#i probably shouldn't try because it's giving me a headache

[kingofscoops]

I have tried and failed to make 2 different gifsets today, will the 3rd time be the charm?

[osaemu]

when they hug you

PAIRING: tartaglia, xiao, venti, kaeya, diluc, zhongli x reader

SYNOPSIS: when is his embrace the most memorable?

CONTENTS: cursing. indirect mentions of death in xiao and zhongli's parts.

childe spins you around in his arms the second he returns home from another one of his missions. you two collapse in the snow, laughing like children and smiling so hard your faces hurt. being in his arms again feels like home — for both of you.

"haven't seen you in a while, hm? c'mon, let's go grab a drink while you tell me all about what's happened while i was gone, yeah?"

xiao pulls you close in the middle of the night when his mind starts to replay every battle he's ever been through, every friend he's lost, and every time he thought it was over for him. his arms find their way around you because he wants to know that you're still there – to ensure you won't slip through his fingers, just like everyone else did.

"just making sure you're stil— ah, i mean, keeping you safe. go back to sleep. oh, me? i don't need that much sleep. don't worry about me."

venti wraps his arms around you whenever he gets the chance. it's usually for comfort or out of laziness — primarily the latter. sometimes he'd just plop down next to you in the tavern and wrap his arms around your shoulders and lay there, drunkenly mumbling something you can't make out until you finally agree to take him home.

"huh, why is everything so blurry?! i can't— don't let me go, or i'll fall! and if i fall then i- huh? you won't let me fall . . . ? good!"

kaeya wraps his arms around your waist when he has a point to prove, whether it's to you or to the world. if he's trying to make a point to someone else, boom, your pretty face is in between his arms as visual credibility. and god forbid that he's trying to make a point to you, because he'll have no problem trapping you in his arms for as long as it takes to get you to agree with him on whatever the matter is.

"tch, is someone getting distracted? eyes up here, babe. look me in the eye while i tell you why i'm right about this."

diluc hugs you long and hard after a shitty day. he probably has a terrible headache and muscles in desperate need of a massage, but your hand trailing down his back makes everything a little more bearable. 

"fuck, my head is killing me. help your boyfriend out and give him a drink or two, yeah? or a massage. actually, i'd prefer that, love. you're the best."

zhongli holds you in his arms when you're about to leave. maybe it's to go to work, maybe you need groceries, and maybe you even just want to step outside. he always wants to make sure that you leave with a good memory of him — having lived for thousands of years, he knows all too well how unpredictable life is. he never wants to have the regret of seeing you for the last time without a smile on your face.

"bye, darling. i'll see you soon, stay safe... yes, i know i say the same thing every time you leave. why shouldn't i?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: i had a three year long childe phase </3

[st-danger]

What about the ghouls' horns being an erogenous zone for the ghouls and one of the Papas not realising while giving them horn scritches?

Terzo and Copia? Both touchy in their own ways. But while Terzo was intentional, every brush of fingers a loaded gun, a promise, Copia is...not so aware.

Aether is, perhaps, a little nasty for taking advantage of that. For getting a little something out of Copia that he doesn't know he's giving. Perverted. Just a little headache, he'd told him when Copia had found him resting his head in his hands. Paracetamol and other drug store sundries never work well for ghouls, even when they're taking a more human form, and certainly the effort of holding a glamour up when aching does nothing to help. So when Copia offers Aether his bed, offers to let him rest in his lap so he can rub his temples, of course he's quick to say yes.

He's a little wrong for asking Copia to remove his gloves. And he's nasty for not stopping him when absently, his fingers stroke away from his temple to rub at the base of a horn. The shock of pleasure is instant, sharp and intense and- he gasps, stomach clenching and Copia immediately withdraws.

"Oh. Is it very painful there?"

Aether sucks in a breath, and feels momentarily guilty. This behavior, he could expect it from someone like Omega. Dew, maybe. Ifrit for sure.

"It's sore," Aether mumbles, lying through his pointed teeth. Even just that little touch makes his tail go stiff. And he's about to use him to get stiff in other places, too. Oh, he shouldn't. He really shouldn't. Bad. Wrong. Dirty. And yet... "Would probably helped if you rubbed there for a little bit."

"Certainly," Copia says, and begins a gentle caress. "As long as you'd like."

Aether shuts his eyes tight, and bites his tongue at the sensation, frissions of pleasure sparking down his spine to somewhere lower. More private.

"And how is that?"

Aether curls up, draws the knee of his outside leg up just enough to provide a little coverage of his lap. Afford him a little privacy because this is going to get him hard in no time at all, and he ought to be truly ashamed.

"S'good," he says. Feeling Copia's bare hand there, when usually there is leather in the way feels even more perverse. His fingertips trace the seam where his horn meets his head and his cock begins to tingle. True to his word, he just...rubs. Touches. Hums contentedly while he thinks he's helping Aether handle the worst of his headache, wickedly unaware that he's doing more to help get his short, thick cock all red and heavy than he is the headache.

He tries very hard to keep his breath steady. To hold the whines and the low moan that threatens to bubble up safe within. He should stop Copia. But then what? Stand up and try to leave the room with his back turned so Copia doesn't see his cock pressed against his pants, tenting?

"Do your horns ever hurt?" Copia asks, and the question pulls him out of his thoughts in an instant. "I've had toothaches. Is it like that?"

"I don't know," Aether says, "I've never had one."

"Well I suppose it isn't the tooth itself that hurts, is it?" Copia muses. "It's the nerves inside, really." Oh, he does not want to listen to Copia discuss teeth. "Do your horns have nerves inside?"

They do. He doesn't need to know how many, though.

"Could you try rubbing those too? Might help. Maybe." Like he doesn't know. Like he isn't aware of the effect it has, like he's never asked Dew to stroke them while he masturbates to send him hurtling over the edge.

Slow, careful fingers start to slide up and down one, and then the other, and he feels himself grow hot and fat in his pants.

"How is that?"

"Would it- I'm a little cold," Aether lies. "Would you hand me a blanket?"

"Oh, certainly," Copia says with zero hesitation, leaning away for a moment to snatch a throw, and peel it open from how it's been folded. Draping it over Aether. Covering. Privacy. Brings it up to his neck.

He tries to make it look like a casual adjustment in position, snuggling under and crossing his hands over his chest. He has to fight to hold the moan when Copia's hands return to his head, only this time, it's both hands, one on each horn.

He uses his thumbs to brush over his nipples, feel them peaked through his shirt. Brushing back and forth and getting them good and stiff. Copia can't see under the blanket. He can pleasure himself here and he won't be any the wiser.

His face his hot.

Nasty, he thinks. So bad. But he wants to be touched and made to feel good and-

"Okay?" Copia asks.

"Maybe a little faster?" Aether asks in a small voice. The guilt leaking through. Copia doesn't notice.

"Of course, my ghoul," he says.

Aether gives his nipples a surreptitious little tweak.

"Just relax, eh? No need to be so tense. Relax for your Papa."

"Okay," he manages.

He forces himself to draw a deep breath.

Under the blanket, his dick throbs.

"Once we get this sorted, I'll rub you there, too." Copia hums. Knowing. He sounds amused.

Aether whimpers, ashamed, face hot.

[milaisreading]

Toddler manager said bad word and everyone get insane because they will absolutely choke the one who make her said that word. Pls

Author: hope u find the way I wrote this alright! Thank you for the request and for reading🩷

Warnings: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open.

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

"I am just saying..." Aryu started off dramatically as Barou rolled his eyes, along with Rin.

"It's my turn to play with her." The long haired boy finished, moving the 2-year old (Y/n) out of their reach.

"Aryu, put her down. You know very well its my turn." Rin glared.

"Since when? You played with her for 2 hours yesterday, it's my turn." Barou interjected. (Y/n) kept silent as she focused her attention on Tokimitsu, who was playing peekaboo with her.

"I am here, and then I am not." The boy laughed as she clapped her hands while smiling.

"Shouldn't I be the one to play with her now?" Nagi looked up from his food.

"Play? You will probably fall asleep and forget she is there." Niko rolled his eyes.

"Aryu, we are teammates, so we should share the playtime-"

"No." The long haired boy said, glaring at Barou and Niko for even suggesting that.

Snuffy and Chris were laughing at their antics from a few tables away, while Noa was disciplining Kaiser and Isagi, who got into an argument.

"Where did Lavinho go?" Loki wondered, keeping an eye on Karasu and Rin, just in case they started an argument.

"Lavinho went to get Hayate and Miroku, we have to practice." Otoya grumbled, a little bummed that he can't take (Y/n) with him.

"I still think kidnapping-"

"No, Bachira." Snuffy cut him off.

"Shouldn't we give her something to eat before you play with her, Aryu?" Yukimiya suggested.

"Yep! I will go and ask Teieri-san if she knows where the baby food is." Hiori volunteered. Kurona said nothing as he showed his teeth to (Y/n) again, who was clapping and laughing at them. Meanwhile Gagamaru was patting her head a little.

"Don't destroy her glamorous hair." Aryu warned.

"Calm down, Aryu." Chigiri added from another table.

"It's really calm today with them." Chris commented to Snuffy.

"Let's hope it stays that way." Noa sighed as him and Loki approached their table.

"I feel like we don't have to worry about much today." Snuffy smiled, taking his glass of water.

While the coaches were talking, Hiori came back with the food and walked over to where (Y/n) and the rest were.

"Ah! You found it!" Isagi exclaimed as him and Kaiser approached the table.

"Great, I will feed her then." The blonde said, earning protests from the rest.

"You will drop her on her head." Rin rolled his eyes.

"Let me do it instead." Barou said.

"I will do it! I will do it!" Kurona's words were heard.

"I-I can do it too, you know." Tokimitsu said, trying to take (Y/n) out of Aryu's hold.

Kunigami rolled his eyes and looked at the child-sized manager for a moment.

"Just feed her. She is probably too hungry to care who does it, right?" Kunigami asked, smiling down at (Y/n). There was a short silence as the girl blinked up at Kunigami, and while watching them, Noa felt like a headache will hit him soon.

"Fuck..." The tiny girl said, causing the boys to either gasp or make a double take at her.

"What?!" Rin yelled.

"Fu...ck...." The girl looked at Rin, confused with his reaction.

"No! Bad word, (Y/n)!" Chris yelled, running over to the group as Snuffy started chocking on his water.

"I knew something would happen." Noa said as Loki tried to calm the Italian coach down.

"Give her to me." Chris said, taking (Y/n) out of Aryu's hold, looking at the girl like a heartbroken man.

"No, (Y/n)! Bad word! You can't say that!" Chris scolded her lightly.

"Fuck!" She repeated, laughing as Chris's face turned red in anger. Noa walked over to Chris and took (Y/n) out of his arms, knowing that he is about to blow up at the Blue Lock team.

"Fuck!" (Y/n) kept on repeating as Loki and Snuffy walked over to Noa.

"Shhhh!" Loki told her, shaking a little as he saw the pissed off look on Chris.

"Where did you learn that word now, little lady?" Snuffy raised his eyebrow, patting her head as Noa kept his attention on Chris.

"Hold it!" The Frenchman said, stopping the Welsh coach as he was about to yell.

"Th-thank you, Noa-san-" Reo started, but was cut off by the same man.

"No, not that. Snuffy, cover up her ears." The Italian caught onto what was going on and covered (Y/n)'s ears up. She blinked a few times and started giggling at him.

"Alright." Noa gave a nod of approval, ignoring the betrayed looks his team was sending him.

"You little brats!!! I will make you run 300 laps for this!!!" The blonde said, causing even the least emotional members to shake in fear.

"Karasu, Rin, what did you two do? Spit it out." Loki smiled at the two, who now started to stutter.

"We didn't do anything!" Karasu yelled, face paling from Loki's glare.

"I would never curse in front of her!" Rin added in.

"Don't yell, you two." Loki warned.

"S-sorry." The two stuttered.

"What about Tokimitsu?! Why are we the only ones accused of teaching her that?!" Karasu said, pointing at the nervous boy.

"M-me?! I swear I didn't do anything!" Tokimitsu said, looking at Loki. The French coach raised his eyebrow and looked back at Karasu.

"Seriously?"

"Niko, Aryu, Barou." The three Ubers members tensed up and looked at Snuffy, immediately aware of what was going on now.

"Hold on! I did nothing! I always keep my bad words to myself when (Y/n) is around!" Barou yelled at the coach.

"Cursing isn't glamorous, Snuffy-san." Aryu said, flipping his hair, earning a few claps from Tokimitsu.

"For legal reasons, I can't curse." Niko said simply as Snuffy massaged his temple. (Y/n) laughed at the man and stretched her arms out, demanding from the man to take her, which he ended up doing.

"See, this is why boys are stupid, little lady." Snuffy said slowly, sending side glares at the three boys.

"Isagi, Kunigami, Kaiser, Gagamaru, Yukimiya, Hiori, Kurona." The boys tensed and looked at the oddly calm Noa. The man was looking his normal calm and collected self, but his eyes shined in pure rage.

"We didn't do it!!" Isagi immediately protested.

"I never curse in front of (Y/n) when she is her normal age, why would I do it now?" Yukimiya added in.

"Me neither! I swear!" Hiori and Kunigami defended themselves, a little terrified of the older man.

"The only things I talk with (Y/n) about are the things I see in the woods." Gagamaru answered timidly.

"Neither did I teach her that. I don't curse. Kaiser, you have been awfully quiet, though." Kurona said, now all the attention being on the blonde.

"Hold it! I didn't say this either!" The German defended. Chigiri, Reo, and Nagi looked at each other and then at the clearly pissed off Chris.

"Before you start. It wasn't me." Nagi blinked.

"No curse words left my mouth either." Reo followed.

"A negative from me, too." Chigiri yawned.

While they were arguing, the door to the lunch room opened and inside walked Ness, Lavinho, and Lorenzo, looking at the chaos in confusion.

"What is going on?" Ness muttered, walking to the German team.

"Ome of your teammates taught (Y/n) how to curse." Noa said, earning protests from them.

"Or was it you, Ness?" The Frenchman glared at the magenta-eyed boy.

"No, I would never swear in front of a girl." Ness quickly added, a little worried. He never saw Noa this mad.

(Y/n) had now turned her attention to Lavinho and laughed, pointing at him.

"Fuck! Fuck!" She started, while pointing at the Brazilian. Chris was heard shrieking at that and Ness fainted from the shock.

"So it was you, Lavinho?!" Bachira and Otoya yelled, shocked that their own coach taught (Y/n) that word. The Brazilian chuckled a little, angering the coaches more.

"Well, she catches on quickly." He joked.

"Don't make jokes!"

"This isn't funny!"

"My poor child!"

Lavinho rolled his eyes at Noa, Loki, and Chris's words.

"You guys are being dramatic."

"Shut up!"

Snuffy sighed and called Lorenzo over.

"Watch over her while we hash this out."

Snuffy instructed the younger as (Y/n) jumped into his arms, hugging Lorenzo tightly.

"Sure thing. Come on, I think we should put you to sleep. It's past noon." Lorenzo said, holding (Y/n) tightly as he walked out of the lunch room, leaving Lavinho at the mercy of the pissed off coaches and Blue Lock team.

[sunny-mercya]

Childs Guilt

Shikamaru Nara x Male Reader

Fandom -> Naruto

Masterlist

You hadn't been feeling well these past weeks already—stomach cramps, aching muscles, nagging hammering headaches, nausea, constant fatigue and slight waves of fever—though this week it had gotten visibly worse and once you had coughed out some blood and collapsed right after getting out of bed, Shikamaru had brought you into the hospital right away.

Sakura had checked you over and came to the conclusion, that your already broken seal—with the much heavyweight additional stress of being a parent, which Sakura could relate herself all too well with it—continues, which shouldn't even be happening in the first place, to take more damage and breaking completely down now.

Your body—more like your chakra core and mind, which can't process, without redeeming help of medical jujutsu (with by the current look of your seal, is probably too late to use) or specific sealing techniques—responds with signals of pain, trying to mend this sort of “wound” on its own.

Knowing this, Shikamaru thought he could—albeit it might not be much seen as help—relieve you from some of the stress and do most, if not even all, of the housework chores for the time being till you're feeling remotely better (or finding a way to stop your seal from breaking apart completely).

So here Shikamaru was, sitting at the dining table with his son and waiting—after being forced to do so, albeit grumpy with you about it—for you to serve today's lunch.

Now, don't get him wrong, Shikamaru would have made gladly—without hesitation or shame, most men would feel when being asked to do what their more household staying spouse would do—today's lunch, just so you could stay in bed and getting the needed rest, but you insisted to do lunch yourself (half heartily jokingly threatening him with any of your Oni's—preferably Raikou it would have been).

»I can't just lay in bed all day and do nothing. And no, laundry doesn't count as doing something.« is what you had said to Shikamaru, when he found you—instead of either laying in bed or the couch as you should and how Sakura had advised you to do—standing in the kitchen, hunched over the counters (a visibly tremor in your legs and hands) and preparing lunch.

~~~•~~~

»Here you go, soya sauce chicken katsu!« you announced happily, serving the two plates—your own appetite had significantly gone down in your sick ridden phrase, still is and the few bites you took during the cooking, were more than enough, too much even, for your stomach—to your husband and son.

Shikamaru said his thanks and started to eat, while Shikadai only moved the chicken around on his plate with his chopsticks—looking rather grossed out by it.

»Are you not feeling well Shi?« worry etched across your face as it's one thing if you're sick, but another if your son is—maybe Shikadai had gotten a seasonal cold or a stomach bug is being passed around, perhaps he just feels more tired than usual.

»Don't ask me.« muttered Shikadai, slamming the chopsticks down onto the table.

»Shikadai.« Shikamaru warned his son, giving an admonitory glance.

Shikamaru—in contrast to your knowledge—knows from his friends firsthand, that most of their children (Boruto and Sarada specifically) seemed to be getting more and more into a angry rebellious mood against them—and now Shikadai, for whatever reasons, as well it seems.

»Stop acting as if you're my dad.«

»What do you mean?« your worry turned in confusion, not understanding what exactly Shikadai is trying to say here and why he's getting so heated.

»You're not my papa and neither are you a supposed mother! All you are is a Monster, which shouldn't even exist!«

You remain silent, a crestfallen expression of hurt etched onto your face, because you knew you're a monster—having called yourself that a few times, even with a slight proudness just to provoke and to make Naruto (one of your closest friends) not feel alone anymore—but it's something entirely different when your own son (or any other person you love and hold dear) calls you such as it equals—akin to a heartache—to a stab into the heart.

»Shikadai! That's enough!« Shikamaru raised his voice—never thought he ever needed to with his son—disapproval sternness in it, because such outbursting outrageous behaviour—towards you—was line crossing and not acceptable.

»I hate you! I hate you!«

Shikadai was shouting—the hatred crystal clear to hear in his voice—by now at this point, chair screeching backwards—falling back with a thud onto the floor—when he stood up abruptly, running out of the kitchen and slamming some doors—either the front door itself or the one towards the garden—shut.

Shikamaru, standing up as well—who, even now as a parent, had never been one for strictness or tight enclosed rules—had half a mind to follow his son and reprimanded him that such behaviour wasn't acceptable as it certainly crossed a line—and while there a things, hurtful words, which a Parent should never dared to utter to their child, so are there words a child should never say to their parents.

But Shikamaru didn't go after his son, not when you have called out for him in a hoarse whisper—cup of (f.drink) slipping from your already shaky hands and shattering down onto the ground into million shards.

Turning to you, the once disappointing up-flaring anger vanish right away and morphed into concern upon seeing your pale sweat glistening face and the way how you clutched your stomach—Shikamaru, with a few steps towards you, puts his arms around you in support and walks you into the living room towards the couch.

~~~•~~~

»......something is wrong....« you rasped out in pain, fearing yourself for the worst already—a lingering sense crawling through your mind of what's happening to you and it's one of the few things which sparked pure terrific fear in you.

»Let me have a look.« Shikamaru raised up your shirt—being thankful that you wore much easier clothing nowadays and not the complicated traditional clothes—and coming to an unpleasant sight.

Your stomach, where the seal of the Oni Demons had once been placed—as you're, through all these years and despite the Oni's being long counted as friends and family, still a Vessel—looked bloody raw, skin tearing itself apart and the sealing marks coming off in a purple stream.

»Shika.....I'm scared.....I–I don't want to lose them, not again....Please, Shika, please don't let me lose them.« tears welled up in your eyes, the fear—which pulls Shikamarus heartstrings in an ache—visibly pooling in them, ascending down your cheeks and upcoming sobs—which bubbles up in your throat—threaten to escape over your lips.

Shikamaru as he shushes you gently, telling you in a promise—believing, although with not much faith in it, your husband as he had barley broken a promise before—that everything will be alright again and how he will do everything possible to not let you lose Raikou and the others—rubs his hand, in a careful and comforting manner, over your stomach.

»C'mon, let's get you back to bed, love.« Shikamaru picks you up and carries you into the bedroom—laying you down onto the bed, pulling him down with you as well, having a tight grip on his shirt.

And Shikamaru let you, holding you close while you cried yourself into sleep—squirming in pain and berating yourself, for something you weren't at faults even.

~~~•~~~

It had been days later—when Konoha had been evacuated, after being attacked by some cult Ninjas (close to being a second Akatsuki group) and either leading almost all possible Shinobi's, with a false lead, away from the village or locking them into a Genjujutsu—that Shikadai started to regret.

Seeing you—his Papa—getting purposely stabbed by the enemy, in order to protect him and Inojin—while telling Konohamaru and Mirai (despite them saying you shouldn't fight as you're still not recovered) to stay with them in protection, while you took care (in your words) of that fucker—sparked a flame of crashing guilt in Shikadai.

Shikadai argued with his Uncle—after the enemy had admitted that they're actually after you and your Oni's and seeing how brutal the attacks (which sends you crashing into the ground a few times already) you're receiving are—how he needs to help his papa and starting to cry out in frustration, anger and fear, when Konohamaru holds him back.

They don't understand, they just don't seem to understand the immense guilt and fear Shikadai feels, because this fight could risk your life and Shikadai didn't want to lose his Papa—not when these hateful words he had shouted at you, would be your last memories of him.

What Shikadai had said, wasn't true—you're aren't a monster, but it took the summoning of Raikou and the other three Oni's (who not only grand him sole protection, but also the whole village and Shikadai realise the extent of how strong you really are) and you literally sacrificing yourself—out of loyalty and parental love—to make Shikadai understand.

All Shikadai wants was to apologise and telling you, how much he loves you and how thankful he is to have you as his Papa.

I'm Sorry.

[user2772636]

Douzième Fille

12th Girl

××《☆》××

××《☆》××

Some chances are taken too late. You only realise what you've lost when you're starting to lose them. Goodbyes are hard, especially when you've just started.

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Joseph Descamps x Reader

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST, turn back now I'm warning you, goodbyes, intimate scenes, MAJOR heartbreak, swearing

References to Call Me By Your Name

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Chapter eight: Joseph, Joseph, Joseph

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It was hot that morning. I woke up in a layer of sweat, windows exuding heat, hair clinging on my neck, my blanket on the hardwood floor.

George sits on the window frame, taking the heat opposite of how I was.

I get up, groaning with a slight headache. I place my feet on the floor, keeping my eyes closed for the time being, trying to relax and gain back my senses.

There'd been a feeling in me this whole time, but as I woke up, it felt so much more evident. A clench in my chest.

I don't know where it came from or when it started, but I felt it there. It never really took my attention. Maybe it was from whatever position I was in. Or if I hadn't eaten or drank enough.

Summer is just around the corner, but I don't want it to start. It was always something I looked forward to.

Dipping into cold waters under the heat of the afternoon sun, eating fruits with their juices spilling over countertops and silverware. Tanning, sunburns, dry mouths from salt water. Then winter comes and you wait for summer again.

It's probably because I'm expecting something I know won't be there. But what is it? I have a summer job now, and I'm headed to Paris. What else could I possibly want?

I know exactly what. It's not that I'm afraid of it. It's because I can't change it. And it hurts.

Summer is when I'm supposed to be happy. He's ruined all of that now. I've got to get a grip, too. He won't care, so I shouldn't. But I care. I care a lot.

This isn't something I should think about. I'll forget him as soon as I get to Paris. I'll forget anything that's happened between us, even if nothing really did. I'll forget, and I'll forever have that feeling that I felt now. That something's there, and I'm not giving it attention.

Because deep down, I know what it is. And, it hurts.

××《☆》××

The walk to school was short-lived and ordinary. Nothing special happened. It was just brighter; which didn't really match my mood.

I was also a bit late. Most of the students were already heading in, and the bell rang as soon as I stepped through the gate.

I make my way up the staircase, keeping my head downcast and not paying anyone any mind.

All throught class it wasn't special. We did assignments, lectures, and all common school things. But the sound of pages being flipped, ink on paper, pattering of floorboards, it comforted me. I knew those sounds would stay with me throughout my life. People don't.

When class was dismissed, I took my time. I might not see this school again. I might move back to Paris. I might not see Michèle or Simone as much. And I won't, more so refuse to see Joseph ever.

It was afternoon now, so everything's brighter than this morning. And everything's hotter, too. I shade my face with my hands, squinting to see Callum's well-known car on the side of the road.

He's outside leaning on the door, smoking. I'm guessing his third cigarette today. He still has his wide smile on, and I wonder if his cheeks ever hurt.

"Good afternoon, pretty girl." He says as he patches his cigarette out. "How are you?"

"Hot." I shrug, going around the car with Callum as he opens the passenger door for me. I get inside, him as well after doing another roundabout the car.

"Well, love how you state what I already know." I think about that sentence for a while, sensing it was off. I realise what he meant, and I smack his arm.

"Oh, what now? Let me be funny!" I roll my eyes as he starts the car, a faint smile on my face. One thing I know for sure is that Callum is one of the people who would stay with me throughout my life. He was the reason I'm going back to Paris, the reason I have somewhat of a career. And I'm glad I met him, even with the circumstances of difficult feelings.

Whilst I talked about my day to him, I had realised nothing special happened because I didn't interact with Joseph. The day felt gloomy. It felt so underwhelming, so boring, because he wasn't involved.

"And it's so weird because we hadn't talked since that dinner." I tell Callum, who's been listening to me this whole time. We decided to go to a lake to cool off. It was a bit well known, but not too crowded since the school season isn’t off yet.

I made a quick pick up in my house, including a goodbye to George.

Going back, Callum nods. His hand flexes on the steering wheel.

"So, let me round this up. Joseph's mother invited you to dinner, then teased both you and him, then when he walks you out to their place, some girl-"

"The girl from the alley."

"The girl from the alley pops up from nowhere, fully dressed up."

"Exactly."

"But, why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"I mean, sure, I've never met her, but who could compete against you?"

"Okay, Callum, whatever-"

"No, I mean, how stupid can Joseph be to pick anyone but you?" This makes my breath catch on my throat.

"Don't call him stupid, Callum. He's fucking brilliant."

He quiets down, smile fading just a bit from my serious tone.

"Sorry." I had apologised.

"No need. It's fine. I just... you know what I meant."

"Yeah, I knew what you meant. Just... instict, you know?"

"I get that. You're in love, so you're defensive." He shrugs and starts to smile again. He's holding in a laugh.

"Shut up." I glare.

"Not gonna happen." I don't want it to happen.

××《☆》××

The next morning was the same. It was hot, I took a longer shower, got dressed, said goodbye to George, and headed to school.

This time, I met with Simone. I ask her about Michèle, getting worried that she hasn't come to school for two days straight. Before she could respond, she stopped in her tracks, seeing Jean Pierre across the hall.

"I- I'm sorry, Y/N, but I really need to talk to Jean Pierre. Stay here, please?" She scrunches up her face in guilt, but I simply shrug it off, knowing that if she wants to talk to someone, I shouldn't stop her. Especially if that someone is her boyfriend. Or whatever he is.

They go ahead to talk, me staying at the same place she left me, keeping a close eye on them. I lean against the wall, the hallway now a lot more quiet than when the bell rang a few minutes ago.

Their conversation lasted for only a bit because I saw Jean Pierre walking away. I head to Simone's side.

"So, what did you talk about?" She's still, and there's no emotion on her face. I worry.

"He just broke up with me." Oh. I pull her into a side hug, not knowing whether she was devastated with the news or if she was okay with it. She looked like both but neither at the same time.

I nod towards the stairwell, deciding for the both of us we should head to the courtyard to have our break. Or the bathroom for a quick cry.

We pass by a group of boys, and one of them keeps his eyes on me. Then, when I turned to glance at who it was, I realised it was just an eye.

In that moment, everything in me faded away. All the hate towards him, all the sadness, all the misunderstanding. I just wanted to talk to him again. For one last time. So I did.

"Joseph," I stop in my tracks. I tell Simone to keep going, that I'm fine left alone. She nods in acknowledgement and walks down the staircase.

I turn around to meet his stare. My breath catches in my throat, not having this kind of interaction in a while.

I walk towards him, a bit slow. "Can I talk to you?" I pause. "Alone?"

His friends tease him and push him around lightly, but his eyes are still as well as his whole body. I fear his heart might be, too.

He simply nods and silently eyes his friends to go. We're left alone near the window and take a seat in the space.

"You must be wondering why I'm talking to you again so suddenly." He stays quiet, looking down.

"Joseph..." I scoot closer. I bring both my hands up to his cheeks, only hovering above them.

He stays silent. I bring my hands back until he leans forward and into them, gently grabbing my wrists and holding them still. I feel the air come out of his nose as he exhales, body slumping down.

"I'm sorry. For everything. Ignoring you was one of the most stupid things I've done. Being angry was second." I tilt my head to see if he's opened his eye, but he keeps them closed. His thumb rubs one of my wrists.

"You should be with anyone you want to be with. It shouldn't matter to me. But, it did." He lifts his head, peering an eye. His mouth opens, then closes again. I keep going.

"I missed you. I've been missing you. I miss all the times we weren't mad at each other." I caress his cheeks, and he leans into my touch.

"I was never mad at you." Joseph says, but I shake my head.

"You were. And that's fine. It's okay to be mad at me. I get it." He furrows his brows at me.

"Don't say that. I was never mad at you. I've never been mad at you."

"But what about all those times you shouted at me? Those times in the streets?" He sighs deeply, not as relaxed as before.

"I was mad at myself, but I was letting it out on you. And I'm sorry about that. But trust me, I could never be mad at you."

We just stare at each other after. The silence fills the air, and it's the first time it was like this in a while. I had to tell him.

"I'm leaving." I feel his breath stop, and it's so nauseating.

"What?" He mumbles out.

"I'm leaving." I repeat.

"For the summer?" He squints, the gears turning in his head. I wish it was only for the summer.

"No," I look down. "For good."

He pulls away from my hands, sitting straight again.

"No..." He shakes his head. "Don't lie to me."

"I would never." I look him dead in the eye, not wanting him to think that I would ever do.

"Exactly. I know you'd never. So why are you lying to me now? This is some joke, right? Like a cliffhanger for next year. Right?" I simply stare at him.

"Y/N, please tell me you're lying. I'll let it slide. Tell me you're lying." He begs, grabbing a hold of my dropped hands.

I don't move. I don't look at him. I don't say anything. That was enough of an answer.

"No..." He whispers. He does it all over again as he gets up and paces. He rubs at his eye, and I get up and say "Stop."

He stills. I see the tear stains reflect off his cheeks from the sunlight outside coming in. His head is down as it was before. I sigh deeply, placing my hands on his shoulders.

"Come here." I pull him in, and he immediately engulfs me in an embrace. He sobs desperately, and I try my hardest not to join him.

A series of "please don't go"s spill out of his quivering mouth, and my brain goes numb. He's shaking. His heart is pounding. His mind's all over the place.

I hush him, rubbing his back like I do with a baby, whispering nothings into his ear. When he stops, his body is still slumped down to hold mine.

"We wasted so many days. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asks once we're sat back down the window.

"I tried. I promise. We were still mad." He laughs, and it's been such a long time that my brain got nostalgia.

"Fuck. I'm gonna miss you all over again." He bites his lip as he looks down, fiddling with the inseam of his pants. I purse my lips together.

"We'll keep in touch." He shakes his head.

"You'd be everywhere."

"I'll call your home phone."

"I'm not gonna be home in the summer."

"I'll call wherever you are."

"Thank god you thought of something for that because I was ready to start sobbing again." He laughs again, and the suns back in his eyes. Like it left and came back.

I grab a hold of his hands, stopping him from fidgeting. I make him look back up at me.

"I promise I'll phone you every day. I'll send you letters, postcards, and pictures. I'll even send you some magazines I'm in." I shrug, and he smiles.

"I don't think you have to do that last one. I'm keeping my eye on every magazine booth here on out." We chuckle together. We stay quiet again, then Joseph tucks my hair behind my ear.

"You're beautiful, Y/N Pardine. You'll do great out there. I'm only a phone call or a pen away." I flush at his bluntness and smile sweetly. He does, too.

××《☆》××

The party happened. We spent almost the whole time together. We had even danced.

An American song called "At Last" plays in the background as Joseph holds me, dancing slowly.

His hands cup my waist, my arms wrapped around his neck, his forehead against mine. I play with the ends of his hair as he caresses my body.

We laugh, we drink, we talk, and we glance. We do what we missed. We held each other. We absorbed one another.

There was a time in that party that happened between Simone and Jean Pierre. Thank god he finally said something of the truth, because that breakup was a straight lie.

Anyways, the night ended, but nothing happened. I don't know what I was expecting, but there was a feeling something special could've happened to me. Like a string tugging on my insides.

Something to do with pretty pink lips.

××《☆》××

The next morning, I woke up with his arms around me.

He smelt of fading whiskey, cigarette smoke, and expensive cologne. Just as he always did.

His eye patch was off, his hair a mess, and his jacket's on the floor. His shirt is wrinkled, he's breathing evenly as one does in their sleep, and there's a small snore coming from him. It's adorable.

When I get up, or at least try to, his grip on me tightens. Not in a way that hurts, but it's strong enough for me to come collapsing on his chest. He's warm again.

"Five more minutes." He groans, and I sigh deeply. Five more minutes will be alright.

Ten minutes pass, and only then do we get up. I hand him a towel and some clothes, my father's again, then one of my own, then usher him to the bathroom. I fix our bed, pick his jacket up off the floor, and fold it neatly.

Once I hear the shower turn off and the door creak, I try my best not to turn and just... stare. It's creepy, I know. But, who could blame me? I mean, I was leaving for good.

Right. Leaving for good.

I feel his arms wrap around my waist, his head tucking into my neck, his nose poking at some sensitive spots. I squeal silently, and he chuckles to himself, the vibration of his chest spreading around my back.

"Want some breakfast?" He whispers. George lies by the windowsill, watching the both of us in embrace. His tail moves around, eyes blinking slowly. He's glowing from the sunlight hitting him.

"If you don't mind. Please, and thank you." I turn my head a bit towards him. He nods, pressing a kiss to my hair. I smile to myself whilst I check things off my list last minute.

He's done with breakfast by the time I finish my quick shower. I'm fully dressed now. The only things missing are my coat and my suitcases.

Joseph sits across from me. We were in this position before.

"So, how's Callum? Still a prick?" He says as he stabs on some of the eggs he made. I finish my bite before answering.

"Callum's doing fine. I don't know why you've always been so off about him. He's a good guy." I shrug, tilting my head for an answer. "What's got you like that?"

He sighs, dropping his utensils gently on the table top. I place a hand over his, and he turns it to hold mine.

"Felt like he stole you from me." He mumbles, but it was clear enough for me to hear.

I purse my lips at this remark. "No one's gonna keep me away from you. Except that girl that actually did." I laugh as Joseph groans.

"I already told you, I didn't even know her." From this, I kept going.

"Well, then why did you basically call me a slut?" I raise my eyebrows in amusement, as to show that I moved on from it. Still, I was curious.

He pauses. For a long time. I begin to worry, thinking he actually meant it. I try to pull my hand away, but his grip turns firm.

"No." Joseph whispers out of desperation. He's taking deep breaths. I can tell he's overthinking. But I need to know the truth.

"You've got to tell me, Joseph. Otherwise, we'll shrug each other off again. Do you want that?" I push on him. He needs to tell me. I need to know.

"No. I don't want that. Just..." He closes his eyes, readying himself.

"The boys wanted to talk to you. I couldn't let them. I knew how they meant. And I'll just put it simply that they meant badly. So I had to tell them things about you that weren't true so they could get pushed away from the idea of you." He cups my cheeks from across the table. I lean into his touch.

"I don't want anyone to take advantage of you. Thank whatever god is up there that I found out because if I hadn't..." He breathes in deeply, caressing my face with his thumb. "I don't even want to think about that. Okay?"

I nod. I get up from my seat to give him a hug. He remains seated, his face pressed up on my stomach. I rub his back and comb fingers through his hair.

He stands up slowly, hands still attached to my hips. They roam up to my wait as he hovers over me, and I feel my breath hitch in my throat. He's so close. His nose just bumps into mine. He's looking down at me. At my eyes. At my lips. His breath is haggard.

"Callum's probably waiting." I whisper, my breath fanning over both our lips. Our lips only an inch away from eachother.

"Let him wait." His voice is low. He's starting to make my knees buckle.

A loud crash is heard throughout the flat. I yelp away from him. Now we're feet away from each other, cheeks flushed and hair tousled. As if we did something. And we didn't even.

George meows on the kitchen counter, staring at us innocently with the keys now on the floor. I sigh deeply, walking towards him and picking him up.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, but," I hand George to Joseph. "My baby's yours."

His eye widens in surprise, then he switches his gaze from me to the cat, then back to me, then back to the cat.

"I can't..." I shake my head, smiling.

"He's yours, Joseph. That's final. He already loves you more than me. It's alright. Plus everytime you see him, you think of me."

He flushes, demeanour relaxing. "I already think of you too much."

It's my turn to flush now. But I respond. "Good."

××《☆》××

We arrive at the train station. I bid a thank you and goodbye to Joseph's mother, hugging her for a short while. Joseph carries all my belongings.

I spot Callum at a bench.

"Callum, you remember Joseph." I nod to Joseph. He drops my things next to Callum's.

"Of course I do. The infamous lover boy. It was nice meeting you, man." Callum shakes Joseph's hand. Joseph purses his lips tightly, gripping on Callum's hand.

"I'm still not sure about you... but she trusts you, so I should, too." Callum nods firmly. They let go of their handshake.

"Well, I better get our things in. Say your final goodbyes." He moves to go in the train. Me and Joseph are alone again.

"Got your pretty things intact?" Joseph teases, and I simply laugh.

"Yes, I do." I look up at him. He moves closer, hands on his hips.

"One day, I'll hear those words again." There's a feeling in me. Like dejavu, but a feeling from the future. I couldn't explain it, but what he said made sense. Like I knew, I would say those words again, too.

We stand in silence. I walked closer, embracing him for one last time. He leans down, his hands tight around me, his head over mine. I feel a lump in my throat.

We held each other for one last time. We smelt each other for one last time. We absorbed each other one last time.

I try to pull away, but he pulls me back in. The lump grows bigger.

When we finally pull away, my eyes start to sting. I palm my throat, trying to push that growing lump down. His hands are on my shoulders. He lets go.

"Goodbye, Y/N Pardine." He mutters, his voice breaking.

"Goodbye, Joseph Descamps." I mock him with a smile on my face.

I turn around and walk on the train. Joseph follows me, guiding me up the steps. His hand holds onto mine. I hang on the pole.

The train blares its horns, and it starts to move very slowly. The tears escape my eyes. He wipes it away.

"Y/N," he says. "I love you."

I sob. I laugh. It's a bit ugly.

"I love you, too. So much."

He stands on his toes and kisses me. His pretty pink lips are finally on mine. I grip the trains pole harder.

The trains blares again, and my kisses become more desperate. The train moves faster and faster, and Joseph starts to run. His lips start parting from mine, tears dropping even more.

"Come back to me, Y/N!" He shouts. He's still running. He's laughing now. And he's crying. He's beautiful. He gets farther, farther, and farther.

Then he's gone.

××《☆》××

End- Chapter eight: Joseph, Joseph, Joseph

Next- Chapter nine: ______

××《☆》××

I'm actually crying omfg. This hits so diff w the song in the background. Its short but omfg the angst. Help me. Hahhahahahaha.

[vulpixisananimal]

(you leave for one loop. One day. And it becomes a blinding disaster. Oh yes, Stardust gets a loop where they can relax and don't need to worry about anything and look what happens.)

(Because of you.)

(I did not do anything.)

(Oh sure! Was I mistaken? Was I mistaken thinking that the one who's always causing trouble, always making things harder, was the one who messed everything up!?!)

(I had to do what I had to do. It's fixed now.)

(Fixed?!? Is that all you care about?!?)

(You grip the sides of the sink. You might be sick again at this rate. You couldn't tell if the nausea was from looping or from the mental argument you were having.)

(It's fine! Really, it's wonderful even! You could share what you learned now. And figure all this out. It's fine.)

(But first, cue Isabeau.)

"You alright, Sif?--" >> "--Just some loopy stuff, not that bad, I'll meet you for breakfast!"

(It's so easy to slip back into the old routine. It's comfortable. It's easy. You can just zone out and respond in exactly the right way. And yet, it made your skin crawl. After all you've been through you're still supposed to memorize a play? What a joke.)

(You go through the motions, get fully dressed, go downstairs, greet your party. Quesadillas again. They'd probably still be tasty, though you wont want them for a bit after these loops.)

"You sure you're alright??--" >> "--Do you think that's why you're sick again?"

(You were zoning out a lot. Change things up.)

"That would make sense, craft exhaustion, right?"

"Alright eat up then 'Frin, gotta get your energy back." (Nille gave you more food like last time.)

"At least let me finish first breakfast." (You say, smiling.) "I am hungry though."

(You still weren't sure if you felt better or worse after taking some time to relax. Although, that 'relaxing' time was cut short. You take a bite of the quesadilla.)

(??!?!!?!)

"Is Bonnie feeling okay?" (You ask.)

"They woke up with a headache, I think it's from that bonk from yesterday." (Nille looked worried at you bringing it up.) "Just, don't mention the burnt food."

(Odile spoke up from behind her book.) "It shouldn't be from that bang on the head. No concussion, any booboos they had Mirabelle healed up."

"Well what else would it be then."

(You quietly eat up the quesadilla. Just think for a second, Loop. It's probably nothing. Just focus on the task at hand.)

(You and I know that it's impossible for the past to change. If something did change, it would be us who did it.)

(So why does Bonnie have a headache?)

(. . .)

(You're still not giving me all the details~)

(It does not matter, it will distract you.)

(You're afraid arent you~ You're afraid that things are going to change~)

(As are you.)

(I'M at least trying to-)

(You bite your tongue.)

"Blinding-" (You exclaim.) "Ow."

"Everything alright, Siffrin?" (Odile asked.)

"Oh I just bit my tongue, eating too fast."

"Aw no!!" (Isa said, concerned.) Want me to check if it's ok??"

"So you can kiss it better?" (You reply, almost instinctually.)

"!??!?!!!?!?"

"HA!"

"Get a ROOM you two!"

(Isabeaus face was getting off shade, it took you a second before you processed what you just said and what it meant.)

"OH. UH. I DIDNT??? MEAN, UH???"

(you hide yourself in your hat. That's??? So embarrassing?!?!? Oh stars you said that as a JOKE. "I banged my elbow kiss it better." Stupid, stupid Loop! You're making such a fool of yourself.) ". . . S-sorry."

"Noit'sokI'mokit'sfine." (And now Isa was covering his face.)

(. . .)

(Not a WORD from you.)

(There's a bit of an awkward pause before casual conversation starts again. You mostly just zone out untill Bonnie comes back.)

(They looked. . . Fine? It was hard to tell from last time, maybe a bit more tired looking? Nothing physicaly wrong, not that it looked like, they caught you staring at stuck out their tongue at you and make a "nyeeh" noise. You stick your tongue out back.)

"Quite done, you two?" (Odile said without looking up.)

"'Frin started it."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Alright maybe I did."

(Mirabelle gasped.) "Siffrin? Admiting to cheekyness??"

"Truly a dark day." (Odile commented.)

(You all chuckle.)

(Here again. Back at the explination table. You know you could keep the loops a secret this time, but no. You needed help, you did ask for it after all~)

(Might as well make it fun, though. You look around and see a few scraps of note paper, you grab one and quickly write something down. Next, who to pass it to. . .)

(Odile is still in her book, Mirabelle was checking on Bonnie, Isabeau. . . Passing a note to Isa right now's a bad look. Nille, then. You crumple the paper into a ball and gently throw it at her as she's about to take a bite of food. She pauses and looks at you. You hold up a finger and wink.)

(You lean back in your chair.) "Let's skip going to the defenders, when we head there later today it just becomes a whole mess."

"You looped again!?!?--" >> "--I'll look for one of those next time."

(You hear a stiffled laugh come from Nille, looking over, she had de-crumpled the note and looked at it. She gave you a look and held it up.)

"So do you just have the whole crabbing day memorized, Siffy?" (The note was that whole exchange written down. Nille passes the note to Mirabelle to look.)

(You stick out your tongue.) "Maybe~"

"What's our next line then, Siffrin." (Odile had closed her book, now quite curious.)

"Well, bonnies next line is 'that's crabbing stupid.'"

"Language."

"No that comes after Bonnies line." (Ok this is kind of fun actually)

"Alright, but what's your next line." (Mirabelle says, curious.)

(You nod.) "That this will be try number four, or five, First was me and Odile at the library, rest of you to the Defenders place, Bonnie came running back to us because Mira was framed for kidnapping Bonnie."

"!?!?!?--" >> "--Language."

(There's a bit of a pause as everyone catches up to the exchange that just happened, and laughs.)

"Well, at least you're making light of it?"

"Tee hee, I try~" (Now, how to explain things quickly.) "Next loop we all went to the Defenders and bumped into an old friend of Isabeaus, going by Ramos now. We got split up, Ramos and Isa were acting suspicious, we confronted Ramos and they had a wishing star pendant like from yesterday. There was also a strong mint smell around. And then last loop Mira Isa and Odile went to figure out if mint was a sign of anything."

"That's, quite a lot to take in." (Said Odile.) "Well, did we find anything?"

(You nod) "Yep, a strong mint smell is assosiated with Mind Craft. It makes sense really, with how Isa and Stardust acted~"

". . . Stardust?"

(You wince. Stars! STARS! Oh great you were just TALKING and explaining things and DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Alright, fine, fine, you'd have to explain this anyways probably.)

(You could try again.)

"R-right, aha, well. . ." (You shook your head, lights, camera...) "Well it's a bit of a story, Mirabelle had the wonderful idea that we take a loop to rest up! Oh very, very thoughtful~"

"Uh, th-thank you?" (Mira looked confused, well, everyone did a little.) "Did, did it go alright?"

"Oh it did! For a bit. And then our good friend Ramos showed up. Stardust, Siffrin, thought it would be a wonderful idea to talk to them to figure out a few things. Buuuuuuuut then Ramos grabed their hand and he started acting ~very different~"

(You felt like you were going to have a heart attack. When was the last time you talked to your party? REALLY talked to them. It was on the final day, wasn't it? And even then you were all worried about Stardust. You just need to keep acting.)

"Let me guess. Siffrin was effected by mind craft in some way, but you weren't?" (Odile, like usual, was ahead of the curve.)

"Correct~ Hello by the way, your friendly neighborhood Loop here to help~"

"Oh! Good to talk to you again then!" (Mirabelle said excitedly.)

"Yeah. Lot cooler than 'Frin." (Bonnie said all cheekily.)

"A devistating blow to someone not even here. Are they around at all, by the way?" (Odile asked.)

"Well. . ."

(We shouldn't bring him to front. They are likely still effected by mind craft.)

(And how would you know that?)

(I don't.)

(Exactly. You tap your chin.) "Well I could get them, but we're worried that mind craft is still effecting him."

"Still?"

"But, didn't you turn back time?!?"

"Yeah, it never happened then, right?"

(You shrug.) "Kinda. Memories stay. Our body keeps some of it's changes, scars and muscle growth, but not wounds. We keep our fighting experience too, naturally. And for some reason, equipment."

"Oh right... Like the bow my classmate got me." (Mirabelle touched their bow, the same one.) "That really hurt my head to think about."

(Nille rubbed her head.) "Well if you get them we can check easily. And if Siffy's still gotten mind crabbery we'll..."

"Then we make sure Loop doesn't get effected either!!" (Isabeau said confidently.)

"Or undo it. It should be easy enough, unless-" (Odile starts)

"-it was powered by a wish." (You finish with her.)

". . This is weird." (Nille says.)

"Give me a day and I could recite those two days in Dormont by heart~"

"Even the sleepover?"

"Especially the sleepover."

(You all chuckle a bit at that. It's. . . Kind of nice, being able to be open about this. Even if you wish it could be in better circumstances.)

"I've got two plans today." (You say, as you take another bite of food.) "First, we'll all check on Stardust and see how he's handling things~ "

"Rude to talk and eat, Loopert." (Nille sais smugly.)

(You choke on your food. Loopert?!?!)

"Hah! Loopert."

"Hehe. It's a cute nickname."

(You sink down in your cloak and quickly finish that bite of food.) "Any chance we could rethink the nickname?"

"No!!! You're Loopert now!!!"

(Great.)

(Well if we they wont remember at least.)

"Alright alright, well the other thing I want to do is try talking to Ramos agian."

"Huh."

"So daring..."

"Are you sure about that, Loop." (Mirabelle seemed worried.)

"Well, I'm curious how they'll react. The last two times we've bumped into eachother they've been. . . acting strange. Oh, and I would like to talk to them one on one if possible."

"You do realize if that mind craft stuck this could be increddibly risky." (Odile looked concerned. Understandibly so.)

"I'd like to be around in case they try anything. . ." (Said Isabeau.)

(You nod.) "Well, if you all could stay nearby in case something does happen, that would be great."

"Why do you need to talk to them alone anyways?" (Nille asked.)

"W-well. . ." (How to put this.) "I don't want to be rude, but you all are terrible actors."

"Ah. . ."

"Oh. . ."

"Ouch, but fair."

"Sorry." (You shrug.) "One of the best advantages of not talking about the loops was knowing exactly how things go. But we made a promise to not keep secrets soooo~"

"No no, I understand Loop." (Mirabelle looked a bit dejected.) "I don't know if I'd be able to keep a straight face."

"Heh, I could do it." (Bonnie said smugly.)

"Sure you could Boniface." (Nille replied.)

"Yeah!!! I could!!!"

"I'll go sign you up for theater classes then."

"NO!!!!"

(Heh, that would be a sight to see.)

(At least we have a plan.)

[whump-imagines]

Cereal Aisle Meet Cute

Kelly x reader

WC: 810

Requested fill

---

You were walking down the cereal aisle trying to finish your grocery shopping as quickly as possible. About an aisle and a half ago you'd started feeling nauseous and it was only getting worse.

The further you walked the more you felt like you were struggling to drag your feet any further.

Next, you noticed a building headache and the shakes. The jittery feeling was what had you remembering you'd barely eaten breakfast in your rush to get out of the house.

Before you could decide what to do next, your vision was tunneling and you felt like you were spinning then it was dark.

Opening your eyes, you were greeted by concerned green eyes looking down at you. You quickly realized you were laying on the floor. “Oh, no.” This had to be the most embarrassing moment of your life. You tried to sit up but the stranger stopped you.

“Don't move,” he ordered. He was pressing something to your forehead.

“I'm fine.” You tried to argue.

He looked like he didn't believe you. “You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Let me check for a concussion first.”

You snorted. “What are you, a doctor?”

Flashing you a cocky smirk, he shook his head. “No, I'm a firefighter. My name is Kelly, what's yours?”

You introduced yourself as you realized you'd been staring at him.

He let go of the pressure on your head and placed his fingers in both of your hands. “Can you squeeze my fingers?”

You did as he asked while arguing, “I really am fine. I think I just didn't eat breakfast… low blood sugar.”

He nodded, guiding you hand to hold the cloth, or maybe a napkin, against your forehead. “Follow my finger.”

Again, you did as he asked.

He pulled his phone out his pocket and turned on the flashlight. He shined the light in your eyes and pain exploded across your head. “Ouch. Jesus, why did that hurt so much?”

“Because you have a concussion. I'm going to call you an ambulance.”

“Ugh,” you groaned. “Is that necessary? I really think I'll be fine.”

“That gash in your head is probably going to need stitches and you have a concussion. You need a head CT to check for a brain bleed,” he explained.

“Oh.” Suddenly you were trying not to panic. You couldn't bleed to death in a cereal aisle. That had to be the most embarrassing death possible.

“Hey, just breathe,” Kelly soothed, pulling your attention back. “It's not likely but there is a small possibility, best to be safe.” He dialed as held the phone up to his ear quickly giving your location and explaining what happened.

Now knowing how bad this could be, you were trying not to panic. You could feel yourself starting to wheeze with quick breaths.

“Deep breaths, sweetheart. Just follow me.” He grabbed your hand and pressed it to his chest. He took exaggerated deep breaths for you to follow.

“Is there anyone you want me to call to meet you at the hospital?” he asked, possibly in an attempt to distract you.

You shook your head. “No. I just moved here six months ago.” You tried to take a deep breath. “The only people I know are my coworkers.”

By the time you'd calmed down the paramedics were there. They greeted Kelly like they were best friends and something about that helped you to finally relax.

You weren't sure when you'd grabbed onto Kelly's hand but as they rolled you out of the store you realized you were squeezing it hard. You eased the pressure off and quickly apologized to him.

“Squeeze all you need to, I can take it.” He winked at you and let go of your hand as the medics loaded the stretcher into the ambulance. He climbed in and sat beside you taking your hand once more.

You furrowed your eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Riding to the hospital with you,” he stated as if it was the most obvious thing.

“You don't have to do that. I'm sure you have better things to do with your day.”

“Unless you want me to leave, I don't have anything else to do. You shouldn't have to be alone.”

You sighed a breath of relief. “Thanks.”

Eight Months Later

Kelly walked into the bedroom where you were getting ready to go grocery shopping with him. He leaned close and pressed a kiss to your cheek. “Did you eat breakfast? I don't need you fainting on me at the store.”

Rolling your eyes, you grumbled. “One time and you never live it down.”

He just chuckled as he pulled you into a hug. “I'll stop teasing you… some day.”

“Sure, you will.” You pull him in and kiss him. “I don't regret that skipped breakfast. It's the reason I met you.”

[bloodlustngore]

Go get your girl - Emily Prentiss

So I promised this yesterday but I literally rewrote half of it instead bcos I hated the way I wrote it, anyway it's finished now! I hope you all enjoy this, its been a while since I wrote for Emily, so bare with me if its bad :/

Summary: Tara convincing Emily to go get her girl :) Bcos shes tired of them not admitting it after seeing Emily rather jealous.

Warnings: None, just fluff (towards end)

You had been trying to focus at work all day, since this case that you and the team had uncovered about a network of serial killers. That must of formed as a way to communicate with each other during the pandemic. You'd been on a case today, but the unsub had killed himself, as Rossi stated the one in charge of this network was probably making them kill themselves once they were caught or if the team was getting close. 

Because whoever was in charge knew the FBI were now involved, well the BAU. Emily had been trying so hard to speak to the higher ups about this, everything unfortuntely had to go through tht annoying guy, Director Bailey. She's expressed her annoyance to you these last three days nd you don't blame her. 

It had gotten later and everyone decided to head home but contact each other if they had a theory or something else came up, like they usually do. You headed over to Emily's office, hoping that she wasn't too busy. 

Knocking on her door "come in" she says, with a sigh. She seemed rather annoyed, and again you wouldn't blame her. But now you felt bad that you were interrupting something. You opened the door and stepped in anyway. The moment Emily saw it was you, she looked up and gave you a smile. Her mood seemed to have completely changed whenever you've stepped into the room these passing few days, and honestly it was the same with you. 

The thing on your mind was probably something you shouldn't speak to your boss about but Emily was also a close friend and the two of you were always there for each other when needed. Hell, she called you nearly everyday when the pandemic hit, the whole team did sometimes. Considering neither of you could really see each other in person at that time. 

You tried to stay calm, but that went out of the window the moment you paced up and down in front of her desk. "Y/n, are you alright. Please sit down, you're going to give yourself a headache" Emily mentions, you sigh and stand still as best you could. 

"Whats on that beautiful mind of yours?" Emily smiled again. You tried to hide the fact you blushed a little when she said that, but it wasn't working well. Why were you going on this date when the woman you really want is right in front of you? Maybe because she doesn't feel the same, or because you can't exactly date someone you work with without many complications...or maybe its because an old friend set you up with this woman for this date tonight. And now it seems too late to cancel, because this woman was one of her friends, there wasn't even a spark with you the first time you met.

"Well first of all I wanted to check up on you. So, how're you doing Emily?" You asked, sitting on her desk in front of her. Emily let out a sigh of hesitation, and you knew she was clearly stressed about something, this case and the higher ups saying that they don't have enough evidence or leway, as Director Bailey has told her, again. 

"As good as I can be right now, this case and on top of trying to get good enough evidence of a serial killer network...its stressful but I can do it" Emily mentions. You give her a soft smile, sympathising with the older woman. God, shes so beautiful. You thought. You wished that you could just tell her how you felt. You're a grown adult why is it so hard?

"If anyone can do it, I know that you section chief Emily Prentiss can" you smiled, making Emily chuckle and also playfully roll her eyes at you. That file she was looking at? Completely forgotten about now, ever since you walked into the room in fact. Emily's attention was on you. 

"Em, if you're busy we can just talk later" you mention, realising. 

"I'm never too busy for you, Y/n. You know that. So whats going on?" Emily replies, questioning you again. 

"Its just that I have a date tonight, with this woman an old friend set me up with. I've met her once but theres just no spark between us, she seems to think so and I can't even cancel the date without feeling awful because shes been gushing to my friend about it. Its just theres someone else...and I can't get her off my mind" you admitted. 

Emily's expression changed, there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her eyes and although the older woman thought Y/n wouldn't notice, she certainly did. "Oh, you don't have to feel bad for wanting to cancel Y/n. Just text her and explain that you didn't feel anything and maybe just want to be friends." Emily adds. 

"But my friend set us up and I don't want to seem, disappointing, does that make sense?" you chuckled, you wanted to move on from Emily, even though she doesn't know you like her that way, but you also wanted to tell her. So what if you liked this other woman...but also still liked Emily? You'd feel awful because you know what your heart wants. 

"Then your friend isn't a very good friend if she feels that way about you wanting to cancel on this woman. Y/n, you're smart, caring, funny and not to mention beautiful." Emily mused, making you blush even harder. 

"Emily, stop." You chuckled, nervously. You so badly wanted to kiss Emily right now despite still being at work. "What, I'm just telling the truth" she chuckles, giving you a smirk. "Okay, I should go, can I text you tonight?" You asked. 

"Y/n, honey, you can text me anytime of the day" Emily smiles. "Okay, Em, I love you." You says, trying to make it sound friendly, when you really meant it as in 'I am very much in love with you' but you don't think the older woman caught on. When, really, she did. "I love you to, now go on that date" the 'I love you' was enthusiastic but the part about the date you were going on tonight didn't. Maybe Emily does love you, to some extent. She seemed upset about it nd now jealous. 

Tara was outside of Emily's office when you both exchanged those words. She stepped in to see Emily' look on her face, upset and jealousy was very visible on her right now. "What the hell was that?" Tara asked, seriously. 

"What do you mean 'what the hell' was that?" Emily replied, trying to play it off. Although the older silver-haired woman should know by now that Tara can read her expressions very well and tell what shes feeling when Y/n is involved. "You and Y/n. Emily. I'm not stupid, I can tell how you both feel about each other" Tara chuckles. 

"I don't have feelings for Y/n in that way" Emily says, but defensively. 

"Right." Tara adds. 

"I don't" Emily says, as a statement. "Emily if you love Y/n just tell her. I know it can be complicated considering you both work here and you're also one of her bosses. But its been so obvious these passed few years I've been here. The glances, the smiles, the way you hold her hand sometimes, or just hold her in your arms when she needs it. Y/n does all the same for you and its obvious." Tara mentions. Emily rolls her eyes at her, but she knew Tara was right. 

"Now please for the love of everything go kiss your girl" Tara chuckles. "Oh, did you also think that I didn't know about the time you and Y/n got so drunk you made out with her on Penelope' couch in front of her and JJ, and they had to tell you about it because neither of you could remember? Yeah, she told me about that, which was before I joined the team." Tara adds. 

"Of course she did. Tara, you know it isn't that simple." Emily adds, sadness in her voice. "It seemed to me when she walked out your door that she hoped you would stop her and do somethin'." Tara mentions. 

"Do us all a favour and go tell her already, if you don't its going to eat away at you and you will regret it. Because, Emily I know you." Tara adds. Emily sighs again, her friend is right she needs to tell her. Because if Emily doesn't tell Y/n now, she will regret it for the rest of her life and slowly have to watch Y/n fall in love with someone else, the way JJ did. She can't have that again. 

So, Emily stands up "Tara, I hate that you're right. I need to do this. So thank you." Emily chuckles. 

"You're welcome Emily, now hurry up. I say you have a minute before shes probably in her car." Tara adds. With that Emily quickly grabs her stuff and heads to the elevator. Pulling out her phone and texting Y/n. 

'Y/n, are you still in the parking lot?'

Y/n, texts back: 'Yeah, why whats up?'

'Stay there and go over to my car I'll be down in a minute' 

You waited for Emily by her car, you didn't bring yours as you got a lift from Luke earlier. So, if this was Emily offering you a ride home then you were grateful. You thought about texting her again until you felt a hand pull you, turning around it was Emily. And before you could even say anything, the older womans lips were against yours, kissing you, you tasted the hint of the vanilla lip balm she was wearing. 

You were shocked at first, not knowing what to do with yourself, but one thing you knew was that you didn't want to pull away. So, you kissed Emily back, with much more need to add to the already heated kiss. You were lucky the place was practically empty, with only Tara and Luke finishing some things up. 

Emily smirked into the kiss and then pulled away, you were catching your breath as best you could "wow" you breathed out. 

"Y/n I should have said this sooner, but I love you and way more than just a friend." Emily chuckled. Hoping that she wasn't too late now. 

"I love you too Emily, more than a friend" you added. You didn't give her anytime to speak as your lips connected with hers once again, and your back had hit the hood of her car. "Shit, Em we're going to set off your cars alarm" you chuckled as you kissed her. 

Emily pulled back again "I can forget that date with that person for sure, I'd much rather go on a date with you" you added. Knowing that you were now going to cancel that date with that other woman, Emily smiled. 

You cancelled that date, and then got into Emily' car with her. Emily looked at you with a smirk "so, how about we drive back to yours, you get some spare clothes, we order food and watch some movies?" Emily adds. 

You groaned "that sounds so much better than going to a fancy resturant. Especially since I'm doing this with you" you added. You felt Emily's hand on your thigh, as she squeezed it. If she puts her hand up any higher she is sure to notice how hot she made you feel. "The team is gonna all be like 'finally" Emily chuckles. 

"Yeah well it took us long enough" you laughed, making Emily agree with you on that. Only took them both a few years, but here they are finally admitting it in this moment.

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

Today's contribution for Disability Pride Month

Obligatory "I don't have this disorder. I'm raising awareness because I'm so fucking sick of women that drink while pregnant bitching about how hard it is being an 'autism mom'". (Autism mom in quotes because a) it's probably not autism and b) the phrase "autism mom" to describe "mom if an autistic kid" is stupid.)

(I'm going to use the term "women" instead of "uterus haver" not to be exclusionary or transphobic. But because I have a severe headache effecting my ability to find words. I am trans-masc. Don't cancel me. I'm not a FART.)

(This is not to demonize people that suffer from alcoholism. Addiction is a very real disability. This is to raise awareness for one of the only known preventable birth defects and hopefully seek help.)

Thank you for the people at @bfpnola discord for checking my post to make sure this doesn't sound eugenics-y.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

FASD (previously known as fetal alcohol syndrome) is a disability that can range from mild to severe dependant on how much the mother drank while pregnant. It only takes one glass of wine while pregnant to cause this disorder

I already know what the fuck this is. Why are you talking about it?

Because your only know about the severe cases diagnosed as fetal alcohol syndrome. You THINK you know what it is. But the reclassification has only come up in like... 2003? Fetal alcohol syndrome is like... the far end worst severity of FASD. And since the new information of it being a spectrum disorder, estimates have the disorder as high as 5% of the population (and I really think it's higher based on some information I'm about to share).

Fine. So what is this... spectrum disorder?

Very good! So this disorder is HIGHLY misdiagnosed as autism. So all those boomers bitching about "the rates of autism going up?" Yeah they probably caused it. Symptoms include low body weight, facial differences, poor coordination, difficulty maintaining attention, poor memory, poor emotional regulation, slower development, poor reasoning skills, issues with the heart, bones, and kidneys, shorter height, shorter head size,

I have all of those things. How do I know it's FASD and not the autism?

That's kinda the issue. The only real way you can know is ask your mom if there's ANY possibility she's had a drink while she was pregnant. I can't stress this enough IT ONLY TAKES ONE DRINK. For instance I have a lot of those issues, but my mom was so paranoid she wouldn't even dye her hair or drink coffee. Like there's NO WAY.

Like what do I do about it?

Mostly get your accommodations met and raise awareness. Like people are still actively drinking while pregnant because they are still under the pre-2000 belief that just a couple of drinks are okay. It's really not. Not to mention most women don't know they're pregnant until 4-6 weeks in. So they shouldn't be drinking if they're actively trying to have a child. Because that increases the risk.

What the fuck. People are drinking while pregnant? I don't believe you.

Each of these claims are linked.

30.3% of all women reported drinking alcohol at some time during pregnancy, of which 8.3% reported binge drinking (4+ drinks on one occasion)

According to the Center for Disease Control, one in 10 (10.2%) of pregnant women in the United States reports drinking alcohol in the past 30 days.

Despite clear evidence that primary prevention of FASD is possible if prenatal alcohol exposure is avoided, up to 80 % of women drink during pregnancy, many before pregnancy recognition

What? Women are drinking while pregnant? That's fucked up.

This is not to say people with FASD are lesser than.

But all of this "curing autism" when most of this "autism" is caused by a pregnant person's ability to stop fucking drinking for literally 5 minutes. THESE WOMEN THAT ARE DRINKING WHILE PREGNANT ARE THE ONES CAUSING ALL OF THIS GIVING "AUTISM". IF YOU DRANK WHILE PREGNANT. IF THERE'S EVEN A SLIVER OF A CHANCE THAT YOUR DRANK WHILE PREGNANT? ITS PROBABLY NOT AUTISM. ITS PROBABLY THIS DISORDER.

I'm just really fed up with all of these "autism moms" that also make "wine mom" jokes and making light of literal alcoholism bitching about how hard it is to be an "autism mom" because YOU'RE THE PROBLEM. STOP LAUGHING ABOUT YOUR ALCOHOLISM AND PUT THE DAMN GLASS DOWN.

But my parents are literally autistic

So they don't really know the generational effect of FASD because the new knowledge is so new. But since FASD is literally genetic issues caused by alcohol while you're in the womb. It's assumed that it can cause issues that are passed down.

But like this diagnosis is SO NEW that we really don't know much.

-fae

[blu3haw4]

Sneak Peek

I've been saying for this Clexaweek, I'll try to write for last year themes as I make my way updating my WIP's.

I have a headache that's killing me, so instead of posting the full chapter for today's update, i'll give you a sneak peek of what I have so far, this is probably like... less than half of the entire chapter I have planned out and I'm keeping the plot point to myself 😌

So here it is, For day three: Fake dating

Guess we'll have to work it out (Arranged Marrige from Clexaweek 2022)

Here's a little summary:

Clarke and Lexa live in a relatively small town and are forced to get married after Clarke's mother caught them hooking up. The problem? It was a one-night stand and they know nothing about each other.

And here you go, happy Clexaweek everyone, this one is spicy 😈

"Are you insane?!"

"I will be good for you, honey. Don't act like it's the first time I've picked your date for these events"

"Mom! Don't you realized how different this is?! Are you aware that the shit you pulled is some next level stalkery?!" Clarke exasperated into the phone, she had gone out to grab lunch and as usual called her mom for their weekly updates.

She was still trying to process the events of Saturday morning and her mother not having an ounce of touch when it came to social manners. Clarke had decided, though still shaken, to let it go and move one, that was until Abby brought up the gala and her recently arranged date. And all the trouble she went through to make it happen.

"Oh don't be dramatic. I've known Agustus for years, this is no difference to the Desai"

'Gustus' Clarke corrected in her head, because of course she remember such a stupid detail "I had never met Ryker before!" she hissed, because she knew how to pick her battles "I never hooked up with him before!"

Her mom tasked on her phone and Clarke almost snapped "Look, darling, I have a surgery soon, okay? I have Lexa's number and I think you should call her, you know is not as simple as showing up, so maybe arrange a date to get your stories straight" Clarke couldn't believe her mother, she was just handing out instructions as though it was a gift, something for her to be thankful of, for having such a thoughtful mother.

It shouldn't surprise her anymore, but it felt like each time Clarke thought Abby had reach a limit of craziness she just went and outdid herself, as thought it was her mission to prove to Clarke she could be worse and then act as thought every other parent -or person- acted the same.

Clarke took a couple of deep breath trying to come up with a coherent thought that wasn't finding a way to put her mother in a mental hospital and keep her there until she died. At her lack of response Abby spoke again "Sweetie you know the drill, this galas are just to help you showcase your name with a pretty and successful young adult in your arm. This people have expectations of what success looks like and you know showing up with your friends isn't it"

And of course it was true, most of the millionaires and billionaires that showed up at hospital gala's went there under the disguise of wanting to help, to share their grant of salt for the sake of medicine and people's well being. In reality they were there to inflate their egos even more, to have successful people of all ages kiss their asses to convince them to help their cause. They're expectations were for those people to have their lives figured out, to have a life plan that they could prize themself in supporting with donations, being single didn't fit their parameters.

So of course it was Clarke's braking point; in her own way, her mother was just trying to show her how much she cared. Her entire life she had gone above and beyond to support her; her passions and dreams, she paid for all her education only asking for her happiness in return. Even if often she pulled up crazy things like inviting her one-night-stand to a very elite event, or calling her ex boyfriends to ask why they had dumped her, she always had the best of intentions.

With a sigh, Clarke agreed "Okay. Can you text me her number? I'll call her soon and I'll coach her for Sunday"

∞·∞·∞

"Fuck! Don't stop!"

And for the third time in the past two hours Clarke thanked her past self for agreeing to her mother's crazy idea. Feeling Lexa's walls shudder around three of her fingers, hearing her breath fasten by the minute as her moan grew louder and louder, more desperate each thrust of Clarke hips.

Lexa was face down on the bed, her leg parted so wide that her hips were barely lifted from the bed, Clarke had a hand trapped between their bodies, her hips helping her trust deep into Lexa's cunt, as her other hand had come around Lexa's abdomen to tease her clit. Clarke was fully leaning over Lexa's back, nibbling and licking at her shoulders and neck, occasionally sharing a desperate messy kiss before Lexa's moans interrupted them. Lexa had a hand on Clarke's wrist keeping her hand from wandering away from her clit, and her other arm was stretch towards the headboard where she occasionally held from.

A call on Tuesday afternoon -because she needed a whole day to prepare- lead to a coffee date on Thursday. They rode off the indicial awkwardness and got down to business -no pun intended- Clarke explained to Lexa as best she could all the things they should prepare for and they planned out some fact about a fake relationship should people potentially ask them.

One flirty joke about their hypothetical sex life turned into a round of back and forth about their night together and before they knew it they were making out in the elevator up to Lexa's apartment. Neither cared that it was a weeknight when Clarke unbuttoned her shirt and Lexa helped her out of her bra, they couldn’t be bother about noise complaints when Clarke got down on her knees after backing Lexa to the nearest wall and devoured her as though it was her last meal.

Lexa didn't let her catch her breath before she had her pinned to the couch getting fingered down with a vigor that had Clarke wishing she hadn't left her strap on at her ex-girlfriends' place, never to be seen again. They made it to Lexa's room by common agreement that they needed more space and now here they were, making Clarke wish she still had the strap on for a different reason.

"Clarke! FUCK!"

All she could do was smirk into her shoulder and continue her rhythm, she knew Lexa wanted - needed- more; faster, harder, anything, but she wanted to stretch the moment, Lexa felt too good around her finger, under her, she was so vocal and loud and Clarke loved it. She also wanted to see how long it would take for Lexa to beg, or if she would refuse to. In the end it was Clarke the one who gave up, not realized how much she craved to hear and feel Lexa come for her, she quicken the pace of her fingers over Lexa's clit as she thrust harder into her, grunting into Lexa's back.

"Cla-rke!" the guttural moan with which Lexa came was everything Clarke wished for and she couldn't help but smile a genuine smile into Lexa's shoulder. Clarke kissed the ink on her spine as she helped her ride down her orgasm; she moved her hand grabbing Lexa's in the way, and made sure to pull out slowly, only after Lexa's breathing was back to normal -or close enough- holding her close, Clarke turned them so she was laying behind Lexa and spooning her.

Lexa sighed, eyes closed, her fingers intertwined with Clarke's, one pair of hands around her middle and the other up against her shoulder, her head resting over Clarke's bicep, her nose hiding in the underside of Clarke's flexed elbow. She felt safe, if was a feeling that should unsettle her given she had met Clarke less than a week ago and this was the second time they were seen each other. She embraced it instead, for once in her life letting her guard down.

[ak319]

Unveil

(Gp actress x fem reader)

(Scene # 03)

(your name is Fairoz in the story)

Unveil part 1 Unveil part 2

Fairoz's eyes lingered on the fabrics that were laid out on her bed. The fabrics which were sent as a gift by the Dagons. Not only that but the jewelery as as well. Her aunt , Dilay excitedly displaying the gifts to Fairoz while her ramble about how 'the dresses ould be designed' , 'how beautiful, expensive and refined this embroidery looks' and 'which dress would Fairoz wear on what occasion' remained constant to her neices's ears.

It had been a week since Fairoz had accepted Aman's proposal, but not initially. Yes, the girl had rejected Aman. She just couldn't imagine such a life nor had any interest in marriage, especially if it was with Aman. It would seem unfair to Aman as well. Nevertheless Aman was persistent.

'We can get engaged only.'

'Don't do this to me...'

Words like that which Aman said to her in their second meeting. It was quite embarrassing and almost made Fairoz feel guilty but she reminded herself that it was her choice , why should she feel bad. It's not Aman's life , it's mine. She is not the main character here , I am.

1 week ago

Her pillar of strength after her parents death was her uncle , Usama. How he brought her up , supported her , just like her own father would have done. So when she heard him pleading as if his life dependant on it on the phone with whom she presumed was Aman's father , her walls weakened as well. Her uncle was in a turmoil . The man known for his charisma and outstanding works , was broken .

"Report them, papa. Tell the police. They have no right to--

"Dove, you have no idea, what they can do."

"But even if I accept the proposal, how the hell would I spend my life with her knowing her family threatened you! This isn't right. Ugh! This is making me soo ---" Fairoz slapped her uncle's study table which was followed by a bleak silence.

"How were you even working with such horrendous people, baba?."

Usama sighed and sat on the couch. "I--because I focused on the work, Fairoz. Working with her was bound to happen one day. I never thought that this day would come where she would be asking for---" he paused and gulped "It's my fault, I shouldn't have brought you with me to the set that day." Fairoz leaned off the table and scurried to her uncle's side.

"No, no, don't blame yourself. I wanted to see it remember? And who could ever imagine what is going to happen next---isn't this what we call life. We face tests, fears, predicaments and happiness. These things make up the whole experience of what we call life. Now, putting aside the worry, let's think about a solution." Usama smiled and gently patted the girl's left cheek. She was always so level-headed and strong-willed. His brother would be so happy----if only he was here, maybe he would have protected his daughter better. 'I failed at it....so bad.'

"Looking at the pros, well, Aman really likes you. She would keep you happy....probably. She has left the industry and has a stable life. And cons--" Usama breathed in a sigh "Do I have to explain? Their wealth is their power. I am like any other parent, deeming Aman as untrustworthy to be your life partner. She is stubborn, hot-headed, and--I don't know. " Usama put his head in his hands. All of this was giving him a headache. How can the safety of Fairoz be guaranteed? She was his daughter. He and Dilay were unable to have children and Fairoz fulfilled their dream. No! He has to remain strong for her.

"Papa--I don't think there is any solution for them to leave us alone except that I accept it---right?" They both stared at each other. Usama was trying to convince himself that no there has to be a way other than this.

"If your job is at stake then I wouldn't jeopardize it. You and Mama did so much for me, you both don't deserve it. And I assure you, I would be fine, absolutely fine. She would have no power over me, I won't let her." Her tone was filled with so much conviction and ...reprisal that Usama was speechless. He couldn't even reply before she spoke "You can call and say yes to Aman for me. Now, take a good night's rest and forget all about this. Imagine this never happened and be happy that your daughter is getting married." Giggling she kissed his forehead and left the room. Usama, with his heart full of regret, anger, guilt, and dejection, did what had to be done.

Present time

"I mean yeah, I know---but that is not what I wanted. Wait, hold up. I'll call you later. And you better have a solution when I call you again." After whispering the last part Aman hung up the phone, her eyes stuck to the figure which they were dying to see. It was as if a sudden wave of coolness and placidity had spread over all the nerves and each and every cell in her body. She was in white kameez and trousers, with minimal makeup and accessories. A bag lazily hung on her shoulder which indicated she was coming from her college. Her beautiful and absolutely breathtaking soon-to-be-wife elegantly stood by the door. Her expression is devoid of feelings, the feelings which were felt by Aman at that moment. But that's okay. One day those feelings will be reflected back.

'She will be happy seeing me. She will be happier when she starts her life with me. Her shyness is almost gone, and sadness will be over too. After all, she has no idea how lucky she is yet.'

"Fairoz, always so good to see you." By now Aman hadn't even noticed that instead of inviting Fairoz in , she had walked up to her, near the door. She took the chance to close the door whose handle Fairoz was holding casually and took a deep breath, inhaling her fairy's scent. "So--umm what brings you here? , love. Did you come by yourself? You could have called me---I would have picked you or sent the driver--you

"My uncle also has a driver," Fairoz stated the obvious. Aman scoffed in her mind 'Oh yeah, her uncle exists too.'

"Anyway, come have a seat." Instead of the table, Aman led her to the couch and immediately dialled her PA's number to order some refreshments.

"When I told them I wanted to meet you, they didn't question me. Do they already know?." Fairoz referred to the employees.

"Yeah, of course. I told them the very day, I got the good news." Fairoz nearly gagged at the appearance of red hue on Aman's ears and cheeks. Too much bashfulness for someone who belongs to a family of blackmailers.

"Were you missing me love? I did. I miss you every day, every second. Can't begin to tell you how happy I am to see you here."

"Well , this is going to be normal , I guess , me coming here---everyday." It was as if Aman's ecstasy reached a new high. Really?! Her wife would do that?!

"I am going to work here so might as well get to know the map and people, right? That is why I came here since I was free from college early today." Fairoz plastered her most gentle smile. Meanwhile, Aman blinked in confusion. Work here? Oh....

"Yeah , yeah of course. I would give you a tour."

"Not only the tour, though. You would take my interview and hire me as well. " Fairoz reached into her bag and took out a file. "See, I brought my CV. " Which contained all the digital work as well as some internships Fairoz had done up til now, not to forget extracurricular activities relating to business in her college. "But this is for later--first the tour. I can't wait further. Please."

God , this girl. Where did this demanding behaviour come from though? Was she teasing? Or serious. She looks serious. And cute and....

"Umm--damn. Isn't someone too excited? Isn't it early though? Like interview can be done after marriage."

"Yeah, it can but you know I don't trust anyone so easily. " She put her hand on the side of her face as if she was telling Aman a secret "Also--what if you don't hire me after marriage. People change you know."

Well---that was the plan but this girl---how can Aman say no? Her doe eyes are not made for tears.

'I can't be a villain right now. She already knows about the threats--of course she does--she hasn't discussed them with me which is very odd but if I say no to her---she will hate me more. I don't want my wife to hate me. Dammit , why did father had to do such a vile thing. I would have convinced her through my gifts and charm but no , he has to ruin everything!.'

"Of course , love. As you wish. And you will work here , totally your call. Come on , let's go." Aman took her on a tour and also to her dismay she had to make Fairoz meet other people. She hated every moment when her wife smiled and giggled with someone.

'That is meant for me!'

after that they came back to Aman's office, had some snacks, and in between that, Aman read her CV. She was indeed impressed with her girl. Such a hardworking pookie.

"So , Ms. Fairoz , what is your weakness. Sorry I had to ask this. HAHA!."

"Mhm. Well, weakness can make you stronger if you know how to overcome it, but what good would it do me if I revealed my weakness. Because to oneself weakness is their power but the moment someone else gets to know of it---they use it against you. So I refuse to answer such a stupid question."

"....."

Oh God. Control yourself and your thoughts Aman.

'Fuck, that was hot.'

Clearing her throat , Aman smirked. "Very well , love--

"Uh uh. Ms. Fairoz at the moment , not love. Ma'am."

'Okay, it's okay. Think of something else. God, ma'am. That word just did wonders to my senses. Am I going to be hearing this every day? Fuck, yes. Say it again, baby.'

"Hello?? Ma'am Aman. I think I should go now. You should work too." And before Aman could get out of her daze and stand up to stop her , or say something at least , Fairoz leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"Have a good day at work. Bye."

"......bye..." What is happening? No, no. Wait, her eyes traveled to the contract on the table that Fairoz had just signed. An offer letter.

'What---no that was not I imagined. Why did I do it?! Oh my God. But how could I have said no? Maybe it is good...I mean...what? , I was fucking enjoying every second of it. But still ARGH! That means she won't be a housewife instead she would meet other people. That is disgusting. People are shitheads. No, no. Whatever, I will take care of this later. Let's get back to work right now.'

As a matter of fact. no. After marriage, Fairoz continued to work here and for Aman, it was as if it was a crime to say no to her wife well in some things Fairoz let her have some say. But Aman's lovestruck dumb brain didn't know it was just so Fairoz could let her feel some power and fuel her ego. To give her a sense of authority and shatter it in the next.

For example , fine Aman lets Fairoz go to meet her uncle but that is because Fairoz lets Aman choose the dress after all Fairoz asks in her best sweet voice.

Making Aman invest in her uncle's project, it's okay if Aman does not want to do it. Just go sleep in the guest room then and forget about even interacting with Fairoz because you are going to get ignored for weeks.

Fairoz cooks Aman's favorite dish on the condition that she makes her father apologize to Usama for his harsh words. Pretty lucrative deal for Aman if you ask me. I mean your soulmate's happiness in exchange for such petty requests? Bring them on!

But Aman still doesn't let go of her dark side too. If someone dares to bring a minute disturbance in her wife's life even if she is not aware of it, they get to face Aman. Prepare to get your whole life destroyed. For instance, after it was confirmed that she was married to the niece/daughter of Usama. Yes, people somehow found it out. What else do you expect from no-lifers? There was a mixed reaction. Thankfully there were almost near to zero information about Fairoz online, Usama did a great job at protecting his family's privacy, but still, people had their way of doing things. I mean who can escape from cameras in this age?. Anyway, some limits were crossed and so Aman had to cross some too. Nobody gets to spread goss or even get the right to comment anything near to bad about her wife. You are getting sued, baby. The plus point is that Fairoz doesn't even know about it because she developed a phobia of searching for herself or Aman's on the internet. After all, in her heart she knew she would stumble upon something distasteful so it better to avoid it in the first place, so her mind was in a good place---except for the fact she was now living with Aman. Albeit doing a good job at cooling Aman's controlling nature she was still amazed at her ability to be stubborn at times.

"Come on--baby , please. I would do anything."

"No. I am only 27."

"So? What does---isn't that like a reason to-

"Aman you are talking about a baby, not a go-kart." Aman cuddled Fairoz before she could get up from the couch. "Nah, I am not letting you run away, darling." Her voice made Farioz's whole chest vibrate.

"You are acting like one yourself , I don't think we need another one."

"Noooo----well this baby of yours will raise chaos if you don't give it another friend." Aman pouted and started to pepper kisses on her wife's face.

"Aman--Stop it!"

"I know---I hate babies--but of course, I have to have one. What about my bloodline? I promise to be a good parent. Babyyy---." She whined making Fairoz push her away aggressively.

" Is that supposed to make me feel better? What are the chances of you not hating your own?"

"..........50 , okay how about ..50.85 percent."

"......"

"AMAN!" The couple got startled by none other than Mr. Dogan.

"What utter shame have you brought on our family! Begging your wife? THAT TOO FOR A CHILD? Why do you even need her permission?? I might have not said this before but you really tarnished your ancestors and my name today. Your grandfather would have had a heart attack if he witnessed this now!." The couple stared at him silently. Fairoz spared a single glance at Aman which made the latter shiver more than her father's words, and then left the room stomping.

"SEE! Look how she behaves! And look at you! WOW! Sitting like she didn't just disrespect me just now!."

Aman had enough.

"FATHER! First of all this is a private matter and do I look like I give a damn about what grandfather would have thought?! This is not the 90's! Also---don't ever say anything about my wife like that. You ruined her mood."

'And now I will suffer . She won't feed me with her hands anymore. Life is soo not fair!.'

"I was so close to convincing her! You always ruin my plans! Leave us alone for once! Fizzy! My love!!." And just like that Aman sprinted upstairs leaving her father flabbergasted. What has she become? A woman of power acting like a dog.

'I should have never sided with her on this marriage.'

(AN: Lmao💀, love the turn this story took. Originally started as a dark fic and ended up being a crack and tbh loved writing it. Couldn't have thought of a better ending. Aman's ego really downsized, lol. Yanderes getting reversed uno is what I live to see👍)

[another-lost-mc]

JES YOU UPDATED, the kids miss you/j

I've been busy doing a lot of nothing, if that makes sense. Well, maybe not nothing - a random assortment of rl and blog odds-and-ends that don't seem very productive but I'm going to call it self-care. lol

(read more cause this got longer than I thought it would.)

I don't usually take March Break off work, but my empty schedule this year surprised me and I didn't really know what to do with myself. I spent the first few days fending off a persistent headache, then I spent some time re-watching Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel while I worked on some crossover/fusion potential with OM. Today the headache is back and I'm dog-sitting which shouldn't be as distracting as it is. (She's only a little Boston Terrier but my cats get all worked up about it even though they're the ones stalking her around the house for no reason.)

I've also been playing Honkai Star Rail. I have no idea what I'm doing but it's kind of fun. I want to give Genshin Impact a try too, but I'm not sure I want to play both. (I know dailies are optional blah blah blah but if I'm going to spend time doing busywork like that, I might as well go back to playing WoW.)

Someone sent me another ask about my current WIPs so I think I'll just ramble about them here.

The canon cast and OC post for surgery!anon. I'm trying to balance fluff and angst and realism and make it comforting at the same time (aka what I would've wanted to read before mine). There's some overlap with a post about Solomon's humanity that's it's own separate WIP.

Naming conventions in the Devildom and CR. These are my worldbuilding ideas to explain how Solomon has an established pact with Bathin (my OC for Mephisto's younger brother) since he's part of the Ars Goetia. This also discusses how those same ideas apply to Luke.

Fleshing out the angel OC stuff with Gabriel and Uriel. They're situated in the AU where MC is sent to the CR for the exchange program and not the Devildom which is why I haven't talked about them much. I have the fem!angel OC as well but I don't know what to name her (I want her to be like Zee where she's an "ordinary" angel). To be fair, she's probably not going to show up much outside of the story I originally wrote for her.

Genderbending-the-OCs anon, you have no idea what this is doing to me. It changes their kinks and their dynamics and how they would approach MC and I am mentally screaming into a pillow right now.

I've been writing directly in my Tumblr drafts lately, but I found a holiday fic for Solomon in my google docs. I thought it was a WIP but then I re-read it and it turns out I actually finished it and somehow forgot about it? Like...how does someone even do that. Anyway, do we want a smutty Solomon Xmas-in-March fic? (It's only holiday-ish because of a corny mistletoe joke on his part.)

On a random note, part of me regrets not making separate blogs for AT and my OCs (for organizational purposes) and I'm lowkey tempted to do it anyway.

If you read all this, you get a prize! Enjoy some chibis that I've been collecting like they're for my OC Pokedex. These are by sempa and ocha respectively.

[kalinara]

There is no position that gives me a headache more than anti-anti fans.

Look, I get that "anti-fandoms" are annoying.

It is ANNOYING to post things about ships and characters and have people make assumptions about you based on your feelings about fictional characters.

I've had it happen to me. Hilariously, it wasn't even about one of my actual problematic ships, but because I had a "meh" reaction to the idea of pairing characters from the Umbrella Academy of all things.

But, I'll disclaim right now, I have plenty of ships that an "anti" could confront me about. There's a reason I don't always stay logged in when I peruse AO3. No one needs to review my fic reading history, including me.

So yeah, I get that it's annoying. And some folks take it too far. There's no excuse for threats or insults. Personally, I don't think this behavior is limited to antis, but as mentioned, I've seen some do it.

But I will always have a knee jerk disgust toward people who act like the very act of criticizing a ship or the reception of a character is the same damn thing.

There's some Bat-shipping post going around that equates people being disgusted by Bat-shipping to homophobia and real world oppression. And no, sorry. That's not the same thing.

I think you can definitely make the argument that moral panic can lead to some terrible decisions, particularly legislatively. Frederic Wortham decided that Batman and Robin were in a pedophiliac relationship, after all, and eventually we all got saddled with the comic code.

But, you know, we can still point out that IF Batman and Robin were in a relationship, while Robin was canonically 12 years old, in a comic book intended for children, that would have been categorically NOT OKAY.

Fans love to try to sidestep any criticism by equating their critics with some kind of censorship boogeyman. As though the average fandom critic has any kind of ability to legislate a form of media. Heck, disgusted fans can't even get AO3 to set limits on blatant extreme underage shit.*

(* Disclaimer: I respect AO3's very consistent position on content bans and censorship. I may not personally agree with every decision that they make, but I respect that it's their right to make it. My point is that the average "anti" has no real influence or power here.)

Here's the thing. If you ship something gross. More power to you. I do too. But you also have to deal with the fact that someone out there is going to say "Hey, that's gross." They may not be talking to you directly. Common fandom etiquette means that they probably shouldn't (unless you're invading the anti-tags, in which case, you're asking for it). But they're allowed to have opinions and say them. Free speech works both ways.

The older I get, the more protective I find myself of the right of people to be negative about things. "Don't yuck someone's yum?" I can yuck if I damn well want. I just need to remember that it's not your problem.

My own position is that fandom goes too far to protect the enjoyment of their largest groups, to the point where anything that could possibly cast a pall on said enjoyment is quickly shushed. We can't point out that a ship involves abusive tropes, because this is fiction. We can't grimace at the thought of an incestuous relationship, because that's judgmental. We can't point out hopefully-unconscious examples of racism and sexism because that would make someone feel bad and discourage them from writing.

I still remember how slash fanfic writers started bemoaning about how they can't possibly write FinnPoe anymore because they keep getting called out for racist tropes. The idea of actually making an effort to IMPROVE somehow never seemed to make it into the discussion.

Here's the thing. If I don't like a pairing, I'm going to say so. If I don't like a character (or maybe more accurately, fandom's treatment of said character), I'm going to say so. If I don't like a trope, for whatever reason, I'm going to say so. It's not my job to muzzle my own opinions to make random people on the internet feel better about how they get their rocks off. Why do you care what I think anyway?

Again, harassment's bad. But I think a lot of "anti-antis" are quick to equate "having a negative opinion that makes me feel bad" with an attack. Not the same thing and we all might be a lot happier if we kept that in mind.

[arrowheadedbitch]

Okay, okay, you know that pic someone made of you au where Tim is catatonic from underuse of his powers?

Can I gift you a drabble that I got inspired writing? Because I wrote this while I was at work and I need to share it with you!!! I had a random spike of inspiration 🤣🤣🤣

----------

You know, Tim is usually careful about these things - using his powers for a few minutes a day to avoid random visions from entering his mind.

Right now, though, he could feel the pull of multiverses asking for his attention.

Is this his fault? Yes. But is he going to accept that it's his fault that he focused on solving cases instead of taking care of his overall wellbeing? OF COURSE NOT!!! He'd blame the multiverse, because the multiverse won't leave him alone.

It's probably the cape. Chicks and the multiverse digs the cape TOO MUCH, apparently. Or his hair.

Anyways.

There is painful cold and heat behind his eyes, and finally, the multiverse greets him with potential outcomes of what's to come in the next few days.

It was at this wonderful moment that Jason Todd walked in, stretching his arms and loudly yawning. He does this just to be purposefully annoying to whoever is in the room. If it were Bruce, even better!!

When he sees the back of one Tim Drake, he snickers loudly and greets as loud as possible, "Hey, Timmy!!"

No reaction.

Huh.

Well, that won't discourage our resident zombie-man! So, he comes closer, clasps a hand over Tim's shoulder and gives a mock-offended look. "Yo, Pretender, you fall asleep aga-"

He cut himself off.

He cut himself off because Tim, the Pretender, his brother, is emotionlessly staring into space with lazarus green eyes.

It's been months since he's felt the pit's influence, but he could feel it roar within him when he puts piece after piece together of what could have happened to Tim.

Tim had died.

Tim had been brought back to life.

And the effects on Tim is different from Jason.

Where Jason was Catatonic first before being dunked, Tim seemed to have been brought back to life first before experiencing the catatonia.

But just in case.

"Hey, Tim, can you hear me?" Jason tapped lightly on Tim's cheeks. No reaction, not even a blink. Tim just stayed still.

He could hear and feel his own heart beating loudly in his chest as he shakes Tim's shoulder, asking him to snap out of it, but to no avail.

But it seems Jason shouldn't have shook Tim because his brother's body no longer wanted to stay upright. He guided Tim's torso towards himself, gently placing Tim's head to his shoulder. Then, he sat both of them down.

Once the two of them were seated, Jason brought out his phone and emergency called Dick.

He didn't even realize his own heavy breathing.

Dick answered.

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

And that's about it!! I had the rest of my break imagining Dick arriving and seeing Jason and Tim. The two of them taking care of Tim the next few days. The first day just the two of them, but affter the second day, the rest of the batfam gets involved.

I imagined Bruce breaking down but doing his best to guide Tim around the manor, Jason trying and failing to call to Tim's consciousness (little did he know that it actually did work in helping Tim navigate in getting back), Dick doing everything he could in keeping the family together, Damian taking over WE and learning to fear Tam and the conflict between PR vs HR, Damian trying to help Jason as well in calling to Tim's consciousness so that Tim could think of a faster way to do paperwork (also because he misses his big bro but you can't prove anything!!!!!), Steph trying to help and comfort Damian and keep the kid company, and Cass not liking at all how she couldn't read anything about Tim at the moment.

It takes a whole week, but as Alfred changed Tim's IV, Tim slowly regains consciousness and feels the full force of a headache, which also causes a nosebleed, which also causes panic to happen around the cave, which causes Tim to pass out again.

This time, it takes him 2 whole days to recover, with little glimpses of the future (this time they're much nicer and full of family wholesome fluff), and wakes up to Jason reading out loud the biography of Peter B. Parker, The Greatest Bioengineer of the Century.

He says, rasping, "Oh. It's Spider-man."

No one knows who the fuck Spider-man is but they were all so happy Tim was back, they asked question after question when he died and came back to life. Dick was a bit more reserved about it, having an inkling of when it could be.

Tim frowned at them and said, "I didn't die."

And they all think, 'Oh no. He either doesn't know, or the trauma is so great he doesn't remember it.'

And that's what happened in my mind after encountering your AU! 🤣 I'm pretty sure you have your own twist and interpretations of this, and I am still going to explore more of your AU, because admittedly, I just encountered some of your incorrect quotes and that one pic. I think I'll read your fic when I get the time. BUT YOUR AU IS TAKING OVER MY BRAIN. IT'S LIVING RENT-FREE IN IT!!! I LOVE YOUR AU!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Oh thank you! This is so nice!!!

@the-tired-ish-rat absolutely needs to see this! (It's about their headcanon after all)

I love your interpretation and am so glad you enjoy my au!!!!!!

And here's @the-tired-ish-rat 's drawing that inspired you!

[jumpywhumpywriter]

A list of some of my favorite quotes and short scenes from my OC named Shadow, a morally gray anti-hero who is the snarkiest, whittiest, most sarcastic and badass person in my in-progress fantasy trilogy. I just love her brutal personality so much!

Let me know what all of your favorites are! 😁

1. "Nice try, but that stuff doesn't work on me, you useless white crayon."

2. "Come on, leave the poor guy alone," Tanner sighed heavily.

Shadow rolled her eyes with an exasperated groan. "He's the kind of stupid, that if I left him alone, he'd probably set water on fire."

3. "I'm gonna kill him," Shadow snarled angrily.

Thomas quickly stepped in front of her. "Shadow, no, you are not murdering anyone on my watch."

"Then look away."

4. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere you aren't."

5. Shadow: "Open says me." *kicks door down*

Thomas: "Actually, it's open sesame."

Shadow: "Nope, other way around kid. You'll catch on eventually."

6. "Are you always this sarcastic?"

"My level of sarcasm has gotten to the point where I don't even know if I'm kidding or not."

7. "What brings you here?"

"A series of bad choices."

8. "Half of the human city wants you dead," Thomas tried to emphasize.

"Wow, a month ago it was the whole city, things are looking up," Shadow drawled sarcastically.

9. "I am nice until you give me a reason not to be." Shadow's voice was icy and gruff.

"Since when are you ever nice?" Thomas groaned.

"...Eh, fair point."

10. "You give my migrane a headache."

11. "Touch my daggers and I will punch you so hard even Google won't be able to find you."

12. "Guys, we have a problem!" Thomas panted for breath, bursting into the room.

"And it's another Tuesday, what's your point?" Shadow rolled her eyes.

13. "So, what do ya think? Good idea right?" Thomas gestured at the blueprints laid our on the table.

"Whatever floats your titanic." Shadow shrugged.

"...But the titanic sank."

"Yeah, just like your IQ did when you came up with that idea."

14. "If I go to war -- risk my life -- it's going to be because the odds are in my favor. Not otherwise," Shadow rumbled.

"So... it's not because you miraculously feel compelled to be noble and good for once?"

"...You have far too much faith in my moral compass, kid. It's almost scary how naive you are."

15. "Shadow, you have to help me! I had an accident."

"Had an accident? Kid, you are an accident.

16. "Ugh. How do people stand you?"

"They sit."

"You're insufferable."

"No more than you are."

"Would you stop coming up with comebacks and making me look like an idiot?"

"But you are an idiot."

"Ugh-"

17. "Interrupt me again and I'll interrupt your breathing."

18. "Is two a lot?"

"Depends on the context. Corpses? No. Living humans? Yes."

19. Shadow glared at Thomas. "You know, you probably shouldn't think too hard. Wouldn't want that poor overworked brain cell to have a panic attack."

20. "Yeesh, guess he's not the brightest light bulb," Tanner said with a wince, watching on the security feed as the Jackal guard tried for the fifteenth time to pick the lock on the door to the room Shadow had trapped him in earlier.

"You kidding me? The light bulb isn't even screwed in!" Shadow snarked.

21. Thomas: disagrees with Shadow

Shadow: "You've officially been promoted to victim." *Punches Thomas*

22. "I may be mad, or I may be less mad, but my mood will never be in your favor."

23. "Is that blood?" Thomas paled as he stared at the red smears staining Shadow's leather hero suit.

"No?"

"That's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question."

"Okay fine, yes -- but don't worry, it's not mine!" Shadow blurted.

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?!?"

24. "We have five people trying to kill us right now, what are we supposed to do?" Thomas squealed.

"Actually, it's more like eight," Shadow corrected.

"Oh, sorry I wasn't specific enough!!"

25. "That's not a happy story," Thomas muttered sympathetically.

"Well I don't live a happy life," Shadow growled in answer.

26. "What are you so afraid of?" Shadow challenged.

"You."

"Oh... That's fair."

27. "If your crazy plan gets me killed, kid, I am going to come back and haunt you so hard."

28. Shadow pinched the bridge of her nose with an inward groan. "I am way too sober for this."

29. "Okay, what did I do?" Thomas threw his hands up in defeat.

"What do you mean?" Shadow frowned.

"You look like you want to rip my head off."

"Sorry, that's just how my face works."

30. "Ugh, people don't understand that I literally don't know how not to walk around like I own every place I go to. I'm a walking war machine. How else am I supposed to act?!"

31. "So, uh, there's some bread in the cabinets if you're hungry," Thomas awkwardly offered.

"I don't eat bread, it's usually poisoned." Shadow wrinkled her nose.

"If this is some gluten-free nonsense--"

"No, actual poison."

32. "Come on, Shadow. The city needs our help. You're the strongest of us all -- imagine all the people you'll help save!" Thomas badgered.

"Correction, it needs your help," Shadow said through gritted teeth. "Leave me out of it. Humans can save themselves for once."

"...Please?"

"...Do I get wine after dealing with all the horrors of evil?"

"All the wine you want."

"Fine. But doing this is going to give me all the good karma points I'm going to need for the rest of my life."

33. "I'm not human. Remember that next time you want to punch me in the face."

34. "I guess I'll just have to be subtle about it," Thomas said.

Shadow snorted in amusement. "You are the least subtle person I know. Your "I have a secret" vibe is literally visible from mars."

35. "So, you're innocent?" Tanner raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Innocent as a young child... the kind they use as pickpockets," Shadow said with a dead-serious face.

36. "It costs you absolutely nothing to keep those rude comments to yourself," Tanner snapped angrily.

"It also costs me absolutely nothing to say them, so I think I'm good," Shadow retorted with a smirk.

37. "Can I bother you for a second?"

"You always bother me, but go ahead."

38. "I've met toddlers with more spine than you."

39. "Use your brain, idiot! You do have one, right?"

40. "Come on, it can't hurt to shake things up a bit, don't you think?" Thomas wheedled.

"I'm not anti-change, I'm just pro keeping things the way they are," Shadow growled.

41. "I've seen more formidable foes in temper tantrums."

42. "I'm not shy. I'm just examining my potential target and enemy. Determining friend or foe, you know?"

43. "Look, he's smiling. He's totally fine," Shadow smirked.

"He's smiling because he's terrified," Tanner said dryly.

"...I'm off-duty right now. Your turn to save the idiot."

44. "Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal," Thomas grimaced.

Shadow glared daggers at him. "If you give me a 'Happy Meal', I will shove it down your throat to kill you and that is what will make me 'happy'."

45. "Shadow... did you have something to do with this?" Thomas cast her an accusing glance, and she bristled.

"Why is it that whenever something bad happens in the city, I'm always the first one you look at?!" She snapped indignantly.

"Because you're like... always sketchy and suspicious... and stuff..."

Shadow seemed to think about it for a second, before relaxing with a shrug. "Ouch. Valid, but ouch."

46. "This place hold a lot of memories for me. Some bad, some... No. No, no, all bad."

47. "Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably."

48. "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm guessing it's hard to pronounce.

49. "Remember when I asked for your opinion? That's right, I didn't."

50. "Thomas, if you had half a brain cell you'd be dangerous."

51. "If you pull out my earphones, I will pull out your lungs."

52. "I'm trying to tell about--are you even listening?!" Thomas huffed a frustrated breath of air.

Shadow merely raised an unconcerned eyebrow, yawning dramatically. "Don't worry, I'm listening to you. I'm just not paying attention."

53. "I'm on vacation. Only call if the world is about to end."

54. "Hmph. Mangy feather duster..." Thomas grumbled under his breath as he stalked off, forgetting that his ally had superhearing.

"What did you just call me?" Shadow snarled after him.

"You clearly heard me."

"And you clearly don't want to take the risk of saying it again."

55. "Sharp as a marble, that kid," Shadow sighed before coming to Thomas's aid. The blasted human never stopped getting himself in trouble, to her dismay.

Masterlist

Masterlist #2

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump @otterfrost @sausages-things