#hoooo boy the ANGST

[sixthfinger]

when people say that the agreste arc is over: are we even watching the same show?? sure, gabriel's dead and emilie was not brought back, but adrien still doesn't actually know what happened in that final battle. he doesn't know that his father was hawkmoth, or that his own powers were part of why he died. he doesn't know that nathalie was helping him. he doesn't know how badly his father wanted his wife back. he doesn't know about her body in the basement. he doesn't even know about the scarf.

(but you know who knows? marinette. ladybug. his girlfriend and his partner. imagine how that reveal's gonna go.)

the agreste arc isn't over and it won't be until he learns the truth.

[babygirlbdubs]

broken.

etho is imprisoned. he has some time to think. he has some visitors.

a resistance au fic words: 3270 pairing: ethubs, rendubs ao3 link: (x)

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

drip... drip... drip...

The stalactite in the corner of Etho’s cell provides a constant repetitive sound, almost like a tick... tick... tick... 

Something in it feels familiar. Safe— no...not anymore.

Set deep in the mountain, the dark cell provides no comfort. There is no window to allow for counting the days. There is no sun on outside walls to allow for warmth to seep through the deepslate.

The only thing allowing him to keep the time is the drip... drip... drip... 

Scar has been standing outside his cell the entire time, messaging on his communicator with a playful smile on his face.

drip... drip... drip...

Etho stares at the wall opposite him, his gaze darkening. He lets his thoughts wander aimlessly. Playing the scene over and over in his head. The window locked. The desperate kiss to calm his panic. The tears... Etho can still feel Bdubs' tears, dried on his face. He can still hear Bdubs' voice whispering his name and—

"Scar, let me see him, please—"

That's not a memory.

"Bdubs!" Scar's voice sounds as bright as ever. As if he hadn't just escorted Etho away from Bdubs. As if he hadn't locked him in here. As if... Well, Etho supposes he should actually be grateful for taking him away.

The thought of seeing Bdubs causes his chest to ache, his heart twisting over itself, his ribs clawing at his lungs and making it hard to breathe. What would he even say?

"Step aside, Scar, I have to— I— please, let me in."

"Look, I'm more than happy to let you see him—"

"No." Etho's voice surprises even himself as he lifts his head to look over at the doorway to the prison. "I don't want to see him, Scar."

He doesn't let his eyes meet Bdubs' face. Instead they linger between the two court members.

Scar glances back at him, and Etho can feel the way he considers him. And then the guard is looking back at Bdubs. "Sorry, Bdubs. Can't let you in." His voice almost sounds smug, if it weren't tinged with a bit of gentleness.

"...Etho?" Bdubs’ voice is barely audible across the room. The sheer pain in it is almost enough to make Etho’s heart break (if it hadn’t already been broken).

Etho turns his head to stare at the wall again, his hands clenching into tight fists— knuckles white, nails biting. His teeth grind together as he tightens his jaw, holding down the storm of emotions brewing in his gut.

"Go on, Bdubs." The guard’s voice drops low with his next words. "I don’t think Ren would be too happy to see you like this."

"I..." One word, and Etho can hear every bit of desperation in Bdubs’ voice. 

He hates it.

It makes him want to grab the bars of his cell and beg for Bdubs to come closer— to kiss him, to tell him it's going to be okay, to... to lie to him. Again.

Scar shoos Bdubs out, and Etho is left to his thoughts once again.

***

"Can I see you tonight?"

"Yes, of course, sweetheart. Now go!"

Finally, Etho backed away before spinning around to sprint for a window.

"Bdoubleo!"

His hand caught the side of the window frame at the sound of Ren’s voice barking through the heavy silence in the ballroom.

"Etho! What are you doing? C’mon!" Impulse hissed from the ledge outside.

Turning, Etho watched as the king swept across the room to tower over Bdubs. Etho’s heart leapt into his throat, his hand dropping to the hilt of a dagger he’d hidden away. If Ren so much as laid a hand on Bdubs...

But instead, he offered one.

He invited Bdubs to dance.

Impulse’s voice broke through Etho’s focus again. "Etho!! We need to go!"

"You go on," Etho muttered back, not taking his eyes from where Ren tugged Bdubs against him. "I’ll meet up with you guys later."

After a moment of hesitation, the resistance leader finally sighed. "Fine. Just don’t get killed." A bit of sympathy laced his words. And then he was off, elytra spreading as he silently glided away.

Etho, meanwhile, settled in the window to watch. He couldn’t hear the whispered words between them, but he could see all the little things. How Bdubs was lost in the king so easily. Where Ren’s claws dug into Bdubs’ waist.

He watched as Bdubs was dragged around the room like a dog toy, fingers gripping tightly, no tenderness in any touch that Etho could see. At least, until Ren’s hand framed Bdubs’ face, and Bdubs leaned into it. It was all Etho could watch as Bdubs leaned against the king with a warm smile.

Etho had turned at that, finally breaking his gaze away. He’d dived out the window, letting himself fall for a few moments before engaging his elytra. He’d be back tonight. He’d give all his love to Bdubs. He’d remind Bdubs why it is always Etho that he returns to.

***

When Etho is pulled from his thoughts again, it is by lantern light gleaming into his cell from a hand outside the bars. Etho doesn’t bother looking at the figure looming there. He already knows who it is.

"Etho."

The mad king’s voice fills the silence, just as cold as the walls and the drip... drip... drip... of the stalactite.

"Ren," he replies, voice emotionless in return.

"Scar is going to let me into thy cell now. If you try to escape, he shall shoot you, and you shall respawn here again. ‘Tis pointless to even try."

Etho lets out a soft scoff. "Right." He doesn’t have the will to get to his feet, much less attempt an escape.

It’s not worth it anyway.

His thumb drags absentmindedly over the edge of an object in his hands as he listens to the keys clatter while Scar finds the correct one.

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

click.

The cell gate swings open by Ren’s hand, and the king steps in with his gaze locked on his prisoner. He closes it behind him, nodding at Scar to lock it again. "Leave us, Scar. I shall call for thine when our conversation is complete!"

Scar does a small salute. "You got it, my liege," he purrs before spinning on a heel and walking out into the hall.

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

Ren's head turns slightly, ear swiveling to listen for Scar's footsteps to fade. Silence hangs heavy in the air between the two of them save for

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

Etho's thumb presses against the object in his hand, the metal filigree soothing against his skin.

"What's that?" Ren finally asks, nodding at the object.

With a bit of confusion, Etho casts his gaze at his hands, surprised to find a clock in his grip. His breath hitches in his throat at the sight, his fingers curling tighter around the edges. He'd had Bdubs fix it so it would tick again— perfectly in sync with the one Etho gave him so many years ago. 

Ren is left to wait for an answer as Etho flips the clock over, his thumb grazing the word scratched in the back panel.

'Crastle'

Handwritten.

A remnant of a time. A place. A meeting.

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

"Looks like a clock," the king hums, crossing the small cell in a single stride to loom over Etho. He kneels down next to where Etho sits— Etho fights the urge to curl away. Ren's gaze is piercing as he looks over Etho's face. "Did Bdubs give you this?" A smile plays on the corners of his lips as if taunting Etho.

Then Ren's hand is in Etho's, scooping the clock out of it with claws far more delicate than Etho expected from the mad king. He tries to grasp the clock tighter, but it's already being turned over in the king's hands— examined with a scrutinizing gaze. Etho stares at Ren's face, gritting his teeth as he bites back his words. He's unsure where the king is going with this, so he refuses to give him anything.

Ren catches sight of the engraved message and stills. Though, where Etho expects fury to explode from the king, there is something painfully familiar instead. The king runs his thumb across the word with the same kind of gentleness the prisoner always regards it with.

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

"So this is how he sent you an invitation, then?" Emerald eyes flicker to Etho before returning to the clock.

"No."

"No?" The word is punctuated with a breath of disbelief.

"Bdubs didn't know I'd be there." Defending Bdubs is still so easy. Why? It's not as though the king could ever question Bdubs' loyalty after this.

No. That's Etho's job now.

"The secret meetings, then, I presume," Ren responds smoothly— as though he is entirely unbothered by it.

Etho says nothing.

drip... tick. drip... tick. drip... tick.

The clock is admired by the king for a few lingering moments before he speaks again. "Bdubs told me about those, you know." The wolf stands again, the clock still wrapped in his palm. "I mean, it was hard to avoid when you got...reckless." He smiles down at Etho and it is almost cruel.

Etho glares back at him.

"Y'know, Etho, you seem awfully attached to a clock, of all things."

The prisoner snarls up at the king, "You wouldn't understand. You couldn't understand." His blood runs hot as his fury blazes in his eyes. "All you see him as is one of your possessions."

Ren chuckles at that and shakes his head dismissively. "Well, he's certainly not yours, is he?"

A jealous, hot kind of rage curls in Etho's chest at that, and beneath the mask he bares his teeth. "He's not yours, either. You're just lying to yourself." His hand tightens into a white-knuckled fist beside him. "He'll never love you. Not really. You're deluded."

The words seem to have no effect on the king, the smile at the tail end of his previous laugh still comfortable on his face. "My good sir, Etho...I have never seen clearer than I do with him."

Etho scoffs. "I find that hard to believe."

Ren sighs. "I suppose it does no harm to let you keep this." Crouching down, he holds the clock out to Etho— forces him to take it. "It is the last part of him you can have, after all."

Etho takes the clock with a bit of hesitation, though the anger is clear in his icy gaze. Clocks have always felt perfect in his grip— Bdubs always knowing how to craft the perfect weight and balance just for him. Yet, now...here...with this clock...

It doesn't feel so perfect anymore.

"So. What?" Etho growls, tucking the clock into the inside of his coat. "You're going to execute me? Make me tell you all the Resistance's plans?" If he's going to be here, he might as well know what he's in for.

"No, no no." Ren rolls forward onto the balls of his feet, leaning closer to the prisoner. "I have other plans than that." He grins, sharp teeth glinting in the lantern light. "The little resistance can keep to their games— they'll be lost without you, now, anyway— and Bdubs and I will continue our work."

A slow breath forces its way in and out, Etho having to do everything in his power to keep himself from punching Ren in his diamond-clad face. There'd be no point to it...though it's tempting anyway.

He doesn't.

Instead, he meet's the gaze of the king with his own. Amusement being met with fury.

"I'll leave you be now, Etho," the king hums before standing one final time and walking to the iron bars to summon Scar.

drip... drip... drip...

As the mad king is let back out of the cell, Etho can't help but wonder how Ren truly feels about Bdubs. Is Bdubs really just a possession to him? Is he just the hand, the architect, the kingmaker?

Is he more?

A dark brooding expression settles onto Etho's face as he pulls his knees closer to himself and folds his arms atop them. Once again the wall becomes his point of focus, the real world being lost to the one behind his eyes.

drip... drip... drip...

***

The wall was scaled with ease, Etho having learned the way after so many times sneaking in. Their quick kiss with Etho holding to the edge led to a clumsy tug through the window— which was left open for a quick escape. Like always. Like every time. (How did he not realize?)

Bdubs' lips moved against Etho's possessively; as if driven mad by the idea that anyone else might've had the pleasure of seeing Etho's face. His smile. Etho fell into it with ease, relishing the reminder that Bdubs wants him around the same as he always did. (Did he really? Or was it just wishful thinking?)

Etho's arms quickly wrapped around Bdubs, snaking up his back to pull him close as he deepened their kiss. Bdubs hummed into it, leaning against Etho, his smile against Etho's lips. (Was he imagining Ren?)

"You looked stunning tonight," Etho purred as he pulled away just enough to look over Bdubs' face.

"Oh yeah?" A grin spread across Bdubs' mouth, mischief glimmering in his eyes. "Well, you looked okay."

Etho's nose scrunched up as he pulled his arms back to playfully shove the architect. "Oh, come on, you couldn't keep your eyes off of me."

Bdubs snorted. "Yeah, once I realized it was you!"

"Seems I did okay hiding myself, huh?"

"Too good." It's said with a hum as Bdubs stood on his toes to chase after Etho's lips again.

They exist like that for a while, lips moving against one another's, the quiet of the night allowing them to be each other's worlds for just these moments. (At least, Bdubs was Etho's.)

Eventually, Etho broke away to a small grumble from Bdubs, only to move to the kingmaker's jaw. Soft kisses were planted along every inch as Etho moved toward Bdubs' neck, revealed to him as Bdubs tilted his head to the side. Bdubs' hand found Etho's hair as his visitor made his way closer to his shoulder.

It was easy, getting lost in the moment. Easy to lose sight of his usual caution...of the truth of their situation. It was easy to let the bitter jealousy of seeing how Bdubs looked at Ren curl in his chest, and even easier to let his teeth drag along Bdubs' skin. (He was so foolish.)

In those moments, Bdubs was his.

Just like always.

It was so, so easy to forget the truth.

(He should've known, when Ren called from the other side of the door, that Bdubs would rather shove him out the window than turn the king away.)

(He should've known, when Bdubs locked the window after him, that the king would have Bdubs' devotion that night.)

(He should've known, when he spent the night alone in the cold of the jungle, while Bdubs found warmth by the mad king's side.)

***

Once again his name pulls his attention to the forefront of his mind. The tone pleads for more than the word asks— and more than Etho can offer.

"Etho...?"

Where once Bdubs' voice might have thrilled Etho, it now causes a sharp jolt of pain to course through his veins like electricity. It surprises him how similar the sensations feel.

The prisoner remains silent.

Keys jangle together as Bdubs flips through them for the correct one and Etho stiffens. He's coming in. He forces a deep breath through his mask before gifting Bdubs with a simple glance.

"I said I didn't want to see you, Bdubs."

"Well, I want to— need to see you. I... I need to explain."

Etho's jaw clenches.

"What if I don't want to hear your explanations?"

Bdubs hesitates, key in the lock, staring at Etho with nothing but hurt in his eyes— As if he has any right to feel hurt. He shakes it off, turning the key and pushing open the cell door. A weight hangs in the air as the door is shut once again with a soft click.

"I'm gonna tell you them anyway," the kingmaker finally decides to respond.

Etho scoffs and pushes himself off the wall so he can stand and face Bdubs.

"Actually, sure." His arms cross over his chest as his gaze locks onto Bdubs'. "I'm curious. Tell me why."

Tell me why you broke your promise.

Tell me why you betrayed me.

Tell me why you chose him.

"Etho, I... I didn't have a choice."

A snort of disbelief cuts him off before he can continue.

"N-no, you don't— This was— Etho, he would've had you chased down and dragged in, I was— I was trying to keep you safe!" Every word is agonizingly desperate.

"Keep me safe? Bdubs, you would've kept me safe by not imprisoning me!"

"It's not— You would've had to keep running, I was trying to think of you, I—"

"You were trying to think of me," Etho repeats back— a statement over a question. "You were trying to think of me, and so you broke my trust."

"No! No—"

The prisoner doesn't let him finish.

"I know you better than this, Bdubs." His words sound cold. "Stop lying to me."

Bdubs finally pulls his gaze away, looking at the wall next to Etho's head. "I didn't have a choice..."

Etho stares at Bdubs in sheer disbelief. He lets out a soft cuff as he shakes his head and lets his arms fall apart. A hand digs into his coat pocket, gripping something and pulling it out to hold in his hand.

"Bdubs, you gave me this clock, and I trusted you." The clock is held in his open palm for the kingmaker to see. 

tick. tick. tick.

Bdubs says nothing as he stares at it. Etho takes a measured breath.

"You made a promise to me that night. You let me get comfortable visiting. You let me—" Think you were safe. Another slow exhale passes through his nose. "You promised me, Bdubs. I know you better. I know you don't just break those to keep me safe."

"What are you saying?" The kingmaker's voice shakes.

"I watched you dance with Ren at the masquerade." His fingers curl around the clock edges, knuckles whitening as he grips it tightly. "You did this because he asked you to. Because you like when he's possessive of you, when he—"

"It's not like that!" Bdubs blurts, eyes begging as they meet Etho's again.

"Then what is it like, Bdubs?"

"It's— I—"

An awkward silence fills Bdubs' mouth as nothing comes out. Etho shakes his head again and turns his attention to the clock.

"Ren was right. This is the last part of you I have left."

The clock is dropped onto the floor next to Etho's foot, causing a pained sound to come from Bdubs. Etho pays him no mind, instead lifting his boot and hovering over the clock.

tick. tick. ti—

crunch.

Easily, the clock fractures apart beneath Etho's heel.

The cell falls silent.

drip... drip... drip...

...

"I think you should leave, Bdubs."

It is one of the rare times that the kingmaker has nothing to say. Etho can see the tears glistening in brown eyes as Bdubs holds them back. And then he sees Bdubs leaving, and Etho is left alone, save for a broken clock.

[bumblebee-is-best-boi]

BLITZBEE WEEK DAY FIVE: SCARS

hoooo boy! This one is my fav. Originally it was just a Blitzwing story but I made it have Blitzbee for the purpose of this week.

I EVEN GAVE IT A TITLE

hehe

@blitzbee-week Day Five: Scars

title coming up soon vvv

Digits In Between The Wings

Characters: Blitzwing, Bumblebee, Astrotrain

Warning: Cybertronian cursing, mentions of throwing up, too much fluff and angst :)

story under the cut vvv

When Blitzwing used to be a seeker, he liked to polish himself. Not to the extent of Knockout, of course (no one obsessed over their polisher like Knockout), but enough to make his frame glimmer in the slightest bit. He had the perfect frame to show his glimmer off, but that wasn’t the main reason he polished himself. It wasn’t even about the polish at all! 

It was more about the machine he used.

The one he used, while it was a bit smaller than usual polishers, it used to fit perfectly in the space between his wings. It pressed against the joints of his wing bases in a way that wasn’t too much pressure to hurt or damage them, but enough to stimulate some pleasant feelings. 

Blitzwing used to attach his polisher to a long handle and just slip it between his wings once in a while, keeping it there for several minutes before moving on with his polishing. 

But when he was turned into a Triple Changer, that all changed. 

Blitzwing’s polisher had become too small to be nice between his wings, but it didn’t matter, since he wasn’t even comfortable using the polisher anymore. The idea of it gliding across his frame, one that had changed drastically for him, just made him a little bit sick in his tanks. Every time it glided over his scars, it made him wince in uncomfortableness, since his scars revealed his sensitive metal plates. Also, the experiment must have fragged something up between Blitzwing’s wings, because he felt as if something defective there was aching with everything he did, and touching it caused him lots of pain.

That didn’t mean Blitzwing didn’t at least try.

He tried many times, but he just couldn’t handle the feeling. And then after one wonky attempt, he broke his polisher into pieces in a fit of rage (or was it actually distress? He couldn’t really tell anymore).

After becoming a Triple Changer, his frame, which once had a slight glimmer, had become dull and matte. Blitzwing stopped taking care of his frame, sometimes to the point where Astrotrain had to force him to take care of himself for a while to prevent rust and cracked plates. Astrotrain might have been way taller than him, but he was also a bot who was very gentle with his movements (if he wanted to, most of the time he liked to be overly erratic). His fingers were nimble, originally to handle to spin his blasters and shoot out multiple rounds in quick succession, but also to handle the tools needed to keep a mech functioning. But no matter how much Astrotrain tried to take care of Blitzwing to make sure his unwillingness to do self care didn’t make him go offline, his frame glimmer was lost.

___

“For Primus’s sake Blitzwing, you should take care of yourself more often!” Astrotrain yelled in exasperation as he pushed one of Blitzwing’s arm plates open to scrape off dried energon build up from a damaged energon line, “Be lucky that this energon line wasn't so major, or you would have been bleeding out for hours on end. And also be lucky that I saw the bleeding before it got any worse!”

Astrotrain finally scraped it off, started patching the energon line, then switched faces and chuckled. “Heh, but I know you're not going to listen to me. It's just typical of you to do whatever you want without any thoughts of the consequences! Typical Blitzwing! All cuckoo and carefree!” 

Astrotrain kept snickering as he closed Blitzwing’s arm plate and stood up, “I know for sure that no matter what I say, we’re going to be right back here again, fixing some new problem!” 

Blitzwing switched faces and fumed, “Oh shut your mouth, slagger!”

“Ok ok, I will, for now. But you cannot shut the fact that my words speak the truth.” Astrotrain turned to walk away, his footsteps thundering, “Oh and by the way, Megatron wants us in the meeting room in ten minutes. I suggest you hurry and don't damage any more of yourself on the way, you know how much Megatron wants his Decepticons in top condition!”

Blitzwing opened his mouth to yell at Astrotrain, but he stopped and closed his mouth again, switching faces and standing up. He looked at his arm, where Astrotrain had fixed his energon line. Astrotrain’s words echoed through his processor multiple times, no matter how annoying it got. Blitzwing wanted to just laugh it off, to think of it as a silly joke, but he couldn't. It wasn't a silly joke. It was the truth.

No matter how much Blitzwing wanted to deny it, it was the truth. The cold hard truth.

____

Refueling wasn't a big problem for Blitzwing… sometimes. Sometimes he got himself enough to last a while, sometimes he had only enough to run on half a tank. It was quite hard to adjust to a frame that demanded more energon to function, but he made it work eventually (He didn’t). And then there was the purging that happened once in a while during the night… but he didnt like to talk about that.

But what was most annoying about his frame upgrade was the pain that came with it. Not even the idea of three faces annoyed him that much (even though the face switching did hurt at one point). His knees were constantly hurting, due to the weird build of his legs, and he kept breaking his knee braces by tearing them up and destroying them whenever he felt like it. For days on end, his tanks constantly felt sore, no matter if his tank was full or empty or whatever in between. And what was the worst thing was the dull ache in the joints of his wings, and the constant prickling pain down his back in between his wings.

He once wanted to paint over his scars, but every time he thought of it, he always got sidetracked to thinking about painting himself in many different colors wilder than any Decepticon had ever seen before. Despite that sounding like a cool idea, Blitzwing always countered those thoughts because he didn’t want to look stupid or get in trouble with Megatron. Instead, he decided to see how others reacted if someone else was painted in wild colors.

This led to him going to the seeker trine’s room with buckets of paint and painting all sorts of crazy things on them (originally he wanted to just paint Starscream, but seeing them in the seeker pile made him all too happy to paint all three of them). Blitzwing then waited till the next day to see what would happen… It was lots of humiliation and getting punished by Megatron pretty badly. This scared Blitzwing to his very spark, to the point where he felt guilty about it (but no way he would ever admit it was his fault).

Only Astrotrain knows what truly happened on that day.

At that point, Blitzwing had completely given up on trying to fix himself, trying to take care of himself, caring for a frame that he once cherished. No use in caring for a frame that had been warped beyond his own recognition and repair.

_____

“Blitzwing.” Astrotrain spoke, trying to get Blitzwing’s attention. 

No response.

“Blitzwing.” Astrotrain hissed, “You glitch, I know you can hear me,” He looked down at the ground, “Stop ignoring me please.”

Blitzwing eventually raised his head, “What is it.”

Astrotrain looked into Blitzwing’s optics, “There’s only one energon cube left for today.”

Blitzwing’s optic twitched, and he switched faces, “That’s what you bothered me for?!”

Astrotrain switched faces, “Oh EXCUSE me for trying to help my DEAR Amica! Oh what an aft am I!”

“Slag off!”

Astrotrain switched faces, “Do you want the fragging energon cube or not?”

Blitzwing switched faces, “You can have it.”

Astrotrain reached for the energon cube, then stopped.

“You refueled yourself at least more than halfway today, right?”

Blitzwing’s optic twitched, then he switched faces, “Ah yes! I had quite the feast today! Oh such a nice servo salad it was! Aha!”

Astrotrain grimaced for a slight moment before grabbing the cube, “the idea of you eating other Cybertronians still unnerves me heavily… but at least it’s better than nothing. ”

Blitzwing switched faces again and looked at the ground as Astrotrain chugged the energon cube. He felt bad for lying, but also not sorry for it at the same time. No matter whatever Astrotrain felt through the Amica bond.

Speaking of the Amica bond, Blitzwing rarely made use of the emotion sensing ability that the bond had. He had too much going on in his head to go poking around in Astrotrain’s emotions.

But this time, Blitzwing used the bond. He used the bond to try and poke into Astrotrain’s emotions, but gave up when he felt the mess of emotions in there. He didn’t care enough to go in there and try to see what is what.

He just didn’t care.

_____

But then he met Bumblebee. That little yellow Autobot who kind of slightly annoyed him to no end and was the love of his life at the same time. The one who treated every single one of Blitzwing’s faces with love and care, even when he was being a bit of a glitch.

Every time that they met up, Bumblebee would bring something to cheer Blitzwing up, whether it was a few cubes of energon, some cans of oil, a servo (Bumblebee never said where he got it from, to Blitzwing’s disappointment, since it was one of the best servos he ever had), or even his own polisher! 

But the best thing was how Bumblebee tried his best to handle Blitzwing’s pain. He couldn’t do anything about Blitzwing’s knee pain, other than at least try to tell Blitzwing to stop destroying his knee braces. Bumblebee would bring his hands over Blitzwing’s numerous scars, massaging them the best he could (he stopped if Blitzwing was in too much pain though). He would even move his fingers over the space between Blitzwing’s wings, putting his digits between the wings and massaging the wing base joints, soothing the discomfort in them.

It was the best thing Blitzwing had felt in centuries.

____

Holding the energon cube in his hands, Blitzwing looked down at it with a solemn look on his face. Why did his love offer this to him? He gingerly cupped the cube, afraid to spill a drop and disappoint his little sweetspark. 

“Why aren't you drinking your energon Blitz? Worried that it’ll run away?” Bumblebee chugged his cube of energon and tilted his head at Blitzwing.

A sigh came out of Blitzwing’s mouth. He just couldn’t tell Bumblebee the truth… he couldn’t! 

“Why aren’t you drinking your energon, Blitzwing?” Bumblebee’s antennae drooped in sadness.

Oh god, the sight of Bumblebee being sad hurt Blitzwing to the deepest depths of his spark. He needed to find a way to mitigate the situation before it got worse!

The slight ache in his tanks gave him a great idea.

“Ach… I have a slight tank ache. I don't really feel like refueling right now…” Blitzwing spoke, hoping that everything would stop at that moment.

But when Bumblebee immediately turned his head around to look at him, he was greatly surprised. He didn't expect that Bumblebee would become so attentive to him.

“Alright buddy, lie down.” Bumblebee commanded Blitzwing, “I wanna try something”

Blitzwing was confused, but he laid down anyway. Luckily the ground was soft-ish, or else he would have been very uncomfortable. And so he waited for something to happen

He waited…

And he waited…

And he waited some more…

Until suddenly, he felt a weight on his tanks. Blitzwing immediately looked up and saw that Bumblebee had plopped himself on top of his tanks. He kept staring, even when Bumblebee looked up to meet his gaze. 

“Hey, you’re a big mech, I have to change how I do things here!” Bumblebee pouted.

Blitzwing watched Bumblebee, then switched faces and laughed, “Wow, you’re heavier than I thought!”

He received a slight kick to the tank.

“Not funny.” Bumblebee frowned.

Blitzwing winced, switched faces, and sighed, “Apologies.”

“Good. Now let me do this, and I promise that your tank aches and pains will alleviate soon!” Bumblebee positioned himself and reached out with his hand. 

The hand settled low on Blitzwing’s hips before going up and stopping just underneath his chassis. This was repeated 10 times. Then some semi circle motions across his abdomen, also repeated ten times. There then came some soft massages and kneading, which calmed Blitzwing down.

But when Bumblebee did the little vibrations with his hands, this surprised Blitzwing a little bit.

And then Bee was finished.

“Wow,” Blitzwing gasped, “That was… wow.”

Bumblebee smiled, “I get tank aches too, so Ratchet taught me this to alleviate the pain.”

“Could… you teach how to do that?” Blitzwing asked.

Bumblebee smirked mischievously, “Only if you drink the energon cube. You need it.”

Blitzwing sighed, then drank the cube. It actually felt nice…

It seemed that what Bumblebee did worked really really well.

____

After a while, it seemed as if the treatment Blitzwing got by being Bumblebee’s sweetspark started affecting him in a good way. His frame felt so much more comfortable to him now, his aches between the wings had stopped, his scars were less sensitive, and he purged much less. Face switching was less of a chore to him now, more being more flowy instead of jerky and sudden. He even used what Bumblebee taught him to alleviate tank ache.

Astrotrain, as observant as he was, was bound to notice something.

____

“Damn Blitzwing, youve having more energon right now than ive seen you have in an entire week!” Astrotrain laughed, slapping Blitzwing on the back.

Blitzwing’s wings twitched from the slap, his face switched, and he scowled. Finishing his energon cube, he turned towards Astrotrain.

“So I guess Swindle sold you some good sense or something?”

“No you dumbaft, Swindle hasn’t even been here in a while. And any transactions I do or will do will be face to face with him, cause I don’t trust him entirely.”

“Ah, ah.” Astrotrain smirked as he kneeled down, “Then tell me what’s gotten you to act so different? It’s definitely not from you following my advice, that’s for sure.” Another laugh from Astrotrain ensued.

Blitzwing fumed for a bit, then switched faces, “it’s… the little Autobot.”

Astrotrain paused for a moment, then switched faces, “What did the Autobot do.”

Blitzwing reminded himself that Astrotrain was not entirely trusting of Bumblebee, so he had to choose his words carefully if he didn’t want to accidentally screw everything up.

“He… gives me energon every time we meet…” Blitzwing switched faces “He treats me like a queen! His beautiful big queen!” 

Astrotrain froze, not expecting to hear that. Switching faces, he brought himself closer to Blitzwing, eyeing him curiously.

“So you’re saying that this… tiny little Autobot… has been helping you with your problems?”

Blitzwing nodded vigorously.

Astrotrain suddenly switched faces, “Well FINALLY! Finally someone got some sense into your processor!” Laughing, he patted Blitzwing on the shoulder, “And, please keep this up. It’s healthier for you, and there’ll be more for your little Autobot to love!”

Blitzwing switched faces, blushing in embarrassment, but nodded anyway.

After a while of snickering, Astrotrain switched faces, “But I must not get sidetracked, since there is something I have to say: Megatron has commanded that we go do an energon raid in about three hours. We actually have to be out of the base in one and a half hours,” Astrotrain said with a bit of bitterness in his voice, before softening his tone, “So have another cube and we can go, okay?”

Blitzwing nodded his head and drank his energon cube, “Alright.”

____

Even though he knew that his scars would never heal, Blitzwing knew that Bumblebee would be there for him, no matter what.

And that was more than enough for him.

[sarah-yyy]

a few of y’all have asked me about new life begins, and i’m procrastinating over work so............

BASICALLY this story revolves around the royal family of xinchuan (head of the nine states). xinchuan has a tradition wherein the other eight states send eligible women over to marry the xinchuan princes. the show opens with all these women coming into xinchuan for this selection

this is our main character li wei

bbg does Not want to be selected as a bride for any of the princes. she comes from jichuan (one of the least wealthy states, most of them are farmers) wherein people marry for love and men aren’t allowed to have concubines, she is Not Into this xinchuan polygamy bs, and is doing all she can to be sent back home asap so she can live her chill life

this is the sixth prince yin zheng, unloved (for now!) and mostly unnoticed (also for now!!) son of an unfavoured concubine. he’s introduced as being sickly and of little note in the political field. he mostly gets along with his brothers by virtue of having little interaction with them and keeping a real low profile

this boy is way smarter than he presents to outsiders!! he knows that the least favourable political marriage will be assigned to him, so he figures he might as well get ahead of it and voluntarily ask for the nominee from jichuan to be his wife

li wei ends up yin zheng’s concubine!!! which is the worst!!! not only does she have to conform to this xinchuan polygamy bs, she’s not even his main wife!!! she’s depressed for a few days until she catches wind that yin zheng only has a few weeks left to live (fake news) and it just kickstarts a whole bunch of hilarious shenanigans in which she tries to be nice to him before he dies and she gets to go home to jichuan as a widow

cue yin zheng (who doesn’t know what li wei is thinking) going: she’s??? nice to me???? mayhaps..........she be.........in love with me??????

(uhhhh because she’s adorable???? i like her) 

ANYWAY y’all get the drift, it’s the whole arranged marriage, strangers to lovers, pining after my spouse vibe that i absolutely love!!! 

but it’s not just that!!! it’s also that the female characters are all well-written and the friendships between all of them are so cute!! 

first left is shangguan jing, fifth prince’s wife! she’s from danchuan which is a matriarchal society. she’s good at martial arts and very straightforward. does not really want to be married to xinchuan (much less to the fifth prince who starts off liking someone else), but is Doing Her Duty. i am SO INVESTED in her relationship with the fifth prince ahhhh, he’s a wimp (affectionate) who, this far in the show, has come to love his wife and is fretting constantly over how to make her happy/make her love him 

first right is hao jia! she’s the second prince’s concubine and li wei’s bff. she’s sweet and well-natured and essentially Good At Everything. the second prince is kind of a dick with obvious dv tendencies, but he’s the eldest son of the emperor’s wife and next in line for the throne. i am just HOPING we get to see hao jia go off on him one day soon 😭 (side note: i’m actually also curious about the second prince’s wife - i wonder if she and hao jia will team up to get rid of the second price ugh)

this is yuan ying junzhu, my li wei’s yin zheng’s wife. hoooo boy folks, when the emperor ordered yin zheng to marry her against his Very Strong Objection, i thought we were going to start in on the angst and the whole jealous wife arc, but!!! she’s got zero interest in him, and they decide that she’ll basically stay at the manor as his advisor/li wei’s tutor! she 100% likes li wei more than she likes yin zheng lbr

not pictured but also a+++ characters that i love: the third prince’s wife + his harem of concubines (he’s named them all after the 24 traditional solar terms); the seventh prince and his wife (both of whom are adorable and just try to stay low-key and out of trouble); song wu²; all the servants at the sixth prince’s manor

ANYWAY this show is light-hearted and fun and an absolute delight to watch!! it’s been awhile since we’ve had a romcom-ish cdrama that’s had actual budget to produce something to this quality 💖 11/10 would rec!!! 

where to watch: iqiyi // viki // youtube status:  this updates every sunday to wednesday (local chinese time), with 2 eps being released every day. 22/40 eps have aired so far, i think iqiyi subs are up to date with the current airing schedule but i can’t be sure? someone correct me if i’m wrong! 

[fficway]

I love how you write Donnie!!! PLEASE GIVE US MORE!!!

Thank you so much! I originally had this idea for a Leo fic, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would work better for Donnie, so here you go!

Synopsis: One of Donnie's inventions ends up on a rampage and you have to think of a creative way to get Donnie to quiet down so that he doesn't reveal where you're hiding.

ROTTMNT Donnie x Reader insert. (No gender specified). Age is irrelevant in this fic and not specified so age them to the show or up, however fits you best.

[This is actually angst before the fluff. I don't usually write angst because I really don't enjoy it but I need more practice writing drama and resolution. It's not like dramatic life or death angst, just heart break before the resolution. I also re-wrote the ending a few times and still don't love it (I think it's a little rushed and cheesy lol) but I hope you all enjoy it at least!]

"Shut up, Donnie"

"Feast ye eyes, brethren, on my newest invention: the Pizza Maker 9000! Patent pending, state of the art, trademark, magnificent pizzas at the ready with a mere touch of a button, and voice activation!" Donnie pulled a cloth from atop of a new machine he had created. The light sparkled off of the neatly polished silver appliance. "Allow me to demonstrate-"

"What's the 9,000 for? Did you try to make 8,999 of these before this one?" Raph questioned from his seat on the couch with his brother's. Leo sitting at his side and Mikey leaning from behind over Raph's shoulder.

"No, the 9,000 stands for the 9,000 possible combinations of pizza this baby can make! Well technically it would be over 7.7 million!" Donnie emphasized proudly, "But 9000 sounded cooler. Now, allow me to-"

"But I thought I was the designated pizza chef!" Mikey whined, "You guys love my pizzas!"

"Yes, Angelo, we did. Up until your adventurous, for lack of a more insensitive word, endeavors you've been concocting lately." Donnie replied flatly.

"What's wrong with Pizza Milkshakes? We all love Pizza, and we all love Milkshakes! Obviously combining them would be delicious! And Pizza noodle soup! And pizza with brussel sprout toppings! And-" Mikey's argument was interrupted by Leo.*

"Everything! Everything is wrong with those combinations!" Mikey pouted at Leo's words.

"However, segway! This Patent Pending Donnie Tech Pizza Maker™ does make delicious pizza combinations!" He pressed a button to turn on the machine so that it would make a pizza in front of their eyes as he continued his speech. "With over 100 types of dough, 1,800 types of cheeses, 43 types of tomatoes, and an infinite possibility of toppings, gentleman, I give you: the perfect pizza." The machine finished with a *ding* and a pizza came out of the front.

"Uuuugh, Hawaiian? Ugh I knew I should have removed pineapple from the ingredients list!" Donnie rubbed his hand over his face in frustration as Leo and Raph laughed at him.

"Ahhh yes, the most rare of unlimited possible pizza combinations: the Hawaiian!" Leo howled with laughter.

"I could've made that." Mikey crossed his arms, still pouting.

"Alright, so it made a pizza that we could just order. But how does it taste?" Raph walked up to grab a slice.

"Oooor I could make it! We don't have to order one!" Mikey whined again, his arms flailing in frustration.

"Come and see for yourself. And by 'see' I mean 'taste' of course." Donnie stepped aside for Raph, confident in his invention. "Even though there is pineapple on that pizza, the cheese, sauce, and dough are all chosen to be the best possible combination to compliment the fruit topping."

Leo walked up as well to take a slice. Raph and Leo shrugged at each other with grins before biting into their slices. Hey, free pizza is free pizza!

Donnie and Mikey watched with held breaths for their reactions.

"O-ho-hoooo boy this is some good pizza!" Leo crumbled to his knees with the half eaten sliced raised to the sky as if he was worshiping it. Then he quickly finished off his slice and took two more in his hands.

Raph mumbled through a full mouth, "Great jub Dunnie! Now we'll nuver huve to ordur out again!"

"We haven't ordered out anymore anyway because I've already been making us delicious pizzas!" Mikey yelled in protest.

Donnie stood straighter with his hands proudly on his hips, "Relishing. And I am relishing. And I am still relishing." Mikey huffed at Donnie's smugness.

"Say," Leo paused in his pizza eating to take a breath when a thought occurred to him. "This isn't going to turn evil and attack us later like your other inventions is it?"

"Please, 'Nardo, you place such a ridiculous hypothesis upon me with very little statistics to support your claim." Donnie scoffed, his proud stance not wavering a bit.

"U-huh, yeah, because when have your inventions ever tried to get us killed." Leo rolled his eyes sarcastically to himself as he continued with another slice of pizza.

"Not including Albearto's, S.h.e.l.d.o.n, the defense bed-" Mikey mumbled, listing off a few on his three fingers before Donnie interrupted to correct him.

"The Personal Slumber Defensive Device did not try to kill us, it did exactly as programed and defended the sleeper, a.k.a. Pa-pa."

A noise from the entrance made everyone look over to see you and April entering the lair.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" April asked. It looked like you both had interrupted something.

"I smell pizza but don't see any! Did Raph and Mikey already scarf it down?" You asked half joking.

"No. I refuse to touch something so devoid of artistic flavor and love!" Mikey crossed his arms in a huff.

"Oh no. Mikey used big words like 'devoid.' That means he's upset." You looked at April.

"My guess? It's another one of Donnie's inventions." April looked from you to the three turtles gathered around the machine, solidifying her guess.

"It's the Patent Pending Donnie Tech Pizza Maker 9000™ AKA the PM9000™!" Donnie gestured dramatically to his shiny new machine that was currently making a second pizza of random order for an excited Leo and bouncing Raph.

"That's great! Another invention that will later try to kill us." You chuckled sarcastically.

"That's what I'm saying!" Leo agreed before stuffing his face with a fresh slice from the newest pizza, this one with olives.

"It will do no such thing! It is programmed only to concoct the highest of quality pizzas! Allow me to demonstrate since you guys missed it the first time!" Donnie rushed through the last sentence excited to show you and April his genius.

"Hmmm, I sure am hungry for a pizza!" Donnie annunciation his words clearly with a finger in the air in the center of the room. Everyone stared at him expectantly in silence as nothing happened. You and April shared an impassive glance. A light flashed from the Robot as it started up again, and everyone 'ooh-ed' as it spoke back.

"One Perfect Pizza™ at the ready." It's robotic voice sounded as a mechanical arm stretched out towards Donnie and reconstructed into a conveyor-belt. The third, and newest pizza arrived in front of Donnie, steaming hot. (The pizza too.)

"It will deliver your pizza to you anywhere in the Lair!" Donnie said proudly, taking a slice out of his own pizza now.

"Oh so it responds to us just talking about pizza? What if I say that I'm going to cook a pizza?" Mikey protested. The machine flashed again and a new conveyor-belt transformed in front of Mikey, a new pizza coming his way.

"One Perfect Pizza™ at the ready."

"Is it really going to say "trademark" every time?" April asked.

"Nuh-uh! No way! If you think I'm going to betray the years of hard work I've slaved away in the kitchen learning how to make my perfect pizza, you can think again baby! I'm the Pizza chef around here! It's either me, or another being with a heart that will be making the pizzas for us! A machine can't recreate the love that goes into cooking!" Mikey had slapped away the pizza and was now dramatically spieling. You started to realize that Mikey really was actually offended, and you felt bad for him. You know how much Mikey loves cooking, but you also know how much Donnie loves his inventions, and they both do their crafts as their own way to help their brothers out and do nice things for each other. This was complicated, and you knew this had to be settled between the turtles, so you watched on. Leo and Raph will surely step in if it gets out of hand.

"I don't know, this tastes like love to me!" Leo said between mouthfuls of pizza.

Ok... surely Raph will step in if it gets out of hand.

"Yeah, and Donnie's pizzas are cooked faster than yours Mikey, so I say for the Lair pizzas, Donnie's machine is best." Raph was already ordering a third pizza now.

Oh boy...

"Boom! Hahaha! Technology is the future of civilization, there is nothing that can beat it!" Donnie was proud that two of his brothers had liked his invention, and his words were insensitive to Mikey, however, and you winced. You're sure that he doesn't mean to rub it in Mikey's face-

"In you're face Michelangelo!" Donnie laughed while pointing.

-Ok, the universe is apparently going out of it's way to prove you wrong on everything today. You know Donnie doesn't mean to be mean to Mikey, he's just being immature right now. But honestly? This'll help you to convince yourself that he isn't perfect.

You've known the turtles for a while now, and had originally developed a crush on the intelligent and passionate Donatello. However your crush has recently begun to fade. Yeah, you could always just tell him how you feel, and take whatever answer he gives you. You could handle it (you think), and you're positive that Donnie wouldn't treat you differently just because of a one-sided crush. However, you decided there was no benefit in telling him regardless. The reason being was because of said one-sided crush.

You know that it's one sided because Donnie is very forward about himself. He's choosy on what emotions he shares with people, sure, but you've seen how he lights up when talking about his childhood idol and crush Atomic Lass, as well as when he fights villains like Cheery Tomato at Albearto's. He has a type and is not shy in his advances when faced with those caricatures, so you're certain that if he did have an interest in you, you would have noticed by now. Therefore, if confessing to him of a one-sided relationship would make no difference in your friendship, then not confessing to him would ultimately bring the same result, so you've concluded that keeping it to yourself and willing yourself to get over him is the best course of action.

This was a good opportunity to tell yourself "See? He's not perfect! He can have immature moments too! You can get over him!" But your heart chose to make excuses for him. Not to excuse his behavior at Mikey as ok, but to understand that he doesn't mean it that way. At any rate, you decided to step in to mediate now, and tried to stay impartial.

"Donnie, I think you've had the floor to talk about your invention long enough." You approached Mikey and put a hand on his shoulder. "I, for one, would love a home-made Mikey Pizza Special." You smiled at Mikey's gleeful expression. You told yourself that you weren't siding against Donnie as a selfish way to push away from him. This was fair! Donnie had two people on his side, so its only fair that Mikey gets one person on his team!

"One Perfect Pizza™ at the ready." The robot's voice sounded as a pizza was delivered in front of you. Mikey slapped it away again while pointing triumphantly at Donnie.

"At least someone here has a refined palate, knowing exactly who here is the better pizza maker!"

"What is your order?" The Pizza Maker responded to the words its named after.

"How could you choose Mikey over me?" Donnie was looking at you shocked and betrayed. You were sure that it was because of his pride in his inventions.

"I didn't choose anyone over-" You were interrupted by Mikey.

"Maybe because your not-so-perfect pizza machine is so-not-perfect enough to compete with me and my so-perfect artistry!" Mikey issued the challenge to Donnie.

"You're suggesting that art somehow bests science? Oh sweet 'Angelo, if it's a challenge you want, it's a challenge you shall receive!" Donnie and Mikey were quite literally butting heads.

"Somehow, I think I might have made this worse." You mumbled defeatedly.

---

It was decided that Mikey and Donnie('s invention) would go toe-to-toe in a pizza making contest. The judges being you, Splinter, and April. Leo and Raph were not allowed to intervene other than to host the event with a microphone and referee. Splinter and April were chosen as neutral third parties, but you were still unsure why you were a judge considering that you had only asked for Mikey's pizza. You didn't want to chose a better pizza. It was irrelevant! You just wanted a normal pizza made by Mikey to help him feel better. Yet somehow you were roped into not only being a judge, but your vote counted three times as much as Splinter and April's vote!

"Then why add other judges if your votes don't count?" You asked April on your walk back to April's apartment. You were going to be sleeping over at her place anyway, you both had just decided to stop by and see the boys on the way home (which you were now regretting.)

"I have some ideas in mind, but the short of it is? Because you intervened." April poked you with her joking response. She seemed to have some reason to find all of this funny. You on the other hand were dreading what was going to happen tomorrow.

The competition had been postponed to the following day as Donnie declared that he wanted to make some last minute upgrades on his tech. When Mikey had taunted that it was because Donnie knew that his machine would lose, Donnie had laughed off the remark, and replied with his own. Something about proving something and making things right again? You assumed that it was "proving Mikey wrong" and "making [the tech] right again." That's the only combinations that made sense to you.

After April and you had dinner (pizza was off the table since you'll most likely be getting your fill tomorrow), you settled in for the night after a movie.

April was on her phone a few times throughout the movie. You assumed she was texting Sunita.

"Uh, hey! I gotta step out for a quick sec! It'll only be a minute but feel free to crash if you get tired!" April kinda rushed to the door. You sat up, now anxious.

"What's going on? Is there trouble? Should I come too?" You questioned her.

"NO! Uh, no! The boys just had a mission alarm go off, but it's just a petty thief! No biggie! Only two of them are going to check it out, all of us aren't needed!" She waved her hand a few times to emphasize that it wasn't a big deal.

"Then why are you going?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Uhhh, be..cause it's at the new shop I work at! I gotta check it out as, you know, an employee and all! Psssh you know how it is!" She crossed her arms casually.

"You got a new job already? Where?" April's phone dinged as you spoke.

"Uh, I'll answer all of that when I get back! Gotta go!" She ran out of the door in a hurry, leaving you swimming with questions. You could see she was acting suspiciously, but you've had a lot of your assumptions proven wrong tonight so you decided to just drop it for now. You'll have her explain what's up tomorrow. Yawning, you settled down after a frankly exhausting day.

---

"There you guys are!" April panted catching up to Raph and Donnie.

"Alright, show me to the scene of the crime stat! I still have to finish my modifications before tomorrow's competition and I don't trust Mikey being back at the Lair so close to my tech without me." Donnie was looking around the empty street as he spoke, "Why did he and Leo get to stay home while I got dragged by Raph out of my lab? If the thief isn't that big of a deal then why not let Leo handle it?" Donnie's brain was still in overdrive since he had been freshly pulled from his lab.

"Donnie, there is no thief. We needed to talk to you and knew you wouldn't listen if you were still in your lab." April explained.

"What? Why? What is there to talk about? If you're going to convince me to go easy on Mikey I will have to decline! He will gain nothing from us going easy on him! And by "us" I do of course mean "me and my tech"." Donnie crossed his arms.

"Donnie, you know who this is about." Raph crossed his arms as well.

April had been the one Donnie confided in when he realized he had begun to have feelings for you so long ago, but out of fear that you would not reciprocate, he pushed those feelings way down. April had been the only one to notice and weasel it out of him. Raph, however, had overheard, and therefore was sworn to secrecy.

Which apparently did not include secrecy from Leo and Mikey because Raph told them within the hour. April, who Donnie had dubbed responsible for the entire "Donnie's Secret Crush in Now a Lair Known Fact " fiasco, agreed to do everything in Donnie's best interest when it came to you. Whether it be keeping you from finding out his feelings for you or helping him to get to spend more time with you. April had been frustrated for months because of Donnie's contradictions. He wanted to spend more time with you yet didn't want you ever finding out how he feels! So the long and short of it was, there would be no end to his ridiculous antics while pining after you.

Donnie had even gone as far as to create secret phrases and code words with April and his brother's so that he could communicate emergency protocols. There was no real use to this because Donnie kept flipping between code "help me get an opportunity for us to be alone," and code "abort! The truth must not be revealed!" And quite Franky, while his family found his rare moments of panicking endearing, they were getting quite sick of it.

So after the events that happened today, Leo, Raph, and April had decided to get Donnie out of the lab, away from his work, to give April the opportunity to convince Donnie to fess up to you. Since Mikey and Donnie are in the middle of a feud, Leo agreed to stay home with Mikey to give them the space Donnie needs to calm down and think rationally. And who knows? Mikey could've ended up using this as a way to rile up Donnie! Emotions were high between the brothers so it was best to play it safe.

"Dee, you saw how you acted today. You know that it's time." April tried to gently persuade Donnie. "You can't keep letting your emotions get the better of you and drag others into your situations. Especially not the person you've got such a crush on."

Donnie sighed. "I know but, but to choose Mikey over me like that! I just feel so frustrated! I can't say anything now! It'll look like an excuse, or a way to cheat the contest, or-"

"Just confess after the contest then." Raph suggested. "Regardless of who wins the pizza contest, it has nothing to do with you. Your feelings are-"

"It has everything to do with me!" Donnie sighed. "If my tech that can be upgraded and evolved beyond human, yokai, and mutant abilities isn't good enough, then how can I think that I am?"

An explosion from a couple blocks over interrupted April and Raph from the rare moment of Donnie being vulnerable and honest.

---

An explosion woke you up. You jumped up and scrambled to the window to look for what was going on. There was a light from the next block over that looked like it was the light of a large fire. You grabbed your weapon and ran down the fire escape to head to the scene.

As you approached you saw Mikey jumping around a couple roof tops. "Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!" He sounded panicked.

"Mikey! You ok? Where's the others? Did the thief do this?" You had so many questions and Mikey shouted back a rushed answer.

"Thief? What thief? I mean- yeah! A thief totally stole Donnie's tech and messed with its wiring! We need to stop it!"

You got to the scene of the fire finally to see Donnie's Perfect Pizza Maker™ wreaking havoc, shooting flames all over the place and slicing through walls with giant pizza cutting saws and giant kitchen knives.

"How did a thief get to Donnie's tech if he was working on it? He wouldn't have taken his eyes off of it long enough to-" Mikey jumped down and cut you off.

"That doesn't matter now! We have to stop this thing before Donnie finds out!"

"What do you mean 'finds out?' Mikey, what did you do?!" You didn't get an answer as you both jumped in different directions to avoid the blades swinging down at you.

"I'll explain everything later! Just please don't be mad!" Mikey yelled from across a rooftop, jumping to dodge a fire blast.

"It's a little late for that!" You yelled back, ducking a blast from a pepperoni pistol that shot at your head. "Where are the others?"

"Raph and Donnie went out earlier! I don't know where they went!" Mikey attacked at a mechanical arm. "It was just Leo and me at the Lair!"

"Then where's Leo?" You were panting now. Between the yelling and fighting, you were having a hard time catching your breath.

"He's uh... a little tied up at the moment!" Mikey answered with a lower volume this time but you still heard him, and it was only then that you noticed Mikey fighting with only one nunchaku.

"Mikey, I swear, if I live through this you are in so much trouble!" You blocked another knife attack.

A few purple missiles shot past the building you were fighting on top of accompanied by a shout: "Phalange Sandwich!"

"Donnie! Up here!" You shouted down.

"No no no! We're ok! Nothing to see here!" Mikey shouted back.

"Is that, is that my PM9000?" Donnie asked when he jumped up onto the rooftops near you guys. The machine had been knocked through a parking lot and slammed into the mall. "But, how? I mean I know I wasn't finished with the upgrade, and sure I maybe went a little overboard with the modifications-"

"A little?" You shouted back to him as you ran towards the mall. The fight isn't over. Not until you made sure the tech was destroyed or shut down.

"Ok, maybe a little more than I should have but even in the midst of the upgrades it doesn't make sense for it to be going crazy like this!" Donnie, Mikey, and you landed inside of the mall to find a crater in the floor where the Pizza Maker had landed... yet no Pizza Maker in sight.

"Where did it go?" You asked aloud, looking around.

"What does it matter Donnie? You could add every upgrade under the sun and it still couldn't beat me and my pizzas!" Mikey apparently was still heated from earlier that day as he threw a quip at Donnie.

"Oh, I didn't need to add anything to beat you, I just wanted to make sure to not go easy on you. A growing boy needs his life lessons, Michael," Donnie sarcastically quipped back.

"Ugh, can both of you just drop it? We need to find the pizza-" You were interrupted by a red light shining down on all of you. Looking up you all started sweating at the sight of the undamaged Pizza Maker.

"Pizzaaaaa." It glitched out the word in an elongated, chilling robotic voice before lunging down at you three. All of you jumped out of the way, scrambling to defend against the mechanical arms that attacked with blades and flames.

"This way!" You yelled at the two turtles as you ducked and ran towards a store in the mall. The turtles batted away the mechanical arms and ran after you. You jumped and ducked down behind a counter, and the two joined you.

"Oh look Donnie! Another one of your inventions trying to kill us!" Mikey whisper shouted at Donnie.

"I know my engineering better than anyone! There's no way this could have happened!" Donnie retorted before a realization hit him, "Unless you messed with the circuitry! You did, didn't you!"

"You guys, now is not the time!" You hissed at them, watching as the machine scanned the store. It turned and started back towards the doors and you sighed in a relief that proved to only be temporary.

"You have no proof of that! What if I decided that my artistic squills and love was what was missing from your boring pizza maker?" Mikey crossed his arms.

"I knew it!" Donnie shouted as the counter you three were hiding behind exploded. You ran out with the turtles hot on your heels.

"How is it tracking us? It's scanners didn't notice us! Can it hear us?" You yelled back at Donnie.

"Of course! I created it to pick up key words like 'food,' 'pizza,' 'hungry,' and more! Even going as far as to include hearing the sounds of a rumbling tummy!" Donnie explained, still running, yet sounding proud of himself.

"Are you kidding me?" You shouted exasperated.

"See Donnie? This is your fault! If you wouldn't have tried to replace me as the pizza chef of the lair then none if this would have happened!" Mikey shouted.

"My fault? You're the one who messed with the Pizza Maker's circuitry and made him into this killing machine!" Donnie yelled back.

"Are you guys forgetting the part where this thing can hear you?!" You tried to shout over their bantering but a burst of flame hit the ground just behind you. Donnie turned around and blocked a blade with his tech bo before it reached you. You dodged just in time as another blade cut down at you.

Flames burst from one side as two blades cut from the other. The three of you dodged and parried the attacks. You were keeping up, but getting tired fast. These attacks were too quick and relentless! Finally, Mikey wrapped a chain around one of the metal arms and jerked it, pulling the Robot up into the air and throwing it across to crash into a store.

"Split up!" You shouted at the first opportunity. Mikey and Donnie are still too heated over the pizza thing to stop arguing or using the key words that the robot is drawn to. You're no strategist, nor their leader. The best thing to do was to split up and stall until backup arrived.

As you all took off in different directions, a metal arm with a blade on the end slammed down in front of the direction you were running, cutting off your route. You turned and ran the opposite way, being met with a wall of flames. Donnie slid to a stop. His battle shell transformed into jets and he quickly shot from one side of the hall to the other, picking you up in his arms as he zoomed past.

You both crashed and rolled into another shop. You rolled to a stop, but upon glancing back at the hall at the machine getting up, you pushed over Donnie to roll you both a few more times to hide behind yet another counter.

"I can't believe he messed with my tech's circuitry! That means he went into my lab too! Ugh! I thought we all learned from this after the incident with S.h.e.l.l.d.o.n!" You looked down to shush Donnie but blushed at noticing your position atop of him. He apparently hadn't noticed yet.

'Or if he did, then it probably doesn't phase him.' You thought sorely to yourself.

"Donnie, now's not the ti-"

"I knew it couldn't have been my programming! Oh! That's right! It's my programming! Maybe I can still hack his data-frame!" Donnie interrupted you, reaching for the screen on his forearm.

"No!" You slammed down his wrists so he couldn't reach the electronic cuff. The pizza maker entered the store. The last thing you need is a new way to lure it to your hiding place! "Donnie, the only thing you need to do now is be qu-"

"But if Mikey hasn't touched the mother chip processor, then I can still shut it down using my override protocol!" Donnie protested. The Pizza Maker started scanning the store as it grew closer.

"Donnie, it can hear-"

"I mean, that is a big 'if' considering he went as far as to ruin a perfect invention of mine!" Donnie kept going.

"Donnie don't-!"

"All over something as silly as piz-" Donnie didn't get to finish saying the key word.

Your lips were on his. You panicked! You had been holding down his arms to prevent him for reaching for his electronic cuff, and he wasn't listening to your attempts to shush him! You had to cover his mouth and you panicked!

You can't complain really. You've always wanted to do this. To kiss Donatello. Not in this way however, and you had hoped you'd be a couple by the time you'd kiss him at least, but if you're putting away your feelings for him anyway, at least you've gotten this chance.

His eyes were wide as he stared up at you for a moment of shock. Your eyes were squeezed shut. Your lips were so soft. It felt amazing! Being kissed wasn't at all as bad as he had feared it to be, being the over-thinking science man that he is. In fact, it was euphoric! He felt fireworks in his heart and butterflies dancing in his belly! He closed his eyes.

You stayed lip-locked with Donnie as you cracked open your eyes to look over towards the machine that was finishing its scan of the store and turning to leave. You startled when you felt Donnie's lips move against yours and snapped your eyes, wide with shock, back to his face. He was kissing you back!

You were so confused. Was it possible that he liked you back? You wanted to melt into the feeling of him kissing you back! You wanted to kiss him for real! But now wasn't the time for that. You looked back over to the pizza maker as it finally vanished around the corner.

You pushed off and away from Donnie and sat back in shock once there was a little bit of space between you, but you didn't go far enough to reveal yourself from behind the counter. Donnie raised up on his elbows, his eyes were half lidded and he had a silly half smile splayed across his lips.

"Did you just kiss me?" You asked. You didn't mean for it to sound so accusational. You were still panicked from all that just happened within this past 30 seconds. You tried to calm your beating heart.

"Correction. You kissed me!" Donnie sat up fully now, wearing his usual confident smile now, his eyes still half lidded as he looked at you. His heart beat was finally calming down and the full realization that you both had kissed was putting him on cloud nine

"But you weren't supposed to kiss me back!" You were anxious and in denial of what just happened. None of this made sense, and none of it was supposed to play out this way! Your face was still hot.

Donnie's smile faded. He began to look unsure of himself. "But, I thought that's how kissing worked? You put your lips on mine, and it wasn't in a life saving maneuver such as CPR so I assumed.."

You groaned in embarrassment, your hands coming up to cover your face. "Donnie, think about it! Why would I kiss you?"

At the look of hurt that crossed his face you immediately regretted your word choice. You meant it to mean "why would you kiss him now in not-so-suitable conditions like in the middle of hiding from a foe after shushing him constantly!" Not "why would you kiss him!"

"Oh.. Right. But of course." He stood up. "I'm.. sorry for the awkward assumption." He said 'sorry' and you winced. He rarely says sorry, but here in this context it made your heart break.

"Donnie, that's not what I meant, I swear!" You stood and reached for his arm, desperate to clear up this misunderstanding, but a new explosion went off, this one finally triggering the sprinkler system in the building.

You could see electricity crackling through the mall. You heard a loud "bang" and then cheers from outside. It seems like the others had arrived in time to take out the Robot.

You looked back at Donnie, the sprinklers making it as if you both were now in the rain. You couldn't see his face, but he wasn't standing as straight as usual. He shoulders were shrugged up a bit, and his hand around his tech bo looked tight. There's no way... he's upset? Because you retracted the kiss? Does that mean..?

"Donnie,-"

You didn't get a chance to talk to Donnie before Leo and the others were walking into the destroyed store you two were still in.

"There you guys are! You missed out on Donnie's invention trying to kill us again! Hmm, gee, I wonder who could have seen this coming?" Leo stopped talking when Raph gave him a rough nudge. Raph shrugged his head towards Donnie, and Leo notices Donnie's expression.

"Uh, I mean, Donnie! It's too bad about your awesome invention! Maybe, uh, you should make another one?" Leo tried to perk up the mood.

"Yeah! You still haven't gotten to do your contest remember? We can postpone it until you get the new one up and running! Right Mikey?" Raph turns to Mikey, who is looking really guilty now.

"Well, actually you guys," Mikey starts to confess, "I kinda... cheated. So I think the win should go to Donnie."

"No, don't worry about it." Donnie finally spoke up. He still didn't face anyone. "It's not important anymore."

You made eye contact with everyone as they turned to look at you at his words. You looked to April pleadingly.

"Dee?" April walked up and put her hand on his shoulder and looked at his face.

"I'm uh, going to head back first. My battle shell is water resistant, but, you know, it's uh, best to keep it dry." April had a slight surprise, then looked sad and backed up. Donnie's jets came out of his battle shell and lifted him out of the store through a hole in the roof.

Once he was gone the sprinklers finally shut off. Everyone looked at you. You immediately hugged April, tears in your your eyes.

"Woah, hey! It's ok! Calm down. Just tell us what happened?" April's hands were on your shoulders to pull you away from her enough to look at your face. The remaining brothers gathered around.

"Is he that upset about me messing with his tech? He usually gets angry. I didn't think he'd get... like this." Mikey looked down and his fidgeting hands, feeling guilty. Raph put a hand on his shoulder. The look on his face telling Mikey that it was ok, but he also should properly apologize to Donnie later.

"I think I messed up big" You told April, the tears in your eyes were threatening to fall now.

"It's ok. I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. Now you just have to fix it." April said with a soft tone. She looked at Leo.

"Way ahead of you." Leo put on a rare game face and sliced up a portal. You looked between him and April.

"What if I mess up again? Every time I've assumed one thing today, I've been proven wrong in the worst way." Today had been one bad choice after another for you. The fear of making it any worse was almost paralyzing.

"Then stop assuming and just communicate! Knowing Donnie, he'll want this patched up just as much as you do, m'kay? There's nothing to worry about." Leo smiled and stepped back towards Raph and Mikey.

April smiled at you, "I'm just a call away if you need me! We'll hang back a bit to give you both some space."

You looked around at them and gave a small smile. They were helping you to fix this. You have to take advantage of this opportunity. You took a deep breath and stepped through.

---

Donnie flew to the sewer entrance. He felt so heart broken. He didn't even get a chance to confess, which at this point sounded silly to have put the inevitable off for so long. Heck, even confessing and getting rejected the normal way would have been a lot less painful and humiliating than what just happened.

"Why would I kiss you?" He shrunk in on himself at the echo of your voice in his head. He pressed his hands to the sides of his head with a groan in an attempt to forget about it. He began his dissent into the sewer now, trying to ignore the broken record that played in his head.

Why did you kiss him? He wondered as he reached the bottom of the ladder. He played over the scenario in his head a few times. The realization finally hit him that it was simply to shut him up. Every time you had spoken during the entire fight it was to try to get him and Mikey to stop luring the robot over with the key words he had programmed the robot to pick up, and you had obviously been exhausted by  the fight. He had put you in danger repeatedly during the duration of the fight. What a cruel and even more humiliating realization to come to. He slapped his hand over his face, his eyes glued shut. Maybe if he did this long enough, he'd wake up in bed, all of this being nothing more than a bad dream.

Donnie ran his hand down his face and stopped walking when his fingers brushed his lips.

He could still feel the warmth from your own. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes but squeezed his eyes tightly shut again in an attempt to keep them at bay.

"I really do have a type," he sighed out with a choked chuckle, "cute and... mean."

He took a deep breath, forcing his brain to do a mental reboot, closing the many open tabs about you in his brain, and continued to the entrance to the lair. He was sure that the others would already be back by now and wanted to at least appear normal until he can escape to the privacy of his room or lab. However when he walked into the lair he heard silence. Minus the muffled snores coming from Splinter's room.

Donnie sighed, grateful for the chance to slink away and shut himself inside his lab. He didn't feel like socializing. Much less talk about the events from tonight.

He disengaged his battle shell on his wall, put up his tech bo, and grabbed a couple tools to work on literally anything to distract himself. He sat down and rummaged through blue prints on his table. Nothing seemed to peak his interest. Not even the bust of himself.

He remembered that there was a simple yet time consuming experiment that he had been meaning to conduct for a while on some mystic material he bought in the Hidden City! That would be the best thing to use to shut himself away in his lab as it required a controlled chemical environment and could take up to a couple days, so he could have uninterrupted time to himself to process everything. He looked around for his notes and the main pieces for the project.

"Donnie?"

"Oxygen and Magnesium!" Donnie startled and turned around to find you standing in the doorway.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I thought you could hear me walk in." You rubbed your arm awkwardly. Donnie was a ninja, the fact he was too distracted to notice you approach was probably a bad sign.

"No, I uh, hadn't." He turned back around and tried to keep his posture nonchalant as he continued gathering his notes, but his eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment. "So are the others back yet? Would you give this to Raph for me? I need to start on this experiment now and it's going to take me-"

"Donnie, can we talk?" Your voice sounded soft, almost meek. It cut Donnie off from his rambling excuses. He really didn't feel like talking about this right now. He wanted time to process it. To think out every possible conversational route with you and to pick the safest responses. He wanted to hide his embarrassment from you for just a little longer. He turned to give you another excuse and to dismiss you from his lab, but when he saw your face his resolution crumbled. Like a sandcastle to a wave.

Donnie collapsed into his seat. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry about tonight. I had gotten so frustrated at Mikey that I just kept going on and on and put you in danger, and I really should have stopped when you shushed me the first time. I realize now that it was all my fault."

"Woah, Donnie, nothing's your fault-" You started to cut in.

"No, but it is! The competition, making Mikey mad at me enough to tamper with my tech's circuitry, dragging you into this out of jealousy, putting you into danger, and the.. misunderstanding from you just trying to get me to stop luring the PM9000 with the key words." He looked down when he said the word "misunderstanding" and looked hurt.

"Jealousy?" You asked. You had heard him correctly, but now you were starting to become more sure about how Donnie feels about you. Actually sure. However you were going to take Leo's advice and communicate instead of jumping to assumptions again.

"I, yes," He sighed, embarrassed. "I really didn't mean to put you in an awkward position from you having to do what was necessary to get me to stop jeopardizing the mission and stop talking. I was just.. I don't know.. surprised. Well, surprised isn't the right word. In fact, that's a lie. I don't know, I was making things worse during that fight, and I feel like I'm making things worse now-"

"Donnie if you don't stop talking I'm going to kiss you again." You interrupted him before he started spiraling.

"I mean if I had-" Donnie short-circuited, his head snapping towards you with his face red. "What?"

You had gained a little confidence and were attempting to take advantage of it for as long as it lasted. Or until you both got everything out into the open. "Everything I did today went so wrong. I kept making one bad call after another, assuming that the situation was one way instead of communicating, and ended up hurting you because of my own bias against you."

"Bias? Against me?" Donnie looked hurt, but more-so confused.

"I..." you sighed, face red, and avoided his eyes. "I was trying to get over my feelings for you."

"What? 'Get over?' But- But that implies that you had feelings for me in the first place, that doesn't make sense! Since when? How long?"

"Dee, I've had feelings for you for over a year now." Your face was hot but it was time for this conversation. No matter which way it goes.

"What, but that.." His heart was beating so fast now and he could feel how hot his face was. "Then why did you say that earlier? Why did you ask why you'd ever kiss me?"

"Oh, Donnie, no, I didn't mean it like that! Honestly!" You finally had a chance to clear this up! "I asked that to have you realize that I was just trying to get you to be quiet so the robot wouldn't find us! I'm sorry Donnie, I really could have handled all of that a much better way. I should have! I really didn't mean it like that. I.. kissed you in that moment more from.. panic or impulse. Honestly I think I mostly did it because I just really wanted to." You couldn't meet his eyes admitting this.

"But, your actions contradict your words? You're saying that you're getting over me, but why?" He was confused, and you didn't blame him. You were one big contradiction tonight, acting selfishly then pushing him away and hurting him before he even can react to save yourself from the possibility of getting hurt.

"As for why I've been trying to get over you, I just didn't think you felt the same. You're just always so bold with your advances on your mascot crushes, and since you had never been so bold or forward like that with me, I just assumed.. You know, that you weren't interested." You looked away from him again awkwardly with a shrug. You were only barely sure now that he reciprocates your feelings by how he had been acting tonight, but you couldn't help but to still feel shy and insecure putting your feelings out in the open like this. Especially with everything that you were admitting to.

"Well, yeah. Sure I can be bold about my advances with mascot characters, it's just living out a fantasy! I don't know who's in those costumes, and they don't know me! They reject me and it's just a mutant turtle they're rejecting! But you.. you know me. If you were to reject me- I mean.. I couldn't be that bold or forward with you because you make me feel... I care too much about what you think, and therefore was too scared to find out." Donnie trailed off. "I just kept running from the risk of scaring you away and ruining what I already have with you by confessing my feelings for you." His heart was beating so fast now saying it all out loud. "I wanted to be selfish and.. cowardly."

"So you do have feelings for me?" You asked, hopeful. It was the question you've been dying to hear the answer to for so long.

"I do.. Have feelings for you that is." He clarified.

You both were staring at each other, blushing hard. Shy smiles started to appear on your faces.

"So, am I.. too late?" Donnie asked, uncertain, referring to your mention of trying to get over him.

You smiled, "Well I mean you aren't the only one who's acted selfishly, Dee." You confessed, "Like I said, I honestly could have let go of your hands to cover your mouth earlier."

Donnie raised an eyebrow at your comment, a smile sneaking onto his own face. "That's right. 'Impulse' you had said?"

"I mean, if I'm being honest here, it's not like it was the first time I have ever had an urge to kiss you." You tried to push on with the confidence you were feeling. Everything else was already out in the open, might as well ride the wave!

He was over the moon to hear this. Sure, you haven't answered his question directly yet, but he took this as a green light to test the waters. You had mentioned that you wanted bold and forward, flirty Donnie?

Noted.

"Not the first time, you say? Pray-tell, how often have you thought of kissing me?" He questioned back, causing you to blush. You felt butterflies at the confidence that started to overtake him. Just that was enough to make you feel all shy again? Hoo-boy.

"Hmm, it depends. Are you asking for the number of time from this past year? Or just the amount of times I've thought of kissing you during my futile attempt to get over you?" You questioned back.

He raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "'Futile,' huh?" He quoted back to you. He stood up and crossed his arms. "So you're saying that you've wanted to kiss me? Or rather, would it be more correct to use present tense: you want to kiss me?"

You were now embarrassed. You didn't want to humor his smugness with an answer.

But on second thought, maybe this is an opportunity you can take advantage of to see more of this side of Donnie.

You crossed over to him. "What if I say that is correct? I do want to kiss you?" Bold flirting isn't easy, but you couldn't miss this opportunity.

Donnie's smirk grew, his eyelids lowered as he looked at you approach. He pretended to think, "Hmmm, 'why would I kiss you?'" He smugly echoed your question from earlier that night back to you.

You grabbed his face in your hands, smiling at him, "Shut up, Donnie." You kissed him. Properly this time.

You felt his lips move against your own as his arms wrapped around you to keep you in place. You're not going anywhere this time. You both had apparently been taking turns to be selfish, so now it was his turn.

He leaned his weight against his desk behind him to prop himself up and lean you more into him. He'd never admit it, but his legs felt weak. If he had felt fireworks earlier, now he was feeling the stars. You were like a supernova, so bright and pulling him in. The idea of floating among nebulas paled in comparison of feeling you in his arms. When you moved one arm around his neck, he quickly placed one of his hands atop yours that was still on his face, keeping it there to relish in your touch a little longer.

When you broke apart, you didn't separate too far. He moved your hand to his lips to kiss your fingers, before moving it to his plastron. You could feel how fast his heart was beating. Or was that your own? You pecked his lips again, both of you smiling too much to give a proper kiss again. You leaned your forehead to his and you couldn't help but to giggle.

"Donnie, are you in here? Mikey wanted to- Oh! Oh, sorry guys! Uh, hold on! Let me just-" Raph had walked in and immediately shuffled awkwardly right back out of the room. He loudly cleared his throat before enunciating every word, "Donnie! Knock. Knock! May I come in?"

You and Donnie had already pulled apart when Raph had walked in but you still took a quick second to compose yourselves. Donnie's attempt to act natural was to examine his bust of himself while you pretended to hand him random tools... like a saw...? You were flustered, ok?

Donnie cleared his throat as well before calling back to Raph nonchalantly, "Yes, yes, come in!" Raph stiffly shuffled back into the threshold of the lab. He didn't know if it was appropriate to say anything about the development between you two. Should he congratulate you? Fist bump? Cheer?

No, that can wait until later when you both are ready to tell the family. After Raph tells Leo, Mikey, and April first of course.

"Mikey wanted to talk to you if, uh, you have a second. But no rush! In fact, take your time! I'll just be on my way now that I've relayed the message!" Raph pointed towards the living room as he squeezed back behind the wall as he started sneaking away. "You know, to let Mikey know that you'll come and talk to him!" Raph took off down the hallway.

"Oh no you don't loud mouth! Get back here!" Donnie yelled as he urgently chased after Raph.

You looked at your fingers that Donnie had kissed and moved them to touch your lips, blushing deeply. The sounds of the lair muffled around you as you relived the moment that had just happened between you and Donnie a little longer. You'll need to find more excuses for Donnie to be quiet in the future!

---fin---

*Reference to the 2012 TMNT series. (I like that all of the TMNT series reference each other so I wanted to do that too)

[lenafromthenordiccoven]

Stardust Reblog Challenge Fic Rec Masterlist

Masterlist of my fic recs for the Stardust Reblog Challenge by @liraketo.

Most of these are probably gonna be smut, let’s face it. 😂 And I’m linking to my reblogs with the comments, so you can see the reasons why I loved these AND read the fics. (Aka, I’m too lazy to copy paste the comments as well. Sorryyyy.) Will try to update this post as I go along though.

Fic recs are tagged with #stardust reblog challenge, as well as #fic rec.

Robert “Bob” Floyd

When I’m Done With You | @ereardon | fratboy AU, 18+

The Dreaming | @delopsia | 18+, PTSD from accident, polyamory (w/ Rhett Abbott)

The Archer | @vicsnook | arguing, relationship insecurities

Wildest Dreams | @vicsnook | break-up, finding new love (with Jake), 18+

Exile | @vicsnook | chaooooooooos, possibly ruined chances with Jake, definitely angsty

Hands to Yourself | @tip-top-cloud-surfer | fluuuuuff, pregnancy, Bob being adorably protective and clingy

hide n fuck | @bobgasm | hoooo boy, SMUUUUT, threesome with rooster

Jake “Hangman” Seresin

Invisible Smoke – Two; Part Three | @ficsilike-reblogged | TW for stalking

Crush | @hangmans-wingman | fluuuuuuuuff, little bit of angst

Baby’s breath, a wholesome moment | @katsu28 | so much fluff and little Brisket!

California Fornication - Two - 'Odds Are?' | @ohtobeleah | mentions of cheating, love triangles (reader x Rooster, Jake x Rooster's wife)

[impala-dreamer]

Oh, man, am I writing some relationship angst for @jacklesversebingo . Hoooo boy...

[ittybluebell]

Matt Murdock and Borrowers

i can only speak for the show specifically because i haven't read the comics, but engrained in daredevil's story is commentary about the effects of capitalism, power, and greed on the lower class. matt tries to combat this through the law, but even he knows the law is flawed and favours the rich and powerful. matt needs to help people - that's just how he is. the nelson & murdock office was literally going under due to matt, karen, and foggy taking payments in other forms besides monetarily (baked goods, for example) because they know the people who NEED help often can't afford it. all three of them are bleeding hearts who understand injustice and fight it day and night

with that in mind, how does it influence matt's interactions with borrowers? specifically with goldfinch, the protagonist of my daredevil g/t concept

matt knows that goldfinch is taking things. cloth and other little objects are going missing, but most notable is the food. they're taking necessities to survive. he recognizes that this is someone in need, someone who matt can help without putting on a suit, whether it be armoured or a two-piece. he leaves crumbs by the entrances frequented by finch. he pretends he doesn't notice their little heists, which leads to them becoming outrageously overconfident and quite literally stealing (*cough*borrowing) under his nose. he's shocked and impressed by finch's lack of fear (or perhaps a lack of self-preservation), but also amused at how much they're underestimating him

underneath the genuine saviour complex, matt is fascinated by their existence. he's so curious to know more. and can you blame the guy? a tiny person just four-inches-tall. how? where did they come from? he has a mini faith crisis, but that gets pushed down to unpack later (never, if he can help it)

matt empathizes with finch. living in a world not designed for you is a struggle he knows very well. 'super-senses' this and that, yada-yada - doesn't change the fact that he is blind. he can't read visual language or pictures; he can't see lights or colours; he struggles to operate technology and touch-screens are only getting more prevalent. if he isn't disregarded or patronized, he's infantilized. and matt is determined not to belittle finch. they may be small, smaller than his hand, but they're not helpless

MORE UNDER THE CUT!!

that said, it definitely takes a learning curve: he's protective over this tiny person. it's a big world, and they could be easily hurt. he doesn't intervene when they're climbing furniture and shit because, hey, he does parkour nightly. who's he to stop them? they have it handled. but when finch starts leaving the apartment and being out in the streets? hoooo boy. goldfinch can be cocky and reckless, especially in dangerous situations (matt's begging them to value their life a bit more and finch is just astounded at his lack of self-awareness), and matt so badly wants to put them in a little pouch where they'll be safe (he won't; they made an agreement)

don't even get me started on when frank finds out about goldfinch. dear god. matt wants castle nowhere near them

when the other defenders discover finch exists, matt is wary (more than finch, funnily enough). he didn't want them to know. these people are fighters (pot, kettle) with super strength: borrowers are extremely breakable and more people knowing increases the risk of finch getting hurt (also increases their protection, little does he know). luke is his gentlemanly self, giving finch space and genuinely interested in them as a person, but danny has trouble with boundaries and can be a little much (finch stabs him. he learns). they're both very careful. beyond the surprise, jessica is her indifferent (read: depressed) self. she's kind of unsettled, actually, and doesn't want to go anywhere near finch. this could be for a multitude of reasons (angst, uncanniness of a tiny person, etc) but all finch cares about is one less bean crowding them. holy shit, they thought one was bad...

more on foggy, karen, claire, colleen, misty, and frank with goldfinch in the future :3 i'm gettin the whole gang together bc defenders' group dynamics are my playground and i simply must have g/t interactions with them

matt keeps goldfinch a secret. of course he does - secrets are his jam. after meeting finch and learning about tiny people, he starts discerning smaller voices that he thought were merely distant; noticing little movements he mistook for rodents. one night he's out daredevil'ing, he rescues a borrower from a raccoon and that borrower tells others that the human vigilante with horns saved them. matt hears birds flying closer than ever, following him; perched like they're observing him. little voices whispering about the devil. word travels fast through the borrower network and borrowers in the area start to panic. finch has to run interference and reconnect with the community they left behind before this panic gets out of hand

matt keeps an ear out for borrowers like any citizen who might need help. finch acts as an advocate to vouch on his behalf because a big, scary human looking straight out of a nightmare isn't the greatest impression on borrower-kind. they're working on it

this went in a different direction than i originally planned. i swear i was going to write about the parallels of borrowers with the growing endemic of houselessness and poverty related to increased 'crime', and matt murdock struggling to uphold the law while also knowing the law fails and persecutes so many disadvantaged people, but i got carried away with interpersonal relationships. i'm actually so intrigued by borrowers being a critique of ableism, classism, and capitalism

[yukidragon]

What would Ian do if he got MC pregnant and the person he cheated on MC pregnant as well? How would Shaun and Jack react to the news?

Oh dear. If Ian got MC pregnant then got his affair partner pregnant immediately afterwards... hoooo boy would that cause a lot of angst.

A lot of this would depend on how MC reacts. Would the MC abort the pregnancy or keep it? The same question applies to the affair partner. Not to mention, did he know MC was pregnant when he cheated?

Man, it would be super scummy if Ian had an affair even while knowing he got his partner pregnant. Then again the pregnancy might make him panic about his life spiraling out of control and spur him into making the dumb decision of cheating - one last hurrah to sew his wild oats before he gets married and has children.

After all, Ian can’t let his child be a bastard, can he? That would be even more sinful than having sex before marriage... though cheating would definitely be worse, which would kick him in the ass afterwards even before learning he knocked up his affair partner.

Then Ian finds out he has two babies on the way... and that would just make things even worse. He can’t marry both of them. Even if technically multiple wives are allowed, it’s not like he actually loves the affair partner. Everything has just spiraled further and further out of control.

Hell, knowing he knocked up MC might make Ian decide not to go to that fancy college. It doesn’t mean he won’t necessarily still cheat, but still...

I doubt Shaun’s reaction would be that much different than in canon - he’ll be there for MC and comfort them as best he can. If they decide to keep the baby, he’ll be there to support them as a single parent, maybe even joke he’ll help them wring Ian for a shit ton of alimony.

With Jack... he enters the picture later, way after this news has broken out. If MC kept the baby, he would’ve met them when they were pregnant or while the baby was living with them. If the MC aborted, then he would no doubt just be supportive as best he can and try to get them to forget about Ian.

Overall though, I doubt the presence of a baby that Ian fathered would change much as far as Jack is concerned. If anything, he would readily help MC take care of the baby and show that he can be a good daddy. It’ll be more reason for MC to depend on them.

How MC reacts, again, would depend on the MC. How Alice would react...

Well, it would certainly be different than how it’s going to be depicted in Sunshine in Hell, that’s for sure.

If Alice got pregnant despite their use of birth control, she would panic. This wasn’t planned. She wants kids, a number of them, but she wanted them later, when she was ready for them not while she’s still in college trying to figure out what to do with her life! How could their birth control fail like this? Isn’t it supposed to be a 1% chance or something? How is their luck so awful!?

Alice wouldn’t be able to even consider abortion though. She’s pro choice, but her own choice would be keeping the baby. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she chose otherwise.

The date of conception was the night before Ian left for the new school. Alice learns about it weeks later when symptoms start to show.

Alice at least can reassure herself because she’s having Ian’s baby and she knows he’ll take care of her. They talked about having kids someday and, well, someday just came sooner, that’s all. They can handle this.

Right?

At the same time, what if this gets in the way of Ian’s career? He got into his dream school after so much hard work. Alice is mired between career paths, not sure where to go... but she could be a housewife, maybe work from home when things settle? Her mom is a housewife and her family is great, so it should work out, hopefully?

Holy shit how is Alice going to tell her family she’s pregnant? How is she going to tell Ian? This isn’t something to say over text! Not even over phone! It has to be in person, but she can’t afford to fly after him, and asking Ian to fly home to see her when it’s not a break practically screams something is wrong. He’s going to feel even worse than she does!

Alice tries to subtly convince Ian to fly home on a weekend to see her, even if it’s inconvenient, but it falls through. It leaves them both feeling sad... and unfortunately Ian is cheered up by a fling.

It’s when Ian confesses to Alice what he did, it all comes crashing down around her. She snaps from everything hitting her all at once and screams into the phone.

“How could you do this to us?!”

“I-I know, but Alice p-please, I’m so-”

“I’m pregnant with your baby, you bastard! And you fucking cheat on me?! I thought you loved me! I thought you wanted to marry me someday! I thought we were going to be happy!”

“Wha... wait, you’re what?!”

“I’m pregnant!” Alice shrieks, repeating it a number of times while in hysterics as tears stream down her cheeks. “I wanted to tell you when you came home tonight, but you fucking had that fucking ‘party’ you fucking just couldn’t say no to, right? I can’t believe fucking cheating on me was more important than learning you’re going to be a father!”

“I’m... I’m going to be a... a... Shit, Alice, I’m so sorry! So sorry! I can’t even tell you how sorry I am!”

“You’re always sorry, Ian.”

“Wait, Alice, please just listen. I lov-”

Beep.

In the regular canon, Alice still snaps, but in a different way... one that involves a lot of booze and damage. She’s not going to drink while she’s pregnant though. She has to wallow in misery while sober, though she will call Shaun to cry onto his shoulder.

This would be the first time Shaun hears about the pregnancy, along with Ian’s cheating. Alice didn’t tell him or anyone else, wanting Ian to be the first to know. It’s shocking, but he’s more worried about Alice’s heartbreak... and how she’s going to deal with the aftermath.

Ian is even more determined to reach Alice and make amends. There’s even more messages, more desperation to hear that she and their baby are okay.

And Ian is terrified of what’s going to happen when his mom finds out that she’s going to be a grandmother.

With a baby coming, Alice can’t afford to move out, not to the dingy place she would have if it was just her on her own. Her options are to stay in this place where Ian is paying half (or more) of the rent, which has more space... or move back to her family home.

Ian is spurred to come home for a visit to talk to Alice face to face about the baby and what they’re going to do, but it’s a hard visit. There’s so much pain there, and she’s visibly pregnant by this point.

What makes it worse is that Ian drops down on one knee and proposes right there so that their baby won’t be born out of wedlock, and he can take responsibility for the baby, Alice, and what he did. He even bought a ring to show how serious he is. He’ll make it right, he promises.

It causes Alice to have a breakdown. She had dreamed of Ian proposing to her someday, something sweet, intimate, and romantic, not then desperate mess born from so many mistakes. She winds up having to go to urgent care due to how hard the stress is on her body.

For the sake of Alice and the baby, Ian leaves, though he does promise he’s not giving up on them.

After that, Alice moves back to her family home for the sake of her health and the baby, if only until she gives birth and gets back on her feet. Ian tells her (via message) that she can come back to their apartment whenever she’s ready, or he’ll get them their own place, a bigger place. He just needs to secure a lucrative career first, and for that he needs to make connections and graduate from his fancy college.

The whole thing is a mess. It’s made even worse when the affair partner tells Ian that they’re pregnant. There’s a whole new set of panic and upset. How could that happen? The two of them only had sex once and they used protection!

Then again, Ian and Alice used protection, and she’s definitely pregnant...

Ian insists on a paternity test before anything else, praying that it’s wrong. The biggest mistake of his life can’t get any bigger. It just can’t.

Ian doesn’t tell Alice about the potential affair baby... not when he already stressed her out enough that it put her and their baby at risk. If the test turns back positive then... then they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it, but if it turns out to be false, he doesn’t want to worry Alice for nothing... not when he’s given her so much pain already.

Alice still hears second-hand about the pregnancy. If the affair partner was vindictive and manipulative person, they could even get in contact with her just to let her know they’re pregnant with Ian’s child and to just give up on him and leave him to them.

It certainly makes things harder on Alice. She wanted to give Ian a second chance for their baby, somehow make things work when the hurt is less... but this just makes it clear that there is no hope for them. It’s hard to even want to imagine Ian around her baby.

Her baby. Alice thought of the baby as their baby until Ian cheated on her, but now it’s her baby. No matter what, she’s going to defend her baby from anyone that tries to cause them pain.

Ian wants to be there for his baby. He flies back when Alice gives birth. He does get to see their baby, but it’s brief. He keeps apologizing, and she just can’t handle it after the stress of giving birth. She can’t handle his sickly sweet nostalgia and constant apologizing and reminders that he loves her even though he made a mistake.

At the same time, Alice can’t prevent Ian from seeing her baby since he has a right to see them. It makes for a very stressful dynamic between them, and Ian takes advantage of it to try and make amends with her so they can get back together even though he still has to finish school.

When the affair partner’s baby is born and the paternity results come back, Alice is pretty numb to the news that Ian tearfully confesses over a message and so, so many apologies. It ceases to matter anymore.

There’s too much pain for them to come back from this... Alice knows this... but Ian will never accept that.

Despite everything, Alice loves her child to pieces. She throws all the love that she once directed at Ian to the baby and tries her best not to think about him at all... or that she depends on his alimony to take care of her precious baby. It helps that her baby looks so much like her, even inheriting her albinism.

Jack enters the picture while Alice is watching the tape with her baby sometime after things have settled down. A kids TV show with colorful clowns is perfect for her baby.

Because they watched the tape at the same time, Alice and the baby both can see Jack and are connected to him. He loves them both right away, and he is more than willing and eager to be the father of his sunshine’s child.

Jack just has to gently warm Alice up to the idea first... and deal with obstacles as they come, especially if they’re a cheating baby daddy trying to weasel his way back into their life.

Don’t worry though, no doubt Jack will be able to help the three of them to be a happy family... and maybe he and Alice can give their little sunbeam another sibling or two eventually. Won’t that be nice?

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars

[underlocker]

i have only the most vague ideas of the soul-shattering angst currently unfolding but uhhhhh hoooo boy i have been there and done that wayyyy too many times now i've got a 10-foot pole shined and brandished for THIS VERY OCCASION

[p2ii]

17 for spg or maybe even 2 ,,,,,

Idk man, hello

hellooo o/!!!

17. There should be more of this type of fic/art honestly super angst fics about the bots and the war(s)™ are a guilty pleasure of mine, and just general peter walt I era walter robotics. But most of were written pre zer0 (and kinda hatchworth) so there's not many that feature all the bots, just The Spine, Rabbit, and The Jon :(. Also there's a surprising amount of spine-wanting-to-be-human angst fics (which I never personally got? for him? but to each their own ig) but NONE for The Jon, who iirc was the one who's character biography hinted at him wanting to be a "real boy". more jon cetric fics i love him sm.

as for fanart my only complaint is @ myself and all my unfinished wips lol

2 under cut for nsfw//

2.A compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

hoooo boy. this had me red-faced the whole way home I tell you. if I was pushed to choose a fav it would probably be the spine, but with the bots in general I don't really see their sexual experiences as being the same as humans, in terms of like, genitals and erogenous zones n stuff (if you've seen @/boneinators sexpg posts tho… yea). but if I were to swap top/bottom for Dom/sub or smth… 👁️👁️. sub!spine cause he's got that pathetic boy swag (and I am a useless homosexual for him) I can't come up w an argument it's just pure self indulgence.

[tuhbanbuv]

Hoooo boy. Thought I’d do a comic or two in between writing for Ode to Ouroboros for a break from the angst. This time it’s how the whole Light bots gang find out and react to Jazz aka the ProtoQuake fan kid I made a while back.

Angst or fluff it’s never a calm day in that house.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi steph! I've been a long time follower from another tumblr but i havent been on that account for months. that said, today after all my uni finals finally ended i decided to look this lovely page up, because you were/ still are a source of infinite comfort and johnlock fic recs that are just amazing <3 i missed you guys, and I'm glad to see you are doing this still, steph, it's so admirable and I hope you're doing well ❤️ i also write fics, and i randomly thought I'd search a tag of a fic of mine and i was hella surprised to see someone recommend it?? like?? WHAT???? the nonny was so adorable and like 🥺🥺🥺 it makes me feel things and i was surprised people receive it so well 🥺🥺 it's reichenbach falls, my gigantic superwholock fic, and I just want whoever reads it to know that i am alive, just was busy with a job and university, but!!!! i am still working on it! i am not ever abandoning it, i just need to gather up some strength for the next 200 chapters, because hoooo BOY will the story get even more exciting and probably well iver 1mil words :) so yeah, i got emotional today from the fact that you're still here, being lovely and helping (and hopefully you're good too) and from a cute nonny who took the time to read my giant project 🥺 the last 2 chapters of s1 are coming this month for sure, just as a teaser 🥺❤️ i love you guys!!!!!!!!

Hey Nonny!!

AHHHH This is such a beautiful message!! Sorry for taking so long to reply, I just wanted to make sure it got featured properly!! <3

Glad to see you return, and glad that your schooling went well!

AHH Vee!! Yes, a lot of people love your fic!! I get suggested it often for lots of tags, so yes, we're glad you're okay, and DON'T feel obligated to finish your story faster!! We all have personal lives!!

Thank you so much for the update on you, your life, and your fanfiction!! Have a FANTASTIC day!!!!!!

And if anyone wants to read the fic, it's this one:

Reichenbach Falls by VeeTheRee (M, 536,133+ w., 101/303 Ch. || WiP || Gravity Falls /  Multifandom AU || Alternate First Meeting, Gay Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Unilock, Summer Romance/Love, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Villain Mary, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Canadian John, French Canadian Lestrade, Insecure Sherlock, Mystery, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship Summer Love, Light Angst, BAMF! John, Case Fic) – Two Canadians, two Brits studying in Canada, and an upkeeper walk into a Mystery Shack…. and live there. Summer holidays are here, and the step-siblings, Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, find themselves in a boring town called Reichenbach Falls, Oregon, USA. It isn’t as boring as it seems, however, once Sherlock stumbles upon a mystery journal, and the author is unknown. The journal contains ciphers, a strange colour wheel, and information about magical creatures that are said to be looming in the Northwestern forests. With mysteries to solve in hand, he and Irene set out to get to the roots of the town, and the abrupt disappearance of the author of the journal. But they’re not alone - John Watson, quite the handsome nephew of the Mystery Shack owner Greg Lestrade, is on their side to help out, plus mess with Sherlock’s feelings, in a good way. Shenanigans, romance, fun, danger, and deductions ensue. Oh, and there’s also occasional SuperWhoLock and two dorky Winchester brothers to spark up the action later on. Part 1 of the Reichenbach Falls series

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Enjoy!!!! <3 <3

[fivewholeminutes]

hi! wanted to ask a few people this: since wembley is in 2 weeks, do you have any predictions on what might happen, or do you think sleep token will do anything special?

Hi Anon! Do I have some answers for you, hoooo boy. (jk, I know you've already been redirected to my post with predictions by the real mvps @moonchild-in-blue and @a-s-levynn, so you do have my answer and much, much more already <3)

Still, I've been meaning to make an Important Addition™ to that post and your ask is a great opportunity to do so, so thank you!

The addition is as follows: I hope the person who sets something on fire would be iii. He looks like he could use some arson. Someone hand him a flamethrower. You know, like the one cheerleader Gerard had? Cheerleader Gerard looked happy with a flamethrower, let iii experience the same kind of joy.

And I'll add my favorites from other people's predictions added to my post too:

new messages/lore! How could I not think of this one before! (Also this one is the most possible one imo);

first/last songs being TNDNBTG and Euclid. My fave was that they start with Euclid and end with TNDNBTG (oh the angst of going full circle. delicious);

new make-up variations!

the bane of @thevenomousseprent's and mine existence: the cloak will be ironed and tassels will be intact;

T E L O M E R E S;

TLYW dancers making a comeback!

I will also use the opportunity of this ask to say that I am going to the Wembley ritual, because I don't think I've told y'all that before?? The ticket sale happened way before this blog, so that's why.

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Congrats on 500 followers! It's well-earned and MUCH deserved!

So I have a song I'd love to see an Insta-Plot for, whichever character and or pairing you'd like:

I'm sure this IN NO WAY will lead to something angsty ;) Go on, let us have it!

Hello my dear friend and thank you so much! 🥰💙

Hoooo boy you know what angsty buttons to push and you picked a whopper…

Firstly, I have to acknowledge that the Polin/Bton base are hoping Take Me To Church is used as the 'dicking down in the carriage' song for Polin, and I agree it's great for that 😜 But that's due to its punchy bass and title. The actual lyrics of the song are PURE angst, and that is the playground you set me loose in. Remember...you asked for this.

I think this would be an excellent song to score Benedict's spiral into hopelessness as he searches for Sophie. The setting is regency AOFAG with some twists.

Anthony hasn't worshiped in a church since his father died. He doesn't know what kind of benevolent god would allow something like that to happen. So aside from the necessities for weddings and the like, he avoids churches. But when Benedict begins his post-masquerade quest for his Lady in Silver, he's willing to try anything...anything that may help him, and he starts visiting their local church nearly every day to pray that he finds her.

Over the course of two years, Benedict's frustrations grow and hope wanes. Even though he no longer fancies himself an artist, he is hopelessly painting image after image of the Lady in Silver. He's visiting brothels not to sleep with anyone but just to look for women who have the same hair. He's drinking himself to death. The family is growing concerned. One night Madame Delacroix finds him being an absolute mess at a party and she takes pity on him and asks him what's wrong. He tells her all about the masquerade and she reveals to him that she knows the woman - it was her friend Sophie Beckett. She worked as a maid for the Cowpers but disappeared the night of the masquerade.

Benedict has a new surge of hope. He doesn't care that Sophie's a maid, he needs to see her again. The next day he marches over to the Cowpers and asks if they know where Sophie went. Araminta doesn't actually know, but because she is vindictive and doesn't want anyone poking around in their business (namely that she and Lord Cowper stole Sophie's dowry), she lies to him and says Sophie died. Benedict is demolished. He goes home and tells Anthony how his search came to an end. He won't accept any comfort, it's as if he's lost his soul. He says a bunch of mournful and cryptic things so Anthony is on high alert.

The next morning when Benedict goes to the empty church at his typical time to 'pray for Sophie's soul', Anthony secretly follows behind to make sure he's alright. In the church Benedict has a complete breakdown, railing against god for all his unanswered prayers. Then he takes out a knife and goes to slit his wrists. Anthony runs in and stops him and Benedict crumples, sobbing into his brother's shoulder. He can't live without love. If he can't find Sophie in this world, he wants to look for her in the next one.

Anthony reminds him that he doesn't live without love. He has the love of his family and that is just as sacred. He confides to Benedict that the love of their family was the only thing that pulled him through the loss of their father. This reaches Benedict and he agrees to try and move forward. They keep the whole incident secret from the rest of the family and Anthony never leaves his brother's side for the next several weeks until he is satisfied Benedict can safely go out in the world again. Benedict gets an invitation to Phillip Cavender's party out in the country and Anthony encourages him to go - get out of London, get some fresh air and have fun. Benedict agrees. And we all know what fateful meeting will happen there…

I realized after I thought of this that it has Romeo and Juliet/Twilight: New Moon vibes. It's a classic for a reason I suppose 🤷‍♀️ Thank you for inviting me to dip a toe into some serious angst! Hopefully this isn't too traumatizing 😬💙

[sharksssm]

fanfic writers PLEASE kill your tav more hoooo boy i love angst but i am so bad at writing it