#i was gonna say salt and vinegar chips or shrimp chips

[nishiannoya]

ʀᴜʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴜᴍʙ

a/n: nobody asked for this. i didn't even ask for this. liking reigen is a disease and im here to spread the virus. may we find the cure. only dolly parton can save us now.

reigen arataka x gn!reader, foul language, established relationship, mental health talk, reigen calls you a bitch, mentions of vomit, and somehow this is fluff, (1.7k wc)

When Reigen asks when you fell for him, you pretend to think about it. You don't really have to think about it, but you do have to think about if you want to tell him. He might not be all too pleased to hear it, though you've never really cared about coddling his feelings. Even though you are comfortable with him, this relationship of yours is less than a year old and there's still a lot of unopened doors.

So you tell him the half truth, that you've always noticed him.

And it's true - he's not not a good-looking guy, and he appeared decently put together when you first met him. It's not that you thought he was perfect, or even trying to be perfect, but his casual welcoming air at first introduction seemed calculated. You could tell he wanted something, not necessarily from you, but it's almost as if you could see a pyramid of desire and him balancing on the point of junction at the top. Despite the tension of it, it seemed dull to you - certainly not any way you'd want to live your life, or even attempt to support someone living it. But call it whatever you want, you knew there was something about him, or maybe even wanted there to be something.

He seems satisfied with your answer. Smug bastard, but you'll let him believe it. In turn, you ask him the same question back.

"Well, of course I thought you were attractive when I first introduced myself, but I also thought you were kind of a bitch," he says way too candidly. One of the many reasons you hate being attached to him.

"I said only kind of!" He offers in defense when he sees your scowl. "But I really fell for you on my birthday last year, my twenty-eighth."

"The night I found you puking your guts up in an alleyway?" You recall. Funny that he would say that.

"I call it personal growth."

"You kept saying over and over that you thought you were gonna shit yourself between barfing," you remind him. Ripping the sugar coating off his bullshit is always fun for you.

"Like I said: personal growth. Purging myself of toxic build-up and stuff," he says and waves his hand flippantly. "And it must've worked, because you showed up."

"Oh."

You blink. He never delivers praise or appreciation in a way that you can take seriously. But for once, he seems sincere. Not in a cheesy way, and rare enough for you to feel a little self-conscious.

"And you rubbed my back, and convinced me not to strip down naked to shit in the alley," he adds.

"I would have fallen for you anyway," you tell him with a small laugh to try and keep your heart from beating too fast. Part of what you like about your relationship with him is that you don't have to worry about serious feelings and conversations and the anxiety of being misunderstood that comes with them.

"Wait, I thought you already had?" He says, focusing in on you with a sheepish look that you return with a tight-lipped smile. Might as well tell him the truth.

"Well, I mean, I was down to maybe fuck you out of crushing desperation and loneliness before, but seeing you so pathetic that night made me like you - against my better judgement."

He stares at you hard, face showing some kind of strong, unreadable expression. You fend off the urge to laugh, though you do worry that, like him, you're being too honest.

"I mean, it was nice to see you so human. Not schmoozing, not pretending, not calculating. Just suffering for drinking yourself sick," you explain.

He doesn't say anything for a moment, which is slightly concerning. Reigen always has something to say in response to everything, especially when you're being cheeky with him. Ever the menace, he lets your unease simmer just a little more.

"You know, there's something I never told you about that night," he says, making your heart jump and squeeze at the same time. There's no cause for alarm in his voice, but the words still have you anticipating.

"I wasn't drunk."

"Oh, food poisoning. I see," you nod slowly. Perhaps it would've been better for your opinion of his sanity to keep thinking for the rest of your life that he was drunk, but you've had enough experiences with bad sushi to know that stomach viruses can get the best of anybody.

"It could have been," he muses. "But I think I was so disgusted with myself that my body was trying to kill me."

Oh. Wow.

"I remember thinking that I was rotten, that I was rotting on the inside, so much that it was making my head spin. Next thing I knew, I was retching against the brick. It felt like I was going to die and that I deserved to go in such a sorry way."

This is not-

"I swear I even saw the gates into the next life," he laughs at himself to acknowledge that he probably sounds insane. He's well aware that he's known for exaggerating the truth, so he knows better than to expect you to believe him. "And it's not some golden metal rolling gate like in the paintings. That's why it felt so real."

-what you were expecting.

"But even though I felt so disgusting and my body and mind were doing such horrible things to me, I didn't want to go."

Your heart clenches. You never knew that he was capable of feeling like that. The Reigen you know doesn't get affected by anything. Though now it makes sense, that maybe he does and he just ignores it until it wants to kill him.

"Next thing I knew, I felt your hand on my back. It took me a while to hear your voice, but I could feel your thumb moving on my shoulder. It guided me back, and kept me grounded. I don't know if I could've stayed tethered without it."

The way he's speaking, you would think he's always been so open with you. It sounds like he's telling you something mundane and ordinary, and not that you saved his fucking life. You don't really know what to say. You feel like you should be crying, and yet he's not leaving you any room to feel any kind of mournful.

So you simply reach out to him with your hand, holding the side of his face, some stubble scratching against the heel of your palm as you brush a thumb over his cheekbone in such a gentle way that he smiles a little. You're not sure if you've ever looked him in the eye like this before, though it feels familiar. You recall feeling the same way when you dropped him off at his office the night you found him - apprehensive yet curious and completely powerless to whatever it is that compels you to want to be with him.

Maybe you wanted to help him, though he's never asked for it and will act like he doesn't need it. In reality, he hasn't actually needed it. He's surprised you nearly every step of the way with the shit he gets away with. You've come to learn that you don't really need to worry about him in a traditional sense. Yet here he is, telling you that you did indeed help him.

"Be any more vulnerable with me, and I might just fall in love with you for real," you say to him, a playful lilt in your voice that you hope he can read.

He chuckles lightly through his nose, bringing his hand up to cover yours. He mirrors the soft movement of your thumb.

"Can't have that now. That would be terrible," he teases. Even if you both believe it. Even if it's far too late.

"The absolute worst."

You guide your lips to his. He tastes like cigarettes and barbecue chips, and you gave up a long time ago on trying to convince yourself that you hate it. It's always hard to pull away from him, his lips never failing to fit annoyingly in line with yours, but you open your eyes and draw back for a moment. The way your chest feels unfit to contain your heart when you look at him, it makes you desperate to distract yourself with kissing him deeper. However, you try to let the feeling settle rather than fighting or burying it.

"I'm glad you didn't fall for me sooner," he says. "You'd have shit taste."

"I fell for a man who was puking and having an existential crisis in an alleyway in the middle of the night, and you don't think I have shit taste?"

"Nah," he waves off. "That was when I said I'd be better. And that's when I started trying to be better."

"You literally couldn't do anything."

"I didn't throw up on you."

"I-" You stop and sigh. "Thank you for that."

"You're welcome," he responds, smirking like the bastard he is. "If you like that, then you're in for it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he says, though it's soft and so out of place from his usual way of speaking that it grips you as something harsh would. "Gotta be as good as your thumb felt on my shoulder that night."

You stop it there by pressing into him again for another kiss, more heated to guarantee that you won't have to reveal anything deeper - like maybe you also remember the feel of his shirt under your palm as you brushed your thumb against him that night, hoping that he would feel that you cared about him through the subtle and tender movement.

Maybe there will never be a need to exchange the sentiment in words, for you notice the way his thumbs trace against your skin as he kisses you, or when you sit together on the couch, or when he grabs your hand on the train. You make sure to return the gesture, grounding him, grounding you together.

ADULT CONTENT BLOG - Minors / Ageless & Blank Blogs are allowed to like and comment on this post, but please refrain from reblogging, and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FOLLOW OR YOU WILL BE BLOCKED

[onhirel]

A Chance Meeting

“Pfft. Look at those preppy girls.”

Sucy’s voice was dryly cutting, and Amanda looked up from the display of instant noodles at the supermarket at her friend...well, more accurately, her acquaintance. Sucy still scared her after the frog incident in biology, and she just wasn’t certain what Akko saw in the other girl. But, be that as it may, Sucy was part of their clique at school, and the six of them had decided to pick up some snacks and stuff at the store after school. “Preppy girls?” Amanda asked absently as her attention returned to the noodles. She was trying to decide on whether to get the big box of chicken flavored noodles, or splurge and get the individual packets and go for a variety of flavors like oriental and shrimp. Funny, though. She knew most of the preppy girls that went to their school, and couldn’t care less about them. Kinda surprising that Sucy would even mention them...

“Yeah, looks like they go to that prep school over in Blytonbury, that really hard to get into one.”

“You mean Luna Nova?” Amanda asked, hopeful surprise flitting through her as she turned to look down the aisle, but she didn’t see anyone that matched the description.

“...Yeah,” Sucy said as she narrowed her visible eye at Amanda. “Kinda weird to see you excited about them,” she said, and then grinned evilly. “You wanna prank them?”

Amanda hesitated. She hadn’t really mentioned Hannah to her friends, despite texting Hannah pretty regularly since they met at the fair. She had grown to appreciate the other girl’s sharp wit, and was very quickly considering her a long distance friend. Well...not really long distance, per se, she was only thirty minutes away, but they hadn’t had the chance to meet face-to-face since that night in the fair. It would be awesome if she were here at the store. Wouldn’t that be a coincidence!

Then she blinked, reality crashing down around her. It would be a coincidence for Hannah to have made the trip to Glastonbury just to happen to be at the store at the same time as her. It was almost a mathematical impossibility. And if some stuck up Luna Nova kids were hanging out in the store, then why not prank them? “Alright,” she said, a mischievous grin taking to her face. “Let’s go find the others.”

Five minutes later found them huddled with Cons, Jasminka, Akko, and Lotte as they explained their plan to prank the Luna Nova students. Lotte looked worried and slightly disapproving, but that was pretty normal for her. Cons looked...well, like Cons, dour and stern, and Jasminka was still smiling like she always was as she ate from a bag of salt and vinegar chips. No, it was Akko who was obviously the most excited about the idea of pranking the preppy girls from Luna Nova.

“What do you think, the bait and switch?” she asked, excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Amanda grinned.

“Sounds about right. How about...condoms and lube?”

Then Sucy piped up, face decidedly evil. “And a cucumber...and like, the biggest zucchini you can find,” she said, and Jas nodded before making her way over to the produce section.

“Guys, I don’t know if this is a great idea,” Lotte cautioned, and Amanda scoffed as she waved a dismissive hand.

“Nah, it’s okay. It’s just embarrassing, no one’s gonna get hurt. You and Cons keep an eye on the targets, Akko and I will go get the condoms and lube.

Lotte just sighed heavily and nodded begrudgingly. “Fiiiine.”

It didn’t take very long after that, and soon she, Akko, and Jas were peering around the corner of one of the aisles at the four girls wearing the Luna Nova uniform, looking over various bags of chips and the like, and Amanda grinned wolfishly. Perfect! Then she blinked as she realized that one of them looked familiar, and it took her a moment to place her. That’s right! She was the dark haired girl who was with Hannah at the fair. Amanda felt annoyance prickle across her at that. Figures that she would show up and not Hannah! At least the other girl from that night wasn’t here, and she didn’t recognize the other three girls at all. Alright, now, how to distract them without them catching on that something was up...

“Amanda, is that you?”

She just barely bit back a startled yelp as she jumped, and the boxes of condoms (and not the standard, lame ones, she went all out for this...ribbed, studded, pretty much the most exotic of the selection they had at the store) fell out of her arms, clattering on the floor. She spun, heart pounding, but then froze as she recognized the sight of Hannah.

Oh.

Oh my. 

It...it wasn’t fair for her to look like that! The baggy hoodie at the fair had hidden most of her physique, but the Luna Nova uniform that was cut to her form did no such thing, and Amanda almost started to drool at Hannah’s broad shoulders and very well muscled arms. Okay, looking like that? She could totally believe that she was the champ wrestler at Luna Nova. Okay, down girl, you might still be able to do the prank.

But then Hannah’s eyes flitted down to the floor where the boxes of condoms lay scattered, and then to the lube that Akko was holding and the *ahem* phallic vegetables that Jas had. “What are you doing?” she asked, voice obviously confused as she peered down the aisle and towards her friends.

“I...well, you see...we were just...” Amanda stammered, glancing at her friends, who seemed transfixed by Hannah’s appearance. And why wouldn’t they? Because dayum! No, wait, down girl! Stay focused!

Hannah frowned slightly. “Are you...trying to prank my friends?” she asked, and Amanda flushed. She was generally good enough at this sort of thing to not get caught so obviously red handed. Grimacing, she gave a short, terse nod, and tried to brace herself for the disappointed scolding that was sure to follow. But then, to her surprise, Hannah grinned as she crouched down to pick up the condom boxes. “Alright, I’m in. Here,” she said as she handed Amanda back the boxes. 

“What?” Amanda asked, almost dumbly.

Hannah rolled her eyes, a smile still on her lips. “Your prank. I’m in on it. It’ll be funny. Now, I’ll go up and put these bags of chex mix in the cart and distract the others. Once Babs, Avery, Mary, and Blair have their attention on me, you guys come up and put your stuff in the cart. Think you can quietly get them underneath the bags of mix?”

Was this actually happening? Was Hannah, who had absolutely no right looking that hot, btw, really going to help them prank her friends? “Uh, yeah, we should be able to...”

Hannah grinned, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Perfect! Alright, you ready?”

The next few minutes were spent in heart-pounding excitement. True to her word, Hannah went first and dropped her stuff into the half full shopping cart before directing the attention of her friends at some of the other products on the aisle’s shelves, and the three of them quickly and quietly made their way to the cart. Heart pounding with the fear of getting caught, Amanda was nonetheless able to silently lift the bags of chex mix, allowing them to deposit their cargo into the cart. A quick glance up revealed the other four Luna Nova students with their backs still to them and Hannah smirking slightly as she debated the merits of sour cream and onion chips versus salt and vinegar. Mission success!

They wrapped their shopping up after that, wanting to get done ahead of the Luna Nova students. They managed it, and were waiting in the area just past the registers as the preppy students started to get their items scanned. You could almost count down to the moment when the contraband was revealed, and Amanda had to bite her cheek to keep from howling with laughter at the first horrified screech that the black haired girl from the fair let out when she comprehended exactly what lay beneath the chex mix. She whirled on her stocky, auburn haired friend with an indignant: “Hannah!”

For her part, Hannah was able to maintain a look of innocence as the others timidly plucked the offending items out, their faces bright red. “What? It wasn’t me! I mean, come on, it’s hilarious, but I never had the chance to, and you know it!”

Amanda had to turn away at the point. “Come on, girls, let’s go,” she urged, eager to get away so that they could all laugh properly. So Hannah was apparently the prankster of the group. God, could she be anymore perfect?

They were in the parking lot, all piling into the station wagon that Akko’s mom let them use when she heard her name being shouted, and she turned to see Hannah waving at her excitedly. Quirking a brow, she glanced at her friends who were watching her with curious eyes, and she realized she’d have to explain just who Hannah was now. But Akko grinned before making a shooing motion with her hands.

Shrugging, she jogged over to where the Luna Nova girls were standing around a big and very expensive looking SUV. “See?” Hannah was saying to the black-haired girl from the fair, “I told you I saw Amanda, Barbara.”

Barbara was watching her with narrowed, suspicious eyes, a residual blush still on her cheeks. “What a coincidence,” she muttered dryly. 

Thankfully, three years in the drama club served Amanda well in this situation. “Hannah?” she asked, the picture of confused innocence. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Blytonbury, what brings you out to our little town?”

Hannah grinned. “Oh, nothing much, just having a house party with an acquaintance who lives out this way,” she said, and for a moment, Amanda’s blood ran cold.

“Oh? Who’s that?”

“Frank Casterly,” she replied, and Amanda almost let out a sigh of relief. Oh, good, the Casterly family. They adamantly refused to get involved with her brother’s, ah, business, and were all of them fairly clean cut.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Amanda said, nonchalantly stuffing her hands into her pockets. Then a thought suddenly struck her. “Oh! Hey! What are you guys doing in a couple of weeks?” she asked, barely able to keep her excitement at bay.

“What, like, in the beginning of October?” Barbara asked.

“Yeah! See, our high school’s drama department puts on a haunted maze every year at the fairgrounds for a grade. We have a lot of fun doing it, and we’ve even been regularly rated as one of the scariest haunted mazes in the entire state!” she boasted, puffing out her chest proudly. “It’s the last year for a lot of us, and so we’re going to go all out this year! I figured, why not invite you and anyone you want to bring along?”

Barbara looked unsure. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like something that Diana would be too interested in...”

Hannah, however, looked really interested. “Oh, come on, you know how she keeps saying she doesn’t get scared at anything. Horror movies don’t even phase her. I wanna see how she reacts to something like this!”

Barbara sighed heavily. “Fine, if we must...”

“Awesome!” Hannah crowed with a victorious arm pump before she turned to Amanda with a wide grin. “We’ll be there! Send me the details in a text, and I’ll let you know when we’ll be coming.”

Oh, the lead up was too perfect to ignore. “With the items in your cart, that won’t be the only coming you’ll be doing,” she said with a racy grin, and Barbara and the others stared at her for a moment, not understanding...and then Barbara blinked, a look of outrage on her face.

“YOU!”

Amanda was still cackling after she made the short sprint to the station wagon, insults and threats hurled at her back. And even as her friends questioned her on how she knew one of the Luna Nova girls, her mind was racing, half formed plans whirling about.

Hannah was going to be coming to the haunted maze. They would have to go all out this year!

[violaslayvis]

john whats your favorite junk food and desserts?

As far as snacks, I love Gardetto’s, Hot Funyuns (most of the Flamin Hot chips), kettle cooked Jalapeno & Salt & Vinegar chips, Andy Capp’s Fries, Cheez-Its (which someone claimed they were gonna buy from my wishlist and didn’t....which I totally expected. But why say anything at all then? Lol)

As far as food, I love Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes, fried shrimp, fried mushrooms, fried calamari, funnel cake, the cajun fries from Five Guys, anything with bacon. Almost anything fried is good.

I’m not a huge fan of desserts but I like jello, ice cream, and baklava. I’m not crazy about cakes, pies, or most pastries.