middle of some ruins back in Marley, no memories of how I got there, somehow I can’t remember my last name, and I keep having weird reactions to random things for no apparent reason! You can’t say it isn't a little odd!”

You take a deep breath, reigning in your feelings once again. It's not his fault, you say to yourself. Nothing good would come out of you blowing up on him when it's not in his control. “Sorry,” you mutter, looking away. “It's not…,” you sigh. “Nothing makes sense. And I don’t like that.”

“I can see that,” Eren mumbles. You shoot him a half hearted glare, and he puts up his hands in a placating motion.

You fish the button from your pocket, running your fingertips across the rough texture of the thread. “This shouldn't be up to us,” you mumble. “Do you really have no other future memories of me? Anything that could help explain this?”

Your eyes are glued to the button, so you only hear how Eren shuffles in place by the tell tale sound of crinkling fabric under his weight.

“...No,” he says after a few seconds. “Nothing that could explain that.”

“Really?” You turn to him. “Because I would’ve thought—”

“Didn’t Zeke tell you anything?” he interrupts. “As much as I don’t trust him—and I still think you shouldn’t have told him—” —you roll your eyes— “he may know why. Or how. Or what. Did he…summon you somehow? From wherever you’re from, I mean.”

“Well, he wasn’t there there for my arrival,” you shrug. “Yelena and Onyankopon were, but I think that's a dead end no matter who I talk to. Yelena won’t tell me anything, assuming she knows something, and I don't think they would trust Onyankopon with the information.”

“That’s the blonde lady, right?” he asks.

You nod. “She’s like, prohibited from meeting you. I think it's a little funny I’m not, even though I see her sometimes.”

“So that’s where you disappear to from time to time then.”

“I guess so,” you say. “She’ll be there when we go to the harbor next time. Niccolo will be there too if I remember correctly.”

“Niccolo?” Eren asks, straightening up.

“A Marleyan chef,” you explain. “Not important in a doomsday kind of way, but this whole thing hinges on people changing their point of view of Eldians. He’s one of the first to change his mind about the whole ‘devil’ thing.”

Eren purses his lips. “Fine.”

“What?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing.”

You raise an eyebrow, confused but not really knowing what to ask in order to get more out of him. With how little you guys have talked in the past few days, it is a miracle at all you are conversing instead of being reigned by the tense silence that followed you from Trost, where you rejected something you dare not name.

“...Sure,” you concede. “But we do need to think about what we are going to do next. Paradis needs to enter the world stage before it's too late.”

“When is ‘too late’?” Eren asks. “When my time is up?”

“No,” you say. “Four years before that. 854.”

He frowns. “But that’s in a little more than two years. No way can the world be swayed in two years.”

“Not by us, no,” you say. “But we have help on the way, do we not?” You tilt your head at him with a small smile, trying to convey whatever hope you can on your face. It is not the best scenario, but any where Eren is talking to you instead of brooding about the so-called inevitable is a win in your books.

“My brother.”

“Yes but also no,” you say. “I wrote him a letter with a message coded into it. I’ll see if the Hizuru envoy can help me deliver it later, when they arrive.” You shift in place. “Zeke is our connection to the world outside the island. I think we should exploit that.”

Eren hums, considering your words, not even batting an eyelash at your casual treason. “Did they help before—or in the story?”

“It wasn’t enough,” you say. “And they have many, many ulterior motives. Namely the resources on the island.”

“So we need to find someone else then,” he says, bringing a hand to his jaw. “Problem is, we have no way of searching or even contacting someone else by ourselves. Should we…leave?”

“Why is your first impulse always defecting?”

He tilts his head. “But I’ve never defected?”

You gesture with your hand. “Not now. Hopefully not ever.”

“I feel like I should read more into what you say,” Eren says, surveying you with a look that you can’t quite place the meaning of. “But I’ve already revised my own memories enough times, and I’ll probably go crazy if I pile up anything else on top of them.”

“Yeah,” you say, resting your head again against the wall. “It's funny, isn’t it?”

“What is?” Eren answers, voice softer than before.

“That I’m missing memories while you have extra.”

He makes something between a grunt and a snort. You lift the corners of your lips. “That’s one way to put it.”

“This whole situation would be hilarious if it was happening to someone else,” you mumble as your eyelid begins to turn heavy. “Or not really, but then I wouldn’t feel this sense of doom every time I’m awake.”

Eren shrugs. “I get nightmares, so sleeping is not much better.”

“I don't really remember my dreams,” you say. “Guess I’m kinda grateful for that—don’t tell Armin, but his titan scared the shit out of me when I first saw it. And the crawling dude halfway across the island made me shiver too.”

“I dunno why they keep it—him alive, honestly,” Eren says, a little too bluntly for your taste. “I think it's because they still hold hope that he could turn human again, like Connie’s mom.” His eyes flit to you again. “Can they?”

“Either someone would need to ask Ymir to turn them back or titan powers would need to cease to exist.”

“I assume that's what happened then.”

You scratch the back of your neck. “The first one is a conjecture, but the second one…well, yeah that's how it ends.”

Eren slumps against the wall, curtain of brown hair once again obscuring his face. You don't need to ask what he's thinking about—you have a pretty good idea of where his train of thoughts is leading him right now.

“...Is it so bad? They leave Paradis alone. Titans no longer exist.”

“Are you asking me if it's bad to slaughter the world?” you say incredulously.

“They’re never going to accept us, Y/n,” he says, roughness in his voice akin to that of uncharted roads. “Look, I'm not saying we resort to that now. But we have to have options.”

Few times have you been at total loss for words. There is always some casual topic at the back of your mind, prepared to aid you when a conversation turns sour. But this—this is not something you want to poke.

“I’m sorry, would you rather follow Zeke’s plan?” he continues. “I don’t even know what it is, but from what I’ve heard, it's probably something equally messed up.”

“No, yeah, it's complete bullshit,” you agree. “Still doesn’t mean we should resort to genocide though.”

“So we should just kneel and let them kill us?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth—”

“Easy for you to say, when you plan to dip the moment an opportunity arises.”

Another slash goes through your heart. It's different from the stinging sensation you've felt before. It's more real, less so melancholic and more centered in the moment you are living now. You can tell the smallest hint of regret light up his eyes when the words leave his mouth, but the damage is done.

But if there is one thing you’ve become a master of is taking things that hurt you and shoving them down, down, down, to a void where they can't come back from.

“You don’t mean that, so I’m going to ignore it,” you say. But for all you preach about not caring, your voice breaks a smidge at the end of your statement. “And I’ll let you know that, if anything, I’m involving myself so you don’t fucking die.”

That serves to shut him up, regret now flooding his face completely, posture slightly hunched on the edge of the bed that now seems so far away from you. You hate to make excuses for him, you really do, but fighting is only going to make things worse. Eren needs to get a grip, fast, and while it's not your responsibility to make him see that, you still don't want to make any unnecessary conflict with your only true ally in the game.

“...I didn’t,” he says. You can only assume that he is referring to what you just said. “But if there’s no other way…”

He trails off, but you can easily complete his statement. Should your own plan, whatever it might evolve into, fail, he is willing to forfeit his own life in what you think will most certainly mirror his original path, only now with you as an unlucky witness.

“There’s always a way,” you say. Although you say it with as much confidence as you can muster, you feel a bit like a liar.

It's strange how Eren’s expression changes with the second when he's with you. More so given the quilt of impassive emotions he wraps around himself.

“Keep saying that,” he says. “And one day I might just believe you.”

Someone else would take those words as the mocking platitude they are on paper. But you see them as hope. Hope which is not so easily kept.

“I will,” you say, standing up. “Good night. We'll talk later.”

He waves bye when you cross his threshold again, and you shut the door slowly to avoid any unnecessary creaking.

No one catches you walking around after hours, and you make it to your room without any unexpected surprises. The letter you had written before is still sitting at your desk, next to the ink and borrowed pen. You meant to return it, but Hange will have to settle for getting it back tomorrow, as you don’t feel like walking to their room without a good reason.

Speaking of Hange—you think while you flop onto bed—you need to tell them about the Hizuru envoy before they arrive. You don’t remember how many trips the important lady from the nation was on. If she came directly to negotiate or if a representative came first to scope the situation.

No matter, you would know soon anyways, as your group is due for another visit at any moment. Still, first on your list of priorities is revealing some more things to Hange. Just like you planned at your trial; you would offer up useful information from time to time to keep your worth, but not enough as to invalidate it. 

[sable-skies]

thought abt an au i doodled up months ago but never fully explored, so here's some concept designs for that. im gonna ramble about it now

+ height comparison under the keep reading!

god okay i gotta admit: i, unfortunately, kinda love game of thrones. truthfully i dont care for the sex and inc*st part of the show, but i really enjoy the interconnected weaving plot lines, drama, and utter bullshit that happens in that show. its amazing, i love it, its so fucking stupid. so earlier this year i doodled up some ideas for a game of thrones inspired post-totk au. those are here, and here!

I then dropped it and didnt return to it until now, because i started season 2 of house of the dragon and yknow. why not.

as for actual details about the au: i said in the past it was a got-loz au, but im gonna go ahead and say that i misspoke then because i mean more like, post-totk/loz au INSPIRED by got, because i would never want to do a 1-to-1 au of that god awful show. i mostly think exploring a hyrule that is peaceful, but secretly on the brink of civil chaos and how bad humanity could truly get would be really fun to explore!

i struggled to pick a single role for link to have in such an au, so i said fuck it and divided him up into four parts, in universe the hero's spirit has been split amongst four brothers. to nod towards this, and because i'm cheeky as hell, the first letters of each of their names spells link. Laurent, Irving, Nymos, and Kiran. (im so fucking funny (<- is not funny))

they're all noble born to Arthur Hearth, current lord of House Hearth which basically controls and sits on the Great Plateau, and their mother was Eyla, a member of the Sheikah from Kakariko Village who unfortunately passed away shortly after Kiran was born. Arthur btw is named after the King Arthur legends from Europe, as those served as inspiration for the series in general!

I think a plot would follow them all after the death of their father and how they cope with it and move forward, and how they combat suddenly being labeled traitors to the kingdom for their father's acclaimed crimes.

this is getting long, so I'll do some misc bullet points next on their personalities:

Laurent, as the oldest, had to mature pretty quickly after the death of their mother, Eyla. Which has caused him to grow protective of his younger brothers almost to an overbearing degree. He gets nervous when they're not home, which sucks because Irving is a knight, Nymos studies in Kakariko often, and Kiran wants to explore the world via the survey team. Other then that, he's responsible, quite serious in most situations, and still very kind hearted. After his father's death he starts to spiral into a rage-filled depression, determined to get his brothers back and make the king pay for killing his father.

Irving is the most middle child ever. Due to Laurent being in line for lord of their house and is never gonna back down from that, he sought his own purpose in being a royal knight / royal guardsman / kingsguard. It hasn't really worked out well for him honestly, his higher ups hate him for being Arthur's son, seemingly so naturally talented in combat, and charismatic amongst the ranks that some knights ignore their orders just to follow Irving's instead. So as punishment he's been assigned as the former princess Zelda's bodyguard / retainer. While it disappointed him to not serve his full duties at first, he's come to accept it and treats her kindly. He's proud, a little over-confident, just, and secretly a bleeding heart. After the death of their father, he's forced to choose between his family and Zelda, and knowing that Zelda will most likely die without him, he stays with her.

Nymos, oh poor fucking Nymos dude. As a child he fell into the depths and somehow survived, which was fine, but then he came across a patch of gloom that seemingly never faded, and ever since he's been cursed with doomed visions of the future and a talent for magic. No one believes him about the lingering gloom, and claims that he simply has PTSD from the incident in general, but he knows what he saw. He's sought out magical-based physical therapy in Kakariko because of this, and he's pretty much regarded as a local there. He's quiet, a bit withdrawn, pessimistic, but has a strong sense of justice and genuinely wants the best for those around him, even if he doesn't know how to say it properly. When Laurent and Irving are away, he's the one looking after Kiran and keeping him safe. When his father dies, he immediately starts to investigate the current monarchy for signs of dark magic tampering, which leads him down a rabbit hole he never even knew existed, all the while he's being tormented by visions of his brother dying gruesome and horrible deaths. he's forever an internal nervous WRECK

Kiran!! The baby!! Might be the most dangerous brother of the four, but we'll cover that later. As the resident youngest sibling he's naturally gotten away with pretty much everything and anything, because who can say no to those big baby blues. Thankfully he's not actually that destructive or ill-mannered, but he isn't above pulling a prank on someone for the fun of it. He yearns to leave home and explore the vast continent of Hyrule though, and shortly before everything goes wrong he's accepted into the Survey Team and gets to enjoy it for a bit. He's excitable, energetic, optimistic, and somewhat a handful (get this teen a child leash please) but he means well and is determined to get whatever is on his mind done and finished. He's the last to be told his father is dead as his team didn't tell him about the incident until suddenly there's a group of bandits attacking them and demanding they had Kiran over for ransom. Kiran goes willingly of course, as he doesn't want his team members to get hurt. He later falls into the depths and survives via the sail cloth around his shoulders and meets a strange little fox he calls Todd.

I have so many notes in my head about these guys but again, i'll shut up for now :] here are the heights!

btw; they're all based on a previous incarnation of link and a got character, if you figure it out I'll shake ur hand.

[angstycrying]

Oh fck

I can't sleep because of these anxious thoughts, and then all of a sudden, it's "Kaeya is a singer who can't sing because of the trauma his brother inflicted on him."

And I'm like, wait, WHAT-

And what happens: Kaeya, the adopted son of the Ragnvindr family, has been conquering the stage since the age of 14. His brother Diluc supports his brother in everything - it was he who inspired Kaeya to start studying vocals when he heard his brother singing. But at the age of 17 (Diluc is about to turn 18), their father, Crepus, is kidnapped: the brothers go to the police to meet Varka and help find their father, but their car is cut off, the boys are kidnapped, and the night of Diluc's birthday ruins the brothers' lives forever.

Crazy fan of Kaeya (that he hates the singer as much as he loves him) and enemies of Crepus (those who want to move for success Ragnvindrs) team up and offer Kaeya and Diluc a deal: if Kaeya doesn't say a word for the entire night, everyone will stay alive ("because your disgusting voice Kaeya should only be heard for a dedicated fan" - Kaeya's crazy fan).

And it seems to be nothing, but Crepus's enemies will hurt Diluc and Crepus all night, and then Kaeya, deliberately making him scream. Crepus will calm his sons, but then he will be seriously wounded because Kaeya accidentally spoke to his father. Until this moment, Diluc will beg Kaeya to keep quiet and say that they will cope and everything will be fine, but when Crepus starts bleeding and loses consciousness, the kidnappers will say that they were hired by a recently bankrupt competitor of "Dawn" - the company of Kaeya's own father (the guy gave his son to an orphanage simply because he did not want children, but to prevent Kaeya from throwing a tantrum, he lied to the child that it was his mission to live in an orphanage. And Kaeya thought that everything was wrong, ran away from the orphanage and was found by Crepus and Diluc).

But despite the fact that Kaeya hadn't seen his father in over ten years, it was enough for a panicking Diluc to start blaming his brother for what was happening: him, his father, his career as a singer, his inability to control his emotions, and his voice, because of which Crepus was now dying. The last straw for Kaeya was his brother's hate-filled phrase, "I even hate how loudly you breathe, traitor!"

Once Diluc said that, he would know he had gone too far, and from the happy faces of the kidnappers, he would know he had fallen into their trap, and they had planned to make Diluc emotional from the start. He would look at Kaeya in panic, who would be shocked, horrified, and with such despair in his eyes, tears streaming down his face. But he really didn't make another sound, not a cough when the kidnappers beat him, not a groan of pain when his arm was broken, not a single word, not even when Varka and his knights came to save them.

All three were taken to the hospital: Crepus was revived in the ambulance, and Diluc couldn't even ask how Kaeya was feeling because he was ashamed and filled with guilt. The kidnappers were caught, and so was Kaeya's crazy fan (to add to Diluc's guilt, it turned out that Kaeya's biological father was nowhere near guilty of what he was accused of - he doesn't even have a wine business, he's just an office clerk on the other side of Teyvat). Crepus came to, Diluc wanted to call Kaeya to his father, but he pretended to be asleep.

The next morning, Crepus and Diluc learned that Kaeya was unable to speak due to mutism, which was the result of psychological trauma from the incident. He would silently disappear from the stage, change his last name, dye his hair black, change his style of clothing, wear an eye patch, and move away from Crepus and Diluc to the other side of Mondstadt. He would start working in an event agency.

tries not to communicate with Diluc more than once a week (when Diluc, at Crepus's request, brings Kaeya money, food from Adelinda, medicine, antidepressants and accompanies him to his weekly medical checkup). In fact, in the evening, when Diluc found out that he made his brother mute because of his own anger, he confessed to Crepus and they had a big fight. But then Crepus softened, said that Diluc was not to blame, that he was worried, anxious, etc., and that they could cure Kaeya together, as a family. But Kaeya had other plans and never visited Crepus, and after the end of his sick leave, he kept his distance from everyone, not leaving his room (except for Adelinda - she became the only link between Kaeya and his brother with their father).

And just as Kaeya is getting used to this life, Bennett bumps into him during one of his hospital visits and recognizes the missing popular singer. Diluc plays the aggressive older brother and hurries to take Kaeya away, but after the examination he hears singing from the next room (Kaeya usually spends the night in the hospital so that he can be fully checked, ok). He listens and, unable to bear it, looks in - it turns out that Bennett was singing, and he was singing for Fischl, who was recovering from pneumonia.

Kaeya and Bennet will start communicating (since Bennet doesn't know sign language, Kaeya will switch to a notepad and pen), the boy will say that Fischl is his friend, performs in a musical theater, and he wants to sing with her, but he is not very good at it, but he wants to make her smile and feel those who will listen to him. Out of boredom and because of the charm of the teenager, Kaeya will say that she can help him with the basics, and introduce him to good vocal teachers. As a result, Bennet, Fischl, Razor, Klee, Albedo and many, many other people will enter his life and help him understand that the fears of the past must be overcome in order to want to live again.

In the end, Kaeya will find a new family, make peace with Crepus, cry on his brother and talk to Diluc. Oh, and of course he will return to the stage. After the angst, of course, hehe.

Oh, and I don't think the singer-Keyi's name will be "Pavo Ocellus", I think he'll take the more modest but charming "Mist Flower"

[themculibrary]

Winterhawk (Recent Fics) Masterlist

Are You the Answer? (ao3) - Violsva E, 2k

Summary: Clint and Bucky hook up.

That’s it, that’s the fic.

Being Neighborly (ao3) - Jessistired T, 3k

Summary: Bucky is struggling with human interaction and trying to be a good neighbor. Clint is desperately trying to pull his life together and not embarrass himself in front of his hot neighbor.

Change of plans (ao3) - NoviceNonny E, 3k

Summary: They had already been planning on playing omo games after the meeting ended, but after Bucky learns that Clint failed to mention the most recent time he threw himself off a rood he decides to change things up a little bit.

dirty paws and creatures of snow (ao3) - Flowerparrish G, 3k

Summary: Clint has lost more packs than any sane wolf should be able to handle, has survived each loss through nothing more than digging his teeth and claws into the ground where he has been abandoned and keeping himself grounded out of spite. 

earn it (ao3) - butterflybear4 E, 2k

Summary: Bucky tilts his head, one hand scratching through his scruff. “See, I think you need to earn this.”

Clint splutters, “What? Earn taking a leak? Bucky, are you serious?”

Every Breath You Take (Scars Edition) (ao3) - Reremouse (TheBelfry), rufferto, wyxan M, 17k

Summary: Scars tell a story about where we’ve been and what we’ve experienced. Soulmates only meet after that life experience has been lived. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready for it.

Shortly after the takedown of Project Insight, Steve turns up at the tower with a quieter Bucky looking for a place to recover himself. It’s a solid plan, at least, until Clint walks right into Bucky, triggers their soul bond, and pretty much tosses Steve’s entire Bucky recovery plan out the window. Bucky is probably not ready to further complicate his life with a soulmate, so Clint does the only decent thing and retreats to his apartment in Bed Stuy. Maybe he should have consulted with Bucky first.

A story about soulmates, friends in a tower, enemies in tracksuits, Steve looking out for Bucky, Tony looking out for everyone, the Winter Soldier on his own mission, and Clint.

Hard Shine (ao3) - oper_1895 E, 22k

Summary: Clint was just trying to finish out his contract when the shitty submissive club he was working at was raided by SHIELD. In a stroke of luck that was probably the best thing to ever happen to Clint, SHIELD took over his contract. Six months of some grunt work and then he’d be ready to finally start his life. The only real downside was that Agent Bucky Barnes, the man who rescued him, was keeping his distance. Well, that and the asshole of an old-school Dom who was put in charge.

In stitches (ao3) - ivvic T, 3k

Summary: After a mission goes awry Clint tries to patch himself up.

Once in a Lifetime (ao3) - ivvic T, 12k

Summary: Nobody knows exactly which Clint triggered the inter-dimensional dominoes, but it doesn't really matter in the end, because this one just needs to focus on his new reality. He discovers some things about himself along the way.

Opus 53 (why do you keep coming back?) (ao3) - ivvic T, 8k

Summary: Bucky and Clint have been left behind after Nat died on Vormir and Steve elected to stay in the past. Neither of them are coping well with that, but find some solace in each other.

Opus 54 (good to see you again) (ao3) - ivvic M, 3k

Summary: Bucky has a fun night out that he can't remember - he woke up the next morning with the worst hangover he could remember having, a string of hickeys, and a only vague memory of someone new buying him a drink to toast his arm. The next time he goes out he meets a person claiming to have left the hickeys, but he isn't happy to see who it is.

alt summary - Bucky's a bit of an asshole.

Seven Years (ao3) - katherine_tag M, 26k

Summary: Bucky can see seven years into the future. He joins up anyway.

Smelling Home (ao3) - CaptainJimothyCarter G, 599

Summary: Bucky’s new favorite scent is coffee

Take it easy (ao3) - ivvic T, 31k

Summary: Clint rescues a kitten.

Team Building (ao3) - NoviceNonny M, 3k

Summary: Natasha proposes Shibari as a team building exercise, and Clint and Bucky put more of their D/s dynamic on display during moving night.

The Art of Collusion (ao3) - daisytarget M, 166k

Summary: "Maybe I'm just better than you, and everyone here knows it!"

"Maybe you're a supersoldier in a bottle gone SOUR!"

If someone told Jamie Barnes she'd end up- well, she doesn't want to spoil the ending, but if anyone told her she and Cat Barton would be anything more than erotic enemies, she'd have laughed them out of the room.

If someone told Cat Barton that she'd end up eating her words, she'd probably shoot them just to prove a point. And then deeply contemplate the way the plates in Jamie Barnes' arm move, in an entirely platonic sort of way.

the road not taken looks real good now (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor T, 5k

Summary: Clint is going on a road trip after the events of End Game. He needs some time to clear his head before getting back into the thick of it. While on the road, Clint runs into someone unexpected, and finds himself taking care of none other than Bucky Barnes himself, which eventually leads to Clint falling in love a little along the way.

the timeline-transcending fuckups of clint barton (and how he fixed them) (ao3) - lovefromtwo T, 74k

Summary: It took the barest glance at his surroundings to figure out that he wasn’t in the vents anymore, but in a dingy alley. He had been sitting right next to a trash can, which explained the smell that was just now washing over him. The walls were plastered with black and white, peeling posters advertising local nightclubs and shops- none of which, upon his first glance through, he recognized. One of them, which advertised a place called Samuel's, declared a MIDNIGHT SHOW- Every Saturday- 25 cents a ticket.

25 cents. A ticket.

Triple futz.

It didn’t take Tony Stark to figure out where Clint was. Or, actually, when he was. Which was definitely not any time in the past thirty years at least. Twenty five cents. Jesus christ.

Clint slumped against the wall, raking his hands through his hair. “Aww, time travel, no,” he muttered, entirely to himself. He had been having such a good day too. Completely incident free. Except that he had accidentally knocked over Bucky’s coffee this morning in the communal kitchen and fled instantly. But he wasn’t ready to deal with the mortifying ordeal of thinking about that yet.

(or, the time Clint Barton went back in time and fell in love with Bucky Barnes all over again)

What he needs (ao3) - 42donotpanic, HecticDemon M, 15k

Summary: After a Failed Attempt to get the Programming Out of Bucky's Head, he is left to deal with the Consequences of a Traumatic Brain Injury, including Hemiparesis, Aphasia, Apraxia, Fatigue and many more. Clint does his best to support him while also keeping their life at the Tower as normal as possible for both their sake. Even if that sometimes means following stupid impulses.

When The Rains Finally Come (ao3) - MercurialMagpie E, 4k

Summary: Bucky is starting to adjust to life in Avengers Tower, and reaching out to make new friends.

[blue-sky336]

Sure, Next Time.

Summary: Hobie only comes to you after trouble Characters/Pairing: Hobie x GN!Reader Word Count: 1.4k Warnings: Blood, injuries, dislocated finger, hurt/comfort A/N: Pls bear with me as I attempt his accent lmao

It didn't necessarily surprise you when Hobie accidentally let it slip that he was Spider-Punk. You could recognize the sticker abused guitar and stressed leather jacket anywhere. What did surprise you was the number of injuries he sustained and how easily he could hide them from you. If he had a limp his excuse was, "Tripped in my boots, luv." Any other injuries he used the excuse of having started a fight with some capitalist douchebag. And you believed it. It was only until he came back for you to patch him up after every battle that you began to truly let your anxiety feed into it.

Hobie had climbed through your window at 2am. The sun was nowhere to be seen, and the moon was shrouded in clouds. You had become a light sleeper as of late, the rise in crime getting on your nerves and preventing that precious rest you craved.

You woke up at the sound of those familiar heavy boots against your tiled floor. Squinting, you recognized the familiar shadow of a certain spider-man, or at least the shadow of the spikes on his head. "Hobie?" You reached to turn on your bedside lamp. Tired eyes squinted as the warm light enveloped the room. Your voice was scratchy from having been woken up at an ungodly hour. Your hair was all over the place, strands in front of your eyes and sticking out in ways that you didn't know it could. You thought this was a dream with how Hobie had frozen like a deer in headlights at the end of your bed.

Hobie thought he could just slip in and out, weaving his way to your bathroom and taking a couple of bandages for his trip home. He was wrong and now look at him. He had barely made it to your house in one place and there was no doubt that he was not making it back to his own. All his weight was on his left leg, he was using a web connected to your roof as leverage to keep him upright. You could see a dark stain seeping through his mask just above where you assumed his left eyebrow to be. You suspected there to be more than what you could see through his mask but would have to wait until you finally got him to the bathroom sink to find out.

The corners of his lips turned up as he watched you struggle to untangle your legs from the bedsheets. "Need some help, luv?" A shit eating grin adorned his face, but you couldn't see it. Even when he was injured, he still managed to make your cheeks flush in embarrassment.

You rolled your eyes. "I'm just fine." You huffed, finally finding the floor against your feet and taking steady steps towards the injured man. You didn't see him using your roof as leverage and silently cursed yourself for taking so long. "You better not pull out my roof with that web. Otherwise, you'll be the one dealing with my landlord." You huffed only half-joking. Humour seemed to be your coping mechanism. "Don't get all funny on me now, luv." He chuckled, sounding worn out and in pain. You helped him through your mediocre apartment, having draped his arm over your shoulders and letting him rest his weight against you as you walked (stumbled) to the bathroom.

With a slight huff through your nose and grunt that you wished was silent, Hobie was now sitting on your toilet, the lid shut. He was too tall when he sat on the sink (you found that out the first time he came over) and well, you didn't have much room up there to begin with. You crouched to the cupboard below your sink. In a Spider-Punk themed box (made by you to tease Hobie) was a consistent supply of bandages, disinfectant wipes, alcohol wipes, splints, etc. There was everything you could think of that someone would need when injured. You made this box not long after the first time Hobie came back with blood dripping from his forehead, and you didn't have anything to help. That night was filled with gentle apologies and worried glances.

"Can you take the mask off, Hobes?" You mumbled, having pulled the box onto the sink. You turned to watch him, tired eyes noticing just how he flinched when he moved his arms to push the mask over his head and tossing it to the floor. His hands were trembling, one of his fingers looking to be the slightest bit out of place. The cut above his eyebrow was bleeding profusely and it looked as if part of his piercing had been pulled on.

"'s not as bad as it looks." His hands gently moved to rest on your hips, eyes glancing towards the worried look on your face before moving to the roof. "Not as bad as it looks. Baby, you've probably got a concussion... No, you've definitely got a concussion." You mumbled, hands already digging into that spider-punk themed medicine box. You managed to pull out some baby wipes and a few alcohol wipes. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins, heart thumping in your ears. Your hands came up to caress his face, taking a baby wipe to gently wipe the blood dripping down his face. There was a visible wince and a hiss of pain that came from the touch. Hobie's long fingers gripped the fabric of your pyjamas.

"I'm sorry, Hobie..." you muttered, trying to be as gentle and careful as possible. Once the cut was cleaned and a bandage was placed over it, it was time to move to his finger. "I'm even more sorry about this. We're gonna need to put it back in place, okay?" You were kind of glad you took that health course in high school now.

Hobie let out a groan, too tired to respond with words, but it was clear he was not looking forward to it. His hands released their grip on your hips and instead were placed in your palms. "Okay, we're gonna count to three and I'll put it back in. That good, baby?" You asked.

The suspense was killing Hobie, he was already in pain as it was. He's had dislocated digits before, so he understood the importance of getting the limb back in its socket as soon as possible, but that didn't mean he was going to enjoy it. He nodded. "Yeah, okay." He hummed in response. Except you didn't even count. You waited until he spoke up and quickly pushed the digit back into its socket, earning a muffled (still loud) groan of indescribable pain. "I'm sorry! Fuck, I'm sorry. It's over now." You apologized, wrapping his swollen wrist in a compression bandage. The tears brimming in his eyes and the sick pop of his finger had you feeling queasy. You felt your stomach flip and not in the usual happy way it did when Hobie was around. However, you pushed the feeling aside, hands resting on his cheeks as you leaned in to press a small kiss just to the left of his bandage.

"Let's get you to bed..."

After finally fixing up his injuries the two of you had found yourselves lying in bed. Hobie was next to you, one arm drapes over your stomach, the other resting under his head. His lips brushed against your cheek.

"I worry about you. About what you're doing." You spoke quietly, glancing back into his eyes for a moment. "I know it's for the greater good, but seeing you come home in the middle of the night half dead every day is- It's not nice." You rambled quietly before finally going silent.

He huffed through his nose, although it wasn't angry. "I know, luv. Gonna give you a heart attack one day." he joked, pressing his lips to your temple. "I love you." The words came out quiet, barely leaving his lips before you turned to face him.

"I love you too, Hobes. But next time you get a dislocated finger just go to a doctor. I literally felt sick from that." You mentioned, earning a small nod and a deep chuckle.

"Sure... next time." He mumbled in response, closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around you securely. There was no need to worry about the outside world as long as you were in his arms.

[laura1633]

Can I be honest Laura? I have the feeling this sport is manipulated to make sure an orange car wins.

Max gets a penalty for a first turn like this - Oscar doesn't.

Norris doesn't know how to enter and exit a pit lane last race - no penalty.

Nando's crash should have been a red flag, but it's just a safety car benefitting Norris once again bc guy was under threat of losing P2 to Lewis.

I'm tired. Everything feels scripted/manipulated and I'm rapidly losing interest.

Also it's fascinating to see how a team (Red Bull) can implode at such high speed. Max, pick up when Toto calls...

Oh I think for sure the decisions are not always sporting based and they have 'entertainment' in mind. I also think they would rather like a different WDC this year so I totally know how you feel anon.

I think they left the safety car out rather than a red flag because they didn't want the sprint to overrun too much because of quali later but really a red flag is generally for safety reasons so there should be no other considerations!! It's infuriating.

I still think that the technical directive on flexi wings not being brought in until half way of the season was to try and manipulate some excitement if the order of the cars flip mid season. They have not clamped down on the whole flexi wings as quickly as they have clamped down on things in earlier seasons which has been a huge benefit to Mclaren.

Red Bull have fallen apart so quickly. There have been some key figures who have left and it seems to really have had an effect. The pit stops this year have been absolutely appalling and when you think about how consistent and quick they used to be it is such a dramatic fall off.

I kinda feel like Max will stay and try and help fix things but I think in terms of having a competitive car next year he would be better to go to Mercedes if the option is available. And I know that that will annoy a lot of people because Mercedes have not been kind to Max in the past (understatement) but I just am not sure how well Red Bull are gonna cope with regulation changes, the new engine and trying to patch up all the issues they are having. Plus on a side note - Imagine an Kimi and Max team, that would be so exciting.

[denkilightning]

imagine if they had taken a different route with 'evil jay.' imagine jay participating in training with ras and being beat so badly that ras kicks a wolf mask to him, and with a bloodied, beat hand he inches towards it, even though it's repulsive to him, disgusting even - but he has to if he wants to live. The mask shatters his soul and the power heals him. He needs to live, but he doesn't want to shatter his soul - but it's the only option presented to him, and he has to take it. eventually he forgets he never wanted to.

anon i love you this is Exactly What I Needed

and yes yes yes

(i kind of went off, all fic like so umm have this i guess??)

i imagine walker would avoid anything that directly tied him to the wolves. after everything that admin put him through he couldn't take another faction taking any more pieces of what little identity he had left - even if it did make him stronger. i imagine he stayed with ras not just because of his lies - the story of how great of a warrior hes been sounded just a tad too good to be true, more like an example from a manipulation textbook rather than anyones actual life, not in this century. but he did stay, because he wanted to destroy the administration - whether from revenge or to free everyone in there, he didnt know.

i imagine when ras found him he quite literally saved his life - after gods know how long walker had to survive on his own in the realm of madness and wylderness he found his way to where ras was. ras brought him in, patched his wounds, gave him food and shelter.

even weeks after being saved by ras walker was still in fight or flight response. he was scared. still somewhat of his power, but the pain was unbearable. remember post merge hes probably never actually been in a fight except when he struggled for survival after admin.

but his power remembered how to ease the pain. make it more bearable. take more of it. until walker cannot stand up back again, and everyone smells death coming.

for a moment no one moves. not jordana, not cinder who was meant to be next, even nokt who was his opponent steps back. no one expected walker to take that much damage. no one expected him to not get up. all these weeks, no matter the punches and the slashes, walker always got back up in the end. all the terrible scars, the eye patch too, proved this wasnt a new development. it was ingrained into walker as much as his lightning.

it takes ten ragged, difficult, wheezy breaths for anyone to move.

ras stands up slowly. no one speaks as the boss kicks the wolf mask towards walker.

at first, the only response is a twitch of fingers and brow.

until a strike of lightning runs across walkers arm and, struggling, he grabs the mask. he doesnt properly put it on just kind of throws his arm, trusting proportions of it to land it vaguely on his face.

whatever anyone says, ras did not run to strike the gong, almost forgetting his own hammer. to say so would be to assume he cared about the master of lightning. which would be ridiculous. he was just a simple tool for others to use. of course there was no fondness, and absolutely, not at all, walker never managed to make any of them smile. that never happened, of course.

and as no one cared for walkers wellbeing, there wasn't a collective sigh of relief and a chuckle of joy as the wounds on walkers body started closing, red energy of shattering weaving his organs back together. of course no one was relieved. not at all.

nokt smirked as ras helped walker to sit up, laying the wolf mask on his lap.

"not bad, brat."

walker gasped in a shaky breath, elemental energy trying to cope with the shattering.

he looked up at nokt.

"so, warm up's over, i take it?"

and at that there was chuckling, with nokt bursting with laughter.

[st4rnikka]

New idea for an Sonic au! This one is interesting atleast to me😅. Was inspired by Hatsune Miku and movies where the protagonist ends up entering a game or something similar :D

Trigger warning: mentions of suicide, bullying, abusive relationship and violence.

Digital world au

Where Sonic is from a digital world, nobody knows who created him but he's here and everyone loves him! He sings, dances, plays instruments and of course, goes on adventures!

An Idol and hero all at the same time, he keeps people happy and his world is bright and never boring, everyone is living an adventure of their own. That is in his world, meanwhile in the real world everything is just dark and sad for almost everyone, normal for others and an adventure for some.

In this au Sonic is the only one that is truly from the digital world, his friends, rivals, enemies and even family (Tails) are all from the real world. The only known access to the digital world is from Sonic or his creator. The majority of them was unhappy in the real world or going through something.

Tails:

Tails was the first to gain access to the digital world, he liked playing an interactive game where he could talk to Sonic, it was his form of coping with the bullying he was suffering in the time. The more he interacted the more Sonic stopped pretending to be a bunch of codes in a game because he begun to care for Tails, one day when things turned unbearable to Tails, Sonic stepped out of the game and stopped him from almost committing suicide.

He then proceeded to take Tails to the digital world and show him around, they ended up going on an adventure and when Tails came back to his world reality seemed a little bearable. He couldn't stay in the digital world forever, that was what Sonic had said, he had a life out there even if a sad one. All Sonic would do is bring Tails to the Digital world and have an adventure with him to lift him up, he ended up making his sad life in reality a happy one in the end, got more confident and all that :)

Amy:

Amy was the second to be brought to the digital world, she was suffering in a abusive relationship, she met Sonic through his songs. She liked listening to them and it was also what inspired her to learn how to sing, it was her way of escaping from the abusive relationship she was on. Amy didn't have the courage to ends things and was also scared it she tried doing so. She ended up going to the digital world in a rainy day, Sonic saw her through the TV crying and bruised. He offered her his hand and thinking she was hallucinating she took it, he ended up patching her up and cheering her up. Sonic spent months helping Amy with her issues, but it was worth it in the end when she finally got the courage to end things with her now ex.

Sonic did have to ask Tails to call the police for Amy when things got bad when she said she was breaking up with her ex, but after a long time doing all the things like (talking with the police, finding a lawyer and hours on court) her ex was in prison and she could start anew. She still goes to the digital world and talk with Tails and Sonic, she prefers doing shows with Sonic but never refuses a good adventure too!

Knuckles:

The next one is Knuckles who is the one to bring a little plot to what was pacific and a mystery in the beginning. Knuckles has a little connection with Sonic's creator, he talked with them one time (unaware it was an important person) and gained the ability to go to the digital world but didn't know. That is until he got into a fight and got pushed in the direction of a TV and almost got inside the digital world (he still had a fight to win LMAO). But he did take notice of going through the TV and after this he tried it again and the he was inside Sonic's world, when Sonic met Knuckles he was shocked and made a lot of questions, knuckles found Sonic annoying in the beginning and he fighted a lot with him but after some time both became good friends. But Sonic was still curious about how Knuckles got the ability to enter his digital world, but he figured it was probably his mysterious creator doing.

Knuckles did end up becoming a guardian, he took upon himself to protect Sonic and his world, it happened when he discovered who was Sonic' creator and also their connection with his long gone family. His creator was the one who gave his family the mysterious giant emerald known as master emerald and asked them to protect it many years ago (said master emerald disappeared one day).

Rouge:

Now Rouge was the fourth one, she is an enjoyer of Sonic's singing and also big fan of his merch, obviously because the majority of them are jewels (true ones). She works for an organization called GUN, it's a tiring work and even though she found it fun at the beginning she now is incapable of finding enjoyment in it and only keeps going because of the money. Believe it or not GUN asked her to investigate the world famous digital Idol Sonic, Rouge was kinda shocked because what do you mean there's something strange and suspicious with her favorite "robot" singer? She did what was told anyway but in the process she ended up accidentally corrupting Sonic's world while looking through his world codes, what caused to strange monsters to appear. Sonic took notice of it and after he found out this was Rouge doing he brought her to his world and demanded she fixed the mess she caused. After fighting the corrupted monsters and fixing the codes she accidentally corrupted Rouge ended up becoming Sonic friend, Knuckles didn't like her because of the danger she brought to the digital world but if Sonic forgave then so be it, but he will keep an eye on her >:(

She did end up finding enjoyment in her job, and decided to keep a secret about Sonic not being just an "robot" who sings.

Shadow:

He is Rouge co-worker and also partner in missions, his lore is the same with some changes regarding Maria and sleeping for 50 years. The first thing is Maria wasn't killed, she was cured and able to live her life on earth until the day she died of natural causes, Shadow didn't sleep for 50 years but he put himself to sleep after Maria's death, he slept for 100 years, no dreams just some ocasional memories of happy moments of him and his sister. He did wake up eventually but was not happy about this, he in some way ended up working with GUN, Shadow is still trying to get used with the new technology (just when he got the hang of it, damnit LOL).

He was also kinda shocked when he discovered Sonic was still around after so many years, and even more famous. He did not hate to see a familiar face even if from a "robot" (buddy doesn't know). How he ended in the digital world? Maria was actually a fan of Sonic music and games, they would even go to his concerts, and as a way to cope with Maria's death Shadow began attending every concert just like he did with Maria in the past. Sonic wasn't interested in showing him the digital world tbh, for him Shadow was a hedgehog who strangely is still around after many years and also an old fan of his together with the nice and sweet blond girl.

But he ended up bringing him there because after an solo mission Shadow was extremely hurt and there was no one (willing) to help. Good thing Shadow had decided to stop walking to recompose himself next to a bunch of TVs. Sonic patched him up and all, Shadow like everyone who was brought to Sonic digital world was shocked, but he also was suspicious and intrigued.

He did not become Sonic friend, nor Sonic tried befriend him or bring him to his world again, he was just nice to him. But Shadow did gain the ability to enter the digital world, and Sonic did help Shadow every time he was hurt after an mission when he stepped inside his world (DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT✨️✨️).

Eggman:

Eggman is still Sonic enemy, he tries to take over Sonic's world, Sonic's creator nor Sonic himself gave Eggman the ability to enter the digital world, the guy just found a way. He doesn't admit it but deep inside Sonic makes his life brighter and more fun, reality was not bright like that to him. Sonic also doesn't admit that Eggman also makes his adventures more fun and that he considers the guy something akin to a father figure (he would rather delete his existence before doing that LMAO).

Sonic:

He doesn't know who created him, doesn't know why he was created nor his purpose. But he knows he likes to go in adventures, nature, music and much more! He was not one to make friends and never tried truly interacting with the ones outside his world, his world that had life of it's own but nobody seemed to notice, the people of the other world could see them so why the others couldn't do the same? Why was he the only one capable of doing it? Sonic had many questions but no one to answer them, he spent many years doing his own thing and before he noticed, he was loved just because he was being himself. Sonic only truly interacted one time with a child, he seemed lonely and hurt, and Sonic wanted to make him smile.

One day this child was about to hurt themselves and them all Sonic knew was that he no longer was inside a bright world, but it didn't matter he was still bright. He decided to bring the child with him, Miles was his name, but Tails looked like a nice nickname. They become friends, then best friends and then brothers. And before Sonic noticed he began helping others like he helped Tails. Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow and many others, he was no longer by himself and this other world called reality seemed a little brighter just like his own.

ANYWAYS that's it for this au, I coud've done others characters but it's 06:18 and I have school :D

Somethings to know about this au:

When people enter Sonic's world they have like a change of design, they are given different clothes and become a little brighter.

When Sonic goes to the real world he stays the same, no changes.

Sonic is like Hatsune Miku in this au but still Sonic Lmao, he is loved and hated by many and has a lot of music, game, series and even merch of him.

Sonic can also get inside games where he is referenced.

Sonic could stay in the real world but he prefers his own world, but from time to time he does go outside if only to hangout with his friends.

That's it! If you wanna use this idea feel free to do so and don't forget to @ me when you post it (I would love to read it!) See ya later ;)