#i got nothing else to add in the tags for once. not surprising with how much I talked haha

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 4 :)

[mythicmanuscripts]

imagine aegon and reader. One evening he tries to surprise reader in the bedroom by waiting for her wearing a robes of heavy silk, that flow around him like water, a picture of unearthly beauty. i see him nervous, blushing, he has never worn things like that and doesnt know he reader will like it.

Thx xoxo

Alright lads buckle up we’re finally discussing feminisation with Aegon!!! Truly a match made in heaven.

NSFW sub!Aegon below the cut! Also, I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea so I’ll be tagging all feminisation content with ‘femboy hotd’ so block that tab if you’d rather not see this. Otherwise, venture beyond cut for my initial thoughts :))

Right so firstly, Aegon wants to be pretty. He has always wanted to be pretty. People have called him handsome, which is appreciated of course, but he wants to be pretty. He wants to feel pretty.

I think maybe he’s had a very expensive little collection of women’s clothes since before he even married you? He never told another soul about them of course. He especially never told the brothel workers he laid with because he knew they’d only let him wear those clothes as humiliation.

But then he marries you and you become closest ally and he falls in love? It all changes.

You make him feel pretty. You open the door for him and keep a hand around his waist and kiss his head and he feels so pretty and so…. So small? But in the best way possible, like he’s some beautiful precious thing that has to be handled with care.

Ever since you had started taking control in the bedroom, Aegon wanted to bring his pretty clothes into things but he was so so nervous about it. You’ve been nothing but loving and supporting of him and especially of his subby side so logically he knows that you’ll most likely be fine with. But that’s not a risk he’s willing to take.

He doesn’t know what he’ll be able to survive if you looked at him disgust when you found out. So he keeps it to himself, even though he wants to dress up for you so bad his chest aches with it.

Until one day when Aegon is laying on the his back naked in bed. You’re sitting between his legs and playing with him, alternating between playing with his cock and his and a combination of both. But while you’re doing this you’re also being so casual? You chat to Aegon, smiling at him and chatting like you haven’t just edged him for the 3rd time.

Without even thinking about it, you say “You’re so pretty.” He pauses for a moment, and then when he looks back at you he’s got this timid little smile on his face as he asks you to say it again.

From there you just have to continue talking about how pretty he is and how his job is to be your plaything and you’re so lucky to have him.

That interaction is what gives Aegon the courage to wear one of his pretty silk robes for you the next night. He makes sure he’s back at your quarters before you and ordered all the servants out, telling them that they working needed until the next morning and then quickly bathing and putting on his pretty coat with nothing else on. He’d love to add some shoes or pretty panties but he’s worried that might be too much.

Walking into our room and seeing Aegon sprawled out on the bed in a pretty silk may have genuinely taken years off your life.

He’s all shy and blushy until you promise him that he looks so good and you love it so much. You dom him with the robe still on and don’t even take it off to ride him.

Once he’s recovered and is cuddled up against your chest he asks if you’re sure you liked the robe. Which makes you give him a light smack on the back of his head.

For the next few weeks Aegon will occasionally wear his pretty clothes when you fuck him. Of course you make sure to call him pretty every time and kiss his forehead, the forehead kiss is required.

I also think maybe he starts to wearing them outside of sex too? Obviously he doesn’t walk around public like that but his chambers is a safe space where the only one who sees him like that is his darling wife.

[sagesolsticewrites]

Kiss Me Once

The moment you’ve been anxiously awaiting is finally here— your boyfriend Rosie Rosenthal finally arrives home.

(hi @hellfirequinnie @justheretoreadthxxs @ronsenthal @storysimp)

a/n: hugest of huge shoutouts to Winnie (@winniemaywebber) and Gina (@ginabaker1666) for letting me yell about this fic 24/7, not to mention darling Marina’s (@precious-little-scoundrel) spicy Rosie headcanons which played a huge part in the inspiration for this fic (as well as the future parts I have planned 👀) 💕

Warnings: mentions of death (brief mention of death of a parent, war deaths), mentions of sex, Rosie being a tease 👀, definite historical inaccuracies, if there’s anything else y’all would like me to tag, please let me know!

Word count: 3k

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal by the actors in the Apple TV+ series. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within.

Masterlist

You pace around the foyer of the Rosenthal apartment impatiently.

Your boyfriend, Robert, was coming home after several long years of war, and he was already ten minutes late.

He had insisted on meeting you all at the apartment instead of greeting him as he got off the train— something sweet about wanting to walk into his home and see you all there— but his train had gotten in on time, so where—

“Y/N, he’ll be here honey,” his mother says gently, exchanging a look with his sister from her place in the kitchen where she’s preparing a spread of Rosie’s favorite foods, “You know how the traffic is, especially today.”

“I know, I know,” you nod, your nervous pacing slowing the tiniest bit, “But he said—”

Your worries are interrupted by a knock on the door, and suddenly you’re frozen in place.

“Well? You gonna answer it?” his sister teases, gesturing at the door.

“But—” You glance between his family and the door, conflicted.

“He’s had enough of us fussing over him,” his mother pipes up, moving to stand next to her daughter, “We all know who he’s really here to see,” she adds with a teasing smile.

You glance down with a smile, trying to will the heat in your cheeks away before you move to finally fling the door open.

It truly doesn’t seem real, the sight that greets you as the door opens.

Robert stands there, dapper in his dress uniform, curls neat, hat tucked neatly under his arm.

He blinks in surprise, as if he wasn’t expecting you to be the one who opened the door, but the shock on his face is quickly replaced with a wide grin.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi,” you gasp as you’re pulled into his arms for a tight hug, burying your face in his neck as he presses a kiss to your temple.

“Missed you so much,” he murmurs softly in your ear before pulling away to take in your face, eyes scanning over your features as if to make sure everything was the same as he remembered.

You do the same, clocking one very noticeable change.

“What’s this?” You laugh, gesturing to your own top lip.

His fingers move self-consciously to the mustache that definitely wasn’t there when he left for flight school.

“Oh yeah, uh… remember I told you I started tryin’ to grow one back in training? Well… it turned into this,” He laughs, meeting your eyes anxiously, “What do you think?”

You rise up into your tiptoes to peck his lips, “I think you look very handsome, my love.”

His hand cups your cheek as you pull away, bringing you back in for a long, tender kiss. Your eyes flutter shut, savoring the feeling of his lips on yours after so long, but the rosy spell the two of you are under is quickly broken by his sister pointedly clearing her throat, ignoring her mother’s scolding look at her interruption.

“Wow, Rosie,” she teases as the two of you break apart, “it’s nice to see that you remembered we’re here too.”

“That’s the best welcome you’ve got for your big brother, Jeanie?” He rolls his eyes playfully, unable to hide his smile as he gives you one last squeeze and goes to greet his family.

“Hi, Ma,” he says, voice thick as he embraces his mother for the first time in far too long.

She clings to him in a long, fierce hug, and he returns it just as fiercely until his sister tackles him from the side.

Rosie lets out an oof, quickly adjusting so he has both of them in an embrace.

The four of you sit down for dinner, conversation flowing nonstop. Even with the frequent letters back and forth, Rosie still had plenty to tell you about his life in England, and his family still had plenty to catch him up on.

As his sister is rambling about work, his hand comes to rest on your knee. Still respectable, of course, but the warmth emanating from him makes it difficult to focus on anything else.

As the night continues, you nearly drop your fork into your mashed potatoes when his hand glides ever so slightly up your leg, slipping just underneath the hem of your skirt. He maintains a straight face, wide grin barely flickering as he teases his sister about the crush she inadvertently mentioned, all while his fingers remain indecently close to your core.

His mother is in the middle of filling him in on all the neighborhood gossip when your glass of water comes very close to slipping out of your hand. You catch it in time, mumbling an excuse about being oddly clumsy tonight, when all you can think about are the featherlight patterns Rosie is tracing on the inside of your thigh.

You shoot a glare at him when his mother and sister are distracted, which he meets with a smile, eyes sparkling with mirth, heat simmering just underneath.

Somehow you manage to fumble through the rest of dinner, contributing with simple nods or “mm hm”s as Rosie’s presence next to you overwhelms your mind. As the meal finishes— complete with a mouthwatering cherry pie— Rosie stands and begins gathering plates. You and his mother stand simultaneously to do the same.

“Ma, please sit down,” Rosie insists gently, “I got it.”

As she opens her mouth to protest, he simply shakes his head.

“It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do this, yeah? Let me help out. Please.”

Eyes softening at the mention of his being away for so long, she relents, and the two of you gather the remaining dishes.

Mrs. Rosenthal and her daughter move to the living room, soft jazz drifting through the apartment as they turn on the radio while you and Rosie work like a well-oiled machine washing and drying dishes. Er… mostly.

“Robbie!” You yelp as he splashes water up towards you, holding your rag up as a shield. You laugh, retaliating with a reckless swing of the still-damp dishrag.

What follows is a playful water fight where miraculously neither of you get too wet, but does end with you pinned between Rosie and the kitchen counter, his lips moving greedily against yours.

You let out a soft squeal as he pulls away briefly to scatter kisses all over your face and neck, mustache brushing against your skin.

“Robbie, that tickles!”

You can feel him grinning as his lips land on yours once more.

“I missed hearing you laugh.” he murmurs between kisses as his hands wander freely over your dress, “Missed you so, so much, honey.”

“I missed you, too,” you sigh as you reluctantly pull away for air, thumb stroking along his cheekbone as you take him in: mustache and all.

“When you re-enlisted, I—”

You take a breath, forcing back the sudden tears that threaten to spill over.

“I was so scared,” you admit softly, “So incredibly proud of you, of course, because I know that’s who you are: you don’t come home until the fight’s over. But so many people were getting those damn Western Union telegrams telling them that their sons or brothers or friends wouldn’t be coming home, and I couldn’t stand the thought of being one of them.” Your voice trembles, and you take a shaky breath in, pressing your forehead to his, “I couldn’t stand the thought of being without you.”

“Honey,” he says softly, nudging your noses together ever so gently so you meet his eyes, “I love you.”

Those words hang in the air for a heartbeat, words that you had only been able to read in his letters for the past two years, words that you hadn’t heard aloud in far, far too long.

“I love you,” he repeats softly, firmly, the words like an oath on his lips, “and I hated the thought of making you and Ma and Jeanie worry, but… but what I hated more was the thought of going back home when there was still so much evil out there. And the kids who were coming in to replace us… that’s it, they were just kids. I couldn’t leave in good conscience knowing that some teenager was gonna be taking my place in the sky and wasn’t gonna make it home because of me. I saw it happen too many times, and I couldn’t—”

He shakes his head, swallows, and meets your eyes again with a soft smile.

“But I’m home now. And I’m not leaving you anytime soon, yeah?”

He leans in for a tender kiss, one that has you melting down to your toes as he pulls you into his arms, swaying ever so slightly.

“Dance with me, honey? I know it’s no Minton’s,” he chuckles, “But it’ll do.”

He holds you close, twirling you around the kitchen with your head resting on his shoulder as Kitty Kallen’s voice drifts in from the living room, Rosie singing along softly in your ear.

Kiss me once, then kiss me twice

Then kiss me once again

It's been a long, long time

He always claimed that his ma and Jeanie got all the musical talent, but you loved to hear him sing in the rare moments you got to. You loved it even more in this moment because it meant that he was here. He was home. He was safe. And he was with you.

You stay wrapped in his arms for the duration of the song, and as it fades into the next one— Glen Miller’s crooning “At Last”— he whispers into your ear once more.

“What would you say,” he murmurs, warm breath fanning over your neck, “if I asked you to meet me in my room tonight?”

You pull back to meet his eyes, to make sure you understand his meaning. You see a slight nervousness there, tinged with longing, and just below that, a simmering heat that sparks an ember deep in your core.

The two of you had been, er… intimate before. Several times, actually (the fire escape outside his window that happened to also lead to your room in the apartment upstairs made for an excellent escape from both fires and nosy parents wondering what those noises were in the middle of the night), and each time had you seeing stars— sometimes literally if he felt like sneaking you up onto the roof with a blanket on one of the rare clear nights in New York— and longing for the next one. The letters you wrote alternated between sweet and rather scorching when you happened to be in a mood, each of you divulging your fantasies over the years you were apart, hoping to fulfill them when he came home in one piece.

“I’d say,” you murmur, “that I’d love to.”

That bright grin spreads across his face again, lighting him up from the inside out.

“Good,” he says softly, “because I wanna have a proper reunion with my girl.”

His hands slide down to rest low on your hips, pulling you that much closer as his lips seal over yours for a kiss that has butterflies swarming in your belly.

You lose yourself in the feeling of his hands on you, of his lips on yours, in the taste of him— even the utterly foreign (though not unpleasant) feeling of his mustache grazing against your skin has you wanting more, wanting to make up for the time you lost when he was an ocean away.

Something— maybe the crackle of the radio switching stations, maybe some small noise outside, maybe the remnants of the proper girl you should be— brings you back to reality all too soon, and suddenly you’re pulling away and looking up at him regretfully as you remind him:

“Your mother’s probably wondering what’s taking so long.”

He lets out a playful groan, barely heard over the radio as his head slumps onto your shoulder.

“You’re probably right,” he sighs, pressing a quick kiss to your temple as he begins fixing up his appearance; attempting to get his hair to lay flat from where your fingers had raked through it, wiping away your bright red lipstick smeared around his mouth, “Let’s go.”

Once you’ve reapplied your lipstick and made an attempt to fix your rumpled clothes and hair, he leads you back into the living room where his mother and sister are lounging in the armchairs next to the radio.

“Sorry, Ma,” he says, cheeky grin firmly back in place as the two of you settle on the loveseat nearby, “Had to squeeze in a dance with my girl.”

You bite back a squeak of surprise as his hand— out of sight of his mother and sister— drifts dangerously low on your hip to give you a playful squeeze, all while maintaining that trademark sparkling Rosenthal grin.

“You two are so sweet,” his mother coos, and you can’t help the shy smile creeping onto your face as you lean into Rosie.

Nor can you help the laugh you let out when you see Rosie sticking his tongue out at Jeanie, presumably in retaliation for the disgusted look on her face.

“Robert,” she scolds, “Be nice to your sister.”

“But Ma—”

“And Jeanette,” she turns to his sister with a rare use of her full name, “Your brother just came home, I won’t have you teasing him for wanting to spend time with Y/N.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but shuts it at her mother’s raised eyebrow.

“Sorry, Robert,” she grumbles stiltedly.

When his mother’s eyes flick to him, Rosie mumbles in the same stilted way.

“Sorry, Jeanie.”

“Thank you,” his mother says crisply, “Now— oh, honey, did I tell you…”

Mrs. Rosenthal somehow has even more neighborhood gossip to tell Rosie, and Jeanie has plenty of questions for her brother about life in England. He happily listens and regales them with stories, his animated way of speaking distracting his family from the way his hand rests on your thigh in plain sight. You should nudge him away, slip your hand into his, do something to make it look more innocent… but you don’t want him to stop tracing patterns onto your thigh over your dress, working his way up and down and back again in a way that makes it very difficult to focus on anything else.

He slips his hand away, a jolt of disappointment running through you at the lack of warmth, just in time for his mother to turn her attention to you.

“Y/N, sweetheart, I’m going to make some tea before we all head to bed, would you like some?”

You politely decline, as you have for the past nearly two years.

It was just you, your father, and your brother after your mother passed when you were four, and when they both enlisted after the Pearl Harbor attack, Mrs. Rosenthal was kind enough to let you, as her daughter's close friend and her son’s girlfriend, temporarily move into her guest room. They were currently somewhere on a boat in the Pacific, and though you were able to send letters back and forth, it was a sporadic way of communicating, and each day you prayed that they would come home safe like your Robbie had.

Jeanette busies herself with the book she had been reading, and Robbie takes the small moment you have for yourselves to pull you close and press a sweet kiss to your cheek, mindful of his sister in the room.

“What was that for?” You ask, grinning. It seems you haven’t stopped smiling since he walked in the door a few hours ago. 

“Just because,” he shrugs, a returning grin brightening his face, “I’m home, and I’m with my girl, and I can give her kisses anytime I want to.”

You don’t think it’s possible for your smile to grow any wider, but it does.

After pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, Rosie turns to his sister.

“Oh, Jeanie, I got you somethin’ while I was over there. Wanted to send it over, but I figured it’d be better if I gave it to you in person.”

He goes over to his pack and rummages around until he produces a small paperback.

“I found this in a bookshop when I was on one of my weekend passes, thought it seemed like something you’d like. Written by a woman, too, isn’t that something,” he says, handing her the copy of Green Dolphin Country, “Happy belated birthday, little sis. Hopefully this makes up a little for the ones I wasn’t here for.”

Oh goodness, your cheeks are starting to hurt, but you can’t stop smiling seeing Jeanie light up at the book. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Jeanie squeals, jumping up to squeeze her brother tight. He returns the hug fiercely, and your heart melts when you see him blinking back tears.

“I’m glad you like it,” he says, bright grin back in place as she pulls away to devour his gift, adding teasingly, “Y’know, I heard it ends with—”

“No spoilers!” Jeanie whines.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Rosie holds his hands up in surrender, “Just tell me how it ends, promise?”

His little sister beams up at him, looking much younger than her actual age of 22.

“Promise.”

Mrs. Rosenthal returns with a tray bearing three mugs of tea, and night winds down with tea and books and soft chatter as one by one you all retire to your separate rooms.

Rosie shoots you a wink, hand drifting dangerously low on your back as he escorts you to your room before heading for his own just across the hall, leaving a lingering kiss on your lips that has you pleading for time to move faster, for his mother and Jeanie to fall asleep quickly so you can meet him without fear of waking them.

You slip into your favorite nightgown— a thin, filmy thing, one Rosie hasn’t seen before— and begin watching the clock as the wait for your agreed meeting time of 12:30 begins.

[joelmillers-whore]

Hard Light | Chapter 1

summary: when a new english professor begins teaching your class for the duration of your semester, you can’t help but develop an innocent crush on him. he’s as off-limits as he can be, but that doesn’t deter you in the slightest. after a drunk night, you accidentally email him something that wasn’t intended to ever be seen by anyone. but that doesn’t matter. it triggers a misunderstanding that manifests into an affair with your professor who is twenty years your senior. nothing good could come of this, right? 

pairings: professor!joel x college student!reader

word count: 2.2K

series or one-shot

warnings: 18+ explicit, minors DNI, no mention of Y/N, alternate universe, professor/student relationship, eventual smut, self-esteem issues, workaholic, joel x female!reader, infatuation bordering on obsession (stay delulu friends), some sexual thoughts, masturbation (f), joel being a huge tease lol, (will add more tags as i write)

AN: i am so excited by the response that my joel one-shot got a few days ago and i’ve been itching to get something else out to you all. big, giant forehead kisses for those who want one, i love you all. so, anyway, a mini-series about professor joel is coming at you fast. i’ve written the first few chapters, so expect those in the near future. i’m thinking once a week? this fic is going to be something else and i’m so excited to share it with ya’ll. enjoy, and let me know what you think. find my ao3 here for more content and other fandoms.

You were running late for your shift at the coffee shop on campus, rummaging around your dresser, trying to find the low-cut black top you always wore when you had a shift. You weren’t usually one to feed into the peer pressure of those around you, but push came to shove when you found it nearly impossible to keep yourself afloat as a twenty-something student without the added extra tips from your part-time job.

So what if you had to show a little bit of cleavage? Right? There was no harm. Student loans were a bitch and on top of rent and food costs, you had to get a job at the coffee shop and balance a full course load just to make ends meet. 

A thought popped into your head and you rushed to your laptop, throwing it open as you checked the time; 5:45 AM. If you busted out your lightning-fast typing skills, you would have enough time to catch the next bus and make it to campus with five minutes to spare. If only your crappy second-hand computer would work.

The thing honestly sounded like a chopper engine, getting ready for lift-off. You were surprised you’d gotten this far with it. Not that you weren’t appreciative, your older brother had passed it down and it had relieved a huge weight—  and expense off of your shoulders. 

You tabbed into your school portal, typing in your credentials and selecting your English course. You sighed heavily, as you skimmed over the assignment for this week, something to do with a sonnet that you couldn’t care less about. You loved school but ever since becoming an English major, the spark that you once had for literature sort of just evaporated.

You couldn’t tell if it was because of how busy you were with everything else that you just couldn’t find the time to enjoy it, or the thought that really scared you, you had fallen out of love with it. 

It had been two years of go, go, go and you were, for lack of a better word, burnt out. You’d tried dropping courses last semester, thinking that you just needed a little bit of ease when it came to your course load, but when that didn’t solve the problem and only made things worse for you, you spent the last two semesters trying to catch up and get yourself to a place where you could finally breathe.

But it wasn’t easy. You were only now caught up to where you had been, the illusion that you were someone who could afford to take time off and slow down was a distant memory. 

In bold letters, the words Paid Internship jumped off of the screen. You smiled as you leaned in closer to the screen, making sure you read through everything correctly. This was the break above the surface that you needed, the reprieve that you had been chasing. A paid internship was exactly how you’d be able to make more money and maybe have a little breathing room before you worked yourself into an early grave.

You clicked the mail icon at the top and clicked into a new email, deciding that the worst-case scenario was that you wouldn’t get the internship. All you were doing was inquiring about the application process. Best-case scenario; you’d get it and make some extra pocket money. 

You saw the time, cursing under your breath as you slammed the laptop closed, grabbed your phone out of the charger and ran out of the door. You couldn’t be late, not again. You texted your co-worker Jeremy to open the shop without you and explained to him that you were running a few minutes late, as you barely made it to the bus. You climbed on board, scanned your student pass and found a seat near the back. Your chest was burning from the rush of trying to make it on time, but you could breathe easy now.

You checked your messages mindlessly, scrolling through a bunch of unread ones that you didn’t have the heart to answer. 

Before you knew it, the familiar monuments and buildings of UT Austin came into view, and the subtle change of scenery from downtown to a more densely packed area made your heart skip a beat. It was the same each time you were back on campus. Which, these days, was often. Sliding out of the seat, you made your way to the front, thanking the driver as the bus came to a complete stop. 

The coffee shop was only a short walk from the bus stop but even still you quickened your pace. You didn't want to leave Jeremy alone for long, you already felt bad enough about letting him open by himself. You stifled a yawn as you pushed open the door to the small cafe, leaning your body into the door, slightly cringing at the shrill sound of the bell. 

"There you are", a male voice called, making your head snap up. You wiggled your nose, the familiar timbre of your ex-boyfriend's voice ringing in your ears. "It's about time you got your ass down here". 

You snickered, shrugging your heavy bag off of your shoulder, and dropping it behind the counter, turning around and greeting him with an unamused smirk.

Jeremy and you had gone out for a few months last year, it was your first and, as of right now, the only short-term relationship that you'd had in college. 

Dating your co-worker, even in a relatively small place like the coffee shop on campus, almost always spelled trouble, but Jeremy was not the type to hold something like a failed relationship over your head. He understood that school was a priority for you and making a living for yourself came first, even above something like a relationship. It might not be the healthiest way to live, but it was how it always was. 

Jeremy and you had developed a fast friendship, one that went beyond the romantic relationship that you'd had last year. You parted amicably and now, you had someone you could confide in, someone you could trust. 

"Why don't you say that to my face?", you teased, raising a brow at him over the milk frother you were setting up. 

Jeremy threw his rag down and stalked over to you. "You're snippy this morning", he chided. 

You banged into his shoulder playfully, "Doesn't help that I have to see your ugly mug first thing in the morning". 

You snorted out a laugh and Jeremy looked at you, feigning defensiveness, "Ouch", he paused, returning back to his post near the coffee machine, "Remind me how we ever went out?". 

You scrunched your nose and threw your rag at Jeremy, hitting him square in the face with it, "That was rude". 

He shrugged his shoulder, "You started it".  

You both devolved into a fit of giggles and fell into a comfortable silence, setting up and getting the coffee shop ready for the day. You had a half-day shift to look forward to and then you had class until the late afternoon. The days were long and the nights were longer.

You usually found yourself nose-deep in your textbooks, more often than not, or some classic novel that was required for class, not moving from the couch until your eyes were red and you were seeing double. 

Only then did you retire to sleep, crashing hard until you had to wake up and do it all again the next day. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The coffee shop had been bustling with people since six in the morning, and at one in the afternoon, it hadn't let up, only now you had to go to class. Waving Jeremy goodbye, you sidestepped Tara, the fourth-year who was covering the rest of the afternoon and closing shift. 

You'd crossed the far side of campus, passing by the science building and one of the massive libraries that had acted like a second home to you back when you’d been studying for exams when you were a freshman. You could thank your obnoxious roommates for that one. 

Entering the lecture hall, bodies pressed into you as you weaved through the growing crowd, trying to find a spot in the middle where you could see and hear your English professor. But also blend in with the masses. As if the universe had other plans in mind, and everyone suddenly showed up to the Tuesday lecture all at the same time, you found yourself picking a seat near the front, an exasperated groan leaving you. 

You hated sitting at the front, not because you didn't want to get called on to answer something or because you didn't know the answers, but because you did. You wanted to get through your four years as quickly and unscathed as possible and if people knew, mainly professors, that you knew more about the subject matter than you needed to, you'd surely get called on more often, making you stick out in ways you didn't want. 

It was a terrible curse, going through life with the self-esteem that you did. But it was how you were raised. Blend in. Don't be too loud. Be quiet and only observe. Nerves rapped at your insides when you thought about getting called on when class started. Your heart rate ticked up and you found that your hands were beginning to get clammy, your throat constricting with each breath.

You rubbed your hands up and down your thighs, grounding yourself with the sensation of the material. 

With a jump, you sat up straighter in your seat, being jostled from your thoughts by a loud slam. You snapped your head toward the entrance, eying the person who had startled everyone. It was a man carrying a briefcase.

Your lips tilted up at the edges, amusement tickling you when you thought of anyone using a briefcase nowadays. But here this man was, head down as he made his way to the front of the room, toward the desk. 

You couldn't help keeping your eyes trained on him. On how his slacks tightened around his butt, moulding to the shape and curve of it. You bit your bottom lip out of reflex, your eyes dragging down the length of the mystery man who had crashed your lecture. Maybe he was a TA? Your brows furrowed when you thought about how your professor was nowhere in sight. 

The man with the briefcase placed his case on the desk, turning to face the audience of students who blinked back at him, who now settled down enough to hear him speak. Air caught in your throat when his eyes flicked momentarily to you, and lingered on you for half a second longer than you'd expected. He had massive, warm brown eyes, and soft wrinkles that danced at the edges of his eyes when he smiled, making him seem more boyish than he appeared.

He looked older than a TA would but then again, who were you to judge someone's position in life? You thought that his age did nothing to undermine just how attractive he was, if anything it added to it.  

The man, who may or may not have been moonlighting as your English TA cleared his throat, nodding his head, "My name is Joel, well, Professor Miller to most, but 've always been a little bit more informal than my peers". 

He began to circle the wooden desk nervously, his large hand finding the edge of it and stroking it far more sensually than necessary. You flexed your fingers, gripping the arm of your seat to stabilize yourself. "So, you can call me Joel from here on out... since we'll be seeing more of each other from now on". 

Murmurs began to break out around the lecture hall, and confused and hushed whispers followed. 

Professor Miller— Joel, mumbled something incoherent, and you were unable to hear it from where you sat. He cleared his throat again, "Professor McCarthy has taken a leave of absence, so I'll be filling in for him for the remainder of the semester". 

You crossed your legs, feeling heat rise and a furious blush break out across your face, and shuffled in your seat, a loud creak emitted from it and you stilled, praying that the loud sound had only been heard by you and no one else. But when you lifted your gaze, Joel's eyes were already locked on you, blown and brimming with cautious inquiry. A touch of a smirk graced his lips. 

"And I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you, personally". His eyes were still on you, not ready to release you from their hold. 

His tongue darted out to wet his lips and you couldn't help but stare. You had every reason to look away from him, he was your professor and given the clear age difference, he was someone who was off limits. But when he didn't look away from you either, trapping you with his gaze, your face heated up, suddenly aware that he was purposely staring at you. 

You swallowed thickly, heart hammering as Joel's eyes finally drifted away from you and back to the faces of your classmates. He continued on with addressing the class, and you noticed that he avoided your eyes for the rest of the lecture. 

Only one thought rang through your mind as you tried and failed to focus back on the lecture. This was going to be one long semester. 

[supernatural-dreamer]

The Unnatural and Unexpected (Embry Call x Black! Reader) Pt. 3

A/N: Here we are! Part threee! Nothing much else to add except Enjoy! Like, comment and reblog. Please let me know if you'd like to be tagged in the next one :)

This is set during Eclipse around newborn battle. This is tailored for a African American/Black female reader specifically, however all are welcome to read..

~Lauren

*All gifs credited to original owner!*

—

Part 1

Part 2

Masterlist

—

Imagine being Embry’s imprint and tagging along with the wolves to their newborn training session. However, you’re always in for an unexpected surprise when you’re around Bella..

“Take your filthy hands off her.” You turned toward your imprinter, slowly, and began to walk toward him.

“Embry, let me explain. How much did you hear?” 

“Enough to know this bloodsucker thinks he has some claim to you. I knew something was going to happen the more you were around them!” His voice escalates, now beginning to echo through the forest.

Embry was never the type to really lose his temper. He was one of the most even natured members of the pack, so to see him like this was terrifying.

“She did not know, Embry. You have a right to be upset, but if you’re going to take your anger out on someone, take it out on me. I’m the one to blame.” Jasper rationalizes, as he steps in front of you slowly, never once taking his eyes off of the shifter about 10 feet away from him. For a moment, you forgot all about him.

He pushes you behind him as he continues, “Leave (Y/N) out of this and let’s talk about this rationally..” You flinch internally. Wrong button.

“We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for you! You don’t tell me what to do!” Leave it to Embry to still think clearly and make logical sense, even while pissed.  

And before you could blink, a slender, giant wolf sits directly in front of it, teeth bared and ready to pounce. Then, he charges–making a beeline straight for Jasper -with you still standing directly behind him.  

Oh, shit. 

Suddenly, the wind is being knocked out of you as you're pushed to the side. You feel yourself hit something hard before rolling down something else, you presume stairs, before coming to a stop. 

With half-lidded eyes, you can see both Embry, in shifter form, and Jasper duking it out in the Cullen's own backyard. You honestly couldn’t say a damn thing because what reaction did you expect to this situation? The only thing you could hope for was that they didn’t kill each other-or you.

You feel yourself gently being lifted to your feet by ice cold, dainty hands. After your vision begins to focus, you recognize your savior by their familiar long, blonde hair. 

“Are you alright, (Y/N)? Are you hurt?” Rosalie inquires, as she visually inspects you for injuries.

You notice the rest of the Cullen’s and the wolves, attempting to pull back each respective member of their clan and stop the fight. Watching this spectacle, pure adrenaline kicks in for you and you do the only thing your instincts tell you to:

Run.

“I gotta get out of here. Everything’s a mess!”

“Are you sure? I think Carlisle should take a-.”

“No. I got to go. I can’t stay here.” Something in your tone, this time, resonates with her and she drops her grip on you. 

Reluctantly, she nods in understanding. You return it, affirming her silent plea that you’ll let her know you’re alright. With that, you take off to the front of the house, heading for your car. Hopping in and starting the engine, you speed off–leaving the ensuing chaos behind you. At least, for now.

—-

After Rosalie loses sight of you, and hears the screech of your tires. Her patient demeanor she had with you drops entirely when she turns back toward the commotion.

If there was one thing she could not stand, afterlife or otherwise, is women being hurt because of men’s ego and shenanigans. She also grew to like you and, if nothing else, respected the fact that you did not let any of these supernatural men run circles around you–unlike Bella. 

“BREAK. IT. UP!” Channeling her rage, she speeds over toward the commotion barreling toward both her brother and the shifter, sending them flying in opposite directions like bowling pins.

  This sudden distraction gives her family and the pack the opening they need to pull their members back entirely, finally ending the brawl.

Esme sighed looking at her now destroyed back porch. What a mess.

–

The ride home was a blur to you. Not even the dash of the forest on Jasper’s back could compare, and that was saying something. About five minutes after you left, your phone starts buzzing constantly. Even when you walk in the door, it’s still buzzing. But after texting confirmation to Rosalie you toss it somewhere, ignoring it entirely. 

Thank goodness your parents were downstate at a conference and didn’t have to explain why you looked like who did it and why. Flipping on the light in your bathroom, you take stock of your physical appearance: Your usual put together hair was all over the place. Bloodshot eyes replaced your vibrant (y/e/c) ones. Your clothes had slight tears in them, barely concealing the long bruise and now bleeding cuts on your side, ending mid-back. Now the adrenaline is wearing off you started to feel EVERYTHING. 

You didn’t recognize who was staring back at you. 

Biting back tears, you start to pull out the rubbing alcohol and gauze from the first aid kit. Never in your life had you ever felt so out of control, so fragile, so vulnerable.

And you hated it.

 Maybe it was misplaced, but for right now you wanted no reminders of anything or anyone that made you feel the way you do right now. You couldn’t let anyone see you cry. You wouldn’t let anyone see you cry. 

At least that you could control. 

Hearing a knock at the door broke you from your concentration. Didn’t the unanswered phone calls for the whole day give them the hint: You didn’t want to see ANYONE right now. Whoever was at the door was going to get it. 

Carefully, you maneuver yourself downstairs to not irritate your cut even more.

“Didn’t I make it clear that I wanted to be alone? Why can’t you give me space?” Throwing open the door, the last person you expected to see stood there at your doorstep.

“Because it looks like you need stitches and I know you’re not going to a hospital.” 

“Emily?”

Tags: @fckwritersblock @zoexme

[mammalsofaction]

Cupid, Cupid Shot Me 5 Times in the Heart

Rating: T

Relationships: Heinz Doofenshmirtz/Perry the Platypus

Add tags: Hurt/Comfort, Divine Wrath, Divine Hubris, Roman Gods, Human Perry the Platypus, ASL, pining, idiot4idiot

A/N: Dedicated to @erizumon for being a sweet cheerleader, @adhdoofenshmirtz for the awesome prompt that I couldn't resist even if it took FOREVER, and @agentlizardofowca for putting up with me complaining about proofreading

---

Perry's at the point of his career–as the uncle of the Flynn-Fletcher twins, arch-nemesis of Dr Heinz Doofenshmirtz as well as the best agent Danville's OWCA had to offer–that he often thinks he's really seen everything.

Heinz, in this case, often and with joyful vindication, trumps the laws Quantum metaphysics nearly every day. Sometimes accidentally. His nemesis is the one who's taught him best the boundary between realities can often be as flimsy as a blue-print, and the difference between success and failure for even the most mad of ambitions may sometimes be luck, coffee and determination.

What he's trying to say, here: Perry keeps thinking Heinz can't really surprise him anymore, scheme wise. Today, he was proven wrong once again.

The trap snaps him up upon entry; Perry finds himself hanging by a tangle of ropes hanging from the ceiling. It pulls him into a pose that was a bit on the nose, considering the date. His left leg suspended and tied close to his back, leaving him partially horizontal, and forcibly arching his back, his arms stretched out into an archer's bow.

Cupid. Right. Valentine.

The first thing he notices was the behemoth of an inator; metal molded in hearts, chrome, scarlet and pink.

The second thing he notices is the raised platform in its heart, colored bone white and curved into a ribcage.

Say what you will about Heinz, but he would always stick to a theme.

"Always a pleasure to see you again, Agent P, " the man croons, stepping out of the shadows. His sneer is a poor facade over unrepentant, almost cruel glee. It made him look more evil than he truly was, and it ratchets his blood ever hotter. Perry chitters, but Heinz barely gives him a second glance.

"I'm sure you've been made aware of what day it is." Heinz drawls as he began to pace, shooting a scathing look past the bounds of his balcony. "Neither should you be surprised I've got a grudge or two to keep.

"You see, Perry the Platypus, as is the case for everything else, my love life has only ever been a neverending trail of heartbreak and misery. Middle school crushes, high school prom dates...I've even fallen out with the mother of my daughter, and we used to be pretty good friends in college! Nothing but a trail of failure and disappointment on both our halves...but mostly on mine.

"Recently, I have found myself fallen for this, ah, another candidate." Here, Perry notices another two things; one, the deliberate, albeit curious avoidant of pronouns, and on two, how the man pointedly avoiding his eye.

Both facts which contribute to a hopeful skip to his heart rate... completely inappropriate to his circumstances. This was not the time to be daydreaming.

(Nevermind that he had never had an indication of where Hein swung, in a sense, and how some implications were really opening things up for him.)

Heinz was still monologuing, naturally. "Which might even be a case more impossible than the last. I mean, we're ideologically opposed in most, if not all our moral grounds, and he's...God, he's too good for me, too much better looking. Way out of my league, it'll be like-like shooting for the moon, except I've already done that successfully multiple times, so-what's more impossible than the moon? Mars? Maybe a distant star of another solar system, maybe the Andromeda. I don't know, one of her fast moving moon systems. It doesn't matter. What I'm trying to say is," Heinz shakes his head, trying to focus. "It's impossible. He's impossible, I've got no chance, and I'm destined for another crash and burn not too far down the line, and being reminded of this stupid holiday makes it even worse, because I don't even know if he's-he's attracted to guys like that, or if he's even single! He could be out there on the arm of some...girlfriend or wife with three kids and I'd never know! Or maybe it would be more merciful if I didn't let myself know--but it doesn't matter," Heinz says vehemently, eyes closed and fists shaking like he's once again forcibly attempting to focus, while Perry wiggles in his trap with his heart in his throat thinking loudly that he had the kids, but not the wife, on account of being apparently and decisively gay and available, if that was at all relevant to certain interested parties.

Read the rest on Ao3

[honeybee-bard]

WIP Wednesday

Chapter 7 of this fic this WIP is from just got posted, check it out here! This WIP is from what will likely be chapter 12.

“Ugh, you’re such a romantic,” she scoffs, but her eyes are soft. “It’s nothing romantic,” you insist. “It’s just some blood, and…benefits.” She pauses for a moment, just staring at you. “Wynlana…what do you mean, it’s not romantic?” “I- it’s not! We’re just friends!” You sputter, and you feel your cheeks and the tips of your ears grow hot. “Oh, Wyn…gods, really? The two of you are the only ones who don’t realize you’re dating,” she says as if in awe. You nearly drop your tea. “We are not. It’s nothing like - I don’t think he even does that? He doesn’t strike me as the ‘committed relationship’ type. And we’ve got tadpoles in our brains! I can’t be dating with a tadpole in my brain!” You realize, as you hear yourself saying it, that your argument is tenuous at best. With how jealous he’d been of Gale, it probably would make sense that Astarion wouldn’t appreciate sharing. He hasn’t mentioned any past relationships, but it’s not as if he’d have the chance for them as a slave to Cazador, and he’s stated before how little he remembers of before he was turned. And as for the tadpole part, well… “Oh, you found a handbook for those carrying illithid tadpoles? You’ll have to let me borrow it sometime,” she hums, taking a long sip of her tea. “Look, Wyn, I know I don’t know Astarion as well as you do, but I don’t have to in order to tell you mean something to him. I don’t know what other things you know about him, so perhaps there’s something I’m missing. Perhaps you’re right, it's just - what did you call it, ‘blood and benefits’? But I think there’s something more to it, even if neither of you properly realize it. He doesn’t seek the rest of us out the way he does with you, and he’s certainly never spent evenings watching the sunset with any of us. Those are special things reserved for you.” The two of you sit in silence for a while, eating the porridge Gale made - still not great, but impressive considering how little he has to work with. You’re surprised to find it’s not an uncomfortable silence, though, and you suppose that might just be another pleasant part of friendship. Amicable silence. Shadowheart only speaks once more before you go. “I know I tease, but I really am happy for you, you know. Whatever it is between you and Astarion, I think it’s good for both of you. Just…try not to get your heart broken, alright?” You wish that you could tell her not to worry about it, that there’s no reason for your heart to break because there isn’t anything between you in the first place, but you’re starting to think that’s not the truth.

A heart-to-heart between two friends just before entering the shadow curse. Also, I've settled on the ship name "Starsong" for Wyn and Astarion, so any work involving the two of them will have that tag! I plan to go back and add it to previous posts as well so everything should be easy to find if you love these fools as much as I do.

I tag @bardic-inspo, @barbwillbrb, @netherese0rb, @drizztdohurtin, and @marlowethebard! No pressure of course, and as always anyone else is free to do it and tag me so I can see!

[sidekick-hero]

thanks to your tags now im imagining Steve just has an entire collection of shorts with various messages including "I'm sorry", "I'm still mad at you", and "It's your turn to do the dishes"

Hahaha I assume you're referring to this post?

I absolutely agree. I think it starts as a joke. Like, maybe even Eddie starts it when Steve comes home one day to find a pair of tiny black shorts on his side of the bed with "Good Boy" written in white letters on them and Eddie comes up behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, his groin pressed up against Steve's ass, murmuring hotly in his ear, "I know how much you like to hear it, so I got you a reminder that you're my good boy."

Next, it's Steve who surprises Eddie, who has been ignoring him all day in favor of planning his next campaign. So Steve walks past the couch where Eddie is sitting, hips swaying, before knocking one of Eddie's huge nerd books ("it's a monster manual, Steve") off the table. As Eddie looks up, clearly annoyed at being interrupted, Steve bends over to pick it up, his ass right in Eddie's line of sight. He's wearing nothing but tiny orange shorts with green letters that say "It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself". Steve is right - Eddie is going to suck it.

But then it also bleeds into less teasing territory. I can imagine Steve getting the "I'm sorry" first, because he doesn't know how else to bridge the newfound distance after their fight, the silence so oppressive that all words leave him before he can utter them. When Eddie gets off work, Steve is standing outside the record store, wearing a warm hoodie because it's November, and plain royal blue boxer shorts with white lettering that says "I'm" on the left thigh and "sorry" on the right. He's shivering in the cold and Eddie wraps him in a tight, warm hug, chuckles in his ear and kisses his cheek. "Me too, sweetheart. Let's get you home, yeah? I'll warm you up."

And so begins his collection. He adds "I'm still mad at you" when Eddie forgets his birthday and goes on a road trip with his band instead. Eddie makes it up to him, of course, and swears he'll never forget again. And he doesn't, because right on the outside of his left thumb, where the joint starts, he gets a tattoo with the date of Steve's birthday.

He also gets Steve a pair of underwear that says "It's your turn to do the dishes" and promises to do them whenever Steve wears them. It's a pink lace panty, and Steve wears it at least once a week. He really hates doing the dishes.

[gaysindistress]

As Good a Reason - four

pairing: Mob!Bucky Barnes x reader

summary: when Brock Rumlow picks a fight he can’t win with the White Wolf, he drags his Snake back. Six years after she ran away, Y/N Rumlow is faced with a choice to make; do as she’s told and kill the White Wolf or overtake her father instead because spite’s as good a reason to take his power?

warnings: cursing, violence, weapons

word count: 3k

A/N: Bucky gets darker the next few parts so I’m warning y’all now and no one gets surprised. I’ll add a ⚠️Dark!Mob!Bucky⚠️warning in the parings as well as the warnings.

three | series masterlist

Tag list: @cakesandtom @elizacusi-blog @unaxv @hidden-treasures21 @vonalyn

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on Google/Pinterest. The women in the banners are not how Y/N is supposed to look. They are merely for aesthetic purposes and Y/N is written vaguely enough for anyone to see themselves in her.

John is sewing up Victoria’s hand as she grimaces and swallows the entire bottle of Vodka in one gulp. Niklaus, on the other hand, is frantically pacing the room, wearing ruts into the floor. John tries to get him to stop or slow down even but he refuses. 

“We’re fucked, absolutely fucked,” he mummers under his breath. 

Victoria practically growls as John pulls at the stitches to tie them off before snapping at her brother, “Of course we are. We let that bastard take Y/N.”

John looks to Niklaus nervously and then back to Victoria. 

“Oh my god, what did you two idiots do?” “Nothing, we did nothing,” Niklaus snaps back at her. 

“No, you did something. Tell me or I’ll throw you both through the window.”

John spills almost instantly, “Klaus made a deal with him last year.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she shrieks. 

Niklaus rushes over to her and quickly puts his hand over her mouth to silence her, “Shut up for the love of god. I’ll tell you if you promise to not say anything. Brock is literally down the hall.”

She nods and he starts in with the tale of how he might have royally fucked up. 

About a year and half ago, Brock caught him and another man together and beat Niklaus to a pulp. He had been laid up in the hospital for weeks and needed routine visits afterward from the injuries he sustained. In addition to being beaten within an inch of his life, Brock had threatened to kill them if he ever caught them again. That had been the final nail in the coffin for Niklaus; after years of enduring the torture that his father put him and his siblings through, he made the decision to get rid of him once and for all.

The most natural choice was the White Wolf.

He was feared across the East Coast and was gaining power rapidly. He threatened Brock’s authority in New York and it made him nervous, sketchy, and scared. Niklaus arranged a meeting with Steve, his community liaison, and set the plan in motion however it all crumbled when Brock caught wind of a rat amongst his ranks. He had Niklaus and John execute too many innocent men and he even made a move on the White Wolf’s men. He’d murdered Tony Stark, one of the White Wolf’s close friends and advisors, setting forth a domino effect of violence. He retailed as one would and with Y/N being dragged back in, it complicated things. Niklaus tried to uncomplicate it and remove her from the equation with the planned ambush at the party but he never expected that she would willingly take the deal. Hoping that she was still the stubborn teen she had been, he’d hoped that the White Wolf would have to take her against her will and keep her locked away until it was all over with. 

“You are the biggest idiot I have ever met,” Victoria says with an equal amount of shock and annoyance, “Why didn’t tell me before? I could’ve helped you plan something better.”

“I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt if it all went south. I figured I could take the brunt of it while John got you to safety.”

Victoria scoffs, “So a suicide mission?”

“No.”

“Yes! You know him better than anyone. He will tear you apart limb by limb, sew you back up and do it again until he gets bored. And even then he’ll find a new way to entertain himself.”

John makes a disgruntled noise at all of her moving and says, “But if Brock’s dead, it’s all worth it.”

“No it isn’t John! You’ve been friends since birth practically and you’re seriously suggesting that him being dead is for the best? Klaus,” she pleads with her brother, “we have to find another way. Call him and find another way. Please, I can’t lose you.”

“There’s no other way. Either the White Wolf kills Brock before he can get to me or I try my hand at it and our father kills me.”

Her eyebrows furrow in pain and sadness as John finishes her hand. The moment he’s done she leaps up and wraps her arms around her brother.

Niklaus grips her back tightly ad if he’s afraid she’ll disappear into thin air and buries his face in her hair.

“You better hope Y/N figured out a better plan.”

He nods against her head.

“I love you, Klaus.”

“I love you too.”

Brock loves to incite fear in everyone around him whether that be with his voice or a violence. He craves to make all those in the same room as him fear for their lives if they so much as breathed wrong and that is especially true with his children. He lives to see the terror that lives in their eyes when they see him or how their bodies go rigid when he walks past them. He wants to see them shutter when he walks too close to them. He wants them to hold their breath until he leaves. He wants them and everyone else to walk on eggshells when he is around. He wants them to fear him in every sense of the word. 

Victoria’s small sniffles piss him off to no degree and he backhands her hard enough that she falls to the ground. Niklaus, ever the loyal son, only flinches at the sound of the impact and does nothing to help his sister. He knows that if he even so much as moved a muscle, he would be next. 

“Can someone please explain to me how the fuck you let that bastard take Y/N?” he growls at them as he rubs the bridge of his nose. 

Victoria climbs to her feet and with hit tears pooling in her eyes, she matches his anger, sneering back at him, “He knew we were going to be there. We didn’t stand a chance.”

“You had Y/N. You had every advantage I could’ve given you but somehow you two still fucked it up and killed her in the process.”

Niklaus risks his head and speaks, “She’s not dead. He took her hostage.”

Brock marches up to his son and grips his face in one bone crushing hand as he says, “That’s even worse. He can use her to get to me.”

“Y/N won’t give you up no matter how much she hates you. She wouldn’t risk Victoria and I getting hurt,” Niklaus scoffs and jerks his head away. 

In a flash, Brock whips out a pistol and pushes against his forehead, “You’re useless, you know that? I’ve done nothing but provide for you and give you everything you could ever want. Still you fuck up and prove to me that you’re only ever going to be a thorn in my side. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in you and Victoria.”

Victoria makes a startled gasp and lunges at her brother in efforts to push the gun away but John grabs her and holds one of his own to her temple. She whispers insults under her breath and curses him for being “a fucking traitor and a bastard.” Niklaus looks at her for guidance because he’s a loss for words. There’s nothing he could say that wouldn’t get someone hurt. She shakes her head as much as she can, urging him to not say anything. The one piece of information he can give their father to save them would end with Y/N’s head on a platter but it’s all he has to offer.

“Nik please,” she whispers with even more tears in her eyes. 

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Nik you always have a choice. Don’t do this please. Él la matará.”

He will kill her.

“Don’t speak that shit in my house,” Brock growls at her, “Try again and this time peak English.”

She pleads with her brother again in Spanish, earning another growl but with the gun against both of their heads, he has to do something. Giving away himself would ruin any chance at catching Brock off guard in the future so he goes the only thing he can.

Niklaus tears his eyes away and locks eyes with his father as he utters Y/N’s death sentence, “She made a deal with him; in exchange for our lives, she helps him kill you.”

“Is that so?” Brock asks, cocking his head in amusement before turning to look at Victoria, “I think I might have to send a message to that brat if that’s the case.” One shot. 

And a body drops. 

Steve chooses to grab Y/N by her hair this time, keeping his hand wrapped in her braid so that he has complete control of her. The White Wolf gives him a disapproving look but doesn’t say anything as they walk into a looming and dark house. Matching the exterior, the house is black and sleek with no hint of personality anywhere to be found. It looks very much like a house that a mob boss would buy to launder his money and she assumes that this is the case. 

“Stop gawking,” Steve tells her with a harsh tug of her hair and she hisses at the pain. The White Wolf looks back and motions for Steve to bring her forward. 

Taking her arm in his like a pretend gentleman, he explains that until Brock is dead, she will be staying with him. She’s not to leave and if she does, she needs to have explicit permission from him and a security detail will go with her. Steve smirks when her eyes flicker over to him, indicating that he will be the spearhead of that detail. The White Wolf saying her name brings her attention back to him and continues to explain that the house is hers, she has free reign as long as she stays within its walls. He stops them at a door at the end of a hallway, “This is my office…”

She interrupts him, “And it’s off limits. I know the drill.”

He smiles, looking her up and down while he wets his lips, “Smart girl.”

A part of her shutters in disgust but another…. 

“How much time do you need?”

“What?” she questions, searching his face for any hint of explanation. 

“It’s been six years since you left home so I’m assuming you need some time to figure out a plan. How much time do you need?” 

“You make it seem like I left on good terms,” she mumbles, shrinking under his intense gaze. 

He chuckles, “Sorry, RAN AWAY.”

She sighs and looks around her, “He’s living in one of his old properties so I already know how to get in and out. It really depends on how quickly you can get me what I need.”

“And that is?”

“How do you want it done?” He takes a moment to think about it as he pushes open his office door and leads her inside. Steve closes the door, locking just the two of them inside. The White Wolf pours both of them a glass of whiskey and hands one to her before taking a seat on a massive leather couch. However with him and his overwhelming presence on it, it looks child sized. He motions for her to sit in a chair across from him and she hestiants but he insists. 

“That’s up to you, little snake. You want him to suffer, right?” he asks as he takes a sip, wincing at the blissful feeling of the burn. 

“Don’t turn this on me,” she pauses, realizing that she only knows him by his alias,  “I don’t know your name.”

“My name?” “That’s what I just said.”

He narrows his eyes at her before giving her the answer she seeks, “James.”

“Don’t turn this on me, JAMES. It’s not about what I want, this is about your little fight with him,” she snarks at him, “The only reason why I’m involved is because of opportunity. You saw a chance to get back at him for whatever reason and preyed on me because of my past with him.”

James reclines in his seat, allowing himself to enjoy her anger and admire her in the process. 

“Did he tell you what this is all about?”

“No but I don’t exactly care either. All men have an ego the size of the sun and turn to violence when it gets bruised.”

He chokes on his drink at her appraisal but agrees nonetheless, “Fair enough. So what do you need?”

“I’ll need a Beretta M9A4 with a silencer, an M4, and a set of knives.”

“Strange list, anything else?”

“A getaway car and a driver.”

“I’ll have Sam do it.”

“Hm,” she stops him after taking a sip of her drink, “No, I don’t trust him.”

“I really don’t think trust should be something you’re worrying about right now.”

Y/N slips her heels off and draws her legs onto the chair with her, getting as comfortable as she can to level a bored look at him. James takes in her form as she’s curled into herself and he wets his lips with his tongue. 

“Who do you want then?” 

“Steve.”

A beat passes. 

“Or you.”

He questions her with a smirk as he slides through down into the leather couch. He’s lounging at this point, completely ignoring the fact they’re discussing murder. 

“Me?”

“I don’t trust any of your men and most certainly not you but you wouldn’t do anything to put me in harm’s way if you’re involved.”

His phone rings and he picks it up, eyes never leaving hers, “Hello?”

She can’t make out what the other person is saying but she can tell they’re frantic. James lets out an annoyed sigh and closes his eyes as his head hits the back of the couch, mumbling along as the person on the other side rambles on and on. His attention being off of her gives her the opportunity to really look at him. 

Eyes taking over him, Y/N takes in the way his midnight blue suit compliments his eyes and how his white shirt underneath is unbuttoned in an absurdly attractive manner. Just under his suit jacket is a hint of leather, a holster she assumes given what little she knows of him.  

“He’s not going to do anything and even if he did, I have people close by.”

The sheer dismissive tone brings her back to his face where she locks eyes with him. He must have lifted his head when she wasn’t looking and was most certainly watching her checking him out. She finishes the rest of her drink and sets the empty glass on the coffee table between them. 

“Încetează. Seriously calm down and use your brain, Klaus. He’s not going to do anything stupid. If he did, he would ruin any chance of survival he has. ”

She gives him a questioning look and he winks at her instead of explaining.

When he hangs up, she immediately jumps into her line of questions to which he explains that her brother has been working with him for some time now. 

“Klaus? As in my brother Niklaus? He’s helping you?”

“He came to me last year and asked if I would help him with… some business.”

“Why did you make a deal with me if you already had one with my brother?”

“It never hurts to have multiple options.”

She groans in frustration and rubs at her temples. Of course she would’ve been suckered into some farce of a deal by a shady businessman. The temptation to throw something at him becomes too strong and she hurls one of her heels at him. It misses and clatters to the ground behind him to which he chuckles at and gets to his feet. His shoes scuffle the floor as he pours himself another glass. Rather than sitting back in his original place, James rounds the coffee table and sits in front of her on it. 

“Brock would see it coming if I had Klaus do it regardless of how good your brother thinks he is. You, on the other hand,” he starts, pointing at her, “are the perfect option. He still has hope that you’ll find it in your heart to love daddy again so you still have a chance to gain his trust hence why I brought you here. Taking you away from him builds the tension, makes him sweat, makes him vulnerable and reckless. It puts him in the perfect position for me to release you back to him and boom my Rumlow problem is gone.”

“You still haven’t told me what he did.”

James leans forward so he’s invading her space, “It didn’t seem important a minute ago.”

Y/N matches him and leans forward too, “Well it is now. What did he do?”

“He killed a very good friend of mine.”

“You have friends?” She laughs at him and before she can stop him, he grips her braid again and pulls her off the chair and onto the ground before him. 

He yanks her towards him and whispers in her ear, “Learn when to stop, little snake. It’s unbecoming of you.” 

She glares him with all the hatred she feels for men like him but it flatters when his eyes flicker from hers to her lips parted due to the pain in her scalp.

"You look good on your knees for me," he lets spill out before releasing her.

She knows that he meant for it to come out but nonetheless she throws herself back as far as she can to get away from him. James, the flirty and seemingly harmless man is gone and in his place the White Wolf reemerges. He smirks at her desperate attempt to put space between them and winks at her again, this time making her body revolt at the gesture. Standing, he leaves the room without another word to her. 

Whatever safety and trust she hoped to gain tonight is gone the moment he closes that door. 

She’s alone. 

Completely and utterly alone.

[borninwinter81]

DIY budget cyber/industrial outfit - first time in public!

I made a couple of previous posts about this dress here and here, as well as the matching collar, and I thought it would be fun to show how I styled it when I wore it for the first time on Friday. Honestly I was a little concerned it would just look dumb, but when I tried it with the full makeup and shoes I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

Apologies for the abysmal photo quality, especially in the first image. I don't have a good camera and I wanted to try and show the full outfit. That blurred mirror selfie is the only head to toe picture I got.

I didn't mention in my other posts but in addition to making patches for the dress I also nipped in the seams so it fit me better (it was my size but kinda shapeless, and I wanted to give myself a waist). This is very easy to do with almost any dress, skirt or top, you just put the garment on inside out, pinch in the side seams so they fit the contours of your body (try and do this equally on both sides) and pin them together. Safety pins are best so you don't accidentally hurt yourself.

Take the garment off and draw a smooth line with tailors chalk connecting all the pins, then sew along that line, either with a machine or by hand. Turn right side out and try it on again. Provided you're happy with the fit, trim away the excess fabric. You may need to be careful if it's a fabric that could fray - I usually go over the seams again with a zig-zag machine stitch to try and minimise this. There are also products you can buy like fray-check. If in doubt, or there isn't much excess fabric you could just leave the seams untrimmed.

The length is a little out of my comfort zone so I wore gym shorts underneath to help myself feel less exposed and reduce the risk of flashing - I tend to do this with any dress or skirt that's above the knee anyway.

Continuing the budget theme, rather than buying any new accessories (again, cyber stuff is mega expensive) I looked through my wardrobe for items I already had that might work.

These goggles are not the usual kind of cyber goggles, but they matched everything else I was wearing. I was given them by a friend who was getting rid of them ages ago so they cost me nothing!

I really didn't feel like making and wearing cyberlox, so instead I just got some yellow hair elastics and did a ponytail.

I made these arm warmers about 12 years ago. You can probably tell that they began life as a pair of skinny jeans. To cut down on the amount of sewing I needed to do I used the existing hem and seams. After cutting them to a length I liked I did the pinch and pin thing to make them fit to my arm, and put in zips along the outer seam to make them easier to put on. As it turned out this wasn't necessary because the fabric is stretchy enough that I can pull them on and off. The zips add a nice bit of visual interest though.

I ripped a hole in each one for my thumb, and I had a pack of extra large hook-and-eyes, so I sewed the "eye" parts down them and added some old bootlaces. I've never been 100% happy with this decoration, but I haven't had any inspiration on how to change them in the last 12 years.

I wanted a necklace in addition to the collar, and couldn't think of anything more appropriate than this. I originally got it for a cosplay, Vasquez from Aliens, and with the big yellow industrial loader from the end of that movie which Ripley uses to fight the Queen alien... it seemed there was kind of a connection there.

I once met Jeanette Goldstein whilst dressed as Vasquez and told her she was my childhood hero and she signed these tags, but unfortunately most of the signature has come off when I was cleaning them.

Lastly, the boots. As with any goth outfit the footwear tend to be the most expensive, particularly if you want ridiculous platform heels like these.

When it comes to footwear, I really would not recommend any alternative brand names like Killstar, Koi or similar. They're often terrible quality, the heels will snap, the soles will peel off, zips will break. In my opinion the only decent specifically alternative shoe brand are New Rock (even they're lower quality than they used to be in the 90s) and although New Rock do make heels I wouldn't wear them often enough to justify spending £200 on a pair. I prefer flats the majority of the time!

The brand of these is Funtasma, and I believe they are intended for use by pole-dancers, meaning they're decent quality and will be up to a night of dancing in a club. I took a change of shoes along with me to put on at the end of the evening but they are surprisingly comfortable for the first few hours.

I got them about 15 years ago on sale, and at that time they were around £40. Not cheap but not super expensive either, and I've definitely got my money's worth out of them. I had them re-soled once with special toughened soles that have extra grip so they're safer to walk in, but that's it. One time I even did the 3 mile walk home at 2am in 6 inches of snow wearing these because I didn't want to wait hours for a taxi (an occasion where I did not take a change of shoes!)

So, not your standard cyber outfit, but one that gives my own spin on this look (which should be the goal with any fashion style - a guideline to create something unique, not a rulebook that you have to follow 100%) and was put together super cheaply. The only new things I bought were the dress, fabric to make the patches, and a pack of multicoloured hair elastics.

[awkwardgtace]

Is Indoors Really Safe?

heey for gt july day 5 we have caught I decided to continue the prompt I got from @da3dm the first part is here

I did also remember someone had said they'd hope I do more so I hope you don't mind the tag @skmayor

Again since I'm kinda new to actually taggin people i'll add again y'all are welcome to ask me to start tagging you in stuff <3 I am anxious and awkward so worry about the actual act of doing that usually

Alessia has been living with the humans for a month, but she's still not sure they're trustworthy...

Is Indoors Really Safe?

Alessia wasn’t sure she made the right choice to go back with a human. All her things had been brought along, he even gave her a different rope to use with her hook. He said he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t lose a memory of her parents. It was weird. This human was weird. She kind of liked how weird Vitus was.

Then there was his wife. That human had her anxious. They only met once, but the woman tried to grab her. If Vitus wasn’t there she had no idea what would have happened. She might have wound up just like her parents. Although… the woman apologized and gave her an entire human room to live in. She didn’t trust that one though, Dabria was to stay far away.

The youngest of the three had her the most on edge. Every time she saw him he looked angry. Vitus mentioned there had been some arguments before he found her. Something about a fight that the younger human wouldn’t explain. She could see the fatigue on the older man’s face when he talked. She heard the younger one arguing in his room sometimes. He sounded angry, he’d thrown something once when she spied on him. Alessia would be staying far away from Felix.

Other than the humans, the new home Vitus took her to was nice. He kept his word, giving her freedom. Apparently they did put her near one of those vent things. She didn’t fully understand, but it went all through the house. Dabria called it central air. Alessia thought that was a dumb name. Air was central to, well, everything. It was in the middle of every place ever. At least the stupid name gave her nice paths.

Vitus would bring food and sit in the room to talk to her. She didn’t trust it, but when he brought that red liquid she would sit in the open. He called it tomato soup, she didn’t know what tomatoes were but she liked soup. Her mom had made soup a few times when she was young, she called it mixed herb surprise. The surprise was usually some acorns.

She’d been thinking about her parents more since moving to the human house. The times they would tell her stories and play games. The food they ate and how often it was just herbs with nothing else. Humans had so much and these ones shared with her. Vitus didn’t let Dabria in the room and both hid her from Felix. Her parents would never believe it.

In reality she couldn’t believe it. There was a part of her that thought it was a lie. That she’d be better off on her own still. It could be possible for her to find some other borrowers in the world. She’d work on leaving those thoughts behind once she was confident in the humans. Once she’d seen what was hidden from her.

Vitus would spend time in a room that she couldn’t enter. The vents didn’t give her an opening and he kept the door shut at all times. It didn’t have room for her to sneak in over or under the door itself. A perfectly sealed place. She would find a way. It held the truth of these humans, the truth of what she’d walked into. A truth she had to learn.

Alessia came up with what she deemed a perfect plan. She hid in the vent on the floor a few feet from the room’s door. She waited for him to enter, he did every day around the same time. Her goal was to climb up to the top of the door and swing in once he opened it again later.. It was easy. She climbed trees all the time. Plus she hid from humans and animals all the time. At least it was going to be until steps that shouldn’t have been around knocked her from the bit she’d climbed towards the handle of the door.

Dabria wasn’t home and Felix wasn’t supposed to come to this floor. They said he always stayed on the lower one. It was a lie, she knew humans lied. Of course Vitus lied. Felix ran towards her, she wasn’t in place, she wasn’t hidden yet. She was lying on her back on the floor staring at the massive human. He was shorter than Vitus, but heavier. Would he be the human to kill her?

“How did you get here?” he hissed. Was it a hiss? The human’s voice was low, it could have been a whisper. The fingers that found her were softer than Vitus’s but it made her more terrified. This one could hurt her without knowing it. She watched him stare at the shut door for a second. “We need to get you out of here before my dad finds you.”

Alessia’s eyes widened. Vitus was the safe one, wasn’t he? He nursed her back to health, saved her from a storm. Unless it was a trick. That he knew she’d been on his shoe. Known she was hiding and lured her. In that room he might be planning something awful. A way to torture her before she winds up like her parents.

Felix started talking, but her mind wouldn’t process his words. She was going to die. She never should have trusted a human. Her vision started to darken as her breathing became hard. The fingers around her were firm, they weren’t changing as the human carried her. It wouldn’t be long before they would tighten. Until her body was crushed and thrown away. As her consciousness faded she was grateful she wouldn’t be awake to face her death.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You just grabbed her!?” someone said. Alessia’s head was hurting. She didn’t expect to still be alive. She didn’t know why someone would be upset she was grabbed either. They had to be another human. Felix probably planned to give her to someone else or give the other human the fun of crushing her.

“She was outside my dad’s workshop and you two said he can’t know about anyone like you,” Felix was quieter than when he found her. Maybe not even next to her. Alessia gasped when the words sunk in. He said two. There were two more humans near her.

Snapping her eyes open she expected three towering figures surrounding her. Instead she saw Felix far enough he would need to take a few steps to reach her. Another borrower stood with his arms crossed and glaring up at the human. She wanted to take the chance to escape, but another borrower appeared in front of her. She yelped and drew the attention of the others in the room.

“Ah that’s a relief, you’re awake,” the black haired, silver eyed borrower said. Alessia slowly pushed herself up. She was on a pillow, kind of like when Vitus had taken her in. That reminded her of the danger he has to pose. Two of her kind don’t want him around them. She has to get away. “Call me Ryder, would you care to tell us your name?”

Felix came closer. They were all trapped with this human now. She was trapped with humans. Trusting them was a mistake. Except he didn’t grab her or this Ryder person. He set a hand out and the other borrower hopped off. Salmon hair and pink eyes still glaring at him.

“Are you ok? This guy looks scary, but he’s not like other humans,” the pink eyed one said. He walked up and held out a hand. “I’m Rhys.”

“What happens next?” she whispered. This time there wasn’t a plan. She didn’t even have her hook to get away. All the things from her parents were hidden away from sight. She’d never see them again. Tears fell from her eyes. She wanted the rope back at least, she needed that back. The heavy sigh that blew past her made this worse. The human was annoyed.

“I know I scared you, but my dad doesn’t watch where he’s walking. He might have hurt you, he doesn’t know people like you exist. You can leave once you’re ready,” it sounded like earlier. He had been whispering. She couldn’t believe it. Borrowers didn’t trust the human who saved her. She was in too much danger around any of these people. She wanted to go home, she didn’t even know how to get home.

Vitus only brought her here a month ago. If she had her bag and hook maybe she could get home. It… it was probably something possible. Her parents had told her how they traveled away from humans before. A bedtime story she loved hearing. It was the last one she’d heard before they were gone.

“Don’t worry we live nearby,” Rhys said. 

Ryder helped her to her feet. She couldn’t just run away. She had things, they’d look for her. That child had searched for her dad when he ran. Vitus would hunt her down. Even if she made it back he knew where she lived. This human knew where these two lived. There was no telling if this was a test either. Would she run given the chance?

“This is why we said don’t grab one of us if you find them!” Rhys shouted at Felix. Alessia flinched, yelling at a human would end in-

“You’re the one who said not to tell my dad,” Felix growled. Alessia shrank away, but Rhys stepped forward. Ryder even approached the angry human. “He’s barely talking to me still. I wouldn’t have grabbed her if he wasn’t about to find her!”

“You mean well, but our kind do not trust humans. Grabbing any of us would only make you more likely to be considered a threat. You could have spoken to her,” Ryder had stepped between Rhys and Felix. She stared in awe, he was explaining it to a human. A human who’s golden eyes were on fire, but he hadn’t made a move.

“You’ve said my dad can’t know. You said if he finds anyone like you they’d be in trouble. My dad would have opened that door and sent her flying. I didn’t have a choice,” Felix had his arms folded. Rhys and Ryder stayed firm against him. They were unbelievable. “Blame me all you want, but I did what I promised.”

“Promised?” she whispered. Rhys softened and looked at her.

“Yeah, Felix here promised not to tell anyone about us after he saved us.”

“Wait… he saved you?”

“Yes!” Ryder actually had a bright smile.The bristle of Felix’s anger was dying too. He looked away. “He fought another human so as to stop them from hurting us.”

“Why are you still here?” 

Felix seemed to deflate. The burn in his eyes died completely, his posture drooped. Under other circumstances she may have thought she hurt him. Ryder walked right up to Felix holding a hand up towards him. The human didn’t move. 

“He’s our friend that’s why!” The anger in Rhys’s voice made her jump. “Other humans always wanted to hurt us. Felix could have and he didn’t. His dad is still mad at him and he could just tell him about us, but he doesn’t because we’re friends!”

“A good human…” she muttered. Felix moved again, crouching down in front of her. She stumbled back and even managed to see past him. To see the wide open door, the tall stoic man watching them. His presence made her more terrified. Would she witness humans fighting?

“You don’t have to trust me or like me. They don’t trust my dad so I got you out of there. Decide where to go. I’ll leave so you don’t have some awful human bothering you,” Felix said. The way he acted had her worried. She didn’t usually worry about humans, but he… he was like Vitus. They weren’t bad.

“Why are you afraid of his dad?” 

Her question stopped Felix. What she could see of Vitus barely shifted. No one else was noticing the much taller human. He wasn’t doing anything either. She noticed a point where he seemed to meet her eyes. He offered her a sad smile, like he knew too. What didn’t she know?

“Wouldn’t you be?” Ryder said. His voice was different, the dramatic tone falling away. “You must have seen him if you were up there. He glares at everything, even his steps are a lot.”

“You can trust him,” Felix’s voice was quiet enough she would have thought Rhys or Ryder whispered it.

“You said that, but you don’t know! The last adult who saw us wanted to kill us!” Rhys shouted. 

Unfortunately that reached Vitus and Alessia noticed the man shifting. He wasn’t quiet, at least not quiet enough for the other borrowers not to notice. This time she stayed somewhat calm while the other two froze. If… if this human… If Felix wasn’t bad then Vitus wasn’t bad and she hadn’t set herself up to die. 

Vitus had mentioned the fight, that it had been almost a year. A whole year the two hadn’t been speaking. A year of two borrowers choosing to come and go with a human knowing. She… she was always going to be afraid, but these ones she could try to trust. The truth was she was more terrified she’d be left alone again than they’d hurt her. She was scared of what could make humans be taken from her.

“Guess I’ve been caught,” his voice was gravelly. It was nothing like that usually. He cleared his throat and she jumped along with the other two borrowers. Felix jumped up with his back facing her and the others. He stepped forward and glared up at his dad. At Vitus. “Felix-”

“Dad, what happened to always knocking?” Felix said. He sounded angry. Rhys and Ryder ran up to her and grabbed her arms. They started to drag her away, towards the spot she’d seen Rhys arguing with Felix at first.

“Go, I’ll stay here just in case,” Ryder whispered. He let go pushing Rhys and Alessia forward. She stumbled, but Rhys tugged her along. Rhys was crying, the tears fell from his face to her arm.

“Hurry, we have to run!” Rhys’s voice was hoarse. Alessia knew that pain. Rhys expected Ryder to die.

“Wait,” the words started before her mind caught up, “he’s not dangerous. He brought me here after we met… I live here in a human room.”

Rhys tripped over his feet when she spoke. Ryder stared at her with wide eyes. Felix and Vitus didn’t notice the words they shared. She was able to watch as Felix shifted to keep Vitus from entering the room. Ryder ran up to the two as the humans continued to face each other. Vitus looked over at them, he looked almost happy they weren’t running.

“I found Alessia’s hook and got worried. I was going to check the kitchen when I heard you talking. That I don’t watch where I’m walking,” Vitus smirked. It was like when he spoke to her. An attempt to calm the situation.

“Alessia?” Felix asked. He tilted his head, the hand behind his back was waving. Telling them to run… He was keeping them safe. “Who is that?”

Alessia saw the small change in Vitus’s expression. Widened eyes that flashed concern only to switch to pride. Vitus set a hand on Felix’s shoulder. The younger human braced, Rhys and Ryder grabbed her and backed up. No one knew what the taller man would do, Alessia had a guess. If her guess was right then these were humans she’d try to trust. If she was wrong they would all run.

“I’m proud of you,” Vitus said as he pulled Felix into a hug. All of them seemed to relax once that happened. “I was sure there was something you’d been hiding. I had no idea what to do if I was wrong about the reason you wouldn’t tell us what caused the fight. That it was like that man said.”

“Dad I…” Felix tried. It was clear that this had caused a change. Rhys and Ryder looked at each other before stepping forward. Alessia watched the two reach the edge of the table. The edge where they could never run to safety in time. 

“He saved us!” Rhys shouted. Vitus let Felix go to stare at them. Another gaze at Alessia from the man. “We… I fell in his bag Ryder followed to try and get me out. The teacher found us and wanted to… to do really bad things. Felix fought him to get us away.”

“Rhys speaks the truth,” Ryder said as he pressed a hand to his heart. “We owe Felix our lives. He hid the truth for us, we have had many poor meetings with adult humans. There is a reason it is merely the two of us now.”

“I see.” Vitus stepped forward. Alessia stepped up to hold a hand of each of them. Vitus was terrifying to face. The man stopped away from them and crouched down. All three borrowers face to face with a human who could crush them in an instant. “Well, we have room. The two of you are free to stay here, just like Alessia. Speaking of which, Alessia, I have been working on something for you.”

“F-for me?” she asked. He nodded standing up straight and offering her his hand. She was scared, but stepped forward. She crawled into the palm, a smile from the human a welcome response.

“Why don’t I show all four of you?” She looked back at Rhys and Ryder. They were clearly nervous, but Vitus didn’t actually wait for them. He stepped back pulling his hand up to his chest. He paused in front of Felix. “We’re in the extra room at the end of the hall.”

Alessia was taken with him. He held her close to his chest. Each step shook through her spine, but that fear Felix gave her had melted. A month in and he hadn’t done anything. He even made Dabria stay away and hid her from Felix. She couldn’t help wondering if he was mad at her. That Felix caught her, that she expected so little.

“You could have asked about the room, I would have let you in,” he said. It made her jump. “It’s locked up tight because I make things in there. It’s a lot of wood dust, that’s bad to breathe in. I try to keep the dust inside so I can clean it up when I’m done working.”

 “Oh…” she said. It made sense, humans did a lot of weird things. They knew a lot too. Words that he still had to explain. Like windows, those things were weird. So was glass. A finger poked her and made her look up. He had a soft look on his face.

“I know you’ll be scared and have doubts, Alessia.” The voice was quiet and reassuring. “It’s a big move to risk living here. Take your time, we’ll all be here when you’re ready.”

“...really? Isn’t that bad? You… I agreed to come here.”

“Take the time you need to trust us. You’ve taken a risk trusting just me. You don’t have to move faster than you’re ready for.”

Alessia wrapped her arms around the finger that had poked her, “Thank you.”

“Wait until you see what I’ve been working on to say that.”

Vitus kept walking, it was clear to her he moved slower to give the others time to decide. It could have been giving him time to speak with her. Either way she appreciated it. She stared at the doors they passed, worrying when they walked by the one they gave her. That was where she would still get to stay right?

Vitus walked for a little longer. He stopped at a door that almost blended in with the wall. She wanted to ask, but saw he’d already started to push open the door. The room itself was normal. At least the normal she’d learned about. It looked kind of like the room they gave her without the bed. Just shelves, one of the table things, and what she lived under. There was nothing different.

He walked into the room and up to the thing she lived under. She tried to remember the word, dresser maybe. He stopped there and turned to the door. There she saw Felix with Rhys and Ryder sitting on his shoulders. If others like her could do that they couldn’t be bad humans. Vitus turned back to the dresser thing and crouched down.

“It’s not quite done yet, but it’s enough to show you. I thought you deserved a place we couldn’t just appear without warning,” he said.

Alessia stared in awe as he turned the dresser thing. The inner part was completely gone, but it looked kind of like the house the humans had. Even inside there was one of the beds Vitus said she could use if she wanted, but her size. A room with stuff she’d never seen before and things she’d seen around the house. One she was pretty sure Dabria called a couch when she was spying.

“Woah,” Rhys said. She looked away from the amazing dresser thing to stare up. Felix was leaning over to see them. “It looks like a house, but for someone like us.”

Vitus laughed a bit. His laugh made her smile, it was infectious. She wanted to feel comfortable with humans. At least these humans, they weren’t like the one in her past. They weren’t going to hurt her or those her size.

“That’s my goal,” he smiled. “There’s a lot more work to be done on it. I’m looking into some plumbing and wiring I can set up. I want to give you a place that’s more like the home that’s around you, but that you can use. Of course if you two would like to stay I’ll be making this project a bit bigger.”

“You’re really gonna try and put a shower and stuff here?” Rhys sounded excited. “And wiring? Like lights and-and all the other stuff?”

“I would like to, but I never really worked with it.”

“Rhys knows a lot about it,” Ryder said. Alessia turned around to face them more comfortably. Rhys looked like he was vibrating on Felix’s shoulder. The human cupped a hand around the borrower to keep him from falling.

“Oh?” She could hear the laugh in his voice. He’d spoken like that to her. To encourage her. Vitus… Vitus was a good person. He’d be so much easier to keep trusting if he were a borrower. “Would you mind helping me? It would have to be once all the wood work is done. I don’t think I have protection for someone your size and wouldn’t want any of you getting sick.”

“Can I really help?!” Rhys had climbed up leaning over Felix’s fingers. Alessia thought he was foolish. He’d fall and die if Felix moved. Vitus nodded, she noticed the look Rhys sent to Ryder. The subtle nod of the other. “We’ll stay to help with this at least. We can’t leave you to take care of another borrower when you don’t know anything anyway.”

“Rhys!” Ryder smiled when Felix cried out. “Can’t you just admit you want an excuse to play with electronics?”

“Don’t tell him that!”

“I believe he’d already noticed. You aren’t subtle.”

Alessia watched Rhys disappear behind the hand blocking him from falling. The smiles on the other two told her this was normal. This might work out. She might really have a good home with safe people here. Plus she wasn’t alone, other borrowers. Others who could teach her things her parents were taken too soon to. This might even turn into a family for her.

[jujutsubaby]

chemical reactions (part 2)

☆ pairing: zeke jaeger x pieck finger ☆ summary: when pieck traveled to faraway trost for a prestigious research position, she expected to feel lonely. what she last expected was to find a bit of home in her supervisor. ☆ warnings: chronic illness mentioned ☆ tags: modern AU, academia AU, slow-burn, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers ☆ a/n: zeke and pieck meet properly this chapter aaaa ヾ( ˃ᴗ˂ )◞ • *✰ i had a lot of fun writing their dialogue (esp one part in particular hehe) and can't wait to build this relationship out more >:) masterlist

Once she got over the initial surprise of Dr. Jaeger's youth, Pieck was pleased that she was able to get back on her feet and into her professional mode reasonably well. Trying not to feel flustered at how attentively he was watching her, Pieck began her prepared opening.

"Well, Dr. Jaeger, thank you for meeting with me," she said, doing her best not to speak too quickly. "I find your research genuinely interesting, so it truly is an honor to be considered." Pieck internally winced; she had been counseled time and time again by Magath to be less obsequious. You know at least twice as much as those morons you're always cowering before, he would say to her with all his trademark bluntness. You deserve to be where you are, and you deserve just as much as respect anybody else. But old habits died hard, and Pieck was just too used to bowing low before authority figures.

Luckily, Dr. Jaeger did not seem to change his demeanor. "I am pleased to hear that my work intrigues you so, Miss Finger, and I can see why you reached out to me," he replied with a polite smile. Something about the crows feet that appeared at the corners of his eyes put Pieck a bit more at ease.

"I saw from your CV that your research interests lie in nonaddictive drug therapies for chronic illness," he continued. "Your experience is certainly pertinent to the work we do at TITANLab. Theo had nothing but praise for you, I should add."

Pieck did not have time to shroud the confusion from her face. Theo? Then it hit her.

"Oh, do you know Professor Magath?"

Zeke gave her a sidelong glance, for some reason.

"Well, perhaps it was a bit before your time. He did work briefly as the chemistry teacher at the local school before becoming a professor full time. He and I first became acquainted there, in fact, but have encountered each other professionally since."

Pieck was embarrassed at how slowly the cogs in her mind were turning that morning, but she truly had no idea what Dr. Jaeger was talking about.

"Professor Magath lived in Trost? I don't remember that, I thought he was in Liberio all along."

Dr. Jaeger now looked lost as well; Pieck's panic rose. Oh God, does he think I'm an idiot? What's going on?

"Trost? When was Theo in Trost?"

"Well, you had said that Professor Magath had taught you in secondary school, so I just assumed...I thought you were from Trost, I apologize for making that assumption. And I am sorry for the confusion, Dr. Jaeger," Pieck stammered out. Usually in situations like these, she found that if she apologized enough, misunderstandings were easier to smooth over. This certainly was one of the more opaque misunderstandings she had encountered, though.

Dr. Jaeger just looked at her for a long time. The longer he looked, the more Pieck felt any semblance of hope leach out of her. All at once, the confusion dissipated from his face. It was replaced, mystifyingly, with a bashful smile.

"Pieck, do you perhaps...not remember me?"

At the familiarity of her first name in his voice, Pieck felt the color rise embarrassingly in her cheeks. He addressed her as though they were well acquainted already. When he called her Pieck, they almost sounded like equals, rather than a student researcher out of her depth and a prodigy of a professor.

Pieck imagined how amusing it might be if she also dropped formality and addressed him as Zeke. Zeke. Why does that name feel familiar?

Pieck clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! Yes, I'm so sorry! Zeke! It's been so long, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you with your — " she gestured weakly at her chin, unable to even complete the sentence.

This was certainly one interview scenario she had not prepared for.

When she focused on Dr. Jaeger's — Zeke's — face, when she erased his beard and glasses, when she mussed his hair up a bit (purely in her imagination, of course), she saw him. The tall, pale, sullen boy who had been in some of her classes in spite of being four to five years her senior, as she recalled. The talk in her class was that he had to retake a few courses due to his poor performance; the secondary school in Liberio had been small enough that remedial classes for older students meant sitting in with younger students. Socially, it was a potential pressure cooker, but Pieck recalled that he had gotten on reasonably well with his younger classmates. He had even broken up fights with her more tempestuous peers, now that she thought about it. And he had always been polite to her.

Pieck was overwhelmed with surprise. She had never expected that quiet boy, who seemed so apathetic about school, to become an illustrious and well-known professor like this. Then again, she had never expected herself to rise even to the level she had. They all had their own paths to tread; some were just more circuitous than others.

"Yes," Zeke replied with a small smile, "I suppose I would look somewhat different now, what with my," and he mimed pointing at his beard the same way she had. Is he...making fun of me?

It was more than the beard that had rendered him unrecognizable; Pieck was certain he understood this too. It was strange seeing him so confident, when she remembered him being anything but. Most of his classmates treated Pieck and the other younger students with gleeful disdain, glad to have children below them in the pecking order as only teenagers could be. Zeke had been so different; he had been kind to them, but with a thirst to be accepted. Even Pieck's younger self could detect this; she recalled wondering why he cared so deeply about the opinions of her snotnosed and annoying little peers. More than anything, he had seemed so desperately lonely.

If there was one thing Pieck understood, it was loneliness.

Once she realized he was her old classmate, Pieck was blessed with the ability to interact with Zeke (Dr. Jaeger, she corrected herself) with much more ease and comfort. She suspected that the breakdown of the barrier benefited him as well, as he spoke to her much less stiffly (albeit still formally, as he always had even as a child).

At the end of the interview, Pieck dared to hope that it had gone well. Zeke's research specialty and pet project had to do with using existing hormones to inform medication courses. What was especially unique was his interest in the hormonal secretions found much more frequently in Eldians. Pieck understood now why he had come to Paradis to do his research; such a project would have an uphill battle securing funding in Marley. Even the academic medical texts in Marley frequently omitted Eldians altogether. Pieck, having combed through medical books and journals with her limited expertise for any possible source of succor for her father, was intimately aware of the unfortunate consequences of this omission.

The idea of someone, anyone, conducting research on how to help Eldians find proper treatments and medications brought a bone-deep sense of relief to Pieck.

Between their shared interests and shared past, Pieck felt remarkably at ease with Zeke now. Enough so that she chanced asking,

"What do you think? Do you think I'd be able to work with you? I understand you must be busy, and that you must have so many applicants, but —"

Zeke must have felt equally at ease, for he actually laughed. (Pieck had never heard him laugh before; she was unsure if he ever had even smiled during their short acquaintance in school, let alone laughed).

"Oh, I hope you were not anxious about that! I was already intending to bring you on after seeing your resume and Theo's recommendation. I apologize if I was unclear, this was more of an informal interview for me to know more about you. Finding out more about your research interests just confirmed for me that this is the right decision."

He then rose from his chair, heading to the door to open it for her. Pieck felt her tense shoulders sag; she was giddy with relief and excitement, and attempted in vain to steady her voice.

"Thank you so much Dr. Jaeger, I truly appreciate this!"

Zeke turned back over his shoulder at her with a conspiratorial grin that made her cheeks and ears grow hot.

"Anything for an old school chum," he replied. "And do call me Zeke, please. Hearing you say Dr. Jaeger makes me feel even older."

Pieck's combination of adrenaline and sleep deprivation made her unable to fully trust what she saw, but she could have sworn that Zeke winked at her after saying that.

[cataztrophi]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by: @noodyl-blasstal thanks!!

Tagging: @fandomsnstuff @duck-newton I think a lot of people have been tagged already but if you haven't pls consider this an invitation to answer these as well!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2 currently, but I plan on putting up my TAZNC work at which point I will have 15!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

4,680 right now, but that number will increase by a lot shortly since I think all my TAZNC works were between 1,000-4,000 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

TAZ, and I've got a few Owl House things in the works I hope to finish some day.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Show Me Yours, then The Thing With Feathers

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love receiving comments and I love being able to talk a bit about what I was thinking when I wrote things.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually write a lot of angst, but probably this unnamed ficlet because nothing really gets resolved at the end, although it is a fairly hopeful ending.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It's hard to pick, I write mostly things that leave a lot of possibilities open, but I'd say probably my 10th entry for TAZNC this year (man I really gotta name these things) because I think the emotional journey makes the ending more satisfying.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! I've only gotten very kind words and I'm extremely grateful for all of them.

9. Do you write smut?

Yup. Nothing I'm quite finished with yet but I have several in the works and I hope to get some posted soon

10. Do you write crossovers?

They're not really my style, but I think they are fun to think about and play around with!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I'm small enough right now that I think it's unlikely.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I've heard of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I did once on a previous account, unfortunately I was very bad at finishing anything at that point in my life and I hadn't gotten on ADD meds, so we didn't finish it (my fault). I'd like to co-write something at some point, but I think I'd need to have more practice with writing/finishing longer stories before I felt confident about doing it again.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Taakitz babey! Top tier meet-weird plus some truly beautiful moments, and such a great dynamic to play around with

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I'm not sure I'd say "never," but there is one Taakitz fake dating fic that I would need to seriously rework in order to make it coherent. I hope to finish some version of it someday, but it certainly won't look like the current WIP.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Boy I wish I knew! Someone told me I have a "lyrical" writing style, so I'll take it! I do really like working with the flow of words. Also I wrote a lot of tender romantic scenes when I was a touch-starved closeted high schooler, and I was surprised by how easy those scenes feel to write in my current work.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a tendency to write too much lead-in and too much ending if I'm not careful, so I basically have to chop off the first and last bits of every fic. I am very bad at coming up with plots. I worry a lot about capturing characters' voices and can struggle with differentiating them. And as previously mentioned, I tend to start a lot of things and not finish them, although I think I'm improving in that regard!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm very wary about it for myself. I could just about manage French but for anything else I'd want someone fluent to look it over for me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Good Omens, back before the TV series came out! It was a pretty small fandom at that point, and I had to get my Aziraphale/Crowley angst out somewhere when I only knew like three people who'd read the book

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I'm really proud of my TAZNC work, but I think I'm still proudest of The Thing With Feathers because I feel like I did exactly what I wanted with it and captured everything I was hoping to.

[sunderedazem]

WIP Whenever!

I got tagged by @ipreferfiction, and I hereafter subject the following people to this (optional) tag game, with whatever you count as a WIP: @fenrisprime2003, @darthcatboy, @darth-nessight, @borealtwilight, @magicallulu7, and @starwers! (and anyone else who has a WIP rattling around inside their skulls like I do <3)

SO, A WIP: From after the creation of the Emperor's Blade (aka "Lord Lune") on board the Fortress - Corrain has Fallen by this point, but he hasn't been beaten into submission. They never quite manage that. But he's not a Jedi by this point, and he knows it.

TW: whump/torture, because Corrain *never* gets a damn break

"You will learn your place, Blade, or you will suffer until you are cowed into submission. Try again."

The words cut through the frigid, fluttering haze of blood loss and the accompanying agony searing his back in latticework patterns, disgust and fury laced through Chaskar's tone. Corrain spat bitterly, blocking out the wavering darkness leeching strength from the edges of his vision, and set his face against the pillar he'd been chained to, hands bound above his head, barbed cuffs digging razor edges deep into his wrists and sending warmth spilling down the trembling length of his arms.

Everything hurt, all over again - heart, soul, mind and body, nothing had been spared from being torn in half. Yet again. But he couldn't help but bare his teeth, the burn of furious ice in his chest fueling the only thing he had left with which to keep himself sane.

Furious, unyielding defiance.

"Go fuck yourself," he snarled thinly, and molten fire snapped across his shoulder blades again, the crack of Chaskar's whip drowning out his groan of pain. Skin split beneath the leather and chain weapon, yet another long gash to add to the already substantial collection. He wobbled briefly, grey suffusing his vision- and then with a vicious growl, forced it back, clinging to the howling gale of pain and anger and clawing, churning hatred storming in his chest to keep awake. To keep conscious, for just a moment longer - because once he passed out he'd be helpless.

It was all that kept him going, now. All that kept him from breaking into a hollow shell of compliance. And to think he'd once eschewed it as destructive and useless. He wanted to cry and laugh all at once, loathing clinging to each strained breath as it left his lips, and as the whip cracked down again he slipped further towards the dark.

Lightning crackled briefly between his fingertips, fury sour and cold in the Force around him. He reached for it blindly, plunging both hands into the shadow. It slipped from his grasp tauntingly - but not before his hand burned with cold and the static cling snapped in white bolts to the floor below.

Chaskar laughed mockingly at him.

"Such hate, apprentice. To think you were once a Jedi..."

Something snapped- rage igniting like liquid adrenaline, and he tore at the barbed bonds holding him in place, flesh tearing as he lunged, blind with pain physical and emotional. Chaskar crowed in surprise, stumbling backward, his scarlet face the focus of Corrain's narrowing vision, thready beats of shock and blood loss reverberating inside his head.

And then-

"Keyword, lunar regolith. Kneel, Blade."

He seized up instantly, the guttering candle flame of his free will snuffed, his thoughts muffled with a blanket of barbed wire. He blinked into a sudden headache kaleidoscope of color and pain, head throbbing, skull splitting- and knelt obediently, limbs heavy.

Chaskar sighed theatrically, and then agony cracked across one half of Corrain's face, stars flashing brilliantly across a greying background world. The Sith had kicked him, boot striking cheekbone.

He collapsed to one side, his brain a leaden weight inside his skull, pain pulsing from his shredded wrists and back and face. Even the frigid burn of anger could not longer clear the haze of creeping unconsciousness from his field of of vision, no matter how he tried.

"I almost admire the depth of your rage, apprentice," Chaskar hummed then. "It fuels you beautifully."

There was a beat of silence, the withering tendrils of his captor and master's face blurring to smudges. Pain was fading from his senses now- he could only just manage to keep aware enough to hear the steady thud of approaching footsteps. And then-

"Lord Chaskar. He is at his limit."

The deep voice was a familiar one, a low baritone that vaguely reminded Corrain not of safety or comfort, necessarily, but at least of tolerance. He tried to blink- but his eyes were shut, lids heavy. When had he closed them?

"I'm aware, my Lord Wrath - that was the goal today. Are you here to clean up this mess?"

"...mind your tongue, lest you lose it. Need I remind you that though you are this one's handler, I am the one that holds your leash?"

Oh, that was an interesting tidbit. It had been said so softly though…

Ah. He was fading

"...no, my lord."

"Good."

[autobot2001]

Day 6; A Fun Day Out

Fandom; Transformers Characters: Crosshairs, Drift, Jamie (OC), Lily Jones (OC), Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Lightning (OC), Jasmine (OC), Audrey (OC), Ratchet, Optimus Prime Rating: T Description; Crosshairs and Drift struggle to relax while having a fun day at a farm. First thing everyone does is a fun exercise Optimus and William Lennox planned, that doesn't exactly fit as a training exercise.

Angstober; "What's wrong?" Whumpober; hunting AI-lesstober; (skipped) OC-tober; (skipped) Flufftober; corn maze Comfortober; relapse

The group in the room isn't surprised to hear Optimus and William Lennox want to make a training exercise out of going to a farm. Only after the challenge he has in mind is complete can everyone go apple and pumpkin picking. Everyone is intrigued by what Optimus has planned and how there's a corn maze big enough with several entrances and exits. Everyone will have an assigned entrance to start at and exit to find. Everyone looks at the maze map, seeing how challenging it is. Optimus adds they'll be playing freeze tag, and the teams will not enter the maze together. Everyone must go a different way than their teammates. Teams are not to plan before they arrive at the farm and must wait for everyone on their team to get out of the maze to do anything else around the farm. Everyone laughs at Optimus, saying Jamie can't fly to figure out her way out. The teams are decided before everyone is dismissed. They found out the preschoolers would be part of the fun but would be with an adult. Everyone likes the fun hunting game, even if they're not using water or paintball guns. Everyone but Drift. "What's wrong?" Crosshairs asks once everyone has left. "I hate not liking Jamie being alone in the maze." "I think we're exempt from the rule," Crosshairs assures his friend, "go ask Prime." I can't believe we're this worried about her. Crosshairs thinks, watching Drift leave the room. Jamie won't mind being with us, but this shouldn't be a concern.

Optimus worries hearing how worried Drift is about letting Jamie be alone in the maze. He assures Drift that the two or three are exempt from the rule. "He's relapsing as well," Ratchet comments once Drift is out of the room, "I hate saying his anxiety is beyond normal, but when he's terrified to leave his femme alone. He's right; with Jamie's mental health, she can't be left alone. I hate saying that and that she's at that point." "I worry about the three of them. I shouldn't be saying I'm pleased with Crosshairs' effort to keep Lightning from seeing his and Drift's struggle, and I think he doesn't tell her everything about Jamie's mental struggle, but the less she knows, the better. I know He already worried, but not like his brother or Drift." "Glad they don't deal with nightmares every night, but it's not great when they suddenly happen." The two drop the conversation, knowing they can't come up with a solution.

"Seriously, the other side of the maze?" Sideswipe complains. "This is supposed to be a challenge," Sunstreaker argues, "you three go first." Crosshairs, Drift, and Jamie go into the maze. I can't believe this. Sideswipe comments through the bond. They shouldn't be worried that they don't dare let her go into the maze alone. I know. We all hate there's nothing we can do but watch Jamie struggle. The twins and Lily go into the maze as instructed.

"How is this a training exercise?" Crosshairs asks. "I think it's more for fun," Drift replies. Suddenly, Crosshairs is hit from behind. "Audrey," Jasmine laughs. "Got ya," Crosshairs picks up Audrey, "what are you doing?" "Tag," she replies, laughing, "you can't move." "She understands freeze tag," Jasmine explains while taking Audrey from Crosshairs, "see you there later." "Taken down by a four-year-old," Crosshairs sulks. He smiles with Drift, hearing Jamie laugh. The three wait a minute as per the rules before continuing on.

Sunstreaker makes it out of the maze first. He can't believe it took two hours to find his way out. Realizing why Optimus wanted everyone at the farm right when they opened. It's now one in the afternoon. He hopes his team finds the exit soon. Laughing at how he wants to do the other things humans are doing at this farm and other Earth things he once found annoying. How he couldn't wait to go home. To Sunstreaker's knowledge, Cybertron is still being rebuilt, but Cybertronians can choose to go home. Now, he doesn't want to return to Cybertron. He'd rather call Earth home — most of the time. Are you going to help me find the exit? Sideswipe asks through the bond. No, I don't know where you are in the maze to help, and even if I did, it's cheating. Sunstreaker argues.

Sunstreaker waits twenty minutes until Lily and Sideswipe walk out of the maze. "We crossed paths, and there's no rule saying we must separate if we find someone else on our team," Sideswipe defends.

The three don't have to wait long for the others. "Next time, we're playing a game when I'm tagging everyone else," Jamie complains. "I didn't think she'd find this boring," Sideswipe comments. "I think this maze is too big for a challenge like Optimus was hoping for," Crosshairs comments, "only Audrey and Jazmine found us." "I think it was more for fun," Drift argues. The group decides to get food.

Sunstreaker has to force Sideswipe past the desert stalls on the way to get lunch. Jamie and Lily Leigh, watching Sunstreaker shove Sideswipe to make him keep moving. "You're annoying sometimes," Sunstreaker comments, "and an embarrassment."

The friends see everyone else is out of the maze and waiting in line to get food as they head to the picnic tables.

Everyone got a pulled pork sandwich and shared the cheesy nachos and cheese fries. They all think no one will want dinner since it's two in the afternoon. Add that they all still want to get pie. Lightning joins the full table while the others sit at tables around them. Their friends talk about their time in the maze. Laughing at Crosshairs, saying Audrey tagged him. The little girl didn't get anyone else. Everyone else was tagged at least once by another Autobot. While talking, everyone is paying attention to Jamie, hoping she'll eat and not a tiny amount of food. Lily hates knowing Jamie is from a different dimension and deals with shit.

Jamie wants to find the biggest pumpkin, not pleased she's likely not going to find any large ones. "You ok?" Crosshairs asks. "It's harder to deal with knowing this happiness is temporary." Crosshairs hugs Drift, hating how this is now a normal part of the day to worry about Jamie, hoping it's temporary. Knowing that Jamie's better periods still come with struggles, but it's nothing compared to the past three months.

The two watch Jamie and Lily find a pumpkin. "Can you believe Sunstreaker is even looking for one?" Crosshairs whispers, smiling. Drift smiles, "come on, we better find ours before we're stuck with the tiniest ones."

Everyone finds a good-sized pumpkin, clearing out a lot of the large. Jamie found an extra large pumpkin that many people couldn't believe she could carry with how short she is. Everyone goes to the parking lot to allow the Autobots to put the pumpkins in their subspaces. They return to the farm to enjoy more fun and desserts before everyone returns home. Now, a day of pumpkin carving needs to be planned.

[zponds]

The Genie Team S9EP023 - “Zachery’s New Genie Friend” (part 2)

(Start of part two of the script)

Hunter and Ellie are leading me throughout the Genie School of Friendship, showing me where everything is like the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the indoor pool, the science lab, the computer lab, the bathrooms, and so on. While in the indoor pool, I see Misty and Candice. While in the gymnasium, i see Lita and Rei. While in the science lab, I see Clemont and Bonnie. While in the computer lab, I see Max. I’m very intrigued by everything that Hunter and Ellie are showing. Just then, Natasha shows up, and she sees me and I introduce myself to her. And Natasha decides to tag along. Then Felina shows up singing to herself, and not paying attention, she accidentally steps on my foot. As I bounce around holding my foot in the air, Felina apologizes for not paying attention. I accept the apology and say that my foot isn’t too terribly hurt. Felina is relieved and she too decides to tag along. However, while we’re walking down one of the hallways, I see Mina, one of the genie sailor guardians. She sees me and happily says hello. But i unfortunately am way to nervous to say hello back, and I blush and say nothing. Mina is confused as to why I said nothing, but she heads back to the other 6 genie sailor guardians. Hunter and Ellie ask me why I said nothing to Mina when she greeted me, but I just tell them to worry about it later. Later, I see Thomas the Tank Engine, and I immediately recognize him and the other Sodor engines as I’ve seen and absolutely love the first (and legendary) five seasons of Thomas and Friends. Soon, Hunter and Ellie lead me outside the building, and I see Ash and Genie May in the middle of a Pokémon battle. I’m astonished by the sight of an in-person Pokémon battle. And being a major Advanceshipper, I knew it was Ash and May. But I’m completely unsure on how to tell them that I’m an Advanceshipper without embarrassing myself, but Hunter calms me down, saying that he too is a major Advanceshipper. Hunter also tells me that I’ll get my chance to tell Ash and May about my Advanceshipper history at some point in the future, and I feel better, thanking Hunter. In the end, Ash wins the battle. May is a little surprised, but she congratulates Ash for the victory and Ash thanks her. As Ash looks to his side to see Pikachu, he sees me, Hunter and Ellie. May sees them too, but her and Ash are more focused on me, as they never saw me around before. When they approach me and introduce themselves to me, they ask me who I am. At first I’m a little nervous but Hunter motivates me by saying that now’s the time. Motivated, I introduce myself to Ash and May and I tell them about my history of being an Advanceshipper. When I finish, Ash and May are blushing as red as Groudon and are speechless. Hunter adds that he’s an Advanceshipper as much as me. And Hunter and I both say that we’ve been Advanceshippers since we were young. However, before May or Ash can say anything, the lunchtime bell rings. Ellie says that that means it’s lunchtime. And we all head to the cafeteria. Once there, I see what is on the menu; teriyaki chicken wings, rice, soda, vanilla cakes with strawberry frosting, and pizza. I only have the pizza, which is cheese pizza, and I luckily brought a bottle of water to drink. And being the newcomer, I sit at the far corner, away from the crowds as I need time to adjust to the place and its occupants. Everyone is a little surprised, as I’m the only one who only got pizza. When they ask why, i say nothing as I’m eating and I have my mouth full, and I know that talking with food in my mouth is rude. So everyone else has their lunch, and despite enjoying their lunch, they can’t stop thinking about why I only took pizza and why I’m sitting alone in the corner. But they decide to ask me later, when lunchtime is over. And 25 minutes later, everyone heads off back to class. But they unknowingly leave me behind. Feeling alone, I feel like Aladar when the herd left him and his friends and family behind in Disney’s Dinosaur (2000), so I head outside to the school yard.

(End of script part two)