#he really just picked some of his old pals huh

[mypoisonedvine]

𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 | emmett x reader

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 | after being rescued from your captors, tension grows between you and the man that killed to save you.

𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 | nearly 11K (?!?! WTF?)

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 | smut (18+ only!!), angst, kind of a slow burn?, age gap (reader is twenty, emmett is late forties), pining, voyeurism, dark themes (slavery/kidnapping, discussions of noncon and loss, but emmett is not dark he's nice!!), traumatized reader (and emmett, let's be real, nobody's not traumatized here), violence (use of guns) and minor character death

This was where you waited— at his feet.  Every deal, every ‘business meeting’, every mission report, you sat there on the floor beside his legs.  He wanted everyone else to know your place just as much as you did.

Living with smugglers and looters like this was a rough life— but the man who bought you, Paul (though you only knew his name from hearing others speak to him) insisted you had a better life in here as his ‘pet’ than out there running missions for him, finding valuables to barter and sell.  Considering there were plenty of missions that not everyone made it back from, you knew he kind of had a point.

But even so, it didn’t exactly feel luxurious being a man’s property.  You’d been looked at like a thing, like less than human, like a piece of meat since you got here; and you’d been here just long enough to get really used to it.  You sat here on the floor while Paul, his men, and his customers stood or at least sat on chairs.

That was why it felt so different, so shocking, when he looked at you.  The man that came today, to trade with Paul.  He was lean and gaunt, it was obvious even with his heavy layers of clothes; he had long hair on his head and face, but his icy stare pierced through… and it was concentrated on you from the moment he stepped into the smugglers’ compound.

He didn’t say anything, even when one of Paul’s men shut the bunker door and it was safe to talk— he didn’t react much on his face, either, staying stoic and flat.  But it was obvious that you had his attention, even your ‘owner’ noticed that.  

“Just bought her,” Paul explained with a proud grin as he tightened his grip on your wrist; you winced slightly.  “Slavers picked her up just past the lake, she’d been camping out there for not even a week… don’t know where she was hiding before that.  Isn’t she cute?”

You figured that was why he brought you here— to show you off.  You, like the guards at either end of the room and by the door, were a symbol of Paul’s power.  The other man just looked away from you, and back at Paul.  “Can we get to business?” he asked in a rough voice.

“Of course,” Paul replied with that customer service smile of his, dropping your wrist which you held yourself right away.  “You’ve got a few extra guns, and we have some extra cans of food— good shit, too, not just soggy old veggies.  Or, maybe we can throw in some medical supplies, if you have ammo for those weapons,” Paul explained, gesturing to the table of goods for trade.  “Whaddaya think?”

The man was silent, looking blankly ahead at the cans and boxes before him.  “How much for her?” he asked suddenly, lowly.

Your heart stopped for a moment; feeling the man’s gaze run over you, you looked away and pressed your lips together.  “Oh, she caught your eye, huh?” Paul purred.  “Sorry, pal— not for sale.  But the folks I bought her from had a couple other girls, how’s about I tell them where to find you and they can strike up a deal of their own?”

The man shook his head.  “Her.  I want her.”

Paul did that thing he did where he sat up straighter, and dropped his smile; you bit down on your lip to hide a whimper, because you got very fucking scared whenever he did that.  “If you’re not interested in what’s available, you’d better just leave now and keep your guns, old man.”

He paused for a moment, nodding in acceptance.  “Alright,” he said, “I think I will.”

He held tighter onto his gun, looking down at it for a moment.

“After all, this thing’s pretty damn useful.”

It was only a couple seconds of pure chaos.  He shot Paul first, then stood up and took down all three men in the back of the room— one of them pulled his pistol fast enough to fire back, but he missed, and in a split-second he was on the ground with the others.  You screamed, covering your head with your hands; your ears were ringing, and your whole body shook with shivers as you dared to glance over at the bleeding, lifeless bodies just a few feet away.

“C’mon,” the man said— it took you a half-second to realize he was talking to you, even though you were the only other living person in the room, “grab what you can.  We need to run.”

We.  He just killed them all, like it was nothing… for you.  And now you were a we?

Shuddering, you could only shake your head.  “N-no, no,” you choked out, whining when he grabbed you and yanked you to your feet; you could hear the commotion outside the room, it wouldn’t be long before someone from one of the nearby bunkers came to investigate the gunshots.  

“They’re coming, and they’ll kill us both,” he growled at you, far too close to your face, and you felt your lip quivering.  “Help me carry this shit and let’s go.”

~

It was a long walk back to… wherever he was taking you.  Since you ran from the compound with your stolen supplies, you obviously hadn’t said anything to each other— you’d barely even looked at him, for some reason you were scared to.  

The only interaction you’d had since you started your trek was when he noticed you shivering, and stopped to take off his jacket and give it to you; considering all you were wearing was a baggy old t-shirt and socks, it helped a lot against the chilly gusts of wind.  It was awkward in the silence, not being able to reject the jacket or even thank him for it, so you just nodded as he slipped it on you.  It was baggy even on him so it fit you even more awkwardly, but it made your shivers soothe instantly.

He guided you on the trail, keeping his gun close by, and eventually you came to some kind of processing plant; with what little you knew about manufacturing, your glances around the factory made you guess it was once a metallurgy building.  Now it was abandoned, and as you climbed down the ladder he pointed you towards, you realized he was taking you right into some horrible small space— with a massive iron door.  You hesitated, but he silently gestured you forward; your heart raced, knowing you had no chance of escape from a place like that.  Not that you ever really stood a chance of escape from someone as capable as he had proved himself to be so far— but the idea of going into that little room with him made you feel a bit sick.  It reminded you of your first day with Paul, of having all your freedom and dignity torn away, and you wondered if this was all just the beginning of another cycle: out of the frying pan, into the fire.

But you had no choice: you stepped forward, crawling into the little nook, and he followed behind you and shut the large round door.

It was pitch black for a moment, and you felt a sort of primal fear— would he really do this here, in complete darkness— would he really force himself on you?  You tried to scoot as far away as you could, until a hard wall hit your back; but you knew there was nothing you could do to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to you now, and you closed your eyes in hopes he wouldn’t be cruel.  But within a few seconds, he’d taken out a camping lantern and opened it, filling the room with a sort of speckled white light, and you opened your eyes slowly.

“Are you okay?” he asked first, and you weren’t sure how to answer that.  “My name’s Emmett,” he informed you quietly.  “Don’t… you don’t need to worry, alright?  I won’t hurt you.”

You shrunk away slightly, holding your legs to your chest.  Paul had said the same thing, but then again, he’d never actually said it like he meant it.  In fact, what he’d said exactly was I won’t hurt you if you behave.  And he still did.  Because he could.

“I don’t wanna— I won’t do anything with ya,” Emmett explained, and you could’ve sworn you saw a slight blush above that long beard.  “Just couldn’t leave that place knowing you were there, against your will and all… it’s not right, keeping people like that, keeping girls…”

You looked away, eventually giving him a small nod as a response.  You wanted to believe him, he sounded genuine, but you weren’t ready to trust a stranger you saw kill four men so casually.  

“Mind tellin’ me your name?” he encouraged softly.

You mumbled it into your arms into the fabric of the old t-shirt which still smelled like the prison he’d broken you out of. 

“What’s that, sweetheart?” he pressed.

You said it again, louder, and he smiled a bit at you; you smiled back, too, but it was partially hidden by the tattered shirt’s sleeve.

“Pretty,” he said.  “M’gonna keep you safe here, alright?  I-I mean, you don’t have to stay here.  You can go back wherever you want, I just… I figure you might end up where I found you again if you go out there on your own.  No offense.”

You nodded; you weren’t cut out for making it on your own out there, you weren’t too proud to admit that.  You used to run with a group of survivors, which made it much easier to get by, but you’d been naive enough to think you could reject the group leader’s advances without suffering consequences: they left you in the night, without a word, and you only made it one more day on your own before getting captured by slavers.  That felt like a lifetime ago now, like stories that happened to a whole other person, but it wasn’t actually that long— Paul bought you a few weeks ago at most.  Still, those few weeks had changed you as a person, and you went from being terrified of being alone to being terrified of everyone else.  Maybe you were still an impossible mix of both…

“I have a decent set-up here… some food and water, a little more since we took some from your old friends back there,” he chuckled nervously.  “And, uh, you can sleep in here… sorry it’s so small, never really planned to share it… I— I can find another place to sleep if this isn’t enough room—“

“Why are you doing this?” you interrupted, and he seemed startled to hear you talk so much.  

“Huh?”

“Why are you doing this?” you asked again. “For me?  I mean… you don’t know me.”

“Well, I could,” he shrugged, “you could tell me about you.”

“But why did you save me?”

“I said so already, I couldn’t leave you there with those men.  Young girl stuck in that place, just about the worst thing I can imagine…”

“M’not that young,” you protested, “I’m twenty.”

He smiled a little.  “Of course.  Sorry.”

You sighed, relaxing slightly, and he seemed to lower his own shoulders as well. 

“You seem tired,” he noticed.  “It was a long walk.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I used to be able to walk a long way, but I lost my stamina— I wasn’t really going very far when I was there, you know…”

“I’m sure,” Emmett agreed.  “You hungry?  We could eat something.”

“Um, maybe…” you mumbled nervously.  You felt nervous to ask for anything of him— like he might ask you for something in return.  It wouldn’t be absurd of him to expect some kind of repayment for saving you; but if he expected that, then he wouldn’t be much of a savior after all.

“I saw granola bars in one of the bags we took,” he said.  “Sometimes I still get nervous, opening something crinkly like that— but nothing can hear us in here, I promise.  You’re safe.”

You hesitated before nodding; safe.  That sounded nice.  Now you just had to convince yourself it was true.

~

You’d noticed him looking at you a lot this evening, while you were both preparing dinner; you tried not to react to it.  He kept glancing at you, just for a moment, like he thought you wouldn’t notice.  You just kept focusing on the work at hand— peeling an orange— and tried not to think about why he kept looking at you.  Maybe he had something to say, but that would be odd since he usually didn’t.  Maybe you were doing this wrong somehow, or he was jealous that you were going to eat that fruit as an appetizer before the real meal.

Or maybe he just found you appeeling!  

You snorted a little involuntarily, amused by your own joke, and he looked at you again.  “You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” you mumbled, fighting a smile as you shook your head.  “It’s nothing.”

And the silence continued.  Even for a time when most everyone was quiet by necessity, Emmett was quiet.  He had this special place, somewhere safe enough to talk, but he didn’t often utilize that privilege; or at least, he hadn’t since you got here a few days ago, but there wouldn’t have been anyone to talk to before then.  You figured he just didn’t have a lot to say— and it’s not like you were some kind of conversation queen either.  You didn’t ask about him or his life before this, even though you were actually pretty curious: you just watched him, and if he noticed, he didn’t react to it.  This was the first time he seemed to be returning some of that attention.

“You can talk about it, if you want,” he suggested suddenly, making you furrow your brow a bit.

“About what?” you asked, not taking your eyes off your orange in progress, but you knew already what he meant.

“About how you came to be where I found you,” he said.  “Don’t have to— I wouldn’t wanna talk about it, if I was you— but if you do… I just want you to know you can tell me.”

You shrugged, keeping yourself from looking up at him.  “Why do you wanna know?”

“I don’t,” he insisted.  “But sometimes I can tell you’re thinking about it.”

Swallowing thickly, you looked away; here you were, wearing the clothes he’d given you, living in his ‘home’, surviving off of him.  On paper, it was the same as it had been before— that’s why you were thinking about it.  But it was night and day: Paul gave you rags to wear, if that, and Emmett had you in his own clothes— comfy plaids and knitted sweaters that smelled shockingly good for any apocalypse survivor; Emmett had a few creature comforts here, art and decent food and pillows… Paul’s bunker was exactly as flat and rigid and cold as the word ‘bunker’ indicates; and surviving with Emmett felt the most like real living since you were with your old group— though you knew them infinitely better.

“But we don’t have to—” he began again, shaking his head like he regretted the whole idea.

“Who are those pictures of?” you asked, interrupting him.

“Pictures…” he mumbled.

“The ones you hid,” you said, “or tried to hide.  Drawings, paintings—”

“You shouldn’t have been looking there,” he said firmly, looking down.

“I know,” you breathed, “but you were gone— I was bored—”

“Gone getting you food,” he reminded you, pointing with his knife— don’t worry, he was just peeling a potato with it— to the orange in your hand.

“Us,” you corrected, “we’re both eating.  And I’m sorry… you don’t have to tell me, either.  We can just have another quiet dinner.”

He paused before sighing a bit, looking at you and then back to his half-peeled vegetable.  “My sons,” he said quietly.  “Those are my sons.  Were my sons…”

“I know,” you whispered, and he looked at you quizzically.  “I could tell, I mean— you have that look in your eyes, I knew you’d lost someone.”

He shrugged.  “Everyone lost someone.  Some lost everyone.”

You almost found the energy to smile, but it came out more like pressing your lips together.  “Yeah,” you agreed.  “They kinda look like you, in the pictures.  You’re talented.”

“Oh, I didn’t draw them,” he scoffed, “no way— I couldn’t draw a circle.  It was my wife.”

Why did you get a little pit in your stomach when he said that.  “You’re married?”

“Uh huh,” he nodded, “but she— um, she passed.  Not too long ago.  Well… I guess a few months is a while ago.  But it still feels new.”

You nervously looked down at the orange in your hands, peeling off the last strip of skin and picking off a few white chunks of pith here and there.  Not sure what to say, you simply pulled a segment off of the rest and reached over with it, offering it to him.  “Here,” you said, and he looked at the piece of fruit in your hand before looking at you.

“No, s’fine,” he shook his head, “I’ll eat when dinner’s ready.”

“Come on,” you insisted, shaking it a little as if that would make it more enticing.  “You’re working up an appetite peeling the spuds.  Just have a few.”

Finally, he relented.  “Thanks,” he said, taking it and putting it in his mouth.  He chewed for a moment, working on the potato still, but he talked a bit around it just before he swallowed.  “You don’t have kids, do you?”

You shook your head, laughing.  “No, do I seem old enough for that?”

“No,” he agreed, “but you know— stuff happens.”

“I wanted them someday,” you admitted, “but no.  I actually, uh… I was pretty nervous about getting pregnant in the bunker…”

He swallowed, for more than just the orange.  Looking at you, you found his stare somehow both intimidating and comforting.

“I shouldn’t complain too much,” you shook your head, “he wasn’t that bad.  He was more interested in showing me off to others than actually doing too much when we were alone.”

“You shouldn’t complain too much about being a sex slave to a smuggler?” he repeated incredulously, like he was offended on your behalf by what you had said.

“I was just a trophy,” you shrugged, “I was the most expensive thing he owned.  It was all business with him: he wanted you— you know, anybody who bought from him— to know he was capable of that.  Of owning somebody.  And, um… that only happened twice.  Once the first night, and then, um… well—”

“You don’t have to say,” he offered you softly.  “It’s okay if you just never wanna think about him again.  I certainly sleep better at night knowing I turned his head inside out.”

You smiled a little, even though the image of that still haunted you.  “No, it’s fine.  I think it’s easier to just treat it like anything else.  Like, one time I broke my arm, one time my pet cat died, one time this gang captured me and sold me to a trader in exchange for pills and pickles— just something that happened that I hated and now… now it’s over.”

Now I’m safe.  You could talk about it because you finally believed that Emmett wouldn’t put you through it again.  When you looked at him, he smiled at you a little; you popped a piece of the orange into your mouth.

“S’good,” you mumbled as you chewed, giving him another piece and feeling the tips of his fingers just barely brush yours as he accepted it.

~

A few days later, he did the same thing: interrupted your silent meal with a sudden interjection.  “Y’ever shot a gun before?” he asked, and you awkwardly shook your head.  He sighed.  “Alright, well, you should learn.  Case something happens.”

“Guns don’t work on those things,” you noticed.

“They work on people,” he replied.  “And you’ve had a lot more trouble with them.”

You shrugged, certainly in no place to deny that.  “Guns are loud,” you reminded him.

“A little noise is worth it,” Emmett promised, “if it’s you or them.  And if you’re not packing, then it’ll be you.  You need to learn.”

Not if I have you with me, you almost blurted out.  Thankfully, you stopped yourself and nodded in agreement instead.

“I’ll teach you up there,” he gestured towards the world above with a quick tilt of his head, “unloaded.  Obviously.”

Going up to the surface was a strange feeling.  You hadn’t felt this safe anywhere since this global nightmare began, honestly, and you were almost spoiled by it now— here, with Emmett, you were sure that nothing would come to harm you.  But up there?  You knew, logically, that it was usually alright as long as you kept quiet, but you were pretty fucking quiet when the slavers found you.

Even being down here alone gave you the smallest tinge of anxiety— that someone might find you and steal you while Emmett was out foraging— and you never navigated the forest alone.  You had the feeling that Emmett was teaching you to use a gun so that you could do just that, but it didn’t sound worth it to be away from him.

But, you had to admit, you sort of enjoyed the lessons.

He stood behind you, wrapping you up in his arms as he corrected your stance.  Out here, he had to speak under his breath beside your ear, and it made chills run up your spine.  “Align the sights,” he told you, tapping the small metal divot on top of the pistol.  

You nodded, shutting one eye tight and trying to aim better; adjusting your head to get the right stance just pushed you up against his shoulder more, and you tried not to lean back into him.

“Pull the trigger when you’re ready,” he instructed; he was barely making any sound at all, more shaping a breath around his words than really speaking.

Even knowing it wouldn’t go off, you started to shrink away as you pulled the trigger; it was heavier than you expected, forcing you to strain to turn the revolver.

“Don’t flinch,” he warned.  “Stay steady.”

You still did, a little bit, but you calmed yourself with a breath and tried not to pre-emptively react: when you finally pulled the trigger all the way, the revolver turned with a click, but that was it.  

“Good,” he said simply.

“How can you know?” you asked.  “Without shooting anything—”

“You’re not using a bullet for practice,” he reminded you with a frown.

“I know, I know— I just mean, how can you know I would’ve hit what I was aiming at?”

“As long as these line up,” he replied as he touched the sights again, “and you don’t flinch, you will.”

You nodded, hoping that was enough, but then he took the revolver and took his shotgun off of his back.  “I— I can’t shoot that thing—”

“Yes you can,” he promised, shaking his head dismissively.  “The rifle— you can’t shoot that.  That requires a steady hand.”

You rolled your eyes, but you were shaking as you took the shotgun from him, so you couldn’t exactly deny it.  And, furthermore, the whole point of the sniper rifle was to get things that were far away… you were only planning to use these things if something got too close.

~

A lot of things had gotten more natural with Emmett— you talked sometimes, you ate together, he even let you come with him on trips out sometimes.  But one thing that never really changed was how weird it was to sleep beside him; what did change was why it was weird.

From the beginning, you couldn’t sleep unless you knew where he was.  Even if you couldn’t fully trust him then, you still had that anxiety of being abandoned in the night like you had before you were captured; for better or for worse, Emmett was obviously tough enough to protect you and was the only thing between you and certain death or enslavement out there in the world.

As a result, he’d been sleeping beside you, just to get you to stop waking up in cold sweats as often.  And now that you trusted him and knew him a little better, you expected it to be easier to sleep with him there… if anything, you were getting less sleep than ever.

You were struggling to understand why— or maybe you were just struggling to accept it— but having him right beside you all night kept you up, kept your heart beating fast, kept you listening to the sound of his breathing instead of just focusing on your own.

At least tonight, you could blame it on the cold.  You both had on several layers, but it was pretty much impossible to keep a space like this warm— underground, uninsulated— and it was only getting colder since the sun set.

"Chilly," you announced as you pulled the blankets up higher, and Emmett hummed in agreement.  That was the extent of your bravery, you couldn't bring yourself to ask him outright if he'd move a little closer so you could share some heat.

You waited a few minutes, wondering if he was already asleep, and then reached towards him in the dark; but when your hand brushed against him, he shrugged it away.  Turning his back to you, he seemed to huddle up a little bit more as if shrinking away from you, and you sighed.

“You don’t have to be so far,” you whispered, and he sighed.  

“Yes, I do,” he insisted, stern yet soft-spoken.

“Please, Emmett, it’s cold…”

“I know, sweetheart, I just… I wanna do right by ya, that’s all,” he sighed.  

“There’s nothing wrong with holding me to warm up,” you sighed.  “I mean, it’s not like you’re… thinking about anything else.”

“Of course,” he choked, “okay, fine, if you’re cold… c’mere, then.”

You wiggled your way closer as he rolled onto his back, sighing when you felt how warm he was even through his clothes.  Pressing your head to his chest, you heard his breath catch as you lifted your leg to drape over his, trying to get him as close as possible.

He seemed to hesitate first, but then he relaxed slightly and rested his arms around your back.  

It had been a long time since someone held you like this.  You sunk into his arms, loving how it felt to be pressed into him, and you let out a little hum of satisfaction as your shivers went away and his warmth began to absorb.

He seemed tense beneath you at times, and you feared that doing this would keep him from sleeping; but, frankly, you were desperate enough for your own sleep that you weren’t planning on worrying too much about his… you quite literally didn’t plan on losing any sleep over it.

It was impossible to say how long you'd been asleep— you weren't even fully awake yet— but when you started to stir, you felt him shifting under you.  But you were taken from half-consciousness into pure lucidity when you felt a harder, hotter shape against your inner thigh; didn't take a detective to figure out he had an erection.  You shouldn't have reacted, you realized it a second too late, but you had to gasp when you felt it— mostly because it seemed quite thick even though his pajama trousers—

“I’m sorry,” he breathed right away.

"It's okay," you assured, but he kept going.

“I can’t help it— I don’t mean anything by it, I just… I’m only a man.”

“It’s okay,” you repeated softly, though your face had never felt so hot.  “I understand, it’s normal—“

He started to pull away, and you whined as you grabbed at his shoulders.

“Wait, you don’t have to go,” you gasped, “I won’t be able to sleep…”

“Well, it’s never gonna go away with you pressed up to me!” he grunted.  “C’mon, sweetheart, gimme a chance here…”

“I really don’t mind it, Emmett—“

"I do," he snapped.  "You're young— younger than you realize."

"I'm grown," you promised, but he peeled you off of him and turned away.

"Go to sleep," he demanded.

"But—"

"Just go back to sleep!" he ordered.  

Though you weren't sure how you were supposed to sleep with your heart racing and your mind playing the moment you felt his cock against your leg on loop, you decided you would try just because his stern voice sort of scared you into obeying.

It did work, eventually— you can only lay down in the dark for so long before sleep is unavoidable— but you still awoke sometime later, and heard him breathing differently beside you.  There was no light to see what he was doing, but you could hear his arm moving against the blanket under him— and when you heard him sigh, you imagined that he might be jerking off.  Maybe his erection wouldn't go away until he did that, and you bit your lip as you tried to picture it: stroking himself, breathing deeply, being careful not to make too much noise or even move too much.  But in your head, he was too desperate, struggling to hold himself back from bucking up into his palm, his cock flexing as his orgasm threatened to spill over at any moment.  

The thought made you want to touch yourself, too— you were getting wet already and your hips shifted in hopes of finding something to rub against— but you were far too afraid to get caught or startle Emmett into stopping.  

You heard a tense sigh and all that motion behind you stopped; you bit your lip as you wondered if he just came.  And if he did, what had he been thinking of?  He seemed so offended by the idea of being attracted to you— he didn't even acknowledge it, like it was wrong to even suggest— but you hoped somehow that he had been imagining you.  If only he could've told you, if only he had pulled you closer in the dark and asked you to take care of his problem for him… maybe you should've been ashamed for thinking it, but you would've spread your legs for him right away if he'd told you he wanted you.  Even if it was just taking care of his needs, not real love— even if it was only a practical thing.  You couldn't do much for him, but you could certainly help in that regard.

But, at the same time, you knew that if Emmett ever did use you in such a way, you'd fall in love with him.  Even if it meant nothing to him, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself; you couldn't admit to yourself how close you were to that edge already, but you couldn't deny how quickly you would fall over it if he ended up fucking you.

Or maybe it wouldn't be like that— fucking, that is; it's a rather crass way to put it.  Maybe it wouldn't be that way, maybe it would be gentle and sweet and passionate.  He certainly was kind to you, and unexpectedly patient… you wondered if that would translate into him being delicate with you, soft touches and slow kisses— really making love, you know.

Or, maybe he'd been alone so long that he wouldn't be able to help himself; maybe he'd just have to moan in your ear while he took you roughly, holding tight to your hips so you couldn't do anything but take him just the way he wanted.  Maybe he'd leave bruises and marks on your skin, reminders of his work, and bite down on you to keep himself from being too loud.  

Your back was arching into nothing, just hoping that he would turn around and pull you close, press his chest into your back, and whisper in your ear as he started to tug your pants down.  Sorry, sweetheart, I just need you too bad…

It was a miracle you ever fell back asleep with that thought in your mind.  But you did, somehow— a frustratingly dreamless sleep— and when you woke up in the morning, he was gone again.

~

Since that night, you’d felt this tension between you— but you had no clue if he felt it, too.  He was nice, in his own way, but definitely on the aloof side; and he seemed to avoid you a little more after all that happened anyway.  It sort of made you wonder if he resented you, if he was angry with you somehow for what happened— maybe you’d been too pushy, you were never trying to force him into anything of course— but then again, you figured he wouldn’t be working so hard to take care of you both if that were the case.

Even if you couldn’t hunt or even cook very well, you tried to be helpful in various ways; this little underground hideout was certainly tidier and cozier than it had ever been before, and you tried to take pride in that instead of thinking of yourself as useless to him.  And all his clothes were mended, you made sure of that; he seemed to appreciate it, at least.

Now that you thought of it, you were sort of becoming a homemaker now— you felt a bit conflicted at the realization.  There’s nothing wrong with it, right?  Just being here, helping how you can?  But you wanted to be more useful, if you could— you just didn’t know how.

(Well, you had ideas… but you weren’t about to suggest that, after how awkward it all was last time.)

Maybe just your company was enough for him, otherwise he probably wouldn’t still keep you around… but then again, for someone who apparently wanted your company, he wasn’t so talkative.  It would make more sense if you two were up all night, telling each other everything about your lives and your dreams and anything you could possibly remember to talk about— but it wasn’t like that at all.  He still avoided personal questions even after nearly a month together, and he had a tendency to just hum and nod or shake his head when you asked him something.

But, the good news was, you’d gotten a little more comfortable leaving the underground hideout without him.  You never went far, obviously, but you went far enough to stretch your legs and get some fresh air and, today, stumble upon a little clearing with a pond.  It was relatively small, but deep, and best of all it had a river that fed into it, over a cliff; to put it more plainly, it had a waterfall.  It was small— you figured it probably didn’t pour at all unless there had been good rainfall recently— but it still meant you had a little more freedom here than usual.  Ambient noise, as you understood it, deterred the creatures because they couldn’t stop it and couldn’t hear other sounds over it.  You weren’t about to belt out Whitney Houston or anything, but you could make some sound— and the sound you made right away when you saw it was getting your clothes off as fast as you could and diving right in.

The water was a little cold— okay, very fucking cold— but it was worth it: being able to clean yourself more thoroughly than normal was quite a treat, and one you planned on relishing.

You found yourself laughing— you sort of couldn’t stop, actually.  Partially because you were cold and shivering like crazy, partially because you were giddy… mostly just because you could.  You kept your clothes and revolver in a neat pile by the cliff wall, trying not to stray too far from it in case someone came by; but, at the same time, you were also trying to just forget about everything that scared you for a moment and be free.  

You soaked your hair and ran your hands over your face, letting the water renew your skin— you couldn’t deny this cold plunge was invigorating, if not especially relaxing like a hot bath would’ve been.  But hot baths were obviously rare in these times, and you closed your eyes as you tried to remember the last one you took.  You leaned back in the water, floating partially against the flow of the waterfall behind you, and remembered simpler times: long baths, fresh meals, 

Not everything was perfect then.  Your life was easier, yes, but you’d still longed for someone to share it with.  Someone to trust.  You opened your eyes and looked up at the sky, a pale grey-ish blue that covered the sun but was still somehow too bright and made you squint; you sighed, moving your arms enough to feel the water swirl between your fingers.

For some reason, you thought of Emmett just then; you wanted to tell him about this place as soon as he got back home, you could bring him here and he could swim too— he probably wouldn’t skinny dip with you, right?  Definitely seemed out of his comfort zone, he wouldn’t even sleep next to you at night anymore… but you still giggled at the thought, wondering if you’d get a chance to see the rest of his tattoo that you’d noticed peeking out from his sleeve sometimes.  Then you could ask him about it, move closer, trace the lines with your finger; you could watch the goosebumps prickle on his skin from the cold water, and shiver even more when you met his gaze—

You shook your head like it might knock the thought out of your brain.  He’d made it clear he didn’t have that sort of interest in you.  It broke your heart a little, but you had no choice but to accept it.  Still, you had this nagging feeling that it wasn’t you— he implied before it was your age, or some kind of chivalry thing; and then there was all that grief, something anybody left had to have by now.

You, too, had lost loved ones that day, and in the days since— that was unavoidable— but what you had nearly lost most of all was yourself.  And then he found you, and you’d found something you’d been looking for for so long… much longer than all this.

Your heart skipped a beat when you heard something moving, just past the trees; you whipped around in the water, looking everywhere for the source of the noise, and you saw a figure slip back behind a trunk.  You’d never felt so sick with terror all at once, and in a second, you leaned over and snatched your revolver off the top of your pile of clothes.

Pointing it at the tree, you wondered if you should be barking out orders right now— come out with your hands up or something— but that wouldn’t be helpful if there was a creature nearby… or if there was more than one person in these woods.  You swallowed, knowing a revolver wasn’t going to cut it if there was a whole group closing in on you now.  

Slowly moving through the water, you walked up the bank of the pond, and when you heard another shifting movement from behind the tree, you shuddered and shut one of your eyes.  Align the sights.  Stay steady.

Suddenly, the figure stepped out, and you didn’t even stop to think: you pulled the trigger and fired, eyes shutting tight as the kickback flung your arms up and the sound echoed through the forest.  

You hesitated to open your eyes, but just before you did, you heard a groan— in a voice all too familiar.  When you looked, there was a man on the ground, and your heart stopped again when you saw his face.

“Fuck!  Emmett!” you yelped, running the rest of the way out of the water and not caring at all that you were naked and dripping— you ran up to him and straddled him as he rolled on the ground, clutching his arm.  “Oh my god!  I’m so sorry— oh my god!  Please, please tell me you’re okay—”

He didn’t say anything, in fact his face was still screwed into a tight wince as you tried to see where he was holding— his arm, just below the shoulder, you could see where the sleeve of his jacket was torn and blood had begun to stain the fabric.

“Emmett, Jesus, I swear to god— I didn’t know it was you, I—” you began to promise, before you wondered if you should ask what the hell he was doing there.  Why didn’t you tell me it was you?  Why didn’t you say something?  But you decided, as you watched him bite his lip to keep from being any louder, that now was not the time to interrogate him; shooting him had clearly irritated him enough already.  “That— that was fucking loud,” you realized, lowering your voice.  “We need to go back before—”

He just nodded, and you got up off of him to help him up and grab your clothes— a naked woman and a bleeding man running through the woods.  Maybe that’s just a normal day in the post-apocalypse.

~

He hissed when you applied the disinfectant to the cut, looking away rather than letting you see how this affected him— that, or the other side of the room suddenly got incredibly interesting.  But you knew as well as anyone, living in this room for over a month, that it was not very interesting.

“God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you mumbled, wincing yourself just having to put him through this.  “Can I keep going, or—?”

He nodded, still looking the other direction, and you gave him a sympathetic frown as you started to dab at the cut.  

It wasn’t too deep, thank heavens— it probably didn’t even need stitches, just some alcohol and gauze— but you still felt more guilty than you had for anything you’d ever done in your life.  “Thank god I missed,” you chuckled softly, wondering if it was still too soon for humor— and he didn’t laugh, so maybe it was.

“Yeah— you flinched,” he noticed, sounding correctional, and your jaw almost dropped.

“Fucking— are you serious, Emmett?” you snapped.  “You’re mad at me for not killing you?!”

“You didn’t know it was me,” he replied.

You sighed, thankful he was looking away so he wouldn’t catch your eyeroll.  “Of course,” you breathed.  “Of course I didn’t know it was you— I would’ve never…”

He looked at you again.  “I know,” he promised quietly.

You chewed your lip and nodded.

Taking the bloodied rag away, you looked at the wound— it was a lot better already, and it looked clean, and you still couldn’t imagine forgiving yourself for doing it to him.  You took out a bandage and started to wrap it up around the gash.

“Your ink’s still intact,” you noticed, smiling as you got your look at the tattoo— although you obviously didn’t mean to go through all this just to see it.  You didn’t trace the lines but you did run your fingers over the whole piece: a mountainscape, with tall trees and a cloudy sky.  “It’s pretty.”

He snorted a little.  “I was just a kid when I got that— tryin’ to be tough.  Definitely wasn’t going for ‘pretty’.”

“Well, then you shouldn’t have gotten this lovely view,” you smiled back.  “Is this a real place?”

“Yeah, Montana— grew up there,” he said.  “Always thought I’d go back, then I had my kids— and then, you know—”

“Right,” you nodded, finishing up your gauze-ing of the damage.  You were gonna let him put his shirt back on, not that you really wanted him to, but he didn’t yet.  “Must have been nice, growing up under mountains like these.”

He shrugged.  “It was— sometimes.  It was quiet, I’ll tell you that.  All I wanted was to escape, back then.  Then all I wanted was to go back.”

You smiled a little.  “Yeah, I know that feeling— I mean, I think everyone feels like that.  I always wanted to move to the city— New York, you know,” you said with a whimsical affect on your words, “it’s like a mythical place to anybody from anywhere else.”

He chuckled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck (with his uninjured arm) and nodding in agreement.  “Yeah, I get that.  But then how’d you end up in the suburbs?  Or— don’t tell me you came all the way from the city—”

“No, no, not that far,” you promised, “but I was a little closer to it before everything happened.  I, uh… I actually ended up in the suburbs because of a boy.”

He nodded, wearing a sort of knowing look, and you felt a little embarrassed.  “Ah,” he said simply.

“And then, um, you know— he left.  As they tend to.”

“Boys?”

“Everyone.”

He swallowed; you regretted saying it, sort of, but you were still talking— like you couldn’t stop yourself.  Your hands were shaking— you were looking down at them in your lap, you knew they were— and you just felt like you couldn’t keep your mouth shut any longer.

“You know, this is the first time that I really…” you sighed and shook your head, looking for the words.  “This is the most I’ve ever trusted somebody.  I guess because I have to— but you—”

“S’alright,” he interrupted, “you don’t have to say all that.”

“You won’t even let me thank you?” you laughed, but your frustration was obvious; when you looked up at him, his eyes were filled with something that finally made your hands stop shaking.  Flooded with a sudden wave of courage (and wanting to act on it before it inevitably subsided), you leaned forward and kissed him; you shut your eyes tight— you would’ve lost your nerve otherwise— and you held his cheek in one hand, the tips of your fingers brushing against his hair while your palm pressed against his somewhat unruly beard.

For one moment, it was perfect, but then he reached up and took your hand, guiding you away slowly.  You pulled back, more dejected than ever, and he gave you a soft frown as he shook his head. 

Falling back into your chair, you slumped dejectedly; you didn’t want to cry, it would just seem pathetic now, but your eyes were watering anyways.  “I’m sorry,” you whispered.

“No— it’s alright,” he promised, “I’m not… offended, or something.”

“What am I to you?” you asked, point blank.  “I mean— I know I’m not— fuck, I’m stupid.  I know I’m not…”

Despite starting again, you couldn’t find the words the second time, either.

“I just mean… do you see me as, like, a charity case?  A daughter figure or something?”

He shook his head.  “No,” he said, “but I— you’re not my property.  That’s not why I took you from that son of a bitch.  You can leave whenever you want, you know.”

“But do you want me to stay?” you asked, feeling tears run down your cheeks suddenly even though you had specifically requested that they not do that.

Your real question was trapped in the middle of that sentence: do you want me?

He looked away again, and your hurt started to shift into anger— because that’s all anger really is, anyway: hurt, dressing up as something else.  “You treat me like a child!  Sometimes you won’t even look at me, like you’re embarrassed of me!  I’m not your property but I’m not your equal, either— so what am I to you?  Do you even see me as a woman at all?!”

That accusation seemed to get his attention, and he almost looked angry, too.  “I am well aware that you’re a woman,” he said sternly.

“Is that why you were watching me at the pond?”

You’d never seen him with that deer in the headlights look— technically, you still didn’t, because he turned his head away quickly.

“That’s what you were doing, wasn’t it?” you pressed.  “How long were you there before I heard you?  Come on, Emmett— look at me.  Or will you only do that when I’m naked?”

He snapped, standing up quickly and grabbing you by your— his— shirt to pull you with him.  “Do you know what you’re fucking doing to me?” he growled at you.

“Same thing I did to you that night it got too cold?” you returned with a sneer, and he shoved you away with a shudder, turning to face the wall and crossing his arms.  

There was a silence, though it wasn’t nearly as long as the ones you’d gotten used to with him, and he dropped his shoulders as he sighed.  “I’ve done what I can for you,” he said quietly— and your stomach twisted in knots.  He’s going to ask me to leave, you assumed instantly.  “I’ve tried to… to leave you alone—”

“That’s what you think I want?” you realized, almost laughing it was so absurd.  “Begging you not to leave, to stay where I can see you all night, trying to get you to talk to me— because I want to be alone?”

“After what happened to you— after how it must have been with him—” he started, turning around and looking at you sadly— “I’d wanna be fucking left alone.  I’ll say that.”

“Well, I guess I’m just not strong enough for that,” you decided with an unhappy sort of smile.  “I guess I still need someone.  I need you.  And clearly that’s just my fucking problem, so I’m sorry for making it yours.”

But he stepped closer to you, reaching out to hold your shoulders, and you met his gaze again.  You shivered, just like you thought you would.  “Say it again,” he requested flatly.  It wasn’t very specific, but you knew exactly what he meant.

“I need you,” you said again, softer, and he shut his eyes with a sigh.

Your eyes shut, too, when he leaned down and pressed his forehead against yours; you breathed together for a second, your hands moving up to his bare chest as you bit your lip.

“I need you,” you repeated, even quieter— a whisper now— and another tear striped your face.  “Emmett, I need you—”

“Fuck,” he said softly, and you smiled.  “Fuck, I need you, too.”

You smiled even wider then; he could probably hear your heartbeat, you would’ve sworn it was beating out of your chest.  Opening your eyes when you felt him pull back, you waited patiently— like you had been since this all began.

“I just— I don’t want you thinking that you have to—” he started to explain.

“I don’t have to,” you nodded, “but I want to.  Is that wrong?”

He didn’t answer, but he kissed you; he held your jaw gently, tilting your head back, and he kissed you in just the way you’d dreamed of.

It was simple enough at first, sweet and sort of slow— he pulled you closer, wrapping you in a hug while you held onto his shoulders— but then it got… heavier.  Hungrier.  Hotter.

You were gasping as you opened your mouth wider, all but begging him to dive deeper; and for his part, he kept grabbing your waist and hips, pulling you into him like he couldn’t get you close enough, and you thought your knees were going to buckle.

The two of you stumbled back, together, towards the sort-of bed that you sort-of shared; he laid you back on it, and you heard yourself whimper a little as you let him slot himself between your legs.

His weight was oddly comforting on top of you, pressing you back into the nest of blankets as you arched your back against him.

You both pulled back from the kiss as you looked down, needing to see somewhat what you were doing as you started to open his belt.  He looked down too, watching you do it for a second, before laughing a bit and leaning in to kiss your neck.  “Fuck,” you sighed, “come on, you’re gonna distract me—”

“What’s the hurry?” he purred, grabbing your hands and pinning them back instead— and that made you moan out loud.  “We’ve got all the time we want, darlin’...”

“Fuck, but I—” you whined, though you struggled to pull a sentence together when he dragged his tongue over your pulse like that.  “God, I just— please—”

“Shh,” he soothed, “m’gonna take care of you.  Gonna take care of you, sweet girl, I promise…”

And he’d taken care of you every way he knew how before, so you trusted him.  Still, you weren’t exceptionally patient.

You gasped when you felt him press his hips to yours through all these goddamn clothes; he was hard, really fucking hard, and it made your head spin.  How were you supposed to wait for him to be all slow and romantic and stuff when you felt that?  “Pretty girl,” he cooed at you quietly, “look at me for a second.”

You looked up at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, and he smiled back at you as he pet your forehead for a moment.  

“There you are,” he breathed, and your heart swelled.

He undressed you carefully, like you were the one with an injury, and you bit your lip to fight the urge to beg him to hurry the fuck up.  He kissed all over your neck and chest, even as far down as your belly while he was pulling your panties down your thighs— and of course he looked up at you as he did it, like he knew it would absolutely wreck you.  “God, Emmett, please,” you whined, sighing with relief when he sat up and finished opening his belt.  He kept looking at you while he did it, something darker and heavier in his stare as he pushed his jeans down; you couldn’t help but look down at it, and you breathed in sharply as you bit your lip.

Of course it was fucking big— you’d figured it was from what you felt before— with a thick, leaking head and a curve that you could just tell was going to fit perfectly inside you.  Your hips rocked a little into nothing at the sight, and you moaned when he kissed you again— more desperate than ever, both of you.

You whined loudly, much louder than you meant to, when he pushed inside you all at once.  It wasn’t too fast or too rough or anything— but it was plenty to be filled by in one go, and your nails dug into his back.

“Fuck,” he grunted, shutting his eyes tightly for a moment.  “So fuckin’ wet.”

You whimpered, feeling your walls tighten up hearing him say that.  It was no wonder, with the way he’d been toying with you— and not just tonight.  “Oh my god,” you gasped out, instinctively wrapping your legs around his hips like you didn’t want him to move at all.  Obviously, though, you couldn’t stop him from pulling back and thrusting in again, nor did you want to; your back arched, hard, and your moan echoed around the room.  “F-fuck,” you choked, “it’s so— you’re so— god.”

“Shh,” he soothed, in a sweet way, and his hands found your hips to pull them up higher to his; he moved you just how he wanted, you were putty in his fingers, and he groaned as he thrusted into you at the new angle.

It was deep.  It was really, really fucking deep; and you thought you were at your limit, but you still somehow wanted more.  Toes curling, you let your back arch between your hips held to his and your shoulders laying back on the blankets— your arms went limp and yet your fingers were searching for something to hold onto as he moved a bit faster.

“So fuckin’ beautiful,” he groaned, a spare hand leaving your hips and groping roughly at one of your tits.  You just gasped and pushed your chest up into his touch, pulsing inside when he pinched a hard nipple.  “Feels good?”

“Yes!” you shouted.  “Yes, fuck yes— don’t stop, please, please—”

Panting, he snarled a little, but he sure as hell didn’t stop.  He was right about you being wet, you could even hear it when he thrusted faster; and that just turned you on even more, the whole thing was a vicious cycle really.

For the most part, you kept your eyes shut because it was just what felt natural— but when you did open your eyes, you caught glimpses of him staring down at you, his eyes moving from your face to your bouncing tits to where he was inside you, where his hands held onto your hips and pet them soothingly in contrast to his rough thrusts.

Then, he watched his hand move to the middle, just above where his cock filled you, and his thumb started to rub your clit.

You had no excuse for being so sensitive, but you cried out and tried to grab his wrist from how intense it was.  “Emmett!” you nearly screamed.  “O-oh god, oh god—”

“Jus’ wanna feel you come, sweetheart,” he explained, his voice darker than usual.  “Can you come for me?”

“Y-yeah,” you agreed with a nod, already feeling delirious from all this.  “Yeah, fuck, I can come— you’re gonna make me come, fuck…”

You went from yelling to whispering by the end of your sentence, though you weren’t sure why, and he kept a steady pace with his hips and his hand until your whole body started to shake.

“I— I’m close,” you choked out.

“I know,” he said.  Smug little shit— too bad you were too busy coming to complain about that attitude.

Shuddering all over, you opened your eyes and looked at him one more time— he was looking right back at you, jaw tight and nostrils flaring, so that only made it worse— before you arched back harder than you thought possible and gave into it.  Your hands kept searching for something to hold, like you might actually fall somehow if you didn’t get an iron-tight grip on his thigh or arm or something.  You found his bent knee but his hands found yours a second later— and he interlaced his fingers with yours, laying on top of you again and pressing deep into you even while you were still in the middle of your ecstasy.  

You weren’t even sure what you were saying anymore, you could tell your mouth was moving and that was about it.  It probably wasn’t even words; but this pleasure, you were totally submerged in it.  He kept kissing you and praising you, fucking you deeper into the feeling and into the thoroughly-disturbed blankets under you.  “Good girl,” he whispered against your neck, “good fucking girl— god, I can feel it— so good for me—”

When a hint of your awareness of reality returned, your mind and body coming down from the high and settling into something a little easier and familiar, your arms reached up and held him close.  "Fuck, Emmett," you whimpered, tears welling in your eyes as you were flooded with an emotion you couldn't name.  "Emmett, I love you.  I'm in love with you."

He breathed heavy and held you tighter, burying his face in your neck as you started to really cry.

"I love you," you said again, grabbing at him harder as he began to kiss your neck— your jaw, your cheek— and his hand wiped your tears away.  

"Shh, I know," he promised quietly.  "It's okay, beautiful, I know."

He wasn't ready to say it yet— but you felt it.  You could feel it just in the way he held you. 

He pulled back enough that you could see his face, propping himself up above you.  Sweat made his hair cling to his forehead, and you smiled at the sight— he looked damn good like this, finally giving in.  You hadn’t realized he was going easy on you, until he pushed in a little harder and a little deeper.  

You whined, reaching up to grab onto his arm, and he hissed when you accidentally grabbed onto the gauze-wrapped wound.  “Fuck, sorry, sorry,” you breathed, moving your hand down, and he laughed a little.

“S’okay,” he assured, leaning down and kissing your cheek sweetly.  “It’s okay, sweetheart…”

You eventually ended up holding onto the back of his neck, running your fingers with his hair even if it was damp from sweat— you were sweating, too, and you’d never thought it could be this sensual to get this way.  All this heat and movement in such a small space, all these blankets and insulation, somehow it made you both even needier.  You didn’t care if it was putting that pond bath to waste, you just wanted more: you made it clear, with the way you needily hugged him closer.

You didn’t even realize you were about to come again until he pointed it out.  “Fuck, another one for me?” he realized with a proud groan.  “Gonna give me another one, sweet girl?  Fuck, that’s it— so good for me—”

It was so sudden, not like the last one that built up and spilled over slowly— this one was hard and fast and left you completely spent and almost too fucked out to notice how much faster he was moving.  But it was impossible not to notice him picking up the pace, getting a little louder himself, grabbing your hands again and squeezing them tightly.

The way he moaned in your ear was just too perfect; you whimpered and tightened your legs around him, gasping each time he reached the deepest parts of you.

"Baby," he grunted, "say you’re mine.”

“Yours, Emmett,” you promised with a whimper.  "I'm yours, I fucking swear— all yours."

You'd never had a chance to know how good it could be to belong to someone— it didn't have to be bad, it didn't have to be like it was before.

He didn’t slow down until every drop was inside you; he gasped in heavy breaths, he held on tightly to your waist, but he didn’t stop until you were completely filled and he was exhausted in every way.

You both took a long time to catch your breath, and in the meantime, he kissed you again.  You figured you weren’t a very good kisser in this state, you were completely numb in the mind and body (in the most amazing way) and you could barely find the energy to even lift your hands— but he didn’t seem to mind, because he kissed you for a long, long time.

Eventually, you were both (mostly) in reality again, and he pulled up to hover above you.  You touched his arm softly, and he looked at your hand before looking at your face again.

“Sorry,” he blurted out suddenly as he looked down at where your bodies were joined, like he was just realizing what he’d done.  “I didn’t mean to— I shouldn’t have finished inside, I just—”

“It’s okay,” you laughed, “I would’ve been kind of pissed if you pulled out.”

“But we should— I mean, we need to be careful,” he panted.  “Next time we have to—”

“Next time,” you breathed happily, pulling him down into another kiss— less tired, more… smiley.  You’d probably seen him smile more in the last ten minutes than the rest of your time together combined.

“What, you thought that was a one-night stand?” he laughed, biting your lip playfully before he broke away from the kiss.  “Or do you just wanna fuck around and pretend not to want each other like a couple of morons before we do it again?”

“I mean, maybe that’s why this time was so great,” you shrugged, “all the anticipation.”

“Nah,” he breathed, leaning in and kissing your neck again— tender and patient, making you sigh and shut your eyes.  “It’s so great ‘cause it’s how this is supposed to be.  ‘Cause we need each other.”

You shivered, just as much from his words as his delicate kisses along your pulse, and you almost melted right back into those blankets again— but instead, you startled him by sitting up quickly.  “Alright, I think I’m ready for that next time now,” you purred, rolling him onto his back and straddling him with a mischievous grin.

“Jesus, woman,” he groaned, hands settling on your waist, “you’re gonna kill me, I think.”

“Well, I missed the first time,” you giggled as you touched the edge of his bandage.  “And we have some time to make up for.  God, I wanted you so bad, Emmett.”

He sighed, his chest sinking, and he let his head fall back as he gave in.  “This is how I always hoped I’d go out anyways,” he decided.

[verysanebsdfan]

🥁🤯‼️❤️‍🩹🔥🥁💀🇫🇷💯💥🎶🆙😤

Hear me out

Starlight Glimmer!reader x Saiki K

A reader who is kinda like starlight glimmer with sunset shimmer's abilities (I'm in my mlp phase don't judge but I rlly like their characters and abilities) who is kinda bad at first because of something happening with their friends earlier in her childhood and becomes very rude and cold but slowly learns to open up to the idea of new ways to act and get along with people and be nicer

Like of course they're not perfect, they're going to have social anxiety because what if others find out how bad she was in her past, and some old habits will peak through but they're still trying to learn

Their way with dealing with problems can be a little...extreme, like breaking open a vending machine when it malfunctioned after they paid to get someone a drink or things along that line

(forgive the long request I just woke up)

They also usually act before they think often

Starlight Glimmer!reader x Saiki K

Hello, thank you so much for requesting<3 I am gonna be completely honest i have not watched mlp, so I relied on your description and the internet but i tried. I haven't found much about Sunset Shimmer's abilities tho, well I did but didn't find anything much specific. I mostly mentioned some fire powers cuz from what i found...well nothing good into the story. I read that apparently Sunset can conjure powerful fireballs, but i made it fire in general, and it is also referred to as either psychic or supernatural powers. I hope it is to your liking. Also I wasn't sure but I made it a female reader since ykyk... Word Count: 1.2k

It was a peaceful afternoon when a certain pink haired psychic got rid of the nuisances, uhm, friends and was on his way home. He was in a hurry since his mother asked him to go buy some ingredients for dinner, and there was still a show he wanted to watch today.

As he entered the store, he felt a sudden uneasiness. Something was gonna happen, he knew it. As he collected all the items his mother requested to buy, he walked in the direction of the aisle with coffee jelly. He saw a girl picking up a coffee jelly triple pack, but he quickly hid when he realized that the girl has his schools uniform. The last thing he wants is to have his classmate, whom he recognized after taking a closer look, start a conversation with him. Unbeknownst to him, the girl already knew. She carefully eyed the direction where he left to, quite glad that nobody is gonna ruin her peaceful day.

As she was nearing the next aisle, a certain someone put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed up and turned around to see who was disturbing her personal space. The girl got really startled when she saw a tall guy with a butt chin. She remembered him, some time ago, she was assigned to do a project with him. They were supposed to meet up in a library but he didn't show up, and had a reason, apparently he thought the library was other way and got locked in the school gym. Either way, she knew that he was a real dumb human, so she just patiently waited for him to say something. "Hey!" He shouted, jeez, calm down. "I know you! We did that project together!!" He exclaims loudly. "Yeah, no. You didn't show up, I did the project alone...but yes. Now if you'll excuse me, i have more important things to do than talking with gorillas." The girl announced and turned to leave "Wait!" Nendou shouts again "Do you wanna get ramen with me, pal, and chibi? Huh- where is my pal-" He suddenly realizes "No i won't get rame-" Nendo suddenly grabs the girls arm "Let's go find my Pal!" He insisted and pulled the two high school students behind him.

And that is how you got to where you are now. Seated between Kaidou and Saiki, across from Nendo, really strange individuals, really loud and obnoxious, except Saiki, that is. The Ramen shop didn't look anyhow exquisite...it actually looked quite, dangerous? The food will probably be poisoned or something. When the owner gave them their bowls, everyone looked disgusted (The one episode when Teruhashi tagged with them kinda disgusted) The girl stood up from her seat and looked at the humanoid creature, called 'ramen shop owner' and stared at him. "You call this food?! Impossible!" She yells while trying to hold herself from throwing the bowl on the ground. "You have a problem with that?!" The store owner spat out. "The heck i do! The noodles are expired, vegetable is actually not a vegetable, i have a piece of plastic in it, the broth smells like piss and sweat! If it's okay in your opinion, eat it! I'll gladly pay if you eat the whole bowl!" She yells at him, making the people outside, on the street, wonder what is happening there. "You won't, exactly! Now return our money. Hurry" She yelled the last line before the owner had to run to the kitchen because something was burning. Definitely not your doing.

Saiki knew. He knew that was not natural, the fire. It got extinguished, no one got hurt, but it was bugging him, and he wanted to know just who are you? He got his powers to help him out with getting you to hang out with his....whole friend group....or nuisances. And you slowly started opening up. One this one fateful Saturday night when the group was hanging out at a playground, it was already dark. Kind of a miracle that Kaidou's mom let him go so easily, we thank you so much Saiki on Kaidou's behalf.

"How about we play truth or dare?" Yumehara suggested. Everyone agreed, even you and Saiki, surprisingly, but nobody questioned it. Time passed and questions and dares flew around too. "L/N, truth or dare?" Kuboyasu asked the girl, who has been drawing into the dirt. "Truth" She mumbled tiredly "Have you ever broken a law? And if yes, how?" Who in their mind would ask that?

Yes....Kuboyasu..."Technically yes..." She sighs. "I broke open a vending machine because It broke after I paid, so I got what I paid for, myself." She said. "and also burned down a house" The girl whispered a sentence that only the lovely pink haired psychic heard. It startled him. Why did she do that? "Why would you open it up tho? You can't do that! That's destruction of property! A crime!" The perfect bluenette whisper-yelled. "Teruhashi-san...It isn't a crime as long as you're not caught....and also, why should you care why i did it...maybe because i won't waste my money, maybe because i was pissed? Probably. Not everyone is as perfect as you, not everyone is as nice as you, and I was not in a good mental state. Get over yourself..." Wait- the girl realized her mistake as she looked at the teary eyed bluenette. "I- uh- Teruhashi-san...I am sorry uh! uhm....I didn't mean it like that I just-I'll....I'll go buy you something just please don't cry"

Seriously...the vending machine broke. She turned around but bumped into a certain pink haired highschooler. "Why did you burn down a house?" The pink haired boy asked, very bluntly, realizing his mistake, not correcting it though. "My powe-" the girl realizes and quickly coughs. "My uhh...power in the house went down, and I, the little naive child, thought I could do everything, so I tried to fix it, cut wires and boom...." She says too optimistically. "Stop lying" The pink haired highschooler commanded. "Not here...But we cannot leave the group for too long either..." She thinks out loud. "They actually already went home." Saiki exclaims. "Guys are walking Teruhashi and then Yumehara...I'll walk you...while you talk...or we can talk at one of our places." He says while motioning for her to follow.

You two walk into your house, and you light up the lights. "Sit down, I'll get some coffee jelly, I noticed you staring at it...the day we met." 'Are you a goddess?' Saiki thinks. "So....I suppose you wanna know why? Hm...okay so basically I have powers, it went out of control....And i burned down my friends house....he almost died....that's why I don't really talk about it." You quickly summarized. "I really hate supernatural powers...or psychic powers...because I still feel guilty, I tried to stop it, but they don't even know it was me, not even my parents. You are the only one who knows." She says as she takes a spoon full of coffee jelly. "But I only told you because you have powers too

(○｀ 3′○)"

Anyway! I tried but I do not like how it turned out but

Stay safe y'all! BYE

[clay-pidgeon]

post title pending. my weird swap au

this is the post im making for scratchswap, my au where i switch the post-scratch kids with the post-scratch trolls sharing their aspect (dirk-nepeta, roxy-equius, jake-eridan, and jane-feferi) and then the pre scratch dudes get swapped accordingly. yes this bc of the Parallels between feferi and jane and then i got a whole Thing out of it. im working on classpects/ages. characters under the cut

pre-scratch trolls

note for the record i did not think much about these guys

johune peixes: i have done 0 thinking on johune so sorry. theyre swapped w meenah and everyones really confused about how that funny little guy was a huge scary empress in every other universe

rozela zahhak: the sorcerer wooooo! pretty similar to canon rose shes just really fucking strong. good friends w aranea

dayves leijon: im still not 100% sure how to go about this one tbh but he does like romance in some form. also i got in in my head hes skittish. no idea where that came from. capitalizes b (glasses) and maybe something else?

jaidli ampora: oh i actually thought about this one a little! fashion is sorta fifties inspired like cronus but shes not a greaser thats his schtick. you dont steal a mans shtick. is there a c in that word or not

post scratch trolls

jaynce peixes: feels like i should work on that name huh. anyways jaynce does Not want to be the heiress (for reasons both transgender and not) at all and is in a little bit of denial about this. i lied actually a lot of denial. may or may not be moirails w jayque havent decided. replaces e and o with -E and -O forks and spoons!

roxxie zahhak: a little more into robots n shit than coding but still does that. bit of a jack of all trades! thinks deyirks lusus (its. kity) is the most special boy in the whole wide world. probably moirails w deyirk now that i think abt it but maybe not. im on the fence abt a lot of stuff here. uses some kind of prefix, emoticons have X for eyes, replaces x sounds with x, y (as a vowel) with ie, and s w z

deyirk leijon: WORLDS MOST NORMAL MAN (lying) lives in a cave in the middle of the woods not for catgirl reasons but because this guy is going insane in solitude works best when isolated. also uses some kind of prefix for a quirk. roxxie drops off robot parts at his house every few weeks and they make a day of it theyre Pals

jayque ampora: he helps feed gloybsub or whatever her name is and hes so normal about the deaths on his conscience. really hes so normal guys cmon. normal

pre scratch kids

mimi egbert: token cis friend sorry meenah. or not idc. more mellow because dad egbert is just a normal guy and isnt raising her to be the literal queen of the world. still meenah tho

hans lalonde: i am unsure about the name but i think its fine. the ultimate horse girl (therian). keeps maplehoof in the foyer. if he had to interact with his dad for more than 20 seconds they would both implode from the sheer awkwardness. the house is big as shit they just gesture to each other when they see each other and thats fine for both of them

manu strider: wears heart shades everywhere as a sort of joke. he doesnt actually know. caps lock is broken and refuses to fix it + uses kaomoji a lot. fujoshi to transmasc pipeline haha who said that

crow harley: im stilling working on which animal to furrify cronus with. watches a bunch of old movies and picked up those speaking habits. other shit pending

post scratch kids

fifi crocker: she wants to be crockercorps new ceo sosososo bad she would make up for all of their horrible crimes against humanity by uh. shes working on it ok?

neta strider: the she/her to she/they to they/them to he/they to he/him to he/they to she/he/they to The Creature pipeline. percentage of their diet that is fish he caught w her own bare hands has been steadily increasing. is trying to buff up on history but keeps on going down wikipedia rabbit holes and rereading the nyan cat article for the thousandth time. would still do the detective pony rewrite but would get sidetracked by the lolcat metaphor for way longer

eqis lalonde: do you know how hard it is to smush equius down to four letters? i just made this name up man. anyways i dunno what to do with her but shes a girl of the horse variety

dani english: diversity win this sickly victorian orphan child is genderfluid! fucking terrified of the lusi on the island. fancies herself sort of a romantic poet

the entirety of this was brainstormed while i was bored in class for the record. still brainstorming so im gonna edit this when more shit arises

[oh-mother-fucket]

*..STARS..*

A fic in which Hank has a hyperfixation.

Featuring: Hank, Hank's illiteracy, 2BDamned, and Deimos

====

If you looked up at a Nevadean night sky, you wouldn’t see stars. No one really knew what a star was, at least outside of the five-pointed ones that went on the doors of the Slaughter Time contestants’ rooms.

No, instead of stars, you’d see a big black void. That’s it. Depending on the time of night, it might be more red, but it wouldn’t change besides that.

When Hank was little– about five or six– he was told that once upon a time, there were tiny pinpricks of glittering light speckled across the night sky. They used to believe it, until he turned fifteen and had bigger things to worry about.

Hank didn’t think about those old myths anymore. They were about as inconsequential to them as Santa Claus would be to a middle-aged childless man. After all, Hank had things to do, fun to have, people to kill. No time to waste on an old wives’ tale.

It was nighttime when 2BDAMNED sent Hank a text. Hank was staring up at the sky, so he didn’t notice he was getting messages until they realized their phone was buzzing. They looked at the previews on his screen. 

“Wimbleton,” the latest one read, “call me now.”

More than a tad amused at the order, Hank scoffed. He looked back up at the sky.

Nothing. Like always. Hank could pretend that he saw glints of light from the darkness above, but pretending could only get him so far.

Their phone began to ring. Chuckling, they picked it up and hit “answer”.

“Hank J. Wimbleton, you’d best have a good reason for not–”

“Sky.” Hank shrugged. “Lookin’.” He didn’t feel like talking much, and in any case, he knew his short answer would piss Doc off– which was their goal.

A loud sigh from Doc. “And I thought I was hard to deal with…” A short pause before he started talking again. “Deimos is asking me about shit I think you’d know about. He’ll probably be blowing up your phone once he gets home.”

Hank tensed up, irritation seeping into them. “Not gonna,” he growled lowly. They hung up the phone and went back to looking at the sky.

…The phone rang again.

Goddamnit. Hank picked it up. “Not gonna.”

“Wimbleton, hang up on me again and I’ll rearrange your teeth.” Doc sighed. “I know he can be… difficult to deal with, for someone like you.”

Hank scoffed. “To say the least,” he remarked.

“Uh-huh, yeah, whatever. I don’t care anymore. Just answer his questions or you’ll be receiving an extra knuckle, and not in the mail.” Doc hung up, leaving Hank in silence again.

If there was anyone, anyone at all that Hank would say he had strong negative feelings about– well, it would be Tricky, but Deimos came in close second.

Just the way he was ticked Hank off. That dumbass outfit, his fidgety nature, his raspy voice–

Ugh. Made Hank pissed just thinking about it.

He shoved his phone in his pocket and went inside. The building was attached to several others– an apartment complex, was it called? Hank preferred the term “chain house”.

The interior looked nothing like the exterior. Shockingly, Hank had put in the effort to spruce up the place ever since he claimed it as his hiding place. It didn’t have a carpet– Hank couldn’t afford one– but it did have a red rug in the living room. 

They collapsed onto the beat-up couch and sighed. Deimos would call any minute now, and Hank was dreading it.

Any minute now…

Bzzt. There it was.

Hank picked up the phone, and was immediately greeted by Deimos’s voice. “Hey Hank! Had some questions I thought you might like to answer.” The man laughed. Hank could practically smell his smoky breath.

“Hit me.” Hank leaned back, getting comfy on the couch. Knowing Deimos, this would be a while. He took off his goggles, putting them on the coffee table.

Deimos chuckled. “Thanks, pal! Knew you’d let me bother ya.”

A scoff escaped from Hank. Let you? Yeah, whatever makes you happy.

“So, like, you’re old,” Deimos began. “You ever seen stars?”

What a strange question. “Not sure what my age has to do with my propensity to get lightheaded,” Hank replied curtly. He brought his finger to the “end call” button, but stopped when Deimos clarified.

“I meant like, in the sky. You ever see those?”

Hank paused. He hadn’t thought about stars… in a long time. “Haven’t.” He hung up.

The phone started ringing again soon after, but Hank tried to ignore it. What made him curious about stars? Hank wondered. It’s not like Deimos was ever interested in anything that wasn’t guns or eating or pissing him off. How strange of him to ask about that.

Stars weren’t ever something Hank could remember dwelling on. Maybe when he was first told about them, he might have obsessed a bit, but they couldn’t recall.

The phone stopped ringing after a few minutes, but Hank’s head was still buzzing. Stars. I wonder if they ever did exist. They laid back on the couch, trying to ignore the thought. It wasn’t important, and besides, Deimos would forget in a few hours. And so would they, hopefully.

~ ~ ~

The sound of metal tearing through flesh was like music to Hank’s ears, a brief reprieve from thoughts about that old myth.

Gunshots sounded through the room. “Heads up!” Cried Deimos, a bit late. Hank ducked just in time to get the top of his head grazed by a bullet, and one lodged itself in his shoulder. They hissed in pain, ignoring the thump of the bodies in front of him and snapping his head to glare daggers at Deimos.

Deimos merely chuckled. “Be faster next time!” he exclaimed. He ran past Hank and grabbed one of the agents the pair were slaughtering, pulling them close and shooting them point blank in the face.

Rolling his eyes in irritation, Hank stood up and turned to take care of the remaining agents on his side of the room. He pounced on one, beating their face into a pulp, until he was grabbed by another agent. 

They growled, falling limp and forcing the agent to buckle under their dead weight, then got up and stomped the agent’s head in. He grabbed a knife off the agent and pounced again, tackling a nearby agent and slitting their throat.

If Hank could still smile, he would probably laugh.

He nearly jumped feeling someone grab their arm, and reached around to throw the person over their shoulder. “Yeowch!” Deimos yelped, hitting the ground hard. Hank chuckled as Deimos got up, glaring. “Dude, it’s just me!”

“Serves you right,” Hank replied. Deimos flipped them off with a scowl.

Hank looked around, surveying the carnage. Not a single agent even twitched. He sighed, the adrenaline slowly wearing off and giving way to exhaustion. Their chest heaving, they began to walk to the door.

Deimos sprinted up to them, grabbing their arm. “Woah woah woah man, we can’t leave yet!” He tried to tug Hank back, but they refused to budge. Deimos sighed. “We gotta double tap! Y’know… make sure everyone’s dead and that.”

Oh, right. How did Hank forget that? He’s normally eager to do a second sweep for survivors. They shook their head. Probably won’t happen again.

They yanked Deimos’s gun from him– briefly admiring the make, it looked well cared for– and started firing at the corpses with total abandon. 

Blood spurted from the bullet wounds, but not a soul cried out. A shame, really.

“There,” said Hank. For some reason, he didn’t feel the same satisfaction they usually did. Maybe something was weighing on their mind.

… Something like stars.

God damn it. There it is again. They’d been thinking about those damn things all week, and Deimos had been pestering him about it near-constantly through text. He’d hoped that this mission would get his mind off it, but alas, that appeared not to be the case.

“Yo, Nevada to Hank, you there?”

Hank stiffened, suddenly noticing that Deimos was waving his hand in front of them. Hank shoved Deimos, a bit irritated. “Next room. You.” He dropped the gun into Deimos’s arms and went to lean against the wall, much to the smaller man’s confusion.

Deimos stood silent, flabbergasted for a few moments. “Seriously?” he finally exclaimed. “Yer normally all over this, dude!”

A simple shrug was Hank’s response. He hoped Deimos would drop it and leave to check the rest of the facility. Hank just wanted to be alone with their thoughts, for once.

Deimos growled. “You better not be plannin’ on leavin’ the whole rest o’ the place t’ me!” He took a step towards Hank, teeth bared. Hank stared.

The two stood silently, glaring daggers at each other for a few minutes. The tension was thick. If it were a person, Hank would have a hard time cutting it.

Finally, Hank decided to make a move. They reckoned that if they didn’t, Deimos would just stand there forever. Probably start whining at them too.

Hank unsheathed a knife he kept in a case on his back– it was a huge hunting knife, almost as big as a particularly small sword. He held it up at Deimos threateningly. “Go clear.”

The threat was obvious– and Deimos was keenly aware that Hank wasn’t bluffing. With an angry grumble, Deimos left the room.

Leaving Hank alone to think.

He wondered if he ever made drawings of stars, when he was little. He knew he’d never be able to retrieve any drawings, if they existed– he couldn’t remember bringing anything but what he was wearing at the time when he left Nexus City. 

Maybe he could make some drawings later today, when he got home… but Deimos would question him if he brought paper with him into the car, and besides, he didn’t have any crayons. He’d probably break them anyway.

Briefly, he pondered if stars ever existed. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe it was just a myth parents told children to keep them from losing hope or something. 

They probably didn’t exist, actually. Hank growled to himself. This is so stupid. They got up and made their way outside.

The thought was still in the back of his mind though, and for a small moment, he considered looking upwards. Perhaps tonight, they’d see a sky full of stars.

What a stupid thought. They shook their head and walked to the car, getting in the passenger seat to wait for Deimos.

A tiny bright dot glittered overhead.

~ ~ ~

So, it turns out, leaving your partner to do all the work was not a good idea.

Hank could hear Deimos’s snarling and whining pretty clearly even through the walls. The guy was loud.

Doc had run out of anesthesia, so he was using booze to keep Deimos suppressed. It wasn’t working very well. 

Deimos had probably run through the group’s only supply of beer by now– and if he hadn’t, it was probably because Doc had given up on trying to get the guy to pass out.

The shouting made Hank cover his ears. God, this was the worst.

He tried to let his mind wander, wanting to distract himself from the annoying ruckus.

And what better thought to think of than stars?

Hank was convinced at this point that stars were cursing him. Hell, he couldn’t even look at the sky without swearing he saw something glimmer! 

But he’d take thoughts of stars over Deimos screaming any day.

Were stars really that tiny? Maybe they were, and they were just really bright. Sort of like how a lightbulb in a dark room can still be seen from far away.

Maybe they were really hot, too. Making light for so long makes heat– Hank knew that much. If they were hot, they’d probably warm up Nevada super hot every night. But that didn’t make sense… maybe stars were actually super far away. Maybe there weren’t that many. Maybe he should write this down so he doesn’t end up thinking about this tangent again…

Hank got up from the couch and went to Doc’s room, grabbing a notepad. He tore out all the pages that had writing on them and grabbed a pen.

wat i no abowt stars

brit

smal maybe

hot

He paused. Was that it? He quickly scribbled one more thing down.

sparkly

Yeah, this all sounded about right. They stuffed the notepad in their pocket and went back to the couch. The loud pained noises had died down a bit, so they didn’t feel the need to cover their ears. Hopefully Doc was almost done, and hopefully the impending lecture wouldn’t be too long.

About an hour later, Hank realized that he was napping. Oops. He sat up and stretched, then paused.

There was a blanket draped over them. They quirked their head. Did Doc do that? Probably. It wasn’t like Deimos would, after all.

Hank threw off the blanket and looked around. He was surprised Doc hadn’t woken them up for a stern talking-to. Maybe the guy was busy. Not like Hank cared. If anything, this was just a chance for Hank to leave. Maybe he should’ve done that when Doc was working on Deimos, but whatever.

When Hank left Doc’s place through the hatch on the living room ceiling, they couldn’t help but look up. This was pretty normal– Hank tended to look where they were going, which in this case, was up. What wasn’t normal was what they saw.

Tiny pinpricks of light flickered in and out of vision, twinkling like… 

Like stars.

There weren’t many in the sky, just ten or maybe twenty. But the way Hank was enraptured with them, you’d think the sky was full of them.

Hank just stood there, his head poking out of the open hatch, staring at the sky. He wondered if the stars were marveling at the earth, too.

With his hands shaking wildly, Hank crawled out of Doc’s bunker. They laid down on the ground, staring up at the stars. He wished so badly that he could smile.

The air around them was surprisingly cool. I guess stars aren’t that hot after all. Of course, they didn’t mind. 

It was hard to stay still, if their trembling hands was any indication. They wanted so badly to jump to their feet, to run around, to tear at something– but he felt like if he looked away, the stars wouldn’t be there when he looked back. He didn’t want to risk it.

Hank’s mind was racing– they really couldn’t help it. Here he was, laying under the stars… it was hard to believe. There were so many thoughts in his head. Is this a normal amount of stars? It’s so cool out– they must not make heat. I wonder how they light up… are they just so far away that I can’t feel the heat?

For a few minutes, he didn’t notice that the stars had begun to dim. But if there were twenty before, there must have been only fourteen now. I have to take a picture!

He took out his phone and quickly opened the camera. He stared. The stars didn’t look the same through the phone, but Hank didn’t want to waste time going to get an actual camera.

Click.

There it was. The stars, immortalized forever on Hank’s shitty phone.

Hank looked back at the sky, where only a few stars remained. They put down their phone and let his arms rest at his sides, watching as the stars faded into blackness.

[yourbestpalpercy]

Will update this often.

Making this an au now. Don’t know what to call it though but I figured out Pal’s defeat. His animatronic catches on fire and explodes. He is barely able to escape, being heavily burnt. (Canon)

Other Ideas:

Pal is an old friend of Nick who recently got a robotics degree (Canon)

Nick usually teases Pal on his height (Canon)

Pal built Percy Poodle as a revenge ploy for Nick abandoning him/leaving him behind for “some stupid daydream” (Canon)

Pal made some other animatronics he could control but he didn’t like the animals he based them around. (Noncanon)

The Tamaterrors are still around. They’re small desk pals that Pal made as tests for things he could add to Percy Poodle. He likes Roachi the most for it’s swarming capabilities. (Canon)

Bruti can very much still break through walls. (Canon)

Percy Poodle has extendable limbs that Pal got from TamaLanki (Canon)

Being Pal’s roommate must suck. Welcome to the sound of someone eating cereal at 4:56am or watching reruns of bad animated shows because Pal almost never sleeps. Probably why he thought that trying to kill Nick was a good idea (Canon)

As a reference to the stream:

Pal: *Laughter as he leans in, placing the Percy Poodle arms around him. The glass changing to the cup minigame* “Go on Nick..! Pick a cup! You already know what will happen if you pick wrong!”

Nick: *Picks correctly within seconds, completely done with Percy’s bullshit.* “Why is your cup game so damn easy?”

Pal: “E-Easy?! What are you talking about?! I-I was told it’s pretty dang hard!”

Nick: “You saying you didn’t code it?”

Pal: “No, Viola did..! She said it would be near impossible!”

Nick: “Come on Percy, I expected harder from you.”

Pal: “I-I didn’t code it!”

Nick: “I mean, you managed to make this huge mech and STILL couldn’t code a hard cup game?”

Pal: “I DIDN’T- CODE IT!!”

Nick: “Should’ve!” (Noncanon)

Other ideas:

Viola was a good friend of Pal but after he started becoming rude and too caught up in his plans for revenge, Viola stopped being friends with Pal (Noncanon)

Pal has anger issues despite his nerd look (Canon)

After the bossfight, Pal screeches at Nick, who left him behind, and explains why he even tricked Nick into coming back, explaining that he had aimed to kill him or at least torture him. He also demands that Nick calls an ambulance

Idea for before the Percy animatronic is destroyed:

Pal: “DO YOU THINK YOU’VE WON, YOU PRICK?! We were supposed to be BEST PALS! I was supposed to stick by you forever and ever! And now you’re just gonna leave me again?! You can’t…I won’t let you! You can still take me with you..we can still be friends! This is what I made this mech for! You understand that r-!”

Nick: “I-I’m not..”

Pal: “What..?”

Nick: “I’m not taking you with with me Percy, this has gone too far..”

Pal: “……” *The size comparison is incredible and I just wanna say Nick has guts of steel saying that to Pal Percy in the original game. Like- that is a very big animatronic that has already tried to kill you.*

Pal: “Alright! Suit yourself!” *Pal smiles, pressing a button in the mech.*

Nick: “…Huh? Really?”

Pal: *Percy grabs Nick suddenly.* “Of course not! Y’know, I was willing to let you go but you’ve proved that’s not an option! I was afraid I was gonna have to do this but it looks like I’ll have to end this friendship..!” *Pal grin, releasing the tamaterrors.* “Permanently…” *Pal giggled before beginning to laugh like a madman. He pauses suddenly, sniffing the air.* “…Do I smell..smoke?”

Nick: *He looks at Percy’s tail.* “Uh…Percy?”

Pal: “It’s fine..I..” *The animatronic suddenly goes into distress mode and ends up blowing up, launching Pal.* (Canon)

Idea for ending dialogue:

Nick: “Now then, explain to me what the HELL was going through your mind to think this was a good idea!”

Pal: *Pal growls and glares at Nick.* “Oh you wanna know?! YOU WANNA KNOW?! I did it because you LEFT me behind! You left me to go chase some STUPID ASS DAYDREAM about working at a PIZZERIA! One that sucks! Absolutely sucks! The pizza sucks, the games suck! EVERYTHING SUCKS! And you left your Pal ‘Percy’ behind for THAT! You left me behind…! I was so lonely..! So betrayed!”

Nick: “I tried to come back to this place for all the events you planned-!”

Pal: “BUT YOU DIDN’T SHOW! So many hours of planning and hoping only for you to NEVER show up! I was lucky that I got you to show- let alone stay for a week here so I could show you everything you left behind! And yet-! I STILL FAILED! Now you’re gonna run back to Heleena, Mountaina or whatever it’s called and leave me again! Abandoning everything here…!”

Nick: “…Percy-.”

Pal: “DON’T CALL ME PERCY! It’s PAL! It was never Percy! Now call an ambulance and get away from me!”

Nick: *Nick steps forward,* “Pal…”

Pal: “Shut up! You don’t know anything about the life I lived without you here! I only had the Tamas for comfort which trust me..I love them but they don’t talk! I had no one to talk to besides Viola and she distanced herself from me!”

Nick: “Pal.”

Pal: “I’m not listening!”

Nick: “PAL! You are insane! Did you even THINK of the consequences before you did all of this?! With all the destruction you caused, you’ll probably end up in prison!”

Pal: “…..” *Pal frowns*

Nick: “Ugh…first you go crazy and try to kill me with a suit and all these damn things and now you think I still want to be your friend?! No.” *Nick turns away before leaving.*

Pal: “Wh-! Where are you going?! Come back and help me! Don’t just leave me here! WE’RE BEST PAAALS!!” (Noncanon)

After everything is said and done, Pal makes, well, a Pal Percy to be a friend of his as the Tamas don’t talk and Nick is gone. It helps him cope pretty well. Pal also has some awful scars from the explosion, having lost a leg and pretty bad burn scars all over, he has a cut on his chin (in reference to the secret ending where his screen is partially cracked) and is now obsessive and clingy over friends. Also, like Pal does in the game Pal Percy can take over the animatronics that Pal made and usually does so when Pal forgets to tend to him. (Noncanon for the most part. Pal made Pal Percy but got rid of him before he reconstructed Percy)

Both Pal and Nick sometimes have awful nightmares. For Pal, dreams of being consumed by his creations and being trapped in them will be the end of him; when he has these nightmares, he distances himself from Pal Percy. For Nick, he sometimes has awful nightmares about what would’ve happened if he didn’t defeat Pal and if he succeeded. These dreams sees him in a playhouse with many of these animatronics haunting him along with Pal. (Canon)

On the topic of Pal’s nightmares, he sometimes hallucinates that he has a wire tail and the first time he experienced this, he isolated himself from his creations for 5 days until it went away. (Canon)

[queentheweeb]

Hanta Sero X Shy American Female Reader

A/N: You replace Mineta

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

"Breathe L/N-chan you have nothing to fear." You were trying to give yourself a pep talk in your just freshly moved-in dorm room. Everything happened so fast that you really didn't have a chance to reflect on all the blessings that have been handed to you. Your parents were struggling in America, you guys were originally from Canada but moved to America when you were just two years old and now that you are 15 the three of you moved to Japan. The reason? Your father got a job offering 3 times the amount he was making in America and he took it. Plus you got accepted to Japan's most prestigious hero academy. You were sad that you were leaving your friends but, you had a video call and can always pen pal with them. In the span of 2 weeks, you took that 12-hour flight jet lag kicking your ass, and when you landed you guys were taken to your apartment. It was huge! It was half the price back in America but you guys had a big backyard with a pond that had turtles, koi fish, and some snails. You guys had a finished basement and an attic/crawl space. The culture shock and difference were all so much to handle. Once again you thanked GOD that both your parents were fluent in several languages and taught you how to speak 3 fluently which were English, Japanese and Spanish. "I'm thinking too much again, come on girl" You slapped your cheeks a few times grabbing your bag and ensuring that you have everything you needed. It's only been 2 days since you moved in since you got here when it's been a few weeks of classes already. You were caught up on everything that happened courtesy of all the U.A teachers aka Pro heroes. They weren't lying when they said that only active or retired pro's worked there and that the principal was a talking animal. Your head was spinning by the time all of that was over and you didn't have time to digest it! You had to make up as much work as possible while adjusting to constantly speaking Japanese, learning how to use transportation and vending machines, and other culture shocks. It was a mess but, at least your parents were struggling with you.

"Watch where you're going extra!" You jumped looking to see who in the hell is that loud and rude to a total stranger. You looked behind you and saw a very pissed-off blonde with red eyes scowling extremely hard at you. "AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAY SOMETHING FOR GETTING IN YOUR WAY!" He let off little explosions in his hand. Ah! He has the same quirk as you! Choosing to ignore the fact that this guy was crazy and could have easily walked around you with all the available space you showed him your quirk. You put both your hands up showing your explosions to him. Bad idea. "SO YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME HUH SHITTY EXTRA! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF WE HAVE THE SAME QUIRK I'M STILL GOING TO BE ON TOP!" You gave him such an incredulous look confused beyond comprehension. How the hell did he come up with all of that when you didn't even say a word??

"You're already picking a fight Bakubro." You jumped at the unexpected voices both of you turning around to see who it was. It was a group, a girl with pink skin and horns, a redhead, a yellow-haired one, and another one with a triangle smile. The red one hardened his face and arm when Bakubro? swung at him.

"SHE'S THE ONE THAT GOT IN MY WAY SHITTY HAIR" Is he incapable of calling people by their real names.

"With all this space? You just chose to walk behind her to see who she was hee hee" The pink-haired girl started laughing while dancing around to avoid him.

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE RACCOON EYES" First Shitty hair and now raccoon eyes? What was next?

"Anyway, I've never seen you around here, are you from one of the other classes?" The yellow-haired one was in your personal space making you red and stutter from the sudden attention.

"U-uh, my name is Y/N L/N I'm a transfer student and got accepted to U.A through recommendation. I am from America and I went to the number one hero school there." You don't know why you told random students that but okay.

"OOOO you're from America? How many languages do you speak?" You held up three fingers which earned you gasps while the ash Blondie was still seething.

"I'm sorry while my friends are talking a mile a minute." You were surprised to see the black-haired triangle-smile guy shove away the yellow-haired one and stand a foot from you "Allow me to introduce ourselves. I'm Hanta Sero, the pink one is Mina Ashido, the electric is Denki Kaminari the one holding up the angry chihuahua-"

"I'LL KILL YOU." You couldn't help but giggle as the red-headed one was struggling to hold him back.

"He's Ejirou Kirishima and the loudest one is-"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL HER MY NAME." The unholy screeching that was coming out of his mouth made you wince. Did he just not give a fuck about his vocal cords?

"-Katsuki Bakugo" You nodded your head in understanding now. That's why they called him Bakubro.

"YOU FLAT FACED MOTHER FUCKER" He broke out of Kirishima's hold and started chasing the two of you. You have no idea why you were running with Sero but, it felt right considering he was pissed and looked ready to attack anyone.

"By the way what class are you in?" You both were running and not the slightest out of breath.

"I'm in Class 1-A" You looked at him and saw he had a really big smile on his face.

"That's the best news I've heard all day! We all are in Class-1A!" You beamed at him finally making it into the building and turning your sprint into a brisk walk with the others very close behind.

"I can't wait to get to know you all." You saw the door down the hall and it was still open meaning class didn't start yet

"I can't wait to get to know you." Sero gave you a thumbs-up with a wink making you giggle. You can already tell this is going to be an interesting year.

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

A lot of potential for a part 2

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

okay so people liked the jace gushing post. it's time for another about another fave

SORIN MARKOV

[Sorin Markov]

I fucking love this guy. he's so fucking tired. he's 7000 years old. I'm almost 22 years old and I want to wither away into dust, I can't even begin to imagine. He comes from a plane called Innistrad, which is constantly trying to centrifugal force itself into obliteration. there's humans and then like 75849030 things that want to eat said humans, but if humans all die then everything else dies.

when he was a wee lad he was a human like all the other vampires but they were facing a famine and his alchemist granddad was like huh. starving to death is Not Good and I'm not finding any solutions. Clearly it is time to strike up a deal with a demon to learn the secrets of sangromancy!

(only a handful of people were able to be made into vampires though, so like. a Lot Of People still fucking died of starvation, and Sorin was one of the "lucky" ones to survive. Vampires on Innistrad have a huge "we are wealthy assholes" problem)

Except for Sorin part of his process was getting made to drink the blood of an archangel to be made into a vampire, which that thought was apparently so traumatic in and of itself that it fucking ignited his planeswalker spark and he got flung away from Innistrad

after hanging out as a new vampire and shit on Innistrad for like 1000 yaers or something he met up with Ugin and Nahiri (she's going to be important.), an elder dragon and a kor (basically think albino people. they're humans but bone white all over), to take on some eldritch abomination monsters (they are also going to be important later. Sorin has been getting bitten in the ass by his past for 6000 years.)

together this jolly trio lured three eldritch abomination monsters to this fucking bastard luckless plane called Zendikar, where they had devised a way to trap these cthulu mofos there. they did do that but Zendikar was getting fucking destroyed in the process but they were like "small price to pay for the multiverse ig" and departed with the understanding that if the eldrazi ever threatened to break free again they'd come back and help (this will be important later.)

Fast forward a few centuries and the eldrazi were like FUCK IT. WE'RE GOING TO EAT ZENDIKAR FROM THE INSIDE OUT MOTHERFUCKERS. And so they did. Nahiri went Oh Fuck and tried to send a message across the multiverse to her pals but Ugin was kinda busy being dead and Sorin didn't get the message because the Helvault on Innistrad absorbed it (wait, I'll explain what that is) and Nahiri was like Where are they Ill fucking Kill them both. starting with sorin. But first she handled the Eldrazi herself (?? girlboss moment?)

Meanwhile on Innistrad vampires were getting really stupid after some thousand years removed from humanity, and were like "lol these fucking losers. we should just eat them all whenever we want" and Sorin was like "then we'll starve. and we're back to that problem granddad was trying to avoid in the first place." and granddad was like "sorin please we have eternity to figure out a problem we're vampires" and Sorin was like (pulling out his own hair) NOT IF WE'RE STARVED, DAMMIT.

And so Sorin just was like Fuck It. And created Avacyn, an archangel, who proceeded to put all the 1084939202 things that wanted to eat humans on Innistrad in their place whenever they were overhunting. Sorin basically generated a religion to serve as a game control branch for Innistrad because vampires were Too Fucking Stupid to realize drinking all humans would starve them

But that wasn't all! Nope! Sorin also made the "Helvault!" Lmfao that's right, he made the Hell Vault! The hell vault was a silver monolith carved out of Innistrad's moon that Avacyn could put really nasty creatures in for eternal timeout if they were being too mean to humans. Go Into the Hell Timeout Corner - Avacyn

Anyway Nahiri showed up on Innistrad and was like Hey Sorin What The Fuck why didn't you pick up my CALL and Sorin was like "Nahiri, dear. I never fucking got it" and Nahiri was like "I don't like your fucking tone" and Sorin was like "how fucking dare you. I trained you. Go pester Ugin with your bullshit" (oh yeah Sorin trained Nahiri when she was new to the whole planeswalking thing). Nahiri was like "oh yeah well what if I just Kick Your Ass" and then Avacyn was like "I don't like her tone" and they fought until Sorin was like "Nahiri you need to go into timeout" and locked her in the Helvault

Sorin put the lithomancer in the big rock, yes. Also it was way more emotional than that I just wrote it in a funny way because that's how I roll here

Anyway, the Eldrazi started causing MORE problems on Zendikar AGAIN some thousand years later and Sorin was like uuuuuggghhhhh. Fine. But when he got there of course Ugin wasn't there and Nahiri wasn't bc she was still in silver rock timeout. He however did find Nissa, another planeswalker native to Zendikar, who yknow maybe had some thoughts about eldritch abominations being stored on her plane, and to make a long story short when they went to reinforce the shit keeping the eldrazi attached there Nissa actually kinda weakened it and freed them instead

Sorin was all "oh my fucking god. I hate mortals, why are you like this. I don't have any stakes here actually I'm leaving" and then he did which is such an iconic moment of his, oh my god, it's so funny and amazing to me. he really went "I am so fucking Tired of this Eldrazi shit, you really just did that, holy Shit I am so done. GOod fucking luck yall are on your own now I'm going back to my own dumpsterfire" AND THEN HE DID

(Nissa thought the Eldrazi would just leave. spoiler alert: they did not just leave)

Sorin went back to Innistrad and couldn't find Avacyn and was like Fuck,, but while he was trying to deal with that he came across Tibalt instead. Tibalt, this half-devil planeswalker man, who's like maybe a whole 20 years old and hasn't been doing jackshit as far as the stories are concerned really up to this point, just decided to be a little shit because he's a force of chaos that feeds off suffering and pain and whatever. Sorin put him in his place and then long story short Avacyn was fine sooo.... after sulking for a while Sorin was like FINE I GUESS I better do something about the Eldrazi but Im figuring out where Ugin fucking is

And thanks to some bullshit by Nicol Bolas and a certain dragon planeswalker man Sarkhan, there's actually two timelines when Sorin visits this plane named Tarkir! But the one we care about is when he showed up, found Ugin was stored in some special thing after nearly getting killed by his brother (Nicol if you didn't know), and freed him. To which Ugin thanked him by going "where the fuck is Nahiri. I don't wanna see you again without her, Sorin"

Which is so fucking funny lmao Sorin probably pissed he woke Ugin up at that point. He kinda left old-man-grumbling about how "shit was so much easier when I was younger and I only cared about Innistrad why am I here"

Only to go home and realize oops. Nahiri's out the Helvault. Oops, an eldritch abomination is corrupting everything in sight. Oops, Avacyn's gone mad. Oops oops oops

Nahiri went to Markov manor while he was gone and like put all his relatives in stone. This is really funny to me because most of Sorin's relatives fucking hate him (as do most vampires) for making Avacyn. Sorin just looking around at these stones like "......I know I'm supposed to fix this but angels above I could get used to this"

Anyway, Sorin grumbled to himself and realized he needed to be RESPONSIBLE OR SOMETHING, so he went to try to rally help from other vampires. Olivia Voldaren of the Voldaren vampire line was like "Lol yeah sure. if you kill that fucking angel of yours"

Sorin reluctantly agreed and when he found her realized she'd been driven mad by the eldritch abomination monster Nahiri had set loose on the plane. Oh and Jace and Tamiyo were there too, already attempting to take on the angel, but Sorin was the one that decided to do it instead of them

Which by the way. I know I've been writing this in a funny way but it was actually SO FUCKING SAD.

Sorin kinda viewed Avacyn as a daughter, as he sorta did Nahiri, and destroying Avacyn was so fucking traumatic for him. Real talk, Avacyn in her madness accused her downfall of being his fault, as since he was her creator, it was his fault she was capable of being maddened as she had. She literally called him Innistrad's greatest evil; he, the only person in that godsforsakened plane that had ever bothered to try to protect it from eating itself from the inside out. It was so fucking sad and I want to hug this poor man, I don't think he had ever felt more alone than he had in that moment

Now, from what I recall, I believe up til this point though Emrakul (the Eldritch abomination monster) was the one making everybody insane on Innistrad, she hadn't actually physically ARRIVED yet, and it was only after Avacyn was destroyed that Emrakul arrived, and Nahiri had kinda devised this horrific plot out of sheer spite for Sorin. For missing her call. yea

Sorin kinda realized this too and he and the vampires he had gathered went to war against Nahiri while Liliana used her zombies to protect people from getting wiped out entirely. it was a huge fucking mess augh

Nahiri eventually beat Sorin in his own manor and uh. Stuck him. stuck him in a wall. yea. Then Olivia showed up and was like "well lol looks like we lost well Im one to make the best out of a situation soooo... looks like Voldarens are the most powerful vampires in Innistrad and I'm their lord now, Sorin~! I'm taking your sword" and then she did and she left him in the wall.

Sorin will never live down being stuck in the wall. Not in universe, not in canon, not in fandom, not ever. Sorin in the wall jokes reign supreme and I stand by that

While Sorin was in a wall, the Gatewatch managed to confine Emrakul to Innistrad's moon where it would stop being a horror monster to the plane. This seemed to work except Tamiyo later revealed to Jace that uh. The spell she used to do it wasn't from her own spell scrolls. It was from Emrakul's; Jace's mental protections hadn't quite worked on her at the very end. So Emrakul's actually sealed in Innistrad's moon of its own accord. TERRIFYING. WHY

Apparently Sorin couldn't planeswalk out of the wall, also? because in a later story, Sigarda (another angel from Innistrad) claimed that he fucking. carved his way out? Chewed? Lmfao Sorin had some fucked up fangs for a while. Anyway, he got out and was drawn to Ravnica for War of the Spark of course, where AS SOON AS HE SAW Nahiri, he went for her fucking THROAT. Eventually they realized hey maybe we should care about the dragon trying to kill everyone and destroy the multiverse but lmfaooo it was not fast. Also I love that Nahiri actually didn't instigate this fight, SORIN did. Sorin jumped out of that wall andw as like WHEN I SEE NAHIRI, SHE IS CATCHING THESE HANDS. ON SIGHT.

Anyway he survived WotS, went back to Innistrad, was depressed and brooding in the Markov Manor. Olivia was scheming some stupid plot to make it nighttime always in Innistrad (certain death for everyone on the plane, since it would kill off most humans' food supplies, mean the monsters on Innistrad could run wild all the time, and just generally mean that Innistrad would eat itself to death within like a month or less), and some people from the Gatewatch + Arlinn were trying to keep that from happening, but they needed a key thing that Sorin had.

Now. Sorin's been through some shit recently. His angel daughter, he had to kill, after she accused him of being the greatest evil in his own plane. His other basically daughter, who he trained to be a planeswalker and loved dearly, turned out to be a vengeful, spiteful monster that destroyed a plane simply bc she was mad at him. Most of his relatives were still rocks, Markov manor was in shambles, and there was like. He Was Going Through It, Man

So when they showed up and were like heeeey....sorin...can we get that key

Sorin was like why should I fucking bother. Let them eat themselves to death. fuck it. I don't fucking care anymore (he did. he just was really hurting that he did, which honestly, was so heartbreaking to read. I genuinely recommend you read Midnight Hunt/Crimson Vow stories if you haven't, this poor man)

Gatewatch ofc tried to cheer him up, and someone (I can't remember if it was Chandra or Arlinn, but someone) started to say Avacyn's name, and Sorin saw fucking red. Mans drew his sword and just leapt at them before the name had even left their MOUTH. Sigarda showed up and was like heeey Sorin. Carve your way out of that wall just to be an Ass? and she managed to distract him long enough for everyone else to get the key lol

And then, Olivia stole Sorin's fucking grandfather (seriously, Olivia needs a fuckin hobby. Woman lives by tormenting Sorin. also when I say stole, I mean that literally, he was in like a deep coffin sleep and she just stole his fuckin coffin lmao) and was going to charm him to marry him so that she would unite the Markov and Voldaren bloodlines and become the most powerful vampire family ever

Also, this isn't super important but I just felt like pointing it out, Olivia has the biggest dick ever. Sorry but she wins

look at everyone admiring her. and they're correct

Anyway, Sorin because he admittedly loves his grandfather, and because his grandfather is probably the only person native to Innistrad and not a planeswalker that actually has positive things to say about him, decides to help the Gatewatch crash the evil vampire wedding buuuut. long story short, while they succeed in crashing the wedding and accidentally burning a lot of vampires to death via accidental sun exposure, granddaddy markov is still cursed by Olivia, still married to her, and. that's kinda where Crimson Vow ends

Also something funny I remember about Crimson Vow is that Olivia mockingly invited Sorin to her wedding, and Sorin showed up in the wrong colors and he was just internally all indignantly like I dress better than any of you Whelps, just because it's black/silver/gray doesn't make it LESS good and I just couldn't help but cackling. Depressed tired old vampire man is like I may be sad. I may be depressed. I may be ready to crumple over and never stand back up again. BUT I HAVE GOOD FUCKING DRIP AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT.

Anyway that's where Sorin was last seen as far as I remember, and godddd. I LOVE him. Sad man. sad 7000 year old vampire man. Nobody in Innistrad likes him yet without him they would have been destroyed like 45 times over by now. His own daughters turned on him. His planeswalker friends had to convince him at swordpoint that they still cared for him. they're probably genuinely terrified of him but also just like. can we get you some therapy (they say, knowing they all also need therapy)

Though also, uh. Jace knows about Emrakul being in Innistrad's moon of its own accord... and I don't think he and Tamiyo ever told anyone else... and Tamiyo kinda got got in Neon Dynasty.... and it's been a hot minute since that happened...... so if Jace ever reveals that he knows that to Sorin, I'm pretty sure Sorin is just going to lunge at him and drink him, because Sorin has Had Enough of Everyone's Shit and Jace has a supernatural tendency for Pissing People Off

Thank you for coming to my vvampire ted talk

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking Down the Comics: Fighting the dead.

Moon Knight, Issue 21: The Master of Night Earth / Murder by Moonlight

It's officially spooky time and have I got a Moon Knight comic double feature cross over event for you! 

The first one features Brother Voodoo! A lot of you probably have no idea who that is. I used to sit in that boat too. (Marvel is not good at keeping up with their characters until they think they can suddenly make them popular or make money off them). 

In fact, Brother Voodoo was once Sorcerer Supreme many years ago when Strange 'retired'. (See 'Search for the Sorcerer Supreme'. A good event that I really enjoyed in which all of Marvel's magical characters got featured). 

Firstly, look at that beautiful cover! I’m a sucker for black and white and rough style drawings. 

Alright! 

So we open up in a port in Haiti. Moon Knight's fighting some gun runners when suddenly a specter appears to join the fight. 

The thugs all run! 

"It is him! The disciple of Papa Jambo!! Brother Voodoo! His spirit has come to fill our hearts with fire!" 

(Moon Knight is no newbie when it comes to Voodoo. He's faced down things like this before in a previous issue.) 

"Well, whatever you are, pal, you sure put the Kibosh on these thugs. They're runnin' faster'n a clock at happy hour!" 

If that isn't Jake talking I'll eat my hat. 

The ghost inhabits one of the running goons and forces the goon to turn and take a stab at Moon Knight. 

Moon Knight socks it to him and accidentally knocks the goon and ghost off the pier and into an escaping speed boat. 

I think the funniest thing here is that the comic now points out that Moon Knight has a two way mic in his cowl that connects to Frenchie. How often do you think Frenchie sits up there just listening to it all? 

While Moon Knight is no Spider-man, he does often talk to 'himself' or have a snippy running commentary. 

"Guess ya heard my prize winnin' monologue, Frenchie. The birds've flown, so you might as well bring down the chopper to pick up--Huh? Drums!" 

That's right. The sound of drums fill the air and a man appears in a wall of flames. 

I think my favorite thing is how much Moon Knight recognizes his poor luck and when things go weird. 

Moon Knight has certainly seen his fair share of mystical and weird things so he takes it in stride, of course. 

"Who in blazes are you?!" 

As meetings go, this is pretty tame. Considering every time Moon Knight meets someone they end up fighting (with one notable exception coming up in another issue). 

We get a brief review on who they are. Jericho Drum is Brother Voodoo! 

Moon Knight introduces himself, "I'm a lot of things at a lot of different times, Pal, most of 'em based in New York, but before New York, ONE of those things was a mercenary, a soldier for hire. Y'see, I've fought a lot of fights under a lot of flags and identities... But I've probably enjoyed my free agent mercenary experience the most." 

An interesting introduction. I take a strong feeling of Jake earlier with the accent and speech patterns. (Not to mention use of the word Kibosh, which is actually not Yiddish, but Irish slang that is often mistaken as yiddish!) Yet, Jake doesn't like to leave New York. He'd rather stay where he is comfortable and has the upper hand. 

Here, with the instant description as his old days as a Merc that enjoyed the fight so much that he still does it, one might get the impression it's Marc. 

BUT... 

"You might say that's what I'm doin' now--What I'm the very best at, and doin' it by way of my identity as a costumed clown. And though I got money to burn--I don't mind pickin' up a little extra cash." 

"Then you were paid to come here to Haiti?" 

"You might say that, too." 

Marc picks up his old job with resistance. He has never been one to jump in the saddle and go out hunting for money. Not anymore. 

But there's more: 

"I did my homework before acceptin' the assignment, if THAT'S what you mean. Enough to know Im on the side of the angels." 

One gets the feeling that Marc is doing what he does best with the prodding of something he needs to do. Perhaps co-fronting with Jake as a sort of protector. Letting Jake run things to keep his spirits up and prevent him from crashing and burning like he did in Israel. 

An early sign, perhaps, that they are struggling but learning to work together. 

Anyways, back to the story! 

Brother Voodoo explains that Haiti has suffered many coup d'etats and there is a current terrorist attempt to take over. He is head of security here and he offers to pay Moon Knight handsomely if he agrees to help stop the latest attempted overthrow. 

Brother Voodoo warns him of “Houngans, the lord of the crossroads and demons, master of night earth, night forests, and zuvembies and voodoo.” 

Moon Knight first scoffs at the notion of REAL voodoo but then takes pause not to scoff at such things when he saw this man become a sort of ghost first hand. 

"The spirit you saw was my slain brother, Daniel." (See Brother Voodoo backstory to find out more! But basically his brother was killed and now acts as a spirit at his side that can inhabit people to help the cause). 

Let's back up a moment. Houngans, also known as Oungan in real life Haitian, is a male priest in Haitian Vodou. A powerful man that can work with the spirits. 

Moon Knight sends Frenchie off with his chopper to dispose of the stolen munitions they recovered. Meanwhile, Brother Voodoo and he take a boat down the river to track down the escaped speedboat. 

Daniel, the spirit brother, has inhabited one of the thugs still and will help guide them to the safehouse. 

On the way there, they encounter Zombies on gators! 

I’m going to add this informally to my check list of animals Moon Knight has fought. Zombie gators and Zombie snakes. That’s a new one there, Moon Knight buddy. 

Brother Voodoo and Moon Knight put up a fight, but it's hard to kill what's already dead. 

Just when it seems to be a lost fight, the zombies suddenly start to retreat! 

It would seem that the grand leader doesn't yet have full control of the undead. 

The zombies head down one direction and Daniel's spirit went down the other. Frenchie shows up and Moon Knight head off to fight the terrorists while Brother Voodoo sets out to track down the zombies. 

Marc and Frenchie find a fortress deep in the swamp. Meanwhile, Brother Voodoo comes across a waterfall that comes out just on the other side of the fortress! 

Moon Knight attempts to glide in to save him from the waterfall but Voodoo refuses and goes over the edge. 

I just want to say how much I ADORE this art right now. It’s the formless features of the face hidden in darkness with the eyes. Old Moon Knight cowl was just amazing and O dig classic costume. LOOK AT IT. 

Moon Knight is surrounded by thugs with guns and thinks it might be the end when drums start up again! 

Brother Voodoo appears and the ghost of his brother returns while the thugs make a run for it. 

The art of surprise is over, but they decide to use stealth to sneak in. 

And we all know how Moon Knight does with stealth... 

Do I have a crash through the window counter? I really should have started one of those... 

He’s such a drama king. 

Anyways, if Moon Knight is asking for five minutes alone with a guy, it isn't going to go well for that guy. 

Moon Knight confronts the smartly dressed man and demands the rest of his money. 

(Does everyone owe him money? Marc what the hell you been doing?) 

The man gives Moon Knight the owed money then tells him that Brother Voodoo has joined the terrorists and needs to be taken out. 

"No dice, Giscard. I've been paid in full to stop the terrorists, and that's just what I'm gonna do... Startin' with you, the stinkin' leader of the terrorists!" 

The man hired Moon Knight to stop terrorists, which were a few sacrificial goons, in order to look good to the government leaders. Meanwhile, he was staging the coup while pretending to be stopping it! 

Honestly, Marc should have caught wind of this earlier. I'm sure he's been in charge of MANY coups and run with plenty of warmongers. 

He hits a trap button and Moon Knight is shot with a poison dart! 

Moon Knight awakens to find himself staring down the villain, now dressed in a new outfit. 

"You see, Moon Knight, I play three roles...You have seen me in two of them- as the Government security chief and as the leader of the revolutionary forces seeking to topple that government. But now, you see me in my third and most important role- the Grand Bois, leader of the unholy trinity, lord of the crossroads and demons...The Master of the Night earth and night forests!" 

He gives a long convoluted speech explaining how he will soon gain control over death once the full moon has fully risen. 

Once he has full control over death he will raise his zombie army to take over Haiti. 

During his speech, Moon Knight has slipped his restraints. 

Zombies show up again and so does Brother Voodoo. 

They fight the zombies and try to shatter the large mcguffin that is helping to control them. 

Moon Knight calls in Frenchie with the big guns and he uses the chopper's gunfire to break the mcguffin and send the Zombies back to their graves. 

The goons show up and turn on the villain, deciding they are tired of the zombies. Turns out they weren't too happy to see their ancestors turned into zombies. 

He offers his pay to Brother Voodoo, seeing how the money came from Haiti’s treasury in the first place. 

Let’s give away this bread. 

What an interesting crossover. 

The implication of Marc working as a Merc again under the guise of Moon Knight, accepting money, to stop a coup. There's a lot going on there. He doesn't need the money. It's just more to toss onto Steven's pile. And I'm Sure Steven would not be thrilled to have to deal with more laundered and ill-be-gotten cash. 

And then there's the whole feel that this is NOT Marc, but Jake. But also Marc. Like a combination of the two. Like Marc felt he needed to help a government that he probably at one point help over throw and put into chaos... But he needed someone to oversee him. To do some hand holding to prevent him from reverting to old tactics, flashbacks, or guilt. 

Maybe I'm putting too much into it, but after the issues that preceded this one, maybe Marc isn't ready to settle in yet but also is trying to do some good as a Merc but as Moon Knight.

It was also interesting to hear him talk about his other identities and actually refer to Steven as "the other guy".

And there was also a nice counter to the villain being three roles: Government rich guy, Leader of a coup, and then the religious zealot.

Counter that with Steven, Marc, and Jake in their own roles.

Generally when there are cross over issues, it's an effort to get people interested in the other character enough to go look into their comics and start reading those too. So there really is a general light version of both characters without a lot of weight or back story. They don't want to off put people just tuning in with a lot of lore and things you should know.

So the skirting of the Marc vs. his identity as the merc without guilt issue is avoided here. This issue is for Brother Voodoo.

(And you know what? Those tactics work because I got into Moon Knight because of a Moon Knight cross over issues and went "Who the fuck is this guy?!")

-

BONUS ISSUE! "MURDER BY MOONLIGHT" by Alan Zelenetz. 

Oh boy you guys. This is a Khonshu story! 

"Under the timeless gaze of the ancient Egytpain god, More than Marc Spector have known the power of Khonshu.... TALES OF KHONSHU"

We open up on a full moon and a city in distress. An officer has been shot killed and the perp is on the loose! 

A man named Herb Russell runs through the botanical gardens. The narration paints him as ruthless and a man that won't stand to loose. 

Tired of running, he turns to find he's landed at the Brooklyn Museum "where a late evening lecture series is still in progress." 

"Hey, if I can cool it a couple of hours in there, then I just leave with the crowd like a respectable citizen - ha!- when it opens in the morning, and no worries." 

He sneaks into the museum and into the night lecture being conducted by a famed Egyptologist "Dr. Richard Mark". 

He lectures on the benefits of X-rays for examining mummies without having to disturb them or dishonor them. 

He explains that he plans to radiograph some more things before the exhibit opens in the morning. 

Hmmm... I sense foreshadowing. 

Meanwhile, upstairs, Herb Russell is sneaking through the Egyptian exhibit. 

"I'll bet this stuff must be worth a lotta dough. I oughta swipe somethin' before I leave." 

Ah yes…. The Khonshu statue. ……Wait. How did it get there? It’s supposed to be in the desert waiting for Marc to raise him from the dead. That’s the cloak that Marc streals to make as his own cape. What’s he doing in a museum in Brooklyn? 

He's so judgy.

This will end well. 

The night guard takes a look around and deems no one there then leaves. 

Now, Russell tries to leave the sarcophagus only to find the lid stuck! 

' "What is the punishment of the sinner?" Reads the heiroglypic proverb painted along the mummy case... "Evil shall pursue him and the soul which sins shall die." ' 

Come morning, we seed the Egyptologist prepping for the exhibit and taking radiographs. 

Let’s pretend that maybe there are in fact multiple Khonshu statues. There was, after all, a moon cult back in the day when Ra fell out of favor and people decided Khonshu was the way to go. So there may have been more than one statue or temple. So Marc dies at one, takes that statue home. There is another in the museum. Maybe one in London too because London has half of Egypt. 

Anyways, Khonshu has always been a judgy dick. Also what a way to go. Spooky, right? 

Zombies and scary stories of suffocating in coffins under the judgy gaze of a moon god…. What a way to kick off the spooky season! (this comic came out in July of 1982). 

What do you guys think? What about the sudden change in Marc’s behavior in the first part? What about the duplicate statues all over? 

[glitterslag]

Wanted to elaborate on this a little, plus I wanted to write a blurb showing how one of Eddie's hellfire pals finds out about Eddie and Chrissy! So without further ado:

"Hey uh, is it okay if I stop by Jeff's house real quick? He left his jacket at my place the other night."

It's 11am on a Tuesday, mere weeks before Chrissy's due to leave for college, and Eddie's driving her home. Yesterday was one of the rare times she was able to give her mom the slip, and she'd stayed over at his place last night.

"Sure." Chrissy agrees. "If you don't mind me being there."

"Why would I?"

She scoffs.

"Well, I'm aware I'm not exactly Hawkins High royalty anymore," Chrissy prefices, throwing him a glance over the centre console. "But I know your friends aren't exactly the biggest fan of cheerleaders, disgraced or uh, otherwise."

"Huh," Eddie starts with a bemused laugh. "See, here's me thinking it's the other way around."

"It's not!" Chrissy says quickly. Maybe a little defensively. And then, after a while, she quietly says, "I've never thought of it that way before."

Eddie laughs again, humourless.

"What?" Chrissy says.

"You've never thought about how your old friends live to bully people like Jeff and me?" Eddie wonders, big eyes surveying her in that way they can sometimes, when it feels like he's seeing right through her.

"What?" she says, surprised. "Nobody could bully you, Eddie."

She really means it. That's always been how she's seen him. It's why she'd taken a shine to him straight away, all those months ago when she'd gone to him for pot. Nobody could push Eddie around.

"I didn't think that stuff got to you." She mumbles, and Eddie shrugs. She's partially right.

"Well, not now. But at one point. In middle school for sure, maybe freshman year." He says. "Had to learn to toughen up eventually, didn't I?"

He flashes a grin at her, but she notices it doesn't quite meet his eyes. She's started picking up on that stuff now that they're spending more and more time together.

Chrissy throws him a sympathetic look and they don't say anymore for a little while.

A seed of self-doubt starts to grow in her throat, and eventually, Chrissy has to ask:

"So does Jeff know about..... you and I... hanging out?"

Eddie chuckles.

"Nah."

That stings.

"What are you, ashamed of me or something?"

She tries to say it lightly, jokingly, but she's not sure it works.

Eddie drops his head back against the seat and shakes his head, grinning.

"You don't fucking get it, do you...?" He says softly as he swings the car into Jeff's driveway.

They're having a lot of these arguments lately, if they can even be called that. They're more like bickering, really, and they finish as quickly as they start. They're not real. Each comment thrown in the other's direction just a thinly veiled way to say "I care about you." "I care about you." "Yeah? Well I care about you too. How about that?"

Eddie beeps the horn.

After a little while Jeff comes out. Chrissy's side of the vehicle is facing the house, and Eddie reaches across her and rolls her window down.

Jeff's eyes widen when he sees her, darting between her and Eddie and back again. He wanders over to the passenger door, confused.

"Hey man." Eddie says casually in greeting.

"Hey."

"Hey." Chrissy says politely, shooting Jeff a small smile.

Eddie leans over her and hands his jacket out of the window wordlessly.

"Thanks." Jeff says.

The boys seem to be having some kind of conversation with their eyes. It looks practiced, years of secretly communicating at the back of math class in the making, but neither of them acknowledge anything out loud.

"So uh, what are you guys up to?" Jeff says.

"Nothing, just taking Chris home."

Eddie says it casually, but it's glaringly obvious. It's 11 in the morning. Why would he be taking her home if she hadn't stayed the night?

"And then I gotta go see Wayne's friend about that job at the car place, remember?"

"Right. Yeah..." Jeff answers, but he's not actually registering anything Eddie's saying because abruptly, it's all clicked.

Eddie blowing them off all the time senior year. Chrissy breaking up with her boyfriend. Him seeing them standing together in the parking lot on results day, acting so shiftily when they knew they'd been caught. There's a slightly unhinged smile creeping across Jeff's face, and Eddie seems a little embarrassed. He scratches at the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well uh, look we gotta go. Can't keep the guy waiting."

"Oh, right." Jeff allows. "Good luck, man. Hope ya' get it."

He taps the van and says bye, then watches them drive off, hands in his pockets and a shut-eating grin growing on his face.

~~~~~

"You lucky fucking bastard." Jeff's saying hours later when Eddie picks up the phone. He rolls his eyes hard.

"What d'you want, man."

"When were you gonna tell me you've been fucking Chrissy Cunningham?!"

Eddie swears softly and rubs his eyes, rings digging into his eye sockets providing temporary relief.

"Who says I am?"

Jeff laughs.

"Um?! This morning?" He stipulates. Eddie remains quite.

"Dude," Jeff goes on. "That's what you've been doing this whole time, huh? All those nights you blew us off? You've been fucking her this whole time."

"I'm not-" Eddie glances around at Wayne who's in the kitchen, fixing up dinner. "fucking her" he finishes quietly. "We're just hanging out okay?"

"Then why were you taking her home at 11 in the morning?"

"Sometimes she stays over."

"Dude, that's worse."

"I'm done talking to you now, Jeff." Eddie chides, trying to sound intimidating but he knows he's already lost this battle.

"She sleeps over at your house and you don't fuck her." Jeff repeats.

"Whatever man, I'm hanging up."

"I mean, what are you, in love with h-"

"Buh-bye, then." Eddie says forcefully, slamming the reciever down before Jeff can finish his sentence. He skulks off to his room and kicks the door shut on a bemused Wayne, who's just about to take the dinner out of the oven.

"Don't go too far, son." He calls down the hall. "Dinner's almost ready!"

Eddie sighs and flops down on his bed face first. Suddenly he's not all that hungry anymore.

[eatabubble]

Short

Vance x reader

Reader is like an inch taller idk

Summary - you and Vance are online friends but you ended up taking a trip to his hometown, however you can't quite get over his height

Word count: 944

I read somewhere that Tristan (Bruces actor) is like 5'5 so like since Brady (Vances actor) is almost the same height as him so I'd like to assume Vance is pretty much is the same height maybe shorter so here's this lmao

Social media and I guess advanced technology is a thing already👌🏼

☆☆☆☆

"Holy cow your short Vance"

"Shut up,"

-----

Vance and you have been friends through social media because of some cocky thing he had said on an app and when it found you, you decided to say something though it had nothing to do with you, you decided it would be funny to see how he'd respond.

So from then on you two continued to "bully" eachother or just tease a little but after around two weeks of nonsense you added eachother, both not going a day without talking since then. Due to you guys living in different states though, you've never seen one another in real life, but as soon as you got your first vehicle at 17 you decided your first big trip should be to Denver where your good, old dear pal, Vance was at, you didn't tell him though and truth be told you didn't know what to expect he never wanted to face time you, you knew he was your age though, because what type of weird middle aged man say they're 5'5? And he would show you pictures of him beating his personal high scores in pinball, but you did add him not knowing he was the school "bully" however he seemed to be nice to you, plus you'd stay there too short of a time to really know the reputation he built in his hometown.

So as you got closer to your designated spot you began to ask Vance a tad bit too many personal questions about where he hangs out the most at, and where he lives so he soon got suspicious and began connecting the dots from when you told him 3 weeks ago that you got your driver's license to when you said your parents got you a car as to when you said what his reaction would be if you drove to Denver to meet him and to now when you wouldn't stop spamming him questions along the lines of "do you live in a big neighborhood or?". So yeah your surprise was a bit of a fail but here you were now at a convenient store with a worn out logo up front, 'grab n go' and surprisingly to anyone else but you he bought all the stuff you picked out.

You couldn't lie about the fact that you felt people staring at you two inside the store, you thought maybe he was popular here, maybe that explains why they're staring at him, but if he was popular why would everybody shuffle a little further away from the both of you each step yo- he took. You didn't care too much to dig into it further as you guys left but you did end up asking him.

"Are you popular here or something Vance, because you never told me that."

"Eh, I suppose it's something like that"

"Huh?" "Doesn't matter here lets go up that hill over there" "okay!"

As you made your way up the hill he pointed at earlier, you asked if he could show you the pinball machine he always uses or if he could show you how to play, you already know to play but you wanted him to show you how he plays because if he could best his high score every time he must be doing something very right. "we already passed it y/n"

"what, where we only went to that old store down there- oh, oh was it over at the corner crowded by everybody" "mhmm"

"so I assume it's hard to get a chance to play, right?"

"Not necessarily a problem for me, I mean it basically has my name all over it but maybe for other people" "wow"

------

"You know I expected you to be a bit taller Vance, yeah you told me your height but I thought maybe you were exaggerating like you knew you were short but wanted to get the point across so you lowered the numbers a bit,"

"That makes no sense y/n, literally, what part of that was logical to you" he rolled his eyes at you.

"Hey, you don't get to make fun of me, atleast I can reach the top shelf at libraries" you knew you were exaggerating he most likely could reach it just fine but just like the first time you both talked to eachother you wanted to see how he'd respond.

"I so can reach the top shelf we're legit the same size" he replied feigning offense in his voice or maybe he was offended you couldn't really tell "you probably wouldn't know if you could or not, it's not like you've ever touched a book anyway." As he was about to snap back you grabbed one of his candies, stood up and held it high standing on your tippy toes and extending your arm as far as it can go, you knew he could pretty much reach it if he really tried because as mentioned you were pretty much the same height but he seemed to be struggling

....

"Holy cow your short Vance"

"Shut up stop saying that, I just don't want to hurt you, stop making my height a bigger deal than it is"

"Ill pray for you to grow Vance, don't you worry" you gave him his wrapped candy back.

"Geez so generous thank you, humble friend" he had a sarcastic tone to it while letting out an annoyed sigh as he finished. "You're so welcomed, Vance" you said having the biggest smile on your face. You wanted to enjoy the few days you'll be staying and what other way to do that than to annoy good ol' Vance Hopper.

[because-edmund]

Daphne Ask #?

Is there any family that Daphne would introduce Hassan to (whether intentionally or because of circumstance)?

Hehe story below 💕 @the-redheaded-league

I’m only ten years younger than her dad… Hassan thinks, waiting outside the strange house. Is that a little messed up? I don’t think so… Her father suddenly opens the door, and they’re finally let in to Daphnes family home.

He shakes the man’s hand after setting his suitcase on the floor, “It’s great to finally meet you!”

“It’s nice meeting you too, two years, huh? Sure she hasn’t driven you mad yet?” He laughs, Daphne glares at him before running to the restroom.

“Ah, yeah. She could never do that!” Hassan laughs. “She’s really quite amazing, sir.”

“You don’t have to call me sir! I’m only a little bit older than you after all!” Her father, Dan, laughs again.

“Yeah it’s cause of her daddy issues,” her younger sister, Lydia, yells from the table.

“Or maybe this dude is just a cradle robber,” her older one laughs.

Hassan chuckles a bit, tries to brush off the comments. When Daphne walks back from the restroom, he pulls her in to his side, not letting her go. “Are you ok?” She whispers.

“Yeah, shortcake.” He smiles back, gritting his teeth.

She gives him a weak smile back.

They were on a road trip, he had a training seminar to go to, and he tried his damndest to make it romantic, but when their hotel lost their reservations, the only option was to sleep at Daphnes dads house or the car.

Hassan settles them in what would’ve been Daphnes old room, had it not been entirely changed into a room for her dads step-grandchildren. Two twin beds, they couldn’t even sleep next to each other.

“Guess I don’t get my cuddles tonight, huh shortcake?” Hassan laughs.

“I’m sorry, it’s going to be a long night,” she rubs her temples, already feeling a headache.

“You got this, babe,” he sits next to her on her bed, hugging her tightly.

It goes pretty smoothly, all things considered. They make their comments, about his age, about her weight, about the fact she never visits. They both grin and bear it.

“Why her?” Lydia asks, in the middle of dinner.

“Excuse me?” Hassan replies, honestly taken a bit aback.

“It’s like, I know Erin lives on that island, she’s a bit prettier right?”

Hassan can’t find the words to answer this question, and before he can try to open his mouth, Gabby, the oldest says:

“Even Bev is.”

The two start laughing, Daphne rolling her eyes, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself.

“I think your sister blows everyone, here or there, out the water.” Hassan says, picking at the food on his plate.

Her dad snorts, “Sure pal, wait until she has a meltdown. Girl is so sensitive. Can never even take a joke, I mean look at how she’s acting right now.”

Daphne, tired of it, gets up and starts to clean up their plates, not saying anything.

“Oh look, she’s being nice and actually cleaning for once,” Gabby laughs.

“Yeah, bud. You might have to hire a maid. This girl never cleans, lazy as all hell,” he sad sips on his whiskey. “You sure you don’t want any?”

“He’s muslim,” Daphne snaps, the first thing she’s said all night. “He doesn’t drink. And you shouldn’t either, you’re getting a bit rude.” She storms off the the kitchen, plates in hand.

“The fuck did you just say?” Her dad yells after her, and the second he gets out of his chair, Hassan is already grabbing him by the sleeve, forcing him to stay down.

“Don’t,” is all Hassan says, voice hard.

“Don’t what?” Her father slurs. “Teach her a lesson? How dare she talk to me like that, I’m your father show some respect!” He practically spits at Daphne, who’s frozen in place by the kitchen door.

Hassan glares at the man, “All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Especially you.” In a swift and quick movement, he’s got the man pinned to the wall. “I think it’s best we all head to bed. Be out in the morning, and nothing has to get worse than it already is. Got it?” He looks around the room, seeing the two girls nod. “Good.” He lets the man go, before grabbing the dishes out of daphnes hands, sets them on the table and then holds her close to his chest all the way to the bedroom.

She’s crying the second the door closes, “I’m sorry,” she sobs into his chest. “I didn’t mean to make you mad…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, shortcake.” Hassan holds her tight. “I see you why you can’t fucking stand them.

“They’ve gotten a lot better,” she laughs.

He pulls her out from his chest, stares into her eyes while he wipes her tears with his thumbs. “I love you, sweet girl.” He kisses her softly, just as she says it back.

He stays awake the whole night, and truly understands how Daphne learned to run.

[storiesofstratos]

Chapter 13: Close Encounters

Daniel takes to the streets, and gets a little more than he bargains for when he meets someone new...

You know that moment, when the clock strikes three on a fateful day in June? When the bell rings for the last time, and you walk out of school knowing you won’t have to go back to that hellhole for a whole three months? When the burden of all those tests and homework and all that just slides off your back, and you take that first deep breath of the warm summer air, and it hits you that you get to enjoy it however you want?

That’s how I felt, standing on the roof of my favorite pizza joint for the first time, looking over one of Stratos City’s many bustling streets. It was like a moment straight out of a superhero movie. Minus the pouring rain and brooding, deep voice.

"Okay, take it slow today. I know you wanna go all out but these people don't know who you are," Nico's voice echoed in my earpiece as I started moving from rooftop to rooftop. "You gotta introduce yourself slowly. Show that you're here to help." 

"I got it, I got it!" I retorted as I looked all around. Someone in danger maybe... an old lady crossing the street, some real boy scout stuff or something like that. “Look, would you just relax? I got this!”

I was able to jump from rooftop to rooftop without much effort. Keeping a bird’s eye view was nice, at least when it came to watching out for anyone plotting something… villainous? Criminal? I dunno, something bad. Which is exactly what I saw. Some guy, probably around my age… god, he was young. Mostly shaved head, save for a mohawk that was dyed toxic green. On the taller side, he wore a leather jacket over a white t-shirt, and some jeans, looking like a stereotypical punk in an 80s movie. Decently athletic build, looked like he knew how to handle himself in a fight.

At least, that was the conclusion I came to when I saw that he had someone pinned against the wall of an alleyway. The guy was pretty badly beaten too, they must have fought recently… but the punk with the green hair barely had a scratch on him. So either it was a really one-sided fight, or this was…

I dropped down the fire escape of the building I was on, working my way down the stairs until I was on the ground behind him. “Let him go.”

“Huh?” The punk turned to me, looking me up and down. “The fuck’re you? It ain’t Halloween yet, pal. Get outta here.”

I put my fists up. “I’m not gonna ask you again. Let him go, and walk away.” I tried my best to sound intimidating, but dammit, I was nervous. I’d never been in a fight before! I just hoped that my strength would carry me where I had no technique.

To my surprise, he did in fact drop the guy. That was… easier than I thought it would be. “Okay, good. Now, just get out of-”

The wind picked up suddenly, knocking Daniel off his feet. The sudden collision against the brick wall of the building sent a shock up his spine before he crumpled to his knees. Shaking his head, he tried to get to his feet quick, putting his hands up just in time to block another blast of compressed air.

“What the hell?? You have powers too..”

Daniel leapt out of the way to avoid a second blast. Stumbling as he got to his feet, he rushed his opponent, throwing a quick jab, only for his fist to connect with the wall behind him, cracking the bricks that made it up. A stabbing pain hit Daniel’s abdomen, the young man barely able to register the liquid seeping into his clothes before another blast sent him flying up into the air.

He was able to twist himself in the air, just enough to avoid the arcing electricity blazing by him. “You got lightning too?? Come o-”

His words were cut off by a blast of cold air from behind, sending him hurtling into the pavement below. Reeling, he threw a wayward punch, which managed to make contact. He could hear the prominent sound of cracking bone- ribs. Dazed, and still somewhat confused, he managed to connect another blow, and then another, sending his assailant into the wall.

But before he even had a chance to collect his thoughts, he felt the ground beneath him disappear. His assailant had grabbed him, flying both of the boys up into the air, before he was unceremoniously dropped.

I hit the ground hard. I couldn’t tell what was left and right at that point, but I sure as hell could feel the pain. I got up, shakily, and leaned against the wall for support. I had blood on me.. But was it just mine? I couldn’t tell at that point, honestly.

I finally collected myself enough to figure out that the bastard who attacked me had fled. Did.. he fly?? I couldn’t do that.. How the hell was I supposed to fight him like that? At least my mind was made up. If another superhuman was out causing trouble, I couldn’t just sit idly by, could I?

“Daniel,” Nico’s voice came in through the communicator, “Come on man, answer me!”

“I’m here,” I finally answered. How long had she been talking to me? “I.. I think I need to return to base. You guys are gonna wanna hear about what I saw… and… I think I need a serious bandaid.”

[jonesatheart]

Make it Stop

This is a section from a larger work in progress and contains heavy implications of past sexual abuse, nothing graphic, but undeniably there. There is also discussion of body memories. You have been warned.

Raph wedged himself between the wall and Casey, who was backed into corner of the room clutching his head in both hands with his knees pulled to his chest, and gently drew him sideways against his plastron.

Casey let go of his head to cling to Raph's arm and in response Raph curled his arm around him and gently thumbed the back of Casey's head.

"I don't know what's happenin'," he breathed.

"Talk to me," Raph encouraged. "Tell me what's goin' on so I can help."

Casey shook his head. "I can't." He finally managed.

Raph took a breath and decided to gently push. "Y'know I'd never judge ya for something that's obviously pretty serious, right? Cause I kinda got a guess at what's goin' on. Ya don't gotta deal with it alone, Case. Ya don't...gotta hide it or feel ashamed of it. I'd never hold somethin' that's clearly upsettin' over ya head."

"I don't even really know what it is. I just-" he let out a frustrated whine and pressed his face against Raph's arm.

"It's okay," Raph assured. "It's okay. I kinda figured you wouldn' cause...ya not the one that's been lookin' into stuff. If ya want. I can tell ya what I think is goin' on and we can try some stuff, or we can just try some stuff."

"I wanna know what's goin' I just- I feel wrong."

Raph nodded. "There's this thing that happens called somatic flashbacks or body memories. Basically instead of the kinda flashback they always show on TV where ya see it, ya body feels what happened instead." He bit his lip, an ache swelling in his chest for his friend. "For people who've been through what you have...sometimes that means their bodies react like it's happenin' all over again. But the thing of it is...bodies don't know any better about what's wanted and what's not. Bodies just react. That's what they're designed to do. It ain't ya fault. And it doesn't mean...that you secretly wanted it or enjoyed it. It was just a reaction. Somethin' you didn't have control over. And it's never gonna be somethin' that reflects anythin' about you, Case."

Casey squirmed, trying to pull his legs in tighter. "It feels real," he whispered, tears slowly over taking him. "It's like I can feel 'er on me. I want it to stop. How do I make it stop?"

"I know," Raph answered gently, calmly, even as anger and sadness fought in his chest. "I know, it's okay, buddy. Ya safe, okay? Ya not back then, ya here, right now, with me. I want ya to do some of that slow breathin' Don showed us, alright? We gotta getcha grounded, okay? So take some deep breaths, focus on my voice, what ya hear and feel around ya. Where ya at? Name the place."

Casey swallowed. "The lair."

"Uh-huh," Raph began rocking side to side. "Specifically?"

"Your room."

"That's right. How old are ya?"

"Twenty-five."

"Mhm. How long we known each other?"

"I dunno. Two years? Three years? Somethin' like that?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that. I don't know exactly either." Raph rubbed up and down Casey's spine. "Where ya workin' right now?"

"My shop."

"Ya doin' great, Case," Raph encouraged. He could feel Casey slowly starting to relaxing in his arms. "How long ya been doin' that?"

"Bout six months."

"Good. Those kindsa questions are just to help reminda ya when ya are. Ya not there anymore, pal. She can't touch you. She doesn't know where ya live, she doesn't know where ya at right now. She can't get to ya. How ya feelin', pal?"

Casey let out a breath and nodded. "It's less loud."

"Good. If I had the lights on we could do a few others. Have ya name some stuff ya can see, pick out a color and name stuff ya see that is that color, holdin' an ice cube, smellin' a candle or whatever, all those kindsa things that remind ya where ya actually at."

"I'm okay."

"Yeah, ya are," Raph agreed and hugged him tightly. "I gotcha, buddy."

[ciitrinitas]

baldur's gate 3.

100+ hours later, and i survived baldur's gate 3. it partly took me so goddamn long to finish because i got to the end of act 2 on my first character...only to find out it wasn't just me and that minthara is likely bugged (or has an insane amount of cut content, but i'm on hopium here). so i decided to restart on a second character as the dark urge to complete the story on whilst i await a minthara fix.

so, yeah. that was a choice i made! 🫠

to preface, however, while bg3 isn't a game i'm keeling over in sheer love for or a new favorite for me, i had a fucking blast playing it. any flaws or personal issues with the game aside, it is genuinely a ton of fun and full of shit to do.

long, scattered thoughts below the cut.

"huh, i wonder why there's so much grumpiness about the ending." ohhhh. i get you all now. the lack of ending cards or epilogues or any kind really stings when it's such a standard for wrpgs of this type. the main plot lost momentum for me early on when the urgency and desperation surrounding the tadpole infection slowed down, so i was vibing well enough with the ending until the lack of any epilogue hit. that is a weird oversight for a game like this and a sequel to games like bg1-2 and spiritually following games like dao.

biggest plot complaint with the ending: i choose to free orpheus because it's what my girl lae'zel wanted, so move aside, squid. in response, the emperor...skedaddled to join the fucking netherbrain????? what. i don't remotely understand this. did i miss some stuff about the emperor's motivations...? regardless, this was a bit of whiplash for me before i popped orpheus out then left him with no choice but to...abruptly turn into a mind flayer because...sorry, but my beautiful boy's skin isn't going to be sacrificed...nor karlach's despite her offer...and gale shut up about the damn nuke.

on villain side, i was disappointed with how little we saw the chosen. ketheric is introduced for a single scene earlier in act 2, but we only see orin and gortash by the end of it and then they aren't as present in act 3 as i would have hoped. ketheric is...fine (imo, i found his voice delivery kind of flat), and i appreciate the hammy glory that is aylin, so thanks for bringing isobel back, i guess. orin's design slaps, and her va's performance makes what could have been a too-much script really work. she's a bit more interesting if you're playing dark urge and have that backstory connection with her. gortash...i got a little caught up in shipping him with my dark urge half-elf boy in that coronation scene because of what good old murder pals the two used to be! but gortash gets killed by the netherbrain just because even if you side with him, so eh. better to let karlach have her revenge on his shady ass.

on my first character, i was initially set on romancing shadowheart until i learned about minthara and then was wildly divided between them. then i met minthara in person and next thing i knew, i had slaughtered refugees and druids and was married. 😌❤️ it really broke my heart a little to learn that she is (HAS TO BE) bugged when i turned my entire playthrough on its side to nab her. no regrets because she is easily one of my favorite characters, but a bummer. the crazy hot cultist lady exterior drew me in, but it was her intriguing character on the interior that got me to stay.

if it weren't for the whole "violently slaughtering the grove" thing being necessary to get minthara (unless you go out of your way to not do things or glitch it afaik), she'd be my default pick over halsin all the time, every time. halsin is deeply boring to me. he talks about nature...and then some more about nature...and more about nature. jaheira is more involved in the main plot than him, so an odd choice to cram a second druid in when he's much duller than minthara or jaheira.

jaheira, jaheira, jaheira! oooh, i adore jaheira! i'm familiar with bg1-2, so i knew the basic deets in jaheira. i really hope larian wrote her as a natural extension to her classic self because while i planned to play bg1-2 eventually, the urge is now truly powerful because jaheeeeeeeiiiiiira, my beloved. cool hot older woman who is just so good. that she partly has some batman in her with her four adopted kids is adorable... her house is so cute... that she has a keepsake from khalid, too... i want jaheira to be happy. 😭

UNLIKE ASTARION. look. i was pleasantly neutral with his ass until after visiting jaheira's home, he thought he could make a catty remark about jaheira being a horrible mother. i'm happy his final appearance in the good end of the game is him sprinting away as he burns and screams in the sun and gale weirdly comments that this will probs be the last time they all see him. fucking bizarre writing choice, but a victory for me. don't be mean to jaheira!! (in all seriousness, astarion is a perfectly fine character with solid writing. he isn't the type i tend to latch onto, and i was salty when he made such a bitchy comment about jaheira.)

gale gave me my favorite line in the game. if you're slutting it up, mr. wizard can hit you with one of those ultimatum conversations. if you pick to simple leave without a word, he says you are being a very cone of cold. i keep subjecting xofi to references to this. it's my favorite line. gloriously dweeby, and gloriously wizard-y. oh, gale. i can tell you don't have friends that aren't your magical flying cat, a very old man, and uh...your divine ex, i guess. he's like you transplanted a bard's personality into a wizard. he was fun to have around!

lae'zel...my abrasive darling. you know what, i'm glad she's inspiring "discourse" (aka "women wasn't 100% nice to me :(((") because it exposes the weaklings. if lae'zel is too mean for you, then thank you for letting us know. we must cull you so that we won't waste resources on you. the winter is harsh, and only those warmed by good taste will be able to endure. i'm happy for where my ending had her: orpheus went mind flayer and then i politely knifed him when he asked, so lae'zel was asked to carry on his torch in inciting her people against vlaakith's tyranny.

shadowheart is my meow meow. the eight-or-so hours of early access that i played two years ago had her as my favorite by the end and that was carried over into the full release. she and minthara are the favorites. my only real quibble with shadowheart's arc is that binary dnd god morality does not spark joy for me. worship of shar being so bluntly evil took me out of a bit. nice to see viconia, though!

i...honestly forgot wyll until a second ago. there's an interesting conceit to him, but he's woefully dull. he and halsin are just boring. i feel kind of bad that i'm so bored by wyll. there's a missing bite from him that i vaguely recall from early access. i get that the devs wanted a companion that is, like, good, but oh, wyll, buddy...idk what the hell they did to your writing.

minsc isn't a terribly deep character, but he's enjoyable when i view him as a charming addition to jaheira. i'm going to try and get him earlier in future playthroughs because i nabbed him terribly close to the end on this one. orz

karlach...i think here arc was my favorite of all the cast. in act 3, i had swapped lae'zel out for her for a bit and lae'zel ended up kidnapped by orin, so my defaulat party just ended up shifting to gale, shadowheart, and karlach. i'm pretty happy it ended up this way. i ran into some interesting conversations for her, and her reactions to things like my dark urge signing raphael's contract surprised me in their passion. she's effective at keeping up her cheer until the latter end of act 3 when the unfairness and shittiness of her situation come to head in some gorgeously acted scenes. her fury and despair at the tragedy someone else thrust her into is really fucking good. i'm not even mad about her ending. it can feel odd in the greater context of bg3, but for my tastes, i was fucking there for her having to pick between dying or return to live in a place she loathes.

this is a "era has personal preferences that don't align with the game's goals" thing, but i kind of wish the dark urge was the protagonist. i like even customizable mcs to have a bit of an arc built in despite that impacting the scope of roleplaying lmao. the dark urge stuff had me wishing there was more than what is present, though. i wanted it to be dug into deeper, but i did still like what is there. the temple of bhaal was really fucking good, and i love that the dark urge turns out to be the architect of the absolutist cult.

[mysugarkoo]

Have a safe flight || JJK

Hello! This is the first fic I've ever written that just popped to my head and decided to give it a try.. I'd really appreciate all kinds of responses and reviews so I could get better :) ALSO, I have more parts for this one-shot so please let me know if you're interested in that pls :)

Summary: Jungkook's flying to NY after not going abroad for almost two years, in which in those you welcomed your first baby. So you're sad, worried, and a tiny bit jealous. Pairing: dilf!Jungkook x reader Genre: FLUFF -------------- Currently sitting on the floor of your walk-in closet, wearing pajamas and watching Jungkook moving around the room and pulling out clothes, laying them down neatly over the suitcase that was open on the floor. Your stare then got cut by the blabbering and the funny noises your almost 2-years old was making. Glancing over to Eunwoo, who was currently trying to put anything that came in reach into his mouth or waving it around in his tiny hands, and you let out a soft giggle at the sight. Before he could notice, you reached for him across the floor and wrapped your arms around him, making him squeal, "Come here you little peanut, what are we going to do all by ourselves when Daddy's gone huh?" You mumbled while squeezing and tickling him. Jungkook glanced at the two of you before chuckling and continuing his packing, when you spoke again "You know, daddy gets to fly on a plane and go to New York while you and mommy are stuck here" You said now teasingly, knowing Jungkook was listening.

Eunwoo was mumbling words and blabbering the whole time you were holding him on your lap as he just began to learn a few words recently, when you mumbled the last part "They don't give mommies and babies diplomatic passports you know, only daddies" now glancing to see Jungkook's reaction - which of course was rolling his eyes at you for bringing it up for the who knows what time this past few weeks since he's got the announcement the whole band was getting their passports. "You know this is just for this UN thing, and not some shopping spree... If I could I would've taken both of you along..." he sighs at the end of that. He knew you were just teasing him but at the same time, he still felt quite bad about leaving for a week and leaving you two back home. Eunwoo was born a couple months before the pandemic has started, and ever since it was always just the three of you together since the boys were not traveling anywhere. He's not used to leaving you for more than a day or two, let alone fly across the world for a week.

Eunwoo was then fussing around, wanting to get away from your grip and continue his tour around the room and you let him go "I know ... I'm just sad you're gonna be away Koo.... also a tiny bit jealous" you said softly, peering up to look at him with a tiny smirk on your face. truth be told you were mostly scared of staying by yourself now that you have a baby. You and Jungkook's relationship was going on for the past 4 years, so him traveling was nothing new for you. But now with a 2-year-old and a pandemic, you're kinda stressing over it. He then kneel in front of you and smiled while moving a piece of hair from your face "I'll be back before you know it, baby" kissing your forehead just after. "But not without some gifts from, New York" you said that last part with a dreamy sigh and sparks in your eyes, before pointing your tiny finger at him and glaring obviously very jealous.

Jungkook then stood up laughing at you, mumbling "I know, I know", then glancing over to Eunwoo who was just done playing with the fabrics of the dangling clothes around the room, and now signaling he's hungry "Nanas!" which clearly meant he was craving his favorite these days, bananas. Jungkook picked him up and planted kisses all over his face, soon both laughing and squealing together, while you were watching these two best pals enjoying each other, "What about you peanut? You're gonna take care of mommy when I'm gone huh? Are you going to be a good boy?" Jungkook now walking out of the closet and disappearing inside the room, while Jungwoo wrapped his tiny chubby hands around his father's neck asking for bananas again "Nanas dada!!".

The rest of the day was filled with just the three of you at home, packing and spending your day together. When evening came Jungkook was soon leaving for the airport and was getting ready and pulling his bags towards the entrance door. You were sitting on top of the kitchen island watching his every move when he finally walked towards you with a small smile. "You look so good in this Louis Vuitton," you said in a whine while wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling him closer so he stood between your legs, when he smirked. While you sighed again with a pout "It's just a week baby" he said wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you two as close as he could and caressing your skin. "I know baby, it's just been so long since you went aboard.." you glanced for a second towards Eunwoo how was playing with his toys around the living room "what if I need you? Or if something happens or if I can't handle Eunwoo alone, and you're not here, and you're busy and can't answer you phone.." you said now panicking when he pulled your face towards his now mumbling against your lips "You're gonna be fine Y/N. You've got this. Just a week baby, then I'm back and we'll go somewhere special" kissing you softly now. "Plus I'm sure all the girls are not really happy staying home while we leave, so you'll have each other as well" knowing you were all so close with the rest of the boys' families and wives. "And if I'm not picking up and you need something urgent, you can always just call one of the staff.. But nothing's gonna go wrong baby. I promise". Kissing you again. you played with his hair, knowing he was probably right "I'm gonna miss you so much" still pouting but pulling him in for another sweet kiss while he kissed you back and mumbled as well "I know baby me too" pulling away now "But you'll be fine. You'll have fun together".

Suddenly a knock on the door was heard, his security signaling that it was his time to leave, he pulled away from you and went to grab Eunwoo from the floor and kissing his cheek softly. Setting Eunwoo on your lap so he was facing Jungkook, you wrapped your arms around his tiny body while he smiled at the both of you, before squeezing the three of you into a hug with Eunwoo in the middle and all of you giggling at the act. He pulled away and looked at the two of you with loving eyes "I love you guys so much" he said caressing Eunwoo's little face before leaving a few kisses along his face and Eunwoo was giggling again. Looking up at you, he caressed your face as well before pulling you into another sweet kiss, this time lingering a little bit longer. "Have a safe flight. Call me as soon as you get to your hotel, you hear me?" you said when he pulled away and he smiled before pecking your lips one last time and planting a kiss on top of Enwoo's head before pulling away from you guys "I will. I promise" he said while grabbing his backpack and adjusting it on. Some staff were then stepping in as he unlocked your house door for them, smiling slightly towards you while you smiled back at them. You slide off the kitchen island with your baby in hands just as his bags were being taken away "Say, bye daddy have a safe flight" you told Eunwoo and he waved his hand towards Jungkook "dada", "bye baby I love you two, be a good boy to mommy remember?" he kissed his small hand and pecked your lips one last time before stepping out with his security.

You sighed again with Eunwoo in your hands, the house now empty, the two of you looking at each other. "Well baby, you're stuck with mommy for a whole week" you squeezed his cheeks together, then he suddenly sneezed right at your face. "Aww baby thanks for that" you laughed "Now let's go take a bath before mommy starts crying because daddy's gone," you said realizing now that Jungkook's really gone now and it's just you two.

Later that night after putting Eunwoo to bed, while you were watching some TV in your living room, you started texting the other girls in your little group chat, all of you tearing up and laughing at the situation you're all in before going to bed.

copyright © 2021 mysugarkoo do not repost, and thank you for reading

[theunquenchablethirst]

Joyride (Jerome X Reader)

Smut, NSFW, 18+, porn without plot, honestly just hot, nasty filth 

Do not read unless you are a deviant!

Reader is walking home down a street she knows just like the back of her hand, but today there's an unfamiliar car parked up. Paying it no mind she continues past it, but soon discovers today is not going to be any regular day when a sinister voice calls to her from the mysterious car behind her.

Vaginal fingering, blowjobs, rough sex, semi-public sex, car sex, bondage, chocking, spanking, dom/sub undertones, dub-con, strong language, murder, kidnap

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Masterlist

I walked that street nearly every day, to and from Gotham High. I had for years. This would be my last year as I was 18 and about to graduate.

Everything seemed as normal as ever. The pretzel cart, the lady that walked her little dog, the kids playing jump rope. A fairly quiet street. I didn't know it then, but that day would be anything, but normal.

I was approaching the end of the street where I would cross the road. There was a car parked up I hadn't seen before. Big, black with tinted windows. I didn't pay it much attention and wasn't hesitant to carry on my walk past it. I reached the end of the street and stood waiting for the traffic to quiet so I could cross over, then behind me I heard the familiar sound of a car window winding down.

"Hey, princess." A sinister voice called.

I turned to look and peering out of the black car window was him. The most dangerous, most wanted man in Gotham city. Jerome Valeska.

I'd only seen him on the news and in papers before, but even then, he had scared me. He'd brought the city to its knees and left a trail of bodies and madness wherever he went. And now he was right in front of me.  

"Can I give you a ride?" He asked with his signature smile plastered on his scarred face, voice dripping with menace.

I froze still. I wanted to run as fast as I could, but his stare glued me to my spot.

"Come on, doll. I'll be nice."

I took a step back, weighing the risk of making a run for it. He sucked his teeth and looked down for something.

"I'd offer you candy, but uh..." He pulled a gun up to the window and pointed it at me.

"... Something tells me I won't need to." His smile somehow grew bigger as he locked his eyes on mine.

My heart was beating so loud I thought the whole city would be able to hear it. I had no choice. Knees weak, I nervously walked around to the passenger side door and opened it. I sat in the seat next to him, but pressed myself as close to the window as I could. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible, even if it was only by a few inches.  

"Ah, safety first. Seatbelt." He said dropping his smile and cocking his head.

Not caring weather or not he was joking, I pulled down the belt and buckled myself in. I did not want to make him angry. He grinned eerily and panic rose in my chest as his eyes burned holes in me.  

He reached a gloved hand out to my face. I flinched as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear and stroked his knuckles down my jaw line and neck. His hand moved lower still down my arm, only stopping when he got to my shaking hand. I was grasping my bag so tightly my knuckles had turned white. He tugged at it a few times wanting me to let go. I released the bag and he pulled it off my lap and into his.

"Let's see what we got here."

He started to rummage through my possessions pulling each one out, mostly dubbing them boring and dumping them out of the window.

"Pain killers, boring. Pencil case, extra boring. Ooh, Jolly Ranchers! Don't mind if I do!"

He popped a sweet in his mouth, threw the rest over his shoulder into the back seat and got back to snooping.

"Keys, boring. Oh! A diary! I'll save that for later! A can of mace...."

He paused then let out a loud cackle as he held the mace.

"Oh, princess! Bet you wish you'd switched this out for a gun right about now!" He continued to giggle as he dived a hand back in.

"Aha! Phone!" He dropped my bag back in my lap and opened up my flip phone.

"You won't be needing this." He smirked and snapped it, letting the two halves fall and disappear under the driver's seat. Dread began to settle in as it dawned upon me that I now had no way to call for help and my mace was lying in the street. Not that it would've been much use against him anyway.

"Ok! Let's get this party started!" His giggled as he turned the key in the ignition. He turned towards me and revved the engine.

"Vroom, vroom." He mocked.

I sat there clutching my bag, waiting for the car to start moving. He fiddled with the gear stick and then slammed his foot down on the pedal as if there was a deadly bug that needed to be squashed. The tyres screeched like they were taking a layer of tarmac with them and he took off like a boy racer.  

I let out a scream as the sudden, fast pace sent a shockwave right through me. I sent my hands searching for something, anything to hold on to. There was a turn coming up, but I noticed it too late and I was flung into the side of the door like a ragdoll. All the time the loudest noise in my ear was maniacal laughter coming from Jerome in driver's seat. He was driving like he stole it, but then again, it was entirely possible he did.

"More?" He looked at me with a mischievously.

I shook my head, breathlessly, praying to any god that was listening that he actually cared about my answer.

"I think more." He sharply turned into an empty car park and spun around and around and around. I was pressed right up against him as I clung to the bottom of my seat. He laughed and banged his hand on the wheel, continuing to spin us around.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" I screamed forgetting myself.  

"Oh, I love 'em with fire!" He laughed again.  

Then all of a sudden, he stopped. I jolted forwards like a crash dummy so hard I thought I would hit the windshield. He'd been right about the seatbelt. I stared straight ahead and tried to catch my breath, when I heard angry shouting. An employee of the restaurant that owned the car park was making his way over to us with a red face.

Jerome stuck his head out of the window.

"What's that, pal?"  

I heard more shouting.

"Ok." Jerome reached for the gun and shot the employee straight in the head. I gasped at the sound and he fell down like a sack of bricks.

"Problem solved." Jerome grinned and pocketed the gun.

I felt my stomach turn. I'd just seen a murder right in front of me. That poor man. Jerome started the car again and left the car park, where he'd left a dead body and certainly tyre tracks.

"Some fun, eh kid?" He smiled at me. I couldn't find any words to reply. He sighed.

"I hate awkward silences." He reached down and turned on the radio. He flicked through a few channels until he found one playing music he seemed to like. An old rock station.

"Now this is better!" He looked at me with a satisfied smile, but dropped it when I still didn't reply.

"How do I get you to talk? Do I gotta drop a quarter in ya?" He turned another corner onto a straight, quiet road.

"I know." He smirked with a menacing look in his eyes.  

He pushed the pedal down, once again picking up speed. He was driving like there was money on it, but I'd at least managed to brace myself this time. He slowed a little as he got in place to drive side by side with the only other car on the road. He chuckled darkly to himself and then I realized why. Fear took my senses when I saw in the not too far distance, heading straight at us was a giant truck. The driver in the car next to us began to honk the horn and flash obscene hand gestures as the truck grew closer, but Jerome simply turned the radio up and began singing along with the words.

"Jerome..." I said tugging at his arm.

Nothing. And the truck was now honking at us to move.  

"Jerome!"  

The truck was too close for comfort. The sense that I was about to be flattened because of the idiot at the wheel filled my body.

"Jerome, move the damn car!" I shook his arm fiercely and slammed my fists in my chair.

He finally burst out cackling maniacally with an outrageous smile.

He slammed down the pedal and pulled forward in front of the car beside us, missing the truck by a hair. He laughed and howled like it was the funniest thing he'd ever experienced, whilst I sighed the biggest sigh of my life and slid low down my seat. He pulled over and parked.

"Nothing like a little near-death experience to get the blood flowing, eh doll?"  

I had melted into my seat and wasn't really paying attention.

"So, how'd you like me so far?"

"Is that a serious question?" I replied breathlessly. I didn't know where I got the confidence for it, but the words were coming out.

He just giggled.

"Ok, how about I behave... For a while."

"How about you let me go?"

He lifted a long finger at me.

"Tut tut, doll face. Don't make me wiggle my finger at you."

I shuffled backwards in my seat, propping myself upright again.

"So, you know my name? Are you stalking me?" He put his hand on his chest in mock fear.

"Everyone in Gotham knows your name. You're Jerome Valeska. You've terrorised the city and murdered dozens of people. The Gotham Gazette makes sure we don't miss these things."  

"The Gotham Gazette, huh? Note to self, send a gift basket their way." He chuckled to himself then looked at me.

“So, what’s yours?”

I told him my name. I was reluctant, but I was already here in the car with him.

“Hm, cute.” He replied.

I didn’t know why, but him calling me cute made me blush a little. I hoped he didn’t notice.

“You look fun.” He smiled.

“What do you mean?” I asked the question, but I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know the answer.

He pulled my diary out of the door pocket.

“Let’s get to know you, shall we?”  

“That’s private.” I said sheepishly. I really didn’t want him reading what was in there, but I knew I couldn’t stop him.

“Not anymore.” Jerome flicked through the pages, skimming them for interesting thoughts and secrets. It didn’t look like he was finding anything juicy, until he stopped at one page and read it in its entirety.

“I got asked out by a guy in my maths class. He’s nice, but really boring. Just like everyone else in my life. Even if I wanted to go out with him, my dad wouldn’t allow it. He says men are the devil and the only one I can trust is him. Yeah right, Mr it’s 5’oclock somewhere. Even if I took that seriously, he doesn’t have anything to worry about. The only guys in my life are complete clichés. So very predictable, so very dull. I’m so bored of this same old-same old. I want something exciting, an adventure. I need some thrills in this beige goddamn existence!”

He repeated back to me the words I had written just a week prior. He turned to me with a predatory look in his eyes. He let the diary fall from his hands carelessly and I knew then that I would be his prey. He took his gloves off and reached a hand towards my knee. He stroked and squeezed my leg and then journeyed up higher, fingers crawling underneath the hem of my skirt.

“Be careful what you wish for, doll face.” He smirked, darkly.

My breath caught in my chest and I felt a warmth in my core.

"I thought you said you were gonna behave." I peeped.

"I did, didn't I? I guess I lied."  

He pulled my skirt up and ran a finger along my panty covered slit. He was turning me on. I wanted him. He was everything I had been looking for, but it was wrong. I couldn’t give in to this.

"Please... Stop..." I pleaded pathetically.

"Mmm, I don't think I will."  

He softly rubbed my folds through the white cotton. My breath got heavier and I felt the heath build.

"It would be so easy for me to push these little things out of the way and slide my fingers inside you, right now. Wouldn't it?"

"Please... Don't..."

He giggled darkly.

"Oh, princess. You're just too cute."  

He smiled as he moved the material to the side exposing my entrance. He slid his fingers up and down my slit, my juices covering the tips. I squirmed at his touch and tried to scooch back in my seat.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, doll, but you wouldn't be this wet if you didn't really want me inside you." He cooed. His words crashed into me like rocks. He could read my body just as well as my diary. I couldn't hide my desire from him and I didn’t want too.  

He continued to rub for a few more seconds before plunging a finger deep inside me. I let out a gasp at the sudden intrusion and he smirked, seemingly satisfied with my response. He worked me with his finger, pulling out before sliding it back in and deciding to add another. He slowly pulsed his fingers inside me, palming over my clit as he slid in and out, again and again. The swell of warmth in me grew as I rocked my hips.

He pulled his fingers out entirely, leaving me disappointed and empty. I looked at him as he examined the juices coating him. He smiled at me and raised them to his mouth, sucking them clean.

"Mmm. You're so sweet." He said as he lowered them, his voice now deeper and slightly raspy.

He unbuckled his seatbelt, then did mine. He pushed the bag off my lap down to where my feet were and reached his arm around my waist, pulling me backwards, closer to him. He leaned me against him as one hand travelled up from my waist and wrapped around my throat. His other came down, pulled up my skirt and parted my thighs. He pushed my panties to the side once again and introduced his other hand to my wetness. His two fingers sliding in and out, but this time a little faster and much deeper. I let a yelp escape my mouth and his hand squeezed harder around my throat. His hot breath in the crook of my neck gave me goosebumps and sent chills down my spine.  

He explored my walls entirely, hitting all the right spots, hot pleasure pulsing through my muscles as they clenched around his talented digits. He palmed my clit applying a gentle amount of pressure and rubbing in circles. I bit my lip in an attempt muffle my moans.

"Nuh uh. Let me hear you, baby girl." He taunted in my ear.

Two fingers from the hand around my throat pulled my mouth open and played with my tongue.  

"You got something to say, princess?" He pushed his fingers deeper into me until his knuckles stopped him from going any further and pumped them, his thumb circling my clit in sweet slow motions. A loud moan escaped my throat and he smiled evilly.

"That's better." He snarled as he put his full hand back around my throat.  

My legs started to stiffen and I felt my climax build as I tightened around his fingers.

"You wanna cum, baby?"  

He worked his fingers inside my walls and his thumb on my clit, slightly increasing the pressure. His breath came closer to my ear and I felt him take it gently in his teeth. I yelped at the shock of his bite.  

"Mm. So cute."

I rocked my hips against his hand. My release was close, it just needed a little push.

"Cum for me, princess. Cum on my fingers."

As if on his command, the dam burst and my climax washed over me. My legs shook and I moaned as I rode it out. He pulled his fingers out of me slid them in my mouth so I could taste my own juices.

“See, gorgeous. I can play nice.” He buried his face in my hair and took in my scent. He hummed to himself and I felt his grip on my throat tighten. He pulled me forwards and pushed me towards the back seat.

“My turn.” He grinned as he sat up.

I climbed into the back, closely followed by Jerome. I sat down and he straddled me, towering over me with his red hair brushing against the car ceiling. I saw the outline of his hard member pushing against the inside of his trousers. It was right in front of my face and my mouth watered for it. I suppose he caught me looking because he started to palm himself and lifted my chin up so I was looking at him.

“Do you have something sweet for me?” He leaned down closer to me, his grip on my face tightening.

I swallowed and felt the lump in my throat. He crashed his lips onto mine. The kiss was hard and forceful, just like he was. His tongue pushed into my mouth and fought for dominance over mine. It was an easy win for him. He tasted sweet, like the Jolly Ranchers. I assumed that wasn’t the first candy he’d eaten that day. He pulled away from me and smiled, studying my face with hooded eyes.

“Yummy.” He whispered.  

He rose back up and unbuckled his belt. He pulled it from out of its loops, held it in front of him and snapped it quickly. I flinched at the loud sound of the leather.

“Hands.” He ordered in a serious, intimidating tone that aroused me all the more.

I held my hands up to him and he looped the belt in and around my wrists, tightly bonding them together.

“No hands for this. I wanna see how that pretty little mouth works.” He smirked lifting my chin again, tugging my bottom lip with his thumb.

He palmed himself a little more and then unbuttoned and unzipped his trousers, letting them fall around his knees. I could see through his boxers that he was fully erect already. He slid them down and they joined his trousers. Jerome was big. I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to take it all, especially without the use of my hands. He balled my hair in his hand and gripped hard. I gasped at the sudden pain.

“Come on, princess. You know what to do.” He pulled me forwards and plunged into my open mouth. He let out a hiss of pleasure.

He raked his free hand through my loose hair before clenching it in his fist. He used his grip on my head to move me up and down his shaft, prompting me to start. I swirled my tongue around him and started sucking. He hissed again through gritted teeth and pushed in further. My tongue climbed up and down his shaft, licking the sticky coating of precum from him and teasing the head. I hollowed my cheeks and bobbed up and down, letting my saliva cover him.

“Oh, yeah... Fuck, pretty girl.” He groaned in his throat and bucked his hips forwards with force.

He hit the back of my throat and I gagged. The noise seemed to please him so he did it again and again and again. My lips touched his base as he assaulted my throat, gripping tighter on my hair with each thrust. I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face and eyes begging for breath, but it just pushed him further.

He let out a primal growl and pushed my head right into the back of the seat. He held me steady and started to thrust into my face fast and hard. My throat was aching and my jaw was locking. His breath was shallow and erratic. I could tell he was close. I sucked harder for him and my throat clenched tightly.  

“Fuuuuck...” He groaned finally coming to a stop.  

I felt him throb and twitch in my mouth as his climax shot straight down my throat for me to swallow. He was still for a few seconds, then he pulled out with a pleasing pop. He looked down at me catching his breath with a smile.

“Don’t have to tell you twice, huh?” He laughed and lowered his head to kiss me.

He didn’t seem to care he’d just cum in my mouth and kissed just as rough as the first time. This time biting my lip as he pulled away. He slid his hand back up into my hair and balled it again.

“As great as that was princess, I’m still harder than Chinese algebra. So...” Jerome climbed off my lap and shoved me down onto my front.

“All fours.” He commanded.

I positioned myself on my knees and elbows, which was difficult considering my wrists were tied. I felt him roll my skirt up and part my legs. I swallowed. After having him go so rough on my mouth, I was nervous about how he was going to be with this.

“I gotta say, this is some view back here. Shame I don’t have a camera.” He said caressing my thighs.

He hooked his fingers under the band of my underwear and slid them down around my knees. I felt so exposed and my face started to heat up and turn red with embarrassment. I couldn’t believe I was allowing myself to be this vulnerable for a criminal lunatic.

He started to rub my entrance with two fingers. Warmth welling in my core, any thoughts of reservation vanished from my mind. I felt a fast, harsh sting as he brought a hand down to spank me. I gasped at the smack and he stroked the spot where it landed, where there was sure to be a red handprint.  

“Now I really wish I had a camera.” He giggled darkly.  

I squirmed at his touch and tried to close my thighs, desperate for friction, but he kept them spread by sliding his knee between them.

“Oh no, gorgeous. I need you open wide.” He smirked.

I whimpered needily, wanting nothing more than to take him inside me.

“You want something, baby girl? Speak up.” He taunted evilly, sliding his fingers along my slit. He raised his hand back up and then... another spank.

All I could do was whimper. I didn’t want to say what I wanted from him.

“I can’t hear you....” He sing-songed. “What do you want?”  

He circled a finger over my clit teasingly. He was purposefully not giving me enough. Just baiting me. He brought his hand down again for another swift spank. I was sure there was a bruise forming.

“I want you...” I whispered.

“What’s that?” He mocked, sliding his fingers in the slickness of my entrance.

“I want you! I want you to fuck me!” I snapped. I couldn’t take the teasing and taunting any longer. I just needed him.

He chuckled menacingly.

“You want me to fuck you? You wanna take me?”

“Yes! Yes! God, yes!”

He laughed at my neediness. I felt pathetic.

“Sure thing, doll.”

He lined himself up so he could enter me and pushed forwards, grasping hard onto my hips. I moaned loudly as he filled me for the first time, making a low, throaty groan. He reached deep into me and set me on fire in places that I didn't even know were there.  

He kept a quick rough pace, digging his fingertips into my flesh tighter to keep me still and steady. I knew he was leaving marks, but I couldn’t have cared in the slightest in that moment. His thrusts made me whine and whimper for him, to have more of him. He growled like he was letting out some kind of inner beast.

He let go of one of my hips and slid his hand up my back and into my hair. Once he had a good fistful, he pulled it like a leash, tugging my head up and back. I gasped at the sharp pain, but the sound only seemed to feed more into his sadistic wanting and he pounded harder into me. The feel of how deep he was inside me banished all the pain and replaced it with pure pleasure and I bit down hard on my lip to stifle wanton cries. I felt another rough tug on my hair.

“Don’t you dare, little girl. Let me hear it. I wanna hear everything.” He demanded through short, quick breaths.

He pulled back on my hair again and I released a squeal of half pain and half pure elation. I could feel myself tightening around him. I was getting ready to burst.

“I... I’m...I’m gonna...” I panted.

“Oh, no you fucking don’t.”  

He gripped the back of my scalp and pulled me backwards, slamming me down onto my back and climbing on top of me.

“I wanna see it this time.”

He had acted so fast, I barely had time to register what he was doing and he was back inside me almost as soon as he had pulled out.

He buried his head in the crook of my neck, sucking and kissing, his teeth leaving delicious hickeys and bitemarks. When he came back up for breath, he wrapped his hand around my throat and pushed my bonded arms above my head, which I was grateful for as they were getting squashed between us. He crashed his lips onto mine for a rough kiss. His tongue demanded entrance to my mouth, which I gladly allowed.

With his other hand he caressed and stroked his hand down my thigh and under my calf. He then pulled it up and pushed it back so far it almost reached my shoulder. He adjusted himself to straddle my lower thigh and picked up a faster, harder pace. With my leg like this he was able to plunge deeper. He was forceful and powerful and I relished in every thrust. I cried out completely taken by my lust for him, closing my eyes to savour it all. I felt the sting of a slap on my cheek and flashed them back open.

“Right here, princess. Eyes right here.” He said, his voice low and raspy.  

His pupils were completely dilated, leaving only the thinnest ring of green around them. He seemed to be an apex predator that was in the midst of ravaging its prey and I was only too willing to be led to the slaughter.  

“Exciting enough for ya, sweetheart?” He smirked with a fiendish giggle.

“Uh huh...” I nodded dazedly.  

His laugh continued through the onslaught of fierce, deep thrusts pounding intensely into my lower regions. I tensed around his pulsing erection as I felt my climax creep back up on me. I let out loud erotic moans, as he built up more and more of that blissful warmth in my core.

“That’s right. Cum for me.” He grunted through gritted teeth, tightening his grip on my throat.

His pounding got faster and rougher, hitting my sweet spots exactly right. I was right on the edge of what I could tell was going to be a fantastic release. I got louder and louder as I came closer and teetered the brink.

“Yeah.. I... I’m.. Yeah... I’m gonna...”

“Go on, princess. Cum. Cum for me.”  

My orgasm shattered through me like a rock through glass. My body convulsed as my moans turned into lustful screams. The ferocity of it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. The sheer ecstasy took me higher than I’d ever been before. I was on a cloud and I could have stayed there forever. Jerome followed shortly after, growling like a beast as he exploded inside me. He collapsed breathlessly on top of me as I gently floated down from that little piece of heaven.  

“Oh, baby girl. I’m keeping you!” Jerome dropped a kiss on my lips and lifted himself up.  

I came to my senses and started to register the severity of what I had done. Or had it happened to me?  

“What does that mean?” I asked, nervous of his answer.  

He pulled up his underwear and trousers and tidied himself up, even taking time to straighten his tie.

“It means, baby doll, that this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship.”  

He laughed his signature maniacal cackle and hopped back in the driver's seat.

“Hey! Are you gonna untie me?” I called to him starting to get very worried.

“I don’t know, doll. I kinda like you like that.” He laughed.

He turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine.  

“Hold on, doll!” He cackled again, before speeding off again.

What have I gotten myself into?