#don't ask me how i remember all their names when they were only archived on my old blog

[copperbadge]

i was thinking of you the other day and your discussions of your ability or lack thereof to visualize things in your mind, because someone asked me who all had been at a gathering, and i answered them by calling up the room in my memory and looking around it to see who was there. and it occurred to me after the fact that i suppose probably not everyone can do that? but i could even tell you at least approximately what everyone was wearing (color, cut, maybe not precise pattern, but the general style, sure). and while i can’t swear to you that it’s 100% accurate because i don’t have a picture to compare it to, i think it’s pretty close.

but now i’m curious - what would your thought process be if you were asked the same question? if you can’t just look around the room in your mind, is the memory interaction-based? or like… voices you remember hearing? or something else?

Well, bear in mind that I haven't got a great memory to begin with -- possibly the ADHD at work, but also there's a condition that's frequently comorbid with aphantasia called Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory -- people with SDAM have trouble recalling huge chunks of their lives and when they do have recall they often remember it as if they'd been told it, they have no emotional sense attached. For example, I remember a trip I took where I had to do some hard shit and it was really scary, but I don't remember the feeling of being scared, I just remember that I was. I have no idea how long the trip was, no memory of the hotel room, very little memory of doing the scary thing. I know I did it, but there's not a lot of attachment there.

This is not ALWAYS the case -- for example I have extremely fond memories of certain other trips -- but I don't really seem to be able to switch it on or off. Like when I was in Europe, I stayed in an AirBNB in London, but by the time I got to Rome like, five days later, I couldn't remember what it was like. I ended up spending a little time one evening kind of calling up memories of where I stayed in London and in Paris to try and hard-code them into my memory, and that worked, but I also needed the help of photos and tumblr posts I'd made to achieve it. ("What did it even look like? Well -- wait, I cooked some pizzas in the microwave while I was there. The microwave was on the counter, opposite the bed, and -- oh, okay, I remember now.")

So like, I would have no goddamn idea of the majority of people at any given gathering where I attended, but is that SDAM, ADHD, a function of my anxiety in social situations, or the aphantasia? Difficult to say.

I hosted a get-together on Sunday and because I was host and there weren't that many people in attendance I could name them off, but I couldn't tell you what they wore. The last party I attended, a week or two previously, was at a friend's house and it was mostly folks I was at least passingly familiar with, but I am bad with names and so couldn't NAME a lot of the people there -- but for example I could say "Well, the hosts were there, and I spoke with X, Y, and Z, so they were definitely there, but I also spoke with like four other people whose names I didn't get. I dunno what any of them were wearing even though it was a costume party." But yeah to even come up with that I would have to think about when I arrived, walk myself through whatever I remember of the event in linear order, and just note down who I spoke with. If I didn't speak with them, or if I didn't know them well, they didn't exist for me.

So I guess the answer is that my memory isn't visual and also just kinda...isn't there a lot of the time. It's not like amnesia, or the profound brain damage you read about where the person only remembers the last ten minutes or doesn't remember anything past a certain date in their life, but I just haven't got much memory for things. It's why I use a lot of lists and spreadsheets and make yearly photobooks.

My photo archive on my computer goes back to about 1998, and it's sorted by year, but the top level folder all the years are stored in is simply titled "Where I've Been" 'cause I probably wouldn't remember, otherwise.

[jezabelle9299]

Intimidating S.R x FEM! reader

Overture-While you're cataloging a new collection in the archives, a young Spencer Reid wanders down in search of an art print stored in a different archive.

Inspired by the opening of season 2 episode 14 'The Big Game', when Gideon visits the Smithsonian to look at Havell's Audubon paintings. (We're going to pretend this isn't the episode Reid gets kidnapped in) Later piece is inspired by any of the many times prostitutes flirt with Reid throughout the early seasons. I looked at a few maps and online catalogs of the museums current collections to kinda figure out how long it would take to walk there, and what pieces are stored where, but it might not be 100% accurate so don't hold me to it.

Cws- Brief mentions of robbery and prostitution (separate occasions)

A/N- This has been bouncing around my brain like a DVD menu screen, I'm so excited about it. I'm a museum studies major so I'm making this girl live all of my dreams.

Your favorite part of the job by far, was cataloging the new pieces. Whether they were from other museums or private collections, unpacking those boxes let you indulge in a bit of nosiness everytime. This particular collection was from a recently closed exhibit, so you were doing the overnight shift. No one else was in this part of the museum, and your boss was doing a showing of some prints to a collections enthusiast so you had the place to yourself. 

You threw on some headphones and got to work, once you finished this you could go home. You’d just cataloged and packed the first half of the pieces, but as you were about to start on the rest, you saw something move out of the corner of your eye. Archives were a slightly creepy place to be at night anyway, the shelves looming over you, and the underground structure providing little light outside of your small workspace, but that was definitely unusual. When you finally turned around, there was a full-on stranger walking towards you. He was about your age, but he definitely didn’t work here, you would’ve remembered 

“Jesus! Walk louder! I didn’t hear you come down here.” 

“I called out twice to try and see if there was anyone down here.”

“Point taken.” You shrugged it off, you’d never seen him before. He definitely didn’t work here, he was cute and about your age. You’d remember him. You both stood there just kind of looking at each other, not fully sure what would happen next.

“Are you going to like— rob me now? Or maybe introduce yourself?”

“Oh! Sorry, my name's Spencer Reid, I was here with a colleague. He was looking at some ornithology prints upstairs, and he told me to come down to find—well you I assume, and get the last print in the set, and ask for directions to the coffee machine?”

“Sure! Just come over here and I’ll look it up for you.” You set down your clipboard to head back to your little desk, the only one with the lamp still on. 

“So, what exactly are you looking for?”

“It’s a Robert Havell, Frigate Pelican.” You typed in the name into your system to make sure, but you knew now why your boss didn’t come to get it himself. It wasn’t in this museum, it was in the archive under the Renwick gallery, almost a mile away. 

“Alright, I can be back with it in like an hour, it’s at the gallery on 17th street. This was a split collection and it’s still in that archive. There’s a coffee machine down the hall on your left, and I can meet you back in my boss’s office.”

“An hour? Are you walking this late at night?” 

“Yep. But I’ll go as quickly as possible.”

“I can’t in good conscience let you walk that far by yourself this late at night, would it be alright if I came with you?” 

“Alright! Only if you want to though, I promise you don’t have to.”

“I want to, if that’s ok.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” You smiled at him, and while you were grabbing your keys and ID, he went from relieved you said it was ok, to completely red at the idea of being around you alone for the next hour. He was stuck in place as you passed him and got halfway down the hall, before he started running to catch up. 

“Where exactly are we going?”

“We need to go up the elevator, through the garden, and then it’s pretty much a straight shot down 15th and through Lafayette park.”

“I thought we could get through the archives?”

“We could, but it would take longer. I get distracted easily, and it’s a nice night out anyway.”

*****

About halfway through your walk, you’d already felt like you knew him. When you were passing through a particularly busy part of the street, someone called out to you. Well not you, they called out to Spencer. 

“Hey cutie, you’re back. I told you I’d remember you.” A woman in high heels, a fur coat, and shorts entirely too short for the chilly weather, called out for him. You didn’t place any judgment on her, but the look you gave Spencer. Shock, and trying your best to stifle laughter at his panic.

“Oh–um. Have a good night.” He rushed off, in his haste grabbing your elbow to pull you along with him. Once he’d gotten far enough away for his embarrassment to pare down, he let go of you, realizing with a whole new sense of self-consciousness that he touched you without even thinking about it. 

“That was not what it looked like. I swear– I was talking to her with my boss last week, we were doing interviews for a case; and she well– she called me cute, which is what that was about.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I would tend to agree with her anyway– you are pretty memorable.”

“I– thank you. You’re memorable too.”

You walked the rest of the way with Spencer almost trailing a half step behind you. You were so mesmerizing, he just couldn’t help it. 

By the time you finished the walk, arriving at the security booth to get back inside the archives, you already felt like you knew Spencer. 

“ID please.” The security guard spared a singular glance towards yours, and you realized you forgot to ask Spencer if he had his on him. 

“Oh I forgot they check IDs of any guests coming into the archives, you have your driver's license on you, right? Or any ID is probably fine. I didn’t even think about it.”

While you were rambling about it, Spencer pulled out his credentials, showed it to the guard as if it were nothing. Because he’s a federal agent -apparently- he didn’t need a visitor badge. 

“You’re in the FBI?”

“Yes?”

“How on Earth did that never come up on the twenty minute walk here.” You finally got moving again towards the art storage, now trailing alongside Spencer, more focused on him than looking where you were going. 

“It did.” 

“When?”

“Why did you think I was interviewing a prostitute?”

“I don’t know! I thought you were like– a lawyer or something. You’re so fancy! And nice! And you know– Young!” 

“I–you think I’m fancy?”

“You’re wearing a suit with a sweater vest at 9pm on a Saturday night.” 

“Fair enough. But no, I'm not a lawyer. I’m glad you think I’m nice though.” It was your turn for your face to heat, and for you to hide your head. 

“Of course I think you're nice.”

When you finally found what you were looking for, you started heading back. He told you about some of his interests, but mostly he wanted to know about you. All you wanted to hear about was him though, he was so interesting. 

“What do you do for the FBI?” 

“Behavioral Analysis”

“Oh my god. Oh if I’d known that I would’ve changed everything I’ve done so far. That’s– I mean that’s so intimidating” And now he was laughing at you. 

“I don’t think anyone has ever described me as intimidating. Off-putting and annoying sure, but intimidating is new.” 

“You’re very intimidating. I’ve never met a guy who knew that much about historical art without even being in the field before, and now I know you could read my behavior? I must’ve come off like a total idiot like–15 times by now.”

“I don’t think so, quite the opposite actually.”

“Well thank you, but I was making a conscious effort not to make it clear I have a huge crush on you, and then you tell me you could tell anyway?” 

“You have a crush on me?”

“Well–yeah. I thought you could tell.”

“Not really.”

“Oh.” It felt like an eternity before he responded.

“I have a crush on you too, for the record.” 

“Yeah?”

“Most definitely.”

An older man came out of the building before you could walk back in.

“Reid! Where’d you go? JJ called, we need to leave for the office.” 

“Oh–um, I’ll call you? What’s your number?” You checked your lanyard and your pockets as best as you could while holding the flat-packed print. 

“I don’t have a pen or anything on me.”

“You can just tell me, I’ll remember it.”  After you said your goodbyes he disappeared again, and you went to put away the rest of the collection. Spencer called you the next morning to set up your first date, and though he never stopped amazing you, you wouldn’t describe him as intimidating anymore.

[purpldawne]

characters i haven't thought about in over a year part 356789000034: all the fucking twst ocs i made last year. most of em aren't really fleshed out beyond stats and appearance but they still exist and i wanna talk about em

IN HOUSE ORDER WE HAVE:

- Blanche Hare, 4th Year

- Seb Cantooker, 3rd Year

- Simeon Nahdi, 2nd Year

- Vaine Vautour, 3rd Year ( technically my s/i but it still counts )

- Elette Vautour, 1st Year

and i maybe had an rsa oc or two:

- Radhika Sharit

- Unnamed Pinocchio guy

- i swear there was another one but i cannot for the life of me remember who it was

im only gonna do the nrc boys here but i may make another for the other guys

BLANCHE HARE

- Heartslabyul

- 19

- 4th Year

- Beastman

Twisted from: The White Rabbit

- ABSOLUTELY 💯💯💯 TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS is ALWAYS RIGHT ON TIME

- sets reminders and ignores them

- this has only gotten worse since leaving campus

Seb Cantooker

- Octavinelle

- 18

- 3rd Year

- Merman

Twisted from: Sebastian

- mom friend. would keep the leeches on child leashes if floyd didn't keep biting them off

- riddle rosehearts, at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of campus, localized entirely within your dorm

Simeon Nahdi

- Scarabia

- 17

- 2nd Year

- Beastman

Twisted from: Abu

- sneaky fingers. fun at parties.

- cater's bestie

- leona has a heart attack every time he sees sim cuz he thinks he's cheka

- she a runner she a track star /ref

Vaine Vautour

- Pomefiore

- 18

- 3rd Year

- Fae

Twisted from: the Evil Queen's Raven

- very shy at first. then very sarcastic. takes things too seriously sometimes.

- his tail flicks when he's happy or excited

- yes he molts. yes rook has a collection of his feathers.

Elette Vautour

- Diasomnia

- 16

- 1st Year

- Fae

Twisted from: idk the thorns or smth???

- Vaine's younger sibling. kinda got a sakuma thing going on but instead of there being a valid reason it's just teenage angst

- thinks rook is weird for watching him all the time not knowing his brother asked him to

- would probably find it weirder if he knew his brother asked rook to watch him

[imwritingthefout]

A mask of my own face

I love this photo it’s so silly :>

Summary:

reader is worried about ford and his recent... outbursts. they decide to check on him, but find him at the wrong time, or rather, they don't find him, but someone else in his body.

basically: reader gets fucked by bill cipher in ford's body and kinda likes it.

(the title is the song by lemon demon bc it fits)

Warnings: non con elements/ dubious consent, rough smut, p in v sex, some fluff at the end, a little angst but it’s fine in the end

also crossposted on ao3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was acting… different. More distant than usual, more…. Off-putting.

He always had a sort of off-kiltered charm in the way he interacted with you, always flipping between being overly confident in himself, and tripping over his own words at the sight of you. Like something in his brain didn’t compute that you were together, that you were his. You got used to this after a few months of dating the researcher, and it evened out for a bit… but now it seems he’s reverted back to his old ways, from before you started dating.

One second he would be holding you tight, saying how much he loved you and wanted you by his side for the rest of his life, but then the next he would push you away to go ‘meditate’ in his lab. He would stay there for hours, only coming up for more coffee. (and strangely enough, to shove forks into his hands when he thought you weren’t looking)

You decided that enough was enough when one evening you realised you hadn't seen him all day. He must've gotten up before you to go to his lab, and hadn’t come up since then.

You went on a search for him all around the house, hoping he wasn't in that god-forsaken lab, but it seems god wasn’t on your side.

When you found him, you saw him sitting hunched over at his desk, writing something down aggressively. You tried to gently touch his shoulder, but the movement caused him to jump so high up from his chair he almost hit the ceiling. You, of course, were startled by the sudden movement and took a step back from him.

He slowly turned to you and his face…. His eyes…. Something about them was wrong. Maybe it was the lack of sleep on his part or your worrying, but you could swear his eyes looked… off. They were slightly different than you remembered, but you decided to brush it off for the time being, more focused on talking some sense into your boyfriend.

“Hey ford? Can i… talk to you?” you said gently, trying not to frighten him again. He shook his head a bit, as if trying to shake off some grub from his face and turned to you with an annoyed look. “Not now, honey . Can’t you see I'm working?” He said the pet name with a mocking voice, as if he was making fun of you for thinking you’re more important than his work.

“I know you are, but you're starting to worry me… when was the last time you ate? Or drank water? Or even went to the bathroom?” you tried to push back the uncomfortable feeling threatening to overtake your words, your voice slightly shaking when you asked him the questions. 

“It doesn’t matter . All that matters is finishing this page” and with that he went back to his desk, sitting down and ignoring you as if you didn’t exist.

Now you were starting to get angry. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Your health is important! If you don't take care of yourself then you won’t live to see your progress come to fruition!” you put your hand on his shoulder again, more firmly this time. “I made you dinner. Now you’re going to come with me, eat dinner, drink some water and go to sleep. Do you understand?” you turned him around in his chair to look at you. He seemed to flip through several emotions before deciding on one. You didn't quite know what it was, but he was smiling, so you thought he might have finally come to his senses and decided to take a break.

You were only half right.

“You know what? You’re right, toots. I'll take a break, but only if i can take you too” he brought you onto his lap in one swift, strong motion and put his lips against your neck. The sudden movement made a chill run up your spine. You didn’t know if you were more turned on or worried, but ultimately decided that maybe this’ll help ground him and bring the ford you loved back.

You wrapped your hands around his neck and kissed him passionately. It took a moment for him to register what was happening until he kissed you back, hungrily kissing you and suddenly biting at your tongue. It wasn’t something you were used to, and it definitely surprised you, but it wasn’t unwelcomed.

You pulled away a little and he went back to attacking your neck with his lips and teeth, leaving various marks that made your breath hitch. His calloused hands started exploring your body as if it was his first time, awkwardly angling his fingers to touch every part of you from your ankles to your shoulders, and finally down to your breasts.

“God you’re mine now, aren’t you?” The question confused you, since you’ve been dating for a while now, but you decided to go along with it. Maybe it was a new kink of his “yes i’m all yours” you punctuate your point by gently scraping your nails down his chest and onto the waistband of his pants. He groaned at the feeling of your nails on him, his chest puffing up to meet your touch. You chuckle at his desperation. “So needy… you’ve missed me, haven't you?” you tease him lightly, but it didn’t affect him like it usually does. Instead he seems… unfazed “sure i have” he then picks you up and moves you so you’re lying chest down on his desk, and he’s behind you, pushing your middle down so your ass is up in the air for him.

He stands up and you can hear him opening his belt buckle behind you. He seems to be struggling, so you try to turn to him and help him, but he only pushes you down more. “Stupid.. Human… clothes… ugh” you hear him mumbling, but you can’t say anything when you suddenly feel his cold hands under your shirt, feeling you up. You moan under his touch, then hiss as he pinches your waist in an unpleasant way. 

“Hey-ah!” you try to scold him, but are interrupted by the feeling of cold air hitting your sensitive area. Ford has pulled down your pants and underwear, and is now angleing himself behind you. You moan as you feel him push himself against you, his chest flat against your back. It takes him a second to push himself inside you, but when he does, he fills you up immediately. 

You groan at the sharp pain mixed with the pleasure of having him inside you after so long without him. Before you register what's happening, he starts thrusting into you wildly, with no rhythm or consistency. You try your best not to moan, but it's hard when you feel him pushing into you in such a harsh way. 

He holds your hips firmly, trying to stop your squirming. “Come on- ah~ do the thing” you hear him grunting behind you. It feels so good, but the statement still confuses you through the fog of pleasure. What does he mean by ‘the thing’? Your train of thought is stopped when his hand travels to your throat, choking you a little. The sudden feeling of lightheadedness makes you even hornier. This doesn’t feel like something ford would do, but damn it turns you on.

His thrusts start to even out, he doesn't slow down but now they have more of a rhythm. With each one the desk starts to creak under you. It’s straight up animalistic the way he pounds into you, holding onto you like you’re his toy, only used for his pleasure. You feel him twitching inside you, getting close to his release. You clench around him the way you know he likes, and suddenly he cums inside of you. You feel the pleasure inside you come to a peak as he continues to thrust at the same pace, even though he just came. 

The pleasure quickly turns into overstimulation as he continues at his rough pace, not letting you go until he finishes inside you again. Your moans turn into screams as you can't even form a coherent thought. At this point you almost reach a second orgasm, but when he suddenly pulls out at you, you’re forced to come down from your high. You whine at the loss and turn around to see him with his hands up in shock, looking down at you guiltily. 

“What's wrong ford?” you look up at him with lustful eyes, wanting him to continue. 

“I.. uh- nothing is wrong! I'm sorry!” What is he apologising for? “It’s alright, but can you please continue?” now you were frustrated, hoping he would get the hint and continue fucking you. 

“Ye-yeah sure.. Of curse” he gently put his hands on your hips, almost hesitating before feeling you up. He gently runs his hand down your stomach and lands on your thigh, stabilising you before slowly entering you. You moan at the sudden change in him. “What has gotten into you- ah!” you moan as he softly circles your clit with his fingers while he starts thrusting into you. You put your hands around his neck and he buries his head in your chest. You hear him mumbling something but you can’t understand it. 

He starts pushing in and out of you gently, and the stark contrast from just a second ago makes you confused. What is with him today? You try to dwell on it, but when he starts kissing your chest, fondling your breast with his mouth, your thought process is cut short. 

Thanks to his expert fingers on your clit and his even thrusting, you go over the edge. You moan his name as you pull him up to kiss him. It all feels like too much as he stops moving, focusing on kissing you. He pulls out shortly after, taking his time now.

“Does this mean you’re gonna take a break? I think dinner is getting cold” you say softly, kissing his cheek.

“What? Oh yeah- yeah- of course honey” when he says the pet name this time, it feels genuine, like it just rolls off his tongue naturally. You look at him, and find his familiar eyes looking back into yours- slightly confused but loving and caring. This is your ford. The one you fell in love with.

You try to pull yourself off the desk but your legs start wobbling, so ford takes you by the waist and guides you up the stairs. “I’m sorry” he apologises once again, but you reach up to stroke his cheek “it’s alright, i kind of… liked it”

You see a flicker of something dangerous in his eye before it switches to looking terrified, then concerned. “Well.. I'm glad you liked it, but I don't know what came over me. I’m still sorry if i hurt you, my dear” you thought he might be hiding something from you, but that was a discussion for another day. For now, you got your old ford back, and that’s all that matters.

“It’s.. alright. Just give me a warning next time. Jeez” you laugh a little, and you see he starts to relax against you. 

“Yeah.. i’ll try” he seems to be lost in thought, but as you enter the kitchen and he sees the dinner you made him, he suddenly loses his train of thought and looks at you like you just brought him the moon. 

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm starving!” he picks you up and kisses you, slightly wincing as he feels his muscles tense up after not being in use for who knows how long. He lets go of you and you both go to eat. You’ll have to talk to him sometime soon about your worries, but you stop yourself when you see the look he gives you; full of love and adoration, like you’re the sun to his earth. You decide to confront him another day. You wouldn’t want to ruin a perfect dinner, would you?

[tragedy-of-commons]

"Do you ever think about that drunken kiss we shared?" + Dan Heng

"Do you ever think about that drunken kiss we shared?"

Dan Heng thinks you're trying to kill him.

Yes, that must be it, he lets the swarm of butterflies flapping around in his gut reason for a little too long. Surely, you're an assassin sent to kill him, cunningly playing the long game - only to one day give him a heart attack so he'll croak and you can collect your money.

(Honestly, he'd rather you don't drag the process out. But Dan Heng has never taken you for merciful, and your entirely evil expression only serves to confirm that hunch.)

The tips of his ears burn red. "Why do you insist on bringing that up?"

"Come on," you huff, elbowing him in the side with no real force, "you gotta answer the question, love. And keeping record of the past is always a good thing, right? You're always wading knee-deep in the archives, so I'm sure you'd understand."

There you are with your strange comparisons and too-close-but-not-too-close-since-you're-dating pet names. Even so, how in the world is he supposed to respond? Honesty cannot be the best policy, not when his answer will be something along the lines of 'Yes, I do think about that kiss often. Almost everyday, in fact, considering it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.'

But Dan Heng doesn't say any of that (of course he doesn't). Instead, his gaze drops back down to the table where you're both currently sitting - where he'd been mindlessly scrolling through his messages moments before you decided to throw him off kilter. It's way too early for this.

You continue to babble on, taking his silence as the admission of guilt that it is. "We were running around the Luofu, those Knight people hot on our tails, but after my work on your genius disguise, I finally convinced you to lighten up and have some fun. I dragged you to that stall, remember?"

How could he forget? Even when his past was nipping at his heels and ready to take a wolfish bite out of him, you'd found a way to insist on all play and no work. Even more debasing, he went along with it.

"I remember. You... the shopkeeper sold us that bottle, and since it was broad daylight in a nice area, we assumed it was nonalcoholic and just... drank it, right there in the central square," Dan Heng recalls.

You laugh, loud and bright. He feels like vomiting from the mortification he's constantly subjected to in your presence.

"Yeah! It didn't even taste alcoholic. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't notice anything sooner - you're normally pretty sharp. We started getting suspicious after all those nasty looks, though..."

He remembers that too, but what you neglect to mention, thank the stars and everything that hasn't screwed him over, is that he was completely and utterly distracted. Dan Heng isn't one for such flowery language, but from his only somewhat muddled recollection, he was totally entranced.

It was probably his overlooked inebriation, but he found himself fixated on the plush of your lips. As you rambled on about how pretty the scenery was, he could only think about how pretty you were. As much as you'd disagree with him, he isn't as oblivious as to have ignored all the signs of his growing fondness for you.

The mystery alcohol gave him the push he needed then. For just a moment, Dan Heng wishes he had some liquid courage right now to get through this hellish conversation. "Yes. Everything was warm, and I kissed you."

You gasp, scandalized. The table wobbles as you kick your feet up to rest on the polished wood, somehow lax. "Hey, give yourself some credit! Even when you were practically wasted, you still did that cheesy romance movie thing and asked for permission."

His eye jumps. Aeons above. "I wasn't aware asking for consent was a 'cheesy romance movie thing'."

"I'm not talking about that," you snort, getting that look on your face when you're about to lay down a trump card of some kind, destroying the many layers of defenses he's spent the entirety of this life painstakingly building up. "I'm talking about when you tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes! You've never been that romantic since! Oh, Dan Heng, what a heartthrob you were, a real dreamboat--"

He whispers your name, voice brittle like glass.

"Sorry," you say, the apology quite genuine by your standards. The teasing grin you sported moments earlier has all but disappeared, replaced by a soft smile that makes all of the theatrics worth it. "But I can't help but reminisce. I cherish the memory dearly, you know."

Dan Heng swallows. "I know. I do too."

He does. Hopefully, one day, he'll be able to surprise you like that again. As you take his hand in yours, both of you falling back into comfortable silence, electricity crackles inside the confines of his chest.

Yes, you're surely going to be the death of him.

(Like he'd have it any other way.)

🏷️: @akutasoda, @aviiarie, @lowkeyren, @https-sourlimes

a/n: anon, i fear you've killed everything i know and love... i adored this prompt and writing it! dan heng is a special kind of soggy and i hope i did him justice.

event post here

[sammybeann]

So there's been a lil interest in me continuing this lil guy, so I've decided to make it a whole ass fic. So enjoy the filler chapter for now, as I have COVID and have lost my will to live. I promise it'll get more delicious, though, and we'll dial creep!Dean up to 100.

So what if Sam gets injured on a hunt, tossed around like a ragdoll by an angry vengeful spirit and smacks his pretty little head hard against a concrete wall?

Dean ends up finishing the spirit out, but Sammy is out fucking cold so he has little choice but to take him to the hospital. 

Finally, Sam wakes up and Dean's relief is immediate and immense, and that was until Sam made eye contact, glossy, confused hazel eyes meeting Dean's before asking "who the hell are you? Where am I?!"

The doctor comes in before Dean can answer, shooing the older Winchester out of the room so he can assess Sam's condition. 

Minutes felt like hours before the doctor emerged from the room, his brows furrowed as he explained to Dean that it appeared Sam was suffering from a pretty bad case of amnesia, only remembering certain events in his life, but had no recollection of people, unable to name off any family members or friends. And though his physical injuries would heal and he'd be okay, he wasn't sure Sam would ever recover his memories. 

When Dean re-emerged into Sam's room, he was met once again with an apprehensive look from the baby brother who once looked up at him with stars in his eyes instead of caution. 

After some prying, Dean had come to learn Sam knew his own name, remembered Stanford but nobody there, and mentioned memories of creatures and monsters, but still had no idea who the rough looking man in a dirty leather jacket with blood from Sam's head wound still on his hands was. 

"So, who are you, anyway?" He asked for the second time. 

Before he could really think about it, fight with the devil and angel on his shoulder on whether or not he should betray Sam's trust like this, cross a line he'd never be able to come back from, the words already left his mouth. 

"I'm your husband," he told Sam, who's eyebrows shot up comically high. "I...uh... we've been together since we were teenagers. Got married last year, the whole nine. We...we don't wear rings 'cause those monsters you talked about - they're real. We kill 'em."

Sam went white as a ghost. It wasn't as if this man was unattractive, and sure, he had been curious about the other sex growing up but he never thought he'd actually settle down with a whole ass man. There was also the news of the supernatural, sending a shock to his already overwhelmed system. 

"I...I don't...monsters, really? How the fuck am I supposed to kill monsters?! How am I married?! Oh, God. What am I supposed to do?!" An exasperated Sam exclaimed, big, watery doe eyes staring up at Dean, looking at him like he was his lifeline now, like Dean was his God that could fill in all the gaps for him. 

Guilt bubbled up inside Dean's chest, ugly and festering, but damn if that look from Sam didn't make it all worth it. He had his baby brother on a hook now, dependent and reliant on the only person he had. 

Dean bent down and ran a hand through Sam's mop of hair, leaning in to press a firm kiss against his forehead. 

"Hey, s'okay, baby. I'm here. I'll take care of you," he mumbled against Sam's clammy skin. "I got you."

Yeah, there was no was Dean wasn't going to hell for this, especially when Sam reached out to grab Dean's wrist, pulling his hand down to rest his cheek against Dean's callused palm. 

"Okay," Sam whispered brokenly. "I trust you."

[wizardfrog69]

What about sigma, mykola and fedya getting a morning wood and having a gn reader help them out👀👀 (headcanons) thank you hun

I'm gonna assume that the they are supposed to be hard when they woke up cuz idk what morning wood means, if I got it wrong you can just explain it more clearly and I'll write it then, I'm sorry if I misinterpreted what you said. Thank you for the request tho! :)

'•.¸♡ did you have a nice dream? ♡¸.•'

Gn!reader

Nsfw

Please if you don't feel comfortable with nsfw/nsft content do not read this

Feat. Sigma, Nikolai, Fyodor.

Sigma

Sigma was moving in his sleep and softly moaning out your name, you were awake at this point and not wanting to wake him up you just lay there and admiring the fact that he dreams about you not only during the day but also at night.

When Sigma woke up he was slightly embarrassed remembering the dream he had just moments before and realising you were awake and could feel his hard dick made him even more embarrassed.

"Did you have a nice dream dear?" You asked in a slightly seductive voice.

Sigma was speechless and didn't know how to respond to your inquiry, did you hear him?

'Would you like me to help you with that boner?'

He nodded as he could feel you hand stroking him over his sleeping wear making the pink tint on his face to deepen in colour.

You pushed the cover away and pushed down his pants and bowers with one swift motion and out sprung his dick, free for the eye to see.

You lowered down to kiss the tip while keeping eye contact with him, then you started sucking just the tip to tease him a bit, you could Sigma getting impatient so you started to go in fully bopping your head up and down.

Sigma came quite quickly, and into your mouth without a warning. You pulled your head up and swallowed most of his kiss and kissed him, forcing him to taste himself in your mouth.

Nikolai

He's more, how do I say, open about having a wet dream? Basically if he woke up with a boner you will definitely feel it, either on side of you thigh between your legs.

If you wake up first you can see a slight smile on his lips while his eyes move about. Once he wakes up and sees you're awake he'll casually mention his dreams and what you were doing.

He won't ask you to do the same things but atleast help him out a little yk.

After much or no convincing at all he got you on board and you agreed to giving him a morning hand job for good luck.

Don't be surprised if his pants are already off when you move the blanket to reveal his dick as hard as a rock pointing to the sky.

You slide your hand down to meet his cock, it only twitches from your touch and Nikolai's smirk only widens.

You wrap your fingers around his dick and start moving with a slow pace at first but gradually increasing the pace as only seconds pass.

Soon his pretty moans fill the room while you admire his pretty face, he softly grabbed you by your hair and pulled you up to his face to kiss him, once you placed your lips on his you could feel something wet trickling down your hand

Fyodor

Fyodor never moved while asleep so when you woke up with him ever so softly moaning in your ear with one of his hands on your thigh you were quite surprised, was he awake? But upon inspecting his form closely you could be sure he was asleep.

Why he was acting in such a way you couldn't even begin to imagine but it all came to light when fyodor woke up. When he woke up a sly smirk crawled across his face when he saw you staring at him with a faint hint of a blush across your cheeks, he remembered his dream well and what you did for him in that dream, his assumption was that you heard him maybe moan your name softly in his sleep onec or twice so he wanted to put that into use.

Fyodor's hand edged closer to your waist and his hips closer to yours, his goal? To get you to 'help him deal with his problem' and this could only be archived by you being obedient and doing what he so nicely demands of you.

He told you to suck him off and maybe he'll repay the favour later on.

You were kneeling infront of him and his dick which was ready for you to take it in your mouth and wait for you to suck the living he'll out of it till he could no longer feel it, and that is what you attempted to do anyway, your tongue and mouth did wonders for the man infront even if he didn't show it much.

After a while of hair pulling and mouth fucking, fyodor came into your mouth while his dick was deep inside your throat, you swear you could have chocked on all that cum but you've managed to survive while his cum seeped from your mouth, you tried swallowing everything you were given.

༺♡༻ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 ⋆ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 ༺♡༻

I actually like how this one came out, I just have a lot of requests to work on so my requests will be closed but I'm hoping not for long.

Have a great day/night!

-with love, Az the wizard frog.

[voidartisan]

Rebel Dashboard Simulator

🦎 lekkuhaver

😎 free-dantooine-deactivated-7976-994-5

this galaxy is so humancentric it hurts. "humanoid" this "near-human" that. don't care if they're the most abundant species overall they make up less than forty percent of sentient species. i hope you all realize how kriffing stupid you sound

🙍 steela-gerrera-lives Follow

i mean op makes a good point but aren't they also an order 66 apologist???

😎 free-dantooine-deactivated-7976-994-5

when will you idiots realize the Jedi were created to uphold the status quo. they were no better than stormtroopers and the galaxy is better off without them. fks

🚀 podracing-analyst Follow

the Jedi were a religious order???? not law enforcement???? stop spreading misinformation if you want ppl to take you seriously

the Jedi did have powers of arrest but that was because they were diplomats and bodyguards. they were arresting assassins, corrupt officials, mercenaries, slavers and crime bosses (y'know, people who were actually actively upholding and profiting off of oppressive social conditions), not shoplifters or protestors. the only reason that they came under Senate authority in the first place was because they were actively attempting to prevent themselves from becoming too powerful.

they were also second-class citizens in many ways (unpaid for their labor, no rep in the Senate despite depending on it for support, etc). stop slandering minority religious groups.

🦎 lekkuhaver

also here to say that even if the Jedi were law enforcement, the purge was still a genocide. they had centuries (if not millennia) of history, art, religious practice, and other culture that's just been completely erased. not to mention that literal CHILDREN were slaughtered during knightfall. kids incapable of what you're attributing to them.

#i mean I pretty much agree with the first point being a twi'lek myself #but can we stop misrepresenting the Jedi for two minutes??? #also don't go in the notes it's a bloodbath in there #tw:genocide #tw:child death #discourse tag #lekki talks

(24.3k notes)

🎨 spectre-spraypaint

thinking about dyeing my hair again but there are too many options

(98 notes)

🎨 spectre-spraypaint

😺 jabba-calrissian Follow

help how do I spumblr

🎨 spectre-spraypaint

this my little brother btw. you should welcome him with your bestworst anon hate

(2 notes)

🐈‍⬛ tooka-pics-daily

#tooka #lothcat #cute #photography

(12 notes)

🏔 queenofthehills

🏳‍🌈 gay-holofilm-society Follow

idk maybe i've been archiving suppressed clone wars records for too long. but. is it just me or is this shot of the Jedi general of the 3rd systems army kinda 👀

🌛 gungan-conspiracy Follow

holy force are there rebels young enough to not know who kriffing. obi-wan kenobi is

🎤 rebotastic Follow

great maker this image is giving me flashbacks to the jedi rpf discourse

🤖 protocol-droid-rebellion Follow

remember when that one spiktoker got investigated by the GAR during the clone wars for apparently including part of a classified holovid in one of their edits? those were the days

🧑‍🎤 myastromechromance Follow

you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

#FRRRRR #i still remember when rpf with him got popular #all of stewjonblr was flooded with asks about pet names in "stewjonian" #as if there's just one language and clan kenobi isn't incredibly large #encompassing multiple dialects #like girl even if i wanted to help you i couldn't #are u even sure he speaks his native language anymore. he was inducted as a toddler #anyway its too bad I got sick of his face seeing as he's a planetary treasure and all

(13.2k notes)

🥫 redrationbars

🔫 shabuir Follow

does anyone even like jogan fruit tho

🐐 tauntaunonhoth Follow

hey op who did you have to kill for that url

#mando heritage post #queue

(346.9k notes)

⚔ snips-in-space

ngl I totally forgot this account existed

(26.9k notes)

🦎 lekkuhaver

🌆 coruscant-official Follow

Don't forget to visit the lower levels during your time with us! The garbage piles and casual violence due complete neglect by the planetary government are part of the charm!

(92 notes)

🥫 redrationbars

hey so what's up with this empire thing

#outer rim posting #this is satire to be clear

(45 notes)

🖋 set-vere-red-string

people on here really need to learn how to use a readmore link. I don't want to have to scroll past your entire bail organa x reader fic to find posts about the man's politics

(3 notes)

👬 clone-posting-central

☄ venator-class-hyperfixation Follow

if I didn't want clones fraternizing with civilians then I simply would not clone the hottest man in the galaxy. rip to the kaminoans but i'm different

🌄 tatooine-sunsets Follow

hey bez not to kill the joke but. do you know what happened to kamino

☄ venator-class-hyperfixation Follow

what do you mean. what. what happened

🪙 keepingupwiththepapanoidas Follow

investing at twenty notes

☄ venator-class-hyperfixation Follow

DONT DO THIS TO ME I DIDJHNT KNOWKJ

#we are pretty good looking huh :)

(27.5k notes)

🙈 bytenebrousthiscantbehappening

🌌 hyperdrive-engaged Follow

look. i've worked in a shipyard for a long time. i've seen a lot of stuff. but what the KARK is this

Read more

🔎 identifying-starships-in-posts Follow

looks like a YT-1300 light freighter. older correllian model, highly prized but not super common. it does have some uhhh interesting mods

#i LOVE yt-1300s #too bad you have to be either rich or a chronic gambler to get one these days

(62 notes)

🖋 set-vere-red-string

🧑‍🎤 myastromechromance Follow

anyone else seen this recording of palaptine tripping over his own robes yet

🏵 rebel-scum Follow

omf no that's hilarious

📕 hero-with-a-lot-of-fears Follow

old prune had it coming

#q

(16.5k notes)

[doll-elvis]

girl please give us your opinion on Elvis and porn🤭 i know he had some he would watch that Linda mentions in her book. I just find it funny to think about that even Elvis Presley watched porn

NSFW (18+ content)

this is now the 3rd time that I’ve looked at my inbox and my jaw dropped 😃- anyways thank you for the ask <3 !!

I’m just going to break this down by the decades because the man definitely got freakier as the years went along- also forgive me Elvis, I’m sorry to air out your business like this 😭

There is not that much info on his preferences in the 1950s and the only source I have that says something informative is from Albert Goldman's "Elvis" so take this with a grain of salt: Based on an excerpt from his book it seems Elvis was primarily interested in your standard "dirty" magazine such as Playboy. Goldman alleges (and remember Lamar Fike was his main source) that Elvis would send one of the guys, on a monthly basis, down to Hollywood Boulevard where they would purchase such magazines, spending up to 40 dollars. There is also a story in June Juanico's book where she recounts walking in on Elvis and a few of the guys watching a "skin flick". When she questioned Elvis about it he claimed he was invited into the room by Dewey Phillips, not knowing that a p*rno was being shown (do y'all believe him lmaoo?)

and don’t mind him, just casually reading Playboy in the middle of a store 💀

His Polaroids of Priscilla and his tapes of girls wrestling were undoubtedly his preferred form of p*rn in the 1960s. This man would literally spend hundreds of dollars on film to photograph Priscilla. He also had guys in his group, primarily Alan Fortas, film women "making love" and wrestling. There were even tapes made of Priscilla and another woman (reportedly her friend) simulating s*x that Elvis personally filmed

(excerpt from “Down at the End of the Lonely street” by Peter H. Brown)

But according to Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker, who once watched all of the tapes while Elvis was out on tour, he seldom appeared in any of them, and if he did, he was clothed

(excerpt from “Good Rockin’ Tonight” by Joe Esposito)

Billy Smith did say, however, that he found a tape where it showed Elvis and a girl quote “going through the motions” (catch me raiding the Graceland archives to find it)

Elvis' affinity for the Polaroids he took of Priscilla continued throughout the 1970s, Linda Thompson even mentions in her book that he would show them to her. He would also carry them around in a samsonite case pictured below⬇️

(I’m sorry but the fact that he traveled with them is so funny to me 😩, he was serious about them Polaroids!!)

And there is also the notorious story of Elvis boarding a commercial plane, narcotics badge in hand, to prevent an employee referred to as “Hamburger James” by the Memphis Mafia and “Fetchit” by Linda Thompson, from escaping with a few Polaroids of Priscilla that he snatched and a ring of Elvis’, although Linda did say Elvis only really cared about the Polaroids. Elvis dragged Hamburger James off the plane, roughed him up a little, slapped him around, before eventually he letting him go

As the adult film industry evolved in the 1970s, his preferences definitely evolved with it. I'm still shook that Linda Thompson name dropped the two p*rnos that they watched together, but of course when I initially read her book my curiosity got the best of me and I watched what she named… and I'm still scarred 💀 (iykyk)

I wish I could find the comment, but someone on another post mentioned how in the 1970s, that sort of p*rn was "in" and quite avant-garde for the time period. Although the two p*rnos Linda mentioned seemed a little outlandish to me they were actually among the top five highest grossing of the 1970s, so if your perception of Elvis changed after watching "the Devil in Miss Jones", don't worry because everybody was watching it lmaoo. If you want to get another idea of what was highly regarded in the adult film industry at that time, know that "D**p Throat" starring Linda Lovelace was the most popular film of the 1970s, and the whole plot is that she had a medical condition where her cl*toris was located in her throat... they were innovative back then with their ideas, to say the very least 👀

Elvis’ personal copy of “d**p throat” ⬇️

however I do believe that kind of p*rnography was something that Elvis only indulged in for a few years in the early to mid 70s, and I believe that based on a story that Larry Geller told about Elvis which occurred in the late 70s⬇️

I think Elvis always tried to be a really moral person, but with his lifestyle, there were times when he went "hog-wild," as Lamar put it, like on his army furloughs to Paris and going through all the Lido, Folies Bergere, and Crazy Horse dancers, and his weekends off in Germany at clubs like the Moulin Rouge. Towards the end of the 70s, I believe he was far more focused on finding his soulmate and willing to abstain from things like s*x and p*rnography in order to do so. Basically this man was too occupied with his spiritual books and search for lasting love to be interested in watching "d**p throat” 😂

[shesaysrodriguez]

Nico honestly did not mean to stumble into the area of a public pool.

He was in New York for the first time in what felt like forever, and he thought he knew his way around. Apparently not. He felt embarrassed, actually; a 22 year old man lost in a city he used to know quite well. He'd had enough after a while of wandering around, trying to find the stupid museum he was looking for. And so he walked into the nearest building near him, which just so happened to be an outdoor public pool with a little information stall next to it. It was hot, in the peak of July and his black shirt and aviator jacket were weighing him down uncomfortably. He waited 15 minutes by the information stall (that had no one in it) when he saw a mop of surprisingly familiar black hair raise out of the water.

Percy motherfucking Jackson.

As more and more of his body became revealed from below the water, Nico couldn't help but stare. He faintly remembered why he had a crush on him when he was a kid.

"Nico?" Nico looked up- he didn't realise he was daydreaming, staring at the floor. When he caught sight of Percy in all his half-naked glory, he understood why Hazel had mistook him for a Roman god upon first meeting him.

"Uh, hey. Percy." Nico replied awkwardly with a nod. Why did he have to get so *awkward*?

"Are you okay? You look a little.....lost." Percy frowned down at him. Percy didn't mean lost as in he didn't know where he was, he meant lost as in *in the wrong place entirely*. He knew Nico well enough to know that a public pool, let alone outdoors was not Nico's scene. Speaking of, Percy realised that he hadn't seen Nico in about a year and a half. On his 21st birthday, Percy and Annabeth had dragged him to a club and invited Hazel, Frank, Leo, Rachel and everyone else. They'd had fun, but Nico had disappeared after that. Hazel obviously passed the message on that he was okay, which Percy and Annabeth were grateful for; they really cared about Nico.

"Oh yeah. I'm.....no, actually I am lost. Can you believe that? I'm looking for some museum..." Nico recited the name of this godforsaken museum that had escaped his sights. Percy laughed.

"I hate to break it to you, Neeks, but that place isn't open on Saturdays." Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Don't ever call me "Neeks" again, thank you very much. And I didn't know that it was Saturday today." He let that last part slip without much thought. He honestly didn't think Percy would look too much into it, but of course, Perseus Jackson lives to disappoint.

"You don't know what day it is?" His brows were furrowed with pure worry then. If Nico didn't know what day it was, then that meant he hadn't been sleeping. And when he didn't sleep, he got sick. Really sick. "Nico when was the last time you slept?"

"I don't need sleep, Jackson, I'm a busy man. I don't have time for that." Nico immediately became defensive. The last thing he needed was some lecture, especially not from a guy whose abs he could not look away from.

"Listen, come back to mine and Annabeth's apartment, take a nap- just a quick one," he jumped in when Nico began to protest. "And we'll get you a subway or something. How did you even get here? You figure out mortal travel yet?" Nico shook his head.

"Shadow travelled. I'll come back with you, but regarding the sleep, that's a maybe." Percy gives him a disappointed look at the mention of shadow travel, knowing that Nico hadn't been taking care of himself as he'd promised Hazel, but had to smile at the prospect of Nico coming over. Annabeth would be glad to see him.

"Alright, I'll get dressed, and we'll go. It's only about 10 minutes on foot." He walks away to the changing rooms, and Nico considered asking him not to put his clothes back on. He was enjoying the view, what could he say?

When Percy got back 5 minutes later, hair still wet, he surprised Nico and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I wish you'd tell us you're okay when you disappear. Anna was worried sick, her grey streak almost came back." He laughed, and Nico awkwardly patted his upper arm. How was he supposed to act? The only person who ever hugged him was Hazel, and he hadn't seen her for months.

"You're getting pool water on me, ocean boy." Nico snapped in an aggressive tone, but Percy just laughed at him. When he pulled back, he took note of the new tattoo on Nico's right hand. It was a skeleton design, tracing his finger bones and the joints in his wrist. Because of his sleeve, Percy couldn't see how far the tattoo went, but he'd like to find out.

Percy and Annabeth often had conversations about Nico during his absences. After one particular night of drinking fancy wine in their tiny apartment, Annabeth had let slip that Nico was the only man other than Percy that she'd take to bed. As soon as she'd said it, Percy had discovered a few things about himself. He took her to bed that night imagining a third body between them, and later admitted that he wished Nico wasn't gay so that he could join them. It wasn't romantic. It was just attraction. Just a want. Just a little steam that would blow over. Except it didn't. Months passed, and anytime his name came up in conversation, Annabeth and Percy would pass a look between them. They both knew they missed him.

Now he was here in front of Percy.

"When did you get that done?" Percy pulled Nico's hand up for a closer look, ignoring the tingling that came with it. Nico's heart sped up, and he put it down to the fact that Percy was touching him while covered in pool germs.

"Couple months ago. Some seedy shop in Chicago." He pulled his hand back. "So where did you say you and Annabeth lived?"

The walk back is awkward to say the least. Nico just following Percy like a lost dog, and Percy walking confidently down the street in his college hoodie with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"So you still swim?" Percy was shocked and thrilled with the prospect of Nico starting a conversation.

"Uh, yeah. After swimming for the college team, I guess I just never dropped it. Gotta stay in shape somehow." He chuckled, and Nico thought: yes. Yes you do.

When they arrived outside the door of their apartment: number 17, Nico began to get nervous. He was starting to remember the reason he avoided Percy and Annabeth after his 21st birthday. Could he really handle being so close to both of them at the same time again? Neither of them remember what happened at the club that night, and Nico couldn't be more grateful.

He didn't have time to run, though, because Percy had excitedly thrown open the apartment door, and shouted to Annabeth.

"Annabeth, come here. Look who I found stranded!"

Huge thanks to my beta reader and biggest fan, @kanaiow check out her Prof she's amazing!!!

[alexjcrowley]

Hi, it's me, the author of the fucked everything au post, this one

I wanted to add some things, feel free to make your additions

-Sherlock is a firm believer in the Doctor, but he think Crowley is the Doctor, just disguised. He tried to nonchilantly pull his "red wig" from his head. (He has never run into the Doctor for some reason)

-Morpheus and Crowley talk shit about Lucifer when they're drunk.

-Watson and Wilson have a bet on whose partner will break the most law in a week. They're always very close wins.

-Dirk Gently and Aziraphale have become great friends, they take tea together every Thursday and they talk about all sort of stuff. Aziraphale finds Dirk captivating in his weirdness, he thinks he is a very interesting human.

-Scooby Doo is afraid of Dog (Adam's dog)

-Gregory House thinks paralibulites is made up, he steals a couple of Todd's pills to analyse them and see if they're like allucinogens but they're not. He forms an alliance with Sherlock to find out what the fuck is there in those pills.

-James Bond can imitate Benoit perfectly but Benoit can't imitate James, he can't get rid of the accent. Q finds James's impressions very amusing.

-Aziraphale and Philip talks about sweet recipes, they also exchange culinary creations, but, while Philip actually makes them, Aziraphale miracles them because he is shit at cooking. Philip always tells him that he is such a great baker and he feels like a beginner compared to him, Aziraphale smiles patting his arm and saying practice makes perfect. When Philip starts asking for details on how to make the perfect sponge cake or a mousse that won't melt, Aziraphale just miracles someone calling him because oh boy he doesn't know the first thing Philip is talking about.

-Both Sherlock and House tried to get Shaggy to sell them marijuana, unsuccessfully.

-Crowley loves to hear House going on and on about how God doesn't exist. It's hilarious for him. He has to physically stop himself from laughing. He pretends to agree with him.

-Dirk is the only one not fazed about Scooby Doo being a talking dog. When Crowley and Aziraphale are weirded out. They're trying to remember if it's one of their old miracles.

-Ascots were invented by Crowley, because they're simply an insult to style, and also he knew Aziraphale would have loved them. He is proud to see Benoit and Fred wearing them, they release a small but effective amount of evil into the world.

-I saw a post on Tumblr, I don't remember by who, that said if Benoit Blanc is with Hugh Grant it means at some point he had to choose between him and Colin Firth, you know, like in Bridget Jones Diary. This is now canon for me. Philip won Benoit Blanc's heart over Colin Firth and Philip hates talking about Colin, the idea that he could lose Benoit over him is just terrible to remember. Also Colin isn't really called Colin his name is Harry Bright. You were fools if you thought I'd leave Mamma Mia out of this.

-Dirk has heard Matthew the raven talk and Scooby Doo talk and now he is convinced he can talk to animals, that's a skill the universe granted him.

-Benoit Blanc and Aziraphale talk about fashion, obviously.

-If Q and Newton Pulsifer ever met all the computers in the world would explode.

-Also here's a small fic I read some time ago that I really love (and it's a House/Good Omens crossover) on how House and Wilson are alive and well in this au

-Dirk actually somewhat counts amongst the supernatural individuals so Crowley and Aziraphale and Dream and Hob started inviting him and Todd to their dinners. The point is Dirk and Todd haven't understood Ineffable Husbands and Dremling are supernatural individuals yet and they just think they're very eccentric folks.

-Dirk stole Crowley's Bentley once because The UniverseTM and Crowley has been trying to kill him ever since, but the Universe won't let Dirk die. This does not interfer with the Supernatural Dinners Aziraphale insists on hosting and the angel made him promise he won't try to kill Dirk at their house.

-He tries not show, but Sherlock is feeling the competitions with all of these other private detectives showing up. Especially Dirk, because he has no idea how they guy does since he looks like an idiot but he is always on top of the cases.

-Aziraphale unsuccessfully tries to buy the old medicine book Wilson gifted house for Christmas.

-Lestrade tried to stop the Scooby Doo Gang from interfering with a police case but ended up talking about cars with Fred and just...forgot he was supposed to stop these guys. He opted for closing an eye. It wasn't even his division, anyway.

-Q and Mycroft have been trying for years to obtain information on Hob Gadling, Aziraphale, Crowley and Morpheus at MI6 because, like, they're weird. They all come from families in which people always had roughly the same name for some reasons, their documents seem legit but there's something wrong about them. Also why is Crowley financing a witch hunting agency. Like yes he looks weird but not let's hunt witches in 2022 weird.

Dirk: "Your name is Sherlock? I have a friend named Sherlock!"

Sherlock: "It's not a very common name."

Dirk: "His name is Sherlock Hobbs."

Sherlock: "...Interesting."

Todd: "So you're like...you're Sherlock...and Watson."

Watson: "There are our names, yes."

Todd: "But, like, just like... Sherlock and Watson?"

Watson: "Yes. Again, these are our names."

-Benoit and Philip are very proud of Fred, they're only worried about his well being always travelling and having to deal with bad guys (especially Philip, he's scared for his son🥺), but luckily Q installed a tracking device in the Mystery Machine

-Sherlock is secretly fond of Steve McQueen the rat and will go to House's house (my God what did I write) just to pet it. House allows it.

-Sometimes Sherlock and House play together, violion and piano. They found out they have more in common than they'd like to admit and that they enjoy eachothers company, even if they'll never say it out loud.

-(btw I think it was @thesaltofcarthage to headcanon that House is Sherlock's biological father and yes it's far fetched but also I am not opposed to this at all, I like it a lot, I vibe with it so I leave this here and give her the due credits).

-The Them ask Morpheus if he is a new Horseman of the Apocalypse. Morpheus simply smiles at them and then tells Adam "My sister likes you" before going his way.

-Aziraphale dislikes Mycroft a lot because may I remind you Mark Gatiss played one of the two Nazis in the church who played Aziraphale for a fool with the book deal. The rest you know yada yada yada Crowley comes to the rescue.

-House often dreams of Fiddler's Green since he is played by Stephen Fry and he and Hugh Laurie are very close friends.

-I like to think Shaggy actually is an failed attempt at an Antichrist that didn't work out and yes he is...someway Lucifer's son. And kind of Adam's brother. But he doesn't know. Also Scooby Doo is an infernal hound like of course. And Shaggy wished for Scooby Doo to be his best friend and like food and be as scared as him of horror stuff so there you have it.

-Aziraphale knows Wilson. He knew John Keating, great professor, and he went to visit him at Welton Academy once. He remember Wilson when he was young, talentex actor, shame he went for medicine in the end, he could really have a future in the arts. Wilson tells himself his mind is playing tricks on him, the weird man he saw with Mr Keating once must be dead at this time.

Last thing I wanna add I didn't expect this whole everything-I've-ever-watched-au to resonate with people and I am happy you like it, I have fun writing but it's even better to share it with someone, please keep adding ideas and crossovers to this. All the comments and reblogs I had under my last posts were brilliant and all together we make a big brain of mind-blowing ideas.

[booboodaddysblog]

Illusory hope

Warning: smut, p in v, betrayal, fight, blood, gun, almost death, tying, crying

Words: 6781

Patience... some people have none, and some have it in excess. Patience also has a connection with loneliness and hope. Is it worth it to hope that someday things will be as we would like them to be?

- I can't stand it! - Colin paced around the social room holding his hair almost pulling it out - I can't stand it any longer like this!

- Dude, what's the matter with you? Is it about that girl from the hotel? You've been talking only about her for a long time - a policeman named Kevin was sitting at the table. He was looking at Colin's behavior - You would stop doing these laps already, it makes me sick - he said biting into his sandwich.

- I don't care about your sandwich - he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee and sitting down at the table.

- You would focus on your work, not on some girl out there - he said with his mouth full.

- What do you know! You have, a wife and three children. You don't have to worry about your social life anymore.

- You're right, I don't have to. I have it good, hot lunches, sandwiches for work, coffee in a thermos when I go to work in the field. I'm seriously not complaining. Only the kids could be quieter sometimes. Then it would be perfect - he laughed - Do you miss sex, man? Somehow you're so nervous.

- Of course I miss it. Self-pleasure in the shower is not the same as with a woman.

- And any one-time actions? You've had a few recently, right?

- How do you know? - Colin furrowed his eyebrows.

- This town is very small, and the police station is even smaller. What was her name? That last girl, Lana? - He laughed out loud.

- This is already too much, I do not like that you have such information about me - he got up from the table and put the cup in the dishwasher.

- Well, you know, I'm not the only one who knows this. Still the guys from ...

- Stop, I don't give a shit what anyone says about me. Focus better on your work, not on gossip. That sounds like jealousy - he showed him his tongue and went to his office.

Kevin stared for a moment at the door with which Colin had just disappeared. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating his sandwich.

Colin rushed into the office and sat down at his desk. He booted up the computer and the archives.

"Search: Hotel Cortez"

- Maybe there is an unresolved case - he said to himself.

He scrolled through the documentation and came across two unfinished cases.

"Missing tourists from Colorado. Not found."

"Young couple from Texas. Not found.”

He quickly ran out of his office and ran to Mare.

Without knocking, he entered her office.

- Mare, Mare! I need a search warrant for the Hotel Cortez, right now! - he leaned against her desk and smiled broadly.

Mare looked at him silently, crooking with displeasure.

- This is why such an invention as the door was created. To give people at least some privacy and silence. Start knocking, Zabel. You're starting to annoy me more and more - she returned to her reading.

- Mare, I'm sorry, but I'm so excited that I completely forgot to knock. I'm sorry - he sat down - Mare please, I need it, it's urgent.

- Hotel Cortez? After all, we gave up on these things a long time ago. If I remember correctly, there were two.

- Yes, exactly two. A female tourist and a married couple. Both cases involve disappearances. I have read that the basement and catering facilities were left out during the search. Why?

- That was four years ago. You were not here then. These rooms were left out because there was some big party in the hotel. There was a lot going on in the kitchen. We didn't want to make a fuss.

- And the basement? - He asked curiously.

- There was a renovation there and a lot of dust. We gave up and said that we would return to the subject when it was quieter in the hotel.

- But you didn't come back.

- Exactly. And what about this, Mr. Detective?

- I want to search the basement of the hotel - he said excitedly.

- Alone?

Colin looked at Mare for a moment, thinking.

- Okay, you come to me with such enthusiasm, you almost tear my door out of the frames, and now you don't know what you really want? You can go crazy with you! - she rolled her eyes - don't you have anything to say? Just come out and let me work - she pointed to the door - there is a door there and please close it gently.

- Oh no, Mare! I really know what I want. Don't make me leave because I'm silent for a few seconds - he said exasperatedly.

- That was one second too long - she sighed.

- Okay! Yes, I want to go alone. I'll take the gun, I don't know why but I'll take it. Just to feel safe. Can you get me that search warrant? Please - he smiled as broadly as he could.

Mare stared at him. She shook her head in displeasure and dialed the number.

- Good morning, boss, I want to ask permission to write a search warrant for the Hotel Cortez, again. Yes, exactly the two uncompleted cases. Of course. Zabel, he wants to go alone - Mare covered the phone and turned to Colin - When do you want to go?

- Today, if it’s possible.

- He says he wants to go today. Yes sir, I will have the relevant documents prepared. Thank you, boss.

- And? - Asked Colin nervously spinning in his chair.

- Yes, you have the approval. At 11:00 come to me for both warrants.

- I need as many as two warrants? - He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

- Of course! Is this the first time you work in the police? You need a separate warrant for each case. There are two, which means two warrants. Get out of here. I have a lot of work - she pointed to the door again.

- Okay, see you later. Thanks.

Colin walked contentedly down the corridor, smiling from ear to ear. In his head he was already laying out a plan of action. What he would say, how he would act. He just hoped that the hotel owner would react and respond the way he would like. That is, he would cooperate with him.

- Dude, there's really something wrong with you. I think you need a vacation - Kevin snapped him out of his reverie.

- And you need a diet and a gym - Colin rebuked him.

- Not true! My wife says I look sexy!

- Maybe he needs glasses - he added, entering his office. And he was already about to close the door....

- I'm about to punch you in that beautiful face, Zabel!

Colin leaned out into the corridor.

- I don't advise it, I don't want you to cry, or worse, lose your job - he laughed and closed the door.

He expected Kevin to burst into his office and say something else, but that didn't happen. He laughed under his breath and set about putting together an action plan for the day.

He couldn't wait to see the woman who had been in his head all along again. It had been two months since their last meeting. Two months too long. Of course, he remembers that she asked him not to speak to her again... It's not that easy. He became very attached to her. He felt comfortable in her company. He missed it. He didn't get his hopes up that it would be more than a brief conversation. He just wanted to see her and make sure she was okay. Let's hope he wouldn’t regret it.

——————————-

It was approaching 11:00 a.m. He picked up his things and documents. He went to the bathroom, fixed his hair and smiled at his reflection in the mirror.

- You can do it, you're the best! - he sighed loudly.

He took his coat and briefcase with documents. He locked his office and went to Mare to get the warrants. This time he knocked on her door.

- May I? - He opened the door.

- Yes, it's nice of you to ask. Maybe there will still be something from you. Here are your documents. Take care and if something happens call - she smiled.

- I hope it won't be necessary. But thanks. See you tomorrow, Mare - he put the documents in his briefcase and left.

————————

He arrived at the hotel quickly, parked in the nearest parking lot and headed for the hotel. He nervously swallowed his saliva and fixed his hair. He felt himself getting hot. He stopped in front of the entrance wondering if he was doing the right thing. Finally, he entered the hotel. With a slow step, he headed toward the reception desk. He looked around the hall. There was no one in the lobby. He looked nervously behind him, it seemed to him that someone was watching him. He approached the reception desk. There was no one here either. He rang the bell a few times. He heard a noise and some conversation in the next room. A woman looked out and smiled broadly at him.

- Good morning, how can I help you? Do you have a reservation? - she said looking at the stranger, although she thought she had seen him before.

- Good morning. I don't have a reservation. I came here about the disappearance of four people.

- Ah, you are from the police.

- Yes, Detective Colin Zabel. I have a warrant to search the hotel again - he reached into his briefcase and pulled out the relevant documents. He placed them in front of her.

- I understand, however, I am not so competent to give you any information. Please wait, I will contact the owner of the hotel. He will give you answers to all your questions. I'll be right back - she returned to the room she had left earlier.

Colin looked around the lobby again. The first time he'd been here, he hadn't had a chance to explore. The hotel would be lavishly decorated, with lots of gold and large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The owner had taken care of the smallest detail.

He sat down on the couch and breathed deeply. Suddenly he jumped up, frightened.

- Good morning, Mr. Detective… Zabel. If I'm not mistaken - a man dressed in a smart suit was standing in front of him. He was smoking a cigarette and looked at him with superiority.

- Good morning - he got up from the couch and held out his hand toward him to greet him - Colin Zabel, detective.

- I understand - he looked at his hand, but did not shake it, only smiled artificially - James Patrick March, I am the owner of this hotel. How can I help you, Mr. Detective - he inhaled his cigarette and blew the smoke in Colin's direction.

- Hmm... - he moved away from James and looked at him angrily - I came to resume the case of four missing persons. Who are believed to have disappeared on the grounds of your hotel. I have warrants to search again - he handed him the documents.

James looked at the warrants, then again at Colin and again at the warrants. He inhaled heavily on his cigarette and let out the smoke loudly. Then he inhaled again and let the smoke out through his nose. He shook his head with disapproval. He returned his eyes to his interlocutor.

- Yes... yes... it's really interesting - he handed the documents back to Colin - very interesting. Just curious about one thing, namely. What is the real reason for your arrival at my hotel? I know perfectly well who you are, Mr. Colin - he smiled mockingly.

- I don't know you and I see you for the first time with my eyes. The only information I have about you is that you are the owner of this beautiful hotel.

- Truly fascinating. But it seems to me that you know a lot more. Since you are so secretive, I will tell you who you are. You are the would-be lover of the lady of my heart. My bird in a golden cage. Please don't think I'm stupid. I saw through you right away - he stabbed him in the chest with his finger - I do not agree with the nonsense you come here with. And, of course, I know that this is just an excuse to meet Roberta, by chance - he inhaled his cigarette again - please leave the premises of my hotel. You know perfectly well where the exit is.

- Unfortunately, you cannot refuse. If there is a warrant, you cannot object. Please allow me to carry out these activities. Otherwise, the FBI will step in and the hotel will be closed for the search. And I do not guarantee that it will be open again. Your choice - Colin clenched his hands nervously on the briefcase. He was starting to get hot. He stated that he would still say something - I would also like to confirm your words regarding Roberta. Yes, I was hoping to meet her and ask her how she is, if it's not a problem - he swallowed his saliva loudly.

- This is not quite what I wanted to hear, but I will go back to the first part of your statement and summarize. You are threatening me, Mr. Zabel. I don't like it because I am not being threatened. You should have known that before you crossed the threshold of this building. Please leave this hotel.

- No.

- No… no... Well, we'll talk differently - He grabbed Colin by the sleeve of his coat and pulled him toward the room near the reception desk, locked the door behind them - Lizzie, watch that stupid boy. The poor guy doesn't know who he's messing with.

Colin looked confused, not knowing what was going on. He looked at Lizzie. He wanted to look at James again, but the latter had disappeared somewhere.

- What's going on?

- I think you have a problem, the boss doesn't like it when someone contradicts him. But I won't say anything more.

- I don't understand why I was locked up here.

Lizzie sat down on a chair and took a book in her hand.

Colin looked around the room. There were lots of bookshelves, a few cabinets and a glass display case with the keys to the hotel rooms. There was also a second door. He walked over to it and grabbed the handle.

- I don't advise it and they are closed anyway. Besides, there isn't even anything that interesting there - Lizzie said without lifting her eyes from the book.

- Let me out of here, please. I'll leave the hotel and never come back again - he said in a pleading tone.

- I have no say in the matter.

Suddenly the door to the reception side opened.

- Follow me, Mr. March invites you upstairs - a maid entered the room.

- I'm not going anywhere. Please let me out of this building! - shouted Colin.

- I don't think so. Please follow me - she moved so that he could pass - if you cooperate, Mr. March will not harm you.

- Harm?!

- Oh, please forgive me, sometimes I don't think before I say something - she laughed nervously.

- I'm not going anywhere - he stopped at the reception desk.

- Mr. March asked me to tell you that Mrs. Roberta is waiting upstairs.

- I don't know if I can believe that - he furrowed his eyebrows.

- Oh, Mr. March never lies. Please follow me.

Colin said no more. He moved behind the unknown woman. They entered the elevator and went to the 5th floor. The woman smiled warmly at him, he did not reciprocate it. The elevator stopped and they stepped out into the corridor. They stopped in front of a door that said:

"SERVICE ROOM"

- Feel free to come inside - she smiled warmly at him again.

He turned his head in her direction, but she was gone. He was alone. He pressed the door handle and went inside. The room was dark. The door closed behind him with a quiet click. He tried to fumble for the button to turn on the light on the wall. Suddenly he felt a sharp headache and almost fell. He was hit on the head with a blunt instrument.

- What's going on! Who is here?! - he shouted still trying to find the light switch. Under his fingers he felt the handle. He pressed on it. The door was closed.

Again he felt the impact, this time he lost consciousness and fell inertly to the ground.

He woke up with a sharp headache. He was all achy. He opened his eyes, the light was on. He looked around the room. There were racks of clean linens and towels. There was a chute in the wall for dirty laundry. He tried to get up from the chair, but was tied. His hands were tied behind his back and his legs to the legs of the chair. He looked at the floor and saw a blood stain. He didn't know if it belonged to him. He licked his lips and felt the taste of blood on his tongue. He had dried blood under his nose.

- Hello, is anyone there! Hello! Someone free me! - he tried to cry out for help, but to no avail. He sighed loudly and closed his eyes.

- I think your screams will be of no use. No one will hear you. These walls are soundproof - James approached the wall and stroked it proudly - ah, my greatest creation.

- Let me out - said Colin in a calm voice.

- I don't know if this is a good idea - James walked up to him and forced Colin to look at him - be cultured and look at me when I'm talking to you - he waved the hammer in front of his nose - I really liked this tool, it's really effective.

- What do you want to do with me?

- I wanted to play, just like you played with the lady of my heart. Did you have fun?

- I only kissed her. Nothing more happened - he answered again in a calm voice. He knew there was no point in shouting.

- You just kissed her... just kissed her... just! Or maybe, not just! - hit him in the face with the fist. His head sprang back and he felt blood pouring from his nose again. He also felt blood in his mouth. He hung his head trying to control the pain. He watched his blood drip onto the floor.

- Why are you doing this to me? Is it all because I didn't want to leave your hotel? - He spat out the blood. The puddle was getting bigger and bigger.

- You messed with the wrong man my boy. Didn't Roberta ask you the previous time not to come here again? Are you stupid? Don't you understand what is being said to you? - James punched him in the face again. Colin spat blood on the floor in silence.

- Why don't you try to fight? Have you given up? - James laughed out loud - silence is your greatest weapon? - he walked closer to Colin and unbuttoned his coat, looking into his pockets - wallet, police badge, pen, some papers... just junk... - he unbuttoned his coat more - oh please what we have here - he was pleased to see a gun under his arm. He unbuckled the gun and pulled it out - a beautiful toy - he looked at the gun from all sides and weighed it in his hand - perfectly balanced. Your private toy?

- Yes, private - he spat out blood again.

- I like it - he opened the magazine and began to enumerate - one in the right foot, the second in the left foot, the third in the thigh, straight in the artery, the fourth... hmm... let me think - he scratched his chin in thought - let it be in your dick, although you will never need it again anyway, but it's better not to risk it. Well the last one... right on the forehead - he laughed out loud - I will be kind and not let you suffer for a long time. Appreciate my kindness - he approached Colin and stroked his head - well then where was it? - he pointed the gun at his right foot.

Colin closed his eyes waiting for the pain.

- Mr. March? Should I clean up already? - The maid entered the room carrying a bucket of water and a cloth.

- Mrs. Evers! What am I telling you all the time! I will inform you when something needs to be cleaned! Please get out of here! - he shouted at her pointing a gun at her.

- Ah Mr. March, I would give my life for you again!

- Please get out of here! Immediately!

- Excuse me - she walked out.

- What do you mean "again"? - puzzled Colin.

- Silence!

- This is interesting.

- Boy, you're digging yourself a grave - James pointed the gun at the towel rack and fired. A loud bang sounded and several towels and pieces of wood fell to the ground - I wasted one precious bullet - he rolled his eyes.

- Maybe somehow we can get along? - Colin tried to save his situation.

———————

Roberta heard a knock on the door to her room.

- Please come in - she said putting down her book - Lizzie, welcome!

- Honey, you won't believe it! - Lizzie quickly ran up to her.

- What's going on? - Roberta noticed the terror in her eyes.

- Colin!

- What Colin?

- What do you mean what Colin?! Roberta! - grabbed her hands and forced her to get up from the couch.

- Oh God! What is he doing here?! Where is he?! - she started pacing nervously around the room.

- He is with James.

- With James?! Oh God! Where is he?! Speak up! - grabbed Lizzie by the shoulders and shook her.

- They are on the fifth floor in the bedding warehouse. I don't know if Colin is still alive. I was at the door and eavesdropped. I heard the sound of a gunshot - Lizzie covered her face with her hands.

Roberta fell to her knees and burst into tears. Lizzie came up from her and tried to help her get up. Her legs refused to obey.

- Roberta! Get up, we have to go and save him! Maybe it's not too late! Maybe he's alive! - she grabbed her hand. They ran out of the suite and headed for the elevator.

- Faster, faster! - cried Roberta.

- It's here! - They entered the elevator - Fifth floor!

- I'm about to pass out, I'm weak! Lizzie... - Roberta leaned against the glass wall of the elevator and hugged her cheek to the cold mirror.

- Breathe, breathe...

The elevator stopped on the fifth floor. This time they walked slowly and quietly. They didn't want to make any noise in case James was still with Colin. They walked up to the door and started listening. The room was quiet.

- I'm going in - said Roberta - I have to see if he's there - she pressed the handle and carefully pushed the door open.

- Be careful - whispered Lizzie.

Roberta went inside and was horrified by what she found. In the middle of the room stood a chair, and on it sat Colin. He was tied up. His head was hanging down and he was unconscious, or maybe dead. There was blood all around him. The floor and his clothes, blood everywhere. There was no one else in the room. She was afraid to approach him, afraid to touch him to see if he was alive. She was terrified. Tears flowed into her eyes again. On shaky legs, she approached Colin slowly. She walked around him, looking at him closely. His chest was moving slightly, he was breathing, still alive. She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder.

- Colin... Colin... dear... - she poked him lightly, he did not respond - what he did to you… I would kill him if I could - her breath hitched - Colin, I beg you to wake up - she knelt down in front of him. She grabbed his cheeks and lifted his head. His whole face was battered and bruised. He was covered in blood - oh God, Colin - she wept loudly.

Colin felt and heard that someone was by his side and someone was touching him. But all this was like through a fog. He felt weak, did not have the strength to move or even open his eyes. The touch he felt was different from before, he did not feel pain. This touch expressed concern, it was gentle. He felt tears flowing into his eyes. He felt his body trembling, as if to let him know to gather his strength and let him know he was alive, to open his eyes, to lift his head and look at the person in front of him.

He slightly lifted his eyelids and noticed hands resting on his thighs, he knew those hands. He closed his eyes again and raised his head. He opened his eyes and saw....

- Are you an angel? Did I die? - he said in a whisper.

- No - she laughed - it's me, Roberta. You're still alive - she started crying again.

- Roberta... that is, an angel after all - this was the sight he had waited so long for.

- Colin ... what he did to you ... - she stroked his cheek.

- Can you untie me? Please... - he smiled slightly.

- Ah, yes, I forgot. Wait - she went towards the door - Lizze, help me, quickly! He is alive!

- Holy God! - the only thing she was able to say. She stood shocked.

- Move! Soak some towels in warm water - Roberta grabbed a knife and started cutting the ropes.

- I’ve got them - she approached them with a towel.

- Start wiping his face, just gently - Roberta was still trying to cut the ropes.

Colin slowly stretched his hands in front of him and rested them on his thighs. They were purple and he had practically no feeling in them. He tried to straighten up in the chair, but he was too sore. He felt that his legs were also freed.

Roberta grabbed a wet towel and began to wipe his face. He closed his eyes and drew in the air loudly. It hurt, but not that much.

- I'm sorry, I know it hurts you. I try to do it gently - said Roberta.

- I'll be fine.

- I know - she felt herself wanting to cry again - it will be fine, I promise.

Colin opened his eyes and stared at her, following her every move. Her makeup was smudged from crying, but she still looked beautiful.

- I missed you - he whispered.

- You'd better keep quiet - she laughed.

- I know... I shouldn't have come here... - he sighed - but I had to.

- What you did... that was the stupidest idea you could have come up with - she stepped away from him for a moment to wet another towel. He didn't take his eyes off her.

- I know that too... but it was worth it. I can see you again - he smiled weakly.

- You are really stupid - sighed Roberta returning to washing his face.

- It's a fact, but when someone is in love, he can do anything. Regardless of whether he can survive it or not - he touched her thigh and gently stroked it.

Roberta did not respond to his words. Tears were dripping down her cheeks, she was unable to stop them.

- Come on - she gave him a hand - stand up... slowly.

Colin got up slowly, but felt he was about to fall. His body was not cooperating with him. He leaned on Roberta to keep from falling.

- Let's go, you need to lie down - they started walking slowly to the exit - Lizzie, don't stand there, help me. He is heavy.

- I've lost weight recently, I don't have time to eat properly - he laughed.

- You look very good - said Lizzie.

- Thank you.

They went into the nearest room by the bedding storage. They laid Colin down on the bed. He closed his eyes relishing the softness of the bed.

- You can go now, I'll take care of him - Roberta said to Lizzie.

- If you need anything, call me, I'll be where I usually am.

- Thanks.

She walked over to Colin and looked at his bruised face. He had a cut on his eyebrow arch, cheek and mouth in several places. He still looked very good.

- Don't you know it's not nice to stare like that? - he laughed.

- I guess I don't know.

- That's what you know now, but I'm letting you stare.

- We have to undress you. You're all dirty - she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over him. She loosened his tie and took it off over his head. She began to undo the buttons of his shirt. With her fingertips she lightly touched his warm skin.

- That's nice - he said, not taking his eyes off her - look at me - he grabbed her gently by the chin and lifted her head - why do you hurt to look at me?

- I'm remorseful... all of this... James... it's all my fault. I'm sorry - a single tear dripped down Colin's bare torso - he could have killed you.

- It's not your fault. He messed me up pretty good, but I'm alive. I don't know why he left and didn't kill me.

- What do you mean he left? - Roberta got curious.

- He just walked out without saying a word and left me. I don't remember much. When he left I was already on the verge of losing consciousness. The only thing I remember is that he took my gun with him.

- Another one for the collection... - she whispered.

- Excuse me?

- Nothing. I'll take off your pants now - she began to undo his belt.

- Do you have something for me to change into? Or are you leaving me like this?

- I'll find something. You should take a nap.

- I don't want to. I've already lost too much time - he grabbed her hand when she wanted to leave - stay with me - he pulled her to him.

- Colin... I can't! - she squealed.

Colin pulled her on top of him and hugged her tightly.

- I missed - he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent.

Roberta raised her head and looked at him.

- And do you know what I missed?

- I don't know.

- This - she kissed him gently on the lips - it hurts?

- A little, but I can bear it - he pulled her to him and kissed her.

Roberta entwined her hands in his hair. He hugged her tightly, as if he was afraid she would escape him.

- What about... - he interrupted the kiss - you know....

- James?

- Yes.

- He's not 100% faithful to me either - she kissed him again, this time more greedily, but still gently. She felt a slight taste of blood.

Colin turned them around and was now over her. He leaned on his hands on either side of her head.

- You are so beautiful - he returned to the kiss.

He started kissing her jaw and went down to her neck, collarbone....

- May I? - He asked while grabbing the strap from her bra.

- I think you feel better already - she laughed.

- Yes, that's right - he slipped off her bra strap and kissed her body as if he was hungry.

He felt no pain. Her presence acted on him like painkillers. He felt he was alive again. But he knew that he would not be happy all the time. This joy was only for a while. He wanted to get as much as he could.

He slipped off her bra and looked at her breasts.

- Wow - he parted his lips in delight - beautiful.

He leaned over and took her nipple into his mouth. He sucked it and gently kissed it. Roberta's back arched and she sighed loudly. She grabbed his hair.

He continued the sweet torture with his mouth, and his hands wandered under her dress. He stroked her thighs heading higher and higher. He touched her panties with his fingers.

- God, you are so wet. After all, I haven't done anything yet, wow.

- Shut up and continue! - She pulled him by his hair upwards and kissed him on the lips again.

With his fingers, he pushed aside her wet panties and slipped them between her wet, swollen lips. He spread her sweet juices and massaged her pleasure button.

- Colin! Ah... I want more! - she bit him on his lips.

- Ough! That hurts! - He kissed her hard and slipped one finger inside her.

- Colin! - she moaned loudly.

He slid into her again and again feeling her tremble at his every move. How she tightened her grip on his finger.

- Enough - she whispered in his ear - I want you inside me - she bit his ear.

- Now? - He slid his other finger inside her.

- Yes!

Without pulling his fingers out of her, he slipped his boxers off with his other hand and pushed her dress higher.

He spread her thighs apart and removed his fingers from her. Roberta moaned. She felt an emptiness, she wanted to feel full again.

- Fuck me! Colin! - She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer to her.

- As you wish.

He began rubbing against her hot entrance and unexpectedly slid inside her. Piece by piece, allowing her to get used to his length. They both parted their lips and stared at each other with wide-open eyes.

- Oh fuck, you're amazing! - they said simultaneously.

Roberta grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.

Colin began to move. Slowly at first, he felt he didn't have as much energy as he wanted. But after a while, he felt his energy returning with every movement of his hips. He delved deep into her. He felt warmth and a pleasant wetness. His dick was in paradise. He could feel Roberta clamping down on him, could feel her trembling beneath him. He felt that she was getting closer and closer to fulfillment. He also felt wonderful. They kissed greedily without being able to take their hands off each other. Roberta hugged him tightly to her.

- I can't stand it any longer! Colin! - she was all trembling.

- Let's do it together!

They both screamed into each other's mouths reaching their fulfillment. Colin sank down on top of her breathing heavily.

Roberta laughed.

- Why are you laughing? - Colin raised his head and looked into her eyes.

- It was amazing. I think it was from happiness.

He smiled broadly at her.

- Well, well, well... what I see here. Fascinating.

Roberta and Colin sat frightened on the bed and looked around the room. Twilight reigned and not much could be seen.

- James? - whispered Roberta.

- Yes, it's me! You guessed it! Surprise! - James came out of the darkness and stood by the bed. He took out a cigarette case from the inside pocket of his jacket and took out one cigarette. He put it in his mouth and fired it up. He let the smoke out in their direction - are you having fun lovebirds? Without me? Not nice - he shook his head with displeasure.

- Were you here all the time? - Roberta corrected her dress.

- Yes, you guessed again! - he sat down on the edge of the bed - you made beautiful sounds my dearest. This is music to my ears. It must have been very pleasant for you - he inhaled his cigarette - right?

Roberta looked at him in horror and remained silent.

- Would you be so kind and answer my question? That's what culture dictates. Well, there you go, I'm waiting.

Roberta looked at Colin, who tried to cover himself with the quilt, but they were lying on top of it, so had a problem with that.

- Well, I'm waiting - he smiled.

- Yes, it was very pleasant for me.

- Oh, that's great. Just know that this was the last time - he pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed it at Colin.

- What are you doing?! James! You're cheating on me too! Put it away, immediately! - she shouted.

- Don't be ridiculous - he got up from the bed and walked around it coming closer to Colin.

- Boy, oh what were you in for. A moment's pleasure worth dying for? I left you in the storeroom hoping that Mrs. Evers would shove you unconscious into the chute with the dirty sheets and clean up the mess as usual. Of course, it wasn't me who made this all mess, it was you. It was your blood that soiled the floor and the walls - he unholstered the gun with a quiet click - you have no idea how happy she will be to have a little another bedding to wash. I guess it's a hobby for her - he pointed the gun at him and shot him in the arm - perfection!

Colin grabbed his arm and slumped on the bed, screaming and squirming in pain.

- Colin! Oh God! Colin! - she clenched her hand at the site of the gunshot to dam the blood.

- A beautiful sight! I hope I hit the best spot. I love the colour red! - he laughed out loud - have fun! - He threw the gun on the bed, turned around and left the room.

- Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the hell! You said it would be fine! He is mentally ill! Why are you with him?! - Colin said incessantly - It hurts! I can't stand it! Call the emergency room!

- Calm down, calm down, breathe - she tried to calm him down.

- I'm supposed to be calm?! Fuck!

Roberta ran to the phone and I called the front desk.

- Lizzie! Quickly call an ambulance! James has shot Colin! Quickly! - she threw the receiver and ran to the clothes lying on the floor. She pulled the belt out of his pants.

- I'm about to pass out - he said quietly - Roberta....

- Take it easy now, don't fall asleep, look at me - she grabbed his arm and wrapped it with the belt, tightening it tightly - I hope this will help stop the blood... I really hope so - she kissed him on the forehead - Colin stay with me, the ambulance will come soon and they will help you. I promise - she cried.

To be continued…

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[aladaylessecondblog]

Severed Destiny, pt. 9

"Now, what have we learned?"

Haj-deek took a deep breath.

"The spear is not a weapon--" and then, correcting herself, "The spear is not only a weapon. It is...an extension of my body and will. With it, I can both bring order and sow chaos. It is not an evil thing but in the hand of one meaning to do ill, it can become a symbol of evil."

"Very good," Vivec said, "A thing on its own is not evil. But imbued with and surrounded by it, it cannot help but become so. Good and evil leave their echoes upon mind and object alike."

Haj-deek had, as she'd had many times over the past weeks, a distinct feeling that Vivec was trying to say more than he was saying. Most of his lessons were like that, presented as one thing and coated in two more. Knowledge she'd take in and then unwrap to discover something else at the core...usually while eating or doing something else.

This, he said, was why he tried not to impart very much each day. "Wisdom takes thought, and thought takes time."

(Sometimes she was unsure how serious he was about things. Was he trying to be thorough in his teaching, or was he jerking her around? Maybe it was a combination of both...that thing he had given her, too, they did not speak of. He'd said she'd know when to use it, but how could he be certain of it?)

Weapon training was almost easy by comparison. She did best with her fists, but Vivec insisted on her becoming familiar with the spear and longsword as well. Her fists and a dagger were hardly enough, considering her lack of ability to maintain her own magicka. Alchemy could only carry her so far.

"Is that why you were able to...kill Nerevar?"

Such questions were ones Haj-Deek only ever asked when she was certain she was alone with Vivec.

Vivec was silent for a moment.

"Nerevar was grief-stricken," he said, "And so comforted by his queen, he did not notice my approach."

"So the story of robes and candles some of the books talk of...?"

"We made that part up ourselves. Consider in the future, if you are in a situation which may yield conspiracy theories and lurid accusations, it is good to have a hand in crafting at least one of them yourself."

Haj-deek thought for a moment before nodding.

"He intended fully to pray to Azura to gain some wisdom, and it seemed a likely enough thing to happen had I not..."

Her father's name almost slipped her lips at that point, but it didn't feel right to say the word.

"I remember hearing him say...Azura abandoned...me...us...whatever this is. When you'd all proceeded to the Heart, I mean."

"That is the very thing that I intended not to be," Vivec replied, "The sort of god who abandons those who need him most."

"And it worked...for a long time. But V...my father woke up."

"I think it would be best not to speak those words just yet. That he is what he is to you. But...yes. It did work. Regrettably we could not stop Tiber Septim, but...let me let you in on a secret of my own. We never thought that using the Numidium would go so well for him. It had a tendency to...well...kill those who used it."

"And cause dragon breaks."

"Dragon breaks. Laziness, more like." Vivec huffed, in a very ungodly way, "What an excuse."

"Laziness? Excuse?"

He suddenly sat up straight, and pivoted. "Do you feel ready to begin the trials of the Nerevarine?"

"I'm not sure I ever will," Haj-deek gave up on the subject as clearly Vivec wouldn't respond and settled for saying quietly, "But I guess I shouldn't waste too much time. Not that the training you give is wasting my time! It's just...."

"A reasonable point of view. Though I do wonder how long you would choose to stay, despite my...eccentricities."

"I don't know if I want to go north to the tribes just yet, or Red Mountain either, but...maybe there might be something else for me to do first."

Vivec seemed to brighten at that.

"Correct. To go to Red Mountain now would be disastrous...but I need not go on about that, you are bright enough to know the reasons even if your youth tells you that you may overcome them."

"So is there anything I might do first?" She wanted to leave the city for a little while, put to use these fighting skills Vivec had insisted she train herself in. What was the point of learning to fight if she wasn't going to actually fight anything?

"You can go to Tel Fyr," he replied, after a minute or so of consideration, "Your blood may be of interest to Divath Fyr - he is studying corprus, you see, and you are the first person to be born with it. And since you are clearly immune - he will want to study you."

"I don't want to be STUDIED!" Haj-deek burst out, "I'm not a test subject!"

"If you would let me finish--"

"No, I don't think I will. I'm not going to go get blood taken and...and who knows what else."

Vivec's face sunk into his palm for a moment. "Unfortunately he is the premier expert on corprus. I'm not asking you to take up residence in his tower. The opposite, actually. I want to see if your immunity may be passed on to others, and the only one who has the expertise to gauge that sort of thing is Divath Fyr. And...there's something else."

"What?"

"You wish to...correct certain things, yes?"

"...yes." She spoke with some hesitation, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Speak to the dwarf," Vivec replied, and noting the presence of someone in the far corner, lowered his voice as he went on, "In his corprusarium, the bowels of his tower, Divath Fyr tends the last living dwemer. This dwarf is...was...familiar with certain relations of yours. Go to Divath Fyr with the story that you are immune to corprus, and speak in secret to the dwarf."

"And you think that will help?"

"It is a lead. And the trip will be an excellent way to test the training you have received so far."

Haj-deek huffed slightly. The idea was a good one, and she hated having to admit it. Something of Nerevar kicked about in her head. Or maybe it was her own thoughts, or a combination of the two, or--regardless, she felt something, and that something was a grudging admission that Vivec was right. And he hated to think it.

"Fine," she replied, "I'll go."

"Excellent." Vivec brought his hands together, and when they saw the visitor was in fact Archcanon Saryoni come to ask some sort of question, he added, "Then go, with my blessing."

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

It had not been terribly difficult, getting along in Vivec City. Certainly she had to mind her manners around the Ordinators, but Haj-deek felt a lifetime of holding her tongue and making nice in Ebonheart had prepared her very well indeed for the problem. She found herself doing little chores for the Temple - to soften them towards her, Vivec said. Privately she knew it was to establish a sort of cover for her among Temple faithful - see, the Nerevarine is a devotee! See her dedication to the Tribunal!

At the same time...

...it'll get back to HIM, and that'll make anything I want to do...harder than it already is...

He wouldn't give the time of day to someone dedicated to the Tribunal. She would be lucky to even get in the door.

After getting supplies together, she found herself needing to duck the same sleeper as had greeted her on arrival to the city. Haj-deek moved toward the Hlaalu Canton - and on rounding one of its corners tried to back away instantly on sight of who was walking along the opposite side.

Orvas Dren, flanked by a couple of his Camonna Tong guards, was walking down the pathway. He saw her immediately, and though momentarily surprised made right for her.

"And what might you be doing here? Did the lizards put you out now that you are old enough to shift for yourself?"

"No," Haj-deek crossed her arms, "Better odds of getting work here that doesn't...well, they don't really know about the--the argonians here, and that hindered me in--"

Orvas's eyes traveled ever so slightly down and for a moment Haj-deek had the uncomfortable feeling he was ogling her - until she realized the hand with the moon-and-star was frontmost and the ring itself was clearly visible. She saw his expression shifting in the time she watched his face - confusion, anger, thinking, then a sink back into his usual bland interest.

"Well, well, well, little Haj-deek, wearing the moon-and-star. But, that being the case," his tone darkened, "I should think you would be smarter than to put yourself under the Tribunal's power."

"I didn't have much of a choice," she replied quickly, "I left Ebonheart and one of the ordinators all but herded me into the city. Lord Vivec - ah - wants to direct me himself, I think."

"Of course he would." Orvas huffed, "I imagine he will have you locked away in Baar Dau before too much longer has passed...re-education, that is his aim with most who dare to disobey his direction. You're fortunate I was in the city on business."

Haj-deek played along, and lied, "He's been training me, so I've had to pretend I actually want to be here. Around him. It's not that I believe what he says."

She wasn't sure how to phrase this, and from the way she saw Orvas's face working she felt she'd already tripped up.

"Well, you've always been intelligent in that way, you're quick minded. Learning the ways to fit in among those who don't have your best interests at heart. But there is something I'm curious about."

"What's that?"

"The ring. Did you already have it in Ebonheart? If you had gone to some forsaken place in a long pilgrimage to get it I'm certain you would have a different look about you. Sleep deprivation is a close bedfellow with anyone who takes a long journey and you look as if you have never been deprived of rest a day in your life."

"Well, I--"

"Perhaps you found it somewhere? Lifted it from the lizards who knew not what it means? Or you--"

"It was my mother's--" Haj-deek burst out and shut her mouth the next instant. Her eyes widened. he realized her mistake almost immediately, but definitely too late.

"Your mother's?"

Orvas's face went through a shifting series of expressions again. Surprise, thoughtfulness, and then focus as he went on, "The ring belonged to your mother? So she was the previous Nerevarine?"

The wheels were turning. He was working something out, she could see it from the way his eyes darted back and forth at nothing, but what?

"I--yes. Please, I have to get going," Haj-deek went on, "I'm...on my way to see Divath Fyr. A way of--proving my identity, you know, since I've--"

There was something sharp in Orvas's expression then, and another look like he was thinking deeply, or as deeply as one could when trying to be quick. "You've always been a healthy child. Go. Speak to your Telvanni wizard. But do remember I always have need for someone of your talents."

Orvas gave her an ironical sort of bow and an accompanying smirk then. He'd gotten enough out of her and it seemed to satisfy him, but why she couldn't figure out. She was too eager to get on, and hurried past him to finally exit Vivec City.

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

Besides the expected attacks from wild cliffracers (Sunchaser had to be healed up from several, while trying to defend her) and other dangerous Vvardenfell fauna, and sneaking by various hideouts and caves, Haj-deek had only one incident of particular note on the five-day journey she took to Tel Fyr.

While passing Dren Plantation, she happened to pass an Argonian slave who promptly dropped one of the apparently heavy sacks he was carrying. When she stopped to help he thanked her and introduced himself as Hides-His-Foot, and she returned with her own name, which surprised him, but he said nothing more until she spoke up.

"I am sorry to see you in chains," she replied, "I would free you, if you could but tell me--"

It is our duty, Im-Kilaya's words, frequently spoken to her as a young child, echoed again in her head, To help those still shackled by slavery, in whatever way we can.

"Go free?" Hides-His-Foot shook his head emphatically, "No, I am old and could not make it on my own."

He would say no more to her, and as she watched him go she told herself she would be back. He couldn't go now, and where would she take him, anyway? Perhaps if she freed a few slaves during her journey some of the other Twin Lamps members might trust her enough to tell her where she could take older slaves like Hides-His-Foot.

The sea breeze persisted as she passed Telasero, and even at Molag Mar where she sold a bundle of cliffracer plumes for more food and to repair her spear and dagger, as well as buy a lengthy hooded cloak . She glanced only briefly at the slave market, hearing again what Im-Kilaya had said.

I will be back for you. All of you. I swear it, she thought. If I'm Lord Nerevar returned I can do whatever in oblivion I want, and what I want is the slaves freed.

(There was a tug in her chest, and whether it was Nerevar or the Hist she couldn't be sure. But something was definitely pleased by her declaration.

It was a struggle to make herself move on, but she managed it.

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

Haj-deek turned north, and the land began to darken along with the animals. Past the Maesa-Shammus egg mine, a blight storm started to kick up, and Sunchaser wedged herself beneath the cloak to hide from the ashy winds, her beaked face protruding from the hood beside Haj-deek's, her usual high-pitched calls now completely silent as her wings hugged at shoulders. When the blighted kagouti and cliffracers began to appear she wouldn't emerge to help in the fight, merely tremble and kept her head down as if to avoid seeing them at all.

"It's alright, it's fine," she said, reaching up to try and pat at the beak by her ear, "I've got you."

If not for the map she'd have gotten entirely lost, and for a stretch she was afraid she had, but on having to hide from a couple passing Ashlanders Haj-deek realized the gathering of Dunmer she could dimly see through the red winds was the Erabinemsun camp.

Okay, so I'm close. Good. Good.

Her feet hurt, ash was everywhere, and she was ducking ashlander hunters but at least she was nearly to Tel Fyr. That was something.

Finally, she hit the shoreline. Thankfully, just as the blight storm was beginning to let up--and not wanting to waste the magicka, she removed the cloak, shoved it into one of her bags. After, of course, making sure there weren't any ashlanders watching her back or hiding nearby.

Sunchaser complained, but Haj-deek shrugged the cliffracer off. "Come on, I have to get in the water, you can fly that far."

She had learned to swim so early she couldn't fully remember when it had happened, and was almost pleased to dive into the water, even with the bags weighing her down and messing with her pace.

It was half an hour later that a waterlogged Haj-deek made it to the front door of Tel Fyr. She ducked behind a rock and changed from her damp armor into the darker clothes that still smelled faintly of skooma. Once she was changed Sunchaser took her perch up once again, and they entered the tower.

Five days, she thought, five days it had taken her, and finally she was here.

Haj-deek was greeted by a Dunmer woman who said, "Are you here to plunder the dungeon? Have you got corprus disease? Did you want to talk to Divayth Fyr?"

"No, sort of, and yes," Haj-deek answered all of her questions, and on receiving a strange look she went on with, "I didn't even know there were dungeons here. And I do have corprus, but I...don't, at the same time."

She lifted her right hand to show the moon-and-star, and said, "I'm the--newest Nerevarine."

"I see. Well. You'll be wanting to see Lord Fyr, then."

"I was told I should offer some blood," Haj-deek replied, shifting uncomfortably, "I hope he's not going to ask for any."

"I doubt he will bleed you like a vampire, but I won't tell you that he won't. He does surprise people now and then."

"He's up there, then?" Haj-deek gestured to the hole in the ceiling, and the dunmer woman nodded.

"I hope you know how to levitate, or you shan't be able to see him."

"Oh, I know, I just don't like to use the spell if I can help it. We Atronach signs have to be careful with our magicka supply, miss...?"

"Beyte Fyr," the woman replied.

"Nice to meet you, then. I'm...Haj-deek."

She cast the levitate spell and moved up, stumbling about lost for only a minute or so before literally running into Divath Fyr. She stumbled back, groaning in pain, and apologized quickly, "I'm so sorry, Lord Fyr, I--I'm not familiar with your tower."

Divath Fyr was fairly tall, and now she could see why it had hurt to run into him. He was wearing a full set of daedric armor - she'd only ever seen it in art! It was hard to imagine that it existed at all, given how rare it seemed to be. After allowing her a bit of gawking, he spoke up.

"Well! What a pleasure! A visitor! An entertaining diversion!"

It was more cheery than she expected, and it stunned her that Divath Fyr was that overtly friendly.

"Come to consult the great Divayth Fyr? You have the divine disease?" He seemed perfectly at ease, and all she could think was she was missing something. Telvanni weren't this friendly to outsiders, this wasn't how things worked.

"Well--well, yes...and no."

Divath's head tilted just slightly to one side. "I don't imagine you've come here before, which is the only way I've ever seen someone cured."

"No, I haven't," she replied, "That--that person you talk of, that you cured. That was my mother...and I guess I've inherited her immunity."

The wizard (she hesitated to think him one, with such armor on his person) leaned down a bit, and stared her directly in the eye, completely ignoring Sunchaser's fixing one of her eyes on him in turn. "You've no sores? No rashes, no memory loss, no strange intrusive thoughts?"

Haj-deek took a step back, a little unnerved by the stare Divath was giving her. "No. I've had the dreams, but...nothing more. No sores, no rashes, nothing. I've never even had so much as a sniffle."

"Strange...very strange. Of course I've heard of mothers passing their resistances to certain diseases, but corprus...this..."

"Lord Vivec suggested," she went on, hesitating to speak, "That I might give you a sample of my blood."

It was a disgusting idea, and she still would rather do anything but.

"An agreeable idea..." Divath seemed to be thinking on something, and went silent.

"I'm not cutting my hand if I can help it," she started quickly, "Even if it's just a trifling sort of cut and I don't lose much blood--"

"Oh, there's no need for that. You thought I take blood by way of a dagger? Unrefined, that. Inclined to infection...not that you would need to worry about that, but it is a concern for the rest of my patients. No, there's a tool I've invented that makes drawing blood much easier, and safer for the would-be donor. I simply stick a vein, and let your body pulse out the blood all on its own. Then heal it as you please. For my patients, I...install a permanent one, which makes studying their blood much easier."

"That's--" The idea of being bled was still gross, but the idea of not having to cut her finger like she was doing some sort of secret vow made it just a little bit less so. "I'll want to see how it works before I let you do anything, though."

"My oldest patient, he'll have a set of them handy. I've some things to tend to up here - you go and fetch the blood-drawing tools from him in the corprusarium, and I'll be more than happy to display how they work. But I warn you - do not attack my patients. They're mostly passive but some may attack you."

"I have a pet cliffracer," Haj-deek said, "There's nothing they can do to me that cliffracers haven't done worse."

That prompted a laugh. "Ah, to be young and arrogant again. Go on then, off with you. You've presented me with a very interesting prospect and I want to prepare for what I'm to see in your blood. Or not see."

Haj-deek moved off quickly, not really understand most of what he said next.

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

The first person she met was the so-called "Warden" Vistha-Kai, an argonian.

"Ruheeva," she said speaking first the Jel greeting for a stranger, "I'm not a new patient, but...Divath Fyr says I have to talk to his 'oldest patient' to collect some blood-drawing tools. Which of them would that be?"

"You want the dwemer," Vistha-Kai said, "You cannot mistake him for anyone else. Yagrum Bagarn is his name, and he is in the bowels of the Corprusarium. Pass through the gate and go straight across to the next door. He rides in a four-legged cart. He's not as dangerous as the other corprus victims. I doubt he'll give you any trouble."

"Thank you." She paused, took a deep breath, and then looked up to Sunchaser. "Stay here. I don't want you getting in trouble for attacking them."

Sunchaser gave one of her cries.

"No. You could get hurt, and I--I don't want that to happen. Stay here." She reached up to gently tug the cliffracer forward, and set her down on the ground. Then she pulled out a chunk of dried fish she'd been carrying in one of the bags. "Here. Eat."

She looked up to Vistha-Kai.

"If you can help it..."

"You do not want her attacked. You need not worry, I believe we understand each other. Though...I would not tarry in speaking to Yagrum Bagarn, if you can avoid it. These are devilish, temperamental beasts at the best of times."

"I've had to fight so many on my way here, I can't say you're wrong." Haj-deek gave a brief laugh, and stepped through the door. She readied a healing spell, in preparation for the corprus patients. As she walked ahead, she saw one at the end of a stony corridor--and it made straight for her. She ducked off to the side of the path, waiting, ready to bolt past it once it got close enough.

But it didn't attack her.

The thing before her, enormously bloated and half-limping, dragging the more swelled of its two legs with a great effort--it stopped short of where she intended to let it get.

And just stared, groaning as it swayed in place. Its eyes focused on her but she felt something more from it - pain. It, no, HE, was in pain. But given the horrible state of his corprus infection, it only made sense.

Are you sure you want to make the attempt, if this is what he does? The thought drifted across her mind, whether hers or someone else's she wasn't sure. It was uncomfortable to the extreme. You want a father. They don't want to be like this. Kill him, and let them receive the only mercy they are now capable of accepting. Let their suffering end.

She shuffled around, but the corprus victim turned to keep his gaze locked on her. She half-expected it to chase after her, but it didn't, merely stood in place.

The next she encountered did nearly the same thing, with some difference. This victim was smaller, or at least not as bloated with corprus as the first had been, but he stared at her as she passed him just as the first one had. It seemed to shake, and then groan in some unseen agony. A moment later it coughed--sending a wretched looking (and smelling) black fluid from its mouth. She stopped--

It groaned, and lurched forward, clumsily grabbing at her, and she ran off before it could close a hand around anything. It wasn't until she rounded the next couple of corners that she realized she'd gotten turned around and had made a whole loop right back to where she was.

Another turn, ahead to the (correct) door this time, another set of victims, another set of sick eyes that fixed too keenly on her. It was almost worse than them attacking her, to have them simply watch. What was happening?

This is what he has done. He thinks it is helping them? He thinks this a gift? How can he not SEE?

Haj-deek wondered if her mother had thought the same thing.

On passing another corprus victim she thought, I have to make him see.

The absurdity of it made her laugh. Blood or not, who could make him do anything he didn't want to? For a moment she despaired of the thought - what made her think she could do anything about this? If her mother couldn't change his mind, how could she expect her own effort to be any different? And she hadn't even SEEN the man yet!

She saw another Dunmer woman, who seemed to take notice of her but said nothing as Haj-deek approached.

"Voryn?"

The voice was thick, muddled, like someone with a terrible cold or a tongue too thick but it was distinctly male.

"You're new here, aren't you?" the dunmer woman spoke, "My name is Uupse..."

"I'm here to see Yagrum Bagarn," she said quickly, "I...I was told Divath Fyr wanted to sample my blood, and that this...dwemer had the...the tools to get it out of me without injury."

She felt entirely wrong here, out of place. Everything felt sick here, even the air.

A heavy tk tk tk sounded off, and from out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadowed figure moving.

"No...my mind is playing tricks on me again...my weak eyes..."

Before her now appeared Yagrum Bagarn, bloated with corprus and entirely situated within what looked more like a contraption to give him spider's legs than anything else.

He stared at her, as the others had, but he had words to go along with the motion.

"I'm sorry, I thought for a moment you were someone else."

"You thought I was Voryn?"

Her father's name. Yes. And this dwemer, riddled with corprus, his mind blighted as all hell, had picked her face out just as Vivec had warned her might happen. Perhaps ten people in Morrowind that knew her face--her father's face.

"The resemblance is extraordinary," he said as he squinted at her, "Truly, I thought you...well. I heard you say you're here for the blood-collecting tools. I've got them here somewhere...Uupse. I hate to ask, but could I...have dinner a little earlier? I'll want to ask how this turns out with Divath Fyr and I know once I start speaking to him it'll last half the night and I won't want to eat."

Uupse nodded, and then looked to Haj-deek. "You--if you harm him, you will have ME to deal with."

"I won't!" she burst out, "I swear, I won't."

Uupse gave her a suspicious look, but moved away. Not until she was firmly out of earshot did Haj-deek speak to Yagrum again. And too eager for answers, she couldn't help but ask the most burning question in her mind at the moment.

"You knew my father?"

"Your FATHER!" Yagram burst out, and devolved very quickly into a fit of coughs that lasted a minute or two. "Now I know my senses fail me! Voryn has no--never had any children! And never a chance to do it, either!"

But after squinting at her a bit longer, his suspicion cleared.

"I suppose I MUST believe you," he said, "For that face - it is uncanny, how closely you resemble him. But I warn you, it is best not to spread such information around. You think those with corprus are treated poorly outside of Tel Fyr? You have seen nothing of what they would do to a natural daughter of one who blighted the land with the disease to begin with. Why are you really here, young one?"

"To see if there might be a way to..." Haj-deek gulped slightly, "To save him. Vivec said you knew him...well...before..."

"That I did. He was the first friend I ever made, your father. Brilliant man. Is that why you come to me? You want me to speak of him so you might know the man you will fell?"

"No, no, I--" she worked quickly, stumbling over nearly every word as if something were holding her back, "I--I want to--if it's possible, I want to fix him. Help him."

Another laugh. Another hacking cough.

"Excuse the laughter. How very like a Dagoth to tackle the impossible! But if anyone can help you, I can. Whatever you think you may get out of this..."

It was a spot of good news. It was something.

It was a start.

[tia-amorosa]

Sunset Died - Michael & Peter

Overcomings (Part 3)

One by one, the young people said goodbye to each other and made their way home. The adults also left after a short tour of the cemetery. Only Michael, his sister and Peter stayed a little longer. "Can I walk home already, Michael? It's not far"/ "All right… But make sure you don't fall". Bella smiled and waved to her brother, then ran home.

Michael was about to walk on when he noticed that Peter had stopped and stood by the fence. "Hey, aren't you coming with me?". Peter just smiled and shook his head. "mhmh…come here…"/"what…did you forget something?"/ "hnhn, no, I just wanted to wait until everyone had gone, now come here, okay?".

Michael went to him, completely unsuspecting. He thought Peter wanted to tell him something else. Instead… "Can I see your hands for a moment?"/ "… My hands? Why?"/ "They were quite nervous earlier when you were working with the spade. It almost fell out of your hand once." Michael looked to the side for a moment. He was a little surprised that Peter had apparently been watching him closely. He then hesitantly placed his hands in Peter's. "That's a bit weird …". Peter smiled at him "Because we're in a cemetery?".

"maybe…". Peter looked down at Michael's hands and stroked them with his thumbs "You were really brave today, you know that? I know your nerves were pretty raw today, if only because of VJ's stupid line…"/ "i… I've forgotten the stupid line again. It's… It's not because of him…"/ "And not because of your parents' deaths either, huh". Michael shook his head, but couldn't look him in the eye either.

Peter was still holding his hands, which were sweating with nervousness. Even the cool wind didn't help to change the situation. But it didn't matter. And it was time to overcome the biggest hurdle. Peter pulled him towards him by the hands and hugged him. just as Friend? No, it was more, and Michael felt it.

Michael held on to him, but the trembling didn't necessarily subside. "Are you scared?" Peter asked him quietly. "I'm… terrified, Peter…"/ "Of what? Of this or of the others?"/ "A bit of everything…". Peter stroked his back lovingly. "You don't have to, okay? Man, I'm paralyzed myself…, but somehow I like the condition and… this".

Michael broke off the embrace for a moment. And fiddled nervously with Peter's T-shirt instead. "I would have liked to have told you this morning in my room… But I couldn't…"/ "And I wasn't sure if my feelings were wrong. I've had… feelings for you all along, but never out of pity, okay?" Michael's nervousness turned into something else… excitement. "hh, oh man…".

Michael looked him in the eye for the first time. A deep look, with a mixture of fear and desire. Peter knew what he wanted at that moment, and yes, it was pretty weird to kiss for the first time in a cemetery. But it was so wonderful to block it out after you'd gotten everything off your chest.

After they had kissed, Michael looked at him seriously. "Please… Don't tell anyone, okay?"/ "I won't tell anyone until we both know whether it's okay for us or not. Let's go on our trip next week and then we'll see. what do you think?". Michael nodded and stroked his face briefly. "so then… I'll take you home now, or do you want to spend the night here?"/ "uh, no…".

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

End of this Part

@greenplumbboblover 🙂 @danjaley😁

Poses by polarjennyfox. She did some great story poses many years ago. They are stored on my external hard disk in the pose archive in the folder "Destination". I can't remember how I came up with this name. But that way I can always find them easily^^. And I use her poses incredibly often because they always fit everywhere. Thank you for these great poses.

[david3096]

I wrote a new fic Parksborn! It's kind of like a present to myself for my birthday which is today. You might be interested to read it in AO3 and I leave a preview below.

I don't know where to begin, Harry. So I am forcing myself to start, Maybe, this way I will find the words for everything I want to say to you. I'm writing this on paper, it's much more tiring but I feel it will have much more effect on my mind and my words.

I had a lot of time to plan this, to put in order everything I wanted to tell you, everything you make me feel, but just now when I think that in a few hours I will be in front of you and I will read this to you, I don't know where the hell to start.

I think the simplest and most sincere thing to do is to tell you that I love you. That's where I want to start. I love you and I will always love you, Harold. Even if you hate that name and even if you sometimes say I'm too cheesy to tell you so many times that I love you.

Do you remember the day we met? I know you'll probably think this is going too early, but I promise you it's important.

It was a day in August, I don't remember which one exactly but it was our first day of school, both fourteen year olds. Science class, I, as usual, arrived almost at the end, but because it was the first day of school I managed not to be late.

Some students were already seated at the lab tables, others were alone, I was going to walk to the last table in the room, the last thing I wanted was to be in front of everyone and draw attention.

As soon as I took my second step in the direction of the table, I turned my face a little and saw you. You were all dressed up, wearing a green sweater, formal pants and shoes that looked way more expensive than all the money I could make in my entire life. You were wearing a black hat that was quite out of place with your clothes and made you look much more rebellious and flashy. When our eyes met you smiled at me and with your hand you patted the chair next to you, inviting me to sit with you.

My first instinct was to ignore you, but there was something about you, in the way you smiled at me and your cheeks flushed a little. In how you had that good boy look but eyes and smile that seemed pure evil. Now, almost twelve years after that, I can understand that I sat next to you because I fell in love at first sight.

I hadn't even finished sitting down when you started filling me with questions, my name, my favorite band, my favorite weather, my favorite month. I answered every single one of your questions, I was surprised and laughed at the amount of words that could come out of your mouth. The bell rang and it wasn't long before Professor Harrington arrived.

The first thing he did was roll call and that's when it dawned on me that I didn't have the decency to ask you your name. You looked nervous, but tried to smile at me as I listened to each name and thought it was yours.

Then the teacher said Harold Osborn and I, like an idiot, turned to look around the room. Why on earth would the son of one of the city's most famous millionaires come to study at a public school? Surely he must be someone with amazing looks, expensive clothes and an arrogant countenance because he thought he owned the world.

You said here and I turned to look at you too quickly. You looked embarrassed and I couldn't say anything to you because the professor was literally in front of us.

Your smile disappeared completely and that cheerful, sweet and calm vibe that you transmitted to me was gone. At that moment I wanted to tell you so many things too, but I didn't know what. You had done nothing wrong, you just had the good or bad fortune to be born a millionaire.

Professor Harrington had us do some activities together, you didn't talk much, only what was necessary to finish the little experiment of the first day of school.

At the end of the class the professor told us that our table partner would be our partner for the rest of the year, so we had this week to decide. At that moment you looked at me again, this time with fear or caution and told me that I could change partners if I wanted to.

I looked at you, confused and told you that I wouldn't change lab partners because I was already partners with my best friend. You smiled again and I think you thought I was crazy for saying you were my best friend, but you looked happy again and that was all I cared about.

[just-some-random-blogger]

Hello, I recently read one of your Morpheus fic and I really like it🤭 and I'm hoping to make a request, where reader is also an immortal like Hob and have been friends with Dream but reader loves him (but dream doesn't know that) but then dream goes falling in love with all these other people and starting to spend less time and forget about reader then they snap and finally confessed (like the scene in little women, where Amy admitted to laurry "not when I spent My entire life loving you") and reader leaves and avoids/hides from dream. After many years he finally found reader again and they reconcile and get together. Angst then fluff in the end✨

Sorry this is such a long message, I hope you are doing well, thank you✨

Through The Dark

Dream of the Endless x Immortal!Reader

Summary: It took a chance encounter with Dream of the Endless for him to realize you had been missing in his life.

Word Count: 2k+

Warnings: I invented Keeper of Knowledge lol, gender neutral!reader, i stole that one line from Doctor Strange, angst, typos, etc.

A/N: I'm so pleased you like my work, nonnie. As you should 💅 PURR THANK YOU MY LOVE IT GENUINELY MEANS A LOT TO HEAR THAT EVEN THOUGH I KEEP GIVING THE SAME REPLY TO IT I SWEAR MY HEART GOES BOOM. It took a while for me to get back to your req cos of my homework but LOL I FINISHED ALL MY ASSINGMENTS NOW (im kinda upset at myself cos i settled with MID-ness but anyway at least im done.) Also, don't worry about long messages 🫶🫶 I love long messages. I remember when I saw this in my inbox I was like OOOOH GOOD SOUP AN ANGST REQ, but you gotta know, if you ask for angst, i wont feel like giving you any bit of fluff HAHAHAAHAHAHAH 🫶 Also i highly suggest you listen to this song. I fell in love with it because of her cover on tiktok she is so amazing i love her. it's honestly too lovely for this fic, but in my head this is how reader feels or felt for dream, and how he'll eventually realize he feels towards reader. no i will not make a p2 Tagging: @pinksirensong @deniixlovezelda @shadow-pancake9

It had been 10 minutes since the start of their wait. Johanna was unfazed, but Dream was growing impatient. So much in fact, it was really grinding her gears, "aren't you literally endless?" She dusts off her coat for no reason, "how can you be so impa-"

"I find the wait unnecessary," Dream interrupts.

"Well, we're not the only who wants their time."

"Yes. But must you insist on waiting for-"

"There is only one Keeper of Knowledge that I trust," Johanna snaps at Dream from the bench they were sat next to, "and that's-"

"Constantine," I smile, then I don't. I watch as Johanna stands, along with-

"My keeper," she smiles as she releases a breath. She notices where my attentions were then looks between us, "oh, right. Thi-"

The both of us speaking each other's names cut her off.

"Oh," Johanna says, "so, you're already acquainted," she purses her lips, "an unfortunate fate."

"It has been long since we've met," Dream speaks with familiarity. The richness of his voices makes my chest constrict. The telltale glassiness of his dazzling blue eyes makes his gaze unbearable.

"Yes, it-"

"Too long," he steps forward.

My pulse quickens. What was he doing?

Johanna turns from me to Dream, her face contorts at his expression. "Right," she says, not knowing what else to. She grabs my arm, "I need to check the archives on logs for mystic artifacts."

I turn to Johanna, doing my best to ignore Dream altogether, although he has moved too close to my taste. I offer her a soft smile, "of course."

Johanna smiles back, releasing me.

"I assume you have your pass now?"

For a moment, she measures my words. She taps her foot then crosses her arms. She releases a breath, "that's cold. You know they haven't released it yet."

I shrug, shaking my head, "I don't make the rules."

"I am her pass," Dream states, making the both of us turn to him.

My stomach begins to roll. A flush of memories of him spring up in my mind. I will them away in silence.

Dream tilts his head up proudly, "you would dare not deny the King of Dreams and Nightmares knowledge he himself has imparted to your collection."

I watch the corner of his lips curve. He was jesting, although at it's core, his words were sincere. My brows furrow at this. It was not like him to egg people on... there must be another reason why he was acting out of character.

Johanna nods and points, "what he said."

I sigh, turning from him to her before walking away. When they do not follow, I look over my shoulder and knit my brows, "well, are you two just gonna stand there?"

The three of us then make it deeper into the place. I lead them into one of the atriums and greet a few other keepers along the way.

Once we make it to the relatively unvisited area, I stop in my tracks and turn to Johanna, trying hard not to look at Dream. I motion to my right, calling their attention to the sign, "this is the area for ancient and obsolete artifacts."

Johanna's wide eyes take in the room. I know Dream keeps his gaze upon me.

"Knowing you, Constantine," I lick my lips, "I lead you a bit deeper into the archive. This is where weaponry starts."

"Brilliant," she notes, moving off to start her hunt.

I add with a huff, "also knowing you, I'd ask if you could be a bit more specific, but-"

"That's why I like you," she says as she pulls out one of the files, "you don't ask stupid questions."

Had it just been the two of us, I would have rolled my eyes at her like I always did. But the feel of Dream staring at me made me want to scream, and so I catch myself before I do something I would regret.

"I'll leave you to it then," I mutter, before making the grave mistake of checking Dream's expression. The pleased undertone of his face made me sick. I turn to my side when Johanna calls, "thanks a billion, babe."

I forfeit a response.

I push past him, sucking in a breath as I make it down the hall.

I feel my spirit grow lighter with every step I take that brings me farther away from him.

And yet I begin to feel stuffy all over again.

I gasp when someone grabs my hand.

I turn over and find Dream holding me. His face was soft, his lips were parted as though he had something to say but forgot it.

I am frozen in my spot. The feel of his hand in mine burns.

When he speaks my name, like an ancient call that had been forgotten, I snap out of my trance and recoil my hand

His expression twitches at it.

"How can I help you, my lord?'"

Dream presses his lips at the sound. He appreciated the reverence, the acknowledgment, but he was not 'my lord', he was Dream.

"You may call me Dream," he says.

My brows raise in bewilderment.

His expression slips because of it and quickly adds, "it has been a while since we last shared company, but I assure you, I am not fickle; change is a momentous occurrence for me. My feelings for you has not faded through time."

Feelings.

"Yes," Dream nods, "my feelings."

I clench my jaw shut. My blood rises up my neck when I realize I said that out loud.

My breathing is taxed when I shake my head, "what do you want?"

His brows knit at the sudden harshness of my tone.

I heave, mentally cursing myself for being so translucent.

In the silence that thickens between us, Dream's expression begins to shift when he tries to find reason to my words. He allows himself to relax slightly, "I wanted to ask how you have been."

My jaw slacks.

"You look well, as always," he places his hands behind his back, "but I know better than to assume one's temperament, especially when I have experienced some world bending things in the past century."

I am dumbfounded by his words, and it is suddenly clear to me why he was acting like this, why he was acting like nothing had happened between us. He looked at me like this because he does not remember our last meeting. My broken and bloody confession. I chuckle bitterly, and he says his feelings have not changed. He has forgotten me.

I don't know what hurts more, that he is treating me with such friendly indifference in spite our unsavory final conversation, or that fact he blocked out the memory from his being altogether.

"Are you stupid?" I mutter under my breath.

I was unsure if I wanted him to hear me when I said it, but hear me he did. It was clear with how his face contorted.

I grip my hands as I feel my throat constrict, "or perhaps," my voice breaks as it gets a level louder, "you're only heartless."

Dream tilts his head as anger laces his features. He speaks my name as though it was a warning, confused, insulted.

"We're not friends, Dream," I quip, feeling my emotions betray me when my eyes fog with tears. I helplessly mumble, "we were barely even lovers."

The sound of my breathing makes nips at him.

I knit my brows and grip my hands, "your feelings for me don't exist," I shake my head, "not in the way you think."

His brows tighten. He steps forward, calling my name.

It sends me reeling. I shake my head quicker, "you do not feel for me! You didn't then, and you surely don't now."

"And how have you come to this conclusion?" Dream demands coldly.

"BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME SO!" I whisper-yell harshly, voice choking when tears begin to fall from my eyes. Dream's face drops. I laugh at myself, "and you've clearly forgotten it all after being imprisoned."

His face ticks at the mention. There is a darkness that flashes behind his eyes as he stares at me. He tightens in anger, it is palpable. Then all at once he is broken; he is ashamed.

My heart hurts for him, even still, after all this time. It's as though I am hearing the news all over again for the first time.

I grab his sleeve as I step forward. I turn to our feet because I cannot turn to him.

He perks at the sentiment, but it is fleeting when his gaze is not met.

"There was not a day that went by that I did not pray for your freedom."

When I find the courage to meet Dream's gaze, I cannot stop myself from catching his face and wiping his tears. To see him broken in front of me was torment. I knew well his reclusion to emotions, so to have him so vulnerable before my very eyes was a humbling experience.

It dawns unto me that in this very moment, I was doing the very thing I have always wanted. I was holding him in my hands. He was pouring himself out to me. And yet I did not want it.

Dream ghosts his hands on top of mine as his tear-laced lashes droop down.

"I hoped that you would find strength from my calls," I offer him a soft smile, "even though my musings are infinitesimal to your being."

He grips my hands, "that has no truth."

"Hasn't it?" I chuckle dryly, "you didn't even hear me."

His brows tighten further, "I was trapped. I could not hear anyone."

My heart breaks at his words, at his attempt to soothe me, to soothe himself, "we both know that isn't true."

I pull away from him, but he holds me back, calling my name.

"Dream," I mutter, "you have muddled your affections with familiarity. Your feelings now are just of that-- you are happy to see a face you have not seen in centuries."

He disagrees, "I am happy to see you because..."

When his words run dry, my heart is staked. My face contorts just as his does. He finally gets it.

I pull away from him and step back.

He does not like this. He watches me as I rub my face and offer a sad smile, "it's ok. I'm glad you remember now."

"No," he quips, "you are my friend."

I laugh.

I genuinely laugh.

Because it is ridiculous. It's pure ridicule. It's pure tomfoolery.

Yet as I gaze upon him, I find only sincerity written on him. It is maddening.

My lungs deflate, "maybe I was once... before I tore my heart out to you." I continue to step away from him.

Once I get too far, he begins making up for the space between us.

He raises a hand warily, "don't."

I shake my head, "I've spent too much time watching you fall in and out of love, wondering when I could have my chance because I know," I stab my finger into the air, "I'd never let you go-- would never hurt you."

He says nothing, there is nothing to say. He matches his strides with mine.

"You can't make me go through all that again. I won't let you."

When he says my name the next time, Johanna screams it as well from across the expanse, making me jolt.

For a moment, we are both frozen in our spot.

Johanna does not appreciate the silence. "KEEPER!" she calls, "I DON'T MEAN TO ALERT YOU, BUT I THINK I JUST BROKE SOMETHING."

I let out an exasperated breath. I run my hands through my hair, "Johanna!"

"WHAT? IT'S LIKE A MILLION YEARS OLD, YOU CAN'T BLAME THIS ON ME."

"Those documents are renewed every year!" I call off to the distance.

"..."

I huff and move past Dream.

I shove him off when he grabs my arm.

"Please," I offer him one last look, "enough of this."

He releases me, against himself, then mutters, "I do not want you to forsake me like the others."

My insides flare at his words. How dare he say this to me.

"I cannot forsake you, my lord," I say to him, although I do not spare him another glace, "because you have not had me for a long time in the first place."

I am undeterred by the flickering lights when I begin to make my way back to Johanna.

Once she catches sight of me, she rushes forward. "You can't make them hold back my pass b-" Johanna cuts herself off when she sees my face.

I sniffle and grab the ripped piece of paper from her hands. I look past her to see if she damaged anything else.

When I catch her face, she silently looks at me in concern.

I rub my nose on my shoulder, "work hazard."

Johanna's eyes dart away. Dream is there, looming in the background. It doesn't take a genius to put one and two together.

Her lips press into a line before she speaks, "like I said," she tilts her head, "an unfortunate fate."